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
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