September 8th, 2009

Thanks for the Email. Sorry that I did not write yesterday. It was because we had a Zone Development Meeting in Bordeaux. It pretty much turned our to be the longest day of my mission with the least amount accomplished. There is a story behind it and it all started with waking up at 4:45a.m. so we could catch our train. We got to the gare (train station) 5 minutes before the train was to take off. There were two trains like the one we were to take. The thing is, we only saw one and we didn't think there would be two of that same kind since they are a nicer type of train and kind of rare. So we hopped on what we thought to be the right train, but turned out to be a train going in the opposite direction. We realized our mistake just seconds after the doors shut and the train started going. So to make this long story short, after three seperate trains, two diffrent buses, and a tram ride, we made it to our Zone Development Meeting an hour and a half to two hours late and the meeting was only scheduled to be three hours long. It was fun, but the day didn't end there. We finished the Meeting, had interviews with President and got ready to head back to Pau. The only problem was we didn't make it back to the gare in time to catch our train back because the tram to the gare was broken. So we got to wait for another two hours for the next train back to Pau. So finally after the waiting, we got on our train and rode home in a super hot train car and arrived back in Pau at about seven o'clock. It was a long and crazy ride for an hour and a half of meeting, haha. It was fun though and it's at least fun to recount. I'm glad there were four of us to share this expierence. Me and Elder Moon and also Elder Smith and Elder Borhen who are the other compainionship in Pau with us.

Now to respond to questions. I live on the third floor of a one room apartment and when I say one room I mean one room not one bed room. It is small but big enough and it is fairly nice at least compared to some other apartments I have seen here. It has become home and it has all the things it needs to feel like a home in terms of cooking and sleeping. My address here is 33b avenue du 18éme R.I. #21, Pau France. I hope that is right or can at least get you to it by google earth. It's possible that this time next week I won't be here though. Transfer calls are this Friday. Crazy, because that means I'm already done with my first transfer pretty much. Wow, time goes by fast.

It is much cooler here now and getting cooler every day, which is awesome. I have taught quite a few lessons by now. We teach around ten or so each week whether it be investigators, members, or less active\ recent converts. I love teaching lessons even though it is hard to get what I want to say to come out sometimes. OH and yes sometimes we get invited to lunch or dinner by members, probably like 5 or 6 time now. It's sweet. Letters are forwarded to us as soon as they get to the mission office not like packages. By the way I didn't get the dear elder care package yet and they brought packages for those who had them to zone development yesterday. That must mean they do take quite a while to get here.

So pretty much that story about Montbeliard sounds very familiar, Dad. I had no idea how big of a deal summer vacation was, though until school started again just this last week. The ville felt like it transformed and it feels like it is now crawling with people. It's crazy, but great at the same time because the work has pick up already because vacation is over.

It is too bad everyone there is sick. Hopefully you are all over it by now or are at least getting a bit better. So glad to hear about the Cougar victory. GO Cougs! Also, thanks for trying to send the root beer. It was a valiant effort and I understand haha. Well, I hope I responded to everything you asked. All is well. Thanks for the emails again and I hope you all have a great week.
Elder Ritter