Love the Scriptures!

Fall is here! The temperature is dropping and the leaves are finally changing, it's been raining quite a bit too. The weather and everything here is a lot like home. They're expecting a bad winter though so I'm not sure if I hope to stay here at transfers or go back down to the valley :) We'll see in a few weeks! 

Time really does seem to fly so much faster on the mission. I'm sure you're tired of hearing that but it's so true. Every week I'm baffled that it's already Monday again. We've got a very busy day ahead of us today. President is coming tomorrow for interviews which means our car will be inspected and maybe our apartment! The zone leaders also asked Sister Thumstedter and I do design our zone tshirt so we've got to work on that today so we'll get it before the end of the transfer. I hope it turns out haha

I don't have a whole lot to update y'all on. The Furbushs are still doing well. Jenny lost her job though :( She's back out searching for one again now.  This week we emphasized why we need to have daily prayer and scripture study individually and as a family. I know that all of us can sometimes think that there isn't enough time but I know that as we make time and put the Lord first He will bless us. I know that every day I need the revelation I receive from reading the scriptures. Yesterday Amelia told us where she's been reading and she's almost done with 1 Nephi! I asked her if she had been praying about it and if she knew if it was true and she said that God had told her it was. How awesome! :) I'm so happy she has gained that testimony. I know her testimony will continue to grow as she continues to read. 

There is so much power in the Book of Mormon. We had a really neat experience with the Borseths this week (they are the ones that give us the flowers). Sister Borseth is going blind so she cannot read anymore and we told her we would find a set of the Book of Mormon on CD. She expressed to us how much she missed reading the BoM. Well then a week or so later Sister Thumstedter was looking around the cupboards and closets in our house and found TWO sets! In our lesson this week I told Sister Borseth we had a set on CD for her and she started crying. She was so happy to receive the scriptures and promised she would listen to them every day! I hope I'll always value the Book of Mormon like her.

They gave us more flowers and we delivered them to a lot of less active and lonely people. It brought us so much joy as well as the people we gave them to! :)

We contacted quite a few potentials and are going to try to do some service with them this week. Things are going super well! Chris will be back this week, he finally left NY and is making that long drive again, poor guy! I know Jenny and Amelia are really happy for him to be home. Also Rylee and Ally are going to be baptized this Saturday! :) 

Hope you all have a great week! :)

-Sister Richards 

This week I'm ponderizing Moroni 7:33-34. What about you?!

I seriously love dahlias. Grama please find out if they grow well in
Boise climate cause these are going to cover my yard.

Susanne has a bunch of awesome Halloween decoration and legit
witchcraft stuff because her ancestors were witches and this dagger is
one of the items she has!

I'm not that old!

Everyone always asks "how long have you been out?" I reply "about a year" and they say something like oh no, you're almost done or you're on the downhill. I don't feel like that at all though! I can't believe I'll be home in 5 months. 

We have another new investigator! In Snowflake there are a couple of people that the Elders have tried to teach but they have referred them to us because they think they'd do better with sisters. One of the referrals they gave us was for a woman named Patty. We called her to set up an appt and she told her she was just interested in "the book". When we stopped by we explained what we do as missionaries. She's from Kenya and knew nothing about the church until she moved to Snowflake Arizona. She said "I want to learn about the LDS since there are so many around here". We gave her a Book of Mormon and taught her about its purpose as we read the introduction. We invited her to read it and she said of course she would, "that's what the book said to do". It was so great. Sister Thumstedter and I chuckled. We're looking forward to teaching her the restoration tomorrow. 

The Furbushs are still doing really well. We had some great lessons with Jenny and Amelia. They've definitely felt the spirit. They came to church yesterday and they fasted for the first time. One thing that we all fasted for was Chris' safe arrival home. He's been experiencing quite a few difficulties in NY. He was supposed to be home today but now he won't get back until this weekend at the earliest. 

