North Carolina In December 

I am going to make this one a little shorter I think because we are going to be talking on Thursday and I AM SO BEYOND EXCITED I CAN BARELY HANDLE IT!

For a specific time that I am going to be Skyping, here it is!

Sister Burrows and I call about 12:15 your time.  So what I am going to do is call you on our cell phone, then I am going to set up the Skype call with either Mom, Dad, or Beth.  (Whoever you want!)  Then we will have about an hour to talk!  I hope you got my email earlier about the Skype question.  You sent me the username and password for one account, which is great!  But I am going to need you to send me the username for the account that I am supposed to be calling on Thursday because you can't operate a two-way call on the same account.   Please and Thank You!

Speaking of Presents... I LOVE THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS THAT YOU GUYS SENT ME THIS YEAR!  They were so creative!  I think one of our favorite things was the tags that you put on them.  We were laughing soo hard every time we got to open a new one.  I laminated them by hand with packing tape and I am keeping them!  By the way - Yes I received Grandma and Grandpa Deinstadt's second package as well as their Christmas Package and the cash. Tell Grandma and Grandpa D – Thank You.  Oh!  Will you let the Wharton's know that I got their card as well?  The pictures are priceless!  I love them!  Tell them thank you for me!  Will you also call Rich and Pam and tell them that I got their package?  It was so sweet of them to send a nativity and table runner and I LOVE THEM!  

So I take it that shopping went well?  You'll have to tell me what you got them.... or send me pictures of everything after they have opened it, along with the Christmas tree

Good luck to Beth on the Wisdom Teeth!  It is now a contest.  Let's see whose recovery was worse.  Keep in mind that I was eating whole food and up and moving around in 4 days.  Just saying... haha Jk!  But in all seriousness.. I hope everything goes well kiddo and take as long as your body needs to recover because it isn't fun.  :(

You can send the letters to anyone you want to!  (With the exception of a few.. and I don't even have to say it, mom.  You already know.)  Past that, I don't care who it goes to, and HI EVERYBODY!  haha

Good luck with catching up on the blog by the way.  Hope it isn't too hard for you.  If you have to make the posts a little bit smaller for the last few weeks... do it!  But make sure you're putting pictures on there for me!  Thanks mom!  Love you!

I am glad that my plaque looks good!  I am excited to receive it when I get home!  Sister Burrows' leg is doing a lot better.  Now it's just a little pink rather than all gross and cut up.  I haven't had to go on splits without her yet, although she did get super sick last night because she is exhausted and wasn't able to function.  She started to get a fever and a cough.  But I just made her go to bed for a few hours and we are taking it easy today so that it doesn't relapse.

If I am her companion till the end of her mission, I will make positively sure she finishes with a BANG!  Because that is definitely what I want to do!  So, no worries.  By the way, reminding me that you were sick with amoebas reminded me that my situation is not bad at all. 

Okay so here it goes, but it'll be short.  Mostly because we had to update the iPad area books this week and all of our previous plans were deleted.  So that's always fun.  

Monday-

We went shopping with Sister H to get some essentials, the elders Christmas presents, etc.  (I may be sending some things home periodically throughout my mission because if there is one thing I have undoubtedly learned from Sister Burrows, it's that you should never wait until the last moment to send everything home.)  It is going to cost her anywhere from $20-$200 to send all of the stuff home that she has accumulated throughout her mission.  Geez!  So I may be sending one home after Christmas... and it may include something from NC if I can get it to stay good that long.  Then we came home from shopping, ate some taco soup that was probably one of the hottest things I have ever put into my mouth.  Did you know that corn soaks up spice?  Me neither.  Brother H was practically crying because it was so hot.  He got 4 glasses of water.  haha  Then we went to teach some investigators with her and went home for the night.

Tuesday-

We think that we woke up, planned, went to check Facebook, had lunch, did a few hours of finding, and then we headed to King to get some dinner at a place called Dairie-O's.  Yes, it sounds like a cereal brand, but it is comparable to Dariy Queen.  So we ate that while we were fixing the areabook with the Library's free wifi (Yay for being a missionary and stealing free internet use!).  Then we tried to drive around and go caroling to some of the less-actives in the ward.  Unfortunately, none of them were home or we got lost without a GPS.  So we went back to the library and waited for the Elders to call us for the split lesson that we were supposed to do at 8.  They met us there and we all drove to her house, sang Joy to the World, and taught her about the importance of prayer and how we need to turn to the Lord in time of stress and need.  We also met her son and he is HILARIOUS!  But those are stories for another time!  haha  Then we headed home and went to bed.

