Fall Fun

October 30 I ran a 5K with my buddy, Jeff. I ran it in 26:10. I think that's my best race time yet.

On Columbus Day, Brittney and I went down to the Garden of the Gods in southern Illinois and hiked 7 miles with our friends Denise, Becca and Spencer. Those of you who have been to the Garden of the Gods may be wondering why we hiked 7 miles when you can drive right up to the beautiful scenic overlook...yeah, so am I. I guess that is what happens when you are married to someone who is young and ambitious and has young and ambitious friends :)

Here we are near the beginning of the trail.

Along the way we found respite in an old fashioned horse town.

Brittney thought she was going to die. (You may be wondering who else besides Brittney would lay down in a cemetary, the answer is her dad. Every year when they go to the cemetary on Memorial Day, he lays down on his plot to try it out.)

Brittney quickly revived when she heard there was gold diggin to be done.

Finally we arrived at the Garden of the Gods.

We felt like we were on top of the world.

It was a beautiful view with amazing rock formations that pictures can't do justice.

Brittney's basketball team scheduled an Orange and Blue game on her birthday. Brittney and the head coach, Jeremy Richards (distant cousin whose ancestors didn't go out west with the Saints), divided their players into two teams with Brittney coaching one team and Jeremy the other. I thought it was a great opportunity to invite our friends to come watch her coach and see her school. I secretly sent out invitations to many of our friends and arranged for our cake decorating friend to make a cake to surprise Brittney with at the game. I was pleasantly surprised at how many people responded and said they would come, 19! I lay awake at night dreaming of Brittney's surprise when so many of her friends walked into the game. She would really wonder what was going on. It was so exciting!

The day before the game arrived and I was busy working in my office when I got a text from Brittney saying that 23 of her 53 students had either stayed home sick or gone home sick during the day. I immediately responded and asked if the game was still on. (Brittney later told me she wondered why I was so concerned about the game and not her sick students.) The health department ended up closing the school for the day and consequently the game was cancelled. Nothing like a plague to ruin a birthday party!

We ended up having everyone come to our house instead and we enjoyed an amazing basketball birthday cake and basketball court brownies.

Lleida, my most hard and most successful area

I was transferred to Lleida (Catalan) or in Spanish, Lerida in the beginning of June 2000 and stayed there through November.
In Lledia we did a lot of street contacting using "dibujos". We would get a large sheet of paper and draw out the first discussion on it on the sidewalk in the city where many people would pass by and see it and we would use our drawing to teach them the first missionary discussion.
Our hard work and creativeness led to the baptism of Beatriz Koppenhagen who stopped to talk to the missionaries one day on the street, shortly before I arrived in the area. My companion, Elder Parker and I had the privilege of teaching Beatriz the discussions. Beatriz was from Brazil. She had a great love for Jesus Christ and I loved to hear her sing, "Asombro me da el amor que me da Jesus!" (I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me).
Beatriz took us to meet her sister, Susana. We were also able to teach Susana the discussions and I had the privilege of baptizing her. Susana overcame great obstacles to prepare for her baptism. However through faith in Jesus Christ and repentance, she was able to accept the covenant of baptism, promising to always remember Jesus Christ and keep his commandments. God promised that her sins would be forgiven and she would have the Holy Ghost to guide her if she would keep her covenant.
Leonardo was first introduced to the missionaries through playing soccer with them. His cousin, Richard was already a member of the church, preparing to serve a mission. When we first began trying to teach Leonardo, he wouldn't answer the phone when we called and avoided talking to us. Then Richard began reading the Book of Mormon with Leonardo. A change occurred inside Leonardo and he began to desire to learn more about Jesus Christ and His gospel. Leonardo began coming to church on Sunday (not just to play soccer on Saturday) and then began listening to us teach him the gospel. Shortly after he was baptized by his cousin.
Isaac Arthur began listening to the missionaries after he saw his friend Richard (not Leonardo's cousin) talking with the missionaries on the street one day. Elder Parker and I began teaching Isaac, then Elder Parker was transferred and Elder Nielson became my companion. Shortly after I had the honor of baptizing Isaac. When he spoke after his baptism, Isaac asked us all to clap for Jesus. He was very enthusiastic about the gospel and sharing it with others.
In Lledia, I tried my first banku, an African dish. Banku is a thick potato dough which you take a piece of and make a ball. Then with your fingers you dip the ball in a soup with meat and vegetables (my first one had goat meat), stick the ball in your mouth and swallow it. It took me a while to develop the technique of eating banku, so I went hungry the first time we had it, but by the end of my mission, I could eat banku with the best of them.
Here is Elder Parker and I with Paco, a member who brought us some tasty fruit and came with us to several of our teaching appointments.
I made my first paella in Lleida, here are Elders Furse, Higley, and Parker anxiously awaiting to eat it.
One of the great blessings of my mission was serving with the two best mission presidents, each for about a year. President Mask was President from the time I entered the field until the day after my birthday, June 26, 2000. He called me to wish me a happy birthday and have "un coro de angeles" sing to me. I asked him if he wasn't pretty busy getting ready to leave. He told me, "Nothing to important to not call and sing Happy Birthday to Elder Richards." He taught me you gotta believe, be a glad missionary, do what the great missionaries do to be a great missionary, and say "Ve te detras Satanas, voy a servir el Senor." I love President and Sister Mask.

