Monday, September 9, 2013

Almost in the Clear...

July 3, 2013

Hey everyone!
So, the week went by fast, again!  No surprise there, really. So, just want to clarify. Our investigators are NOT real investigators. They are teachers here at the MTC, but we practice with them, and it's impressive how much we really learn.
So, we had a good lesson with Yessenia last week! Our secret: Bring Hermanas. Seriously. So, Yessenia can't read very well, so we got a picture book to compliment her Book of Mormon, so she can read, and see those. So we taught her how to read a bit easier, and a bit more about the Plan of Salvation. She really liked the idea of being with our families for eternity, and the knowledge that before this life, we lived with our Heavenly Father. We sang Families Can Be Together Forever (in Spanish) and the Hermanas bore testimony and invited her to come to church and stuff. The Hermanas were being members of the ward, and they also invited her to come over after dinner for a meal. It was a really good idea, and she was eager to work. Elder Brown and I are really hitting our stride as a companionship, so that's good. We had a lot of good experiences like that this week.
We also prepped an awesome lesson for Walter, twice... both times, Hermano Hale wasn't here! We were heartbroken haha. But, we have started teaching the other companionships in our district to practice more. Our new investigators, Isabel, and Esperanza, are good. Esperanza has no church background, and Isabel has been diagnosed with some illness and is going to die in 2 years (Yeah, I know. It's like, the most awful scenario ever, but I guess it's good practice.) Our lesson with them was pretty decent as well I thought. Still lots to improve, but it's getting better.
We had TRC again yesterday. So, TRC is just with members, being members, and basically we have gospel discussions. It's pretty awesome. I like it. But yesterday, we taught a Sister named Lisa, and her dad, who is a stake president in California. It was a good lesson, but I had an epiphany during the lesson. We were like, 15 minutes in, and all of a sudden, I was like, "WHOA!" I realized I wasn't like, actively translating the discussion, but I just was understanding like it was English. It was really cool, and showed me that the language is coming. (Oh, by the way dad, she served in Salta. She was stoked when she found out you had served there too.)
So, this week we had a Zone Talent Show that some of the Hermanas in our district put on. It was interesting haha. Just a lot of silly and good stuff, but it was good to have something different. Also, we've been watching a lot of Mormon Messages lately. Straight up, I am such a little girl. I cry all the time in the MTC. I just get hit with the Spirit a lot haha. But I love it. And also... it's like a billion degrees in here. Oh my gosh. Walking outside is horrible haha. Especially in suits. Esta bien.
So this morning, we got to clean the temple. It was a pretty cool experience! We got to go into the Bride's room (which is gorgeous) and then clean in there. It was a cool experience. Our service leader's name was Gale. She was kinda crazy... but the good kind. She was really old, but super funny. She was great. It was a really fun time, and a great experience to participate. Kinda weird that I may not go to the temple for 2 whole years, so that may be the last time for the duration of my mission!
So, like 2 weeks ago, Elder Christiansen and Renshaw were made Zone Leaders, and then last week, Elder Rempel was made District Leader. So, Elder Brown and I were joking around later about how we stayed below the radar. Ha. Sunday, we were called as Zone Leaders. Let me also clarify, our zone is going to be containing, like, record missionaries, because instead of recieiving a district every 2 weeks, we get one every 1 week. So... yeah. We're responsible for like, 60 people. It's fun though! I love our zone, and they're all great. We've had to deal with a couple problems already, and I got to give my first blessing the other day, but it's good. I love it, and my Heavenly Father wants to help me grow. So, yeah! But it's kinda lame sometimes, because I really don't have any free time at nights now, because we spend all of it teaching our zone a spiritual thought. We got together with our Sister Training Leaders and set a few goals for our zone, to be more Unified, and to be "Real" missionaries.
Oh! So Elder Lee and Mann, our original zone leaders, got their visas to Peru! They already went to Wisconsin, but they were only there for 6 days! So, they are giving them out! Maybe I'll get it in time, maybe not. It's all good either way.
I'll explain the "real missionaries". So, we had two rocking devotionals this week. Sunday was really good, and I learned a lot . But the devotional last night was killer. It was Brother Richardson. He is the second counselor in the Sunday School Presidency. He talked about an experience he had here at the MTC in which a little girl saw him and his companion, and asked her grandma, "Grandma, are those REAL missionaries?" When he grandmother responded in the affirmative, he said the little girl broke into a fit of the giggles like she was meeting a celebrity. He then talked about how this one experience paved the way for his entire misson, and his life. He wanted to be a REAL missionary. He also talked a bunch about "What e'er thou art, act well thy part." Pretty powerful. But a few things I took away from it. Heavenly Father has an expectation of me. I may not know exactly what my purpose is yet, but that's my purpose, and I have a DUTY to do that to the best of my ability. But, I do know, that He wants me to be a missionary. I am a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I wear Christ's name on my chest. And I want to be a REAL missionary. I want to be the missionary that the little kids in Peru, can look at in awe, and think "Wow! Is that a real missionary?" I want to be able to reach down, shake their hand, and tell them that I have a message for them. A message of hope, and love, and a message which can improve their lives. I have a big duty, and I have big shoes to fill. But I know that with Heavenly Father at my side, as long as I am doing my best, He will provide the rest. What a wonderful time to be doing this work. I love this church, and cannot believe I'm already a month into my mission. That's 1/24 of my mission. And seriously, that makes me a little sad. It's already flying by, but I'm not sure I want it to sometimes.
Yo se que esta Iglesia es verdadera. Yo se que la obra misional es muy importante, y que yo necesito estar haciendolo. Yo se que con el poder and amor de Dios, yo puedo hacer todas las cosas. Yo se que nuestro Padre Celestial me ama, y nos ama! Mucho! El es nuestro literalmente padre, en los cielos. Es muy poderoso, y le amo. Esta obra, algun a veces, es dificil. Algun noches, yo voy a mi cama, muy cansado, y frustrado. Pero, cuando yo oro a mi Padre Celestial, y yo pido por su ayuda, siempre, yo recibolo. Yo amo esta obra, mucho. Yo amo el CCM mucho tambien, y el Espiritu que es aqui es muy bonito. Necesito tener el Espiritu conmigo, todo el tiempo, y es muy importante en nuestros ensenanzas. Yo se que con mi llamamiento nuevo de el lidir de la zona, yo necesito la ayuda y el Espiritu mucho, pero yo se que recibirelo. Yo amo este Evangelio, mucho. Yo se que el Evangelio puede bendicir vidas, de todas las personas en el mundo! Estoy animado para ensenarlo a el gente de Peru! (O en los Estados Unidos... Yo sabre la semana proxima jaja)  Lo siento si mi espaƱol es un poco malo, pero, yo estoy aprendiendo.
The pictures are of Elder Lee and Mann, who went to the Lima Peru North mission, before the left, and then last P-Day, Elder Brown and I realized our outfits were clashing. We are awesome. Haha. I'm gonna take a picture of my scriptures sometime and send it home, because the Book of Mormon Project deserves to be shown to the world.
Oh, also, congrats to Rob on his call! Thanks for all your love, thoughts, and prayers. Please write! I love hearing from you, and I feel really cool when I get letters. Like, for real. Highlight of my day. Hope I covered everything, almost every week, I walk out of my email time, and remember something, and just shake my head in shame.
Con Amor,
Elder Richman

