September 28, 2016 Joe's baptism is on Friday!

Week update! 

Hey guys! Things are going good here! I'm really excited to see you soon! We have been pretty busy lately, making the rounds! This upcoming week is gonna be wild! I'm looking forward to it though! It's gonna be super busy! With conference and everything! I sure love you guys lots! I hope you are doing well! 

Week highlight #1 

this last Sunday we got to go to the Hartford temple open house with our investigator Joe, it was really neat! I enjoyed it! It's really pretty inside and our investigator really seemed to enjoy it. We got to leave the mission to go which is wild! We ended up in the Boston mission but we got permission so it's cool! All in all it was a really great experience! The temple is amazing! 

Week highlight #2 

I had my exit interview with President Smith yesterday and it went really well! He gave me a lot of advice and it was a great experience! It seems weird to be so far into the mission! President Smith is a good guy and he really loves the missionaries. I learned a lot from him! 

Week highlight #3 

I hit my three year mark on Saturday which was pretty neat! 

Week update #4

Joe's baptism is coming up on Friday which is pretty exciting! I won't be here to see him confirmed but I will get to attend and speak at his baptism which should be really cool! I'm really glad we were able to teach Joe a little bit! And get to know him before his baptism! He's a good guy! 

Elder Richards

Dinner at Outback Steakhouse.

Kenny let me try on his cool sunglasses.

Our missionaries!

September 21, 2016 The Hartford Temple open house and Joe is getting baptized.

Week update

Update #1

Kenny was not baptized again which really stinks, it's seems the day before his baptism he always decides he's not ready and gets cold feet, which stinks, but ultimately it's his agency, so we will keep helping him. He has set a new baptismal date for October 9th which I will miss. But it's alright. We will help him increase his faith so that he can hopefully be baptized this time. 

Update #2

Joe is a investigator the Newburgh elders were poaching, hardcore. But they passed him off to us, so he could be baptized. He had his baptismal interview yesterday and he passed which is nice, his fiancé is a member and I guess his family is really ticked that he is joining the church and is giving his fiancé a hard time. So it was a little wild hearing her story about all that is going on. It was actually the first time we met with them with out the Newburgh elders but it went well. We talked about baptism and all sorts of good stuff and had a couple of laughs all in all a good time. 

Update #3

I hit my two year mark on Saturday. I am pretty excited about it! I sure miss you guys though. I am excited to go to The Hartford temple open house it should be really cool I think! I'm excited for it! 

 and we got permission to leave the mission to go to it. If we have a member drive us and we bring a less active or a investigator. I was pretty sure we weren't going to have a opportunity to go because none of our investigators or less actives were able to go. But it turns out Joe and his fiancé want to go! So we get to go with him on Sunday which should be really cool. I'm looking forward to it.

Things are good here! We are looking to have Joe's baptism on the 30th which should be nice! We are having a good time and working hard! Hope you all have a good week! 

Elder Richards

September 14, 2016 Work at the bishops storehouse and reschedule for Kenny

Week Update.

Week update #1

        Kenny didn't end up getting baptized again, His sister was telling him he wasn't ready to be baptized because he wasn't familiar enough with the bible. So that really stunk but he attended church on Sunday and was talking to the members and decided he did want to be baptized again, so he set a new date for this Sunday. Hopefully this one will work out! 

Week Update #2

        We were invited to dinner with a family in the branch and it was a wild one. They have a very unique lifestyle and it was a very eye opening experience. They were baptized just a few weeks shy of a year ago and they are getting ready to be sealed which is really cool. So we went over there and talked to them about the temple and family history. We want to help them have some names they can take with them. although they need to do some work for themselves first! 

Week Update #3

        The bishops store house was yesterday which was pretty fun. They send a truck up from New Jersey full of the orders for people in the stake and it all comes to the New Paltz chapel and so we get to unload the truck, organize it and then fill orders. All in all its a 

pretty good time. 

Week Update #4

        We are getting senior missionaries to join in with the branch soon which should be really cool.  

This week was a pretty good one, we are hoping Kenny will be baptized this week. Have a good one!

Elder Richards

Working at the Bishops store house.

September 7, 2016 Kenny is scheduled for baptism on Sunday and Zone Conference

Week Update

Week highlight #1

This last week has been good Kenny has been busy going to the US open. He used to be a big tennis player and then a big coach in the tennis world. But he has been down in Brooklyn at the tournament all week but he told us he was going to leave so he could make it to church and he did which which was really awesome. To keep his word and be willing to give up his tennis stuff to come to church

Week Highlight #2 

Kenny had another baptismal interview this week and he passed so he is scheduled to be baptized on Sunday and we are hoping it will all work out well! 

Week Highlight #3

The leaves are starting to change colors which is pretty beautiful! I'm excited to still get to see the fall in the upstate area. The woods up here are pretty thick so it's cool to be able to see all the sights with the fall colors that are starting to appear. It's definitely some Americana up here.

Week Highlight #4

We found out some elders in the zone below us have been poaching a investigator!! THey wanted to baptize a guy in their ward, but they couldn't because he didn't live in the boundary so they had to refer him to us. He's a really cool guy and he wants to be baptized, Sept 30th. SO that's really cool. But he doesn't know anybody in the branch and all his fellowshippers are in the other Ward and he wants to hang out there which really stinks. moral of the story when you find out someone's not in your area reassign them.

Week Highlight #5

We got a new branch president recently I can't remember if I mentioned it before. But it's pretty cool. He is a really good guy

Thats the week update. Things are good here! We are hoping to have Kenny baptism go well!

Elder Richards

Zone Conference

I saw a pumpkin cannon

August 31, 2016 College has started in New Paltz! Ton of new people to find!

Week Update.

Highlight #1

This last Sunday was a pretty wild one, Elder Essler was assigned to give a talk and we told our investigator Kenny about it and he was super pumped! So fast forward to Sunday and we arrange a ride for Kenny and all that good stuff, And Kenny comes and all of a sudden the stake presidency is here. And so sacrament meeting starts and It turns out we are getting a new Branch President! The guy who gave Kenny the ride to the chapel is the new Branch president! But anyways the stake president gets up and has All these people bear there testimonies then he says that Elder Essler doesn't have to give his talk! Elder Essler had much rejoicing. But Kenny and I were upset because we both really wanted to hear him speak! We are going to do a good job to remind the Branch presidency. 

Highlight #2

This last week we were able to have a good lesson with Jack. He has had a hard time reading the Book of Mormon and understanding faith. He really wants to have a big miracle happen that converts him. Which sort of stinks. But anyways we had a really good lesson with him about the book the Book of Mormon. And we got him to understand it a bit better. The major highlight that came from this lesson is when we left he was pretty pumped read the Book of Mormon which is what is best for him right now.

Highlight #3

College has started and there is a state university here in new Paltz which means there are a ton of new people to talk to which is great hopefully we can find some solid people to join the church! We are planning on trying to contact people at the campus, it think it should be really beneficial.

Highlight #4

Kenny used to be a really big hotshot tennis player and he runs a tennis management company. And he always told us these big stories which were wild and very big stories, so we were never sure if they were real or not. But we found out that he is going to be super busy these next couple of days because he is going down to the US open to sign some new players which is wild! It adds some depth to his stories! 

Those are all the major happenings this week! Hope you all have a good one! 

Elder Richards

Elder Richards and new companion during transfers

August 24, 2016 Kenny is progressing and visits with the President

Week Update

Yesterday I found out my. Returning group of missionaries is me and two sisters which is wild! It's got some potential to be pretty awkward but oh well. It doesn't really feel like I'm going home soon, It still feels like I will be out here for another couple of transfers. It's bizarre. I'm just making the most out of every day I have.

Elder Essler is up to his usual antics. That kid can chat. He is doing good though He is having fun. It seems bizarre to be realizing I'm not going to be a missionary forever. Missionary life is pretty neat. But there is a time and a season for all things. I was reflecting this week on how I've changed and I was thinking about my love and my relationship with Christ and how much He means to me. It's literally one of my most favorite things to do is to read about Him. It means so much that He suffered for me and that He did it just for me and just for everyone. I don't like to imagine His suffering. I don't like to think about it. But I know that He took it for me. That He stood in my place and felt what I will feel and also took my lickin for me. It hurts me to realize that I have caused Him that suffering and it makes me want to not cause Him anymore. And it also makes me want to help ease the suffering of others. Because as I do so, the Savior feels their ease. I am eternally grateful for my Savior, who bled and died for me and for everybody else. But I know He would have done it even it would have been just to save me, and I know that I'm not unique in that respect either. But that He would do it for anyone even if it would only save just them. His love is truly incomprehensible. I really love being a missionary. Best choice I could have made. The education I gained as a missionary is greater than any other education I could have gotten anywhere else in the world at this time of my life.

