Beautiful Bright Millennial Day.....

Hello Everybody! 

How are things?  I hope all is going well. 

Sorry - Long e-mail to Tay.  Not much time today!

We had a decent week.  Christa is still doing well.  She is afraid to pray about the Book of Mormon "because of what that would mean."  We should have asked her about what she meant by that.  That was a little bit of a missed opportunity.  We did ask her if she would be baptized when she knows this is true, but she kind of avoided answering that.  She is searching for truth, and I am fully confident that she will be baptized in due time.  I have wanted to expedite the process because I want to see her be baptized, but we want to make sure that she is ready.  Everybody else dropped off this week, due to either lost contact or unwillingness to progress (No real intent).  We also set a goal to meet with each active member once a month.  There are about 40 active member households, and that would translate to about 10 per week, which should do a lot to increase their trust in us, and increase their involvement in the work consequently.  It will be a good week.

Have a good one!

Your willing and Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft 

Let the Holy Spirit Guide....

Hello All! 

How's Memorial Day!  I hope it's great for everybody.  It's a good day here.  Not a recognized holiday, but we are memorializing in our own way.  It has been hot and humid lately.  Really humid.  Sometimes I melt.  But we survive with lots of water, and trying as hard as we can to get into people's houses to teach them.  It's been a good week.  

Christa came to Stake conference!  She is doing well.  She doesn't really have a religious background, but she said she "feels like there is something drawing me, and compelling me to keep coming and talking with you."  I thought that was really cool.  She is looking for answers, and she also said that she is starting to fill the hole that is in her life.  She loves that faith gives people a sense of direction and she wants that.  It's only a matter of time.  

The stake conference was great!  It was a Canada-wide broadcast from Vancouver.  We heard from Elder Glenn L Pace of the Seventy, who spoke about finding a testimony of your own.  Next was Sister Jean A. Stevens from the Primary General Presidency, who talked about teaching and the capacities of children to learn and recognize the spirit.  Elder M. Russel Ballard talked about Church History in Canada, and the Concluding Speaker was President Uchtdorf, who spoke a lot about our duties to prepare, serve, and invite others.  It was a great meeting.  

We are trying to get the membership excited about Preach My Gospel.  It is amazing.  If you are not using it, I encourage you to.  It is more than just a guide to missionary work.  President Uchtdorf said that as well.  He encouraged us to use it in Family Home Evening, particularly Chapter 3.  He said it was 39 Pages that will help strengthen your testimony and raise your spirituality.  I loved that.  It's a great book.  Use it well.  

I hope that all goes well this week.  Good luck to all who are finishing up school!  Have a great one!  I love you!

Your Willing and Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft 

Know this, that Every Soul is free....

Hello All! 

How's life?  I hope all is well.  Things up here have been very warm and muggy and humid.  There are days that I feel I am melting like a popsicle on the fourth of July.  But it's all good.  It makes people ask questions - What in the world would make those two walk around all day in shirts and ties in weather like this?  It opens up an opportunity to share our testimonies, and that's the best thing we can do anyway. 

Wayne came to church again.  We still haven't been able to actually teach him, but he loves church and I think he will continue to come.  There is potential there.

Christa came to church.  We found her as we were walking down near the church on Friday.  She doesn't really have a faith in God, but she is willing to try.  I spoke in Sacrament Meeting about "The Need for a Prophet," and I basically taught the Restoration Lesson.  So She and Wayne both got that and appeared to agree (nodding heads, etc.).  We will be trying to help them progress as well. 

Chris didn't come to church.  He is Pentecostal and went to his church with his wife.  He doesn't want to, though.  He thinks that their focus on the gift of tongues isn't right (He is correct in that one), and he is thinking about leaving his church.  He does a lot of research, and he wants evidence in the Bible that the restoration is to occur.  He has some other interpretations of some scriptures that get in the way of the restoration.  We are trying to help him see that he needs to focus on the big question - Whether the Book of Mormon is True.  He brings up lots of little things that are based on his interpretation of the scripture, but we are trying to help him. 

We are looking forward to a lot more people this next week, we have a few appointments set with some really good potentials, and in Zone Conference yesterday, we learned all about helping investigators progress toward baptism.  We are excited for that.  Have a great day!  I love you all! 

Your Willing And Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft 

On A Golden Springtime.....

Hey Yous! 

