Christmas!

Dear Family and Friends:

Christmas week is always a little different when you are a missionary. It is slower because no one is home.  And those that are home don't want to be bothered by missionaries.  Basically only the members want to see us. But President Loveland encouraged us to make this week about service and to find service with those that may not be remembered this Christmas season.  It was a great week.  

On Tuesday we had a really cool experience.  Sister Hill and I were planning to teach Robert and Penny about Tithing and Fast Offerings.  We were prepared and ready to teach.  As we were driving there, we both felt that we should scratch that plan and read from the Book of Mormon with them.  We decided we would read from where they left off.  We read a chapter with Robert and he had a lot of really great questions that were answered in the scriptures.  As we read the chapter Penny had left off on, Sister Hill and I both looked at each other and couldn't stop smiling.  It was all about the Law of the Tithe.  It was such a blessing.  We were able to teach Penny what we had originally planned, but in a different way.  It was a really cool experience to have. It was cool to see that the Lord will help us teach in the best way possible if we turn to him and rely on the spirit to direct us.  We told Penny about that experience and she was really touched by it.  Then she took us to see the lights again. 

Wednesday, we were able to have a lesson on family history with a less active man that we have been trying to see for months.  We invited his home teacher and his wife.  As Sister Hill was helping him with his family tree, Sister Rasmussen asked me to help her with indexing.  She said that she had been having a really hard time with it and didn't know how to do it.  She said she just gave up because she was frustrated.  Luckily, that is about the only part of family history i am good at.  It was a great lesson and we had a lot of time getting to know all of them better.

Thursday was Christmas Eve and it was nothing short of a good time.  All the other elders and sisters from our zone came to Rolla and we went caroling.  We stopped by a few members houses and also a few of the nursing homes here in Rolla. It was super cool.  The old ladies loved it! They jammed out to the carols as we tried to sing them half way decent.  One of the nursing homes wanted us to walk through the halls caroling.  They said, "Dont go in hall 3. There isn't anyone down there." We were jamming out and singing at the top of our lungs. We weren't paying attention and then one of the elders realized that we were singing to absolutely no one at all.  We turned around and went to a new hall and all the workers were laughing at us because we did exactly what they told us not to do.  It was hilarious.  It was a really great time.  The funniest thing that happened was when we stopped by an older couple in our ward.  We started caroling and knocked, No answer. So we knocked louder. No answer. By this time, the song was over and we were awkwardly standing on their porch laughing.  As we walked away, they opened the door, so we all ran onto the porch again and started over.  It was such a good time to spend my Christmas eve.  That evening, we went to the Millers home, and what they call a "Bethlehem dinner." She makes a meal that they would have eaten at the time of Jesus' birth.  We sat on the floor and read the Christmas Story.  It was a really cool dinner.

Then the next day...CHRISTMAS! It was so much fun!  We woke up and the Twyman girls were ready to go.  They ripped all of their things open and played with all their toys.  Sister Hill and I even got visited by Santa. It was great. We got some Candy and a few other little things.  After the traditional morning was over, we went to our Ward Mission Leaders house and played a crazy game of Phase 10.  They are such a hilarious family.  It was super fun. After that, we went to a community dinner and helped them slice pie for over and hour and set up all the tables and chairs.  It was a really cool experience for me.  There was a ton of people there helping and giving of their time to help others in need.  I know that it was a huge sacrifice for some people to take time away from their families to volunteer.  It was a great way for me to keep the Savior in my thoughts.  I had a great time. It was also a tender mercy.  As we were volunteering, one of our potential investigators walked in.  It was awesome to see the Lords hand in our live.  We talked with her and invited her to church.  She was very happy to see us.  After that, we went back to the Nordwalds for another game of Phase 10.  Then we finally came home and got to skype.  It was so great to see and talk with all of you!!! I am grateful for the encouragement i received from everyone and all the updates and crazy news!  Skype was definitely the greatest present from Christmas. 

