March 24, 2014 Another Gray Hair!

You can email Courtney at courtney.ridd@myldsmail.net or write her here:

Les Missionaires

Sœur Ridd

31 rue de la Roë

Angers, 49 49100

France

Wow! I've been out for more than two months! I can't believe it... It really has flown by! I've loved every minute of it!

So this week, we started off with salads on pday instead of Kebab... a much better choice haha. But these salads were SO good - fresh cheese, homemade vinaigrette.. so good! And it is a fun place - they come in these huge bowls!

Okay - there was also a pretty big crisis that happened this week. Sœur Denning and I were standing at the bus stop and she just looks at me weird and then pulls a hair out of the top of my head. I was so confused and then she showed it to me - IT WAS ANOTHER GRAY HAIR! I think I'm going to be completely gray when I get home... momma mia.

So we have an investigator who lives way out in the boonies in the beautiful country side of Angers so we went and visited her out there but we had to walk for like half an hour from the bus stop to her house and so we did some contacting on the way...

It really is so beautiful out there and we had some good times on our hour of walking down the deserted highway!

It was a really great lesson with our ami! Her name is Leanelle and we showed her the Restoration video and the Spirit was so strong that we committed her to a baptismal date! It was great!

Since we were out there in the country all day and walked a lot we decided we needed a good drink (Sœur Denning and I get along really well that way!) And so of course I had to get an Orangina! It is so good. I am starting to get your taste now Mom!

One night this week during our one hour of free time we decided to have a mini spa night! We did masks as you can see from the picture! Good times...

This week we also did companionship exchanges with our Sister Training Leaders and so I went to Nantes with Sœur Hafen. That was a really good experience! She taught me so much in just the 24 hours that I was there. She reminded me that even though we are called as missionaries, it doesn't mean we have to give up being ourselves. We have been called to this specific mission because of the talents that Heavenly Father has blessed us with. She was so great! Here is a picture of me with her!

Then after we had exchanges we had our Zone Conference all day on Friday! That was so fun because I was reunited with Sœur Williams from the MTC! It was so fun to have a little bit of our old district back together again for the day!

It was a great conference. We had a lot of great talks and lessons. One of the biggest things I got from it was that even though language can be a barrier sometimes, it's okay because the gospel is simple! It's just the Doctrine of Christ. Someone shared this quote from Albert Einstein "If you can't explain something simply, you don't know it well enough". That gave me so much hope! The whole conference was in French obviously so it was little rough at first, but really all we have to do to learn about the gospel is listen to the Spirit. So, as missionaries, all we have to do is teach simply and let the Holy Ghost teach the rest. 

I also got to be a part of an amazing special musical number. One of the lines from the song that we sang was "every breath we take is sacred for it is God's gift to us". That's something I really want to remember in my daily life - the gift of life itself is so amazing and I need to be grateful for it every day. 

I also got a package from Nana! Thanks so much Nana! How did you know I love nuts and dried mango? I loved them! It made me so happy to see that in our mailbox!

On Saturday night we went to a classical music concert with one of the our new converts of the ward, Lenaig and it was so amazing! It was held in this huge Catholic Cathedral. The music was so pretty! It was fun to be able to bond with her like that. The members here really are so strong - they have to be because of how small the church is here. They are all such good examples to me. 

Well, that's all for this week! Thanks to everyone for your love and support! I love you all! Keep on keepin on and remember to be grateful for ever day that we have been blessed with here on this beautiful earth!

Avec amour, 

Courtney

March 17, 2014 Angers!

Just a little note. The town that she is serving in (Angers) is pronounced ON-JZHAY not like the bad temperament it sounds like!

Get out those pens and write her a letter! I know she will love it!

Les Missionaires

Sœur Courtney Ridd

31, rue de la Roë

Angers, 49 49100

France

So this week was my first full week in France! But to be honest... I feel like I've been here forever! Except that I don't know the language that well and I still get so lost, but I love it!!

Last pday I tried kebab for the first time... apparently everyone here eats it and loves it but I think it's just super fatty mystery meat! It was surprisingly really good! I was kind of scared though...

My companion (as we are walking out looking all pregnant because of how huge our lunch was) points to this chunk of hanging meat and is like "oh, that is what we just ate - just so you know." I like freaked out! What is this meat? It was so good tho and I ate so much that I was pretty much in a food coma for the rest of the day!

So this week was fun for me too because I really got to meet some of our Amis! (Ami is the French word for friend. They call investigators Amis de l'eglise - friends of the church - because the word for investigator is more like a police investigator or something.) We have one ami (Danielle) who is this super sweet lady in her 60s I think. She actually has a baptismal date for the 30th so we're so excited! She's so cute. Then we are also teaching two ladies from Africa - one of them has the three cutest kids ever! They are both so prepared for the gospel. It's great!

We have lots of fun going in to the buildings to visit our amis and porting (going door to door)!

Okay, funny story. So, we do a lot of street contacting here because everyone walks everywhere! So on Wednesday we're just walking around centre Ville and my trainer and I are going every other person on who stops to teach and so it was my turn and we see this lady coming up on a bike and Sœur Denning is like "ok, you've got this next lady" and so I go up to her and say "pardon moi madame" and then my companion pulls me away and runs and just starts laughing - I was SO confused! And finally, she's like "that was a nun!!" ha ha I guess she thought I knew so I wouldn't really stop her - but let's be serious I've never seen a nun in real life before so I had no idea! I will probably never live that one down here!

On Thursday we did service at President's house again- that was so nice. They are so nice! And they said that part of their house was built in the 1500s! It's such a gorgeous house. France is so cool because they never tear anything down they just keep adding on! Here is a picture of the backyard shed and part of the yard. I wish I would have taken more pictures!

On Friday night we got to help with a spa night put on by the Relief Society - that was so fun! They were so cute and they loved being pampered! It was fun. I did facials and put masks on the ladies and just listened to them vent to me - I had no idea what they were saying so I just said "oui" (yes) and "c'est vrai?" (really?) and nodded. They loved me ;)

Sunday night we went over to a lady's house who had received a Livre de Mormon from someone years ago and had questions so we went over there and she was this super nice funny old lady. So she's talking to us - telling us about her life. I picked up on stuff here and there so I got a basic understanding of what she was saying but then all of a sudden she looks at me super funny and then turns to Sœur Denning and says "she can't understand anything I'm saying can she? She's just sitting there smiling and nodding." (in French of course) hahaha I just started laughing. But hey at least I know I'm smiling and they can understand that!

Yesterday the Relief Society lesson was about the temple and it is SO amazing to me the faith that the members here have. They are so excited and ready for the Paris temple and they absolutely love the temple. It really is like a treasure to them and it made me think how we take it for granted in the states how we can just jump in the car and be there in 20 minutes or less. The temple really is such a blessing in our lives and we should remember how merciful our Heavenly Father is to have given us that opportunity to enter in to the House of the Lord. 

Well I hope you all have a fantastic week and are enjoying the wonderful Spring time! Here is a little look at Spring in Angers!

 And mom, when you were telling me to get sturdy shoes because of the cobblestones - I didn't believe you. I was just humoring you - I kept thinking "it's been 25 years, I'm sure they have normal streets now". It's all cobblestone everywhere! You were right!

Avec amour,

Sœur Ridd

March 10, 2014

Please send her letters! She told me that her companion gets 5 or more letters in the mail every week and she hasn't gotten any yet! Email is so easy that I forgot how great it is to get something in your actual mailbox!!

Les Missionaires

Soeur Courtney Ridd

31, rue de la Roë

Angers, 49 49100

France

Wow! This week has been a long one!! It's been so great though and a LOT has happened so sorry, this is going to be long and there will be a LOT of pictures:)

So we had to pack up at the MTC - that was a lot of fun! We pretty much felt like we were the top dogs there the last couple of days ha ha because we had been there for 6 and a half weeks! So we played in the rain a little bit on Saturday night and dressed up like super heroes while we were packing... good times.

