Meeting Elder Bednar

I hate the snow!

I want it to melt!

I hate it!

 

I woke up to a cold Tuesday morning and looked out my window to see nothing but white.

I thought to myself, "Oh! How pretty! I just love the snow!"

The day started and I was excited to be in the snow!

Except for it was crazy windy!  

Those who know me know I hate the wind with a burning passion.

I just hate it!

 

I soon realized that my boots don't keep the snow out and my toes were literally frozen.

I was slipping and sliding every where because my boots were slick on the bottom.

My gloves were pathetic and they were wet from all the snow that was falling.

Then I slipped and ruined the zipper on my jacket and now it won't close.

 

I had to walk around with an open jacket.

I just about froze to death!

 

The people we were supposed to teach called and cancelled because it was too cold.

They wanted us to go inside.

Uhh, missionaries don't go inside!

If you call and cancel, we will continue to walk the cold snowy streets. 

The way we get warm is by you letting us come inside and share a nice spiritual message so, "we are warm physically and spiritually."

 

That's my new punch line when people tell me it's too cold to be walking outside!

We stopped by a member's house to defrost and she offered us a ride to our next appointment.

Sure!  We'll take it!

She drives a monster of a car {Lincoln Navigator} and as I'm getting out I decide that I'm going to be smart and not step on the running boards, because I know that they are covered in ice.

 

Well...

...the ground was nothing but a ice sheet!

Yep, you guessed it!

Both my legs went out from underneath me.

I whacked the back of my head on the car's window

Then I smacked my head on the running boards.

And last but not least, my head bounced off the running boards to the cold concrete that was hidden by a sheet of ice.

 

Ouch! 

 

I laid there like, "What the crap just happened?!" 

I'm looking a little confused and see my companion laughing hysterically.

I didn't know it was physically possible for her to make that much noise!

She was laughing so hard she couldn't even help me up!  

Then I hear the member yell, "Dang it Sister Ashcroft!  What have you done to yourself now?!"

I laid there for a minute and realized I was feeling a breeze!

About then I noticed that my skirt wasn't covering a single thing!

It's all the way up to my shoulders!

 

I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry.

Laugh because it was funny...

...or cry because I had just had enough for one day.
I decided to laugh.
I'm trying to get up and I felt like Bambi.

The part of the movie when he was trying to stand up on the ice and his legs kept slipping.

It took me about five tries until I finally got on my feet.

By then I was really wet, really cold and had a really bad headache. 

It turns out that the person we were on our way to visit wasn't home, so we decided just to walk to dinner early.  I'm still a little dizzy and I'm trying to cross the road and someone yells, "Sisters!  Want a ride?!" Which scared me and I fell again.

I considered calling Sister Swain in case I had a concussion...

...but I didn't.

 

I woke up alive the next morning so I figured I was okay.

Anyways...

This week I had the privilege of meeting Elder Bednar!

He came and did a devotional with our Mission.

It was so cool!

His sweet wife talked to us, then he talked to us and then he left it open for questions.

We could ask him anything we wanted!

That for sure was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

He taught us so much!

Some things I learned from him are below.
If you manage your money like the Church, you'll always be financially stable.

Never spend more than what you receive.

In all things assume how much you plan on spending and never spend more than the assumption.

Become and agent and not an object.

When we are trying to learn something or develop a new attribute you get a Book of Mormon.

For example...

...I'm doing charity.

 

I got a Book of Mormon and as I read it I highlight anything that talks about love & charity and write notes in it.

Just mark it up with charity!

It's a great way to receive personal revelation!

He said he has a bookshelf of hundreds of Book of Mormons that he has done throughout his life. He said his boys always want to read them.

He tells his boys, "If anyone touches my Book of Mormons I will kill them!"

Then they ask, "Well after you die can we have them?"

 He said with his last breath he will catch them on fire and will not pass to the Spirit world until every book is burned.
It's because those books become your personal revelation...

...and you just don't share every spiritual experience you have.

Your personal revelations are meant for you, not the world.
It was a super duper spiritual meeting!
I just love my mission.

I hate the snow!

I just love the gospel.

I hate the snow!
In closing...

...I would really like to express how much I hate the snow!

Celebration of Christ - Interfaith Christmas Concert

How was everyone's Thanksgiving? 

I ate at two members homes...

...it was so much!

I did so good, I ate really small portions at each home so I was never uncomfortably full.

After that we went and played volleyball with some Polynesians.

Uhm... I almost died! 

They can spike the ball hard!

Geez!

Yesterday we had our Mission President Devotional.

It was all in Spanish!

It was pretty cool to sing the songs in Spanish. 

I understood the songs... obviously, but I have no idea what the videos talked about or the testimonies.

It was still so cool! 

Elder Arnold from the Seventy was there, as well as his wife. 

I got to meet them and shake their hands!

It was pretty neat!

Those men are so amazing!

It's such a blessing to be a part of this mission and meet as many general authorities as I have so far. 

It's always a great experience!

I got to go to Temple Square on Saturday night.

Man, it was quite an experience!

One of our investigators got tickets to the Celebration of Christ - Interfaith Christmas Concert. 

It was really neat!  

They had BYU Vocal Point, Jenny Oaks Baker and a man named Kevin who is a Seventh Day Adventist who beat boxed and played the cello at the same time. It was amazing! They had a Pastor come and sing and awesome song, they had a Baptist choir.

It was all really cool!

They had a lot more perfomers there, I just can't recall them all. 

Our investigator got the tickets and her son was supposed to come but something happened and he didn't want to come. 

She came and picked us up and said her son was still at home and she can't get him to get ready.

She had me go to the house to talk to him.  

I walked in the house and said, "Daniel! Will you come to Temple Square with me tonight?" 

Two minutes later he was dressed and had a smile on his face. 

We were late.

Our investigator dropped my companion, Daniel and myself off and we went and got seats.

I felt so bad because our investigator couldn't find a spot to park and it took her 40 minutes to get into the program, she watched two performances and then we had to leave 30 minutes early to make curfew. 

I felt so bad...

...she had a great attitude about it!

We briefly got to see the lights on Temple Square.

It's official...

...downtown Salt Lake City is my most favorite place in the world during Christmas time! I just love it! 

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Sister Challenge; The Stairs

Sister Challenge; The Stairs

Sister Challenge; Sardines

Sister Challenge; Sardines

A Sister's Challenge

Hello everyone!

Happy Early Turkey Day!

I have so many Thanksgiving dinners this week!

I'm going to explode...

...but, it will be lots of fun!

The videos I sent are called "sister challenges."  I made up a game in the house.  You pick a Sister and shout "Sister's Challenge!" and then you give them a challenge.  Normally, I'm the boss at challenging all the Sisters.  

I challenged Sister Muldowney to eat a dead fish...

...she ate it like a champ!

Then she turned around a challenged me. 

I gagged it like a champ!

I did this in front of twenty'ish missionaries.  We were having a zone lunch and the Elders brought Saridean {my spelling has not improved}.

Yesterday I talked in two wards.  One ward was a missionary farwell. We ran out of time, and I went like 5 minuets over so Sister Porter was thrilled to only have to bare her testimony and sit down.  Then we talked in another ward, and yes I used the same talk. This time Sister Porter went first... she talked for like 5 minuets. She left me with 35 minuets to talk! Wonderful, right?!

Yep, I manage to elborate {how ever you spell that word} really good! So, by the time I was over there was about 5 minutes left.

Then someone from the Bishopric stood up and took up the rest of the time.

Well, that was my week in a nutshell. I love this ward so much! I want to stay here, so keep me in my your prayers that I should stay in the Granger South area :) Ha, it's been a blast!

My mission is so much fun, and it's super crazy hard! But I love it so much!

I can't believe I hit my 8 months mark this week, I'm almost half way there!

Man, does time fly by!

Well, I have to go buy some groceries.

I love you guys all soo much!!!

A Missionary Tour...So Cool

Hello Everyone!

So, sorry I didn't email anyone yesterday! Today is my P-day.

So, lets start out with some Funnies! Tuesday of this week I sit down to have breakfast, I make myself hot cocoa and toast. I sit down to eat it and I spill the boiling HOT cocoa on my lap! I just about burnt myself to a crisp! I run downstairs change my dress and throw my dirty one in the wash. Then I grab all my belongings and run downstairs for Personal Study, Well, I have this really talented gift of falling. Yep! You guessed I fell down the stairs!

So, now it's lunch time! I'm in a new dress and I make Chicken Alfredo. I dropped the entire bowl of Alfredo right on my lap :)   I changed my dress again.

Wait, it gets better!  At dinner with a MEMBER I am pouring me a glass of water. And the ice is blocking the flow of the water.  So, I shimmy it just a little bit, well I shimmied to hard and poured the ENTIRE pitcher of water on my lap, the floor, the table, and my food.   Yep.... it was great night! 

To top it off, it was a really cold, windy night and I didn't get to change my dress. So I was freezing!

I love my life!

Anyways! 

The reason I am emailing a day early is because our mission is doing a Mission Tour!

What is that you might ask?   Well, I'm not entirely sure.  But the General Authorities came and did an 8 hour training with us. 

Elders Clark and Elder Alanso came. Super Duper Great Men!

We got to walk and shake their hands and introduce ourselves. We then got to meet their wives and they gave us hugs and kisses! (Just the Sisters though)  So, kudos to me! 

They did an amazing training!  They taught us so much!  A lot things we can improve as missionaries.

Elder Alanso told some of his "missionary experiences".  He is a great example of how not to be afraid to share the Gospel.  He told a story of going to the Pharmacy one time, just to get a prescription filled.  And one of the lady's working said,  "Are you a flight attendant?"  He replied back  "No, I'm not", and she said, "So, your a nobody then?"  He replied back "I am a representative of Jesus Christ!", He then asked her to be baptized! Apparently she had been baptized in another religion but she listened to him, and was eventually baptized. The last time he saw her she was a counselor in the Relief Society Presidency.

He has an amazing life story!  He is a convert to the church, and just shared with us some wonderful experiences.

I had the privileged of eating lunch with Elder Alanso and his wife!  They are such humble people, he let us ask him anything!  And he gave us some great advice as missionaries.

Elder Clark did an amazing job too!  He is the 70 over our mission, so he knows all that is going on! My favorite training by him was on Tithing.  He expressed why it is so important to pay tithing, and that we should take our investigators to pay tithing. I thought that was so cool!  I have never actually taken someone to the Bishops office and said, "so-n-so" wants to pay their tithing.  So, that's on my plan of action to do.

He then had all the missionaries that were converts stand up and say how long it was before they started to pay their tithing after their confirmation. Not one did it right away, it was a few years after they had been baptize, and it was because it was something the missionaries didn't stress to much.

He also at one point had all missionaries stand up who were converts or less-active at one point in their life and tell why.

I have never realized how lucky I am to come from the family I did, almost every missionary was the only member in their family. A lot of the missionaries families refuse to write them because they are serving an LDS mission. There is one Sister out here, who didn't even tell her parents she was a missionary until a few months into the mission field. There are missionaries out here who literally have nothing, because their family will not support them. It's so sad.  But they are the strongest people I have ever met. They truly know what it means to give everything to The Lord

.

Another thing Elder Clark said that really hit me was  - "Members of this church do not have bad Husbands or Wives. They do not have bad parents. They do not have messy homes." If we are faithful Members of this church we won't have any of those things. He said if Husband and Wives would read the scriptures together everyday their lives would change.  Because to be a member of this church you have to Change.  So, basically he was telling us if a family struggles, and does not get along or have a clean home then the parents aren't reading their scriptures together and they better start doing it.

Elder Clark is a straight shooter.  He doesn't beat around the bush when he is talking.  He tells you how it is.

So, when they came they chose 8 missionaries to have a personal interview with them. My companion was picked.  So, as I waited outside for her to finish the door opens and I see Elder Clark pop his head out with his eye brows pointed down, and VERY stern look. He points right at me and uses finger gestures to come to him and says, "We need to talk!", My heart literally stops!  It is not everyday a General Authority demands you to come into his office. 

As my companion comes out of his office she has a nervous look on her face, so I'm thinking.. "Oh Crap!  What did I do?",  Sister Porter walks out of the room, and he says "No, you get back in here!"

So, we are sitting  there!  And he stares at me with a stern face!  (It seemed like forever) And then he says,

"Thank you so much for being a good trainer. Your companion loves you very much, and I want to thank you personally for you service and everything you do."

Then he went off about how he was interviewing and Elder one time and the Elder said he had a horrible trainer, and so I thought that was cool!

It's not everyday I General Authority pulls you in to say,  "Good Job!",  and to stop being too hard on myself.

We then proceeded to talk about track, because his daughter was an All-American Runner!  And you know me and track....

But Seriously, one of the GREATEST experiences on my mission!  It was so spiritual, and it's an opportunity I'll probably never get again.  And it was something I needed to hear, I have a tendency to be too hard on myself, apparently...

I could keep going on about everything that happened yesterday! But I don't think I have enough time.  Words can't express how grateful I am for this Gospel!  I LOVE serving a Utah mission.  The Salt Lake West Mission is where The Lord needed me.

I love you all lots!!!

Too Exhausted to Write

HEY GUYS!!!

Well, this letter will be crazy short.

1) I'm too tired to write

2) I can't think of anything too exciting

3) I'm being lazy.

So, it's just another week!  I am still preaching the word of God.  I haven't been sleeping well. The past two nights I kept waking up with minor stomach pains.  It is totally made me exhausted.

So Highlights of the week,

I broke my companion name plate.  Our ward mission leader makes them. They just say Sister Ashcroft or whoever you are.

Well Sister Porter's was sitting on her dresser and I knocked it off and broke the "s" so, I now call her, "ISTER PORTER"...

We had a sister spend the night for exchanges and she wanted soup so I made her some Tomato soup with milk... Oops, turns our she is highly allergic to milk.... my bad. 

I really love this area I serve in, I hope I stay here forever!!!!

The People are sooo nice to us, and they spoil us.

Utah is making me fat! I went to the DI today to buy new skirts, because nothing is fitting me any more, and the stuff that does fit, well Sister Joseph has stolen because nothing fits her either.

I was surprise to find some cute skirts there! I hit grandma Jack Pot!

Well, I have to get off! I will write a letter and send it in the mail! I'll try to make that letter more exciting.

Keep me in your prayers! I'm having a blast, but a mission is so hard!!!!!

I love you guys and really miss you all so much!

Have a great week!