Monday, September 16, 2013

"Skizzie" greetings (I'm pretty sure that's how you use it in text!)

Sweet Greetings from Lyndon, Vermont!


Day One: Drove to the transfer meeting in Manchester, New Hampshire. Got a new companion and drove to Lyndon, VT, where we helped deliver a washing machine to a family in the Lyndon Ward. My new companion, Elder Chapman, is one of the goofiest Elders (I'm not allowed to call him a guy) I have ever met.

So far, he's taught me that "skizzies" means "sweet" and that you can never do too many object lessons. He also taught me to watch out for the skunks in the backyard.

Day Two: 96 degrees Fahrenheit.

Day Three: Climbed a tree in the rain to save a cat. Looks like I might be down one shirt if this doesn't bleach out.

Day Four: 54 degrees Fahrenheit.

Day Five: The Sister missionaries (they go around with "Sister" on their name tags instead of "Elder") held a baptismal service for the newest member of the Church! We got to help someone in St. Johnsbury give up cigarettes!

Day Six: In church we got to help out in the Sunday School (the best job ever). I got to meet almost everyone who attends church regularly. It's really important for missionaries to get to know the members of the Church because that's who we're supposed to work with the most. There's a big push for missionaries to stop knocking on people's doors and start finding opportunities to teach through the members. I think this week we're going to meet with members to help them invite their friends and family to learn about the gospel. Sometimes members just don't realize how much this message could change people's lives.


Love (that's right, Texas, I love you),
Elder Jon Harrison Richins

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Transfer Day

When a potential missionary sends in their application to become a missionary, it goes to the President of the Church, who prayerfully decides with some of his counselors where that missionary will go. Once a missionary is actually in the field, he or she is sent to a specific area to work. The process is similar: the mission president prayerfully decides where that missionary will serve for the next six weeks. So I know that even though I am leaving Haverhill (the only city I know here, the one with the streets that I just figured out) and I won't know where I am going until the transfer meeting tomorrow, I am 100% in the hands of the Lord. That is the best place I can possibly be. 



I am going to miss my trainer, Elder Pritchett, like a madman. He is a sweet missionary and an even better friend. I am going to miss the Georgetown Ward (local congregation), that covers a diverse 31 zip-codes. I am going to miss Miriam, our wonderful, dedicated investigator. She will hopefully be baptized in late October. Even though I'm disappointed that I won't be there to see it, I am so excited for her! That's a big part of missionary work: you experience disappointments, but you never have to be disappointed in yourself or in the Lord. Wherever I go, I know that that's where I'm supposed to be. Even if it's not Haverhill.

Love, Elder Jon Harrison Richins







Jon and Elder Pritchett on the left at the Ward's traditional "transfer morning breakfast."  
note from Mom- As a mom I am so grateful for all the people that take care of my son as if he was their own.  Thanks!

World War 3 and Stir Fry

I leave for three months and you've already started World War 3?! We don't read newspapers or watch the news as missionaries, so when I heard about a possible WW3 with Syria from people on the streets I had no idea if it was just a media-hype or if it was serious, and I didn't want to ask anyone because that defeats the purpose of not reading the papers.
 
I am coming up on the end of my second transfer, so I'll know by next Monday whether I'm staying in Haverhill or leaving. This transfer scares me because I don't know if I'm staying with Elder Pritchett. He's become an amazing friend to me. We talked about it, and as weird as it sounds, a decent chunk of our friendship comes from cooking together. Some missionaries buy their food separately and cook and eat separately, but Elder Pritchett and I have bonded over instant rice and stir-fry. I can see why the leaders of the Church urge families to spend time together and eat dinner together and set aside time for each other. Spending time together strengthens familial and friendly bonds.
 
As a missionary, one lesson that I continue to learn is to talk with everyone I meet. Most people aren't interested, but giving everyone the opportunity to accept or reject the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon is really important.
 
Sorry I don't have much time to share this week; I was having some computer issues. Adios! (Though I don't speak Spanish, I speak enough to get through a lesson with my companion. Might try to pick up a bit more.)
 
