MAY 24, 2021: WHAT'S WITH ALL THE WRIST FLICKING???

Hola everyone!! It's Elder Richardson back with another awesome update on my life! Lol, that's kinda funny.

Before you read this awesome email check this out. I came up with a cool little rap and it goes like this: I'm Elder Richardson and I'm here to say that you should go and pray today! I'm here in New York City where the weather and the missionaries are always litty! If you have questions or just want to chat, hit me up or other missionaries.. ASAP! 😂

Haha, hope you liked it. We might use it.. or not. 

Anyways,  GREAT segundo week here in the Big 🍎!! Learning lots of Espanol, eating a lot of Mexican food from my favorite hermana in the branch... hermana Chavez!! Great lady who feeds us great food! So blessed to know her!!

Alright.. what to say... oh yeah!! We had Zone Conference on Friday and we had to drive 1hrs and 45 mins to get to the chapel in..... Brooklyn!! I got to see some city! Anyways,  very very big buildings everywhere and lots of Chinese people! Zone Conference was great, lots of missionaries from different areas speaking so many languages were there, President Teuscher spoke and then we had workshops about referrals, how to be the best missionary you can be, and more awesome stuff like that!

Oooh, before I forget, Sister Teuscher is the daughter of Elder Groberg for anyone who is a the other side of heaven fan! It was cool to hear that and she told me about her dad serving in the islands. Small world huh? 

Saturday,  we did first exchanges and I went with what they call Elders who are almost done with their missions, a dinosaur😂🦖. Elder Havenar who has been out for 21 months!! He taught me soo much and oh, this will relate to you, David Richardson if you read this.. he likes snowboarding!! He's from Colorado and he loves to hunt so I told him about you and he says he wants to meet you haha. 

Anyways the exchange was awesome, taught so many people! Played some basketball and literally SHATTERED one of our AP's ankle lol.. it was a accident!! Haha. He's ok.. for now.. might not want to get on another court though soon. Haha. 

Anyways,  this week was another amazing experience out here in the field!! Can't wait for the next one! Thanks to everyone who responded to last week's email, thankya!👍

If anyone needs prayers for this week just let me know! We have a prayer roll going and we would live to add you if you have anything at all you need a prayer to give you some extra strength!💪

Good news.. I took some pictures so you don't think this email is just from a bot haha. Here they are: The pictures are from the exchange on Saturday. Another picture is DONUTS!! We got donuts this week haha, pretty good but not as good as @Cronuts if you know what I mean.. Dad!! 😂 And the other picture is a random picture.. I don't know how that was even taken to be honest. But... Elder Fischbeck thought it'd be funny to add so.. ye. I think it was after we taught like 12 people haha. That is the mood though!😂

I hope everyone has a great week and tell me any miracles you have or had!! Until next week.. peace!✌🙏

Oh wow, totally forgot.. I should probably explain the title of this email.. so when I got here everyone had been flicking their wrists to like anything anyone says either at zone conference or at testimony or district meetings. Upon further inspection, I have discovered that the motion of flicking your wrist means good job or that was awesome! 😂 Nothing bad! Haha but ye, everyone does it when someone says someone says something inspirational or just anything I guess. 

Just thought I'd explain. Bye!

Adios amigos! 👋

-Elder Richardson

MAY 17, 2021: THIS IS A GREAT WORK!!

WEEK #7: #1 IN FIELD

Buenos días everyone!! 🙂🙃😊😂

It's Elder Richardson coming in hot with his first email from Patchogue, New Island, NYC! 

I HAVE BEEN MISSING OUT! Haha but in all seriousness I wish I came out here sooner this has been SUCH a crazy and awesome week for me!! First week in and I KNOW I don't want to be anywhere else than right where I am!!

Alright where to begin, right?? Well so my companion is Elder Fischbeck, he is awesome! He's been out 6 months and his Spanish is muy bueno! So ye, my companion has really helped me get a sense of what I am actually doing and this language is that hard but I enjoy learning something new every day! On Monday, I arrived, had NYC pizza🍕 at a chapel and had testimony meeting with our mission President, President Teuscher. I stayed in a hotel that night and then the next morning I met Elder Fischbeck. We literally jumped straight in to the work, no joke, and I taught 4 people that night! 

