JANUARY 29, 2019 - WEEKS #46 & 47

THERE IS SOMEONE OUT THERE

January 29, 2019

Oh boy, here we go again! A whole two weeks worth of updates! I almost wonder if I've done more catch up's than sending actual weekly emails. Regardless, here are some major highlights! 

I went for the day to work with Elder Lewis in the Spanish area, and while Elder Lewis was talking with one of the people they were teaching in Spanish, I got talking with Mario, that man's grandson. I gave him an English copy of the Book of Mormon, and we sat down and read the first chapter, about a man who prayed to know what God had in store, and how God answered his question. As we talked about that first chapter, Mario asked if we could read the next one, too! And so we read it, and he said, with a smile on his face, "Wow, reading this makes me feel like there's something out there!" I promised him that as he kept reading the Book of Mormon, then he would come to know that there was someone out there, watching over him! These experiences, where you get to just testify of what you know to people like that, are the miracles you carry with you as you continue to be a missionary for Jesus Christ!

We've been working on those member lessons in our ward, and they are going well! We had lots of fun experiences looking for a lunar eclipse, being abandoned for pizza right before our lesson, and getting Jiu Jitsu'd, but the most fun experience was with one family and their daughter Carley! 

Carley is just a rambunctious 2-year old, and she kept interupting our lesson because she wanted some attention. And so her dad told her that she needed to run to her room, grab her stuffed animals, and then throw them on the couch next to us! So as we continued to teach about why regular scripture study is important, we had baby dolls and Care Bears being thrown on us! It took all of our poker face skills to keep the discussion going while being buryed alive in Looney Toons characters, but it did keep Carley occupied, so I'm going to remember that one for later!

Elder Brown was itching to tract this one neighborhood, so I went tracting for the very first time. Tracting, by the way, is when you go in blind and knock on a door, and then just try to start up a conversation, and then offer service or to share the message we share about Jesus Christ and His Gospel. It's not always the most effective thing to do to meet new people, because a lot of the time people aren't super willing to even listen to your message when you randomly knock on their door. 

But, we did it, and we met a super cool guy named Herb! Herb is a house flipper, and he was working on a house when we passed by, so we walked up and asked if we could help! He totally rejected us, but then he asked if we wanted to look at the house! We poked around a bit, and he described everything that he had done to make the house super cool! He wasn't interested in our message, but I think that one day he might be. He has a lot of things that have pointed him towards God, and he'll have a lot more as time goes on. But for now, he's a cool friend that we made!

We had another lesson with a family, and for some reason their daughter, Heather, and I are literal best friends. I don't know how it happened exactly, but it is so fun to be best friends with a 6 year old. Whenever she and her mom pass by us when their in the car, she always says, "There's my best friend!" And now, it's a joke in her family, too! We called the mom to ask about what we could share when we came over for a lesson, and the mom picked up the phone and said, "Is this my best friend???" And I said "Of course!" It was so funny!

We went and visited a wonderful old man named Roger this week, and he's been going through a bunch of health issues, so we took him a picture of Jesus to put on his organ. A few hours after Elder Johnson (we were on exchanges) and I left, we get a call from one of Roger's friends, who is a nurse. She was freaking out because we had shaken his hand, and she thought that we were going to die! She literally said at least 4 different times that we could die from what Roger had if we had caught it and if we did nothing about it. So we were freaking out a bit, and we ran into the nearest fast food rest room and washed our hands up to our elbows, just in case. But then when we talked with our Mission Nurse, she said that we would be fine and most likely wouldn't die. So we're good, but we were given a bit of a false scare, there.

 Despite all of these fun stories, the real highlight of this past week was how Elder D. Todd Christofferson came and visited our mission this last Saturday. Elder Christofferson is a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, just like the Apostles the Christ called to lead His church in the New Teastament. It was awesome to have him  here! I think one of the coolest experiences that we had was this: We were all standing and lined up in front of some chairs where Elder Christofferson and others would come in and sit to take a picture, we were all chattering together in line, waiting for them to arrive, and then he walked in. The Spirit just washed over all of us missionaries, and hushed us all. The Spirit just told us all in that moment, "Yep. Isn't that cool? That man is an Apostle!"