So let’s get going!

Update #1

The New Hartford Temple is nearing completion! So as missionaries we have been handing out all sorts of invitations for it which is pretty neat! Yesterday I was talking to President Smith about it. And he was saying that missionaries could get permission to leave the mission to go to it with an investigator or less active, granted they met certain requirements but it is really cool that the missionaries here will have that opportunity.

Update #2

I went on a split on Friday which was pretty neat. I went with our Zone leader Elder Paullen. He seems to be a pretty cool guy. We had a pretty good day, we met some interesting people tracting. We found an abandoned Italian resort that has been converted to a low income housing community, It seemed like it could be a scene of a horror movie it was wild. We met some pretty wild inhabitants there also. We met some Pagans which is always a treat.

Update #3

We have been talking to Kenny a lot about baptism and also baptisms for the dead, he found out he can be baptized for his father and it has really touched him. He has been really excited to be baptized and he has moved his baptismal date up a week to September 11. He also shared with us how he came to know the Book of Mormon was true which was something I had never actually heard from him. But he said he was praying one day and he asked if it was true, and he heard a voice tell him it was and then the same voice told him to get up and walk and he did. And Kenny was in a serious car accident a while back and so he struggles to get around and usually uses a walker but he said he was able to walk fine. Which is an amazing miracle and he has a stalwart testimony of the Book of Mormon which is super solid.

Update #4 

We got to build a rock wall with one of our investigators Jack, We were talking to him during it about classic cars and he said he is headed to a car show on Thursday and he has some friends he wants us to meet which is really rad!

Update #5

Yesterday I got to go to the returning missionary meeting with the Smiths it was pretty cool! We talked about college, work, dating, and marriage. It was a pretty cool meeting. The spirit was very strong and I could feel President and sister Smiths love for me. It was a great meeting and I got a ton of good advice! I took lots of notes! 

Anyways that's the latest for this week! I hope you all are having a good one! 

Elder Richards 

August 17, 2016 Last transfer and its Elder Essler!

Week update

Things in new Paltz are going well, our investigators Kenny is doing pretty good, he has rescheduled his baptismal date which is good hopefully this one will work out. Our investigator Anush has disappeared which stinks, we haven't heard from him for a while which really stinks, the last thing we have heard from him is him asking if we were a Baptist church. Hopefully he didn't get into anything bad on the Internet. Our investigator Jack has some interesting theory's regarding church history, he was telling us that he thinks that Joseph Smiths visits from Moroni we extra terrestrial. It's weird. He was telling us about how there are a ton of gold records hidden in Kanab Utah which is another random story. He's got some weird ideas. Those are really our most progressing people. We did meet a lady whose arms and legs were gone, she told us she believes she a reincarnated Indian prince. Which is really weird all the people here seem to be a little crazy!

Week highlight #1

This week we got invited to a weird private Ward party with a few family members in the branch. A Jamaican couple brought some jerk chicken and I tried it and it was killer! They told me I need to learn English, because I'm a Jamaican. They are super funny people!

Week sort of highlight #2

Kenny had a scheduled baptism and he passed his baptismal interview, but he decided he wasn't ready for baptism which stunk. He came to church though which is a good thing and had a really good time at church and got to witness a baptism of a primary kid

Week Highlight #3

The baptism on Sunday was for a primary kid and it was nuts! The kid that was baptized was a wild man! After the baptism they wanted to confirm him but he was not down! He made a run for it and they had to catch him! Then they had to plop him down and his parents held him and they quickly gave him the Holy Ghost. It was a wild day.

Week highlight #4

We got transfer calls on Saturday night, Elder Matson got transferred to the city and I got Elder Essler! The honey bear! He's wild! This is the area he was trained in which is wild! I didn't expect it to happen or him either! We were both companions at the start of our missions now we are comps at the end of our missions!

Week highlight #5 this week started my last transfer which is wild!

It's weird! I don't really feel different though! So that is good!

