This has been a great week for me, although, there have been a good amount of ups and downs. The most dramatic resulted on Saturday. We had 4 rendez-vous scheduled from 2 until 5, one hour each, which would make for a very nice day. Unfortunately, one after the other fell through either being cancelled or blown off. I like to think of myself as a pretty positive guy, but after that I was a bit down. When we learned that our final rendez-vous wasn't going to work, we took a look at our back up plan and hopped on a bus to down town to do some porting (tracting). When we got to the road we planned to visit, we rang at the first door we came to. We gave a quick intro, which was followed by a slam. No one was home at the next door. We got to the third door and Elder Swanson rang the door bell. Remember though, in France you are never right at the door. Houses always have fences around them and the bell is at the fence gate. This gate was a bit taller so Elder Swanson could not see over. SO after ringing the bell he says "You'll have to talk since I can't see in". It's funny because right as he was saying that, I got a glimpse into the house and saw the guy. I looked over to Elder Swanson and said, "He's big!" And sure enough he was big, very, very big. But the miracle we experienced was even bigger that he was. He is actually from the Ivory Coast and his dad is a member of our church in the Ivory Coast. We asked him if he would be interested in a copy of The Book of Mormon and to learn more about it. He said, "Yes." He also said thanks to the Holy Ghost, we came to his door because every time he talks to his dad on the phone his dad talks to him about the Book of Mormon and the Church. We taught him for the first time yesterday and he is amazing. He committed to read and pray about our message and the Book of Mormon. He seems so sincere that I have no doubt he will have a positive response. It's amazing how much God really cares about his children. I feel so dumb for ever complaining even if nothing happens with this Ivory Coast man, I gained a testimony that I need to never doubt! God knows much more than we do. Somewhere in Mark 5 it says something like "Do not fear, only believe." What great council. JUST BELIEVE!
I love you all so much,
Elder Ritter
Elder Ritter
