Food for the Body and the Soul

Here are the pictures from the early Christmas. We are so happy that Elder Ridge and Elder Roldan are working hard and having a great time together.

I have heard that some missionaries have to cook their own breakfast and dinner but we don’t have to in this area, our pension is awesome, she is from Columbia and her food is good and clean. Maybe in other areas I will have to do my own thing with food. Speaking of food, I think it was Friday, ya we were at a members house eating lunch, it was soup which is always sketchy here, you never know what’s going to be in there, so ya I’m eating and I look down and there it was, the whole entire foot of the chicken, three toes and everything, now the first time i just found a little piece of the toe and kind of pushed it to the side, ya I couldn’t eat around this thing it was huge. Elder Roldan was like eat it you little girl, so I was like fine whatever and put part of it in my mouth cause its huge and ate everything, I picked all the little bones out of my mouth, the nails too, it actually wasn’t that bad, I would eat it again. I’m pretty sure I can eat anything now, but its funny, nothing startles you more than pulling up a huge chicken foot in your soup.


The other day we were contacting in a park and we found a guy from Spain, that was pretty cool because he speaks Spanish, but he uses the European form, it threw me off at first cause they don’t use it here but ya I could understand him. I like hearing different people talking, their accents and stuff.

Well our investigator Lady fell through, we went to her house and she was hiding from us so she is done. it made me mad, I don’t understand it when people progress, progress, progress and then they decide they are done and hide from us. Ivan will be baptized this month, he is amazing, he reads and attends and has so many questions, he is way good. We also found three families to teach but they aren’t married so that will take some time but we are teaching them and working with them. We found a guy of gold yesterday. He wants to go to church and learn more. We taught him and it was way good, he will progress. The woman Rosa decided that she still wants to live with her boyfriend so we are still trying to work with her. Things are getting better, we are not getting rejected as much so that’s good, man who ever said a mission was easy is an idiot, this has been the hardest thing I have had to do, being patient with the language, with our investigators, getting rejected, but it’s part of the mission, I love being here and enjoy serving the Lord. It’s amazing, I love seeing the people progress and seeing them change their lives.

Turtles, Christmas comes early and It's a Small World

Elder Ridge sent a second email with this picture attached with only this explanation. “this is me with the turtles that live in our house, they are huge” More to come on this I am sure once Diane writes her email this week.

So I got the packages and I loved them! I got them on Friday and we opened them on Saturday. Everything was amazing, the ties, the candy, everything, thank you so much. Elder Roldan told me that was the most he has ever gotten for Christmas in his life so thank you so much for doing that for him. He was so excited he started jumping off the walls. Saying “wow look, look what I got, thank you so much these ties are awesome”. So ya he says thank you much, It was the best Christmas he has ever had.

We found a family to teach, they are way good, they travel to the United States a lot but still don’t know English. We did get rejected this week too but we did have some success finding a few more people to teach. The thing that stinks is our investigators didn’t come to church so we have to push their baptism back another week which stinks We will get them baptized don’t worry.

Last p-day we were in plaza vea buying stuff, which by the way they have American soda and candy but it is way expensive, it’s like a Walmart. They have everything I could need, its way nice. So ya we were in there and we saw two other missionaries and we were like wait a second they are not from our mission. So we went up and started talking to him, it was a Gringo and a Latin and I was talking to the Gringo and they were from the Central Mission which is just the other side of the street, but anyways I was talking to the gringo and he is from American fork, and I was like no way and I said I’m from Highland, and he said I have family in Highland, do you know the Ormsby’s. I was like ya they live two houses down from me there are in my ward. He said that they are my cousins, his name is Elder Tholl. They were there buying food with their pensionista. He has two weeks in the field. He is suppose to be in Bolivia Santa Cruz Mission and got put in Lima Central, so there are still problems there. Tell the Ormsby’s that I saw their cousin down here in South America, he is doing ok.

