Happy New Year!!!

I'll just send a quick email today. Because it was Christmas, I was able to talk to my family! Which reminded me of a very important lesson:

1. What a blessing it is to have family. Heavenly Father certainly knew what He was doing when He organized the unit of families. They bring so much joy and love and comfort. Of course, family life can be really difficult sometimes. But the gospel of Jesus Christ blesses families and heals families in a way that we just can't do on our own. Whatever Jesus Christ touches is healed. Whether it be a friendship, a marriage, a parent/child relationship, anything! When that relationship has been touched by the love of Christ, and each person tries to follow the principles of Christ's gospel, many miracles come!

I love you all so much! I hope everyone is doing well and is healthy and happy. I hope you all were able to remember who the Christmas season is all about, and that you shared the love of Christ with those around you. 

I know that Jesus Christ lives. I know that through Him, we can live with Heavenly Father and our families forever. I know that true peace and joy comes when we live the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Love, Sister Ricks

Merry CHRISTmas! December 23

Is anyone else amazed with how quickly Christmas came? What happened to the last 3 months?! What an amazing time of year though! People are willing to put aside so many differences and be kind to strangers just because we are all celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. We've had an awesome week of meeting a lot of members of the church that haven't been to church in a while. It seems like people are more willing to put aside the superficial at this time of year and really talk about what matters most to them. We've met some amazing people that we are able to help remind about Jesus Christ and what He's done for them. That's what Christmas should be about!

Lessons:

1. The Spirit of CHRISTmas. While I'm thousands of miles away from my family and friends for Christmas, most people out here think that I should be super sad and lonely. I'll be honest, there are moments when I crave being home with you all. But for the most part, it's a cool experience to get away from 1.things that don't really matter (the parties and the gifts, etc) and 2.things that matter most of all (my family and friends). Being away from it all, it's easy to differentiate and see what I really miss and what I want to focus on at Christmas time. At home, it all seems to mix and the superficial seems as important as the non-superficial. But now I see that what I care most about is the people in my life. I care about Jesus Christ and what He has done for me. I care about the gift that He has given me to be with my family forever. That is really what this season is all about! Showing gratitude to the Lord Jesus Christ for giving us all the opportunity to find happiness with the ones we love. I sure love this season!

2. Love is about other people, not yourself. I saw an example of real love this week. It was simple and may seem insignificant. But it jumped out at me with a lot of force and I realized that love is always about other people. We were at a lesson and singing a song. There were 7 of us, and we were singing out of the hymn book. One of the ladies is an older woman who is mostly blind. She couldn't read out of the hymn book so she wasn't able to sing along. A younger woman leaned over and read the words to the older woman so that she would know the words to sing. The younger woman didn't think twice about letting the older woman have the blessing of singing a hymn to God. It was simple and sweet and full of love. I want to always be like that- I want to think of others before I think of myself.

This is a wonderful time of year, and a great time to get things into perspective for the upcoming year. I hope you all take the time to think of Christ and remember how blessed you are because of what He did for you. I know that my Redeemer lives!

Love, Sister Ricks

This is what happens to your door when it is locked in the middle of night and you and your companions try for half an hour to open it and just have to go to the bathroom so badly that the only option is to break it..... :)

Probably the tiniest, cutest old woman I've ever seen in my life

Some members through a Christmas party for some of us missionaries!

Its SOOOOO Cold!!!!!

See if you can do this math:

Arizona girl + New Jersey weather= ?

If you guessed "a really bad cold", you're completely right. The humidity is painfully cold out here! Luckily I'm feeling much better, so hopefully I'll be healthy in a few days.

Christmas is next week!! How the heck did it come so fast? Being a missionary around Christmas time is such a unique and fun experience. I am able to see the Spirit of Christ(mas) so clearly and it's a huge blessing. I love this time of year that people take away the label of what religion or race or gender they are, and they just let the joy of Christ shine through them. It's amazing! 

Lessons this week:

1.The more I serve, the more I am served. I can't stop the blessings from flowing when I give of myself to God by helping His children. Here I am a missionary who is serving other people, but they just keep serving me right back! It's a math equation that just doesn't add up. But I'm grateful for it!

2. Miracles happen when you put things in the Lord's hands. Of course, you have to work hard and do the best you can. But then realizing that things out of our control will be taken care of by God. We saw a LOT of miracles this week because we worked hard and trusted that God would take care of the rest. 

