MY FINGERS ARE TIRED!

Hey!

Well I just wrote a long email and it all randomly deleted before I finshed so I'm going to write a shorter one since my fingers are tired!! SORRY!

Anyways, this week has been great! Mainly because we got to see each other and talk over skype! I can't believe we only skype one more time before I go home! Man time has flown by! Well Getting to talk to you was seriously the best Christmas present ever!! I Can't wait to be back home for the Holidays this next year though! 

So here was our week in a nutshell! I was pretty sick Thursday and Friday (when we skyped on Christmas day...Jake felt like he was getting sick) so not much happened. Although Friday we had a good district meeting and we went out with Bro. Sorenson that night and taught a couple lessons which was great! Saturday we spent trying to find/contact people which ended up being really difficult and costing us a lot of miles! Sunday was great! We had a investigator come to church named D.C. who the other Elders starting teaching! I think she still wants to be baptized too which would be fantastic! It was the 5th Sunday and we had a great combined lesson on New years resolutions and setting goals! The guy who taught did an excellent job! 

As for toady it should be a pretty good P-Day because our whole Zone is getting together at the Stake Center in Riverton! So it should be a blast and I might actually get to play some B-Ball! 

Anyway,  I love you all so much and am so glad I got to talk to you this week!

I hope this week is a good one for all of you!

-Elder Richardson

CHRISTMAS SKYPE...

JUST LOVED SKYPING WITH OUR MISSIONARY ON CHRISTMAS - BEST PRESENT EVER!!!

LOVING THE NEW AREA!

Hey!

This week has been crazy to say the least, but I will get to that later! First off my new area in Wyoming is awesome! Dubois is so pretty! Pavillion not so much, but the people are awesome. We were only able to spend 2 days up in Dubois because we had a meeting back in Riverton on Saturday. Our Branch Mission leader there is so sick! He took us out after dinner one night to look for bighorn sheep but we didn't see any although we did see a herd of 60 elk and tons of deer!!! Our house in DuBois is awesome the Wind River is 20 yards from our back door! To bad I can't fish because the members that own the house we stay at said the fishing is excellent!

 Pavillion is a very big/spread out area. We went to church in Pavillion and ended up teaching Gospel Doctrine, which is no surprise since whenever someone doesn't show up the Elders are asked to do it -haha. It was actually a really good lesson and we even had a few people in tears!! The family we live with there is pretty cool. The Dad is a big hunter so we get along pretty well! Litterally everyone up here hunts it is great!!! It makes it so much easier to talk to people and help them feel comfortable around the missionaries! I feel that I was definitely sent to this area for a reason. 

Apparently we are going to have to regain the trust of some of the members though. One of the last Elders that was here is pretty bold/pushy/thought he knew everything. Everyone here that we have met has told us about him. I hope we can rebuild some trust and really get the members involved! Our Branch mission leader in Pavillion is very on top of missionary work. I am looking forward to working with him. 

We have a few investigators and one is even on date but we have not been able to meet many of them since we have been all over the place. This next week should be more normal since we will be in Pavillion the whole time! We have a car again. Our area would be impossible to cover without a car! It is nice to have a car and not have to walk around in the cold! We go to Riverton on Monday's so we can email since Pavillion doesn't have a library. That is where all that money went. I hardly have anyfood because when I randomly got transferred from Harlo after Elder Sagers went home, I had to leave like $80 of food!! So I am sorry about spending so much money and I should be good now since we get paid in a week!

I am so excited to talk to you!! We are going to be able to Skype from the Stahelis who we live with. I don't know there skype info though so I will just call you and figure it all out Wednesday. What time would work best for you guys to skype me? I should be able to do it almost anytime but there is only one computer so I will have to check with Elder Kilmon on when he wants to skype. It will all work out though! I know/have heard of three of the Elders you mentioned! That is pretty crazy! I will make sure to tell them!

Well I am so grateful for this time of year! I love the Christmas season! Everyone just seems so much more happy. my outlook on Christmas has changed since I have been on a mission. Which I am so grateful for! I am so grateful for my Savior and what he did for me! There is no better time of the year to be a missionary than right now! I hope you all will remember what Christmas is truly about! I love you tons and can not wait to talk to you in a couple of days!

-Elder Richardson

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Hey Dad!

First off you need to send me a picture of you in all your camo! Haha! I am glad you were able to get out and hunt a little and see some deer and a few bucks! I litterally could have killed 5 bucks within 20 yards of me in the 2 days we were in Dubois! 

