Hola a todos!
Writing to you from literally the prettiest view in the mission. I really hope I don't get tried of this, but every morning I look out on the balcón and yell, in the words of my dad, "It's a BEAUTIFUL day!"
Algeciras is very beautiful, and my area includes some really neat spots. For one, we're planning on visiting Ceuta next Saturday, which is a town across the Strait of Gibraltar that is still technically Spanish soil, but is basically in Morocco. Tons of Arabic and Spanish mingled together, and we have to take a boat to go across. Another part is, of course, Gibraltar, which is ENGLISH soil. That includes the famous Rock of Gibraltar and a group of MONKEYS lives up there. Gotta wait for my residency card to come in in order to go there, but we actually have a couple British members that live over there, so hopefully it comes through soon. There's so much more I could write about the area but I don't want to bore you with my rambling, so let's get into the week.
Monday and Tuesday we spent some time packing and saying goodbye to some members and friends, and on Wednesday we started traveling to Murcia to get picked up by my new companions. Me and Elder Golightly said goodbye and I hopped in a car with Elder Robinson and Elder Stafford, the new boys. We drove the 5 hours to Algeciras and collapsed because we were so exhausted.
Thursday and Friday was FILLED with stuff, like getting introduced to the new members, meeting friends, teaching a couple lessons, and really just jumping around from lesson to lesson. There is SO much work to do here and it feels a little overwhelming, but it's a good feeling. It's so much better to be busy as a missionary than to not be, so I'm so grateful. As of right now, we have some people that we're teaching, like Alex and Samuel. Alex is a 30 something year old guy who works at a warehouse of a member, and he's so nice. When we greeted us, he gave us a big fat hug and laughed more than he talked. He's really working on the spiritual aspect of his life and we can feel his desire to know more and grow closer to God. Samuel is a 11 year old kid who actually had a baptismal date but due to sickness it got pushed back a couple times, but he really really wants to go to the temple. We'll totally get there eventually, I have faith of that.
We also had stake conference this weekend where we heard some really incredible talks, one from an Area Seventy who taught about ministering and having the gospel in your home. He actually spoke in English and had a translator up front helping him and the translator was an absolute beast. It was pretty strange being able to understand both, but a really cool experience.
His talk was really great though. He really emphasized how our church is a church of belonging and that we should never forget who needs help. He shared a story of an older gentleman who would get sick easily and the bishop of his ward felt an impression to go visit him after many years of him not going to church. His counselors actually thought that he had passed away, and they told him not to bother. But he felt strongly he should visit him, so they went. To their surprise, he was still in the same room in the old folks home, and he was so happy to see those men when they knocked on his door. He had felt forgotten and alone, but thanks to this bishop following the Spirit, they were able to love and care for him. That's really what the gospel of Christ is all about: sharing, caring, and loving all those that we can. Everybody deserves love and we can be the ones to give it to them! Try thinking of somebody you can visit, call, or send a text to today. Try and brighten somebody's day today!
¡Cristo vive! ¡El Libro de Mormón es verdadero!
¡Os amo!
Élder Ritter
Fotos:
Máquina tacos
Us in front of the Strait of Gibraltar (if you look hard enough that's Africa in the background)
Literally the sunrise my first day in Algeciras
Elder Robinson had his birthday on Friday! We celebrated with an Avengers cake
Pila pic (baptismal font)
Other cool pic of Strait of Gibraltar, you can see some vacas!!!
Rainbow my SECOND day here. I think God is telling me this is going to be a blessed transfer
