Rely on the Lord

hey dad could you do something for me and tell Jordan that he is a great football player but I think he is still a big fatty ‘cus i told him he could write me in Portuguese so that he would write something and he still doesn’t write anything...tell him he is a stud though...and Brock and Jared too... Brock can write me in Spanish if he wants... I can have a ladyfriend write him in Spansih if he wants...whatever...
anyways I really got to tell you guys about this...
on Wednesday we had a hectic day but we had an appt with Fatima and not a ton of time until our next appt and we were on bike so we rushed over there and upon arriving there and talkin for no more than 2 min Sis Ruiz told us that Fatima was going to be moving to Mexico...
it was honestly like a "screech stop" moment in a movie, I was like haha...dumb joke Hermana.. and she said "ask her" and i turned to Fatima and said "tell me she is a liar...you can’t go to mexico, you’re just flat out not allowed" and she said it was true...she only has work on the weekends and it isn’t enough...she hasn’t been able to get any work anywhere else because they ask for SSN# or that they speak english and so she hasn’t found anything else and said that if she didn’t find work before the end of the month her dad (who is in MX) told her to go there so she could be with him... I told her "heck no you can’t go to Mexico and were going to teach you english...your first line is... I am not going to Mexico"and I wrote it on a pass-a-long card and gave it to her ...when they found out what I taught them to say they laughed...but we had to get going at this point and so we left to our next appt.
well...we got there and the person wasn’t there....and honestly I was pretty dang frustrated and while we waited to see if our appt was going to show was talkin to Elder Alvarez about the fun luck we have been gettin...but that we were going to find work because the Lord wants her to stay and be baptized and not leave like Benedito and Moises. well it just so happened that the appt came up then and she is a member and we talked to her for a bit as she said her sorries and vented about how she has a crappy work crew who just put down hours but not actual work and she is just to nice to really be a business lady... I shared with her about Jeff Port and how if I did a crappy job he told me even though they’re friends of the family and how I am thankful for it cus it kept my fat nalgas(butt) movin and that (because we need to relate everything to the gospel) that we cant throw our pearls before swine...anyways we tried to sneek in there that we have a friend that needs work and it was shot down very quickly cus she has heard so many ppl tell her that there good workers and they weren’t and she didn’t need more problems...we didn’t push it at all and we talked with her about some stuff and right as we were leaving she stopped and looked at us and said ...who was that that needed work? and we told her Fatima and she remembered meeting her in church and said that she liked her and that she was going to give her a try and on Friday she could start workin.
we were straight up stoked!
on our way back to Fatima’s (because we had to go tell her the good news) I fought with a dog and that was cool and we rode our bikes so fast that by the time we got to her house we didn’t even have the breath to tell her what happened...and finally we told her "we just had a miracle" and they laughed at me cus they think I am a big jokester or something and then looked at Alvarez for the confirmation...and it was confirmed...and right then came in Sister Ruiz's brother in law and his family just in time for us to tell her what happened...
it was soooo sweet, the lord dosn’t want her to leave and we told her she needs to be a hard worker(which she really already is) and as everyone was talkin in the kitchen she picked up her lil girl and told her “we got work baby! !e got work tell the missionarys thank you”, it was soooooo sweet!

I want you all to know to rely on the Lord, I really do know that he helps us with everything.

Faith in the face of adversity ...

