Halls Baptism

So like the title suggested the Halls got baptized Saturday and confirmed Sunday. I had the wonderful privilege to baptize Sis. Hall and Elder Gunnerson baptized Bro. Hall. It went very well and successful. Then we were able to take part in their confirmation. The Grandma did not get baptized but does have a date for October 19. So we will be watching General Conference with at the Halls on Saturday and Sunday! Super excited for that and can't wait!

We were able to meet with Hannah on Thursday and she is super solid. So we taught her the Word of Wisdom on the second lesson, which we rarely ever do and committed her to stop drinking coffee for at least a week. So Elder Gunnerson and I happened to teach her the word of Wisdom on the second meeting (which rarely ever happens) with her and she has agreed to keep that commandment and stay away from coffee till our next meeting. So she had to stay away from coffee, which caused her concern since she didn't know how to focus with all the homework and tests she had coming up for Carroll College. So we promised her that if she read the Book of Mormon and prayed before she started her Homework or test she will have the spirit with her to help learn and understand. She saw us Thursday and she said it worked! She and her roommate were reading the same book and she said she understood it perfectly and her roommate didn't understand it at all. She also said she read and prayed before her math test and she got a 92% which she says she never does good on her math test, which she now found a strong testimony in not drinking coffee and to read and pray before her studies! So Hannah is continuing in not drinking coffee which is amazing! We will be seeing her this week and she said she is going to watch General Conference.

Other than that not much else happened last week. We do have a baptism happening on the 3rd for Alex who is 9 yrs old. I guess that is it. Have a great week!

Elder Ashcroft

Goofy Pics!

Out on a fun adventure at the pond.

Elder Gunnerson, Elder Ashcroft, Sister Gerald

Less active silly cat.

Settling Down

So this week was not as good as last week as far as teaching wise. We had our ups and downs. I guess I will share the good stuff first since we always love the good stuff anyway. So we met with one of our newer investigators that I haven't mentioned yet, but we set a date for Cassie for October 26 which we are hoping that will work out. We also saw Hannah again and she is doing awesome. In stead of doing some lesson we answered some of her questions, which lead to the word of wisdom and the law of chastity, so we got some of the commandments out of the way. I have to admit that it is always a little awkward teaching the law of chastity to someone especially if you are teaching it to someone your age, in which Hannah is 20. So yeah, at least we got that over with. Nevertheless she is solid, she wasn't able to go to church since she had a qualifier for her golf tournament that weekend, but she said she wants to come, so hopefully she comes this Sunday.

Oh, so this week the transfer took place and everybody is settling in. We helped fill in the Sisters for Helena 2nd Ward. Both Sister Nielson and Sister Aller are amazing! Sister Nielson has only been out 6 weeks and Sister Aller just came straight from the MTC. Anyway, we had them teach the Halls on Friday and they did an excellent job of it! So the Halls are being baptized this Saturday and Elder Gunnerson will be baptizing Sister Hall and I will baptize Brother Hall. Can't wait! I can't believe all the people I am baptizing here in Helena, this will be my 3rd here in Helena and my mission! I feel so blessed to be serving here in Helena. So anyway, the sisters are doing an amazing job, they went tracting on their second day here and already found 5 potential investigators! Oh, and yes the Shaws are in 4th Ward so they are in my Ward.

So I guess here come the sad news. So we saw the Bradburys with our awesome ward mission leader Bro. Schlecht on Thursday. We come to find out Sis. Bradbury only wanted to bash, or that is how Elder Gunnerson and I felt how it was. She was focusing a lot about the priesthood and quite honestly I got lost. The good thing is Elder Gunnerson and Bro. Schlecht knew what was going on. (Bro. Schlecht is becoming a chaplain for the army.) So they pretty much answered all the questions. Then on Sunday we get a call from her that she dropped us and wasn't interested anymore. However, we know that Bro. Bradbury felt the spirit and we know that he knew what we were saying is true, so we are hoping he will come around and join the church eventually.

So the Halls are amazing, they made me a loaf of zucchini bread which was delicious and I enjoyed every last bite of it! :)

That is pretty much our week. Hope your week goes well!

Elder Ashcroft

Intense Week

So many things happened last week and been kinda stressful and amazing! Hmm, where to begin. We had a Zone P-day again last Monday in which we did basketball and Ultimate Frisbee which was super fun. We managed to set up all the dinner appointments for the Zone and it all went very well. We also found housing for all of them. Then on Tuesday we had another Zone Training which went pretty well. Wasn't as good as the last one but it was still pretty good.

Tuesday night was exchanges with 4th Ward which went pretty well, that was the last time I will be seeing Leah at the Romo's place for quite awhile since she will be going to Basic Training next week and is out of town this week. So that went pretty well.

Let's see, on Thursday we met with our brand new investigator Hannah who we received the referral from the Indiana Mission. We contacted her over the phone and set up the appointment over the phone. Anyway, she is super solid. We also had Beaugh an RM and Leah our recent convert there for the lesson. It went super well and Hannah is amazing. So at the end of the meeting somehow they brought up that Carroll College had a Homecoming that Saturday and Beaugh actually plays on the football team. Anyway Hannah asked if we were allowed to go to football games and Beaugh said we could as long as it was with investigators. (Which Elder Gunnerson and I thought that comment was golden.) So Hannah invited us and got us two free tickets and we went Saturday to Carroll College Homecoming game, which was awesome. So we were in the Student Section with Hannah and were able to watch the game and Beaugh make some awesome plays on defense. Anyway, Carroll of course won 21-7. So we will be seeing Hannah today at 1, looking forward for that.

So miracle of the week. So it was Saturday  after the football game, we received money from a member for dinner, so we decided to get something cheap, McDonalds. So we had dinner and then realized we had nothing to do, so Elder Gunnerson asked what I wanted to do, so I said let's go to the church building. I don't know why since we would have nothing to do there. So we went and right when we pulled in a car came around the corner in the parking lot. This couple wanted to know when church started. (We were super excited that they might not be members) So we said at 9. So the next day we saw them and they stayed for all 3 hours. So this is the Bradburys. So apparently they investigated the church a year ago when they were in Virginia. Then they moved to Helena a year ago and have been going to all the churches here in Helena. They said last week they decided to investigate our church again. Then another miracle, they almost went to the other church building by the capitol, but instead came to our building in the valley. The miracle about this is they went to the 4th Ward which is where they live in! The ward here is awesome because Bro. Schlecht (our ward mission leader, who is awesome!) invited the Bradburys to dinner with them next Sunday. They have already been fellowshipped. Another miracle is that they live right next door to an active family. :) They are already embraced by the ward!

The Halls are still doing well. They are still solid for baptism and they want both Elder Gunnerson and I to baptize them. :) Coming up on the 28th.

So now it comes to Transfer, so we found out that Elder Gunnerson and I are both staying. So this is my 3rd transfer with Elder Gunnerson, meaning he is my longest companion. Also this will be my longest area of 3 1/2 transfers here, surpassing my first area of 3 transfers.  Our Zone also has been split in two. There is now the Butte Zone and there is the Helena Zone. My area has been split, so tomorrow the Sisters will arrive and they will take over Helena 2nd Ward. Also Helena 1&3 is now split with Sisters and Elders now. I'm excited that Elder Scott will be my Zone Leader again and to be around him for his last transfer of his mission. Elder Scott is the one who trained me, my first companion. Super excited about this. Anyway, I'm excited for this transfer.

I guess that is it! Love ya!

Elder Ashcroft

P.S. I forgot to add in my email about Elizabeth's baptism. It was crazy trying to figure everything out throughout the whole week. We were planning on meeting with them Tuesday and Thursday but both fell through. But we managed to get the program and set everything up. So the baptism went well on Saturday.

Pictures!

Elder Gunnerson, Saundra, Jeron, Christian, Elder Ashcroft

Baptism

So last Saturday went really well as was the confirmation on Sunday for Saundra, Christian, and Jeron! So Elder Gunnerson baptized and confirmed Saundra and Christian and I baptized and confirmed Jeron. That was actually the first time I have done a confirmation which was exciting. So the scary part was that we were not told we were doing the confirmation so I was not prepared and didn't know what to say, luckily Elder Gunnerson did the first two so I knew what to say so I did it just great! It was super neat! The members have all been telling us what a big change the kids have made since they were in Primary, I guess they used to have issue just because of how they were raised, but they are super awesome!

We found 5 new investigators this week which is super exciting. 2 of the five we have set baptism date which was great! We have Kelly who actually contacted us saying he wanted to take the lessons and be baptized! Then we have a 9 year old boy who finally decided he wanted to be baptized so we are teaching him as well. This week we have another baptism for Elizabeth and this is a crazy week for her as we are trying to set up meeting time, set up for the baptism, and the interview. Been pretty crazy setting that up for her.

So we are doing another Zone P-Day today since we have Zone training again tomorrow, which meant more coordinating for us. We had to set up housing for the missionaries again and on top of that we had to find dinners and Family  Home Evening for all the missionaries. Boy we sure did make a lot of phone calls yesterday. Luckily we got that all figured out. Quite a hustle doing all that yesterday.

The Halls are still doing great. They already have the program for their baptism lined up and done. We just have a few more commandments to teach and we will be seeing them this Friday. They are still set for September 28.

So last Thursday night we get a call from our zone leaders saying President Mecham will be in town Friday morning and wanted to meet with us. So Friday morning we saw president Mecham with the zone leaders and had a secret combination together. Haha just kidding, but we found out that we will be having a new set of missionaries for Helena 2 ward, so splitting our area as well as getting new set for Helena 3 as the sisters had Helena 1&3. So Helena 2 will get a set of sister missionaries and Helena 3 will get Elders. So our district will be even bigger, 14 missionaries in our District. So transfer is next Wednesday and get the call next Monday. So I found out early from President Mecham that Elder Gunnerson and I will most likely be staying together in Helena 4. That will be 3 transfers with Elder Gunnerson! He will be my longest companion, also Helena 4 will be my longest area. He also said he plans on us staying together till the end of Elder Gunnerson's mission and he goes home in December. So hopefully it works out that way.

So this morning before I emailed Elder Gunnerson and I played frisbee golf which was awesome. I had an eagle (a hole in one) which was epic!

I guess that is all. Love ya!

Elder Ashcroft

Temple Trip

Another good week in a life as a missionary! Last week sure does seem to have been a long time ago! It truly been a wonderful week. So on Monday of last week we had a whole Helena/Butte Zone together for P-day and we hiked Mt. Helena which was amazing. It was about a 2 mile hike up. Then we had a devotional up on top of the Mountain, because we related how in the Bible the Mountains was where Prophets went to receive instruction and revelation from Heavenly Father. Sister Johnson gave a discussion about how we have been and how we can still prepare to go to the Temple. It was really good. We even had a non-member listen and joined in in singing Nearer My God to Thee. It was super spiritual and uplifting. Then Elder Gunnerson and I with 3 other missionaries ran down the mountain which was fun. Then of course I played basketball all day, so with all those activities I was really sore the next day.

So Elder Gunnerson and I had to find housing for the whole Zone for Monday night as we had Zone Training the next day. So we found housing for 14 Elders and for 6 sisters. Luckily Helena 4th Ward is amazing and was able to house all of them. Then Zone Training was great! We talked about the Law of Sacrifice, Consecration, Gospel of Jesus Christ, Obedience, and Chastity which we have been studying the last month and a half to prepare for the Temple.

So on Thursday we finally went to the Temple! It was so nice to go to the Temple again and I learned so much and could really feel the Spirit. I learned so much when the Temple President spoke to us before the session started. I learned so much and it was just a great experience. After the Temple we all went to Golden Corral which was good. I was also able to see Elder Bishop  and Sister Pattullo who I haven't seen in quite awhile, so that was an awesome reunion.

Sunday was great as well, had people come to church, and the Halls are doing great! They are really looking forward for their baptism on Sep. 28. In fact they told us they want to plan out their program this Saturday after attending the Baptismal service which Elder Gunnerson and I have this week with the 3 lamanite kids we have been teaching, which reminds me, Elder Gunnerson and I are going to baptize the kids this Saturday! Should be an awesome week! Anyway, the Halls are super excited and already have speakers for their baptism.

This week will be super awesome. Oh, Yesterday we picked up a new investigator, Alex, who is 9 and has a date for Sep. 28 as well. Tonight on exchanges we will be contacting our potential investigator who randomly called us up saying he wanted to meet with us! Super exciting day and week!

Hope you all have a great week!

Elder Ashcroft

Montana Billings Mission in Newspaper

Here is the link to the Newspaper article about this mission!

 http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/new-minimum-age-guidelines-increase-ranks-of-mormon-missionaries/article_4fdd0160-454b-524f-833c-7585e6184041.html#comments

August 26

So this has been pretty decent week. Not much to talk about for this week. For exchanges Wednesday night Elder Gunnerson won and got to see and teach Leah, our recent Convert who is doing awesome and staying solid! Also Elder Gunnerson saw Hannah who is a solid and awesome girl that we are teaching. She wants to be baptized but she has to wait till she is 18, which will be another 2 years. Anyway, she is awesome, going to church every week and reading in the Book of Mormon and is in Alma 40! Were hoping and praying she gets permission to be baptized. I went around trying to see people and they were all not home. :(  Well, we're still getting things done.

So Friday we saw the Halls who are solid. Bro. and Sis. Hall are doing great and still progressing. The Grandma unfortunately backed off the baptismal date but still wants to learn and take her time, but she is still progressing! Then the Halls invited us to go to a rodeo with them and the Steinagels in Boulder, outside our area but in our Zone, and we got permission to go! I'll have to send some pictures next week. That was super fun, however the bull riding was a disappointment as all the riders fell off in less than 3 seconds. But the rodeo was great! Been forever since I have been to a rodeo!

This week will be super busy! Zone Training is tomorrow so everybody is coming up tonight and we are going to hike Mt. Helena as a zone. That should be exciting. Also this Thursday I will be going to the temple! The Temple President and President Mecham are holding an hour session to explain things before we start a session, which should be cool and interesting. Can't wait!

Other than that, nothing much is happening, at least not that I can think of right now. Hope you all enjoy your week!

Elder Ashcroft