Excited to have Sisters

RACHEL - Hello!!

 

That is so incredible that Teresa is now serving in Ireland! I never thought that would happen, but I am so glad I am wrong! What an amazing experience this will be for Teresie and I am very happy that these two unexpected changes occurred for both of us at the same time! Amazing!

 

This past week we haven't been able to go back at all for lunch and tea to our flat because it is just too far away from the main city, Douglas. So we have been having lunches in the Chapel and watching the Preach My Gospel DVD's. The Elders before had already booked for us tea appointments at some member's homes and it has been wonderful! We have already began to get to know the members here and I love them!! They have such unique personalities and they are all very excited for Sister Missionaries to be here! Even the people on the Isle of Man are so friendly and are willing to speak to you about anything. This truly is a very sacred and special place to be. I feel very privileged and honored to be serving here. That means I must fulfil all my responsibilities as a representative of my Savior and invite others to come unto Him. I am very anxious to find the people that I am meant to find! There are so many people on this Isle that I really must speak to everyone I see! The other day, we say this police officer giving out parking fines right next to our car. So we ran up to him and asked if he gave us one, thankfully he said we weren't going to be given a fine. But then naturally we began to talk to him about the Gospel and scheduled an appointment to see him and his family! Honestly, I cannot assume that someone is too busy to hear about the Gospel. And it is also quite surprising how many of those "busy" people are willing to listen right then and there.

 

We were blessed to have met with the Investigators that the Elders already had and one of them is a 24 year old young man named Jason Bickle. He is wonderful! His parents joined the church about a year or two ago and now he has decided to learn more! He has a baptismal date for the 17th of September.

 

The members here in the Douglas Ward are incredible and they are very much like a big family! It is something I am very grateful to be a part of! Sister Rothmund and I have been blessed to have two new investigators this past week! We found one as we were meant to be calling by a potential Investigator, but it was a false address. The woman that lived there was very kind and let us in so we taught her instead! I love how Heavenly Father is truly aware of every one of His children.

We were blessed to have two Investigators attend church with us this Sunday as well! It was amazing how welcoming the ward was to them without us even saying anything to encourage them to greet them. They didn't need any encouraging! So many of the members have been found by wonderful missionaries that have come before me and I aspire to have the Ward members and the people trust us just the same! The ward members already are asking Sister Rothmund and I to sing a duet in church, haha so we will have to plan something. The only difficulty with being on an Isle is that the Mission takes us missionaries away for Conferences and Trainings for about a week! A Week! What they usually do is that they bring us down for Conference on the main land and then we stay until the first Trainings and this time it would have been two weeks! Well, we had a word with the office because that is just way too long to be gone off the Isle and now we are taking two trips both about a week and a half apart for three days each. We stay with the Liverpool Sisters within that time and work with them when we can and then we get back on the boat and head back to the promised land!

It's incredible, we run on the BEACH every morning! What a great motivation to exercise! Sister Rothmund and I have begun a nice sea shell collection already :) The member that we live with was away for a couple days so in the meantime we fed her cat, which was a weird feeling since us as missionaries are not allowed to have pets, but it was nice. We have become more settled into our quaint little abode and I just am so happy! Can you tell? haha I love it! Those that have lived here all their lives and grew up in the Isle of Man are called "Manx". They have their own language as well! I have learned how to say Good morning, afternoon and evening. Their flag is very interesting here and I desperately want one, the meaning of it is pretty wonderful and makes a lot more sense when you understand the background.

What I have come to realize is that the Isle is really all very close together, but it takes a while to get from one place to another because of how the roads go and as well the racing; (T.T. racing and Grand Prix) the roads shut down at all these different times. So I have gotten to know the area a little better with taking alternate routes and one of the members has already lent us a GPS so we can get around better! How kind is that! I am blessed and very grateful to be here! I hope everyone takes care and is having a great time as well! I love you all and thank you for what you do for Teresa and I!

Love always, Sister Rachel Kullick

Funny & Crazy Ward

TERESA - Hiya family!!

I can't believe that dad totally called our places in the mission! He is so dead on! Right on dad, way to be in tune with the spirit!

So we were in Glasgow City Centre in George Square on the day I was to travel to Ireland and it turns out that they are filming this HUGE movie there that is supposed to be taken place in Philadelphia, USA. Apparently, Brad Pitt is staring in it and it's called WWZ. I guess it has to do with Zombies and all that. But we got to see the set and a firefighter went in and took pictures of the set for us! Totally neat! But anyways, that was just a fun side note, I'll move on now :)

It was myself, Sister Oswald, and 4 other Elders going to Ireland. We took this long coach ride to the ferry and spent pretty much all day on that to get there. When we got there we took another coach and then we were picked up by the Zone leaders in Belfast (Northern Ireland) and switched companions there. That's when I got Sister Ring. Then Sister Ring and 2 other Elders drove to the Republic of Ireland, which took a while as well. And then we got to the church in time to go home! Haha Not too exciting but definitely different and fun.