Great Companions and a Great Area

Elder Roldan is way sweet (great) and we get along way well, and he helps me out with my Spanish and teaching. (Picture of Elder Rolday and Elder Ridge on P-day)
Yesterday I gave a talk in church about missionary work, I got up and
talked for 10 minutes without anything written. The Bishop asked me and Elder Roldan Saturday at 10:30, and yes the whole thing was in Spanish, I had to pause and think two times to think of the word but I got it, it just took me a second to remember it. It makes me laugh at myself, for my farewell I could barely get 7 minutes in and now I can get 10 on the spot and in Spanish, wow I was lazy before haha.

The ward is pretty good, there are only 40 active members and a lot less active. Our Ward Mission Leader is way sweet, he is so funny, and likes working with us. The members are way good.

Things are a little bit slow right now. We had 140 contacts this past week, we talked to 140 people in the street and knocking doors and two said ya come in, only two, it was a rough week but things will get better. (Picture of Elder Ridge with his area he serves in behind him)

My Spanish is coming way fast, I can talk all day to Elder Roldan all day, I’m not fluent by any means but there are a lot of words that have clicked that I don’t have to think about what to say or translate but when I’m talking all day. I still have to think a lot of what I’m going to say, like stop and think what’s that word
in my mind, but once I write a word down that I don’t know and use two or three times in one day, I got it down. It’s coming way fast but I do lack a lot still.
I still have a ton to learn.

Elder Cheesman is awesome, at night we talk and hangout, he is way cool. Sometimes when we are talking we will say a word in Spanish and sit there and think, what’s that word in English? It’s funny. Elder Taylor left and went to another zone, but we had so many good times together, they made my first 6 weeks fun. It is cool that Elder Cheesman still lives with me, so things are going way good. I’m loving life right now, I’m way happy to be here. I still want to go to the jungle but I can wait. (The three amigos - LtoR Elder Cheesman, Elder Taylor and Elder Ridge)

A New, New Companion - Thanksgiving Peru style and Christmas comes early

Well a lot happened this week. First of all we did the changes on
Wednesday and I said good bye to Elder Lima. I got my new companion Elder Luna. We went to our room to unpack his things and he was looking at the member list and
he said, wait hold on, this is my sister. Yes, his sister lives in our area.
He is from the south part of Lima and she moved here during his mission. We called the zone leaders and he had to have a emergency transfer. The transfer didn’t happen until Friday so Wednesday and Thursday we couldn’t do too much cause they live and work way close to our house.

Friday we went to the offices at 11 in the morning to switch companions, so now my new companion is Elder Roldan. He is amazing!! Elder Roldan is from Guatemala so he talks
a little bit different and that is good cause I like to hear different accents. His story is a sad one. He is the only member in his family and was baptized one year before his mission and has a year in the mission so he is a really new convert. His family doesn’t write him and the only person that does is his brother in law and he hasn’t received a letter from him in 4 months. All of his family are evangelic and his parents are the pastors of their church. He is way funny and we get a long way good. He knows the Bible like the back of his hand. He also knows the Book of Mormon really well. He is a way hard worker but we have a lot of fun, while we are working. I’m way happy for this change. It is way fun contacting people with Elder Roldan because they start bashing us and all he does is quote scripture and asks one question and they go uuuuhhhh. They don’t know what to say. It’s way funny!! We were talking with this guy in the park and he said I don’t believe in God and started laughing and we asked him, where did you come from? He said my parents. We then asked him, where do your parents come from? He said from their parents. Elder Roldan asked where did it all start and the guy was like uuuuhhhhhh. I still don’t believe in God!! It was funny, some people sometimes.

We will have 3 sure baptisms in the next three weeks. First is a Lady, she is 22 and she is progressing and everything and she lives with members that give her support so its way good. The other is Ivan, he is like 35 and is awesome. One day he just showed up at sacrament and he said, “I love your church!!! I have been to so many and yours is the best one, I feel so calm and peaceful here”. Yesterday we had a lesson with him and he was asking questions about the
Book of Mormon. He is reading it and everything. He was like so Moroni is the
son of Mormon and Lehi is the father of Nephi right? We were like yes exactly, he
knows a lot. Then we have Daniel who is 12 and he has been to church 8 times but at another ward but lives in our boundaries so we didn’t know who he was so we are going to start to teach him and he was like when can I get baptized? Then we have Rosa, she doesn’t have a date yet because she has to work things out with her divorce but she has a son on a mission and she attends every week and goes to classes and has been doing that since I got here but she will get baptized this change if she works everything out, she has no doubt or anything. We have found a lot more people the weekend so we are going to get some more
baptisms.

