May 18, 2009

Dear Family,

Week 1 of the transfer has been crazy busy! Guess what. I'm the designated driver. That means I do all of the driving. I have to tell ya’ll that when I got behind the wheel for the first time I was so uncomfortable. And then I started thinking how long it had been since I had operated a vehicle. 8 months!!! I sure did feel as though I was 15 and a half all over again but thankfully I'm getting back "into it" without many hiccups - just a couple of not so smooth stopping's and going's at first! Yikes...ohh!

So, more about Hna Medlyn who is my new companion. I called it like it is. (Meaning that she guessed correctly whom she would be serving with.) She served in Grand Prairie for about 10 months! I served in the branch with her when I was in Grand Prairie. She hasn't served in this area so we are having some adventures with getting to know the area and the people as the area is large enough that I wasn't able to "know it all" before the end of last transfer. But that's okay because I'm faking it as if I know exactly what I'm doing! "Oh that...I meant to do that...because of this one reason that I don't have proof of with me right now, but I can get it to you like the next time I see you.” I’m just kidding!

So Hna and I set the new "standards" for the number of baptism dates that we have!

Love you all!!!
Love, Hna Richardson

Dear Mom,

Thanks for the great letter! At the transfer meeting I received from the Elders a letter sent from you on March 25 (the one with the updated insurance card) and a letter from Sis. Bassarear sent May 4 about her mission reunion. It's best not to send any mail to my "home" address after week #5 in the transfers have begun as I may not be lucky enough to have as thoughtful of Elders to save them and remember to get them to me.

Side note - one of them that lives now in the apartment that I used to in GP and took over that area is E. Dytrt that was in my MTC district. That may have some reason to do with the letters getting to me. The Monday of week #5 in this transfer is June 8th.

I can see pro's and con's to having a "journal" kind of letter sent to me instead of each letter. I didn't have any temptation at all to open them - Heavenly Father helped me not have that desire! I thought it was going to be hard but it was amazing how just making the decision to make this a goal caused me to be just fine until today. the downside is that it is very well probable that some weeks I wouldn't receive the letter with the past weeks events in time for Monday and then I would be two weeks behind in news and that could cause some major confusion. So, I guess just send them as you normally have!

Thanks so much for your thoughtfulness, and love, and support! I love you VERY much!!!!

Love, Heather

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!!!

Monday

20 April 2009

Dear Family,

I hope all is well and that things are continuing to move forward. It’s wonderful to hear how all of you have seen great blessings in your lives – especially recently.

I have had the hardest time picking just one scripture for my missionary plaque because I am very low on time. But I have decided to choose Alma 26:37. (She needed to choose a scripture to go on her missionary plaque that hangs in the foyer at Church. It makes me smile when I read that she is “very low on time.” Little things like this indicate how well she has adapted to speaking Spanish.)

Alma 26:37 says:

“Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen.”

We have been working a lot with a 17-year old young woman from El Salvador. She is close to baptism because she knows the gospel is true but fears what her parents and friends back home in El Salvador will think. I just know that she –- like you mom –- will see so much peace, happiness and knowledge come from accepting the gospel.

Gotta go!

Love you all so very much!

Love,

Hermana Richardson

Monday
May 11, 2009

Dear family,

Wanted to write a quick little note to let you all know that I love you. Hermana Brundage and I are going to be leaving soon to go take the two new sisters out teaching with us.

I passed your love and appreciation to Hermana Brundage.

I hope your (dad's) business trip went well and that all of your (Doug's) music going ons went great too!

Know that I love you all SO much!

Love,
Heather