May 12, 2014 - The One After Mother's Day!

Well, sorry for not getting a blog post last week. I was a little tied up... in IVs. Ha ha just kidding that was a little bit dramatic. But, I just want to thank everyone for their love and support these past few weeks! There were times when I really felt you all so close during really hard times! I love you all!

So anyways, I guess I should kind of tell you all what happened. BUT it's really long so this is going to be the very very VERY condensed version of what happened. So two Mondays ago I had already tried two different prescribed medications for the horrible headaches I had been having and neither of them worked. So, then, the wife of my mission president said that I should go to the emergency room .We went at about 7:30 i the evening and didn't leave until FIVE O'CLOCK THE NEXT MORNING! Our zone leader and district leader were so worried about us there that they ended up getting permission and running all the way to the hospital to stay with us! It was so nice of them. So, all they did there was take my blood and a CT scan on my head and say that nothing was wrong and prescribe me codeine. So I took that and all of the drugs they gave me and we left.

A very very kind lady in our ward here in Angers came and picked us up and we went home. But the next morning we had our District Meeting at 11 so we went because we felt bad that our Elders would have to go with as much sleep as us because of how nice they were. It was good that we went too because it was our last district meeting with a sister in our district who went home that week because of health issues. So we all took a picture together one last time. 

I think this picture really shows how wonderful Courtney's companion has been to her while she has been sick

And of course I had to take a picture of me with the nicest elders ever who helped us out so much!!

Then the next day I had to go in to Paris to do legality stuff and it was so fun because I got to see the missionaries who came in with me from the MTC! Even though I don't really remember much from that day... probably from the codeine... I DO remember that I was so happy to be able to see some of my good friends from the MTC!

The next day was Thursday and I could hardly do anything without it hurting. Brushing my hair? Nope, couldn't do that. Blinking? Couldn't do that either. Pretty much it wasn't getting better even with the really strong medicine so my President told me to go back to the Emergency Room and the church's doctor that I had been in contact with told me to have them do a test there that would tell if I had a condition that he thought I had called Occipital Neuralgia. So I go back to the Emergency Room and they decide to admit me to the hospital and start their own treatments on me - they wouldn't test me for Occipital Neuralgia. So I spent that day and the next day at the hospital here in Angers. If you can help it - don't EVER go to a French hospital. There is so much I could say about that hospital and what it was like but I'll just show you the pictures of the dinner they served me. That should give you just a little idea of what it was like...

The only good thing about being in the hospital was that I got to talk to Mom and Dad. But I just bawled when President said he was going to call Mom because I knew how worried it would make them. I told my President "please do NOT call my mom! She is going to freak out!" but he did anyway... ha ha. So at the hospital they had me hooked up to medicine that just made me spend all night on a very very gross bathroom floor. It wasn't good. So the next night I was talking to the Church's doctor and he said to leave and go to the American Hospital in Paris and have them treat me there. SO, the next day I was on a 2 hour train ride to Paris. Once I got there they diagnosed me (Occipital Neuralgia) and prescribed me treatment within about 20 minutes. I love America. So I have started that treatment that hopefully will work. 

That weekend I stayed with a senior couple in Paris until Monday. They are just about the sweetest people ever. They helped me gain back the 2 kilos I had lost in the last couple of days with all kinds of delicious homemade food and goodies. They were just like grandparents to me!

Oh and a really quick side note - I spend Monday in the Mission home with the President's family and they have a dog that is Mu Shu's twin!!

So then Monday night I traveled back to Angers - wow, I missed my ville and my district so much!! We were finally reunited and everyone was so happy!

A very kind Polynesian family in our ward had us over for dinner. Everyone here in the Angers ward has really just been taking care of us so well. At their house Soeur Tane (who is Tahitian and is now with us until the end of the transfer) did a traditional Tahitian dance for us!

The following week I was feeling so much better and we were busy! We had exchanges with our Sister Training Leaders. I was with Soeur Holmes who is just so sweet! I loved being with her!

