I need a MENTOR!!!!!!

[goodoneian]

Does anyone with Nikon experience know what mode I should be in and what mode the flash on the camera should be set to in order to fire the slaves at the right time... ?

shoot in manual. if i shoot in shutter or aperture priority when using off camera flash, i always get funky results because my camera meters for the scene and then the flashes over expose everything. generally speaking, if i'm in my house with a decent amount of ambient light, i shoot at around 1/60, f/4, iso 400 and adjust the flash output to light my subject or for fill. this isn't what i always end up doing, but it can get you good enough results to be satisfied.