October 28, 2013

Hello Everyone!

   This week was great! We had another lesson with the geese crawling all over us but it went really well! Arizona is starting to cool down. Today's the first day I've seen clouds since the day I got here. Elder Meline and I are getting more investigators every week and the work in our area is growing really well. We had a baptism on Saturday for Rick Johnson. He's a great guy and I'm really glad he asked me to speak at it. We also walked away with two boxes of cookies so it was extra special!

   I had my first bike crash this week. I guess the whole texting and driving thing applies to riding your bike as well...I looked up at an intersection and pressed the brake on my front wheel instead of the back. this resulted in me flipping over the handlebars. The best part was explaining the blood to the members we visited for dinner.

   We had exchanges on Saturday so I was with Elder Hock all day. He's my district leader. That was an experience. Enough said on that. Elder Meline and I had a great experience teaching relief society this last sunday. we got to teach about the woman's role in the priesthood. It's crazy looking back on how my Mom has been there for everything I've ever been successful in. I even got on the award stand for track and cared less about the medal in my left hand then the cookies she made me in my right. Ultimately she's the reason I'm on a mission, and now she's not here. However I know that this is where I need to be. If I come home, everything I learned from my Mom goes to waste. I have a lot that people need to learn about what my Mom taught me and through those lessons they can have eternal life.

   Hopefully this week the work will continue to rise here. I love being a missionary. I have a place to stay, Cap'n Crunch and chimichangas in the freezer, and people to help. What more do I need?

Elder Earl

October 21, 2013

Hey Everyone!

   The mission is going great!! Elder Meline and I set two more baptismal dates this last week which is pretty exciting. One of them actually happened last night. We've been teaching this guy for a while and just stopped by to bring him some cat food and walked out with a baptismal date for November 30th. He lost his leg in a motor cycle crash and is an interesting guy to say the least. He's a hard man to teach because he has had problems with his memory ever since the crash. He has a cat with a hole in it's head named Oreo. You can see it's brain. It's disgusting. I'm not sure why we found food for it. I kinda just want it to die.

   The other baptism is this lady that got called in as a referral. She started talking to someone about the church through World of Warcraft....so she's a World of Warcraft referral. i think that's a first but I'm not sure. I'm still new. She lives in this tiny run down house in the ghetto and has sixteen geese and ducks running around her tiny yard. We got chased out the first time. I think I would have preferred sixteen dogs. Dogs don't hiss at you. apparently geese do. We went back anyways and had a discussion while birds climbed all over us but she's getting baptized on the 23rd of November so it definitely was worth it. We went back yesterday to pick her up for church with a member and the geese were a lot nicer for some reason...Holy ghost maybe?

   The members here in Mesa are really nice. everyone else is okay ha I love them but most of them don't love us. We get yelled at a lot. It's really not worth saying much more about that. I love when people try to tell us that we're going to hell. I don't even argue. I did the first time but then I realized it wasn't worth it. Dad was right. Don't tell him I said that though. The last time it happened I just smiled and nodded along and gave him a pass along card when he was finished ranting.

   Anyways I hope everyone is doing well and that the world isn't ending. I wouldn't know if it was because of the lack of news. I like it that way actually. Arizona has news enough. If the world was ending, however, that might increase baptisms. So I guess I have mixed feelings on the subject.

   I love you all and, like I said, I hope everything is going well back in Oregon. If it isn't we know know who to turn to. Christ already payed for and felt all of our pains and suffering. Don't waste that gift. It's not refundable.

Sincerely,

Elder Earl

P.S. Phillipians 4:13

President and Sister Jenkins

I received this photo from Ashton's mission president today.  It was taken October 8, the day he arrived in Arizona.

October 14, 2013

Hello Everyone! This week has been pretty crazy ha I found an investigator in the airport which was pretty cool. I guess that means im off to a good start. The last week of the mtc went by insanely fast. I sent off my jamaican companions at 2:30 tuesday morning resulting in no sleep that night because i had to board a bus at 4:30. Arizona is beautiful. I dont think ive seen this many palm trees in my life. everyone here says its cold even though its 90 degrees outside...anyways my new companion is Elder Meline. He's from California and has been waiting for his visa to go to the Sao Paulo South mission for four months so I dont know how long we'll be companions. We already have a baptism lined up for october 26th. We've found a lot of new investigators as well. I get to go teach this guy who i guess practices the Aztec beliefs..Im not sure exactly what that means but I guess I'll find out. My first night here I stayed with two zone leaders named Elder Owens and Elder Brooks. Because I was running on 40 hours without sleep I fell asleep during a discussion. She's still getting baptized though so everything worked out. Our apartment almost burned down that night ha they came home after leaving some potatoes on the oven to find the place filled with smoke and fire running up the wall. Owens ran in and opened the sliding glass door and Elder Bennet threw water on the oil fire...not the best idea. Elder Ault happened to have a gas mask (dont ask me why) and ran in, put that on, then ran outside and broke the glass on the fire extinguisher and put the fire out. Now all my stuff smells like smoke and they dont have an oven. Now i live with Elder Meline in the Waterford Appartments and we havnt had a fire. yet. I would share more but Im pretty much out of time. My new address is 2525 N 32nd St. Mesa AZ 85213. If you feel like sending cookies that's where you should send them.

Elder Earl

 

 

October 3, 2013

Ashton's first 2 emails arrived today.

First:

Im glad you got my letter ha i was beginning to think u all wouldnt write me! i still havnt got anything except for from madilyn. im glad the kids are all doing well. hows collin? and hayden? is he stepping up like i asked him to? im sure he will. hes a good kid. and im doing extremely well here. im now a district leader and its very humbling to help everyone. i gave 3 blessings in a 10 minute span last night. its pretty crazy. i love you and u all should write and not email. i can write every day but email only happens once a week. see ya!

Second:

Hey everyone!

   The mish is going great! i love being here with so many great people. i have two really good companions named elder layton and elder graft. theyre heading to the jamaica kingston mission. i think the hardest thing here is the schedule. i hate trying to fall asleep at 10:30. i feel like i should be tired since we go nonstop from six in the morning til then buutttt im not ha. the food is starting to taste exactly the same. it looks different but im pretty sure its exactly the same. every day. i cant wait to get to AZ!!! its gonna suck saying bye to graft and layton but theyve got people to serve in paradise. literally. anyways the place is great, the investigators are pretty solid as well, and the church is true. nuff said.

Elder Earl