I have grown so much this week. It wasn't one of the most eventful weeks, but it was enjoyable and we had a good time. Sister Hill and I always find a way to make it through the hard times we face. I just love being her companion so much.
Monday:
We had a lesson with Deon at a members house. It was really perfect. We scheduled to have dinner with them and to do a family home evening with her and her boys. We got to their house and waited for a while and no Deon. I was afraid that she wasn't going to come. Then she calls us and says, "Sisters. I am lost." The family who hosted everything kind of lives in the boonies. So we did our best to direct Deon to her house. She told us to go outside and stand with a flashlight in the road so she could look for us. So we did just that. Sister Hill and I and the whole crew of kids went outside in the darkest of darks, tried to find our flashlight in our trunk and waved Deon into the driveway. It was super funny. Then we had a great dinner and a lesson on following Jesus Christ. For the activity, we played follow the leader. Deon's boys loved it. At the end, we were ready for the prayer. Deon's boys are 1 & 2. They usually run around a play during the prayers, but this time, they sat and folded their arms. It was so cute. I love her so much!
Tuesday was probably the longest day in my recorded mission history. I had to go to a meeting in Arkansas, and it started at 8. We had to wake up at 2:30 and drive 40 minutes to St. Robert to meet the elders in their truck. From there, we went about an hour to Lebanon to get the other zone leader and switch companions. Then we had another hour drive to Springfield to get into the mission van. Sister Hill got to stay there with Sister M&M (: After that, we drove another 2 hours to get to Bentonville. It was so great. We were all super tired, so everything was really funny. I sat next to Sister Streadbeck, and we literally just talked about our time in elementary school together. It was super funny. We finally got to the meeting and it was a super spiritual time. One of the elders talked about the priesthood and the importance of it. It strengthened my testimony on the priesthood a lot. I am so grateful that the priesthood is on the earth today and that we can receive personal revelation and blessings because of it. We also watched a mormon message called lifting burdens. EVERYONE WATCH IT RIGHT NOW. It is so good. I love the quote in it, "we see ourselves in terms of yesterday and today, but our Heavenly Father sees us in terms of forever....He sees us as the glorious beings, we are capable of becoming." I know that we can do all things through Christ. He is there for us. He atoned for our sins, so that we can overcome our weakness. I love the message and the hope that video brings. I know that Christ is always and will always be by our side, lifting our burdens, and strengthening us.
After the meeting, we did the whole driving process all over again. We didn't get home until 10:40. 20 solid hours of not sleeping. It was super great, but i was so happy to get home and get in bed.
Wednesday, oh dear. Another one our crazy stories. We had district meeting at 10:30, so we went to leave our apartment about 10 so we could be early. We walked outside, and unfortunately our road had been torn apart and trucks were blocking it, and signs saying, "road closed." So our car was stuck and there was no way of getting it out. Sister Hill and I looked at each other and laughed and began our walk to the church. It was hilarious. Here we were leaving with plenty of time, and now we were going to be late. Just our luck. Luckily, the other missionaries rescued us half way, so we didn't have to walk the whole way, and we weren't late.
We had some really cool experiences that day. We had a lesson with a less active man, Brother Woodward. We were going over the restoration and his testimony on the topic. His son in law was in the room on the computer, but didn't seem to be paying any attention. All of a sudden, his son in law starts asking questions and becoming interested. So we basically retaught the lesson again with him. He said he was open to learning and asking questions, but he didn't want to make any commitments. It was really cool to see the spirit touch him and his heart become softened. We are going to go back this week and visit him. We are really excited to start teaching him.
We also saw one of our investigators, Brother French. He is what we call an "eternigator." He has had the missionary lessons countless of times and has a testimony, for some reason, he just won't commit to baptism. We taught him the plan of salvation. He has a really powerful testimony on the Plan of Salvation. We made me think a lot and he taught me alot. He said, "If i don't help your wheels turn, it wasn't a good lesson." He testified of the resurrection and judgement day. He said, "I feel like it isn't going to be scary, and got won't be rude to us. I think it is going to be enlightening, and we are going to know what we did wrong. We will know what we deserve for our eternal salvation." He is such a cool guy to teach.
[This is the worst part of the entire week.] We were driving home from the French's to go to another lesson and SISTER HILL KILLED A CUTE LITTLE RACOON. She just squashed it flat dead. I have never heard a more awful sound, or seen such a horrifying sight. His whole family was with him too. It was the absolute worst thing to ever happen.
