Sister Ricker

wow!!!

where to begin…last night first of all was great. we had and appointment with our young investigators. we were playing a game to review what we have learned so far and to help keep them interested. GUESS WHAT!!! the 10 yr old told us that she prayed!!! and she read the chapter we left her!! it couldnt have gotten any better than that. but of course it did. they were so excited about the game. shes really warming up to us. and they answered so many questions. she was listening! when she didnt know the answer she would grab her book of mormon and start flipping through the pages sure she could just open the book and find the answers. we pointed her in the right direction .

oh but the best part. her 13 yr old sister came out ot join us for the first time. she joined right in. these kids are awesome. im so grateful to be able to work with them.

okay what else…well my companion found this random green sticky note with a few names and addresses on it. when we were planning one night we couldnt think of anything else to do so we thought “hey if all else fails we can try the green sticky note”. i tell you the Lord works in mysterious ways. there is real power in the sticky note . no but seriously. all esle did fail and so, we went for it. honestly i thought “well that’ll take a good few minutes to try those random addresses”. the first one we tried was a really nice family. and he welcomed us in and we visited and testified for like an hour and a half!! it was awesome. you could really feel the love and concern this family had for one another and they have a sincer desire to do the best for their family.

there were a ton of random instances like that this week. we try our best to be doing what the Lord wants. we pray, we listen and we go. a lot of the time we dont see emidiate results from the steps we take. but we keep going and trusting. but then all of a sudden it all lines up and we find ourselves exactly where we need to be at that time. we may not see where our efforts are going but if they are done in prayer and faith, miracles will happen.

we had so many cool sitruations like that this week where we could tell we were being guided. im so grateful that He is in charge of this great work cause i have no clue

love
sister ricker

sorry i meant to put in this scripture

Alma 37:7

The Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls

isnt the gospel great

hmmm…this week…wow…it went so fast but i cant even remember what happened.

we took a laurel tracting one day. that was fun. she really enjoyed herself, she is excited about going on a mission herself. so we were talking to two men in their driveway. they were working on their car and we took that as an invitation to visit. they were really chatty and friendly but not so interested in learning more about the restored gospel. we offered our mechanic skills but they declined that as well. i figured the Spirit would guide us if they just let us have a shot at it. but, they didnt have such faith.

anyways as we were leaving my companion totally biffed it in their little ditch. it was pretty amusing (dont worry she’s fine, or i wouldnt have laughed, well i at least would have would have waited to laugh ) they felt really bad. Hey but we got into their house. So she could wash her battle wound. Ive trained her so well, sacrificing her body for the work.

Lets see what else…oh yesterday was a pretty good day. We had like 5 appointments and four of them cancelled but never fear, the Lord provided. We were trying to figure out what we should do after the third one bombed and the Spirit reminded me of a sweet older lady I had met like two months ago with my last companion. We had tracted into her and she wasn’t interested but she welcomed us in and told us to come back anytime. She enjoyed the company. Anyways we were passing her house so we stopped by. She had just found out that her daughter has four brain turmors that were inopperable. She was really upset. She said she would have us in but she was feeling a little sick and didn’t want us to get it. We assured her that we take our vitamins and additional vitamin c.  it didn’t take much. She wanted to talk. We talked, shared some scriptures and, sang her a hymn. Im so grateful that Heavenly Father is leading this work and helping us to know where we need to be and which of His children needs a message from Him.

WOW!!! How cool is it to be a part of this great work!!! I love that He is concerned with each and everyone of us and if we are open to the help that He has for us it is there. Even in the smallest most seemingly insignificant of ways.

Thanks for all the support
Love sister Sarah Ricker

this week was good.

saturday night we went to a baptism for an 8 yr old in the ward. she and her family are super active but her mother wanted her to have the lessons just as a good preparation for baptism. that has been a great opportunity for us. it gave my companion some good practice since she is brand new and it strengthened my testimony of the importance of teaching these things in the home. this little girl has such a good grasp on the gospel and she is such and example of love and trust. i want to give my children such a good foundation. i want them to have the same advantage in life this i was given as i was raised in the gospel.

we were able to take our young investigators to the baptism. it was really good for them to see that. before the baptism we met up and talked about what baptism is.

sunday we had investigator come who said that he would have to work. that was a really pleasant surprise.

im kind of done typing so i hope y’all have a good halloween.

love y’all
sister ricker

yep you guessed it…another great week.

ill just jump around as i think about things. so sunday night there was a missionary fireside for recent converts and investigators. wow!!! it was so good. it was basically a bunch of recent converts getting up and sharing their conversion stories and their testimonies. that was so powerful and motivating for us missionaries. i was especially impressed by the youth that have joined on their own with out their families. they really fought to be able to be baptized and they clung to what they knew was true. their conviction was so strong and sincere. they know these things are true and they couldnt deny it. they reminded me of a girl i taught in my first area. she will be 18 in a few months and she is so excited to be able to be baptized.

