New Apartment, New View

With the combining of the two Pau companionships, I moved apartments. I think I liked the other apartment better, but I've got to admit, there's a better view at this one.

Hey Family, How is life going? Things are still going well here in Pau. I'm pretty sure I'm going to miss Pau if I'm ever transfered and I'm guessing that it won't be too long until I'm transfered. I still have at least five weeks though, so that's good.

So there are a few things that I want to comment on. First of all, The Gibbons* CD. I have heard one song that was approved and Isabelle had it playing one day when we first arrived at her house, so I have only heard a very little bit, but from what I have heard, yeah it is really good. He is a very talened musician. I'm excited to see what he does with that talent. That's cool that you bought his CD and all. I know that he would appreaciate it. (*Note from editor: Elder Gibbons was Geoff's companion that just finished his mission and is now home. He is a musician and has a CD on iTunes)

Next, Christmas. I will call you from Isabelle's house. She has free calling from her house so at this point in time I will call you from her house. I guess I only have an hour and a half to talk though, so I don't know, I guess that's long enough; but prepare you questions, haha. I'm 8 hours ahead of you, so I'll probably call you evening/ afternoon here, morning there. Hopefully I won't wake Amy up that morning with my call. I know how much she loves sleeping in on Christmas morning, haha. I hope that answers all of your questions. If not we still have one week more to figure it out. Just let me know if I need to be more specific.

So I'm glad you liked the pictures and all from last week. I was pretty excited too (because of the baptism). She is so awesome and right now we are trying to work together, Isabelle and we missionaries, to help Valentine feel the spirit and come to the knowledge that God is there and this is His church on the earth.

Oh and yes, I am loving my comps. It is a lot of fun having two comps; I hope we are not too intimidating with three. Normally though we go on two diffrent sides of the road and that seems to work pretty well. One on one side, two on another. We are having fun together though and are working hard too. Elder Birk's mother is American and he grew up speaking only English in his home and he is one transfer behind me so he speaks good French but he, like me, is still getting it down. And Elder Léman, he is from Belgum but the Flemish speaking side so he didn't speak French until getting here. He feels like he speaks better English than French. But he speaks great French. So yeah, there are no communication problems. Oh and as for what Andrew Hegerhorst said (via his father), I think I am starting to get the language down better and that I am progressing better. I feel like I can at least understand for the most part, but the speaking grammar is still challenging. I am feeling a lot more confidante lately meaning I'm probably going to have a humbling experience come my way soon, haha. It's always good though.

I love you all! I miss you tons! I am super excited to speak with you all on Christmas Day. Thanks again for all you do for me. Once again love you tons! Talk to you soon!
Elder Ritter


Elder Birk, Elder Léman, and I. Don't worry, we killed them all, no more roaches for us.

P.S. I just checked our email from President and it turns out that we have an hour maximum for calls. Bummer, but there are blessins with each rule so either way it will be great. Can't wait to hear you voices.
Elder Ritter

The Best Week of My Life

Hey, thanks again for writing. It is always great to hear from all of you and it sound like things are busy, but good at the same time. I just want to say that this past weekend was the best weekend of my life. It was so amazing! So for you all who asked, YES, Isabelle's baptism went through and she is now a baptised and confirmed member of the Church. The baptism service was awesome. It went so smoothly and the spirit was consistently strong. I also only had to dunk her once and I didn't mess up the words, so that was good. Then, yesterday's Sacrament Meeting was also amazing. President Carter was there because a sister missionary, who served in this mission not a long time ago, was getting married to someone who lives in Pau. So President came down for that. He conducted the Baptism interview for Isabelle and he was also able to be a witness at the baptism. Yesterday, Isabelle was confirmed at Sacrament Meeting and then President and Sister Carter shared their testimonies followed by Isabelle. It was so amazing how strong the spirit was. It was so amazing to see the reward of my efforts. I'm pretty sure though that the reward was much greater than the effort. It was really such an amazing blessing. I'm so blessed! Thank you all, for all you do for me.

