Hey y'all! Well, things didn't go exactly as planned... but anyway, I'm home! I was having some medical problems, so I had to come home early. I don't really know what's going to happen now in my life, but everything will work out :) I have faith that God has a plan for me and that even though I don't exactly know what that is, it will all work out. I have a deep love and a deeper understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ and I'm glad for the opportunity I had to be in Virginia for the past 4 months. I love y'all!!

Love,

Sister Moni

P.S. This is really Simona, not my mother :)

WHOOT!!!! Now I'm 20!!!!

 

Well, all I want to say today is this:

 

"Faith is like a little seed. If planted it will grow."

 

Also read St. John 16:23-24. The part where it says your joy will be full, it can happen. One way is to pray for missionary experiences and acting on the promptings when you receive them. Even if it's just planting a seed in someone's heart. That's great. You're still doing something even if you don't see the fruits of your labors. I love y'all and wish you the best!!

 

Have a great week!!

 

Love,

 

Sister Simona Richardson

 

John 16:23-24

And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.

Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

I was going to send pictures, but I guess not today!

 

Well, this week was interesting. We got fed pretty much every single day this week. That was really nice :)

 

We had a really great experience this week while opening our new area! We met with an investigator named Kat who the Elders were teaching but not getting anywhere with and we set her with a baptism date!! She's set for September 28 and she's so excited. She's made a lot of mistakes (like everyone) and when we explained how baptism can wash those away with the Atonement and repentance, she started to cry. She told us that's exactly what she wants and needs in her life. She has so much potential and she is just great. She's excited to come to Relief Society because she told us she needs good friends. It's great to be able to help someone come closer to Jesus Christ. It's the best to be able to fulfill my purpose even just partially :)

 

I love y'all!! Have a good day and week and try to be more Christlike this week. See how much you can do rather than focus on what you can't do!!

 

Love y'all!!

 

Sister Simona Richardson

I love it here!!

 

My comp's name is Sister Allan and she's from St. George. She's 23 as of 2 days ago (woohoo September birthdays) and she's great. We are opening the Quantico area for sisters; they've never had any here before. At least, not for a VERY long time.

 

We have a pretty nice apartment, however, we only have beds. We're supposed to be getting our furniture today, but so far we have nothing!! Our bishop (yes we have a very nice and big ward) let us borrow pots and pans until we get some. Luckily, when we were at Goodwill once last transfer, I found some random hippo plates that were like 4 for a dollar and so I got them. They're for kids, but they saved our lives this time. So we're living with toddler plates, plastic silverware, and plastic cups. Pretty fun, no?

 

Well, half of our ward is military. Just about everyone who lives here either works for the government, the military, or a company funded by one of those.  A lot of people call this Washington. DC is not very far, but who knows, maybe I'll get to see it some day. This area used to be part of the Washington DC South mission, and this is the very farthest north that the Richmond mission goes. We're really close to the big river and if we cross it, not only do we leave our stake, we leave our mission. They won't let us go to the temple because it crosses two mission boundaries, but they may let us go see the city with some members sometime. I don't know though.

 

Well, we got a brand new car with only 630 miles on it (now; it had 400 when we got it) and it is great. We fit in well around here. We see them all the time!!

Psych!  Our new car is a Ford Fusion.

 

I love this area. Here's a secret, it is a very well-to-do area, and their goal in this ward is to feed us every single night. They don't want us to have to pay for dinner EVER!! Pretty cool huh?? It's pretty dang cool to be here. QUITE different than Farmville, but that's ok. It's good to get different experiences. :)

 

So on Sunday (Sister Allan's birthday) we went and spent the night with the Lakeridge sisters, Sisters Stowell and Nelson. Sis. Allan trained Sis. Stowell, so she wanted to spend her birthday with her. So the ZLs gave her permission. Kinda crazy.

 

Happy Birthday Sister Allan!

 

So our Relief Society Pres. is an ASL interpreter. :) I'm soooo excited!!! We'll have to "talk" sometime. Oh and the Lakeridge sisters said that they are teaching some deaf people, but they don't know ASL. Coincidentally, I am the first person on the list to teach deaf people, so we may be getting extra miles so that I can go teach them. HOW COOL IS THAT?????? :):):):):) Super excited :)

 

Well, I love ya!!

 

Love,

Moni 

Check out the long wavy hair from the humidity.

These birds look just like Moni's birds--Peri and Sweetie (who wasn't very sweet).

Sister George.  (Moni said to notice the clean stove in the background.  She cleaned it!)

Sister Olsen with a chocolate beater.

 

New haircut!!

 

This was an interesting week!!! So I'm going to start with the raccoon. We were driving the other day and this raccoon jumped out in the middle of the road and we almost hit it! Luckily, we missed it by a hair. When we were about a holler away from it, we just started laughing. The shock had worn off. Then I told Sister George, "Good thing the raccoon didn't jump onto the windshield." Then I hissed and put my arms up like I was the raccoon. It scared Sis. G so bad haha :) She was driving so lucky we were on a back road with no other traffic :) We'll be a little more careful next time. It was funny though.

So I went to downtown Richmond this week. I had a doctor's appointment so the Chappells (the senior missionary couple) took me so we wouldn't have to use our miles. That was lucky. So after my appointment, it started pouring. LITERALLY! So Elder Chappell ran out to the car to grab his umbrella and he was soaked by the time he got there. It was funny. So anyway, they had an appointment at the prison, but apparently it was locked down all day. So they couldn't go to that. And since we were already in Richmond, they needed to run a few errands. So I got to go with them. It was pretty fun.

 

I saw the state capitol, which Thomas Jefferson designed and which was built before the Civil War. That was cool. I also got to see narrow houses that had just a teeny alley in between them. I thought those were just in movies but I guess they're real. :) I saw lots of other cool things too :) Also, we drove through a really ghetto part of town and it was a little sketchy. It was complete with graffiti on the walls, murals on the walls, bars on the windows, and a random girl leaning against the wall. Richmond is interesting.

 

Oh! And it was the Chappell's 45th Anniversary and since they were already out, they wanted to go to lunch. So Elder Chappell asked me to be their surrogate child. So I agreed and he took Sister Chappell and me to lunch. We ate at this cute little place called the Strawberry Street Cafe. I had a rockfish sandwich :) YUMMY!! It was awesome.

 

Then we went back to little old Farmville and I rejoined my companions and we contacted a referral and got 4 new investigators and 3 of them have a baptismal date for September 21!! Awesome, no?

One last story: I don't know if you know, but I am sooooooo afraid of spiders. We hates them. But anyway, we were tracting last Saturday and I saw this HUGE spider run across the road. It stopped about half way because it knew we were there. It was a wolf spider and it was about the size of a ping-pong ball with an egg sac on it's bum. Well, I froze. I told Sister George to squish it and she said she can't squish big bugs. So I told Sister Olsen to step on it. She said, "Step on it? It's gonna step on me." So here we stood at an impasse. Anyone looking upon the scene may have laughed out loud. There were three Sister missionaries standing in the middle of the street frozen in fear. Then a movie quote came to me from "We Bought a Zoo."  "Twenty seconds of courage." Then the next thought was something that my brothers and I would always say. "I'M GONNA EAT YOUR SOUL!" (Said in a low, creepy voice.) Then, as my companions would tell it, I took a deep breath, stomped over to the spider with my hands clenched in fists, and TRIED to step on the spider. I got the egg sac, but that just made the nasty creature mad. So I lifted my other foot and squished it into the ground, moving my foot from side to side for good measure. Then I started hyperventilating. I had just conquered my greatest fear. I probably will still scream and run out of the room if there's a teeny one on the wall, but for a moment, I was not an arachnophobe. I was a spider bounty hunter.

