9/9/13

Hello everyone!
(For those of you who don't know or haven't caught it, I'm quoting my character from "The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940" at the beginning of every letter. It fits, though. :) )

This week was pretty good! We taught 4 lessons to investigators/ potential investigators, which is more than we have since I've been in Sandusky! I told you about the two coolest ones last Tuesday (Shonna and Joshua). We haven't been able to meet with them again, but when Shonna left a message last night to cancel, she said she was calling for the "two sweet girls who talked to her last week" and she really wants to reschedule when she's feeling better. I'm thinking good things are still to come. :)

We've had some interesting tracting experiences this week. We tract WAY TOO MUCH in this area, but until we have other ideas, that's what we're going to do! Anyway, we talked to the SWEETEST girls who were practicing their baton-twirling in the front yard, then a nice woman who was walking with her grandkids, and then we met "The Pagan." Seriously, though, that's what he called himself. We knocked on his door, and he leaned around the doorframe awkwardly, like he wasn't wearing clothes or something. When we introduced ourselves, he started LAUGHING. Like, belly-laughing. As in, leaned on the table next to him and laughed for thirty seconds before explaining. Then he said, "You came to the wrong house. I'm not even a Christian; I'm a pagan!" And he shut the door laughing. We laughed when we walked away-- how could we not? The guy was crazy! I hope he departs from his "pagan ways" someday and finds the gospel. :) We also met a 92-year-old Pentecostal who said that as long as you believe in Christ you're good... until he found out we were Mormon. He was warning us to stay away from the Mormons and believe in Jesus. He also told us to join a good church with the Holy Ghost and the gift of tongues and such. Umm... He was cute, though. Sister Hawkins got kinda upset when he cut off her testimony (not to him, but she told me after). It just goes to show how hard Satan is trying to fight the work.

We also met another potential investigator (we're really bad at making them actual investigators, but we're working on it!) who actually knows Shawn, a member of our ward who own a barber shop. When he learned we were Mormons and we knew Shawn, he asked if she had sent us. :P He's really funny, though, and somehow the Spirit touched him and he said he'd read the Book of Mormon. He's met missionaries before, and talked to them before, and has one if not two copies of the BoM, but something in our situation made him promise to read it. I hope he really does. His name is Larry, he's retired, and so fun, and he needs to be baptized. :D

One last story: We had ward coordination on Saturday evening, and during it our ward missionaries (Shawn and the mission leader's wife, Sister Reel) got talking about "Brother Toft." When they learned that none of us sisters had been to meet "Brother Toft", they decided they were going to kidnap us. So, they skipped most of the ward indexing party, "kidnapped" us, and with Sister Coffelt (who had come to the indexing party but we kidnapped her as well) took us to meet "Brother Toft"... a.k.a, Toft's Ice Cream. It was a big shop, with good ice cream. Anyway, that wasn't the good part. There we were, four sister missionaries and three ladies from the ward, filling every seat in the Reel's rather messy van, talking and laughing for the rather long drive (longer than I had expected; probably 20 minutes) to Brother Toft. We were laughing so hard I could hardly talk! Then, less than a block away from Toft's, the road was closed. Instead of taking a detour, Sister Reel turned down a side street, pulled into a parking lot, then, with Shawn's encouragement and the rest of us dying of laughter, she drove over the grass into a neighboring parking lot, to the road on the other side of the construction, and onto Tofts! Of course, we took the same route back to the church as well. :D It was so fun, and a real stress reliever just to be with members, eating ice cream and laughing more than I have in a long time. It was wonderful. :)

Sorry the letter's so long today. I love you all! Have a wonderful week!



--
***Sister McKayla Richards***
"For with God, nothing shall be impossible." (Luke 1:37)

5 Months In!

Hello everyone!

