A Wedding and a translation error ... and At Least the Angel is blue!

all is going good here.
tell Logan that i think he is the man for doing pushups everyday and that is something that i know is going to help him whoop some kids later on.
anyways family don't worry about trying to provide a xmas for Veronica and Fransisco...honestly. they right now are 200$ in debt and he needs to pay another payment on his truck soon and its awesome, only because they are in this situation because what happened to his knee and now that they are in this situation they are doing everything they can to get out of it knowing with a testimony that good is on there side because they are doing everything they need to be doing. the group here is amazing and are already throwing in efforts for those with no or 'lil money. all things are going to be well. so thank you for the offer but i know that they just need your prayers. also the wedding went awesome! it was super sweet and i totally messed up translation one part just cus i got too nervous and when i translated for the bride if she would take her husband for..yada yada...i asked if she would take her wife...
people like making fun of me here and that didn't help my case...
anyways i will send pics. veronica cried, and they danced and amazingly enough there son fer actually wasn't a HUGE pain in the butt...she said the most awesome present she got was the one that Heavenly Father helped her boy be good...it was sweet.(he isn't a bad kid just a really good troublemaker)
anyways Veronica and Franzsisco have had there interviews and passed amazingly(said the zone leaders) they are super super strong and are going to be baptized this tuesday at 6.
also for new news Divina, Hugo and Avad all have a baptism date for the 27 of December! please keep therm in your prayers. they are awesome awesome people and this is huge for this area because in this area has had 1 baptism in the last year. and we are finding a lot of people and working as hard as we can and the lord is blessing us in abundance. i know that with your prayers that this has come to pass.
also i guess this week i can say i have started to have a lot of bible bashes with hispanics! i really didn't think i would be doing that so much or idk...but i have seen how it is always placed right in front of a important lesson so i know its just to try to unnerve us...it doesn't though, but ... i won't let them perish in ignorance...so we have some fun. haha.
also here in the house we have a x mas tree...but unfortunately it came from the Knaras family so it is adorned with U of U stuff...so i very quickly made a BYU angel and put it on top...haha
also elder knaras has never had a real x mas tree so i think today for p day were going to go out and find out if we can chop one down for free...i think there are members who have alot of them and i know some honduraninas who have one and dont want it...so p day today will be for scouting for knaras'es first real tree!(that of which i will place yet another BYU angel, haha)
the gospel is true and god can prove it. there is one savior, that which a man can pray to for salvation. there is a prophet on the earth. and the gospel was restored.
please pray for the investigators. and tell grandma richardson that i keep her in all my prayers. and i keep you guys in my prayers constantly too...you are the reason i am here. thank you all family. i love you all.
-elder richardson

PS thanks dad for the letters from tylan and jacob...there such studs and there huge examples to me in all the amazing things there doing out there for the lord. tell them i yell "HARAHA FO' ISRIAL" every time i read there letters.and also i heard tylan needs some ties...ill hook a brother up...idk if it would be better to send them to him or to his family but i have ties that are awesome and polyester (durable) that i wanna send him.
also please tell jordan that i have tried to write him and email him and i think about the man tons and hope he got my letters. tell him i love him and he is my stinkin hero!

love
josh

ok, just so you know the audio will have the update on the week...so that i have the ability to answer all the questions. [note: I'm still trying to figure out how to post audio on this blog ... I'll keep trying ... so keep watching!]
nope i won't do the wedding, the first presidency doesn't want missionaries doing them if at all possible is what i was told...so the bishop in the english ward will and i will translate.
we didn't get the sunday baptism...that sucked...but i can say that we tried everything except for hog tying someone and tripping them in... haha
but i also want you all to know that your prayers are absolutely priceless at this moment(my mission)...you have to pray it make such a huge difference...the faith of my family i can feel in the very air. i love you all and i will start putting the names of investigators specificly for you all.
and also for the list...i know i know you have asked but...i had to think long and hard about it all and so i finally came up with what i need for christmas, it is as follows:
chocolate covered pretzels; cordial cherries
and a tape of you guys just blabbering if nothing else...haha
i also need pictures...i don't really care of what...but whatever is sweet...life's events or what not...bubba with all his medals or brie with a futbol or mom kickin dads butt at ghost recon...haha
also cd's if you could burn(there all in my music folders) : andy mckee, darkhalo, sigur ros(another missionary took off with the ones you burnt befor), mogwai, M83. its all just music and ligit...if you have any more chill music stuff that is cool too...lyrics have to be very very inspirational and no lovey stuff...) and also
i said it in the tape but i very very much want a letter from brock...in spanish.
and also a leather case for my book of mormon...that is about the only thing i really need...i just kinda want to keep the pretty book pretty. a friend here said you can get one at vozlatina.com and said that they aren't expensive at all but are super duro. but if its expensive they if you send a flap of leather i could make one too...ant that would be pretty sweet! haha

sorry i am demanding about all this...but the tape and fotos and letter from brock are the ones i want most. i love you guys

anyways, about your thanksgiving, you make me jealous haha. i would have loved (and i ate very very well and it was very good food) to only eat a smigin of a tomato that mom cooked...i would have eaten it too.
its really weird a thanksgiving without family...
fortunately there is a family here that elder kanaras and i really feel at home with and we hung out with them this last week...it was cool.
tell bubba that i think he can whoop dad...so he should try it all the time!!! hahahahaha(...your welcome dad)
and tell brie that i think she needs to take mom out(probably drag her) and play some soccer with her...cus all moms have to play soccer! haha

i love you all, its short but its cus i have to go, were going to get some work done today and we have an appt at 2 so yea... but also there is the recording thing too.
and also now that i think about it...i wouldn't mind if dad threw in a jar of salsa or some peppers for x mas.
i love you all
kick some butt and have a jolly Christmas!
-elder josh(who still isn't fat) Richardson

