Take me out to the ball game! Aug 10, 2015

This week was a busy, fun, meeting filled week.  Here is what Riah had to say about it..

Hey all!!

Ok, so really not much time today, but this past week was SUPER nuts!! We had so many meetings, but also SO much good stuff happen!! So we had transfers but my WHOLE district is all staying together for one more transfer so that will be a lot of fun :) There is obviously a reason we are all still supposed to stay in this area!!

On Saturday we were able to go to the Washington Nationals baseball game. I don't have much to talk about it but lets just say that we were pooped afterwards!! It was our whole mission and we took the metro there and had some interesting things happen (you know how the metro is) haha and the game was super fun!! We took lots of pictures.. but here's just a few :) ha. One of them is of all the Spanish missionaries in our mission.

Well, I just want to let you know that I love you all, and sorry this is a short one, and for those of you I didn't quite get to respond to just know I love you and I love getting updates from each of you, even if I can't respond!! 

Before I go I just want to leave a quick thought with you all.. Go read 2 Nephi 32:3-5. If you have a question that NEEDS to be answered, do what it counsels in this scripture!! We must feast upon the words of Christ! (read the scriptures) They will tell us ALL the things we need to do!! And if we will pray sincerely we will be able to find solutions to all of our questions and concerns. 

I have really gained a stronger testimony of the three main things that keep us on the straight and narrow path that leads us to eternal life. Prayer, Scriptures, and going to Church. I know that as we do these things with full purpose of heart that we will be better able to face adversity with hope for the future as well as with a calm assurance that everything will work out in its own due time. God's plan is perfect!! We need to work hard to just let our pride go and trust it!! We cannot do ANYTHING of an eternal significance without God's help.. it is just not possible, because the human mind cannot comprehend eternity. Therefore we must trust God to help us understand what we need to do in this life order to make it a good one in the life after!! :) I love this gospel and am thankful for the glimpse of an eternal perspective that I have been able to gain through it as I do these three simple things.. CPR--Church, Pray, Read. That's it!!

It is my hope and prayer that you will all come to find out, if you haven't already, the true significance and importance of these things in life. I know that as you do, the blessings of the Lord will begin to pour out upon you and CPR will truly save your life!! ;) Haha

Until next time!!

Hermana Riddle :)

  

About the baseball game. Riah said that the Washington Nationals won..so that's good!  I guess they had a bunch of trouble with the metro on the way there and on the way home so they got home super late!  The whole entire DC South and DC North missions were there.  And..a friend told me that the Baltimore Maryland missionaries were there too!  How awesome is that to see all of those missionaries there?  

As Mariah mentioned her whole district stayed together for this transfer.  Here is what she told us about it..."They messed around with the WHOLE spanish program for transfers but they did not even TOUCH the Sudley district!! We for sure thought that Hna Mug was SO out and maybe me and Elder R.. But NOPE!! WE ALL STAYED. We were all freaking out that is UNHEARD OF. No missionary here has seen that their ENTIRE mission where a whole district stays!! We all obviously have a purpose here in Sudley as a district and it's time to figure it out!! We have some awesome plans and goals as a district this transfer so it will be cool to see what all pans out and what we all learn from it. We are all pretty close already as a district.

Mariah also mentioned that they won't be getting any new hermanas in her mission until January.  She said that by then 5 more hermanas will have gone home and 2 more will be going home in January!  She said that because the peak of missionaries has died down they won't be having as many missionaries in her mission as they have in the past.

If you know Riah well you know that she loves Miranda sings.  (If you don't know who that is go look her up on youtube). Well, when Mariah and Hermana Mensinger were together they would dress up like Miranda on P-day and do some funny Miranda videos. (They are both sooo good at talking like Miranda). She has sent some of them home but told us that she has a bunch that we will just have to wait and see when she gets home. 

