Baš brzo

Sorry this will be fast- I am not replying to any emails so I sent this to everryyonnneee knowing that I still love you and will reply next week!

Sister Kawai and I drove through the night last night and got into the mission home at midnight! We sang primary songs the whole drive and ate lots of candy to stay awake. Got up this morning, played some tennis on the court.  I have a PR presentation today about....lots and lots of things, but it is exciting! Missionary work. 

Quickly:

We played soccer on pday, I was sore all week contacting!

A girl passed out in a store, the owner pulled us inside and was like help help! Awkwardly splashing water on her face, calling the ambulance. I didn't know how to say "pass out"

Contacting SO MANY families. It has been a focus of the mission lately. I do this thing where I contact a mom with her stroller and three kids (and the like) and they're like we don't have time! So I say, we'll walk with you! And we walk with them and teach them the plan of salvation or ask about what their concerns are for their kids-- it has been great! We'll see where the contacts from that go. It is awkward, but, I feel really good when I can share the gospel.

Znas?

We are teaching two AWESOME girls from our English class.

We went and found this guy from our area book who said he wouldn't read the BoM because it was a Croatian translation..tried to bring him the Serbian translation (translated in 2012)

WE ARE GETTING TWO MORE SISTERS IN BEOGRAD THIS WEEK. What. Surprise.

Saw a lot of stray cats.

SO MUCH CONTACTING. Nothing new there. 

Studies this week: thinking about God's role, and what He expects of us. What are your thoughts? When is a a time you knew God was there for you?  I know that God is our Father. He loves us. Bozji sam dete ja, i on me posla tu!

I LOVE YOU ALL. 

Sestra Richardson

Da podelim nesto malo

Cao, 

IMPORTANT we have a meeting next Monday and might not get to email until Tuesday- so if you don't hear from me, I am alive. 

We took the Z family to the airport- unfortunately there were some passport problems so the whole family couldn't go and be sealed! There were a lot, lot, lot, of tears shed. But- the parents still went to Frankfurt and received their own endowments. They will go in August to be sealed all as a family. When we picked them up Friday they were BEAMING. I just really love them. The gospel changes lives.

This week on Sister Kawai like leaped to get on a bus and the doors shut on me.. I awkwardly laughed/ stressed as the bus drove away with her in it and me not! The number of times that has happened to me on my mission is way too many.. 

We had zone conference here and were in charge of food. We spent over 100 dollars on pizza! 

Lots of contacting this week.

Sorry this is a boring email. Talking to so many people, lots of tourists here see us and recognize us more than the people who actually live here do. We talked to a really drunk Italian yesterday and he was like I see your nice dressed boys back home allll the time. We taught another lesson in a bar/cafe- I talked extra loud because everyone around me was staring. Gave out Books of Mormon (Book of Mormons?) and talked to a LOT of families. That is our goal this week- to not let a family pass without stopping them. We have had a lot of people listen to us teach the plan on salvation on the street. I know God is preparing more people for us to teach. I know God loves us! 

Thought I'd share some videos: 

kucanje jaje..  https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6e4WzDHC-U7SXQ2ZG1YenRRenM/view?usp=sharing

singing count your blessings during companion study https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6e4WzDHC-U7dFBmY1RIVVRUR0E/view?usp=sharing Sister Kawai is a great singer!!

I cut Sister Kawai's hair last night.. it was TERRIBLE I don't even know why she let me do that. But we had someone fix it this morning. It's all about the adventure.

I love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good luck with finals.

Sestra Richardson

pictures: the beginning of the haircut, last p day..., beautiful parks in Beograd. where we contact alll day.

Srecan vaskrs!

Lots of travel this week! I think I have spent 20+ hours in a car this week alone. Tuesday I went to Osijek, got Sister Kawai and Sister Durfee was off to Zagreb, and then drove back home. I have memorized every Mormon Tabernacle choir CD in that car. Sister Kawai and I are back together! We were MTC companions. She taught me how to "make rice correctly" yesterday. She is the best. 

Weds we had a leadership accountability skype meeting. Then we went to Cacak- the family there are going to be sealed in the Frankfurt temple this week! I AM SO EXCITED. I made lemon bars (surprise, bas sam domacica sada) and brought them, they were so surprised I could cook. So was I. We talked about the temple and that we go to the temple as another step we take with God, promises that we will live how He has asked us to, and the way that will make us the most happy. Someone is watching all their goats, chickens, bees, and other animals while they are there. They are really excited to go. They never let us teach them a lesson or sit down until they have given Elder M their tithing money. They are strong examples of faith. We went through some family history. There were tears in the mother's eyes as she explained how she felt that they were going to have the opportunity to be sealed together. That night when we got home we AGAIN found ourselves teaching a lesson in a bar, I do not know how we get in these situations. 

Thurs we went to mission leadership council in Zagreb, then we had that and came back Friday. It was a good council, we talked about being "born again" and how only Christ can change our desires. Our mission is not getting iPads :( but 15 missions are. I really want to use this powerful missionary tool. 

Usually when I am eating breakfast I or when we get home for the night and have planned and I've written in my journal, or any other 'free time' moments we have at our apartment, I loved to just listen to music, cook, write, whatever. Lately I have found myself LOVING just sitting down with the book of Mormon! I think it's the third time I have read it on my mission, and I feel like everything is just coming together. I finished the section "Mormon" in the book of Mormon, where Moroni is finishing it off because Mormon, his father, died. He just tells us to b e l i e v e. And to not be greedy, to not lose sight of what is important! Mormon 9:14 says "And then cometh the judgment of the Holy One upon them; and then cometh the time that he that is filthy shall be filthy still; and he that is righteous shall be righteous still; he that is happy shall be happy still; and he that is unhappy shall be unhappy still."

If we are righteous now, we will be happy. This won't change. Our desires and being won't magically change when Christ comes. We need to change and be who He wants us to be and who we want to be now. And we can only become that THROUGH Him. 2 Nefi 33:6 "I glory in plainness; I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell!"  He is Risen, and he will save us, but we must do our part! 

I hope that made sense. I just really appreciate the scriptures more than I ever have before in my life. I really feel Mormon! I get him! Just calling everyone to repentance and then Moroni just protecting the records so we can benefit from them!  There is this quote I read where one of the prophets was at a meeting and asked the congregation who wanted to read the sealed portion of the plates?! and of course they all raised their hands and said they wanted to. Then he asked, how many of you have read the book of Mormon, sincerely? And about 30% of them raised their hands. We have to live the lower law before God will give us the higher laws. 

It was Easter here yesterday-- but celebrated this whole weekend. They have this thing where they dye the first boiled egg red and keep it all year! It protects the house. And you splash the water you cooked the eggs in on the face of everyone in the house for health for the coming year. And you carry boiled eggs around easter day and you hit yours against someone else's and if you crack theirs you get to keep it! If that makes sense. There were cracked egg shells all over the city. We handed out 15 copies of the living Christ and talked to people of course, out contacting. Lots of contacting, uvek i zauvek!  We wished a lot of people happy Easter. They have this thing they say here "Hristos voskresen!" and then you reply "Vaistinu voskresen!" when you see people. It is old Slovene so it was really hard to remember but it means "Christ was resurrected/risen!" And then "It is true that he was resurrected!" So I said that. Everyone says it, religious or not. We stopped a lady who turns out was from California, she was so so so surprised they have Mormon missionaries here! Hello here we are world- unto every nation!!

I know that Jesus Christ lives. I know that He will come to this earth again. I know that we need to be prepared for that! d&C 51:20 "Verily, I say unto you, I am Jesus Christ, who cometh quickly, in an hour you think not. Even so. Amen."

He lives! He died for us, he lives for us. He is our brother. He understands what we are going through. Even if people just yell at you all day on the streets of a foreign country, even when school is rough or things don't go as planned in life, He knows. 

Volim te moju dragu porodicu i frieennnds.

Sister Richardson

ja volim generalnu conferenciju

Cao cao,

WASN'T CONFERENCE GOOD?! I watched it in Croatian (it's not live translated into Serbian) and it was so good. We watched it at 6pm Sat. night (the Sat. morning session) and then on Sunday watched at 10 and 6. (sat. afternoon and sun. morning sessions) 

I just want to say, how much God knows us and how he will always always answer our prayers, on His time. He knows what is best for us. I prayed one morning as we left the house to find two new investigators that day. We came back that night and only had found one.  I called my landlord so we could schedule when to pay rent the next day-- he said to come pay it right then at the bar he owns across the corner from us! So we walked over and he was like sit down, I'll buy you sok (juice)! So we were like alright alright, if you make it fast. The man sitting there with our landlord was like MORMONS! and he talked about how he knew Kresimir Cosage and that his aunt used to be a member of our church but has since died, and said actually lives in our building and will come to church Sunday. Here we are, two girls in long skirts in a bar with 30 men, the men we are sitting with drinking rakija (I think this translates as brandy?) and going through cigarettes alllll day. But we ended up teaching him about the church and he was pumped to talk again. So, we got two investigators that day. I laughed as we left. God just knows us. I'm not saying that prayer should be a magic "here Heavenly Father, give me this now," but I do know, that he hears us. He will give us what we need, not what we want, but it is always perfect for us. 

We had a lesson with a man this week and a member was in on it, all we talked about the whole time was the Holy Ghost. The whole lesson. It wasn't planned that way but that's how it happened. But really, think about it. If we do not feel the Holy Ghost, if we do not receive an answer that this is the true church and that we are on the right path and we just fake it then who cares! Then it doesn't matter if the word of wisdom, book of Mormon, latter-day revelation, all that is true if we do not have the testimony inside our hearts, given by whisperings of the Spirit. The Holy Ghost is ESSENTIAL to our conversion, to our faith. I LOVED the talk by the Elder in the 70 who spoke on dancing and hearing the music. LOVED that talk. We can show our investigators, kids, friends, etc, the dance steps, the way it should go, we can ask them to dance themselves, BUT, if they do not feel the music themselves and soak it up-- they will not want to keep dancing til the end! I loved that talk. How important is the spirit, so important. I challenge anyone reading this email to pray- out loud, on your knees, and ask Heavenly Father if He is there! Ask him to bless you that day with the spirit and then live worthy all day of it! If you slip up and the spirit leaves, fix your mistake and pray for the spirit to come back. It is something the world just cannot replicate.

God really watched over Sister Durfee and I this week. Transfers are Tuesday- I will be back with Sister Kawaii, who I served with in the MTC. It will be great, but I will be sad to leave serving with Sister Durfee. We have served together over 4 months together now. This week she said "I am waiting for the resurrection" instead of "I'm waiting for revelation" (in serbian) and I laughed really, really hard. She is awesome, so kind to me. 

We are really really really blessed to have living, guiding, prophet and apostles. Let us remember and cherish their words.  Elder Dyches gave the prayer in one of the sessions- I remember by interview with him! That was cool to see him on the big screen.

I love you all!  I pray for you. Bog s tobom do novog susreta.

Sestra Jilllllllllll