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!

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.

ROCKIN' IT!

FAMILY!!! I love you... SHAQUEL!!! Happy Birthday my dearest. I love you so much and hope you have the best day ever. Sorry I can’t do much for you from here. But I’ve been thinking about you all day and all week, since it took me that long to get this sign made with the little spare time we have. (gosh can’t believe you’re 20!)
This week has been somethin’ else. Oh my gosh. I have felt the stresses of taking care of these people here like never before. No wonder missionaries mature so much: we’re like the ultimate babysitters, psychologists, and bishops. uh... I can’t even believe the things we’ve been faced with this week. Crazy stuff .

We did intercambios, which in English is exchanges, I think... it’s where you and your comp split up with a different set of sisters. I went and stayed with Hermana Watkins in Santa Lucia and her comp came here to San Jose with Hermana Hite. We did it after district meeting on Tuesday and stayed until Wednesday afternoon working there and then switched back. It was SUCH a good experience! So Hermana Watkins, as you know, is younger than me, by one transfer. So... I got to be senior comp for a day. It was interesting. She freaked out because she still doesn’t understand any Spanish... she told me I’d have to pick it up. And pick it up I did haha. We pretty much rocked it. I know so much more than I give myself credit for. It’s hard to see that while leaning on the Hermana Hite crutch. I don’t actually lean on her, she just babies me cuz I’m still young in the mish. It was cool to see I can totally do this. It was a real eye opener. We got to go to the young men’s activity and give a devotional before they played soccer. Wow... 25 youth, just young men. There is hope here in Uruguay! You want to know the coolest part? NONE of them were members...yes, I said it. Not a single one. The Young Men’s leader actually went out... found a ton of kids who like to play soccer and invited them into the huge church with an indoor soccer court and said, "Hey, every Tuesday at 7 we will play here. The deal is, we’re gonna teach you something every week, then to keep playing you gotta come to church on a Sunday." Alright... someone who does their calling, and does it well. It made me so happy, I was almost in tears looking at all these kids who were being taught by someone who loves the work and loves them. So cool. And they’ve had major success! Six of them showed up at church last week. They have nowhere to play after dark so it’s a golden thing to do. Too bad we don’t have the facility here in San Jose to do that. It was just really cool to see another side of the work, ya know? So we got to teach them about prophets. I did this really cool activity with them and they started fighting over who would do the activity with me. That was cool. Afterwards I told Hermana Watkins, “Let’s go and talk with these kids.” So we did and made friends with them. It was so fun. Awe... love this work! Hermana Farr with little Naomi
Then, when I got back here, we had a really bad day. We had a lesson with this lady we are teaching... oh man, good news is, she accepted a baptismal date. Yeah! Bad news... like dad said, she really has to trade her entire life in for the gospel. But, she’s willing to do it. She’s a mom... and she has been receiving "help" from someone to pay for her house and her kids. When I say help... oh man, she has been selling herself to a married man for 13 years to receive this money. I couldn’t really understand completely what was going on and my comp went completely speechless. That NEVER HAPPENS WITH HERMANA HITE! Not ever. I knew I didn’t get it completely. When we walked out she told me that, and in the middle of the street, I felt the weight of her pain on my shoulders and just broke down. I felt a TINY smidge of what Heavenly Father must feel... just a smidge. This is going on all over the world in every country, every city... oh my gosh... it’s unreal. I never in a million years thought I would be dealing with these things here. It’s no wonder missionaries are so stressed! This is a hard life, having to care for these people. I read in Jesus the Christ this week (which by the way I’m loving dad), that we are NOT babysitters. We have the seeds of faith and we are responsible to disperse them to the people of Uruguay. That is the responsibility we have as missionaries. Then we are to do everything we can to pull the weeds from around it and water it, but we are not responsible for the sunshine... that’s the responsibility of Heavenly Father and the investigator. They gotta pray for that sunshine and then if it is His will, He will pour down rays of sunlight and make the seed grow. If they don’t do their part... it’s not gonna happen. I thought that was interesting, because Hermana Hite and I have been running around, trying to do all these extravagant things for our investigators. That’s nice... we are supposed to care for them, but we can’t make the seed grow. It’s been frustrating because no one is progressing over here. But we’ve taught them and like dad says, we’ll find those who are willing to trade their lives in for something better. Pray for her... she needs it.

On the same day that we found that out about her... we got verbally attacked by some lady we contacted... she accused us of so much stuff. First time that’s ever really happened to me. I had to suppress my angry feelings because that’s not what Christ would have done. But man, she said some hurtful things. She said Joseph Smith was made up. She accused us of preaching false doctrine. She said it was a huge shame that we were wasting our youth on something that didn’t exist. She even went as far as to say that when Christ comes to the earth, we are going to find out the truth and it’s going to be a real shame because by then it will be too late for us. We tried bearing testimony but she just yelled at us more. Thank heavens for fences on every house here, cuz we just walked away and she would have followed, if it wasn’t for that. It was so sad... Hermana Hite reminded me that Christ said our names or image will be "dirtied" for his sake. That was definitely how it was. But I KNOW! that what I’m here for is not a lie. Christ gave his life for me, and so ... who cares if people accuse me of false preaching. It’s sad for them, but I would suffer anything for Christ’s name. I would. (P.S. someone spit on one of the Elders this week too. Can you believe such horrid things go on?) It was a growing experience that’s for sure.

I love this gospel. I love you all. Can’t wait to hear from you again. Be so good! Keep the faith! I love you!

Love, Ash

THE TRUE CHURCH

Hello family! I love your guts so much. Everyone wrote me a ton this week! I’m excited to read what’s been said. Lots has happened this week:

Steph had an interview with the bishop and got a blessing. She’s doing better and actually offered the opening prayer in Sacrament yesterday! Wahoo! First convert in this ward for the last few months to do so. She did great. Before the interview we found a HUGE spider the size of a quarter. She just decided she wanted to play with it... hmmm. She let it crawl all over her while Hermana Hite and I freaked out. Then she was holding it in her hand when she realized it had an egg sack on it and it burst open and babies went everywhere. Luckily, she flung it to the ground before they could get on her. I think...

We had some more stalkers... worse this time. They followed us. We turned corners trying to get away from them, they continued to follow. We eventually started running...and when they saw us run, they ran after us. We decided we had to book it around a corner and duck into a shop somewhere really fast so they couldn’t see us. We did so... into a hair salon and a thousand girls were staring at us breathing hard and scared out of our minds. It was actually kinda funny. These boys were just teenagers, but still! We don’t like being followed. For real! It just reminded me of a movie scene or something haha. We had a good laugh afterwards, and it worked sooo... :) don’t freak out mom. It’s just Uruguay.

Miracle of the week. Well, it was for me, not so much with investigators. We had just gotten done with our meeting with the ward mission leader and we were late getting to an appointment. So we were bookin' it. We ran past the big Catholic Church and as we did two nuns come out. Now... I have never seen a nun in real life, it was crazy! As I ran past them, I started to think about the things I am doing here. They have quite literally given up their lives for their church, and for now... so have I. The only difference is... I’m doing it for the REAL true church. It’s sad that they have given up everything for the rest of time to preach and work for a church that isn’t even true... my comp and I talked a lot about that this week. It’s been cool. I’m glad I have the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Then, I realized that my comp and I are like the Savior, only in 2011 and just for the city of San Jose. But it’s big! That’s a whole city... and we are two girls, 21 and 22 years of age. What a great responsibility. We are responsible for this city and strengthening the church here. Holy cow! What a calling. And here we are, running our bums off to do so, and here they are... walking very properly and slowly. That’s the difference between our church and theirs. Just a thought… It got me thinking all week long.

