letter from June 8

Dad,Thank you for your e-mail, it was very to check today and see that you do still care about me:) This has been a big week, we had zone conference on friday... i always love sitting in on 11 hour meetings, but oh well, the trainings were good and i think i have some good ideas on how i can improve as a missionary. Saturday we had a zone wide "edurathon", a lot of people ran the half marathon, i walked the 5k due to my muscle spasm. I will try to send you the link that sister mc conkie sent to me with all the other missionaries in the Nephi zone. Saturday night was transfer calls...im getting transfered in two weeks! I am somewhat happy somewhat sad. I have been in west columbia for almost 6 months and have gotten very attached to my ward and the investigators so i am sad to go, however it will be nice to see some new places. My new companion is sister black, she's in her 50's, so thats a little weird. Other than that not much is going on here. I hope things are going good at home, tell shannon i said happy birthday. I meant to get a package sent out last week for y'all but i didn't find the time, i am however sending it out today, so it should be at least a week till you get it. I love you all very much and miss you tons! Tell all the aunts and uncles i said hi and that i love them too!Love,Sister Richards
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letter from June 1

Dear Dad,I haven't gotten your letter yet, the mail here is slow, no surprise. This week has been kind of a bummer, we had a baptism on saturday, but sadly she didn't show up for church on sunday to be confirmed. No one in her family is answering their phones, and on one has yet to respond to our messages. This got sister smith and I a little down yesterday, plus i wasn't feeling well due to my very painful back spasm. After church we went out to work till 3:00 then needed to go back to the apartment due to the way we were feeling. Sister Smith called Sister McConkie and they talked for awhile, i did the dishes and straightened the kitchen. When we were both done doing what we were doing we both took a nap. I woke up to the door knocker on our apartment door, i poked my head out of the bedroom door to see President and Sister Mc Conkie! They were at the church for seminary graduation and felt like they needed to stop by and see us... i was mortified! President stayed in the living room and talked with sister smith and sister mc conkie came and sat with me in the bedroom and we talked about how i was feeling (emotionally and physically). It turns out the Elder Miller has the same symptoms as i do, and the doctor told him that he had a muscle spasm as well, crazy right? The muscle relaxants the doctor gave me havn't been helping so sister mc conkie said to wait another week and if it felt worse then they would send me to another doctor for more tests, it could still be a kidney stone is what the mission doctor said.As this is a new month im going to start it off right with a positive attitude, this week is going to be good! First off, its p-day, its the first of the month which means money in the msf account, and another 1,000 miles on the car! Its almost going to be a vacation this week (still going to work hard, don't worry) p-day today, going to see a counselor? tomorrow, zone conference on friday, and a zone wide half marathon run on saturday (im walking/jogging the 5K instead because of my condition). Hopefully all will go well, i plan on seeing many miracles in june! We've got some awesome investigators who will hopefully be getting baptized (as soon as we can get them to stop smoking, and as soon as we can get the other one to get her babys daddy to marry her), im soooo excited to have such golden investigators!Im going to be printing off some pictures at wal-mart today and im planning on sending them off with a package tomorrow to you! I love y'all and i hope things stay great at home!Have a blessed week,Sister Richards

letter from may 26

Dear Family,Thank you for all your prayers, i am feeling much better emotionally this week...however... physically im not doing to well. I have a doctors appointment at 2:00 this afternoon to make sure that i have kidney stones...fun right? Not! Basically the pain is pretty dull most of the time, but every once and awhile i feel like im being stabbed with a knife in my left side. I'm hoping for some really good pain meds! Im glad that shannon has managed to find a high quality friend, if i hadn't had such amazing friends i wouldn't be where i am today! I feel really bad that i didn't e-mail yesterday, since it was memorial day and tons of families were supposed to be home we had the privilage of working and switching our p-day to today! I probably will have my p-day switched next week as well, our zone is doing a half marathon run/ride so i know it wont be on monday. Im very excited for this weekend, one of our investigators is getting baptized! Earlene's mother and two sisters were baptized in february and now she's getting baptized on saturday by elder posey our area 70, its going to be a really big deal! I don't have time to e-mail megan, but could you please tell her i said thank you for sending the pictures, its crazy to see how big delaney is! I love you all, and im glad that things are going ok at home, tell everyone i said hi!Much love,Sister Richards

