MY VERY LAST TRANSFER...

Hey!

This last week was about the same as it always is. We did have one pretty neat experience as a Zone. With the movie "Meet the Mormons" coming out on October 10th we were able to watch it as a Zone so we would know what it was about if people are to ask us questions about it. It was a pretty sweet movie. It was also pretty fun to watch it as a Zone.

So I am bummed about my transfer news but also excited because I know it will be a very strong last transfer!!I My companion is Elder McGrath who served in Canyon Creek (The other ward in Laurel) for 6 months, 3 of which I was here for so we know each other really well. I am excited to be with him but just really sad to be leaving Laurel. This has been by far my favorite area!

I was so pumped to hear about dad, hopefully it will lead to something! As far as my suit pants, I NEED a pair of suit pants for my charcoal suit! I don't have a pair I can wear with it. My last pair just ripped in the seat for the fourth time and I can't sew them anymore. Sorry.

Well I don't have a ton to say this week. Our hike yesterday was way sweet. It was very physically demanding and I am feeling it today a lot!! Haha, but it was worth it. I will send you some pictures of it once I get them from Elder Allen. I have sent a package home with some stuff for you and for me for when I get home so look for that this week.

I will get my new address to you as soon as I get there and know it.

I love you tons mom!!!

-Elder Richardson

____________________________________________

Hey Dad!!

This week was good but nothing to exciting happened. Unfortunately none of the people we are teaching made it to church which was a bummer. We were able to teach a good amount of people this week which was nice. We were also able to do some service this weekend. We helped put up siding 3 different times.

I am pretty confident in my siding abilities now. Haha. We also got to watch the movie "Meet he Mormons" as a Zone which was a blast. We also had a movie night with the other Elders and a family in our ward named the Elmer's. We watched "Ephraim's Rescue" in their theater room which is amazing! He said he watches football in there which made me really jealous. I can't lie I am pumped to be able to watch sports in less than 6 weeks.

Even though I am sad to be leaving Laurel I am very excited to be headed to Riverton and to be companions with Elder McGrath. It will be a hard working transfer which will be nice so I won't have too much time to think about home - which will be good. I am going to try and make this last transfer my hardest working transfer! Then I will finish strong and it will go by fast. Like you said it is pretty crazy how fast 2 years goes by. I have mixed feelings about coming home though. I love and miss you guys so much and miss doing normal stuff but, I am going to miss being a missionary a ton!!! It's a hard thing.

So those trail camera pictures are way sweet! I am going to finally send the box with the trail cam and ammo in it today or tomorrow. By the way if you could PLEASE make the trek and put a trail camera up here that would be amazing!!!  31.593204, -111.110718 I know some bucks have got to be in there!! It will be a climb but I bet no other people get up there!! 

Well I love you tons!! Have a great week!

-Elder Richardson

A VERY FRUSTRATING WEEK...

Hey!

This last week was actually very frustrating. Despite it being frustrating we also had some awesome experiences. Including the Temple and Zone Conference. We were able to go to the Temple as a Zone on Wednesday this last week. It was an awesome experience and a very relaxing/stress relieving day. I love the missionaries in my zone right now so it was awesome to enjoy going to the Temple with them. 

We had Zone conference the following day which was awesome. I don't like meetings very often but when I do they are Zone Conferences. Haha. Really though it was an incredible meeting. The missionaries in my District also loved it which made me happy. We learned mainly about finding, teaching, and planning. As a mission we are trying to go back to the basics of Preach My Gospel which we have kind of strayed from. Hopefully this will help. We also learned about leadership. The District Leaders, Zone Leaders, and Sister Training Leaders went in one room and all of the other missionaries were in the Chapel. I asked Elder Natay what they talked about in the chapel and he said they talked about everyone preparing to train or be a leader. As "Leaders" we discussed what we do and how we can work better together. It was actually a pretty fun meeting.

