ONE YEAR MARK!!

Things have been well here in Uruguay. Just a thought, did you know I have been here for 1 YEAR!!!!! I can’t forget about it because everyone reminds me about it all the time. It’s no wonder people get trunky. It doesn’t help when every person you talk to in the streets knows you’re not from here, Spanish isn’t your first language and they always want to know how long you’ve been here. Now is when I switch from telling them the exact number of months, to... un año y pico, mas o menos. haha It’s intense... now everyone says I’m almost done. What the junk!!! Not the case! 6 months is a long time still! Anywho, I’ll be fine…


Yuri got the priesthood!!!! Wahoo! He’s awesome. We are working on finding him a wife! haha

We FINALLY got our washing machine hooked up... yes just barely. We have already done 3 loads of laundry. It’s great even though things still have to air dry, but you don’t hear me complaining.

Our faucet in the kitchen broke off so we were without water for three days. I was disgustingly greasy. Ew. We went to Punta last week, and I found this bench. I loved what it said. Sometimes things sound better in Spanish, sometimes better in English. This is one time Spanish wins. “Life is beautiful”... or “La vida es Hermosa.” I love it.
I wish you guys got to meet all the people I do... they are so fantastic. We met a family yesterday, the wife went on a mish, the hubby didn’t because he was inactive, but now is second counselor. Just getting to know all these many people and see how the gospel has worked in their lives, to see that even when they went away for a little Heavenly Father was still looking out for them, he still had a plan for them and everything eventually works out. It’s so awesome to see their testimonies and hear their stories. I just love the people. They are fantastic. PLUS! Giant plus... haha he was so cool. I was telling them a story and he just looked at me wide eyed. I stopped and asked what was wrong, kinda giggling. He just stared and asked me how long I have been here. Once again... uh un año, mas o menos. He just said.... Wow, I’ve never heard anyone talk like you; you sound like an Uruguayan. You don’t take breaths to breathe when you talk and you can talk FAST! Score. That was the second compliment I got on my Spanish this week. So if Liana and Katherine are reading, I can’t wait to speak Spanish with you when I get home!

This week has been a little stressful for me. We got a new district leader, it just so happens to be Elder Hudsen who was my district leader in the CCM. Wahoo!! He’s cool, we "grew up together" at the MTC. He’s been great. Last week I mentioned numbers. The zone leaders are really focusing on numbers lately. We have to give them a number for baptisms this month that si o si we were going to get. Oh man. My comp and I put a high goal: 4! We have been eating, sleeping and drinking numbers. Not good. We know we can get it. So we have been making plans and setting goals and working really hard to achieve that, right?

Well, we decided to look through old investigators to see if now they could potentially progress. You know, harvest someone else's planted seeds. Well, instead we came across stacks and stacks of inactives. People who were baptized and never went back. You know the story. It broke my heart looking at this. We realized that no one in our ward is a recent convert of the last 5 years. That means every person ever baptized for the last 5 years is not attending (or moved). It stinks! The fact that we have probably found more inactives in the streets than ever before didn't help the situation. This place could seriously be Utah if every person who was baptized was active. I'm not joking either. People have been completely forgotten about. I hate the thought of it. This just cannot be! If it's one thing I've learned here on the mish, is how to be a better member. That's why I made that challenge last week. We cannot have people fall away like this.

We just got really discouraged about this. Ugh. And a good missionary always verifies on the assignment they have left behind. So don't think I forgot about you. I wanna hear your reports back on your work from last week ; ) please? We are the Lord's hands on earth. People need our help, let's go out and look for them. Families can be saved and lives changed, souls rescued through our efforts. One member here actually did that this week. She returned to our ward yesterday even though she belongs to another ward. She didn't know her son who is 9 could be baptized... golden reference. We sent our leaders over there. We will see what happens.

I had another opportunity to perform a real act of service to someone. Sheyla's mom. We have been working, working, working with her to keep her strong while she regains her mom's trust over some things that have happened. Her mom just knew it's the only thing she really enjoys so she took the privelege of attending church away from her. Ugh! She had her loooooong hair to the floor almost braided. I told her it looked so great. She had a wedding and said she had to pay someone 300 pesos, TWICE to do it because it fell out the first time. I yelled what! Why?! I could have done it. She said welp... tomorrow then, because I have another wedding. I french braided her hair, we did a pretty tie tuck thing (that I really can't explain). Sadly, I forgot my camera. I didnt get a pic, but it was so pretty. She was so happy and she let Sheyla go to church. Wahoo for service and talents that mom taught me. Thanks mom, you blessed a life here in Uruguay :)

Anywho, almost everyone got released in church yesterday, even our DOM (ward mission leader). I was so sad. I hope they call someone quick. Oh well, we are here for a reason so we will march on. I can handle it. I know the work will go on. It's the Lord's work and he has complete control and he knows what he is doing. I just gotta trust in that. I just miss my DOM really bad. He was so awesome. More changes to come next week they say. Oh boy.

Just wanna leave yas with my lil testimony. Oh man, nothing in this world matters besides the gospel. I wish I could hit people over the head with that info. No one wants to listen! They spend all their lives searching for stuff when what they really need is right in front of them. Makes me sad. I wish I could change the world, truth is... I cant, but we all can make a difference. I'm so glad I have the Lord by my side. He is my advocate, my strength and my brother. I love him with all my heart. You guys, sigan asi. Keep doing what you are, be strong as always, lead others to the waters and always be an example of the believers. Love you. Till next week.

Love, Ash

TRANSFER CALLS.....

So hey! How is the outside world? We are well here. Lots of stuffies has happened this week. It was a good one. Where do I start...
Transfers.... oh man, I don’t know what I’m going to do about calls… as always we were so nervous. Our zone leader called us and asked who we wanted to know about first. We were sitting on pins and needles, but my comp yelled, "Hermana Farr!" …. He says, “Uh, Hermana Farr se queda.” That means... I’m staying! Huh? You’re joking. He doesn’t give me time to think before saying, “Hermana Laursen se queda tambien! What the JUNK?! “Elder, you’re lying.” Turns out he wasn’t. So I’m staying here AGAIN in Maldonado. Can you believe it?! And we are staying together!!!!! haha We start jumping up and down. This NEVER…. and I mean NEVER happens in the mission. You don’t stay with a companion for three changes... ever! Welp, apparently we still have people and a ward here to help that need us specifically. It’s crazy, isn’t it? We haven’t been able to get over it all night or morning. But here we are, staying together. Good times it will be. Seven and a half months here. That’s pretty much my whole mish. No one can believe it. Ademas... (in addition) we are going to be together for every single big holiday... Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. So you’ll get to meet Hermana Laursen when we all skype. Yeah baby! We’re gonna find a Christmas tree to set up and decorate tambien.

