JULY 31, 2018 - WEEK #22

YUCAIPA AGAIN!

July 31, 2018

Ok, so this week? Super Sweet. First off, transfers on Wednesday! And, Drum Roll Please!

(Drum_roll.mp3 stopped working)

Ok. Well... That didn't work. And there are no changes. I'm still in Yucaipa! Hooray! Yucaipa is fun! Elder Ford is still here, too. He's really excited about that, understandably. This does mean that he will be spending 25% of his mission in this Ward, which is pretty sweet! 

The other cool thing that happened in Transfers is that Sister Bastian, who was in my MTC District, is now in my district here in Yucaipa! I'm super excited for that!

Also, a super cool miracle happened this week! The 4th Ward Sisters had organized for a bunch of people from their ward to help this woman they were teaching move some stuff. However, all of those people had things come up, and they were beginning to scramble to find people! They talked to us, and we headed straight over to go help. But, according to missionary rules, Elders cannot be alone with women in a private setting (just to keep every one safe), and so we called Jacob, one of our members, to come and be the Male Present, because we knew that he'd be available. He can, and we helped this woman real quick. Now, while we were helping her, Jacob started talking to this woman's daughter, and they hit it right off! Apparently, the daughter was having some struggles of her own, and Jacob just told her about some of his experience, and then gave her his number in case she needed someone to talk to! It was super cool to see, because had all of those people not cancelled, we never would've been able to go and bring Jacob! 

A big testimony builder for me this week was focused on the Priesthood! We had a lesson with Marcus on Saturday, and we got to talk about the Priesthood, and how it is the Power and Authority to act in God's name. And how that same authority that Jesus gave to his Apostles has been restored on the Earth today! 

I got to see that in action a lot this week. I was feeling weird towards the beginning of the week, and my fellow Elders were able help me by giving a Priesthood Blessing. Wendy and her roommate, Sister Fawn had been having some trials recently, and we were able to give them Priesthood blessings on Sunday. And finally, we were able to help Jacob by giving him a blessing. I know that as I was receiving that blessing, I was feeling that help from my Loving Heavenly Father. And as I was giving one of those blessings, I was being given the words to say by the Spirit! And that Power is present on the earth! It's what allows our families to be together beyond this life, and into Eternity! 

I know that God lives and loves us! Thank you all for your support in my efforts to serve my Savior!

Love, 

Elder Richardson

P.S. By the way, someone asked me a question in an email, and I've been using some of my studies to try and put together an answer. It's been really fun! And so, if you have any questions, about Why we should study the Scriptures or why we need a Prophet today, I can try to study and get an answer for you, or at very least point you towards something to help you! Ok, I'm going now! Bye!

1 and 2) Here it is: the Dirty McCurdy Quad! Fear the beast! And that's it. Sorry. 

 

Benjamin Richardson

California Redlands Mission

Feb 28, 2018 - March 3, 2020

QUESTION/NOTE FROM MOM:

That hamburger is quite a one of a kind!  Wow!  Did you have to squish it down to get it in your mouth?

It has rained this afternoon --  which I LOVE!

Daniel is working to plan a group date and we just have 3 weeks until school starts.

Yuxing goes back to China in 2 weeks, Bethany leaves for BYU in 3 weeks and Alex leaves on his mission in 4 weeks.

Things will change around here.

I love you Benjamin!

Please remember that I pray for your daily and usually several times during the day.

I have heard that nothing is more powerful than a mother's prayer.  I hope you feel my prayers.

Love,

Mom

BEN'S REPLY:

Actually, the best way we found was to take off the top bun, and eat it with a fork until you get to the point where you can stick the bun back on and eat it normally. But we were so full afterwards!

I miss the rain! We've gotten it to sprinkle a little bit a few times, but it has been pathetically sad.

And I do feel your prayers! Thank you so much for sending them my way! I'm praying for all of you as well! Let me know if there's anyone that I can send a note to that would help them out. Like if Alex needs any mission advice, I can try my best! 

I love you so very much!

Elder Richardson

JULY 17, 2018 - WEEK #20

DELICIOUS!

