I ♥ Mormon

I spy with my little eye................. BIG BEN. 

Big Ben off in the distance

Yup. Definitely saw Big Ben in real life for the first time this week. WOW the coolest thing ever! Sister Barbosa had to go to London to do some paper work before she leaves (ps: transfers is next week) and oh my I am in love with London. We were right in the heart of Central London.... Like all the touristy stuff. Trafalgar Square, Big Ben was a block away, big double decker red buses, red phone booths on every corner, it was basically the greatest ever. I hope I get to serve right in London some day!!! 

Sister's can play soccer too!

This week was a good week:) Spring has officially sprung in England and the England Country side is amazing..... We take the bus from Leighton to Aylesbury 3 times a week and drive through the countryside and I love it :) There are these huge yellow fields, I don't know what they are but they are everywhere! 

Also, last Monday we played football for P-day and it was sweet!!!! I was painfully sore for the next 3 days though... All of the Elders were surprised that a Sister could actually play.  Yep, I still got it! 

Beautiful Countryside

This week I have been amazed by how many people have had contact with the church before..... We are on the bus back to Leighton on Thursday and it was crazy... I was sitting next to a girl who told me that her best friend just got home from her mission a month ago. Then this guy on the other side of the bus was like, "hey I have a friend in Nigeria who is a Mormon!!!" Then this other guy chimed in and said, "Oh I have your book!! I met some missionaries in Luton 2 months ago and read the beginning of it!" We were like woah.... It was too much to handle at one time. hahaha it was seriously awesome.

God is in this work. He knows his lost sheep. It is truly incredible. I love feeling the guidance of the Holy Ghost every single day and I truly desire more than anything to do everything I can to have the Holy Ghost with me! We are so blessed to have this gift. 

I Love Mormon Double Decker Bus

For example, we didn't have any appointments on Thursday so we had a lot of time to do some finding in Aylesbury. Well, we met this African lady and she was like, "tell me about this book of yours!" Well okay! So we walked with her to go pick up her daughter from school... It was like a 30 minute walk to an area of town that we have never been to. Well the walk went well and we are seeing her again this week. 

This is trafalgar square! Some big museums are here

So we were out in this area of town and we pulled out our map to see where some less actives live around here, and we found some that were not too far away. So we started walking to try to see them. Well, we had no luck seeing them, and we rarely knock doors because it is not very effective here, but I felt very inspired to knock the doors on one street. So we did. 

A young guy answered and said that his grandad goes to our church, then his dad came to the door and was like, "Hey! I used to go to your church! I have even been to the temple to do baptisms and I used to go out teaching with the missionaries! My brothers both served missions and my whole family is active in Bulgaria!" 

Say What?????

The famous Red Telephone Booths.  I LOVE London.

It was crazy I tell you. INSPIRED. Well I don't know what will come out of it because he said that he was ex communicated when he was like 20, and he hasn't been back since (like 35 years ago). But he likes the church, just said it wasn't for him anymore. So sad! He said he might come one time to see everyone again. We both bore our testimonies and were really bold with him and encouraged him to read the Book of Mormon and pray.

Dinner at the Bishops House

I don't know what will come out of that or if he will ever come back, but that was just a super huge testimony builder that God truly knows his children. He knows where his lost sheep are and he hasn't forgotten about them. 

We had two investigators at church yesterday! Sabrina and Lewis:) Both are progressing well! That was Sabrina's third time and she is really enjoying learning! Her family won't let her be baptized though until she is married, so pray for her. 

Lunch with our District

Also, Lewis is doing really really well!! After church, a family in the ward "adopted" him and he spent the rest of the day at their home! Which we are very grateful for! We went there for dinner as well, and after we went for a nice Sunday stroll in the woods that are right outside their home. It was beautiful and I wish so bad I wasn't wearing a skirt so I could climb the trees and stuff. haha. Lewis is doing really well though and I am excited for him:) He truly is changing his life around.