Letter from Monday, May 4, 2009

Hey Y'all! Just so you all know i have not gotten the package you sent yet, im hoping for today though. Who's excited to talk to me on sunday? Im not sure how it all works, but you should be getting a phone call from my companion some time this week saying what time i will be calling on sunday...Im sooooo excited!!! This has been a great week, the best ever it seems! We had transfers on wednesday, i drove out to irmo with sister temple with the bushmans and came home with sister smith. I was really nervous at first because i have a hard time with change, and i was also scared out of my mind that i would be a senior companion, im not but i still have had a ton of responsibility this week since sister smith is from another area and its been my job to orient her. Sister Smith is from portland, shes tall skinny and blonde... and i love her to death! I loved sister temple don't get me wrong, but we werent close, never had we ever hugged or said i love you, but when sister smith and i turn off the lights and get in bed we always say i love you, its great! I love being able to have a companion that i can be honest with, someone i can talk with about a problem i might be having, mostly i love having a companion that i can serve. Sister Smith just happens to love getting foot massages, and i just happen to love to give them! I know that Heavenly Father wanted us to be together, there is so much i can learn from her, not just how to be an amazing missionary, but how to be a great human being, sister smith is 25 years old, so she has quite a bit more knowledge of how life is that she can also share with me. She also has a strong passion for sharing the gospel that i dream of having. I love sharing the gospel, its still a little hard for me to come out of my shell some days but i still have a ton to learn! We have some golden investigators... im so excited!!! Two of them came to the gladys knight fireside and have been waiting to see us, we only got the referral jsut this week, and they have been so excited to come to church. We are seeing them on tuesday and we are planning on setting up a baptismal date for the 16 of this month. We also have 3 others that we are planning on baptizing the same day, we're praying hard for miracles in may! Our zone has a goal of baptizing 30 in may, i know that we can do it, sister smith and i were setting goals for today and we plan on baptizing 7 in may... thats a lot by the way:) Sorry i didn't write last week things were so crazy with zone conference and transfers but now that things have cooled off a bit i can tell you a bit about the experience i had. For zone conference we were surprised by being driven to the woods and having a "first vision" experience. We walked for about a half mile and then stopped in the middle of a grove of trees and sang Joseph Smiths First Prayer, it was amazing by the way, the sun was just coming up and when we were done singing most everyone had tears in their eyes. We read from joseph smith history about the first visison and then President Mc Conkie shared and experience he had in the grove of trees. We were then told to wander off by ourselves and pray. I was able to find the perfect place, somewhat secluded next to a fallen tree that i could kneel at. I guess i ended up praying for close to 15 minutes, i had never had such and experience, by the time i was done i had forgotten that i was even in the woods, i would describe it as nephi did as being "caught away in the spirit." The quote for the whole thing is "The fastest way to conversion is throught the Sacred Grove." I was glad to hear that mom went to church on sunday, i must have made a sound because when i read it the guy sitting next to me on the computer gave me a weird look. Did you say vita-mixer? Did you buy one? Hmmmm, i've heard those are the best blenders you can buy. I can't wait to get home and see all the improvements. What else have you done? Is Shannon and I's bathroom on your list, if not its okay because im not coming home for a while: ) Hows everything else at home? Hows Molly? Hows the weather? Here its finally up to about 90, so im about ready to die when ever im not in the car, which is the only place that has a/c. You might be wondering, "What about the apartment?" Our fan does not blow cold air! The ceiling fan in our bedroom has no effect on the temperature whatsoever, so pretty much i haven't had a good nights sleep in almost a week! Today we are going to walmart to do our shopping, so im hoping to find a really inexpensive fan. Im also excited to buy some more clothes. Its to the point where i need to change my shirt half way through the day, and thats if i can manage to keep my BO hidden with body spray until that point! I might also stop by the mission office and order some new and lighter garment bottoms. I don't know how people can live here, the humidity is insane!!!Well, know that i love you all very much and pray for you every night. Im so excited to talk to you in just six more days...everyone better be there!Thank you for all that you do, thanks for your thoughts and prayers!Love, Sister Richards

Dear family,I love mondays! Every monday is like christmas, my favorite part is coming to the library and checking my email and seeing who was nice enough to send me a letter. So, im glad to hear that your trip was a success and that you didn't die. I really liked the postcard you sent, i think im going to tack it up on my bedroom wall so i can always see the beautiful picture of the temple. I laughed so hard when i read about aunt liz, i can't believe she didn't know i was on a mission, some family i have huh? Did you make sure to tell her i was serving the lord in South Carolina? If you did you must email me back and tell me her response. So, whats the weather like there? Is it finally starting to warm up a little bit? It rained all last week, it poured! Today its really nice, but i hear its supposed to rain again this week, darn! I got to go out on splits this past week, i went out all by myself with a 18 year old girl from our ward named andie bushman, we went out and knocked doors for two hours in the rain and got soaking wet, it was tons of fun! I got to start driving this week, it was really scary at first because going two month without being behind the wheel of a car and then finally doing it again in another state.... nerver wracking! But, one of the many great blessings at a missionary is the gift of direction, i always know where im going which is really crazy becuase before i came out i always had to mapquest, here i just know where everything is. I have met people who have lived her for seven years who don't know how to get around the city. I've been here two months and i know my way around, i am very blessed. Its good to hear that things at home are going well, tell mom that i got her letter and i will try to get one out in the mail tomorrow along with my recorder. By the way the recorder has some really really random stuff on there ,so just warning you. I love you all very much and i pray for you every night. I hope ya'll are recieving just as many blessings as i am.Love Sister Richards

Hello to home,Sorry i've been really bad about writing home to ya'll, its just very exahusting? to write letters, plus last week we took naps, so that was nice. I'm gald you liked my package, what do you think of the flag? The name tag was really random, but i cant use it because its broken and anyways i orderd a new one with a magnet on it...so nice. I went clothing shopping today and spent way more than i was planning and i still need more clothing, i guess it'll have to wait till next month when i get more money on my MSF (missionary support fund). I didn't end up buying the bike from the girl off craigslist, it was a pice of crap and she wanted 60.00 for it...it was covered in rust and needed new tires and some other repairs. Her Dad was not happy about that, not to mention he was a minister and the idea of driving all the way to meet us and find out that we were mormon missionaries... not good. Brother Kreiger our ward mission leader is still looking for us. So, its been a fast week, on tuesday we had Gladys Knight come to our stake center and she did a fireside, its been all of the talk since i got here, but it was great. We had two sessions and there were about 500 people at each, its going to keep us busy with refurals for a long long time and hopefully finish with a few baptisims. I got to sit in the VIP section with one of our investigators, it was really cool, i think i cried a few times. Other than that the week has just flown by. We were supposed to have a baptism on Saturday but he didn't show up for his interview on friday night and we haven't been able to get ahold of him since, that brings me down a little bit. We had transfers this week, im still in west columbia with sister temple, we got a new elder in our zone, he's been out for quite awhile, but his name is elder john's and he's from Nampa, our nicknames are Sister Spud and Spud Stud. I love the elders in our Zone (Nephi zone) they're all really nice and we're our own little family. Elder merkely, legua, davis, and stocks are in our district with elder legua being our district leader and our zone leaders are elder john's and elder adkins. They look to sister temple and i as sisters and mothers, last night i made all the elders no-bake cookies, they keep calling to see when im going to drop them off:) President McConkie came to sister temple and i's weekly planning session this morning, sister temple invited him...SURPRISE. I always love having my mission president walk into our luckily clean apartment to find me in my gym shorts and a piggly wiggly t-shirt with extremily hairy legs! After that Sister Linder took us out shoping to Target and Lane Bryant then to TJMax. I got some really cute cloths but i bought a voice recorder so it drained my cash:( But now i can send home voice messages and you can send me some back. It is the coolest thing ever! It holds up to 74 hours of sound, tonigt i think im going to record myself while i sleep, i have this really bad habit of talking in my sleep, and according to sister temple i say some really random things. Example from saturday night:me: i think your laundry is donetemple: yeah, its been done for a couple of hours nowme: you don't have to be so rude!me: its sounds like theres been a guy in hereI also pray, give lessons, and extend commitments, and i walk too! Sister Temple keeps a nerf dart gun on the night stand table just incase i get too loud!Well, i love you all very much and miss you every day. Tell Rebecca i said thank you for the package, it made my week! I made sure to share my cookies, they were amazing by the way! Oh, and its funny, but i really needed some shower gel, i was going to buy some today. Tell Erin i said thank you for the letter and money, i will write hopefully today. Like i said, i love all ya'll so much.

