This is the loudest library ever.

So I was happy when I heard to Heat won! I knew they were going to win while I was out here. Didn't get to watch, but I'm sure it was cool to see.

In other news, I busted up my ankle yesterday playing basketball. It swelled up nicely, and I had a lump the size of a small to medium orange protruding from my ankle. Bummer was, it happened in about the 3rd game, so I didn't get to play much. It is fine now, and I was on the bike at the end of the night yesterday. I'm only hobbling a little bit now.

This week was the week of teaching Less actives. All of our investigators decided to be sick or work an un-godly amount of hours this week. So, we made up for it by teaching a ton of Less-Active lessons. We found a really nice family to teach. They are very recently married, both members and both just kind of got out of the routine of going to church. He is actually a returned missionary. We have dinner with them tomorrow. We are going to try to help him remember the times he had on his mission, and help him see how necessary the gospel still is to him and his family. This area has so many RMs and people that have been through the temple that are less active. In my last area, there were 3 less actives that were Elders. Here there are so many. It is kind of scary. It makes you realize that enduring to the end really should be to the end, not just a mission or the temple or a sealing.

Our district is doing well so far this transfer. Right now, it is incredibly young. There is only one missionary over a year, and Elder Howard and I are the next longest out. One elder has been out 2 transfers and is training a new elder. It is kind of nice though, because everyone is willing to work. The Fremont stake is a very hard place to be a missionary, so work is required. All the members of the district have and are really bringing their area's up. It kind of is a testament to how far work and attitude can go in a tough area.

Well, have fun this week. Thanks for the love and support.

-Elder James Richards

In the Heat of the Moment.

This week was the last week of the transfer. I can't believe I've already finished a transfer here in Newark. That went quick...

This past week was more of the same, with a few nice differences. On Sunday, we got 2 investigators to church, the ones we barbecued with a few weeks ago. One of them comes pretty consistently, but the other one hasn't been there since I've been here, so it was nice. They are doing well, and we are trying to take them to the temple visitor's center this week. That is a great resource that we have up here.

We also had a good street contact with a man named Richard, and we are going by his house tonight. The Zone goal last week was for the whole zone to place a whole case of Book of Mormons. We started talking to him and gave him a Book of Mormon. He said he would try to come to church this coming Sunday and said we could go by his house sometime. It was pretty cool because we've had trouble finding people to teach here. We've been teaching lots of less actives, but not many non-members. He seemed really genuine, so we'll see how it goes.

The downside of last week was that is was so hot! It got over 95, and some people are saying it was over 100. And it isn't like Florida where everyone has an AC unit. It only lasted a day though, and then the wind from the bay started up again and it cooled everything down.

For Pday yesterday, we went across the bay over to the peninsula and hung out with missionaries in Palo Alto and Menlo Park. We were up on Stanford's campus, and it was really nice. I was glad I was walking around as a missionary there instead of a student though.

 

-Elder James Richards

Hola Hermanos

So this week was tough, but it was a good one. We were still able to hit a lot of our goals, and it is nice to know that we were able to keep going and not crumble under the pressure.

This week we picked up an interesting investigator. She is the mother of a guy who was baptized about 3 years ago. He is now working with his bishop in the singles ward to put his papers in for his mission. Pretty cool that he has decided to go. There is also another guy who is in the ward here who just turned 19. He is taking a break from his college football and puts his papers in soon. Lots of missionaries are leaving from Newark/ Fremont.

We are still working with Brian. We are going to invite him to be baptized today. Sometimes even if they don't bite on a date, the invite brings out tons of concerns, so it should help. Brian is a funny guy, and his childrens book and song are really taking off. He should have them published pretty soon.

This week was also our stake conference. The stake center here is huge. It was designed to hold 6-8 wards. Members have been telling me that there is another build a few minutes north of the mission border that is even bigger. Back in the day, Fremont used to be 2 stakes. Newark even used to have 2 wards. The conference was good. Elder Alan Packer came and talked to us. He talked about hearing the voice of the spirit amongst confusion and other influences. When we recognize it, we become familiar with it, so it is easier to pick out.

Other fun things, Elder Platt baptized a man that we started teaching in the last week I was there. He is an Iraqi that teaches arabic in the DLI in Monterey. They are killing it down in Salinas.

Hope you all have a good week with your summers.

-Elder Richards

our bbq yesterday with two of our investigators; Brian and Mike