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.