Week Seventy-Four: Christmas Miracles!! [December 25, 2018]

Hi Everyone! 

First off I just want to say Merry Christmas! I hope all of you are having a great day and that you have been able to feel the Spirit of Christ this Christmas season! Now, that being said, onto my week. 

We had an amazing miracle happen this week! We tried by someone we had found tracting a while back named Gus. We've been having a hard time trying to meet with him and it was looking like it was going to be the case this time since they were getting some plumbing work done. However when we started talking to him and his wife (Jennifer) they invited us in at that very moment! We were able to teach them the Restoration and they really enjoyed it. Both of them said that they had not heard about Joseph Smith or the Book of Mormon. We were able to set up a time next week to share more with them. It's also really cool for me because I haven't had many opportunities to teach families as a missionary and that's always a great thing!

After some service we did for someone named Anna we showed her the Light the World videos. She loved them and while we were talking to her she told us about one of her neighbors who had previously met with missionaries. We went by a few days later and she sounds interested in still meeting with us! Her name is Linda and for whatever reason she was not in our area book. 

Most of the missionaries in Simi Valley came to our area to help us find people to teach. It was a really powerful feeling as we felt united in bringing souls to Christ. One of the houses looked dark so we were going to walk right by it, but I got the prompting to knock. Someone ended up being there and they said we could come back! I also got to work in my last area in Simi for a bit when we went to that area!

We've also had several things that have really helped us feel the Christmas Spirit. Friday we had our Christmas Zone Conference and there were lots of talks and messages given about the Savior. The Sacrament meeting on the 23rd was good too. One of the coolest things though was when we went caroling on Christmas Eve. Even though we were just singing songs, it was cool to see how much of an impact it made on them! 

I hope all of you had a very merry Christmas! I know being able to see my family and being with the members and missionaries this day have helped make it special!

Until next time, 

Elder Jason Riches

Here are some pics from the baptism last week. 

Hello again! 

It was fun being able to see all of you today!!! Thank you Trevor for getting it figured out! I'll be looking forward to May for the next (and final for me) Skype call home! I think you left before Jenna and I did. We got to say a quick good-bye to each other before it was time to leave. I hope all of you have a Merry Christmas! My day today is pretty chill. We'll be having dinner with some members later, but that's the only plan. 

Thanks for all your help and thank you for the care package! I was especially excited about the stuff for Grandpa's brew since I haven't had that in a year! 

I attached the picture of me at the Nightmare Before Christmas house. Sorry Audra, it looks like Zero got cut off, but you get the idea. 

I love all of you so much! I hope all of you have an amazing Christmas! 

Elder Jason Riches

Week Seventy-Three:  Olivia's Baptism [December 17, 2018]

Hi Everyone! 

This week has been pretty great! Here's what happened.

I went on exchanges with our district leader Elder 'Anitony and as we were going by one of the Spanish people they had found a while back, we ended up going to the wrong door, which ended up being inspired since they were interested. When we went to the right house we ended up meeting their husband. Elder 'Anitony talked to him for a while (since he only spoke Spanish) and he ended up letting us inside. Apparently he had found a Light the World card on the ground and looked into it,but didn't know where to find out more, and didn't know where to look. It was pretty cool even though I couldn't understand much.

When we were walking around one day we ended up talking to someone named Neil. He told us that he has actually had some questions for us and we got into a little gospel discussion. He doesn't live around here, but he said he would be fine with missionaries seeing him where he lives.

We seem to be making slow progress with Juliana. She seems to be trusting us more and we're hoping to have a lesson on the Holy Ghost this week so she could learn to recognize when she feels the Spirit.

The highlight of this week was when I got to go to the baptism of  Olivia Neil. She was someone I had taught when I was first in Simi Valley. It was probably one of the most Spiritual baptisms I've attended! She has come a long way since I first taught her at the beginning of her journey. The cool thing too is that after all this time she said she remembered in one of my last times teaching her that I had bore my testimony to her and it impacted her. Honestly I don't remember that at all, but It was cool and reminded me that even though we get transferred to different areas we still play a part in the conversion process of the people we teach.

