How is everyone doing? Thanks for the letter Dad and Mike and Grandpa. Other than those on Monday, it's been kind of a letter draught for a while. But that's ok. Well things are good. We got our flight plans last night, and I'm out of here a week from Tuesday! 10 days, oh man, almost there. I can not wait. We leave the MTC Tuesday morning at 8:00 I think, and then we fly straight to Pasdo(?). It was something like that. I don't remember because I don't have the print out with me at the moment. And then from there either a church representative or someone from the mission will come pick us up. I assume it'll be the President and his wife, but we will see in 10 days.
The other real cool news is that I got into the special choir going to priesthood session next weekend. So I'll get to go to conference and be on the stand. All the men keep an eye out during the special musical numbers. My companion Elder Hansen is also going, along with two others from our district.
Oh a question for Dad: when it comes to buying a bike in Washington, I assume I should just use my debit card on that? Mike and Jess, thanks for the letter, my teacher got a kick out of some of your stories. Also that's pretty crazy about all the various accidents with the kids. I hope everyone is doing all right. Congrats to Ben for moving up with the smart kids. Whit, your reception looked good. My favorite picture is the one of everyone jumping. Eric, I hope all goes well with your travels and time in Iraq. (Actually Stephen ...he'll be in Afghanistan!) Mom and Dad, how's the ward doing? Still mostly children ...primary aged kids? So, what are the goings on in every body's life? Whit and Cody, how goes the settling into the apartment?
I've been reading a lot of the BoM the last few days because I'm trying to finish it before I leave the MTC. I'm rediscovering some of my favorite passages, for example 2 Nephi 22. Love it. The gift of the spirit is fantastic. Those crazy Isiah chapters make a fair amount of sense this time round.
Well, I love you all and appreciate your love and support. I can't really think of anything else major that has gone on around here. Oh, this last Wednesday I hosted new missionaries. That means I was the guy at the curb who dragged the missionaries away from the crying mothers. They weren't too bad, but there were still plenty of tears. Very different from my drop off experience which consisted of: "Well, thanks for the ride Whit. I'll see ya in 2 years." And then skipping off. I guess not everyone is as stoic as our family. But yes, I am very excited to leave. The MTC is great, but I can't wait to get out there and teach real people and do real things. I am super excited. I love you all. Thanks for your love and support. Keep an eye out for me at conference.
Love,
Elder Richards
Friday, September 24, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
The life and times of Elder Richards
Hello One and All,
Well this week has been an eventful week to say the least. One of the Elders in my bedroom and his companion (who are going to Kennewick as well) we are all very good friends. His family is up in Riverton and very close. His mom and sister have practically adopted the rest of us and it is very nice. We know they love us. They correspond with each of us regularly, makes one feel good.
He has been quite ill for the last 2 weeks or so. Throwing up and going to the sick bay and repeating the process over and over. So we've all been tag teaming and staying with him in the bedroom so his companion wouldn't miss so much class. So that's been ...fun I guess. Anywho, he seems to be all over it now, so that is good. Another Elder went in for surgery today to get his tonsils and something else removed. Apparently they were so large that they were causing him to have sleep apnea. His companion says the procedure went well, so he's going to stay in the hospital tonight and then come back "home" (to the MTC) tomorrow. After the weekend he'll go to the sick bay where he will stay for a little while. Last night all the Elders in the district gave him a blessing. That is one, Elder offered it and the rest of us participated. I have to say, it was one of the most powerful blessings I've ever been a part of.
Now onto the big news of the week. So last week I mentioned in the email how we were going to get a new district leader and I was praying to dodge that bullet. Well once again God has revealed his sense of humor. One of the Elders was made district leader and me and my companion were made Zone Leaders. I did not see that one coming. So this has been a very busy week for us. We had 2 new districts come in so we had to orientate 22 elders while we were still learning what to do.
Fun fact, my old roommate (the one in the single room last year) is now in my zone, so that was neat. I've also seen another of my room mates around as well. So me and my companion have to go to different meetings, orientate new elders and sisters, plan zone activities, and maintain a general sense of order within the zone. The last one includes patrolling the residence halls. This is particularly challenging because we now have districts on the top floor with us, on the third floor, and the basement; and we have to go check on everyone every night. It's all right, I really enjoy the opportunity to get to know everyone and be a source of advice and help to them.
Thanks everyone for the mail. Mom, I got the package. Thanks very much. I especially loved the pictures, that was way awesome. All of my roommates were way excited to see pictures of my friends and family. Awesome wedding dress Whit. Mike thanks so much for the kids' card, it's the envy of the district. Eric mom says you're doing well, that's good. I hope all of y'all are doing well. I am not 100% whole right now, but I feel just fine enough. It doesn't detract from my learning that is.
Oh also mom, I'm assuming that was you that got in contact with Andrew and told him about dear elder because I got one from him the other day. Thanks very much. If you could let him know through email for me that I am allowed to respond it will just take a little longer because of snail mail. So just let him know a letter's going to be going his way soon. Um ...I think I've touched on everything. Hopefully everyone has gotten the letters that I have sent. Thank you everyone for your mail, prayers and support. It means the world to me. I love you all and pray for you daily.
Love,
Elder Richards
Well this week has been an eventful week to say the least. One of the Elders in my bedroom and his companion (who are going to Kennewick as well) we are all very good friends. His family is up in Riverton and very close. His mom and sister have practically adopted the rest of us and it is very nice. We know they love us. They correspond with each of us regularly, makes one feel good.
He has been quite ill for the last 2 weeks or so. Throwing up and going to the sick bay and repeating the process over and over. So we've all been tag teaming and staying with him in the bedroom so his companion wouldn't miss so much class. So that's been ...fun I guess. Anywho, he seems to be all over it now, so that is good. Another Elder went in for surgery today to get his tonsils and something else removed. Apparently they were so large that they were causing him to have sleep apnea. His companion says the procedure went well, so he's going to stay in the hospital tonight and then come back "home" (to the MTC) tomorrow. After the weekend he'll go to the sick bay where he will stay for a little while. Last night all the Elders in the district gave him a blessing. That is one, Elder offered it and the rest of us participated. I have to say, it was one of the most powerful blessings I've ever been a part of.
Now onto the big news of the week. So last week I mentioned in the email how we were going to get a new district leader and I was praying to dodge that bullet. Well once again God has revealed his sense of humor. One of the Elders was made district leader and me and my companion were made Zone Leaders. I did not see that one coming. So this has been a very busy week for us. We had 2 new districts come in so we had to orientate 22 elders while we were still learning what to do.
Fun fact, my old roommate (the one in the single room last year) is now in my zone, so that was neat. I've also seen another of my room mates around as well. So me and my companion have to go to different meetings, orientate new elders and sisters, plan zone activities, and maintain a general sense of order within the zone. The last one includes patrolling the residence halls. This is particularly challenging because we now have districts on the top floor with us, on the third floor, and the basement; and we have to go check on everyone every night. It's all right, I really enjoy the opportunity to get to know everyone and be a source of advice and help to them.
Thanks everyone for the mail. Mom, I got the package. Thanks very much. I especially loved the pictures, that was way awesome. All of my roommates were way excited to see pictures of my friends and family. Awesome wedding dress Whit. Mike thanks so much for the kids' card, it's the envy of the district. Eric mom says you're doing well, that's good. I hope all of y'all are doing well. I am not 100% whole right now, but I feel just fine enough. It doesn't detract from my learning that is.
Oh also mom, I'm assuming that was you that got in contact with Andrew and told him about dear elder because I got one from him the other day. Thanks very much. If you could let him know through email for me that I am allowed to respond it will just take a little longer because of snail mail. So just let him know a letter's going to be going his way soon. Um ...I think I've touched on everything. Hopefully everyone has gotten the letters that I have sent. Thank you everyone for your mail, prayers and support. It means the world to me. I love you all and pray for you daily.
Love,
Elder Richards
Friday, September 3, 2010
Adventures in Provo
Hello All!
So I goofed and forgot something big about last week: The devotional speaker was Elder Holland. He did a way good job and was pretty vocal as you would expect. One of the funniest things he said was how we had to teach what was in PMG (Preach My Gospel) and not leave anything else he says: "This isn't burger king, you can't have it your way, we don't hold the pickles!" This week Elder Hinkley spoke, he also did a very good job. Thank you all who sent letters this week. Thanks mom for those addresses.
Various bugs continue to travel through the district, it's like a freaking petri dish around here! But it's ok, I have not been incapacitated yet. Our zone got a new district this week and we get two more next week. The hermanas are really hoping for more sisters because they are the only three left. Some time this week me and my companion will be switching roles and I'll be senior companion for the rest of the time. Also the District leader will be released and a new one will be called. I pray I dodge that bullet.
Whit and Cody, it sounds like y'all had a blast. I hope you got me an awesome Bahamas souvenir ...nah I kid, I kid. Mike, I was glad to hear about your work issues being resolved, yeah blessings! Eric, I'm sure you're still doing good from the last time I heard from you. So lets see, the wedding reception is this weekend, tonight perhaps? That should be a lot of fun! I'm sure it'll be nice to finally get all those stressors out of the way.
Every week on Monday my district goes to the TRC (training resource center) where we practice different teaching scenarios. This week will be our first time teaching officially in Spanish. So we have been practicing our Spanish a lot. Yesterday we taught the first lesson in Spanish two times. It was our first time using only Spanish, no half and half, and no Spanglish. A half hour or so after the first lesson I turned to my companion and pointed out that we had just taught in Spanish relatively successfully. It was quite an eye opener because it is hard to see the progress day to day. But when one of those big milestones comes along you realize how far you've come.
At this point I have to encourage everyone to go to the temple. Going once a week here has really made a difference and filled my life with blessings. So yeah, I challenge all y'all to go much more often. It'll pay off I promise. Still no word as to when the MTC music director lady wants us to sing before a devotional/fireside. She said we'd all get a letter with instructions the week of the assignment, so we will see.
3 times a week different members of the Branch Presidency come to visit us in the residence hall. It is a wonderful thing and shows us how much they really care. They all have such happy and loving attitudes. Last Sunday my district got called on to go provide the sacrament to the cafeteria staff. So after our sacrament meeting we went to a classroom with the branch president and there were about 5 or 6 staffers there, and we put on a real nice little sacrament meeting. Me and my companion both spoke for five or so minutes. He did a great job, mine was more just rambling on about I don't know what for a while.
The weather has really started to cool down here and I've gotten some use out of my sweaters. It's a little frustrating with our teacher situation. So with our last two teachers they were out of town and sick a lot, so we've had a ton of subs. Now they have both left and we have two new teachers, however their schedules do not line up, so one of them is going to have to leave and we'll go back to district limbo with a bunch of subs until they find a permanent replacement. But all is well in Zion, the church is still true. Pday is always a relaxing treat, the only down side is we don't have gym time, so we have to go a day without Volleyball.
At this point there's five minutes left and I'm out of stuff to say. I love you all and appreciate your prayers and contributions. Thank you so much.
Love,
Elder Richards
So I goofed and forgot something big about last week: The devotional speaker was Elder Holland. He did a way good job and was pretty vocal as you would expect. One of the funniest things he said was how we had to teach what was in PMG (Preach My Gospel) and not leave anything else he says: "This isn't burger king, you can't have it your way, we don't hold the pickles!" This week Elder Hinkley spoke, he also did a very good job. Thank you all who sent letters this week. Thanks mom for those addresses.
Various bugs continue to travel through the district, it's like a freaking petri dish around here! But it's ok, I have not been incapacitated yet. Our zone got a new district this week and we get two more next week. The hermanas are really hoping for more sisters because they are the only three left. Some time this week me and my companion will be switching roles and I'll be senior companion for the rest of the time. Also the District leader will be released and a new one will be called. I pray I dodge that bullet.
Whit and Cody, it sounds like y'all had a blast. I hope you got me an awesome Bahamas souvenir ...nah I kid, I kid. Mike, I was glad to hear about your work issues being resolved, yeah blessings! Eric, I'm sure you're still doing good from the last time I heard from you. So lets see, the wedding reception is this weekend, tonight perhaps? That should be a lot of fun! I'm sure it'll be nice to finally get all those stressors out of the way.
Every week on Monday my district goes to the TRC (training resource center) where we practice different teaching scenarios. This week will be our first time teaching officially in Spanish. So we have been practicing our Spanish a lot. Yesterday we taught the first lesson in Spanish two times. It was our first time using only Spanish, no half and half, and no Spanglish. A half hour or so after the first lesson I turned to my companion and pointed out that we had just taught in Spanish relatively successfully. It was quite an eye opener because it is hard to see the progress day to day. But when one of those big milestones comes along you realize how far you've come.
At this point I have to encourage everyone to go to the temple. Going once a week here has really made a difference and filled my life with blessings. So yeah, I challenge all y'all to go much more often. It'll pay off I promise. Still no word as to when the MTC music director lady wants us to sing before a devotional/fireside. She said we'd all get a letter with instructions the week of the assignment, so we will see.
3 times a week different members of the Branch Presidency come to visit us in the residence hall. It is a wonderful thing and shows us how much they really care. They all have such happy and loving attitudes. Last Sunday my district got called on to go provide the sacrament to the cafeteria staff. So after our sacrament meeting we went to a classroom with the branch president and there were about 5 or 6 staffers there, and we put on a real nice little sacrament meeting. Me and my companion both spoke for five or so minutes. He did a great job, mine was more just rambling on about I don't know what for a while.
The weather has really started to cool down here and I've gotten some use out of my sweaters. It's a little frustrating with our teacher situation. So with our last two teachers they were out of town and sick a lot, so we've had a ton of subs. Now they have both left and we have two new teachers, however their schedules do not line up, so one of them is going to have to leave and we'll go back to district limbo with a bunch of subs until they find a permanent replacement. But all is well in Zion, the church is still true. Pday is always a relaxing treat, the only down side is we don't have gym time, so we have to go a day without Volleyball.
At this point there's five minutes left and I'm out of stuff to say. I love you all and appreciate your prayers and contributions. Thank you so much.
Love,
Elder Richards
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