We've been teaching Rylee and Ally for quite a while but they're so busy it's hard to be consistent. They were supposed to be baptized this weekend but we need to postpone it since they haven't been to church. They came yesterday though! I was so impressed with how reverent they were in sacrament meeting. Ally (she's 7) got up in our fast and testimony meeting and shared a story about a time her prayer was answered. It was so sweet. These two girls amaze me. They read their scriptures and pray and have such sweet spirits. It's so neat that I've had the opportunity to teach so many children. I'm so grateful! I love them so much. 

We had a great zone meeting this week. I've been really uplifted lately by the topics we've been trained on. One training was about the "why" of our missions and we were each asked why we chose to serve a mission. It was a great to ponder and reflect on why I chose to serve. We all concluded that the why of missionary service is the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ. How grateful I am for His sacrifice on my behalf. As I applied the Atonement in my life I've gained such a strong testimony and I desire to share that with others. I know it's only through living the gospel of Jesus Christ- having faith in Jesus Christ, repenting, being baptized and by receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost that God's children have access to the blessings of the sacrifice Jesus Christ has made for them. 

I hope you all are ponderizing :) my scripture is 2 Nephi 2:22 this week!

Love you all!

-Sister Richards :)

found these pics

I don't think I ever mentioned that we have a car again! It's been super nice! With all the rain the dirt roads have been really muddy which means a dirty car...

President Hardy numbed and burned my finger again today! It's so painful...

So grateful for the Atonement!

This week's update is going to be short because preparation day is almost over!

Last week it was really hard to attend baby Ruby's funeral but we know

that she fulfilled her purpose on Earth and did so much good in the

short time she was here! How grateful we are for the hope, peace,

comfort and eternal perspective that the gospel gives us. We also

attended another funeral this week for a woman that none of us

missionaries knew but they asked the LDS missionaries to do a musical

number at it. As a district we sang "I know that my Redeemer lives" to

a room full of nonmembers. It made me so grateful to have a knowledge

that the Savior has overcome death.

The Furbushs are still doing really well. Chris went back to NY so its

just Jenny and Amelia but we had a really good lesson on the plan of

salvation. Jenny always has great questions. They're doing awesome in

their reading of the Book of Mormon. We read a chapter with them the

other night and tonight we're going to teach them about the Gospel of

Jesus Christ. They were able to watch some general conference on

Saturday and we were supposed to watch with them yesterday but they

weren't able to make it. Jenny is determined to watch the other

sessions at a member's house later this week! Yesterday was pretty

cool, Jenny asked us for some more materials to study and is ready to

quit smoking! They are such a tender mercy and I'm so grateful for the

opportunity to teach them!

I loved Elder Lawrence's talk from conference. I took his challenge to

pray about what I can do to be better and have recovered some

inspiration! I also have accepted Elder Durrant's challenge to

"ponderize" a scripture every week! Elder Clark said something like

"we need to be good at getting better" and I think that sums up

general conference perfectly! It's up to us to act upon the

inspiration and counsel we receive and better ourselves. It's my

prayer that I can become a better person these next 6 months before we

hear from our leaders again and I hope you will too!

Lots of love and prayers,

Sister Richards

Here's a picture from Braxton's baptism I forgot to send last week! 

God has a plan for every one of us

Good morning! :) Hope y'all are having a great week!

It has been such a long week! So much has happened in the last week and a half, I hope that I can remember all that I wanted to share! 

Braxton's baptism went really well! It was well attended by her family and by the ward family. 

We did some yard work for Heather the past two Saturdays. We also started teaching her last week which is a huge miracle! She said that we're the only missionaries she's liked in a long time. I hope we can find the right member fellowshipper for her so that when we get transferred she doesn't stop progressing. 