Well, Riah told Kayla in her last email to her that one of the videos leaked out through airdrop and a bunch of the people in her mission have seen it now...including her MISSION PRESIDENT!!! She said it was a little embarrassing but she's all good with it.  I have a feeling that someone pulled the video out last P-day when they went to the mission home to have lunch with the Mission Pres and his wife.  They spent a lot of time talking and getting to know each other that day so I have a feeling that is how it came up...hahaha.  I'm not sure what to think about that but it is what it is.  The mission pres now knows all about Mariah and her sense of humor. He would have found out sooner or later anyway...haha.  She is such a goof sometimes but she makes us all so happy:) With that said, it was P-day!  I know I have mentioned this before but some missionaries like to play sports on P-day, and some like to go shopping, hiking, or touring.  Well Mariah and Hermana Mensinger love to make funny videos singing and dancing to church music on their P-days.  It brings a smile to my face every time I see those videos.  LOVE THAT GIRL!! 

Below are some more pictures from the baseball game and some others that we got during the week.  Love, love, love getting pics!  We got a bunch more that were taken at this baseball game but there are just too many to post:)

              

August 3, 2015- Time Flies!

Loved everything about the emails that we received this week. Riah has transfers this week on Thursday so we will have to wait to see what happens:)

Time. FLIES. I cannot even wrap my head around it. 

"This week has been a week of much growth. With transfers coming up this week I have been able to take a step back and look at all of the things I have learned in these past 10 months.. I have been able to point out my strengths and the things I have improved on/changed for the better in my life, as well as been able to point out my mistakes and what I have learned from them, and what I can to better in order to keep being a more effective missionary and instrument in the hands of the Lord. 

I have learned the importance of making goals. I have learned the importance of prayer. I have learned the importance of fasting. Loving everyone. The scriptures. Family. Sharing beliefs. Standing UP for what you believe, even when it is hard. And SO much more!!

I would just like to talk a bit about the importance of talking to everyone, not much time left, but I would just like to tell a quick story. SO- talking with everyone. There is this thing we kind of have going on around our district/mission called #talktoeveryone. It really works!! Talking to everyone means sharing our beliefs with EVERYONE. Doesn't matter who they are! And it is really not that hard!! So what if they reject you? It's our responsibility as children of God with the knowledge we have to share the gospel with those around us. I don't want to be held accountable in the end for not talking to someone that NEEDED the gospel and NEEDED to hear it from me, but didn't because of my pride and fear of man. #FEARNOMAN. 

So, to the story. Remember a few weeks back when I sent an email about Cesar? That conversation was so powerful that we had with him.. WELL. He lives in Arlington and we were never able to get his info to the missionaries over there cuz we didn't have his number and didn't know what missionaries quite covered his area. SO we get a random call yesterday, and he starts talking and saying "do you remember me? I am the one you were talking with in the parking lot a while back about the family?" I didn't quite remember at first, because we as missionaries really do talk to a lot of people, so I just kindof told him yes in hopes that it would come to my mind as we continued on the phone. Well, he told us that he had a friend next to him at the moment, whose name was Cesar, like him, and it clicked! He said that his friend had JUST moved from El Salvador and that he went to church for 3 weeks over there and was trying to find one here!! He left his Book of Mormon back in his country as well so we told him we could get him one, and he was just THRILLED. He told us he wants to meet with us and go to church and everything, what a miracle!! #talkingtoeveryoneworks #smallworld. Unfortunately he doesn't live in our area, so we had to pass him to other missionaries but how amazing. I know that as we put forth our effort the Lord will LITERALLY use us as instruments in His hands to bring about this wonderful message of the gospel, until every creature has had the opportunity to accept or reject it!

This work is truly amazing. I love what I am doing despite the rocky roads that have to be travelled through in order to learn and grow. But the point is that we learn and grow! Without obstacles that wouldn't be possible!!

I love each and every one of you. Please know that. As a representative of Jesus Christ, I see you as he sees you, and I know that each and every one of you have great potential in His eyes. Search for it. Find it. :)

Welp, til the next one!!

Hermana Mariah Riddle <3

Here is a picture of us last week at the Museum of Natural History in DC!! Fun fun :)"

This is Heidi speaking now:) In regards to what has been happening in the world lately I have gained a greater testimony of following the Prophet. And it was so sad to hear about those 100 or so people who marched to the church office building on the 24th of July to "resign" their memberships in the Church. It all stemmed from the LGBT and priesthood rights for women movements. The people say that they don't have trust in the leaders anymore. Well..I do and I know that just because the laws and desires of man change it doesn't mean that God's laws will change. I've thought a lot about what keeps a person strong in the faith and came to the conclusion that if we just do the simple things that we learn about in church each week we will be able stay strong in this wicked world. 