I know from that experience that Elder Christofferson is an Apostle of God, just like the Apostles talked about in the Bible. He does the things that they did, because they were directed to do so by Jesus Christ! 

There is someone out there, Mario! His name is Jesus Christ, and He loves you, and He suffered, died, and rose again so that you can know that and be comforted by that fact! He restored His church again on the earth with Prophets and Apostles so that you can learn how to best make your way back to Him and your Heavenly Father! I know that that is true!

I love you all, and hope that you are having a cooler rest of your winter than I am! You're the best! 

Elder Richardson

1) Biking at night! We've been doing a bit of that lately... 

2) A Child had this sword, and he made the shield ALL BY HIMSELF, fully equipped with adjustable armbands. Sweet! 

3 and 4) Reunited with old friends!

5) An Hermana in our District drew this, and it was just super cool!

6) Parenting Techniques: Bury the Missionaries alive to preoccupy your children, and then the Missionaries won't be able to run away before you give them your dessert!

7) "Wait, do that again! It'll be a funny picture to send to your moms!" Palm Springs Ward Member

Benjamin Richardson

California Redlands Mission

Feb 28, 2018 - March 3, 2020

Hey Mom! I love you! Also, I forgot to send this picture to everyone in the thing, so here it is! That little girl, Heather, drew this picture of Elder Brown and I, and then another of just me! It was so cute!

I love you, just wanted to remind you of that! I'm cheering for you in this corner of the USA, and I know that you've got a lot going on right now, but I can trust in our Heavenly Father to help you out and to give you the hugs that you need!

Lots of Love,

Elder Richardson

JANUARY 15, 2019 - WEEK #46

TO BRING YOU UP TO SPEED ..........

January 15, 2019

Hello hello, everyone! This week flew by, and lots of good stuff happened! So this is everything in a nutshell, because I get a lot of questions, and I never have time to answer them all individually! 

Who is your Companion?

My Companion is Elder Brown from Blanding, Utah! I managed to make it 9 month out on my mission without having a companion from Utah, which is a little surprising, haha! He is awesome! Elder Brown is a super obedient missionary, and he really just wants those around him to succeed at whatever it is they want to do, whether it happens to be learning about the gospel or learning how to teach people about Jesus Christ! 

Where are you serving?

I am serving in the California Redlands Mission, which is based primarily in the city of Redlands, but spreads through more of Southern California. I've been serving in the city of Palm Springs, California for about 3 months now, serving in the Palm Springs Ward. We just had our transfers, but I didn't get moved, so I will stay in Palm Springs for another 6 weeks, at least (hopefully more!!!!)!

Palm Springs used to be a big place for movies stars, back in the day (like, we're talking about when some movies were still black and white!) I've seen a house that belonged to Elvis, one that belonged to Debbie Reynolds, and I'm pretty sure that Frank Sinatra and Lucille Ball have houses down here too, but I haven't found them yet! It has since then become more of a retirement community for super rich people, mostly Canada, who fly down here for the winter months when the temperature is somewhat reasonable (we call these people "Snowbirds!").

There are also just a ton of people from everywhere! A lot of people that we end up working with are from all over! The Philippines, Tonga, Samoa, China, you name it! It's really neat! Last night, we had a dinner with one of our favorite members from the Philippines, and had a huge Filipino feast! There was Panzit (think Filipino Chow Mein), Lumpias (Filipino Springs Rolls, but SOOO Good!), and I was too scared to try the Filipino Meat Loaf, I think it was because of the raisins... But it's so fun to have all of these cultures!

What's mission life like?

It is nuts, but it is so fun! We are always running around everyday, up at 6:30am and running, teaching, and talking to people until 9pm! It's exhausting, but it's super rewarding!

