Growing Pains: A Tough Week

My dear brother and sisters of God,

This week was not so accomplished and it was really hard! We got cancelled on a lot this week and we had exchanges too. Exchanges are where you switch comps for a day and have a sleep over with the Sister Trainer Leaders. I got to spend the whole day, night and morning with. Sister Bauserman who Hermana Alegrìa also trained. It was really cool to talk to her. We both don't know the area really well so we got lost and then it started to pour on us. But over all it was a good experience. This week we were also not very obedient with zag erring up and exercising... Yeah I could totally see the consequences to that disobedience. I looked at this picture that I will attach to this email and gasped. Let's just say I got up 5 minutes early and was out the door by 6:30. Never ran with such intent in my life. No one in the history of the world did sit-ups as vigorously as I had done this morning. I am not about to be fatty Madi but all this Hispanic food. I can hardly take it! I'm so hungry all the time and they always have ice cream afterwards... COME ON! Talk about Mosiah 3:19 and the natural man. I'm about to be a fat man... Well woman... Hahaha. These Hispanic women offering me 5ths and 6ths... Who am I to deny them? So for anyone who has asked me to measure my waist so they can make me skirts... Is it alright if I request elastic because.. Well... My weight might fluctuate LOL.

So one really cool thing that also happened this week besides waking up as a missionary everyday was I got to meet Elaine S. Dalton. Me and Hermana Alegrìa were flippin' out. We were the greeters at the door before and after. So when everyone was leaving after they finished their brunch we handed out Jenny Phillips CDs and necklaces. We were so scared she would leave after everyone had their chance to get a pic with her. We checked every 5 minutes to see if she was still there. During her talk she looked directly at us and said she was proud of the sister missionaries. I felt like she stared right into my soul! Wowzah! It was an amazing experience. Her talk was on the worth of a woman. One thing that I like that she said was "Your body was custom made to fulfill your destiny that God has for you." Pretty cool thought right? Then I actually got to take a picture with her! So awesome.. Stay in tune for pics.

Skype was really ... Different experience then I thought. I thought that I was going to be so sad today and homesick but I feel like it empowered me to be a better missionary. As missionaries we are promised that through our obedience all of our loved ones will be blessed and I know God keeps His promises. It was so good to see all of you! All 4 of my moms! :) God has been too kind to me for blessing me with such angles in my life.

Who ever said Salt Lake City wasn't a mission was lying because it is so hard here. The people we run into are either anti-Mormon, in active and want nothing to do with the church, members, members who claim they are Mormon but don't keep any of their covenants or come from a foreign country whose never heard of the church. There is this one family who we were teaching who the mom is in-active and the spouse is catholic. The mom just had surgery and is really sick so we were thinking it would be a good idea if she received a blessing for the sick. Well we knock on the door and the dad opens the door and starts telling us not to come back because HE is catholic and we are bothering them when his wife is so sick. He had gotten a hold of some anti-Mormon literature and had read it... He said kept saying I'm catholic and we just wanted to say uhm sir... We are not here for you this time. We are here for your wife because she needs the priesthood but we didn't... Yeah we aren't really welcome there anymore... Which was sad because we love them and wanted a blessing for the mom...

I have grown to love these people so much it's ridiculous. My prayers are at least 10 minutes long. When you read in Enos about him praying for days... I can feel for him because I think of every single one of them and their needs. The ward is great and they have such great hearts. I love their culture and their smiles and how no matter who you are you are welcomed in the family! For Dia de Madres they had gotten a Mariachi singer and played Mariachi music all night. They also had Hispanic cultured dancers preform the dances of the culture which was so cool! After the dancers they started playing worldly music and both me and Hermana Alegria Were both like "Get us out of here because we are about to break out dancing." Ugh... I just love these people! Although things don't go as planned its important to always look at the blessings God has given us!

The church is true guys I promise. But don't take my word for it! Find out for yourselves!

With all my love and soul,
Hermana Ritter

The other sisters in our district Sister Joseph and Ashcroft.
English speaking the one to the left of me is from New Zealand Ed!

We heart attacked a lady who has 5 kids and her husband just up and
left back to Mexico 2 years ago. She's an amazing woman!

This is Marlene. She served a mission in Venezuela and then went in-active.
She totally like you mom! (Amber)
So we told she could be our mom and we gave her something for Dia de Madres.