Thursday, December 31, 2015

December 28, 2015

Anyways so this week has been really crazy because Christmas, of course!! I tried to write down all of the things that happened this week so that's good. This email is only from Wednesday because the other days were in my last email.

Wednesday was good because we went caroling with the stake presidents family, which was really fun! We had bells, Santa hats and a bongo, haha. For some reason whenever we carol it led to someone giving us chocolate, which I have SO MUCH OF NOW!!! I guess that's not a bad thing but I'll probably get fat... That night we had a joint teach with the sisters to teach Markus. It was a really big lesson for them because they committed him to baptism!!! Yay!!!! Hopefully he follows through with it. He's a cool cat.

Thursday we went caroling and delivered the Vanillekipferl cookies to the people we got the ingredients from. After that we went to Gottes Dienst at the church where they sing songs and pretty much just act out the nativity. Then we went over to the Wagners! Sister Wagner is so funny!! She also makes really good food! In Österreich they celebrate Christmas on the 24th. It was really fun we went around the room and talked about our Christmas traditions. After every person we would sing a Christmas song then go to the next person. They actually got us gifts!!! I was not expecting that at all! I got a nice tie, more chocolate…haha and socks. After that we ate. Sweet mama her food is delicious! We had a cake at the end that was sooooo gooooood! Probably because it had Hazelnut in it. But then again they put hazelnut in literally everything over here! And yes of course I got the recipe. I would sent it to you guys but it's in German. If you still want it just email me. After that we went home and slept.

Fri(IT'S CHRISTMAS!)day, we opened up our presents first thing that morning! I loved everything I got! Just because it was from home, family and friends! :) After studies we went to the Erlacher's. We had a big meal with their whole family. We taught them all how to play clue! Crazy right!? None of them had ever played it! Then we went to the church to SKYPE!! :D It was so good to see my family and cousins! I could have talked to them forever. After skyping we went home.

Saturday we went to a huge meal at a different Erlacher's house. We had turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy and pretty much anything you could ever imagine! I was so full after that! Then we went home and did weekly planning which took up our day.

Sunday we showed up for church, had choir practice, and then boom President Kohler and Sister Kohler walk in! It was so random, haha! It was really good to see them. Plus that day there happened to be 14 investigators show up! President and Sister Kohler both gave their testimonies in sacrament and it was super good! President Kohler even taught our investigator class which was crazy with so many people! After church we went home and did studies.

Yup that was my week! It was really fun and probably will be one of the most rememberable times of my mission.

One of the things I learned this week was...
Progress improves when you measure it. When you set goals, measure and constantly evaluate them your progress rapidly improves.

...Challenge...
If any of you are just working, going to school or just what ever you are doing ect... I would like to extend a challenge to you all. Set at least 1 or 2 goals to achieve by a certain time. Write it down and put it where you can see it everyday. Then work towards that goal and constantly evaluate it. If we go bye just living life we never improve. If you are constantly trying to better yourself you will be a lot happier down the road with who you are and what you have become.

Well I hope these emails help you guys and are fun to read! :) Until next week.

Sunday, December 27, 2015

December 25, 2015

It was so good to be able to talk to Elder Ashcroft. He couldn't be happier were he is. He is doing really so well. We got to hear some German, which was really strange coming from him. He is catching on so quickly. As good as it was to talk to him, almost face to face, it was hard to say good. It was the first bit of home sickness we have seen from him. We are certain he will continue on his days and forget about us again. We couldn't be happier for him and know he is out serving the Lord.
Mis*sion*ary,{noun}
a person who leaves there families for a while, so others can be with their FAMILIES FOREVER.
(BELOW)
Showing off a few things her got from us for Christmas
 and actually using his seflie stick. Sense we never get picture
of him only scenery pics.
Hopefully it becomes his most used gift.
 



December 23, 2015

Week 14
This week was pretty good. There is so much anticipation building up for Christmas.

Tuesday we exchanged with the zone leaders. I stayed in Linz while Elder Albrecht got to go to Salzburg. We got a new zone leader this transfer Elder Nebiker. He is a really hard worker and it was really awesome to work with him. That night we taught the Persian group and had ward mission correlation meeting. The lesson with the Persians was good but it just wasn't quite as good as the lessons we have been having with them.

Wednesday morning we were going to meet with a less active older lady. She is living alone so we needed someone else there with us to joint teach. We couldn‘t find anyone so we couldn‘t teach her this week. :P Later that day we went finding. We found this really nice guy that seemed really interested in the gospel! He was Catholic and believed in God but he thought the Catholic Church has fallen away from Christ. We gave him the first lesson on the street. He was a well off business man from Graz. Graz isn't in our area so hopefully he agrees for the missionaries to meet with him there! After this we exchanged back and Elder Albrecht and I went finding in Landstraße, which is downtown. We got invited to go to an Evangelist culture night/religious discussion. There was free food so of course we went! :D We talked with some people there and explained our religion to them. It's good when you can talk with someone about religion without trying to pick a fight and everyone respects each other's beliefs! After that we somehow had a conversation on the street with a guy from Italy. He didn't know German or English, haha! We gave him a Christmas card. :)

Thursday morning we had a joint teach with the sisters. This guy, Markus, is really a golden investigator! We taught him about the 10 commandments and invited him to come to church. He came to church and he already seems like he's a member, it's crazy! The rest of the day we went to Solar City and went dooring. That was our Thursday! :P

Friday morning we got a call from a less active older lady. She said that she has been really dizzy lately and needed a blessing so we went right over. For some reason they always ask me to do the blessing, haha! She was such a nice lady. She gave us chocolate and oranges. After that we did the rest of our studies and had weekly planning. That night we were supposed to teach the Persians but they didn't get the memo! The only one there was Masa, our other translator. We talked with her for a bit and got to know her better. She is the coolest! She can speak English, Persian and German. On our way home we had a wrapped Book of Mormon, for Christmas, and a note. We put this on someone doorstep and doorbell ditched them. Hopefully something good happens with it!

Saturday President sent us an email with a bunch of fun ways to go finding. He challenged us to do a different one everyday. We decided to go recipe dooring. You go around asking for ingredients for a recipe then go home to make it. You take back the finished product to the people who gave the ingredients to you. At first all the people thought we were so weird, haha! We got all of the ingredients for Vanillekipferl, an österreichisch cookie that is amazing!! That night we had a benefits concert at the church. It was really good! One of our investigators Rumy for Ecuador played in it. After the concert we played ping pong with the Persians for a bit and went home.

Sunday at church all of the Persians were there on time, which was awesome! We had Masa translate sacrament meeting for them with a little ear piece. This was the first time they've actually understood sacrament. :) After church there was a Christmas meal. All of the primary kids did a nativity for us. It was so cute!! Then we went caroling with the young men and women to members that were in old folks homes. It touching to see how much it meant to them. The homes over here are way different! They have bars and all of the old people just sit there and get drunk!

Monday we got groceries then cleaned the church. After that we ate at brother Obermyers house. When we got home we made the Vanillekipferl that we got ingredients for. That was pretty much our day!

Tuesday we went to Bahnhof to get Elder Albrechts package. Then went to the church for district meeting. After district meeting we made Schnitzel potatoes and gravy for a big party the ward missionaries were throwing for the Persians. :D The Persians made the rice which was so good! After we ate we gave them all presents because this was their first Christmas ever!! It was quite a big turn out, 16 or so Persians came! We all playing ping pong again and they taught us a bit of Persian. I know how to write my name and count to 10, haha!

Yup that was my week and a half. So many things happened it's hard to remember them all.
Dooring Ingredients (above)
Persian Christmas (below)
Okay so things I have learned this week are....

  • We are here for a future greater than anything we could ever imagine. That future, one day at a time comes alive when you do something more than just exist. It comes alive when you your live life to fill the measure of your creation, which is serving the Lord.
  • God knew that Abraham had the faith to sacrifice his own son. Sometimes God puts us through trials to show ourselves that we have the faith.
  • The Lord and the Holy Ghost can only work with what is there. We need to keep trying and doing as much as we can so that he can help us.

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

December 14, 2015

Hello everyone! I don't have that much time to write today so I might leave some stuff out.

Tuesday we had a lesson with Werner Schopf. He is such an awesome guy! We brought a member that was about his age and they seemed to get along quite well. After that we went to the church to teach the Persians. It was such a good lesson!!! We went over the plan of salvation because there were so many new people. There is no way that we taught that lesson. It was all the spirit! We went into detail about everything and answered all their questions perfectly. It was amazing! We also ha our last district meeting with Sister Baker and Elder Carr…:( but also this was one of the best days I've had on my mission so far!

