Best Week Ever!!

This letter might be a little longer than usual... Proceed with caution !

Okay so our week started off so fun! We went to Ensign peek for P.Day with Diana and Melissa. We had a blast and then we came home and passed out. We were so tired and my faced ended up being sunburned. Then on Tuesday I had an interview with my mission President and I seriously love that man! He reminds me so much of Grandpa. He teases all the missionaries like Grandpa does and sometimes I just sit there and stare because he totally says things Grandpa would say. It scared me. Tuesday we found a new investigator and we gave him a pamphlet and said he loved everything about it. He wants to talk with us about the church and stuff! Wednesday and Thursday we had the best lessons the whole time me and Hermana have been here. We are teaching this family who the mom on the edge of inactivity and the dad is our investigator. She has 2 kids from her previous marriage and then they got married and had a baby together. They are almost exactly like our family! I always like holding their baby... Even though the white handbook says not to... I need to repent... Hahaha.. Anyways I love holding their baby because it reminds me of Lillian. Their baby always reaches for me and loves playing with me. KENDRA! Even here these babies love me!

Well, here is why I am telling so much about them... I love them so much. So much. We had a lesson centered around baptism and invited the dad to be baptized. He said no but he said the only reason why he said no was because he doesn't know for himself if the church is true yet! After he rejected us his wife shared her testimony and how one day she knows they will get to the temple. He ended the lesson with the prayer... Guys... It was the most sincere, humble, powerful prayer with real intent. He prayed like he was talking to God. I started to tear up while he was praying and then I cried afterwards when we were walking home. I love that family so much and I know that he will be baptized one day. We were skipping home even after we were rejected because when you love the people that doesn't matter!

Friday and Saturday we had really good lessons but Sunday was the best. Francisco Duarte came to church for the first time! And it was because the member extended the invitation and told him he would be waiting for him at church saving him a seat. We had amazing lessons with members this week... Seriously so bomb...
So, today we were getting a ride from a Senior couple and they put on the soundtrack for Frozen! I almost died I was so happy! Anyways, it really had me thinking...

You know in the part where Ana gets to the castle of ice that Elsa built. In the song they sing Ana is telling Elsa the whole time she is singing that she is right there so she doesn't have to be alone and she will do anything to help her feel like she is loved. BUT, the whole time Elsa is so focused on what she can't do and who she thinks she isn't that she doesn't see her sister stretching out her arms to help her. How many times have we a Frozen our hearts and locked our selves away in a castle and the Savior has come as Ana has for her sister? How many times has he said "I'm right here" but we are so busy focusing on ourselves? In the end of the movie what saves Ana from the curse of the Frozen Heart is when Elsa focuses on some one else other than herself and she finds she had more power than she thought.

We come to know our Savior by serving our brothers and sisters who need our help. Our power comes from Him and the pure love He has for each and everyone of us. In the Book of Mormon there is a scripture Mosiah 2:17 which says "When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are in the service of your God." I love that! The zone leaders asked us what we did different this week so they could give advice to other missionaries who are struggling. We couldn't think of anything other than we got lost in the love we had for the people we are serving and serving with. So lost that I didn't know what day it was Friday hahaha. When we loose ourselves in serving others we come to find ourselves.

I love this work and know it is of God. I know He lives, loves and knows us each personally. I can not wait til the day I can see Him and give Him a big ol' hug and say I did it like I will with my dad when I get home in 14 months! My mission has changed me and I'm not even a third of the way through! Sending my love and prayers your way!

Hermana Ritter

Week 15

Not much really happened this week except the fact that is was really hard. Satan was working on us really good this week. After Monday things did not get better.. I still had problems with my stomach and was not sleeping very good. This made it so hard to wake up, exercise and study. I felt alone being this sick and away from home. I was scared. Yesterday, I finally got up on time and studied with all my might to learn something. Here is what I learned:

1. Patriarchal blessings should be a goal for every member of the church. This was such a comfort to me in my time of difficulty and I learned so much about my Heavenly, my Savior and myself when I read it during this time.

