Date
November 28, 2016
Area
Boulder Colorado
Companion
Elder Layton
This past week has been another good one! Elder Layton and I had an AWESOME week! We were able to find a lot of new people to teach and so we have a lot of return appointments for this upcoming week which is exciting!
We met this AWESOME young couple – Randy and Angie. They just moved here to Colorado not very long ago. They have 3 kids with a 4th on the way! They are religious but don't have a specific church. We set an appointment for the next day and went back and taught them about the Restoration. The lesson went great! The little kids LOVED us! Angie said the youngest one normally hates strangers so that was cool! We emphasized the focus on families since that is clearly an important thing for them. It is tough because they both work factory jobs and are working a ton of overtime right now with the holidays. Hopefully, we can pass them off to the family ward missionaries and they can work around their schedule to help this family receive the blessings of the gospel!
Wednesday, we also had a meeting with President Mendenhall and all the Zone Leaders to go over the launch of the new Church Christmas initiative. Then we had a meeting on Thanksgiving morning to tell all the other missionaries about it. There were some technical difficulties with the video we were given to show the missionaries. It was kind of humorous, but everything worked out alright!
Thanksgiving Day was interesting.... We weren't allowed to knock any doors so we had to have all appointments, which is tough in a YSA ward because everyone was gone for the holidays. So, we ate a meal with our Bishop and his family, but we were only allowed to stay for 2 hours everywhere we went, so we still had to find other things to do. We ended up going to downtown Boulder and found a park in the city that has a ton of Christmas lights. So, we walked around teaching people. Then we went and had dessert with another family from the stake. We had a lot of members from the stake wanting us to come over, but most of them we don't even know and we didn't want to just waste time so we were happy with what we ended up doing.
OH! I almost forgot! We got all the Elders in our Zone together, except a few that were sick, to play football at 5:30 am. It was FREEZING! But that's how a real Turkey Bowl should be! We have a new missionary in the Zone that is a pretty good ball player. He was recruited by BYU and Texas A&M and a few other schools as a free safety. I am not going to say that I scored on a Hail Mary pass on the last play of the day with him guarding me... but that may have happened ;) It was a blast and we all had a good time!
Elder Layton and I did an interesting thing this week. We tried a new type of exchange where we both paired up with another set of missionaries to make a threesome. We felt this would allow us to see how each companionship actually goes about the work and not just how they put on their best behavior with us. Boy, was it helpful! As I worked with one companionship (2 missionaries), I observed some areas where I could teach and train them, to help them improve. As soon as they would meet people they didn’t know, they would freeze up and struggle to say anything meaningful. When knocking on a door, they would awkwardly share a card and not even try to teach anything before they would leave. I helped show them how to be more relaxed and size-up every opportunity to teach so that the spirit can do the work of touching these people’s hearts! That is one of the biggest areas I see, where many missionaries need to improve. They are sometimes just stale with their door approaches!! As I gave them this feedback, I noticed them gradually improve with each new contact. One of the missionaries is brand new and he has an AMAZING attitude! He would fumble with his words and make no sense and get the door closed in his face, but then he would be excited to go straight to the next door and try again! Man, it was a good lesson for me to never forget that "greenie fire" that new missionaries have, when they first come out to the mission field!
Also, we were randomly called to help a member, who was about to be interviewed and questioned about the church. That’s the 3rd time in 3 transfers I have been interviewed and taped answering questions about the church. I think I am getting more comfortable with this!
I mentioned in an earlier letter about a guy named Jackson Crutcher, a former investigator I called to follow-up with him. He had moved to California, but said he wanted to meet with the missionaries. I got ahold of the missionaries out there, and gave them his contact information. Well, he was baptized this past week!! We were stoked to hear his story and how it all fell in place for him. We will be meeting him around Christmas when he moves back here to Boulder!
Lastly, I will end with the greatest moment of the week. Ben, one of our Chinese investigators got a job in Joplin, Missouri, so he is moving this week. We were sad for him to leave, but glad that he got a job. When we first met with him, he had NO idea about God and no religious background. He stood up in Sunday School yesterday to say thank you and goodbye to the ward. He thanked us for inviting him to meet with us and told us that we helped him to understand and develop a belief that there was a God. He hopes that he will find more answers! It was the sweetest moment. I know that he will get those answers he is seeking. I wish that I could see it happen, but that isn't in the plans right now. What I do know, is that someday in this life, or the next, I will be able to embrace Ben and see and feel his testimony! I am excited for the missionaries out in Joplin, that will get to work with him. I am constantly reminded of what this work is all about. It has never and will never be about me. It is about our Father in Heaven, about our Savior and all that he has done for each and everyone of us!
