Sister Ritter in Oklahoma!: March 2016

As a missionary, we are always given to bare a final testimony in the mission field. As i have been reminiscing about my mission and the things I learned, it can all be summed up in a few scriptures.

In Moroni 7:32-48 it says,

32 And by so doing, the Lord God prepareth the way that the residue of men may have faith in Christ, that the Holy Ghost may have place in their hearts, according to the power thereof; and after this manner bringeth to pass the Father, the covenants which he hath made unto the children of men.

33 And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me.

34 And he hath said: Repent all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me, and be baptized in my name, and have faith in me, that ye may be saved.

35 And now, my beloved brethren, if this be the case that these things are true which I have spoken unto you, and God will show unto you, with power and great glory at the last day, that they are true, and if they are true has the day of miracles ceased?

36 Or have angels ceased to appear unto the children of men? Or has he withheld the power of the Holy Ghost from them? Or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man upon the face thereof to be saved?

37 Behold I say unto you, Nay; for it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men; wherefore, if these things have ceased wo be unto the children of men, for it is because of unbelief, and all is vain.

38 For no man can be saved, according to the words of Christ, save they shall have faith in his name; wherefore, if these things have ceased, then has faith ceased also; and awful is the state of man, for they are as though there had been no redemption made.

39 But behold, my beloved brethren, I judge better things of you, for I judge that ye have faith in Christ because of your meekness; for if ye have not faith in him then ye are not fit to be numbered among the people of his church.

40 And again, my beloved brethren, I would speak unto you concerning hope. How is it that ye can attain unto faith, save ye shall have hope?

41 And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise.

42 Wherefore, if a man have faith he must needs have hope; for without faith there cannot be any hope.

43 And again, behold I say unto you that he cannot have faith and hope, save he shall be meek, and lowly of heart.

44 If so, his faith and hope is vain, for none is acceptable before God, save the meek and lowly in heart; and if a man be meek and lowly in heart, and confesses by the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ, he must needs have charity; for if he have not charity he is nothing; wherefore he must needs have charity.

45 And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—

47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.

These verses teach about faith, hope, or charity. All of the experiences I had on my mission helped me learn one of those three things.  

In verse 33 it says, " 33 And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me." And later in verse 37 it says, "behold I say unto you, Nay; for it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men; wherefore, if these things have ceased wo be unto the children of men, for it is because of unbelief, and all is vain."  I know miracles happen.  I know its according to our faith.  I would see miracles happen everyday and I know its because I had faith Christ could and does perform miracles. 

The second one is hope. I've developed hope on my mission through praying and hoping for an outcome and later seeing my prayer answered.  I guess more specific than hope, the lesson i learned was that prayers are answered.  In verse 48 it says, " Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen." I know God does hear and answer our prayers. 

The third lesson i learned was Charity.  In verse 45-48 it says, "And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail— But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen." I really developed great Charity for everyone on my  mission.  I felt such great love for them.  I loved talking to people and getting to know them.  I literally loved every single person I had the privilege to meet.  I love everyone. 

I am beyond grateful for this gospel and for the time i had to be a full time missionary serving the Lord.  I am grateful for the gospel. I love it.  I will cherish this time forever. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ . Amen. 

Love, Sister Ritter

I absolutely adore Sister Fowler!!!

We made it!!!!

The crew. Mission accomplished February 26, 2016

We are 2 minutes from seeing our family.

Homeward bound

I am so grateful for President and Sister Loveland. I love them so much and i am so grateful for their Christlike service. LOVE YOU!

My favorite people, Sister Averett (Mission Nurse) and Elder Averett

I can't believe my mission is over and I am home.

There were 2 significant events that I wanted to add to my story.

We had a lesson with Jack and Jackie. We were finally able to teach them the rest of the Plan of Salvation. It was really incredible and i could see their eyes light up as we taught about the afterlife. I am so grateful for that knowledge. It gives me a lot of happiness to know i can be with those i love forever. As we finished the lesson Jackie said, "That is the happy ending." Jack said, "So what else could you teach us next time? That's the perfect ending." It was such a touching experience.

The very last second I had in my area, Bishop Nothum handed me a pass along card and said, "Okay Ritter, this is your last OTM here. Go up to that man smoking in the car and give him this pass along card." It was the scariest moment. He pulled up right behind his car so he couldn't leave. I jumped out and said a prayer. It was so hilarious to walk up to his car window and instantly talk to him and make it as least awkward as possible. He was very nice and asked for our number and agreed to come to basketball. I was really excited that it went well.

I loved being a missionary so much it is unreal.

Love,
Sister Ritter

Pictures:

Jessica Jiang(: She went and changed for our picture!