Victory! Victory! Through Him that Redeemed Us....

Hello All!

Greetings from Sudbury, Ontario.  It was hot yesterday.  15 degrees and 100% humidity.  We have had a lot of fog lately, too, which is kind of fun.  you can feel the water in the air.  Halloween was kind of interesting.  We were told by President to not be out on Halloween, so we went over to a members house and ate dinner, then came home early.  That was about it.  We did help pass out candy at their house, though.  We stapled Pass-A-Long Cards to the bags of chips they were handing out.  (hehehe.  Sneaky missionaries we are....)  Anyway..... 

It has been a good week in Sudbury, Ontario.  We had a few interesting experiences.  One of which was on Thursday and Friday.  We had been called by a religion teacher at Marymount High School to come and teach about the church, and the days that we were to teach this class were Thursday and Friday.  We went there, and had a great lesson both times with them.  Interesting, but ever important little tiny detail - Marymount is an all-girl Catholic high school.  That was kind of interesting and a bit awkward (Especially because the second day was Halloween), but the spirit was felt in the lessons.  We taught the first and second lessons to them.  It went well.  The second day, particularly.  We were teaching the plan of salvation and we made sure to let them know that they could ask questions if they were confused.  There were some who were asking questions for clarification, but there were some who were asking what I would categorize "inspired questions."  There were a couple of these girls that sincerely were searching and wanted to understand.  We left the  teacher with a few copies of the Book Of Mormon and some pamphlets, and hopefully someone will read and want to know more.  There was one girl, who asked (this was actually the last question that was asked) "If someone wanted to become a member of your church, what would they have to do in order to do that?"  I hope that we were able to plant some seeds, if nothing else. 

Saturday was our travel day.  I was with Elder Siady.  We spent a lot of time doing drop bys.  We went to a few of the little suburbs and stopped by quite a few houses.  It's a bit more difficult when the area is larger.  We had a few appointments to go to, but none of them went through.  Elder Smart and Elder Lahaderne were in our area, and they picked up a new investigator, Lynn.  Lynn is actually a friend of Sister Gascon, in the ward.  She has Muscular Dystrophy and is afraid of what happens after this life.  They taught her with Bro Babin, and apparently the lesson went very well.  We have another appointment with her tonight. 

Monday and Tuesday were spent finding, mostly.  We talked to a lot of people and planted a lot of seeds for missionaries to harvest in the future.

The transfer calls come this next week.  I will know by the next time I e-mail where I am going to be serving.  It will be interesting.   

But anyway....once again, the King of Randomness rears his head....We are not really supposed to discuss politics in any way, but All I need to say is "One Nation, UNDER GOD!!!!"(Exclamation points added for emphasis).  As long as everyone remembers that we will be fine.....Mom - I got all the winter stuff taken care of.  Don't worry.  And Christmas?  I have really no idea.  I don't really need anything.  If I could get one thing for Christmas, though, it would be a long letter from everyone I know, pictures included, telling me about how their life has been and what is going on.  That's it.  Here it is, everybody - in the words of our Beloved Prophet Joseph Smith, "Write to me a long letter, and tell me all you can...."  Pictures are great as well.  It's hard to believe that it is that time again.....Speaking of food - I found something that made me very happy.  Canadians are very bland in taste -literally.  They don't season anything.  I did, however, find some Bull-Dog.  Good Old Tonkatsu Sauce.  It was (and still is) glorious.....I found out that Elder Smart is related to Abel Smart.  Except his line came from a different wife.  So my companion and I are fourth Cousins.  It's great.  Good man.  I have learned a lot from him.  He is about 18 months out, so he is on his last legs now.  Not too trunky, though, which is good....The trunk or treat sounds like it was crazy.  150 kids?  Wasn't the first time we did it only about 30?  And the costumes sound great!  An Indian in a bush?  Where does Braden come up with these ideas?....Bryson - thanks for the play by play.  Hopefully our defense will pull it together....I wait for your letter - BRAUGHNT!.....  Anyway..... I love and miss you all!  Have a wonderful day, and keep smiling!  