July 17, 2018

Ok, so these last two weeks have been interesting. More specifically, they have tasted interestingly. Let me explain. 

So I used to be a picky eater. Like, REALLY picky. Like, I could list the things that I wanted to eat only using my fingers. I only ever ate bananas when I was in my early teens. 

So yeah, it was kind of bad. 

But, if you remember, we had a man a while back who gave us some deer and elk meat. Well, it took us a while, but we broke it out and finally cooked some ground deer meat. I had some tortilla chips, so I went ahead and made some Deer Nachos. They were pretty good, even though Elder Ford insisted that we didn't need to season  the meat. I've never eaten anything beyond the classic Beef, Pork, Chicken, and Turkey, so that was some insanity.

I've also never been a Seafood fan. Fish sticks were as fishy as I could handle. But when our dinner appointment cancelled, I had promised Elder Ford that we could go to a Sushi place called Tuna Time. I told him that I wanted to start off easy, maybe something cooked. Imagine our surprise when we end up with competely raw Salmon in our sushi! But it was very good!

And finally, Angus McCurdy's is maybe the most well known restaurant amongst the Redlands Missionaries, because it's super good and Missionaries get half off. However, very infamous amongst the same group is the Dirty McCurdy Quad. It is a MONSTER! It is the classic tomato, lettuce, cheese, and then 4 LAYERS of hamburger, Tri-Tip Steak, and bacon. It is insanely huge! I'll send a picture as soon as I can get it. Elder Baker, one of my roommates, and I both conquered the Quad today, and can now claim that badge of honor amongst the Redlands Missionaries! That is, for those who care. 

Speaking of food, we had an amazing dinner with the Adams Family (Doo doo dah doo! Doo doo Dah Doo! They get that a lot...) We shared a message about how as we feel the Spirit at church, we can have more of the Spirit with us throughout the week. We made a little sheet and invited them to find what things helped them to feel the Spirit at church and what things took away from it, and then to write those things down on the sheet. After the lesson, they kept telling us how much they loved it! And in church yesterday, they had it with them! They hadn't filled it out yet, but were going to sit down all together once they got home to fill it out. 

Also, we made a lot of new friends these past two weeks! Some of our members have introduced us to their friends, and then we've been meeting a lot of people on our own. One of those people we met was a man named Marcus! We knocked on his door, and he started talking with us. He has a faith in Jesus Christ, and a lot of questions. We invited him to read the Introduction of the Book of Mormon, and he said he would! He also told us that he had driven past us earlier, and he had hoped that we would pass his house before he got home, but that didn't happen!

Not only was that an awesome conversation, but he also called us just a few hours later to tell us that he'd already read the Introduction! He's been texting us regularly, with new questions for us to answer and help him with! And, he wants to take us out for Lunch! We're super excited for him!

John also came to our Ward for the first time, and it was super cool to see the Ward jump into action! A bunch of people got him to sit next to them, and took him around for each hour! Our Ward was so good, we barely got to talk with him until after church was over! We're so blessed to have such amazing people in our Ward! 

Welp, that's the week(s)! Lots of good food, and good people to share it with! 

Not very hungry, 

Elder Richardson

1 and 2) Here the sushi! The Philidelphia Roll and the Mango Tango! Super yummy!

3) BTW, California Laws require basically any food that has even the most remote connection to cancer to have a warning. And so, this is what you see when you want to try to buy cheese puffs in Aldi. 

Benjamin Richardson

California Redlands Mission

Feb 28, 2018 - March 3, 2020

JULY 10, 2018 - WEEK #19

WEAK THINGS BECOMING STRONG!

July 10, 2018

Ok, so on Sunday of last week, our District Leader calls, as per usual, to check up on us, and then probably ask us to do something for district meeting. Usually, if he does ask us to do something, it's to give a short scripture thought, or something relatively non-demanding. This time, he asked me to give a TRAINING! Like, to teach Missionaries who have been Missionary-ing longer than I have how to Missionary! I stressed out about that so much leading up to the District Meeting.

