Gunlock looked super super fun!! I really miss Gunlock! I'm excited to go there when I get home! And I'm pretty sure I'll be home the 25th. So you can plan accordingly.
So this week was pretty great!! We had meetings allll week which was ok... Haha we drove over 500 miles and it was ROUGHHHH!! I was soooo tired after all the driving! But it was fun being able to see lots of the Elders and go out to lunch with them. The best thing that happened tho was C's baptism! It was such a spiritual experience. Each time I'm able to see someone enter into the waters of baptism my testimony of this gospel grows. Because he's a larger fellow and has a bad back we decided that it would be best if we sat him down in a chair and had him bend forward. We gave him a list of all the members we had brought to see him and had him pray about which two he wanted to help baptize him. It was neat experience and you could tell that the members felt special to be the ones baptizing him. Then on Sunday, T who just got baptized two weeks ago received the Aaronic
priesthood! We're going to be able to pass the sacrament with him next week which will be special. He was soooo excited to tell everyone in the ward that he was a priest! Haha another cool thing that happened was that before church I prayed that someone we didn't know or weren't expecting to come to church who was a non-member would come so that we could pick them up as a new investigator and help them get baptized. Well by the time we got to the last talk I hadn't seen anyone new so I
was a little bummed. But literally right after I was thinking about that, I got a tap on my shoulder from Sister M behind me and she whispered "Hey, my sons non-member girlfriend is here today, let's get her to come to gospel principles class" haha so that was a little miracle! Overall, things are going pretty amazing!
So this week I really enjoyed this part from the Elders Quorum lesson this week which talked about trials and the need and significance of them.
“ I have observed that life--every life--has a full share of ups and downs. Indeed, we see many joys and sorrows in the world, many changed plans and new directions, many blessings that do not always look or feel like blessings, and much that humbles us and improves our patience and our faith. We have all had those experiences from time to time, and I suppose we always will... Being human, we would expel from our lives physical pain and mental anguish and assure ourselves of continual ease and comfort, but if we were to close the doors upon sorrow and distress, we might be excluding our greatest friends and benefactors. Suffering can make saints of people as they learn patience, long-suffering, and self-mastery"
Whenever Heavenly Father sends someone, or even a group of people a trial, he is giving us a chance to repent, grow, and become stronger. It's up to us however to use that opportunity he places in front of us to help us repent, grow, and become stronger. Shall we falter? Or shall we finish? Most people do falter and miss the mark and quickly lose faith and blame God for the trials and don't learn anything from them. But those who learn and improve and appreciate those hardships and trials are the ones who will endure to the end and be saved. Those who use their faith, their covenants, the companionship of the Holy Ghost, and most importantly, the Atonement to overcome and come off
conquer will always come off on top. A prime example is Nephi, Jacob, and Sam compared to Laman and Lemuel. Nephi and Jacob and Sam used ALL their trials to help them improve and become better and more refined tools in our Heavenly Fathers hands. (2 Nephi 2:1 And now, Jacob, I speak unto you: Thou art my firstborn in the days of my tribulation in the wilderness. And behold, in thy childhood thou hast suffered afflictions and much sorrow, because of the rudeness of thy brethren.
2 Nevertheless, Jacob, my firstborn in the wilderness, thou knowest the greatness of God; and he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain.) Laman and Lemuel almost ALWAYS used those trials as excuses for why their life was so hard and why they could be mediocre. So my goal for not just this week, but for forever is to better be able to see my trials as blessings. I want to see and recognize all the things I need to learn from the trials I do have and improve from those things. I know as I do this, that Heavenly Father will then trust me with more trials that I can learn and improve from and I will become the best I can be through Him.
I love you soooo much Mom❤️❤️❤️ Thanks for everything!! I miss you guys! Hows BYU basketball looking?? Update me! Love you☺️
Love, Your son Elder Ashworth
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| The Johnson's who were a senior couple who just left... They will be greatly missed! They're awesome awesome people! |
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| Driving alone again to pick up another car... We still teach quite a
bit just to let you know... We don't just hangout all the time like the pics might suggest. |
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| Getting some RAYZZ before our meeting |
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| Got to drive all along the coast line so I had to stop real quick
and get a quick picture! This was my first time seeing the ocean on my mission |
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| Enjoying the nice weather on a beautiful Valentine's Day! |
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| Had to go up to Eustis to pick up a car of an area that just got
closed so I stopped by Nana and GM real quick to say hello! Nana had Valentine socks on too |
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| Old Comp Elder Donnelly! |
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| Had to drive separately to pick up that car. It's kind of fun to be by yourself for a little! |
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