3. I have finally given my heart and mind completely to God. Up until now, I've been serving with my might and strength, but not entirely with my heart and mind. I've been doing the correct motions as a missionary, but in the back of my mind I've held onto who I was before I came out on my mission. I've been afraid to change so that I don't go home as a "weird" missionary. BUT, I realized that that is not losing myself in the work. That is not letting God change me for the better. Now, I'm hoping to come home as a "weird" missionary, because it means that I gave up all of my desires to serve God. I can focus on being a normal person when I get home, but right now, I need to focus entirely on doing what God wants me to do. And I'm excited to see what He makes of me!

This has been an amazing week and I feel so blessed each and every day. I'm grateful to be a representative of Jesus Christ- it's a huge privilege to do so. I know that Jesus Christ's church has been restored on the earth in it's fullness. His church is back on the earth today, just as it was when He was on the earth. The church that I represent as a missionary is lead by Jesus Christ, and I am grateful to have the knowledge that I can live with Him and with my family forever. Share that good news with the people you love! Don't hold back that greatest gift from people because you're scared. God will back you up if you are doing His work. 

I love you all so much and I'm so grateful for the support and love that I have! 

Love, Sister Amber Ricks

Transfers! December 9

I'm...........staying! Sister Jensen is leaving though, and I'm really sad to have her go. She is my "mom" on the mission, because she was my trainer. We've gotten really close and it will be weird to not have her around all the time. But Sister Bernards and I are staying, and I know that we're going to have a ton of fun. She's a hard worker and is really good with keeping focused on the work, so I'm excited for the miracles that we are going to see in this area.

We had an exciting change happen in Stake Conference yesterday. We got a new Stake President because the old one is called to be a mission president. He was awesome, but I'm excited about the new one. Via Sikahema (This awesome Tongan man who played for the Eagles for years. He's super famous around here and played a HUGE role in getting the land purchased for the Philadelphia temple) is the new Stake President, and when he spoke on Sunday, he made it VERY clear that he is going to PUSH member missionary work. He called himself the Missionary Stake President, because that is what he's good at. He's a way humble man, but bold stated that missionary work is the thing that he knows how to do best. I'm way excited!

Also, we had a huge snow storm yesterday when we got out of Stake Conference. As we were driving home in bumper to bumper traffic, there were a lot of cars that got stuck in the snow. Sister Jensen and I jumped out of the car and pushed car after car out of the snow. Some other missionaries saw and came to help too. That was SO fun!  

Because I am no longer a 'Greenie' or a 'Golden' as my mission calls it, I get to have Facebook. But I'm not able to add anyone from back home as a friend, and you're not supposed to comment on anything. It will be an open profile so everyone can keep up on what's going on, we just can't be friends.

As for my lessons this week:

1. When you are struggling, pray for help to recognize your weaknesses. As you do so, Heavenly Father will let you know what your weaknesses are so you can work on them. If you don't try to recognize where you are weak, you may stay in a painful cycle for a long time until you know what you can work on. I had a pretty tough week again last week. I wasn't sure why, but I was just struggling. So I prayed hard. Heavenly Father graciously made me aware of what it is that I struggle with, so I am now able to focus on improving that area of my life. I'm excited to see what He helps me to become.

2. The Spirit at the temple is amazing! If you're feeling low on the Spirit in your life, go to the temple. Either go inside, or even just walk around the grounds of the temple. The closest that I can get to the temple right now is going to the Philadelphia temple site and to the visitor's trailer. Even in there, I feel the influence of the temple. Make the temple a regular part of your life!

3. You can make your own personal mormon.org pass along cards! Go to https://mormonorg.lds.org/profile/share/pass-along. They are SOO cool! You have to have a mormon.org profile for it to work, just so you know. Print them out, use them!

I love you all! I love the Lord and I love my chance to be stretched and to grow a lot! 

Love, Sister Ricks

We helped push lots of cars that were stuck in the storm! Yeah Missionary Power!

Came out of Stake Conference to a Snow Storm!

I graduated from being a "Golden" or a "Greenie"

At a SUPER pretty site in Philly

The Liberty Bell

Thanksgiving! December 2

Thanksgiving last week was so fun! I didn't know that my body could physically take in all of that food. We had 5 meal appointments that started at 10am... I love the members of my ward so much!

This was an interesting week full of learning the same two lessons...

1. If you have a good thought, act on it. We had so many little miracles this week. Almost all of them came in the form of a thought that we chose to act on. One of us companions would have just a simple thought to stop and talk to someone, or to go visit someone's home and we were able to find so many people that have already been prepared to hear the gospel and to grow closer to Christ. Moroni 7:22 testifies about how all good things come from God. So if you have a good thought, regardless of how weird or out of the ordinary it is, have the faith to act on it! Miracles follow faith. Look up the definition of "Faith" in the Bible Dictionary- it's cool.

2. Honesty. Honesty will save you from a whole bunch of struggling. I have a tendency to hold on to things that are bothering me and I don't talk about it. But that is not being honest with myself, with Heavenly Father, or with those around me. If I can just be honest with how I am feeling and just talk with my companions or with Heavenly Father, I can feel happy so much faster. Honesty makes all the difference in relationships, and I'm so grateful to have the opportunity now to practice being honest with those around me. 

Sorry for the short letter this week! I love you all and I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Enjoy this Christmas season and think of ways that you and your family can remember WHO the Christmas season is all about! The Church is true!

Love, Sister Ricks

Soooooo cooooooold! November 25

FIRST of all, I realized that I put the wrong scripture reference in my letter last week... oops! I think I did that another time too.... sorry about that!

Second of all, I don't think I've ever been more cold in my life than being out here! People were not lying when they said that would happen. Humidity + Wind = Misery. Haha. There were times this week when I was completely convinced that my face was just going to fall off. Luckily that hasn't happened....yet.

I've got to be quick this week. The biggest lesson that I learned this week:

1. Service is an incredible source of softening people's hearts. We decided to go around a neighborhood and offer to rake people's lawns. Some turned us down, but a couple let us do it. It was nice to actually do some manual labor! But it was even cooler because the second woman who let us rake her lawn is now an investigator! She was super nice and we met her kids and she was so touched by our service that she wanted to just talk to us to understand why we would do that. We were able to teach her about the Restoration of Christ's Gospel and she completely opened up with her life. 

I love you all so much! I'm so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life. I feel your prayers and I'm grateful for that! Remember that Christ lives and He is always accessible!

Love, Sister Ricks

Artsy picture?

The Philly Love Statue!

Artsy again :)

Elder Morgan was an EFY participant at one of my sessions this summer!

My companions and me in front of a cool mural in Philadelphia

2 Baptisms!!!! November 18

Yesterday we had two baptisms! (Did you guess that from the title?) They were both so ready to be baptized and it was beautiful to soak in the experience of all that we have been through with them, and seeing them enter the waters of baptism. What a blessing! And J who was baptized last week was confirmed yesterday. She is such a sweet old woman and was so nervous to be in front of the ward, but she did it anyway. It's incredible what these people are willing to do, and what fears they are willing to overcome to make the decision to be baptized and confirmed. T, who was baptized yesterday, told us earlier in the week that she would "cancel anything or do whatever [she] needs to to be baptized." Reminded me of King Lamoni's father in Alma 20 when he said that he would "give away all [his] sins to know [God]." The gospel is amazing!

1. People REALLY can change. That true change comes as a person is willing to turn their heart to God and to follow His commandments. One of our investigators is pretty closed off and hesitant of people. She's not someone that I would describe as warm and cuddly. I was honestly a little scared of her the first time that I taught her. But as she has made changes because of God's commandments and to prepare for baptism, her entire demeanor has changed. Every time we meet with her now, all of us are rolling on the floor laughing. She is kind and loving and I'm amazed to see her warm up to different members of the ward. The gospel changes people, whether you believe it can happen or not!

2. Music is very powerful in inviting the Spirit. We have begun using hymns in more of our lessons and it's beautiful to watch a household that is chaotic just settle down with the Spirit when music is sung. Try it! If you're wanting things to calm down around your house, try singing a hymn and just pay attention to your feelings. If it's done in the right attitude, the Spirit will be invited.

3. I love rules. Okay, if you were drinking a cup of apple cider and had to spit it out because of my comment, I'm sorry! I know, I know, I've always been one to not like rules. But, just like our investigator, I have been changed. I've come to recognize the need for rules and I've realized how blessed we really are when we follow rules. I love having a rule and having the opportunity to be obedient. That's all they really are- Heavenly Father's excuse to bless us. He gives us a rule/commandment, and if we follow it, He can overload us with blessings. I love that Man.

Good news! Last night we were asked if we are Amish. We've also been asked if we are Nuns. Darn, I thought our cute outfits made us stand out a bit but....

I love you all! I know the Church is true and I know that God loves us!

Love, Sister Ricks

Yes that is a skunk on my head. And a raccoon on Sister Jensen's head

From behind!

In a tractor!

