JUNE 19, 2018 - WEEK #16

TRANSFERRING..... TRANSFERRING .....

June 19, 2018

Transfers, Transfers, what a wonderful thing! Wait... I'M LEAVING!?!? 

Yeah! Transferred out! I left Elder Bearman in Fontana, and Headed to the 3rd Ward in a smaller town called Yucaipa to be with Elder Ford!

Elder Ford is Incredible! He's super Diligent and dedicated, and so when I came into our apartment, I only had enough time to drop everything on my bed so we could head to a lunch appointment. And then we kept running from there! He's also really great at Basketball, and has an awesome taste in music! I haven't been with him too long, but I'll talk more about him as we go along! 

The nice thing about this new area is that we are in a car! Which makes sense, because I'm not allowed to ride a bike with my hand. This way we can travel around with air conditioning throughout the hottest part of the summer! (By the way, I think, not sure, that normally I would have immediately been sent to an area with a car, but because I was injured so close to the normal transfer time, they just had us wait the remaining week.)

At least, I would say that, but the weather has been really weird lately. We had a couple of hot days, but for the most part we have had really cool and overcasting weather. So we have actually parked our car somewhere and walked a lot.

I kind of mentioned in the last email that I have kind of sort of become ambidextrous, or left-handed. I've been trying to use my right hand as little as possible ( it's hard anyways with a splint on), so I've had the chance to do things with my left hand that I never have before. For example, I've been writing in my journal with my left hand. It feels really weird, but one might argue that it looks better at this point then my normal handwriting with my right hand!

Being in a new area has been really fun! I get to learn new names and people, along with their stories and needs. As I was looking through the records that passed missionaries had kept, I had the thought that two of our investigators should tour our Chapel building with us. I mentioned this to Elder Ford after some of our studies, and he said that he had actually had the same thought! That was super cool for me, to see the spirit in action for both of us!

And so we got to work trying to organize this Chapel building tour for Mike and Wendy, and oh boy was it work! Neither of us had ever given a chapel tour before, and so we had to figure that out all the while. 

It went really well! We got everything organized, and made it happen. The Spirit was there as we showed them the Chapel, and described how important the Sacrament was. We finished the tour at the Baptismal Font, and there we Bore our testimonies of how after we are baptized, we can recieve the Gift of the Holy Ghost, so we can always have The Spirit with us. I know the Spirit was present in that room! It was one of the sweetest experiences.

We stopped by someone who had previously met with missionaries, and he opened his door and invited us in. We talked with him for a bit, and when it came time for us to leave he said, "Wait! Take this with you!"

Turns out, he's an avid Hunter. He sent us on our way with probably 10 lb of elk and deer meat! I've never tried any meat beyond the stuff you'll find in a Walmart, so I'm both excited and terrified to try it! One of the other Elders in the Zone is apparently a really good cook, so he should be able to make it really well!

It's been sad and weird leaving the area that I started out in, but it's been fun getting to meet new people and learn new names and faces! At the same time, I keep looking for my helmet and bike whenever we head out. It will take time to adjust, but the Spirit and the Gospel is the same wherever we go!

Awkwardly on the keyboard,

Elder Richardson

1) Flowers in Yucaipa!!!

2) Another Flower!

3) One of the people we are working with has a lot of super cool things! Here's an authentic Nodachi! It was super heavy, so I'm struggling to hold it up with just my left hand!

4) And finally, we visited this family who apparently love challenging the 

missionaries with different things. At one point, it was spicy peppers. This time, it was spicy gummy worms. They were actually pretty good! Weird, but good!

Flowers in Yucaipa

Flowers in Yucaipa

Benjamin Richardson

California Redlands Mission

Feb 28, 2018 - March 3, 2020