A Punk and the Atonement

hey
still alive and yes its a good reason [for not writing yesterday] ...not excuse.
yesterday we had a general athourity come and we had zone confrence (elder darrel h garn) and after that we had 2 other elders come and stay the night at our house cus they couldent drive back to there area that night and so yea... they visited old converts and we worked after the zone confrence.
so that day was gone and today we have p day.
to answer one of your questions, no not in any way am i having problems with elder knaras,he helps me out with everything and we have fun too. and truthfully i think he is the best comp ill have on my mission the man is pure stud. enough said.
and as for mom, i want you to know specifically, you are beautiful, every time you look in the mirror or see your reflection know that, and know that you hvae a son on a mission who loves you very much. he(the son) gets in habits to sit down on the comp and read a letter, then, write back...last week dad had said you were going to write ...so i was preparing to read...and i didn't get it which added with the fact that i only have a certin amount of time on here equals that i wrote a letter to dad and was waiting to write one specifically to you and you didnt get it for thoes reasons...iam sorry. i will now only write one letter and iam going to have to cut down on alot, its hard cus i kinda just wanna talk sometimes but...cant...so take a few words to mean a whole lot more beacuse they are ment for that.
i love you mom.
now, to everyone else:
Iam sorry but i am going to say this very very blunt and you can edit it or whatnot if you want for everyone else...but espically in this week have i had expierences that so closely coincide with life back there that i have to be as very honest as i can about it.
i guess to start off with this
your choices do not make the choices of others. ever.
the power of another persons agency is more powerful than you are and you can not change them except for if they choose to let you.
i can't tell you all how much we screw up beacuse we "think we can..." beacuse we "think we have reason to..." and how very much we hurt others for this. Or on the other side, we hurt ourselves. we permit ourself to fall to a lesser for the worth of nothing.
A Man fell to a nothing this week. and iam going to tell a little of his story.the man was a punk, honestly, he was the reason that mexicans have a bad name to alot of people. the first time i met him (first week here in clarksville) we went to teach his girlfriend(who he calls wife) and he todally ditched us making up some errand so that he left to go and smoke pot/drink...the man beat his girlfriend cus (in his own words) "he felt like a king" after a year of this he got cracked in the face by life. she left, with his baby girl and he was alone.
he had for one year, the choice to stop, the choice to be happy. and did not do it.
that night he call us in tears, he got our number from someone else and called us cus he didn't know what to do.
we taught him a very hard lesson about the atonement, but, if there is anything in the world that can touch a man's heart its the atonement.
he knew,that he had done this himself, and it racked him with pain. he knew that(in his own words) "his family is the best thing in the world" but he shot it in the back and decided drugs were better.
well...he started changing, beacuse, he took that lesson of the atonement and applied it. we taught him and he grew, stronger, happier, a better man. and really really was happier. but he did something that he can't... he started relying on the fact that he was going to change so that she would come back.
yes that is noble, but its stupid.
his first intentions were to be a better stronger man who could support others, help others and he was doing it,honestly we could see the change in his form.
but,he then decided he would do it to "change her choice." this is not possible, we cannot make choices for others. and, when she and he talked on the phone and he told her all the amazing things that had been happening and how much he loved her and that she can come back now...she said "no" "i am not going to, i am glad your changing, but i am going to stay here"
he fell. we taught him and taught him but he got depressed, we told him the love of his father in heaven could help him but he wouldn't open the door.
"i stand at the door and knock"...right now all he has to do is open the door and all of it, all, will be ok.

my family, i love you, you are not in the same spot as this man is phisicly but i know that mentally it is the same. that talk, by elder wirthlin is soo important. it must be understood with the gospel beacuse we cannot open a door we dont know exists.
my dad, my mom...you must realize that you could argue until you die, but until you give up and change yourself it dosent matter. why else learn about charity? if someone dosn't know what to change they then need to study this...
dad, if logan bawls after a match and you snap at him until he dosn't...how does he know,espically at his age, to feel sadness. watch rocky with him, tell him of your sports stories until he does have the sadness of loss, then teach him the comfort of being able to start anew and have another chance. isn't that what god has given to us? in his perfection he will"rack our soul with torment, then , through this very desire give us another chance" Alma 36:15-21
and if a prophet of god tells us that smiling is better than frowning...you stinkin know its true...espically mom when you know how many times you were pissed at me and couldn't help but laugh when i wouldn't let you get away from a bear hug.
i am sorry for my actions to you all in the past, i never made it easy for you...ever. but now i have decided to change and i will strengthin you with everything i can...even more than that...much much more than that, so will your god...you just have to make the choices to do and be so.
i am sorry that this letter is so much more different than the others, but the end is the same and will always be whether its written or not, i love you all,with all my heart and i pray for you every single day.
gotta-flipping-wanna!
tell my brother nate that i love the man. and he probably dosn't have the care to write me or anything like that but if you see him pick him up and shake him around and tell him it was from me. tell him he's the man and when i get back i'll take him out and we'll stinkin rock our socks off.

i love you family,
elder josh

Don't Tell him his math is wrong! And things going well.