Your Obedient Servant,

Elder Austin James Ashcraft

Teaching His Holy Word....

Hello All!

Greetings from Sudbury, Ontario.  It has been another week of interesting weather, with temperatures ranging from 13 degrees to -9 degrees.  Some days feel really cold, but the temperature does not indicate it.  Temperature, Humidity, and Wind Chill all combined make for some interesting weather.  We had one day with the Temperature at -3, a wind chill that took it to about -10, and 100% humidity, which allows the cold to bite right through you.  It has been interesting, but I am keeping warm. 

How are things back in Utah?  Halloween is coming..... What is everyone going to be?  How much candy are we all going to eat that night?  How hyper will we be on Saturday Morning?  Anyway....

It has been an interesting week.  We were on such a spiritual high last week, but it seemed like we hit a wall this week.  It seemed like almost every appointment bombed us, and the times that we did get in to see people, we had to cut the appointment short, either because they had to go or we had another appointment.  We are still having a hard time getting a hold of most of our investigators, but the few that we have that are somewhat progressing seem to be doing well. 

We are still meeting with Matt.  He is the only one that comes to church.  We did not meet with him last week for an actual lesson, but we did talk to him last Wednesday.  His family went out of town for the last part of the week, so that put a damper on things.  We met with him yesterday and taught him the second half of the Plan of Salvation by reading Alma 40 with him.  We also will be meeting with him on Thursday.  He expressed a concern about the Word of Wisdom.  He mentioned that for some reason, he wants to drink when he gets older.  It might be that he rides bulls and wants to be a cowboy and "that's what cowboys do."  We will see what we can do about that.  Hopefully the Spirit will get to him and he will no longer have that desire. 

We met with Victoria and taught her most of the Plan of Salvation.  She doesn't really have the real intent necessary, though.  She keeps telling us that she feels that the path she is supposed to be on is right in front of her and that she just needs to figure out how to get on that path.  I just had a moment of inspiration writing that.  Next time we meet with her, I will share 2 Nephi 31:16-17, which talks about "getting on the straight and narrow path."  Thank you. Anyway, we had Dave MacIsaac with us for a lesson with her and he bore a very strong testimony of finding the truth. Hopefully she will be able to find the Book of Mormon to be true and act on that. 

We also met with Gurdeep Saini - our new investigator.  He is a very smart man from India.  We tracted into him and gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon.  We met with him on Sunday and presented the first lesson.  He told us that the testimonies and the introduction of the Book of Mormon were very convincing.  He agreed to start reading and we will meet him again on Sunday to talk about it. 

We had an interesting experience a while ago.  We were out proselyting and it was raining.  The night was getting dark, and the streets were barren.  Nobody out.  It seemed almost as if we were wasting our time  walking around in the rain.  We decided that the Lord had someone that we needed to talk to that night, so we pressed on.  We were both soaking wet, but we kept walking and talking to anyone we saw.  We stopped by to see Paul, but he was not home.  His wife was and she told us that he had not come back yet.  She kind of shooed us away, so we kept on  walking.  We had gone for about 20 more minutes when I reached into my pocket to offer someone a pass-a-long card and I realized that my tag was missing.  The tag on my jacket was still there, but the other was not clipped on my shirt pocket like it should be.  I knew that I had it when we started that evening, so we decided to backtrack.  We followed the path we had trod, and we walked past Paul's house, and much to our surprise, he had just pulled in the driveway.  We started talking to him and found out that his mother was on her deathbed in the Hospital.  He talked about that for a few minutes, and then mentioned something that was very interesting.  He said, "God told me the other night that he had something big in store for me, and he told me that tonight I would find out what it was."  We then related the experience about running into him, and we gave him a pamphlet about the Plan of Salvation.  We both shared our testimonies with him and he agreed to read and pray about the truth of the message we shared.  We left Paul and made our way back to our apartment.  As soon as I got in the door, I felt my pocket.  My tag had fallen off the front and somehow made its way right into my pocket.  It was a wonderful experience, and I know that we were guided by the Lord.