Ya down here there is no such thing as Thanksgiving, most people don’t even know what it is but I thought it was last Thursday so we had a party in our room with me and Elder Cheesman, we drank Inca cola and ate crackers, it was a bumpin party haha. We took some pictures.

The other day we had a dog fight out in front of our house while we were getting ready to leave for breakfast so we got to watch the whole thing, the dogs down here fight like lions its crazy, I have never seen anything like it before, but ya there were two dogs and one ripped the other one up, and was way sad and I watched the whole thing, people ran over and pushed the bigger one off the little one and the little one couldnt even walk away it
was sad.

I decided to buy myself a Christmas present this year and that is a guitar, I bought it this past weekend, and it is way sweet, it is all black with a cool design around the hole and it sounds amazing, and it was 50 dollars American, yes you can by stuff down here that cheap, it is probably a 300 to 400 hundred dollar acoustical there and it came with a case so i can put it on my back when I get transferred. Elder Taylor had one so we always played it at night or on p-day and I got pretty good so he left and took it so I bought one to have my whole mission,
Elder Roldan can play the flute too and he has one so he plays some sweet songs and he can also play some hymns, its way cool.

Transfer Week

Hola,

I get a new companion this week, his name is Elder Luna and he is transferring in from Iquitos so he is coming out of the jungle. I’m staying in this area at least one more transfer. I hope Elder Luna is way cool and wants to work.

Things are good, but our area is slow right now! We have two people with dates for baptism and a couple new investigators but there could be a lot more. Our investigators didn’t come to church so their date was pushed back. When we are not teaching we are suppose to go out and find people and talk with everyone on the street which I love because it makes my Spanish so much better.

My fleas are better, I still get bit every now and then but I don’t have problems with them anymore. Our room is pretty big my bed is the same size as my bed at home (Double) and we have wood floors, our room is way big.

I did go to immigration this week with Elder Layton and Elder Ellison and that was way fun because there were gringos there from America and we talked to them in English, which was a little weird but it was cool. We went to downtown Lima it was cool. The Temple was way sweet and I took pictures.

My Spanish is a lot better and I can say a lot, I can talk with anybody on the street but drunk people and little kids. They are way hard to understand especially little kids, who use so much slang.

Breakfast of Champions

For breakfast we eat mostly bread and bologna!! We eat it with hot milk which is disgusting. Sometimes we get one fried egg and chocolate milk But it’s nothing like an American breakfast. It’s just food to put in the belly that’s how breakfasts are here but our dinners are pretty good.

I haven’t gained weight but I haven’t lost weight either. I walk so much so I could lose weight but I eat so much that my stomach is a pop belly(Elder Ridge loves water but has to drinks a lot of soda pop because he can't drink the water), so I look like one of those starving kids in Africa, not that bad but I do have a pop belly but my face and arms are skinny.

Elder Taylor and Elder Cheesman are awesome, they help me and we hangout and talk at night when we get back and stuff like that, its pretty sweet, they are way funny guys.

We didn’t watch Batman last week, we watched the Best Two Years and played ping pong and had a barbeque it was fun. Tomorrow we are going to the temple. I am excited!!

The other day we found someone that spoke Qechua so I spoke a little bit to her, only what’s your name and where are you from cause that’s all I know, its way different than Spanish.

I heard all about Obama being President, that’s all I heard all day in the street, everybody in the street was like hey gringo! Obama is your President awesome right? I just said whatever and after a while it just got annoying so this guy said the same thing to me and I said I was from France and he was like, oh...really? and I said yah, he said oh ok and walked off and my comp was laughing.

Quake shakes Peru capital Lima, no damage reported

The big thing that happened this week was we had a descent earthquake. We came back after lunch to start our fast and I was on my bed praying and Elder Lima was on his and all of a sudden I hear this deep, deep noise kind of like a rumble and I looked up and asked Elder Lima what’s happening. He was already off his bed starting to run and said we need to go now lets get out of the house it’s an earthquake. So I got up the windows started rattling and everything was moving and I could feel the ground move but not too much cause I was running. One thing about earthquakes that I didn’t know is how much noise they generate. It’s the deepest rumble I have ever heard and it’s loud but it was pretty sweet. It was my first big one but Elder Lima said that it was actually a small one compared to what can hit Peru. I don’t want to find out what a big one is like. Everything was shaking, it was crazy.