Wednesday was one of the most tiring, wet, cold, rainy days ever!! I thought I was going to die... Haha!! But I had my first Austrian doughnut. :D It was amazing!!! Also we found a cool place where you can take a book and exchange another book for it. I got a really cool old press printed German book. I exchanged a Book of Mormon for it haha! ;)

Thursday I gave my first blessing on the mission! It was for one of the members named Klaus. He is one of the ward missionaries. He also baptized a guy named Mahmoud. Mahmoud translates at our Persian lessons. The crazy thing is that Mahmoud didn't even know German when they taught him so they just used body language….hahaha. Eventually he learned German and is now really good at it Later that night we went to a religious discussion that we got invited to. It turns out it was just a bunch of Monies….hah! They have some weird beliefs but they were pretty dang nice.

Friday we only had one lesson with the Persian. We taught them how to sing silent night J ….naturally because that song came from Obendorf Austria! Other than that we just tracked.

Saturday we went to a Deutsch course at the church for German study. One of the members teaches it. It is really good because a lot of non members come. It's a good way to get investigators. We stayed back at the apartment most of the day because were doing our weekly planning. After that we went to Plesching See to door. The people over there seem to be a lot nicer!

Sunday was good! We only had two investigators at church one of the Persian speakers and Rumy. We committed Rumy to baptism three weeks ago but he has been so busy we have had to postpone it. He still comes to church every week and he said he will call us this week. So that's good! :) We are planning on making him cookies. After sacrament meeting we were in our investigator class and all of the Persian speakers came in! It was so crazy!!! Brother Alsobski taught them about the gift of the Holy Ghost. It's was really good! So the dilemma we have with the Persians is that we can't baptism them until they get citizenship. Brother Alsobski basically told them to all go get citizenship which would be crazy if they all did at once. After church we ate with a member family, the Erlacher's. They are such and awesome family and their daughters are so freaking cute!!!! They wore our name tags around and we wrapped Books of Mormon for them to give away. We watched one of they Christmas church videos and had palat schinken which is basically a crepe. The best part was sitting down with the family and singing 4 or 5 Christmas songs. It was what Christmas should be.
 
So here are some things I've learned on my mission so far...
  • When you try your best every day your best becomes a little better.
  • Most people are going around living life with their hands two inches from their face. Sometimes it's nice to take a step back.
  • Faith emits a light.
  • So throughout my life I've always had little trials of faith and doubts in the church. I wanted to believe it but I wasn't sure. It would always bug me because within a day or two I would always find an answer to reconfirm whatever it was that I was doubting. It was always maddening because I didn't know why I would have these doubts. But recently it all made sense. Without those little reconfirmations along the way I could never grow or progress and I would forget why I knew the church was true. These doubt are important!

Saturday, December 12, 2015

December 7, 2015

Week 12

This week was a really good one. Mostly because it's getting closer and closer to Christmas!! :D On top of that I'm in one of the most cultured places to be during Christmas!! I can't wait! I was going to bring my study journal to write you guys some of the things I've learned this week but I totally forgot it! :P I will try to remember next week.

On Monday we went to Weihnachtsmarkt, the Christmas market, it's is so cool there! They make hand made Christmas ornaments, Austrian food and pretty much anything you could ever want in life. They have a Weihnachtsmarkt/Christkindlmarkt in every city/town but ours is one of the bigger ones. :) After I had bought a giant Debouche (gingerbread cookie) we went and ate at the Erlacher's. The Erlacher's have the cutest adopted Egyptian babies! That was pretty much our day.

On Tuesday we talked with a referral from one of our ward missionaries. He has a ponytail and works at a pawn shop. He didn’t have much time to talk but told us to call him and make out an appointment. Hopefully that works out. After that we went to the church and taught all of our Persian investigators! I love those guys so much. We attempted to teach them the restoration again. There were a ton of new people there we weren’t really able to do that. So, the lesson went a completely different direction but that's ok it happens sometimes. We had ward mission correlation meeting and ate a dönner after.



Wednesday we only had one lesson so we found pretty much all of the day. We went as far east as we could walk. Our lesson was with Brother Schopf. He is a really cool guy! He is probably in his 50s and born and raised in Linz. His brother is a bishop in Australia. He had given him a Book of Mormon with highlighted scriptures to read. We taught him the restoration and it went really well! There’s a member about his age so hopefully they become friends.