But anyway....Randomness again prevails..... It is good to know that the Musical went  well.  Taylor....hook me up with the details on what happened.  Also everything else - yearbook, nSEMble, Calculus, Seminary council, Braughnt! (Ask Bryson about that one), you know-the works.....Bryson - same thing.  I want the play by play of everything - not just the BYU game (this really applies to everybody who reads this and even everyone who doesn't have a ball - write a letter - Make a Missionary's day!). Anyway....Mom - it's okay.  Only three more days and Halloween will be over.  I got the candy yesterday.  It made me so happy.  Real American Candy.  I was very excited about that....It sounds like red Ribbon Week was good.....Dad - I bet that the experience with Bishop Linford was incredible.  Was it someone that was in the ward?  Do I know them?....I haven't gotten the belt buckle yet.  He doesn't compete again until March.  Maybe he will mail it to me....Anyway....I love you and miss you all!  Have a great day, and keep smiling! 

Your Obedient Servant,

Elder Austin James Ashcraft

Standing for Truth with Fervent Accord....

Hello All!

Greetings from Sudbury, Ontario.  It is getting colder now.  We woke up yesterday and there was some strange white stuff on the ground.....It had snowed!  Snow in Canada - who would have thought.  It was only about a half-inch, but it was still snow.  We had a grand old time walking around in that.  It was -2 degrees yesterday morning with a wind chill that took it to -8.  Let's just say it was difficult for my ears to wiggle.  They were frozen stiff.  It's always funny trying to write down someone's contact information as well.  You can't really do it with gloves on, and when your hands are cold, it is very difficult to grip the pen.  We have had many laughs at that in the past little while. 

Anyway, things here are going well.  We are meeting with a lot of members, and we have a few investigators that we are able to teach.  One of them is Matt.  He is 14 years old and is almost a member.  His mom and older sister are, but he just never thought about getting baptized.  We had a lesson with him and the spirit was very strong.  He wasn't at church with us on Sunday, but he had a legitimate excuse.   Matt is a Bull-Rider, you see.  He is the best bull-rider in Ontario.  He was down south in a competition on Saturday, and he and his mom did not make it back to Sudbury that night, so they stayed the night in Bracebridge with her sister.  Matt took 1st place in the bull-riding, and 2nd place on the bareback bronc.  Very impressive, especially considering the fact that before Saturday, Matt had never ridden a bronc before.  From never riding before to taking second place?  Pretty good if you ask me.  Maybe he will get a belt buckle for me....

We also taught Victoria, one of our investigators.  We taught her about Joseph Smith, and the Spirit was there.  It was great.  The spirit works on people.  It is incredible. 

We have been blessed by the ability to share our talents.  At church on Sunday, Elder Smart was asked to speak.  The bishop called him about an hour before church and asked him.  He did a wonderful job.  After the sacrament, Sister Mantysaari, the chorister, pulled me and Elder Lahaderne into the Hall.  She had not changed the numbers for the hymns on the little board, so we were singing the same hymns as the last week.  She told us that and then she said "i need you to sing the Intermediate hymn.  You can sing whatever you want.  You have 10 minutes.  Thanks"  uh.....okay.  So Elder Lahaderne and I went into the Relief Society room for a minute and picked a Hymn for me to sing.  I picked "Lord, I would Follow Thee."  We went back into the Chapel and I asked Sister Mazey if she could play it for me, and so.... Bob's you're uncle..... Elder Ashcraft sings a musical number in Sacrament Meeting.  It went well.  It was good to participate. 

Randomness.....Taylor and Bryson - Good Luck in the Musical.  You will be great and remember your Missionary Brother is Praying for You.  Hopefully you will do well and when you are done, YOU WILL WRITE ALL ABOUT IT TO YOUR OLDER BROTHER WHO IS SERVING A MISSION AND WANTING TO HEAR ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON IN YOUR LIFE!!!....anyway....Mom- there you go again giving a stellar Primary leadership Presentation, and everybody wants to use it....Michael is home!  You will have to tell him to let me know how his mission was.  I am always ready to hear from people.  And I hope that somebody ate and enjoyed my share of the prime rib..... Jon is engaged?  Well Jon, I appreciate being informed about the matter.  You will have to let me know the details.  You know what I am talking about.  We have talked before.  Mom - if you could kindly pass that on to him.....Dad - congratulations on being made Second Counselor.  You will do very well.  We are put into positions like that for a reason..... BYU lost - how thoroughly disheartening.  Bryson, thanks for the play-by-play, even though you were half asleep.  Shanna - that is an awesome editorial.  You could seriously have that published.  Well Done.  I was impressed....But anyway.... I hope that each of you have a wonderful day!  Smile, and everything will be better.  Have Fun!  The Church is true!  I love you and miss you all!

Your Obedient Servant,

Elder Austin James Ashcraft

To Every Land and People We'll Go....

Hello All!

Greetings from the balmy paradise of Sudbury.  No seriously.  It was actually hot this weekend.  While you all were getting snow and freezing weather down in Utah, it was about 75 degrees with about 90 percent humidity here in Sudbury.  Let's just say I would trade.  It was really hot.  Anyway.  How is everybody?  What was your favorite talk from conference? 

Anyway, life here in Sudbury has been long and hard.  Happy Thanksgiving, by the way.  Kind of weird, but I guess Canadians want to eat their turkeys before they all freeze to death.  Makes sense.... I don't have too much time to write this week, but I will try my best to keep you informed.  We have been suffering this week from bombed appointments.  We have had days where we have 5 appointments and all but one bombs us.  it is crazy.  We also have had problems getting members out with us, because most of the members do not live in our area and they work at the times that we need them.  We are working on that. 

We have had a couple lessons that were phenomenal.  We taught Christa and Harley, one of the Recent Converts in the ward, and it was a great lesson.  I have never felt the spirit in a lesson like I had on Monday Night.  You could feel the conversation being prompted to go certain ways.  It was a wonderful experience.  

We have been working to keep the Spirit with us always.  We had a district meeting yesterday and one of the things that I got out of it was that out companionship unity needs to be with more than one companion.  I need to be unified with Elder Smart, but we also need to be unified with the Spirit.  It was a great lesson. 

Zone conference is coming up on Friday, and I am excited for that. 

Randomness.... Who would have thought that Taylor would make a convincing girl?.... and Bryson- Men's Drill?  I hope you had fun with it.  And you are now the Shimmy-King of the School - Congratulations .....Those two stuck out more than anything.  Anyway, I love you and miss you all.  I apologize for the lack of details, but I will try to catch up next week!

Your Obedient Servant,

Elder Austin James Ashcraft

Chosen By God to Serve Him Below....

Hello All!

Greetings from Canada!  How is everybody doing back in the land of Milk and Honey?  It was so good to see temple square on the Satellite Broadcast.  There is a special spirit that is in Utah that you don't usually recognize until you live somewhere else.  It is not the same outside of it.  And it is such a wonderful place full of so many wonderful people. 