Canada is great!  It is starting to warm up.  It's a great time to be alive and a greater time to serve the Lord.

We had an interesting week.  We had lunch with Scott and Dawn on Thursday and we prepared a good lesson for them.  We ate and then we said, "We have a brief lesson prepared.  Is that alright?"  Scott and Dawn Looked at each other and then said, "Actually, we are going to pass."  Dawn just wants to learn on her own.  So that's that.  Tim also told us he is not interested.  But Wayne came to Church!  He is a media Referral that we haven't been able to actually teach yet, but we dropped off the DVDs that he ordered from the website, and invited him to come, and there he was.  He really enjoyed it.  He is coming back next week, and we are going to try to get in with him to teach.  It's difficult with his work schedule, but the Lord will make it happen.  It's great.  The computers are kind of acting funny again, so I will close this before I lose it.  Have a great Day!  I love Yous!

Your Willing Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft 

All Is Well! All Is Well!

Hello Everybody! 

How was Mother's day.  I hope it was a good one.  It was good to talk to yous.  I hope all has been well in the past 18 hours.  

We had a good week, despite having a lot of appointment not go through.  We invited a one of our investigators (Elvis) to be baptized, and he didn't quite accept, but we left him with a commitment to read and pray about the restoration in particular.  We were going to visit with him on Saturday, but the appointment didn't go through.  We had a great lesson planned for him about baptism and we were a bit disappointed when things didn't work out with that.  We were able to set up a lot of appointments for this next week, and we are excited for those.   There is really no one else we are working with right now.  It's been good, though. 

Discouragement is a tool of the adversary, and a proper perspective helps us to deal with that.  I can honestly say that the times that I have been happiest on my mission are those right after I am in the gutter, being yelled at, sworn at, ridiculed, and defied.  In Kitchener, we would go downtown for hours and would have person after person refute our claims, but the happiest times I have had are when I walk away and know that I Know the truth.  Joseph Smith said, (And I quoted this last night), "I knew it, I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it."  All the persecution under heaven cannot make it otherwise.  Persecution is good.  It means that you are doing what is right.  Satan would not try to stop you if you were working for him.  My testimony is the strongest when it stands up the shafts in the whirlwind, the hail and the mighty winds that beat upon us.  But because of the Rock - the Savior.  I know that I cannot fall.  The Spirit speaks to each of us, and it will tell us exactly what we need to hear.  God knows us so perfectly that he can send messages to us that strike the strings on our hearts and play the melodies of eternal truth and love.  And as we listen to and sing along with those celestial songs, we will become what he wants us to be.  I love the Gospel, and everything that goes with it.  (Sorry, mom, for quoting that again, but I really liked it the first time.....)  Anyway..... I hope all is well and that Yous all have a great week!

Your Willing Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft 

Onward Christian Soldiers!

Hey Everybody! 

How's life?  I hope all is well.  It was a good week.  It basically entailed us starting over with an almost entirely new teaching pool.  Elvis is doing well.  He came to church yesterday.  He still doesn't quite understand the "only true church" idea.  Part of that might be due to a language barrier (He is from Albania).  We have another appointment with him on Tuesday.  Hopefully we can get him really progressing.  He is really the only one to report on right now.  There are a couple others that we have just started meeting with (Tim and Joanne) and we hope to help them get moving as well.  This is just a great time to be alive.  I love the gospel and all that it offers.  I love the fact that no matter where I am and no matter what anybody says, It is still true.  It reminds me of something I listened to on the "Savior of the World" CD a while ago.  The song is about the shepherds acting on what the Angel said.  The doubter says, "Eli, you are always either hot or cold, why can't you be in the middle?" To which Eli responds, "What good does that do?  If something is true, IT IS TRUE."  I love that.  Joseph Smith, after endur...

Sorry about that.  The Computers are having an issue right now.  I wrote an awesomely long e-mail. and it was lost and now I don't have time to reproduce it.  Have a great day!

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft 

There is Sunshine in My Soul...

Hello All!  

How is life?  I hope all is well!  It has been cold and rainy all week up here, but our spirits are still bright.  There is sunshine in My soul.  And that's what counts.