Wednesday-

We went up to Holly Springs that day because we had a lunch appointment, after we got up and did studies, with a member.  She is the sweetest thing.  She doesn't like to cook and she usually doesn't even sit at the table with us while we were eating.  So, bless her heart, the woman went to Wendy's and bought us lunch and brought it home. 

Thursday-

We got up, planned, ate lunch, and hit finding HARD that day.  We are trying so hard every day to find what President Craven calls, "the Elect."  They are hiding from us though.  haha  That night, we went to a member home for dinner.  We went to the N's that night.  They are so beyond funny.  We talked about how the work is going, etc.  Then their daughter wanted to bring a Christmas tree to her uncle and cousins because they weren't going to be able to have one this year.  So we helped them devise a plan and commended them on their service opportunity.  Then we went home, Sister Burrows got an amazing blessing from the Elders because she was having a hard day, and we went to bed.

Friday-

We had to wake up really early and get ready to go to Zone Conference in Winston-Salem.  By the time we got there, most of the seats were taken by the sisters.  And since Elders and Sisters can't sit together, we had to be the cool missionaries and create our own row behind the AP's.  haha  Overall, the meeting was really great!  Except for the fact that I couldn't fall asleep till 2 the night before and I was unbelievably tired.  And it was a 7-hour meeting!  Yay for missionaries!  haha  But it wasn't that bad because in that 7 hours, we also had lunch and played a huge game of Jeopardy for our "Christmas Party" which had all the categories set as things from our mission and mission guidelines.. fun right? Then we headed home and got home just in time to go to the member's house for dinner.  That was a great night!  And to finish it, she gave us each a cookie basket!  WE HAVE SOOOO MUCH FOOD!  But like President Craven said, this is really the only area that happens in, so enjoy it now!  After dinner, we went to Choir Practice for the rest of that night because we had to get ready to sing the Cantata that we sang on the 5th in church on Sunday.  Then we sent a couple of emails, went home, planned, and went to sleep.

Saturday-

We woke up, planned, went to see one of our potential investigators, had lunch, and had another HUGE DAY OF FINDING!  We went out and did street contacting.  Then when that didn't work, we went door knocking.  Then when that didn't work, we decided to add Caroling in with it.  Miracle Story:  We were going door to door caroling and talking about He Is The Gift.  We were about to pass this one house because it didn't look like they were home.  Sister Burrows was leaving it up to me that night where we went, so I was just going to pass on it.  We got to about the middle of their yard and decided "Why the heck not?"  So we went up to the door, knocked, and began singing Joy to the World.  The utter shock on her sons face was priceless.  I'd say he was about 15.  So he called his mom and sister over and they were also shocked.  The daughter (who I would say is about 20) asked if we were cold and the mom invited us in.   We started talking and she said that her best friend growing up was Mormon and that it left a lasting impression on her.  We decided to show them He Is The Gift.  By the end of the video and our testimonies, they were in tears.  Stephanie asked us to come back whenever we wanted to.  So we set a return appointment for today and they said that they were so excited that they were going to make rice crispy treats.  However, something came up today, so we are actually going to go back on Friday once everything from Christmas calms down for her.  So I'll have to let you know how it goes next week.  If they get baptized, I am going to call them my "What If" family. After that, it was getting really late so we headed home, planned, and went to bed.

Sunday-

We woke up, went to church a little later because our meetings for the morning were cancelled, sang the cantata and finished up the meetings.  Like I said earlier, Sister Burrows wasn't feeling good yesterday, so most of the day yesterday and today was spent with her sleeping and me doing whatever.  I am in the process of transferring all of my notes to my lds.org account and so I can email them to you so you can read them.  You'll really like it I think.

Just remember that I love you all sooooo much!  I will talk to you on Thursday and I will look for your reply letter tonight.  

