Letters From Salt Lake City West

Dear Ashcroft Family,

We are sending these photos to show you how much Sister Ashcroft is loving her service in our area of West Valley City, and we are loving her and Sister Christensen.

Loving Sister Ashcroft,

[names removed]

 Sister Ashcroft, Sister Christensen

 Sister Ashcroft

 Sister Ashcroft

 Sister Ashcroft

Sister Ashcroft

Letters From Salt Lake City West

Dear Ashcroft Family,

Good afternoon, it's July 22 and very hot in West Valley City, my wife is with your daughter and her companion on a split visiting some families in our ward.  Your daughter told me it would be ok if I related an experience they had last week.  The missionaries have a study period and they were together studying the "Our Heritage" book in chapter four when they noticed a name of Philo Dibble, and sister Christensen said "he is my forth great grandfather".  As they read further it reported he was shot by a mob, three times in the stomach, then they read where Newel K Knight gave his friend Bro Dibble a healing blessing and your daughter said "he is my third great grandfather".  The shooting was in July 23, 1833 - 180 years ago almost to the day.  That those two men were friends and now that these two missionaries who did not know each other three weeks ago have such a common bond is wonderful.  My heart fairly jumped when they told us.  I suspect there are crowds of cheerleaders watching from heaven as these two great missionaries have a common bond.  Her P day in on the 24 and I am sure she will give you more details.  Thanks for letting her come to this area.  It is very hot and we will watch out for them.

Thanks,
[name removed] 

Biking Mount Everest

Howdy!

 

How is Aliza?

 

How is Gert?

 

How are all of you?

 

Can you believe that I’ve already been out for four months? So crazy!

 

How are all of your projects coming along?

I still have yet to receive any pictures of them!

 

We went and hiked Ensign Peak this morning.  It was lots of fun.  Man, I’m out of shape!  I made it up there though.  After the hike we went to the cemetery where some of the Prophets are buried.

 

We tried to hike it last Wednesday for the twenty-fourth, but we never made it up there.  The Elders don't really think things through very well.  Instead of finding a ride the said, “Let’s bike!”  We were like, “Okay!  We can do that!”

 

We ride our bikes thirty minutes to the tracks.

We get on the tracks with our bikes.

I'm a little clumsy and my bike was just in the way.

I don't think the people on the tracks were happy that I was a passenger.

We get off in downtown Salt Lake City after a twenty-seven minute ride on the tracks.

These brilliant Elders tell us that it's only about a twelve minute bike ride up the start of the hike.

 

TWELVE MINUTES MY BUTT!

 

We start biking down the roads in the middle traffic.  There are six of us missionaries just cruisin' down the busy streets of downtown Salt Lake City.  I seriously thought we were going to die!  And then, we start up the mountain.  The Elders are like, “Oh man, it’s a little steeper than we thought!”

 

Oh my gosh!

I thought I was biking up Mount Everest!

I was nearing death!

There were cars flying past us!

I’m pedaling away and thinking, “If I fall off my bike, I'm dead!”

 

The other three Sisters and I get off our bikes and get on the sidewalk and start pushing them up this mountain!  Seriously, even pushing them was killing us!  It felt like we were trying to climb a ninty-degree wall.  We finally make it to the Capitol.

 

We still have a ways to go…

…yeah well, we scratched the hike at that point!

 

We were all so exhausted that we just laid on the grass at the Capitol and ate lunch.  Other than the fact that we almost died, it ended up being a nice relaxing day.

 

It's been a crazy week! 

I guess I didn't learn my lesson on racing the Elders!

I don't know what’s wrong with me!

I become this mean aggressive competitive person!

I just have to win!

 

We were riding our bikes home on day and I looked to see if there were any cars coming up behind me.  I see the two Elders flying down the street towards me.  I shouted at my companion, “Pedal faster!” as I start pedaling faster and fly down the hill.  I’m flying and I hit a bump and pothole which is not a good thing since I’m not on a racing bike.  My bag, folders, papers, water bottle and everything else that was in my basket goes flying out and scattered all over the road.  Do you think I thought, “Hey Kournti!  Maybe this would be a good time to slow down?”  Oh no!  I didn’t have that thought at all.  While my companion is trying to dodge all the obstacles that I left in her path, the Elders finally caught up to me and passed me.  Just barely though!

 

I forgot to mention, I don't have good brakes on my bike!  I shouted at the Elders who slowed down in front of me, "Move!  I don’t have brakes!”  My bike wasn't slowing down fast enough and it was either ride into oncoming traffic or ride into the bushes.  I chose the bushes.  I jumped off my bike just in time.  I didn’t get hurt but I totally took out someone’s flowerbed.

 

Another day this week…

...an annoying dog came chasing after us on our bikes and I wanted to run it over!

 

My time has come to an end!

I hope you all are doing just grand!

Thanks for all of your love and support!

Apostle Chasing

Happy Fourth of July!

How’s everyone?

I hope you’re all enjoying time with family!

I’ve been transferred!

My new address is:

4144 S Colt Ct (4695 W)

West Valley City, UT 84120

Some crazy things have happened this past week.

I’m not even sure where to start.

Oh wait, I know!

I’m a trainer!  What?!  I know, crazy!  That’s not all!  I’m also white-washing!  What?!  I know, even crazier!  I guess the Lord and President Swain trust me!

For those of you who don't know what white-washing is…

…it’s basically when they start an area completely over.

They took out the Elders and put in the Sisters.  We don’t know anyone or anything about the area.  We go in and we build it up from scratch.  It’s been hard but it’s been so much fun.

I’m doing all of that while training my new companion; Sister Christensen.  It’s so crazy!  I finished my ‘greenie training’ on Monday and I became a trainer on Tuesday.  Needless to say, it’s been a crazy and stressful week! 

We had a great first day experience.

My poor companion was overwhelmed and had no clue what to do.

On top of that, I had no clue what to do either.

They literally dropped us off and didn't tell us a thing!

They didn't give us our area book or tell us what wards/branches we’re covering!

Not a single thing!

They gave us a brand new phone with no phone numbers in it and told us to get to work!

What?

Get to work?

I didn't even know where in the world we were! 

We were told that our neighbor was the high councilor over the missionaries so that’s where we started.  We got there and he wasn't home.  His wife was home and she was as much help as she could be.  She gave us addresses of the bishops/branch presidents so we took off to find them.  No luck!  Then the Elders who used to cover the area called us and said, “Hey Sisters!  You guys have a lesson in twenty minutes!”  We had no maps of where we were and where we were going!  I hate Utah directions!  I don't know how we found the house but we did!  The Lord watches out for His missionaries!  We got there and the Elders ‘passed’ us off to this new family. 

We finally found out what ward/branch was in charge of feeding us!

It’s the Spanish Branch! 

Sister Ashcroft habla no Espanol!

I called to get our dinner list and threw in whatever Spanish words I knew.  Which is very few!  They had no idea what I was talking about and said they’d call around and find us dinner.  They never called back.  I decided to call them again the following day.  With very broken English I hear, “We are not feeding you this week.”  Click.  I called our neighbor who took care of us the day before – the high councilor – and he took care of us.  He and his wife have been so much help to us. 

The two wards/branches that we cover are Colony and Ridgeland.  They’re right next to us.  Both are very small wards/branches and they’re just little neighborhoods so it works out great.  Everything’s so close together! 

We’ve met with the bishops/branch presidents and the mission leaders and they’re so nice!  They’re so excited for Sisters to be here and they’re going to take good care of us.  We are so excited to work in a new area and get it going.

Happy Birthday to the Utah Salt Lake City West Mission!  Monday was the one-year anniversary of our mission opening up.  All the missionaries got together and had breakfast and played games.  We had a huge water war with one-hundred-sixty missionaries.  It was so much fun!  Pictures coming soon! 

