Vacations!!

Family and friends,

Its great to hear that everything is going well in the family, ward, school, work, and dance. Sorry its supposed to snow this coming week but honestly i could do some snow right now. You get kind of tired of the heat after two summers in a row and it inst even the hottest part of summer yet here. So i guess i will just have to grin and bear it. 

I'm kinda bummed to hear that Preston is growing taller because that means he will be taller then me :( but oh well. I just hope he doesn't get stronger then me. It would be embarrassing if he could beat me in a wrestling match. But keep up the good work in school and dance buddy! If you really want something, go out and get it. 

The work here is going good with it being vacations right now. Everybody is leaving for one or two weeks at a time. They are all heading to the South of Chile to Vacation. Then they will leave for like two or three days or even just for the day and head to the beach. It is only 2 hours away. I really want to go to the beach right now and have a BBQ. That would be awesome. But i don't get vacations like everybody else here does. I get to Preach the Gospel!

We had some good lessons this week. In one of the lessons the guy asked if i would tell my conversion story - my story of when i received my testimony or answer. So i told him the story. At the end he said "I know that you know that the church is true and that you have a testimony and have received an answer. Because i can feel it when you talk. The sincerity and power in your voice." All i have to say was that it was really cool. I have never had anyone tell me that before and my companion told me that it was really powerful after the lesson. 

Then the other day we taught a new girl. She is the girlfriend of our bishops son. She doesn't really have a religion. So we taught lesson 1 and it went great. She understood and asked questions. We are going to visit with her tonight for Family Night and talk about eternal families and temple marriage. I hope all goes well with the lesson.

Well that's all i got for this week. I love you all. Thanks for the prayers and the words of advice.

Oh yeah, mom and ashtyn. I gave your facebook names to some people in my last ward so that you guys can be friends and help me keep in contact with those people throughout my mission. So if you could do that for me that would be great!

Love you all,

Elder Ashworth

El Bosque (My Sector)

Dear Family and Friends,

Its great to hear that things are good in Rexburg and that everyone did well at Civic. 

Well not much to talk about this week except that we are working hard and are working with members more in this ward. My comp is the 2nd counselor to the bishop and I'm a young mens counselor again. Also, Grandma you will get a kick out of this one, The bishop asked me to play the piano for sacrament meetings now. Yeah, you guys can tell me "i told you so". Because now i have to practice. Its been 7 years since i last practiced the piano. No better time to learn then the present.

We had a really good lesson this week with a young man. He is a less active member and would like to change his life. So we taught about The Plan of Salvation and the Atonement. It was one of the most powerful lessons i have ever given. The spirit was strong and you could see it in his face. We are excited to see if he really does change and starts to come back to church.

Other then that everything is going good. I have to speak Spanish all the time with my new companion but that's ok. It helps me to learn faster. Also today we had a water balloon fight as a zone. Here are some pictures.

Thanks for Everything,

Love you all,

Elder Ashworth

New Area!

Dear Family,

Buena. This last week was pretty crazy. We have finally started to get people to come to church and really start to progress, then CHANGES! Im now in a whole new sector of the mission with a new companion. My new sector is right across the street from my old one, so its a little wierd. My companion is from Santiago Chile and his name is Elder Terra. He seems like a good guy and i look forward to working with and getting to know him.

Goodbyes are always hard. It was like saying goodbye to you guys again because these people have been like my family. We had lots of food and lots of good times. I have lots of pictures too but those will have to wait because i cant send them all. 

So as for me i don't have much to talk about this week. Sorry, for those of you who wanted a ton of information this week. But as for you guys up there in Rexburg and the States im glad to hear that things are going well. Preston, Good Luck at Civic this weekend and shake some boody. :) Im glad that all of you guys are healthy and are keeping busy. 

As for that brother of the church that you asked about i dont know him. And with the recipies, what you have is fine. Thanks for all that you guys do for me and the support that you give me.

Next week will be a little more informative after a week in a new sector. I love you all and enjoy the new year!

 

Elder Ashworth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My new companion

 

 

Look what I found in Chile!

 

 

 

 

Happy New Year!

Dear Family and Friends,

Well not much happened this last week because of the New Year. We had to be in by 6 pm on the 31st and couldnt leave till 1 on the 1st. Then alot of people were on vacation so our sector was pretty dead. We did get one of the Less Active members that we are working with to come to church with us on sunday though. It was really cool to experience that, she really enjoyed it and made some new friends. 

Then we also taught one of our investigators about the Book of Mormon this week. He seemed excited and interested about it. When we committed him to read and pray about it he said yes. He told us he would read it so that we have things to talk about when we come over and visit him. Other then that the week was about the same as always.

It has been pretty smoky the past few days because of some wildfires that are burning out around the city. So mixed with the heat, sun, smoke, and dust it has been an awesome first week to a new year. A funny moment from this week was when a joung boy that we were talking to asked my companion if he was from the UNited States. Then he looked at me and asked if i was from Argentina. I dont know why he asked me that because i do not look Argentinian. I am white with blond hair. He did tell me that me spanish was really good though, so i will take that complement even from a young boy.

Now for your questions dad. Im sure i can buy deet for the mosquitos but we havent had a problem yet with them. My clothing is holding up fine so far. My favorite food? That is a tough question, i think i will have to answer that one later after i try humitas. I have been told that my langage is getting better and i feel like i can talk more fluidly with people. As for the address it will stay the same. That is the address to my mission office and not my house.

Thats all i have for this week. Not much happening down here right now. I just keep pushing forward. Glad that everyone is doing great and you guys havent frozen in the cold yet.

Love you all,

Elder Ashworth

P.S. Holy Kaprito Preston you are getting tall!

