By the patience of Hope and the Labor of Love....

Hello All!

Greetings from Canada!  So transfers are today....and I am staying in Orillia.  Elder Ledet is leaving and going to Cambridge.  My new companion is Elder Day.  That's about all I know about him.  It will be good to work with him.  I am excited.  But anyway...

We had a good week.  A lot of visits with members.  It would have been better if we would have enjoyed the company of one of our investigators at church, but that is their agency.  We were able to meet with Justinn and Kim this week, and they talked about not being married.  Justinn had explained the Law of Chastity to Kim before we got there, and he actually was the one who brought it up.  Kim is all for it.  Justinn just needs to get his act together.  They did not come to church.  We had an appointment with them on Sunday evening, but Justinn called and told us that Kim was sick and that we would have to reschedule.  We have called them a couple times and they haven't answered.  So we hope to be in contact with them in the next couple days.

We finally were able to talk to Michelle Haime as well.  She had been out of town visiting Family for about a month after her dad's death.  We encouraged her to keep reading and we gave her Alma 40 to read, to help her know what is beyond this life.

We also taught a lesson to Vivien.  She is a Chinese woman who doesn't have any belief at all, really.  She has very limited English Skills, but the lesson went well anyway and she understood what we taught her about Our Father in Heaven and about Prayer.  We had a member, Josh Ribalkin come with us to the Church to teach her.  That helped a lot.  Josh told us after the appointment that he had spent a fair bit of time teaching English in Mexico, so he knew how to communicate very simply so that she could  understand. That is one thing that I realized that I really need to work on. We were able to do a bit of tracting this week, and no immediate success was seen, but we planted seeds and they will grow.  I have confidence in that.

It has been a good week and I don't really have much more to report.  I love you and miss you all!  Have a great Week!

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft

And Our Talents Improve....

Hello All!

Greetings from Orillia!  I hope that things are going well down south.  I hope that everybody is back into  the swing of things after the holidays (I mean, it's been a month....;).  Anyway….

We finally got an Investigator to come to church! And we had two of them! We have had 5 or more that have told us they were going to come for about a month, and somebody finally came through.  Jessica Haime came, and we, after church, went over to talk to her. She opened up a little bit about the two obstacles that she has to being baptized - Smoking and the Law of Chastity. She is cutting down on her smoking, and she wants to be done by the end of January. With the other, she is a little lost on what she should do about Andrew, her boyfriend, who is living with her. We advised her to keep reading from the scriptures and to keep praying. We suggested that she pray for understanding and direction, so she will know what to do. We will meet with her later this week and check on her progress. One of the problems that we have in meeting with her is the fact that she works in Barrie from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM. The only time she has at home is the weekend, and she spends a lot of that doing schoolwork. So it has been a little difficult to meet with her, but we are still trying to make it work, and praying that things will work out.

The other investigator that came to church is Kim Bell. She is the girlfriend of a less active member,  Justinn Coombs. They said they would come to church, and we arranged a ride for them, only to have them call us at 7:30 Sunday morning and say that they were taking their baby boy, Deacon, to the hospital. We tried to call and cancel the ride, but we were not able to get a hold of President and Sister Barber. So the ride went to pick them up anyway. Kim had just gotten back from the hospital (everything was fine) and so she came to church with their baby. Justinn didn't come, though. Kim liked the meeting and Deacon slept through the whole thing. That was one of her biggest worries, and he was absolutely fine. We went over there last night and talked about getting them married and Justinn said that he is
working on that. So hopefully in the near future....

We also met with Steve and Brittany yesterday. Brittany has read through 1 Nephi 15 and she prayed about it. She said that she "hasn't seen God or anything," but she "just feels that it is true." We taught them the Plan of Salvation and that sparked Steve's interest and he told us that he would start reading. That was good. We are meeting with them again on Friday. It has been a good week.

