Tangled in Yarn

Hello One and All,

I'm all settled in Hermiston. Life is gradually falling into a
routine which is nice. Things are starting to become "normal", or as
normal as to be expected on a mission. First order of business, here
is my new address:

Elder Richards
565 Willow Court #A
Hermiston, OR 97838

Hopefully that works, but I'm pretty sure that that is it. Or if there
is any doubt, letters can be sent to the mission office address, and
from there they will find me.

The Plex is a pretty cool place to live. It's by far the largest
apartment I've lived in so far. The Vancouver apartment might have
been close, but this one is so much more furnished. I have laid claim
on a comfortable arm chair, that is usually where you will find me in
my down time. It can be a lot of fun living with an extra set of
missionaries, but I am still doing well and not going crazy and
partying. Me and Diaz are getting along well. The other two are
Westover, and Fucuri, they're both pretty cool guys.

E. Fucuri taught us all how to knit. Yup, knit. I am a stud at
casting, but my pearling leaves something to be desired. I was making a scarf but it wasn't looking too good, so I eventually destroyed it. I'll give it another shot soon though. Although occasionally stressful,knitting can be kind of therapeutic.

The other night we had snow. Nothing major, just a light frosting.
Speaking of which, it is much colder in Hermiston than it was in
Kennewick, here it actually feels like it's the middle of January.

The group here is pretty small, but it has some good core families.
Today we'll be running all around getting things ready for a FHE
activity we will be hosting tonight, it should be a lot of fun. One of
the strongest members is Freddy Alva, who as coincidence would have it knows Eric from the mission. We finally made the connection last night, and he started texting all the old gang from Eric's group telling them I was here in Kennewick. They all seemed pretty excited. Apparently Russel Carlson an old companion of Eric's lives up in Yakima, and is now hoping I get sent there. We will see what happens. With only three more transfers left my odds of moving are getting less.

The work here is pretty good. There is a lot of potential. We have
several people who are right on the edge of baptism. "Momma" Maira, who prides her self on taking care of the missionaries; Lisa Sanchez,who is waiting on her husband to get back in town to get baptized; the Estrada Family, who have been with missionaries for ever; and another woman who we actually put on date the other day, the only catch is she kind of practices witchcraft so we need to put a stop to that (she showed us her tarot cards and everything). But we're not too concerned she's a sweet old lady and we can still feel the spirit around her, she even said she would give it up if that's what God wanted, and it's what He wants.

On Friday we have zone conference, we'll be doubled up with the
Kennewick East Zone. I'll get to go back to familiar turf for a few
hours and see Anderson and everyone else, that will be nice. Speaking of old stomping grounds, I worked it out with Fucuri (the district leader, yup I'm just a normal missionary now) so that I can go on an exchange to Boardman during the transfer. I'm really excited for that, to get to see old converts and whatnot. it'll be fun.

Well I think that pretty well covers it for the week, I hope everyone
is doing well, and don't be strangers, it's OK to write.

Love,
Elder Richards