And we had two birthdays! Sour Tane was on Wednesday. It's funny - everyone thinks I'm a good cook or something so I always get put in charge of the cake - mom thanks for teaching me everything I know ;) so we made her a cake! Yesterday was an Elder's birthday too so we made him an orange cake. It was SO good!

Also, a member from the ville where Soeur Tane used to serve drove all the way to come take us out for her birthday. She was the sweetest little lady! Afterwards she bought us all little cakes! They were so dang good!

And then finally, my favorite day! Mother's Day yesterday!! I was so happy to talk to the family!! You guys are so cute :) It was so nice to talk to Devon too! I JUST LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH!! Mom, thanks for everything that you do for me and for your great example. I hope that you had a great day!!

Thanks everyone for all your love and support and prayers and fasting these last couple weeks. You allreally are so amazing. Through this whole thing my testimony really has grown so much. I can't even tell you how many prayers I said. I remember being in the hospital and not being able to understand what was going on and I just prayed and prayed and prayed. Not once did I feel alone. I KNOW that Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers and is so ready to comfort us. I am so grateful for this gospel and for all the blessings I recieve because of it!

Thanks again everyone! I love you all, have a great week!

Avec Amour...

May 5, 2014 - No Real Post this Week

This week Courtney has been in and out of a few hospitals in France. She was admitted in to the University hospital in Angers with a very painful headache - the one she has had for almost two weeks now. They weren't able to control the pain and in fact they were giving her some sort of medicine that made her very sick. We have been communicating with the Mission Department's European doctor and he suggested that she be moved to the American Hospital in Paris. She went in to Paris over the weekend and received some treatment there. She was wearing a pain patch on her neck to help calm the bulging nerve in her neck. We were able to talk to her a few times this week which was nice but it's hard to know that she is in so much pain. We got this short email from her today:

Bonjour! I just have a minute to let  you know that I'm doing okay! I'm staying with the Princes - a senior couple serving in Paris. They are taking good care of me. I am going to go to the office with them today and visit with President Poznanskie - we spoke on the phone last night and he said that he is going to try and get me back to Angers today so all is well. The patch is working - I don't know how but it is! I still feel sore but Elder Prince said it's probably just my muscles around the nerve because they've been so stressed these past two weeks. My head is still a little painful but seriously compared to what it was I feel like I'm on cloud 9! I still can't keep any food down - I just wonder what they were putting in my body in the Angers Hospital! I am hoping to be A-ok when I talk to you next week for Mother's Day!

Please tell everyone that I love them. I could really feel all of the prayers and fasting on my behalf. I am so grateful for the gospel! Without it and the power of prayer I seriously would not have been able to make it through this past week! Thank you so much for praying and fasting for me - I know that it is because of your faith, my faith and the faith of my district that fasted for me on Friday that I am ok and that I was able to make it through such a hard week. I know that there is something great that I am going to take from this and I already feel like I have learned so much.

I KNOW that everything about my mission has been so inspired. I am so grateful for everyone right now. Even my ward here in France - the lady in my ward who came and visited me called like everyone in the ward and had them fast for me too on Sunday and our Bishop announced it and Soeur Denning said they announced it in Relief Society and Priesthood. It's so amazing to think how many people are praying and fasting for me - that alone gives me SO much comfort and strength. Thanks for everything that you have done for me this weekend.

I have to tell you about the Princes. They are seriously fantastic - they tried to feed me like a queen. Too bad I can't keep any of it down! Yesterday Sister Prince made pot roast and mashed potatoes and gravy and homemade bread and homemade tapioca pudding. Then today we had crepes and grilled chicken. I has been a nice place to recover! And they have so many great stories! He's a cancer survivor of only a couple years and they are best friends with the Hollands. THE Hollands! Elder Prince and Elder Holland grew up together and now they live across the street from each other. When the doctors told Elder Prince he only had 3 weeks to live, Elder Holland gave him a blessing and well, he's still alive! They remind me so much of the Johnsies!