Elder Jon Harrison Richins
 

Leading Out On Foot

I forgot to mention, but last week I did something called a "companion exchange," where you trade companions for the day. I led out (for the first time) in Haverhill with Elder Jessee while Elder Pritchett spent his birthday in Derry, New Hampshire. Leading out for the first time was incredibly stressful because I still don't know the area as well as I should. Knowing the area comes in handy for nightly planning, when you plan who you'll try to teach the next day. When a missionary comes in who doesn't know the area at all (like on a companion exchange) you have to make the plans yourself, which I hadn't done. It took me an hour. An hour of staring at my planner and a map while Elder Jessee sat patiently in Elder Pritchett's chair. I grew up so much in that hour. All in all, I consider that exchange successful.


This week, Elder Pritchett and I have been on foot, which is the best thing in Haverhill because there are so many people to talk with.
One sweet miracle from walking: We were walking a street over from where we normally walk and started talking with a woman who was moving. We found out that she and her husband are members of the Church and had stopped attending when they were in Lowell because they couldn't find the building. They moved to Haverhill for three years and were moving back to Lowell the day that we met her. We got her phone number and address for the missionaries there.
Hope everything's going well back home; trying not to think about it too much, though!

Love, Elder Jon Harrison Richins

Missionaries and Minutemen

So, you're washing your car in the driveway when two guys in white shirts and ties approach you and ask you how you're doing. What do you do? People do a lot of things. In this case, he talked with us about aliens and reincarnation.

I am constantly amazed at how willing people are to talk with us, or in many cases how unwilling. Some people will talk with you for an hour (we really try to not talk that long) and some won't even look at you. I don't know if I mentioned this before, but we first met Miriam (our sweet investigator) on the street. Elder Pritchett and I were walking home at night, singing, and she was taking a walk after work. When we first talked I didn't imagine how close we would become. I love talking with people on the street. It's just so easy in Haverhill!




This week one of the members of the church told us about some of the history of the area. He told us that the minutemen in Boxford (maybe a 30 minute jog?) heard the shot fired in Lexington and left their fields to go fight. A plaque at the street corner about a mile from our apartment marks where the Haverhill Minutemen gathered on April 19, 1775 to march to the Battle of Bunker Hill. This city has history. The sad thing is that most of the well-taken-care-of buildings are funeral homes. Most of the other centuries-old houses have been left on their own. This is one notable exception. No idea who lives there.







The city has some newer history, too.


No matter what, I'll always love Haverhill. This city has something. I can't stop loving the people here.
Elder Jon Harrison Richins

Thursday, August 15, 2013

The fruits of the gospel are not zucchini

The fruits of the Gospel are sweet!


First off, our plot in the community garden has flourished. Just get a load of that zucchini. There were two of those. We gave one away and are trying to figure out what to do with the rest of the other one.

Our investigator, Miriam, is awesome! She's come to church every week, she's reading the Book of Mormon, she prays every day. Those are the big things that seem small. It really wouldn't happen without support from the members of the Church. One of Miriam's best friends in the Church volunteered her home for a lesson and dinner, and during Church she answered one of Miriam's questions better in one sentence than we did in a thirty minute lesson. Members are sweet!
Elder Pritchett and I had some awesome lessons this week. The first was with Danny and Anil. Anil is a member and the two are hardcore best friends. Anil helped a ton with the lesson and right before the closing prayer he was like "Hey, can I have a minute to bear my testimony?" and we were like "Yeah, sure." Really, on the inside though, we were like "AWW YEAH! IT'S TESTIMONY TIME." Anil then told Danny how much his friendship meant to him and how he knew the Church and the Gospel could change his life. It was beautiful, bro-hug included. Seeing members reach out in love to their friends just makes me smile. It makes me wish I had talked more with my friends in high school, not necessarily be sharing the Gospel, but by being a sweet friend. Now that I think about it, I wish I had just made a big plate of brownies every week to share. I guess being a missionary has changed me a little bit already. Still looking forward to more change.
One other lesson was with two girls on their porch. We talked about the Book of Mormon and how you can gain a knowledge of its truth by reading, pondering, and praying about it. Then they asked about the Church's stance on a really controversial topic, and you know what we did? We answered using the Book of Mormon. If a person has a knowledge that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, then Joseph Smith, who translated it by the power of God, was a prophet, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as founded by Joseph Smith is Christ's Church. And so I don't need to have doubt in the Church's stance on this controversial topic because I know that the Church is being led by a prophet of God. Using the Book of Mormon to respond to people's concerns is awesome. When I was in the Missionary Training Center, I was like 'Here, let me explain to you why this is right or why this is wrong.' Now I realize that all I need to do is let the Spirit work in me and bear my testimony so that the Spirit can bear witness of the truth to them.
Sorry to drop off on a preachy note.
Love,
Elder Jon Harrison Richins