A fun hike

We talk to so many people every day with so many different beliefs. Every time I do, my testimony is confirmed even more. I am never taking the gospel for granted again that is for sure. We are so blessed to be a part of the restored gospel! Revelation has not ceased. we have a living prophet who is God's mouth piece on the earth. This is the same church that Jesus Christ himself established when he was on the earth.

We are a blessed people.

Think about how your life has been blessed because of the restoration. As you do, I know you will feel as Lehi did, "a great importance to make it known unto the inhabitants of the earth."

Love you all and thank you for all of your prayers. 

THIS WORK IS AMAZING AND THE GOSPEL IS SO TRUE I JUST KNOW IT!!!!!

ONWARD AND UPWARD.

Sister Ranck

PS iPads are coming this week. Be jealous.

The Castle where Batman was Filmed

Guarana.... some Brazilian soda that is 
basically the best soda ever.

Hey! I'm getting good at using these maps.

England Countryside. Doesn't do justice! 
Huge yellow fields everywhere.....

We met someone who asked us "I have a question for you, what is this book and why do you have it?"

WHAT A GREAT WEEK TO BE SPREADING THE GOSPEL IN ENGLAND! Last week was just wonderful! The sun was shining, we moved flats, I have a great companion, we are teaching some great people right now, we saw many many miracles every day, AND I get to represent Jesus Christ. What could be better?? Oh, did I mention I am in England?? YUP. No big deal.

So yes, this week we MOVED FLATS!!! WOOO!!!! We moved on Friday and our new flat is super nice. Our last flat was pretty old, but this new one is super open and light and I love it:) 

Our new FLAT!  We love it (except for the spiders).

One of my worst night mares came true though... We live on the 3rd floor... AKA........... STAIRS. 

Also, after the first 2 days, we started noticing a lot of spiders everywhere on the ceilings and walls and stuff...... right before we went to bed...... and these are not normal spiders. They are big dark

This is Malcolm.  He is investigating the Church

brown ones that are like the size of a nickel. Spiders don't really scare me much, but when you can stand in one room and can see 5, I start to get a little paranoid.... haha. Luckily Sister Barbosa is brave and is from Brazil and killed all of the ones that we could see...Then when we were spider hunting I saw this huge one in the kitchen, bigger than a quarter and it kinda freaked me out. Then when I went to check back like a minute later and it was gone and we still haven't found it..... yeah that huge thing is somewhere in our kitchen. Lovely. 

We found out some semi cool news this week....... On the monthly calendar for the mission, on the 28th it said, "save the date" and we have all been wondering what this mystery date is all month. So President finally decided to spill the beans on Saturday night and we had a mission wide conference call to find out what this day was all about....... He told us that we are having some general authorities come on that day (Elder Nielson... no not the member of the Quorum of the 12.. the guy in conference who spoke about the prodigal son. And then one of the area authorities...)........ 

Dinner with the Elders at our Ward Mission Leader's Home

TO TRAIN US ON HOW TO USE IPADS. 

YUP. no big deal. 

So in two weeks our mission will officially be an ipad mission. BOO YAH! Don't ask me any questions about them yet because I honestly have no idea at all.

I know I keep saying that every week is the best week, but this time I mean it. I seriously LOVE being a missionary more than anything!!!!!

We had an awesome lesson with this guy called Kenneth last week!!! He is from Nigeria and has such a strong faith in God already just like all Africans do:) They are the best ever I'm tellin yah. But we met him on the street and showed him the

We have dinner with them every Wednesday night

Book of Mormon, and he was like, "I have never heard about this book. Tell me about this book." ......Yeah we can do that... So we set up a time to meet with him later that week.

He is so funny... We met him at the chapel and when we started the lesson he was like, "I have a question for you, what is this book and why do you have it?" So we taught him about the restoration and when we started telling him about Joseph Smith, the Spirit was so strong! After I felt inspired to ask him what he was feeling right now, and he said, "I am feeling that what you are telling me is the truth." I just wanted to scream, "YEAH IT IS!!!!" When he said that I was so happy  and excited! The Spirit was so powerful. He asked us then if he could say a prayer, so we all knelt down, and he asked if we could all hold hands in a circle... uhh yeah sure! Let's just say African prayers are my favorite ever.

