A LITTLE SICK...

Hey!

This week was pretty good but kind of all over the place with transfers and me getting sick. That's right I got sick! Elder Buntrock got sick like 3 days before he left and passed it on to me. It was pretty bad and I had to basically stay inside one day. I even got a blessing from the Elders in the other Laurel Ward. I am still getting over it but it is a lot better than it was!

So my new companion is Elder Natay. He is from Flagstaff AZ and has been out for 5 months. He has served in Butte and Helena so far. He is a nice kid. A little shy at times but a good missionary. We do not have to much in common. He was a bike rider back home and somewhat of a musician. Although He bought an Elk call haha!! He thinks it is the coolest thing. He is 100% Navajo and was born in Chinlee AZ.

So we were able to teach a few lessons this week among transfers and my illness. Lol- I think the highlight of our week was we got to go to our investigators wedding who is being baptized in a couple weeks. It was kind of an interesting wedding but good none the less. It was weird just to sit there while everyone else danced and what not. The DJ gave me props though because no one was dancing and he asked for song request and I went up and requested CHECK YES OR NO by George Strait and I got like 8 couples to go up and dance to that song!! Haha It was pretty fun and plus we got free food. 

Another highlight of the week was going to the other elders baptism. They had a Mom and her son get baptized this Saturday. It was awesome. I was even able to interview her son Jaedon since I am the new District Leader!

So you wanted to know what a District Leader does. Well you plan and run the District Meetings, do exchanges with the Elders in my District, report numbers for my District, and just make sure the Elders and Sisters in my District our doing well! It is actually a lot more work than I thought! The Easter Devotional went really well. It was more focused on the Atonement than the Resurrection because that is what President Mecham asked us to focus on. I will send you a copy of the story I gave a discussion on.

I think that thats  about all. I did get your Easter Package! Thank you soooo muchhh!!! I loved it. I miss Holidays at home! I can't wait to be back for this Christmas and Thanksgiving!

I love you more than words can describe and miss you tons!!!!

-Elder Richardson

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Hey Dad!

Man first of all those trail cam pictures are sweet!!!! Where was the camera at? What unit and where abouts? Seem to be a few deer out there and a couple bucks still packing headgear! Those pictures made my Preparation day. I feel like using trail cameras could be an addicting habit Haha! We may need to get a few more!

Well this week was alright. We got to teach a few lessons but not as many as I would like. It was tuff with all of the transfers and having missionaries stay with us and then with me getting sick! All in all though it was a decent week. 

We had an awesome Sunday with some really good talks given. We had 1 investigator there and 3 Less actives which was awesome! We ended up teaching Gospel principals which seem to happen a lot haha, but I like it. I feel like I learn more when I teach. Maybe it is because I actually have to pay attention. Who knows. Hopefully this transfer we will have 3 Baptisms. It is kind of a stretch but I think we can do it!! We will see.

This P-Day should be a blast. We are going golfing again! It is supposed to be like 70 degrees and not to windy! I am so excited. My companion said he would rather just e-mail all day so I am going with the other Elders and also a good friend of mine who is serving in Billings, Elder Allen. I am pretty excited and I really hope I can shoot under 100! I think my problem is I have a hard time staying 100% in it for 18 holes. I just can't take golf seriously for that long haha!

I hope you have an awesome week. I am jealous you got to have a nice relaxing Sunday and watch a movie. I can't wait to be able to do that again or just take a nap. That is right I can not wait to take a nap!!! Haha I bet you never thought you would here me say that!

I love you tons Dad and am so grateful that I have had an example like growing up to look up to!! I love you and by the way Happy Birthday!!!!! Wish I could be there to celebrate it with you!!! Just don't get to old and frail when I am gone!

-Jake

IT'S STARTING TO WARM UP HERE!

 GETTING GREENER

THE HILLS BELOW OUR PLACE

 ELDER BUNTROCK AND ME BEFORE HE WAS TRANSFERED

TRANSFERS, TORN UP ZONE, & A NEW ASSIGNMENT...

