August 15, 2017

Well I don't even know what to say or how I feel exactly right now,
but all I know is the time on my mission is just about over. It's
pretty sad that I have to leave all these people I love so much! I
will also miss the way people are over here. The members have really
helped us so much! I love them deeply. I also can't wait see see all
my friends and family again on the other hand. That will truly be
amazing. :) but I don't know if I'll be able to hold tears back while
leaving.

I am so so grateful for my mission! Words can't express how much being
here has done for me. If there is one thing I know, it's that I am not
the same person anymore. The experiences I've had, and things I've
learned on my mission have changed the way I see things, and do
things, and I have learned for myself how to truly be happy. More than
anything I hope to strive for this happiness when I get home. But I
also want to share it.

I know that this church is true. If I didn't, I wouldn't have done
this for two years.

Thank you everyone for all that you have done for me. I am so grateful.

I'll be leaving on the 23rd and my Farewell will be on the following
Sunday the 27th at the old red brick church in Hurricane at 11:00.
Following, we we also have food at my place. All are welcome, and I
hope to see many of your faces again, because it's been a while! :)


~Bis bald! LG euer Elder Ashcroft~

July 4, 2017

 

Hey everyone! Things are going great over here. The work is starting
to look due to a few miracles in the recent past. To start off, the
stake presidents son got home from his mission in London England about
a week and a half ago, and is now our new Ward mission leader. It's
great I love the kid! We are pretty excited! He's got a lot of energy,
and ideas so it'll be great! We have been getting a lot of referrals
from the members lately which is a major blessing! We are looking
froward to meeting with them. There is also a crazy festival going on
here called the "Landshuter Hochzeitsfest" or "Landshut marriage
festival". It's the celebration of the marriage of a king and a queen
from the 1500's if I remember right. It's absolutely crazy! It's only
once every four years, so it's pretty huge when they have it. But the
only down side is that there are a lot of tourists hah! :P but it's
cool because everybody wears tights with Peter Pan hats hahah! They
also have legitimate jousting tournaments on horses in knights armor,
so that's cool! We also got a new mission president this week which is
crazy!

Well that's pretty much everything new. I wish you all a wonderful
week and if you need something just write me! :) tschüß!

 ~Elder Ashcroft~

June 6, 2017

 

Hallo! I'm doing pretty good! Just wanted to send out a quick little
update as to what's gone down as of late.

     So I'm currently serving in Landshut Germany. It's in the state
of Bayern and about an hour away from Munich. I've been here for about
a month and a half now and I'm doing pretty great. It's a pretty big
city, but there's just a lot of old people and not that many younger
people so it's challenging to find the people who aren't so set on
their own religion hah. The work is going good and it's getting
better. I just got a new companion named Elder Mackris last week. He's
from Virginia and he is really cool. He's a well rounded guy and I
think we'll get some good work done together. I also love my current
district so much! We have some great people we're working with! We are
teaching a couple of people in the moment and they are slowly making
progress, but we will hopefully be able to find some new people too in
the next couple of weeks. I'm have also picked up learning Italian for
the past bit now and it's really helping us find a lot more people. I
would also like to carry on with Italian after my mission.
     It is just crazy to me how fast the time has gone by on my
mission I just wish I could stay here forever! I currently have about
three months left on my mission and I'm really torn about it on both
sides. But that is just all the more reason lose myself in the work
and to really improve these next couple of months so carry on after
that.

I love you all and wish you a wonderful week! Thanks for all of your
support! Phiat euch!
 ~Elder Ashcroft~

 

April 4, 2017

Hello everyone! I hope you're all doing great! My week has been pretty okay. My trainee has been learning a lot, and can understand the language a lot better now.

Montag- we had district meeting in the morning, and we had to leave a little early to make it to a member appointment with the family Schär. Then we found a little bit, and taught an investigator some German. After that we finished weekly planning.

Dienstag- P- day. We took a train to Bern to go to the temple with the district. It was really nice to get away from the noisy world for a bit. After that we went to Basel for a while. In the evening we found

Mittwoch- we studied, ate, then went by some investigators, members, and less actives, then we did 12 weeks in the park. 12 weeks is a training booklet for new missionaries from the church. After that we took a train to Basel for an Austausch with the Basel Elders. We helped some members in the Basel Ward move into their new apartment, then tausched. Elder Visconti from France came with me back to Liestal, and Elder Vogel stayed with Elder England in Basel. When we got back, we ate some dinner, and talked for a bit before going to bed.

