Working hard and keeping mom on her toes!!!

Well this week was a little bit harder for in the work. We had a couple of people getting prepared for baptism but they didn’t go to church so we went to go visit them and they don’t really want to get baptized. So we are only going to have a baptism this Saturday for Zenon, he is a good guy and way excited to get baptized.

Other than that we are really looking but we are getting rejected a lot, even the members reject us, we will go to their houses to visit them and share something with them and they won’t have time or have to go somewhere. We have had like three days with absolutely nothing. I feel like im in the states ha-ha.

Everything is good, we are still happy and working hard. My companion is the best, he works real hard, and teaches good, we get along really well. This week we dropped the pensionista, now we eat fruit at night. My companion wants to loose weight before he goes home and he goes home right after me.

The zone is doing good, we have 35 people with a date for baptisms for this month.

Just so you know I will call either Thursday or Friday or Saturday to set up a time, it will be the short call to set everything up. I don’t know when I will call but it will be one of those days. It will be a surprise, I know mom will walk around with the phone all those days ha-ha.

well that’s it for now, thank you so much for the support, I love you guys and talk to you in a couple of days!!!

love elder ridge

Short but we will be talking soon!!

Well this week was much better!!! We have found a lot more people to teach. We have a few baptisms planned out for May 8th and May 15^th. A man named Zenon, he is like 65 years and he is from Cuzco. Our recent convert Susy referred her friend Laydi and a couple more people that we are teaching this week. We are going to challenge them to baptism.

Mothers day is in 2 weeks, that’s crazy!!! well that’s it for this week sorry its short but we will talk in like 2 weeks, I just need to know about what time is everyone going to be there at the house for mothers day so we can plan it, well I love you guys, thank you so much for the support.

love elder ridge

Baptism in shallow water.

Well this week was a good week. We had the baptism of Susy and her confirmation on Sunday. Her baptismal service was kind of funny, I baptized her and what happened is that Elder Morton and his companion had a service before us so they left and we came in and so I was thinking that the baptismal font would be filled. So we start the service do everything and I go to the font with her and I walk in and I realize that the water was up to my knees. I’m like oh great, there is barely any water, literally, it was up to my knees. I look at her and I tell her “you have to help me out when you go under, you completely have to go under but there isn’t any water so you have to make sure that everything goes in”, she goes ya ok I can do it. I say the pray and say amen and I look and she was already going down without me, she just through herself back so she could help me but she did it so fast, she basically baptized herself ha-ha, I just had to help her up. It was kind of funny but everything turned out good. She has a lot of friends in the church already. She is a good girl.

Now we are really trying to look for people to baptize. We don’t really have that many people right now. We kind of got rejected this whole week. I still miss Ventanilla, it is a little bit harder here but we are making the best of it.

I am in the wards San Carlos and the branch is Trapiche and the stake is called San Felipe. Yes I got the package. I loved the candy. My companion and I ate everything in 2 days, but the pop tarts I ate for breakfast. Man it was good. Our house is really small, it has two rooms, and a bathroom, one room has tile and the other has wooded floors. We have a balcony so its kind of nice but its way small. We live a block from the church on a street called San Mateo in front of a clinic. If you want to look it up on goole earth. The chapel here is huge, its two story and it had an elevator and they take good care of it.

So I read dads letter, thanks dad for writing it, don’t worry I am going to finish strong. My goal is to baptize my last weekend in the mission but if not I will still be diligent until the end.

I love you guys and thank you so much for the support

love elder ridge

p.s. I’m in Lima but in a district called Carabyllo

The New Area and Pizza Hut Pizza and KFC!!

Well this week was a really long week and there was a lot to do. First of all the farewell in Ventanilla was a little hard. I had to say goodbye to all the converts and members and pension. I really miss that area and the people and everyone was sad that we left. Elder Montellanos went to the jungle. Wednesday we went to the change meeting that we always do in one of the churches. We got the whole zone together and sent them to their new areas.

We got to our area late like at 9 at night, we walked in and the room was a mess!!! Thursday we had the meeting in the offices with all the zone leaders. Friday we had to clean the room, it took all day!!! We organized everything.

