Week 28: Zone conference
Monday, March 25, 2024
¡Que tal yall!
How was yalls week?
Tuesday we hit the finding grinding and it just felt like we were In a slump.
Pretty much the same thing with Wednesday. It just felt super slow and we weren't having a ton of success.
But on Thursday, we had zone conference!! Got to be reunited with my boy Elder Mecham! So nice to be able to chop it up with him again. Such a dawg. Mecham i love you and miss you (For anyone who doesn't know what zone conference is, basically just a ton of missionaries in different zones get together and the mission president and his wife and the leaders of the mission provide training and counsel and how we can do better as missionaries and disciples of Jesus Christ. It Is super powerful. And we get to see the dawgs who we only get to see every 6 weeks)
I also got to see my boy Elder Mitton again! Such a beast. We are hoping we can fly out to Bolivia together. It's so hype that he's in the south now! Love you Mitton
I also got to see Elders Jeffrey, Lee, Carbine, Heitz, and some of the other dawgs.
They fed us some bussin food and you already know we got some fire pics and Polaroids.
After zone conference, Elder Gowans and I came home and went to work. And we experienced 3 miracles back to back. The first is that we were in an area and about to finish a tracting block. I felt like we needed to knock on one more door. There was some kids outside of the house, so we won't up and asked if their parents were home and wanted to hear a message about Jesus. The parents came out and weren't interested. But as we were walking back to the car, a guy comes out of his house, and shouts "I thought it was you guys!" We turn around and realize it was Jeff! This homie that we talked to the first night of the transfer. That time that we first talked him, he was at his friends house in a completely different neighborhood probably 10 mins away. We were struggling to contact this guy and couldn't get his address. But there he was! We talked to him and he's read a little of the Book of Mormon. And he was like I'm so sorry I've been flaky. But he wants to talk more with us! What a miracle.
After, we went over to our friend Stephanie's house. She was a media referral who we had a powerful lesson with the previous week. But she never responded to a text or call after that, or wasn't home when we came by. We came by on a last chance effort. And just as we were walking up She comes outside! She had gotten a job the day that we talked to her last (another awesome miracle) and had been really busy with It and she apparently hates her phone so she's never on it. But she has been reading the book of Mormon!!!! She absolutely loves it and she said that it just makes sense and she's experienced so much more peace and joy ever since we talked last. And she asked for a few copies to give to her Co-workers! She has been taking about it with them and they are super interested too and want to read them and learn more!! She then said she had a question about children, and the spirit told me that she was gonna ask about baptizing children. So I answered it and we were able to read In Moroni about it and answer her questions! She said it all made sense! Then she asked: "so can I get baptized as an adult?"
We were like yes of course! Then talked more about gods priesthood power and authority on the earth, and why we need to be baptized by that authority.
She said she was going to Come to church on Sunday with her friends!!!
Then she gave us 4 doors to knock of her neighbors. The first 3 didn't answer, but the last one had a young adult answer. We introduced ourselves and he said hold up let me ask my mom. They let us come in and when we came in, they said that they literally had just prayed to God and were taking about him. The kids were bilingual and the mom only spoke Spanish. With my broken Spanish and with the guidance of the spirit I was able to communicate with them and talk about the Book of Mormon and eternal families. They had just gotten back from a funeral. We talked about how because of the atonement, they will be able to see their friend again. I said that it was no coincidence that we knocked on their door. God send us there. They were looking for a new church and they said they would Come on Sunday!
Later that night, We were able to meet with Jorge and his sister Shayla (Erick was showering and taking forever lol) but we had Brother Flores with us and we had a bussin muy poderoso plan of salvation lesson. They said they'd all come to church on Sunday.
Thursday was a massive W
Friday we had a powerful district council. Elder Evans is the goat and gives the best trainings. We talked about what we loved about zone conference and not being ashamed to share the gospel and how we can have more powerful interactions with people.
Saturday was awesome. We had interviews and Sister Edwards challenged us to read the book of Mormon every day for the rest of our lives. We got to bear our testimonies of the book of Mormon and it was super powerful. Then I got to meet with President. I don't have my visa yet and he has no idea when I will get it. They don't tell him anything until we leave lol. I'm just glad it's all in the Lord's hands.
President gave me some great counsel and advice as always. He's super awesome. Mega powerful guy.
After interviews, we went finding and then had another lesson with the King family! The Borcherding family In the ward invited the kings and us to go over to their house to have a lesson and have food! It ended up being an hour and a half beast of a lesson going over the gospel of Jesus Christ, with the plan of salvation tied in as well as the priesthood and covenants. It was mega lit and the whole Borcherding family went off. The kids were able to bear their testimonies of Jesus and baptism and it was so powerful. after, we stayed to grab some food, and then we had to bounce to our actual dinner appointment. But the kings and the Borcherdings ended up chopping it up for another 3 hours! They told us that they had a great time and they talked about baptism! The parents aren't fully ready yet but their oldest daughter wants to be!! So incredible. Members are so incredibly awesome and crucial in missionary work.
For our actual dinner that night we were at a guy in the Spanish ward who does rodeo. So we got to practice some roping and he has a mondo horse that's taller than me on all fours. He did some super dope roping tricks. Then that night we had a lesson with Luis and Brother Zuniga. Talked about covenants and prophets and general conference, and Luis is gonna watch general conference with Brother Zuniga! We are going to come too for a session and it's going to be so awesome!
On sunday... the whole king fam pulled up to church!! It was so awesome! They stayed for both hours and loved it! The ward engulfed them with love. I was so hyped!! No one else came but that's okay. We just gotta work harder to get them her next week!
That night we had dinner at bishops house with a bunch of families from the ward. It was a ton of fun.
Also I heard that apparently every reassigned missionary going to Bolivia is getting their visas in the next few weeks. Which is so crazy! Since the Cochabamba Mission is splitting, so many more missionaries are needed. So apparently they are going directly though the government to be able to get them faster. Or we are just coming without our visas. I'm not totally sure but there's a good chance I'll be leaving for Bolivia pretty soon!! If yall could pray for my visa I would appreciate it very much!
Today we played some basketball and just chilled.
Sorry it was a bit of a longer email. But if yall were able to make it to the end here's a spiritual thought!
Zone conference this week really focused on covenants. The power and joy that comes from them. I've been pondering covenants the last few days, and I've been reading conference talks and highlighting parts that stand out to me. This is from Jean B Bingham in April 2022 general conference.
"The spiritual equipment that keeps us from being broken on the rocks of adversity is our testimony of Jesus Christ and the covenants we make. We can rely on these supports to guide and carry us to safety. As our willing partner, the Savior will not allow us to fall beyond His reach. Even in our times of suffering and sorrow, He is there to lift and encourage. His power helps us recover from the often-devastating impact of others’ choices. However, we each must put on the harness and make sure the knots are securely tied. We must choose to be anchored to the Savior, to be bound to Him by our covenants."
Our covenants we make truly bind us to the savior. When we do our part, he gives us power. We are literally given more power! And he is always there. Even if we break our covenants, he will always be there waiting with open arms. There is nothing that the atonement of jesus christ can't fix. I know that covenants are real. They literally yolk us to the savior. They bring safety, peace, happiness, and true joy. I am so grateful for the covenants i have made with my heavenly father, and the Power they have brought into my life. I treasure them so much. I would invite yall to think about what your covenants mean to you personally. And if you don't know what covenants are, hit me up and I'd love to talk about them with you!:)
Love Elder Richards