On Thursday we had exchanges with the District Leader and his companion. I stayed in Linz with Elder Carrand while my companion went to Wells. Elder Carrand is seriously the coolest guy ever, I love that kid. (He is the one on the picture) We went around town speaking with hardcore “California surfer” accents in German. That has to be the funniest thing I've ever done haha!! Elder Carrand even asked someone where the nearest beach was, it was so funny. It went as far as people asking us if we were from California, so I guess it worked. The latter part of the day we went to Auwiesen on the Straßenbahn to go dooring. We found a huge apartment complex and shared the Christmas video with a few people from last year, the older one is better. We would ask them what Christmas meant to them. The video is so good and has such a strong meaningful message. That night we are at McDonald's. We ate so much which we regretted...

Friday was really good! We ate at one of the members house for lunch. We were dreading it because she is famous for feeding giant 7 course meals. And we were still full from the McDonald's the night before!!! It wasn't to bad though. It was only a four course meal. She even made cookies for Elder Carrand and me to take hom. :) After we taught the Persians at the church. The regular translator wasn't there. Luckily one of them speaks broken English and is one knows more about the church, so we taught through him. We went through the entire restoration. It was a supper good lesson and when we bore our testimonies the spirit was so strong. They have been through a lot in their lives. What people don't realize is that the refugees don't just get up and walk out of the country, most of them have scars and have seen horrible things. It makes you really think. As soon as they can get permanent residency we can baptize them. I really hope it works out! After that lesson me and Elder Carr exchanged companions again.

Saturday was the day I've been waiting for for a while. It was the day we had Christmas Conference and Elder Meville and me would be able to see our other companion from the MTC, Elder Johnston!! :) In the morning we got transfer calls!! Elder Albrecht and me are staying in Linz. Sister Baker, from our area, is leaving to Munich. :( Elder Carr is leaving to Munich too. :(:( I'm so sad. After the transfer calls we left for an hour ride to Salzburg. Once we got there we practiced a song we were going to sing. Elder Meville and me were waiting for Elder Johnston and suddenly he walked in and gave us a hug. It was so good to see him again. I love that guy! We had our Christmas Conference, ate lunch and watched a movie on how the song silent night was made because it was writen in Salzburg. It was cool too that some of the members from the Linz ward were in it. I get to see Elder Melville quit a bit so we wished Elder Johnston luck, got our Christmas packages and went home.

On Sunday we just went to church, ate at a members house and went home to study! :P





 

Monday, November 30, 2015

Member Pics

The member's stole my iPad during church and took a bunch of pictures. This is what I ended up with.




November 30, 2015

Hello, I finally have time to do some writing.

It is amazing here in Austria (Österreich aufdeutsch). It is so beautiful during Christmas time!! I can understand the people pretty well which is a surprise. The people here are so one minded. If they don't to talk to us or just aren't interested, they will say, to our faces, "I am ignoring you.”….Haha. On the other side when you become friends with them they are the most loyal friend ever and will be there for you always. Anytime they we have had someone tell us they are going to church they go, which has been really nice. They also don't like when you beat around the bush. You have to get straight to the point.

Okay so this weeks breakdown.

Monday- We had a district P-day for Thanksgiving! It was really fun. Everyone made something to eat but we don‘t have turkey here :P so we just made Schnitzel instead. We played American football and had a great time. If any of you know Ammon Takau, his cousin is my zone leader. I was on his team so naturally we won!

Tuesday- We had district meeting. I love district meetings because it gives me good practice in teaching people in German. I taught about member work and how important it is as a part of being a missionary. Working with the members is essential! We also got a referral for someone named Brother Schopf. His brother is a convert to the church and sent us an referral email. We had a really good lesson with him and will be going back to next Wednesday.

Wednesday- We didn’t have anything planned. So, just took one of the busses as far as it would go. We ended up in Pichlinger. It was a cute little dorf with not that many houses. We met this old couple that invited us in for tea (herbal of course) and Lebkuchen (really good German cookies). We talked to them about God and life and their beliefs. It was really cool talking to them. The crazy thing was that the old man, when he was a kid, went to one of Hitlers academies. He told us how he had seen Hitler before. Which is crazy!!! Another fun little fact is that Hitler used to live here in Linz, where I am serving, and his house is still here.