Lastly, yesterday all the lessons were on talents. Of course, when you start talking about talents you start thinking about all the things you can’t do, and especially here, all the things you NEED to be able to do. I got frustrated. Thank goodness for good comps like Hermana Hite. She sat me down and we wrote down each other’s talents and shared with each other. It was cool to see all the things she thinks of me that I had no idea she would have thought of. I guess that’s what you learn about a person after you’ve been living together for almost three months. Crazy... we´ve been living together for three months. Weird.

I love the mission… with all of its ridiculousness and hardships. It really is good. And we have so much fun. I wish I could share all the funny things we do, but it’s just too much. We get in bed on time and are up for hours laughing... I love my comp. Cody wrote me and I guess they got their first baptism in A YEAR! Oh man, that’s rough, but I’m so proud of him. GO CODY! I love you! Keep up the fantastic work. I will see you three weeks after you get home :) I love the mission. I love the gospel. I love my Savior Jesus Christ. And I love my family. Thank you so much for everything you do. Loves...

Love, Ash. Be good!

BEST MOTHER'S DAY!!

Here it is.... from the madre! So, Saturday morning about 8:00 a.m. (the day before Mother's Day) I am running around gathering last minute things for Brooke who is going to Prom, getting ready to leave for her day date to Lagoon, and I get this call from some "Unknown Number." I answer, "Hello?" and most of what I hear is just feedback from my own voice..... except for a very faint, "Mom?" "Hello?" I say again.... more feedback... "Mom!!" comes the reply. Instantly I get goosebumps... "Is this my Ash?" I ask. "Yes!" comes the reply. I start jumping for joy. I ask her how she is doing. There is silence. I ask, "Can you talk?" She says... "not really!" And at that very moment I realize that the only thing being exchanged between the airways of Utah and Uruguay are some very deep emotions of gratitude. Awe... I miss that girl. We were only able to speak for a few moments as she gave me instructions on how and when we would be speaking on the following day. Yeah! Then Brooke stole the phone from me and spoke with her big seesta for another minute, as Ash offered her some imperative "Prom" advice that could only come from a big sister. Thanks Ash!!

Then came Sunday... Mother's Day. We all waited for the moment that afternoon when we could talk to Ash for about an hour. An hour seems like so long, but those of you who have been on missions, or have/had a loved one serving a mission, know that one hour feels like 15 minutes. We gathered around the speaker phone and listened to her explain only those things that somehow get lost in written correspondence. It was so awesome to hear her voice!!! We laughed and we cried. She is still Ashley. She sounded the same, only a little more mature and filled with a lot of gratitude. She is doing awesome, loving her mish and being stretched all along the way. Now that I got my Ashley fix..... I'm sorta going through withdrawals, but this too shall pass! It's all good. It was the best mother's day ever!

Now a word from our missionary.....

This little girl calls us Hermana Tupper and Nike. She’s funny: looks like a Latin version of the tiny Raven from Disney, hilarious just like her too. I’m Hermana Tupper, like a Tupperware, and Hermana Hite is Hermana Nike, cause she big ha, like the shoe ;)

Alright, that is beside the point. HELLO FAMILY AGAIN!!! Oh man... I’m not gonna lie…. It was soooo great to hear everyone’s voices on Mother’s Day, but I almost think it was harder to hear you guys than to not. I’ve just gotten so used to not talking with anyone. It’s weird. It was weird describing to you all what my life has been for 5 months and not have anyone really know about it. I realize that life at home isn’t changing in a way I can’t handle, everyone is still there. I appreciate that more than any of you will ever know. It’s crazy to think the next time we talk I will be pretty close to coming home… on the downhill slope anyway. Crazy! I can’t get over it.

I’ve been thinking about what dad said. I’m trying to find the needle in a haystack. I guess I thought it would be easier to find that needle than this. It’s difficult having to go through the whole city to find one person. It’s hard when our President asks us set a goal every month for how many baptisms we feel we’re going to have and then not having any. We are trying so hard. We have done literally everything for our investigators: made them General Conference CDs, daily contact, prayers, fasting, taught and invited them to feel the spirit... everything. I was reading in Jesus the Christ this morning... I found a little thought in the notes. It said, "There will be missionaries who will bring the message of great joy to others, but ultimately it is up to them to gain the testimony." Obviously, I knew this. It’s just challenging when you feel that no one is doing their part to feel that or to permit it to enter their hearts. We can only do so much, and we have done our part. We can only nudge them in the right direction. If it’s not their time, then it’s not their time. We have to let that be and know the will of the Lord is going to be something greater. I read in an article by Jeffery R. Holland (I love the man) that "faith is HOPING for a better future, trusting that the Lord has something better in store for us than what we have now. Faith builds off the past, but never longs to stay there." He referred to Lot’s wife, who looked back because she thought that what she was leaving behind was better than what the Lord was leading her to. She lacked in trust. I will not do that. I just gotta keep moving forward. That’s all. Like Shaq kept telling me, if someone doesn’t accept the gospel, just move on because there’s someone else who is being better prepared. Thanks for helping me keep in mind also that it might not always be during this year and a half that I see the results of my work. I just gotta keep pluggin :)

So funny story... right after I tell you my mission schedule, the district leader calls us and says.... major changes in the mish haha. Uh... what the junk... we have 2 hours of companion study, and then we have to do language study right after. Then we have lunch right after. So pretty much we stay in the house ALL morning until approximately 1-1:30. So weird. We’re kinda worried. That means we have to go out and talk to people during the siesta (naptime) and NO ONE likes to talk to us then. We just have to trust that some good will come out of it. What’s in the future is better than what is in the past, right? It just also means we have to go out and do contacts in the dark cold instead of the morning like we usually do. He never said it would be easy, right? So anyway, Elder Arnold, our Area President and Seventy, sent us 22 pages of info about all these changes and we´re required to print it out and use it and read it obviously. Both me AND my comp, crazy eh? That’s a lot of pesos haha… anyway, its good. I guess I´ll update you more on how it’s working next week.

I pray for you guys daily… like 30 times a day. I love you all. You and the gospel are my life. I don’t need anything else. Life is swell. I love the gospel. I love you... Happy Mother’s day and Happy Birthday, dad, again. Shaquel... ah! a few weeks till your 20th, and Brooke a few more till your 17th! Woo! Have some fun, but not too much without me. I love all your guts!!!! and faces too. Be good.

Thank you so much for your encouragement, support and undying LOVE!!! I will forever and ever be eternally grateful!!! I LOVE YOU WITH MY HEART AND SOUL. DONT EVER FORGET IT! The church is true :)
Love, Ashley Nicole

A STALKER?!?