I love you so much! I will be talking to you next week!

April 28, 2014 Dancing!

I have a plea - as the mom. Please pray for Courtney. She has been to two doctors this week and is headed to Paris tomorrow. She has been plagued with a debilitating migraine for almost 2 weeks. She has never had headaches so this is all new and very painful for her. She just wants to work and be a good missionary and she is getting down. 

You can email her at

courtney.ridd@myldsmail.net

or write her a letter:

Les Missionaires

Soeur Ridd

31 rue de la Roe

Angers 49 49100

France

Well, this week was just full of adventures!

On our pday last week we decided to go on a run to this beautiful park because NOTHING was open because of the Easter holiday so we couldn't' even do our grocery shopping! It was so gorgeous! It turned out to be a LOT longer of a run than we anticipated but it was so much fun!

And then the unthinkable happened! TWO more gray hairs! Good times on the mission! haha

This week we also tot to go to a ville called Nantes for our zone conference. It was so fun to see missionaries from our zone and to be edified and uplifted by our wonderful zone leaders. They gave a great talk about ow we need to decide whether we are going to be "Lamans and Lemuels" in our life or "Nephis" in how we approach hard times and trials. I loved that!

Of course, we had to take fun train pictures on our long train ride home! :)

Then we had such a fun ward party here that was a costume dance party (why they did that in April, I have no idea but it was still fun!) Soeur Denning and I dressed up like sister missionaries from the 90s (a little tribute for you mom!) and the ward thought it was so funny!

We were a little worried though because it was a dance party and technically we're not supposed to dance

But our zone leaders and district leader said it was okay so...

It was such a fun night to get to spend with the members! The ward here really is amazing and they all are so welcoming! We taught them how to do the "Boot Scootin Boogy" and they taught us all these old French dances - it was a blast!

And some of them really went all out in the costumes!

There was a cake contest - I think ours was the best (a lemon yogurt cake with homemade sprinkles and everything) but someone won with a delicious Speculoos (it's like Biscoff) cake. It was SO GOOD!!

It was really cool too because there is a family in our ward from Nouvelle Caledonie (New Caledonia) and they did a special Polynesian dance for us! It was just like home!! :)

Then - this week our district's health has just fallen apart! I've had maybe a sinus infection with a terrible headache all week (no fun) and our poor Elders got such bad colds! So we made them this little "get well kit" with lots of things to help them!

and they (when they found out I keep getting worse) brought me one back yesterday full of snickerdoodles and the nicest little book of notes! They are so awesome! I am so blessed!

This week has been a struggle with my health and in trying to not get down about it, but I have learned a lot! One of our zone leaders gave me an ear-full for not going to the doctor earlier. He said that by not going to the doctor and staying sick and still trying to do missionary work, I wasn't allowing myself to feel the spirit. I thought about that more and I realized what a stubborn person I am and I've come to realize that being stubborn is just a sneaky form of pride. When we are stubborn we're not allowing ourselves to be open to the spirit and to let the Savior help us change. I'm really going to try and work on that!

I'm so grateful for all of you and your prayers and all the letters that I received this week. It really helped me a lot and I can feel of your love and comfort so much right now. Every prayer helps so thanks for all you do for me. I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week!

Avec amour, 

Soeur Ridd

Joyeuses Paques Everyone!

(That is how you say Happy Easter!) Here in France they still celebrate it on Monday (for an extra day off work I think ha ha) I hope you all had a wonderful week leading up to Easter and had a great day yesterday in remembering our Savior and all He did for us and the amazing gifts He has given us from his Atonement and Resurrection!

