Week 67: Happy new year!

Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025

Que tall yall! 

Happy new year! 

I want to start out by giving a big shoutout to my cousin Emily for getting her mission call today!!!!! The nevada las Vegas west mission is getting an absolute dawg! Y también espanol! Ya tu sabes que vamos a hablar en español! Vamos!!!!! 

Last week, Christmas Eve and Christmas were awesome! For the last 90 days until Christmas eve, we have been studying the Book of Mormon as a mission, while marking 3 different purposes. A personal purpose, everything that relates to our missionary purpose, and everything that relates and points to our mission culture in our mission of faith, baptisms, and miracles. It's been a really awesome experience! At First, it was very hard for me because I am a slow reader in Spanish and it takes me a while to understand in Spanish what I'm reading. But I really started to call upon the lord for help to bless me with the gift of tongues and the gift of the interpretation of tongues. And I received so much help. I was able to understand everything much faster and really savor the Book of Mormon in Spanish! I started marking in tabs the big miracles in the Book of Mormon and it was really cool to see truly how many miracles there are. And on Christmas eve, I finished! It was very awesome to be able to read the Book of Mormon In Spanish and truly be able to understand and apply the teachings to my life. 

I have a very deep love for the Book of Mormon and I know that it is true! I'm so grateful for it's influence in my life! 

Christmas day Was awesome and it was great to be able to call home and talk to my family. 

The last week had been a little on the rougher end in terms of the work. But we had a big miracle yesterday where we refound these friends that we had been teaching in the past. So we are excited to be teaching them again! 

As this new year begins, it's pretty crazy to reflect on this past year. I just finished my black-out year on my mission, and I will be finishing my mission this year. I am so grateful for how much I've been able to change this year, and become better and become a better disciple of Christ. Christ has truly changed me this year. It has been a crucial year in my life to grow, and I'm so grateful for this new year that I have to grow even more and to continue to become a better man and disciple of Christ. Change is something so awesome! I testify of the power to change. My mission had changed my life completely and I know that every one of us can change to become who God needs us to be! If we put out trust in him, live the commandments, repent each day, do what God asks us to and try to live and act as
Christ would, we can become more like him! And the joy and happiness that flows is real. 

I love you all, and my prayer is that yall can really think and act about how you can make this year a year of change! 

Love, Elder Richards