Sunday we had our last temple walk! It was so sad to think it was the last time that we would be at the temple for 16 and a half months but at the same time we were so excited to go and do the Lord's work in the missionary field! The hardest part was saying goodbye to all of our good friends in the zone so we took lots of fun pictures!

Monday was the day that we left! It was so sad saying goodbye to everyone! Our zone is so awesome though and we sang God Be With You till We Meet Again in Tahitian and French. I was crying of course! We also did the traditional picture by the map!

We rode the Trax to the Salt Lake Airport on Monday afternoon. The plane ride was SO long! I tried to sleep but it was pretty hard to fall asleep and I was just so excited to get to France! I kept watching the progress of our flight on the screen in front of me! It was so awesome knowing where we were the whole time!

When we finally made it I was exhausted but the excitement made up for it!

As soon as we got off the plane the APs and a Senior Couple were there to greet us! They had pain au chocolat (the best pastry ever!) for us and some Livres de Mormon (copies of the Book of Mormon)  for us to start handing out and do some contacting with on the metro on the way to the church building in Paris. I was so freaked out and like just wondering how I was supposed to try and speak French when I couldn't even speak English hardly because of how tired I was, but Soeur Williams and I just looked at each other and nodded and said a prayer and then we contacted someone! Her name was Benedict and she was so interested and we were so excited to tell her as much as we could! So we gave her a Livre de Mormon and some bisous (kisses) and she left! Then we just look at each other with the "deer in the headlights look" because we completely forgot to ask for her information. We both decided we would learn from that experience very fast and NOT ever make that mistake again! When we got to the church we got to talk to President Poznanski and his wife! 

This is the chapel!

 Our group with President Poznanski

 Walking through the streets from the train station to the chapel.

The Poznanskis are so amazing and I can just really tell how much they love missionary work! We had a few training classes. They kept feeding us to try and keep us awake but I just kept thinking "this food is so good I'm going to fall right asleep!" . This pastry they gave us - I called it the chocolate hot dog because that's what it looks like, but it was seriously SO good!

Then we started the long walk to the hotel (they didn't have enough room in the mission home for all of us) the whole time we were walking I was seriously on cloud 9! Like I could not believe I was actually in France! It looks like a movie set everywhere here! It is so great! 

When we made it to our hotel. I was seriously so tired and I guess I fell asleep writing in my journal because Soeur Williams snapped this beauty... ha ha but don't worry momma I am writing in my journal every night! Even when I haven't slept!

The next morning we were up and ready to find out where we would be serving and who our trainers would be!

We first went to Consecration Hill which is just outside of town and it just overlooked all of Paris, while we were there we made goals for our mission and really dedicated ourselves to the Lord for the next 24 or 18 months. It was a really neat experience! 

We got back to the chapel but we were early so they let us go see Notre Dame! It was sooo cool! Such a neat experience for our first full day in France! This picture is the last one with me and Soeur Williams for a while!

Then we met our trainers and got our assignments! I am with Soeur Denning (who is amazing, I love her!) and we are assigned to Angers! It's so beautiful here and warmer so that is fantastic! We had little bit of time before our train got to Paris so we got to go to the Eiffel Tower!! Holy Cow! That was like a dream come true pretty much! It was so fun! That is my new companion Soeur Denning with me!

Then we headed to Angers! I was so amazed at the difference from here to Paris! The streets here are so clean and the streets and the people aren't as crazy! This is the view from my apartment window!

Soeur Denning is awesome and made me contact the first night ha ha ha it was pretty funny. People I would stop would either just laugh, tell me they can't understand my American French, or just give me a weird look and keep walking haha! I thought it would be harder to get rejected like that but it wasn't too bad. Yet... The next day Soeur Denning said she was going to reward me for what we did the night before so she got me a Pain au Chocolat et Amandes (same great pastry but with almonds) it was seriously heaven in like 800 calories!

