JULY 3, 2018 - WEEK #18

YUCAIPA-N CHARACTERS!

July 3, 2018

OK, we have some cool people here in Yucaipa. Like, really. And I have done them the grand injustice of not talking about them. And so, here we go.

LET'S MEET YUCAIPA!! ... Now that just sounds lame... Rats...

When I first arrived in Yucaipa, we were planning a Chapel tour for a woman. Brownie Points for anyone who can remember what her name was! (Though you wouldn't really want Brownie points, that currency has had issues ever since they stopped backing it up with actual brownies, so...) Her name is "Wendy Elise, like Mary Jo or Betty Lou. Wendy Elise." She says that every time someone asks her name at church. We've been meeting with her twice every week, along with her roommate, Sister Fawn, and she has also been coming to church every week! She always smiles whenever she's feeling the Spirit at church or in our lessons! One day, we walk into the cafeteria where we meet, and she has this plastic bag. "This is a present for you!" she says, and hands it to us. We open it and see that it is full of packages of mini chocolate cupcakes! 

We thanked her for her gift, and we didn't think about it again until the next morning. I was feeling hungry, because of course I was, so I thought I would eat some of these Muffins. I checked the expiration date, though, and they had expired in April! Needless to say, we didn't eat too many of them. I don't think she noticed, but we're still super appreciative!

We've met a couple times with Brenda, a newer member in the Ward, and each time we've gone to her home, we've seen her young grandsons running around! One of them, Jameson, joined us while we read in the Book of Mormon with Brenda. He tried his best to read with us, but he's still learning to read, so he just listened. After we said the closing prayer, I asked him if he would read the Book of Mormon I let him borrow (It's always good to carry an extra around!), and he smiled and said yes! I also gave him my email address (because he's moving) so he could tell me all about the things he read! And Brenda' s going to keep up with him, so I'll let you know when he writes me!

Someone else that I finally got to meet was Sarah! She is super cool! She lives in a house from the 1930's, and she has a ton of really old stuff! She has old cars and and a 1940's(?) Record player, and she wears Vintage 50's clothing EVERYWHERE. And she and her friends just go around town with their hair in 50's hairstyles and everything! She's so cool! She also has a strong belief in God, and is just searching for the truth! We can't wait to meet with her more!

We met 3 new people this week! We met Doug after we asked about helping him with his yard! He rejected us (sadly), but talked with him and met all of his kids (Doug call them all troublemakers, so we asked each of them if they were. They said yes. They also gave us fake names to demonstrate.) He talked about how he always enjoys listening to the Bible being read to him, and we invited him to download the Book of Mormon App and to listen to it. He said that he would, and that we could come back later! We're super excited for that!

We also met Rosie! We were trying the address of someone who was taught previously, and found her! She said that our person didn't live there, and so we asked if we could share a scripture with her! She really liked the scripture we shared, Helaman 5:12, and we gave her a physical copy Book of Mormon! We invited her to read it, and we asked if we could come back this Wednesday to ask how it went! She said that would be fine, and we only recently realized that it would be the evening of the Fourth of July, so we will see how that goes!

We were trying another address that evening, but we have come to the conclusion that it doesn't exist. We knocked on the door of the house we thought would be it, but it wasn't. However,  we did meet David! We talked with him for a bit, and then asked if we could share a scripture verse with him. We shared the same scripture with him, to which he said, "Woah, that makes sense to me!" And we invited him to download the Book of Mormon App as well, and gave him some scriptures to read. He gave us his number, and we're going to keep in contact! 

I love it whenever we get to share the Book of Mormon with people for the first time! I love seeing the Spirit in action as we share about the Savior and His teachings, how they recieve the confirmation of these truths! And then, as they continue to read, that same Spirit that fills their lives and helps them to build that faith in Jesus Christ! I want to share that joy with every one of these incredible people I get to meet!

Happily,

Elder Richardson

1) The best omelette I have ever had!

2) We knocked on the door of this one house, and for some reason, he had all of these rat statuettes scattered across his lawn. I don't get it... They're scary. 

3) So our car, which has a golden brown Hue to it, is called the Golden Gopher. Why gopher, I'm not sure. But we came across this truck as we were driving the other day, and we were, reasonably, frightened for our lives and the life of the Golden Gopher.

Benjamin Richardson

California Redlands Mission

Feb 28, 2018 - March 3, 2020

A COUPLE OF LETTERS FROM HOME:

FROM DAVID:

Hey Elder Ben

How is everything going there in the promise Land?  I hope you are working hard for the Lord.  I am so happy that you have followed my moto. This is it: you can't go a day without getting hurt.  Any way how's that wrist?  Whenmom told me that you broke your wrist I asked if you broke it dancing on your bike.  Oh I almost forgot I made the cross country team.  Good luck and stay happy.

Distruction artist David

Hi Ben,
I’ve been reading lots of books.  I’ve been reading some new series since you left. I’ve been swimming a lot. I’ve been creating some new original Pokemon in my drawing journal that I have.
I’ve been practicing baseball a lot, especially pitching.
I miss you Ben.  Please write me back!
Love, Mason