Last Pday was so fun! We got to go to Casa Pueblo and it was BEAUTIFUL! Uruguay is gorgeous. I can’t even explain to you. My breath was taken away when we got off the bus. I took tons of pictures, but I can’t send them all so you only get a few today. Don’t worry more are coming. The pics are just one of the pretty views before you get to Casa Pueblo. I felt like I was in Mexico. Then we saw a tarantula while we were walking! Ah! So crazy, it was huge. You look down one side of the coast and it looks like Ireland and the other side looks like you’re in Greece. So it was a good day. We traveled around the world; got out of the mission for a few hours and then hiked down some cliffs to take cool pics and read letters by the ocean. I actually took off my shoes and socks to hike, it was so fun! Check out that tarantula by my shoe

Yuri got baptized! It was so awesome. He is such a sweet person who deserves every bit of happiness. He’s my best convert. He is so awesome. I really feel like he will be a strong future leader in the gospel. He is so committed. Thanksgiving was good. I was trying not to think of the things going on there so we just worked really hard and then went to dinner. We didn’t have much time, but they were all great. It was good to be in loving company. We had chicken with gravy that Sandra and Mark (from Utah) made. We had stuffing, sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes. It was good. By the way... Sandra goes home this Friday and we are sending home packages with her for you. She’s awesome and totally American-ized. haha Good times. Her husband, who is a convert, is way cool too.We had the opportunity to see a little miracle this week with an elder who is serving in the mission. He called us one night to ask if a specific gentleman was in our ward. We said no, but we could do some investigating and possibly find him. "Why?" we asked. "Well, he was the elder who baptized me." We did our best to locate the man and learned that he’s the brother of a member in our ward. She called him and told him about this elder who is now serving in HIS missionary’s country. How cool is that? The sad thing is that this former missionary who baptized the current elder when he was 8, is now inactive. The elder got so excited that we found his missionary. They both were. Now they get to communicate and I imagine (hope) that this elder that is serving here now will help this man get re-activated into the gospel. It’s funny how the Lord works, isn’t it. Don’t ever doubt his grand plan. It’s amazing.

So here’s a little tip… you should get and read a Preach My Gospel. Read about the members’ responsibilities. We had a really good member step it up with some investigators he brought to church. When we thanked him later for it, he said, "Yeah, of course. That’s our responsibility or role in the work." That’s the truth, but most members don’t realize that. Later, we were reading in the white handbook and it says our duty as missionaries is to remind the members and inform them of their roles in the work. So here I am. I figure I could mention it to you, even though I know you are all doing so much missionary work already. I mean with befriending less or in-actives… you don’t understand how much it helps to have that friend. So my challenge to you this week is to find a less active and go by and visit them, invite them to church or some activity and be there for them every step of the way. Take them cookies, make a card, do something. It’s our duty. Use the wonderful American resources you have. We have been blessed with so much and for this reason, much is expected of us. Every member a missionary! Let’s go team!

I know this work is of the Lord and I love him with all my heart. Let us serve him with all our hearts.

I love you family... you mean the world to me. Keep being strong and holding on to that rod, but grab a few people on the way. I love you. Be good. Until next week.

Love, Ash

On the Wings of a Prayer...

I got package number 1? Yes! We had a party last night eating. We almost died because of all the flavor. I LOVED the Thanksgiving gratitude chain you made me. Everything was sooo nice. You don’t know how good it made me feel to see all the nice things you wrote about me. THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
We are going to Casa Pueblo today. Look it up… it’s one of Uruguay’s famous trademarks and we got permission to go. It has an art museum and other cool things, but I just mostly want to go to take pictures. We are so excited.

We have gotten calls from the zone leaders because our numbers have been so good. Now, I want to emphasize that I know numbers don’t really matter, but my President is actually very strict about numbers. He holds us very accountable for them. After we went to the temple, we had a zone conference about the importance of planning, getting and setting numbers each week as our goals. And he convinced me (or maybe it was the spirit) of just how important they are. We don’t want numbers, but we do want people to get baptized. We want the ice cream! But we have to use the spoons, or our other numbers, to get to eat it. We have since focused a lot on our goals: making sure we actually look at them, check ourselves and hold ourselves accountable for them. Since then, our companionship has flown high and above everyone else. The only thing I can say is that we are really trying our darndest to do our part to be worthy of the blessings Heavenly Father wants to bestow upon us. I have since learned a lot of lessons, but I feel like I am fulfilling my calling by reaching our numbers. Not just that, but I feel like it’s a reflection of my desire to serve and I can surely say that if we don’t have baptisms, it is not our fault, only that it’s not the Lord’s timing. I have a clear conscience... but the thing is... we ARE having baptisms. It is awesome!!

We had Nataly’s baptism and what a smashing event it was... then this weekend was Loana’s baptism and it was even better… if that can be possible. The young women had their Night in Excellence scheduled for the same time as our baptism and we were afraid everyone would just go to that and we wouldn’t have any ward support for the Rodriguez family. But the bishop decided the miracle happening with this family was more important and so he made them stop their activity and have everyone join us for the baptism and everyone loved it. Strong spirit, good support and a baptism. What more could you ask for? It was great.
Yuri continues to progress and develop each day in the gospel. This will be hands down the fastest baptism I’ve ever had. Less than 3 weeks to find him, teach him everything, have him have his conversion and get baptized. That will be this Saturday. Pray everything goes well and we don’t have any snags. He’s awesome.

We continue to see miracles, I’m telling you. I get more and more amazed at Heavenly Father’s love for us each day. I’m literally blown away. I had a really cool experience last night... well, this morning. We planned last night to go to Casa Pueblo and, of course, a huge storm comes in. We have been dying of heat all week. We got so bummed and it only got worse in the middle of the night. I actually woke up because our house was flooding. Yes... awesome Uruguayan constructed houses, oh how I love them. My suitcases, boxes and other things were soaked. I just never went back to bed … that’s how much water was coming in. I was up protecting all our stuff. So we were bummed when we discovered the rain still hadn’t stopped while we were studying. We called our district leader and told him to bring my comp’s mail because we were actually going to stay here instead of leaving. He said he would. Now you don’t understand the challenges we’ve had with mail and how much it means to my comp. Anyway, she was actually excited for the rain because that meant that she could receive her mail. I was bummed about not being able to go. We got our mail and guess what? The rain stops... the sun immediately comes out and I had figured out the perfect plan of God that he has to make all of us happy. He made it possible for us to go to Casa Pueblo and for my comp to get her mail. If it had been sunny and clear all morning, she wouldn’t have gotten it. I know it seems trivial, but it means so much to us. He loves us.

I stand here as a testimony of that to all and I’m trying to do my part to get it out to the rest of the world. Slowly but surely, it’s working. I love this gospel. There is nothing more or better to be living for. Don’t forget it, EVER! Be good... keep smiling. He’s there and He’s looking out for each one of us. Don’t ask me how it’s possible, it just is.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!! I love you all with more than all my heart.

Love, Ash.

ANOTHER BAPTISM ON THE HORIZON

We got a reference from a member... Ricardo. He is a lawyer. He’s really awesome. We have only taught him twice and haven’t brought up baptism yet. We gave him a Book of Mormon, which is his real interest, and hope he can pray and receive a testimony of it. He’s a really cool and very smart guy, and he’s looking for answers in life. Perfect investigator. Just pray for the best with him.

We had a small miracle named Yuri this week. We found him knocking doors. It turns out that his aunt and cousin are members in a different state here in Uruguay. He couldn’t stop smiling as we taught him the first lesson and committed him to be baptized. He’s so excited. He said we found him, which we did, for a reason. In the meantime, we have taken many members to meet him and they all love him. Everything he says he’s going to do, he does. I LOVE COMMITTED PEOPLE! THEY ARE MY FAVORITE kind, especially here on the mission. He came to an elder’s baptism on Saturday and loved it. He was almost giddy with happiness and so we changed his baptismal date to a little earlier. It will be the 26th of November. Pray we can get him there. He loved church yesterday with the primary program. The way they presented it was inspired. It was about a girl sharing the gospel with her non-member friend and so they went over all the basics of the gospel and he loved it. We really feel like the Lord has prepared him for us to find. Keep him in your prayers. Ahh! Our beautiful new washing machine. Laundry will be fun now....

