March 17

Dear Family and Friends,

Well this week was interesting, it was a little rough in the middle, but last night was wonderful.  So on Tuesday we had MLC (Mission Leadership Council).  It was really great.  I just love learning from President Guanzon.  He is so amazing.  He talked about how to improve our teaching skills so that people will say about us what they said about Jesus Christ.  "No man has ever taught like he did, he taught as one having authority." He just talked about jumping straight to the doctrine, bear powerful testimony and then MOVE ON.  Move on means leave the house, and let them ponder the message that we taught them.  We also had a great council meeting where we talked about the needs of the mission.  It was different being on the creating side of the mission vision.  We added two new Standard of Excellence one for investigators attend sacrament meeting and Investigators with a Baptismal Date.  It will make us stretch, but it really help us.  Afterwards we had interviews with President and we talked about specific challenges and strengths in our zone.  It was really inspiring too.

The rest of the week was great too.  We had a great time teaching, and finding.  One of the things that we talked about in MLC was finding families.  How we should focus our street contracting to Men with families and then when you teach the family, teach everyone but focus on the head of the household.  It is so true, the church is for families, so that is what we tried to do this week.  I think about when we first started teaching the Corrido Family.  At first we were just teaching sister Alma, she was progressing, but once we started teaching her husband, that is when that family really started to progress.  When we invited them to be baptized, it was Alma that looked to her husband and asked if that is what they were going to do. The family is really under attack, I hear news about it from home and I see it here too.  Families are not super close here, and it is really sad. But the gospel blesses families so much. It was so special when we committed the Corrido Family to be baptized, brother said YES! YES! with my whole family!

I love the Corrido family so much! I love teaching them so much.  Something that has been on the back of our minds as we have taught is the Word of Wisdom, we hopefully we will be able help him increase his faith and be able to abstain from those things.  I am so certain that brother will be the next branch president, we just absorbs everything we teach him.

The other thing we talked about in MLC was how president had this vision that we teach lots of people around our apartment so that we can stay out until 9:00 at night teaching.  So he challenged us to talk to all our neighbors, which is what we did.  We actually had a lot of success and we have return appointments with almost all of them.


We also had an inspiring District Conference on Sunday with President and Sister Guanzon.They are so great.  Sister Guanzon was talking about hastening the work, and we have to be bold as members and say "oh yes I am a mormon and you should be too."  President Guanzon was really bold too about Member Missionary Work.  He said you need to fill the missionary planners.  Really plainly he said everyone around you all your neighbors and friends that are 8 years old or older that are not members can not return to our heavenly father-They need the gospel we need to introduce them to the missionaries and invite them.

I have to share this experience that I learned this week.  So on Wednesday I could tell that I was catching a little cold so on Thursday I didn't feel the best, but I didn't want to miss the opportunity to teach, so I went out and taught the whole day we came back home at night and my voice was pretty horse, but at least I got to teach.  Then the next day I woke up and I was feeling a lot better, but I couldn't talk at all.  No voice at all.  So I just had to sit silent in Zone Training, and turns out it is really central to teaching to be able to talk. So we couldn't teach for two days because I didn't have a voice.  It was the WORST! What is the the lesson that I learned.  Don't run faster than you have strength.  . Now we are back to normal I have my voice back and we can TEACH!

Well I hope everything goes well at home!

-Sister Richins