2 weeks.

I officially have 2 weeks left of my Mission Year.

With at being said, I need your help to get me to my goal to raise $12,000!

Please please please help me out by donating to my Mission Year account!

www.missionyear.org/donate (designation = Emily Nichols)

ANY amount helps me!!!

I don't even know how to begin to explain everything about the past 11 months. Some words I think of when I think of my experience in Mission Year are: encouraging, hard, fun, learning, challenging, exciting, slow, fast, tough, lovely...I'm sure I could go on forever. So, to sum it up, I've learned a lot being in Philadelphia for the past year. I've learned that the Lord will always protect me. I've learned that God is my strength. I've learned that I can't live this life without fully depending on God. I've learned how to be venerable. I've learned how much I have grown as a person. I've learned how much I've grown with the Lord and also how much more I can grow! And again, I could go on forever, but the point is that I've learned a lot here. I'm so thankful and grateful to have had this amazing experience. I couldn't have spent the last year with any more awesome people! My roommates/housemates made this year amazing!

I am really excited to go home to Michigan! I'm excited to start new things to Spring Arbor University! I'm excited to see all my friends and family again! Although I only have 1 month from the time I get home until I leave for college, it is still going to be amazing! I'm aware that I will get asked a lot of questions about my Mission Year that I might not be ready to answer, but I am excited to share what God has been doing in my life! I'm also excited to see how God is working in the lives of all my friends at home!

I wrote a blog about being fearless at the start of Mission Year around October. I can tell you that I've come a long way since then. I used to tremble at the thought of ever leaving the building I live in or even talking to the girls who came to bible study at Teen Haven. I used to hate the thought of walking to the mailbox down the street by myself and the thought of ever riding SEPTA (public transportation) alone. When I think back about how scared I was about everything, I realize how far God has brought me. I also mentioned in another blog that I talked in front of the middle school youth group at my church back home. Before I couldn't imagine myself doing that for the sake of being scared. I think I've come along way since August and it feels really awesome!

Please pray that these last 2 weeks are eye opening and that I continue to grow with God! Also, keep it in your prayers that I continue to grow in what I've had during Mission Year with God and myself. He has brought me so far!