Week 16

MIRICLE WEEK!!

Tuesday: We got a text from Jason Devlin (an investigator we were trying to teach, we taught him once on the 7th, but couldn't ever get a return appointment.) He texted us and said he would have to cancel due to a presentation he would have to give for a new job he applied for. So we rescheduled for Wednesday. Later in the day we taught Anaya Cox, we read some stories out of the Book of Mormon stories and asked her how they applied to her in her life. And she shared a personal experience that fit in perfectly with the parable in the stories!

Wednesday: After our companionship study in the morning we decided to watch a video on "the District" (a video of good missionaries teaching and telling their stories) and Elder Fitzgerald was like why can't we be amazing like them! And as he finished saying that. Jason Devlin texted us and said he had a crazy day and would have to reschedule for next week. And Elder Fitzgerald was like NO!  You tell him we have to meet with him, and the longer he waits the more Satan will have to work doubt into his life. So I texted him back and said we needed to share a quick message with him, even if it was only for 5-10 minutes.  He agreed to let us come over. So we went over and started talking about the first vision with Jospeh Smith, but this time we talked about the part where he was seized upon by some unseen being. And how he went through this power struggle. And in his own words in Jospeh Smith History verses 15-17 he stated.

15 After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction.

16 But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction--not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being--just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.

17 It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other--This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!"

I promised him that Satan tried everything he could to prevent Jospeh Smith from praying, because he knew that he would restore the church of Jesus Christ again on the earth. And I said "Jason I promise you that the moment you step into the waters of baptism you will know undoubtedly that this is what God wants you to be doing. And that this is all true in the name of Jesus Christ amen." He replied with, "what do I need to do to be baptized?" So we told him all the details to be baptized and he still wanted to be baptized on December 24 (on the 7th we invited him to be baptized on the 24th) so we knew we had to teach him all the lessons in a couple of days.

Thursday: We started our day by teaching Jason about some of the commandments we've been given by prophets of old and modern day prophets. And he said he would live and abide by them. It was a good thing our ward mission leader was there to help us talk about the word of wisdom and the reason behind it even if the person is already healthy and fit. Later in the day, President Peters (Our mission Presidents assistant) interviewed Jason due to a past experience, to see if he was ready to be baptized.

Friday: We taught Jason his final lesson and he is prepared to be baptized. After our lesson we helped him set up all the painter tape around the window seals and in other places in his basement and helped him paint a little bit. Our District Leader Elder Rodriguez had to do the baptismal interview with him at night and he passed and is all good to be baptized! We taught the Marzban family English again and man is it fun to teach English to them. We are learning some Farsi (or Persian) as well.

Saturday: Today was on of my favorite days of my mission so far! We went over to the church building at 6:30 and started filling the font for Jason's baptism at 10. (Yes it took that long) It was a great baptismal service. I was asked to give a talk on baptism. I mainly focused on how baptism is only the first step. How going to the temple and being sealed with his family for time and eternity was the ultimate goal. Jason asked his friend Chris Reese to baptize him and he is a smaller guy, and Jason is like 6'4 so that was very interesting and fun to watch. While Jason was changing, Elder Fitzgerald started talking about our story with Jason and how it all went down and how fast we taught him and his conversion story. After the service and everyone left, he came up to us and was grateful for how bold we were with him, and the spirit we brought into his home. We didn't plan very well, and realized we didn't have a dinner appointment for Christmas Eve, so we went to Cafe Rio. At night we went over to Thal Dixons home. Who has been one of my favorite people on my mission so far. We did their family traditions and all the fun stuff. He gave us a gift, the gift was one of his poem books he wrote while on his mission. The Book won best in state for poetry. It's called "A Called Servant" (he has 6 children books published so far)

Sunday: Merry Christmas! My first Christmas out on my mission. We went to the special combined sacrament meeting with the crescent ridge 5th and 6th Ward. Jason was confirmed. Bishop Davies from the 6th Ward did the ordination. After sacrament we started shoveling snow around our car so we could get out! It snowed like 9 inches last night! After we got the car out, we went over to the Jones home. With all 8 of their kids (one is on a mission so they have 9) we opened up our Christmas presents at their house with their kids. I got a few ties, a sweater, some food, and a basketball. After that We got to Skype home for an hour and it was an amazing experience to talk back home with family.

One of my closest friends Steve Luther got to come over for the last ten minutes and I got to talk to him. After the call, we played games with all the Jones family. Great Christmas and good way to end the miracle week. I hope everyone had a great Christmas.

Love,
Elder Ashby

Pictures of Jason's Baptism

Week 15

Tuesday: In the morning we packed up all of Elder Costa's stuff! He's going over to West Jordan and I am staying in my area in Sandy for another transfer! I got my new companion Elder Fitzgerald, it is a nice change and always good to have someone who speaks English as their natural language. He is from Virginia. And he came out the same time I did. So almost 4 months.

Wednesday: For exercise in the morning we went over to the church and played basketball with the YSA Elders (They cover Young single adults 18-30) in our district. Elder Fitzgerald is pretty good at basketball but didn't play on the high school team. We went to brother Dixons house at night to talk about some names we got in their ward. He always teaches us so much and he blew away Elder Fitzgerald's and my mind with the stuff he knew and taught us. He told us some important things to study to be better missionaries so we have some homework. He also showed us some of his books that he writes and gets published. He writes books similar to Dr Seuss and they are really good. He's won a medal for best book written in Utah for the past 5-6 years and gets a new book published each year. He has written around 15 and has 6 published.

Thursday: we had a Zone conference with the South Jordan Zone as well.  We listened to a talk by David A Bednar, a member of the quorum of the 12 apostles, about how to be a preach my gospel missionary. (A church approved book for missionaries) there are five things missionaries must do to be a preach my gospel missionary. 1. They understand that they serve Jesus Christ. 2. They are worthy. 3. They treasure up the words of eternal life. 4. The Holy Ghost is the ultimate and true teacher. 5. Understanding teaching is more than talking and telling.

After the talk the mission assistants Elder Stout & Bowen did a training for us. They had an Elder from Hawaii (who was very built and strong) be their test dummy. They had a bag of candy and asked people if they wanted some. Each time someone took some candy Elder Kaka had to do 10 push ups. People began to see him struggle after 100 push ups but even if they didn't want the candy when they were asked, they had to take it and he had to do the push-ups. They related it to the Atonement and how Jesus suffered for all man kind, even if they don't accept him to be their Savior and Redeemer.

Friday: Friday call ins to talk about our investigators was a little weird because Elder Costa was our district leader so he would be getting calls from all the missionaries in our district them telling the Zone leaders about all of them. So instead of sitting around for a long time. I had to call our new district leader about our investigators and then we were done. We had a big snow storm here in Sandy and we went out to work and started shoveling people's driveways! We probably did 10 driveways by the end of the night. We shoveled a driveway for a former investigator and she came out with her son and started helping us and was grateful for our service. We finished the night by trying to get a program made up for Selina's baptism on Saturday but couldn't get the printer to print them correctly.

Saturday: Today was very hectic! We went to try to get the programs for Selina's and her cousin Daniels baptism, we still had problems with the printing, but eventually found a way, it wasn't the best job but we got it done. We got to the stake center and realized we left the jumpsuits for the baptism at home! We had to run home and grab them. We got a call for, the bishop saying that the fount wasn't filled! Our ward mission leader forgot to inform the guy who fills up the baptismal fount that the baptism was at 11, not 3. So we knew the water wasn't going to be high enough for the baptism by 11. So we waited about 45 minutes and then our bishop said hey let's just get this done with, the water was only above their knees and Daniel went first, his friend was baptizing him and Daniel didn't get all the way under water so he had to redo it. The second time his feet slipped out from under him and his friend pushed him down so all his body could go under! Then Elder Costa baptized Selina, the same thing happened her feet slipped and basically laid down. All that matters is that they go all the way under water! Wasn't the prettiest but hey the church is still true!

Sunday: We started our day off by heading over to Herriman so Elder Fitzgerald could confirm  and give the Holy Ghost to one of his investigators in his old area. After that we headed over to Sandy in our area so I could confirm and give Selina the Holy Ghost. It was a really neat and spiritual experience, because it was my first time doing it. After dinner we headed over to the mission office. We had a special mission fireside where Elder Ronald A Rasband (a member of the quorum of the 12 apostles) spoke to us. That's the third apostle I've had the opportunity to listen to in person! (Two were at the MTC) He shook everyone's hand and look them in the eyes. He said he could tell the type of missionary we were by looking into our eyes. And told us that "some of you need to add wood to your fire of a testimony." It was pretty cool and gave me chills. He talked about how we are called by a prophet of God to serve in our missions. And that we are "perfectly" placed where we need to be. And he had an experience earlier in his life when he was a member of the 70 that Henry B Eyring (First counselor in the First Presidency) invited him to observe and watch as he assigned missionaries "perfectly" to their area. After awhile of assigning missionaries, he said "Elder Rasband where do you think this elder should go?" He was startled and said a mission and Elder Eyring said "no that's not right!" So as they go on assigning missionaries, Elder Rasband got the strongest impression that this missionary should go to Japan. Elder Eyring asked him about this missionary as well, and said Japan. "Perfect Elder Rasband!" He exclaimed. And he didn't ask Elder Rasband what mission in Japan he should go to, but he didn't say (Sapporo Japan) and Elder Eyring assigned him to that mission without asking Elder Rasband. I know that each missionary is called to their area by direct revelation and that we are in our areas to change people's lives.

Love,

Elder Ashby

Few pictures of Selena's baptism

Elder Fitzgerald and I

Week 14

Thursday: Not much other than getting to go to the Draper Temple! We did some endowments for Elder Basseras deceased family members who he did family history work for. It was a really cool experience and how the Draper Temple is on the hill and we can see the whole salt lake valley! Had a really spiritual experience while in the temple and loved every second of it.

Friday: not a big fan of Friday's, especially since Elder Costa is our district leader. Because he has to call each set of missionaries in our district and talk about all their investigators. And after he is finished calling all the missionaries in our district he has to call the Zone leaders and report all of the investigators from all companionships to them. So for me, I just end up sitting around while he is on the phone. We had a lesson with Selina Gao, just asked her a few things about what we had previously taught her. She is doing really well and her and her cousin are going to be baptized on the same date this next Saturday! We just need the Provo missionaries to call their Mission President, to call ours so they can approve her cousin to be baptized here in Sandy.

Saturday: Our day started out very interesting so to say. We went to a church building where a ward meets, because they had a ward party.

Well when we got there, there was cars so we went in. Little did we know it wasn't the Albion Ward party, (who meets in the building) but it was the Indian Ridge relief society party (who meets in the stake center) they welcomed us in and let us eat breakfast with them though!

After that we went to the Stake Center and went to the Albion Ward Christmas party. Elder Costa did a lot of his online drivers ed stuff.

He is trying to get it done before the transfer but doesn't look like it's possible (transfers on the 13th) We have some complications with the missionaries in Provo. They are "unaware" of Daniels choice to be baptized in Sandy this next Saturday and they didn't talk to their mission president and it seems like they are trying to prolong his baptism, so they get to baptize him in Provo. Which is understandable because they want to see him get baptized after they taught him, but people aren't lifeless objects and these people are baptismal statistics. They should care about his willingness to be baptized and not the fact that he is "theirs."

Sunday: We went to the Crescent Ridge 6th Ward sacrament meeting, after that we went to the Crescent Ridge 3rd ward Sacrament meeting.

Elder Costa played his violin there, with his usual song Amazing Grace. We talked with Selina and her cousin Daniel (Daniel by the phone) and got the date and time for all this and is finalized! All we need now is for the Provo missionaries to do their part. At night we went to the Crescent Ridge stake center where we had a community Christmas celebration with the crescent ridge stake and the hill top Methodist church. Both had their own choirs and sang songs, and were combined for some songs. Was a really cool presentation and glad I got to go to it. Sadly we couldn't proselyte, or light candles! (They can light candles in their church and they switch buildings each year.)

Short letter week!  We did find out today that Elder Costa is getting transferred tomorrow and I will be getting a new companion.  His name is Elder Fitzgerald.  He started his mission the same time as I did, but we don't really know each other since we were in different districts in the MTC.  I will tell you more about him next week.

