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