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.