We've got to keep those spiritual nuggets high

Hello everyone!

I'm super excited to be emailing you all this week because I have some
incredible stories to share!

The first is of Mrs. Lynn Deakins. We have been meeting with Lynn
since I got to this area. She begrudgingly let Elders in her home back
in April and she's been learning about the church and the Book of
Mormon ever since. Lynn is 85 years old and she is a hoot! She sure
keeps us on our toes. This last Saturday, the 22nd, I was able to be
there and watch Lynn be baptized!! Her baptismal service was so
special and the spirit was so strong. Lynn told everyone that would
listen about how we asked her about baptism multiple times and about
how she always said no, but one day she just changed her mind and ever
since she's been changing her life. There are bits of practically
every commandment that she had to change and she did it and hasn't
looked back even once! She told us one day "I don't have any reason
not to believe these things" and to me, that is just the perfect
mindset. We don't need signs and visions in order to know what is good
and true. We just need to believe and act on that belief. We just need
to have faith, which is to "hope for things which are not seen, which
are true. Lynn holds such a special place in my heart. She has taught
me by how she lives just how much the gospel can change your life. I
look back to when I first met her 2 1/2 months ago when she told us
that she DID NOT want sister missionaries and DID NOT want us there,
and now she's baptized and part of Gods Kingdom. Lynn has also taught
me that it's never to late to change. She's 85 years old and she still
had the courage to get into that baptismal font! She's making huge
changes in her life and I would encourage everyone to take a page out
of her book and make the changes necessary to be centered on the path
that Christ has paved for us all.

I also have an incredible miracle story to share! After church yesterday we felt like we needed to stop by the house of a potential investigator named Norma. We had contacted Norma about 8 weeks ago, so it's been a while. We pulled up to her house and she was out sitting on the porch so we ran over to see how she was doing. She poured out her heart to us about how she was diagnosed with cancer and how she just feels so alone. I had a scripture pop into my mind so I pulled out my Book of Mormon and she immediately grabbed my arm and stared up at me. "I need that book." is all she said at first. I didn't know what to say. So I asked her what she said and she again said "I need that book. I don't have that book and I need it." This was my personal copy of the book and was all marked up and used, I showed her and she did ask us to come back with one just for her. We all kind of looked at each other uncomfortably because we all knew that we had just recently cleared out our entire trunk of the car because we had to move things and we had taken out all of our pamphlets and every copy of the Book of Mormon. So again, we didn't know what to do. Then the thought came to my mind to go and look in the trunk of the car. We excused ourselves and I expressed my thought to my companions and we decided to take a look. Sure enough, sitting in the back of our car was two copies of the Book of Mormon!! I know for a fact that they were not in there and that Heavenly Father provided a miracle for his daughter who so desperately wanted his truth. As we gave the book to Norma and talked to her for a few more moments we learned that she had read one of the pamphlets we left with her and once she came upon the Book of Mormon her curiosity was peaked and she knew God wanted her to have it. She invited us to come back and share with her more from the book and as we left she was still sitting on her porch reading from its pages. I am truly so grateful for all of the incredible miracles that I'm able to witness as a missionary! I know that His miracles are present every single day and that as we listen to promptings He will guide us were we need to be to be that answer to someone's prayers!

I'm so grateful for you all! I hope you have a great week!

Love,

Sister Petrick

August 17, 2015

Hello everyone!

First to answer a couple of questions, no, we DID NOT swim at the beach! Hahaha, it was actually a little awkward because we all really wanted to go to the water so we were standing there with our feet in, the Bishop's wife took our picture and then we got off really really quickly because we realized how silly must have looked being fully clothed in Sunday dress standing on the beach. But it was a lot of fun! We were able to walk the boardwalk and got to know Sister Webster, the Bishop's wife, so much better. And that woman is just an angel! If you ever worry about whether or not I'm okay, just know that Stacey Webster takes care of us like we're her own daughters so there's never any reason to worry. :)

This week we have had a couple of great miracles and I picked one that I want to share with you all. We've been teaching a woman named Kelly and Kelly has truly been prepared by the Lord to receive the gospel at this time. She has been so receptive and so willing to change and put her faith to the test since day one. This week she was going through a lot of trials. She found out that the father of her daughter lost his job and he wouldn't be able to send a child support check that month and didn't know when he'd be able to again. She's a single, working mom and really needed to find a way to get some extra money. A mini miracle in itself, as we were planning for her lesson I just did not feel like the plan we had originally made for her was right. So we completely changed our plan before going in. We instead taught her about fasting. She was slightly hesitant about fasting because it does sound hard, but she did agree. And the member with us agreed to fast for her as well. So Saturday to Sunday we all fasted together. At church she came running up to us and said that she had a story for us. After she had begun her fast she got a phone call from her mom. She had an aunt that passed away back in November and her mom was calling to tell her that Kelly was getting inheritance money! $1000! There's no reason why it should have taken that long for the money to come, but it came just when she needed it and she knows that it's because she fasted. She knows that Heavenly Father provided that for her when he knew she and her daughter would need it and she knows that this gospel is true! She's so excited for all that the gospel brings as well! At dinner she was talking to us about her dating life and she said "If he doesn't want it to be for eternity, then I'm not even going to play that game." Kelly is such a wonderful woman and she has strengthened my testimony of the gospel so much! 

I've also been doing a lot of studying from my patriarchal blessing. My companions and I have instituted "Patriarchal PDay" so we study our blessings on Monday mornings and talk about them and ask questions as part of our companion study. It's been such an amazing experience first, because the unity that I've been building in my companion ship is incredibly special. We better understand each other's strengths and weaknesses. And second, I feel like I have such a greater understanding of what my overall purpose is here on this earth. I'm sure there's much more in store than what I'm expecting, but I know with so much certainty that Heavenly Father has a very specific plan and role for each of his children. He knows us all individually and knows what we need to learn and grow. And I promise that if we trust him, as it says in Proverbs 3:5-6 "he shall direct thy paths."

I love you all so much and hope you have a great week!

Love,

Sister Rachel Petrick

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Sister Rachel Petrick

16 Park Lane

Dover, DE. 19904

August 10, 2015

Hello everyone!

I wanted to make sure I sent a quick little email. I don't have long because we'll be going with a member to spend our PDay at the beach. I'll take lots of pictures for next week. :)

We had a great week and were able to helped a lot of people take incredible steps closer to baptism. I'm so grateful to be here in Camden serving these people and I'm so grateful that I'm able to see just how much God's hand is in all of their lives.

I promise I'll write more next week. I love you all!

August 3, 2015

Mom note- the trial she is referring to is bed bugs. Apparently, they all had bites all over their legs that they thought were just from all the bugs in Delaware. Some sweet ward members noticed and told them what it was. They got it all taken care of, but it messed up their week!  The picture is the Victorys that she talks about.

Dear friends and family,

This week has taught me a lot. Like a lot. I think I was the lucky recipient of a bathtub full of lessons this week. And I would love to tell you all about some of these lessons.

1. Charity never faileth. In Moroni 7:47 is says "Charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever." I've read this verse probably a good hundred times throughout my life and have studied charity multiple times throughout my mission as an attempt to try to gain more of this Christlike attribute in my own life. This week I experienced true charity from the members of the Camden Ward. My companions and I were given a great trial this week and many ward members, out of the selflessness of their beings. jumped in and were our saving graces. One couple in particular, Brother and Sister Sanstrom, and Sister Goodman are three individuals who really came to our aide. They stopped by one night with dinner for us and we shared with them what we were going through. Later that night as we were planning for out next day they all came back with care packages, big hugs, and prayers for us and it meant the world. I have come to know with a far greater knowledge that as President Eyring shares in his conference address The Comforter, Heavenly Father will use his saints here on the earth to comfort those in times of distress. I've been lucky enough to be on the serving side of that equation, but it wasn't until this week that I felt how powerful it is to be on the receiving end of this promise.

2. When we work hard and do our part, Heavenly Father ALWAYS provides miracles. As I said, this week was hard. We had almost two full days that we unexpectedly didn't get to go out for normal proselyting and we had to cancel a lot of plans. And that stressed us out a lot. But as the week went on, and as we constantly turned to the goals which we had set for the week we were able to accomplish and outreach the majority of these goals! Sunday proved to be a day of miracles as we saw our investigator Lynn come to church for the first time, our investigator Samantha shared with us her great desire to be baptized and agreed to pray about when it should happen, our investigator Kelly told us about how comfortable she feels in the ward and that she received a confirmation about being baptized on September 20th, and our investigator Eugene committed to being baptized on October 11th! I promise you that when we do our best, He makes up the rest. I know that Heavenly Father is so aware of all of our individual needs and circumstances and all He wants to do is help us through them. I know and promise that as we do all we can to follow his commandments and be diligent in doing all that He asks, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will be there to strengthen and support us through all of our doings and provide miracles when we need them.

3. Family does not have to be by blood. There are just SO MANY incredible members in the Camden Ward who have done all they can to make us feel welcome and just like part of the family!! One family in particular sticks out far above the rest and that is the Victory family. We eat with the Victorys every single Sunday night and it is a circus each and every time! The family is huge! There are the grandparents and they have four kids. The oldest has 5 kids, the next has one, the next has 4, and the youngest has 3. And then our investigator Kelly is always there with her daughter as well. And they're all in the ward! This family has taught me A LOT about the missionary, the mom, the wife, and the person who I want to become. I am eternally so grateful for them and so many other incredible member who I have had the privilege to meet in my 9 months of serving.

That's about it for me this week. I am so grateful to be out here serving my Savior. I know that this work is His and that as we align our will with our Heavenly Father's great things will happen. I love you all and I hope you all have a great week!

So much love,

Sister Rachel Petrick

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Sister Rachel Petrick

16 Park Lane

Dover, DE. 19904