This week was a pretty fun week! We had one day where we were put as a trio with Sœur Tane from Tahiti because it was exchange day and her new companion wasn't going to be there until late at night. So she came to our rendez-vous and contacted with us. It was so fun! She is so cute and her and I have become really great friends! She's so fun and it's like a little taste of home being with Poly family! :0 I was helping her learn English and she helps me learn French and Tahitian! She's such a hoot!

We got to do a lot of finding through contacting and porting (going door to door) this week sharing our Easter message again and it was so amazing to be able to bear testimony of the simple truths that we know to be true but I know that every time that I do, my testimony is strengthened so much of our Savior and the great sacrifice he made for us and the eternal blessings we receive. I will never get tired of the beauty of France that we see when we go out, so sorry (but not really) if you get tired of my pictures! 

Church on Sunday was really special for us. There was a special program about Easter that our ward put together. The 4 Elders and I sang "Il Vit, Mon Rédempteur" (I Know that My Redeemer Lives) and Sœur Denning played the piano. I loved that opportunity! I felt the spirit so strongly as I bore my testimony in French through that song. I think everyone felt the spirit so strong too! They were all crying and coming up to us saying how we sounded like angels. There were some really great talks and I just loved hearing all about the Resurrection of Christ all day. I love how that's what our church really focuses on - not just the crucifixion, but that on the third day he WAS resurrected and the today he DOES live again and because of that we can too. That is such a blessing to us and our families! Speaking of family - I missed not having a family Easter picture this year so we took our own!

It was really cool this week at church too because we had a foreign exchange high school student from the U.S. who is living with a family here come to church! She is so from Utah and she is so cute and just immediately became best friends with us Sœurs! She said she is planning on going on a mission too and so it was cool to be able to testify to her about how much missions can bless you while I am actually on my mission!

We had a lot of our rendez-vous (appointments) fall through this week that we had planned for sharing our Paque message with families in the ward so that was hard. But we did get to go to a family yesterday for lunch. Holy. Moly. I am STILL full on Monday afternoon! And that was their "petit gout" (little taste) before their big Easter dinner. Ha ha. It's crazy how much we ate. It was cute though - they wanted to make us "American food" so we had grilled chicken and sausages and steak with frites (they don't like it when you call them French fries) and salad and bread (of course) and cheesecake for desert! Wow! it was way good. But seriously so much food! That family (the Ravaneaus) are so amazing! They are one of the real spiritual anchors in the paroisse (ward) here. They love the missionaries and we always have so much fun when we are with them! One of their little boys is 10 and he is such a crack up! We have lots of fun with him taking pictures and making silly faces!

It was so nice too - he gave us his Easter bunny! And here in France they don't play around with chocolate or give it up freely! And this bunny was not that waxy fake chocolate - it was the real deal! It was so good, we decided to have that and our peeps that you sent us mom for dinner because even at 9:00 pm we were too full to eat. So that was probably the healthiest and best Easter dinner that I have had - ha ha!

I just want to end this special post for Paque with my simple testimony that I know that Christ is our Savior and redeemer. I know that He suffered for our sins in the Garden of Gethsemane and walked a lonely road so that we don't have to. I know that even when His very apostles betrayed Him, He was still strong and did the will of our Father in Heaven up to his death so that we can repent of our sins and become clean. I know that He felt our sins, sadnesses and struggles and that He can not only help us in this life through comfort, but also after this life He will be our advocate with the Father. I know that because he rose again on the third day that we will ALL be resurrected and have the opportunity to live with our family and loved ones for all of eternity. I know that this church is true and I love every moment I get to share that with the people here!

Thanks for all of your support and love! Thanks for those who write me letters and send me packages! They are always like little treasures from heaven and I love them so much! I love you all! I hope that you have a wonderful week and can find a way to share your testimony with others! 

Avec amour, 

Sœur Courtney Ridd

April 14, 2014 - Miracles!