That is it for this week. I hope all of you good one!

Elder Jason Riches

Week Seventy-Two:  Aye Chihuahua! [December 10, 2018]

Hi Everyone!

There have been some small successes here and there. We tried by Juliana right as she was leaving somewhere, but we found out that she was planning on attending a baptism in the other ward! We went too and she really liked it! Hopefully it will help her desire to be baptized. 

We also were able to finally meet someone named Sean. Turns out we had an incomplete phone number for him so we were able to get that sorted out. He has a pretty strong faith in Jesus Christ and he really enjoyed the scripture Helaman 5:12 when we read it to him.

(Helaman 5:12:  And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.) 

There were also some people who said we could come back (3 of them on one court!)

One evening as we were getting ready to tract out a neighborhood (in the rain no less) there was this little Chihuahua in a Christmas sweater that started following us around barking at us. We figured that if we walked far enough away that it would stop, but it was too persistent. When we tried to read it's collar it would run away from us. Eventually it left us alone. Both of us thought it was funny that it was trying to look so tough in it's little sweater.

That's all for this week!

Until next time,

Elder Jason Riches

Week Seventy-One:  Neil L. Anderson [December 3, 2018]

Hi Everyone!

This week's email will have to be short since I don't have a ton of time to type this up.

It's been a pretty crazy week! Both Elder Sorensen and I got flat tires on our bikes (on different days), I fell off my bike, we got stuck in the first rain storm I've been in since March and the Santa Anna winds have picked up.

Despite all the craziness we had a really cool opportunity to hear from Elder Neal L. Anderson, Elder L. Whitney Clayton and his wife and Elder Kevin W. Pearson. All of them gave really powerful talk on various subjects. Some things I remember right off that were said is that we need to build a strong testimony of Jesus Christ so that when the time comes for us to return home we can be firm and steadfast. They also wanted to have us and the members pray that the church will be able to grow in California. The whole mission was present at the zone conference which has never happened before! During the lunch all of my group that came out at the same time took a group picture.

The only person we really talked with was Juliana. We talked about baptism a little, but she's still not sure what to think about it.

That's pretty much my week. Sorry it's so short!

Until next time,

Elder Jason Riches

1.The Original Picture

2. One of the new ones (I'll have to try and find the rest later)

Week Seventy:  A Simi Thanksgiving #2 (16 Month Mark Today) November 26, 2018

Hi Everyone! 

Before I get on to what's happened on my return to Simi I have some pretty cool stuff to report on my final hours in Paso Robles. 

As we were saying goodbye to the Lisonbee family we found out that she had talked with her sister about her desire to be baptized which was huge since that's been the main thing holding her back! Elder Kennedy and I felt that it was finally time and we were able to commit her for baptisim February 23!!! It's mainly so far out because it's her birthday month and her family might come for that! We also talked with our friend Katryna about baptisim. There's still some things to work on, but she has the desire. 

Things have been good here in Simi. It's crazy being back here. On Sunday I was able to see a lot of familiar faces and there were some people who still recognized me. A lot of what's happened has been meeting the people in this area. There's a lot of good people here and there's also a lot of work to do, but with the new schedule and with effort I think we can see miracles. 

There's been some progress made this week. We taught someone named Gita the plan of salvation and she's now a new person being taught! We also had a fourth floor, last door experience. We knocked an entire street and at the last house we knocked on we met Gus who met with missionaries a long time ago. He's pretty open, and we're hoping to be able to work with him soon! 

In another bit of exciting news, I don't know if any of you remember Olivia from the last time I was in Simi, but I heard from the missionaries that have been teaching her that she's planning on baptisim and would like me to attend! She doesn't have a date yet, but I imagine it won't be long. 