A big part of what we do is help people to come to church! Like this week, we met a big Samoan guy who hadn't been to church in a while. He still had a testimony and everything, but was just a little worried about how he'd fit in. But we invited him to sit by us, and he showed up in a Lava-lava and sandals, and he just had a blast! He really felt the Spirit, and just loved it! Afterwards, our bishop and tons of our members just flocked to him and they all became friends! It was awesome!

Have you spoken in church a lot?

Not too much, but it's gotten to be so fun! I just get to ramble about gospel topics for 10 to 15 minutes, and people listen! No, but honestly it is really cool to go up and speak to the ward as a whole, and to address all of them about the things that they need! Also, there are a couple people that we know that really like missionaries, but aren't always super excited about coming to church, but they will come to church when they hear we're speaking! 

What can I do to help you?

I know that a lot of you are praying for me, and I feel it! It helps me so much when things get tough. Really what makes me happy and gets me excited  to keep doing this work over here is an occasional assurance that good things are happening where you are! I like hearing things like "I found this scripture when I was reading the other day," or, "I was able to serve somebody this last week!" These things are actually really inspiring to hear, because it tells me that even though I'm not about to help out where you are, you're doing the things that allow God to take care of you and  help you! That brings me a lot of joy, and also helps me know that some of my prayers are being answered! 

I hope that's helpful to someone... But that's my update for this week! 

Lots of Love! Mahal Kita! (That could be wrong...)

Elder Richardson

1) We were having a really crazy, rainy day on bike, and we turn around and see this rainbow! Blessings!!!

2) I forget that when I'm talking to people on my bike, they just see my awkward helmet... Hm...

3) We had an FHE with a family, and we played THE MOST INTENSE game of Jenga EVER!!! At least for me... I haven't played that much...

4) This is an example of me taking random pictures of the things that crack me up, because we've all been there.

5) We found these Sunglasses in the Hermana's car during car checks, and so we snagged an awful picture.

Benjamin Richardson

California Redlands Mission

Feb 28, 2018 - March 3, 2020

JANUARY 8, 2019 - WEEK #45

THERE ARE MIRACLES!

January 8, 2019

Transfers are this week, and I'm staying in Palm Springs with Elder Brown! It was really exciting to find out, because I thought that I was going to leave, but now I get to stay in the best area with a sweet companion!

We had some super awesome exchanges this week! I got to go to Desert Hot Springs, and we had a lesson with a woman who had her nephew over. We showed a video about a man's journey from the world and sin towards God, and it really spoke to her nephew! He couldn't stop talking about the Spirit that he felt! We set up a return appointment with him, and he will be taught by the Elders there now! We had no idea that he was going to be there when we decided to share that video!

At church on Sunday, we walked out of a meeting, and then some other missionaries walked up and introduced us to Nick, who they had been talking to. Nick is a super cool guy! He just showed up at church, because a friend invited him to try this church. He was asking questions like crazy, and we told him about how we had another book of scripture like the Bible, and he was thrilled! "Sweet! I have more scriptures to read!"

We were sitting in church, and the whole time, he was practically bouncing in his seat next to me! "I love this!" When people started going up to bear their testimonies, he leaned over to me and said, "I want to go up, but I'm so nervous!"

"If you go up, then I'll go up too!" I whispered back. Nick grinned.

"Well, I want to hear your testimony, so...!" And then he went up, bore his testimony, and it was great! Everyone went up to him afterwards and told him how he did such a great job! 

After church, he said, "Wow! I think I've found my church!" 

It was a miracle of a day!

Another story! On another exchange, I was in Palm Springs with one of the Spanish Elders, and we went to a lesson with a family in our Ward. We had the lesson, and it was super awesome, and then the daughter, who was home from college, shared that she had been thinking a lot about serving a mission herself, and that she had wanted to ask a bunch of questions about serving a mission! We were so excited to answer her questions, but we didn't have time that night. 

As we were biking home, there were a lot of things that struck me that seemed to have lined up perfectly. after talking with the Elder that was with me, we decided that he needed to be there to talk with this girl about serving a mission, and that the wacky circumstances had come about to make that happen! His experience with deciding to serve a mission lined up with hers, and so we wanted to get him back into that home to share his testimony and experiences! And so, that very next night, he and I were back with that girl and her family, sharing about how she could be blessed if she decided to serve a mission, and also how she could learn for herself what her Heavenly Father wanted her to do.

