Elder Ritter

2010-09-20T20:55:00.000-07:00

June 21, 2010

2010-07-06T20:13:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody. First of all, Happy Fathers Day, Dad. I hope it was a good one even if all the children where not to be seen. Oh and sorry I was not able to call even though it sounds like half of the ward thinks I did ha-ha. I always feel half bad when I miss things like fathers day. I have a feeling like I am neglecting my family, I know that I need to be here, but it's also true that I can be better in sending you all things. I hope you know that my love goes out to all of you even if I don’t show it very well in terms of letters, cards and packages. You just need to casser (get mad at me/ tell me how horrible I am) me and then I'll step it up. So the World cup. It is sad because I imagined that the world cup would be a bigger deal than it is. Everyone watches it, that’s true, but because France is not doing all that good no one even wants to talk about it. One person even said today when I asked about the world cup that France doesn’t even exist, ha-ha. In fact they are down 1 0 as we speak so its a big deal, but pretty much everyone is very depressed that France is not doing so well. So it is not affecting our work too badly. When it first started it prevented us from going into one house. The man came to the door and we introduced ourselves and he said. ça tomb pas trop bien (either meaning we came to the wrong place or came at the wrong time) we then asked him why and he then told us that France is playing. It’s been pretty funny, but he said we could come back another time. Oh and based on the man in the room of this cyber café it must be 2 0 France is down. He doesn’t sound to happy ha-ha. I’m pretty sad too.

Well our amis are doing pretty well this week. Gilles and Lawrence are doing well and they should be set still for the 3 July. They are great and it sounds like even one of Lawrence’s sons from a different marriage who is 17 might be interested in the message also. SO that’s a plus. It’s true that we have seen many miracles and many blessings this week. One of which is named Silvia, She is probably mid-thirties. She has three young kids and I not sure if the father is still in the picture, but we taught her once and she is great. She is very open and has committed to read and pray about The Book of Mormon. I feel that she is very sincere and I have no doubt that if she is sincere she will receive a witness from our Heavenly Father that the church of Jesus Christ has been restored. I am excited to see how it went for her. We see her tomorrow. Keep her in you prayers if you please. Oh I really have come to love this area. I am a bit nervous that people are going to start leaving for summer vacation. I hope that we can continue to have many people to teach. I know that depends on how hard we work so we will just have to work really hard.

Hey so it sounds like you sent a package. Thank you so so much that always makes me happy! Anything you send is great! Oh hey so I talked to Elder Larsen at Zone Development meeting yesterday and its sounds like his parents are going to pick him up. As you maybe remember. Elder Larsen came into the Mission the same time as me meaning we will be finishing up at the same time. Also Elder Larsen’s Mom knows Nancy. So when Elder Larsen gets picked up, he will stay at the house Nancy has in Bordeaux for a bit. He says I should do the same. Which made me think, what is it that you want to do? Do you want to come visit France in about a year from now? It's still a while a way but to do a trip like that it takes a bit of time to organize. I don’t know though that is completely up to you if you want to come or not. I would love to show you around and have Dad show us around, but also there is the money factor. It’s pretty expensive here. So let me know what you think about coming to pick me up and also about staying at Nancy's, if that’s even an option.

Alright well that’s the bit of news that I have thanks for writing me it was great hearing from all of you and hearing whats new with life. OH I love you all so much!

Have a great week and I'll talk to you soon

Elder Ritter

June 14, 2010

2010-07-06T20:00:00.000-07:00

Hello I am doing great! La vie est belle as one might say in France. We actually have four amis that have committed for baptism the 3rd of July. The second two are names M; and Mme Lopez. They have been taught in the past, they agreed that they would like to be baptized but I fear that they don’t quite get it if you know what I mean. So it will take a lot of work, but hey what else is new. No I need to work harder actually. So that is the little bit of good news on my end. Oh and speaking of Lopez B-Lo aka Brett Lopez should be getting home this July I’m pretty sure. July 13th I think.

OKAY so I need to say. Happy Birthday Stephen! And Happy anniversary Mom and Dad! I hope you have a great day! I remember a year ago I was either in San Francisco or the MTC. But yeah I wish I was there to celebrate with you but I guess this e-mail will have to do.

So after what Dad told me it sounds like the summer should just about be starting and it sounds like you have some good projects going on. That is great, a lot of gardening and even a new fence cool. I can’t believe it, a fence! Now we can finally get a dog. The only thing is I don’t know if I care to have a dog now. Maybe we can get a Trampoline though ha-ha. No, but it will be cool to see it in the future. I’m excited for you.

Hey so what do you want to hear about what have you been dying to know about? Do you have any questions about the culture or any questions about whom I teach? I don’t know. I don’t want to bore you and I’m not sure what would interest you more than anything else. Fun Fact: I made crêpes last night and they were even pretty good. I thought so at least.

I will tell you though; I have really enjoyed reading the Joseph Smith history recently. I know the story and I tell it several times a day but it is so powerful to hear how it was written from the Prophet Joseph Smith himself. I invite you all to read it. It is great. I know that it is true. As he says early, he states the FACTS. I love this gospel. I know its true. This is the Kingdom of God on earth. He loves us and if we keep his commandments we will be happy and blessed. I love you all thank you all so much for the email this week I did enjoy it ha-ha! In fact we where even signed on at the same time ha-ha. That’s cool to think.

Talk to you all later

Elder Ritter

June 7, 2010

2010-07-06T19:49:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon everybody. I hope that you are all doing very very well. I am so very grateful for you love and support this week. It has been great. So yeah, it has been a great week. I am happy. I feel a bit tired today, but that’s all right, it's preparation day. As long as I am well rested for tomorrow. Well training is not as hard as I thought ha-ha mostly because Elder Herring came off the plane already ready to be senior companion. No it’s great I think we get along well. We work hard and have already seen some great miracles. For example a couple we are teaching decided that they want to be baptized. So if we work hard enough the ward the amis and us the missionaries they should be baptized the 3 July and the 4th of July they will be confirmed. That would be a cool way to celebrate the fourth of July, by watching someone be baptized by fire as one might say. So yeah keep Gilles and Lawrence in you prayers if you could. Dominique: progress is standing still, but he is still willing to see us. We'll see what happens after this rendezvous Wednesday. Cristina is still doing great. Her testimony grows daily this gospel is the love of her life ha-ha. She said being baptized was equally joyous as the birth of her daughter. I’m not sure is I heard her right but I’m almost sure that is what she said while bearing her testimony in church yesterday. It is so great to see her progress. It’s true that this gospel has profound effects on us.

Hey so last Thursday was my one year mark. It was a great day. We actually had a rendezvous in saint Jean de luz look it up it is beautiful. We where there with Fr; Miller and after which we took our hour for lunch. So we ate lunch at a pretty good restaurant that was overlooking the ocean. It was pretty sweet! I’m spoiled, especially since Fr. Miller paid. I owe that man and his wife big time. So I mean every time you think that I may be suffering or having a tough time realize that in reality I am just taking a big long vacation. OH yeah and I talk to everyone about the gospel while I’m at it. Hey so yeah like I may have said I cant complain.

Well thanks again for all you do. Have a great week. Keep up the great preach my gospel work Mom! Go and teach those Teachers Dad and everyone else I wish you the best. LOVE YA

Elder Ritter

OH and there isn’t a chance that I will be getting some Enya sent my way sometime soon? If not, don’t even worry? Dang it there I go already complaining. Sorry ha-ha!

May 31, 2010

2010-06-01T20:10:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,
Well it’s just about a year ago that I went into the MTC. I don’t know anymore if it feels like a long time ago or not. It depends on the day. For the most part though it just feels like I have been a missionary for all my life and that I will continue to always be a missionary and it's not in a bad way at all. It is strange especially seeing both sides of the spectrum lately, "killing off" Elder Sellers and now training Elder Herring, who is from Michigan. He went to BYU for 3 semesters. He actually speaks really good French, especially for a "blue" who didn’t really speak French before. meaning he studied French about as much as I did. He, though, speaks much better than I did when I came into the mission. In about six weeks, he will already speak better French than me. NO joke unless I do as Dad did at his one year mark and buckle down and get this language down. I really love this language and have a strong desire to get it down. Its true though that I need to work harder at it. Its great working with elder Herring it brings back all sorts of memories of when I was a younger missionary. It is also quite a bit more stressful being the Sr. Comp, but it is like everything at first, it just takes getting use to. We have already seen success recently. We have also seen disappointments. I would say that the name that you can pray for is Dominique. He is one of our amis that was making the most progress. We thought he would have a baptismal date this week, but it turns out that he doesn’t feel like he can continue with the lessons. We have a rendez-vous with him Tuesday so we will see what the final result is. His problem is that he talked to a Catholic Priest to see if he could be baptized again into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day-Saints. His priest of course said that he should turn back to his childhood religion. Dominique said he reflected and doesn’t want to continue. We'll see what his final decision is Tuesday. It always hurts getting dropped by amis. If you don’t mind keeping him in your prayers. That would be great.

