week 54: australia style

Gday mum!! 

Man this week was really good!  It turns out that I am being transferred after 6 weeks of being in Hillside ward!  I got a call from President Maxwell on Saturday and he asked me if I could be a zone leader, I am scared as but I know that it is where the Lord needs me.  I am really excited for the new opportunities that will come in my next area.  This week we worked quite a bit with a part member family named the Williams.  Brother Williams is from Fiji and has been less active for years.  This week he wanted us to fast with him, so that he could build up the courage to come back to church.  Yesterday him and his boy came to church, and after church we broke our fast at his home and had a huge feast of Fijian food.  It was the bomb!!  It was a huge miracle to see him at church, and then yesterday he told us that he wanted to work towards making it to the temple with his family one day.  How cool is that?!?  I am so happy for him eh! 

This work is the best!  My testimony of fasting really strengthened this week with Brother Williams, I know that fasting works miracles and it blesses us so much!  I love prayer and how with prayer, we can align our will with God's will, he wants to hear from us!  I came across an awesome missionary scripture this week in Jeremiah 5:14 I invite you to read it, it gets me pumped!!!  I am really excited/nervous for the upcoming transfer!

Hey mum!!  Man I wish I could be there for Cam's farewell, I am really proud of him and I feel honoured to be serving alongside a great cousin and friend.  I will be there waiting for him at the airport!  I am glad that you had a good week, my week was pretty good as well and I am pretty shocked that I am leaving haha.  But I am also very excited for the new opportunities and experiences...  After being out a year, saying goodbye to wards gets harder and harder I really did fall in love with this ward.  That is cool that you saw all of my friends at Kelsey's farewell, tell em hi for me hahah!  I love you so much mum, thank you for all that you do for me.  Cheers!

Love, Elder Richins

aka: CMONEY

week 53: australia style

Gday mum!!

This week was pretty awesome!  We have been working quite a bit with our investigator Julianne, and trying to get her to come to church.  We were able to teach her at the chapel, and the spirit was so strong and we were able to commit her to come to church.  So she came to church yesterday and she loved it!!  She will be baptized next Sunday after church, along with our other investigators Tui and Ayen!  I am so excited for them! 

I was able to do my first baptism interview this week, and it was an awesome experience.  The Sisters in the district had a baptism this week for a man named Brother Fiffita and he is the man!!  He has an awesome family too!  They love Nacho Libre, so we got along really well going back and forth with different quotes it was definitely an experience I will never forget.  The baptism was such a spiritual experience, the whole Fiffita family got up and started to sing to their Sister missionaries Sister Roberts and Brodie.  The spirit was so strong, I love being a part of this work.  It makes me feel so very lucky!  It is amazing how the Lord prepares his children to receive the Gospel, I cannot deny the spirit I feel each day, I know it is real and I know without that spirit we would not be able to do missionary work.

Gday mum!  Man those videos you sent were crakkup as, I wish I could send you some of the videos that I have taken haha!  I am glad that you had an awesome week, my week was really good and the weather is starting to get heaps better gearing up for spring I guess.  This week I found a hidden talent, I was able to sing in front of some families this week and apparently I am good at singing I think they are lying hahaha....  It sounds like someone is dying when I sing lol!  But my companion keeps telling me that I am good at it, he is a good man.  I would never ever sing in front of someone back home, but since coming on my mission I think I have come out of my shell a bit more hahahha!  It has been really good, I love President Maxwell I might get to see him next week because it is transfers!!!  This transfer is flying by, ever since the year mark, it seems like the days fly by!  I love you so much mum!!  I hope you have an awesome week!!  YOu and mac should go on tour lol!!  Cheers!

Love, Elder Richins

aka: COOPDAWGGGG

week 52: australia style

at an investigators house

elder noble got a bloody nose on our exchange

Gday mum!!

This week was really good!!  My companion and I saw so many miracles this week it was amazing!  A miracle that we saw yesterday, was with this girl named Ayen.  Ayen a week prior to us visiting with her, had her car break down in front of the chapel and there were some missionaries there to help her get her car up and running again.  Those missionaries who helped her out referred her to my companion and I, and we were able to teach her last night.   She is prepared as!!  She accepted a baptismal date for the 23rd!  It is amazing how the Lord prepares his children!  

I am so very grateful to be a part of this work, and to have the opportunity to serve the Lord with all my heart.  This blessing becomes more and more real to me each day as I put on my name tag each morning.  In D&C 103:36 is states "All victory and glory is brought to pass unto you through your diligence, faithfulness and prayers of faith."  I try each day to magnify this, I love this work!

Hi mum!!  Sounds like you have been having a fun time babysitting Olive hahah!  I am loving life right now, although times are tough sometimes the good definitely outweighs the bad.  I was able to go on an exchange with Elder Noble this week and he was with me when I was in the MTC, and he is a good friend of mine in the mission.  We were able to speak of some good times we had in the MTC, and he told me that I had changed quite a bit since we were there.  It was kinda weird to hear that but it is true, it is amazing how much the mission has changed me as I have allowed my father in Heaven to change me.  I love being a missionary...  Today we are going to a bounce house for a zone p day so it should be pretty killer eh!!!  I am stoked, cuz I haven't been on a trampoline since I was back home hahaha!  I love you so much mum, and I am so very thankful for you in my life.  I hope you have a great week!  Cheers! 

Love, Elder Richins

aka: Cmunz

week 51: australia style

Gday mum!!

Man this week was pretty awesome!!  My companion and I are seeing heaps of miracles in our area and in our district.  My companion and I were able to set 2 baptismal dates this week with a boy named Daniel who is the son of a member who has been less active for quite a long time.  He is really cool, and he has a great desire to be baptized, his baptism will most likely be this week but we need to plan out some details.  We also set a date with a man named Steve, Steve is best friends with one of our investigators named Alex and we were able to get a chance to teach him about Eternal Families and following Jesus Christ.  He accepted a baptismal date, and Elder Parsons and I were really excited!  The past two weeks have just been awesome miracle weeks, we are now working on helping these investigators we have progress towards their baptismal dates! 

My companion and I have been praying and working very hard, and some names have been coming into our minds of people that we need to go see.  One person that I keep thinking about is a guy named Tui, Tui has told missionaries in the past that he has no interest in changing.  He came to church yesterday, and it was probably the most spiritual fast and testimony meetings I have ever been to and I just know he felt the spirit strong.  He told us to come over on Tuesday, and we hope to set a date with him. 

My love for the Saviour continues to grow each day, I know that he leads this work.  I just need to make sure I don't get in the way of him making miracles through me.  Because I cannot do this on my own one bit, I would fail every single time.  But with Christ I am made strong.

Gday mum how are you going???  Man I am glad yous had a good week this week!  My week has been pretty awesome, still eating heaps of food!!  The food that we are getting is mostly fast food that the members bring us, but we also get huge island feeds with tarro, lou, pig, and all that good stuff.  I am not gaining much weight though, just 4 pounds in 3 weeks lol!  Man I am loving it though, I really need to start eating healthy again...  Man the weather over here has been shocking, rain everyday and it snowed as well.  But today is really nice, it is like a summer's day pretty warm out there!  Fortunatley I have a car still because I am a DL, so that is a nice little perk.  My companion misses the bikes though, because he is gaining heaps of weight lol!  It feels good to be over the hump mark, but there is still much work to do, but man I reckon it flew by!!  I love you so much mum, and I think we are playing B ball again today hahah!  Have an awesome week!! Cheers!

Love, Elder Richins

aka: cmoney