8" INCHES OF SNOW IN ONE DAY...

Hey!

This week has been alright! We had some fun but once again we just are not as busy as I would like and hope we could be. Once again about half of our appointments fell through which never gets easier. It is hard to help someone progress towards baptism when you are only seeing them once every other week. Tonight we will hopefully have another lesson with T.T.  I am excited to help her progress towards being re-baptized. 

There were really no highlights to my week unfortunately. We have been helping move a few people which is great since it helps us stay busy. We have also spent a lot of time with the Echo Canyon Elders (Elder Allen and Elder Page). They are both fairly new to the mish but really nice guys! Plus it is always nice to have more company than just your companion every once in awhile.

It has snowed a ton here. It snowed 3 inches one day but then melted, and like 8 inches yesterday and barely any of it has melted, and it snowed a little last night. There are places around our house with snow up above my knees!!! Here is a pretty funny story! We found a little snowboard in our garage so I decided I would try and go down the steep hill next to our house on it. Needless to say it was a pretty stupid idea and I ate it pretty bad and ripped my pants haha. I am fine though no broken bones or anything! It was pretty fun though.

Hopefully this upcoming week we will be able to stay busy and not have so many appointments fall through. We should be able to stay pretty busy between teaching, tracting, and snow shoveling this week which will be nice. We also have Zone Training tomorrow which should be fun. Hopefully I will be able to learn a thing or two as well!

It sounds like your week was not to bad aside from you tweaking your back, Mom. I hope you will get better soon and will be back to your normal self! By the way I have heard of the movie Frozen and somebody showed us some song from that movie that Alex Boye and an 11 year old girl covered. It was really good and I have actually been trying to learn it on the piano. I have about half of it down. The song is called LET IT GO, I believe.

Sounds like a lot of missionaries are getting there calls or leaving for their mish lately. It is crazy to see how the outlook of serving a mission has changed along with the age change! It is incredible! The work truly is moving forward and hastening and I am so glad to be a part of it even if it isn't the easiest thing at times. 

Well transfers are coming up this next week!! Pretty crazy how fast this transfer has gone by. I have decided I do not care whether I stay or go. 

I love you guys tons!!! I hope you have a great week and help another person feel happier!!!

-Elder RIchardson

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Hey Dad!!

This week has definitely been cold and snowy! It has not been as cold as I have seen it before but it was cold! It also snowed a ton again! It snowed like 8-10" yesterday I believe. This is the most snow I have seen since I have been in Billings!

I tried to have a little fun with a snowboard we found in our garage one day but it didn't wok out to well and I ripped my pants and cut my shin up! Haha. I can see you just shaking you head and saying I told you it was a stupid idea if you were there!!! Don't you just love how he told me a different version in his letter to me! I am honestly tired of Winter and can not wait for things to start warming up again!

I have had a ton of fun hanging out with other missionaries! If we had all night UNO nights or pizza nights we would get in trouble though. Our mission is very strict on not having missionaries stay overnight and staying in your assigned area!! Kind of a bummer but rules are rules!

We got to see a tiny bit of a basketball game at Red Robin when we ate there with a member! We also got to see USA lose to Finland at hockey while we were at Red Robin. That kind of sucks we took second in total Medals. Although I don't really know how good we usually do so maybe that is good! I do miss watching the Olympics but that is alright!

I am glad you and mom got to go to the temple together! I miss going to the Temple although I think we are going to try and go this week if we can!! I hope we can! I miss the Temple so much. We can walk to the Temple in like 15 minutes from our house which is way cool!!

As far as transfers go I have no Idea whether I will be staying or going. I used to think I had an idea about transfers, but after the last 3 transfers I have no Idea. I really don't care either way if I stay or go! It would be nice to stay in the area but I really miss having a car!! Haha. I am tired of walking everywhere in the cold and the snow! Either way I will do my best to work hard this week so the area is in good shape if I leave or stay!

Well I hope you have a good week this week! Get out and shoot your bow some or find a sweet spot for the trail camera!! To answer your question about seeing wildlife in Billings - we don't haha. I have seen like 5 deer since I have been here! Kind of a bummer. Although we had dinner with a member in our ward who is also a dentist. Any way he is a big elk hunter and he happens to be a big bowhunter! He shoots a Bowtech Experience and also has a Destroyer 350 for a back up bow! We had a good time talking about hunting and bows although it made me miss home and wish I was going to be home this September so we could go chase some elk somewhere! 

Oh well, next year I guess!!

Love you tons!!!

-Jake

(10) LESSONS IN ONE DAY!

Hey!

This week has been a lot better, or at least it seemed like it. We weren't able to stay 100% busy like I hoped but we did teach a lot more lessons than the past week and we were definitely more busy. We are unfortunately not working in the office anymore. They called a new office couple so they do not need our help anymore. We were really only there so Elder Short could fix those computers and that is done so we won't be in the office anymore. I really did like working in there though. It was a nice change I guess. 

