SISTER MELISSA
RICHARDSON LETTER #4
AUGUST 5, 2013
Hello everyone! I am
doing even better than last week believe it or not. This is just going to
be like an explosion of thoughts onto the page, in no organized order or
sequence. Time to email is short and I'm so sorry for people I am not
able to write back! I"m trying my best!! Here are some memorable
moments/things I learned/observations from the week.
--My favorite quote
this week is from Preach My Gospel: "Your confidence and faith should be
in Christ, not in yourself. Rely on the Spirit rather than your own talents and
abilities." This quote changed my life and approach to missionary
work. I have felt so much more peace since I've applied it. I am
learning more about how the Spirit speaks to me and pray for the courage to act
on those promptings. I have learned this week that HE is in charge of
this work not me! I know that he cares about each one of us and has a
plan and purpose for us. I have had several experiences over the last
week where "coincidences" have occurred where we have been in the
right place at the right time and people were able to receive blessings or
someone told us they really needed us in that moment. This work is all in
God's hands! I feel privileged to be an instrument here on Earth and be His
representative here on Earth.
--It's sooo sweaty
here. So humid. And sticky. A lot worse than Arkansas...someone should
look up if it's more humid here or in Taiwan where Elder Richardson is...I'm
curious.
--We definitely can
see the work of Satan trying to stop us from teaching the gospel. I'd
heard return missionaries talk about how as soon as you start teaching the
restoration, distractions come. We were at a members home and were
teaching their friend that happened to be there about the restoratoin.
The member goes to the dvd cabinet to find the restoration dvd. She opens
the cabinet door, and the glass in the door completely shatters...we all had no
idea how that happened because nothing bumped it. We will teach people no
matter what obstacles there are! God will win over Satan in the end
anyway!
--There is an
investigator here who is a single mother who is black. She has 7 kids who
are all adorable, especially the little ones. They live in a hotel.
Allll those kids in a hotel room!! It has two double beds, but still.
They LIVE there. Wow! We are going to do FHE with her and her kids
tonight, hopefully it goes well!
--Our investigator
that is going to get baptized sometime this month (hopefully) has been having
trouble getting to church because she works on Sunday. She works as a
cleaning lady at a motel. That is really the only thing holding her back
from baptism because they need to come at least 2 times before they can be
baptized. Sister Hutchins and I have been praying to know how we can help
her. We went to visit her the next day and she told us she had quit her
job because the management was being dishonest and unfair and she couldn't
stand it anymore. She no longer has a job which is really stressful! I
have never been in a position in my life where I legitimately feared for my
life and the welfare of otHers (her children) because I didn't have a job! Wow,
I am so blessed. But anyways, that was our miracle because now she can
come to church and she can't wait!! God works in mysterious ways for sure!
--One of our
investigator that is so close to baptism recently got promoted to chief petty
officer in the navy. He told us that he can't see us for the next 6 weeks
because he will be too busy with training. That pretty much broke our
hearts. But we are trusting that God has not forgotten about him and that
things will work out.
--Here on missions,
we expect miracles! And they happen! I love it! We went to a
cul-de-sac and saw that there were 4 houses, and 3 of them had white
SUVs. That stood out to us as being a bit bizarre. So we came back
another day and knocked on all the houses in the cul-de-sac. All three
houses with the white SUVs are interested in learning more and have teaching
appointments. Cool!
--Last P-day, besides
going to Chick-fil-a, we went to this Georgia souvenir store. We had some
delicious peach cider, some Pecans Pralines (in a southern accent here you say
it Pee-Can Pray-leans). Them pecans were good. I also bought a
Georgia cookbook...there are so many delicious sounding things in there.
And there is a recipe for fried squirrel...ha ya pretty sure I'll never be
making that.
--I've learned even
more this week that life is hard. There are people here that I just want
to cry for and cry with because their lives have been so hard. Or kids
that have been abused or molested at just the young age of 3. My list
could go on and on about the sad stories people have. But it's so great
that we can put our burdens on the Lord! That's what we love teaching people!
He will take them away and make us light again!! Oh man the church is
true.
--Look up D&C
84:85 as well as D&C 11:21...you can on lds.org under scriptures if
you don't have a Doctrine and Covenants book. They are so great! It's so
important for us to be converted first before we go out and teach people.
That's why we study for 3 hours every morning!!! I love it! I'll never run out
of things to study and I thought before my mission that maybe I would.
Always room to improve and become a better teacher and disciple of Christ.
--The Elders that are
also in Kingsland (right next to St. Marys) are facebook missionaries and they
have found a deaf person and a family from Haiti that speaks French for us to
go teach! I CAN'T WAIT!!! I hope that I am called to be a facebook missionary
sometime! Usually it's after you've been out about 6 months. But I've
seen other missionaries doing missionary work on there and it just seems so
effective! I would make an account for me as a missionary and deactivate my
other account. But I can be friends with family/friends from back home, I
just can't talk to you. But you would be able to comment/post things that
have to do with the gospel. Our mission is a pilot mission for the new
technology changes, so we should be all digital before the end of the
year.
--Oh my goodness, I
feel like every family here has a child with either autism or bipolar or adhd
or mental retardation. Wow I can offer so much understanding in that area
because that's the population I love working with and I have studied! So cool
how I'm meant to be here!
--People here are so
kind. Especially the members. There is one lady that is ward
missionary who always comes out with us to teach. She is a 4'10"
lady from Guam who is the only member in her family. She has the
strongest testimony and the strongest faith of anyone I've ever met which is
saying a lot because I've met a lot of great people in my life. She made
us a huge Filipino meal (her husband is from there) the other night and it was
so good! Look up lumpia...it's one of the things she made for us. A ward
member today is taking us sisters and the elders to wal-mart to buy all our
groceries for the week. There is a 17 year old girl that is a convert
that just did baptisms for her late grandma and great grandma. So many
inspiring people here! The list goes on!
--We had exchanges
this week and so I was with one of the sister training leaders for 24 hours and
I learned so much about how I can improve as a missionary! Sister Hutchins and
I have set a lot of goals for the upcoming week so that we can be more
effective and more obedient.
--It was my 21st
birthday yesterday! It was a great day full of missionary work and
fellowship! I had to keep reminding myself it was my birthday.
Sister Hutchins and I are pretending that today is my birthday though and we
are going out to eat at the local infamous barbeque restaurant, and then we are
going to go the pier/water edge and write letters. I am also buying
myself some $5 french cheese at wal-mart for my birthday present to
me...haha. I can always use an excuse to buy some brie cheese!
--Sister Hutchins are
becoming more unified. It's so cool when we are thinking the smae things
because we are both listening to the spirit. That happens like all the
time. We also say the same things at the same time a lot....haha
So much more to tell,
but no more time! Those are the things that stood out to me to say,
so I guess that's what's most important! Go read the book the power of
being an everyday missionary. It will change your life and your
perspective on member missionary work. Go give your missionaries
referrals!! :)
Here's
my address:
11919
Colerain Rd Apt. 1028
St
Marys, GA
31558
31558
I love you all! I hate taking off my missionary tag at night and feel weird signing my first name on credit card receipts so I think that's a good sign of missionary conversion :)
Sister Richardson
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