Psalms 100:4

Dear Family,

Psalms 100:4: “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”

This scripture is partially cool because it has the word "thanksgiving" in it, but I also like the idea that if we are thankful to God, we will bless His name. Thankfulness is not just a way of thinking; it is a way of acting. It's the same way with faith. If we have faith, we will act a certain way. If we are thankful, we will also act a certain way. If I am thankful for the Atonement, I will show my gratitude by proving faithful and repenting of my sins. If I am thankful for my family (and I am), I will pray for them nightly by name (and I do). If I am grateful for the chance I have to be a missionary, I will be diligent in the work and show my gratitude for  the short amount of time I have to serve the Lord. In short, I will ACT on my GRATITUDE. Sometimes we get so focused on what we're grateful for that we forget to do anything about it.

What am I grateful for this week (and what I am going to do because I am grateful):

I am grateful for Granny Green. She is just lovely. We went over for FHE, and I wasn't feeling very well.  She just let me lay on her until FHE started. She rubbed my back and gave me some granny cuddles. That was lovely. I adore her! She's also having us over for Thanksgiving. That will be so nice. I am going to make her a wee card that expresses my gratitude, and I am going to remind her how much I love her.

I am grateful for Alison. I know that I talk about how much I love her all of the time, but it's really because I do! She is incredible and has been so prepared for the gospel. I really feel privileged just to have the opportunity to teach her. I remembered this week that while I was in training, I came to Glasgow for something called Smart Start that all new trainees do. Sister Jones was there with her trainer, Sister Robertson. When we role-played, we would introduce someone that we're working with and then someone would pretend to be that person. I remember they talked about Alison, a self-referral from Mormon.org who loves Joseph Smith and knows the Book of Mormon is true. I remember at the time wishing that I could teach someone like that--and now I am!! She is so wonderful. Yesterday she gave me the first piece of jewelry that she'd ever bought for herself and had to pay for by installments--a thistle necklace. It is gorgeous! She is seriously thinking about baptism and will do it before I leave--I just know it! I adore her! I am going to continue to pray for her nightly and do my best to have spiritual lessons with her so she can identify the Spirit and have help knowing when Heavenly Father would have her be baptized.

I am grateful to be training. I am learning so much from Sister Jacques. Most of what I'm learning is how inadequate I am to do everything. I am not the most obedient, most diligent, most perfect missionary. And I never will be. But I am learning that I need to do things differently and that even though I am comfortable with the work and especially with East Kilbride, I can do things and need to do things to change and improve the work rather than staying in my comfortable spot. We taught more street lessons than I've ever taught on my mission this week. She is definitely pushing me to grow and become more. I am just stubborn and selfish and wish that I would have more desire to change. It's hard but it's good, and I know that Heavenly Father has called me to do this. I am so grateful for opportunities to learn and grow! I am going to be more humble and accept criticism and strive to be more obedient. I am going to try to care about her more than about myself.

I am grateful that this week has given me the chance to speak to Sister Nicoll a few times. There has been a bit of drama between her ward and ours, and we've gotten to speak about it. It has been so nice to talk to her. I absolutely love her! I am going to keep praying for her every night.

I am grateful for this work. I am grateful that our investigators are progressing amazingly. Scott is doing really well and is continually understanding more. Alison is doing well. We have amazing people that we're working with here, and I am just so blessed! I am going to be diligent about going out and doing the work, knowing that God is blessing us for trying to be diligent!

I am grateful that Brother S-- came to FHE this week and then met with us once. He told us he'd come to church and meet with the Bishop.  He didn't and then didn't answer our calls, but at least his mind is still more open to the idea of accepting our church and baptism. I am going to phone him and continue to pray for him. I am going to thank Heavenly Father for giving me the chance to teach him.

I am grateful for the scriptures. I love studying them each week. I know that they come from God and that we can feel the Spirit while we study them. I am going to continue studying every day and try to apply the scriptures daily.

I am grateful for inspired leaders who give us counsel that sometimes isn't fun but that is what we need. I am going to honor them by doing the things they say.

I am grateful for hard times that make us grow. Growing isn't always fun but is always worth it when we become a tree of life in God's hands. I am going to offer more gratitude prayers instead of always asking for things. I'm going to make prayer a conversation instead of me telling Heavenly Father the things I'd like Him to do.

Quote of the week: "Keep trying. Don't look for escapes and excuses. Look for the Lord and His perfect strength. Don't search for someone to blame. Search for someone to help you. Seek Christ and, as you do, I promise you will feel the enabling power we call His amazing grace. I leave this testimony and all of my love--for I do love you... I believe in you. I'm pulling for you. And I'm not the only one. Parents are pulling for you, leaders are pulling for you, and prophets are pulling for you. And Jesus is pulling with you" (Brad Wilcox, "His Grace Is Sufficient").

