Mother's Day

Hello one and all!!

This week was a pretty good week! We were trying really hard to knock more doors this week because we have so many referrals that sometimes we forget to knock doors. However this week we improved.

Monday was preparation day and we went shopping. The rest of the day was spent emailing home and enjoying hearing from my family. Then we had a family home evening with of the members. We played red rover. We related that to our family history and how the line can be broken when a person doesn't know of the gospel and we need to go the family history work for them. We talked about temples and how we can do the work for them in the temples. Then we were taking the member home who had come with us to the lesson. On way to her house Erika, the less active, texted. So I felt prompted to go and visit her. So I told my companion once we dropped off the member. Not surprisingly the member lived a street over from Erika. I know God put us there so we could go and talk to her. So we went to her house and surprised them. We gave them a short lesson on prayers and the blessings of prayers. Then went home for the night.

Tuesday we had a bunch of appointments but most of them fell through so we spent most of the day knocking doors and trying to find anyone who would listen to us. We did have dinner at a members home that night. She made us a small meal and we gave a short lesson on the Spirit. The cool thing about Tuesday was because we were knocking so many doors we started making our prayers specific. We would decide how many people we wanted to talk to and we would ask in our prayer for the opportunity to talk to that many people. It was cool to see the Lord help us. One of the times we prayed to talk to 3 people and we found three people to talk to. Then we found another two people after that. The Lord really blessed us when we were specific on our prayers.

Wednesday was another slow day. We knocked quite a few doors. The exciting part was the rain coming down on us so hard. We had decided to find a referral so we knocked the door and the referral wasn't there. However the person who answered the door said she was a member and had moved to the states about a year ago from Ecuador but didn't know where the church was so hasn't gone. So cool to see how God guided us right to her. We hope to work with her more. At the same time we were talking to her it started to rain really hard. We went to knock doors in this pouring rain. It was coming down hard!! We were so wet and nobody let us in, probably because we looked awful. Later that night on our way home Hermana Williams decided to have a companionship interview with the cars Tiwi (which is a device that makes sure we don't speed or drive recklessly). Tiwi likes to tell her to check her speed more often than not. So she had an interview with him and expressed her feelings on how she didn't like how he was treating her. The only thing is I wish I had recorded it.

Thursday we had a lesson with a referral we had. We committed her to baptism so next month hopefully we will have a couple baptisms. Then we had a zone training. President Reynolds asked them to teach us this new prime time find in a way to find new investigators. Then we had a good lesson on the Atonement alongside being missionaries. It put a new twist on missionary life and I am excited to work harder and better. Then we had weekly planning. Then we had a lesson and our recent convert Anguie came with us as a member present. We are working with her to come out with us often which is exciting because she is so cute! Then we did our prime time find and got some more potential investigators.

Friday was a simple day. We finished up our weekly planning and some other things. Then we went home and made some dessert for our ward activity. Then we went to the church. I meet the senior couple who were going to conduct the fireside. They are from TEXAS!!!! I met Texans!! We talked Texas for the next 20 minutes. My companion thought we were crazy!! Plus she asked them some of the Texas facts I told her to make sure I wasn't crazy! Anyways then we had the ward activity which was family history. The less actives Caitlin and Lindsey were there. It was cool to see Caitlin so excited to do her family history work! She was all into it! She has been soaking up the gospel ever sense she got her hands back on it. She loves everything about the gospel and it makes me have a deeper gratitude and love for the blessings the gospel gives me and my family.

Saturday we had service in the morning on Fire Island. We were moving grass from the open area to a fenced off area for a  endangered species of bird. I didn't get to see any of the birds but it was so much funto be in the sand and by the waves. Oh how my companion wanted to go swimming. It was so much fun! Then we had a couple different lessons. I did some of the Mom's hair in our ward because we had a Mother's Day activity that night. The priesthood hosted a Mother's Day activity for the moms. They decorated the gym so well! They had tables set up with red table cloth and the chairs had chair covers on them. There was a dance floor. They did a get to know you game and a game for the moms. The youth and then the primary sang for them and gave their moms flowers. Then the priesthood served everyone food. Which by the way was so good!! Then we had a dance. Well the Hispanic kind of dance. It was so much fun to dance and laugh with our investigators and less actives. We had so many less actives and investigators there it was great!!

Sunday was Mother's Day as y'all know. We only had church for an hour because apparently most of the ward in the past would only go for one hour then go home to celebrate Mother's Day. So bishop just said we will make it only an hour to save everyone the trouble. Then we went to a members house to try and talk to her cousin who is an investigator. However we spent most of the hour and a half waiting for her because she was busy. So we finally left so we could go to the church and skype our families!! Oh it was so good to hear and see my family!! We had a great time talking and laughing and having fun!! I just love my family. Then we had dinner at a less actives house. She always makes good food!! It was so cute Hermana Williams asked if she had any good news for us and she got all excited! She graduated from high school last week!! Mind you she is a grandma!! It was so cute to see how excited she was and the new possibilities she has open for her. We are so excited for her!!

Well yesterday for my studies I read a talk from the Liahona. It was called "Come What May and Love it!" He says, "As we look for humor, seek for the eternal perspective, understand the principle of compensation, and draw near to our Heavenly Father, we can endure hardship and trial. We can say, as did my mother, “Come what may, and love it.”" I know from my life and here on a mission when we do these things we truly can find so much more good in our lives. I know that when we look for the positive and the good in everyday we will find more blessings everyday that God has given us!! I love this gospel and my Heavenly Father! I know my Savior lives and that he loves each and everyone of us!! I love y'all and I hope y'all have a good week!

Love
Hermana Ashford