We all have work, Let no one shirk.....

Hello All!

Let me just start off by saying that I love the called and ordained servants of God!  We had a great meeting with Elder Lynn G. Robbins of the seventy. He met with us and the Zone Leaders from the East mission as well on Monday Morning.  It was such a great opportunity to hear his words and be taught from on high as he instructed us.  He talked a lot about Agency and Responsibility being companion principles.  As such, they are completely inseparable.  You cannot have one without the other.  And if, at any time, we avoid responsibility, we are giving control to others, giving away our own agency, and (very blunt, but very true) - denying the plan of our Savior Jesus Christ.  It was very bold, very powerful, and very motivating.

Amazing how God calls Men and uses them in ways that they cannot even comprehend to accomplish His Work.  I love it!  It is truly amazing!  I am very excited for tomorrow, when Elder Robbins will address the entire mission.  It will be a great spiritual feast.  It has been a good week, and I hope that you are all doing well.  I love you all!

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft

P.S.  - Good Luck with Back to School!  Let me know how things are turning out!

Help Me Teach With Inspiration....

Hello All!

How is everybody as the Summer winds down?  Not to bring up a painful subject or anything, but I hope that everybody is ready for school and everything that comes with it.  The Summer here in Barrie seems to be just picking up.  It is hot. And it is humid.  And I am wearing along sleeved shirt.  Don't ask me why.  Let's just say thank goodness for Air conditioning.  Yeah.

Things are going well.  We had a bit of a slow week teaching wise.  We had three district meetings to go to, and we had a companion exchange with the Newmarket Elders.  So we spent a fair bit of time with the administrative things, and that took a chunk of time from our proselyting (bummer).  But with the time we had, we made it effective and did what we could.  We were able to find some really good  potentials, and we hope to meet with them later this week.  One of them is a less active member that we contacted on the street who has a nine year-old daughter who (as we were talking to the mom) was jumping up and down yelling "I want to be a Mormon!"   That's awesome that a little girl recognizes the truth and wants to be a part of it. She doesn't care who knows it either.  She is not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ.  And neither should we.  This is the truth, and we all know that.  As Joseph Smith stated (tense revised for myself, and each of us for that matter), "I know it.  I know that God knows it.  And I Cannot Deny it."  I love this gospel and this work.  Live it.  Love it.  Share it.  I love you!

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft

The Happy Day at Last Has Come....

Hello All!

How are things in the great State of Utah (And wherever else you may be as well)?  Things here are going well.  The Sun is Shining.  The weather is Humid.  The people are out.  And we are talking to them.  We have done a ton of finding in the past week.  Especially the last few days of last week.  We talked to a ton of people, and we have seen fruit already from it.  We have a lot of potentials that we will be working with in the near future.

I am continually amazed by the hand of the Lord in this work.  One of the people that I talked to was Mike.  He was walking a little bit ahead of me, and when I first started talking to him, I thought he was ignoring me, so I almost let him go.  The Spirit works in lovely ways, and my thought was that I needed to hear him say he was not interested before I let him go.  So I tried again and we talked to him and were able to tell him about the glorious message of the restoration.  He hadn't heard me the first time, but when the Lord commands - Do it.  Blessings will follow.  It happens time and time again.

I love you all!  I hope that each of you has a great day!  You deserve it. Remember Who you are.  Remember Where you live (That's kind of important). Remember WHOSE you are (1 Corinthians 7:13).  Just Remember.  A greater word was never known among men.

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft

Like Ten Thousand Legions Marching....

Hello All!

Barrie Means Business!  That's our motto here.  We hope to live up to it. We are getting there.  We were able to Set Dan  for baptism on the 29th of August.  Nice Man, has read the Book of Mormon 6 times.  We also are hoping to commit Tina, Brenda, and Paul and Jeanne to the same.  Please pray for us and for them so that we will be able to see these and other children of God come into His fold.  Miracles can and will happen when we act in faith.   We had a lot of planning and other things for the Zone that we had to do, and we are excited to see what we can accomplish.  It was a good week and we hope to continue!  This is short, but I don't have too much time (We had to drive down to Newmarket and meet the Assistants to get a new phone for the Stayner Elders - They Broke Theirs... That took a few minutes).  But I love you all and hope you are having (And Will have) a great day!

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft