Missionary work is fan freaking tastic!

Goodness I love this gospel. My testimony is stronger than it ever has been. This week was a week of so many appointments falling through it was crazy.... But the Lord always has better plans for us!! I love it so much. And I think I am becoming obsessed with studying the scriptures.... I can never get enough in the mornings. 

My fantastic daughter Sister Haynie just wants to be just like me and sometimes when she answers the phone she will say, "Hello this is Sister Ranck!" Haha and she doesn't even realize until I Point it out to her. Bless her:) 

QUOTE OF THE WEEK!!: 

We were watching the district as part of the 12 week program for new missionaries, and one of the Elders is really good looking (No worries my heart is sealed.... But eyes peeled... ;) ha one of the MTC teachers said that), and we both were thinking it, and to avoid saying it Sister Haynie said instead..... 

"His symmetry is fantastic!" 

Margret and Elizabeth

I legit died............ Okay it was really funny in the moment. 

On Wednesday we went to London for the 3 week missionary meeting and it was so good but super humbling as well. The closer you come to God you realize more and more how flawed you are, and how much you truly need Jesus Christ. In our mission lately we have been focusing on of course helping bring souls unto Christ, but even more important becoming truly converted ourselves. Something Elder Holland said when he came to our mission that has really stuck with me was something along these lines....

"You all want your investigators to come to church, to read the scriptures, and pray for answers..... Well the Lord wants you to do the same thing. YOU ARE THE LORDS INVESTIGATORS." 

I loved that so much! And at the meeting on Wednesday I felt very humbled as I thought about the covenant I made at baptism to always remember my Savior Jesus Christ... And how every week I renew that covenant when I have the opportunity to partake of the sacrament. Well I was thinking about it on Wednesday....... How often am I actually thinking about Christ during the day??? Yup. You would think as a missionary that you always are, but in all reality I don't. That is something I really want to work on this week is thinking of Him always! And I hope you all will do the same! :)

Anne

This week we also had a fantastic district meeting! I love my district! All the elders are fantastic.... Such goofs but they each have such powerful testimonies and are such great examples of humility. Elder Castillion from the Netherlands, he is the most humble person I have ever known in my entire life with the biggest smile. Elder Nakomaha from a small island by Fiji, wow. No words to describe the amount of faith this Elder has. At district meeting we had a testimony meeting, and he told us how he is the only member in his family and one day he was at church when his father came in with a gun and told him he needs to leave now or else he will shoot the members. Oh my goodness... Can you imagine? Talk about faith...... And now he is serving a mission. Then there is Elder Haysman from Australia, hahaha he is the funniest Elder. Oh my I love this kid. GOODDAYY MATE! Elder Bastian is from Mauritious and is such a sweet Elder! He is one of the most consecrated and humble missionaries I have ever met. So funny too:) Elder Isaksen is from Norway! Ha he is a good elder:) and then there is thee Elder Ramsay from Utah....... Oh my he is the most American American in the mission and goodness Sister Haynie and I just love quoting him. Here is a typical Elder Ramsay sentence... "I am just livin the dream man livin the dream! Missionary work is fan freaking tastic! Son of a mother duckling!" And so many others. Today we are going bowling so that should be fun:) I will take videos for next week.

I LOVE working with less active members... And there are many in this ward. This week we saw one who is named Jean. Before we went there when planning what to say, I said something like..... "Goodness with people like her I just want to be like..... Get yourself together girl and get to church

Don't leave your iPad unlocked with Elders around!

and do this, etc etc etc!!" Boy did I need to repent after that.... Because we went to see her and she is the most lovely lady and will just talk your ear off for hours. Well come to find out, she has been a lifelong member but inactive for 20 years. As she was telling us her story, she was telling us about how much she absolutely LOVES the church. She then started crying when she shared about how it pains her so much that she is not able to come and live the gospel like she wants to, and knows she needs too. She suffers from some horrible phobias, which some people may say is an excuse, but not for this woman. You could see so strongly how hard life is for her and how she wishes so badly she could do that simple thing to attend church on Sunday's, but mentally she is unable to. 

