Date
February 21, 2017
Area
Brighton, Colorado
Companion
Elder Hills
What a week it has been! Last Friday, I officially hit my 1 year in the mission mark, and we celebrated with Toni's baptism. Boy, is their family funny. Literally, like no family I have ever met, but it is good. It is amazing to see them make changes, however small they may be. The spirit was soooo strong at the baptism, and it was just amazing! President and Sister Mendenhall ended up coming, which was really nice!
Elder Merkley, a missionary who came into the field with me, is also serving in the Zone so Saturday night we went and burned a shirt to celebrate one year. Next week, I will have some sweet pictures and videos of that. After we burned the shirt, Elder Hills and I celebrated by eating a deer steak that Brother Gifford cooked for us. We then taught a lesson to an investigator, so it was an interesting night to say the least!
The work continues to go well out here. We have several people who are so close to being ready to be baptized, and we are still working with them. Elder Hills and I are also continuing to try and find more and more people to teach, and it is going pretty well. We need to up the effort a little bit though, because we certainly aren't accomplishing what we are capable of.
This week, I went on two exchanges with some of the newer missionaries in the District. It was cool to be able to help them get more excited and focused on the work. Both struggle with finding and talking to people. It was a good chance to show them how easy it is to talk to people and teach people right when you find them. Too many missionaries don’t believe in themselves, so they are scared and stop themselves from working harder because of their fears. I sure am glad for all the life experiences and good examples both before I came into the mission field and those in this past year that have helped me to become more self-confident. It makes the work a lot more enjoyable!
We did service this morning, and we are cutting email time short today, so we can go out and work, but I will share one experience that I had this past week with a missionary.
We dropped by to visit someone named Heather. We had found her previously and taught once before, but she didn't seem very interested this second time. The missionary who was with me for the day said something to the effect that she wasn't prepared and was a waste of our time. I thought for a little bit then remembered something that President Mendenhall often says, "Find the prepared, and prepare those you find." I thought about that as I was driving and it really sunk in why I am here. I was able to have a conversation with this missionary that there are two types of people who we see join the church. Those who are prepared and it doesn't matter who teaches them, and those who need something specific to help them prepare. I shared with this missionary that if I was only here to find those who are perfectly prepared, then I would prefer to go home and let someone else handle that. As I talked with him, in my heart I knew that I am here on this mission to find and help prepare those who need something specific, those who others might overlook. I don’t share this to in anyway brag, I share it simply because I feel we too often are content with mundane effort. We are satisfied with saying we are working hard, when we are merely going with the flow. Dad emailed me today and talked about how missionaries often feel a sense of urgency to work harder as they near the end of their 2 years. I have been fortunate enough to feel that urgency from the beginning, and I pray that it never leaves. We are here in the mission field as well as in this life to accomplish something, not to merely go along for the ride. I invite anyone reading this to prayerfully ponder what goal they are working towards accomplishing, or maybe what they SHOULD be working towards. If we aren't heading somewhere, then we are likely going nowhere. Just some thoughts of mine. I apologize if I sound all preachy. Teaching all day everyday becomes a habit quickly!
I love and appreciate all of you and am grateful for your influence on me!
God Bless
Elder Steven Richards
Elder Merkley, a missionary who came into the field with me, is also serving in the Zone so Saturday night we went and burned a shirt to celebrate one year. Next week, I will have some sweet pictures and videos of that. After we burned the shirt, Elder Hills and I celebrated by eating a deer steak that Brother Gifford cooked for us. We then taught a lesson to an investigator, so it was an interesting night to say the least!
The work continues to go well out here. We have several people who are so close to being ready to be baptized, and we are still working with them. Elder Hills and I are also continuing to try and find more and more people to teach, and it is going pretty well. We need to up the effort a little bit though, because we certainly aren't accomplishing what we are capable of.
This week, I went on two exchanges with some of the newer missionaries in the District. It was cool to be able to help them get more excited and focused on the work. Both struggle with finding and talking to people. It was a good chance to show them how easy it is to talk to people and teach people right when you find them. Too many missionaries don’t believe in themselves, so they are scared and stop themselves from working harder because of their fears. I sure am glad for all the life experiences and good examples both before I came into the mission field and those in this past year that have helped me to become more self-confident. It makes the work a lot more enjoyable!
We did service this morning, and we are cutting email time short today, so we can go out and work, but I will share one experience that I had this past week with a missionary.
We dropped by to visit someone named Heather. We had found her previously and taught once before, but she didn't seem very interested this second time. The missionary who was with me for the day said something to the effect that she wasn't prepared and was a waste of our time. I thought for a little bit then remembered something that President Mendenhall often says, "Find the prepared, and prepare those you find." I thought about that as I was driving and it really sunk in why I am here. I was able to have a conversation with this missionary that there are two types of people who we see join the church. Those who are prepared and it doesn't matter who teaches them, and those who need something specific to help them prepare. I shared with this missionary that if I was only here to find those who are perfectly prepared, then I would prefer to go home and let someone else handle that. As I talked with him, in my heart I knew that I am here on this mission to find and help prepare those who need something specific, those who others might overlook. I don’t share this to in anyway brag, I share it simply because I feel we too often are content with mundane effort. We are satisfied with saying we are working hard, when we are merely going with the flow. Dad emailed me today and talked about how missionaries often feel a sense of urgency to work harder as they near the end of their 2 years. I have been fortunate enough to feel that urgency from the beginning, and I pray that it never leaves. We are here in the mission field as well as in this life to accomplish something, not to merely go along for the ride. I invite anyone reading this to prayerfully ponder what goal they are working towards accomplishing, or maybe what they SHOULD be working towards. If we aren't heading somewhere, then we are likely going nowhere. Just some thoughts of mine. I apologize if I sound all preachy. Teaching all day everyday becomes a habit quickly!
I love and appreciate all of you and am grateful for your influence on me!
God Bless
Elder Steven Richards
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