Whew. What a week.

So this week was awesome, and tiring.

 

Thursday we got two new investigators.  One we found about a month ago while contacting. We gave him a Book of Mormon and finally got in touch with him. I talked about him a bit last week. He is doing good. We taught him the restoration and he liked it. He is looking for a church that is a good fit for him.

 

The other new investigator's name is EJ. He is 16 and we met him at a fourth of July party that one of the members had. EJ is a member's nephew. On Wednesday, Elder Howard and I were biking quickly to an appointment. EJ called my name and said hi and I called back and we rode off to the appointment. It took me a while to remember who he was. Later that day, we saw him, on the same street, and he said hi again. This time we were able to stop and talk to him. We set up an appointment for thursday. We went by with a member and it went great. We invited him to be baptized and he accepted for september 9th. We have been doing great at keeping up the contact with him. He was in church yesterday, and enjoyed the sunday school class and young men's lesson. Not many investigator's I've had have come to church the first week after we started teaching them. We also played basketball with him and some members of the ward yesterday, and had a lesson with him earlier this morning. He is doing awesome, and is excited to be learning and meeting with us, as well as being excited to be baptized.

 

We also got two new investigators this morning as well. We taught a man named Jamal and his two kids (one is 8 and one is 7). He wasn't overly interested in joining, he just wanted to know more. He also really wants his kids to know more about God. We think the key is getting all of them to church. The kids will like it, and they are already close with a member family. We were excited to get in with them.

 

It is really nice to have some new people to teach. We had some that weren't really moving, but now it seems like we have a bunch of people to teach, with even more potentials. It is also nice to have someone working towards baptism. This stake is one of the toughest in the mission, but right now, you wouldn't know it. There are 13 people getting ready for baptism in the stake, the most out of other stake in the mission. As the missionaries here have been working hard, and have been more obedient, the Lord, and the members, are trusting us more. The fruits of prays and labors are starting to pay off. We just need to help get these people into the water. It is amazing to see how the zone has turned around.

 

We are still teaching tons of less active members as well. We had one guy there on sunday, and he hasn't been here in the whole time that Elder Howard has been here. His work schedule changed a while ago, so he has been able to come, and this Sunday, we finally got him there. 

 

We were exhausted at the end of the week, but it was a great week. This week has already started off really well.

 

Well the computer is going super slow, so this will be the end of the letter

 

-Elder James Richards

Miracle. No not hockey.

We'll we had some miracles and things happen last week, that set us up nicely for this week. No new investigators yet, but there should be some that come this week.

 

We had one potential investigator, named Richard, who lives in a gated house, so we could never get to the door. We met him a few weeks ago contacting, gave him a Book of Mormon, and asked if we could go by. He gave us an address, but we could never get past the gate. Yesterday (Pday), we were walking to the Spanish Elder's apartment, so we could get a ride to the stores, and we walked by the house. As it turns out, the gate was open. We went Inside, knocked on the door, and we saw Richard. He was busy, but gave us a phone number and told us to come back some morning this week. Now we have a phone number to call which makes things a bit easier. I was so glad I was wearing the normal proselytizing clothes, like we are supposed to on Pday. If I hadn't been he wouldn't have recognized us or been happy to see us. Miracles for obedience.

 

Also yesterday, we were playing soccer at our normal spot, and two kids asked if they could play. One of them, Niko, is actually a former investigator. Elder Howard and the previous elder taught him, but then he got sent to Juvy. He wasn't supposed to be out for 6 months, but it has only been 4. He is a 16 year old Tongan, and is cousins with some members in our ward, one of which is getting his mission papers all finalized. Hopefully we'll be able to start teaching Niko this week as well.

 

We've seen a lot of great things happen this week. It has been a testimony builder to me that the Lord really does recognize our work and our obedience. They tell us that the members "check us out" to make sure we are good missionaries who can be trusted with referrals, and I feel the Lord is same way sometimes. He doesn't reward the missionary for being obedient, he rewards the person with an obedient missionary. We like to get caught up and think all the investigators and baptisms and such are for us, but it is all for them. It is just up to us to do our best for these individuals.

