Week Eighty-Three: Which Jason?  [February 25, 2019]

Hi Everyone! 

This week has been pretty good!  We've been able to have a few pretty good lessons! 

This week we've started meeting with Someone named Brian. He's a junior in high school and he's been really interested when we've taught him! We taught him both Tuesday and Wednesday and both lessons were great! There's a young man that lives on the same street as him so we're going to see if we can introduce them this week! 

So the new Jason we're working with came with us to a baptism! It was for someone in the YSA ward and he really enjoyed it! He's super open to learning more and we're excited to start working with him. Just as a recap, this is the guy who we met at the bus stop and said he wanted to join the church! Also for the baptisim that night I made 81 cookies (yes, I did count). 

Jason Woolsey is doing good too! With all these Jasons it's going to be hard to keep clear which one is which. Anyway we were able to go over the plan of salvation with him again and mention a few other things that were not taught the first time around. It shouldn't be too long before he will be getting the priesthood as well as do baptisims for the dead! The ward has also been helping him feel very welcome! 

One of the coolest things this week though was being able to hear about the baptism of Sister Lisonbee in Paso Robles! I was not able to be there in person, but I did get to call and talk to her on Sunday and that was a lot of fun. Sister Lisonbee, if you're reading this I want to say again I'm so happy for you in this exciting new step in your life!

That's about it for me. I hope all of you have a great week! 

Until next week, 

Elder Jason Riches 

Elder Riches and Elder NeSmith

Week Eighty-Two:  Jason's Baptism [February 18, 2019]

Hi Everyone!

This week has been great! As mentioned in the title Jason was baptized this week! It was a great service! Elder NeSmith was the one baptizing him. It was really cool to see how happy he was as well as his wife (who's a member)! The closing song was "Families Can Be Together Forever" and it was cool thinking that his family is now on their way to being sealed for time and all eternity! Then of course he was confirmed a member and received the Holy Ghost! We're so happy for him and his decision to make this important step in his life!

In other news we've got some new people we're hoping to start working with soon. One of them is the guy we met last Monday who told us he wants to join the church! His name is also Jason and he has great desire to learn and grow in the church! Also we talked with someone we had met previously and his friend also came out and started to talk with us and ask us some questions! They are both pretty open and we hope to be able to meet with them again this week!

This transfer is off to a great start! Things are progressing here and we look forward to what is in store next! Thanks for your support and prayers! 

Have a great week! 

Elder Jason Riches

Elder NeSmith, Jason and the Woolsey family, and Elder Riches at the baptism! 

Week Eighty-One:  Get Ready for Round Two! [February 11, 2019]

Hi Everyone!  

This week has been pretty great! It hasn't rained nearly as much as it did before, so that was a nice change. I like the rain, but it does make things harder. 

We've been able to work with Jason more this week as he prepares to be baptized this Saturday! (The 16th). He's made a lot of progress since we first started teaching him! On Saturday he went to a baptism in the YSA ward so he could see what kind of stuff happens at a baptismal service! He also had his baptismal interview on Sunday and he passed! We're really excited for him and this step that he is making in his life! 

On Wednesday we were walking around and a vehicle pulled up to us! We were excited to see that inside was our old friend Dizi! For those of you who don't remember Dizi is an Albanian lady that we're teaching and probably one of the nicest people I know. We haven't been able to work with her lately because she's been sick a lot, but she's better now. When we were talking we set a teaching appointment for that night! We talked about baptisim since she's preparing to be baptized in April! She also came to the YSA baptism and loved it! 

We taught Bob again this week, but it was kinda hard to keep him on topic. We have another lesson this week so we'll see how that goes!

We got some exciting news this week that both Elder NeSmith and I will be staying here in Camarillo! Since Jason is getting baptized this week it is going to be nice! Also we've been seeing lots of things pick up so we're excited to see what this next transfer has in store! 

Have a great week! 

Elder Jason Riches 

Week Eighty:  It's Raining, It's Pouring [February 4, 2019]

Hi Everyone!

This week has been a wet one! It's probably rained more times these last two transfers than all of the rest of my mission combined! It's made things a little trickier because there's no one really to contact, but never the less it's been a pretty good week.

We've been working more with Jason helping him as he gets ready to be baptized! So far he's still on track with the commitments and we've almost finished teaching him everything he needs to know before baptism! 

Nothing new with Dizi. She's still sick

There are two new people that we're going to start working with more. The first one is  Brian. He's a junior in high school and he seems really interested! The other one is Bob. He's a referral from someone outside the mission and we've been able to meet with him twice now! He told us that he would read the Book of Mormon!

That's about all for this week! I'll have transfer news next time. So we'll see how that goes! 

Until then, 

Elder Jason Riches