Getting Settled in Winsted Hill

hey que onda?
its elder richardson writing and just to clarify a bunch of things first, i am not in clarksville anymore...it sucks rocks. it was hecka odd leaving there for a while cus i kept thinking (when i was here) that i was going to be going back...
iam still here...
franklin is cool though, its defintly alot differnt than clakrsville beacuse there are a TON more hispanics here, thats a cool part.
but just to let you know iam not a goodwill missionary(well...kinda)..
but i need nothing in particular...no new suits,ties,belts, shirts, socks... iam good to go. so dont you worry you lil self... the only think ve about destroied is my shoes...thoes sketchers are right dun' gawn fixed. but dont worry about that either cus i (without going to the bank account) have the money to get some new ones. we have made a great discovery of a store with nice shoes but low prices and i got sent some money for x mas from aunt and uncle brurrud that i can get them with.
also. my new address is:
541 n. petway street #301
franklin TN
37064
anyways, just so you know the group leader for clarksville returned from mexico so he is up there now and the new elder (elder wagstaff) will be his first councler to help him out with the whatnots and so on.
also i really dong know what to tell you about franklin...my comp's name is elder burnett and he is a stud he is (unfortunally) another U fan...but i do feel like god has a reason for putting me with so many U fans...so i figure ill just be one myself and join the big red!
NOT!!! hahahaha
(if you believed that for a sec....your not to smart)
anyways , if you also didnt figure, my comp is from Utah...sandy ut to be specific and he is actually best friends with one of the guys who was in knaras and my district in the MTC (elder cavanas, servinging in the tri cities mission WA) so that is cool.
the last week has been a blur and i have meet about 400 new ppl and iam just trying to sort out everything. anyways...even thought franklin is hecka rich(and it is)...we dont go there... so ... iam going to have to recrute a p day crew to go and find faith hill some monday for you guys.
anyways, something cool is that in this area there are also a TON of brazilanos and iam going to see if i can find one from the belo horizante area...even though its 2 differnt languages if they speak slow and not so funny sounding we can understand each uther.haha.
but yea...also a member here was makin a lil fun of my acent in spanish and he said that i sound like his friend that is from uruguay...haha i thought that was funny.
dad, i know how you feel. its weird, but
"whom the lord calls he qualifys"
also, knaras had his birthday on the 17th and the ZL's told me i could call him and wake him up at 6:30 in the morning, that man is a stud and like a brother too.
tell tylan iam praying for that man super tons, along with jordan...they are seriously my heros. there soo dang good that satan is trying to really take them out with tons and tons of problems. i love thoes guys, i know god will protect tylan.
and jordan is always in my prayers, i know that if there is a man that is supposed to fufil prophcy it is to be the one man who wouldent let it or the world go to his head and jordan is that man, the missionary who is so so very focused on god that he dosent even see what amazing things HE is doing, but only the glorious work of the lord, and that that is why they are happeneing. He is a super-man.
i really want to testify to you about that, the pure fact that the more you give away the more free you are. dad, you say you want to do this triathalon, ill tellyou what i think i think you have the absloute willpower to do it...but your physical body wont hold up you say. i say nothing more than what the prophets have said, follow with super super super exactness the word of wisdom, give up and destroy fromyour body any thing that could be a addiction and i know that if you do that and watch it super super close as you train you will do it, and you will do good, beacuse you will have the blessing of your all powerfull father and i can testify that he wants to give it to you. he wants you to set goals and kick ther butt and iam sure he'll be cheering for you espically if you super check your WoW promiss with him.
study the pormisses of the scriptures and follow them if you want to have them...and if you dont want pure health in a triathlon...well crap go drink too many cafeen sodas in a day...it'll do it.
mom, if you want peace in your life. i can testify to you that NOTHING will help more than knowing your savior better, study the atonement. you WILL be blessed with peace...
i dont promiss, the lord of the heavens and earth does.
what i can promiss you though is that i love you guys. your stallions. and iam going to work EVEN more than i did en clarksville. there are some super sweet ppl here
and just so you guys know, your prayers still help, siliva and gorge were given a baptizimal date tuesday(the day i left) by the stallion elder knaras.
-elder j richardson

