You Don’t Look So Good. You Don’t Smell So Good.

Family, Family, Family,

 

District Photo

Once upon a time, in a beautiful land of windy/rainy Scotland, there were two princesses. One was named Sister Ricks and the other was named Sister Jackson. They were having some great times when suddenly Sister Ricks started feeling a bit under the weather. She was "loaded with the cold," as they would say in Scotland. As they went out to continue their work (but took naps in between) Sister Jackson told Sister Ricks some nice stories. They involved going to be jesters at the king's court, Sister Ricks meeting her future husband, Braidley Jeff Josh, and a town where nobody ever smiled except on Smile Day. Sister Ricks was so happy that Sister Jackson was so patient and told her weird stories that made her feel better. And they all lived happily ever after. 

Haha.  So that's nice. That was the worst story I've ever told. But my brain is not functioning, so that's all I could think of the now. (People say that here. Bye the now! Ta the now! it just means "for now.")

So the real news is that we got moves call and I'm staying in East Kilbride with Sister Jackson! We are so happy to stay together! It was pretty funny though, because this week a member told us that we were getting whitewashed out by elders because we weren't baptizing anybody. That made us feel pretty bad. And then our moves call didn't come until 10:20 from our district leader because our zone leaders forgot about us staying together. So funny.

We met loads of cool folk this week! On Tuesday, I had forgotten my bus pass and we were talking to a nice lady and realized that we should head home and grab it, and then she just gave me money for my ticket! She wouldn't take it back either. It was so nice of her! There really are good people in this world, loads of them. And they ALL need the gospel. How cool is that?

On the street we met a less active lady who never wants to meet with us, and she was getting soaked. Pure drookit. So I gave her my umbrella and then she didn't know where to go, so we chapped doors and street contacted people asking where Frankie and Bennie's was, instead of talking about the gospel. That was fun, but then she didn't take our directions and got on the wrong bus, using Sister Jackson's money, so that made it a little less fun. Still. Service is the best.

Speaking of service, we are volunteering at a Charity Shop that is really fun! When we went in, the lady asked what my name was and then saw my badge and was like, "Oh, Jessica!" but then realized that she'd seen "Jesus." So now she calls us Jessica and Christie! Don't know how appropriate that is, but it's pretty funny at the same time.

We've had a really great week, apart from me being sick, and have gotten some good work done. Brother S-- is still doing well, although he didn't come to church because of the weather. Church attendance was sparse yesterday; I think we had fewer than ten sisters in Relief Society! But. There you go. These things do happen! 

In Sunday School, where Sister Jackson was playing a special viola number, they were telling us about the Pioneers and the Camp Grumbler. They assigned somebody, so that if anybody wanted to complain, they had to go complain to the camp grumbler.  So, I think we should have a family grumbler. If you want to complain, you have to e-mail me. :) How cool would that be? 

Also, at church, one of our favourite members brought some of their friends that we've met who are visiting.  When I went to shake the hand of the 70-year old guy, he kissed me on the cheek. It was weird. The son of the member--Steven McNally, who is a recent RM--laughed his head off. It was so funny and so weird at the same time. 

Spiritual thought of the week: Alma 13 tells us that if we "watch and pray" continually, we will not be tempted above that which we can bear. Sometimes we think that we won't be tempted or be given anything that we can't handle. I don't know that that is true. If we watch and pray, we won't have anything that we can't handle.  We play a very active role in determining what we can handle and what we can't. If we don't pray or watch, changes are good that we won't be able to handle it. Prayer is vital. So are the other basics of the gospel. 

The gospel is true! I love it! And I love you all! 

Sister Amanda Ann Ricks 

The Spirit

Hiya Family!

This week was absolutely fabulous! Mostly because....drum roll please...Brother S-- set a baptismal date! He is planning on December 20, and although I have a feeling that I won't be here, I am so proud of him for committing to something! He wants a Friday, because that's his favorite day of the week, and he wants December because he feels good about it. I sure hope that he stays on the right track and doesn't drink or smoke. He can do it! I am so happy about my first ever baptismal-date-investigator!