The area I was transferred to was originally one and now they have split it up into two areas. Baldoyle, our area, and Mount Joy, the Elders area. They're white washing in but when we split the area book they ended up with all of the investigators so really it's like we're white washing in too! So we're learning a new area as well and helping the Elders get around. The wonderful thing is that we have a car, so I'm really happy about that! The Elders that came in are Elder Layton (Greenie), and Elder Wilkins (District Leader). I already know that this district is going to be one of the best that I have served in. We're already planning District t-shirts :) haha They're all really good missionaries and REALLY funny! I'm really excited to serve around them!! We are all serving in the same ward and it's called Finglas Ward. We all were asked to get up and introduce ourselves and bear testimonies yesterday so that was really good. It's a funny ward and a little crazy, but we're all really excited to help the work grow here. It's funny because when I served with Sister Britnee Sheffield, who is home now, she was apart of the original Ireland Dublin Mission and she had served here in Finglas and told me all these stories about it.... and they're all true! It's actually funny to be a part of it now!

Anyways, but first I have to tell you about Friday. With the new 12 week training program they told us that Smart Start Conference that I had attended first in the mission was no longer going to happen because of the new program. But lo and behold Sister Ring finds plane tickets in her e-mail for both of us, flying us to Edinburgh for the Smart Start Conference on Friday! Nobody knew about this conference because we were told it wasn't supposed to happen. On Friday we get up at 3:00am to catch a plane at 6:30am. We go to the airport and thank goodness I had Sister Ring because I would have been SO lost! Probably would've gotten on the wrong plane or something! She's a pro though so I wasn't worried. Seriously NOT a trainee at all, she knows what she's doing, it's great! At the airport we met up with the Elders from Sligo and all boarded the plane. Ryanair. Remember this name. I sure do! Hour and a half later we landed in Edinburgh and the Assistants weren't even out of their flat yet to pick us up. So when they finally arrive we piled into the van and drove over to the mission home and began training. Funny thing to, we were just told we were doing a training model in front of the whole group so we had to plan this in the airport. You can probably tell how good it was. Haha not. So we did training all day and that was really fun though. We learned a lot and for Sister Ring and I just getting together we worked really well as a companionship so that was a relief. Now this is where it gets better. Training ended at 3 pm but our flight wasn't until about 9:10. Sister Griffiths had us fill out return wedding invitation envelopes for past missionaries! Ironic huh? We do that for a couple of hours and then we went out chapping for the Assistants until we get dropped off at the airport at about 8pm. When we arrive and after the Assistants leave, we find out that our plane has been delayed till after midnight. It was broken. Ahhhhh! And then, we make friends with security after going in and out of it 3 times and the last two times I had to get patted down because the thing beeped! Yeah, that was too funny! And the whole time phoning the Assistants and President a thousand times it seemed to ask what we were supposed to do. Eventually we were told to stay until the flight took off but if it didn't take off by 12:20 we were to take a taxi back to the mission home and stay the night. But actually it wasn't that bad. Mostly funny. I guess that may be because we were too tired to care at this point and just thought the whole situation was hilarious. (Mind you we had been up since 3 in the morning!) It was definitely a great icebreaker and bonding experience for Sister Ring and I! Now there is nothing we can't handle! RYANAIR had us sitting on the plane at 12:20. We get back off the plane and try to find our way to the car and end up getting off at the wrong stop and have to walk all the way to our car. We finally find our car and eventually our way out of the parking lot and headed for home. We get home and we're in bed a half hour shy of being up for 24 hours straight. So that was exciting. Quite funny, quite a day! We got permission directly from President that we could sleep in. That was very kind of him!

On Saturday we got our way around to see some of the members, which was nice. And the Elders were with us as well. They don't have a car so we taxi'd them around. On Sunday we went to Church and so far so good. We went around and got quite a few dinner/member appointments set up for next week. I'm really excited to be here and to be serving in the Finglas ward! Side note, after I bore my testimony, this woman named Sister O'Connor came up to me and asked if I had a twin. Apparently she served in the Preston Temple when Rachel was serving in Chorley and fed her for Christmas I'm pretty sure. It was so great! She told me that we were exactly alike which is nice to hear after all this time. It's interesting because when you've been with your twin your whole life and you go on a mission it's like you aren't anymore because no one knows you're a twin and no one knows your sister, so it's really refreshing and homey to have people talk about how similar we are and even just know who she is. So that was a neat experience! I

LOVED it!

So today is P-day and our district is out to see Dublin for some District unity! I'm really excited to see the city! So unfortunately I don't really have too much to report in the way of the work right now just because of all of the craziness and scheduling that has gone on. But don't worry; next week I should have some solid missionary experiences/stories for you. Even though we don't really have a teaching pool at the moment I am excited to build up one with Sister Ring and to see conversion in Baldoyle!

Thank you so much for everything you do for Rachel and me! I love you all and I pray for you every night! Thanks SOOOO much again!!

Love Always, Sister Teresa Kullick

Serious... I'm whitewashing to where??!!

RACHEL - Dear Family and friends!