Saturday was really hard. It poured all day and everyone cancelled our appointments.  Even our dinner cancelled.  We did not want that to happen, so we called one of our investigators and basically invited ourselves to dinner. They were very happy to feed us.  About 3 hours later, they called and cancelled too. It was super sad. They said, "Sorry girls, i don't know if it is the weather or what, something is going on in our house and we can't feed you."  Then she texted us about an hour after that and said, "sorry we are wishy washy, we really want to have you for dinner. See you at 6."  It was a HUGE blessing.  We had a great time with them and a great lesson.  Mike said he would be baptized.  It was amazing to hear him say that.  I don't know if i will be around for it, but he said he wanted us to come back and see him baptized if we weren't here.  I know that the Lord is working hard on him right now.  He is so open to learning and very open to the spirit.  At dinner we found out that he is the one who told Brenna to tell us that we were going to come over.  He didn't want to cancel, she did.  It is so cool to see the progression he has made in the past few weeks. 

This week i would say a huge way we saw the Lords hand is working with a less active/part member family. They have the desire to come to church and do what is right, but always find an excuse that stops that goal. Sister Hill and I were thinking of ways we could get them interested in Church and having a good experience so they could feel the spirit. Both of the teenage daughters love to sing and are in choir at school. Mary and Cheyanne.  We decided to invite them to sing with us in sacrament meeting. Sister Hill and I aren't very confident in our singing abilities, but i know they are so excited to sing at church. Last night, we went for a lesson to read the Book of Mormon. It was so hectic in there. It was loud and all the other kids were singing. Then we suggested practicing the song. The house instantly got quiet and they were very focused. They said they felt a lot of peace and they felt good as we sang. Mary turned to me and said, "I will teach you how to sing and you can teach me the Book of Mormon." It was such a sweet moment. I am excited to have Mary help me. I know that the spirit is working on them and they are open to learning. It was a reallly cool moment. 

This week was so great.  Through all the things we experienced this week i learned a few things.  I learned that diligent effective study of the scriptures can invite the spirit into your life so much.  I felt so much peace this week as i studied the Savior.  I know that God answers prayers through other people.  On skype, someone said a tiny random thing, that answered a huge prayer for me.  As i thought about the one little phrase that was said, i felt the spirit so strongly as i prayed that night and i slept better than i have in a long time.  I know that the Lord was speaking to me in a way that i would recognize was an answer.  It was a really great experience.

I hope you all had a perfect Christmas week. 

Love you all! 

Love, 

Sister Ritter 

pictures:

1) At the lights for the last time with Penny and Robert. 

2)Santa came!!!!!

3) What a clever little note. (; 

Wise Men Still Seek Him

Dear loved ones: 

This week has been quite the week. (I feel like every week on a mission is that way.) 

Last week, we had a lot of really cool finding experiences.  

On Tuesday, we were planning to go to our Mary and Cheyanne's Christmas choir concert.  We mixed up the time and thought it started at 6.  We got there a little early and found her mom.  She said it didn't start until 7 so then we left and decided to go back and try a few people we had met earlier in the week.  We knocked on this door to try and talk to a lady named Michelle. We had tried her 3 times, so we weren't sure we were going to be able to catch her again.  Her son, Joey, answered the door.  We were talking to him for a bit and asked if he would be interested in watching The Church's Christmas video.  We watched it with him and then we talked to him more about his relationship with the Savior.  He was really interested in us coming back to share more about our beliefs.  It was a really cool experience to see how  sometimes God leads us places for different reasons than we think.  

Wednesday we also got 2 new investigators! It was super cool.  One of the former investigators we had has been trying to get a hold of us since November, but she lost our number and had no way of finding us.  We both thought of her the same day and called. She was so happy to have us back over. Linda has gone through 3 heart surgeries since we saw her last, in July.  She reads the Book of Mormon still and feels a lot of peace as she reads.  She was so happy that we came over. I am excited to start teaching her again. 

Wednesday was Roni's baptism anniversary, so he signed up to feed us dinner. We were trying to decided which family to invite over to his house as well because he wanted to make it a party!  We thought about some families in the ward who would be good for him.  We called Brenna and Mike. Brenna is a member of the church and her husband is not.  Her husband has had really negative feelings towards the church since i got here. He will not come to activities, he won't come to church, and he doesn't want missionaries at his house.  Well, the Lord softens hearts.  While we were at Roni's  house, we focused a lot on him.  We started to get to know Mike and then we asked him if we could share a gospel message with him.  He said............YES! We shared the Christmas video with him and focused everything on how Christ was born for us. How he can bring us peace. He said, "We watched the nativity video last night as a family and i love that one."  By the end of the lesson, we had 2 return appointments with him and he was really happy to have us at his house.  I truly love the Christmas season.  With the focus being on Jesus Christ, people are able to feel his spirit and see the influence of Him in their lives.  I know that Mike is an example of that. I know the he has been prepared for THIS time, right now.  I know the Lord has a plan for him and i am so happy to be a tiny part of that plan.  

On Thursday i had a really cool experience where i learned the important lesson of listening to the spirit.  As a sister training leader, one of the responsibilities is to go on exchanges with the other sisters and help them with anything they need.  A few weeks ago, as i was praying to know what sister i should be with and where, i had the thought of having Sister Peterson come to Rolla with me. I kind of thought about it and then ignored that prompting and decided i would go to her area so we could work with the people she is teaching.  Fast forward to this week and the day for exchanges came. Sister Hill was sick and feeling really stressed out. Everyone cancelled and plans were completely changed.  Sister Hill was feeling very overwhelmed having to stay in Rolla, find a whole new thing to do, and try to work through her sickness. I prayed and the previous experience came to my mind. I knew it was the spirit.  I called the other sisters and told them that Sister Peterson was going to be coming here to Rolla with me and that Sister Peters would stay in her area with Sister Hill.  We exchanged and we had so much success. We called people and set appointments, did some successful dropby's and we even got another investigator.  I learned how important it is to listen to the spirit during that experience.  It was a really great learning experience for me to see how much the Lord truly does know what is best and how He will tell us, if we listen.  I am grateful for that experience in my life.

We went to go to Mary's lesson and she came out and said everyone in her house was sick.  She went inside, got on a coat and shoes, and came walking outside, shivering as she sat down to read the Book of Mormon with us.  We told her that we would just reschedule because it was way too cold to sit outside that late at night.  She was insistent on having a lesson and reading out of the Book of Mormon. We decided we would leave and do an over the phone lesson with her.  We read a few chapters out of the Book of Mormon, occasionally stopping and answering Mary's questions.  She would stop us and say, "I really love that verse. It says this to me....." She is incredible. I love Mary so much.  She has so much faith and desire for a 14 year old. I forget she is that young sometimes.  She told us about a dream she had, and to save time, she basically had a really spiritual dream that helps her feel perfectly ready and prepared to be baptized.  Mary is such a blessing in my life.  She has helped me recognize how powerful the Book of Mormon can be.  She has helped me realize how important it is to do spiritual things everyday.  She has helped me realize just how important this work, the work of the Lord, truly is. 

Saturday, Sister Hill was incredibly sick.  Luckily, a sister in our ward just came home from her mission this week.  I called and asked if she would be my companion for the day and if Sister Hill could stay with her mom.  It all worked out and i had a really good time with Lenna.  She is so cool.  She is still in missionary mode, so it was just like i had a companion.  She had an ipad in her mission, so we definitely took full advantage of that.  We decided to go tracting and to share the #Asaviorisborn video.  We knocked on the door and we met a boy named Caleb.  We shared the video with him and he really enjoyed it.  He said, "I have never heard about your church. But do you know anything about Mormons?"  We told him that it was us and he said that he was really interested in us coming back and teaching him more.  I am really excited to get back to visit him.  We also  met a man who was really short with us and didn't really want anything to do with us.  We shared the video anyway and after it was over, he completely changed.  He was super nice and had a desire to share with us his testimony on the Savior.  He wasn't really interested in learning more, but it was a powerful experience to see how much the spirit was able to speak to him through the video.  Lenna is amazing.  She taught me a lot about my mission.  She taught me how important it is to give my all, especially now that i have such a short time left.  