I Bore A Fiery Testimony!

June 26, 2013


Hola!
 
Phew, this week has been a crazy one! Ups and downs all over the place!
 
Well, last Thursday was pretty cool. We did our compliment circle for me, and I almost cried. Everyone is just so nice here, and it was incredible. Everyone said such sincere kind things, and it just blew me away to feel the amount of love these people have for me after just 3 short weeks. (Wow. That's crazy. 3 weeks. I'm halfway done with the MTC!)
 
So, on Thursday, we taught our investigator Walter again... it was kinda rough. But we initially went out feeling like it was all right! But, later that day, we had Coach Missionary Study with Hermano Hale. Basically, it's one on one time (well, one on two...) with our teacher to give us feedback on our lessons. We were expecting a "You're doing a good job, keep it up, and keep trying." Instead, it was more of a "You guys seriously need to fix some things." It was pretty crazy, because I have been pretty satisfied with our lessons. The biggest issue was ultimately, we weren't doing a good job of listening to our investigator. Hermano Hale asked us what new things we had learned about Walter, and we realized, that within 2 visits, we knew NOTHING new about him. It was just kinda eye opening. He told us we needed to try harder to listen and let the Spirit guide our lessons. In the end he said "Les quiero monton" ( I love you both a heap, basically), but he just wanted us to improve. It was so good though. Sort of like an Elder Holland talk.
 
So the next day wasn't too crazy.. uh, just practiced a lot of Spanish.. but that evening, we got to meet President and Sister Harbertson, the new mission presidents in Peru, Cusco! Oh my gosh. Seriously, I love them. Not like, oh, they're really cool. Like, I legitimately have met them once and they are like a second set of parents for me. President Harbertson is the nicest guy, and he is so fun and down to earth. He loves skiing, and does a bunch of adventerous stuff. He is going to be amazing. Sister Harbertson is the sweetest lady. While she was talking to us, she was saying how it was sad to leave her family at home, but she just started crying and she just said, "But, I'm so excited to have 200 new kids." It was so cute. I'm so excited to get to know them more. They told us a lot of cool stories about the mission too. There's actually a surprisingly large amount of members down there! There are 2 stakes in Cusco alone! Crazy! Theres also a floating reed chapel in Lake Titicaca that Elder Christofferson dedicated. But yeah. I love them. And I got to talk to Hermana Hansen there, so that was cool to catch up and see how her and all the other Cusco people are doing. President Harberston wants our mission slogan to be, Vaya SOLO. S-Servicio (Service), O-Orar (Pray), L-Leer (Read), O-Obediencia (Obedience). I like it. So, there are 11 zones in Cusco, 200,000 square miles, and 3 million people in my mission. Pretty cool!
 
The next day was the big devotional. For those of you who would like to see, I am in the video. Twice! If you go to watch the broadcast on the church website, at 2:42, I am on the left, 6 from the top. And at 1:53:39, I am on the left side of the screen. Basically I was really excited. So I got to sing in the choir, and the apostles kept turning around and just looking at us with so much pride, and gave us thumbs up and waved at us... highlight of my life. I saw my parents too! Twice! So that was pretty incredible! I really enjoyed talking to them for a few minutes. But yeah, I was a little bummed President Monson wasn't there, but it was all right. The conference was great. The internet will be interesting to start to use... During the song/video with Armis of Heleman and missionaries growing up.. yeah. I got really emotional, because here I am, doing the work! It's amazing!
 
I'm skipping Monday, because I want to come back to it in the end.
 
Tuesday was all right. Nothing crazy happened... We had a pretty cool devotional with Sister Peery. She wrote a bunch of songs in the Primary Hymnbook, and she wrote Sisters in Zion. We sang a lot, and when she was telling us about the line her husband used on her (Those lips look like they were made to do something better than play clarinet) he got up and kissed her in front of everyone haha it was pretty funny. Everyone stood up and cheered. But at the end, she had made this version of As Sisters in Zion, with Armies of Helaman. Yeah... it was way cool. Like, all the sisters were crying, and I had goosebumps like nobodies business haha.
 
So, one thing about this week that has been kinda cool/lame. So, all the mission presidents are here training, which means all the Quorum is here! So, that's awesome! However, we are kicked out of the cafeteria. So, we eat in the gym. It's better managed now, but the first few days were TERRIBLE. Like, seriously. So badly managed. One day, we were supposed to have burgers. So, by the time we got there, they were already out of burgers, so we had chicken. Then they ran out of that, so they heated up ham from breakfast. And then they ran out of that, so people were seriously getting lettuce sandwiches. I was like, are you serious?! And then another morning they ran out of white milk, so I had Cheerios with chocolate milk, which might sound good.... no. Not at all. Haha.
 
Also, the new district in our zone is pretty awesome. We have a new Australian Elder, and he played on the West Coast Australia volleyball team. Pretty cool. So, playing with him is really fun haha. And, I had the opportunity to give him his first Dr Pepper. It was a beautiful moment.
 
So! Tuesday. So, Elder Brown and I got to teach Walter again. Our plan was really really really to focus on him, and just listen, and listen to the Spirit. So we started talking with him, and he opened up a lot. He lives here in the US and his family is still in Guatemala, and he hasn't seen them in 5 years. He loves his daughter to death. Unfortunately, he has a drinking problem, and really wants to stop, and he pretty much hates himself because of it. So, we started talking about that, and we asked him to tell us a bit more about it and whatnot. He basically came back and said, "Why, I don't even know you?" So, it was kinda awkward for a sec, and then Elder Brown goes... "Well... I'm from Sandy, Utah.." and just started giving us a biography. Walter kind of laughed, and listened to us. Then he turned to me, and I started speaking, and I don't know why, but I just had this prompting to talk about my family. When I started talking about my sisters, I'm not sure what really happened, but the Spirit punched me in the face. I have never in my entire life felt the Spirit like I did in that moment, but it just filled my heart and mind, and fortunately, mouth. My eyes were just filling up with tears as I bore testimony to Walter that I know that it's hard being away from family, and especially his daughter. I know it's hard, but that the reason I was here was to help teach him this gospel, because I knew with all of my heart that it is true, and that through it, he can live with his family for eternity! I went on for probably a good five minutes, speaking Spanish fluidly, asking questions to really get him thinking, and just bearing testimony of how true this gospel is, and how it can help him through his struggles and hardships in life. We left with inviting him to read some scriptures, and Elder Brown and I walked into our classroom without saying a word, put down our books, and then just hugged each other haha. He just went, "So Elder... what was that?!" He described it to other people as "Yeah, Elder Richman just bore a fiery testimony." It was really cool. I know without a doubt that the Spirit was helping me and guiding me. Elder Brown said there were points during my lesson that he thought I was going to start pounding the desk, but he said it was in a good way. I honestly can't do this lesson justice, but just thinking about it gives me goosebumps all over again.
 
Basically, I love it here, and life is good. I love this gospel, and every day, I come to know more and more of it's truths. Love and miss you all, but the work is hastening, and I'm proud to be a part of it.
Hope to hear from you!!
 
Con Amor!
Elder Richman

Have Five!

June 19, 2013
Hola everyone!
I absolutely CANNOT believe another week has gone by. It's been so fast! Time here is seriously so weird. It freaks me out. Thanks for the letters and emails from everyone, they have been great! Letters though are fantastic because I get those every day... makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. so, I'm gonna just hit the exciting stuff from this week.
So, Elder Rempel, one of the guys in my district (the really tall one), earlier in the week got a Dreamsicle, and stuck his tongue on it, and it got stuck. I know that might sound really dumb, but once you've been in the MTC for 2 weeks, stuff like that is hilarious. I was in tears, because we were all trying to pour water on his tongue to thaw it off, and he was just hopping around, yelling cuz it hurt so bad. Pretty funny.
With our investigator, Maria Jose, last Thursday, we were able to get her to commit to baptism! We went in without any notes, and just really put our trust in the Holy Ghost. It was seriously crazy. I could not believe how much Spanish I was able to use. We started the lesson, and Elder Brown went right into it after our follow up without a prayer. He was in the middle of teaching about the Holy Ghost and I was just panicking because we hadn't started with a prayer, when I had a prompting. So, when he got done teaching about the Holy Ghost and how it testifies of truth, I just said, "Now that we've taught you about that, would you please say the opening prayer? During your prayer, please pray that we can have the Spirit here with us in the room, and that it can testify to you of the truth of our message." (All in Spanish of course). But, she did, and then we taught, and she committed! The Spirit is a strong thing.
So, we now have a new investigator. His name is Walter. So, I have a hard time understand the language sometimes, right? Well, Walter has absolutely zero drive, so when he talks to us, he talks with his hand in front of his mouth, and mumbles SO bad. I struggled teaching him the first time, but it's all right. We had a short lesson, and we felt like he felt the Spirit, so that's good.
So, Walter is actually our teacher Hermano Hale. So... Hermano Hale is without a doubt the most inspired man I have ever met in my entire life. Seriously. He seems to ALWAYS have a lesson about what we need, the day that we are struggling with a specific thing. Plus, it's so weird, because everything he teaches, without fail, when we have devotionals, they talk about the same thing. He's seriously amazing. Anyways, yesterday was his birthday, so we surprised him and sang happy birthday. He had us start doing a compliment circle to build unity, so we did that to him too.   It was awesome. He has started challenging us to make inspired questions, because if we aren't, we are just being acted upon, and we are not going to be effective missionaries. I'll explain later in the letter! And also, as for the title. We were talking about ways to relieve stress, and we said, to give high fives! So, Hermano Hale writes on the board, "half fives" and we all were like, "What?", so he looked at it, laughed, and then fixed it to say "have five", and we were dying. Apparently his whole life that's what he thought it was. It was pretty funny.
 
