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

Week Fifty-eight:  Double White Wash/I Feel at Home Here [September 3, 2018]

Hi Everyone! 

This has been one crazy week! 

Monday I finished my time in Lompoc. We were actually able to have a lesson with someone we found not that long ago. I did have one of the hardest moments of my mission thus far. As most of you know I am a big Marvel fan. We heard his kids watching a movie and with Avengers: Infinity War recently out I was worried it was that. Turns out it was Thor: Ragnarok which I have wanted to see for quite some time. It was hard to stay focused on the lesson when I knew I could overhear what was going on if I tried to listen to that. Temptation is very real I learned, but God won't tempt us more than we can bear, even if it makes us want to cry inside . Anyways we were also able to visit a less-active brother and he said he would try to come back to church! We also felt prompted to knock one door at the end of the evening and it turned out to be a member who is not on the ward list. She was also open to us coming back which is a huge plus. 

Tuesday I was able to see all of my previous companions who are still out (Elders Olacsi and Mills are training too, Elder Baker's new, and final area is Oxnard where the trainers meeting is, and I saw Elder Jarman as he was headed to Simi Valley) I also got to meet my trainee Elder Kennedy. So far we get along pretty well and have quite a few similar interests.

My time in Ventura was nice (that will make more sense in a bit). The first part of when you white-wash is always slow but we had some miracles. One of the doors we knocked on I had Elder Kennedy lead the approach. She said she would like to hear our message so we shared a brief restoration. She accepted a Book of Mormon and said we could come back. 

Now for where things get interesting. Friday morning we got a text from President Nakken that said "Elder Riches can you call me when you are avaliable this morning?" For some reason every time President sends a text like this it makes missionaries think that something is wrong or you're in trouble. We called back and he asked me if I had enjoyed my time in Atascadero. I told him that I did and he went on to explain that there was an awkward situation with the sister missionaries in Paso Robles and he wanted to know if we could switch places with them. We were happy to comply, especially me since Paso Robles is by Templeton and Atascadero which are some of my favorite areas! We cleaned the apartment with some help from the zone leaders and packed (again). Saturday we made the switch and took the long drive north. Another reason I'm happy for this move is my favorite member family (the Bergmanns) is up north and I should be able to see them at some point. 

Even though it's quite a bit warmer up here I feel much more at home. This will be my fifth transfer in this zone and I live in the same complex that I had when I was in Templeton. Things are looking up. Keep us in your prayers that all will go well this upcoming week! 

Have a great week! 

Elder Jason Riches

Elder Riches (Trainer) with Elder Kennedy