Uncle Dave this one is for you!! We had a police chase outside our house. The cops were trying to catch this teenager. Instead of getting out of their car and chasing him on foot, they stayed in their car and tried to run the teenager over. The car was drilling the curbs and bushes trying to run this kid over. It was fun to watch because the cop wouldn’t get out of the car so the kid got away. Uncle Dave, is this how you do it in the US. Maybe you can add this to your driving course you teach. (Elder Ridge’s Uncle Dave is a police office in California and teaches the rookies how to drive)

The work is good we have a couple of investigators on date for baptism. Yesterday we had two people show up at church and said “I like your church and I want to take the lessons, so that was pretty cool. They are getting baptized on the 23rd.

On P-day we write home from 10-11 usually, sometimes it changes. After that we do an activity as a zone like play soccer or go to the zoo something like that, then go to our lunch appointments at 1 or 2 and after that we can do what we want until 6, usually we just go back to the room and hangout with other missionaries or go buy stuff at the store. Today this is what we are doing. I can’t believe it when I heard it. We are going to watch batman, yes the new batman, in our mission the Mission President lets us watch movies with his approval, I think its weird that he lets us watch movies and I don’t agree with it but I have to be obedient haha.

Questions and Answers!!

We asked Elder Ridge a series of questions. Here are the questions and his answers.

Question: What are you drinking?

Answer: We get a lot of water from the mission, but I just drink the tap water because I figure I’m just going to get a worm anyways...just kidding. We do get those water jugs but we don’t drink it very much because its not that hot yet. I usually drink soda and the drinks that the members give us for lunch and breakfast and dinner. It Is usually this apple juice stuff or some sort of fruit drink. It’s not bad but most of the time I go buy soda at the store.

Question: Any fleas or bug challenges yet?

Answer: I have no bug problems yet. I do have one flea bite but that’s it. I haven’t taken my (garlic)pills yet but I will in the summer when all the bugs are out.

Question: Where do you use the internet to email us? How long do you have to e-mail?

Answer: To use the internet we go to a internet place that has a bunch of computers its just a small store and there are a ton of these stores everywhere. I have an hour to email.

Question: We saw that you used your ATM. Any problems with the ATM?

Answer: No problems with my ATM card. I just wanted (needed) some cash. I got 100 soles out which is equal to thirty dollars.

Question: What is your typical day like?

Answer: My typical day: I wake up at 6:30 and shower and get dressed then walk a mile to my pension (to eat breakfast) and then walk back. We then do personal study and companion study and language study. Then at 10:30 go out and work or teach until 1. We have lunch bwtween 1-2 with a member and then after that we work until 6. We have dinner from 6-7, then we work until 9. We then plan for the next day, talk and write in my journal, then sleep.

Question: When will you be able to go to the Lima Temple?

Answer: I have no idea when I am going but I think it is this transfer. This transfer ends November 19 so I hope by then. I had a great week last week. On P-day we went to the Zoo. The Zoo was cool. I really like the jungle section, I want to go to the jungle so bad. I took pictures so I have to send them to you. (We are really looking forward to getting some pictures)

On Wednesday, we went to the CCM and had a meeting with Elder Christofferson. It was amazing!! It was all in Spanish because he speaks Spanish. I got to shake his hand so it was good.

On Friday, I had an exchange with the district leader and it was amazing. We worked way hard together and we get a long way well. He is from Arizona. We talked to a lot of people and found seven new families to teach. It was so fun walking with another gringo down the street talking English and then walk up to someone and start speaking Spanish. It takes them by surprise.

A quick story! Yesterday we were in the street talking with someone and this guy walked up to us and started bashing me about the Book of Mormon and I was like WOW hold on a second...... you speak English? This guy was from South Carolina and he started bashing me and then he stopped and started talking about how hard it was to learn Spanish and just comforting me but it was so weird talking to him in English. I ended up just saying sir I don’t want to bash, lets just have a nice conversation in English and he was like ok.

