September (1-7)- Week 63

 How amazing is life! I love being here serving the Lord. What a miracle it is that I have the opportunity to be a missionary at this time. 

This last week was so awesome! We finally got back to church! So that is really cool to see the church FINALLY being used other than missionaries haha! 

This last week we were able to have a come follow me discussion on Sunday and it is just so cool to see the little branch over zoom! There is about 10-15 people actively participating with us! 

Shirley will be getting baptized this week! It has been such a huge testimony that people are still prepared or being prepared to receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ right now! It has been just under a month since we had our first contact with her and she has absolutely helped built my faith in Christ. 

An invitation for you all this week! Social media is a very powerful tool to reach those we couldn't have reached any other way! I would invite you all to share something with someone or post something on social media to help build the faith of someone else in Christ. 

I love you all so much! Thanks for being such great examples to me. 

Elder C. Ricks

Doubt not, Fear not

John 8:11- Week 62

 Does anyone know that scripture off the top of your head👆👆👆 

Well its a good scripture haha! At the end of the verse it says "And Jesus said unto her, neither do I condemn thee: go and sin no more." Don't let your errors or mistakes define who you are. Replace "her" with your name in the scripture! And there ya go! Christ won't condemn thee as you strive to "sin no more" like the verse says. 

A cool miracle we were able to have this week was member dinners! Like WhaT?!?! I forgot that was a thing for awhile there! I've been able to have 3 different dinners with members and it has been so yummy! I love sharing spiritual messages in person! 

I love you all so much! Thanks for your support and love. My grandparents sent me a package this week and I am just so grateful for them and all they do for me. 

Other Elder Ricks!- Week 61

 Happy birthday Elder T. Ricks! For those that don't know;) I have a brother serving a mission right now as well! Its his birthday tomorrow!! Birthday wishes my good brother! 

Also! We had an amazing week! I got to call my dad on his birthday and man that's always fun! It's cool to see my family more than 2 times a year😅 

We were able to meet someone new this week and she is planning on getting baptized in a few weeks! She came to church and we are so excited to see her progressing so well! 

We just got word yesterday that we are going into phase 1 in our mission! Yes yes yes! We can eat dinner with members! Have lessons in person! And just yeah.. thats basically it haha! But like man that's such a step up from before! I didn't do as good this week on the cooking... kinda ran out of money! But hey! This week will be a good one 😂 

I love you all so very much and know you're doing good in the world. Like the hymn goes,

Have I done any good in the world today, have I helped anyone in need? Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad? If not, I have failed indeed. 

Don't forget that we are all still humans. And we all need each other's help:)

Love,

Elder Ricks

Doubt not, Fear not

Birthdayyy boys!- Week 60

 Hey everyone! How was your week??? Its my dads birthday this week!!! Happy birthday dad! I sure love you❤ 

I can not believe how many things I learned this week! 

My mom taught me how to use the crock pot! Likeeeee I am a professional now! I know the exact amount of spice and things to put inside to make it taste scrumptious. I have some pictures below that show how amazing that chicken looked haha! I also made french toast this week! Now, I know it isn't that hard. But the fact that I had all of the ingredients to make the homemade syrup was amazing! My roommates appreciated breakfast yesterday! Ohhhhh and guess what! I also did muffins one morning! Like wow. I learned so much on the cooking front this last week. 

We were able to find a new person in teaching!! She is so amazing. We invited her to come to our come follow me discussion and she said yes but some things came up and she wasn't able to attend. We are so grateful for her and her desire to learn more about the Book of Mormon and to learn more of Christ. I love finding those that are prepared and ready to find more joy and happiness in their lives. Such a miracle. 

I would encourage all of you to make a goal for the month of August. Put a reminder in your phone or somewhere where you can see it often. And then do 1 activity EVERYDAY to accomplish that goal. You will never accomplish anything only doing it 1 time. You need to continually work on those goals you set for yourself. 

I love you so much. I truly am grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ and for His Gospel. I know that through my trials I am able to grow, and become stronger. As Paul says in the bible, Keep the faith brethren. Keep the faith! 

Elder C. Ricks

Doubt not, Fear Not

And the picture with the potatoes and Chicken! I also had a bunch of vegetables as a side as well! Sooo yummy 😋 

Transfers!- Week 59

 Hey everyone! Its transfer week! It has been kinda a pretty crazy honestly! Today we've been running around like mad men trying to get everything done. We got a cool blue car today! So that's exciting! Picture below! I will be staying here with Elder Calvo! YES! I am so excited to serve with him again! 

We are loosing 4 elders in our apartment and gaining 2 new ones so kind of a crazy life but its fun to know more missionaries! We have been working on Facebook a little bit less this week but we've been trying to really focus ourselves on the members in the little branch we are in called Via Linda. We think they have finally called a branch president so we are super excited about that. 

Although we still don't have many people to teach we see limitless miracles every single day. I can't even describe how many miracles we see. If only I saw the ones I don't see! Man am I blessed! 

Just so you all know! A huge shout out to Braeden and Shay for having their first little baby! 👶 Hadley is very blessed 🙌 

I love you all and hope that you are doing good! Send me an email on your week! I'd love to hear from you all! 

Love,

Elder Ricks

Doubt Not; Fear Not