Terrible Choices

Dearest Family,

Everyone in my dreams has been making terrible choices lately. 

Sister Firth decided to give her number to a man who was wanted by the police.

Bishop Broadfoot helped that same wanted man in the blue jumper escape from the police.

I drove around the fabric store trying to catch the man and give him to the police.

Davey set a bomb in a mall and was going to blow the place up. 

I left my backpack on a double-decker in Ardrossan, and my companion told me we had to get to our appointment instead of retrieve my backpack. 

Lizzy Hiller forgot to tell me that she'd invited the Glasgow Zone Leaders swimming, and so we had loads more people to feed and Elder Van Den Bron and Elder Andrews just showed up at the church, which was also our house. 

Sister Firth went into the trees with the man who was wanted. I know she was going to get slashed but then I woke up. 

SO. Let's suffice it to say that I've not been sleeping too well! I would like it if all my dream friends would make better choices. Okay? 

It has been a crazy week. We got a new companion and lost her. We saw President and Sister Brown before 7:00 in the morning. We went on three exchanges. 

Sister Steed, my MTC companion, was serving in Ayr with Sister Pitcher. Unfortunately, Sister Pitcher was ill and had to go home. So Sister Steed went with her to the mission home and then texted us during our morning run that she would be at our flat in 15 minutes as our new companion. So she came to do that! The same day we were on exchanges with Hamilton so that still happened, and then the next day (because our Stake President is amazing) they found a mini-missionary to go with her back to Ayr. So she's back in her area and we are back as the Two Amigos. Ooft...sheer madness! But now everything's sorted and so that's nice.

Last Monday we went to Ayr to help with the sisters there before Sister Pitcher went home. That was nice, especially because we got some time on the beach before we were all together. It was seriously beautiful. Ah! Way pretty. I'll send some pictures to go along with it, because it was just gorgeous.  (Fun fact: did you know Scottish people describe food as gorgeous, beautiful, and lovely? I have yet to hear them say, "This is an adorable lasagna" but it could happen any day now.)

We got to meet our investigator, Jason, at Frankie and Benny's this week. That was yummy and he almost believes in Jesus now. 

We had a Relief Society Reach-Out Night, which was good but also funny because really that is just normal missionary work to us, so it wasn't a bit deal but it was nice to have others involved.

On Saturday, we got to do a Skype Lesson! That was really fun. Our really good friend, Lorna, has a friend in Arizona. He wants to be taught the lessons, and I guess there was some kind of problem with the missionaries there and they won't return his calls. And so we are teaching him! It was cool to Skype.  A few kinks we'll need to sort out, but it was really nice to be able to teach the Restoration through such a cool medium. It's amazing how technology really allows us to share the gospel more effectively. I'm still waiting for Skype-GQing, but I guess we'll have our milk before our meat. 

Cool quote: "When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more. He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion which polish you for your everlasting benefit." Think about that when you receive your next trial/blessing. It's just good for ya! 

I can't believe that I've been out for nearly a year. In so many ways, it feels like I was wearing my yellow jumper and leaving for the MTC just yesterday. In other ways, though, it feels like I have been on a mission for a very long time. This is life now. I don't know what life would be like without finding and teaching others. In so many ways, it scares me how long I've been out because I don't have long to go. I want to use every second to its fullest—to allow others to experience, and myself to experience, the Lord's blessings for us. I know the Lord blesses us as a direct result of our obedience to His commandments, and as I continue to strive for exact obedience, I can receive blessings with exactness. How grateful I am to be a missionary! I am grateful for each of you and for your support and prayers. I love you all dearly! 

Have a great week! Share the gospel—I dare you! Triple double dog dare you! 

Love,

Sister Ricks xxx

“It Smells like a Farm. That’s what Irvine Always Smells Like.”

Dear Family,

The quote for this week's e-mail title came from Sister Allen. She came on exchanges with me from Glasgow, and she's only been on her mission for about four months.  She has been out of her area only twice. Glasgow has a really distinct smell that I love (sort of like toast and drugs mixed) and so she thought Irvine smelled so funny when we got off the train. She thinks it smells like a farm, and she remembered that from her last exchange here. I thought that was so funny, and it's also pretty true. 

I am doing fairly well. I am still loving Irvine and the work and I absolutely love Sister Jones. I love our sisters, and I love our friends here, especially Davey and Thomas. I love being a missionary and it's still the best job in the world. And the best part? The gospel is still true and so it's fun to share it with other people. 

This week had a unique challenge to it. (Side note: I keep thinking how applicable mission challenges are to life challenges. So many things that we struggle with or do here are the same things that we need to learn to overcome in life. I don't think I realized that would be the case. But anyway.) The Paisley ZLs, the District Leaders, and Sister Jones and I had come up with the challenge to give away 201 copies of the Book of Mormon in the Paisley Zone in a week. We had done this previously with 200 copies of the Book of Mormon, and it was one of the most successful weeks in our zone. So we did it again, and the success was just not coming. Our teams weren't handing out books and the whole idea of the exercise—creating excitement in the zone and gaining new investigators—seemed like it had completely failed. We were a bit discouraged and tried to figure out where we had failed. In the end, we just had to explain to the teams what we were doing and why we were doing it, and the situation improved. People started handing out more books. We all wondered, though, why it didn't go the same way that it had before, with the success being so overwhelming and rapid. Well, our friend Brother Gillardi told us that it didn't go the same because life experiences don't go the same. Even if we do the exact same thing, things need to change so that we can grow and learn. What would be the point if we always did the same thing and got the same results? There really wouldn't be any. So we should be grateful that life changes and that we change with it. :) 

Currently, we are working on increasing our progressing investigator pool. Our progressing investigators just became recent converts, and so we're going through and trying to figure out the most effective way to use our time. That is my transfer goal: to work on managing my time more effectively.  Right now we have nine or ten investigators and two progressing. We're working on helping them progress and enter the waters of baptism, but most of these people are a bit slower in their progress and so patience is required—as it so often is. 

Davey buys us groceries every week (which we always tell him he shouldn't, but he always does). So he always asks us if we are cooking, since he buys us mince and chicken and steak and things. And we tell him that we are! We have made chicken twice which is good and my cooking skills are still less-than-average. But what do you do? Have I ever told you about Scottish lasagna? It is the best stuff in the world. 

Our recent convert, Michael, who was baptized when I was in Irvine for the first time, taught us the Restoration Lesson this week. Because he is preparing for a mission, we thought it would be a good idea for him to get ready and teach us. He did such a good job, and I was so proud of him. It also strengthened my faith that people are prepared and ready to receive the gospel. Often they just don't know where to find it. And it's our job to find them and help them find the gospel so that they can find a place in the Celestial Kingdom with our Father in Heaven. 

We realized this week that we are going to be quite busy for the rest of the transfer. 

This week:

·      Exchange with Ayr on Monday to Tuesday night.

·      Exchange with East Kilbride on Wednesday morning to Thursday morning.

·      Exchange with Hamilton on Friday to Saturday.

·      Splits with Ruth and Sheryl on Saturday afternoon.

·      Sunday is church and being together.

·      Monday P-day.

·      Next Tuesday and Wednesday are Paisley and Glasgow zone and interview training.

·      Friday is Mission Leadership Council.

·      Monday is the practice in Edinburgh for the Easter Concert.

·      Wednesday we need to turn in our Eye of Faith.

·      That weekend is General Conference.

·      The next week is the Easter Concert, and the end of the week is moves call. 

I am so grateful to be busy. I am grateful for the experiences that I'm being blessed with to learn valuable life skills but also to further the work here in Irvine. 

But sometimes I get a bit stressed. And I've been a bit stress-sick lately.  Last night we had to go to Lorna's and lay on the ground because I had such an upset stomach and just needed to throw up. So luckily we were by Lorna and she took care of me! She is really the best and we are so lucky to know her. 

I found this quote this week and I just love it. It's really given me cause to ponder. 

“For it God is a socially conscious political being whose views invariably correspond to ur own prejudices on every essential point of doctrine, he demands of us no more than our politics require.  Besides, if God is finite, progressive, and Pure Love, we may as well skip church next Sunday and go to the movies.  For if we have nothing to fear from this all-loving, all-forbearing, all-forgiving God, how would our worship of him constitute more than self-congratulation for our own moral standards?  As an atheist, I like this God.  It is good to see him every morning while I am shaving” (Eugene D. Genovese, “Pilgrim’s Progress,” The New Republic, 11 May 1992, page 38; emphasis added).

Really interesting. 

Anyway. I love you all so very much! Use are the best ever! (That was me making fun of the Scottish spelling. They say You with an S on the end to make it plural, like saying you guys. But then they sometimes spell it use. I just think that's hilarious!) 

Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Ricks

Dead Good

Dearest Family, 

What a great week! Sister Kline moved off to Dublin, I got a great new companion named Sister Jones, Thomas got baptized, we went into Edinburgh for New Mission Leadership Training, we got a few new sisters—it was just carazy! 

Introduction of Sister Jones: She is dead brilliant. She's from Minnesota. She is studying at BYU (lived at Sparks 2) and is majoring in Neuroscience. She's super smart and super on the ball. She likes to run. She likes to sing. She is easy to get along with. Consequence: We're going to have a great transfer!

Thomas got baptized: I keep writing "Thomas had a baptism" or something that eradicates the need for an apostrophe. I don’t remember how to make Thomas possessive. I also don't remember how to spell possessive. But anyway.  [Mom’s note:  Thomas’s baptism] 

The baptism was great! His family came (his sister, brother-in-law, and brother) and they loved it as well. I sang "When I am Baptized" for him. It wasn't the best thing ever, but the spirit was there, and I love Thomas a lot. A few members of the ward came, and our investigator, Jackie, came.  So did Davey. It was altogether a wonderful service. He bore his testimony after his baptism and at church after his confirmation. I cannot believe that he went from a drunk man whom we taught the Restoration to to someone who is now ready for a calling and the Priesthood. Amazing! 

Other updates: Did I already tell you that Sheryl, our other recent convert, is going on a mission? And Michael, the one that I was here when he was baptized in October, is going as well? He got his long, red hair cut this week. And he got a calling!  He's now an Elder, along with another man who was baptized in May, Jon Kilkoyne. So amazing. The work is really moving forward because Heavenly Father wants to hasten His work! 

Random Fact: Irvine Ward loves to sing random songs. That is all fine and dandy but can be a bit awkward sometimes when you're the ward pianist and you flip to a hymn and don't have a clue what it sounds like. It's also awkward when you play and nobody sings because they don't know it either. :) He he he!

Sister Kline and I had a chippy on the beach in Ardrossan before she left. That was one of the cooler things I've done, and most Scottish-y. I loved that, and it was delicious. I think fish tastes better by the seashore. And covered in batter. Haha. 

Well, I canny think of anything else to share! Besides Happy Birthday to Platte and hope the day went very well! I hope that you all have the best week ever!

Love, 

Sister Amanda Ricks

P.S. President Brown is famous! He's on a church video that just went onto LDS.org called "Hastening the Work in Europe." He is the thoughtful one who is wearing our mission tie. So cool!

Better Learn How to Pray

Well hello there! 

Congratulations to Whitney and Benjamin for making it to Africa properly! Sounds like quite the ordeal, and I am glad that all has gone well. Hooray! 

Moves call was this week. Sister Kline is leaving me, and I am seriously so gutted about it. She is off to Dublin to be the STL there with Sister Lowry. I am getting a companion who came out one move after me, Sister Jones (a different one than I served with before) and she sounds great. I know she went to BYU before her mission, and she is a great singer. She has super curly hair and is really cute and just finished training. She's been in Montrose her whole mission (in the Dundee Zone) and so I'm sure this will be a brilliant transfer. 

But. I would be lying if I didn't say how disappointed I am that Sister Kline is leaving. I know that progress really only happens with change, but that doesn't always make it easy. You may or may not have been able to tell, but I have grown, by far, more in these last three months in Irvine than at any other point in my mission. Irvine is sacred ground for me in that way because my testimony, my self-worth, and my capacities as a missionary have increased. I absolutely love Sister Kline, and I love our friends here. I'm happy to be staying, but I am so sad that one of my very best friends in this world is leaving me. It's hard. But it's good. God knows what he is doing, and that brings me comfort. 