It was an interesting week.  It started out great, but the roller-coaster of missionary work came around again and the end of the week was a little disheartening.  We had on Friday almost all of our investigators committed to come to church, but when we called them on Saturday, they all flaked off.  It was a little bit frustrating.  We are trying to figure out what to do here.  We really want to get the ward involved, but everybody seems busy and we don't want to overstep our stewardship.  We tried to schedule appointments and we were getting responses that we usually get from investigators.  "We are really busy right now.  Try next month."  Even now as I type this I am being reminded by the Spirit that we can use the same techniques with members as we do with investigators.  So hopefully things will go better. 

We were speaking with Elder Messick (our district leader) last night and we decided that although the immediate fruit comes more when we take care of things on our own, we need to work inseparably with the membership in order to produce the best fruit.  I heard a talk from President Eyring called the "Law of Increasing Returns."  That's kind of the principle I am trying to follow right now.  The fruit may not be this week, but it will lay a foundation for the future harvest that will be much greater than the short term.  Not to say that we are not hoping, praying, and working for the immediate fruit.  We have faith that the Lord will bless us with that as well.   

We will be having a Saturday Morning Pancake breakfast/meeting with the Bishop and Ward Mission Leader in the coming weeks and that should be a catalyst.  Bishop Coulbeck is one who gets things done.  Brother Hofer is eager to help as well.  There are lots of good members also that will jump on board as we do our best and trust the Lord.  So that is our direction.  We have a vision to have the Ward so involved in missionary work that we will be able to talk to each member about how their friend So-and so is doing.  We have been teaching the Elder Robbins Referral Lesson and it has been interesting.  I have yet to see it work according to how Elder Robbins taught it, but I think that means that I just need to review my notes and practice.  

Almost all of our investigators have fallen off.  Dawn and Nancy are pretty much done for a while.  They are both kind of avoiding us.  We were able to find three new investigators, though.  One of them, Kevin, was a miracle find.  We were wondering what to do at 8:00 on Wednesday night.  It was cold, raining, and our plans fell through.  The Vernets (A family that just moved in) kept coming to my mind, so we decided to go visit them.  We walked to their apartment building, and the buzzer list was in alphabetical order, but the Vernets were not on the list.  We saw a tenant whose buzzer said "occupied" and alphabetically it would have been the Vernets, so we decided to give it a shot.  So we dialed the number.  

"Hello?"
"Hello!  Is this the Vernets?"
"Yes. Who is this?"
"It's the Missionaries."
"Who?"
"The missionaries."
"Oh."
"We were just wondering if you had a few minutes that we could come visit with you."
"I'll buzz you in."
"What's the apartment number, by the way?"
"506"
"Thanks.  We'll be right up."
So we went up to the fifth floor and as we get off the elevator, a man is standing in the doorway of apartment 506. It is not Brother Vernet. 
"What's up?  Why did you buzz me?"
"You are actually not who we were trying to reach."
"Who are you guys?"
"We are missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints."
"I already believe in Jesus Christ.  But come on in.  What type of message?  Go Ahead - Spill your Guts."

So we went in and taught him the restoration.  He really liked the book of Mormon.  It was great!  Truly a miracle.  The Lord will direct his work.  Anyone who says otherwise has not tried to do it.  I love it.  So we are starting over this week.  It will be good, though.  I love this work and I love the Lord whose work this is.  I love you all as well!  Have a great day!

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft 

I Need Thee, Oh I need Thee....

Hello All!  

How is life?  I hope all is well.  It has been a bit of a roller-coaster this week, in more than one sense.  Can you all pray for Mark Nowlan this week.  He is experiencing some pretty fierce doubt, and all this just after his baptism.  He saw that PBS special on the Mormons and that shook him pretty bad.  He needs a little spiritual help right now, I hope you can all help.  It was a decent week otherwise.  We had a great Zone Conference.  I love conferences.  General, Stake, Ward, Zone, Mission.  Conferences are just great.  It's really good to hear the words of our leaders and of the Spirit.  We have been doing a lot with members lately.  We are trying to work more closely with them and use the tremendous resource they are.  We have run into some less active members that are less than pleased with the Church.  It has been interesting to see that every one of their issues comes from Pride.  It truly is, as President Benson describes, the Universal Sin.  I have noticed how much we truly need the Savior.  Those who push his hand away and say "I don't need you." are truly lost, and they are without His blessings.  It is sad.  I know that he lives, and that he directs this work.  I love Him.  I love you.  Have a great Week!

