Skunk muffins and tartar sauce...... June 13, 2016

Just so you know, my wonderful companion says that all the time and it just cracks me up.

Thanks for the email. That was fun to read a little something from everyone. And of course I know that quote, get serious. And Camp Richai looks like so much fun! Glad you had fun!

This week was a good one. Our life is so crazy trying to cover two wards. But it's all good. 

Tuesday we had zone conference and it was really good. The theme was come and walk (shoulder to shoulder) in the light of Christ. It was just so good and I learned a lot. It was really sad though because that would be the last time that I get to see Hermana Tchan. It was very sad. She goes home at the end of this transfer. But I know that I will forever have a friend in her so it's all good. And my zone had the cleanest cars. Yeah, we cool. But then we went to our dinner appointment that night and we ring the door bell and they come to the door and are like, what are you doing here. And we were like, um dinner? They texted the wrong Sisters and thought that we cancelled on them. But they still fed us and it was the best chicken quesadillas I have ever had! Good times. Then we taught this 7 yr old that is getting baptized soon. He was so cute. 

Wednesday was pretty crazy. We got a lot of referrals so that was good. We also got to do service with the horses. In case you don't know, horses scare the crap out of me. But my companion loves them. In fact she used to train horses before the mission so I just let her do all the close to horse interactions. But we have fun. The horse we play with is named Smores and he head butted my butt so that was a little rude. But it's fun! We had a lesson with a recent convert. He is pretty cool. But he is struggling with the word of wisdom again so the lesson went way late. So then we were late to go on exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders.

So Thursday I went with Sister Kastner to the Parker ward. That was quite an adventure. So first of all they live out in the middle of nowhere so that was fun. But then Sister Kastner's tiwi card stopped working and she was not allowed to drive anymore. And I can't drive anymore either. So we had to bike. It was fun. I got super roasted though! I even put on sunscreen so you can't even be mad mom! But then the bike I was using got a flat tire. So then we just went around trying to contact people to see if they could help us. Sister Kastner is awesome. She would run to go talk to people. I was rather impressed. But we did some good work. We talked to this mother and daughter and their story is very interesting. So we gave them a Book of Mormon. We had a lesson with one of their investigators about fasting. It was really good. Dinner was awkward. But then we had another lesson with another investigator of theirs. That was good too. Then we exchanged back. It was a really fun day with lots of adventures.

Friday was pretty good. We had this really great conversation with one of our investigators named Todd. He is just recently divorced and has lots of questions. But he is pretty open to learning so hopefully he can progress. It was really cool though cause he wanted to hear about one of our other investigators, Amy, that has found truth. He thought it was so cool that she found truth. But the best part was his little girl, Decker. She was so cute. She asked if me and my companion were sisters and so we started to tell her about how she is a child of God and that we are all brother in sisters in a way. She thought that was so cool. It was so cute. So we gave her a picture of the temple and she loved it. She asked if we could bring another temple picture next time we came. It was the best.

Saturday was rough. Just cause it was so crazy. There was a carnival called Parker Days going on this weekend so we had a booth there. It was really fun cause we would have a set of missionaries at the booth talking about family history and then there would be like four other sets out contacting people. It was really fun. I talked to a lot of really cool people too. Some people really were interested so it was awesome. Then we went to do service at this food pantry where we sorted food and what not. I was so lost but I will get it down soon. After dinner we got into a contact with a referral and it kind of became a bash session. I knew it was going to go there but all I could do was testify of what I know. This experience really upset me but it also was very powerful cause I could feel a difference in the strength of my testimony. I had to keep telling myself, I know enough, because she was just pulling scriptures from the bible out of no where and all I could do was tell her what I know. And I know who my Savior is and that I can have the power of the Atonement work on me. I don't have to be perfect. I just have to do my best. Christ is my guiding light through the tunnel, not just the light at the end of the tunnel.

Anyway Sunday we were going from appointment to appointment from 7:30 in the morning all the way to 8 at night. So crazy. Newlin Meadows ward was really good. Lots of great talks about conversion and finding peace. After 6 hours of church we had to hurry to an appointment with Amy. She is so golden. She knows God loves her and the plan makes so much sense. She is so ready and it is so cool to be able to teach her. Then we hurried to dinner and that was fun. We had some really good burgers. It has been a long time since I had a good burger. It was nice. Then we had an active member lesson with the Nelson's. Their little girl was running around and totally ran into a corner of a table. It was so sad. She was very loopy after that. But then we finally had our last appointment for the night and we read D&C 121. I almost started to cry. I was freaking out all day about getting to our appointments and I was humbled by reading that section. Going about the Lords work can be hard and stressful but it is so worth everything. I realized and have accepted what has happened to me and that I wouldn't be the person I am now without those things that happened to me. I am stronger now because I was brought down to feel some small fraction of what the Savior went through for me. Elder Holland talks about walking shoulder to shoulder with the Christ and how we have to feel what he felt. He is there for us. He knows. 

