Snow!

Dear friends and family,

This week we were hit with LOTS of snow. Apparently it was known as
the "blizzard of 2016." Or at least that's what I'm told. For the
first time in my life(at least that I remember), church was cancelled.
So my companion and I were able to spend our morning helping people
shovel themselves out of the snow. Even though it was less than
freezing, it still really warmed my heart. :) And to make a fun memory
even better, after we returned home the members we live with surprised
us with a mini sacrament meeting! They got permission to administer
the sacrament and then we watched President Nelson's recently young
adult address "Becoming True Millenials." As I listened to him speak
the thing that hit me most powerfully is that we truly do live in a
fallen world. There are wars, disease, pain, and all sorts of
temptations. Many often say that the world is in the worst condition
it has ever been in. But that's all in opposition to the fact that we
also live in the dispensation of the fullness of times. We might have
some of the worst things happening around us, but that's simple
because we are also blessed with the BEST. We are blessed to live in a
time where we can inherit all of the blessings that our Heavenly
Father has to give to His children. I'm very grateful for that
knowledge. I'm grateful to know that in 1820 the heavens were reopened
and that Heavenly Father and Christ set their work in motion. The
restoration of the gospel began and we are now all taking part in His
great work today.

I also wanted to give everyone an update on our investigator, Lillie.
This week were were able to go visit her with our Bishop and he gave
her a blessing for her surgery. When we went and visited her in the
hospital two days later she was overcome with gratitude and told us of
how well she was healing. I will never forget the smile on her face
when she said "it's because of bishop cook's blessing." She's doing so
well and is already ahead on her healing schedule! This week we read 2
Nephi 31 with her at the hospital. This woman constantly amazes me
with how much faith she has! As we read about baptism and explained
its importance she just looked at us, again with a smile on her face,
and said "I know." She's so excited to heal and come to church and be
a part of God's kingdom. She's already expressing how much she loves
her new "church family." I am so grateful for her and the example she
sets for me. She is so willing to do whatever the Lord tells her. She
really does hold such a special place in my heart.

Thank you for all of your love and support! I love you all!
Sister Rachel Petrick

It finally Snowed!

Hello everyone!

I am really just so excited to tell you a little bit about the simply
MIRACULOUS week that Sister LeFevre and I had. There were so many
times when we walked away from situations and look at each other and
said "Did that really just happen? Heavenly Father is SO GOOD."

The first miracle was such a tender mercy for a us both. Tuesday was a
long day full of administration work we had to finish so we didn't
have as much time as we like to outside. With the couple hours that we
had we decided to go contact a referral named Joseph who had requested
a bible. And it turns out that Joseph and his house full of people are
from West Africa! We started teaching him and a few of the other
people there about the Book of Mormon and after I shared a verse one
of the men said "Is that from Nephi?" We were shocked! He knew about
the Book of Mormon! And they knew all about the temple! They also had
a lot of questions so we scheduled a time to come back later, but we
left feeling so refreshed by the spirit. What a tender mercy. :)

We also got to go on two exchanges this week and I can testify that
exchanges bring miracles! I was with a sister named Sister Eckman and
I was blown away by the boldness of her teaching! Our first exciting
adventure together was delivering a bible for another referral. We
were also able to teach her about the Book of Mormon and she was so
excited to read it! We left and when we were almost to our car we
heard her calling after us and she came and asked us if we would bring
more copies of the Book of Mormon for her SEVEN KIDS so they could all
sit in with us and learn!

And just yesterday Sister LeFevre and I were delivering yet another
bible referral to a man named Gary. Gary invited us in immediately and
as we were handing him his bible he said that he meant to order a Book
of Mormon! Of course we happily gave it to him, told him a little bit
about it, and he asked if we would be willing to come back and teach
him about the doctrine of our church!

Heavenly Father is truly preparing people to hear the message of
Christ's restored gospel. I know that that is true. These experiences,
along with many other miracles from this week, really taught me that.
They also taught me how important it is to open our mouths and make
our message known. We could have easily just dropped off the bibles
and left, but because we mentioned the Book of Mormon and testified of
its truth the spirit was able to touch the hearts of these people and
they are letting us come back to share the gospel with them. Our
Heavenly Father gives us all incredible miracles each and every day,
we just need to follow his guidance so that we are where he needs us
at the right time. I know that Heavenly Father is so aware of us all.
I know that he loves us and that as we look for it we will see His
hand in our lives everyday. I know that this is his work and that it's
only through the sacrifice of his son, Jesus Christ, that we will be
able to enter into his presence. I'm so grateful to be a missionary!

I love you all!! I hope you have a great week!

Love,
Sister Rachel Petrick

January 11, 2016

Good morning!!

I'm still alive and it's another beautiful sunny day in south jersey!
The temperatures are dropping but we still haven't seen any snow, so
there are blessings everywhere! I hope everyone had a great start to
2016 because I know it did! This past week was our transfers and I
got a new companion! Her name is Sister LeFevre and she is from
Tropic, Ut, which I've learned is right next to Bryce Canyon National
Park, which happens to be one of the most beautiful places I've ever
been. She also just came from the ward that neighbors my first area
and so we've been able to talk about a lot of the people that I taught
which has been a little tender mercy. And I really love being with
Sister LeFevre!  She is such wonderful missionary and I love hearing
her testimony. We work really well together. :)

We were able to have a lot of fun experiences together this week. The
first person I want to mention is James. I've met with James a couple
of times and he's a funny guy, and he really believes that there's
more scripture than the bible. So naturally we left him with a Book of
Mormon. So this week we went back to follow up to see if he's read.
When we asked he said "I  read it, I like it, but I just have one
concern. It doesn't mention anything about Jesus Christ." And
immediately I felt the spirit in me tell me he's wrong. The more we
talked to him the more we realized he was coming up with excuses, but
I'm really grateful for the feelings I had at his original comment.
While I do have a testimony of the Book of Mormon, in that moment I so
clearly felt the spirit witness to me that EVERYTHING in the Book of
Mormon is related to Jesus Christ. And as I've read since then I've
been so much more aware everything He is mentioned. I want to testify
that the Book of Mormon is a testament of Jesus Christ, as is says on
the cover, and that we will draw nearer to the Savior as we read,
study, and ponder its teachings.

Another miracle we were a part of was teaching a woman named Lillie.
Lillie requested a bible from us a few weeks ago and this week was the
second time we were able to meet with her. We had previously taught
her about the Book of Mormon and as we talked about her reading when
we saw her she showed us verses she had read that addressed specific
concerns that she had at that time. The spirit was so strong as we
testified to her of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and the
Restoration and invited her to be baptized. And she said yes!! The
first time we met with Lillie we had brought a member of the ward with
us who was able to share her conversion story. Lillie said that after
we left she prayed and felt that her meeting us and hearing this
member's story was God's way of Showing her where she needed to be.
She said that after we had left "her flesh wanted to leave the church
she was attending." As she shared this with us I again felt the spirit
so strongly. Lillie is an incredible example of faith and obedience.
All she wants is to do the will of the father and her example is
teaching me so much. Please keep Lillie in your prayers and she
continues to learn and read the Book of Mormon.

I am just so excited about this next handful of weeks! I have a
feeling that they will be great for us all as we work our hardest to
serve our Heavenly Father. I have come to have such a strong testimony
of this gospel. I know that "there is no other way nor means whereby
salvation can come unto the children of men." I know that the Savior
lives and that his infinite atonement can strengthen us in ways that
we can't even imagine. It's just up to us to let him in.

I love you all! Thank you for all the prayers in my behalf, they're
felt and appreciated!

January 5, 2016

Rachel didn't send out a group email yesterday, she must have been too busy.  I got a short letter from her though.  It is transfer week.  She is staying put, but her companion is going home.  So, yesterday was spent getting her all packed and ready to go.  Rachel said she would pick up her new companion today.  Hopefully we will get a big letter next week!

This picture was posted yesterday.  It is from there Christmas meeting they had.

Philly North, Cherry Hill North, Cherry Hill South, Wilmington zone Christmas Conference 12-23