Saturday we left to go work, we found a girl named Susi and she is 16 and she has attended the church several times and her friend is a member. We challenged her to baptism and so she is getting baptized this Saturday. She is a way smart girl. We are starting of good with a baptism.

The members here are way nice and they have accepted us way good, we have a ward, its really little and a branch. The branch is tiny. We meet in a house, its the first time I have ever seen this, its a little house and we meet there. We got to bless the sacrament it was a neat experience, I think like 30 people came, our pensionista is alright, she only gives us dinner, we eat our own breakfast in the room, we have an allowance to buy breakfast that the church gives us, of course we buy milk and cereal, but the pensionista isn’t one of those sweet pensionista that gives you American style food or cooks whatever you want and baby you. She kind of just gives you what she cooked that day, rice with chicken or rice with potatoes, it kind of stinks. I’m just hoping to tell her to give me fruit at night so I can eat more healthy. She is a nice lady but she aint no chef like the other ones I have had.

It’s kind of weird being in our pensionista’s house because she is 50 and she just got married to a returned missionary from Bolivia that served here three years ago. Yes he came back and got married to her. He is 25 and she is 50 and she is not a hot 50 year old. She looks like she is 50, but they are good people and are strong in the church.

The area has its poor parts and rich parts but there is nothing commercial here. There aren’t any stores or anything cool, its just houses so when we buy food and stuff we have to go to another zone. It’s not too dangerous here but there still are some parts that are a little.

Sunday we ate with a member that is way awesome. He is a English translator and has a lot of money. His English is amazing, he talks so fluent, he doesn’t pause to think and ask how do you say, he really knows it. Sunday we ate with him and he got pizza Hut Pizza with KFC and Inka cola. It was so good.

My companion is Elder Quintana and he is from Santiago Chile, he is a nice guy and we get along just fine. Our room here is really small and there isn’t hot water, which mean if I finish here I will have 8 months showering with cold water in a row plus the six months in Iquitos. That’s 14 months of my mission showering with cold water. I’m not going to lie, I’m kind of excited to get home and shower with hot water.

The zone that I’m in I a huge zone, there are 16 missionaries, 8 companionships, Elder Hyde is here and Elder Morton, I think we will finish together here, I am way excited!!

Love elder ridge

Los Cambios!!

Well the changes are here. I’m going to a Zone called Santidad, its still in Lima. My new companion is Elder Quintana, he is from Chile and he is from my group. I’m way excited!! There are only three Chileans in the mission and I’m going to get one of them. I know him a little bit he is a way cool guy. I think that Elder Hyde and Elder Morton are going to be in my zone. There are also Sister missionaries that are going to be in my zone for the first time, we will see how it goes. It’s going to be a fun change.

Well this week was really good, it was kind of easier, we had the multi zone meeting and the weekend conference. The conference was really good too, we were able to watch it in English. I liked Elder Christofferson’s about the scriptures and of course from Elder Jeffrey Holland, he always gives a good one.

This week I had to do a lot of babysitting with the missionaries. There were a lot of problems, I had to get after a couple of them, but I had a good zone that worked hard, we had good success.

My ankle is fine. My camera is good. Yes I’m going to send a big package home with pictures, I will do it, don’t worry, and I will keep an eye out for my package here, next letter will be longer, I just had to do some things with the changes and everything but next week will be longer and more detailed, thankyou for the support, I love you guys so much,

love elder ridge

More Baptisms and "Where is the Ice?"

Well what happened is that myldsmail is upgrading everything to a gmail version so I had to change my mail and everything got messed up and I was rushed when I did it but now everything is alright, I just want to thank mom for getting me my number and confirmation date. Mom I love you are the best!!!!!!

Well, this week was another amazing week, first of all we had four baptisms this weekend. Yovani and his daughter Yovanna, he is 34 and she is 8. Carlos Leon who is 33 and he got married Saturday to a member. These families now have the goal to go to the temple and get sealed. Then we had Berenize, the stake secretary’s daughter who is 26. Next week there won’t be any baptisms because of General Conference so my companion and I finished together with 11 baptisms. A total of 3 families and 5 men that can receive the priesthood. Some of the men already have received the priesthood. My companion and I were really blessed this change and the Lord really prepared people for us. This was one of the best changes of the mission and I’m going to miss this area.

