Elder Colton Wayne Richins

Last Email! Beautiful Testimony! Homecoming April 20th 1:00!!

Mom,

Priesthood session is televised now? Wow. Well I don't have a lot of news this week. And we are planning to make the most of my last pday here in Portugal. :) We are going with the AP's to Rodizio, and then bowling. :) We are pretty excited. This last week went by really fast because me and Elder Denney had so many meetings! We had mission council, a meeting with the stake president, a meeting with the branch president, our zone meeting. It was just meeting after meeting, and then General Conference weekend to top it all off! And seeing as General Conference in Portugal is basically all day Sunday, we were at the chapel from 10 a.m to 10 p.m.

Conference was incredible! I really enjoyed Elder Eyring's talk on being a worthy role model, also Elder Hallstrom's talk about being changed, and not falling into the attitude of "that's just how I am" and finally the talk on gratitude...that I think was by Elder Uchtdorf. It was a great conference! I really enjoy conference, especially because it also gives you an idea of what God wants for the world to work on at this moment. I'm also expect something big to be announced! My first general conference in the mission was when the mission age got changed! Since then I always expect something big to happen!

With this email I would like to share with you a learning experience that I had this last week, and leave with you my final testimony over email. This last week it had been raining the entire week. However, despite the rain, me and Elder Denney still worked with happy attitudes, knowing that the Lord had been blessing us immensely this final transfer. Everything was going great and we still had Lili's baptism to look forward to the following week! Life could not be better! Friday afternoon while we were proselyting in the pouring rain we had received a phone call from Lili. She called telling us that her uncle had murdered her aunt, and then committed suicide. Their family was leaving the next day to Germany for the next two weeks to be with the family and attend the funeral. This shattering news took me and Elder Denney down into a sudden mode of discouragement. We immediately went over to Lili's house and taught her one last time as she told us that she would not be back in time for her baptism. Unfortunately, we did not rise up from this occasion with the attitudes that we should have. We "gave up" that day. In our disappointments we allowed the adversary to tempt us into complaining and pulling the whole "why me?" routine. I know. We should definitely have known better. But unfortunately, we let this news affect our attitudes that day. It would have affected me throughout the rest of my mission, had the Lord not intervened. After having given up that day, and working aimlessly, not really putting forth much effort, the next day I woke up and I could feel Satan start to say, "Why wake up on time? You have nothing to work towards now. There is no baptism at the end of your mission, and you might as well just keep the casual attitude towards missionary work now..." Fortunately, I ignored that voice and got up on time. I went into the exercise room and sat down in the armchair, with no intentions to do exercises. I was still quite discouraged. Exercises was such a small mission rule, and I was sure that I wouldn't be penalized for not exercising. During this thought process, I felt the Lord intervene. Suddenly thoughts such as "am I really going to let this upset destroy the rest of my mission? Am I going to let this keep me from ending my mission diligently and with honor?" Although it doesn't seem like much, the feelings that came with these thoughts brought me to realized that the Lord has been SO good to me in my last transfer. Although I was so excited to have Lili be my final baptism in the mission, I had failed to show forth the gratitude that the Lord deserved for all of the blessings that he had blessed us with. He had given us 4 baptisms in my last transfer. This already is a huge deal! From that point I jumped out of the chair and began exercises and I began to face the rest of the mission with a happy attitude, doing my best to push out discouraging thoughts. I now see this entire experience as a powerful lesson from the Lord on gratitude. While I was only worried about receiving one more blessing, one more baptism, I had failed to be filled with joy and recognize that the Lord has already blessed me with such an incredible ending! What could I wish more? And as a token of my gratitude, I put away the attitude that I had, and I look forward to the final week of my mission, working hard and with a happy attitude, despite the fact that there will not be a baptism this week!  May we all remember to count our blessings, no matter what the circumstances are! This lesson I learned was then complimented with Uchtdorf's talk on gratitude!

Finally, I would like to leave my testimony. At the beginning of my mission, I had a very hard time. I suffered. I wanted so much to give up. Not too far into my mission I had told you that I had no idea why I was sent here. I figured that I would be of much better use in a mission that spoke English. You sent me an email that I have never since forgotten. You told me that as you prayed fervantly for my cause, you felt that I would know exactly why I was sent to Portugal. However, you felt that it wouldn't be until towards the end of my mission that I would receive my answer. Well, about a month ago, I received that answer.

As I was reading in the Liahona during my personal studies, I came across a talk by an Elder from the seventy. He talked about missionary work. In the very beginning he had talked about the miracle of the mission. He said something that touched me deeply and was the answer to the question I had posed 2 years ago. I don't remember the paragraph word for word, but I do remember which part touched me the most. He said something along the lines of: "God knows exactly what mission president we need, which investigators we need, which members, which less actives, which companions we need to become who he wants us to become. To become the priesthood holder, husband, and father that he needs us to be." This struck me and as I thought about all of the people that the Lord has led me to in my mission, and as I think about everything that I have learned from my mission president and his wife, I know exactly why I came here to Portugal. My mission has been a trial and a blessing. I will be eternally grateful for this mission. A couple days ago I read a letter that you sent me at the beginning of my mission. You said, "The process is hard. But the outcome will change eternity." I am a testimony to this phrase.

I know that Jesus Christ lives. I love Him. I have come to know Him in a personal way that has molded me and allowed me to gain my own personal testimony of His gospel. He has been with me through every step of the way. Through the dark moments. Through the happy moments. I have seen His gospel change the lives of people who I have come to love. He is our Savior and Redeemer. He truly did take upon our infirmities, and He will come again. Heavenly Father loves us. He has a plan for the salvation of every single one of His children. If we follow that plan, we will indeed return to live with Him. Joseph Smith is the prophet of the restoration. I am so grateful for what he did. Thomas S. Monson is the Lord's chosen prophet and leads His church in these days. How grateful I am for the experiences that have led me to a burning testimony that these things are true!

I love you, I am so grateful for all of the things that you have done for me while I have been away. I know that our family has been blessed. Thank you for everything! I am very excited to see everyone again! I'll see you in a week! :) Love you!!

Elder Colton Wayne Richins

Elder Colton Wayne Richins

Mom,

This last week was a miraculous week in the Lisbon West zone as well as in the entire mission! This last week we hit the record of the most baptisms in one week that President Fluckiger has ever had in the mission! We had 44 baptisms this last week! 7 being from our zone! President Fluckiger called us this morning to congratulate our zone on the incredible month of March that we had! We ended the month with 18 baptisms in the zone! The most baptisms that this zone has ever seen! The highest number before this was 7 baptisms! So we were super grateful for the miracles that the Lord has performed in our zone! Me and Elder Denney had 2 baptisms this last weekend. Sandra, and Sofia. It was such a great day! Although with baptisms come LOTS of stress. And a stressful week/weekend it was! But it is now over and we are super grateful for our new recent converts! They are happy and Sofia's friend Lili is marked for the 13th of april! My last day on the mission! She went to her friend's baptism yesterday and was super happy, and said that she wanted to get baptized right then and there! Unfortunately she still has to come to church once more to qualify for baptism! The other elders of Sacavem also baptized 2 people! So the branch was super happy with all of the success that is coming! Now we are just hoping and praying that the branch will take over and take care of these recent converts of ours! 