sent 3/10/09

(this is how they come from Amanda - no time to check punctuation or spelling)
I don't want to say i'd rather be in your shoes in terms of weather, but im havning a hard time adjusting to the heat so far. This past week its been in the 70's and 80's with a nice cool breeze. When i get home every night my face is more burnt than before and im wet with my own bodily secretions, which happen to make me stink very much. When people ask me how i like the weather they laugh at my reply and say just wait till July! Well next month i will be able to wear sandles and ditch these nylons! Im glad erin and william have both bought bikes, my companion and i have both been trying to buy some, it hasn't been easy. There is a bike store in town called harrles and they supposedly have used bikes in the basement, although every time we go in they caim to be all out, or have nothing that would fit us, oh well. My companion did manage to find a bike on friday, we were teaching this group of old black guys who were sitting out front of their "shanty?" smoking and when we were done my companion asked who owned this old schwin taht looks like it could be from the 80's, she offered the guy 25 dollars and is going to pick it up on thursday at our next appointment, she's very excited. As for me no luck yet, im kind of a bike snob, i don't think i could ride a not nice bike, but then again im not really willing to pay more than 30 bucks for a bike. I am planning on purchasing a camelsback this week, with the heat i need to drink lots of water and that is really the only feasable way i can think of to do it. It was nice to hear of Ben's experience at the two branches in Moscow.
jTell everyone that I love them,
Love, Sister Richards

email from 03/02/09

Things here are going pretty well, we have been having problems with our teaching pool, they've all been getting baptized so it’s been depleting, the other problem is finding new investigators. This past week we only found 7, our goal is always 14 :( This weekend we were supposed to baptize Linda Walker, she's been an investigator since November, anyways she canceled the morning of, but luckily she's still came to church yesterday. I'm sure some day she'll get baptized. Her main hang-up is that she was baptized into some other church in 1991 and doesn't see why she needs to be baptized again. This is a pretty common problem here in the south, the other one, which really drives me crazy, is exaltation. People just don't understand the fact that we have the opportunity to become like God, they think we mean that they will become God, and then they're always like, "Well I only have one God!" Not that we are going to be God, I just don't see how they don't get it, we are his children and as such we have the right to gain all that he has, they don't understand that. Oh, well. No more problems with feeling the need to come home, just so you know. Something that really comforts me is the song "Lead Kindly Light", I listen to it all the time or when I start to feel down I hum it. There is a part in the first verse where it says… the night is dark and I am far from home, lead thou me on... anyways, it helps none the less. The weather here is crazy! A few weeks ago it was 70 and nice, then it has been in the low 50's for the past two weeks, and then day before yesterday it started to rain, it’s been almost non stop! I was raining in sheets Saturday night while we were on our way back to the apartment and I could barely see out the windshield, last night we were out contacting in a Wal-Mart parking lot about 8:00 and it was misting! Needless to say my hair is a constant ball of messy curls and I hate it! It was supposed to snow last night...5-6 inches... I woke up this morning and to my surprise... no snow :) What was really funny about the whole thing was that they already canceled school last night :) The south just shuts down in the cold, for church yesterday it seemed like half the congregation was missing. So, how are things there? How is everyone doing? Molly? I wish i would get more letters from ya’ll, e-mails are nice, but letters are always more personal, some pictures from the grandkids would be very nice! I'm sure ya’ll have not forgotten me but some days it does seem like it. I'm going to try and buy a voice recorder, there’s this cool one my companion has by Sony where it doesn't have tapes but it holds hours of storage, maybe I’ll invest, it would be nice to hear everyone’s voices. Did anyone bear their testimonies yesterday? If not it’s okay, I myself didn't even get a chance. Maybe next time? Well, I have to go; I love you all so much! I love Ya'll! WRITE ME!!!
Sister Richards

Letter from Monday Feb. 16, 2009

......Things have improved a lot since my last letter. My companion and I are getting along very well, it's just taken me a little while to open up, but I'm my same old self again and things are great! We had an awesome weekend, we had three baptisms and next week we have one more, we're on fire!!!
I'm not able to write very much today because today isn't my p day, it has been switched to Wednesday this week so we can go to the temple. I don't think I'll be able to email then, but I will deffinately try to write a letter. ......I love everyone so very much and I miss you... just not enough to come home:) Tell everyone I'mm doing great because I am! Love You! Amanda

Ben has left the country!!

In case you didn't realize it or hadn't heard about it or even if you didn't care about it. Ben flew out of Atlanta this afternoon and should be in Moscow tomorrow around noon. If you call his cell phone you get the message "This is Ben, I've moved to Russia. Don't leave a message because I won't get it. If it is important, email me at dirtyorangemormon@hotmail.com ".

Due to misinformation, Ben didn't realize, until last Thursday, that the military would not store his car while he is in Russia. So, Shannon and I are flying to D.C. March 22nd (during spring break) and are driving his car back. It will give Shannon a chance to see some of Washington D.C. for a day and see alot of the rest of the country through the windshield for 5 long days. Hopefully by waiting to the end of March we will have better weather than Jordan and I had driving the Honda back from Chicago the first week in December.