NOTE: [from time to time I'll insert thoughts or explanations ... they will appear like this]

ok like-almost-always i need to start writing my letter while iam reading yours so that i can comment and let you know that i think this lil counter % thingy is worthless...mainly beacuse it lies...ive been out about a tid bit longer than a half a year...that is about 20% of my mission and that is still maby over guestamating...so...?does elder richardson like the darnded Over Exaragting counter thing?...nope [this is referring to the counter on the side bar, and a counter on Tylan Carton's blog which shows the percent of the mission complete ... I informed him his (Josh's) % complete is 38 ... he obviously DOES NOT like that!]
and ?does he plan on wasting any one minuite? nope. all is good and we need not write any more about the counter thing...
and about all the other stuff...darnit dad...you cheated...iam sure it took you more than an hour to type all that and i cant do the same so ...as always i cant reply to the same...but this time i hva a back up and it is commin from left feild and you but attached to this email is an audio clip about the week...i want you to know it was my first audio clip and so it kinda sucks but....but! its there and it talks about the good things that happened this last week....
honestly i pray that i dont have another week in my LIFE! let alone my mission go by as fast as this last week....we ran and ran and then it was over...and i couldent even get caught up to anything and my goodness iam glad today is p day so i can catch up a bit.
tell bubba there is a special part for him and a special part for brie in the clip and that i recorded it befor you had told me what happened with him.
tell bubba that not reaching a goal hurts...alot, i know. but the most...the very very most important part about loosing or not reaching a goal is to find out why. if you find out why...it wont happen agin...and youll learn and grow. tell bubba i call it "Sea Bruto" that means BEASTINKINGWILDMANWHOISJUSTGOINGTOHAVETOWOOPSOMEBUTT!
...its the spanish version of gottawanna....if you wanna win, you gottawanna grow,and learn, and try.
tell brock i have been thinkin about the man a bunch...and maby iam not quite realisitic but to me i remeber him being 7 feet tall and shooting bolts of lightning from his eyes and fire balls from his...nvm.
and tell jared that i love that man he is a stud!
and brieezzzyy, dont worry about loosing...it sucks but it happens. there isnt any more to it than that...but the coolist thing about brie that i think she has that is most powerful is that if she looses or wins or gets hurt or if its off season...she loves soccer.
ronaldino,the best soccer player in the world!...loves the game. and in that way, right now brieann...you are comparable to the very best soccerplayer in the world!
mom, you are such a machine! holy maceral! faaaaaa! i have so much respect for you and every time i think, ok maby i should take a break and just sit down for a second...i think of you and all the work you did for us and it was because you love us...well i love these ppl soo...tengo que trabajar! [I have to work!]
dad, i love you letters, i wish i had more time to write back to you cus i really really like emails beacuse yours are so full of life and inspiration. thank you dad, i wish you could only know what it means to me to have you as a dad. i love you guys tons!
ok well, i lied i have to send the audio in another email but youll get it all the same.
i love you guys
elder josh

ps tell nate iam srry i forgot to get him his game and that he should be expecting a letter soon!

Comments on the Election and Progressing towards Baptism

OK ... I've been terribly slow getting this updated. My friend just posts his son's letters on the blog, and so I'm going to do that, unless I get the time to edit some and make sense of what is in the letter (since he answers questions that you don't see posed). So, here is the latest letter from Josh:

i cant vote todd richardson so i dont know if its vale la pena...but ill get 'er done and i do believe that in this i wont be like my people (los hispanos) and vote for obama...that dang smuck won all of the hispanics over with the fact that he dosent care about immagration or something like that and i have heard alot of sweawage that he has said that i can preach aginst....so when the darnded mexicans say "yay obama" i say..."thou shalt not be fooled by false words of a man who dosent love the lord of isrial..." and then that convo is over...
and that is all i will say about politics for the rest of this....
but other than that i cant even believe that you can dare to say that ty and jacob write more than me...last week you cant imagin the anger i had when the dang comp crashed and i have sat and typed as much as i posibly could for as long as i could every single week trying as hard as i can to write alot for you...
so as i make my lil fingerrs bleed trying every way i cant to type to you so that you might one day be proud to say"i got the biggest letter" i do realize how dumb and stumpy my fingers are so i get hit with the truth that it probally wont happen...haha
jeeze, you type so many questions that i dont know who w to answer what you want and still whrit about here...and when i dont answer your questions i get rebuked and when i get them all answered i get rebuked for not putting in enought about investagators...rrrrrrrrrr
ok, i sent the pics cus the last time i was at the libaray i was typing so long that i didnt have time to burn a cd withthe pics so yea...iam glad you liked them but i will get a disc later...sorry...some things are just hard to do...
and the as for pants i think mom has got it figured out. and shoes are a sweet deal,and contacts if you have been able to get them yet...but also something kinda happened and i kinda needed 10 dollars for a lil food to hold me up for a lil bit cus veronica had a problem beacuse the boss of her husband isnt getting him paied and they needed help with there bills or there were going to loose alot and so i kinda used my money to help them out...and things will be ok beacuse iam going to be makeing pan today but 10 would help with some escencials like contact sloution and toothpaste.
thank you you guys.
as for investagoators we have a date! his name is maricel and he will be baptized on the 2nd of november!
also we are getting veronica and fransisco married leagely so that they can get baptized...this was a weird thing cus they have a kid and call each other husband and wife but arnt married and there is a huge weird twisted loopy story that goes with iit all...but in the end you can just wrap it up with saying "silly lil mexicanos" but we really need that you say 2 prayers a day for them to be protected from satanas beacuse he is really smacking them arround now that there getting close to baptism...
also tenemos un oltro amigo who is progressing towards baptizim named antonio. he is a stud who kinda remiinds me of uncle kirk ...just a TON shorter...but he is a really sincear studly man that we gave a blessing to on our first day with him.
and then also we have a grounp of 6 tobacco workers from mex. that we travel out to dover TN to go see and a argentinian man we are goign to start seeing in hopkinsville and iam pretty stoked about that cus i south americanian people are way chill...and usually legal...haha.
but just to clarify, i LOVE mexicans...so just cus i havent met a legal one yet dosent change the fact that i love 'em.
the branch is growing a lil...we had a few ppl move back to mexico really quickly and without notice...but other than that its good. we are working really hard withthe familys and they are the best coolist familys that i have ever know in my gosh darn life! the branch is sweet! no hay un que es mas mejor! y no puede darme una coima que pagaria por un oltro.
i love you guys, its time for me to ajorn away! until another day!
-elder jrich

