HE PRAYED!

How good it was to see each of you last night! I was pretty trunky afterwards; I'm not going to lie. I also have not changed in that crying a lot gives me a headache. I went to bed with a killer headache last night. So did Sister Nicoll. That's what you get when you are sister missionaries. :)

After I e-mailed you last, tons has happened. Well, everyday, tons happens. But I guess here are some of the highlights.

On Tuesday night, we had Branch Karaoke Night. It was a fundraiser for the Youth Temple Trip and EFY. W-- was going to come, since he's a big karaoke singer, but he wasn't able to. Sister Nicoll and I went and I sang with a girl in our branch, Lauren. We sang "Breaking Free" from High School Musical. She was Troy. I was Gabriella. It was really cute. I also felt weird that we were listening to normal music, but what do you do? You just roll with the punches. That's what I always say.

Wednesday I had Smart Start. It's basically a giant ball of roll plays with newer missionaries. I got to see Sister Jones again from the MTC, which was lovely. She's as nice as ever. Really though, it was good. It was with the Zone Leaders in Glasgow, Elder Topp and Elder Snowden (he is from Orem but he doesn't know the Hartshorns, so he's probably not that cool J/K). Sister Nicoll and I were to demonstrate “How to Begin Teaching,” which was great because later in the day when we met with an investigator, S--, we basically had a 45-minute “How To Begin Teaching” lesson with him. It really was inspired that we were given that role play. It was a testimony of Smart Start and of role plays and of God preparing us. S-- met us at the York Cafe in City Center and he bought us hot chocolate. He has all sorts of questions about creationism and things, and he is really intelligent. He recently lost both his mum and dad and so we hope to bring him some joy with the gospel. He is a really good guy, and we are meeting with him again this week.

Wednesday continued to be full of tender mercies. We went over to West Quarter, and our appointment was not there. We decided to try by a lady named C-- that we have already tried multiple times, and she wasn't there again. Since our appointment and our backup had fallen through, we decided to just chap where we were. We knocked and the lady, C--, that we had been looking for opened the door and let us in! I guess we just had the wrong address. I was so happy that Sister Nicoll had decided to chap that specific door, finding a lost sheep that we had been looking for! Ah. So good.

We taught W-- the Word of Wisdom because he smokes and drinks coffee. He wasn't totally sold, but it was an okay lesson. Here's a little excerpt from my journal the morning after we taught the lesson: "He took it pretty well.  I am still just frustrated with him since he isn't reading or praying or wanting to be baptized anymore. I was super discouraged about everything last night, just wondering what I'm doing here." Hahahahahaha! The joys of missionary work!

I had a dream on Wednesday night that I had an English final that I hadn't studied at all for and I was reviewing the novels and it was Lord of the Flies and I couldn't remember if Simon or Piggy died first and about the glasses and the conch. Weird.

On Thursday, we visited a family.  It was the most stressful visit of my life. I am pretty sure that all 5 of their kids (besides S--) have some serious special needs. While we were there, the little girl kept leaning on me and giving us her toys. She gave me this ribbon to play with, and then she took it back and let the cat play with it and get it all wet, and then handed it back to me. Gross!!! Two of the boys got in a fist fight while we were there, as in one of them punched the other one in the nose. Ah! I didn't even know what to say after. It was so loud and stressful! The parents are actually being watched sort of right now, because the State is deciding if they can raise their kids in their home, which can use a lot of work I guess. Anyway. They are really good members of the church and come every single week. It was just kind of a funny visit. We did show them an "I'm a Mormon" video, and since we were the only ones who watched it, Sister Nicoll and I really loved it. ;)

On Friday, we did service for the Irvine Family. They are probably the most perfect family, that I've ever met. Each of their children is gorgeous. They are great helpers as well, even their 9-year old. Anyway. We stripped some of their wallpaper, which was a good time. We jumped on their trampoline and ate lunch with them. It was a joyous occasion. I call Brother Irvine Brother Ferrell because he looks just like Will Ferrell. He decided to set me up (after my mission of course) with one of the 3 YSA men in our ward. They are each probably 30. Anyway, two of their last names start with M so he calls me Sister M now, and I get really embarrassed. So now his son calls me Sister M too. Ha. Goofs.

C-- and M-- are completely different this week. Last week, when they had decided that they were coming to church, you could just feel the spirit radiating from them. They were so excited! This week, since they didn't come, they've been dodging our phone calls and so we finally just stopped by. Their home is a different place. I don't know what happened, but it is heartbreaking. Satan really works on people who are making good decisions.

We had FHE at Sister Meade's (YW President) with J. K. It was so much fun. Colby, Sister Meade's daughter, did our nails and updated us on Justin Bieber, because she is probably the biggest Belieber I've ever met. They are going on holiday and brought out all the clothes they've bought.  So classic. They are wonderful friends, because they've both joined the church semi-recently and also recently been through divorces. God prepared them to meet each other.

This week, while we were out finding, we walked past this lady at the bus stop that I thought I should talk to but ignored the prompting and kept walking. I hate it when I do that because God isn't going to trust me with more promptings if I don't act on the little ones He does give me. So we went back and talked to the lady and gave her a Book of Mormon! She didn't give us her number or anything, and we will probably never see her again, but at least we planted the seed and she may read. I've ignored a lot of promptings, but I was glad that I went back and showed God that I am trying my best to follow the promptings I get, whether they are from me or the Spirit. It just doesn't matter if they are good. And everybody needs to hear the gospel.

On Saturday, K-- (the guy who's getting baptized into the Church of Scotland on June 2) took us out to lunch to this really nice Italian restaurant. The waiter was hilarious and was sort of hitting on me all of lunch. I wasn't sure what I wanted, so he told me he would bring me a surprise. He did, and then covered my eyes with his hands. It was so weird and I felt like I was being disobedient somehow. Ha! It was delicious though. As we left and I went to shake his hand, he brought me in for one of those Italian cheek-to-cheek things. Dah! So funny. It was a lovely lunch with K-- though.

I already told you about how D-- and L-- gave us brallies and CDs. They also fed us lasagna, which was so good. A few years ago, she accidentally got the wrong kind of meat out to make lasagna with. She got turkey meat instead of normal beef. Anyway, it's so sweet and delicious that she never went back! She is a fabulous cook and taught me that if you are eating food from a skinny cook, it won't be as good. :) She knows it's just an excuse, but she is sticking to her taste testing. She also made us shrimp salad that was delicious and chocolate mousse for dessert. It was so good. I was so full after, though, because K-- had fed us at 1 and they fed us at 5. So stuffed!

Sunday was awesome! Church was so good because it was a young man in our branch's farewell. His name is T.J. He gave a 2 minute talk. We sang "Come Follow Me" which went pretty well. K-- came after with us to the Munch and Mingle for T.J. He liked it, so that's good. When I told him that moves call was Sunday night and that we might move, he was so sad! I said that chances were high that we would stay together, and if we didn't then that at least one of us would stay, and he was heartbroken. He said, "You will split up? But you are such good friends!" Haha. He doesn't really understand missionary work, but it was so cute that he really wanted us to be with him and together.

Cool story about W--: We have invited him to do a lot of things, but he wasn't really taking anything in. Since it was our 9th lesson with him and he still hadn't prayed, we decided to focus on that. After we listened to the Book of Mormon introduction with him, we just decided to keep explaining prayer and get him to pray. It took him a really long time, but we finally just bowed our heads and waited for him to start. He did. He thanked God for the American sisters who come teach him. He says that he doesn't see any contradiction in our beliefs with his, besides not drinking coffee. He just chatted with God and then asked us how to end. Ah! It really brought the Spirit in, and I cried. Having your investigator pray is one of the most special things. He told us he really did feel like he was talking to someone. Ah! It was so nice. Earlier in the lesson, he told Sister Nicoll and me that he thought we were angelic, like that we were sent to him at that specific time. I don't know that he will be baptized, but he does have great faith and great values. I love him so much. What a sweet man.

Sunday night was the best part, obviously, since I got to see you all! I cannot believe how big the kids are getting. Asher is huge. Hazel looks just like Belle. I can see a big difference in both Madi and the Little Guy. They are both talking more and seem more confident. I hate that I'm missing it! But I know that I'm where I am supposed to be. It is so good to be on a mission. I know the work is good, that it's hard, and that it is helping me grow. I was reading this morning in Jesus the Christ (I love this book so much) about when Jesus was preaching and He got word that His mother and brothers were waiting for Him to come talk to them. He said to His disciples that He had more important things to be doing, because He needed to be preaching. It was kind of an eye opener to read that. I wish I had that kind of attitude. We get to talk to each other 2 more times in the 17 more months I'm gone. And it's not because family isn't important, because it is. But right now that isn't supposed to be the most important thing to me. The most important thing should be missionary work, those I'm working with, and bringing other people to Jesus Christ. That is my goal: to have that be my goal by the end of my mission, because it isn't quite yet.

Cool thought about prayer: In Jesus the Christ, it is talking about how often words cannot express the things we want to when we are praying. I've felt that. My words aren't adequate. It says, "Prayer is made up of heart throbs and the righteous yearnings of the soul, of supplication based on the realization of need, of contrition and pure desire...Prayer is for the uplifting of the supplicant. God without our prayers would be God; but we without prayer cannot be admitted to the kingdom of God." Prayer is so huge! God is the one I turn to when I am homesick, when I am lonely, when nobody is listening to us. And without that, God would still be God. He doesn't change. But our attitude changes when we pray. We change our will to be His will. That is the point of prayer!

I love this gospel. I love you all. I really can't say how good it was to talk to you, and how it did make me homesick but also reminded me that I want other people to have the blessing of an eternal family that I have. I've seen so many families here, and each one I see makes me more grateful for each one of you. We are blessed to have an incredible family! I keep thinking of how special it was when Whitney went through the temple and we were all there in our temple clothes. So wonderful. We are going to be a forever family and I'm so grateful!!!

I love you all!!

Love,

Sister Ricks