I had a great time during my second Thanksgiving in Simi Valley. We were able to have a great dinner with the Maranto family and spend time getting to know them. 

That's pretty much my week. I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving and that you have a great week! 

Until next time, 

Elder Jason Riches 

The Lisonbees

Albert and the Seays

Katryna, Jorge, and Junior

Bike area.  Girl's bike broke, so he bought a new Bike for him and one for his companion.

Week Sixty-Nine:  The Return to Simi Valley

Hi Everyone! 

This week has been pretty awesome! I just have to make sure I get all I want to have put in, thanks to transfers happening and us being super busy today. 

Monday we had a really cool miracle! We went by someone named Giovanni and as we were at his door he walked up behind us and invited us in. He's really busy with school and work, and if we would have come any later he probably would have been too busy to talk. As we talked with him we shared the plan of salvation which he really enjoyed. 

Tuesday was a walk day and as walk days usually go for me, stuff happened and we had to drive. After our lunch we got a message from a member who's car wouldn't start. We went to help, but since neither of us know much about cars, we weren't able to do much except comfort her until our ward mission leader came to help. After that we had our final apointment with Albert. He's come a long way since we first met him and he talked about how he feels like he's part of a family now that he's a member! I'm going to miss him. 

A lot happened Wednesday, but there's not much of it it I can say except we got stuck in the middle of some people who want to annul their marriage. It was a lot of drama. One thing I can mention though is that as we were walking around Sister Lisonbee and her son Austin pulled up so it was fun seeing them. 

Thursday we talked with a preacher who, surprisingly, didn't want to Bible bash with us and was very respectful to our beliefs and had lots of good questons about our church. I also had my last doctors appointment and was cleared! 

On Friday we got some news as to some crazy changes to our schedule.For starters dinners with members will no longer be happening Monday-Friday. We may have dinners Saturday or Sunday as long as it is finished by 5:00 PM. These dinners will not be determined by a dinner calender, but by the ward council or ward mission leader (making sure that there's not one family feeding us too frequently). This doesn't eliminate meeting with members. The hours of 8-9PM will be utilized for teaching members in their homes and helping them find ways that they can share the gospel and bring souls to Christ. These appointments are also to be arranged by the ward council, ward mission leader, or us. This new schedule will better allow us to be out finding and teaching. We also were able to teach the restoration to someone named Shon. 

Saturday was pretty much our last normal day. We talked with someone named Jane who we've been working with for a while. We taught the restoration to her and she seemed pretty interested in Joseph Smith. We also taught a member family, the Clarks, about families and the temples since they are preparing to go. Right before we got our transfer calls we met a guy contacting who seemed pretty interested. We found out that both Elder Kennedy and I will be leaving Paso Robles. I will be returning to where I began...Simi Valley. It'll be interesting because I'm not exactly sure where in Simi I'll be,
since I heard they changed the ward boundaries since I've been there. I'll also be follow-up training and back on bikes. Elder Kennedy will be going to Lompoc (the same ward I was in) and with my last companion Elder Fenn! I'll miss being with Elder Kennedy, but I know he's going to do great. 

Sunday we said goodbye to a lot of people. In addition to saying goodbye to Albert and the Seays we said goodbye to some missionaries in our district who are going to Taiwan and one who is switching to a service mission. Because one of them was serving in Atascadero we are now with his companion Elder Governale. It was fun because I was able to work in Atascadero again! We even taught a lesson to Jeff Fritch who I taught while I was there. 

Thanks for all the support! It'll be interesting to be back in Simi and I'll tell you all about it next week! 

Have a good one! 

Elder Jason Riches

San Luis Obispo Zone Conference:  November 2018

San Luis Obispo Zone Conference:  November 2018

Week Sixty-Eight:  I Love to See the Temple [November 12, 2018]

Hi Everyone! 

This is going to have to be another quick email. Here's what happened this week. 