This week has been sort of quiet but also crazy! Anyways have a good week!

Elder Richards

New Paltz

Elder Matson and I

August 10, 2016 Transfers next week.

Week Update

Highlight #1

            We had a pretty good lesson with one of our investigators named Anush. He is a referral from a member. He is straight from India but he is a really good guy. We talked a lot about what his views on God are. He has some weird ideas but we are working to get them sorted out soon. He is committed to pray to find out if there is a God, he has a Hindu background, which is pretty interesting. Its always a fun time to teach people with no Christian Background. We got to start from the foundational principles and work up.

Highlight #2

            We got to meet with our investigator Jack Klix on one of those days this week. He is doing well. He has investigated the church for a long time and I'm surprised at how little he knows. He has a very spotty knowledge of the gospel. As we talk we usually end up finding one or two principles he has never heard of and once we implement them he usually really likes the results in how it ties things together. We also found out he is a revolutionary war re-enactor. He couldn't come to church this week because he is the captain of the New York 18th militia or something.

Highlight #3

            We were at the Branch Mission leaders house for correlation and afterwards we got to resurface a road for the widow who lives across the road, then we stopped to go pick up the car at the Branch Mission leaders house and someone had put gas in his Kubota tractor so after a long discussion on tractors I ended up syphoning out the gas, and then filling it with diesel. Felt good to get to fiddle with tractors again though.

Highlight #4

            We got to help with the bishops storehouse yesterday which was pretty neat. They utilized our strong backs and weak minds. We ended up unloading the truck then sorting the food then filling the orders and then hauling them to people's cars. All in all a good time. The best part was that at the end they had some food that nobody took so they divided it out to the people helping. And I got my hand on a jar of cannery salsa, which is some of the best salsa out there.

Highlight #5

            After District meeting this week we destroyed a Chinese buffet, which is always a good time

Highlight #6

            Kenny our investigator has a baptismal date for this Sunday, which should be pretty good. We have been keeping daily contact with him to make sure that he is feeling ready and working towards his goal of baptism. I think things will work out. He is doing well so far. But he has missed a lot of his baptismal dates in the past

All in all a good week! Have a good one!

Elder Richards 

August 3, 2016 Zone Confrence and Splits!

Week Update
Highlight #1 

Thursday we had Zone Conference, We had a lot of different trainings which were all pretty neat, we had the guy in charge of all the church's fleet vehicles come out and check out all the cars we have in the mission and he gave us a training it turns out the mission spent some pretty big bucks on preventable repairs on the cars so he told us to be careful. We had a training on the Book of Mormon as well and all other sorts of goodies. All in all it was a good meeting. 

Highlight #2

Saturday I got to go on a split with Elder Frei, he is my Zone Leader up here. He is a really good guy. We had some crazy shenanigans happen while we were on a split so we ended up doing a lot of Zone leader stuff. It was one of the wildest splits on my mission but we had a good time. We had some good chats. 

Highlight #3

While on the split we had their ward correlation with Ray Smith, I don't know if I've talked about him before but he basically is like Santa for the missionaries, He travels around the mission and hooks up missionaries where ever they are. Anyways he is the ward mission leader in their ward so he took us to lunch at Red Robin which was pretty fun. I got a tasty hamburger and had great conversation.

Highlight #4

This week our mission got selected to be a test mission for a new style of nightly planning. Which is pretty neat! We aren't going out of preach my gospel but instead we basically have a glue in for a new style of planning. This new planning really emphasizes helping your investigators progress and seems to be less key indicator focused over all I really like it. We focus on one person at a time and discuss what they need. I think it should be really effective.

Highlight #5

We got to take the car in this week and we got some sweet new Bridgestone’s on it. During Car inspections at Zone Conference we got informed that we needed to get new tires an oil change and a new safety inspection. So a couple of days later we took it into the Firestone because the church has a fleet deal there. Anyways it took a while so elder Matson and I wandered around the area trying to talk to some people.

Highlight #6 

We had zone meeting on Monday and it was good it went super long which sort of stunk, It went for three hours when it's usually a hour and a half, it sort of stunk but it was whatever. 

All in all this was a pretty good week. Today we are probably headed to the county fair which should be pretty fun I think! Hope you all have a great week! 

Elder Richards

July 27, 2016 Set a date for Kenny!