I know this gospel is true! Jesus Christ lives: that is the centre of my testimony. He is our Saviour. He loves us. He knows the things that are hard and the things that are easy. He's been through it all. He is the way to get back to our Heavenly Father. He is the only way. And if we do it His way, we are doing it right.

I love you all! I am grateful for you!

Love,

Sister Ricks/Amanda/Aunt Manda/Pandywidge/Lastborn

P.S. This scripture cracked me up during personal study this week: Alma 55:9. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think this is funny because of the punctuation (or lack thereof). Read it and tell me why!  

P.P.S. I am NOT grateful that Peyton and BYU both lost this week. :( Rubbish! Especially because Peyton lost to Tom Brady. I'll have a word with him when I get home.

I love Whitney soooooo very much (guess who made up the title for that e-mail?)

Dearest Family,

I love East Kilbride. I love this Zone. I love Glasgow. I love the members here. I love the people and the accents and everything about this place! I love it here!!! :)

This week was pretty good. It is crazy how up and down you can be as a missionary, and I guess the reason that you have so many hard lows is because you are also blessed with really positive moments where you've never been happier. I've had a lot of really happy moments and a lot of real down days.

So obviously let's focus on the positive.

I was able to go to Glasgow last P-day, and we were able to walk along the shops in the dark because it has begun to get dark around 4:30 here. It was lovely! I love street performers and I love Glasgow! It was so much fun!

Sister Jacques got medicine and isn't feeling sick anymore. That's good. We had to go into Glasgow to go to the doctor and they are setting up Christmas decorations! Clearly my favourite city ever! Also Christmas is in seven days and one month. Not that I'm counting. But I am quite excited! Sister Cook told us yesterday that she already has our presents! She also told me to move back to EK after my mission and be a young woman leader with her. Sounds good!

We got to go into Glasgow again on Wednesday for Zone Meetings. President talked a lot about obedience and about following those rules in the white handbook that can be easy to ignore. So, aye, obedience. Need to do better.

I was thinking a lot about Brother S-- on Friday and just missing the chance to teach him, and then he texted us that night! He said he's keeping an open mind and will come back to church if it feels right. That was pretty cool and definitely an answer to prayer.

This week when we were going to try by a potential who seemed great but then had given us the wrong address :(, we stopped this cool lady on the street and her mum used to be taught by missionaries! She knew about the Word of Wisdom and said we could come give her an introduction of the Book of Mormon and that she'll give us hot chocolate! Seriously, she was way cool and a solid potential. I hope that it turns out!

This quote has been carrying me through the past wee while: "Do your best, your very, very best. Say your prayers and work hard and leave the harvest to the Lord." I know that as long as I am doing my best, that God will take care of me and the rest of the world. It's my choice to wake up and work hard and do my best, but I can't do anything apart from that. I will cheerfully submit to do all the things that lay in my power but not worry about those things that aren't!

Scott hasn't come to church yet, but things are looking positive! We dropped by last night and Caroline said that she wants to come back in two weeks after Scott's birthday. That would be amazing!

A-- is doing SO good. I seriously love her so much! I am just pushing her to get baptized while I'm here, not because I don't think she'll do it because I know she will do it because she is amazing, but because I would be absolutely heartbroken if I didn't get to see it. I care about her so much! I've been thinking lately about the clothes that I'd wear to her baptism. Seriously I am dreaming about it! So good.

All in all, everything is good! Mostly because I have a family that loves me and good friends out here in the field. I am grateful for the support that I get from those around me. I am the most blessed girl in this world.

I also just realized there are about 9,000 exclamation points in this e-mail. Oops. My English major is definitely going down the bin.

Love,

Sister Ricks

P.S. What do you call an alligator with a vest at the movies with his girlfriend? An investigator with a date! :) Hahahaha. I just made that one up this morning. Obviously.

A Date!

Hello, hello, hello!

When looking at the title of my e-mail, you may be tempted to think one of multiple things:

 A. Sister Ricks went on a date? I thought that was against the rules.

 B. Sister Ricks is starting to date/wax old. I sense some grey hairs coming on.

 C. Sister Ricks can't remember what the date is.

 D. Sister Ricks has an investigator with a baptismal date!!!

 Well, folks, guess Option D and you would be mucho correct!! How exciting is that? (And I know that was the lamest thing ever, but I couldn't think of another exciting way to tell you!)

It is Scott, our nine-year-old investigator whose mum used to be a member. She is planning on getting baptized next year after she gets married, but Scott didn't want to wait. So hopefully December 7, or a few weeks thereafter. We just need to make sure he gets to church three times. It's nice because he doesn't have any obstacles (Word of Wisdom, Law of Chastity, Tithing) because...well...he's nine years old. So from now on, I am only stopping children and teaching them. Just kidding. Seriously, he's so cool though! It was incredible when all of a sudden Caroline said, "Do you want to get baptized with me or do it on your own?" and he said he just wanted to do it. He has yet to come to church but I have high hopes! We introduced him and his mum to Bishop Cook and Sister Cook and just, ah, it is so exciting! He says he knows God answers his prayers because he feels a shiver down his spine when he prays. I love him so much!

That was definitely (in Scotland some people pronounce it definEtly with an emphasis on the et) the highlight of the week! I love when people progress, and it would be absolutely incredible to be part of the finding, teaching, and baptizing process. I would absolutely love that!

Sister Jacques is sick and we had to stay in one day this week. She's a great trainee, full of ideas and ready to learn and grow. She's also ready for me to learn and grow, which is making me learn a bit of humility. :) It's good for me and is probably what life/my mission is all about.

Not much else to report, but I do know that this church is true and that it brings me joy! The Saviour's atonement is real and cannot only cleanse us from sin but can give us increased abilities to do those things that are hard for us! The Book of Mormon is the word of God, and I feel the Spirit as I read its words. Jesus Christ is the only way we can obtain true light and life in the world to come.

Cool quote about missionary service from M. Russell Ballard: "I often suggest to those who want to know if the Church is true that they spend a few hours working with our missionaries. It doesn't take long to learn that no one can do all of the things that a missionary does every day without knowing beyond any question that what they are doing is right and true."

I have no doubt that what I am doing is right and true! I know it is blessing people in Scotland, and is most especially blessing me! I am so grateful that God has given me this 18 months to learn and to grow, and to serve His people, especially His children in East Kilbride, the best area in the mission!

I love you all! Have a good week!

S. Ricks

When the Family Gets Together after Evening Work is Done

Dearest Family,

The best news of the week is that I am back in EK! I seriously missed it here and going to Church yesterday, I thought to myself, "This is the happiest that I have ever been." I was finally comfortable in the area, sharing my testimony, and loving all of those around me. It was nice that people were excited to see and greet me and nice that I got lots of good cuddles from cool people (of course all women).

A-- is doing really well and continues to progress towards baptism! When I asked her if she would be baptized before I leave (which is probably three months), she said that she would try! That is WAY better than “no.” :) She is so sweet and we had a spiritual lesson while drinking delicious herbal tea together. I love A-- so much. Seeing her be baptized wouldn't be sweet because it would be a baptism. I don't really care about that. What would be amazing would be to be right by her side, watching her enter into the waters that will bring her the most happiness that we can give. I love her so much and desire her happiness. That is why I want to be there so badly. If I could see her baptized, I would be chuffed for the rest of my life.

Our first day out with Sister Jacques was a bit rubbish (because we were out and it started hailing and she doesn't have a good coat or boots yet and so we just ran to this nice less-active lady that we teach) but was also amazing because we found the Investigator that we were looking for (our who-what-when-where investigator). We wanted to find her and give her a Plan of Salvation pamphlet. We were walking toward this lady (after being prompted to take a different path than usual) and I forgot that we had planned to give her that, but I felt prompted to give her one anyway. When I pulled the blue pamphlet out, it was the Word of Wisdom and clearly we weren't giving her that on the street, so we started talking while I found the right one. It turns out that her sister had died two years before on that exact day. She was already thinking about life after death that day. We had a nice prayer with her and it was seriously awesome. Good stuff!

Do you remember W--, that investigator that we taught once who held Sister Jackson's hand so we gave him to the Elders? Well, he came to church yesterday. He even went out for a smoke in between Sacrament and SS. He was pretty drunk all of church. So funny.

Brother McCafferty, Brother Irvine, and Christine (all less-actives that we work with) came to church yesterday! That was exciting.

I continue to feel inadequate as a trainer, but what do you do? Keep trusting in the Lord and trust Him to help you and trust that He knows what is best!

Quote of the week: "There will be times when you will feel overwhelmed. One of the ways you will be attacked is with the feeling that you are inadequate. Well, you are inadequate to answer a call to represent God with only your own powers. But you have access to more than your natural capacities, and you do not work alone." --Henry B. Eyring, "Rise To Your Call"

I’m mailing off my Christmas package today! I have presents for each of you! Don't expect anything amazing--they are just wee things--but I hope that you all know how much I love you! I have the greatest family in the world, and don't you forget it! :)

Love,

Sister Ricks

P.S. The title has nothing to do with anything; it's just the song that is stuck in my head right now.

Michael's baptism

Me and the new companion!

From my exchange with Sister Hulet :)