June 9 Manda fuego, Señor!

There once was a small boy, that along with his entire family, went to a far away beach. Upon reaching the soft white sands of this nice area, he immediately separated himself from his other family members, knowing full well that they would want to do silly things like have activities and play games together. What he wanted to do was build a sand castle. Not just any sand castle, but the greatest and most famous and most beautiful and most incredible sand castle anyone had ever seen, though he had never had the opportunity to build a similar construction before.!

So this boy began to build, and build he did! By noon time the sand castle was glorious, tall and ornate. He had done great work. But, he was far from finished. He wanted his project to last! This particular sand castle would endure and be known about the world. Several times throughout the day, the boy's family members tried to come over and help him out or attempted to persuade him to join them on the other side of the beach, but each was rejected in favor of the growing edifice. The boy's father, most importantly, came by to personally try and talk to the boy, but he too was repulsed. As he walked back to the family, the father offered a few tips and his help if the boy ever desired so. 

The boy continued, and the sand castle continued to arise from the beach. As darkness began to fall, his creation was truly a marvel to behold. Walls, turrets, and pinnacles all stood firm and solid, and the boy was well pleased with his work. Just then, he received the call from his parents. The family was heading home. Though the boy begged and pleaded, he could not take the massive construct with him or persuade his parents to remain for a bit more time. The boy had learned a hard lesson. While his family had been gaining fantastic memories that they all could share together for years to come, his day at the beach had been spent in a futile effort to build something that could last, something that would be quickly destroyed as the tides came in.

As I shared this little parable with a less active, she began to cry. We had tried to teach that there are truly treasures in heaven that our worth our time here on Earth, and the message was better received than I could have imagined She testified that she would make every possible effort to get to church the following Sunday. Nothing on this Earth could stop her. I almost shed a few tears myself, but in gratitude, for the Spirit prompting me to share this story, which I had never thought of or imagined before. I was a tool in the hands of the Lord for just a moment this night, and we were all blessed for it.

This week in my new sector of Santa Sabina was a truly impressive assault on my system, throwing me out of the nice little comfort zone I had been unknowingly building for the last few months. From Campo to congested city, I have entered a whole new world. Huge hills are the name of the game, and I have begun to feel the effects of constantly climbing mountains in my legs, which have almost doubled in size. 

This is a crazy place, with thousands of people and tons of buildings and cars and everything that could be asked for from a suburb area like this. I'm about thirty minutes from Conce central, so the standard of living is a bit higher than what I'm used to, despite the large poor element of Santa Sabina. It is a thrill reaching our daily contact goal in minutes, rather than hours like in Yungay.

Unfortunately, every single on of those contacts is rather poor, as the more hurried lifestyle of Andalien leaves very few people standing around, waiting to talk. We have rejected, yelled at, told to go to our home countries, ignored, heard every imaginable excuse, and even had a fun experience with a dog. After a nice contact with a lady that didn't seem to want much, we walked past her and her tranquil dog, on our way to the next visit. All of the sudden, I felt a wrenching pain on my ankle, looking around to see the same black dog running back to the lady who had sent it, and they both ran inside her house. As it didn't break the skin, I haven't had any serious problems, and enjoyed the situation quite a bit. My first dog bite in Chile!

My companion, Elder Flores, has turned out to be a pillar of strength in such a bleak area. He is a Bolivian with 18 months in the mission, but less than three in Chile. He has actually served in three different countries and missions, being bounced around as civil problems have kicked out foreign missionaries. Now he's here, and his super bright and energetic personality is making life wonderful to behold. The title of this email comes from a evangelical song he likes to sing when we are rudely rejected. For those who don't know Spanish, it essentially says ´Command/Send fire, Lord.´ It is complete with claps and cheers. He is a great guy.

I have been absolutely loving this place. Several great Elders I have known are my leaders (Elder Young from the CCM, Elder Hancock from Chiguayante, and Elder Layton from Arizona!), the Ward (Oh heavens, I had forgotten how glorious a well functioning ward feels. Meeting with fine tuned leaders and prepared members is an incredible feeling.) is absolutely rock solid, and life is great. How great is my calling!

I love you all, and hope the best for you. Manda fuego, Señor, en todos de sus lugares!

With love,

Elder Richardson

June 2 Santa Sabina, Andalien

Wow, six weeks have flown by faster than I could have imagined! It is incredible to me, blows my mind really, that I have had the glorious opportunity to be here in Yungay for four and a half months. It has been hard. It has been cold. It has been absolutely unforgetable! I have loved every minute of it.

But as with all good things (At least in this life!), this too must come to an end. I have received news that I am heading off once more, back to the cityscapes of Concepcion. I'm going to be, as the title of this letter states, in Santa Sabina in Andalien. As it turns out, this has been the following sector for two of the last three missionaries to leave Yungay, so maybe this shouldn't have been such a big surprise for me. Either way, my time here in the campo is at an end, and though I am sad to go, this has been a glorious roller coaster ride, and I am quite ready for the next.

There have been some unforgettable memories here in this tiny little pueblito. Great companions, great members, and even greater stories have all been quite present here. Though I can't say with a straight face that it has been an easy experience, I wouldn't trade it for the world. There were some pretty great things that happened this week especially, that I would like to tell of.

On our way to the District Class in Chillan, we found ourself in a standing room only bus, feeling quite like Sardines during the hour and ahalf journey. After I paid my fare, my wallet ended up in the baggage rack up above the hustle and the bustle. As we desperately signalled and battled the flood of personages to escape, my wallet was left behind in the chaos. Though undoubtably hundreds of people used that very bus the same day, I felt an unnatural calm and peace that things would work out. My companion mocked, declaring that we needed to call the credit companies and make sure everything was cancelled. 

As it was, I felt compelled to head down at a specific time the following day to the bus terminal, and sure enough that very bus was waiting. No one had returned a lost wallet or any of the contents, and so I was told that I could freely search. Maintaining a faith-filled attitude, I walked up the steps and put my hand up to the baggage rack, feeling instantly my long lost possession. Unbelievably, it had every last peso still intact, and nothing had been touched. My companion just couldn't believe it, and was amazed. I just know that God is watching out for us, even in the small and seemingly insignificant things.

After weeks of planning, we put on the branch talent show. We had some forty people there, and while the majority were children, there was a surprising amount of adults as well. The really big surprise was that everything worked out far better than we had planned. many people were willing to share artistic talents, including singing, dancing, and even a violin quartet with guitar accompianment. We even had some jokers, and beatboxing made an appearance as well. Everyone was well behaved, and we had no problems the entire night. Some of the less actives that we convinced to go to the activity even went to church the following Sunday, which made it all better. I was MC for a little bit, and told some cheesy jokes, and tried to help everyone have a good time. I'm sure going to miss the high stress situations of running a rama haha.

I am so incredibly grateful for everything that has happened here. There really is no doubt in my mind that God has a very specific plan for each and every single one of us. Never would I have imagined that I should be going to a little place called Yungay, but it has been something that I will never regret and always remember. I have grown in more ways that I could have imagined (Not horizontally, thank goodness), and that only thanks to the special eccentricities of this little town. Our Heavenly Father loves us so much, of that I can testify with all my heart.

Sunday night, we turned away from a bit of a disappointing lesson, a little bit downtrodden and not knowing where to go at the moment, as our plans had all fallen at that point. As we walked, a large and obviously drunk man stopped us, not that unusual of a thing at this point. As we tried to make a brief Gospel statement and head off, he told us that there was something that he needed to share. He shared a surprisingly powerful testimony of how he, and every single one of us, are God's children, and that He loves us so much. Though we were a bit saddened by the circumstances of this inebriated man, his alchohol-soaked testimony cheered us up far more than it should have. Far more and more, I am finding that there are no such things as happenstance, and that our Heavenly Father really is throwing our way just what we need. My thanks be to Him, and also to a hairy drunk man on Sunday night.

Well, that's about it for this week. Next time I will be writing straight from Conce! I'm excited for the change, and am ready for whatever comes my way, because I know that Heavenly Father is watching over me and every one else.

I love you all, and hope you have an excellent, miracle-filled week!

Sincerely,

Elder Richardson

May 19

Today was an utterly fantastic day! Why, you may ask from the depths of your soul? I'll tell you why. We had a zone activity to the famous thermal springs of Chillan. And it was a blast.

The true greatness of the day is reflected in that we actually had to spend the night in Chillan with several other great Elders, who are all inspirations and wonderful friends to me. The night was full of hilarious stories and great new experiences as well, and we were well exhausted by the time we all fell asleep. We loaded up, early in the morning with two other zones, 50+ Elders and Sisters in all, and rode the bus for several hours. As we made it into the Alps, we were a bit disappointed to find that the normal snow capped peaks were lacking the snow. Regardless, we did not let that stop us!

In a group of about 12, we headed off in search of a backwoods trail that would take us to a natural hot spring high in the mountains. It was a fantastic journey, and quite a bit more difficult than I had thought, but we made it to the top, or quite near enough to the top. About ten minutes from the nearest peak was a great, steaming hot spring. It reaked of sulfur, but the great view and greater pictures we took made it all worth it. I had thought that because we walk all day, especially in the hilly country of Yungay, that I could handle this hike pretty easily. That was not the case, haha. 

We had several great experiences this week. Many were in the midst of difficulties, and were welcome blessings from the Lord.

The first, from a contact that we made the last week. The woman we had contacted had little to no interest in our message, but her sister had happily given us her contact information. This Tuesday, in the midst of pouring rain, we were pormpted to stop by this nice lady, finding not only her but two of her children in her home. I have never, in my mission or at other points of life, met a woman who has opened up so throuroughly in a first visit. She told us every single one of her needs and desires without anything more than a few simple introductory questions. She has a great desire to learn more and receive the blessings of heaven, and we will be happy to visit in the future.

As the week wore on, it appeared that several of our previous investigators would not be progressing, so we redoubled our efforts to find those who can. We were prompted to pass by several members who had been helpful in the past, and received great blessings from our visits. The first lady wasn't available, but her non member husband happily talked with us for almost an hour about every aspect of the gospel of Christ. Though he has a few points mixed up, he has an incredible knowledge about these things, quoting scripture from memory and sharing concepts I have only begun to understand myself. The second hermana was quite happy to let us in, because a friend of hers had recently experienced some bad problems. Because we had recently helped this hermana with her own experiences, she eagerly gave us three references (One of which has already turned out to be a marked success). How incredible these people and these blessings.

It hasn't been easy, and there have been marked problems and challenges every step of the way, but I am more reassured than ever that Jesus Christ is personally heading this work, and that He wants it, and us, to succeed. I love you all, and hope that you have another fantastic week ahead of you.

Elder Richardson

May 26

Hello Everybody! It has been quite the rollercoaster week down here in Yungay, and I hope it has been all ups for you all. 

I wirte the title of this email for a distinct reason: Because it has been remarkably proven true this week. It was a bit amazing how poor the beginning of this week was, with very little results of any kind to stand for it. We were rejected. We were dejected. We were all manner of other -ecteds, and it seems like that would continue for the entire week. Investigators fell through. Less actives just didn't want to progress. Even the members have been depressed lately, and all in all, we returned to the house Thursday night completely worn out. My brief prayer that night was simply asking for the love of Heavenly Father.

And how it was answered!

First thing Friday Morning, we were sitting down and attempting to study, though it wasn't going well, when we hear a loud knocking at the door. Our Zone Leaders, the ever amazing Elder Calder and Elder Shumway, had made the early morning long bus ride to Yungay to make us pancakes. They also cleaned our dishes, and before leaving, taught a powerful lesson on the Atonement. It was a wonderful expression of love on their parts, and we appreciated it greatly.

But it didn't stop there. We had a wonderful, stress relieving service cutting wood for an elderly lady in our rama. We taught several powerful lessons with people who needed them. To top off the night, the English class that I taught went perfectly. The class was well behaved, there were 20+ in attendence, and there were no problems during the movie night afterwards. 

Another miraculous answer came Sunday night, when we lacked 7 contacts to reach our goal. It seemed impossible, late at night when we had struggled to find anyone in the streets the whole day. I said a quick prayer in my heart, only to feel inspired to head back to the house. Strangely enough, we did, with 15 minutes to spare before closing time. As we did however, we just happened to run across a group who had recently gotten off a bus from another city. We talked to each and every single person, contacting 9 in total, and surpassing our goal. It was incredible.

I know that the Lord truly answers prayers. He loves us, more than we can possibly know. He will always answer. I testify of these things every day, because there is not a shadow of a doubt in my heart that these things can bless every single living person.

I love you all, and hope you have a great week filled with answered prayers and wonderful, if not miraculous experiences!

With love,

Elder Richardson