The One With Christmas in March!...

March 21, 2016

The scriptures speak the truth! Hahaha just Kidding

So this week has been exhausting (I feel like I say that every week but that's my life) and like no one was home so not too many things to report but here's what happened...

 

So we had district meeting this week and that was really good. We had the zone leaders (Elder Knappus and Howe) and our STL's there (Sister Sperry and Hermana Koopmans). It was so sweet the Senior couple that is in our district, elder and sister Beck, took us all out to lunch afterwards at Apple bee's. That was really yummy. So the reason that the STL's were in our area was because they came to blitz our area instead of exchanges. For all you not so familiar with missionary terms blitzing is where you all go on exchanges in the same area.

That was fun, I went with Hermana Koopmans for the first half of the day, and it was cool. We saw a miracle with one of our potentials who is soon to become an investigator (he's right on the cusp). His name is Trevor and we went and showed him the Easter video and were able to talk with him and testify to him about god being there and loving us and that he really does hear and answer our prayers. He said we could come back and i hope we are able to teach him. He has SO much potential, I can just see how happy he could be with the gospel and church in his life and want that for him. Oh also on Wednesday we went to church! We got invited to church by a referral we contacted named Brian. He's a really sweet middle aged man who invited us to church with him and said he would come to our church so we went. First time I've been to a normal church service other than that ran by our church. It was interesting and definitely a learning experience.

Unrelated to that i realized that i love sister Sperry! She is so cute, she reminds me of a softer spoken version of Ashley. She likes playing with hair and giving hugs, and is always willing to jump in and serve. It was so fun having her around on Wednesday. She said that she feels like she's known me forever and i feel exactly the same way :).

So something funny, this week we helped someone wrap Christmas gifts. Yes she knows it's march no it's not for next Christmas and no she didn't get her Jesus holidays mixed up. It's a story that has to do with her daughter that I don't feel like telling cause it's really not that important. But we spent a good couple of hours helping her wrap all of her Christmas gifts which was really fun. Sister McCoy is an amazing lady. She has had so many large and ongoing trials in her life physically and spiritually and she just keeps going and is very kind to everybody. I love her.

Also the same day as Christmas in March I got an extreme taste of Hmong culture. There is a Less active lady in our area who only speaks Hmong whose name is Ngia (Pronounced Ne-yah) and she makes traditional Hmong clothes which according to sister xiong are really good quality. Ngia finagled sister xiong into buying a $60 Hmong hat. We are quite sure how that happened. I think it had to do with the fact that she completely dressed up sister xiong in the entire traditional Hmong outfit. That was cool to see, all the different parts. Then also that same day we had dinner with the Xiongs (No relation to sister Xiong ;) ) and that was interesting. The conversation was in Hmonglish. Half English (solely for my benefit cause i was the only non-Hmong speaker present) and half in Hmong. SO weird. They also made traditional Hmong food which was surprisingly good. There was a chicken broth and tofu soup (i actually really liked it, not that i ever thought i'd say that about tofu), and a stir fry that was yummy just minus the shrimp and mushrooms. I could manage the mushrooms, but not the shrimp. Luckily it was smaller shrimp so i'd just take some water and swallow it whole. I survived :)

Well sorry but that's about it for this week... until next Monday! Love you all!

-Sister Richardson

Spiritual Thought of the Week:

This week in relief society the teacher was talking about this upcoming week being holy week and what each day meant and she said something pretty profound that i had never thought of before. She said "A lot of the times we pray and are striving to be more like Christ when a lot of Christs life was spent suffering. The trials that come can be a way to become more like Christ." I never realized that. Part of what made Christ who he was was the trials and pains he went through. And likewise some of the kindest and most Christlike and charitable people we know have had monster-sized trials in their lives. Trials and pains do truly help us to reach our potential and come closer to our goal of being like Christ. They are not fun or pleasant to experience but if we let them, they can change us and draw us closer to our father in heaven and our elder brother who has been where we have been, are or ever will be. 

The One Devoted to the Car...

