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
