Jan. 26, 2011

Thanks Family, and Friends,

   I  love you all so much too! I miss you, but am glad to hear that you are all doing well. I can report that I am healthy as ever. That is more that the rest of you can say it sounds like. Good thing you are all getting better. I love the MTC, and there aren't many times that I get super home sick, but I do miss you all and can't wait till I can hug you. So I leave in 5 weeks! I can't believe how quickly the time is passing. It is crazy! I feel like I just had my last p-day. It is a little hard getting us to having every minute of our day planned for us, but I have grown to like it. Knowing that you are being as productive as you possibly can be feels like a good accomplishment. I am grateful for the skills that I am learning here. I know that they will benefit me for the rest of my life.

   Spanish this week has gone a lot better. We are trying so hard to talk as much as possible in Spanish. It has helped a lot. Every Saturday we have something called the TRC. Basically it is a fake investigator, and every week we are required to use more and more Spanish. Last Saturday we picked the investigator up for church, road the bus together, and talked about how they felt there experience with prayer, and reading the Book of Mormon was... All in Spanish. Then we taught the first lesson (the restoration) in English. This week, we are helping them move. We are talking about their family, and our own. Then we need to teach them how to pray... All in Spanish. Then we teach the second lesson ( the plan of salvation) in English. Next Saturday we have to do the entire things in Spanish. Crazy!!! I hope all goes well. When you decide to serve a mission Heavenly Father Gives you the gift of tongues. Sometimes I get discouraged because I feel like I am not learning it fast enough, but then I look back on all that I have learned in this short time. Its crazy! I love the gospel so much. It is the only way that we can have complete happiness. If our lives are not going exactly how we want them to we should find away to magnify our involvement in the church. I know that by doing so the Lord will bless us and that we will be happier.

   Well, everyone have a nice week and I’ll talk with you next week.

                                Love Hermana Ricks