Remember you can email Courtney at:

courtney.ridd@myldsmail.net

Or you can write her at: 

Les Missionaires

Soeur Ridd

31 Rue de la Roë

Angers, 49 49100

France

Wow! This is the first week of my second transfer here in France! The time is flying by! This week was just full of miracles and tender mercies of the Lord. It was truly a great week to help me get ready for Pacque (Easter)!

So, Monday my horrible viral eye infection came back. It was pretty bad this time! I could hardly walk outside because of how much the sunlight hurt it! So we went back to the pharmacist and he gave me these eye drops and stuff to help but I was so nervous and sad  because he said it would take 5 to 10 days to start to heal. Also, the next day we were going to be having a special Conference des Soeurs in Paris with all the sister missionaries in our mission for the first time. I wanted to be able to go SO bad! So I called our District Leader and Monday night he came and gave me a blessing that I would be healed and Tuesday morning I woke up and my eye was perfectly fine! My testimony has grown so much on my mission but ESPECIALLY in the mercy that the Lord has for us and the power of our faith. It probably doesn't seem like that big of deal, but for me it was! Our AP (Assisitant to the President) told us this week "There are two ways to live your life: 1. nothing is a miracle or 2. everything is a miracle". So this week I really tried to look at everything as a miracle and it changed everything!

Seriously, just being in France and seeing so many beautiful things is a miracle!

So the Conference des Soeurs was so amazing! I got to meet some amazing sister missionaries and really feel the strong spirit that we have! It was a great time. President and Soeur Poznanskie spoke to us about the influence that we can have on our missions (especially on the Elders) and really just made us feel so good about ourselves - they are amazing! And I was so happy because I got to be reunited with my MTC compn

The second part of our day in Paris for the conference was full of workshops! We learned about skincare and made some Christ centered gifts to give to our amis. In one we got go "shopping" for fun little accessories that members from aruond France had donated! It was so fun! and Soeur Poznanskie is so cute - she always wants to make sure we look good!

That night the sisters from Cholet who are in our district spent the night and it was one of their birthdays so she bought macarons in Paris and we all ate them - OH MY GOSH SO GOOD. Haha but so expensive... they were like 2 euros each. But definitely worth it! :)

The next day we had our weekly district meeting in Cholet!

It was pretty sad though because it was our last one being all together so we had to take a picture together as a district! The numbers we're holding up are how many transfers we've been here in France... yup, Elder Teh and I are babies.. :) haha

While at our district meeting we made a goal for every companionship to contact and port (go door to door) with 150 people by the next Tuesday. That is A LOT of people to try and get in! But we all stuck to it and we were given the challenge to do Easter contacting and relate everything back to what we talked about to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's been such a neat experience to really bear testimony of it THAT many times. And it's been fun to go to all these different parks and do contacting because the weather has been so nice :)

Toto, I don't think we are in Arizona any more!

Okay, so another miracle from this week - in France it's really hard to talk about religion with people because they are all Catholic or don't believe in anything and "don't feel like wasting their time on discussing it." So imagine getting 150 NOs! It's been rough. BUT on Friday, we were in this beautiful park and we see a pregnant mom pushing a stroller and immediately we "go in for the kill" and it was SO amazing. She was so ready for the gospel!! We explained why we were here and started talking about the resurrection of Jesus Christ and her eyes just lit up! And the next thing we know she's asking when we can come to her house!! It was such an amazing experience we almost started crying right there. We really have not been having a lot of success at all and the work has been so slow but we've had a few miracles like this happen to us this week. I know that the Lord is preparing His children to receive the gospel and is placing them in our paths for us to sharie it with them, we just have to be patient and diligent!

I have loved these couple weeks leading up to Pacque. I LOVE sharing my simple French testimony about the blessings that we have because of our Savior. I hope you all have a wonderful week leading up to Easter and can really feel the love the Savior has for everyone of us on that special day. I know that he died and rose again the third day so that we too can live forever with our families.

I invite you all to watch this wonderful video! I love you all!! Thanks for all your love and support! Bon Pacque!

Avec amour, 

Soeur Ridd