2. Fear and loneliness are not of God. Our Heavenly Father does not want us to be unhappy in this life and those feelings do not come from Him. They come from Satan. He wants us to think that we can't be the person Heavenly Father wants us to be. He wants us to fear and believe that the power of God cannot triumph over evil.

3. Prayer, scripture study &church attendance are the foundation of our testimonies. If you are having a hard time right now... Ask yourself the following:
              - How are my prayers? Am I even saying them?
              - Do I diligently search the word of God?
              - Am I not only physically attending church but mentally as well?
As missionaries we get asked so many times what can they do to better their lives. People think it's this massive formula that's huge and complicated. It's simple. Search the scriptures, say your prayers with real intent and go to church and actually listen. Alma 37:6-7.

I bare my testimony that God lives and loves His children. He called Joseph Smith as a prophet to restored His and His Son's church again on the earth. The Bible and the Book of Mormon hand in hand is the fullness of Their gospel. Christ is the only Begotten Son of God and when we build upon Him as our foundation we cannot fall. Sending my love to you all!

De mi corazón,
Hermana Ritter

Our ward mission leader took us to Sonic after a lesson and we didn't get home til 11 >:)

We made a poster for commitments with ward members. So fun!

Esta semana fue loco!

Guys... This week was crazy I don't even know where to begin...

We put Lucia and Patricia on a baptism date! My first investigators that I have found, come to know and love, taught them from the beginning, watch them grow to know their Savior and choose to have gospel in their lives. I love them so much and am so proud of them. Patricia came to church for the first time and she loved it. She is always watching her grand-kids and so she brought them with. Lucia had to work so her daughter was with us. Well they loved sacrament meeting and when it came time to go to primary she started sobbing and even when she was with her grandma in primary she cried the whole time. Well we decided to take them for a walk around the church and then just drop Patricia off in gospel principals and then take Angie (the one crying) with us back to primary. It worked! She was scared at first but we told her we were there with her to help love primary. That's when she started to really like it. But then they couldn't stay for the last hour so they had to leave but they came! We were so happy to see them. I was jumping up and down. The best part was that it was a member referal and she came to church because she felt the love through us and the member. Seriously, the best!

Okay moms of mine... Don't freak out but last night I ended up in the hospital... The whole day I felt fine and after church we went to go eat dinner. We had BBQ ribs. Something other then rice and beans! But I didn't even eat that much because I wasn't hungry. But after dinner... Holy cow. We had already left and knocked on some doors. We were on our way to visit a less active when my stomach hurt so bad i almost fell off my bike. We decided to go to the less-active house and ask if she had any medicine. She wasn't there and so we sat down thinking it would go away. It didn't. I felt like I was going to throw up and so I ran to the backyard so no one could see me. The pain was so bad I got dizzy and fell over. After that I couldn't get up and the pain got worse. Dad, it was like the one time my junior year when you took me to the emergency room. But, Hermana Alegrìa started calling people and no one was close to us. Finally, our mission leader answered and he brought the YM president with them along with his wife. When they got there I was screaming in pain. They gave me a blessing and rushed me to the clinic only to be sent to the emergency room. It was funny because at first I couldn't answer in English. They thought I only spoke spanish, but anyway... I get to the emergency room and the gave me morphine. I felt better after that of course. We ended up in the hospital for 5 hours running tests and they did an ultra-sound and the diagnostic was that I had a huge cyst on my ovary that I had obtained through the stress of the change in life-style and some other stuff. Because of how much biking I've been doing it exploded and bled into the lining of stomach. I'm okay today... Feeling super weak, head ache and nausea from the morphine and my body hurts from shaking because of the pain. The Elders just stopped by and gave me a blessing for the sick so everything is going to be alright!

Lesson learned: Love cures all. Through out all my pain Hermana Bautista was rubbing my back and Hermano Bautista was telling me it's going to be ok. When the pain was super bad and I was shaking they would hold my hand. The same can be applied to less-active and investigators! If we treated the less active members and investigators like they treated me our chapels would be full. Most people leave the church because of pain and trials they are having. Instead of a back rub, we visit them. Instead of holding their hand, help them through their trials. We tell them it's going to be ok and we invite them to come unto Christ once more. It is through our LOVE through our ACTIONS that people can come to know their Savior. Love cures all and we can feel our Heavenly Fathers love through the priesthood. After they had given me a blessing and I was screaming in pain I could still hear the soft whispering of the Holy Ghost telling me everything was going to be okay. The priesthood is love and through love I was cured. Through love we can cure others.