Yesterday, was a party.   We got to go to Bentonville to have a MISSION WIDE conference/Christmas party.  It was so much fun.  We began our day with a breakfast (where i ate a world record number of oranges) and getting to see all of our mission friends.  It was so weird to have the entire mission together.  We also got to play some really fun games.  We played dodgeball, which was super intense and scary with a million elders and like 50 sisters. Then we played a game where you tried to get the cookie from your forehead to your mouth.  Our zone was terrible at both.  Our zone leader, Elder Day, said, "We all have weakness. Our zone is weak in dodgeball and cookie eating. Put us in front of a checkers set, we will show you how its done."  It was super funny. Sister Hill and I were nominated by our zone to play a game where you have one of your shoes and one of your companions shoes and they ask questions like, "Who is most likely to get in a bike wreck?" "Who takes a longer shower?" "Who is most likely to get dear john/dear jane?"  They asked a ton.  Whoever you thought, you held up their shoe.  Sister Hill and I killed it. We basically dominated that game.  It was really fun!  Another super funny story...I was standing and talking to Sister Miner while we were watching the final dodgeball game.  Out of nowhere this ball smacks Sister Mine in the face, then it smacks me in the face, then hits the wall, and finally the floor. It hurt so bad, but it was hilarious.  Sister Miner looked at me after and said, in the most serious voice, "I think that shook my brain loose."  Then we both died laughing.  Poor thing probably has a black eye this morning.  

After the party, we had a wonderful Christmas party.  A lot of the missionaries performed musical numbers.  It was cool to end and focus on the Savior and the real meaning we celebrate Christmas.  

During this week, i have been studying Jesus Christ and all the different names for him.  As i have done that i have realized that each name Jesus has tells of his sacrifice and role.  They are all very personal and have a way of letting us know how much He loves us.  Some of the ones i love are the Mighty God, the Prince of Peace, The God of Miracles, and The Good shepherd.  As i have thought about what each one of those names mean to me, i have developed a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ.  I have grown to have so much love for him.  He is everything to me.  Without Him, we are nothing. 

I am so grateful for this holiday season.  I hope that you all can feel of His presence this Christmas.  

I love you all! Have a Merry Christmas!

Love, 

Sister Ritter

Pictures:

1) Penny and Robert took us to the park to see all of the  lights.

2)  They even had Frozen lights. I showed Maizy and she said, "Those aren't real Sister Ritter." hahahaha(: I love that girl. 

3) Christal and I. I guess that photo props are a really popular thing nowadays? 

4) Mykala and I. "I want to be nice, cause i am a missionary. Missionary's are nice." 

5) Sister Miner is one of my best friends. (;

6)Cayla Cazier from Ozark and Mykala from Rolla.  I guess you could say these are MY-Kala's. (; 

16 Month Testimony

It's been a hard month.  This month has definitely been a trial and a growing period for me.  

I have developed a stronger testimony on relying on Christ.  I have been tired and frustrated at those we are teaching and at so many plans falling through.  I know that God will never give us more than we can handle, and when we think we can't go on any more, Heavenly Father will bless us with a miracle that helps us through the trial at hand. 

I know that Christlike service will change your life.  It will bring miracles and immense joy into your life.  I know that Christ lives. 

