Hey Family,

How is everything going? It was great to get all your emails. They for sure made my day. So everything is pretty much the same here. We have a "family" or a group of friends, I guess I should say, that all live together and they seem really interested in the church. There are two couples and two friends, so six in total. The two couples aren't married and they said that they don't want to be. They told us that they are living in "amor libre" or free love. That is one of the big problems in the spanish assignment. There are a lot of people who we have to get married before we can baptize them. Anyway, we have quite a few investigators, and they all like the gospel and what we teach, but the problem we are having right now is getting them to want to change or do something that they are not comfortable with.

My spanish is getting better, just last night we had two dinner appointments so we had to split up. My two trainers went to one and Elder Ford and I went to the other. Elder Ford kind of has a hard time with spanish, so he didn't say a word all night. I talk a ton and they gave me some advice on mexico and we just talked about all sorts of things. It was a lot of fun. And just the other night I talked to this guy who is from Mexico City and he talks so fast. It was pretty hard to understand everything, but I got most of it. I hope I can talk like him when I get out there.

Anyway... everything is going pretty good. I wish I had more to write, but I wouldn't know where to start. You are all just going to have to wait until I can read my journal to you. I am writing in spanish now so that is the only way you are going to get to know what happened. Life is good though. Please keep praying for my visa! My address here is:

8060s 615e

sandy utah 84070

Mom, that is so awesome about matthew. I wish I could have seen it. It sounds like life is going pretty good. I am so glad that it is. So I have no idea when my visa is going to come. We just got 20 more "visa waiters" in the mission a couple days ago. I really hope it comes soon. I love you so much and thank you for the email.

Dad, Hailey said that you and mom went to a chicago concert. How was it? So are you coaching matthew? it sounds like it was a pretty fun weekend. I love being out here, but at the same time I really want to get to mexico. Thank you for the prays and please keep praying. I love you

Matthew! Dude! That is crazy that you won the Lion's tournament. I never won that when I was a kid. Mom and Dad said you are doing way good. I hope you get to go to state. You better keep working hard at baseball and football so we can play when I get home. you are never going to be able to beat me, so keep dreaming sucker!! :) ha ha how is summer going? Are you working anywhere? I love you

First week in Salt Lake City South Mission

Hey everyone, I don't have a lot of time, but I will try to fill you in. I am in a four person companionship with Elder Flores, Nelson, and Ford. It is a lot different than the MTC. I love being able to talk to real people and use my spanish. Elder Nelson goes home in like 24 days, so he is more trunky than ever. It is hard sometimes because he never wants to work much. But other than that everything is pretty good. I am dying to get to Mexico so please pray for my visa.

We had five investigators at church yesterday and I wouldn't be surprised if we have a couple baptisms within the next three weeks. I with I could explain everything, but the area and the people are all new to me so I can't really tell you. I will write more as I learn more. Right now I am in the Riverton/Heramen area. It is huge, but a lot of fun. Spanish is coming pretty good and I love using it. I can understand almost everything but I still can't speak real fast.

Dad, how are you going? I am glad to hear that everything is going good back at home. It is kind of weird being this close. I love you and I will write more next week.

Mom, I hope you are doing amazing. It sounds like summer is as busy as ever. I love you

Everyone else, I don't have much time, but I hope you are all doing great. I still don't know exactly what my address is here, but I am sure you can find it online somewhere. It is just the mission office for the salt lake city south mission. I will write more next week I promise. I love you all and I hope you are all doing amazing. Pray for my visa!!! I love you :)