Because the week was full of preparing these people for baptism I don't have a lot of news for you. But as last time, I will attach some pictures from the baptism! 

So now we are in preparations for goal setting and plan making for this next upcoming month! We have a goal of 16 baptisms for the 4 week month of april. Tomorrow we have mission council. It'll be my last mission council and I am looking forward to it! We will get to be accountable for the work done in our zone the last month, and we are very excited to present our zone! 

Other than that, this weekend I may be going to the wedding of a member in Lagos! Nelma, the lady who fed us every single day, will be getting married this weekend, and she called me and asked if I would attend her wedding, and sing at it. She herself called President Fluckiger about it, and president said that he would think about it! But after the amazing month that we had, I feel like he will allow me to go! I am really excited about that! The rest of the events leading up to the end of my mission, me and Elder Denney were asked by the Lisbon Stake President to present a training in a stake leadership training on missionary work. That will happen on the 12th of April. And then the 13th of April we will have Lili's baptism! Things are going great here! I could not be happier about the miracles that the Lord is doing among the people in Sacavem! We have great relationships with the branch, the investigators, and with the zone! The mission is a wonderful journey that has set the foundation for the rest of my life!

Next week will be the last time that you hear from me on the mission. The Monday after that will be my exit interview with President Fluckiger, and I will not be doing email that day! So I will talk to you for the last time by computer next Monday!

Thank you for helping me every step of the way! Thanks for all that you have done for me and the support and love that I have received! I love you and wish you the best week this week! Until next week!

I love you!

Elder Colton Wayne Richins

Elder Colton Wayne Richins

Mom,

Well things are really coming down to the wire! This last week I realized that if the amazing investigators that the Lord has given us don't get baptized this transfer...I DON'T have another transfer to keep working with them! That was the weirdest thought that came over me this last week!  As far as the investigators go, we are now down to 4 people marked for baptism. The 5th one fell through. I feel she will still get baptized here in the future...but for now she needs to think about what she really wants. But the other 4 that we have marked are progressing wonderfully! 3 of them are marked for this weekend. The 4th one unfortunately still needs a couple more times in church before she can be baptized. So we are remarking her for the 13th of April.  My last Sunday on the mission. :)

So we'll start with the first 2. Sandra and Sandriny. A mother and daughter who are marked for this upcoming weekend. They have been making amazing progress. And they are really into the gospel. They have told lots of family members and friends about what they have been learning from us. And they are always so excited to meet with us! Our only stumbling block right now with them is that Sandra has received an answer, but didn't recognize it as an answer. To us it was obvious that it was an answer! What had happened is that she was praying and as soon as she was done praying she felt inspired to write. She wrote down a bunch of thoughts in her head after saying the prayer. That night that we were there she showed us the notebook filled with thoughts she had written down. Some of the ones that I can remember off of the top of my head were:

"Jesus Christ organized the only true church on the earth. He ordained apostles and gave them His authority."

"Joseph Smith was chosen by God to bring His message to the world."

"John the Baptist was sent from God to restore His authority to Joseph Smith."

It was incredible. And we clearly took this as God's answer for her. But for some odd reason she was saying, "I don't know I don't know. I still have some doubts!" She is an interesting woman, she always looks so excited when we teach her to the point that she struggles to breath! haha. But we are pretty sure that she will decide to be baptized! She came to church for the 2nd time yesterday and loved it! She really enjoys church. The night that we taught her the Word of Wisdom she told us that she had a problem with coffee. We committed her to quit and that we would bring her some cevada. Which has the coffee taste, but it doesn't actually have any coffee in it. She said that she wouldn't drink any coffee until our next return appointment. Then she ran into the kitchen and called us in. She had her tub of coffee and she poured it down the sink and washed it out! This woman has great faith! And her little daughter retains a lot more than we expected!

Next we have Sofia and Lili. The two 19 year old friends. Sofia is the one we are hoping to baptize this weekend, and Lili is the one that we will have to wait on. Both of them are incredible! We only have a couple more commandments to teach them. Tithing, and Chastity. Other than that, they readily accepted the others. They love Iced tea. But when we taught the Word of Wisdom they said that they would no longer drink iced tea. Lili's mom was actually present on that lesson and she said that she would keep this commandment as well and said that she would stop buying iced tea! haha. As soon as Lili is baptized, she is next. ;)

This last week was an amazing teaching week. We had some great lessons with these people. And we have found some other people that look like they have potential! The Lord is blessing us immensely and I am so grateful for that because I have a certainty that if it weren't for His divine help, NONE of this would be happening!

Our zone up until now has 11 baptisms for this month. Our goal was 12 initially. We had raised it to 18 a couple weeks ago. And we have 11 people marked for baptism in the zone for this weekend. We are holding a zone fast tomorrow to be able to help all of these people enter into the waters of baptism!

Things are going great and I couldn't ask for a better end to the mission! I hope and pray that the miracles keep happening up until the very end!

So I am very excited about the flight plans changing again! I was not looking forward to leaving on monday! I have been waiting for my end of mission party with my district since we got to Portugal! So I was ticked that I wasn't going to get it! But now that the plans are changed again it looks like there will still be a party! :D

As far as the room goes..what room am I going to be in? Honestly whatever color you decide to paint it is fine with me. :)

I can't believe how much health problems are going on in the family! How is McKay doing right now? He has really had it rough since being home from the mission. Maybe we should consider holding another family fast for him. Let me know if you decide to do that. I will definitely contribute.

I have had my last zone conference. It was on my birthday. :) haha. It was the most I have ever participated in a zone conference. I was asked to do a musical number, me and Elder Denney were asked to give a training, we had to give an accounting for the zone up until that day in the month, I bore my final testimony, and I was sung to. haha. It was a very eventful zone conference. But that won't be my final testimony. My final one will be in mission council next Tuesday. After that one...I'm done! haha.