Amber Street!

The beautiful Fall leaves

D's baptism!

One of Those Weeks -- November 11

I just read the email from my younger brother on his mission in Utah and it's interesting, at least to me, that he had "one of those weeks" too. It's a cool experience being on a mission at the same time as my brother. But wait! We are all on missions with our brothers and sisters ALL THE TIME. You get it? Ya know... cause we're all member missionaries? :) Okay, that was cheesy. I'm done.

Anyway, I had one of those weeks where things are a little more tough and Satan is a little more mean. But of course, with difficulty comes much learning. Here are a few of the lessons I got out of this week:

1) Satan attacks HARD when you are about to make a really good decision. One of our investigators was baptized yesterday (woo hoo!!) but we had a darn hard time getting her interview done. We had to have a male present who is not a missionary and for the life of us, we couldn't find anyone. We literally knocked on random people's doors at an elderly home to see if ANYONE would come out, but they all refused. FINALLY as we were about to give up, we found a man who is a friend of ours, and the Elder was able to do the baptismal interview. Many other things happened that could have prevented her baptism, but we were absolutely determined to not let Satan win and she was baptized! If Satan is coming at you hard, you're very likely doing the right thing. Don't let him win! Remember how hard Satan came after Joseph Smith when he was about to pray to God about which church to join? Yeah, Satan is still using the same tactic.

2) I am weak. Really weak. Really super weak. Hahaha.

3) Okay fine, I'll expand #2 a little more. It's funny because both of my farewell talks that I gave were on the topic of "pride". And here I am, painfully realizing how prideful I really am. It's HARD to be humble. Heavenly Father is being really patient with me though, and letting me try to be humble on my own. Hopefully I can figure it out before He has to get even more involved. But when we choose to truly humble ourselves and realize how much we need Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, we come to be so much closer to them than we even imagine we could be. I've got a long way to go to really be humble.

4) Reading scriptures is a privilege and a blessing. I've been reading through the Book of Mormon again since I got out in the field, and I've come to love it more than I ever have before. I really really really hope that when I get home, I make it a priority to set aside 30 min to an hour every day to read from the scriptures. It has only been through consistent reading of my scriptures that I've really learned to LOVE the scriptures and to look forward to reading them every day. But that consistency really is the key. When it's sporadic, it's easier to let that time of the day be something that you put off and that sometimes you may even dread. I understand that, I've been there. But now that I've learned how much I can truly LOVE reading the scriptures, I hope to always stay consistent with reading and studying them. 

5) I've learned a looooot about companionship in my short 2 months on my mission. It's really cool knowing and understanding that no matter what differences of opinion my companions and I may have, if we are being contentious and having any problems, the Spirit will not be there and we will not succeed in missionary work. Plain and simple as that. If we want to succeed, we must have the Spirit, and to have the Spirit we must be in harmony. We don't have to be perfect, but we do need to be in harmony. That harmony part is really difficult sometimes. But my goodness, I'm learning that no matter how RIGHT I think that I am, it doesn't matter. Harmony is so much more important than my pride. So I've got to give up those stupid ideas that I have, and humbly accept that just loving my companion is always best. 

I'm certain that marriage is the same way. Being in harmony with your spouse and just loving him/her is ALWAYS the best option. It doesn't matter how RIGHT you know or think that you are, you need to just let it go. Because if you're not in harmony, the Spirit will not be there, and you will not succeed in your marriage. 

It's been a great week. Difficult, but great. That's what missionary work is supposed to be like, right? :) I'll send the picture from the baptism. It was great and I'm so blessed to be somewhere where we have so much work to do. Also, we finally got ward missionaries yesterday!! I can't tell you how excited we are to finally have them. Ahh!! 

I love you all! I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is God's true church here on the earth. If I didn't know that, I wouldn't be out here. But I am out here, because I want the world to know that this is where true happiness is found. That's real.

Love, Sister Ricks

 

T is mentally handicapped and we clean her house every week. I love her so much!

K is in the hospital and needed a little lovin'.



Us and J! She's so smart and funny!

Artsy nametag picture :)

Oh I love this family!!

The baptism!!

 

So. Many. Miracles. November 4

My goodness, I really don't understand how I got to be this blessed! I'll tell you something that most of you don't know: I had a hard time in the MTC. A really hard time. And I'm so darn grateful for that because I learned a LOT and I feel like I had to go through a really hard time to then be ready for Heavenly Father to pour out blessings. How awesome is that? Heavenly Father lets us struggle a little (sometimes a lot) and then He overwhelms us with blessings. He is so good to His children. Do you see it in your life? I promise you it's happened and it will continue to happen that way.

This week was absolutely incredible. I literally witness miracles on a daily basis. God has done so much for every one of His children. It is so heartbreaking to see those who ignore His help and direction and choose to do things that prevent them from further blessings. But it's not that He's punishing them, He just CAN'T send blessings because they chose to disobey. This leads to my first point:

1. Agency. I love the topic of agency. Maybe I've written about it before... I can't remember. But really, agency is incredible, and is a HUMONGOUS gift from Heavenly Father. I'm afraid that too often we forget that we have agency, and we try to get other people to make all of our choices for us. I know that I'm guilty of that- sometimes I just want Heavenly Father to tell me what to do. But that's not what He intended for me. He intends for me to exercise agency so that I can learn. Maybe you can do a scripture study this week on agency, because there is a lot of cool things to learn about it.

2. Bible bashing is never worth it. I'll be honest. Sometimes I get a little prideful and I think that I know a lot. So when this man asked if he could meet with us and we expected that he was just going to Bible-bash, I was kind of excited to see how well we could do. And I'll be honest again... my companions and I did a pretty good job of using our scriptures to counter his questions. BUT then the Spirit taught me a very important lesson. This man came with no intention of learning. Therefore the Spirit could not teach him. After a while, I finally just bore my testimony. There was nothing else to do beyond that- but he kept bashing. I felt pretty bold-sauce when I finally just asked him if he intended to learn anything or if he just intended to prove us wrong. He said that he intended to convince us that the religion we had chosen was wrong. Immediately we told him that that would never happen, and we would not be able to meet with him again. Wow. Crazy experience, but really- Bible bashing is not worth it.

3. "Courageous Parenting" by Larry Lawrence of the Seventy is amazing. It's a General Conference talk. Really, look it up and read it. No matter how old you are! I've read it a few times this week and sent it to a few of our members because of how powerful it is. I'm excited to one day be a "Courageous Parent." :)

4. Sacrifice is not really sacrifice at all. Think about this. We are asked to sacrifice something that is important to us. But then, because we were obedient, Heavenly Father loads on the blessings that are BETTER than what we sacrificed. What? Why are we so lucky? Coming out on a mission has been a sacrifice- a pretty darn big one. But I came because I want to help other people. However, these other people seem to be blessing me more than I can bless them. I've had so many answers to questions come from the very people that I am supposed to be helping. And then, these people go out of their way to serve me. Wait a second- aren't I supposed to be the one serving them?! It's incredible. I guarantee you, I'm working hard out here. But the blessings that I'm getting in return are so much more than I deserve for this work. How does that work out?

5. Going to the temple is a HUGE privilege. A lot of times we think of it as a sacrifice to go to the temple. But now that I CAN'T go to the temple for at least another year because it is out of our mission, I've learned that it really is no sacrifice at all. Unless you think of it in the terms of what I explained up above. Because really, the blessings that come from the temple are soooo incredible. I was completely spoiled living in Gilbert and in Provo where temples were so accessible. I'm dying to get to the temple! The members out here and dying to finally have a temple within an hour! If you're close to a temple, PLEASE GO THIS WEEK!

6. The Spirit is another major privilege. We came across a heroine addict this last week. That was an intense experience, but one from which I learned a lot too. The Spirit is POWERFUL, up against Satan's influence. It was amazing how real that became to me from that experience. Live worthy of the Spirit. Not doing so is scary.

7. I'm supposed to be here. On Sunday I had the distinct feeling that Amber Ricks is supposed to be serving this is ward in New Jersey right NOW. That was a wonderful, blessed feeling to have. And a great confirmation that I made the best possible choice by coming out here. I'm supposed to be right where I am.

I'm happy. Certainly I have difficult days, and I can feel Satan trying to bring me down and convince me of his lies. But mostly I just have incredible experiences and opportunities. I'm so glad that I'm out here. I feel my testimony and my conviction of the gospel increasing each day. I know that this work is real and that the devil is after us. Helaman 5:12 is one of my favorite scriptures, because it explains how real Satan is, but also how much more powerful Jesus Christ is. Lean on Him, and you will be strong. 

I love you all so much! As always, I'd really appreciate hearing from you!

Love, Sister Ricks

Picking up our new companion, Sister Bernards!

Cool old time Book of Mormon that a member has.