He was unable to come to church on Sunday but we will be seeing him later this week:) I can't wait!

Our Ward Mission Leader

We are also teaching this girl called Sabrina.. she is so great! She has come to church twice now and really loves learning about the Gospel and Jesus Christ! I absolutely love teaching her, and she is the fastest learner I have ever taught so far. Ah I just love her so much! So she really wants to be baptised, but her mom won't let her until she moves out of the house and gets married..... so pray for her and that her families hearts will be softened.

God always has the best plans for us. Seriously. We will plan our whole day then things always go wrong so God's plans can always fall into place. It is amazing! The power of good planning in missionary work.... 

Okay here is an example. So last Tuesday we were supposed to be going to Aylesbury to teach Rodrigo, but he canceled last minute because something came up, so we were like okay.... and we called an investigator called Lewis. I asked him if he could meet us in 10 minutes at the park and he agreed!!!!!! 

Cute member of our ward checking out how it feels
to wear a Missionary name tag

Okay background on Lewis, the weekend before that we were supposed to see him 3 times, but we were unable to get in touch with him all three times, so we were way sad. We met him the week before that and he said that he really wants to follow God and has always wanted to be baptized.... He is 24 and has 2 children. He has had a rough past and said that he really wants to kind of restart and make new friends. 

So we got to see him on Tuesday night super last minute and we had a really good lesson with him!!!! That was such a miracle because we have been trying to get in touch with him all weekend..... He is super great and I am looking forward to what the next month will bring:) He is just so great!!

We went to a members home on Sunday night for Dinner and she is from Angola and oh my it was the greatest ever!!! hahaha I am dying just thinking about it... And people say I am loud......... ha. She

Two adorable future missionaries

has two darling girls, one is 10 and the other is 4, and both of them said they wanted to serve missions. I gave them my badge to wear and they were pretending to be missionaries and teach each other the gospel and it was the cutest thing ever. We told them that they could be missionaries right now, and I gave them each 2 CTR rings. One for themselves, and the other to give to a friend!! 

I don't think I have told you all about a recent convert called Lena yet. Lena is anorexic... Really really bad. We go see her every week and seriously every time I see her it just breaks my heart but I just love her so much it is crazy. She is always feeling rubbish and has such a hard time coming to church and going out in general. She is only 21 as well... The gospel has literally saved her life. When she met the missionaries a year ago, she was in such a low place. She has been anorexic since she was 12, and when she got to be around 18 or so, she turned to drinking to "escape"

This cute family in our Ward had us over for dinner

rather than fight it. She said that there was one day that she was in town and sitting on the steps crying, and that is when she met the sisters. Ever since then her life has changed. She was baptized like a month later and she has such a strong testimony! 

So she still is very very anorexic and she said as far as anorexia goes is the worst she has ever been... We see her every week and last week when we saw her she was doing terrible. So as we were talking with her and she was explaining to us how she was feeling, she kept saying that she knows Jesus Christ is real, but she has a hard time seeing that the atonement is for her. She is struggling with seeing a better future and REMEMBERING who she is because she has dealt with this for so long,  and is just really struggling to find that strength. She is FORGETTING who she really is. 

She was FORGETTING who her God was. She was FORGETTING who we are all destined to become. 

I have been thinking about that all week and the importance of REMEMBERING who we are and who our God is. I can't remember who, maybe Ezra Taft Benson, but one of the Prophets said that the most important word is to REMEMBER. 

Why? 

Just think about that this week. Why is it so important that we REMEMBER our Savior? Why do we renew that promise every week when we partake of the Sacrament? Read Moroni 10:3 and 2 Nephi 25:23-26... 

This week let's all try a little better to REMEMBER who we are and who we are destined to become. To REMEMBER who our God is. And to REMEMBER our Savior Jesus Christ. 

How do we remember? IT COMES DOWN TO THOSE DAILY SIMPLE THINGS. PRAYER AND

Thanks for the birthday gifts!  I love them.

SCRIPTURE STUDY. 