Well you will only be hearing from me 2 more times! Thanks for all of the love and support that you have shown! I am grateful for this mission! It is definitely the best mission that God could have chosen for me! I love you! Have a great week! :)

Elder Colton Wayne Richins

Elder Colton Wayne Richins

Mom,

This last week has been a very inspiring week. I have now set my course for what my focus is going to be for the rest of my mission. This last week we had interviews with President Fluckiger. I love my interviews with him. Especially as a zone leader. His interviews with his leaders are very different from other missionaries. Because he trusts us enough that he just gets right down to business with us instead of asking us how our obedience is, or how our studies are, or our teaching. He trusts us, so interviews with us are straight down to business. We discussed how we were going to make the branch of Sacavem grow. Over the last year it has experienced IMMENSE decline in growth. Almost 2 years ago, the AP's were in this area. And they baptized hundreds of people here...just about all of which are inactive now. It was a time, unfortunately, where conversion was not a priority. The number took the priority over the conversion. That was when I first got here in the mission. You probably remember that time well, from what I wrote at the time. Well since then, the members have lost complete trust in the missionaries. They don't really care to get involved in the missionary work, despite President Monson's counsel for the members and missionaries to work together. President expressed his frustration that the situation with the AP's almost two years ago is still effecting the members. It's time to let go of it and to focus on what really matters! The work of salvation. So we discussed how we were going to help Sacavem become a ward. Sacavem in the last year has gone from a frequency of 170 to 60. How a branch of 170 can still be a branch...is beyond me. However, we've got to make the best of what we have right now! It seems that the current problem of the branch becoming a ward is worthy Melchezidek tithe payers. So that is our new focus. This last week me and Elder Denney have begun visiting members and giving trainings on tithing. Carefully going over the blessings that the Lord's modern day prophets and apostles have explained to us. ("The Windows of Heaven," Elder David A. Bednar, Liahona November 2013). And through this we are hoping to acheive the number of 15 Melchezidek priesthood full tithe payers that we need to become a ward. But yesterday, there was presented an even bigger challenge. Before I talk about that, however, at the end of my interview with President Fluckiger I told him that I have 2 months left, and that I really did not want to start dying. I asked for his advice on how I could keep going strong. His counsel to me has become the focus for my last 2 months. And everything that is currently happening seems to be confirming this God inspired counsel. He told me that when he looks back on the end of his mission, he sees that it was full of compassion towards the people. He told me that my desires to be a great missionary pulls a focus on myself. If I turn those thoughts and direct them to the people then I won't care about being a great missionary. Of course, that is important...but it shouldn't be my focus. If I am full of compassion towards the people, as explained in Moroni 7:45-48 (which President Fluckiger invited me to memorize) then I WILL be a good missionary without having an inward focus. So this last week I have started a special study on charity. And I have learned a lot from it. I am praying constantly to be filled with the pure love of Christ and for opportunities to serve and increase this gift of charity. My focus for the last 2 months is charity. Compassion towards those I serve. Then yesterday, to confirm this end of mission focus, we had our branch conference. The stake president came. During the middle of church he pulled all of the branch leaders into a room and we had a "Urgent Branch Council." I can't remember the last time that I sat in such a powerful meeting. This inspired stake president stood, and with GREAT love, repremanded these leaders. Called them to repentance, told them to sacrifice for the cause of the Lord. He told of a couple poweful stories that he has had during his past ministeries as young men's president, and again as bishop. In that meeting there was a change in spirit. He told the leaders that the role of members and missionaries have switched. The missionaries are doing EVERYTHING when their role is to teach the gospel and baptize. The members are the ones that are to bring the people into the fold. And BEFRIEND them. When the missionaries are the only ones that do this...and we are....then the fruits will become weak once the missionaries are gone. The missionaries cannot be the ones to befriend the investigators. The church in Portugal wants to build a "representative chapel" in Sacavem. This chapel would basically be the "face of the church" here in Portugal. But to be able to have this GREAT blessing. The Lord requires MUCH more sacrifice on the members part. President Silva said that he would do everything in his power to help (even move to Sacavem!) to be able to acheive such a great challenge. Within the coming months, the stake president has asked us to bring to church a frequency of 200 people. We are around 60 right now. He asked us. Is it possible? Do we believe in miracles? He said he would be following up with our branch president on the progress. And also he will be following up with me and Elder Denney. We have a meeting with him here in 2 weeks to report the progress. This is inspired of a great leader. I love the leaders in Portugal. So much! They are inspiring men. They all pass through such trials to magnify their callings. They are amazing. I am so grateful to be apart of this work. And since this meeting (which happened just yesterday!) We have already seen some of the members awake to their sense of responsability to the Lord. Wednesday we are going over to this very strong couple in the branch. We are going to go over the entire members list to identify less actives with potential for coming back, and together we are all going to go visit these people and invite them back! The work of salvation in the branch of Sacavem is starting. We have lots to do, and the start isn't hard. It's the preserverance that is hard. And we hope and pray that the new fiery spirit that SOME of the members have attained will spread, and stick. That others also may be able to "catch the wave" is our hope and prayer. So. The end of my mission is set. I know what I want to do. And I pray that Heavenly Father will bless me in my efforts to acheive these just goals.

That is all I have time for this week!  I am glad to hear that you didn't actually get robbed this last week. You guys are dumb. I almost started freaking out when something told me to keep reading. Then I realized that it was a joke. :/ As for my life after the mission. I still am clueless. :) I don't even know if I will know how to live after I get back. Guess we'll see, huh? :) Good thing you're patient, huh? The Lord will help me though. That I am sure of! Anyway, I hope you have a great week! Thanks for your love and support!

Love, Elder Colton Wayne Richins

Elder Colton Wayne Richins

Mom,

So unfortunately I don't have a lot to say this week. This last week the weather has been absolutely AWFUL! Heavy rain and powerful winds all week long. So the work has been very unproductive. You would think that people would have compassion on some soaking wet missionaries :) but unfortunately that is not the case here. The rain here in Portugal makes it so that you get wet whether you have an umbrella or not. haha. So it's quite the adventure. But yeah it's been a very long week! We're hoping that the weather turns out to be a lot better this week so that the work is more productive...but we have heard from a few sources that the storms will continue. Ugh. 

We do have some bad news on our end. So we called Madjer at the end of Pday last week...and he told us that he is not prepared to do the "church thing" at this moment. So we had to drop him. It was very hard for both of us and a huge downer on our pday. He was so ready and he witnessed first hand the miracles that the gospel brings into our lives. It was sad. We are gonna give him a little time and then we are planning on going back to see if he has changed at all. Maybe after a few weeks being outside of the gospel again he will realize just how much he truly needs the gospel in his life. So we're hoping!

