Week 7 - Grand Canyon

Hello everyone!

We were able to go to the Grand Canyon today for P-Day! I have a couple of videos that you can see how cool it is.

Dad, I'm glad to hear Standards Night went well!  I won't be able to wear the wristband, but that is OK.  I'm glad you could go with the Elders, sounds like they have some good investigators.  I'm glad to hear that all of you are having missionary opportunities!

Bob is SOLID!  He is still on track for baptism on Oct. 11.  Cassie had some concerns last time we visited, but I still think she will progress.  The Payne's cancelled our appointment last night, but rescheduled.  They just had a really busy day.  We also got to visit with Josh, which is super hard to do.  I think he will start to progress.  He seemed very interested still.  We are getting fed about 3-4 times a week.  We have a pretty good amount of members that come to lessons.  We don't always reach our goal, but we usually get about 6 member present lessons a week.

Love and miss all of you!
Elder Ashby

Videos of the Grand Canyon

Week 6

I don't have much time to write this week.  For our P-Day we had a Zone Activity.  Our entire zone got together and played Ultimate Frisbee and Soccer, I am really tired!

A few updates on our current work and investigators.  The Payne's we haven't really taught yet.  Last night a convert shared  his conversion story with them, which is what they wanted to hear.  I think they have a bright future. We have an investigator named Cassie who has MS, but I think she will commit to baptism next lesson. We have an investigator Josh who said he would be baptized if he found out the Book of Mormon is true, but that was before I was here.  It is super hard to meet with him because he has super busy and crazy schedule.

As far as the Phoenix Temple Open House, we as missionaries will be involved.  The Elders get to move furniture in the Temple.  The Sisters will help out more with the Open House.  We do get an opportunity to participate in the Cultural Event.  We have the opportunity to sing a couple of songs and on one of the songs we are going to learn sign language.  Should be a really cool experience.

Love you all,
Elder Ashby

Phoenix Arizona Temple

Week 5 - 1 Month Mark

To answer Grandma's and Annie's questions, we have a ward and it is medium to small. They feed us around three to four meals a week. There are a good amount of members that come to lessons with us, including Barbara who was just baptized (my idea to have her come). We haven't really got many referrals but we are going to follow up for referrals soon, so I think it will change. The town is busy down Route 66 but the other streets remind me more of Eau Claire.  Grandma, we all know that your Peach Pie should have won the contest!

 

Our investigator Bob, was at Church yesterday and was touched by the talk given and is going to start coming regularly. I think he is definitely going to be baptized. We also talked to a family last night who had met with missionaries before but don't know if this is the right church. We answered their questions perfectly to what they needed to hear and are going to start reading the Book of Mormon. Their son has already been reading and has been interested for a while, he is in Helaman with his reading!

 

The temperature here hasn't dropped below 65 during the day it's still been really nice.

                                                                      Barbara's Baptism

 

                                                   Which way should we go?????

Week 4 - Williams, AZ

Mom I'm glad you liked the letter and gift when I saw it I knew it was perfect!!!! Baptism went well Barbara is super solid and actually I had the idea of having her come with us to our new investigators lesson which was super awesome!!! She also asked that I be the one to confirm her at church and that was really cool! Those treats are perfect for Mattie it makes me really happy that you guys are taking care of her! I appreciate it a lot! I'm going to try to get her something today to send to her! Love and miss you too!

 Aaron sorry to hear about football just keep working hard and don't get discouraged good job on helping the defense out haha. Awesome on the runs and I'm sure the coaches saw that you are doing well and know that that touchdown was yours! That's what happened to me a lot on JV I would drive us down the field then they would give it to Caleb to punch it in. Just be happy about your contributions to the team especially when they are struggling just make sure you are having fun and realize that although you guys might not win a lot you can make sure you have fun because I know I would love to be doing exactly that! Along with the movie list you are making I'm requesting you do the same for music. I miss ballin with you to bro. I'm glad your hanging with the guys stay smart and remember you are always an example. Love and miss you too bro!

 

 I'm glad church went well. I'll make sure to let you know on investigators. Thanks for the package I got it today! I may want some church music so if you could run some suggestions by me and I can let you know if it sounds good because we only have two CDs and we have listened to the WAY TOO MUCH and I'm gonna go crazy!

Love you all!
Elder Ashby

Picture of one of our sunsets in Williams.

 
Trent using the fan Mattie sent in a care package

 

Elder Ashby and his companion Elder Parkinson

 

Week 3 - Welcome to Williams, AZ

9/1/14

Williams is pretty cool. It is kind of hard to catch my breath on our runs due to the near 7000 foot elevation.

 

Unfortunately we use our iPads for email so I can't send pics yet. My companion is having a thing sent that connects SD cards to the iPad mini, so when he gets it, I can use it.

 

Me and my companion spoke on Sunday, but so did two other people so we ended at 11:30!

 

The first day I got to Williams we taught Barbara, who was already committed to baptism. Her baptism is this Saturday, so even though I barely taught her it counts as a baptism for me. We haven't had too much luck with our potential investigators, they are really busy as of late and stuff like that. A couple days ago we met a Hispanic man named Phil. We found him because his wife had been tracted into a while back so we taught him the restoration and he was really receptive. He committed to read the Book of Mormon. He was actually reading it as we were leaving. We had a return appointment the next day, but they didn't answer so we tried back a couple hours later and no answer. We tried back the next day and no answer, which is frustrating because every time we hear people in the house, like their kids. We have been having a decent amount of member lessons, so were hoping to get some referrals.

 

The Facebook is for online proselyting within the mission, so I can't message anyone from home and if people post on my wall I have to hide it. The more likes and shares I get on spiritual posts the more people see them, so feel free to do that.

 

Haven't got a bike yet because we have a car so I won't get one until I'm in a biking area.

 

We had a crazy experience last night!!! So the town has shoot offs (people acting out scenes from the old west) every night from Memorial Day to Labor Day with actors. They also have horses with carriages for tours and for the show. So we were driving back from Phil's on our way to a member lesson and a horse and carriage came sprinting from behind us and it is going straight for the crowd, so the horse tried to go through the walkway but realized it wouldn't fit so it tried stopping but hit a store wall sending the driver airborne. He was fine, but the horse was in shock and was just laying there. We had to go after a minute because we were already late, so we don't know what happened to the horse. 

 

Love and miss everyone!!!
Elder Ashby