Week 105

ONE LAST RIDE.....

Tuesday: Well let's just say it was the craziest week of my mission by far!!! We had our final multi district meeting in the morning all focused on "the faith to receive revelation." We gave a training where we set the whole gym up as a maze! (Our district leaders helped us set up on Monday) There was tables and chairs everywhere. We had two people be our guinea pigs and go through the maze blind folded. There was someone representing the spirit and walking the course with them. One listened to the spirit and one did not. We were able to see how imperfect we are when we try to do things through our own talents and abilities. When we seek and are guided by revelation we will be am instrument in the Lord's hand. After the meeting we had to drive to the institute building to let Elder Alarcon do a baptismal interview for Erik who was being taught by the YSA sisters. Later in the day Elder Alarcon went to a lesson for some different Elders since he knew Spanish.  It was for family who has kids was on the verge of being baptized. There was an unfortunate series of events and the kids are not going baptized on the weekend. We were trying so hard to get things to go the right way because there was 12/13 companionships that were able to help someone come into Christ this transfer through baptism and they would have made it 13/13 which has only happened once in mission history. 

Wednesday: We had to drop off the bikes we used for the temple to temple run in the morning. We also emailed missionaries serving missions right now to see if they know anyone we could share the gospel with. At night we had some good ward visits. I went with Brayden Crook who is by far one of the funniest people I know! We had a good visit with Josh Boska who was recently baptized. We finished the night off with ward basketball. 

Thursday: I had my departing missionary interview in the morning with President Lansing and it was a great opportunity to seek revelation through my anointed priesthood key holder. Later at night we had ward visits in the mountian view ward and we say Brad who wants to be apart of the gospel but for some reason he is holding himself back. After that we visited Parley Beagley who was recently baptized. He amazes me every day. He is one one the most faithful members in his ward and was mad that everyone leaves after sacrament meeting! He will do wonders for the ward. 

Friday: We had our departing missionary temple trip to the salt lake temple. Man was I amazed at the temple. It was build by the pioneers and everything was made by hand and it was too beautiful to not to be the house of the Lord. I think it was my favorite temple to go through so far. I learned so much from President and Sister Lansing during the temple trip. After the session we all ate at the restaurant by the temple. When I got back to the mission I was with Elder Mullenaux and Henley because Elder Rodriguez took Elder Peterson back for a baptism. It was a blast being with Elder Henley and Mullenaux. We finally all got back together and Elder Bucklein was stressed out of his mind! He said within 30 minutes of me leaving the zone fell apart with all sorts of problems haha! It must have been a great growing experience for him. We finished our night off by doing baptismal interviews for Dave and Shalayne Saunders. 

Saturday: We went to Eriks baptism in the morning and then gave Elder Alarcon a blessing after the baptism. We then went to Dave and Shalaynes baptism. Then to top it off we went to Austin's baptism. (Elder Bucklein interviewed him while we were at our temple trip) There were 7 souls that came into Christ this week through baptism and I felt the spirit so strongly as I attended the various baptismal services. 

Sunday: We had the ward council meeting for the mountian view ward in the morning and then went to the rose Canyon And Butterfield canyon sacrament meetings. I think I had the one of the funniest interactions on my whole misison with someone we were teaching. She sent us an address and asked if that was the church building and I looked at the address and it looked very familiar so I said yes. Well we couldn't find her and she said she was there. Come to realize she was at the other church which was just up the street. Only in Utah would you have to worry about going to the wrong church building haha! At night there was a face to face event with Elder Cook from the quorm of the 12 apostles. The did a Q and A about church history and man was it good! I learned so much and it strengthened my testimony of the early saints. 

Thank you all for your support!

Love you all,
Elder Aaron Ashby

Pictures of my battle scars from Monday!!!

