Elder Tyler Ashworth: Week 87

Hey mom!!

Thank you first of all for the great packages! This week was crazy but great like usual! At the beginning of the week we had some fun exchanges with the Elders in Vero and then the ones who serve in my old ward of Kissimmee! So that was a lot of fun to see some people I was able to work with. I went to Vero with my old comp Elder Langston so that was a blast! We then had a lot of meetings and things to do to coordinate for this upcoming transfer. I am going to stay here for probably one more and then take a step up and train my last two! That's my guess but we'll see. On Saturday we had to drive up to Cocoa at 7 in the morning to deal with something and then came strait back and did some service at a homeless outreach center which was fun! It always feels great to do service like that. Then that night we topped it off with E’s baptism which was great. He, his mom, and his little brother all came to church and our Bishop was able to confirm him a member! His mom is reading from the Book of Mormon and is trying hard to find a schedule so she can come to church and be baptized as well! So that was really cool! We also met this Polly family named the M family this week who haven't been to church in over a year and they all came which was also another cool little miracle! Something crazy cool that happened just yesterday was that there's this Hawaiian family in our ward who have a Polynesian dancing group that performs at Universal Studios as well as up in the Panhandle of Florida. Well they have this lady from Brazil who's going to dance for them and she's been going to church for the past 3 years in Brazil as well as Switzerland but she still hasn't been baptized. She speaks perfect English because she went to Switzerland to get her masters degree in English. Well we met her at church and then set up a time that night to meet with her at the Hawaiian families house which is where she's staying right now and she's gonna get baptized this Saturday! We asked why she hasn't been baptized yet and she said "Well, nobody's asked me to be baptized so I didn't know if I could or not" Haha things just seem to continue to fall into place. Heavenly Father continues to bless us over and over again.

I wanted to share some things I've learned this past week. As I was reading through the lesson this week in "Teachings of Howard W Hunter" I came across a quote I really enjoyed. It says "As we evaluate our lives, it is important that we look, not only at our accomplishments but also at the conditions under which we have labored. We are each different and unique; we have each had different starting points in the race of life; we each have a unique mixture of talents and skills; we each have our own set of challenges and constraints with which to contend. Therefore, our judgment of ourselves and our achievements should not merely include the size or magnitude and number of our accomplishments; it should also include the conditions that have existed and the effect that our efforts have had on others. It is this last aspect of our self-evaluation--the effect of our lives on the lives of others--that will help us understand why some of the common, ordinary work of life should be valued so highly. Frequently it is the commonplace tasks we perform that have the greatest positive effect on the lives of others, as compared with the things that the world so often relates to greatness." As I read this I really realized how blessed I am and how blessed we all are to have been born into the gospel. We are starting much ahead in this race of life. But just as important and helpful as it's been for me personally to be born in the church, is the family that I've been born into. Being born into a solid family, one that's overall finacially stable, one that hasn't been split up by divorce, one that is active encouraging and motivated to do well has just enhanced the blessing of being born into the restored gospel that much more! I've realized on my mission that basically all the odds are in my favor. I have no reason to fail. If I don't accomplish something or fail it will only be because of me. Not my circumstances or the cards I've been dealt. Not because of my upbringing or a lack of education, it all falls on my shoulders. Realizing this has helped me a lot in appreciating all the small and simple things as well as not making excuses. It's also helped me realize the huge impact that all the people around me have made, especially my close friends and family. Obviously though all of my blessings and great circumstances have come from Heavenly Father. You can never acknowledge him too much. D&C 59:21 And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments. I'm so grateful for all the blessings I've received and will receive in my life. Heavenly Father has never let me down and I know that as long as I keep the commandments to the best of my abilities and acknowledge him in all that I do and in everything that I receive that he will continue to bless me.

Thank you for everything you do for me! I miss you bunches!

Love Elder Ashworth