Monday, September 20, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
June 21, 2010
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
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
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
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
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!
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!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
May 31, 2010
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
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
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
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
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
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
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