Ring Out Wild Bells.... You know what comes next (Ask Vernie Swenson)....

Hello All!

Greetings from the frozen land of Orillia.  It has been a crazy week, weather wise.  It rained really hard on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Monday it was up to +8.  Then yesterday it dropped to -6.  This  morning it was -11 when we woke up, and one of the members told us that it was going to get down to -21 this afternoon (about -28 with wind chill).  Sounds like a grand old time.  Crazy weather.  I never know what to wear - oh wait – I wear the same thing every day.  Anyway....

Christmas was great.  It was good to talk to the family.  Love you guys! Have fun with the Wii (I still can't believe that you got that.  That is not like mom at all).  I hope that everyone's Christmas was  incredible.  I look forward to hearing all about it.....hint hint.... we spent Christmas Morning at the Witlox home.  We went over there and had breakfast and opened some presents that the Branch Members got for us.  We got so much junk food.  Each little present had a scripture written on it. We had to do a scripture chase and read the scripture, then guess what the present was before we opened it.  It was a lot of fun.  We came home, I called home, and we went to a retirement home to talk to a few lonely people.  There were not many there, so our visit was short.  That evening, we went back to the Witlox's (When they found out we didn't have a dinner appointment, they invited us again - nice people) and had dinner with them.

We were there for a little bit, and then we came home to let Elder Ledet make him Phone Calls.  His dad is in Louisiana and his Mom is in Alaska.  So he waited till the evening because of time differences and such.  That was about it for the day.  Thank you everybody who sent correspondence.  It made me so happy to check the mail and see things for me!  I will be working on getting back to everybody.  It might take a while because p-days are very hectic.  The day after Christmas is Boxing Day.  It is essentially the Day after Thanksgiving - Canada Style.  President told us that we could spend part of our normal proselyting time shopping.  Elder Ledet got quite a few things, but the only thing I saw was a little Gerber Multi-tool for $10. Can't pass on that, right?  It's a fun little toy.  That was about it for our holiday festivities.  Other than that, it has been a fairly quiet week.

We were able to meet with Len, our new investigator. We answered some of his questions about the first lesson that the Lindsay Elders taught. We didn't have too much time with him because it took us a while to find his house. He lives in Bolsover, and there was a bridge that was closed, so we had to drive back around and find another bridge and backtrack. We found it okay, though. He was raised Catholic but he disagrees with some of their teachings and he does not practice anymore. He told us that He likes what he has learned and that he will continue to read more from the Book of Mormon. He also told us that he will pray about it. He will not be able to meet with us this week because of the holidays, but we have an appointment with him next Tuesday. We invited him to come to church, and he said that he might show up. Pretty soft commitment, but it's better than nothing. We will continue to work on that as well.

Our other lesson came with Jessica Haime. She has had some time off, so we were able to meet with her. She asked us why our church does not have a collection plate. It is something that she didn't agree with in the Catholic Church, and she liked about ours. We taught her the principle of tithing. She agreed with it and the doctrine behind it. She is still in contact with Elder (Well, FORMER Elder) Johnson, who started teaching her. That is good. He mentioned to me before he went home that he would continue to keep in touch. I think it has helped, especially during the time that we were not able to see her. She told us that she was going to come to church on Sunday, but the family got the Flu and they stayed home sick.   It has been tough to get people to set and keep appointments because of the season, but we are
hoping that things really take off in the New Year.  It has been good.  

I have set a goal to read the entire Missionary Library (Standard Works, Missionary Reference Library, and Preach My Gospel) starting Tomorrow.  It's going to be fun.  I am excited.  Anyway.  I look forward to hearing how everyone's Christmas and New Year’s Festivities go.  Don't be a stranger.  I love you and Miss You All!

Your Obedient Servant.,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft

P.S. - I got the letters from the Primary - Thanks!
P.P.S. - I also got a little Box from Clark and M.J.....I am a little scared of what is in it....Just kidding.  I already opened it.  Thank you for that good-natured ribbing.  I will enjoy devouring the "U" Taffy.  They needed a win to get BCS. BYU was already down one loss.  Ok. Now I’m just making excuses, when I am probably the most uninformed person Ever.  There's always next year!  Thanks!

I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day....

Hello All!

How is everything down in the Blessed land of Utah?  Such a wonderful place.  Elder Ledet is from Alaska and he's got that Alaskan Pride.  It's kind of like Texan Pride, except the phrase "everything's Bigger in Alaska" actually works.  He rags a little bit on Utah, and I on Alaska, but the fact of the matter - Utah - This is the Place!  Anyway, we have had a ton of snow lately.  It snowed all day Friday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, and last night as well.  It has warmed up a little bit today, and it is starting to rain a little bit, but it is still cold enough to be classified as "Freezing rain."  It's fun.  Especially to drive in.  Thanks for your prayers.  I can see them daily.  

There was one experience that was kind of cool.  I don't know if I shared this one already, but I will do it anyway.  We were stopped at a light, and the light changed.  I went to put my foot on the gas, but something stopped me.  I hesitated, not knowing why I was not pushing the pedal, and then a Bright Red Dodge Magnum ran his red light and came screaming through the intersection.  The timing was such that if I had gone, I would have caught a full speed (about 50 km/hr) Dodge Magnum with my Left Shoulder.  That would not have been fun.  Thanks for your prayers.  They help.  Anyway....

We had a good week. It was a bit rough lessons-wise, but the two other lessons that we did get, we made them count. We got two new investigators. One of them is the one that I mentioned last week - Len Longin. We went by and taught him yesterday and he likes what he is learning. He told us that because he was raised Catholic, the Book of Mormon is Foreign to him, but he likes it as he reads it. He told us he will keep reading and he committed to pray about it. The other investigator is Jeff Haime. We have been working with the Haime's for quite some time, and we had been able to teach all of  them except for Jeff. He was working at the casino and was never available when we were over there. We stopped by and he invited us in and we had a good discussion with him. He has some questions that he really wants the answers to. He is really into science and he is amazed that some scientists don't believe in God. He told us that from what he has seen, everything in science points to God. We left him with his own copy of the Book of Mormon and he said he would read it. We left him specifically with Alma 30, when Korihor is contending with Alma about the existence of God. Hopefully he will read and pray about it.

We talked to Jessica last night and she said that they were going out of town this weekend, but that they were planning on going to church in Brampton. Jessica told us that she was planning on coming to church the past few weeks, but she had a lot of unexpected things come up. She also told that she doesn't want to smoke anymore. She has set a goal to be smoke free before 2009. We will be helping her with that. It has been interesting trying to find new investigators. It seems like all of the potential investigators that we have dropped by have told us to try back after the New Year. We have still been going at it, though. The lack of people to drop-by is forcing us to do more finding. Hopefully we will be able to find someone that will accept the Joyous Message of the Restored Gospel....

Have a merry Christmas!  I hope that everything works out for you!  Have a wonderful Day, and  remember - The Gospel is True!  I love you and Miss you all!

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft

Pale Through the Glow the Newly Fallen Snow....

Hello All!

It has been an interesting week weather-wise.  It was really cold on Friday and Saturday (down to -18 degrees[Celsius]) and then on Sunday and Monday it heated up to +8.  The snow started to melt and people were saying that it was going to be a green Christmas.  Are you kidding me?  This is Canada! Tuesday it cooled down, though, and we got about 8 inches of snow yesterday and another 8 last night.  So any snow that did melt has now been replaced. It was an interesting week. We did a lot of tracting. We have discovered that it is a bit difficult to schedule appointments during the Holiday Season for most people. We have also done a lot of work with some of the less actives in the Branch. Many of them we got in touch with, but they were busy at the time. Most of the ones that we got in touch with were still very friendly to the Church and told us that we can come back. It is just difficult to get appointments set up. We set some appointments with investigators, but they all either rescheduled or didn't show up. It was pretty tough. We did however, receive a new investigator yesterday.

Yesterday morning, the missionaries in Lindsay (The East Mission) called us and said that they had gotten a media referral for a man in Bolsover (Which is in our area). They had called and set up an appointment with him, and they went to teach him the Restoration. It went very well. I guess he has read the Book of Mormon Before, and is super prepared for the gospel. They set him for baptism on the 11th of January. We will be meeting with him on Monday morning, and we are going to call him later today to introduce ourselves. It was great. I am so excited. I am also very excited for Zone Conference (Tomorrow).  Anyway.... I love you and miss you all!  Merry Christmas!

