Week 38:  Temple and Facebook [April 16, 2018]

Hi Everyone! 

This week has been really spiritually uplifting. Here are a few things that happened. 

We helped the sister missionaries in Paso Robles find some people to teach. Afterwards when we were reporting what we found a guy walked into the church and said that he wanted to know more about the church! Apparently he is someone that the sisters have been trying to get in contact with for some time now. 

We had a great lesson with our investigator Betty talking about the plan of salvation. We had a member family join in and they connected really well with her. Betty understood everything and said it made sense. 

A member told us about a man named Lynn (who's a non-member) for us to do service for. We went by on Wednesday and helped him put some posts in the ground. Afterwards we arranged to come by on Wednesdays and help him with anything he may need help with. 

On Thursday we were able to go to the Fresno temple! Attending the temple always fills me with peace and joy and it strengthens my testimony every time I go. I can't wait until I get the opportunity to attend again around October! 

At zone conference on Friday we were able to set up Facebook for missionary work. Just so you're aware I will not be able to communicate through Facebook so if you want to get in contact with me please only use email. I will also be able to friend people from back home but I won't be able to follow anyone. 

Saturday we got a phone call from our district leader saying that there was a stake primary activity on missionary work and we were supposed to attend immediately. Apparently the stake set something up with the zone leaders but they forgot to tell the district leader until literally the last minute. It was fun. Elder Jarman and I taught the primary kids the first vision. It reminded me of the time I spent teaching primary before my mission. 

Our investigators Jeff and Heidi came to all three hours of church which is a first for them. When we were talking to them afterwards Heidi told us that she's going  to try and give up coffee! That's huge since that was her biggest problem! Please keep her in your prayers that she will have the strength to stop drinking coffee. We picked up a new investigator named Echo. He's been taught by missionaries before and we talked with him a bit about how to gain a testimony that this is God's church upon the earth today. 

Thanks so much for all the thoughts and prayers! I hope all of you have a fantastic week. 

Until next time, 

Elder Jason Riches

Pictures: Temple! 

Week 37:  Baptism! [April 9, 2018]

Hi Everyone! 

We did a lot of service again this week. We shredded more olive tree branches for the Fagrells a few times. We also helped a member family plant a garden and then build an enclosure around it to keep their chickens and the deer out. 

We had our final lesson with Marie. We were able to tell her that a testimony of the things we've taught will come in time and that the things that seem hard will be easier when she gains a testimony that this is the true church. After she moved we helped her brother move her stuff into a moving van (with additional help from the young men). 

We had a lesson with our investigator Betty on the gospel of Jesus Christ. Her great-nephew (who is a member in another ward) was able to come to the lesson. He shared many good thoughts with her and since they already knew each other they were able to connect well. 

We got news that we'll be getting Facebook this week! We have a zone conference Friday where we will set that up. I'm exited to see how we'll be able to use Facebook as a tool to hasten the Lord's work. 

And now for the highlight of the week. On Tuesday, our now former investigator Judy, had her baptismal interview and passed! On Saturday we rushed to get everything ready before it was time to start. Once it started though the Spirit in the room was so strong, especially during the talks and the actual ordinance. It was also fun because I got to see my previous companion Elder Richards (his companion, Elder Leckbee taught Judy). After the baptisim we went to dinner with Judy. Sunday I had the privilege of being able to stand in the circle and place my hand on her head as she was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. The Spirit at that moment was perhaps the strongest I'd ever felt it.   

Thanks for all the prayers, love and support! I hope all of you are able to have a great week! 

Until then, 

Elder Jason Riches

1 and 2 - Judy's baptisim. 

3 - Marie, the McGinnis and us

Week 36:  General Conference [April 2, 2018]

Hi Everyone! 

This week has been great! 

We had a lesson with a new investigator named Betty. She's pretty open and says if she could go back and do it all again she would raise her kids in the Mormon church! The only problem is that she'll be moving about May, so we'll have to pass her off eventually. 

We taught Marie twice this week. The first time we taught obedience, the ten commandments, the sabbath day and following the prophet. The second time we taught her the law of chastity, word of wisdom and tithing. The only thing she expressed concern about was coffee, but we talked about how a testimony of these things will come in time. She also had a really cool experience with prayer. When she was praying to know if she had to pray using certain words. She woke up in the night with the answer that she didn't have to worry about it and that the knowledge would come in time. She's such an amazing investigator and we're both sad she'll be moving this week. 

Elder Jarman had the impression to go to a house where we had previously talked with someone who said we could come back. We met two different people, Mike and Nancy, who we talked with for quite a while on different aspects of the church. Both of them were quite interested and we gave Nancy a pamphlet. It was a cool experience about what can happen when you follow promptings.

We did a lot of service for members this week. We moved furniture, cleaned up some chicken poop and shredded up some branches. 

We met a few times with Judy to help her get ready for her baptisim this week! We went over the baptismal interview questions, talked about the program, and watched 3 sessions of conference with her. She really liked Elder Renlund's talk (she met him when he came up here) and she said that she really enjoyed the whole experience. 

Speaking of conference it was amazing!!! I enjoyed hearing from both Elder Wakolo and Elder Renlund since I've met both of them now. I also liked Elder Uchtdorf's talk on Christ and President Nelson's talk on prayer. And what about all those changes! The new bishop was with us during both of the big changes and I think he's just a little more overwhelmed now that he has to release and call a new elders quorum and figure out how ministering will work. The Temple in Russia is big news as well! I'm exited to see where all these changes take the church. It's so cool to see ongoing revelation in action! During the conference I was able to gain a stronger testimony that Russell M. Nelson is the prophet on the earth today!

That's about all this week. I hope this week has been great for all of you as well! I'd like to invite you to take President Nelson's invitation to go over the conference talks given from now until the next one. 

Until next time, 

Elder Jason Riches

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