1/12/14

A lot happened this week!

Saturday we got transfer calls. Both Elder Curtis and I got transferred. The area we were in is being White Washed. On Sunday we said some goodbyes, but Monday we went down to the Bartlett's and spent all day there before saying good bye to them and heading back home to pack. 

 

On Tuesday we drove up to a town the transfer train where we waited for the to be picked up. While on the train I taught the owner of a company about the priesthood.

On Wednesday I got my new companion Elder Newman. A lady, named Pauline Matthews, called the Elders earlier that morning and asked if they could come and shovel her sidewalk. She is an older lady and could use our help. Before we left her place we set up a time to come back on Saturday to teach her. 

On Thursday we were stuck inside our apartment all day, and could not leave. As missionaries we have a rule that if the weather is minus 30 degrees with or without windchill we are not allowed to go outside because it is very dangerous to be out in! 

 

On Saturday we were able to teach Pauline she used to be a Methodist then decided to go her own way. She believes in the Godhead a very different way. It was an alright lesson. My companion has only been out for 6 months so I will be helping him teach the lessons! Saturday night we had a lady that called and asked for a Priesthood Blessing this was the first time that I have ever been called at 10:00 at night to give a blessing but hey atleast I got to use my "Emergency Tie"! 

 

After church on Sunday we got to go teach a Less Active Lady and her nonmember friend a lesson.

 

We are already off to a great start here and I look forward to finishing my mission here with a "BANG"!!!

Elder Ashcroft

11/24/14

Well there hasn't been a whole lot that has been going on but we were able to see Meet the Mormon's at a ZTM.

We have been working with Deanne Woods to be able to start teaching there family. It is going slow but atleast it is going. Satan is working on Clint, her husband, very hard and it seems like he might prevent any of the family from learning. Any prayers in behalf of the Woods family would be greatly appreciated.

 

Other than that we are just trying to plant some seeds in everyone's heart her in Winner and give them a good look at the church. We are waiting for some seeds to grow, and find those that have already been planted and are ready to be harvested.

Elder Ashcroft

11/3/14

This week on Thursday we had a Multi-Zone Conference in Rapid City. Our visiting General Authority was Marcus B. Nash of the seventy. It was really great. My companion got to have a personal interview with him. One of the things that I got out of his training is we all have weaknesses and we might continually fall into the same temptations making us not perfect. Meaning in other words we are not being obedient but if we practice diligence and continually try to overcome our weaknesses and temptations we can overcome them. All God really asks of us is to be diligent so that we can become obedient!

 

On Friday for Halloween we had a district dinner. It was really fun! It was a pumpkin dinner meaning that the food was cooked inside the pumpkin. We listened to Christmas music while we were waiting for the food to cook! After the food we carved pumpkins. Some made a Santa figurine and 

I just made a snowflake ornament (or at least the first stages of one).

 

This week before going to church we got a phone call from someone asking where the church was. I found out, once getting to church it was Amy Koch. She bore her testimony about how I taught her how to pray and how it changed her life! It was really great to know that I was able to help the Lord by being an instrument in his hands to help her come closer to him!

Overall not a bad week!

 

 

10/27/14

This week at correlation meeting I was able to meet the Branch President and ask him personally what and who he wants us to focus on. He gave us a couple names of people to see and told us that he wanted us to focus our efforts on doing service in the community. To use it as our main source of finding. So we will be continuing to look for service opportunities in the community so we can find those that are prepared to receive the message of the Restoration here in Winner. 

Hopefully we will be able to start to see some fruits come from doing service and find those whom the Lord has prepared at this time to receive this message! 

10/20/14

Well I was transferred this week to Winner, SD. We cover 2 units Winner and Rosebud Reservation. I am serving in the last District in the US. My companion is Elder Curtis he has been out one transfer less than me.

This week we did service at the Senior Citizen Home playing cards and also Bingo with them. Hunting season started on Saturday so a lot of people have been flying into the airport. In there multi-million dollar jets and airplanes. My companion loves airplanes so we have been able to help with gassing moving and parking airplanes as service for the airport. These people are  flying in from all over the country to come here for the pheasant hunt! It has been pretty fun getting to learn more about airplanes and the behind the scenes of flying. I sure want to know what would cause someone to fly here from half way across the country in their own private jet for a pheasant hunt. It makes me want to see how it taste now to see what all the hype is about.

On Sunday we went to church in Rosebud. There were 25 people at church. This is the smallest branch I have served in! They have on record 300 members with 30 of those being active. I knew instantly that our job was going to be cleaning up the directory of members and activating those who are not active. We need to do this before the lord will bless us with others. The same goes for Winner. I am excited to see the work and transformation of these branches over the next 4 months! 