Yesterday being Labor Day, the Library was closed, so we get to email during our lunch today! I have SO MUCH to tell, so I'd better type like the wind! (If you don't have time to read the whole thing, read the paragraph after the next. It includes a miracle. :D )

I'll start with yesterday. We went to the Melon Festival in Milan. Sister Frankenberry and I went there on Saturday for exchanges, but it wasn't a good contacting location. (Yes, her last name is Frankenberry. :D ) Sister Hawkins and I were IN the Melon Festival Parade on Sunday and gave out more than 500 pass-along cards. There were thousands of people there, that tiny town was PACKED, but we could only get the ones on the side of the road. It's the first time I've had so many people ask for a card, and only one gave it back to me. :) How many missionaries get to contact IN a parade? It was pretty cool. Then, yesterday, we went to the festival for P-Day. Our whole district ended up going, and it was way fun. We couldn't ride any rides or watch the shows, but we ate carnival food and talked and looked at craft booths. We had watermelon and cantaloupe ice cream, and it was really good. The festival is known for it. Anyway, it was the first excursion I've done on a P-Day since I came to Sandusky.

That night, we ended P-day at 4:30 rather than 6:00 because we were doing FHE with two families, the first starting at 5:00. It's a single mom and her two kids, and it was so fun. We played "Boula Boula", which is kind of like "hot and cold". After that we went to the Browns, a less-active family, for tacos and FHE. They have 7 kids, and all but the oldest are boys. It was CRAZY, but they are a good family. After that, we had time to do stop-bys and tracting. We stopped by a man we met last Monday (I'll tell his story later), and when he wasn't home I got kind of discouraged. I had made a deal with the Lord that morning, asking Him to bless us with an other lesson and a new investigator today because we were giving up part of our P-day. Not trying to be disrespectful, but asking for blessings for diligence kind of thing. Anyway, I was sure that stop by would be the one, but it wasn't. We were running out of daylight, and we prayed to ask who we should stop by to have that lesson and find that investigator. We felt nothing, and so we decided to go home and make phone calls, and maybe we'd set up an appointment for tomorrow instead of having a lesson tonight. On the way we passed a former's house, and their light was on. We decided to stop. The former had moved, but we set up an appointment with the new person living there. We weren't sure how interested he really was, but we counted it as a blessing and went to go home. But, Sister Hawkins decided to knock on his neighbor's door because their lights were on, too. So, we did... and we met Shonna. She let is in, we taught her about the Restoration, and we're seeing her again on Thursday. An other lesson, and a new investigator. THE LORD ANSWERS PRAYERS!!! We saw a miracle last night, and we didn't stop smiling until we were sleeping. We were late getting home, (we ended at 9:30 and still had to drive 20 minutes home) but I'm SO GLAD we met her. She told us we made her night- what she doesn't realize is she really made ours.

Also, while on exchanges with Sister Frankenberry, we taught Joshua, the first person I ever tracted into who let us teach him on the doorstep. We sat on his porch and taught him the Restoration. I'm not sure how much really sunk in because his attention span is a little short (he's 19) but we're going to text him on Friday and hopefully see him on Saturday, and then he would be a new investigator, too! Maybe we'll actually reach our goal of 3 new investigators this week!! Joshua has a lot of guilt that may keep him from being baptized right away, but he said he would if he felt it was right. He just needs to access the Atonement; he just needs to keep meeting with us to do it!! And he needs to read the Book of Mormon. I think that's what we'll teach him next! :)

S

peaking of the Book of Mormon, last Monday we met Mike (the unsuccessful stop by from yesterday). He was our third to last house, and when we knocked on the door he was on the phone inside. He hung up, though, and came outside to talk to us. He's a firefighter, works crazy hours, and has seen lots of hard things. He's Catholic, and talked about finding peace in going to church. I felt prompted to give him a Book of Mormon right there (which I've never done while tracting) and promise him that he would feel peace when reading it (like it says in the Introduction). We explained the book a little and testified of it, and he committed to read it ("rack reading", he called it, during his 36 to 48 hour shifts at the fire station). We keep stopping by him hoping he'll be home... Whatever happens, a seed was planted.

I know the Lord directs this work. It can be really frustrating to work hard day after day and see almost nothing come from it, but then we have weeks like this where the work wasn't any easier, but we saw results, or budding results at least. I love this work! I've learned that sisters really only get 17 months in the field, so I actually go home in a little over a year is all. :( I'm going to have to make the most of it!!

