Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Don't be E-sassy 05/25/2015

OH this week is CrAzY!!
First off, THANK YOU FOR THE PACKAGE!! It was everything I've been needing! Last week, this other super cute couple also gave each of us a package when we went to eat dinner with them. They gave us Burger King gift cards, popcorn, scissors, band aids, hair ties, candy, ...all sorts of awesome stuff!! It was the sweetest thing ever.  

So last week we had an FHE at one of the members of our spanish group. No one else ended up coming besides this family that the dad had served in Honduras and so he knows spanish. At the end, the family who was hosting was like, "We made refreshments!" And they bring out these huge plates of Spaghetti and garlic bread for each of us. Haha...1. This is full on dinner and 2. That's italian food! But they put green salsa on it so it was still Mexican. :) It was super fun though! And they two families bonded well together.

 Wednesday, we were teaching the Restoration to this other less active family, and the dad is SUPER SASSY! I always ask everyone from Mexico that can speak english what the word is for sassy, because I keep hoping there will be one. Well, the dad asked, "Que es e-sassy?" So Hna. Wallace explained to him that it was HIM. She then mimicked him the first time we met (and told him where we were from) telling me that I Idaho was famous for potatoes, but I shouldn't eat french fries. And she mimicked the time we accidentally said "Mormon" and he made a huge deal telling us that we aren't mormons, we are The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! Anyways, it was super funny. And after she was done mimicking his sassiness, he just sat there with this guilty face, and his wife laughing histarically, knowing that he indeed was very sassy. When we left I said something to him about french fries and he said to me, (read it in a spanish accent) "Don't be e-sassy..."  jajaja One day I'll find a word.

Then on Thursday, President and Sister Felix surprised us all and came to District meeting! No one knew they were coming, and Sister Felix even brought cookies. Her cookies are THE BEST.  It was super fun to have them there! Especially because I didn't have to give a talk that week or anything...:) After district meeting, we went to visit Maria and she was super crazy that day. We were singing "The Spirit of God" and when we got to the part that said, "We'll sing and we'll shout" She goes, "AY!" Super loud. It scared the beejeebees out of me. I started laughing really hard and asked her why she would do that. She was like, "aahahaha because it said 'GRITEMOS!'" She thought she was hilarious.

On Friday, Maria had her baptismal interview!! An Elder from Santa Maria came down because he speaks spanish, and he said that he basically didn't even have to ask her the questions because she just said the answers before he asked them. She is SO excited about her baptism. We are still working on getting everything set up for it. We were planning on doing it at a members pool because she is wheelchair bound, but that ended up falling through. We are trying to see if there is someone else that has a pool. Pray that everything works out so we can do her baptism before the end of this transfer!!

THEN! On Sunday we got to teach Sunbeams. So fun. We even played ring around the rosie.

So during studies this week,, I realized that sometimes I get really caught up in all of the little aspects of missionary work. All of the small rules, and numbers, and trying to please everyone. However, I was reading about when Christ came to the Americas and how he interacted with the people. It made me realize that I did not come on a mission to impress anyone, or to receive any titles, or to prove anything to anyone. I came because Heavenly Father told me specifically that I needed to go on a mission, and because I love him, I came. And because I love him, I do what he asks me to. I follow the rules and serve the people and love the people because I love him. It reminded me of when Christ said the greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, and the second commandment is to love our neighbors. I think that can be applied to missionary work in so many ways. Everything else falls into place when those are the two things that we worry about the most.
I can't believe this is the last week of the transfer already! Each one gets faster and faster. Next Monday I will know what is going on, and if I am able to stay here another transfer!

OH! I keep forgetting to tell you all!! Regina, who was my investigator in Oxnard (She was supposed to get baptized while I was there but crazy stuff happened) SHE GOT BAPTIZED!!!! I wish I could have gone. Hopefully someone will send me pictures so I can show you!

Anyways, have a great week! I love you all! And Happy Memorial Day!


<3 Hermana Ricks





Monday, May 18, 2015

Busy Week! 05/18/2015

Hello family!! What a week! There were lot's of fun things!
So last Monday, we were able to sing at the Christian Women's convention. It actually wasn't as terrible as I thought it was going to be. And they fed us lunch! Hna Wallace and I sang, "Love at Home" together, and I accompanied a member that sang a song called, "Joy in the Journey." We also went bowling with the district! That was super fun, and I totally got a strike.
Tuesday was the hike with President and Sister Felix! We did a lot of activities that had to do with following the spirit. We had blind folds and took turns being led by our companion up the trail.
Wednesday I went on exchanges to Santa Maria with Hermana Costilla! I have always wanted to be companions with her. She is super cute! She was Hna Brown's trainer. She goes home this transfer, so it was right in time! So while on exchanges, we went to do service at this Catholic Charity place. We were standing behind the counter, and helping people sign in. The charity had a ton of bread that week, so they told us to tell everyone that came in to take as much bread as they wanted. So everything was going great, and then this white viega (old lady) came in, and was rather on the sassy/snarky side. We of course, said, "Good morning! How are you today?" She said in a super cheery/snarky voice, "OH I'm just GREAT!" And then we told her about the bread and she signed her name on the paper. Well, she didn't put her birthday which was suppose to be on there, so we asked her to put it. She was like, "WHY! Would you need that." Hna Costilla explained that we were just volunteers and they told us to have people put it. So she angrily wrote her birthday and slammed the pen down. We then told her she was welcome to take as much bread as she wanted, to which she responded, "Whatever." And then she grabbed her bag, grabbed her bread, turned around, and totally biffed it over this crate on the floor. Now, ladies and gentleman, I know that I should be more charitable, but I totally thought that was the funniest thing ever. Perfect timing really. Don't worry, I waited until after she left to laugh. The rest of exchanges were awesome too! We did a lot of street contacting, and then we went and got ice cream to celebrate!
Thursday we had an awesome District Meeting where our district leader ended by holding up a Book of Mormon, telling us it was our weapon, and the floor was our battle field. He then slammed it down on the table and said, "Move me." The testimonies following it were so powerful. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God! I have felt the spirit tell me as I read it that it is. I have read it, and prayed about it, and there is no doubt in my mind that it is true. I invite you to give it a try as well if you do not already know for yourself! If you do already know, share it.
I hope you all have a great week! I love you!!!
<3 Hermana Ricks

Okay and the computer is being dumb and won't send any pictures..sorry. I'll try again next week!
PS HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEENAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!

El Dia de las Madres!! Woot Woot 05/11/2015

Hello my wonderful family!!!!! It was SO FUN to talk to you yesterday!!! I think I told you just about everything yesterday, so I will try my best to think of something to tell you now. But no promises.
I did forget to tell you, this last week we were able to go help paint a water park!! There is a camp site near here called Lake Lopez, and deep inside of it is a little water park. A member of our ward is friends with this Australian guy that just bought it, and he is trying to re-open it on May 18th! The member has been wanting to introduce him to the church, so he thought that a good way to do that would be through service! I got blue paint all over my pants...but none on my Utah State shirt, or my volleyball shoes! Phew. Anyway, he was trying to figure out how to pay us, but the member friend told him we couldn't receive money. He then decided he would just give us water park passes. Hahaha. Can't do that either! People must think we're crazy. But we'll have to come back after my mission, cause it does look like a really fun little park!
Anyways, I was trying to think of a funny story at your request to tell more funny stories, but I really can't think of any. This week was weird. Not bad, but just weird. We met a lot of members. We are trying to gain the support of the english members for the spanish group, so we go around and share a lot of little messages with them - usually about the atonement. It's really fun! There are a lot of awesome people here.
Tomorrow we get to go on a hike with President and Sister Felix! That will be really fun! Speaking of hikes...I had Hna Brown and Hna Price send a box of stuff home including my chacos. Have you gotten it yet? I don't even know if they've had a chance to send it. But let me know when you get it! There's a bright orange hat with a bear on it for Keenan!
But...sorry this email is gonna be lame! I already told you everything yesterday! I'll close off with a spiritual thought. :)
This week I was studying the part in 3 Nephi where Christ comes to the Americas. I didn't necessarily learn anything new this time, but I did feel the spirit very strong. I know that Christ is living today, and I know He is the son of God. I know He died for me, and is our savior. I feel His grace helping me every single day. I could not do this without Him. He makes everything possible. I am so grateful for such a selfless brother who was willing to go through so much, so that I could have a chance at receiving eternal happiness. I know this is His true church, and I am so honored and humbled to be His servant. I love telling every single person I meet about this joyous message. It is such a humbling experience, and I continue to gain so much perspective of what really matters. I have grown so much more love for all of you, and I am so glad I get to be you with you crazy monkeys for eternity! Thank you for everything. I love you.
<3 Hermana Ricks


Monday, May 4, 2015

MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU!!! 05/04/15

"Hey, we should go to Jalisco's for Pico de Mayo!"
"You're so dumb, it's Cinco de Gallo...oh wait"

jajajaja I can't believe that was a year ago, and now here I am speaking spanish. If I were to hear ANYONE say "Pico de Mayo" or "Cinco de Gallo" now, I would think they were an idiot. Glad I'm not so dumb anymore. :)

Thank you SO MUCH! For my BUMP DAY package! I didn't even realize I was so old until I got that package! It's going so fast, and it's only getting faster...it needs to STAHP. 

So this area is AWESOME! We have spent a lot of our time this week trying to gain trust of the english ward members that speak spanish, so that they will have a desire to help us with the spanish group. We have been focusing a lot on them. We have made it a goal to call our dinner appointments two days in advance, ask them what they would like us to share a message about, and then we invite them to bring a less active family that they home or visit teach. We have seen so many miracles just in the last week of showing this little bit of added time and attention to our members. This week at sacrament meeting, we ended up having a few english members attend our group, and we also had all of our less actives attend, minus one. It was a true miracle that came from fasting, and from our efforts in strengthening the members! We have hope that this effort will result in many more miracles, and the members of our group will begin to reach out to others that need the gospel. A lot of this success is because of your inspired letter dad! Where you told me that it was when missionaries testified of Jesus Christ and helped you to strengthen your faith that you then wanted to be a part of this work. So thank you for sharing that with me! :) 

Hermana Wallace is such a good example to me! I love working with her. She is a wonderful companion and friend. We have a lot of unity in the work, and she's hilarious. 

It was also super fantastic to go to the beach this week!! SO PRETTY! 

So went to go visit a less active this week that we had never met before. We show up and he's up on a ladder taking apart his roof. When he found out that I was from Idaho he went off on how unhealthy french fries are and that I can't eat them anymore. I told him that I was going to anyways. :) He was super funny. And sassy.

Also, I do love this area a lot. But there are definitely some characters...this week we decided that our area is like a cake, and each member of our group completes the cake. You've got those members that are like the icing on the cake, but then there are some that are like the icing on the tinfoil that covers the cake... 

Anyways, happy Cinco De Mayo! Happy Mother's Day! (I AM SO EXCITED TO TALK TO YOU!!) And May the Fourth be with you. :D

<3 Hermana Ricks