Elder Ricks

***Taylor's new P-day is Monday while he's serving in the Salt Lake City South Mission.**

Week 12

Hey everyone! How is everything going? So I called like fifteen times yesterday and didn't get anything. I am glad Shayla finally picked up. Anyway...... Salt Lake City South it is. I leave Tuesday morning at 8:30.. I am so glad to finally be getting out in the field.. I still really want to go to Mexico, but Salt Lake will be great.. Elder Jessup left for Ogden this morning and Elders Griffiths and Smith are still going to wait here. Elder Robert D Hales came and talked to us this last tuesday and it was great.. That is the fifth apostle we have heard here I think.. It is great.. Everything is going great.. Same old same old which is a good thing.. Spanish is coming along great.. Mom, thank you for the package.. I really needed it.. How is your class going? I hope you have fun with Nia in Ceder.. Make sure she looks good and hard for a job because they are hard to find down there.. Thank you for the letter.. I love you.. Dad, How are you doing? That is awesome about your work.. Let me know how it goes.. Everything is going great here.. I will make sure to call as soon as they let me which should be when I get my visa.. They said I could be there for four days and I could be there for two months.. They have no idea.. I love you.. Hailey, how are you going? I sent some pictures for you.. they should be there soon.. I tried to call you yesterday.. I am sad you didn't answer.. ha ha I will call you for sure when I leave for Mexico.. I love you.. Nia, how are you doing.. I am excited for you to have your little orientation.. You are going to love it.. I hope you can find a job.. Thanks for the letter.. I will try to write you next week okay? I love you.. Shayla!! It was so good to talk to you on the phone.. You already sound so different.. I am excited for your tennis.. Good luck.. I love you.. Matthew, Hey little brother.. It was good to talk to you on the phone.. sorry I could only talk for like one minute.. You sound so big.. Are you going to be able to beat me up? I don't think so.. How is your summer going? I love you.. Sorry about this email, the computer I am using is kind of messed up.. I hope you can understand all of my scattered thoughts.. And I am sorry about my spelling and grammer.. haha spanish is messing with my english.. I sent some pictures, so they should be there soon.. I hope you like them.. I have no idea what my address is for Salt Lake, but I will let you know on my next p-day.. And since I am not going to be in the MTC anymore, you can email me on this from know on if you want.. I have a scripture for all of you.. I know that every once in a while you are going to have some hard times and things won't make sense, but if you remember this scripture it will help so much.. 1 nephi 11:17.. If we can remember that God loves you, everything else will just fall into place.. As long as we share His love and act like we are His children, nothing will be too hard.. Life is good right? I love It and I love all of you.. I will write again soon and call as soon as I can.. I love you.. And dad, did you ever get a new debit card from zions for me? we ordered it before I can in remember? anyway.... if you have it send it out, but not til I give you my new address.. okay? I love you

Hey, how are all of you doing? So Elder D Todd Christofferson came and talk to us this Tuedays. It was pretty amazing! He talked about a lot of stuff, but one things he said that I really liked was when he said, "It is easier for the Spirit to guide your steps if you are talking steps." Sometimes we just need to pray and start doing. If you just wait for the Spirit to tell you what to do before even trying, it is never going to work. Well, as you can see I still don't have my visa. There are a ton of missionaries that are going to Mexico that are still waiting. My whole district, except for one elder are still here. It isn't bad though. It is good to have some more time to study and be better prepared for the field.

That is so cool that Anson got home. I am a little scared to have to try to adjust back to normal life after this, but lucky for me I dan't have to worry about that for awhile. You should for sure tell Anson to write me. Maybe he is reading this write now. What's up Anson! How are you doing. Write me sometime.

Everything is going great here! Elder Jessup and I made a goal to never speak english. So, for the past two days I have spoken any. It is pretty hard sometimes, but I know it is good for us. I am starting to forget a lot of english words and I can't write in english without spelling a word of two wrong. I still have a ton to learn. Anyway...

Mom, How is your spanish class going? I expect to talk to you all in spanish when I call from the airport, so you better be ready. You probably already know more than me anyway. My watch is doing fine now, so don't worry about sending another one. I think it just needed a few days to warm up. I hope you are doing great. It sounds like you are. I love you!