[NOTE from Dad: Sorry I've been slow getting these last letters posted.]
Well...that is great news piled on top of the great things that just happened here!...gosh I am just going to die of happiness from all the great news that is going around...
well so you all know, Elder Jensen got the call...his visa arrived friday and he left about 3 hours ago to Resistencia Argentina. he is going to have a 12 hour flight to Buenas Aires and then a 12 hour bus ride to Resestencia in the middle of the jungle...
the missionaries over there all have machetes and wear big 8 inch waterproof boots.haha...but Elder Alvarez and i have now gone into a depression...no not really but Elder Jensen is a baller and we are going to miss him.
Progression is eternal and we will always get stronger...so if we have problems with something we should look at what were lacking, god knows how to get our attention, and also how to get that and the attention of others. I love you guys, god got my attention and I am going to say an extra prayer for you every day and make it a very special one for you, I know without a doubt that you have the faith and reliance in the lord. miracles will be wrought upon those who use their faith.
I also know Satan hates faith, but that doesn’t matter to me because I have it and know what it brings. and I know a man with a athletic heart will be ok. haha...tal vez first in the triathlaon. haha.
this last week was hard...and even harder with the time because at the end of the week we had to go and run errands for Elder Jensen. but after all the Lord showed us a miracle. Fatima who has had work but wanted to go to church on Sunday for some crazy reason and was able to go to church on Sunday because she was workin at night! it was ballin! so she and the whole family Ruiz went to church and she liked it a ton. the Ruiz family is also getting so dang strong, I truly do love those guys, Brother Ruiz went from drinkin and hadn’t of gone to church in over a year to stopping drinking and helping be and example for his uncle to stop(who is takin the lessons, se llama Rodolfo) and now is trying to see if he can come out with us on exchanges. he is going to help us teach his uncle.
there are a lot of great things happening through all the trials, Moises who is the husband to Lourdes and was getting ready for baptism moved to Memphis because he has had no work...that was hecka frustrating...but good news is that he too wants to get with the missionaries over there and go to church over there...
your prayers are really helping, I really love you guys and I would be scared what would happen if we didn’t have the prayers from you guys.
I am sorry my letters are always a lil scattered but its cus time is short and I am not very good at the whole typing business still...I kinda just type how I think...which isn’t very clear, especially after I learned Spanish...haha.
I love you guys tons
-elder richardson

We went through the whole teaching pool ....

this last week...well actually for mor than that I have really had the problems hittin us and I am not going to lie I have had my testimony tried...
sometimes you will be hit sooooo hard that it is obviously a trial and even though it is hard you know it’s a trial, and other times it is sooo subtle that some don’t realize its commin...well I can promise that if you do no more than follow the bounds the Lord has set you will see and be ready for everything. we literally went though our entire teaching pool and...nothin...idk why, or what is going on...I have ideas but basically all the people got dropped, none of them really wanted to learn and as fun as it could be to chill with them that is not my calling because if they don’t want it someone else does. and we dropped everyone except for Fatima and Rodolfo and another guy named Gordo (fatty). and we went a tractin agin...well the week was rough but we worked and walked and walked and I am not going to lie walkin in TN right after a storm when there is water on the ground and its 90-95 degrees is not very fun...haha but we decided to smile anyways and we ended up knocking this door were a guy from Guatemala answered his name is Edwin and he is a boxer, he is a flyweight right now but is going up to the next weight class and is doing really good(he didn’t tell us about how he is doing but his mom had all the newspaper clippings and trophies and stuff in chronological order for us) and it was a good visit and we set an appt and because of the craziness of life missed it by a few min(he kinda lives in the boonies) and when we knocked his door he was on his way out but his aunt was there and saw us and asked if we could go in and give her a blessing... Edwin had to go but we stayed to talk with the aunt. she described what was some crazy illness that i cant even imagine what it could be and then asked for a blessing. right after the blessing she told us that the burning that she felt on her skin cooled down and that her heart stopped jumping and she didn’t hurt and felt a lot better. she actually lives in Nashville so the other elders are going to teach her and that is going to be sweet cus she is super excited to learn about the stuff of the gospel.
I really wish I could tell you all more about he week but I am about to get kicked off the comp...it was sooo sweet though...we found so many who are wanting to learn about the gospel.
i love you all family
-elder richardson

Tough Week ... Lots of Work Though

hey mom, life is good, yes you got all that right about the 3 some companionship...Alvarez is a missionary here and Jensen is waiting for a visa to Resistencia, Argentina...although he would just rather stay and keep doing what he’s doing....the guy is a stud and just wants to do the work...he doesn’t care where...haha. but they told him 2 weeks wait and he has already waited 3 sooo....haha...I think the lord had a fun lil plan for him.

Anyways this last week we had 2 entire days in the appt...do to the fact that I couldn’t get hold of a single priesthood holder and one day Alvarez was super sick and the other Elder Jensen...they had the beaver fever and the throw ups....I felt sooo bad for them...
But it was kinda crappy cus just how it all played out we didn’t get to see Rosio 1x during the week or Josefa... Benedito just needs to face the fact that he has his answer and stop procrastinating...the next lesson we are going to have with him is going to be a fun one...
he basically has a full testimony of the BOM and Joseph Smith and studies the BOM ridiculously well...but because he is on such a quest for knowledge he hasn’t listened to the spiritual confirmation...but he has proved the BOM true with his intense biblical studies and this and that and the others... its interesting...he can prove the veracity of the book because of his knowledge but its not knowledge that a person needs...its an answer from the Divine... he is such a stud though...he'll get it.
anyways last week with 2 complete days shot we still got 25 lessons and we were on bike all week too! Elder Alvarez is such a stud and he and I and Elder Jensen’s personalities mix sooo good that we just are constantly having fun, making jokes and workin our butts off...its sooo ballin. Elder Alvarez and I decided we are going to be selling guarana and sugarbears after the mission(look up sugar bears online, they’re the perfect pocket pet) and were going to train them to fly pass along cards to the world! haha and guarana is just plainly delicious.

