Jessica's Forty Eighth Email! September 14th, 2014

Hello!!!! Well, so far the birthday is going great haha. Complete with a dunkin donuts stop and all! Also opened great gifts from Grandma and Sister Taylor!! Thank you soooo much!!!! It was a great week in the Philippines.

We have some investigators who are super on track to be baptized in the next month or 2. One is Marez. I love her! She is so solid. She is 18 and just the funniest! She's been to church the last 3 weeks and we only met her 3 weeks ago. Started living the Word of Wisdom the day we taught it and she is just so ready! We went back for our appointment with her and asked how her reading was in the B.O.M. She pulled out a spiral notebook where she had taken tons of notes to be sure she was getting it all! Ahh. Such a light for us when everyone else seems to be hiding from us and lying to our faces! She and all the other girls/moms in Relief Society yesterday were also TRIPPING when they saw the family pic I have in my scripture case. They couldn't believe mom was my mom, thought I was the older sister! hahah. And she loves the don. Already talks about serving a mission and said she hopes she goes to Austria so she can meet him! She thought I was Austrian all this time! hahah she is such a hoot.

So as far as the liars and hiders, REALLY getting on my nerves! I just wanna say what dad always said to us when we were being less than reasonable. "You wanna play the dumb game, I can play the dumb game!" haha, runs through my head every time they spend more time making excuses than if they would just let us teach them!

My companion is seriously the sweetest person I've ever met. So caring. I gotta be careful what I say around her now because she will go so out of her way to fix or do anything for me! She saw that my camera case zipper broke and she asked where I got it. Said my parents gave it to me like 6 years ago and I would just buy a new one. Well, the next morning I woke up and she has replaced the zipper! (No clue how she even did that! Had to un-thread and sew all this stuff.) And she washed it and wow. Then I told her I wanted to fix the front and back cover of my PMG (Preach my Gospel) that had torn off. Next morning, wake up and she had unbound the whole thing and taped it all up and good as new! She also made a Happy Birthday sign and it was on my wall when I woke up. The KINDEST.

Okay, let's see. What else! That Indian lady is still hilarious. "Why you always walking and walking and walking. It's so mainit!" Hahha and she told us she doesn't have diabetes yet which is good because she has to drink a coke to fall asleep. Oh the people you meet.

Okay, well, we are outta here. I love you all so much! Thanks for all you do for me!
Love, Sister Richmond


Top 10
1. Sister Simpson gave the sisters in our apartment cake at transfers to bring back for me. The nicest comps, I swear!
2. Sister Deyro... enough said there??
3. Birthday package from Grandma and the gift Sister Taylor left before she went home. So thoughtful!
4. Marez and the other progressing investigators
5. The new zone leader who is in our branch is my homie haha. Fellow southern Californian
6. Health still good
7. About to enjoy birthday lunch at the White Bean!
8. Tropical storm this weekend. So windy and nice!
9. Birthday emails from the urts. Finally the brothers email hahah
10. Ordered choc chip cookies this week from a members bake shop. SO GOOD. Can't wait for that all the time. Ovens are cool!

Jessica's Forty Seventh Email! September 7th, 2014

Hello!!!!! Literally out of time almost cause this internet was struggling earlier!!! But I just want to tell you all how much I love and appreciate you! I am doing good health wise. Just have to sleep with my head elevated which is not enjoyable, drink apple cider vinegar which makes me cringe, and take acid pill things which is fine. But! I couldn't be happier and life is good! I can breathe like a champ and everything is good.

We had transfer announcements this week. I am.... STAYING... again. Haha So I will hit 1 year in my second area. Mixed emotions but we'll make it a great one and we have some people lined up for baptism, just pray they stay on track! The Zone Leaders baptized the greatest couple this week. A family! It was so amazing and they are so converted. Such a neat experience. And our investigator Marez came and LOVED it. Kept saying how she can't wait to be next and all sorts of stuff. Too fun. I love baptisms. We taught a really sad but awesome lesson this week. One of our investigators we just found out gave birth and lost her baby within a few hours. It was such a neat lesson to be able to share with her that that baby is still hers and they will be together again. It's moments like that when my testimony is so strengthened and I am so grateful for God's plan for us. The strength that comes from that knowledge cannot be beat. She was sad, but she really seemed to have that hope as we shared that she will hold her baby one day. She was still in the ICU until after the burial and never even got to see her baby. I think that's the part that was really hard for her. But so neat that she will see her baby for the first time with a strong, healthy body. The mission is full of unbeatable experiences that I am so humbled to be a part of.

Mom, you always do that "last time my 8 year old daughter will eat a sandwich" and things like that for like the whole month before a birthday, so here's one for you. Here's the last email you will get from your 19 year old daughter... actually last time you will have a teenage daughter!!! No more sassy girls around. Well, I guess 20 year olds can be sassy too. Anyway, talk to you next week when I'm 20!!!! ahhh. Freaky. Love you all tons. Have a good week.


Top 10.
1. ZL's baptism (Zone Leader's)
2. 4 investigators at church yesterday
3. District service project
4. Christie sent me so many of the recent pics of the precious kids I used to babysit
5. Emi, Don, and Mae are livin the cougar life! Welcome to BYU!
6. Zone training
7. Surprise cleaning checks by the Reeders and we passed!
8. Finished the New Testament
9. Started Jesus the Christ
10. Healthy and doing well!