Just a small story and reality of life that we experienced a few days ago. Here on the mission you hear so many people that are rebelling against God because of specific trials that they have passed or are currently passing. There was a man that we met the other day that was affected by polio. He does not have the full strength in his legs anymore. He has to use crutches to walk and is on some heavy treatments. He said that he is Agnostic. He's not Atheiest...he doesn't deny the existence of a God. But he doesn't necessary believe that He is our loving Heavenly Father. He said that he is revolted against Him because of the things that he was passing through. The dude talked a TON so it was really hard to get our message in. Throughout the lesson we were having with him he gave us a 40 minute long history lesson. Then at the end we decided that his heart wasn't in the right place. So we left him with a Book of Mormon, a church invitation, and a pamphlet of the plan of salvation. He said that he would read it and try to figure out the purpose of all of this suffering. Our number is in the book, and we are hoping that maybe after reading, God can touch his heart and he will be prepared to receive the gospel. The reality is that so many people blame God for the trials that they pass through. There is a certain saying that I've heard that says "God gives trials to those whom He loves." On the mission I have learned the truthfulness and reality of this saying. First it's necessary that we think why we are passing through a certain trial. It is no doubt that during the actual trial it can be hard to turn our thoughts heavenward....but once we do, we can realize the divine purposes for the specific trial that we pass through. We learn from the prophets that our trials are PERSONALIZED. Meaning that God wants us to pass through the things that we go through because it is through those experiences that WE become like HIM. That is the purpose of this life, isn't it? It is only through God's will that this is possible. Without it...we are walking in the dark. But I am grateful for the trials that I have been asked to pass through on my mission. I have learned a lot, and I feel like I've grown closer to Him. This last general conference there were many talks that dealt with the subject of trials. I invite anybody that may be passing through something difficult to read these talks. They help us to understand God's divine purposes for the sufferings that we must go through.

Unfortunately that is all I have for this week. Like I said, this last week was not the most productive week. We are all praying for good weather! :) Anyways. I will get my address for you for next week. To be honest, if you wanted to send it to the mission office I am now in Lisbon and super close to the mission office. It won't come directly to me...but it is close. :) But regardless, I will get you my address next week when I figure it out. I wasn't planning on moving from Lagos...so I forgot that I have a new address. :) Anyways. Thanks for everything that you do! I enjoy hearing the stories that happen during your week! I hope that you have a great week! I love you! Until next week!

Love, Elder Colton Wayne Richins

Elder Colton Richins

Mom,

I am getting old. And writing each week is getting harder and harder. :) But the thing that keeps me going is the knowledge that if I ever didnt write home I would probably get beat up hard core by my mother...or you would probably find a way to beat me up from out here...heaven forbid me getting a phone call from President Fluckiger giving me faca for not writing my mother. That is probably the scariest thing you could do to me.

Anyways...this last week was absolutely insane. I do not think I have had 1 normal week here in Lagos. So the drivers stuff was resolved...as much as it could be. We have to go back in a couple weeks for Elder Wilson to finalize the process. He has to practice driving stick shift as well...it is bad enough having to drive in Portugal...but with stick shift...yikes. haha. So we are playing around with the idea that we are probably going to die on the last week of our missions. haha. Just kidding mom. Dont freak out.

I started doing tithing settlement interviews this last week. Man. Those things are interesting. I remember being on the other side of the bishop when these happened. But performing the interview is a whole other experience. I know that there are few full tithe payers in the branch...and I am really trying to focus on doing better in teaching the doctrine of tithing and fast offerings in the branch so that people will feel motivated by the spirit to pay. I have been sharing parts from Elder Bednar's most recent talk on Tithing during my interviews. I have done about 4 so far. And I have some this weekend...and the weekend after Christmas as well. So I will be doing tithing settlement interviews for the next couple of weeks. It is a great opportunity. It confirms to me that a leaders biggest job is to be a teacher. I have to look for opportunities to teach in every situation. Speaking of... :/ Yesterday...I don't know if I have already explained to you the complicated situations of those rebellious members from the Portimao branch that come to Lagos to attend church because they don't support their leaders...well if I haven't...you will have to wait until Christmas. But they always stick together. Yesterday this lady came to me from Portimao and said that she wanted to pay her fast offerings. She started crying as she explained to me why she wanted to pay. I looked at her and told her...I am sorry. But I cannot accept your fast offerings. Then the rest of the Portimao members congregated around her and the ex- branch president of Portimao asked me why I wouldn't take her money. That when he was branch president he would accept tithes and offerings from people outside of the branch. I told him that I do not have their records in the branch for MLS. And he said. "Well just create a new folder for them."  I told him, "I am sorry. But I have received instruction from my mission president that I am not allowed to accept tithes and offerings from people outside of my unit".....they werent very happy about that. They kinda turned the situation so that they looked like the victims. Fun situation. Another one of those ''leadership is sometimes a lonely calling'' type of situation. But I felt good that I stuck to the instructions of the district presidency and President Fluckiger.

This last week me and Elder Wilson created our Branch Vision. I have never made such big plans for a branch in my mission. This is my 3rd branch in my mission (out of 5 areas). I wish I could explain to you in depth of everything we are planning on doing...I guess that will be for the skype conversation. Our overall vision is that this branch be self reliant...spiritually. This branch is completely run by the missionaries. And we want to build up the branch in a way that if the missionaries were suddenly taken away...the branch would not fall to pieces. We had an INCREDIBLE talk with the 1st counselor in the district presidency, Luis Melo. He lives in our branch. People sometimes talk about this guy as someone who never wanted the Lagos branch to open, and as someone who is a rough person and stuff. After talking with him yesterday, I am totally on his side. We really understand where he was coming from. He opened up completely to us, and there was this humility about him that I had never seen before. In a way...he was pleading for help from me and Elder Wilson. He seemed to have said with his actions ''will you be the missionaries that understand where I am coming from? Will you be the ones to take my advice and make LASTING changes in this branch?'' It was such a cool experience. And after he gave us the information of 2 families that he would like us to go visit! And now me and Elder Wilson are even more pumped to just give EVERYTHING that we have. Everything that we have learned on our missions seems to have prepared us for what is coming up. It is going to be hard. Very hard. But we are ready. It is time to see miracles. Time to leave everything on the table. And time to fight. We are praying a ton that we will be able to carry out the plans we have made. It is gonna take VERY careful planning. Everything has to be perfect in order to work. Pray for us! 

So that is a portion of what happened this last week. As I have said it is truly impossible to include everything that happens here in Lagos. It is quite the adventure. I hope everyone has a great week! Thanks for everything that you have done for me! I love you and I DID receive the package and I am SO grateful for it. :) Nothing is opened yet. Dont want to ruin the surprise! haha. THanks mom! Hope you have a great week!

Elder Colton Wayne Richins

p.s Yes I will be calling in the morning! Won't have an hour until next week. But I will be calling in the morning.

Elder Colton Richins

Mom,

I'm sorry but you know that transfer day emails are always lame! I am losing my comp. To answer your question I really did like him. We had some great times together and it was super fun. We had some CRAZY adventures. It was just really hard to do missionary work with him. He didn't really want to do it. But anyways...not important. I will miss him. He's a great guy. My new comp though....is Elder Wilson! What are the odds? hahahaha. I'm so freakin pumped. We are gonna do work! I talked to him on the phone last night and we are gonna make lots of plans to change this area! I am so excited! I really hope that we have lots of success together. 3 more transfers and this is our final hurrah! So we want to give everything we've got! We may end our missions together! That would be so awesome. So I'm still branch president and he is taking District leader away from me (THANK GOODNESS!) And that is the news for me.

Yesterday I was in meetings ALL DAY LONG. I was in the chapel from 8 in the morning until close to 8 at night. Longest day of my life. We had branch conference and I was with district leaders all day. The leadership in the district is incredible! I received about 3 hours of church financial training and MLS. He told me that I kinda just have to play around on MLS to get to know it...ha. He thinks that I have time to "play around" on MLS. I'll try. But I don't think I'll be able to become professional with it. Anyways. It was a good experience. and I am stoked. So that is about all I have time to say today. Pray for me and Elder Wilson. We have such high hopes for these next 2-3 transfers! Miracles are bound to happen! Thanks for all of your love and support! 

Elder Colton Wayne Richins

Elder Colton Richins

Mom...

I have no time really to write today. You know how crazy transfers are...but I do have new information for you. Needless to say my new transfer call has stressed me out of my mind to the freakin max. I haven't really been able to sleep or eat much because of it....well I'm guessing you are wanting to know what it is now, huh? I was transferred out of Viseu (I will miss them all so much) and I was released from being zone leader. I have been called to be the new Branch President of the Lagos branch. (the cool part of it, is this is the area that Kyle Lemperle ended his mission. So I am excited about that) But the whole branch president thing completely freaks me out. I am also district leader over some sisters. Yay. I know that the Lord qualifies those that he calls...I would be lying, however, if I said I wasn't nervous beyond all belief. I'm fine being a zone leader and being responsible for missionaries...but for a whole branch of members with physical and spiritual needs?!  President called me the other night and told me the situation of the branch. It sounds like there is a lot of work to be done here...he told me that they are currently looking to interview a couple of people to be the branch president here, who is an actual member and not a missionary, but until they figure that situation out, I will be the branch president. I talked to the office elders yesterday, and apparently ironically I was not going to come here. President had me assigned to a different area...but I was a last minute change. So....I don't know what to do basically. :/ I don't have a ton of information for you right now...I'm just have no idea where to even begin with anything. I'm meeting with my counselors today to kinda get an idea of what I'm supposed to do..and there is a senior couple missionary that said he would stay in contact with me to help me out if I need it as well. President said that he expects baptisms in the branch as well...so there is going to be major juggling required in this whole process. Well...please pray for me. I will probably...most definitely be ending my mission here. I'm looking forward to the lessons I will learn from it. I know it will help me to grow in ways that are not possible any other way. I don't feel like I have a sufficient knowledge of the church to do this...but the Lord knows better than me. I will just have to trust in Him like never before. Anyways. There is the news. PRAY FOR ME. :) Also. I got your package! Thank you so much! I'm wearing new socks and shirt and garments right now. It is quite nice. 

I love you! Thank you for all the support and love you have given, along with everyone else in the family! Wish me luck. I'm gonna need a whole lot of it!

Love, Elder Colton Wayne Richins

(another weird thing is that I won't be going by elder anymore...but by president... :/ :/ :/ :/ ) 

Elder Colton Richins

Well this last week was pretty crazy. Me and Elder Quimuanga are frantically trying to prepare a few young students for baptism! They are so ready, but it has been so hard getting help from the members. They live 45 minutes away by car...and seeing as we have no transport and there are no buses that go there, we have really needed to rely on the members. It's been super challenging to get help from them. This last ward council we had Miguel Silva (who is one of the 2 members who have sacrificed much to help us) told the council that God has given this ward this situation to challenge them. The challenge is, if they (the members) will work together and unify so that we can bring more members to the God's true church. I was glad that he talked about this...it was very good...but until now we have still not seen an effect. It's started to get very stressful. They are marked for this baptism for this weekend. We are fasting as a zone this Tuesday that everything runs smoothly. This last Sunday I got chastized by one of the members for using the same people to help out with these young men...for a second, I almost lost my "representative of Jesus Christ cool" and ripped his head off. But I didn't. I kept my cool. :) I told him that we were trying our absolute hardest to get other members to help...but nobody will! We found out that a couple members had lied to us about why they could not help. I was pretty taken aback by this. On top of all of this...President Fluckiger has been dishing out a lot of pressure about baptizing as well...so basically I was having a mental breakdown...but you just learn to take these types of situations and turn them into spiritual growth experiences. :) I am kinda anxious for this week to be done. I'm ready for transfers. I wouldn't be at all upset if I was released from zone leader. :) I just want to work without all of these sometimes unnecessary pressures. But whatever the Lord wants for me, I know is best. So I guess we will see what happens this next week. So wish us luck this week that we will be able to prepare these young men for baptism by this weekend. :/

On Tuesday I had a really cool division with one of the AP's, Elder Ferreira. He's Brazilian...he's known in the mission for being basically a machine. The dude is freakin' intense where missionary work is concerned. He's a very very skillful missionary. I was grateful to be able to learn from him. We had a very successful day. We contacted a butt-ton of people on the streets and found some new potential investigators. Then that night we went to no man's land to teach these students. We taught a very powerful plan of salvation. We taught very well. And we had Miguel Silva with us. It was the perfect combination! It was a very powerful lesson. I am grateful we had the combination that we did. Kevin, who is the student that we feel is most prepared, had told us that he really liked going to church. He said that he felt different there and that he came home that day feeling super good. He was excited to go again. Kevin is an excellent man! 

Then on Thursday I got to do a division with Elder Wilson. We had a killer day as well. We found out also, that we were able to work effectively together! We always thought that if we were to serve together that nothing would get done. But we actually had a really good day and we helped the area out a lot. Then we went to Lisbon later that night because we had to renew our visas. We got there and got to catch up with all the members from our MTC district. It was such a great day! I basically hung out with Elder Dunford, and Elder Wilson the whole day. Then after we went to Rodizio for lunch and had a good talk about our missions before we all caught buses back to our own areas. It was super fun spending two days with Elder Wilson. He's a great guy, and I've learned a lot from him. 

Sunday we had an interesting experience. One of the members in the ward had a diabetes attack during sacrament meeting. People escorted him out to help him while sacrament meeting kept on running. We were asked to help out so we left. They asked us to grab someone strong that could help lift this man into the car to go to the hospital. We went an got Kevin. Kevin is huge. I felt it would be really good for him to have a service opportunity! And by the look on his face afterward he felt really good being able to serve and help out others. I can see his testimony growing! I really hope everything works out for this weekend! Miguel gave an incredible talk during sacrament meeting. He talked about sacrifice. (I know he was talking about this regarding the member's lack of desire to help out with the students). He talked to the women, saying, "Do NOT let your husbands stay out home on the couch when there is work in Zion to be done!" He then told the story of John Tanner (which is absolutely incredible. If you do not know the story of John Tanner, look it up!) Then he told of a person that he knew who was a man in the church. His wife was a nonmember and always complained for him to stop being so involved in the church...well her influence slowly started to take effect...and soon he turned into a man who never left the house. Miguel said that this women strongly regrets her decision to convince her husband to leave behind his church responsibilities because now he has become an idle man who never leaves the house. He then referred to conference how the prophet said that NOW is the time for the members to work with the missionaries. Zion is ready to be built. When David O McKay said that "every member is a missionary" it was taken as counsel....well this counsel has now passed to a commandment..... It was a very very good talk. I really hope that it wakes everyone up!

