Me on a wall


Me in the Orelhão or the pay phone


My ties


My little truck


The Bible on the wall, open in Psalms 23


Me, Gomes and Thalita,the bishop's daughter who we help at the English school, she speaks English and has been to the states before


We walked for a very long time and stop at a house and knock, I ask to see if someone was home explaining that I talked to them the other day on the street and that they said we could come back another day. The person wasn't home, so we continue on our way.

Then we decide to pray to know where to go, and so we pray and we feel as if we need to go to another part of the area and so we go and try and visit a couple of addresses out there and then we feel like we should walk up one street and so we do and we knock on a couple of doors and didn´t have any luck and then we knock on one and it just felt right. The lady answered the door and let us in and in the end she told us that she always wanted to know about the Book of Mormon and so here we are to tell her, she wanted it really bad. She even said that she wanted to go to church with us next week and liked the fact that no one yells there.... there are a lot of evangelical churches in Brasil with yelling and stuff like that. (see my blog page in January with Elder Duncan in Ribeirão Preto for more details)

It was an awesome experience and we did that all day and found another lady that I did a contact with on the street the other day. She accepted and wanted to go to church with us too, we even marked a time to pick her up next week.

That's called listening to the Spirit to know where to go.

We did get into another BibleBash this week and apparently I'm a Prophet.

We got a list from a member of less actives to visit and half of the people have moved. But here is what the crazy parts are, one house is demolished and another lady may be dead, and one guy is one in jail or avoiding the police.

I saw a drunk dude with a beer in his pocket.

This week was a good crazy week, so a normal week for a missionary!

I love it out here, if you go, you'll love it too! If you already went you know what I mean!

I am Elder Richardson, LD, and I end mine epistle, amen.

I hear screams of young boys in anger and delight saying “Pega lá pega lá, aquela pipa está saindo!” or Get it Get it, that kite is leaving!

All the young boys are crazy about getting the other one’s kite, they all fly kites. It often gets very annoying seeing all the kites and the children running after them all.

I laugh to myself and continue on working, I talk to another person and then knock on another door, no one answers, so I go to the next door and knock on that one, the way we knock, is by clapping. So I clap to talk to people. Finally after about 10 houses someone answers the door and I greet her with a smile, and say Hi my name is Elder Richardson and I’m a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ, and then she cuts me off and says I already know about your church and I’m from another church so you don’t need to waste your time telling me this, and I respond and say casually well our message is for everyone, regardless of religion and since you already know about it, you know about our messages. and she has the guts to tell me that one day I will leave the Church and go to some Evangelical church when I ‘wake up’. Not on your life lady and so we had kind of a Bible Bash in front of her house and well of course we won.

Then we continue knocking on doors and then it gets quiet, too quiet, and then I hear out of nowhere a dog start barking and I look and see him right there at my feet trying to bite me, so naturally I kick at the dog to try to get it to leave and then he advances again, so I kick again and I miss and he comes at me again, so I go in for the final kick and BAM!!!!!!!!!!!! I kick the dog right in the chin! He collapses and starts whining and I get away from there as if to leave but some jerk drives by on a motorcycle and starts to freak out and I told the dude that the dog attacked me and so I had to do something and so I left the street and the neighborhood and that dude will never see me again because I know the streets better than anyone, and when me and the dude were talking the dog got up and ran off a little drunkenly but ran off nonetheless.

So anyway, my comp is really cool I like him a lot, he is a nut but we get along just great.

This week we worked really hard and we did our best.

I got in a bible bash and actually finished the Old Testament this week.

It’s really hot here and we are working our butts off, we visited so many houses this week and hardly anyone answered the door or if they did didn’t want anything or couldn’t do anything at the time.

So I don’t have much to say, except, it was a good week and it will get better, and this week I will make 1 year and 4 months.

Crazy huh?

