Missionary references & Marriage laws

RACHEL - Hello family!!

So today started off great!! We were stopped by tons of members today when we were heading to an appointment we had with a potential investigator. haha It was great something that I am not use to but I love it!! The appointment with A. Smallshaw went incredibly well! Sooooo well that she committed to baptism on the 26!! This was her first lesson and she had already said she received this peaceful feeling which we helped her identify was the Spirit!! She has 5 little children and we are excited to get her family closer and stronger through the gospel!

Sister Holbrook and I have noticed that we have been walking quite a bit lately, but we calculated how far we had walked one day this past week and it came up to 9 MILES!! haha ahhh! In just ONE day! haha My feet were hurting just a little bit to say the least but I love it, walking areas are just my kind of areas! I hope I serve in more of those!

Well, we have been having tea (dinner) with a lot of the members here in both wards lately and one of the married couples we had tea with, told us they were cousins!!! Ewww! haha Apparently that's legal here! They asked if that was legal in America and all I said was "It's definitely not legal in California!" Well at least I hope not! haha Gross. Twenty-five states prohibit marriages between first cousins BUT California isn't one of them! Six states allow first cousin marriage under certain circumstances, like Utah- if both are 65 or older, or if both are 55 or older and one is unable to reproduce, and North Carolina allows first cousin marriage but prohibits double-cousin marriage. First cousin marriages are prohibited in:

Arkansas, Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming

Also one morning as I was getting ready I started smelling smoke from our bedroom and then as I opened the door to the living room/kitchen is was enveloped with smoke! I had forgotten that I put a slice of toast in earlier and had forgotten all about it! haha It smelled like burnt toast for about 5 days after. I think I'll just stick to cereal...

But things are going great for me and I love being so close to the temple! This past week we have gotten 6 referals from the members!! That is an incredible number and a miracle to missionaries! So seriously if you have ANYONE in mind who you like the littlest bit and want them to be happy, refer them to the missionaries. I wish I realized before my mission how important that was and tried harder to help...

Thank you so much to all that has written me and Teresie, it means so much to us to hear from those back home or where ever you are!

Love always, Sister Rachel Kullick