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
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