Dad

Today, the 10th, we received a letter from Amanda's Mission President, Stephen L. McConkie. (son of Bruce R.) Some quotes from this letter:
" We promise you that as the spirit of missionary work settles upon her, her experience here will be a highlight of her life. Proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ as a missionary is a special privilege reserved only for a select few. Sister Richards has been recommended as one worthy of such experience by her priesthood leaders and we are honored to have her serve in our mission..... We have spent several wonderful hours together discussing missionary work in our mission with her and believe she has all the potential in the world to be a most marvelous and dedicated servant of the Lord. The next few months will be a great transition time as Sister Richards adjusts to the rigors of missionary life and service. I urge you to join us as we pray for her success and happiness during this training period."

This warm letter came with a pretty cold form letter with the mail and phone policies of the Church and the Mission. I have quoted what I feel are the most important.

"DO NOT WRITE to missionaries at their apartment address because when they are transferred, their mail may not be forwarded properly. Send all mail to the Mission Office using the FULL NAME, as follows:

Sister Amanda Marie Richards
South Carolina Columbia Mission
1345 Garner Lane, Suite 307
Columbia, SC 29210

The mail is forwarded to the missionaries the same or the next day after it has been received in the office. We are aware at all times of the location of the missionaries.
If you send packages any other way than through the Postal Service, these packages cannot be forwarded. Any packages sent any other way must be held at the office until the next zone conference, which could be weeks.

Church policy permits missionaries to call home COLLECT on Christmas and Mother's Day. Please limit these calls to 40 minutes each."

Enclosed with this letter were 3 pictures taken on the day of her arrival in the mission field. I will try to post them as soon as possible.

Dad

Letter from Monday, Feb 9, 2009

Hey! You are correct sir, today is my P-day! Thank you for your email. Well, I'm planning on being thin when I get home. Sister Temple my companion and I go running every morning at 6:30. This morning we did about 3 miles up and down hill (I though I would die!!!). So we run, and also my food intake has been cut in half. I have lost the desire for food. I think so far I've lost about 5 pounds, not much, but I'll get there :) You should let me be part of this biggest loser challenge you're having. I promise I won't lie, I'm a missionary now :)
This has been the HARDEST!!!! week ever! We got here about five on Monday and stayed at the mission home for two days. We got to go and see downtown Columbia, tour the statehouse, etc. They still have a Confederate flag flying out front by the way.... crazy, there's a lot of controversy about that around here.
On Wednesday I go assigned my companion and my area, as you might have guessed I'm serving with Sister Temple and we are in the West Columbia zone. It is soooo different here, it's like a never ending slum with the occasional nice house or two. I get creeped out at night and I always have a steady supply of hand sanitizer near by, although I've been told it doesn't help, it still makes me feel better :) I have had a big day today and because my companion keeps looking to see if I'm finished yet I will have to write it in a letter also because it is more spiritually sensitive and it is going to take me a while to write it.
Although it's been hard I love it! I was a lot scared to knock on doors at first, but now it's like second nature. I've only had the door slammed in my face once, it was a little old lady who said she was already saved and then commenced to slam the door in my face. I'm surprised she didn't call me a devil worshipper and tell me to burn in hell! I actually smiled as I walked away! The people here are pretty nice though,they most of the time tell us kindly that they are not interested, but we do meet lots of people to teach. On Saturday we have 3 baptisms and next Saturday only 1 so far, but we have 5 more who are on their way! The work is definitely moving forward here, this is one of the biggest baptizing missions in the country....it's the final frontier for the Church in the US. Know that I'm being well taken care of by all the members here. I love you all, I pray for you every day! I'm going to try and send home some pictures today with my letter.
Your daughter, sister and servant of Jesus Christ,
Sister Amanda M. Richards

I sent a short email explaining to Amanda that we as a family had embarked on a weight loss contest based on BMI (Body Mass Index) and that the prize would be $25 cash each month. Weigh ins are to be held the 1st of each month. I had also predicted that Monday would be her P-day since we had not heard from her since Monday morning when she called from the airport. You would think that she had been gone for months, not 2 1/2 weeks.
I have resumed transcribing her emails primarily due to my editing of certain parts deemed personal or financial in nature. The lack of capitalization, punctuation and spell check didn't help much either. I realize that she has only so much time alotted for sending mail and taking the time to fix typos etc. is a waste of that precious time.

