Week 35:  Chicken Savers [March 26, 2018]

Hi Everyone! 

This week has been pretty good. Here are a few highlights. 

Interviews with President Nakken were this week.We talked a bit about how after the groups of missionaries go home this summer we'll be down quite a few missionaries, so we'll probably have quite a few missionaries who have to cover more than one area and more new people in leadership.  

We went to go visit a potential neither of us had met. We found out she moved but the lady that lived there talked with us a bit and we ended up saying a prayer with her and gave her a Book of Mormon. 

We had two exchanges this week. The first one was with Elder Cannon, who I've served around a few times before. On the way to one members house we saw a zebra in someone's yard. I have a picture below. We taught two lessons. The first one was with a guy named Caesar who seems pretty solid. The next one was with someone named Laurna and we were able to set her with a baptismal date!

The second exchange was with Elder Judd. It started out with us trying by a referral when a member called us and asked us to save her chicken. Apparently she'd left it out and then gone out of town. She was really worried that other animals would eat it. Fortunately it was still alive and we were able to get it back in it's pen. After we left hawks started flying overhead so we showed up just in time. We also met a less active/non-member family who was open to us coming back. 

We had a really good lesson with our investigator Judy. We re-taught her the plan of salvation and she got emotional when we taught the spirit world. She liked how young children who die early will go straight to heaven. We were also able to teach Marie (who is one of our member's sister) the gospel of Jesus Christ. She's super solid, but she'll be moving soon so we'll eventually need to get in touch with the missionaries where she's moving and pass her off.  

On Sunday our ward (Atascadero first ward) and the Atascadero 2nd ward combined into one big ward. For right now we will keep two sets of missionaries in the ward, but that might change in a few months. We met with Jeff and Heidi (some of our investigators). Jeff is all set to be baptized, but Heidi still has a few things to work out before she's ready. 

That's my week. I hope everyone has a great conference weekend. 

Elder Jason Riches

Week 34:  First and Last Week in the Atascadero 1st Ward [March 19, 2018]

This week has been pretty good. It was a little crazy with transfers. We were supposed to transfer on Tuesday, but because of the rain that we've been having it had to be moved to Wednesday. It was good to have another day in Templeton. We were able to get two new potentials and find a part member family to teach. 

After we had transfers we had a lesson with an investigator named Judy who has a baptismal date (which is a first for me). It went well and she seems ready. 

One of the things we've been doing in this ward that I haven't done much of is member lessons. At one of them when I was saying the closing prayer a helicopter flew above us and the son got really excited and yelled "HELICOPTER!"  When I finished he was crying because he missed it. When we were shaking hands with them he didn't want to shake my hand because it was my fault he missed it. 

Our district meeting was a little weird. We have 12 people in our district and only 5 people are the same so it feels a bit like I'm in a different district. 

We are teaching one of the member's sister which is going really well. Before I came here the Elders did a member lesson and taught the restoration. Afterward the brother mentioned that his sister was not a member and they were able to start teaching her. We taught the plan of salvation and at the end she said, "I wonder why not everyone believes this!" She's pretty solid, but she will be moving in a few weeks so we're doing all we can while she's here. 

I was able to meet Jeff and Heidi, one of the families we're teaching. Jeff has a baptismal date for the end of April and it sounds like we could set Heidi with one that day too since she wants the family to be baptized together. 

St. Patrick's day wasn't too eventful. I had to borrow one of Elder Jarman's green ties since I didn't have any. We also went to a party with a bunch of other members which was good because I got to meet more people. 

Sunday we also found out that we'll be combining with another ward so it was my first and last week in the Atascadero 1st ward. I'm curious to see how everything goes. 

For all the areas I've been in, this one has the most work. I'm excited to see where all this goes. 

That's all for now. Until next time, 

Elder Jason Riches

Pictures

1.Me saying goodbye to cowboy. 

2. Us congratulating Judy on passing her driving test. 

Week 33:  Moving On  [March 12, 2018]

On  Tuesday we had our walk day and went around trying to find people. As we were walking we saw a lady working in her yard and offered to help. At first she was a little hesitant to let us because of our nice clothes, but eventually let us. She had a tree in the past that had a lot of roots close to the surface. We helped her remove a few roots and offered to come back the next day in our work clothes to do more. She let us and the next day we got most of it removed. She was very grateful and gave us some food for dinner. She also said that she is open to all religions and would be okay with us sharing a message!! It just goes to show cool things can happen when you talk to everyone. 

There were a few other cool things that happened this week. The young men have showed interest in coming with us on splits so they can better prepare

for a mission. We also did our service for Cowboy Larry and helped him cut a lot of branches off a tree (we got to put the branches in a shredder which was fun). 

We got our transfer calls Saturday. I will be leaving Templeton and be going all the way to Atascadero (it's pretty much the area right next to mine). I was a little sad because I won't be with Elder Baker anymore and he's been one of my favorite companions. We'll still be in the same district though because he's staying. I'll be with Elder Jarman which will be fun since we were in the same district in the MTC. 

That's all for this week. Until next time, 

Elder Jason Riches 

Pictures

1. Me with the Murray family

2. My District

3. Elder Jarman and I the first day in California

Week 32:  Things are Picking Up! [March 5, 2018]

Hi Everyone! 

Things are starting to pick up in the Templeton ward. Here are a few highlights from this week. 

We met with a less active named Mel Stokes. He was super nice and actually gave us a referal! (They weren't interested though). He said that his time for coming back to church is probably soon. 

We picked up a new investigator named Sandra this week. She has met with missionaries in the past and seems really open to meeting with us again. We have an appointment tonight with her so pray that it will go well. She also has a son who could possibly be at baptisim age, but we're not sure. 

I was able to finish the Book of Mormon for the second time Tuesday. I've decided that this next time around I want to dive in deeper and get the most out of my studies. This I've started by going through Jacob 5 trying to understand it better. It's been really cool and I've actually learned a lot from it! 

We had a really good lesson with Josh! We taught the plan of salvation and he agrees with us that the fall of Adam and Eve was not a negative thing, but a positive step forward. He's also been reading in the Book of Mormon and he really liked the scripture in Alma 36:3 which says, "And now, O my son Helaman, behold, thou art in thy youth, and therefore, I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words and learn of me; for I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day." We're both very exited for how receptive he is.  

We ended up not having service with Cowboy on Thursday because of rain, but on Friday we did help him put parts of his tent shed back up since they had blown off.  

Interviews were on Friday. They were good, but President started asking me how I felt about being senior companion which is a little scary . 

Aside from all that we've still done the usual stuff, going by people and trying to find more. 

I hope you all enjoy your week! Until then, 

Elder Jason Riches