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft 

Oh, There's sunshine, blessed Sunshine....

Hello All! 

Greetings from the southern-most point of Canada.  It is the only place where you have to actually go north to get to the Contiguous states (excluding Alaska, of course).  I learned that this week.  We had a good week of finding.  We were able to be led to four of God's children this week.  There has been some progress made on some of the others as well.  Kyle, an 18 year old from Mississauga, wants to be baptized.  Due to his circumstances and history, it will take some time, but the desire is there.  We will be working with him to help him move toward that.  We also were able to meet with Elvis (Yeah,  I know).  He is from Albania.  He is really busy with school, but we were able to take 15 minutes and share the Plan of Salvation with him.  It was good.  He will have a lot more time when exams are finished at the end of April. 

It has been a good week.  The sun is shining!  The plants are coming back to life!  The Gospel is Restored!  What a great time to be alive!  It is a great time to share the Gospel and to shout as Paul did, "I am not Ashamed of the Gospel of Christ!"  We have had a few people come up to us this past week and bring up some rather uncomplimentary accusations against us, due to the showing if that PBS documentary on "The Mormons."  I love that the gift of the Holy Ghost allows us to sift through all the nonsense and the lies and that it testifies of Truth.  I just was thinking about it, and every question, concern,  that was brought up, the gospel has an answer.  I love it.  I am very grateful for this opportunity for others to show how THEY can know.  What greater thing could we be doing than bringing our Brothers and sisters closer to Christ.  That was something I picked up on in Conference As well.  We need to come to Christ and Bring others with us.  I love it.  I can't say that enough.  Alma 26:16 (Look it up, I recommend it.  That's how I feel....) I love you all!  Have a great day! 

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft 

We Listen to a Prophet's voice, and hear the Savior too....

Hello There!  

How are you?  How was conference?  Pretty much amazing for myself.  It's crazy how much we can learn about things we already know.  The Spirit is just incredible that way.  Everything from President Packer telling us that we need more Priesthood POWER, not just Priesthood Authority, to Elder Andersen encouraging us to Tell the Stories Of Jesus, and everything in between.  From beginning to end, it is just phenomenal.  A Spiritual feast. I thought it interesting the common theme of teaching the rising generation.  And that theme was only compounded and emphasized when Elder Andersen mentioned that none of the speakers are assigned their topics.  Each felt inspired to give the message that they did, and they came together, each playing their part in a "Beautiful Spiritual Symphony."  Magnificent.  I was very grateful for those who have played a part in my learning. 

To those mentors that I have had, and to everyone who has been an example to me, I was profoundly grateful.  Each of you have played an integral part in helping me to become the person I am, and yet hope to become.  Thank you for that.  There truly is a prophet on the earth today.  This Church, Christ's Church, is truly the divine establishment that we need to be a part of to find true happiness.  I know that as we heed the counsel of the Leaders of the Church, and as we strive to apply that into our lives, we will truly see our lives change for the better.  I know that. 

Have a great Week!  I Love You!

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft 

The Spirit of God like a fire is burning.....

Hello All! 

The spirit truly is burning within Mark!  He was confirmed yesterday!  It was great!  He is very happy and he knows that he is doing what is right.  It gives him a great peace of mind.  That change in him has been miraculous to see.  Nancy and Dawn were able to see it, and so we are hoping and praying that they felt that spirit and desired, as did the Nephites, the gift of the Holy Ghost.  Kyle, one of our other investigators will be trying to quit smoking this week, so prayers for him would be helpful.  Claudette and Brian told us that they want to stay Catholic, but that they still want to be friends.  It sounds like a bad break-up, i know.  They are great people and I am sure they will come around in the future.  We also found a few new investigators (One if which is named Elvis - really good man from Albania).  We are excited for more blessings from the Lord.  

Oh Yeah - Transfers are happening tomorrow.  I am staying here.  My New Companion is Elder Harper.  He will get here tomorrow evening.  New transfer.  New Companion.  New adventures.  It's gonna be good.  Anyway - I love you all!  Have a great week!

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft 

When Jesus Christ Was baptized.....

Hello All! 

How's Life?  Things are going just swimmingly up here (Pun Very Much Intended).  MARK GOT  BAPTIZED!!!!  It was so great to have that happen.  Elder St. Pierre was able to perform that great ordinance.  I felt kind of bad for him because it was his first one and Mark is no small child of God.  He probably weighs about 400 lbs.  The font was not the deepest I have seen either, but Elder St. Pierre is a linebacker and he got him fully immersed in the first shot.  It was great!  I really enjoyed watching that.  Things are going really well.  Dawn Oullette came to the baptism and we are going to talk to her about that next time we are over there.  Hopefully hers will not be too far away.  It's amazing to see people make that sacred covenant of baptism.  I love it.  It truly is a gateway as Nephi said it is.  We are having a grand old time up here, and March is definitely going out like a lion.  The wind this morning walking to the library was almost blowing me over.  It was really fun.  I love the Gospel.  Baptism is probably one of the greatest things ever!  I love it.  I love you!  Have a great day!

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft 

Join in the joy of the Sabbath School Throng!

Hello All! 

How's it going?  I hope it's good.  It is up here!  It was pretty warm this past week.  It got up to 15 degrees on Wednesday, and then we got rain the past 3 days.  it was chilly with the rain and the wind, but it was better than snow.  

We had a good week!   Mark, Nancy, Dawn, and Odette all came to church.  It was great!  We were able to meet with them and they are progressing nicely.  Mark is preparing to be baptized next week, and the others are excited to see it.  We are hoping that it will be a motivator to each to prepare for her own baptism. It was really good.  

It was a solid week.  I got attacked by a dog (Just Kidding - He only jumped on me).  He completely cleared the fence that was SUPPOSED to hold him back and I thought he was going to eat me.  It was just like on the sandlot, when the Beast jumps over the fence.  I just caught him as he jumped and threw him off to the side.  He didn't get me at all, except for the part where he got muddy paw prints on my suit.  His owner came and took him away after that.   It was fun.  So yeah.  I hope that you are all doing well.  Keep your stick on the ice.  Keep strengthening your testimonies.  I love you!  Have a great Spring Break! 

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft 

Come, Follow Me....

Hello All!  

It sounds like a great week back home, and it was a great one here!  Mark is getting Baptized on the 21st of march.  We are very excited for him.  We also were able to have a special stake conference with Elder Ballard yesterday.  He and Elder Clayton were up here doing some leadership training and they held a special stake conference so that he could speak to us.  He talked a lot about missionary work, getting the members all exited for it.  It was really good.  We were able to find a few new investigators this week as well.  One of them, Aaron, was really almost grudgingly letting us in because we had an appointment, but as we shared the message of the restoration with him, his countenance completely changed and he was attentive and interested.  It was phenomenal to see that.  The Spirit truly can do great things.  I love it.  Things are doing well.  The Lord is truly blessing us.  And we know that it is only through him that we can do His work.  Have a beautiful day!  I love you!

Your Obedient servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft 

The Clouds of Error Disappear...

Hello All! 

The Canadians are happy!  They won the Gold Medal.  Life up here is good.  We had a good week.  Mark, one of our investigators, finally came to church.  He is a big, funny 60 year old man who used to be a truck driver.  He is great.  He has a testimony of the church but has not come yet.  Now that he has started to come, it is only a short time before he is baptized.  We are very excited for him.  We were able to find a few new investigators as well this week.  We are very excited for all that is started to happen.  It's great!  We will hopefully have much more to fill you in on next week.  Life is great!  The Mission is wonderful.  It is such a privilege to do the Lord's work.  I love it.  I love you and pray for you all!  Have a great day!

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft 

Called to Serve Him.....Taylor's Going to England.....

Hello all! 

First off - congratulations to Taylor for his mission call!  He is probably going to be the best missionary ever!  Life in Windsor is good!  Lots of walking.  It was pretty warm and sunny the past few days, but we woke up today to about 4 inches of snow.  It was fun.  Winter ain't over yet.  I don't have an insane amount of time, but I just wanted to let you all know that I love you, and that it's a beautiful time to be alive, and to be living, loving and sharing the gospel.  Love You!

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft 

Come Let Us Anew...

Hello All! 

Transfers have occurred yet again.  I am now serving in Downtown Windsor with Elder St. Pierre.  Windsor is basically a suburb of Detroit, but on the Canadian Side of the River.  It was weird driving in and seeing on a sign "Tunnel to U.S.A.-->"  We are right on the river.  I don't have too much to say about Windsor yet, but I will get back to you with more later. Elder St. Pierre is from somewhere in Colorado.  The only thing I really know about him is that he was a linebacker for the University of Utah the year before his mission.  Again, more details to come later.  

