OCTOBER 30, 2018 - WEEK #35

HAPPY HALLOWEEN-ISH AND FUN PEOPLE

October 30, 2018

Ok, so as a Missionary, we have certain standards of dress, right? For Elders, or guy Missionaries, we mostly wear white shirts and ties, and that's basically it. Sister Missionaries usually wear blouses and skirts or dresses. Of course, we wear different clothes for Service or for sporting activities, but mostly we dress like that. 

Now, when it comes to Halloween (Or Halloween Parties, because we aren't really able to go around during Halloween), there's not too much you can do, unfortunately, because you have to maintain that standard of dress. The Sisters have much more room to work with, but Elders can't do too much with the require White shirts and ties. So we're with the Spanish Elders, just wracking our brains trying to come up with something, and then somebody said, "What about a Mariachi Band?"

And so that's why I have a picture attached of the 5 of us Elders wearing fake mustaches and Sombreros.

Also, another picture of the Spanish Sisters (Hermanas), who dressed up as Elders, but then forgot that they didn't have ties.

We have an upstairs neighbor to our apartment, and she is super nice! Her name is Janet, and not only does she let us use her wifi, but she also just always want's to serve us! She stopped us this morning as we were heading out to go grocery shopping and she told us that she was going to go to Costco and buy us food there, because we had mentioned that we could help her out with moving some stuff. She told us before that she would bring us Thanksgiving dinner, too!

We met another new friend, and she wants to learn about the Gospel! Tandy requested a Bible online, and asked for a Book of Mormon as well. She's been through some hard things recently, and she knows that the way to get through it is to get closer to God. We promised her that reading the Scriptures would help her do that, because we knew from our own experiences. She was super excited to meet again and to come to church, and she almost came to church yesterday, but woke up late, unfortunately. She should be coming next week, though!

By the way, we have some awesome members taking care of us. Brother Stevens is this older Gentleman, and he loves doing anything and everything with the missionaries! He comes to a ton of lessons, and even took us out for ice cream after a lesson this last week! We also asked a member if she could get us some Milk, because Elder Mills forgot to buy enough on P-Day, and she gives us a ton of milk, and then buys us cereal and some Apples, too!

I had to give a talk in church yesterday. It was so scary! I was supposed to talk for 15 minutes, and I didn't know how to know if I prepared enough or not! I did alright, though. This one man came up to me after the meeting and gave me some constructive criticism, and another man asked if I was Italian because I kept trying to talk with my hands! It was so fun!

Something that I really realized this week is that I just LOVE sharing my testimony! I love sharing scriptures with people, and teaching them about principles of the Gospel, but I love even more testifying to them that those things are true, and can have a real impact in their lives! And I think it's mostly because that is a sure way that we can invite the Holy Ghost into a conversation, is by genuinely sharing what we have learned to be true, and then letting that Spirit confirm to both you and the person you are speaking to the truth of your words. It doesn't have to be complicated, or eloquent, or even very long, but it has to be genuine. It has to be from your heart! And then you can feel the Spirit enter into the conversation! It's truly wonderful!

I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that, through faith in Him, we can grow and change in this life so that we may be able to live with our Father in Heaven after this life! And I share these things with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Elder Richardson

1) Here it is. The Mariachi Band!

2) Here's the Hermanas as well.

3) Also, here is Elder Avila. We're 3rd Cousins, and we're serving in the same mission, and so we got a picture! Hooray! And it is through Charles' line, for those who were curious. Which is, like, maybe 2/60 people.

4) I managed to get a picture with Elder Tripp! 

Benjamin Richardson

California Redlands Mission

Feb 28, 2018 - March 3, 2020

OCTOBER 23, 2018 - WEEK #34

PALM SPRINGS!

October 23, 2018

Palm Springs! Here we are! It is definitely desert-like! Seriously, it is HOT! I stood outside for a minute, and I felt like I was melting!

Anyways, I got to meet my new companion, Elder Mills! Elder Mills is from Cottage Grove, Minnesota, which is close-ish to St. Paul. He love sports, and is a pretty chill guy overall. He's also my District Leader, which is pretty cool. In fact, most of my District (and Zone, for that matter,) is super cool! Elder Martinez, a Spanish-speaking Missionary who came out with me, is in my district, and it's been a lot of fun to see him again!

On top of that, we had a Zone meeting with our Stake President, because of some new changes regarding dinners with members in our wards, and I saw my MTC Companion Elder Tripp there! I was so excited to see him again! He's doing well, and I loved seeing how much he's grown as a Missionary since we last met. It was a testimony builder to me of how the Lord blesses and is working with those that we aren't able talk to and in ways that we might not know.

Ok, so with a new area, that means new people. And I have made the grievious mistake in each of my last areas not talking about my brand new friends I've been able to make. So here are my Palm Springs friends!

- LOURNA!!! Ok, literally the SWEETEST lady I have ever met, and she actually got baptized this Saturday! She is always smiling, and you just know that she is so excited about the Gospel! She is from the Philippines, and her English is not the best, so there is a little bit of a barrier there (when teaching her, Elder Mills and his companion would Skype in a missionary in St. George, Utah who spoke fluent Tagalog to help explain somethings). On Sunday, Lourna was trying to explain the Spirit that she felt after her Baptism and Confirmation, and it was the sweetest thing! 

- We had one of our final dinner appointments with a member family, and there I met Heather. Heather is 6 years old, loves Ariel and other mermaids, and does ballet. She proceeded to tell me all of these things, along with many others, over the course of the hour or so we were in this home. She speaks very quickly, and before she finishes one thought she's already wanting to go onto the next! I could tell that Elder Mills found her a bit whelming, so I talked to Heather while he talked with and got to know the rest of her family. It was so much fun keeping up with this rapid firing crazy fun child!

- PATTY! Or Pari, we are not sure. Most of our records say Pari, but she says Patty, so I'm going with Patty. Patty has talked with Missionaries for years, but hadn't been able to talk with them for a bit because of her previous boyfriend. She said that, with God's help, she broke up with him, so now we get to go and be friends with her! Patty is super cool because she's Persian (or Iranian? She Speaks Farsi(?)), and so whenever she says words with "W's," she pronounces it with a "V." So when we were trying to set up a time to come back, she would say "No, Vednesday is not good." She also offered us Persian food sometime, and I can't wait!

- The Cooley's are a less active family, but they still have their testimonies! A lot of trials in their lives make it hard for them to bring their family to church, but they loved visiting with us when we went over! They are super open to us coming and have lots of really good questions. In fact, Brother Cooley shared right then that he was really wanting to reach out to his sister and get her to come to church as well, and it's awesome to see his desire for everyone else to enjoy the blessings he's receIved from the Gospel!

Well, those are a few of my friends. Yeah, they're pretty cool! I'm really excited to be able to work with them all for the next little bit!

I just want to close this email by sharing an experience I had. We were in a member family's home, and, because I was the new missionary in the area, they were asking me some questions after dinner, and I was sitting there answering their questions, sharing some of my experiences that led me to come out on a mission. And as I was sharing these times when I felt the Spirit prompting me to do things, and as I remembered those critical moments in my life, my testimony, or my confidence in the truth that is God and all religion, grew stronger and  more sure of those reasons that I am out here! 

I want to invite you to recall some of your personal experiences that have brought you to be the wonderful person that you are today. Whether they were in a church or out in a sports field, in your home or driving in your car; Remember those things. Share one of those experiences with someone, or just tell it to yourself in your journal or a note on your phone. As we recall those experiences, we can draw strength and conviction in those things that will help us through hard things. I know this is true, because it's something that I've been  able to do to help me through hard days, and so it will do the same for you!

Love,

Elder Richardson

Benjamin Richardson

California Redlands Mission

Feb 28, 2018 - March 3, 2020

FROM BENJAMIN:

Soooo... I kind of lost my glasses. I don't know where for sure, but I looked everywhere I could before transfers and couldn't find them. I told the missionaries staying behind to keep an eye out, but I don't know that I'll be able to find them. I don't know what that process could look like, if a prescription could be mailed or if we would need something redone here, but I would need to call the mission nurse before too much of anything happens.

So what can we do? I've been doing alright so far, but I would need glasses again if I would ever need to drive (which is likely in, like, 5 weeks?).

Sorry I lost them! If you could let me know what I can do, that would be awesome!

Love you!

Elder Richardson

OCTOBER 2-16, 2018 - WEEKS #32/33

"ARE YOU A MORMON 

(member of the Church of Jesus Christ  of Latter-day Saints)

OR ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN?"

October 16, 2018

Wow! What a General Conference two weeks ago! It was so good, I wasn't able to write about it last week! Seriously, though, we've been way busy. It's been awesome, but exhausting to try and get everything done in the time we have.

I loved getting to hear the Prophet speak! In case you didn't know, President Nelson spoke about how we need to use the full name of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, because that is the name that Jesus Christ Himself gave for His church to be called. When nicknames are used, such as the "Mormon Church" or the "Latter-Day Saint church," we are cutting out the name of Jesus Christ, who is at the center of our faith! 

I can attest to the number of people who still believe that we worship Mormon or Joseph Smith because of these nicknames when, in actuality, we teach that there is no other name given under heaven save it be Jesus Christ whereby man can be saved. (2 Nephi 25:20) 

We actually had an experience on exchanges this last friday, where we were biking around and this woman called out to us. We started talking with her, and we told her that we were missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was super excited to be talking with fellow Christians, and we set a return appointment. After we handed her a pamphlet and she started flipping through it, she saw something about the Book of Mormon and was like, "Hold up! I thought you believed in Jesus Christ! So are you Mormon, or are you Christian?" We explained again that we were missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and that we believed in Jesus Christ. Because of us using the full name right off the bat, she knew who we were: disciples of Jesus Christ. And so she opened her heart to the Spirit that was brought when we shared scriptures and prayed with her. 

She (Colleen), told us that we could come back and share a message, but that she would read the pamphet we gave her and she would have her questions. I'm so excited for those missionaries to go back!

Unfortunately, Transfers are upon us. I have been in Yucaipa for 4.5 months, longer than anywhere else in my mission, and it has been so much fun here! I love the ward, and I love the people I've gotten to know! But the Lord knows that I'm needed somewhere else, and that somewhere else is called Palm Springs. From what little I've heard, my hopes of snow this winter are completely dashed... And so, it's time to go to the Desert! Oh boy! I'm going to melt!

That's it for now, otherwise we'd need to catch up on several weeks worth... Until next time, when we'll meet my new companion!

Lots of Love,

Elder Richardson

1) Lots of pictures! This first one is from the night of those exchanges. This is my Zone Leader! We were just finishing up dinner.

2) Elder Equatore, on a hike, portraying himself.

3) WE FOUND A COW! IN THE CABAZON! IT WAS COOL!

4) Zone Picture! I'm gonna miss them. But that's OK! I'll see them again eventually! 

5) Elder Equatore joins the Quad Squad. It was sweet!

6) I drew a frog. Yep. That's it.

7) Further proof that I am, indeed, living. And still have two thumbs. And both my elbows. Yep.

OCTOBER 2, 2018 - WEEK #31

HIGH ON A MOUNTAIN TOP ...

October 2, 2018

These weeks are just FLYING by! It has been a month since Elder Ford left, and 4 months since I got to Yucaipa, and some amount of time, that I am not trying to count, since coming out on my mission. AAAHHHH!!!!

So, for this email, I think that I will do one of those Bullet point-y ones full of random short thoughts. So here we go.

- Today, we went on a hike! We walked around these gardens, and then there was this trail that led to a 2 mile "Steep and Strenuous" hike. We all kind of like, "Eh, that's not too much! How bad could it be?" We come to find out that it is basically a straight uphill route! We were all dying by the end, but we took some great pictures of Yucaipa and the surrounding landscape, mountains included!
- I can't remember if I mentioned this before, but we were helping out our Zone Leaders with some service, which consisted of loading up most of a house into a moving truck (Missionaries are not certified movers, but they are often called upon to transport counches and like heavy furniture). Any ways, we help out this family, and the husband comes up to us and asks what T-shirt sizes we wore, because he wanted to give us a couple that he knew he wasn't going to wear ever again. After we tell him, he goes to his closet, and then proceeds to stuff half of his closet in a giant black garbage bag! So six of us missionaries got updated wardrobes of exercise and casual clothes! It was pretty cool!
- We had 4 lessons back to back on Saturday! We met with Richee, and then our Bishop was able to make it out to a lesson with Marcus! We've been working on that for months! Our Bishop later told us that he really enjoyed coming with us, which basically meant that he wants to work a lot more with us. WHICH IS AWESOME!
- The other two lessons were with Janet, and then a dinner. Janet came out for our lesson, and just whipped out a Children's Book of Mormon (You know, a simplified book telling the same stories with pictures included. It's sweet!) and tells us that missionaries in the past had given it to her so that she could read the Book of Mormon a little more easily. This is super awesome, because that was literally the exact same thought that I had had a couple of times, but we didn't have one on hand! Miracles!
- Elder Equatore is probably the most fun-loving companion I've had yet! He is just utterly ridiculous! Sometimes, we're not as good of a combination, because we will both get distracted and zone out at the same time, and then we're just sitting in silence for a few minutes. But other times, we can be a dynamic duo! We are both trying to do our best to serve Jesus Christ during our missions, and that is the best things that you can match up with any companion on!
- By the way, Elder Equatore's name is always a point of interest for people we talk to! First, they aren't sure how to pronounce it, so we always tell them "It's like Equador, but with a T!" And then he talks about how his name came from Italy, starting with His Great Grandfather, and BOOM! We're talking with someone about Family History!

I am so Excited for General Conference! If you don't remember, this is when the Prophet and the Apostles speak to the world over a broadcast! Everyone is invited to watch and listen to the voice of them as they help point the way to Jesus Christ! I can't wait to learn this weekend! I also would invite you all to tune in at gc.lds.org! It's going to be a great spiritual experience, I know!

That's it for right now! One final request for today, if that's alright. We have been working hard to find new people to teach, but have been struggling a little bit as of late. I know that there are people here who are ready to learn more about Jesus Christ, and I just wanted to ask for your prayers as we keep searching and praying over here to find our brothers and sisters!

Thank you so much!
Elder Richardson

1) Elder Equatore and I atop this mountain.

2) The Elders that I live with now-a-days.

3) The view!

Benjamin Richardson

California Redlands Mission

Feb 28, 2018 - March 3, 2020