Love you all,
Elder Ashby

Week 13

Tuesday(29th): we shoveled some driveways in the morning and did it for the O'Connor family (a family we are working for) she was really happy that we helped her out. We got a new Ward Mission Leader for one of our wards. Brother Barfuss, he's a really cool guy and loves Utah football and goes on splits with us so he's great.

Wednesday(30th): Always follow the promptings you get! We taught English to a recent converts parents. They are from Iran, and speak farcy. Surprisingly it was enjoyable and fun to see them learn. Early in the morning during our companionship study time I felt prompted to go visit this guy and his family. And while Elder Costa was in the middle of talking I said "we need to go visit Martin Jacobson tonight!" So we put him in the planning and went at night. He wasn't home but his wife was and we talked about the new Christmas initiative. We got a call from our ward mission leader and he said Martin Jacobson called me and wants to take the missionary discussions. He is a non member, all his family is active in the church, all his kids served missions. He has been going to church for 10 years and now wants to take the missionary discussions!

Thursday(1st): we had another good discussion with Bruce Erickson, he really likes proof about every single thing we say, so it's hard to always find the scriptures for them. We talked about our pre earth existence with him and he told us there is no scriptures in the Bible that says we had spiritual bodies when we were with God in heaven before we came to earth. We have only found some in the Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price, so only modern revelation. Not any of the "word of God" but we will continue to try to answer his questions! We had a lesson with the Malmstrom family again. Brother Malmstrom was talking about how he could become closer to God by reading the scriptures, going to church, etc. But said he's good with God and Gods good with him with what he's doing... it's hard to explain to someone the blessings they get from following God and his commandments if they are content with what they have in their life. We will be going over to their house in two weeks to play games with them and their family on pday. We will see if the kids are interested in lessons. (They are unbaptized)

Friday(2nd): we started our day out going to visit the other Elders in our district and see how Elder Peterson is doing. He's been sick for three days. He felt good enough to go work today so that's good. We had a lesson with Selina Gao, sadly she has the ACT on the 10th so we will move her baptismal date again, to the 17th. As well her cousin from BYU is going to come here and get baptized on the same date as her. He took all the lessons with the missionaries and just needs to be interviewed and baptized! And we figured out today he will count towards our mission instead of Provos since he will be getting baptized here. We need to have our mission President talk to Provo's and have them confirm and accept him to be baptized here. So we found another person to baptize! His friend however will baptize him and Selina. Elder Costa is really sad because he doesn't think he will stay in our area. Transfers are on the 13th. So he would miss her and Daniels baptism.

Saturday(3rd): Christmas parties and more Christmas parties! Since we are over 14 wards, we had three Christmas breakfasts parties and two dinners. At one of the breakfasts we had two non members come and we talked to them. One is a part member family, so he's not a member but his family is. He surprisingly has a calling in the church, even though you aren't supposed to. But he said he would take the missionary discussions now! We have a lesson with him on Wednesday.

The other is a family that's non members. The father and his son were the only to go, his wife was sick. But he talked to the bishop before we got there and he told the bishop he works from 7am-2pm and wants to help out with stuff at the church. So another non member wanting a church calling?! Simple a miracle haha! We will teach them on Sunday!

Sunday(4th): We went to the Crescent Ridge 3rd Ward council. We figured out that a family we were going to work with in our other stake is moving into our ward mission leaders home! They are moving to Australia for a mission. So we will stop by and see if they need help moving into their new house and let us teach them and their kids (unbaptized). Elder Costa played the violin for the Crescent Ridge 1st Ward before people bore their testimonies. I bore my testimony on enduring to the end and how important it is to continue to follow the prophets and keep the commandments. I related it to my ACL story and how I couldn't give up in physical therapy, I had to endure to the end to get to my goal of being healthy. Our goal is to live worthy here in our probation period here on the earth so we can return to live with our Heavenly Father after we pass away.

Monday(5th): Sadly it wasn't pday today! We are going to the temple on Thursday so our pday will be on Thursday. We taught the Iran couple English again and they are learning very quickly! (Mahi Marzbans parents) We taught Martin Jacobson today and he committed to read the Book of Mormon again and to read it and be willing to read it with an open mind and to pray to know if it is true. Good start for him and will see how it goes. We will teach him ever Monday night.

Tuesday(6th): We had a Zone conference in the morning and we learned about our new December mission training plan. Which is to do as much service for others as we can! And follow this years new Christmas initiative in 25 ways over 25 days we can do simple acts of service.

If you want to know more go to Mormon.org and it is the LightTheWorld thing! Good way to bring the Christmas spirit! We had exchanges with the Elders again. Elder Rodriguez was in our area this time. We taught Orry and Christine Albertson for the first time! Have been trying since the start of my mission... we shared the new Christmas video and brother Perry gave Orry metal gauntlets, (metal gloves for knights) he's into all that kind of stuff and loved it. His wife is a drawer for Disney and wow her drawings are crazy good! We have a lesson with them on the 20th! While Elder Costa was in the other Elders area, they put an investigator on date to be baptized on the 17th!

Wednesday(7th): We ended our exchange in the morning. I learned a lot from Elder Rodriguez. How to be more efficient in finding and planning. Elder Costa and I taught Jason Devalin, the guy who came to the Christmas party. He said he would read the Book of Mormon and ponder what it says. He didn't accept to be baptized just yet, but said he will when he knows it's true! With our ward mission leader in the Crescent Ridge 7th ward we went and visited the Cox family and had some good discussion with their personal lives and what they do. They both help people who have gone through mental trauma and need help with their life. We introduced the new Christmas initiative and they loved it. We will go to Anaya's band concert on the 19th to show support for her, and then teach her on the next day!

This is it for this long week.  Next week will be a short update since we will only have a couple of days. 

Love you all,
Elder Ashby

Picture of me in front of the Draper Utah Temple

Bro. Hawkins (he made me the pen out of Zebra Wood...

Week 12

Tuesday: We started our day out with a district meeting, and after our district meeting we did exchanges with Elder Rodriguez and Elder Peterson. Elder Costa went to their area which is the Sandy #2 YSA (Young single Adults) ages 18-30 so they cover half of Sandy and all the young single adults. And Elder Peterson came to our area. We had three lessons which was good because the YSA area has a hard time getting lessons with people. And Elder Peterson is in his first transfer and has only been out for a few weeks. We taught Bruce Erickson and did a chapel tour and showed him the church building and it was really good for him to see the differences in our church compared to others. And we taught two 7 year olds who are about to turn 8 and be baptized so it was good for all of us. Prepared them and excite them to be baptized and gave us an opportunity to practice our teaching.

Wednesday: Today was a day ill never forget! We finished our exchanges earlier than we wanted due to Elder Costa having to go to a few meetings. But he went to a Spanish meeting (but yet he doesn't speak Spanish he speaks Portuguese) so I was on splits (a brief time with a new companion) and Elder Mitchell's and I went to his area and did service for a new investigator they had. She was a widow lady and was extremely happy that we were helping her rake up all the leaves in her hard. After two hours we had a leave because we had a lesson with an investigator in my area. We taught Selina Gao the importance to keep the sabbath day holy and in the prayer at the end of the lesson she said "I'm sorry for not going to sacrament meeting, I promise I will keep going to that." And she has been going to church for the past two years but not to sacrament because her little brother likes to sleep in. She is on date to be baptized on December 10th. We had a lesson with Evelynn and after the lesson her father told us they are going to take a year long break from missionary discussions, and wants her to be going to church for a whole year to really know if she wants to be baptized. It broke my heart when he told us that. After that we had a lesson with the Malmstrom family and wow was it good! We talked to the two parents who are less active and they have unbaptized kids. After a few minutes Elder Costa asked the big question. "Why don't you guys go to church?" And they told us their thoughts on how God wouldn't have just one true church on the earth and that all religions are good. We talked briefly about the plan of salvation and how we were given our agency. Brother Malmstrom was telling us how be believed in God and Jesus Christ, but he was questioning why the Bible was written by prophets and not Jesus. So basically what he claimed and his questions contradicted themselves. So I confronted him about it and his wife who was more active during her childhood started teaching and testifying for us what we were teaching! It was amazing! He had a lot of questions about Jospeh Smith and we tried our best to answer all his questions. We basically have a timeline of Jospeh Smith and all the things that were to be about the restoration. There were times where it was very intense but we didn't run. I bore my testimony on the Book of Mormon and that I had just completed it and believed with all the surety of my heart it was true. We got him to commit to read 3 Nephi 11 where Jesus appears to the people on the Americas. It was a solid 2.5 hours of intense conversation but I felt so good afterwards.

Sister Malmstrom told us that they have been through 10 sets of missionaries and they all were too afraid to be bold with him and ask questions. He was baptized as a kid and then never went to church again. So basically he had no understanding of anything. It was a great experience. Elder Costa and I were praying in closing to our night and as I prayed in close we were both in tears of joy and had a really good bonding time. Really spiritual experience.

Thursday: We ate at the Perrys home, our next door neighbors. And then played games all night. We played a new game to me called Settlers of Catan, it looked really weird at the beginning but it was actually a really fun game that required luck and strategy! Another game I never played before was called Mexican Train Station. It was a domino game and was pretty fun. It was hard being away from family but I know I am serving and helping the people here in their time of need.

Friday: very mellow day. Had our meeting with the Woolums (our elderly missionary couple) but they didn't have any new names of people because sister Woolums has been really sick lately. At night we went to a church building so Elder Costa could do his online divers Ed stuff and I got an email from my mom and it was my patriartical blessing! A blessing a guy gives who doesn't know you and will tell you about your life. It is given from God and he is the instrument.

It's crazy how the guy didn't know me at all but in the blessing it describes me perfectly. I got my written copy of it by email.

Saturday: We started our day by going over to Elder Rodriguez and Elder Peterson's home to give Elder Peterson a blessing. He recently lost a family friends dad and feels like he can't help them out unless he is there. But we gave him permission to email them. I told him to bear his testimony of the plan of salvation to them since they are non members. We stopped by Robert Jiron's home to invite him to come to church this Sunday since we are speaking in the sacrament meeting, and as well, Elder Costa Is playing the violin. He told us he would come so that's great!

Sunday: Today was a good day! We spoke in two different sacrament meetings. We talked in the Heytsbury Ward at 9 about missionary work and it was really powerful and brought the spirit. Robert Jiron came!

We have been trying to get him to come to church for over a month! He really liked the meeting and loved when Elder Costa played the violin.

Hopefully he will continue to come and grow and gain a testimony for himself. We also spoke in the Crescent Ridge 1st Ward at 11 about missionary work as well.  After that we went to the Indian Ridge Ward to see if Selina Gao went to sacrament meeting and she did! She should be prepared to be baptized on the 10th! Good week overall.

Love,

Elder Ashby

Picture of Elder Costa and I eating with the Perry's on Thanksgiving.

Week 11

Tuesday: We started our day off with a Zone conference and it took most the afternoon. I learned from the Sister Training Leaders about the three steps to investigators. Plant, nourish, and harvest. And how some plant the seed of the gospel. Some help them along the way, but don't get to harvest them or get them baptized. But some harvest. We also learned how obedience brings good things but exact obedience brings miracles.

Wednesday: We had a district meeting in the morning. I was nervous to do an exchange with our Zone Leader Elder Harlan. "That's where you are with another missionary for 24 hours to evaluate how you are doing." We had a lesson with Roberto, and man is Elder Harlan good! He knew how to teach and teach by the spirit! We invited him to say the closing prayer and ask God if the Book of Mormon was true, like it directs in Moroni 10: 4-5 but he didn't ask it in that way, he said "God, lead me to what I should be doing." Which was a bummer because God will answer your questions if they are specific and you ask with real intent. Elder Harlan talked all night haha, we were talking till like 11:30 at night about all sorts of things.

Thursday: It finally snowed here! We had meeting with our Mission president in the morning. Our cars windshield fluid sprayer wasn't working so we dropped it off at Big O and them studied at the Zone leaders home. I learned a lot from Elder Harlan and how to become a better missionary!  We had a good lesson with Selina and she is keeping all her commitments, she is almost ready to be baptized.

Friday: We taught a less active Scott Winkler, his wife was out of town but he didn't want to cancel on us again. But we talked about the plan of salvation and temples and they are continually working to be sealed in the temple. We also had a lesson with Selina again and she is willing to do anything to be baptized. We talked about tithing and she said if she needs to do that to be baptized she would. We were supposed to have a lesson with Evelynn but they weren't home for some reason? Which was surprising because they never leave their home!

