The Mission of Zion

Hey Family!

Things here are going well. I'm recovering from being sick and possibly having the flu. Yesterday after sacrament meeting we got back to the apartment and I took a 7 hour nap! My companion made me soup and a grilled cheese sandwich! (Yeah for E. McElhaney!...He's the man!)

I spent a good amount of time searching our records looking for people that would hear our message. I hope our efforts (even though I was sick) will make a positive impact. This reminds me of a woman we went to see. We did not know her; her husband passed away about 2 years ago and we gave her a "Plan of Salvation" pamphlet. Tears filled her eyes as she rememberd the past. I hope we have a chance to see her again and that she finds peace.



Ready for a 25-mile bike day!



So I've been recording all my thoughts lately, instead of in my journal. I don't seem to have the time to do all the things I need to do in the evening. I'm hoping to write it all up when I return home.



Sorry, I don't have much to write in this email, in answer to your Q's. We've had a couple of mission conferences. On a slow day in our area we average about 25 miles per day (on our bikes) and I'll let you know how many miles we get on a busy day.

Our teaching pool is minimal. We're still having to work a ton to get a larger amount of people to teach. Right now it's really tough because we've been a while without a lot of people.


Group in Franklin, VA - E. Richards far right!

(E. Richards forget to tell how he was able to go back to Franklin, VA last week to attend the baptism of one of his earlier investigators "Miss Nan".) His former companion, Elder Carter (3rd from right) and he were the ones who initially taught her. He was excited to visit with everyone from his branch in Wakefield and see how everyone is doing there. PAYDAY!

Hopefully this week we'll find some more people to teach and that I'll get some more energy back in my body. I've been feeling really down physically because of this cold.

I hope everyone is doing well and that I can get those answers from everybody SOON about how my mission has affected your lives.

I love you all and I think about y'all all the time. Enjoy your week!

Elder Richards

Virginia Richmond Mission
The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints

HUGE Cardinal...they sure feed the birds a lot in Virginia!



The New Year - 3 January 2012

Hey everyone! Things are going well!                             3 January 2012

This week has been great! My companion had a great flat the other day! This is what his tire looks like!

This is what the patch looks like from his flat. We've been walking for the past few days. It's been good!

For New Year's Eve we had to be in our apartment by 6:00 p.m. For that time, we watched a movie and ate some popcorn. It was good! We watched Legacy and then went to bed at around 10:20 p.m. Watching church movies is the best!

So we've been trying to get to know how we can work with the area and the ward better and it's going well! We also meet on Sundays for church at 9:00 a.m. and it's much better really!

My studies are also going well! I'm studying in "Preach My Gospel" in the Plan of Salvation and it's amazing! I recommend reading it all the time!

I've also been studying The Book of Mormon from cover to cover underlining all the references to Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father.

I'm sorry that my e-mail isn't very interesting. Not a whole lot really has been happening this week other than my studies - which are going well!

I hope that everyone is doing well and that y'all are enjoying your day!

I hope to hear from y'all soon.

Elder Richards

Virginia Richmond Mission
The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter day Saints

We got to SEE and HEAR him! - Christmas Day-25 December 2011

Wow! What a week this has been! Merry Christmas everyone and have a Happy New Year! We didn't know that our Elder was going to skype with us until about Thursday night when we received a call from a family in his ward.



Here is some of what we saw!


What a great site for our eyes!





So happy to see everyone!



Pure JOY in his service to the Lord!



Good to see his 'sense of humor' coming through!

Elder Richards also received a new companion on Dec. 22nd. His name is Elder McElhaney from Arizona! Here are the 1st pictures we've received of his new companion:



Elder McElhaney!

Nick is EXCITED to be serving with E. McElhaney. They were in the MTC together and are now companions out in the field. This is the 3rd Elder that Nick is serving with from his MTC group!

Some of the things he expressed in our conversation is that he LOVES being on a bike...(even though he gets rained on all the time!) He says that it gives him the freedom of being able to stop and visit with EVERYONE he sees. He told us of a service experiences he had in handing out food to the homeless...and you could tell of the profound effect that and other experiences like that have had on him! He really LOVES the people of Virginia and all the opportunities he has of being able to share the gospel and giving service to them....