Your Obedient servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft

Like Sable Curtains Closing O'er the Past...

Hello All!

Greetings from the winter wonderland of Orillia.  we have had quite a bit of Snow lately.  Yesterday we got about a foot.  It was great snow, too. Probably the best Snowball Snow I have ever seen.  It's too bad that we didn't have a big group of people to have a snowball fight with.  I'm pretty sure it would have been a great one.

We had a pretty slow week. The two new investigators that we got were Clint and Olive. We (Elder Johnson and I) taught them on Tuesday and we set a return appointment for Saturday afternoon, but when we called to confirm on Friday, Olive said that she had talked to her daughter about us (Her daughter is, I believe, a Pentecostal minister). She told us that she wasn't really interested, but that she could not speak for Clint. She cancelled the appointment but said that we could drop by anytime we were in the neighborhood. We stopped by yesterday and she said that Clint wasn't feeling well, but we talked with her for a few minutes. We were able to clarify Prophets a little bit. She thought that we worshipped Joseph Smith. We were able to clear that up, and she asked for a few more passages out of the Book of Mormon to read. We suggested to her to start at the beginning and read the Introduction and the Testimonies. Hopefully she will keep reading. If nothing else, it is a seed planted for a future harvest.

We have done a fair bit of tracting this week, but have not met with too much success. It being the holiday season, many people are busy and they don't have time to let us teach a lesson. I guess it is just a trying time of year, but we will press on anyway.

We got a phone call from Michelle Haime on Saturday morning. They are having some family turmoil right now, and so we are waiting for things to cool down. Michelle is supposed to call us when they are ready again. On the bright side, when she does, her son, Jeff, might be ready to be taught! Hopefully it will all work out soon.

Christmas is coming.  You can feel it in the air.  It is such a great time of year, and hopefully more people will be receptive to a message about Christ.  There is nothing we can do but to try.

But Anyway.... Randomness prevails! ....Bryson - thanks for the commentary and that stellar Letter that you wrote me- "BRAUGHNT!"  Beautiful - literally.... Tay - only about 10 days left until Christmas Break - Hang in there....Shanna - Still no dice on the Music....Zone Conference is Next Week - I am  excited.  President Middleton has picked a Book of Mormon Theme.  It is going to be stellar.... Dad, Good luck with the Atmel Guy.  I sent you a little bit to work with, but it's been a while.  Hopefully he will be smart and realize what they need to do with the ranging technology.....I love you and miss you all!  To all who are taking them - Good luck with Finals.  Hopefully they are already over.  Have a wonderful Day!

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft

And Shades of Night are Falling Dense and Fast....

Hello All!

Greetings from Orillia, Ontario!  Things here are quite Christmasy (I hope that is a word).  There is plenty of Snow, and the Christmas lights are out in abundance!  It is an exciting time of year!

So It was a good week.  We did a lot of tracting.  We did not have too many opportunities to teach our investigators (Or so it felt like).  We were, however able to teach Jessica and Michelle.  Jessica is trying to decide if she wants to quit smoking.  She does, but she said that she might want to wait until after Christmas because she doesn't want to gain a lot of weight during the Christmas Season.  We told her about the Stop-Smoking Workshop, and we are hoping to meet with her to teach her the  steps.  Everyone else in the house also smokes, and that would be very difficult for her if she is still around it.  She is afraid of that as well.  She also started a new job this week, so she is now working from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM.  That's kind of out of the window that we have to work with.  She gets weekends off, but she is busy this weekend, so we will have to try and see how things work out.

We were also able to talk to her mother, Michelle.  She is struggling to gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon and of Joseph Smith as a prophet. She was raised as a Jehovah's Witness, and there are some remnants of that that she is still dealing with.  She has since been baptized as an Anglican and as a Catholic, but she has not found the truth and she is worried that she will be baptized into our church and then find out that it is just another church and that she has not found the truth.  One of the Members of the Branch Presidency, Brother Witlox, has volunteered to go with us, as he is a former searcher.  He also searched for which Church is true, and was, for a time, a Jehovah's Witness.  The problem with getting him into an appointment with us, is that the appointments that we set with the Haime's all seem to fall through.  It is when we just drop in that we are able to teach.  Brother Witlox is also paralyzed from the waist down, and it would be difficult for him to get into their home.  We will have to invite them to meet with us at the church.  Michelle also caught Bronchitis this last week and didn't want us to catch it, so she cancelled another appointment.

We were able to meet with Nadia Schubert on Friday.  She hadn't read the Book of Mormon yet, but we recommitted her to do so and to pray about its truthfulness.  We had an appointment with her yesterday with Brother Crosby, but she was not home.  She told us that she works a lot.  Because of the holiday season and the layoffs that have happened, she is having to work more to cover for people.  She is a PSW, and essentially is the hands and feet for people who have been immobilized.  We asked her if she was willing to act on the answer she received, and she told us that she was.  She is having problems parenting her 13 year old son.  He is apparently very bright and knows that.  She is also faced with a decision of whether or not to take in her 13-year old nephew, who is now not allowed to go back home to live with his mom because of substance Abuse Problems.  So she is going through a rough time, but we promised her that the Book of Mormon can Help her.

Yesterday was out travel day.  I was with Elder Johnson.  What a great man he is.  We found a lot of common ground.  We actually found out (Random as this is) that we were born on the same day (1 May 1989) in the same hospital (Cottonwood).  We stopped by to see Clint and he let us in.  He and his mother were there and we taught them the Restoration.  She was asking some very good questions and they both agreed with the things that we taught.  We left them with the Book of Mormon (She asked us if there were any passages that we would recommend) and we have an appointment with them on Saturday Afternoon.  As we were leaving, however, she said, "I think there is a reason that you are here."  Yes, Olive - There is a reason.  I am excited to go back and teach them more.

The work is going well.  We have done a lot of tracting and have found a few potentials that way.  Hopefully, the Christmas Season will make people think more about the Savior and soften their hearts to the message of the restoration. It is such a great work that we are able to do, not just as missionaries, but as those who know the truth.  If I recall, Dallin H. Oaks, in his talk entitled "Testimony" (April 2008 - one of the best talks I have ever heard) said "Those who have the gift of knowing the Gospel is True have the responsibility to share that with those who have the gift to believe." (Referencing, of course, to the gifts of the Spirit).  What an incredible opportunity that we have, especially at this time of year, to proclaim our Faith in our Savior Jesus Christ.  There was a talk by Bishop Burton that I remember where he told us that we should not be ashamed to say Merry Christmas.  Many people say happy holidays or something like that, but Christ should be at the center of everything that we do.  December just gives us another reason to do it!  But anyway....Thanks for all your love, support, and prayers.  Miracles happen when Prayers happen.  I love you all and miss you.  Have a wonderful Day!

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft

Thanks!  Love You!  Tell Tay to let me know how Ensemble is going and how the Holiday Spectacular went  (AKA The T-Cash Show)

Invites all wearied nature to repose...

Hello All!

Greetings from the Snowy land of Orillia.  We have about a foot of snow on the ground and it is just lovely.  Who knew that Tracting in a foot of snow could be so fun?  That just reminded me of the song "Tracting in a Winter Wonderland" by Voicemale. Anyway....

This week has been rough. We have not been able to teach many lessons. Our one other lesson was taught to Jessica. We went over and gave her a copy of the Bible. She has finished the Book of Mormon and wanted to start the Bible. We talked about the Bible for a little bit, and that was about it. We set up an appointment with her on Monday night at 6:00, which she called and moved to Tuesday at 8:00. She called at 6:30 asking if we were coming. She had gotten confused at the time. That was when we went over there and met with her. We tried to meet with her a few times later in the week, but every time, something was not going right. On Friday night, her little sister threw a party and kept them up all night, so they slept all day Saturday and her mom slept all Sunday. Jessica did come to church, though. She only stayed for sacrament meeting, and she told us that she would call us when her mom woke up, but I guess that didn't happen. We stopped by to see her last night and talked with her for a bit. We also were talking with her Boyfriend, Andrew. He told us that he had been reading bits and pieces of the Book of Mormon. That was good. Hopefully we will be able to teach him as well. We met with Heidi and Pam, the Recent Converts in the Ward, and they are both doing well. Pam is still trying to kick that last cigarette a day. She says it is now just a habit thing, and the sometimes doesn't catch herself. Heidi is doing very well. she is going to school, working, keeping up with two very energetic little boys, and still managing to study the scriptures more than any recent convert I have ever seen. We were able to go over there and discuss what she read. She has a lot of material to cover (She was given a whole bunch on Sunday, Preach My Gospel, True to the Faith, the Joseph Smith Manual, etc.). She is doing great. We have done a lot of finding lately. A lot of tracting, and we have found some potentials that we hope to meet with later in the week. The work is progressing, slowly, but surely. We hope to meet with Jessica and Her mom tomorrow and re-set her for baptism and possibly her mom as well. It should be a good day tomorrow. But anyway....