This whole week there has been much opposition, little things really. People we have contacted have started to push back. We’ve also encountered people who just try and steer us away from our testimonies, who have tried to reason us away from what we believe. I asked my comp yesterday, why when we are going about doing good do people have to oppose us? Then I quickly thought... hey, that’s exactly when the opposition comes, when we are doing something good. The more opposition we have, the better we are doing, the more good we are finding and the more people we are helping, right? Bring on the opposition, baby! We can handle it. We knelt down yesterday to pray for strength. We have had the Lord’s help, as always.

Loana’s baptism will still be this Saturday. We are so excited for that. It was awesome yesterday to see their whole family walking up to the church building with arms around each other, dressed in all their new skirts and ties and everything else they bought specifically for church. I just got so happy. Jose, the dad, blessed the Sacrament yesterday. It was so awesome. Go missionary work! It’s been great. I love this gospel. I love my Savior and I love all of you. Keep going strong, heads held high. I looooove, love, love you!!!

Love, Ash

A VISIT TO THE TEMPLE

So Christmas is kinda coming up, right? And we get to talk to each other, right? Welp, we had zone conference this week and Hermana Da Silva tells us... "Oh yeah! Before you leave, we forgot to mention that we are letting you skype your families this year!" Ahhhhh!!!!! Soo excited. Anywho, so we will all get to see each others pretty faces. Yay. Made my whole life.So this week... Aw! The temple. We got up at 2:00 in the morning to go. No joke! I have been so exhausted all week long. I haven’t caught up on my sleep yet, but it was so very worth it. We got there in the dark and everyone was freaking out, crazy stressed, freezing cold and then of course, we step into the temple. Aw! Home... seriously. I have missed it so bad. DO NOT TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE OPPORTUNITY THAT WE LIVE SO CLOSE TO SO MANY TEMPLES! You don’t realize what you have until it’s gone. Anyway, it was dead silent in the temple and we were the only ones in there... it was so awesome to see the pictures of Christ, to see him and feel close to him. Would you believe the temple workers and the couple who was in the session with us are from Utah? Yes! Senior missionaries rock. Anywho, it was awesome talking in English, but so hard! I’m gonna die when I get home. I can’t talk with people in English here. It’s messed up. I actually watched the session in Spanish even though I could have listened in English. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, right? I got in my white clothes and it just felt so good. I can’t even explain to you. I loved it. Seeing everyone in white, it was like... this is what we´re supposed to be doing, this is where we are supposed to be. I missed you. The temple is our goal in this earth life and it felt good to be there to be brought back to home, remember my purpose here on earth as a member myself, not just as a missionary.Afterwards we had a zone conference. It’s so fun being there. My pres was happy with me. I put some real good tips and thoughts up there. It’s like school here, only spiritual school. The best school. I love it. Then we had lunch and I saw one of the ladies that the elders baptized in San Jose. Her name is Laura. She just went through the temple. Her kids are all baptized now and she was so happy telling me so. That was so great to hear.

As for the work here in my area of Maldonado ... things are well. We had progress with everyone this week. We showed Alejandra the Testament movie this week and she felt the spirit so strong. You could see it. She cried every time I was crying and I knew I was feeling the spirit so I was sure she was too. At the end she kept saying, today has been so special. She’s finally starting to get it. She finally went to church this week and loved every second, even though her baby kinda gave her some trouble. She made lots of friends this week. We also took her some extra food the members had prepared for us and she started crying saying that she had nothing to give her kids that day. She said Heavenly Father heard her prayers. He always does :) It feels good walking on sacred ground and being an instrument in Heavenly Father´s hand to bless the life of someone else. We have seen miracles like this all week long.

Deina and Daian’s mom said they couldn’t get baptized yet. She thinks it’s too soon. In the meantime, we are still going forward with faith with their baptismal date. We have since gotten the ward members involved in picking them up and looking after them. Hopefully if she sees more people will take care of them, she will change her mind. Keep them in your prayers. They also came to church yesterday and will be in the primary program next week. That’s great. The ward continues to love them.

Nataly is progressing. She took out her piercing for real, for real and gave it to my comp. Wahoo!!! She is talking so much more, is way open with us and loves the gospel. She left this whole week and was with her friends from the ward. Go team!

As for Gladys and Jose and family… oh man, I love them so much. They are probably one of my favorites. Gladys is such a giant sweetheart, so kind and giving. We took her to go befriend Alejandra and they instantly became friends. They were together all day long and haven’t really separated. She took her more food, told her to keep the Sabbath day holy, is giving her the courage to pay tithing and everything else. She took her to some ward activities this week and it’s been great. That’s how we see success: in the hands of the members. Jose received the priesthood yesterday and Gladys bore her testimony. She said she has been a member for 17 years, but she fell away. Then she said we two angels found her in the street and came into her home: loved her, taught her, gave her a boost and loving hand, some support and a little bit of hope and faith and today "my husband is here to receive the priesthood to baptize our daughter in two weeks." She started crying and said we really are her angels and she will forever be grateful to us. She said I love them and I adore them and will always remember them. I started crying too, of course. It was so awesome. THAT IS MISSIONARY WORK! I really do feel like I was supposed to be here to help her. She is one of THE ones I was supposed to find. I love their family.

On top of that, Natalia has finally made it back to church. Work gave her a hard time and then another miracle came along. Her doctor said that she couldn’t work anymore because of her pregnancy. She came to church for the first time in a very long time yesterday and loved it. She participated in every class. On top of that, Damian got the priesthood, taught priesthood and then blessed the Sacrament for the first time since he was young. Oh man... blessings, being showered down on us.

At the end of church the bishop stood up and thanked me and my comp for our work and love. Everyone was so grateful to us. As we filed out of the hallways when the meetings were over, everyone was coming up to us and hugging us. I felt an extreme amount of love. I will really be sad when I have to go from here. I have learned to love everyone here soooo much. I have learned the most in this area, serving the people in Maldonado. I have grown and been stretched and tested so much, but I’m so grateful for it and I would never take it back. These people are a people of God. I love them.

I guess that’s the blessing of being in an area so long. I get to see the fruits of my labor. I do feel that way. I feel like everything I have strived for here is finally coming to pass and I’m being rewarded for the hard work we’ve done. Not that I need to see them, for this is the Lord’s work and he deserves all the praise.

It’s been a good week. I continue to love this work and I’m growing in the gospel every day. I hope you can feel of the spirit when you read my words. I want you to feel the things I do and experience them with me. It’s hard, but I’ll be home one day to tell you the tales for real ;) I love you all more than you’ll ever know. I continue to miss you and appreciate you more and more. Keep being the most amazing family in the world. Until next week... love, Ash

THIS WEEK WAS THE BOMB!!

Happy Halloween to all. My comp and I bought masks. haha She’s the alien and I’m Frankenstein. We can only wear them in the house though. So this week has been something else... I have so much to tell you all. Be prepared to be blown away because this week has been the bomb!We have seen miracles up the wazoo and have had numerous answers to prayers. It’s been humbling to see the Lord’s hand at work and we are just trying to go where he’s pointing us. It seems to be working pretty well. Where do I start?

