HOLY CRAZY! LIFE IS INSANE!!!!!

Dearest darlingest momsy and popsicle :) and clan and all you wonderful friends and fam that i LOVE!

as stated very firmly above, life is insane. and bc you are all living it, i'm sure you'll agree. i love hearing what is going on in your lives! i'm so sorry i've been not the best at responding, but please know i'm thinking of you and trying to get letters out--especiall mom's really super huge and top-secret one :)

it's official. david archuleta is here. same day as petah. so crazy. can't believe it. and i've been very very close to him like 3 or 4 times and remained very calm and collected. he is tiny. he is beautiful. and he's in the mtc choir, which is making many ppl pretty uptight, since lots and lotsa ppl wanted to be in it and didn't make it for one reason or another. all we did was fill out papers that listed our experience. not too fancy. but those poor ppl will have to deal bc i highly doubt elder archuleta got down on his knees on his first whirlwind of a day here and begged to be in the choir. let's be logical. "oh, i'm not famous enough and i'd like my mission to be an extension of my career, so may i PLEEEEASE be on tv!?!?!" yeah. not happening. but for whatever reason, he was there dark and early the very next morning at rehearsal. wowsa. and sis. w was telling me how ridiculous it is that ppl can't seem to let it go. she said at breakfast yesterday, " there are worse things than having a really good singer in the mtc choir for general conference." and i said, "amen." and that was even coming from a not-on-the-david-archuleta-bandwagon sister wight. so there. they can all suck a toe, right? well, i'll be nicer. but it's still in the "i don't have control over it" category, so i guess it is, like many circumstances i will face on my mission, not worth complaining about. and HECK! i wouldn't complain anyway! i get to see someone whom i've been dreaming of singing with for about a couple years now almost every day! SWEET! even though we do no more than possibly smile at each other in passing... if that's happened, yet. he's very private, i believe. and doesn't seem to want any attention.

well, enough of that. now my time's almost up bc this lady from the manila office emailed me about a favor and stuff. i'm sorry!!!!!!!

i am in in-field orientation all day today, so this is a nice break. it's really good, actually. even though we sit a lot, there are lots of things i didn't know before that will help me in the field. and no pday for us bc of gen con this weekend and everything. so weird. i don't have a clue when i'll pack and clean bc we're gone almost all of tomorrow to sing. oh my. it's been a blur. i can't even believe i've been here 5 and 1/2 weeks. i cried when i said goodbye to bro. may last night. one of our teachers. and the thought of saying goodbye to br. langer is way worse. i love him so much. i can't even discribe it. i wish i could. but it's crazy amazing. i love these ppl, especially my dear japanese friends and zone and teachers, so much. and the filipino ppl i've met here are incredible. i can't wait to be around them always. even though i've been crying myself to sleep practically for the last couple nights bc i'm terrrified. i'm still so excited. honestly, if i can do this, i can do anything. i've never been more scared in my life. but i know i'm going to love it. i know i'll love it like i love br. langer, the best teacher i've ever had--- i hate it bc it's hard on me, but i love it for how it makes me grow and for the feelings i get here. the love of my Savior and God's children. and life is that kind of teacher. we just have to be humble enough to love it-- bc it is God's plan for us and He loves us.

i hope you understand what i truly mean. bc i didn't say it well. i love my mission. i've never made a better decision in my life. but there are hard things--- like languages and fear and goodbyes. but they're all part of a journey. a beautiful, glorious one that I LOVE SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!

thank you for being central parts to my journey. you are my strength and my support. Heavenly Father helps me in countless ways thru you. thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!


that is my testimony, or a part of it. God lives. He knows. He loves. Joseph Smith restored the true church of Jesus Christ. the bom is true. in the name of Jesus Christ. amen.

love sis r

This week's letter :)

hoy, pamilya ko!


