Transfers this week!

I am..............staying in Cape May!!!! Okay, we all knew that was
going to happen with Sister Grover going home. But the real news is
that I will be training this transfer! There is only one new Sister
coming in, so she will be mine. All I know about her is that she is
from Wyoming. I received a blessing before I found out that I was
training that said that my new companion and I will be united in our
cause and purpose and we will work really well together. So I'm
excited about how this is going to go! I'm also kind of nervous
because I'm still pretty new on the mission and they really don't give
you any training on how to train. So I've gotten some good advice from
Sister Grover and Sister Haas (my temporary companion because Sister
Grover left yesterday) and I just hope things will go well haha! I'm
bummed to have Sister Grover gone because we got really close, but
such is the life of a missionary :)

I realized that I don't always say a lot about what all is actually
happening in my area, so I thought I'd explain in a little more
detail:
Our investigator, Lawrence, who is getting baptized this month is
dating a member and they are getting married in about 2 weeks. We are
working with the senior missionary couple, Lowell and Joyce Johnson
(they're like our second grandparents), to help teach them how to be a
gospel family. It's definitely new territory for me to teach about
this simply from the examples of strong church families that I have
been around in my life. So thank you, all of you who are reading this,
for playing that role in my life. You may not realize it, but your
examples are effecting people out here in the Pennsylvania
Philadelphia Mission in a great way. Keep doing it!
We are also teaching a recent convert how to "date" because she's
never done it that way before. Hahah this is just a crazy world out
here and I continue to learn this main lesson, "The gospel blesses
families." Which means you've got to LIVE the gospel for it to be a
blessing to your family!
Anyway, we are teaching a girl who is 23 with 2 little kids who is
living with her boyfriend. She really is resonating with what we are
teaching her, but the Jehovah's Witnesses have been visiting her every
week for many months, so she doesn't know how to ask them to stop. And
they always meet during the time that we have church. Complicated.
We are also now teaching Cindy. She was invited by a member to attend
the member's Book of Mormon study class. She was really not
understanding it's importance and hated all the talk of war. I had a
cool experience in one of the classes where the spirit kept telling me
over and over that I needed to direct her to Alma 40. I did and the
next week she came back SUPER excited to learn more. We taught her the
Plan of Salvation which she loved and then she showed up to church on
her own just because "she felt she needed to stop in." Coincidence? I
think not! She came the next week to church, this last Sunday, and it
was wonderful. The Spirit was really strong and we had some great
testimonies given. Because it was Sister Grover's last Sunday, we
invited a lot of people that we are working with. One lady, a less
active who has not been to church in 20 years showed up for sacrament
to say goodbye to Sister Grover. She said she really enjoyed the
service and wants to get back involved with the Relief Society! That's
a HUGE step for her. She also said she'd bring her 14 year old son
(who was at church with her) to the mutual activity this week. What a
miracle!
Another girl, Ashley, has been coming to the Book of Mormon class. The
first time I met her I had this feeling that I already knew her. The
second time, I had this overwhelming feeling that I am supposed to
teach her. I told Sister Walker about that feeling, she told Ashley,
and Ashley found me on Facebook and asked if we could set up an
appointment to teach her. Okay. That's cool!
In a final tribute to Sister Grover, she taught me how to do
missionary work in a completely different way than I had been doing
it. The trick? Love the members. We just love them and spend time
uplifting and strengthening them and proving that we can be trusted.
As we've done so, the members have just brought these people to us to
teach. It's been incredible to watch this happen so successfully here.
Unfortunately the reality is that most converts found by the
missionaries tend to go less active, while converts brought by the
members stay active because they have the built in support. THAT IS
WHY MEMBER MISSIONARY WORK IS SO IMPORTANT! Okay I wasn't yelling at
you, I'm just passionate about this haha. You, as the member, are the
key to this work of salvation. I love the work I'm doing and I don't
want to stop, but I'm also excited to one day be a member missionary
again and to really get to work. Missionary work can no longer happen
without you! Pray about it! Heavenly Father will tell you it's true.
Okay, I'm off my soap box :) If anyone is still reading this.... I
love you. A lot. I'm so grateful for you in my life. The Church is
true, the Book is blue and God loves you!

Love, Sister Amber Ricks