It was a pretty eventful week. Not many conversion stories, but we planted a lot of "seeds" this week. It was good though because we were committed :)

Ok just kidding. One more story: So last week, Sister George was making brownies to give to some of the Elders in our zone, and she stopped after the batter was done and she left the room. So Sister Olsen and I grabbed spoons and put batter all over our mouth. Then we sat outside of the door and waited for Sister George. When she came out she laughed so hard!!! We were like children haha :) We have lots of fun :)

I love y'all!! Have a blessed week and share the gospel with someone you know!!

Love,

Sister Simona/Moni Richardson

It rains in Virginia!

 

So last Saturday we set someone for baptism!! This guy names Charles grew up Methodist I think and we told him about the Book of Mormon and he was so excited!! He is 86 and he grew up in Virginia and he was in the army. He's really funny and lonely. He talks a lot and he talks LOUD. However, we were able to teach him the full Restoration of the church last week. It was hard and it took forever because he kept interrupting, but it worked. :) So anyway, about half way through the lesson, the Spirit told me that we needed to ask him to be baptized. It was Sister Olsen's turn (and she always forgets) so I nudged her and told her. So she asked him and it was great. He said that when he knows it's true, he will get baptized. And he might come to church this week. Hopefully! That is the hardest thing besides getting ahold of people, is getting them to want to come to church. I'm not even sure why. It's just strange. Anyway, Charles is funny. He kept using these terms (mostly medical terms and some other ones) and I knew what most of them meant. So anyway, because I knew everything he was talking about, he was tickled. (At least, that's what he told us. He said he was tickled like 4 times.) But anyway, he told me that I would get married first out of my companions. He also said that I look like the youngest. We told him that Sister George was the youngest and she doesn't turn 20 until December and I do in less than a month and he was soooo surprised!! He thought I was like 16. He's not the first. Charles is pretty cool :)

This week we also visited a less-active blind member of the church. The only reason she's less-active is because she's blind and can't drive. Plus she lives in Keysville which is like half an hour away so it's hard for her to get a ride. She is a spitfire though!! She read a chapter out of the Book of Mormon with us though... in her Braille B.O.M. That was sweet. It was sooo super cool!! She is great :)

So we went to the Richmond Zoo last Monday. It was awesome!! We went as pretty much our whole zone. It was a lot of fun :) You get to feed Giraffes and it is just an awesome zoo. They have bats and we were all (well like half of us) in the little bat house thing and one of my Zone Leaders, Elder Harris, said, "Bats are like the spiders of birds." I immediately walked out of the bat house and said I'm out!! Then Elder Dayton, the other Zone Leader, apologized for his companion. It was super funny. I have great District and Zone Leaders that are awesome and willing to give blessings when needed!! They are super cool :)

I love Virginia!! It has been strange summer and has been raining constantly (which apparently has NEVER happened in Virginia.) We've only had a few hot and humid days (knock on wood) and it has been SO nice!! I love it!! There is a chill in the air and hopefully fall will come just in time for my birthday :) Usually it doesn't come until October, but I think it can make the deadline :) haha

I love y'all and hope all is well with you!! Have a blessed week!!

Love,

Sister Simona M. Richardson

An awesome amazing family--the Moore family!

 

So probably the best part about this week was last Thursday. Sister George said something so I got fake mad and chased her down the hall. She ran into our extra room and locked herself in. Sister Olsen was all sorts of confused, but it was funny. I went in and sat on Sister George's bed to wait for her. After like 10 minutes, she comes out and I have the bedroom door shut, but I heard her. So I yank open the door and scare her. In her hands, she held an iron and my waterproofing spray. We both laughed sooooo hard!! It was way funny. It was great fun.

So this week, we helped a less-active member paint some rooms in her rental house. It was fun :) It was also good to visit with her more. We also visited another less-active member who is dying of cancer. It's a strange cancer. It was supposed to be attached to something, but instead it attached itself to her muscles and bones. It went from Stage 1 to Stage 4 very fast. We're trying to help her to strengthen her relationship with the Lord so she can have comfort. I hope it works.