So it sounds like life is going well, that all is calming down a little bit. I remember loving this time of the year. There is a certain summer excitement always in the air. I just hope that not as many people leave for vacation here in Bayonne as they did back in Pau. Missionary work is not nearly as fun without amis as you can imagine. So it sounds like you had some fun at the "Guitars and Saxes" jazz concert recently, Mom and Dad. That is good. It’s funny to think that for now all of the "Kids" are out of the house. Well I just want to let you all know that once again I love you tons. It is so great to hear from you every week. I am so spoiled.

Have a great week

Elder Ritter

May 24, 2010

2010-06-01T20:01:00.000-07:00

Hello family,
It was very great to hear from all of you. I hope that all is still going well. I am doing very well. Right now I am actually chilling in Toulouse. I received my call from President on Friday and it turns out I will be training a greeny or a "blue" as they are called here. In any case, I finally moved up to senior companion. It should be interesting. Luckily for me the lord is on my side. I am actually in Toulouse for the next few days because my new companion (to be determined) will get in tomorrow from either Spain or Provo. He could be either French or American. It should be interesting. I just finished with a companion who finished his service and I will now be serving with one who will be starting his service. It will be funny to see the differences. Me, I am right in-between. I can’t believe I will be hitting the one-year mark pretty soon. So that is the situation with my companion. We will be serving in Bayonne still. I’m happy about that I really do like Bayonne a lot.

I also had another amazing weekend this last Saturday and Sunday. Cristina was baptized and confirmed! What a miracle. Three weeks ago she was just another name in the area book. It really is a miracle. She has such strong testimony. It is great! Elder Sellers baptized her Saturday and I confirmed her Sunday. What an experience. I have so much excitement about this that words cannot describe, spoken nor written. As Pres. Carter once said when talking about someone being baptized "I love this." It truly is a blessing to serve as a full time missionary.

I was excited to hear that Dave Boyer is home. I can't believe that he is back already. Craziness! You have got to tell him "hi" for me. Mom, I am also pretty excited to hear that you are going to study Preach my Gospel. It is an amazing book. It is for everyone. You will love reading and studying it. I know I do each day. Dad, I am glad that you are enjoying your stay in Europe. I can only imagine that it brings back a ton of memories for you. It's probably better that you didn’t come to Bayonne during your down time, especially since I won't be there for the next couple days, but I did appreciate the postcard that you sent me. It did in fact get to me and it gave me the little boost that I needed at the time. Thank you so much. You're right about European keyboards, they are annoy to get used to. I am not looking forward to getting used to the American Keyboard again when I return, ha-ha.

That’s about all from this end. Quite a bit will be changing for me I will appreciate your prayers this week. In any case, it should be a great experience learning how to lead a companionship. I will learn a lot.

I love you all so much, really I do!

Elder Ritter

May 17, 2010

2010-06-01T19:54:00.000-07:00

Hey Fam,
It sounds like you have all had a good week with a lot of different interesting things that have happened, from Dad being in Switzerland to a great sacrament meeting in Orem. Awesome! It’s funny because we also sang "Ill Go Where You Want Me to Go". I love that song a lot. We also sang "Called to Serve" another favorite of mine. It’s crazy that Zach Shurtlef is mission age that will be exciting to see where he is called. He will do great no matter where he is called. The Lord truly looks after us as missionaries. How awesome would that be to have some 50 - 70 missionaries called from our ward. That would be quite some army.

So Dad you made it to Switzerland. The fondue, didn’t disappoint I hope. Have you had any yogurt yet? The weather here in Bayonne is still a bit stormy and rainy but it’s getting a bit better. I haven’t noticed that the air quality is worse though due to the volcanic ash. Then again the sky has been constantly gray maybe the ash has played a part. I think that for the most part it is just cloudy. Its actually pretty exciting to think that Dad is here not to far away. Not that it changes a whole lot. We still won’t see each other, but it's fun.

Summer is coming and in half a month I will hit my one-year mark. Time goes by faster and faster. I feel like I just got here and that I should be doing a lot more, but I am excited to work harder and do all that I can to serve the Lord in the way that he would have me serve him. I thank you for your support and love. I actually received an email from Elder Garret Colman and he wrote at the end, "remember to always be the missionary that you family thinks that you are". I have though about that a bit and it's true that a portion of my motivation comes from all of you. As you should, you expect me to be the best missionary I can be, and I don’t want to disappoint, so I'll try not to. Otherwise. all is well in Bayonne. Christina is still set to be baptized the 22 May. We are doing an exchange with the Assistants to President starting tonight; and our other amis are progressing. I can’t complain I am very blessed. It is kind of crazy that my Companion is going home in a week from now. We have had a lot of fun serving together and have seen a lot of miracles. It will be sad to see him go, but what ever happens will be exactly what should happen. It will be great!

Talk to you soon. Love you much,

Elder Ritter

May 11, 2010

2010-06-01T19:47:00.000-07:00

ô Ma Très Chère Famille;
Yeah, it was great talking to you all even if it was only for a short time. It's crazy how fast an hour can go by. I also felt that I couldn't talk very fluently, sorry. In any case, it was great to hear all of your voices and hear a bit of how things are going. I really have felt very happy recently and I know that part of it was because I was able to talk to my family. I have also really enjoyed the time that I have had to serve with Elder Sellers really he is a great missionary and I feel we work well together. When you work hard and do good work there is definitely a lot of joy that follows. I have been really amazed recently just how much joy comes thanks to the gospel. It's true that the commandments are for us. They are such a blessing to have and be able to follow. I want to thank you for your great example to me. Really though I look up to you all so much. You all have such spiritual strength and I am doing all I can to be like you all. How grateful I am for such a great family. Keep it up! By the small and simple things Heavenly Father brings to pass this grand designs. I know that God can use each of us to accomplish his miracles. Mom you wrote that you are going to do more talk to more people and be more obedient so that I can see more miracles in this work. First of all you’re already perfect in my eyes Mom, but also I know that when doing more to serve God he will bless us more. Mom, it's true that I will be blessed by you efforts, but I would go farther to say you will be able to see miracles in you own life. What a joy it is to share the gospel. I know we receive blessings while doing it. (D&C 6:29 -31)

Sorry about that missionary rant. It sounds like all of you are keeping busy and that it's not all bad. Dad, it's true that even a root canal couldn't stop a normal human from eating tons of Swiss chocolate and yogurt. Do you like the cheese here? I thought that I would have a hard time with the cheese but I have really come to like it a lot. I think I will miss it. A member today was telling me how I can bring some home when its time for me to go home. I was a bit skeptical but now that I think of it most of the cheese is a year old or so anyway. There are many things that are eaten here that would not pass sanitary laws in the states, but c'est la vie ha-ha. OH and I’m pretty excited that Amy gets to spend a good amount of time out in Indiana with Meg Ty and the boys. That will be good for everyone involved. OH hey Steve, I thought of a question that I wanted to ask you on the phone. It’s not super relevant for the time being but I’m still curious. Would I be able to follow you around for a day at your work and see what it is that you do on an average day?

All is good here in France. I hope all is well in Orem.

I love you all so much. I hope that you all know that!

Elder Ritter

May 3, 2010

2010-06-01T19:36:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,
I hope all is going well today. I know I have had quite a day, ha-ha. Oh preparation day we work for three hours in the morning and then the rest of the day we get ready for the rest of the week. This morning while we were working, the weather could not make up its mind. It started out sunny so naturally we didn’t bring umbrella's, but it turns out we could have used them. We got caught out in the rain. We were soaking! Then it cleared up for about a half hour then it dumped even harder.It even started hailing. Luckily, that only lasted for about 10 minutes and even more luckily we found some cover for that ten minutes, ha-ha. It has been a note worthy day and the best part is there is still more great things planned for today, namely Chinese food with our ward mission leader. It should be fun!

This last week the work has been going great. We have seen so many miracles. We have truly been blessed. For example, there is a woman that we taught for the first time in over three years. We taught her Saturday. During that Rendez-vous I cannot even begin to tell you how strong the spirit was. We recited the first vision after which, we asked if she would like to be baptized. Her response was, "Bien sur!" (of course). She came to church yesterday where she decided she wants to be baptized as fast as possible. She picked the May 30th as her baptismal date. God can work miracles whenever he feels fit. I am so grateful for the times that I can participate in the miracles that he accomplishes. I love this work. It truly is the work of God! If you can, please keep Christina in your prayers. There is always opposition; I have faith that she will make it through though.

All right, well cool. I am excited to talk to you on Mother's Day and I hope that all is well in Orem. I also hope it warms up a bit. I love you all so very much, Thank you so much for your testimonies and for all your love.