I seriously repented that night as I thought about how wrong I was to judge her. That experience taught me such a great lesson... Before you say anything about anyone (which you shouldn't be saying it in the first place), make sure you actually fully understand their situation and what things they are dealing with. Even if you know that, that still doesn't give you the place to judge because we have no idea what is in their heart. Only the Savior does. And how does the Savior feel about us? Boy does he love every single one of us! No matter who we are, what we look like, OR what we have done. 

George and Suzanne

One other less active couple we see weekly... George and Suzanne. I just love them so much! George has been a member ever since he was 9, and Suzanne isn't a member, but they have been inactive for 10 years because of their horrible health problems. I wish I could describe to you the magnitude of what Suzanne is experiencing. She has the most horrible skin disease I have ever seen. All up her legs and arms, and just being around her absolutely crushes my heart just seeing how much pain she is in constantly. And over the past 3 weeks it has been getting worse and worse. I had the privilege yesterday of going with two of the priesthood brethren in the ward to give her a blessing. Goodness what a sweet blessing she received from the Lord. I am so incredibly grateful for the healing power of the priesthood. Sister Haynie and I stayed with them for the next 2 hours and Suzanne said before we left, "you know, despite everything going on, I feel so lucky to have such great friends." She thanked us earlier that day for being her friends and family, as she literally has no one else besides George. 

My heart just hurts when I think about her and what she has been asked to go through in this life. I am just so incredibly grateful for my Savior. I wish we (including myself) could all understand the magnitude really of what he did for each of us. We are so ungrateful and complain and murmur, etc etc. if only we truly could see with Spiritual eyes! Oh how much happier we would be.

I love this work so much. My heart breaks every time people reject the truth or knowingly disregard it. It breaks my heart even more when I see young children and teenagers who just simply don't know any better because that is the way they were taught. I loved growing up in Utah, but boy are we sheltered from the world there. And I am so grateful for it in many ways:) I cannot get over how blessed I am, as well as all of you, to have the truth. To have the words of eternal life!! 

God knows all. And he loves us all perfectly:)

Some videos for this week:

Family Home Evening
Oh No.  A Spider!

GOD BLESS.

ONWARD AND UPWARD!!

Sister Ranck 

Member Missionary Work.....Dun Dun Dun.

I now can honestly say that I know what it feels like when missionaries say that on their missions they have never been happier...... That is exactly how I have felt all week. Ask Sister Haynie... At least like seven times per day I just will randomly say.... "Gosh I love being a missionary!!!!" The more consecrated I become, the more I learn about the gospel, the closer I feel to God and the happier I am.

I LOVE THIS WORK. I LOVE MY SAVIOUR. I LOVE TALKING TO PEOPLE ON THE STREETS. I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT MISSIONARY WORK. I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THE GOSPEL. I TRULY LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY.

Seriously I cannot get over how much I love it. It is super hard... and as I shared last week, the first 6 months was a major testing period for me, but so many blessings are now pouring in it is amazing. President Stevens said something that I loved and that I really feel on such a deeper level now.... he said... "Show the Lord your diligence and consecration and then He will bless your obedience with miracles." We have seen so many miracles this week, one that I am super excited to share at the end of this post:) STAY TUNED.

This week was FANTASTIC. Despite the rain and getting soaked.... running to catch the train and literally jumping on the last second before the doors closed.... my new shoes giving me blisters.... It has been GREAT! I love it so much! Oh, also, we are going to be getting bikes!!! WOO. Haha not sure how I feel about that yet! haha but one thing is for sure, we will be able to be soo much more efficient now.

I LOVE THIS WARD. Last night we called President and Sister Stevens to tell them about a miracle we had, and after I was like, "President we are seeing so many miracles here in Gillingham! I can't leave!" haha.... and he was like, "Oh well looks like we will have to keep you there for awhile!"

YES. We are seeing so many miracles and are in the beginning stages of so many great things that I can't leave it yet!!!! Haha well only time will tell.... There is only 2 weeks left of the transfer already... Time is seriously FLYING. I love Sister Haynie too!!! We are having fun together:)

This week we had an appointment with our new investigator named Remy. She is from Nigeria... (I think). She is SOOO great. We had a great first lesson with her and she is so excited to read the Book of Mormon! It was funny because we were going to read 3 Nephi 11 with her and we explained that

we would switch off reading, and that she could start, but she just kept reading and read the entire chapter by herself out loud. Haha... It was great:) She is coming to church next week!

So this week we had zone conference and it was soo good as always! I love going into London... even though the tubes are super smelly and you are just sweating being crammed into soo many people in those things. haha it is good though:) Zone conference was so powerful. We talked about the sacrament and the Spirit was so strong as we did. I am so incredibly thankful for my Saviour and the chance I have each week to remember Him, and commit myself to becoming more like Him. Such great power comes from that sacred ordinance.

The highlight of the conference was........ MEMBER MISSIONARY WORK...... dun dun dun. I hope you all feel a little guilty for not doing as much missionary work as you are because..... HELLO IT IS A COMMANDMENT THAT WE ALL ARE MISSIONARIES. So get to work and pray to know who someone is that you can invite to church/activities/family home evening/ family dinner/TO MEET WITH THE MISSIONARIES/etc etc etc!

Now to inspire you all.... here is a miracle we had from member missionary work this week. So on Friday we were looking at all of the investigators that we have committed to come to church on Sunday, and we were so excited! Well Saturday came around and as we called each one to confirm, slowly each one said that something came up and they weren't going to be able to make it. Well, we still had a few that were a maybe and we still had that hope and faith that they would come!

Well Sunday morning rolled around, and one more said that she couldn't and we were still holding on to this last person who said she could come. Well she came:) And that was great and still a miracle!

But now for the greatest miracle of all... We got to church and were chatting with the members, when

one of the members came up and said, "Sisters guess what! I invited this family that I met to church! I really hope they will come!" Yes us too Sister us too!

Well, 3 minutes before Sacrament meeting started, they came:) A family of 4!!!! The mom and dad, and two children ages 9 and 6!!! WOOO. They are from Nigeria, but have been living in Belgium for the past 10 or so years, and have just moved to Rainham 3 weeks ago! Sacrament meeting was great, (well it made me a little nervous because the talks were kind of weird and about some deep doctrine stuff.... haha. It is funny the different perspective you have at sacrament meeting when you take it from an investigators kind of view.) But of course the Spirit is always there:) And I guess they didn't really notice because they said they loved the service! The children went to primary while the mom (her name is Faith!) came to gospel principles with us, the class that we teach every Sunday for all of the new members/investigators. The dad had to leave, he lives in Belgium anyways and is only here for the week.

And oh my, gospel principles was SOO GOOD. She is amazing and was taking notes and everything! We talked about the restoration and the Book of Mormon, and we gave it to her and invited her to

President and Sister Stevens

read and pray about it, and she just said, "yes I will read and pray about it, but I already know it is true!!" And she accepted a baptismal date as well:)

#miracles

I am so excited for this amazing family! They are soo prepared. We are going to see them in like 2 hours:) It is going to be great!!!!