The last week in Kitchener was good.  Khaibu, Dei Thang, and Foday all came to church.  Khaibu informed us that he is moving to Calgary in 2 weeks for work, so we will have to get the missionaries over there to visit with him.  The rest of the family is still staying, so Elder Weber and Elder Romney will continue to work with them.  It was a good week.  The last night, we went downtown, and Charles started talking to us. (One of the Regulars.  He walks the street downtown pretending to be blind.  We figured out last night that he really belongs to the Guelph Mafia.  I think he just does recon for them and just gathers information.)  I mentioned that I was leaving, and after a scream of "NOOOO!" he gave me the protection of the Guelph Mafia if I ever needed it.  Pretty fun.  That's downtown for you.  Pretty good.  

So that's the way the cookie crumbles.  Windsor Downtown, here I come.  My new address is :

Elder Austin James Ashcraft
3701 Riverside Drive East #202W
Windsor, Ontario N8Y 4W5
CANADA

Kind of Confusing with all the numbers and letters, but there it is.  I would love to hear from any of you, and all of you.  I love y'all.  Have a great day!

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft

P.S. - Taylor - My Prediction (I feel kind of biased, I really want the Canada Toronto West Mission.  It's pretty much the best.)   However, my guess is Mexico City, Mexico.  Let me know..... 

Love One Another.....

Hello! 

How are things in Utah?  I hope all is well.  Things have been going just swimmingly here.  Khaibu, Deih Deih, and Ngenu came to church.  They are 3 of the kids in the Burmese Family we are teaching.  They enjoyed it and it was really good to see them there.  They are doing well.  We finally met the other sister, Hau Nu (pronounced "how new"), and got her involved as well.  It is a little bit interesting teaching them, because the mom and the oldest sister don't speak English.  So we will teach, the kids will respond in English and if they have a question they will ask each other in Burmese and then get to us after they have talked it over.  It's fun.  We are slowly helping them to see the commitment they will make when they are baptized.  It will be good to help them understand that. 

Foday and his brother, Vamba did not come to church yesterday, but we are going to get in there with them and help them see the importance of attending sacrament Meeting. 

The Hyder Family - the Muslims - are not doing too well.  We went over there again and they were asking all sorts of questions through their son.  They all speak English, but they used Shazaib as the spokesperson.  We are thinking that the parents are just curious and are telling the kid to ask the questions.  Basically, we were not seeing any real intent.  We left a copy of the Book of Mormon in Urdu for them, and we will check back in a while on their progress there. 

It was a good Week.  The Lord's hand truly is in this work.  I can see it more and more every day.  One experience I would like to share to illustrate this.... Earlier this week, on Wednesday,  The waterloo Elders called and said that they had been teaching a man named James Rutherford.  He agreed to be baptized, and they found out that he really lives in our area, so they were going to hand him over to us.  They said they would set up an appointment with him and let us know, but they never called us back.  So Saturday night, we had just gotten out of an appointment, and Elder Weber needed a washroom.  Everything was closing down, so we figured "the Plowman's live just around the corner, maybe we will stop in there"  So we pull up, and Brandon, one of our potential investigators who lives just across the street, was on his porch, so he invited us into his little patio thing for a minute, and he said that he had a few minutes to meet with us.  We started to talk to him about the plan of salvation, but then we decided to set up a better time when we could actually sit down and talk with him.  So we head out the door, and see a man walking down the street.  Naturally, we go to talk to him, and the conversation goes something like this...

"Hey, how are you?"

"Good. You?"

"Good.  My name is Elder Weber, and this is my friend Elder Ashcraft. What's your name?"

"James."

"You look familiar, James.  Have we talked to you before?"

"No."

"Is your last name Rutherford?"

"Yeah.  How did you know that?"

We then proceeded to explain the situation, got his information, and we are going to visit him tonight.  It was great.  The timing was perfect.  I love it when stuff like that happens.   This is the "True Faith" spoken of by Moroni.  I know that.  Have a Great Day!  I love you!

Your Obedient Servant,

Elder Austin James Ashcraft

Do What Is Right....

Hello!  Hello!  Hello!