In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen

Sister Makena Ritter 

Hard times don't end, but there are miracles on the way.‏

Dear Family and Friends

It has been yet another week here and gone.  This week felt like forever long and seemed like we didn't  have much going on, but at the end of the week as we were looking at our goals and the things we accomplished, it was one of the best weeks we have had here in Rolla.  We were able to get 4 of our investigators to church on Sunday! We were able to find 3 new people to teach this week, and we also set 3 baptism dates.  The Lord truly blessed us this week.  

I want to start my email with Mary and Samantha.   I love them. Mary is 14 and samantha is 10.  We started to teach them this week.  Mary was recently adopted by a family in our ward and samantha just hasn't been baptized.  As we were visiting the family and sharing the Christmas video with them, we had the impression to ask Mary if she would be interested in taking the missionary discussions.  She played it off cool and said, "sure. Thats fine." Samantha just ran around the house saying how much she wanted to get baptized.  We later found out that after we left, Mary was freaking out and was incredibly excited that we invited her to take the lessons.  She said it was the coolest thing that happened.  It was so cute to hear her side of the story.  We taught them their first lesson on Tuesday.  The house was in chaos, but the girls listened, and they understood what we were teaching.  They said they would read the Book of Mormon and pray.  We went back on Sunday to see them again and asked if we could read the Book of Mormon with them.  Mary told us a really cool story.  She said, "My teacher had to have a hip replacement this week, I told mom to pray for her and then the day after you guys gave me the book we got a call from my teacher saying she was fine and walking. There is no way that just happened.  I know its because of God."  It was so cool to see how touching and powerful that was for her in her life.  We read the Book of Mormon with them and Mary said, "Just reading that one page helped me feel the spirit way strong. I know it is true." Samantha sat next to me and i helped her read with us.  Both Mary and Sam committed to be baptized on January 2.  I am so grateful for this miracle that happened this week. 

Thursday was a super awesome day.  We got to meet Elder Foster. He came to our mission and did a mission tour.  We were invited to come with personal questions and to come fasting for an answer.  I was uplifted a lot during that meeting.  He told a really cool story about the power of prayer and how we KNOW Heavenly Father knows us personally and individually.  It was a story about a man named Joseph Millet. Im going to try and summarize it the best i can.  He was making dinner one day and his kids ran home from school.  When he asked them how their day at school was the young daughter said, "Brother Hall is out of flour."  Joseph Millet looked at his wife and they silently agreed to give up some of their small supply of flour.  The kids go on helping and then a knock somes at the door. It is Brother Hall.  Brother Millet says, "Brother, my children told me you need some flour. He says, "I went to the cedars to pray for help, no one could help me, but the Lord told me to go and see Joseph Millet." Brother Millet gave him the flour and Brother Hall left.  The daughter watches her father and sees tears come to his eyes.  She asked if everything was okay and Joseph says, "Its good to think the Lord knows Joseph Millet."  It was so cool to me that at the moment, Joseph knew God loved him.  His prayer was answered through the actions and prayers of someone else wanting to find an answer.  It made me think so much about how powerful and all knowing our Heavenly Father really is.  I know that God knows us individually and that he will answer our prayers. I know God knows our names and he is so aware of us.  He provides and protects us every second of our lives.  I had so many spiritual experiences at that meeting.  Elder Foster was so inspiring and helpful to me, i definitely received answers to my personal questions.  

On Friday, we had another super incredible experience.  We decided to go tracting before the ward Christmas party.  We went on the street right next to ours because it was close to the church.  We knocked on tons of doors with no success.  One lady answered the door and said, "No thanks. We are eating dinner." and then she shut the door. It was getting a little discouraging. We decided that we were done tracting on that street. As we were walking back to get our car. I looked at a house and kept on walking. The spirit told me that we needed to go back.  We went awkwardly back down the street a little ways and knocked on the door.  We met Nikki.  She was SO nice.  She was excited to hear what we had to say.  We got to show her the Christmas video, and talk with her about the Book of Mormon.  She accepted and told us to come back sometime next week.  It was a really powerful doorstep lesson that boosted our spirits.  I am so grateful for that experience.  As we were leaving her doorstep, a lady across the street waved to us and said, "Come back over here.  I have been coming outside every couple of minutes looking for you."  We were so surprised, i don't think we said anything.  As we got next to her, i recognized her as the lady who said they were busy eating dinner. She said, "As soon as i shut the door, i felt bad.  I kept telling my husband, i need to apoligize to them.  They were just trying to share a video with us."  It was SO cool.  I have never had anything like that happen in my entire mission.  We told her how much we appreciated her kindess.  Although she still didn't want to see the video, it was a really cool experience that i will forever be grateful for.  