this week we had some really good lessons. i told you in my last email about a man that came to church a few weeks ago and we had a good lesson with him. well we saw him twice this week and he came to church on sunday. the members have been doing an incredible job making him feel welcome and i know that is playing a huge part. the members we have taken to our lessons with him have really connected and added so much to the lesson. we had a recent convert with us and he shared his experience and it was just what our investigator needed.

lets see what else…oh the girl i told you about that came to church last sunday, we’ve seen her twice. she read what we left her to read in the book of mormon (3 Nephi 11) and she had a question from what she read “how do you know where that authority to baptize is?”. WOW! Heavenly Father sure does know what He is doing.

last night was cool. we taught the plan of salvation a new way. we did it at the church and we took our young investigators from room to room. each room representing a different stage of progression (pre-earth life, creation, the fall, our life, etc…) for our life on earth, we created a maze/obstacle course in the gym and we blindfolded them and then one of us told them how to get through and the other one of us tired to get them lost. it was cool and i think they enjoyed it.

i love teaching the gospel. i love teaching it to children and i love teaching adults. its just so good!!! it makes since and it brings such light into our lives.

sister sarah ricker

this was a great week…seriously one of the best on my mission. let monday night…oh wait…i told you about that in my last email…

okay we’ll jump to wednesday. so wednesday, we had an appointment with a man that came to church a few weeks ago. seriously that was a great lesson. i wish we could bottle up what we felt there and share that with everyone. the Spirit was so strong. he is such a good man and he has such a sincere desire to know the truth and do what is right.

friday night we had a dinner appointment with a part member family. we had only briefly visited with them one or twice but he but he said to come back on friday and he would make us dinner and we could talk. cool huh! so we showed up but noone answered. we left one of our signature sticky notes on the door and were about to leave when we got a phone call so that delayed us. meanwhile he pulled up. good thing the Lord was watching out for us and delayed our departure cause it was a really good appointment. his wife just hadnt heard us at the door. as we were eating we told us he had a ton of questions. we answered them and we ended up doing a quick first lesson. it was so good. we are going to be teaching him regularly now. he and is wife have really been searching for something.

then sunday we showed up at church and one of the members brought a friend of theirs who was interested. she stayed all three hours and really enjoyed church so we are going to be teaching her too.

the Lord has really been blessing us lately. He has led us to so many good people who are ready. there are a lot of good things going on right now.

thanks for all the support
love sister ricker

so last week i told y’all about a lady that we had tracted into a few weeks ago and gave a book of mormon to. well last night we stopped by and she was excited to tell us that she read what we left her and then some and she shared with us the scriptures that stood out to her. it was really cool cause as she read one of the verses i was smiling cause i thought i knew exactly what Heavenly Father was trying to tell her. but instead of giving my two cents, i decided to wait. she went on to tell what she felt He was telling her and how it helped her resolve something that had been bothering her. i was way off. once again He really does know each one of His children, what they are going through, and what they need to here at that point in time. He is so good.

it was cool to here her share an experience she had, the beginnings of a testimony, whether she realizes it or not. the book of mormon really is amazing. she said “its pretty easy to read, i think ill just start at the beginning.” pretty cool huh! that experience alone made up for the day before. yesterday was a really good day. we also got in with two less-active families neither of us have ever met.

we had several return appointments from tracting lined up for sunday, we were really excited. but all 3 three of them were missing in action. good think we were riding the general conference high, or it would have been much rougher.

my companion is awesome. life is pretty good here.

hope all is well with y’all

love
sister sarah ricker

i just got back from the state fair. guess who is singing tonight…billy ray cyrus!!! dont worry i called president, we had a little chat, i explained to him that i felt very strongly that i could get billy to attend general conference this weekend if i could just go to the fair and talk with him. so he gave my companion and i special permission to go, not for our own entertainment of course, but on official missionary business.

just kidding but, i did get some kettle corn and the man doing the caricatures was from salt lake so he did ours for free.

maybe i can get boyz to men to go to general conference, they’ll be at the fair later this week. ill call president tomorrow.

hmmm…this week…

it was good. i got my new companion on wednesday. she’s 6 ft tall, an inch taller than my last one. i cant wait to see how tall my next companion is. they do say that companions on your mission help prepare you for your eternal companion. not a bad thought. ive always thought 6′ 3 would be a good height .

anyways, all is going well with her. she is awesome. i took her tracting on the first day and she was ready to try after just a few doors. she is so excited about that work it is great. i keep forgetting that she is new though.

lets see, yesterday we were walking to dinner and i stopped and talked to this man on the street and he was in a hurry but the Spirit told me to talk to him about the temple. i almost didnt because i wasnt sure how much he was listening anyways but i went for it because it does not feel good to ignore the Spirit. after i did the guy mentioned that his mother had just passed away. wow!! Heavenly Father really does know all of His children and what they are going through.

we have been trying to follow up on several almost investigators. a few that came to church last sunday and this one lady that my last companion and i tracted into a few weeks ago. she had told us to go ahead a bring her a book of mormon. so about a week later we went back and i think she was a little surprised to see us again and even more that we remembered her name. we chatted and she was super friendly. we told her we would come back in a week to see how she liked what we left her to read. so we went back and it was a really good visit and we are going back next week.

there are a lot of really good things in the works here. several people just on the verge.

i love this gospel and im so grateful for the opportunity to be serving at this time. i love teaching!!! seriously every time i walk out of a good lesson im still surprised by how good it feels.

love y’all
sister ricker

oh i forgot to tell y’all. the ward members were so welcoming to our many visitors. especially the young mother and her two kids. seriously, everyone and their dog came up and introduced themselves to her. can i tell you what that does to a little missionary heart? im so proud of this ward. they really welcome people in. that’s the way Heavenly Father ment our wards and meetings to be.

in fact, by the third hour, i was little worried it might overwhelm her. but she was okay

love ya

this week was great.

the highlight…BAPTISM!! it was so good. they were so excited when they showed up. also, like half the ward showed up. seriously one of the best turnouts ive seen, standing room only. i think what made all the difference were the invitations that the girls handed out personally. how can you turn down such cute smiles. i was so happy. these girls are awesome, and i know our Heavenly Father loves them so much. this ward is going to be good for them.

so while we were filling up the font, president called, and i missed it!!! i knew it was transfer week so i had the phone in my hand and still i missed it. so of course my heart goes to my throat. i called him back and he said “sister ricker, how are you doing? …. can i get back to you?” so we waited….and waited…

moral of the story, never miss a transfer call, its torture. luckily he took pity on us and didnt make us wait too long.

so im training…scary… and my companion is heading out. i havent even gotten around to sending home a picture of her and already im getting a new one. sad, this will be my fourth companion in four transfers. im not sure what that says about me.

oh!!! sunday was the best!!! we had so many people there. our young recent converts were confirmed. that alone would have made the day. but Heavenly Father had so much more in store for us. one of our investigators had work off so he came, for the first time since i have been here. and a mother and her two kids that we found tracting came. that was so exciting. she said several times that it felt good to be there and she was coming back. we had tracted into her a few weeks ago but we havent been able to get in to teach her cause she works a ton but she was so sincere and we felt really good about her so we have stopped by a couple times and talked to her on the doorstep and this last week we stopped by and she was so excited to tell us that she had this sunday off, so she could come to church.

there was another girl there that we have been trying to get to come to church aswell. oh and there was a man there that just showed up on his own. he wasnt sure what time church was so he missed sacrament meeting but he was able to go to the spanish branch.

see! i told you it was a good sunday. i came home exhausted. anytime we have new people at church i spend the whole time praying and praying that all goes well for them. and i listen so closely to everything said hoping nobody shares their favorite bits of false doctrine.

i dont know why i worry, Heavenly Father knows them and what they need to hear. i just have to remind myself “never underestimate the power of the Spirit to convert”.

ill let y’all go

love y’all
sister ricker

hello,

so guess who spoke at our stake conference on sunday….President Monson!!! how cool is that. it would have been cooler if it had been live. it was a stake conference for all the washington and alaska stakes. President Monson, Elder Nelson, and someone from the general ym’s presidency. it was really cool. we knew it was going to be a live feed from salt lake but we werent expecting President Monson and he spoke for quite a while. also it was only and hour and a half.

after stake conference our young investigators were interviewed for baptism. they are awesome. before stake conference started they were passing out invitations to their baptism which is this friday evening. itll be good, im excited. these little girls have been through so much in their lives but they are in a loving home and they are soaking up the gospel. im so happy for them and i know Heavenly Father is too.

i also got some really good news from my old area in hermiston. an incredible college-aged girl who was taking the lessons when i was there is getting baptized. she has been coming to church for months, im so happy for her. i want to go but im too far away.

it is always good to hear about the people you leave behind in areas because you work so much with them and you grow to love them and its scary to leave them. im so glad that Heavenly Father loves each and everyone of us so very much and He is involved in the details of our lives, He never forgets us, He never gives up on us, and He is working miracles everywhere.

love y’all
sister sarah ricker