I don’t think I mentioned the fact that we had transfer calls this week, last night to be exact. I can’t even tell you the amount of butterflies that make their way into my stomach for transfer calls. We had it bad last night. We were pacing the apartment waiting for the calls. We actually decided to make tortillas and ate them with jam and played Go Fish while we waited. It was quite fun. We are staying together. They white washed the elders right out of here. We are getting two newbies. We´re nervous about that. One will be a greenie, so we´ll see what he’s about. We got really close with the elders, (as close as we can be as missionaries). They were cool. They came over to the house last night to check on us because yes... we have a stalker. More about that later...

This week went well. It’s weird how this happens… I feel the hard days, but when I go to write you all, only the good can be remembered. I guess that’s how the mish works. Good times. I’m glad it’s that way, otherwise no one would ever come on a mission for REAL! This who-bizzle is hard.

The elders had two baptisms this week. It was so awesome to watch. One lady who quit smoking, they didn’t think she would be able to get baptized but I guess she called one hour before the baptism was going to start and said she was ready. It was awesome. Then the little son of the old bishop was baptized. He got to do the honors. It was so cool. We sang Child’s Prayer in Spanish. It’s hard! The spirit was so strong. It’s even cooler on Sunday to see them receive the Holy Ghost and get their blessing. The lady (Laura) started crying. Man it’s the only person I have seen cry when she received the Holy Ghost. So that was cool. I like to look at their faces when they receive it. You can see their countenance change. I cry every time. What’s new, eh?

Our investigators are... somewhat progressing... we are having a hard time with them. We have been fasting like crazy nuts and praying for them but... man Satan is working hard. We heard another set of sisters in the mish had 19 investigators with baptismal dates but not one of them got there. Really makes you wonder what the purpose behind it all is, huh? Obviously it’s not their time and we are to be learning something from the hardships here, but MAN! Some of the elders here have about 40 baptisms, but I don’t even know how that’s possible. Of course the number doesn’t matter... but we want to find those who are ready too. We´re working so hard and doing everything we can. I guess that’s all that can be done...we just gotta keep pressing forward and having the faith.

Luis... dear sweet Luis…. Poor man, went way out of his way this week to make us and the elders lunch. It was so fun. We made apple cinnamon muffins for dessert and he was in SHOCK! It was so funny. We are such good friends with him. We talk so frankly with him these days and we find him everywhere in the city and he always stops to talk with us. He’s so much more than an investigator to me. He is my brother, someone I’m trying really hard to save (for himself and for our Heavenly Father). He told us when the storms hit this week, when Bin Laden was killed this morning, called us last night to find out if I was staying or going and all sorts of other things. He’s the best. I just hope he can rise above his challenges and step in the waters of baptism for a better life. He deserves it and so much more.

As for our stalker… apparently he has been doing it to all the hermanas here for 3 years. But it got really bad last night when he came to our house at almost 10 at night... we freaked out! We called the elders and they rushed over. Our district leader says now we have to call the police... no worries. It’s all good! I’m honestly not that worried about it. We had a dance party with the elders... ha that sounds bad. Actually, we mostly just watched the elders dance to this CD a member gave us. She’s a singer and she taught them the funniest dance moves. So they showed us what it was about, from outside our door of course, [they can’t come in the house]...so funny. I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. One elder is finishing his mish and the other was almost going to go home because of back problems, but now he gets to work in the office doing finances, so he gets to stay. It was a bitter sweet moment with them leaving. I thought to myself, this is one of those memories I’ll remember when I get home and feel sick remembering my mish and wanting to come back. It was a good feeling. Life here is good.

Love you, love ash

P.S. Regarding hardships… I read this scripture the other morning and it struck me really hard. It’s so cool. Ether 6:5 The Lord CAUSED the wind to blow hard… now why on earth would he do that? The same reason he gives us trials. It says right in that scripture... he causes the winds to blow to get us to the promised land. He tries us to make us the people he needs us to be, to become what he knows we can become and to have us learn what we need to. So cool!

This week was quite interesting. So because it was Easter all the Catholic people (which is everyone), went to Melo (a different part of Uruguay) to go to the Virgin Mary and worship her. Go figure… Easter, resurrection of Christ… and they go worship Mary? So, this week really was like a ghost town. We didn’t have any appointments with our investigators all week. They all cancelled on us. So hard! Thing about Uruguay is, people close down shop and cancel school for any reason they can come up with. So all the stores were closed, and no one had school all week long. So this place really was deserted. They call it "la semana de turismo."

We did, however, have a ward activity. We planned it so last minute, but even though we were small in numbers it went SO well! It was an Easter activity and the elders did a treasure hunt using key words from the scriptures. Hermana Hite and I were on different teams and my team totally dominated. I have never seen the ward get so crazy, but we were running around the church trying to find the hidden clues. So fun. I found pretty much all of them with the help of the bishop and his daughter ha. We rocked! We saw the ward bonding a little bit, with us and together as a ward. It was awesome.

Me with Luis' little boy and nephew
Hermana Hite and I shared Easter traditions with each other and as an Easter surprise(during the week while I was showering and sleeping and such), she made an Easter egg hunt for me (without the plastic eggs because they don’t have them here). But, she did little coupons like we do as a family. I got a back rub, muffins and a pizza day from her! It was so sweet of her. I loved it. It was so nice of her to make it as close to home as possible. I love her.

I had my first getting sick experience here. We got fed raw tuna the other day... yeahhhhh. It was rough. My comp and I got really sick and had to spend a few hours of the night inside. It was like tuna jello, ha! That’s what we call it now that we are better. Not fun.

Miracle of the week... The bishop, for whatever reason, decided he wanted to cancel the "talks" in Sacrament and instead called on random people to bear their testimony of the Savior and the atonement. The whole ward was in tears by the end. You could just FEEL of the power of the atonement and the resurrection… the whole reason we are here and the reason this gospel is true. It was awesome to say the least.
My comp and I have been "called on" to talk in district meeting tomorrow. We are to talk on receiving revelation through the BOM and church attendance. She was studying the church attendance and I the BOM. As she was talking to me, she said, I have NEVER gone to church to receive revelation. I was shocked. I sat there with my mouth open just staring. She said she only goes to church because it’s a commandment and because she knows she’s supposed to. She teaches the investigators it’s important to go to partake of the Sacrament and to renew our covenants and start a fresh week. Mom and dad, I would like to thank you for teaching me... yes, it is a commandment to go, and yes the Sacrament is TAN importante (so important). We also go to be uplifted by others, to hear testimonies, to be strengthened and be happy in life. I love church. I have always gone to receive revelation. That is why I "take notes" every Sunday (or I did anyway). It’s a little more difficult being here, worrying about the investigators and Spanish and all. But, of course I’m here to help them. But, at home I always had that notebook with me and I was always taking notes, because I received revelation from others, I was uplifted and helped with my problems. That is so fundamental in church attendance. Anywho, I just wanted to point that out, because I couldn’t believe she only went because it was a commandment. Crazy stuff. The things you learn here.

Be good everyone. I heart your faces. Stay true to the faith.
Love, Ash

BAUTISMO!!!

The happy Hermanas Hite and Farr

So much to tell about this week.... and so little time. Stephanie finally got baptized!!!!! Praise the heavens. It was intense, but she is officially a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The first baptism of my mish! Well, actually the first person I taught from start to baptism. Man, what a crazy ride we've been through with her, eh? She was so happy afterwards. It was the greatest. Her dad and grandpa came too. We got to watch from behind the scenes in the girl’s dressing room and help her change afterwards. It was awesome.

Stephanie's baptism day with her father and grandfather

We LOST Santiago. Ugh! He texted us only saying he needed time to figure out family problems and that was it. No more Santiago. We are so sad. But we’re ready to find those who are ready to accept the gospel and be baptized.

Interviews this week were so good. Pres loves me, pretty sure :) They went so well. He said he was going to do it in Spanish as long as I could understand everything. I was fine with that, of course. I responded in Spanish and then he just switched to English for some reason. I still spoke in Spanish. He said my pronunciation rocks! Thank you very much, daddio. While it was my comp's turn, I spoke with his wife, Hermana Da Silva and she said I speak way better than lots others at this time in the mish. I don’t feel like it AT ALL! But it’s all good. Pres says I have that going for me and then he said I had another thing going for me. He really knows next to nothing about me. It was so cool what he said! He said, you just have the sweetest spirit about you. I can feel your love and that will touch many investigators and contacts as well. He said to make sure during my whole mission that I don’t lose that about myself. It is a very special gift I have. It made me feel so good! I loved it.

Our humble abode.... the gates to our house, our bedroom and our kitchen

Pres brought two packages for me with him. Yep, that’s right... EASTER packages! Thank you so much everyone! I loved it. Mom, you’re gonna kill me, but I did open them. Ah, don’t shoot me. I wasn’t going to, but my comp wasn’t that much help either. But, I mentioned we have been starving and so we needed the candy. Too bad it lasted us all of two seconds. Kenya, your little bag of candy you made is sooo cute! I love it. Thank you so much! And mom... I love your guts! Those flowers are so perfect. My comp loves them and they do bring me sunshine every day. I love the bookmark too. Everything is perfect.
















We’re back to starving. Yes, mom, we do have a store we can buy stuff from, of course, but we have not near enough money to provide ourselves with good stuff. I mean good as in healthy. I just want to say, I liked the food when I first got here. It’s not terrible, but I quickly realized, their menu consists of only about five meals. I’m not kidding. I have eaten the same greasy, oil-covered fattening things since the day I got here. I feel bad saying that, but it’s true. It's just not the variety we have in the U.S. It’s all good though! All is well. I am happy!

Miracle of the week... Hermano Ery Ramon gave us a reference this week. Score! We have been trying to work with the ward to get references. We were only doing contacts in the morning so we decided to go visit her. She is awesome! Fabiana is her name. We walked in and talked with her and her daughter. It’s just them. She’s a ballerina and so cute, in between Cass and Kenya’s age. Her name is Denise. We gave the lesson of the restoration and the BOM. They had questions galore. She even asked about tithing. Questions are good from investigators. That means they have questions of the soul and are looking for something. If they sit there and just say they understand everything, it’s a sign. Anywho, we decided to end with a prayer. We taught them how to pray. When Hermana Hite ended with Amen, Fabiana slowly looked up at us and said you almost put me to sleep. Hermana Hite flipped out and said I’m so sorry! It was kinda long, wasn’t it? I apologize. Fabiana said no... that’s not it. I feel at peace. I feel so calm and ... good. She held her hand up to her heart and got a titch emotional and said I can’t explain this feeling I have in me right now. I feel so good, what is this? We got to explain the spirit to her and of course I started tearing up. She asked why I was crying and I said it was because I knew she was feeling what Heavenly Father wanted her to feel. And that the things we were teaching her were right and true. She said I have a lot of love, just like president said. I guess people can see it more now :) It makes me feel good. She said she felt the same spirit when she was with the Ramon family and she wanted to feel it all the time. It was so awesome.

The streets, buildings, shops and artwork of Uruguay















Later, we saw her in the streets. She loves us. We invited her to church and she said she probably couldn’t come, but she would try. I decided to ask Ery Ramon to invite her. He said he was on it. He invited her and lo and behold they showed up to church on Sunday! Ah! It was a miracle. The church yesterday was full of about 10 investigators of ours and the Elders. That is so awesome for this ward! We were so happy. Interesting thing happened though. In Relief Society the lesson was on tithing. We thought good; she'll learn about tithing here. But, “no.” The Relief Society got in a giant argument about it. Fabiana is very bold. She said straight up in front of everyone that she thought it seemed like a burden. The ladies freaked out! I was afraid she was going to walk out, but thank heavens, she didn’t. I said a little prayer and Heavenly Father made it okay. She stayed for all meetings and got to see Steph receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Now she wants a BOM along with a Bible. She doesn’t have a Bible, which is weird for here. We will meet with her this week, so I think everything was alright.

Man, I just love her. She has bonded with me. She expresses emotion and hugs and stuff (which isn't typical of the culture), so I feel so connected to her. She is just great. We can only hope for the best, right? I’m excited to see what will come with her.

I had an overwhelming experience... mom and dad, with that thing you told me to do... make a list of what I want to become while I’m here and one with what I want to leave behind. Shaq sent me her testimony with a quote that said, "The scariest thing in this life is that through the atonement and Jesus Christ we can be whatever we want to be and have whatever life we want." I love that and I’m finding it to be so true... it changes lives out here and it can do the same for me. Now I’m scared... because I can be anything I want. I want to be me... a better me... a me that Heavenly Father needs for my future family, and my future callings and ward and life and you guys. I just happened upon an old conference talk that went right along with all this stuff. Faith. Faith builds off the past but never longs to stay there. Faith is for the future, faith is knowing God has something in store for us, something that’s better than what we have now. And by trusting in that faith, we can have anything we want. I guess Heavenly Father really wants me to start being the better me. I get overwhelmed with that. But I also know, "Whoever shall lose their life for my sake, shall find it" and that’s what I’m trying to do. Oh man, good stuff this mission teaches you. I don’t even know who I’d be without experiencing these things I am. I love this gospel. That’s all there is to it.


Ash with the little ninas


In the meantime, Hermana Hite and I are slowly rockin’ San Jose. We have more lessons with members, more lessons period, more investigators and life is good here. Slowly but surely San Jose is growing.

Thank you for your testimonies, your love and support and packages. Until next week, loved ones. Be good. Strengthen your testimonies! This church is true, without a doubt. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t. I love you all! Love, Ash

FOUR MONTHS!

Why yes, it has been four months! Seems like a lifetime, but then again... not so much. I don’t know...it’s weird. Time has no meaning here, except to count down the mission days. Everyone is doing it ;)

Hello family! Oh how I love thee. I think about you so much. Of course, it’s impossible not to, but it’s good. Thinking of you keeps me going. Not that I’m having problems with keeping going. Life seems to be going pretty swell here... we just go about our thing and I haven’t felt too much... I don’t know if I dare say this... opposition. It’s just the regular missionary stuff now: People not coming to church, not fulfilling commitments, just the regular stuff. It’s too easy, something has to go wrong, right? Stefanie has been off the cigarettes, and is getting baptized we hope on Saturday, April 16th.

Santiago was supposed to be baptized, but he disappeared off the face of the earth. We actually had a really scary experience with that. It’s been days since he talked to us, and won’t answer his phone and we’ve gone by to find nothing. It’s weird. We went to leave a note there and his window on his door was gone and the lights were left on outside, which no one does here because it’s expensive and both vehicles were there... we got a really bad feeling when we saw that and we booked it. We still can’t find him. We hope all is well.

Luis... I have to tell Shaq something. It hit me really hard what you said last week about when we know what the Savior has done, it’s not so hard to do things for him. I read it to my comp and we decided to change our whole weekly plans for him to teach him a lesson JUST on the atonement. We invited the Elders over and we chose five scriptures about the atonement and told him he couldn’t say a word. We didn’t either. We figured the scriptures would do all the talking that was needed. Afterwards we watched a DVD about Christ. It was about his ministry and all the things he has done for us. At the end, we bore our personal testimonies of the atonement. Hermana Hite actually talked about you. She said, Ashley’s sister, Shaquel, wrote about you and you have her family and my family praying for you. So many others too! He just sat there quiet for the first time ever. We told him for homework he had to write down the things the Savior has done for him and what he’s doing in return for the Savior. We left... we haven’t seen him since. I don’t know what happened but we will see him this week. I hope it went well. But that was all because of you, Shaq. :) Your words (family) mean more to me than you know! They are inspired.

We had some other investigators show up to church. We have been teaching them for four months. Obviosuly, it wasn’t me teaching them the whole time. They are so awesome, but they don’t progress. I fasted for them and they showed up! It was wonderful. The kids want to be baptized, 2 kids. I’ve mentioned them before. Andrea and Leonardo are the parents. It was great. We have high expectations for them. In the meantime, we found a family of like all girls, one son. All the rest are teenagers. They are so awesome. I felt the pressure when we were teaching. I thought of all my sisters and how I would want someone to be so careful with teaching them, if we didn’t have the gospel. I wanted to get it right. They are committed to be baptized on the 30th. I just hope it goes through :) They are awesome. Maribel, Tamara, Diana, Camila, and Eliana are their names.

So, we have our first interviews with president this week... uh... He and his wife are coming to our house to do it! So we don’t have to travel two hours, but apparently they check everything in our humble house: our filing system, how we keep track of investigators, and all. So INTIMIDATING! I didn’t even know they did that. Wish me good luck tomorrow morning.

I love P day! I’m just saying... I’m a happy lark. Anywho, this morning we listened to a talk by John Bytheway and he was talking about trials. He related it to lifting weights and how you have to break down your muscle tissue before you can make it stronger. I thought about that a lot. Of course, it’s so true! We have to be broken down, tried, before we can be made stronger. He said a lot of cool things and talked about the trials of many prophets in the scriptures. "You have to go through the wilderness before you can get to the Promised Land." I love that. Moses was called to deliver millions and he couldn’t speak. Enoch was made fun of, but in the end his city was lifted up with Heavenly Father. Joseph Smith was ridiculed, and he experienced physical hardship as well his whole life, but his trials brought forth the restoration. Christ was betrayed by one of his best friends, but we have eternal life because of his sacrifices. We have to get through the hard, to get to the good. I feel like we're at that point here in San Jose. I love it here... we are experiencing many great things and seeing the blessings of our labors. We are working hard with the members and our lessons with members have been increasing and that’s such an amazing thing. When we experience something hard and we stand steady, only good can come from it. Think about that while experiencing hard things.

Try to draw closer to the Savior daily. I love you! You’re in my prayers!

Love, Ash

I LOVE GENERAL CONFERENCE!

This week was long and rough. We spent a lot of time trying to get everything fixed (toilet and fridge) in our house and lost a lot of time getting work done. That was frustrating.

As for the weekend… how amazing! I guess we couldn’t have everything be spectacular this week right? We are entitled to one major spiritual event per week haha and that was conference! Luis did not accept our baptismal date, so we will see what happens with him. He’s still so awesome. He will be baptized sometime. Stefanie’s date is for this Saturday. I hope nothing goes wrong this week to prevent her from doing so. Santiago’s date is for next week, but if he didn’t go yesterday to conference, we want to postpone his date again. We had to travel forever away to get to conference. And we were separated from our ward. They went to a different place, so as of right now we don’t know which investigators went. We hope they all did because such powerful messages could have been answers to their prayers. I guess we´ll see.

So... conference made me homesick. haha Like I said, we had to travel far away and on Saturday no one showed up from the stake. It was really sad. But I was spiritually uplifted when I saw my HOME: Salt Lake City. I saw your weather and the people from my home! It was crazy when that realization took place. I heard English hymns, English prayers, English Amens. I got homesick, but it’s all good. It really hit me that I’m not going to be here forever. At this point, that’s what it feels like. This is my life and this will be my life for eternity haha, but I’m getting accustomed to everything and Spanish. But just to leave here and get back to my own language and traditions… that was weird for me to feel and recognize.

The program between conference sessions yesterday about the member who survived 9/11 really touched my comp and I. When we saw the pool in his backyard and the BBQ and American clothes and traditions, we were struck with gratitude as I am so often here. The pleasures we enjoy... man, I just can’t even believe it. My comp kept saying, "God bless America." We were humbled once again. It’s crazy to think that none of you REALLY know what I’m talking about, except dear daddio. I will NEVER TAKE FOR GRANTED my country, my state, my home, the gospel ever again… I say that now right... psh.

Back to conference… we had to stay with the other hermanas who lived closer so we wouldn’t have to pay so much to travel back and forth. It was fun having a sleepover! I didn’t want to carry all my stuff over so I slept in my clothes and all. Good times. On Sunday we left for conference again and their ward actually had a bus to pick up every person in the ward and take them there. I can’t tell you my feelings as I watched FAMILIES, big families, get on our bus… kids of all ages, youth and all. It’s been so long since I’ve seen that. Our ward doesn’t have that. Hermana Hite said, "Hermana, this is how it should be and I promise you other wards will be better." It’s crazy! We filled up the entire bus with families to go. I was touched by the faithful members of this church again. They are awesome. The stake center on Sunday was full. Thank goodness : )

I loved all the talks, of course, and I received answers to three questions that I was searching for. It was so wonderful, but I wanted to touch lightly on Elder Holland’s talk just because he finished up the conference. I can’t tell you the power of the hush that came over the congregation when he bore testimony of our prophet. It was silent. The spirit was so strong and everyone listened and I know everyone agreed when he said, “We stand shoulder to shoulder with you, ready to continue this work in any way we can.” And that my friends is the whole point of our gospel. We stand shoulder to shoulder with the man called of God, who leads and directs our church here on this earth today. We have the power and authority of God on the earth. That is incredible! We stand ready to aide him in any way we can and further this work. That is our purpose in life. We must be willing to do so. I love this gospel. I can’t express my feelings. Without it we have nothing. I stand firm in the faith, as we all do. I’m so grateful for the sacrifices that our leaders have made and I’m so grateful for their Christlike attributes. May we all strive to become more like them.

I caught myself saying yesterday to my comp, "You silly" and "You funny." So, I guess I didn’t grow out of that. I just needed someone I was comfortable enough with for them to bring the kid out in me again!

