Iced In

Hello One and All,

This last week was crazy! Wednesday night a storm hit. It started out
as snow but evolved into freezing rain that went all night and the
majority of the next day, and it just kept going. It turned the roads
of Hermiston into glass, and as a result we were...grounded. No
traveling allowed. It was a rough 3 or so days. Cabin Fever definitely
set in. In addition to studying and being productive I also started
and completed an entire scarf. It actually looks pretty good. Frankly
it's a miracle one of us didn't snap and kill the others with knitting
needles, but we all made it out ok and still sane. Barely.

Despite the crazy elements we still had a pretty productive week.
_____ is willing to give up the tarrot cards and really wants to get
baptized, and we have several other investigators that are progressing nicely.

We also had a really good group FHE (Family Home Evening) last week. It was all about Family History Work. We had a big turn out and Elder Diaz and I cooked 14 pounds of Carne Apastor for the occasion. It was a big hit and a lot of fun. Next FHE will be about missionary work.

This last Sunday I was called on to give a talk in sacrament meeting. I focused my remarks on the Doctrine of Christ. It's a really important Doctrine, but nobody seems to know about it. It consists of 5 basic things, faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the holy ghost, and enduring to the end. Pretty basic right? well, it's really important. And if you are looking for it you can find it EVERYWHERE in the Book of Mormon. It really is the one of the single most important things this church is about. I'm giving out a homework assignment: everyone who reads this paragraph needs to go read 2nd Nephi chapter 31. That is the best example. 3rd Nephi chapter 11 is another good one. It is the first thing that Christ teaches when he reveals himself in the Americas.

We had zone conference yesterday (hence why I am writing today) and it was awesome. We had it up in Kennewick, WA so it was a good chance to catch up with Elder Anderson and others from my old area. Several people are getting baptized there which is exciting. The conference itself was great, it was all about the Doctrine of Christ. During the conference I felt inspired to make the goal to read the Book of Mormon and highlight the Doctrine and Covenants, by the end of the transfer. So today I bought a pocket Book of Mormon in the distribution center after our temple trip (which was also good).

The address I sent last week is correct, if there is ever any doubt
all mail sent to the mission office will be forwarded to me. I haven't
gotten to Boardman yet, but hopefully soon. I hope that everyone has a great week and keeps warm.

Love,
Elder Richards