Saturday: We started off our day helping a less active move things out of a room into another and man was that a mess! But it was all good.

She asked for us to give her a priesthood blessing for the desire to stop smoking. (And she smokes 15 cigarettes a day) and I gave it and felt good. But she was worried about what I said, I said "enjoy the time you have with your family." And she took it as she is going to die. But it depends on how you look at it, it could have different meanings. I don't question what I said. Elder Costa had a leadership meeting about the new mission training plan for the holidays, and we got to see a sneak peak of the holiday video the church makes each year and man is it amazing. It will be up on Mormon.org if you search #LightTheWorld I would highly recommend it to all people to watch, Mormon or not. At night I had 30 more pages of the Book of Mormon and I wanted to finish it. So I read until it was done and I never felt more accomplished in my life. I prayed and asked to know if the Book of Mormon is true and Jospeh Smith translated it by the power of God.

I felt a warm feeling and a sense of peace. I would invite all who question our church to read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it's true like in Moroni 10:4-5 and the feeling of the Holy Ghost will manifest an answer to you.

Sunday: Today had its highs and lows. Roberto didn't show up to church. But Selina did! So we are happy she is continuing to keep the commitments. But we got bad news, her baptismal date was set for November 26th but she hasn't been going to sacrament meeting for three weeks. Which is required in order to be baptized. She has been going to church in the last two meetings but not for the first meeting which is sacrament. So her date will be moved to December 10th. Sadly a potential investigator called us and left a voicemail and said that they wanted to cancel our lesson with them and that they aren't sure if they want to take the missionary discussions just yet, but there is hope.

Love,

Elder Ashby

Week 10

Tuesday: We had a good training on the role of a district leader, as my companion is now our new District Leader. (Watches over a few sets of missionaries in their area).

We found out that night at dinner, that a man we gave a Priesthood Blessing the previous week, he bore his testimony on Sunday saying that he went to the Dr to have another surgery on his head, and they told him that he was perfectly healthy!  Amazing how Priesthood Blessings can do miracles!

We also talked to a family who hasn't been going to their assigned Ward, due to other conflicts. And are moving in December and they said they won't be in this stake anymore. But we found out that they are moving into our other area we cover so we will start teaching their family in January.

Wednesday: We started our day off with a District Meeting. It was weird seeing Elder Costa being our new district leader, but it was a really good meeting. We raked up all the leaves for the family that we live with. They had a lot of leaves, but no where near as much as we had in Wisconsin! We talked with a less active lady who has a problem with smoking, and we are continuing to work with her to stop her addiction. She wants to cook us Brazilian BBQ for Elder Costa.

Thursday: We had a leadership meeting in the morning to talk about our new goals as a zone. And was later discussed in Zone meeting later that day. TEAM Together, Everyone, Achieves, Miracles! That was our new motto as a Zone. We went by and visited Evelynn one of our investigators and she hasn't been doing the commitments we have invited her to do and her Aunt (who she lives with) told us that we were wasting our time with her and should stop teaching her, but I told her that I'm not giving up on her and that I am willing to give her one more shot. So I gave her a chapter to read from the Book of Mormon Stories everyday until next Friday when we meet with her and if she read them and understand what they say and how they apply to her life we will continue to teach her. We talked with our next door neighbor who knows one of our investigators very well, and had these gauntlets or metal gloves and wants to give them to, and Orry and his wife who are really into medieval stuff. Will be a good way to get into their home and to fellowship them.

Friday: Today was amazing! We had a lesson with a Chinese girl Selina Gao, who just turned 18 and has a desire to be baptized. We taught her the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and she did really well.

And is on date to be baptized on November 26th. I got an awesome pen from one of our ward mission leaders, he makes them on a rotating thing and sands them to the size and shape. It's made out of Zebra Wood and looks really good. We did a family home waving with the Allred family who are members and they had us over for dinner with one of their non member neighbors and we had a good discussion about Gods plan for all of us in the Plan of Salvation. Elder Costa and Sister Allred played Come thou fount of every blessing and it was very beautiful to hear.

Saturday: Rakes on takes on rakes. We spent most of our day doing service for people by taking their leaves up for them. A family took us to a pizza restaurant called Zillios and it was really good. (Not as good as Ian's pizza in Madison Wisconsin) We stopped by the Cox home and we finally got another lesson scheduled for Anaya! It's been about a month since we have taught her!

Sunday: We went to a couple ward councils and see if we could get any names of people to go teach or who are in need of service. We went to the Crescent Ridge 5th ward primary program and it was really good seeing the little kids share little messages about Jesus and other things. We got a referral by email from church headquarters for a man and his wife who are non members and we stopped by there and he was happy to see us and he told us he just got a priesthood blessing from his grandfather that day and was wanting to meet with the missionaries. He has lived here in Sandy for a year and a half and has never been approached by missionaries! We set up a time to go teach him and his wife next Sunday.

Monday(today): We had a lesson with Bruce Erickson and his wife, didn't get very far in our lesson because he likes to talk and go on tangents but he said he is willing to listen to us again since we talk about Jesus Christ. He said he will read the a Book of Mormon though!

We also have a lesson with Selina Gao again at 3 during Zone activity, but even though it's preparation day it is still the lords day, and it a our calling to teach the Gospel!

 

Hope everyone has a great week!

 

Love,

Elder Ashby

 

Here is a picture of the zebra wood pen

And my new haircut...I can't believe how long my hair was (compare last weeks post)

 

Week 9

Monday: we had a Zone activity and played Monster 4 square where tables are set up on their sides and divided the whole gym into 4 squares and you your companion get a square and the same concept of 4 square, but you get 2 bounces in your square, and three hits as a companionship. Really fun and highly recommend. Had a Zone meeting at night so we couldn't be out and about while trick or treaters are out.

Kinda lame Halloween but got some candy so can't complain.

Tuesday: Had another Zone meeting and talked about how we are changing our goal of 555 baptisms a year to 1-1-1 which is one baptism per companionship, per transfer. It seems so much more attainable with this thought process and if everyone completes this goal, we will have around 750. Had a good time with our ward mission leader and we got two lessons with less actives by going out and visiting with him.