Haha yee.. it's been literally soooo spiritual in our lessons and I can see the light of christ in the people we teach.  Ok.. I'm literally so excited to introduce y'all to Hermana Chavez!!! She is like my second mother away from home lol. She is so nice to the missionaries in our ward which are Elder Fischbeck and I lol. Anyways she feeds us twice a week and it's like chicken and rice which is muy bueno by the way. I can't speak Spanish well yet but I can see the love and light of christ she has and everyone in my ward for this great work! 

I was in charge of the music yesterday in church and that was fun! We had a speaker we played the music from. I was welcomed by everyone in the ward and I feel VERY welcomed and loved by the people of Patchogue. Everyone was coming up to us and asking if we had enough food and then a sister insisted we come to her house like around 6 and we did and she gave his no joke, 4 bags of canned food, AND dinner, wow! 

She's awesome but somehow I can't remember her name!! OOF. Lol.

Anyways, this was such a good first week for me, I know that the Lord reassigned me to the right place and I am thankful to be able to serve at this time. Yesterday, a sister said to me that these next 2 years will go by fast and I know that's true so I will make the most of every day, as every day is God's day! 

Love you all and miss everyone! We have 2 people on baptism date for the month of June and a 11 year old kid who we are inviting to get baptized too, so please pray for them, their names are Tatty, Ryan, and Mildred. By the way, I gave my first baptism invitation in a lesson with Mildred and she accepted! So that was awesome and I was so excited for her to make the best choice in her life and come closer to Christ through baptism! Can't wait for her baptism! 

Have a great week everyone!! Miss you all and if you need any prayers for you or your family, just email me and my district and I will pray for you!!🙏😇

Hasta luego until next Monday!!

Adioooos!!!👋

- Elder Richardson.🗽

MAY 5, 2021: IT'S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN... OR WEEK OF HOME MTC!!

 WEEK #6: MTC

Buenos Dias everyone!

Week 1,2,3,4,5, and halfway through this last week are HECHO(DONE)!! This has been an awesome 6 weeks of home MTC and I am looking forward to getting to New York! My plane leaves on Monday morning and I fly from Arkansas to Georgia and then Georgia to NYC!

I have been reflecting a lot on my last few days at home and realizing that we all get caught up in the little details in life and usually will miss out on the most important/rewarding moments. For me, those would be with my family, I will miss them ALOT! However, a missionary is someone who leaves their family for just a while so that other families can be together forever!! I love this quote and one that I truly know to be true!

I was on a video chat with my mission president last night and he informed me I will be speaking... drum roll.... SPANISH!!!! I am so excited, he said that in NYC, they are low on Spanish-speaking missionaries and said I will be assigned to 2 Spanish wards!

My purpose as a misionero is to invitar a las personas a venir a Cristo. Or in English, invite others unto Christ. I am looking forward to doing so! These next two years will be challenging and I knew that the moment I started the paperwork for my mission call but nothing in life comes for free! Life comes with challenges and we just have to roll with the punches as Mr. Incredible would say!

These next two years will be the best two years of my life and I will grow and be closer to God than I have or ever will be! So.. adios mis amigos and until next week.. God be with you until we meet again or until next week's email which will be from NYC!!!

Signing out for now!

I'll be knocking out my best two years!

- Elder Richardson

APRIL 29, 2021: TIME FLIES!!

 WEEK #5: MTC

Buenos Dias everyone!

It's been a CRAZY 5 weeks here in the home MTC! As my time at home MTC comes to an end soon I have reflected on my experiences. It has been mentally exhausting to be on zoom calls for 12 hours a day but I have enjoyed learning Spanish and being taught with my district!

My first week was awesome because it was all English-speaking haha! My first two weeks actually were English speaking and it was introductory lessons to preach my gospel and Spanish lessons. 

The last three weeks have been diving into Spanish classes and learning basic core and now intermediate core which includes memorizing more Spanish at a faster pace! This week and next we are only speaking Spanish in all of our classes! We are teaching people in our zoom classes and it has been fun to use Spanish and teach people!

As I have been reflecting on my last week coming up in home MTC I have reflected on the youth theme song for 2021. This song is called: A great work and I can't stop listening to it over and OVER again! It is so good and explains exactly what missionary work is and what we all can do RIGHT NOW to help with the great work to move forward in these last days!

Yo se que Jesucristo vive y yo se que esta iglesia es verdadera!

En el nombre de Jesucrsto, Amen!

Adios mis amigos until next week everyone!

Elder Richardson

APRIL 14, 2021: TWO MISSION in TWO YEARS!!

 WEEK #3:  MTC

5,354 MILES!! Yes, the distance from New York City, New York, and Concepcion, Chile is 5,354 miles! Now you may be wondering why I googled this. 

Well... I'm going to the Big Apple! On Sunday I found out my missionary portal had changed and it said that my new mission which is a temporary reassignment is in the New York City Mission! I am beyond excited for the adventures I will experiencing there and oh if I haven't mentioned.. I am speaking ENGLISH! That may not seem like a big deal but for me, it will be comforting to speak English before I speak Spanish. I will get time to learn Spanish better and practice more. 

So besides that... I have been doing awesome! I am really enjoying my time at home MTC or in Spanish it's the CCM. It's been so much fun to be in zoom classes, zoom with my companion who I found out was born only ONE DAY after I was!! Coincidence?? I think NOT!!! I and my companion, Elder Schoonmaker have been doing great as companions and we have been practicing teaching members in the Mexico branch, and it's been so much fun!

Yo se que Dios vive, yo se que mi Redentor vive! ( I know that God lives, I know that my Redeemer lives!)

I hope everyone has a great and safe week! Until next email...

Adios mi amigos!

Elder Richardson

APRIL 7, 2021: WEEK ONE DONE!!!!

WEEK #2: MTC

Buenos Dias a todos! (Good morning everyone!)

Una semena en el CCM de casa ha sido incredible! (One week in the home MTC has been amazing!)

This first week in the home MTC has taught me a lot, specifically how to study more efficiently and that I have ALOT of Espanol to learn! How does it feel to be a missionary who doesn't know where they are going to serve their mission? That's ME! One of the first surprises for me in my first week was receiving a reassignment somewhere in the United States due to the Coivd 19 pandemic. I am anxious to know where I will be reassigned to and where the Lord needs me right now, all you can do is put your trust in the Lord and that's the lesson I've learned in this first week. If we put our trust and faith in the Lord, everything will work out according to God's timing, not ours. 

General conference, wow, it was truly inspiring to hear from our leaders and how about veinte templo or TWENTY TEMPLES!!! That's amazing how our church continues to go forward to penetrate every continent, I know that this is the true church and that temples are a blessing for us to connect with those who we have lost or our ancestors. 

One talk that really stuck with me from general conference is Neil L. Andersen's talk which I thought was a tough topic to discuss but he did it in the best way! He talked about the women of our church and abortion and our church's view on it. I loved how he discussed this controversial topic but appropriately and I felt the spirit during his talk! 

This week went by SOOO fast but was a blast and can't wait for this next week! I hope you all have a great week as well and I'll let you know where I end up serving!

Elder Richardson signing off for now! Byeee or Adios amigos!

Elder Richardson.

March 31, 2021: First email!

WEEK 1: MTC 

Buenos Dias everyone! 

This is my first email as an Elder for la iglesia de Jesucristo de los santos de los ultimos dias! I am excited about my experiences in the Chile Concepcion mission! I am going to be speaking Spanish and will be in the MTC at home for the next 6 weeks and then will leave on May 11th for Chile! This weekend is general conference and I am looking forward to listening to the Prophet as a set apart, full-time missionary! A scripture I studied this morning and one that really helped me to feel the spirit is Doctrine and Covenants chapter 18 verse 10 where it reads: Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God. This is a great verse especially for missionaries as we teach thousands and thousands of souls on our missions and to remember that everyone is God's children and we should treat them the way God would want us to and the way we would want them to treat us!

That's it for this week as I have just started my MTC training, I will have more in the upcoming email, and I hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Richardson