Not too much time for randomness, but.... BYU vs. Utah - a bit disappointing, considering how high both teams were ranked.... Thank you to Pace for the little note about it.  Bryson - play-by-play would still be
nice.  Hope they both do well in Bowl-games.....Monday night's festivities sounded like a blast.  We will have to do that again when I am there.  See Mom's e-mail for details on that....But anyway....I love you and miss you all!  Have a wonderful day!  Have a great thanksgiving!  Tell me how it is!

Your Obedient servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft

The wintry day, descending to it's close....

Hello All!

Greetings from Orillia, Ontario!  Things up here are going great!  We are getting acquainted with the  area, and I anticipate great things here.  We were able to meet lots of members on Sunday, but some of them were not able to be there because of the weather.  It pretty much rained from Wednesday when we got to Orillia, until Saturday night, when the rain turned into snow.  We got about 4 inches that night.  So needless to say, there were some who were not able to make it out to church.  The members here are great and are all excited to help with the missionary efforts.  The branch President, President Watt, has a son who is serving a mission right now in Salt Lake City!  He is currently in West Jordan, and from what I hear is having a grand old time.  So if you ever run into an Elder Watt, take care of him.  

Anyway, it has been a good week.   I was not quite sure how I would feel leaving Sudbury (it being my first area and the fact that I had been there for 3 transfers), but everything is going swimmingly. Orillia is a great place. I am excited to be here is this great branch. That is probably the first thing I noticed about it. The members of the branch are wonderful and the Branch is very missionary minded. They all want to be a part of the work. There is a missionary correlation meeting tomorrow night with the Branch Mission Leader, Bro Cook, and all the Branch Missionaries. The meeting is open to all members as well, I believe. So anyone who wants to participate in the missionary efforts in the branch will be able to. We have been familiarizing ourselves with the area, we have met most of the investigators, and many of the members. There were some who did not make it out to church on Sunday because of the snow, and we hope to meet them this week. We met with Jessica Haime, probably the most progressing investigator. She is still struggling to quit smoking so she can be baptized. We are also not sure yet of the situation with her boyfriend. He at one point had been living with them, but we are not sure if he still does. We will be meeting with her later this week. She has a testimony, and has read the entire Book of Mormon. She just needs to take care of a few little things before she can be baptized. Her mom, Michelle also has learned most everything. We were able to answer a lot of her questions when we went over there. Jessica's Friend (also named Jessica), started coming over for the lessons lately as well. She saw how Jessica Haime had been turning her life around, and was interested in learning more. Hopefully we will be meeting with her again as well. We also met with Rob and Samantha. We retaught a first lesson and again they agreed to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it, but when we went back yesterday for our appointment, Rob told us that now wasn't a good time and that we should try back in a few weeks.

We also met with Heidi and Pam, two recent converts that were baptized about a month ago. They are both doing well and were at church on Sunday. We also have been doing a lot of drop bys. We organized them and made it so that we can be more efficient in dropping by. We were able to set quite a few appointments with many of them (we had 8 yesterday) and we hope to turn them into new investigators.

Elder Ladet is great.  He has a strong testimony and I am learning from him.  He is from Alaska and is one of 4 boys.  He is the only one in his family that is really active, though.  That must be tough for him, but he does very well.  I am excited to work with him.

And now, the moment you have all been waiting for....RANDOMNESS!!!!.....Noelle, Happy birthday tomorrow.  I hope it is a good one.  and congratulations on losing your tooth.  Keep reading and
learning. Thanks for the painting.....Brindy - thanks for the letter.  Keep learning, and even though school is sometimes not that fun, it will get better....Braden - Thank you for the superman card and the letter.  When kids are picking on you, remember this - they only pick on you because you have something that they don't.  You are very smart, and they know that. They just wish they were as smart as you.....Tan - what's the deal?  How is Junior High?....Bryson - life?  Braughnt?.....Tay - are you still alive? How is Ensemble?  What are you doing in your Christmas show?  How is the yearbook?....Mom - You are using the computer?  wow....and I thought that Brindy and Braden were going to change the most while I was gone....Dad – it sounds like work is going well.  A lot of exciting things are happening. Keep me informed.....I got the Thanksgiving Package yesterday, and it made my day.  I was very excited for everything.  The CD's, the candy, and especially the pictures.  Mom - were those just a bunch of random pictures? I really enjoyed that.  Pictures.  Those are great.  But Anyway.... I am running out of time.... I love you and miss you all!!!  Have a wonderful day and keep smiling!

Your Obedient servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft

Victory! Victory! Through Jesus Christ Our Lord....

Hello All!

Greetings from Sudbu - Wait - not Sudbury.  I have been transferred!  I am now serving in Orillia.  It is a smaller town (Only 30,000 people) and I am excited to be here.  My new address (for those of you who are just dying to send me a letter) is:

Elder Austin James Ashcraft

201 Barrie Rd. #1

Orillia, ON L3V 2P6

CANADA

I hope to hear from you all soon.  My new companion is Elder Ladet.  He is from Alaska and is the only Black missionary in the mission.  I am excited to work with him.  Guess what else?  I am finally driving again!  After almost 5 months of not touching a steering wheel, I am the designated driver.  Elder Ladet does not have a license, so Elder Barberi (The fleet coordinator called me on Tuesday and told me that I would be driving.  He told me that Orillia is in what they call the "Snow Belt."  (hmmm.... I wonder what that means...)  He said "There is going to be some snow and, Where are you from, again?"  "Salt Lake" "Good!  You know how to drive in snow!"  Anyway.  That will be fun.  I am driving a 2007 Malibu.  It's pretty nice, but believe it or not, it is one of the older cars in the Mission.  The Entire North Zone this transfer got brand new Ford Fusions.  I guess they have a really good All Wheel Drive, so all the areas (Except Sudbury - no car still.)  got Ford Fusions for the winter.  Pretty sweet.  But anyway, let me tell you about the last week....

The end of the transfer was good.  We picked up a few really good contacts in the last few days, and we met with a lot of less active members.  We met with Bro and Sis Cecol and watched a movie with them.  We still didn't get him to come out to church, though.  Hopefully Elder Smart will keep working on Him.  We also met with Mitch, who is kind of lost right now. He knows what he needs to do and he just is  not doing it.  Anyway.   We had to help out quite a bit at church on Sunday.  Rene did not show up, so the Zone Leaders had to teach Sunday School.  Elder Smart and I were in Primary teaching the Valiant Boys.  12 of them.  It was a lot of fun, to say the least.  We had to deal with quite a few things that could have broken out into fist fights.  I also was asked by Sister Mantysaari if I could come into her class to sing "Search, Ponder and Pray."  So I stepped out during Opening Exercises in Primary, we left the boys for a few minutes and went and sang the song for her.  Interesting ward. 

On Monday we did our deep clean of our apartment.  The place was spotless.  We got our transfer calls that night.  We went home and got a flood of phone calls from all over the mission asking where everyone was going and such.  Tuesday was spent packing.  I was still able to get everything in my suitcases, lucky me.  We drove to Barrie (3 hours) and spent the night there with about 12 other missionaries.  I slept in a ball in the corner.  It was great.  We got up at 5:00 the next morning because some of the missionaries had to leave by 6:00 and then I waited for Elder Kemp to come pick me up and take me to Brampton.  I waited in Brampton at the Stake Center for a long time.  Elder Ladet showed up at about 2:30, and the Car showed up at about 3:45.  We packed it up, left for Barrie, where we dropped off Elder Rollins and picked up My stuff.  We then drove to Orillia, grabbed a bite to eat and went to the church to help with Young Men's (we had a little note from the Other Elders)  We are whitewashing the Area, by the way.  I have to learn another area from the ground up.  It will be good.  I am not quite so timid and shy as last time that happened. 

