Chicago Chronicles 12/29/2014

Merry Christmas everyone! :) Calling home was the absolute best present I received this year. I'm so grateful to be able to see and talk to my awesome parents and siblings, it really lifts my spirits and makes me want to work harder! Despite the fact that we had no snow and didn't get to shovel for tons of people like I had wanted, Christmas was stellar because I got to visit with so many families. It started at the Chiarolanzas on Christmas Eve where our investigator John came and we had a Family Home Evening/Nativity of sorts, and Christmas morning we opened packages from home there and had stuffed French toast for breakfast. After that we Skyped home at the McLaws' house, and then visited the Searle family and built Legos with their 8-year-old son Jack. With his father passed away, and with no brothers, Jack hasn't had the chance to do the things he wants to do. I'm glad we could spend some time with him; his family is doing very well. They'll be going on a cruise with extended family this weekend. Our dinner was at the Lloyd's, who had just finished talking to their missionary son Kemish over the phone. Afterwards we visited a few lonely less active members. It was an all-around fantastic day. In other news, our investigator John, someone I've talked about a lot in recent emails, just got baptized on Saturday! Elder Leslie did the baptism, and I played the piano/spoke on the Gift of the Holy Ghost. We had a MUCH better turnout than we had expected, including less-active member Lorenza, our investigator Reed, and John's nonmember roommate. I'm so grateful for this ward's willingness to support and welcome the newest member in. :) I hope you all had a fabulous holiday! Please send my love to everyone who misses me, and even those who don't. ;) Love, - Elder Jared Richardson image1.JPG image2.JPG image3.JPG image4.JPG image5.JPG image6.JPG

December 22nd letter

Chicago Chronicles 12/22/2014 - Christmastime is Here‏ I don't have much to say seeing as I'll get to Skype home on Thursday, so my email this week will mostly consist of pictures. :) one is of our makeshift "tree" in our apartment. This week our zone went to the temple and had a gift exchange/devotional at the mission home. I really enjoyed it! We sang a lot of Christmas hymns and discussed the significance of having the Savior born into the world. On Sunday I sang with the choir for our Ward Christmas program! During third hour the kids in the ward did a Nativity performance which was as charming as it was spiritually uplifting. I'm so glad that two of our investigators came, John and Reed - it really was an excellent day. :) Speaking of John, he passed his interview with President Woodbury, and will be getting baptized this Saturday! We're super psyched for him, and we plan on having him over for dinner with a member family on Christmas Eve. Anywho, thanks so much to everyone who sent Christmas cards and packages - I feel really blessed to know so many wonderful people. Merry Christmas! I hope we all stay warm and spend some meaningful time with those around us. :) - Elder Jared Richardson {3} {3} {3} {3} {3} {3} {3} Favorite {3} Favorite {3} {3} {3} {3} Skype Messenger

December 14th letter

This week was fun as we went caroling as a district to lots of less active members! We also had a great "ugly sweater" ward party on Saturday, which was fun to help out with. I'll include a picture. John's still working towards his baptism! Our mission president will interview him his week, and he'll hopefully get baptized on the 27th. At this point Elder Leslie and I will be for sure staying together for the next twenty weeks! I'm glad we're staying together, but I'm also sad to see some of the people in our district get transferred. Elder Petersen, our district leader, was a really great example to me when I first got moved to Lake Villa, and I'm really going to miss serving around him. Merry Christmas everyone! Let's make this week awesome. :) - Elder Jared Richardson

Decmber 9th 2014

I'm very surprised at the lack of snow, especially after comparing it to last winter! The wind is still very icy, but we're staying pretty warm. Our investigator John is feeling pretty welcome in the ward! He's progressing well - this week he gave up all his cigarettes and is reading the Book of Mormon every night. I wish ALL our investigators were as golden as he is, but sadly it isn't so. One interesting thing that happened this week was when a less active member contacted us asking for help decorating and packaging cookies. She runs a custom-made cookie shop that ships anywhere. Target decided to order 8,000 cookies from her that needed to be shipped the next week! Ordinarily I'd probably be against spending our time decorating cookies for 5 hours, but our service allowed us to get to know the member more and find a way to come back! The Lord definitely provides very unique opportunities for us missionaries to work with people. This is the best time of the year where we can contemplate the immense significance of the Savior of the World being born in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago. :) Even though I'm away from home, I'm so excited for the Christmas season. Love, - Elder Jared Richardson

Chicago Chronicles 12/1/2014 - Forever Thankful‏

This week was very solemn as on Tuesday the Bishop of our ward, Bishop Searle, was killed in a car accident. It was very sudden and unfortunate, and most of the ward has been greatly affected by it. This week we hope to help the Searle family by decorating their house with Christmas lights while they're with family in Utah. Bishop Searle was one of the most gentle, Christlike men I've ever worked with, so I want to do absolutely anything we can for his family. On a lighter note, thanksgiving was great! :) we spent most of our day stopping by lonely people in the ward with slices of pie, but we also got to have a wonderfully filling meal with the Chiarolanzas! I'm so grateful for the awesome members in this ward who are willing to feed us and have us over. In other news, two highlights this week were 1) Teaching John, an investigator, and committing him to be baptized on the 20th and 2) Seeing Lorenza, a less active member, come to church! She came because I was performing a piano accompaniment for a couple in the ward, which really meant a lot to me. Now the trick is figuring out how to get her to come back! ;) Elder Leslie is still indecisive sometimes, but I'm hoping to get him to open up more. The week after next I'm going to let him lead us in planning and be the senior companion. He's definitely qualified to be here and I know he'll do great work in this ward! Through our trials, if we decide to be like Nephi and "praise [God] all the day long; and...not murmur...because of [our] afflictions", I know things will always work out. I also testify that we can ALL be together as a family throughout Eternity because of the Priesthood. :) Love you all. Stay safe! - Elder Jared Richardson

November 24th letter

Friends and Family, Hope you're all staying warm! It's a blizzard outside right now!! It snowed a little this week, and we had some warm days too, but it is FREEZING currently! Elder Leslie is doing well. I've been trying my best to set an example for him to follow and get him out of his comfort zone. So, we've tracted quite a bit, which isn't so pleasant when the wind makes you feel like you're rubbing your face against a piece of ice. But little by little I think he's improving and gradually adjusting to missionary life. :) This Sunday I'll be accompanying a couple in the ward for a Christmas duet, so I'm hoping to invite as many investigators and less active members as I can to come! I'd invite all of you to check out Christmas.Mormon.org in two days and watch the video there. It's a worldwide initiative the church is putting out that we missionaries will be using to invite others to learn more about the restored gospel. I'm excited to use it and keep working! Love you all, - Elder Jared Richardson © 2014 Microsoft Messenger

Chicago Chronicles Nov. 10th- I have a son

10 months down, 14 to go! After three months of serving with me, my companion Elder Miller will be leaving this area for Hebron, Indiana, of all places! I've been telling him of all the awesome families he's going to meet - I know he's going to do great there. I've learned a lot from him this past transfer, such as contacting skills and being bold in inviting people to learn more about the Gospel. I gave him a Superman watch as a transfer gift. :) As for me, I'll be staying in Lake Villa and training a brand new missionary! I'm really excited to be a "dad" as they say in missionary terms, helping my new companion learn the basics just like Elder Potter did for me. It's very likely that he and I will serve here together for the next 12 weeks. I'm a little nervous about taking over the area, but if I do what I can and rely on the enabling power of Christ's Atonement, I know things will work out. I hope you're all doing well - I am always praying for your health and safety. I'm so blessed to have an awesome family and friends to come home to. The things of this world are fleeting and have little worth, but the relationships we make will last forever. - Elder Jared Richardson image1.JPG image2.JPG image3.JPG © 2014 Microsoft