Oh, so we said goodbye to the oldest district here this week. I've only known them for 2 weeks, and we were all crying saying goodbye. I can't even imagine saying goodbye to my district right now. Makes me sad. Haha.
The devotionals  have been good. Yesterday was a little disappointing because there were rumblings that it was Elder Holland, but it was Elder Gay of the Seventy. it was good... pero...
Um.. my district is good! We grow closer every day! I'll have to send home a picture with names for everyone. Elder Brown and I are still getting along great, and I grow to love him more day by day! He's great, and he is a great example for me. We play volleyball every time we have gym, and it is the best. I seriously love it. Highlight of my week (besides eating at the temple cafeteria. ) But one of the Hermanas broke her finger halfway through the game, and didn't say anything until after, and KEPT PLAYING. I wish I was half as tough as her haha. But yeah, volleyball rocks. The other night for language study, I was drawing Elder Rempel on the board for fun, so other people started... so we started a game that we would close our eyes and have the marker on the board, and then everyone else would speak Spanish and try to have them draw a face. It was pretty hilarious.
 
Just to describe my district a bit... Elder Brown is from Sandy, and he is really cool. He's going to Peru too. I really was blessed with a companion I get along with so well and we really click. We have a lot of good laughs. Elder Packer is from San Antonio Texas, going to Long Beach California. He is just a goofball, but he has a super strong testimony. Well, everyone in our district does. But he just is fun, and he is an incredible beat boxer. Elder Angel is our district leader. He's from Carlsbad California, and going to Chile. He's a nice guy. Elder Rempel is from Canada, and he is going to Colorado Springs. He is so funny. We talk a lot and have a good time, but he has a really different but cool testimony. Elder Jensen is from Wisconsin, going to Long Beach California. He is super chill and laid back, and but he's super friendly. Elder Christiansen is from Tennessee going to McCallahn (?) Texas. He is seriously the nicest and most humble guy I have ever met. I can't even believe it. We call him Osito Blanco (Little White Bear) because he's always giving hugs. Elder Renshaw is from San Fransisco, going to McCallahan Texas, and he is super nice too. He is really quiet, but he has an amazing singing voice. Voice of an angel. Hermana Nielsen is from... uh.. I can't remember, but she's going to Chile. She's really humble and nice! Hermana McNeil is from Orem, going to Chile, and she is just super friendly and outgoing. Hermana Davis is from South Carolina, going to Anaheim, and she is really strongly convicted in the gospel. Hermana Miller is from Utah, and going to Houston Texas, and she is just super bubbly and fun. I absolutely love our district. Honestly, I feel like I've met them all before, but I know I haven't. That's one of the ways I really know that it wasn't by accident that we are together, and we have some sort of purpose for being here together.
So, Elder Brown's sister did this thing on her mission that she marked, and tabbed all of the scriptures from the lessons in Preach my Gospel in here Book of Mormon, and then made a chart to make them easy to find. So, I did it too, and now our whole district is doing it. we call it the Book of Mormon project, but it's SO nice during lessons!
Yesterday we had our first experience with TRC. Basically, members come in and we teach them to practice. Our first member was Lisa, and she served her mission in Salta (Yo dijo, "Mi padre sirvio en Salta!") Anyways, it went well, and I felt i did well. Then we taught Hermana Fernandez from Mexico. Native speakers... phew. Hahaha. I struggled, but I really surprised myself at how I was able to keep up and such. It was cool.
Oh! Just a quick funny story. i was running late the other morning (no matter how early i get up to shower, I'm ALWAYS last. I dunno how it happens.) So, Elder Brown was waiting, and we got ready and went to the classroom, and everyone looked at us all weird. Then we realized Elder Brown forgot his tie. He just turned to me and was like, "Seriously Elder?" It was really funny.
 
Another quick story. So, this is gonna start out by sounding kinda weird, but I promise it's good. So, earlier this week, I was getting ready to go do bed for lights out (10:30), and I just felt like I needed to be awake. So I was really having a battle with myself, because strict obedience is hit SUPER hard here, and I didn't want to break the rules. But I laid down in my bed and just REALLY felt like I needed to be awake for some reason. So, I walked into the bathroom a few minutes after we were supposed to be asleep, and found an Elder in there who was really having a rough time. We were able to get some zone leaders, give him a blessing, and take care of him. I know it sounds weird, but it felt a bit like Nephi and Laban. I'm not saying breaking rules is good, and I paid for staying up past 10:30 the next morning cuz I was so tired, but I know that the Spirit was prompting me, because this young man needed a friend that night. But other than that, I want everyone to know, I have been NAILING the rules. Just so you know. I'm not making exceptions, just for the Spirit.
So, my spiritual thought for the week. In our lesson yesterday, Hermano Hale was likening our missionary work to the song, Give said the little stream. So, for those of you that don't know the song, it's just a cute little song about a little stream rolling down a hill and making everything green on the way down. It's like that with missionary work. It's our responsibility to make everyone we teach a little better, and to spread the work. However, I took it a bit farther. Unless the stream has some sort of water supply at the top, it won't last too long. So, I like to think of us as the stream, and our Heavenly Father as the lake, and our pride as some sort of water gate. We have to humble ourselves if we want to be effective missionaries, and we have to realize that without the Lord, we cannot do this work. I hope as I continue in the MTC I can continue to humble myself, and align myself with what the Lord would like me to be. We can all do this in our lives. Also, about my VISA that everyone is so worried about... I decided, Esta bien! Our old zone leader, Elder Mann taught us an important lesson. When we were in heaven, we had a best friend. Our best friend in heaven, knew he or she wasn't going to have the opportunity to be born into the gospel. So, I promised this friend, that I would find them, and I would bring them the gospel. And I don't break promises! So, maybe my friend is in the United States, and I need to find them before I can go find my other friends in Peru. As cheesy as that sounds, I just know deep down that that's true. Every time I think about it, I get goose bumps, and just KNOW that I have someone who I have to find and help. So, don't feel bad for me if my visa doesn't come. I get to help more of my friends, AND, I get to kinda serve 2 missions. Not a lot of people get to say that.
 