PS dad thak you for the letters from the other dudes! i todally love thoes guys!
and also tell brock i super love him and tell him this:
che,no te pones triste. este vida, estos puebras son un momento. estas ahora en tu compostura para tu vida. vos sos mi heroe che. !aupa ya! y levantas los espiritus del equipo tuyo, tenes mas corazon que todos los oltros y por este razon cada persona alrededor de vos puede sentir y disfrutar de tu espiritu. tequiero che. hazlo y andas adalante!
-tu hermano.

A LOT to catch up! Bike Wreck! Hit By Truck! Branch President

I know I'm slow when I keep getting scolded for not keeping you up to date. Sorry. Life has a way of draining our time ... and Josh is complaining that he's getting slowed down.

Here is the thumbnail sketch of the goings-on.

Josh got a new companion: Elder Singleton from Mesa, Az. Josh loved him. They got along great and worked REALLY hard. After about a month Josh got warned that he may be up for a transfer ... even though he had been in Lebanon for only 4 months. His new mission president was considering opening a new "Spanglish" area (one spanish, one english elder) ... and the zone leaders (both spanish and english) were saying Josh was the man to send to the new area. Josh was not looking forward to leaving Lebanon. He developed a real love for the people and area and said that if he found out he was going to move, he "would probably cry." But, true to form for Josh, he bounced back with a vengance. In 3 days they picked up 9 new investigators and triple the referrals that Lebanon had ever had! Oh yea ... he had a bike wreck in that time too. Josh asked that we keep praying for him ... and for his companion. You see, Josh had been setting the pace of the work and Elder Singleton was physically getting too tired to keep up. Josh decided that if he was going to leave Lebanon he was going to "rip this place apart and leave the stacks for the newbie"! And he did.
Prior to the move he got a call from his mission president ... they decided not to open the new area ... but Josh was getting moved. In the week prior to the move, Josh had 2 - 3 bike wrecks (one was a "gnarly flipping twisting thing" on a freshly tarred road "so I just had to peel tar out of my skin") and he was hit by a truck.
Now, knowing Josh, I'm sure you can understand that he gave lots of information on that, right? Well, he said he walked away from it because "1) I'm an ornery cuss and refuse to get hurt; 2) the Lord protects us when we're obedient; and 3) I think bruises are cool." That's all he said. Needless to say, lots of questions were still unanswered ... is he REALLY OK? Is his BIKE Ok? What really happened? A phone call to the mission office revealed that they didn't know about the Josh v. Truck incident either ... but they found out and President called us back. Turns out that Josh, his companion and the truck came to the intersection at the same time. Truck driver waved them across ... and so they proceeded in the cross-walk. Just as Josh was in front of the truck, he pulled forward and hit Josh. It wasn't hard and Josh caught himself on the way down ... the bike is OK too. So, as Josh says, he knows he's doing good because Satan is working hard and he's (Josh) getting in bike wrecks ("either that or I'm just a big fatty who can't ride a bike.")
So, why all the opposition for Josh? Not JUST because of the great work in Lebanon ...
Josh was transferred to Clarksville (a city of 100,000+ northwest of Nashville) where is has a companion from Chile, and Josh was just set apart as the Branch President of the only Spanish branch in that stake!

Josh's Branch covers parts of Tennessee and Kentucky and he's finding that there's a LOT to do. Although he complains that it is strange going from running 100 mph to having to learn a new area and go slow for a while ... he needs the extra time as he now needs to study and learn how to be a Branch President in addition to studying to learn Spanish (which he says is improving LOTS with his new companion ... that's all they speak). He's trying to plan a Branch activity and put together the ward mission plan ... can you picture Josh planning all this? He certainly has grown up!

Another Bike Wreck?!! New Companion Coming! Arrested? and BAPTISM!