Jessica's Forty Sixth Email! September 2nd, 2014

Hello everybody! Whewwww, what a week.

Sorry I'm a day late, I've been in the hospital for 2 days. Don't worry, nothing serious, mostly just took forever for anything in there to happen. So lots of sitting around waiting for doctors and stuff. But I'll start with last week. So Tuesday, normal day. My cold got like all the way gone pretty much. But Tuesday night right after we got home, we were getting ready for planning and I was just having the hardest time breathing! So we just went on as usual, Sister Deyro was kinda getting freaked out so I said I was fine and after planning went to bed. Wednesday, woke up, pretty much the same. The other 3 sisters in the apartment wanted me to go to the doctor, but I had a goal not to go to one my whole mission. No time for that as a missionary! So we just did the regular morning schedule and went out to work. It was so hard to breathe the whole morning. Like I couldn't take a full breath, just a bunch of half ones. So then I kinda started getting concerned but tried to hide it because my sweet companion gets kinda worried about a lot of things. At lunch the 3 sisters ganged up on me and texted Sister Reeder and they all decided I needed to go see a doctor. So we went, he didn't really know what was up. Prescribed some stuff but asked like 0 questions and did 0 tests. We just weren't American enough I guess, didn't demand answers. So we went and got the meds. He said it would take about 2 days for them to kick in. Went back to work after we got home from the pharmacy, but still tough.

Thursday was so good! We had zone conference with the Reeders. And! We were combined with Naga zone so I got to see so many of my favorite missionaries. Still wasn't breathing well, but enjoyed it none the less. They just always have the BEST counsel and the spirit is so strong. I love them so much. I've said it before, but if I can't have my parents for 18 months, I think they're for sure a good fill in. Such parents to all of us.

Got home from conference and worked. Friday: Weekly planning which was my favorite one since Sister Taylor left. We made a chart for the wall to keep all our investigators organized and it was so fun. We worked and wow. Oh how difficult it was to breathe, andddd, we walked to one of our furthest areas. I'm sorry. I know... not a good idea. But we had appointments and waiting for the tricie just wastes so much time. So anyway, that was Friday.

Saturday was bad. The minute I woke up I was struggling. And this time I couldn't hide it from my sweet companion. So her asthma started acting up and we were quite the scene haha. I was ganged up on.. yet again, and back to a different doctor we went. This time we were more pushy, got x-rays, BLOOD TAKEN (mom, yes. It was just as bad as the good old days when you made Christie take me because you were too embarrassed), also some other test. Everything came up pretty normal though. So I got yet some more meds. And was ordered to Rest. Missionaries just aren't good at resting. The whole rest of the day I just wanted to leave. Convinced them to let me go to an FHE. Sunday, church then back to the house. Got a SUNDAY NAP after studies. And the best part, I was being obedient by taking a nap. They said to sleep as much as I could. And whewww, so weird but good but guilty and just a hard feeling. Sunday night they let me go to the Lopez's for our Sunday dinner appointment. All was well. Then I ate some frozen fruit dessert thing. I got SO COLD. Like shaking and my fingers were turning purple. For the 3rd time, ganged up on. The Lopez's are friends with the Reeders so they called and down to the ER we went. They drove me and Sister Deyro which was way nice. We got there and the Reeders were there. Oxygen levels were way down so they put me on oxygen. After about two hours they took us up to a room and the others went home for the night. I had the oxygen for like 24 hours and around noon yesterday the doctor FINALLY came. He decided he thinks it's acid reflux whatever that means. It's not too serious, just gotta stop eating spicy food and some other things. And there are pills and blah blah blah. As of today I can breathe pretty normal! I was soooo ready to get out of that room. I convinced Sister Deyro to let me go down to the cafeteria with her and I was just roaming the halls which isn't allowed but I think people are too scared to tell Americans they're doing something wrong. Even at the grocery store you're supposed to open your bag so they can check it. I've never done that once and they've never told me to. Anywayyy, sorry, all over the place. It was so boring at times but then Sister Reeder was the best and kept coming by for a few hours and it was so fun to talk to her. I really think it was such a tender mercy from God. I have reallyyyy been missing my mother lately and just being able to spend so much time with my mission mom. So needed. So fun. Such a neat lady. SO yes, then we finally got the nurses to call the doctor in today to release me. Sister Reeder took us to the pharmacy and even got us Oreos and we had to take some sisters somewhere and just little things like that. Mom, can't wait for errand parties with you! The best! And we were in a real car. AC and all. Too cool.

It's been a weird week. I'm glad everything seems to be figured out now and I can get back to the missionary life! I miss our investigators and teaching and ahhh, it's gonna be a good week.
Sorry this is like the longest email ever. Just figured you'd wanna know how your missionary ended up in a hospital in a 3rd world country mom! Just know I am on the road to good health, I am happy, and I am excited to get back to work. It made me realize how fun being a missionary really is. The energy that comes from sharing the simple truths of the gospel is the best. Trying to help in the happiness of others. I love you all soooo much and hopefully next week I can tell you about all the really great lessons we'll get to teach this week! Keep the Faith.

