Merry Christmas

Hey, it was good to hear and see you guys on Christmas.

I had an awesome Christmas. That miracle I was talking about, we were supposed to baptize a  little girl and her brother Saturday but we weren't able to get permission from their mom yet, but we are hoping to get it soon and get them baptized. I'll let you know how it goes.  We were having a really rough day and then we met them through their grandma and committed them last week. They have a strong desire to be baptized so its still a miracle, just gonna talk a little longer to work it out. Oh, and the little girls name is L. and we were stopping by right after I got your package last week and it had that CTR slap bracelet.  I knew what to do with that as soon as I saw it! We stopped by and L. had read the chapter in the Book of Mormon that we left and additional ones as well and we were standing at the door and I told her to hold her wrist out and I reached into my pocket and I snapped her on the wrist with the bracelet and she loved it.  Just the night before they were looking at my CTR ring and I was telling them that it meant "choose the right" or "Christ the Redeemer" and she really wanted one really bad.  So I was able to give her that one after she had read and she loved it!  She is awesome a little 9 year old that loves reading the Book of Mormon and really wants to get baptized.  She comes to church even when her grandma doesn't. So we are hoping everything works out with her mom.  Her brother is supposed to get baptized too but we have only meet with him the  first time we taught her, so we are hoping to get him over to his grandmas again because he really wanted to be a member of the Church.

Thanks for all the Christmas presents, I really liked them  all!! Just remember the true spirit of Christmas, as the prophet said you can just drop the second part of the syllable of Christmas and it becomes the spirit of Christ. He is the reason for the season. The greatest gift we will ever be given was the gift of our Savior and I know that he is the Son of God and our Savior and Redeemer.

Love, Elder Ritchie

The Lost Letter and Pictures

They told me to go suck a lemon.  So I did.

Hey, I had a good week, I just wrote a long descriptive story about the awesome miracle we had but then the computer erased it :( and it was a good one, I spent like 30 minutes writing it... but i guess i just have to wait and tell you on the phone this week.

I'll probably call around 1 our time so I think that is noon there. I'll see if we can get the skype thing to work or not if not I'll just call.

 Oh yes, I got your package and grandma's package! I used something in your package for that miracle I was writing about but got erased... it was super cool.. but this computer is lame... oh, tell Sullivan and Grandma thanks as well!




My Christmas gift to Terry




My mission President is a star!
We had a zone conference with a nativity play last week.




My Companion got carded buying root beer.  Good thing he's over 21.






We are supposed to avoid the appearance of evil.

 

My CTR Ring fits on my tongue!

 

I drink my Tabasco straight out of the bottle.

 

The trash shute from the loft of the Man Cave.



I like my toast licorice flavored.

I'll talk to you on Christmas!

Love Elder Ritchie 







Christmas Package

We received a package from Sam.   Here are the contents, presents wrapped up in Ensign pages, ketchup packages, and a left over bag of pork cracklins!

And a letter.

Dear Family,
I got you guys some presents.  It's not much but it's something!  Mom and Dad you can open yours when you get it but everyone elses can wait.  I put in a present for Chelsie, Nolan and Dillon so make sure they get them.  And no, the wrapping paper on Chelsie's isn't "Forget Me Not", so she doesn't forget me, it's because she said that was her favorite conference talk, so yeah.  Anyways, I just barely got your 12 days of Christmas package so I'll look forward to that. 

Tell the grandparents hello and I miss them and I love their letters.  And tell Grandma Clark to stop bragging about going to Hawaii, haha, but seriously, I'm going with her next time.  Anyways, I've got some dodge Ball that needs to be played and faces that need to learn how to dodge a ball!

Love you,

Elder Ritchie

Crawdads on our Christmas Tree

                                                         

An Instant Primary

Well, to start off we had an awesome church this Sunday, we got someone that lives across the street from the house we have the group meeting to come to church and she brought the 8 kids she was watching, 2 were her own.  We had a full house and all 8 of the kids were under 7 so it was a party haha!  I asked Sister Campbell if she was ready for primary and she kinda gave me an odd look and then we told her about the 8 kids that were supposed to be there and she kinda just went into shock, so did  I a little! It didn't really hit me, 8 kids, until they got there. And they were all under 7 haha!  We were in for a treat!  Then Sister Campbell asked if there was anything she needed help with and we said, well they live kiddie-corner to you, so we might could help her get them all here. So we went with her and took the first wave of 5 kids, we got to shepherd them to the church. It was awesome!  They were really good kids, they all held hands and walked with us to the house.  Then Terize (the lady we are teaching) showed up with the rest of them. They all were very good in church and the bishop even came down for the first time to the group meeting.

The three of us missionaries got to talk. I talked on hope and how the world misuses the term hope and how its a little different in the gospel context, that it is more of a firm belief and yearning for blessings. I used Alma 34:22 with it and then brought it back to Moroni 7:41 and that all hope comes through the atonement, and then to 2 Nephi 31:20 that we must have a perfect brightness of hope and we shall have eternal life, it went well. 