Don't take for granted the Book of Mormon.

I promise that if you do, you will always be able to stand strong against the trials of the day.

I love you all and thank you so much for all of the support and love!

ONWARD AND UPWARD!!!

Sister Ranck

PS Shout-out to my cute gramps!!! AKA HAPPY BIRTHDAY WEEK!!! We are both turning 20 soon:) WOOO!! I LOVE YOU!!!!

Our plans fall through, so God's plans can fall into place.

Wow this week was AMAZING. I don't know how, but each week just gets better and better. I am loving this work more and more as time goes on and I cannot believe I have been out for almost three months already. TIME IS FLYING!!! Seriously it is insane!!!

Who loves sunscreen?

The sun was shining all week, but everyone says not to be fooled because it won't last. But hey, I got to put my sunscreen to good use:) It truly has been a wonderful week! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

So here is an example of my week/day schedule. 

MONDAY: PDAY!!! WOOO!!! EMAILS!!!! WOO!!! Next P day we have zone p day and we are playing..... football (or soccer as they say in the USA). I don't think I have ever been more excited. Then we usually go to FHE with a family in the ward! We love going to the Sheppard's because they basically have the funnest family home evening ever.

TUESDAY: We go homeless in Aylesbury all day!!! haha I love going to Aylesbury but I just feel homeless when I go there:) Usually what we do when we are here is a lot of talking to everyone we can and going to visit less actives and have

This is my District

appointments with people we meet!

WEDNESDAY: We stay in Leighton Buzzard and have appointments usually all day/do a lot of finding and all that fun missionary stuff:) Then every Wednesday night we have correlation at the mission leaders home with the Elders and have a lovely home cooked dinner!

We told Rita to pull her model pose. haha

THURSDAY: We go homeless in Aylesbury again!!!! But in the mornings from 1030 to 1230 we have district meeting then after that we have district lunch and usually go the McDonald's in town because it is cheap and we are poor missionaries. Haha... yup. One time we made pancakes at the chapel but then it just sucked doing all the dishes after. And we didn't even have forks so we ate like animals. Then the rest of the day we WORK. 

FRIDAY: Leighton Buzzard.. WORK

SATURDAY: Aylesbury... WORK

SUNDAY: AKA THE BEST DAY OF THE WEEK. Church is from 10 to 1 but we usually don't end up leaving till 2 because everyone stays and talks forever. Then we go and visit our lovely Rita every Sunday and usually have a dinner appointment that night:) 

There is a quick run down of my weekly schedule!!!!!

This week I began my week with a different attitude. I have come to recognize that this is the Lord's work, and I am on His errand. And I am tellin' yah, that has made all the difference. I saw miracles this week. I felt the Spirit so much stronger

Sisters with Sister Jordan

this week. Everything about it was truly amazing and I feel very blessed to be a missionary to spread the good news of the Gospel to the people in Aylesbury and Leighton Buzzard!!! AHHH I LOVE MISSIONARY WORK SO MUCH!!!! 

As I said, what I changed this week was my attitude. Not that I had a bad attitude before, because I didn't, but I began each day by dedicating the day to the Lord. I improved the quality of my prayers by making them more meaningful and really pictured myself speaking to God. I made sure I was focused during my studies. Overall, I sought the Spirit in everything that I did because the Spirit is the key to everything. Not only in missionary work, but in every aspect of each of our lives!!! But why though? That is the question that I want you all to think about this week. Then as you are pondering, think about what you can be doing to have the Spirit more in your own life.I can promise you, that when you are doing everything you can to seek the

Outside of Hyde Park Chapel 
aka the mission home in London!

Spirit each day, you will feel the power of God in your life so much more than you ever have before. You will recognize His hand each day. You will feel of His love. You will be so much happier and have greater courage to respond to the challenges of the day! That promise is real. God is real. And I just love thinking about it!!! Ahhh if only we knew and understood how much God loves us!!!!!

Oh... and SPECIFIC PRAYERS BRING SPECIFIC ANSWERS. Try that out sometime.

I just improved the little things that I do every day, and I am tellin' yah, it made all the difference. I woke up each day so excited to get to work!! I really felt the Lord working through me this week. THIS WORK IS AMAZING.

Another street we walk down in Aylesbury 

pretty much every time we are there.

Here is one miracle that happened this week! So Sister Barbosa is from Brazil right? And she speaks Portuguese. She has been specifically called to teach in Portuguese on her mission. She said that in every area she has been in, she has taught someone in Portuguese. So last Thursday, we were supposed to go on an exchange after district meeting with the sister training leaders, but long story short, we didn't get the message and thought it was next week, so it didn't happen and Sister Barbosa stayed instead of leaving to Watford. That was the beginning of the miracle....

This is the town center at Leighton Buzzard... 

No joke everything closes at 5 here. 

This was taken at 5 o clock... empty. 

Probably cause it's a small town..idk

We had a lesson planned at the Library in Aylesbury that night, but he didn't show up. So we had a back up plan to go and stop by an investigator that we haven't gotten a hold of for awhile, but she wasn't home. So we were like, okay... so we pulled out the ward list and found a less active that lived close by, so we went to stop by there. Someone answered but said that they didn't live there... okay...... so we sat down on this ledge thing for a little bit then just figured we would head back to the bus station and talk to everyone because our bus was going to leave in 45 minutes anyways. So when we went to stand up, someone across the street was trying to open his door, so I just said "Hey sir! How are you?" And he said, "Sorry, no speak English." So we asked him where he was from, and he said Brazil!!!!! Uhhh no way. So Sister Barbosa started speaking with him in Portuguese and yup I had no idea what the heck they were saying but UMM MIRACLE. It was so sweet and he just turned 19 and we are seeing him tonight and I am going to have no idea what is going on in the lesson but it is going to be SWEET. I am way stoked!!! hahaha. Everything fell through so we could meet Rodrigo.

Seriously this kind of stuff happens daily. Our plans fall through, so God's plans can fall into place. 

More District Craziness

This week I gave my first ever training at district meeting on the importance of church attendance in helping our investigators to progress. I think it went well... haha. I felt the Spirit, so it was probably okay! ha And we had an investigator at church this Sunday!!! WOOO. That is kinda a big deal because getting investigators to come to church is NOT easy. Her name is Sabrina and she speaks french and is from Sri Lanka... yeah. haha so for those of you who were wondering if there is a lot of diversity here.. yes. There is. We are seeing her again on Wednesday! She is 20 and that was another miracle that we bumped into her. I am tellin' yah.. miracles happen every single day! We just don't recognize them.

Donald, a recent convert.  He loves puzzles just like me!

Okay I wish so badly that you could all meet our friend Malcolm... hahahah he is probably the funniest old man I have ever met. Here is just a classic/cliche example of something he did this week to help you understand him better. We called him the other day to see if he needed a lift for church, and halfway through the conversation, he started looking for something and couldn't find it. I asked him what he was looking for, and he said, "I just had my phone like 5 minutes ago and now I can't find it anywhere!!!!" ..... "Malcolm... what's in your hand...?" He laughed for like 5 minutes after that. ............ Bless him. That just describes him to a T. Seriously my love for these people continues to grow daily.

I found out this week that Brits do not understand the phrase... "What's up?" I always ask some of the youth in the ward when I see them, "What's up?" And I always get a very literal answer like "the ceiling?" or "the sky?" I thought they were just messin' with me until someone finally said, "Sister Ranck, I never know how to respond to that question. What does that even mean?"

Aylesbury Town Center

I went on an exchange this week with Sister Steele and HOLY COW SHE IS AMAZING. She is from Gilbert Arizona and went to BYU for 2 semesters before coming on her mission. Okay I hope so bad that we are companions one day because she is the greatest teacher I have ever taught with and is just super real and cares about everyone so much and ah I just love her! We had some fun together.

