Week Forty-four:  Zone Conference and Stuff [May 28, 2018]

Hi Everyone! 

It's been a pretty good week. Here's what's happened. 

Zone conference was this week. Most of it was about how to work with members better. There were many good ideas and I'm exited to get to try them out. There was also a fun experience during lunch. A few people at the table I was sitting at were doing a challenge to see if we could stuff a whole cupcake in our mouth. After most of us had done it one of the missionaries challenged a sister to get President Nakken to do it as well. She took a cupcake to him and we all watched eagerly from our table to see what he would do. Well she convinced him and everyone clapped and cheered as he did it! He saw that it was our table that encouraged it and had all of us go in front of everyone and do it again!

We taught Judy again on the temple and family history work. We've pretty much taught her everything that she would need to know before she goes to do baptisms for the dead. We'll see what her thoughts are as time goes on. We also met with Brooke and Byron who are some of our other investigators. They had just gotten back from a two week trip and we mostly talked about that. 

We taught a potential named Elaine the plan of salvation. At the end we talked about how to gain a testimony of what we had taught her would come by reading the Book of Mormon. She is very hesitant and said that when she has looked though it before she found some things that were red flags. She eventually agreed to pray and see if she should read it. Everything right now is up to her and the Lord. Keep her in your prayers that she will be able to get the right answer. 

On Saturday at about 1:00 we got a text from brother Bergmann (who's also in the bishopric) asking us if we could give a talk on Sunday. Overall I think I had about two hours to prepare for it. Apparently I did a good job though. One of the members even requested a copy! 

We found five new potentials this week, so not as good as last week but still not a bad number by any means. Nothing new with Jeff and Heidi. We tried by a few times and they weren't there. There cars were gone which makes me think they are out of town. 

It's the last week of the transfer so we're hoping all goes well. Hope you have a great week! 

Elder Jason Riches

Week Forty-three:  10 New Potentials [May 21, 2018]

Hi Everyone! 

This week has been a great week for finding! 

On Tuesday I went on exchanges with Elder Horman. While on exchanges we were able to get 8 new potential investigators in his area. One of them let us in and we were able to teach her the restoration and the plan of salvation. While we taught the plan of salvation she kept saying "Why have I never heard this before?" She seems super solid and I'm exited to hear how it goes with her in the future. We also got two less active referrals from our dinner appointment. After a very successful day of finding it inspired me to make finding more of a priority. 

Throughout this week we have been knocking on more doors and making more of an effort to talk with everyone we see. As of yesterday we've been able to find 10 new potentials in our area. One of them who we found walking around had a lot of questions and we were able to teach her the restoration. She asked for a Book of Mormon and was very open to us coming back! This week we've been able to see the hand of the Lord in our finding efforts. It feels that either these people have been lead to us or we've been lead to them. I think the biggest thing we've changed is our attitude towards finding and showed the Lord we were more willing to do what he wants us to do. 

Aside from that we were able to have another lesson with Judy on the temple and family history. Her temple trip will be a little further off than we originally thought since she wants to learn more about the temple before she gets a temple recommend. I'll keep you posted on how things go. 

Aside from those things not a bunch happened. We talked twice with a potential named Cathy we found a while back and got to know her better. We also did more service for Lynn and unexpected service for a less active getting him some gas for his lawn mower. We weren't able to meet with Jeff and Heidi again since Saturday was his son's birthday and Sunday they weren't home. 

That's basically it for this week! Hopefully you had a great week as well! 

Until next time, 

Elder Jason Riches 

Week Forty-two:  Small and Simple Miracles [May 14, 2018]

Hi Everyone, 

This week was pretty good. Here are the highlights

We had an appointment fall through so we were walking, not really knowing what to do, when two people across the street asked us if we wanted to come and play soccer with them. I recognized them as people we'd seen before (their mom/aunt is an investigator), and seeing an opportunity to share the gospel we accepted their invitation. After the game we shared a message with them. One of them started to interrogate us with Bible questions and gave us a challenge to find out what one of the verses in Romans means. We took him up on that. Even though it seems like he just wants to argue, we wonder if any of the others are interested. We'll find out more as time goes on. 

We stopped by one of our potentials that we had found a week prior only to talk with her son Chase. He says he believes in a higher power, but doesn't exactly know what that higher power is. We talked with him about the Book of Mormon and he said that he would definitely read it since he wants answers. We're looking forward to seeing how that all goes. 

Things are picking up a bit with Lynn. This week when we were doing service for him he asked us a few questions about the church. We'll see if we can bring some more things up with him next week. I'll let you all know how that goes. 