Wednesday: we had a lesson planned with a young man who is preparing to serve a mission, but when we got to the house it was his older brother who just got back from his mission in New England! There must have been a miscommunication when planning the lesson but was good to hear about his mission stories. We had a lesson with a man named Bruce Erickson, he is a really good Christian guy who knows the Bible like the back of his hand and has a hard time understanding why he needs to do anything other than what the Bible says, but we answered a lot of his questions about the Mormon church. He said we could come by again and talk with hi,, so there is potential with him. One of our ward mission leaders just got out of a bad cold that lasted for 2 weeks so I went over to his house for splits and we talked about names of people we could do service for, and we got about 10 names of people to go help.

Thursday: Day started out slow and we weren't having any progress, but we were over in the condos in one of our areas and there was a truck backed close to the door and the door was open and I knocked and asked if they needed any help or service, and they had just given up on trying to get this huge desk down the stairs and into the truck, so we helped them get it down and into the truck and man was that desk solid, and heavy! The next house we went to was this elderly lady who just got out of foot surgery 20 minutes before we arrived and asked if we could give her a priesthood blessing and we did and it was really good!  I went by with the ward mission leader for the condos and we visited with Paul and Tony the men who needed help with the desk, and we got to know them a little bit. Paul is a return missionary and asked to get his records taken off the church (for a reason we do not know of) he helps people who are alcoholics and Tony, (the man living with him) is an alcoholic trying to stop. Paul is divorced and doesn't sound like it ended well. They said we could come by and talk to them on Monday.

Friday: We had our meeting with our MLS  missionaries (elderly couple missionaries) and as we were discussing our investigators for that stake we got a call from Christine Belnap, (the aunt of our investigators Evelynn Belnap) and said that Evelynn was talking to her mom on the cell phone and ultimately convinced her that she doesn't need to be Mormon so Evelynn said she didn't want to be baptized which was heartbreaking to hear after we had taught her for over a month.  And she had a baptismal date for November 26th. We had a lesson with a recent convert to our church, a guy named Tom Schweiger, we talked about his conversion story and it was really cool, his wrestling coach baptized him. At the end of the night I let my companion Elder Costa drive in the church parking lot because he is going to start taking drivers ed here so he can be able to drive throughout the rest of his mission. Was a funny experience teaching him how to drive and he did alright.

Saturday: Was a pretty brutal day, we spent our whole day going and visiting people and nobody wanted to hear from us, we got the door slammed in our face. We didn't have much success, but I know that we are doing the Lords work and if we work hard and be exactly obedient we will have success.

Sunday: We went to the Indian Ridge Ward Council in one of our stakes and we got 18 names of people we could go visit who need service or be willing to take lessons with us! We went to the Crescent Ridge 7th ward for sacrament and since it was fast and testimony meeting I went up and bore my testimony on missionary work and how it isn't easy, but it is so rewarding when we go through all these hard days, to find that one person who is in need of our help, or wants to learn more about our church. It's like football, you practice all week, so you can have that one game for the week. We go through all the trials and get rewarded with someone. We got the best phone call ever! We got a call from our Stake High council who said they have someone who has been going to church and has a desire to be baptized before thanksgiving and wants to take lessons with us and be baptized! It was simply a miracle, all our hard work is paying off and it's the best feeling in the world to help people and have them be able to be baptized and washed away of their sins if they continually repent. A crazy week of ups and downs, but it is all worth it.

Love,

Elder Ashby

Here is a picture of the Sandy Zone that I am in...


And yes....I need a haircut....

Week 8

Tuesday: We had a New Missionary Training meeting at the mission office and learned about how it is okay to have some anxiety but too much of it can be a problem. My first dinner appointment that fell through and we didn't call someone last minute happened... yes in Utah we had dinner at our home... by ourselves for once. We went to go visit a woman late at night and she didn't answer so we were walking back to our car and some kids were playing basketball and we stopped by and started talking to them, they were members but less active so it was good to meet them. They asked me if I could dunk and the hoop was only about 8.5 so I did some dunks for them and they seemed to love it. 

Wednesday: not much happened, we went to visit our list of recent converts and got some days to go teach them the follow up lessons after they are baptized. Dinner fell through again, our ward mission leader seems to be struggling in this calling because we haven't gone on any visits with him this past month. So we went to Arby's. Our lesson with Roberto got canceled at the last moment which was sad to hear. 

Thursday: We started our day off by going to a technology meeting/ survey on how missionary work is being used on the iPads and I felt so weird because they focused on an app that we should be using more often but my trainer never really taught me how to use it. Elder Costa had a Dr appointment for his acne, not sure if it was necessary because my acne is worse than his. It was funny when we were picking up this prescription for his acne and the pharmacist told him it was $175 and he was so confused and I had to talk to the pharmacist to figure out what the problem was, she had a complication with the missionary insurance but we got it all figured out. We went by to the Albertsons home to set up an appointment with them and nobody answered. But later at night we got a text from Ory (the Husband of the couple) and in the text he was very angry with us for stopping by his house when he wasn't home and the fact that his wife is uncomfortable when he isn't home. And was mad that we have been popping by lately, but he canceled our appointment last Monday and we asked when a good time for him was, and didn't get an answer, so we stopped by to set up a time. Not sure if it was necessarily our fault or not but we will see what happens with them in the future. 

Friday: we didn't have our usual meeting with our Elderly Missionaries for our stake, their son in law has cancer and only has a few more days to live so they were down visiting him in St George. We had a lesson with a recent convert Ryker Mast, a 10 year old boy. He was a little rusty on what we were teaching him but by the end he had a good understanding of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We had dinner with the bishop in one of our wards and he served in Brazil so he had Guaraná which is a Brazilian soda so that was nice for elder Costa. Had another good lesson with Evelynn but after the lesson her aunt came and talked to us outside and said she isn't applying what we are teaching her into her life which was sad to hear since her baptismal date is set for November 26th. 

Saturday: our day did not go as planned. We got ready to go do a service project for an elderly man and when we got to our car we realized that our car had been broken into. They took Elder a Costa's bag with his wallet and credit cards in it, as well as his Brazilian documents. On my end they took my new Oakley Sunglasses sadly. But what I don't understand is that I always lock our car, Elder Costa thinks he didn't shut his door all the way but we don't know what happened really. Sadly they didn't take a Book of Mormon or a restoration pamphlet so they didn't get a chance to learn about repentance, or the gospel. But as long as we are alive that's good right? Dinner fell through again. So we went to a ward party with a chili cook off. We taught brother Vocanas daughter again who is about to be baptized and was good to teach a lesson to a active members to practice our teaching skills. 