So..in an email that I sent to Riah I mentioned to her that a few of the most important habits I want to instill into the hearts of my children are the things that we hear about in church all the time... PRAY, READ SCRIPTURES and ATTEND THE TEMPLE REGULARLY. My hope is that they will all develop a pattern of those things in their lives as I know that those are the habits that will keep their testimonies strong. Mariah's response to my email this week was the following...

"I LOVE THE SCRIPTURES, no need to worry about me. I can honestly promise you guys that I will NEVER fall away. I have learned the importance and the magnitude of impact that scripture, prayer and church and temples have on one's testimony, and I would NEVER give that up!!" 

And in regards to this changing world she said, "I know that this is the time when we are starting to have to apply the things that we learn and speak of to everyone else. To just put faith in the Lord and ACT and He will lead our direction. The Lord isn't going to do anything with us if we don't just get up and move and do SOMETHING. Give Him something to work with you know??" 

And then these sweet, loving, and inspiring words from her just melted my heart...

"I pray for you all every night.. You want to know something funny?? SO. We were supposed to teach the lesson (Hna Moleli and I) for YW last week, but then a teacher showed up so we were like ok that's fine plus Hna Moleli and I had to go home halfway through sacrament meeting cuz she was still puking from the chicken hearts. Well.. that was the end of July. SO we just told the YW leader that we could do it the next week, which was yesterday!! 

This months topic happens to be "Families" for YW. So we talked about why family is important, and it was a REALLY good, fun, spirit-filled lesson! ((I showed them the "you make me smile" video we made as a family HA)) Families bring SO MUCH JOY!! I love what you were saying about how it's gotten to the point where you've realized that it doesn't matter what we have materialistically.. and that is SO TRUE. WE JUST talked about that yesterday to all the girls, and my personal study in the morning I REALLY came to realize and think of all the fun family memories I have had, and it has just been when we have been together, obviously the things we were doing were fun, but if you didn't have anyone with you it wouldn't be fun at ALL. PEOPLE make things fun, and that is all that matters. 

I told the girls that family is the ONLY thing you can actually bring/have with you physically after this life. That is IT. The rest just DOESN'T matter!! We need to be focusing more on the family, for after all, the first paragraph of the Proclamation to the World talks about how the family is central in the Creator's divine plan for us to be able to achieve our eternal destiny. It doesn't say that "technology", "cars",  "a pool" or "a lot of yard" will help us achieve our divine destiny! In fact, it has NOTHING to do with that. So why do we focus on those things? It is time to slowly start pulling ourselves out of the world and taking a perspective by looking at the things that are really important in life. 

I LOVE the fact that I am serving a mission, it has really put my priorities straight, and has made me realize that things will be OK if we don't have this or that!! REALLY. TRULY all I care about are people. That is all I am saying. JUST PEOPLE. EVERYTHING ELSE does not matter to me!! ((Now, I am not saying I could live without my iPad because MAN I LOVE taking pictures and being able to airdrop/iCloud them, but guess what?? That all stems back from where the true happiness has been brought to me from, through the iPad--ready for it? PEOPLE. If I didn't have people then the pictures and videos wouldn't even be fun.))

 I don't think it was a coincidence that my comp got sick, we couldn't teach the lesson, and that we had to teach this week instead where it became a different month and the subject changed. Because family is really a dear subject for me and it was really awesome to be able to think of how blessed I am to have the family I have and how bad I want that for my future life and the lives of others. It has helped give me the desire and drive to do what it takes to get there as well!! That is all I am saying!! Even if I have to make a few decisions that me, the natural man in me, does NOT want to make but I do it because I have discipline. I do it because I know how to obey God and that He wants me to do it. Simple as that!! 