The Meeting was centered around Christ-like Attributes, and how to develop them (see Ch. 6 of Preach My Gospel). Because Jesus Christ was the Perfect teacher, we can become better teachers as we emulate how he taught and treated people. It made it easier to know that everyone had been assigned a training, but I was still nervous. 

My Training was about being Knowledgeable, like the Savior was in the Scriptures and otherwise, and I spent about two hours trying to prepare. And then a Sister, at the end of her training about Charity and Love, says something along the lines of "If you don't have Charity, then you are nothing, just like Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13. So, basically, it doesn't matter how knowledgeable you are if you don't have Charity."

And so my training was made Null and Void. I still gave it, and I think it was pretty good, but I just had thought nagging me in the back of my head, so...

We also met a man named John this week! He had met with missionaries for a bit beforehand, but they realized that he lived in our area, so we are teaching him now! We had planned a lesson about the Book of Mormon, and we're going to invite him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon to know if it was true. But when we got there, and started talking to him, he told us that he already believed in the Book of Mormon being the word of God. Elder Ford and I just kind of looked at each other, like, "Oh Snap. Let's do what we can...?", and then started teaching a completely different lesson! I guess it must have gone well, because we were able to invite the spirit into that lesson, and invited John to follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized. His answer was, "Oh yeah! I always try to follow the example of Jesus Christ!" He accepted, and will prepare to be baptized on August 4th! We are super excited for John and His faith in Jesus Christ that has brought him to make that decision!

At the end of the lesson, we invited John to say the closing prayer, and immediately, without even saying yes, he bowed his head and said an awesome prayer, which included: "Thank you God for waking us up this morning with two arms, two legs, ten fingers, and ten toes!" What an cool guy!

I thought that I'd share a realization that I had this week, and it's based on this scripture. Here, a Prophet has been concerned about his ability to write the things that we would need to know today, and this scripture is part of the response from the Lord. 

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

I've had to deal with a little bit of anxiety out here when having to, say, prepare a training or talk to a complete stranger. And, in most cases, I'd define that anxiety as a weakness. But I've seen this scripture come to life for me! When preparing for that District Meeting Training, I had that anxiety and adrenaline kick in just thinking about it. And so, I almost over prepared for it, making sure I would have enough to say. When I gave that training, I only covered half of the things that I had prepared! I knew that I wouldn't have been asked to prepare and give that training unless I was capable of doing that, and that God would have helped me to make up that difference! 

I know that as we do our best with Confidence in the Lord, that He can help us to overcome those weaknesses! I've seen it in myself, and in the wonderful examples around me! 

Late,

Elder Richardson 

P.S. Ok, so things have been a bit ridiculous. I'm going to try to catch up, and we'll see how that turns out!

1) One of the Members in our Ward makes these super sweet boxes with backlights. They are so cool! This fairy was my favorite! 

2) People keep being surprised when they hear that I'm from Arkansas and I don't have an accent or act like a redneck. I found a redneck habitat here in Yucaipa, so I guess that's how all of these Yucaipans know what I should be acting like. 

Benjamin Richardson

California Redlands Mission

Feb 28, 2018 - March 3, 2020

JULY 3, 2018 - WEEK #18

YUCAIPA-N CHARACTERS!

July 3, 2018

OK, we have some cool people here in Yucaipa. Like, really. And I have done them the grand injustice of not talking about them. And so, here we go.

LET'S MEET YUCAIPA!! ... Now that just sounds lame... Rats...

When I first arrived in Yucaipa, we were planning a Chapel tour for a woman. Brownie Points for anyone who can remember what her name was! (Though you wouldn't really want Brownie points, that currency has had issues ever since they stopped backing it up with actual brownies, so...) Her name is "Wendy Elise, like Mary Jo or Betty Lou. Wendy Elise." She says that every time someone asks her name at church. We've been meeting with her twice every week, along with her roommate, Sister Fawn, and she has also been coming to church every week! She always smiles whenever she's feeling the Spirit at church or in our lessons! One day, we walk into the cafeteria where we meet, and she has this plastic bag. "This is a present for you!" she says, and hands it to us. We open it and see that it is full of packages of mini chocolate cupcakes! 