PS- Totally missed grandma's birthday yesterday!!!! And I think Clayton's is coming up this week! Happy birthday to you two!! Love you both sooo much. Hope you enjoy! :)


Love, Sister Richmond



Top 10
1. Quality time with Sister Reeder
2. Got a 4 hour Sunday nap
3. Had a dream me and mom were shopping at Nordstrom. That will be the day
4. Zone conference
5. All the nurses who were SO shocked I can speak Tagalog. They all laughed for like 5 minutes
6. Finished the Book of Mormon again! And started again. You can never get enough, always so much to learn. Read it... every day!
7. Jack Johnson was playing in the doctor's one day
8. I can breathe
9. My favorite sister is online right now
10. My comp is a nursing major and just took such good care of me all week!

Jessica's Forty Fifth Email! August 24th, 2014

HI! Okay, no time but I will try my best!

First off! Happy late birthday to the don and happy anniversary to my favorite couple, mom and dad!!!! Sorry, forgot to mention it last week but I thought of you all. We even made tacos to celebrate the don. Had to make homemade tortillas, but they turned out okay. Don! Can we hit up T bell when I'm home?!

Okay, Tuesday. THE BEST! We had exchanges so we came down to the STL's (Sister training leader's) and I worked with Sister Saifoloi who I love sooo much! She is from Hawaii and she's so fun! We worked hard and celebrated with a little dinner party at the WHITE BEAN, just my fave food place here. Then we slumbered downstairs with Sister Ngakuru, another one of my faves!!! It was so fun. Ate chocolate, listened to the best EFY has to offer, and just talked. Like the best night of the mish ever since me and Sister Taylor were split up! Even matched with some cray cray leggings!
The rest of the week was a little more mellow. I got sick but my comp took great care of me. Made me chicken ginger soup, got me meds, the whole shabang. Such a sweetie! Love her! I still woke up with a cough this morning but it's a lot better!!!!! Don't worry, we didn't miss any work though. In fact we made up almost all the lessons we didn't have time to teach because of exchanges! We worked hard, extended baptismal dates to EVERYONE. Got rejected a lot, but hey! We enjoyed ourselves so all is well!

Quick thing. We taught a lesson in this lady's Tindihan the other night. About 20 people came and bought from her while we were teaching. Every single one bought either coffee, cigarettes, or alcohol! SO SAD. And that place was pretty stocked with some prime snacks too. So sad to see. But hey, one day, they will all realize how dumb all of it is and listen to our message and there will be rainbows and butterflys and ahhh cant wait hahah. well, a girl can dream!

Yesterday we taught this Indian lady. SO cool, she grew up here but says she hates Tagalog so we taught in English. SO HARD. I am still so normal at speaking English with other missionaries but when it's someone I don't know and when it's gospel terms. OH! The hardest challenge! I literally forgot what panunumbalik was in English and had to ask my comp, a Filipina mind you!!!!! haha she was like uhhhh, restoration!!! Could not think of it! SO that was fun to forget just a lil bit of English.
OK, I am SOOO out of time. I love you all, have such a good week.
We will probs have a district activity next week so I will be late emailing! Praying for ya all!!!!

Love, Sister Richmond



Top 10
1. Exchanges
2. Picnic last p-day in the plaza with my comp! Both wanted different things so got take out and ate it on a bench. Priceless
3. Realized my alarm clock is still on it's first set of batteries! 10 months babyyy
4. Sis Deyro introduced me to a new exotic fruit... and it's CLEAR. so cool
5. Deep clean of the apartment
6. Got cold yesterday for a few minutes! Goosebumps and all
7. Brownies at the Lopez's last night!
8. Hit most of our key indicators this week!
9. Emails from a lot of my fave 7th ward moms today
10. Had 2 investigators come to church who we never would've guessed would show!

Jessica's Forty Fourth Email! August 17th, 2014

I think this is gonna be a short one, so you're welcome! haha um a week of ups and downs for sure.

Tuesday, on FIRE! We were blessed to teach 8 lessons which just never happens. Got referrals and ahhh, we were thinking we'd be around 30 lessons for the week. The next three days. Rough! 3 days of 3 lessons each. Punted all day. Talked to everyone. Tried to teach. They weren't havin it. SO hard. But we still tried to make the best of it. One way we lift our spirits is stopping by Lola Putong's every night on our way home for dinner and singing a hymn with her. Makes my day! And ahhh she starts singing along and just is so smiley and it's the most precious thing! Our way golden investigator was doing great Tuesday! We taught her and then stopped by at night with the elders so they could give her a blessing to help her stop smoking. Ahh the spirit was there and it was just lovely. Then Wednesday she left for her parent's house or something and we haven't seen her since! Devastating.
 But she should be back later today so we will stop by tonight and see what's up with her.

Side note! My flower pot is not progressing! haha, got a few weeds and that's where we're at! But I was watering it one day and a thought dawned on me! My plant on my dresser! Please tell me someone's been taking good care of it! We really bonded on the 12 hour drive home from Provo! When me and Megan stopped at In-n-out, we even brought it out a cup of water! Love that thing.
Okay. Can I tell you how great Sister Taylor is at sending me pics and keeping me in the loop! Even sent me pics of Daniel, Christie, and Brandon's graduations cause I said I hadn't seen any yet!

Well! We are still focusing on finding. We keep finding, then they keep hiding, and we're left with nobody to teach again. But hey, on the bright side, we're really mastering that lesson 1 stuff haha.
When we have more people progressing and a more eventful week I'll fill ya in a little better!