Love you all! 

Sister Richards

So I forgot to tell you about this family that has the armor of God. So we put it on. It was way fun

I love to laugh, Ha ha ha ha June 6, 2016

Ok, let me just tell you something. I have not laughed so much in my life as I have in the past couple of days being in Parker. I am LOVING it here. It is so awesome! I am stressed out of my mind but that is because I am covering two wards! But I seriously love it. I just have to find a way to keep everything straight between the wards. Crazy!

Wednesday was transfer day and I got roasted from standing outside so long waiting to get transferred. So that was fun! But I got to see pretty much everyone because I had to take my car with a companion all the way to Denver and go to Parker from there. It was great fun. Not much else happened that day but I just love my new companion. She is so funny. She is from Arizona and has been out for 6 months now and she is a pro. She has already taught me so much! And we laugh ALL THE TIME!! Its pretty great! Also she knows movie quotes almost better than I do and we just have a blast talking to each other in movie quotes. It's awesome!

Thursday we had a really good district meeting about talking to everyone and teaching on the doorstep! It was really good. Oh and guess what? Elder Bird is in my district again! Haha! So that is fun to know someone else. But it's great! But after district meeting we went out and talked to everyone. It was really cool. Nothing really came of it but I love doing it. It's so fun to try and share some truth with everyone cause I really think Heavenly Father puts us where we need to be. Its been great! And being new in the area everyone, of course, is asking how long I have been out and I really cant believe that it has been 10 months. It's really cool though. I can really tell how much I have changed. It's so weird. But let me tell you, I am loving it! We had a lesson with someone recovering from breast cancer and she is so awesome! I love that she has really just found God through her trials. It has just been a good reminder that everything hard thing I have gone through has made me into the person that I am today. And I wouldn't have it any other way. We also had another lesson with a recent convert who just got baptized a week ago. So awesome! He is great. We also had dinner with the Bishop for one of the wards... I think it is Auburn Hills... But they are so cool and their kids are so cute. Boston has to be my favorite! Maybe I will get a picture some day so you can see him!

Friday we found a new investigator!!! It was so awesome! Her name is Sydney! She is 15 and is searching to find which church is true. We had a great lesson with her about the Restoration. It really just confirmed to me of the truthfulness of the restoration to me and just that this is truly Christ's Church on the earth today in its fullness. She also said she would get baptized if she knew it was true. Also she is already in 2 Nephi! How cool is she? I am so excited for her.

Saturday was really crazy. We had Stake breakfast as in breakfast with the Stake Presidency, and that was so good. It's really nice to meet with the Stake to really find out their expectations. We had lunch with a member at this Italian place and I almost ate squid but I legit could not fathom it... nasty. Then we had a very interesting lesson with another recent convert. It was awkward... Anyway for dinner we were still full from lunch so I just played the piano at the Church while my companion took a nap. I ended up taking a nap too though. It was marvelous! Then we found another investigator that night who is Hindu. That was cool. We talked to like three Hindu families. One became an investigator, Nirmala, and the other agreed to a Church tour so that's cool. So many Hindu people on one street! But it was great!

Sunday was rough... Only because I had to go to 6 hours of church. But it was awesome! We had 5 investigators come to Church! And we put one on baptismal date after Church! It was so awesome! And the Spirit was so strong in that lesson no one could deny that truth. It was really great! Towards the end of the night I was struggling to stay focused and coherent but we made it with another lesson about the Priesthood. That was great. The Priesthood is so awesome! I love it.

But that is my week. It has been so crazy busy! I don't have time for anything! I don't know how I

survive but somehow I do. But this is a great work we are doing here and I am so happy to be a part of it all!

I am so sorry you didn't get to see Paul mom. Maybe in the afterlife ;). That summer camp thing sounds so cool! I hope you have fun! I want a shirt!! :) I hope you are enjoying the two little ones! I am glad you get to see them so often!!

Well I love you bunches! Thanks for all you do and all the prayers and love!!

Much love,

Sister Richards

Talk about crazy......let me tell you! May 31, 2016

Our Lovely Sisters

Okay, first of all, Ella is so beyond cute!!!! Oh man those pictures are so fun!! I am so sad that I am missing all this wonderfulness! Man... But it's worth it!!