Week 104

Tuesday: We went to Elder Fultons first district meeting as a district leader. He focused a lot on consecration and charity. Elder Fulton did so well for his first district meeting, I remember back to my first district meeting and how scary it was Haha! He has a lot of runway in front of him. At night Elder Bucklein did a baptismal interview for a 9 year old boy Ben Cannon. He is planning on being baptized on Saturday. 

Wednesday: We gave Elder Fulton a blessing in the morning. He must of had some food poisoning. After that we started planning for our multi district meeting for September 4th. I did a baptismal interview for a lady named Luina. She goes to the Samoan ward in Riverton. At night we did ward visits from the butterfield canyon ward and we had some good contacts. We finished the night off with some ward basketball. 

Thursday: Well our Thursday night was the definition of YSA. We had ward visits in the mountian view ward that started at 7pm. We didn't leave the church till 7:30pm to go have a lesson at Parley's. Well Parley kept saying he was like 15 minutes away, or that he was super close. Well turns out that we waiting at his house till 8:45pm then had a lesson haha! We wanted to get out and work so bad but didn't want to just bail out on the lesson. We ended up having a good discussion with Parley and man has he come a long way! It has been a true blessing to see Parley's conversion on my mission. Half the mission knew who Parley was and I was there when he finally decided to get baptized. He has blessed my life and my testimony. 

Friday: We went out to Sandy to go get two bikes for the temple to temple run on Labor day since we are the "medics." We took Elder Vegamora and Walkers bike and then Elder Bucklein practiced a musical number for a baptismal service he was going  to on Saturday. (The Elders area was where Elder Bucklein came from) We had a fun time at night exploring our newer areas in Harriman that are being built and we found a couple apartment complexes and townhomes that should be good places for us to find more YSA people. 

Saturday: Well it was a super hectic day with attending baptisms. We dropped Elder Bucklein off in Sandy to watch Ramon get baptized, while I went to Ben Cannon's baptism with Elder Alarcon and Crockett. Then Elder Bucklein met us back up and we went over to Luinas baptism. It was cool to see the Samoan family ward. Right after dinner we got together as a RNNATION to do a zone fast. Right now we have 12/13 companionships in our zone who are looking to have someone they are teaching get baptized this transfer.(transfers are 6 weeks) There has only been one time in mission history where the whole zone has helped someone get baptized. The thing is, is that the one companionship has someone who is on the verge of being baptized and we should know by Tuesday if the Dad think his kid is ready to be baptized. It is so nerve wracking since my time in the mission is coming to and end and there is so much that can be accomplished and it is that close! 

Sunday: We had a stake correlation meeting with our Stake President, President Bradshaw. He is such a good stake President and does all he can to help all three companionships that work in the Riverton YSA stake. He has some great ideas on how the work can he furthered in the stake. I wish I could serve here forever! We went to rose canyon ward council in the morning and they loved it when we told them we sometimes find YSA people by the cars outside haha. For example there was this tricked out Nissan and we knew that only someone 18-30 would drive it. We knock on the door and sure enough a 20 year old YSA anwswred the door. We went to rose canyon and butterflies canyon sacrament meetings. After sacrament meeting we went to the Oquirh mountian temple parking lot to end our zone fast. 

Monday (Sept 3): Happy birthday Mom!!!! Hope you have a great birthday! We did a temple to temple run as a mission with the community. It was about 5 miles but as stated above, we were the medics so we biked it and it was all down hill so it was pretty easy haha. It was good to see a former companion of mine Elder (Jacob) Gehrett. Looking forward to seeing him after the mission as he will be living in Sandy haha! 

Hope you al have a great week!

Love,

Elder Aaron Ashby

Week 103

Monday: Well we had our normal Pday craziness by playing a ton of basketball and some other things. At night we were supposed to go to Butterfield canyon FHE (family home evening but the ward is young single adults so they call it a ward family) but William didn't show up and it was a car show in South Jordan. We stayed at the church and went to Rose canyons FHE instead and we played some card games and then finished with basketball. Well as we were leaving we noticed we had 8 missed calls from our Assistants and they were at our house! There was an ET (emergency transfer) that happened. Since there were 8 missionaries going home three weeks early for school there was a bunch of changes in the mission almost like another transfer. Elder Bretschneider headed out to Sandy, and Elder Bucklein my new companion just got called to be a zone leader. Well we had to pack all of Elder Bretschneiders stuff up and drive him out to Sandy. It was sad to not be companions anymore but Elder Bucklein is hilarious. 