RANDOM!!!!.....Dad- work sounds like it is going well.  Let me know how things turn out with Brad...Greg Smith is the Choir Director - I bet he does a good job.  What songs are you singing?  And Veteran's Day - Alex Boye?  What a great concert that must have been.  Oh, Alex My Boye.... What a Champ.....Mom - Sister Knowleton is a lot of fun.  It's always great when she comes for Zone Conferences.  She makes all the missionaries laugh.....I hope all goes well with Sharon and Harley, as well as with the Agnews....Anyway.... I Love You All and I miss you!  I hope that Everything is going well.  Have a wonderful Day!

Your Obedient Servant,

Elder Austin James Ashcraft

Austins very short letter

Hey!

I am in Brampton right now for transfers and the computer only has 15 min. But I am going to Orillia.  My new companion is Elder Ladet.  I don't know my address yet.  I will get back to you as soon as I can.  Depending on Elder Ladet, I might e-mail the full report tomorrow.

Love You!

Elder Austin James Ashcraft

Victory! Victory! Through Him that Redeemed Us....

Hello All!

Greetings from Sudbury, Ontario.  It was hot yesterday.  15 degrees and 100% humidity.  We have had a lot of fog lately, too, which is kind of fun.  you can feel the water in the air.  Halloween was kind of interesting.  We were told by President to not be out on Halloween, so we went over to a members house and ate dinner, then came home early.  That was about it.  We did help pass out candy at their house, though.  We stapled Pass-A-Long Cards to the bags of chips they were handing out.  (hehehe.  Sneaky missionaries we are....)  Anyway..... 

It has been a good week in Sudbury, Ontario.  We had a few interesting experiences.  One of which was on Thursday and Friday.  We had been called by a religion teacher at Marymount High School to come and teach about the church, and the days that we were to teach this class were Thursday and Friday.  We went there, and had a great lesson both times with them.  Interesting, but ever important little tiny detail - Marymount is an all-girl Catholic high school.  That was kind of interesting and a bit awkward (Especially because the second day was Halloween), but the spirit was felt in the lessons.  We taught the first and second lessons to them.  It went well.  The second day, particularly.  We were teaching the plan of salvation and we made sure to let them know that they could ask questions if they were confused.  There were some who were asking questions for clarification, but there were some who were asking what I would categorize "inspired questions."  There were a couple of these girls that sincerely were searching and wanted to understand.  We left the  teacher with a few copies of the Book Of Mormon and some pamphlets, and hopefully someone will read and want to know more.  There was one girl, who asked (this was actually the last question that was asked) "If someone wanted to become a member of your church, what would they have to do in order to do that?"  I hope that we were able to plant some seeds, if nothing else. 

Saturday was our travel day.  I was with Elder Siady.  We spent a lot of time doing drop bys.  We went to a few of the little suburbs and stopped by quite a few houses.  It's a bit more difficult when the area is larger.  We had a few appointments to go to, but none of them went through.  Elder Smart and Elder Lahaderne were in our area, and they picked up a new investigator, Lynn.  Lynn is actually a friend of Sister Gascon, in the ward.  She has Muscular Dystrophy and is afraid of what happens after this life.  They taught her with Bro Babin, and apparently the lesson went very well.  We have another appointment with her tonight. 

Monday and Tuesday were spent finding, mostly.  We talked to a lot of people and planted a lot of seeds for missionaries to harvest in the future.

The transfer calls come this next week.  I will know by the next time I e-mail where I am going to be serving.  It will be interesting.   

But anyway....once again, the King of Randomness rears his head....We are not really supposed to discuss politics in any way, but All I need to say is "One Nation, UNDER GOD!!!!"(Exclamation points added for emphasis).  As long as everyone remembers that we will be fine.....Mom - I got all the winter stuff taken care of.  Don't worry.  And Christmas?  I have really no idea.  I don't really need anything.  If I could get one thing for Christmas, though, it would be a long letter from everyone I know, pictures included, telling me about how their life has been and what is going on.  That's it.  Here it is, everybody - in the words of our Beloved Prophet Joseph Smith, "Write to me a long letter, and tell me all you can...."  Pictures are great as well.  It's hard to believe that it is that time again.....Speaking of food - I found something that made me very happy.  Canadians are very bland in taste -literally.  They don't season anything.  I did, however, find some Bull-Dog.  Good Old Tonkatsu Sauce.  It was (and still is) glorious.....I found out that Elder Smart is related to Abel Smart.  Except his line came from a different wife.  So my companion and I are fourth Cousins.  It's great.  Good man.  I have learned a lot from him.  He is about 18 months out, so he is on his last legs now.  Not too trunky, though, which is good....The trunk or treat sounds like it was crazy.  150 kids?  Wasn't the first time we did it only about 30?  And the costumes sound great!  An Indian in a bush?  Where does Braden come up with these ideas?....Bryson - thanks for the play by play.  Hopefully our defense will pull it together....I wait for your letter - BRAUGHNT!.....  Anyway..... I love and miss you all!  Have a wonderful day, and keep smiling!  

Your Obedient Servant,

Elder Austin James Ashcraft

Teaching His Holy Word....

Hello All!

Greetings from Sudbury, Ontario.  It has been another week of interesting weather, with temperatures ranging from 13 degrees to -9 degrees.  Some days feel really cold, but the temperature does not indicate it.  Temperature, Humidity, and Wind Chill all combined make for some interesting weather.  We had one day with the Temperature at -3, a wind chill that took it to about -10, and 100% humidity, which allows the cold to bite right through you.  It has been interesting, but I am keeping warm. 

How are things back in Utah?  Halloween is coming..... What is everyone going to be?  How much candy are we all going to eat that night?  How hyper will we be on Saturday Morning?  Anyway....

It has been an interesting week.  We were on such a spiritual high last week, but it seemed like we hit a wall this week.  It seemed like almost every appointment bombed us, and the times that we did get in to see people, we had to cut the appointment short, either because they had to go or we had another appointment.  We are still having a hard time getting a hold of most of our investigators, but the few that we have that are somewhat progressing seem to be doing well. 

We are still meeting with Matt.  He is the only one that comes to church.  We did not meet with him last week for an actual lesson, but we did talk to him last Wednesday.  His family went out of town for the last part of the week, so that put a damper on things.  We met with him yesterday and taught him the second half of the Plan of Salvation by reading Alma 40 with him.  We also will be meeting with him on Thursday.  He expressed a concern about the Word of Wisdom.  He mentioned that for some reason, he wants to drink when he gets older.  It might be that he rides bulls and wants to be a cowboy and "that's what cowboys do."  We will see what we can do about that.  Hopefully the Spirit will get to him and he will no longer have that desire. 

We met with Victoria and taught her most of the Plan of Salvation.  She doesn't really have the real intent necessary, though.  She keeps telling us that she feels that the path she is supposed to be on is right in front of her and that she just needs to figure out how to get on that path.  I just had a moment of inspiration writing that.  Next time we meet with her, I will share 2 Nephi 31:16-17, which talks about "getting on the straight and narrow path."  Thank you. Anyway, we had Dave MacIsaac with us for a lesson with her and he bore a very strong testimony of finding the truth. Hopefully she will be able to find the Book of Mormon to be true and act on that. 

We also met with Gurdeep Saini - our new investigator.  He is a very smart man from India.  We tracted into him and gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon.  We met with him on Sunday and presented the first lesson.  He told us that the testimonies and the introduction of the Book of Mormon were very convincing.  He agreed to start reading and we will meet him again on Sunday to talk about it. 

We had an interesting experience a while ago.  We were out proselyting and it was raining.  The night was getting dark, and the streets were barren.  Nobody out.  It seemed almost as if we were wasting our time  walking around in the rain.  We decided that the Lord had someone that we needed to talk to that night, so we pressed on.  We were both soaking wet, but we kept walking and talking to anyone we saw.  We stopped by to see Paul, but he was not home.  His wife was and she told us that he had not come back yet.  She kind of shooed us away, so we kept on  walking.  We had gone for about 20 more minutes when I reached into my pocket to offer someone a pass-a-long card and I realized that my tag was missing.  The tag on my jacket was still there, but the other was not clipped on my shirt pocket like it should be.  I knew that I had it when we started that evening, so we decided to backtrack.  We followed the path we had trod, and we walked past Paul's house, and much to our surprise, he had just pulled in the driveway.  We started talking to him and found out that his mother was on her deathbed in the Hospital.  He talked about that for a few minutes, and then mentioned something that was very interesting.  He said, "God told me the other night that he had something big in store for me, and he told me that tonight I would find out what it was."  We then related the experience about running into him, and we gave him a pamphlet about the Plan of Salvation.  We both shared our testimonies with him and he agreed to read and pray about the truth of the message we shared.  We left Paul and made our way back to our apartment.  As soon as I got in the door, I felt my pocket.  My tag had fallen off the front and somehow made its way right into my pocket.  It was a wonderful experience, and I know that we were guided by the Lord.