So that was last week and just as that ended another transfer began. I dropped off Elder Gibbons at the Gare this morning and then Elder Birk and I went to Bordeaux to pick up our new companion. There were 2 companionships here in Pau but we are cutting down on missionaries in The Toulouse Mission so from now on there will only be 1 companionship in Pau. So for the transition they are keeping one missionary from each side of Pau, Elder Birk and I, and because we are both pretty young we recieved Elder Léman. So I have two companions right now. It is pretty cool actually. I know Elder Birk pretty well by now and Elder Léman seems to be way cool. Oh and a fun fact they are both European. Elder Birk form Denmark who has been out just one transfer less than me and Elder Léman from Belgum who has been out for about a year. I am excited. It should be fun to have a trio going.

So yeah that's what's up with me. All is going well! I am excited to get to work. I will miss Elder Gibbons a lot. We became very good friends. He is way cool and don't be surprized if his group "The Gibbons" gets big. He is very talented. You can check out his stuff on i tunes actually. So yeah all is good here. Hopefully things will continue to go well.

Love Elder Ritter

Oh and by the way Dad there is no time limit to when you go Senior companion. Some go Senior their second transfer. Like Elder Gibbons and others might never go Senior Comp. It mostly depends on The President, the missionary, and Heavenly Fathers will.

Elder Gibbons Heads Home Next Week

So I guess something you all have been dying to hear. Yes I did recieve your email last week and sorry I forgot to respond to the google earth part. I really was super excited when you wrote about that, because you found exactally where I live. Haha pretty much every morning I see that car garage haha (I only don't when we go out the back door). Oh and yeah we live next to that big grave yard. It's pretty cool, I guess. There are some cool head stones and stuff. Our place has the blue hand rail things. I think my actual section though is not the yellow building. It's a pretty nice place, but it is very small so don't worry, it's not like I'm getting too comfortable. No, I love it though. I am really blessed to be living where I am. That's so cool that you found it too. So what do you think of Pau? It is seriously so pretty. I especially think the mountains and the chateaux are pretty sweet too.

So in one week from today this transfer will be over. So crazy. Elder Gibbons will be all packed and ready to meet his parents in Toulouse where he will give them a tour of where he has served and then head back home. It's kinda weird searving with a missionary that will be finishing up in not long at all. I'm going to miss him though. We have had such a fun transfer here in Pau. Before the transfer ends, this Saturday, Isabelle's baptism service will be held. I think the baptism prayer in French is actually, I dont have it memorized yet, but I know that it is found in 3 Né 11, I think verse either 21 20 or 25 hmmm. I should probably get on that hahah.

So I'm thinking that I will be staying in Pau mostly because in my President interview, he pretty much told me I would be. We'll see if it turns out that way though. If so It will be great to continue teaching Isabelle, Valentine and and spending Christmas here in Pau. If so, Isabelle said she has free long distance or what ever and that we can use her phone to call on Christmas. Oh and think Dad about writing a letter on evolution and the gospel for Valentine. That would be awesome if you sent something. If you don't have time or just dont want to, don't worry about it. But I would love for you to send something like that. Basically, what I was thinking is that many people. say specifically Valentine, don't believe in God. They believe in evolution and to have a your testimony would be awesome because you explain so nicely how the two don't really conflict. I hope what I'm saying makes sense. It would also be awesome to have because other missionaries automatically think Darwin is a bad person and you know... Luckly missionaries for the most part have learned to be open minded. So yeah there is some info. S If you have the time or desire to send me you testimony I would love that a lot ( no pressure).

Sounds like you all had a great Thanksgiving. I'm glad to hear. We also had an amazing Thanksgiving. I seriously felt like I was back in America. It was awesome. We missionaries even put on a skit to explain what thankgiving is all about. It was a blast. The ward absolutley loved it. We have done other activites before, but none even compared to this. The food was pretty good too. Not quite as good as being back at home, but pretty dang close. I was impressed. Maybe I can find some pictures to send home I think Sister Portwood took some pictures.

I am doing very well and I hope you all are too. Have a great day and I'll talk to you soon.

Elder Ritter