Letter from Rachel

May 24, 2010

Dear Family!

So I may accidently repeat myself in this letter from what I already wrote in my email but you don’t mind. I received your letter mom and it was soo great to get it and read it! Wendy Penny is too funny ha ha! So sweet of her! But actually everyone that I have met so far is really polite but reserved. So it isn’t a bad thing though. And honestly Dad I don’t really feel like I’m in a different world or time so far, although that could be just because I haven’t been out much but when I have, a lot of different places reminded me of the many different places we have back home. So I feel comfortable which I think is a really good thing!

That is hilarious about what Aunt Linda wrote! I was cracking up so much that my companion wanted to know why but it was so hard to explain everything to her, so Teresa and I laughed together about it! (Linda wrote about Kaiyle being scared by a movie that Teresa and Rachel made; “Enjoy Your Peach Pie”!) Tell KK I’m glad she’s not scared of it anymore but laughs along with it.

I got a letter from Grandma Kullick and it was so nice! I’m going to write her back to tell her I really appreciate it! I loved the Mormon Times article about the girls that was talking about serving a mission! My companion loved it soo much too that she read it in a devotional that us sisters do together every night. And I was super bummed that I was not in the newsletter for our ward! (It came out before the girls left!) I am outraged ha ha nah, but I expect to be in there next time.

A typical day at the MTC is… wake up at 6:30 a.m. which is tough but I am the one getting my companion to get out of bed ha ha but she is so willing and obedient. :-) Then we take showers and get ready for the day. At 7:30 a.m. we have personal study time which can be a little difficult for me just because I don’t know how to direct my studies yet. Then at 8:30 a.m. we have breakfast which I look forward to! The after that we could have a class or missionary chat or companion study and exercise. Classes are always soo helpful, I have learned how to ask good questions that will help me understand a person more! So I can teach according to their needs. Missionary Chat is where you go online with your companion and people from all over the world log onto a live chat and ask question about the church and guess who tries to answer their questions? Ha! All the missionaries in training. I have definitely had some weird and nice experiences on there. Companionship study is pretty self-explanatory and it is so great to have my companion! She is awesome! You are right mom; it makes it easier to not be around Teresa. Exercise is always one of my highlights cause we always play soccer! But it is so surprising but Mom, you probably already know this (because you have a widget ha ha!) But it is super nice weather here! Other people in the MTC think it’s too hot but you know that’s how I like it! But apparently this will only last for a few weeks and then it’s all cold and downhill for there. Then after exercise we have lunch at 12:30 p.m. then Personal time where we can sleep (which sometimes I do) or write which I’m doing now. :-) Then we have classes until dinner at 5:00 p.m. and the food is really good here! Then we have to clean at 5:30 p.m. so we clean the bathrooms which I have perfected that task since I do it at home all the time anyway. Then we have more classes after that till 9:00 and that’s when we start planning for the next day with our companion. Then Bedtime at 10:30 p.m. and I welcome that time. But I am always so tired but I realize that I have to get use to the feeling for the next 18 months. Ha ha

But Mom and Dad, I have a question, what is the name of the Scottish man in our ward? (Brother Crozier) And can you mail me my farewell talk? It should be on my desktop on the computer. Or any other talks you think will benefit me being out here. Oh, and have you heard form Lauren at all? Does she know about the blog? Can you somehow get a hold of her and tell her about it and that we miss and love her! Tell me if there is anything else you want to know but I’ll keep you posted!

On this Wednesday, the 26th, I am going to my mission home and I am out in the field so does everyone else but I don’t think I’ll be able to write/email you cause that’s my P-day but since I’m being collected at 6:00 a.m. in the morning, I probably won’t be able to do that. I’m a little nervous but it’s all good!

Well I love you all Mom, Dad, Steven, Sheila, and Erika and Lauren! Ha ha Hope to hear from you soon! Love always, Rachel

England MTC #3

TERESA - We leave the MTC tomorrow!! Im going to Scotland FINALLY! just wanted to let you know!! I LOVE you guys and can't wait to write to you more soon! (they give us NO time!) LOVE YOU!!!

Love Sister Teresa Kullick :)

RACHEL - I only get 10 minutes to write to you right now to say that I am leaving super early like at 6:30 a.m. to Manchester in the mission home! But I cannot believe it the time has come!!! Its unreal, I am going to be super dooper officially a Missionary for the church! Hey can you show Erika "The Restoration" and maybe bear your testimonies to her that this is true and that this is what we are going to be teaching for the next year and a half cause we know this to be true and it has brought undescribable happiness in our lives! I want to share it with her!! Anyway I won't be able to write tomorrow cause I will be busy getting thrown into the mix of a mission! I looove you mom!! I looove you dad!! I love you both so much and I sent a letter to the family, so that will be my email :) haha tell Sheila and Steven I love them both dearly! Tell Lauren I looove her too!!

I am soo excited for what I am about to do! I was very nervous at first but the MTC president sat us down tonight to talk to us about how Teresa and I will be ok and we'll be great even though we will be apart! That was sooo nice!! Well I loooooove you all!!

love always, rach

England MTC

England MTC with Elder Cook

England MTC

MTC Pictures!

Sister Teresa Kullick and Sister Rachel Kullick

All the Sister Missionaries in the England MTC

The Teancum District (Teresa's)

The Moroni District (Rachel's)

Sister Teresa Kullick

Sister Rachel Kullick

Sister Juvero (Mellie) and Sister Kullick (Rachel)

England MTC #2

RACHEL – Hey!!!

So I got the card in the mail and thank you for that mom! haha I thought it was so funny imagining me brushing my teeth always in front of you haha I know you’re going to miss that haha. But I did not get the letter yet, it will probably come soon. Oh you set up blogs?? Thanks! Yeah I would love for you to send the comments via email if you can I suppose, yeah it seems like it would take a while for the post to come so email would be quicker. But yeah you can send pics for sure! And Teresa mentioned in hers to send this to others or the blog makes sense but yeah.

Well the MTC is really great! I am loving my companion to death and we have already made plans after the mission for me to go visit her in Austria haha and all that good stuff but our district is great as well they are all really goood guys (oops elders) and they all have good personalities! The whole MTC is filled with great people and I am soo glad I know all of them personally! It feels like it was crazy to leave home to go to the MTC but now it seems even crazier to go from the MTC to Manchester! But it’s great!

Last night Elder Cook came!!!!! Isn't that awesome!! We gave a great devotional and then we shook hands with him and we spoke about how we knew the Ludwigs. haha It was so great to talk with both of them on a personal level and he mentioned one other person that I can't remember right now, but anyway I tape recorded his talk and so I have it documented. But it has been wonderful!

I looove all my sisters! Teresa and I along with Sister Jovero did “Come Thou Fount” in Sacrament Meeting last Sunday! It brought back so many memories! When Sister Jovero was playing it, I could so easily imagine Lauren playing it in our living room and it almost brought me to tears! Haha But then I also remember you mom sitting on the recliner telling us to articulate so just so you know we enunciated! Haha

I didn’t have to get any shots but Sister Jovero got one the second Hep A shot, which she was completely fine with!

Anyway tell me about what has been happening there?? And all that great stuff! Studying is going really well too, we are doing a lot of it and having a lot mock discussions and it has been soo helpful, apparently we do a good job at it, my companion and I, and we wish that we could be comps out in the field together cause we work so well together :) but it is always eating, studying, and a measly one hour of exercise, which is ssoooo awesome cause everyone here plays futball! (soccer) And my zone thinks I’m pretty good only cause English girls Never play futball! haha So of course I’m the best they have seen cause they have never seen any! haha Teresa's zone thinks the same of her as well, well I’m glad those years of soccer paid off! It’s such a blast!

Oh by the way I got to go through the temple! It was soooo nice! And I saw the other video but everything felt so familiar, which is always the wonderful case with temples :) Today we will be going on a church history tour and I think we're going to Downham but I’m not sure!

Anyway I have a couple pictures! One with my companion Sister Jovero (Mellie) haha and then all the sisters in the MTC and then my district, Moroni. Then the rest is self explanatory!

Anyway I love you all and tell Lauren I miss her soooo much and it would be great to hear from our bestest friend!!

Well I looooove you all whoever I am writing to! Ha! See ya in a little bit ha!

Sister Rachel Kullick

P.S. Everyone in the MTC knows our names cause our president always says it when he introduces us! haha Guess its not a secret anymore! Haha

TERESA – Hi!

So life in the MTC has been swell :) I got the letter this last week. So again, Mom, ANYONE can write me on this e-mail! Same for Rach. Please have Lauren be forwarded to our e-mails please! She CAN write us on here. Just make sure to have the non-family person include their home address so I can write them back. I can't write them back via email, that's all. And thanks mom for setting up a blog! I’m not sure though that my e-mails to you are going to be any good though! haha

So life here has been nice, I have already learned sooo much and I m so very happy about that! So this is my evaluation on the MTC: I believe that before we came here, we were all righteous young brothers and sisters in the gospel. But now that we're here, we have to learn to be the missionary version of ourselves, which is a little more difficult than I thought it would be. Not that its hard or anything, its just sometimes you have to remind yourself that your wearing a badge now! I am just tying to adjust, but overall things are running smoothly.

So I was thinking about it and I thought that so far in the MTC, I'm really learning what it means to be a missionary. It means nothing but the Gospel 24/7. Literally 24/7, all gospel, all the time. Now if you think about it, that’s pretty tiring. Usually you go to church, have your spiritual experiences and classes and then you can go home and rest and relax. Well imagine those classes Never-Ending! And they keep going and going and going. That's the MTC! Every day is like a Tuesday, because it always feels like the start of the week and you always keep repeating it, haha. You can never remember what day it is because they are all the same. Even Sundays don’t feel like Sundays here (although we do everything and more on Sundays that we would normally do). We never leave this building. But it's ok, that's what I signed up for I guess :) So I'm going to get zero weekends for a year and a half! I suppose that's a little sacrifice I'm willing to make for the Lord! haha I love how I'm just figuring this out now... haha.

So yesterday we had Elder Cook of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles come and speak to us!! It was AMAZING! We met him after and he knows the Ludwigs really well too! That was cool to know that we have some of the same friends! We have good taste in friends if they are also friends with the Apostles! haha But they probably know Gma & Gpa Coombs too :) But Elder Cook was wonderful, he truly just radiated with the Spirit! Rach and I sat right in front of him during his talk, it was the best. And I distinctly remember thinking that anyone would HAVE to be a complete fool not to know that that man is an Apostle of God! It was sooooo very obvious! It was wonderful; I couldn't stop smiling the whole time.

Anyways things have been good. I've been really busy all the time, which is nice for a change! But thanks so much mom for writing me! I love you and dad and I always love hearing from you! Thanks again for the card, it made me smile! But remember remember that friends and family can write me on this! Oh and nope, I didn't need more shots. I think I could get pics on this, so try it once and I'll tell you if it works :) Here’s a few pics that I've taken here.... Hope you enjoy them!

LOVE YOU!!!!!

Sincerely Teresa

Ps some clothes got ruined in the wash! I need Trish’s e-mail so she can send me some more cute tops from Downeast!!!! Thanks!

England MTC #1

RACHEL - When Teresa and I were in the Salt Lake airport we then spotted several other missionaries which was sooo exciting! We then were joined with a few more in the Atlanta airport and with that group with about 30 to 35 missionaries we all bonded and got along very well! Now at the MTC there are about 50 missionaries here and three missionary couples. Including Teresa and I there are 6 sister missionaries. Every single one of them is great and I feel lucky to have such a great companion! Her name is Sister Juvero and she is Philipino but lived in Austria and until she moved to Bristol England at age 19. She is so sweet and has a British accent, which is just a cool side note! haha But I am amazed how close we are and how are personalities are so similar and work amazingly together! Having her makes it easier to not have Teresa around as much. I see Teresa occasionally around when we eat but since Teresa and I are in two separate zones, we have two different schedules. So it is just Sister Juvero and I in our Zone, which is just fine.

