Hi you all!

Monday May 11, 2009, 12:38 PM

Dear Family,

It was amazing to talk to you yesterday, although I have to admit I felt a bit awkward at times not knowing what to say. But I really loved having the chance to talk to you all! I hope that everyone will have a great week and it sounds like it might be a bit of a crazy one for some of you. I got the letter in the mail from Katie this morning so Heavenly Father has made my Monday letter-reading goal really easy on me this week as I received it today

Sounds like everyone is good and busy and that the kids are growing up a bunch. I’m sure I’ve noticed it to a greater extent as it has been a little while since I’ve talked to them. I hope that you kiddos keep doing great in church, school, sports, and with your friends. I know that you are being great examples to them!

Brooke and Eric: I forgot to ask what the progress is on the plans for the condo development. How’s it going?

Kat: It’s great to hear that your ward is really wonderful and that you have been able to get things cleaned up a bit in your apartment!

It doesn;t feel like I talked as much to everyone as I would have liked to (sorry if any felt ignored) but I know that it’s good to be obedient even when it’s hard or we don’t completely understand.

So Flor’s baptismal date is on May 31 and her confirmation on June 1. The Escalante’s, Vidal, Beatrice, Roberto and Claudia’s, baptismal date is set for June 14 and their confirmation on June 21.

The Evans family was the family that was kind enough to host us yesterday and we were sure to give them our help with dinner, clean-up and our thanks. I can get you their address later if you would like, Mom.

I love you all very, very much!
Hermana Richardson

Happy Mother's Day and Happy Birthday Dad!

Monday May 4, 2009

Dear Family,

I haven’t started oinking yet so I think all is well in the swine flu department, he he! I know lame joke but I think people are worrying too much about it. That may be because I really have no clue as to what is going on b/c of the lack of T.V. but like Eric says, do the normal preventative stuff that we already hopefully do and continue on. Well, they shut down the schools in Fort Worth I heard, but I think we are all in much more danger being killed by a drunk driver than getting Swine Flu. I guess I really don’t know the statistics, but maybe that would be something of interest for David to look into.

So, I get the latest email from Mom and she tells me, “Well, Katie is all moved into her apartment and so far, she seems to be enjoying it.”

“What apartment?!” I thought. She told me about your cleaning it all up but I don’t know any of the background stories behind her moving in. So, what prompted the move? How did you find it? -- stuff like that. I demand details! He he!

Hermana Brungage and I will be using the cell phones of a member family in the English ward. They both have 2 cell phones with the free weekend minutes and such, so I will be calling you all after we get out of church at about 3-4pm Texas time so about between 2-3pm Utah time, right? Basically, the rules are that I shouldn’t spend over an hour talking. I’m so excited!!! Happy Mother's Day!!!

We have a baptismal date for May 17th for Flor!!! She came to church for the first time yesterday and really seemed to enjoy it!

I hope that my birthday card has gotten there by now for you, Dad! Have a happy, happy birthday!! Don’t let anyone talk you into taking a bite directly out of the cake. It can turn out messy!

That’s so great to hear the news about Hermana Escobar! She will do great there!
We are teaching a Hermana, Leonor, whose husband and step-kids are members and that is really fun! We also hope to have the chance soon to teach her daughter. We contacted a woman who had ordered a free Finding Faith in Christ DVD and when we pulled out the Book of Mormon and started talking about it, she told us that she was baptized in Mexico when she was a kid. We will start the process of looking for her records! Many members when they move here don’t know how or simply don’t look for the church and we often reactivate and run into “lost” members.

We have a month of May Madness in which we will be working hard and smart and planning and studying well in order to reach the goal that all will baptize this month and have dates for next month. Go May! We are planning for Flor, Alicia, Ivan, and Eric to be baptized this month and 10 others next month – Gonzales family, Escalante family, Rosie, Beatice, and Leonor.

We are in week 6 so be sure to not send things directly to the apartment as there is the chance that I may not be here to receive it in time. This week it would be best to send anything to the mission office address.

We have two new Spanish sister missionaries coming so we are all excited!

I love you all more than words can express!!!

Love,

Hermana Richardson

P.S. We saw some frogs on the side of the road hopping along so we got out to look at them. I have video of Hna. touching them! We'll let you know if she gets wart, he he! We also often get to see a whole family of turtles in the pond outside of a recent convert’s home!

Hi family!

Monday

April 27, 2009

Dear Family,

How is everyone doing up north? Things are going great down here! Hermana Brundage and I had eleven Spanish investigators and one English investigator at church yesterday!!! One family, the Gonzales family, that we have taught twice came except for the Mom, Sulma, she had to go to work. Next week she hopes to be able to come. Natalia, who is four, started to cry and so she came from the Primary and joined her Dad and us in Gospel Principals class, but then started to cry again. Hno. Miguel couldn’t do much in helping her stop. So after her sisters, Erica and Claudia, got out of Young Women’s they went home but were sad to leave early. But they are excited to come back and hopefully with Mom being there next week and things not being quite so new, little Natalia will be more comfortable. They are the cutest family! The parents are originally from El Salvador but both met here in the U.S.! He is the one who I chased after to talk to and ended up being the one who had called for a Finding Faith in Christ DVD.

Hna. Alicia's baptismal date has been postponed until they can be legally married on Wednesday. They were married by the Catholic Church in Mexico but for some reason didn’t do it legally so they are in the process of getting that done. But we have a baptismal date for Hna. Flor!!! We were teaching the third lesson and I was teaching about baptism. I asked her if she would be willing to prepare to be baptized on May 17. She asked what all she had to do before then to be prepared. We talked about it all and told her that she would need to ask her boss to give her a schedule that would allow her to go to church every Sunday. We talked about postponing it until the following week but she said that she wanted it for the 17th!! She is so amazing! She lives with her bother, her sister-in-law, and her nephew, Nefi (her sister-in-law is an inactive member). We are so excited for her!!!

This morning was eventful at the laundry mat! It was thundering and raining pretty strongly and the front door was open. Well, a crow got in and flew into the walls and front windows a few times. During this time, he flew a foot away from in front of me, then hit the back wall and conked out! Well, the young lady working there swept his dizzy self up into a dust pan and put him by the back door and left it open for him to take off when he came more to. He did and this time he managed to get out the door.

The animals here are amazing! We have a lizard that lives outside our front door. Hna. killed Wilbur the kitchen cockroach yesterday (yes we had named him but that didn’t stop us from taking his life when the opportunity presented itself), I killed yesterday a humongous spider in the shower, the first apartment I stayed at in G.P. had bunny visitors and a possum visitors. In fact, the possum was just chilling out on the steps of the apartments! Once I saw a coyote in G.P., and last week I saw an owl hunting off the side of the road at sunset.

We met at church yesterday a man who has been investigating the church for some time that has moved here from Boston but he has lived in the Dallas area for most of his life. His name is Lavar and we may get to teach him, although that is up in the air still depending on whether he will decided to attend the single ward or not.

I gave one of the DVDs you sent me, Mom, to the Elmore family. They were baptized just in March and they are so great! The parents are Caran and Steve and they have a 15 yr. old, Jonathan and a 10 yr. old Christopher.

Hope you all are doing well. I don’t have any details yet on calls on Mother’s Day but I will be sure to get them to you! If I still have my navy blue windbreaker, could you mail it off to me please? I have a notice here in my purse, telling me that I have a package in the apartment office but I wasn’t able to get it before the office closed Saturday night so I will get it after grocery shopping today!

Love you all so very, very much!
Hermana Richardson

P.S. Way to go on your finals, Kat!!!