Sunday: we went to the Heytesbury Ward hoping that Roberto would show up, but sadly he didn't. After that we went to the Crescent Ridge 4th Ward and talked about service with the high priest group. We had a lesson with a less active Bryce Handy, and it didn't seem like he was less active, he had a strong testimony and had a good lesson with his mom, sister and him. His mom started crying when we started talking about Forgiveness and feels that she can't be forgiven because all her kids aren't active in the church now. But it was good for her to say her feelings and to get it out. I feel that it helped her a lot. After we had a lesson with Anya Benifield and we had a good lesson and answered most of her questions and feel that she is progressing very well. Her father was present during the lesson which was amazing because she is the only one interested in the church in her family and her father said he supported her with her decision, to be baptized. Now we gotta change her date from April..... (because it's her birthday month) to a sooner date because she is ready to be baptized and receive the blessings that come from it! 

Love, 

Elder Ashby

Week 7

Hello everyone!

Tuesday: Started off with a District Meeting, and was asked to give a 5 minute talk on "my purpose as a missionary." And it went really well I got compliments from about everyone in my District. We visited a less active family, the Malstrom's, and they seem like a cool family, the parents are less active and believe in some of the church doctrines but not with some. Their kids are not baptized but we had a good conversation with them and have a appointment on November 1st when they get done with sports and tournaments in Mesquite. 

Wednesday: Wednesday was a rough start, we had door after door slammed in our face, we even had a man mock us at a red light. But all the sorrows of the morning were worth it, we went on real time coordination (visit people with ward mission leaders) and we went to visit this man named Roberto, he took the lessons from the sisters before we got to the area and when we introduced ourselves to him a week or two ago he wasn't interested. He took the lessons to have an understanding of the LDS church. But he had a relationship with our ward mission leader and he  invited brother Homer to read a book he liked that talked about spiritual feelings, and said he would read the Book of Mormon if he read his book. So for RTC we visited him and he let us in and started talking about the spiritual book, and brother Homer turned into a preacher, he would not stop talking. And in the beginning I was thinking let us missionaries chime in on this conversation! But he was doing so well half way through I was thinking don't stop talking! You are answering all this questions! So we had a good discussion and answered a lot of his questions. He even asked us when church was, we didn't even have to invite him! After that we went over to a members home and the father just had another surgery on his head, (we didn't know the mans situation or story) but he had a hard time speaking and speaks very fluent ASL and his wife was a good translator. So we gave him a priesthood blessing. A good way to end the day after such a spiritual night. 

Thursday: We had a quick Zone Meeting about "finding" and the Zone Leaders hid 100 pieces of candy in the church and we had 5 minutes to find them all. They related it to having the desire to find investigators, as much as we had a desire to find the candy. During RTC we went to visit an investigator who we have a meeting with on Monday and wanted to confirm the appointment but they were so busy and she got back from Seattle a week ago, and he got back from Orlando last night and they didn't have time to talk about it. But the stockings are coming with us to the lesson and I love the stockings! 

Friday: We had a lesson with Evelynn down at Temple Square, we had a good time with her and her family. We visited the North visitor center. We started in the basement with all the models of the prophets and talked about all the prophets of old and new. Then visited the Jesus Christ statue. We went to the "Families Can Be Together Forever" video, which was really good for her. Then finished it off with going to the Joseph Smith museum across the street. They had a good video on the First Vision. They had an oval like screen that covered your whole peripheral and normal eye sight and felt like we were walking in the forest with him.

Saturday: We did service for this less active lady with Elder Woolums. We sanded her front porch railing then painted it. It took us from 9-2. We ended our night visiting an Elders Quorum president, Brother Dixon, and he was an awesome guy! He taught me so much on how to be a good missionary and some tips and tricks to have success. I am grateful for his desire to make me a new missionary more effective! 

Sunday: We were looking forward to seeing Roberto at Church, but he didn't show up! We went by his house to see why he wasn't at Church and he said he wanted to spend time with family, but he said he was interested in having us and brother Homer come back over on Wednesday. We taught a members daughter a lesson to prepare herself to be baptized. It was a good idea to have some practice teaching. They are a very active family. We finished out night by visiting the Stocking's! It was brother Stocking's birthday so we came by to tell him happy birthday and then we had an amazing discussion as always. They are such a spiritual family and I love going over there and talking to them. 

Well that is it for the week.

Love you all,
Elder A A Ron

Some pictures of our trip to Temple Square with Evelynn and her family.

Week 6

Hello everyone,

Tuesday- we had district meeting in the morning. Had meetings with President Lansing and he told me to be like the wise 5 virgins who had oil for their lamps and to be ready to be a trainer if needs be. Elder Costa's meeting was about to prepare me to be a trainer next transfer so I might not even finish my 12 week training. Not sure how I feel about that.

Wednesday- our dinner appointment fell through so we called a good family in the Crescent Ridge 3rd Ward and had some really good tacos! Blessings of being in Utah where there are people who will feed you whenever.

Thursday-we had a mission tour for most of our day. A member of the Presidency of the Seventy was there teaching us. His name was Elder Ringwood. He talked about how we should teach forgiveness more so than repentance. Because forgiveness is the biggest part of repentance. And that hope has two parts to it. 1. We need to have an understanding of time. 2. We need to envision a better future. After we went out to find people and we knocked on this mans door and he told us that he didn't believe what we believe, but said he is willing to give us a shot to plead our thoughts. He has talked to multiple missionaries and members of the Seventy. But who knows maybe we might be the ones for him. We gave our home owner a blessing because his hip had been bothering him and had a Dr. appointment the next day.

Friday- We were fed by members who home school their kids. They were good members who gave us referrals. We had a good lesson with Evelynn, talked about the Word of Wisdom but sadly her father (who smokes) had to leave before the lesson which was a bummer because it would have been perfect for him. We are taking their family to Temple Square next Friday.