Chicago Chronicles November 3rd, 2014-Through Test and Trial

It's getting cold up here! I wouldn't be surprised to look out the window and see snow one of these day. At District Meeting I shared a lesson around the question, "What Trail are you leaving?" As missionaries we affect generations to come by our actions. It's been a big help to me to consider whether my conduct and appearance has been in harmony with my calling with members, investigators, less active members, and even my companion. I encourage all of you to think about that too in your own lives. Elder Miller is going through some difficult trials. He left his iPad on our car one day before we drove off, and this morning he found out that his grandfather has passed away. Only a few minutes after learning this we went to the library for him to email his family. Immediately after getting there Elder Miller walked over to a guy smoking a cigarette next to his car and started talking to him about who we are, and testified of the Plan of Salvation. I really admire him for his tenacity, and I hope I can do my best to encourage and strengthen him in what might be our last week together. I love you and leave you with a very excellent quote from President Hinckley: “I speak of the need for a little more effort, a little more self-discipline, a little more consecrated effort in the direction of excellence in our lives. This is the great day of decision for each of us. For many it is the time of beginning something that will go on for as long as you live. I plead with you, don’t be a scrub! Rise to the high ground of spiritual, mental, and physical excellence. You can do it. You may not be a genius. You may be lacking in some skills. But so many of us can do better than we are now doing. We are members of this great Church whose influence is now felt over the world. We are people with a present and with a future. Don’t muff your opportunities. Be excellent.” -Gordon B. Hinckley

chicago chronicles October 27th

Dear Family, There were many ups and downs this week. In particular, a lot of appointments we had set up with people were cancelled. But we're still working, and doing our best to try and teach more people. Elder Miller has been off-and-on pretty sick, and I may be catching it (unfortunately), but it hasn't affected the work too much yet. In other news, I'll be accompanying a duet for a Christmas musical number in the ward at the end of next month. The music they gave me is pretty difficult, but I'm hopeful that I can learn it well enough to sound decent. It's been pretty cool to see just how much I've been playing piano at baptisms, meetings, and elsewhere on my mission. Those of you preparing for a mission, don't hesitate to learn a few hymns before you go! One of our goals for the next few weeks is to get this Ward more excited about home/visiting teaching. There are a lot of great members here who are used to simply not doing it. In line with what I said last week, it's essential that we home and visit teach to serve and look after the other members of our wards. I'm worried about Chief and Don, two brothers we baptized in this area. They haven't had much of a drive to come to church, and I think half the reason is that their dad has zero interest in religion. We're trying to get other youth to fellowship them better, but it's still difficult to continually ask them if they're coming to something and find a ride for them. Something my mission president suggested was in lessons to make our message more fun and similar to FHE activities, to try and get the rest of the family involved. We have some good ideas, but I wanted to ask each of you - what are some fun object lessons or games that you have used or seen in Family Home Evenings before? I love you and am full of gratitude for all the things you have done to support this awesome work. Remember that praise for the miracles that have happened go not to the missionaries, but to God. :) - Elder Jared Richardson P.s. As missionaries we're not allowed to wear costumes, so Elder Miller and I found a way around it for our Ward Halloween activity. He wore a Superman shirt under his shirt and went as Clark Kent, and I donned my suit and went as a Men-in-Black-esque agent (seeing through the dark with sunglasses on is really difficult, by the way). The girl is the middle is a member who was sealed to her family last week. :)

"Buenos Dias!" -D. Todd Christofferson General Conference was excellent! I received a lot of answers to the questions I had written down before and during the sessions, and I am definitely going to enjoy studying the talks in the coming weeks. We watched one session at a less-active member's home (who actually took some notes, which was really cool to see!) and we also watched a session with Karlie, who was baptized last week. My favorite talks in particular were Lynne G. Robbins, Jörg Klebingat, and President Uchtdorf (especially his Priesthood session talk). It was also really cool to see Elder Hamula of the 70 talk Sunday morning, after seeing him in person just a few short weeks ago. What wereYOUR favorite talks? The other highlight of this week was going with Karlie and the McLaws family into the temple to perform baptisms for the dead. It was a great experience for her, as much as it was for Elder Miller and I, who got to be witnesses and perform confirmations. Being a Melchizedek Priesthood holder is a great privilege - one that I will always cherish. Speaking of baptisms, this week I will be heading back to Hebron for a day with Elder Potter to go to Scotty's baptism, the last of the Decheske's family to be baptized. Scotty has actually asked me to be the one to baptize him, which I feel really honored. It's going to be a great week. :) And I hope it'll be great for all of you as well! Love, - Elder Jared Richardson

jared on p-day with captian Moroni shirt

Jared on mission learning piano piece

Elder Richardson in Indiana with companion and Elders

sledding in Indiana

Jared mission photos

kids reading bedtime mysteries with photo bombing cheerleading pose