sorry, mom and dad. i love you and i'll email you at the right address next time so you can get it to your phones.it's my fault. I FORTOT THE ADDRESSES at my residnen :(

and on that happy note, we got our flight plans today!!!!!!!! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! what am i going to do?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!!??? pee my pants. and cry. and run home. and run back. and probably laugh hysterically at 2 in the morning on the plane. and annoy the ppl around me. and.... sleep, i hope.
sister w and i had a very great blessing today. at the temple, we did sealings and one of the ladies in one of the three older couples with whom we did sealings was from the P! Crazy. And she was so cute. so pretty. she spoke to us in Tagalog a little bit after the session and we just talked for a minute about the P and how sis W is going to learn one or 2 more dialects bc of where she's serving and stuff. nuts. i'm grateful that i should have tp in manila. and sis w can get it at the market. a sister who volunteers here for TRC ( when we teach mostly RMs lessons on thurs evenings) served in the Angeles mission where sis W is going and told her that. she said she'll never have anyone but P companions. never from the states. crazy.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE PACKAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was more love and joy than i can handle and I went crazy! i've been sharing with ppl and they love me :) and you, mom, and your yummy treats :) elder koch (cook) said he wants to meet you and have you make him tasty yummy rainbow treats always. lol he's one of our japanese-going friends from bolibol. they're hilarious. i love all the friends i've made here. they are so great. THANK YOU for the bubbles, the treats, the clothes---everything! The quarters i will use before i fly out, if i can. i think i'll get that chance. and i should have some layovers. i need to get the rest of the info from travel office. i know i leave monday evening... shoot a mile. i'm sorry. my memory works... when it wants to. sis W and i don't fly together and that breaks my heart. but i'll be with the elders in my district, probably the entire time since we all go to manila. we change flights in LA and Hong Kong. holy crizazy. i can't even believe it. WHAT AM I GONNA DO IN HONG KONG?!?!? lol breathe. i'll do those deep, relaxing breaths that pres. brown taught us in a devotional.

please tell aunt Bob and sister murdoch and christina and john thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!! their help, love and support means so much to me! I've started a letter to aunt barb and i'm sending one to noah today. i will thank and reply as soon as i can! they're so great! those socks were so great, Aunt Barb! i'm excited! they'll be a great help!

the lady in the temple today said we'll just be constantly dripping wet bc it's so hot and humid. omgosh! this is insane!!!!!!!!!!!

OH YES! and sis W and I are singing in the Gen Con MTC choir saturday afternoon session!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so look for me and i'll smile HUGE for YOU! and i still need to write to Craig as well. Aaron has some on the way, too.

i have no time left!!!! but I LOVE YOU! Thank you for your frequent mail-- it makes my heart to happy! Sis W could prob use more... she's great.

love sis R

How do i love thee...

Well, Pamilya ko!!!!! Kumusta po kayo?!?!?

How is evwybody?? THANK YOU for your letters! I've been able to read from youngest to oldest, up til Rae. So i need to read Rae's and Mom's and Dad's still. AND I WILL! I'm sorry! I got to look at the cute notes from the Millers, Thanks, Lou! SOOOOO CUTE! and i read Noah B's letter :) tell him i'll write him back asap and his puff ppl are stinking the COOLEST! seriously. what a talented young man.

Becca, I am doing mighty fine! I think your letter was super, so i wouldn't be surprised if it was even the best letter i've ever read! it had to be the best you've ever written! joseph, thanks for the line ;) it was so fun to hear from you. how is school going? how are your friends? Lou, don't you worry, girl! I totally miss you, too! you all make me smile so much! memories with you make me grin :D i love having some fun pics of our family on my camera to look at. however, Rae darling is missing :( that is sad news. she must have been out with some cute boy the night we snapped those ;) so i need a cute lil pic of pamilya natin. cuz our pamilya is da best!!!

so funny story of the week... or one of them. i was walking along in the capeteriya, when all of a sudden... i hear a loud clatter and some gasps and a poor, frantic face of an elder as he hurried to clean up his dropped tray. i stood by for a moment in a bit of a traffic jam and then, just before he could start apologizing profusely, i realized my knee-highs were splattered with ranch. he had a small bowl full of ranch dressing for his salad that had somehow ended up on my tights. poor soul. but he was so sweet. and so was sister wight. she told him that of all the ppl he could have spilled on, i was probably the best one. how nice is that??!!?! yeah, she's pretty cool, no big deal :) but anyway, ironically enough, his name is Elder Pitts. Go figure.