March 14, 2016

So Monday night i finally met the legendary brother and sister Ebbert. Brother Ebbert is the ward mission leader and i have heard from EVERYONE who has served in La Crosse about them :) They are as wonderful as expected. He tried to help us cut our bike lock that's holding my bike hostage. We tried two different kinds of cutters and a saw and no luck. I found it pretty funny and was laughing like the whole time. Well now we know though that if you have one of those locks ain't nobody steeling your bike. I went on splits for the first time :) That was weird. Sister Xiong went with sister Countryman to visit a less active and the book of mormon class, and I went with Sister Hanks to visit some less active ysa (Young Single Adults). We had an appointment with one named Jessie and i was able to carry the conversation for about an hour. I was so impressed and surprised with myself being able to do that. It totally seemed like i was an extrovert when I'm not. When people ask me I've started labeling myself as an introvert disguised as an extrovert. I think that was one of the reasons why i needed to come on a mission is to learn how to talk to people and carry conversations without things getting awkward.

So I am now the designated driver :D No, sister Xiong didn't get a call telling us to switch, driving just really stresses her out so i volunteered to drive if that would help her. I don't mind driving. But crazy things happened with our car. We walked out of our apartment on Wednesday to go to an appointment and we had a completely flat tire! So we got our jack and temporary tire out of the back and I changed the tire. Jim, our adorable neighbor whose super old and basically our adopted grandpa, came out to see if he could help. I knew basically what to do, but it was sweet having him there. When we took the tire off we saw that there were two nails in our tire which had caused the flat. The tire couldn't be patched because of the placement of one of the nails so we spent off and on all day going in and getting a bid on new tires and then calling our vehicle coordinator elder Checketts back and forth as he got approval from Salt Lake for us to get them replaced. And remember how my bike is stuck on our bike rack? Yup, that meant that we were walking for the rest of the day. Man I was exhausted that night. Probably makes top three tired nights on the mission so far. So we got everything fixed with our tires and while we were getting them fixed the technician was able to cut our bike lock for us! YAY!!!!! My bike is now free and in our apartment :) Very happy about that. 

On Wednesday our district had interviews with President Forbes. That was really fun. We got to see the Winnona Elders, Elders Pierson and Kemberling, and i got to meet Elder and Sister Beck for the first time. We had really good training's from Sister Forbes and Elder Pierson and Kemberling. These were the longest interviews i have ever had though. It started at 10 am and we left at 1:40 even though they still weren't done. It was funny The people giving training's ran out of things to say so we opened it up to things that we had been studying lately and it was awesome. I loved being able to learn and teach each other. So i had my interview with president and it went well. My mission has made me such a cry baby though. As soon as i talk about anything I'm struggling with or my faults i start crying. President gave me some good advice to focus my prayers on gratitude and i have been striving to do that and I think it's helping. He probably thinks I'm emotionally unstable now though hahaha. He said several times "you're gonna be fine" and i was like I know i am, i just have to rub a little dirt in it, there's opposition in all things and without trials there's no growth. 

 

After interviews we went and had lunch with Sister McGuire. She's adorable and is just filled with love and you feel that she really cares about you. She told us of her conversion story and the spirit was really strong. It was cool as we left I realized that that was the first experience I've had where i knew that I am going to miss lacrosse when I leave. I also had my first experience being in a lesson where I don't speak the language and have NO idea what they are saying. I just smile and nod and wait for sister Xiong to translate from Hmong to English hahaha. It's weird. I'm sure i would get really frustrated not understanding if i had been called to speak a different language and this happened all the time for now i just thought it was really cool. Also when we play volleyball on Saturdays usually I'm the only white person in a sea of Asians. It's weird being a minority, i don't think I've ever had that happen before. Also during volleyball i realized one of the elders, elder Lao reminds me of Derek. He's quick to say it was his bad even when everyone in the room knows it wasn't, he plays hard and always tries to make it easier for others. That was a cool comparison i saw :)

So also yesterday i think I've found what brings me the most joy in missionary work. Being in the right place at the right time and speaking with the spirit to address the needs of someone you hardly know. KNOWING that you are being an instruments in the hands of god makes me very happy. We were able to have two experiences like that yesterday as we met and talked with two less active ladies. Sister Sayre and Sister Youngblut. Sister Sayre was adorable and we are hopefully going to see her again very soon. Sister Youngblut originally wasn't going to invite us in, but she did and we had a very good and lengthy conversation about life and her adorable dog. His name is Jackson and he's probably one of the largest dogs I've ever seen. He's a bulldog and weighs 120 lbs. Don't worry i have pictures :) He is so cute and sweet. The coolest part about visiting sister Younblut, besides her dog ;) was that at the end she said that she believes things happen for a reason and that we were supposed to go and see her that day. Experiences like that truly fill my heart with joy.  

First's of the Week:

First time eating Ice Cream cake :) (unfortunately it didn't meet my expectations)

First time changing a tire completely by myself.

