WEEK 20 (Feb 1, 2016)

Week 20

Monday was a good p-day!! I am finding that every area does different things on p-day. This zone cleans the walls and glass of an indoor soccer field so they can play there for free. It's pretty cool I guess. I am also finding that living with members have their
benefits(: We went to Costco and I just soaked it all in haha it was so fun and I got all my frozen stuff to make smoothies and it was just awesome! We are still living out of our suitcases, but that was pretty much on the back burner because we wanted to go to Costco so badly!
Sister Tauala and I talked about the one on....and how she would go there all the time to get dads favorite sandwiches, can't remember the name sorry, after surfing. I think we went there!!?

On Tuesday we saw our old home peeps Ruth and Greggie. Greggie was sick last week so this was my first time meeting her. I just love old people, they are so funny and in their own little worlds. They ask us to do little things like open their blinds or put on their shoes. When we do lessons they say,"oh yes and uh hu" a lot! It makes me laugh.
After we saw new investigators named Mark and Ann. They are Chinese and know very little of who God is and who Jesus Christ is and the bible. They moved to America a couple years ago so their English is still in the process. The lesson was very interesting listening to how they grew up and how their people taught them that there is no God and now that they are getting older they are starting to question a lot.
We took a member with us and she was awesome! We also took her to a lesson with another investigator named Andre. He is a very interesting dude. About 70 and thinks he has already gotten the priesthood from the Holy Spirit and that in a dream he believes God is telling him to set up a church that was formed in the Old Testament, something like in acts or something. Pretty funny, he is going around and knocking on doors just like us. He really does love the Book of Mormon and reads it frequently. I am pretty sure we will have to drop him, but we will see. We saw a less active named sister Colvin. She was so close to getting to the temple, took all the temple prep classes, saved up to buy the dress and things and then she fell back and started smoking again....it was so sad because she had been smoke free for 6 months.
Satan really sucks. We are trying to re-gain her faith layer by layer to build her up again. She is a sweet lady that takes care of her husband who is unable to do anything for himself. She has a big heart and loves to serve everyone.

Wednesday was a busy day! We had district meeting where the mission office is. It is so weird to be so close to were all the office staff work and to be able to see them! Sister Tauala said that president Taylor took their whole zone to some water fall a month ago. That is so awesome!! I hope when he gets better I will be able to spend some more time with president and sister Taylor! We went tracking and also wet looking for past investors. We knocked on someone's door and they had moved but we met a new investigator named Mark. Pretty cool dude, defiantly into drugs, but got so excited when I gave him a Book of Mormon! He was so surprised when I gave it to him and he said he would read it and we could come back soon. We also found a referral, her name is Inna. She is Russian and has been on this amazing spiritual journey to find God and Jesus Christ in her life. She has a littler girl named jasmine and one on the way. She is so humble and has a big heart. She is pretty solid and has some questions about our religion and wants to know what we have to offer to help her find what she is looking for. We are super pumped about her! We got like 7 referrals this week!!! We saw Julia an investigator on date for the 12th this month. She has two cute Grandsons that live with her.

Thursday we saw a boat load of people, less actives, some referrals, a couple recent converts and a member family!  We are getting out of our car and walking a bunch because everything is so much closer and I am just loving it!! It feels so good to be on the streets and talking to people as they walk past us. It's a new kind of energy I haven't felt in a while!!

Friday was not supper exciting we just did weekly planning and saw sister Colvin and Julia again. We see them twice a week which is awesome! It's helping me learn how to follow up better!

Saturday we had a big service project with our district. We ripped out the carpet him three bigs rooms for this lady. It reminded me so much of when dad and I had to go rip up the cabin carpet because it had flooded. We spent all morning ripping it up, then we went to a meeting with our ward mission leader and then we did some planning and had to go back and help with pulling up all the nails and staples. It was a lot of work. We worked all the way until 4 and then we went to dinner and then the heilmanns drove us down the Gresham so I could see Eric get baptized. If I didn't already tell you I have gotten pretty emotional since being out on a mission so I was crying the entire time. The spirit was so strong there. I also got to see everyone which meant so much to me. It was a very special night. A night I needed and I am so grateful that Heavenly Father helped me get there! After the baptism we went back to the house and finished our service project. We also taught a lesson to the lady the owned the houses friend. She is Japanese and kicked with sister Tauala really fast. She wants to learn more!! Go service projects that break sister Richards body(:

Sunday was my first Sunday in the ward because we had a huge meeting with three stakes combined last week.  It is a good ward and I am excited to be here!! Although I cannot remember everyone's names that I was introduced to I love them all already. Sister heilmann came out with us last night to some less active families. She was so much fun to have out with us. After we came home to her husband playing the piano and we stayed up for another hour just laughing and taking turns playing stuff and singing hymns. Supper weird is you were to have peeked your head in on the scene, but it was a blast! I am so grateful to have such a wonderful couple to be living with. They are leaving this week to go help their family in Hawaii for 5 weeks and I might just cry when they leave. It will be hard, but I am so happy that God put them on my path!

WEEK 19 "The Week of Epic" (Jan 25, 2016)

The week of epic

Week 19-

Monday- what a crazy day getting everything packed!!! We met with Ricardo and Angi at 10am at the church and helped them find baptismal jumpsuits. Ricardo's was a tad bit small ha but it still worked! When Angie came out in hers she started showing off and telling us how good she looked. We all started laughing so hard.