Picture.....one tired missionary!

Elder Colton Richins

Mom,

I hope all is well at home! To be honest there has not been a whole lot that has happened this last week. The first week of the transfer always seem less productive. However we all are screwed up timewise because recently President has changed the entire mindset of everyone so that we don't think of time in transfers. But in months. This way there will be more pressure in baptizing on a monthly basis instead of a transfer basis. Needless to say the stress and pressure in the mission has gone up! I love President Fluckiger but he is super intimidating. haha. Very powerful man with a very determined vision. He really wants to magnify his calling as mission president to the max. Sometimes I hear stories from other missionaries about what other missions are permitted to do by their presidents...wherein if we do those things in this mission we have to send a "repentance letter" to President Fluckiger confessing what we did and assuring him that we would not do it again. This mission, I feel, is very different from other missions. The good thing about it is that I have learned so much from all of it. We are held to a very very high level of obedience and it is preparing me to do my best to maintain that strict level of obedience for after the mission. So while I may not have as many fun experiences as other missionaries have from other missions, I know that I will be grateful for the standards that we are expected to live in this mission. One of the assitants to the president once said, "be grateful that you are serving here...because in this mission we FIGHT for every single thing that we gain." Which is so true. If anything I have seen on my mission, every ounce of success I have had in my mission has been just a battle! And I'm so grateful for it! During the process it may be hard to be grateful for it...but just as in every trial that we go through, once we are through with it, we look back with a grateful heart. I'm interested to see how all of this will play a part in the post-mission life. I'm excited to put everything into practice.

So that's that. But yes, it has been pretty hard to adjust to someone who isn't Elder Dunford. We seriously were a very unique companionship. We got along really well, worked really well together, I felt we were at the same level in all aspects of missionary work. When I stopped teaching he always had something to continue with...and when he stopped teaching I always had something to continue with. It was just a really nice flow of everything. And we were together for 3 transfers...which happens very rarely. However I'm liking Elder Quimuanga. I came to find out that he is from Angola. He is a super humble and chill missionary. Although sometimes I get tired of speaking Portuguese 24/7 :) I still am enjoying having him as my comp! He's a new zone leader, and I can tell he is pretty nervous. But he's doing a good job. The flow isn't as great as it was with Elder Dunford...but we'll get better together as the time goes on. Elder Wilson is still living with us...and his new comp is Elder Later. haha. I don't know if you remember...but Elder Later was the missionary that lived with me for 3 transfers back in my very first few months on the mission. So it has been super funny and weird living with him again now that we are both much further along in our missions. So far the new zone has been doing better. We are currently increasing in our key indicators...we are still far from what we used to be those first 2 transfers when I came to Viseu. I don't think I'll ever be over a zone as good as that zone was. We saw many miracles and all of the missionaries were just super powerful missionaries. So the zone saw a lot of success. However now we are on our way back up. Still lots of work to do...but at least we are not decreasing anymore :D so that's okay with me! And I am sure that I will get to work with the majority of the zone. Seeing as we have to do divisions with half of them. They all seem like great missionaries. It's funny though...half of the missionaries that were with us in those first 2 transfers (when we had amazing months) they are all serving in leadership positions now. The elders and sisters. So the Viseu zone must be a leader preparation zone. haha. 

Investigator wise we are trying to find new investigators. :/ like usual. We have been experiencing some good things with Patricia. I don't know if you remember her...the depressed girl that cuts herself. I haven't talked about her for a while...because she is 17 and she needs permission from her mom to get baptized and she was scared to ask her mom because her mom is just cruel to her. So we stopped focusing a ton on her. But this last week she said that she was planning on asking her mom for permission. This was a huge change in her. It has been incredible to see the difference with her since the first time we met her. I remember that first day...she didn't really know who God was...neither Christ. She didn't have any type of faith, or hope. And today I see such a difference! Her prayers are probably some of the most sincere prayers that I have heard come out of anybody. She really talks as if she were right in front of God, having a conversation with Him. So tonight she is meeting with her mom to talk to her. We are currently reading in the Book of Mormon with her...and yesterday we read through the story of Nephi getting the brass plates from Labin. And we made an emphasis on the fact that it took 3 times for them to be able to get the plates. The first 2 they were unable...and surely they may have been discouraged...but Nephi new that the Lord would provide a way for them to obey His commandments. And so we told Patricia to think of the example of Nephi...and to not give up. If she was persistant, the Lord would provide a way for her to enter the waters of baptism. A great lesson for all of us to learn. Sometimes we need to pass through our "trial of faith" before the blessing comes.

As far as Carlos and Jessica are concerned...they are slacking...again. It's been pretty frustrating. We are all pretty tired of them making us believe that they want to follow Christ's church so much...but then they put it at the bottom of their prioirty list. We are going to try one last thing and if it doesn't work...I don't think we will be working with them anymore. At least for while I am still here. 

And that is about it on my week. It sounds like having Josh as the only child is a little bitter sweet. On both ends. But I think it's way cool that Josh is very willing to help out where he is needed. It will be great mission preparation for him. I'm sorry to hear that you weren't able to attend the governor's event. It seems like things always don't go the way we plan for special occasions. They make great spiritual growth experiences...don't they? :) Anyways. I hope all is well with you and the family! I miss you guys like crazy. Thanks for everything! I have not received the packages yet because I haven't been to Lisbon yet. I only go once a month for Jedi Council...and other than that, we only get mail and stuff at zone conferences. So a couple more weeks I will know if the packages came or not! Oh and another cool thing. Sister Fluckiger is making a Christmas CD for the mission..and she asked me if I would record a song for it. I'm kinda excited to do that. Anyways that is all! I love you so much! Thanks for everything! :)

Elder Colton Wayne RIchins

Elder Colton Richins

Mom!

My heart is with the family! I was thinking about McKay all day Wednesday! I kept looking at the watch, telling Elder Dunford, "he's probably leaving the house now...." "They're probably eating lunch now!" "Oh my heck, he's at the MTC now!" haha. Elder Dunford now knows perfectly well that McKay has entered the MTC. But I hope everything is okay for you guys. I got an email from him and I was super stoked to see that he was able to write when he first got there. Because I didn't want to wait another week! Sounds like he is loving his comp! It's a bummer that he will only be with him for 2 weeks. Maybe he'll serve with him again in the field.

