Answers like flecks of gold

Sounds like you had an eventful week. That's really sad about Todd dying but that's really cool about Gandpa getting sealed to his parents. I was looking at the family search website and trying to figure out the Ritchie lines a while ago because grandpas dad wasn't sealed till 2005 so that was kinda surprising to see. Wish I could have been there for that one.

 

But we had an awesome week, I got to go explore Many and it was cool. It was all hills and trees and we were right close to the Texas border and you start to feel like your not in Louisiana anymore around there. Even here in Alexandria is alot different than I'm used to but its great.

 

So we had a lesson with Nick on Friday after he had just flown in from Omaha and we were talking to him about how it is going and he was still reading and praying but still unsure and the lesson was on the law of chastity which went really well and he said it made alot of sense and that he would live it but that he was still working on his answer and almost seemed sad that he hadn't got an answer yet because he has been working at it. So we talked to him about how answers come slow sometimes and that it like finding a ton of gold flecks instead of nuggets which are rare and uncommon. But on Sunday we were standing in the foyer or how ever that's spelled and Nick came and said I need to talk to you guys, and me and Elder Smith kinda looked at each other a little nervous and didn't know what to expect as we followed him to the relief society room but when we got in there he got a giant smile and so did I and he started to say after he read last night he prayed and asked if the Book of Mormon was true and if Joseph Smith was a prophet and if Thomas S Monson is the prophet and he said this feeling of extreme happiness came over him and he just smiled all night and couldn't sleep and he even called his girlfriend and had to tell her he said he was going to call us but it was too late so he had to wait till that morning. So he is really excited about getting baptized now and he was worried about what his family will think because they are Catholic but he said that everything usually works out for the better for him and that he knew it was true so it wouldn't matter and it would all work out and maybe they would be able to join. So that was an awesome miracle we were able to witness this week! He said he is working on a day to be baptized, he wants his girlfriend to be able to make it down here for it so he had to talk to her about that.

 

I'll try and get a picture of my boots, they are sweet! These computers don't let me put my pictures on them to send so I'll work on it.

 

Elder Ritchie

Speaking Southern

I like Alexandria  a lot! It is really different than alot of my other areas but its really treating me well. We have some really good investigators that have been a real blessing to work with. Nick is doing really well, he came to every session of stake conference, he was at priesthood and the adult session on Saturday and the stake president started talking to him after priesthood and asked him if he was and elder yet and he was like, no, I'm not a member and it kinda took the stake president by surprise. It was pretty funny. He also came to a baptism that was night before priesthood session for a lady that came back into the church and her grandson that got baptized. He went to more of the meetings than most members and he really seemed to like them. He is just working on getting a date picked for baptism and still continuing to get work on his answer, but he says he is pretty sure at this point.

 

Our other really solid investigator, Jen is also doing well and she came to the baptism and then the adult session and general session of stake conference. We had a lesson with her and her aunt who is the member and they made us tin foil dinners because they asked us what we hadn't had in a long time that we love and we started talking about camping food and we decided on tin foil dinners. And we also had dinner and entertainment, we had asked Jen and Sister Compton if they would be willing to teach us instead of us teaching them and they agreed, so Jen ended up making a power point on the restoration and then after tin foil dinners and peach cobbler we had them teach us. It was a really good learning experience for both of them and they said it made them learn alot because they had to prepare and really know it because we asked questions but they did really well and said they had a hard time covering such a big topic in such a short amount of time. ha ha! They said that it made them appreciate us a little more ha ha! We have alot of help with our preach my gospels and we get to do this all the time too.

 

We also had a lesson with some new investigators yesterday that actually just had their first baby a few days ago. the assistants spent the night with us after our zone conference on Friday and we had lesson so they just decided they wanted to go tract a little bit and they came across the family and set up a time for us to stop by. We went yesterday and taught them a lesson, well to the husband anyway, the wife was busy with the baby, but he seemed very interested and asked alot of good questions and said he really wanted to learn more and he was asking about the South Park play on Broadway ha ha, and he figured it wasn't really accurate.

 

Well I'm not going to lie, I'm not the greatest at making my bed, I have the top bunk right now and I struggle to make it but we are a pretty clean apartment and if not making a bed is the worst part about my apartment I think we are doing good.  (I have a friend who is a mission nurse in California and she writes that the missionaries apartments are terribly dirty, so I've been nagging from a distance - marie)  Well I got to go to Mississippi again this week and see more hills. We went to Natchez and it was sweet because its right on the border and the border is the Mississippi  River.  On the Louisisana side it's all flat and on the Mississippi side it's hilly and there are cliffs and it was cool because they  didn't even need a levy! On the Louisiana side you drive up on to the bridge and then over the river and the other side you can actually just drive straight onto the bridge and you can actually see out aways because of the lookouts over the river. I get so claustrophobic sometimes here just not being able to see anywhere and there are no land marks and if there were there are usually trees. But its not as bad here as it was in Denham, there are solid trees there and its still green as it gets here. It's been pretty dry this last week, we have had rain but not alot. It's actually in the 70s and 80s the last couple days so it has been really nice.

 

Well, I'm going on an exchange to Many (pronounced nanny with and m) Louisiana pronunciation is crazy!  Guess how this city is said "Natchitoches" (nack-a-dish)! And my speech is just getting more and more Southern. I said ax instead of ask the other day and didn't notice till my companion said something.  And I said are we going to go "make some groceries"!   It's finally getting to me!

 

Well that's all for this week

Love y'all

Love Elder Ritchie

A Super Busy Good Week

Hey, we had a really good week this week, it was super busy but really good.

 

We had a zone leader council Wednesday down in Baton Rouge  and then we went to Marksville the same night and got there at like 11 because our ZLC went till like 3 and then we did a temple session with all the zone leaders and president and his wife. We got out at 8 and then made the drive to Marksville and got there at 11ish. Then we worked there the next day with the elders there. Then on Friday me and my companion put on a zone training meeting where we instructed on what we learned in ZLC about the Book of Mormon and how to better use it.

 

We also had a couple really good lessons with Nick and he is doing really well. He has been reading and praying and says he is slowly getting his answer and that he thinks he is really close to baptism. we have also been teaching a girl named Jen that is doing well too. He and Nick were both at church and got to hear president and sister Wall give talks and they were awesome and just what they needed to hear. Sister Wall talked about talking a leap of faith and President talked about the Book of Mormon.  

 

Oh, so we had and NBC or ABC, can't remember which, but they came and did a story about a set of missionaries in our mission, one was one of my former companions Elder Curtis, it was pretty sweet from the sounds of it. They followed them tracking and teaching and doing service. They said the story should be out the end of this month or early next month so watch for it, hopefully the put in on the church website when it does come out.

 

Well that's about all I've got this week.

Love y'all

Love elder Ritchie

Zone Leader in Alexandria

Hey, I'm in Alexandria!  I've officially been in every zone of my mission now and served in all the stakes.  My new companion is Elder Smith from Manila Utah. I don't really know too much about our zone yet. 

We do have some sweet investigators. One was a guy named Nick that's about 23 that came to church the Sunday before I got here, he had just recently moved down her from Michigan and his girlfriend from up there is a member and he has been to church before and has read but never met with the missionaries, so I was able to be there for the first lesson with him and he is awesome. He is really looking for the truth and he even came to the ward activity we had at Kincaid lake and got to meet some members and then he came to church again and we had another lesson with him right after. We learned about the word of wisdom in Sunday school and we thought it was maybe going to be a little  much for him but he liked it and said he already lives it basically and doesn't even like coffee or tea very much, so that part would be easy for him. We invited him to be baptized and he was hesitant saying he needed more of a sure answer but he feels like its true just not positive yet.  We assured him that if he continued to study and pray he would be given the answer. So we are excited for him, he is super prepared he has been out to Utah before and his girlfriend graduated from BYU and he is hoping she will move down here and he says they read over the phone at night.

Well, my new area is alot different than every where else I've served, my companion has been out just over a year and he has only served in this zone and there is another missionary we live with that is the same way and alot of other missionaries in the zone have  served here there whole missions so it feels like a whole other mission. It's pretty cool because I know alot of missionaries in the other zones and now I get some new ones. We also live with a fresh new missionary that's being trained and he is pretty cool.  I like brand new missionaries because the are so eager to learn, well most of them anyways.  Well, this could potentially be my last area if I stay here a little while which is very likely. But I could still have another transfer, you never know. 

We have a very small ward but its good, we have a good bishop who is an awesome cook. I got to eat some bacon wrapped chicken my first day here that he cooked and then had some BBQ at the ward party and then he invited us over yesterday and cooked again.  It's impossible to loose weight these days haha! I've been unsuccessful at it since Thibodaux and that was because there was hardly any members to feed us since most were YSA and in college.

So, Genevieve, that is a long name!  (Genevieve Jade Ritchie was born August 4th to Luke and Rebecca) She's is cute though and it doesn't look like she has any of Luke's facial features so that's good :) especially for a girl.  Will she  have curly hair or straight?  That's cool that Rebecca's brother got to come visit before going into the MTC. what mission was he going to again was it Alabama or Mississippi?

Well, that's about all I've got, its going to be a busy week this week we have zone leader council in Baton Rouge Wednesday and then we go to the temple after and then we have a zone meeting Wednesday that me and my companion have to plan and put on. I've forgotten what it was like to be a zone leader and how many meetings there are, but I did get a good break to just work so I can't complain.

Well, that's about all I've got this week!

Love y'all

love elder Ritchie

oh my new address is: 1400 King Richard Blvd #237 Alexandria, LA 71303