Thursday- We went up in the country and the hills it was soooooo pretty!!! Nothing really crazy or interesting happened this day but the view was so beautiful! Iin the afternoon, we taught the group of Persians! We love the Persians so much. Someone has to translate for us but we are all still really good friends. They all come to church every Sunday and are just amazing people all around. They are coming amazingly!!! We literally might start a Persian branch before we leave the area. We met some more Persians and they came to church yesterday. We have a whole different class in church for them.

Friday- This wasn't a really good day! We had two lessons fall through. It was kind of disappointing but we didn't let it get us down!!

Saturday- Saturday was a really good day!! We had a Straßenausstellung, which means a street display. We pretty much just did that all day. We had Books of Mormon in every language and gave out a lot! We met a lot of cool people and it went really well. We also ate at a Japanese sushi place with one of the members which was amazing!!

Sunday- Sunday was pretty good. We went to church but my companion was sick. One of the members took him out of class and gave him DoTerra oils to help and told me to, "make him use them!!" Haha. We ate at a younger couples, the Winkler‘s. They are the cutest, coolest, couple ever and their food was amazing! Sister Winkler even gave me her cookie recipe! :D

Update on Rumy- He was kind of overwhelmed with the baptism challenge so he is going to take some time until January. We will be there for him anytime he needs anytime. I really love him and it makes me sad but it doesn't really get me down. People usually have 7 different times coming in contact with the church before they join on average.

I love my mission so much. It has been the best decision I have have made in my life by far. I have learned so many things already!! I can't even write all of the things I learned!! I love you all. Until next week.

Monday, November 23, 2015

November 23, 2015

This week has been good. We have been traveling around a lot. To Salzburg and Ansfelden and such. There hasn't been that much designated lessons tracking or street contacting. We try to talk to people on the trains as much as we can.

I love every single kind of weather, except for hot and wind. I love it when it rains. It has snowed twice. It has been pretty good I have been using my jacket a lot though.

We did knock on a door and the lady answered it with not pants on. It was so funny! She sent her kid to the door after that.

The Persians are doing really good we had 11 people in church this Sunday!! 4 of which were the Persians! In priesthood we asked them if they believed what we were teaching them was true. They said 100% they believe it. I have no doubt they meant it. The ward is awesome over here. They take the time to translate for them and answer there questions.

Rumy is still on for baptism but he's been in Vienna for a couple of days playing music.

In zone conference President Kohler talked to us about Paris. He said now is the best time to teach people, when they need comfort and have a lot of questions. We are not in direct danger from what happened in Paris but we are supposed to be ready in case something happens. President Kohler talked about how all of the Middle East is fleeing from their countries because of all the war and terrorism. A lot go to Germany and going through Salzburg is how they get to Germany. He mentioned how we can't teach the people in the Middle East but the Lord is brining them to us so the teachings can get to the entire Earth.

We still haven’t gotten another bike but one of the inactive members, Brüder Ivanoeski, gave us two snow bikes and two sleds! The sleds are vintage and soooo Coooool! There is so much vintage stuff over here mom would die!! We have been helping him a lot with his house.

We have a big meal for Thanksgiving with the district and zone leaders. Then played some football after.



….CHALLENGE….
This week Elder Albrecht and I translated and a live talk from England. Elder Russell Ballard spoke and it was really good! He challenged all the people watching to bring one person or family to sacrament meeting the Sunday before Christmas. I would normally think this to be hard but after being out here I realize how easy it is! So, I'm challenging you to bring someone to church that is ether less active or not a member. Good Luck!
 

Thursday, November 19, 2015

November 13, 2015

Zurich Apartment Balcony
 
 
....Our Questions for him this week....

  • How come only 1 bike between you?.....Because idk!?! Haha
  • Can you apply for a driver's license?.....Yes, we are supposed to get one.
  • Do you cook at home?.....Not really.
  • Do the members feed you?.....Yes about once a week.
  • Are the Persian men - Christians or Muslim?.....They are Muslims but they don't practice it.
  • How is your companion? Who does he remind you of?.....He is really cool. Um…Brayden Jocylen

11/13/15

We invited Rumy to baptism and committed him for December 13th! Which is really crazy! We also got our hair cut today in a Turkish barber shop. We taught all of them for a good hour about our church. They were asking really hard questions. They were all really nice. The Persians are going great. They are really advancing and learning a lot. There is one other person that is ready for baptism. We will be asking him next time. Our zone goal for baptisms before the end of the year is 9. We have 8 areas in our zone so that'd be crazy! Hopefully we can just do our best. I have learned too much this week to write about it all. One thing I can say I’ve learned is the best way to find interest in the people. It is to find out what they believe and build off of that then relate it to our church. When they understand that you are there to help them come closer to God, not just to baptism, them they are a lot more receptive!
 

Friday, November 13, 2015

November 9, 2015

We have one bike so we just ride the Straßenbahn and trains. I have a ticket to ride anywhere but we walk a lot down town too. Downtown looks like the strip at night! The teaching is going really good!! We are losing 3 Persians because they are going to Wells
:( but we will be gaining 3 more. They are really into the gospel and we love them so much! We have two people that are ready for baptism so hopefully everything works out. There is a really big H&M downtown that I got a winter jacket from. There is also have a really nice hat shop downtown. There have these really cool hats I like. I'm probably going to get one! Have you ever herd of the candy gummy bears? It’s called Haribo. They make literally every gummy candy in the world. It is the most popular candy in Germany. They were playing a bunch of commercials from like the 40's and 50's in the store. It hasn’t gotten too cold expect one of the nights was pretty cold. I can understand the people here. I have even been sleep talking in German. Church this week was amazing! All 6 Persians came. We had a really good lesson in priesthood with them. I think out ward is the biggest in the mission It is almost the size of my home ward.


My daily schedule!
6:30.….Wake Up
7:00 - 8:00.…..Exercise
8:00.….Shower, Eat and Get Dressed
9:00.….Personal Study
11:00.….Comp Study
12:00.….Eat
1:00.….Language Study
rest of the day……Find or do a lesson.
 

 Haribo gummy factory
 Persian Group
 Me and Elder Albrecht
 
  
 
 downtown (above); hauptplatz (below)‏

 
 
 

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

November 11, 2015

The trip over was pretty good. It felt like about the distance to Cali from Las Vegas. We woke up at 3:30 am had cereal and went to the airport. Our flight left at 7:10 am. I was the travel leader. We also drove past the old Trafford, which was really cool! Never thought I'd see it!

München is the coolest place I've ever been in my life!!! You have to come here!! We are staying in München tonight and then heading out on the bahn in the morning. My trainers name is Elder Albrecht and I am serving in Linz Austria. It is the second biggest city in Austria. I'm really happy because me and Elder Johnston are both in the Vienna stake. I think my trainer is from Missouri. The first night I got here we went to go this girl. We were talking to her at the door about how a friend referred her. It as about 10 minutes into the conversation when she started laughing. She said, “I can’t do this anymore! I’m a returned missionary!.” Hahaha…it was so funny my trainer and her set it up.

I can understand the people quite well! It's amazing because I don't even know how! Haha! I handed out a Book of Mormon to an Italian auf Deutsch. It was really awesome me and Elder Lucas snagged a book after we got our areas so we could hand it out on the train. We started talking to him and found out he was catholic. He prays to God and believes that God watches over him. The cool part was that he asked us for the Book of Mormon! We had to get off the train so I flipped to the introduction page and had him read it as we got off. He was very thankful and shook both of our hands twice! It was really cool because we both felt the spirit! Before we left that morning Elder Lucas and I prayed to find someone and it worked! We were the only ones to hand out a Book of Mormon.

The best part is that I have a love for the people, even before I talk to them. It's amazing! I really care for them and it really helps teaching. It makes me happy just to talk with them about life. I don't just try and get them to take a Book of Mormon. I sincerely get to know them and care for them. I ask them where they work, live, like and believe. Then once I find out what they're interests are I tie it into the gospel. It really works!

It's crazy there are so many refugees here. We are teaching four Persians that don't speak German. We have to speak through translator, We are also probably going to baptize this guy from Ecuador named Rumy. He already seems like a member because he participates in church so much.

p.s. We also have a huge ward and I'm in the German choir yay!...


 Mission house...President and Sister Kohler

 He says these are Doner Kebabs---a Turkish dish made of meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie, normally lamb but sometimes beef or chicken.
 

Sunday, October 25, 2015

October 21, 2015

Today is the only day it has rained this week. The language is going good. I can understand 95% of what they are saying. The native Germans going to our mission don’t come for four weeks. There is one that came for the last two weeks with us though. His name is Elder Skozylis he lives in the Frankfurt mission. He is pretty cool. He isn’t in our district but he hangs out with us all the time. I’m way excited to get out in the mission. I just can’t wait to see where my first Christmas is going to be spent. We knock on doors at the MTC and have investigators that we teach. They set it up just like real life and we do 30 minute lessons. We do it every day pretty much. It’s really realistic. For some reason we always end up talking about random stuff like meatloaf, plants and other strange stuff. The craziest part is that it is all in German! It’s also really cool because we progress with the investigators. Of course some cut us off though. This is what Elder Evans and Elder Lucas were doing when they got that Bible thrown at them…hahaha. This Sunday will be my 1st time giving a talk at the MTC and it is all in German. This week I have been learning the 1st vision in German. That has been helping a lot. I watched a devotional from David (Apostolic) Bednar. He challenged us to get a paper back Book of Mormon and come up with a question. We dedicate the entire Book to that question and read it front to back highlighting things that have to do with that question. I got mine and dedicated it to the loss of someone. I plan on giving it to someone that needs help with loss when I‘m done. So, I pray as I read I will know who it should go to.


 

Sunday, October 18, 2015

October 14, 2015

Elder Ashcroft has never been one for many words. We have been helping him out with questions again this week. Here are a few:

What has been your most spiritual experience there so far?

It was at the priesthood meeting this last Sunday. We all talked about when we got our mission calls.

How is the German?

It is going pretty good! I was using all the German words but I was using them in English word order. I have now learned how to use them in the correct word order, which can be really weird. I have also learned how to use past tense and future tense now.

How is your teaching coming along?

It is going really well. Elder Evans got a Bible thrown at him by a Muslim….hahaha! Yeah, a German speaking Muslim! Like that’s believable!! We did get one to commit to baptism though.

His email was also hacked by a few fellow Elder’s. Some of the information we got out of them was:

  • He is called Sasquatch.
  • They didn’t believe he is adopted. Due to the fact he looks too much like his Mum (Mom).
  • and he is addicted to the Vimto drink. (not surprising for him.)

We found the England MTC facebook page. There are some pictures of the facility and the missionaries there. We came across a picture of our Elder. A lot of people were commenting on how content he looks. President Preston had commented back and said, “he is more than content.” We are so blessed with the resources we have to give us reassurance he is okay and doing well.

This was our week with Elder Ashcroft. He has a little under 2 weeks left at the MTC. Thanks for all the prayers and support.

The Ashcroft Family

Sunday, October 11, 2015

October 7, 2015

 


These are a few questions we asked to get the ball rolling on conversation....

1. What was your favorite talk in conference?
2. How is your German coming?
3. Are all the missionaries that you talked about last week going to the same mission?
4. What is your favorite food that you get to have?
5. How is your washing of your clothes going?
6. Have you gotten any new missionaries in yet?
7. Have you spent any of your euros yet?
8. You haven't forgotten that we love you have you?
9. What is church like there on Sundays?
10. What is you Sunday like?

Here are his answers:

1. The one about mothers was my favorite! It was really good! The only one we watched live was the Saturday morning session.

2. The German is good but I learned that the language doesn't matter as much in the MTC it will come latter. I need to focus on the Spirit so that the Lord can mold me into what he wants me to be. All I can do is try to be worthy of that. Why try and give god only half the wheel when you could accomplish so much more?

3. No they were just going to English speaking missions like Scotland, Ireland, London, etc...

4. Every once in a while they do American food day and that’s my favorite!! There are hamburgers and fries (the Brits call them chips) and its really good. The home made pizza is really good too!

5. It is easy and fine.

6. Yeah they are all pretty much going to London South. There are only like 2 cool ones.

By the way a sister missionary from Austria, Sister Lehmann (my favorite sister missionary cuz she helps me with my German a lot), knows some Scholzen’s from back home. Her ward is in my mission so we might serve there.

7. No they use pounds here but I traded my us money for pounds with no charge. They don't charge for it over here. I did get a bathrobe and some other stuff though.

8. NO!

9. We just have sacrament and priesthood meeting then study the rest of the day.

10. I like changing the routine up anyway I can so Sundays are good. Some days it feels like I’m in one of those movies where the day keeps replaying until you do something right.

Some of the Elder's wore the suits in side out for my Birthday.
They bought me this candy pizza and large Vimto drink. I also got a giant cinnamon roll made for me by the chef.
 
 


 

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

September 30, 2015

The language is pretty hard but I think I'm doing ok. The temple is pretty nice but I like St. George better. We can do sessions in German but we haven't yet. We watch all of General Conference but not sure how it will work out with the time difference. My district is pretty awesome; I love all of them! There is Sister Pascal from Denmark, Sister Hofmockel from France, Sister Miller from Portland, Elder Lucas from England, Elder Evans from Whales (aka my best friend here; he is awesome!!!), Elder Cardon from Provo, Elder Latort from France, and my companions Elder Melville and Elder Johnston. Our teachers are Brother Quilter and Sister Fredrickson. They are awesome aswell. Everyone uses Elder Latort to write love letters for them to send home…haha (sense he is from France) Elder Evans is also an Olympic weight lifter at home so we lift and play ping pong together. The Chef plays ping pong with us. He has names his paddle Sting. It’s sunny half of the time and cloudy the other half. It has only rained probably three times though. Yesterday was the saddest day of me being here because all of the two weekers left. We all miss Brother Eibish from Germany so much! I traded ties with him before he left. He taught me how to hand wash my ties. There is this drink called Yimto. We have it like 3 times a day. I’m going to have to find it when I get home. I have some pictures attached, ENJOY!!




 

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

September 23, 2015

Well, the flight on the way over here was good. There was an LDS guy at the airport in Denver that bought us food because we were missionaries! :D The flight on the way over from Newark, NJ to Manchester was forever long!! When we got here the weather was awesome! It is like 80 degrees. It feels good to get out of the heat for once. Then we had a welcoming meeting and got our name tags and everything we need. I have two companions Elder Melville and Elder Johnston. They are pretty cool! Elder Melville is from Idaho and Elder Johnston is from Montana. They are both in college and are fun to be around. We play fußball (soccer) every day! Some of the Elders are pretty good. There are people from all over like France, Germany, Whales and China. There is only about 30 of us so we are all best friends!! One of my best friends is from Whales he is an Olympic weight lifter. A typical day is wake up, eat, go to class study German, eat, study German, eat, then go to bed. The MTC President still remembers Spencer Stirling and says he loves him! He said when he was leaving the MTC he gave the prayer and said, "I didn't know that I would have to leave my family twice." The President wrote that in his journal. It is really true though; we are all a family! We learn German everyday, all day! I have never had to do something so hard as to learn a language. It is so hard!!! I've already taught 2 legit lessons in full German and can say whatever I need to say. We pray and sing in German. I pretty much only talk in German now….haha! Elder Eibisch (a-bish) from Germany loves my socks and wallet because they are floral. He is so funny. They are so chill at this MTC. We can have whatever kind of hair and wear whatever kind of ties. The food is amazing, we get homemade food every single meal! The chef is a professional opera singer so he sings all the time. We get snack time before bed too! There is a really cool pond we get to look at every time we eat. My p-days are Wednesday. We get to go to the Temple, while in town we get an allowance to go do whatever. It is awesome! Today will be my first p-day.

 

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Saying Good Bye

Elder Ashcroft left for his mission on Wednesday Sept 16, 2015 at 7:30 AM from the St. George Municipal Airport. He had a few connecting flights but landed at the England MTC on Thursday September 17, 2015.

A few quotes from Addison on his way to the airport that morning.

"What if President Hinckley faked his own death and is a lunch lady at the MTC."
"Do you think Easy Eddie would fly first class."
"You know what? I am going to feel real sad for all those ladies that can't date me for two year."

Also in true Addison fashion he forgot his wallet at home. One wake up call later, to his Aunt and Uncle, it was rushed over from Hurricane and TSA ran it to him in time for the plane doors to close.

He was traveling with another Elder and Sister missionary from the area. When they got to Denver there was a nice man that gave them his cell phone to use so they could call home. So, thankful to that good Samaritan to help ease family worries.

We got out first, very short, email the very next morning.

Hey I just got to the MTC. It is pretty awesome! There's a lot of Elders from around England and they love American accents. I got my name tags and they are pretty cool but the Elders that have Greek ones are even cooler.


We are so proud of our missionary and the choice he has made to serve our Father in Heaven.

~ The Ashcroft's