Terize, the 22 year old watching all those kids, really liked church we had a lesson with her this last week and she ate up everything we were teaching her.  I've never seen someones eyes light up so much from the thought of a prophet and how the book of Mormon came about through a prophet.  She had some questions about where we go after life here so we had her read Alma 40:11-13 and she was like, oh that's a relief!  Ha ha! She loved it, so that was an awesome miracle!

How we ran into her was awesome too.  We were out with a member and a lesson fell through so we went to see if we could see some other investigators but noone was available. So, we were like oh, we will have to try another time and the member we were with was like "I went on a mission and I know how it can be especially tough when you have members come it makes it harder a lot of the time".  So, we decided to call it a night but as we were driving back to the apartment I thought, "Hey, lets go stop by this house," and it just so happened that Terize was home and her kids and boyfriend were gone so we had a quiet lesson and we had a male member with us so we were actually able to go inside and have a lesson. It was an awesome miracle. The circumstances were to perfect to be coincidence and she really felt the spirit. She had been having a terrible day, her dog got stolen and she had to track the guys that stole it down and they made her pay for her dog because when she said she was going to get the police involved they said they would just shoot the dog, (people are in love with their pit bulls here they are the most popular dog) anyways, it was awesome that we were able to help provide the spirit to help her have a better day.

  

My new companion is having some struggles.  Then next few weeks will be interesting.  He really wants to be on a mission, but he is having some problems interacting with people and studying to be a missionary. 

 

The work is  going good, and my other companion leaves for home this week so that's good.  He was able to make it after all the struggles he has had on his mission. We get along well, especially when we are doing the work, not so much when we are just around the apartment but we do alright.

 

I'm sending a package home with some presents for Christmas, you and dad can open yours when you get it cause it can be used for Christmas and it probably comes close to the present I got you last year, but I don't know if I'll ever be able to top getting my mission call.  Every one else can wait to open theirs. I'm sending a picture that I got when I was in Challmete that an investigator, well now  a new member, got me. This is the one that was baptized two weeks after I left.  I don't know if I said this already but I think 10 or 12 people have come into the church because of her example. Mom,  will you get on my Facebook and say hi to Tammy  and Chelsie. Just tell them I miss them or something, just send them a message, don't have to write on their wall or what ever you kids are calling it these days.

 

Anyways, love ya

 

love elder ritchie

On Christmas, I'll call before three cause that will be four here and we only have one hour of church or I could do it after that,  maybe like 11 or 12  if that works, Idon't really think it matters. We can do it whenever works.

 

So, the man cave is awesome. My companion is from Corona California . The senior couple are still here and hey, if your sending a package just send it to the 1630 prairie address cause its probably safer going there because they have a hidden door, ours is like right by the street, but you can send mail to my new place at  604 Samson but either address works. The Campbell's call me if I have mail.  It's probably good we moved out though, I was about to start calling them mom and dad, haha!  It felt a little like home having older people there.  They are super awesome they support the church and the members here so much they have activated a couple of families and help us visit less actives and find people to teach.  Senior couples are the best!

 

We had kind of a disappointing week at church though, we were counting on Braden and his friends to show up because his friends had a baptismal date for the 17th but it looks like we will have to postpone it till next year. It would be to hard to get a baptism over the break, but we will see how it works out.  Terry has been sick lately, he has had internal bleeding or something, they think it's a bleeding ulcer so we haven't seen him in a little while, he did bear his testimony last week when we had church here in Abbeville.  Our group here in Abbeville is making progress, the bishop approved us to get the new teaching materials for next year. He wasn't going to let us have Sunday school and YM and YM but we talked to our ward mission leader who is awesome, and he has been trying to get the ward a spark for missionary work so I think his work is starting to pay off.

 

I got a package from the young women of the ward with some nice stuff inside. I love the pillow case they sent, it was sweet and I needed a new one anyway so tell the thank you for me. I'll try and sent them a thank you card sometime but not today, we are going to the Tabasco factory.  It's only like 20 miles from us. We are going with the New Iberia missionaries. Oh yeah, my Collin look alike from Tahiti that was serving in New Iberia got transferred :(  .  But they replaced him with another missionary from French Polynesia Islands, but he doesn't look like Collin. 



 

Tell Daphanie that I want some koolaid when I get to the airport or at least I expect her to have been drinking some so I can recognize her by her red Koolaid mustache that matches her red hair :] 

 

Boudin

Well, I got to try something new this week it was called boudin.  It's weird sausage with rice in a pig intestine. We also had seafood boudin with shrimp, rice, and crab in the intestine, it was pretty good, very spicy.  The seafood one was really good.  We grilled it over a wood stove our neighbor CJ has on our porch.  We are getting some really Cajun training.  I got to help make a gumbo the other day too!  