Week Update

           

Highlight #1 

            We had a branch BBQ on Saturday which was pretty neat. We had what I guess is a ton of less actives come, because there were a ton of people there who weren't there on Sunday. Anyways it was all pretty fun, there were horseshoes flying all afternoon. Elder Matson was really into that. After all was said and done I think the best part was we got to take home the leftover hamburgers.

Highlight #2

            Sunday I got to speak in church and it went pretty well. My topic was keeping the faith and I hope I at least said something useful. I used a lot of quotes and talked about the iron rod.

Highlight #3

            The car has a bumpin AC

Highlight #4

            This week we have been getting some really random isolated thunderstorms, but they have been really cool as well. I guess this part of the state is in a drought as well. But it's been nice to have the rain and thunder! 

Sort of highlight #5

            Elder Matson broke a tooth or something so we headed to the Dentist on the other side of the mission twice this week. It all taken care of now, but it sure took a lot of time. He is feeling a lot better now though which is good.

Highlight #6

            We got to help a member’s sister move yesterday. We spent the majority of the morning and early afternoon helping these ladies move. They were really nice. And one of them was a first responder during 9/11 It was really neat to hear her story. She has gone through cancer since then and the Doctors think it was due to all the crap that was in the air from the aftermath. It was neat though to hear how she would do it again if she needed. I'm proud to be an American

Highlight #7

            Our Investigator Kenny called us Monday morning and told us that he has decided on a baptismal date. Which is great he is thinking August 4^th.  He has had a couple of baptismal dates in the past. But we are hoping that this is the one. Kenny leads a really interesting life but he is a good guy. He has got a ton of health problems though which sort of stinks. But he keeps a positive attitude. 

That was pretty much this week! Hope you all have a good one!

Elder Richards

July 20, 2016 First week in New Paltz was great!

Week update.

            This has been my first week in New Paltz, it's been great and I love it. It is definitely the backwater part of the state of New York. It's pretty fun though! Everything is super green and there is a state park in the area which is pretty neat! Everything is super spread out though and that is the only weird part. There will just been corn fields or forest for a couple of miles and then all of a sudden there will just be three random houses and then back to corn fields I’m having a great time though! There are deer that live in our back yard but anyways I will get to the week

Week Highlight #1

            There is a Cracker Barrel in the zone we hit it on the way back from a meeting on Thursday and it was a treat! A ton of food for a small price and its way good. A chicken fried steak is always a treat.

Week Highlight #2

            I met pretty much all of the investigators this week and they all seem to be classic car enthusiasts which Is rad! Kenny our investigator is a retired tennis big shot and used to have a ton of nice cars back in the day, He had a baptismal date for a couple of weeks ago but he lost a ton of money in a sketchy bet and he told us he almost got his legs broken! I didn't know the mafia was in the boonies. So he didn't get baptized that day so we are thinking now about a date in early August.  I met another one of our investigators named Jack Klix, He is a old Volvo gear head. And has a ton of old Volvos. But we were chatting with him. He's a very no nonsense guy He told me he doesn't believe in the word of wisdom or the law of tithing. So we will have fun with that. All in all he is a great guy though!

Week Highlight #3

            The Branch is definitely a branch. I met with the branch mission leader on Friday and he was telling us to focus mostly on less active work, so I figured ok, we will have a list of 30 people and most of them will have probably moved. Fast Forward to Sunday and we cruise into church and there is like 30 people and the records have like 150 so we have some work to do. There is a lot of recently less active and part family less actives as well so it will be fun!

Week Highlight #4

            One of the less actives lives in a Rest Home so we were able to go visit him and he was telling us a ton of stories about when he was a US Marshal and it was pretty neat. There are a lot of really cool people that are out in the sticks here who have cool stories and are now just hanging low. But anyways he was telling us about when he was in Vietnam and about his trip to Gettysburg, then about some of the people he arrested when he was working for the government.

Week Highlight #5

            This area is one where the elders give a lot of service which is pretty fun. We chop a lot of wood and move a lot of stuff for people.

In the upcoming week we are digging up a stream bed. It's fun though to be able to do some physical service.

Week Highlight #6

            I found out that it's not safe to drink the water here! So I've been drinking bottled water! I feel like I'm in Alaska! I want to take some samples and send them home to see if the rumors are fact or fiction!