Dad, How are you doing? So I hoping to be able to leave within the next two weeks, but I don't know. Two elders in our zone have been here for thirteen weeks now and they still don't have their visas. They are going to Mexico too. I hope for the best, but whatever happens is okay with me. I am just happy to be out here. I love you so much

Hailey, le he escrito una carta. Casi toda es en espanol. Yo espero que usted pueda entenderlo. Te amo

Nia, mom said you have a busy day today. Are you pumped to be done with school? Don't stay out too late tomorrow night! Tell everyone I day hi. Hope you are doing amazing. I love you

Shayla! What's up girl? How is the last week of school going? you better not be sluffing any classes. ha ha jk you should sluff a lot this week. Don't tell mom and dad I said that. I love you

Matthew! how is the motercycle? Are you still making enough money to pay it off. You better let me ride it when I get home. I love you hermano!!

I love you all! I hope you are all doing amazing. Christ lives!!

Week 9

Hey everyone! How are you doing? So like always not much has happened this week. I still don't have my visa, but we are all hoping for this week. Everything is going great. Sorry I didn't call monday. They gave us a call pass friday so I thought I would just use it. I should be able to call again once I get my visa though, so I will try to let you know. So we got new companions again because Elder Hauret left for Mexico, so now I am with Elder Jessup. It is great. We get along really well and we teach even better. We both have spanish down good so teaching is a lot of fun. hmm... well... I wish I had more to tell you. Oh ya, I got pretty sick just a couple days ago. It only lasted for like a day and a half so it wasn't that bad. I had a fever of 102.1 though. But the next morning it was gone. I still have a cough and I lost my voice, but I feel great now.

I am send you another letter for Cody. That last address you gave me didn't work. If you could get it to him and send me his address that would be great!

Thanks for the bag mom. That will work just fine. I just needed somthing to travel with so that is perfect. And about the watch, I love it, but I think the battery is bad. It stops like every couple hours and when it doesn't stop, it loses about two minutes every hour. I am going to send it home in a little bit with me ball shoes and other stuff I don't need, but if you could pick up another one that would be great. Sorry. I guess I just have bad luck with watches. How is your class going? next time I call I want to talk to you in spanish so you better be ready! I love you

Dad, I started Jesus The Christ this last week and it is for sure my new favorite book. I am only on like page 120, but it is great. Lo habia leido si? You have read it right? Anyway... I can't wait to talk to you here in the next couple weeks. I love you

Hailey!! How are you doing? There is a letter on it's way for you! I love you

Nia! I threw it on the ground!! ha ha I just thought about that the other day. When is your graduation? like this weekend? Wow, I am excited for you. Are you getting pumped for SUU? I love you

Shayla! Hey Girl!! There is a letter on it's way for you. I love you

Matthew!!!!! I miss you little bro. How is everything going? Are you still playing baseball or is your season over already? Have you started reading the Book of Mormon? You should start! I want to share some cool scriptures with you!

I love you

Week 8

Hey everyone!

So guess what... Jeffery R Holland came and talked to us this last Tuesday. It was great. He pretty much just yelled at us kind of like he did in conference this last time, but it was good. I think a lot of elders here need a good chastisment. I wish I could tell you everything he said, but It would take me too long. Anyway... everything is great. Spanish is coming along great. It is about to the point where I don't have to worry about it when I teach. I used to be so nervous about my spanish and now I can finally focus on teaching. It is great. I still have a ton to learn though. Since week two, our teachers haven't spoke one word of english to us. It was hard at first, but know it is so easy. It is like I always knew spanish. We hold whole conversations and we can talk about pretty much anything we want. just the other day one of my teachers started talking to me and before I even realized it we were having this ten minute conversation. It is great. I am already forgetting some english words.

Well, our VISAs are still not here. The lady who is in charge of all this at the Mexican consolate went on vacation for two weeks starting this last monday so ya... it might be a couple weeks or so. I am a little bummed, but I know it is for a reason. I don't know what reason that might be, but I know it is there. I guess it gives me a chance to learn a little more so I can teach better. Elder Griffiths is fine. It has been a week and two days and he is already jogging.

Elder Hauret was the only one to get his VISA, so he is leaving monday. That means there might be some more changes in our companionships.

