5 Months! 3-24-2014

5 months ago I was a new missionary in the MTC dreaming of what would be ahead of me. Now I'm still a pretty new missionary in the mission field dreaming of what will be ahead of me...

These have been a pretty quick 5 months. I just can't help but think about how long I still have left and how fast that is going to go. Before I know it, I will be having to catch up with the world in technology, movies, music, books, and everything else! But for now I am perfectly content serving the Lord here in Green Bay, Wisconsin!

Every missionary has his ups and downs.  I've already had my fair share of them and am expecting so many more to happen. I'm just trying to enjoy the ride!

A great analogy was given at stake conference regarding missionary work. The speaker compare the journey to the Celestial Kingdom to a road trip. She said that it was the best road trip ever, so we had better bring as many friends along as we can! What a true analogy! This is the best trip ever, so why not bring as many friends with us as we can? Might it seem difficult to invite> Sure, but the rewards are so worth it! What can we do to invite our friends with us? I encourage all of us to make a list of things that we can do to invite as many people as we can to come with us. After all, we, as well as God, want everyone to make it back to Him. We can help with that process as we invite, as we live our standards, and as we show our lights! That is after all why we are given the Light in the first place, to share it. Let your light burn bright!

I love you all so much. I think my love for you increases with every passing day!

--Elder Riggs

I was just kidding about the White Witch..... 3-17-2014

Hey everyone!

So this week has been pretty cold. March is kind of a bi-polar month, so we've been going back and forth between really cold weather and fairly warm (like, 35 degrees) weather. The white witch isn't giving up with out a fight!

So, I have been learning that I am pretty good at making omelettes. I just throw in a bunch of spices, some ham, some delicious Wisconsin cheese, and voila! A beautiful omelette!

And we made salted caramel cookies the other day for a family home evening at one of our investigators' homes! They didn't turn out quite the way I hoped they would, but they were still pretty good! For FHE we acted out Alma 20 with their kids, and they all seemed to really enjoy it!


We went to Jimmy John's the other day for lunch with the Spanish Elders, and there was a story up on the board that caused me to really think about life. The story goes like this:

"The American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Mexican replied, 'Only a little while."

The American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish?

The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs.

The American then asked,  "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip (soda) and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life."

The American scoffed, 'I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat, and with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats. Eventually, you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor,  eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA, and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise."

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?"

The which the American replied, "15-20 years."

"But what then?"

The American laughed and said, "That's the best part! When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich; you would make millions."

"Millions?" asked the fisherman. "Then what?"

The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll the village in the evening, sip (soda) and play guitar with your amigos!"

The author to this story is unknown, but it really puts things into perspective for us. What are we mission by having our focus on the future and not on the important things, like our families? If we don't appreciate what we have now, what makes us think we will appreciate what we will get in the future? God has given us so much, but how often do we find ourselves thinking, "If I could only have this..." or "If God would make this happen, then....?" What really matters most is usually sitting in front of us, wanting their father, mother, husband, wife, friend, neighbor, sister, or brother to pay attention to them, to play with them, to spend more time with them. My mission only lasts two years, and after this transfer I will be 1/4 done. I'm trying to make sure I'm not mission out on anything that's happening right now. Is it good to have goals for the future? Sure. Is it good to be reaching for something better? Absolutely, as long as it is really what we need. Too often have I not though of everything that my family was doing for me. I have realized that being out on my own just how much went on "behind the scenes" in my family. This week I challenge each of you to take a look at yourself during your spring cleaning and decide what really, I mean REALLY matters to you. Then make that your highest priority. As we do that, everything else will fall into place. After all, how many things can we bring with us after we die?

I love you all, and I'm having a blast our here (despite the cold)!

--Elder Riggs

The White Witches Power is Weakening! 3-10-2014

The snow is beginning to melt in Green Bay! We're practically having a heat wave up here! I can see grass and the sidewalks are all muddy, so the snow is almost gone. As you can see in this picture, there should only be a few more days above freezing and the snow will be completely melted!

This transfer is already over... What the heck happened? I swear I just left Sheboygan, but I've already spent 6 weeks in Green Bay and I'm going to be spending another 6 weeks here because I'm not getting transferred and neither is Elder Rytting! He is going to be here for his 6th transfer which translates to 9 months in one area! He's so excited, because a lot of good things have been happening here in Green Bay. We have some incredible investigators who have told us the Church is true and that this is God's plan for them. They are amazing. You should be hearing about a couple baptisms happening within the next few weeks!

Elder Rytting and I went shopping last P-day and I found this shield that is now hanging up in our apartment! It reminded me of Aslan, so I bough it! It only cost me $1.00 so of course I had to buy it!

I am really excited to go into this transfer. I have been doing a "spring cleaning" of sorts with myself and am going through me, to see what kind of clutter I have accumulated over the past year. Some things I know must go. Some habits need to be thrown away. Some things I know I'm definitely keeping and holding on to. I encourage each of you to do a "spring cleaning" with yourself.  What can you get rid of that might be cluttering you up? What things do you really need to hang on to? But most importantly, as you clean, be thinking about who God needs you to be. What kind of mansion is He trying to build you up to be, and are you getting in the way of that? His plan is perfect; our plan is not. Might it be painful? Absolutely. Will it be worth it? Of course. If we are so valuable to ourselves, why not give ourselves up to the Master who will mold us and change us into the best person we can be, because we can't get there on our own. Try as we might, we will still far short of perfection. He is the only way we can truly find ourselves. 

I love you all!

--Elder Riggs

Week of Miracles! 2-24-2014

Hey everyone!

This week has been just awesome! There have been so many things that have happened that were much needed here in Green Bay!

So first of all, we are teaching a guy named Keith who is totally amazing! We've taught him about the Restoration and he has accepted it quite well. Last week, Elder Rytting and I tracted into another family, Don and Katie, and we taught them the Restoration and they accepted a baptismal invite! We are meeting with them again this week, and we hope to be able to meet with their entire family because they have 5 kids. They are fantastic and we are so excited to be teaching them!

I was also able to go down to Sheboygan for the baptism of Carrie and Grace. That was memorable for sure! They gave such an amazing testimony after they were baptized. I'm glad that they made the decision to be a part of Christ's church. Grace told me afterwards that she was thinking about going on a mission when she got older. Both of them are just incredible people, and have gone through a lot to get to this point. They really know their Savior and their Heavenly
Father.

I can't believe that I've been out here in Wisconsin for 4 months now! It's kind of funny, because I'll look at how long I've been out, and some days think that it's gone by so quickly, but other days I will think that this has been the longest 4 months of my life! The days seem to last forever, but the weeks fly by. We get the transfer text next Friday, and for some reason I get this sneaking suspicion that I'm going to be training next transfer. Elder Rytting is definitely leaving because he's been in Green Bay for 5 transfers already, so it's pretty much guaranteed.

I also found this awesome hat at a gas station and just had to get it. It keep me so warm, because it's cooled down a bit after our heat wave.  We actually got up to 36 degrees one day! No wool sweater that day! Today it's back to normal though.

Well, I love you all and I will write you next week!

--Elder Riggs