Artsy picture of the tree by our apartment :)

Transfers!!!! October 28

I stayed!!! I was literally praying to stay here because I'm in love with the area and we have so much work to do. I don't remember if I already told you or not, but my companion Sister Seely has been waiting for her visa for the last 6 months and she finally got it! So she left us last night to Brazil. I'm so excited for her, but I'm really sad to see her go. Sister Jensen is staying here with me though, and we are getting a 3rd companion tomorrow!

Random fact: one of the Philadelphia Eagles players is in our ward and he and his wife are rockstar member missionaries, no big deal :)

This was a week full of learning! We were really busy and had some unique experiences. Here are some of the lessons I learned:

1. God works with each of His children throughout their WHOLE lives to get them ready for when we finally meet them. It's been amazing to learn from these investigators how many experiences they had previous to meeting us, that have proven to them that God is real. It is really cool to talk to multiple people a day, and have each of them tell you that if nothing else is real, they know that there is a God. Each of these people come from VERY different backgrounds and have different experiences, but it is amazing that it all brings them to know truth. Truth really is completely constant, and God allows His children to find those truths amidst all of the lies that the world is full of. How cool is that? It's so nice to work with people who already have come to know certain truths, because all we do is discover what truths they know and then build off of that. 

2. When we receive new commandments or counsel or (missionary) rules, it can be really hard to just accept them and follow them. Because of that, it is so important to pray about your own heart being softened enough to desire to follow it. This week we received new rules that seemed just kind of annoying (sorry, I'm not perfect!). So my companions and I prayed about the rules and asked for help to follow them. It was incredible how quickly our frustration seemed to melt away and we have been able to just accept and now embrace the new rules. 

3. Repentance is a natural consequence of faith. If you are familiar with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, you know that the points go as follows: Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End. We had two very distinct experiences this week where we had met with investigators for the first time, and the next time we met with them they told us that they had stopped swearing, stopped getting so angry with people, stopped drinking coffee, had a greater desire to love people and be kind to them, etc. We never told them to do any of that! All we did was visit with them and teach some of our beliefs. The Spirit had clearly touched them and as they experienced Faith in Christ, they naturally knew that it was important for them to make better choices. How cool is that? 

4. This point comes from the last lesson. This is an awesome parenting lesson that I'm excited to use some day: When someone is not following some commandment, don't keep teaching them that commandment! Weird, right? But really, if they are not being obedient to some commandment, there is some underlying doctrine that they do not understand. When that doctrine is understood (and faith is developed in that doctrine), then the natural consequence will be that they will want to follow the commandments (or repent. because repentance really is just changing whatever is not in alignment with God's will). You see? Repentance is the natural consequence of faith, and obedience in the natural consequence of true understanding.

5. "Our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through Faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and Enduring to the End." This is the missionary purpose that we recite every day. One of the members who goes out to lessons with us all the time helped me to understand Our Purpose in a new way. It says "to invite OTHERS to...." It doesn't say that we "invite non-members to..." As missionaries, we help others whether they are non-members, less-active members, fully active members, our companions, etc. I'm out here on a mission to help others come to Christ, regardless of what their religious background is. If I'm doing that, then I am succeeding as a missionary. 

It's been an amazing week! We have found new investigators, L & G who got baptized last Sunday were confirmed with Sunday and L got the Priesthood! D, Ju & Jo came to church! So did 2 less-active families that we are working with, both of which haven't been to church in many many years! We continue to see miracles all around us. I am so spoiled out here, and I really don't know how I'll ever pay back Heavenly Father for all of His blessings. Let's be honest... I really can't ever pay Him back. But I'm grateful to be doing what He wants me to be doing at this time in my life. Thank you for all of your love and prayers. I sure feel them! Keep going to church and doing the little things that keep you strong!

Love, Sister Ricks

My first district!

Eating halo-halo with our favorite Philippino!

Our last time together before Sister Seely left for Brazil!

My companions and me with one of our investigors. We love this man so much! 

Baptisms!!!