Today we are playing soccer so that should be fun. I can’t believe I hit 4 months, it has gone by fast, and this next transfer I hit 6 months, its crazy! The Spanish is getting better, it gets better everyday but there are some days were I can’t understand a thing and some days, I can understand everything. Today is a good day because I can understand everything going on around me. I have started to dream in Spanish. My dreams are always people talking and they are speaking to me and I can’t understand them but I’m speaking Spanish to them and I know what I’m saying.

Thank you for everything, I love you all and thank you to for the support.

Love Elder Ridge

Great Update

Well , I didnt get to eat guine pig they just gave me chicken and rice oh darn.

My companion is from Southern Peru (Pictured in White) he was baptized at the age of 12. He has 14 months in the mission .

My pension (A pension is someone who feeds Elder Ridge and Elder Lima morning and night. They eat lunch with members.) is a member and we have to walk about a mile to get to her every morning. She is way nice and her food is always good. Another member in the zone does every missionarys clothes (laundry)in the zone.

The women I baptized calls me her padrino(godfather) because I baptized her. Her son is getting baptized on the first of November and he is twelve years old. We had a baptism Saturday, it was the girl Poala the one cutting my hair my first day and said I want to take your lessons. She bore a awesome testimony. It was pretty sweet.

I have not been sick yet. Our living conditions are way nice. Our area is the nicest in the zone if not the whole mission. We went to a other part of the zone for a inactive member reactivation and we visited all the members that were inactive. The area was in the hills and it was pretty different it was all dirt roads little shacks. I realize how nice I have it in my area and makes me appreciate America.

My Spanish is coming along. Everyweek is better. I understand more and can say more everyday. Elder Cheesman and Elder Taylor help me so so so much with the structure of sentences and words and all those things. If it weren't for them I wouldn't know what I know now. I can speak a decent amount of Spanish I just can't understand a lot. Only like 70 percent and usually it's just getting the gyst of it but it will come.

Today we are going to the zoo so that is why I am writting early. Wednesday we have a meeting with Elder Christofferson at the CCM (MTC in Lima Peru) so I am looking forward to that. Friday I am going on interchanges with the district leader for the day and that will be nice cause he is way cool and he is one of the missionarys that was kicked out of Bolivia.

I don't know if you have heard but sometimes the shower shocks you haha. I accidently put my head to the shower because I'm taller than it, so I always have to croutch and when I put my head to it the whole shower lit up and I was shocked. It felt weird so I have to be careful. This is the second time that has happened haha.

It's starting to get warmer here. It's cold in the mornings and nights but in the afternoon its warm, a perfect temperature.

Loving the Continsuyo Ward

Wow it was weird to talk to Dad today. (He called to get his social security number to apply for a residence card.) Today Elder Layton, Elder Hyde, Elder Ellison and myself went down to the south part of Lima to get the I.D. card we need that lets us fly in the country. I need that card when I fly to the jungle someday. It was way sweet to hang out with those guys for a p day.

I’m in the zone Tahauntinsuyo which borders Independencia, I work in the ward Continsuyo. Things are going good, the Spanish is progressing everyday. The work here is good, we have 8 baptisms set for the end of this month. The other night we were talking to a person and I heard all these people yelling and dogs barking and my companion said “let’s go we have to get out in the street. All these people were running out of there houses and I was like what s going on? It was a templor(earthquake) but I didn’t feel it but everybody else did.

This Sunday I’m going to eat guinea pig so that should be fun.

The other day I was eating some soup and I pull up a spoon full and looked down and was taken by surprise because in my spoon was the toe from a chickens foot, nail and all. I didn’t expect it but I ate it and it. It wasn’t that weird. I finally got chased by a big dog and my foot wasn’t doing the trick so I got a little scared but it was ok. Peru is pretty sweet.

The people here are way nice and humble. It is like 60 degrees here so it’s a little chilly but i don’t really need a sweatshirt or anything because it’s starting to warm up. (Peru is leaving their Spring and starting into Summer) Our room is pretty big and my shower is hot water but when the power shuts off it gets Freezing, which happens a lot. My bed is the size of a twin, but let me say this, United States Missionaries have it easy the way they live. (This is a jab at his brother and brother in law )

Serving in the City and loving it!!!