We were told that while we are here we will get the opportunity to go out to Manchester Central and street contact which was so exciting to hear until Our district went out in front of the MTC to practice doing that to one another and realized it was a lot harder than we thought! haha So needless to say I was getting a little discouraged by the end of the second day just because I felt inadequate.

But then on Sunday we saw a talk in Relief Society but Sheri Dew (and you know how I feel about her, she is AMAZING!) What she said about how the women in these later days are fearless and noble and great and that Heavenly Father preserved me to come here and represent him! I felt so much better and I now have the confidence. Though it has been difficult to adjust to being a full time missionary just because I was so lazy before I left haha (I know mom and dad, we should've done a lot more and not just sat around and you were right!) But I have been very tired and feel very challenged and like this is so difficult but I feel very happy! I have waited my whole life to feel the feelings I am feeling now! I am excited to grow more!

Anyway my time is up so send me letters so I can spend more time writing to you on here!! I love you all!!! A letter in the mail would probably be a smart idea so that I won't have to use up my time reading so that I could spend all my time writing to you!

Love you all! Can’t wait to hear from you!
Sister Rachel Kullick

TERESA -Hi Family!!
So as you may already know, I am in the MTC in Preston!! So it's actually really tiny because we only have 47 missionaries (not counting couples) and only 6 of them are sisters!! I LOVE it sooo much. And it was funny because they were telling us that this was a huge group compared to the last lot they had, which was only 7 missionaries!! So yeah, things are much different than Provo and to be honest, I much prefer it. I like the smallness of this MTC because I can meet everyone and I have! They are all so amazing! So the MTC is only made up of 2 Zones. I'm in the Hinckley Zone and Rachel’s in Kimball. And even though we've been separated, it's been surprisingly very easy! The Spirit has definitely been there helping us out! So I'm in the Teancum District and hey mom, guess who's in it? Elder Pass! He's actually our District Leader haha, he is totally awesome and fills the role well :)

So my companion's name is Sister Babbel and she's really sweet. You can tell she just loves the work and it's very easy to teach with her! She's a little more reserved than me but we compliment each other nicely. The other Sisters are all so AMAZING! We all get along soooo well (which is quite the relief, as you all know, girls can be real lame sometimes!) But these sisters really know what it's all about. They all have a wonderful spirit and we are consider each other good friends! The two other sisters are in my district, leaving Rach with just her comp, but its ok cause they get along soooo well! I can tell Rach really enjoys Sister Juvero's company.

So I went to the temple today and it was sooooooo gorgeous! And I could really feel the spirit there! Sister Steele (the sister I’m closest too) helped me out with some stuff, which was nice! Although we’ve only spent a little time here, this country is beautiful! I love it here, and we've been having amazing weather, not at all like the weather I'd thought we'd have. It's been sunny! I was expecting rain ALL the time. But the only thing is that it changes constantly; sunny in the morning then to windy overcast weather, then to a light sprinkle! Its not bad, but definitely NOT California weather! In the short time that I've been here I've already learned and progressed soo much in my teaching. I'm finding out that a missionary isn't what I thought they were. The main thing they want you to learn here is to "teach people, not lessons", that's like the motto :) I love this environment and I've adapted really well to the time change! (I give credit to my jacked up sleeping habits back home! Ha Steven! It actually worked to my advantage and I've been doing better than most all the missionaries here!) So it's nice to have a set schedule with that.

Well I love you all but I have to get going. They really don’t give you enough time here! But after this I'm going to play a football match (soccer) with the elders! We've played a lot and I think that they were surprised that I was good! Now they all want me on their teams!

Anyways, I love you all and I miss you guys! Just so you know, you can give ANYONE my mission address! Love you all!
Sister Teresa Kullick

P.S. by the way mom, my clothes are WAY better then any of the sisters! haha thanks!

Pictures from Setting Apart

Rachel, Lauren, Teresa

Rachel, Grandpa Kullick, Grandma Kullick, Teresa

Rachel, Sheila, Teresa

Cary, Sheila, Rachel, Steve, Steven, Teresa