Tuesday- Tuesday was the craziest day of my entire life. We were running around making sure everything was set for the baptism and we saw Ida who had just gotten out of the hospital from a stroke. We had root beer floats with her a chatted with her for a couple minutes before we went up to see bishop in his home before the baptism. We is starting to put weight on his foot again so that is good! Then we booked it down to the Thornton's home for dinner and Trevor told us he had two investigators for us. Hey are both his friends and they both are interested in the church. I was so happy for him and so pumped for sister staker! Then we headed to the baptism. The entire baptism had such a sweet spirit to it. Both Ricardo and Angie looked so happy!
Words cannot even describe how happy I was for the two of them and how humbled I was to witness this incredible step for the two of them. We made it a small goodbye party as well and a lot of the ward members came to support Ricardo and Angie and say bye to me. It was sad and I am going to miss all my friends so so much. That night we went to sherry's with Jan, Kim and Joni for the last time. It took me back to two transfers ago when we were sitting in the same corner table and I was freaking out because sister Okerlund was leaving and I was training. So much has happened since then and I have grown so much!

Wednesday came way too fast. The Morning was quiet and chaotic all at the same time. As we put my stuff in the car and drove to the stake center all I could think about was how everything I knew for the past four months is going to change now and I am not going to know anything anymore (pretty much dramatic, but you know what I mean. New area. New people. New changes). I said goodby to sister staker and it was weird thinking I wouldn't see her everyday anymore. I hope we get back together soon! We had a world wide transfer meeting put on by some of the 12 apostles and other members of our church. It was an amazing training focused on repentance and conversion. We are getting a new mission president while president Taylor recovers for a couple months.
It will be weird not seeing president Taylor but I am so blessed that we have such an organized church run by the priesthood and we have so many faithful servants of the lord that will step up when they are called and just get to work. The new president and his wife should be arriving this Friday. My new companion is Sister Tualua! She is from Hawaii and she is the bomb!  we moved out of where she was staying in a members home and went to a new members home. It was a lot of work and we traveled back a forth a couple times to clean  and get everything set up. We are staying with a cute family who just got back from a mission in Navhoo. It is going to be a new adventure living with members because I haven't since I have been out here, but sister Tualua has her entire mission so she will teach me the ways. We have a smaller area then Powell butte. It's called hazedell but I am so excited to get to work.

Thursday was a loooong day because sister Tualua and I were so tired haha. We haven't even really unpacked yet but we still worked hard.
It's hard to tell you about the people we met because I don't know them or can remember their names..it is very different here and I am going to have to get adapted to it. The ward and how we do missionary work it not like how we did it in Gresham. I am excited to take a lot away from this new experiment though! We trackted a lot and saw some less active people. A lot of them love in old folk homes so that is new! We did meet a sweet lady named Ruth who was just the cutest thing. She painted for a living and so she and I had a wonderful conversation about her history. Friday and Saturday unfortunately were a little slow because sister Tualua and I got some sort of stomach bug. we really aren't too sure of what it was or how we got it...we tried so hard to go out both Friday and Saturday, but we epically failed and ended up right back at home. We planned when we weren't sleeping and one of us would study while the other was sick. It was not a fun couple of days, but it was fun to get to know my companion better and let's just say this whole experience has brought us closer haha. We finally we're feeling better for church on Sunday. They are splitting up the areas around us and are forming a new stake so church was a tad bit different. We met at the local college gym and had over
3,000 people attending from two stakes. We had three 70 come and talk to us and we got to meet a new mission president named president Ferrin. He said he has some family in holliday, UT (a brother maybe) can't really remember where he lives but maybe you know him mom or dad? Anyways, He is taking over the duties of president Taylor while he recovers from his surgery. He is an awesome man along with his wife and they remind me of president Taylor so that's fun! This week has had a lot of fun changes and I am so grateful for all the experiences and all the opportunities to grow and learn! I hope you all have a wonderful week!(:

Ricardo and Angie's baptism!!! Goodbye Powell butte and Gresham.....

WEEK 18 (Jan 18, 2016)

Week 18

Monday: howerton-smiths, Davey and Tina (plan of salvation), hair cut with Chelsea
Tuesday: Kassi, Huda, Brady's for dinner, Tamra with sister church
Wednesday: Jim lee, Eric, Jim Davis and Davey with Kim, Lyle with Jan
Thursday: zone conference, Angie and recardo with Jan, clean with Jan, Carl and the bangs
Friday: Ricardo and Angi, Huda, Evon, Eric, Sonide
Saturday: Ricardo and Angi, weekly planning, baptism with Ricardo and angi

Okay ready for an amazingly crazy week!? It's coming!! So we met with Davey three times this week. We taught him the plan of salvation  and the gospel of Jesus Christ lessons on Monday and Tuesday and then Sunday night we went over with brother Mann who really connected to Davey at the pot luck. We talked about the priesthood and Davey said it was the first time he felt the Holy Ghost so strong. He said he is flushing his pack of cigarettes and he is going to make it to the 30th!! I am way bummed I will not be able to finish teaching him before he gets baptized, but I a, so pumped for the choices he and Tina have been making. I have seen a transformation in their attitude, language, spirit and honestly their outward appearance. They look happier and ye just have a glow about them. They are going to be so blessed and a year from now they will be able to go to the temple and that will be an incredible day. I hope I can go and see them then! I love that baptism isn't the end like most churches believe. The temple and salvation are the best goals!