We thanked her for her gift, and we didn't think about it again until the next morning. I was feeling hungry, because of course I was, so I thought I would eat some of these Muffins. I checked the expiration date, though, and they had expired in April! Needless to say, we didn't eat too many of them. I don't think she noticed, but we're still super appreciative!

We've met a couple times with Brenda, a newer member in the Ward, and each time we've gone to her home, we've seen her young grandsons running around! One of them, Jameson, joined us while we read in the Book of Mormon with Brenda. He tried his best to read with us, but he's still learning to read, so he just listened. After we said the closing prayer, I asked him if he would read the Book of Mormon I let him borrow (It's always good to carry an extra around!), and he smiled and said yes! I also gave him my email address (because he's moving) so he could tell me all about the things he read! And Brenda' s going to keep up with him, so I'll let you know when he writes me!

Someone else that I finally got to meet was Sarah! She is super cool! She lives in a house from the 1930's, and she has a ton of really old stuff! She has old cars and and a 1940's(?) Record player, and she wears Vintage 50's clothing EVERYWHERE. And she and her friends just go around town with their hair in 50's hairstyles and everything! She's so cool! She also has a strong belief in God, and is just searching for the truth! We can't wait to meet with her more!

We met 3 new people this week! We met Doug after we asked about helping him with his yard! He rejected us (sadly), but talked with him and met all of his kids (Doug call them all troublemakers, so we asked each of them if they were. They said yes. They also gave us fake names to demonstrate.) He talked about how he always enjoys listening to the Bible being read to him, and we invited him to download the Book of Mormon App and to listen to it. He said that he would, and that we could come back later! We're super excited for that!

We also met Rosie! We were trying the address of someone who was taught previously, and found her! She said that our person didn't live there, and so we asked if we could share a scripture with her! She really liked the scripture we shared, Helaman 5:12, and we gave her a physical copy Book of Mormon! We invited her to read it, and we asked if we could come back this Wednesday to ask how it went! She said that would be fine, and we only recently realized that it would be the evening of the Fourth of July, so we will see how that goes!

We were trying another address that evening, but we have come to the conclusion that it doesn't exist. We knocked on the door of the house we thought would be it, but it wasn't. However,  we did meet David! We talked with him for a bit, and then asked if we could share a scripture verse with him. We shared the same scripture with him, to which he said, "Woah, that makes sense to me!" And we invited him to download the Book of Mormon App as well, and gave him some scriptures to read. He gave us his number, and we're going to keep in contact! 

I love it whenever we get to share the Book of Mormon with people for the first time! I love seeing the Spirit in action as we share about the Savior and His teachings, how they recieve the confirmation of these truths! And then, as they continue to read, that same Spirit that fills their lives and helps them to build that faith in Jesus Christ! I want to share that joy with every one of these incredible people I get to meet!

Happily,

Elder Richardson

1) The best omelette I have ever had!

2) We knocked on the door of this one house, and for some reason, he had all of these rat statuettes scattered across his lawn. I don't get it... They're scary. 

3) So our car, which has a golden brown Hue to it, is called the Golden Gopher. Why gopher, I'm not sure. But we came across this truck as we were driving the other day, and we were, reasonably, frightened for our lives and the life of the Golden Gopher.

Benjamin Richardson

California Redlands Mission

Feb 28, 2018 - March 3, 2020

A COUPLE OF LETTERS FROM HOME:

FROM DAVID:

Hey Elder Ben

How is everything going there in the promise Land?  I hope you are working hard for the Lord.  I am so happy that you have followed my moto. This is it: you can't go a day without getting hurt.  Any way how's that wrist?  Whenmom told me that you broke your wrist I asked if you broke it dancing on your bike.  Oh I almost forgot I made the cross country team.  Good luck and stay happy.

Distruction artist David

Hi Ben,
I’ve been reading lots of books.  I’ve been reading some new series since you left. I’ve been swimming a lot. I’ve been creating some new original Pokemon in my drawing journal that I have.
I’ve been practicing baseball a lot, especially pitching.
I miss you Ben.  Please write me back!
Love, Mason