week 41: australia style

teaching tiffany

Gday mum!!!

Well this week was really crazy!  So to start things off Steve didnt end up getting baptised this week, he had troubles with smoking about half way through the week.  But that is ok, because we have put him on a stop smoking program, and he is doing really well.  Today is day 3 of the program and he is clean still!!  I am so happy for him, he has such a great desire to get baptised and to get off of the smokes.  So his baptismal date was pushed back a week, which was his original date.  So we are planning for this Saturday for him, I have faith that it will go through!  I am really excited!

We also taught Tiffany this week which went really well!  We had the opportunity to teach her in one of our members home, and she gets on so well with her fellowship it is awesome to see!  She is really excited to get baptised on the 14th of June!  It was cool because we taught her the first half of the Plan of Salvation, and Elder Wheeler and I really wanted to focus on the Atonement with her, so everyone that came to the lesson as a fellowship bore their testimony of the Atonement in their lives.  My companion and I also had the opportunity to share our testimonies, and man...  The spirit was so strong!!!  She definitely felt it, and I could tell.  We are seeing her again today and teaching her in the same members home, I am so excited.

We managed to set 2 more baptismal dates this week, one of them was with a lady named Sue.  Sue was a former investigator that we felt prompted to go see, and she is struggling a little bit, and we talked to her about how the Gospel can help relieve problems and challenges in our lives.  She accepted a date for the 28th of June!!  We also set a date with a man from Ethiopia named Fugo, I met him at the train station yesterday.  It was way cool because he wasnt planning on getting on the train, but just because he was interested in the message.  Unfortunately he didnt have a bus card and I did not know that and guess what??  The train police just happened to come onto our train and he got a ticket.  He didnt care though, and I set a date with him on the train.  His date is for the 28th of June as well.  I reckon that is a huge miracle!!

We are seeing such huge miracles in Eltham and I am really enjoying my time here.  My companion and I have been exactly obedient this transfer, and we have seen some amazing miracles happen!  I have seen amazing growth in both myself and my companion.  My comp. is really starting to come out of his shell and it is really cool to see!!  I am so thankful to be a missionary and to serve the Lord.  I am so thankful for his sacrifice in my life!

Gday mum!!!  How are you going??  Sounds like you have had a full on week, geez that is no good about mimi and papa's place.  They are in my prayers, I hope everything works out.  It was cool to see the video of Zac too, seems like ages since I have seen what he looks like!  He is awesome!!  Far out...  You have seen heaps of people this week from times past, I had to really think when you said you talked to Thayne.  It has been ages since I have seen that guy, he is way cool.  My week has been really good, I was proud of myself that I didnt let myself get down when we heard about Steve smoking.  He is such a great guy, and I am so thankful for meeting him!  I cant believe that people are graduating already, I cant believe I have almost been out for a year!!  It has flown!  Soon enough it will be me going down the escalator mum, but until then I need to work my heart out!  This work is really changing me.  Thank you for your continual example to me, you and dad are the best mum and dad out there!! I love you guys so much!!  YOU are a rockstar!  I hope yous have a good time at zac's homecoming say that I say hello!!  Have an awesome week mum!  Love you!  Cheers!

Love, Elder Richins

aka: CMONEYLOVE

week 40: australia style

putting up curtains for a member....so frustrating!

Gday mum!!!

This week was chopped full of miracles!!  So Steve sent us a text this week and asked us if he could move his baptism up a week because he doesn't want to wait that long!!  So we were able to teach him the commandments this week, and he accepted and committed to living all of them!!  Steve is a miracle man!!  I have never seen someone so prepared to receive the Gospel, the Lord truly has been working on him a while!  So he will be baptized this Saturday, and he asked me to baptize him, so I am really excited to share this experience with him!  