We taught Zack on the exchange and had the best lesson with him!!!! We taught the restoration and about the Book of Mormon and holy cow that was probably the greatest lesson I have been in so far. The Spirit was sooo strong it was amazing!!! He has a very honest and sincere heart and I just love him so much!!! We still try to call him every day to pray with him, and we will be seeing him on Wednesday and I am excited:)

Guess what... we are moving flats this week!!!!!!! WOOOOOO!!! Our flat is pretty old and worn down sooooo thank goodness. I am super excited!!! So don't send me any mail to my old flat... I will let you know the address when I get it!!!! We are moving on Friday!

Watford Zone Interviews

So the reason that p day got changed this week was because yesterday was INTERVIEWS!!!! WOOO!!! SO I got to go to Hyde Park with my district and have trainings by President and Sister Jordan and be interviews by President!! Holy cow they amaze me. When it was my turn, right after I said the opening prayer, President asked me with the most concerned look of love, "are you happy?" My answer was yes. But he has over 200 missionaries to care for, yet he cares for every single one of us as if we were his own children. I am truly blessed to be in this mission!!!!

Oh and yup. Elder Holland is definitely coming to my mission. No big deal. ha ha. I am stoked cause he is my favorite!

I love this work and I love my Savior. We have the greatest message of hope and happiness to ever exist. And even better, we have the COMPLETE message. 

Don't just "hang in there".... ENDURE TO THE END. 

^^^^ Think about that. If you need help, there was a conference talk in the Sunday afternoon session of conference about it.

Thank you all SOOO MUCH for your love and prayers. I truly feel them every day. 

ONWARD AND UPWARD.

Sister Ranck

Aylesbury deserted by 5:00

We walk by this canal pretty much every day. 

Another view from outside of Hyde Park Chapel in London

Oh What Joy this Sentence Gives, I Know that My Redeemer Lives.

Sister Barbosa and Sister Ranck

Being a missionary just gets better and better each week!!!! Like for reals, every week I just love it even more!!!! Even when you are really sick and are coughing like crazy and have a sore throat....  BUT THEN EASTER AND CONFERENCE ARE IN THE SAME WEEKEND AND NOTHING ELSE EVEN MATTERS!!! IT WAS BASICALLY THE BEST WEEKEND EVER!!!!! We are soo blessed. AND I KNOW YOU HEAR THIS FROM EVERY MISSIONARY BUT IT IS TRUE. CONFERENCE AS A MISSIONARY IS GREATER THAN GOLD. GOLD ISN'T EVEN THAT GREAT.. BUT BASICALLY CONFERENCE IS THE GREATEST EVER... LITERALLY. 

On Friday our ward put on an Easter Devotional, and Sister Barbosa and I sang in the choir.... AND I don't know how but I got put up to singing a duet with another girl in the ward.... no big deal... there was even a little solo part I had to sing...  I have never sung like that in front of anyone before and there were probably like 100 people there... so scary. But everyone said I sounded fine, but they were probably just being nice.

AND I was sick and fighting a sore throat and cough all week.... Nevertheless God is good and during that hour that we sang, my throat was fine but then the last 5 minutes when the member of the bishopric was sharing his testimony to close the devotional, I had a huge coughing attack right in the middle.... how embarrassing. haha. 

Doing Service

But the Spirit was so strong as we sang. I was very grateful that I had the chance to participate in that program, and reflect on my Savior and truly what a remarkable life he lived. I could go on and on about how incredibly grateful I am for Jesus Christ. I KNOW he lives.

I felt so inspired and uplifted during conference it was amazing. We are so blessed to have such amazing leaders... and I want you all to know that I KNOW that Thomas S. Monson truly is our living prophet today... When he spoke, the Spirit really told me in my heart that he is in fact God's prophet on the earth. Even if there is a group of people who decided to yell that they don't agree when we were sustaining him.... That broke my heart. Pray for him hard this week.

I sustain him. I love him. And I know he truly is a prophet called by God. No doubt about it.

Let's see this past week was goooooood:) Sister Barbosa is so hilarious and we definitely have fun together!!! We did some painting, swinging, teaching, testifying, you know just missionary stuff. But it was great!!!! I'm tellin yah, I don't know how but every week it just gets better!!! 