He isn't homesick either (I'm glad!) and his face just 'lit up' as he shared with us his JOY of being a missionary. He seems to get along with all the Elders and is trying to learn new things from each of his companions. He expressed that at the start of his mission he set a goal for himself to truly love each companion he served with. So far he has achieved his goal!  YEAH for the missionaries of the Virginia Richmond Mission!! It is the BEST mission in all the WORLD!

Nick was serving in Lawrenceville before he was sent to Portsmouth. One of his investigators he taught there was baptized and he told of how he was able to travel back for the baptism. He was so excited to see this young man come in to the gospel. Those have to be GREAT MOMENTS for any missionary!

He thoroughly ENJOYED visiting with his 3 sisters and Cory and Owen! It was such a joy for Don and I to listen to them visiting and giggling together! E. Richards has such a strong LOVE for his sisters and his bro Cory.

Our Heavenly Father has certainly blessed our family richly this past year. The year of 2011 was AWESOME and we look forward to many, many happy events this coming year of 2012!

I hope that you will all continue to enjoy Nick's mission with us this coming year! It's been quite an adventure as we've shared in the ups and downs of this experience with him. Please be sure to post messages to him. He will thoroughly enjoy hearing from each and every one of you! Your comments will only add to his great memories of this time of his life.

Love, Don & Susan Richards & family xoxoxoxoxo






Come Celebrate Nick's 1 Year Mark!

Please come post a comment on here to Elder Nick Richards! Congrats on his 1-year mark! Can't believe that this year is here already! We're sure proud of our missionary and all the great work he and his companions are doing! There's nothing like being in the Service of our Savior! xoxoxox.....



In the service of the Master



Bringing Souls Unto Christ





Loving the Work!



TRANSFERS - 12 December 2011

Hey Everyone!

Thanks for the e-mails and all the good news and all the good memories! I ALWAYS look forward to Monday for my e-mails.

So, we did have a call last night and my companion is leaving and I'm staying. I'm really stoked, not because I'm getting a new companion - but because it feels like I still have a lot to do in Portsmouth!...so I'm going to try really hard to do those things. I'm pretty bummed that my companion is leaving. It's nice to go back and read all the things I've learned from him in my journal. That's something I'm beginning to really enjoy! (Writing in his journal) It's kind of embarrassing to read of my past - but I can really see how far I've come and from that, my desire to move forward has gotten bigger!

So last night we stayed with the Spanish Elders and it was really fun. I really LOVE to bounce my ideas off of other missionaries and hear their perspectives on the scriptures. It's really nice - plus I like to mess with them a lot! Like last night when it was nice and quiet - I made this cricket noise and they all started laughing and they always ask me how I do that. I learned it from another missionary to get kids' attention during lessons. It seems to work on the Elders too...Haha!

Things are going really well! My studies recently have been really good. I had gotten a letter from a friend (who reads this e-mail) about Alma and realized that I had done a study about being guided by the Spirit and a little more from the T.G. (Topical Guide) and it was really cool to compare notes.

Well, all the members have already been saying goodbye to my companion BEFORE we even had the call. It's funny how things work. I was joking how that everyone was saying that and what if I got the call to be transferred and not my companion, Haha - it happened in Lawrenceville - but it's all good.

Well, I hope that everyone is having a great holiday this Season and I hope that all is going well.

I love you all!

Elder Richards

Virginia Richmond Mission
The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints.

New Updates

Hey Everyone!                                                                          5 December 2011

Dad, I sure hope you are writing your memories down in a journal from your mission. Those are answers. Remember 2 Nephi 25:26:

"And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins."

It's good to hear that Amy, Amanda, Nick and David all had some fun at the party!! Write me some time and tell me how it was.

So recently I've been studying the scriptures and how to fix and address concerns from people and it's been going really well. I've been writing those sweet revelations down as they come.

Also, I've been really enjoying the exchanges I've been on. I'ved learned a lot and I'm beginning to apply all the revelation I've received! Also, because we've been going through a tough time, we've been tested as in Alma 8:31.."And they had power given unto them, insomuch that they could not be confined in dungeons; neither was it possible that any man could slay them; nevertheless they did not exercise their power until they were bound in bands and cast into prison. Now this was done that the Lord might show forth His power in them."

The way that I understood that is that the trials of our faith are more precious than anything - as it states in 1 Peter 1:7: 7."That the trial of your faith; being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ;" I want to add verse 8: "Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory."
(Elder Nick goes on to say....) Because of the trials that people go through - those trials are going to teach us something. In Matthew 11:28-30 the Savior says:

28."Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."  Taking his yoke upon us.. means that we must still work "taking on His yoke" to get a result; but the world's yoke and the Savior's yoke are two very different things. The world's yoke (work) will stress you, break you and destroy you. The Savior's yoke "work" will stress (stretch) you to points that you can handle (& I might add to help us to grow and become stronger).

1 Corinthians 10:13 states:13. "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." There is always support and love for us and remembering 1 NE 3:7 we will succeed in these times.

7."And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."

I asked myself this morning this question. "In the past year and the 1 year before my mission, has the gospel brought me to a place that has helped me manage my life, overcome trials I've faced and learn to look to the Son? And the answer is "YES"!!!

As it states in Luke 21:26 - 26."Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken." I'm learning to put my trust in God, my Savior and my only Redeemer. They are the ones I can turn to for the everlasting love that my Spirit seeks, to find rest unto salvation. It helps me to move on. To love others and to learn to love myself, (I struggle with that) and I knew in that moment (3 years ago) that I felt that God knew me and I was to serve God - even if I didn't want to. But I knew I should because it's part of His eternal plan. I pray that my heart doesn't fail me. I hope that I will always remember my identity - that I Am A Child of God and that He loves all. I know He is willing to help those who are willing to come unto Him and have faith. In the name of my loving Savior Jesus Christ. Amen!

Family, I love all of you and worry about you all, all the time. I hope you can feel my love and especially the eternal love of God of which we can feel all the time!

http://lds.org/pages/mens-hearts-shall-fail-them?lang=eng

(I hope you all watch this WONDERFUL Mormon Message that he included) Here are also some pics of a tour the Elders got to take:

These are pictures from the

USS ENTERPRISE

Aircraft Carrier

Ship Tour!
AWESOME!

Here he is on Deck!

What a view!

Captain's Chair

"It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the Master of my fate,
I am the Captain of my Soul."

Excerpt from "Invictus" by
William E. Henley
 You can read the whole poem listed under his heading of "Scriptures"

Don added these following scriptures:

"You know, brethren, that a very large ship is benefited very much by a very small helm
in the time of a storm, by being kept workways with the wind and the waves.
Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie
in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost
assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for His
arm to be revealed."
** D&C 123:16-17

Elder Richards

Virginia Richmond Mission
The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints

Another Week Gone By!

Hey Family!                                                   30 November 2011

Thanks for the e-mails!!! Things in the mission are going great! We had a lot of Thanksgiving food on the 24th. Out of the 4 appointments, we had only two cancel. When we rode back to the apartment it was FREEZING and we didn't have our coats and we were both wearing our short sleeve shirts. It was also a good 40-55 minute bike ride home!......but it's all good!

This week I'll be on exchanges with some other missionaries while others are going to the leadership meeting up in Richmond. We'll be back at the apartment about Friday night.

As far as things go, the only thing I need are new front and rear lights for my bike.....and some goodies and some letters from the family and some really good quotes. Anything that you think would make a missionary happy! :-)

I'm also hoping that I'll stay in my area or at least on my bike. It's nice to be able to ride everyday. I can also stop anywhere and talk to anyone....That's the good part! I should hear about transfers on the 11th of December.

So I hope that everyone is doing great and that things are getting better. It's great to hear that Owen and Aidon are doing so well and that Amanda, Laura and Amy are doing so well. It really MAKES my Monday and the week when I get news like that. Mom and Dad, thanks for still writing me, it means a ton!!!! Thanks for the amazing stories about missionary work and service. Thanks for being missionaries!

ALSO, I LOVE you all and I hope you enjoy this great Christmas Season!!!!

Elder Richards

Virginia Richmond Mission
The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints