My First P-Day 12/23/14

Oh my goodness do I have stories for you...hopefully I can finish all of them because keyboards in Mexico are weird. So my flight didn't actually leave until about 5:30 PM. Because of the fog, we had to sit on the plain for 2 hours and then they decided to let us get back off. We called missionary travel with some random lady's phone, (thank you random lady) and they told us we needed to just re-book because we had also missed our connecting flights, and we would be stuck in Houston if we waited for the fog to clear up. I was with the Elder that we met when we said goodbye, Elder Howell (he went to Skyline - ew. and he's going to Xajlappa MX), and then another elder from swan valley, Elder May (going to Mexico City). They were both super cool and we became really good friends. As we were figuring out our new flight itinerary, Vanetta's sister, Tanna came up to me and asked if I was Shelli's daughter. She ended up buying us pizza and soda. It was really nice. I asked her to tell you about our issues after we left. She was so sweet. Then E May's stake president was there and he gave us 60 bucks for dinner...I love being a missionary!!! I also saw Doug and Mitzi Pruitt. And Madi Hillam!! We took the funniest pictures. I died. Hopefully I can figure out how to upload them before our time is up. So as we were sitting there talking, I figured out that E Howell's dad was the one my Valagrams group sang to in the middle of the auxiliary gym at Skyline!! He called his mom (cause he is more brave than I am) and she laughed super hard. So did I. We also bought super ugly neck pillows because we now were going to endure a Red Eye flight...

So we finally got to Salt Lake. We were thinking about going to temple square because we had another 7 hours ahead of us sitting in the airport, but we decided not to because we had to re-chack our baggage for some reason. With the 60 dollars from E May's stake pres we ate....MCDONALDS!! We all got McFlurrys. We took awesome pictures with our ugly neck pillows, and rode up and down the moving floor for literally an hour I think. It was so fun though! I love those Elders. We would have been friends in High School. Seriously such fun people. E Howell said he was Mr SHS so he has a life-long rivalry with Zach Buell. They kept teasing me about being a Frozen fanatic.. ummm. I don't even like Frozen! But I never knew what TV shows they were talking about so that's what they decided I liked. 

Then it was a new day and we hadn't even slept yet! We got on our flight to GEORGIA. I sat next to the cutest couple ever that had an adorable two week old baby. I was in the isle seat so I told them they could wake me up in they needed to get out. Well, I had fallen asleep and they woke me up in the middle of my nap because the baby was wet. I was totally discombobulated and couldn't figure out what they wanted me to do. I tried turning my legs to the isle and couldn't understand why the arm of the seat wouldn't lift up. After they both ended up having the crawl over me, I realized that I could have just stood up. Super awk. When they got back i apologized for being such an idiot. 

After landing in the Atlanta airport, I went to the bathroom to change and saw that I HAD SAT IN GUM ON THE AIRPLANE. All those years of mom checking her seat for gum...I should have listened. I'll probably be sending that dress home once I get to the States. When I got back E Howell had gone to get us all breakfast with the leftover money from the $60. I had about 3 bites left and the Elders started talking about the CCM (MTC). I GOT SO SICK TO MY STOMACH. But don't worry, I finished my breakfast sandwich. I did have to ask the Stewardess for Gongerale on the plane though... and then I just slept the time. I woke up as we were completely over the ocean. SpOoKy!!!! 

We got off the airplane and stepped into Mexico. I definitely don't know Spanish! E Howell did a pretty good job interpretting. Our guy wasn't there to pick us up, so we tried using a pay phone with my calling card, but the directions on the phone were all in Spanish so we were SOL. We tried to ask a lady if she could help us, but I think she thought we wanted her phone. She said no. haha. 

Then the guy finally came and we were so relieved! I started talking to him and he said, "Hermana Ricks! I do not speak English. " He started talking to me in spanish... I was a deer in the headlights. The Elders knew what he was saying though. After he went to get the car I said, "Guys, I don't know spanish." E Howell said, "Si Hermana Ricks, muy obvioso." Thanks Elder Howell. (I saw him on Sunday and I said, "E Howell! My Spanish is mucho better." He said, "Oh yeah?? It doesn't sound like it." THANKS ELDER HOWELL.) While we were driving the the CCM, the guy gave us some mandarinas and sang church songs to us with a really excited voice. He was hilarious. There were also a ton of people selling food in the middle of the street. Like walking around in the middle of the road like the fire department does to get donations. Except for the drivers here are CRAZY. Even the guy that was driving us! 

We pulled into the CCM... SOOOOO SO PRETTY!!!! I love it here. The weather is perfect. I'm jealous that E may and E Howell get to stay. (Except it does stink sometimes...) We dropped off our bags at the reception, got our nametags, and the lady told us to go get some lunch and then come back to finish checking in. Well, while I was in line for food, all the Elders kept telling me to go to the front of the line (Hermanas get to just cut everyone..aww.) But I told them I didn´t have a companion or know anyone so I was just going to stay with the Elders. We went and sat down, and ate our food. Everyone kept giving me weird looks because I was sitting with the Elders, and it was super awkward. When I had like 2 bites left, this teacher came up to me and told me I was not to sit with the Elders, and also got after the Elders for allowing me to sit there. I mean, we didn't know that rules, and I totally had just spent the last 36 hours with these guys, but whatever. So I went to sit at the table behind them with some Hermanas, and crazy enough, there was my companion! Hermana Price. She is from Grantsville Utah, and is going to Ventura! We get along really well. Anyways, I told the group of Hrms that I needed to go get my stuff and e-mail you guys, but they said we needed to go to this meeting. After that meeting, there were like 20 other meetings. So when dinner finally rolled around, we came back to get my stuff and the guy at the desk said, "Oh yes!!! You were supposed to come back a long time ago. Your dad called very worried." So basically is that one teacher would have let me finish my popsicle in peace, everything would have been fine, and would have gone back to get my stuff with the Elders like I was suppose to. I guess I'm just the rebel of the CCM! ;) Just kidding. I haven't had any problems since. 

So my time is almost up... I had a lot more stories than I thought. So I won't be able to e-mail you again later, and I'll have to send pictures next week. I'll hurry and tell you a little about the rest of the week...

We have an "investigator" names Jose Alberto Romero. They said he is real, but none of us believed them, until yesterday when he wore a Cool's Light shirt... So now I'm not so sure. We have sung to him a couple times in our lessons... its the best spanish we speak! haha. But it also really invites the spirit. It is amazing how much I can understand of what my teachers say. I can't  speak very well, but I can understand SO MUCH! That is the first step. I am so grateful that I am able to serve the Lord. I will have to tell you about my district and companion and teacher and zone more next week, and I'll have a ton of pictures!!! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!! I am loving it here so much. 

God be with you til we meet again. 

The House of the Lord

I am going to copy what I wrote in my journal after going through the Temple for the first time:

"Because I have received my mission call, I was also able to take out my endowments today from the Idaho Falls Temple. What an amazing/unique/overwhelming/spiritual/sacred experience it was! I barely remember anything because there was so much. I will definitely have to go back many many times! One thing I do know is that the temple is the House of the Lord, and the work that is done there is His work. It is very real, very sacred, very important, and very different from anything I have done in Church! The Spirit is so strong and brilliant. I challenge anyone reading this to seek after the special blessings that await inside the Holy Temple. The gospel in more tender and dear to me now that it has ever been. I believe in Christ. I know the atonement is real and necessary for not only our salvation, but also our happiness. I love the Lord and my God, and I am so blessed and excited to live so close to His house - that I may visit it as frequently as I like. I testify of these truths in the Savior's name, Jesus Christ, Amen."

A few weeks later I was able to return to the temple with three of my friends that are also serving missions! It was such an incredible experience, and I am so grateful for the wonderful examples I have in my life.

My Young Women's leaders gave this to me, and I hung it on my wall until it was time to use it for its real purpose! My temple dress.

Grateful for exemplary family members that could go through the temple with me!

Grandma is also one of the exemplary family members! :)

Dad - what a great guy!

So grateful I have such an incredible mother that could be my escort through the temple!

My great friends that are also serving missions! Brandon: Rome, Italy; Graham: Minneapolis, Minnesota; ME!: Ventura, California; Brooke: Lubbock Texas

The Day We Had All Been Waiting For!

So I went to a Scout Camp called Cedar Badge. There were two other scouters at the camp with me who had turned in their papers after me. They both received their calls the Wednesday while we were there, so when my mom told me my call hadn't come yet, I didn't believe her until I came home to see that it actually wasn't there.

 The next Tuesday, my bishop called saying my call had been assigned, so I got it in my mind that my call was coming that Wednesday! I waited and waited for the mail, and even took off work so I could open my mission call! When the mailman came, he had no call in his hand. So I immediately wrote on the chalk board outside of our front door, letting the mailman know that I really wanted my mission call. It must have done the trick, because the next day it came!

On August 14, 2014 I learned that the next period of my life would be spent in the California Ventura mission! As I read California, it was like I already knew I was going there. Kind of like I had forgotten, and just needed reminded. I then read that I would be leaving on December 17, 2014 to the MEXICO MTC! I knew that meant I would be speaking Spanish! I had been telling Heavenly Father almost every night that I would love teach in either Spanish, or American Sign Language. I have had the desire to speak Spanish from the moment I was little and my dad taught me how to say, "Feliz Navidad" like a real Spanish speaker. :) He served a mission in Guatemala and I thought him speaking in Spanish was just about the coolest thing a dad could do. I have also always wanted to learn ASL because my brother cannot talk, and we only know basic signs. This was my desire, but I did not expect it, because I knew it was the Lord's will, and I was willing to teach in whatever language he needed me to do it in. I was again overcome with the feeling that Heavenly Father is very aware of our prayers and the desires of our hearts as I read that I would prepare to preach the gospel in the Spanish language. I knew at that moment that God was aware of me, and loved me very much. 

The Announcement That Changed My Life

I remember vividly sitting at the kitchen table with my mom as we began watching General Conference in October of 2012. Every conference, the prophet makes announcements for the church, such as temples that will be built. However, never in my life have I heard such a powerful and personal statement made by the prophet of our church as I did when President Thomas S. Monson stated, "Today I am pleased to announce that able, worthy, young women, who have the desire to serve, may be recommended for missionary service beginning at age 19, instead of age 21." As this was announced, tears streamed down my face as I knew the plan I had for life was being changed for the better. After this announcement, I continued to pray to my Father in Heaven for a confirmation that my decision was the right choice for my life. I prayed about this for a very long time. Many months later I was preparing to take the ACT, and asked my father to give me a Priesthood blessing. In that blessing (even though I had only asked for this blessing because I desired comfort as I was about to take this test - I'm not a good test taker) I was told that my Father in Heaven was pleased with the path I had chosen for my life. I then knew this was the right decision for me. I also learned that Heavenly Father answers our prayers in his own time, and in his own way, but he always answers. After waiting about a year and a half, I was finally able to turn in my mission papers on July 17, 2014!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePumpbzKweU

What Made Me Decide to Serve as a Missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints??

I went to BYU's Especially For Youth (EFY) program every year I possibly could from the moment I turned 14. This was my third year attending the camp, and it was the first time they decided to incorporate Preach My Gospel (The study guide missionaries use) into the program. We were asked to spend time studying a lesson with our "companion" out of the first chapter, which talks about the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ through the prophet Joseph Smith. After a few minutes of study, we were then asked to get together with another group of mock missionaries, and take turns teaching the lesson to each other. This was the first time I was in a role-play situation where I had to teach a lesson as a missionary would, and I felt so strongly the desire to teach real investigators of the church in the same manner. This was the first impression I had that I needed to dedicate 18 months of my life completely to the Lord by serving a full time mission. This moment seemed small at the time, but as I began to really ponder if I should serve a mission, it stood out in my mind as an answer from God. I am so grateful for this experience, and the inspired people that decided to bring Preach My Gospel into the EFY program!