LOVE YOU GUYS TONS!  TALK TO YOU SOON AND HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Ash

Cherrywine - 

That is what it is called !!! 

 It's great and there is no alcohol !!!

So on Monday-

We woke up, did studies, relaxed for a little bit, went to clean the car, and emailed.  After we emailed, we had to go down to King for the Zone Activity.  We basically went down to a big park/field like last time and played ultimate Frisbee and football.  They tried to get me to play, and I really wanted to, but I didn't want to mess up my ankle even more.  :P  So I just sat and took pictures.  We were only there for a little while before we had to go home, wash the car, go shopping, and go to dinner.  After getting all our chores done, (meaning we had to clean the house as well so that we could get sprayed for bed bugs on Thursday), we headed to dinner with  Sister H (Sister H's sister) and her best friend Sister S.  We went to Rigatoni's.  Then we went to go street contacting and try to see our investigator, but she wasn't home.  So at 9:00 we headed home, planned, and went to bed.

On Tuesday-

We woke up and got ready to go into Winston-Salem for my doctor's appointment with Dr. Biggerstaff for my ankle.  Turns out, the guy is a Mormon because the staff recognized us and he walked in and told us that the G's in our ward are his in-laws.  haha  Small world.  He looked at my ankle and said that he didn't want to do an MRI.. it wasn't quite that bad, but he did want more x-rays done.  It is definitely a high ankle sprain, not a regular one.  This is why it is taking so long to heal and it's swollen all the time.  So he put me in a lace-up brace for the next month.  Problem is, when I put my shoe back on, it wouldn't fit.  So we had to go buy me more boots so that I wouldn't freeze, and could still wear the brace.   The doctor said if it doesn't get any better by the first of the year, he will want to look at it and discuss surgery depending on the severity.  But he HIGHLY doubts that.  So no worries.  The other problem is, transfer meeting is on the 30th of this month.  So what the Cravens want to do is just send me to a different doctor in my new area if it so happens that I do get transferred.  Then we came back and went street contacting for a few hours, had dinner, went street contacting... i think?, got our mattresses moved out of our apartment because they had bugs (YAY!), gave the car to the Elders, planned, and went to bed.

On Wednesday-

We got up, planned, went to the library to grab the wifi to check Facebook, but got turned around due to construction, so we street contacted all the way home.  Then we ate lunch, and went street contacting all over Pilot on foot.  Fun Fact: It takes us 45 minutes to walk to our church building, but 3 minutes to drive.  Weird, right?  Then I got a blessing from Elder H and Elder E.  Partially because Elder H worries about me a lot and it was to help him just as much as it was to help me.  He asked if I had a specific question I wanted answered, which he knew I did.  But I said no, because I think of it like a birthday wish.  If you say it out loud, it won't come true.  And it definitely came true.  I have an extremely strong testimony of priesthood blessings because of my mission.  I always looked at it as encouraging words that the power of the priesthood brought about, but it is indeed God talking straight to the person receiving the blessing, and even the person giving it as well.  In the blessing, it said that I would be okay and gave me a few reasons as to why I am here.  When it said I would be okay, the Elders calmed down, and I took away the reasons that I am here.  It was great.  We think that Elder H may become the next District Leader, but we will see.  Then we went out to dinner at Cousin Gary's... another restaurant, and went to the church to help decorate for the activity on Friday. They really needed our help.  Without it, I really don't know if everything would have gotten set up for Friday.   haha  A member offered us to go get us milkshakes from Aunt Bee's and bring them back for us.  That was really sweet.  We then went home, planned, and went to bed.

On Thursday-

Apart from the fact that we got our apartment sprayed for bugs this morning... YAYAYAYAYAY!  We had planned to walk across the bridge.  Keeping in mind that this would take us 4 hours just to walk there and back, we weren't sure if we could pull it off because we didn't have that much time.  Ends up that we made it to McDonald's, ate some lunch, tried to update our iPads with the wifi, and just walked other areas of Pilot, we didn't have time.  Just as I suspected!  ;)  Then we went to dinner at Sopper's with the J's.  I figured out the trick with that place!  Then we went to iron tablecloths for Friday.  Then we went grabbed the car back, went home, planned, and went to sleep.  We got the car back because...