So this weekend we went porting (door to door contacting), people yelled "sect" (cult in French) and slammed the doors on us a lot. We had a few lessons that I understood zero of, and we set a baptismal date - so that was exciting!

Yesterday was church. My brain was fried after three straight hours of French and people asking me questions that I couldn't understand! But it was really special at the same time because President and Sister Poznanski came to our little Angers ward because this is where they lived before they were called to be the mission president. Their son is in the ward and he blessed his baby. It was really special to see how much the members here love their family and love missionary work. They'll do anything to help the missionaries and do missionary work. There is a really special spirit here and I can't wait to start working with them!

Well, if you read all of this then thank you for sticking with it! I love you all! Thank you for all of your support! I'm finally in France and loving it!!

Bisous!

Soeur Ridd

We Know Where She Is!!

We got a letter from her mission president on March 5th. She arrived in Paris on the 4th. She spent her first day eating some good food, visiting with the mission President, contacting non-members in the heart of Paris and sharing testimony. 

The letter said that the next morning, after a mission orientation, she left for her first assignment to work in the Angers South Area with her new companion Sister Denning. Their apartment address is:

Les Missionaires

Soeur Courtney Ridd

31, rue de la Roë

Angers, 49 49100

France

He reminded us all of the scripture in Proverbs 25:25 "As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country"

Please write her a letter! 

Also, if you want to see more pictures from her mission - there is a facebook page that you can join. Every couple of weeks they post pictures from zone conferences etc... It is France Paris Mission Poznanski. 

A Short Note Before I Leave the MTC!

Hey everyone! So this will just be a short little post because I am only emailing because my next pday... I'LL BE IN FRANCE! Pretty Crazy!

So on Wednesday this week I got to be a host for all the new missionaries coming in!

It was so weird because I swear that was just me. It was kind of hard because I had to keep taking these crying sisters away from their families, but at the same time it was so amazing to think how many great new missionaries we get every week who are here to serve the Lord and help gather Zion.

On Thursday we had Infield Training all day. It was so fun, it was like lots of little workshops to help prepare us for the field. One of the coolest things that I took away from it was how important members are in a missionary's work. If the missionaries in your ward aren't really involving you, help them by trying to get them involved in your life so that you can help them. It really makes such a huge difference for a missionary when they involve members. 

Ok, so here's a funny story for this week...

So this picture s just a remake of what really happened, BUT, on Thursday it had been raining pretty much all day here and so there were worms all over outside. One of the Elders got a worm and I was holding it in my hand just kind of playing with it and then Soeur Rasmussen freaks out about how gross that is and tried to fling it out of my hand by hitting the bottom of my hand towards my face. So do you know where the worm goes? In. My. Hair. So, I screamed. I screamed sooo loud that I surprised myself, I don't think I've ever screamed that loud before. It was pretty funny. Now my whole zone laughs at me for having "worms in my hair". 

Friday was just a pretty normal day - just doing classwork and language study and stuff. But for some reason everyone got a kick out of my tired face.. so now whenever I say something dumb they make me "do the face" for punishment!

Also, we decided to give everyone in our zone an animal and we drew a picture on the black board. I'm the deer! We were so productive with our study time...

So today (Saturday) was a pretty sad day. We had to say goodbye to our wonderful teachers Frere Kellett and Soeur Chard. They really have been such amazing teachers. They not only taught us the lessons and helped us learn French, they taught us the gospel through their amazing testimonies and became our good friends. I'm going to miss them so much!

Well, the next time I email you I will be fully submersed in the French culture and eatin me some pastries!! I can't wait! :)

Thanks again everyone so much for all of your love and support. It makes it a lot easier to go into the field knowing I have such wonderful friends and family supporting me! Je vous Aime!!

Love,

Soeur Ridd