MAY 22, 2020 - WEEK #12

ANOTHER SHORT LETTER BECAUSE

OF EVERYTHING GOING ON!

May 22, 2020

Hello everyone! This last week was awesome! Also, if you were wanting coherency in what time frame is covered in my emails, then... well... Good luck?  The reason I say that is that normally, I cover from Monday to Monday, but today I'm including part of Mother's Day!

Mother's day is great! All of the speakers in church talk about how AMAZING moms are! Happy Late Mother's Day to all of you who make our live so incredibly special and wonderful! Another big thing with Mother's Day is that it is one of two times in the year that we Missionaries get to video call home! So I did that, and it was really great! We just got to talk for a bit, and I really loved feeling all of the love and support from my family! 

One of the questions that I was asked was "Are you as happy as you seem?" Which is a very good question. I guess I just seemed really happy in the call, so I sat and thought about it for a second then, and a lot more later. And there have definitely been a lot of hard, heart-breaking things have happened so far. Earlier this week, for example, we had to drop one of our most promising investigators (By "Dropping," it means that their desire has been put somewhere else, and we have to use our time elsewhere. It's never fun to drop people...). But again, I've been able to meet so many fun people, I have a Companion who cares, and I've seen so many flowers, too! Looking for the small blessings and thanking my Heavenly Father for them carries me through the harder experiences!

So the answer is yes! In the midst of hard things and a world of negativity, I am happy! I couldn't be more excited for the blessings I'm seeing happen! 

We also had Zone Conference this week (which I loved!), and one of the things that we talked about was Prayer! We were taught that we need to examine how we pray to our Heavenly Father, and that we need to learn how to develop our own relationship with Him. And then, from there, we can teach others how to do the same! I'm really excited for the opportunity to improve in developing that more personal relationship with God!

Another blessing (in disguise) was that one of my roommates got sick, so I stayed behind while his companion and Elder Bearman went and did their activities. I was fine with just chilling, and I got to do some good reading! I got to finish reading Our Search for Happiness, which is a really great read (It outlines a lot of our basic beliefs, and tells a lot of really cool stories), and I highly recommend it!

Anyways, my roomate slept, I napped, and then, after he got up, he didn't feel well enough to head out, so we just "shot the breeze" (just talking. There's some California Redlands Mission slang for you) about the different story and book ideas we've had and gotten over the course of our missions. It was so fun!

Another HUGE blessing for the Sisters (We have Sister Missionaries who cover part of our area) was that one of the people they've been working with came to our Book of Mormon Class! He didn't really say much that class, but the Sisters said that he really enjoyed it and would be coming back! On top of that, he's been reading in the Book of Mormon on his own! It's so Exciting!

So yeah. Shorter email, a lot of random Gratitude, but I'm really excited! Also, if you have any questions about Missionary Life, feel free to ask them! I'd love to answer any that I know the answers to! 

Forever Grateful,

Elder Richardson

P.S. I love you all! I thought I would have extra time today, but then things happened... More will be talked about next week!

Benjamin Richardson

California Redlands Mission

Feb 28, 2018 - March 3, 2020

FROM DAD/VERNON:

Always good to get your emails, Ben. 

 

I love the picture of you on the bike.  Thanks for sending it.

 

We are getting into full summer mode at our house.  Everyone is done with school (!) and now summer camps are upon us.  Rachel and Rebecca are taking the ACT course.  Alex is doing his last night of work tonight. Alex takes out his endowments in Kansas City this Saturday (sure have fond memories of when we went for the first time with you! Mom is working on girls’ camp with Beth at her side.  Daniel works a lot for Rhett and is getting good at working outside.  Joseph is still working for bite squad and has a good lead for a job at a pharmacy. 

We’re working hard to keep Mason off too much electronics. I’m into my summer research projects and trying to see what I can get done.

We love you and are proud of you!

 

Vern Richardson