TRANSFER!!!! (ouch!) W

hey
I am alive...things are good. transfers are coming up and president told me that I am moving... this last week has been really weird because of that. it seems like I've been here so long and that ive done sooo little, but ni modo, president told me its my time... i just really wasn't ready for it whey he told me because it was right in the middle of zone conference a week before transfers and he decided to announce it to everyone. I really love Clarksville and I am pretty dang thankful for the blessing of being able to serve here, i got to know some stinkin AWESOME people.
other than that really the week went by in a blur, i just have been packin and cleaning, and workin like usual. right now we have 7 good ppl 3 families who are very very ready and every cita we have is like a hu8ge spiritual experience... its actually kinda hecka tiering.
anywaays, pablo aguero(member) told me that he is oging to teach us his super super secret recipe to his barbacoa(mexican bbq) its a recipe that he has nopt taught anyone ever and everyone asks for it, so iam pretty stoked to learn how to do this! the man is a stud and told me also that he is going to start his mission papers! it would have been really cool to do thoues with him but now that iam leaving i wont be able to...
anyways i really dont know what more to say, my next area is called winsted hill and it is in franklin tennessee. its a brand new area to the mission and my comp will be a stud named elder burnnett. beacuse the area is brand new and we dont even have a offical spanish group were going to be going to the english ward and translating for the hispanics. just so you know mom this is the same ward that the shedasiy girsl go to and the same one that david trueman from diamond rio and jason deere all go to. and this is also the area where missionarys have gotten pics with jessica simpson and where vince young(titians) and faith hill live...
yes mom, if i see them ill say hi for you, and send you pics...

i was actually talkin with veronica and fransisco and they said that they know a houndoranian lady that lives down there...sooo iam not even there but i have a referal! haha. but were going to go and use our ganas and the ganas of the lord and get some business taken care of down there.
it really kinda stinks to leave here but i really felt the peace of the lord last night when i was thinkin about everything. a puerto rician lady named tania arce actually told us she had a bad dream that told her i was going to be leaving...that was crazy. i really am going to miss the group up here. if you do come over here to pick me up, we are going to clarksville.
i love you guys...sorry that the letter is short.
probally better not send anything to clarksville.
party on garth!
-Elder richardson

PS. tell jordan that i wont not let a day go by without prayin for that stud and the workin his area!

Avad's Baptism! (Written 12-28-08)

every thing went AWSOME!
the baptizim of avad was sweet. and he was confirmed on saturday!
the man is a stud and i only found a few days ago that he is a cousin of veronica!!! holy crap!
when she found out about his baptizm she flipped a bucket!(not litterly)
and almost cryed beacuse she was so happy(literaly). she knew we were teaching him and whatnot but when she realized that it was actually going to go through she was super super happy. and he looked like a stallion on sunday the man is a stud.
anyways, other than that i really dont know what to tell you guys...i just talked to you all. i was happy i got that chance and to be honest the next few days flew by and i didnt really realize that i had really really talked to you. it went by so fast that it was like a dream that you arnt sure was real or not.
ill tell you what though, bubba your tha MAN!
ive only told everyone i know about your missionary doings over there and everyone thinks that your the coolist lil kid and that i need to learn how to be a better missionary from studying arround you...wanna come to tennessee? haha
oh dad...nope, no dvd player. unless its a member/investagators house.
anywz...we are not giving up on divina and hugo...(divina has thretened to give up on hugo though...haha) jk
there sweet and we just need to teach them more and more. its sweet.
we have another family were teaching that we need you all to pray for named pizza and emme...(his real name is goodalfreado..but everyone calls him pizza) there really sweet and friends of divina and hugo and they have a lil girl names karen, she is hecka cute and talks a ton(except for the fact that she is 1 1/2 and dosent say real words).
there a really good family who are askin a bunch of good questions and it was kinda funny that she (emme) actually said the very exact same thing that veronica had said when we started teaching her lo cual es "i was born catholic but i really dont think that it is the right church and so i have been lookin but how do you know what the right church is?"
haha when i heard that i remebered veronica saying the exact same words... so we had a good lesson.
anyways we are teaching a ton but please keep emme pizza divina y hugo in your prayers.
i love you all! and ive got to go!
also we might be watching a disney movie on new years day(our p day) which iam stoked about!
hay nos vidrios
-elder jR

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!