FALL HAS ARRIVED...

Hey!

It is really starting to feel like Fall around here now! Leaves are changing colors which I have never seen so it is pretty cool and it sure cooled off this last week!

It snowed for about 2 hours last Friday! It was crazy. All the surrounding mountains have a ton of snow on them. I am really not excited for Winter to come around. 

Starting tomorrow all of the Elders in the mission have to wear their suit coats at all times. I am not to excited about this as I am not a huge fan of a suit especially if it isn't really cold. But oh well I guess the rule is there for a reason and I will be blessed for following it!

So this last week was pretty good! We had a meeting with our ward mission leader and the Bishop on Tuesday night. It was great to have the Bishop there! We got a few names of people that were on his mind so that will hopefully keep us busy this week. We were able to teach A.C. again this past Wednesday. We taught him the Plan of Salvation and it went very well. It is hard to teach him because he knows all the answers to everything since his sister and mom have both had the lessons. I think they have had missionaries going over to there house for like 4 years. He and his mom came to church this week for all 3 hours again which was great! 

We had district meeting this past Thursday. It was a great district meeting especially because I didn't have to do anything this time and just got to sit back and listen. Our District is HUGE! We have 14 missionaries in our District and our district is bigger than at least 5 of our Zones! It feels like going to a Zone Conference instead of a district meeting! 

On Friday we were able to do some service for a lady the 2nd ward sisters know. The Lady owns a little Bed and Breakfast type place and needed some help fixing it up. We helped her paint and patch some holes in the ceiling with dry wall. It was pretty sweet to do the dry wall since I have never done anything like that before! 

This Sunday was our fast Sunday and the 5th Sunday so it was combined for the 3rd hour! Bishop asked us (Elder Wood and I) to go up a share our most spiritual experience we have had so far. It was pretty nerve racking but not as bad as speaking in sacrament so it was ok. I actually really enjoyed the combined last hour. Bishop asked 3 more people other than us to do the same thing and then opened the time up to whoever else wanted to share a spiritual experience. It was pretty cool.

That is crazy Elder Sagers is training Elder Wiggins! So sweet. Elder Sagers will be a good trainer and Elder Wiggins will learn a lot from him! I can't wait to see Elder Wiggins! I hope he is enjoying his time out here so far. Man does time fly on your mission. I cannot believe I have been out almost 11 months! It is crazy.

I love you all so much and hope your week goes well. This whole government shutting down thing is kind of scaring me so hopefully that doesn't last long.

-Elder Richardson

WE JUST KEEP ON...KEEPIN ON!

Hey guys!

This week was about the same as the others! I feel like all we do is the same old tedious stuff! I wish there would be a change or someone new to teach. I think that is the hardest thing about missionary work. Well we will just keep on keepin on! 

We had a good day at church! We had dinner with a part member family and the husband who isn't a member showed up at church yesterday! We didn't see him until after sacrament meeting when he came up and said hi! I got the biggest smile on my face and he was surprised we even cared that he showed up! I told him he made my week by coming to church! He is such a nice guy and would be such a good member of the church I just don't know how we are going to get through to him! 

Unfortunately we were not able to teach A. this week because his family was so busy, but we set an appointment for this Wednesday! He is such a good kid. Him and his mom came to church yesterday and stayed for all 3 hours! I think the Mom is starting to realize the blessings you get for coming to church in not only her life but in her kids lives as well!

I have been starting to feel fall approaching. It is not a good thing - I am already getting cold! It got down in the 50's one day and was pretty windy and I was super cold! It should not be like this in September! There is already some snow on the surrounding mountains. Also people keep talking about how it is going to freeze soon whatever that means. I think it has something to do with their gardens? It doesn't sound like a good thing either so I hope it doesn't happen! No  -leaves haven't started to change yet. I am excited to see what fall looks like in person haha! I don't think I ever have.

I am glad you and Jessica are doing things together! I think that is great! I am also pumped that she did good on her talk! I wish I could have been there to hear it so bad!!!! I wonder who the kid was that came up to her? Ask her if he had a shaved head like almost bald. I think I might know who it is.

Man that is so cool to hear Ty is the new Young Men's President! 

He will be such a sweet leader!!! I wonder what kind of activities they will do with him in there! Maybe they will get to go to the black river again that would be way sweet. 

I found out Ty's nephew was trained by Elder Griffith, my first companion here in Cody! Elder Griffith is a good missionary and very strict, so I am sure Elder Hampton was trained well and will be an outstanding missionary! I hope I get to meet him at some point!

Well I love and miss you more than anything! I hope you have a great week!

