Okay... well.... uhhh..... BEING A MISSIONARY IS BASICALLY THE GREATEST THING IN THE WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD. Like seriously the best! Being a missionary is also the hardest thing in the whole entire world. But we can't grow or learn if we never experience anything hard.... do you agree? Well it's the truth. I have never been so tired and ready to go to bed at night... But I have also never woken up so excited and ready to work!
So you know in Elf when Buddy goes to Gimbles (is that the name of the store?) And the owner guy tells him that there is no such thing as the North Pole, and he says with an overly excited expression on his face, "Yes there is!" Well I definitely had one of those moments this week. So it all started when we were walking through the town in Aylesbury, and we always stop people and ask them, "if you could ask God one question, what would you ask?" So we asked that to this guy, and he looks at us and laughs and said, "God isn't real" and starts walking away. Then I blurt out "Yes he is!" In the same overly excited expression that Buddy the Elf had on his face. Seriously go look up that scene because it was basically identical.
WEATHER REPORT: So you would think that when the sun is out that it would be warmer because that is just logical... well jokes on me. The coldest day of the week was when the sun was out. AND we have been going to Aylesbury 2 to 3 times a week to build up the ward there, so we had no one to
I have found my new favorite type of exercise... It is called sprint as fast as you can in a skirt, boots, 3 layers, a long winter coat, scarf with your badge flying in your face, with a heavy shoulder bag, and a Book of Mormon in hand so we don't miss the bus.... Just picture that for a moment. It's chaos I tell you. Reminds me of when we were traveling to an away game and had a connecting flight we were gonna miss, so my whole team was sprinting through the airport causing a huge scene..... hahahhaa I don't think I have ever laughed so hard in my life. ahh I miss you girls! Okay back to the bus story... Keep in mind that this is a regular occurrence of the missionary life. Then 95% of the time the bus is late anyways so we pretty much sprinted for nothing. Story. Of. My. Life.
You know in the Newzies when they are throwing all those newspapers in the air and giving them to everyone? We basically do the same thing with mormon.org cards. It is basically awesome.
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| Sister Ranck and Sister Hernes |
So there is this lady named Kathy who the sisters have been teaching forever and she is a Methodist, but knows the Book of Mormon is true but has a problem with coming to church because her 11 year old son doesn't want to come. So the sisters have never met him because he always stays upstairs to play on the computer whenever the sisters come over. So Sister Hernes and I came up with a plan. What do 11 year old boys like..??? MAGIC. So Elder Kendall, who is serving in our ward in Aylesbury, from Utah, told us about an easy trick to do. So we were way excited to try it and we got her son James to come down for the first time and we did the trick! I was shocked it even worked and personally I thought it was sweet.... But what was his reaction? "I've seen better." Then he proceeded to explain how it works. yup. He is 11. SHUT DOWN. We are praying and fasting for a miracle for Kathy and her son.
THOMAS AND SAMMY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I WISH SO BAD I COULD COME AND CELEBRATE BUT I MEAN I AM KIND OF IN LONDON SO TOO BAD!!!!! Hehehehe only joking..... but really you should be jealous. Thank you for having a birthday so I can have an excuse to buy some British chocolate.
Want to know the dumbest invention ever? The kitchen sink in our flat has two faucets... one with only burning hot water... and one with freezing cold water... no in-between. like really? When was that ever a good idea.
OH MY HEAVENS WE HAD LITERALLY THE MOST AMAZING LESSON THIS WEEK!!! IT WAS ONE OF THOSE AWESOME MOMENTS WHERE I JUST WANTED TO CALL MY MOM AND TELL HER ALL ABOUT IT!!!! Well... sadly that is not possible so an email will have to do for now.