Donnerstag- in the morning we studied, then took a bus to Giebenach for a member appointment. It was really great, and the food was just fantastic! :) after we had an appointment with an investigator in Giebenach. It went really well. After the appointment we had to wait for the bus, but it wasn't going to come for 30 minutes, so we decided
to try and hitch hike. After about five cars someone actually stopped, and took us back to Liestal hahaha! It was pretty great, and we actually got the persons number to try and meet with them! When we got back we went by a Turkish investigator family. The mother was not home, but the husband was, so we had a lesson with him. He had already
read the some of the Book of Mormon, and thought it was really good! After we Tausched back, and the had another appointment with an investigator.

Freitag- we studied, did some weekly planning, then went and found a bit. After we came back to finish weekly planning, then had dinner with a part member family. After we gave a lesson to the Husband, because he is the nonmember. It went well.

Samstag- we played soccer in the morning with our district, investigators, and some members. It was really fun! After that we went back home to eat lunch, and study. Then we went to do a little work in Rheinfelden, in the evening we had a member appointment fall out, so we went to the church to watch general conference.

Sonntag- we basically watched general conference all day long!!! We did a little finding in between sessions.

 

March 20, 2017

Hallo! I'm doing pretty good still, and we had another pretty good
week! :) we were also able to make some good progress with some of our
investigators. Some other news is that I'm going to be training again!
I'm happy, but also kinda sad! :( I will miss all of the British
things elder jest does, and says haha! My new companion is German, so
that'll be an adventure! :)

Montag- we went to Basel, to a crazy huge festival called Fastnacht.
It was so much fun! I'll attach a video, or some pictures. In the
evening we had a member appointment with the family Wiesner. After
that we had a really good appointment with one of our investigators
named Mohammed. He really is a good guy, and  very humble

Dienstag- we had district meeting in Basel, then an Austausch with the
Basel elders. I was with elder England from England (no pun intended),
and elder Jest stayed in Basel with elder Visconti.  Elder England and
I had two appointments fall out, so we did some finding.

Mittwoch- the studied, and then Tausched back. After that we taught
one of our investigators, Issam. He is such a good guy! He already has
a strong testimony of the church, and the Book of Mormon. Sadly we
found out that he will probably have to leave Switzerland. :( after
the lesson, he bought us some pizza.

Donnerstag- we had studies, and then went to have lunch with the
Dätwylers. The are a pretty old couple, and they're so nice. She is
one of the best cooks I've ever met, and he was the mission president
of the St. Petersburg, Russia mission! after that we went to
Rheinfelden where we had an appointment fall out, then we had a lesson
with a couple that we are teaching, that we found dooring! After that
we had another appointment fall through, then we had a lesson with
Issam, then after that with Herr Bergamini.

Freitag- we studied, then helped a member family transport some things
for their business. After that we had weekly planning, then ended the
day with a member appointment/investigator lesson.

Samstag- we left pretty early to do a service project for two of our
investigators. It was really good, and we got to know them a lot
better. After that we took a train to Basel to help with a street
display. In the train we realized that we forgot the phone, and it was
the day we were supposed to get transfer calls... Face palm! Hahaha
but we got to Basel, and found out the news for transfers. We had a
really good time doing the street display in Basel, and had quite a
bit of success. Then the Zone leaders, and us went to the church, and
had a baptismal interview for one of our investigators, Issam.
Everything went great! :) after that we went home, ate studied, made
calls, and found.

Sonntag- Sunday was great! After church we went to a members for lunch
with one of our investigators. It was great to see them all bond, and
it made our job a lot easier! We had a lesson after that which went
pretty well. In the evening we studied, and had a lesson with Issam.

March 16, 2017

First of all I would just like to apologize that I have not been able
to respond to some of your guy's emails for the past couple weeks. It
has just been crazy here and I haven't had time! :P I am doing great,
and we are having a lot of success! The weather has been warming up a
little which is also good. :) we have mainly been working with three
investigators since I have been here, and they are all working towards
baptism. Issam from Tunisia  will be baptized on the 18th of March,
Brother Bergamini is Italian, but has grown up here in Switzerland. He
is an eternal investigator, and hasn't been baptized because of his
smoking problem. We have finally got him to stop smoking, and he is
really excited that he can now be baptized! :) he has a baptismal date
for the 25th of March, then there is Brother Rudschuck from Germany.
He is in a pretty complicated situation. He was excommunicated when he
was younger, but he is about 60 now, and knows that it's true. He has
a really strong testimony, and wants to g baptized again, but the
problem is that he lives with his Swiss girlfriend(pretty much his
wife), and she doesn't want to get married because she is unsure, and
has had problems in the past with marriage. But Brother Rudschuck has
a baptismal date for the 22nd of April.

