Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me....

Hello All!

Greetings from Barrie, Ontario!  It is a great place up here, and except for the fact that it has rained 6 of the last 7 days, the weather has been awesome!  Rain is great.  I love it.  But not really as a missionary.  You see, when it rains, most people go inside and don't want to answer their doors, and you are left with no one to talk to.  That’d be bad.   No bueno.   If you know what I am saying.  We have been tearing it up, though.  The breaks in between the rain we have run and talked to as many people as we could.  It's pretty much awesome.  So yeah.  Time runs a little short this week, but we are doing well.  Barrie is great.  We are starting with a few investigators that are awesome (2 of which came to church), and we are striving, constantly striving, to find more.  Have a Great Day!  Learn it.  Live it.  Love It. Share it.   

Your Obedient Servant,

Elder Austin James Ashcraft

I'll Go where you want me to go, dear Lord....

Hello All!

Stop right there!  Don't put the stamp on that envelope yet!  (I know that all of you were about to send me a letter)  TRANSFERS!  I am now back in the Barrie Zone (Actually serving in Barrie this time).  I guess the northern end of the mission was calling my name, and I could only stay away for 3 months.  My new companion is Elder Hafen.  He is from Santa Clara, Utah. Good Man.  I am excited to work with him.  It is a little interesting being only 30 minutes away from the Blessed land of Orillia, but it is good to learn a new place.  So the reason that this e-mail comes late (obviously) is the fact that I was traveling for much of the day yesterday.  So here I am - at the Barrie Library - e-mailing all of you!  I hope that you have a great Day!  And for all of you out there that are sending me letters, my new address is:

Elder Austin Ashcraft
75 Ellen St. #904
Barrie, ON  L4N 7R6
CANADA

So I will be anxiously waiting for your correspondence.  Have a great Day!

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft

Go Forth with Faith....

Hello All!

I hope that all is going well!  I apologize if this may be shorter than usual, but we are a little rushed for time today because we are heading up to Kitchener for a Zone Activity.  There will be volleyball, which is wonderful!  *(Side Note - Elder Feinga [who just so happens to be the cousin of Ray Feinga and Harvey Unga - he's Tongan- thought some of you might appreciate that little tidbit of information] is a very good volleyball player.  So much so that he was banned from MTC volleyball during gym time because he spiked the ball into an elder's face and broke his nose, causing him to delay his departure date while he got that taken care of.  So it's going to be fun trying to dig out his hits this afternoon.)*  Anyway......

Things are going well.  The Missionary Day was fantastic!  Good turnout, good workshops, and we have already seen some fruit from it, as the members have given us more referrals in the past week than they have my entire mission.  Good stuff.  We have been purging our teaching pool of non-progressing barnacles (AKA the ones that just seem to hold on forever but never really do anything).  That is going well and we have found some new people to work with.  The work is progressing, and the church is true. Have a great day!

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft

Come, Sing To The Lord....

Hello All!

How is everybody? I hope that all is well!  Things up here are great!  The weather is bearable.  The  people are Canadian.  The Gospel is True – What more could you ask for?

We had a good week, despite not being able to contact L.J., Tamara, and Becky, and losing 7 of our  investigators because they were not interested. Winston, and Kevin stepped up, though, and they are both doing well.  They believe everything we have taught, they are just waiting for an answer from our Heavenly Father so that they will KNOW that this is what they are supposed to do.  We also have the Woodstock Branch Missionary Day on Saturday which should be great.  I am very excited for that.  I will update you next week on how that went.  It's essentially a Member MTC.  It should be good.  I am excited.

I hope that everybody had a good 4th of July.  Independence Day!  I sang the National Anthem that morning.  I hope you could all hear me.  I hope that everyone had a great day celebrating the freedoms that we so fully enjoy. Ether 2:12 - Look it up.  Anyway - I love you and miss you all.  Not too long today, but I will do better next week.  I hope that you all have a great day!

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft

Go Ye Messengers Of Glory....

Hello All!

How are you doing?  I hope that things are going well.  It has been a good week up here in  Woodstock.  We had Zone Conference on Thursday and it was spectacular!  President Middleton is such an inspired man.  I love him to death.  (Except not literally.  That would not end well).  We received some great instruction from the leaders of the mission.  I am so very grateful
for the spirit and the divine guidance that it gives.

We had a little scare with L.J. last week.  He called us and asked some questions about the church and we could tell that he was being antied.  He was also avoiding meeting with us for a while.  We finally were able to meet with him and resolve his concerns, though.  He is still planning on being baptized on July 11.  A few others of our investigators fell off the radar for a little bit.  Scary.  We are continuing to work and pray for them, and we know that all will be well.

Canada Day was good.  The Stratford Elders came down and we played Tennis and Volleyball for P-day.  It was a lot of fun.  I haven't played a good game of volleyball since the MTC.  it was good stuff.  The Library was closed, so here I am, on Thursday, writing to yous.  Fun stuff.  I hope that you all have a great Day and a marvelous 4th Of July.  Light Fireworks/have a BBQ/relax for me.  Have a good one.  I love you and miss you all.  Have a wonderful Week!

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft