"... To him who is baptized in my name, him will the father give the Holy Ghost..."

Hello everyone!!

This has been a great week here in Morrisville. For the majority of the week Sister Madrid and I were in different mission and ward and stake meetings, so I had A LOT of learning experiences and it was definitely a week of enlightenment. If I were to sum up all of the tings I learned in a few seconds it would simply be that I know that Heavenly Father is so aware of all of our situations and all of the situations we're placed in is to help us grow. That goes for me here serving in Morrisville and it also goes for little Ellie with the challenges that she's having in the 4th grade. Heavenly Father knows it all. And he's gives us the help and the guidance that we need to be successful as long as we put Him and His work first. 

This was also probably the most exciting and eventful weekend of my entire mission! The Elders have been teaching a couple named Jennifer and Geraldo for a few months now, it's been so long that the sisters got involved with helping them too and this weekend Jen and Geraldo got married and the next day they got baptized!! One of my goals at the beginning of my mission was to be a part of a wedding and I was so grateful for the chance that I had to help Jen through her big day. This couple has taught me so many great lessons. They are the perfect example of repentance as they've stopped everything else to put the gospel and living the commandments first in their lives. 

Their wedding was just a blast. The bishop performed the wedding and he stood up at the pulpit and started by saying "On a special occasion such as this I feel that it is appropriate to begin by talking about chocolate chip cookies..." He then proceeded to make an analogy about different delicious ingredients not being able to reach their full potential until they're put together. Our bishop also had them promise right then and there that in a year they would go to the temple to be sealed. It was such a powerful moment as they expressed their desire to make in to the temple one day. I know that the priesthood power of the temple sealing is very real. Our families are meant to be forever and that is only made possible through temple covenants and in a year Jen and Geraldo will be able to be some of the first to make these covenants in the Philadelphia Temple. And their baptism was just as special. They asked me to speak and as I stood in front of them bearing my testimony of the Gift of the Holy Ghost they were both grinning from ear to ear. Again, they are the perfect example of how the gospel brings peace and joy. I am so happy for them. 

I love you all!

Sister Petrick

May 7, 2016

Hello everybody!!

Sorry for not emailing last week. Pdays  seem to get filled very easily, so as requested I have a longer email today! :) Morrisville is very different from Vineland but I am learning so so much every single day and I love it here!

This week we were able to go on some exchanges. For the first I was able to be with Sister Van Arsdale. And if you don't remember, Sister Van Arsdale was my companion when I was back in Delaware and it was so much fun going into her area with her. One of the best parts is that she serves in part of Philadelphia so it was a huge flashback to the beginning on my mission. One experience I wanted to share was a lesson that we had with a woman named Linda. Linda is preparing to be baptized at the end of the month and she is just such a sweetheart.
She lives in a Russian retirement home so even from just walking through the front door it was a neat experience. We went in and taught her very simply about repentance. We focused on how repentance is when we turn away from what's wrong and focus ourselves on  and do what's right. And it went really well! And then we felt prompted to share a scripture with her from Mosiah 26, which teaches a lot of great truths about repentance. At the end of the lesson Sister Van Arsdale asked her what she had learned that day about repentance. Her answer
surprised me. When we were teaching we repeated the same simple points multiple times to try to get it to stick in her mind, but when she answered the question she repeated the words that she learned from the scriptures she read. This experience taught me so much. I realized that my calling as a missionary is not to go out and teach people everything I've come to know, my job is share the Book of Mormon with everyone that I can and SHOW them how their lives can be changed by applying the words they read. The Book of Mormon teaches far more
powerfully and far simpler than I ever could. I know with full certainty that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know that every single verse is meant to teach us and that reading it will teach us more than anything else can. We need to use the Book of Mormon because that's when the spirit is able to teach.

In this area we don't have many people to teach so we've been doing a lot of finding this week. While knocking on doors we met one of the cutest women I've ever seen! Her name is Irma. She let us in her home immediately and let us share our message with her and then proceeded to tell us about growing up during WWII. As we sat talking with her I was just overwhelmed by how much I knew that Heavenly Father loves this woman. She made me think of Alma 26:37 where it says "God is mindful of every people" because her life and her upbringing has been
completely different than mine but it doesn't mean that we're loved any differently. Our Heavenly Father has given us the lives and experiences that we specifically need to become the person who He sees in us. He has great potential for us all and every single trial and lesson is to help us reach that potential.

We also, because we've been doing so much finding, have met TONS of interesting people this week. It's been a week full of adventures and awkward situations. One experience that taught me a lot was when we met an older couple named Sharon and Rich. We were contacting some one else but saw them loading cages into their car so we ran to ask if we could help! It turns out they catch stray cats and nurse them to health and help them get adopted! Pretty cool! You're probably expecting a story that ends with these two wanting to meet with us and
get baptized, but unfortunately this story ends exactly the opposite way. These people were wonderful and so fun to talk to but they wouldn't even give our message a chance. The man even as part of our conversation told us that he became Christian because he insisted on reading everything so that he could find what's true, but still said
no when we offered him a Book of Mormon. Now you might wonder why I share that story, but it's because as we walked away from these people I felt that my testimony was stronger. I knew that their rejection didn't make the gospel any less true, their rejection didn't make the Book of Mormon any less true. I've been rejected plenty of times on my mission, but this particular situation taught me how important it is to know for myself that this message is true. Our Heavenly Father asks us to have faith and when we act on that faith he will help us know
that these things are the truth.

I'm so grateful for my testimony. I know that this is Christ's restored gospel. I know that it's the only way to everlasting happiness and I know that my calling as a missionary is so special and 

I'm so grateful to have these experiences.

Have a great week!
Sister Rachel Petrick

The Zone

February 29, 2016

No group letter today. She said she couldn't think of what to write. She has been doing a lot of exchanges. She gets to stay with one of her former companions, Sister Van Arsdale, tonight. She is excited about that. She sent pictures. Her district and her and Sister Madrid.

Where oh where is Sister Petrick?

Hi everybody!!

So sorry in advance that this email is going to be shorter, it's kind
of a crazy Pday and I can't wrap my mind around writing too much. But
this week has been hard, but also wonderful. I had to say goodbye to
the family that I found in Vineland, New Jersey, and have been
transferred to Morrisville, Pennsylvania! Morrisville is so wonderful!
This ward is very missionary oriented and I already know that I will
learn so much here.

This week started out interesting because my first day here we had to
take our car into the shop because of previous car accidents and we
still haven't gotten it back! I've honestly loved it. We've been
walking around a lot, talking with lots of people on the street, and
I've been able to get to know a lot of members because they've been
driving us places. So really it's been full of blessings in disguise!

One highlight of the week was meeting a woman named Mardi. Mardi is
such a strong person! She's a new member of the Morrisville ward and
it's been such a blessing to hear her testimony of how the gospel has
changed her life. She has such a desire to share the gospel with all
those around her and listens to the spirit and seeks for Heavenly
Fathers guidance in all that she does.

And I wanted to make sure everyone had my address so you can send me
the piles of letters you have ready, so here it is:

171 S Main Street apt. 2
Yardley, PA 19067

I love you all!

February 15, 2016

Well everyone, tomorrow I say goodbye to Vineland! I'm getting
transferred and I leave tomorrow morning so I apologize in advance
that this will be a shorter email. Being a missionary for 15 months
really helps you accumulate a whole lot of stuff and packing takes a
while.

But I did want to share a few highlights of the week:

First, Lillie came to church this week! She couldn't stay the whole
time because her knee is still really bothering her from her surgery
but when we went and visited her afterward she told us that for the
first time her and her grandkids were just quiet all day because she
felt the spirit so strongly at church. I have been so grateful for
Lillie! I'm sad that I won't be here for her baptism, but I'm grateful
that I've been able to see the gospel bless her life so much already.
Her baptism will be such a special day. :)

This week we also met a woman named Ruth. She's actually a preacher of
another church. She let us in and we introduced her to the Book of
Mormon and she was so excited! She jumped at the chance to read it! We
shared with her some of our favorite passages about Christ and she
said right then and there that she believed that it was true. And she
invited us back!

This was a wonderful week! I'll include some pictures since I'm making
this so short. I'll let you all know where I end up next Monday!

I love you all!

---------------------------------
Sister Rachel Petrick

The Vineland Gang for the last time, and us and Vaughnie and Adam. :)

"if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness"

Hello! :)

If I could describe this week in one work it would be HECTIC. We were
constantly running from one place to another and I loved every second
of it! It was a strange week because Sister LeFevre and I were out of
our area for 2 1/2 days while we were with some of the other sisters
around us. Tuesday evening we got to go up to Medford, New Jersey, for
a really fun exchange! I was with Sister Roberts and we had a day full
of teaching! She taught me great lessons about having short, powerful
lessons and about seeking out ANYONE and EVERYONE to talk to! One
experience I want to share is meeting a woman named Dawn. Dawn was
meeting with the missionaries in Medford when I first came to this
area and due to a sad series of events she decided to stop. The
sisters were always hesitant to go back and see her but today Sister
Roberts really felt like that is where we needed to be. When we got to
her house there was no answer at her door so we decided to leave a
note. As sister Roberts was writing the note a woman stopped a little
ways away from the door and started staring at her so I waved and it
turns out it was Dawn! And to make this story even more exciting, For
a couple of weeks Dawn had been praying for the missionaries and
praying for the courage to go back to church because she was so
scared! This experience really taught me that Heavenly Father will use
us to help other people of we listen to the promptings of the spirit.
I know that it was no coincidence that we showed up that day to see
Dawn. She needed us, and Heavenly Father used us to answer her prayer.

The next day we had exchanges in Cherry Hill and o got to be with
Sister Nutting! Sister Nutting has a great talent of being anxiously
engaged but completely laid back at the same time. I really admired
that about her. She taught me so much about relating the scriptures to
those who we see. Any time someone asked us a question she first
turned to her scriptures. I know that the scriptures, specifically the
Book of Mormon, hold the answers that we're looking for and I promise
that a we pray and ask for guidance our Heavenly Father will lead us
to those answers.

Another highlight of the week was once again seeing Lillie! Lillie is
recovering so well! When we were with her she pushed her walker aside
and walked back and forth in her front room all by herself! She also
showed us her Book of Mormon and not only is she reading, but she had
colored tabs, different colored highlights, she had underlined and
circled cross references in the footnotes, she is really diving in to
her scriptures! And she is progressing so well and is so excited for
when she can walk and move well enough to come to church. Please
continue to keep her in your prayers. :)

And in other exciting news, for the last couple of weeks we've been
part of the ward choir! I just have to say that this choir has been
such a tender mercy for me. :) I have so badly missed singing in a
choir and the Easter songs that we've been practicing have really
helped me stay focused on the Savior and all that he's done for me. I
know the the Savior lives! I know that he lived and died so that I
might be able to return and live with my Heavenly Father some day. I'm
so grateful for his sacrifice and I know that this is His work.

This week we get our transfer calls! I'll let everyone know what
happens next week, but just in case, use this address if you send me
anything this week:

721 Paxon Hollow Rd. Ste.B
Broomall, PA. 19008


I love you all!
Sister Rachel Petrick
Here's a picture from month's zone training. :)

"whatsoever thing he shall ask in faith, believing ye shall receive, ye shall receive it"

Hello everyone!

Happy February!! :) This week was one of those weeks where I feel like
so much happened but at the same time like nothing did. A lot of
people were sick this week so we had to get creative with our time. :)

My first fun story comes from going on exchanges! We were up in
Sewell, NJ for a day. We've been trying to really help these sisters
because the work in their area has been slow lately. That morning I
said a prayer asking Heavenly Father that I would be able to do
something to help these sisters see that there is success in their
area. One thing my mission president has stressed is that "there's no
such thing as a dead area" and I was determined to help the sister I
was with see that! At first nothing we tried seemed to be successful
and I could tell the sister I was with was having a hard time. I
noticed a cute older couple sitting down the hall from where we were
and I ran over and started talking with them. Soon enough they were
asking about our church and we were telling them about the sacrament
and the restoration! They were both so excited to learn more and to
read a Book of Mormon! As we walked away I was so grateful to know
that Heavenly Father answered my prayer. I still get so nervous going
out of my way to talk to new people but Heavenly Father truly helped
me be courageous enough to open my mouth and I know that He can do the
same for all of you. :)

This week we were also able to meet a new man named Vincent. We've
taught Vincent's wife a couple of times and we finally got to teach
him! Is church is actually closing and he's looking for a new place to
go. We told him about our church and gave him a brief overview of the
restoration and he looked so excited! It's amazing to see how the
simple truths of the restoration truly do touch the heart. We, again,
just have to open our mouths and be ready and excited to share this
message!

I read a scripture this week that really hit me and I wanted to share
it with all of you. :) It's Romans 8:38-39. " For I am persuaded, that
neither death, nor life, nor Angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any
other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." HOW AMAZING IS THAT?!? There is
NOTHING that can separate us from the love of God. No matter how hard
things get, no matter how many mistakes we make, our Heavenly Father
still loves us just the same. I know that that's true. And I'm so
grateful for that knowledge. :)

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

Love,
Sister Rachel Petrick
#TheChurchIsTrue

Our cute family picture. :)