Richards' first letter from the field
This is Richards first letter from the field and was so good I thought I would include it here unedited and unabridged. It speaks for itself and nothing I could say would add to it, it would only detract.
Hey!! I'll try that again, I just sent a short one on accident!
There's almost no time to do anything here. The day I met the president, we had a meal, interviews, and then a small fireside. The AP's and our new companions were there, but he hadn't chosen who we were paired up with yet. After interviews, we were paired up and sent out. My new companion is Elder Cox, a cool kid. I'm glad we're together, he's layed back and a hard worker at the same time. He's been out for 14 months and I'm his first greenie.
The very first day (I still haven't unpacked everything!) we had 3 appointments. It's crazy because we teach all the time! I've already had some sweet experiences. I think the hardest part is homesickness. It's more of a homesickness for things that are familiar because this place, although it's stateside, is the most foreign place i've ever seen! No one speaks english! And I wouldn't have it any other way. It's different and cool at the same time. So don't worry, it's a homesickness of missing my family, but knowing that this is the most kickin experience at the same time! It must have been the same for you papa, but I'm sure once you got the language and culture down, things started feeling a little more like home.
Want to hear about some investigators? Yes?? Well our first day we had several appointments (Like I said, and which is sweet because the field is ready for some serious harvest here, and I love teaching), and we met up with this kid named Leo. He was contacted on the street and he's about 17. I love this kid, he's been in a lot of trouble in his life and just got out of Juvenile Incarceration. (I guess that's the best way to put it) He's so sincere and (Dude! Mom, there's this trailer park here that's totally classic south! HA! Yeah, I was born in a trailer park...I hope Cecily still likes me even so...But it's huge and there are palm/coconut trees everywhere and it's, well, huge! It's just over a full square mile) And that's where Leo lives. He's totally sincere and can feel the spirit when we teach him. We asked, "How do you feel right now?" "Uh, (in a gangsta accent, so cool, and he speaks english) I feel good you know? Like, peaceful." And much more. But as we were teaching him the other night in front of his house (and there was a massive lightning storm coming! Which happens almost everyday without fail, crazy huh?) and we read with him Alma 36. After we told him the steps to salvation and he said, "Hey I haven't been baptized, how can I do that?" Elder Cox and I looked at eachother "uhhh" and Elder Cox looked at him and said, "Well we can take care of that for you Leo!" I almost started laughing, very exciting. We set a hopeful baptism date for November and he agreed that we could help him prepare.
Still, my favorite was on the way home one night. It was about 8:30 and rain/lightning was coming toward us. We decided to head home and get the rest of our contacts on the way. (we have a goal of 20 a day, which is actually tough because we teach most of the time, and I'm on bike by the way! I'm using another Elder's who we're rooming with for the time being. Most of the living arrangements have 4 Elders per residence, and our residence is pretty sweet.) So we needed a few more contacts which go like this, "Puedo darle una tarjeta? Es acerca de Jesucristo, nuestro Salvador..." Followed by whatever else I can muster up. As we rode in front of a store, we saw someone (who looked homeless) sitting infront of a trashcan on the store...porch? Pretty sure the sitting infront of the trashcan gave him the homeless look, but make not mistakes, he was only an alcoholic. "Pretty sure I asked for Pecan Sandies..." Well we stopped and asked, "Como esta?" He responded, "Muy mal." (Or very bad for those who are extremely solo-lingual..."What's the word for no?" I love you ma! haha) We asked why and he said he was a terrible person. He was speaking slow enough for me to understand all of what he said. I set down my bike and sat down next to him because he had started crying. Elder Cox went to the other side and crouched down on the road. He cried and cried and we asked what was wrong. We told him that we were missionaries of Jesus Christ and he said that he had too many sins. We told him that he could be forgiven and feel peace and joy in his life. We went on in this fashion of teaching for a solid 45 minutes while in between he had told us that we were angels. I remember one quote that Elder Cox and I were laughing at! He said, "You are two young-handsome men! You are Americans, I am Cuban!" Basically sounding like "why would you teach a Cuban." He laughed as tears streamed down his face. He also said something that made me think, he said, "How do you know so much, when you are so young? How?" That got me thinking. How do I know so much? I had no idea how many people had no clue about this and how many people really are accepting and needful of the Gospel.
