Week 75

Hey mom!

So this week was one of the busiest weeks of my mission! We first had to pick up the newbies on Monday and then get them settled in at Presidents for the night. We got to roll play with them and it was SOOO awkward with them!! Haha its always soooo funny roll playing with them because they are so new and timid to teach! So we had to help them a decent amount which was ok. We then had transfers on Tuesday which is always NUTSSS!! And then right at the end, to top it all of, there was a trio of sisters who were white washing a new area and were also In a car share so they got stuck at the church and didn't have a ride to their new area!! So Elder J and I had to take them to their new area in and help them unpack all their stuff! Then everyday after that we got to go train all the Zone Leaders and District Leaders which is always fun! It's cool to train brand new District Leaders because a lot of them are really really eager to learn and improve, which is obviously the best kind of people to work with! Those who are open to advice and ready to improve! So I've been trying my best to be like that! Then on Wednesday was J's baptism and it was AWESOME!! She asked me to baptize her which was absolutely amazing! It was exactly what I needed this week!! Her moms non member friend came as well and he really really liked it and now we're teaching him! His names C and he's totally solid! Plus, we're almost positive that he has a thing for J's mom, so hopefully we can just have her "flirt to convert" as we like to say! ;) On Thursday we had MLC with President and Sister Berry, the ZL's and the Sister Training Leaders. These meetings are almost always focused on being trained and having discussions on how to become more effective and spiritual teachers and leaders, but this time we had to talk about helping our missionaries keep cleaner apartments.... I literally almost RIPPED MY HAIR OUT!!! Ask all the Zone Leaders!! They were all chuckling at me cuz they could tell I was going insane inside that we had to talk about such a pathetic topic. I literally DO NOT understand how 18,19,20 & 21 year olds can be so un-organized and un-reliable! I sometimes feel like we are babysitters. But it needed to be talked about. After the meeting, President came up to me and said something about one of the comments I made about how "embarrassing" it is that we had to talk about this subject at an MLC. We started talking and I realized that I could go into any Elders and Sisters apartment and tell you within a matter of minutes how many lessons they teach and how often they baptize. The same goes for looking through their Preach My Gospel. You can tell SOOOO much about missionaries by the cleanliness of their apartments and the in depth markings and wear and tear of their Preach My Gospel manuals. The same usually goes for people's yards. If someone has a sloppy yard, they a lot of times have a sloppy or un-organized life. Those are just my thoughts on that... As you can tell I'm not a very opinionated person ;) Then on Sunday we had a stake conference because the ward boundaries are getting all mixed up. One of the Bishops who got released said something super awesome! He shared a story about how when he was a priest he and three of his friends decided to all read the BOM on their own and they're all still active and so are all their kids. He then said that there were 4 other priests who didn't read the BOM on their own and they were all in-active now. He later said "Reading the Book of Mormon isn't just reading a book, it's an EXPERIENCE!"... "For all you youth who are older then 16 and haven't read the Book of Mormon all the way through on their own, I worry very deeply for you and for your future in this church" He then went on to bare solemn witness of the Savior and of the divinity of the church and the Book of Mormon and it was soooo powerful! We need to go into reading the Book of Mormon with a changed attitude, and changed desire, and then watch it, and more importantly let it change our nature and who we are. This week I was also studying in PMG Chpt 6 under obedience and I came across this great quote by Elder L Tom Perry. "The discipline contained in daily obedience and clean living and wholesome lives builds an armor around you of protection and safety from the temptations that beset you as you proceed through mortality.” I love that quote because I can definitely testify that when I'm keeping the commandments, it's 100X's easier to cast off temptation! One last thing I'll share about something I learned was from the chapter heading of Alma 27. It says "Ammons joy exhausts his strength" and it made me think, does this gospel, or other people's progression, or our love for our friends, families, and spouses bring us so much joy that it "Exhausts our strength?" I feel like that's
something we could all work on, is getting more Joy out of the small, simple, but yet so significant things of life! Overall, it was a great and eventful week!

I miss you a lot. Thank you for praying for me! I still need those. I miss you guys!

Love Elder Ashworth

Elder J and I coming back from dropping off the departing missionaries
at the airport at 4:45 am... Dead tired!!