It's a beautiful day up here!  It's a balmy -9 degrees and there is a refreshing gale force wind to  accompany it.  It's practically Spring! (That was only slightly facetious.  In reality, I am freezing my face off.  But the work is such that I enjoy every minute of it....Imagine that, mom - I'm COLD!)   It's been great up here this last week.  Khaibu and Deih Deih came to sacrament meeting!  It was great!  We are hoping that they will tell their family about it and they will all come next week.  Foday Kenneh also agreed to be baptized this week.  We were shooting for the 14th of February, but there might be a little bit of a legal issue, so we haven't set a solid date.  We will get all that ironed out later this week.  It's been great!  We went up to Owen Sound to go on exchanges with the Elders up there.  It was a long Drive.  The roads were a little bit icy, but we said a prayer, were careful and made it okay. This truly is God's Work.  He wants us to return and live with Him, and He had provided the way for us to do that.  I love it.  I hope that all is well!  Have a great Day!  I love you! 

Your Obedient Servant,

Elder Austin James Ashcraft

BE Thou Humble...

Hello there!   

How are you doing! Well, I hope!   Did you send me a letter?   Why not?  (Just kidding.  I love you anyway....)

What a great week this was!  We left Zone Conference on Monday on a high note and we were  incredibly blessed on the weekend.  Saturday morning, we had an appointment with Khaibu.  He is from Burma.  We walked into his apartment, and lo and behold, he is living there with his whole family!  His mother (Nubawi), brother (Dei Thang), and two sisters (Deih Deih and Ngenu) were there.  We taught them the Restoration and they were loving it.  We left the Book of Mormon with them, and we are going back tomorrow night to teach them again!  The Lord has really blessed us.  Last night as well, we were tracting and we were let in by a very nice Muslim/Christian family from Pakistan (Hyder, Shazaib, and Taqi).  We are going back on Wednesday to visit with them.  It is amazing how the Lord is blessing Kitchener!  There were a few other individual investigators as well.  One of them, Foday, is from Africa.  He has an interesting background.  He says he is Muslim, but the way he answers question and talks about religion, he is definitely Christian.  We think that the Muslim thing is just because he is from Liberia and everyone else there is Muslim.  He and his Brother live here in Kitchener.  Near the end of the Appointment, he asked the question, "What do I need to do to get baptized?"  That's always a great one to answer.  We have been building the area for quite some time, and The Lord has really blessed us this past week.  He has entrusted these people to our care, and we will do our best to help them progress toward baptism.  

Elder Farnsworth and I had a miracle happen in Cambridge on exchanges.  We contacted a man on the street downtown, and he was not too interested, but later that afternoon, we prayed and asked specifically to be let in and to have the opportunity to teach a lesson.  As we were tracting, one of the houses was one that the Bishop gave as a referral (later we would find out that he gave the wrong house number, so it wasn't the person he was planning on, which makes the story even better).  We knocked on the door, and the man from downtown answers.  We started talking to him and he said, "It’s too cold out here.  Come on in for a few minutes."  It was amazing.  Great spirit in the lesson and they are going to go back on Wednesday.  It was great!  

It is wonderful to see the lives of people change.  Even the attitude that people have as the Spirit enters, they are completely changed.  Like the man downtown.  His attitude completely changed as we read from the Book of Mormon.  It was amazing.  The Spirit is the most important element in this work.  It truly is.  The Gospel has the capacity to change people's lives.  As we study and learn all we can, and apply those things into our lives, we will BE Disciples of Christ, not just be those who are doing the right thing.  It's so much more than just doing.  It's a start, and it's better than nothing, but as I learned recently, there is a big difference between doing your best, and just doing the things you are supposed to do.  I am working on that one.  I want to BE.  Thanks for helping me out with that one.  I love you!

Your Obedient Servant,

Elder Austin James Ashcraft

Ere you left your room this morning....

Hello All!

How is everything?  I hope that all is well.  Things are going great up here.  Kitchener is a beautiful place and I absolutely Love it!  We had a good week.

Zone Conference was yesterday, which is why I am writing today.  It was great!  President talked about Vision and the aspects of good visions, and the assistants talked about finding with the Spirit and the power of Prayer.  I love Zone conference!  There is such a great spirit there.  I always learn so much!  It was a great one! We are having a hard time getting in touch with Sandra.  She started school last week, and her schedule is such that she can't really meet with us during the week.  The only option is the   weekend, but as she doesn't have an answering machine, we can't leave messages there, so basically it's a hit-or- miss dropping by on the weekend.  We are having problems there.  Your prayers will be greatly appreciated.