My new area is awesome! Everyone here hunts so we should get along pretty well and hopefully I can use that to my advantage and get in some houses other missionaries could not! You would seriously love it here!

 I will make sure to send some pictures next week! I am going to keep this weeks email short since we have to go soon but I can't wait to talk to you on Wednesday! We should be able to skype so that will be awesome!

 I love you tons!

-Jake

ELDER RICHARDSON'S NEW ADDRESS:

Elder Richardson

11653 HWY 26

Kinnear, Wyoming82516

A CRAZY AND SAD WEEK...

Hey!

This last week has been crazy to say the least! First off, Elder Sagers was sent home. I am not going to go into detail about it, but it surprised both of us. We thought when they told us we were going to be staying together in Harlo he was safe and given another chance. A couple days later they called with the bad news! It was hard to see a good friend go home early from his mission. Especially such a great missionary like Elder Sagers. It just goes to show that no matter how good of a missionary you are or how obedient you are being, Satan can get to you. He knows your weaknesses and he wants you to fail! 

I was really surprised that they are shutting the Harlowton area down for right now. I am honestly happy to go somewhere where I will see other missionaries and have a change of scenery but I am not to excited to be transferred a week before Christmas! I just hope we can meet some friendly members this Sunday and find a place to Skype! I am so excited to talk to you guys!!! I can not wait. 

Yes - I do need some socks. I could use like 5 pairs. Also a couple shirts would be nice to. Maybe like 1 long sleeve and a short sleeve! Thanks! Anyway my new companion is Elder Kilmon. He was actually in my MTC district but went home after 2 weeks because of medical reasons but came back out like 4 weeks later. Right before our year mark he went home again for like 6 weeks because of medical issues and now he is with me. We don't have a lot in commen, but I'm sure we will do fine though! He actually arrived in Harlo when they came to pick up Elder Sagers. We will close this area and we leave tomorrow for Wyoming.

We are both being transferred to Pavillion, WY. Apparently there are only like 240 people there - haha! And I thought Harlo was small! We also cover a town called DuBois which I have heard is very pretty and there are about 1000 people there! Pavillion is also only like 20 or so minutes from Riverton I think so it will be nice to be close to somewhere with a walmart and what not! I believe we ill be on the North East side of the Teton Mountains and not to far from Grandee & Papa in Idaho. 

I thought I would let you know that I got packages from the Thomas's, Grandma and Grandpa Richardson, Jessica, and Grandee and Papa. I also got the card from the Westerns! I will make sure to fill out that forwarding slip thing today before we leave. I'll have to call the mission office and get it so I can fill out the form there. Also I will give you my new address as soon as I can so you can send your package! 

Not much happened this week with all that went down but we did get to do a few fun things. There was a basketball tourney here in Harlo and we had someone take us to the games 2 of the 3 nights! It was pretty fun and makes me miss playing sports a ton! Also we had a branch Christmas party. It was completely different from the ward parties I am used to. I am honestly pretty sure half the people that showed up  were not members, and they showed up just so they could have a hot meal. It was pretty sad to see that. But hopefully they enjoyed the feeling there. It just makes me that much more grateful for all that I have been blessed with. While I was growing up you always told me how much I took stuff for granted, and that is a understatement! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful loving family, a roof over my head, food to eat, and many of the things that I wanted over the years! It is crazy to see how the people live here. Back home kids thought doing drugs and drinking was cool but out here these kids would do anything to get away from the drugs and drinking and go to a nice college! It truly makes me realize how blessed I am!

I love you guys so much and am soooooo grateful for everything you do for me and believing in me even when I was so ungrateful and disrespectful!

I love you and can't wait to talk to you next week!!!!

-Elder Richardson

________________________________________

Dad!

This last week has been pretty crazy to say the least and it definitely hasn't been easy! With all the switching of companions and getting randomly transferred before Christmas. It is a hard situation but I just have to have faith that the Lord knows where I need to be! I have heard the area we cover called Dubois is super pretty so I am excited to see what it looks like. I was going to send home my binoculars but decided I might want to keep them a bit longer haha! 

Hearing about your latest hunting adventures has made my week! I wish I could be there so badly with you especially to see you stick your first buck with a bow! You better keep practicing out to 50-60yards! It isn't easy to get within 40! I am glad you saw some bucks to get your blood pumping! I was thinking you should try to take some video of your time bow hunting this year so I can watch it when I get home. use one of those video cameras from your work or something! That would seriously be so cool!!!

I am so excited to talk to you and everyone else this next week! I really hope we can find someone with Skype! I also hope we can find someone to feed us on Christmas!!! Yes - I am going to be in the same zone as the Lander Elders. I am just excited to be in an area where I can see some other missionaries for a change! 

Well I hope you have a great week and get to get out a little more to chase some deer with the ole' stick and string! 

I love you Dad!

-Jake

A SLEEPLESS NIGHT!!!

Last night Scott and I were looking at Facebook right before bed...and saw that Elder Sagers had gone home (he posted pictures at the airport with his family) - so this mother did not sleep very well last night wondering what was going on and how her son was doing. He was excited in his last letter to have have Elder Sagers again as his companion. Around noon today we received this email from Jake...

Just thought I ought to email you and let you know I just found out I am being transferred this coming Tuesday to a place called Pavillion, Wyoming - so don't send any more mail to Harlowton!


Then we wrote back for him to make sure to talk to the post office and have everything forwarded to his new address because a lot of you family members and friends were mailing cards and treats to him. We had a reply a few hour later from him...


I can't talk today as it is not P-Day but I am doing fine! I will tell you more about what is going on up here on Monday. Seriously though - I am doing fine and you don't need to worry! I will talk to the lady at the post office this Monday about forwarding stuff! I got a package slip today but I can't get the package until Monday since the post office is closed!
I love you!


So friends and family...PLEASE hold off on sending anything to Elder Richardson until we get his new address. Thanks for thinking about him this holiday season.

A NEW "OLD" COMPANION FOR TRANSFERS...

Hey!

First thing first, I will be staying here in Harlowton and my companion will be...... Elder Sagers! Yup that's right the one I trained. This last week has been pretty crazy with Elder Richins leaving and all. Elder Richins and I were under the impression we were going to Billings Wednesday night and I would wait for a new companion and come back, well that all changed. The Zone Leaders and Elder Sagers came Wednesday night and stayed the night. The next morning they took Elder Richins to Billings so he could head home and Elder Sagers was staying with me until transfers. He was told he was only going to be here for like 6 days. Well that all changed last night when we got called with transfer info. We found out Elder Sagers and I are both going to be staying here this transfer! I am pretty excited! I am a little unsure about how good Christmas is going to be in Harlo but at least I have a companion I know and like! Other than that not much happened haha. 

(Picture of Elder Richardson & Elder Sagers 03/13 when they served in Columbia Falls, MT)

We went to the sportsman's bar and grill for lunch one day and ended up teaching the whole first lesson to a truck driver at the bar there. We ended up giving him a hard copy of the Book of Mormon and a copy of it on CD so he could listen to it while driving his semi along with the first three lesson pamphlets! It was a very neat experience. We also got to go to a elementary school Christmas play which was fun. We were able to watch the Christmas Devotional last night which was so nice! I love hearing from the leaders of our church! 

 The weather here has sucked lately! The coldest I have been in has been -21 but there was a day it was -17 but with the wind chill it felt like -32!!!!! I was dying and yes we have to walk around in this crap! Haha. I wish we had a car soooo badddd! I guess this next week it is supposed to warm back up to like 30 or something so I am looking forward to that! 

That is so cool that you are going to go out with the Sister Missionaries! My advice to you would just be bear simple but powerful testimony! You will do great! I hope you have a great week! I can not wait to Skype you guys! Also I haven't wrote Barbara back because I need her address so if you could get that to me that would be great!

Thanks!

Love,

Elder Richardson

_______________________________________________________

Hey Dad!

Well transfer info came last night and I am going to be staying here in Harlo and my companion is going to be Elder Sagers! Kind of crazy to be companions with someone who you trained. He has grown so much as a missionary since we were together. I am excited to see what this transfer brings! I am especially excited to try some new finding ideas since it is around Christmas time. Elder Sagers actually came to Harlo last Thursday and took Elder RIchins place so I could stay in my area. He was only supposed to be here until transfers but President felt good about the two of us being together and decided to leave him here. I don't know how excited I am to be in Harlo for Christmas but at least I will have a companion I like! I just hope we can have a fun Christmas. I got spoiled last year being in Kalispell though.

Well I guess I can say I told you so! Haha. I knew at least one trail camera would get stolen! At least you still have one because I thought they would both be gone for sure! You got some pretty cool pics on that one though...but did you even get a picture of a single deer? I guess you learned your lesson though! Haha. That is cool you got to see some deer. Doesn't the December bow hunt start like this week? You better get ready! I wish I could be there so bad!!!!! I can not wait to be chasing deer with you in a year!! I am so pumped. 

The Christmas devotional last night was great! President Monson did not look to good though. Also I thought it was interesting how many visuals they used during Elder Nelson's talk. Looks like the church is really starting to use technology a lot more these days. 

Well I hope you have a great week and get out a couple of times to shoot your bow and see some deer.

I love ya tons!!!

-Jake

A GOOD THANKSGIVING WEEK...

Hey!

This week was pretty good but sad at the same time not being at home and all. It was at least different than a normal week which made it seem to go by a little bit faster! We didn't do anything other than e-mail on P-day. I think that is what bothers me the most about this area is that there is nothing to do on P-days! I think it would be different if we had a car but we don't haha.

 This Wednesday we had Zone training down in Billings. It was nice to go to Billings and see some other missionaries for a change! This was by far the longest Zone Training I have been to on my mission. We had to get there at 8:30 and we didn't get done until 4:30! I love Zone trainings but man this one was just to long!

Thursday was pretty good seeing as it was Thanksgiving! We went over to the Jacobson's and had a great lunch and then played legos and soccer with their two little kids. It wasn't to bad, we really enjoyed ourselves -but it wasn't anything like Thanksgiving at home! 

I seriously missed home a ton this week between Thanksgiving and the fact that Richins is pretty trunky seeing as he goes home this Thursday! I just can't wait to be home for the Holidays next year!! Other than that our week was really uneventful. :/ Everything was shut down Thursday and Friday due to Thanksgiving. I honestly hope I am somewhere else for Christmas but we will see what the Lord thinks next Monday - haha.

It sounds like your week was pretty good! That is awesome you got to be there to see the Davidson's get sealed together! It is so cool that their kids were so calm during the ordinance! I miss the Temple so much! I hope we get to do another Temple trip soon. I wished I could of been there :/

Thanksgiving sounds like it was pretty busy for you guys! 8 Missionaries!!! That is crazy! I am so glad their are members like you guys though that help missionaries feel at home at times like the Holidays! It makes it so much easier!

To answer a couple of your questions my comp and I get along for the most part but he has gotten pretty trunky lately I think it might have to do with the fact that he got his flight info and everything. 

I don't know if we are going to be able to get our own tree this year but we found a small fake one in a closet upstairs so we put it up in the living room! 

As for axe products I would rather have old spice than axe! I don't really care what scent just get like swagger. Wait until next week to hear if I'm transfered before you mail any Christmas packages!

I hope you have a good week! I miss you so much!

Love,

Elder Richardson

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Hey Dad,

This week has been pretty good. We were able to break our normal routine with having zone conference down in billings and having Thanksgiving on Thursday! It was nice to have a change and see some other missionaries down in Billings!

My comp has got pretty trunky lately which is harder. Seeing him make all these plans for when he gets home makes me think about what I want to do once I get home which isn't good! Haha. He flies home this Thursday so it will be interesting for me since I will be without a companion for about a week. I think I might just stay with the Zone Leaders in Billings but who knows. This week has by far been the slowest missionary work wise. I think it was because of the Holiday so I hope it will kind of pick up. 

We are supposed to be having a huge cold front come through which I am not excited about. We heard the high on Thursday is like 4 and the low is -9 and it is supposed to snow like 5-8 inches! (In reality Jake has experienced some pretty cold weather this week with -18 low and 2 degrees high and lots of snow...i'm sure he is missing Tucson!) It should get interesting! 

It is awesome that you have so many people wanting to share their testimonies that they line up! This Sunday we had like 16 people come to church so everyone gets to bear their testimony. I can't believe you put the trail cams at the azgfd drinkers! I will not be surprised if they are gone. (Jake was right...one of Scott's trail cams got stolen!) I would at least hike somewhere back in and put one where it has a better chance of surviving! Haha. I hope they are still there and get a few pics. You should put a label on them that says something like property of the US fish and wildlife service. I think the Pentax binos I used from your work had a label like that on it. You better start shooting your bow man! The hunt starts really soon! I can't wait to hear some hunting stories from you! Well I hope you get to do something fun this week! I can't wait to go hunting with you again!

 I love you!

-Jake

THE WEATHER THIS PAST WEEK IN BILLINGS WHERE JAKE HAS BEEN SINCE HIS COMPANION FLEW HOME BEFORE THE TRANSFERS