The Miracle of Hot Chocolate

Before I forget, I want to tell you a quote that I heard from Elder Allison about Scotland: "If you don't like the weather in Scotland, blink twice and it changes." So true. Love it here.

Last P-day, I told you that I was going to a castle. We were going to go to Blackness Castle, but Brother McGowan got confused and told Sister McGowan the wrong directions and we ended up at Linlithgow Palace. That was cool. Wrong directions and still got to a sweet building. It was super old and super high and we ran up and down the stairs looking at stuff. If you get the chance, take a look at some pictures. I took some videos and pictures that I will put up when I figure out how. I wore my Team Amanda shirt as well. Gotta represent the Diabetes.

Later in the evening, they made us haggis dinners. Apparently everybody here makes it differently, but it was mash and veggies and then the haggis meat. It was pretty decent, mostly mixed in with everything else. They really like to mix their food here. Sometimes you'd get a bite of something hard in the haggis, but I'd just quickly swallow it and get more potatoes in the next bite.

Adam told me that I should write the things that we eat a lot here, so I will.

In our flat: quesadillas, pasta, and cereal. We love Iron Brew, which is a soda and the sugar free is really good. I absolutely love it and crave it throughout the day. We also love Dilute, which is squash stuff that you add to your water. It's sugar free and is delicious. Members always serve this and we have it at our flat as well. We drink it cold and hot with water from our kettle, which we love. We have a lot of Crunchy Nut cereal, because it's delicious. We eat a lot of carrots as well. So that's good. And Rhubarb Crumble, obviously. We eat lots of yoghurt.

At members’ homes: A lot of times they start out and feed you soup and then a meal. So either they have soup or salad (mostly like weeds but I still like it) and then always potatoes and usually some minced meat and veggies. One lady gave us ham and pineapple—that was good. They always do dessert as well, but I haven't figured out a "usual" dessert yet. Pudding, brownies, biscuits, donuts, they have it all.

Stuff they don't have here: Good cereal besides two kinds that I like. We have good cereal in America. Also peanut butter isn't as good here. It's okay, but definitely not as good. They don't have fruit snacks here, so I've been getting juice boxes to raise my sugar which is weird. I haven't seen any root beer or Dr. Pepper here, but who needs it when you've got Iron Brew? Those are the only things I can think of, but I'm sure I'll figure out more as time goes on.

We continued washing each other's hair in the beginning of the week. We didn't have enough money to top up our gas, so we just heated water in the kettle and then mixed it with cold water and washed our bodies and then would dump water on our heads to wash our hair. Hahaha. It was kind of miserable but so funny that it was a good experience. We figure we will be good moms now.

We were at District Meeting and I mentioned to Sister Vance that we didn't have any money (yes, I know, it was dumb of me but sometimes I talk before I think as we are all well aware) and she handed us £20 to get food and then Sister Brown took us into their kitchen and gave us tons of food. Talk about a tender mercy. We got all sorts of food to last through the week before yesterday when we could get more. Sister Brown and Sister Vance are so great.

We met with the guy who gave us his dog's card, K--. He is a solid guy. He says that he wants to learn and has an open mind, and I think he does. But he also kind of just wants to welcome us to the country. He is taking us out to lunch this next Saturday, which is fun. Another guy that Sister Rindlisbacher and I met on the street, S--, is taking us out to lunch tomorrow. Ha. It's like a date but with a companionship and instead of making date small talk, we're going to talk about Jesus! SWEET! Okay, anyway, K-- is awesome. We keep teaching him, but he is already set up to be baptized into the Church of Scotland on June 2. So we have a couple of weeks to try to change his mind!

We got W-- to set May 25 for a baptismal date, and I was so stoked about it!!! I don't know that it'll happen though. He hasn't been to church yet and won't come out to anything because of his health. He does say that he believes what we teach, but I'm not sure how much he is retaining. We had a really discouraging visit with him where he just talked and I'm starting to wonder how much he gets, but I am trying to keep a positive attitude. Once we get him at church ONCE, he will be hooked. We just can't get him to want to come enough to get down the stairs to the lift we've gotten for him and get to church. Can you tell I'm a bit frustrated with him? Ha. It's only because I love him so much and want him to make the covenants to get closer to God. He thinks he is on the downhill and might be either dying or have cancer. But then he also told me how to cure cancer if you do treatment at the proper time of day for our body clocks. He has all sorts of funny ideas about things. I love him though. And even if he doesn't get baptized, we have planted the seed that can be reaped in the spirit world. God knows what he is doing, and we just need to play our little part in the great scheme of life.

We met this sweet lady, F. S., who has been less active for a long time but was so sweet. She gave us a loaf of bread just because she thought we would need it. How sweet is that! She is so solid. She lives very near to our apartment, so that is great. I guess someone did something mean to her at church and so she doesn't come anymore. We literally have pages and pages and pages of less-actives in our area. Most have been offended over something someone else did to them. Moral of the story: People are not perfect. We can always choose to be offended. There is always something that will offend us. And sometimes people mean things offensively. We can't stop them. What we can do is change our attitude. If they say something that offends us because it's something that's wrong with us, we can choose to change that thing or brush it off. What we shouldn't do is jeopardize our relationship with God because of something as silly as our hurt feelings. Shpeal over, sorry. I just hate that people aren't coming to church :( It makes me sad for them.

We talked to this crazy lady who was baptized and then never came to church that much, I guess. She was nice but then when we started talking about religion she said she doesn't believe because when she did, she stopped using birth control and stopped wearing makeup (I guess she thought those were doctrines) and then she got pregnant but had a miscarriage. So she stopped believing in the God of the Mormons. Now she believes that pain and sickness and loneliness, along with good and health, come from God. She believes in praying to Heavenly Mother. She believes in all sorts of things. She's a bit nutty, but very nice and super fun to talk to.

On Friday, we went out to see Sister McF-- because she had been in the hospital. We ended up running into some members on our way to the bus, so they gave us a ride to her. She wasn't there (well, she was but she didn't make it to the door because she's sick) and so we ended up with a bunch of extra time that we weren't planning for. We didn't have enough time to do our backup (because that was on buses) and so we just said we would find in City Center on our way to a less-active in Camelon, D--. The problem was this: it was absolutely pouring rain. At that moment, we just wanted hot chocolate. We said that finding was the last thing we wanted to be doing. But then we decided to chuck our negative attitudes and be obedient. So we were! We had some very productive street contacts, and then we got to D--'s soaking wet. They had just pulled in and were thrilled to see us. L-- got us some towels and gave me a hair dryer for my hair (it was really wet.) They were so sweet. But then the miracle happened--hence the title of the e-mail. She offered us some Belgium Hot Chocolate. At that moment, I really do know the Lord had his hand in our lives. We had wanted hot chocolate but had chosen to be obedient, so he gave us a really sincere blessing. I know that sounds silly, but I almost cried when she offered. It was delicious, especially because we had obtained it obediently. Ah! D-- almost came to church, but then his hip replacement prevented him from it. It was awesome though.

C-- and M-- fed us lasagna which was delicious. She had decided to come to church again because some members had come to visit her! There was a world of difference in her between her not wanting to come at all and her deciding to come. She didn't come, and we don't know why, but she is on the right track, and we're thrilled about that. The work is moving forward, and I'm so happy that it is!!!

On Cinco De Mayo, the Falkirk Missionaries all wore blue--blue sweaters and blue ties. And Sister Nicoll and I ate rice and beans for dinner. Haha. The Scots don't know what Cinco De Mayo is, but they thought the blue sweaters were cute. And some Young Women in our ward made us necklaces out of daisies and dandelions. How sweet. We also went and taught K-- with Sister Kew, a member of our ward, right after church. After we taught him, she said I am a really good teacher, especially for not being out for very long! That made me feel so good. We also just barely met a man on the way to the library and he said, "You two are very confident, you must have been out for a long time." He was very surprised that I've only been out for a month. That made me feel so good. Tender mercy. God knows that I'm still scared and so He is sending me people to boost my spirits.

When we were in City Center finding with the elders on Saturday, they talked to this man for about 2 minutes and told him when church was. Anyway, he showed up!! We couldn't believe it!!! He said that he felt the Spirit and we're just all going to meet with him and take turns teaching him, I think. His name is V--r and he is so sweet. I'm so excited about him and the potential he has. He sat next to this forever-long investigator, A-- who is really enthusiastic but also kind of crazy. He claps and improvs his way through songs. He shouts "Amen!" and "Praise the Lord!" during church. He got up to play a piano song for his testimony until the Branch President stopped him. He is so funny.