Thursday was absolutely incredible. We had a lesson with Robert and Penny. We re taught the Restoration. As we taught and testified, the spirit was so strong. We asked Robert to read Moroni 10: 3-5. As he was reading, he started crying. He paused and didn't say much. Then he said, "Hmm. I have a lot of deep thoughts and pondering to do. I need to read the Book of Mormon everyday. It is really interesting." We then invited him to be baptized and he said if he comes to know its true he will. I have never had such a powerful experience as i have taught the Restoration. It was one of the highlights of my mission. The lesson went perfectly. The spirit was strong, Robert was open, he was asking questions and Penny was able to answer some and share her testimony of Joseph Smith. To close the lesson, Robert said, "I like what you taught. It just makes sense." It does make sense. The gospel of Jesus Christ makes complete sense. It is such a blessing to us. I am so grateful to have the restored gospel on the earth today.
Friday was pretty good. We had absolutely nothing scheduled and we both prayed really hard that we would be able to fill our schedule. Right then, Cathy's daughter called and needed our help with service. We helped her clean her rental house. We scrubbed the kitchen with bleach for 3 hours. It was terrible. I felt so bad for her because the people she was renting it to just left, and didn't take any of their stuff. It was cool to get to talk with her and find out about how she has been enjoying the missionary discussions from the elders in St. Robert.
Friday, Sister Hill made me laugh so hard. She was putting gas in the car and i was just chillin in the passenger seat. Next thing i know i hear a thud and look over, Sister Hill tripped over the gas chord and was laying on the floor. I looked and her and just laughed and she said, "This is why oregonians don't pump their own gas." HAHAHAHAHA. It was the best ever.
Saturday:
We FINALLY got into contact with Christine. We have been trying to meet with her for like 9 weeks and she is never there. We got into her house and she just kept asking us crazy off the wall questions. She kept saying, "I don't have what it takes to be Mormon." It was heartbreaking. She is a recent convert. We asked her why she wanted to get baptized in the first place. She had no straight answer, but just kept asking us all sorts of things that were not related at all. It was like she was trying to get us to say something that was against the church. She told us she didn't believe in organized religion and that she would never follow a prophet, but she would follow Christ. We couldn't get a word in, and it was really sad to see someone like that. When i first got to Rolla, she was active, she was happy, and she had a testimony. It just made me so sad to see her testimony gone. I know it is because she stopped doing the little things that God commands us to do like praying, reading scripture, and attending church. I know that when we stop doing the things that invite the spirit into our lives, Satan puts doubts into our hearts and minds and drags us further and further away from the path. It strengthened my testimony on doing the little things.
Sister Hill and i also made a new goal. We are going to tract on every street in Rolla. Starting....NOW.
Sunday was interesting. We drove down to St. Robert for stake conference. The missionaries were invited to sing in the conference with the young single adults. It went well i think. We sang 'How Great thou art.' We were told that during the video, it was zoomed in on Elder Furniss the entire song until the last verse and he didn't even sing. It was super funny!!!
The whole week Penny told us she was going to skip the conference and not come. But then she said, "It is nagging at me that i keep saying i am not going, but we will see. I don't want to watch a broadcast." Well as we were practicing, guess who walked in?? PENNY and ROBERT. She said she wasn't going to come and she drove clear from Rolla to St Robert. It brought a huge smile to our faces.
I learned a lot from that conference. One of the Speakers, Elder Robbins talked about simplifying our lives. He asked us if we were making our lives easier to follow Christ, or clouded and full of other things. It made me think, "Do i have time for Christ in my life?" I know that right now, of course i do, i am a missionary. But i hope to make habits on my mission that will carry throughout my entire life. I want my life to be simple, so that i can do my best to serve Heavenly Father the best i can. It was a super helpful talk. I can't wait to make changes in my life to simplify.
After conference we had a lesson with a member. She just kept saying, "I don't follow prophets, i follow the Bible." She wanted our advice, and all we could say is to follow the prophet and pray about it for yourself. It was so hard.
These past few weeks we have had so many people that have doubted the prophet and said that they were not going to follow him.
I want to testify, that i KNOW without a doubt, that we have a modern day prophet on the earth. I know that Thomas S. Monson is called of God and has the priesthood keys. I know that he doesn't teach us anything that God wouldn't teach if he were here. I know Thomas S. Monson is the leader of the church here on earth. He is here to guide us and teach us what we need to do to return to our Heavenly Father again. I know that by following the prophets teachings, we will be the most happy in life. Mosiah 2:41.
I love you all and hope you have the best week.
Love,
Sister Ritter
pictures:
1) I don't even care that its an awful picture. I got to see my fave Sister Booms!(:
2) I was reunited with my daughter <3
3) Sister Hill and i walking to District Meeting.
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