Well this week has been crazy. Me and Elder Dunford have experienced the miracle of a lifetime! You know when you hear about those stories of people who are totally ready for the gospel AND baptism (a huge difference in just being ready for the gospel) comes up to the missionaries and wants to be baptized? Yeah...well me and Elder Dunford had one of those experiences! Oh my heck. I never thought I would have one of these experiences. But it happened. So 2 weeks ago, me and Elder Dunford were contacted some dude in the town square...I saw out of the corner of my eyes that there was this guy on his bike just staring at us. I made eye contact with him during the conversation with this other guy and he made a motion that he wanted to talk to us after we were done with him. So after talking to the guy (sadly he didn't want anything to do with us) but we talked to this man and we were a bit hesistant at first because usually when this happens it is just people that want to bible bash with us. He made it short...he said "My name is Luis, here is my information (hands us half of an envelope with his personal information written on it) and I have been looking for you guys for a very long time. I would love it if you guys could make a visit to my house and we can talk!" The dude lives about 30 minutes away by car from the main city in which we work. So we arranged to go over there with a member. We were still kinda expecting him to bash with us. But when we went over there this last week, he was super attentive and the spirit was incredibly strong. This man lives in the poorest conditions I have ever seen. I am not even kidding. I wanted to take a picture of it it was so bad...but I didn't want to seem offensive. He lives in basically a rock with a tin roof over it. As far as space is concerned, he has sufficient living space...but you go inside and it seriously looks like a giant cave. We went with Miguel Silva (the member I always talk about...who took us on that awesome hiking adventure) and Miguel said, "I don't care what religion he belongs to. He cannot keep living in these conditions. We have got to do something about this." Miguel is such a freakin boss. He took down the phone number of Luis's social worker person, and was going to call him to work out something. He told us on the way back that "If we preach the gospel and then let him continue to live in those circumstances, we clearly do not believe in what we are preaching." The lesson went really well, and Luis prayed about the Book of Mormon while we were there and he said he found a profound inner peace. We made another visit on Saturday and he accepted a baptismal date for the 24th of this month! And here is the biggest thing....mother, he rode his bike to church. 2 and a half hours in the blazing sun he rode his bike to church...and 2 and a half hours back! You know a man is dedicated and seriously has interest when he is willing to do that! Never have a found a man in Portugal that has had that same dedication! It is truly a miracle.On Sunday after church Miguel invited him to go eat lunch at his house. And he had a really good time. We then met with him after to teach him more...and at the end of the lesson he said..."So...24th of August. What do I need to bring?" Mother....YOU DO NOT FIND PEOPLE LIKE THAT HERE! It was such a miracle! And well needed as well...we have been struggling finding people that we can teach. So this has been just the coolest miracle ever! If everything continues as it is (and we hope so very much that it does) then there is no doubt that he will be baptized on the24th of August! Also...this'll make you have even more respect for him...He needs to have surgery on his spine and on his knee. (he showed us this huge lump on his knee that needs to be taken out) And he STILL rode his freakin bike to church. This guy is incredible...he's in his late 50's too. This is a very big example for ALL of us. Would we be willing to do the same thing as him to be able to go to church to renew our covenants? If not, let us work towards this goal. To be able to have that big of desire to go to church that we would be willing to ride 2 and a half hours in the blistering heat (in a freakin suit at that) to be able to worship the Lord! He is an inspiration to all of us. This week let's all ponder how we can be more willing!

Other news...well with the changes in our zone it has been pretty difficult. We have received some missionaries that are causing a bit of trouble in the zone. Our last zone was so perfect and so it has been such a bummer to have to deal with so much crap. Elder Eddington's new comp (the greenie that I have told stories about...who lives with us) he is from Cape Verde (you know how great of experiences I have had with them... :) ) and he has been causing a bit of trouble since getting here. I don't see the point in writing about the stuff that we have had to deal with since he has gotten here...that wouldn't benefit anybody...but needless to say me and Elder Dunford will probably be talking to President this week about the situations. Wouldn't be completely surprised if there was an emergency transfer this week. Sigh. I hate that. But it ticks me off to see missionaries come out here who cause trouble to the mission. We come to the mission to be blessings...not burdens. And poor Elder Eddington is just trying to make the right choices...but he can't really do anything about it. He has vented to us a lot...and has been in tears a few times this last week. I feel a lot for him...and it kinda breaks my heart to see him like that. I'll let you know what happens with the situation.

Lastly...me and Elder Dunford went over to Miguel's earlier this week after having a lesson with Luis...and Miguel taught us soooooo much. I would like to talk about one thing that I never thought about. He talked to us a little bit about the Atonement (as he was talking to us I was just writing down a bunch of notes...it was quite funny) He asked us a question. What happened after the Lord said "Father if it be possible, take this cup from me!" And I said...well he said "Nevertheless, not my will, but Thine be done." And Miguel said....before that...I had no idea. He showed me in the scriptures something very interesting. After he asked the Father to take this burden from them...there is a semi colon. Miguel reminded us that a semi colon implies a pause. He then went on explaining that we the Lord said that...we have no idea how long we waited before He submitted to the father's will. I even remember reading a talk that said that when the Lord said that there was silence in the heavens. We had no idea what would become of the human race. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine all of us up in heaven thinking of the horror of being completely lost. The scriptures are very clear in saying that if the Atonement was not made...we would be LOST. And we would be delievered to the devil in endless torment. We would NOT have the chance to progress spiritually and become like God. I'm sure this pause seemed a lot longer than it actually was. 30 minutes may have seemed like 5 hours, as we hoped with all of our might that the Lord would go through with the Atonement. And when He uttered the words "nevertheless, not my will, but Thine be done." Can you imagine the relief that we felt. I can imagine such relief, but such horror to watch the Savior of the world pass through more pain than any human soul could EVER endure. Bear in mind that Jesus Christ did not have to do what he did. He was already perfect. He could have already been saved with God the Father. We would have been lost. Oh my heck. After pondering about this, I felt the love of my Savior increase drastically. I bear testimony that He lives. And that He loves us. No one would EVER go through what He went through unless that love was perfect and infinite.

There was much more that he talked about...that I have safely in my new study journal (unfortunately my bag was never returned...)

I am happy to hear that everything is going well at home! Things here are good...in answer to your question...yes being district and zone leader has been very busy. Lots of stuff to do. But we still manage to get work done and the Lord is blessing us. I'm not perfect...but I can honestly say that when we strive to be the best we can be, striving to be obedient at all times...everything just works out. And we feel a lot better about who we are, and what we do!

I love you so much! Hope everything is going well and that you have a great week! Your in my thoughts and prayers!

Elder Colton Wayne Richins

Elder Richins and Elder Dunford

Elder Colton Richins

Oh my goodness! I cannot believe that McKay is going to be gone a week from Wednesday! It doesn't even seem real to me! But I hope he knows that I am with him every step of the way in this first little bit. I don't know what challenges he may face for the first chunk of the mission (seeing as the challenges that were so difficult for me at the start only apply to my mission) But I want him to know that I will do everything I can to support him for the first phases of the mission! Although, I have no doubt that he is going to be an incredible missionary! He didn't write me today (which is understandable) But I was really looking forward to reading his talk. I have been studying about the Atonement lately...and I just wanted to see what parts he talked about. The Atonement is such an amazing subject, with so many different directions to take. I am sure he did a fantastic job! I am super grateful for the support that I received from the family for the first quarter of my mission. And with how amazing our family is, I have no doubt that McKay will receive the same!