We also got to meet another new investigator this week.  We tracted into him about 3 weeks ago and have been trying to get in contact with him since.  We finally were able to set up a time to meet.  His name is Jaren.  He is really nice and interested in learning about different religions.  We invited another member, Libby, to come to the lesson with us.  It was the perfect match.  We sat down, said a prayer, and Libby totally just taught the entire lesson.  She was able to address his concerns, tell him our purpose, and what the gospel means to her.  After the lesson, we went to leave and Libby stayed with Jaren to hang out for awhile.  It was really cool.  We invited both of them to the ysa Christmas party and Jaren came! And he brought a friend. He met a lot of the ysa and became friends with them all really quick.  The ysa kept asking us when his lessons were so they could come.   We are so excited to see him again this week.  

Sunday we had a really cool experience that helped me develop a much stronger testimony on the priesthood. Deon was at church and in the middle of class, she got up crying.  We went to see what was wrong and she told us some really personal, hard things she is going through.  We taught her about the priesthood and told her she could get a blessing of comfort and counsel.  She accepted and we went to get our ward mission leader, Brother Nordwald.  We didn't tell him anything other than the fact that she needed a blessing.  Her blessing was so specific and detailed.  It was powerful.  Brother Nordwald was crying, Deon was crying, the whole room was SO full of the spirit.  I know without a shadow of doubt that those were Heavenly Fathers words to Deon.  I know the power of the Priesthood is real.

This week Sister Hill and i started a new thing.  We have been writing down every time we recognize the Lords hand in our lives.  It is so cool to see all the ways the Lord blesses his missionaries throughout the day.  We are able to recognize things that we otherwise wouldn't realize.  I know it helps me to see all the ways the Lord helps us when times get tough.  It helps me see how much the Lord truly does care about us individually and how much he blesses us for our effort. 

I know this Church is true. I know Heavenly Father loves us. I know that miracles still happen today. 

Love you all!

Until next time, 

Sister Ritter 

Pictures:

1)Our zone with Elder and Sister Foster and President and Sister Loveland.

2)All dressed up at the Ward Christmas Party.

3)Happy Sweet 16 months!!!(:(: 

Angels Among Us!

Dear Family and Friends:

This week i have learned a lot of things. It was slower, and we didn't have as many funny/memorable things happen this week like usual. Probably because a lot of people aren't home for the holidays.

On Tuesday, we did a LOT of service. We helped a family clean their house. It was going quite well, until we moved a book from under a dresser. Then the most awful thing happened. A half eaten mouse was on it. Sister Hill's face was priceless. Then we kept vacuuming, and we were both terrified of what other things we would find. Well, we found multiple dead mice, and it was like a competition between us to see who had to pick it up. It was awful, but it was pretty funny. Sister Hill pulled up her elbow high gloves and rocked it. We also got to help set up a Christmas tree and decorate it. It was like 9 feet tall, so i had to get the lights at the top...as i was standing on the chair, i slipped and almost fell and knocked the tree over. It was quite the adventurous service day. But it made life exciting.