President Bowen was the mission president throughout the last year of my mission. President Bowen taught us the gospel clearly using PowerPoint presentations. He taught us the 5 ordinances we are required to receive in this life: baptism, confirmation, priesthood (sisters receive it by marriage), endowment and sealing. He taught us how to manage our time, obey with exactness, and how to be model missionaries. I love President and Sister Bowen.
This picture is with President and Sister Bowen and Elder and Sister Hillam of the seventy. Elder Hillam came and taught us about fleas and elephants. He read Ether 12:12 and asked if we really believed God could do no miracle. Then taught us that God must obey laws and our faith allows God to do miracles. He told us that if fleas are put in a cup with a lid, they will fly up to escape and hit their heads on the lid, and you can hear them tapping the lid. Then after a while the tapping stops. The fleas learn that it hurts to fly that high, and they don't try it anymore. You can remove the lid and the fleas will stay inside the cup because they have learned that they cannot escape. Elephants do the same thing. Yeah, I'd like to see you put an elephant in a cup too. Actually, if you tie them to a stake when they are young and do not have the strength to pull it out of the ground, they will tug on it and learn how far they can go without hurting themselves, and then when they are bigger and stronger, they will not push their limits anymore.

Elder Hillam told us that too often when missionaries are called to serve in European missions they are told they won't baptize on their mission. Too often the missionaries listen and begin to believe that they won't baptize. They come out on the mission and work hard, push their limits, and aren't immediately rewarded with success. They remember the voices of the past and think, "I can't do this." Elder Hillam encouraged us to have faith that God could do miracles. God can do miracles. I saw them on my mission.

Cheese Curling and Clinton Lake

We had an eventful Labor Day weekend!

Saturday we went with our friends that just moved in, the Savages, to the Arthur Cheese Festival and participated in the cheese curling contest.

Each team got 3 rolls (6 if you count one practice roll for each roller) by 3 different people. Each team also had a sweeper to "guide" the cheese towards a target. A bullseye earned 4 points, 3 points in the next cirlce and so on.


Jeff was our sweeper and did such an amazing job, he was later recruited for another team (little did we know there were recruiters watching).


On our practice rolls, Brittney and I did alright,
but Jeff's wife, Emily got a bullseye.


Then it was time for the real thing...


Brittney rolled and got us 3 points after it veared slightly off course. I rolled and, whoops, majorly off course...
good thing my buddy, Jeff was there. He came through with his sweeping skills and got...a BULLSEYE!


Then it was Emily's turn, if she got a bullseye, we would be tied for first place with our friends from our ward who had 11 points. Unfortuneately it rolled off course and we ended up with 7 points. Too bad we couldn't count Emily's practice roll.

It's alright, we still got to take the cheese...

home and make some tastey cheese sandwhiches!

Our friends went on to become the International Cheese Curling Champions!

Monday we took our yearly Labor Day trip to Clinton Lake with the Hills.