I testify with all that I have that this church is true. The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints is God's church restored on the earth today. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are at its head. I testify that the power of the priesthood is real. Our Heavenly Father is a God of miracles. He loves us and wants the best for us. The best is His gospel my brothers and sisters. We come to know Him and His Son through His word.. The Book of Mormon and the Holy Bible. I love this gospel and the peace it brings to my life. I love you all!

Hermana Ritter

"The field is already white to harvest" doctrine & covenants 4

The kids to took the pic above hahahahaha so random!

Picking cherries yum! Que rico¡
  

Having fun at weekly planning. An elder took our pictures because he wants to catch our racial expressions. Supposedly we tell stories really good hahaha.
 


Hermana Alegrìa learning how to shoot a bow. Lol. She loved it.
  

Selfie after the morphine.


After the morphine. Hahaha. Diana, then Melissa and then Hermano Castro their dad. He's the YM President.

Nutty Bars and the Power of God

This was such a good week and we had so much success. It's weeks like this where you want to be on a mission forever.

We had so many lessons with members and wow did they bring the spirit. As missionaries our calling is to teach and when a member is there to share their testimony it makes the lesson all the more powerful! We had this really good family home evening about a modern day Prophet and how those called of God in our day can bless the family. I have never had the spirit lead me so much in a lesson then that one. In this family the mom is a member (Vanina) and the dad is not (Michael pronounce mich-aye-el). She is on the verge of inactivity and he has been taught by missionaries and had a bad experience. They have 3 kids and the youngest is 6 months old. The mom is so tired all the time and the dad works a lot just to make ends meet. They let me hold the baby and it made me miss Lilly so much :((. Vanina said the baby was so calm with me she might just let me take her home hahaha. I miss Lilly... :( anyways the less went so good and we focused on how conference teaches us how to be better people. We applied it to him as the head of the house and with the priesthood session it is aimed at brothers, fathers and men of the world. It was really good! And he came to church! He has never come to church! The Elders were a bit jealous and could never get him to go to church when they were teaching him! It's moments like that when you know you were called to your mission for a reason!

So I have a funny story for those who know me well. Saturday during comp study we kinda got off track.. A lot and Hermana Alegrìa started to share some scary mission stories and at the time I didn't think they were bad or were scary. When night time came for some awesome reason those stories came into my mind right before I went to sleep. Well I had really bad dreams and hallucinated that these stories were happening to me. I woke up so scared and I guess I was talking in my sleep so Hermana was already awake. Needless to say we slept with the light on and I cried because I wished that I was home so I could crawl into bed with dad and Kendra lol. Hermana was like "Hermana do you want to watch some happy videos?" And we watched Mormon messages in her bed till like 1:30. We were so tired yesterday hahaha.

Why do I tell this story? Well Doc&Cov 121:45 states:
45 Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.

Our thoughts have so much power and when we learn to control them we have obtained ultimate self-mastery. Although I didn't mean to think those things, I chose to listen to those stories and I remembered them when it wasn't appropriate. This is the reason why the leaders of the church say to be careful about what you watch, read and listen to. At the end of the verse it says, "then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven." Our thoughts give us confidence and we enjoy the blessings of the priesthood when we control them. When I was able to finally control my thoughts and think of the power that the Savior has in my life I slept like a rock! I testify that if we garnish our lives, actions and thoughts with virtue our Heavenly Father will bless us! I love you all and hope you have a good week! The church is true and God lives!

Hermana Ritter

Me and Hermana using he face masks from Kendra. Fab!

Making minions for last p.day!

The YW had a spaghetti dinner and it was so much fun to hang out with the ward and 

meet people from other wards that came also. I love these people!!!!!! 

To my right is Diana and she is a ward missionary and 

to our left is Melissa her little sister. 