On Wednesday, we had a HUGE miracle happen. That morning, we were sitting in our living room and i was looking at our area book. I said, "Sister, we should check on Shane. I wonder how he is doing." Sister Hill said, "I was just thinking about him earlier." So we made a plan to call him, but we had to get to the jail, so we wrote it down and moved on. We went to the jail and when we finished there and looked at our phone, we had a missed call from Mykala. We called her back and she said, "Guess who i am with right now?" I went through a huge list of people i thought it could possibly be. Then she said, "NO. It's Shane. I called him like 3 days ago and he randomly called me back today." I asked if we could talk to him and asked if he would be interesting in learning about the church again. He said, "Yeah...i'd like to meet as soon as you could." And mykala yelled, "NOW." So we went to her house and did a lesson with Shane. It was SO cool to see how we all thought about each other and worked out a plan on the same day. It is so cool to see how the spirit speaks to all of us and tells us what we need to do. That was definitely a faith building experience. It was incredible.

Later, on Wednesday night, we were leaving an appointment and Sister Hill noticed her license was gone. She said, "Sister...my license is gone. It was in my pocket when we left the jail." We had gone all over Rolla since the jail, so we had NO idea where it could be. We couldn't find it and we looked everywhere. We went home for the night and prayed that we would be able to find her license. Sister Hill told me that she prayed and prayed that Heavenly Father would put it in the car even if it wasn't there because we needed it to fill out our pre-trunky papers for the airport.

Thursday morning, we woke up and started exercising. Sister Hill was kind of moving things around as she was exercising and clearing off our coffee table. All of a sudden she says, "No WAY." So i stop and look. We had 1 stack of pass along cards on our table when we went to bed the night before. The stack was split and in 2 stacks now, and her license was sitting right on top. It gave me the goosebumps. I KNOW the stack was not split when we went to bed. We have angels in our apartment. I know that miracles truly do happen. I know that Heavenly Father answers prayers. It was the coolest thing i have ever seen.

Friday morning started with a goodbye phone call from my favorite Sister Booms. She was headed to the airport. It was sad. But it was also cool that she got permission to call me and say goodbye. I love that chick. (:

We got to do some service again. We helped wrap presents at a foundation for families that couldn't afford Christmas. It was the most fun service i have done my whole mission. We had a name and age, and then a list of categories and we got to go "shopping" for them and then wrap all the presents. It was so cool to see the community helping to make sure everyone has a good Christmas and getting the things they need. I loved it so much.

We also had a run in while we were tracting with this super rude guy. We knocked on his door and he said, "Oh look. It's the Mormons. We have mormons living 2 doors down." Then we asked if we could share a Christmas video with him that the church put out. He said, "Don't you believe in the Bible?" "Yes. We do." "Where does it talk about Christmas in the Bible?" "Luke 2." "Does it talk about giving presents to anyone but Jesus?" "No." "Does it talk about putting up a tree?" "No....It is a Christmas video about the Savior." "How do you know he is the Savior?" So...this went on for a few more questions and he said, "I don't believe in any of that stuff." BUT..the dumbest part was that he had Christmas decorations AND a tree in his house. Oh man...i was so irritated. Then as we were walking away, he said some other really awful things and laughed at us the whole way down the street. It was sweet. Definitely not a good experience...but it made for a good story to tell i guess.

Saturday, we went and got ice cream with a family. We met another guy from the church and he was asking us about our missions and how much time we have left. We told him we go home in February and he said, "Guess your next step is a mormon baby factory." IT WAS SO FUNNY!!!!! Sister Hill and i looked at each other and cried we laughed so hard. I don't know what it is about this week that everyone keeps saying ridiculous things to us. We live an awkward/hilarious life.

Saturday and Sunday was stake conference. I learned some really cool things that i want to share.

Side note: We got the opportunity to sing in the choir for the prelude music and the intermediate hymn. It was so cool and it was a lot of fun!

On Saturday, one of the speakers talked about covenants and how they are promises we make with God. He quoted D&C 82:10

10 I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise.

He said, switch the end 'promise' with covenant. When we don't do what he says, we have no covenant. Meaning, that we don't receive the promised blessings he guarantees to us if we follow his commandments. I loved that so much. He talked about the baptismal covenant and how we promise to keep the commandments, serve others, and take His name upon us. God promises us the Holy Ghost when we do those things. This speaker said it in a way that really got to me though. He said, "When we keep our baptismal covenant (promise), God promises us that He will give us a part of the Godhead." I loved that so much. I have part of the Godhead with me 24/7. I really enjoyed pondering and thinking about that and how important the Holy Ghost is to me.

On Sunday, President and Sister Loveland spoke. I LOVED Sister Lovelands talk. She spoke about the sacrament. She said, "When i take the sacrament, I pick a piece of bread that is torn and broken, not part of the whole. But I am the same. I am broken and torn, not whole. I sin and make mistakes during the week. As i take the sacrament I become whole, one with Christ. As i take a cup, i think of "Father, let this cup pass. Not as i wilt, but thy will be done." As we take the sacrament, we can become whole through Christ and we promise that we will follow Him and do what he wants us to do.

Sunday, we also went to a nursing home and did some singing. A whole crew was supposed to come but it was us, and 3 little girls. SWEET. I didn't even know half the songs. It was sad. I need to up my game in Christmas carols. It was cool to see the ladies smiling faces and them singing along too. I love nursing homes. The people there are just adorable.

We also went to see the Grundy family. It was so funny. A little background story, they NEVER go to church. So we walked in and they all said, "We went to the church and watched stake conference today! It was way good! Then they all shared what they felt and learned. The son walked in and he said, "WAIT. ITS YOU 2. You were on TV! You were singing and jamming out. You two are awesome!" It was so funny to see how happy he was that we were in the choir. We did a Christmas lesson about Christ with them and we were able to leave full of the spirit. It was a cool lesson.

Sunday night, we watched the Christmas Devotional. I loved David A Bednars talk! I probably won't do it justice, but i loved how he talked about lights. He explained that the sign of Christ's birth was a star. Light. And a sign of his death, was extreme darkness for 3 days. No candle, torch, sun, or moon could penetrate the darkness. The darkness ended, and he was resurrected. Jesus Christ is the LIGHT and life of the world. He is the Light that can guide us as we go through the trials in life. One of our Christmas traditions is to hang lights up. When we hang the lights up, we are representing Christ during the holiday season. I never made that connection, so it was really cool to learn.

Everyone should watch it! https://www.lds.org/broadcasts/watch/first-presidencys-christmas-devotional/2015/12?cid=HP_SU_12-6-2015_dPFD_fMLIB_xLIDyL1-C_&lang=eng

Sunday we had a perfect ending to a rough week.

We have been working with a less active lady for awhile who has gone through a lot of ups and downs since i have been here. One day she loves the church and is full force ahead with studying and coming to church and the next time we see her, she is anti and doesn't want anything to do with it. The past transfer, she has mostly been going up, so it has been a huge miracle. Yesterday, we invited her to come to the Christmas Devotional and she said she wasn't going to because she doesn't like driving at night. We got there, and Cathy was there!!! Then she said that when she walked in the building to watch the devotional, the bishop wanted to talk to her. She left halfway through the interview to go and talk to the bishop. She came back and she was crying and crying. She opened her scriptures and she showed me her brand me temporary temple recommend. It was a huge spiritual moment for me. She is so excited to go and do baptisms for her family members. She has 70 names to take to the temple. Later that night, she text us and said that if we didn't see any success our whole mission, except for her, our mission would be worth it because she was able to go to the house of the Lord. It was an incredible experience. I love Cathy so much and i feel so blessed to have been here from the time we randomly met her when she was smoking and not wanting anything to do with the church, to seeing her bright spirit come alive as she received her temple recommend. It was a huge blessing. I will never forget that moment in my whole life.

Love,
Sister Ritter

pictures:
1) Angels among us.
2) Ice cream party with Roni and Mykala.