Week 75 - Andersen, Missouri

 Hey all! 

 Another week in the sticks 

I'm starting to really love this place. The pace sure is different from Fayetteville and the UofA but the folks are just so kind and humble and the sulphur in the water here really spices up normally boring activities like brushing my teeth, showering, drinking water, etc.

I don't have a whole lot of time tonight so I'll keep this one short, but even if I can't write all of them, rest assured that something bizarre and/or wonderful happens to the missionaries in Anderson every single day.

 This week, I/we... 

 - ate two Thanksgiving dinners with only an hour in between them 

- found a cool millipede in the basement. 10/10 would recommend basement millipede-watching

- played guess the body part with Pohnpeian mystery barbecue. Think I got an elbow

- found out that I lived with my current companion Elder Perry's cousin, who's also named Elder Perry, in Bentonville almost exactly a year ago! 

- started working with an awesome younger couple named, the Lionhearts, to streamline our ward records and visit lost members of the fold who might not have had contact with the Church for a while. I don't really know how to describe how awesome they are. Both of them converted to the Church 6 and 12 years ago, respectively, and have been an absolute power couple since they got married a year ago. Plus, their chocolate lab Aslan is a nice stand-in for Charlie too (you're still #1 Charlie don't worry)

- finished the Book of Mormon again! As always, please try it for yourself and ask God. He will never lead you wrong. 

~

Song of the week: "Here I Am Again" by Luz Ysabelle Cuevas (see Sacred Music app) 

Google Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/2sk1refRidSszyYk7

Check out this awesome nativity video called "The Christ Child"! It's definitely worth a watch: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/video/light-the-world/2019-09-0050-the-christ-child-a-nativity-story-lighttheworld-1080p?lang=eng

Scripture of the week: Moroni 10:7-19

~

Cool story:

 Last night, we decided to stop at the gas station called Casey's to buy some drinks on the way to the church building and casually struck up a conversation with a nice young couple while in line–nothing super gospel-related, just about the best flavor of Naked Juice and how Casey's apparently considers beef to be a viable pizza topping–and I introduced myself as a missionary and pointed to my tag...which I then realized was on the sweater I was wearing underneath my jacket. Whoops. Accidentally went undercover for a minute there. Well, now that the cat was out of the bag we talked for a few seconds more and they went to buy their beef pizzas and that was it. 

...Or so we thought. 

 Flash forward to later that evening and we're meeting with the Lionhearts again and Sister Lionheart offhandedly mentions that her friend who wants to start coming back to church more will be joining us for dinner this Saturday with her boyfriend/husband(?) who isn't a member of the Church and she just happened to have the same unusual name as the girl from the couple we'd talked to at the gas station. We asked what her 

boyfriend-husband-man-dude's name was and sure enough, we'd talked to them not two hours earlier. The Lord prompted us to open our mouths in the most unlikely of places and when we did, we unknowingly made friends with the people we're hopefully going to start teaching in a few days! God is real and good.

Love you all!

- Elder Rigby

(Elder Perry and Brother William, one of our awesome Pohnpeian members)

Week 69 - Fayetteville, Arkansas

16 months! I'm officially two-thirds of the way through my mission. I've been procrastinating this email all day so it's about time to get this thing done.

♤ Man, our friend Byron is so cool. We've been blessed with a lot of friends to teach lately, but teaching him has been extra special. We taught him God's plan over the course of two lessons and I think it was the best Plan of Redemption lesson I've been involved in my whole mission. It was awesome. He's searching for truth he told us himself that "if I find that this really is Jesus Christ's true Church then I will immediately be baptized." All we could ask for. 

♡ Our new members here are amazing!! Seriously, they're the most consistent and involved in the Gospel of any group of recent converts I've been able to serve with. One of them asked out of the blue to meet with us and we got kinda worried but instead of saying her faith was struggling she just asked us how she could get better at sharing the Gospel with her family. "I don't get it! Why doesn't my Nana wanna get baptized yet?? The Gospel is so amazing!"

