WEEKLY LETTER FROM SISTER RICHARDSON
OCTOBER 15, 2013
Transfer
week! Sister Spendlove and I will be here in St. Mary's for another
transfer! That's what I was expecting/hoping for. Not ready to leave
these dear people yet. No missionary day is the same! We always have
lots of adventures and miracles.
-A less-active lady we have been working with came to our
gospel study class on Wednesday! She has been so nervous to come back.
When we pulled up to the church we saw her walking back to her car, but
we ran up to her and walked in with her and she was able to make it but
she was so so nervous. But she made it through, miracle :)
-I will be doing a training/lesson on stress management on the
mission at our next Zone conference! Thank goodness for that job at the
BYU counseling center that had me teaching stress management every day!
-So. I got pulled over by the police. And earlier that day I'd
been bragging to the Elders about how I'd never been pulled over
before. Prideful me. The police was sitting in one of those sneaky
spots where the speed limit just barely decreased and you are going down
a hill and can't see them. I was going 45 in a 30 mph zone. Luckily
we didn't get a ticket. Woops.
-The gospel has the answer to every question. But I don't.
People have asked us for help in marriage troubles, mourning the death
of a child, spousal abuse...hard things. Sometimes I think they forget
we are only 20 year old girls with no life experience. But thank
goodness Christ has the answers and the Spirit is the real comforter.
-Went to a birthday party for our investigator's son!! It was
so fun. We made the cake! Our investigator loves us to pray so we
prayed 3 different times at that party. At the beginning, before the
cake, and at the end. Never prayed so much at a birthday party but it
was great!
-We taught the Restoration this week using plastic cups! We
"built" the church (a cup pyramid) as Christ built it with the
foundation principles and the twelve apostles and Christ as the head.
Then the apostasy (tower falls) and lots of churches made (took some of
the principles) and made several little pyramids. And then the
Restoration happened! The big pyramid is made again with all of the
principles, all of the current 12 apostles, the prophet, and then Christ
still at the head (top of the tower). Great for teaching kids!
-We have been going to the chriopractor this week to try and
get some help with my migraines. I think it is helping. At least it's a
work in progress. I went in by myself and S. Spendlove stayed in the
waiting room. But I felt sooooooo weird. So I went and got her and
made her stay with me in the room. Met this adorable Southern woman in
the waiting room. She told me how to make the "most delicious" dump
cake.
-Preach My Gospel says that you truly understand a principle
when you can teach it simply. That is something I have been working on!
Better understanding and internalizing the gospel principles so that I
can explain them simply! This week I figured out a simple way to explain
the Atonement with the concepts of justice, mercy, grace, and agency
using a little web diagram. It made me happy :)
-We were contacting referrals one day. And I've been trying
to internalize the concept in Mosiah 28:3. So I have been working hard
to not give up on people so easily. This lady at her trailor told us
she wasn't interested. But then I asked if we could pray with her. She
accepted and we did. She felt the peace of the spirit and asked us to
come back and she committed to reading the Book of Mormon. Miracle! :)
-One of our investigators told us about her friend that is in the KKK. She saw the robe, the flag, video footage. Hmmm.
-We
had an adventure yesterday and harvested sweet potatoes! They were in a
member's garden and there were SO MANY!! And they were huge!! It was
fun to kneel and dig in the dirt. I felt like the boy in the book
Angela's Ashes during the potato famine when they dug in the dirt trying
to find the potatoes that hadn't yet been harvested. Still trying to
get the dirt out of my fingernails. We gave a whole bucket of sweet
potatoes to our friend who is going to make some sweet potato pie and
share it with us. Got lots of fire ant bites. My hands are all
swollen, couldn't put on my ring this morning.
-I was studying in PMG about the power and authority of being a
missionary. One way we use that power/authority is by praying for
people. We definitely receive revelation in praying for people and
knowing what we should say to comfort them. I was praying for this one
lady the other day with her, and I got the prompting to help her not to
feel so lonely...my rational brain told my spiritual brain that that was
awkward...but the prompting came again and so I said it in the prayer.
Afterwards she thanked me specifically for that. Said she felt loved
that she hadn't even talked to us about being lonely but it was
something she needed help with. Miracle :)
-Had the BEST lesson of the week with an investigator that we
haven't been able to teach for about a month because she's been busy.
But she asked so many great questions! It is like a thanksgiving feast
when someone asks you how can I stregthen my family or how come there
are so many different churches? She has such righteous desires and is
so prepared to hear and accept the message of the restoration of the
gospel of Jesus Christ. We have been praying to have more progressing
investigators and she was an answer to our prayers.
-God is aware of EVERYONE! We have been trying to find this
one girl and we only knew the area where she lived...but not her
apartment number. BUT! We were driving somewhere last night and there
she was walking her dog down the road! She said she had never took her
dog on a walk out there ever before. But we were able to talk to her
and find out where she lived so that we can teach and serve her.
-Yesterday we almost got in a car crash...I won't tell you the
details so you won't be scared. But let's just say that God is
watching out for us. And miracles happen.
-Had the
experience again of a house jumping out to me last night that we needed
to go to. We ended up getting a new investigator! The lady there was
baptized into the RLDS church but did it out of family expectation. She
really wants to bring her family to church and was accepting of the
Book of Mormon and the Restoration. She is a prepared person! God
prepares the hearts of the people and then we are to go and find them
and teach them! Love it!
-Missionary work is really the best. Basically it is going
and finding sad/lost/confused people. Bringing them happiness and
hope. With a message that never fails. Happy happy happy :)
-They
say you are serving your mission where you are for specific reasons and
specific people. I have been overwhelmed by the truthfulness of this!
So many of the people we are working with have a child with autism!
There have also been several people in the ward we have served/talked to
who are suicidal. Two mental illnesses that I am so passionate about
working with!
Guess what, life is grand because we have the fulness of the gospel :)
Sister Richardson
Our district
Birthday party! He turned 5 and this is the cake we made him!
Birthday party!
Melissa and Cami...S. Spendlove and I :) Cute little 4 yr old boy
at a member's home drew this for us when we came for dinner :)
Harvesting sweet potatoes! So so so so many. This is just a fraction of our finds. It was like a treasure hunt!
This kind of shows you the size of them...compare them to the size of the leaves there on the ground.
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