Preparation days here in Billings are awesome. There are a lot of good basketball players which makes basketball a ton better. There are also a lot of missionaries I get a long with which  makes it fun. Tuesday was pretty good. We taught an excommunicated member named T. We really just got to know her situation and what she wants to do and helped her set some goals! I am excited to get to work with her and hopefully help her progress to being re-baptized! She is a super nice lady. We also taught a 89 year old woman named J. She is very religious. She says she believes the Book of Mormon is true and believes Joseph Smith was a prophet but says she will never change. I really tried to listen to the spirit to know what to say to her since she said she will never change. I asked her if she believed that God loves her and knows what is best for her. She said she did, so I asked her if her Heavenly Father told her that he wanted her to change would she, and she said she would because she trusts him. So I challenged her to read the Book of Mormon and then pray and ask Heavenly Father if he wants her to change! I am super excited to follow up next week and see what happened. 

Wednesday was an awesome day. We taught 10 lessons total on Wednesday. That is the most I have taught in one day on my mish so far! We taught 3 before dinner, one at dinner, and the rest after dinner while we went on splits with a couple of High Priests!! I went out with Brother Swenson and Elder Short went out with Brother Hanna. They are super solid members! Our dinner on Wednesday night was with a family named the Kazmierskis. They are a really nice younger family. They have 5 kids from 5-17. After dinner and our lesson we had like 20 minutes before Brother Swenson picked us up to go on splits so we played ping pong and basketball with their kids. It was really fun to play ping pong again! Haha. 

Thursday was good even though 2 of our appointments cancelled. Friday was kind of slow but we did get to go play bingo with some old folks at an assisted living place called The Tender Nest. Brother Swenson in our ward owns The Tender Nest and has invited the missionaries to help the residents play bingo on Friday mornings. It is a real good time and it can be really funny when the old ladies get a little flirtatious haha! Church on Sunday was good. We didn't have any investigators show up though. :/ Well that pretty much sums up my week.

To answer some of your questions my companion and I are doing fine but nothing has really changed and he was pretty depressed this week which makes it hard. It is really hard for me to understand that he literally can't just choose to be happy. I feel pretty bad for him and hope I can help. We never got back to teach the former NFL player. He will not return our phone calls or anything unfortunately. I have also not run into to Tanners cousin. If she is serving in the Billings area she must be serving in the Heights otherwise I think I would have met her by now. Also I have seen Tanners blog and have read his posts. Sounds like he is doing well and adjusting to missionary life! He did tell me about that weird water fight tradition. Sounds kind of annoying to me. I don't think I would be to happy if someone threw water all over me while I was in a suit!

It sounds like your week has been pretty hectic. It seems like you guys have gotten a ton busier after I left which makes no sense to me. I thought you were supposed to get to relax once your kids left home haha. I hope this week will be a little less stressful and maybe you will find some down time. I wish I could stay as busy teaching people as you are back home. I hope you have a great week and help someone come closer to Christ! 

Love you tons!!

-Elder Richardson

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Hey Dad!

This week was a good one! We weren't working in the office and we were able to get out and teach some lessons. Still not as busy as I would like to be but we are getting there! 

The ward we are in is a really great ward! We have gotten to know most of the families in the ward. There a lot of younger families which I think makes ward more fun. Our ward is pretty wealthy as well. Lots of dentists, doctors, business owners and CEOs! One of the dentist's saw my chipped to and told me to schedule an appointment at his office so he could take a look at it and possibly fix it!! I am pretty pumped about that! 

We get fed pretty regularly. Weekends are pretty tuff to get meals, but other than that we get fed pretty much every night!

I can't believe how busy you are!!! I feel like when I get home I'm not even going to see you haha! I am glad that with how busy you were you still got out a few times and had a little fun! I too can't wait until I am home and get to help you kill something! Haha. I am really excited to mess with some trail cams and find some honey holes!! 
Sounds like Ethan Snells project was a pretty big and long undertaking! That is good that you got out to help him and that so many showed up to help! I really wish to this day that for my project would could have killed bull frogs! Haha.

I cant believe it is almost 90 there!!! This week we hit 50!!!! So warm for us haha! But really I wanted to throw some shorts on. I am pretty tired of the cold. I cannot wait to come home for next winter! Apparently this has been a super bad winter for around here. At least everyone tells us it never snows this much or gets as cold as it has. 

Well do something fun this week. Keep shooting your bow and getting in shape. I think I am going to start running in the mornings once it starts to warm up a bit! I have got to come home ready to hit the hills and pack out a deer. Maybe even try to play some soccer haha!

Love you and miss you!!!

-Jake

(Jake knew that I'd be jealous of this pic - my fav when we get up to Mesa)

(Billings Montana Temple) 

(Laughed when I saw this pic)

(Cried when I saw this one...MISS MY BOY!)

WE MISS YOU ELDER RICHARDSON!

We MISS you Elder Richardson!!!

Happy Valentines Day

A GOOD & DISAPPOINTING WEEK...

Hey!

So this week has been pretty fun but kind of disappointing. I didn't see that you emailed me until just know so I really just wrote one big email to Dad so I don't have much to add. I really enjoyed working in the Mission office. I have a new respect for the senior couples that serve there. I t is a lot of work and pretty crazy at times. It has been nice though because it keeps us really busy and makes the days fly by! 

I can't believe this transfer is already half way over! Elder Short and I are doing better. We had what we call Companionship Inventory where you talk to each other about what you could work on to help one another out. I hope things will become a little better from here on out. He is a really nice kid. His depression hasn't really got in the way this last week since he was super happy to get to work on the computers in the mission office! I was happy for him that he got to do something he loved. 

It sounds like the new Temple is awesome!!! I can not wait to go! Sounds like the architects really put a lot of work into it!

I hope things with (name removed) go better. Just keep bearing your testimony about those things she struggles understanding. Make sure she is praying for an answer to her questions as well! I hope she will accept your invitation to go to church one of these times! That would be very exciting.

I did get your singles awareness day package! Haha. Thank you so much! I don't know of anything I really need right now. Thanks for asking though.

 I hope you have a great week and stay busy but not to busy!

 Love you tons!!!

-Elder RIchardson

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Hey dad! 

This week has been pretty good and pretty disappointing. :/ the good part is we got to work in the office everyday from 8am to 1pm. It was actually pretty fun and it kept us really busy. My companion is definitely a computer nerd. He is like top 25 in the nation at fixing computers according to some competition he went to. Who knew they had computer fixing compititions! Haha. So while Elder Short does that, I help elder Hopkins do mail, referrals, and baptism records.I really like working in the office but I don think I would want to be an AP haha. Not for me. 

As for the disappointing part every single one of our lessons we set up this last week canceled. One family even randomly blocked our phone number. It was very frustrating to say the least. Hopefully this week they will go through. 

We were able to go on splits with the high priests and go visit some people in the hospital. We had some very cool experiences. I was amazed to see the love one lady that was in the ICU had for others. After giving her a blessing she asked us to pray for everyone in the hospital because she felt bad for them and their situations. I was amazed that someone in her condition was still more worried about random people she didn't know than herself. I was very grateful for her and her example. Other than that not much happened this week. 

We got to go to steak and shake. It was my first time ever eating there. Apparently it is like a Freddy's but I like Freddy's better to be honest. Things with my comp are going well. We had a little sit down talk about what we could both work on to help each other out. I hope things will start getting better. It was absolutely freezing this week!!! We hit like -32 or something someone said! And it has been snowing pretty much non stop! I am pretty sick of this winter to be honest. I miss the winters in tucson although I do not miss the summers! Summers up here are awesome. 

I am glad you got to get out and try to stick a piggy. To bad you didn't see any. I do agree that I think finding them is the hard part. Once you find one I think it shouldn't be to hard to get with in bow range as long as you keep the wind in your favor! I hope you can find some! Maybe try off the hunter access road? I also remember seeing a herd of like 10 when we went on my last coues rifle hunt in that one canyon. Don't exactly remember where it was but or remember seeing some javelina. Make sure to keep taking pictures! I love seeing your pictures! Even though you didn't see any pigs you sure saw a ton of deer! I can't believe there was only one buck amongst all those does. That's the refuge for ya! 

Hope you have a good week and stop shooting signs!!! Haha love you tons!

-Jake

BELOW ARE PICTURES OF THE GILBERT ARIZONA TEMPLE. WE WERE ABLE TO ATTEND THE OPEN HOUSE AND THIS IS THE TEMPLE THAT JAKE REFERENCES IN HIS LETTER THIS WEEK. WE EVEN TOOK 'FLAT ELDER RICHARDSON' AND HE ATTENDED AS WELL :)

MY TEAM WON!

Hey!

This week has been pretty good. First off, I did know that it was Super Bowl Sunday yesterday and I know that my team won! Bro. Harris, the member we live with told us last night how the Seahawks killed the Broncos. Makes me feel a little bad for Peyton but hey the Hawks won their first Super Bowl! 

We were able to find a few things to do other than tract! It snowed a lot so we have shoveling a ton of snow! I actually find it fun and love seeing the look on people's faces when we are shoveling their driveways. It is also a pretty good workout which is nice. This week it is supposed to be really cold, like -20 or something. It is also supposed to snow a little more as well. It is actually snowing right now! I have come to the conclusion that I don't mind the snow I just hate the cold and I really hate the wind. Luckily billings isn't to windy. 

We were able to teach a few lessons. Mainly lessons to older people who are set in their ways. It can be pretty frustrating but just because they are old and stubborn doesn't mean they can't change! We also met a really cool guy named Tuff Harris. He is a potential investigator that lives a street over from us. He is a former NFL football player. He played at the Dolphins for a year and then the Steelers for 4 years. He is one of the nicest people I have met on my mission. He is very humble for being a professional athlete which I admire a lot. He is actually in the process of starting a non profit organization for the crow Indian reservation! Anyway he is very religious/spiritual. He has a strong relationship with God and is very knowledgeable when it comes to religious stuff. We discussed some of his questions he had about "Mormons" and discussed what he believes. We are going back to visit him this week sometime and I hope it goes well. He could be an amazing member of the church.

Things in the new area are alright. It is hard to stay motivated if we don't have a set appointment with someone since we don't have a car and have to walk everywhere. It sucks to walk forever to someone's house for them to not be home or not be interested. We are going to try and find some creative ways to help us stay busy this week. 

SOME ITEMS REMOVED FOR PRIVACY. I am going to work on being patient and understanding a lot this transfer which whether I like it or not, it is good for me. On the other hand he is very knowledgeable when it comes to the gospel. He can pull up scriptures like it is his job! I really hope this transfer I can help him realize his potential. 

Don't worry about not sending my package on time. It is not a big deal. Sounds like you had a pretty good experience with the sister missionaries. I like how you said you already felt like you knew Tammy when you visited with her. Being a missionary I experience that all the time when meeting with people. It is such a testimony builder for me. I know that Heavenly Father puts specific people in our paths! I hope you keep visiting her with the sisters and help her come closer to Christ! I can't believe her kid was in the rainbow brigade and knows Jeremy and Spencer! That cracks me up!! Keep up the good work and keep trying to be as missionary minded as possible! You are such an example to me!

Love you tons! More than I can express! I hope this coming week you guys can some how find a way to come closer to our Savior and Heavenly Father.

-Elder Richardson

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Hey Dad! 

This week has been pretty good! We have been able to stay fairly busy between a little bit of tracting, shoveling snow, and teaching a few lessons. It has snowed a lot. Well I think it is a lot. People around here probably think it is child's play, but this is apparently the 5th most snowy January in billings. Pretty crazy. I have been kind of struggling with my companion though. SOME ITEMS REMOVED FOR PRIVACY.

It sounds like you had a pretty good week. I bet it feels good to have been able to get within bow range of those 2 small bucks! Now you just have to do that to a big one! I have to be honest... I am pretty happy you didn't shoot a dear this January, that way I can be there with you this year. Just make sure the .270 is warmed up when I get home this November and we will put down a couple 100" coues!!!! I hope you can get into some pigs this February! I would love nothing more than to get a picture of you sitting behind a big ole' javi! Just glass until your eyes hurt and you'll find them! There isn't much wildlife here in Billings unfortunately. I have seen like 4 deer so far and they were all does. To answer your question about putting in for elk... I would say just buy us both bonus points. If you put in for a elk hunt and got drawn I would die!! I don't know if I could help myself from coming home a couple months early... So I say just buy us both points! 

The trail cam pics you sent were awesome! You definitely get better pics when the camera is actually over water so the deer aren't moving! It is to bad you didn't get any bucks :/ so if you were going to purchase something for hunting this year would it be A. A new set of binos B. A new spotting scope C. More trail cameras? Just thought I would ask. It seems you are pretty frustrated without a spotting scope. Well I hope this week is great! Try and share your testimony with someone! Love ya tons! 

THEY WERE ABLE TO CONVERSE ON E-MAIL A BIT SO THIS IS PART OF THEIR CONVERSATION:

Thanks for the reply! Today has been pretty good. We spent a couple hours at the mission home so elder Short could fix some computers there. Sounds like he will be doing that for a good part of this week so I will be helping Elder Hopkins organize stuff/forward mail. Elder Hopkins is a senior missionary. We also went to Cabelas. They had the new strother bows there. The rush xt seemed like a great bow and it is really well priced. I am glad you didn't shoot one of the spikes. Haha. It will be worth it when we are packing out a nice coues but this November or your first buck with a bow come December or January! 

Thanks so much for buying me an elk point. I want nothing more than for us to go hunt elk together with our bows! We might have to go to Wyoming, Montana, or Colorado while we wait to get drawn in AZ! Pretty pricey but it would be a blast!!! 

Well Dad I love you a ton. Thanks for being the best Dad ever and a great example. If I can become half the man you are, I will feel accomplished! I look forward to sitting on hill behind a set of glasses on a cold winter morning with you this year! 

Your grateful son,

Elder Jake Richardson

Jake's home where they live in the basement