Season 2 Episode 6, Alex mission letter 10-26-15

Dear family and friends,
(Mom notes in blue...)

So that is great to hear Allen is getting better. (Alex's Uncle Allen has been int he ICU for 4 weeks and is finally doing better.  Answered prayers and many miracles!) First things first.
I got it it was good. Perfect. (He is referring to the pizzas we sent last week, Alex loves a good pizza.) We got our transfer letters. They are shipping me out to the Alameda Portland ward. I am pretty much down town. I am going there with an Elder Moore. I heard it is like the
hood. So that is super cool. I am pumped to go there. The moda center (???)is in my area. Elder Jensen has to stay here. He is not that happy because they're splitting he area. So now it is the smallest area and there are two sets of missionaries here. This week was kinda slow. We started Tuesday off with a district meeting. Then after that we were scheduled to have a lesson with our
mission president. But it turns out our investigator went to the doctor instead of meeting with us. What a punk!  So we had to cancel on the Mission President. That kind of sucks because we are really excited to teach with President Taylor. Then later we met a new investigator who we are going to refer to the YSA. It was a long day.

Wednesday-
We were on exchanges with the district leader. I got to stay in our
area. I was on exchanges with Elder Bowden. We had a set lesson with
non-active member then she canceled on us and said she didn't want
anything to do with the church. Wednesday was a day full of canceling.
All of the set appointments that we had were canceled because of some
reason or another. We taught a lesson with Kim who is a less active
guy because he works at a old person home in his house. The bright
part about his day was we did service with a lady in the ward who is
going through some kind of cancer. We've helped her out in the past
and she's a really nice lady but she's struggling with her health so
that's why she doesn't come to church as much. We helped her build her
new mailbox because she couldn't put the piece in place. We had to
hammer it in for her.

Thursday-
We started off the day tracting. We found a couple of new
investigators. It was kind of weird because we didn't get her name. We
were about to then she ran off to pet dog. Then we met some guy who
only speaks Spanish. That was very fun trying to figure out what to
say to this guy. I was able to get his name and tell him that we were
missionaries. We went over to teach a family who is just moved into
the ward. There are less active family and are working to trying come
back to church. We visited them with a member of the elders quorum
presidency. The wife really wants to come back, but the husband
doesn't want to change his ways. After dinner we went and tried to
visit some less actives. We didn't talk much because it seems like
every single person was watching the stupid football game. (Alex is calling a football game “stupid” !  Wow! He’s focussed in on the work! :)

Friday-
Friday started as usual with a weekly planning session. Those usually
last a couple hours. After we plan we go and teach a lesson active
lady. We have been teaching her for a few weeks now. And this week we
taught her about the law of tithing. This lady is been to the bottom
of the bucket most of her life. She is had a really tough go of things
and is trying to get back. She's been a member of her whole life but
she didn't understand the doctrine.
Saturday-
We went to an apartment complex because we had a lesson there. Then
that person wasn't there so we knocked on some doors in the area.
Knocking on apartments on a Saturday is crazy. We got a bunch of
people to answer the door. We went and talked to some people who were
totally wasted. It was really funny because we were knocking on the
door and one of them started singing "knock knock knocking on Satan's
door". They weren't interested but it was still funny. We talked some
new potential investigators. One of them was a lady who would be a
really solid investigator but we can't schedule an appointment with
her. Other one of them was a really nice guy we ended up teaching him
the first lesson at the doorstep. He was really active in his
church.after that we headed over to a less active's house to do some
service. We didn't really do very much because they forgot to call us.
Then we came home and helped the Arnetts with their kitchen. Their
dishwasher was leaking and it was leaking for a while so I had to rip
up the carpet's in the floors.
Sunday-
Sunday was a really awesome day. The Evergreen ward had their primary
program. It was a really good program. They sang a song at the end
that made almost every person cry. They had a little three-year-old
sing the last verse of the song. After dinner we went and knocked on
some doors. We met two new investigators. One of which is a really old
guy who grew up Catholic. We were talking to him and he was very
interested in what we had to say. He said he was a truck driver for a
long time and one time he was in Utah and saw the Salt Lake City
temple. He said it was one of the most beautiful buildings he has ever
seen. So we taught him the first lesson. We left him with a Book of
Mormon and temple pass along card.


