Week 18: Happy Thanksgiving! [November 27, 2017]

Hi Everyone!

For starters, I set off the fire alarm twice this week. The first time I  was cooking some hamburger patties and the second time I cooked a quesadilla for a little too long. The apartment smelled like burned quesadilla for a few days. Aside from me burning things we got to help a guy move a refrigerator! Whenever we get to do random acts of kindness it's always rewarding.

On Wednesday we had what's called a field day which is where you go arround and knock on doors, but you don't get let in anywhere except dinner and your apartment. We had a lesson (outside) with one of our investigators so that was good. In the white handbook it says that holidays are one of the best times to find people but we found out that's false.

Thanksgiving was really good. We went over to the Oakford's house for lunch/dinner and we had the Perry family come as well. Afterwords we met with one of the less actives and visited her for a while.

The rest of the week was mostly going by people on the lists we have and tried to find out if they were still interested or moved.

One really cool thing that happened was that while we were meeting with one of our investigators, she said that if she found out that the Book of Mormon is true then she would be baptized!

That's pretty much it for this week! I just want to remind you that the light the world initiative is now up. I encourage all of you to do it and see how it blesses the lives of others.

Elder Jason Riches

(As of yesterday, Jason has been serving for 4 months)

Week 17: Bike Problems [November 20, 2017]

Hi everyone!

This week has been another really good week. On Tuesday we had a walking day, which meant we weren't supposed to use any vehicles (cars, bikes, etc.) until 5:00. It ended up being pretty effective. We gave out a Book of Mormon to a guy waiting for a bus ride and we had a lesson with a investigator named Sam that went quite well.

 On Wednesday we had a less active take us out to lunch and we were able to share a message about hope with him that he really liked. My bike chain also broke that night, so we had to take it back to the apartment and walk the rest of the night.

Thursday when I took my bike out to get it fixed I found that the tire was flatter than flat so I had to get a new chain, and a new inner tube. When we got back we found that some of the Elders found a beat up, dirty, toddler car and dropped it off on our doorstep. We also had a lesson with an investigator named Olivia. Near the end she was asking us what kinds of things she would have to do to get baptized! It seems like something she may be considering.

Friday we got to have interviews with our mission president. I also got my smartphone! I'll actually be able to use it a week from tomorrow!

Saturday and Sunday were pretty basic. We tried to go around and talk to people and we were able to get to know some of the people we want to work with a little better. I also found out that my bike is apparently a girls bike 

That sums up my week. Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Elder Jason Riches

Week 16: So far, so good! [November 13, 2017]

This week has been really good. It was the start of my third transfer in Simi Valley with my new companion Elder Olacsi (O-la-chi). Yes, he is the  third companion I have had to put in a pronunciation guide. We also stared riding bikes this transfer. Even though bikes are a little exhausting, they're a good way to stop and talk to people. We were able to meet two potential investigators that we've had a hard time getting in touch with. We also met a less active who said that he might want to come back to church. We were able to have a lesson with a less active who opened up a lot more this last visit.

We had a few interesting things happen this week. We knocked the door of a less active who lives in a trailer park and when she opened the door she got mad and said that we weren't allowed to be there because it was private property. She also threatened to call the cops. We probably won't be going by there again. We also had and investigator come to church this past week. She's been meeting with the Hermanas (Spanish sisters) but they want to pass her off to us because she doesn't speak Spanish. 

That's pretty much it for the week. 

Elder Jason Riches

Week 15: Gear Up for Round 3! [November 6, 2017]

This week was pretty good. For the most part we had things to do the whole week. On Halloween we put together some IKEA furniture (scary) for a less active lady we're working with. We also met with a former investigator and talked about the Book of Mormon. By the end he committed himself to read all of 1 Nephi by the next time we meet.  

This week did a lot of "floods" which is where all the members of the district go into one persons area and try and find people for them. It ended up being pretty successful, but Elder Kopaunik and I ran into a lot of crazy people. Everyone got some potentials to go by so it ended up being a success.

We had a really good lesson with a less active this week. We brought over one of the priests whose planning on serving a mission, and we did a practice lesson with our less active. At one point the less active pretty much bore his testimony of the Book of Mormon to his non-member wife. It was really cool. 

I found out this week that I'll be staying in Simi. I also found out that I will be on a bike this next transfer (still don't know how I feel about that). As I've been here though I've come to enjoy my area so I'm actually pretty happy I'm staying. I will have another companion though so I'll give you more details about that next week.

Until next time,

Elder Jason Riches 

Week 14: Slow Week [October 30, 2017]

Not much happened this week. We ended up doing a lot of trackting and trying to find people to teach. One of the houses we knocked was a Jehovah's Witness who gave us their version of the Bible. We couldn't really say no because he had no hands and said "I want to give you this book." I have considered saying this to people when giving them a Book of Mormon because it just sounds harder to say no to. We had a pretty good lesson with a former investigator though. We shared Helaman 5:12 with him and he said he agreed with everything it said.

Funny thing last night. We had dinner with the Brand family and they have three pretty energetic boys. One of them is into drawing and he drew both of us a picture of a bird. The parents thought it was funny because they could now say "Our son gave the missionaries the bird!" 

This week has helped me to always keep working even if we don't really have anyone to visit. I also hit my 3 month mark!

Until next week.

Elder Jason Riches