 

Everything is going well here. Thank you for all the support.

 

-Elder Richards

Tengo Viente Anos.

Yesterday was a good day. We did what we do every Pday, played soccer. So my cleats continue to prove to be a good investment. We then went over to the LaBurge's for dinner and that was cool. They gave me a sweet Newark hoodie. Sister LaBurge offered to make any cake I wanted. I thought of the swedish almond one, but I figured she didn't know how to make it. So I settled for an awesome peanut-butter cake. It was almost as good, but not quite haha. I get another brithday dinner this week, on sunday, but it is combined with Elder Howard, since his birthday is the 16th. Funny that our birthdays are a week apart.

 

This past week was more of the same. We are really trying to find some new investigators. We really only have one. We are going through formers, and part member families, and trying all we can to find some new people. Hopefully that work will pay off. We've built up the area in pretty much every other aspect. The ward loves us now, there are a lot of less actives to teach, we get some weekly service opportunities, and we can get all the contacts we need to reach our goal.

 

The fourth was pretty fun. Newark has these huge signs that say "Newark has ZERO TOLERANCE for illegal fireworks" that are all over all the entries to the city. What a joke. It felt like a war zone on wednesday. There were more illegals going up then I've seen in the whole time in Plantation. There were average Joes shooting off Central Park caliber fireworks. Newark is the only city in the Bay Area that allows any type of fireworks. The rules are like back home, if it flies in the air, it is no bueno.  We didn't shoot any off. We just watched one of the members blow stuff up. It was good fun.

 

Overall, a good birthday, and a good Fourth. Hopefully this week we can find some new investigators.

 

Thank you for all the mail and such.

 

-Elder Richards

I can ride my bike with no handlebars.

     Random tidbit of the week: I am becoming very proficient at riding my bike with no handlebars. No handlebars.

     Anyway, first off, I can't believe I am 20 is less than a week. When I went into the MTC I felt like my birthday was ages away, now here it is. Pretty soon it will be a year in the field and then it is all down hill from there. Crazy how time flies.

     Bayside is doing well. We are teaching a lot of less active members, but are really hurting for investigators. It has been really tough to find people. I think we will start to try to focus more on part member families. Finding the families who are less active and non-member and help bring them back. The ward really likes us now, so that is good. We are figuring Elder Howard is out of here in a month, which is crazy.

     This week was a leadership meeting down in San Jose. I shared Robbie's C.S. Lewis quote when we were talking about how to help and inspire our districts to be obedient. It is now being circulated around the mission. Robbie gets a cookie.

     "No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it not by lying down. A man who gives into the temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it; and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation really means - the only complete realist." - C.S. Lewis (Mere Christianity)

     We have a very young district this transfer, with 1/6 missionaries being over a year in the mission. They are all doing great and there will be one or more baptisms in the transfer. Hopefully one of them can be ours. We are working with a woman named Nanette, who is the mother of a prospective missionary. She has had a rough time with drugs and such, and is now suffering the consequences, health wise. She is getting ever-closer to baptism, and she really enjoys our visits, so hopefully we can help her to become more converted to the gospel. It will help her so much, because she has some feelings of guilt for things she has done in the past.

     This stake has been tough. It is losing a lot of members with a stake president and a bishop that have been in forever. The focus seems to be trying to hold on to people that are already here, instead of finding and rescuing. It can make it difficult for us. there have only been 6 convert baptisms this year in the stake, the lowest in the mission. Most stakes in the mission are up around 15-20 with Monterey and Menlo Park both over 30. The stake isn't all to blame for the lack of success though. Many times missionaries get up here and see the work is hard, so they get lazy or goof off. That is why I am glad there are a bunch of young, bright-eyed and bushy tailed missionaries in my district. We're working to lose the Fremont stigma.

     Thanks for all of the letters and support. Have a happy 4th.

-Elder James Richards

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