-Elder Richardson



WEEKLY CHALLENGE:

Start preparing now for General Conference. It is a wonderful time to be able to hear from our church leaders and learn and grow in new ways as we strengthen our relationship with the Lord.

STAYING IN CODY!

Hey guys!

First off, transfer news! I am staying in Cody another transfer and I will be with the same companion. I am just going to write one joint letter this week as we are headed to Powell shortly for a Zone P-Day.

This week has been better but I still wish the work would pick up so we could have scheduled lessons every night. The good news is we were able to teach A. C. the first lesson and he accepted to be baptized! He along with his mom and sister came to church yesterday and stayed for all 3 hours! It was awesome and I am so glad their mom is making it a priority in her and her families lives! Other than that it was mostly less active work again. Less active work is a good thing, but I have been dying to teach one of the actual 4 lessons to an investigator. I am really trying to step it up this transfer so that we will have more missionary work to do! I am excited to see what the transfer ahead will bring.

Yesterday at church was alright. We found out around 10 p.m. on Saturday night that we needed to teach Gospel Principles since both teachers were not going to be at church. So that went interesting. It didn't go to bad but I had to teach the lesson basically by myself which was not the original plan. 

We had a young lady in the ward give her farewell this week. She is headed to Gilbert Arizona! There is also another guy who just left on his mission for Tempe AZ but he came home from the MTC. :/

Jessica - So about your talk, I would focus on what being a disciple is (A follower of Christ) and what a disciples role is. I would also talk about the covenants you made when you were baptized and what it means to take upon you the name of Christ. Hope this helps! You'll do great. Love ya.

I think that is about it. I still haven't sent that package home yet but I should get it in the mail tomorrow!

I love you guys a ton and hope you have a fun week!

-Elder Richardson

THIS WEEKS CHALLENGE:

Live up to your potential this week! Not just the potential you feel you have, but the potential the Lord KNOWS you have!

A PRETTY GOOD AND BUSY WEEK...

Hey Guys,

This week has been pretty good. On P-day we went golfing early that morning and had a blast! Although I still kinda stink haha. We played 18 holes and I shot 114! Anyway, then later that evening we went and tried to call in an elk but had no luck. We didn't even see anything. :/ 

Tuesday we had district meeting which was pretty good. You always learn new stuff coming away from a district meeting. The next few days were spent seeing less actives and trying to get them to church. We had a good day at church and had 2 investigators show up and a less active family! 

The most exciting news of the week is we got a new investigator finally! His name is A. (taken out for privacy issues) He is an 11 year old boy. His mom is a less active and his sister is K. C. who got baptized my first transfer here. I am so excited to teach him, he is a pretty cool kid. 

I think today we are just going to chill. Maybe shoot some hoops, chip and putt who knows. Tonight we are having a s'mores night. We passed out flyers and invited less actives and some non-members who might be interested in coming and we invited Brandon Davis and his wife so we will see if they show up!

We usually don't do anything for FHE but I have gone to FHE at members homes that we invite investigators to which is pretty fun. We used to have meals every night but once the wards got split it slowed down a lot! We had 3 dinners last week which stunk. I am getting sick of Raman haha! Jessica can't feed the Elders in her ward unless there is another priesthood holder there like a friend or Dad etc. 

A good deal of mail is any mail at all haha! I got your package which was awesome, a letter from Jessica Eberhard, and a letter from the Stake Presidency. I also heard from some friends from my last area. So really not to much but a lot more than normal haha.

 It isn't a good situation unfortunately. Elder Hayes the district leader has talked to president about it and we will see what happens. I know I have to get a Flu shot and I am not excited! Haha I will make sure to try the insurance card first.

That is way cool you got to see Safely (Elder Safely & his companion, Elder Bouhuis, had a great impact on Jake as he prepared for his mission the last 6 months before he left) and his wife and take them to dinner. I wish I could have been there so bad!!!!! Haha I miss so many of the missionaries that served in our ward. 

Love you guys tons!

-Elder Richardson

 

P.S. The challenge this week is simple... 

Try your best to do the C.P.R of the Gospel. 

Church

Prayer 

Reading

Try to say your prayers and read your scriptures everyday. Make it a point to get to church this week if you haven't been in awhile. If you are active try to do it with a good attitude if you normally don't!

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Hey Dad,

We didn't have any luck calling elk last week. :( We didn't even see anything it was kind of depressing haha. We did see some wolf poop!! That was kind of sketchy. We talked to a member who has an archery bull elk tag and went hunting this last Friday and Saturday a few miles away from where we were and he said nothing is talking. He saw some elk and one nice bull but said the rut hasn't started to happen yet. 

Another member told us he heard a few bulls talking over by Burlington which is about an hour away. Hope I get to hear some before I leave. The bucks are starting to lose their velvet. I am so excited. We came home and had 4 bucks in our front yard. The biggest was a small 4x4 but he was hard horned. Two of the smaller bucks still had their velvet and a forky had half his velvet hanging off. We also saw a 4x3 around town and he was completely hard horned. I like velvet but seeing a hard horned buck just get my juices flowing! Haha. 

Anyways hopefully next week we can get out and try to hear an elk bugle! If you kill a 110" deer and I am not there for it I will be super happy, but super angry at the same time haha! You have to hike a few miles to find those guys so you better keep riding that bike! If you just want to set it up there is a sweet place out by rail x you could go to after work one night and set it up I will send you the coordinates for it. 

Well I hope you have a good week! I will work hard this week and make sure to set the area up for someone else if I leave, or set it up for a great transfer for me next transfer!

Love ya,

Jake

For those who are not familiar with the hunting lingo Jake used..."Velvet & Hard Horned"...

The difference is moose, elk, and deer produce new antlers yearly (primarily males, except in caribou/reindeer). The velvet stage is the  first stage when the antlers are growing and they are covered with a velvety skin. Hard horned is after the antlers are done growing the deer scrape off the velvety skin leaving hard bone like antlers in the fall. This California girl has had to learn alot over the years :)

TIME FLY'S...

Hey Guys,

So this week has been pretty good! We haven't really had a lot more work to do, but I think I just had a better attitude going into the week and that made all the difference! Things with my companion are getting better. This transfer has flown by!!!!

Things here have been good. I actually got a good amount of mail this week which was awesome! There is nothing better than coming home to a letter! Speaking of mail, I did get your package!! Thanks a ton! I am going to send a package home this week with an sd card along with some other things! By the way does your camera you sent me record sound? Because I can't seem to get it to work.

That is way cool that they (Jake's Papa & Grandee who live in Idaho) met Elder White & his family in the (Rexburg) temple! He is a nice guy! I never got to serve around him to much but he was serving in the mission home when I came in to the mission and I saw him at meetings! He is from NY I think. His Dad has an "I'm a Mormon" video. I belive his Dad's name is Chuck or Chip White if you want to look it up.

I really enjoy being an online missionary!!! It is a great way to get a hold of people and set up appointments. Also we can teach lessons and answer questions using the chat. ait is a very neat way of doing missionary work and it gives us a break from the same thing day in and day out - so I think it's awesome all around!

We got to attend the Temple on Thursday. The new presentation is great. It was great to be able to go through the temple again. I hadn't been for 9 months! Some missionaries hadn't been in like 20 months! So it was cool to go thorugh with them. I also got to see Elder McKee (Jake's first companion in the field) when we went through. He is doing great and has been out for 16 months already - time has flown by!!!

Sorry this weeks email is so short. I love and miss you guys a ton!

-Elder Richardson

CHALLENGE: Write your testimony in the front cover of a Book of Mormon and try to give it out this week!

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                                                      Hey Dad!

We do still use the library but like you said it is closed today for the Holiday! So we are emailing at the Family History Center. This morning we went golfing with our ward mission leader, Bro. T. as well as Bro. A. We played 18 holes! I didn't do so hot though haha - but I am getting better for sure! Bro. T. was going to send you guys a pic of us.  Anyway this afternoon we are going to go up the Southfork and try to call in an elk. I know it is a little early for the rut but someone said they heard a few younger bulls talking down by Burlington and I might only have one p-day left here in Cody?!?

Church yesterday was pretty good. It is pretty nice to only have to go to 3 hours of church again. It also helps us get to know members of the ward better since we can stay for all 3 classes now which is good!! We didn't have any investigators at church though which was sad. Hopefully it will pick up.

I can't believe you got a bike! haha. Well now you can ride down and up to rose canyon this winter and get a nice work out!! How do you like it? Is it better than the treadmill? I decided I'm going to buy a pair of running shoes and start running in the mornings! All I have are vans right now and B-Ball shoes so I might buy a cheap pair from walmart or something. But I need to start doing something so I can look good for the ladies when I get home! Lol.

Anyway I hope you have a great week and thank you tons for the pics of the deer! I am going to send a box home this week with an sd card, some hunting magazines for you,  and a special surprise! See if you can guess what it is!

Love you a bunch!

-Jake

MORE ZONE PICTURES

 Elder Richardson is in the back row 4th in from L-R