Okay this week has been crazy for real. Oh the life. But let me tell you about transfers. I am leaving Red Leaf and going all the way down to Parker to be in the Auburn Hills and Newlin Meadows wards!! Crazy! But I am super excited. My new companion is going to be Sister Larson. Don't know her but I have heard good things so it's going to be great! Also our mission is expanding. We received two new stakes from the Fort Collins and Colorado Springs mission. So that is fun!

I don't even honestly know what happened all this week. It was a good one though until the end when the craziness started. But we actually got to see a lot of people. We taught more than we have in a while and we handed out 3 Book of Mormons, which is a huge deal for this area. But now I am on to new adventures.

We had a really good district meeting and took lots of fun pictures. And then the craziness started. We got a call on Saturday from President telling us that a sister went home for health reasons and so we were now in a trio with her companion. I was super excited to be with Sister Tuitavake for her last couple of days in the mission but it was so sad to see her companion go. She was awesome. So it was really crazy because we were now covering two areas and trying to do everything that Sister Tui needed to do before she left and still try to see people we wanted to see because we knew that we were leaving. So I can't even tell you what happened cause it was so crazy but it was also really good. It was cool to be with her and see her teach her last couple of days in the mission field. We sent her away today so that was sad. 

Sunday I went to Church by myself.... but don't worry, I had a member with me all the time. But our churches started at the same time and we both wanted to go cause it was our last times there so we just split up. It was an awkward day for me. A) I didn't have my companion even though I was with other people, it's not the same, 2) we talked about eternal marriage all day, and D) I am just an awkward soul.

Yesterday was awesome though! We did a mission 5K since it was a holiday and we couldn't email anyway. So it was so fun to see everyone from the mission. But the running part on the other hand.... not so fun. Just kidding it was great. Our zone was the best though. So one of our Elders has a back injury so his companion pushed him in a chair the whole way. It was awesome. And we handed out a Book of Mormon. Good times! It probably wasn't really 3 miles but it sure did feel like it. But it was so fun. We all just had a blast. I got to see so many people. It was great.

Sorry I wish I had more things to tell you but my brain is so scatterbrained and stressed that nothing else is coming to my mind. But I will send pictures! :)

Anyway I am so grateful to be out here doing the Lords work and serving these people. I hope you all have a wonderful week and give lots of hugs and kisses to the new babies for me!!!

Much love,

Sister Richards

Editor's Note:  Please see sidebar slideshow entitled "Goodbye Red Leaf"

Burt's Bees, our District

Oh, the Places You'll Go! May 23, 2016

So this week was pretty good. Lots of adventures and knocking on almost every door in our area! Yay!

I am a little short on time so this is going to be a little brief, sorry! 

Monday we had an Oreo party for sisters pday. That was fun. I love Oreos way too much though. But the peanut butter ones are seriously the bomb! Just sayin'

Tuesday we got to do service for the food bank and that was fun. There was a lot of work to do. And there was a 2000 pound bag of rice that needed to be put in smaller bags. We did it in 30 mins. It was great fun. We demolished that bag of rice. But man was I tired after that one. I feel like an old lady sometimes, it's ridiculous. We got to have Cafe Rio for dinner cause the Daybells are my favorite! So that was way good.

Wednesday we had to turn our car into the shop to get something fixed. So we had an interesting day of walking everywhere. So we got dropped off in one area but then decided that we didn't want to be there so we walked to this new area but we knocked on one door and it felt wrong to be there so we then tried to figure out how to get home... There are no sidewalks here. So we went trucking in the mud, cause it has been raining so much this week, and finally made it to some trails. So by that time it was lunch time and we needed to regroup. So we just went back home. But then when we went out we were smarter. So we found the trail and didn't have to walk in mud. But it took forever to get to one area so we just knocked there and the Jehovah's Witness had just been there. So that was annoying. But we knocked anyway. So the whole day of walking resulted in half my face sunburned and some nice blisters. But it was fun. I liked it. And there was a cloud that looked like a whale tale waving to me. It made me smile :)

We did actually get to give someone a Book of Mormon so that is great. That doesn't really happen here in this area. 

Thursday we had district meeting and that was good. Then we finally got our car back and they didn't even fix it cause they couldn't find anything wrong. Whatever. Not much else happened. Oh we did meet an Asian named Kevin that took a Book of Mormon too so that was cool. 

Friday we did some yard work for a member and had lots of finding

Saturday was cool. We actually got to go to Brighton to be at a baptism for someone in Sister Banners last area and I got to see Sister Netherton. It was so good to see her actually. I have missed her. She is awesome! But the baptism was a really cool experience. The Spirit was very strong! 

Well sorry this is so lame, I am just in a hurry! Thanks for the info about Scotland and the cute pictures of Owen in a bowl. That made my day!

I hope you have a great week. Keep being awesome! Thanks for all the support!

Much love,

Sister Richards