The pictures are of our district in front of the temple this morning, Elders Brown, Richman, Angel (our district leader), Packer, Hermanas McNeil, Neilson, Davis, Miller, and Elder Rempel, Jensen, Renshaw, and Christiansen (Renshaw and Christiansen are our new zone leaders as of Sunday), Elder Christiansen and Jensen after our Spanish face drawing game, the only Ute fan in our district, with Elder Christiansen and Jensen decked out in their BYU garb. We always pray over my bed, and Elder Brown always gives me a hard time about praying over "such an unholy alter" because I have my U blanket draped across. We have fun. Haha.
 
Anyways! I love and miss you all, but I am so happy and proud to be doing this work, and especially at this time. It is so powerful to walk to our Tuesday night devotionals with THOUSANDS of missionaries in tow! We really are flooding the earth with missionary work, and I'm so proud to be a part of it. Please write, I love hearing from all of you!! Until next week!

Con Amor,
Elder Richman

Esta Bien!

June 12, 2013
 
Hola!
 
How is everyone? So much to talk about, and I have so insanely little time do so! So I'll talk fast. So, this week has been so slow... and so fast. It's absolutely insane to think I've already been here for a full week, but at the same time, the days can be so slow. They've started to get considerably faster, but the first day was honestly the longest day of my entire life. By the end of the day, that morning had felt like close to weeks ago. People are right when they say time is not normal in el CCM.
 
So. I got her Wednesday, and was immediately warmly welcomed by the entire CCM. So that was cool. Met Elder Brown, and the rest of my district. I absolutely love them, but I'll talk more about that later! Anyways, day 1 was all in Spanish, and I was a little stressed because the rest of my class is pretty good with the language, and I was just like, "What?!" So it was kinda weird. Fortunately, Elder Brown is really good with the language and has been helping me a lot. It's absolutely incredible the learning that takes place in the CCM. I am 100% positive that on my own, I could never learn as much as I have the last week. The Spirit helps you so much. So. Day one.
 
Day two. The Spanish was a little easier. Ran into some people I knew, like Hermana Hansen, Hermana Frischknect, Elder Johnson, Elder Crump... its awesome to see so many people I know here preparing the serve the Lord. On that day, we started learning a lot about preparing to do lessons. We have focused a lot on teaching people, not lessons. They want us to focus specifically on how to help each investigator, rather than just reciting a lesson. So we had a presentation learning how to learn about people from just a quick interaction with them, and then how we need to not judge people. It was eye opening.
 
SO! Day 3, and we get thrown in with our first lesson with Maria Jose. It was.. interesting. My Spanish was not coming, and Elder Brown and I were just stumbling. It went all right though. Um.. nothing incredible to report from that day. Basically our days consist of waking up, getting ready, going to class, studying, eating, studying, eating, speaking spanish, eating, sleeping. Not that incredible, but the Spirit is strong and the learning is incredible.
 
Next day, we had our next lesson with Maria. MUCH better. We felt the Spirit, and we challenged her to read the  Book of Mormon and pray about it. If she learned they were true, we challenged her to baptism. She accepted, so that was good! Oh, we have gym time occasionally as well on some of our days, so that's fun. When we get the field time, we usually go over to the field and play soccer. I'm slow and fat at it, but it's fun. And the food here. It's decent. It's better than school lunch (thank heavens), pero it's nothing compared to home cooked meal. I've been eating a decent amount, and the Dr. Pepper withdrawals haven't been too bad yet.. Just kidding, I've been fine. Anyways, so Elder Brown and I were pretty excited about our lesson.
 
The next day was Sunday! Everyone kept telling us "Just make it til Sunday.. make it til Sunday..." Yup. Wow. Sundays are AWESOME. It's pretty relaxing, but powerful. Sacrament meeting is all in Spanish, so that was really cool. The Sunday School President of the church came and talked with us one on one in our class, in Spanish. So that was really cool! I't so weird to see that these people are regular people just like you and me haha. And I sang in the choir, which was amazing considering there's over a thousand missionaries in it. Pretty poderoso. Um. We watched Elder Bednar's talk that night entitled Characters of Christ. Honestly, going on a mission is worth it JUST to see that talk. It was absolutely incredible. I can't even describe it. I'm still chewing on what we learned from it. We also had a great devotional from the administrator here, Brother... Heaton..? He did really good.
 
Monday, we got back in the groove... Taught Maria again. It was decent, and she had read a bit. We taught what we needed to, and got to know her a bit more, so that was good. Got my first contact from home so that was awesome. Haha.
 