Hello everyone! It's been an incredible week! We had our first two baptisms yesterday! Oh I love L&G so much. I wish I could describe them, but words don't do justice. They are just such a blessing to be around and I can't wait to be buddies with them for eternity! They were soooo excited to be baptized. And we had an amazing turn out from the ward for their baptism, which is always such a blessing. I really hope that that will encourage the members to be more involved in the work. Member involvement is so necessary for the work. That was such a cool experience though. It's interesting because L&G had been taught by missionaries before us, so they did a lot of the hard work. We were simply blessed by the Lord to be able to be a part of them moving towards baptism. And that gets me to my first lesson for this week:

1. Baptism is SO important! I always knew that. I've learned that since I was a little girl. But I never understood HOW important it is. My goodness, making that covenant and participating in the ordinance of baptism literally starts us on the path toward living with God and our families forever. If baptism by proper authority never occurs (whether in this life or the next), then it is impossible to earn that blessing! What a big humongous step that we get to be a part of people taking. When you help someone move towards baptism, you are doing them a HUGE favor. You don't have to see actually see them get baptized.... maybe it won't happen until 10 years after you meet them. But if you help them out, you played a role in their eternity. Wow. 

2. Okay I actually learned this when I first got to Jersey, but did you know that it is illegal in New Jersey to pump your own gas? They have workers at every gas station that have to pump your gas for you. So weird. It was even more weird when we went to Delaware a few weeks ago for a meeting and we had to pump our own gas again haha.

3. My companion has taught me by example what it really is to talk to God when I pray. She honestly talks to Him. Like, the tone of her voice is as though she's talking to us or to her best friend. And she tells Him exactly what she's feeling. That's really cool. I've also learned that my whole life, and I've taught it to many people. I think that I did a decent job, but it hasn't been until now that I realize that I really can just talk. Really.

4. I've been so bad about sharing "purple book" things with you. Here's one: we were at a meal with some members and the husband called on "Sister G" to give the blessing. He was calling Sister Jensen... 

Also, when people need to ask you a question: "I need to aks you a question." And the famous way of saying "water": "Do you want a cup of wooder?" 

Sister Seely has already started saying "aks" on accident.....I really hope I come home with proper grammar!

5. I love teaching teenagers!!! We gave a youth fireside last night with the youth in our ward. Oh man, I felt like I was right at home again. 

Things are going really well. We're still working with a lot of investigators and less active members and we're kept busy all the time. I love being out here. The Church is True!

Love, Sister Ricks

We got to play with horses at a members' house

An awesome member that we're working with, Sister B

Anybody heard of Flat Stanley? My nephew asked me to take Flat Stanley on adventures and take pictures with him. He's helping fill the baptismal font for our first baptism!

L & G got baptized yesterday!!

Fall in the east!

Me and Sister Seely loving the fall!

"Miracles happen, once in a while!!!" October 15

Name that movie!

We seriously see miracles all over the place! I am amazed at how much the Lord has been blessing us and this area. We met J this week- she is a young single mom who we saw sitting on her front porch when we were headed to someone else's door. We stopped to talk to her, which turned into about an hour long conversation. We had to go to the other person's house, but she said we could go back in an hour and we had another amazing conversation with her. She is SO excited for the church and has just been seeking for the truth- she committed to baptism in that visit. Earlier in the week we had received a media referral (he called in and referred himself to get a Book of Mormon) and he is also SO excited and is just looking for truth. We just have so much work we're doing and we're absolutely loving it!

G and L are getting baptized on Sunday! They are the old Cuban couple who are seriously the sweetest people I've ever met! They are so excited and have been counting down the days. It is L's birthday today, so yesterday at our lesson we surprised him with a birthday cake and he seemed close to tears. I am so happy that we are blessed to have both of them as members of the Church and that they are making sacred covenants. I can't wait for them to get sealed in the temple next year! Which means that I'll be able to go to the Washington DC temple with them! Wooo hooo!!

Random thoughts: We saw the Sandlot dog this week! Do you know what I'm talking about? The HUMONGOUS dog that they're all so scared of? It really was HUGE!  Also- ALL WOMEN: Read "Are We Not All Mothers" by Sheri Dew. That is an amazing talk about our influence as women. You'll love it!

I love this work. I love my companions and the people that I'm serving. I really have come to know that the gospel of Jesus Christ really HAS been restored, and I am blessed to be a member of His church. 

My lessons this week:

1. Member missionary work is VITAL to the work! The work of salvation is absolutely moving forward faster than ever before because of how many missionaries are serving. BUT. The work will seriously EXPLODE when members understand their role. You are so necessary to the work of salvation! I am so excited to go home to be a member missionary because my view of it has entirely changed. It is absolutely not as scary as you think. Just open your mouth! D&C 33:8. Your mouth will be filled. If you can just try it once, you will see how it really works. And I guarantee that you will be so excited that you'll want to keep doing it. Just tell someone something about our church- our youth program, family history program, Relief Society, Priesthood, activities, doctrine- anything! You'll be super blessed for it.

2. Fasting really works! I've been in need of some heavenly help, and the scriptures tell us all over the place to fast for those things we are in major need of. So I did. And I've been amazed at the results. I tell you- when Heavenly Father promises something, He comes through. That's for sure. 

3. I love little children and I miss them! That's it.

4. Gotham City is real. It's Camden, NJ.

Sorry I'm out of time! I'll try to learn more this week! :P I love you all so much! Stay close to the Lord in everything.

Love, Sister Ricks

All of us missionaries who came in together had a training this last week. So awesome to see them all!

My library!

L's birthday party!

I'm 23! What!?!

Okay, I've been so excited about writing this email! I have a request of all of you... a birthday request! I'm not much for gifts, but this one I'm excited about :) If you didn't know, it was my birthday on Friday. And then, we had that amazing conference talk from Elder Ballard about doing missionary work... you worried yet? 

Here's my request: As a birthday present to me, will you pray about an opportunity to do missionary work and then act? And then will you either send me a letter telling me about it, or just write about it on my Facebook wall so I can see it when I get home? I'm most excited about you doing missionary work, not about reporting back. But that would be cool anyway! Could you do that? :D Read Moroni 7:33. It will help you out if you're nervous!

Darn it- I had made a list of things I wanted to write about and then I left it at home... let's see if I can remember. It's been an INCREDIBLE week and I've seen miracles and lessons all over the place.

1. D&C 4. It talks about the field being "white already to harvest." In other words, the people are ALREADY ready... we just need to find them. Um. This is so real. I am blown away with how real this promise is. We have found so many people who are already ready to receive the gospel, they just needed us or the members to find them and talk to them about it. This promise is JUST as real for missionaries as it is for members. How amazing were those conference talks about member missionary work?

2. Along the same lines, it is SO true that member referrals for missionary work are so much more effective than missionaries just finding people. We are finding them, certainly, but the investigators that stick it through the hard times are almost always the ones that have friends in the gospel who support them. Get out of yourself! Go love people enough to give them this gift!

3. Those were both really preachy... sorry about that. Here's a not so preachy lesson: the scriptures are INCREDIBLE. Also, the story of Aaron teaching the father of King Lamoni... Alma 22.... is an incredible outline for missionary work. I've been really studying it in depth and it has so much to teach us about how to effectively talk to someone about the gospel. So cool.

4. SMILE! Darn, did I already do this one? We went to Philadelphia last Monday for P-day and hardly anyone smiled back when we would smile at them! It's incredible what a simple smile can do to your attitude. Honestly, when someone smiles and me and I smile back, I really do feel happier. Smiling is such a gift from God and a gift that we can give to others. So we should all do it. 

5. I wish I could give a huge hug to all of the missionaries who were working with our investigators before we were here. Their work is priceless. Although we are the missionaries who are seeing them be baptized, so much of the testimonies of these people came because of the work of previous missionaries. THANK YOU, all of you returned missionaries. You'll never have any idea of the impact that you had on those people that you DIDN'T see get baptized. You did so much more than you realize!

We are being so blessed in our area, I can't even explain. My companions and I sometimes just sit in amazement at the work that we've been trusted with. As of yesterday, we have 5 investigators with a date for baptism. We have 5 others that are on their way. And we're being let into the homes of a ton of less active members of the ward who love us and are being touched by the Spirit. 

 It was so cool on Saturday night- we were in a lesson with B (names will be omitted for privacy). He had this weird idea about God and the creation and all this stuff. As we taught him the Plan of Salvation, his face changed and you could see understanding coming. He had had a lot of questions and he seriously just answered them all on his own. The Spirit is truly the actual teacher in this work! None of what we said was what he was taught by the Spirit. 

Also- we had an investigator come to General Conference on Saturday and after we gave him a tour of the church, he asked when he could get baptized. We tried to set it up for the beginning of November, but he asked if we could move it up. He doesn't want to wait because he knows that this is exactly where he needs to be.

I love the gospel. I love the Lord and I'm so grateful for His goodness. I don't deserve any of these blessings that I'm experiencing, but I'm certainly grateful for them. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints IS the one church on earth with the fullness of the gospel!

Love, Sister Ricks

 

 

With Uncle Warren before the MTC

Sister Manson and I were friends before the mission. We were at the MTC together and she's in my Zone in the mission!

Ummm..... :)

We ran up the Rocky steps right after this picture!

One of our investigators loves us so much she gave Sister Jensen her church outfit! hahaha

A member bought be a birthday pie! She's so good to me :)