The wind would not stop the whole time we were there! We had to hold our plates down for our picnic lunch and make sure our food didn’t blow away.

The water was warm, but it was sure cold to get out! We dried quickly however. Frisbee didn’t work so well…but Spencer had lots of fun being a superhero!

Hopefully we’ll be able to keep the tradition going next year, we’ll just have to find a different lake, maybe Lake Powell…

New Callings All Around

Bruce already posted about his call to be the early morning seminary teacher. He has been enjoying it a lot, and is grateful for the opportunity to teach seminary. I have also received a new calling. Two weeks ago I was released as the 1st counselor in the young women's presidency. I will really miss young women's meetings on Sunday, and attending mutual every week with the girls. We have some truly amazing and talented young women in our ward that I have enjoyed getting to know and be a part of their lives. I remember when I was first called - I was actually really nervous. I remember my young women leaders fondly, and attribute much of who I am today to their example and the things they taught me and helped me with. My young women leaders were the ones who influenced me to attend Utah State University which I have such fond memories of, and where I met my future husband. I knew the role my leaders played in my life, and I was apprehensive and unsure if I could measure up to the status with which I regarded that calling. I am not the right person to judge whether or not I made a difference in the lives of the young women in our ward - I can only hope and pray they will remember the lessons I taught and stay true to the gospel.

My new calling still allows me to work with young women - just on a much broader level. I have been called to the the 1st counselor in the stake young women's presidency. I must admit that this call came at great surprise. You see Bruce was supposed to find a job this summer, and we were supposed to be moving somewhere. Now that Bruce is a seminary teacher and I am in the stake YW presidency, I am beginning to wonder if there is still more "work" for us to do here in Champaign/Urbana Illinois before Bruce will find a job. It also makes me wonder if the stake presidency knows something about our future that we are not aware of yet. :)

I am excited and grateful for my opportunity to serve. I am grateful that I get to work with all of the young women in our stake and pray for the inspiration I need to serve in the way the Lord would want me to serve. I do already know most of the Young women because of the 2 years I served as assistant stake camp director. Since I've had my calling, I've already "trained" one ward young women's presidency and we have two more to do this month. (I will have to get used to traveling on Sunday). I have my first stake activity this month.

I'm still not convinced that I am necessarily the best person for this calling, but I seem to be the right person right now, no matter how humbling the call is.

Picture of the whole family

Here is a picture of the whole family at the ranch. Can you tell which ones are my brothers and sisters and which ones are my nieces and nephews?

Richards' Family Vacation - Rexburg, ID

In July we spent an amazing week with all of my family, Dad & Mom, Bruce & Brittney, Blake & Suzanne (and Suzanne's brother Josh), Angeline & Dan (and Blake, Becca, Abby, Caleb, Ammon, & Linda Mae, their children), Neal & Riki, Rachel, Clay, Jenifer, Luke, Camille, Paul, Kendra, Amy and Seth. My great-great grandparents left a ranch in Rexburg, ID that is now used for camping and family get togethers, so we went and stayed there for a week, as you can see from this picture taken from the ranch, it is near the Rexburg Temple.

We took a day trip to Yellowstone, where Brittney let off some steam...

Or maybe that was Old Faithful.

It was as busy as a city. We had to stop for lunch along the side of the road with no picnic tables, cuz everywhere else was full. And the rolls for lunch were left behind at the ranch, so we all got one slice of bread to go with all the fixings we wanted:) No one complained though.

We spent a wonderful morning at the temple where I was able to baptize my brother Paul in behalf of my Aunt Shirley's late husband, Uncle Dick. I was also able to baptize several of my other brothers and sisters in behalf of those who have gone before who did not have the opportunity to be baptized in this life. And my brother, Clay, who just returned from serving a mission in Mexico, Leon, baptized me. One of the temple workers was surprised to find out we were all one family, and not a youth group. Then we did an endowment session with all my brothers and sisters who were able. Moments like that give you a glimpse of heaven and eternity.

When we got back to the ranch from the temple, the ranch managers had decided to flood irrigate (they warned us not to put tents up there). Some campers may have complained about all that water, not my family...

Playing in the water must run in the family, I wasn't even the one who suggested it or the first one in.