Tuesday: WE had Elder Mullenaux's district meeting in the morning and man were we tired haha! We got home from the ET's and went to bed at 1am. There were some good trainings and one I loved was Elder Yu, who is a brand new missionary. He talked about how important the Book of Mormon is and how we can know Joseph Smith is a prophet of God by reading it. He drew some animal footprints and asked us to identify what it was by its footprints. He talked about how we can know what something/someone is by what they left behind. Well Joseph Smith left behind the Book of Mormon and we can know he is a prophet by reading it. My mind was blown! After doing some administrative things such as: bikes, making interview times, and other things we started exchanges with Elder Alarcon and Crockett. I went with Elder Alarcon in our area and we had another good exchange running around talking to people and enjoying the work. 

Wednesday: We had interviews in the morning with President and Sister Lansing and it was a good interview. A little nerve racking since it was my last normal interview but he challenged me to put on the after burners and spring to the end. He said the Lord gave me 10 talents and he wants to see what I bring back, and it better be more than 10. At night we went to the baptism of Johnny and Honey. They were being taught by the YSA Sisters. After that we finished the night with ward basketball and it was a little different this time. My last two companions Elder Rodriguez and Bretschneider were good at basketball so we would both play and talk to the members while playing. Elder Bucklein isn't much of a basketball player so he talked to everyone that wasn't playing and almost found 4 new people to teach, but they were visiting from Northern Utah. 

Thursday: We went to the baptismal service for Tiffany Voss. It wasn't your normal baptismal service since it was in a pool.... (they were pushing for it for the longest time and I guess they got permission) We had a transition lesson with Elder Alarcon and Crockett. They found these two brothers Cesar and Luis who love basketball. We played some basketball with them and got their into so they can come out to the YSA ward. We are excited to work with them. 

Friday: We had a NLC (Nation leadership council) in the morning talking about having Jesus Christ be our motivation and how if we have faith in Christ it can overcome our fears. It was a spiritual meeting and I got real emotional as it was my last NLC. I talked about JOY and how we find joy is by focusing on Jesus Christ, Others, yourself in that order. At night we had exchanges with the Assistants Elder Henley and Rodriguez. I went with Elder Henley in our area and man was it a blast to be with Elder Henley. We had a lot of good heart to heart talks and I am super grateful for the opportunity I have had to serve around him on my mission. 

Saturday: Well I ended my last exchange and I started to realize I was being selfish thinking, "it's my last ....." I think what I have learned in the close of my mission is to make the days count rather than counting the days. But in the way of don't count the things but make them the best I can. In the afternoon we went to Virgina's baptism. It was so cool to go to her baptism because I "held" Ford Richards (Elder Richards just went home) as he skyped into the baptismal service. 

 

Sunday: We went to the Mountian View YSA ward Jo who is one of the people we are teaching. We also went to the butterfield canyon ward to sit with Luis who was recently baptized. At night we met with Luis and talked about our modern day prophet President Russell M. Nelson. 

 

Have a great week!