We had the interviews with President and everything went well. President was really happy with the zone for the success that we had this change. We finished with 28 baptisms as a zone and 397 baptisms as a mission this month, we are doing really good.

I also found out that I am leaving this next change but I don’t know where and I’m staying as a zone leader. I might be going to Tauhantsuyo where I started the mission which would be the best. That area is now the zone leaders area so I would get to finish with all the people I started with. Or I might be going to Tarapoto to finish in the jungle but we will see. I’m honestly fine with any decision.

Today for p-day we played soccer and then we watched national treasure as a zone, remember we are allowed to watch movies sometimes. When I was playing futbol I rolled my ankle in the first 10 minutes of the game, just like football I play rough and when I rolled it I kept playing, not too smart. It’s fine but hurts a little. The first thing that came to my mind is go get some ice, then I was like wait, Peruvians don’t believe in ice, they say it makes you sick. I’m not kidding, but its doing good.

This Friday we have the multizone meeting so I will be able to see everyone it will be fun.

love elder ridge

Another Great Week!!

Hola como estan,

Well this week was another great week. First of all we had the baptism of Santiago. It was a great service. He stood up and gave a great testimony. He is going to be a great leader.

Now we have three more baptism this coming weekend. Berenize, the daughter of the stake secretary, she is 26, then we have Yovani, his wife is a member, we are going to baptize him and his 8 year old daughter to complete the family.

Then we have Carlos who’s girlfriend is a member he is 30 years old. Last night we went to Carlos’ house and he was like I have some news, me and my girlfriend are getting married this weekend before the baptism so we can already be a family and get sealed at the year mark. I almost jumped out of the seat from excitement. This weekend is going to be awesome if everything goes good.

For the general conference we are not going to baptize anyone but for April 10th we will have three more. A young girl who’s mom and sisters are members. A man named Randolfo, his wife and daughter are members, he’s like 65, and a guy named Carlos, a friend of a member, he is like 25. We are really working hard and we are getting really blessed. We still have one more but she didn’t pass the interview because of some problems so she has to have a interview with the Stake President so we might have that baptism this weekend too.

This Tuesday we have the interviews with President. Today I have to prepare a training on how to get more people to attend church. I’m kind of nervous, so today I don’t really get a p-day, we have to go get something from the offices, I think we are going to do a little bit of shopping down there. The offices are like an hour away. The temple is like 2 hours away. Our house is pretty clean. It has tiled floor, we shower with cold water, like I have said before I haven’t showered with hot water since I left barranca, since octobre, that’s like 6 months. Dave and Danna are building a house?

I honestly think you guys are more trunky than me haha. Well im glad everything is going good at home, thank you so much for the support, I love you guys so much!!!

love elder ridge

Great Week and Loving the People

Well, everything is going good here, this weekend we had three more baptisms. The daughter of the family we baptized last week Doris, her friend Ruth and her friends little brother Dare. It was a great service. We did a massive baptism. The whole zone went to our chapel and we did it, the spirit was really strong.

In the middle of the service my companion was baptizing and I was waiting in line and I look back by the doors of the room where all the people were and there was a kid named Alex who is in my ward and is a little handicapped, standing in the hallway looking in at the service. Then I see him collapse hard. Boom he goes to the ground and starts making noises, a seizer, he has epilepsy. One of the district leaders runs and grabs him and I run and shut the two doors that were opened so that the people didn’t see it. I told two young men to stand there and to not let anybody leave. Then I helped grabbed the kid and we dragged him in to another room and put him into a chair. He wasn’t foaming from the mouth or biting his tongue but he was still moving and couldn’t talk. I called two other young men and said stay here with him I will be right back, I left the room and walked to the font right as my companion was leaving and I went right in and baptized two people, then I left soaking wet and sat with Alex for a little bit, until he felt better. Some people saw but not a lot of people so the service went on just fine, it turned out to be a good service.