I am loving it here in Pratteln and I'm doing really well! I will try
and get to your guy's emails today! :) if you ever need anything I'm
always here! :) Schöne Wochli!

March 6, 2017 Pictures

February 14, 2017

This week has been pretty good! Pratteln (my new area) is doing really
well! It is a little cold, but it is slowly getting warmer.

Montag- we went shopping on the German side of Basel to get everything
for the Month. After that we went to the church in Basel, and wrote
emails. In the evening we had dinner with Bruder Rudschuck, and his
girlfriend. It was really good, and we got to know them quite better.
He is going to get baptized on the 22 of April, but he needs to get
married first!

Dienstag- we had district lunch where we all brought stuff to make
Tacos. After that we had district meeting. It was good to meet the
district, and it was nice to get to know the district better. Then we
got home, and had the Thompsons (a mission couple) repair one of our
doorways in our apartment. After that, we had a lesson fall out, then
we had a lesson with one of our investigators, Jose. He is from
Cabinda in Africa, and is really nice! He just needs to accept
commitments. Then we had another appointment fall out, but this time
with a member. We decided to go dooring, and found a really cool
family from Afghanistan. They let us in, and we shared a message about
the family. They enjoyed it, and actually invited us to come back to
eat! :)

Mittwoch- we went to Rheinfelden, and went by some potentials, less
actives, and did quite a bit of dooring. We were able to have a couple
lessons, with return appointments, so hopefully we can go make some
progress with them. After that, we studied a bit more, and then taught
some investigators German. In the evening we ate Raclette with one of
the Wiesner families. It was supper good!

Donnerstag-  in the morning we had a lesson with Issam in the library.
He is from Tunisia, and also has a baptismal date. He already has a
testimony of the Book of Mormon, he just needs to understand the
principles, and doctrines more. Then we had lunch with a member. After
that, we went by a potential that wanted a Book of Mormon in Aresdorf,
and left her a book with a note, because she wasn't home. After that
we had two lessons fall out, but we made some calls, and had dinner
with the older Rudin family.

Freitag- we studied, then had lunch with the bishop, which was good
because he wasn't at church on Sunday so I finally got to meet him. It
went really well, and we were able to talk a lot about the work, and
the ward. Then we had weekly planning, and had a lesson with a member,
and an investigator named Annette. We tried to go by a potential after
that, but her husband wasn't home.

Samstag- we had 6 lessons fall out!!!..... But it was still ok,
because we played soccer with some investigators, helped and elderly
women mover her chopped wood into stacks, and had a Skype meeting with
the zone leaders, and other district leaders.

Sonntag- after church, we had a member appointment with Issam there
also. It was good to get a relationship going between him, and the
members. :) after we taught about the life of Jesus Christ, and the
atonement. After that we had a lesson fall out, so we studied a little
bit, and then had dinner with the Stahl Family.

 

February 6, 2017

This week has been pretty crazy, but a lot of fun! The good thing is
that the weather is starting to warm up again. Last Saturday we got
transfer calls, and I got transferred back to Switzerland. My new area
is called Pratteln, and is only about 20 minutes away from my old
area! The church is in Pratteln, but we live in Liestal.

Montag- we packed most everything, emailed, cleaned, and had a lesson
with Jeremy in the evening. They invited us to McDonalds after so we
ate there for dinner.

Dienstag- we took a train at 8:56 all the way to Freiburg for my last
district meeting in the Freiburg district! :( it was a really good
district meeting though. Elder Fröbel is the new district leader
there, and I'm sure he'll keep the district doing good work. After the
meeting we had District lunch together, and everyone brought
something. Then Elder Hofeling and I booked it back to Bad Säckingen
so I could unregister from Germany, then we went home, packed a little
more, then went to a visit a new convert family, the Rehms.

Mittwoch- we took a train at 6:55 and went to Zürich. I stayed in
Zürich for a couple of hours before heading to Pratteln with elder
Jest.  When we got there, I unpacked, then we went to go play
volleyball with some investigators, but couldn't find them, so we
found for a while, and then went to institute in the evening to get to
know some members, and the new district better.

Donnerstag- after studies, we went with a member to go home teach a
less active. Then we had lunch with the Dätwyler familie. Then we had
two lessons fall out, so we found, and called some people.