I love you all with every fiber of my heart! I love this gospel. Be good. Until next week… may all be well.

Love, Ash

P.S. Have you ever seen a lightening storm??? What the junk? They are so wicked awesome. We had one last night. I didn’t know they existed, but the whole sky lights up with lightening every second. It’s sweet.

P.P.S. Grams B. I love you. You’re always on my mind. There’s a letter coming your way : ) and Rick (my cuz) I’m writing you too! Hopefully…. Love you!

THE BEST WEEK EVER..... AGAIN!!! REALLY!

This week, ok really, has been the best week haha. Seems as though every week is, but really… I have learned more this week than ever before. I love you all!! I hope all is well with you. I miss you.

First off, new comp... She’s awesome. Hermana Hite is her name. She is American. I feel like I’m learning a whole different level of missionary work with her because we can communicate! I love it! She talks to dogs like Chels Gould, she is straight forward like Kayla McKinnon, looks like a dark version of Dani Berg Griffeth, laughs like Jess Porter Huff and is fantastic. I feel like I’m with all my best friends. It’s the greatest. I love her with all my heart. We get along great, have fun, and best of all, we teach with power. It is magnificent.

An experience I had this week sums up everything I want in this mission. We are teaching Luis. He is my favorite and I have developed a sincere Christ-like love for him. He is more than ready to be baptized. This week we decided we were going to give him a baptismal date. He comes to church, he reads, he prays, he knows it’s true. So we went to his house and taught him with a member. At the end we told him we prayed about his baptismal date and it was to be the 23rd of April. We talked forever about it and he finally agreed to pray about it. We were to go over on Saturday night just real fast to see how his prayer went. I had no idea what was in store for me on Saturday… the most powerful spiritual experience I have yet experienced here.

We were so nervous, outside his house that night. We prayed that we would feel if he needed a different date depending on what he said. We got in and talked and he told us this date was not his date. We were so bummed... so bummed… and after that we decided to talk to him about why. He is not living the law of chastity. He has a son out of wedlock and another one on the way. He won’t marry this woman (and they aren’t living together) because she is crazy. So he says, but they still have relations. He says he’s not ready for this reason. We shared some scriptures with him and he went on to explain a huge story of which I couldn’t understand. It took a long time to tell, and the whole time I was just sitting there listening, trying to catch a glimpse of what he said. Nothing... Hermana Hite just talked with him the whole time. I usually have something to say, and I joke with him all the time and he caught on real quick that I was a little saddened by his choice. He turned to me and said, “Why aren’t you saying anything!” I just smiled and said, “I don’t know what to say quite honestly.” He said, “Yes you do, you always have something to say. Tell me whatever is in your head. I need to hear it.” I just sat there for a sec, and I knew that I needed the spirit to be with me right then at that exact moment to say whatever he needed to hear. I started to tear up as I felt the love that the Savior and Heavenly Father have for him. I was overwhelmed by it. He said, “Oh no, oh no, don’t start crying.” I laughed a little but really...I was touched. I told him that this is his salvation, this is life eternal. Heavenly Father wants him back and loves him so much. This is so much more than... you know what… with this woman. I told him that I have prayed my entire mission to help one person find and know of this truth. A person that would truly understand what we had to offer and he was this one. I told him that we cared about him more than anything. He is so special to us, and if he is this special to us, what does Heavenly Father feel for him? My comp started crying too. The spirit was there; she never cries. She’s tough. He just sat there and I know he was feeling something. He said, “I can’t handle girls crying. I feel so bad, I feel so bad.” He kept saying that over and over, I never make women cry. It’s so hard to explain, but this Latin man, he started to cry too. He felt so bad that he had caused me to feel this way. He didn’t know it was really the spirit... man. I can’t describe this the way I felt it, but he was touched. We continued to converse and Hermana Hite said the closing prayer. She couldn’t even talk. She expressed thanks to our Heavenly Father for our Savior, the atonement, and as we were on our knees praying with him, we were all touched. She really couldn’t talk she was crying so hard. We all were. Then she said something I will never forget, when she managed to find her words she said, "We thank thee for people like Hermana Farr... and the love she has for everyone." I can’t tell you what I felt in this moment… it’s like when Mom said in my little notebook you all wrote in…. you will find that one, pray for that one, search for that one, work for that one and great shall be your joy. I wish I could say he changed his mind and now has accepted his baptismal date, but he hasn’t. But he is a "one" and I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I was meant to find him. I was meant to speak the words that I did and touch him. I felt that, I know that. And the power that knowledge has is incredible. He said he feels so bad and Hermana Hite said, maybe it’s a good thing. Use those feelings to ponder and pray and think, really think about these things. We are going to see him tomorrow and we´re either cutting the line, or baptizing him. That’s scary to me but... I pray for the best. Whatever the Lord has in mind, I know it’s what is right. I’m just his hands. It’s not my work and it might not be his time. Only the lord knows.

I wish you could all really understand the things I’m learning here. My life is changing. I don’t even know who I was spiritually when I was at home. My testimony of everything has changed completely. I don’t know who I would be without this mission. Today I can honestly say, I love it here. I love my mission, and even though I still have a long way to go, this is the best experience. It is harder than crap and everyday I have a reason to give up, but I love it! I’m so grateful for Hermana Hite. She has shown me what the mission should be like: fun, hard, full of love, spiritual and the best... that’s all I can say. I love this gospel with everything I am. It’s true. I have not given up a year and a half for a fairytale. This is true, the one and only gospel. I love my Savior and Heavenly Father. I do. I love you all. Thank you for everything. You mean the world to me and I pray for you daily. Keep me and Luis in your prayers too. I have faith that all is possible.

Until next week. Love, Ash

P.S. Our fridge and toilet broke this week. We spent a lot of money fixing it and it’s not reimbursable because they didn’t give us legitimate receipts. Ugh. We have been living off of the leftover tuna someone left in our apartment. It’s the first time I’ve ever really been poor haha. But it’s been fun. We’re starving quite literally though. We´ll get money next week for the new month but... I am only able to spend 7 dollars a week! That’s not enough to be healthy. Yes, I dipped into my home money to pay for our stupid accidents. I’m sorry! but I'm trying real hard to be good! I love you so much! THANK YOU!!!!!

TRANSFERS, NEW COMPANIONS, AND SO MUCH MORE!

Lots of changes in the life of a missionary… I had been worrying about transfers, which are tomorrow. I worried about leaving San Jose, but I learned that I would be staying here and getting a new companion. I am glad to be staying. The Elders told me my new companion is Hermana Hite. She’s American. I always thought I wanted a foreign companion because I could better learn the language, but I was told she left the MTC early because her Spanish was so good. Maybe I will learn more now from her because we can communicate the reason why things are the way they are in the Spanish language. The ELDERS say she is awesome ha. We will see what that means! They all say that I am going to have a lot of fun with her. Can’t wait!

We had the ward activity this week. Hardly anyone showed, but more than I expected. We had fun though. We gave our lesson in Sunday School and everyone was receptive, the real test is now. Will they really do the things we have asked? We will see.

