Sister Ricker

yesterday we had interviews. dont worry i passed . it was really good, interviews and zone conference always give me a charge and get me all excited.

we had three investigators come to church on sunday. that was super exciting. we are teaching these two really cute little girls (12 and and they came to church for the first time. they loved it. the 8yr old sat so quietly and attentively and the 12 asked us questions about the sacrament and the songs. their aunt who came with them to church (that was just as exciting) said they have been talking about church for days. they had so much fun. they are going to be baptized some time in september.

it is great here. we get so much support from the ward members. we get such solid exchanges to come out with us. on sunday we had several people come up to us with people they wanted us to teach. it is so encouraging to see members so excited to share the gospel and go on exchanges with us. i wish we could transfer that fire to others. i know that is they way this work is ment to go. that is the whole purpose of the WHOLE church, saving souls.

oh! i just remembered. so on sunday one of the speakers didnt show up so guess who our bishop asked to fill in…yep us. i love being a missionary . so i whipped out jacob 5 and since it is one of the longest chapters in the book of mormon, i started reading, verse 1…..
no im kidding, but i thought about it. i did talk about jacob 5 but dont worry i didnt read it. i love that chapter! it is all about saving souls and the overwhelming amount of love our Savior and Heavenly Father both have for each one of us. Holy Cow!!! we dont even get it. but they have called us to work with Them in the vineyard. what a humbling and sacred privilege to join Them in Their work and glory!!

im so grateful to be given such and opportunity

love ya
sister ricker

so, its my first p-day in my new area. not too shabby.

lets see what has happened?

i got a letter this week with pictures from a baptism in kennewick. a girl we had taught when i was there was baptized. how exciting is that. she was awesome. she had told us that she new it was true but she was getting a ton of opposition from her family. it is so good to here that she was finally able to make that sacred covenant. she looks so happy in the picture.

on saturday evening we went and met a less-active man and we visited for just a few minutes on the doorstep. we invited him to come to church the next day since he had it off work and guess what…he came! for the first time in 7 yrs. how cool is that. we were so excited. what was more exciting was to watch a couple people in the ward say hello and talk to him.

this is a good ward. very welcoming and friendly. things are going to go really well here, the Lord is already showing us miracles. we met two people and started teaching them.

i love this work!!!!
love sister ricker

so im going back to washington. do you know what that means? i have to pump my own gas. sad day, maybe my companion will love doing it. one can only pray .

im excited, i love change. there were some people here that it was really hard to say goodbye to. but, the Lord knows them, He knows me, and He knows what it best for all of us. He will take care of them. it is crazy how protective we missionaries become. we work so much with people that we grow to love them and it is scary to leave them. hmmm…bet y’all never thought you would hear me say that. crazy huh?.

im so grateful to know that this is the Lord’s work and if we just trust in Him all things will work together for the best.

i wonder what He has in store for me in my next area. i love coming into a new area. everything is so fresh and hopeful.

oh so one of our investigators picked a baptismal date, and another one that we have been working with since i have been here, told us that baptism is a goal for her. that is so exciting. we couldnt have a better last week. she is so awesome. she has been plowing through the book of mormon and she is eager to start the doctrine and covenants next. im gonna miss her. a few weeks ago when we were in sunday school, she made me so happy when she said “so last night i was reading in Jacob 5, that is a really long chapter, but i finished it and…” then she tied what she learned into the lesson. i told you, she is awesome.

i love watching people catch it and see what a difference the gospel can make in their lives. it reminds be of how blessed i have been my whole life. i wish i really knew what i have. i wish we all knew. this is good stuff!!!

nothing else can change a life quite like the gospel of Jesus Christ. nothing else can build confidence and stability in a life. and its right here.

i know my Savior lives and i know He wants so badly for us to just hold on. i know each and everyone of us is a valuable, precious child of God. we are children of God, we are His offspring, we have divine heritage, and divine potential. i wish we could just catch a glimpse at what He sees when He looks at us. it would blow us away. we are priceless, everyone.

love ya
sister ricker

hello!!

in case y’all havent noticed, its august!!! that is crazy, it feels like winter was just a month ago.

so on saturday we had a member of the 70 come and visit with all the missionaries on this half of the mission, and all the members of our ward councils. it was a really good meeting. he talked about the ward mission process. they have been trying to change the culture of the church so that the whole ward is involved in missionary work and it is not just a program in the church but that it is in all that we do. that is why the church is here anyways to: proclaim the gospel, redeem the dead, and perfect the saints. he said that if we do the first two the last will take care of itself. anyways, elder perry of the 12 has been trying to institute and the perry plan to help us work more efficiently as a whole to help move the work forward. they are trying it out in this region of the US.

i’m sure y’all all wanted to know about that. the whole point is, we took what we learned to our ward councils and it was great to get the support and to see things begin to change. the wards here are awesome.

we have been planning a huge activity in one of the wards. we are pretty proud of it. “a night at the mtc” for all ages. we’re gonna get the members fired up about sharing the gospel. of course there will be an eating contest because we want them to get a full taste of the mtc.

i hope all is going well with y’all. life is good here. ive eaten a ton of watermelon mmmm…oh by the way hermiston is famous for their watermelon so look for it in the stores.

love ya
sister ricker