I am higher than a kite right now! I feel on top of the world and I will tell you why. It is transfers today and I wasn't quite sure what was going to be happening to me but with whatever happened I knew that that is where the Lord wanted me to be. This last Saturday, we became a trio companionship... only till yesterday. It was an amazing experience. Sister Allison (my previous companion in Stafford), who was serving in Withington Manchester at the time came and joined Sister Bibb and I in Swinton. Her companion, Sister Lovell who had only been out for two transfers had to be sent home on an emergency flight due to severe illness. Can you keep her in your prayers? She is going to come back; it is just a matter of when. In the meantime it was a wonderful few days as a trio and our unity was spectacular, we had a great time! Then the most unexpected thing happened. I got a call from the President on Sunday. You only get a call from him on Sunday if either you are training or whitewashing into an area. I was very excited as I picked up the phone to speak with him and we exchanged pleasantries and then he said, "Sister Kullick, I am calling to let you know that you are now going to be white-washing into The Isle of Man." Needless to say my response was less than calm as I exclaimed into the phone, "President! Are you SERIOUS??!! Ha-ha it was indeed a shock of a lifetime but the best one I could have ever dreamed of! There have not been Sister Missionaries on the Isle of Man for about 4 years and it had been every Sister's dream (and Elder's) to serve on the Isle of Man! President Preston went on to tell me, "My Assistants told me that I have better give you a call because if they would have called you, you wouldn't have believed them!" I definitely agreed with that statement because I honestly wouldn't have believed them. I said goodbye to my Recent Convert Sister Helen Cunningham Paterson and she got very emotional but says she will write me and will see me soon. Oh I love her!

It is so beautiful here and we are living practically right on top of the beach! Ha-ha it is unreal; I have had to pinch myself a few times. The place is beautiful and there are palm trees everywhere and you can smell the ocean air as well. The Downtown right on the coast in Douglas is draped with lights and is so clean. We are living with a member in Castletown, but in her extension. Her name is Sister Radcliffe and she is wonderful and has been housing missionaries for quite a few years. I am serving with Sister Rothmund who is from Switzerland and is 24 years old but has only been out for 12 weeks. We are getting along so well and she studied English Literature at BYU Hawaii for quite a few years, so needless to say she loves the Isle of Man too :) We have a car here and so I obviously cannot drive so Sister Rothmund is a tad nervous but she is doing just great!

We left on the Tuesday (a day earlier from Transfers) and Sister Rothmund and I with the help of the Assistants, helped us arrive at the boat on Tuesday evening on the Liverpool docks. The boat left at 7pm and we got picked up, got home, and got settled (well almost) and got into bed past 12 in the morning. We were given permission to sleep in the next day till 8am so that was needed! It has only been 1/2 a day and yet I have fallen in love with this Isle and the people! One the Assistants, Elder Gallacher, encouraged us to Boat Contact on the way over to Douglas. As we were waiting to board the boat, we spoke to this mother and her 9-year-old daughter. What made me stop to speak to them was that the little girl had a field hockey stick and was playing around with it. Since I love field Hockey I went over to speak with them. They don't have any religious beliefs but were very open to learn more so we scheduled an appointment with them! We congratulated them for them being the very first people we knew on the Isle of Man and they are excited for our visit. Then while we were claiming our luggage we spoke to this young man from Slovakia living on the Isle for the racing (it is very big here apparently). He does not have a belief either but we exchanged details to set up an appointment with him. I really do know that all those that partook in these transfers were inspired for this great change. I can feel that wonderful things are going to come from this!

I am so happy right now and am very excited to get to know this Isle like the back of my hand. I am grateful for this opportunity and the Lord and President has showed great trust in us to be here. We are the only missionaries here, not even a Senior Missionary couple. We have no District (So I guess that makes me the closest thing to being a District Leader here on the Isle of Man! ha-ha just kidding!) We are in the Liverpool Zone, which I am very excited about since I have never been apart of that Zone before. We will have to catch the boat back and forth from the main land for Conferences and such but it is a pretty big boat (like a very mini cruise ship) so it is lovely!

I love you all with all of my heart and wish the best to each and every one of you! Thank you so much for all those who have helped Teresa and I be here on the Lord's errand. We love you!

Love always, Sister Rachel Kullick

P.S. Congratulations to Mike White on the wedding! Wow, I was surprised but very happy for him and his new wife! Thank you mom and dad for the camera!! Dad, I will keep you in my prayers and I hope your knees feel better, I love you! Take care!

I'm going where??!!

TERESA - Family, listen to this!!
I have some CRAZY news for you! OK first of all, I am running out of time on my mission!! Nooo! Ha-ha This is really unreal. I can't even tell you how weird this feels! I still feel like I've got an entire mission in front of me! I cannot believe it for a second. So that is definitely one BIG thing I had to express!! Ha-ha

Also, Moves call was last night!! Now I had a feeling that I was going only because Bishop had me speak in church because he felt that I was going to be leaving the ward soon (he has NOT been wrong so far!). Also, everybody kept saying that I was a goner and I was leaving! Honestly, I didn't think that way only because I'm in the middle of training AND I only have 2 moves left (AHHHH!!) and I could very well die in East Kilbride, after all I did stay in Dundee (home sweet home!) for 9 months! So I really had no way of knowing what was going to happen actually. But last night we got them. You ready for it? OK I'm staying the same in East Kilbride... ha-ha Just kidding! Well, Sister Peterson is staying here but as for me...I'm going to Ireland!!! I've been called to serve in the Republic (Southern Ireland – North and South are two different countries) And I'm going to be in the Dublin Zone!! Yay! My specific area in Dublin is Baldoyle. I am going to continue to follow up train and the Sister's name is Sister Ring. She was in Sister Peterson's group and she is super nice. She's also from Canada, neat huh? But can I just tell you how excited I am?! My whole mission I never thought that I'd go to Ireland and now I'm finishing off my mission there! This is so great. I hear the people there are really friendly but the work can be a bit more difficult with the Catholics verses the Protestants troubles. But I'm totally up for it! I will definitely miss East Kilbride and my lovely Scotland but change is progression so I'm really looking forward to it :)

Brother Ian Smith is doing MUCH better. He was having some really hard times there for a bit but he's coming back strong. I hope he can stay steadfast on this path but that is what the Atonement is for after all. He has not been confirmed yet but is progressing in that direction. I'm not too worried about it. It's when he's not coming to church that I would be concerned, but his heart is in the right place and I do have confidence in him if he continues to place his trust in his Savior. Things are really looking up :) So nice!