Sorry for the belated update! There is a great deal to try to catch up on ... if we don't do justice to it all. So our intrepid tri-lingual elder continues to work with the wonderful people of Lebanon ... and we have reason to believe that there are also some who are not so wonderful ... but he generally forgets to mention them in his letters. Due to the length of time I missed updating things, not everything in this is or will be chronological.

BIKE WRECK!!!!
Those who know Josh well will not be surprised to hear that there was yet another incident wherein body unintentionally met ground. Josh initially broke it to us by stating:

this week i todally tanked it on my bike, i cant remeber what happened but it was a hardcore one and it was kinda cool cus i got to pull some rocks(big ones) and glass out of my arm and hands. it was also kinda cool and maby only dad should read this part but when i pulled the rocks out of my arm i saw my bone haha.
but iam good to go. my comp made me go home and take a bath and a bunch of junk that wasted time. but its ok cus i just figured i had to work harder afterwards.

Later he informed us that when he got home :

i actually tried stiching it up myself with needle and thread...but that didnt work so i just packed it full of tripple anti bio stuff and took off.
i also have a cool bruise on my butt that is a two part thing beacuse the contact cards i had blocked the most of it(tender mercies)

Josh's time with Elder Larson is coming to an end. They've been together for about 3 months and Elder Larson will be transferred ... in fact by the time this is posted, he'll be gone and Josh will have a new companion ... or at least that is the expectation. Josh has really loved Elder Larson and has learned a great deal from him. Their time together didn't end unfruitfully. There is one english speaker that committed to be baptized before transfer day and then there is Renoldi!

anways there is this studly dude here named renoldi and he and his mom and sister are from indonesia and his mom married the son of the family i told you about who speak chinease. so anways this family is awsome in all ways. they found out that the members are slacking on feeding us and so they fead us this HUGE HUGE indosenian bbq with like huge huge! piles of meat of all differnt assortments! it was sooooooooooo soooooooo good! (and they also cooked potatos beacuse they thought that is what americans liked....but they just cooked them plain cus they didnt know what to do with them haha)
anyways renoldi's step-grandparents(ones of his step dad) are members of the church. but the rest of his family arnt and so missionarys have been teaching him and they taught his older brother for like a lil over a year.... well renoldi has been going to church for a long time and still didnt get baptized and didnt and didnt and just recently renoldi said yes that he would be baptized! he is the coolist dude and just a way cool guy. and this week on thursday night he is going to be baptized with his little sister who just turned 8. and this morning we went out and played soccer with a bunch of other missionarys and we brought renoldi with us and he told me this morning that he wants me to baptize him...
i feel like i could have the crappiest day in my life today and i still wouldent care, renoldi is an awsome dude and i havent ever felt so humbeled

How great is that!

One week Josh shocked us by saying:

also we were almost arrested, that was cool.

No other information was forthcoming on that ... until the next week, when he gave the rest of the story! He said it came
from the fact that i didnt want to bible bash with a preacher but insted i wanted to bash him with my bible! haha jk
its cus wal mart dosent like us and called the cops on us while we were talking with a guy and it was pretty funny cus they were telling us off and to leave and whatnot when all of a sudden the mex guy said (in probally all the english he knew)"you can be a little nice!"(to the wal mart employees) it was halirious. but that is the super short version. the long one is visiual haha.

Well, that's all for now.

this gosple is so crazy true.
-elder richardson

What a Month!

Well, we FINALLY got some pictures from our Elder!

Here some are:


Josh and Elder Knaras


















The secret NEW MTC training to fight the DARK SIDE
After a P-Day trip to the Temple

District 44-D hard at work in their classroom!



















In Tennessee, Juan Carlos has been teaching Josh how to cook! (Somebody needed to!) Josh says that in exchange he's teaching Juan Carlos the gospel .... good trade!



Josh will stand on his head to get investigators!


























"And there will be signs in the heavens and in the earth beneath ....."












Form never was Josh's forte!
A P-Day trip to the bowling alley.
















Elder Larson on a Tennessee afternoon ... did someone say Noah was called to Lebanon?

True to the Faith ... Mexteco and Spanish? Two weeks worth of updates

Elder Richardson with President and Sister Lords

Sorry about the delay in posting ... it's been hectic. So, two weeks worth all at once. Here we go!

President Lords is not unknown to many of us, he lived in Idaho Falls and graduated with Josh's Aunt Pam and knows and remembers Grandma and Grandpa Richardson and the family. Unfortunately for Josh, President Lords will only be there until July when he completes his mission and Josh will get a new president.

Josh's new companion is Elder Steven Neil Larsen from Arizona and Josh says "he is a stud."
At the transfer meeting Josh also met Elder Topou "and he is Tongan so it was way sweet to see him and talk with him and yes 80% was in Tongan ... he was shocked ahaha. it was funny."

Josh and Elder Larsen are serving in Lebanon, TN (home of Cumberland University) ... Josh says it is "not, but close to, the one in the middle east. haha." He describes Tennessee as: "beautiful, and I was told now is the most hideous and ugly time of the year." He describes Lebanon as "the hardest district in the mission for spanish ... but I'll go into that later." Again speaking of Tennessee he says: "It's beautiful and the weather never makes up its mind and I love it here ... there are no mountains to its kinda weird lookin arround cus its so different but is pretty here. Perro, Tennessee is also crazy, about 10-15 min outside the very city I am in about 2 days before I got here a tornado hit and destroyed alot. Its tornado season. Also Sister Lords didn't for get to tell us abou the spiders arround here and the HUGE banana spiders that are poisonous and the brown recluses that are very frequent here. I guess this last week a sister was bit by one and had to go the hospital ... so that I think is definitely my most not favorite thing about here ... haha. But I do love it here already."