I love you tons,

Elder Ritter

April 21, 2010

2010-06-01T19:24:00.000-07:00

Hello again,
So, it’s already been a week since I was transfered to Bayonne. I'm liking it quite a bit. It is a great city and really quite pretty. I was going to send pictures but the computers here don’t accept the camera cards either so I need to get my cord. I'll bring it next week though, because I have a few cool photos that I need to send to you. The weather here has been great. The last week it was a bit hot at some points of the day, but not too bad. It is starting to make me realize that I am not too excite for the summer heat of southern France, but it will be good. Elders Sellers is from Oregon. He has five weeks left as a missionary and I will be finishing him off just like I finished off Elder Gibbons. He is still really focused as a missionary and we definitely work hard. He is a cool guy. We have many similar interests and we get along well. I was able to meet the Bayonne ward yesterday. They are very welcoming and very awesome people. It should be fun getting to know them better. Our DMP, (the member in our ward who is in charge of coordinating between the missionaries and the ward) is Great! He is actually from London, England. Même and he were baptized just three years ago. He only speaks a little bit of French, but he helps us teach lessons a lot and he is so nice to us missionaries. He and his wife seriously are so generous. It's funny because he married his wife about 3 years ago. He is about 60 years old and his wife is French. She only speaks a little bit of English. Somehow they make it work and they are great. It has made the transition a lot more smooth with this family, Brother and Sister Miller. Really though you just have to meet him. He is the funniest guy ever in the sense that he isn’t trying to be. Its cool!

I am doing well. Not a whole lot is new. Mission life continues as usual. I've been realizing lately just how lucky I am to be a missionary and how greatful I am to have such great experiences. I can't wait to tell you them all ha-ha. No, I know how much people hate it when return missionaries go off telling their stories. I'll try and refrain. I'll also try and send a few on tape. I am really bad at sending stuff. Sorry. Oh one cool thing. I just learned yesterday that one guy that I started teaching when I was at Pau, was baptized. I had no Idea he was baptized. I was very excited to find out that he made it. Because when I was there he was the fiancé of a member in Pau. We would teach him from time to time just when we taught the family, but he didn't take his first official missionary lesson until the day after I left Pau. I always wondered what happened and now I know. It’s amazing how much joy that brings me even though I wasn't there for the biggest part of his conversion. I truly do love this great experience that I have to be a missionary. There are so many great lessons to learn and wonderful miracles to be apart of. Thank you so much for your support! It really does play a huge roll. Every blessing I see, every person I try and help, every act of service I give, you’re apart of it because without a supportive family, I don’t know if I could do the work I do. Thanks!

I love you all so much I know you love me and more importantly I know that our Heavenly Father loves us. He sent his Son so we can return to his presence. How grateful for that knowledge. I pray that we all can find missionary experiences to help other feel of this joy and in turn feel of the joy that comes when helping others come unto Christ. Once again I love you all!

Elder Ritter

Ps When is Mothers day the first Sunday of the moth of May right?

April 5, 2010

2010-06-01T19:15:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,
I’m glad that you all had a great conference weekend. I know I did! Wow it was just a great conference, right? I learned so much and the spirit definitely bore witness of what these great leaders spoke. It almost is a taste of home when I watch conference even all the way over here in France. I was able to watch most of the conference in English. Its just better to hear their actual voices, but I did watch one session in French and that was cool. I still learned a lot and it's crazy that I can actually understand this language for the most part. It reminds me of Pres. Uchdorf said in his talk during priesthood about how we must be patience. Learning another language has helped me learn more about patience. The gift of tongues is a gift earned. Only after laboring diligent does a missionary receive the gift of tongues and that work needs to have patience to go along with it. I’m definitely going to work more on patience after hearing this conference.

It sounds like things are going well! From the photos you sent, I see that you at least ate well. I could go for some twice-baked potatoes myself. I guess I'll just have to be patient though. I’m glad that most of the family could be together. Its too bad Steve had work, though. I hope it was a great Easter anyway! Easter here in France is yes celebrated. It doesn’t seem quite as commercialized though. It is a two-day thing though. The big meal in France is Monday after Easter at noon. This one seemed to slip under the radar though maybe it was because of conference. Either way it was a great Easter weekend for us. Otherwise. here in Avignon there is not too much news. The end of the transfer is this weekend already so next time you hear from me I could be in a new area. Who knows though only time will tell.

Well that is about all, but I do want to express one more time my great love for each and every one of you. I seem to keep hearing about the importance of the family and the home throughout the entire conference. How greatful I was and am for a great and loving family. I truly am blessed.

I love you all

Elder Ritter

March 22, 2010

2010-03-28T17:51:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

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

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-15T12:53:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody, I hope you all had a great Valentine's day! And no Dad I didn't get notes from the jeune fille members here, haha! It was a good day and good week though. Things are really going well here and are even picking up. We have one ami who is actually from New York. He said he wants to be baptised so we need to pick a date for him this week. It's very exciting but we still have a lot to teach him. I'm worried he doesn't quite get it, too. So if you could all pray for Jason that would be awesome. Like I said the work here is really starting to progress. We are teaching more and more and it's really exciting. Thanks again for all you prayers.

SO the Olympics have started, Crazy. Maybe they are a big deal here but I have only heard one person talk about them so I'm guessing not. Oh and Matt Harris finally got his call! Sweet! I'm super excited for him!

Well, I'm doing good. Of course there are tough times, but really the life of a missionary is blessed. If we do our best, that is all the Lord asks for and life is good when we know we are doing what God would have us do. I really do feel blessed to be a missionary. It's true it's not always easy but is so many ways it is a lot less stressfull. I love the time that I have to searve as a missionary. I have really come to love France and all the people here. I love you all! Thanks again for all you do for me. You think that I am blessing your lives by serving, but I seriously get so much strength from all of you. Really, thanks so much.
Je Vous Aime Beaucoup Beaucoup!

Elder Ritter

Oh and Mom/Grandma, I don't know how much room there is left or if it will make a difference by the time the box gets here, but I have really wanted some thermal bottoms recently. The wind in Avignon is piercing, haha. I seriously don't know how Steve did it. It's barley freezing temperatures here and I'm already cold. I also think that winter is almost over though so, you know, do what you can.

ça va

2010-02-15T12:47:00.000-08:00

2/11/10

Hello! Thank you for your once again great emails. It sounds like life is a bit stressfull at this time. I hate when that happens. It is the busy time of the year. At least we learn a lot when that comes around. For me when Im feeling down or life feels super busy or "24 packets stressful" I like to read section 122 in the Doctrine and Covenants. It puts life back into perspective. I pray for you all. I have also felt the prayers of all of you. We have had a great week and things are on the up it feels like. We have reciently found some new people to teach and we have recieved a lot of phone numbers from people we have contacted on the street. Thank you so much for your faith and prayers.

So Dad I want to first of all say, you speak really good French. Also did you know that you left to serve a mission the same date as I did, June 3rd. I was looking at the white handbook that you gave me and the card in it states you were a missionary from June 3rd to June 3rd just like mine, haha. I thought that was cool anyway.

In other news, I don't have much other news. Life is good. I am happy and I think of you all often. It's crazy how much you come to love your family as a missionary. The really crazy thing is that if time keeps flying like it is, it will be no time unil I see you all again. I love you all so much I know that I say that everyweek but I really mean it. I feel so close and connected to all of you everyday. Thanks so much for your love and support. I hope you can feel of my love for all of you because it is there even though I am limited in the ways that I can show it.

Have a absolutely great week
Love

Elder Ritter

Some Things Are Totally the Same

2010-02-04T21:03:00.001-08:00

2/1/10

Yeah, as if Avignon was not already cool enough; they totally have a Harley store! I had to get on one and act cool myself. I didn't even know they had Harley stores in France.

Oh and what size of shirt do you wear, Dad?

Greetings from Avignon

2010-02-04T20:46:00.000-08:00

2/1/10

Bonjour,

Bonjour ma très chère famille. J'espère que vous allez bien cette semaine. je suis content que vous avez passé une bonne semaine avec les petits Martin's; et passé une bonne fête chez Brooke. C'est fou qu'elle a cinq ans déjà. J'ai eu une bonne semaine nous avons vu les bons choses et l'œuvre ici est en train d'exploser.

So I want to start out by answering a few questions. First, Elder Swanson has been out for about a year and a half or actually a bit longer. He is from Arizona first of all, but lived in Utah the three years before he started serving a mission. He is really cool and we have a lot of fun together and we are doing some good work. So pretty much all the Amis here were dropped because they where not progressing right before I got here, so we are in the process of building up our teaching pool. It feels a lot like my first few weeks in Pau. That being because we don't have many amis and our rendez-vous are not as numerous. When I left Pau we taught 21 lessons durning my last week. This last week in Avignon, we taught 9 lessons. It is a lot less, but it's really exciting to try to build up a city. It's also a lot of work and every time I try to put the load on my shoulders I realize how small I really am and how I can't do anything alone and that's when the Lord steps in and we see the miracles. I really love this work and it's so interesting to see how the Lord accomplishes his will through us in ways we could never expect. We have a branch here is Avignon and it is much smaller than the ward in Pau. I love the Branch here though. It is alive and kicking with great strong members. There were about 40 maybe there at church last week. Another problem is they all live an hour or so away from Avignon itself, so that makes it hard to work with members or visit them or even eat with them. Still they are making great efforts and sacrifices for us. It's a great branch. Elder Swanson and I are the only missionaries in Avignon. There are rumors that the transfer after this one, there will no longer be missionaries here in Avignon since the number of missionaries coming to Europe is declining rapidly. So the pressure is on Elder Swanson and me to keep Avignon alive. No not really it all depends on the revelation Pres. Carter receives. The work is looking up here though. I guess 9 lessons is more than usual and we have found two new Amis just this last week, so the work is progressing and it is very exciting.