But lets see.... what are the happenings lately? Well on P-day the Glasgow Zone went to the Stake Center in Glasgow and played games, it was really fun. And also this week we have really tried to get into some other members homes and visit with them, you know, besides the regulars. And we were able to meet with some others and they were just SO nice! It's a shame I won't be around any longer to see those relationships progress :( But I'm excited for the new companionship to experience that. We visit a lot of widows and one that I like especially is Sister Gaves. She lost her husband 4 years ago and is still completely heart broken about it. She is such a lovely lady and she wants me to send her a wedding invite when the time comes! Ha-ha I thought that was so sweet and she said that would mean a lot to her and she'd look forward to receiving it! (That may take a while though! ha-ha) But that just shows me how seemingly simple things like wedding invite make a huge difference to people. It shows that you care and want them to know what's going on in your life. I am definitely going to send some to the people I've served around! Just a side note :)

One day this week we went blitzing with the district. Where we all go to each other's areas at a time and work in their area for an hour. It was sooo fun! I've done it once before and I love doing it. It helps the other missionaries and it sure helps in your own! But we were able to find a potential investigator that day! She seems so great and I hope the sisters will have success with her :)

Today we went by Pamela Galbraith. Man, I missed her loads; it had been ages since we've been able to see her. And thank goodness we did, she has been struggling really badly for a while and we were able to invite her to come to church and to really meet with us to learn more about how the gospel can really help her. She was totally up for it. She said that she wanted to go to church, not just for her girls but also for her. She really wants that help in her life. It was wonderful and I was really sad I had to say goodbye. But she wants me to write so I'll be able to stay in touch with her and her family. Good thing too, because I would hate to loose that relationship. I hope she progresses.

But this has been great! I really am going to finish hard and enjoy every minute of it! This mission has been an opportunity for growth that I would've never gotten if I hadn't decided to go. I love this mission. I love these people. And I love this gospel. It is true, it really is and I am SO grateful that I am apart of it.

Thank you for helping Rach and I with everything. You all are the best! I love you family! Love Always, Sister Teresa Kullick

P.S. Mom, since I went to Loch Lomond twice and went in different ways I would say that I definitely took both the high road and the low road! Ha-ha Love you more.

Exchanges

RACHEL - Dear Family and friends,

On Monday we played Zone Football and it was a blast! Ha-ha there is really nothing more I can say about that :)

Tuesday was amazing! We had our Multi-Zone Training and we had a great training by Sister Preston on how to better become a “Preach My Gospel” Missionary. Then we read and discussed in detail Doctrine & Covenants 2-4. It was really enjoyable and we all taught each other. We were later trained by our Zone Leaders who spoke about acting promptly on the Spirit and what it directs us to do. I realized that I needed to improve more in that area by being better to speaking to everyone. Then the real interesting training was by the Assistants. We all got blindfolded and spun around and thrown into a rope that led to many different directions. There were many Senior Missionary couples and the Mission President guiding us or leading us astray. I have played this game before in FHE on my mission with the Smith family, but never have I done it with other missionaries. It was a really fun time and they recommended to us that we do it with the Ward where we are serving as a Fireside. It is something I would love to do.

After the training, I then went on an exchange to Whitefield with Sister Shen while Sister Suaybaguio came here to Swinton with Sister Bibb. It was an amazing Exchange! I was in a 4 Sister flat with Sister Dell with Sister Carey, it felt so great to come back home to more missionaries, something I have never experienced before. Sister Shen and I were able to get two New Investigators during that exchange by tracting and many Appointments. I got completely soaked on Wednesday that the water went through two coats and shirts and boots, ha-ha it was still an amazing day :) Sister Shen is about 27 years old and from Taiwan. She is an amazing example to me with her diligence and love.

On Thursday we exchanged back and that took most of our day because we were trying to find Sister Bibb and Suaybaguio then we went and had a quick lunch. We went back to Swinton but I wasn't feeling well at all so we stayed in for most of the day till a tea appointment with members and our Investigator Brother Bennett. We had to push Brother Bennett's baptism back one week because he struggles with the Word of Wisdom, but bless his heart he is really trying hard and doing an amazing job! We are so proud of him!

On Saturday we helped the Elders in our Ward with their baptism of a family of three! We were so happy for them and are excited to have them in our ward!

This week was a very good week and one that I am grateful for! I love the opportunity to share this gospel with hundreds of people and I love my fellow Missionaries! I am very grateful for the England Manchester Mission and how it has completely changed my life! I love the Book of Mormon and I love my Savior! Thank you for all that you have given to Teresa and me!

Love always, Sister Rachel Kullick

Manchester Zone

 The Manchester Zone

 The Manchester Zone

Our Little Swinton District

More Not So Good News...

