August 5th (Mom notes in parentheses):)

Hey Mom, it sounds like everything is going well. I don't have a ton of time, but I will do my best to answer your questions from last week, as well as your letter. I got it and the cash was handy. Thank you so much!! This is how I got down to Las Cruces....it has gone digital now, but it is still very similar. I went to the chapel in Albuquerque and then was assigned to head south. There are three transfer sites: ABQ, LC, and EP. They told me I was headed down toward El Paso. My driver was Elder Hernandez and we had the purple travel flag and rode in a Chevy Cruze. The co-pilot was Elder Foulk and Elder Robledo and I were temporary travel companions.  I figured I might be serving there, however, I stopped at the Las Cruces site, which is called the Venus Chapel and Elder Robledo had to use the restroom. Right as I walked in they announced my name and my companion's name. "Elder Keddington" We hugged and then we headed out to do some shopping and then to a "golden" lesson in which we taught 5 almost 6 lessons in one!

 

Do not worry about the apartment situation. We found an apartment and as soon as I know the exact address I will let you know. Her name is Sister Hoopes and she is extremely nice!(Sister missionary in the office) That sounds like it must have been a very tender moment. I am happy to see them exercising faith, because everything truly does come down to faith and agency! I wish I could have been there and I hope that Jordan baptizes Hayley, because that would be awesome! I am excited to receive those pictures!(In response to news of Eleanor's blessing)

 

I have played Settlers of Cataan! It is one of the most fun games. It quickly became a favorite of Steph and I, but I played it on a couple other occasions as well. HAHA Hayley would drop Six-Four's name! I bet with her (soon-to-come) candid ability to speak French she puts on a great show for the fam and everyone else!! She and I are alike in a lot of ways.

 

I really loved reading the primary kids' class note to me, it was cute. Hayley can spell Bonjour now?! Crazy crazerson! Keep me updated on Sister, well, Hannah Schieving I guess now..... and the ward. By the way that was really cool to hear that Becca Thacker got her mission call to Recife! Tell her CONGRATS!! Tell the ward I say hello, especially my leaders and the Bishop. Also, President Holmes. Anyone you see who asks about me.

 

I realized that it is very hard to hand-write letters every week with all of the demands and time required to be a consecrated and exactly obedient missionary. I will do my best to respond to the letters and such, that is why e-mail is very handy in that regard!

 

Tell Olivia to enjoy it while she can! I also hope she writes me soon! :)Summer is flying by. In October I get to go on my first temple trip and I hear there is a new temple video being played now?

 

Any advice you can give me is awesome. I also would like to see your perspective on the blessings from the night before I entered into the MTC in your own words. I am learning from Elder Morris everyday...taking phone calls and leading at times in correlation meeting and ward-council. My Spanish is increasing immensely each and every day. Living with the zone leaders has taught me a lot, too.

 

I am making a Spanish quad with materials I bought from Hobby Lobby, and I am really enjoying this transfer.  I am really watching what I am spending a lot more carefully now. I should be fine, because my mission card got refilled. I have a good feeling I will need a GPS soon, but I will let you know as the transfer goes on. We cover a huge area...technically up to Hatch Spanish-wise. It is massive!!!! We had to cut the grass at our trailer with kitchen knives, because we did not have any tools. You sometimes just have to use whatever you have.

 

Elder Morris is my companion, yes. We have instated a program for our ward. We also got a new ward mission leader and the work is hastening immensely in our area right now! We are doing a lot of less-active work and member work. Elder Morris has taught me the importance of a system and prioritizing. I have had the chance several times to exercise my priesthood and give priesthood blessings in English and now, since last week in Spanish. I am learning everyday and the counsel from President Miller and his wife Sister Miller is incredible! We still check mail at the trailer every postal day. I am praying very hard right now! Thank you Mom! Good luck with everything and I love you very much! Tell the family the same. Give hugs. Have a great week!

 

Love,

 

Elder SG Richards

July 29th Letter: Holy Cow, almost 3 months out!

Hey Mom, it is so great to hear from you, and it was very hard to hear that Sister Schieving was going home, but I do know that everything happens for a reason! This week especially, as we have been dealing with a gas leak and living with the zone leaders and apartment shopping on top of our teaching and meetings and everything else we missionaries have to do weekly! My new companion is a much older zone leader from Santa Fe Espanola. He got stepped down from the zone leader position and is the district leader now, but he told me that he is going home in September and that the mission is relying on me very heavily as I mentioned before, to help these younger missionaries coming in.