Sometimes, when I compare myself to other missionaries, it doesn't seem like I've done that much. In six months, most missionaries have trained. One missionary has double trained and was Sister Training Leader at 6 months. Many have whitewashed new areas. I have just been trained and then been in an area where many missionaries have been before. BUT. Outward results do not signify lack of work. God doesn't love people with higher callings anymore than He loves those with smaller callings. He loves us all, regardless of our talent and ability and regardless of whether we are training, whitewashing, or are junior companion. Random preachy thought. :)

On P-day, we went into Glasgow and met up with Sister ASHDOWN! That was so much fun! We just went up and down Buchanan Street (the main street in Glasgow) shopping, going into places, and being happy to be around each other. It's amazing how when people hear you are going to the same mission as someone they know, they tell you to say hi to that person. I'm not sure they realize that they probably have much more contact than you do: we just don't see people other than our zones or our companions! It's pretty funny. But it made the trip to Glasgow way fun! :)

We were teaching Brother McC-- this week in the flower gardens and a bird came by, leaving us with a surprise. Hahaha.

One of my most spiritual learning moments of this week was yesterday. We were going on a bus to try by a potential investigator, and I felt like we should drop by our investigator who hasn't been getting back to us, A--.   I was really nervous to try-by, because she usually is a set appointment person and I'd never tried by before. I felt the Spirit though, and so I felt like we needed to get off the bus and try by her. As we prayed, I prayed that she wouldn't be offended and that it would be okay. I was really nervous and tried to talk myself out of going to her door, but we went anyway--and she let us in! She said she had just been thinking about us, and we were able to walk for a while with her and set up an appointment! It was a real miracle and reminded me that when the Spirit prompts us to do something, we need to do it with no hesitation! When we do something that the Spirit asks us to, we show Heavenly Father that we trust Him.

The same thing has happened as I have been working on my bus contacting this week--I am absolute rubbish at it--and I have been seeing miracles! Our numbers haven't necessarily improved, but our missionary work definitely has. We've been working to sacrifice some things (getting out the door at 10, getting to bed at 10:30 and not at 10:35, and bus contacting) in order to achieve the goals we have set for ourselves. When we set goals, I believe that we need to sacrifice some things in order for God to grant us the success of our goals. If we have the faith to set high and unreachable goals, God will send us miracles if we are willing to sacrifice for them.

I can't really think of anything else, besides some really funny drunk people who were talking to us yesterday and singing at the bus station. Apparently 5 o'clock on a Sunday evening is the time to go home from your drinking. And drunk people are sure friendly, I tell you what! They also smell a bit. But there you go.

Missionary work is the best! Sometimes I don't really know what I'm doing out here, but luckily Heavenly Father does, and He can direct my paths and my words. So many times I have not known what I was about to say as the words came out of my mouth. I can feel the Spirit powerfully in these moments, and I know that even when I don't know what I'm going to say or can't remember what I said after, I know that my teaching was powerful and also had nothing to do with me! I am privileged to be an instrument in God's hands. 

I love the Lord! I love the church! I love the Book of Mormon! And I love all of you! 

Be good member missionaries this week! Pray for some missionary experiences and they will come your way--in abundance! Can you imagine if everyone would have done the missionary work that came from that talk, "Set a Date"?  That would be awesome! 

I love you all!! 

Sister Ricks 

I Hang Out with Dad's Friends

Well Hello There Family,

The title of this e-mail comes from my realizing something this week. We were coming back from Family Home Evening and talking to our good friends/the people we see the most, and on the corner where we were setting up lesson times we realized that all of our friends are Dad's age. They are 50-year-old men! That is who we hang out with and see often! Isn't that strange? It's even stranger that one of my favorites, Brother Graham, a recent convert, wears skinny grey jeans and bright red converse. Please tell me, Dad, that you haven't changed your style to match Brother Graham's. :)

Last Monday, we went out to Rowallan Castle! It took us a wee while to get there, about a 30-minute bus journey and a 30-minute walk, but we eventually found it. We were wandering around looking totally out of place, because apparently it is an exclusive golf club and not many random people walk in to see where their ancestor is buried. It turns out that the castle only opens for tours once a month on Saturdays and Sundays, so we won't be able to go. We were able to walk around the grounds a bunch though, even use the bathroom (it was so nice that I wanted to get out fast), and take a heap of pictures. As we were wandering out and taking our final pictures, a man walked out of the house by the castle and asked us who we were and what we were doing. It turns out he was the owner of the estate and that he wasn't too happy with us. But it was still cool that we were able to shake his hand and meet him!  Apparently my "blood isn't a direct line" which kind of makes him sound more like Lucius Malfoy than anything else. But whatever. It was beautiful there--perfectly calm, green, not many people around, sunny. It made me think of what heaven is going to be like. I think people in heaven might have Scottish accents.