 

We also have another investigator that fed us dinner!!! It was awesome haha. She's feeding us again this week. I'm excited!! She's gonna feed us fish!! YUMMY!! Haha.

Life in Virginia is good!! Hopefully our work will pick up at least a little bit once school gets started again, but for now, I'm happy!!

 

I love this gospel and how much joy it brings to my life and the life of others. The best part about that joy is that it is eternal if we work for it :) I love my Savior Jesus Christ and know that He loves me. I hope y'all have a blessed week!

Much love,

Sister Simona Richardson

Firefly!

So this week went by fast!! I'm almost out of time to write, but I just want to say that I'm grateful for Spiritual Inspiration and Revelation. Without it, missionary work would be pointless.

 

We had an investigator drop us on Thursday after meeting with her last Monday, and she had committed to Baptism. We were able to meet with her this morning and figure out her concerns. She doesn't believe in Joseph Smith or necessarily the Book of Mormon. Or Thomas S. Monson. So we watched the last conference address from Pres. Monson with her. She then prayed to know if he is a prophet. She had gotten some revelation before that was a little foggy, but she said she felt good and peaceful and comforted after praying. She still doesn't know he's a prophet, but she's getting there. Luckily, we are still going to get to meet with her and help her to come unto Christ even more. I'm excited for her journey. She is amazing!!

So we had a new family move into our branch who lived in Utah. They got baptized a year and a half ago, and they are feeding us tonight so we'll find out more!!

Also, we got 2 new investigators last week and one is going to feed us on Thursday! :) Excitement!! She's a sweet old lady :) The other is a young college student. We also found 2 other college students, one through inspiration. It was amazing. I'll tell that story after we meet with him this week :)

I know this is the true gospel of Jesus Christ. I love being able to share it :)

I love you!!!!

Love,

Sister Simona

(Click on the link below!)

Obedience Brings Blessings--Thomas S. Monson

Scooby Doo-where are you?

Hope Moni remembers this fine skill. . .

At the zoo on Sister England's last day.

A great companionship!  Sister Moni, George and England.

Jelly bean cereal--so good.  And good for you, too.

Numbers that made Moni happy (her house address in Utah)!

This is from last week, but she wasn't supposed to say anything until Thursday, so it's past Thursday--here's what she had to say!

I get a new companion (and I get to stay with Sister George)!!!!! We got transfer calls yesterday and guess what!!!!! I'M GOING TO BE A TRAINER!!! ALREADY!!!!! I'm a little nervous, but I'm excited!! That means that the rest of my 6 weeks of training is getting put on hold and it may not even happen with Sister George... Kinda random, but hey! It works. Also, our new greenie is a visa-waiter. She is going to Brazil eventually (hopefully) (I don't know what mission yet though) but she's just coming right from the MTC! I'm so excited!

 

It's funny because when Pres. WIlson called and asked me to be a trainer, he asked me if I'm obedient. Not if I know the lessons, PMG, the pamphlets or even the order of the books in the Book of Mormon. He asked me if I'm obedient and I told him I'm trying, but that really put into perspective what is important. It's just like success as a missionary is based of off how committed you are. Not how many member presents you have or how many baptisms you have. It's how committed you are to try your very best to invite others to come unto Christ. It's awesome that I have this opportunity after only 6 months!! Luckily, Sister George and I are co-trainers together so I don't have to do this alone. The only thing is, because she's waiting for a visa, we have no idea how long she'll be here. But that's ok. Things will work out the way the Lord wants and needs them to :)

And this week (two different perspectives):

My first week as a trainer was hard. I've been having a really hard time this week and I've had a migraine for about 3 days. So today, I couldn't do anything when I woke up so Sister George made me go take a nap. It was good because now my head is mostly fine. I'm also feeling a lot better because I got a blessing this week and the Zone Leaders, my District Leader, and my Sister Training Leaders all called to make sure that I'm doing OK. I'm doing mostly OK and everyone says once you've finished your first transfer is one of the hardest times of the mission. Luckily, I'm able to have fun with my comps and work hard. Sister Olsen (our Golden) is hoping to someday go to the Brazil Sao Paolo Interlagos Mission. I am learning little bits of Portuguese ( I can understand way more than I can speak) and it's a lot of fun!! She's from Oregon and she's 20. We have a wonderful companionship and we are working on being fully united.