Okay! Tuesday was the GOOD stuff! So, the morning was normal... studied (tried to study. Our minds wander sometimes.), and had a normal day. Taught Maria, and I learned about being humble. I went in with a fairly confident attitude, and immediately when we went in the room, my lesson plan and Spanish went out the door. I said a little prayer in my head while Elder Brown was recovering from my floundering, and just apologized for thinking that it is through my power I could do this. Almost immediately, the Spirit came back, and I was able to teach, and I even was using words in Spanish I didn't know I knew. Pretty cool. Well, anyways, later that day we had to go to choir practice, so we had to leave from class early. So, during our short lesson, Hermano Hale, our teacher, wanted to give us a lesson on unity. He decided to speak in English so we all got his point, and we talked about pride. We were talking about it, and I expressed how I had felt inadequate with the language, and I was too prideful to practice in class much because I didn't want to embarass myself. We all started talking about how we all could be better. Hermano Hale told us that he had been praying for a district who could really come together and change the MTC. I started feeling the Spirit SO strongly. I knew that we had been brought together for some reason, and I just started choking up and bawling. I think Hermano Hale thought I was having a breakdown, so he called a break, and was like, "Elder Richman, are you okay?!" But I just kinda laughed, and waited til everyone got back and just bore my testimony of how grateful I was of how kind and accomodating everyone had been, and how I loved everyone in that room, and they loved me, even though it's only been a few days. I just bore testimony that I know how important this work is, and how grateful I was to be doing it with these people. Then, everyone started bearing testimony, and opening up, and we all just were bawling, and we gave embrazos (hugs) after... it was crazy, but amazing. I feel so close with my district, and I feel so blessed to have them. And my companion, Seriously, my companion rocks. Anyways, that night we practiced for the event we are singing for on the 23rd, which you all should watch, and had an awesome devotional.  Ah. Times running short. I'll hurry. The pictures I'm sending are of our district, and me and my companion, and stuff. Good stuff.
 
Oh! I saw Brother Bingham and Allen at the temple today. That was cool.
 
Yo se que esta iglesia es verdad, y el Libro de Mormon tambien. Yo se que el don de lenguas es un real don, y es muy (useful?) durante un mison. Estoy agredicido por la oportunidad para servir un mision, especialmente durante este tiempo, y con mi distrito. Estoy animado por mas experiencias en el CMM para sentir el Espiritu Santo.
 
Sorry, time got away from me and all of a sudden it's gone. In summary, I'm doing great. Loving the work, loving my companion, investigators, district, zone, and especially the gospel. I'll try to streamline my letter next week though. Before I sign off... send me mail! You all should have my address, and if not, mom, send it out, and post it on Facebook. But send letters, cuz I get those every day, but I'd love to get emails too... but times just very tight haha. Love and miss all of you, but I'm having a good time being a missionary. Until next week!
 
Elder Richman

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Letter #2

June 7, 2013

Hola Mi Familia!

I miss you guys!  I hope my MTC address gets home soon.  I look forward to hearing from you guys.  Tell people to write I feel like a loser not getting mail (Winking sign). How are you guys?  I'm TIRED.  These last two dias have been muy largas.  Its hard work, pero yo se es por un motivo bueno! Yo amo mi districo, y mi espanol es...rusty!  Pero! I know the Lord will bless me.  I've already seen the Lord help mi con mi idioma.  Honestly i'm not trying to switch to Spanish.  My mind is moving at a billion miles an hour trying to process, so caundo voy a la cama, I can't fall asleep because my mind is still going.  Esto bein! It's been great though.  Can't wait to learn more & hear from you.  Oh, we played soccer today.  That was cool!  Um...I dunno what else.  I'm having a great time, per.  Te Queiro mucho!  Te Amo!

Hasta Luego
Elder Richman

PS.  Y se que este iglesia es verdadero, y se que jose smith restorardo.  Yo se que wl don de lenguas es real.  Yo estdy agredecimos por la explacion, y mediante lo, yo siento goz.  Y paz yo se que obra de misionero es muy importantg, y estoy animado para servir en peru por dios!

PPS.  Oh Dr. Pepper and air freshener (my shoes stink)  Cookies

This is Marilyn:  Sorry if I slaughtered the Spanish.  Lance may have to do the typing of the Spanish stuff.

MTC address
Elder Daniel Lance Richman
JUL 16  PER-CSC
2009 N 900 E Unit 196
Provo, UT 84602

You can also use dearelder.com and use his address.  These are printed M-F before 5 pm and put in his mailbox.
Also daniel.richman@myldsmail.net I believe that he is able to read this on P-day.  I'm not sure about all of this yet.

Friday, June 7, 2013

MTC Address

We got our first letter!

Here is Daniel's MTC Address:

Elder Daniel Lance Richman
JUL 16 PER-CSC
2009 N 900 E Unit 196
Provo, UT
84602


dearelder.com is something that he can get the same day that you send it if you send it by noon.  You use his MTC address to do this.

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the your letters!  I appreciated all of them.  I love and miss all of you already so much!  Haven't even had a chance to miss you til  now.  Right when we got here, I got my badge & was processed .  I dropped off my bags, & went to class.  It was all in Spanish.  I understood most of it, but couldn't think fast enough to reply.

My companero es Elder Brown.  He was supposed to be my flight buddy.  I like him a lot!  I've already seen Shanlee and Jakob.  Anyways, then we had dinner.  It was good!  Then we did a learning activity with fake investigators.  It was good!  Then we met up with our zone leaders!  Been busy but good!  Over 900 missionaries came today, one of the biggest groups EVER!  I'm catching the wave!  Thanks for everything.  Love & miss you all already!

Adios!
Elder Richman


Sunday, June 2, 2013

Farewell Talk:Diamonds and Discipleship

Just thought I'd post my farewell talk up on here for those who weren't able to make it, and for those who would like to read it again. I report to the MTC this Wednesday. :)

Buenos tardes hermanos y hermanas! I would like to start out by thanking everyone for being here today. I appreciate all of your support more than you realize, and I know I wouldn’t be here today with out you! Also, I’d like to warn everyone; I’m pretty sure I developed some sort of allergic reaction to public speaking, because sometimes my eyes just start to water really bad when I speak, so if it looks like I’m crying, don’t worry. Just allergies.
                As most of you know, I have been called to serve in the Peru Cusco mission, Spanish speaking. I’m thoroughly convinced that I got the single most coolest mission in the world. Honestly, when I opened my call, I was just in shock that I got to go to such an awesome place. So, needless to say, I’m pretty excited!
                In the April 2010 General Conference, President Uchtdorf gave a FANTASTIC talk entitled, “You Are My Hands.” In the talk, he begins with a story which I feel would provide a great back drop for the rest of my talk. He tells the story of a city during World War 2, in which, after a bombing, a large statue of Jesus Christ was severely damaged. When the townspeople found the statue, they were very upset because it had been a representation of their faith, and reminded them of God’s presence in their lives. Fortunately, most of the statue was able to be repaired.  However, the statue’s hands were destroyed beyond repair. Although some wanted to get the hands remade, they left the statue as it was without the hands with a simple inscription at the base: “You are my hands.” I find this to be a beautiful, though simple, truth.  Although our Heavenly Father can do all things, he often uses us as his hands on this earth to accomplish his work.
How can we maximize what we can do for the Lord? In a talk entitled “Challenge to Become”, Dallin H. Oaks writes, “In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to know something, the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to become something”. Well, what does the gospel challenge us to become? Obviously, it challenges us to become better people, and always strive to be more Christ like. In a word, this gospel challenges us to become a disciple, namely, a disciple of Christ.
                How does the gospel help us become a disciple of Christ? I know this has been used before, but I couldn’t seem to find where, but I’d like to compare our process in becoming a disciple of Christ to the process of the creation of a diamond. For those of you who do not know, diamond is graphite (carbon) which, over a period of time (usually millions of years), is subjected to high pressure and high temperature, and it becomes diamond. Here, I have a piece of graphite (okay, its charcoal, but we can pretend for just a second.) It is rough, crumbles easily, and quite frankly, isn’t much to look at. Here, I have a diamond (okay, its plastic. Again, let’s just pretend for a moment.). It’s smooth, and very beautiful to look at. It’s also (in theory, as this is plastic) the hardest substance known to man. As a matter of fact, my father creates diamond at his job, and it is used for drilling oil and gas wells. So, this (charcoal) gets turned into this (diamond), through millions of years of high temperature and high pressure. So how can this (diamond) be used to look at our journey to discipleship?
                Okay, let’s talk about high temperature first. One of the reasons graphite is able to turn into diamond is through heat. First thing I thought of is the “heat” that most people use to describe the feeling of the Spirit. As stated in 2 Nephi 31:17, “The remission of sins comes by fire and by the Holy Ghost.” The gift of the Holy Ghost itself is often called baptism by fire, which, if I’m not mistaken, is usually pretty hot. How can the Holy Ghost help direct our lives in order for us to become Disciples of Christ? Well, as most of you know, the gift of the Holy Ghost is received after baptism. The Holy Ghost then becomes our constant companion. The Holy Ghost has many purposes for us. He teaches us, brings us peace, helps us find truth, sanctifies us, bears witness, and testifies of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Ultimately, without the power of the Holy Ghost, it would be impossible for anyone to be truly converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. “If ye receive not the Spirit, thou shall not teach.” D&C 42:14. The Spirit is KEY to learning about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Without beginning to gain a testimony of the gospel, we would never have the desire, or knowledge, to become a disciple of Christ. However, after our testimonies are started, the Holy Ghost helps us to nourish and grow our testimonies.
                An experience that stands out to me when I think of the Holy Ghost helping testify of truth to further our testimonies happened just a few months ago. When I first received my call to Peru, my mom went out and bought me the Book of Mormon in Spanish, or El Libro de Mormon. I remember taking it back up to school with me, and for fun I decided to read a little bit from it. I didn’t recognize all of the words, and I struggled to understand what was occurring in the passages I was reading. But, I do remember the burning of the Spirit in my heart. I sat there reading, with tears in my eyes, because although this book was in another language, and I wasn’t entirely sure what the stuff I was reading said, the Spirit testified to me; This book was true. That was a huge testimony builder for me. Through the Spirit’s “high temperature” fire, I was able to continue my conversion to becoming a diamond… AKA a disciple of Christ.
                 So, another reason that graphite is able to turn into diamond is through high pressure. When the graphite is subjected to high pressure, it can do one of two things; it can fracture and be destroyed, or it can endure, change, and become stronger in the process.  High pressure coupled with high temperature will help facilitate this change, or synthesis, that physically changes the crystalline structure that transforms the carbon in graphite into crystalline diamond.  The same goes for us and adversity. When faced with adversity, we can choose to be beaten down and destroyed, or we can endure, change, and become stronger in the process. Oftentimes, our adversities require outside help. This is where the spirit comes into play.  Turning to Christ (or the Spirit of God, like a fire…you know) is how we can endure adversities, grow (change), and become stronger.  Although it’s a poem I’m sure most of you have heard before, I still feel that it is very touching, and applies well here. The poem is as follows,
One night I had a dream...
I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord, and
Across the sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand;
one belonged to me, and the other to the Lord.
When the last scene of my life flashed before us,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that many times along the path of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest
and saddest times in my life
this really bothered me, and I questioned the Lord about it.
"Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you,
You would walk with me all the way;
But I have noticed that during the
most troublesome times in my life,
There is only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why in times when I
needed you the most, you should leave me.
The Lord replied, "My precious, precious
child. I love you, and I would never,
never leave you during your times of
trial and suffering.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you.
                At the beginning of this school year, I was having a hard time adjusting to the college life. It was hard being away from home, and not having my parents to turn to. The first few weeks I really had nowhere to turn to help me overcome my adversity. So, I decided to turn to the Lord. I started making sure I was praying daily, and reading my scriptures. The change that was made in my life was immediate, and very apparent. I was much happier, and I knew I could turn to our Heavenly Father with anything I needed. Throughout the rest of the year, as adversities arose, they were easy to push past, because I was able to have my Heavenly Father and Christ at my side helping me through.
                The last point I’d like to cover in my diamond comparison is the fact that the process of becoming a diamond usually takes time. However, it’s not always a constant process. It could be subjected to the right conditions for a while, and then stop, and then start up again. This is also applicable to the path of becoming a disciple. Obviously, there’s the idea that the process of becoming a disciple of Christ doesn’t happen overnight, and that it is a lifelong process. But we could also think of it in regards of repentance. Although we may have the best intentions, we often tend to make mistakes. I am reminded of Lehi in 1 Nephi 16. For those of you who don’t know the story, after departing into the wilderness from Jerusalem, Nephi went out with his awesome bow to go hunt for food, and while he was gone, he broke it. Obviously, his family is upset that they have no food. It then specifically mentions that Lehi murmurs against the Lord because of this hardship. When Nephi approaches his father with a new bow he has made, and asks Lehi to inquire of the Lord where to hunt, Lehi was “truly chastened because of his murmuring against the Lord, insomuch that he was brought down into the depths of sorrow.” This is a prophet of the Lord, who has seen mighty visions, and he slipped up and made mistakes. Although we shouldn’t think of it in terms of, “sweet, I can make mistakes”, to me, it’s a comforting thought that even though I’m not perfect, through the Atonement, I can be clean again, and still be a faithful disciple of Christ.
                All right, so we have high pressure, high temperature, and time involved to make a beautiful diamond, right? So, there have to be some pretty perfect circumstances in order to create this diamond. The same applies in our lives. I know that without the things I mentioned, there’s no way that I could have come to know of my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and love them. However, I definitely think I was put in the perfect circumstances for me to realize these things. I have been blessed with an amazing immediate family, who laugh, cry, and grow with me. My parents have always been there for me, although I oftentimes was thick headed, and probably pretty hard to deal with. I’ll always appreciate the fact that they taught me the gospel from a young age, but as I got older, helped me develop a testimony of my own, so that I wouldn’t just have to rely on theirs. Although my sisters and I don’t always get along, I’ve always been impressed with how spiritually in tune they seem to be, and at such a young age. To all my extended family, they are such an example as well. Many of them have served missions, and their influence upon me in that manner has been huge. And I have been very blessed with many close friends who have been spiritual mountains for me through the years, and their examples have done more for me than they know.
                Okay! So through all that stuff, now we have our diamond. It’s pretty sweet. As I said earlier, it’s the hardest substance known to man. So, let’s think for a second. Let’s say, we had a big rock we were trying to cut through. How effective would this be (charcoal)? This would break in just about 2 seconds. How about this (diamond)? You’re going to have a lot better luck, right? In my mind, this same principle applies to missionary work. You’re not going to be able to help others want to follow Christ, if you don’t follow Christ. The same comparison can be used. Often in the Book of Mormon and Bible, it is said that groups of people “hardened their hearts.” So, we can think of their hearts as a hard substance. Are we going to be able to affect them and touch their hearts if we are like the charcoal; brittle, and soft? No. We need to be like the diamond; beautiful, shining bright, and hard enough to help open their hearts to the power of the Spirit.
                All in all, Heavenly Father is going to help shape us into “his hands”, or his disciples. Through the power of the gospel, we can gain the desire to draw closer to Christ. Ultimately, this will cause us to make changes in our lives in order to make the decision to follow Christ, and become Disciples of Christ. We have been given a wonderful task to help further the Lord’s work on the earth, through serving others, missionary work, and setting an example for the rest of the world to follow. We all need to rise to the occasion, and accept this great responsibility, and start doing the work!
                In closing, I’d like to talk a little bit about an article written by President Uchtdorf, entitled, “How to be a disciple of Christ.” I’d just like to touch on the first few lines of it. President Uchtdorf writes, “The first step on the path of discipleship begins in the exact place where we stand! We do not have to prequalify to take that first step. It doesn’t matter if we are rich or poor. There is no requirement to be educated, eloquent, or intellectual. We do not have to be perfect or well-spoken or even well-mannered. You and I can walk in the path of discipleship today.” What an awesome truth. Don’t wait another minute to decide whether or not you want to follow Christ. Start making the choices and decisions today to start down that path, because I can guarantee that it will bring you happiness. And if you already are on the path, be a missionary! Help others to find the path. If you are truly a disciple of Christ, you will know the joy that can come through it, and you will do everything in your power to share that happiness with others. Through the path of becoming a disciple of Christ, we can go from this (charcoal) to this (diamond). It’s amazing to see the change that it can bring to your life, and others, and it’s what our Heavenly Father wants us to do.
See ya all in 2 years! My mom will be taking over my blog from here on out. Love you all! :)