Season 13 Episode 5, January 30, 2017

We have had a pretty cool week. Monday was as busy as can be. We met a few people out on the street and tried to find a new gator. It has been a tough go. But we found a couple of chill college kids. 

Tuesday we had exchanges. Literally no joke - all the plans we made have been changed. All of our lesson cancelled. So we just make shift went out tracting. It was kinda frustrating because we changed our plans to get people to those lessons. We moved everything to make them work and then they cancelled or fell through right before. But there is nothing you can really do. 

Wednesday 

We had a world wide missionary Broadcast. It was a really good meeting. So there were some really good insights on how to do and improve the work. They made some changes to the world wide missionary schedule. And then changed Pday to 8-6. Also we usually report numbers. We had nine key indicators to report but now there are four. So it is changing our focus to what really helps people be baptized. It was sweet. I wish these changes came like a year ago, but, what ever. Then after that my comp went to the temple with one of the people he was teaching. So I tripanioned for a little bit. Then we had some sweet lessons with some less actives. 

Thursday we had a meeting in Vancouver. It was a great meeting. We had a couple guys from the missionary department come. They showed us the insights on how to improve our planning. So that was really helpful because I have been working on that for a while now. It was kinda mind boggling. Very useful tips and tricks given to us. 

Friday we were able to put into practice the new steps of the new way to plan and it will work but it takes a lot of brain power. So we have to focus more in the planning. And we actually meet this way cool guy. He was from Africa. And we taught him a lesson on the street and then he asked if we could share more. So we were like, “Oh yeah!” We couldn't remember his name so we asked him and he said, "You can just put it under Three Point Shot." After a good laugh, we put it in our phones that way. Pretty funny for us for sure. 

Saturday-

We had a good lesson with some recent converts. Jessica - she is doing really well. She loves meeting with us and living the gospel. She still asks a bunch of questions. Then we had a lesson with Gen - she is from the Philippines. She went back to visit her family and have a trip down there. She just came back and has been gone for a long time. So it was nice to catch up and still see that she is doing well. 

Sunday's are the busiest days of the week. We were running from one thing to the next. We actually had a bunch of people come who we weren't expecting to be there  because we had some people inviting them to church. It felt like sort of a longer week. But it was a lot of fun. We are really trying to find some gators. It has been a process but we are getting there. 

I have learned a lot this week. The mission is a lot of fun.  It is tough too, but it is fun and definitely the most rewarding thing I have done.
Elder Astle

Weird street art, and Alex.....

Season 13 Episode 4 - January 23, 2017

Hey all it was a crazy good week. Pday last week wasn't all that fun since we still had a bunch of snow everywhere. 

Tuesday I went on exchanges with Elder Grasinger. It was a really awesome day. We got a call saying that our zone conference wasn't going to happen because of the snow and rain. We headed out and the temperature finally warmed up and the snow was going away. It was just straight slush. We went looking for a investigator and we just started knocking in the place they said. We didn't get the right address but we got the general location. It was a lot of fun. Then we headed to a less actives house. He does everything but come to church so we are figuring that out. It was a crazy day though.  The rain was freezing rain but it just melted everything. I think it defied physics.  Then we went out and institute was cancelled but we found three new gators in an apartment. That was sweet. 

So we had everything cancel which made me feel bad because every time we would call everyone it seems like we were the bearers of bad news. So we had a surprise zone meeting. We started with a little pancake breakfast that everybody brought a few things. Then went to a few interactive role-play type things that were a lot of fun. The reason we did that was because we wanted to motivate the zone.

Thursday we had our temple trip - that was really nice. I felt like a weight was taken off. It was a really good day. Not too much to much to say. 

Friday we had interviews. That was a good time. I love President. He is a really genuinely nice guy. We made sure everything was good and things went well. 

Saturday was a crazy day. We have been doing little challenges to motivate people and this one was talk to 15 people but mention baptism. It was fun. We went to an random apt complex and tried to find some YSA. It turns out we found a bunch of people. 

This week was really great.  Not too much time today to write, but I have learned a bunch.  Looking back 18 months ago and now, WOW!!! Makes me more and more grateful for the Restoration. It is awesome!

Elder Astle

Season 13 Episode 3

Wow it has been a crazy week. This last Monday we went ice skating. It was a lot of fun. And, I stayed up - for the most part. 

We will start this week with the HUGE storm that came this week. We had a district meeting and then went by a few people in the afternoon. Then after dinner it started snowing really bad. Like in an hour it went up to like 6 inches. Normally that wouldn't be a problem but because they don't salt the roads it becomes a sheet of ice. It was nuts. The locals haven't ever seen it before. So we came back and built a missionary snow man. 

Wednesday was a lot of fun. We went out and borrowed a few snow shovels and dug people out THE WHOLE DAY. It was a lot of fun we just went looking for little old ladies houses to shovel. It went really well. Then we got a ride out to an appointment with Jessica. She is doing really good  and progressing really well. 

Thursday we were on foot the whole day. And it was a little cold. It was fun talking to just about everyone, but it is really hard to get anywhere on foot  because our area is so big. So we do what we can. 