On Friday-

We woke up, finished personal study, and had to head to Winston-Salem for Zone Meeting.  It was really good, but we kind of felt chastised the whole time because of all the business items.  They (the Cravens) are really cracking the whip because they are leaving in July and they want to be able to fix everything that is wrong with the mission by the time they leave.  Even though there really isn't anything wrong.  Also, I have a secret that I will tell you later in the letter that is kind of freaking President Craven out.  Btw... he came to talk to us one on one on Saturday and said that you wrote him a letter the other week?  Why?  What did it consist of?  That makes me nervous.. haha  Anyway, then we went out to lunch at Panera Bread with Sister G and Sister A from Stuart, Virginia.  Sister G was one of the original three sisters in Pilot.  I adore her.  We then went back to Pilot, talked to D M and tried to get her and her mother to come that night to the program, but they didn't feel good.  Then we went to practice for Come Let Us Adore Him.  The practice was not good !  Everyone sounded bad  and I was super stressed.  So we finished practice, went to mingle for a few minutes, said hi to President and Sister Craven, and went to sit down.  The Methodist choir performed first, which was amazing!  After they finished, the pianist needed a seat, so Brother H gave her his.  So nice of him!  But then he didn't have a seat.  So I told him to sit down by me.  Then the Presbyterian choir performed.  Which was also amazing, then us.  We got up there and as soon as we opened our mouth, you could tell that legions of angels were helping us, we sounded UNBELIEVABLE!  Seriously.  Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the live Nativity, but I will send you pictures of it when people post them.  We then got to go see all the many Nativity sets that were displayed in the relief society room, and go mingle while everyone was having refreshments.  The Elders handed out about 50 pass along cards for He Is The Gift, and we were just cordial and made new acquaintances.  We went way over time that night, so we headed home about 9:45 and went to bed.

On Saturday-

We woke up, did studies, went walking for a little bit because Sister B and I were having a morning.  President and Sister Craven always come talk to the missionaries when they are in their specific area, but I got nervous, which kind of irritated her.  We were also trying to plan out how many people want us over for Christmas, so we were stressed.  We walked around and came back to talk to them.  We just talked about the area, our health, our studies, and our relationships with others.  It was a nice talk.  We went street contacting in the rain for a few hours and then came home, got dried off, and went to Cousin Gary's again with another member.  We then caught the end of the Pilot Mtn. Parade, went home, got our coats, and tried to go see C.  Again... unsucessfully.  She wasn't home.  So we went home, made up some planning, and went to bed.

Now Sunday Morning-

We are getting ready to get picked up by a member for ward council right?  We walk out of the apartment, and for some silly reason, Sister B decided that she wanted to make a dramatic entrance into the member's car.  She decided to (ever so gracefully) trip over her own foot, off the curb, and slide a few feet on the concrete.  SIDE NOTE: I DO NOT do blood.  Even though it was only a little bit, I was on the verge of passing out all day long.  She got scraped up a little, but the lady in our ward that helped her, because I was going to pass out, said it was nothing serious.  I will attach pictures below.  So we made it to church, got into sacrament meeting, she felt something hot and sticky on her leg, and found out that she had bled through all the bandages.  SHE NEVER STOPS BLEEDING I SWEAR!  haha  But she is okay.  We rebandaged it and we are going to the store to get her more stuff soon.  We went to lunch after choir, to the B's, who live all the way in Germanton.   After that, we spent a few hours trying to round up people to go to the Christmas Devotional.  Did you guys watch it?  It was amazing!  If you didn't, get on and watch.  We were kind of irritated though because President said that we could only go if we got people to come with us.  Sister B and I got two families there, Elders H and E got two families there, and the other Elders came with no one. 

This morning:  P-day

We have been taking it really easy because of Sister B’s leg and my ankle, so we took a much needed nap after planning, ate lunch, and came to email.  She is going home in February, so she is going to the local t-shirt shop by her house and is going to make me, her boyfriend, his brother, and her all shirts that say "I take naps on P-Days".  hahaha  It'll be great.

Okay.  Now for the fun stuff.

