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