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

Christine's Baptism

So obviously from the title we had a baptism this week. One of our investigator's, Christine, has been investigating since December and when Elder Packham and I saw her about two weeks ago she said she finally wanted to be baptized! Elder Burrows happened to be with us so he was able to do her interview. She wanted to do her baptism on that Saturday but it was Stake Conference so we had her Baptism on Thursday. She was then confirmed yesterday and I was able to take part of that confirmation. So that was the most exciting thing for me this week. 

This week has been a little difficult for Elder Packham. He received a call in the middle of the week from his Mom and found out that his older brother who was in basic training in the army had dementia. So it has been really tough week and we are trying to keep busy. So besides the baptism it has been a very slow and tough week.

We don't have very many people to see or teach so we are trying to keep ourselves busy by trying to find service to do. So I don't know if I told you this, but our mission right now is reading the Book of Mormon within six weeks and we are highlighting all the times Jesus Christ is mentioned or referenced to. So I am a little behind, I am currently in Alma and looking back it is amazing to see how many time Jesus Christ is mentioned and all the names and titles he is called by. It has helped strengthen my testimony of the Book of Mormon. I am so thankful to be doing this and going through the Book of Mormon. President Mecham mentioned that we will be reading the Book of Mormon three more time this year and be doing some activity while reading the Book of Mormon. I can't wait to find out what we will be doing.

So we had Zone Conference in Missoula Tuesday and it was amazing. We talked about new finding ideas, obedience, health, bikes, and our mission standard of excellence. I really enjoyed it and love Zone Conference. Also I was able to see all the other missionaries again. We also got our new bikes, they are really nice but we have not been able to ride them since we don't have our helmets yet. We will be going to Walmart in Polson tomorrow after district meeting so we can start riding our bikes.

I can't wait for this week, since my District leader will be doing exchanges so I will be with Elder Brown, my district leader, from Tuesday to Thursday. Hopefully this will be a better week, which I am sure it will. 

Can't believe Julia is getting married this Saturday!!! Congrats!

Hope you all have a good week. Love ya!

Window Washing

This has been a really good week. I was so glad that Elder Burrows was able to stay with us for a week. Elder Burrows left us Friday morning. We did a lot of new things that I have never done before. One day we decided to do some service so we got some Windex and paper towels and went along main street washing store's windows. We also approached several people parked in the parking lot and offered to wash their car windows. I have to admit it was kinda weird and awkward at first but it became fun and a great opportunity to share our message and who we were. Surprisingly enough a lot of the people we approached were less actives. Elder Burrows approached one lady in her car parked and she waved him off because she was on the phone. Elder Burrows still went up and talked to her and she reluctantly let us wash her truck windows. Afterward we got to talking and I found out she is a less active and is from Clovis! She said she knew the Van Wagenens, Dockstaders, and others. She said she grew up around them, I think she said she grew up with Bro. Dockstader who is in the Stake Presidency.  Anyway, she lives in our area so we need to drop by and see her. Her name is Marilyn. Another thing I did the first time with Elder Burrows was calling people out of the phone book. We actually had some good conversation on the phone, but received no potentials out of it. The first call Elder Burrows made was with a pentecostal pastor. That was pretty funny because he sounded very promising at first but then he wasn't interested, but he was nice though.

So we finally got a hold of one of our referrals, Neeka, from what I heard her daughter Shawnee bore her testimony in church one day and said she wanted to be baptized, she is 10. So we saw Neeka on Thursday and taught her the Restoration and invited her to Baptism and she accepted. So we are working with her and her daughter. The Strangs are the best family ever. Sis. Strang is the one who referred Neeka to us and she was there in the lesson.

We tried to see a former investigator and she was excited to meet with us but she said to come by during the summer when she isn't busy. So hopefully that works out. I don't think her husband is too thrilled about the idea of us coming over to teach her though.

So I pretty much celebrated my Birthday on the 18th instead of the 19th and we ate at the Strangs. Sis. Strang made me a German Chocolate Cake and we had hamburgers. Anyway, that was a great day.

We had Stake Conference Saturday and Sunday. It was really good. We had three members of the seventy there. The Former Stake President has just been made a Seventy so Kalispell got a new stake presidency. It was really good.

This Tuesday we are going to Missoula to have Zone Conference with the Kalispell and Missoula Zone. Can't wait!

Well, that is about it, so hope you have a great week. Love Ya!

Elder Ashcroft

Bronze Sculptures

Devin sent these pictures a few months ago when he was serving in Clinton.

A member there makes these. Aren't they beautiful?