Elder Ridge has been official welcomed to Peru and to the Lima North Mission. He is serving in the city just north of Lima. The winners of the contest are: Theresa Hyde, Gwen Rich and Scott and Emily Neilson. Thanks for playing.

I am in the Tahauntinsuyo area. I had my first baptism!!! Yesterdsay I baptized Rosio in between sessions of conference. My first baptism was amazing! Rosio is 6 months pregnant so does that count as two? The water was way freezing but i got it done my first try in spanish. It was sweet.

Conference was in English for the gringos so that was nice. I saw Tim Wright in the choir a lot. Things are going good. It is great to have a Peruvian companion. My spanish is coming along pretty well. The other day we had a multi zone conference and I got to see everyone from the MTC. It was a good reunion.

I'm so jealous about the deer hunt but oh well I am where I need to be. I want to hear all about it. There are alot of dogs down hers, but I don't need any dog repellent, my foot works fine.

Peru is "Way Cool"

We recieved the first Peru email from Elder Ridge on Monday. He must be really busy and very excited because he neglected to tell us where he was assigned. Well, that means you have time to vote. (see the previous post for details)

So ya WOW.....WOW nothing could have prepared for this. Not Mexico not Jamaica it's totally different but I love it!!! I was culture shocked the first day or two because of all the things that happened around me but I'm used to it now. What everybody says is so true. There are dogs everywhere here but they don't come up to you they just do their own thing. The food is different but I have not eaten anything wierd yet. My first meal here was at a members house because members feed us for lunch.

When I flew in I went to the (mission) office. I was picked up by the assistants and when I got to the office Elder Rich and Elder Herdt were there to greet me and we talked about Peru, it was cool. President Perez is awesome.

My companion is Elder Lima from southern Peru and he helps me out a lot with my spanish. It is very difficult because I don't understand everything so I'm lost all the time. However, everyone has said my accent is way good but you need to learn more words. I have to work on my spanish. Elder Lima is way nice. It is so amazing down here.

We set like 5 baptism dates already, they accept it here like crazy but it is so hard to get them going.

Everyone looks at me down here because I tower over all of them. It is way coll down here and I love it and ya its spring so sometimes it gets cold.

Peru Here I Come!!!

Elder Ridge is officially on his way to Peru. After a terrific experience in the Arizona Tucson mission for a few weeks, waiting for his VISA (Not a credit card) Elder Ridge is traveling to Lima Peru today. He starts his long trip this morning at 6:00 am from Tucson Arizona and will arrive in Lima Peru at 11:00 pm after stops in Salt Lake City and Atlanta. We talked with him briefly this morning from the Tucson airport. He had some great experiences in Arizona, and it a fantastic part of his mission. However, he is ready to get to Peru and serve where the Lord has called him to labor.


We would like to make this part of Elder Ridge's experience interactive so we want your vote (Details of how to vote at the end of this posting). As Elder Ridge arrives in Lima, he will meet with his Mission President and will be assigned somewhere in his mission. His mission, for those who don't know, is a huge mass of land that ranges from the coast to the Amazon Basin. Based on what we know about the mission, we understand there are 3 basic types of assisgnment areas for a missionary in his mission.







"The City" as pictured to the right. This is a portion of the mission that is north of Lima and is along the coast and west of the Andes.










"The Tourist Jungle" as seen to the left. This area is East of the Andes and is considered jungle but not quite part of the Amazon basin. The picture to the left is of Tarapoto that is a large city in this type of area.









"The Deep Jungle" as pictured to the right. This is the city of Iquitos is the largest city in the world that can only be reached by plane or boat. There are no roads into this city and is in the middle of the Amazon basin with the Amazon river running along side the city.





Now it is time for you to vote. Where do you think Elder Ridge will have his first assignment. Will it be "The City" or "The Tourist Jungle" or will it be "The Deep Jungle". You can register your vote by clicking on comments at the bottom of this post. Type in your vote and any other comments in the comment section. Stay tuned for both the answer and who guessed correctly.