 

Love,

Elder Aaron Ashby

 

Pictures

 

Week 102

 

Tuesday: We had our special mission tour with Elder Funk of the Utah presidency come to speak to our mission. It was Riverton, Sandy, and Draper all together, with the other three zones the following day. Every year we have a special guest get assigned from the quorum of the twelve apostles to come speak to our mission. Elder Funk serves as a general authority in the Utah area presidency. We had great trainings given to us by Elder Funk with the over lining theme being "Faith to make things happen, that need to happen." It was super good, and it helped me to see that the Lord wants to bless us and help us and if we exercise faith in a way we can see many miracles. I think of Peter walking on water, he had the faith to make things happen that needed to happen. It was faith associated with an action and how we as missionaries can have the same faith. At the end of the meeting it was very emotional for me because all the departing missionaries gave their departing testimonies in front of everyone. I was extremely blessed to be alongside with some of my favorite missionaries: Elder Best, Westover, Peterson, Fitzgerald, Richards, Mullenaux, and Collier. I had the opportunity to go last and I found it really interesting how every missionary talked about how much they have changed on their mission and I felt that's what I needed to share as well. I felt the spirit so strong with every testimony that was born. I closed my testimony with a poem that I wrote to myself which was inspired by Kobe Bryant in his final year of his basketball career. I will send it in a separate email. After that I had the opportunity to be personally interviewed by Elder Funk. We talked a lot about my journey from growing up in West Jordan and then moving to Wisconsin and coming bask home. After the interview we started exchanges with Elder Mullenaux and Pitcher. I went with Elder Mullenaux in their area and had a blast. 

Wednesday: We ended exchanges in the morning with Elder Mullenaux and Pitcher. We visited a lot of missionaries in the afternoon to minister to them. At night we had our Tongan ward visits. I went out with three other members of the ward and visited people in their ward that haven't been active or had some trials come up in their lives. Afterwards my group took me out to Cold stone for some ice cream. After that we went to ward basketball. 

Thursday: We had a special MLC (Mission leadership council) with Elder Funk. It was a super good meeting as well, at first I was a little bummed out because last year it was Elder Wukolo who was so powerful when he spoke and Elder Funk was more of a reserved type of guy, but boy was I wrong! He had some of the most inspiring words ever and the spirit was there when he talked! Some of the biggest takeaways I had from the meeting was when we were doing our accountability portion and he said if every zone hit their goals the mission would have 1000 baptisms in a year and we added up every zones goal and combined it and it ended with 83. 83 x 12 = 996 my mind was blown because he read a scripture that talked about baptizing thousands in the Book of Mormon and how important it is if we achieve our goals where we can be. The other thing that blew my mind was from a scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants section 18:10 which states, "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;" and he talked about how the worth of something is what someone is willing to pay for it. Well God was willing to pay/sacrifice Jesus Christ for us. How does that make you feel that you soul was so important to him that he was willing to give up his only begotten son so you could come to earth and experience mortality and one day return to live with him! At night I had an exchange with Elder Rushton. We didn't have too much time because they had ward visits the whole night byt it was still a good exchange.

Friday: In the morning after we ended exchanges with Elder Richards and Rushton we went to Elder Peterson and Reyes' weekly planning to prepare for exchanges.  I went with Elder Reyes in our area and man was it a great exchange!!! It was super powerful being with Elder Reyes because he has only been a member for 2 years and now he is on a mission. He was gone through so much and it was cool to see how the gospel changed his life and how it can change everyone else's if they allow it to. The best part is that it was down poring the whole night and we were running around and talking to everyone and enjoying our time serving the Lord!!! He is going to be a great missionary who will bless the lives of so many here in the Salt Lake Valley. 

Saturday: Well we had to grab Elder Alarcon and Crockett at 6:30am to drop Elder Alarcon off at the Draper temple to go through an endowment session with someone he taught a year ago that got baptized.  We ended exchanges with Elder Peterson and Reyes and then took Elder Crockett with us back to the temple to pick up Elder Alarcon.  At night we had a bunch of time to contact people and some some good success. 

Sunday: After our ward councils and sacrament meetings we had a stake priesthood meeting for the YSA stake. There were a few trainings given on ministering, ward missionaries, ward councils. Elder Mullenaux and Sister Neuhaus gave some good trainings as well. 

 

Hope you all have a great week!