We also experienced another miracle this week!  So because the mission has changed its focus from getting new contacts to new investigators, I have really been focusing on praying to find prepared people that are ready to recieve the Gospel.  So I had an experience this week where I was praying for that, and a name came to my head.  The name Tiffany came to my mind, and I was like "what the heck, who is Tiffany?"  So I searched through my planner from the new contacts that we had found and there was the name Tiffany with a number next to it.  So I gave the mystery woman a call, and she was really excited to hear from us again.  So we went to see her at the library on Saturday with an awesome fellowship!  We taught her about the Restoration of the Gospel and it really just gelled with her, and she accepted a baptismal date!  Her date is for the 14th of June!  Like I said though, Tiffany has the best fellowship ever, her name is Sally.  They hit it off and became great friends, they set up a time to hang out on their own time.  It was really cool for me to see that, because I just couldn't help thinking that "this is the Gospel in action!"

I am so thankful to be here in Eltham, I am growing so much as a person it feels like.  I got the opportunity to share my testimony yesterday at Sacrament, and I couldn't help but talking about my family and how much I love them, and how central the family is to God's plan for us.  I am thankful for the opportunity that I have to live with my family forever!  This Gospel is real and I love it, and I love sharing it.

Hey mum how are you going?!  It was so good to talk to yous a week ago, it looks like all of you are healthy and going well!!  It was good to see Shell's boy too, he seems like a nice chap!  I cant believe that Zach comes home this Wed. That is crazy I reckon!  That will be sweet as to see the fam though to put together some posters!  This week for me was really good, it started off a bit slow, but we saw some sweet as miracles by the end of it!  I am really excited for Steve's baptism this week, he is so awesome!  Elder Richey told me that Rob is doing awesome down in tazzy, so that makes me pretty happy!!  Good things are happening at the moment in this area!  Today we are going bowling with the zone so that should be pretty fun!!  Elder Sharp (my MTC comp.) is in my zone so it will be nice to see him!  I love life at the moment, and I am really happy!  I cant believe that I am almost out for a year, like you said it has flown by, but it still feels like it took forever haha!  This upcoming week we have zone conference so we get to see President Maxwell, so that will be really nice to see him again!  I love you so much mum!!  Thank you for all that you do for me, and the sacrifices you have made for me!  I hope you enjoy your trek fam!  That will be fun as!  Have an awesome week!!  Cheers!

Love, Elder Richins

aka: Coop dawgy dawg

week 39: happy mother's day

week 38: australia style

our flat has a dart board....YES!!!!!

Gday mum!!!

This week was pretty good!  So we went to contact the 22 people that we found last week and we only had one investigator come out of those, but we managed to reschedule for most of them, so I am pretty happy about that.  This week I was really focusing on my faith, and where it was at.  We had Elder Hamula from the 70 come speak to our mission this week, and he talked about faith, and it was such an inspired message, something that I really needed.  He said "if missionaries knew and had faith in all the powers they have been given they could move mountains."  I think that is so cool, and it is something I have been working on heaps this week.  But anyways the one person that kept their appointment with us this week, his name is Steven and I met him at a bus stop and he is going through a really tough time.  He is out of a job, a marriage and basically out of a home as well, he lives with his parents.  He really wants change in his life, so we were able to set a date with him for May 31st, and he also came to church yesterday!!!  He was wondering around the chapel while we were in ward council and he came accross the bishop of the ward and the bishop asked if he was a member and he said "no, but I want to be."  I love that guy so much.  

This week my comp and  I found a new way of finding people pretty effectively too!  The secret is that we just ride the train in the boundaries of our area and talk to everyone on the train, we found 12 new contacts this week doing that so it is pretty effective!!  We have been focusing on the members lately and getting in the homes of members to help inspire them to share the Gospel with others.  This ward is so missionary minded I love it, we went to the shop this morning for a few groceries and a member stopped us out of the blue and gave us 3 referrals it was awesome!!!  I feel like great miracles are on the horizon for this area, it has started off a bit slower than I would have liked but I know exact obedience and faith will be able to combat against the trials we face in this area.  It is great to have another companion that wants to work hard, I have been blessed with the companions that I have had so far on my mission, Elder Wheeler is the man.

I love this gospel so much, it is truly a gospel of change and improvement.  Man I cannot believe how much I have changed so far on my mission, I really like the person that I am becoming.  The Lord truly does shape us as we offer ourselves up to him.  The church is true.

Gday mum!!  I am super glad that yous are having a good time in Cali!!  It looks gorgeous over there, it has been raining dogs and cats over here this week haha.  It looks like everyone is healthy and happy over there though!  I had a pretty good week, pretty stressful but I learned a lot about myself and we saw some pretty awesome miracles.  Haha I was pumped to see where Cam was going, all goods though next week!!  I am super excited to talk to yous next week as well, it should be awesome!!!  At the moment I am not too sure where we are going to skype havent asked anyone yet, but we will arrange it with someone.  Haha unfortunately we didnt play basketball last week, but we are playing today at 1 so I am pretty pumped for that!!  I have a surprise for yous today btw.  The ward is pretty good over here hey, we always get fed so it is way nice.  The car is a blessing from heaven, there are so many hills where I am right now haha.  Well I love you so much mum and I will talk to yous soon ;)  Have a good week!!  Cheers!

Love, Elder Richins

aka: Cmoneylove

week 37: australia style

bye elder richie

me and my new comp elder wheeler

cool spinny chair

MY NEW CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bench press (team get big)

comfiest study chairs ever

got my blankets!!

old school sign sign in the flat

had a baptism yesterday

slide at a members house

Gday mum!!

Well this has been a pretty hectic week coming up from tazzy!  Well yous are prolly wondering where I ended up hey?  I am on the mainland now in a place called Eltham.  It is in the main city zone, but on the outskirts of the big city.  My new companion is named Elder Wheeler, he is cool as.  He is from Western Australia, and has been out on his mission for 14 months.  As far as the work goes here in Eltham, it is dead as.  At the moment because our most progressing investigator Tania was baptized yesterday, we have 1 investigator.  After the transfer meeting, President talked to me and said he was sending me here to bring the area back to life.  So I am so excited to be here to help turn the area around, I definitely see some serious potential in the area it just needs a bit of refining.  

But as I said Tania was baptized this week, and it was such an awesome service.  I had the priveledge of meeting at their home and getting to know her and her whole family.  So her husband that she was married to last week, baptized her.  His name is Wati and he was a long time less active member and he started coming back about a year ago. It is amazing that he had the opportunity to baptize his wife.  They have 3 kids living with them at the moment Briley, Rooney, and Chayton.  All unbaptized ;)  At the baptism I talked to their daughter Briley and asked her if she wanted to receive the missionary lessons, and she wants to!!!  I was about to jump up in the air and do a fist pump of joy, but I withheld the excitement...  We are going to see her this week, and I am PUMPED.

This week we were blessed to find 22 new contacts, and I guess it is the most Eltham has gotten in a long time.  So the finding is going really well at the moment!  There are heaps of part member families in this ward too, so we are making efforts to see all of them and hopefully we can find some people that are keen to learn more.  Ah man, I am so excited to be here!

Elder Wheeler and I get along really well, he is a good man.  He really loves the NBA and just sports in general.  Guess what?!  He is a LAKER fan too!!!   I guess we can keep him around hey?  Even if the Lakers tanked it this season haha!  It is starting to get cold as over here though, I woke up this morning and thought I was going to die of hypothermia.  Haha all goods though, I am loving being out here and serving.  Also I finished the Book of Mormon for the 2nd time on my mission today!!  I was pondering about on things that I could take from the experiences I had with the Book of Mormon on this go.  I came to the conclusion that I need to have more meaningful prayers, because I know for myself that I can get caught doing a routine of the same prayer over and over again.  So I have put a picture of the Saviour on my pillow, and he is going to be my reminder to pray sincerely, so I guess I will see how I go with this haha!!  Man, this Gospel is true, and I know it without a doubt it is as simple as that.

Gday mum how are you going??  Thank you heaps for putting some mula in the account we were kinda desperate!  We had to buy a GPS because Elder Wheeler doesnt know the area very well, and we had no idea where we were going haha!  I am doing really good though, it is good to be back on the mainland, it is heaps warmer up here, but it is still really cold.  It sounds like you have had a fun week with G and G Richins, I wish I could have been there!  That is awesome that you are going to Cali this week!!  HAPPY HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!  Haha Olive sounds like a crack up hey!  Today for P day I have no idea what we are going to do, hopefully something fun!  I got my basketballl shoes back, so hopefully I get to use those at some point today haha!  I also got a car!  I was so happy, we have a big as area but it is heaps of fun.  The GPS talks to me and tells me where to go, I named her Roxanne she is a nice lady!  The flat I am in is cool as, we have a full weightroom and just a bunch of interesting stuff in the flat, just like that old school sign haha!  But yeah, that is all I have to report this week, just a whole heap of finding and not so much teaching but that will change!!  I love you so much mum!!  I hope you have a great week!!!  Have an awesome anniversary!!!!!  Travel safe!  Cheers!!

Elder Richins

week 36: australia style

the district

the chicks

elder richey

the blowfields

the campbells

the foxes

gday mum!!!

This was a really good week!  We had a huge miracle happen yesterday, Toni a former investigator came to church yesterday!  I was super surprised because she told us 4 months ago that she wasnt interested anymore.  But I was so stoked to see her, she said she came because she had a feeling she should.  She really enjoyed herself and she wants to be taught again!  Man, I am so excited for her.

We taught Sebastian again this week and taught him the Plan of Salvation, he is golden as!!  He is keeping all of his commitments at the moment, his only concern is that Prayer is still a bit awkward for him but it will get better.  I am so glad that I had the privileged to teach him, truly a knowledge sponge just takes everything we teach in!!  We also saw Dominic this week and he said that he found that the Book of Mormon was true, but he is a bit scared to switch faiths because all of his family is Presbyterian.  He is ready though, we tried to commit him to baptism this past weekend but he said he needed a week to think about when he wanted to be baptized.  He is awesome!  

We had the oppurtunity to set a baptismal date with a man named Christopher.  He is a janitor for the local uni here in Hobart, his family is struggling a bit at the moment.  We tried to get the whole family together for a lesson but the wife said she was too busy.  It was a really good lesson though, the spirit was so strong!  He really wants to find out if God has called another prophet.  We gave him Alma 32 to read and invited him to pray to know it was true, and to listen!  He accepted, he is such a nice guy.

Man, I am so very thankful that I have had the opportunity from the Lord to serve in Rosny, Tasmania.  The people that I have met, and the experiences I have had here have changed my life forever.  I am sad to go, but I am very excited for what the future holds for me.  I know that I am going where the Lord needs me now.  I have loved serving with Elder Richey as well I love that guy so much.  I have learned so much from him, we have become great friends in the 4-5 months serving together.  The Lord truly knows what each and every one of us need, I needed to come to Rosny and I needed a companion like Elder Richey.  I love this work so much, and I am so thankful to be a part of it.

Gday mum!  How have you been!?  Sounds like you have some wounded warriors over there!  Ya I agree hollidays without all of the family is kinda stinky.  Man I cant believe it is April, I get to Skype in a couple weeks hey?  THat will be sweet as!!  I am kinda bummed that I am leaving mum, but I am excited to go back to the mainland too.  I am pretty sure I am going to be a district leader but I am not entirely sure.  Haha I havent left yet, I am sis Fox's right now I thought for sure I would leave this morning but, I leave tonight at 6.  Not too sure how I am going to make it back though, I have heaps of stuff.  I am mostly packed, just a few odds and ends to put in but all the big stuff is in the bag.  I am a bit sad to be leaving Elder Richey too, but I know he will do great and keep the area going strong.  I am very thankful for sis Fox and all the members of the ROsny ward they have been such a huge help.  That is super exciting that Cam turned in his papers!  He is going to be a good as missionary I reckon!  Hopefully he comes to Melbourne that would be sweet as!!  Well that is all from me, I love you so much mum!!!  Have a great week!  I will be on for another 45 min, if you wanna talk.  CHeers!

Love, Elder Richins 

aka: Cmoneylovin

sister fox

as a mom to a missionary, you become so thankful for the kindness of strangers and amazing people like these. cooper was transferred back to melbourne today, after 6 months in tasmania. he also left behind this sweet family. to be honest with you, this is not a face i or he, will soon forget. sister fox has impacted us all. to all of you moms, whom have kids on missions, i only hope your son or daughter will be as blessed to have a sister fox. she has taken such good care of our baby and for that i will always be grateful. she was a mom to him, when his real one was so far away. thank you maryanne, for everything. i appreciate you more, than you'll ever know. xoxoxo