I know the Lord is blessing you...--Man, one of the reasons I was supposed to serve a mission (out of the MANY) was for my family to be blessed for my service. Not only my temporal family, but my ancestors and future family as well! It makes me wish that I ALWAYS had a missionary in the family! I am DEFINITELY going to encourage missions with all my kids, and my hope is that every single one of them will serve missions. Things have gotten a LOT more crazy these days with the world, and it is time to step up OUR crazy game as members and followers of Jesus Christ to spread the word and strengthen ourselves, and a mission has been a PERFECT way for me to do that. I have learned SO many things on a mission that I know NO ONE could learn ANYWHERE else save they serve a mission and experience it firsthand, it just is not possible." 

I cannot even express how wonderful it is to have a missionary out.  Such a blessing!  I too feel like Mariah in that I wish that we ALWAYS had a missionary out in the family.  It's crazy though, with all of the blessings that we receive..Satan works just as hard to destroy as God does to bless. With that being said, I hope that everyone of us will always stay STRONG IN THE FAITH!

Here are some more pictures from when Mariah went visit to the Museum of Natural History on her last P-day.  Ipads don't take the best pictures but hey..THEY ARE PICTURES!!!

    

July 29, 2015-Short on time!

Riah's group email was a little short this week as she and the other Hermanas in her district went to the Museum of Natural History in DC. 

"Hey everyone, so this is going to be a quickie this week, we are going to DC today so bear with me!!

Wow a lot happened this week!! We were able to have interviews with our new mission president, he is a great guy!! I was also able to attend the temple this past week!! I LOVE THE TEMPLE. The DC temple is SO beautiful. We can only go every 6 months here in this mission so that was a really special time!! There is such an inner peace found in the temple that you just can't describe or get anywhere else!!

Well, real quick another interesting event we had this past week.. 

Long story short a member we ate with fed us rice with a bunch of little chicken hearts inside it... And... It wasn't well prepared... SO. I knew it was chicken heart so I did NOT eat it but my companion and the other hermanas that were with me did. My companion ate the most though the other hermanas stopped after one. Nuff said my companion got some sort of food poisoning or I dunno what, but it was HORRIBLE for like 2-3 days!! I felt so bad :( She is all good now though, ha :)

We have been able to see so many little miracles this week, and for this next month I have chosen a Christlike attribute to work on, and that is patience. I will get more into that next week but I would just like to share a quick scripture about patience with you guys before I end this!! 

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." -Hebrews 12:1

Let us all remember that this life is supposed to be a learning experience, and that everything happens for a reason. As I have come to start to work on patience I have realized that patience is accepting the things that happen in our lives calmly and with a surety that everything we go through has a glorious purpose set up behind it. :)

I love you all and hope you enjoy your last week of July!!:)"

Mariah is loving the area she is in and said that they feed them a ton there.  She said that she heard that they feed them even more in an area called Little River so she hopes she doesn't get transferred there.  Which speaking of transfers, she has them next week.  She says that all the hermanas in her district think that Riah will be transferred from the area but she is hoping to be able to stay another 6 weeks with her companion Hermana Moleli so that she can "kill her off" as they call it when one missionary is going home after the transfer. Hermana Moleli goes home in September.  Even though Riah wants to stay she said she is willing to go wherever the Lord wants her to go. In her own words she hashtags #lordswayorthehighway

Come what may and LOVE IT!

Wow!  I just loved Riah's email this week:)  I have no words to describe how awesome it is to get emails like this:)

"Hey all!!

This past week has been great, I am loving the mission, it really is an amazing place to be :) This week I have really been able to reflect everything I have learned so far in the mission. I have been able to look back and see how much I have grown and changed as a missionary, and as a person in general.

This morning as I was reflecting I jotted down a few things to the question "If you had a few things to pick that you have learned the most on your mission so far, what would you say?" 

-The first thing is that the Atonement is REAL. It is up to US to accept it. I have also seen the true power of the adversary on my mission, and felt the frustration of agency and when people choose to give it up for the things of the world. However I have also seen, on the contrary, how the gift of free agency (the freedom to make our own choices) that God has given us is SUCH a marvelous thing. I have seen and FELT the power of the atonement and Christ's suffering for us and come to understand it better. I will NEVER fully comprehend it, but I sure can use and accept it because I have faith in it, and I KNOW it works!!

-Following and Recognizing the Spirit: I have come to my senses. I have been able to point things out that I feel and just sit back for a second to think and pay attention to how I feel when the spirit is working through me, and the things I can do in order to maintain it and keep that feeling with me. 