But anyway....Randomness again prevails..... It is good to know that the Musical went  well.  Taylor....hook me up with the details on what happened.  Also everything else - yearbook, nSEMble, Calculus, Seminary council, Braughnt! (Ask Bryson about that one), you know-the works.....Bryson - same thing.  I want the play by play of everything - not just the BYU game (this really applies to everybody who reads this and even everyone who doesn't have a ball - write a letter - Make a Missionary's day!). Anyway....Mom - it's okay.  Only three more days and Halloween will be over.  I got the candy yesterday.  It made me so happy.  Real American Candy.  I was very excited about that....It sounds like red Ribbon Week was good.....Dad - I bet that the experience with Bishop Linford was incredible.  Was it someone that was in the ward?  Do I know them?....I haven't gotten the belt buckle yet.  He doesn't compete again until March.  Maybe he will mail it to me....Anyway....I love you and miss you all!  Have a great day, and keep smiling! 

Your Obedient Servant,

Elder Austin James Ashcraft

Standing for Truth with Fervent Accord....

Hello All!

Greetings from Sudbury, Ontario.  It is getting colder now.  We woke up yesterday and there was some strange white stuff on the ground.....It had snowed!  Snow in Canada - who would have thought.  It was only about a half-inch, but it was still snow.  We had a grand old time walking around in that.  It was -2 degrees yesterday morning with a wind chill that took it to -8.  Let's just say it was difficult for my ears to wiggle.  They were frozen stiff.  It's always funny trying to write down someone's contact information as well.  You can't really do it with gloves on, and when your hands are cold, it is very difficult to grip the pen.  We have had many laughs at that in the past little while. 

Anyway, things here are going well.  We are meeting with a lot of members, and we have a few investigators that we are able to teach.  One of them is Matt.  He is 14 years old and is almost a member.  His mom and older sister are, but he just never thought about getting baptized.  We had a lesson with him and the spirit was very strong.  He wasn't at church with us on Sunday, but he had a legitimate excuse.   Matt is a Bull-Rider, you see.  He is the best bull-rider in Ontario.  He was down south in a competition on Saturday, and he and his mom did not make it back to Sudbury that night, so they stayed the night in Bracebridge with her sister.  Matt took 1st place in the bull-riding, and 2nd place on the bareback bronc.  Very impressive, especially considering the fact that before Saturday, Matt had never ridden a bronc before.  From never riding before to taking second place?  Pretty good if you ask me.  Maybe he will get a belt buckle for me....

We also taught Victoria, one of our investigators.  We taught her about Joseph Smith, and the Spirit was there.  It was great.  The spirit works on people.  It is incredible. 

We have been blessed by the ability to share our talents.  At church on Sunday, Elder Smart was asked to speak.  The bishop called him about an hour before church and asked him.  He did a wonderful job.  After the sacrament, Sister Mantysaari, the chorister, pulled me and Elder Lahaderne into the Hall.  She had not changed the numbers for the hymns on the little board, so we were singing the same hymns as the last week.  She told us that and then she said "i need you to sing the Intermediate hymn.  You can sing whatever you want.  You have 10 minutes.  Thanks"  uh.....okay.  So Elder Lahaderne and I went into the Relief Society room for a minute and picked a Hymn for me to sing.  I picked "Lord, I would Follow Thee."  We went back into the Chapel and I asked Sister Mazey if she could play it for me, and so.... Bob's you're uncle..... Elder Ashcraft sings a musical number in Sacrament Meeting.  It went well.  It was good to participate. 

Randomness.....Taylor and Bryson - Good Luck in the Musical.  You will be great and remember your Missionary Brother is Praying for You.  Hopefully you will do well and when you are done, YOU WILL WRITE ALL ABOUT IT TO YOUR OLDER BROTHER WHO IS SERVING A MISSION AND WANTING TO HEAR ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON IN YOUR LIFE!!!....anyway....Mom- there you go again giving a stellar Primary leadership Presentation, and everybody wants to use it....Michael is home!  You will have to tell him to let me know how his mission was.  I am always ready to hear from people.  And I hope that somebody ate and enjoyed my share of the prime rib..... Jon is engaged?  Well Jon, I appreciate being informed about the matter.  You will have to let me know the details.  You know what I am talking about.  We have talked before.  Mom - if you could kindly pass that on to him.....Dad - congratulations on being made Second Counselor.  You will do very well.  We are put into positions like that for a reason..... BYU lost - how thoroughly disheartening.  Bryson, thanks for the play-by-play, even though you were half asleep.  Shanna - that is an awesome editorial.  You could seriously have that published.  Well Done.  I was impressed....But anyway.... I hope that each of you have a wonderful day!  Smile, and everything will be better.  Have Fun!  The Church is true!  I love you and miss you all!

Your Obedient Servant,

Elder Austin James Ashcraft

To Every Land and People We'll Go....

Hello All!

Greetings from the balmy paradise of Sudbury.  No seriously.  It was actually hot this weekend.  While you all were getting snow and freezing weather down in Utah, it was about 75 degrees with about 90 percent humidity here in Sudbury.  Let's just say I would trade.  It was really hot.  Anyway.  How is everybody?  What was your favorite talk from conference? 

Anyway, life here in Sudbury has been long and hard.  Happy Thanksgiving, by the way.  Kind of weird, but I guess Canadians want to eat their turkeys before they all freeze to death.  Makes sense.... I don't have too much time to write this week, but I will try my best to keep you informed.  We have been suffering this week from bombed appointments.  We have had days where we have 5 appointments and all but one bombs us.  it is crazy.  We also have had problems getting members out with us, because most of the members do not live in our area and they work at the times that we need them.  We are working on that. 

We have had a couple lessons that were phenomenal.  We taught Christa and Harley, one of the Recent Converts in the ward, and it was a great lesson.  I have never felt the spirit in a lesson like I had on Monday Night.  You could feel the conversation being prompted to go certain ways.  It was a wonderful experience.  

We have been working to keep the Spirit with us always.  We had a district meeting yesterday and one of the things that I got out of it was that out companionship unity needs to be with more than one companion.  I need to be unified with Elder Smart, but we also need to be unified with the Spirit.  It was a great lesson. 

Zone conference is coming up on Friday, and I am excited for that. 

Randomness.... Who would have thought that Taylor would make a convincing girl?.... and Bryson- Men's Drill?  I hope you had fun with it.  And you are now the Shimmy-King of the School - Congratulations .....Those two stuck out more than anything.  Anyway, I love you and miss you all.  I apologize for the lack of details, but I will try to catch up next week!

Your Obedient Servant,

Elder Austin James Ashcraft

Chosen By God to Serve Him Below....

Hello All!

Greetings from Canada!  How is everybody doing back in the land of Milk and Honey?  It was so good to see temple square on the Satellite Broadcast.  There is a special spirit that is in Utah that you don't usually recognize until you live somewhere else.  It is not the same outside of it.  And it is such a wonderful place full of so many wonderful people. 

CONFERENCE WAS AMAZING!!!  I was so excited to hear from the leaders of the Church and the Prophet!  The hour before the broadcast started was a very long hour, indeed.  And when the live feed actually started, I was practically hyperventilating.  It was so good to hear from them, and as soon as President Monson started talking, my Spiritual Truth Radar went off the charts.  Throughout his whole address, I had a confirming witness that Thomas S. Monson is a Prophet of God.  It was incredible.  Such good messages - how to pick one that is a favorite?  One of them that stood out to me in particular was Sister Allred in the Saturday Morning Session.  It was a great talk, and it probably stood out because it was centered on Missionary Work.  I really liked the part where she said, "If you know missionaries out in the field, SEND THEM LETTERS OF LOVE AND SUPPORT."  Sorry, I got a little carried away.  She did say that, though.  And I challenge ALL to heed to the exceedingly wise counsel that was given by our church leaders.  I thought that was kind of fun.  Her talk, though, was essentially her quoting Preach My Gospel.  It was incredible.  If you want to know how to be a missionary (as all of us should), I urge you to study that resource.  Study it as if you were a full-time missionary out in the field.  Because each of us IS a full-time missionary, and the field is different for each one of us.  What can I say?  Conference was an incredible spiritual uplift, and I can't wait to get a copy of the Ensign so that I can read the talks again.  By the way, was it just me, or did I see Elder Hugh Pinnock near the very end of the last song in Priesthood Session?  I was not sure if He was still in the MTC.....

This week has been rough.  We taught one lesson.  We worked hard, but with transfers, conference, and a brand new companion, it kind of cut in to our proselyting time.  It was good though.  My new companion, Elder Smart, is from Centerville and went to Viewmont High School.  He is a tall lanky missionary, and looks like Ryan Perry (Crazy, huh?).  He is a great missionary, and is very in tune with the spirit.  We had an incredible experience yesterday as we prayed to know where we were supposed to go tract.  The Spirit is an incredible thing.  We get along great and it is going to be a great transfer. 

It is such an exciting thing, to be doing the Lord's work.  I challenge each of you to pray for an opportunity to share the gospel with someone.  The most effective contacts are member referrals, and Missionaries are always looking for those.  I know that it might be a bit more difficult in Utah, where there are members aplenty, but there will be an opportunity if you pray for it.  And it will be a perfect opportunity as well, because it will be set up by our Father in Heaven, not us.  God answers prayers.  I know that.  This is such a great work, and I invite each of you to prepare yourselves to share it.  Prepare for the work of the Lord, and you will never go wrong.  Doctrine and Covenants Section 6 is a great section that I have come to love.  Read it.  Apply it.  It will bless your life.  I promise you that. 

And now for randomness....Mom - the whole thing with Sister Cecol shows how small of a world this really is.....I hope Braden's Birthday went well.  There is something coming for you - I promise.  Last P-day was very hectic with transfers, and I was not able to get any letters mailed....Dad - sounds like work is going well.  Hopefully some those projects will work....The After-Priesthood extravaganza - I am glad that you had Branson, Alex, and Rob to pick up the slack for me.  Hopefully, they measured up (Just Kidding)....Bryson - Where is the Commentary?  Hope the play is going well with you and Tay.....Tanner - Starting Varsity?  That's what I am talking about!....Pieface - thanks for the letters.... I love to hear from you....Anyway....I love you and miss you all!  I hope that everyone has a wonderful day!!!

Your Obedient Servant,

Elder Austin James Ashcraft

Lights Every land Today....

Hello All!

Greetings from the far away land of Sudbury.  It is starting to get colder here.  The short sleeve shirts are not so much of a blessing right now.  It has been a good week, with a lot of finding.  And through the goodness of our Lord, we were able to pick up 5 new investigators.  We were able to pick up Tom and Rebecca, an old Italian Couple.  They are very nice and they love to talk to the missionaries.  They actually took us to dinner Saturday Night at the Italian Country Club.  It was quite nice, and we were able to talk to them about the Gospel.  BONUS!  We also have been continuing to work with our other investigators, but none of them are really progressing, mainly due to the fact that we can never get a hold of any of them.  But anyway, the work is going well and I am learning lots. 

We got our transfer calls on Monday.  I am staying in Sudbury for another transfer.  Another 6 weeks of Sudbury.  It will be wonderful.  My New companion's name is Elder Smart, but that is all I know about him.  He has yet to arrive in Sudbury.  I am with Elder Farland, Elder Seamons, and Elder Bahorovitch for the time being.  They kind of whitewashed the North this transfer.  Of the Six Missionaries in Sudbury, I am the Only One staying.  The Zone Leaders are both leaving, and the Sisters Area is closing.  So it will only be four missionaries.  One would think that If I was losing a whole district, I would be the one that was leaving.  It was been great though.  We will see what happens.  I still don't know the details.  So here I am.  But life is good. 

And now for some complete randomness.... I finally got a coat.  Elder Opfar had one that he didn't want any more, so he gave it to me.  He didn't want to pack it around in his luggage.  It's a nice coat, too....The tree sounds like fun.  I wish I could have been there to help.  Maybe use my massive leg muscles that I get from a walking area.....It's good to hear about Nathan.  And it is good to hear that He is striving to keep my challenge.  He is a good kid.  Tell him Hi and Congratulations.... Braden - Arrow of Light!  Way to go!  Have a great Birthday this week!....Shan - Thanks for getting the Music.  You are an Aunt - how exciting!  Am I going to be an Uncle soon?....BYU FOOTBALL  - Top Ten Ranking!  Amen!....But anyway.... I love you and Miss You ALL!!!!  Have a Wonderful Day! 

Your Obedient Servant,

Elder Austin James Ashcraft

Bright as the Sun This Heavenly Ray.....

Hello All!

Greetings from the thriving metropolis of Sudbury, Ontario.  How are things going back home?  Have the leaves changed yet?  Football season is in full swing - Go Cougars!- and it is a wonderful time to be living! 

It has been an interesting week here in Sudbury.  We have been trying to improve our teaching, so we have had quite a few member lessons.  We have gone over to a few members homes and taught them, both as they were pretending to be investigators and just reviewing the lessons with them.  It has helped us teach better and in more unity with each other.  We have not had too much contact with investigators, however.  We have worked and worked, but we just can't get a hold of anybody.  We taught one lesson on Monday to Veronique, who is a college student that doesn't really know what is true, and another partial lesson to Ramona, a young mother who is interested in her family being together forever.  Other than that, we have not gotten in contact with our other investigators.  We teach people, though.  When we are talking to people on the street, we teach them, and some discussions that we get into are more productive than actual lessons, but, alas, we cannot call it a lesson.  It has been a very hard, very humbling  week.  Jean Guy was confirmed on Sunday, though.  It was good to be a part of that and to see him receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost.  I know that he will be edified and blessed by it. 

Elder Opfar and I are both getting a little nervous because Transfers are coming up next week.  We have been together for 2 transfers and chances are that one of us will be leaving Sudbury.  We don't know what will happen, though.  It will be interesting to find out. 

Randomness!!! YAY!!!... Brindy Sang a Solo.  I wish I could have heard it.  I am sure it was amazing....300 tomatoes - that's a lot.  Have fun with the Salsa.  Make it spicy for me.  That's one thing I miss - spicy food.  Canadians are not too fond of that, for the most part.  And the "pumpkins" sound interesting as well..... Tanner - why did you not tell me that you were playing Volleyball?  Oh blessed Volleyball - My first love!  And it's good that your team does well also..... Bryson - Be patient with Opperman.  I never had her as a teacher, but people have said that she is a lot like Bishop, and I learned more from Bishop than from anybody.  The writing will come.  Patience.  The  best advice I can give to you is to have people proof your essays.  The more feedback you can get, the better.  I used to tell people to be brutal and tear the writing to shreds.  Point out every flaw, everything that does not make sense.  I know it helped me a lot.  And if you do your best, it doesn't matter what your grade is.  God doesn't care about your GPA.  He only cares that you did your best.....Braden - Way to be with the duck!  Make it a good one for me!.... The Hebdolympics sounded like a blast.  That will be one tradition that we will have to continue.  I have to admit, I am a little bit jealous, but that's okay.  I will play when I get back.....Bryson - thanks for the commentary.  Never apologize for the length.  Longer is always better.  Details.  Yes.....Anyway...  Have a wonderful day, all of you! I love you and miss you all! 

Your Obedient Servant,

Elder Austin James Ashcraft

Shines the Gospel Light of Truth and Love...

Hello All!

Greetings from Canada!  And Happy Japanese Day!  It is kind of weird not being home for it, but I guess the boys will have to eat some gyoza for me. 

The weather has been fairly Utah-ish lately.  Cold mornings and they turn on the heater in the basement, the heater stays on all day and then the Lady upstairs complains that it is too hot, so they turn the furnace off, and then it's back to that cycle.  It has been interesting. 

But anyway, the work has been going well.  We picked up 5 new investigators this week and a few of them seem willing to progress.  We met Caroline on Thursday.  She is a 19-year old college student that lives with her boyfriend.  She was practically in her backyard, and we were walking on the other side of the street, so we just walked past, but as soon as we had done that, both of us stopped and felt like we should go talk to her.  We did so and taught her about the Plan of Salvation.  Her mom passed away when she was 13 and she has been wondering what happened to her.  We taught her and invited her to church.  Other than that, there is not much to report on with them yet, but I will keep you informed.  We are also working with the Bishop to get Jean-Guy confirmed.  We had Stake Conference on Sunday, so we could not do it then, but we are planning on getting it taken care of this Sunday in Sacrament Meeting. 

