Date
January 17, 2017
Area
Brighton, Colorado
Companion
Elder Hansen
Brighton Colorado is a beautiful place... Especially because I can see the Mountains and I can see Boulder form here.... Just Kidding. I miss Boulder a lot but I am loving it here. I will actually be going back to Boulder on Saturday for Ian's Baptism so that is super exciting!
We are still in a building period. There were a lot of things happening that weren't ideal. We helped a lady moved this week, who is a member, but hasn't gone to church in YEARS. Missionaries would visit her and just share a simple thought and count it as a lesson. Elder Hansen told me that we can’t talk about the Book of Mormon with her, because that is what all the other missionaries said. Well..... I like talking about The Book of Mormon. It is kind of important. So, after we helped her move, I started asking her questions and she opened up right away about her past, like when she left the church and the things she doesn't believe anymore. So, I started talking to her about the Book of Mormon and asked her how she would ever know if it was true or not if she never read it? She committed to reading 5 chapters this week! It was a good lesson for me, because it helped me learn how to extend invites even when people are tough. This experience taught Elder Hansen that we are here to share the truth, not to share what people want to hear.
We had Zone Meeting this past week, which meant I got to train again. The Zone Leaders decided I would go last and everyone else ended super early so we still had almost 2 hours left in the schedule meeting. I went over my assigned time and trained for about an hour. It was a topic that has been weighing on me and which I have talked about for the last couple emails . . . what is our motivation? Are we here to say we taught 40 lessons a week or that we served our Father in Heaven however he asked us to? Do we count a lesson when we talk for 3 minutes with someone because we want a lesson, or because we think we helped bring them closer to Christ? I asked everyone if the would work as hard if we didn't do anything to track our work, if we didn’t count how much we taught or anything else. I invited them to think about that question seriously, and if they wouldn't work as hard, then to recognize that we are motivated by the wrong things. I know a few missionaries really received a lot from the spirit during the training, but a few others I am worried didn't get much. Either way, I was happy to teach!
We got a referral this past week for a woman named Lisa. We found out she is deaf, which is kind of intimidating to go and teach her, so I brought a missionary who has a sister that is deaf and knows how to sign. It turned out that Lisa can read lips really well, and so it was pretty easy to communicate. She is super sincere in her desire to learn, so we are hoping that she will continue to make progress!
It is tough covering two wards, but I am slowly getting the hang of how to most effectively work between the two. I have high expectations for these two areas, and we are excited to see how they will grow!
I love the work out here! I have found my ability to connect with others improving more and more every week. I am getting better, especially at knowing how to teach children, which was very difficult for me in the beginning.
I love all of you and am grateful for the impact you have had on my life!
Elder Richards
We are still in a building period. There were a lot of things happening that weren't ideal. We helped a lady moved this week, who is a member, but hasn't gone to church in YEARS. Missionaries would visit her and just share a simple thought and count it as a lesson. Elder Hansen told me that we can’t talk about the Book of Mormon with her, because that is what all the other missionaries said. Well..... I like talking about The Book of Mormon. It is kind of important. So, after we helped her move, I started asking her questions and she opened up right away about her past, like when she left the church and the things she doesn't believe anymore. So, I started talking to her about the Book of Mormon and asked her how she would ever know if it was true or not if she never read it? She committed to reading 5 chapters this week! It was a good lesson for me, because it helped me learn how to extend invites even when people are tough. This experience taught Elder Hansen that we are here to share the truth, not to share what people want to hear.
We had Zone Meeting this past week, which meant I got to train again. The Zone Leaders decided I would go last and everyone else ended super early so we still had almost 2 hours left in the schedule meeting. I went over my assigned time and trained for about an hour. It was a topic that has been weighing on me and which I have talked about for the last couple emails . . . what is our motivation? Are we here to say we taught 40 lessons a week or that we served our Father in Heaven however he asked us to? Do we count a lesson when we talk for 3 minutes with someone because we want a lesson, or because we think we helped bring them closer to Christ? I asked everyone if the would work as hard if we didn't do anything to track our work, if we didn’t count how much we taught or anything else. I invited them to think about that question seriously, and if they wouldn't work as hard, then to recognize that we are motivated by the wrong things. I know a few missionaries really received a lot from the spirit during the training, but a few others I am worried didn't get much. Either way, I was happy to teach!
We got a referral this past week for a woman named Lisa. We found out she is deaf, which is kind of intimidating to go and teach her, so I brought a missionary who has a sister that is deaf and knows how to sign. It turned out that Lisa can read lips really well, and so it was pretty easy to communicate. She is super sincere in her desire to learn, so we are hoping that she will continue to make progress!
It is tough covering two wards, but I am slowly getting the hang of how to most effectively work between the two. I have high expectations for these two areas, and we are excited to see how they will grow!
I love the work out here! I have found my ability to connect with others improving more and more every week. I am getting better, especially at knowing how to teach children, which was very difficult for me in the beginning.
I love all of you and am grateful for the impact you have had on my life!
Elder Richards
0 comments
« Back
Local
Colorado