week 15: australia style

Gday Mum!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow this week was sweet as!!  I saw so many great miracles this week.  On Tuesday Elder Blackman and I were walking down the street and we saw an older lady taking out her garbage, and we offered to help.  She said "are you the Mormons??"  We said "Yes!"  She said "Please come back tomorrow at 3!"  So we went to her house the next day and she told us how she was praying to see missionaries.  She said she wanted to be baptized, and she was willing to give up coffee and tea.  She told Elder Blackman and I that we were an answer to her prayers!!  Her baptismal date is for the 29th of December!!!

This week my companion and I were blessed to find 20 new people to teach!  We also set another baptismal date with a 17 year old boy named Benod for the 22nd of December!  He is from Nepal and he is so cool!!  We had a funny experience at his house, we were teaching him about Joseph Smith's first vision, and there was a knock on the door...  Guess who????  Jehovah's Witnessess!!!  They came into the house and were totally rude.  They were trying to talk over our lesson to Benod's parents and they scowled when we talked about the Book of Mormon.  Then they asked us "Wow, I wonder what the difference is between our religions???"  We ignored her the entire lesson and just carried on hahahahahaha!!!  Benod did the same!!

I am also super pumped for Toni and Ryan!!!  They are really excited to be baptized and their baptism is this upcoming Sunday, and their interview is on Friday!!!  They really want to live the Word of Wisdom but they need to live it for a week to be baptized, so we will see how they go!!!  They are such cool people, and I am really excited for them!  It will be sweet as!! 

I am so very grateful for the mighty miracles I was able to see this week.  I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father for watching out for me.  I know that he sends blessings to all of his children as we are obedient.  I know that Jesus Christ is the Saviour, and Redeemer of the world.  I am thankful for the opportunity I have had to serve him with all of my heart.  I look forward to the miracles the Lord will bless my companion and I with this week!!

Mummm!!!!!  How are you going???  This week has been really cold and rainy!!!  How is the weather in Utah??  Is it snowing yet??  It is supposed to officially be summer this week, but it doesnt sound like the weather in Tasmania is going to change much haha!  This week was way cool!  It sounds like you guys have had a busy week with managing the new dog hahah!  Everyone keeps telling me that it is a biter!  Hahaha!  It is a really cute dog though!  Transfers are coming up in 2 weeks.  Hahaha I am praying for a car, my bike barely works, and there are heaps of hills in Tasmania!!!  Hahah my legs are constantly hurting.  Today for P day we are going on a hike, so that should be fun!  Then on Saturday becasue Blackman is leaving he got a member to take us sightseeing around Tazzy, he got permission from President and everything so that should be pretty fun!  But ya that has been my week in a nutshell!!  I love you heaps mom!!!!!!!!!!  I hope you have a fantastic week!  cheers.

Love, Elder Richins

aka:Cmoneylove

I am thankful for my awesome mom, who has done so much for me!  I am thankful for her unconditional love and sacrifice even when I was a turd burglar!!!  I love you so much mom happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elder handsome "Richins"
I am also very thankful for pizza, pizza is very good.  Hahah 

week 14: australia style

Gday Mum!!!!!!

This week was pretty awesome!!  So last P Day a member in our ward took us and the Hobart Elders caving!!!  It was so much fun!  We did heaps of rock jumping, and crawling into tight places it was sweet as!! 

This week me and Elder Blackman had a huge focus on finding, we found 12 new people to teach this week, and most of them came from tracting!  We went on exchange with the zone leaders this week, and I went with Elder Wood!  We tried to contact some former investigators but none of them were home.  So we prayed about some houses that we could tract, and we found 3 new contacts in like 20 minutes!  I have gotten so much better at finding since I have started my mission.  In Wantirna South I was terrified of tracting and finding in general now I think it's heaps of fun! 

We had 2 less active families come to church, along with Toni and Ryan and Elder Blackman and I got to teach them about how to gain a testimony.  It was such an awesome lesson I felt the spirit heaps!  One of the less active families (American) invited Elder Blackman and I to a Thanksgiving dinner!  I could not refuse!!!  So I am super stoked about that!

Toni and Ryan are progressing really well, their only concern right now is coffee.  Any ideas??  We bought them some fake coffee with no caffeine, but unfortunatley they were not too keen about it.  Toni has come down from 5 cups a day to 1, so she is super close!  Ryan is keen as to stop drinking it!  But they came to church for the second time and they loved it!

This week was super awesome!  I am really excited to contact our new contacts this week, and get some new investigators in our teaching pool!! 

The Lord has blessed me so much this week, and I have really started to include the Lord in every stage of my mission.  I pray to thank him every time we find someone new.  Because I know the Lord is preparing his children for us we just need to do some hard yakka and find them!!  I know that the Lord loves and blesses all of his children!  Having the "faith to find" new contacts is essential I have found, because if you go out tracting and are expecting nothing you will indeed find nothing.  "Acting on the smallest twig of faith, allows God to grow it" -Henry B. Eyring.

Mommmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  How have you been today matey??  That is super exciting that you guys got the new dog!  I am glad you guys are enjoying your time with it!  It sounds like you all couldnt be happier!  This week was really good! Today for P day we are going to the zone leaders flat for a barby.  We might go do a little hiking before that though!  Tasmania is starting to heat up big time!  Biking in the heat is not too fun haha!  But it keeps you in really good shape.  It sounds like your week has been pretty exhausting!  Poor new doesnt like new friends.  Tell him to stay strong hahahaha!  I miss that little guy!  I hope all is well in the 801!!  I love you mum!!!  cheers.

Love, Elder Richins

aka:Coopdawgydawg

week 13: australia style

oh boy!

 Gday Mum!!

Well this week was super cool!!  The miracles were flowing in Tasmania!!  We set two dates this week!!  One is with a guy named Robert, who is 19 years old and we street contacted him a week ago, and he said he really wanted to learn more about Jesus Christ!  Me and my companion prayed, and felt like December 6th would be a very good date for him!  He accepted, and we are seeing him again this week!  Miracles!  The other date was set in the district leader's area, me and the district leader went on exchange with eachother because he wasnt getting along with his companion.  We set a date with a lady from Africa named Mika, she accepted and her date is on the 7th of December!  Miracles!

So far in my area, we have 4 baptismal dates, and 3 of them are progressing I am seriously so stoked for them!  This week me and Elder Blackman tracted heaps!!  We are just expanding our teaching pool right now, and we managed to find some pretty solid new contacts!  Going on exchange with the district leader Elder Guilain helped me out heaps!!  He taught me how to find people more effectively and I could see myself improving with my finding skills throughout the week!  I am seriously so stoked to be a missionary, it is so fun!  Me and my companion play games when we tract, like we pick a really big word before we go to the door like "supercallafragalous" pretty sure I spelled that wrong but anyways, we have to say that word somewhere in the conversation with the person that opens the door!  It's heaps of fun!  Hahah it's weird but for some reason I love street contacting, and tracting because you get to talk to so many interesting people hahah!

I am so thanful to my Father in Heaven this week for letting us see some miracles here in Tasmania!  I am so thankful to be on a mission!  It's really weird being on a mission talking to so many different people, I see how much our Father and Heaven loves each of his children the same as I speak to more and more people.  It is sweet as matey!  I know this work is truly inspired, and I know that this church is true without a shadow of a doubt! 

Mum!!!!!!!!!  Wasssssssssssupppppppppp!!??  I got to talk on the phone with Elder Bisby today, and he said the package has arrived to the mission office!  I wont get it for a while though!  The mission president and his wife come down to Tasmania on the 11th of December for a Christmas party, so I will get it there!  But Tasmania is still freaking beautiful!  It rained dogs and cats everyday this week though, so that kind of blew!  I heard that a huge cyclone hit the phillipines, do you know if Jake is ok?  Have you talked to heather lately?  I have been really worried!  I hope he is ok.  Dad sounds like he is loving life about to get a new dog!  Hahah I hope this dog doesnt eat me when I come home hahha!  I will definatley be skyping home on Christmas I have had 3 families down here offer me their computers to skype!  So I am pretty excited to see errybody!!  Man!  It feels like November is zooming past!  It's almost thanksgiving matey!  Save me some Turkey hah!!  Well mom I love you!  I hope all is well back in the 801!!  cheers.

Love, Elder Richins

aka:Cmoneylicious

week 12: australia style

Gday Mum!!!

Tasmania is pretty stinkin beautiful!!  The area I am in is called Rosny!  It is a hugggeeeee area!!  We cover most of southern Tasmania!  I am right next to the beach, so it is really beautiful.  We take a bike trail every day along the beach to our appointments, it is sweet as!!!  We have bikes...  Hahah so far bikes and Tasmania do not mix, the hills here are steep as!  I sometimes feel like I am peddling up 90 degree angle hills, ya its pretty bad!!  Hahha I haven't been this sore in a long time!! 

My companion's name is Elder Blackman, and he is pretty cool, he is on his last transfer. I am not training anymore due to an emergency transfer up on the mainland, so I got Elder Blackman!  But hopefully I get to train next transfer!!  But Elder Blackman is from England, and he is into film and photography!  We have been turning this area around as of late, we have done heaps of tracting, and the members here are pretty good missionaries.  The missionary that was in this area before me had a really bad relationship with the members, so we have seen heaps of families this week, trying to build those bridges back up!  We received 5 referrals this week, and taught two of them in a members home!  That never happened in Wantirna South, its awesome!!!

We have 3 baptismal dates for November 30th, and we are hoping to set 2 more dates, this upcoming week!!  The members feed us a little bit, but I mostly eat rolled oats, which are pretty dang good!  We have quite a few dinners this week though, so we will see how we go!! 

Tazmania is such an awesome place!  I definatley would not mind living here!!  That would be sweet as I reckon!  The people here are way nice!  One of the families we see is way into the NBA, and I told him I was a die hard Laker fan, and he is a Rockets fan (poor guy).  I heard the Lakers took out the Clippers, what????  Thats cray cray!!

I have had to rely on the Lord so much this week, it has been really tough trying to learn a new area!  I am so thankful that I got through this first week in one piece!  I miss Wantirna South heaps, but the mission is all about change!  I am so thankful to my Father in Heaven to let me serve in one of the most beatiful places on planet earth!!  I can see why I am here in Rosny, I know there is someone here that I need to specifically help, and I am going to tear down this place trying to find that person!  I know that my redeemer lives, and loves me too!!  Missionary work is the bees knees!

Mommmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  How are you going?!?!  I am doing sweet as matey!  Just doing some hard yakka 24/7!  I am really bummed I missed Halloween, and yes I got those pictures, it looks like you guys had heaps of fun!  They barely celebrate Halloween here, only a few people hand out treats!  The kid's costumes are pretty lame too, they just put lipstick all over themselves, and call that a done deal!  I miss out on Thanksgiving too so that is pretty rubbish!  haha

 God bless Merica!  My companion cant cook, so it looks like it's another transfer of rolled oats erryday!! Hahaha!!  I couldnt be bothered I like that stuff hahah!!  I am glad the dogs got a new bed, they deserve it hahah!  They like to sleep...  I cant wait to get my package!  I keep in contact with all of my friends, poor Stin cant get a break!  I am praying for him!!  It will be cool to get a slice of home, because I miss it heaps!!  I hope everything back home is running smoothly!  I love you mom!!  Youre the best!  cheers.

Love, Elder Richins

aka:Coopdawgydawg