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