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

Week 31:  7 Months! [February 26, 2018]

Hi everyone,

This week started off slow, but near the end it started to pick up. 

Monday for district activity we went to a place called Daniel's Wood Land. It's owned by a member and what they do there is they make really cool things out of wood like sculptures, promotional stuff for movies, and tree houses. I'll include some pictures. 

For most of the week Elder Baker and some of the other Elders had choir practice in preparation for zone conference on Friday. Aside from that Tuesday we visited with a less active member and then we we contacted the rest of the night. 

Wednesday we went by quite a few potentials down in Templeton. Aside from that not much. Elder Baker and I came up with the idea for the Disney movie, which is essentially all Disney in one movie. It was a pretty crazy conversation. 

Thursday we had our weekly planning as well as our weekly service for Cowboy Larry where we helped move a rock and dig some holes. Here's a selfie with a sheep.

Friday we had our zone conference. A lot of it was talking about how we need to make our night-time hours more productive. This included making sure our dinners are at 5:00 and no later. Also how we shouldn't be afraid to knock on doors after 8:00 because that's been a big thing. Over all it was a very spiritual meeting as I felt that the things that were spoken about were the things that we needed to do. Also before zone conference we got doughnuts and I got the weirdest looking doughnut I've ever seen. I'll include a picture.

Saturday morning we tried by quite a few people, they were either not there or too busy. We ended up having a lunch instead of a dinner with our members which was unusual, but good. We met with the zone leaders to go over our baptism goals. We met with a less active and we were able to set up two appointments with some potential investigators. 

Sunday we had a great sacrament meeting. Our bishop's daughter came home from her mission and she gave her homecoming. Also since there were no investigators or recent converts, we got to go to gospel doctrine, which I've only been able to go to once before. We met with the young men and they had a combined meeting on how they need to prepare for a mission. We met with one of our less actives after dinner for the rest of the evening.   

Today's also my seven month mark! It doesn't feel like long ago that I celebrated my six month mark. Time is speeding up. 

One thing that we have been doing for  our dinner messages lately is sharing President Monson's final address with the members and talking about it. One thing I like in there is that by reading the Book of Mormon, and strengthening our testimony in it by reading it everyday, then we will be able to be protected from the wickedness in the world today. Quite a few others talked about gaining a testimony of the Book of Mormon in this last conference (President Nelson, President Eyring, and Elder Calister) 

Here's an excerpt from President Eyring's talk:

"Last April, President Thomas S. Monson gave a message that stirred hearts across the world, including mine. He spoke of the power of the Book of Mormon. He urged us to study, ponder, and apply its teachings. He promised that if we dedicated time each day to studying and pondering and kept the commandments the Book of Mormon contains, we would have a vital testimony of its truth, and the resultant testimony of the living Christ would see us through to safety in times of trouble. (See “The Power of the Book of Mormon,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 86–87.)

Like many of you, I heard the prophet’s words as the voice of the Lord to me. And, also like many of you, I decided to obey those words. Now, since I was a young boy, I have felt the witness that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, that the Father and the Son appeared and spoke with Joseph Smith, and that ancient Apostles came to the Prophet Joseph to restore priesthood keys to the Lord’s Church.

With that testimony, I have read the Book of Mormon every day for more than 50 years. So perhaps I could have reasonably thought that President Monson’s words were for someone else. Yet, like many of you, I felt the prophet’s encouragement and his promise invite me to make a greater effort. Many of you have done what I did: prayed with increased intent, pondered scripture more intently, and tried harder to serve the Lord and others for Him.

The happy result for me, and for many of you, has been what the prophet promised. Those of us who took his inspired counsel to heart have heard the Spirit more distinctly. We have found a greater power to resist temptation and have felt greater faith in a resurrected Jesus Christ, in His gospel, and in His living Church."

That sums up my week. Hope you all had a fantastic week as well and have a great week this week!

Elder Jason Riches

Week 30: In the Service of our Fellow Man  [February 19, 2018]

Hi Everyone, 

This has been pretty good (and very service filled). 

Tuesday we were able to pick up a new investigator! His name is Josh and we found him tracting last week. He said that he has been wanting to get back to church for a while. He said he would read the Book of Mormon and that we could come back. We also met with a member in a senior living home. After we were done the administrator there called us over and started talking to us. He told us that he is Mormon too and he was suprised that the member we were visiting was a member. 

Wednesday we helped a member's husband remove a gas tank from his van. We also met with a less active and set up some service with her. 

Thursday we helped Cowboy Larry remove some trees and dig some holes. In the prosess I learned how to use a chainsaw (sort of). 

Friday after district meeting I ended up helping some members set up for a ward party (Elder Baker was practicing for a musical number). After that we went over and helped the less active member clean out her gutters. She was very grateful and said that we could come back anytime! 

Saturday was pretty slow. We tried by a lot of people, but either they weren't there or weren't able to meet right then. 

Sunday was pretty much the same thing as Saturday. One cool thing that happened was at dinner. They have a son who is priest age and they asked us what things we did, or wish we did to prepare for a mission to better help him.

Hope that you all have a great week and I challenge you to find people around you to serve in whatever way may be needed. 

Until Next time, 

Elder Jason Riches