Monday, April 9, 2018

APRIL 10, 2018 - WEEK #6 - FONTANA, CA

FONTANA FOCUSED; THE ULIMATE UPDATE
ALLITERATION IS AWESOME

So, Fontana, right? I've been here three weeks. I've had lots of spiritual experiences, I've grown a lot, and I feel like a completely different person than the one who flew out of Arkansas. Within reason, of course. Fish still terrify me on the inside, I still have that thing about Prime Numbers (don't ask), and I still get my sports-games mixed up. But at the same time, I think all of these experiences have helped me to grow and change in different ways, and that excites me! Because I have 23 months left to grow even more!

But who wants to hear about that??? BOOOOO! Save that for later! Talk about funny things! 

Ok, so Fontana is really cool, but we're in an area with a lot of humble people. Which means sketchy looking Ice Cream trucks! They're just these big white vans, and they have the stickers with all the ice creams they have. You know, like normal ice cream trucks. But the best part is that they have written in big red letter on the front, "CAUTION CHILDREN!" We discovered that that probably was supposed to read "CAUTION: CHILDREN CROSSING," but the one in our neck of the woods is just "CAUTION CHILDREN," which I find hilarious! I'll try to get a picture of it this week!

One of the rules as Missionaries is that we can't leave our geographical mission area unless we have permission from the Mission President. Normally, you don't have to worry too much about this, because you're in the middle of the Mission. Fontana, however, is the western border of the Mission. So we actually bike by the Mission boundaries basically everyday. It cuts right down the middle of the street next to a big neighborhood in our area. And guess what this streets name is! It's East street. Our Western border is East street. Yep. 

The other thing that happened this week is about food! So Elder Ogden introduced me to Mac and Chili! Basically, you make Mac and Cheese, and dump a can of chili in at the end, mix it in, and it's delicious! Also, some boxes of Mac and Cheese here are only 39 cents! So between those and the purchasing of cereal, I needed a lot of milk. The only issue is, I didn't buy milk last week. So I went into MacGyver-in-the-kitchen mode for a bit this week. Dumped a bunch of olives in with spare chili. That was fun. Kind of strange, but fun!

Also, Easter was last week. And do you know what happens during Easter? People buy candy! And people also give candy to the missionaries! But I'm trying to eat healthy-ish for this Health challenge here in the mission, and one of the goals is to not eat sugary treats. So my solution has been to just eat as much of it as I can. But do you know what happens when I finish that candy? Somebody else gives us/sends us candy the very next day! Without fail, every time! I'm fully suspecting that somehow I'll end up with more jelly beans or something by the end of the day today...

Speaking of that health challenge, one of the requirements is to eat 4 servings of fruit each day. So I have a line of Cutie Oranges sitting here that I'm just trying to eat through. So if you ever were wondering what's going on while I'm writing these letters, there you go!

This week, we got to do a lot of service! We got to go to Al's again (the man with the cars and vans riddling his yard. It looks a lot better now, actually! Also, we think that he might be interested in actually hearing a message from us soon!), as well as serve the Knuth's (Sister Knuth called me a Noob. And they have the adorable dog). We also got to go with Brother Braby (Our Ward Mission Leader, which means he helps coordinate the missionary efforts of the members in the Ward) and move 2 fridges. Like, we lifted one into a car, and then lifted it out of the car, and then pushed a second one out of a house and moved the first one in. We also do couches and pianos. 

I keep getting questions about how I'm getting along with my companion, Elder Ogden. The fact is, we don't hate each other. Which is great! Sometimes you get put with people you struggle to be friends with, but Elder Ogden and I get along great! He's really fun, and very patient with me! He's a great teacher, too! He uses his experience to do what we need to, and to remind me of mission rules, but he constantly asks me what I think. Such humility! And the other day, he gave me the best compliment: "You know, Elder Richardson? Sometimes I don't worry about you." Isn't he the best?

We also had Zone Conference this week! So, for review, I am serving in an Area, and we, along with a few other companionships, are in a District. Multiple Districts form a Zone, and those Zones form the Mission. So we and a few other Zones went to the Mission Office to receive some training from the Mission President, and that's called Zone Conference. And it was really great! I enjoyed it! We got to talk about something that I think was a huge point in General Conference, and that's how we can receive personal revelation from God. We can ask our questions and receive answers from Him through the Holy Ghost. 

I believe I've touched on this topic before, but it is so vitally important to not only living through our lives, but also in doing missionary work! Last night, we had had dinner with a family in our ward, and we're coming up on 9 o'clock, which is our curfew time. But we had one more visit that we had wanted to make, but we would have to make quick decisions on what we would do when we got there, what route would we take, etc. And so we made those decisions and started heading out. I said a quick prayer in my heart for help in getting us to this person in time. But then I had the distinct impression to stop and suggest a different plan altogether; a plan that would make our time crunch even worse, delay our arrival even more, and we had already started biking in the original direction. But we went with this new plan. And when we arrived at this final stop, no one was there. Until a car pulled up, and a man we hadn't met before stepped out and started to head inside. We handed him our pamphlet that was for the other person, and we asked him to give it to her. If we hadn't responded to the Spirit, and hadn't been prepared and ready to receive that guidance, we wouldn't have been able to give that pamphlet to that man. The timing was too perfect to be coincidence. We had help!

In General Conference, we heard God's prophet tell us about what we can do to receive personal revelation, and how important it is that we do! I'd like to challenge you to read this talk, and look for what we can do to increase our ability to receive guidance from God (link below). If you don't feel comfortable with reading this talk, I'd encourage you to read in the Bible and find how we can get answers to our questions and receive more help from God in our lives! I'd love it if you'd email me your thoughts!

Always learning!
Elder Richardson 

P.S. So a bit scatterbrained of a letter, but this is some of the more weekly shenanigans that often come with missionary letters. I'm just weird and haven't done as much of this. :)

P.P.S.S. Also, one of the members gave us stuffed bunnies along with their candy. I named mine Barbara, because alliteration. 



1) Barbara, the Best Bunny. 






















2) We took a picture of all of the Missionaries serving in Fontana! Look at those smiles!










3) Just some people yelling Fontana. I wasn't sure what to do with the orange in my hand...
            (a short video)

So Elder Ogden has this Bluetooth keyboard that he's been using his whole mission for note taking and emailing, and he said it's probably about $50 at Wal-Mart, and I can try for cheaper options. Can I use the credit card to purchase that? Or would you know about a cheaper option on Amazon? I don't know. I've just noticed that I've used my phone and notes app a lot more than I originally thought, and I think it's something I'd use throughout my Mission. 

Just asking,
Elder Richardson 

FROM DAD:
Grab it! Love you, Ben!


FROM BEN TO MOM:
Thank you so much for the Card, Mom! It really brightened up my day! Tell Mason and Joseph thank you for signing it as well! I'm doing alright! I really don't have anything huge to share or show, but I'll let you know when I do! Finding people to teach is a bit tough, but we're putting goals in place to help us along!
Thank you for sending the Program and Obituary as well. I'm praying for you and Grandma!
Could you tell Bethany that the address to mail things to is 7000 Central Ave. Highland, California 92346 ? I think she was wanting to know.
Well, I have to go!
Bye!
Elder Richardson

FROM DAD:
So good to hear from you!  We love you!  We had seen pictures of your zone conference on Facebook and loved it!
Mom just got home bringing home Grandma and Jane.  They drove a big moving truck and got here last night.  We moved everyone in and I’m guessing it will take a few days for us all to recover.
I’m headed to New York City tomorrow to present some ideas on data analytics at Baruch College.  It is always fun to go there.  I’m going to see if I have time to sneak in a show on Broadway, or maybe just spend some time walking around.
We also loved conference! I keep reading quotes of what was said and wondered if I heard the same conference everyone else did.  It just means there are lots of nuggets to find these next six months.
Joseph finishes up his pharmacy class tomorrow.  He has done and seems to have enjoyed it.  He might choose to become a pharmacist!
Beth is still working lots of hours at Subway.  She keeps telling them she wants to work less, but she must be really good because they keep asking her for more.
Daniel has gotten some personal records in his running.  He has another meet tomorrow so hope it goes well for him.
Thanks for the details on your companion! And for the wonderful letter.  We very much look forward to reading it each week.
Feel free to tell us what you need to be successful – like the keyboard.  We’re happy to help where we can!

Love you, Elder!
Dad (and Mom)

Benjamin Richardson

California Redlands Mission

Feb 28, 2018 - March 3, 2020


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