Week Ninety:  Përgëzime Dizi!  [April 15, 2019]

Hi Everyone! 

This week has been a pretty fun week! We've had quite a few things happen that we're pretty excited about. We had two exchanges this week back to back, so I wasn't even in my area for two days. They were both good though, and I was able to meet a few people they're trying to work with, and we were able to find some people! 

There's been somewhat of a new development with Bob! He said that he wants to learn more in the Book of Mormon what it is that we believe as a church! Before he's mostly been wanting to know the history and stuff. We'll probably be teaching the restoration again, but this time maybe he'll want to get more out of it! That night we were also able to meet with someone named David. He's had a pretty rough life, but he has a strong desire to change and become a better person. We taught him the plan of salvation and taught how it's though Christ we can change. He accepted a Book of Mormon and we'll be meeting with him again tomorrow. 

Another bit of exciting news this week came on Friday when we were able to catch Brian at home! For those who don't remember, Brian is a teenager we met a while back. He's pretty open to learning more, he's just never been home for the last month or so. Also later in the day we had another mini exchange for a couple hours. 

We had a mission tour this Saturday that was really good! Elder Klebingat from the Seventy came and spoke to us. It was such a powerful meeting! I think I took more notes at this zone conference than any other zone conference I've attended! One of the things I've felt impressed to do is use the Book of Mormon more as a tool that will convert people. Since I just restarted the Book of Mormon, I've started marking a clean copy that focuses on Christ and His doctrine as well as reading chapters that focus on the questions of the soul found in Chapter 5 of the Book of Mormon.

Meanwhile, while we were at the mission tour, our good friend Dizi was baptized in the California, Irvine Mission! We heard that it was a great service and that lots of her family was there as well as some members of our ward. We talked to her later in the evening and she was so happy! We were able stand in the circle as she was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! It's been a long time coming for her, but she's made it to this point! We're so happy for her and all the blessings that are in store for her! Përgëzime Dizi! (Congratulations Dizi)! 

That's it for now! Until next time, 

Elder Jason Riches 

Picture: Me, Elder Pack, Elder Spackman, and Dizi. 

Week Eighty-Nine:  Spiritual Feasting [April 8, 2019

Hi Everyone! 

This has been a pretty spiritual week for me personally! Tuesday morning we were able to go to the Los Angeles temple! Even though it was really early in the morning it was a great experience and really helped me to feel the Spirit! I can't wait until I'm able to attend the temple more frequently than every 6 months! 

We've been able to see Dizi a lot this week! Wednesday she had her baptismal interview and passed! We've also officially finished teaching her all the lessons so now everything will pretty much be review. Also after our Thursday lesson Dizi gave us two containers of apple juice which was a real blessing for Elder Pack since he really likes juice! Last night we also saw Dizi at a fireside. Elder Pack almost made her die of laughter from the different things he was saying and doing. 

We had kinda an unusual coincidence. We sent a referral to somewhere in Nevada and the sisters who cover that area gave us a call to find out more about the person we sent. The weird thing is, the ward they cover is called the Valley Vista ward, which is the same name as our ward!

Jason is still continuing to prepare to go to the temple! He has some names so it's just a matter of time now. We taught him a bit about temples and showed him the video of Elder Bednar and Elder Rasband giving a virtual tour of the Rome Italy temple. 

General Conference was incredible! I don't remember ever enjoying a conference so much! There where so many talks where I was able to feel the Spirit, two of which were the ones given by our prophet! I remember all the years before I came out conference seemed like a chore, but now I feel that I don't want it to end! I encourage all of you to study the talks that were given and seek personal revelation from them! 

I hope all of you have a great week! 

Elder Jason Riches 

Week Eight-Eight:  A New Transfer Begins [April 1, 2019]

Hi Everyone! 

It's been quite the week! Monday night was pretty much Elder NeSmith saying goodbye to Dizi and Jason. Dizi's farewell was perhaps the saddest thing I've ever seen (the sisters who were there are in agreement). After that he said goodbye to Jason and we got a picture with him and his family. 

Tuesday I said goodbye to Elder NeSmith and hello to Elder Pack! We came out in the same group and graduated the same year which makes him the closest companion to my age! When we got back to the apartments he had to do some laundry and we met a lady named Shela in the laundry room who we talked with for over an hour! Apparently she's had a lot of run ins with missionaries in the past and they've helped her a lot! We also talked with a guy named David for a while and he was open to us coming back! 

Wednesday we talked for a while with some workers who were filling a big hole in the ground. It was pretty deep when we started talking to them and by the time we left it was almost filled back up so it must have been a long conversation! Also on Thursday we had our most focused lesson we've ever had with Bob! We won't be meeting with him this next week, but we're still good for the following week. 

We had our first district council this last Friday so we had fun getting to know everyone in the new Camarillo district! Also that evening we had a lesson with Jason (Woolsey) where we went over tithing and fast offerings. 

Saturday was pretty eventful! In the morning we did a service project painting a house for someone who some of the other elders are trying to work with. Later on when that was done we went to have a lesson with Michaela, but she dropped us when we showed up . We also had a lesson with Dizi, but her daughter and son-in-law showed up so we decided we would continue the lesson after church on Sunday (which we did). On Sunday we had a nice conversation with a potential named Ignacio. However his wife was not as nice as he was and didn't want him talking to us. To finish of the evening we went by a member (who's name is also Jason) and had a pretty good lesson with him and his daughter. 

That about wraps up this week! With going to the temple tomorrow and General Conference this week, I'm sure that this week will be great! 

Have a good one! 

Elder Jason RIches

Pictures

Us, Dizi, and the Sisters

Us and the Woolsey family

Week Eighty-Seven:  Transfer Update - Get Ready for Round 3! [March 25, 2019]

Hi Everyone! 

It's been another fantastic week here in the Valley Vista ward! Tuesday we had our walk day and as we were walking to our area we saw Michaela at the bus stop! It was good since we missed our last lesson with her since we had scheduled it the same time as Zone Conference. We set an appointment with her for the next day. 

We were going to do a little finding the next day before Michaela, but we only got to one house since the first person we talked to turned into an hour-long visit! Her name is Edith and she told us we could come back another time! Then in our lesson with Michaela we ended up talking about the Book of Mormon and talking more about what that is! We also had a great lesson with Dizi that evening as we discussed continuing to learn in the church! 

Thursday was a finding day! We actually found three people who were all pretty open to meeting again. One of them was a professional boxer and he told us that he was actually looking for a church since he is new to the area. We'll probably have to wait a while to work with him though since he's going out of town soon. We also had a lesson with Bob this evening and he's now finished the book of Mosiah! 

We wound up giving a discussion on how to effectively work with members our last district council this transfer. Later on as we were getting our bikes we saw our friend Jason (the potential, not the recent convert) walking around! We were able to talk with him for a while and it seems like things have been rough for him the last little while. If you could keep him in your prayers that would be great! 

After our member dinner on Saturday they let us know about a part-member family in the area. We stopped by and they invited us in and we had a nice chat with them as well as share a scripture. As we were leaving they said that we could come back again soon! We're going to hopefully start working with them! 

Sunday during our member dinner we had Jason (this time the recent convert) and his family there. They had a good time and in the end we had a lovely discussion on the scriptures. 

It's that time again where we get ready for transfers. We got the call last night that Elder NeSmith will be leaving and I will be staying here in the Valley Vista ward. My new companion will be Elder Pack. He's a mission legend and is one of the most entertaining missionaries in the mission. This next transfer is going to be a lot of fun! 

That's it for me right now. Have a fantastic week! 

Elder Jason Riches

Camarillo Zone

Elders Riches, NeSmith, MacDonald and Spackman

Sisters Wynder & Carson, Hermanas Kunz & Monson and Elders Jarman, Riches and NeSmith

Week Eighty-Six:  Right Place, Right Time [March 18, 2019]

Hi Everyone!

It's been a great week! Tuesday we had a gospel principles class that our now former ward mission leader started. It had a pretty good turnout and it's a pretty good class for new or returning members as well as people being taught by us. We have even more people coming to this week's class.

This week we wrote out all the baptismal interview questions out for Dizi so she could look at them. We also re-reviewed them and translated some of the words to Albanian. Her baptism is getting pretty close and we're really happy for her! She's probably one of the most lovable people I've ever met!

Thursday we had our zone conference! We learned lots of helpful things like how to use family history in contacting, being original in our contacts and receiving revelation. We  had a lesson with Bob too. He's now read up to Words of Mormon, which is pretty good for how long he's been reading. 

Friday I was on an exchange with Elder Ravenburg. We had some pretty cool things happen! When we went out finding, pretty much everyone offered us some water and one person gave us some girl scout cookies! We also got in contact with someone named John who we've been trying to meet since I got here! Later in the evening we met with Jason and discussed saying the sacrament prayer since he would be doing that Sunday.

Saturday we had a really cool experience! We planed to go by a less active member that Elder NeSmith met on Exchanges. While we were in the neighborhood (unbeknownst to us)he was across the street walking his dogs. We knocked on his door a little after he got inside and let us in. While we were with him he told us that he saw us talking with someone across the street as he was walking his dogs and he wanted to talk to us, but didn't. He said he pretty much just walked in the house when he heard us knock on the door. He's been feeling for a long time that he needs to come back to church and he seems ready to make that step. He wants to take the lessons and we're going to start them on Tuesday! One other thing he said that was cool is that he knew we probably didn't think a lot about coming over (which is true, to us it was just another thing planned), but to him it's a miracle he will remember 10 years from now! It's so cool how God works though us and we don't notice until we find out the reasons for why we did what we did! I'm glad we were living in a way that the Spirit could work through us. It was one of the coolest experiences of my mission so far!

Sunday Jason blessed the sacrament and did a fantastic job! He's doing really well! Anyways that's about it for me! I hope you all have a great week! 

Elder Jason Riches

Week Eighty-five:  Jason Got the Priesthood! [March 11, 2019]

Hi Everyone! 

It's been a pretty great week! 

On Monday as we were walking back to our apartment for the evening we met someone named Michaela. We actually talked with her for a good while and she told us that we could come back and talk with her the next day! We did so and taught her the restoration and we will be teaching her again tomorrow! On Tuesday I also had my interview with President Nakken! 

We met with Dizi on Wednesday and went through the baptismal interview questions with her. She did great and she's pretty much all set for her baptism in April! We also met with Bob on Thursday and he's now read all of 1 Nephi. This next week he is going to be reading from Jacob. 

We've met a bunch of friendly people this week, some who said that we could come back, and some that weren't really that interested. We have also been doing a lot more member work this week, sharing a family mission plan with them. Hopefully it will be effective in the long run. 

Sunday, Jason received the priesthood and was ordained a priest! It was super cool being able to stand in the circle as the ordination was happening. We also had dinner with them in another member's home and had a great talk on prayer! He's doing so well and hopefully before too long he'll be headed to the temple! Later that night we got in contact with the other Jason we're working with and we're going to meet with him later tonight! 

That's pretty much it for this week, I hope all of you have a great day! 

Elder Jason Riches

Week Eighty-Four:  I'm Getting Old [March 4, 2019]

Hi Everyone! 

It's been a pretty great week! We've had some pretty cool things happen. 

The first bit of great news is that Dizi is feeling better! They've probably figured out why she's been getting sick so much so all should be well with her! We were able to talk about families and temples with her and she's really excited to be able to go! Also in the lesson they tried for a bit to set me up with her granddaughter who will be going to BYU...it was a little awkward. 

Bob gave us quite a surprise this last week! We had committed him to read 2 Nephi 31 and he ended up reading all of 2 Nephi! And he took a few pages of typed notes! The lesson was all over the place as usual, but this is progress. We committed him to read 1 Nephi this week. 

I went on an exchange with our district leader, Elder Wheeler. It was a pretty good day and contained pretty much everything. Going by people, dropping people, meeting new people and having a lesson with someone they're teaching. It was a pretty good day and the first time I've been in a car area since my time in Paso.

I had a pretty cool experience yesterday in church! It started with my mind being distracted and I wasn't feeling the Spirit a whole lot. I felt things needed to change and I prayed to be able to feel the Spirit and I tried to focus on the things being taught. I was surprised how quickly I was able to feel the Spirit again! 

That evening was also cool! There was a recent convert fireside in the evening and Jason bore his testimony there on how God has blessed his family and helped him find the Church! Dizi also came and loved it! 

So, now to explain the title of my email. Not only have I been out for a while and am old age wise, but I found a silver hair on my head today! I didn't expect that to happen so soon! 

That's it for me! Have a great week everyone! 

Elder Jason Riches