This website chronicles the blessed life of Larry Leon Richman—a work in progress.
This website is currently being built and is only partially completed.
Sections Completed
- Actor
- Author
- Mission. This section about my mission and the Guatemala earthquake of 1976 contains almost all the photos I have, along with commentary. Over the coming months, I plan to add more commentary from my missionary journal and mission letters.
- Translator, Linguist, and Cultural Anthropologist
Other Links
- See RichmanFamily.org for family photos and stories about my ancestors.
- See a list of translations into Cakchiquel as well as a history of Cakchiquel translation in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
- See the Wikipedia entry for Larry Leon Richman
- Follow Larry Richman on Facebook.
- Follow Larry Richman on Twitter.
- Follow Larry Richman on LinkedIn.
- Follow LDS365.com (also follow at Facebook.com/LDS365).
Prologue
I’ve always respected the need to keep a journal, even though there were years in my life with very few journal entries. Spencer W. Kimball once said, “Those who keep a book of remembrance are more likely to keep the Lord in remembrance in their daily lives. Journals are a way of counting our blessings and of leaving an inventory of these blessings for our posterity.” (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1982, p. 349.) (“Listen to the Prophets,” Ensign, May 1978)
Journaling helps us understand life. Re-reading journal entries and compiling them into a life history gives us perspective. We never really know where we are going until we look back. Journaling and reflecting on life can help us be more grateful for what the Lord does in our lives.
I love this quote: “Though I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor what I hope to be, I can truly say, I am not what I once was.” ― John Newton (the man who wrote the hymn “Amazing Grace”)
I wanted to name this life history something like “The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man,” or “The Blessed Life of an Ordinary Man” or even “The Remarkable Life of Larry Richman,” but I don’t want people to think I believe I’m something super ordinary. My life is blessed, remarkable, and yes, even extraordinary—not because of what I’ve done but because of the remarkable things the Lord has done in my life.
When I was a child, our family had the tradition that each new year for family home evening, each person would write down what happened that year—where we went on vacation, what happened at school or work, and so forth. I wish I would have kept up that tradition with my own family. It was a valuable source of information to me to compile my dad’s history and my history.
“One day, you will tell your story of how you overcame what you went through and it will be someone else’s survival guide.” ̶ Anonymous
President Spencer W. Kimball offered this challenge: “Get a notebook…a journal that will last through all time, and maybe the angels may quote from it for eternity. Begin today and write in it your goings and comings, your deepest thoughts, your achievements and your failures, your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your testimonies.” (“The Angels May Quote from It,” New Era, Oct 1975)
I find it difficult to organize my life history. I tried to make it chronological, but then it seemed to be a random travelogue that wasn’t very interesting. So, I’ve organized it topically, which means that things will jump around a bit chronologically, but I think the topics allow me to step back a bit and give perspective. At the end, there will be a section that shows my life sequentially. These are the things that don’t fit neatly in any of the previous topical chapters.
I’ll publish chapters to this website as I complete them.