Love you all tons and hope your week is great.
xoxo, Sister Richmond



Top 10
1. 8 lessons in one day
2. Singing with Lola every night
3. 2 days this week we ate lunch in like 10 minutes so we got in a 30 minute nap! My body lets me fall asleep now!
4. Had 2 Relief Society members work with us the other day! Mom and Amy, still ward missionaries?? Gotta get out with the sisters. So fun!
5. A Less active in the elder's area came back to church! Hasn't been to church in 15 years but his fam is way active. He's totally changed in a matter of like 10 days. Even cut his shoulder length hair and got a polo! The gospel does great things.
6. Our recent convert Alice worked with us. I took her phone away and it made all the difference! She was a great help to the lesson!
7. During language study I wrote a bunch of letters in Tagalog. Way more fun than the usual
8. Got the wonderful privilege of giving a talk yesterday haha
9. Sister Deyro is so good in the scriptures! Like Lindsey Heap good!
10. DunkinDonuts4Lyfe

Jessica's Forty Third Email! August 10th, 2014

Hey everyone!!
Okay emailing time always goes soooo fast, but I’ll do my best to fill ya in on the week! First of all! The power!!! Ahhh so sad. So it came back on last Sunday night, right?! Well apparently a few minutes after we left on Monday morning it went off again for a few days! Ahhh such a tease! Now we have power with a daily brownout or 2. And also, we were the LAST missionaries in the whole mission to get power! Everyone else has had it for weeks. And the elders in our town, the ZL’s, they still don’t have it!!!! Haha It’s been a month! They are the very very last to get it. So sad. But we charge their phone and keep water bottles in the freezer for them and stuff. Kawawa sila!

Okay, side note. I'm leaving the teens in one month!!! Ahhh. Freaky. I glanced at the calendar and saw the 20 I wrote on my birthday and it just was the scariest sight.

Wow, already all over the place. The miracle I told you about! Her name is Vickie. The one who remembered Zoram! Okay. Well the mission is full of ups and downs. Went to teach her and she came out with her book of Mormon yelling yayayya I'm ready I'm ready I'm ready. So excited for us to teach her. Went back in the house to grab her baby and we didn’t see her again that night. Her husband wasn’t havin it. Heard some yelling and that was that. We were walking down the street the next day and there she was! Ahh the best sight. Ran up to us so excited. SO she is doing great, accepted a baptismal date and ahh she is so receptive to our lessons. She is going to be baptized! I know it! Has some setbacks but wants to change! Hopefully in September!

Also! The bible basher really shocked us by accepting a baptismal date! She is so different these days! Actually listens to us and asks real questions and lets us answer and ahhh. It’s incredible. We thought she must’ve misunderstood the invitation to be baptized so we were clarifying and she was like, I understood the question. Yes! I will prepare. So both of those lessons were last night and wow. Talk about walking on cloud 9 the whole way home. It was a wonderful week. The hard work really paid off!

Hmmm Oh! Branch activity! So fun. Haha. The whole day! Like 7am-6pm. Crazy! We just went for lunch and towards the end to help clean up and stuff but it was great! We had investigators show up! Great day. And they always end it with a water fight. I was trying to hang on the sides so I wouldn’t get involved, but it turns out little kids REALLY like to pour water on missionaries haha. And pay back was necessary ;) It was a great event though and cool to see the branch come together for it.

Sister Deyro was pretty sick this week. Super high fever and stuff, but she is a trooper, so we hardly missed any work because of it. I tried to have her rest, she wouldn’t! But I did take care of her like mom always does, cold wash cloths and such. I felt horrible for her, But I’ll be honest, I kinda like taking care of sick people haha. But she is all good now so back to full throttle ahead!

Quick thought on a scripture I read this week! In the Book of Mormon about the 3 Nephites who stayed on the earth until the second coming comes to help build the kingdom of God. 3Nephi 28:9 says, “neither sorrow save it be for the sins of the world.” I thought of how disgusted they must be with our days. All lust and fame and greed and ahh. Must break their hearts. Let’s do our part to make them proud! To take away just a speck of sorrow for them! What do you say team?!?!

Keep living how you should and know that I love you all very much! Have a wonderful week and read your scriptures!!!!

 Love youuuuu,
Sister Richmond



Top 10:
1. Two new Baptismal Dates!
2. Power (for real this time I think!)
3. Branch anniversary activity
4. A whole less-active family who we teach came to church! First time since I got here!
5. Zone training
6. Back to teaching 20 plus lessons a week. It’s been slow since the typhoon!
7. Finally learned how to cook chop sui!
8. Bought a flower pot and planted the seeds from mom! No progress yet! No patience!
9. Taught a lesson to a lady whose son is named Joseph Smith
10. Saw a dead cat smashed in the road (actually kinda sad… but ever since my 4th grade anti-cat poem book, I’ve wanted to see that)

Jessica's Forty Second Email! August 3rd, 2014

WOOTWOOT. New transfer! New companion! So fun! Ok. Transfers! My new companion is Sister DEYRO! She is great. So hardworking and ahhh I just love it. We talk to EVERYONE. We have found so many new potentials and ahh making such progress in the area in just one week. Now that I've got a say, finally working this area like I've been dreaming of my 3 months here. SO Sister Deyro! So sweet. Filipina. Has like 7 months in the mission. Likes nighttime hugs (working on not cringing, but she's so sweet, I can't tell her how I dislike companion hugs haha). She is 19, I think the only sister missionary I've ever met who's younger than me (Sister Green maybe? Can't remember. OH, which reminds me. She had to go home for health problems. MTC comp, remember her? Anyway. So sad pray for her!) So yes, sister Deyro calls me ate (older sister) and we are enjoying our time together so far! We're gonna turn this area around.