Things are really going well with Judy. She really enjoys doing family history work and it's cool to see the Spirit of Elijah in her. There's a very good chance that she'll be able to go to get her temple recommend to do baptisms for the dead tomorrow! After that all we need to do is get her some names to take and arrange the trip! It been very exciting to see her progress. She keeps saying how now that she's a member she wants to be a good example to her kids. 

A nice little tender mercy happened Friday. After district meeting we had an appointment that we needed to get to. Because of time we wouldn't have time to get lunch before we needed to go. The other elders gave us a ride back to our apartment so we could grab our car and on the doorstep was a package from home and in it were some gift cards to Subway which was by our appointment! We had a good lesson with the less active/Part-Member family on the small and simple things and then were able to have lunch. It was a small little miracle, but a cool one that I'm grateful for. Thanks mom for making it possible!

We are planning on starting up a family mission plan for the members of our ward and we tested it out with some members who have told us to come by whenever. At first they couldn't think of anyone, but they then started to talk about someone who was a former investigator. Apparently they've seen him a few times and says he misses the missionaries coming by. It sounds like he's a hard one to catch, but they gave us some information that could be helpful. 

I had exchanges with Elder Cannon Saturday. We had a pretty fun time with each other. We stopped by quite a few people with not a ton of luck. We were walking a lot and we were getting pretty thirsty so we went to ask some members for water. They ended up inviting us in and talked to us for a while. We ended up hearing of someone who might be interested and I ended up giving her a blessing of comfort. It was a cool experience. 

We didn't meet with Jeff and Heidi this week. We saw Jeff leaving to run some errands on Saturday and he texted us later and said that he'd see us at church. After sacrament meeting We noticed Heidi sitting in the back and went to talk with her. Apparently they were running pretty late and Jeff didn't want to go that late, but Heidi didn't mind and came by herself! 

The best part of the week was being able to Skype home for Mother's Day. Just like the last time it was fun being able to see everyone's faces and hear from each of them. It's definitely a blessing that we have the technology available to do that!

That's my week. Hope everyone had a great Mother's Day and hope you have a great week this week! 

Until next week, 

Elder Jason Riches

Week Forty-one:  Tender Mercies and a Tender Hand [May 7, 2018]

Hi Everyone, 

This week has been pretty good. We didn't get to do too much service this week, but we did get to help some members pick up a car. It was just the frame of an old Model-T, but it was still heavy. Here's what else we did. 

We had a really cool miracle with Judy. We had tried calling a lot of people to see if they could come to the lesson we were having with her, but either no one answered or they weren't able to come. I was getting a little stressed out and I was thinking we would just have to have it outside. I prayed for a miracle and hoped that someone would call, but nothing happened. As we were leaving the church to go to the lesson the Spanish elders showed up. We talked with them a bit and then left. While driving away I felt that the reason they showed up when they did was an answer to my prayer. We turned around and asked them if they could come and they said yes! It just goes to show that the Lord answers prayers, but not always in the way we expect. The lesson went really well. We went over Lehi's dream and applied it to her journey after baptisim. We also talked about how the temple was her next step and talked to her about baptisims for the dead. Thursday we worked with her on her family history, but since she doesn't have a membership number she couldn't get any names yet. Hopefully soon though. 

Another interesting thing that happened while we were walking. Alice and Dan (the ones we did service for last week and dropped) pulled up alongside us to say hi. Apparently they were on the other side of the road and did a u-turn just to say hi. We're debating undropping them now. 

Interviews were this week which really inspired me to do better. That day we ended up knocking a bunch of doors and talking with people we saw which was pretty effective since we found three new potentials in a relatively short amount of time. One of the guys we were talking to had a German shepherd that I was petting as I was talking with the guy. When I got up to leave the German shepherd quickly bit my hand! It didn't draw too much blood but it still hurt for quite a while. The owner was very sorry. At least the owner agreed to meet with us again! My guess is the dog didn't want me to stop petting him because other that that it was a very nice dog. 

 We got to meet with Jeff and Heidi again after two weeks since they've been pretty busy. Heidi's still working on giving up coffee. We went over the restoration again and placed emphasis on the Book of Mormon and it's role in gaining a testimony. 

We had a few people this week try to convince us why our religion is wrong. The first one told us how Joseph Smith found (or claimed to find, we're not sure which) papyrus in a cave and that's how we got the Book of Mormon. He also told us how Joseph was a well known con-man and how his successor Bingham (I didn't spell it wrong, that's just what he said) was a liar as well. The other people we talked with tried to use the scriptures to tell us that if we have works then we're sinning. Both of their anti stuff wasn't at all convincing.

We met with Betty a few times this week to say goodbye before she moves and to get her new address. She's been really busy and worn out from all the stuff she's been doing to get ready for the move. Pray for her and that all will go well with her. 

That's my week. I'm looking forward to a new week of miracles and I hope that you get to see some as well.

Until then,

Elder Jason Riches

Week Forty:  Out with the Old, in with the New [April 30, 2018]

Hey Everyone, 

This week was mostly trying by people and seeing if they were still interested. There where quite a few people we dropped and found some new people as well. Here were some highlights of the week. 

Transfers were on Tuesday. I said good-bye to two of my companions (Elder Jarman and Elder Baker). My new companion is Elder Mills and he's my first companion who has been out for less time than I have. Being senior companion isn't as weird as I thought, although I am still getting used to the driving aspect. We started the transfer by trying to introduce Elder Mills to some of the members and the people we're working with. While walking to one of them we had a homeless man stop us and basically tell us his life story, at least I think that's what he was telling us. He was kinda hard to understand. 

We talked with Judy for a bit trying to finish getting the paperwork for her baptism done. We talked with her a little bit about family history. When we meet with her next we'll talk with her about going to the temple and we're going to see if we can get her there before the transfer is over. 

 We were going to see one of our investigators and we met a guy named Ben who told us his path to finding God. It was a pretty cool story. Basically he didn't have much religion in his life until he felt a prompting that he needed to preach the gospel. He spent a few years fasting, praying and reading the scriptures until he got to where he is now. His story was pretty inspiring, but I don't know that he has much potential since he's a preacher, but you never know. 

We decided to go by a less active named Dale. He was very friendly and we  talked with him for a while. Near the end of the conversation he said that we were the first missionaries he'd seen in over a year! He was open to us coming back and sharing more with him which should be good.

There was a lady we met while walking to a potential investigator. We helped her carry some groceries and talked with her for a bit. Apparently she's a member and wants to come back to church!

We did some service for some potentials named Alice and Dan. We helped them with some yard work like cutting grass and cleaning their gazebo. They bought us In-N-Out for lunch. When we asked if we could come back and share a message he avoided the question which made it pretty obvious that he isn't interested  

That's all for this week. Hope everyone else had a great week as well. 

Until next time, 

Elder Jason Riches

Week Thirty-nine:  Here to Stay [April 23, 2018]

Hi Everyone! 

It's been a pretty busy week. We had some great lessons and fun moments. Here are some of them. 

We did more service this week. First for a potential named Ginny helping her rake leaves, dig some holes and planting trees. We also helped Lynn move a bunch of branches into his car. 

We had another lesson with Betty. We taught her obedience, prayer, scripture study, and talked a bit about coming to church. One thing cool about her move is that Elder Jarman might be transferring to the area where she's moving to.

Elder Riches, Betty and Elder Jarman

We met with Judy and went over Thomas S. Monson's talk "Finding Joy in the Journey".The coolest thing about our meeting with her was when she told us about her missionary moment. She was talking with her grandson and they started talking about the church (she told him about the missionary program as well). She's been a member for a short time still, but she is already sharing her light with others!

We did a few member lessons as well. The first one was with the Cohens teaching the kids about service and challenged them to do some form of service this week. We also did one with the McGinnis' on how to share the gospel easily by using the words "my church" when talking to people. When people ask about your week or something you can say something to the effect of, "We had a great service at my church" or "I taught a lesson in a Sunday school at my church."

The Cohens, Elder Jarman and Elder Riches

We had another great lesson with our friends Brooke and Byron. We taught them about Lehi's dream of the tree of life and what everything represents. After we did that we applied it to them and their spiritual journey. At the end we asked them what their thoughts were on getting baptized. Byron told us that there are still some things he has trouble with, but that doesn't get in the way of him and his Savior and love of the Mormon people. They already come to church each week so they're not far off. Keep them in your prayers and pray that they'll find the truth they seek.

We got our transfer calls. I'll be staying here with Elder Mills and Elder Jarman will be leaving to Santa Maria with Elder Deason. I will be senior companion for the first time over the course of my mission. I'll be driving and I pray that I'll still know how after 9 months of not doing it. Most of Saturday and Sunday was Elder Jarman saying bye to people he's grown close to.

Elder Riches, The Fagrells and Elder Jarman

Elder Jarman,The Platous and Elder Riches

The Bergmanns and the Elders

The Bergmanns (again), Elder Jarman and Elder Riches

Thanks for the thoughts and prayers! Hope everyone has a great week! 

Elder Jason Riches

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!