So. This week was Stake Conference.  What a spiritual feast it was! The theme was "Hastening the Work of Salvation" which is clearly the best theme in the world, and so that was brilliant. My two-minute talk went something like this: 

"I remember when President Monson lowered the age for missionary service. There was such a feeling of excitement about as I, and several of my friends, turned in our mission papers and came on our missions. What an exciting time to be a missionary! There are more missionaries now than at any other point in the world. In my group, 14 sisters came out as opposed to the one or two who would come out in previous transfers. As President Holland said, ‘The Spirit of this work is urgency, and we must give our missionaries and members that spirit of growth. We must move rapidly. We must kick things up a notch. The drama is unfolding and we must do whatever it takes to hasten the work.’ The work is surely being hastened, as shown here, but I think sometimes we forget why the work is being hastened. 

“The ‘why’ behind this is seen in an example from my young life. I remember a time my Mum asked us to go sell wee pumpkins that we had grown to our neighbours. I don't even remember what they were called, but I remember being less than enthused at the prospect. We went door to door, not because we wanted to but to please our mum and eventually the pumpkins were gone. These days, I do the same kind of activity, chapping from door to door, but my attitude is very different. This attitude shift is precisely why the work of salvation is being hastened--because the work that we are involved in is true. It can bless every life. And when we think of the why behind the hastening, we will surely want to share the gospel with our family members and friends." 

I don't know. It was something like that, anyway. Remember those pumpkins, Boomey and Whit? What are those things called? [Jack-be-littles]

But the BEST part of Conference was when President Yates spoke. He is an excellent orator in general, and hearing him speak about missionary work was incredible. It was even better because he spoke all about Davey—how they were neighbours and how he felt so terrible that he had never shared the gospel.  He explained how he gave us the shortbread and cards, and how we met Davey, and then he got baptized. He was highly complimentary, but in essence, it was mostly amazing because he just spoke about a personal experience of missionary work. That is a much better talk than someone standing and speaking about missionary work when you know they haven't actually done it. He said a few things (well, let's be honest, I took about two pages of notes purely on what he said) that were really profound and made me so excited to be a missionary. 

The hard thing about conferences is that often members think that being a good example is the way to do missionary work.  That is true; it is often the first step. But being a good example, even if the person knows you're a member of the church, isn't enough. Extending an invitation is the way to do missionary work. Whether or not they accept your invitation, you are successful if you invite. But if we just live our lives and hesitate to share the gospel, we are ultimately being the most selfish we can be: holding in the thing that is the very most precious thing to us and showing Heavenly Father that we don't think His plan is good enough to share with those that we care about. 

Off my soap box. I swear. I just have really strong feelings about these kinds of things. I really want to continue to be a missionary when I get home. I want to be a kingdom-builder!

Other things that happened this week: Mission Leadership Conference! Best day EVER! I seriously loved it and learned a lot. We had a man named President Watson come (he is the Dundee Stake President) and teach us about leadership. He showed us the quadrant thingme from Stephen Covey's book, I believe, about how we should spend our time in certain quadrants. I don't know if that made any sense but it was smashing, and I learned a lot. Being stressed and busy over things that are really important doesn't mean that you are successful. It just means that you are stressed and busy and that can take a toll. 

We went to Dundonald Castle last P-day. That was fun. It was pretty. Castles are everywhere here.

An update on T--: he is getting baptized this next Thursday! That will be really good. He came to six hours of church this weekend, and he is still excited to be baptized. If that's not an indication of commitment, I don't know what is. He really is doing well though, and is probably the sweetest man that ever lived. He sends us Post-Lesson Texts (kind of like PDT's) and says how he feels the Spirit and prays for us and everything. It's amazing that he turned from a man who we had a first appointment with when he was very drunk, to someone who is preparing to receive the ordinance of baptism. Reminds me that I have no room to judge and that everyone is the same in Heavenly Father's eyes.

"Progress is impossible without change and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything." --Lawrence E. Corbridge

I really love being a missionary. Did you know that? It is the best calling in the world, the most fulfilling thing that I could be doing. The best part is that every member of this church is entitled to the same blessings of missionary service. So go out and get some blessings! :) 

Love you all! 

Sister Amanda Ann Ricks