Proud Ionian

OK Mom, I will have to start telling people I'm from Iona except our address is an Idaho Falls address.  But I'll be a proud Iona missionary for you!  (Elder Packer told a story in our regional conferance about President Kimball encouraging an Idaho missionary to tell everyone his home town with pride.)

 

 I found out I'm staying in Denham another transfer, transfer calls were last night so I felt pretty safe but while I was writing this, the president gave us a call so I thought I was gonna have to start packing, but he just ended up giving us someone to stop by and see. So, false alarm! 

 

Well, its been super hot this past week. It's been in the high 90's with signs of a hot summer coming.  We had a really big thunderstorm last night that cooled things down a little for now but that just means when it warms up it's going to be even more humid.  It's hard to breathe sometimes after it rains because it gets so humid, last summer it felt like it was foggy all the time because the air is so dense with humidity and it sticks to you.  You have to use the defogger in the car all the time and it doesn't work very well.

 

We had a good week this week, we have been able to set up a lot of dinner appointments with members. We taught a new investigator yesterday that we were able to find because we talked to the bishopric and they gave us a long list of people to see and track down.  The one we tried to see didn't live there anymore but we were able to talk to the woman that lived there and she was curious about what we believed and told us to come back by so we went over yesterday and taught her the restoration and she thought it made sense and she even invited herself to church, which is usually a very good sign. We have another lesson on Wednesday with her to so we are pretty excited.  We haven't been able to find too many new people lately, mostly just less active work.

 

 

Oh yeah, I forgot it's Mothers Day already, feels like it was just last month we had Christmas. I have a package I'm sending with some stuff in it I think you'll like.  Sunday I'll probably call around 6 here so 5ish there.

 

So Dillon is gone again! Nice! Did they say whether or not he would just do another year or make up some of what he missed? I think we have had missionaries do both in our mission. (Sam's friend Dillon is returning to his mission after six months home with a back problem).

 

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

 

Love y'all,

Elder Ritchie

Wanna join Sam's Club?

Our week was a little slower this week, we ran out of miles for the month basically so it included a lot of biking and our area is not bike friendly. So it's been a little more difficult to do stuff, but it's a new month tomorrow.

 

The biking did have its benefits though, we had to stop at Walmart to pick up some chain lube and while we were in there a Sam's Club lady stopped us and started talking to us about a Sam's club membership and trying to get us to join, but then she realized we were missionaries and kinda started asking what we do and why we were doing it. So, we told her a little bit about what we do and talked to her about what she did and it was kind of like what we do except not with the gospel. She would talk to a lot of people and some were super nice and others not so much. We ended up getting her info and we set up a time to meet, but she was telling us that we can't come to her house because of the people she lives with.  So we are going to meet in the park tomorrow. We also have a lesson with a family tomorrow that is super interested but they don't live in our area so we have to turn them over to the other missionaries that we live with.

 

Well, next week is transfer week again so who knows whats going to happen.  I still can't believe it's been almost six weeks since I left my last area, time is flying and I still don't even know Denham Springs very well. Mostly because there are a lot more members in the area than I'm used to. Hopefully I get to spend some more time here, but I can never tell what the president and the Lord are going to come up with, haha!  But I know I've been where I've needed to be thus far so whatever happens, happens.

 

Well, that's all for this week love you!

 

Love, Elder Ritchie

Transfer to Denham Springs

Hey, so I'm getting transferred this week! I'm going to Denham Springs, I'm pretty sure it was a shock, we are getting double transferred out of our area. I'm pretty unhappy about that because we had alot of good stuff going... but I don't really know a whole lot about it yet, I'll let you know my address as soon as I can...

Transfer Time

 

Hey, I'm getting transferred again :/    I'm going to miss Abbeville.  We had a lot going on, we just found a bunch of new people to teach and had an awesome week this last week. I'm going to Thibodaux, haha! I thought I was going to be here a long time but I guess I'm needed somewhere else.  I know my companion I'm going to serve with, he is awesome.  I was actually on an exchange with someone from Preston and he asked who I would most like to serve with, and I said my new companion because it's his last transfer. So it's gonna be good! We have Elder Bednar coming next Saturday so that's exciting as well.

 

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you  I'm going to be a zone leader I guess, haha!  I'm technically not supposed to know but when you have been in the office, you have a few connections.  I'm going to miss all the people we are working with here and all the people in my zone.

 

Yes Mom, we have sisters here in the zone, they are pretty good ones too.  One is from Pleasant Grove and she actually graduated with Erica and the other just got here from temple square. They let here come here for a few transfers and then she will go back for tourist season.  She was in the MTC the same time I was. She is from France. I went on an exchange with a missionary from Taboui a small island by Tahiti and he was teaching me some French. So I have a language card and some phrases because there are a lot of people here who speak French.  The guy living by us in the house boat grew up speaking French and didn't know what English was until he went to school and the teacher was yelling at him and he didn't know what was going on.

 

I'm not sure how being a zone leader will be, probably a lot more meetings.  Normally I give the zone leaders a hard time, so now I'm going too feel like a hypocrite!  But I've really liked and gotten along with all my zone leaders so far. So hopefully I can be like them.

Sounds like you all had a good Christmas. I still can't believe Alisha got married! haha! Well, I can - but it doesn't feel like I've been gone long enough for her to be getting married. But I guess it has been a few days since I left.  I saw the snow pictures from New Mexico, that was pretty cool. Maybe we will get some. I saw a little frost on the ground today, that was different.   

 

I'm still just shell shocked cause I'm getting transferred.  It came out of no where, but it's my first time being transferred on a normal transfer day though! haha!  No more emergency transfers for me! There is hope for me yet, no more mischievous Elder Ritchie that only gets ET'ed (emergency transferred), ha ha!  

 

I just hope my companion I'm leaving will do OK.  I made sure to leave very good notes and a very neat and informative area book, but i guess that's all I can do.  I hope the area can continue to do well because it is an awesome area, definitely one I'll have to come back and visit one day. I just wish I could've been here longer.  But I'm really excited for my new companion it's going to be awesome, he was in the office when I was in Baton Rouge. He was with Elder Murphy and his name is Elder Clark.

 

Well, I better go we are heading up to Lafayette for a zone p-day, play some more dodge ball, and say my goodbyes.

 

Love y'all,

love Elder Ritchie   

Change of Plans

Hey, so false alarm! I am getting transferred!

 

There was some stuff that came up in another area and President said I'd be a good fix, so I guess I'm going to Abbeville to serve with and Elder Limb. So if there is anything you were planing on sending send it to: 

 

1630 Prairie Ave.

Abbeville LA

70510

It looks like my days as an office Elder were short lived but we had fun and I  got to meet some cool new missionaries, some that were shipped off today espeicially Elder Klem, haha! Tell Peter that I served with a legit Elder Klem, he might get a kick out of that. But I get to go be in a district with one of my favorite  missionaries that I was companions with in the MTC, Elder Bennett, so I'm looking forward to that. It's gonna be sweet!

I can't get my camera to send pictures right now, so here is a picture from someone else's camera.  Enjoy!