Freitag- we went to the Temple in the morning with the Bern zone
leaders. It was really nice, and good to be back in my old area! After
that we found, had one lesson fall out, had another lesson, and did
weekly planning.

Samstag- after studies, we had lunch with the familie Schoch, then
went by some people in their town that we have as potentials. Then we
took a train to Läufelfingen and went by people there, and had quite a
bit of success! :) after that we had three lessons, and finished
studies.

Sonntag- we had Ward mission correlation meeting before church. It was
awesome to see four of our investigators in church also! One of them
had to work all night long driving taxi, and still came to church!
After church we broke our fast with the familie Wiesner, then brother
Schulz came and picked us up and we taught his family a small
spiritual thought also. After that we had a lesson fall out, so we
called some people, and went by a potential, then had language study.

January 16, 2017

 Montag- we studied, then headed downtown, to get lunch, and email.
We got some Döners, a Turkish meal, that's really good. After that we
headed over to the Rehm's home to get some signatures for baptismal
records from the two daughters, which took a while, because one of the
bike tires is flat, and we haven't had time to try and repair it yet.
Then in the evening we had a lesson with our supper mega golden
family! The family Schwarz. Since we've been teaching the family
Schwarz we have talked about them every Sunday in church, and the
members are all fighting to try and come joint teach with them hahaha!
The lesson went quite well. We taught the Plan of Salvation.

   Dienstag- we woke up a half an hour early to make it to the train
for zone training in Singen. Once we got there, we ate breakfast, and
studied a little at the train station, because our train gets there
and hour early. Zone training was ok! It was a random surprise zone
training, because we've already had one this transfer, and president
decided to do a spontaneous one so that we could be introduced to a
new self reliance program that our mission is going to try. I'm really
excited for it, because it has had a lot of success with members, and
it seems good. After zone training we took a train with the Offenburg
elders all the way back to Offenburg for an Austausch (exchange). The
train ride through the beautiful fresh snow covered Black Forest. It
really feels like a fairy tale when it's covered in snow! I was with
elder Fröbel from Germany. Elder Fröbel and I went to Freiburg with an
investigator, to play indoor soccer with some members. It was so much
fun. The crazy part was that there was a guy from Zürich Switzerland
there that looked exactly like Tobias Anderson, if you happen to know
who that is. Which I funny, because they both come from Switzerland,
and are really good at soccer hah! After that we came back, and had
dinner and planned. We spent 8 hours in trains that day!

    Mittwoch- after studies we had steaks for lunch, then split up.
Elder Fröbel and I had 4 lessons with investigators, and the other
elders had 2 lessons, and went finding the rest of the time. After we
all got home we planned, ate, then played some Schach or chess in
English.

     Donnerstag- we studied, and then took a train back to Bad Säckingen.

     Freitag- just a normal day of finding, and weekly planning. We
also talked with Elder Moreno from Basel, and he is going to come
teach one of are investigators in Italian about once a week. We are
really excited! :) she we hopefully start making more progress.

     Samstag- was also a pretty normal day. We were able to meet with
three new converts, and help support them.

     Sonntag- we had an awesome time at church. And were able to meet
with our new Ward mission leader which went really great!

 

December 14, 2016

An update on Elder Ashcroft.

He has completely immersed himself into the mission, which mean me don’t hear from him every week anymore. We couldn’t be more proud of him. He has 2 upcoming baptisms (yeah…out of the blue. It’s the first we’ve heard about them too.) When we do hear from him it is only a few sentences here and there but just enough for us to know he is doing good. We had thought maybe he just forgot English, haha. But we got a cute little video of his companion and him singing, “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, “ in English. (I can’t find the video at the moment but once I do I’ll post it.) Transfer calls are coming up and he is really hoping to stay in the area a little longer. He was prompted to tell the President to keep he and his companion one more transfer. So we will see what happens, transfers should be this weekend. Thank you everyone for the prayers and support. We love you all!

~The Ashcroft Family

November 20, 2016

Just a real quick story!

Someone ordered a Book of Mormon online and agreed to have the missionaries (us) bring one by. We didn't really have time to do it but we eventually made it out to her house by bus. We knocked on the door and introduced ourselves. She was really happy to see us and invited us in. They have a really nice house by the way. Her husband works in Switzerland. We greeted the husband and he was super nice. We sat down and she got us some water. We started talking with them and found out that she was trying to track us down because she wanted a Book of Mormon. She was wanting to learn more about the church. She had been to the church two times and talked with someone from Salt Lake multiple times online. She even rang the doorbell at our apartment. All for the sake of coming in contact with the church. So that's why she was so happy when we came by. We talked about the Book of Mormon and explained a little about it. Right after I asked them why they ordered the book in the first place she started telling us about this intricate dream she had.

She was outside a big Temple with three big spires and a big front door. She said that there were three sets of doors. She felt so at peace and felt one of the best, happiest feelings she's ever felt. Then there were other people walking around outside the Temple, and she started talking to these people. She had noticed they were taking the Temple for granted but somehow she knew how great it was!

That was all of her dream. We were really quite shocked when we heard this! She said that after the dream she wanted to find this place, so she searched the internet for it. At first she thought it was Solomon's Temple but wasn't sure. Then she found it. The exact same Temple and place that was in her dream. It was the Salt Lake Temple! So she really wants to go there. This is crazy how she has been being prepared but whats even crazier is that her husband has had, as of late, the sudden interest in Jesus Christ and finding what is really true. He started reading through the Bible. They've been being prepared together! She said how she wanted to go to the Temple but knew the you have to be baptized in order to go to the there. We talked about the lessons and how our job as missionaries is to help people come unto Christ through the gospel and that we do this through 5 lessons. And that after the lesson we baptize them. We asked if they had interest in taking the lessons. Her eyes lit up she said yes realy fast. She then looked at her husband for support and he also said, “sure why not!?” We taught them the first lesson and it was funny because she just sat really still listening with wide eyes. The lesson went really well. They had a few questions but understood it pretty well. At the end they had a question or two about the word of wisdom because, they heard, or read about it somewhere. It was if we eat pig or not. We clarified a little and they had no complaints. They even seemed to be ok with the thought of not eating pig meat, haha! We said a prayer together and we're getting ready to leave. They didn't seem to want us to leave. She kept offering us some cake. It happened to be her birthday. We sang happy birthday and she blew the candles out. She's turned 32 and her husband is 36. We ate cake and talked with them for about 15 minute more then left. They are coming to church this week and we are meeting with them on Monday to teach the next lesson. :)

I also felt the ancestors of this family that day confirming that they are helping so that their work can be done in the spirit world. He is also really into the stories of his ancestors and thinks that part of the church is really cool and how we are baptized for them in the temple.

Cool right!?

October 10, 2016

***unedited this week. So no mind the mistakes. Enjoy!!!

Hello wonderful friends and family! The week has been a good one and my new companion (ElderHofeling), and I have been having a great time together! The work is going ok, but the weather is really really cold, and moist!! :(... I freeze.

Montag- we didn't really do anything interesting. Just shopping, cleaning, emails, and such.

Dienstag- we had District meeting in Freiburg. District meeting was really good considering it was my first time being a district leader. After district meeting, we handed out flyers for a celebration from the church in Freiburg as a district for an hour. After that we took a train home, and found some more.

Mittwoch- we had studies, and then we did some dooring in Switzerland. We came back in the evening to finish some of elder Hofelings in field training on the computer, and had dinner after that.

Donnerstag- we did studies and then went finding which went well. We came back a little early so that we could have dinner, then have a lesson with sister Rehm, but the lesson fell through. We ended up just having a member lesson with the joint teaches family anyways.

Freitag- we had studies, we found, we worked on Elder Hofelings in field training, and we had weekly planning.

Samstag- we went to Murg, contacted a referral, and went from door to door.

Sonntag- we had church. The mom and the kids of the Rehm family all came. :) after church we went over to sister Rehm's house with a member to bless her house. Ever since she has had a baptismal date, she has been being experiencing a lot of scary things from evil spirits. The good thing is, she takes this as a sign that the church is true, and is still determined on being baptized! :) after the blessing, we stayed and ate dinner with their family, then taught them one of the lessons.

The spiritual thought of this week is on fasting. I have thought a lot about fasting lately, because as a mission we have been reading in the New Testament, and I read the part where Jesus fasted for forty days. I never really thought to much about it before, but this time reading through it, it made a lot more sense.
When Jesus fasted in the wilderness he was preparing for his ministry. But why fasting? I read something in the institute manual about fasting that I really like and gives a good answer as to why he fasted.

“Fasting, coupled with mighty prayer, is powerful. It can fill our minds with the revelations of the Spirit. It can strengthen us against times of temptation. Fasting and prayer can help develop within us courage and confidence. They can strengthen our character and build self-restraint and discipline. Often when we fast, our righteous
prayers and petitions have greater power. Testimonies grow. We mature spiritually and emotionally and sanctify our souls. Each time we fast, we gain a little more control over our worldly appetites and passions” (“The Law of the Fast,” Ensign, May 2001, 73).

I challenge everyone the next time fast Sunday rolls around, to really pray, and fast to find out what your personal strengths, talents, and gifts are, and then, and pray every day to be able to use those talents, and abilities to help other people.

I know that fasting, and prayer are two of the best ways that we can draw upon the powers of heaven, and that God gives us everything that we have, because he really does love us, and he loves us because we are his children. He wants to help us.

I hope that everyone has beautiful week, and a great time doing all the things you guys do! :) if you ever need anything, hit me up.

~Elder Ashcroft~

October 3, 2016

 

Hello friends and family! :) It has been a great week here and it's finally starting to get cold. Really cold! :( But I'm just a wimp for the cold I guess…haha!

Monday we went shopping and packed a little for Elder McDaniel. In the evening we had a member appointment in Rheinfelden with the family Kamm as a farewell for Elder McDaniel.

Tuesday we had our last district meeting with Elder Jensen, McDaniel, and Sister Petitt. District meetings take a huge chunk out of our day. It takes two hours to get to Freiburg then we meet for an hour and a half, eat lunch and take the same two hour train ride
back. I guess a positive side is that the train ride is absolutely beautiful because we go through the Black Forest the entire time. :D When we got back we had an appointment with the family Rehm, an investigator family. The wife is from Peru and cooked us some really really good dishes from her home country. After the meal we shared a scripture and then went home for the day.

Mittwoch we had transfer day! We took a train early in the morning to Zürich where I spend a total of 10 hours before my trainee arrived. It was such a good time!! I got to see all of my good friends in Switzerland and got to catch up a little. After the first group left
I went around Zürich with the zone leaders. We had a service project, ate lunch then went finding for a little bit. It was a really good time. :) My Trainee came into Zürich at about five o'clock so we helped everyone get their luggage off the train. We all waited for our trains going back home after that. We got home at about 6:00pm. I helped my companion unpack a little, we had dinner then went to bed.

Thursday we had studies then went to the church for some in field training for Elder Hofeling on the computer. Then we went dooring in Switzerland for his first time dooring.

Freitag we had studies and a service project helping sister Jung carry some furniture. After she feed us some really good food and we went home. Then we had an appointment with Frau Singh fall out. We had an early dinner because we had an appointment that night with Sister Rehm. The lesson with Sister Rehm went really well. We shared the Restoration with her, which Elder Hofeling, my companion, did very well for his first time, not to mention it was in a foreign language! Elder Hofeling is a great guy and he really has the gift of tongues because he can understand seemingly a lot. Sister Rehm is progressing a lot and is committed to her baptism happening. :)

Samstag we had weekly planning, had to fix the light on my bike, because the Germans are super strict about you having a light, then we had to go shopping because Monday is a holiday. After that he found a bit.

Sonntag we went to Basel with an investigator and some members to watch the preisthood session. Then came back and ate lunch at the members house with the investigator family and all watched conference after that.
Cool beans.

September 26, 2016

Hello everybody, I have been very bad at getting my weekly mails out
but I will start doing it again I promise! There have been some very
big changes this past week! First of all we set the date for Schwester
Rehm's baptism for the 29th of October and planned everything out on
a calendar. Her daughters will also get baptized so we will also
start teaching them the lessons. Joshua has also been expressing his
desire to be Baptized into this church and we set a date with him for
the 12th of November.

I can really say that this area has improved so much from before. I've
definitely had the most success being here than anywhere else on my
mission.

The second big thing that has happened this week was transfer calls.
I will be training next transfer, which really excites me. I am
also supper nervous because I've never trained! To make things
crazier I will be the new district leader and the district is the
youngest district I've ever seen! Hahaha….Three people are going to be
trained in our district and I'm the oldest, on the mission,
missionary in the district.

There have been a lot of other things that also happened but these
are the two big ones. I will just sum up by sending some pictures,
but I promise I will send my weekly next week…haha! ;)

 

September 12, 2016

Hey everyone! I just wanted to write about a cool miracle that happened.

I have been here in Bad Säckingen for about four weeks, and we have been working our butts off! When I got here there was only one or two eternal investigators and that's it. It's a small branch here and the locals are known for being more cold because of the Black Forest. The Lord has blessed us so much though. We have been where we needed to be and opened our mouths at the right times. We
have been praying and fasting a lot for the work to pick up and the Lord has led us to the people that were open and ready for the gospel. We have also had a family that came to church yesterday and
the wife started crying during the lesson from the Spirit. She said that she wants to be Baptized and be an example for her daughters.