TERESA- Hey Family,

Well, first with the really AMAZING news! Brother Ian Smith got baptized on Thursday and the majority of the ward was there to support him! His dad, Alex, even came to give him support so that was really nice. I asked his dad after the service what he thought about it and he said that it was nice, that he liked the scriptures and talks and all that. I asked him though how he felt about it and he said, “nope, I'm not joining your church”. I laughed and told him that I was just asking, he laughed too and said he did enjoy it.

Ok so I bet you are tired of hearing all these letters gone wrong! Because I have some more not so good news for you. Everything was going just great until Saturday. We tried to get a hold of Brother Smith and he didn't answer (that never happens). So we knew it was bad. We just ended up dropping by his flat to see what was wrong. Needless to say he was not fit for confirmation the next day on Sunday. I was heartbroken. We talked it out though with Bishop and President Griffiths and that made me feel a little bit better. But I was still way sad. He can still get confirmed but at a future date, when he's able to sort out his problems. Now just so you know, I am NOT the kind of missionary that rushes people into the font. They do it when they say they are ready to make those promises. We have worked so hard with him over these past couple of months and have invested SO much time in him that when he fails to progress and starts to digress I get so sad and disappointed. This is what parenting HAS to feel like. I just don't understand how they just don't get it, you know, the MAJOR importance of the gospel and how vital it is to our existence. After all, that is exactly WHY we are here. Nothing is more important than that because everything else then is just temporary. It was very saddening for me. But after talking to President, Bishop, and Sister Peterson I started to see that those things are real weaknesses for some people. It's not at all that Brother Smith wasn't taking it seriously, it was just a habit and a sincere weakness for him that he's had his whole life. I'm starting to understand that that's what the Atonement is for. Heavenly Father knew we would blow it and make mistakes and mess up, so that is exactly why he sent his son, Jesus Christ, to suffer for our sins. After ALL we can do, He will make up the difference. I realized as well that it's not my place to judge. I mean, look at me? I am FAR from perfect and I definitely have my own set backs and weaknesses that I have to overcome myself. So the last thing anyone else needs is someone criticizing them for their mistakes, I know that wouldn't make me feel good or worth anything. My job is to encourage, uplift, and invite. Our Redeemer will handle the rest. And what a wonderful thing that is as well, that I don't have to carry that heavy burden but that He's got it under control. So I am feeling better about the situation every day. It's OK, even President said that it's OK. Things will take work but we and him are willing to put in the time. Brother Smith is willing to do whatever it takes to be free of his addiction.

Man, do I ever have a testimony of the Word of Wisdom. It is truly one of the MOST important commandments we could ever keep. When the Word of Wisdom is not kept, it prevents the person from having the Spirit (most important thing) and it destroys the family. The effects of it affects everyone else who loves that person. This is another example to me of our Heavenly Father's huge amount of love for us to give us these commandments to protect us and keep us happy. After all, "men are that they might have joy." (2 Nephi 2:25).

I want you all to know how much I love you all. Dad, Mom, Sheila, Steven, Erika and Rachel - you all mean the world to me! This Sunday in Relief Society we had a lesson on eternal families and it made me think of all of you. It made me think of how short a time this life is and how much I don't want this to be the end of being together. We are a family. We are meant to be together forever. The thought of that not happening just makes me want to cry. I love you all with ALL of my heart and I want to be with you guys forever. I just wanted you to know that. I love you.

So as you can see this week has been pretty stressful. I also had to give a talk in Sacrament meeting on asking questions at every meeting we attend in the church. I thought it went well; I got a few compliments on it so I hope everyone else got something from it too. I hope they got what they needed to learn from the spirit. But I opened my talk with a scripture from 1 Nephi 11: 2 "And the Spirit said unto me: Behold, what desirest thou?" And I really thought about that for a bit. What desirest thou? Heavenly Father is constantly asking us that same exact question. So think about it. What desirest thou? What do you really need to know? Ask that question in your next meeting that you will attend in the church and I promise you that by the power of the Holy Ghost it WILL be answered. After you see it work for you (because it will) I would love to hear your experiences on that. :)

We had an excellent Zone Conference this past Tuesday. We had a Preach My Gospel Chase with two Zones and it was sooo fun! But my goodness, I got exactly what I needed as well. President Griffiths talked on something that I personally have been struggling with and I felt the Spirit SO strong! I knew Heavenly Father was trying to help me in my concerns and challenges. Hopefully next week I'll share some insights because I don't have them today with me. Sorry! Thank you for everything. You are the BEST.

Love Always, Sister Teresa A. Kullick

We have a car!

TERESA - Heya Everybody!

Well it seems like you are always taking holidays to St.George Utah! I hope you are enjoying yourselves! You know how Rach and I would love that weather, but to be honest, I'm not too sure if we could handle that now! After being here I've adapted and when it's warm here I roast like a mallow! Ha-ha But I'm sure that will wear off with time too :)

Ok, so last P-Day was really nice! Sister Green took us to Helensburgh and Loch Lomond! It was so nice to see more of Scotland and it's quaint little villages! It was also good for Sister Peterson to see Loch Lomond as well. The scenery was excellent and even though the weather wasn't all that great it was still WAY nice! Then we all went to Toby's Carvery (I hadn't been there since Edinburgh!) And that was delicious as it always is! Then we wrapped up the evening with a fabulous FHE. It was a packed house that night and we all had loads of fun!

So guess what? I forgot to tell you last week that we had our interviews with President...or wait, did I? I can't remember! But anyway, we did and it was great! It was really just what I needed - to sit down with President Griffiths and really talk about how I'm doing and how I can improve. He had me tell him what I've learned so far being out on my mission and it put a sick realization in me knowing that I don't have much more time left. It's funny because I still talk about going home like it's SO far away. But when I really stop and think I remember and it's not really nice. I just don't think it will hit me until I'm sitting there in the Mission Home waiting to leave! Or even when I'm on the plane! But really it is unreal, and I'm totally not exaggerating when I say that! I just hope I'm learning all I'm supposed to and won't regret a minute of it! But from now on, I'm not going to think about it! Rach and I decided that we are going to not even talk about it and just enjoy being a missionary! I think that's a good idea :) Oh but I forgot to tell you what I was originally talking to you about! Ha-ha, I talked with President and pleaded my case and now we are sharing a car with the Hamilton Elders!! YAY! Ok so here's the deal: My ENTIRE mission I have NEVER had a car EVER. And to be honest we travel far out to a lot of places that the time spent traveling is very ineffective because it’s on country roads! So I am bursting with joy having a car to get us from A to B. We do only have it for 3 days a week so that's not too bad and it's good to only have it for half the time so that we don't get too lazy! I'm not going to lie, it has been wonderful! And since my license expired in this country my companion gets to drive, so she's getting used to the left side of the road! It's been quite the adventure! He he!

We were only able to teach Joanne Wilson once this week (the girl with the flower in her hair). But it was a really good lesson. We've been having to meet in Starbucks (no worries, next time we see her we are moving it to the church). But this time we really hit a chord with her. We talked about the Atonement and how it can lift those heavy burdens off your shoulders. While we were sitting there I bore testimony of the reality of the Atonement and our Savior's and Heavenly Father's love for HER. While I was talking I noticed that Joanne started to cry. She said that would be such a nice feeling to have. We told her that she can and deserves to have it. She said that when she came to know more about our message and met with us more that she would be baptized. We were unable to set a date (not for lack of trying) but she wanted to just to work on it with us without any deadlines. I am so excited to see her this week! She is so wonderful and this is EXACTLY what she needs.

Since we are going through the lessons again with Brother Ian Smith we really have been focusing on the MOST important bits. We taught him on Wednesday and had a very good lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was an object lesson and we had Ian stand on a piece of paper labeled earth and had him try to get to another paper across the room labeled Heaven. The catch was that he could NOT touch the floor! He tried but of course didn't make it! Ha-ha We then provided more pieces of paper as stepping-stones to get to one end of the room to the other. He could do it then and then we turned over each paper revealing the specific steps to the gospel of Jesus Christ (i.e. faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end) it was SO good! We all had loads of fun and really learned more about the doctrine in a fun and interesting way - thank you object lessons! We also taught him the Plan of Salvation with him again as well; really focusing on each part of the plan so that he would understand how each part is necessary. We put up pictures for each step that way it would create a lasting visual in his mind (after all, that's how we all learned it in Primary!). It was really really good too! He knows those lessons inside and out! We also taught him again the Word of Wisdom and went at it from a different angle as well. We really focused on the blessings of the commandment and really pointed out that ALL commandments are spiritual and that there are REAL spiritual blessings from keeping them, the two main ones we found were receiving personal revelation and having the companionship of the Holy Ghost. We told him that the adversary was going to get at him hard before his baptism and that he has to be ready, he has to be on guard. We talked about how he needs to put ALL of his armour on and that was keeping EVERY SINGLE commandment. Not keeping one would be like going into battle with out a sword or what helmet or whatever. Keeping all the commandments is wearing all of your armour.

This week we taught the Law of Tithing to a recent convert in the ward. It's actually something he's been struggling with. But let me tell you, I know I've said this before but I LOVE this lesson! Honestly, I absolutely adore the commandment of Tithing! I know that it's real and that it's one way you can really show that you love God more than the world. Someone also said it is definitely one commandment you can be completely perfect in! So true! And I was thinking about it, we know that the money goes toward the church and for the use of missionary work and temples and all that, so in a way it's easier to pay it because you know where it's going. And I was thinking, what if you paid your tithing and it seriously just sat in a corner and was never used, would you still pay your tithing? Would you care if it wasn't going anywhere or would you pay it anyway trusting in the Lord showing Him that you care less about money and more about Him and doing what He asks? I was just thinking about that, quite the question I thought. :)

On Sunday it was Fast Sunday and Brother Smith's first one at that! He fasted and said he wasn't as hungry as he thought he would be! Haha But it was such a good one because Brother Ian Smith's baptism was announced for this week on Thursday August 11! And a recent convert, Brother McCafferty received the Aaronic Priesthood! It was so adorable because when Brother McCafferty sat down after it was announced he was all smiles and Brother Ian Smith leaned over to him and attempted to whisper, "Well done Glen!”. You could hear quite a few chuckles from the rest of the ward, it was funny and nice. I got up and bore my testimony that day and that felt nice to do; we also fasted for names of our next ward mission leader. The Stake President wanted us to submit two names to him of people we think would be good for it. But we had absolutely NO idea! But we fasted and prayed about it and I received two names! Sister Peterson as well and they were the same! Yes, it really works!