The secret I had earlier was that... ELDER D. TODD CHRISTOFFERSON IS COMING TO WINSTON-SALEM TO TALK IN STAKE CONFERENCE!  We are kind of beyond excited.  It is a treat alone to get a member of the 12 and of the 70 to come to your mission, but he has personal ties to North Carolina because he lived and worked here in Charlotte in Law for a while.  It should be amazing.  So we are going down for the mission conference on Saturday morning where he wants to personally meet all the missionaries in the mission, the adult session on Saturday night, and the stake conference on Sunday morning with the M's.  Isn't that great??????  I'm really excited!

I am so excited for the magnets!  I will take pictures of them and show you!  Thank you all so much for making those for me!  They will really help people.  I am going to try my hardest to give them away to what President Craven calls "the elect".  Because I don't want to give them to just anyone who will probably throw them away.  You know?  I may give a few to a few members, but we'll see.  I will definitely show them the message that you put on the back whether it is a member or a non-member.  I really love that you guys are focused on what you can do for others this Christmas.  Of course, enjoy the presents and other things, but I only hope that you are getting the blessings that I am getting from my mission.  I love the fact that I get to help out the people of Pilot 24/7.  I want to hear more stories of how you have been able to help people out

Whatever else you want to include in the Christmas Package is up to you!  Btw... yes - please open the package I sent you.  It has instructions in there on what to do with the ornaments as well as anything about my ankle that I may have forgotten.  I love your spiritual thought for this week.  I challenge each of you to keep sharing the He Is The Gift video with as many people as you can this week and invite the spirit and Christ into as many homes as possible this Christmas season.  I love you all more than you can even imagine!  It is unfathomable... literally!

Loves and Hugs!

Ashley

 Happy 

Thanksgiving November 2014

Hey!  How are you guys?

Like you read in the title, I HIT MY TWO-MONTH MARK TODAY!!!  Who knew I could really do it?  haha  Just kidding.  I knew I would be able to.  And according to Sister B's.  My first three months of hell is almost over.  haha  She says that every missionary goes through a hard 3 months before anything gets better.  So I'm two-thirds of the way done with that.  :)  YAY! 

So on Monday -

We woke up, did some studying, were planning on cleaning the house... which we didn't get to, because both of us passed out instead.  We don't get it.  When we typically get more sleep here than we do at home... why are we more tired?  It makes ZERO SENSE!  haha  So after we emailed you, we basically just went shopping, cleaned a little bit, and then went to dinner with the Relief Society President and her husband.  We have been telling all the members that are feeding us that I am allergic to bell peppers in general just so we can avoid that problem again all together.  But... she thought we just meant RED bell peppers.  So she cooked green ones into the spaghetti and put orange ones in the salad.  Her cute husband was sitting there the whole time saying, "You don't have to eat them.  I tried to warn her.  Please don't eat them.  I would feel bad."  So I didn't.  I just pulled them to the side and ate everything else.  She is part Italian, so it was REALLY REALLY GOOD SPAGHETTI!   Then we were going to go see our investigator but she had a 103 fever.  Ugh... pray for the poor girl.  Satan is really really working hard on her because she is sooooo close to baptism.  So I believe that night we went to try to teach some facebook lessons and went to bed.

On Tuesday -

We finished up studies and then went to walk to the library for some wifi because we were low on miles.  And it decided to rain that day.  Oh joy!  But on the way to the library, we had a recent convert call us and ask if the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon were excommunicated.  For future reference, I HATE WIKIPEDIA!  I guess she got on facebook and her friend linked it and she freaked out.  So we had to look it up a bit.  I knew the correct answer and that two of them did return to the church, but she wanted to know why they were excommunicated.  So we got to explain that.  Then we had a couple of hours of unsuccessful street contacting.  Which, I don't blame the people for.  If it were me, I wouldn't be walking the streets in the rain in the middle of winter either.  haha  But we love showing Heavenly Father that we are willing to do the work rain or shine!  After we got home and dried off a bit, we went to dinner with the S's.  We went to a place called Rigatoni's. .  Then we went to Food Lion and Sister S bought us some groceries and invited us over for Thanksgiving.  She said she really must like me.  Sister S isn't a member, but her husband and two boys are.  But she goes every week, so maybe we are making progress.  We'll see.  I'll keep you updated.  She has started coming in the doors where we greet people at church just so she can see us.  YAY!  Then we went street contacting and went home.. yes again unsuccessful.