I've been noticing that a lot more this week! just how as we go about our daily lives, we can see the hand of God throughout! Even in things like, this morning, we needed to do a lot of Aldi shopping very quickly! We pulled into a parking space, and there was an unattached cart, without a quarter, sitting nearby. Like, just how did that  get there? We shrugged our shoulders and took it, but then I realized that we hadn't taken any thought about bringing a quarter, and without that cart, we would've been stuck!

I'm grateful for all of the small miracles like that, and the big miracles like finding Nick yesterday! I love this work, I love my God, and I love my Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ!

Oh, and I love all of you, of course! Keep it up this new year! I'm blessed to have the opportunity to serve God all of 2019 on my mission, and I'd encourage you to consider making a greater effort to reach out to others for God, too! I know that you'll see miracles and  have a blast, too!

Lots of Love!

Elder Richardson

1) My Proof that it has been kind of rainy in the desert!

2) We visited at a thrift store, and this Legolas Lunchbox made me smile. Of course this exists!

3) We had a dinner with one of our nonmember friends, and he treated us to a very entertaining evening!

4) Yay! Awkward district photo!

5 and 6) OK, so we have an awesome friend that we played Monopoly with today (I won!!!), and he had an infinity Gauntlet, and so Elder Brown and so had a competition to see who could look scarier. I think I won!

Video) Either you will understand the reference (#AllRegion), or this will be a very strange experience.

NOTE TO MOM:

Hey Mom! 

I love you! Yep! You and Dad are the best! Thank you so much for showing me why I need the Gospel, so that I can hopefully be an awesome parent like you some day! 

I know that I haven't sent those measurements yet, but I'll make sure to take them tonight and send them next week! 

I heard that Luke came for Christmas! How was that? Was he pretty cool? Cool enough for Bethany? :D

I love you! Tell Daniel and Mason and Joseph that I'm thinking about them! Also, tell Joseph that he needs to send me some updates and tips on finding people to teach!

Love you!

Elder Richardson

DECEMBER 31, 2018 - WEEKS #41, 42, 43, & 44

BASICALLY DECEMBER 2018  IN IT'S ENTIRETY

December 31, 2018

So all of December has been insane! Elder Brown and I have been running ever since the beginning, and aren't stopping! We've been trying to help everyone that we are working with to come closer to Christ leading up to the Christmas holiday. We've had a lot of difficulties, especially with trying to adjust to our biking in this area, but it's been a lot of fun!

A big thing through December has been trying to catch up in reading the Book of Mormon! President Nelson in October challenged all of the women to read the whole Book of Mormon by the end of the year, and President Dixon challenged all of us to do that as well! I got behind, and so I've been catching up this month! I'm almost done, but I've really enjoyed reading the scriptures even more recently. I've learned a lot more about why we need the Book of Mormon, too! There are so many examples of what how we should act in our daily lives as Disciples, or followers, of Jesus Christ. I love it when I can see ways that I can improve, and have a scriptural example to learn from!

So we work pretty closely with the Spanish-speaking Sisters (Hermanas) and the Spanish Elders sometimes, because they have church in our building. The Hermanas were having a baptism, and had asked the Spanish Elders to fill up the baptismal font with water beforehand while they went and spoke in a meeting. When the Spanish Elders had to leave suddenly, they told us to turn off the font when it filled up. We thought that it would take a while to fill up, so we went ahead and went to our Ward's choir practice. When we came out, we just heard "The Font flooded!!!" and we ran over to see the tile floors in the kitchen and bathrooms around the font just covered in water!!