Last Monday, not sure what the deal was, but I fell... okay, I fell twice! I'm usually pretty talented in walking, but idk what was going on. Both times I was down, DOWN. The first was in Centro of Naga, way crowded. The sidewalk had a hole in it. A HOLE. Why?!?!? I'm not sure, but it was just the prefect size of my shoe and I fell in up to my knee. It's ok though, only like 200 people saw. The second one was on the steps outside of our house. So ya, the legs are pretty cut up, maybe I'll get some cool battle scars and can make up a cool story about living in the jungle in the Philippines... shhhhh. 

Other than the pain, oh wait! More pain…Super glue. To this day I have still never used that stuff successfully without gluing my hands together. But this time was pretty bad! K! I think that's all for this weeks injuries.

OH MY! SISTER TAYLOR IS HOME!!!! I mean Jaycee, I mean ahhhh. I don't even know. So crazy/exciting/fun/insane. When you bump into her at BYU everyone in the fall, say hi!!!! She's the best, you'll love her. She is so great and sent me such a great email and ahhh it goes so fast! 

This week along with all our finding we did a few more service projects. One was to help a less active member harvest her gulay. So we go there at the time and place she said. Well, Miss Sally was nowhere to be found. Luckily I've picked up some skills of navigating through rice fields over the months so we found our way out. Too bad we couldn't help, but hey! It's always an adventure in the Philippines. Oh ya, and there was that time sister Deyro fell off the path into the muddy rice plants hahaha. 

MIRACLE!!!! How did I almost forget this! K sister Deyro's first evening here I took her to a less actives house. We were just starting to share a little message from the Book of Mormon when her aunt came in so I invited her to join. She sat right down so we kinda gave an overview of the Book of Mormon and read a chapter. Left a copy with her and scheduled a return appt. We came back Friday. SHE WAS IN 2nd NEPHI!!!! Whatttt?!?!? Who does that?? Ahhh I was so happy I couldn't even think for like 3 minutes. And the best part is she actually read! People always lie to us about reading, but nope, not her! She recounted the whole 1st Nephi! She even remembered about Zoram! Nobody remembers Zoram! And! We taught her husband! A family! They were all supposed to come to church, but didn't show. We went over last night to follow up and they told us they didn't have fare to go to church. But we're gonna go get them and walk with them next week and ahhhh. SOOOO golden. We really see miracles in the work.... when we actually get out to work. Grateful for a change :) 

We have probably found more people this week than my last 2 transfers here combined. There are some missionaries who like to keep teaching the same people no matter how much they don't progress. That's just not the way I like to do things. It's like a glorious spring cleaning!!! Ahh…out with the old and in with the new. Love it!! 

Ok! SO a horrible thing happened. Won't go into detail, but a Baptist preacher lady got hold of one of our investigators and has been brainwashing her. We were there teaching her and this lady shows up and just ripped us apart. I thought I had seen bible bashers out here, but I was wrong. She said horrible things about the Book of Mormon, Prophets, Joseph Smith and just all of our beliefs. Just hearing someone say that about the things so dear to me really hit me. After about 20 minutes I was not down to just politely keep telling her we didn't want to argue. I bore testimony of the simple truths that I KNOW to be true. As horrible as it was to hear those things said about the men who have done so much for our salvation, it was a huge testimony builder to me. I was so grateful for the opportunity to defend the things I love in this life. I KNOW that this church is true. I KNOW that Joseph Smith was called of God. I KNOW that Thomas S. Monson is our prophet in this day. I KNOW that God has a plan for all of us, no matter how hard the path seems, he is there to guide us back to him. I love this gospel and I am so grateful for my membership in Christ's church. And I can't tell you how grateful I am for this chance I have to serve a mission. I will keep doing what I can to help people find the joy that the gospel gives to our lives!!! Thank you all for your love and support!!!! Daniel and Christie, travel safe! And Dad and the Don, enjoy El Salvador!

Much love,

Sister Richmond

Top 10

1. WE HAVE KURYENTE!!!! After 3 weeks, I've never been so happy to turn on the light. Cold water and fans at night/ Life doesn't get much better than this!!! 

2. Sister Deyro

3. My whole batch was at transfers again

4. White Bean last P-day! The cutest most delicious little American cafe

5. New Investigators. FINDING

6. So effective with time again. really satisfying for my OCD

7. District lunch- pizza!!!!

8. Taught a lady with 16 kids... what the

9. Stake lied to all the aux leaders yesterday about a stake council meeting to get them all there but it was really a family history workshop. idk why that makes me laugh so much.

10. Just a wonderful week full of MIRACLES 

Jessica's Forty First Email! July 27th, 2014

 YouuuuuuuuWhooooooo. Did ya miss me last week?! Sorry I couldn’t send a long email home. I was actually almost done writing SUCH a detailed email about the storm and everything. Then…. Brownout. I guess the generator stopped working. Dang, but the good news is, Cento has power now! So that shouldn’t happen again. In Camaligan, my town, they say we won’t have power for probably another 2 weeks to one month. All the electric poles are still knocked down and have halves of trees dangling from them, so I think even within the month would be ambitious! But we can hope! On the bright side, dinner by candlelight isn’t the worst thing. You wanna know the worst thing? Sleeping in the Philippines without an electric fan! The no fridge thing isn’t so convenient either, but hey! Like they told me when I got here, it all makes for a good journal entry, right?!