CONFERENCE WAS AMAZING!!!  I was so excited to hear from the leaders of the Church and the Prophet!  The hour before the broadcast started was a very long hour, indeed.  And when the live feed actually started, I was practically hyperventilating.  It was so good to hear from them, and as soon as President Monson started talking, my Spiritual Truth Radar went off the charts.  Throughout his whole address, I had a confirming witness that Thomas S. Monson is a Prophet of God.  It was incredible.  Such good messages - how to pick one that is a favorite?  One of them that stood out to me in particular was Sister Allred in the Saturday Morning Session.  It was a great talk, and it probably stood out because it was centered on Missionary Work.  I really liked the part where she said, "If you know missionaries out in the field, SEND THEM LETTERS OF LOVE AND SUPPORT."  Sorry, I got a little carried away.  She did say that, though.  And I challenge ALL to heed to the exceedingly wise counsel that was given by our church leaders.  I thought that was kind of fun.  Her talk, though, was essentially her quoting Preach My Gospel.  It was incredible.  If you want to know how to be a missionary (as all of us should), I urge you to study that resource.  Study it as if you were a full-time missionary out in the field.  Because each of us IS a full-time missionary, and the field is different for each one of us.  What can I say?  Conference was an incredible spiritual uplift, and I can't wait to get a copy of the Ensign so that I can read the talks again.  By the way, was it just me, or did I see Elder Hugh Pinnock near the very end of the last song in Priesthood Session?  I was not sure if He was still in the MTC.....

This week has been rough.  We taught one lesson.  We worked hard, but with transfers, conference, and a brand new companion, it kind of cut in to our proselyting time.  It was good though.  My new companion, Elder Smart, is from Centerville and went to Viewmont High School.  He is a tall lanky missionary, and looks like Ryan Perry (Crazy, huh?).  He is a great missionary, and is very in tune with the spirit.  We had an incredible experience yesterday as we prayed to know where we were supposed to go tract.  The Spirit is an incredible thing.  We get along great and it is going to be a great transfer. 

It is such an exciting thing, to be doing the Lord's work.  I challenge each of you to pray for an opportunity to share the gospel with someone.  The most effective contacts are member referrals, and Missionaries are always looking for those.  I know that it might be a bit more difficult in Utah, where there are members aplenty, but there will be an opportunity if you pray for it.  And it will be a perfect opportunity as well, because it will be set up by our Father in Heaven, not us.  God answers prayers.  I know that.  This is such a great work, and I invite each of you to prepare yourselves to share it.  Prepare for the work of the Lord, and you will never go wrong.  Doctrine and Covenants Section 6 is a great section that I have come to love.  Read it.  Apply it.  It will bless your life.  I promise you that. 

And now for randomness....Mom - the whole thing with Sister Cecol shows how small of a world this really is.....I hope Braden's Birthday went well.  There is something coming for you - I promise.  Last P-day was very hectic with transfers, and I was not able to get any letters mailed....Dad - sounds like work is going well.  Hopefully some those projects will work....The After-Priesthood extravaganza - I am glad that you had Branson, Alex, and Rob to pick up the slack for me.  Hopefully, they measured up (Just Kidding)....Bryson - Where is the Commentary?  Hope the play is going well with you and Tay.....Tanner - Starting Varsity?  That's what I am talking about!....Pieface - thanks for the letters.... I love to hear from you....Anyway....I love you and miss you all!  I hope that everyone has a wonderful day!!!

Your Obedient Servant,

Elder Austin James Ashcraft

Lights Every land Today....

Hello All!

Greetings from the far away land of Sudbury.  It is starting to get colder here.  The short sleeve shirts are not so much of a blessing right now.  It has been a good week, with a lot of finding.  And through the goodness of our Lord, we were able to pick up 5 new investigators.  We were able to pick up Tom and Rebecca, an old Italian Couple.  They are very nice and they love to talk to the missionaries.  They actually took us to dinner Saturday Night at the Italian Country Club.  It was quite nice, and we were able to talk to them about the Gospel.  BONUS!  We also have been continuing to work with our other investigators, but none of them are really progressing, mainly due to the fact that we can never get a hold of any of them.  But anyway, the work is going well and I am learning lots. 

We got our transfer calls on Monday.  I am staying in Sudbury for another transfer.  Another 6 weeks of Sudbury.  It will be wonderful.  My New companion's name is Elder Smart, but that is all I know about him.  He has yet to arrive in Sudbury.  I am with Elder Farland, Elder Seamons, and Elder Bahorovitch for the time being.  They kind of whitewashed the North this transfer.  Of the Six Missionaries in Sudbury, I am the Only One staying.  The Zone Leaders are both leaving, and the Sisters Area is closing.  So it will only be four missionaries.  One would think that If I was losing a whole district, I would be the one that was leaving.  It was been great though.  We will see what happens.  I still don't know the details.  So here I am.  But life is good. 

And now for some complete randomness.... I finally got a coat.  Elder Opfar had one that he didn't want any more, so he gave it to me.  He didn't want to pack it around in his luggage.  It's a nice coat, too....The tree sounds like fun.  I wish I could have been there to help.  Maybe use my massive leg muscles that I get from a walking area.....It's good to hear about Nathan.  And it is good to hear that He is striving to keep my challenge.  He is a good kid.  Tell him Hi and Congratulations.... Braden - Arrow of Light!  Way to go!  Have a great Birthday this week!....Shan - Thanks for getting the Music.  You are an Aunt - how exciting!  Am I going to be an Uncle soon?....BYU FOOTBALL  - Top Ten Ranking!  Amen!....But anyway.... I love you and Miss You ALL!!!!  Have a Wonderful Day! 

Your Obedient Servant,

Elder Austin James Ashcraft

Bright as the Sun This Heavenly Ray.....

Hello All!

Greetings from the thriving metropolis of Sudbury, Ontario.  How are things going back home?  Have the leaves changed yet?  Football season is in full swing - Go Cougars!- and it is a wonderful time to be living! 

It has been an interesting week here in Sudbury.  We have been trying to improve our teaching, so we have had quite a few member lessons.  We have gone over to a few members homes and taught them, both as they were pretending to be investigators and just reviewing the lessons with them.  It has helped us teach better and in more unity with each other.  We have not had too much contact with investigators, however.  We have worked and worked, but we just can't get a hold of anybody.  We taught one lesson on Monday to Veronique, who is a college student that doesn't really know what is true, and another partial lesson to Ramona, a young mother who is interested in her family being together forever.  Other than that, we have not gotten in contact with our other investigators.  We teach people, though.  When we are talking to people on the street, we teach them, and some discussions that we get into are more productive than actual lessons, but, alas, we cannot call it a lesson.  It has been a very hard, very humbling  week.  Jean Guy was confirmed on Sunday, though.  It was good to be a part of that and to see him receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost.  I know that he will be edified and blessed by it. 

Elder Opfar and I are both getting a little nervous because Transfers are coming up next week.  We have been together for 2 transfers and chances are that one of us will be leaving Sudbury.  We don't know what will happen, though.  It will be interesting to find out. 

Randomness!!! YAY!!!... Brindy Sang a Solo.  I wish I could have heard it.  I am sure it was amazing....300 tomatoes - that's a lot.  Have fun with the Salsa.  Make it spicy for me.  That's one thing I miss - spicy food.  Canadians are not too fond of that, for the most part.  And the "pumpkins" sound interesting as well..... Tanner - why did you not tell me that you were playing Volleyball?  Oh blessed Volleyball - My first love!  And it's good that your team does well also..... Bryson - Be patient with Opperman.  I never had her as a teacher, but people have said that she is a lot like Bishop, and I learned more from Bishop than from anybody.  The writing will come.  Patience.  The  best advice I can give to you is to have people proof your essays.  The more feedback you can get, the better.  I used to tell people to be brutal and tear the writing to shreds.  Point out every flaw, everything that does not make sense.  I know it helped me a lot.  And if you do your best, it doesn't matter what your grade is.  God doesn't care about your GPA.  He only cares that you did your best.....Braden - Way to be with the duck!  Make it a good one for me!.... The Hebdolympics sounded like a blast.  That will be one tradition that we will have to continue.  I have to admit, I am a little bit jealous, but that's okay.  I will play when I get back.....Bryson - thanks for the commentary.  Never apologize for the length.  Longer is always better.  Details.  Yes.....Anyway...  Have a wonderful day, all of you! I love you and miss you all! 

Your Obedient Servant,

Elder Austin James Ashcraft