For P-day yesterday, we went out to the Mission Home because Elder and Sister Rasmussen had a surprise birthday party! We had a little barbeque and we all did stuff for them. Sister Nicoll and I made up a little song about them to the tune of "Count Your Many Blessings." It was awesome and it was fun to just hang out. Then we got to stay in Edinburgh for the night and we went finding with the Corstorphine sisters. That was fun. And we got to stay in their super posh flat. They have 3 rooms, a kitchen, a huge study room, and a giant hallway. Whoa. It was sweet and it was fun to be with them.

We had Zone Meetings this morning. Some of the Elders were singing and asked me for help and it ended up being a little a capella thing of "How Great Thou Art" with me coming in on the 3rd and 4th verse with some improv piano stuff. It was so fun and they sounded awesome. We also talked about some new approaches to finding and that was helpful. We have a sweet zone. Crazy that moves call is coming this Sunday, when I get to talk to you all! So excited!

Okay, I realize that this e-mail is all over the place, but I wanted to end with this. We did this activity this week with some members, but Sister Nicoll had me do it first. We made 16 boxes. In the first four, she told me to put four people that I care about. In the second row, things I couldn't live without. Third row, things I want. Fourth row, life goals. Then, 3 at a time, she made me cross them off. It hurt crossing off things like, "Have a successful career" or "Having children." It was weird crossing off different names. But the final thing that was on my list was gaining celestial glory and living with God again. Although I had to cross off things like "Seeing my family" for things I want, my main goal is to live with God again! And when our priority is right and our main focus is to get there, giving up seeing my family for 18 months doesn't seem so tough. Because I will get to live with you for forever!! I love that. Thinking about that makes me very happy.

The Church is true! I know it is!

Love,

Sister Ricks

Best News Ever!

I forgot my journal this week, which I usually reference for the things that I did this week. But I do have my daily planner which schedules every single second of every day, so we will just try to make do.

First and best news of the week: After I finished e-mailing on Monday, we played frisbee in the park with our elders and then we went to Azda grocery shopping. And guess what I found? Just take a guess. Okay. Now I'm going to tell you. RHUBARB CRUMBLE!!!!! At least I think so. They could not understand why I was almost crying because I was so happy. I'm pretty sure it's the real deal. So I bought 10 carrtons of it and finished them all. It is delicious. It is superb. My life is complete.

Later on Monday, we went to visit G--, the less active with 5 autistic boys, to do FHE but she had to cancel. We had a lot to do so it was okay that she did. We went over to a different family, the McM--’s, but as we were on our way a member of the branch, Jayne Kirk, came out and flagged us down and had us pop in to chat! She was so nice! We had no idea who she was when she invited us in, but we figured it out pretty quickly as you can imagine. It was so nice to have someone run out and open their door to us, since that never really happens. Okay, let's face it; it only happened that one time. We went to the McM--'s later though, and they are awesome. C-- McM-- was in the Branch Presidency and has such a strong testimony. I think he was bummed when he got released so they haven't been back. Anyway, they are a great family and when we visited them again in the week, M-- (the wife) invited us over for tea this week! She said that her lasagna is world famous, so I'm excited. And then C-- came to church yesterday, which we were very excited about. It's lovely to see people come to church that haven't been there for awhile. And maybe it had nothing to do with us. But maybe it did.

On Tuesday morning, we had District Meeting. Those meetings are fun, and it's funny to talk to other missionaries about their investigators. All seem to have the same problems over here--Word of Wisdom issues and depression. It's almost a universal thing. And their investigators do weird things just like ours do. None of us are teaching a whole bunch of people, but we're all working our hardest! In our district it's the elders in our ward and then the Alloa elders--Elder Sewell and Elder Stewart. They are both jokesters and are awesome.

After District Meeting, we had exchanges. And for some reason, the Zone Leaders decided that I would lead the exchange. So Sister Rindlisbacher--who is going home in about 6 weeks--came into Falkirk and I had to plan and lead her around. I have felt like giving up until this. It was pretty tough, but I knew that I could do it and that God could help me. And He did. God is so, so good.

We did some finding in City Center, which is 5 minutes from our flat. I was so glad we did finding, because Sister Rindlisbacher is a champion finder. She talks to EVERYONE. She says good things. She is the best missionary I've ever seen. I was so privileged to work with her. At City Center, a guy told me that I have a cheeky face. I'm not sure what that means, but I'm going to take it as a compliment.

We went to T--'s, the Less Active we work with, and got to meet her daughter, S--! She is a ball of spunk. She seriously is. She loves to squeeze between us on the couch and will hug me and tell me that she is never letting me go. She gave us rocks from her rock collection. She let me have a picture. We drew her some pictures and gave them at a later lesson. She is having a hard time being bullied at school. She said to me, "No offense, but girls like you are the ones who bully me. The blonde hair, the blue eyes, the skinny, pretty girls." Ha. What a stereotype. Anyway, she has had a pretty hard time and she doesn't feel like God answers her prayers. We are trying to show her otherwise, that He may be strengthening her, even though He isn't taking away the bullying. It's tough though. Kids can be so mean. And it doesn't help that her parents tell her that she just needs to hit them back to stand up for herself. No es bueno.

On our way to T--'s, we were passing this man because we were about to be late. Anyway, he flagged us down and shouted for us to talk to him! Ha! He basically just loves Americans, and has visited America, so he gave us his dog's card of all of their canine adventures, and we gave him a mormon.org card. He was pretty solid but I didn't think was interested. But a few days later he gave us a call and we are meeting with him this week!!! That is my favorite kind of missionary work: when somebody calls you down and stops you and asks to learn about the gospel.

A few weeks ago, we met V-- on the street and he said he'd met with the missionaries a few times. Anyway, we got his number and texted him but he didn't respond until yesterday.  He asked something about cosmic energy controlling us, and I told him that God watches out for us but we make our own decisions. He responded with "I have some mates that want to learn. Will you teach them?" Ha! Obviously! So stoked. I hope it's a real thing instead of some drunk friends or something, but we did set up an appointment and hope it will go through.

On Wednesday, we visited an older lady in our ward, Sister D--. She has pretty bad depression and is so lonely. Anyway, we went and she made us lunch and everything. But probably two of the funniest things ever happened. She is really hard of hearing. So after we finished the prayer and said Amen, she was still bowed and closing her eyes for about 10 or 15 seconds until she realized we were done. I was dying. That happened at every prayer. So funny! Then we were sharing our favorite scriptures and Sister Rindlisbacher asked her to read the verse but she got mixed up and read a verse that said, "Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized". Ha. What a funny favorite scripture Sister Rindlisbacher has! Kidding, but I was seriously having to contain my laughter. It was so funny.

 We went into Camelon, the most beautiful city in the world, and were stopped by David S--. The missionaries have written that he is friendly but uninterested. His wife, L--, isn't a member. Anyway, we stopped by and they are sure chatty so we stayed for a long time. She brought us freshly squeezed orange juice and biscuits. It was lovely. He just had his hip replaced and told us his journey with the church with a lot of detours in the conversation. They had kind of a weird experience at his baptism with the branch, and he didn't get along well with the members and stuff. They love missionaries and have had them for the last two Christmases. They are going to take us out on a P-Day to some cool historical stuff. Anyway, at the end of our visit, I just said, "David, can I ask you a question and have you be honest with me? Are you interested in coming back to the church at all or do you feel like the church has had its chance with you and missed it?" He said that he was interested in coming back to church! I was so glad I'd asked so now we can know what the goal is and know he is willing to work towards coming back. After, Sister Rindlisbacher said, "Sister Ricks, that was not a greenie question! I'm impressed!" So that was nice.

We exchanged back on Thursday morning, and it was good to get Sister Nicoll back. I genuinely missed her. She is an awesome trainer and exactly what I need. I am so grateful that God knows what He is doing. I keep thinking how crazy His schedules must be, trying to get certain people to meet each other and placing each other in our paths. His weekly planning session must be intense, that's all I've got to say.

We got to have dinner with J. K. because she invited us over! Her husband was a bishop and he cheated on her with an 18-year-old girl and left her. So sad. She is the most optimistic person I've ever met, though. She was lovely and is so chatty and nice. We are eating again with her this week and are just so grateful. She is so cute. She wants to get remarried to an American. I think she should come to Centerville and we can set her up with some people. She's 38 and is the cutest thing ever. She has a sweet baby girl, E--, who is 1.

We went into West Quarter on Saturday, and nobody was really home. But we did get a return appointment at a less active member's home. It was cool though, because Sister Nicoll really needed to use the bathroom and a former investigator that we were going to try and see was working in the gas station! So we got to talk to M--, who is no longer interested in the church, but still. Tender mercy.