◇ UArk had its homecoming game versus LSU and once again the entire city showed up to watch. It's always a crazy night trying to find somebody who wants to talk about the Gospel in the middle of a Hogs-Tigers showdown. Too bad our boys lost 

-> 

♧ An older couple serving in our college ward held a backyard concert/tailgate party on gameday and holy cow it was insanely good. The band consisted of the brother in our ward plus three of his sons (one of whom has a music theory PH-D) and one of his granddaughters and they absolutely shredded together. One of our friends who happens to also be in a band showed up with one of his bandmates and when the PH-D guy soloed over "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" by the Beatles we all went crazy. It was seriously one of the best guitar solos I've ever heard. Man, this area is great. 

Song of the week: "Pillowcase" by No Vacation

Thought: Mormon Preserves the Record

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/video/mormon-1-7/2024-01-0900-mormon-preserves-the-record?lang=eng

Sometimes scripture videos can be a little cheesy, but I've gotta say this one was good. It can be easy to forget how dark the scriptures can get and then someone accurately depicts it in film and wow, it's dark. 

 Because we live in a fallen world and God gives us the freedom to choose light or darkness for ourselves, the army of God is going to see some casualties. The Lord says three times in the Gospel of John that Satan is "the prince of this world," after all. We're not in friendly territory. 

 But read this sentence from the last words of Mormon and tell me who wins in the end:

Know ye that ye must come to the knowledge of your fathers, and repent of all your sins and iniquities, and believe in Jesus Christ, that he is the Son of God, and that he was slain by the Jews, and by the power of the Father he hath risen again, whereby he hath gained the victory over the grave; and also in him is the sting of death swallowed up. - Mormon 7:5

In Christ lies the victory. He is real, He is good, and He has a plan for you. Trust Him, repent every day, and follow His words and I promise you'll end up with Him again. If you're lucky, He'll even use you to help others make it home too. 

Love, 

Elder Rigby

oxytocin

Week 68: Skim-friendly email - Fayetteville, Arkansas

 Hey all!

Short email this week. Elder Wasden and I are doing great and we're seeing some awesome miracles here at the University of Arkansas!

Fun stuff from this week:

- Got called to repentance with a Book of Mormon scripture by a friend we're teaching (2 Nephi 9:34)

- YSA members be like:

"Hey we're teaching your friend Byron downstairs" "What?? Byron's here?!?"

"Hey can we all come to your lesson on Wednesday? Your friend's so cool."

"Hey Elder Wasden, you get in the car too. I'll back you guys"

- We've been teaching quite a few friends here lately and it's been amazing. I think that Fayetteville YSA has become my favorite area I've served in yet. I have precious friends and memories from every single one of my areas, but this one is just such a blast.

Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/2sk1refRidSszyYk7

~

We've got a big lesson tomorrow with a friend of ours. We've only known him for about a week and a half, but in that time he's come to two lessons, our Book of Mormon group study, and church and has perfectly kept every commitment we've given him. We have a ton in common, from our personalities to the way we think to the things we like, and we've clicked so well that I just can't help but wonder, "Was I called to this area specifically so that I'd be able to meet him?" I want so badly for him to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

So, if you're able, please pray for our friend Byron. He'll make such a wonderful member of the Lord's Church should he choose to seek for and act on that confirming witness from the Holy Spirit of the truth of Christ's restored gospel.

~

Thought: 無為 (mu-i)

"Seek Him with All Your Heart" by Bishop L. Todd Budge

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2024/10/45budge?lang=eng

Love, Elder Rigby

Week 67 - Fayetteville, Arkansas

Hey all!

I think I've felt every single emotion this week. Like, the whole color wheel. From General Conference to transfer news to crazy lessons my own lovely demons, I'm just all outta feels, man.

♤ Transfers! So long, Elder Foster. It's been a good ride. He's heading up to Stockton, MO and I'll be staying in the YSA and serving with Elder Wasden! I've served near him before and he's a real cheery guy. 