 

Love,

Elder Aaron Ashby

Week 101

Tuesday: We went to Elder Richards district meeting because we thought it was going to be his last district but turns out he has one more before he goes home. Elder Richards came out with me and went home three weeks early for school. He gave a good meeting about diligence and a word our mission is using right now is "fedge." Fire + Edge= FEDGE. So missionaries "on fire" are super energetic about the work and go out and work hard because they love what they do. A missionary with "edge" is one that makes the best out of every situation and can get the job done. If you have fire and edge as a missionary you will basically be the best missionary possible. At night we went out on ward visits with Rose Canyon and then had ward basketball since they were going to regionals for softball.

Wednesday: We planned a NLC (Nation leadership council) in the morning. We went to lunch with Elder Richards and Rushton for Elder Rushton's birthday! At night we went out on ward visits with Butterfield canyon and we met some cool people we might be able to teach in the future.

Thursday: We had our nation leadership council in the morning. We had a big focus on staying on the straight and narrow path and how even the slightest drift off course can take us completely off. We talked about FEDGE and how if we are having fedge we will be on the straight and narrow, but if we slack off just a little, we will be way off course. At night we had a good lesson with Luis and we read Alma 5 which talks about what we need to do in order to gain salvation.

Friday: We needed to help the Assistants Elder Henley and Rodriguez in the morning. They needed risers from a church building in Murray. The funny thing is that it was in our Tongan YSA area but way outside of the mission! Then we needed to help them set up for mission tour on Tuesday.

Saturday: In the morning we went to a baptism for Braxton who was being taught by Elder Taylor and Schultz. We spent a good portion of our afternoon emailing missionaries that are serving out from the family stakes if they know anyone we could go visit. At night we talked to a man outside of an apartment complex named William. William just moved here from Venezuela and was super Intrested in going to church and wants to change his work schedule so he can come! We are super excited to work with him.

Sunday: We went to Butterfield canyon ward council again this week. We were able to be apart of Luis receiving the Aaronic priesthood! It was cool to see him go from where he was till now. The gospel has completely changed him. Afterwards we went and had to bare our testimonies in the Tongan YSA ward about missionary work. It was super cool because I started my talk by saying "talofa" which is hello in Samoan. (Tongan is Malolale which is way too long and half the ward is Samoan) And it made my mission haha! I was like I've  been waiting my whole mission to do this! At night we had some good visits with David from the Mountain View ward. 

 

Have an awesome week!

 

Love,

Elder Aaron Ashby

Week 100

Tuesday: Well as my past emails go, transfer day is always crazy! We pretty much got a bike from every zone and picked up a car in Draper so we spent all day grabbing bikes. At night we played the last softball game for the year with Mountain View with Parley. Parley was having a blast at softball. Parley was playing catcher and I threw someone out from way out in the outfield and hit Parley square in the mitt to the point where he didn't need to move his glove and he went crazy and talked about it all week haha!

Wednesday: We had our multi district meeting in the morning and it was focused all on receiving personal revelation. It was a good meeting but there was a lot that we had to talk about and not enough time to do so. We also had to include our expectations meeting in with it. Our expectation for the transfer was basically to receive personal revelation. We had a mini MLC push meeting to get us on track to start the transfer. It still blows my mind that Elder Henley and Rodriguez are companions again and now as APs. At night we had dinner with Parley and some members from the ward. It was cool to see how Parley has completely change with the new ward members as friends.

Thursday: We had a lot of transfer check list things to do in before dinner and after dinner I did a baptismal interview for Michael Shneemann. He is one of the coolest 9 years olds I've interviewed. He played baseball just like me and we connected really well.

Friday: We met with all the district leaders and set expectations with them. Afterwards we met with all the missionary companionships that are whitewashing. We played spikeball at night with the rose canyon ward and unfortunately Parley wasn't able to make it!

Saturday: Well we visited a couple baptismal services throughout Riverton and Herriman and then started preparing for Parleys baptism. It was honestly a miracle with Parley. He has talked about getting baptized for 6 months and finally made the choice! It was a spiritual service and we were glad to be apart of it.