On Monday night, we received a text from our district leader asking us to bring balloons to district meeting. We didn't know why, but Sister Jackson and I sent a text back that said, "We don't have any in our flat! Should we go get some to bring?" He said we shouldn't, and so we didn't, but we did our district meeting with them (we filled up balloons with our unbelief and then popped them, haha), and after he said that he had gotten the responses to his texts that he had expected. He said he expected a sarcastic response from the Hamilton sisters and got one: "You mean, because we all have balloons hanging around our apartment." Sarcastic response from the elders as well. But he said he expected willingness from us, and he got it! I thought that was such a compliment! It makes me wonder what people expect of us. What do you think others would expect if they called you up for a ride or for some groceries? Would they expect you to come willingly or would they expect you to be too busy? Good thought.

On Wednesday night, we got back from our talent show in Glasgow late. It was so stressful, because we would have been home by 9:30, but the bus randomly decided to stop. I didn't see that the bus stopped at George Square rather than travelling into Glasgow, and so we caught another bus after waiting for a bit and got in by 10:00. We were running and everything, and luckily met some nice ladies on the first bus that helped us find the 6 that we/they needed. It was so stressful though, and made me worry so much that we were being disobedient! Our district leader knew, of course, but I don't know what I'm going to do when I go home and feel like I'm going to throw up when I'm not in at 9:30. Haha.

On Friday, we had a really good day even though it shouldn't have been. We had a two-hour service appointment that fell through, which was awful. A LA lady in our building dropped us a note to help her move out, and we called to confirm on Thursday afternoon, and when we showed up on Friday there was nobody there. It's the worst when service appointments fall through, because two hours of backup plans is a long time! Luckily, right after that happened, we got a phone call from Stewart Churchill, a member in Falkirk who lives in East Kilbride, wanting to take us out to lunch! Then we got another call from the senior missionaries here who wanted to see our flat to figure out the situation with the new elders coming in. We were really blessed with random things to do when we had just lost our appointment. It was incredible and we were so happy!

It's also pretty cool that we are going to get a new flat when the elders come and they are going to get ours. :) Yay! Hope I'm staying in East Kilbride.

The absolute best news of the week comes from Brother S--! He is our professional investigator who has been investigating the church for over two years and who got baptized but never was confirmed and has continued investigating. Anyway, he has some pretty significant Word of Wisdom challenges, but he's been doing fairly well. This week, we were reading over the baptismal interview questions with him to show him that he is more prepared than he thinks he is (even though he has some supernatural experiences and some different challenges that he won't really explain) and he told us that he is getting a good feeling about being baptized in December! That is AMAZING! If I could be at Brother S--'s baptism, I would be the happiest girl in the world. He hasn't been smoking this week, and he's been reading and praying and everything. We didn't change anything we did, but we had the feeling during weekly planning that one of our investigators would make some significant progress this week, and he did! It was one of those moments when in weekly planning, we didn't understand how it would happen, but then somehow the Lord stepped in and took care of it! When we leave things in the Lord's hands and don't get in the way, we will see miracles. I totally believe that, even though my faith lacks sometimes (often.) I'm working on that.

Well, the moral of the story is that the work is going well here! I love Sister Jackson and I love East Kilbride! I know I am meant to be here for some reason, and it probably has more to do with me growing than anyone else, but I know that God knows what is best! He loves us—so  much—and even though we don't always understand that, His commandments and counsels for us make us happier than anything else. I know it!

Being a missionary is the best!

I love you all!!!

Love,

Sister Amanda Ann Oompah Loompah Ricks--I started calling myself that this week and we got eight new investigators! Just kidding. We really didn't. :)

Having Haggis at one of our favorite member's house--the Rogers! They are awesome!

A funny sign that we like on the bus. Haha

The outside of rowallan castle.

Rowallan Castle!

Rowallan Castle!

Check it out--I am chapping the door of a castle! :)

 

All of us at different places in the castle. So fun!
Sister Ricks and Sister Jackson.

 

 

Me and my favorite car in East Kilbride! I think it's so cute!