Well, this week was interesting. We milked goats, taught a couple lessons (only 4) and visited a sick member in the hospital. Sister Maxey was in the hospital because she had a bad fall. We visited her and sang her favorite hymn for her. We sang "How Great Thou Art" which happens to be my favorite hymn as well. I kinda cried a little bit because I could feel that she didn't have very much longer. We are going to visit her again, but I'm glad we at least got to see her once. :)

 

We milked goats at an investigator's house and apparently I'm horrible at it. Next time we go over there, he's going to give us some goat milk because I should be able to handle that, so I may be able to have cheese again!! Goat cheese, but we'll see how that goes haha :)

 

Another investigator's heart is softening more and more every time we see him :) It's amazing to see the change in his life :)

Thanks for the package Mama!! I got it 2 weeks ago and forgot to tell you :) Haha. But thanks a bunch!! I also got a package from some of the young women in our stake and ward (like the Hunter Copperhill Stake) and that was really cool :) I was excited :)  Thank you!

Well, I love you--and everyone help the missionaries in your area find people to teach!! It's way easier to get referrals from members than to knock doors because then they know someone besides the missionaries!! Love y'all!!

Much love,
Sister Simona Richardson

And:

Training is amazing!!!!! Our Golden's name is Sister Olsen. She's from Oregon and she is hoping to someday go to the Brazil Sao Paolo Interlagos mission. :) We have to do Language Study with her, so I'm learning a little bit of Portuguese. It's pretty cool :) She is 20 and amazing!! We have a wonderful companionship. I've only been gone from home 2 weeks longer than her because the whole time I was actually in Virginia, she was in the MTC :) She is excited to be here because she kinda has 2 missions :)

Everything is going pretty great. My jeans ripped, so I had to buy a new pair of jeans because they got torn in a funny place on a fence and I tried sewing them and it just didn't work. Plus, it looked really dumb and I have to look at least presentable. So I had to get a new pair of jeans. But, today all I'm going to buy is peanut butter, bread, and lactose free milk. Did you know that they have that?? Lactose free milk is awesome because even though I can't drink it straight, I can cook with it and put it on my cereal and it's normal milk, just without the lactose and with an extra enzyme to help with digestion. It's really awesome stuff :)

Well, I love you all!

Love,

Moni

Line upon Line is one of my all-time favorites. If Heavenly Father made us perfect all at once, we would be disappointed and it wouldn't mean as much. Just like if your parents buy you a car, it would be really nice, but would you care as much for it because it doesn't mean as much? When we strive to be perfect, it's harder, but it's worth more.

Just a little thought for the week!! Love ya!!

Sister Moni

Hello!!

OK so I have a miracle story!! So on Friday, we had 2 appointments and then we would come home and plan. As we were leaving the apartment, Sister George felt like we should grab the list of Former and Potential Investigators in the Prospect area. (That's a town.)

 

So as we went to our first appt, they couldn't meet with us, so we decided because we had some time until our next appt, that we would visit an former investigator. So Sister England looked through them and picked one that she felt like we should go see. So we went to see him and he wasn't home. As we were driving off his driveway (none of them are paved by the way, nor do many people have a path or anything leading to their front door), we heard a terrible noise as we hit the pavement of the main road.

 

There were about 4 driveways coming up, and Sister G said she was going to pull into the first one. (She's the designated driver haha!) The Spirit told me not to do that. I told her no don't do that. She looked at me like I was crazy. Then she said OK, I'll pull into the second one. Again, the Spirit said no. She was flippin out because she said people would be nice here! But then, the Spirit told me to pull into the third driveway. So we did. It was a rainbow driveway and at the top of it, there was a guy working on his car. So we asked him for help and we called and got permission for him to help us. As he was taking off the front tire, Sister England jumped right in and taught him Joseph Smith's First Vision. We taught him all about the Restoration and he said he would come the church on Sunday. He didn't, but we're going to call him and make an appointment. Guess what was in between the brake pad or something on our front tire! A rock... A teeny, tiny rock. But that's ok. :) We got a new investigator :)

Ok, also we met a guy at the Farmer's Market and we went over to help him last Monday, but it was too wet to do anything, so we made another appt, but it got cancelled too, so we'll go over eventually. But, guess what!! He had at the very least, 200 chickens. They were everywhere!! And they have a bunch of turkeys!! It was awesome. Oh and their dog was scared of the oldest turkey. It was funny :)

Well, I gotta go preach the gospel and invite others to come unto Christ!! Love you all!!

 

Write to me!! I only got like 4 letters this week and 3 were from my mom!! I mean, I love hearing from her the very most, but I would like to hear from all of you too ;) Love ya!!

Love,
Sister Simona/Moni

Happy P-Day

So random thing, on Sunday we always say Happy P-Day Eve, so  Saturday is P-Day Adam.

We found 6 new investigators in the last 2 weeks, mostly from tracting, but one story that was cool was that we went to visit this lady with a member and she wasn't there, so the member asked the lady that was there if she would want to know more about Mormons. (That's what she said exactly.) And she was like sure. So we taught her the first lesson in the middle of the store and she said she would try to read just a little bit in the Book of Mormon and read the Plan of Salvation pamphlet we gave her and pray about them. We have another lesson in a week and a half!! It was really cool!!

Oh and another lady we found told us that she reads the BOM daily with the Bible (she's Baptist but some Elders gave her a BOM a few years back) and she believes that other things are out there--so of course the BOM is true! And she set up the return appointment for a time when her fiance would be there so he could learn too! She's so ready!! It's great!

We started doing a scripture study class with our recent converts. It's cool.

We did exchanges this week so one of my comps and I went to Bonair and switched with 2 other sisters, and when we went to visit a less-active member, I felt like I needed to be there right then, and I was able to bear powerful witness to her.  It was neat.

Friends, write me more letters!!

Love ya haha

We caught fireflies on Saturday. They're ugly :) But they're cool.

Well, Love ya!!!

Sister Moni

Simona, Sister George and Sister England--looks like this was her first weekend when they did the hike for girls' camp at High Bridge Trail

Have you seen this serious, studious Moni?

 

Simona said she found this orange flower, and it made her happy.

 

I don't like all the bugs here... They're creepy lookin!! :) The cicadas sound really cool, but they are freaky when they fly into your face!!!

 

Please send me recipes with only a few ingredients! 

 

There are about 3-4 companionships with 3 sisters in our mission because it's easier for outlying areas to have 3 sisters because then we can go and visit guys who are alone without taking someone with us. It makes lessons easier.

My apartment is nice. My bed is comfy. We have 2 bathrooms. We gave our neighbors downstairs a BOM and we will send them missionaries to their home in Florida which they're going back to :) It's nice here.



So my stomach has been getting upset every single day and I have thrown up a few times, so I decided that I am going to try 2 things. This week I am going without dairy to see if that helps. If it does, I will continue. If it doesn't, next week I will try going gluten-free. Hopefully something will help!!! :)  I don't know why I keep getting sick, but I'm having a hard time waking up in the morning and falling asleep at night. So I prayed and explained the situation to Heavenly Father. I was able to wake up this morning and I'm not really tired. :) It's good :)

 

Were you able to watch the worldwide broadcast yesterday?? Crazy stuff is afoot.....  Anyway, it was really good. Missionaries are now going to use Facebook in like every mission now instead of like 3. Also we are going to be using other websites to help spread the gospel so we can stay caught up with technology. We are also going to be giving more tours at church buildings... well we might not because we don't have a church building in Farmville haha. But the broadcast was really good because it lays out exactly what members need to do in order to have the missionaries be more effective. I hope the members take it to heart and help us find people to teach and come with us so we can have more member-present lessons!!