My new companion is Elder Tyrell Morris from Rupert Idaho. He is going home after this transfer and he has really helped me a lot. He speaks perfect Spanish and has gotten my Spanish to improve immensely in just a week!! He and I are very similar and I know that I am having two trainers for a reason. In a couple weeks I am taking the new zone leader Elder Harris on an exchange in my area, which means I have to lead all of the lessons in Spanish and drive everywhere. As far as the driving situation goes....right now he is driving and I am navigating from memory. However, the last two weeks of the transfer, essentially I will become the senior companion.

This week I took my first phone call in Spanish and held it consistently for 20 minutes! My Spanish is increasing more and more each day. Elder Morris and I have implemented member missionary work already and are focusing on helping the members in every aspect and way we can! We found out that we actually cover the Spanish part of Radium Springs, which is the town that "Cars" the Pixar movie got its name from. We also got a new ward mission leader and stood in on his setting apart yesterday after church. He reminds me a lot of grandpa Grant and asked me to prepare a musical number for the meeting on Wednesday. He used to be a trumpet player and he is the bishops' dad.

Living with the zone leaders has taught us a lot about how people use their agency. Sometimes as humans we have no sense of urgency and we get complacent and think that someone else is going to do something or I can do this or that later. We cannot stay in our trailer, because there is gas....however, we were blessed and recognized a miracle and a huge tender mercy of sort. We found ourselves and the zone leaders two very nice apartments that we will be moving into this week!! Back to agency; although someone may feel that they will act on something or choose to do something when they talk about it, they do not always carry it out, which is very disheartening. Just like our investigators, we sometimes have to put ourselves in the shoes of others and see what they are experiencing.

My companion and I are pushing ourselves to help this area out more and more and have really seen progress already in ways that we would never have imagined. None of this would be able to occur without the strength of the Lord in all things! The lesson this week is to really put your full confidence in the Lord and TRUST no matter what, because our Heavenly Father and our Savior know what is the best for us. They are preparing a way for us and with their help, there really is no such thing as failure.

I love you all, have a wonderful week!

-Elder Richards

July 22 Letter

Hey Mom and everyone,

Wow, that is some interesting back history about those words. It sounds like lice is hitting like the plague! I am not dealing with that, but I am starting to see cockroaches in the trailer and the church! Big ones too!! I will be lucky if we don't get a big infestation in the next little while with this hot and humid weather, especially because I am taking over the area and getting step-trained. My trainer is going on to bigger and better things. On Saturday night he got the zone leader call and is getting transferred in the morning. My next companion could be a missionary who will finish their mission while completing my training and again my companion will be the district leader; that seems to be the pattern.

I am probably going to be the driver and I haven't driven in New Mexico at all yet. Well, I guess it is time to start, but this last week was great and full of many neat experiences and miracles galore!!!! We decided to go out and talk to a lot more people this week and we had a lot of success of contacting ten people within an hour on Friday! My Spanish is improving immensely by speaking and practicing along with teaching. I am excited to be half way through training and this transfer has definitely flown by. I cannot believe that it is almost August already! I am already learning how to play soccer, because little kids like to play soccer here. I usually just play goalie.

We went to Apadaca Park to contact people on Tuesday, which turned out to be very fun. It really helped me overcome the fear of people scattering when the missionaries walked right up to them. We talked to nine people in total within 40 minutes of being at the park. This week was really tough to see people and to get into houses. We talked to people in between appointments and sometimes even pulled over just to talk to someone. :)

We got a lot of rain this week, but it was very humid, which took away from the cooling down factor. Last night at a dinner appointment with the Del Hierro family we left in a monsoon and a lightning storm in Mesquite, NM. Also yesterday I saw some people from Lyceum who happened to show up to the Spanish ward. They were traveling and their grandparents live in Las Cruces, and I think that they might have spoken a little bit of Spanish.

On Wednesday we went on exchanges with the zone leaders. I went with the more experienced missionary who has five months left; Elder Kemp. He taught me to knock a door or two and to talk to everyone no matter what! Although I enjoyed speaking English for a day, I missed the Mexican culture all of Wednesday. I met some really nice people who were very interested in my background. The Cantrell family: Janet and Gary, were fun to be around and reminded me of grandpa Grant and granny Pete. They were into hunting and big band, and were fascinated by my voice. This was the first true American home cooked meal I have had in a while and it was mashed potatoes and vegetables and bread with meat and mushroom sauce.