Monday Sept 15, 2008

Wow! alot happened this week!!! Elder Berg and I were riding our bikes past a park and someone yelled "Mormon's"! So we went over there and started talking to these guys and one had a basketball. So we said "Hey you want to play a quick game of basketball?" They said "Yes" and so we played and we schooled them in our ties and everything! They couldn't believe it, they were shocked becuase they hadn't been beat in a couple of years. After we were done playing they were tired and so we sat down. Then I said "okay now we beat you so we get to teach you." They said "Okay" we asked them what religious background they were and they said Catholic but they want to be Christian instead. ha ha ha. I thought that was funny coming from a Catholic. There names are Alex and Rudy. Alex has a girlfriend and she is 17 and they have a 5 month old baby. Rudy is 16 and we have been teaching them. The Bishop is going to marry Alex and his girlfriend and They are all going to be baptised on October 11th. It is so amazing how strong they are! They all prayed for the truth of the Book of Mormon and they all say without a doubt they know it is true. We also have several others we are working with. They don't have a bapsism date but they will very soon. We are also working with a lady that is a bartender but she doesn't want to do it any more. This area is starting to grow and it is awsome!!!!!


We were riding past a gate the other day and the gate was opened. We thought we could go in and knock on the door so we went in. Once we got in the gate I see this hudge pitbull taking off after me. I think I am going to die becuase it was the biggest thing I had ever seen!!! It gets about 10 feet from me and all of a sudden it gets yanked back by a leash. I didn't see a leash so I thought I was done for. I was a close call!!! The Lord does bless us. Tell everyone "hi" for me and I hope to call you soon because I will be leaving for Peru.

September 8, 2008

I am on the border!!!

Douglas Arizona is pretty sweet! I am right on the border. I have lost a lot of weight here because it is really hot here and I’m always sweating. I borrowed a bike from a member and it is a really nice trek mountain bike so we ride everywhere, we have a truck but we only use it to go to church, on p-day and to go to district meeting. Our district meetings are 150 miles away. There is only one ward here and it is English and Spanish. There isn’t that many people in it though but it is a ward. We are not allowed to cross the border because it is out of our area but you will see some pictures of me at the fence. We are the only missionaries here. The closest is in Sierra Vista which is 150miles away. We are over Douglas, Bisbee, and San Jose. We are both English and Spanish but we mostly teach in English. I have taught a couple of people in Spanish but not that much. The big thing here is border patrol. There are a lot of people in the ward that work for the border patrol cause they all served missions that they spoke Spanish. Douglas AZ is tied with San Diego for how many people try to get over. There is always helicopters flying over and stuff it’s pretty cool! There are a lot of dogs here. I have been chased two times!!!! The members feed us well but I am still can’t wait to go to Peru!!

Transfered to Spanish Speaking - Douglas Arizona

September 3, 2008

I have been transferred to Douglas Arizona which is on the border of Mexico and yes I will be using Spanish now so I am pretty excited. My new companion is Elder Bergg and he is from Lehi and we graduated the same year. He has been out 9 months and I am the first Elder he has trained. Arizona has the most awesome skies. The sunsets are way cool and it is really hot! It’s at the end of the monsoon season so every night it rains and I’m not kidding...it rains! I have never seen it rain so hard in all my life! I’m not kidding!

There are lighting storms every night and its way cool! The cactuses are huge! My new area is just dirt.There are no plants haha so its basically Mexico. When I get here I heard the area is really slow but it is what you make of it. When I leave the whole town will be converted. There is no such thing as a slow area!

We get fed pretty well but I run now every morning. I have lost weight and I can run a mile in 6:30 so I’m getting back into shape. It’s weird because no body has grass down here, its all rocks and there are no gutters. The roads are the gutters so when it rains the streets turn into a river and it flows like 2 feet deep it’s cool. I am always wet because I sweat so much! I cant wait to go to Peru and have it even be hotter!

My First Area (Rincon East Area)

September 1, 2008

So Tucson is amazing! When I got off the plane I was picked up by one of the senior missionaries and he dropped me off at the mission office. I was there for about 4 hours and then the Assist’s picked me up and took me to Elder Lybbert and Elder Baker. They were zone leaders but Elder Baker was called as an Assist. He had to leave earlier and get trained so I took his place so technically I was a zone leader but not really.

