Hello all... oh how I've missed you. Seriously, this week has been intense. HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAD, I hope it was truly amazing.
(Sigh).... a big, big one... Where do I start with this week? This city is HUGE and there is so much work to be done. I am upset that the elders ruined the missionary work reputation here (and left our house so completely and entirely disgusting). We've wasted so much time getting things in order. I don't even know where to begin telling my week. The elders before us slept during siesta. And there hasn't been a baptism here the entire year. We don't have a ward mission leader and so... we're flying solo for now.
On the other hand, our area... we have the stake center for our church, it's nice. We have every resource of the church here in our area, including family history center. That's pretty cool, eh. We don't have any new investigators because we've been spending all our time orienting ourselves, trying to find the members, the recent converts, the elders supposed investigators, and getting all that sorted out. We met with the Bishop and his counselors and they are ready to work. Miracle of the week. When we met with them, they told us they have been praying for months for sisters in this area. So... they say we are an answer to their prayers and they expect a lot from us. It's cool. The difference here is the members are FULL of references, and ready and willing to go to any lesson with us to help move the work forward. This area has been at rest for so long they are now pumped. It's good. There are other problems here, like some lack of trust.... ugh! It's been very interesting.
On the bright side, my language has picked up. Yeah! I can feel, hear and see the difference. This no longer is my first area, the members don't baby me and so they just expect me to talk... and I do. It's been good. Also, my comp is very, tight mouthed. She doesn't really try to get to know people and I feel that is the way into their hearts. Hermana Hite felt the same way and so she would make conversation with people and all was well. Now I'm the one who has to make conversation to get into people's hearts. If I want it done, I gotta do it myself. And so... my Spanish is gonna be sweet. I'm excited for that.
My comp is good... she is very by the book which is good in the work aspect. I love her. It's gonna be good. Really, it's been hard getting used to things here. Like every change here on the mish, I just need to give myself a little time to get used to things. I've never prayed so much in my life. I guess that's why sometimes we have trials, so that we remember the Savior and that we really do need him. There, seriously, is soooo much to be done here. I'm so excited to get to work for real, for real. The problem now is just having the patience to get everything started up and rolling. It'll take some time, but hopefully I'll be around to see the fruits of our labor. I'm well and working hard, I can promise you that. I love you all so much. Thoughts of you is the only thing that keeps me going. I hope you guys are well.
I love you more than ever. Love, Ash
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
CHANGE IS IN THE AIR....
Whoa! This week has been crazy… So many weird things happening. It was transfer calls yesterday, transfers manana. I´ll tell you what’s going down. I just want to say hi first! hello!!! I love you, I love you, I looooove you all.
Alright... to start off, this week has been another rough one, but we´re used to those here. It’s all good. We mostly spent the entire week preparing for our library presentation of the Book of Mormon. We made so many invitations and invited over 200 people personally. It was crazy. Just to give you an idea of how intense that is... the mission standards require you to do 150 contacts a week. We did 200 in a couple days. It was crazy. We wanted a good turnout. The day comes, and I’m freaking out because I have to speak in front of lots of people. And in Spanish, none the less. Whoa! Crazy! And we had to go there early and set up. The bishop made us teach him first so he could approve and make sure it was politically correct. It was a big deal. The hour comes... and not one person shows up!..... Luis comes and a very few select members. Ah, we were so bummed! We wanted to find new investigators. We spent hours putting things together, getting Books of Mormon, organizing, practicing, and then nothing. It was the MOST disappointing thing ever. Oh well, dust off our boots and get back to work.
Second thing this week… Package! Yes! I got the package. It had wonders inside. I was in love. Everything fits perfect and it’s golden. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Along with the package I got several of mom's dear elders.
Alright... to start off, this week has been another rough one, but we´re used to those here. It’s all good. We mostly spent the entire week preparing for our library presentation of the Book of Mormon. We made so many invitations and invited over 200 people personally. It was crazy. Just to give you an idea of how intense that is... the mission standards require you to do 150 contacts a week. We did 200 in a couple days. It was crazy. We wanted a good turnout. The day comes, and I’m freaking out because I have to speak in front of lots of people. And in Spanish, none the less. Whoa! Crazy! And we had to go there early and set up. The bishop made us teach him first so he could approve and make sure it was politically correct. It was a big deal. The hour comes... and not one person shows up!..... Luis comes and a very few select members. Ah, we were so bummed! We wanted to find new investigators. We spent hours putting things together, getting Books of Mormon, organizing, practicing, and then nothing. It was the MOST disappointing thing ever. Oh well, dust off our boots and get back to work.
Second thing this week… Package! Yes! I got the package. It had wonders inside. I was in love. Everything fits perfect and it’s golden. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Along with the package I got several of mom's dear elders.
ZONE CONFERENCE
We had a conference on Friday. We got to go to Florida and Elder Foster spoke to us with President there. He’s a Seventy kinda, well, counselor to a Seventy, Elder Arnold. It was soooo awesome. He talked about prayer and working with members here. So great. I was very touched by the spirit. Yay for conferences! The cool thing is for conferences, we get to go far away and spend all day there with them and eat lunch. It’s an all day event. Pretty fun. It was awesome to see Pres too. We only get to see him once a transfer. He doesn’t come for district meetings.
Then!!!!! As for last night, ah! Cambios! So... I am being transferred away from San Jose. Sad day indeed. I have grown to love this area, just like the CCM, even though I’m ready for a change. I’m ready to see other parts of the church and hopefully strengthen it in other places besides here. So! I’m going to Maldonado. Yes... it is a dream city: tourist area central for Uruguay, next to the beach, rich and supposedly awesome. Hermana Hite totally called it. It’s going to be freezing, and my new comp (Hermana Puentes) and I will be whitewashing. Whoa! Yes, apparently we don’t have a ward mission leader and so we will be going off very little to get the area going. You were right mom, more responsibility. I’m so excited though. Maldonado is the zone, my specific area is Punta del Este. Look it up! All the pictures that ever come up for Uruguay are from this area. "The Dedos" is the most common thing there. It’s a giant hand statue that is coming up out of the sand on the beach. Tourist site. Shakira has a summer house there by the way. Too bad it’s not summer and I´ll be freezing my toosh off. I’m also going to be in Hermana Lundskog’s district! Wahoo! So I’ll see her every week. What else about the joint... my comp is Latina again. She trained Hermana Lundskog too. My comp, Hermana Hite, is staying here and she’s training again. She started crying. She’s so stressed. Hermanas never train twice. That means she’s good. We´re so sad to be parting, but it’s a new chapter. I’m ready for something new, although I’m so nervous as well. I’m excited for my new area. It’s where every hermana wants to go haha. Yes! the beach... Heavenly Father knows me well. I’m worried I’m being too spoiled though. I haven’t really been in an area that is too ghetto, the really poor places. Now I’m going to a place where apparently there is a mall and bowling and Burger King! Whoa... I hope I don’t get too used to the nice stuff. It’ll make it harder when I get transferred again. Oh well. I’m just trusting in Heavenly Father. He knows what I need. And besides... by the time I’m done with this area, I’ll probably have the mission stuff totally down and by then I’ll be mature enough to handle anything that comes my way : ) That’s what Hermana Hite says anyway. haha Crazy, two more transfers and I’ll be half way done. Yes, it’s still a long ways away, but time flies when you’re having fun! 
ENJOYING SOME MUCH NEEDED HEAT-AGE ON MY TOOTSIES
Aw... Stephani is doing well right now. We´re proud of her. She is also going to the temple on Saturday!!! Wahoo! Yes, they are taking a temple trip with the ward. She had her interview yesterday to get her recommend and she’s good to go! Miracle of the week!
All is well here. I hope I can say the same for next week. Haha I’ll be in a completely different world next week. Scary! But it’ll be good, I’m excited.
I miss you all so very, very much. Thank you for the package. It was heaven in a box. And all your notes and letters too. You guys are the best. : ) I gotta go say goodbye to all the members here now and my converts Hector and Steph and get packingggggg!
Until next week, hugs and kisses....
Love, Ash
AMERICAN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES!!
Aw, how I love Pdays. I seriously can’t wait to hear from you all. It’s the best feeling in the world. You keep my going, you keep me strong. Thank you.
First off, how grateful I am for this opportunity to grow and learn. Wow, it’s a challenge every day. This week was another one of those weeks. I’ll get to that in a minute.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROOKE! I love your sweet face. 17 years, oh man. I hope you have the best day ever. Actually, I know you’ll have the best day ever. Is it crazy that I know some secrets about your day all the way over here that you don’t know?? haha love it. Enjoy it alright. I love you.
Well... it is FREEEEZING here. I can’t describe to you the amount of pain that is going through my body. Seriously, the humidity sticks to you all day every day and it hurts. Our heater is broken and we don’t have anything to keep us warm. Whoever said Uruguay wasn’t that cold or that hot before I came here was WRONG! My toes and fingers are numb. Hence, this week I got sick. Very sick…. Head cold and sinus infection. I’ve been coughing up crap and wheezing up nonsense and I’ve been miserable. When you get sick on the mish, you gotta call "the" Hermana, that is Hermana Da Silva. I was prescribed to two days in bed pretty much. So the work again this week has been slow. My comp went crazy without me. I slept for HOURS upon end. It was crazy. I have regained most my strength but I’m still stuck with a cold and my frozenness. It’s all good.
As matters of work, we had an all time high of lessons with members this week. It took a lot of time, but we got them to come out with us. Church yesterday was awesome, the class for investigators and recent converts was full (both with a some of ours and many of the elders)! I felt the sprit really strong at church though. It was good to have so many people there. We found a family as we ventured out to this field. They live forever out in the middle of nowhere and that’s scary here in Guay. At dark... we talked to a guy and his son saw us, said "hola preciosas" and his dad decided it might be good for us to talk to him... so awkward. Welp mom, I can say our good looks did get us into this house. We taught him barely before he had to leave. We asked if we could pray with him and I asked if he needed anything. He said work. So in the prayer I asked that he could be able to find work... he texted us the next day and said "welp thanks to you, blondie, I found work. I want to be with you more so I can have more luck like this." Awkward. But AWESOME his prayer was answered! He continued to text us as we talked about gospel stuff and then he started getting out of hand, saying not very good things and so we had to stop talking to him. Hermana Hite didn’t want to go back to teach him but with the help of Alejandro and Adriana, a married couple in the ward, we went back and saw him. Nothing really has happened more, we bore strong testimony last night but he had to go again, to work I might add. It would be a cool story if he got baptized eh? haha.
Also... mom, I made cookies this week haha. I have to say, we only ate 5 of them. We bundled up the rest and tried to decorate them all cute, hence the picture, and wrote notes to our new investigators and delivered them. The people here are obsessed with your cookies! Everyone wants the recipe. I think they won a few hearts and a few more appointments for us. And we´re making more!
It felt good to just serve people. That same day, we saw a man who could not walk carrying wood into his house for his fireplace. Holy cow! What a pile of wood. He needed help. While he was inside, we dropped our bags, grabbed some wood and met him at the door. He was really old, but we took the whole rest of the wood inside for him. He was so relieved. It felt so good to serve! That’s the first time I’ve done service just like that here because no one will let you help them. It’s a pride thing, but it felt right. Loved it. That’s what we're here for… also to baptize, of course.
Yesterday in our class, we talked about the roles of family members. What the mom and dad role is and the kids’ role in the family. It was such a good lesson. I have to say thank you to you all. The other missionaries and ward members and investigators were bearing testimony of their family not doing those things and then the difference when they started to do them. I couldn’t help but think, my family has never faltered, never fallen, never lacked the faith. It’s most certainly for that reason that we girls are the way we are, because you, mom and dad, raised us that way. We are strong, because you are strong. I’m so grateful for that. It’s been such a huge blessing in my life; you have done everything perfectly! Thank you for your dedication and faith. I love you so much.
That’s pretty much it. I hope this next week will be better. I have seriously had to look at a picture of Christ and force myself to do the thing he would do, and it hasn’t been easy. But in the meantime I have been "leaving behind" some of those things on my list I made. It’s been hard, but worth it. It seems to be the theme of life, eh? Anyway, I’m off. Love you all so much. Stay strong.
Love, Ash
P.S. I miss you like a fat kid loves cake ; ) cup cakes... with lots of sprinkles on them. Doesn’t matter what flavor. They’re all good ; ) haha chao!
First off, how grateful I am for this opportunity to grow and learn. Wow, it’s a challenge every day. This week was another one of those weeks. I’ll get to that in a minute.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROOKE! I love your sweet face. 17 years, oh man. I hope you have the best day ever. Actually, I know you’ll have the best day ever. Is it crazy that I know some secrets about your day all the way over here that you don’t know?? haha love it. Enjoy it alright. I love you.
Well... it is FREEEEZING here. I can’t describe to you the amount of pain that is going through my body. Seriously, the humidity sticks to you all day every day and it hurts. Our heater is broken and we don’t have anything to keep us warm. Whoever said Uruguay wasn’t that cold or that hot before I came here was WRONG! My toes and fingers are numb. Hence, this week I got sick. Very sick…. Head cold and sinus infection. I’ve been coughing up crap and wheezing up nonsense and I’ve been miserable. When you get sick on the mish, you gotta call "the" Hermana, that is Hermana Da Silva. I was prescribed to two days in bed pretty much. So the work again this week has been slow. My comp went crazy without me. I slept for HOURS upon end. It was crazy. I have regained most my strength but I’m still stuck with a cold and my frozenness. It’s all good.
As matters of work, we had an all time high of lessons with members this week. It took a lot of time, but we got them to come out with us. Church yesterday was awesome, the class for investigators and recent converts was full (both with a some of ours and many of the elders)! I felt the sprit really strong at church though. It was good to have so many people there. We found a family as we ventured out to this field. They live forever out in the middle of nowhere and that’s scary here in Guay. At dark... we talked to a guy and his son saw us, said "hola preciosas" and his dad decided it might be good for us to talk to him... so awkward. Welp mom, I can say our good looks did get us into this house. We taught him barely before he had to leave. We asked if we could pray with him and I asked if he needed anything. He said work. So in the prayer I asked that he could be able to find work... he texted us the next day and said "welp thanks to you, blondie, I found work. I want to be with you more so I can have more luck like this." Awkward. But AWESOME his prayer was answered! He continued to text us as we talked about gospel stuff and then he started getting out of hand, saying not very good things and so we had to stop talking to him. Hermana Hite didn’t want to go back to teach him but with the help of Alejandro and Adriana, a married couple in the ward, we went back and saw him. Nothing really has happened more, we bore strong testimony last night but he had to go again, to work I might add. It would be a cool story if he got baptized eh? haha.
Also... mom, I made cookies this week haha. I have to say, we only ate 5 of them. We bundled up the rest and tried to decorate them all cute, hence the picture, and wrote notes to our new investigators and delivered them. The people here are obsessed with your cookies! Everyone wants the recipe. I think they won a few hearts and a few more appointments for us. And we´re making more!
It felt good to just serve people. That same day, we saw a man who could not walk carrying wood into his house for his fireplace. Holy cow! What a pile of wood. He needed help. While he was inside, we dropped our bags, grabbed some wood and met him at the door. He was really old, but we took the whole rest of the wood inside for him. He was so relieved. It felt so good to serve! That’s the first time I’ve done service just like that here because no one will let you help them. It’s a pride thing, but it felt right. Loved it. That’s what we're here for… also to baptize, of course.
Yesterday in our class, we talked about the roles of family members. What the mom and dad role is and the kids’ role in the family. It was such a good lesson. I have to say thank you to you all. The other missionaries and ward members and investigators were bearing testimony of their family not doing those things and then the difference when they started to do them. I couldn’t help but think, my family has never faltered, never fallen, never lacked the faith. It’s most certainly for that reason that we girls are the way we are, because you, mom and dad, raised us that way. We are strong, because you are strong. I’m so grateful for that. It’s been such a huge blessing in my life; you have done everything perfectly! Thank you for your dedication and faith. I love you so much.
That’s pretty much it. I hope this next week will be better. I have seriously had to look at a picture of Christ and force myself to do the thing he would do, and it hasn’t been easy. But in the meantime I have been "leaving behind" some of those things on my list I made. It’s been hard, but worth it. It seems to be the theme of life, eh? Anyway, I’m off. Love you all so much. Stay strong.
Love, Ash
P.S. I miss you like a fat kid loves cake ; ) cup cakes... with lots of sprinkles on them. Doesn’t matter what flavor. They’re all good ; ) haha chao!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
I HATE PLANTING THINGS.....
I just wanna eat! ...that’s the quote of the week.
Oh how I miss your beautiful faces. All is well here, for the most part. That’s not counting this week, because let me tell you… It’s been the hardest one so far. Even Hermana Hite said this week was the hardest of her entire mission too (and she is almost done with this whole trip) so...
First off, the package!!! It was all my dreams plus more! I love you mom. You are inspired to get me what I need, that is for sure. The journal is AMAZING!!! I love it. Thank you, thank you, thank you! So awesome. Kenya... WOW! That’s all I have to say. I LOVED your frame you made me! It is so cute and it has my adopted mission quote on it. I love it! I almost started crying. Well, I got teary eyed when I saw it, but I tried not to let them out. I love it! It’s sitting on my nightstand now. The story, mom, entitled “The Room” is so amazing. Hermana Hite and I sat in the church reading it and yes, we did cry. She translated into Spanish and we have been sharing it with many here. They love it too. She tells everyone about you. She spoke in Sacrament yesterday and talked about you and how cool you are and that you make journals and she told everyone the quote that was on there. You are loved. And dad... we won’t go there. I have been telling stories of you all week and a lot of missionaries are taking into practice the advice you have given me. I love feeling close to you guys while being so very far away. The pictures were so good. It’s good to see faces. Cass looks huge! And looks like her birthday was a blast. Kenz’s race was awesome to get to see as well. I’m so proud of you love bug! The food is awesome, Modge, and the Ensign has been missed. They don’t really get them here. I loved it! Thank you!
Alright, so after Pday ended last week we had several lessons planned... good ones. Ones we were excited for, but it was not meant to be. They both cancelled on us before our Pday was over. Lame. Oh well, we got through it. Next day... we decided to pray that our lessons would stay in place and right in the middle of our prayer we got two texts... both cancelling. All our lessons that day got cancelled. Alright, rough start to the week. It’s alright, it can’t continue like this, right? Wrong. Wednesday... again during our prayer for people to meet with us that we had planned to see... they called and cancelled. This is getting repetitive. I’ll just say... we had every single one of our dozens of lessons cancel... (sigh) We had to drop all our investigators because they refuse to progress. Sonia, Luis, Andrea and Leo... and the many others who won’t go to church. On top of all that, it’s been raining all week: cold, dreary. I told my comp that the rain was just the cherry on top of a very crappy sundae this week. We definitely got to the end of our rope... but like dad told me, I’m trying to hang on to the knot I tied at the end. I just keep slipping. So now... we get to start all over... zero investigators. Clean slate.
The good thing about all of this was we clearly saw that we are just planting seeds for right now, which is where the quote of the week comes in. I really just want to eat and harvest. But it’s all gotta be done. We are prepping the way for two others to get here and they are going to rock this area. As a result of our discouragement, we got creative... yes! We are good at that. We are planning some awesome stuff to get new investigators. 1) We are planning a presentation at the library for the Book of Mormon. So cool. We´ll teach about it. 2) The plaza. I think I already mentioned this, but chalk drawing there for the plan of salvation. The elders are coming to help. 3) We made a survey. A new way to do contacts. We knock doors, introduce who we are and we have a survey with questions from the main points of every principle of the gospel. We are finding out people’s needs like that! It’s been so fun and a new way to go about doing the same ole stuff. We are proud of ourselves. Another good thing. We can truly say we have thrown our hearts into the work this week, and even though we have nothing to show for it... we have no regrets. It’s a good feeling even though it has been SO HARD.
On the plus side... when it rains, everyone here makes tortas fritas. It’s like a tortilla and then they put dulce de leche on it. It’s really yummy. So the bishop’s wife invited us over to do that for FHE this week. We drank hot chocolate and ate tortas with them. It was fun. I miss the simple things of home. I consider that a tender mercy though. Life is still swell, just the mission life. We´re pushing through the fog and coming to the light I think.
I love you all so much. I appreciate you more than you know. Hope all is well and that you’re growing closer to the Lord continually. Keep strong. The church is true. Everything happens for a reason and there is a plan for us. Thanks Shaq for reminding me of it. I LOVE YOU ALL CON TODO MI CORAZON!!!
Love, Ash.
Oh how I miss your beautiful faces. All is well here, for the most part. That’s not counting this week, because let me tell you… It’s been the hardest one so far. Even Hermana Hite said this week was the hardest of her entire mission too (and she is almost done with this whole trip) so...
First off, the package!!! It was all my dreams plus more! I love you mom. You are inspired to get me what I need, that is for sure. The journal is AMAZING!!! I love it. Thank you, thank you, thank you! So awesome. Kenya... WOW! That’s all I have to say. I LOVED your frame you made me! It is so cute and it has my adopted mission quote on it. I love it! I almost started crying. Well, I got teary eyed when I saw it, but I tried not to let them out. I love it! It’s sitting on my nightstand now. The story, mom, entitled “The Room” is so amazing. Hermana Hite and I sat in the church reading it and yes, we did cry. She translated into Spanish and we have been sharing it with many here. They love it too. She tells everyone about you. She spoke in Sacrament yesterday and talked about you and how cool you are and that you make journals and she told everyone the quote that was on there. You are loved. And dad... we won’t go there. I have been telling stories of you all week and a lot of missionaries are taking into practice the advice you have given me. I love feeling close to you guys while being so very far away. The pictures were so good. It’s good to see faces. Cass looks huge! And looks like her birthday was a blast. Kenz’s race was awesome to get to see as well. I’m so proud of you love bug! The food is awesome, Modge, and the Ensign has been missed. They don’t really get them here. I loved it! Thank you!
Alright, so after Pday ended last week we had several lessons planned... good ones. Ones we were excited for, but it was not meant to be. They both cancelled on us before our Pday was over. Lame. Oh well, we got through it. Next day... we decided to pray that our lessons would stay in place and right in the middle of our prayer we got two texts... both cancelling. All our lessons that day got cancelled. Alright, rough start to the week. It’s alright, it can’t continue like this, right? Wrong. Wednesday... again during our prayer for people to meet with us that we had planned to see... they called and cancelled. This is getting repetitive. I’ll just say... we had every single one of our dozens of lessons cancel... (sigh) We had to drop all our investigators because they refuse to progress. Sonia, Luis, Andrea and Leo... and the many others who won’t go to church. On top of all that, it’s been raining all week: cold, dreary. I told my comp that the rain was just the cherry on top of a very crappy sundae this week. We definitely got to the end of our rope... but like dad told me, I’m trying to hang on to the knot I tied at the end. I just keep slipping. So now... we get to start all over... zero investigators. Clean slate.
The good thing about all of this was we clearly saw that we are just planting seeds for right now, which is where the quote of the week comes in. I really just want to eat and harvest. But it’s all gotta be done. We are prepping the way for two others to get here and they are going to rock this area. As a result of our discouragement, we got creative... yes! We are good at that. We are planning some awesome stuff to get new investigators. 1) We are planning a presentation at the library for the Book of Mormon. So cool. We´ll teach about it. 2) The plaza. I think I already mentioned this, but chalk drawing there for the plan of salvation. The elders are coming to help. 3) We made a survey. A new way to do contacts. We knock doors, introduce who we are and we have a survey with questions from the main points of every principle of the gospel. We are finding out people’s needs like that! It’s been so fun and a new way to go about doing the same ole stuff. We are proud of ourselves. Another good thing. We can truly say we have thrown our hearts into the work this week, and even though we have nothing to show for it... we have no regrets. It’s a good feeling even though it has been SO HARD.
On the plus side... when it rains, everyone here makes tortas fritas. It’s like a tortilla and then they put dulce de leche on it. It’s really yummy. So the bishop’s wife invited us over to do that for FHE this week. We drank hot chocolate and ate tortas with them. It was fun. I miss the simple things of home. I consider that a tender mercy though. Life is still swell, just the mission life. We´re pushing through the fog and coming to the light I think.
I love you all so much. I appreciate you more than you know. Hope all is well and that you’re growing closer to the Lord continually. Keep strong. The church is true. Everything happens for a reason and there is a plan for us. Thanks Shaq for reminding me of it. I LOVE YOU ALL CON TODO MI CORAZON!!!
Love, Ash.
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