♧ Crazy lessons! We taught our first lesson to an atheist dude who was just so full of questions and he and totally I ADHD'ed out so hard while Elder Foster sat there and looked at us like we were crazy, which was a fair assumption. The best part was that when we told him that General Conference was that weekend, he basically said "Wait, your prophet is speaking in two days?? I'm watching that for sure." ("Chyesss!" - Ignacio)

◇ Rough weekend. 'Nuff said for now. Thank goodness that Christ is always there for us in our dark times.

♡ General Conference! All of the speakers were outstanding and I was so fired up and ready to share the Gospel by the time it ended haha. The Saturday evening session was probably my favorite. I'm so thankful for prophets of God and the chance we have to come to know the Savior better through their words. 

☆ Went on a hike for P-day today at Devil's Den State Park and man, Arkansas is criminally underrated. This place is gorgeous. Check out some pics: https://photos.app.goo.gl/2sk1refRidSszyYk7

○ Want a cool statistic? Numbers aren't everything, of course, but check this out: last year, 25,000 students attended high school seminary with their friends in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and 9,000 of them chose to be baptized and confirmed - over one-third. The math says that if three of your friends come to Seminary with you, statistically speaking, one of them will choose to join the Lord's fold. If you and your classmates each brought just one friend to seminary per quarter, you'd double your class size in less than a school year. 

Song of the week: "Now My Feet Won't Touch the Ground" by Coldplay

~

Thought: The Triumph of Hope by Neil L. Andersen

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2024/10/12andersen?lang=eng

What better way to hear the news?

Elder Andersen was the first speaker in this year's October Generall Conference, and in it, he talked all about his grand-nephew, Trey. The funny thing is, we were actually in the same ward at BYU! Lived on the same floor and everything. He was a pretty quiet dude, but I recognized him instantly. It made me so happy to see him up on the screen and even happier to hear he'd gotten accepted to the BYU accounting program and even planned to serve a full-time mission! ...And then Elder Andersen told more of his story. 

 Honestly, I didn't know him super well despite having gone to church with him every Sunday for two semesters, but something about the idea that one of the guys I chatted with in the hall a year and a half ago just isn't alive anymore hit me like a ton of bricks. I'm assuming a lot of us from the 122nd ward found out last weekend, too, and while everyone deals with loss differently, it probably wasn't easy to process for many of us. 

But I'll say it again: what better way to hear the news? A living Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ was inspired to use Trey's story to teach the eternal truth that because of the Savior, hope will always triumph. Thanks to Christ, our story doesn't end here. 

Mosiah 16:8-9:

 But there is a resurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ. 

He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death.

Love,

Elder Rigby

Week 64: The Anti-Scronk Initiative Inbox Oliver Rigby - Fayetteville, Arkansas

Phew, what a week.

♤ Feel like I gotta explain that title first so here's a random little factoid just for some worldbuilding. One of our members served his mission in Cleveland during COVID and doom-scrolling on Facebook became such a big problem throughout the mission that the Ohio missionaries renamed it "scronking" and began an inquisition that will forever go down in mission lore as "the Anti-Scronk Initiative." I just think the name sounds funny.

♡ I love being District Leader again! It's the best assignment ever. Every week, I get to call each companionship of missionaries in Fayetteville and the surrounding towns and check up on how they and their friends are doing and it's so fun to be close with them. Plus, every Monday I get a chance to lead out a district council meeting and plan some workshops with everyone. It makes me happy. 

◇ Holy cow, gameday was so intense. We spent like five hours walking around the stadium and campus inviting people to church and it was crazy. Here's a quick figure to put things in perspective: there are about 100,000 people in Fayetteville and the first UofA home game had about 70,000 attendees. 

Hm. 

Anyways, any streeting ideas or tips would be appreciated as always!