So i heard from krek. i'll write him back soon. his letter was full of personality, as per usual. it was fun to read. and christina from our ward wrote me a very sweet letter that i need to respond to soon as well. bless her. she's so selfless. i love getting love from home. it is a huge blessing. especially since, in all honesty, it is very difficult for a girl who just loves love to not be able to receive any of that kind of sweet attention. bless aaron and his thoughtful package. i'll be getting him his thank you, but will you thank him? he's sooo great. i don't know how he does that. i love your love, everyone!!!!! i feel like i just need some every now and then.

so couple quick happy thoughts before dinner-- i know, right??? at 4;40 ?!?!?!? but they've conditioned me. i'm already hungry right now. and i'll be hungry at bedtime. those bums-- I knocked on this lady's door whose office is next to the women's bathroom in one of the buildings. (why are all the buildings numbered with an M? this makes no sense. if they're all #__M, then WHY PUT THE M???) but the toilet inside the bathroom was possessed. no kidding. it's not even automatic and it was flushing nonstop. so sis w and i stopped in for a visit with the building maintenance lady. so sweeet!!!!!!!!!!!! she made my day. she gave us a "mom" hug! and told us to come by for one any time! I think i want one tonight on the way to dinner.

another story: i french braided my own hair. like 3 times now. and i'm getting better. this is crazy bc i've never french braided anything successfully before. WOOHOO! and alyssa, we go to Music and the Spoken Word each week on sunday and there was a crizazy amizazing organ solo last week. insane. that's you in 10 yrs. no joke.

mom, there is a notary public. i'm sending you a top secret letter along with information on package sending to the P and in that info, it says that the safest way to send money is prob thru a bank account and debit card, but we should only keep a little in the acct at a time.... so we should prob switch asap if possible. i'll take care of that tomorrow, prob. will that work???

i am now the coordinating sister for our branch.. i didn't think i could get busier, but  i just did. but not much. it's reallyokay. the only diff is i have a few meetings a week and i have to miss gym sometimes if necessary :( :( :( but i get to serve my sisters!!!! so fun. sis w and i are now the minority in our room. lol well kinda. sis aoina is samoan and from new zealand. sis obeira is from kiribati and so are the two other sisters, palai and teunaia. sweet sisters with amazing stories. how dang spoiled i am!!!!!!!!!

one more quick note before i go :(. something made me laugh and does frequently and reminds me of alysssasss lisp talk that she doesss. sis w's younger bro abbreviates words in speech, too, just to make fun of ppl like lou does. and he says things are "tots innappropro" like totally inappropriate!!! so funny. love love love.

also, sis w likes mika songs, too. so you can't think i'm weird for liking him anymore. we've sung like 3 mika songs in the shower. that's bonding. that is love.

anyway, yes, i kinda do want those lyrics. i'm writing my own raps anyway... or at least i will when i have time.... but i dont have time. it's the Lord's time. so i shouldn't write raps... maybe. but it builds zone unity :) and unity with the japanese-going elders who are our laundry and bolibol friends.... is that good enough justification? you ponder on that and let me know.


mom, thank you so much for the scripture you gave.. and then for the thoughts you shared from experience and study. you have no idea how perfect that all has been for my needs. thank you for being inspired.

i love you all so much.

i am trying to be a better, more focused missionary for you. because you deserve that and the Church deserves it, and my God deserves it and everyone whose lives will cross mine deserve it. i am so imperfect. i waste time and mess up and get discouraged or scared or something else equally negative frequently. but i am trying. i'm a human being, but like E Holland said specifically to me and the missionaries here, I have no right to lower the standard that has been set for missionary work. i am trying.

love, sis richardson

Hello, Daddy and Richardson family!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You are the stinkin best! Dad, thanks for working so hard!!! You are the best dad ever. And thank you, Mom, for your supportive letters! They are not too much, don't worry. It's nice to get mail and hear what's going on.

Lou, we got reprimanded for singing and talking about JB on his bday. Br. Langer (our main language teacher) said blablahblahTagalogblah...don't babble on about babylon...blahTagalogblah. He's fat. I told him to suck a toe in my head. Maybe that's not good missionery attitude... whatever. Sis Wight and i are cool anyway. and i hope i didn't tell you about it already. that'd be embarrassing.

about our investigators... kyle is doing well :) toni is difficult. he's catholic, too, and believes the priesthood was never gone... if there's no apostasy, there's no need for restoration. we're praying to know how to approach this tactfully and directly.

missionary work is TOTALLY different from what i thought!!!! And also the same. but the mtc... i can't explain it. it's great. i have so many friends here. i love everyone. but the other districts in our zone have missionaries w/ disobedience issues and that makes it difficult. we have probably the most social floor of any building of the mtc, which is an ultimate challenge for me when i should be studying--as if i can't distract myself easily enough. and I LOVE PPL! UGH! so hard. but i've been praying for help and ideas to know how to better focus, even when those around me aren't. our district is good, but we could do lots better.
sister aoina had the knee surgery and will be staying behind and flying out with our disctrict (B) and district A instead of her own. They had been here 6 weeks when we got here, so they leave monday and tuesday this coming week. WHOAH. can't believe we're gonna be halfway thru the mtc so soon. i'm kinda pumped just to get out there, but my language still needs insane help. the sentence structure is different from english and the order of nouns doesn't matter, but you have to label them correctly depending on the focus of the sentence. plus, the verb comes first in the sentence and... yikes. lots to think about at once. it can take me more than a few minutes to form a sentence sometimes. not very cool. my taglish is sorta decent, though.

i didn't realize how little spare time i would have, either. i mean, i wrote aaron last week on pday and still haven't gotten it in the mail. what's with that? i guess i knew enough from what craig said a few years ago that i'd have no extra time. i just didn't realize what that would mean.
we're getting better at being on time to things. it's hard with a trio. if anyone forgets anything, we go back. if anyone's slow, we wait. but we all know how fast i am ;)

i've been pretty good about keeping out the things of the world and not worrying about them... except when it comes to movies and music. i quote movies with sis wight all the time and i sing pop music a LOT, especially now that i'm not really sick anymore. alyssa, will you do me a huge favor and send me the rap lyrics to stereohearts? please? i wanna learn it! and i'm gonnna write a zone/district B and A rap! the elders in district A are always rapping lol. it'll be SWEET! i'll send it to you and explain the inside jokes.

i think the food here is preparing me for the philippines bc nothing stays in me for too long. but i'm eating my fruits and veggies like a good sister. maybe my digestive system will need the rice and stuff. rae, how is your trimester going? is it freaking you out to think about college, or is it exciting? lou, how are your classes? how's the work load? joseph, how are the bball moves coming? i saw a guy ally-oop alone by himself while i waited in line for volleyball and it made me think of you :) you'll be doing that on the big hoops in no time! boo, how is school? how's your class? what are you reading?