Lebanon is difficult because there is a high percentage of Latinos there who do not speak Spanish or English ... they speak Mexteco "(said like mes tec co)" ... now Josh gets to learn it. "The only tools we have to learn it though is a small group of papers held by a big paperclip that is a dictionary that is from mexteco to espanol ... so my Spanish study is also my Mexteco study. And the languages are nothing the same. Mexteco is an ancient Xochapa language spoken in the south south corner of Mexico and it sounds a lot like Chinese ... there are a lot of down and up inflections in the words ... so Dad I really do think there was a reason that you helped and taught me some Manadrin because I wold have no ability to speak this at all without it." (an internet search leads us to believe that the Xochapa region of Mexico lies between Acapulco, Oaxaca and Puebla in the Guerrero region of Mexico. If you would like to see a partial dictionary, go to: http://www.sil.org/mexico/mixteca/xochapa/P004-DiccXochapa-xta.htm which provides a basic Mistec - Espanol dictionary, or another interesting one is: http://www.sil.org/mexico/mixteca/alacatlatzala/P001-Vocab-mim.pdf which is a dictionary re: movement and transportation)

FIRST DAY: As soon as Elder Larsen got Josh to the apartment to drop off his stuff, they headed out to work. Josh got lucky, the first door he got to do the approach to, they got in, and taught Valente, who speaks espanol, but his family only speaks Mixteca. It sounds like one reason Josh likes Valente is because they got fed there ... "REAL tortillas" "and then we rip off meat from the big jerky slab of it and threw on some SUPER hot hot sauce". Later that day they got fed again by a Mexican family "who were cookin some grub and just told us to come in and eat ... they had never seen us before and we didn't know them but they fed us some pork ribs kinda sauted or whatever with a ton of peppers and some REAL tortillas. It was pretty warm (as in spicy) but flippin delicious!"

SO HOW IS IT TO WORK IN "THE BUCKLE OF THE BIBLE BELT"?
"There is a fight that you get thrown into here in the mission field that is indescribable. ... I can't express in words what is going on here. There is an actual battle that isn't so much physical but it wears you the heck out! I have been called a liar, wrong, influenced by Satan, hardened, a cult, I have had my very title as elder challenged, my beliefs, my dedication and my God all challenged. The Book of Mormon, testimony, and even the feeling I call the still small voice have all been said that they're wrong. The people here have been great ... but some of them were that until they found out I was a "Mormon" or "dang saint of whatever" ... this all is kinda incredible to me in a lot of senses. So I take car of it with a plain and flat out challenge to them. Sometimes it is a "why" or sometimes its a hard and sharp testimony of what I know. Never demeening or angry but I stand with my feet as a part of God's earth in that moment and I do not move or budge. ...This is the challenge, and I know and have a testimony that if I give my spirit and corpse to the God who created them that others will feel him and it is an undeniable fact. ... only after a trial of our faith will we reap the rewards."

ANOTHER BIKE WRECK?
Josh was able to purchase a bike from an Elder who was going home ... the folks in the mission office were kind enough to keep it for him until he got there ... so how is it?
"Yes, I have my bike ... we had to do some surgery upon it but it works great ... and yes I have found that helmets are worn for a reason. The bike is great though ... I like it tons." That's all the information he gave us ... we trust he's still generally healthy, but his Guardian Angel must be working over-time!

By the hair of his chinny-chin-chin!

March 24, 2008 started with some excitement for Josh, it was the day he was to leave the MTC to fly to Nashville. Josh and his companion (Elder Knaras, who will also be serving in the Nashville Mission) were to report to the MTC Travel Office by 6:00 a.m. Josh reports that they may have stayed up a little late on Sunday night getting ready to go and saying good-bye to good friends in the MTC. They set their alarm to give them plenty of time to get ready and to the travel office on time, they set out their clothes for the next day (Josh even pre-tied his tie!), and went to bed. According to Josh, "I don't know how it happened, but everybody in the room slept through the alarm." They were awakened by an announcement over the intercom (which Josh claims has "HUGE" speakers in the residence buildings): "Excuse me elders, but are Elders Richardson and Knaras still there? They were supposed to be in the travel office 10 minutes ago." We would have paid a lot for a video of this, Josh claims he moved fast that early in the morning! They jumped out of bed, pulled on their clothes, grabbed their bags (who knows what, or how much, was left behind) and "ran as fast as [they] could physically run" to the travel office, only to be told that the staff there believed the bus had already left for the airport. Someone in the Travel Office got on the radio and spoke with the bus driver, who said he was just pulling out of the parking lot ... he was willing to wait for the two sleepy-heads.

By the time Josh got to the phone to call us, he had already given away a pass-along card. He IS READY TO WORK! One other comment from him that brought a smile to our faces: "Wow! Even just being in the airport here in Salt Lake is waaaaay different than the MTC!" Yes, it is ... and now his mission really begins!!