Things are going well here in Orillia. We are working on finding more people to teach, and that is a bit of a struggle, but that is how the work goes.  It is difficult to tract in this type of weather (Your nose falls off because it gets too cold), and there are not too many people out on the streets (small town + cold   weather = barren streets).  So we do what we can. How is everybody doing?  You know, I wouldn't have to ask this question if you had already told me....but anyway, here I sit....waiting for some piece of correspondence to come my way....(Thank you to those who have sent, by the way.  I severely enjoy it!)  But anyway....I love you and miss you all! Have a wonderful Week!

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft

His adorable will, let us Gladly Fulfill....

Hello All!

Greetings from the Frozen land of Orillia!  It was -16 all day yesterday. That's a bit on the cold side.  But we braved it anyway, and got to work. We had a good week.  We didn't get bombed quite as much this week.  We had appointments that went through (which I was very grateful for), and we were blessed by the Lord to receive two new investigators.  The first is Mike Calligaris.  We tracted his house about a month ago, but with the holidays and the weather (He is a snow-plow driver) we had not been able to meet with him since.  We met with him on Wednesday night.  He originally told us that his son, Taylor (6yrs old) had been asking some questions that he could not answer, so he invited us to come back.  I think his intention originally was to have Taylor ask us questions and us give the answers.  That is how the lesson started.  it developed, though, in to a great first lesson.  We got into answering questions and then Mike asked, "So what do you usually share when you visit with someone?"  We explained that the questions that Taylor was asking were very common questions that a lot of people had (Questions of the Soul - Where did I come from?  What happens after we die? etc.).  We continued on that theme and tied it in to a first lesson.  It was great.  We left them with the Book of Mormon and they committed to read and pray about it.  We met with them again on Friday.  We gave them a chapel tour with the Witlox family.  We were talking to him after and he told us that he would be at church.  We were very excited for that, but it snowed pretty hard Sunday  morning and he had to go plow snow and couldn't make it.  We stopped by and set up another appointment with him for Friday evening.

The other New investigator is Kim, the girlfriend/wife/fiancé (We are not quite sure yet) of Justinn Coombs, a less active member.  We stopped by and met with them.  Justinn had been talking about how he wants to start coming back to church.  Kim likes the doctrine and pushes him to go to church.  It is great.  They have a 3 month old son, Deacon, and Justinn told us that that has opened his eyes.  He wants to raise his son right.  We taught through the Plan of Salvation, and they were going to come to church, but Deacon got a rash and they took him in to the hospital Sunday morning.  We stopped by and checked with them last night, and they are doing fine.  They got it taken care of.   We are meeting with them on Friday also.

We have also done some work with some of the less actives in the branch. There are a few who receive us and will visit with us regularly.  Andrew Johnston, Liz Schell, and Cheryl Atkinson are the three that we have worked with the most.  We have been reading from the Book of Mormon with them and trying to get them back into the habit of doing so.  We hope to start practice teaching them as well.  That would help us improve and help them as well to bolster their testimonies.

So yeah..... I was excited about the last week.  It went well.  Hopefully we will be able to keep our momentum.  But anyway....I love you and miss you all!  Have a great week!  Keep on Keeping on!

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft

Roll Round with the year, And never stand Still till the Master Appear....

Hello All!

Greetings from the Chest freezer known as Canada!  It is pretty cold here.  - 23 last time I checked.  Pretty darn cold.  It's all good, though.  The gospel warm our hearts and keeps us going.  Anyway....

We had a week of ups and downs.  The beginning of the week seemed like it was going to be not very good, but we kept our attitude up and had some success.  We were blessed with 3 new investigators this week.  Jack, the first one, is a native man who has talked to missionaries before.  He was raised Roman Catholic but now follows his Native Beliefs.  He was told by one of his Shamans that this is a time of learning for him, and he wants to learn more about our church.  He applauded our Church's focus on the Family.  That is one thing that he likes about our church.  Another thing that he mentioned is that he likes how we "live what we believe," and how we "are not hypocritical, like most other religions."  We gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon and he said that he would read it.  He told us that he will not be able to meet with us until mid-February.  We will try to stop by and check on his progress before then.

The Other two are Steve Ellis and Britney.  We met with them on Saturday and had a great lesson.  Steve does not believe in God, but He doesn't not believe either.  He is not sure.  We told him that there was a way to find out if God was there.  Britney believes in God but doesn't know what to do or where to go because of that belief.  We gave them each a copy of the Book of Mormon and they said they would read and pray about it.  They also told us that they would come to church, but they didn't show up.  We have an appointment with them later this week, and we will answer their questions and resolve their concerns.

We had Steve and Britney, Jessica, and Christina ( a potential Investigator) all tell us that they were going to come to church, and a few others that gave soft commitments, but no one actually showed up.  We are hoping to find out the reason for them not coming as we meet with them this week.

Last night we went to see Justinn Coombs, a less active member.  We met with him and his girlfriend, who isn't a member.  They recently had a child and Justinn told us that being a father has really opened his eyes.  We were able to talk to them and answer some of the questions that they had.  They told us that they were planning on coming to church on Sunday.  His Girlfriend, Kim, is great.  She is pushing him to start going back to church, and she wants to learn as well.  We have another appointment with them on Saturday.  They want to raise their son right, and Justinn knows what he needs to do.  He seemed very sincere as well.  That's good.

The work is going good.  Sometimes it is difficult, and you don't see anybody because it's colder than a well-digger's knee, and who in their right mind would be out walking around in it?  But that's okay.  It's a
great work and I love it. We had our interviews with President Middleton on Monday.  I love that man.
So inspired.  That was great.  I don't really know how to describe it.  I am grateful to have a man like that leading the work here.  But Anyway....I love you and miss you all!  I hope that everyone has a great day.  Keep on Keeping on.  Love ya!

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft

Come let us anew our journey pursue…

Hello All!

Greetings from the Cold, snowy land of Orillia.  It is snowing right now, and it's going to be fun to drive in it later today.  This e-mail will be short, I don't have too much time left, but here goes....

Interesting week. Our one investigator lesson came with the Haime's. We dropped by to see them on New Year's Day and we were able to talk to them about some things that they had been reading. We had asked Michelle to read 2 Nephi 2, and she remembered a verse that stuck out to her - Verse 13- that said if there was no law, there is no sin, no punishment, no happiness, and no God. And if there is no God, then we are not. She liked that verse and we encouraged her to keep reading. We were not able to meet with them again that week. They all got sick, and when we stopped by on Saturday to invite them to church, they were all trying to recover. So they did not come to Church, either. And then on Monday, Michelle's Father passed away, so they will be out of town until probably Saturday with the funeral and such. We will stop by then and hopefully be able to comfort them with a refresher on the plan of Salvation.

We did a fair bit of tracting and the Lord blessed us with a couple contacts. Some of them seem very solid and we will be stopping by them later in the week to teach them.

The Goals that the Barrie Zone has set (to improve the key indicators) will make Elder Ledet and I stretch a lot, but I know that with the Lord all things are possible. We just need to work as hard as we can while being prompted by our third companion - the Holy Ghost.

I enjoyed Zone Conference on Monday. I have been thinking a lot about how to apply everything into my missionary work, especially the part where we learned about the Holy Ghost using the Light of Christ, and how we need to help our investigators learn the language that cannot be taught (How the Spirit Speaks to them. I came to a realization that, as missionaries, we need to bring the spirit, and point out when we feel it, so that the spirit can work and they can learn what we can't teach. The spirit is what will give them a testimony as well, so we need to live our lives so that we are worthy to bring that spirit to them, so they can utilize their agency and come unto Christ. It all starts to fall together. I love that about the Gospel. Everything just makes sense.

We had a travel yesterday with the Zone Leaders. I was in Barrie with Elder Persons. What a great missionary He is. I learned a lot from him, and he helped me to overcome some discouragement that I was feeling.

I also was very grateful for the instruction that we received at Zone Conference from the  Assistants. Elder Castro's lesson about goals was inspired. His cycle of setting goals was a new idea that I hadn't thought of before. I like what he said about how if we master the concept, our thoughts and desires will turn into our actions, and that will achieve our desired results.  I was very grateful for the opportunity to learn from Elder Anderson as well. He is such a powerful teacher, and I learned a lot from his about finding, especially in these cold winter months. And to top it all off, extraordinary testimonies from Sister Larson, Elder Boren, and Elder Summers, as well as the final comments from President and Sister Middleton. I felt thoroughly uplifted by the Zone Conference. A great experience that I look forward to Every Transfer....

That's what I’ve got.  Have a great week.  New Year's was great.  We had a branch ball hockey game that morning.  That was fun.  Life is good and I am excited to be living it.  Happy New Year!  I love and Miss you all!  Have a wonderful Day!

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft

Ring Out Wild Bells.... You know what comes next (Ask Vernie Swenson)....

Hello All!

Greetings from the frozen land of Orillia.  It has been a crazy week, weather wise.  It rained really hard on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Monday it was up to +8.  Then yesterday it dropped to -6.  This  morning it was -11 when we woke up, and one of the members told us that it was going to get down to -21 this afternoon (about -28 with wind chill).  Sounds like a grand old time.  Crazy weather.  I never know what to wear - oh wait – I wear the same thing every day.  Anyway....

Christmas was great.  It was good to talk to the family.  Love you guys! Have fun with the Wii (I still can't believe that you got that.  That is not like mom at all).  I hope that everyone's Christmas was  incredible.  I look forward to hearing all about it.....hint hint.... we spent Christmas Morning at the Witlox home.  We went over there and had breakfast and opened some presents that the Branch Members got for us.  We got so much junk food.  Each little present had a scripture written on it. We had to do a scripture chase and read the scripture, then guess what the present was before we opened it.  It was a lot of fun.  We came home, I called home, and we went to a retirement home to talk to a few lonely people.  There were not many there, so our visit was short.  That evening, we went back to the Witlox's (When they found out we didn't have a dinner appointment, they invited us again - nice people) and had dinner with them.

We were there for a little bit, and then we came home to let Elder Ledet make him Phone Calls.  His dad is in Louisiana and his Mom is in Alaska.  So he waited till the evening because of time differences and such.  That was about it for the day.  Thank you everybody who sent correspondence.  It made me so happy to check the mail and see things for me!  I will be working on getting back to everybody.  It might take a while because p-days are very hectic.  The day after Christmas is Boxing Day.  It is essentially the Day after Thanksgiving - Canada Style.  President told us that we could spend part of our normal proselyting time shopping.  Elder Ledet got quite a few things, but the only thing I saw was a little Gerber Multi-tool for $10. Can't pass on that, right?  It's a fun little toy.  That was about it for our holiday festivities.  Other than that, it has been a fairly quiet week.

We were able to meet with Len, our new investigator. We answered some of his questions about the first lesson that the Lindsay Elders taught. We didn't have too much time with him because it took us a while to find his house. He lives in Bolsover, and there was a bridge that was closed, so we had to drive back around and find another bridge and backtrack. We found it okay, though. He was raised Catholic but he disagrees with some of their teachings and he does not practice anymore. He told us that He likes what he has learned and that he will continue to read more from the Book of Mormon. He also told us that he will pray about it. He will not be able to meet with us this week because of the holidays, but we have an appointment with him next Tuesday. We invited him to come to church, and he said that he might show up. Pretty soft commitment, but it's better than nothing. We will continue to work on that as well.

Our other lesson came with Jessica Haime. She has had some time off, so we were able to meet with her. She asked us why our church does not have a collection plate. It is something that she didn't agree with in the Catholic Church, and she liked about ours. We taught her the principle of tithing. She agreed with it and the doctrine behind it. She is still in contact with Elder (Well, FORMER Elder) Johnson, who started teaching her. That is good. He mentioned to me before he went home that he would continue to keep in touch. I think it has helped, especially during the time that we were not able to see her. She told us that she was going to come to church on Sunday, but the family got the Flu and they stayed home sick.   It has been tough to get people to set and keep appointments because of the season, but we are
hoping that things really take off in the New Year.  It has been good.  

I have set a goal to read the entire Missionary Library (Standard Works, Missionary Reference Library, and Preach My Gospel) starting Tomorrow.  It's going to be fun.  I am excited.  Anyway.  I look forward to hearing how everyone's Christmas and New Year’s Festivities go.  Don't be a stranger.  I love you and Miss You All!

Your Obedient Servant.,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft

P.S. - I got the letters from the Primary - Thanks!
P.P.S. - I also got a little Box from Clark and M.J.....I am a little scared of what is in it....Just kidding.  I already opened it.  Thank you for that good-natured ribbing.  I will enjoy devouring the "U" Taffy.  They needed a win to get BCS. BYU was already down one loss.  Ok. Now I’m just making excuses, when I am probably the most uninformed person Ever.  There's always next year!  Thanks!

I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day....

Hello All!

How is everything down in the Blessed land of Utah?  Such a wonderful place.  Elder Ledet is from Alaska and he's got that Alaskan Pride.  It's kind of like Texan Pride, except the phrase "everything's Bigger in Alaska" actually works.  He rags a little bit on Utah, and I on Alaska, but the fact of the matter - Utah - This is the Place!  Anyway, we have had a ton of snow lately.  It snowed all day Friday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, and last night as well.  It has warmed up a little bit today, and it is starting to rain a little bit, but it is still cold enough to be classified as "Freezing rain."  It's fun.  Especially to drive in.  Thanks for your prayers.  I can see them daily.  

There was one experience that was kind of cool.  I don't know if I shared this one already, but I will do it anyway.  We were stopped at a light, and the light changed.  I went to put my foot on the gas, but something stopped me.  I hesitated, not knowing why I was not pushing the pedal, and then a Bright Red Dodge Magnum ran his red light and came screaming through the intersection.  The timing was such that if I had gone, I would have caught a full speed (about 50 km/hr) Dodge Magnum with my Left Shoulder.  That would not have been fun.  Thanks for your prayers.  They help.  Anyway....

We had a good week. It was a bit rough lessons-wise, but the two other lessons that we did get, we made them count. We got two new investigators. One of them is the one that I mentioned last week - Len Longin. We went by and taught him yesterday and he likes what he is learning. He told us that because he was raised Catholic, the Book of Mormon is Foreign to him, but he likes it as he reads it. He told us he will keep reading and he committed to pray about it. The other investigator is Jeff Haime. We have been working with the Haime's for quite some time, and we had been able to teach all of  them except for Jeff. He was working at the casino and was never available when we were over there. We stopped by and he invited us in and we had a good discussion with him. He has some questions that he really wants the answers to. He is really into science and he is amazed that some scientists don't believe in God. He told us that from what he has seen, everything in science points to God. We left him with his own copy of the Book of Mormon and he said he would read it. We left him specifically with Alma 30, when Korihor is contending with Alma about the existence of God. Hopefully he will read and pray about it.

We talked to Jessica last night and she said that they were going out of town this weekend, but that they were planning on going to church in Brampton. Jessica told us that she was planning on coming to church the past few weeks, but she had a lot of unexpected things come up. She also told that she doesn't want to smoke anymore. She has set a goal to be smoke free before 2009. We will be helping her with that. It has been interesting trying to find new investigators. It seems like all of the potential investigators that we have dropped by have told us to try back after the New Year. We have still been going at it, though. The lack of people to drop-by is forcing us to do more finding. Hopefully we will be able to find someone that will accept the Joyous Message of the Restored Gospel....

Have a merry Christmas!  I hope that everything works out for you!  Have a wonderful Day, and  remember - The Gospel is True!  I love you and Miss you all!

Your Obedient Servant,
Elder Austin James Ashcraft