Another week already?!?!
'Sooo this week was a little tough I got sick with all night puking so missed a good portion of two days.. But! We deep deep cleaned that nasty apartment and now it looks awesome! Lots of our appointments fell through and didn't work out but we ended up having some amazing lessons and brought 2 families back to church!!! One just wasn't coming because they didn't want to pay a cab!!! Imagine what would have happened if we didn't care and never allowed them to express that concern! We have a car to share today with the methuen elders so we are going to go to some stores outside of Lawrence. I was planning on writing a big long email but I got busy and now I don't know what to write. We killed 1000 flies in our apartment! We don't know where they are coming from. We finally taught this one person that I met and taught 7 months ago! She said that my Spanish is really good so that makes me happy to hear!! It's really something special when you can start saying things directly from your heart in a foreign language. It really makes my testimony so much stronger knowing that God is by my side helping me with every conjugation and vocab word that I haven't even heard before in my life but somehow understand and can say. It's really something amazing and I wouldn't give up this experience for anything else. But it is definitely the hardest thing I've done in my life. But the most rewarding. I love you all! I hope you all have a great week! This isn't long but... Oh well I have pictures!'
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Heeeyyy 16 months left! 'Well... We played some crazy game this morning after taking the cab home from the grocery store... We made up a crazy story and I was a wizard named Thomas. I wasn't a very good one but it was pretty fun. We had some crazy experiences this past week, a couple people trying to tell us that we are brainwashed and that Jesus was actually praying to himself in the Garden... That guy was nuts. But it just makes the work interesting. The Spanish is going super good! Not as well as it could be but its good. Once I learn to understand that subjunctive I'll be better. This one isn't a long one because I got to go and play baseball for the last time. I will take some pictures to make next weeks email better! Sorry that this one isn't too good. I guess the craziest thing I've seen today is crystal Pepsi... It's just clear Pepsi and that's just crazy!!! I'm having so much fun here and loving the work. I love my Heavenly Father and I know that if I was the only one in this world that had problems and needed the atonement that Jesus Christ would have still died for me and would have done the same for anyone of Gods children. I'm so glad I have an amazing family including a loving eternal family in Heaven. Keep praying for me and I'll keep praying for you! Love you all so much, Love, your east coast missionary, Elder Richins' 'Oh yeah!!! I forgot! Just in case y'all weren't aware, Thomas S. Monson turned 89 I think but his birthday was yesterday! I celebrated it with varying Spanish primary songs. :)' Skateboard pre-gripped... Drew a little man on there.
Barber Bros barber shop? 'I might have spent some money to get hair cutting things... So worth it though, already making plans to become a pro cutter when I get home. Gonna start my shop with Elder Miller the English elder:) I don't remember much... But I caught up on my journal!!! So that's sweet! I also cleaned my apartment tons! It was nasty when I came in. Now it is THEE best apartment. We had 3 investigators come to church! Which was a miracle! Our new investigators are looking promising. We found some amazing people. A man named Carlos gave us watermelon and talked to us for so long telling me I need to be a highway patrol or state trooper for Utah, or work in the K-9 unit haha he really wants me to do that. He is from Guatemala and has been to every state in America. He was a truck driver. He is really nice and has never ever been to church but said because we were so nice he wants to come to church with us! It has been blazing hot here! We had one cool day which was so nice! But we are actually in a drought right now and it's super hot, surprisingly I have not used sunscreen once this whole time and I've not peeled once. The humidity must be keeping my skin good, nice and sticky. I keep having crazy dreams, last night I had a dream Jesus was handing out helmets and breastplates to a Nephite army. And I was in the army. And there were some people that wouldn't accept the armor from Jesus and He was really sad that they wouldn't accept his help. Some are crazier than others but I remember that one more than most... I know that this is the work of the Lord, that we need to accept the blessings we are offered from Him to always be worthy to receive them. Keep on keeping on and loving those around you. Love you all. Pray for opportunities to serve and share what you love and know to be true. Have a good week. Remember you are loved. Love, your east coast missionary, Elder Richins' Sick cars in Lawrence.¡Que lo que! 'We have started to play baseball every week. Guess what? Those 7 some odd years playing baseball getting all those walks and strikes payed off! Hahaha I'm the best outfielder on the team. Caught every single ball that came to the outfield and even hit a home run, that might have been luck but hey! I'm not as bad as I thought I was. I think not having a coach telling me not to swing helped me a little. Thanks dad for helping me with that. I'm having a lot of fun. I'm used to the new apartment but still have no clue where we are when we walk outside. It's way different. We have found some crazy people! We saw this interesting guy that wanted something to read so we handed him a law of chastity pamphlet. Later on in the day a guy was calling us down and chasing us, he pulled out the chastity pamphlet and said, some guys gave this to my friend, I want more this is amazing. He continued to sake directions to the church and said he would be there. We didn't see him at church but we are going to follow up with that guy. I thought I knew Spanish... I can understand everything people say to me and can respond without confusion.. But we got a call from this person that supposedly spoke Spanish. We had a yelling conversation making weird noises because I had no idea what he/she was saying. All I got out of it was Saturday at 6... We ended up not being able to find the address so we sent a text thinking we'd be able to understand the text... We received a crazy gibberish text hahaha I was laughing so hard. The new Elder came in! Elder Slaugh from Vernal, Utah. He is a nice guy and is gonna do well here. I love the work and know with all my being and all my soul that this is the ONLY way to true and lasting happiness and to live with our families for eternity. My family is so special and so important to me. Also all my brothers and sisters here on the earth. Help those around you to know this happiness and if you haven't felt it. Look!! Read the Book of Mormon, pray to our Father and I KNOW that you will find it. I love you all so much. Oh also... Guess what I got? The letters from Mexico!!!! The new elder brought it in with him!!! Yaayyyy. .Love, your east coast missionary, Elder Richins' Letters from Mexico
Still in Lawrence 'So I got transferred across the river... I'm all packed up and it should be a fun transfer. I'm staying in the biggest apartment in Lawrence, it has an upstairs. It isn't the cleanest place... But it will be after I'm done with it. It's crazy how much stuff I have now. I didn't think it would be this hard to pack. Haha I'm going to be in the northeastern part of Lawrence now... Even more Dominicans in this area. Way less white people. It's going to be awesome. My new companion is Elder Owens. He is pretty cool! I already knew him because well... We are all in the same district just shuffling around. Elder Miller is receiving the new missionary and training! Elder Wasilchen is our new District Leader. Oh and Elder Miskin is a zone leader. First of all I want to thank my family for the package they sent! That was the best thank you so much. Elder Wasilchen was so very grateful that you included him. He loves candy and already ate it all the first day hahahaha. He is the best. When he got it the first thing he said was "Thanks Mom!" Hahaha. Thank you so much for that grip tape!!! Haha that was the biggest surprise! I did not expect that at all! I'll put it on when I get settled into the new apartment. A really cool miracle that happened this last week is that we were walking past the fire station and got called over by one of the fireman. He gave us a drink and we ended up sharing what we were all about to the entire fire department. The chief included haha it was the coolest thing! They were impressed by us. It's going to be crazy leaving this area... It is my home! The people here are my life. I love them... It is so hard to leave... (To my family) I lost that little Xfinity football you sent... And now I'm really sad. I am determined to find it on exchanges! Haha don't worry. Sooo I cut my hair again... I think this is my best one yet!!! I learned how to fade the right way so i look professional now! I also found some crazy new hair gel and I use a tiny bit and it sticks forever! It's the bomb.. It was a little expensive but totally worth it. Love you all, thank you for helping me change the lives of others including my own. It means the world to me. All your emails and support. This is the Lords work, I know it, I love it.' My new haircut |