I got letters from mom and Regan. Thank you so much for those. They always boost me up during the week. Love you mom. The week started out pretty normal. We were teaching Nataly every day so Satan couldn’t get to her before her baptism. It’s what we do for all our investigators who will be baptized. And we were teaching Loana from the Rodriguez family. She is so incredibly smart. I just remember thinking on Tuesday, seeing them read their scriptures... "Wow, this is the greatest thing in the world when we can see these people making changes in their lives by using the gift of the gospel." I was blown away by how touched I was. It’s even better because we have more than one person at a time who is doing so. That’s how missionary work should be, right?

Miracle 1: Nataly

Nataly was baptized!!! Baptism days... oh man, they are always so crazy and stressful and bad things always come up, but we made it. I don’t know how it has been, but this transfer we have had a renewal. The spirit of the work has changed. We worked really hard to make this baptism a great one. We had all the youth do the program and everything went so great. Nataly went to young women’s finally, even though she dragged her mom in there with her. What a champ. Pretty much the entire ward showed up to her baptism. 42 people (not all pictured). Alright, not the whole ward, but the families who go every week. The spirit was amazing. We were praying for a good turnout so she would feel loved and inspired. She went to a previous baptism and only the mom, us and the elders were there. I think she was taken aback, but she loved having the support, even though we were running around like chickens with our heads cut off. Everything went without flaw. Thank heavens, or Heavenly Father, I should say. It was fantastic. I finally put some of my flower talent into practice. My comp and I found flowers all throughout the day to make her a wrap. It was really pretty. I think she liked it. On Sunday she made friends with Belen and Sheyla. We all went to visit Sheyla with the both of them because her mom isn’t letting her come to church. So, she was baptized and confirmed and we have a new member of the Church of Jesus Christ and for that we are so grateful.

Miracle 2 and 3 : Deina and Daian.

We went to re-contact a family we had set an appointment with, but they never ended up being there. It was a family: mom, son and 2 daughters (ages 9 and 11). We went to their house and they were there this time. The mom said we could teach them. So we did. I had this strange feeling as we were sitting with them that the girls would progress and be baptized, but not the mom. It was really odd. We taught the restoration and we were asking them all if they would like to know for themselves if Joseph Smith was a prophet. The two girls were just nodding their heads yes over and over again. And then I wasn’t surprised when the mom then told us, "This is nice and all, but really I just don’t have an interest. I don’t really want to know." Well alright, there isn’t anything we can do about that. It was said, but the girls were so into it that the mom said we could continue to teach them if we liked. The girls said yes and so they agreed to pray and re-read the pamphlet about Joseph Smith. Yes... so we anxiously waited until Friday when we could see them again. We sang with them, prayed with them and then verified how everything went. Welp they prayed... they didn’t get an answer though. They were expecting Jesus and God to come like they did for Joseph Smith, even though we explained beforehand that that wouldn’t happen. It was ok. They read the whole pamphlet too. So we started teaching them the Plan of Salvation. I don’t know if you remember those cutouts I made to teach the plan?... but we taught and used those and afterwards we tested them. They nailed it all. They pretty much re-taught it to us. It was great. We told them we were having a baptism the next day and they could come. They wanted to see how it was. Their dad is a pastor, along with his new wife, for some other church and they started telling us that they can’t be baptized in his church until after they are 18 (even though they were baptized as kids in the Catholic church). We told them in our church we get baptized at the age of 8 and they said they both wanted to. We told them we would explain that later. They are very smart and in tune with the spirit, because of the things their dad has taught them even though they think his religion is weird. As we left the lesson, I asked my comp what she thought... she said "It was weird. While we were sitting there, I felt like the girls were going to be baptized, but not the mom." I just started freaking out because we had both felt the same thing. It was so strange but sooo awesome.We went over the next day to get them for the baptism. They got all dressed in cute skirts and we talked on the way to the church. They said they had prayed. The oldest of the two, Deina, said she had gotten her answer the first time she prayed, but she just wasn’t paying attention. She was looking for a different type of answer. But they said they knew for sure Joseph Smith was a prophet. It was awesome. We showed them around the church, they loved it. And they watched the baptism and also loved it. Every single ward member adores them... they kept telling us to take care of "our little princesses." The ward is in love and you will be too. At the end of the baptism, they said they wanted to be baptized. They wanted hymn books and Books of Mormon. We asked what they were going to tell their mom when they got home. They said that they want to go to church every day. So cute. We got to their house and they ran in so excited to tell their mom everything. I think she was taken aback by how much they loved it. They said they wanted to get baptized and she said, “Whoa, whoa! You gotta learn a lot more. You can’t be baptized RIGHT NOW, RIGHT NOW." She is very supportive though. She says she will let them do whatever they think is right in their lives. We explained they had more things to learn, but with time they can be baptized. We went and picked them up on Sunday for church as well. They loved Primary and we suggested the date of the 29th of November for their baptism. They love it. Now we just have to clear it by the mom. I don’t think she will have a problem with it... I hope not. We are a teeny bit worried about the dad. We’ll see. We continue to teach them, they continue to become smarter in the things of the Lord and growing in the gospel.

Miracle 4: Alejandra

She still hasn’t been to church so we had to move her baptismal date back to the 29th with the other girls. But she has grown immensely in spirit and in testimony. She went to a Relief Society dinner this week and went to the ward cleaning on Saturday before the baptism and stayed to see Nataly be baptized. She felt the spirit there and was so sad when we had to change her baptismal date. But she is so excited. She is reading and praying, getting her clothes ready for the baptism and planning everything. We are pretty sure she will make it. We just gotta help her get to church. She is so happy though lately and we are happy for that.

Miracle 5: Rodriguez family

They also made it to the baptism. So Loana could see how it’s done. They all loved it. Yesterday they came to church and the ward actually had them stand so everyone could welcome them back into the fold. My comp got teary eyed. It was a tender moment. We talked to the bishop about Loana getting baptized and seeing as how we have 3 baptisms on November 29th, we talked about having her baptized then. They interviewed with him and the bishop suggested that date and also said he wanted Jose (the dad) to have the priesthood so he could do the honors!!! Whoa! He went with the bishopric later to their house, said all he has to do is come back to church, they will count him as active again and he can get the priesthood. Then he can baptize Loana and then pass the Sacrament and so on and so forth. This is amazing. We were in awe and just so happy for them.

On top of that, our zone leaders called us and said thanks for all our work. They said the zone has had problems and difficulties this week, but Hermana Laursen and I are pressing forward and with our faith, prayers and hard work, we are seeing miracles. It has been amazing!

I wish you all could have been here to see and experience the things I have this week. Prayers have been answered, miracles have been produced and the impossible has been made possible. That’s what happens when you are part of the greatest work that ever was or will be. I know this is the Lord’s work and I am so grateful to be part of it. I’m grateful he’s allowing me to see these miracles and participate in the changing of lives. I can honestly say that this has been THE BEST WEEK OF MY MISSION SO FAR. Every good thing that can happen on the mission, has happened. We are working with the ward, they want to participate in the work, they are seeing we are working by our own efforts and having success and they want to be part of it. They came, they supported, we found, we taught, we baptized and everything in between. I love this gospel with all my heart. I’m so grateful for this work.