Stake conference was Sunday Morning.  Zone Conference was Sunday Evening and Monday Morning.  They figured that they would postpone Zone Conference a few weeks (it is normally in the second week of the transfer) and just have it in the Fifth week because all the missionaries would already be in town for Stake Conference.  It was great.  The theme of the Zone Conference was "Becoming a Master Teacher."  I learned a lot and am starting to apply it.  It was a great conference.  On Saturday, we had our interviews with President Middleton.  Let me just say, that President Middleton is the most inspired man I have met.  The spirit that he carries is so strong.  Talking to him is like talking to an Apostle.  He counseled me on a few things that I can work on, and we talked about how the work is going in Sudbury.  At the end of the interview, we knelt and He offered the most sincere prayer I have ever heard.  I was touched by the Spirit that rested upon me as he spoke.  As he prayed, he prayed specifically on my behalf.  He prayed that I might grow and progress and enjoy success on my mission.  The words were so sincere, the prayer so heartfelt that I wept with gratitude for even being in his presence.    His testimony is incredible.  He is an incredible example of how to be a missionary.  He truly is a man of God.

We had a session on Sunday night, after which President and Sister Middleton pulled out "The Other Side of Heaven" and let us watch that.  First Movie I have seen in three months.  That was fun.  Watching it with a bunch of other missionaries made it even better.  We had 10 missionaries staying at our new apartment.  It is always fun to have that many Elders in one place.  We learned a lot and we got to eat some really good food (always a bonus).  After the conference, Elder Opfar and I went with Sister Middleton to get some things for our new apartment.  We got a lot of stuff for the kitchen and a bunch of random things.  We have to wait until we finish the kitchen to put stuff in it, though.  We still have to finish painting.  It is coming along.  We don't want to spend too much time, because that takes away from Proselyting time, but we are hoping to get it done before the transfer ends (2 weeks left).  Overall, Things are going well and I am learning and progressing.  I can feel my testimony strengthening each day. 

And now for something completely Random.....Mom - I am working on getting a coat.  We were planning on doing that later today, but the Zone leaders are out of town and we don't have a ride.  We will see what we can do.  It is not too cold yet, though.....Dad - Good luck with the boards.  Hopefully Dan will be able to have a good trip to Japan next week.....The tree house tree is dying - how sad.  It is going to be weird without it in the backyard.  And it sounds like the Fence is going well.  And of course as soon as we decide to build a solid fence to keep the neighbor's dog out of our yard, they move and we get some great neighbors instead.....Bryson - Where is the Play by Play?.... Taylor - I got your letter.  Thanks Bro.  It was great..... I also got a package of cookies from Becky (Thank you) and a package that completely made my day when it came.  The package of letters from the primary was just what I needed.  It made me smile and was a wonderful piece of correspondence..... Anyway, have a wonderful day!  I mean it.  Don't make me force you to. I love you and miss you all!

Your Obedient Servant,

Elder Austin James Ashcraft

Oh How Glorious From The Throne Above....

Hello All!

How is everything back in Utah?  I hope all is going well and that everyone is getting into the swing of things with school and all your other endeavors.  It is also good to hear that my cougars are undefeated.  I would like to take this time to thank Bryson for the commentary.  I really appreciated it.  It was a great e-mail to read.  Keep it up.  I also hope that everyone is enjoying the fall weather.  It has started to cool down lately up here.  This morning we woke up and our apartment was a balmy 7 degrees Celsius.  That is about 45 degrees.  Quite a change from the 31 degrees Celsius that we had a day or two ago.  from about 90 to about 45 in one night (It happened, it was not pleasant - trust me).  I have not yet gotten a coat (sorry, mom) but I am working on that and I will be fine.  It is not yet that cold. 

Jean-Guy was baptized!  It happened right after church on Sunday.  It was kind of a hectic day.  Elder Opfar and I went up to the church at about 8:00 to fill the font so we wouldn't have to do so during the block, but we found that there was no hot water.  We had to wait for the bishop to come, and we borrowed his keys to get into the attic to check the water heater.  Reminded me of doing the same type stuff back at the stake center - good times.  We found the heaters that supplied the font, and when we checked them, we found that neither of them had been working.  They both had failed the ignition sequence (Sounds kind of like a rocket...). We were able to reset them and we waited for them to start heating water, but still no luck.  We ended up having to fill the font with cold water.  The person who was going to baptize Jean-Guy told us during church that he couldn't do it, so we ran back to the apartment to get my clothes so I could baptize him.  It was like running around with my head cut off, but it was worth it.  I was able to baptize Jean-Guy and it was awesome.  The Spirit was there and it was a great experience for everyone. 

We have been moving stuff into our new apartment.  We spent a decent chunk of time yesterday and Monday packing stuff and moving things to the apartment.  We have pretty much moved everything, though.  We took two loads with Brother MacIsaac, and one with Christa and Harley.  We don't have too much stuff, but it is still hectic.  We got to our apartment last night and started to set up our beds, but we could not find the screws to put it together.  It was interesting, but we put it together as best we could and prayed that it wouldn't collapse during the night.  It's all good though.  We survived. 

And now for randomness....It sounds like the work on the house has been incredible.  I hope it is turning out like you pictured it.  You will have to take pictures of it and send me some.  I am working on sending some pictures home, but it is difficult to get them developed (the place to do so is not in our area, and seeing as though we don't have a car.... it is a long walk and we don't have the time to do so), and the last few p-days have been very busy.  I will work on that though....Shanna - a new laptop - nifty.  hope that works out for you....BYU Football  - Undefeated!  And Utah is ranked as well.  It sounds like it is shaping up to be a great season.  Thanks again to Bryson for the commentary - if e-mail commentary ever goes big, you are the next Greg Wrubell.  It was so good I had to read it twice....I got the cookies and the Japanese candy - thanks.  It made my day.....I have been able to find most of the Ensigns that I sent home.  The last two would suffice.  And the notebooks - the purple one (yes that is the right one) and the red one that has my General Conference notes would be wonderful.... Elder Opfar and I are doing great.... Zone Conference is Monday - I am excited for that.  I have to do a musical number and I haven't given the slightest thought as to what I will do, but I am sure I will figure it out.  I would ask for suggestions, but I fear it would be too late when I receive them..... Oh, why not?  Any suggestions?....

Anyway, I hope that all is going well for everyone.  I love you and miss you all, and I pray for you every day!  Keep on truckin, Keep the faith, and Keep Smiling!

Your Obedient Servant,

Elder Austin James Ashcraft

Lights Every Land Today......

Hello All!

Greetings from the Frozen Tundra of Canada!  It seems that summer has hit late, here in Canada.  It has been an average temperature of 27 Degrees (it's not that hot in and of itself, but I am not used to it, and it is really humid.)  One of the days, was 28 Degrees and 99% Humidity.  It was really warm.  But that's life and I can't complain.  The work is progressing, and I am learning and growing a lot.

We have been doing some member work with the PEC lately.  We are trying to visit them and gain their trust.  We visited with the Bishop's Family, whose children remind me of Tanner, Braden, Brindy, and Noelle.  Same Ages and Everything.  Kind of weird, though.... The youngest, Amber, really was almost the spitting image of Pieface, except with the most insanely piercing blue eyes I have ever seen.  They were almost an electric blue color.  It was awesome!) But anyway, we also went to visit the Bymans.  They have three young kids and the oldest, Heidi, is five years old and now has a big crush on Elder Opfar.  Micah, the three year old, was sitting in Sacrament Meeting and during the Sacrament, he saw Elder Opfar and I on the stand (We  were blessing the sacrament) and he stood up and yelled, "Look at what the Missionaries are doing!"  It was really funny.

We also had a wonderful day on Monday.  We taught 4 lessons and picked up 4 new investigators.  One of them was stoned at the time and he said, "you know, guys, I am not really catching all that you're saying because I'm kind of high, but can we do this another time?"  We agreed and rescheduled our appointment.  It was kind of weird, because he wasn't out of it.  He was answering our questions and everything.  We also taught a lady who is frustrated with the Catholic Church because she had a son who died before he was baptized and she refused to believe that he was "not saved."  We talked to her about the Family Proclamation and hopefully she will come out to church.  She is supposed to call us today to schedule another appointment.

We are moving probably late this week.  The address changed and so now it is:

Elder Austin James Ashcraft
332 Eva St. Main Floor
Sudbury, ON P3C 4N3

the postal code changed as well.  I wasn't sure of that last time I wrote. It is a very big apartment.  1300 Square feet.  It will be a nice change.