10/13/14

This week was great. We were able to have our first lesson with Jerry Damon. He is pretty much a "Dry Mormon." He said that he is looking for a spouse with the same standards that he has. We thought to ourselves, "well you came to the right place." He keeps asking when church starts so he can make sure that he doesn't miss it. He was even taking down notes so he could remember. He even wrote down his commitments. I was giving the account of the First Vision and as I said the words "Joseph.....This is my Beloved Son hear him" chills ran down my back. It was another reconfirmation to me that Joseph Smith was God's chosen prophet to restore His Gospel to the earth.

 

 

Later this week Jerry gave us a call and saying he was reading the material that you gave and had a few question for us. "What is my purpose here on earth?" He wanted us to think of that answer for when we meet on Saturday. That was really awesome! We told him thats exactly what we were going to talk about and that we have the answer for him.

 

On Saturday we taught Jerry the Plan of Salvation one of the scriptures that I used to explain our purpose here on earth was Alma 12:24. Later tonight Jerry, Rodney and Steven will all be coming to a convert baptism.

On Sunday, just as we thought Jerry was there. At the lesson on Monday we had Bro's Faustin and Renken sit in. It was really great both of them to show up. Being recent converts they expressed to him how he could have his prayers answered. To know that this is the true church on the earth today. We invited him to be baptized and we set a goal with him for the 22nd of November. He said that he would set it as the goal but if he wasnt ready by then that it would be pushed back. He committed to try for it though. Brother Faustin then asked him again how he felt at church. Jerry said that he felt peace and joy. We read him Galations 5:22 and said that he just expressed in his own words that his prayers had been answered!

Saturday was transfer calls. I will be going to Winner, SD covering Rosebud Reservation. This is one of the few areas that covers 2 units and I am serving in the last district in the US. My new companion is Elder Curtis he came out 1 transfer after me.

 

 Children's Hospital in Sioux Falls

 District in Sioux Falls

 Fall in Sioux Falls

 Hay we unloaded for the Zoo in Sioux Falls

Scenery in Sioux Falls

10/6/14

This week we made a special effort to share scriptures regarding Prophets and Apostles to everyone that we come in contact with. We also give out the information regarding General Conference and invite them to attend. Last week we had a secretary at the church give us a name and number of a man, Jerry Damon. He was wanting to learn more about the church. I took the note with the information and called him. Gratefully Jerry lives in our area. I asked him what made him want to learn about our church. He said he had a friend in California that is a member and he was happy. He wanted to learn how he could have that happiness in his life as well. We set up a time to meet with him at the church and gave him a church tour. We then invited him like everyone else to come to General Conference. He ended up coming and we introduced him to a few members to get fellowshipping going. I am very excited to be able to teach him this upcoming week!

 

 

While we were walking to the library for media hour this week we found an old lady that had fallen. Had we not been there at the exact time she probably would have laid there hurting until someone else walked out of the library. Heavenly Father is mindful for each of his children to put us in that exact place at that exact time to be able to help this women.

Companion Picture

9/15/14

On Sunday night we to see if Andy and Patience were home to teach them a quick lesson. They weren't home so we decided to go for a walk to see who we could talk to outside. We walked for awhile then it was time to head home for dinner. We walked past a person we met a few days ago. Elder Hale was talking about how he is nibling on the bait and now we got to slowly reel him in. I said, "that's not fishing thats hunting. Fishing is when THEY come to US." Right after I said this we looked behind us and saw a teenage kid on a bike. Later we learned his name was Garrett Masters. He asked if we were Mormon Missionaries. When we said yeah he then ask asked if we had a Book of Mormon. He is Lutheran but wants to learn more about the church. We gave him a Book of Mormon with our card and a Restoration pamphlet. It was really awesome! Hopefully his parents will have an open heart and mind so we could teach the whole family. It was a really great experience to make up for a really bad week!

 

Elder Ashcroft 

 

9/8/14

This week we were able to meet with Rodney Borth and Steven Tagle. They are friends and they both came to church the previous week. They are showing interest in the lessons. Rodney invited Steven to come up from Texas to work for him. Rodney has been looking into the church for quiet a while now. He has been working with various members of the congregation. Such as, Brothers, Bertelsen and Renken. They live in the sisters area but they are single adult men so we will be teaching them. The lesson went great and Rodney said that he was excited for the next one. Its good too because he has lots of questions. The great thing about him is that he is not afraid to interrupt and ask his question, which is perfect!

We also met with Darryl Blakey. We met before but were unable to talk at the time. The other Elders reffered him to us because he lives in our area. He is a 48 year old African that speaks English. He grew up in the Methodist church. When we called him he said yes which we learned later was just to be nice. By the end of the lesson his attitude seemed to change from being nice to actually learning.

We didnt get to teach very many people and other lessons still fell through but we are still doing our work. The week was still good!

Elder Ashcroft

**The next couple of post will be a little older. To get a better idea check the post title date.**

8/18/14

Towards the end of this week we started going through the Less Acitve list. We have started teaching all the Less Active members in our area. The Stake President has ask us to share the Plan of Salvation with every member. After the message we ask for referrals so we can hopefully increase our teaching pool.

 

One of the Less Actives that we visited was Melissa Johnson,.During the lesson at the end we invtied her to just come to sacrement if nothing else. We told her we know this can help all of her burdens to be relieved. The spirit was so strong that she started crying. It was a really amazing lesson!

 

During our lesson with Homer Cook, he told us how he had been praying. As he was ending his prayer we walked by. That was when he chased us down and told us he wanted to turn a new leaf. It was really amazing to see how God directed his life. Helping guide us to that particular place at the exact time so as he could receive the help that he needed.

 

Elder Ashcroft

8/11/14

James Muchow- this week when we were talkig with James about the importance of getting rid of his rated "R" movies the spirit was really strong. It seemed like it started to click and make sense with him. I think that with the help of Brother Oakes, who himself had to give them up, he will be able to do it. He was on date to be baptized this Saturday but we are going to have to push it back. We want to make sure that his testimony is stronger before he is baptized.

 

Derrick Weaver- will be back this weekend. He is on date to be baptized next week. He has missed a lot of lessons, due to being gone to camp for 3 weeks, we are going to push his back as well. We will be meeting with him this upcoming Sunday.

 

Kim and Gordon- are a young couple with 4 kids and another on the way. We tracted into them. I love them so much already and we haven't. We haven't even taught them yet. We have only sat down with Kim and told her about the message we share. I hope to be able to teach them with their super busy schedule. While we were over there she told us that she needs the kids to be in Sunday school. I know that if they will start keeping the commandments that they will be able to find a better job and start providing for their family. Then be able to spend more time together as a couple.

 

Quanah Reid- this week while we were talking to her I got the impression to ask if she knew that Jospeh Smith was a prophet and if The Book of Mormon is true. She told us that she did not. I explained to her that our entire message depends upon these 2 things. If she knows one to be true then she will know that everything else that we teach is true. We invited her to read a designated chapter out of The Book of Mormon and then to pray and ask.

 

Andy, Edward, Patience, Naomi- this week we were able to teach Patience and Naomi and make them new investigators so that we could start teaching them all together! We taught them The Restoration.

 

Rich Fredricks- while talking with Rich, he told us of his desire to quit smoking. We told him that we have a 12 step program that will help him quit in a week. He was really excited for it and is starting to open up a little at a time. Hopefully, through this we will be able to share the message of The Restoration with him. He is a really awesome guy!

 

Elder Ashcroft

8/4/14

-James Muchow is doing good. We have not been able to work with him recently regarding his addiction to rated R movies. Our mission president has said that for him to be able to be baptized he needs to either one destroy them or two sell them to a pawn shop.

-Quanah Reid- With the help of Brother Oakes we were able to explain and help her to find out about the true nature of the God Head. She has grown up with the understanding of the Trinity and has a belief in it as a result. We gave here a bunch of scriptures that show the God Head in the Bible. We explained to her that the only way she can come to know of the truth of it is it to pray and ask God to know for herself. She has to have a knowledge of the God Head before we can move on.

-Andy, Edward, Patience, Naomi- We were finally able to teach Patience and Naomi the Restoration so now can teach them all together at the same time. It was really good and we really emphasized the commitments we were leaving them. This way they would not only remember them but do them as well.

-Derrick Weaver has been gone to camp because of that we haven't been able to teach him for over a week now. We hopefully will be able to teach him this weekend.

These are the current investigators whom we have been working with the most recently.

7/28/14

Well this week was awesome! We had the highest lessons we have had in this area, which was double the highest number we got last transfer. It is great to see the area start to take off.

 

On Sunday we got to go teach Andy and Edward The Restoration. We are hoping to be able to teach Patience and Juliana this upcoming Saturday!

 

Derrick is doing great we taught him about some of the commandments. He is on date for Aug. 23rd. We would be able to be baptized alot sooner but he has so many camps. He is getting pretty excited especially from going to another baptism and feeling the spirit so strong there.

 

This week we got a referral for a 28 year old guy named James Muchow. We have been meeting with him 3 times a week, which is really awesome, and the most that I have ever met with an investigator. We leave him like 3 commitments each time we have a lesson, including to find people who would like to hear the message of the restoration. He finishes all the commitments within the 2 days before his next lesson. He said that he is feeling closer to God by doing all the things that we are leaving him to do. James is on date for baptism for Aug. 16th.

 

We also got a referral from a lady named Quanah Reid. She actually referred herself. She looked across the park one day and saw us walking across the way. When she was online awhile later she looked us up. She  had met with missionaries a long time ago and wanted to try it again. We left her with a lot of scriptures about how our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are 3 separate and distinct individuals. We then invited her to read and pray about them. She needs to get over the hurdle of the Trinity before we can teach her anything else. It is really awesome that she is open to learning and doesn't just mentally "close the door"!

.:Baptism:.

Gary Hoffman

7/14/14

On Wednesday we were on exchanges so I was having my companion make phones calls to set up appointments for the day and week. One of the Less Active members he called said that she was going to the Faith Luthern Church with her husband. I tried telling my companion to fine out what time and where its at and we would go. He just blew that off. Later in the day, when we were out contacting potentials, we were walking by this one house. I looked over and saw a man sweeping his drive way. Acting upon the prompting to go help him I asked if he had another broom for us. A little later in our conversations mentions how he had some questions about the mormon religion. I ask him what he knew about Mormons. We never introduced ourselves but he must have known who we were. He eventually told us he was the Pastor at the Faith Luthern Church. (Yes the same one our Less Active member was attending.) Next thing we know we are in his back yard answering a few of his questions. Then we set up an appointment to meet him the next week to teach him the Restoration. Accident we met him that very day? I think not!

 

On Sunday after church I suggested we go and see Andy, an African American, that has came to church twice now. After finding his house we knocked on the door another man answered. He yelled to Andy, "your boys are here.....your boys are here." He invited us in and watched restoration video with the entire family. It was really great. After the video we invited them to hear our message. The were excepting, so we will be teaching Andy, Edward, Patience and Juliana. It is really great to see that even though our appointments fall through we are still able to see success in the area!

7/7/14

On Monday we gave Bro. Bertelsen a call to give us a ride to get groceries. We are in a walking area so it makes it kinda hard to shop. Next thing we know we are on a trolley at Falls Park, going on a tour of historic downtown Sioux Falls. He then took us to lunch at a diner, which was really good. I was stuffed after! Then we got back on the trolley, finished the tour, went to the falls and walked around to take some pictures. Finally, after all of that he took us to get our groceries. He had heard us mention we were going bowling for the rest of Pday and he gave us money to pay for some of our games. He really taught me a lot about being giving and helping others around you.

 

For the 4th of July our mission president allowed us to stay out and watch fireworks. We still had to wake up on time the next morning. It was really fun we went to the Thorins and watched them light fireworks, then they had a video Helicopter that they were flying to video the fireworks. It was really awesome and a very fun day spending the time with members, and nonmembers. The whole day I was thinking of the freedom that this country gives us to be able to "worship" how, where and what we may.

 

On Saturday we were invited to go to a funeral of a little African girl. She was a little under 3 years old that passed away for no reason. At the funeral it was really sad seeing how almost everyone, that did not have a knowledge of the Plan of Salvation, thought this was the end. The one thing that was really amazing was they were all dressed completely in white. It was the neatest thing to see. After the funeral invited a few people to come to church the following day with the thought that we could eventually teach them of the comfort and peace that Plan of Salvation can give.

 

Speaking of which, we were able to teach Derrick the Plan of Salvation. We had Bro. Oakes with us, which was really great, and he pointed out a scripture regarding the Spirit World in the Bible. This was one of the things that Derrick was questioning the most about our religion. He also said that he went to his pastor and couldn't fine any scriptures in the Bible supporting the Trinity. He wanted to know what our belief was regarding it so we reviewed the first vision with him.

 

Finally we are able to teach the Darsaw family. We watched the Restoration video with them. They still have confusion due to some of their African culture and beliefs so it is going to be a little bit more of a process. We would like their entire family to be baptized together so this could be hard but we wont give up. I don't want to deal with that guilt when I stand before the Savior at the last day and have to explain why I gave up on helping his children receive his gospel.

 

Elder Ashcroft 

Brian Sanders got baptized!!

.:PICTURES:.

 Car dealership building we were picking up out of the creek.

Tornado Cleanup

 

Manuel Cabrera

 

 Snappin Turtle!

 

Wessington Springs Service; Sister Johnson & Sister Sumsion

PICTURES COMING SOON!!!

Elder Ashcroft has sent pictures. They will be posted soon!