I am Elder Richardson, LD, and I end mine epistle, amen

Elder João,Arrazola,Santos, Me, Squires, and Sharratt

The Araçatuba sign

Elder Sharratt, João, Whitaker, Me, Santos, Hudson

The Araçatuba sign and me

Me and my cool beanie

I walk steadily and quickly down the busy street and I look to the left and run across the busy street before the cars have a chance to pass. Then I cross the praça and get to the Calçadão, or the Big Sidewalk. Where there are many many stores to pass by, but more importantly for missionaries.... us, people. We talk to the people, to tell them we have a message about God and it is different than any other you have heard. Some people like it some don't. We do this for about an hour or more, just talking to people. Then we go into a neighborhood and walk and walk and walk until we get the the house of other missionaries where we will stay the night.

So anyway, this last week was pretty good, not much happened again but we did have the transfer this week.

I stayed here in Araçatuba and my new comp is Elder Gomes, from João Pessoa. He is pretty cool, I have already met him, I like him a lot. He is super short but cool, Elder Sharratt trained him.

I did some divisions with Elder Sharratt and we met some crazy people, like a girl who is a super safada, and she told us that she wants us to do bad things with her by rubbing her finger on our palms when we shake hands...

Then we saw a Jew, a real Jew, he had the hat and everything! He was at the store.

Then we ate real homemade yakissoba, from our Bishop, it was very good. And then we got the transfers, my comp left to go home, to hopefully focus on what he really needs to, marriage. Not just trying to relive the "Glory Days" I hope he will. It was a pretty good week, kinda uneventful but I don't know if it was my fault or my comp, we'll see this next week, my comp now has 6 months on the mission so he is still fresh. I almost have a year and 4 months on the mission so that means I'll be home in 8 Months, so sad....

I need to stop telling people how much time I have left.... scary thought I could be married in 10 months and be a Dad in a year and a half.... (not going to happen but is possible) hahahahhahahaha

I hope everyone's summer is filled with fun!

I am Elder Richardson, LD of Araçatuba and I end mine epistle to the Americans, amen.

A cross with the Southern Cross Stars on it

Elders Santos, Squires, Me, Arrazola, Joao and Sharratt
Me getting my shoes shined

Missionary Jail--Elders Arrazola, Sharratt, Santos, Squires, Joao and me

Me, Elders Passos and Botello

All the bills in Brazil

A typical plate of food

I hear the phone alarm go off, I wake up and turn it off, and it is very cold and very dark. I see bodies of other missionaries stirring in the dark stumbling to their knees to start their day in prayer, then after this daily routine, we all get up and pull on our clothes hardly talking because it is 4 in the morning. We pull on our suits and grab our bags, and pray as we leave the house. Then we take the 10 minute walk to the bus station to wait for the other missionaries and the bus to take us another city. Then we all board the bus and sleep until the next city over 2 and a half hours away. We all wake up and get off and go into the church and wait for the meeting to start.

And that´s what happened on Friday with Elder Godoy. The conference was pretty good, it wasn´t boring like we thought. I actually enjoyed it. We learned some more ways to help us baptize and work better, and we all slept at my house. The conference was in São Jose do Rio Preto. We all went home later that day got back at like 5. I got a box of homemade suckers which was a huge hit!

I learned how to be a better LD. I really liked it, we talked about attributes of Christ and techniques as missionaries and how to put them together.

This week was a normal week, nothing really big happened, we worked and met some people, no one wants to let us in for some reason.... but we gotta continue on!

I ate sweet rice this week, it is very funky.

I also found out the names of all the main spongebob characters in português

Squidward - Lula Bolusca
Spongebob - Bob Esponja Calças Quadradas
Patrick - Patrick Estrela
Sandy - Esquilo Sandy
Mr. Krabs - Seu Caranguejo
and
Plankton - Plankton

So yeah that was something fun that I learned this week and also, transfers are next week and I have no idea what will go on!

I am Elder Richardson, LD, and I end mine epistle, amen

I look at my shadow in front of me as the hot Brasilian sun beats upon my back, I hear loud voices of young girls shouting and talking in loud voices, obviously to grab our attention, I laugh to myself as they pass and think, they are no more than 12 years old, but then I realize that those kinds of things are normal for Brasil.... Just like a lot of the world.... I look up and as a car passes by I look quickly to the ground to avoid getting dust in my eyes. The dust is already on my shoes and pants and I don't want it in my eyes... then I hear a loud voice of a man, and he shouts " Hey Elders!" and points in the air and starts clapping as if we are rock stars...obviously he is drunk, no drunk man lets us pass without saying hi. They love us. We don't get hurt.
people respect the Authority, the Power we have. they can feel that.