Hey!

Well I guess you probably want to hear if I got transferred or not. Soooooo I am going to be staying! Unfortunately though, Elder Buntrock is leaving. I was really hoping we would both stay but that is alright. He is going up to Great Falls and is going to be a Zone Leader which is awesome. He will be a great Zone leader.

As for me, my new companion is Elder Natay. He has been out for like 3 transfers I think. So still pretty fresh. I am also the new District Leader which should be fun/lots of work. I already have to plan out an Easter Devotional for our District. I am pretty excited though and I hope I can make an impact on those missionaries that will be serving in our District. I am really excited to stay in Laurel though. I already love it here.

So this week was pretty dang sweet! We had a lot better weather which brought more people to life haha. It got up to 76 at one point. There are tons of people out during the day walking or hanging out at the park, etc. which is awesome for missionary work. Although it did snow yesterday haha. The saying up here - "If you don't like the weather wait an hour" is so true.

Missionary work wise we did pretty good as well. We did teach S. again and she even watched General Conference and said that she enjoyed it but still has tons of concerns. We put 2 new people on date this week which is awesome!! The first one is a 12 year old girl named K. who has had the lessons before. Her mom is a less active member so we should hopefully get her active again as well. The second one is a 20 year old kid named T. He is Sister Betts (an awesome member in our ward) nephew. He just moved in with the Betts a month ago from Texas. He has had a pretty rough childhood and not the best examples, but is willing to change. We have taught him the first two lessons and he is loving it. He already said he wants to quite chewing tobacco and that he believes in Joseph Smith and the Plan of Salvation. Last night right after we recited the First Vision we paused and I asked him how he felt right then and he said he couldn't even describe it. He said he had never felt like that before but that it was awesome!!! I am so pumped to keep teaching him! This coming week should be good and interesting with transfers and all so we will see what happens. I think we are just going to go into Billings for preparation day today to say bye to all those that got transferred.

By the way I did get your package! Thanks so much and sorry that I forgot to tell you it arrived. Also I know Marlon's sisters Laura and Priscilla really well. Cooper dated Priscilla for awhile in high school. They are awesome soccer players and I remember when they made the U of A team. That is so awesome that their brother got baptized! Hopefully they will start taking the lessons.

Love you tons! Hope you can handle your new work schedule mom! At least it will keep you fairly busy!

I miss you lots but honestly, I kind of want time to slow down haha. I can't believe I only have 7 months left and although that may seem like a long time - it is going to fly!

-Elder Richardson

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Hey Dad!

So the news is I am staying here in Laurel and Elder Buntrock is headed up to Great Falls to be a Zone Leader. I am also the new District leader. I am pretty excited for the new things I will get to experience as a District Leader and hope that I can be a good influence for those missionaries in our district. Our Zone got pretty torn up so it will be fun to see who gets sent here to Billings. I am sad Elder Buntrock is leaving but happy that I get to stay. Laurel has grown on me a lot and I like it here.

Sounds like your week was pretty filled between work and church. It sounds like you had an awesome baptism though! Those are the best experiences! I do actually know Marlon's little sisters. One of them dated Cooper back in high school. They are dang good soccer players.

That is a bummer you didn't have much time to get out and about but maybe you will find some time this week. I am getting really excited for this hunting season!!! When do we have to put in for deer? It will be interesting to see if we can draw a December tag now that we have a few points!

I don't have much to say this week. I shared all the juicy stuff in my general email to mom and am to lazy to type it again so just read that email haha! But I am thankful for your awesome example and the unshaken faith you have in this Gospel. I really don't know where I would be at if I didn't have the great examples I have had in my life from You and Mom to my leaders and teachers.

I love you and miss you tons!!!!! Hope you have an outstanding week!!

-Jake

COMFY CHAIRS, CONFERENCE, AND SOME SERVICE...

Hey!

This week was ok but finished great with conference!