I am glad that Brie went to the camp...its weird at first...but its sooo fun to be able to go somewhere where you can just focus on one thing and get good at it...especially if you love it.
and Bubba, you’re my hero, te quiero mucho che! you just keep on doing what your doin and don’t forget to read one page in the BOM every day ok? it’s a tough read but a ballin book!
anyways I love you Mom and I am glad that you wrote me this week...thank you. I hope you have tons of fun with the family and tell g’ma and g’pa that I love them super tons and ask them if they got my letter?
I love you all and keep on keepin on, stay classy
-elder richardson

Lots of Miracles

hey familia,
ok...first and I am sorry to say I have no audio to the video...and as much as I do want to watch ppl from my beloved family talk to me as I practice reading lips...creeds lips are hard to read and I don’t get a lot of time her eon the computer...haha...its crappy.
also the videos take up a ton of my space on my mail and so I have only gotten 2...but I think what we could do is if you burnt them to a disc and then sent them and then I might be able to find a member to play them sometime...sorry...these computers are kinda chafa.
also...nope I didn’t get your letter last week...probably for cause of the videos taking up all the space...sorry
but all is well...tell creed and auntie J I send my hi's...

I really wish I had time enough to tell you all the miracles we had this week...
elder alvarez had told me that he hadn’t had even 1 exchange the whole time he has been here and I set the goal with elder Knaras ( he is our ZL now) of getting 12 lessons with a member...we got 12! we had 4 exchanges and a few other lil pas buys during the day where members went with us. it was ballin. we also got 32 lessons total and elder alvarez said he has never in his mission had 32 lessons in a week...we are flippin dang dog tired but it was soooo sweet... I wish I had more time to tell you. but it was a super great week.
please keep a man named benedito in your prayers also rosio and josefa. and also keep the norton family in your prayers. i only have 2 min more on the comp before it’ll just shut down and erase everything so I am sorry I got to go...it took me a long time to read all the letters this week and I am sorry I haven’t written much...but everything really is just going soooo awesome.
I love you all
thank you for your prayers!
love ya!
elder richardson

Transfer

super crappy news...here in my new area we go to the library to do email and I don’t have speakers to listen to the videos...tell creed and aunt jozet that I will find somewhere to listen to those though cus i have my flash drive with me.
well...I kinda gave you a mid week email...this place is cool!
elder jensen decided he doesn’t want to go to Argentina because he just wants to work instead of having that looming phone call of his departure constantly around...he really has some neat experiences though that kinda made me think that he quite possible be meant to stay...idk...there are a lot of things that have happened that make me think that...but it’s a big story...anyways he said I could go in his place so if you don’t hear from me in a while its because I am lost in sur America.
also this area is sweet...yesterday was the first time I got to bear my testimony in Spanish as a Spanish missionary and nothing else! it was sooo sweet to not have to worry about translating or directing or worrying about the meeting and setting it all up or all that stuff... we went and chilled with our investigator that came...and chatted with the Spanish branch and there all ballers!
there is a lot of work here...lots...we had a good fourth of July...happy b day brie! and it was cool cus it was a beautiful day and then we had one of those Tennessee storms come in at night with Huge lightning bolts and rain like you never ever see in the west.
anyways I love you all I am sorry its short but so is my time cus I haven’t gotten a letter yet here and so I am only on a visitors pass here.
ooh really quick my new address is:

300 Kate St #F15
Madison, TN
37115

I am sorry that I cant write a lot but I love you guys tons and ill talk to you later.
-love elder Richardson

Update!!

[NOTE: sorry for not getting some updates in here ... Josh has stayed in touch with us, but I've not kept all the updates in ... my apologies.]

well the week went good...but kinda not too...I have never had so many appointments fall thorough! I mean given that the Hispanic people remember appointments worse than me without a planner but still!
Tuesday was zone conference...it was truly awesome.
there is a quote by Spencer w Kimball that states that he believes(believed) that one day the south will baptize more souls than all the state side missions combined...and we are the flippin’ belt buckle of the bible belt. I can really see a great change in the mission, everyone is baptizing more but it is really because there are just more people who are asking those very important questions of the soul. those questions that many many other churches just plain out don’t have the answer for...I know this because I meet tons of people daily and hear what they say and I have heard a noticeable difference lately...
the economy yes is sucky but I have the blessing of seeing families and people look to god more because of it...and instead of buying that nice m8ustange(mexicans love mustangs) getting the stuff for there family specifically...god gives us challenges out of love. my only hope is that I can learn and overcome my challenges with my faith always.
wherever there is a lesson there is a teacher close by...
Miguel is doing good, he is really trying and working on his faith...he has overcome so much but he still has more to go..he told us he wants to be baptized but we just don’t have a date yet. he said that he really felt from the spirit that this is the right church. and that he says that he is going to do it soon but he will let us know when.
Fransisca and Denis are going good. they are both reading and praying(at least Fransisca is for 100%) Denis is a stud he is finishing a house this week and afterwards decided he is not going to do another, he has 2 jobs and said how he is tired of not seeing his family "this is no type of life" he said...he is really focusing on the more important things in life...his wife and super cute lil daughter Jalena.
BTW his last name is Saquecagua...say that 5 times fast.
also Juan Francisco is doing good...he is the guy who is married to the lady from Thailand. she told us to call her ting because we cant get close to saying her real name...haha. Juan also said that he will get baptized if he gets an answer to his prayers. he is such a good guy, his family is cool...his 2 kids understand Thai, Spanish and English...and that is amazing. Juan also speaks 4-5 other dialects which is incredible because you have to learn dialects by hearing mostly because they aren’t written.
all is going well here. last week we went on exchanges and I went with an elder named elder martins. he is from Rio de Janeiro Brasil and speaks Portugese Spanish and English. elder martins is a flippin stud! the guy is just a champ and it was an awesome exchange. he is teaching me portugese so I can talk with him and Jordan and so I’ve been learning that...its super similar to Spanish...the accent is different and because he is from Rio the accent is even more different but its sweet.
and would someone shake there fist at Jordan and tell him he is a man di vaca(you say it like man gi baca) because he didn’t write agin!
anyways it was a super awesome exchange and next week elder Burnett(ZL and old comp) is going on exchanges with me and it will be the last time I will see that man...he is a stud and has as of today 14 more days left of his mission! after that he is most definitely getting hitched...haha...I give him about 2 months at the max...his girlfriend is pretty and loves him so. haha
tell Anita I got her rebuke...yo escribire mas, lo siento...pero in el mismo tiempo me gusto por fin a recibir una carta de ti, aunque me echaste la bronca! jaja
I didnt get your stuff sent out but I have it. I am going to try to do it today, we don’t have plans to do anything so I am going to clean the house and write letters.
also yea I got those pictures of Jeff and those were flippin hardcore! that guy sure does know how to crash...tell him he should send it into scarred the tv show. how many staples did you get? da da da dannnnggg gina!
I wanted to share a good experience that happened yesterday. it was a thing that really showed me the love and power of our Heavenly Father. always in a mission your constantly trying to be as good as you can...I am not the best but I sure do keep pushing myself. yesterday I had been right on though and during church I was translating agin and this guy got up there with a few books and a bunch of typed out papers and had about 25-30 min left...he was the last speaker...and I was like ooooooohhh crap...
a lot of times people don’t realize that translating is flippin hard...you have to hear and speak at the same time and do it in 2 languages. well I have done a lot of translating but there are those speakers who flippin rock me because the talk sooooo fast. well...he did just that...that guy talk sooo fast and he read from books and scriptures without pausing...the talk was amazing but so hard because he was using huge ridiculous words and it was rough...a few min into the talk I realized how zoned I was, I literally was speaking Spanish faster than I ever ever have before, and I was soon stinkin shocked because I like had stopped in my mind and kinda was shocked what I had been doing...my Spanish was correct and I was speaking fast. I just got in that zone agin and was literally keeping up almost word for word with the guy(keeping up word for word is actually impossible because something you have to say differently) but I was soooo amazed...and I honestly felt the spirit of peace come over me and my mind listened and spoke without pause. it’s a promise I have felt and experienced myself that as we truly do what the lord has asked he blesses us with help, strength, peace, clarity, guidance, new ideas, and our needs that we need. our Heavenly father has promised us that as we keep his commandments we will have our needs provided for. I know this because I felt that strength. I love you all and hope that you all have an awesome week. I love your letters and I hope to get some out today.
keep on keepin on vosotros!
-elder richardson