We said goodbye to some of the Elders that are heading home!

I got close to most of them!

I’ll miss them!

They did their job!

They’re lots of fun!

My injury of the week...

…my finger!

We were playing volleyball and soccer at the same time and I hurt my finger.  I thought that I might have broken it!  It's swollen and I can't move it but I think it’s going to be okay!

The Mission President’s Seminar last Tuesday was so much fun!  We went to the Missionary Training Center in Provo.  It was such a neat experience talking to all of the Mission Presidents!  We ate lunch in the same room as the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.  I saw Elder Perry and Elder Nelson.  I had a great conversation with the General Primary Presidency.  They’re so nice!  I met lots of members of the Quorum of the Seventy but the only names that I really remember are Elder Dube and Elder Snow because they were both in my session. Then I met Elder Christensen from the BYUtv reality show "The District."  I sat right next to him and talked with him for about two hours. I didn't realize it was him until afterwards.  Oops!

Oh, and I also chased Elder Oaks down in the parking lot.  We were walking back to the car to leave and Sister Wilson says, “Oh hey, that’s Elder Oaks."  I turned around and ran toward him shouting, "Elder Oaks!  Hello!  I'm Sister Ashcroft!" He laughed and said, "Hello Sister!  I’m sorry but I’m running late for a meeting.”  I shook his hand and said, “Alright!  Bye!”  When I shook his hand it felt like the Spirit was trying to drop-kick me across the parking lot.  

Elder Oaks is a tall man.

Holy smokes he’s tall.

It was such a cool experience.

One that I’ll never forget.

I’m coming close to my time limit so I better wrap it up!

It's going to be a fun p-day for us missionaries and it’s all day long!

We’re going to have a huge water war with our zone!

Those Elders are going down!

Keep me in your prayers!

I’m training, white-washing and getting lost all at the same time.

But, it’s been so much fun!

I love my mission!

And, the Church is true!

I love you all and miss all of you very much!

Have a great Fourth of July! 

The Big Dogs

My week's been crazy!

I get to go to the Missionary Training Center {MTC} tomorrow.

I’m so excited and so nervous at the same time!

Sister Wilson’s going shopping today for clothes.  They're so strict with our clothing that it's crazy!  The lady who's in charge of the missionary clothing standards came down and talked to all of the girls.  She told us that no one could wear what they had on that day.  I thought I had a cute vintage outfit on!

Transfers are coming up next Tuesday.

I hope that I stay in this area.

I don't want to leave.

Monday’s the one-year anniversary of the Utah Salt Lake City West Mission {my mission} being opened.  We’re going to party!

You won't hear from me again until next Thursday!

Thursday will be our p-day because of the Holiday!

On Saturday we had a Missionary Blitz.  We knocked on every single door in our ward.  We recruited some missionaries and ward members to help us.  Each missionary was tagged up with a couple of ward members and we went and updated the records of the ward.  I’m so glad we're not a tracking mission.  I went with our senior couple missionaries {Elder and Sister North} and it was hard work!  It’s not my favorite thing to do!

I watch a hoarder crawl out his window!

I did what any normal missionary would do!

I cornered Him and shared the Gospel!

Go me!

This past week, we had exchanges so Sister Alegria came to my area for the day!  We had so much fun!  We taught a lot of people on the streets.  In my neighborhood, everyone acts like they don't speak English, but they really do. They are always like, “Habla no English!”  Especially this one guy!  Sister Alegria is from Honduras and speaks Spanish!  We're going down the street and I went up this guy and started talking to him.  Each time that I bring up the Gospel he says "Sister! I told you!  Habla no English!"  I told him, "Don't worry!  Hermana Alergria Habla Espanol!" 

Muahahah!

His face was priceless!

Sister Alegria taught him the whole first lesson!

She purposely made it a long lesson!

