Hello everyone!
This week was a good one. It was so HOT and we had a few bike mishaps but it was good.
Monday we had a good dinner with one of my favorite families in this ward, the Lambs. Then we went and had a good restoration lesson with the Bugarin family. I look forward to hearing the experiences they had as they prayed about Joseph Smith and the priesthood. Then we had a decent lesson with Sally. On our way over to the Bulgarians my bike wasn't working right. The battery lights kept dying and it didn't work. I tried to "jump start it" by using the throttle with my left hand, pedaling really fast, and trying to turn the key with my right hand and I ended up running into the curb! I jumped off my bike and it kept going a little more riding along the curb before it fell over. Two card turned around to see if I was okay. I was, nothing got hurt not even my bike. I put the chain back on and then found out there was a piece of metal under the battery so the connection was there. Then it worked perfect!
Tuesday we had a good day we were all over the place! We had some good lessons with both investigators and less active/new members. We had a good lesson with Shawn about the restoration. It helped clear up a lot of her concerns. That night we went to schedule appointments for Wednesday and I accidentally missed the driveway and rode up the curb. We went made an appointment for the next day and came back and my tire was completely flat!!! I fixed it on Wednesday and turns out when I went up the curb the rim put two holes in my tube. It was on the back tire and that is impossible to take off because of the motor but I was able to patch the two big holes without taking the tire off! I'm so proud of myself!! :)
Wednesday we had a few lessons and tried to find new investigators mostly! So the bike mishap for today was Sister Thatchers first crash. SCARED ME TO DEATH! She was riding behind me and we took a right turn at a light and in the gutter was some water and her bike slipped out on it and she fell to the right and her body protected the bike. When I turned around her elbow was up in the air and I swore she broke her arm! She didn't but had a great big scratch on her leg and arm and her shirt got ripped and her chin took a slide on the asphalt. It looked awful! We were able to get her cleaned up and use it as an opportunity to get in the door at a potentials house. I had tried by their house so many times before and no one was home. Luckily they were home! They have family in the Samoan ward so their son answered and said, " Mom! The missionaries are here!" He was so excited to see us too! It was awesome! So we're planning on going back and giving them a thank you present.
Thursday we had an awesome zone meeting! All of the meetings this past transfer have pumped me up to do work whereas before I felt like I wasn't doing enough. I love it!! We saw Shawn and set her with a baptism date!!! November 9. She told us she knows Joseph Smith is a prophet and therefore she knows the Book of Mormon is true and that this is Christ's church! She told us she wasn't just saying that either! We are so excited! As we left she started talking to her birds and we could hear her. She went on for about a minute about how great we were and how we're teaching her so much! Our bike mishap for Thursday was Sister Thatchers motor died. We think it was due to the crash. Plus it wasn't working too well before that. We then had a relief society craft night, it was fun.
Friday we has exchanges. I went to Covina with Sister McBride. It was good. I learned so much from her! She's such a great missionary! We came out at the same time. It's crazy how far we've both come!
Saturday morning we woke up at 5:45!!!! And went running...it was good. But it exhausted me so much! We tried to find in the morning then went to a baptism. We had a cool contact on the way to the baptism. We stopped and asked a girl waiting for the bus if she had anything to get to and she said nope, just home. So we invited her to the baptism and she said she had other plans after she got home but she's interested in a church tour! It was so cool! I love when the spirit works at you and impressed you to do something and gives you the words to do it. So great! Then after the baptism we exchanged back and taught a few lessons.
Sunday was good. We tried to teach a new investigator, Sandra, but because it was too hot she didn't want to meet. We stopped by anyway and met a lady we've been trying to get a hold of since we met her on the bus! We set up an appointment and it's crazy how God works to put us in the places we need to be! Amazing!
Well, I want to wrap this email up with some things I have been studying recently which has really impressed me.
This is a quote that has been going through my mind a lot this past week." I had a missionary ask me once if I would give my life for the Church. I said, "Elder, I am giving my life for the Church." I know what he meant. What he meant was, "Would you die for it?" Well, that's the easy part. That's a snap! On some days it looks really appealing. That's the easy part, to die for it, Well, what God needs is people who will LIVE FOR IT, people who will go the distance, people who are in this race we're talking about that will go all the way to the tape. And some may die along the way and that's wonderful, but He needs people who will finish the work. He needs people who will wrap this up, and that's the pledge I make to you, and that's the pledge He asked. We're in this together." - Elder Holland This quote has helped me so much. It would be so easy to give up, to stop progressing and moving forward, to think you know enough and be comfortable with that, to feel like you've hit a wall and there is no use in trying to climb over. I have definitely felt that way being a missionary and I'm sure each of you have felt that way once before in your life or even at this moment. But I have also learned that there is always more to learn, more to do, more to experience, and more to enjoy! When we feel like we've hit a wall and there's no more progression, we are wrong. This is when the atonement of Jesus Christ comes it. He is there to help us overcome all weakness and help us get over that wall. We are nothing without Him. I am so thankful for this gospel and I know it is true! I know that Christ's church has been restored to the earth! Just think of that, all the truths and teachings just as Christ had it are all available on the earth again, all because God loves us!! I am so thankful for those truths and especially the Book of Mormon. I know it was written for our time and I am so thankful for the strength and power that comes to my life as I read it. I know that each of you who read this email can feel that same strength and power as you read it, ponder it, and then pray about it. I want to encourage everyone who is reading this email to do just that, read the Book of Mormon, ponder it, and then pray and ask the creator of the universe if it is true. I know you will receive an answer because He loves you! He knows this will help you. Even if you've done it many times in the past, do it again! Once you have done that, I would love to hear about your experiences and testimonies of doing this in an email or letter. It would be the perfect Christmas present! I love this gospel and I am so thankful for the covenants we can make with Heavenly Father that allow us to return to live with Him and with our families, I want all of you with me after this life which means we all have to work together to get there. I love each and every one of you, even those who I've only met a few times. We are family and we were made a family for a purpose, to help support one another back to live with our Father in Heaven! I look forward to your testimonies and experiences! I love you all!
Love, Sister Riches
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