 

So in my branch here in Farmville there is a family who have an almost missionary. He got called to the Salt Lake West mission.  If you meet him, feed him because his family feeds me :)

 

In the High School where I am, there are 2 LDS members I think. 

O

h and I forgot. We had 4 tornado warning and hurricane warnings. It pours constantly. I saw two old Camaros this week. It was cool :)

Life is good.

 

Well, as we say, The church is true, the book is blue, and we are humble Mormons.... hahhahahahahahaaha :)

 

Love,

Sister Moni

Sister Moni didn't send an actual "blog" letter this week, so I pieced together some things she said.  We also got a picture of Simona with her mission president and his wife--I'll have to see if I can scan it and post it here.  She looked happy!

Does that look like a tired face, or what?

I totally love the nametag!!

She wanted everyone to see the bruise from the IV.

Two companions--Sister Thompson and Sister Lund.

Going. . .

going. . .

gone!

 

We've had like 5 tornado/hurricane warnings. and yeah it's pretty normal.

I keep trying to send pictures, but it's not working!! Maybe I'll just have to print some at Walmart and send them :(

We've been fed twice!! We got spaghetti once and breakfast casserole once. I got promised squirrel if I stay here long enough :) I guess it's not squirrel season.... :) haha

I'm in  a branch with like 30 active members. We meet in a strip mall because we don't have a building. :) We can get contacts from members, but we don't so far. And no one answers their doors. But it's ok. All of our appointments fall through too... But that's ok.

Sorry I kinda forgot to tell you about actual mission stuff :) Haha. The plane trip here was good. I sat between a missionary and an uninterested guy on the first plane to Georgia. Oh and while we were in the SLC airport, some guy bought us breakfast at McDonald's. It was really cool. Georgia was cool. And we flew over like 12 different states in order to get there :) Then on the second plane, I sat next to a member, so that was cool. The mission home was really cool.

But before we went to the mission home, we stopped at a church and they fed us dinner and we had our interviews with President. Then we went to the mission home and we didn't get to bed until like 12:30, so Sister Perry let us sleep in until almost 8. It was cool :) Oh and the mission home is a mansion next to a bunch of other mansions where a bunch of rich people live. It was cool :)

Then the next day we went to a meeting where President announced who our trainers were and they described the places we were going and told who they were training. Then we left with our trainers for our areas. When we got to our apartment, I unpacked and then we went knocking doors. No one answered. We were supposed to have a few appointments, but those people weren't home either. We visited a less-active member, but nothing came of that. Then we were supposed to have a dinner appointment, but everything kept falling through. It was good though :)

Oh and ya know how I told you I was sick, well I kept getting worse every day until Friday when I so exhausted and sick that it was hard to get up. So my comps called Sister Perry and she told us to drive to Richmond and I went and saw a doctor. It was good that I went when I did because the doc said that I had a severe sinus infection and if I hadn't come in, it would've turned into Pneumonia. That would've been bad. So he gave me some antibiotics and stuff so I can sleep (codeine haha) and I'm starting to feel better. I'm really glad that I was able to go to a doctor and get it figured out. So I am about an hour drive from Richmond in case you were wondering.

Oh and I'm in the Richmond mission. I can't remember if I told you that or not. :)

Sister Moni

She's in Farmville! 

One thing Simona mentioned was that in her mission, the newbies are not called greenies--they are Goldens.  So this is where Moni is a Golden.

Why did the turtle cross the road?