W-- continues to do well. He is wonderful and digests all the information we give him without question. He was so close to coming to church but then wasn't ready in time. I know that he wants to come, though, and that is half the battle! I keep promising him that we will pray and he can pray for strength to come, but it just hasn't happened yet. I was pretty glad though because then the meeting was all about temples and we haven't talked about ordinance work for the dead or anything yet, since we just finished the Plan of Salvation. So maybe it was a good thing. He says some funny things like he's brought up chastity and abortion already out of nowhere. What a silly old man. I love him so much. I think I could be a more effective teacher if I didn't care so much. I just want him to make his covenants and join the church! So when he said he'd come I was so giddy and then when he didn't show, I was devastated! I wish I didn't care so much, but it's just how I am, I guess.

At church, a couple of awesome things happened. So since it's the end of the month, we are totally out of money. I'm not sure how that happened, but we did have to buy a bunch of stuff for our flat since it was a brand new missionary one, and we didn't get reimbursed for everything. Anyway, we don't really have enough money to buy much food this week. But the members of our branch are awesome and even though we didn't tell them we didn't have many groceries, we got so many lunch and dinner appointments this week! Seriously, God is everywhere.

We got to go into Young Women's and the girls are super rambunctious but nice. So that's cool. One of the young women, Colby, and I bonded over Justin Bieber.  And High School Musical. Match made in heaven.

Our gas went out and our washing machine is broken. Since we can't take hot showers, the last two nights we have alternated. We boil water in our kettle and on our stove, mix it with cold water, and put it in the little dishes tub and shower our bodies. Then we do the same and wash each other's hair in the sink. Companion bonding, baby!

The work is moving forward so well. I am so grateful to be out serving! The gospel is true. God knows His children. We are all beloved sons and daughters of God. I can feel it as I testify to people. I know this church is true! I know God lives! And I'm so grateful to know that we can be with our family and those we love for forever. :)

The church is true! I promise! I guess I'll head off to a castle with a member now. It's whatever.

Sister Ricks

“I talk about these mattresses the way the Scots talk about the weather”

Hey there,

This week has been quite good, I would say! We've been visiting W--- a lot, with one of our members, Sister McGowan. He is awesome and Sister McGowan is great for coming with us. W--- is just a funny ol' chap. I think the main reason that he wants to meet with us is because he is lonely and wants friends, which we are willing to be. He randomly has really strong opinions about gospel principles. But he also really does seem to want to learn, and he's always telling us how smart we are to know all of these things. He digests what we tell him like he would at school. He also has been listening to the Book of Mormon, since he has double vision and can't read very well. He thinks praying is weird, and so we hope to help him with that soon. He didn't come to church yesterday because he was too tired, probably because he goes out and does karaoke on Saturday nights. :) Bah ha! But he did tell us that he went out on Sunday. He sent a letter at the Post and he lubricated his car hood because he just bought a car since it was such a good deal. He's not even sure that he can drive it yet. Haha. We call him or see him every day, and when we call it takes about 15 minutes to confirm an appointment. Scots seem to be like that. They are a chatty bunch once you get them going. I love W-- though. I love to go and teach him the gospel. He is lonely and needs the gospel to fill his life with friends who desire his salvation. We are two of those friends, and I'm so lucky to be able to be that friend for him!

Funny story: Do you remember that cute yellow sweater that I went into the MTC with? Well in our flat, the washer is awful. It's so bad and sometimes our clothes come out smelling worse than when they went in. But, back to the yellow sweater--it is a cute shade of puke green now. Beauty. Mmm.

My companion let me go running one time this week. I was so happy. I have never been so happy to run around a muddy football field a million times. It seriously felt so good--way better than situps and squats on the bed. Well, situps on the bed. Squats on the floor, though perhaps I should try them on the bed. :)

Funny story about our beds: They are terrible. I have never had a worse bed. :) BUT we got duvets from the mission home and put them on our beds last night! And I tell you what, they are delightful! We also had our heating and electricity go out this week, but after a few days of no heat we got it taken care of! And a nice lady in our branch brought us over a portable fireplace! Who knew such a thing existed? We're going to make her a treat today and take it to her. She has been very kind.

We talked to a guy in City Centre this week. Initially, he was way annoyed that we were there and said religious people are so annoying. But then he started chatting with us and telling us all about his beliefs, which were kind of psycho. He said that Noah's ark didn't really happen and that it only happened inside us. Same with Jesus' birth. Anyway, we were just chatting with him and saying that it was interesting even though we believe very different things. In the process, he looked at me and said, "You are very nice. I bet you could convert anybody. You could convert them to paganism if you wanted." Not exactly the message we wanted to send, but at least he was very nice!

