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