ELDER RICHARDSON: OCTOBER 20, 2013

WEEKLY LETTER FROM ELDER RICHARDSON

OCTOBER 20, 2013

It was an interesting week. I feel like because our P-Day was different, this whole week was kind of weird. We had some slow days on Thursday and Friday, but we still got as much done as we could.

The interesting thing about having a native companion is that people sometimes don't talk to me. People (on the street at least) will direct their conversations at him instead of me, even if I ask them a question! They also speak faster and not as clearly, so it gives me a chance to practice listening a lot more. The language is easier now. I definitely notice the difference from having an foreigner and a native companion. I'm really grateful for this opportunity to really improve my language!

This week I was trying to remember how to say "space out." I knew the word in Chinese, but it took me 2 or 3 minutes to come up with the English...

We had a really great lesson with our investigator Brother X this week. He is such a stand-up guy. He really wanted to get baptized next week, but we haven't finished teaching all of the lessons yet! He should be getting baptized the second week of November. We taught him about the Word of Wisdom and he committed to start obeying the commandment immediately! He has a smoking problem, but he thinks he can do it, and we are going to keep praying for him this week. We are really excited for him! He's the kind of investigator that was prepared long before we ever met him. He's also a testimony to me of the power of member referrals. His friend that is a member in another ward has come with him to church a couple of times and comes to the lessons when he can. Member referrals are definitely the most effective way for missionaries to find people to teach!

I got my birthday in a box two weeks ago with Elder Pratt when we were waiting for a zone meeting to start. So Elder Pratt decided to blow up all of the balloons right then. So there were balloons all over in the chapel and then we had to pop them all! Then I just rolled my eyes at my companion.

My companion really likes to sing, so he decided we should join the ward choir for a practice after general conference last week. And then it turned out that we were singing in stake conference, so we had to find some P-Day time to practice! It was really interesting singing a song in English with people who speak Chinese. It definitely sounded different. It was fun to be singing again, even if it was weird.

Some other interesting things that happened this week:

-We met with a less active who literally reads fingers for a living. He looked at my thumb and told me that I would have better success by emulating those around me. I don't know how he got that, but it was really interesting.

-There is an elementary school marching band that we hear every once in a while if we are riding to the chapel in the mornings. They sound about as good as my junior high band was. Maybe better.

-We have a favorite Vietnamese place that we go to for lunch sometimes. This week, my companion and I both tried the spicy soup, and it was a lot more spicy than I anticipated. It was a funny sight to see both my companion and I just sitting there with tears in our eyes because of how spicy it was.

-Familysearch in Chinese has over 10 million records dating back to 1239.

-I appreciated the Les Mis reference in conference. I think that's the third one so far.

-Remember the "Work of Salvation" video that showed the family all talking to their friends with the Tabernacle Choir singing "I'll go where you want me to go"? Well, Taiwan made their own. They used the same audio track and created a new video with scenes and people in Taiwan. It was pretty good!

I'm looking forward to a good week this next week! Thank you for all of your emails and support. It's a great strength to me to read your emails and encouragement!

加油！

Elder Richardson

田長老