Ricardo and Angie are both getting baptized this Tuesday!! We taught them about four times this week and Angi said she is off coffee, she is only drinking hot chocolate. They have been reading the Book of Mormon together and she said it is true and she is bringing her brothers kids with her to Church. They came to church this week with Eric their son. They were the cutest family ever! We also took them to a baptism Friday night with Jan. It was a couple getting baptized and both Angie and Ricardo felt the spirit. Ricardo said he want getting baptized without Angie ha it was awesome! They were both very nervous about what the white jump suit was. Ricardo thought he had to go find and buy one haha so this morning and 10am we showed them the font and got them both fitted for their baptism. They looked so awesome and incredible. The spirit was so sweet in that exchange. They are ready and together they will make it!!  Ricardo wants to listen to the Book of Mormon while he is on the road and bishop gave us he whole set of the Book of Mormon on CD's two transfers ago. We weren't sure who to give them to until Ricardo said that and then I knew...God doesn't do random. Ricardo is so excited, he said he could listen to the Book of Mormon all the way through so many times ha it was so funny. We are also getting him a present of hymns sung by the choir to help him know our hymns in church. He has some dang worthy goals!!!

We taught Eric this week the plan of salvation. He is so funny when he tries to answer all the questions like he knows it all already! I was like no Eric the question was suppose to get you thinking and say I don't know ha not make up lots of stuff. He is trying so hard, it is awesome! He is listening to the Book of Mormon on his phone and Trevor and Gabe have been keeping in touch with him even though they both have been out of town. They both have been so awesome for Eric and it is such a. Testimony builder that we can harvest gods field as missionaries and that even young teenagers can help in gods work. I wish I learned that awhile ago...so teens get out there and help the poor missionaries out! Eric is on date for the 30th!

We went over to Huda's this week and guess what!? She read the Book of Mormon on her phone! Sister staker is going to start going over and reading the Book of Mormon with her. She said she loved the stories and could really connect to shariah! She said she couldn't understand what "yea" meant....it was awesome!!!

Okay so if you haven't guessed I am leaving Gresham....I am super sad but also so excited. My new companion is sister Tualua (she is Tongan). All I have heard is that she is like me but tougher and stronger so I am hoping that means we will kick butt! I am going to hazeldell in Washington. I have only heard good things about the place and I will be staying with members!!! It is so weird because I thought I would stay here my whole mission, but I am too comfortable so I need to keep growing and learning through more adventures ahead of me so that gets me pumped(:

This week was awesome!! A good way to end my third transfer!! Have a great week everyone!!
(P-Day hike)

WEEK 17 (Jan 11, 2016)

Week 17

Monday we had no p-day because of weather. Sister staker and I were going a little bit crazy being cooped up for two days. We may or may not have snuck out and played around in the ice. Ha sister staker may or may or have fallen once....it was pretty funny. We had a good lesson with Kassi on Tuesday, but she won't give up her coffee to get baptized. Sister staker said she could sell all the coffee she had online and she would make a good profit. Yaaaa Kassi didn't take her up on that one. On Wednesday we met out miracle refferal family the catabay's. The weirdest thing happened when we pulled up. I had fracked this whole street my first transfer and I talked to one of Ricardo's sons and gave him a card. It was crazy that three months later I am back at the same place. We had a bomb first lesson with Ricardo and his wife Angi. We followed up on what the sisters in the had taught him at the visitors center on the restoration and taught him the plan of salvation. And he just soaked up the whole idea of the kingdom of glories. He joked around and said his wife wasn't going to make it to the celestial kingdom if she didn't get baptized, it was quite funny. Ricardo asked if we could come over everyday so he could be ready to be baptized...I mean who says that!?  We had a really cool experience with Tina and Davey. Tina decided to quite smoking cold turkey  and asked for a blessing. We asked brother Thornton (1st counselor in the bishop brick) to give it to her one. Davey said that he quoted drinking while we were there and we were floored. He said he wants to get baptized at the end of Jan and again we were floored.
Brother Thornton brought his wife who similarly was Tina's visiting teacher. You could say the sister staker and I are killin it in doing missionary work and making sure the members do their home and visiting teaching. Ha I love it. They all just clicked and sister staker and I just sat back and enjoyed the scene in front of us. On Thursday we had a lesson with Jim lee. It has been awhile since we have seen him due to the holidays. It was a strong lesson that ended in him saying he would pray to see where God wanted him to be. We then had another lesson with Angi and Ricardo and we met their son Eric, the one I talked too. We talked about baptism, the baptismal questions and read in 3nephi 11. It was so awesome, this family is golden! Friday we talked to Ricardo and Angi about modern day prophets and he told us he would pray for tommy ha he is a hoot. We also tackled the subject of the word of wisdom. Sister staker and I were kinda nervous, but that all disappeared when Ricardo said he would stop drinking coffee and that he had never touched drugs in his life and that drinking and smoking is bad for you. He said he loves God so much that he is putting him first in his life over everything else...again who says that!? He also told us he wants to tithe. We hadn't even talked to him about tithing. He said he wants to give back to God and his church because everything he makes God gives and blesses him with. Sister staker said we pay 10% and he was all steam ahead with that! I had to pinch myself. We had a pot luck dinner Friday night. It was a adult social that consisted of investigators, less active, new members and the auxiliary. We had a spiritual spot and played some fun get to know you games. We had a memeber named Tali who brought her sister who is not a member. We went to a baptism with Davey and his daughter who will be turning 8 in June. It was cool to see sister Thornton come and sit with them. It was so good for Davey and his daughter to be there.
We saw Tali's sister on Saturday. And guess what she brought all her kids and some of her brothers kids to church. A total of 8 people showed up form her family and then we had 5 more investigators come to church and 4 less actives. It was a bomb meeting because sister staker and I spoke on seeking first the kingdom of God. This week was awesome. So many miracles and I a, so blessed. One week from transfers so don't send me anything to my apartment address, just to the mission home until I know where I am going! Peace(:

What sister staker and I look before we go out....

WEEK 16 (Jan 4, 2016)

Week 16:

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! Hope you all have a great new year and have some awesome plans and goals to being even more awesome than you already are! I am defiantly making some big changes but I also realize that we can change whenever we want! We had some awesome things happen his week. I am running so short on time due to the weather and not having any wifi so please forgive me. Yes the weather has bees so crazy....it snowed and then rained and then froze. Everywhere was frozen over, it was quite insane. Church got canceled and we were not allowed to do anything until it started to warm up. Talk about going star crazy in our small apartment. I think sis staker and I named every one of our walls lol. We had Aton of time to study and I just soaked it all in. I learned so much  and am so grateful for the time to study and become closer to my savior and maker.

Real quick we got this awesome refferal from the visitor center. His name is Ricardo and he has put himself on date for baptism for the 16th of January. We called him  and he wants us to meet him every day so he can meet that goal. It has been such a miracle and blessing.
Stay tuned because we are going to see him Wednesday.  We met with Tina and Davey and met Tina's brother "lika". All less active and Davey the investigator. We talked to them all about the Book of Mormon and the importance of it in our lives. Tina said she is done she is quitting cold turkey with smoking. She is done missing out on all the blessings and she can't make Davey quite if she doesn't either. We were also able to help Tina's brother have a desire to find a relationship with God. He is lost and has a lot of fear about his life in the future. I could totally relate to him and sis staker and I were able to help him feel the spirit. We are working on helping the people we meet with feel the spirit because that's all we can do because that's the only person that can teach our peeps. We had a rockin training with our ward missionaries and we really had a rockin week!
Have a great week everyone and don't forget to pray for a missionary experience. Let God work through you as a child of God. You are his child and his instrument!! Peace.

❤️ Sister Richards

WEEK 15 "What...It's Christmas Already?"

Week 15....what it's Christmas already

Monday and Tuesday we were on exchanges and it was awesome. We also had an elder go home because he tore something in his ankle. He is home for Christmas poor guy and it is going to take a whole year to recover. He was so strong before they left and it made me not want to go home until I have finished my mission!!
Wednesday: we had a great lesson with Alex and sister Sosa. She bore powerful testimony of Joseph smith and this gospel in her life. Alex read more of the Book of Mormon and we committed him to pray for an answer. He said he would and we are so pumped for him to get one. The spirit was so strong there!!
Thursday: Christmas Eve day we were running around caroling and meeting with people. We had Christmas Eve dinner at Kim's house. I made breakfast crepes and homemade syrup and fried some coconut and strawberries with whip cream. It was soooo good -and everyone just loved it....thanks mom!! We went Caroling with some sister missionaries in their area after Kim's and it was so much fun!
Friday: we went to the hogan's for breakfast and to skype our families. It was so much fun! It was crazy that I was able to see their faces and hear their voices. They all look so happy and it just made me so so happy!!!! I was scared I would be in a funk afterwards but honestly they just energized me and sister staker and I had a good day! We went to Jan's To give some presents to the ward missionaries.
She gives the most thoughtful gifts. I love her so much!! We were running around the rest of the day and went to the langi's for dinner.
After we went to Tamara's and played some games with her and met her non-member family!
Saturday: okay okay okay this day was one for the books! We took Davey and Tina finau to the temple!!!!! Jan drove us down and man was it a tight car ride in her little Subaru. When we got down there we heard the prophets testimony and talked to Davey about why he stand out compared to the world. Then we went on a temple tour and had an opportunity to go inside the temple with them into the atrium. The spirit was so strong and both of them felt the spirit so strongly.
They felt relaxed and free. We got to talk about how the temple stand out from Satan and he cannot penetrate the walls. Many people enter the temple to get away from Satans influence in the world. We talked about their addictions and committed them come to the addiction recovery program the church has. After we went back to the visitors center and went to another activity center in the building and we talked about baptism and procrastination. They were both in tears and got the goose bumps as we put Davey on date. Them we watched a Mormon message and they both were in tears knowing that Davey was ready and God wants him to GET DUNKED!! Tina at one point was like, "what did you do to my husband!!" We were all laughing so hard.
Sunday: we sang in sacrament meeting and we are speaking in church in two weeks haha how fun!! We sat in the young mens class as they talked about missionary work and got to bear our testimonies. Sister staker told them all to pull out their phones and put our number in their phones and to call us if they needed any help! About an hour later a young man named Trevor texted us and said he needed help. We were so pumped!! We ate dinner and had a great conversation with sister church about missionary work! I love working with members!!!! Get those missionaries in your home and help them out!!