I love you all so much. I hope you enjoy this week’s news, the pictures and the spirit. Be strong, be good, hold strong and we’ll talk next week. I love you all more than you know.

Love, Ash

P.S. We are getting washing machines!!!!

A BAPTISM FORTHCOMING...

This week has been insane, not gonna lie. It was Stake Conference week and Stake Conference here is a big deal. General authorities: Elder Arnold and President Da Silva and the temple president all come out for it. So you can imagine, the members here were going crazy in preparation. It’s interesting how people react when a general authority comes along, isn’t it? All week long everyone was cleaning the stake center and decorating. Elder Arnold told everyone to visit the less and inactive families so all the people that we have been working so hard with got visits from the ward. It was amazing. And then all weekend long we’ve been at conference sessions. It’s been crazy.

One thing I can say for sure that we have accomplished here is success with our less actives. It has been so awesome! We found a lady in the street, she said she was already a member and we asked if we could come visit. This was back at the beginning of my transfer with Hermana Laursen. We went and saw her and her husband tried to push us away, saying he didn’t believe in the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. Then we asked for his wife and she let us in. Come to find out they had both been baptized many years ago, went inactive (obviously). It was as if they weren’t even members. They have a daughter who is 8 and needs to be baptized. So we have been working with them. It was rough with them at first. Her husband didn’t want us to come at first, but then we won over his trust. Because of the doctrine we were teaching at one visit, we caused them to argue in a lesson and he left mad. Oops! We felt really bad, but we then had the opportunity to talk with the wife alone about everything. She said she wanted to go back to church as a family, but he refuses. She loves the church and knows it’s true. We said she needs to set the example and take her two little kids to church and later he might follow, but she then realized the importance of going without him. She showed up last week to church. It was awesome. Since then we had decided her daughter will get baptized, even though it won’t count for the mission. It’s technically a ward baptism since they are both members and she’s 8. A visit to Punta.... Ahhh!
Then with Elder Arnold being here we asked the bishop to go visit them and so Elder Arnold sent them over. The husband made some friends, they worked miracles, gave a blessing to their daughter who had major tooth pains and now they all want to come to church and get back. It’s been a miracle in the working, but a miracle nonetheless. The timing worked out so perfect. We are giving them their set of scriptures today as a family. Hermana Hite sent me a Bible and triple combination so we are excited. They came to conference yesterday and it was awesome. Their names are Gladys and Jose. And their kids are Jose and Loana. I will let you know when she gets baptized but, it’s in the hands of the bishop.

In the meantime, Nataly is getting baptized October 29th. We have been trying to get all the youth involved in the program. I hope it goes without flaw. She had a blast listening to Elder Arnold. He is so great, has such a great sense of humor and love about him. Nataly loved it. Conference was energizing and it was great being around so many fantastic leaders. It always is. We got to talk with president a lot and he laid down the law with all the members about missionary work. So did Elder Arnold : ) I hope we can all be better at that. They also talked about the temple a lot which is good. I haven’t been for so long. I can’t wait. Next Tuesday... it’s gonna be awesome.

One thing that has been reiterated to me on the mish… There is so much good in every person. As missionaries, we get to go into the homes and see the hearts of people right off. Whether it be less actives, non-members or members. We see their challenges, efforts and progress each week and we get to watch them overcome them. We rejoice with them when they do. It’s so wonderful. The problem that so often occurs is we, as members, don’t get to see that because we don’t give them the time of day. I encourage all to do so. They are such good people.

I love this gospel. I talked to a convert who said, "Yeah this gospel is good. It’s a part of me." I just stared and said, "This gospel IS me." I love it with all my soul and heart. That’s why I’m here... it’s really hard doing what I am, but I do love it. I love my area. Can you believe I will have been here for a third of my mission when I’m done here? Six months, that’s crazy. Good thing I love it.

I love you all. Be good. Be an example of the believers. I love you sooooo much. Big hugs from me. Until next week... Love, Ash.

He Answers Our Prayers

So, this week the weather cannot make up its mind… hot then freezing cold. It’s ridiculous...

My comp and I get to stay together for another transfer. Yeah! I didn’t want to leave, but I will be transferred next time. We will get to go to the temple November 1st. I am so excited! And we get to have Thanksgiving together. A member’s sister lives in Utah and has for 20 years. She is going to be here for Thanksgiving and she’s making us an American Thanksgiving (or as close to one as you can get here in Uruguay). We are excited for that as well. Alejandra and children ...

It doesn't get any better than this!!

On a personal note, I have seen AGAIN that Heavenly Father really does love us and answers our prayers. I have never seen that anywhere more than I have on the mish. It’s amazing. Every time I have asked for something from him, He gives it to me. Even little things... the smallest of things.

We were talking with this lady. She was saying she has such great faith and believes in the gospel so much and she told us this story about her life. She said when her mom died it was hard, but when her dad died two years later, it was even harder. She was really worried about their welfare, their well being on the other side of the veil, and so she started to pray. One night she had a dream. She said she has never had a dream in her life. So she had a dream that she was in her house walking around and the phone rang. She answered it and it was her mom. Her mom reassured her that she was okay, that she was in heaven and happy. She asked about her dad. He was there too and she gave the phone to him to talk. They talked and her dad told her not to worry, that he was okay, in heaven, happy, with her mom, and waiting for her and all her siblings. She was crying at the end and so was I. It reminded me of the talk at conference... it doesn’t matter how small our concerns are: even if it’s a piece of chicken, reassurance about parents who passed away or wanting to stay with a certain comp for another change... HEAVENLY FATHER cares about us and his only desire is for us to be happy. He will do anything in his power to make it that way for us. Sometimes it’s not always what we think will make us happiest, but we must keep in mind, everything is for our benefit… for our happiness. I don’t know how many times he will have to teach me that lesson while I’m here, but apparently he doesn’t want me to forget it because I keep seeing the evidences of it. I love this gospel and the absolute, pure power that it has.

I’m grateful for all of you. Things are good here... We’re still working to find those who are prepared. Pray for the work and help those you can. I love you all sooo much.

Love, Ash

A Visit From Pres ...

Me emailing mi familia
We had interviews this week. They went really well. It just proves to me once again that pres is a man of inspiration. It’s amazing how I feel like he can just read me like a book. It’s cool. I remember that he’s a man of God, he has the spirit and he really is representing the Lord here for all us missionaries. Usually he asks stuff about us personally, but this week the first thing he asked was three attributes my comp had. Interesting. I bet no one can guess what my comp said about me. haha Just kidding. I said she was studious, fearless and real with the people. She said I was loving, charitable and kind. Then he asked, if one of your sisters was preparing to go on a mission, what advice would you give them? I have actually thought about this a lot... but there is SO much I would tell them. I had to really sit and think. There was just too much to say. Then he specifically asked me something that had been on my mind this week. I kinda freaked out. He assured me and said I was doing awesome here! When my comp was in there, I decided to talk to Hermana Da Silva and we ended up talking all day until about 4 in the afternoon. So, instead of interacting with the other missionaries in the zone, I just talked to her. I found out about president’s conversion, his callings, where he has been and what he has done, and her role as wife to a man of God. It was really awesome. I got to know them both a lot better. We’re personal friends now. Just one of Uruguay's beautiful sunsets
Then on Saturday, some of the hermanas from our zone did an MTC for a day activity in their ward. So we went to Piriapolis and taught the youth all day as they rotated in and out of classes. It was really fun. They fed us lunch and even President and Hermana Da Silva showed up to teach the youth at the end. They actually sat in one of our classes, which was the MOST INTIMIDATING THING EVER! He has never actually seen us teach... oh man, my mouth dried right up, my Spanish went out the door and I froze. It was horrible, then I regained my cool and was okay. Then the spirit took over. It all worked out.

We ended up pushing Nataly’s baptism back again because we have stake conference this week and our bishop didn’t want her to receive the Holy Ghost a week later. They have to do it in the following Sacrament meeting. We set it for Oct. 29th.

We have made lots of progress with Nataly. We took Sheyla with us to teach her and we had a lot of fun. We taught her the Book of Mormon and how to use it. Then we had a competition with her mom, Sheyla, my comp and she ended up winning. She knew how to use those scriptures so well. We gave her a ‘For the Strength of Youth’ pamphlet and had her read about chastity because her sister is 16 and pregnant. She went and visited her dad this weekend and is bringing back a cousin that we might start teaching as well.

We had a few miracles this week... Belen, Bruno, Mauricio…. their mom has been taught time and time again, but never wanted to get baptized. She believes in the church, but has trouble smoking and said she needed to repent of a lot of things first. Well, we went and saw them and they told us she has quit smoking and she told us she felt completely clean of her sins. We told her the next step was baptism and she has agreed. Her date is the 29th also. Her name is Alejandra.

Also with Natalia’s family... we hadn’t seen them for a little and my thoughts kept coming back to them. My comp was thinking the same thing. We decided we would go this week to find them again. We had lunch with Natalia and decided to talk to her about it, but not before her sister showed up at the house to eat with us. It was so weird. We literally feel like we’re being directed to them. And if the mom isn’t ready, we might as well see if it’s one of the kids who is ready now to accept the gospel. We talked with her and eased into it and she agreed to be taught... yes! We set an appointment with her, but then it has been raining and pouring all week so she couldn’t come to the lesson. We have looked for her twice more but with no luck. We don’t know why this is all happening, but we're just trusting in the Lord. He knows what he’s doing, we’re just his little tools. He wants his children to accept the gospel more than we do and he will make whatever is necessary happen so that the person can progress, if it is their time. All we can do is hope, pray, have a little faith and keep moving forward. Hopefully something will happen soon.

I miss you all more than you know. I love your guts! Stand up for what’s right. Until next week...
Love, Ash

AHH..... CONFERENCE WEEKEND!

Life... what a joyous ride it is! Conference was awesome, of course. It’s always so nice for missionaries because we are constantly teaching and trying to uplift others, so it’s great when we get a little lifting ourselves from none other than the prophets. There was lots of good stuff. Sister Farr with Sister Laursen
It always goes by waaaay too fast though. When I was a kid, conference could never be over soon enough, but it felt like two minutes long here. I hate that. I don’t have one specific talk that I LOVED LOVED LOVED, just little parts: one line here, one line there that spoke specifically to me. All of it accumulated was a good chunk of revelation. I still want to go back and review though. We actually got to see the re-broadcast of the Women’s Conference. I loved Elder Uchdorf’s talk. It was great. I loved his flower analogy. It meant a lot to me. Elder Foster, the Seventy who does zone conferences and stuff for us, gave the closing prayer at conference on Saturday. Cool!

I had a sleepover with Hermana Lundskog and Hermana Kubly last night. They stayed over after conference. That was fun, in our TINY house. Hermana Lundskog and I stayed up all night talking. Oops! We had lots to catch up on. Everyone wanted to look at family pics of you guys, so I showed them. I would like to tell you... you are the cause of four sister missionaries feeling frumpy after seeing Shaq and Brooke's beautiful pics. haha We got homesick and jealous. Anywho... we made brownies to feel better! Happy girl’s night... as if I don’t get that 24/7 already.
Sooo... I got a huge package from Hermana Hite. I was soooo happy. She’s the bomb. (I hope she’s reading this.) I love you Hermana Hite. I got your stuff and I’m writing you today. THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

As for the work this week... We’ve been trying to work with the members more. We received revelation from conference that we just need to be serving them a ton. We already try and do that, but that’s what we’re focusing on this week. Wish us luck.

I miss you all a ton. It’s hard seeing Utah on the screen and not being able to be there. But soon enough. I only have one more conference here. I can’t believe how fast the last six months has gone. It’s insane.

We are hoping to have our baptism next Saturday. She came to conference and also received an answer to her prayer this week. So cool. She was praying and her mom came home and she was frustrated because she didn’t get an answer. Her mom told her to do it again. So she did and started crying.... She said she just felt sure. Yes!

I love you all, be good and be safe. Love, Ash

Not the Best 18 Months OF My Life..... But the Best 18 Months FOR MY Life!

Spring has sprung and it’s beautiful, but already soooo hot. Everyone here is worried because it already feels like summer which means summer is going to be even worse... oh boy, it should be fun.

Outside Ashley's humble abode
........Inside Ashley's humble abode
First off, we had a conference with President about working in level 3. We have our work cut out for us. We aren’t even working on level 2, so we gotta gently ease our way up. That has been the biggest difficulty of the week. We have been concerned with how to help the ward do the work. We’ll figure something out. At the conference I got my happy hump day package. I was not expecting it so it was all the better. You didn’t need to send me that though, but thank you. I loved it. THANK YOU, THANK YOU FOR THE NEW CTR RING. I LOVE IT. I also got your Dear Elders mom about Education Week. It makes me miss school when you talk about BYU.

My comp and I have felt some nudging towards Natalia’s family. There have been far too many coincidences with running into them and so we talked to her about it. She said that’s funny because right now they are at a really hard time in their lives. Her parents are getting divorced. So maybe that’s why we’ve been thinking of them. We’ve been trying to contact them forever and finally this week we did it. We walked past their house and then decided to go back and try and see if they were there. The mom was. We talked to her for a little, but she said she didn’t want anything and maybe we’d see each other later. Every missionary knows that means it’s a no go. But I was persistent and told her we felt impressed to go and see them. She started crying and said she had seen us pass by and then turn around and that day was a really difficult day for her. She told us her whole story about getting divorced; her kids who were suffering and getting into trouble... then we got talking so much she invited us in. We just got to know her and her other daughter came home and we talked to the both of them. They were around when Natalia was taking the lessons and so we talked about the missionary that was there that taught her. They think so highly of her and she means so much to them, then they said we were starting to take her place. We are gonna have to go slow, but we have a return appointment and we’re excited to see what might come of it. HUGE SUCCESS THAT WAS.
Ashley and her beloved friend, Camilla
On the flip side, we had to drop Camilla. She flat out told us she didn’t want to get baptized; maybe later in life but she’s not willing to give up the things of the world. So sad. She has been asking for my old CTR ring for forever so I gave it to her. She was sooo happy. I told her she had to live it and I explained what it meant. She agreed. With time she’ll be ready to accept the gospel. We are also teaching some less actives who recently moved here. We invited them to church a few weeks ago, but they didn’t come. We went and saw her again and she said she didn’t feel comfortable going to church without a skirt and she didn’t have one. So we found one for her, took it to her and she showed up to church. It was awesome. Then we went back to her house and her 13 year old daughter wants to get baptized. Her name is Nataly. We think it might be her mom more wanting her to get baptized. She is soooo quiet and won’t talk to us. The only thing she could muster up the courage to ask was if we had been to California and Hollywood. Her mom said she has cried because she wants to go to the states so bad and see California. So when I got your package the next day, I put together some hand sanitizer, gum, candy and goodies and gave a little package to her and her sister. Turns out she loves that so much that she won’t even eat it. She’s keeping it to show all her friends. People love the states!