So Avignon its self is very pretty. It is so cool to walk around in a citadel that was built well before Columbus was even born. It was build in the 11th century, I believe. The Bridge is cool also but right next to it is the Palais de Pape. It is a huge castle and cathedral that the popes would live in back in the day. It is huge and there are crazy side streets next to it. I feel like I am literally in middle earth. It is so sweet. I'll have to send some pictures. It's so awesome. I am really glad that I have the opportunity to serve here.

So Yeah that is a lot from me about me. I hope things go well and are not too busy for you all it sounds like it is a pretty busy time. I wish you all the best and Love you all a lot.

Elder Ritter

PS my address is:

46 rue Carnot. Its pretty nice and really big for a missionary apartment in France;

Sûr le pond d'avignon on y dance on y dance

2010-02-04T20:37:00.000-08:00

11/18/10

Dear Fam and Friends,

So after about twelve hours on train today, I finally made it to my new ville. I am here on nearly the others side of the mission at Avignon with Elder Swanson. I've only been here for a couple hours now, but I can tell I'm going to like it. It is not a huge city, about the size of Pau, but it is really pretty. There is a super old castle-like wall that surrounds the whole centre ville. It is really sweet. I'm going to miss Pau a lot. I really came to realise how much I would miss it when I was giving my farewell talk to the ward. I have made some pretty awesome friends in that ward and city. I can tell it's a good thing that I left though. Changing it up a bit has already made me excited and pumped up to work harder, even though I am dead tired after all day train rides and lugging heavy suit cases everywhere. I will sleep well tonight. I'll have to send you pictures of this place soon. I have heard great things and am already impressed. Oh and Elder Swanson seems pretty dang cool. He actually was the companion of Elder Moon right before I came into the mission. So since I replaced him at Pau we have common ground to talk about. It should be a lot of fun.

Wow, Elder Gibbons called you. That is sweet! I'm glad he is doing well and it doesn't surprise me at all that he is dating a lot. It is a bit strange to think he is back home in Utah and getting back to the rest of his life. We had a lot of good times together and saw a lot of miracles. He was a great missionary and I learned a ton from him. It will be fun to hang out with him again in a couple years. I still have 2 years left right? It's so crazy how fast time flies. I have nearly been in France for six months now. So Crazy!

Hey so yeah I really enjoyed your emails this week. Thanks so much for writing to me. I love you all so much and am so glad that things seem to be going well. I can't wait to hear form you all again next week.

Love

Elder Ritter

PS. I'm glad you got my card I hope it was alright. Oh and Brooke yes I really, really liked the missionary pictures that you made for me. Thanks!

Last Week in Pau

2010-02-04T20:26:00.000-08:00

1/11/10

Alrighty,

so this week has been a good one. Its pretty much same old same old, so yeah it's good. In a week from today though I will more than likely be emailing you from another city so you will all have to make guesses where I'll be going. That will be hard to do though, epically since you don't know all the cities that are opened for missionary work. In any case I am pretty excited see a new place, but like I said I will really miss Pau. If you came to pick me up here It would definitely be one of the stops.

Oh one cool miracle that we have had recently goes by the name of David. He is from Nigeria and therefore speaks English. We have taught him two times now and He is awesome. He is so believing in God and Christ. I even think he believes in Joseph Smith as a prophet but as he says, with so many people saying so many different things he gets confused sometimes in what to believe. We committed him to pray so he can know for himself what the truth is. It was a very powerful rendez-vous. It is also a lot of fun to teach in English. It's a bit weird actually, but seeing it's my maternal language it's quite a bit easier to explain things. We actually just came from a rendez-vous with him. So much fun. Like I said experiences like that really show me just how glad I am that I am able to serve as a full time missionary.

Well thanks again for everything, good luck with the art mythology project and yes, Amy I know the kid your talking about and yes, that is a pretty dang funny dream.

Love Ya

Elder Ritter

One of the members here plays professional Rugby, so we missionaries and Brother Portwood went and supported him (Penny) for a preperation day activity.

Loving Pau

2010-02-04T20:21:00.000-08:00

01/06/10

Hey,

How was your week? The week was great for us here. We are having so much fun here in Pau. I am thinking that I will be leaving pretty dang soon though. The end of the transfer is the 17 of January and I have already been here for over 5 months. Crazy because I feel like I just got here and that I am still blue, or green I guess they call it in the states. I will be sad to leave Pau if that is the case. I have really come to love it and I can get around this ville like it's my home town mostly because it is not too big. I also have made some great friends here. I will also be very excited to see another part of this country though I think it's about time.

So it sounds like you are getting back into the groove of like now that the holidays are over. I wish you all luck and hope that you may have a lot of good times and success.

Well Im pretty much out of news from here..... hmmmm any questions?

Alright I hope you know I love you. Have a great week and I'll talk to you again soon.

Elder Ritter

New Apartment, New View

2009-12-14T20:16:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-07T22:18:00.001-08:00

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

2009-12-07T22:03:00.000-08:00

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

Thanksgiving Celebrated in Pau, France

2009-11-27T18:18:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is not celebrated in France, but this year it will be celebrated here in Pau. We are having a Thanksgiving ward activity this Friday being runned by two American families. We are all very excited and I think I wrote a bit about it in the other e mail from last week.

Also about Christmas, I'm not exactly sure where I will be. I know that I still have that calling card with enough money, but Elder Gibbons said he is always at a members house who offers to let them use their phones. I'm not even sure if I'll be here in Pau so I can't tell you exactly what will happen, but I do know that I have enough money on the calling card still.

Not a whole lot has changed for the email that you should get today from last week. Isabelle is still going well. We have taught Valentine a couple times. she has prayed and is going to start reading so we are excited to see how that goes for her. She just has a hard time believing in God. OH but Isabelle has asked me this week if I would be the one who baptizes her. So I will get to be in the water if all continues to go well. She seems pretty dang solid so I have faith that it will. I am so excited!

I'm loving it here in France. I still wish I was better at speaking French, but I can't complain. I am very blessed. Keep me in you prayer as well as Isabelle and her family.

Love you all and have a great week.

Elder Ritter

November 16, 2009

2009-11-27T17:53:00.000-08:00

Thanks everybody for being so awesome and sending me birthday emails. They were so fun to read. I will say that I had a great birthday, possibly the best one yet. We had three amis at church, it was the primay program, we had a pretty dang good number of rendez-vous, and the best part is that Isabelle talked to the bishop and scheduled her baptism for the 5th of December. We are all so excited. After church we gave her a calendar of all we have to teach still and then bore our testimonies of baptism. The Spirit was very strong especially when she prayed. At one point she thanked our Heavenly Father for sending the missionaries to her. I think I really know now why I'm on a mission. I think I always did but now it's sure. I don't think I have felt more joy then at that moment when I realized just how much this gospel truly means to people. It's so amazing. So, yeah, pretty much it was an awesome birthday.

For celebration of my birthday we went and taught Valentine, the 15 year old daughter of Isabelle. Isabelle having tasted of the fruit desired that her whole family taste of it also (she is an amazing mother). Valentine doesn't believe in God for the moment and I think that she uses evolution as an excuse to not believe in God. All she needs is to be educated and feel the spirit. That would be sweet Dad if you could send your testimony in French no pressure though. Yesterday night we went to Isabelle's. She had a cake there for me. She even bought me a present (body wash haha! It's either a French thing or I really smell). We four missionaries were there with Isabelle's family, Valentine and Ange (5 years old). We basically sang I am a Child of God (Elder Gibbons plays guitar so it was sweet) and then all four of us missionaries testified of when we all truly came to know for ourselves, that God was there, and that we are his children. We then commited everyone to pray to know that God is there, that he does love us, and that he does have a plan for us. It was so awesome and once agan the spirit was so strong. Later we heard from Isabelle that Valantine was so touched that she started crying. I guess that's a rare thing too. So Isabelle taught her how to pray and again asked if she was going to pray and Valentine said she will. It's so amazing the power of this message and the joy that is brings to everyone. I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is THE Church of Christ. I know that Joseph Smith restored it in our days that that God is there he loves us so much; enough to send his son Jesus Christ to redeem us all. I know that to be true and I know you all know that to be true. Thanks for your examples.

So a couple follow-up things, BYU Basketball, that's already starting? That's sweet. I must say out of anyone on the Lone Peak Basketball team Tyler Haws is the coolest. It was never fun to lose to him but after getting to know him at AMP I will say he is a nice, cool, humble kid. So don't worry too much about it, go on ahead and cheer, haha.

Also, for Thanksgiving we are putting on a ward missionary activity for people to learn a little bit about the Holiday. It's going to be sweet espically if we can get a lot of amis to come. We met one girl here who is an exchage student from Georga USA. She said there are 48 other American exchange students in her group, all studying here in Pau. So we are going to try to get them all to come. That would be so crazy! It would be like being back at college or something. So yeah, we will be throwing a ward party for Thanksgiving. I'm so excited!

All in all I am doing great. I hope you all are too and the work here is going great also. Pray for me and our amis. It has help so much already. Thanks for all do do for me. I love you all.

Elder Geoffrey Ritter

Baptism Scheduled

2009-11-12T16:20:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone, I just want to start off by saying sorry that it is now Thursday and I am finally getting you an email. This week has gone by amazingly fast because of all the unusually things that we have been doing, which caused us to finally take our preparation day today. First of all, we had zone conference Monday and I did get my package, so that was great! Then we had an exchange with the zone leaders on Tuesday, which is always a great experience. Then yesterday, we were at chez Mme Isabelle Grenet helping her repaper her wall. We also had quite a few other rendez-vous yesterday leaving no time for preparation until today, which is not a complete preparation day because we where back at Isabelle's house finishing the job. And when I say finishing the job, I mean wall papering her room AND also setting a specific date for her baptism. Yesterday we talked about her baptism. We asked her if she knew The Book of Mormon is true. She told us her story about how she came to know that The Book of Mormon is true. It was so powerful. We then asked if she wanted to be baptized and she said, "well yeah, because I know that The Book of Mormon is true that means every other part of this church is true so its just normal that I would be baptised eventually". So we all decided to pray about when and set a date when we came back, which was today. So that's exactly what we did and if all goes as scheduled she will be baptised December 5th 2009. I was baptized Dec 6th 1997. Wow, that's crazy, I don't even know why. Elder Gibbons and I are very excited and hope all goes well. Please keep her in your prayers.

So Dad, Happy Birthday Yesterday! I have not put anything in the mail yet. I will do all I can to get something in the mail Monday. Sorry, but I just want to wish you a bon anniversaire! I hope it was great and that you spent all the money for both our birthdays. It's always funny how there ends up being enough for my birthday even after yours. Which reminds me, thanks for the package it was sweet from what I've seen so far. I have not opened the wrapped box yet since I figured I should save something for my actual birthday. Thanks so much. Dad what did you get, anything cool? I imagine that you did. The family seems to always take care of us like that.

Once again sorry that this email has got to you so late but that just means that you don't have to wait too long until my next one so that's a plus. Life seems to be going as usually for you all, the same is for me. A lot of exciting things are in the air like Ward Thanksgiving activities and sweet amis, yeah life is good. I wish you the best and love you all.

à la prochaine,

Elder Ritter

Pretty much I think you are doing a fantastic job with the packages and am going to trust you with the Christmas package. I don't need much, I am getting kinda sick of the ties that I have though ha ha. Also I will send the approved music list for another time hopefully Monday but I'm sure you can send Ricks CD and then I'll try and get it approved. That's if you can get one from him. Merci beaucoup Vous tous êtes le meillier Je vous aime beaucoup beaucoup; allors passer une bonne semaine!

Elder Ritter meets Elder Holland

2009-11-12T16:06:00.000-08:00

So today is a rainy day in Pau, not too rainy though. It's still pretty nice and the weather has been perfect this whole week up until now. We have really been blessed. Wow, and what a week it has been. There where so many wonderfully joyful moments and then those times when nothing seems to be going your way. Elder Gibbons and I have been working very hard this week and have seen the fruits of our labors. We taught 12 lessons this week and found 5 new amis. It was a great week but the crazy thing is, we very well could have done better. Mostly, we could have done better because we didn't have a cell phone all week. I never thought a phone was an important part of missionary work until getting here and then not having one all week made us realize just how important they are. We couldn't confirm Rendez-vous and call amis to tell them if we where running late or even call members to help us teach. It was a mess, but like I said we were very blessed this week because we had a great week and that was because we worked hard. I have been learning so much from Elder Gibbons and have come to realize how much more I need to learn to become the missionary I hope I can be. I am learning and becoming a little better each day is all I can ask for.

Also this week we had the amazing blessing of meeting Elder Holland. He came to Toulouse and we had a Mission Conference. I guess mission conferences are very rare and with Elder Holland that is even more rare. I got to shake his had and talk to him for about 2 seconds. It was an amazing experience and when he taught us with the spirit... It was just amazing. It helped me realize just how much harder I need to be working. It has really excited me to do just that.

Megan/ Amy asked what I do on Sundays. Well, Sundays are pretty much exactly like any other day. We go to church in the morning, but after that we go out and work for the rest of the day teaching and finding amis. If we are lucky though we get members to invite us over for dinner or lunch. We try hard to make that happen. It helps so much to have the ward helping out in the missionary effort.

So in terms of photos I will send one today but after emails we are going to get some sweet photos of us outdoors, ha ha so Mason will be happy ha ha. So I'll send some of those next week. Also, yes I mom I have been receiving the photos that you sent. Thank you, they are awesome!

Hey I also just want to give a little congrats shout out to little Benji the button Benjamin; and Jana congrats "SOOOOO Exciting News" (as Wei would say).

I hope you all have great week. I'll try my very blessed to do the exact same. Please pray for Elder Gibbons and I. We have had a good start but we need all the help we can get. We are weak and without the Lord we can do nothing. So the more prayers of faith in our direction the better.
Catch you later,

Elder Ritter

Ps Thanks for sending that package. That is so awesome of you all. I am very excited to get it and hopefully it is here before next Zone Conference. I love you all so stinking much. You keep me going strong.

Dad you mentioned bbq sandwiched in you email. You have no Idea how good that sounds right now, haha. I'll have to get invited over by one of the American families in the word or something haha.

Bye

October 26, 2009

2009-11-12T16:00:00.000-08:00

Today is transfer day, meaning that this morning I woke up, went to Toulouse, dropped off Elder Moon and picked up my new companion, Elder Gibbions. He is awesome! It was a bit sad to see Elder Moon go though. Just a bit about Elder Gibbons. He is from Utah and has been serving for just about two years now. This is actually his last transfer. He had been serving in Toulouse up until now as one of the assistants to the president. For those who don't know, that is like one step above Zone Leader. He is a great hard working missionaire and he also seems to know how to have a good time too. I am very excited to work with him and I know I will learn so much. I still am in Pau though, so that is exciting. I just hope I know the ville well enough to get Elder Gibbions up and running. Which literally will take no time.

So that's all my exciting news at least I think it is exciting.

Hmm, this letter is making to be a very short offering. I think its mostly because we don't have much time at all because I had to go to Toulouse and back today and still get all the other Prep day stuff in. Sorry for that. I will write much more next week I promise.

I will tell you about Mme Grenet though. She is doing well and she actually came to church yesterday. I think felt the spirit again. It is so awesome when amis come to church. She seems to be progressing well still. The ward is also stepping up and welcoming her amazingly. Thank you for your prayers on her behalf.

I love you all so much and will talk to you soon,

Elder Ritter

Bonjour

2009-10-19T20:01:00.000-07:00

Elder Yang, Elder Larsen, and I on our first day in France at President's house just before one of the best night's sleep in my life.

Bonjour
Commet ça va tous le monde. J'espère que vous avez passé une bonne semaine. Comme d'habitude je vais très bien. Donc this week hmm not a whole lot new has happened. I did go on another exchange, this time with Elder Birk. Elder Birk is one of the four missionaries here in Pau. I actually knew Elder Birk in the MTC. He is one transfer behind me, meaning, I had my first Sr. Companion experence. It was really cool. We had a fun time. It was also really encouraging to see how much I have improved. Just seeing where he is at and realizing that in one transfer I have got to where I am at. But of course after feeling so good about where I was, I immediately felt a wave of humility. The last couple days I have seen how much I still need to do in every aspect of missionary work. I imagine it will be like that throughout this intire mission experience. That's how it should be and at least I am improving.

So I did get an Email from Grandma Murdock. Thank you Grandma for taking time to do that. I love the 59 section of the Doctrine and Covenants. I'm excited to go and read the 23 verse after writing this email.

So it sounds like a lot of the same old same old back home. Kids coming and going. Dad, you having to go out to field trips often and Amy, I am sorry, you are having these crazy sicknesses. I really hope that school will go well to. Work hard now. It will be so worth it graduation day.

A while ago we met a man from Iraq. He is studying at the university and is extremely muslim. We contacted him and he said that if we expect to convert him we would not do it, but that he would talk to us about religion. So we met with him three times now. His name is Hussain, I might have mentioned his name before. He was right though. We didn't get anywhere with him. It was awesome getting to know him and learning more about the Muslim religion. The best part of this experience was that after talking to him, I gained a greater testimony and am more greatfull for the restored gospel. I know that it's exactly what it is, Gods church restored. Its perfect and It brings so much joy. If only everyone could understand it. I know that I don't even fully understand it, though I am trying. I just hope I can help people understand it as I do.
Je vous voudrais dire que je sais Jésus-Christ est notre rédempteur. Il a souffert pour chaque on de nous. Je sais que Joseph Smith a été le première prophète de nos jour. Je sais que Le Livre de Mormon est vrai. Aussi Je sais que Dieu nous aime plus que nous pouvons savoir. J'aime cet évangile. C'est pourquoi je suis ici. Je vous aime, et j'espère que vous avez une bonne semaine.
Elder Ritter

Better Late then Never

2009-10-15T15:27:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,
I am writing so late because Monday was Zone Developement and Tuesday we did our exchange with the zone leaders.

First of all, I finally got the "dearelder package". It is a sweet little package with exactally what any missionary would want. Thanks so much. We even busted out the beach volley ball thing and were playing beach volley ball baseball this morning after studies while lunch was cooking. Oh, did I already tell you that I would like some bannana cream pudding jello mix stuff for my birthday so I can make a pie. That would be a sweet b-day present. But that is still a ways away so don't worry about that yet.

Next, I went on the exchange with Elder Gessel. It was a good exchange. I learded a ton from him. He is a great missionary. I was a bit nervous because I had to lead us around Pau. It went really well though. We never got lost. Exchanges last 24 hours and in those 24 hours we taught five lessons. It was cool. We basically went from rendez-vous to rendez-vous.

One of those Rendez-vous stuck out to me more than the others. It was with Mme. Grenet. She is one of our newest amis. She is super cool. We were contacting in Centre Ville one day and I asked her, "What's the roll of Jesus in you life?" She said, "Not much." We continued the contact and taked about the first vision and fixed a rendez-vous. Since that initial contact we have taught her twice. She has read a lot of The Book of Mormon and she came to church last Sunday. She is progressing well and she has even prayed to know if the Book of Mormon is true. It was so awesome hearing her decribe how she had felt the spirit. It is one of the things that makes all the hard work worth it. I just hope that this story ends well. Pray for her because, as you know, opposition can easily come to those who are coming to accept this gospel.

It's been a lot of great days here latley. I have been having a lot of fun because the better I can speak, the more I can get to know those around me and that is fun.

I was so sorry to hear about Ken Hamblin. And also about the mounds of homework that Amy has. Hopefully that all goes well. I think this e mail is a bit shorter than usual. Sorry about that. I'll have to make up for that next week. Love you all and have a great week.

Love Your Son and Brother

Elder Ritter

A Sweet Chateau in Pau France and Conference

2009-10-07T17:48:00.000-07:00

It sounds like you all had a great conference weekend. I did too of course. I actually didn't get to see all of the sessions though because the member in charge of the satellite couldn't fix the receiver, so I didn't see the talk that you mentioned from priesthood session, dad. Pau went without priesthood and the first half hour of the Saturday evening session, which was broadcast Sunday morning. I also didn't hear Elder Holland's talk that you mentioned mom because the Sunday evening session was broadcast too late here in France. I look forward to the Ensigh so I can read those talks. They sound awesome. It was very strange not being in Utah for conference. It was cool though to be one of those people in a different country that was mention every time when talking about the blessings of modern technology. We actually watched what we had the opportunity to watch in English so I was happy about that. In Pau they have an little TV that we missionaries watched conference on in English and a projector in the sacrament room translated in French.

Thank you all sooooo much for what you do. It means so much to have people supporting me. I especially felt close to you all this conference weekend and could definitely feel you love. I love you all so very much

Elder Ritter

Photo From Elder Ritter's MTC Days

2009-10-07T17:38:00.000-07:00

We received this photo a few days ago from France. It is a photos of Elder Swainston, Elder Ritter, and Elder Coleman from their MTC days before they each took off for their respective countries of service.

"To those of You Who Rocked...We Salute You." October 28, 2009

2009-09-29T17:19:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends, So just to start things off, did you google earth Pau by chance. If so you probably have come to realize that is in awesome city that is super pretty. Sometimes when I catch a really awesome view it's about all I can do to not stop and just stare. Europe is such an awesome place. Everything is so old and just awesome.

Thanks again for the emails. Oh, yes it is much cooler now than before. Some days are still pretty hot, but it is not bad at all anymore. It is nice having that crispness in the air like you all described, but believe it or not the leaves have not really changed yet, kind of funny. I imagine that they will eventually though and when they do, it will be a sight to see, at least it should be. I'll have to send a picture.

Speaking of that, pictures I mean, the computer I'm on doesn't let me attach pictures to the email. It is definitely bugging. Sorry, I guess that means at least one more week without pictures. Sorry Sorry Sorry. If it makes you feel better I don't have very many good ones anyway haha.

We do get to watch general conference at our chapel here in Pau, which is great! Most of the sessions are brodcast here on Sunday, so that will make a great Sunday. I guess we have the option to watch in French or English. We will hopefully be watching in French because that means we will be watching it with an investigator. If no investigators come we will be go out to the lobby and watch it in English, because I hear it's better that way. I am so excited for conference. I love conference anyway, but I'm sure it will be even a bit more special as a missionary. I'm just a bit sad that they don't have real donuts here (they call them donuts but there not the same). They make up for it by having other amazing pastries.

So here is a cool little story that happend a couple days ago. We had a missionary night for a ward activity where people could bring friends who had questions about our church. It was also something that we could bring our investigators to. The only amie who came was Françoise, one of our amis (meaning investigator). She was a bit sick and has been having troubles lately, so we gave her a blessing. I did the first part (in french) and Elder Moon did the blessing part. It was really really cool. After that as we were walking back to where everyone was gathered for the ward activity. She was talking to a member whom she knew, that was in the room with us for the blessing. Françoise was asking her if what she was feeling was because of the blessing. The member, like a champ, said, "Of course it is. They hold the priesthood." Françoise later decribed it as an sentement de bien être, meaning a feeling of well being. It was so amazing to see that effect of the priesthood. It was such a testamony builder for me and I'm sure for Françoise. She, by the way, has been investigating the church for about four or so years now. She knows it's true. It is just hard for her to put that knowledge into action and follow all the commandments. She is way awesome though, along with all our Amis.

Well thanks again and I'll write to you again in a week

Elder Ritter

P.S. I know that packages are expensive so you don't have to send one for October If you don't like; really I'm not just saying that. I love them to death, but they cost a bunch. But yeah just candy(milkyway, twix), oreos peanut butter. I dont know, stuff like that I guess. Um and for birthday pretty much the exact same stuff and maybe a tie or two. Oh and this Friday I will be able to see if the Dearelder package has finally arrived.
Love you all Soo Sooo much,
Elder Ritter

Elder Ritter defrosting his refridgerator on P-day. You can see in the background many pictures on the wall. They are pictures of Scripture Heros. The words on the wall say " To Those of You Who Rocked... We Salute You!"

September 21, 2009

2009-09-29T17:04:00.001-07:00

Wow, what a great week you have all had. I am so excited to hear about little Benjamin's birth and all. I got the pictures, et il est très minions. I hope all is still going well with him. I'm sure it is. Congrats Megan and Ty

I am writting this e mail for everyone in the family, so go ahead and distribute it out because I think i'll just be repetitive if I send people individual emails.

Okay and first of all I must say that you all are looking very good. I mean it! I got all the pictures you sent mom and really you all look very heathy and fit. Good work; keep it up. Oh and Jana and Joey seem like a happy couple. It's exciting. In fact, It seems like such an exciting time back there and it is too bad that I am missing it. I would love to be there. but as it should be, there isn't anywhere I'd rather be than right here in Pau.

I want to thank you Mom, Dad and Amy for the care package. I went to Toulouse on Thursday for my medical visit, that everyone has to have to live here, and because of that I was able to pick up the package that you all sent me. It's funny because the Dear elder one still has not arrived maybe it will be here by zone conference in a couple weeks. I must say though that I never thought that Snickers, Sour Patch Kids, Oreos, peanut butter, and mustard could make me so happy. It's weird how it can do that, but really i am so thankful for it. It was greatly expensive, but I would say worth it. Speaking of packages did you ever get the package that i sent home about two months ago now when I was at the MTC with like scriptures and t-shirts and stuff? I hope so. I just didn't ever hear about it. Thanks again though and I also really enjoyed the pictures. I love getting pictures. I imagine that you do too. Sorry none today, I forgot my camera. I'll try harder to send some next week though. Because now that I think of it, You have like seriously no pictures of me as a missionary, sorry. I did try once. I'll try again.

Sweet wheels, Amy. The maxima is sweet. Cody would approve. He had a maxima too. I thought you said it was blue though in one of you emails. mom, but maybe I mixed that up with the Blue Lagoon. It seems to be a real nice car from what I can tell though. So what is to become of the Blue Lagoon?

Also, weather here is cooling down. It is nice. We even wore our jackets a couple days last week so that's a good sign. It's been rainning the last three days which is kind of a nice change. Oh that reminds me, it was rainning one day so after we bought some umbrellas we were heading to meet one of our amis (investigators) and we meet this cool guy from Gab Africa. He is here studying physical science. His dream is to live and work in America. He seems really smart and way cool so maybe he will be one of you students in the future, Dad. He wants to be a patrolem geologist, I think. He is cool and we are hoping to set up some rendez-vous with him soon.

I'm doing good and you all seem to be doing great. I am so excited for all of you especially Megan, Ty, and big brother Scotty.
Bonne semaine, Je vous aime et à le prochaine

Elder Ritter

P.S. Ty I liked how you sent me part of the letter in french. That was sweet.
And dad, it was a bit hard to understand some of the things the translator used but I just figured it was my lack of French because for the most part it was pretty legable.
Et Megan Bonne rétablissement I hope you are feeling well I am super proud of you. Thank you again for being such a great sister.
Alright I love you all-thanks again,

ciao
Elder Ritter

September 8th, 2009

2009-09-08T21:21:00.000-07:00

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

Email Dated August 31st

2009-09-08T21:09:00.000-07:00

Bonjour
I absolutley loved you letters it was great hearing form all of you. It sounds like there is a lot going on, school, weddings, potential not weddings, birthday parties, Megan and Ty returning home. It sounds pretty crazy actually.

père merci pour m'ecris en français. Je l'ai compris tous. I can't wait until I can write as much as you did in your email, dad. In terms of comprehension, I am much better, but I still have forever to go, it feels. My speaking skills are also improving slowly. I'm not as worried about it as I was though. I can kind of communicate and I know that it will take a lot of work on my part and eventually it will come. From what I can tell, I think the french you wrote was good. I can't wait until Christmas time. I should be much better and then we can talk a bit in French. That is a cool thought.

Mom don't worry about the camera memory card that was lost in the mail. There were a ton of awesome picture, but it's all good. I have a few hard copies of the best so don't worry too much. Maybe I'll send the hard copies home and I'll try and figure out how to emailing my pictures. That does sound like a better ideal and I bet its possible. I'll find out probably for next week. By the way I have been thinking about it and if its not too late peanut butter does sound pretty amazing, and I guess ill be okay to not drink rootbeer for two years haha. You all are the best though thanks for thinking of me enought to put together a package. For the package system here, pretty much, the packages go to the mission office in Toulouse and every three or so weeks when we have zone confrence or transfers, President brings the packages and we get them from him. So that's how often we have a chance to get our packages. With how fast time passes here its not too bad of a wait at all, actually. Seriously get my bed ready I'll be home before you know it. I'm almost done with my first transfer. That's crazy, espically since we only have 16 total.

With the begining of the school year comes the fall and I am so excited for fall. It has already started to cool down a ton and it is amazing. I remember when I liked summer. That was when I didn't wear a tie and all the people I hope to teach were not on vacation. So many people are gone for the summer here in France. They love their vacation time. So with the cooling down of the weather and people returning to Pau, the work should pick up and that is an exciting thought.

Life is good and getting better and better each day. I miss you all so so so much and can't wait to reunite, but as it should be, I would not rather be anywhere else than here, right now. Keep me in your prayers I'll keep you in mine and once again you are all so awesome. I love you so much words can even describe.
bon semaine,

Elder Ritter

Email from Tuesday August 25

2009-08-26T21:37:00.000-07:00

Hey Family,
Pretty much I hate this computer place. It is hard to write, the computer is slow, and as you know my e mail doesn't always get to you, but okay here I go.

I did not write yesterday and am writing today because I was at a zone conference. It was super sweet and it totally pumped us all up to get out and do some missionary work. So yeah that is why today is prep day.

So my companion is named Elder Moon. He is super cool and is from the Salt Lake area. He is a good trainer and is very patient with me. He went to the U of U for a year before his mission, but I am slowly converting him to BYU so its all good.

Hmmm, okay so Pau is a magnificent ville. The view in some areas is awesome. It has rolling hills completely covered with thick green trees and bigger jagged mountains in the back ground. It really is so pretty. Day to day life consists of a ton of walking. We do alot of street contacting as we go from one place to another and we also have done some door to door, which I actually really kinda like. It's kinda fun. Oh and the Ward here is awesome. There are about 100 active members and even more inactive members so we have work to do there. But the active members are awesome and take care of us. It really is a great ville the only concern is the heat, haha. It was probably 105 F the other week, but I think that is how all southern France summers are going to be. Luckily we had a lot of Rendez Vous that day so we could get out of the sun. We are teaching about 8 investigators off and on. It's hard to get a hold of them in the summer because everyone here goes on vacation so often in the summer its crazy. But it's almost September and I'm excited for it to cool down and for everyone to get back home so we can teach more and knock less. Even though door to door is pretty cool. I think that's about it about Pau.

So pretty much last week's letter was this letter and a ton of complements to you all for having a great summer and loosing 30 lbs. dad. That's awesome.

That is sweet about the 2001 maxima. Send me some picks. I would love to see them, Amy. Oh and I bet its fun being back in school y'all. Like really, it kinda does seem nice and relaxing. I loved school especially college and especially looking back on it.

Well yeah, I'm doing really well and sorry again for not getting the e mails to you. I hope you are not all mad and or worried about me. I really do love being here more and more each day and my French gets better and better each day, which is super exciting.

Best of luck. I love you all and I hope I talked about everything you asked about. If not, it's because this e mail thing is kinda overwhelming right now. This keyboard and slow computer is a bit frustrating (haha). I love you all

Elder RItter

Oh, also, in my email last week, I said if you would like to send a package, things that would be nice are: candy bars like snickers, oreos, yellow mustard, sodas like they don't have root beer here its crazy, um and stuff like that. You really don't have to but a taste of home is always nice.

First P-day email

2009-08-11T18:08:00.000-07:00

Dear Family; First of all I must say that the key board here is so weird. The buttons are all in different places. It might take me a while to get used to it, haha.
Thank you for writing me. Like always, it is good to hear for you all. I am so glad to hear that you two had a great cruise. It sounds nice. Pretty much, Pau is pretty sweet. It's pretty big and kinda small at the same time. It reminds me of where they filmed the Jason Bourne movies. The houses are all cool like that. I like it here, but like you said, Dad, it takes some time to get used to. It's really not too bad. I just wish I could understand what people are saying to me. I hope that that comes along. I'm sure it will. It's already started to get better. I like it here, but the work and stuff it is super hard, even more so than I thought, but it will be so sweet when I can speak French. Oh, the Ward here in Pau is amazing too. They are super nice and patient with my "not so good" French. Yeah it's too bad we didn't get to speak last week. Sorry about that. The traveling was messed up and the phones where all weird, but at least we have email. To send packages and letters, just send them to the mission house. It might take longer, but it is safer to get to me in case of transfers and stuff and it doesnt take much longer.
Well it sounds like all is well back where you are and things are going well here. It's just an adjustment period and oh, it IS an adjustment. France is so much more different than I thought. Like for sacrament, there were bagettes in the tray, which was sweet! There are six in our district, four specifically in Pau and for the most part we are tracting to find investigators. so I get a bit nervous trying to talk to people when I know I can't understand them when they talk back, but that hasn't stopped me yet haha. Well you all have a great week I love you all and want to thank you all for all the prayers and letters and stuff. You're the best.
Love

Elder Geoff Ritter

How to Write to Elder Ritter

2009-08-11T17:59:00.000-07:00

Oh and by the way my mission president allowes us to email friends so we dont take too long to write letters so you can tell people to email me but also that I might not respond right away because I have limited time each monday to read and respond. I have an hour and a half which is much better than the MTC but it still goes by fast. So yeah, Tell them to email me if they want or if they prefer write me at.

La Mission Française de Toulouse
4 rue Allaric II
Compans Caffarelli
31000 Toulouse
France

Thanks again love you much and just to reassure you I am doing great. I'm glad to hear, though dad, that it gets better. Love you all keep praying for me and I'll keep praying for you bon Semaine!
(See email address at the top right)

Elder Geoff Ritter.

Elder Ritter's First Photo from France

2009-08-11T17:43:00.000-07:00

We got an email from Elder Ritter's (aka Geoff) Mission President and his wife. Along with that was the above photo. Here is the email:

Dear Brother and Sister Ritter;
We were so pleased to welcome your son in the best mission in the
world, the France Toulouse Mission! He is doing fine, and he will be
working in Pau for his first transfer. I enclose a picture of Elder
Ritter with my wife and I just before he left for his area.

We are grateful that you have made the sacrifices for him to be able
to come. We assure you that we will do all that we can to make his
mission a wonderful, joyous experience that he will remember and
cherish for the rest of his life.

Should you have any question, do not hesitate to contact me.

May the Lord bless you always.

President Michel J. Carter
France Toulouse Mission

2009-07-30T21:03:00.000-07:00

Well, you are absolutely right. The time is very much flying right by. In fact, we just got our flight plans. So crazy! We leave Aug 3 at 4:40. Our flight will be from SLC to Paris and then from Paris down to Toulouse. Our whole district is very excited. We have become very good friends though so we are a bit sad that we will be parting ways but the excitement over rides the anxious and sad feelings.

So that is very exciting for me to hear about what Dad is up to. That is crazy that he is doing that much work and is waking up even earlier than me haha. I am so glad to hear that he is reading his French scriptures every night. I think I will be sending you a French bible and Preach my Gospel because I have a extra of each. So hopefully he would like that and if not feel free to just pack them away. It's also way cool to hear that Dad is using his French. I'll have to try and talk to him in French on the phone. I wrote you all a letter today also and I have a "birthday Card" for Amy in the mail so that should come hopefully soon. There is also a few pictures in the envelope. I will send the card home soon.

I'm Glad Amy had a good birthday. I'm sorry no one was not around for it though; that's too bad. Oh and Yeah I heard through Elder Coleman that Amy saw me on my P day haha. That's so funny. I saw Whitney because she yelled my name but I didn't see Amy. I guess she was in the back seat or something. How is Skyler doing? Better question how is Jill and Rod doing? I know you all think about me a lot but I hope you are not sad at this point and are not missing me too much. Thanks for being so on top of things for me Mom. I heard that you sent a message to Bridgette. That is really funny/cool I think! She really thinks highly of you. OH and yes I got that last package. It was great I loved the pictures and got all the other stuff. Oh and I do need two other thinks but these can be sent with just a letter. I don't think I have my patriarchal blessing here for some reason do you think you could make me another copy and get it to me? And with that do you mind sending the things we wrote down from my setting apart blessing that would be very helpful as I'm about to head off to France. Well, what more can I say other than thank you all a ton. I feel you love and influence here daily and it helps oh so much. I hope I can send you more in the near future and am really excited to talk to you all on the Phone. Oh and Mom have fun in Cedar City with Robin. That sounds way cool.
Alright until next time.
Love You all,
Elder Geoffrey Ritter

The Rest of The Story...

2009-07-19T21:40:00.001-07:00

We had a great time with this email. To get the full effect you need to first go to the family blog (www.ritterhappenings.blogspot.com) to read about Amy seeing Geoff in front of the MTC last P-day while she was riding with her friends Whitney and Hailey to Seven Peaks. Geoff did not know Amy was in the car. I heard the story from Amy first and then received this email a few hours later. Also, I really enjoyed that Geoff felt my father's presence in the Temple that day. It was very special. Read on for Geoff's latest email...

"Thanks for the e mail it was awesome! Well first of all, Skyler. I have been thinking of him a lot especially when I was able to help all the new missionaries who came to the Provo MTC on the 15th. I almost thought that I might see the now Elder Halford. It doesn't supprise me that he woke up all nervous and even sick. I was nervous to go to Provo, but the fact that it was Provo made it so much easier. It's awesome to see how the Lord takes care of his children, though. In this case it was in the form of a basketball friend for Sky to feel more comfortable. I was glad to go to Provo first but right now I am super jelous of Sky.... I mean Elder Halford. I wish I was completing my training in France. I would only imagine that the language would come much faster and it is an adventure. Not to say the MTC here is bad I do like it a lot, but at this point, I'm sure all missionaries can't help but long to be in their respective areas. I am very excited to get to France. The idea of getting there and not being able to communicate very well can be scary at times but I know just like the Lord did for Elder Halford, I will be helped by the Lord. D&C 6:36 look unto me in every thought, doubt not, fear not. When we look to the Lord with the goal to accomplish his work we have no need to fear and doubt. Easier said than done though haha. Well moving right along I have two cool things that happened today. One is I was walking to the temple today and I heard my name shouted out and when I looked behind me I saw the Halford's van stopped at the light right next to the MTC. So I was able to wave and say Bonjour to what looked to be Whitney Halford and Hailey Halford so that was cool. The other cool thing happened in the temple. I was going through a session and there was this man sitting next to me and my companion who was quite old. He kept struggling with the changing of ceremonial clothes throughout the session and it reminded me of how Dad said Gramps would always have the hardest time with that. Which in turn lead me to think about Gramps and I dont know it was just kinda cool to think of him in the temple with me.
Okay I really have to hurry. The most important thing, Yes I can call from the airport and I leave as of now Aug 3 and my flight is at about 4 o'clock I will give you more detail but probably be able to take my call sometime between 2 and 4 o'clock. Alright I am out of time sorry for the rush and I hope all is still well. I love you all and I will send pictures soon for the blog.
You're All the Best!
Love, Elder Ritter

A Vampire in the MTC??

2009-07-14T22:55:00.000-07:00

We didn't get much news from Geoffrey this week so I went back through his letters and pulled out an entertaining paragraph. Check it out...

"...Also, I thought you all, espically you Dad, might want to hear about one of the Elders in my Zone. It may sound impossible, but I think this particular Elder in my zone is a Vampire. I know how much you love good vampire movies Dad, so I just wanted to tell you why I think he is a vampire. First off, he has unnaturally long and sharp K9 teeth; he is really pasty; he hates the sun and wears sunglasses often; he seriously sounds like he is from Transylvania; he hates garlic; and he was just looming around the outside of our room door the other night and would not come in until my companion finally invited him in. Not a good idea as I'm sure you all know vapires can't enter into a room unless they are invited in and now since he has been invited in once he can always come back. Of course I don't really think he is a real Vampire but it is convincing evidence."

Elder Ritter's Latest email

2009-07-09T20:07:00.000-07:00

"Well I found a little bit more time to e mail today so I thought I might as well send another quick email that talks about things I forgott to mention. Tomorrow is the fourth of july which is awesome because like I said we get to, at least I'm pretty sure we are able, to stay out a bit late and watch all the fireworks. It is going to be sweet mostly because it is diffrent from our typicall day in and day out schedule which never seems to change. So to have something different is a real treat. On the subject of French I have made a lot of progress but with that progress come the realization that I have an infinite amount to learn but I'm excited to try and speak maybe a little bit of French to you when I get to call from the air port. Hopefully Dad will be able to understand my probably horrible French. (Because by now after reading scriptures in French you are probably back to your highest fluency level.) Its cool/ amazing to think you already know this language. I wish I did. But when I think about myself in the somewhat near future speaking French, hopefully at least pretty well, I get so excited and my worries just seem to go away. It really is such an awesome language I really enjoy learning it even though somedays I think it would be a lot easier to be teaching in English. I wouldn't have it anyother way, though. Oh question, for you how is the cruise planning/ scuba tranning coming? I am super excited for you and want to hear all about it. Oh and Amy, if you have a second like on Sunday, you should write and let me know what you thought of the Stadium of Fire that is if you are feeling well enough to go. Hopefully you can I know how much you love them Jo Bro's. My companion actually likes them haha. Not that he listens to them a lot he was just really good friends with a family in his ward and the kids like them so he likes them too. He calles this family his "ward family" because they are really close and he is the only member of his family. He was baptised two years ago and his family wasen't too happy about him going on a mission, and because of that he is a huge example to me. It seems like going on a mission would so much harder without support which is probably why I thank you all everytime I write because it really is such a huge blessing to have you all backing me up. Well its just about dinner time and I better go. Hope to hear from you all soon. Love you all!
Elder Geoffrey Ritter"

Letter Dated June 19, 2009

2009-06-30T23:07:00.000-07:00

"Well things are still going well and the days are going by faster and faster. Thank you so much for all the letters and packages you have sent me. It keeps me going. I have also heard from Megan, Ty, and Steve and it was awesome to see how they are doing. I enjoyed Stephen telling me all about his experiences at the MTC. It was really cool to hear and compare. I also really enjoyed seeing those pictures you sent from when you were on your mission, dad. Those were really fun to see. Well I guess I'll tell you about my news. First of all San Francisco was awesome. We did not have a whole lot of time after going to the Consolate, but I was able to take down two double-doubles, animal style, at In-and-Out Burger. It was a good change from the cafeteria food we eat three times a day (although the cafeteria food really isn't that bad). Also in San Francisco, we were able to tour the Warf and one of the Sisters was even scared by the bushman that scared Dad on our trip there. Overall it was really good to get outside the MTC walls, but it really caused me to realize how big of a responsibility it is to be a missionary because really everyone would stare at us. It was also really awesome when members would excitedly stop us and talk with us, something I'm guessing won't happen a lot in France, but who knows. Well in other news as of Sunday, I am the district leader of my district. This is because the previous district leader and his companions now are transitioning into the roll of Zone Leaders. It is so weird because all the "older" group is shipping out early next week leaving us to fill the rolls of responsibility when it feels like we haven't been here long enough to fill those rolls, but it will be good. Dad, I did get a glimps of how it would be to be a bishop last night when I interviewed my district. Of course, their problems are not as serious I would imagine, but it really can be a bit stressful trying to help everyone be happy. I will be alright though because we have a lot of awesome people in this district. French is going well still. I probably need to work harder because there is so much to learn in this language, but it is coming. I had a really good lesson that I taught to my teacher in French so I felt really good about that. And we are now done with our teaching experiment and we have French instruction from our teachers everyday. They are throwing it at us at rapid fire so luckily there are tutors to help us out. It really is cool because the more I learn the more excited I get to speak this language and get to France even thougt I probably won't understand them no matter how much I study. We really have awesome teachers who are pareparing us as best as possible. Well thanks again for all the things you have sent to me and all the letters. I always love hearing from you all. Amy good luck with your surgery recovery. I imagine you have already had it. I will be thinking and praying about/for you. Thanks again for everything,
Elder Ritter

Elder Ritter's First Letter Home

2009-06-22T23:15:00.001-07:00

Here are a few excerpts from Geoff's letter. "...since I don't have any addresses, let people know as you see them that I say 'bonjour' and maybe give them my address. I love receiving letters, but I also completely understand if people don't have time. So far we Elders and Soeurs (sisters) are trying desperately to learn French because we already have a progressive investigator named 'Jean Claud" (who is one of our instructors). Yesterday we had a chance at teaching him in French and it was very hard and a bit discouraging, but I have to keep reminding myself that I have been learning the language for only two days because it feels like a lot longer. Another crazy thing is that they don't really do any instructing when teaching French. We are expected to learn on our own for the most part. It seemed impossible at first but the language is coming better then it ever has before, as is expected. But that definitely doesn't mean I can speak it, but slowly and with the Lord's help I am getting it. At this point I just want to thank you for all of your support. Not every missionary out here has that. It definitely helps. I'll write to you again soon and hope to hear from you sooner.
Love,
Elder Ritter