Week 57

Monday night: We had a family home evening lesson with the Campbells in the 2nd Ward and Lexi one of their daughters brought her friend over who isn’t LDS. We talked about CPR again and how by going to Church, Reading our scriptures and Praying we will keep our spirits alive. She was so prepared I can’t even explain it! She’s like well I’ve had some visions that I’m going to serve a mission. What the heck she isn’t even a member and she’s had those visions! She talked a lot about how she has felt the closest to God when she goes to our church and wanted to be baptized. Well Elder Sherman being out for only 5 weeks didn’t get the memo to invite baptism so I nudged him and told him to invite her to be baptized and he did haha! She was so excited and was saying yes before we finished. Alexa will be attending church with Lexi Campbell and will be reading her scriptures  with her as well. She is working for Oct. 28

Tuesday: We had a multi district meeting (zone meeting) in the morning. It was a pretty good meeting. They talked a lot about the things that are worrying President Lansing such as bad baptismal services, finding joy in the working, and being excited to find new investigators. I was able to participate in our Zone leaders finding role play where they are talking to people outside and they are trying to be urgent in the work and finding the people that are ready to receive the message. I was the role of an anti LDS person and just wanted to bible bash with them. It was pretty fun if I’d say so myself haha! At night we did a missionary prep type thing for the 5th ward. They wanted us to prepare the youth for their mini mission thing they are doing next week, where they will go into a member’s home and give them the message of the restoration. It was pretty fun and ten youth took Book of Mormons to give out to their friends! 

Wednesday: We had to start exchanges with Elder Sandino and Dutton a little bit later since they were taking an investigator to temple square. In the meantime we had a Zone leadership council to go to, to talk about the things we need to work on next transfer and set a goal for November. After the meeting we started exchanges with the Elders. I was with Elder Dutton in their area and Elder Sherman and Sandino were in ours. We had a lesson with a recent convert at 3 and then a lesson with their investigator at 4. Both went well but wish the lesson with their investigator could have went better. He’s a little stubborn but knows that this is true. After dinner their areabook app crashed so we had to pray and seek for inspiration on what to do for the night. We had visits with a ward mission leader from 7-9 so we had an hour to find some new investigators. We prayed and felt a certain apartment complex was right. (I’ve never had apartments so I wanted to work in them haha) We pulled up to one and the first guy we talked to didn’t know anything about the LDS church and was totally interested. Then all the sudden a worker from the apartment drove by in his truck and told us their was a policy that we couldn’t talk to people here and made us leave. I was so devastated and this worker was demanding that we left immediately. So we left and said okay well God will provide for us we felt prompted to go there so we went. We prayed again and went to a different apartment complex. Elder Dutton felt a prompting to find a Tagalog translator for their investigators lesson in the morning. We went and their translator just got home and was about to head out. So we didn’t find any new investigators but we got a translator for a lesson in the morning. Wasn’t what we necessarily wanted but that’s what the Lord wanted. 

Thursday: We had a lesson early in the morning and we felt prompted to do the baptismal interview right then and there instead of Saturday before her baptism. Well turns out she passed and knew everything. It’s amazing to see how we can be instruments in the Lords hands if we follow the spirit in all we do. In the afternoon we did in person PDC (positive daily contact) with the Sister missionaries. One of them is going through a rough time with a family member not doing to well so we got the sisters some Bahama Bucks (shaved ice) and they were really excited and appreciative. We got a text from Alexa’s dad and he said he wants her to learn more about the church before she can be baptized but we will teach him as well! It will work out in the end. 

Friday: We had our usual lunch correlation meeting with the Graham’s and they asked what we wanted and they would pick it up, so my first instinct was Chipotle❤️ it was sooo good! Later in the day we had a baptismal interview for the sisters investigator Kolton, he was going to be baptized on Saturday but he broke his toe so he moved it to the 21 haha! It all works out in the end. 

Saturday: Well Saturday’s are rough now with college football on and I don’t blame anyone. But for missionary work it was really hard, we had a day full of no contacts which was a little depressing but hey that’s missionary work! 

Sunday: We went to a Stake PEC meeting and talked about the missionary work going on in the Stake and they were really impressed with the work that’s going on and the progress we have made. Tiana came to church, but Alexa didn’t because of a family thing. So a decent way to end the week! 

Hope you all have a great week.

Love,
Elder Aaron Ashby