But I am just so happy at the right now serving a mission! I love it here being a missionary where life is easier and simple. I am so grateful for my family members and my friends and my home ward's help and support to Rach and I in our service! Thank you so much to you all. You are ALL amazing people! I love you!

Love always, Sister Teresa Kullick

P.S. I got an invite to Steph's wedding! I know I already sent a card telling her congrats but I'm so happy for her! Thank you so much Steph for sending me one on my mission that was really special. I hope all is running smoothly! Love you! –Teres

Only Sister on the roster!

RACHEL - Hello Family,

Wow St. George again, you all definitely love that place! Well, I hope you have a good time and enjoy yourselves!

On Monday we went to Manchester Piccadilly and Sister Bibb helped me find a bargain of an outfit and so that was a new experience to go shopping on a mission for cute clothes, but I enjoyed it.

On Tuesday we had our usual District Meeting that takes place from 10:30am to 1pm (including District Lunch that we all pack before hand and eat after the meeting). It was great; our Mission has been focusing lately on the importance of Teaching people not lessons and centering our teaching around their needs and their understanding. So it was good to learn more about that. After we went and taught Brother Daz Bennett (our Investigator) at Sister Helen's home and it was on the first part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He is doing very well with cutting down his smoking and is aiming to stop completely on the 9^th of August so he can be baptised on the 20th! We then called by a potential Investigator who actually didn't end up being there but he had given us his girlfriend's address and so we taught her instead and she wants to be baptised! That was a true blessing and miracle. Then we had a visit with a less active who then drove us over to another less active's home so we could have Tea with them! They are Bill and Christine Lancaster and they are hilarious and they want to come back to church, it's just a matter of making that first step. Then we taught another investigator named Patrick and he serves in the military. At the end, we invited him to be baptised and he said he would and wanted to come to church! What I have come to understand is that each investigator is different (I know that's obvious) but sometimes we may place the same standard of pace on each investigator when it should be to their needs. So with him, it will take some time.

On Wednesday was our Sisters Meeting and it was wonderful! It was so amazing to see all the Sisters in the Mission and to speak with all of them to see how they are doing! It was a beautiful day and we had the meeting from 10:30am to 5pm and Sister Preston prepared the most delicious meal. It was great to get to know Sister Preston more and to meet some of her family as well! I just love the feeling I get every time I am in the Mission Home, a warm and familiar feeling that encircles you. Oh, it’s fantastic.

Just a side note, I got a letter from two of my recent converts from when I was serving in Chorley almost a year ago. One from Patricia Kent (the one that got baptised and not confirmed) and from the Smith Family! I hadn't heard from them since I was transferred. I cannot express the joy I felt as I opened their letters, in fact I could barely read them because of the tears that flooded my eyes. At that moment I realized that just getting them baptised is not the only thing that matters, but helping them stay converted throughout their entire life is what really counts. I cannot make their decisions for them, but I can continue still being their missionary and friend no matter where I am. Oh, I love them with all of my heart! Debbie Smith and Jessica her daughter attended the temple to do baptisms for the dead, I was so overcome with joy when I read that. It is such a blessing the satisfaction that comes from ONLY missionary work, no other work compares to this feeling that I had as I opened their letters!

Saturday would have been more interesting and I will tell you why. The Assistants to the President mentioned a way one of the stakes here and the missionaries could be more united and that was a football match between the Missionaries and Members. This happened on Saturday and I was informed this by one of the Assistants at the Sisters Meeting about this. He mentioned how it all just came down to Elders that were chosen to play but how I was the only Sister that they put on the roster to play as well. Although in the end I didn't play, (because they I would have been the Only Sister on the entire field) I still felt extremely flattered to be mentioned and on the list! Today, we are playing football for a Zone Activity and the elders keep building me up and say I play amazingly, but my goodness I am so out of touch. Ha-ha Its fun anyway.

Sunday we attended the Mission home Fireside with Brother Bennett! It was sooo crowded there that us missionaries waited out in the back yard and even though I didn't hear a thing, Bro. Bennett enjoyed it so much! And it was nice to catch up with some of the Sisters!

I love this work and I love my calling! I wish everyone the best and I love you all! Thank you for everything that you do and have done for Teresa and I!

Love always, Sister Rachel Kullick

Liquid Sunshine...

RACHEL - Dear Family,

I hope everyone is doing great! This past week for me was not all that eventful to be quite honest so this may be a very short letter. Sister Bibb and I are now teaching Brother D.B. His scheduled baptism is on the 20th of August and we are excited for him! He has a difficulty with the Word of Wisdom but we took the necessary time helping think of great substitutes and past times he can occupy his time with. I will let you know how things continue to progress as soon as I know.

We made several appointments for next week for potential investigators and so we are excited for both of those. Just a side note, I have been having this new goal to drink more water since I am awful at that. I have been doing well so far and very happy about that. Not a big deal but just thought I would mention it. :) The weather has been really warm lately and now we are beginning to have the usual liquid sunshine (rain) again so this brings a nice change.

Today, Sister Bibb and I are going to Manchester Piccadilly to explore the city. So we are rather excited about that. Missionary work is great and wonderful and no other work in this world brings greater satisfaction. I am grateful for my purpose as a full time missionary and hope I will always be a full time missionary in everything I do. I love this work and gospel!

