week 100: australia style...the final week

Gday Friends and Family,

I just wanted to say thank you for all the support that you have given me over the course of my mission.  My life has been truly blessed by your example, I am really sad to see my mission coming to an end but I am indeed grateful to my Heavenly Father for the opportunity he has given me to serve.  

I would love to share my last mission miracle with all of you that happened this past week, my companion and I went on splits with one of our ward missionaries named Bro. Faatauvaa.  Bro. Faatauvaa was in the back of the car and he felt a really strong prompting that we should go to see a member that was sick in the ward.  As we pulled up to this members house we came to the knowledge that this member had a non member cousin with them so we went in to teach her and as she read the Book of Mormon she exclaimed "I know this Book is True, when can I get baptised??"  She was baptised on my last weekend on my mission her name is Ina and she is such a great example to me.  I couldn't of thought of a better way to end my mission.  Has the day of miracles seized??  Nay!!!

I love this work and I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ, my testimony has been strengthened over the course of these two years.  I know that God lives, and I know Jesus is the Christ and that the Book of Mormon testifies of him and is the word of God,  I know that anyone who reads this book and prays to know the truth they will receive.  I know we are led by prophets, seers and revelators in this troubling time!  Thank you again for all that you have done for me, to make my mission special!  I love yous all and look forward to seeing you again soon!

Love, Elder Richins

the goodbyes have already begun.... :(

week 98: australia style

Gday mum

This week was pretty good, we started off the week with an exchange out in the bush like a 2 1/2 hour drive from Cranbourne!  I went with an Elder from Burma, he is only the 12th missionary to ever leave from Burma, he has a very inspiring story it strengthened my faith.  On our exchange we knocked doors all day, pretty much because they are trying to find a new teaching pool. We met some really cool people while we were there, but I was exhausted after. Nothing like knocking doors each day!! :)  That is what I am going to do on my last day and then I will never knock another door for the rest of my life hahahahah jokes!!  I love tracting!!!  I am keen to do it, when I get home!!!

We also had my last zone conference and I gave my last zone conference training. It was pretty sad. I love those meetings.  I trained on "leaving your best testimony at every door."  I talked about just like.. if you had the prophet over for a feed, you would give him the best food you had in your pantry at the time.  We need to leave our best testimony with everyone we meet on the street and who we tract into. It was a fun training!!  I am glad I am not scared to talk in front of people anymore, I was deathly afraid of it before I left....  Just one of the lessons I have learned on my mission.  

Hi mum!!  I am doing good. Monday was pretty sad and I also prayed and I felt so much peace and comfort.  I am going to miss him heaps and it will be really different coming home without him, but everything will be ok. He is in a much better place than we are now, probably chillin' on something soft waiting for us hahaa!!  I love that little guy!!  I am all good at the moment, just want to make the most of the time I have left and finish stronger than ever.  I love this work with all my heart and I love serving Heavenly Father.  I am so grateful for you and dad, for your strength and courage you have both had, such a great journey.  I am so proud of both of you. You are the best parents anyone could ever ask for!  I love you mum!  Have a great week!!  Cheers

Love, Elder Richins

aka: CMONEY

week 97: australia style

one our district meetings from this week

Gday mum

This week has been alright, we have been really busy trying to sort out the new missionaries for the new transfer.  We lost allot of missionaries due to the last transfer and now it is time to adjust.  So the work was a bit slower than it was usually but a cool experience we had yesterday at church we got to teach elders quorum and we had a pretty cool lesson.  We talked  about rescue visits so we had everyone right down names of brethren they knew who weren't at class and what we  did was we called all of these brethren to tell them we love them and miss them.  Then we invited the quorum to go and rescue those lost quorum members during the week.  It was a really awesome lesson to see missionary work in action among the members of the quorum.

Mum, I am really sad to hear that news about Bentley, he was one of my best friends and I am sad to hear that he is gone.  I know Jesus Christ lives though, and although we experience sadness in this life I know and I testify that The Atonement of Jesus Christ swallows up the sadness we feel.  I am really going to miss him, I love you mum. I hope you have a great week!

Love Elder Richins

week 96: australia style

gday mum!!!!

This week was pretty good, it was the last week of the transfer!  So I am staying in Cranbourne for 1 more and I will die here in the Gippsland zone!!!  I leave in the middle of this transfer so it is pretty weird.  Elder Orrego is staying with me too!!!!!  

I have a funny story to tell though, so we were supposed to have a baptism yesterday for our investigator Shane.  He was so excited and we had everything planned out perfectly and we filled up the font he got into his white clothing and so did my comp and we started the program.  After singing the opening hymn and saying a prayer I got back up to conduct the baptism and Shane gapped it out the door and went to the bathroom, he opened up the font door and was about to get into the water and I told him he could get in until after we had a talk by the member of the bishopric.  After I said it he cracked it, he started screaming and he went back into the bathroom and changed back to his street clothes and then he screamed at his mum "I am never getting baptised!"  It was a pretty weird experience, but I know right now it is not his time the Lord has other plans.  The other lesson I learned is that when someone wants to get baptised just baptise em hahahaha!!  

Gday mum!!  How are you??  This week has been really busy we had a couple of exchanges and one of them was way out in the bush.  I am excited to stay another transfer, I thought I was going to leave but the Lord has different plans for me.  I am bearing my testimony at the transfer meeting tomorrow for all of the departing missionaries it is pretty weird but I still have heaps of time left!  Hahaha 
 I love you so much mum, if you have any Q's I will be on for another 10 mins or so!  Cheers!

week 95: australia style

pday

we had a mean as zone meeting

gday mum!!!

Bit of a short one this week, we had a public holiday this week and today we have heaps of appts!  But this past week we had a zone meeting and it was awesome!!  My companion and I trained on setting expectations with our investigators and the question that we revolved our training around was "Do our investigators know they are investigating." After the zone meeting Elder Orrego and I felt super pumped and so did the rest of the zone, this past week we had as a zone had been the best one since I have been in the zone so that was really good.  Shane one of our investigators is getting baptised this Sunday so we are stoked as for that, everything is going really well I am loving it out here!!  I love you so much, I hope you have a great week!

Love, Elder Richins

aka: Cmoney

week 94: australia style

3 hour train ride to bairnsdale

Gday mum!!

This weeks started off pretty good and that it turned pretty sour, but as I look back at it right now all I can do is laugh lol.  So you are probably wondering how things got sour?  So we were tracting a street and we knocked on this door and this really awesome lady just full on yelled at us and tells us to get lost. As we exit her property, we brushed up against her car by accident because the width of her driveway was quite small.  So we keep knockin....  2 doors down the street the lady that yelled at us came screaming down the street swearing at us and saying that we punched her car.  My comp and I were like.... what the heck is wrong with the world mama, we didn't hit your car.  But apparently her daughter was sitting in the car as we brushed past the car, she told her mum that we punched it.  So this lady keeps screaming at us, then she comes up to us and starts taking heaps of pictures of us. I felt like a male model, it was pretty awesome.  Even after we asked her not to take pictures of us, she said she didn't care.  So fast forward to that night, we get a call from a stake high councilman saying that this lady posted on the city facebook page, with our pictures and saying to beware of us, because we KICK cars. So after he told us that... again we said, what is wrong with the world mama????  So now we have received advice from our bishop, not to go into that area anymore because the people really hate us.  It's like Ammonihah really.  I always wanted an experience like we are going back there this week to find an Amulek!!!!  It's crazy though I feel so calm and peaceful now, when throughout last week both my comp and I were pretty scared about the repercussions that could happen.  I know that the Lord will work it out for our good!!  I LOVE this work!!!!!

Hey mum, sorry I don't have too much time today. The garage sale sounds like it was a success.  It was really good to see that you saw stin !!!!  Man I love that dude to bits, I cant wait to get reunited with my homies.  But for the time being, I got some more work to do!!  I love you mum!!!  I hope you have a great week, you are in my prayers!

Love, Elder Richins

Aka: CMONEY

week 93: australia style

Gday mum!!!

This week was really good, we got to go on exchanges on Tuesday and I went with an elder from Germany he is the man!!  We had a really good exchange together, I was really excited to go to another area for an exchange because we have been eating pretty unhealthy because we are in an islander ward and the place I was going was an Australian ward.  Nek Minnit the member's home we went to got us a big bucket of KFC and then we went to another home and they fed us too, they kept filling my plate back up I gained 3 kilos in one night it was pretty bad but it was so nice of the members and I am grateful for their service my stomach doesn't always agree though hahaha! 

We also went on another exchange out in the bush it was really good, we went to interview their baptismal candidates it was such a cool experience to go all the way out in the middle of nowhere and do missionary work :)  We had a miracle family come to church this week as well, they are a member referral and they really liked church they said they would for sure be there next week again.  Their fellowship said "I know they will get baptised"  I reckon they will too!!!  I am really excited to work with them!

Hi mum!!!  Today I am going to just chill. I think we have a pretty busy week of exchanges. We have to go on an unexpected exchange to an area that is 4 hours away from ours, that should be pretty fun!  I really love going on exchanges and travelling the mission. It is heaps of fun to see so many different people and work with so many different missionaries.  I officially have 1 transfer left, I want to make the most of it and work as hard as I can through it!  I love you so much mum!!!  I hope you have a great week!!!!  Cheers!  I am all good with money and everything right now thank you for the offer though, thank you again for all that you do mum!!

Love, Elder Richins

aka: CMONEYLOVE