Sunday: We went to a ward council in the morning. We went to the mountain view ward to confirm Parley a member of the church. Then went to the Butterfield canyon ward afterwards. We met with Luis who was recently baptized and he is doing great and will be getting the priesthood next week. 

 

Have an awesome week!

 

Love,

Elder Aaron Ashby

Week 99

Tuesday: We decided to go to Elder Richards district meeting again since district one needed an extra push to finish the transfer strong. After district meeting we had to drop off the mail back at the mission office since it was closed for Pioneer day. At night we met with Parley and figured out that he will be coming with us to church on Sunday.

Wednesday: We had a MLC (mission leadership council) in the morning/afternoon. It was all devoted to the Holy Ghost and how it works with receiving revelation. President Lansing asked Elder Gehrett to give a training on what he has learned on his mission and it was all about "change." He talked about the beginning of his mission and the progression till the very day. He made me reflect on my mission and not where I am, but more importantly where did I come from. I feel like we often get lost in the day to day mentality, that we forget about our own progression. President Lansing talked about the pattern of revelation. What is revelation and how to receive it. He played a video with Elder Bednar speaking at a mission president seminar.

Thursday: We got together with Elder Richards and Lance to give Elder Bretschneider a blessing. He has been having stomach problems all week and woke up feeling like trash. Our home owner brother Crane left town for the week so we got to feed the sheep and give them water. Its always a good time feeding and petting Paula. (a sheep that was fed on a bottle so it acts like a dog) We went out on ward visits with the mountain view YSA ward.

Friday: We went out to Cafe Rio with one of my childhood buddies Braxton Kerr for lunch. His family moved to Herriman and he is technically in our YSA ward but he is going down to snow college next week. It was a good time to catch up with him. He is looking to being the starting QB down there. We had accountability (a meeting with President and Sister Lansing and the Assistants to talk about the missionaries in our zone) in the afternoon. It was really just a way for us to express our thoughts about transfers and what we see with our missionaries. After accountability I was able to have a temple recomend interview with President Lansing. I can't express how lucky I am to have him as my mission president. He is so knowledgeable about the gospel and I enjoy every interaction with him. At night we went to support a girl named Addison get baptized. She was being taught by the YSA sisters.

Saturday: We went to a baptism in the morning. We had to plan for our multi district meeting which is all focused on personal revelation with the guidance of the holy ghost. At night our dinner took us out to simply sushi. We had all you can eat sushi and let's just say octopus is really chewy and not very good haha! Had some good rolls and pieces. After dinner we went to a Samoan family ward party. We were asking around to see if there was any poly YSAs (young single adults) that would be interested in the ward we cover. There was a less active member of the church that said if we beat him and his buddy in a basketball game he would come to church. Well we started off rough being down 2-8. Then made a comeback to 12-9 and was about to win and Elder Bretschneider rolled his ankle pretty bad on a rebound. He came down on someone's foot so that ended but they have this "Samoan massage" they do to sprained ankles that makes it so you can walk the next day and one of the Elderly men did that for him. In the waiting process one of the ladies from the ward went home and grabbed us both lava lavas since we were talking about it! Her husband said, "I have been married to her for 40 years and she has never gotten me a lava lava. You better feel pretty special."

Sunday: We went to the Sojo 11th ward council in the morning to talk about getting on board with the Tongan and Samoan family wards to find the YSA age people who can come to the ward. We went to the mountain view ward with our main man Parley Beagley. Everything at church was perfect for what Parley needed to hear! Afterwards we went to the Sojo 11th ward conference. Bishop Filimouatu and President Bowman (first councilor in stake presidency) gave great talks. At night we had a great lesson with Parley and he says that he is serious about being baptized now. We called up our district leader and he came over and passed the interview! Keep Parley in your prayers as he prepares to be baptized on August 4th. 

 

Have a great week!

 

Love,

Elder Aaron Ashby