First REAL P-Day
Date
March 7, 2016
Area
Parker Colorado
Companion
Elder Layton
First REAL P-Day
Well... I am officially in Colorado. I have been assigned to serve in Parker, CO as my first area. Boy things have been interesting. I feel like I have been here in Parker for years, even though I just got here last Wednesday.
Things at the MTC finished up really well. It was amazing how close all of the missionaries in my Zone got. It was actually really tough each time we had to say goodbye. It was fun getting to learn and grow together as a group.
But now the real fun has begun. We woke up at 3:30 last Wednesday to finish packing and get ready to get to the airport. Almost all the missionaries who went to the airport left around 9 am. I had to say goodbye to the missionaries heading to other states and got on a plane with 8 other missionaries heading to the same mission as me. I had a good conversation with the man next to me on the plane. We talked about religion and what I would be doing in Colorado for the next two years. It was good practice for what I will be doing for the next 2 years of my life lol
When we got to Denver we got a ride to the mission office with the Assistants while President Mendenhall and his wife waited for one more sister missionary who was flying in from Mexico. We took pictures and did a little bit of training and some odds and ends stuff before we finally got to meet our first companion who would be our trainer.
........Is the suspense killing you?
To be honest I wasn't the slightest bit nervous. I had been praying for my trainer for weeks and I trusted that the Lord knew who my companion would be and it was exactly who I would need.
Well... I was right. My companion is Elder Layton from Vancouver Canada. Apparently I need to learn something from these Canadians. He is honestly awesome and right from the beginning we just clicked. We get along amazing and sometimes it doesn't even feel like missionary work because we have so much fun doing it! I don't think we have driven in the car once yet without completely busting up laughing most of the time. We really have gotten along wonderfully so far and I am super grateful for him. He is our District Leader so it is also cool to be able to learn from him in that capacity. I am super excited to see how we will grow together over the upcoming weeks but I have a feeling we will be friends for a very long time.
We got to work right away when we got to our area. We were the first group to leave the mission office and headed straight to a dinner appointment with a member family. It was fun to get to know some members right away. I was able to bear my testimony of the Book of Mormon after dinner and I felt right at home.
From there we headed off to a lesson to teach an investigator. In the car we were planning one lesson but we decided to switch what lesson we would teach right before we got there. It was amazing to be able to teach right away! His name is Ben and he is a 21 year old. He had already committed to work towards baptism but after our lesson he committed to for sure be baptized! Every lesson we have had with him since has been amazing. He is so willing and ready to learn and grow and accepts every commitment we extend to him! He will be getting baptized next Sunday on the 13th of march.
I have really already grown to love this kid in such a short time. Yesterday sitting in church I asked him if we could meet with him at his parent’s home later that night (we had not yet met his parents) He said of course and told me he played guitar and could play for us after the lesson if we wanted. I said of course we would want that! So after we taught him, we went upstairs and he played us a song he wrote over the last 6 years. It was amazing! The kid just astounds me! It was super fun to get to enjoy his talent and he was excited to learn songs that we would enjoy him playing for us.
I should add, my companion and I are assigned to cover two wards. The Newland Meadows family ward, and also the Crowfoot YSA ward. The YSA ward is made up of the Parker Stake as well as the Parker South Stake. The Parker south stake is in the Colorado Springs Mission so we have two sets of elders covering the ward, from two different missions. It is kind of interesting.
We have had several other lessons that have been very interesting. We are teaching a woman named Katrina who is a member of the Baha’i faith. From what I understand it is kind of a branch off of Islam, but I'm not entirely sure.
I also learned a few cool lessons last night. We were visiting with a member, Brother Ogden. He shared with us how he is a convert, that he and his wife joined the church years ago as well as one of his daughters. The other we met when we got there but they left as soon as we showed up. He explained to us that his wife joined the church form him, and not because she believed. She refused to marry him in the temple and has since left the church. He expressed the heartache he felt, and the contention that she brought to him as he tried to remain an active member. As he was speaking, I felt this over whelming love for not just him, but also his wife, whom I had not met. I felt this need to make her a part of my prayers from that moment on, to hope that in some way, the spirit might touch her. I really enjoyed meeting with Brother Ogden and I look forward to meeting with him more often. He is old and can’t read as well as he used to, so we will probably start helping him to study every once in a while.
I also had this overwhelming feeling when we first got to the Ogden’s house, that if we knocked 100 doors and got 99 slammed in our face, but just 1 person listened, it would all be worth it. We have been trying to find the most effective way to tract and to not waste time, which we are still trying to do, but I realized I can never allow myself to be discouraged. I have not felt discouraged yet, but I will make sure that it stays that way.
We had an interesting moment when we talked to an old man sitting in his garage and all he wanted to do was tell us how silly our beliefs are. We talked for a short time, it became obvious that he just wanted to be negative and was contradicting himself, so we politely said goodbye and went on our way. I think Elder Layton was worried that would have negatively affected me and asked if I was ok. I smiled and told him of course I was. The sun was shining. He smiled back at me and I could tell he was trying to decide if I was telling the truth. I said Elder Layton, I came on my mission to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and that is what we are going to do. I refuse to let myself get discouraged because things don't always go perfectly. That's just life. We laughed and continued on our way.
I really am loving the members here. We get feed too well. We have a dinner appointment each and every night. Literally every single night. And they feed us GOOD. It is nice, but I am trying to be careful to not eat too much. We will see how the weight gain goes! New of me being 23 seems to spread like wild fire. I met a recent convert on Sunday who said he came to church because his girlfriend said there was a new 23 year old missionary who was super cool, funny thing is I don't think I even met her. So word is getting around. I am ok with it. I really enjoy being an older missionary.
The apartment we live in is nice. We have a washer and dryer in our own individual apartment. There are actually 5 sets of missionaries that live in the apartment complexes near us. There are a TON of building all by us. Our area that we cover is so small thought that we live outside our area. There are ALOT of members here. I had decided that I am going to live in a clean apartment. So far I have thrown out a lot of food that is beyond bad and I am using up the stuff that is good. I also told Elder Layton that on Mondays, we will actually be cleaning the apartment and not allowing it to be gross. He agrees so that's a good thing. I know that everywhere I serve I will probably have a lot of work to do to create a more clean living environment but I really don't mind. I love it!
I am going to end there because I don't want to ramble on forever. I have already fallen in LOVE with Colorado and am excited that I have 2 years to serve the people here on behalf of my Savior. 2 years will go by pretty quickly, and I am aiming to not waste a single day.
I love you all and you remain in my prayers.
Love,
Elder Richards
Things at the MTC finished up really well. It was amazing how close all of the missionaries in my Zone got. It was actually really tough each time we had to say goodbye. It was fun getting to learn and grow together as a group.
But now the real fun has begun. We woke up at 3:30 last Wednesday to finish packing and get ready to get to the airport. Almost all the missionaries who went to the airport left around 9 am. I had to say goodbye to the missionaries heading to other states and got on a plane with 8 other missionaries heading to the same mission as me. I had a good conversation with the man next to me on the plane. We talked about religion and what I would be doing in Colorado for the next two years. It was good practice for what I will be doing for the next 2 years of my life lol
When we got to Denver we got a ride to the mission office with the Assistants while President Mendenhall and his wife waited for one more sister missionary who was flying in from Mexico. We took pictures and did a little bit of training and some odds and ends stuff before we finally got to meet our first companion who would be our trainer.
........Is the suspense killing you?
To be honest I wasn't the slightest bit nervous. I had been praying for my trainer for weeks and I trusted that the Lord knew who my companion would be and it was exactly who I would need.
Well... I was right. My companion is Elder Layton from Vancouver Canada. Apparently I need to learn something from these Canadians. He is honestly awesome and right from the beginning we just clicked. We get along amazing and sometimes it doesn't even feel like missionary work because we have so much fun doing it! I don't think we have driven in the car once yet without completely busting up laughing most of the time. We really have gotten along wonderfully so far and I am super grateful for him. He is our District Leader so it is also cool to be able to learn from him in that capacity. I am super excited to see how we will grow together over the upcoming weeks but I have a feeling we will be friends for a very long time.
We got to work right away when we got to our area. We were the first group to leave the mission office and headed straight to a dinner appointment with a member family. It was fun to get to know some members right away. I was able to bear my testimony of the Book of Mormon after dinner and I felt right at home.