-And lastly to live IN the world but not OF it. At first we think of missionaries as being in this little bubble, and not knowing about anything that is going on in the world/doing worldly things, but just Focusing on the Lord--guess what? It's better that way! I have come to realize the things of the world DO NOT MATTER, and as long as we focus on the Lord and His work we will be protected from the overpowering influence of those things. The Lord is the one who helps us shut out the world and avoid temptation. He will keep us safe and guarded from the dangerous things around us as we stay away from them. I have learned that the way I conduct myself and the things I do help qualify or disqualify me for the companionship of the Spirit, and that as I try and maintain the standards and guidelines that I have so carefully been able to magnify on my mission through the rest of my life, that my future will be a place of refuge and peace and I WILL BE QUALIFIED.

I CANNOT BEGIN to even EXPLAIN enough of how much I love this gospel!! It's like a fire burning within me that just keeps growing and growing and can NEVER be put out!! I am SO grateful for the opportunity I have to spread the flame, and to help others catch that fire and gain a testimony of their own of the truthfulness and divinity of this gospel. I am SO grateful for those moments, when I am able to pour out the things I know to those around me, and to just see a change in their eyes the moment they begin to realize that the things I am telling them are true, and that through the power of the spirit that desire to know grows, and the thirst for more knowledge begins to grow stronger and stronger as they accept what God would truly have them know and come to understand. 

#feedtheflame

Thank you everyone, I really do have some AMAZING family and friends :) I love you all and wish you the best this week as you all continue to remember that you are sons and daughters of GOD, and that He cares for you and loves EACH of you individually!! I love each and every one of you individually!! 

Until next week!

Hermana Riddle :)

PS My compa Hermana Moleli hit her 16 months this past week so we celebrated with the one and only Cafe Rio's Tres leches!! Mm. ;)"

Also, this week on P-day Mariah was able to go to lunch with a long time friend of mine and his family.  Chad, Shondell and their family had a vacation planned in DC and Mariah was able to get permission for her and the other 3 Hermanas in her district to go to lunch with them.  I was able to send a suitcase full of stuff for her and she exchanged the things in the suitcase and sent stuff back to us that she doesn't need to keep there on her mission.  It was awesome to get the suitcase and just feel like a part of Riah came home:) I am so grateful for them and the kindness that they showed to those 4 Hermanas, 

Here is a little of what Riah shared with me about their lunch.

"So, about the lunch with Chad and his family. It was AWESOME :) We went to Texas Roadhouse, as you probably know and have already discussed with Chad haha. Sooo great, they are such a neat family, I LOVE them....

....hahaha it was a good time, we were able to talk a lot! There should be some pics on the cloud! It was hard to say bye cuz it felt like I had a little piece of home with me for a few moments. What a tender mercy of the Lord :)"

While Chad was there at lunch with them he sent us the pics and video below.  They were fed well as you will see. We were also able to get a couple of messages and a pic to Riah while they were there with them. She shared a bunch more about the lunch but for times sake I'll keep it short.  Such a fun memorable time!  Check out the pics and video!

            

                                                                                     

 

It has been super hot and humid in DC lately.  Here is what Mariah has to say about the weather there.. "I love rain!! Humidity.. eh, not so much.. ;) Chad's fam went to Arlington earlier today before meeting up with us and said that it feels SO much hotter here than Utah cuz of the humidity.. they were like, "I dunno HOW you do it!!?" There have been days when I have looked at the weather and the humidity has been 85% or more! Something that takes some getting used to!

Here are a few more pics that came in this week..

Hermana Riddle is HALFWAY!! 9 months down, 9 to go!

Hermana Riddle reached 9 months in the mission this past week!  Hard to believe that she is already halfway!  Time is just flying by! I know she will be home before we know it.  As of now her release date is April 15. 2016.  So, she'll be out a little longer than 18 months but..as of yesterday she only has 9 months left! EXCITING!!  Here is a pic of her "FELIZ 9 MESES"

This is her group email for the week...

"The mission is going by so fast, it's scary. 

This past week really was awesome. I just wanted to share a "quick" story, ok, let's see if I can do this.. So the other day we went on splits and I was with my old companion, Hermana Mensinger, again for the night, and we contacted LOADS of people. We found a man named Cesar who started to ask us A LOT of questions and was very curious and interested in what we had to say. He said he has talked with missionaries before here and there on the streets but has never understood what they were saying because he couldn't understand English. We were able to have a nice long conversation with him, and EVERYTHING he said highlighted some point or other of the gospel. We spoke to him about the Book of Mormon and gave him one and bore strong testimony, and it was SO powerful. But the part that got me most was one of the questions he asked:  "Are you happy?" he said. "like truly, truly happy?" We told him "Yes we are." He said, "even with all the confusion and chaos that is going on in the world right now, you are happy?" We told him "Yes, why? Are you happy?" He told us "honestly, no." And with true concern in his eyes he asked "How do you do it?" We told him that with everything that is happening in the world, that we can still have hope and put our faith in God. To trust Him and His plan for us. We told him that having a pure understanding the gospel in our lives is something that has helped us keep going, and to keep moving forward in this life. 

He then began to tell us that he had a great deal of knowledge about the Bible, and no matter how much he reads it that he feels like there is something else--something missing from his life, and he had been praying and was looking for just something more. Something to complete that empty space. After he told us this I looked him straight in the eyes and said, "Sabe qué? Yo puedo decirle que el pedazo que usted siente que está faltando en su vida está en sus manos." (He was holding the Book of Mormon we had given him) There was a short pause and he just responded back- "Sí. Yo lo sé." (Whoops, what I said to him was "You know what? I can tell you that the piece you feel is missing in your life, is in your hands." He responded with a short but firm answer. "Yes, I know it.") And there was just a feeling of power and warmth that just entered SO strongly into the conversation, NO ONE could deny it. The Book of Mormon IS the word of God, and it is SO crucial that we read it and abide to its teachings every day of our lives, that we don't waste one moment! This life is a testing period, a VERY short period of time we have given to us to prove ourselves to God and show Him we are willing to align our will with His.

I am so grateful for experiences like this on my mission. The opportunity I have to share this gospel and help them feel of God's love for them, He really does answer prayers and he really cares about each and every one of us individually. Do we love Him back? God loves each of us so much and is so willing to bless us if we will just do what is required of us. From the famous scripture in the Bible in John 14:15 we learn simply but clearly what we must do if we truly love God, "If ye love me, keep my commandments."  I have learned a great deal on my mission where true happiness comes from. God's commandments are not there to restrain us, they are there to open the door to a higher level of happiness that we could never experience in any other way but keeping His commandments. Not a temporary happiness that comes and goes, but an eternal happiness, a happiness that lasts. I love this gospel and have been able to gain more of an eternal perspective here than anywhere else in my life. I have been able to see what brings true freedom and true happiness, as we confide in our Savior, Jesus Christ, and follow his example and his teachings. 

I love you all, and I hope that you will all continue to LIVE life and to strive to be better every day! Each of you are so unique, and I am so grateful to know all of you and for the ways you have each individually touched my life. 

Until next week, 

Hermana Riddle :)

Oh and HEY HEY you bet we didn't forget!! Free 7-11 on 7/11!! Good times :)"

Cute 7-11 pics and more:)

Here is a little more info that she gave to me in an email..

"Things are coming along well with our investigators, we teach lots of lessons the hardest thing is getting them to come to church. Either they say they will come and don't show up or just kind of give us an "ok, maybe" or "Yes, yes! I will try to make it!" Or my favorite.. "Sii sii vamos a la igelsia, primero Dios. Primero Dios que Si" AHHH it is SO. Frustrating!! We are still working super hard and continuing to see miracles and find people, the guy I mentioned in my group email lives in Arlington though, he just happened to be visiting and was standing outside when we walked up to him.. So we will have to transfer his info to the Bellavista ward in McLean. :/ So sad, he is AWESOME. So prepared!! The area compared to my last? Well, they are completely different but I really do love it here in Sudley!! I would say that in Springlake there is more love and connection/ family feeling between the members, and I mean we are close with a lot of the members here its just they aren't close with each other really. But we are trying to fix that by trying to start some activities going on!! But then I feel like I have found a lot more prepared people out here as investigators than I did in Springlake. Satan's power really is SO REAL though, he works SO HARD once he knows that you have found a prepared person, and that you know that person is prepared. It is NUTS. Plus I have heard from various people that your 9-11 months on the mission (well, as a sister) is the hardest/roughest point usually. So, I'm prepared. I'm gonna try and make that not happen though.. ha :) So far things have been GREAT since I hit 9 months!!"

A few more pics that came in this week.  Riah got to go on splits with Hermana Mensinger who was her last companion. They were excited to be able to be together again. ENJOY!

 

  

 

Happy 4th of July from DC!

This last week was extremely crazy for all of us. Not much information this week as Riah had a zone activity that took up a lot of her P-day so she didn't have as much time to write.  We did get a bunch of pictures and videos though so I will post those.  Looks like she has had an eventful week.  Here is her group email..

"Hello all!!

So not much time today, but this week was great! We got a new mission president, President David Huntsman, and he is awesome!! He has 8 kids, such a cute family! The two oldest go to the U so for those of you who are out there if you see them say hi!! ;) 

This week went by super fast!! I'm so grateful for every opportunity I am given to bear testimony and talk about the gospel every day to God's children! I am grateful for the opportunity I am given to  be able to "declare repentance unto this people" and to really help them know and access the atonement of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and to be forgiven for the things they have done. There is a quote from President Spencer W Kimball that I just love, that "…man has unlimited potential for progress and attainment." We all have the opportunity to become better every day! We can never hit a standstill, change is constant, and it is important we are changing in a way that we are progressing and trying to be better every single day. 

President Kimball also states that "without God, repentance would have little meaning, and forgiveness would be both unnecessary and unreal." If we didn't have God, apology would mean nothing. We wouldn't even have the INCLINATION to apologize if there wasn't such thing as God--there is a deeper purpose behind being sorry for something, rather than just saying you are sorry. For if there was no God, there would be no repentance, and if there were no repentance, there would be no forgiveness, and without these two things in life we would have no purpose in being here!! 

We are here to learn and progress, and to "become like Christ." For we read in the scriptures- "what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am." (3 Nephi 27:27) Let us all try a little to become more like Christ, and seek out God's will in our own lives as we strive to be perfected in him and be truly repentant for the things we may have done wrong or the mistakes we have made. 

I am so grateful for this gospel and this grand gift I have been given to be able to access the atonement and to feel its healing and cleansing effects in my life, and to share its goodness with the people here in DC!!

I love you all, and hope you all had a fun and safe 4th of July!! I know I did! :) Until next week! 

Hermana Riddle :)"

On Sunday July 5th as we were sending our emails to Riah for the week we found out that my Grandma passed away.  We had been there with her the whole day and she passed away about and hour and a half after we left. Of course we shared the news with Riah and this is what she had to say to both Jared and I about it...

"That is so sad to hear about grandma, but it really does give me comfort in knowing that I have come to better understand the Plan of Salvation on my mission. I know I will NEVER come to understand every single aspect and deep doctrine of it, because it is such a wondrous and marvelous plan, but I have confidence and faith in God, and I know that His plan is perfect, whether we understand it or not. We just need to accept it! And as we accept the teachings and follow them and do our best, more knowledge will be unfolded unto us!"

"I'm so sorry to hear about grandma.. That is so sad :( I know that she is in a better place though, and that all will be well with the knowledge we have!" 

I too am so grateful, especially this week, that we have the knowledge that we do of the Plan of Salvation.  How grateful I am for the knowledge that families are forever! What a blessing it is to have Riah out on her mission sharing that very message with people:)

Here are some pics that Mariah took this past week.

I guess Riah wanted to show us that she can still do this! Yay!

Pics from a dinner that they had with all 4 Hermanas in their district. (Hermanas Moleli, Mugleston, Mensinger and Riddle:) Look at how carefully the food was put on their plates.  The rice looks like a pyramid!

           

Pics and videos from the 4th of July!! Don't mind the sillyness and the "Miranda sings" voice.  As you can see Mariah still has her fun-loving sense of humor.  I just love that girl.