❤️ Sister Richards

WEEK 14 "Positivity in All Things" (Dec 21, 2016)

Week 14: positivity in all things

I am really starting to see the world so differently. I am starting to see the strength I have within me. A strength that has come from the fiery furnace of affliction out on my mission and in my past. I see the wisdom and knowledge I have gained about God, the atonement and who I am. I have been able to see what kind of a role I will play in my own life (thanks to me talking to myself all the time and rambling on and on) and for others. I have humbly seen the spirit work through me on a daily basis which I have never been aware of in my entire life. I have learned more things from listening to myself speak then from anything else, and that's really how they spirit can work through us, because I am not perfect, but he works through the imperfect. He is seriously the master at killing two birds with one stone haha I love it. Having talked to so many already out here I have been able to see from so many perspectives how much God trusts his missionaries and loves all his children. He has given me things that bring me hope and strength when Satan tries to attack me. I know I am attacked because I have a happy and bright future, and he does not. He can see my potential and he does not want me to reach my goal. He will never come in unless I let him walk in. He has given me so many reasons to never let him in. I am so grateful for my family and all those who support me. I am even more grateful for this gospel and my savior and my god.
Without them I would not exist. They are the center of my life. I know that this life is meant to be uncomfortable because that's how God works. If we were comfortable all the time we would never learn a dang thing, we would be lazy and have no desire to improve or get off the couch. I am mastering this in a new degree when I get home(:  I love that god has set that up for us because I know that is where his humor comes into play as well. God wants us to enjoy this life, but to live it with the spirit. Stand ye in holy places means more to me everyday.
We have the gift of the Holy Ghost which means we have the blessing of having it with us at ALL times. I never understood it until now.
Heavens, let him help you as you pick out the smallest and dumbest things like what toilet paper brand to buy at the store. He should be your best friend. He is the teacher of all things. He is our comfort and our guidance. We can learn from man (the world) OR from God (Holy Ghost). We have the choice. This gift of agency, life and a savior will never cease. The savior has done the impossible and has made all things possible for us. And guess what it all dwindles down to.....love. The love that a father and a brother had for each one of us. That is the spirit of Christmas and the essence of life. I am so grateful to be so far away from home this Christmas because my perspective is ever widening.  This experience will change my future.
I hope that I come back a person people won't recognize, but not in a negative way. A way that they can see my light, a light that will never cease, and have a desire to know the me that was there all along. The me that I had to find. I am finding her because I am finding my maker and my savior. We cannot control the things that have happened to us or the things that will happen. We can only choose what we do with those things that are put in our path. The choice is ours.
Embrace that savior and his example. Find him and you will find yourself.

Tuesday:
Today was zone conference. For any of you who don't know what that is, it is just a gigantic meeting where lots of missionaries come together from a couple areas by each other. The president and his presidency comes and talk to us and train us from around 8ish to about 4ish. We of course eat and have some breaks and we had a small Christmas program today as well. Needless to say I was spiritually edified all day and just loved and soaked it all in. Everything that was said was something I needed to hear or what my area needed.

Tuesday:
- we met Lindsay a very less active and her son Phillip. He is age nine and has a prayer box! He is taught an hour a day in the bible. He blew my mind. We had a wonderful lesson with him and we talked to him about the Book of Mormon.

Wednesday:
- The temple trip was amazing. I am Learning more and more how I can receive revelation while I am there. I love the analogy I learned about the temple and life. We work so hard to get to the celestial room and them so many even me just walk right through. I don't think any of us would just walk through heaven. As I sat there I had such a wonderful experience and honestly I really didn't want to leave!
-
Thursday
- We had a Artist, Ryan and guess what! Artist's wife was there! She is a doll and a gold mine! We had the best lesson with them yet. We talked about the plan of salvation and she said we should come back when she is off from work next week! I was so pumped!!!
- We had dinner and the mann's home. They have a daughter who is very less active. We met her at the Christ,as party and she loved us so much she made us a Christmas present and we are getting our hair cut next week and hopefully helping her get back to church! It was a miracle!!! She also has a son who isn't baptized.
- Alex was a new investigator. He is sister sosa's (less active) nephew. He read some of the Book of Mormon and we didn't even ask him to. He loved it and said he had a desire to keep reading it. He is golden!

Sorry this email is different. This week has been one for the books. I really don't think I will forget a week like this. Words cannot even describe what I have been learning and what I still need to learn. We had Phillip. At age nine he came to church with us alone. He sat through all three hours and loved it. He said he wants to come back.
He listens and retains things so well. He is a testimony builder to me. God really loves his little ones and knows how to hasten his work with them, as they, at such a young age want to follow God. He prays every night and he knows and feels gods love for him. He is the essence of how we all need to be. A simple child focused on gods love for all of us. We met with Tina a Davey and had one of the most spiritual lessons with them. They are struggling and being so humbled.
We set up a time to all go to the temple this Saturday! Pray it
happens(:

YOU ALL ARE SO AWESOME! HAVE THR BEST CHRISTMAS EVER AND DONT FORGET ABOUT CHRIST!!!