Love you all and hope all is well! Thank you for the love and support from everyone!

Love always, Sister Rachel Kullick

Bad & Good...

TERESA - Hi ya!

The news about Grandpa Coombs is terrific! I am sooo happy that he is progressing! I have been praying for him every night to recover and I know that I'm not the only one who's doing that. The power of prayer is real!! And yes, I did get the tapes from dad! Thank you! I've been listening to it lately, it's nice to hear your voice again dad!

This week has been really crazy and I mean really crazy. A whole lot of bad and good stuff has happened. Let me start from the beginning...

Remember on Monday I was talking about the girl we found named Joanne? Well Sister Peterson and I did something we'd normally NEVER do! When we found her we had such a strong impression that she was special that we were meant to find her. She wasn't free until this week and we wanted to schedule her as soon as possible so we planned her in at 2:00 p.m. on Monday. Yup, Monday. That is our P-Day if you didn't remember! Now that may not seem like a big deal to you but for a missionary it is! You have only 1 day a week where you can get everything sorted and do fun activities and we planned an appointment?! Ha-ha But we both felt really good about it and knew it was way more important than a great activity somewhere. That is after all what we are here for right? Missionary work? Anyway, we saw her on Monday and it was excellent! She is so solid and she is totally interested to learn more about the gospel. She said she'd be baptized when she found out it were true! She is 19 and super nice. We were so happy about that appointment. It definitely made the day a thousand times better! That day we also went to dinner at Bishop Cook's house and that was so fun as always. And then we had FHE at Sister Green's and our whole group was there! It was way fun :) Honestly, BEST P-day ever!

Tuesday we had District Meeting at the Stake Center in Glasgow. I always LOVE those! WE got to see our whole zone again and the senior missionary couple provided lunch for us! It was delicious and nice to catch up with everyone. We met with a former investigator that day too and made him a new again! We are hoping things will work out this time seeing as how we don't exactly know what went wrong the time before. He just kind of disappeared on us! So we met with him again and things went well. We are just hoping that the same thing doesn't happen again! That night we went to dinner at a member's home that we never usually see. Sister Cranston. Remember she's the single mom whose son and girlfriend we taught that one time? It was such a great time to get to know her and it was really fun! WE are definitely gaining the trust of the members here in East Kilbride! Things are progressing well.

Ok, now this is where things get sad. As you might of known, we were expected to have a baptism this week. Well we didn't. Unfortunately, when we were to have our lesson with him on Wednesday he didn't exactly show up ready for his baptism the next day. I really can't go in to detail but we said we'd see him tomorrow and that we'd discuss a game plan then. We want him to be the MOST prepared he can for this sacred covenant and he just wasn't ready at this time. I may sound ok and composed now but I can't even tell you how devastated I was. I was so glad Sister Peterson and Sister Buchanan were there to give me support when I was falling apart! We phoned Bishop and he was so great about everything and said that we'd all meet together the next night to figure things out. I phoned up President and he made me feel way better. He really helped me put things into perspective for me and realize that it was not the end of the world but that there is still hope and not to become discouraged because this has happened but determined. That REALLY helped. Needless to say I felt a lot better after those calls. I guess a lot of why I was upset was because of trivial reasons like it being the day before his baptism and us having to tell the entire ward that the baptism has been postponed and have to deal with all the questions and raised eyebrows. But in the end it didn't really matter at all about those things. And I'm glad I was able to see that eventually. I am doing much better now and I am very hopefully about the future! We discussed with Bishop and I.S. and figure that a good date to work toward baptism would be August 11. So keep praying! I'm just so glad this work isn't all left up to me because if it were I would mess everything up! President Griffiths said something that really struck me as well, he said, "You need to remember that this is the Lord's work." When you remember that then you aren't too concerned about the social things. This isn't about me (I'm repeatedly learning this lesson!) this work is so much BIGGER than me. And thank goodness it is. I'm glad I have the help of the ward members, Bishop, fellow missionaries, and President. And especially the help of Heavenly Father and my Savior. With all that help, support and love, how can we fail? It was a hard but helpful learning experience.

Sunday was such a good day! Sister Peterson gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting about trusting in the Lord. And Brother I.S. was there! After church we had the best lesson with Brother I.S.! It was centered on the restoration, specifically focused on Joseph's prayer. We all learned so much and we were able to help I.S. relate it back to him. He's really getting things now and we are so happy about his speedy progression! He is doing so well! We also had a lesson with him on the Book of Mormon and what exactly it is and what we can learn from it. That was a good one too! Honestly, there is nothing better than a really good lesson! And last night as well we went chapping and everyone on the street was rather rude and just not interested. And what do you know but the very last door on that street we met Karen. She has a little family and said we could come back and tell her more about our message! We set up an appointment with her for this upcoming week. I never thought I'd have "the last house on the street" story ha-ha, pretty neat that we did :)

But anyways, today we are going to Loch Lomond again. Sister Peterson hasn't been so it'll be nice to see it again. And we will be having dinner with Sister Green out some place and the Family Home Evening! I LOVE Mondays! But I just want to say thank you and I love you all to bits for all you do for Rachie and I. We would NOT be here with out you!

Love Always, Sister Teresa Kullick