I have a strong testimony that when you truly do things the Lords way and put your efforts in the Lord will magnify your work! But only when we have the faith that he will.

 I wish everyone a wonderful week!

August 29, 2016

Montag- we didn't really do to much. We did emails then looked for a barber shop to get my hair cut but they are all closed on Mondays! :( Then we finished making a song for zone training. We also went grocery shopping. In the evening we had a member appointment by the Kamms. It was really good because they also invited a brother Biagio, a new convert, and his wife. She is not a member but that will hopefully change! ;) After, we came back and talked with the Biagio's for a bit and had ice cream. Then we went back home.

Dienstag- we took a train in the morning to Singen for zone training, which was really really good! We go to Singen instead of Zürich because not everyone has Swiss train tickets. That makes it a lot cheaper for the German missionaries and saves the church money. After zone training we ate a little lunch and then headed home on a train. When we got back Biagio hooked me up with a €10 haircut from his Italian friend. That took about 20 minutes then we finished studies, planing and then had dinner.

Mittwoch- in the morning we had personal study then went down to Innenstadt on our bikes. We got me an meldet, telling the state that I have arrived in Germany, there. Then we took a train to Beugen to go by one of our investigators. She happened to not be home because of the vacation. So we doored a bunch of houses then took a train back to Bad Säckingen. Then we had an appointment with a Swiss less active fall out so we had to tell our joint teach. We came home to eat, have comp. and language study, then went by on Frau Ebner. She is Mexican, it's at this point that I wish I would've actually learned Spanish back home. She is married to a German and they have a family here. She was supposably baptized into our church back in Mexico or something but there are no records of anything. She might have to be baptized again. The members have been working with the church headquarters to find out. They are also going to write her old bishop because her parents were members. She happened to not be home so we had dinner then planned for the next day.

Donnerstag- we went on a bunch of Vorbei's and went finding. In the evening we had a member appointment in the beautiful town of Laufenburg. It's nice to still have Switzerland in my area! :)

Freitag- we had weekly planning then rode our bikes to Sisseln Switzerland and doored for a bit. We then met up with Lorrenz, an investigator. After that we rode back to Bad Säckingen and had a lesson with Biagio and Magerita.

Samstag- in the morning we rode over to the Rehm's house and had a lesson with them. They are really really cool! I think that they'll get baptized. We are going to set a baptismal date with them when they are all together. After that we visited Frau Ebner. We had a lesson with her and her son. We also got to know the husband. They made us food which was really nice of them! :) Then we rode back and went street contacting for a little bit.

Sonntag- church was really good. Frau Ebner and her son Alexander showed up! After church we had a big pot luck because Steven had a birthday. He is special and doesn't have family so the ward supports him a lot! He is really awesome and loves giving hugs! Haha…We made some salsa and guacamole, which turned out pretty well. Then we went home and had studies. Then Steven’s home teacher and our ward mission leader came and picked us up to go over to Stevens for a party.

August 22, 2016

I'm doing ok. I'm a little sick but it's not to bad. My new comp. is from Provo. That makes my second comp from Utah. This is the only companion I've had so far where I speak better German than. The people here are more closed off than in Linz and Zollikofen. It is really beautiful and our area goes into Switzerland, so we go there sometimes to find. They speak Schwäbisch, Badisch, Swiss German, and High German. I can understand High and Swiss German. The other two I can't understand yet. It is a Branch here with about 40 members. The church is above a bank. We also have bikes. The apartment is pretty nice but it is dirty from other missionaries so I am in the process of cleaning it out. I'll send pictures once it's clean. My comp. has until February but he can choose to extend if he wants.

Two more of the Persians we found were baptized this week! I wasn't able to be there for it but Elder Bensing, who is already done with his mission, came back down from Germany to baptize them. We found them through the baptism of the other Persians. They are really awesome!

August 15, 2016

Well quite bit has happened this week! It was really good and we got a lot of work done! The weather has been absolutely beautiful as of late. Most people think it's been pretty hot but I guess that's the perks of coming from a desert…haha. Well the main news is that we had transfer calls this Saturday and I will be going to Bad Säckingen Germany/Switzerland! It is in the Zürich stake and right on the river dividing Switzerland from Germany. So I can still buy Swiss chocolate but also shop in Germany because it cheaper! :) I will also be able to go into the Black Forest which is cool! So maybe Ill get a koo koo clock or something!? Anyways... Everything is great over here! I hope all is well back home and I wish you a wonderful week. If you ever need anything feel free to email me! :) Schöne Woche!

