Week 81

Tuesday: We had our final district meeting of the transfer with Elder Costa. It was focused on beginning with the end in mind and getting people to the temple. There is a cool opportunity for the public to go into an LDS temple right now in south Jordan since they had to do renovations to it and they open it up for about a month and allow the public to tour it. After that they dedicate it or set it apart for its holy purposes. At night we had a successful time walking around in our apartment complex in willowcove. We found two new people to teach Danny and his wife and then another lady named Deidra. We are supper excited to work with them. 

Wednesday: We had MLC (mission leadership council) It was really odd at the beginning because missionary medical was there so they wanted our input on some new things they will be implementing with missionaries health protocol. After lunch it was amazing. We had a Training by Sister Lansing about making our own title of liberty (Book of Mormon story) We made a pretty sweet one for the West Jordan  Kingdom and will be sharing it in multi district meeting next week. President Lansing talked a lot about having the spirit in lessons. It is the spirit that will testify to them the truthfulness of our message. In our March madness last week the tracking was really good an the best part President Lansing liked was when the Elders bore a powerful testimony and then asked how the investigator felt. Before dinner we started exchanges with Elder Steed and Collier. I was with Elder Collier in their area biking and Elder Gehrett was in our area. I saw a cool miracle by teaching someone named Gerald who we weren’t expecting to meet. He knows this gospel will bless his life but isn’t willing to make those commitments in his life. 

Thursday: We ended exchanges in the morning and then had a Zone leadership council after that. It was focused on the things we heard about in MLC and some minor changes President Lansing wants. We got ready for Exchanges with Elder Partidge and Westover after that. I went to their area with Elder Westover. It was a pretty cool exchange because I knew so many people in their stake since a lot of my buddies live in it. I was able to talk to a family that I knew before the mission. Only the mom is a member in the family and I knew her daughter pretty good since I went to school with her. The girl I went to school with actually moved out and didnt live there anymore but it was a good conversation and invited her to come back out to church so she can receive the blessings that Heavenly Father has in store for her and her family. I also ran into the Clarke family who is a good family friend of mine. Sister Clarke hooked us up with some premier protein drinks and some Mtn dew! 

Friday: After our usual Friday routine we had to go get some bikes for a companionship of Sister missionaries. At night we did a blitz (multiple companionships working in one area) in an Elders area and I was with Elder Bretschneider and we found one of their investigators who hey haven’t seen in awhile. We taught him and he is preparing to be baptized now. After the blitz we went to go get some gas for our car and for some reason the pump wouldn’t print out a receipt and we walk in and the first person I see is the daughter we were trying to see on Thursday. I was really cool to see how the lord is using us as instruments in his hand to do his work. 

Saturday: We got a call from an Elder in our zone saying he left his companion and walked away over night. He sent us his address and we were so worried since he was actually outside of our mission boundaries. We were so worried the whole time. We get there and go to get him and Elder Garcia, Pineda and Passeraub popped out from behind a fence, screaming Elder Gehrett you’re the new AP! So Elder Gehrett was called to be the next assistant to the president and they took him away haha! I am with Elder Pearce and Passeraub till transfers on Tuesday. It was a crazy day... We went to pick Elder Gehrett up for the night to pack up and then had to drop him off at a baptism from his last area. I was with Elder Steed and Collier till the baptism was over. In the meantime we taught one of our investigators Muhammad. After the lesson we went to go pick Elder Gehrett. 

Sunday: We packed up Elder Gehrett and myself in the morning since we are changing apartments and Elder Gehrett was going to be picked up by the assistants at 8pm. We taught our investigator Jennifer after church and she is progressing well and has seen the blessings come into her life as she reads the Book of Mormon. After dinner we went to say goodbye to the James family and then headed back home to wait for the APs. I spent the night with Elder Pearce and Passeraub. It was interesting doing the whole zones Sunday numbers by myself but I managed! 

My new companion will be Elder Mayberry and we will be staying in West Jordan!!!  

 

Have a wonderful week!