✌Elder Astle 👊fist bump

Season 2 episode 5, Oct 19, 2015

Monday

Our p-days usually consist of us playing sports at the stake center. So we haven't been able to go any where else. We have to get permission from the AP’s because our zone is the smallest zone in the mission. We are in the city so there isn't that much real close by. I am not sure if some of the missionaries here just are not good a basketball or I am just better. Probably both, in all honesty. We play a lot of  scatterball. That is like a free for all dodgeball game. It is really fun. I usually go for the machine gun technique. Just get a ball and throw it as fast as you can back and get it throw it. It is a good strategy. We have a trophy I pulled out of the church dumpster. Haha I glued a little toy on it. It is now the championship trophy. Haha it was preventing the dumpster from closing. So I thought it would be funny to bring to p day.

A trophy we found in the trash and it is now the dodgeball
trophy. Whoever wins gets it. We glued Alex the lion on and wrote the words...

Tuesday-

We had a pretty good day. We had a district meeting and afterward we went to find some new people. We had a lesson with a kid whose grandma is a less active member and grandpa is not interested at all. He is a really good kid. We taught him the restoration. The best part of this lesson is that grandma is wanting to come back. It awesome. She said she would read with him and go to church with him. We have a lesson coming  up tomorrow with him. We are actually teaching him with our mission president. He said he had an open month. And so he wanted to come to lessons with us. Then later that night, we taught a lady who is on the verge of being a less active. She has a bunch of little boys. We taught them a restoration lesson with an object lesson. We compared it to a

Rubik's cube.

Wednesday nothing really happened.

Thursday

This was one of those days that you don't like. Everything went wrong. Our teaching appointments canceled, and we got dropped by an investigator. We had another lesson cancel. Then through all the chaos. We went to this guy’s house because we are looking for his wife. He had a Christian background. He just recently joined another church. We taught him about the restoration. This is where it gets cool. He was reading the epistle of James that morning, the same scripture as Joseph Smith. He was really interested then when we told him that.

Friday

Friday was a pretty cool day.  We first got a lesson with a less active member who has been struggling really bad with the word of wisdom. We taught her the word wisdom and it went pretty well. Then we had a service project later that night.  We served food to some old people at a concert. It was kind of a weird service project but it was helpful to be able to get our name out there.

Saturday

This day was long. We had a long day tracting that didn't give us much success. We knocked on a lot of doors and we did not get a lot of doors answered so it was long and kind of sucky. We found a couple new gators but the overall the day was a really long day.

That is the week.

Love you all

✌Elder Astle {fist bump}

Here I am getting ready for the day...Mom note: His clothes are hanging in the closet!!! On hangers!!! YES!!!

Zone BBQ

 A zone BBQ

Kitchen remodel, or maybe a flood??? No caption...

All he said is our kitchen...looks not good...

Not sure what is happening here, other than this is classic Alex!

Season 2 episode 4, 10-12-15

It is awesome that Uncle Allen is getting better! It didn't sound too good earlier, It’s great to hear he is on his way back. Kori, no surgery is good. Tell her to rub some dirt on it and get back out there. Haha! It is nice it is only the MCl that was hurt.  The ACL is risky business.  Kylee, I am glad that you are playing lacrosse and are doing so well. That is a tough sport. Kelsey, are you still clearing the roads when you drive? How is the new swimming coach? 

This week was pretty slow, for a while.

Monday

We teach this less active family on Monday evenings. We did a pretty cool object lesson with a Rubik's cube. We compared it to the restoration of the gospel. It went good. We are going to use that later when we are teaching little kids with their families. Then we went to contact a referral we got from headquarters. It was a Russian family. They didn't speak any English. So that is nice, since we don’t speak Russian. We can't communicate very well.

