6 Months- Week 26

Hey everyone! I hope you all have been having a wonderful week! Thanks for all of your prayers and thoughts throughout the week! I can definitely feel the blessings that come from your faith back at home and I appreciate all you do for me!

This week has flown by. My mom told me last week that my emails always sound super similar so I'm sorry if I get repetitive, I try to say something different in all of my emails but honestly a lot of our weeks are pretty similar!

We still did our sports night this week and one thing that was different was.... WE ACTUALLY HAD SOMEBODY SHOW UP THIS WEEK AND IT WAS AWESOME!!!! We had to leave a little early to go to a different appointment but it was super cool! His name was Oscar and we went and played soccer with them, got his number and had a great time with him and his mom! He said that he wants to invite his brothers and sisters for next week(tomorrow) and so we are excited to see how it turns out!!! And THEN the next day we went to a Mexican restaurant and the mom was their with one of her daughters and told us that she was still excited to come to next week sports night!!! Miracles being in the right place at the right time:)

Also this last week I feel like we have been able to talk to wayyyyyy many more Hispanics even if they didn't want anything to do with us we were able to talk to lots of people! Almost everyone we talked to said we could come by and learn Spanish from them though so hopefully we can use that to start practicing our lessons on them in Spanish and have them teach us how to teach the lessons so it would be a win win for us! I am definitely learning to love to talk with all the Hispanics even though most the time I still can't understand them!

Also we were promised multiple times this last week that if we continue to work hard that we will find someone to teach! And we were coming up to the end of the week when we needed to report our numbers and the last door that we were going to know happened to be a former person that had been taught that is really good friends with one of the members in our ward! So we went in and taught a very simple point, set a return appointment and found ourselves a new person the day before we needed to report our numbers and it is so incredible that as we continue to work as hard as we can the Lord will provide. When we start to doubt but keep pushing forward the Lord will watch over us and keep us protected and open up the heavens and pour down blessings upon us!!

I have been reading through the Doctrine and Covenants and as I was reading I found a really cool passage about the importance of having modern day revelation and prophets to lead and guide us through life to keep us protected from the enemy! It is Doctrine and Covenants 101:43-54 and I would invite you all to go and read that! The prophets and apostles recieve revelation for the people of the world so that we can be blessed and protected! They stand on a watch tower to warn us of the danger ahead in the world! I know that as we follow the words of the prophets without questioning and trust that they have been called of the Lord and we sustain them by listening and following their council that we will be blessed from all of the evil in the world! I'm grateful for the knowledge and truth that we have today from prophets of old and also modern day prophets!

I love you all so much and am grateful for the opportunity I have to serve a mission! So many of you at home have had such a great influence on me and I am grateful for all of your examples! Keep on keeping on my friends and family!

DO GOOD BE GOOD

Love, 

Elder T. Ricks 

Thanks Everyone!- Week 25

Hey everyone! Thanks so much for all the birthday wishes! I hope you all have had a great week! Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers sent my way.

This week was pretty fun! I sadly had to say bye to my last companion Elder Freeman, but I got a new one right out of the MTC, his name is Elder Bird! He is super cool. He is from Houston Texas and is going to play college football after the mission. It was been a pretty cool experience to be his first companion out here.

We had to cancel last week's sports night because we drove to Milwaukee to get our new companions, but this last week we got a random call from somebody asking about it and they said that they wanted to come which is awesome! So we are excited for this next week to have some people come for sports night!

English class went super good as well. We taught the lesson thanks to the help of the Lord and the gift of tongues! Then we invited them to a ward activity which they ended up not coming to but the activity was fun and we had our recent converts there an investigator as well. 

We have actually done quite a bit of tracting this week, only for like an hour or so at a time but it has been nice to go and talk to everyone. We have also done a lot more studies because all the new missionaries have to do the additional companionship study which is actually super cool so that we can both learn Preach My Gospel better and also understand our purpose as missionaries! It's great. 

Yesterday the Palmers daughter had a friend that had a birthday and were having a party at their house, and they found out it was my birthday as well so they invited us over and it was super cool because there was probably like 10 of her friends there and we hadn't met any of them before! So we got over there and had a good time getting to know people telling them about us and then had the opportunity to ask them to take the missionary lessons! We asked them if they could help us practice our lessons, but they said yes so we will be able to teach all of the people that were there! So we are looking forward to teaching hopefully a lot of new people this next week! 

I ran into this quote the other day that I thought you all would like:

Worship gets you through the hardest times in your life because it shifts your focus from the problem to the problem solver

And I just want to add my testimony that I know when we rely on Jesus Christ and show Him how much we love Him by studying the scriptures, praying, giving service, going to the temple(even just temple grounds) we will be able to get through all the hard times in our life and not only will we be able to get through them but we will grow and become stronger because of them!

Thanks for all of your love and support! 

DO GOOD, BE GOOD

Love, 

Elder T. Ricks 

Trainer Letter

Milwaukee Brewers Game- Week 24

Hey friends and family, I hope you are having the best weeks! FIRST OFF, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DAD!!!! He's a cool guy and I'm glad that he is my dad! I wish that I could spend this incredible day that he was born with him, but since I can't be doing that I am exactly where I want to be serving the Lord! I am so grateful for your example to me dad! I love you and hope you have a wonderful day!!! 

Thanks for all of your prayers and thoughts sent my way! Transfers are this Wednesday and I will be staying in this area! Elder Freeman will be leaving to Kenosha. And I will be training a new missionary, so not sure who that will be yet but it'll be cool! 

This week has been pretty legendary for me! The members here are basically super cool and I love this area! The district I am in is super cool and it's just a fantastic time haha. Missionary work is truly the best! Also, some good news, the AC got fixed and instead of it being an oven in my apartment it is a freezer! 

The Sisters in Janesville found and started teaching this guy names Julio and they thought with his situation it would be better for us to teach him! He had a pretty rough past, like super pretty rough, but it is so cool to see people change their lives! He found a church that basically saved his life in the fact he wants to do better and be better and now we are working on sharing the restored and true gospel with him!

No one came to sports night, no one came to English class, we didn't have Bible class... But it's okay because this next week we are going to do it all! People were just very busy this week!

One super awesome thing that did happen this week is that we got to go to the Milwaukee Brewers game against the Texas Rangers! And not only did we get to go, we got suite box tickets to the game with the Palmer family and his whole staff at work! We obviously had to get it approved from our mission president, so we did! And the way we did that was because his whole staff was not members of our church and we also brought a super solid potential along with another member and his cousin from the Dominican Republic! It was incredible. We got to fulfill our missionary purpose by talking to people who live in the Janesville area, set a solid friendship with a solid potential and watch a Brewers game!

I have been reading the beginning chapters of the book of Alma in the Book of Mormon and I love how apparent it is that when we follow the commandments and the prophecies of the prophets we are incredibly blessed, and when we are prideful we become wicked and stop receiving the blessings, not because the Lord doesn't give us blessings but because we are not willing to receive them! I invite you all to remember the importance of daily scripture study and prayer and the council of our prophet to repent every single day! I promise that as you do these things your life will become better!

Thanks again for all of your love and support! I love you all! 

DO GOOD, BE GOOD

Love, 

Elder T. Ricks 

Service- Week 23

I hope that everyone has had a great week! Thank you for prayers and thoughts that were sent my way! There have been a lot of young men going out to their missions this past month and a half that are my brothers age and it is so fun to hear and see them be so willing to serve the Lord!

"The Standard of Truth has been erected, no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing... The truth of God will go forth bodly nobly and independent... Until the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done." - Joseph Smith

It is so humbling to see so many young men and young women who have desires to serve the Lord and help prepare for the world for the 2nd Coming! Whether we are serving a full time mission or not, there are things that we can all do in our lives to help prepare the world for the 2nd Coming. That could be preparing ourselves, or those around is there is work that needs to be done and I hope that you all continue living as examples to everyone around you! 

We went on exchanges this last week with the Elders from Stoughton and it was pretty fun! I always love going on exchanges to see other missionary teaching styles and the way others work! We can all learn so much from others! We were able to have dinner with a member and they kindly took us out to a place called Cracker Barrel. Definitely one of my favorite and I have been craving it since I got here in Janesville. My grandma and grandpa Pincock always take us there when we are on a vacation or driving to somewhere or at a family reunion so my family and I have so many good and fun memories at Cracker Barrel and it was super fun to go there again!

English class seems to be getting more and more fun, as I learn the language a little more and get more comfortable using it I find myself trying to speak to people even if I don't really know what to say. I read somewhere that we should make learning the language fun especially if we don't know it and try as much as we can and if we make a mistake or somebody doesn't understand what we say because it was so bad to just laugh and try again. I still don't like making mistakes when I speak Spanish or making any mistakes but when I do and I laugh at it and try it again I find myself learning more and more willing to talk with everyone!

Our AC is still broken and normally it is like okay especially in the mornings when it's a little cooler outside and stuff but sometimes it gets pretty stuffy in the apartment! It's fun though because it's just an excuse to eat ice cream and stuff which is nice! I love ice cream and I love popsicles.

We have been able to give tons of service this week to members like moving houses and stuff like that, so when I get home if anyone needs help moving anything just let me know and I'll be there. I'm basically getting to the point where I like moving houses because service is the best! Also Brother Ricks, the guy that basically grew up with my dad that lives in this ward was there at the moves and it was so funny because he was so similar to my dad haha. I love seeing people who are related to my dad/grew up in the same area at the same time as him because they are all so similar, it's wild. And Brother Ricks was so nice afterwards he bought us all Power Ads and then he took Elder Freeman and I to lunch at 5 guys! I'm proud to be from the Ricks (& Pincock) family!

Another thing we do for service is the House of Mercy which is a homeless shelter. We take calls and help the people there and stuff so this week was pretty wild. Normally the service shifts are 4 hours but since there is 2 companionship here we split it and each do 2 hours. But this week the Sisters were in a meeting with President and so we had to do the whole 4 hours which was okay because service is awesome. When we first got there I looked at my companion and I said that I hope that something wild happens today like the fire trucks coming here because I want to be on the news... We just go on about serving and don't think much of it and there was this sweet old lady and she needed us to copy and print a couple stuff so we did and she said oh also I need you to help me with my laundry because I'm old and can't take my walker down the stairs with me. So of course we do it and laundry takes a while to do so we help her down and make sure she is comfortable and tell her good luck and go back up to continue serving and stuff. So about 40 minutes later I get this feeling that we should go down and check on her to see how she's doing and we go down and she is just hanging out with her walker, she had successfully transfered half of her laundry load and was just waiting for the rest to finish and she mentioned to us that her doctor had called her and that she needs to go to the hospital immediately. She didn't look too bad so we helped her up the stairs and started looking for the staff to help her more and when the staff find her they called the ambulances and fire trucks immediately so that she can be taken to the hospital. So something crazy did happen that day and the fire department showed up just like I had thought about earlier in the day. So the fire trucks did show up, but I wasn't put on the news which is probably a good thing. I'm not really sure how she is doing yet but I'll keep you updated! But following spiritual promtings is so cool and we always need to follow the prompting we receive even if they don't seem like very big things! 

We started teaching this lady named Chris who is dating Brother Ramirez and it is a pretty wild situation but hopefully she continues to come to church! She is interested in the idea of eternal families so we are super excited to teach her about the temple and the ability we have as we make Covenants with our Father in Heaven to be able to live with Him and our families again for time and all eternity!

Also the Sisters here in Janesville found this other guy his name is Julio and he seems super promising. They felt like we should be the ones to teach him because of his situation and where he is living and I am super excited for the opportunity and hopefully we can have good lessons with him and make some nice progress with him!

This transfer will be a 7 week transfer, so yes we still have another week after this one even though it has already been 6 weeks! But it's okay though because I love the area and the ward here and my companion is pretty cool! It's kinda crazy that we are already in August though! It felt like July just barely started!

I'm so glad that I get to be apart of this awesome work and that I get to share my testimony with the people here in Wisconsin! Its super cool reading the Book of Mormon all the time and continue to learn more of the stories and prophecies and teachings of Christ that come from it! I know that it is the word of God and when we read it we become closer to Jesus Christ and we become better people! I challenge you all to continue reading the Book of Mormon every day, I promise many blessings will happen if you read the Book of Mormon faithfully.

Thanks for all of your prayers and thoughts sent my way! Los amo a todos!

DO GOOD, BE GOOD

Love, 

Elder T. Ricks 

Woooooow- Week 22

Time flies when you're having fun! It feels like I was just writing this email for last week yesterday! I hope everyone is doing super good! Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers:)

Carson leaves the CCM today!! How crazy is that! It feels like he just got his call yesterday! He is such a great example to me and I hope that he has a great time! Our missions are going to be very different but so similar at the same time, we both get to invite all to come unto Christ!

Our English as a second language class sadly had to get canceled this week on Saturday because we had a baptism for one of the people we are teaching, Bob and another guy in the Janesville ward that the sisters are teaching Wesley! So we moved the class from Saturday to Friday because they all wanted to come! It was awesome! We taught the class and then invited them all to our Bible class that we have in Spanish on Thursdays! So hopefully they start coming to that as well.

So yeah we were able to baptize Bob! It has been so awesome to see him learn of Jesus Christ and see him change and become better and happier too! There is just a glow about him that wasn't really there when we first met him! But I asked him how he felt after receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and in his own words he said 'yesterday(for the baptism) I felt so calm and peaceful inside, and today when I received the gift of the Holy Ghost I felt like a whole bunch of good happy energy just came into me and I feel so happy!' I know that that feeling was the Holy Ghost and I know that as we learn more of Christ and let Him change us, we will be changed and receive a spiritual and even physical uplifting in our lives because of Him.

Nobody showed up for our sports night this week😂😂 so we just played with the sisters and talked to this lady walking by about our sports night and hopefully her daughter comes with a lot of her friends so that we can continue to do it. But soccer is always so fun!

I didn't translate this week... BUT I was able to teach the Spanish Sunday School class that we have and it was so cool to see the gift of tongues truly work as I was teaching today! I was able to form sentences that made enough sense that they could answer them and understand them well enough to reply and bare testimony of the topic! I'm thankful for the opportunity I have to learn a new language and be able to have the spirit work through me to people of a different language, culture, and background. I truly love this mission and for all of the opportunities I have had because of it!

Our AC is still broken so I have tons of pop sickles! And there was a pretty big fire the other day haha! 

Thanks again for all of your love and support! You are all so incredible! I love you all.

DO GOOD, BE GOOD

Love, 

Elder Ricks