I met another family (Guerrero/Hester) who were having a birthday party and their daughter liked to entertain the crowd by singing "Call Me Maybe" (Sophia, Abigail) and then their daughter Hannah looked just like Seattle Sperry; I wonder if they are cousins. The mom (Malia) reminded me of Jeannette and she talked like her, too. She is a cake maker and she made a really fancy cake and homemade ice cream. Her husband Terry looked like Jordan and he was into hunting too, which was awesome. I could relate to a lot of people on exchanges and they gave some really good advice as well.

It will be interesting to meet my new companion tomorrow, and it will be hard to see Elder Keddington go, but I know that the Lord needs him as a zone leader. Taking over the area will be difficult and interesting, but I know that the Savior is there always and I do not need to fear! I am excited though for this next transfer, and to finish my training. We literally drove on some dirt roads this week, but they were very muddy!! I will send some pictures of the filthy truck, just for kicks. :)

I hope that you all have a great week!

Mom as far as some of the other questions go: After re-arranging our trailer I am sleeping a lot better at night and the airflow has been circulating so much better. I am eating a lot, because I love the food! Transfer day is tomorrow like I mentioned earlier. If there are ever any changes I will let you know right off the bat. I saw a bat this week too while running in the morning. I cannot wait to see my niece! :D I would love it if any family write. I am slowly getting used to e-mail and being able to write to whomever I want. I cannot reply to everyone every week, but I will make my best effort to do so!!We eat out a lot in this mission, which can be pretty expensive. The trailer has its own washer and dryer, we just buy soap and dryer sheets, which is awesome and handy!

I will be awaiting the package and the snail mail. :) I love you and pray for you everyday. I will work harder and pray harder. I hope the lice sichiation gets better! I wouldn't have expected that at all. I have gotten much fatter and slightly taller, but it shows, especially in pictures. I will send those in just a few! Enjoy the week and I hope everything gets better!

Love your son,

Elder Sterling Grant Richards

July 15th Letter (He did get the email from home before he was done on the computer!)

Dear Mom....Well,
I was looking forward to seeing an update of this week, but I know that life gets busy and that sometimes it is hard to do things. Speaking of which this week was very interesting. I had a lot of opportunities to do things that I hadn't had the chance to do before and with our mission president's new challenge of contacting 10 new people a day and finding more and more people who are prepared, because the Lord truly is hastening his work.

 

Yesterday in sacrament meeting, I got asked to prepare the sacrament and bless the sacrament in Spanish! I was pretty nervous at first, because in Spanish my voice is still low, but it is not as low as you would think and I didn't think I knew how to pronounce every word in the prayer on the water, but the Lord provided a way for me to get over this self doubt and everything went just fine. The other thing that I was asked to do was to offer the closing prayer in sacrament meeting in Spanish, again for my first time in a sacrament setting, but I was prepared and it wasn't as scary.

 

The point is I learned this week that sometimes you have to do things when you are asked and gear up for anything. It is "after the trial of our faith" that we see the blessings and the miracles unfold and that was a huge testimony booster to me this week. We contacted someone through a pool fence in the bushes, and they were swimming while we were talking about the after life and the Plan of Salvation. It is the awkward moments that you really have to be on your feet to be prepared to answer questions and to relate to them in a way that you wouldn't have thought of before.

 

As far as our investigators and lessons went this wee,k we saw some hard things as we taught people. They had lost hope, they were down, and then some were just lazy about keeping their commitments. These moments not only are frustrating, but they are very devastating and you have to learn to keep going forward and to "live in the moment, but not let it take control to the point where you get caught up in it."

 

We started contacting more and more people and I started relating to more and more people. The funniest moment while we were tracting a neighborhood was figuring out how to relate ceramic cats outside of a woman's home to the Gospel, as well as a man we walked up to who said, "What has John Smith done for me, he ain't done nothin' " You live for these moments as a missionary, because it is okay to have a laugh sometimes to keep you optimistic and enthusiastic about the work you are participating in! Yesterday we contacted a referral from an English ward and Jesus (hay seus) was so prepared. We brought up baptism in the first discussion and are going to commit him to baptism on Wednesday!

 

I hope everything is well at home. Enjoy your week! I had trouble sleeping one night this week to the point of only getting two hours, but I have Melatonin to conquer that from now on. Thank you so much for the package. 

It is perfect, everything I needed and some treats! Tell Doug I found a Batman action figure that I sometimes use, and you find inventive ways to have fun. We might be playing Dew Pong and such on P-Days and I cannot believe that the transfer is almost up!! Thanks for all the love and the support. I'll send some pictures! :)

 

Love,

Elder Richards

July 8th Letter

Hola Todas las personas!

Madre, my fourth of July was a blast and even in the mission field there is still a little pyro in me…when the locals get tired of lighting off fountains and such. I will send some pictures. The language, like I said, is improving each and every day and immensely each week, but I still am faced with trials in it a lot of the time. I am absolutely enjoying the work, but there are times when it is hot and no one is home and then you get a prompting and you run into an ice cream man who was an old investigator who dropped, but then tells you he is coming to church. Those moments are absolutely the best, and his name is Javier!

The hardest times are when nothing seems to be happening, and you do not realize that there are little blessings, but you just aren't noticing them. A typical day is to wake up at 6:24 and to pray and then get up and get on it and exercise for thirty minutes around the dirt and asphalt roads around our house running, sprinting, jogging, and walking. I sometimes lift some little weights to get my heart rate going and then we go in and eat breakfast and prepare for the day and get to studies by eight. While training we have studies until noon usually, except for specific days. Then we eat and go out and see people from 1 to 5 usually and then we eat dinner sometimes it is a quick stop at a fast food restaurant. We go visit some less active and part-member families in the evenings mostly, or sometimes we will have a dinner with somebody, we usually do. We get home, plan and then go to bed. That is the typical schedule of a missionary. I hope I answered your questions!

Let's see tell the ward that I love them and miss them, but tell them that if you are doing your part the Lord will send forth miracles and blessings and answers to prayers like you wouldn't have ever imagined. Tell Bishop Eldredge that being enthusiastic has been something that has kept me going and actively engaged in a great cause while being out.

We had many miracles this week, but it was a major trial of our faith, especially mine. We decided to follow promptings and found people we wouldn't have found before. We talked to a Jehova's witness at a members home as well as her other sister, who came to church yesterday along with the Segavolla familia y la familia Gallegos! Fue un milagro para nosotros! Este semana fue incredible!

We had a record of two families attending church and seven new people! It was amazing! This new President and his wife are really making some cool and effective changes to this mission.

P.S. when you send a package make sure you put my first name and middle initial, because there is another Sterling R. in this mission.

Have a great week,

Love, Elder Richards

Miracles and Mariachi Music

Hola everyone,

 

This week was pretty interesting to say the least and I had several new experiences....but no dog bites or sun burns. Half of the week it was super hot like in the upper 100's and one time I looked at our truck and it said 120 degrees and I was very concerned....luckily it cooled down and out of the blue it started raining! This week was pretty tough, because we lost a lot of lessons because of people not being home when we showed up, but we prayed to find miracles and people to teach.

 

We did a lot of teaching with the Paisano/Acosta family this week. This family is very awesome and they have so much potential, because two of them are already members! They make some really pecoso or super spicy food that is very delicious, but you cannot get around the burning sensation in your throat and stomach as you eat it. They always have their grandma and aunt over and they give me a hard time. Mexicans like to joke about setting up Elders with their daughters....but they just joke, however, they started calling me cunado or brother in-law this week, which was pretty strange to me.

 

We heard a lot of mariachi music and when I heard a tuba I could locate it. In fact, a miracle came from my sense of hearing. We had gone to Silvia Villescas' house and no one was answering so I heard a tuba in the back yard and we walked around the corner of the house and there was one of our recent converts Erik! He walked up to us and we had a short 15 minute lesson from both sides of the fence and said a prayer and were on our way, but he hadn't been coming to church for a while and it was good to talk to him.

 

Also this week we had the opportunity to teach an entire family not just Elsa. Her husband Obtavio wasn't too sure about having the missionaries over, but he wanted us to come over. He is paying his tithing and is prepared. We taught their family and I am looking forward to inviting them to be baptized this next week. They are awesome! Their daughter Miriam plays trumpet and piano, which is super cool.

 

Ricardo's dog Pelluza didn't bite me this week. She ran away, but Ricardo is much happier now as he is changing his heart and growing closer to Jesus Christ. We taught him several times this week and he started reading more in the Book of Mormon and is liking what he reads and feels a lot more.

 

Cesar and his family are doing awesome. Jonathan and Julissa were going to be baptized this Saturday, but Cesar has to work and he wants to perform the ordinance, so we are going to wait a couple weeks until he can be there, but they are prepared!

 

We experienced another miracle in finding on Friday night. We had an appointment cancel on us right when we got there and we had no clue what we were going to do, but then we felt like we should walk and go visit a man who we got a referral for. Previously, we visited the wrong apartment number, but then we knocked on Apt #1 and there was his wife Irma, but Carlos was in the back tending to his garden in his sombrero. We walked up to him and started talking to him and he had us follow him. This man liked to talk and he talked for two hours and we taught for about 5 minutes, but he is being softened.

 

The Gomez' apartment was full of Catholic symbols and it was a new experience for me. Their home was decorated in a very unique manner, but apparently this one wasn't as subtle as Mexican homes. The couple accepted the Restoration pamphlet and we are going to visit them. They are great people!

 

Two other miracles that we saw were with a referral and then with not having enough miles. The first occurred on Wednesday. We decided to go contact a referral. The woman had about 4 kids and her name is Marta. She already has fellowship with Silvia, and she is super prepared. She had the exact same questions as in the Plan of Salvation lesson: "Who am I, Why am I here, and where am I going?" It was awesome. Yesterday we didn't have enough miles to go teach the Paisano/Acosta family and the investigator and recent convert Cesar came and picked us up and it was such a miracle! We had a great lesson about the importance of church and Carlos is definitely progressing. :)

 

 Have a fun 4th and a great week!!!!

 

Love,

Elder Sterling Grant Richards

(your son) :)

 

PS: niece is la sobrina in Spanish. 

Sunburn...OUCH! (Letter from 6/24/13)

Hola todos personas!!

This week has been really interesting and full of miracles and tender mercies from the Lord. On Tuesday my companion and I had the wonderful blessing and opportunity of going up the '70 and having a noche de hogar con la familia Gallegos who are an awesome less active part member family. We watched the Testaments with them and the Spirit was so strong in the room, it was truly incredible! After the movie many of them were in tears and I was too because of the Savior coming down to the Americas as described in 3rd Nephi 11 and the Atonement in our lives is truly a powerful and wonderful privilege and an ultimate gift.

After that movie I pondered about all of the people whom I serve whether they are other missionaries, investigators, ward members, part-member families, or less active members how they might come closer to the Savior throughout anything life throws at them. I had a special experience in a lesson with Ricardo Malduno. I told him that he was a miracle in my mission, because he had the faith to stop smoking and to start reading the Book of Mormon and he will be baptized in mid-July sometime which is truly a blessing and tender mercy from our Father in Heaven.

This week was full of excitement, because my companion had his "golden" or his twentieth birthday and we celebrated the best way we knew how to. As a district we went to Sonic because of their 1/2 off shakes and celebrated. Later that night the Orduno family (the dad is a recent convert of 3 weeks ago) Cesar, Roxanna, Jonathan, Julissa, and their whole entire family had us over for dinner and threw my companion una fiesta! Earlier that day, we decided to weekly plan for nearly three hours in 108 degree weather and I came into our trailer really red and burned. At the party they served enchiladas verdes, but in New Mexico they put all kinds of hot peppers and spicy seasonings on everything they make so my companion and I were turning red and sweating. Green chiles here range on the spicy scale and we had been given some of the hottest ones.

We were given Tres Leches right after that, and I was so full, but my sunburn helped me to not worry about the pain from eating too much. We took lots of pictures and there were so many words just shooting by in the air that I did not understand. Here, they use a lot of slang and do not think anything of it. However, my companion warned me about the words that I shouldn't say and pointed them out. Mama Cantana the mom of Roxanna and Nayelli is very into gifts on birthdays, but not only did my companion get a gift bag I got one too and what better to give missionaries than a Hershey's bar and a tie!

The sunburn has been painful, but it has taught me to think of the atonement and although we are all going to fall short, we can better ourselves through leaning on the Savior and praying to find an answer!! No dog bites this week, but the dog that bit me sadly ran away and the investigator Ricardo was pretty upset, but he has shown such an amazing increase of faith lately and it is miraculous the way the Lord works!!

Saturday, we took a map and marked all of the less actives in our ward, which is about 3/4 of the ward and we started making visits and being constantly productive. Saturday we did not see much success, but I had a wonderful opportunity. The same investigator Ricardo that night we told him about the priesthood a little bit and then he asked for a blessing. This was in Spanish and it was my first annointing in Spanish, but my companion helped me out and it went just fine.

Yesterday, my companion conferred upon Cesar Orduno the Aaronic Priesthood and he is going to baptize his son and daughter Jonathan and Julissa hopefully in two weeks!! The last speaker Hermana Garcia spoke about George F. Richards and she pointed me out to the congregation and it was incredible. We had the blessing of doing service for her last Thursday and we got to help out so much, and it was really fun!!

We had a worldwide missionary leadership broadcast yesterday and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and President Monson shared messages on how missionary work is changing in this "digital age" and progressing in a way that it hasn't ever before!! I am really excited to see how much that will increase productivity, instead of just tracting and wasting time.

Hasta proxima semana,

Con Amor,

-Elder Richards