Dearest Darlingest Momsy, Popsicle and
Other Interested Parties,
This week has probably been the hardest
but the week I have grown the most on my whole mission. It's incredible how God
blesses you with opportunities to get closer to Him and understand better His
will for you. It doesn't seem fun at the time, but you grow and grow and
eventually will stand with Him and understand why you had to go through those
times. I am excited for those days, but, like Paul, I "glory in my
tribulations" because I know I am getting closer to Christ and to my
Heavenly Father. How blessed am I!
Let's start with the worst day: 3 July
2013. Seriously. So bad! Hahaha! I'll just type up little portions from my
journal.
"The first man we stopped on
the street this morning kind of set the tone for the whole day. He told us all
about how Joseph Smith was a phony and a criminal and told us why God didn't
exist. I didn't even know what to say. So inadequate."
"Our appointment with S-- had
fallen through so it was just a long finding time. Finally we finished, and so
I decided to do a bus contact home. I just happened to sit next to the least
friendly person I've ever met. I said, 'It's a nice day!' and she said, 'No,
it's not a nice day!' and there was clearly a tone that said, 'Do not talk to
me.' So then I spent a nice 15-minute bus ride sitting next to a lady who was
clearly angry at me. Awesome."
Later in the day, we were walking along
this road on the way to the Medical Place where I got set up. We stopped a man
and he heard the word missionaries, threw his hands up in the air, and walked
away. Then "this woman was walking toward us and I thought, 'Heavenly
Father sent this woman to us to make up for the rubbish day' and so we stopped
her and she pointed her finger right in Sister Jones’s face and said, 'Get away
from me.' Oh my goodness. At home, if I would have met any of the people I did
today, I would probably be sad for three weeks. We just happened to meet every
grumpy person in East Kilbride. Ah! So crazy."
After we stopped those people,
especially the lady who told us to get away, we just stood there on the street
and realized how sad the day had been. We were laughing our heads off, but we
were also crying. Sister Jones was bawling. It was so funny but it was also so
sad in so many ways. It reminded me of the quote from Ellen Degeneres,
"Laugh. Laugh as much as you can. Laugh until you cry. Cry until you
laugh. Keep doing it even if people are passing you on the street saying, ‘I
can't tell if that person is laughing or crying but either way they seem crazy,
let's walk faster.’ Emote. It's okay. It shows you are thinking and
feeling."
Seriously. We were crying and laughing
on the street. It was absurd. What a crazy day it was!
Anyway, on Tuesday, we went to see our
referral. We'd gotten his name from the Hamilton sisters, I believe, and we'd
had it for a few weeks but they knew he was on holiday so they told us when we
could contact him. It's been exciting to have, and so we went to his door and
were pretty happy about it. When we got there, it was the man we were looking
for, but he was very not interested
in the gospel. Neither was anybody else on his street. But it was the prettiest
street I've ever seen (I sent a picture of it), and we also talked to a lady
who wasn't interested and then as we went down her steps, her nun was coming up
the stairs. Haha! So funny!
We got to meet twice with a lady whose
name is P--. Sister Jones and Sister Robertson chapped into her and she told
them she'd actually met with the missionaries before. They went home and she
was a former investigator whose name they had marked as one they wanted to go
and visit. Crazy! She is incredible and is so prepared. She has two girls that
she knows need a spiritual foundation, so we gave both of them a Book of Mormon
and they said they would read 2 Nephi 31 this week. She is married to a Mormon
who isn't active but whose father is very active in the ward. So many connections
that are not coincidences! We are happy that we get to teach her.
We also chapped into this man who was
possibly the strangest gent I've ever met. His wife told us to go away but then
he wanted to talk. And he might have had dementia maybe, or just was kind of
different. He told us that people are so immoral and dress so scandalously. He
told us that he wanted to hug us. He told us his wife had cancer. He told us he
had a Book of Mormon. When Sister Jones asked his name, he said, "Oh, do
you want to date me?" Ha. It was so odd but also really funny.
Independence Day was good! It was
pouring rain outside in the morning (it was sort of bad weather mostly all
week). I wrote in my journal, "Usually on the 4th of July, it is so hot
that I am sweating and wearing sunglasses. This morning was raining buckets! Ha
ha ha!" Anyway, that was funny. The best part about the 4th of July was
that a member, Sister Green, had us over and celebrated with us. They had an
American flag on the wall and we sang "America the Beautiful" and
"The Star Spangled Banner." They also sang us some Scotland songs and
told some jokes. We ate "American food"--roast chicken, tatties
(potatoes), vegetables, and apple pie. She also bought us a watermelon. It was
so sweet and was a 4th of July that I will remember!
We taught a lady named L-- who worked
riding horses! That was cool. She doesn't believe in God, and so we tried to
keep things really simple with her. I did feel that the Spirit was guiding me
in what to say. We tried to get in contact with her again, and she hasn't
gotten back with us, so it probably won't go anywhere, but maybe we
planted a little seed to believe in God.
Church was really good. We went to ward
council, which we've never been invited to in this ward, and it was so good.
Missionary work in East Kilbride is starting to go through the ward council
just like it is supposed to. The Bishop gave us a bunch of ward directories and
asked us to combine all the notes made by people onto one list. We are excited
for the responsibility and then we will be able to go through the list with the
ward council and they can tell us who to focus on! I love when missionary work
goes the way it is supposed to. The bishop is really trying to do things the
way the Lord wants them done. And that is the way we should do it!
We went finding yesterday at this
castle and lake. So many people were out because it was gorgeous weather. We
met two people who talked with us for a long time. One doesn't accept the Book
of Mormon but really should be Mormon because he believes everything we do
except that Jesus Christ came to America. Anyway, he was really nice. We also
met a man who told us he was a prophet. And since we talked to him for awhile
and I was chatting with him, when we walked away Sister Jones said,
"Sister Ricks, you didn't really think he was a prophet, did you?"
Haha. She was just making sure we were
on the same page and that I believed in the church and everything. Luckily, I
do! :)
Well, that's about it. It was kind of a
tough week but I have faith that it is getting better! We got 19 lessons this
week, which is really good here. I am feeling happy and fairly positive about
the work.
I've been thinking about how God turns
our weaknesses into strengths. I feel like one of my strengths is stopping
people, because I feel really guilty when people go by. That is a strength and also
a weakness. I really hate stopping people and I still get scared. But He's
blessed me not to love it, but to do it. So that is great.
I love you all and pray for you! Have a
fabulous week!
Love,
Sister Ricks