I can’t stress enough how much I love the people here. I wrote you all about Luis. He is fantastic. He showed up the first Sunday at church and continues to come. He is so awesome… hilarious. His sister is progressing well too. Santiago still has a baptismal date, but we wanted to make sure he really would show up to church his one free Sunday. I’m telling you, that is the test. Yesterday he came! So his date is for the 9th of April. I guess our goal for 4 baptisms for this month is to have SET four secure dates, not to be baptized this month ha. Who knows. My comp has stopped praying for our goal because she thinks it’s impossible, but it’s not. I continue to pray for it in all the prayers with her. It’s important to me! And I want to demonstrate my faith. More importantly, I know these are four souls Heavenly Father wants back with him.

Miracle for the week… Sundays are the worst. PMG says it’s the best because families are together and we can teach them all, but that’s false here ha. They are all together, but no one will talk to us for that reason. We go without appointments and no one is willing to let us in. For that reason, I prayed hard for some miracle. Of course Heavenly Father answers our prayers. We decided to stop by and say hi to Stefanie. I know it doesn’t feel like a long time to you all, but it’s been almost two weeks since everything happened with her. In the mission life, ALOT can happen in two weeks. Things change fast here. Her grandpa answered the door and of course said she was sleeping. BUT he said, she has been waiting for you to come by. She wants to continue the lessons... I didn’t understand at first. He mumbles really bad, but I saw the smile on the face of my comp and when we left, she couldn’t stop smiling. She told me what he said and he told us to come back at 7. We did. Stefanie was there, smoking unfortunately, but she said she wants to be baptized. Oh man! We set her date for April 9th as well. She is excited, knows this is the true church, and wants to change her life. We are gonna do it. I want you all to know, your efforts were not for nothing. Thank you for the fasting and prayers. Heavenly Father wanted us to be tested, all of us. We can expect our faith to be tried, but if we persevere, it will pay off. Thank you for the support and faith of all of you. I have felt it daily and know through you I am being blessed.

I want to say something about conference. Make sure you watch it! All sessions! Both days. Sacrifice everything to watch it. We have the privilege to travel two hours there and back both days to watch it. You, at home, can sit in your pjs and watch. Take advantage of that opportunity. How blessed we are to be able to hear the words of Heavenly Father through the prophets. Ah! I’m so excited. I hope you all are too.

I gotta go, but I love you all soooooo much. I think about you daily, pray for you daily. Be good. Keep the faith. Say your prayers. Continue to develop your testimony of this gospel. It is true and I love it! I love you. Until next week

Love, Ash

A VISIT WITH "LOVED ONES"

Thanks to all of you who have written me. I was showered with lots of love last district meeting and I appreciate your support more than you will know.

We got a surprise call last night at about 10:00 saying that today I had to go to Montevideo... ugh. So much money, and I had to go to the doctor. ugh again... get blood taken... so that's where we´ve been the whole day. It was fun though. We got to see all of my old district and I got to hang out and talk with Hermana Lundskog and Kirkham all day. I felt like I was coming home from the mish as we got to the huge bus station and I was searching for all my loved ones. I had so many butterflies. haha. It was like seeing my family again. I got to see the ocean too! Wahoo! It was awesome, but four hours of travel is too much. It's ok, I'm back at home now in San Jose.

As for the week... ay ay ay. It was rough. We did have 3 baptisms, but now... we have one. We lost both Juan and Stephanie... both from other people getting to them. We hadn't seen Stefanie for days and when we finally did, she had started school, work and smoking again. We recommitted her to stop, but when we came back a couple days later she was completely different. We don't know what happened, but she didn't want to see us anymore. She told us not to come back and I cried as I bore my testimony. I needed to make sure she knew what she was doing. She understands.

In Preach My Gospel it says you can be sad when people reject the gospel because you have raised a warning voice, but do not become discouraged. And so now... we are moving on. We still have Santiago, I think. We haven't seen him for a few days either though. As I talked to my district leader on the phone at the end of the night about everything, he said the cool thing about a lot of opposition is that it means you are doing a lot of good. I hope that's true. But if these people aren't being baptized then... what's the point? I'm still trying to get over everything. It's still hard. But we will go up. Vamos Arriba! That's our mission theme.

So now we are starting from square one again. We have no investigators really... We are going through the area book and looking for all the old people who were taught and we spent all day yesterday looking for them. It was a long day with little success. We are hoping to do some good some time soon.

In the meantime, there is a ward activity this week. We'll see how that goes and decide from there what to do with the ward. Also, we are teaching Sunday School next week and doing a missionary fireside and talking to the ward about what they can do. I hope it will be good. Whoever thought I would be teaching Sunday School in another language in another country? Not me. Anyway, we have no time today. I can't write letters cause the dumb doctor. I'm sorry, but I love you all!

Love, Smash

P.S. Thanks for all your prayers. I have felt them... and they did help with Stefanie and Juan, long enough for us to see that Heavenly Father answers prayers and long enough for us to be tried too. That's the mish for ya! I love you and miss you!

CLOSER AND CLOSER TO THE GOAL!

This week has been rough... day after day we went without having any success with lessons or tracting, but at the same time... the best week. I probably say that every week. haha

First of all, I was showered with blessings last district meeting. I received all your letters and four packages. It was so great. Heavenly Father knew of course when I would need those things. It was a blessing they came when they did. Thank heavens for fast breaks, valentines, the Ensign, and lots of food haha. Thank you, thank you everyone so much for everything. It is appreciated more than you will ever know.

Stefanie! She has stopped smoking. Six days she has been without a cigarette. She came to church with us on Sunday and it was a miracle. We got permission from her grandpa to wake her up, if he couldn’t do so. He has completely changed. He is helping her stay away from the cigarettes. When we got to her house on Sunday to get her, he was sitting out front and he said, “It’s impossible, nothing can get her up.” We were so scared and asked if we could go in. At that moment, she popped out of the curtain that is across every front door and they both burst into laughter. She was ready to go, in skirt with Book of Mormon in hand. Best moment ever. We had fun walking to church and she had the best time in Young Womens. We were so happy. On top of that, she has been questioning the 19th of this month for her baptismal date. We kept trying to convince her that it would be okay, but when you try and CONVINCE someone of spiritual matters, it never works. We dropped it and we have been praying ever since for a miracle. As you know... we have a goal for four baptisms this month... So we fasted for this purpose yesterday. At the very end of Young Womens, one of the leaders asked if she had a baptismal date. Stefanie said yes. And she asked when? I was listening in... holding my breath… and she said the 19th of March. Ahhh!!!!!! I shrieked inside. After I said, mhmm... the 19th eh? She said yes, and so you see... that is how the Lord works. Perhaps if that leader never asked, we wouldn’t have gotten that date for her. Miracles I say... miracles.

Speaking of which, we have another baptism! His name is Santiago. He was a reference from the bishop. His wife is already a member, but inactive. We visited them and their two sweet daughters. He said they had been talking about coming back to the church and he has investigated before, attended church before and therefore wants to be baptized the 19th as well. You see our investigators have to attend church three times before they can be baptized, so we are kinda running out of time to obtain our goal. We have to find these people fast if we want to reach our goal. But the Lord somehow works these miracles, only he knows how. So Santiago doesn’t have to attend a certain amount of times before he can be baptised. Once again… the mysterious ways in which the Lord works... it’s simply amazing.

I didn’t come on this mission for myself, but it is quite impossible to not grow and be strengthened while being out here. Heavenly Father has something for me to learn everyday and I’m so grateful for it.

Just a little tidbit… if you are struggling, sing a hymn and pray. These are the answers for everything... I’m telling you, it brings such comfort to us out here. I love it… the power of music and prayer are amazing.

I would give up my life for this gospel. Without it, we have nothing. We don’t have family, we don’t have comfort, we don’t have peace, we don’t have guidance and we don’t have purpose. With this gospel, we have the world and the possibilities are endless now, and forever after this life as well. I love this gospel with all my heart and am so grateful to be here to share it with those who will listen.

I love you all so much… more than you will ever know. Hold tight to the rod. Do missionary work. Stand up for your beliefs and be good! I love you. I love you. I love you! Thank you for the letters, the food, the love. Love, ash!

P.S.: The culture here is harsh. Someone told me I’m too skinny and my name is ugly! haha

SHOOTING FOR THE MOON!

Wahoo! This week has been crazy. .. so many good days, but then again every day had its bad parts too. I guess that really is just how it is. You’re excited one minute and the next... not so much. The good thing I can say is that as dad said, a little good definitely outweighs all the bad. Aw… thank the heavens, or else no one would make it out here.

Where do I even begin? We had zone conference this week. We only have them about every 3 months so everyone tells me my timing is so lucky. I got here with one baptism already under my belt and then got here right in the nick of time for my first zone conference. The Lord is looking out for me. It’s such a huge blessing. So, at the zone conference President really emphasized our baptisms. Apparently, our district is the only one not doing so hot and he let us know about it. ay ay ay He’s so great though. We've only had a couple baptisms in our entire zone for the last year. It’s very frustrating. So, he had us set new goals. The goal for our companionship this month is 4 baptisms. It might not seem like a lot, but that’s half of the baptisms my comp has had in her entire mission (more than half actually). Everyone was shocked when I reported this, but my comp and I felt inspired ha. And we are changing A LOT of things so we can accomplish this goal. We know if we do everything possible to achieve this (and I can assure you that we are), that the Lord is going to do his part. WE KNOW THIS, and we have the faith : ) It’s a great feeling haha. I’m so excited. So far we have 2 baptisms scheduled for March 19th... ta da! The hard thing is that on the 22nd my comp goes home, so it’s going to be a little weird to get this accomplished. But we have no fear.

Which brings me to Juan... He is one of our baptisms for March 19th. He’s so cute, old. He looks exactly like the Latino version of Pres. Hinckley, so you can imagine how much I love him. His wife passed away and I shared with him about gramps and he was really touched. He asked, “You mean I can be with her again?” I assured him yes. And since then he has been the only one to remember about grandpa and care. He keeps saying how sorry he is for my loss, but that I will get to be with him again. No one else has mentioned it or asked how I’m doing. Maybe that’s better, but I like to know people care. He has attended church two times since we found him and came to our baptism and fulfills all the commitments we give him. We got slightly discouraged when one day he couldn’t understand any of the things we were teaching. He’s old yes, and struggles with his memory. We left thinking his baptismal date might fall through. We prayed for him and met with him again the next day and it was night and day difference. I know it was the Lord helping him understand. So now... he will be baptized! That was the first miracle of the week.

Second miracle this week: We really needed to find good investigators. I don’t know if I mentioned but last week we ended up dropping all of our investigators because they refused to act on their faith and come to church. If they don’t come to church three times, they can’t be baptized. Also, it shows if someone is really truly interested, they will do anything possible to come to church. So that’s when we know we have someone good. So we were tracting at the very end of a very non-productive day. We were just around the corner from our house which we walk by every day. Apparently, my comp has never knocked on those doors before. So we knock and knock and no success and then this girl came out of the house. I tell her we're missionaries and we want to share a message with her. She says okay, come in, which is rare. Usually if people will listen, it’s just outside the door. So taken by surprise we go in. Her name is Stefanie. We start to get to know her and she has lost her dad, her mom does hardcore drugs. And I don’t know who, but someone, took her away because she’s a threat to people. Stefanie’s little sister suffers mentally because of her mom’s choices to do these drugs. So she also is in a center to be taken care of. Stefanie lives with her grandpa and is 17 years old. As she’s telling us about her family, you can see she is very strong. She keeps mentioning how everything is okay because God loves her and she has faith in him. Hermana Medina and I just sit and stare in awe. We immediately knew she was someone special.

We, as directed by the spirit, decide it’s best to bring up the Book of Mormon. We only had five minutes before we were going to be late getting home. So short and powerful was our goal. She mentions she reads the Bible everyday and she points to her room and we can see the Bible open in her room. Luckily, it’s the same Bible as ours. What a coincidence. She brings it out and we read to her from her own Bible about the coming forth of another book and tell her about the BOM. We ask if she will read this passage that we marked and pray to know if this book is true. She said she didn’t need to. She said, “I can already feel that it’s true”... whaaa??? Ok! haha but we still want you to pray about it. We invite her to church and she goes in her room to get a pad of paper and pen to write the directions, time and everything. Again, we were taken by surprise. No one ever does that, especially a 17 year old girl. We were impressed. Bad thing is... her grandpa came out and he’s going to be her challenge with this gospel. He is very anti, and won’t let us talk, says we're bad people and all that. Man... it was rough, but we left saying we would come to pick her up for church. When we went to get her... her grandpa answered the door and said she couldn’t come. We were SO SAD! We stopped by to visit her afterwards and she said sorry she couldn’t come. We sat outside with her and her grandpa and tried to teach the restoration. Once again, he caused many problems and we could hardly get a word out. She eventually asked him to leave and he did. Her knowledge of the Bible is both a blessing and not so much. She knows a lot, very smart. She struggles with the idea of God and Christ being two separate beings with bodies, but we´re working on it. We found out she smokes and has been since she was 13. She asks a ton of questions and we told her about baptism and we want to set a date for her... she wanted to know everything. We just laughed and said it’s going to take a while to teach you everything, but we will. Just be patient. And she already knew she had to quit smoking to be baptized. This girl is so special to us already. We love her so much, but she has everything in the world working against her right now.

This is why I ask for your prayers for her. She needs strength against her grandpa, smoking and she takes medication for nervousness and she sleeps all day which she says prevents her from waking up to go to church. She needs help, but she wants to be baptized and she is so strong. We are excited for what she can do, but she needs the Lord’s help. We asked if she also, would prepare for the 19th to be baptized and she said yes. Pray for her that she can learn all that she needs to and can have the strength to do the things she needs to be baptized.

One other thing... I had my first interesting mish experience this week. We were walking past a bar... tons of drunk guys and one of them latches onto me as we're walking. I tried to get him off me but no luck. He just keeps yelling rubio, which is blonde. Ugh! I got sick about it, but he wouldn’t let go. Next thing I know, he kisses me and then runs away. Man alive. Crazy people. I’m grateful nothing worse happened.

I guess that’s all for this week. I’m out of time - gosh dang! But I love you all. I’m so glad to be here. I miss you a ton. Thank you for writing!!!! I love you!!!

Love, Ash