Friday was nuts. We had our weekly planning and we planned and got a ride to Jessica’s house. She told us that yesterday she got a call from her youth pastor. He said she was making the worst mistake of her life. That really really brought her down. So we really just had a pump up lesson with her. And we gave her a blessing. She was feeling really down. But she is still getting baptized. 

Saturday 

Mostly what happened today is Jessica got baptized! Wow it was a good one! She was so happy. She had her whole family there and they aren't members and were part of the opposition she had earlier. But her mom the whole time was crying and she definitely felt the spirit. It was a bunch of fun. She had a lot of support  so it was good. Man what a testimony builder! She has so much faith. She has changed everything in her life and this was something she was set about. The gospel has worked for her and it was a tough road  of late, but she got there because of the faith she has. It is sweet. 

This basically sums everything up! It has been a really good one. 

Elder Astle 

Season 13 Episode 2, January 9, 2017

This was a really good week. We have been hit with some really crazy weather. The last week was way cold. And then it snowed. The locals all say it doesn't usually do this. But it has the last few weeks. Then it turns into ice so nothing can really happen with our work.

Today was a blast!  We went ice skating. Last year we did that and we got a ton of passes. I am in the same car as I was 1 year ago. There were still a bunch of passes not used in this car. Score! But that was really fun. 

This week was a crazy one. We had a lesson at the temple with our investigator Jessica. She is getting baptized on Saturday !  There are usually sisters that take us around but they had a meeting. So she got a makeshift tour from us. Haha! It went well. It was really cold. Like the temperature was below 20 with the wind. On the ride back she hit us with a bunch of questions like 4 pages worth of them about 1 Nephi. She read the whole thing! We answered those and she brought up that it would be a financial blow if she got Sundays off. And we told her what she should do.  She told us later that she moved not only her work schedule but her class schedule for it. She has a bunch of faith. She now will not work any more on Sundays. It was a way cool experience. Then we had a lesson with her later in the week and we were planning on going over a few of the major things she has to know about her baptism - mainly tithing. She accepted everything. And said she already pays tithing. It was sweet. She has a lot of family opposition so she is showing even more faith. She is so ready. So prepared!

Another notable thing is that this week we had a stellar lesson with a less active. It was a breakthrough lesson. He has a lot going on and has been wanting to change and he is really coming around. It is sweet. Then the rest of the week we spent doing some reports. And the last few days have been grounded because of the storm. We hit the streets and started walking Saturday. It was way cold and snowing. We live like 3 miles from anyone so it is a bit a walk. But we found a sweet old lady and found a new investigator so it was worth it. 

Elder Astle

Season 13 Episode 1 - January 2, 2017

So this was a good week. It was kinda sad that we had transfers and Elder Johansen is leaving. I got Elder Thompson. He is actually a Spanish missionary so might get to learn some Spanish. He is from Star Valley, Wyoming. We came out in the same transfer. And it is already a bunch of fun. He is a wrestler and a hard worker. 

So the first few days of the transfer were pretty slow since we had only a few appointments. But nothing really happened. 

Wednesday we had the transfer and got things planned out for the transfer. There is this thing called Hawthorn’s law. It is basically saying that if you change up a few things, productivity increases. So we were thinking of different ways to mix it up. We also had a couple of lessons with some people - just some street lessons. 

Thursday we did some service down at The bishop’s storehouse. We washed the bins that they usually put the food in. And after we did that, we taught this way awesome guy.  He has family from Utah. And his family are members. We just called him and set it up. He is a way cool really sincere guy. The only down side is he lives outside of the mission. So bummer! But we will hand him over. Then we had sports night and we invited Alex, the guy we taught and he came. We only met him once and he came to sports night. 

Friday was a good day. We had a couple lessons fall through but we worked hard. We got stuck in major traffic. It was a rough go but we did what we could. Then later that day we went on a mini exchange because my comp and one of the Elders we live with headed up to Longview for a baptism. So I had a new comp for a night. We had a good lesson with this lady who seemed pretty solid. It was strange though - just the whole atmosphere was weird. 

Saturday we had a zone study that went really well. We got the missionaries pumped about the work. And then we had a lesson with this guy who just came from the Navy. He had seen some stuff so it is hard for him to have faith right now. It was a good lesson.  He was raised in the church and knew everything. Just a good reminder. Then we were just walking down the street and stopped this guy who turned out to be a less active member named John. We met him just coming from the gym and he was excited to see us because we didn't look 18 years old. He invited us into his apartment and we had a good talk with him for a little bit and then he asked if we had dinner plans and wanted to have us over for dinner. We didn't have dinner plans and he said he would definitely have us over. Wow what a miracle! It was some of the best spaghetti I have ever had. 

Sunday we actually had a church meeting for once. It is been a couple weeks since we've been to our ward. It went really well since we had a couple people come. Sundays here usually feel like we are running around with our heads cut off but it's good since they are mostly busy days. In the evening we were able to make contact with somebody we have tried to make contact with for a couple months now so that was awesome.

This was a good week and next week should be even better! 

Elder Astle