New Converts Scott and Vicki

Sister Haynie and I are being blessed here in the Gillingham 2 ward. I love this work more than anything! I am so happy. On Saturday night we had a movie night with Scott and Vicki... two of the recent converts in the ward and we watched the Joseph Smith movie. I have never been touched so much by watching that movie as I was that night, and I have seen it like 10 times and cry every time of course, but this time it was different. My testimony deepened so much and my appreciation and love for the gospel has also grown, and watching the story about how the gospel was restored... goodness it sure got me this time and I couldn't help but think about how blessed I feel to have the blessings of the gospel. We have the truth. We have a complete understanding of our Savior, our Father and Heaven, and everything that we need to be happy in this life and in the next. My favourite time of day is the hour I get in the morning to study about these wonderful truths. I can't get enough of it. I love the scriptures so much!

DON'T TAKE IT FOR GRANTED.

This work is amazing.

Thank you for the love and support this week. I feel very loved.

Some videos: 

Marry had a little lamb video

Movie night with Scott and Vicki video
Raining in England...Surprise video
The train and the rain in Rainham video
Playing football (also know as soccer) video

ONWARD AND UPWARD.

Sister Ranck

Thanks Grandma Ranck for my Package

Sammy Look-a-Like

He even has the same expressions as Sammy

The minute I began giving God my heart and my mind, he started to change me.

We discovered that there are blackberries
everywhere in England that you can eat

I LOVE ENGLAND. We have discovered that there are black berry bushes all around that you can actually eat off of, and that is now one of my favorite things!!!!!!! Also, there are sunflowers everywhere as well, and you all know how much I love sunflowers! It's those little things that truly make my day:)

Not even to mention all of the many miracles we see every day!!!! Like yesterday after our dinner appointment we had like 3 hours with no appointments, but we had a ton of former investigators that we wanted to try to stop by, so we made our way out there to where they lived and of course, not one of them was home. So we prayed to find the reason we were out there and goodness God truly knows his people. We were walking by this house at the exact moment that this lady was coming out, so of course we started talking with her and I asked her what the best part of her day was, and she said that there was nothing. She then returned the question, and I told her that I went to church today and I loved it! Then she was asking us all these questions about church because she said that every church she has been to around here, they are too dark and depressing and she never feels uplifted. Well we told her that our church is much different, and she totally wants to come this Sunday! Ah she is great. Super stoked for her!

This week we had exchanges and I was with Sister Grant, she is from Finland and is the most sweet missionary everrrr. We had an appointment with that father and daughter that came to church and that was a crazy experience.... Satan definitely did everything he could to disrupt the Spirit. GOODNESS I HATE HIM.

So we get there and knock on the door, and the daughter answers and opens the door a crack and says, "sorry my dad was supposed to tell you but my mom doesn't want me talking to you guys so I can't be a part of your church." ................... Stop................... Well her dad finally came to the door and he let us in. She just went into the kitchen and put her earplugs in and ignored us. We talked with the dad for awhile, and he said he liked church just didn't like how we didn't use the bible... Well no worries because we quickly overcame that concern!!!! Well despite the dads efforts to come in

and listen, his daughter finally also came in, but still blasted music in her ears. So that was sad. But we still taught the dad and that went pretty well! I mean I felt the Spirit... So he must have too. 

We were getting to the best part of the lesson.... The first vision. I was quoting the first vision and right when I was in the middle, the door opened and his wife came in. Hah seriously? She was a little shocked that we were sitting in her house.....  And then his son kept coming down and it was just crazy! Well, we finished off with both the father and his wife committing to read the Book of Mormon! Ha so all ended well...... So far. 

A super fun Family Home Evening

My biggest pet peeve is when we are talking to someone and they tell us that the bible is all we need and everything we need to know is in the bible. Wow. So basically you are telling me that you are limiting when God can and cannot speak to his children by saying that people don't still receive revelation. Ugh ha I wish sometimes that everyone could just understand so they could enjoy the great blessings that we have as members of this church and followers of Christ.

I have been reflecting a lot on my first six months of my mission and for awhile I didn't recognise the change in myself, but on Friday night as I was saying my night prayers, I was thinking about it and just felt so incredibly grateful for who I am becoming. Okay not going to lie, I loved my first ward and the area, but I REALLY struggled those first 6 months and life was the craziest roller coaster for me. Some days I really did love it, and some days I did NOT. I missed home, was exhausted, sometimes even questioned my testimony.... What I really was doing was I was fighting God. I cried myself to sleep quite a few times because I felt like a total failure, like I wasn't

What?

being as obedient, diligent, patient (with myself, others and God) as I should be. Every missionary said they LOVED their mission, but a lot of the time I didn't feel that. I wondered what the heck was wrong with me.... Why couldn't I love it as much as everyone said they did? Don't get me wrong... There were moments that I really did love it, but boy did I struggle. I am grateful for Sister Obley for being patient with me in those times. She was definitely what I needed for those 2 transfers.

Despite my feelings, I pushed along anyways.

And I can tell you now that I LOVE being a missionary. And I am not just saying that because I am trying to convince myself anymore. I LOVE being a missionary. 

I am beginning to feel the change in myself and I am so incredible grateful for the challenges because I wouldn't feel the way I do right now if I never had them. 

This scripture describes the change.... 

Helamen 3:35

"Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God."

The minute I began giving God my heart and my mind, he started to change me. And I know I have sooo much to work on still, but I have so much faith in my God and my Saviour. His will..... Is always what is best. 

I love this great work and feeling the Spirit of God working through me. I haven't been able to see much success in numbers as most missionaries do, but I am confident that I have been doing exactly what the Lord expects of me.

KEEP THE FAITH.

ONWARD AND UPWARD!

Sister Ranck

#Miracles

Isle of Sheppey

Wow, I know in the past I have said that I love being a missionary..... but I just have to say it again. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!!!! Seriously it is amazing and this week we saw sooo many miracles!!!!!! The Lord is in this work and he know his people!!! It is amazing to feel the Spirit leading you every day in this work. AHHH I JUST LOVE IT SO MUCH!!

I love my new area!!!!! It is a big area and we take the train/bus a lot to get around! But the members are super helpful and I love being able to serve in this ward:) It is a smaller ward with like 70 active members, 80 on a good day. But there are over 200 people on the records.... crazy how that happens. So many less active members in this area! It is a slightly older ward as well with only like 6 active youth and 10 primary children. But I love it a lot and the members are all really great!

Soooooo... You remember last week the story about Jean? The girl who came to church?? WELL. We went to see her on Tuesday morning and holy cow that was one of the best lessons I have ever had!!!! We taught the Plan of Salvation and oh my SHE IS AMAZING. She is GOLDEN and every missionaries dream. Whoever the missionaries are where she lives are sooo lucky..... She said that she has already been reading most of the Book of Mormon and loves it! As we were teaching her about the Atonement and testifying of its power, she just started crying and saying how she is so happy that she finally found what she was looking for! And she has already looked up where the church is in her town and is going to contact the missionaries there as soon as she gets there!

Adam, I gave her your Book of Mormon that you wrote your testimony in. And of course, there went a little piece of my heart as I handed that book over to her. I told her that I have been saving it for someone who would take care of it and treasure it, and I knew she would do that. As I handed it over to her, she said to not worry because she will not just leave it on the shelf, she will read it and reread it and study it and put it to great use. That made my heart oh so happy!!! AHH I LOVE THIS GOSPEL.

The ward is great! I love it so much already! They are a huge help in missionary work and they LOVE having sisters here. haha we have dinner appointments almost every night..... which is great but at the same time not so much... haha. They always cook us a feast with dessert and then they always make sure that we have seconds.... No worries we have been running in the mornings.... And walking EVERYWHERE. Poor Sister Haynie has blisters on her feet and her shoes are terrible walking shoes so today we are going to Cantebury to go shopping!

Speaking of Cantebury... We had zone meeting this week as well in Cantebury and that was fun! I love being with other missionaries! The Spirit is always so powerful as we gather together to discuss the work and how we can improve. We talked a lot about Christlike leadership and developing the attributes of Christ. It has been making me think about the Saviour call......

"Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect." (3 Nephi 12:48)

Cantebury zone conference

What perfect means in this context is...... Complete, finished, fully developed. (see footnote a)

Well, how can we become more like the Saviour and be patient, meek, humle, subm,issive, full of love, etc etc etc if we never had opportunities to develop our patience? How can we learn to love those who do us wrong if no one ever does anything wrong to us? How can we develop self mastery if we are never tempted?

I don't know about you, but I take that commandment very seriously. Sometimes this admonition can seem a little overwhelming, but the best part about this is that this is an eternal goal... A life long quest. He doesn't say.... "Ye are therefore commanded to be perfect NOW." And what a relief that is.......

So my challenge to you this week is to look inside your heart. What one thing can you work on this week to become more like your Saviour?? Wether it be to be a little more patient with a sibling..... (you know who you are ;) ) or a little more diligent in your calling...... A little more forgiving of someone who has done wrong to you or hurt you....... Maybe it's to let go of some pride.

Dallin H. Oaks has taught us how we reach this goal of perfection......

"The Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts--what we have done. It is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts--what we have become. It is not enough for anyone just to go through the motions. The commandments, ordinances, and covenants of the gospel are not a list of deposits required to be made in some heavenly account. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become."

Isle of Sheppey. The wind was crazy!!!

I know that God has truly given us everything we need to be successful in this life..... to ultimately become like the Saviour. And I know that it is through Christ that we can do that!

AH I LOVE THE GOSPEL SO MUCH.

Now to finish, let me tell you about yesterday... a day of miracles. First of all, it was a nice and sunny Sunday after of week of cold and wind and rain. We had a few investigators who had commited to come to church, but we got to church and no one was there. Well... so sad. BUT when we walked into the chapel there was someone sitting on the bench and we didn't know who they were... well this is only our 2nd Sunday in the ward so I just figured it was a member, so we went and talked to them and introduced ourselves and quickly found out that they weren't members! It was a father and her daughter and they are from Jamaica and she is interested in getting involved in the youth programs in the church!!! #miracle!! They enjoyed sacrament meeting and she stayed for Sunday School and went with the young woman, and we will be seeing both of them later this week!!!! SO SWEET.

Then, the greatest miracle of the week..... the evidence that God knows his lost sheep.

Yesterday we were out trying to contact some potential investigators, former investigators, and less actives like an hour walk from our flat. And none of the people we had planned to see were home, so as we were making our way back to our flat, I had the thought to tract a few doors that we were walking by... well okay yes we can do that. So we said a prayer, and then after the prayer said, "Alright, let's find the reason why we are all the way out there." So we started knocking doors, and of course, nothing. We got to like the 5th door and knocked, and after we knocked I turned around and saw a young family walking by us with 2 small children. Well, nobody answered, so we walked back out to the street and the family was a ways away by this point, and we kind of just stared at them as they walked away for like 10 seconds, and then said, "Alright lets go."

Gillingham Chapel at the corner of Twydall Lane and London Road

We caught up to them and just started casually chatting as we walked, and I asked her what her sons name was and she said it was Christian! And how he was born on easter so they named him Christian! So naturally, I asked her, "Oh are you Christian??" Then she said, "Well actually, I'm a Mormon!!!"

............................................... SAY WHAAA?.............................

We stopped dead in our tracks and just stared at her. haha. She said that she was baptized when she was 13 and stopped going with her family when she was 15 because the ward split or something. YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. We are going to be seeing her again on Wednesday and I am so excited!!!! They are the nicest family!!!!!

#miracles

I love this work so much and I love feeling the guidance of God every single day. It truly is amazing and I KNOW that God knows each of us. He really does. AHH I LOVE THIS WORK!!!!

ONWARD AND UPWARD.

Sister Ranck