It’s weird being senior comp because now when people ask me how long I’ve been out; they all are starting to say I’m almost finished. That’s crazy! Also, I walked in somewhere and felt like I was in the states. The strangest feeling came over me. I’m not ready to come home. Good thing I have a ton of time left.

The thing that has been on my mind all week is the Emma Smith movie. I’d seen it before but... it hit me so hard here. She is seriously my new hero besides you, mom and dad :) I want to be like her! I also started and finished our Search for Happiness this week. Boyd K. Packer talks about an experience he had on his mish, a silent strong experience that changed him. The spirit hit him hard and changed him. That's how I’ve been feeling. It was such a drastic change from the first half of the mish to the second. I’ve been reflecting and I have changed, but for the better. It’s impossible to describe, but so great... I love it here. I’ve transformed and I love it. I love the gospel and I love all of you. I hope everything is well. Hold tight to the rod.

Love, Ash

I LOVE MY MISSION!

This week has been good. My new comp and I work well together. We saw Sharon and she straight up told us she’s leaving... moving away to Rivera, another part of Uruguay. It’s not even in this mission. It’s by Brazil. I was not expecting to hear that from her. She has been having problems and can’t pay for things here because it’s really expensive. Ugh. It’s a rough life. I got so sad and just started crying. The gospel is not easy to live.... but no one said it would be. I told her I was going to miss her immensely. I told her she was someone so special to me and I felt like we were friends from before, like other side of the veil kind of friends. We shared a scripture about Christ with her and then she started crying. Like life is hard kind of crying... and I went over to her and hugged her. I don’t know how to explain it, but my whole mission flashed before my eyes. It was overwhelming the amount of love that passed through my body for her. Even though we have to say goodbye, this is what I’m here for… to meet these people, help them change their lives and then do it again.

This transfer seriously has been the turning point in my mish. It’s weird. I’m being pushed so much harder. I’m so much more focused on the work and it’s all I have to think about. Everyday I’m exhausted from bearing my testimony so much, from walking all over the city, from giving every fiber of my being to make sure my time here is well spent. I have never been so tired in my life… but it feels good! We have met a lot of cool people this week. We have set a few baptismal dates, but I don’t know if they’ll make it. People are stubborn and don’t want to change. We had a lot of our people come to church yesterday and it felt good. Damian actually gave a talk yesterday and his parents came to watch him. They are members from somewhere else. They came up to us afterwards and said thank you for all you have done for our son and his wife. It was so awesome! We haven’t done it without the help of the members. I never realized how key the members were in the work until I got here, obviously. We can’t do anything without their help. If you know someone who is struggling, less active, not a member, whatever... DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! Reach out to them, call them, invite them, visit them, talk to them. Whatever it takes. This is our responsibility, our covenant we made when we were baptized. I can’t wait to serve when I get back home, seriously. Dad, congrats on your baptism this week. I’m so proud!

I do sincerely appreciate everything from every single one of you. I cherish the words you write each week and hearing from you keeps me going. I love you all.

Things are well, the church is true, be good. Stand for truth and right. I LOVE YOU!!!!! Love, Ash

MY NEW COMPANION.....

Introducing: Hermana Laursen… and she totally knows what she’s doing here. So just in case you forgot my life, this has been my first week training. My companion is from Utah! Yay, so we can play when we get home! And play we will. She’s awesome. I feel like I’m not training though. She has handled everything really well. She’s not going through culture shock like I did. She just hopped in here and is ready to go to work. And work we have. I literally have not thought about home or anyone there this entire week. I have been so incredibly focused on this work. Last night was the first time this week I actually remembered I HAD a family. haha Just kidding. But we’ve been working our tooshes off.I have been SOOOO incredibly overwhelmed with the responsibility of being a trainer. You’re looking at senior comp, Spanish teacher, tour guide, church teacher and much more. It’s been crazy. I have been praying so hard to have the help and guidance I need. I know the Lord expects a lot of me in this capacity.

I forgot that when we get here we literally know NO Spanish... so I have had to take the lead in teaching each and every lesson. It’s pushed me to get to know the scriptures better and the doctrines of the gospel and focus on my testimony to get me through. I have been humbled and this for sure will be a stretching and growing experience. But it’s just the next step of the ladder that Heavenly Father is building for me.

It’s crazy… the transformation that has taken place over these months, inside me and just on the mission in general. I remember my first day at transfers when I got my trainer not knowing anyone or anything. The second I walked into the church building after I got my new comp it was just a whirlwind of emotions and feelings and memories. Everyone was coming up to me and congratulating me on training, EVERYONE was telling my comp she had the best trainer. Nice, eh? I smiled and laughed with the friends I’ve made over the past 9 months and I was hit with the realization of how great the mission is. I never thought in my life I would experience the things I have, feel the things I’ve felt, say the things I’ve said, do the things I’ve done and most importantly grow like I’ve grown. I know my Savior on a whole new level, and even though I’m still trying and working for more, I know he’s pleased with me. I felt an overwhelming sense of love and it was amazing.

I had to say goodbye to Hermana Hite and I was so sad. We cried in the church building hugging and saying how much we loved each other. You learn something new from each and every companion and you grow to appreciate them in ways not possible with other friends.

We are trying to work more with the ward now. The mission is moving to what’s called level 3. Level 1 is just us doing the missionary work. Level 2 is us doing the work with the help of the members. Level 3 is US HELPING THE MEMBERS DO MISSIONARY WORK. They provide everything: the setting, the planning, the support and we are just there to teach. It’s difficult because it requires more work on their part, of course. But we have the support of the bishop. He’s great! We are planning youth activities, and lots of other fun things. We’ll see how it goes. The leaders love my companion and at church yesterday they told us that we now have their full support.

I think this transfer will be the best one yet. We’re working hard and relying on the Lord in everything we do. I have all the hope and faith in the world that we will be able to do great things. I’m really excited.

I love you all so much. I haven’t had time to write anyone letters these last few weeks, but that’s because we’re working so hard. I’m sorry, please just be patient with me. Remember to put the Lord first and everything else will fall into place. I have faith in that. You’re in my prayers. Thank you for yours. They have surely been felt. I love you. Love, Ash

I'M THE NEWEST "TRAINER" IN PUNTA!

You’re never going to believe this... we had transfer calls last night... AH!!!!! I’m senior companion. But not only that... I’m TRAINING! It is only two of us hermanas training and I feel kind of bad because there are other hermanas who have been out longer than me who haven’t trained yet but, I guess that’s how it goes. The Lord qualifies who he calls. That’s all that matters. Everyone: Hermana Hite, Lundskog and Kirkham, along with all the ward members and converts, were calling me to wish me good luck and saying how proud they are of me. I’m really excited, although this all seems too soon. So, tomorrow we get up at 3 in the morning, catch a 5:30 bus to Montevideo, have a training with President at 7, and have another meeting with all the "oros" (greenies). Then President will pray a little and decide who our comp is and then we'll head back out to the area. Oh yeah, I am staying here! I’m excited for that too. This area really is great. Anyway, I still don’t know who my comp is. We’ll see what Heavenly Father decides through Pres tomorrow. Wish me good luck with everything! Ah!

ME WITH SHARON AND HER LITTLE CHILDREN. I LOVE THEM!!

This week has been good for me spiritually. I’m learning so much and being uplifted. I love the little children. We are always with so many. They all hug me, love me, hang on me and I in return love them back. It’s felt good and I’ve been blessed through them. I also have found more English speakers this week in the streets than ever before. We did a contact with a woman and she tried to tell us she couldn’t speak Spanish. I did my very first contact ever in English and it was SO weird!!! Haha We found out she was from Germany, it was cool. Then we found a girl who did a student exchange in the states and she speaks better American than I do, complete with the word "like" interjected in every sentence. It was funny. I hope we can keep teaching her. She’s really cool.Last week we actually got to go bowling. Two of the Latins in our district had never been, including my comp. It was fun. I got 2nd place after our American zone leader. I totally bowled in a skirt haha. Never again in my LIFE will that happen.

I love you all, thank you for the support and love. You’re the greatest. I love you!! Ash

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUBI....

Hello from South America! My new nickname mission-wide is Rubi! Some guy passed by me and, like the others, he started calling me Rubio, but when I didn’t pay him any attention, he said, “Hey Rubi, Rubi!” I laughed so hard after he left. My comp too. She told others and my whole zone is calling me Rubi now.

Thank you all for making my birthday so amazing. My birthday was well. I enjoyed myself. I got your other package, one from Kenny’s parents and lots and lots of letters and other things from people here. I also got the goodies from the bishop that you sent home with him, as well as the hug and all the very many kisses from Estela (bishop’s wife) that you sent. I’ll have you know, two wards from our stake saw and all laughed at her attacking me with love. But, I knew it was from you guys so I let her.My birthday celebration with friends: Enrique, Noelia and Damian & Natalia

Thursday... my birthday. It was great. I hung my own birthday signs that you sent, but it was great. All the packages were FABULOUS! I loved everything, but more of that in letters that are on the way; I don’t have much time. THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! My comp made me breakfast, we went to lunch at a nice restaurant. Members gave us money to go to lunch. How kind, no? We worked our little tails off. It poured rain, my hair got ugly and then went to a menos activo family. They surprised me with a cake. Then we got to spend the rest of the night with our ward mission leader, his wife, and Damian and Natalia. That was my only birthday wish. We had a blast. It was great.
All the girlies at Zone Conference: Hermanas Hite, Lundskog, Kirkham, ME and Puentes

Sharon is becoming one of my best friends. I love her some much, and she understands well the gospel. She’s trying and she will progress. She will have an eternal family. I just know it. She’s the first person I feel like I can really express my full, sarcastic, funny, giggly personality with, while in Spanish. No, that’s not true, but she’s the first one I feel like the language isn’t a real barrier and she’s a friend just like any other English speaking friend I have. Only we talk to each other in Spanish. Weird... but like dad said, I will form some of my best friendships here on the mish, both with my comps and the people I bring to the truth. I love it. It is true.

Saturday... We had Pablo’s baptism without flaw. Well, kind of, the ward Hermana Hite is in didn’t have water for the font and so they joined us. So it was a little crazy. But all is well. Pablo has completely changed his life for this gospel and he sincerely desires to follow Jesus Christ. He has a strong testimony. The miracles of our Heavenly Father are here, they are present, they are visible. I can’t describe to you the things and feelings that have gone through my mind, my heart, my body. This week has been crazy, but we are doing everything we can to teach the truth to all who will accept it. I know this is Heavenly Father’s work, I’m just simply the person teaching his children. I love the gospel. The beauty and glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that we can be made whole, and change our lives. The Dedos t-shirt I drew for Maldonado Zone Conference

I drew the Dedos and the zone elders made shirts for our whole zone. Wahoo! It’s so cool. I feel so privileged. Enjoy. I know I sure did. I love you all so much. I hope you know how much I appreciate everything you have done for me. Thank you !!!! I love you, Ash
ZONE CONFERENCE: THE BEST!!

BIRTHDAY PACKAGES OF LOVE!!

This week I received lots of packages and I hear there are more coming. Thank you for ALL the birthday wishes. I got a package from you all, one from grams and Adam and Kara. I LOVE YOU ALL!!! Thank you SOOOO much for all you do for me. I’m still ATTEMPTING to wait to open things till my birthday on Thursday... not sure how long that will last. This is the only birthday I’ll miss on my mission, so it’s ok. I can’t wait to see what Thursday brings. So far we have planned some lessons and we’ll get together with Damian and Natalia, my fav people ever, and our ward mission leader, Enrique, and his wife, Noelia. They are also awesome. So that’ll be fun. Also... Heavenly Father really loves me because on Friday we have zone conference. Wahoo! The thing is we’re having it with two zones... so, my entire district from the CCM will be there: Hermana Hite, Lundskog, Kirkham, the elders, and every other cool person. I’m so excited! He really does answer prayers. So that will be my birthday.

To start off, we have a baptism this week! Yes, Pablo will be gettin’ wet this week. Happy birthday to me. Just pray that all goes well this week. Satan will be working extra hard on him. He hasn’t smoked or drank anything and has improved even more his church clothes. He now has an entire suit. He’s excited. Saturday at 7. Be there or be square ;)

We did exchanges this week. It was very different. It poured all day and no one wanted to talk to us. My comp for the day was really quiet and hardly talked to me. I did learn a few things from her about teaching. So, that was good. Hermana Hite and Hermana Lundskog were also doing an exchange. They called me up… those lucky dogs…. and said how they were talking about me all night and how much they missed me. It was nice to feel loved. haha They are great!

I have been thinking lots this week about the mission experience. As you know, I have completed 8 months! People have been telling me I’m no longer a greenie, which of course I know is true. So I’m almost half way done with the mish. This is a scary thought because I seriously feel like I just got here. Everyone (like dad) says to get ready for the down hill side of the ride... it goes by way faster. I’m not ready for that. I got letters from Luis and Steph from San Jose. It felt good hearing I have helped them, their letters were very clear, but there is still so much I want to do and become and I don’t have much time. It’s scary.

I also have noticed the miracles that take place daily: in the lives of others, and in my own. HEAVENLY FATHER answers prayers daily. I pray, I see the answer, he is there. There is no doubt. Other people that we talk to also mention these things, but they refuse to accept it as our Father in Heaven who loves us and is looking out for us. It’s so sad to me. WE HAVE TO LOOK FOR THOSE MIRACLES. We have to acknowledge that he’s there. The excuse of every less active is that he doesn’t love me, he’s not there. Well, if you’re not looking, you’ll never see it. It’s so sad. Look for those miracles and tender mercies. If our dad here would do whatever it takes for our happiness, how much more would Heavenly Father do those things for us? He is all powerful, all magnificent, all loving. I love him with all my heart and everyday I thank him for the things that he gives me that I don’t deserve at all. I love this gospel.

I love you all more than you can imagine. Please don’t forget it. Please don’t forget that this gospel is everything. Without it we have nothing. Do everything in your power to stay close to Heavenly Father, he loves us. He will bless us, when we do our part. I know this without a shadow of a doubt. I love you all.

Love, Ash