That is pretty much all the highlights of the week I can think of right now! It's been great! Have a great week everybody.

Elder Richards

July 13, 2016 Transferred to New Paltz

Week Update, 

            This last week has been a good one! Here is what happened. Wednesday in the latter part of P-day we went to the World Trade Center and we got to take an elevator to the top which was pretty fun. It was neat to be that high up, we got some sweet pictures of it. I will attach them below. Later that evening we had dinner with Ray Smith, He lives in Poughkeepsie, but he has an apartment on the Upper East Side, so he comes down but he took us to dinner and it was really fun. 

            On Thursday we got to go visit Sally Kader, She is the UN lady we ran into a while ago. Anyways she called us and wanted us to come visit her at her office. So we went over there. And it was pretty neat! I didn't take any pictures which really stinks but oh well! Anyways she had a ton of interns that work for her and she had one who was a transgender from Singapore and she was in the army there and also she went to prison there for attacking her mother with a knife! I don't know how she got out but she is a student at NYU and interning for a peace organization at the UN. Anyways she was basically raising up an insurrection at Sally's offices and turning the other interns against Sally and encouraged laziness. And she would do weird chants in the office with all the blinds closed and lights turned off. Anyways she was being nuts one day and threatened to kill Sally so she fired her and all of her other interns. She was having a rough day so she felt inspired to call us. And we hadn't talked to her for a long time. So we went over there and talked to her, we blessed the office she has, and gave her a blessing as well. Then we talked about temples. And she offered to hire us as replacement interns. This was pretty neat. We told her we would think about it after we got home from our missions but it would be neat to work so close with the UN. 

            Friday we were at the Fed-ex Store while elder Burton Mailed some stuff home and I was fiddling around with one of the Kiosks designing calendars. When this guy who I ran into on the subway way back when I was with elder DeGraw came walking in. On first Glance this gentleman looks crazy, but talking to him he seems pretty sane, anyways when I was with elder Degraw we told him to come to church and we would set up times we would meet weekly during church. Which I regret doing. Anyways, he didn't come to church that Sunday and I forgot about him. Then we saw him all this time later. So I started talking to him and he was telling me about how badly he wanted to meet with us. And how he wishes we would have called him. I started to feel so guilty. He then told us about how he has been lately. And how he is diagnosed with kidney cancer and isn't expected to make it past March. I felt horrible at this point so I apologize to him for my laziness and set up a time we could meet and told him we would see to it he was baptized soon.  Needless to say I had a long prayer that night. God was giving me someone to teach and I was to prideful to teach him. I felt horrible. Thankfully God gave me a second chance and I didn't let him down this time. 

Saturday we got transfer calls, They are combining my area with the morning side heights Ward elders, and I got sent up to New Paltz NY, So I made sure that the elders knew all of our investigators and Made sure they would meet with Wade (the guy from the fed-ex place) I guess I missed my opportunity to teach him due to my negligence but I'm glad at least he will get taught. Saturday night we killed what we think is the last of the mice infestation. I and Elder Newbold took the night shift, and killed a big mouse! And we also got the crap scared out of us by a cockroach I caught it on film so I will also attach it. (you have to watch the whole video it's hysterical.) 

Sunday was good, it was fun too run into all the people I taught and interacted with. We saw Bryn Bass, she is a recent convert from the morning side heights ward, but she had me baptize her for some reason. Anyways she gave me here final parting wisdom. Afterwards we went to Central Park with Dwight and had a good visit with him there.  Monday was a lot of packing and stuff. And then yesterday were transfers. New Paltz is in the Boonies. I actually really like it though. It's way nice to have some quiet and be in nature. I'm really looking forward to my time here. I don't know how much work is here right now, but I'm sure if there isn't a lot we can find some. The branch here is really small. It's where Elder Essler started his mission. There is a lot of need in this branch, not only spiritual and temporal. But they need strong backs and weak minds. So I've heard from the few members I've already met that they will be having us doing a lot of physical service which I'm excited for. My Companion is elder Matson from Orange County CA. Elder Dutson one of my favorite comps trained him and he seems really cool so far. Today we are running errands getting settled in. The apartment here is super nice! The nicest one I've had on my mission! My desk is legendary! And we have a fake fireplace and a deck! It's great! I hope you all have a great week!

Elder Richards