SEPTEMBER 11, 2018 - WEEK #28

TRANSFERS .... UH OH ...

September 11, 2018

Transfers!!! Elder Ford left, which was super sad, but Elder Equatore just came in! Turns out, the two of them just switched places. From Northpark YSA to the Yucaipa 3rd Ward! It's been a bit of a change for him, going from teaching Young Single Adults to teaching families again, but he's still been super Awesome! 

Elder Equatore is from Montana, and he likes throwing Knives! He doesn't do it on the mission. He's super crazy, but also super creative, and an awesome missionary! His last name comes from Italy, and it's pronounced like the country Equador, but with a "t." 

Fun things that happened this week include: 

- Elder Ford wanted to say goodbye to our Elder's Quorum President, and so we go into his home and Elder Ford starts talking to him. His Daughter comes up to me with a little children's book (Baby Mickey lost his ball or something), and I'm all like, "Why not? I can serve her parents for a few minutes." We read through a couple short books, using silly voices, and it was a lot of fun! A couple days later, we go back to introduce Elder Equatore, and there she is again! "I remember you! You read this book with me!" So we went and reread the books while Elder Equatore met our Elders Quorum President. It was so fun!

- We went to visit Richee on Tuesday, and while we were waiting for him, another man named Mario started talking to us. He told us that he used to be a member of the Church when he lived in Glendale, which he told us had a large LDS Population. We invited him to come to church again sometime, and after we told him where our building was, he told us again that he used to be a member of the Church when he lived in Glendale, which is well known for it's large LDS population. We looked at each other, but kept talking. Later in the conversation, he informs us that he used to be a member of the church, but that was when he lived in Glendale. Glendale, you see, has a strong LDS Presence, or, at least, that's what we hear. He had asked for our phone number, and we gave it to him. Today, we get a phone call, and guess what! It was Mario! He asked who we were, and how our number got on his phone. We explained who we were, and he then said, "You said LDS? I used to be LDS! When I lived in Glendale!" He also said that he had no recollection of us talking with him, so we're pretty sure he's got an issue with his memory, but he's a really sweet nice and fun guy!

- We went to the house of a Member kind of on a whim. They had helped us in teaching a lesson before, and I thought it would be good to introduce Elder Equatore. We go over and knock on the door, and then this car pulls up into the driveway. The mom gets out of the car, and the daughter jumps out and runs to the back. We got talking to the mother, and she tells us that she has friends who are members of the church, and she wanted to learn more! She asked if we did Bible Studies or anything like that, and we were like, "Um, YES!" After we exchange numbers and everything, the member we were going to visit comes out of the house, along with her daughter and THE ENTIRE DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS GROUP, all heading out to go clean up the  church building!! They were super nice, and we're hoping to go and talk to some of those kids again soon!!

That was some of the craziness from this week. I've been trying my best to lead this area, and I can tell you that there has never been a greater measure of the Spirit leading our day and our activities. As we humble ourselves and pray for God to help us in our days, He will! I know it! 

There's the week! It was pretty crazy, so that's it. Yep. There we go.

Elder Richardson

1) Here's me being weird.

2) Here's my district.

Benjamin Richardson

California Redlands Mission

Feb 28, 2018 - March 3, 2020