Here are some facts about England if you are wondering:

• People name their homes here.... no joke. Especially in the little villages... for example, I saw a home that was named... "Sunflower Cottage." They have signs by the front door with the name on it. 
• Springtime is beautiful in England and there are yellow daffodils EVERYWHERE! 
• There are little parks all over the place and we had to make some calls and decided to swing on the swings while doing so. That was basically the best 10 minutes ever.
• There are pubs everywhere.... and we were walking in town last week and our friend Malcolm (recent convert) snuck up behind us and scared us... then he treated us to lunch.. in a pub... no worries eating at pubs is totally normal here. haha. Because there aren't restaurants here on every corner like there are in America.

  

  Fun on the Swings

• Everyone has strong English accents... and everyone tells me they like my accent... 
• People don't celebrate Easter like we do in America! We saw a super lame Easter Bunny in town and took a picture with it! It was with all of the little kids and I asked Sister Barbosa while we were waiting if we really should take a picture... she looked at me and said, "yolo." So we took a picture. 
• Everyone wants to know about the food here... in all honesty it is not much different. Instead of the famous Utah Jello, they have Trifle. Which is basically the same thing just with some kind of vanilla custard stuff. We always have Yorkshire puddings... which is basically just bread. And squash.... not sure how to explain what squash is... it is a very high concentrated drink of any flavor and you add water to it.... and there are lots of fish and chips food places.

Soccer is called Football in England

Well... it finally happened... we missed the bus. After sprinting for a good 10 minutes so we wouldn't....... but it was worth it though because we took a funny video of us sprinting. haha.

P-day yesterday was AWESOME. We went to Aylesbury and hung out with the Elders... Elder Kendall, Elder Wright, Elder Cowan, and Elder Kashari and played chair football!!! Okay that game is so much fun. And we played 3v3 as well.. It felt good to be playing again for a little while. I am super sore today from it though... haha. 

It was a really good week but we aren't really teaching many people right now and have been doing a lot of finding, so I don't have any cool stories to tell! BUT. We have a lot of good potentials and appointments set up for this week that I am really looking forward too:) 

Last Monday we had a conference call with the whole entire mission... every missionary with President and Sister Jordan. How cool is that? Wow that was such a powerful and inspiring 20 minutes!!! President Jordan truly is incredible. He started off by sharing His testimony with us about Christ. The Spirit was so strong. Something that really struck me as he spoke was the reality of God and Jesus Christ. He said that "they are as real as your own parents." Think about that for a moment.

Looking back on the past 2 months of my mission so far, that fact has become so much more real to me. Jesus Christ is REAL you guys. He really did suffer for our sins, pains, sorrows, temptations, sickness, etc etc. That isn't just a made up story, that isn't just a fairytale, it is real. Jesus Christ is REAL. God is REAL. I KNOW that with all of my heart.

I have always loved listening to conference, but I have never had a conference talk hit me with great power... that is until the Sunday morning session 2nd to last talk. Aka Elder Holland. I was so deeply touched by his talk about Jesus Christ. It hit me with the Spirit so strongly that it moved me to tears. I KNOW without any doubt in my mind, that Jesus is the Christ, that He truly suffered for our sins in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross. And because of Him, we can one day live with our families forever and receive the gift of eternal life. Words cannot even describe my feelings and what I want to say right now adequately. I never understood how much I truly needed a Savior before my mission. And I still do not fully understand. But I am so incredibly grateful for Him and His sacrifice.

He knows you.

He loves you.

He is beckoning to you to, "come follow me."He is there to dry your tears and bring peace to your heart, and help you overcome every trial you face.

"Oh what joy this sentence gives, I know that my Redeemer lives."

ONWARD AND UPWARD.

Sister Ranck

PS. SHOUTOUT TO MY UVU GIRLS FOR THE LETTERS AND FOR MAKING ME LITERALLY LOL FOR 20 MINUTES WHILE READING AND FOR BEING THE BEST TEAM EVER AND AHHHHH I LOVE UVU SOCCER AND PUUUUSH!!!!! 

Thanks for all the letters!  I love them.