Now for the frustrating part. Literally every one of our set appointments canceled on us. We also did not have anyone we are teaching come to church. I was pretty bummed. Hopefully this week will be better. Our main investigator Amanda just found out that her Mom's cancer came back. Things with her have slowed down a lot since this trial came up. It sucks to know that satan tries so much harder on those people that are close to accepting the gospel and every time something like this happens I feel like he is beating us as missionaries and it SUCKS!! I hope this doesn't stop her from progressing but we will see. 

I am glad your week was a little less busy. I am also way pumped about the experience Jessica was able to have!! Listening to the Spirit and having faith to act on it's promptings is something I have learned a ton about on the mission. It is awesome to see it work though and what a great feeling to know you qualify for the companionship of the Holy Ghost. That is not so easy these days! I hope so badly that everything will work out for her! 

Elder Natay and I are both feeling better. Although we have to get flu shots by Oct.15 and I am going to need some money for that. Hopefully I don't get sick anymore though. Our ward was way awesome about helping us out though when we got sick. I can't tell you how many people acted like "Mom's" for us telling us what to do and giving us medicine and what not haha. The Laurel Ward is seriously amazing! It feels like home. I am a little nervous to see what happens with transfers this next week but at the same time I will be fine with whatever happens and besides, it is the last time I will have to worry about transfers.

I am not really sure about anything for my package other than the chocolate chip chewy bars (Which I thought you just buy) or gift cards for subway or mcdonalds! Haha! 

I love you a ton!!!!

-Elder Richardson

________________________________________

Hey Dad!

I don't have a ton of time left but I wanted to make sure to write you! 

I enjoyed your e-mail. I can't lie I felt awful reading about how you and Mom felt as Jessica and I grew up and the choices we made that made you feel like we could care less about the gospel and did not understand it. Thinking back on it kills me but to be honest at least for me I know growing up I could of cared less about church and I absolutely did not understand the church or the gospel. To be honest I went on a mission without the intention of staying on a mission and was mainly just going to try and make you and Mom both happy and I knew it was "expected of me". Boy how that has changed! I am especially grateful for you and Mom not giving up on us haha and sticking with it. 

I can not imagine having to go through life without the hope and happiness that the gospel brings so thank you for sticking with it and getting in through my head! It is amazing how much my life has changed in the last 2 years. 

Anyway, I think the chances of me getting transferred are not the best but you never know. I think I will be fine getting transferred or staying. I love Laurel and especially the people here but I wouldn't mind a little change for my last transfer! I do not think there is a very good chance of both Elder Natay and I staying and if only one of us leaves I think it might be him. They usually bring missionaries that are going home closer to Billings for their last transfer so I think I have a decent chance of staying. The members here are torn. I have some saying I am gone for sure and others think there isn't a chance I will leave.

I agree with your thoughts on getting the mule deer antlers mounted but I want to at least get them colored and do a European  mount. They are to cool of antlers to leave looking like they are ancient. Thanks for the trail cam pictures! That one buck isn't to bad. I think I would shoot him during archery for sure. I think I would pass during rifle as well although I really want to kill a coues!!! I can't lie, everyone here talking about hunting season has got me so excited to think we will be hunting together in like 2 months!!! Crazy! 

I hope you have a fun week and get to do something you enjoy. 

Thanks for all you do!!!

-Elder Richardson

A GOOD CHURCH DAY...

Hey!

So we are emailing today because we had some service yesterday and just didn't find the time between Preparation day and emailing. Anyway, the week was alright. It was actually kind of slow because of the fact that Elder Natay has been really sick. Go figure - and now I'm getting sick. I am not excited for the next week! Good news is Elder Natay is started to feel better. The best news about this last week is that Kasey (20 year old less active) said that he has seen a difference since he has been reading the Book of Mormon and praying everyday. He was also at church and stayed for all 3 hours!!! 

Our main progressing investigator, Amanda, also made it to church but had to take off after Sacrament meeting. :( We also had a sweet dinner with some members. Their daughter just got back from a mission and said her friend has agreed to take the missionary discussions! So we are pretty pumped for that!!! For not being able to do a lot with Elder Natay sick we still managed to have a good week just a little less busy. 

It sounds like you are having a fun time with my room. Haha. I am actually pretty excited/nervous to see how it looks. Also, about those antlers. There is a member here that I showed them to that said for $80 he could do a full shoulder mount. He does taxidermy on the side. He said if I bought the form, eyes, ears and had the antlers recolored he has a cape and would mount it for free. Something to really think about since it would normally cost like $500. Either way I do want to recolor the antlers. There is a Taxidermist here that does it really well and he said it would cost around $20. Anyway let me know what you think. 

For preparation day we went shed hunting and also checked out the new scheels. It was a good day. We (Elder Allen and I) found 5 antlers total. I found 3 and he found 2. I found one nice 6 point shed, a weird 3 point elk shed and a medium small 4 point deer shed. He found a nice 7 point shed and small 6 point shed. It was a pretty good hike. We also saw a small bull elk. the new scheels here is sweet. We mainly stayed up in the hunting and sports sections. It was pretty funny though because we were dressed exactly like a lot of the workers we got asked a ton if we worked there and I was actually able to help like 3 different people in the hunting department out and on of the guys said I was more helpful than the people that worked there. Haha! Not to toot my own horn but I thought it was funny! 

I hope you have an awesome week and even thought it may be busy I hope it isn't to stressful!!

I love you!

-Elder Richardson

 _____________________________________

Hey Dad,

It sounds like you had a very busy yet great weekend. I wish we had a baptism coming up soon but hey maybe this week we can change that!! Hopefully! We did have good week. We were able to meet with most of the same people. We had a good day at church with one less active and one investigator and her family coming. It was an interesting sacrament meeting haha. The last two meetings were good though. I can't really think of any experiences to share. We were able to go help the Smith's hang some more siding. There house is finally coming together. We have actually been able to do a lot of service lately which is awesome. I love working. It helps release some stress and it helps me not have such girly hands haha. I hate not having callus's on my hands.

Although you might be excited to hear me speak when I get home I am not excited. For all of the times I have spoke in church I still hate it. Although I do feel like I have improved a bit which is good. Do you think that they will let me choose my topic for my homecoming talk or will they assign me a topic?

Thanks for the sports updates! I have heard about the whole BYU thing and how they are "Killin' it". How are the colts and seahawks doing? What about the Oregon Ducks? 

I have heard you guys have been getting pounded with rain?!? Hopefully that is true. It might be a little late to help the deer growth out. Hopefully you get some sweet pics on the trail cam. Also I have a box to send home but need some money to get it home. So... if you could help me out Lol. Sorry. 

The weather here has been all over the place. We got down to the 30's and 40's for a couple days but we are already back up in the high 70's. I can tell you now that I am not excited for the cold to come or the grey days! At least I won't have to endure the whole winter and will get to have a winter in the desert!!

Hope you have an awesome week. Love you!

-Elder Richardson

P.S. I forgot to tell mom some chocolate chip chewy bars would be awesome in a package. Als o i would love money for some new garments! It has been to long since I got new garments! Thank you!!!

SACRIFICE BRINGS FORTH BLESSINGS...

Hey Mom!

I hope you get feeling better soon. It sucks to know you aren't doing well. It also sucks to find out that Mrs. C. has cancer. Hopefully everything there will be alright. 

Thank you for the update on Jessica. I am glad to hear she is still loving it over in London. I really hope everything work out like she wants it to. I would love for her to be happy! Looking back at it I feel like she was never really happy. Which sounds bad but is true. I hope this adventure will make her truly happy!

I am curious to see what you bought for my room. But if Dad says it is alright - I think I am safe haha. Really though don't go spending a ton of money on stuff for my room! Thank you though!

Well I love you and REALLY hope you get feeling better soon. I hate knowing you aren't feeling well! Hopfully the doctors can figure out what is going on.

Have a great week!

-Elder Richardson

____________________________

Hey Dad,

I loved reading your e-mail. I can't believe you were at church from 6:30A-8:30P! That is insane. I remember when I covered 2 wards and thought being at church for 6 hours was tuff. It must be hard but sacrifice brings forth blessings!

That is something I have learned about a ton on m mission! The Lord recognizes sacrifice no matter how small and blesses us for doing so. Being on a mission you have plenty of opportunity to sacrifice which can be difficult but man the blessings are worth it.

The work this week was unfortunately pretty slow. We were able to meet with Amanda again and we actually put her back on Baptism date. The only problem is the date is Feb. 15, 2015! She said she prayed multiple times and that was her answer so we are going with it. I hope so badly it works out and that she can be an example to her husband who is a inactive member. We were also able to meet with Kasey who is the 20 year old less active. We had a great lesson and you could feel the spirit. I hope he can start to recognize the spirit since that is one of his problems. I was bummed when he did not show up at church. Church was actually kind of lame unfortunately. We did have a sweet lesson in elders quorum though.

We also had a couple opportunities to do some fun service. The first one was for a lady named Vale. Her husband is out of town except for weekends and she has a bad back so we help here out here and there. Well this week she needed help with her horses. We went out with here and helped trim the horses manes because they had a ton of burrs in them. When we were out there I was petting one of the horses when all of the sudden another horse pinned its ears back and came at the horse I was petting. Long story short the horse I was petting jumped turned sideways and kicked me in the calf! It really wasn't to bad although it made me bleed! Haha. Just another battle scar from the mission. 

We were also able to help our Elders quorum president hang some siding on his house. I never knew how heavy that stuff is. It was a good experience to learn how to hang siding. It was also a really good workout.

So that is pretty much it for our week. Here is something crazy that happened this week. Some people a block away from us got busted for growing a ton of weed! Pretty crazy since we drive by those people almost everyday.

Well I hope you have a fun week and aren't to busy with work and church stuff so you can get away from things.

Love you!

-Elder Richardson

WORK HAS SLOWED DOWN...

Hey! 

This week was interesting. The work here in Laurel has slowed down a bit which is frustrating but hopefully it will pick up again here shortly. We have been ditched by our main investigator the past couple of weeks but she finally respaonded this week and agreed to meet with us! I am way pumped. Hopefully she will feel the spirit we bring and that will rekindle the love she had for the gospel. We continue to meet with Kasey. We actually have a lesson with him tonight. Hopefully we can get him to commit to coming to church. Church this week was pretty good. It was all about missionary work/church attendance. Sister Beets daughter, Bridgette, just got back from her mission this last Wednesday. She gave her homecoming talk which was very bold and good. 

I had the opportunity to go on a fun little road trip with Elder Bishop, one of the Assistants to the President this last weekend. We left Thursday afternoon and got back Saturday night. We went up to Great Falls to participate in both of the Great Falls zone conferences. We were given an hour to discuss extending a strong/firm baptismal invitation in the first lesson versus a soft commitment. It was pretty fun and I got to to see a lot of familiar faces and stay with Elder Buntrock. It was a great experience and a good time.

Just so you know, I am taking part in the purification process that is going on. Expect a box shortly. Although I can't lie I feel like I have just been rebuked. Lol. Anyway I am in no way, shape, or form a perfect missionary. I struggle with certain things and certain rules, but that does not mean I don't try my best to follow them it is just difficult. Also I am not sure why my emails seem so different since the 6 or so transfers have been what I feel the best transfers/hardest working transfers of my mission other than maybe the first three. With that being said I AM GOING TO TRY MY BEST TO FINISH STRONG, But I might still mention our fun preparation day activities and what not. I agree that I can focus my conversations with Dad more on missionary work and less on hunting which I commit to do. One of the reasons I don't challenge you to do anything is because that is all I do all week and I like to take a small break when emailing and just talk to my family maybe that is wrong but it keeps me sane! Anyway I love you both a ton and hope you have a fantastic week.

-Elder Richardson

Challenge:

Invite someone to be baptized