Sister Sandwhich...

We took a river rafting trip down the Snake River. Everyone had a great time, even my mom who was nervous to go wanted to do it again when we got done.



We stayed the last night in a hotel, my brother Neal got the prize for the biggest splash when he did a cannonball that sent the water to the ceiling. (Still need a picture of it).

I love my family!

From the Elders to the Seminary Students

Stories will be forthcoming about our trip to Utah, Idaho and Wyoming, the end of summer, 5 years of marriage etc. Tonight I wanted to write about my recent change of callings in the church.

For the last 3 years and 8 months I have served as President of the Urbana Ward Elders' Quorum. The week I was set apart as president, was the same week my experiment began and I had to start getting up at 5:00 am every morning to go feed the cows on my experiment. That first year was a trial and I wouldn't have done so well without the help of my wonderful wife Brittney who checked on the cows on Sundays while I was at church meetings, or without my counselors, Nathan Kartchner and Justin Dyer, and later Kevin Hoffman when Nathan moved. I felt my counselors were there to teach me how to be president. (I even named some of the cows on my experiment after them...Dyer, Kartchner, and Turley (Kevin Turley was my secretary)).

The first couple of years the quorum was full of graduate students who were returned missionaries and already serving as great leaders in the church. There is a story about an old farmer who enters his donkey into the Kentucky Derby. His neighbor asks him why he would do such a thing when he knows his donkey will never win. The wise farmer responds, "He may not win, but the association will do him good." That is how I felt serving with these amazing brethren, future doctors, lawyers, scientists, architects, janitors, mechanics, leaders of the church. I wondered why a simple farm boy like me was their leader.

Then a great trial of my faith occured when they split my quorum in two. How are you supposed to feel when you've been pouring your heart and soul into creating unity among such a great group of brethren and then they tear half of them away and put them in another quorum? And to make matters worse, my first counselor and dear friend, Justin Dyer was called to be the new young mens' president, which meant he could no longer serve as my counselor. It took great faith to raise my hand and sustain that calling. But I couldn't complain, when I found out changes were coming, there were two brethren who I felt my work was not done with and I prayed that they would still be in my quorum after the changes, and they were, and the joy I have had watching them continue in their spiritual progression has been great.

The quorum went from being a large, strong quorum with a deep well of leadership, to a smaller quorum, though there were still faithful, talented leaders in the quorum, there were fewer people to fill all the assignments. Some of the tools I used to direct the affairs of the quorum changed. It was a blessing to have the opportunity to preside over the two different sizes of quorums. The last year I went through three second counselors due to moves and internships, James McCubbins, Scott Cromar and Todd Freestone. It was a pleasure and honor to serve with each of them.

My favorite part of being president was one on one teaching moments with the members of the quorum for stewardship interviews. Some of my sweetest moments of being president were in these interviews.

Some intereting (at least I think so) facts about my time as President:
Two ward boundary changes, St. Joseph being split off and sent to Rantoul, and west of Neil being split off and sent to Champaign. I served with 2 Bishops, 6 counselors in the Bishopric, 6 counselors in the quorum presidency, 3 secretaries, 4 ward mission leaders, 5 relief society presidents, 3 primary presidents, 3 young women presidents, 4 young men presidents, 2 ward clerks, 5 ward executive secretaries, 5 quorum executive secretaries. As best I can count, I helped between 70 and 75 families move (some more than once).

The quorum has changed a lot over the last 4 years. Many have come and gone. I hate to see people leave (though it gives me hope that some day I will too, many of them leave to a dream come true with a great job and a house), but I love to have new people come.

Now I am serving as an early morning seminary teacher. We have a religious class every weekday at 6:05 am at the church for high school students. The first week has been great, though I have a couple students who would much rather be sleeping and refused to participate the first couple days of class, one finally read a scripture for the first time in class last Friday, yeah! I have found they enjoy group activities and listen better to each other than they do to me. So far 17 students have come to class. I love them. I hope and pray I can be an instrument in God's hands to help them have the strength they need to get through the high school years that are so trying and only getting worse. I want seminary to be a refuge for them, where they can get away from the sleeze, and degrading influences they face at school. I can only do it with God's help.