                   I guess one of Haverhill's nicknames is Queen Slipper City. Huh.




Saturday, August 10, 2013

Tuna Casserole and Peter Parker

I'm back in Haverhill most of the time, which is great especially when we get to walk. We get to talk with so many people, it's just awesome. A lot of the people here believe in a lot of things. We met a man who believes that the African-Americans are the real Jews from Christ's time and that they fled into Egypt from the invading Romans, so the Egyptians sold them into slavery to the Europeans. That's right. It's Haverhill, Baby!



Now I want to talk about food. Food for missionaries is an interesting subject, because we really love eating it, but we put as little effort into making it as possible. Well, not as little as possible, but we could definitely be trying harder. I think I'm doing pretty well on recipes. We make a lot of pasta, and sometimes we mix in tuna and cream of mushroom soup. It makes an easy tuna casserole, but we never have time to bake it. 

We found a donut-hole machine at the church, like a kids electric one that someone left there months ago, and made pancake balls in it last night. I might test some crazy stuff in it, like McGriddle Bites or mini corndogs. It's a cool little machine. I want to try out crepes (not in the donut-hole machine), but we don't have much to put in them right now. I've started eating Cream of Wheat, but cooked with milk instead of water. I always cooked it with water and made myself eat it, but now I love it with milk. Never realized how good it could be. And I have to figure out cool dishes with green beans and corn, because we have tons of cans of each.

I actually saw a small miracle with food this week. We were out of peanut butter, which may seem small but is a minor disaster for a missionary. We drove to Groveland, which is just across the Merrimac River from Haverhill, and decided to stop by a member of the church who hasn't been active recently. We talked with her and shared a scripture and when we were about to leave, she asked "Hey, do you want some peanut butter?" Yes, we wanted some peanut butter. I am so grateful we got to see her and strengthen her faith, as well as get some peanut butter. I see little miracles every day, it's so cool.




A week or two ago, I found an electric slot car set that someone was giving away. After setting it up, realizing the tracks needed to be cleaned, taking it apart to take back to the Haverhill apartment, setting it up again, and realizing it was bedtime, I decided that it was a waste of the Lord's time. It distracted me from getting to bed on time, and like Peter Parker and marriage, I realized I wasn't ready for it. So if you drive around Bradford and see this, good luck.




From Haverhill with Love,
Elder Jon Harrison Richins

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Ginormous Shoes and Singin' at the Boardwalk


A few weeks ago, we met a local artist named Tomaso and invited him to church. That Sunday, he bicycled to church to deliver this. Unfortunately, he arrived about an hour after the services ended. We just got the picture yesterday. I think I'm the tall one, but I'm not blonde (no complaints, really).




















We've been singing a lot down in Newburyport. We sing at the boardwalk and then hand out cards and pamphlets. Here's us at the boardwalk.








I found out a while ago that Haverhill used to have several really important shoe factories forever ago and that they have these giant, painted shoes all over. There are supposedly thirteen or fourteen of them, so I've started taking pictures with them.







Some of the shoes are actually inside buildings. This one is in an apartment building and we couldn't get in.





We've been talking with a huge family who wants to hear more about the gospel. They're a bit rough around the edges (one of the sons is going to turn himself in to the police today for unpaid fines, and they all drink and smoke), but we talk with them all the time and when they see us they're like "Hey, come read a Proverb to us!" They are some of the nicest people we get to talk with. It would be so cool to see them turn their lives around.
Being a missionary is seriously one of the coolest things ever. We get to teach and minister to people who don't have hope or see their infinite potential, and then help them make needed changes in their life so that they can come closer to Christ.

Well, I get kicked off this computer in 30 seconds, so I guess I'll write more later.

Buh-Bye Now,
Elder Jon Harrison Richins

Miriam and a Transfer

I love it when people come to church! One of our investigators, Miriam, has come to church for the last two weeks and she's making friends like crazy. She even came to a baptism so she could see what it's like and then made even more friends at the open house afterwards. She's been keeping commitments to read the Book of Mormon, and every time we teach her she's like "Yeah, that's how I feel too." She is totally ready for baptism. Like on September 14. I think a lot of her dedication has to do with the fact that she came to church. If someone is willing to come to church, they're probably also willing to do a lot more.
Companionships are set every six weeks, and each six weeks is called a transfer. This week is transfers, and the trio gets broken up. Elder Pritchett and I go back to Haverhill full-time, and Elder Childers stays in Newburyport to train a new missionary. We'll still get to see him every week at church, but not every day. Working as a trio has its ups and downs; ups: you get to cook as a group and you have more people to work out with; downs: less shower time and people on the street get more nervous when they see three men in suits approaching them.

Well, not a whole lot to say about this week. I love y'all back home.

Elder Jon Harrison Richins

Please don't tell Jon that I'm completely botching his blog- Love, Jon's Mom

This was actually the first e- mail Jon sent me, but somehow it got left out of the mix.  So here it is!  The lost letter...never before seen...


In advance, I would like to apologize for the lack of pictures. I took them, but my Kodak camera requires that I have Kodak software installed in order to get pictures from the internal memory.

When I arrived at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) on Wednesday, I dropped my luggage off at my room, met my roommates for 2 minutes, picked up my study materials, met my companion (we preach the gospel 2x2), and started class. (Insert class picture here). Things go so fast here, it's crazy. Every day, we study upwards of 2.5 hours and go to class about 6 hours. There is so much to absorb, and it's all simple. It all focuses on our purpose as missionaries. "Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end." So we've learned that it doesn't matter if a person is baptised if they don't come unto Christ. We've learned to care more about the people we will teach.

I really started to get it after my first visit to the Teaching Resource Center (TRC), where we do simulated visits with volunteers. Our volunteer (in real life we call them investigators because they are trying to find out about us) is Daniel Limon. He swore at us in the first visit. It went terribly. So the next day, we went back and apologized. It's all about how the investigator feels, not about who swore at who. He was more open to us that time, and we actually got to pray with him at the end of our visit. Yesterday, we got to leave him with a copy of the Book of Mormon and our testimony about how it can help him and his family. Even though we know he's an actor, we pray for him. One of the other companionships was less blessed. They were assigned to Erik, who just Bible-bashes the entire time. This means that he uses scriptural verses to fight, instead of listening to the Holy Spirit. It's really easy to get caught up in a fight like that because there's always a verse that will disprove what the other person is saying. We're not supposed to "prove" that the gospel is true. We bear our testimony of its truth so that the Holy Ghost can have a place in their hearts. We found out that the actor who plays Erik isn't a member of the church. He got this job so that he could bash new missionaries and discourage them. What really ends up happening is that the missionaries learn to keep trying to bring people to Christ. They learn a lot of patience. They learn to love someone who doesn't want to be loved.
Our teachers, Sister Grenfell and Brother Green, are the best I could ask for. They don't teach us directly; it's all on us to drive the lessons.

My companion is named Faelofani Talive Afemata. Elder Afemata is a big Samoan from Compton, California. He talks with every Polynesian he sees, and somehow knows all of their cousins. He's just a really funny guy, singing Rihanna all the time. I've tried to match him in every meal he eats, but it's tough. Elder Afemata has taught me so much already. He taught me to Keep It Simple, Stupid when we talk about the gospel. We do rock-paper-scissors every meal; winner gets to bless the food and thereby gets the lion's share of blessings until the next meal.

I only have a few more days here at the MTC. I leave Monday at 3:30 AM for Manchester, New Hampshire.
Well, my hour of computer time is up. Love you all, and I wish you the best of luck!


Elder Jon Harrison Richins

Sunday, July 21, 2013

July 8th



The last two weeks were great!

We set the baptism dates for two of our investigators, Cesar and Tiffany. Usually when a missionary invites someone to be baptized, they pray about a specific date and then commit them to that date. When Elder Pritchett and I prayed for a date, we didn't get anything, so we decided to pray about it with Cesar and Tiffany individually. Cesar got August 22nd and Tiffany got September 9th, so Cesar will be a member of the Church long enough to receive the priesthood, which means he could baptize Tiffany. We still have a lot to talk with them about, so I'm glad we have a while before their dates.
Little Miracle: For our Preparation Day (laundry and haircut day) we went to the apartment of Elder Childers and Elder Wiesenberg, and they had three copies of the Book of Mormon in Haitian Creole. They don't know why they have them. Later that day, Elder Pritchett and I ran into a woman who only speaks a little English and a lot of Haitian Creole, and we knew exactly where to get her copy of the Book of Mormon!
The Book of Mormon is so important in conversion. The missionary guide, Preach My Gospel, actually says that the Book of Mormon, coupled with the Holy Spirit, is your most powerful tool in conversion. That includes maintaining or starting your own conversion. It is a truly powerful book. It testifies of Jesus Christ and contains the fulness of His gospel, as does the Bible. I'm out here because of that book.
A few other things: Elder Childers is now my third companion! A missionary got sent home for medical reasons, so Elder Wiesenberg replaced him in New Hampshire and Elder Childers got sent to us! He's one of the funniest people I've met, and he quotes everything from the Mr. Freeze and the Terminator to Spiderman on the Playstation (I'm pretty sure I have that game back home in Texas). He gave me a haircut this morning and he cooks too. I'll have to learn a few things from him. Having a trio means that we get to use both apartments, cars, and phones until the end of this transfer, about three more weeks, so I'll be spending some time in Newburyport, Mass.








     There's these things called exchanges where two missionaries swap towns for a day in order to learn from different companions. I did that in Exeter, New Hampshire with Elder Guthrie as my companion. There is a train that runs right next to their apartment at three in the morning. Other than that, the exchange was great. For service, we helped a man fix up a really old house. We got to knock down a wall with our bare hands (and a few hammers).





We keep seeing this blonde lady named Dallas driving around Haverhill. She yells at us a lot and wants to meet us and convert us to quantum physics. I'm not sure what that entails.

A drunk man kissed Elder Pritchett and I. We might actually get to teach him, so I guess I don't mind that much.
Hope you're all having as much fun as I am! I love being out here a ton and I think I'm growing a lot. Love y'all!


Elder Jon Harrison Richins (After the Fourth of July Parade)


June 24th everybody!





Once again, no pictures. This time it's my fault. And I only have five more minutes of computer time.

     I've been assigned to a city called Haverhill (pronounced hay-vril), MA. It's right on the Merimack River. I'm being trained by an Elder Pritchett, who is an ultimate frisbee-er, a mathematician, and a good listener. He's really good at listening to the Spirit.

      Miracle: This week, our phone ran out of batteries (this is really bad because we need to always be available, so we went to the apartment to charge it and rethink our plans (an appointment had fallen through). We prayed to know how to spend the rest of the Lord's time that day. Elder Pritchett felt that we should visit the Green family and that someone on the way would need our help. The Greens were not home, but from their porch we saw a young woman and her father in a driveway. We asked if they were interested in hearing about Jesus. The father replied that his family is Jewish. We asked if he knew anyone that needed service or an uplifting message. He did. His father had passed away two hours previous. We shared a short message of God's love and plan for us.

     It's really cool to be out here. I know that the Lord is providing for me.
All right, I'm out of time. I love y'all (yes, I'm still a Texan) and wish you the best!

This is actually June 13

In advance, I would like to apologize for the lack of pictures. I took them, but my Kodak camera requires that I have Kodak software installed in order to get pictures from the internal memory.
When I arrived at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) on Wednesday, I dropped my luggage off at my room, met my roommates for 2 minutes, picked up my study materials, met my companion (we preach the gospel 2x2), and started class. (Insert class picture here). Things go so fast here, it's crazy. Every day, we study upwards of 2.5 hours and go to class about 6 hours. There is so much to absorb, and it's all simple. It all focuses on our purpose as missionaries. "Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end." So we've learned that it doesn't matter if a person is baptised if they don't come unto Christ. We've learned to care more about the people we will teach.
I really started to get it after my first visit to the Teaching Resource Center (TRC), where we do simulated visits with volunteers. Our volunteer (in real life we call them investigators because they are trying to find out about us) is Daniel Limon. He swore at us in the first visit. It went terribly. So the next day, we went back and apologized. It's all about how the investigator feels, not about who swore at who. He was more open to us that time, and we actually got to pray with him at the end of our visit. Yesterday, we got to leave him with a copy of the Book of Mormon and our testimony about how it can help him and his family. Even though we know he's an actor, we pray for him. One of the other companionships was less blessed. They were assigned to Erik, who just Bible-bashes the entire time. This means that he uses scriptural verses to fight, instead of listening to the Holy Spirit. It's really easy to get caught up in a fight like that because there's always a verse that will disprove what the other person is saying. We're not supposed to "prove" that the gospel is true. We bear our testimony of its truth so that the Holy Ghost can have a place in their hearts. We found out that the actor who plays Erik isn't a member of the church. He got this job so that he could bash new missionaries and discourage them. What really ends up happening is that the missionaries learn to keep trying to bring people to Christ. They learn a lot of patience. They learn to love someone who doesn't want to be loved.
Our teachers, Sister Grenfell and Brother Green, are the best I could ask for. They don't teach us directly; it's all on us to drive the lessons.
My companion is named Faelofani Talive Afemata. Elder Afemata is a big Samoan from Compton, California. 





 He talks with every Polynesian he sees, and somehow knows all of their cousins. He's just a really funny guy, singing Rihanna all the time. I've tried to match him in every meal he eats, but it's tough. Elder Afemata has taught me so much already. He taught me to Keep It Simple, Stupid when we talk about the gospel. We do rock-paper-scissors every meal; winner gets to bless the food and thereby gets the lion's share of blessings until the next meal.
I only have a few more days here at the MTC. I leave Monday at 3:30 AM for Manchester, New Hampshire.
Well, my hour of computer time is up. Love you all, and I wish you the best of luck!

Elder Jon Harrison Richins

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

The Why

Some might think it odd to leave home for two years and go to New Hampshire, a place I have never been, a place without a city as large as Frisco, Texas. Some might consider living out of three suitcases for this long to be impossible. Some might not understand why I am doing this. I am going to serve because I have been commanded to: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). But I am going to be the happiest missionary in the world because I know that God will buoy me up as I rely on Him. And so, I want to share my mission and my happiness with you.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints asks its young men to serve two-year missions. During mine, I will preach the gospel in the New Hampshire Manchester Mission, which covers most of New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine, as well as small bits of New York and Massachusetts. I’ll communicate with friends and family through emails and letters, and I’ll avoid TV, rock music, and girls. I’ll be wearing a suit most of the time. As I dedicate myself more fully to the work, I will be of greater service to the Lord and to the people of these states.
I report tomorrow.  I already forgot all my slacks at home. 

June 5th.
4 the Lord.
3 suitcases.
2 years.
1 man on a mission.