 

 

Well, I best be going now,

 

love ya

love elder ritchie 

Thanksgiving's Move to the Man Cave

We had a  good Thanksgiving, we ate and we ate... and then we taught... and then we moved. We moved into our new apartment and its saweeet! It has a loft and only one window and its a man cave! I'm going to take pictures and you guys can build me one so I can have it when I get home. It will just need a few more basic essentials we are not allowed to have on a mission. We moved into it on Thursday after we ate and then taught a lesson, we were actually teaching a lesson in one of the rooms at the Campbell's to Terry, just talking about priesthood cause that's what he was concerned about. He keeps saying "the bishop is going to test me on it next week".  He got the True to the Faith book and the bishop told him to study priesthood and he was going to ask him questions about it next week. So we went over it with him in his reading, but while were were reading everyone started running out the door with our beds so we were like, what in the world! And they said they were going to go put our beds in the new apartment cause someone was there with a truck. So, we just took everything and moved in that night, in a hurry!

 

 

 

My two companions are doing alright, I'm training one and getting ready to send one home. It's going well, Elder West is my new companion and Elder Limb is the older one. Elder West and I get along really well, he just has a hard time studying and remembering things but he's fun. We get along a little better than Elder Limb and I do.  But when Elder Limb and I  are teaching,  we do a pretty good job. Elder West is still shell shocked when it comes to teaching but that's normal, we will see how well he can break out of it cause he is a little different in social situations.

 



Sam in Abbeville



We got a new assistant to the president last week,  its Elder Murphy from Idaho Falls so I'm getting even more pull in the office and with president, so hes got my back! Oh and I can't remember if I told you but we got a car.  It's been in the 40's here to so we got it just in time.  For Christmas I could use a sweater and maybe a pair of thin gloves. Well I'm out of time.

 

Love you,

elder ritchie

Baptism Week

Hey,

So we had a really good week and a really really good weekend! Terry's baptism went really well. We had his family really involved, his son gave a very brief talk about baptism and his brother-in-law gave a talk on the Holy Ghost and while they were talking I went and talked to the ward missionary conducting the meeting and had him invite Terry's wife to bear her testimony right before the baptism as well. After each of them got done with their talk, Terry hopped up and gave them a hug and said thank you. Terry was the one that told me to make sure we got his wife to bear her testimony because they have been having a hard time but he didn't want her to know before the baptism so I was sneaky about it (ha ha, you know how I can be sneaky I'm sure). The baptism went really great, a member from the ward baptized him, he is the one that takes him to the addiction recovery class in Baton Rouge and he also home teaches his family so he has been a really good influence on him.  After our lessons when we would find scriptures with Terry he would all ways highlight them and make sure to show him on their way to Baton Rouge. 

 

 

 

 

 

So I have had a blast teaching Terry and I'm pretty sure I'm going to be here a while so I will get to be around him even more. There was a concern with his confirmation however, his wife was in the hospital the night after the baptism because she had a problem with her foot, she has diabetes, so they were in the ER all night and didn't even get to see anyone about it... (hospitals, what a joke!)  So they were late to church in Lafayette but they ended up coming in during the sacrament hymn so we did it right after the sacrament. It was also ward conference here and they have a traditioon of a gumbo for the ward after ward conference. That was pretty cool!  I'm going to have to bring that one back to Idaho. Gumbo is so good and the spicier the better.  I finally got to try potato salad in gumbo, I really liked  that too especially when you take a really good potato salad and put it in a really good gumbo I wasn't sure from the sound of it, but it was way good.

 

 

 

 

We also had a good FHE group after church, we were able to get a 15 year old less active there and his friend, they really like the food we had. There were some really good meatballs and pasta and we were able to go have a lesson with the less active and his friend and we committed him for baptism so hopefully they both start to learn more about the gospel together we are supposed to go play basketball with them today and a member that is their age too.

 

 

 

 

 

Well, its transfer week that's why I'm writing on a Tuesday.  I found out I'm going to be in a threesome for the next 3 weeks till Elder Limb, my companion goes home and I'm getting a brand new companion fresh of the plane so I'll be training again.  I get to see one come and one go in the same transfer. I talked to the president about my new companion and I'm kind of nervous cause I guess he's has had some learning disabilities in the past and had been in special ed before and he is going to need some "TLC" as President Wall put it. I'm not really sure what to expect, two companions that are struggling at the same time, I don't know if I'm the right person for someone that needs TLC.  I don't know, President really likes to throw me curve balls, maybe it's cause I need more patience or something. Oh, and I found out I'm taking over the zone leaders area cause the zone leaders are going to be the Spanish missionaries in Lafayette, so again I'm covering another area, another curve ball. But we get a car tomorrow haha! Because we are getting a giant area and I've got some pull in the office!

 

Love you guys!

love elder ritchie