July 25, 2016

Imagine waking up on a beautiful sunny day in Switzerland. A view of the gorgeous Alps with the sound of the bells from grazing cows in the distance. It's just beautiful right!? :) Yes it is! Until…one of your neighbors starts smoking weed. All I can say is that so many people smoke weed over here. And the cops don't do anything! Haha anyways onto the week!

Well the week has been rather slow, but if everything was exciting then nothing would be exciting…haha. Manly what's going on right now is just the normal business. We are currently trying to contact referrals of people the members have given us which is surprisingly really hard. Everyone is on dang vacation! Because I am an American I only have 27 days left in Switzerland. I'm getting the best out of it I can.



Montag- We traveled around with a less active and visited this real cool old castle that he grew up in. Then went to an Emmentaler Cheese Factory in a small village. We got some ice cream there and then walked up a huge hill and sat on a bench with a view of the Alps to eat it. After that we came home and had a member appointment with the Jakob family. "le Tour de France" was also on this day ten minutes away from where we live! Elder Lucas ,my broski, got me a shirt from it. :)

Dienstag- On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays we do this parkour workout in the forest with a member. It's crazy cool! There are a bunch of stations in the forest to do different workouts and we jog from station to station doing them. It's cool because there is nobody else around mainly because it's at 6:00 in the morning and somewhat deep in the forest. After we finished our forest jogs by 7:00 we came home, showered, ate and did studies. Then we had lunch and tried to contact referrals. That was pretty much our day.

Mittwoch- we went to the Temple in the morning because we didn't have time last week. After that we came back to the apartment and ate lunch with the Biel Elders. We were having interviews with President in Zollikofen. After we ate we headed to the church for interviews. It was a really good training I thought. We talked about obedience and success. After training and interviews we had a member appointment with the Filbrandt family. Then we went home and planned.

Donnerstag- we did our morning jog in the forest then studies. At 11:00 we had GMK (Ward mission correlation meeting.) We ate lunch and worked on transitioning the area book to the iPads. After that we went to a member appointment with the Flemming family but we accidentally took the train too early to Fraubrunnen. Luckily we had some cookies that we had baked earlier so we brought them by a less active family in the area. It was really good and we were able to sit down and talk with them a bit. They just had a new baby a couple weeks ago and the father wants to bless it in church but he said he's not prepared or ready yet. It is our perfect chance to try and get them going to church! (They actually went to church! :D)

Freitag- in the morning we had studies and then for Lunch we took a bus to Münchenbuchsee to eat lunch with the family Von Allmen. It was a really good time. :) I love these guys!!! After lunch we shared a spiritual thought about not judging. In the evening we had an appointment with one of our investigators, Gabriele, she is coming along but rather slow. It's really hard to work with her because she wants an answer before she takes any steps, which isn't showing faith.

Samstag- in the morning we ran in the forest then had studies. After that we ate lunch, and then played soccer with our neighborhood. Normally every Saturday at 10:30 we play soccer with a member family, the Bern Elders and what ever less actives, or investigators we can find. Whenever someone walks by we naturally invite them to play also. So it has grown to be pretty big and now we have quite a few non members from the neighborhood there every week. It is really good and will hopefully be able to start teaching some of them! :) That was all of the interesting things that happened.

Sonntag- I like it here because we actually have time to do personal study before church. The morning bells go off at 9:00 and it's loud enough that they actually start church at 10:00, instead of 9:00. I gave a talk on how we are here to help save others based on the talk "To the rescue: We can do it" by Mervyn B. Arnold in the last General Conference. It was ok, I guess haha. I used the poem that everybody used at their farewell "Ladder of Hope". We made a translated version into German because there isn't any. If you haven't read this poem I highly suggest doing it. It is a bit long but the message is great! After church we came home and did weekly planning.



The Spiritual thought of the week is pretty deep.

Psalms 139.

1 O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.

2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.

3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.

5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.

12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.

14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!

18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.

19 Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.

20 For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.

21 Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?

22 I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:

24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

There is a Joseph smith translation for verse 8 that says "The Lord will perfect me in knowledge, concerning his kingdom. I will praise thee O Lord forever; for thou art merciful, and wilt not forsake the works of thine own hands."