From there we headed off to a lesson to teach an investigator. In the car we were planning one lesson but we decided to switch what lesson we would teach right before we got there. It was amazing to be able to teach right away! His name is Ben and he is a 21 year old. He had already committed to work towards baptism but after our lesson he committed to for sure be baptized! Every lesson we have had with him since has been amazing. He is so willing and ready to learn and grow and accepts every commitment we extend to him! He will be getting baptized next Sunday on the 13th of march.
I have really already grown to love this kid in such a short time. Yesterday sitting in church I asked him if we could meet with him at his parent’s home later that night (we had not yet met his parents) He said of course and told me he played guitar and could play for us after the lesson if we wanted. I said of course we would want that! So after we taught him, we went upstairs and he played us a song he wrote over the last 6 years. It was amazing! The kid just astounds me! It was super fun to get to enjoy his talent and he was excited to learn songs that we would enjoy him playing for us.
I should add, my companion and I are assigned to cover two wards. The Newland Meadows family ward, and also the Crowfoot YSA ward. The YSA ward is made up of the Parker Stake as well as the Parker South Stake. The Parker south stake is in the Colorado Springs Mission so we have two sets of elders covering the ward, from two different missions. It is kind of interesting.
We have had several other lessons that have been very interesting. We are teaching a woman named Katrina who is a member of the Baha’i faith. From what I understand it is kind of a branch off of Islam, but I'm not entirely sure.
I also learned a few cool lessons last night. We were visiting with a member, Brother Ogden. He shared with us how he is a convert, that he and his wife joined the church years ago as well as one of his daughters. The other we met when we got there but they left as soon as we showed up. He explained to us that his wife joined the church form him, and not because she believed. She refused to marry him in the temple and has since left the church. He expressed the heartache he felt, and the contention that she brought to him as he tried to remain an active member. As he was speaking, I felt this over whelming love for not just him, but also his wife, whom I had not met. I felt this need to make her a part of my prayers from that moment on, to hope that in some way, the spirit might touch her. I really enjoyed meeting with Brother Ogden and I look forward to meeting with him more often. He is old and can’t read as well as he used to, so we will probably start helping him to study every once in a while.
I also had this overwhelming feeling when we first got to the Ogden’s house, that if we knocked 100 doors and got 99 slammed in our face, but just 1 person listened, it would all be worth it. We have been trying to find the most effective way to tract and to not waste time, which we are still trying to do, but I realized I can never allow myself to be discouraged. I have not felt discouraged yet, but I will make sure that it stays that way.
We had an interesting moment when we talked to an old man sitting in his garage and all he wanted to do was tell us how silly our beliefs are. We talked for a short time, it became obvious that he just wanted to be negative and was contradicting himself, so we politely said goodbye and went on our way. I think Elder Layton was worried that would have negatively affected me and asked if I was ok. I smiled and told him of course I was. The sun was shining. He smiled back at me and I could tell he was trying to decide if I was telling the truth. I said Elder Layton, I came on my mission to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and that is what we are going to do. I refuse to let myself get discouraged because things don't always go perfectly. That's just life. We laughed and continued on our way.
I really am loving the members here. We get feed too well. We have a dinner appointment each and every night. Literally every single night. And they feed us GOOD. It is nice, but I am trying to be careful to not eat too much. We will see how the weight gain goes! New of me being 23 seems to spread like wild fire. I met a recent convert on Sunday who said he came to church because his girlfriend said there was a new 23 year old missionary who was super cool, funny thing is I don't think I even met her. So word is getting around. I am ok with it. I really enjoy being an older missionary.
The apartment we live in is nice. We have a washer and dryer in our own individual apartment. There are actually 5 sets of missionaries that live in the apartment complexes near us. There are a TON of building all by us. Our area that we cover is so small thought that we live outside our area. There are ALOT of members here. I had decided that I am going to live in a clean apartment. So far I have thrown out a lot of food that is beyond bad and I am using up the stuff that is good. I also told Elder Layton that on Mondays, we will actually be cleaning the apartment and not allowing it to be gross. He agrees so that's a good thing. I know that everywhere I serve I will probably have a lot of work to do to create a more clean living environment but I really don't mind. I love it!
I am going to end there because I don't want to ramble on forever. I have already fallen in LOVE with Colorado and am excited that I have 2 years to serve the people here on behalf of my Savior. 2 years will go by pretty quickly, and I am aiming to not waste a single day.
I love you all and you remain in my prayers.
Love,
Elder Richards
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