"The Spirit of God..."

RACHEL - Hello!

I received your letter this week where there is a picture of Steverino in a dashing black suit on! haha It was very fun reading about the preparing for the wedding and Open House and the clean up afterwards! I feel like I was there and experienced it even though I am a couple of miles away ;) I am so glad everything went smoothly and that Steven and Erika are enjoying my old room, are they going to paint the walls a different color? I would imagine they would!

I just wanted to thank you Dad for all the letters you wrote from the time you were on holiday in St. George! It was great! I loved reading all of them! I think I will start writing you back not only by email but also by hand, so I really want to so I'll make time to do that! Thanks Mom for the letter you wrote me haha I was so surprised to see that it was the card I made forever ago! Haha

Well the last Pday we went to Piccadilly Square and my companion and I got a parking ticket... haha Well its only about 25pounds so its not too bad but yeah don't worry I'll be smarter this time around!

I was reading the email Teresa last sent and when she started about talking in her sleep it made me laugh soo hard because the same is happening to me! I have been bearing my testimony in my sleep ever since I have been with Sis. Bowen and now with Sis. Hulet! Apparently my favorite one that I like to say is "And I just want you to know that I know that families can be together forever" haha Sis. Bowen would actually sleep talk back to me and we would both bear testimony to one another! Haha And its exactly like Teresa, I know I’m talking but I can't stop myself! Haha it’s really funny :)

Oh by the way I met a Michael Robinson who the Ludwigs would know him better as Elder Robinson, He was a missionary in Greece while the Bro. Ludwig was his Mission President! It is crazy how the church makes the world a lot smaller! I love it though! But he says hi to the Ludwigs!

My companionship with Sister Hulet has gotten a lot better and we are becoming friends! It's really great and I’m so happy about that!

Oh did I mention how my trainer Sis. Bowen reminded me soooo much of Katy (Maxwell Huntsman)?? I loved it; it was like having Katy around me always! And Sis. Hulet actually went to Pleasant Grove High so she thinks she might know you Katy! She graduated in 06. Just a fun little fact!

Hey Lauren, do you mind taking down movies, music, and other stuff that isn't appropriate for a missionary on FB haha people are ridiculous here they are looking me up on FB they can't see my pictures except my profile so that’s good but they can see my interests and stuff, so thanks Lawren! Oh and if Teresie asked some questions in the letter to you and I didn't still include that info in your letter back to me too k? haha k good!

Well, the work is great! For the first time last night I truly meant and understood the phrase "the Spirit of God like a fire is burning" I experienced this after a lesson we taught to this young woman who is struggling with her identity and worth. It was amazing we read the talk by Sister Dalton "Remember Who You Are" The Spirit was so strong it was undeniable! I had never really ever felt the spirit like a burning feeling inside of me. I felt amazing like I was on fire and untouchable! The Spirit truly led that lesson and it was amazing to be an instrument in the Lord's hands!

We are teaching two 18-year-old girls who are beautiful inside and out and are excited to learn more! I am so excited for them to fully embrace themselves in the Gospel and to have the knowledge that they are true daughters of God! Their names are Rosel and Elizabeth.

Unfortunately Simeon and Mayrose dropped us but hey they will come back when they are ready!

And Dad thank you sooo much for the advice that you gave me for the mission, about always having a sense of humor when things are tough like when tracting. My companion has a harder time laughing things off when people shut the door in our face but I appreciate the advice you gave so that my spirits can always be high!

Love you all so very much! Hope to hear from you soon!

Love always, Sis Rachel Kullick

Smart Start Session

TERESA - Ok so....

This week has been swell. This is Sister Nelson's last move so she goes home after this! Noooo! She has been an excellent trainer and I'll miss her goofy self :) She has been a great help to me because of her upbeat attitude. We've not only been companions but friends, and it has made all the difference. I will be very sad to see her go and I feel very nervous when I think about when that time comes. But I know the Lord will help me with the area so I won't be completely lost!

But anyways we went to Edinburgh for my Smart Start Session in the mission home. Pretty much just doing training models (role play) the whole time, which was actually a lot of fun! And plus, it is always fun to be with all the missionaries and to see the mission President and his wife! But it was funny cause we took a train there and then we had to walk in the pouring rain from the train station to the mission home! We pretty much drowned haha. It was totally worth it though.

We also had our Zone Development Meeting, which is great too! And this time it was a little different because of the combining of the missions. We have a new Zone Leader transferred over from Ireland and he's quite funny because as a "get to know you" game he had us all play Mafia. haha It was different! But Sis Nelson and I also had to do a presentation on charity in missionary work and I think we did pretty well :).

Uh lets see anything else...

The Castle was nice, but you're right mom, after a while they all start to look the same! And that's sad cause I've only seen 2 haha. But it's still nice.

The work has been kind of slow just because the people who we've been teaching haven't really been progressing so.... that's lame! But we are trying to find new people and strengthen the ones we have. So just one thing to keep in mind: Every member a missionary! And yes, you hear this ALL the time but it is truer than you could ever imagine. All our work is for nothing unless members step in and out of their comfort zones to fellowship recent converts and less actives. And what is fellow shipping you ask? Well, it's just a formal fancy word for friendly. That's it! All we want members to do is say hi, sit next to them during the meetings, invite them to things; being friendly! It is so simple. So please, could everyone who's reading this just say hi to someone who seems to look a little lonely or out of place? Because everyone is a child of God so they should never feel out of place at church that should be the one place where they have friends and support. So even if you've already done stuff like that, it doesn't mean you've filled up your quota for the month. It is and should be an everyday effort. Missionaries can't do everything, we need members help!!

But anyways, life has been good. I have been missing Rach quite a bit actually but I know I'm ok and that the Spirit will help us! I so LOVED getting your letters! Thank you so much dad and mom for the support. And thanks Steven and Erika for the postcard. I can really feel your love through the letters I receive! Thank you! I am so lucky and blessed to have the family that I have and I wouldn't trade you guys for anything! Thank you for raising me in the gospel.

I LOVE YOU ALL!

Love always, Sis Teresa k

New Companion

Rachel - Hello!

I am so glad that you all had a great time in St. George! I know that place can be fun!

I have a new companion now, her name is Sis Hulet and she lives right next to the Maxwell’s basically in Lindon. haha I thought that was crazy! She's really laid back and that’s nice but we are a tad different so it just takes some adjusting. It has been very difficult switching companions this soon for me considering I barely know the area (And you know me with directions and remembering people! Yikes!) And she has never been here before so its been tough and sometimes I feel like we could be more productive with our time but I think we will get better at it all. It almost feels like “white washing” (when 2 missionaries both arrive in an area at the same time with neither knowing it!) cause I still don’t know many people or places! But I pray every night for that help :)

I was very surprised to get a postcard from the Reese's! Haha I never thought that I would be the missionary that they would send postcards to cause I didn't know they were still doing that! Way to go! Keep on that tradition! Ha!

But I am really loving the BoM challenge though (fine mom, I guess you can cheat) (I told her I was already in Alma and was not going to start over again but would read around to Alma again!) but it’s great! I am becoming so much more involved with the scriptures; it’s amazing to see how the Lord is truly in all things!

The Zone is heading to Piccadilly City today to all eat at this Chinese Buffet there so I am really looking forward to that and I actually haven't had a chance to go tourist shopping before this! And haha I can't believe I only brought these two wimpy cardigans (I actually can't find the other one so now I have one haha) and no nicer warm sweater to keep me warm! So that is something I am definitely going to be looking for today!

Two new Sister missionaries came last transfer and they are soooo nice and I can't wait to get to know them more! And I think I knew one of them before the mission...we both recognize each other and its driving me mad that I can't figure it out! Haha Her name is Sis Carey.

But I just wanted to say to all those that have written me that it meant soo much and I do appreciate it! Thank you soo much dad for all the letters you send and love! Hopefully you got my Fathers day card and could ready it!

So far this transfer has really pushed me to be better and to have more faith in my knowledge of the area and such and its surprising that I am now just beginning to remember things a lot easier, it definitely is a blessing that I have been given. There is a new AP that came up to me to talk about Teresa in Scotland! He's been to the Dundee ward or area at least and it was great talking to him about where Teresa is right now!

I am doing really well and more and more as each day passes it is confirmed to me how I am exactly where I need to be! I am truly blessed! I love this work and mission! Everyone should serve; it’s a choice you will never regret!

Love always, Sister Rachel Kullick

PS I’ll send pics next time Teresa told me how!

Short & Sweet?

Teresa - Hey mom and dad!

That's crazy that Spain won (the World Cup)! I totally thought that Holland would win for sure! Poor guys, can't seem to catch a break.

Thanks for sending the letters on your vacation! I look forward to getting them!

And if Scotland is going to put on an "American Summer fair" then it is only right that an American represents (Teresa won the bubble blowing contest)! haha It was fun :)

I love you all and I hope all goes well back in the States!

Thanks again for everything!
Love always, Sis Teresa Kullick

Manchester 180 Day Book of Mormon Challenge

RACHEL - Hello!

You took no pictures (of Steven & Erika’s Open House)??? Are you crazy? haha Man you have an open house and no pictures?? Well hopefully you will be able to find some pictures somewhere! How was it though?? Great? I bet it was, tell them I say Congrats!

Who came down for the Wedding and open house again? You mentioned Kay and Linda. I know that all 4 of you will have a great time in St. George haha at the "Castle"!

In my ward they are doing "The Manchester South 180 Day Book of Mormon Challenge" this is to celebrate 180 years of the church, so we are asked to read the entire book in 180 days! That's 3 pages a day and we started on the 5th of July. We are to mark every time Christ is mentioned in any form and to highlight when Christ speaks. It has been soo great so far and I am loving it! They are even having a blog for it at manchestersouth.wordpress.com. It has really gotten me into really becoming involved in the scriptures so I hope all of you can join! We are to finish on December 31st!

Our Ward had an Island Night! It was a blast! This is where one of the missionaries put it all together; he is Samoan and got a lot of people to cook a whole bunch of foods from different Islands and different cultures. We had Island Performances like the Haka, I can't spell it right but it’s the one where all the elders did this dance to remember their ancestors that was soo amazing - I loved it! There were Limbo Competitions and I had to make so many decorations for it last minute it was crazy! I drew so many Plumerias, Starfish, Palm Trees, and obviously turtles (I'm sure you remember my necklace that I still wear) and these were all big paintings too. haha I am no artist but I think it turned out ok! It was a great time!

As you know I sang at a funeral and we sang, “Because I have been Given Much”. It was a beautiful service. Sister Bowen lost her voice randomly so I had to find someone to sing the melody while I sang the harmony! But yeah that was soo interesting about Sis. Bowen losing her voice. She didn't have a cold or has ever lost it while on a mission. But because of this I had to teach the lessons and be the main person to talk to those on the street. She was able to get her voice back a couple days later and before that I wasn't talking all that much. You know God works in mysterious ways and honestly we both thought about it and that was a way to force me to really just be confident in my teaching and teach our investigators. I felt great teaching them and them understanding me. He really did give me a chance to be more confident.

I was wondering if I could get some ideas for fun interactive lessons. I have already done some pretty creative things and some are from some stories that I remember hearing from Return Missionaries. We did one lesson where we were teaching about the Law of Tithing and we took a doughnut and said this is your income and the 10% out of the center is what you give to tithing. It may look like you have less than you had before but then you place a tea light in the hole of the doughnut and show them that you are able to have to spirit abide with you more and all the blessings that come with that! haha I thought that was a creative idea and it was fun! We have done one more like that but I don't have time to write it down but you know what I mean!

Unfortunately we lost a few investigators but gained 4! It is amazing this family wants to be baptized!

And thanks to Jefferson who wrote me! That was soo nice of him!

Can you tell Lauren to have people who are only my friends see my pics on FB, its unbelievable; members here are finding me on FB ahhh!! Just makes sure they can't see any other pics than my profile picture!

Anyway I love you all and thank you for your support!! Hope to hear from you soon!

Love Sister Rachel Kullick

Happy 4th of July

TERESA - HI!

I can't believe that you didn’t take ANY pictures (of the Steven & Erika’s Open House)! haha Well hopefully somebody did take some and then you can send them my way :) Oh and I also want pictures from the wedding too please!

So it was the 4th of July! yay! Happy Independence Day! Sis Nelson and I celebrated with singing nothing but patriotic songs and eating burgers and derito chips (closest we could get to a BBQ haha). We also had our own little "firework" show. It happened to rain buckets at one point as we decided to take a shortcut through a graveyard to a dinner appt. As we were trying to figure out where we were going, we were pretty much wandering aimlessly in the worst storm I've seen since I've been here thunder and lightning filled the sky! It was great! And the weird thing too is that they rarely ever have thunder and lightning. It was just so funny because after church that day it had stopped raining and it was warm so we took off our coats and only kept an umbrella and our suit blazers on. As we were on the bus to the graveyard it was raining so much and hard that we couldn't even see out the windows! The bus had to stop for a bit cause he couldn't see the road! We felt to so foolish that we had taken off our coats and had nothing but a brolly! My umbrella blew inside out haha, and now it's not as sturdy as it once was. It was hilarious. What a good 4th of July!! We were blessed and it was a really good day :)

This past week we were asked to help with the church's youth activity. The theme was a kind of an "American summer fair". It was funny to see what they did to make it "American". They had a hot dog stand and all sorts of contests. I won the bubblegum contest! We were given a piece of gum and whoever could blow a bubble first won haha. Another was who could spit a sunflower seed the furthest, who could eat 2 mini apple pies the fastest, who could whistle first after eating crackers, and drink a glass of water the quickest and so forth. I thought they did a pretty good job at making it American for sure! It was fun to be apart of it and really funny :)

We taught a great lesson to an investigator named Aileen. She is wonderful! She is best friends with Sis Veal in the RS Presidency, who is also amazing! Aileen has been learning about the gospel for over half a year now and would totally get baptized except that she wants to wait till her husband gets involved too (which is happening slowly but surely!). She has a daughter, Bethany, who's 5 and a baby on the way. She is already living the gospel standards and participates fully in church! She wanted to learn about temples, so Sis Nelson and I definitely sought for the spirit in preparation and teaching the lesson. We, of course, didn't divulge any sacred information but rather taught the purpose of temples and why they are necessary for our eternal salvation. (Like what we are taught in Sunday school.) She completely understood the sacredness of the subject and has made it a definite goal to go there with her family someday! It was a wonderful experience to teach about temples and refreshing too :)

Ireland is now apart of our mission!! There are now 180 missionaries in the mission! But we are not sure as to how many came and left. One of my zone leaders left and one elder from our district left too for Ireland. We are getting another Zone leader from Ireland now. So exciting!

Well I love you all and hope you all enjoy your vacations!! LOVE YOU!

-Sis Teresa Kullick

Dunham Massey

Sister Cannon (Utah), Sister Kullick (California), and Sister Bowen (Idaho)

Dunham Massey

The present hall was initially built in 1616 by Sir George Booth. The site is moated and lies immediately west of the village of Dunham, with the deer park lying to the south. The hall was donated to the National Trust by the last Earl of Stamford, in 1976.

Pictures on the grounds

Through the gates

On the grounds...

This "home" has 31 rooms!

A hallway

A salon

This guide described this room as the one where the residents "wowed" their guests.

Another salon

Entrance to the Master Bedroom

The Master Bedroom

The children's living area

The Library

The Kitchen