there's not much time left and i know i prob didn't respond to most of your questions. im sorry. i'll try to be more organized about my answers from now on. still no word on notary public, but i'll look into it. if you haven't sent a package, yet, would you mind maybe slipping in my straightener? i kinda miss it, especially when other sisters make their hair all cute. i planned only for the field. and i didn't realize how many cute clothes would be acceptable here!!! my wardrobe is hideous compared to what i wore at home :D hahah sad but true. so many sisters just wear what i would have worn at home. totally okay here. though most of those things i would send home before i get to the P so they wouldn't get ruined. sad day.

i can't remember anything that i would need from home when i email. i only remember when i actually miss it. so i must be fine. if you haven't been able to send the package yet, don't stress. just follow the Spirit :) i'm doing just fine and i don't wanna stress you out, mom. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

btw, the robe was brilliant. i use it to get back and forth to the shower. and thank michelle 'cuz my luggage came with the perfect case for toiletries. use it every day. good good stuff. anything i can do for you? mom, i will send you a personal letter here shortly with some mom-only info ;) cause you're just that cool!
i'm technically going over my alotted time to talk to you, so i'd better improve my typing skills. the mtc is hard, but good! learning a language like this is tough. but with faith in the Lord and confidence in my calling and abilities, i know i'll get there. when i come home, i'll speak tagalog more easily than english for a while. i'm excited for that. that is my goal and desire. it won't ever be my first language, but it will be second nature. The Lord provides a way! and volleyball is a great release. laughter is the best medicine. tell me funny stories!

love, kykstumvella, the coolest sister missionary on the block

Mahal kita!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HEYO!

Dear pamilya,

THANK YOU for your letters! Alyssa, yours made me smile :) I miss you all! I miss being with you, but I don't really miss being home except that I can't nap and I'm still sick. It's nice to nap when you're sick.

This keyboard is waaaay better than the one i used in the laundry room. don't miss that at all.

 ...

tagalog is getting easier to understand... memorization is mahirap, which means difficult. kyle is progressing :) :) :) we watched a clip that he recorded for the mtc to show our little district that was in english, so we could definitely understand. he talked about reading the bom the first night after we taught him bc even though he was so tired, he knew how excited we were and didn't want to let us down. he said he knew we cared about him. we taught him mtw this week and he accepted our companionship's invite to attend church here at the mtc with our little branch on sunday! we checked to make sure that was okay and br. langer, our teacher, said he'd tell him the details of when and where. our branch consists of 3 districts-- two of which are new and one that's been here 7 weeks and they leave soon. our district is two elder companionships and our trio of three sisters. the other newbies are two elder compships and two sister compships and the oder district is two elder compships and one sister compship. that older sister compship is in our room in the residences. they're great sisters and very opposite of each other. sister aoina (a-ween-a) is from new zealand and has lava-lavas :) very nice, quieter sister. she had surgery this morning to scope her knee to see what's wrong with it. she hurt it playing 4square, which is super intense here and i'll never play, during her first week or so. sister curtis is a blonde, super girly cheerleader with a social personality and they said at first the two of them clashed. but they get along really well now.

the elders in our district are great. elder tumanuvau (too-mahn-oo-vow) is samoan and i LOVE his accent! elder woolf, his comp, is from washington or something and is a smart little bugger. elder meek is a slc boy i think and is pretty quiet but has a really goofy side that randomly pops out and cracks us up. elder cornelius is from rexburg and goes to byui and is very stubborn and hilarious. i feel like he's gonna do well in the field, but he just has to decide to stay and for the right reasons. he can do anything he sets his mind to. but i think the feeling i had in the first few days has not gone away for him yet. i wanted to cry and disappear. it was way hard. but at the end of day 2 or 3 we had comp inventory and just shared feelings and i felt better after a few tears. that's the only time i've cried.

sorry if i say stuff i've alread said since i can't remember what i've told you sometimes.

we're gonna have 2 more investigators soon and we're going to ask kyle to be baptized the next time we meet with him, tho we aren't sure when that is. we know he feels our love, now we want him to feel God's love and want to be part of His church!

oopsh it wants me off the comp. love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!