Well this last week was absolutely insane! We ended the week with 2 baptisms! (I know...I forgot to mention last week. :) ) We have been working with the son of Domingos (our recent convert that was baptized about 2 months ago) And we went through a lot of stress to make it happen...it is a pretty complicated story...but I will do my best to sum it all up. Domingos, as you know, is divorced...roughly divorced at that...and Ruben lives with his mother but visits his dad frequently...actually if it was Ruben's choice, he would choose to live with his dad. He's been at his dad's house practically the whole summer now. Anyways, we marked Ruben for baptism a few weeks ago and we tried to get Domingos ready to baptize him. However, when the subject was brought up to his mom, she said absolutely not! So we were pretty down about that, but when we talked to Domingos he had told us that the court agreement was that both parents had equal rights in the decision process for their children. Then Domingos talked to the assistant to the president that is over our zone, and they talked about the situation...then the assistant told us that we could go ahead with the baptism. After leaving the house...we felt very uncertain about going through with it. So we prayed...and we felt very peaceful. So we decided to trust in those feelings and to go along with it. Later we started feeling doubts again...and decided to pray about it again...as soon as we started praying about it, the doubts were taken away and we again felt peace. After receiving the confirmation we decided to go through with it for sure. As we were visiting with Domingos and Ruben one last time before Ruben's baptismal interview, Domingos was talking to him about staying strong after baptism. He then said something super cool and very touching to me. He told his son to follow my example. To hear my recent convert tell his son to follow my example, and knowing that he remembers and knows my situation was very touching. It was just super cool. Our bishop had been meeting with Domingos recently to see if he was ready to perform the ordinance of baptism. Unfortunately, Domingos is still trying to work on a few things, so he was unable to do it. So Ruben said that he wanted me to baptize him, which was also very cool! So it was a very cool baptism. And Domingos is going to talk to the lawyer to try to get full custody of Ruben, because that is what Ruben wants. He's a very intelligent boy. He's 10 years old, but he is super intelligent!

The other baptism was the son of one of our less actives that recently returned to full activity in the church. His name is João Carlos. He was a pain to teach...he is a 12 year old boy, but he acts like he is 5....very big difference between the two boys that were baptized. Not much to tell on this story except for the fact that he was a pain in the butt to teach. :/ I'm not a big fan of teaching kids...unless they are in a family that is all getting baptized. :) (don't worry I'll attach pictures)

Other than that we also had another really cool miracle happen with Carlos and Jessica. I have told you about the struggle that we have had with them over the past few weeks. Well we went over there on Wednesday and they said that they had noticed a difference when they were trying harder to get an answer to everything then when they had slacked off a ton. So they were ready to try harder. Jessica knows that everything is true. She is ready. However Carlos said that he was still unsure about everything. He really loves the doctrine of the temple and eternal families, but he wasn't sure if everything was right. We taught about revelation through prayer and through the Book of Mormon. At the end of the lesson we all kneeled and had Carlos say a prayer to ask about the Book of Bormon. We sat in silence for quite sometime after the prayer. Finally he got up and said..."I don't feel anything." Ugh. So we told him that the Lord answers in His own time and when we show him that we actually are willing to do what it takes to get the answer. So he said that he would keep praying and reading. Well...we came to find out that very shortly after we had all left (we were with a couple of our youth members their age) Jessica was watching TV, and Carlos was on the computer. At the end of a show that Jessica was watching there came on a song in the closing credits that was called "I've got friends that do" by Tim McGraw. And Carlos all of a sudden became very interested in the song, he closed the computer and took the remote to turn up the song. At the end of the song it talks about how hard it must have been for God to give the world His Son, to suffer and die for us. And during that part he got super emotional (as did Jessica) and they just cried and cried together during the song. When we talked to him on Saturday he said that he took that for an answer to his prayer. It was his personal revelation! That was incredible! So he has finally received an answer and they are going to pray for a baptism date and we are going over there later tonight before we catch our bus to Lisbon to talk about it! So we are going to be going into full wedding and baptism mode pretty soon here!

Lastly there is Patricia. My heart just breaks for her. She's the girl I told you about last email that we have noticed has scars all up her wrist and arms from cutting herself. She revealed a little more to us about her story. She doesn't live with her mom anymore because her mom didn't treat her like a daughter. She has a brother whom her mom treats like a son...but she said that she was just always treated as a family friend...and that really hurt her. She is currently living with some random lady that took her in who treats her like a true daughter. She also said that last year her mom was diagnosed with cancer. And although she had passed rough times with her mom, she was still her mom and she loved her. And that was very hard for her. She said that sometimes it is hard to find the strength to live. It just kills us to hear. We met with her on Saturday night and on Sunday afternoon. And between that short time, on Sunday afternoon I noticed that she had fresh cuts on her left wrist...I just imagined her sitting in her room performing that awful task. She needs the Gospel...a lot. And we are hoping and praying that Heavenly Father will change her life very soon! She is a very sweet girl...but has lived a messed up life. She is marked for baptism for the 17th of August. So we will do our best to prepare her for then. We just want her to embrace the peace and happiness that the Gospel brings. (she also told us about a new wolverine movie that supposedly came out. :O :O :O ..) Eh hem. Not important. ;) so that is the latest with her.

Last night...me, Elder Dunford, and the sisters in our district decided to have a huge street meeting! We took out a table with posters, pamphlets, books of mormon, passalong cards, and DVD's. We pitched it in the middle of this huge town square type deal. And we stood behind the table and just started singing hymns. When people passed by 2 missionaries would stop singing and contact. It got to the point where there would usually be at least 2 missionaries singing, and then the rest of us would spread out and contact people that would be in reachable distance of our table. Lots of people shrugged us off...but there were was a decent amount throughout the hour and a half that we did it that listened and took some material. We got some phone numbers, and gave out lots of pamphlets, Books of Mormon, and DVD's. It was a really cool experience! I never thought that I would have a "Soap Box" moment in my mission! It was cool. 

Anyways, that was our week! Tomorrow is Jedi Council, so I am excited for that. And yeah...Kyle said right. President isn't the most warm and fuzzy guy out there...but he is a very powerful man. He knows what he is doing and that is all that matters. I would like it if I could be buddies with him...but he's just not that kinda guy. But he is an AWESOME president nonetheless.

I hope you have a great week! I love you so much. Good luck with everything and let me know if there is any small thing I can do from a billion miles away! :D I love you!

Elder Colton Wayne Richins