Tuesday

We tracted a bunch and taught a really less active family. It was a bad week for use teaching a lot of lessons at first. 

Wednesday

We were on exchanges with our district leader. I have discovered that car areas are nice. You drive to your appointments. You can be more effective.

Thursday

This was a sweet day. We had an awesome zone meeting. Got a lot out of it. The basic message was how to make planning and your studies more effective. It was really good. Then after we taught a less active guy. He is less active because he works as a CNA sort of thing. He has an adult care place now at his home. We finally were able to get him at church. Then later we had to stop by a lady we got referred to from the relief society president. She just wanted to see how she was doing. We did a quick door step visit and lesson and she told us her awesome conversion story. She isn't less active, she’s just been gone for a couple of weeks. Then we knocked on another lady's apartment. We have literally tried there like 20 times. She was really interested but it was a really fast doorstep lesson the first time. Then we have been going over to her house for a long time when we are close to the area.  She finally was home so we taught her again on the door step. She was interested and we invited her to baptism right there she said she would. Wow! On the doorstep! Persistence pays off! 

Then we taught a family that just barely moved into the ward. He is a great guy just doesn't come. Haha he moved in about a block from the church. He knows that too. They were really hoping for a visit from us so we felt inspired to go over.

Friday and Saturday were both pretty slow. 

Love,

✌Elder Astle (fistbump)

He included a random video of a dog jumping at a fence, I will figure out how to post it later.

His captions are not coming through, so, his district? At Cafe rio?

Season 2, episode 3 Alex's letter 10-5-15

Hey.
I now have an iPad that works. I am now efficient again.

Tuesday
We did some service for a lady who just recently beat breast cancer. We moved her fridge for her  so she could sweep and mop under it. Then we Paul Bunioned some wood for her. We cut and moved it across her yard so she could use it for the wood burning stove. It took us like Fifteen minutes to get it all done.

Wednesday
This is one of the funniest things that have happened so far. We were walking through this woodland path and we ran into this pot circle. Haha there was like ten of them. We were walking past and the first thing they asked was,  “Do you want to smoke weed?” Then right after they asked, "Who are you guys?" We said, "We are the missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. " We talked to them for a little bit. Then they asked us if we party and we said no. But there were a few of them that were interested. We gave out three Books of Mormon. While we were leaving we said if they were interested that we could continue our discussion later. They said, “Oh we will be here tomorrow.”
Then we taught Alex T the last part of the Plan of Salvation lesson. He is a recently baptized member.

Thursday
We taught Tim who is one of our good gators. He is the one that is completely bed ridden. We taught about baptism and put him on date. We are not sure if or how this will work. But, with faith in the Lord anything is possible. We are not sure how to proceed.  Then we were at a lesson with one of the these less actives that we have been working with for a while. She is a talker so her lessons last a very long time. We also taught this family that just recently started coming back but then they stopped going to church. They are frustrating because we call to set up an appointment, then they make excuses and cancel. They were saying they don't have time to read the scriptures. They said this while they were watching TV. I straight up told them if there is time to watch TV there is time to read the scriptures. We told them it doesn't have to be very long, just every single day.

Friday
We taught a less active guy who is like 90 and is a war vet. He is way cool and has great stories. He really is less active just because he is old.

Saturday
We started of the conference weekend with a zone breakfast at one of the stake presidency members. We had some homemade Marion berry jam. That is the best jam ever! Then we watched conference with them. It was a great session. Some really powerful talks. Then we went to another members home for the next session. It was also a great session. But the highlight for me was the priesthood session. We watched it with a member who had his nephew who isn't a member watching some with us. He is now a great new investigator.

Sunday
We watched conference with some members. They wanted us to come for breakfast. So naturally we did. Guess what they had? Pull-a-parts! Oh yeah! So good!  That was a good session as well. I really enjoyed Conference! I don’t know if I have a favorite talk. They were all good, I guess.

Love,
Elder Alex Astle

We have pull-a-parts every conference, so this felt like a little bit of home to Alex!

Snail mail letter 10-1-15

Alex’s latest letter, 

Snail mail, received 10-1-15

Hey!

I am going to do this the old school way like I said in the email.  I tried to update to the new software for my ipad.  The new updates prevent me from rotating my screen. I have called a few places that fix broken cellphones and tablets and they gave me a rate that wasn’t worth spending.  I thought it might be a good bet until they told me that it wasn’t guaranteed.  So I prayed about it and I am going to play it safe and not take the gamble, so whatever you did before to get me and ipad, you will probably have to do it again.  *Mom note: we got his new ipad this week and have sent the receipt to the mission office.  Hopefully this takes care of the ipad issue and Alex keeps it FAR away from water. 

This week was really busy, we had a lot going on.

Tuesday

On Tuesday we had a district meeting. This is where we meet to discuss business items and have a little training.  We were looking at our district’s numbers/  My area had 80% of the numbers, which wasn’t good.

Wednesday

Our teaching pool is very small. This last week we only had like three scheduled lessons.  So we went out and are trying to find some really solid people to teach.  We found a really good one.  We tracted into her and she was very familiar with the church.  Her neighbor is a member so we are going to try to have the neighbor attend the lesson.  Also, we are going to try to have the lesson in the member’s home because that is such a better experience for the investigator because it will be more likely to lead to a baptism.  The members are really the most important tool.  All the referrals that we have gotten have been people who are golden (really receptive and ready to convert) and are ready for baptism.  Later this day we taught a recent convert, Alex T.  He is hard to teach because he is a high functioning kid, but he has a little mental disability.  In order to teach him, we have to simplify it down as well as keep him interested.  We have to break up the lessons and teach him slower than the other people, but it is good to go slow.  It is better he understands it than that we get through a lesson.

Thursday

Thursday we had a long day of visiting people.  We were given a large list of people the bishop wanted us to go see.  We were trying to see them before Friday.  We have been doing that for a couple of days now.  We have the privilege of going on splits with our ward mission leader.  (He is the big guy in the picture, the really tall one.)  We wanted to stop by a lady who we visited once.  We haven’t been able to go by and see her again because she is having some problems with her health.  IT turns out that we felt like we should go see her and she was actually going to call us to ask for some help doing things around the house. So we felt the prompting to go there and she needed our help.

Friday

We had an awesome Friday!  We started out with Crystal’s baptism.  The other set of Elders called us and said they had to move her date to Friday.  So, we headed over to a baptism.  She was so nervous.  I don’t think I have ever seen anyone so nervous.  There really weren’t very many people at the baptism.  We had only a few from our ward and only a few from their ward.  That is partially because of the weird time it was at.  In the end it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  She doesn’t do well in large crowds, so it was actually good that not very many people were there.  It was a great baptism.  Her longtime friend baptized her and as well he was the one who had led us to her. We were also able to participate in the circle where she received the Holy Ghost.  Super Cool!  After that, we did some tracting in some apartments.  We ended up finding two new people to teach within five feet of each other.  That was a pretty sweet way to end the day, picking up some new gators.  Those people we found came after some crazy opposition.

Saturday

We met another really good potentially golden investigator.  He is a really nice guy and was willing to have us come back and teach him.  We also met this way crazy old lady.  She had some Jehovah’s Witnesses come by and she thought they were Mormons. She asked us if the book they left was ours and it wasn’t.  We told her it was a Jehovah’s Witness Bible.  She then said this: “Jehovah’s Witness! I thought they were Mormon!  I have to give this to Goodwill!” (That is their version of the DI) So at this point we were laughing because she doesn’t like them, but she loves us.  It was so funny!

Sunday

We had lots of meetings and attended Crystal’s confirmation.  We never have a lot of time on Sundays to do anything because of meetings and church.

I hope next time I can get my Ipad back and don’t have to write another letter.  Hope you can read my scribbles!

Love Elder Alex Astle