Hey thanks for the e-mails!
I really needed it this week. It's been a humbling experience for me this week - but good!
Elder Carter and I get along at times; we are gradually understanding each other as time goes on. I'm enjoying it - it's hard, but exciting!
As far as missionary shinanagins go, the mission life is good. My finger got infected and started turning green. No medical help is really available because they don't accept our medical cards here; so I did a 'Don Richards' on it and fixed it myself. So it IS TRUE - I'm dad's twin!! Haha.....and now it's fixed. My upper jaw in the gums near the front of my mouth is in pain and has been for a few days.
The weather hasn't been REALLY violent lately; nor for any of the missionaries but we had, I think, 3-6 tornadoes touch down just 5 miles away from us.....so that's nice! Apparently, where my last companion is serving they had 11 people killed just on the other side of the river from him - all by tornadoes. But the work must still go on.
I'm glad to hear that Amy's home and that everyone will be home by the time I call. If I call and no one is home just call me back after you get home. I hope that everyone will get to talk to me and that I get to hear everyone.
We're teaching a family here in the next town over in Waverly and they've run into a snag about tithing. It's a giant challenge to get them to accept baptism but we're still working on it.
Today we're going to get groceries and wash the car.
Today in my personal study I've been hitting a part in faith that is leading me to study Jesus Christ. So I started Matthew and looked through Christ's genealogy. The Spirit was very good during my study. I feel the more I break down the scriptures for my understanding that I'll be able to finally understand faith in Christ.....so its going really well. One thing that I've realized in order to understand the scriptures is that the gospel has to work 1. through us wanting to know and 2. searching it out (taking the effort to know about it) and 3. actually doing it (acting on it) and the thing that I've found where the Bible mentions about 'a perfect religion' is what it wants us to do with our lives. Like the word of wisdom, the way we think (how we look at the world around us) and helping us understand where that line is. The confusing part is that those who saw that line (the few reformers in history) felt something was missing. That's where the Book of Mormon comes in. Once we actually act on the Bible and study out the teachings in it, we can better see that line. The Book of Mormon helps cure or make sure that the knowledge of the Bible is correct. Then that leads us to ask...where does the Authority come from.....where did it go?...and how can I get it. That's also where the Doctrine & Covenants comes in...to help us understand how these things came into place...that also includes the JST and the Pearl of Great Price (Moses) and the book of Abraham.
IT'S AWESOME and it only gets better. The one thing that put's it all together is being a missionary. A member who acts and who does.....that's how we can understand how it all works. If we can forget ourselves with life and try to live a Christ centered life with the gospel as our foundation, then success will just fall in place. Read 'Faith' in the B.D.
The more I read and study Christ and ask myself a million questions on every angle, the more I will see those blessings.
Faith also works by first going and having a trial then the reward. Christ didn't show himself to the Nephites until AFTER the trial of their faith. So if we want to have more faith we share our testimonies and we accept those hard times ahead. At the end our trials will help us to gradually change our desires to be in-line with God.
Sorry about my gospel tangent on that...haha!
I hope all is going well.
I can't wait to talk to y'all and the girls. I love y'all.
Your son/brother
Elder Richards
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