I just sat there smiling from ear-to-ear!

I’m in a really fun district!

We get along really well!

Everyone thinks I’m a violent person!

Not sure why!

They asked me if I was the girl in high school that made fun of people and got into fights!

They also think that I’m too competitive so no one will challenge me to anything!

They're just scared!

My poor companion is such a trooper!  I don’t know why but she puts up with me!  I like to embarrass her, especially at dinner tables or in meetings. I'll say something to make her laugh, because when she laughs she stops breathing.  When we are at the dinner table I’ll ask her awkward questions like, "Why were you crying last night?"  She laughs and then she stops breathing.  If we're near an Elder I'll say, "So what kind of dream were you having about Elder {so-and-so} last night?”  If I don't like the food we are eating, I always put it on her plate when the people aren't looking.

She laughs at everything I say!

I sing really loud when we are riding our bikes!

I play marco-polo with her!

I do funny dances!

It's great!

President Swain talked in one of our wards yesterday.  He talked about how we need to talk to everyone.  I told Sister Wilson that I needed to work on being more bold and outgoing as a missionary.  I was totally serious and she said, “Please don’t!”  Sister Wilson had to talk too.  That was my fault though.  The Bishop called and was talking to me about speakers and some other things, so I volunteered Sister Wilson to speak in church!

Welp!

I’m off to a birthday party for Elder North!

I made the pies!

Banana cream and key lime cheese cake!

Sister Wilson also thinks that I’m a pretty good cook! 

I made her mega tacos, steak sandwiches and nachos!

I better get going!

Pray for me tomorrow!

Pray that I won't make a fool out of myself in front of the big dogs; Mission Presidents', their spouses, Quorums of the Seventy and {Possibly! Eeks!} Quorum of the Twelve Apostles!

I’m so excited!

I love you all!

Thanks for all your guys support!

The church is true!

I am having a blast!

I'll write you all next week and tell you how everything went!

Moroni 10:3

Sister Ashcroft

Oh, Sweet Adelaide

I haven't written an email in a while!  Serving the Lord keeps me really busy!  Crazy things have gone on this week!

Some highlights of my week.

As most of you know, I ran into my Mom this week.  Super awkward!  I've apologized for "slightly" raising my voice at her and pretending like I didn't know who she was.

I told President Swain about my race with Elder Goober.
I didn't get in trouble.
He laughed, but he also told me never to do it again.

Do you remember that really big fireside that I've been talking about?!  Well it's not as exciting as I'd hoped for.  It's still way cool though!  My mission is spoiled and we got to know ahead of time what's so historical.  I still can't tell any of you!

On the twenty-fifth of this month I get to go to Provo and teach Mission President's, their wives and General Authorities about Facebook!  Ten companionships were chosen from my mission and I'm one of them!  I'm doing Facebook teaching, some Elders & Sisters who have iPads are doing training on them and some other things.  It's pretty cool!  It's called the Mission President's Seminar.

Everyone loves my bike!  Geez!  Everyone rides their bike up next to me and asks, "How much will you sell if for?!"  I just say that it's not for sale but they keep following me!  The Elders say it's like riding on a cloud because the seat is so nice. I think more people have ridden my bike then I have!  Every single Elder takes it for a ride ALL. THE. TIME.

I named her {the bike} Adelaide!

I did a lot of service projects this week!  One of them was cleaning the Elders' home.  Oh my gosh!  That's the most disgusting thing that I've ever done in my whole entire life!  There was black mold everywhere! They were moving out so that the church can refurbish them.  Ugh!  They were gross!

We have this kid we are teaching.  He's about fourteen.  All day long I felt like we needed to go see him.  We went over and he was not home. We went over another time and he was not home. Then the third time we saw him.  He was on the sidewalk and we talked with him. I asked him to baptized and he said YES! That was such a crazy experience!

I have lots more stories, but I don't have much time!

I'll try next week to write more!

Love and miss you all!