First off we were able to teach a few lessons but nothing really to spectacular. We did go see S. again and she read from the book of Mormon but is still having some struggles. She broke her wrist and it had been bothering her really bad so we told her we could give her a blessing and heal her wrist! She agreed to let us give her a blessing and in short Elder Buntrock blessed her that according to her faith her wrist would be healed and she would have all motion in her arm according to her faith. So when we go back this week we will see how it went. I am so grateful to hold the priesthood authority of God and upon my faith and the faith of others perform miracles in his name! I am going to send a picture of S. dog it is a German shepherd puppy but already weighs 115 pounds!!! She wants us to start walking him which should be a good work out haha!

As for some of my favorite thoughts from conference...

• Elder Hollands talk on defending our faith was great! It made me think of the mastery scripture Romans 1:16. That we should not be afraid of the Gospel. 
• I really enjoyed priesthood session and loved Elder Uchtdorf's talk on not sleeping through the restoration and how the restoration is still taking place. 
• Elder Hallstrom talk on change and becoming. I loved his quote "Who we are is not who we can become". 
• I also really enjoyed Elder Eyring's talk on Heroes and choosing our heroes wisely. 
• I also loved Neil L. Anderson, L. Tom Perry and David A. Bednar's talks. 

It was an awesome conference over all. We watched the two Saturday session at the Goss's. They are a fun young family. We played a little ping pong in between sessions which was fun. We watched the  Priesthood Session at the church. We watched the Sunday morning Session with a less active member and our Investigator T. at their house and they fed us an awesome breakfast. To top it off we watched the Sunday afternoon Session at the Elmers in our ward. We watched conference in their really nice theatre room. I'll send some pictures of us in the most comfortable chairs ever. It was pretty tuff to stay awake for that Session in those chairs haha. It was a great conference but I missed watching it at home. Pretty crazy to think I will be home a month after next Conference!

Well I love you tons and am grateful for all that you do for me! 

Thanks for sending some pictures - I love getting pictures from you guys!

-Elder Richardson

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Hey Dad!

This week was pretty good! My email is going to be a little short because we have to leave soon to make our tee time! We are finally going to go golfing and we had to get an early tee time because the weather is really nice today and the course is apparently going to be pretty packed! I am pretty pumped to play some golf. I will take some pictures and send them to you. 

Hopefully we will be able to teach a few more lessons this week though. I forgot to tell you guys that I got my teeth cleaned a couple weeks ago by a guy in our ward. As you know I have super sensitive teeth and hate getting them cleaned. Long story short, I ended up getting 4 shot so that he could really clean my teeth haha! It sucked but hey my teeth are clean!

It sounds like your week wasn't all to busy. I am glad you got to get out of the office a bit and do some fun stuff. I am pumped to see if you get anything cool on the trail camera. I can not wait to chase some deer with you again. I have found out the place to hunt elk in Montana is the Missouri breaks. You should do a little research and see how long it takes to get drawn for the Breaks!

Thanks for the sports updates. That is a bummer that the D-Backs are sucking it up! Hopefully they will step it up a little and at least score 6 runs so you can get some tacos! Haha.

Love and miss you tons!

-Jake

A TRIP TO THE TEMPLE...

Hey!!

First off, we just got done going through the Temple and it was awesome!! I seriously love the Temple so much. I am so grateful to serve in a mission where we can attend the Temple. I will make sure to send some pictures. (see attached)

This week was pretty crazy to say the least. I think the craziness made it fly by though. I can't believe it is already week 5 of this transfer. Monday night we got a call from the APs telling us that we had to go to Billings and pick up a missionary that would be staying with us for the next couple of days. Turns out he was trying to go home. He had been at the airport all day until the APs found him. They told us that we just had to watch him for 2 days until he got sent home. They told us that he was going to try to run from us and all this other stuff. We had to hide the car keys, our wallets, and what not. We also didn't get much sleep that night since they said he would try to sneak out. Well we calmed him down and he didn't try anything crazy even though there were a few times you could tell he was thinking about it. It was quite the experience.  Anyway along with that we went on exchanges for 2 days this week since Elder Buntrock is the District Leader. Those 2 things combined just made the week fly.