The Furbush family is progressing! They are soaking up everything that we teach them. Sister Thumstedter and I are amazed. Last week Sister Furbush reached out to us and told us that her sister's health is not good and that she's been praying more than she ever has in her life. We were so pleased to hear that she started to pray during this hard time. We can tell that she's strengthening her faith--just a couple lessons before she was indifferent about prayer having an impact in her life. We read the Book of Mormon with them and had a really spiritual lesson. I think the lesson really softened their hearts to accept the date Sister Thumstedter invited them to be baptized on. Amelia came to the women's meeting with us Saturday night, Sister Furbush had to work :( They came to all 3 hours of church on Sunday and they came to the stake family fireside that night on the Family Proclamation! The lessons in gospel principles and RS/EQ were so perfect! The topics were baptism and eternal families. We went with the Furbush's over to Bishop's house Monday night for Family Home Evening and everything is just going really well! Their testimonies are growing so much. We are looking forward to teaching them the plan of salvation tomorrow night and have faith that it will help them through this difficult time. Another cool thing that happened was that Sister Furbush asked her sister if we could send missionaries to her and she accepted! So more of their family is being introduced to the church. Brother Furbush is flying to NY today to drive more of his family out to AZ and we look forward to meeting them. 

On Sunday we found out some very sad news. Katy's sister Velda, that helped us out so much with the float a few weeks ago, lost her month and a half year old daughter. Sister Thumstedter and I were so heartbroken when we found out the news. We've tried to help Katy a lot this week to prepare for the services and burial which will take place today. How grateful their family is to know where their child is-- reunited with her grandma whom she was named after, and that they will see her again and have the opportunity to be with her forever. 

I know that we don't always understand our trials here on Earth but I know that God has a plan for every one of us. We experience these hard times to help us grow, learn and come closer to Him. I know that as we trust in God and pray to Him that we can feel peace and comfort. The eternal perspective the plan of salvation gives us is such a blessing. 

Until next week! 

Lots of love,

Sister Richards

Answered prayers & miracles

Good morning friends and family! How excited I am to tell you about everything that happened this week! Looking back on it all I am so grateful and so happy it brings me to tears.

Miracles that happened this week:

1. Braxton is going to be baptized on Wednesday!!! :) 

Sister Fuentes (her grandma) called us on Monday night and told us that her dad (not a member) has given her permission to be baptized. This is something I have fasted and prayed for and I know that Braxton's family has fasted and prayed for for over a year. This is a huge step for Braxton and I hope her dad's heart will continue to soften towards the Gospel. Braxton is such an example to her family and will be a huge influence in helping them become active in the church.

2. On Tuesday night we taught Brent Davis the 15 steps to stop smoking and so far he's had success!!! Yesterday was day 5 of being smoke free. He wasn't feeling too well from it all so he didn't come to church which was a bummer. But he experienced a lot of temptations this week and he overcame them! I am so happy for him. It's so awesome to see the changes and progress he's made. 

3. We contacted that referral we received--the Furbush family and they're awesome! There's Chris, Jenny and their daughter Amelia. We taught them about the Book of Mormon and invited them to read it and pray about it. We left the Restoration pamphlet for them to study and were planning on teaching the message of the Restoration in our next lesson and when we came back they all had read and Jenny had two pages front and back of questions for us. We answered them all and then taught more about how testimony comes by praying with faith. Sister Thumstedter invited them to be baptized when they came to know that the church was true and they committed! Amelia went to the young men/young women activity Saturday night and they came to church yesterday. The ward mission also had a social activity last night and they came to that so they're getting some great fellowship into the ward. 

I'm just so excited to teach a family! I've been praying to teach a family for many months. I know that the Gospel blesses families so much and I'm grateful for the opportunity to teach the Furbushs how the Gospel will bless theirs. 

I can't believe it's the end of the transfer already. Sister Thumstedter and I are pretty confident we'll be staying together next transfer. We'll be getting a car back next week! That'll help us out a lot! There is so much work for us to do here! I am loving serving here in Taylor. Thank you all so much for your prayers and your support! 

Hope you all have a great week! 

With love, 

Sister Richards :)

Cheesin' with Sister Thumstedte

The Sisters conference we had with all the mountain sisters last Monday night! It was really good.

Our awesome district this transfer! The Elders are something else haha they make us laugh for sure.

Hello from Taylor!

I'm happy to hear that BYU won this weekend! Sounds like their season
is off to a great start!

But more importantly here's what happened this week:

We've been teaching this 12 year old boy named Michael. He and his
family joined the church about a year and a half ago. We've been
teaching the lessons to him and sharing stories from the Book of
Mormon with him to help him strengthen his testimony. He is so
awesome! He spends a lot of time with his grandma and she's not a
member of the church and she really doesn't like the church or any
church at all and she tries to get this to rub off on Michael but it
doesn't affect him at all! In our lessons he's showed us his style for
marking his Book of Mormon and he talks about his goals to read it as
many times as he can before he goes on his mission. He also says how
he wishes he could serve his mission right now! We told him he doesn't
have to have a tag to be a missionary and that he can be a missionary
now--we're going to work on that :) In the closing prayer he offered
in one of our lessons he prayed that he could continue learning from
the Book of Mormon, stay faithful and prepare to be a missionary one
day. I was so touched by his prayer! It was so sweet. I am so
impressed by his desires to serve. How great the youth are these days!

We taught the Norwegian foreign exchange student again. She really is
so prepared. We gave her a Book of Mormon in Norwegian and watched the
Restoration movie with Norwegian subtitles. It was great! We invited
her to read the BoM and pray about Joseph Smith. She said she had
never really prayed before in her life but she has started to and she
feels really good when she does. Yesterday when we were talking to her
host father he said she's already talked about coming back next summer
and being baptized! It's so neat to have the opportunity to share the
Gospel with her while she is here. Her host father also said she feels
really good when we come over. I'm so grateful that we are able to
bring the Spirit. We cannot teach without the Spirit!

Yesterday we had a very spiritual lesson with Mel, Katy and their son
Cooper. We read in the Book of Mormon about Sherem and Korihor and how
they sought to experience a sign before they believed and then we read
the testimonies of Jacob and Alma and how their testimony came simply
by the Holy Ghost. We asked Mel a lot of inspired questions and came
to understand his concern. He hasn't been receiving revelation through
prayer because he has been scared to ask. He knows what answer he will
receive when he prays about baptism. He told us that the Spirit is
telling him he's out of excuses. He is so close! I keep praying with
faith that he'll pray and feel the Spirit and know that he needs to
follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized. Please keep him in
your prayers!!

There is so much potential in our area! That referral we received from
the booth last weekend is a family that just moved here from New York
and they first were living in Snowflake and they were attending a ward
there and now they've moved to our area! We tried calling and
contacting them this week but we don't think they've moved in yet.
We're super excited for the opportunity to share the Gospel with them!

I hope you all have a great week!

Love,
Sister Richards :)

Here's my selfie with a cow haha

Said goodbye to Auralin this week! She's off to serve in the Washington Everett mission! :)

And here's me getting my wart burned off this morning. The 5 shots to numb my finger were painful. My pinky is larger than any jammed finger I ever had in basketball

And here's me getting my wart burned off this morning. The 5 shots to numb my finger were painful. My pinky is larger than any jammed finger I ever had in basketball

We were trying to selfie with Mel but he dodged it and my hair was falling out... 

Hello!

Hello everyone! :)

This week was so busy but it was really good! Labor Day weekend is Taylor's sweet corn festival! Taylor is known for it's sweet corn. We volunteered to organize and create our ward's float for the parade cause they were just going to bag it. Sister Thumstedter and I said no way! Mel and Katy helped us out so much! We had a really good time working on it with them and some of Katy's family. The theme for the float was growing in faith, family and friends. We built a temple out of these huge boxes from the furniture store and Sister Thumstedter and I were teaching Katy's sister, who has a month old baby- and then her niece and her friends and Cooper and his friend passed out candy. We did pretty good for throwing it together in less than a week. haha 

We had a booth at the festival. We have a new potential investigator as a result! We also found a family from Eagar that's interested in the Gospel! Some members gave us some referrals to their less active family members. The set up was a lot better than our last booth! 

I'm out of time so I'll include some pictures and call it good! 

Have a great week! 

-Sister Richards :)

Working on the float!

Silly Mel...

Couldn't have done it without the Chees and their family and friends!

Taylor sweet corn! Yum!

And the booth!

Rodeo!

My cute friend Gavin Hensley

My cute friend Gavin Hensley