Josh will dearly miss his Tongan friends in the MTC, a group of people to whom he got very close! He reports that he is now a Tongan. One Tongan elder would always bring a bowl of ice cream over for Josh. On the one occasion that Josh got one for himself, his Tongan guardian angel made him eat the one he got for himself and the one the Tongan brought. Josh really loves those friends. Josh picked up a little Tongan, and there is a phrase that seems to be his favorite, in English it is: Roll the Rock! Referring to the rock that King Nebuchanezer saw in his dream, the one cut out of the mountain without hands and which rolled to fill the earth. It is a beautiful saying.

Josh has been closing his letters with a Tongan phrase:

miea a'aku vhe
miea a'aku loto
miea a'aku uma
ki he otua

He gave us a rough translation ... my arms, my legs, my heart, are for God. It captures Josh's attitude. Look out Tennessee ... here comes Josh!

this week was the slowest blur of a week i have ever experinced in my life.

What a description! (unfortunately, it seems to apply equally well to his short letter) Well, Josh just received his flight plans and the people in Tennessee are now preparing for our Spanish-speaking son! He'll be in Tennessee on March 24. So how does Josh feel about it? "anyways today is a HUGE day beacuse we got our flightplans. ... iam sooo stoked! kinda crazy thinking about leaving here and never comming back but i am sooo excited to get to tn. ... we all were excited for our flight plans so it made the entire week seem like christmas eve...aaaaahhh! haha" (yes, that is his spelling ... not my typing.)

Josh reports that spanish is coming faster now ... in class they are mostly just reviewing and teaching the lessons three times a day (he says: "[I don't know] how we find the time"). He says: "there are tons more goals we set and now we speak spanish and have an ingles fast
every day until lunch and tuesday and thursday are full day fasts. its way hard but i have learned tons and tons of spanish and iam so grateful for it. hevenly father has been very kind in helping me out with my spanish and other things."

The most information we get as to how things are going is: "the trc was fun this week and really powerful but i cant seem to remeber much more than that beacuse of the previously mentioned blur^ haha"

He states he is not gaining any weight, but is still trying.

We'll close with this thought from Josh:
"i have a quote for you guys from my teacher hmo taggert and it is "no pressure no
diamonds" so just know that all the hard trials(it took me a min to think of that
word cus i could only remeber it in spanish)...trials you go through in your life
just make you stronger and prettier. so no pressure no diamonds "

Spanish, a drummer, and a love of the Gospel!

(NOTE: this incorporates letters and a tape from two weeks ... given my schedule, I was not able to keep the weekly update going. Apologies. Blogmaster)

Three weeks left in the MTC ... give or take. As Josh has been quoted as saying: "the days here are long, but the weeks go fast!"

Spanish:
Josh claims to be struggling with Spanish, though we hear the other side of the coin as well. For example, Josh and his "companero" get to teach in the "TRC" (teaching resource center) ... where they teach members posing as investigators, which then helps them with language and teaching skills. Recently the two of them taught a "fifty-some minute" discussion to a man named Napolean, and Josh describes the experience with great zeal ... partly for a reason explained below. In the past few days he and his "companero" went to the TRC but, due to a lack of staff, they had to split up with other elders so they had 2 - threesomes rather than 3 companionships. Josh's threesome taught Napolean ... here's what Josh said about it:

"The whole lesson was a bunch of testifying and everyone could feel it so strong. Napolean started to tear up and I got a rush of the Spirit and all of a sudden I didn't know what I was doing but I was speaking and faster than I had before, the part I didn't know was what I was speaking. It was like I was describing this mental picture of Jesus Christ's atonement and what it has meant in my life and while the picture was the same the words came out in a language that was not my native one ... I was speaking spanish and saying words I had only slightly ever heard and using them in the right conjucations. Thank you for your prayers. They are working. HARRAH FOR ISREAL!"

Because he feels his Spanish is not as strong as he wants it, he and his companion (his district too?) went on a two part fast ... one: the regular fast; two: an English fast. It is hard to keep the timelines exactly straight since we get periodic letters, and intermixed will be emails and then we got a tape that seems to have covered two weeks ... or at least two p-days plus more, but as near as we can tell, the English fast preceeded the experience with Napolean. We all keep, and encourage you to keep Josh in our prayers that he may be granted the gift of tongues that he may preach with power and clarity.

A DRUMMER
You were just introduced to Napolean. Josh describes him as "the BOMB!" and Josh has had at least two opportunities to teach him in the TRC. Josh has taken a real love for this brother. But one of the things Josh is really excited about with him is he "was the drummer for Santana" (Carlos Santana that is ... the guitarist extraordinair!) (Of course, the fact that Dad loves Santana and tried to pass that on to Josh (who also loves great guitar) only made it better ... says Dad.)

A LOVE OF THE GOSPEL
To hear Josh on the tape is to hear great excitement for his mission and an incredible love of the Gospel. It is amazing to hear Josh rave about "Jesus the Christ" by Talmadge. Grandpa Richardson has often been quoted as saying "When you read Talmadge, you need two things: a lot of time and a good dictionary." Josh has repeated that, with a third thing you need: "a good highlighter." Given Josh's decided lack of interest in most gospel scholarship (very different from the gospel, wherein he has ALWAYS had an abiding testimony), it is greatly rewarding to hear him preach his love of this weighty tome! Josh's testimony continues to grow, and we love to hear it with each letter and email ... and tape. He is getting truly excited to get into the field and preach to those the Lord has prepared!

