October 26th letter

Hola Dear Family and friends, Well, remember how i was transferred early? Now the real transfers happened and there´s another change. Hna Bardales is leaving Mulchen and I´m staying with Hna Lopez. I don´t know her very well but i´ve heard great things abouther! She´s from Honduras (this is my 3rd companion from Honduras for those of you keeping track—dad) and is really funny. All her other companions loved her so i´m excited to be with her. She´s got about 9 months in the mission. However, i´m freaking out a little bit because i´ve only been in Mulchen for a little over a week and now i´m going to have to lead! I don´t really know the sector that well but we´ll see how it goes…your prayers will be greatly appreciated. I´m a bit bummed I won´t be able to be with HnaBardales for longer, she´s awesome and I was excited at the thought that we would be together for another transfer, but God has different plans. She´s going nearby in Los Angeles so we will still be able to see each other for Pdays, etc. Right, so we´re continuing to teach Deborah and she´s so good yet SO stubborn! She asks questions that no one asks. For example, the last time we taught her she asked ¨¨Here it talks about the baptismal covenants that we make with God we have to keep…what are the baptismal covenants?¨¨ Just so you guys know, NO ONE asks that question! I don´t even think many members know the answer to that question. And the other day we asked her if she could name a few of the prophets from the old testament (usually people name the basics…Moses, Noah, etc. etc.) but she named Amos, Ezequiel,Abraham….not once did she name the more ¨¨known¨¨ prophets. She has asincere desire to learn but she´s afraid to act. So we´re trying to help hertake steps so she can progress (eg…go to church so she can obey the Sabbath Day). She went to an activity we had during the week but she couldn´t go to church on Sunday because she went to visit a family member in a city faraway. Boo….We´ll see what happens this week. Juanita got baptized and confirmed and I was able to call her and congratulate her. She sounded so happy! I honestly don´t think there´s a greater feeling than knowing that someone you care about is taking the steps to truly repent and follow Christ. Their lives change, it´s a miracle. When I first met Juanita she didn´t even know if she believed in God or not, she didn’t´like going to church and her goals were not at all spiritual. On the phone she was talking about how the prayers of the missionaries produced a miracle, how she wants to continue strong in the church and she´s wanting a calling! Hna Bardales and I were talking this morning about how rough the mission can be yet so many people associate joy and happiness with the mission. To be honest, there are a lot more trials and hardships in the mission than successes. But the moments of joy and happiness, though short,are felt much stronger for the sacrifice given to experience them (if that makes sense). For example, there are days (a lot of days) when no one wants to talk to us and we are walking and on our feet ALL DAY long. Finally we go to a members house ´to teach something and are able to sit for 15 minutes.Before the mission I NEVER appreciated being able to sit down for such a short period of time, but now it makes my day sometimes. So when we see someone taking a big step (like baptism by someone who has the authority ofGod to do so) it´s amazing. Ok, that´s all I have time for right now. I´´l try to write more in a little bit. Chao, Hna Richardson

Dear Family, Sorry i had to leave so quickly from my last email, but the lady from the ciber said she had to close so i had to leave right then… Anyway, as i was saying...we were talking about how the mission has it´s good times and bad times, but the good times are more cherished. It´s a lot like that in life too, but it´s more climatic in the mission. Let´s see....nothing much has been happening. I´m just worried about having to lead the sector without really knowing it well or the members. But i´m trying not to think about it and i know it will all go well. Alright, i have to go, i love you all and i hope that alll is going well. Talk to you soon, Robyn