M&M

Hello Family, 

Because so many things this week begin with the letter "M", I thought I would fill up my e-mail with M&M's. (By the way, do you know how much I love pretzel M&M's? I really miss them. They don't have them here. AND they call their M&M's “Smarties,” which just doesn't make any sense. Anyway...) 

M-oves: I am staying in East Kilbride and training a new missionary! I am so chuffed. I love East Kilbride and have missed it while I've been in Irvine. I am also humbled and grateful for the opportunity to be a trainer. When Elder McArthy, the Assistant, talked to me after, he said, "Being a trainer is the most important calling in the mission. You have more influence there than at any other place." I am very intimidated but very excited and ready to train! It will be so much fun. I've started praying for my new trainee, as she will be getting off a bus on Wednesday morning and we will hike Pratt's hill together and then have a day of meetings before we find out who the other one is. There are five sisters and one elder coming in this moves, so it will be nice to keep it small. How lovely! 

M-argaret: It was her baptism this weekend and it was lovely! It was a bit funny though, because her recent-convert son, Jon, baptized her. I guess she didn't know that she was supposed to plug her nose, and he dunked her really hard, so she came up choking hard core on the water. She was okay though, and now that she's confirmed she's the newest member of the ward! She is lovely and it was so fun to be right on the side of the font watching her get baptized. She was pretty nervous but she did wonderfully. I was also able to play the interlude between her baptism and the closing remarks while she changed. That was fun. 

M-ichael: He is getting baptized on Tuesday! Can you believe that? Two baptisms while I've been here! Who knows if I'll get anymore, so I am savoring these! He is incredible. He showed up an hour early for Margaret's baptism to get ready; he took his Book of Mormon to read for 45 minutes on the train; he is just doing so well! He also gave us Christmas cards yesterday because he knows we're not going to see him at Christmas. He is amazing and is the most prepared investigator ever! The day of his baptism will be a month from the time they met him and we began teaching him. How amazing is that? 

M-Manok: Moves Anticipation Night of Kebabs. It's a mission tradition to eat a kebabs on the Saturday night before moves, and so we got Kebabs and ate them. Then it smelled like kebabs in our flat so we had to open all the windows and freeze to death. That's when we made our moves predictions, and we were basically spot on with them! So that's pretty great. 

M-Mission Mum: I got to hang out with Sister Nicoll this week! Because the STL had to go into Edinburgh for a mission leadership conference, I went to Kilmarnock (in our district here) and spent the day with Sister Nicoll and Sister Pugh. I really miss Sister Nicoll, and it was so much fun to be able to spend time with her! She is so sweet! We have so much fun together, and I realize now how great she was as a trainer and how lucky I was that she was so much fun and such a good missionary. I love her!

Sister Nicoll

Cutting hair

M-Member's Money: A member paid for all of the missionaries in the Paisley Zone to go Go-Karting, so we went last Monday! That was so much fun. I am awful at Go-Karting, did you know that? Yup, I really am. 

M-Most Awkward Walk of my Life: After Kilmarnock, the STL had to come and have an emergency sleepover there (second sleepover with Kilmarnock in two nights, one in Irvine and one in Kilmarnock) and so none of us had a change of clothes or anything to get ready with or wear, so we all left the next morning in the same clothes, with our hair disgusting and our makeup still partway on and partway rubbed off. While we were walking, one guy looked at us and said, "Rough night?" It looked like we'd been partying all night, and it was just awful!! Pretty funny though. 

M-y favourite quote of the week: "The Church is 'for the perfecting of the saints' (Eph. 4:12); it is not a well-provisioned rest home for the already perfected." --Neal A. Maxwell

M-y testiomony: I know the Savior lives and loves us all! I know that sometimes life doesn't make sense and trials don't seem fair or pleasing to us, but I know that if we let the Atonement shape us, and our trials shape us, that we will become far more pleased with ourselves and with our new-found strength that only comes from Jesus Christ. I know that He is the source of strength that we seek. I know He can provide comfort, wisdom, peace, knowledge, and an increased capacity to do and become the children of God that we are to become. As we give our will to Him, we will become that person we are seeking. Hope is meant to bridge the gap between where we are and where we'd like to be, and the Saviour is the whole source of that hope. As we trust Him, we will become who we want to be! 

M-ucho Amor,

Sister Ricks