Lunch with some of the girls in our District/our Sister Training Leaders.

Pret and Some New Investigators

Dear Family,

Good week.

Highlights:

Pret. We found a Pret in Glasgow.  We got it and ate it in the middle of Buchanan Street in downtown Glasgow. Seriously, it was just right back to the days of London, and it was so much fun. I love Glasgow, it is one of the prettiest cities in the world, and has the coolest train station, by far. Love it.

We found a new investigator and lost them in the same week. Haha. It was the girlfriend of a less-active in our ward, and she just moved back to Ireland the visit after we gave her a Book of Mormon. How funny is that? Seed is planted and may be reaped somewhere else. :)

We stopped a man after our dinner appointment with the Spiers (they are so nice, seriously love their family) and this guy that we stopped turned out to be an all-out crazy. We were talking about God, and then he said, "I am the perfect person for you two to be talking to. I can see the Holy Spirit in your eyes but they are pinned." I don't know what that means, but he told us that the Catholic faith is the only true church on the Earth. He told us that we needed to really look at ourselves and open our minds. He told us that he had the gift of healing and the gift of tongues, and then he grabbed our hands and started sort of praying with us and then put his hands on our heads and started "speaking in tongues." Oh my goodness, it was so scary! I know that this kind of thing is dangerous, but I was absolutely stunned and had clearly never been in that situation before--as I assume not many have--and so after a little bit I backed away, told him he was making me uncomfortable, and we walked away. Seriously, it was scary. But we were okay! We said our own prayer after and felt better.

We went by a lady that we'd chapped into a few weeks ago, L--, who hasn't been home ever since. She was there but was very busy, but I remembered the counsel of one of our AP's, Elder Okebrand, who said, "Be a little bit persistent." I asked her if she had five minutes that we could come in and share a scripture, and she let us in! We shared Alma 7:11-12, which is my go-to thanks to Sister Nicoll, and then we left! Just a five-minute appointment, but she knows that we are friendly and nice and won't stay around for forever. And she said we could come back. Miracle!

Whilst chapping, we ran into a really nice lady named J--. At the end of our conversation (she is very involved in the Church of Scotland) we asked if we could pray with her, and so she invited us in to pray and have a wee blether. My second invite into a house EVER! It was awesome. At the end, she told us we could come back anytime (which is solid, because she's unemployed), and then we ran into her today in City Center. Seriously, it was awesome. A little miracle and a little friend for the Church.

I got out of the shower one night this week, and it smelled like s'mores in our flat, but then Sister Jackson had just gotten confused and put her jacket on the fireplace to heat it up faster.....:) That jacket went in the bin.

So those were mostly the funny bits of the week. I am always writing the funny stuff in my e-mails, because I feel like most missionary e-mails are all spiritual and that makes everybody skim and not read. But maybe mine are a little far in the other direction, eh? I don't know. Maybe I'm just not spiritual.

A man in our ward was talking in Church and he was saying how the DOING in the gospel makes the difference. When we obtain answers, it is because we act on something. When Joseph Smith wanted to know the truth, he read the scripture that poses the question (if any of you lack wisdom) let him ask of God (an answer that can be obtained only through Action.) We need to ACT if we want answers. That is why we are always committed to do things, because that is the only way we will obtain answers. Some people don't have a testimony of going to church. Usually those are the people who don't go. Some people don't have a testimony of the Book of Mormon. Those people probably haven't read it. They haven't gotten their answer, because they haven't put any action forth to get their answer. Even Satan knows the principles of the gospel, and I'm sure that he knows what the Book of Mormon says. But he doesn't obtain the reward, because he chooses to act opposite to what the Book says. Interesting idea. It reminds us that we need to act on the truths that we know rather than to read the book and assume it will be absorbed in us.

Quote of the week: "Are there so many fascinating, exciting things to do or so many challenges pressing down upon you that it is hard to keep focused on that which is essential? When things of the world crowd in, all too often, the wrong things take highest priority. Then it is easy to forget the fundamental purpose of life. Satan has a powerful tool to use against good people. It is distraction. He would have good people fill life with "good things" so there is no room for the essential ones. Have you unconsciously been caught in that trap?"

Go out and do some essential things this week! Because, really, nothing else matters. :)

The Church is True! I promise!

Sister Ricks