Saturday- We mowed the lawn for our home owner because he wasn't able to. So it was good to do some service for people. Had by far one of the most funniest experiences. We were out knocking on doors and we went to a "recent convert house" and after my companion knocked on the door a woman said "who is it" and my companion replied it's the missionaries. She opened the door and began to sing "hello, I am elder John, I am catholic, go away." And slammed the door on us. She was mimicking a Broadway show that makes fun on Mormons. It was so bizarre and my companion and I started laughing so hard on the front step and couldn't contain ourselves! 

Sunday- We had a meeting with all the Crescent Ridge Ward Mission Leaders with President Bishop and we talked about how we can be more effective. And it was good because there are two out of the seven that haven't been going to splits with us. And it was good for them. I gave a talk in the Crescent Ridge 4th ward, and talked about missionary work and the atonement and it was really good and powerful. We went to the Sandy East Stake to the Indian Ridge Ward and a return missionary gave a good talk about the Holy Ghost. One of his investigators said I will flip a coin and if it's heads I'll join your church, tails I don't. He flipped the coin and it was tails. But the man heard a voice as if someone where speaking to him and said "cheat" so the man said well ill become a member of your church. And was baptized the next week. Late at night we went to visit a member home to see what they knew about a part member family. The Castillo family is awesome! The father is a return missionary from India/Napal and we talked for ever about everything. Very cool experience. We are going to his house tomorrow to get a free haircut. He gives all missionaries haircuts for free! 

Hope you all have had a great week!

Love,
Elder A-A Ron

Week 5

Hello everyone,

Tuesday- Started off with a District Meeting and got a new theme for the month. True blue through and through solid as a rock. Our stove hasn't been working so we went to Arby's for lunch. No luck finding new people from that time until dinner. And elderly couple for dinner took us to Chuck a Rama, which was a buffet and was really good. As we were driving there we past two Elders on bikes and one was an Elder from my district at the MTC I screamed, Elder Best! And he waved back. I guess he must be in Draper. Since the Chuck a Rama is in Draper. 

Wednesday- Was brutal didn't have success anywhere. Couldn't find anyone and our two lessons canceled on us.

Thursday- My companion had to go to a Spanish meeting as well as another Elder in our Zone (Which I don't understand because they speak Portuguese). So I went on splits with Elder Mitchell, who came out to the mission the same week as me. So they left two "greenies" to fend for themselves. We taught a lesson to a less active in his area and it went really well. Went and saw a less active in our area when Elder Costa's meeting was done had a good discussion about General Conference and invited him to church, no luck there. We then had RTC (Real Time Correlation) where Ward Mission Leaders go on splits with us and we go see members of their ward. We went and saw the Stocking family who are an older couple. Both are active members and had a good discussion with one of our investigators and they are awesome people! Sister Stocking said, "I feel like your grandma and you need a hug". So you could say I broke the mission rules but it was so needed at the time. I felt like my grandma was hugging me. 

Friday- Wow. We had a lesson with one of our investigators and it went really well. We invited her and her family to come to temple square with us next Saturday and they accepted it. She is 9 years old and her dad is less active and they live with their aunt and uncle who are both active members. I had the craziest experience at night. It was 8:15 at night and we were knocking doors and this woman started crying as she opened the door and we were like uhhhhh.... She told us to come in. She was so happy to see us. She had the roughest day of her life. She recently got divorced and now is a single mom of three kids. Works and goes to school full time. And just got done with a fight with her mom over the phone two minutes before we were at her door step. She said the LDS people have always been there whenever she has had a rough day. And was blessed that we came over. We started talking about temples and how we felt as we went through the temple. And encouraged her to do the steps to get to the temple. We started talking about the plan of salvation to her/ the restoration. It was the most bizarre discussion I've ever had. She is big into spiritual psychology and was saying some weird things, but ultimately said that this was the true church and that Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus. Her only concern is our churches stand on homosexuality and her friend was transgender and felt that she would be betraying her friend if she joined our church. So we bore our testimonies on families and told her to pray to know for herself. We are sending her an inspirational message everyday by text and seeing how she is doing. 

Saturday- Did a lot of tracting, we hit up a whole condo complex and didn't have much luck. We met this one guy who was a return missionary but according to the facts of blood samples and different things the Book of Mormon was just a fairytale. We kinda argued with him for 20 minutes. He believes that we have the best lifestyle out of any religion and stuff like that, but doesn't believe in God anymore because he has been through 5 divorces. My favorite quote that I heard on the missionary district videos was by Jeffery R Holland and it states, "No evil man could write such a book, and no good man would write it unless it were true and he was commanded of God to do so." 

Sunday- Sunday's are chaotic here in the Salt Lake mission! We are bouncing from church building to church building for meetings and being with our investigators. So much driving back and forth. I bore my testimony in Sacrament Meeting about how my mission has been good for me so far. I talked about Mosiah 3:19 about the natural man and becoming as a child. I said it was hard for me to give up the natural man and making the decision to come on a mission. And how I need to have love like little children do  to all that I come in contact with, even the people who slam the door in our face. Because Jesus even loved the very people that crucified him. Good experience sharing about that.

Well that is all for this week.  Thank you for the prayers and support!

Love you all,

Elder A-A-Ron

Week 4

Hello everyone!  Greetings from the mission field....

So all is well! I got assigned to the Sandy area! I'm over Crescent Ridge Stake and Sandy East Stake(Brent Bateman, my dad's cousin, is in the Stake Presidency of the Crescent Ridge Stake). 

 

My companion is Elder Costa, he is from Brazil and he has been out for 6 months. He was in West Jordan for a bit speaking Portuguese before he was transferred to Sandy and 6 weeks ago he went from Portuguese speaking to English speaking.  His English isn't very good and is really hard to understand at times but he is s good person who genuinely cares about everyone and is focused on doing work.

  

I had a good birthday in the MTC, it didn't feel like a good birthday till late at night when we were having District prayer and I got a letter that had a short message from everyone on it in my District and a box of cosmic brownies. I soon realized I wasn't with my physical family and maybe that's why I was sort of sad throughout the day but then I noticed that I was with my family the whole day. My District was amazing and they all are family to me. I have gained a love for ice cream at the MTC, especially graham canyon, wow is that stuff good. I had a good experience in the MTC and will miss it! Looking forward to what comes next here on the mission field. Eyes up and do the work! 

Love,

Elder A-A-RON

Here are a couple of pictures that we received on Friday night and Sunday morning from the Jones family in Sandy.