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. (;
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