Dad

letter from Thursday, Jan 29, 2009

Good news! I fly out to South Carolina on Monday, I leave the MTC at four in the morning so I have from when we get to the airport till when we board to make a phone call.....I'm calling home in case you were wondering. It will probably be somewhere just after six in the morning.
Its going very well here, I'm having a great time, I'm learning a lot, it amazes me how much there is to know about the gospel. Right now we're working on the second lesson which is the Plan of Salvation... I love it! I'm so sad that I'm leaving so soon, just when I get used to being here. I've met and made friends with so many amazing people and it breaks my heart to think that I'm going to have to leave them here in a few days. I have become very close to the other Sisters in my district, we're like sisters, we even have a very bad habit of staying up way past lights out just talking in each others rooms, I know naughty! It's amazing how close you can grow to a person you've only known for two weeks, I guess when you spend all day every day with them it makes up for all the lost time you spend with all your other friends you've known for years. Thats what it feels like, it feels like we've been best friends for years, we all know each others deepest darkest secrets:) Thank you for your letters I wish I could get more, they make such a difference in my day, I always love to hear what happening at home! It's nice to hear that you're taking turns making dinner, I wish I could cook here, it is nice not to have to cook but the food here is going to kill me or someone else! They feed us every four hours and then send us back to class to sit down so we all get bloated and have really bad gas every day! My goodness! Because of this I have learned to cut my meal portions in half, in doing so and in combination with gym I've lost a few pounds! I feel great! I've gotten used to waking up at 6:30 it's really not as hard as I though it would be, but it does get a little frustrating because I normally wake up to the sound of hair dryers instead of my alarm. My companion wakes up every morning at 5:30 to get ready, so by the time she starts on her hair it's time to get up. I then walk to the bathroom where there are about 35 other sisters drying their hair as well!!!!
I love you all so much and can't wait to hear your voices on Monday, I'm soooo exicited! Make sure and have everyone up so I can say Hi! I don't know how everyone has been coping while I'm gone, but just know that I'm praying for you every night. I know that this is the true Church of Jesus christ, I know he loves us all no matter what. I know that going on a mission is what Heavenly Father wanted for me even though he knew it would be the hardest decision I would ever have to make. I love this Gospel and I love learning more about it every day. I know that because of our Saviors atonement we have the opportunity to repent of our sins and live together as a family for eternity in His presence. I love you all and I want to start hearing from all of you more often.

Love, Sister Amanda M. Richards

Amanda's letter 1/22/09

Dear Family,
I hope everything is going well at home, I told you life would go on without me there. How was Ethan and Ella's birthday party? I wish I could have been there, but I'm having a good time here at the MTC. This has been the hardest week of my life, nothing could ever prepare me for sitting in class from seven in the morning till nine thirty at night. We're constantly going from one meeting to another or from one class to a workshop. Most days I feel I'm some animal being constantly herded from one place to another, its quite tiring, especially after sleeping on a twin bed with no support in a room with five other girls. I try not to complain, even though its hard I still love it!
I'm amazed at how much I've grown in one week (not physically, although they feed us all the time here, and good food too! Self control is a pound saver) Spiritually though I can't believe how much I've learned. Heavenly Father truley blesses missionaries with the gift of knowledge and understanding. Nights are the hardest for me here. When class gets out at 9:30 Sister Thatcher, my companion and I head back to the residence hall and get ready for bed. Although its nice to sit and relax, its difficult because without constant work and study my mind begins to wander off towards home. I start to think about what everyone's doing and then I can picture Dad watching Jay Leno while Mom plays solitaire. I can see Molly stretched out in the hallway, and then I start to imagine myself there with you. some nights when I have a hard time falling asleep (which isn't often) I can almost feel Mom hugging me goodnight. During the day I receive constant comfort from my district, even though we've only been together for a week they're like family to me. We have four sisters: Sister Thatcher my companion, Sister Waters, Sister Anderson and myself. There are six elder: Elder Miles our district leader. Elder Curtis, Elder Vanotten, Elder Robison, Elder Waite, and Elder Reeves, he's my favorite! We spend all day together, so ts going to be hard when we leave for the field because only Sister thatcher and myself and Elders Waite and Elder Reeves are going to South Carolina, everyone else is heading to New Mexico.
There at the MTC there are a lot of missionaries learning another language. so when they pass by they always say hello in whatever language they're learning. since my district is all English speaking we came up with our own way to slay hello. Everyone going to Mexico puts their hands up and says "how", then only sister Thatcher and I say in a very Southern accent "hey yall!" with a big grin and a really stupid wave. Along with all the spiritual experiences we try to have ourselves a good time too!
Today is our p-day, which means that we got to go to the Temple. I was so excited. I think on the outside the Provo Temple is one of the more....less fashionable Temples, but inside it is gorgeous! While I was sitting in the Celestial room, I had an amazing spiritual experience. When I was done saying my prayer that I always say, I felt a warm wave over my body and I could feel a definite presence. I could feel Grandma and Grandpa there with me. It was like I could almost see them smiling at me. I just cried because I know now how proud they are that I made it to this point in my life.
Well I love all you guys, but I really need to go put my laundry away. Thank you for all the letters, thoughts and prayers.

Love, Sister Amanda M. Richards

P.S. Justin, I laughed my butt off when you put that "men in tights" quote in your note. I really needed it, thank you. Tell Melissa I said HI and that I love here. Tell Erin that I'll send her a seperate letter. I love to get stuff from "dear elder.com" it makes me feel special ... hint, hint........

P.P.S. I love this Church, I know what I'm doing is what Heavenly Father wants me to do. I know that while I'm gone you will be blessed.

P.P.P.S. Tell everyone that asks that I'm doing fine. I love the MTC and I'm learning so much!

Amanda's Latest Email

This letter was originally sent on 1/22....Hope every enjoys and once again no spell check was used when Amanda wrote this.

So this is my e-mail, i can only check it on thursdays which is my p-day. If i don't get a lot in this message its because i have to be to class in less than twenty minutes. I did however write a very very long letter today which im going to mail off after dinner along with my cell phone charger. Sorry about that by the way, i only just realized that i had it in my bag. I am keeping myself very busy here, work, work, work. Its amazing that i've already been here for one week, it feels like ive been here forever. No one ever told me the MTC was going to be so hard. This has easily been the hardes't week of my life. There is little time to do personal things and even when i do im never alone so it gets kind of crazy. I think of the MTC as a spiritual "prison", always in the room and never alone:) I have a wonderful companion, her name is Sister Thatcher, she's from orange county california and she's just amazing, we get along so well, just this morning we were singing out loud together on our way back to the residence hall after the temple. We get a lot of laughs, we're live entertainment. Eventhough times are often very tiring and stressfull i always have something to smile about. I am deffinately blessed to have such a great companion and district, we're like our own little family. Even though its only been a week, we feel like we know pretty much everything about everyone, that happens when you spend 12 hours a day with one group of people. There are four sisters in our district including myself and six elders, they are all so wonderful! Heavenly Father knew exactly what he was doing, he knew exactly what i was going to need to get me through theses three long weeks. Another thing that really helps is meal time:) There are at least three options for every meal and its all you can eat, i never go back for seconds, i don't want to leaver here fatter than i came! Spirituall this has been the most amazing experience ever, learning the first discussion means learning more than i though i would, but its been very rewarding. I love you all and i miss you so much, im so thankful for the oppertunity to be here as a missionary and learn more about our savior and his church. I'm thankful for all my many blessings that i recieve daily. I'm thankful for all of your support and prayers. I really have to get to class, but im going to try and send another email later, i still have 11 minutes left in my email bank. If not jut know that you are getting a very big letter in the mail. Oh, and if you get the time you can always send me letters at dearelder.com, i always enjoy recieving the messages you have sent me so far. I love you, Sister Amanda Marie Richards.Dad, if you would like to forward this to all the aunts and uncles who's email we have i would appreciate it.

Amanda's first letter

This letter was postmarked on Thursday, the 15th of January. We received it on the 20th or the 21st. I will transcibe it to the blog with all spelling and grammatical errors intact. Hopefully the rest of her communications will be in electronic form.

Dear Mom and Dad and Family,
I'm still alive after one day here at the MTC. I hear all the hard stuff starts tomorrow so we'll see. I love it here so far, everyone is really nice, and theres a constant spirit present. I have a wonderful companion, her name is Sister Thattcher, she's from Orange County California and we get along great! I'm really greatful to have the oppertunity to be here, I know its only been one day, but I know this is going to be an amazing experience. I wish I could write more, but everyone is waiting for me to finish so I can turn out the lights, its been a VERY long day! I can e-mail you on my next p-day, I think next thursday. I love you all, you're in all my many prayers.
Love, Sister Amanda Marie Richards
P.S. Will someone please walk Molly for me.

Intro to the Grover portion of the family!