"There are a few things they didn't tell me about this place when I settled in ...."

The title for this post comes from Josh and his quote of John Wayne, applying it to the MTC. "This place is awesome! There aren't words to describe it."

Here is Josh and District 44-D! He says that they have the largest district with 12 missionaries (only 10 are pictured here). On the front row are: Elders Roberts and Campbell, Sisters Burke, Wiseman, Larson and Langston. Back Row: Elder Cavaness, Knaras (Josh's companion), Olson, and Josh (yes, that looks like a faux-hawk he's wearing).

Josh reports that he now prays in Spanish all the time, and it appears that he is improving all the time, but we wonder if those around him are learning enough as one said the one word to describe Josh is "Guapo" .... Josh says learning Spanish is "tough" but it is coming along. His companion (Elder Knaras) took three years of Spanish in High School, so he his helping Josh. He does bear his testimony in Spanish to us as well.

Josh does ask for all of us to keep his companion (Elder Knaras ... the District Leader) in our prayers. Apparently Josh is hoping to see a conversion during his time at the MTC ... Elder Knaras is (gasp!) a Utah fan! Josh is trying to persuade him to leave the dark side for the light.

To help you get a feel of how Josh has changed, let me share this one part of Josh's letter (this part directed to Kiah): Study hard in school and if you ever are at a loss for another incredible book to read you should 'try' and take on Jesus the Christ. It's awsome!"

He has had some great spiritual experiences and is growing so much. He is truly a man of God.

Josh reports that he has lost 6 pounds while at the MTC. While he loves the food, he is running everyday ... now running about 3 miles a day during gym time. He has earned the nickname "Quicksilver!"

He also complains that he doesn't get a nap most days and only is sleeping 8 hours a day (most of the rest of us are jealous!).

Elder Campbell (see the picture above) has a girlfriend who works at the MTC cafeteria ... so he sees her everyday! I wouldn't believe it either if Josh hadn't told me about it.

I could add more (this was a letter worth waiting for!), but will end in the interests of space. All in all, he's doing great, and we're walking on clouds with excitement for him!

Still no update --- sorry!

There hasn't been an update for a few days. Sorry about that, the reason behind that is that Josh just hasn't been in touch for a while ... no letters, no e-mail. Well, here's hoping that the letter-drought breaks soon!

The Testimony Grows!

This picture was taken when we took Josh to the MTC. Logan is pointing to Josh's nametag and "dork dot" (the dot indicating a new arrival).

The second letter received from Josh is shorter than the first! BUT, it has good news. He is doing very well in Spanish (THANK YOU ALLEN TUCKER!), and he reports that he is now thinking in Spanish. (He also is chatting up the Mandarin speaking missionaries every chance he gets.) He feels short on TIES and requests more ties be sent to him (they are almost as good as money). He reports that he was recently trading ties with an Elder from Hungary who spoke no English (Josh, ever the trader, probably got the better end of that deal too!).

Josh reports that it is strange "cus I have no cell, no phones, no way of staying so connected with mi familia and friends."

Josh is working hard, learning (and evidently loving) the language, and seems to love those in his district (though we know little about any of them ... no names or anything ... just that they are all "a big group of studs and studetts").

His letter is best summed up by this quote:

Jesu Cristo es el salvador!
Jesus is the Christ!

The First Letter!

The first letter arrived today ... it was post-marked 1-25-08, and is VERY short, but it brought a smile to all at our house. It sounds like Josh is doing great. Although he hasn't told us anything else about his companion, we do know that his companion is the District Leader and Josh says the other elders in his room are "pretty cool."

Apparently he also wandered over to the Chinese language area to flex his chinese on those going to Taiwan, according to Josh, "they thought it was cool that I could talk with them." As far as Spanish goes, he says that he is "already getting to greet everyone fully in Spanish." His tutor at the MTC is "none other than the studly Allen Tucker!" (our Bishop's son who was two years ahead of Josh in high school and who served a mission to the Mexico City mission ... Josh has looked up to him for several years).

Josh's P-Day will be on Mondays, and so we will be expecting letters on Wednesdays or Thursdays.

The phrases from his letter that seem most to sum up how things are going say: "I am OMEGA busy." "This is a cool place!"

It has begun

On Wednesday, January 23, 2008, at approximately 1:30 pm, Josh entered the MTC. He was last seen (by us anyway) smiling from ear to ear as he walked down the hall to begin his missionary life. Prior to entering MTC there was a farewell breakfast for him at Denney's in Provo. Attending the breakfast were (in no particular order): Elder and Sister Turnbull (his grandparents who are serving a mission at Cove Fort, UT), Val and Connie Robison (grandparents), Becky Miles (grandmother) Jared and Michelle Miles (his maternal set of parents), Todd and Marci Richardson (his paternal set of parents), Kiah, Ayla, Brieann, Logan, Kindra (siblings), Michael Robison (uncle), Brock Richardson (defensive lineman for BYU .... oh yea, he's also a cousin), and Jay Helquist (formerly Elder Helquist who served in Clarkston where he became friends with Josh)

Welcome

This blog has not yet begun. It will begin though. I will post information about Joshua Richardson's mission exploits, updates and some thoughts along with pictures as they are available (or at least some of them). So, be patient, Wednesday (the day he reports) approaches.