feb. 16th letter

The wind is fierce, but it hasn't stopped us from working! We've been walking and walking and walking and occasionally taking the bus, and walking some more here in the Hyde Park Ward, contacting many referrals we've received and knocking on the doors of less active members. We stay out of some neighborhoods after dark but I've never particularly felt in danger anywhere yet. In sadder news, we had one of those heartbreaking moments where a golden investigator of ours stopped us because of pressure from his family. It's really unfortunate when this happens, but all we can do is try and be positive and move on. On the other hand, Jamie (our other main investigator) is progressing well and is excited to get baptized in March! He's a great guy, and has been really generous to us in giving us rides to church. We'll be taking him out for Chicago dogs tomorrow. :) Love you everyone! Sorry for the short late email. Let me know if there's anything else you'd like to know, or if there's anything I can do for you all! - Elder Jared Richardson

Chicago Chronicles Feb.23rd

Good morning everyone! I hope you're all nice and warm today. I'm definitely finding more and more opportunities to be grateful for little things I used to take for granted, such as a washer that doesn't eat up my quarters, or being fed more than once every other week, or a warm apartment. It's freezing in the mornings here!! It makes it a challenge to get out of bed sometimes, but I just have to remember what the Lord expects of me. He's blessed me abundantly in adjusting to this area, and I'm determined to continue acting on my faith. And that's what faith really is - action. When we show the Lord that we're willing to put some effort forward, He takes care of the rest. One miracle this week came when the bus took us especially early to an appointment, and we were left wondering how we should spend the extra time we had. After saying a prayer, we determined to walk west until we ran into someone. The first person we saw we talked to - a security officer. We had a great chat with him and he accepted a Book of Mormon! I'm so grateful that rather than use our time unproductively and by showing the Lord that we were willing to act, He put someone in our path to talk to. :) Today our investigator Jamie is giving us a tour of the forensic science lab he works at! I'll be sure to send pictures if we take any. I love you guys! This week went by extremely fast. Perhaps the rest of my mission will as well! - Elder Jared Richardson