Reflections of a True Millennial

Hola hola, So this Saturday we got the call for transfers. I will be staying in Molina B, and my compañero is going to another ward in Curico. To replace him, Elder Anuarve from Argentina will be coming as my new companion. I dont know him, but hope that we can work well together. This last transfer wasnt the most productive, but we made a good pool of investigators and should be able to progress well during the next 6 weeks. The highlight of this week was the worldwide missionary broadcast from Salt Lake that we got to watch live on Wednesday. It was amazing to hear from Apostles (Elder Oaks and Bednar) and to think that I have friends on 5 different continents who are missionaries and were watching too! There are 75000 young people around the world teaching repentance and baptizing converts, which is really incredible to think about. I am super thankful for the opportunity to be a missionary, and I know that this is Gods work. Elder Richards

Hey there, Hope everyone had a great week. This week was pretty uneventful for us, but things are going well. We have had some good luck finding future investigators, which is great. We taught this one guy named Pedro, who´s wife is a member, and gave him a Book of Mormon. He seems interested but is out of town now until February. But it´s great that we are finding people like him. I have been praying for miracles, and things have been paying off. God always answers prayers. Also in our ward we have started to do a ward activity every Friday night. They are just little events with a message and some games afterward. They have been pretty fun and have been a great way to help people feel comfortable in the Church and with other members. Also I have been reading a lot of the Book of Mormon lately. I am trying to finish it this month and then read it again before conference in April. It is really such a powerful book and you can just tell that it has the fulness of the teachings of Jesus ...

Hola hola, There were some fun things that happened this week. On Wednesday we had a Zone Meeting where we learned especially about the Fundamentals of Preach my Gospel, which are basically 8 things essential to missionary work. I was able to teach the whole zone about one of them: Revelation from Prayer. It is so important that our investigators pray to find out for themselves if these things are really true. Also on Wednesday I went on divisions to the city of Teno to work with our District Leader, Elder Marshall. He is a super cool guy and a really good missionary. It was a lot of fun to be with him and learn from his diligence. All in one day we gave two blessings, taught a lession, taught the youth in a Mini-MTC, and met a guy who lived in South Florida for 20 years. Pretty good day. Then on Thursday we had a special mission conference on a variety of different topics. I always enjoy the conferences and meetings as they help us know better how to be a good missionary. On January 2...

Hola hola, Hope that everyone had a great New Year´s. It´s not really an exciting missionary holiday, because we have to be in the house early and go to bed at 11:30. We got to stay with the zone leaders in Curicò so that was kind of fun. They live in a fifth floor apartment, but our windows faced away from the fireworks... Oh well. But I always like new years as a time to set goals and resolutions. I spent some time thinking about goals and things I want to accomplish and I challenge you all to do the same! Make simple goals that you can measure (not just "be healthy," but rather "excercise 20 minutes a day" for example), and you can reach new things. I hope you all have a great year. This will potentially be the only year of my life that I never step foot in the US and tie a tie every single day. Wow. Remember that wherever you are is where you are supposed to be. In Psalms 118:24 it says This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in ...

Hello world, Hope that everyone had a great Christmas! It was definitely weird to be away from home, but the members here provided us with lots of food and love. And of course the best part of Christmas was skyping with the family. I hope you can all keep the spirit of Christmas alive and continue thinking about our Savior. Also this Christmas was the hottest Christmas of my life, which is saying a lot since I am from Florida...  This Wednesday the missionaries from the nearby town of Lontue are moving into our house, so we will have six people living there. One Nicaraguan, one Mexican, one Chilean, one Brasilian, one Peruano, and only one gringo. Should be fun. I really don´t get many opportunities to speak English here, but I´m okay with that. Also this Friday I turn 6 months on the mission! Pretty crazy. But to mark the occasion I thought I could share a bit of my testimony here with you all. ---  The first 6 months of the mission have been great, but also really hard. It´s like my ...

Hello from Molina (Well I´m actually in Curicò currently). One week down in my new sector. I am here in Molina B with Elder Ramirez, from Nicaragua. He´s pretty cool and has been here now for three months. We don´t have a lot going on in the sector and had to do a lot of contacting this week, but unfortunately didn´t really find anyone. We have one really nice investigator named Mauricio who is very interested.  Molina is a pretty cool place. It is more urban than San Clemente and a bit larger. Walking down some streets it looks like we are in Utah and walking around the main plaza it looks like we are in Savannah, Georgia. Or at least my mind thinks so. Have a great Christmas this week! Remember the true meaning of the season is that Jesus Christ was born. If you took two minutes to read this, take two minutes more and watch a short video about Christmas here Have a great week! Elder Richards

Hey everyone, I dont have much time to write, but today was an awesome p-day! We went with Marcos to the Cordillera and the Lago Colbun and Laguna del Maule. It was incredible and I have lots of awesome pictures. Near the Laguna there was still lots of snow, so we did all sorts of antics there. My companion Elder Chaves was super excited to see snow for the first time. I dont have a lot of time now, but I will send lots of pictures next week! This week we also had a Christmas mission conference, which was fun. The big Church campaign for Christmas is #HaNacidoUnSalvador (or #ASaviorIsBorn) and we are sharing that with everyone. I invite you all to view the video at christmas.mormon.org Our numbers haven´t been that great recently, but we are trying to do better this week. It is the last week of the transfer, so next week I might be moving. This Sunday Anita is getting baptised and we are really excited for her. Have a great week! Elder Richards