I am so grateful for this priviledge I have to serve a mission. I have already learned more in eight weeks then I have my whole life about this Gospel. My favorite part of the day is for sure teaching. I love it and I learn something knew everytime. Just yesterday we taught this teacher and he said we did perfect and that is unusual to hear at the MTC. It is almost impossible to teach a good lesson because it is their job to correct you. Anyway, he said we did perfect and that our spanish we better the intermediate level missionaries.

Matthew! You got kicked out of school? ha ha that is so funny! Bad... but funny. You better let me ride your bike when I get home. Nice homerun. I love you bro!

Mom!! I forgot to wish you happy mother's day last week. :( I am sorry. You know that I love you so much and If it wasn't for you I wouldn't be here. Thank you so much for everything you did and do for me. You mean everything to me. I love you.

Nia! how are you doing? Are you pumped to graduate? How many more days do you have? Life is officially about to start for you. Remember God and Jesus and you have nothing to worry about. Life is great isn't it? I love you and miss you.

Shayla! How did you do in region? I am so excited for you and summer tennis. You are going to be amazing when I get back. You already are. I love you

Dad! How is life? How is work? what's the word on that deal? Thank you for everything. I love you

Hailey! All I have to say is I love you. I will write you next week I promise!!!!

I will probably get to call monday because they let us call if our flight plans change so ya.... they changed so I should be calling sometime next week. I love you all. I hope you know that. Jesus Christ Lives!!!

Week Seven

Hey everyone! How is life going? Everything here is going great. I am so ready to leave. I think I tell you that every week, but oh well. So guess what... I forget to tell you last week, but L. Tom Perry talked to us last tuesday. It was amazing. He didn't say anything I didn't already know or unveil some amazing doctrine or quote, but that is why I liked it. That is kind of how he has always been and it shows, like it says countless times in the scriptures, that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is simple or "plain". It is not God's intent to confuse people. This Gospel is for everyone and everyone needs to understand it.

Anyway... I got my flight plans. we fly from here to ATL Georgia to Mexico city on tuesday the 17th. I will let you know the exact times and when you can expect a call next week. I still don't have my VISA, but I am pretty sure I will get it this week. I will let you know for sure next week though.

I have seen Kenny, Ryan, and Jared. We are planning on getting a picture together this sunday, so I will for sure send you it. It is so crazy that we are all here the same time. Ryan takes of to San Deigo this Tuesday I think. He is so lucky!!!

Hailey! How are you doing? Thanks for the email. It sounds like you are pretty busy with work, but I am sure that is a good thing right? Tell Kraig I say hi and that he is taking my spot at Redfish this year. Aunt Lisa wrote me and asked if he was easy to make laugh and I told her ya. He is going to love aunt Lisa!! I love you

Nia, What is going on girl? Who are the new SBO's? Did you get my letter? I can't wait for you to start college and tell me all about it. You better keep me informed!! I hope you are going great. Always remember you can talk to me about anything. And more important, you can talk to God and Jesus!! Isn't it great to know that he will listen and love you know matter what? I love you

Shayla! You are probably at region right know, but GOOD LUCK! I know you will do great. You better let me know how you do and everything about tennis. And I have not gained twenty pounds. Only like 15. I am 190 now! Don't make fun :) I love you

Matthew! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Dad said you got a motercycle. That is so awesome. Great job at your game! Dad told me all about it. I can't wait to see you play when I get home. Are you ready for summer? You get the priesthood this sunday right? You are so lucky! I am proud of you. I love you.

Mom, that is so great that you are working with the Hispanics. hopefully you will be able to talk to me in spanish when I get home! So I do need a couple things. I can't bring a backpack with two straps to Mexico. Do you think you could send me a good bag that I can use that only has one strap? and... my watch broke. If you could send those things that would be great. I love you so much.

I love you all!!!!! I can't wait to talk to you in a couple weeks. I love you. The Gospel is true!

Elder Ricks