I love you all! Good luck! Keep the faith!

-- 

***Sister McKayla Richards***

"For with God, nothing shall be impossible." (Luke 1:37)

Time for Transfer #4

Hello everyone!

This week was crazy in our temporary triple-up and doubly-big area. But, we managed, and my area got a new investigator! Her name's Tina, and she is looking for a church for her family. We came over for our second lesson (the Restoration- which, by the way, is the first time I've taught it from beginning to end with an investigator) and she sat down and said, "OK, teach me something." Her dad has Alzheimer's and interrupts and goes completely off-subject, but we do OK. We're taking her on a church tour this week, and I'm hoping to teach her a lesson there WITHOUT her dad. He's also a little creepy, but that's just because of the Alzheimer's. She accepted the invitation to be baptized, and when we see her tomorrow night we're going to ask if September 21st is a good date. I hope she says yes! Unless I'm mistaken, that's the day Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith, right?

We finally got something from drawing a Plan of Salvation! We got a text from an unknown number that said, "Spirit world?" So we texted back a definition, and he asked if family members can come back from the dead. We responded with the resurrection and eternal families. Then he asked where the church is. Say what?! I don't know if he'll actually come, but it'd be cool!

I got a hug on the doorstep (from a man!) for the first time. We knocked on his door, and come to find out he's from St. Mary's, Idaho! He wasn't interested, really, but after we talked to him he came out and gave us hugs before we left. It was a little awkward, but funny, and we're sure the Lord understands. :)

I get a new companion tomorrow, but I'm staying in Sandusky South, and I'm glad. I wonder how long I'll stay here, since I was only in Lakewood West for two transfers. We'll see! I hope she's a nice sister. I know of one who's companion is training, and if she's my companion I'll be a happy sister, because she's a sweetheart. :)

We drove to Cleveland FOUR TIMES last week! We had to drop Sister Bennett off on Monday, we had Zone Conference on Tuesday (which was awesome!), I had a diabetes appointment at the Cleveland Clinic on Wednesday (which is one of the top five hospitals in the nation, unbeknownst to me when I set the appointment, so lucky me!), and then we were surprised with an additional trip on Friday because Sister Turpin had to go to trainers meeting, and there's no one else training west of Cleveland, so we all had to go. CRAZY! And we're going to Kirtland tomorrow for transfers. Miles= shot. Luckily, we have another car that's been sitting there for a week, so that one will go under miles and will all balance out.

Question: Do any of you other missionaries have a TIWI? If so, how do you like him? I'll explain what TIWI is next week; I'm running out of time.

I know the Lord is in this work. I love being a missionary! And I love you all. :) Have a great week!

-- 

***Sister McKayla Richards***

"For with God, nothing shall be impossible." (Luke 1:37)

Never have a normal transfer...

Hello Everyone!

Sister Bennett went home this morning... We found out on Friday that she would be leaving, though we had some forewarning that it might happen. Still, it's really sad. I'm going to miss her. I'm in a temporary triple-up with the other sisters who share my ward, Sister Planer and Sister Turpin. Will I never have a normal transfer? I guess this makes it more fun. :) I've discovered that, including these two temporary companions, and my half-companion Sister Morris last transfer, I've had six companions in three transfers. What?! Either I'm a pain and they have to keep pawning me off on other people, or I'm so wonderful that have to share me with everyone. I like to think the latter. ;) So, I know for sure I'm getting a new comp next week (transfers again already! I know, right?!). This week I'll be working in "Sandusky Southeast," which combines our two areas. It'll be fun!

Our only real "progressing investigator", Jenni, isn't progressing anymore... Actually, our next lesson is going to be a "dropping" lesson. :( It's so sad to see someone choose not to take the steps toward the gospel! Still, she knows it's true, so she will be baptized someday. She got baptized at a slightly anti-Mormon church a few weeks ago and told us about it this week.. Uh-oh... I love her, though, and I'm praying that she chooses to come someday. I guess some people need more time than others.

I remembered another thing that's different about people in Ohio: Everyone tells you their life story. EVERYONE. You can get an entire life story on the porch before they tell you they're not interested! And members love to tell you them, too. It's really funny, though sometimes it makes for really long teaching appointments that you can't cut short! It makes me laugh how insanely open some people are. Maybe it's something about being a missionary, and people trust us instantly. (That is, if they aren't scared of us, which some people are.) That's a good thing, I guess. There can be no conversion without trust. :)

We have Zone Conference tomorrow. I'm in a new zone, but I'm going back to the chapel from my old area for the conference (it's the stake center, and I'm still in the Cleveland stake). It should be fun, and I get to see old friends from the Cleveland Zone! Yay! Time goes way too fast on the mission... we have zone conferences quarterly, and that means I've been here over a quarter... Actually, nearly 4 1/2 months... Oh boy...

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!

  

Love,
Sister Richards

Pictures! 

Missionary Pictures 004: Me in front of our house!

Missionary Picrtures 006: Part of an AWESOME Plan of Salvation we drew in a park with chalk. It includes our phone number, mormon.org, written out verses from the BOM, references for bible scriptures, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and a basic Plan of Salvation all in colorful sidewalk chalk. :D

-- 

Good Week, Bad Numbers

Hello Everyone!

Every week in the mission field is a good week, but not every week is very productive. My companion's been getting worse and worse, and this week we only taught one lesson, and it was to a member. We had zero's down the board, and it was very sad to report that last night. We've talked to other people, but she's been to sick to have enough proselyting time to really teach more lessons. But, like my mission president told me this week, it's better to focus on what we CAN do when she's sick, rather than what we CAN'T.

So, I really don't have much to report as far as stories go. But, Sister Bennett and I were philosophizing this week, and I thought I'd share it with you, because it's a really good thought: We were discussing the pre-existance, and the thought came up of what did we do in the pre-existance that made it so we came to THIS world, during THIS dispensation, born in the covenant with strong families, among the Saints (she's from Utah) and having the opportunities we do. Not thinking we were amazing or better than a lot of people, because I know there are righteous, valiant souls were are not born in our circumstances, but we have a lot of blessings. When you look at the number of people who actually have the opportunities we do, it's humbling. Anyway, food for thought. I'm so thankful I was born in this time to this family in the knowledge of the gospel with the chance to go on a mission.

I've come up with a list of 3 things that are common in Ohio, but not in Idaho (just as something interesting; I've been developing it for a while): 

   1- Almost everyone smokes. Pretty much. It's kinda gross.

   2- Almost everyone has indoor pets. Not just some people, not just people with their own houses, everyone.

   3- Men of all ages go shirtless in all sorts of situations. We've talked to shirtless men while tracting, and especially the old, hairy, chubbier ones love to go shirtless while doing yard work.

Anyway, totally random, but there you have it. Fellow missionaries, what are three things about YOUR mission that are unique and/or weird?

I love you all! Have a wonderful week!!

And now, for the report from Sandusky South

Hello everyone!

This week was... weird. We would go out for half days, or whole days, or quarter days, or none days, depending on how Sister Bennett's been feeling. It's a trial, not being able to just go out and WORK, but we're getting through it. The Lord is helping us see miracles with the time we do use well.

One of them is that we got TWO new investigators out of our ONE nonmember lesson this week. WOW!! They are two sisters, Kay and Tianni, and they have kids that we get to meet tonight. One has two kids and the other has three. Our challenge (according to them) is to keep the kids interested in the Restoration, and then they'll want to learn more and  come to church. Challenge accepted. :) We're bringing a wonderful member, and we're begging for the Lord's help, because we want them to keep investigating!

Another miracle was how many non-tracting finding ideas we've had this week. Sister Bennett does NOT have energy to tract, and sometimes even stop-by's are too much. So, we've been doing things like organizing a bible study class (which we want to finalize this week and start next week), went to City Hall in Bellevue and asked about volunteer opportunities, and we now have a booth in an Open-Air Market this week. There's no set-up fee, and they said we can give away literature!! We help them set up, so they like us more. ;)

We've also tried this cool new idea that Elder Cuestas told us about that he did in East Cleveland: We've been drawing the Plan of Salvation in parks with sidewalk chalk, and putting our number and mormon.org next to it, and on our last one we wrote, "Where did I come from?", "What is my purpose in life?" and "Where do I go after this life?" near their respective places in the plan. The miracle with this one was: It was raining, then it stopped, and as soon as we started drawing the clouds visibly started moving and by the time we were drawing the Spirit World the sky was blue. :D The Lord can calm seas (New Testament), stir up storms (Zion's Camp), and stop rain!! :D It started raining again later, but that must mean that whoever needed to see our Plan of Salvation saw it, and so he cleaned the sidewalk so we can draw it again this week. :)

I'm being kicked off by the library. :P I love you all! have a fantastic week!

Love, 

Sister McKayla Richards

Sandusky South

Hello Everyone!

 

This week has been CRAZY! Sister Bennett has been sick for a lot of it, but it's really sporadic. We'll go out for a whole day, then the next day we go to appointments, but go home because she can't tract, then we'll stay in a whole day. She has a doctor appointment on Wednesday, so hopefully we can figure things out.

 

So, something I forgot to tell you last week... Two days before I was transferred here, a HUGE tornado hit Bellevue. Like, touched the ground. I'm attaching pictures. Seeing the destruction is terrifying! No one was killed, though, which is a blessing. We've helped a member clean out some of the junk that was soaked in her basement, and helped a less-active family completely tear up their carpet. Bellevue was without power for days, and there are trees EVERYWHERE, because Ohio loves trees. Again, I'll send pictures. :)

 

Also, on my first night here we were tracting, and some guy a couple houses down from us saw us. I heard him ask his buddy, "Are they Amish?" Then he yelled to us, "Hey, are you Amish?" I answered enthusiastically, "No, we're Mormon!" He replied, "Oh, that's cool." Undeterred, I asked, "Do you want to learn more?" He said, "No," but the exchange made me smile. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ." :D

 

Last Monday evening we stopped by a less-active to give him an invitation to a YSA activity. There was a sign on the front door that said, "Use the side door", so we went around the side. Sister Bennett rang the doorbell, and I looked around the side of the house and saw a giant German Shepherd wandering the backyard, and the fence didn't look closed. All of a sudden, I felt this rush of complete and utter terror. I felt like something really, really bad was going to happen if we stayed there. I thought it was the dog, but later events proved me wrong. Anyway, I told Sister Bennett not to knock but that we just needed to leave, and we needed to leave now. So I nearly ran to the front of the house, and my companion follwed. Once we were on the sidewalk the dog started barking, and a woman came around from the back of the house. So, from the sidewalk, we said hello, and she started on us hard: I told you bishop," said with vehement hatred, "that I would have you arrested if you ever came on my property again." Thank heavens we weren't on her property, but on the sidewalk. We explained that we were just dropping of an invitation for her son, and she said that he was at college. Turns out she's been excommunicated and is still kind of bitter. It was probably the scariest exchange I've had my entire mission. I'm so glad I was warned to get away from her door, even if the Spririt had to speak to me through feelings of fear. A warning is a warning, and it kept us safe.

 

We went tracting near a river over the last two days, and my legs are COVERED in mosquito bites. We bought bug spray and smelled like camping when we tracted the second day. I have at least thirty bites... They like me more than they like Sister Bennett. Ugh. I'm glad that street's done. :P At least that's not a terrible thing to happen while tracting. I've heard of worse. :)

 

I love this area. It's going to take a lot of work to get it moving, but I love it so, so much. I love you all! Have a wonderful week!

 

Love,

Sister Kayla Richards

 

Explaination of pictures:

 

Pic 1 is all of us sisters who lived together. We took this the day before Sister Morris was sent to Bowling Green.

 

Pic 2 is our district (minus Elder Graf, who had just been transferred, plus Elder Richins, the temporary replacement, and minus Elder LaBar who took the picture for me) when we were playing football on the beach during a huge storm. So fun! We got back to the car and found quite a few "flood warning" texts on our phones. :P

--