So.......... I have a shocking announcement - President Middleton is changing the E-mail policy of the mission, and from February 1st, I will not be able to e-mail anyone outside of the Family. Hopefully that is not too great of a shock to anybody.  You can still write me plenty of letters, though.  My Address is:

Elder Austin Ashcraft
Canada Toronto West Mission
197 County Court Blvd Suite 203
Brampton, ON L6W 4P6
CANADA

I would love to get a small envelope filled with correspondence from all of you.  I look forward to it, actually....  I will still write this type of e-mail to the whole fam that dad can forward to people.  That's ok. Anyway, I love you all and hope that all is well.

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft

E'en in the darkest night, As in the morning Bright, Be thou my beacon light.....

Hello All!

How is everyone adjusting to the New Year?  I hope that all are well.  You deserve it.  It was a good week here.  Transfers happened, and I am staying in Kitchener!  My new companion is Elder Weber.  He is from Rexburg, Idaho. He is great!  We are having a grand old time in the beautiful city of Kitchener!

On Saturday, we taught Bruce Schofield.  He is a Headquarters Referral.  He works with Colin jones, one of the members here, and Brother Jones gave him a DVD and a pamphlet to look through.  He looked at it and then went on the website to "take the next step," as he put it, and request a copy of the Book of Mormon.  He is great.  He liked what he had heard, and he just wanted to find out for himself.  That's the way you have to find out.  No other way will suffice. We had an interesting experience on Sunday (Sorry if this is confusing with all these names).  Elder Escobar (one of the Spanish missionaries) was sick, so he couldn't come to church.  His Companion, Elder Bullock, needed to go to the meetings because they were having investigators show up.  So the original plan was to just have me stay home  with Elder Escobar, while Elder Weber went with Elder bullock to sacrament Meeting which starts later than ours.  However, we had appointments right after church, so we could not do that.  In comes the Chinese Missionaries to the rescue!  So after our sacrament meeting (Which the Chinese Missionaries Attend as well - They had investigators and couldn't spare either)  We drove to the Spanish Apartment, I picked up Elder Bullock, and Elder Weber stayed with Elder Escobar.  Elder Bullock and I drove OUR ward, and I switched places with Elder Omer, who went back with Elder Bullock to the Spanish  branch.  So Elder Moody and Myself, Elder Bullock and Elder Omer, and Elder Weber and Elder Escobar probably pulled off one of the most insane exchanges in the history of the universe!  Sorry to bore you with that, but I thought that was fun, so I thought I would share that with you.  A day in the life.....

The work is glorious!  There is nothing else that the Lord would rather have me be doing than preaching the Gospel to my brothers and sisters in Kitchener, Ontario.  I love it.  It's great!  I love you all!  Have a great week!

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft

Ring out the darkness of the land, Ring in The Christ that is to be....

Hello All!

How is the New Year treating you?  I hope it is as magnificent as the last one and even better.  The best Year EVER!  I am very excited.  Our New Years was fairly uneventful.  We worked New Year's Eve until 6:00, then came in to our apartment.  I got a few extra hours of study in and we took care of some Zone business.  New Year’s Day is not the most effective proselyting day (Especially in the morning) so we had our weekly planning and then did our transfer Deep clean of our apartment.  Man Alive - That place was sparkling!  After that was all done, we headed out for the evening and did some finding. It was a great holiday season, with Christmas and New Year’s, and everything else.

We had a good week up here.  We were able to start teaching Sao (A nice man from Thailand), Sanjeeb (A Punjabi Hindu from India), Siddarth (A Hindu/science/evolutionist/"I have crazy beliefs"[direct quite from him, I might add]/"show me the proof"-ist....Great kid, though.  Really fun to talk to), and Charlene(She is from Kenya, and is here going to school and working at RIM making Blackberries).  It was great to be able to share the message of the restoration with all of them, and to invite them to come unto Christ. Speaking of inviting others to come unto Christ....did you all have a chance to share the gospel with someone in December?  I have only heard back from a couple of you, and I am excited to hear the stories and the miracles that come from it.  Keep me informed!

I love you all!

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft