Week Seventy:  A Simi Thanksgiving #2 (16 Month Mark Today) November 26, 2018

Hi Everyone! 

Before I get on to what's happened on my return to Simi I have some pretty cool stuff to report on my final hours in Paso Robles. 

As we were saying goodbye to the Lisonbee family we found out that she had talked with her sister about her desire to be baptized which was huge since that's been the main thing holding her back! Elder Kennedy and I felt that it was finally time and we were able to commit her for baptisim February 23!!! It's mainly so far out because it's her birthday month and her family might come for that! We also talked with our friend Katryna about baptisim. There's still some things to work on, but she has the desire. 

Things have been good here in Simi. It's crazy being back here. On Sunday I was able to see a lot of familiar faces and there were some people who still recognized me. A lot of what's happened has been meeting the people in this area. There's a lot of good people here and there's also a lot of work to do, but with the new schedule and with effort I think we can see miracles. 

There's been some progress made this week. We taught someone named Gita the plan of salvation and she's now a new person being taught! We also had a fourth floor, last door experience. We knocked an entire street and at the last house we knocked on we met Gus who met with missionaries a long time ago. He's pretty open, and we're hoping to be able to work with him soon! 

In another bit of exciting news, I don't know if any of you remember Olivia from the last time I was in Simi, but I heard from the missionaries that have been teaching her that she's planning on baptisim and would like me to attend! She doesn't have a date yet, but I imagine it won't be long. 

I had a great time during my second Thanksgiving in Simi Valley. We were able to have a great dinner with the Maranto family and spend time getting to know them. 

That's pretty much my week. I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving and that you have a great week! 

Until next time, 

Elder Jason Riches 

The Lisonbees

Albert and the Seays

Katryna, Jorge, and Junior

Bike area.  Girl's bike broke, so he bought a new Bike for him and one for his companion.

Week Sixty-Nine:  The Return to Simi Valley

Hi Everyone! 

This week has been pretty awesome! I just have to make sure I get all I want to have put in, thanks to transfers happening and us being super busy today. 

Monday we had a really cool miracle! We went by someone named Giovanni and as we were at his door he walked up behind us and invited us in. He's really busy with school and work, and if we would have come any later he probably would have been too busy to talk. As we talked with him we shared the plan of salvation which he really enjoyed. 

Tuesday was a walk day and as walk days usually go for me, stuff happened and we had to drive. After our lunch we got a message from a member who's car wouldn't start. We went to help, but since neither of us know much about cars, we weren't able to do much except comfort her until our ward mission leader came to help. After that we had our final apointment with Albert. He's come a long way since we first met him and he talked about how he feels like he's part of a family now that he's a member! I'm going to miss him. 

A lot happened Wednesday, but there's not much of it it I can say except we got stuck in the middle of some people who want to annul their marriage. It was a lot of drama. One thing I can mention though is that as we were walking around Sister Lisonbee and her son Austin pulled up so it was fun seeing them. 

Thursday we talked with a preacher who, surprisingly, didn't want to Bible bash with us and was very respectful to our beliefs and had lots of good questons about our church. I also had my last doctors appointment and was cleared! 

On Friday we got some news as to some crazy changes to our schedule.For starters dinners with members will no longer be happening Monday-Friday. We may have dinners Saturday or Sunday as long as it is finished by 5:00 PM. These dinners will not be determined by a dinner calender, but by the ward council or ward mission leader (making sure that there's not one family feeding us too frequently). This doesn't eliminate meeting with members. The hours of 8-9PM will be utilized for teaching members in their homes and helping them find ways that they can share the gospel and bring souls to Christ. These appointments are also to be arranged by the ward council, ward mission leader, or us. This new schedule will better allow us to be out finding and teaching. We also were able to teach the restoration to someone named Shon. 

Saturday was pretty much our last normal day. We talked with someone named Jane who we've been working with for a while. We taught the restoration to her and she seemed pretty interested in Joseph Smith. We also taught a member family, the Clarks, about families and the temples since they are preparing to go. Right before we got our transfer calls we met a guy contacting who seemed pretty interested. We found out that both Elder Kennedy and I will be leaving Paso Robles. I will be returning to where I began...Simi Valley. It'll be interesting because I'm not exactly sure where in Simi I'll be,
since I heard they changed the ward boundaries since I've been there. I'll also be follow-up training and back on bikes. Elder Kennedy will be going to Lompoc (the same ward I was in) and with my last companion Elder Fenn! I'll miss being with Elder Kennedy, but I know he's going to do great. 

Sunday we said goodbye to a lot of people. In addition to saying goodbye to Albert and the Seays we said goodbye to some missionaries in our district who are going to Taiwan and one who is switching to a service mission. Because one of them was serving in Atascadero we are now with his companion Elder Governale. It was fun because I was able to work in Atascadero again! We even taught a lesson to Jeff Fritch who I taught while I was there. 

Thanks for all the support! It'll be interesting to be back in Simi and I'll tell you all about it next week! 

Have a good one! 

Elder Jason Riches

San Luis Obispo Zone Conference:  November 2018

San Luis Obispo Zone Conference:  November 2018

Week Sixty-Eight:  I Love to See the Temple [November 12, 2018]

Hi Everyone! 

This is going to have to be another quick email. Here's what happened this week. 

Tuesday we went on a mini exchange for the Templeton Elders since one of them was having medical issues and was going home. I got to go to a lesson with someone they're currently working with named Crystal. We ended up teaching the plan of salvation (which she misheard "Planet Salvation"). The lesson went really well and in the end she basically invited herself to church! 

We had a random service opertunity Wednesday night. We were walking around and there was a man who was struggling to carry a package of paper towels. We offered to carry them for him back to his house which was a little far away, but we were happy to help out! 

Thursday was our temple day. Some members named the Seays (pronounced sees) took us there. I always enjoy going to the temple! It's nice to get away from the world for a few hours and spiritually re-charge. After the temple they took us to one of their favorite restaurants called Sal's. It was pretty good!. Both of us got a really big burrito that neither of us could finish. 

On Friday we had our zone conference. Our poor President has been pretty busy with zone conferences, figuring out transfers and the fires that are going on in the southern part of the mission. Thankfully all the missionaries are safe from that. Anyways zone conference was great! A lot was said regarding urgency in the work. 

Yesterday we picked up a new person being taught. His name is Joe and he has lots of great questions about the gospel! We taught him the plan of salvation and he really liked it. Things are worth it as a missionary when you get to talk with people who are receptive to the message of the gospel! 

Thanks for all the prayers and support. A Have a fantastic week! 

Elder Jason Riches 

Week Sixty-Seven:  Albert's Baptism! [November 5, 2018]

Hi Everyone! 

This week has been pretty incredible! Tuesday was the big day for Albert! We met with him beforehand and he mainly just wanted to read the scriptures. He wanted to know what the first mention of baptism is in the Bible. The earliest we were able to find was the one in Matthew where the Savior is baptized. If anyone knows anywhere it might have been before that let me know! After that it was all prep work to get ready for his baptism!  The sisters who had taught him previously were able to come up and see it as well! It was a really good service and we're both really happy for him! After he was baptized he said that he felt good! In addition to that some people we are working with were able to come to the baptism as well! Yesterday he was able to be confirmed a member of the church and we were privileged to be in the circle as that happened. 

Halloween wasn't super eventful. We were able to see Katryna after a long while and hear how she's been (she was really sick for a while). We also met with some members in the evening. After that we went in early. 

We did some good service this week. One was feeding the homeless and the other was helping Albert with his yard (weed eating and such). Our ward mission leader was there with his tractor and was able to do quite a bit with it. 

Our p-day is short today since we will be going to the temple this week. Thanks for everything! 

Until next week, 

Elder Jason Riches 

Week Sixty-Six:  Happy Halloween! [October 29, 2018]

Hi Everyone! 

I don't have a ton of time so I'll make this quick.

This week has been really good. We've been able to work with Albert quite a bit to prepare him for his baptism tomorrow. He's doing really well and he's pretty excited as are we. 

We also have a new person we're working with named Gabriel. He really wants to learn more and he wants to invite his friend to join in the lesson as well! When we taught him on Tuesday his brother was visiting and he told Gabriel to give him a call the next time he we come so he can sit in as well! We're excited to see how that all goes! 

On Wednesday I had a follow up doctor's appointment. basically all that happened was he gave a different diagnosis than the one they gave me at the ER and put me back on the medicine :\

I had another exchange with Elder Hutchison. The night of the exchange we had a few lessons in Spanish so I pretty much just sat there for most of the time. 

Friday we had our ward Halloween party (which was nice since last year I missed it). We had the typical chili cook off, but at the end there was a trunk or treat carnival where people set up games and stuff for everyone. We ran a pin the name tag on the elder game for the kids. For my Halloween costume Elder Hutchison and I switched name tags so we were each other (there's not much we can do for costumes here). 

I hope everyone has a great week! 

Until next time. 

Elder Jason Riches

Week Sixty-Five:  There's a Lizard in our Car!  [October 22, 2018]

Hi Everyone! 

For starters, Albert is doing great! We're still trying to figure out the program, but other than that things are going well there. His baptismal date is October 30th so next Tuesday. We're all really excited and are very proud of him and his commitment to enter into the waters of baptism! 

On Friday after we had our district council meeting we went to Wendy's for lunch. While there we saw a guy who another elder and I had found while on exchanges in Templeton! He's actually one of the Templeton Elders most promising people they're working with so that's pretty cool. After lunch we also had a companionship study and mini exchange with the zone leaders in our area. I was with Elder Clegg and we got to meet a recent convert who has been gone for a while. That evening all of our appointments fell through, but it actually turned out to be a good thing because we were able to talk with a potential named Gabriel for a bit and we set up an appointment for tomorrow evening. He even said he would invite his friend over as well which was cool. 

Saturday we were able to find four new potentials! We weren't really doing, much different, but it was still really cool since that's the most we've found in a day since being here. We also talked with a potential who has been hard to get in contact with and he also seems really open to the message we share. 

Finally onto the title for our email. We had to take our car in to the shop to have it's oil changed and tires rotated and we ended up finding a lizard chilling out in our car! We have no idea how it got in there, but we were able to get it out safe and sound. It did end up riding with us in the car for most of the day though so it was almost like having a pet for the day. 

That's all for me right now. 

Have an awesome week! 

Elder Jason Riches

Missionary Lizard

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