Spiritual Thought of the Week:

So I read Helaman Chapter 5 this week and it BLEW MY MIND. I spent the entire hour we have for personal study on that one chapter. I just wanted to share something I learned from that chapter.

In verses 6-12 Helaman is basically giving his sons life advice and telling them the important things to remember and do to have a happy life. He told them to Keep the commandments, be good and do good/ serve others, don't be prideful, have faith in Christ and his atonement, we are saved by grace after all we can do, and continually strengthen and rely on your testimony. I've heard the Book of Mormon compared to the ultimate parenting guidebook and it really is. I know last weeks spiritual thought was similar but the Book of Mormon is filled with how to raise a strong family both together and with god. The teachings of the prophets (Book of Mormon and Biblical) and the teachings of Christ, coupled with diligent parents willing to put the effort into teaching and implementing these teachings into their families leads to happy homes and strong family relationships. I have a very strong testimony of this. That is why god has given us the scriptures and commandments, so that through them we can become better and more like his son who is our ultimate example.

The One with Sister Xiong

March 7, 2016

Greetings from Wisconsin. It's 56 degrees here!! We walked out of our apartment today in my fleece liner and  heavy winter coat and i am able to wear no coat and not be cold! Hallelujah!!!! I thought this day would never come. It probably wont last but I'm gonna enjoy it while it's here.

Bishop & Sis Petersen

 

Pat and sister B( she's holding ivy the dog)

This is sister Anderson. She is basically the mom of all missionaries. I love her :)

At lunch with our STL's sisters Brown (the blonde) and Kirkby

So this week has been a whirlwind. So i got transfer news on Monday and then had to say goodbye to EVERYONE on Tuesday. We were literally seeing people from 9 in the morning till 9:30 at night. I'll include pictures and captions at the bottom. Then our district all met at the church to sign testimony journals and so sister Killpack and I could get blessings before transfers. That was a really cool experience the spirit was very strong both during both blessings. I'm going to miss that district and those missionaries so much. I know in like every district everyone's like "Man this district was the best district, it was so legendary", but i don't think anything will beat that district. I'll let you know if it happens though. In the Rochester Zone (the zone i am in now) missionaries are hours apart from each other so we are not allowed to meet up very often. We can have a zone p-day every 3 months and a district p-day every 3 months. And now we can only have district meetings one a month. The mission is changing a lot and the rules are getting tighter. Only reason that can be is because some missionaries somewhere were abusing them so oh well. At least we can still do them. That is a bit of an adjustment though not seeing missionaries as often. I miss it.

So anywho, i was up till 2:30am packing on Tuesday and then till 4:30am writing in testimony journals so i got 2 hours of sleep. That was fun. We headed up to the mission home and sister Killpack's new missionary training meeting. She's gonna make a great trainer. Her greenie is very lucky. I got to see so many people at the mission home! I got to see elder Anderson again (He's so great!) and Sister Young, Sister Bingham and Sister Sperry. I said goodbye to everybody and left with Hermana Koopmans on the 1 and a half hour trip down to Rochester and then met sister Xiong my new comp and headed down the extra hour and a half to La Crosse. So it took 3 hours to get down here :) We literally border the edge of the mission that's how far away we are.

 

Me and sister Xiong

 

Sister Xiong is really cute, she's from Sacramento and she came out with sister Killpack so she's been out for almost 5 months. She's spent her whole mission here in La Crosse and is such an incredible missionary. She is one of the hardest working missionaries i know. She is really organized and on top of everything and is constantly calling and setting up appointments and getting joint teachers and just like everything a missionary is supposed to be and do is pretty much Sister Xiong. Now she wouldn't agree with any of that because she's also really humble and is hard on herself as we all are, but literally i don't have to be here. She could run the missionary work in La Crosse by herself and everything would be just fine. I'm gonna learn so much from her and how to improve being a missionary. Funny thing about sister Xiong though is that she is you're classic stereotypical terrible Asian driver. She cannot follow the GPS for her life and makes so many wrong turns. She almost ran a stop sign yesterday and got an aggressive driving violation (via the tiwi... remember satan in a box?) and gets SO many check your speeds. I find it hilarious and just start laughing every time. I wouldn't be surprised if we get a call saying that I'm now the designated driver hahaha.

We do have a lot of people that we're teaching here in La Crosse. The members here are very missionary minded and will give us referrals. And believe it or not the people here are even nicer than Anoka. That's pretty hard to believe for me but it's true so i like that. One of our investigator's named Alex is getting baptized on April 9th so I'm really excited for that. She's adorable and so solid. 

Firsts of the Week:

First time I've ever been in a trailer park

First time I've ever been in Salvation Army. (I've been to goodwill and DI but never Salvation Army)

Two Funny things this week.

#1. So the Sister whom i replaced here was Sister Matagi and she finished her mission here and went home. So i get here and there is a garbage bag full of clothes that she's left and necklaces. And she just happens to have amazing style and we would've just donated it to salvation army so i took like 3/4's of it. I think i acquired enough to fill a carry on suitcase. This is so bad, I've got to stop.  

#2. So all missionary cars have bike racks on them because we all have bikes (duh) and you take your bikes with you. So i stick my bike on our car to travel the rest of the way to La Crosse and Hermana Koopmans locks on the bike lock that comes with the bike rack thinking that we had the key to unlock it. Turns out no, we don't have the key to unlock it so we have been driving around La Crosse and Onalska (the city we live in) with a bike just chillin on the bike rack. Hopefully our ward mission leader (who we're seeing tonight) has wire cutters hahaha.

Spiritual Thought of the Week:

I was reading about the army of Helaman (a.k.a the 2,000 strippling warriors) begging in Alma chapter 56 and i made a really cool connection. Every mothers day we always here this story because these young men rehearse unto their leader that "They had been taught by their mothers that if they did not doubt, god would deliver them. And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it." They had been taught by their mothers and probably by the examples of their fathers to trust god and have absolute faith in him to deliver us and he will. Every time. Because of the things they were taught, even though they went and fought against armies many times there size, not one of them was killed. The Gospel truly blesses families, and this is just one scriptural proof of that fact. It was the faith and example of the parents of those 2,000 warriors, and their dedication in teaching their children the principles of the gospel as well as helping to build and strengthen their testimonies that allowed them to have enough faith and trust in God to be delivered from their enemies. The influence and affect of the gospel on families can be life changing. It is so important and i am so grateful every single day that my family and i have been blessed with it.

The One Where I'm Leaving the State

February 29, 2016

The Lovely Pat

 



Okay so transfers are out and I'm leaving Anoka and am getting transferred to lacrosse Wisconsin! I am super sad to be leaving the people here in Anoka and leaving sister Killpack. We love each other
so much. But i am super happy that if i have to get transferred that I'm getting transferred to lacrosse. I've hear nothing but amazing things about it from everyone whose served there. Sister Killpack's staying in Anoka and is training a new missionary.

So this week. Last Monday we went bowling after emailing and we went bowling with Joseph smith. He's an investigator the Andover elders are teaching, he's a 6 ft 3 black man. When they were teaching him the restoration and got to the part about the prophet Joseph smith he was just like "what, his names Joseph smith? That's what's up". We got a kick out of that. Then we went and watched the movie Ephraim's rescue at bishop's house with our district. He bought pizza and soda for us. The movie was a true story about the Mormon pioneers and specifically the martin handcart company and the miracles that happened. It was super good.

So exciting thing, P____ has stuck with not smoking!!! She has now been over a week without smoking. We are so proud of her! We've seen her a lot this week :) (Even celebrated her birthday, see video)

 We had dinner with Muriel this week and it was so fun i love that lady so much and am gonna miss her. I finished my first journal this week! I've never finished a journal in my entire life and I've done it! It's so beautiful :)

And last but not least of amazing things this week. IT WAS 60 DEGREES ON SATURDAY!! Like what!?!?! It was incredible. We got milkshakes with the windows rolled down and went contacting on main street. It was awesome, we were loving it. Unfortunately we are now back down to the
low 30's again which used to feel warm and now is freezing.

Well, that's it. My next email will be coming at ya from Wisconsin. :)

Spiritual thought of the Week:
I was reading in Alma chapter 49 this week and the whole chapter just kind of cried out the boy scout motto of Be Prepared and the scripture if ye are prepared ye shall not fear. The Nephites prepared themselves and their cities against the Lamanites whom they knew would come and not 1 Nephite perished. The importance of their preparation is that they prepared with the help of the lord. The Lamanites tried to prepare themselves but it wasn't enough. Moral of the story: You can't prepare yourself to the worlds or even to your own standards and knowledge. it will not be good enough. Only God knows what lies ahead and can accurately prepare you for it.
Love, Sister Richardson