♧ All the missionaries in the Springdale zone took a trip to the temple today! Being able to go once every three months as a big group has become so special to me. If you have a temple near your home and you belong to the Church of Jesus Christ, I'd invite you to make an appointment for the temple right now. If you're not a member of the Church, I hope you're curious about how we connect with God and our families through temples! They're real neat. Check out this guided tour through the House of the Lord in Rome if you wanna see what it's like inside one:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/2019-01-1000-two-apostles-lead-a-virtual-tour-of-the-rome-italy-temple?lang=eng

~

Songs of the week:

- "Altalenanze" by Stefano Barone

- "Early Autumn" by Ryo Fukui

- The new hymns that got released this week! Tell me your favorite hymn and I'll try to listen to it.

Cool sermon: Seeing God’s Family through the Overview Lens by Sister Tamara W. Runia

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2023/10/33runia?lang=eng

~

Thought: Symbols of Christ

 Symbols are those things tied with ideas and emotions used to convey thoughts and feelings that can't be well-expressed with words. Said Elder Bruce R. McConkie:

It is wholesome and proper to look for similitudes of Christ everywhere and to use them repeatedly in keeping him and his laws uppermost in our minds.

 I flipped open my Bible earlier this week and landed on Revelation 22, the very last chapter of the New Testament, and was struck by how many symbols the Lord uses when declaring His divine mission to His disciple, John the Revelator. Which of these symbols of the Lord and His redeeming power is your favorite?

 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. 

 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. 

 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

Love,

Elder Rigby

p.s. Sorry I haven't responded to many emails lately! My last two Wednesdays have been way busy. I'll do my best to get back to you next week.

p.p.s. Dogs make me happy 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SqxuRlIKL0JnXwZg9GltpTdJbDBY0NuZ/view?usp=drivesdk

Week 60: #1 Loon Fan - Fayetteville, Arkansas

Hey everyone,

This week was pretty eventful! I'm gonna do some bullet points this time so my word count isn't in the ten thousands.

Spiritual

- Surprise exchanges with Elder Smythe and Elder Shields, the traveling missionaries! Elder Smythe, my 3.5th companion, goes home this Saturday. I'm gonna miss him. 

- Interviews with President Hathaway! I really trust him as my leader. He's a man of God.

- We set up a free lemonade stand on campus with the senior missionaries and a Chinese exchange student they met came to church on Sunday! He's a super nice guy whose uncle told him to join a Christian church and we're happy to help with that. 

- Got Bible-bashed like five times (three in one day on Thursday ) and dodged a few more. Not fun, would not recommend. But seeing as how Jesus Christ is the most controversial figure in the history of the world, go figure that His true gospel is controversial too. 

- In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the focus of our Sunday meetings is around an observance instituted by Jesus Christ and known as the Sacrament (aka the Lord's Supper, the Holy Communion/Eucharist, etc.) and I had the opportunity to pass it to the congregation last week. The building was packed to the point that we used all of our trays and ended up being just one cup short, the one that would have been for me. It was sooooo hard to keep a straight face walking all the way to the back of the room, grabbing one single Sacrament cup, filling it up, walking all the way back, and saying the blessing on the water all over again, but all laughs aside it was actually a powerful testament to the fact that Jesus Christ's gospel is a gospel of leaving the ninety and nine for the one. 

- Our friend from the Rogers sister missionaries is doing amazing. She is so cool. Her baptism date is September 8th and we had another lesson with her tonight!

- Knocked a guy's door and he opened and said something like "I talked to you two a week ago and I'm just gonna tell you organized religion has been starting wars and killing people since like the 1300's." And we were like "Yeah man, we totally agree. That's why we need modern prophets to restore Jesus Christ's original church back to the earth." And he was like "Hmmmm... let's meet for coffee sometime." One thing led to another and we taught him and his wife on Monday and they're so cool. Now they're coming to a handoff lesson at the church with the family missionaries on Friday 

-  Campus contacting while school is in session is insane. There are just so. many. people. I usually didn't have any problem talking with everyone but as the amount of people we've talked to has gone from a drinking fountain to a fire hose I've started to see the limits of my social battery. However, I've also seen a bunch of tender mercy pick-me-ups showing me that the Lord is aware of my shortcomings. My two favorites were a miraculous spur-of-the-moment church tour with a girl we met on campus two days ago and an awesome exchange with my zone leader Élder Crim yesterday.