I don't know, but we almost hit it!! So I got out of the car and picked it up and put it on the other side haha :)

So Farmville is great!! This is way more country than I have ever lived in!! How y'all doin back in Utah??
Yes, the town I live in is called Farmville. Oh my goodness it is way more country than I have ever even seen. I've been on a couple farms and let me tell you, it is crazy! Personally, I think I'm more of a city girl. There are a bunch of hicks though :) I'm learning to speak the language pretty well. "How y'all doin?" "Well, I'll be John Hancocked!" "He's gonna get a hurtin!" Lots of southern accents. If I'm here for long enough, I will get to try fried squirrel and fried 'possum as well!! Super duper excited!! I don't like cicadas. Fireflies are probably the coolest thing I have ever seen in my entire life!! Frogs sound cool at night too :)

So on Friday and Saturday my companions (Sisters George and England) and I got to go to Mini Girls Camp. We got to teach the girls about plants and Orienteering and we made pizzas on Friday. Then we got to go to the hike with them on Saturday. The Hike was the historical place called High Bridge Trail. It was used in the Civil War I think to transport something somewhere. I forgot my camera cord, so I'll send pictures next time!!

Well, Virginia is hot and humid and green!! I miss the mountains, but the trees are nice :)

I love ya!!

Sister Moni

MTC, Doctors and MRIs

Thursday night (May 30, 2013) my arms and legs went numb and then I couldn't walk very well.  They took me to the MTC health clinic and that doctor said to go directly to the ER at the hospital.  I had to have an MRI.  That was no fun and I felt so alone laying there.  You have to hold completely still.  The worst part was before that they tried to put an IV in my arm and failed, so my arm really hurts.  I was crying and hollering pretty loud. I hollered real loud. But then they took it out and started over. But it's ok. They found a small cyst on my pineal gland--that's in my brain.  Yuck!

When I was in the ER and they took me to do the MRI (about midnight) I got scared. I told Satan to back off and he did, but I got a thought in my head. The Spirit told me this: It's ok. Your mom prayed for you. I know that because she prayed for me, everything was ok.
 

I went in Saturday morning  to get another MRI just to find out exactly what's going on with the cyst. The Dr. said they find them all the time and they're almost always benign, but they just want to make sure. And I got another IV. YAY!! Not excited. But that's ok.

 

Life is good though. I'm not worried. I told the nurses that I'm going to Virginia next week no matter what. My comp Sis Thompson and my Sister Training Leader Sis Lund came with me and my entire district and my teachers prayed for me.

Friday night Elder Krump gave me a blessing.  It was really nice, and part of what he said was that I would make life-long friends in the MTC and out in the field.  That was nice to hear.

The MRI on Saturday was with contrast, that means with dye so they can see better.  It also made me kind of loopy and I wasn't giving much information to my parents when I got to talk to them.  I just wanted to sleep.  Sunday was good.

Monday I got the results from the second MRI--nothing, nada, zip.  But, I am officially delayed because they want me to see a neurologist and when that doctor says I can go, I can go.  But not until then.  They called around and some people said, oh yeah, we can work her in--in about two months!  But luckily they kept calling and found an appointment for Tuesday.  Love that doctor!  She asked me if I knew what was wrong.  I said no, and she said she didn't either.  She thinks it's stress.  Hmm.  Just what my mom said.  She also asked me if I felt forced to go on a mission.  My answer:  No, I've been planning this since I was 5.

Well, the neurologist said I can leave with my group on Wednesday morning!  Our plane leaves at 7:30 a.m., which means we have to leave the MTC at 4:00--IN THE MORNING!!

Now, I have to pack. . .

MTC Arrival!

Hello!!!!

 

So the MTC is amazing!! I can't even believe how awesome it is!! I'm really glad that I decided to come here and go on a mission and serve the Lord. This is exactly what I am supposed to be doing. I feel so comfortable here. My testimony in Christ has grown so much in the past couple days and I can't imagine life without Him. Life is wonderful and I am so happy.

 

My companion is super awesome! Her name is Sister Thompson and she is from Logan. In my district there are 6 elders and 6 sisters and 3 elders and 2 sisters are going to Indiana and the rest are going to Virginia with me :) The work is wonderful!! I am so happy! Read your scriptures and pray daily!! Love ya!!

 

~Sister Simona Richardson