Week One in TEXAS! - 10/23/2017

HELLO ALLLL

Texas is everything that everyone said that it would be. Everything is bigger, There's a Wataburger on every corner, and there's cacti and palm trees everywhere! It's great!

We had a baptism! The sisters before me were teaching this guy named Richard and he got baptized this past Saturday! It was a really cool experience. He is a great guy and his life is changing! But, the night before we went to the church building to make sure the font and everything were all ready and we went in the font and there was this HUGE spider. Like huge. Sister Koehler (my companion) got a really funny video of me trying to catch it. We successfully got him outside but we also definitely evicted Shelob that day. It was hilarious.

So, I am in Corpus Christi, Texas! I hardly have to speak Spanish at all. It's weird. I love the people here a lot though. Corpus Christi means 'body of Christ' in Latin or something, so that's pretty cool. There's a lot or Catholic people here and a lot of Baptists. It's been really interesting getting to know everyone.

There is this one awesome old couple in our ward who feeds us dinner every Saturday night. Nobody needs to be worried about whether or not I am being taken care of. They are so dang nice! Their names are The Hulls and Sister Hull made me a quilt! It's the cutest little blue quilt with flowers on it. I absolutely love it. They also sent us home with a ton of food, which was so nice.

All-in-all, I love it here and I am so excited to get to know everybody better and become a better missionary everyday! We are talking to everyone and trying to find those who are ready to hear more about Christ and how much he loves us all!

Other random facts about Texas:

There's a bunch of these tiny adorable lizards everywhere

There's palm trees everywhere

Everyone either has a classic ​Texan accent, or they are Mexican... or a mix of both..

My companion's favorite scripture:

John 14:27

27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

I love you all! My new mailing address is:

5757 S Staples St Apt 308

Corpus Christi, TX 78413

Please send any letters or packages you want! I appreciate them all! You guys are the best! Let me know if you can see the pictures!
-- 

-Hermana Lara Richardson

MOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!!!! HEYYYY

I am in Corpus Christi Texas!!!! It's awesome! I am SO pumped to finally be in Texas! So, my companion is Sister Koehler. She is from Utah somewhere. She is pretty cool. Any tips about how to encourage obedience in others without offending them?.... lol.... Anyway, I am speaking hardly any Spanish. It kind of sucks because I don't want to loose everything that I have built up. We still study Spanish in the mornings, but it's way different than actually speaking it.

Our ward is struggling... The attendance is less than half of what it should be and there's an insane amount of Less Actives. We are working on that. I think that's why I'm here. Ward Mission Leader is an interesting guy who is going to need some help before he can help us.

We are the only sisters in our district and it's interesting haha. Everyone says I have 'greenie fire' but it's starting to get annoying because everyone should have as much drive as this... this is who I am... ya know what I mean? It's not just because I'm new or whatever. I'm excited to not be new anymore.... When our bishop announced in sacrament meeting that I was the new sister he also mentioned that I came right from the MTC.... It was kind of funny but I wish he hadn't said that.

This area hasn't had a new investigator in really long time and I think Sister Koehler has kind of lost hope a little bit. I'm working on that...

I will write more about my experiences here in my mass email for everyone.

BUT OH MY GOSH. So we wear pants all day everyday. We only wear dresses/skirts at church and for special meetings. That's it. SO PLEASE send me the rest of my dress pants!!! I only brought one pair because I didn't know! I have been wearing this same pair for a week... I am going to buy another one today to hold me over until you send me mine.

Can you also send me more of my face oil, more contacts, a USB drive, anything that helps with bug bites (there's crazy mosquitoes here), and some more cute Thank you notes(I've used all the ones you sent me)? Also, can you send me some work gloves? Light weight and grippy, I think we have some in the garage that would work. We do service at least once a week for hurricane clean up and the gloves that were left behind for me have a hole in them and they stink like crazy. Also, any and all healthy snacks would be much appreciated. We get fed really well here but it's usually not super healthy. I only have an hour to email to please respond quickly with any other questions you have!!!

I LOVE YOU AND DADDY SO MUCH!!!!

My mailing address is:

5757 S Staples St APT 308

Corpus Christi, TC 78413

Love,

Sister Richardson

(from Mom: Encourage obedience, that is a tough one. By example mostly, but remember that loving them is more important than being perfect about everything. Set goals of obedience and ask for her help. It is tough when you are the junior companion. Tell Heavenly Father you want to be obedient, to help you be able to with love. Then chill out, knowing if your comp chooses to be disobedient and you don’t, it is on her in the end. Keep praying for her and giving her honest praise. Focus on what she does right. Everyone has something they are working on. Watch for her love language and serve her.

My best advice about less actives? Remind them of their testimony and what good experiences they have had by asking questions. Then share a message from the heart why Gospel living make you happy. Then invite to church and to serve! Some are just waiting to be asked back and to be given a reason to be there.

For the ward? Bare your testimony and be happy! Encourage leaders and show love and trust in them. Ask people to serve! Serve them.)

Thank you for the suggestions! I am trying so hard to do the best I can. Please pray for me! I am praying for you guys like crazy. How's jess?

ALSO, every Thursday morning we have time to do family history work. I can chat with out on there if you are helping me do family history work! do it with me? We can work together! It's for two hours, usually around 10ish (think). our mission president is a huge advocate for family history work and it is great.

President Torres is SO COOL. I love him a lot and he is very in-tune with the spirit. They are some of the youngest mission president and wife in the world. They are only like 35-40ish. They have 3 or 4 young kids! they are from Honduras and they didn't know any English a year and a half ago when they got called. Now they are great!