So anyway, my week was good, it was hard, but good, we did a lot of contacts and knocked on a lot of doors and nothing came out of it, no one wanted to let us in.

We tried so hard...

Then on Sunday when we got to church a member gave us a reference and so we passed there in the afternoon, the family was great, they were exactly what we had been praying for, a family that can be ready to have the gospel in their lives!

This last week was short, long and everything in between. we taught a girl named Gislaine, she is 25 and is engaged but wants to break it off because her financé is lazy.... and not exactly what she was looking for after all and she is loving the visits and is accepting all of it... she is reading the Book of Mormon and is very excited. We just need to get her to go to church....

I did a contact with her last week and she wanted us to come over the next day, which is rare and gave us food twice!

That is about it.... The transfer is in 2 weeks and this Thursday we have a conference with Elder Godoy..... I hope it isn't lame, I´ve heard that some of his trainings are boring....

So anyway, Happy Graduation, Happy end of School and Happy Birthday Chantay Carter!!!!!!!

I hope your week is good,

I am Elder Richardson, LD and I end mine epistle, amen

Is Taylor ever this serious? Really?
Joseph Smith Jr. Street--how cool!

I look to the left and then I look to the right, I look back to the left and an old car passes by, I say after the next one.... slowly in my mind, thinking about 3 steps ahead of what I am going to do.... I say, NOW!!!!!!!!!! and run across the road and jump the barrier as if in an action movie, I stop and see that no one is coming and continue until the other side, I am back in a place I know, we continue to walk and see no one on the street... then two bikes ride by with 3 children on one and a boy and a girl on another, they are probably dating. We pass in front of the bar and see all of the drunks sitting and watching us silently, not saying a word. I stop the man in front of me and my comp continues on to talk to the woman with 3 small children in front of her house, I ask the man if he has ever talked to missionaries before, he says he has, but doesn´t remember when, so I try to get his address and he says he is always busy and gets home only at 5, I tell him I work until 9:30 everyday so no problem, then he tries to say he is from another church and I tell him, it's ok, our message is for everyone, so he reluctantly gives me his address, it's probably fake, and I move on to rejoin in our journey with my comp.

I make many phone calls, I call my district and talk to one of the Elders, and I say hey, we should do a division tomorrow, meet us in the center after lunch, give me a call when you are done. He says ok, when will it end, I say about 6:30 or 7 tonight, I have stuff to do Friday morning..... We meet and do our division, we work hard and walk to the other side of the city and back in 2 hours.... no distance is too much for us...

So anyway, my week was good. It was kinda long though, I did a division with Elder Sharratt and we met a girl who was baptized my Elder Holmes and Elder Duncan....

We also went to Rua Joseph Smith Jr. We crossed the freeway and went to a school where I heard a beautiful sound, that of a trombone and went and played with the kids learning to play trombone, man that was fun.

We went to Birigüi and had a meeting with Presidente Prieto and the Assistants, which sounds like a rock band name. I got a package with pens and stuff, it was cool and it also had pins (tie tacks) and an oil vial for blessings.... que bom, now I have one again. (His was lost when his bag was stolen before Christmas.) And thanks Dante for sending the Belle keychain. I have it hanging on my bag.

We had a Churrasco for lunch with fresh coconut and some plant called Mandioca, it was pretty good, the guy always makes Churrasco for us. Then another lunch we had with some Gaúchos and I left there speaking with a Gaúcho accent, that was pretty strange....

Other than that my week was pretty normal, work, walk, work, walk, work...... but it was a good week nonetheless.

When we were knocking on doors I pressed an intercom button and a dog answered and started barking and no one came, so we thought it was a house run by dogs.... it was kinda creepy.

I am Elder Richardson, LD, missionary of Araçatuba, and I end mine epistle, amen