This next week we are going to baptize Santiago Sosa, he is the man!! He is going to be a great leader. He already has friends and everything. Then the 27th we are going to baptize Bereniz, she is 26 and her dad is a member, he is the stake secretary, and another man named Carlos Leon, his girlfriend is a member, and another guy named Yovani, his wife is a member. We might be able to get some more too. We are really working hard. My companion is great.

A little bit about my area, its all wooden house, its all sand, there are always fleas, there are dogs that are dying all over the place, it always smells because the majority of people don’t have pluming, like I said it is one of the most poorest city’s in Peru, the people litery live in the dirt, they just put a mattress on the sandy floor and sleep, but im loving it, we are have success and the members are awesome, I think I might finish the mission here and I really wouldn’t mind, I have grown to love this area and the people, not just this area but everywhere I have served.

Baptisms with more to come!!

This past week was awesome, first of all we had three baptisms. One is José Mendoza, he is 65, he is a great guy and also Gonzalo and Odisa. They are mom and dads age, it was a great service and we confirmed them on the spot because we had the stake conference. They both were crying, the spirit was way strong. Right now we have 10 people that are going to get baptized that are sure ones, we have another family and we have a man named Carlos, his girlfriend is a member. He came to the conference and so we took out his direction and went to visit him, we went later Sunday in the afternoon and we knocked the door and he opened it we went in and we sat down, I was like how is everything going? He goes really good, I’m going to be really open with you guys, my girlfriend and I want to get married and I want to get sealed in the temple, do you think you can baptize me? I was kind of surprised, I looked at my companion then at him, I said ya sure man why not, how about the 27th of March, he’s like sounds good, he is a way cool guy.

We have a couple of other people too, things are really going great right now, me and my comp are awesome and we work really hard and good together, we have a goal to baptize 15 this month. I’m pretty sure we will get it.

I’m really not that trunky and I’m really staying focused except Friday we went to eat at a family’s house and she gave me cow stomach soup, I have had the cow stomach before but in soup never. The whole time I was taking it down I was thinking, In n out burgers, in n out,in n out. It was pretty gross.

We just got back from the Temple, I had to get up at 4, I’m pretty wiped out.

love elder ridge

Great Week

Well, let me just tell you that this week was awesome. First of all my new companion is way cool he is from Santa Cruz Bolivia, his name is Elder Montellanos, he is huge. I’m taller than him but before the mission he was a body builder. He is way nice and we work hard together.

Up until Wednesday we had nothing in the area, we had to find a lot, in this week end we found a ton, and were are challenging everyone. Right now we have 9 people that are going to get baptized.

We have a family of 4, the Dad is named Gonzalo his wife Odisa and the two daughters Doris and Daniela. They are way prepared and ready to get baptized. When we challenged them we put the date for the 6th and he was like wow I would love it but I don’t think I can save up enough money that fast. Can we do it for the 20^th? We laughed a little and said no don’t worry its free and he was like oh, in the catholic church you have to pay 50 soles it was kind of funny but they are way good.

Then we have a man named Jose Mendoza, he has 65 years and is ready to get baptized. Then we have the kids of una familia, which are three. Their parents want to but they aren’t married, so this Saturday we will have three. Ganzalo Odisa and Jose and the next we will have the daughters Doris and Daniela and the three kids from the family.

For the 20th we will have a man named Santiago in English its James, he contacted us in the street and was like teach me about José Smith, we entered his house and he taught us ha-ha, he says I know that Joseph had that vision and God and Jesus Christ appeared and then Moroni showed him the plates and it was the Book of Mormon. We were kind of surprised that he knew but so we taught him and he is going to get baptized.

This change is going to go fast because we have so much to do between me and my companion and the zone, its going to fun. Yes we heard about the earthquake but we didn’t feel it. Everyone is talking about how advanced Chile is because the quake was huge but only 700 died and the quake here a while ago was less powerful and killed 100,000. The houses here are not real strong. Also we have a mouse in our room, I have been trying to kill it for a week, and this morning, I was sitting on my bed and I see it run out from underneath my bed and I get up fast and grab the broom and chuck it like a spear and it hits the mouse against the wall and dies. My companion was like nice throw. It was awesome, it made me miss hunting, well thank you so much for the support, I love you guys so much.

love elder ridge