Hi All. This is Erin, my small branch of the family tree consisted of my husband William and my son Sam. Today is the 7th month mark of Sam being in our lives. William and I have been married for almost 4 years, and have been on an adventure ever since. We are both currently full-time students at BSU, myself going for a general associates degree and my husband for an Electrical Engineering Bachelors degree. I will be graduating in December of this year, and William will be graduating in 2011. We are both actively involved in our LDS Ward on Broadway Ave. I serve as the second counselor in the Relief Society and William work with the Bears in Cub Scouts, which is the harder of the two callings. William work on the BSU campus at the Zone in the ILC, which is basically a very high tech computer lab that specializes in helping students and faculty with computer projects. Sam is growing like a weed and learning like one too. He weighs in at 20 lbs, 27.5 inches and is just starting to move forward on his hands and knees. Our family has been very blessed, and we continue to be grateful everyday for those many blessings.

Amanda enters the MTC (Missionary Training Center)

Amanda Richards officially started her mission by entering the Missionary Training Center (MTC) on Wednesday, January 14th.

We (Dad, Amanda, Erin, William and Samuel) left Boise on Tuesday morning and arrived in Salt Lake City in time to have Amanda, Erin and William attend a session at the SLC temple. Sam and Dad hung out in the van in the interim outside the Utah Statehouse, taking a nap and playing with baby toys . Later we traveled down to Joel and Cathy's new house and they took all of us to a really nice Chinese restaurant somewhere in Salt Lake City. Sam impressed everyone at the restaurant with his stellar behavior. We spent the night at Linda and Frank's .

We made it down to Provo in time to buy Amanda some shoes that fit, have lunch at Subway. We arrived at the MTC about 10 minutes early. They really have a system for processing large groups in an orderly manner. First stop was for unloading luggage, missionaries and passengers, then the driver of the vehicle was directed by gentlemen to a specific spot in the parking lot. Missionaries went in one door and had to show immunization records and other documents. That is where this picture was taken. Families and friends went in another door and waited for the initial processing to take place. They then had a few minutes to take pictures and give preliminary good byes. We were then directed into a large room where the mission president, his wife and I believe one of the counselors welcomed the missionaries and their families to the MTC. The last speaker counseled us that goodbyes were like removing band aids, better done in one swift motion. After a short video the time came for the quick goodbyes. Large signs indicated that the missionaries were to exit one side of the room and families on the opposite side. On cue, hugs were given, tears were shed and she walked out the door marked missionaries and we walked out the door marked families.

Amanda's address is: Sister Amanda Marie Richards

MTC Mailbox #237

SC-COLU 0202

2005 N. 900 E.

Provo, Utah 84604-1793

We left and drove up to one of William's relatives near Ogden , changed out of our Sunday clothes and drove home.

Amanda's tentative date to leave is February 2nd. There is a website called w.w.w.dearelder.com. The site is free but pushes for donations and all sorts of stuff you can purchase and send to your missionary. If you sign up and write a letter by noon MST on weekdays, it will be printed, put in an individual envelope and delivered to the MTC that afternoon. You will need the address listed above. Supposedly the mail is picked up by their district leader and distributed just before dinner. She should have an official e-mail address later on in the week, but is allowed only 30 minutes a week (on p-day) and the mission rule is to email family only. We will post any appropriate emails on this blog.

This is for Amanda

I'm sure that all of you know the above, if you don't it's my little sister Amanda. She is such a wonderful person and we are so proud of her. She is going on her mission in a week, this is such a big thing for our family!

Amanda graduated awhile ago from Centennial High School and since has been working as a helper to the disabled. She had enough patients to give her love and time to those who needed it more that others. Many of you probably don't know how hard it is to work with the disabled but it is really hard, and Amanda has all it takes to do it.

Not only did Amanda work with the disabled but she helped out so much around the house and with all of her many brothers and sisters and their kids. She was always willing to watch the kids, make dinner for everyone or well you name it she seemed to always do it. One of the things that always stuck out to me was her cooking...It may not have always been the best but it was usually top notch and at least she made the effort to feed the family.

I would describe Amanda as the mediator, the one who never picked sides and was always there to help solve the problem. I'm sure that she got tired of it and yet she still did it. I would have to say that Amanda was the favorite Aunt, Sister and friend. Sorry everyone else, I don't want to hurt any one's feelings.

Amanda I will miss you so much while you are gone. It is going to be a long 18 months with out the glue to our big family, but I'm sure we will manage. And thank you for all of your help, you mean so much to me and my family especially. Harper is going to miss his Nanda!

Good luck to you on your mission. Stay positive, keep your weird personality, and think of us often.

The Mattson

WE LOVE YOU!!!