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)