Things are Improving

So, things are getting better with my companion and I believe part of it was just my attitude of the whole thing. Yes some of the things I said were true, but it all depends on my attitude as well. Now that I recognize this things are getting smoother and better.

So this week in Plains I was sick the first half of the week so we didn't do much but things got better. We did service all day Saturday for a few non members. It is the same people we have been helping. We helped pick up pine cones for two non members and we  are constantly trying to find ways to serve. Other than that we haven't had a very busy week. Oh, also we saw the Burrows and Mr. Burrow said he read some of the Book of Mormon and said he had some disagreement, so we are going to try and have an appointment with him and resolves some of the problems he has.

District meeting went pretty well, we talked about receiving revelation by church attendance and also asking inspired questions. By asking inspired questions you can find peoples concerns that they might have.

This district meeting should be good as our Zone Leaders will be there and our Branch Mission Leader, and Elder and Sister Shaw will be there who are the senior couple serving in our area. They are all amazing people. Plus I think Polson ward mission leader will be there too. So there will be a lot of people at this District Meeting this Tuesday. I can't wait because I know it will be good. I love being District Leader and having some responsibility as it gives me the chance to learn and grow.

Well, hope you have a great week!

Elder Ashcroft

Rough Week

So, the beginning of the week was good. I was sad to see Elder Packham go. We had a good 6 weeks together. He was able to say all his goodbyes to all the people he wanted to see. Tuesday night I drove all the way to Columbia Falls, which is 10 miles north of Kalispell, and we spent the night there with the Elders there. So Wednesday when everyone left I was with Elder Sagers who is serving in Columbia Falls who is 6'9" and with Elder Snyder who is serving in Eureka. So we spent the whole day cleaning out the place that Columbia Falls live in. It was nasty, because Elder Sagers is moving into another home. Oh, it wasn't Elder Sagers who made the mess either, most of it was his other companion. Anyway, took us about 5 hours to clean the place. Seems like I'm always cleaning some missionaries place.

So I have been sick the last few days. From Thursday to now. I'm struggling right now with my companion. I have been made senior companion and District Leader now.

I really love the members here but I feel like I have nothing left to offer here in this area. I have been trying for 10 weeks doing many service opportunities and finding ideas and all I succeeded in doing is dropping some less actives we were seeing or potential investigators as they were not going anywhere. I guess I'm just feeling down a lot lately. I'm still trying to find people to teach and finding service opportunities and all that it just that I feel like this area is dead. I don't know, I'll keep trying the best I can and keep praying for opportunities and hopefully some miracle will happen.

Elder Ashcroft

Staying in Plains & T-Falls

So we got a call this morning and found out that Elder Packham will be leaving to Great Falls to train a  visa waiter and I am staying. So here is the crazy thing, I'm only one of 4 missionaries staying in my Zone. So that is like 16 missionaries leaving this zone. I'm the only one in my district that is staying. Polson, Lakeside, Zone Leaders, Big Fork, and Kalispell 1& 3 got doubled out. Kalispell 1&3 will be getting Elders, replacing the Sisters. Also Big Fork the Sisters are replacing the Elders. So this is going to be a huge change in my zone. It won't be the same. So I found out my companion will be Elder Keller, who was my district leader my first 4 1/2 months of my mission. He is a great missionary, but I have to say I'm not too excited about this because of the personality. But I'm sure I will get along fine with him and that I just need to remain positive.

So it was great being able to Skype home yesterday and it was also nice talking to Andy for awhile. Haven't talked to him in 2 years! So we are cleaning up our camper and Elder Packham will be packing. I'm hoping this will be a good transfer.

So this week we have been doing a lot of service projects. So we helped a nonmember rake her leaves which took 4 hours and didn't get it all done but we will be coming back. We also helped another nonmember single mom with her yard work. We mowed her lawn, got rid of a huge pile of plywood that was really wet which made it really heavy. Plus we helped get rid of a big tree. That was fun.

We also had to do this survey for the church for our mission. It was a little survey on we as missionaries.

On Friday we had a zone training in Kalispell. We were taught on how to take care of our bikes. How to take care of flat tires and about shifting gears and about the gears. We also learned what we could to improve our studies and on Patience. It went really well.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this upcoming transfer. I hope it will go well. I found a really good scripture this week. 3 Nephi 11:11.   So I'm about done with my BoM challenge, another 50 pages.

Well that is about it, have a great week!

Exchanges

The week went really well. To start off we had District Meeting in Polson on Tuesday. I gave a discussion on charity and love from out of the PMG. It went really well. We do not have district meeting this week because we have a Zone Leader Training in Kalispell on Thursday. I can't wait for that.

So on Tuesday after district meeting I switched companions so I was with Elder Brown who is my district leader. I really enjoyed the switch. He was with me till Friday afternoon. So on Tuesday after district meeting we went to Hot Spring and saw some people there and we received 5 referrals which we weren't able to go and try to see because we had a dinner appointment. So the next time we are in Hot Spring we will be contacting several people. We only go to Hot Spring when we come back from Polson or Kalispell since it is a way from Plains.

On Thursday Elder Brown and I biked 35 miles, and I was a little sore after that since I haven't biked in ages. Plus all those hills we had to ride. We ended up trying to see some people in Trout Creek which is 20 miles west of T-Falls so we drove our truck half way and rode the bike the rest of the way. Unfortunately all the people we tried to see were not home which was unfortunate.

Sunday went really well. We taught our investigator Shawnee who is a 10 yrs old girl at a member's house. We are actually going to teach Shawnee again tonight as well as her mom Neeka our other investigator. So I am looking forward for that. We will be teaching the Plan of Salvation.

Things are getting better and it is getting easier to keep ourselves more busy. We will be in Plains this week and transfer call is next Monday. It is amazing how fast time flies by. Well, hope you have a great week!

Elder Ashcroft