We felt so bad, and just as we discovered this, the whole Spanish Branch was getting out and discovering this as well! And so we threw off our suit coats, got some members of the Ward, and got to work trying to get the water down a drain. The problem was that the only drain was back in the font, and so we got someone to unplug the stopper and pushed all of the gross water back into the font. We had planned to drain the whole font and then refill it (Even though it would take 2 hours to do that), but the man who was going to get baptized told us that he just wanted to be baptized, and that he didn't care how the water looked. And so we filled the font back up to full, and made it all work!

That man had the faith to know that being baptized was more important than some of the small details, like the cleanliness of the water. Through the whole service, he looked so happy to have finally made it there, and we were so happy for him!

This month a focus has been becoming more of a disciple of Jesus Christ. Many of us know who He is, and are grateful to Him for His sacrifice and Resurrection that make it possible for us to heal and live again, but do we let that change who we are? Do we let Him change who we are? Or, rather, do we make the active effort with Him to grow and change into someone like Him? As we look at how He wants us to grow, and then we kneel down and just talk with Our Heavenly Father, pouring out our hearts in prayer for help, and making plans with Him on what we will give up and what we want to do to achieve that, God will make up the difference. Grace is supplied when we give righteous desires our best efforts. And how Grateful I am for that! Honestly, if it weren't for that grace, I'd be stuck! :D

But seriously! A new year starts tomorrow! We can start fresh with new goals, and new focuses! An exercise that we did is we looked at where we were, and then we wrote down what our gift to God would be this next year. Whether it be a gift of some time or a TV show, what will we offer Him this next year to make it different? To make us different? I'd encourage you to ponder on that before or after your festivities tonight for 2019!

Happy New Years! Feliz Añu Nuevo!

Elder Richardson

1) Our Missionary Zone at our big Christmas Conference!

2) Our District went Christmas Carolling all Christmas week with some members!

3) My Birthday with the Spanish Elders and a Member and her friends!

4) We got to the Temple earlier this month, and one of our good Member friends was able to bring us!

DECEMBER 25, 2018 - CHRISTMAS

 MERRY CHRISTMAS

December 25, 2018

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!!! I'm so excited for this season, and I think I've said that before, but that's because it's true!

I've gotten all of your birthday and Christmas wishes, and I feel all warm and fuzzy now! Thank you all so much for the love that you've sent my way!

Unfortunately, I am very characteristically behind. This should come as no surpise to anyone, but we've been SOOOOOO busy on our preparation days this transfer. I literally did not have time to write much of anything  the past several weeks in terms of an update for each week. So... I guess I'll dump it all on you next week? I am very adamantly scheduling a lazy day for that purpose, so I'm hoping that happens!

I love you all, and  desperately wanted to write an individual Christmas note to everyone, but alas...

LOVE AND HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!

Elder Richardson

1) As Proof that I am still alive, a photo. Also, I got this mug in a White Elephant gift exchange with the other Missionaries. I think I got the best present!!

DECEMBER 11, 2018 - WEEKS #39/40

THESE HANDS WILL LIGHT THE WORLD

Dec 11, 2018

Because Michelle speaks mainly Chinese, it's kind of hard for us to make sure that she's doing well and to keep supporting her because she is being taught by the Chinese-speaking Missionaries, so we don't get to see her during lessons. But We found a way! Michelle has offered us multiple times to get free massages, at her spa, so one P-day morning we just dropped by with one of our members and talked for a while, and she had us get free foot massages! (That was a very strange experience. I wasn't super fond of that part...) 

Michelle had us go into this back room, but we were a little scared because we didn't know what was going on. But when we came  back out to the Lobby, ushered us back in! We tried to look over to our member for help, but she didn't know what to do either! She later told us that she felt like a mother abandoning her children! It was weird, but that was funny! Plus, it was good for Michelle to be able to make a new friend, and for us to talk to her a little more, so we're probably going to be going back some other time for a manicure or something, haha!

We were very blessed to have a family invite us over for Thanksgiving Dinner, and they made us feel very welcome with their family that night. In fact, they did such a good job, that Elder Mills and I didn't even get to share our Thanksgiving message, so we went back another night to share it! We had made a little video of a bunch of little scenes from thanksgiving, and I got to use our little Google Photos app to edit it all together, and I really enjoyed doing that! The family really enjoyed the finished product when we showed it to them that night, too! That's something I'm going to be looking to do more often, because it's not too hard, it's fun for me, and it's a great way to show the people we're working with that we love them!

We also got to go with Lourna to the Temple! It was really exciting to see her feel the spirit in there, and she absolutely loved it! I was just reminded of what a blessing it is to have temples, so that we can feel closer!

Unfortunately, it also got to be transfer time. I'm still in Palm Springs, thankfully! I really love the Ward, and have a lot of good friends I've made here! But it was Elder Mills' time to leave, sadly. 

But Elder Brown did come! Funnily enough, Elder Brown is my first companion that I had met before! We served in the Yucaipa Zone at the same time, even if he was on the  other side of it... But we had had a couple adventures with each other during that time! One of them involved running on a hike, and the other involved dog food, so I don't necessarily know what that means for our transfer together, but here we are!

Elder Brown is a very hard worker, but he's also a smart thinker! He's always trying to weigh our options, on whether or not we are doing the Best thing or the things that the Lord most wants us to do right then! It's been a really exercise, because what ends up happening is that by the end of the day, we can feel comfort from us having given the Lord our all that day! Our plan has just been to hit the ground running and don't stop!

Also, with this Transfer, we are Biking now! Hooray! Basically, the Mission had to get rid of 10 cars (Which is a lot!) so other Missions could use them, and so a lot of areas that haven't (or maybe shouldn't) be on bike are now biking! I've missed my bike. And the Exercise! It's been exhausting, though! Palm Springs is a big area, as most desert areas are! One night, we biked 17 miles just to get to two appointments and back home! Thankfully, our ward, which loves us dearly, has taken pity on us, and they are giving us rides and food to help us out! :D

We also got to have our "LightTheWorld" kickoff activity! It was a lot of work, but we had a lot of fun! "Light the World" is a Christmas Initiative the Church is doing to help us to all  focus on being lights to others by serving them! We created and showed a video, and then went and painted everyone's hands with Glow in the Dark paint. After that, we shut off all of the lights and took a picture with a banner that says, "These are the Hands that will Light the World!"

I know that Christmas is coming up, and Everyone knows it's a special time of the year! But Our hands can Light the World of someone  who really needs it! I'm trying my hardest to find ways to do that for others, and I know that you don't have to be a Missionary to brighten somebody's life! Jesus said that "Ye are the light of the world!" (Matthew 5:14) That means you!

So go out there and Light The World this Season!

Elder Richardson

1) We had a little photo booth at our Light the World activity, and here's all of my district in a very dignified photo!

2) Here is the Thanksgiving Spread and crew!

3) These Hands will Light the World!

4) OK, I don't know what these are, but there are these freaky giant Baby statues IN A PIT, and they are in Palm Springs. It's Art???

5) Elder Mills getting a Manicure from Michelle (Teehee...!) 

Benjamin Richardson

California Redlands Mission

Feb 28, 2018 - March 3, 2020

DECEMBER 9, 2018 - COMMUNICATION ABOUT 

GRANDMA CLEA BEACH'S DEATH

FROM MOM:

Just need to let you know that Grandma Beach graduated to the other side of the veil yesterday afternoon.

I love her and miss her but am glad she is free from the limitations of old age.

She is with Grandpa and her son Allen, her twin brother Cleo and many others.  It had to be a glorious reunion!

FROM BENJAMIN:

Thank you so much for letting me know. I had hoped that I would get to see her after my mission one more time, but There's a lot of work that needs to be done, and so she must be needed on the other side of the veil!

Could you send me a picture of her and/or a picture of Grandma and Grandpa Beach over Email? I was thinking that maybe I could make a post on Facebook, at least in the Roy and Clea Beach group, just bearing testimony of the Plan of Salvation? I don't know, what do you think? Would that be good, or would that almost be disrespectful? I'm not too sure.

I love you Mom! I'm praying for you, too! I know that this is hard, but I know that Grandma is doing great now!

Elder Richardson