Ok, so I’m guessing you want to hear about the typhoon mother?? I heard it didn’t really hit the news, so that’s good hopefully you weren’t too worried. You had reason to be though, let me tell you! Shoot! I literally thought I was going to die that night. But lots of prayers and living with a tough Tongan, and here I am! Ok so let’s see. Monday night (as in like 2 weeks ago Monday) we went to Centro to get the rest of our food for the storm. It was insane. People everywhere!!! The ATM lines literally were like 200 people long. The shelves in the grocery store were just empty. People were literally preparing for the end of the world! So we got our stuff and got back home. Got a text from the Zone leaders that the storm was worse than they thought and we would be on ‘lockdown’ until at least Wednesday morning. That’s when I started getting kinda freaked out! So Tuesday just started pretty normal. Started with a bowl of oatmeal (of course) and then studies. We started watching some Mormon movies but around noon on Tuesday the power went out. SO I’ll be honest, the rest of the afternoon was pretty uneventful. We just sat on the balcony. The winds were picking up fast so we were just “storm watching” in the afternoon. I did some cleaning and extra reading. The storm was at first scheduled to hit around 3, but the Zone Leaders kept texting updates that it had been delayed. The trees were already looking like they were going to snap and the storm was still hours off. SO then around 8ish is when it got real bad. I was like shaking, haha, my journal entry is hardly legible. Around 9 is when I really thought it was the end. You know in The Wizard of Oz when the roof just flies off, ya. That’s what I kept imagining. So I laid there (on sister Sekona’s bed cause she let me so I wasn’t on the top bunk by the window.) The wind was SO LOUD and SO STRONG on our window. Water started coming in some cracks in the window so sister Sekona went out, in the HEART of the storm, and covered the windows with plastic haha. So brave!! So yes, Naga was in the middle of the signal 4 typhoon for about 4 hours. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep a wink that night! Even with the ear plugs. I hope you all know how much I love you. When I really thought I might die, I just thought of how blessed I am with the best family and friends in the world!

Ok. Onto Wednesday. Got the text first thing from the ZL’s that we could go out and do service. So we got dressed real quick and were gone the whole day. We have 5:30 curfew (even still) since there are no lights in the town. So in the morning we went out, the 4 of us sisters, and we went around to our investigators houses. Helped them clean and there was one family! Ahhh so sad. We got there and just the husband was there. The house is totally and completely gone. It was just a pile of wood and sheet metal. So for a few hours we helped him dig through the remnants of his home and find anything they could save like clothes and dishes and stuff. Then I went down to the river and washed and ahh. Heartbreaking. But these people are so strong! The next day we went back and he had rebuilt most of it. They lost everything and then they’re just back up and at it again. They don’t let the material things get them down. I have learned so much about this experience. SIMPLIFY!! When it comes down to it, most of what we have doesn’t even matter. His family was safe and that’s all he cared about. It was truly Amazing. SO then that afternoon we met up with the zone leaders. Went to some members houses and helped them cut apart trees that had fallen on their house and stuff like that. It was a good day. The next day was pretty much the same stuff too. Served and what not. We were told not to teach until we got the OK cause people needed help first. Thursday we went around with the Branch president and a few branch members. We put together bags with rice, canned foods, and noodles. Took them around to some members and it was great to see the Branch President really reach out and show the members that he cares. Friday was great. A much needed interview with President Reeder! We had the zone interviews and ahh. Was just so honest and open and the greatest. He gave such great advice as always. Even though pops isn’t here to talk to me and give me good fatherly counsel, I’m grateful for President and that fatherly figure in the mission.

So Camaligan, ever since the typhoon has looked like a war zone. Everyone is burning all the trees and such so the whole town is just smoke. Poles and houses knocked down everywhere and just crazyyyy!!!!! There have been some little storms since, but no typhoons! There was a lightning storm the other day. Came right as we were walking through the middle of an open field and ahhh so close! So scary. I think my phobia is getting a little bit better though!

Ummmmm ok as I said, I have the best family and friends!!! MOM AND JENNY!!! Got your packages last Monday! You are the BEST!!!!! Mom’s packages are always so good, but then get two ladies in Target together and shoot. You two know how to do it! Glad you figured out the LBC thing mom! So much good stuff! Love all the clothes and candy! Laughed so hard when I read in Jenny’s card that she has made adobo plenty of times while I was at her house! Dang! Didn’t know what I was missing! I’m looking forward to that one day. Anyway. Love you both. Too much good stuff. THANK YOU!

 TOMORROW IS TRANSFERS!!!! Sister Ril is getting transferred, so tomorrow I will know who the new companion is. I will still be here in Camaligan so I’m excited about that. And I am pumped for a new comp!!! ;) Please pray for a runner so we can put an end to the weight gain! Love you all!

This week was pretty uneventful. We got to go back to teaching with the occasional service project! Had a great exchange with the STL’s. I was in Canaman with Sister Barlow. A needed day. Love her! I’m still learning lots and enjoying this time I have been blessed with! Thanks for the love and support and concerned emails! All is well here! Getting used to living like an Amish person!

Love, Sister Richmond

Ps- Megan Bertha asked if loom bands were a big deal in America too cause they are in England! Crazy how a little bracelet can just sweep the whole world in a few weeks haha. Everyone here makes them and they are everywhere!!! I’ve had like 3 people make me one now!