❤️ Sister Richards

WEEK 13 (Dec 14, 2015)

Subject: Week 13

Monday:
p-day was bitter sweet we had elder Martin and sister leudo going home. The joke I am sure with all missionaries is that they die. A lot of our zone is leaving as well so that was a bummer, but i am way excited for this new transfer. I cannot believe I am going into my third transfer. We had dinner at the hogan's tonight. We helped her set up and decorate her tree and we talked about her fun family traditions. I love hearing about all the traditions each family has.
She said we could spend all day at her house on Christmas which is so sweet and she said we could skype on her big computer with her good wifi as well. We did some service today and Heart attacked our three girl ward missionaries. We felt like they needed some extra love. They were all at Kim's house so that one had our hearts beating fast as we silently put them on her door and ran. The other two were easy because they weren't home. It felt good to let them know how much we appreciate them!!! We got a Christmas wreath for our door! No more Halloween decorations haha it smells like pine trees which remind me of home! The elders came and got our car miles and such and totally tricked us. They left our car open and I didn't even notice....I was so mad. They filled our whole car with balloons and streamers and crap as a goodbye party for us. Sister staker had a blast popping all of them with some scissors. We made quite a mess.

Tuesday:
Kassi read 1 nephi 1-10 in less than a week and just loved it. We talked about the chapters and had a great discussion on faith and prophets. We also talked a little bit about the temple, because we are going with her tomorrow after transfers!! We are so excited! We had a lesson with Sonide on faith and testimonies. She is such an awesome girl. We are working on finding her a home where we can teach her in.
The family we were thinking just had a baby. It has Raaaaaaaained so hard all week! It has been so much fun and so crazy. The drains will get clogged and so there will be huge ponds everywhere. Needless to say we were wet all week!! We have been handing out Christmas invites because our Christmas party in on Friday. We made contact with Yuki.
It had been forever but we were able to sit down for a second and really Invite the sprit in as we shared with her a scripture and prayed with her. She is hurting and needs some direction in life. She texted us afterwards which was huge and thanked us! Charnell and Jared are two new members in our ward who are less active. We went over and shared the new Christmas video and invited them to the Christmas party! Jan had a rough day so we bought us all ice cream and we talked and shared a spiritual message and talked some more. She is amazing and just needed a little extra boost!


Wednesday:
transfers were very interesting. I stayed in Portland and attempted to hear the transfer meeting over Skype. It sounded like the whole meeting was under water haha it was pretty funny. President Taylor talked a lot on faith. There were things that he said that was exactly what I needed to hear! After transfers we went to lunch with Kim and Joni and then we picked up Kassi to go to the temple. I will never forget this day! We listened to John bytheway on the way down the spirit just filled the car. Some of what he said was exactly what Kassi needed to hear. I was praying so hard that some of it would soak in. When we got to the temple we heard Christ's speech and as we listened the spirit just flooded the room. We talked with the sister missionaries there for a little bit and then they showed us the wall where they had all the apostles testimonies and last conference talks.
We had the, pick three testimonies to hear. The three that were picked were inspired by the spirit. Kassi started talking about what she had heard in the car and what she felt when she listened to the testimonies. The spirit was so overwhelming and sister staker and I knew we needed to invite her again to be baptized. After sister staker did the room got silent and Kassi put her face in her hands and started to cry. She had us all in tears because of the spirit that bore truth that God was ready for her to make that step towards him.
That sweet feeling never left me that day as we kept talking to Kassi and walked around the temple. I know she is ready and the spirit helped us teach her and testify to her that she is ready to enter the waters of baptism. On a side note I did see the crumps(:  We had dinner after we got home and rushed over to Jim Davis's. We read from the Book of Mormon ad challenged him to start reading it every day. He is a little bit of a pill but he has a pure desire to read and learn more of what God wants from him. The rest of the night was spend seeing Less active families and inviting them to the Christmas party (sosas, rich, Yate's). We also shared the Christmas video and a spiritual message afterwards.

Thursday:
Call me Cinderella! Oh boy, we cleaned for joni. She does so much for us so it was the least we could do for her.  if we ever need someone - which is often because we teach men too - she is usually able to come.
But she has been soooo sick recently. So we went over to clean. I don't think this place has been cleaned in the entirety of her living there!! And she has loads of cats - which is part of the reason of why she is sick! But it felt so good to clean her house. She told us it was the first time she had woken up not stuffed up....I was like well duh it's because we vacuumed and cleaned up 300 pounds of cat hair and dust!

We passed out more invitations to the dinner. We came in contact with Chris. He isn't doing so hot, he is losing his job, and he is still getting over his friend passing away. We still can't really get through to him - and he didn't come to the party. It's really so sad, but it's God's timeline not mine.

But later that evening we played 007. Sisters James Bond. ;) no we were at a house that we met this lady tracting and was super kind and interested but now she won't talk to us. So we knocked, and we knew she was home but she never came to the door. So as we were walking away someone was walking to the door so we asked him to give the invite this woman. As we got in our car and looked over and she is peering through the blinds at us. So we sat in our car, made some calls, caught up on some things and just watched to see if we were right and if she wa home. She never opened the door for her friend.
She just watched us through the blinds. I felt so bad for the poor guy. But it was exhilarating. You can tell I'm a missionary -- that sounds like the dumbest thing ever.

Friday
Jim! We took a different member this time and it was soooo much better!!! Joni, who we took, bore her testimony about how she reads the Book of Mormon everyday very first before she does anything else and will read for at least an hour sometimes up to 4 hours. With Jim we talked all about faith and testimony and then we asked what are you going to everyday to gain a testimony? And he said that he would read the Book of Mormon and hour a day! And he is the type of person that when he commits he does it. So cross your fingers that stays truth.
But it was so neat to have that member testimony there. I loved it!

Huda. Nothing. It's like pulling teeth, I was so sure a couple weeks ago and now I have no idea. It's just kinda difficult when that happens. But I will advice you -- don't play duck duck goose when a wolf is around. It hurts. A lot.

Christmas Dinner!! It was awesome! We had so many less active members there I didn't even know all of them! It was really fun. And lots if headway was made with each one of them. And so many members brought their friends. And you can tell it's not their time for a couple of them, but the fact they are getting to see the church is a good thing is awesome. It was so fun to meet everyone and see the Ward in a fun setting. The best though, the program was just pictures and then it traded off narration and the Ward singing the first verse of carols.
And at the very end we sand silent night. And next to me was a Jewish woman and that is her favorite song. And the spirit came in so strong while we were singing, I was doing a happy dance inside my brain! I know she felt something different, I just wonder when she will figure it out and want more. Her mom is a convert, that's why she was there.
But that's why we have those events and it rocked!

Saturday
We weekly planned all day!!! Oh boy! It was so productive though. I'm ready for this week!! We helped clean the Adams home for the last time. She sent me an email and told me we would stay in touch. That was so good. (Their house was molding. How do you live in a wet and humid area and still have your house stand?) We came home, and weekly planned more. Had lunch, made a HILARIOUS video. Our apartment only like 5 transfers ago was elders, so there are fists, dart holes, spray painted and carved initials every where, it suffice to me to say their mark has been left more than enough. So we may or may not have had a lot of fun making Santa beards..... :) :) when I found a hole load of shaving cream in my bathroom.


Sunday:
Was awesome! Lyle came to church and Steven (Huda's husband) and the kids came to Church. We set up an appointment with Steven and his wife and we are so excited to talk to them. Steve really wants to start coming to church again. He was glued to the speakers today and said he learned a lot. We was also able to talk to the bishop and I think that really helped!



❤️ Sister Richards

Week 12 (Dec 7, 2015)

Monday:
- We went trackting after p-day was over. I am finding more and more
neighborhoods that are in our area. Ha it is just so crazy. We have a
bigger area than I thought. Our paper map of our area that we have put
in our car is being more helpful then I thought. I'll make sister
staker get it out and find where we are and how much of one place we
have. I have also learned of the couple of places that I have been out
of the area as well....I'm still in training.
- We stopped by Jim Davis's home because his mother had just gotten
hip surgery. We brought by some cookies and a get feeling better card.
We reminded Jim to read the Book of Mormon. We killed two birds with
one stone on that visit.

Tuesday:
- We had interview with president today. I really didn't know what to
expect. I was excited and a little on edge. When I got in there I
learned that is wasn't that bad. We only talked for a couple minutes
and that was it. It was fun to see president Taylor and sister Taylor.
He told me sister staker and I would be staying together this
transfer!!!
- We had lunch with the croalls after. They are so awesome. We talked
about the ward and they showed us a secret order on Arby's. It was
delicious. After we went trackting as we waited for a less active to
come up from Las Vegas so we could help her move in. Our district
leader and his companion helped us move Ellen in. She is this awesome
80 year old women who just has the funniest spunk to her. We loved
moving her in and we are excited to have her in our ward. Sister
staker and elder Shamy road down a dolly after we were done. We took
some gansta pics and just had a blast.
- We had a lesson Kassi later that day. We talked about the plan of
salvation. She just soaked it all in and we had a great conversation
with her and her Book of Mormon reading. She is going to start from
the beginning. We cannot wait. We are praying she will have an
abundance of the Holy Ghost to the point that she will have a desire
to get baptized. We tried to invite her to a baptism but she declined
and said she would be at church this Sunday. Can't argue there!!
- We had a lesson with Katie and Peter. It was such an interesting
lesson. We walked in and they had a ton of things on the table. Their
bible both in Russian and English. The restoration pamphlets and the
English and Russia copies of the Book of Mormon. Sister staker and I
were so surprised. We also felt a little bit intimidated so as we sat
down we started pulling out a lot of things too to match them haha it
was funny. They defiantly have a lot of questions and concerns or as
mom would say red flags. We tried to address and teach them, but a
couple times they got a tad bit feisty and we had to back off so it
didn't become an argument. It is  not their time, but they really
amazed me because they are searching and studying the things we have
given them. All they need to do is open taker heart and listen to how
they feel. Katie might be ready to do,that, but Peter isn't.

Wednesday:
- district meeting was bomb. The spirit was so strong. We talked about
testimonies and what it takes to invite the spirit in a testimony. I
challenge all y'all to bear your testimony as a child would. The
spirit is incredibly stronger when we testify boldly and quickly. Oh
we also had to sing for district meeting.....
- We had a lesson with Maile about getting her patriarchal blessing.
It was so awesome, the spirit was there as well. We talked to her kids
about obedience. Just like how the 3 wise men were obedient and
followed the star.
- Trackting has been quite a journey. I feel like I am getting better
and being more efficient on the door step. I still haven't gotten us
in any doors though. Around this Christmas season we have been trying
to share the new Christmas video. Everyone tells me people can't not
say no to us, but all I have gotten are no's. It's all good though
because we both are learning and growing.
- Tamra fed us dinner. She gave us home made potatoes that were purple
on the inside and out. It was pretty insane haha I loved them!
- Jim Davis didn't just read one chapter in Moroni, he read 7
chapters!!! We had a great discussion with him on what he read and
what he learned.
- We are singing in relief society this Sunday. So we went over to
someone's house to practice with a couple others. It was fun and also
a ton of work. Tis the season.
- Training with the ward missionaries was good. We talked about
getting spiritual promptings to say things in lessons. We talked about
getting a second conformation by silently praying before speaking. It
was a cool training and we hope they can apply this when they come out
with us, because that is what we have been working on.

Thursday
- Tacking this morning was so fun we met this old women named Jenny
who let us in and we talked to her for a little bit. She has a Mormon
boss and just loves him and his family. She said if we ever need
anything to drop by her home. She was so sweet. We have a Christmas
dinner that we have been giving invited out to. I hope people actually
come!! We met David and Daniel trackting as well. Sister staker and I
both felt impressed by the spirit that is was one of the boys time. We
set up a good foundation with them and we are excited to go back or
hopefully see them at the Christmas dinner.
- Waiting for refferals shauna to come to Church (sang and met sun and
her son butler creek area)
- Sonide was a bomb lesson. We started reading from the Book of Mormon
and had. Great discussion. She is so awesome and has lots of
questions. She is defiantly ready, we just have to teach her in her
time.
- We went to the Marshals for dinner. They are a new member in our
ward. She is expecting her first child and they are both rock solid.
We are so pumped they are in our ward.
- Adams are moving and we went over to give them our last lesson with
them and to help them clean a little bit more. We started jokingly
singing at their door because we were a little late and they gave us
frosties from Wendy's for singing. It was way funny. We are really
going to miss them.

Friday:
- Lindsey  was walking home from Fred Myers (a grocery store) so we
walked with her to see when we could come over and see her. She wanted
to let us come over but she was hesitant about the fact that our
church came out with that new issue on gays. I know we have a modern
day prophet for a reason and I am so grateful for him. Satan is trying
his hardest to hit the church hard and he is doing a good job at it.
Sister staker and I are all gunned up and ready to fight back knowing
that we have the spirit on our side and that of course that we will
win. So many people have questions and concerns about so many topics.
It is hard to discuss them and keep the spirit there as strong as we
need it to be. It is defiantly a trial but I feel like we are doing a
good job and teaching and testifying.
- Jim lee. Came to our church to have a church tour. It went really
well. The spirit was there and we are excited to have him come when he
is ready.
- We did a service project after Jim lee's lesson. We went over to the
WARNERS home and scooped up horse poop for two hours. I will tell you
it wasn't my favorite, but I was happy to do some good!!
- Joni got a blessing from our district leader and his companion. She
has not been well. Her health has been spiraling down. It was an
amazing blessing. I am over and over again so grateful to have worthy
priesthood holders on hand at all times.
- Huda has been so sick. We had the opportunity to meet and get to
know her husband Steven some more. He had been raised in the church
but has fallen away. Jan came with us and we all had a very
interesting conversation with them. Let's just say we have our work
cut out for us....I'm pumped. We are going to try to teach them
together as often as possible. Oh and he didn't know we put his wife
on date to baptize her....whoops our bad.
- Bishop basically died when he went to go cut down a tree. He just
barely had surgery and will be out for several weeks....we went over
to see him and he was so out of it haha.

Saturday:
- We had our sake breakfast this morning. It was not a good one. I
didn't eat anything and I felt so sick. After we had to go over to the
Adams and help them move. There were lots of people there to help so I
stepped back and relaxed and helped sister Adams with some of the
smaller things. The district leader and his companion needed us to
give the restoration at one of their baptisms because they were
baptizing brothers. Our restoration was so filled with the spirit we
had three people crying. I was so proud of they way sister staker and
I listened to the spirit and were able to bring the spirit in a room
and to people we had no idea who they were. We both were touched as
well. We have power between us both and we are so excited to use it
more!!!

Sunday:
- church was good. The singing was okay. Just glad it is over with.
Now they want us to sing for the ward Christmas dinner though....oh
great.
- We had a lesson with our investigators named Artist and Ryan and
Antonio. Joni came with us and we taught them the restoration. It was
powerful and the spirit just drove everything we said home. All men
were listening to us and has questions after. We had a great
conversation with all of them.
- Christmas devotional was good. To tell you the truth I was so
exhausted that I took a short nap during it. Sister staker and I
called it an Enlightened sleep haha
- Erica one of our investigators broke her leg so we dropped by to see
how she was doing and invited her family to the Christmas dinner. We
were so happy to see her and make contact again with her.