The Blessing- Week 30

Hello my dear friends and family,

I hope you have each had a wonderful and blessed week and pray for weeks ahead. This last week was absolutely off the hook for Elder Morton and I. I don't think I have felt this busy and loaded the entire time I've been out! 

I am so excited to see the Helgenburger children all get baptized this week. I have seen so many miracles occur in these incredible friend's lives as they become converted to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. The members of our ward have been particularly essential through this process in supporting this family and helping them. I love the sacred ordinance of baptism and am so excited to see them take this step and partake in the great blessings of membership and the gift of the Holy Ghost.

We almost died of heat stroke giving an out door lesson this week in the heat... It was over 80 degrees, which should be some type of crime happening in February, and Elder Morton and I were dripping and truly gasping for air after the lesson. We got in the car and probably looked like dogs with our heads out of the window driving down the street...

There were so many highlights this week but the greatest of all was being able to go down to Tulsa for a dual-mission conference to see the area Seventies (I forgot his name), Lynn G. Robins of the Presidency of the Seventy and D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve. Of course it was incredible to see all of the other hundreds of missionaries there and it was a very sacred and marvelous feeling that entered the chapel when these men walked in. We were privileged to shake each of their hands prior to them speaking and that was an experience I will forever cherish and remember. It was such a testimony to me of the sacredness of the call I have as a missionary and of this Church, the leaders in it being called of God, and my faith in Christ was strengthened and increased. These truly are inspired men who are well with God and that was obvious by their presence and their words.

The week flew by, with many wonderful blessings and miracles and great joy. I love this great work and am honored to bare the sacred name of our Savior over my heart each day. Jesus is the Christ. He lives, and He loves each of us and it is through Him and His Atonement that we can do all things and become like Him. I know these things are true and invite you to come to increase your knowledge and understandings of the truth of these things for yourself.  

Keep the faith,

Elder Ricks

It was a crazy week...

Monday=P-Day, dinner, lesson, family home evening with a less-active family and two foreign exchange students we are teaching.

Tuesday=Lessons/appointments all day and night, we couldn't even go to the Book of Mormon class because someone asked us to come over during that time, and then had dinner at 8:30..

Wednesday=Lessons/appointments, played a pick up game of basketball with some guys we ran into and left a Book of Mormon and set a time to talk with them, then we had a lesson with the Helgenburger's and they went to youth activities, we had dinner then a couple more appointments.

Thursday=Service, Weekly Planning, Lessons, had another lesson with the Helgenburger's, dinner, had two lessons and tried to see a couple people our ward auxiliary leaders asked us to visit. 

Friday=District meeting, lunch with Michelle and Sandy (members from Edmond 3rd) one lesson, tried to see a couple people, had a great dinner, went on exchanges so that Elder Morton could go to the temple to see one of his recent converts from another area receive his temple endowment, and I went to the church with the other Elders for a family game night. 

Saturday=Woke up at 3:30 to go see Elder Christofferson and Elder Robins in Tulsa, got home and had two lessons, then had dinner at Michelle and Sandy's house with the Edmond 3rd Elders, Lance Batchelor (an incredible man that I was blessed to meet and see become truly converted and come back into activity), Allison (Investigator I was teaching who is going to be baptized in a few weeks) , Justin (Michelle's son), and the UCO Sisters. It was so fun!! Then we tried to see more people that ward auxiliary leaders asked us to see and had a lesson with a couple of them. 

Sunday=Meetings at 7:00, Church at 8:30 (6 investigators were able to come and we were blessed to see 3 less active members make the first steps in coming back into activity) then we had some member appointments to home teach certain families we were asked to visit and had dinner and tried some more people the rest of the night.