Top 10

1. Service!

2. Interview with President Reeder

3. Helaman 5:12, really came in handy the last few weeks

4. Packages from Mom and Jenny

5. Survived the wrath of Glenda

6. McDonalds by candlelight

7. Last day of the transfer!!!!! NEW COMP

8. Exchanges

9. Dunkin donuts this morning!

10. Did I tell you it’s the last day of the transfer?!?! J J J J

Jessica's Fortieth Email! July 13th, 2014

HELLO!!!! Great news!!!! I am TB free! We went and got x-rays this morning.

BUT...

Horrible news!!!! A TYPHOON is going to hit Naga tomorrow around 3pm!!! AHHHHHHH. We have been getting texts all morning from the Zone Leaders about evacuation plans and stuff like that. Pretty much, I’m scared to death. I am really trying to work on that whole faith thing. So yes! Way short on time cause we gotta stock up the 72 hour kit and charge the flashlights and ahhhh I’m stressing thinking about it. 

But we just stopped by the mission office to drop off the x-rays and stuff and I got the package from mom!!!!! Thank you so much!!!!! Didn't open it yet because we just went to email and I am going back to pick it up after. But thank you! The Assistant who was my Zone Leader in Tigaon knows how blessed I am with the mail! He said, Sister Richmond! I’m not even surprised anymore, and no need to tell you cause it's just expected, but you got another package haha. What can I say?!! I have the BEST family and friends!!! Also, earlier in the week I got letters which were so great. One from EMIII!!!!!! AND!!! A package from Kari Rich!!!! Thank you soooo much. Trader Joes snacks <3. I really appreciate it! 

Ok! So this week started off SLOW. Haha Sister Ril had some sort of fever/flu deal all of Tuesday and Wednesday. I didn't leave the apartment from Monday night to Thursday morning. 60 HOURS in the place!!! Haha just had to go out on the balcony a few times for a breath of air! But wow! I sure was productive, let me tell ya! Haha I was just go go go the whole time. I read like all the conference talks from the October 2012 conference. Read the whole book of Helaman, finished 1 Cor in the bible. I watched the Joseph Smith movie and 17 miracles. Tons of Mormon messages. Wrote all the Sisters in my batch in the Naga mission. And wrote Mary, Mckayla and Mel. Did my eyebrows. made BR pages. Did all my laundry including my big blanket (which I think was a good thing. Pretty sure bed bugs are for SURE in my mattress). Ahhh so yes. That’s everything I did for 60 hours in case anyone was wondering Haha. Didn’t mean to go into so much detail.

Ok so then Thursday finally back out in the game. After District Meeting we went out teaching! First lesson hahaha. We taught the word of wisdom to this lady we've been teaching for a while and 10 of her nephews/sons/and their friends. So like 10 guys in their 20's and this 60 year old lady. At least 4 of the guys were smoking during the word of wisdom lesson! And then there was this one super drunk guy who kept coming in and out. It was a crazy experience hahaha. But they committed to try and stop! :) 

Then we headed over to our born again investigator. I’m sorry, but I'll be honest. I DO NOT LIKE TEACHING BORN AGAINS> Everyone I have ever taught is such a bible basher. It's so frustrating. Asks a question, then before we can answer tries to prove wrong the answer she thinks I would have answered. CRAZY! 

OH MY GOSH. The APs told us we could email at SM while we wait for the x ray stuff so we are in this place and the whole wall is just glass. These 10 high school girls just saw me and ran in the shop and all took a selfie with me hahaha. AWKWARD!! I will never understand. 

Ok back to the born again. We taught about prophets and authority and she was like uhh so my church doesn't have authority?. AWKWARD!! That’s like the thing we always jokingly say during practice teaching because it would never actually happen. Well, it happened!!!! 

Ok really gotta go! But I will just forward here what I wrote to president this morning. The girls are back for more pics. one sec!

Ok, they are gone. Here is an experience I told him about:

There was one day this week when we were out to work that was interesting. We were walking down the street and we passed about 10 people. We had at some point taught every single one of them, but they never progressed. At first it was almost discouraging and I felt like we had nobody left to try. But then I thought about it and I felt good. This may not be their time to accept the gospel! But at least I know that I am doing all I can. We have talked to and taught so many people in Camaligan. We have tried to fulfill our purpose, but in the end they have agency. It was just a neat thing to realize all the people we have reached out to. So we will just continue to put in the effort and pray for those who are prepared!

So yes, we are doing what we can!!! Even though our investigators are lackin and slackin!!!!! All those great moms I told you about like 2 weeks ago, ya they are hiders now. Too bad! We will keep finding!!!! 

Ok!!! The girls are taking pics through the glass now. This is getting outta control! I’m gonna leave now!!!! I LOVE YOU!!! PRAY I SURVIVE THE STORM! Have a great week.

Love, Sister Richmond

Top 10

1. Broke out the new garments on the 1/2 way day

2. Had 2 very productive house bound days

3. Mak is a missionary!!!! In the Mexico MTC, then up to CA!!!

4. I can speak Tagalog! Sometimes it’s still crazy to me

5. TB free!

6. Sister Ril gave me her bowl that is my FAVORITE for my oatmeal! 

7. Lunch swap with Sister Ril. I cooked terriaki and the next day she did Adobo.

8. Letters and packages

9. First time emailing in SM

10. I don’t have time to ponder a 10th! But it was a good week!

Jessica's Thirty Ninth Email! July 7th, 2014

Well hello everybody!!!! It is July! This Wednesday is July 9th... I am half way! Can you even believe it?!?! I cannot!!! Ahhh so scary how fast it goes. Last week Dad sent me an awesome email about how the mission is like a run and I'm on the downward slope and how great that feels to know you're over the bump... well I thought about running up to the cross. Maybe Dad has forgotten #strugglecentral but I'm sure Christie remembers. Usually never run the whole way home. That is where the mission will not be like a run! I am so ready to run these 9 months like never before haha. Before I left on my mission Sister Strasser and Clement (the sisters serving in our ward) gave me tons of awesome articles about missionary work. This week I read a ton of them. Nothing like a good chastisement to realize that, I'm doing a lot, but I can do more! I really liked this one, "The 4th missionary" by Lawrence E. Corbridge. It was way legit. Read it, did a self evaluation, and thought about where my intentions really are. It is time to buckle down. I don’t want to look back on my mission and have any regrets. I am so grateful for all the support I have and just know I won't let you down! The area may be hard, but that's no excuse to not give it my all! Just because I get down on not having baptisms, that's not what will measure my success! It's the effort! Gotta give it my all for the next 9 months. Man it was a good pump up and I am stoked to be a missionary. But I don't want to just be a missionary, I want to become one.  I want to be changed and always do the things I've learned here as a missionary! 

So I guess the pump up just pushed me a little harder than usual because this week I was so exhausted. I mean, I'm a missionary, so of course I'm always tired. But I mean like, one night we were walking home and I told sister Ril I could easily fall asleep in 30 seconds if I lay down on the street. It was tempting. But we made it home. I was so dead tired every night, just the way I like it! A good measure of how much effort you put in for the day! 

Ok! So much fun news in the family! I have been way out of the loop. But welcome home Jesse!!!!! Congrats on a mission well served. And congrats Tyler on the marriage!!!! (Tyler Heap and Tyler my cousin both just got married. so congrats to both Tylers’ and their beautiful wives!) 

Mom! Read the articles on TB! Thanks for the info and we will be careful. Gonna try and focus our teaching pool on some more overweight investigators for now to play it safe. That's some scary stuff. We'll also probably go get x-rays in the next few weeks to be sure. Sister Ril is way paranoid about it now hahaha. 

Well speaking of our teaching pool! There is this lady we've taught a few times now. Francha. She is great. Really seems interested and actually talks in our lessons unlike most! I think she really has a desire to know if our message is true! Hoping she can recognize the confirmation from the spirit. She is wonderful. 

Then there is this girl we just started teaching! She was actually a referral. 20 and has a 2 year old kid. Really nice! And get this! Her name is sister Ril's first name, and her baby's name is Jessica! What are the odds! When she was introducing them we both were just trying not to laugh. It's weird nobody knows our names here haha. 

Who enjoyed fast Sunday yesterday?! Hollaaaa. We are so lucky we get to fast every month. How generous is God that he straight up just gives us this opportunity to give so little and receive so much. Not gonna lie, I got way hungry during that final stretch. We usually start Saturday after lunch so then we end Sunday after church. Wow. Relief society was long haha. I started craving so many random foods. Hollah bread from Charlie’s! And even dippin dots. Random. Are those still around? Love that. Anywayyy. It was awesome. The testimony meeting was... well you know how it usually goes. Some are just bizarre, but for the most part the spirit is strong and it's just lovely! I am so grateful for the restored gospel and our knowledge of ALL the essential things we need to do. 

Also yesterday was way fun because we went on splits! I got to work with Tweety and Angelo! Two single adult members in the ward. It was a good few hours and really helped us get all our lessons in! Hmmm, not sure what else happened this week. Not much. It was just a good week to be a missionary. I'm not trunky, I mean I could go for a pedicure, but I can wait! :) This is the life. Also! This 9 months away thing is really starting to affect my memory! Missionary veil is real! Someone asked me my favorite show and I can't remember the name! Don! Help me out! The crime show we used to always watch. I think the boss's name is Gibbs?! Driving me crazy! Also! How are all the 7th ward pregnancies going?! Any additionals?? Can't wait for that new batch of babies to be waiting when I get home. 

I Love you ALL!!! The church is true! Read the book of Mormon. It WILL help you. The change I see in people is epic. These people may be stubborn as heck... but when it clicks, it just clicks!!! Please pray for more clicks out here in Camaligan, these people need the gospel! Have a beautiful week and enjoy the life we have been blessed with! 

See ya in 9 months :D

Love, Sister Richmond

Top 10

1. Sister Simpson wrote me and told me that her mom got baptized! That completes her family! Next step…temple sealing :)

2. Homeless man this morning threw up the shaka to me

3. Zone training

4. 4th of July! Don’t worry, rocked the red white and blue complete with American flag hair tie from Christie! The sister from Tonga kept calling me Miss America and singing the national anthem haha. 

5. Sitting up with one of my jeepnie drivers fanning him on the drive so he gave me a peso off my fare. Score!

6. Egg and cheese sandwich on wheat with avocado! Life is good when you get your hands on some real cheddar!!!! 

7. Contacting a lady lamed Enci. Thought of Daniel and his enci boy act! 

8. Mel had a safe delivery and she and her baby are doing well!

9. Jojo and Tupe still scoot scoot the washing machine over once a week

10. Sister Ril wore a turtle neck one day even though it was probably still 90 degrees. The laughter never ended that day.