Elder Lybertt could’nt drive so I had to drive everywhere. The mission vehicle is a 4 door truck, its pretty sweet. It’s a brand new Chevy Colorado. I don’t like the actual vehicle but it is fun to drive.

I served in the Rincon East Area and it was way cool. We were over 4 wards and the members were awesome but I was English speaking. I have been English speaking the past week so that hasn’t helped me with the language. Right when I showed up they said “alright lets go we have an appointment”. So off we went teaching!! My first night I committed this girl (18 years old) to baptism. It was the first time I had ever taught anyone and she is getting baptized on the 27th. We also have 4 others committed to baptism. We worked really hard and because of it we have added 14 investigators in the past week.

On Sunday I spoke in church. They always pick out the new guy so I talked for 20 minutes! Can you imagine that! I didn’t even look at the paper the whole time. I talked about the Plan of Salvation and the Atonement. When I was finished the Bishop got up and talked about how he couldn’t believe I have been out for only 4 days and my parents must be proud .

LATEST 411

Elder Ridge in now Tuscon and we are waiting to here more information. Stay Tuned for more 411



8/27/08

Today Elder Ridge called from the Salt Lake City Airport. He is on his way to the Arizona Tucson Mission to serve temporarily while he waits for his visa to Peru. Elder Ridge was in good spirits and is excited to get out in the mission field after 9 weeks in the MTC. If he could not go directly to Peru, he thinks it is cool that he can say he served in two different missions and he outlasted his brother and brother in law in the MTC.(They only were there for 3 weeks) Elder Ridge is the man!!!


E-MAIL 8/20/08:

So this week was way good! Yesterday and devotional Dallin H. Oaks spoke to us and that was way cool cause i was on the front row and i have never been that close, he talked on how to keep the spirit and the importance of the sacrament. it was cool. So when i get home i don't ever want to hear Scott or David say man the mtc was
fun but i couldn't wait to get out of there, ya i have been here three times more
than them ha ha i don't want to hear it! I bought a Peru shirt so I'm sure you will see it in some pictures. i want hear about school and work everything so send me some dear elders. I love you guys so much and thank you so much for the support, hopefully next week i will have the information of where I'm going and when so we will see. I love youguys so much. Yo quierro ir a peru ahora! Pero esta bien porque nesecito aprender mas paciencia.

Love Elder Ridge


ELDER RIDGE'S FIRST E-MAIL:

Hola mi padres!( hello my parents)

I now know the entire first vision in Spanish and have learned a lot more vocab. i have also learned a lot about the gospel as well. the food is alright and i am used to the sleep. Elder Hyde and I talk a lot more and play basketball and stuff. or in my district there are 10 of us and 4 are going to Peru and the rest are going to California and everyone is way cool. so the myth that they teach state side missionarys more and they hit Spanish harder is false cause we are all in the same program, i am in class about 10 hours studying language and gospel and it is the same class room so it gets hard sometimes. so yesterday i bumped into Cassidy Hilton from Rocklin and he is going to Argentina and his companion is Cameron Drennon haha, it was so fun bumping into them i couldn't believe it, ya and by the way i only get half an hour every Wednesday to email my parents and only my parents. I love you guys so much and thank you for all the support you have given me and the letters even though they are repetitive haha. I love you guys and everything
is good.

Love Elder Ridge

ENTERING THE MTC

When Elder Ridge went into the MTC there were many tears and much excitement. The girls of the family, of course, had the hardest time letting go. Elder Ridge is so excited to serve a Full Time mission for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He was so excited that he didn't cry at all going into the MTC. He is happy to learn the Spanish language he has always wanted to go on a Spanish speaking mission ever since I can remember. This is his Dream Mission!

Family Vacation

This was the last family vacation we took before Elder Ridge left. We were able to go on a cruise to Jamaica, The Grand Cayman Islands, and Cozumel Mexico. It was so much fun. We snorkeled swam with Sting Rays, and played on gorgeous beaches. It was the best family trip we have ever been on and Elder Ridge was so excited to get to Cozumel Mexico and use what little Spanish he knew at the time.