We love them!

First Transfer Done

Hi guys... How is everyone? :)

So it's already been 6 weeks and I feel like it was only 2... Seriously. I'm amazed at how much a person can change in that short amount of time. It has been the best time of my life and the hardest. I have seen the hands of God molding me into the servant that He wants me to be. OH HOW I LOVE THIS GOSPEL. I know with all my soul it's true.

We had so many lessons this week and most of them were with members! The spirit was so strong and my Spanish is getting so much better. I'm learning to love the language and the people who speak it. My favorite lesson this week would have to be... With Juana Bernal. This lady is 75 years old and loves to praise Jesus at the top of her lungs. We hadn't seen her for 3 weeks because she was in the hospital and we had also read 3 Nephi 13 with her which talks about prayer. She got really mad at us and told us that we don't pray as loud and as frequent as she would like. Well, Thursday we visited her and had a super good lesson on how the Holy Ghost talks to us. Her daughter's testimony was so strong and she was really receptive to the message. Last night we came back again and we read the same chapter with her. She started to cry. The other daughter that she has moved to Cali and she would go to church with her. That church kept telling her that if the Spirit was talking to her it would be loud and overcome her body. Like really weird stuff. She was so confused and then finally she said she felt like she felt the spirit. It was quiet, soft and peaceful. LOVING. Ugh, I love that woman so much! She started crying and we all hugged. Soooooo cheesy but I loved it. It was so nice and I don't even remember what was said. Oh how I love these people!

I've been reading the Old Testament every morning now and WOW! I love the prophets of old! I've already finished Genesis and I'm in Exodus when Moses first starts his ministry as a prophet. Come to find out you can relate to prophets back before Christ came. When Moses was called to gather the people of Israel out of Egypt he says:

 10 ¶And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.

Sometimes we feel as though we are not qualified or good enough to do the work of The Lord but this is what he has to say to us:
11 ¶And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord?
12 ¶Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.
 (Exodus 4:10-12)

At the beginning of this transfer I had no idea what my role or purpose was. I hadn't realized the weight and importance of my calling. To me I was a 19 year old girl who had prayed to know the truth. I didn't know my potential and that I could change lives. I may not know much about life but there some things I do know. With all the fervor of my soul I know that God, our loving Heavenly Father, lives and He loves each and every one of us personally. His Son, Jesus Christ, cares so much for us that He gave His life so we could make the best out of ours. This is THEIR church RESTORED through the Prophet Joseph Smith and by the power of God he did translate the Book of Mormon. I know that the Book of Mormon brings hope, joy and happiness to all mankind. Through this book we can all come to know the Savior and love Him because we KNOW Him. Guys, I wouldn't want to serve anywhere else other than right here in Salt Lake City, Utah. This is the best decision I have ever made. Yes, it's exhausting. Yes, I've gained 500 pounds. Yes, I am missing my family. Yes, I miss Tupac and Lady Gaga. But... WHO CARES?! I have the best job in the whole entire world and that is loving the children of God and teaching them about the love He has for them. I love being a missionary and I love all of you.

Hermana Ritter

P.S Me and Hermana Alegrìa are staying. Not getting transferred this time :)

Hahaha, this kid doesn't smile. He's the son of Lucia who we are teaching right now.

 I got him to smile the other day :) you, cause babies love me.

Blowing bubbles.

Lol... Cheesy Weekly Planning selfie.

Took Maria to the temple. Seriously, love that girl.

Haha Fabian.

Got your package mom (Kendra) and dad :) thank you so much!

Hermana Alegrìa says thank you ritter family!

Saturday we took Maria and Adriana to the temple square this week and wow! It was the most spiritual lessons I've had. We centered our lesson on the mutual teem from last year. Stand in Holy Places and seriously... It went so good. I saw Sister Park (Macy) but I didn't say hi or get a pic because she was teaching! :( maybe I'll run into her in another lesson!

Got to meet the mayor of the city of West Valley on Monday which was pretty rad. 

Also the dog that says no to drugs. Don't know his name lol.

Mom (Nikki) I actually went cross eyed! Woot woot!