Fun

- Did some yoga 

- Bought a drink cup with a snack lid for five bucks and put pistachios in it. Legendary purchase

- Had six Elders in our apartment for five days in a row because theirs was getting sprayed for mold. We threw a birthday party for Elder Peterson with the ZLs  

- There's a K-dog place in Fayetteville let's go!!!!! I've eaten three Korean corn dogs in the last week. 

- Totally sliced my finger open cutting a bagel with a butter knife. We live in a fallen world I guess. 

- Talked to a Japanese guy on campus and he was holding three of the same T-shirt so we asked where he got them and he was just like "here you go, you can have them" even though we were 90% sure he definitely got them for himself. Dang Nihonjin are too polite. 俺はどろぼうになったようだね。

- Saw a sticker that said "Hug a loon" with a little drawing of a loon (the bird) next to it. If anyone knows the deeper meaning of this, please clue me in. I've gotta know. 

- Songs that got stuck in my head this week: "Cat" by C418 and "Dog" also by C418. Give em a listen for me if you can 

Thought

Alma 15:18

Alma 17:1-2

"Brother" by NeedToBreathe

Brother let me be your shelter 

I'll never leave you all alone 

I can be the one you call 

When you're low, oh

Brother let me be your fortress 

When the night winds are driving on 

Be the one to light the way 

Bring you home, oh

Homie check: if you're on this email list, I care about you. Jesus Christ is the strength of parents, youth, children, families, and friends. If you need to talk, let's talk sometime.

Love,

Elder Rigby

Week 57 - Fayetteville, Arkansas

 Hey all!

Wowowow a lot has happened this week and it's way more than I have time to cover, but here goes:

 Elder Foster, my companion, is such a good kid. We've already had experiences together in just our first week that have firmly convinced me that God prepared us to be companions with each other. My last time training a young missionary was at a tough time in my mission, so I see this time as a second chance. This transfer is special to me. The Fayetteville YSA ain't gonna know what hit 'em 

 Speaking of Fayetteville...holy cow, this city is gorgeous. I don't have many pictures but I'll just say that it's awesome here. It's built right into the forest all nestled in the big, rolling Ozark hills in a way I haven't seen in any of my other areas. Plus, the whole area around UofA campus is super nice and new and there's tons of murals and art everywhere. If you don't mind the trademark Southern heat and a completely brand-new species of insect just springing into existence every single week, then this place is totally the spot.

 A couple more cool miracles:

 An Elder who gave his mission farewell talk in church my very first Sunday in the field and whose family I know super well just referred one of his friends to us and now she and two of her friends are coming to our institute scripture study tomorrow!

 Plus, we followed a prompting Elder Foster had to tract (i.e. knock doors and share messages about Christ at) a few buildings in our own apartment complex and we ended up finding some cool new people who said they'd come to institute too!

Please pray for our friends!

- Mattie

- Freddy

- Matt

~

Thought: Hymn #108 "The Lord Is My Shepherd"

Well, looks like I'm out of time this week. I absolutely love deep-diving into different teachings of and about the Savior, but I guess those things don't always have to be complicated to ring true.

When I played this hymn on the piano today, I felt the Spirit. Here's my favorite verse:

Thru the valley and shadow of death though I stray, 

Since thou art my Guardian, no evil I fear.

Thy rod shall defend me, thy staff be my stay.

No harm can befall with my Comforter near. 

No harm can befall with my Comforter near.

Music that praises God and Jesus Christ brings me light, peace, and joy, especially when I can share it with others. If you play an instrument, I invite you to magnify your God-given talent and learn a hymn to play for someone else. I promise you'll be glad you did.

Love, 

Elder Rigby