Okay rewind... 2 Saturdays ago we met this man named Steven in the streets. That was a miracle that we even met him because if our plans all worked out we would have not have been where we were at that time and crossed paths with him. But God knows best and we met him in the street and talked to him for like 45 minutes or something. We set up an appointment for the next Friday with him and we had the Richardsons come with us... (okay they are the greatest old couple ever and help us out so much!) So we met him at Costa, which is a coffee shop they have everywhere in England.. but no worries. I just got hot chocolate. So we thought it would be just him, but no. HE BROUGHT HIS WIFE. BOO YAH!!! We taught them the restoration and about the Book of Mormon and seriously the Spirit was sooo strong! Even in a loud coffee shop, the Spirit was there and they were very interested and asking awesome questions. Needless to say... they are GOLDEN investigators I tell you. We committed them to read the Book of Mormon every day until we see them again and pray about it. We also extended the invitation to be baptized, and they said that if they receive an answer that it is true, that baptism would be the next logical step... UMM YEAH IT IS. AND I AM COMPLETELY CONFIDENT THAT THEY WILL RECEIVE AN ANSWER!!! The honest seeker of truth who studies and prays with real intent and has ever intention of acting upon the answer they receive, will always receive an answer. I have full confidence in that. I have full confidence in God. PRAY THAT THEY WILL FEEL THE SPIRIT AS THEY READ AND PRAY!!! AND OH MY I AM JUST SO EXCITED RIGHT NOW AND MOMENTS LIKE THAT MAKE MISSIONARY WORK ALL WORTH IT!!!!!! |
| The Book of Mormon is True |
God answers your prayers. No doubt about that. So Elder Kashari from Albania and Elder Wright from California are in my district and they are so hilarious. Elder Wright loves rapping and it is basically awesome. Last Thursday at district meeting, Elder Kashari asked us if we found a family of 5 this week.... so Sister Hernes and I were thinking about it and actually on the way to district meeting we took the bus to Aylesbury, and we always split up on the bus to talk to different people, and I usually scope out right when I get on the bus who I am going to go sit by, and there was this African lady in the back, and I felt like I should go sit by her, but so did Sister Hernes and she got to her first, and turns out that she has 2 kids and one on the way, sooooo uhhhh family of 5...... and GET THIS. She actually met sisters a couple months back and wanted to come to church and was all ready to go one Sunday, but her lift (ride) never came to pick her up. So we got her phone number and set up an appointment for next week and also she said she is going to come to church this Sunday!!! AMAZING. Okay back to the Elders... they told us that they have been praying that Sister Hernes and I would find a 5 member family... specifically 5. AND on
the bus that morning, Sister Hernes and I both felt like going to sit by the same lady.... That way if one of us didn't, the other one would. UMM OKAY IS THAT NOT AN ANSWER TO THE ELDERS PRAYER OR WHAT? That just makes my heart happy. I can't believe that the Elders were praying for that for us! Isn't that thee sweetest thing ever??!!
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| In the Center of the Town of Leighton Buzzard |
Someone in church yesterday said that the Spirit makes them want to smile on the outside and the inside. Loved that.
I have a question for you all... How is your prayer life?? As missionaries we pray on average like 30 times a day. How many times a day did I used to pray? Maybe like 3..... Want to know why missionaries are so in-tune with the Spirit? THEY PRAY ALLLLL THEEEEE TIME. And seriously the difference that I have felt on my mission is amazing. I feel so much more in-tune with the Spirit than I ever have before. I have come to learn to recognize the Spirit much better and have realized that the Spirit speaks to me more often in my thoughts than anything else. Pray for the Spirit and I PROMISE YOU that you will feel a difference in your life and especially be able to recognize it more often.
I have a challenge for you all this week. Here it is. Right when you wake up, roll out of bed onto your
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| President and Sister Jordan with Sister Sara Ranck |
But most importantly..... REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE SPEAKING TO AS YOU PRAY!!!! YOU ARE SPEAKING TO THE MOST POWERFUL AND LOVING BEING IN THE UNIVERSE. So cut the habit of saying the same things over and over again. Because I know that in my life I have fallen into that habit many times and during those times when my prayers aren't sincere and I am just going through the motions, those are the times when I don't feel the Spirit as strong in my life.
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| Rita :) |
One last story. Every Sunday we go to visit this women named Rita who is in an old folks home. She is basically the sweetest lady ever and is hilarious. She can't walk or take care of herself, and we have to pretty much scream at her because she can barely hear. But we love singing her hymns! So yesterday when we went to visit her the last one to put our finger on our nose has to say the prayer, she she was last. I have never heard a more powerful prayer in my entire life than that prayer. She had tears in her own eyes as she was speaking to God. She spoke to God as if he was sitting right there in that room. He thanked him for Sister Hernes and I for bringing a piece of church to her since she is no longer able to go herself. She prayed for our families and friends back home. It was completely from the heart, and boy it was powerful. We need to all be more like Rita.
I love you all so much!! I miss you all everyday but I know that this is where I need to be. Jesus Christ is my Savior. The Church is true. Joseph Smith was a prophet. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. I feel honored to wear His name on my heart and I pray every day that I can represent Him well.
Onward and Upward!
Sister Ranck
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| Thanks to My Cute Family for the Valentines Hearts |
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