Later that same evening, we met a man named D--- who had a crazy scar on his face from a prison fight. We were talking about religion and asked him about God when he started talking about the bus schedule and how dumb it was that the time was off for him to get to Glasgow. Anyway, we asked if we could get his number to give to the Glasgow elders, and he said he would rather visit us at our flat. He was kind of creepy and so we just told him to have a good night and walked away! But we did pray with him so we got to count it as a lesson. KA CHOW!

Sister McN--- is doing great. She had a really hard week since her son stole money from her to keep doing drugs. She had to call the police and it was this big mess. Anyway, she is a stress smoker but she didn't turn for cigarettes--she turned to her Book of Mormon for comfort! How awesome is that! Then she fed us. :) She gave us soup (which is always filling and should really be the main meal, but then they just keep piling up more food), potatoes and minced meat with vegetables. I was trying to eat like the Scots, with the fork in my left hand and using my right hand to always be pushing stuff onto my fork with my knife. It's difficult and I sort of look like an idiot. Then she brought us apple pie with ice cream and then more ice cream to have iron brew floats! They were so yummy! But I was also so full. Talk about a food baby.

We had zone meetings this week. It was funny having to go back to the mission home and have interviews with the president since I am just barely out, but it really was good. When we went down to the station, we ended up meeting a member, Rosa, who didn't know where church was but is still interested in the church and everything. She had this really cute son with the biggest eyes I've ever seen. So sweet! Anyway, we're going to try to stop by and visit her sometime when she isn't working.

Fun fact: All Scots seem to text using abbreviations. And since they speak differently, their abbreviations are off. Like they will say "us guys canny cum" for like you guys can come! It is pretty funny. Another lady texted us telling us her "m8" had asked her to help them out. Luckily we get texting in Scotland. They don't have it in Ireland, and it's a nice way to confirm appointments without having to call people.

We went to zone conference and it was just great. We talked all about obedience, which is basically what every talk is on in the mission field. I'm starting to wonder in what ways people are disobedient, since we talk about it so much. President Brown says that we have to be extra obedient as a protection because Satan hates his missionaries. I totally believe that. I went to the doctor after the meetings and everything went fine.  I'm not worried about it at all. They do have One Touch Strips and the kind of insulins that I need.

They gave me a curling iron, straightener, and a blow dryer at the mission home! Yay for not having to buy any!

I have exchanges this week from Tuesday to Thursday, so that should be nice.

Cool experience from this week: We were going to visit this lady and we ended up on the wrong side of where we were supposed to be. Sister Nicoll had just gotten confused. So we figured that we had been led there for a reason (there was a less active there as well that we tried to visit, but she wasn't home) and started chapping. Nobody was interested. We had a lot of slammed doors. So when it was time, we headed back, wondering why we were sent there when it wasn't successful. On our way back, we met a boy who was going to band rehearsal. He'd never tried religion and so we were able to give him a pamphlet! We also do a Who, What, Where, and When investigator that we want to meet every day and he was exactly what we had been looking for. That was really awesome. He is going to be a famous Mormon someday.

On Saturday we walked for 4 hours straight and for probably 14 miles. I have a blister because of it. :)

Yesterday, we went and visited M---, a less active. I asked if, since I was new in the field, I could teach her about the Plan of Salvation. Turns out she really wants to live with her dead “gran” again someday and wants to make it to the temple. We want to help. We're going to read the Book of Mormon with her. :) She's kind of a big lady and she told me that she thinks she has diabetes because all she wants recently is candy, and she has been drinking 4 iron brews and tons of water. I told her I know exactly how that is :) She also told me that I have "bra" hair (roll the R). Apparently that means beautiful. How nice.

I love personal and companionship study time. Seriously, I love to be able to study as often as we do. It really helps bring the Spirit when we implement the things we learn through PMG and through the Twelve-Week Training program. I can tell that it enhances our work. 

Funny thing: The second day in the field I was all about chapping. I wanted to chap everywhere. Then, this week, I've just dreaded it! I hate tracting! One night I was particularly discouraged because nobody was listening. I got to thinking, “We get to be more like the Savior when we chap doors! When people reject us, we understand a little bit more about the Savior! When he stands there and knocks, and knows someone is inside but isn't coming out, that must be really annoying. We have the privilege of doing the same thing!” So these days every time someone rejects us, I just think "Wow, I'm so lucky that I get to be more like the Savior today." Pretty awesome. Aren't we lucky to belong to His church?

I think about you and pray for you all the time!

Love,

Sister Ricks