I was so surprised from how many people have heard our message and desired more. I'm used to Vacaville where no one will even listen. Here, everyone's accepting and they eat up this message. The only trouble is getting them to keep there commitments such as church. But we'll go back and visit them and they'll welcome us right in. I love you guys! I miss you and think about you. I remember the MTC was hard to get used to at first, and this will be too, but I've learned something pretty important out here. There's really no one or nothing else to look to, and you know what I'm talking about. A few of my favorite scriptures are found in D&C 6, from about 20-23. I had the opportunity to give a spiritual thought on those scriptures lastnight at a dinner appointment. Ha, hey ma, don't worry about us getting fed here! We are offered food at every lesson, every appointment, every door, every back alleyway, every car that drives by! Ha, well that's close enough atleast! Our fridge is stocked from people. Ah I love you guys and miss you. But someday all of this will be coming to an end and I'll wonder just where it went. I can't imagine getting married or being a dad without a rigorous/adventurous growing experience like this. I'll have more stories for you next week! Hey, could you forward this to others you feel would like it in our family? And the Lemmon's too please? Thanks for the email Sis. Lemmon! Keep 'em coming! And Cecily too? I'm very fond of that girl you know (British accent) Dude it's so hot and humid here! I'll get used to it for sure by next summer, but dang. You walk outside and it hits you like a wall of water! "You're using coconuts! Where did you get your coconuts?" "Like the swallows from the east that seek warmer climates, yet these are not strangers to our land?"......"You could call me Dennis." Ha, Elder LaFortune in our apartment quotes that with me. You know why? Because there are several coconuts scattered throughout the streets here. I took one home and shucked it, drank some of the milk, ate some of the meat, and hollowed it out. Elder Cox split it perfectly down the center with a hammer (mountain man from Canada) and now I have "two empty halves of coconuts, and I'm bangin' 'em together!" It sounds just like a horse! I do it and Elder LaFortune comes riding our of his room, or he plays "Patsy" for me. We also do missionary work, Lots of it! So much in fact I'm dead at the end of the day and we don't come in at all, which is how it should be! I love you all! Write back soon! And thanks family for the awesome package the first day I got here, I dig the ties (from my closet ha) and the Master and Commander Soundtrack! I was so excited. I also really like the Beethoven Violin music. This is pretty long, I know. I'd better get moving! Cecily you better write soon! I love you ma, dad, Dallas.
I also forgot to tell you that there are atleast 5 different prevalent cultures here. Each bringing there own traditions, I should have most of the info down by the time I head home! Love, Richard
Hey!! I'll try that again, I just sent a short one on accident!
There's almost no time to do anything here. The day I met the president, we had a meal, interviews, and then a small fireside. The AP's and our new companions were there, but he hadn't chosen who we were paired up with yet. After interviews, we were paired up and sent out. My new companion is Elder Cox, a cool kid. I'm glad we're together, he's layed back and a hard worker at the same time. He's been out for 14 months and I'm his first greenie.
The very first day (I still haven't unpacked everything!) we had 3 appointments. It's crazy because we teach all the time! I've already had some sweet experiences. I think the hardest part is homesickness. It's more of a homesickness for things that are familiar because this place, although it's stateside, is the most foreign place i've ever seen! No one speaks english! And I wouldn't have it any other way. It's different and cool at the same time. So don't worry, it's a homesickness of missing my family, but knowing that this is the most kickin experience at the same time! It must have been the same for you papa, but I'm sure once you got the language and culture down, things started feeling a little more like home.
Want to hear about some investigators? Yes?? Well our first day we had several appointments (Like I said, and which is sweet because the field is ready for some serious harvest here, and I love teaching), and we met up with this kid named Leo. He was contacted on the street and he's about 17. I love this kid, he's been in a lot of trouble in his life and just got out of Juvenile Incarceration. (I guess that's the best way to put it) He's so sincere and (Dude! Mom, there's this trailer park here that's totally classic south! HA! Yeah, I was born in a trailer park...I hope Cecily still likes me even so...But it's huge and there are palm/coconut trees everywhere and it's, well, huge! It's just over a full square mile) And that's where Leo lives. He's totally sincere and can feel the spirit when we teach him. We asked, "How do you feel right now?" "Uh, (in a gangsta accent, so cool, and he speaks english) I feel good you know? Like, peaceful." And much more. But as we were teaching him the other night in front of his house (and there was a massive lightning storm coming! Which happens almost everyday without fail, crazy huh?) and we read with him Alma 36. After we told him the steps to salvation and he said, "Hey I haven't been baptized, how can I do that?" Elder Cox and I looked at eachother "uhhh" and Elder Cox looked at him and said, "Well we can take care of that for you Leo!" I almost started laughing, very exciting. We set a hopeful baptism date for November and he agreed that we could help him prepare.
Still, my favorite was on the way home one night. It was about 8:30 and rain/lightning was coming toward us. We decided to head home and get the rest of our contacts on the way. (we have a goal of 20 a day, which is actually tough because we teach most of the time, and I'm on bike by the way! I'm using another Elder's who we're rooming with for the time being. Most of the living arrangements have 4 Elders per residence, and our residence is pretty sweet.) So we needed a few more contacts which go like this, "Puedo darle una tarjeta? Es acerca de Jesucristo, nuestro Salvador..." Followed by whatever else I can muster up. As we rode in front of a store, we saw someone (who looked homeless) sitting infront of a trashcan on the store...porch? Pretty sure the sitting infront of the trashcan gave him the homeless look, but make not mistakes, he was only an alcoholic. "Pretty sure I asked for Pecan Sandies..." Well we stopped and asked, "Como esta?" He responded, "Muy mal." (Or very bad for those who are extremely solo-lingual..."What's the word for no?" I love you ma! haha) We asked why and he said he was a terrible person. He was speaking slow enough for me to understand all of what he said. I set down my bike and sat down next to him because he had started crying. Elder Cox went to the other side and crouched down on the road. He cried and cried and we asked what was wrong. We told him that we were missionaries of Jesus Christ and he said that he had too many sins. We told him that he could be forgiven and feel peace and joy in his life. We went on in this fashion of teaching for a solid 45 minutes while in between he had told us that we were angels. I remember one quote that Elder Cox and I were laughing at! He said, "You are two young-handsome men! You are Americans, I am Cuban!" Basically sounding like "why would you teach a Cuban." He laughed as tears streamed down his face. He also said something that made me think, he said, "How do you know so much, when you are so young? How?" That got me thinking. How do I know so much? I had no idea how many people had no clue about this and how many people really are accepting and needful of the Gospel.
I was so surprised from how many people have heard our message and desired more. I'm used to Vacaville where no one will even listen. Here, everyone's accepting and they eat up this message. The only trouble is getting them to keep there commitments such as church. But we'll go back and visit them and they'll welcome us right in. I love you guys! I miss you and think about you. I remember the MTC was hard to get used to at first, and this will be too, but I've learned something pretty important out here. There's really no one or nothing else to look to, and you know what I'm talking about. A few of my favorite scriptures are found in D&C 6, from about 20-23. I had the opportunity to give a spiritual thought on those scriptures lastnight at a dinner appointment. Ha, hey ma, don't worry about us getting fed here! We are offered food at every lesson, every appointment, every door, every back alleyway, every car that drives by! Ha, well that's close enough atleast! Our fridge is stocked from people. Ah I love you guys and miss you. But someday all of this will be coming to an end and I'll wonder just where it went. I can't imagine getting married or being a dad without a rigorous/adventurous growing experience like this. I'll have more stories for you next week! Hey, could you forward this to others you feel would like it in our family? And the Lemmon's too please? Thanks for the email Sis. Lemmon! Keep 'em coming! And Cecily too? I'm very fond of that girl you know (British accent) Dude it's so hot and humid here! I'll get used to it for sure by next summer, but dang. You walk outside and it hits you like a wall of water! "You're using coconuts! Where did you get your coconuts?" "Like the swallows from the east that seek warmer climates, yet these are not strangers to our land?"......"You could call me Dennis." Ha, Elder LaFortune in our apartment quotes that with me. You know why? Because there are several coconuts scattered throughout the streets here. I took one home and shucked it, drank some of the milk, ate some of the meat, and hollowed it out. Elder Cox split it perfectly down the center with a hammer (mountain man from Canada) and now I have "two empty halves of coconuts, and I'm bangin' 'em together!" It sounds just like a horse! I do it and Elder LaFortune comes riding our of his room, or he plays "Patsy" for me. We also do missionary work, Lots of it! So much in fact I'm dead at the end of the day and we don't come in at all, which is how it should be! I love you all! Write back soon! And thanks family for the awesome package the first day I got here, I dig the ties (from my closet ha) and the Master and Commander Soundtrack! I was so excited. I also really like the Beethoven Violin music. This is pretty long, I know. I'd better get moving! Cecily you better write soon! I love you ma, dad, Dallas.
I also forgot to tell you that there are atleast 5 different prevalent cultures here. Each bringing there own traditions, I should have most of the info down by the time I head home! Love, Richard
posted by Richards dad at 6:40 PM
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