We were able to teach a few quality lessons. We taught an awesome family named the Flemmers this week who I think I mentioned before. We also taught S. again haha. I have had the craziest lessons of my mission in that home. This last lesson the Spirit was really strong and she admitted that she felt the Spirit. We told her that the Spirit was confirming to her that our message was true. We asked her for like the 100th time to read and pray about the Book of Mormon and she just straight up told us no even thought she understands she felt the Spirit during our lesson. At the end of the lesson I told her that she will be held accountable for not acting on the promptings of the Spirit. It was pretty intense and we weren't sure if she was going to let us in again but we stopped back by and she had actually been reading from the Book of Mormon!! It was crazy. I really hope she will keep opening up more to the Gospel.

We also got to teach the third hour this Sunday since it was combined 5th Sunday. Elder Buntrock taught the adults and I taught the youth. They literally just gave us the full hour which was hard to fill especially since getting youth to answer questions is like pulling teeth!

On a side note I got my hair cut and I got it cut different than I normally do for the first time since like freshman year haha! I think it looks good though. It really isn't to different!

It sounds like your week was a fun. I wish so badly I could shoot guns. I think that will probably be the first thing I do once I get released haha. Those pictures made me jealous. Mom, I am sorry that whole incident that happened at work. Hopefully it doesn't happen again.

Like you I am really excited about General Conference. We got invited over to a new family in the ward, the Elmers, house on Saturday to watch it and have lunch. I am so pumped. They have a sweet theatre room that we are going to watch it in and Sister Elmer is an awesome cook.

I will make sure to be wise with my money. I know I have been bad at that lately and I will make a conscious effort to improve. SORRY!!

Love you tons!

-Elder Richardson

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Hey Dad!

This week was pretty crazy but pretty good as well. We had some interesting things come up and had to babysit another Elder for a couple days until he went home. It was an interesting experience but you can read about it in my email to Mom. 

We were able to teach a few lessons this week which was great. We will hopefully have a Baptism on May 3rd I believe. It is for a lady named T. She is engaged to a less active member and has taken the lessons for awhile now. They just have to get married which is happening this month!!

 I can not believe it is already April. Holy Crap!! I don't have to much to say this week. We were able to attend the Temple today which was awesome! Not really sure what we are doing for P-Day today. We were going to go golfing but guess what... It SNOWED AGAIN!!! I am pretty tired of the snow and wish the sun would come out haha. Hopefully next Monday we can finally go golfing!

The pictures you sent me from 36b made me feel homesick! Haha. I seriously miss running around in the mountains down south so bad. There is a ton of water down there right now! Has it rained a lot this winter down there? To bad you didn't get anything on the trail cam! Where are you thinking about putting it now? Thanks a ton for the pictures though! I love them!

So last night we had dinner over at our Bishop's house. He is a sweet guy. He is actually an animal biologist as well. He works more with agriculture and their diseases I guess. He did teach me something that you never did though. He taught me what a baculum is. Do you know what that is? Haha He told us that apparently some biologist collect the baculums from animals they work with? Have you heard that? Pretty nasty if you ask me.

I loved the pics of you taking Jessica and Mom out shooting. Made me miss you guys a lot!!!  Did you shoot anything bigger than the .22? Also have you been shooting your bow lately? If not you better get on it. You only have like 7 months until I'm home and I need a challenge. Lol.

It is definitely crazy how many missionaries go home and get sent home. Since January there has been like 6 missionaries that have gone home in just our Zone! Pretty sad to see. Don't worry about me. If I was going to come home I would have done it a long time ago - haha.

Well I hope you have a fun week and get to out in the woods a little bit! 

Love you!!

Jake

Elder McGrath (elder in his zone & friend) and Elder Richardson outside the Billings Montana Temple

on preparation day this week - Tuesday April 1st, 2014