 

Love,

Elder Aaron Ashby

 

Pics:  Demke Family (Erin was my babysitter when I was younger) and Elder Gehrett

 

Week 80

Tuesday: We went to Elder Steed’s District meeting in the morning. It was about preparation and how we need to prepare our area we work in ready for next transfer (every 6 weeks.) Afterwards we evaluated and wanted some more love shown to his missionaries because when missionaries feel their leaders love they are more motivated than if they did not. At night we got a call from a different companionship of missionaries telling us we have a lesson with someone who moved to our area. Well it just so happened that they set up the lesson at bean and brews haha!!! So we went to bean and brews and got some hot chocolate while we waited. We taught a girl named Ramya, she’s from India but has been in the US for awhile for schooling. We taught the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ to her and she believes the Book of Mormon is the word of God and Jospeh smith was a prophet. She doesn’t understand the priesthood authority being lost with the passing of Jesus Christ and his apostles. We explained it but she still had a hard time understanding it. We invited her to pray about it if she needs to be baptized by someone holding priesthood authority of God. If she receives her answer she will be baptized on April 7th. 

Wednesday: in the morning I started an exchange with Elder Costa in our area while Elder Gehrett went with Elder Vidal in the Portuguese area. It is funny when that happens because Elder Vidal teaches in Portuguese and Elder Gehrett sits there. We went and visited Elder Luke and Lybe to really help them and inspire them to really help their investigator resolve their concerns so she can be baptized. At night we had to help someone move out and it took ALL NIGHT...... wasn’t really the best exchange but it just happens! 

Thursday: We ended exchanges in the morning and then went off to visit Elder Partridge and Westover to help them prepare for their investigators baptism happening on Saturday. At night I went out on visits with a ward missionary and then had to come back for a stake missionary meeting to end our night.    

Friday: Our nighttime was all teaching people! First we taught a less active family that we ran into a few weeks ago. After the lesson we had to go to Alyxus and Mariah’s baptismal interview. They were interviewed by Elder Costa and they both passed! We read the Book of Mormon stories while the other was being interviewed. We went and taught our investigators Terry and Shelly. Sadly Shelly wasn’t feeling well so we just taught Terry. He is amazing and amazes me each time we meet. We read Alma 32 with him which is all about faith and how he can take the leap of faith to know if these things are true. 

Saturday: We got a call from the Spanish Elders in the morning. Elder Rodriguez had an allergic reaction so we took him to smiths to get the medicine for it. After that we had breakfast with our Stake President in the morning. After breakfast we went to Sister Williams and Riggs investigators baptism. Her name is Presley and she is the coolest 9 year old. After the baptism we had to come to set up the baptism for Alyxus, Mariah, and Jaicee. It was an amazing baptismal service we filled the whole chapel! There was so much support from their friends and family. It was crazy to see the miracle with the James family all come together. They will also have the special opportunity to be sealed in the temple as a family a year from this day. We had a couple companionships work in a missionaries area to help them out and we found 2 investigators and one who accepted baptism! It was fun to be with Elder Clawson for a few hours. At night we went to Sister Peterson and Merrill’s investigators baptism. McKayla is the only one in her family that is a member of the church and they all felt the spirit at the baptism and wants to be baptized themselves. To end the night we taught our investigator Muhammad and he is hilarious because of his limited English but he loves the Book of Mormon! 

Sunday: We went to a ward council in the morning  and then went to the willogrove sacrament meeting. After that we split up, I went to Alyxus, Mariah, and Jaicee’s confirmation. It was cool to be apart of the circle of priesthood brethren as they received the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was a really special opportunity that I had to be  apart of the James family’s conversion and how it all started with Jaicee asking about temples. 

Monday: Today we had the final 4 in our March madness teaching competition in our mission. Sadly we lost in our matchup but it was to the champions. We lost by less than a point and they said it could have went either way. It was cool to see that it was to a Sister missionary I had in my district for 4 transfers. She applied the things she has learned. I can say that March madness was a success and I learned a lot! 

 

Hope you all have a great week!

 

Love,

Elder Aaron Ashby

 

Pics: Lesson at the coffee shop...we drank hot chocolate.  The James' family baptism.

 

Week 79

Wednesday: We had a district meeting to evaluate in the morning. We went to Elder Pearce’s district meeting. It was a really good meeting because of the followership Elder Pearce has. He applied everything that we talked to him about and it’s really good to see how he follows President Lansings vision and our zone vision. We see a lot of potential in him. His meeting was focused on prayer, and how prayer is so instrumental in people’s conversion because they can’t just take your word for it. Through personal prayer we can receive answers to the questions we have. After the district meeting we had a Zone leadership council, with all the district leaders and Sister training leaders. We came up with some ideas on how we could help each missionary in our zone. We gave a training on seeing people for who they can become rather than who they are. We played a video that recently came out and it tied in perfectly with what we wanted to focus on. It’s called “A pianos purpose” it’s a video where there is this nice piano that gets old and worn downs and eventually someone buys its and restores it to a nice looking piano. It’s how we need to look at people, not for who they are, but who they can become. That is how Jesus Christ looked at everyone he came in contact with. After the ZLC we taught an active member a lesson because he is lonely during the afternoons. We had the idea of having him think he is serving us by letting us teach him to work on our teaching skills when in reality we are serving him and his wife by giving him company. 

Thursday: We had interviews with our mission president, President Lansing. It was a good day for President because he was really happy with all the missionaries in the “West Jordan Kingdom” (Zone) and the growth they have had this transfer and for the missionaries they are becoming. It’s always a special opportunity to sit down with our priesthood key holder and to receive revelation on how to best help the missionaries we have stewardship over. After Interviews we started exchanges with Elder Bretschneider and Zarate. I was with Elder Zarate in our area and Elder Gehrett went to their area with Elder Bretschneider. It was a pretty good exchange I was able to really help Elder Zarate grow his faith. He has been in his area for awhile now and feels like he has tired everything to see success. We were able to focus on talking to people when they are out and about, and having the faith that they would be prepared to receive the gospel. While on exchanges we split up with some ward mission leaders and while I was away we visited some new move ins and talked to one right before they were headed out. It was a recently returning member to activity and she had a friend that was with her who had been coming to church for a few weeks with her and wants to learn more! We were able to set up a time to come by and teach Jennifer. 

Friday: We ended the exchange with the Elders in the morning so they could do their weekly planning. In their area Elder Gehrett and Bretschneider found someone who was ready to recognize the gospel and accepted to work towards baptism on April 7! It was through talking to someone in the street so it definitely should help build Elder Zarate’s faith! We did our weekly planning and then had our lunch Correlation meeting with the Remington’s. After dinner we had a lesson with the James family. We talked about Temples and how important they are to receive the full ordinances for Salvation. They are excited to go to the temple in a year from Alyxus, Mariah, and Jaycees baptism. Families can be together through Heavenly Fathers plan and by going to the temple and being sealed as a family for time and eternity. We believe in our church that it isn’t death do we part, but that marriage and families can be eternal. At night we taught Terry and Shelly, the new couple we are teaching that moved in from Cleveland. When we got there we could tell there was tension in between Terry and Shelly and Shelly went on a walk when we got there. We ended up just teaching Terry. We talked about how the most joy in this life comes through living the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are some roadblocks that come up in our lives but if we can trust in the Lord and keep the commandments he will prepare a way for us to find joy through the gospel. 

Saturday: We had a breakfast with our Stake President and the other Spanish missionaries who cover the Spanish ward. After the breakfast we had to grab an iPad HDMI adapter for Elder Partidge and Westover. We went to their baptismal service and they used the iPad adapter to share a message while their investigator was changing after the baptism. They gave a good message all focused on how we can find truth. At night we ate dinner with a blind lady who amazed me how smart she was. By Elder Gehrett and I talking she knew what color of hair and eyes we had! She says that she can read our personalities and know what hair and eyes it corresponds with! She was dead on for both of us! At night we had a lesson with the James family again and we did it at the church where the baptismal font is. We showed them where he would be baptized and how it would work in preparation of their baptism on March 17. It was really cool to see them prepare to be baptized. Meanwhile we were having the lesson we got some calls from Terry. They walked to Walmart in South Jordan and their ride wouldn’t answer their phone. They needed a ride home so we called up a member of the ward and went to go pick them up. It was a great experience since they got to meet someone in the ward and we drove past a temple and a church building which they had questions about. Once our night was over we drove over to a missionaries apartment to get our weekly supplies from them since they had it in their car trunk. Well the rule is as a missionary that we need to be home no later than 9:30 and we sat outside waiting for them. They didn’t show up till 10:22 which is not good at all. We had to correct them and make sure that they don’t do again. 

Sunday: We had the opportunity to go to the priest quorum in the fox point ward (boys age 16-18) and we talked about missionary work and preparing to go on missions. They seemed to like it and we hope that our testimonies inspired them to go on missions. We were hoping to see someone at church but they didn’t show up so we decided we needed to go find someone. We walked into our apartment complex and felt prompted to walk a certain way, and then felt prompted to knock on a random door. We did and a lady named Christina answered and she was super receptive to our message and said we could come by Wednesday! After that we went to the Garden Cove Ward to sit with Terry and Shelly. Sadly Shelly wasn’t feeling to well due to her pregnancy but we were able to sit with Terry at church. The talks that were given were perfect for him and he really enjoyed it. At night we did splits with some young men. Saia and Carson. I went with Saia this week and Elder Gehrett went with Carson. Saia and I didn’t have too much luck but we helped someone move into an apartment. On the other hand Elder Gehrett went to other missionaries areas to help them out. They found 3 new people and one accepted to be baptized!!! They helped out 3 different companionships find a new person haha! 

Monday: We had our Elite 8 showdown in March madness with Elder Steed and Collier. We both had really good role plays and we will figure out who will move on the the finals for the teaching tournament! Either way someone from the West Jordan Kingdom will be in the final 4! 

 

Hope you all have had a great week.

 

Love,

Elder Aaron Ashby

 

Pictures: District activity at an Escape Room...we made it out with 15 seconds to spare.

 

Week 78

Tuesday: We had our multi district meeting in the morning all focused on truly helping our investigators. In our MLC (mission leadership council) with members from the missionary department talked about how we usually invite people to do things that will draw them closer to the savior but what we don’t do very well is helping those we are working with. It was a big emphasis in our meeting and I feel it went really well. At night we had to help out the assistants to the President. They were showing some youth the mission office and talked about our mission and the benefits of serving a mission. It was really cool to be able to share with the young men our testimonies and to inspire them to serve a mission. 

Wednesday: We had house inspections in the morning and we passed! We prepared for the exchanges we would have for the week. Just before dinner we started exchanges with the assistants. I was with Elder Garcia in their area and Elder Pineda and Gehrett were in our area. I was able to teach one of their investigators on Facebook which was really weird to teach online. It was my first Facebook lesson so that was pretty cool. At night we did some visits with some ward mission leaders. Elder Garcia and I talked for a long time and got a good feel for how we can help the missionaries in our zone to reach their full potential. 

Thursday: Elder Garcia and I played basketball in the morning at a church building. We both played basketball in high school so we had some good games. We went back and forth on games and it all came down to game 5. It was 2 to 2 and we were playing first one to 10 and it was 9-9 and he hit a tough shot to win it. We ended our exchange with the assistants and then got prepared to start another one with Elder Pearce and Passeraub. I stayed in our area with Elder Passeraub, and Elder Gehrett went to their area. We had a lot of studies to do since Elder Passeraub is from Switzerland and he’s in his first 12 weeks so we had to do an hour of language study and 30 minutes for his 12 week training. At night we had a stake missionary meeting. Elder Passeraub is a good young missionary and I see a lot of potential in him. 

Friday: We finished our exchanges with the Elders and got all ready for another exchange haha!!! Now with Zone leaders going on exchanges with every Elder in the zone it makes it so we have like 2-3 exchanges a week. This exchange was a little bit different since the companionship is in a trio. I was with Elder Budge and Gilchrist in their area and Elder Gehrett was in our area with Elder Fullwood. We started the exchanges and got on the tracks to head downtown to go to temple square and have a lesson with their recent convert Dulce. It was a pretty good lesson at temple square and we showed her some cool things down there. We came back and got to work on some bikes!!! I forgot my hat and gloves so it was a bit chilly but it was all worth it! 

Saturday: We ended exchanges in the morning. We taught the James family spiritual CPR (Church, prayer, reading the scriptures) they are all set and filled out their baptismal program for March 17th. We had a meeting with some Elders and their homeowner because their was some complications and miss communications so we facilitated an open discussion. We had one of the craziest nights in The Willocove apartments!  We talked to a lady that was in a rush but that she helped someone move in with their adoption agency and said they aren’t members of the LDS church. We decided to knock on their door. It was a couple who let us in when they figured out who we were. They moved in from Cleveland. Terry is a Irish Catholic, Shelly is a non denomination Christian. Their knowledge of “Mormons” is that Joseph smith had a dream and found a book under a tree. He wanted clarification on the story because he wasn’t sure if he had all the details, (obviously he didn’t know too much haha.) We were able to share the message of the restoration and how the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. As we were talking about the role of Joseph smith in Gods plan for us they clearly identified that what we shared was true. They believe that God would continue to call a prophet to lead the people of his church. They believe that Joseph smith couldn’t write such a book and that it was only by God he was able to translate it. Terry talked about how some of the traditions of his church have been changed and distorted over time. This is how the great apostasy happened when Christ and his apostles died, there was no prophet or priesthood holder to guide the church. Over time the pure teachings of Jesus Christ were distorted and changed just as Terry identified. We can see the need for the full truth of the teachings of Christ. God has given us that through the Book of Mormon. It is the word of God and we can know the divinity of the prophet Jospeh Smith by reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. Either it is the word of God or it is not. We have that opportunity to find the truth for ourselves. We invited Terry and Shelly to read and pray about the Book of Mormon and when they receive a witness to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God. The invitation is the same to all, to find out the truthfulness of this message. After that crazy miracle we had a lesson with a man named Muhammad from Liberia. We talked a little about the role of Jesus Christ and how he is the son of God. He had a hard time accepting that doctrine but as we talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ and how through Christ we can be cleansed from sin, it make sense to him. His prayer was extremely funny and interesting! He started off by praying about baptism and if that is the path God wants him to take. He talked about how Jesus Christ isn’t the son of God and that he wants us to understand that he is just a messenger. Then transitioned to talking about how good LDS people are for not drinking wine even though we should. If he were to join a church it would be ours haha! In his prayer I couldn’t figure out if he was ready to accept the gospel or totally try to destroy our faith haha! I love the Willocove apartment complex! It’s never a dull moment there! 

Sunday: We went to the plum creek ward council in the morning. We went to the Willogrove sacrament meeting to meet a recent convert that moved in and his roommate who came with him. Elder Gehrett and I both went up and bore our testimonies since is was fast and testimony meeting. I bore my testimony on the priesthood since I had the opportunity to help pass the sacrament. We went to the Fountaine Claire ward to go to church with the James family. At night Elder Gehrett and I split up with some young men and did some visits. I was with a young man named Carson and Elder Gehrett went out with Saia. 

Monday: Not sure if I explained it in my past weekly emails but we are doing a thing called March madness in our mission. Except it’s our teaching skills. We are in a bracket and are teaching pretend investigators and role playing to them, there are certain criteria that they have to score the lesson. Elder Gehrett and I are facilitators and also participants and we have been teaching really well together. Instead of going head on with another missionary companionship they have you teach 3 different times and add up all the scores and the one with the highest score will win their bracket. Elder Gehrett and I won our bracket so we are in the Elite 8! The purpose of March madness isn’t to see who the best teacher is, but to become better teachers. At night we had Saia Lapale our with us and we had a great lesson with Terry and Shelly. We started talking a little bit about the gospel of Jesus Christ and emphasized the priesthood authority that is needed for it. I was a bit worried that we weren’t getting anywhere with the lesson because Terry got on a tangent about exorcisms and then when we got back on track the spirit touched him and his girlfriend Shelly and they both expressed some changes they wanted to make in their life and it fit in perfectly with some gospel standards we have. They loved the idea that as missionaries we invite others rather than tell them their religion is wrong. We simply invite others to grow their faith in Jesus Christ. They accepted to work towards baptism on April 7th and we know the Lord has prepared them for the gospel. They went from being homeless in the streets in Cleveland on drugs to meeting with the missionaries and working on making changes in their lives to be baptized. I love this gospel and the joy it brings us as we live it. 

 

On Tuesday we got $100 worth of gift cards to smiths  grocery store and we decided that someone else would need it more than us, so we prayed about it and felt like we needed to give it to the James family who we are working with and it turns out that they were struggling a little bit since the dad quit his second job so they could come to church and it was an example of how the Lord blesses us when we put him and his gospel first. We were grateful that we followed the spirit and gave it to the right person who needed it. 

 

Hope you all have a great week!

 

Love,

Elder Aaron Ashby