Hey Dad, I am running out of time and the computer is going to kick me off, so this e-mail might be in two pieces.  If you could put them together and send it off that would be great. I probably could have finished, but I would have had to leave out the randomness.... that's just no fun....

Jean Guy is going to be baptized!  We have him planned to be baptized on Sunday after Church.  It is finally happening.  It has been a month since we first planned on getting him Baptized, but it's actually happening this time.  It is very exciting.

We haven't heard from Siscoe, yet.  He went down to Toronto, and we were hoping that he would show up at church on Sunday, but he was not there.  We hope to hear from him this week.  He is a good guy and he wants to be baptized.  We just have to wait for him to call us.

But now, let the randomness begin.... Mom - Pieface is in school.  That is weird.  She is a smart girl, and she will be a great student..... Tanner - Way to go on the Star.  You are way ahead of where I was.  Tay and Briz - Don't give up.  I know you can do it....Tay - how is everything with yearbook?  Did you find an adviser?  Are things working for you?  Play practice and everything else?  I hope that it is not too crazy.  Random tip -  drink lots of water.  It helped me for some reason.  And don't forget, among everything else that you have to do, to read your scriptures.  I didn't study as much as I should have in High School, and I wish that I would have.  Don't lose sight of what is important....That is pretty funny about Maria and the Tile.  Wish her well with her surgery.  I only have one question about it - did she catch the Frisbee?  Just kidding.  What a way to go out though.  Playing Frisbee..... Mom - about the food -  We are only allowed to have 3 Member only meal appointments a week.  If there is another person, a less active or a non-member present, we can eat there whenever we are invited.  We have not had to turn down any meal appointments because we had too many in one week, though.  We had one of the members take us to Costco and we got some stuff (big bag of hamburgers, chicken, veggies, etc.)  So we are taken care of.... But anyway, the computer is wigging out, so I will send this before I lose it.  Take Care.  I am praying for you!  I love you and miss you all!

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft

P.S. - Cougar Football - What's going on?  I know it's that time of year again.....

Bright As The Sun This Heavenly Ray...

Hello All!

Greetings from Canada!  How is everybody doing?  How was the start of school?  I hope all has gone well.  How is everybody's schedule?  Nothing too tedious I hope.  Things have been great here.  We have picked up two new investigators and one of them seems very excited to learn about the gospel.

Megan is the first one.  She is 17 and does not yet have a strong faith in our Father in Heaven.  We are working on that, and teaching her about the nature of God, as well as the first lesson about the Restoration.  We are going to be meeting with her later this week.  The other is Desiree.  She is a young mom, and she was very interested in what we had to say about the family.  She seemed eager to learn and wants us to come back.  Jean Guy is still smoking, but we are going to meet with him on Friday to see how we need to proceed.  Siscoe has not yet gotten back from Toronto.  We are waiting for that so we can keep teaching him.

We cooked dinner for Paula on Sunday.  She is a member who feeds a different set of missionaries each week.  She actually has the Sisters staying in her house.  We asked her on Wednesday if there was anything we could do for her, and she jokingly responded "cook supper on Sunday" and we jumped at it.  It was a lot of fun to be in a real kitchen again, with real ingredients to work with.

Last night we had a really funny experience.  We stopped by an appointment with Don, who we had met the day before.  He had forgotten about us, and he and his friend were completely drunk.  It was quite humorous.  It reminded me of in the movies when people act completely inebriated.  Quintessential
intoxication.  It was pretty funny, but we left and did some contacting, instead.

So everybody is coming home.... Dan, Bryan, Andrew.... sounds like a blast - especially for the rest of the young men, having to deal with the sacrament without the boys.   It is good to hear about how people come home with very strong testimonies.  I hope that mine can progress each and every day and I feel it growing just being out here doing the Lord's Work.  It is a great thing to be doing.  There is no greater work, no greater calling that I could have in my life than to be out here, among these wonderful people
(drunk as they may be) teaching the Gospel.  It is incredible to know how much this message changes lives.  How was Pace's Meeting, by the way?

Guess What?  I'm moving!  We are getting a new apartment!  The one that we are in right now is pretty ghetto, and we finally found an apartment to move into.  We should be there in about a week.  The 1st of September is the day that it becomes ours, but they have to go in and repair a few things, so it will probably be next Thursday or so.  My new address will be 332 Eva St. instead of 44 Humber Court.  I think that all the rest of the information will stay the same in the address.  I will let you know if it changes though.

Randomness! (it's wonderful, isn't it)....Larry is Young Men's President - magnificent.  He will do a great job.  I am excited for the boys.....The campout sounds like a lot of fun.  It always is a great thing to see a moose.  They are huge!  We have heard some stories about moose running through people's backyards and such.  The Sisters even told us about a bear that was up in the tree in Paula's Front yard - Crazy! ....Have fun with the Cookout - just remember the lemon pepper and everything will be fine....Mom -  it must be weird having all the kids away at school.  You have a half day to yourself.  What are you going to do with all your new "free time?"....Taylor - It has begun....The long days, the 3:00 AM homework parties.... Enjoy it.  Don't kill yourself though.  And that story about the dentist's office is hilarious.  I wish I could have been there.  I hope that you got your schedule figured out as well.... Shan - your trip to San Diego sounded like a blast.  And thanks for giving Dan my address.  I hope he writes.... I hope anybody writes....Dan and Moe.... interesting.... just kidding.... Anyway.... I love you and miss you all!  Take Care and Keep in Touch!

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft

Dad - could you forward please?  I am out of time... and there is a present under Taylor's bed that I was not able to get to Moe before she went to Nauvoo.  If you could please deliver that, that would be great....

Shines the Gospel Light of Truth and Love....

Hello All!

Greetings from Sudbury!  It has been an interesting week.  Transfer calls came on Monday, and Elder Opfar and I are both staying here in Sudbury.  We had a Blitz (finding day) on Monday and Tuesday, which didn't go too well (I think we only got two contacts), but the work is going forward boldly.

We had an incredible Mission Conference on Thursday.  Elder Packer from the Quorum of the Seventy spoke to us.  He covered a lot of territory.  His wife also spoke to us.  She went through the attributes in Doctrine and Covenants Section 4 and described how each of them, as we learn and develop them on
our missions, will be necessary and will help us throughout our lives.  One of the things that stuck out to me about Elder Packer's talk was that he described the need to learn the Language of the Spirit.  He described it as a language that cannot be taught, yet it is so vitally important to each of us that we learn how the spirit speaks to us individually.  We all MUST learn it, and we all MUST find out for ourselves.  It is something that I have been trying to work on.

On Saturday, we met with Siscoe, a big black guy from Angola who speaks Portuguese.  It was a miracle how we met with him.  We had taught him the first few weeks of the transfer, but he went down to Toronto for a few weeks and he kind of fell off the radar.  He told us that he was waiting for us to come visit him, and that he told himself that if we didn't come visit him, he would come visit us.  He walked to the church (He thought we lived there) and went inside.  There was a wedding reception (more a luncheon/open house) going on, and Siscoe went inside and asked if we were home.  The guy who had
just gotten married had served his mission in Brazil, and he was able to talk to him for a while in Portuguese about the gospel.  We got a call from this guy at the church saying that Siscoe was there and we went up and taught him.  It was great.  It could not have worked out better.  We invited him to come to church, which he did.  We told him that we would stop by and walk with him to church.  We were a few minutes late, and his wife told us that he was so excited, he could not wait any longer, so he started walking without us.  We caught up to him and he had a great experience at church. We taught him again on Monday, and as we sat down with him, the first question he asked us was "so how long until I can get baptized?"  It was a miracle.  We are Meeting with him again a couple times later this week, and he is planning on being baptized on the 31st.

Jean Guy is not doing too well.  He is still smoking.  We have to work on that.

Time to be random....Mom, I mailed a package home.  There is a letter coming as well that will explain a little bit....Dad, it sounds like the Safe Spots are doing well.  The campout also sounds like fun.  And the sprinkler system will be good for granddad's lawn as well.....Utah is cooling down – Mom would hate the weather up here.  The bosses party sounds fun.  And just so you know, the preachers from the other faiths are one of our favorite people to contact.  It either goes two ways - we place the Book of Mormon and commit them to read it, or we get completely shut down.  It’s good to talk to those with scriptural knowledge, though.  Good luck with school and everything else..... Bryson - it was good to hear from you....If only my other brothers would do the same....just kidding...but seriously folks.....I love you and miss you all!

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft