Show me, not tell me

Subject Line: Sorry, Mom, I'm never coming home

Hola

It was an OK week. It's cold. I love it! We had alot of appointments fall through so our stats were kinda low, but we must press onward. No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing.

We did have a great lesson with Juanita and Travelius. Travelius is right on the money. We were teaching some of the commandments. He used to be Baptist and the main reason he doesn't go there anymore is because the preachers say one thing then do another. He says, "show me, not tell me". That's when we committed them again to follow the example of Christ and be baptized. He said, "yes, I have to. My decision has not changed."

Another reason that he didn't like the Baptist religion is the collection plate. He said that if you go to a Baptist church they will pass around a collection plate at least 6 times. And then they post it on a projector how much people have donated. We were just about to teach the law of tithing when he said " if I understand the bible correctly, it should be 10% of your increase." That blew me away. My companion and I looked at each other and just laughed. We told him that's right. Its in Malachi. Then he goes "yes! exactly!" Juanita is bawling at this point. She always feels the Spirit whenever we give lessons. She knows it's true. Travelius knows it's true. They have accepted baptism. The only thing now is to get them married and to get them to come to church. They work a lot so it's hard. But they really really want to go.

Well, that's my spiritual experience of the week. The church is true. It makes sense.

Elder Richards

It was President Lincoln

Subject Line: Missionaries who go foreign leave boys and come back men. Missionaries who go stateside leave men and come back leaders!

Hola,

Sorry, Mom. It was President Lincoln who was the first president to check out the Book of Mormon out of the Library of Congress.

Fun fact: in Vegas you can make as much noise as you want from 7 am to 10 pm and no one can do anything about it. But once it hits 10, it's quiet time or else the PO-PO are called.

We lost our car!!! Nooooo!!!!!! Elder Touchin's hand has healed so now we are back on bike. Baby its cooold outside! Winters here are so painful. Even when you are wearing a sweater the windchill pierces you to the bone. Oh well, more blessings for us.

Our teaching pool is very big now. I dont even know where to start. We have a couple of baptisms coming up on Nov 28. Daniel Grantham (11) asked me to baptize him on that day. I was so honored. It made me feel good. He will be my first baptism ever in the mission and I have the opportunity to baptize him. I feel so blessed. I know that I am.

The other baptisms we have that day will be Antonio who has just been waiting to be baptized for awhile now. Then there is Jessica who has been waiting too. She had some Work of Wisdom issues but it's not a problem anymore.

I'm praying so hard for these people because I know now that now they have accepted baptism that Satan will work VERY hard on them. I've seen it already on Juanita and Travelius. They are still going strong but they can feel Satan trying to get a grip on them. We taught them the 3rd lesson and broke the news to them that they need to get married before they are baptized. They said they have been thinking about it already. I hope and pray for them everyday, because I love them and I want them to be happy.

We have been visiting a less active family called Brooks. They are so cool. Sister Brooks has 8 kids in a two bedroom apartment. It's really hard for them but they are coming back to Church and stay happy. They taught us the soulja boy the other day. Now I finally know how to do it! I can also so the clown walk too. They say I'mm a quick learner. haha I love that family.

My companion was sick for 2 days this week and it drove me nuts. I was stuck in the apartment doing nothing but reading my scriptures. Halfway through the 2nd day I called my district leader and begged him to go on splits. So he came over and saved me. I went with his comp and we tracted out a neighborhood that I have been wanting to go to for awhile now. We got 2 return appointments and handed out a Book of Mormon. It felt so good to get out of there.

The Church is true. It makes sense. I love you

Elder Richards

It Makes Sense!

Subject line: High on the mountain top!

Hey!

That's right, we went to the mountain of the Lord today. Ahhh, it feels good. That temple is beautiful. I got all the names done and I sent them today. If I'm still in Red Rock zone you can send a lot more cards cuz this zone is pretty big.

What does Dad do for work again. Everyone keeps asking me for some reason. He never talks about work. The IRS right? Probably just a cover-up though. Probably CIA. Probably got tortured too and that's why his mouth is disintegrating.

Sorry, I'm really, really tired because we played football all day for P day. We are training for the turkey bowl. It was fun.

You know what's funny? Natives (people born and raised in Vegas) don't really care for the strip. Some have never even gone on it. It's just not a big deal here.

What is Kevin's address? I want to write Luke, Ryan, and Colin and get them pumped for a mission. By the way, Luke looks scary. He looks like a man. Totally freaky. I don't even want to know what Jeff looks like. Tell Keith to come down here and take me out to lunch. I'm hungry. haha.

Fun fact I learned from this movie called Prophets and Presidents. Who was the first president to check out the Book of Mormon from the Library of Congress? I will tell you next week.

So here's the highlight of my week. Juanita and Travlius (it sounded like he said Travis) are doing good. We taught them the Plan of Salvation and it was way Spiritual. Oh wow. The promise in D&C is true. "open your mouths and i will fill them". It is flowing so well. The Spirit just hits them. And guess what Travlius said about the Plan of Salvation "it makes sense!"
It truly does. I know it's true. It's all in the scriptures. I have prayed about it and I cannot deny the feelings of the Holy Ghost. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true Church upon the face of the earth. It contains the fullness of the Gospel. All you have to do is humble yourself and sincerely ask our Father in Heaven in the name of Jesus Christ if it is true. I testify that he will answer you by the power of the Holy Ghost.

Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live. They love us. The truth has been Restored.

It makes sense.

Love,

Elder Richards

An amazing experience!

Subject Line: Smile! God loves you!

Yooooo

I'm sick. But I don't care cuz I'm in Vegas baby! I'm pretty sure it's not swine flu. Thanks for the Halloween candy. I especially liked the Twix when it said you could win a trip to Vegas haha. It was soo cold outside that I got to wear a sweater! I was so happy. And we saw Cameron Steel at Chipotle. I have to shave three times a week now instead of just twice. ugh Lame. Having a car is amazing. Downside... trying to keep the weight off.

I had a amazing experience this week that I want to share with everyone.

My companion and I had been feeling very down lately for many reasons. Things had not been going well for us, meaning the work was a little slower than usual. We were visiting all of our referrals and none of them answered their doors until we got to the last referral. Juanita and Travis. We knocked on their door and I was still feeling a little discouraged until they opened the door and said "we have been waiting for you". I was like whoa. I thought that only happens in Church movies.

They had just entered in about 2 minutes before we knocked. We went in and talked with them a little bit. Juanita's sister had just been baptized a couple months ago so that's what got her interested. They were raised Catholic. Her boyfriend, Travis, is Baptist but he hasn't been to a church in 3 years. He said that it just doesn't feel right.

We explained a little bit about our Church and what we believe and Travis was like "that makes sense!" Travis was "hooked" from then on. We left after a little bit and came back that evening because they had things to do. Our appointment was at 7 but we were running a little late. We pulled into their apartment right behind this white car at 7:15. We followed that car all the way to Juanita's apartment. It turned out to be Juanita and Travis. Travis was tripping out because if we had gotten to the appointment on time, then we would have probably missed them and he was worried about that.

We went in again and taught them the first lesson. We taught them about how Christ led by example by being baptized. Travis was like "that makes so much sense! Baptist preachers these days tell you one thing but show you another". Then he began to tell us about how his Grandma has been coming to him in his dreams for the past couple of weeks and she kept saying "you know what you got to do". Travis now understands what she meant. The Spirit was so strong and it prompted me to commit them to baptism. I did and they said yes. Juanita and Travis were both crying and it was just a wonderful experience. It totally made my week.

We gave them a Book of Mormon and he just flipped it open to 3 Nephi 18 : 5 [5 And when the multitude had eaten and were filled, he said unto the Disciples: Behold there shall one be ordained among you, and to him will I give power that he shall break bread and bless it and give it unto the people of my church, unto all those who shall believe and be baptized in my name] and said once again "that makes sense."

The Church is true. It makes sense. I love you all. Thank you for your support and prayers. And smile, God loves you!

Elder Richards