Sister Thingme

Hiya Family!

This e-mail is quite scattered (as they all are) and is a compilation of thoughts and stories. So, have a read, a scan, or just delete it altogether. :)

I love being a missionary! I really do. The work we do is exciting and important. I love waking up every day with a purpose, knowing that I am going to "invite others to come unto Christ." It is the best and hardest thing in the whole world!

One of the biggest miracles of the week was on Tuesday morning. We had a really weird day planned:  We were trying by people that we assumed wouldn't be home even though they'd scheduled with us because the appointments seemed a bit dodgy.  We had a dinner appointment with a member that got sick and a day from 11-9 that didn't have any solid appointments.  In the morning it was absolutely pouring rain. We put on our jackets, which was actually nice because it felt like putting back on an old friend. I've missed my black jacket. :) Anyway, when we were walking to our one scheduled appointment at the church, we saw LIGHTNING and heard THUNDER! We never get that here, although it rains all the time, and so it was a sweet little piece of heaven there. The member who was our joint teach didn't like the thunder, but we were absolutely loving it. That was so nice!

On Wednesday, we went out to Cambuslang (which is about an hour or an hour and a half bus ride away, but is still in our area/ward). 

Thursday was BY FAR the best day of the week, because we had All-Scotland Conference!!! AHH! I was so excited, and it was so good. We had to ride trains for about a year and a half to get there, but when we got out of the train station, there was Sister Nicoll and her new companion! Ah! It was so good to see her and get the update on Falkirk. Things are going well there. I miss Sister Nicoll a whole bunch. I also got to see Sister Ashdown, and she is doing okay. Anyway, it was just fantastic to see everybody. And now I will tell you about the actual conference.

We first heard from President Brown. No matter what he says, I just feel the Spirit pouring from him. He is the best mission president in the entire world. Here are a few of my favorite things that he said.

"We are the right people for this time. We were not called here by accident. We are the ones. And we can do it! The Lord trusts us. He didn't give us a call to fail. Heavenly Father believes in you. I believe in you. The Brethren believe in you. Jesus Christ, our Master and He who leads this work, believes in you."

He talked about how people, especially from "The Factory" (Utah) said when we got our mission call something like, "Wow, that would be an awesome mission. Too bad you won't baptize." I heard that all the time when I got my call. He said, "We do baptize in this mission! We baptized 19 last month, and that number could be 90!"

I have been struggling to think that anybody is prepared here, because it just seems like nobody wants to listen to us and it's easy to think "When is dinner?" or "When can I go home?" while you're talking to people, because nobody seems to want to talk to us. But, as President Brown said, "The Lord prepares people here. Why wouldn't He? They are His children!"

Of course there are prepared people here in Scotland. I am sent to find them, but I won't if I have a bad attitude about it. The spirit of missionary work is urgency, and as I do my best and have faith that people will accept, they will. Just the next day, as I increased my faith to find, we had three other lessons on the street! That has not happened here very often, and I know it was because Sister Jones and I had increased our faith. Faith is such a huge deal, and as I talk to people with the goal and the expectation that they will/should accept the gospel, they have a better chance to because they see that it means that much to me.

We also heard about seeking correction. We should seek correction from others, because when we do, we show that we are willing to repent. We should seek correction from our companions, through prayer and scripture study, and through district and zone meetings. If we seek correction and change, our investigators will change because repentance will be more real to us.

That cool lady that we did the family history approach with, S--, we finally got to see yesterday. We've tried by heaps of times and she hasn't been home, but she opened the door and said, "Where have you been?" She invited us in and offered us coffee, so clearly we're great friends, and her coffee was delicious. Just kidding, we didn't have any, obviously, but her diluting juice was so good.

Our investigator, Brother S--, had a very up and down kind of week. He drank this week, so that was another setback, and he didn't really feel too bad about it and so that was really tricky. We were teaching him at a member's house who had a husband who had a severe alcohol problem and ended up burning down their house. Anyway, she basically just reprimanded him for about an hour, but it was exactly what he needed and was nice that it didn't come from Sister Jones and me. Then last night when we taught him, he told us that he wants to figure everything out and change himself so that he can be baptized in autumn. What? It was seriously crazy, and I was reminded again just how little we have to do with the work that we do. It's the Spirit that works on them, and they choose to accept it. It really doesn't have anything to do with me.

Something I've been thinking about this week is the way that we can be happy. So often we cannot change our surroundings. I can't change my area, I can't change the members here, I can't change the weather, I can't change my companion, I can't change other's choices. But what can I change? My attitude about it! I can change the way I feel about it. When Nephi is sad because his brothers are being mean and his dad has just died, we read his beautiful psalm in 2 Nephi 4, and the only thing that changes from him in the beginning and the end is his attitude. He chooses to put his faith in the Lord and good things come of it. So when I am bugged with something and wish it would change, I can't change it. But I can change the way that I feel about it. That's really all I can do, and the way to be happy is to change myself so I feel happy about it. As Elder Teixeira said in All-Scotland Conference (he is the Area Authority of the Europe Missions), "I can teach you a lot of good things. But only YOU can change." How true that is!

So this week, when you are down about something—“Why is my baby crying?" "Why are my friends being so stupid?" "Why didn't this person help me with the things that I need?" "Why is the world such a bad place?”—just remember:  You can't do anything about that; but what you can do is change the way that you feel about it. I invite you to do that. As a missionary, if we were in a lesson, now would be the Invitation time.

Will you...change your attitude and try your best to not get down about situations you cannot control? Great. I know by doing so you will be happier and allow God's love to be more present in your life.

There you go. Missionary Manda.

Love you all,

Sister Ricks

P.S. Oh, and by the way, I wrote "Sister Thingme" as the title because two members of our ward have called me that this week. WAY cooler than Sister Ricks. Eh?

That’s Putrid, Isn’t It?

Dearest Family,

We're going to play Two Truths and a Lie here:

1. Scotland is roasting hot right now. 

2. Prince Charles is apparently in Dundee, Scotland trying to get away from all the press about Princess Kate and such.  

3. A random member in our ward gave me a pair of shoes this week.  

Haha. I've never been very good at that game. What do you do?

  

Funny stories:

 Every week we have FHE at Granny Green's home. She is the lady who threw the American 4^th  of July Party. Anyway, different people come, but this week Glen MaC-- came! He hasn't been to FHE, or to church, in a long time because his girlfriend wasn't a fan. But they broke up and so he is back. Funny how that works. Anyway, we ran into him on last Sunday and we were so excited to see him on Monday evening. He is mostly blind. He holds things really close to one of his eyes because that is the only one that he can see out of. That's a lot of background for a story that is maybe not so funny if you weren't there. There you go. At the end of FHE, we always have snacks, and so we all had plates where we would put our snacks. Somebody brought chocolate muffins this week, so I had one on my plate. Brother MaC-- came and stood by me, and I guess he couldn't tell what was what, because he just started eating the chocolate muffin off my plate. I felt so awkward because I didn't know whether to just start a new plate or wait until he was finished with the muffin and then grab my plate. I had no idea and so I was just laughing and laughing and Sister Jones didn't know why until after FHE. That was what was so funny: that he stole my muffin. Luckily, he didn't even notice that he'd made a mistake and so he walked away, and I got the rest of my plate and grabbed a new muffin. It was so funny.

We have been finding SO much this week because everybody is sick or on holiday. And nobody on the street wants to listen to us. But I taught an awesome lesson to a tree while we were waiting at a bus stop and nobody else was around. Mr. Tree even accepted a baptismal date, my first one ever! It was an awesome lesson with a scripture and a commitment. Go, fight, win! That's what I always say, along with my good friend Edna Mode.

Cool stuff:

I don't know if I've told you this before, but the bishop here, Bishop Cook, has a 2-year-old diabetic son. His name is Adam and he is so cute. This week we had dinner with them (even though the bishop wasn't there, but that's another story) and I got to hear all about how it is to be a mom with a diabetic child. I think I will probably have one someday, so that was awesome to hear about. He doesn't mind the pokes or the pump. He is doing really well. And they gave me a book that would have been SO nice to have, especially when I had just been diagnosed. It has pictures of common foods and how many carbs are in them. It has them on a plate, so you can see what the serving size looks like rather than always having to measure, though it has measurements too. It's nice and helpful, and it was so fun when she handed me my plate and told me exactly how many carbs were in it. You don't get that anywhere else. That was awesome!

We were walking to try by some former investigators, and Sister Jones remembered that a less-active lady who had just had surgery lived near. We thought she would still be in the hospital, but could pop by and ask her son how she was doing. Luckily, she was home! She was really nice and was pleased that we had visited. I'd never met her, and it was nice to meet her and have a little lesson with her. Tender mercy there for sure—Heavenly Father prompting Sister Jones to visit someone who needed a visit. It's awesome to be a missionary.

We went out finding on Saturday afternoon and we decided to go to a gigantic park. That was good because loads of people were out and about, (oot and aboot if you're Scottish) but since everybody was wearing little pieces of clothing, it wasn't super effective time to go because everybody was having a good day at the park and wasn't wanting us to stop them. That's normal. But one cool thing came of it: there was a cricket match with teenage boys playing, and we wanted to watch for a minute because we'd never really seen a cricket game. I went up to two ladies and asked them how it was played.  They told us about it and we chatted for a wee while and then went away. We didn't talk about the gospel or anything, but we made a friend for the church and someday they will remember that. :) I'm sure of it!

I was able to give a talk in sacrament meeting about “How the Holy Ghost Helps me Learn.” I learned so much from the talk. The Holy Ghost is awesome. One thing I relearned is that the Holy Ghost sanctifies us. Through the Atonement, the Holy Ghost is the sanctifyer. I am trying to understand it more. The really cool part of the talk came when we went to Sister Black's a bit early before teaching Brother Smith at her house. She is the sweetest lady, one of my very favorites here, but she has a hard time getting around. The only time she gets out is to go to church, and this week nobody picked her up. I guess there was some kind of miscommunication. So I sat next to her and gave her my talk. She loved it and was so complimentary. At the end of the lesson with Brother Smith, she asked me if I could make her a copy of my talk and if she could put it in the ward history. She said it was really good. That was nice!! She is such a sweet lady.

That was basically my week! It's been a big week, and I've just scratched the surface. Missionary work is so good. It's great to be a full-time missionary, and it's even greater to be a member missionary! Bringing up the gospel is easy if we are truly converted, and it's important to always strive to find people to talk to about the gospel. Everybody needs the gospel and it can bless all of God's children, and as we do our best to be instruments in His hands, He can bless us.

When the journey is long and life seems hard, remember that Heavenly Father is just molding us into what He sees we can become. As D. Todd Christofferson said, "For your freedom to be complete, you must be willing to give away all your sins, your willfulness, your cherished but unsound habits, perhaps even some good things that interfere with what God sees is essential for you." Some things that we do aren't bad, but aren't what God has in store for us. His plan is the greatest for us. As we strive to trust Him in all that we do, giving up the things that aren't part of the plan, we will eventually make it into His arms and remain there for as long as we wish. I am so excited for that day!

I love the Lord and the gospel! The Church is true--I promise!

Love,

Sister Amanda Ann Ricks

P.S. Oh and the title of this e-mail is just something random that Sister Jones and I have been saying. Sometimes it smells weird in funny places.

My First Keg Party

Dearest Familia,

Here's a little run-down of my week:

Last Monday we bought tartan fabric in Glasgow at a cute place called Mandor’s. We went with a member of our ward, Granny Green, and she made us the cutest scripture covers! I sent a picture. I am quite chuffed with them.

On Tuesday I got Kebabtised! Kebabs are all the rage over here, and you have to have one on your mission, apparently. Almost our entire zone came and it was really fun. A few of us had them for the first time, and they are delicious. I'll probably never have one again (I got a baby size and it was massive) but I was really glad that I did it!

On Tuesday night I had a dream that I was on an E-transfer to Aberdeen, so I went to the mission home and the prophet was hanging out there in suspenders! So I got a picture with him. And then I got to talk to the family on the phone. That was nice!

On Wednesday we chapped the scariest man I have ever seen. His shirt was off, his belly was super bloated, he had black under his nails, and he absolutely did drugs. It was scary. But luckily I really felt the Spirit and wasn't scared at all of him! That was nice.

On Thursday morning we had interviews with President in the Motherwell chapel. That was awesome. It is crazy how much I felt the Spirit just being in a room with him. It was absolutely incredible. I absolutely love him.

Friday we saw our Less Active who will be reactivated soon. We told him to read 2 Nephi 2 for this lesson, and when we asked him if he liked it, he said, "not bad, not good." WHAT? 2 Nephi 2 is the bomb! That was so weird. Crazy man!

On Saturday we tried by S--, that man we taught the first lesson to. He hasn't been returning our calls, so we just went by. Basically, he just isn't interested. It wasn't weird though, he was nice and said if he ever needs spiritual guidance, we will be the first people he will call. That was nice. And it made me think...I'm going to be awesome at getting dumped when I get home! It happens all the time here, and so I'm going to be pro! I know our message is awesome and that people are missing out.

Also on Saturday, Sister Jones was talking about how we pray at the same time at night. She said, "Sometimes, since we pray at the same time, I feel like Heavenly Father is listening to your prayers instead of mine." I about died laughing! That is the funniest thing ever!

On Sunday, we had A--'s son's BBQ. Sister Jones made Funeral Potatoes and we made Oreo Truffles as well. They were delicious!! It was really fun to meet her friends and family and they were all really nice. Such a good time!

Cool story: For Zone Meetings this week, we all committed to a certain number of people to invite to be baptized. Sister Jones and I chose 7. We were planning on some that didn't go through, and it turned out that we had 4 left on Sunday. (We'd invited Brother S--, P--, and a man that I met on the bus). I had a really good feeling that God would place 4 people in our path that we could invite to be baptized. AND HE DID! It was absolutely incredible. I felt really strongly that I needed to do a bus contact, and I ended up inviting the woman to be baptized on the bus. Anyway, even though none of them accepted, we met our goal and as a zone invited 79 people to be baptized this week. It was an incredible experience, one I was very lucky to be a part of.

My favorite lesson (well, one of them) of this week is with a less-active and his wife, Brother H--. He served his mission here about five years ago and came back and married a girl from this area. They just are having a hard time with all sorts of doubt, including whether or not God exists. He knows all the answers; he is just doubting everything. When we visit them, I feel the Spirit so strongly. I feel like I am myself. Sister Jones and I teach well together there. It is absolutely incredible, and I wonder if they are the reason that I was sent here to East Kilbride.

I've been thinking a lot about this quote by Elder Holland this week: "When he says, ‘Come, Follow Me,’ he means that he knows where the quicksand is and where the thorns are and the best way to handle the slippery slope near the summit of our personal mountains. He knows it all, and He knows the way. He is the way."

In my study journal, I wrote: "I love the quote by Elder Holland that says we follow Jesus because He knows where the quicksand and the struggles are. I've been thinking about it, and how incredible that He walked each of our paths. And when He sees the quicksand of sin, He knows it is there--but He also knows whether or not we choose it. And if we do, and because He knew we would, He has been through that quicksand too. He doesn't just walk the easy parts of the path. He's been to our mountains of struggle and quicksands of sin. And we can only do it because He did. He went through our quicksand so that He can pull us out."

May we all follow His example in our life and let Him pull us through our struggles and trials.

Love,

Sister Ricks

East Kilbride Tour

J-- and I! That is A--'s son and it was his 1 year BBQ for his Birthday, which is today! So fun.

A--, our investigator, and I at the party.

One shot of our bathroom

Second Shot

Kitchen.

My "side" of the flat. Slash my couch. :)

This lady, I---, in Falkirk gave me these Indian statues. Clearly they are awesome but i don't know that I want to bring them home. So they are going to have a home here in E. Kilbride!

Here is our study table. Notice our stereo in the background. Awesome!!!

My tartan covered scriptures! I love them!!!

My bed!

The stuff I keep by my bed. Do you recognize it?

Our closet. Whose side is whose? It was even worse before we went shopping. :)

The place in our room where we get ready! One in the room and the other goes in the bathroom

Funny story about this window: We are pretty sure it is see through, so that's really awkward, but there isn't anywhere else that we can shower. so the neighbors may be getting a nice show every evening. Nobody knows. We're trying currently to get blinds. :)

Our front door!

I got Kebabtized!

Here is our flat! The outside.

Another one of our flat. We took these today, so I thought it would be fun to send them because I still look the exact same as I do in the pictures! How nice.

Hanging out in Glasgow!

Hanging out in Glasgow!

"Yankee Candy" is an American candy shop. We got Blow Pops and they were delicious! 

Glasgow

Glasgow

Our Street.