Tuesday we went on a mini exchange for the Templeton Elders since one of them was having medical issues and was going home. I got to go to a lesson with someone they're currently working with named Crystal. We ended up teaching the plan of salvation (which she misheard "Planet Salvation"). The lesson went really well and in the end she basically invited herself to church! 

We had a random service opertunity Wednesday night. We were walking around and there was a man who was struggling to carry a package of paper towels. We offered to carry them for him back to his house which was a little far away, but we were happy to help out! 

Thursday was our temple day. Some members named the Seays (pronounced sees) took us there. I always enjoy going to the temple! It's nice to get away from the world for a few hours and spiritually re-charge. After the temple they took us to one of their favorite restaurants called Sal's. It was pretty good!. Both of us got a really big burrito that neither of us could finish. 

On Friday we had our zone conference. Our poor President has been pretty busy with zone conferences, figuring out transfers and the fires that are going on in the southern part of the mission. Thankfully all the missionaries are safe from that. Anyways zone conference was great! A lot was said regarding urgency in the work. 

Yesterday we picked up a new person being taught. His name is Joe and he has lots of great questions about the gospel! We taught him the plan of salvation and he really liked it. Things are worth it as a missionary when you get to talk with people who are receptive to the message of the gospel! 

Thanks for all the prayers and support. A Have a fantastic week! 

Elder Jason Riches 

Week Sixty-Seven:  Albert's Baptism! [November 5, 2018]

Hi Everyone! 

This week has been pretty incredible! Tuesday was the big day for Albert! We met with him beforehand and he mainly just wanted to read the scriptures. He wanted to know what the first mention of baptism is in the Bible. The earliest we were able to find was the one in Matthew where the Savior is baptized. If anyone knows anywhere it might have been before that let me know! After that it was all prep work to get ready for his baptism!  The sisters who had taught him previously were able to come up and see it as well! It was a really good service and we're both really happy for him! After he was baptized he said that he felt good! In addition to that some people we are working with were able to come to the baptism as well! Yesterday he was able to be confirmed a member of the church and we were privileged to be in the circle as that happened. 

Halloween wasn't super eventful. We were able to see Katryna after a long while and hear how she's been (she was really sick for a while). We also met with some members in the evening. After that we went in early. 

We did some good service this week. One was feeding the homeless and the other was helping Albert with his yard (weed eating and such). Our ward mission leader was there with his tractor and was able to do quite a bit with it. 

Our p-day is short today since we will be going to the temple this week. Thanks for everything! 

Until next week, 

Elder Jason Riches 

Week Sixty-Six:  Happy Halloween! [October 29, 2018]

Hi Everyone! 

I don't have a ton of time so I'll make this quick.

This week has been really good. We've been able to work with Albert quite a bit to prepare him for his baptism tomorrow. He's doing really well and he's pretty excited as are we. 

We also have a new person we're working with named Gabriel. He really wants to learn more and he wants to invite his friend to join in the lesson as well! When we taught him on Tuesday his brother was visiting and he told Gabriel to give him a call the next time he we come so he can sit in as well! We're excited to see how that all goes! 

On Wednesday I had a follow up doctor's appointment. basically all that happened was he gave a different diagnosis than the one they gave me at the ER and put me back on the medicine :\

I had another exchange with Elder Hutchison. The night of the exchange we had a few lessons in Spanish so I pretty much just sat there for most of the time. 

Friday we had our ward Halloween party (which was nice since last year I missed it). We had the typical chili cook off, but at the end there was a trunk or treat carnival where people set up games and stuff for everyone. We ran a pin the name tag on the elder game for the kids. For my Halloween costume Elder Hutchison and I switched name tags so we were each other (there's not much we can do for costumes here). 

I hope everyone has a great week! 

Until next time. 

Elder Jason Riches

Week Sixty-Five:  There's a Lizard in our Car!  [October 22, 2018]

Hi Everyone! 

For starters, Albert is doing great! We're still trying to figure out the program, but other than that things are going well there. His baptismal date is October 30th so next Tuesday. We're all really excited and are very proud of him and his commitment to enter into the waters of baptism! 

