Six Months Out! November 4th Letter

Hello Mom and loved ones,

I appreciate being able to read your e-mails and although for a while sporadic; I am happy to hear that all is going well! Wow, it truly sounds like Utah is the same old Utah. It rained here last night, and then the brisk wind swept through El Paso for a couple hours....that was about it. A We got a call at about 7:30 this morning and the zone leaders told us that our area was being converted from the Jeep Compass to bikes! This will be a very new experience for me, because as we all know....the last time I was on a bike I was plummeting to the edge of a cliff on a camp out with Mike Norton almost 5 or 6 years ago down on the Slickrock trail in the red rocks of Moab!

I look forward to having this new experience. I always wondered what it would be like being a biking missionary like in the "Best Two Years." Perhaps something will happen as a result of being on a bike, definitely more interesting experiences I am sure. My companion and I talked to over 60 people this week, which was pretty entertaining and disheartening at the same time. We decided to do some tracting you know the good old knocking doors, getting them slammed in your face and then seeing someone on the street who needs help. I talked to a Russian woman and she was difficult to understand, but it might be a good service opportunity in the future.

I am happy to hear that Livi and Hayley are doing awesome, not just well it sounds like! You have to forgive me this letter might be a bit scattered....

Way to go Livi 4.0 and talking to more people. Looks like she is just being prepared to open her mouth and share the Gospel (I am hinting at something)....;) I could probably still translate a first graders work in French, beyond that I don't know because my Spanish has truly taken over!! I am happy to hear that Olivia is going to YW activities it will bless her in the future! I want to hear about how the talk goes I am sure she will be a stellar speaker, it runs in the family you know....I miss the dogs and everytime I see a Chihuahua it tries to attack me, so I miss calm dogs, although, they bark at home. I have just gotten out of the car to go to an appointment and teach and the dogs bark very obnoxiously and consistently and something always happens there, especially while relating the First Vision.

As far as what you are curious about: My ward is full of all different kinds of Spanish people, Americans who married into Latino families, and a bunch of bilinguals. Most of them speak English, however, we mostly communicate in Spanglish. There is Bishop Myers, Brother Cigarroa, and Brother Sandoval in the Bishopric. The Elders Quorum President served a Spanish speaking mission and married a Latina. The Relief Society President Hermana Maese is just awesome! In fact two weeks ago we were judges for the ward activity for the trunk or treat costume contest. Halloween was very interesting this year, because it was Thursday or weekly planning day, and although it was Halloween we still worked and had a lot of success through that. My sixth month mark or Friday was incredible because we had the opportunity to meet with Ruth who I have mentioned before. She accepted to be baptized on the 30th of November this month!! Our ward isn't all the way on board when it comes to missionary work, however, lots of the members feed us almost every night. In Las Cruces it was seldom to eat so consistently each week or month at a member's home.

We were sitting in Sacrament meeting yesterday and we heard something outside, which sounded like a hammer. We went outside during the sacrament to see what it was and sure enough it was a blue and silver woodpecker right by the window(side door) of the chapel. We stomped and it flew away. It was such a strange experience. Like I mentioned further up in this letter the area is becoming a bike area and it will be a new and interesting experience. I will miss the Jeep, however, we are going to enjoy the Jeep until Friday. Don't worry I have a bike that is in storage and I am excited for this. I think I may have to purchase a helmet, maybe. My companion is very driven and I hope that we stay together for more than a transfer! He is helping me speak Spanish a lot better, because we do our best to frequently speak it about 75 % of the time in our apartment. My companion and I we believe go home on the same day, which is crazy!  Just being with him I am getting a very mixed accent when I speak Spanish: something like a combination of Darth Vader, Russian, Peruvian, Argentinian, Mexican, Spain like, and German/ French some say.

I am happy to hear that the family is getting involved in Family History! My ward mission leader and his wife are really fascinated by my name. People struggle to pronounce. I might get a name tag that says Elder Ricardos, because it means the same thing, however, its a lot easier to pronounce. We were in the Family History Center preparing for a Family Home Evening that we kind of procrastinated preparing for until an hour beforehand....It went well! I will keep Gaye, and Kim in my prayers especially. That sounds yucky, and I hope Sherry is doing all right. Jeff teaching teenagers in Sunday school nice!! You will get a calling eventually.

I sure got the package and laughed at the "not foil dinners :)"; Thank you so much for everything I really do appreciate it. I am doing my best to budget and keep track. I am glad to hear that you got that extra job!  I hope that Jeff gets to be there on Christmas. I might get to Skype and I will look forward to that! I am so excited to see my niece! Prints would be nice!!!!

I am excited to work even harder this next week! We still live in our apartment as far as I know. I will let you know of any more changes, etc. I have felt the fruits of the Spirit abundantly this last week! I am happy to hear that you are being richly blessed, I would not rather be doing anything else or anywhere else than in this wonderful region for Kingdom builders! Obedience is first, I will continue to follow the rules and to consecrate my service and be even more dedicated! I love these people here and I love you all! I hope that you all have a great week and I will definitely report on how my first week on a bike goes here in the mission-field! Send hugs to the fam for me!

Mucho Amor!
-Elder Sterling G. Richards