 

 

Here are a few pictures. Here is a comparison of when i got to the mission field and now. And a service project we did at a school, can you say SNAKES!

Now

At the mission home with my first companion

Service Project

Nice!!!!!

Crazy Christmas Week!!

Dear Mom, Dad, and Preston,

I will begin by answering all of your questions. My next transfer is in 2 weeks on January 13. That is when i will finish my training. I don't know if i will be transferred or have a new companion yet but i will know that this Friday. As for a number of missionaries in my district we have 6. We have 20 missionaries in the zone and about 170 in the mission. For New Years we have to be in early on New Years Eve and have to clean our pension because we are going to have inspections then we cant go out till later on New Years Day. We have about 5 investigators that we visit frequently but only 2 that are progressing. Then the rest are less active members, there are about 6 families. Then we finish with members which differs every week because they fill up empty space. The best food i have eaten down here is the asado. Its a BBQ. The people down here really know how to BBQ. There is sooo much food and its amazing. The worst is probably this casserole thing that we didn't know what it was. As for the shoes i have no idea.

Alright now for my week. It was crazy and fun. We made two care packages full of food and detergent for two ladies, Gema and Celia, that we are teaching because they are having economic problems right now. It was great to see their faces and to give instead of be given. 

We also found a new investigator this week. Her name is Andrea and when we talked to her she was full of questions about the gospel. She was really attentive and answered all of our questions during the lesson and invited us back. One of the questions she asked was, Why do Catholics baptize children when they are babies, they don't have sins do they? It was awesome to see how willing she was to listen to us. We have high hopes for her and her family.

It was great to get to talk to you guys on Christmas and experience that. It was weird being away from home but it was kinda cool too. It was a new experience and i enjoyed it. For Christmas Eve it was just me, my companion, rice, and a big fire. We had fun and talked about the gospel. 

As for the rest of the week, it went the same. We went preaching and taught lessons. We also went to mutual and taught about the birth of Christ. Then we had a End of the Year ward party. It was crazy. Lots of food, music, and dancing. 

Oh, i forgot to tell you guys that i got to go to the temple on Friday and see the new movie. It was good. The temple is always a great place. We also got to help with sealings. I got to be a witness during a couple of sealings. It has been a great experience so far in Chile and i look forward to more.

Thanks for all you do,

Love,

Elder Ashworth

 

So a funny story.....The members in Chile cannot say his last name of Ashworth. I guess they butcher it.  So they call him Elder Ash. So he went out and bought a hat to mimic the same hat that the boy named Ash on Pokemon wears. So the third picture down is him wearing the Pokemon hat. :)

 

Christmas!!

Dear Family and Friends,

Well to answer your questions everything is going fine here in Chile. Im not having any problems with anyone. Yes, it is hard at times but thats the mission. Also i am not having any problems with fleas so i do not need flea collars. That sucks that the power went wacky in grandmas house, its not the best time for something like that to happen. It looks like Preston had fun scubadiving for mutual. That is something i never got to do but i think would be fun. Once again thanks for all the Birthday wishes. Also tell Seth that he works really fast, hes only been home for 4 months ;).

Now to share a little bit of my week with you all.

On wednesday a sister in the ward help a little Birthday party for me with cake and food. It was fun and I got a tie from one of the missionaries in my house. Then on saturday another sister did the same thing for me again and her family gave me a stuffed animal, a donkey with red, white, and blue. The people here are awesome. On Sunday we had a great lunch with a family in the ward and i drank my first champaign (champin), it didnt have any alcohol, but it was supposed to be funny - drinking on your Birthday. Also on Thursday we went caroling to the widows of the ward with the young men and young women. It was really fun but wierd at the same time because of the heat.

Friday was fun because we had a mission conference for Christmas. In the morning we played sports: soccer, football, frisbee, and more soccer. Then we had a great lunch and watched a movie. We watched Remember the Titans in spanish. It was funny but you lost some of the humor with the language change. After we had a gift exchange and i got a candle that smells really good. We then had dinner which was good and recieved mission gifts: a journal, bag, and t-shirt. To end the day we had devotional about peace and trials. We will all have to go through peace but we can choose to have peace about them.

This week will be good too. I get to speak to you guys. We are thinking about 1 in the afternoon your time. So be ready for a call at 1 oclock. we will be using skype so we can see each other. It will last one hour and will be a great christmas present.

Thanks for all you guys do for me. I love you all.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Elder Ashworth

P.S. I got shot at last week!................By an airsoft gun :)

Pics: Birthday Cake, party!, and gifts.

 

My Champin! My alcohol free champagne

Missionary Stories

These stories were in a  previous email but I shared them with our family at our Christmas Party first before I share them with you. So here you go, Brianna

Also some funny contacting stories. We went up to this one house and a little boy answered the door we asked if his parents were home and he said no. So we asked if his grandma was home and he said "yes". We asked if we could talk with her and looked inside the side then looked out and told us that she only speaks russian. We asked if he spoke russian too, he said "yes". We then asked if he could speak some to us and he said "i dont know". we then said goodbye and left laughing once the door shut. Some of the things people come up with so they dont have to talk to the missionaries. 

Another one is that we came up to this door and knocked. We weren't paying attention but the dog of the house, a rottweiler, came up to the fence and peed on my comps shoe. I laughed and he was kind of ticked but oh well, it wasnt my shoe. The last on that i will share is we made a contact with a young mother who had a baby. While we were talking to her i told her "the Gospel will help to become closer to you" instead of "closer to God". We laughed afterward because my comp told me that i was trying to make a move on a married young mother. We just have to laugh when we make mistakes with the language.