On Friday after we had our district council meeting we went to Wendy's for lunch. While there we saw a guy who another elder and I had found while on exchanges in Templeton! He's actually one of the Templeton Elders most promising people they're working with so that's pretty cool. After lunch we also had a companionship study and mini exchange with the zone leaders in our area. I was with Elder Clegg and we got to meet a recent convert who has been gone for a while. That evening all of our appointments fell through, but it actually turned out to be a good thing because we were able to talk with a potential named Gabriel for a bit and we set up an appointment for tomorrow evening. He even said he would invite his friend over as well which was cool. 

Saturday we were able to find four new potentials! We weren't really doing, much different, but it was still really cool since that's the most we've found in a day since being here. We also talked with a potential who has been hard to get in contact with and he also seems really open to the message we share. 

Finally onto the title for our email. We had to take our car in to the shop to have it's oil changed and tires rotated and we ended up finding a lizard chilling out in our car! We have no idea how it got in there, but we were able to get it out safe and sound. It did end up riding with us in the car for most of the day though so it was almost like having a pet for the day. 

That's all for me right now. 

Have an awesome week! 

Elder Jason Riches

Missionary Lizard

Week Sixty-Four:  "I'm Mormon and I'm not changing." [October 15, 2018]

Hi Everyone! 

Our first week of the new transfer was a pretty good one. We had some good experiences and some fun stories. 

First of all we got some interesting responses from people that I have never heard before. One took a pamphlet and we asked if we could come back and share more with her. She said it wouldn't be necessary, but if we're in the area we can come by. There was also a man who we'd stopped by previously and he told us that he's Mormon and isn't interested in changing. We're both pretty sure that he thought we were Jehovah's Witnesses. And finally we talked with someone who said they where a witness in a lawsuit against the Church and they aren't allowed to talk with us. Strange stuff. 

In other news Albert is currently on course for baptism! The current plans are to have it happen by the end of the month and we're both really excited about that. We're also working with the Lisonbees again after all the sickness and hospital visits on their side as well as ours. For those of you who don't remember who they are, the Lisonbees are a part member family who are super open to the gospel. We discussed baptism and Sister Lisonbee shared some of her concerns, but she still wants to get baptized eventually. 

We were also able to talk with someone named Gabriel who seems really open. We're hoping to be able to work with him soon! We also taught a less active named Paul the restoration. He's in really poor health, so prayers for him would be great. 

Yesterday we were able to attend a priesthood meeting for the Stake talking about things that distract us from the Spirit. The stake president quoted from one of President Nelson's talks saying that it will not be possible to survive spiritually in coming days without the Holy Ghost. It was a really good meeting and it was fun because I got to see a bunch of people from my time in Atascadero and Templeton and I was happy that most of them remembered me! 

That's about all for this week! Hope you all have a good one! 

Elder Jason Riches 

Week Sixty-three:  Service Miracle [October 8, 2018]

Hi Everyone! 

Here's what's been going on this week. 

Tuesday we were going by some people when a member from the Templeton ward pulled up and invited us to have lunch with her and a few other members. We decided to go and it turned out that there were only females there. There were enough that it was okay to go in, but it was still a little awkward. We ended up being the judges of their curry cook off. 

We had one pretty neat experience. We were going by less actives and we got to a point where we were wondering if we should go back to the car and drive there or walk to the member and then the car (which would take about 11 minutes longer. Elder Kennedy felt that we needed to go the long way which we didn't see the reason for until we were almost at our car again. A lady named Sue pulled over to talk with us and said that she needed help moving out of her house. We've since then gone by a few times to help her a bit (usually for about an hour at a time for one reason or another). Last night (Sunday). We were able to teach her and her husband a bit. They're really nice people; however they're not in our area, but Templeton's. We've done a lot because they've been busy with other things. 