I love this work! I love where I am!
Elder Richards
We met this AWESOME young couple – Randy and Angie. They just moved here to Colorado not very long ago. They have 3 kids with a 4th on the way! They are religious but don't have a specific church. We set an appointment for the next day and went back and taught them about the Restoration. The lesson went great! The little kids LOVED us! Angie said the youngest one normally hates strangers so that was cool! We emphasized the focus on families since that is clearly an important thing for them. It is tough because they both work factory jobs and are working a ton of overtime right now with the holidays. Hopefully, we can pass them off to the family ward missionaries and they can work around their schedule to help this family receive the blessings of the gospel!
Wednesday, we also had a meeting with President Mendenhall and all the Zone Leaders to go over the launch of the new Church Christmas initiative. Then we had a meeting on Thanksgiving morning to tell all the other missionaries about it. There were some technical difficulties with the video we were given to show the missionaries. It was kind of humorous, but everything worked out alright!
Thanksgiving Day was interesting.... We weren't allowed to knock any doors so we had to have all appointments, which is tough in a YSA ward because everyone was gone for the holidays. So, we ate a meal with our Bishop and his family, but we were only allowed to stay for 2 hours everywhere we went, so we still had to find other things to do. We ended up going to downtown Boulder and found a park in the city that has a ton of Christmas lights. So, we walked around teaching people. Then we went and had dessert with another family from the stake. We had a lot of members from the stake wanting us to come over, but most of them we don't even know and we didn't want to just waste time so we were happy with what we ended up doing.
OH! I almost forgot! We got all the Elders in our Zone together, except a few that were sick, to play football at 5:30 am. It was FREEZING! But that's how a real Turkey Bowl should be! We have a new missionary in the Zone that is a pretty good ball player. He was recruited by BYU and Texas A&M and a few other schools as a free safety. I am not going to say that I scored on a Hail Mary pass on the last play of the day with him guarding me... but that may have happened ;) It was a blast and we all had a good time!
Elder Layton and I did an interesting thing this week. We tried a new type of exchange where we both paired up with another set of missionaries to make a threesome. We felt this would allow us to see how each companionship actually goes about the work and not just how they put on their best behavior with us. Boy, was it helpful! As I worked with one companionship (2 missionaries), I observed some areas where I could teach and train them, to help them improve. As soon as they would meet people they didn’t know, they would freeze up and struggle to say anything meaningful. When knocking on a door, they would awkwardly share a card and not even try to teach anything before they would leave. I helped show them how to be more relaxed and size-up every opportunity to teach so that the spirit can do the work of touching these people’s hearts! That is one of the biggest areas I see, where many missionaries need to improve. They are sometimes just stale with their door approaches!! As I gave them this feedback, I noticed them gradually improve with each new contact. One of the missionaries is brand new and he has an AMAZING attitude! He would fumble with his words and make no sense and get the door closed in his face, but then he would be excited to go straight to the next door and try again! Man, it was a good lesson for me to never forget that "greenie fire" that new missionaries have, when they first come out to the mission field!
Also, we were randomly called to help a member, who was about to be interviewed and questioned about the church. That’s the 3rd time in 3 transfers I have been interviewed and taped answering questions about the church. I think I am getting more comfortable with this!
I mentioned in an earlier letter about a guy named Jackson Crutcher, a former investigator I called to follow-up with him. He had moved to California, but said he wanted to meet with the missionaries. I got ahold of the missionaries out there, and gave them his contact information. Well, he was baptized this past week!! We were stoked to hear his story and how it all fell in place for him. We will be meeting him around Christmas when he moves back here to Boulder!
Lastly, I will end with the greatest moment of the week. Ben, one of our Chinese investigators got a job in Joplin, Missouri, so he is moving this week. We were sad for him to leave, but glad that he got a job. When we first met with him, he had NO idea about God and no religious background. He stood up in Sunday School yesterday to say thank you and goodbye to the ward. He thanked us for inviting him to meet with us and told us that we helped him to understand and develop a belief that there was a God. He hopes that he will find more answers! It was the sweetest moment. I know that he will get those answers he is seeking. I wish that I could see it happen, but that isn't in the plans right now. What I do know, is that someday in this life, or the next, I will be able to embrace Ben and see and feel his testimony! I am excited for the missionaries out in Joplin, that will get to work with him. I am constantly reminded of what this work is all about. It has never and will never be about me. It is about our Father in Heaven, about our Savior and all that he has done for each and everyone of us!
I love this work! I love where I am!
Elder Richards
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