We've been able to have sit down lessons with a few people. We met with Albert and talked with him about temples and families. As far as we know he's still meeting the requirements for baptism. We met with a less-active member named Paul who is having some rough health problems. We got to know him for a bit and are planning to meet weekly on Fridays. The last one is Katryna. It seems like we never really have planned lessons. Sometimes we'll see them as we're going about their area and they invite us in. We taught her to obey and honor the law and committed her to live the law. I don't think it will be difficult for her to do. 

General Conference was awesome! I loved how there were so many messages centered on Jesus Christ and His role in our lives! I still have one conference left as a missionary so I'm still grateful for that. 

We got our transfer news. Elder Kennedy and I will be staying in this area. We're excited for another exciting new transfer. 

Have a great week! 

Elder Jason Riches

Week Sixty-two:  My Trip to the Emergency Room [October 1, 2018)

Hi Everyone! 

This week has been an interesting one to say the very least. On Tuesday we had our zone conference where we talked a lot about Preach My Gospel and we did an activity where we practiced contacting people on the senior couples. We were also put with another missionary and I was placed with Elder Hutchison. After the zone conference we got our flu shots. 

We only had two sit down meetings this week. The first was on Tuesday with Katryna and we talked with her a little bit about sacrifice brings blessings. Our other meeting was Wednesday with Albert. We went over the word of wisdom again. He's doing really well and we were able to set him with a new baptismal date. 

On Wednesday I woke up feeling a little sick from the flu shot which is weird because I've never gotten sick from a flu shot before. I got a blessing from  some other Elders. A blessing which helped me have the strength to see Albert. Later that day I had another problem which I called the mission nurse about and she said that I should go to the doctor. I went there, but they said they couldn't help me and told me to go to the ER. We got the OK from the mission nurse and went. We were stuck there for about 4 hours as they tried to figure out what was wrong with me. Turns out I got a bladder infection. I'm fine now, but it was an experience I never thought I would have. 

Some other interesting things that happened were we had a guy pull up to us in a car and said that we were out too late. He insisted that he follow us back to our car to make sure we were leaving. We also got the usual basher who "just wants us to find the truth". Bible bashes are annoying but it's nice to have a testimony in times like this. 

Next week we'll hear our transfer news. Have a great week!

Elder Jason Riches

September Birthdays

San Luis Obisbo Zone Conference September 29, 2018

 Elder Riches, Elder Kennedy, Elder Hammond, Elder Clark, Elder Goulding, Elder Roth, Sister Fairbourn, Sister Peterson

President and Sister Nakken Anniversary September 30, 2018.

Week Sixty-one:  Smashing [September 24, 2018]

Hi Everyone!

Nothing too crazy this week. We were able to meet with Albert on Tuesday and we watched President Nelson's talk on receiving personal revelation. We also gave him a blessing of comfort and to help him live the word of wisdom. He's doing really well so far and his baptism should be really soon!

 Wednesday we read the Book of Mormon with a guy named Andreas. Missionaries have talked to him previously and he seems to have a strong desire to learn more. Also something interesting happened at the end of the day. Pretty much everyone we stopped by was home. That rarely ever happens, but it was a nice change. 

Some other things that happened this week. We met a referral who's apartment smelled strongly of cigar smoke. He really liked to talk and when we left we smelled like his apartment. Fortunately it was the end of our day so no one had to wonder what we'd been up to. I also had to give a discussion in our district council and I realized before it started that I forgot my notes. I had to try and remember what I had planned to talk about which was interesting. 

I had exchanges with Elder 'Anitony Saturday. He' s a Spanish Elder and since it was the Spanish branch's turn to clean the church we went. The only problem is that no one showed up so it was just the two of us cleaning the entire church. It ended up taking most of the day. After that we talked with some people we had found last week on exchanges and we ended up talking with them for over an hour. They seem pretty strong in their faith, but they are also interested in learning more so we'll see where that goes. We also talked with Katryna and Jorge. 

Sunday we had Katryna and Jorge come to church with their kids. They were the only ones since basically everyone we're working with now seems to be getting sick. In the evening we were trying by some people when one guy came out of the house and made it pretty apparent that he didn't want us there. We hurried to leave, but I was a little hasty and backed up into some metal tool thing. (My companion is supposed to back me up, but we were in too much of a hurry). Thankfully we're not in too much trouble. We also ended up seeing three tarantulas which was pretty cool. 

That's all for now. Have a great week! 

Elder Jason Riches

Week Sixty:  Late  [September 17, 2018]

Hi Everyone! 

The only person we really taught this week was our friend Albert. He has a Baptisimal Date for October 13th and he's doing really well. We actually taught him twice (Tuesday and Sunday). The first was on tithing and the other was on following the prophet. Tuesday we also went to an ARP meeting (addiction recovery program) with him at the church. There were some people at the church from the Atascadero ward and it was fun to see some familiar faces. Some people remembered me and made a comment like "You'

re back", but some seem to have forgotten me. 

I went on two exchanges this week. The first was with Elder Clegg who came out the same time I did. We did some service for some non-members helping them take down a fence and put up a new one. who were super grateful that we helped them out. They even invited us back to see the finished product when it's done. I won't be able to see it since it's not in my area, but I hope all will go well. 

The other one was with Elder Hutchison who I actually knew a bit before I came on the mission! We had fun talking about people at home and we were able to find a good amount of people who said we could come back!

On Thursday we had a bit of a scare. We were having a follow up trainers meeting and I figured that we would be having it on a video conference, but we got a call from Sister Andrus (one of the senior missionaries) and she said that the meeting would be at the mission office in Oxnard which is about a 3 hour drive from us. We got the call at 9:00 and the meeting started at 10:00 so we rushed to the meeting as fast as we could. We ended up getting there at about 12:00 just in time for lunch. Apparently they announced in the meeting that we were going to be late and everyone there was making comments like "We're glad you made it" or "how was the drive?". One thing's for sure is that if I train again then I won't forget that important fact. 

I just wanted to wish good luck to my sister who just left for her mission today for Culiacán México. Love ya sis and I hope you see tons of miracles! 

That's all for now. Have a great week! 

Elder Jason Riches 

Early morning basketball game - young guys vs. old guys.

Hermana Jenna Riches with the Mexico Flag.

Airport farewell to Jenna.

Week Fifty-nine:  Happy Birthday #2 [September 10, 2018]

Hi Everyone! 

We've gotten to know more of the people we're working with this week. Here's the rundown. 

Monday evening we were able to meet with Katryna and Jorge. Katryna has been meeting with the missionaries for a while and Jorge is a member. They have two kids. Junior (4) and Gabriel (2). She's had difficulty coming to church in the past, partially because of anxiety with being around a lot of people. Jorge came up with the idea of sitting in the foyer and she was more open to that. Sunday she came with the kids, and intended to stay only for sacrament. After the meeting we went on a church tour. The primary president came and talked to the boys and Junior went to primary. The primary president then showed Katryna the nursery and Gabriel just started playing with the toys. She was pretty surprised since he has some separation anxiety. She was then able to attend Sunday school and relief society. She said that she would come to church again and the kids were also looking forward to coming back. 

Someone else we are working with is Albert. He has a baptismal date and is progressing really well. We re-taught him the plan of salvation and he had lots of good questions. We are going to see if we can start meeting with him more than once a week to help him progress more. 

I had my second birthday in the field on Friday. I was able to celebrate with the Bergmanns (my favorite member family I've met out here) on Wednesday! It was fun being able to see them again and I hope to be able to see them a few more times out here. On my actual birthday we celebrated as a district by getting Little Caesars. 

Aside from that this week has mainly been meeting with people and getting to know the area. 

Sorry this is shorter than usual. Have an awesome week! 

Until next time, 

Elder Jason Riches