On Wednesday-

We finished planning and studying, then we made lots of calls to the mission office, members, investigators, etc.  We had to call the mission office that morning because I discovered some little friends on Tuesday night before bed … BED BUGS!  Are you freaking kidding me?  haha  I stripped my bed as soon as I could blink and threw everything in the washer.  I made a make-shift bed out of the couch cushions only to find out from Elder Hunt the next morning (because he was an exterminator on the side at home) that the cushions probably had them too.  I have to admit... I kind of thought they weren't real.  I thought they were something that parents tell their kids about when they're going to bed to freak them out.  It worked.  The good part is, I convinced them to get rid of both of our mattresses and get us new ones.  And Elder H is going to come spray all of our carpets and walls.  YAY!  haha  We spent all that day cleaning as much as we could.  Then we went to the M’s for dinner.  She is so sweet Mom.  I believe that she has called you already about Christmas, but if she hasn't, she is planning on spending all day long with us.  She isn't going to let us proselyte that day because she wants to make it really special.  We are going to plan, skype with our families (which I will address at the end of the email), eat, and go caroling and play games all night after we open presents.  They are great!  Their son D said this to her after she told him we were coming on Christmas.  "They are going to have a present to open... right?  You would be a pretty crappy replacement mom if they didn't have something to open."  haha  You would really love her too Mom!  Her name is J and I believe she called you already because she called Sister B's mom.  By the way... how often do you two talk?  It's not a problem.  We are just curious because her mom always mentions me in her emails now.  haha  Then we went home after dinner and more unsuccessful street contacting and went to bed.

On Thursday-

We finished planning a little early and headed straight for the H's.  It was really fun!  We were making crafts for the little ones as you could see in my pictures, and the day was full of great food (and dessert), company, and laughs.  Pictures to come soon hopefully.  Then we went to an investigators house.  After that, we went straight to Sister S's house.  She took one look at me and knew I wasn’t felling well.  So she boxed up the food that she was saving for us and sent us home with some dessert after we sat and talked with her for a while, while her husband, sons, and brother in-law were watching the game.  We then went home and went straight to bed after planning because I didn't feel good.

On Friday -

We finished up planning and decided to go check facebook for a little while because I fell asleep while planning because I still didn't feel really good.  We were supposed to go out to Pinnacle that day to teach some people with a member.  Instead, Sister B made me stay home with Sister N and D.  That actually ended up being great for us.  See.. President C called and she mentioned that I wasn’t feeling well, and he said that he was glad that Sister B was being effective and that he wants me to feel better really soon.  That night, Sister H’s  goat died, so she had to cancel dinner... long story.  So our wonderful neighbor next door fed us and we went to try to see C another investigator, but she wasn't home.  So we went unsuccessful street contacting and went home to go to bed.

On Saturday -

We finished up studies and went to go check facebook, then we went home, had lunch, and headed to a baptism for Elder H and Elder E.  They were so excited!  It was their first baptism and they were simply giddy.  The picture I sent was Elder R filling up the font. 

On Sunday -

We went to church, choir to get ready for the Christmas Program that, yes I am singing in on Friday.  Hopefully it goes over well.  Sister H is so stressed, she is practically in hysterics.  Haha. So what it is, is the Methodists, Presbyterians, and our church come together in our building (because it's the biggest) and have each church choir sing.  Meanwhile, there is a live nativity going on outside the building.  They built a manger and everything.  It's really cool.  There will also be like 30-40 nativity sets up in the relief society room.  Then after everything is done, we will all come into the cultural hall for dessert.  I'm really excited!  It's the talk of the town.  Even people who don't attend any of the three churches are coming!  It should be great.  Then we had an hour long meeting with the Bishop.  Then went went to visit the S’s  That family is part-member, so we ate, shared the "He is the gift" video, and went home.  She shared her testimony with us on the way home and she is such an amazing woman.  Then we came home, sent emails, and went to bed.

Thank you for the lyrics to Mary Did You Know!  It is one of my all-time favorite Christmas songs!  I love you soooooo much!  I hope to hear from you tonight!  I'll talk to you soon

Love you - Ash

Fall in Pilot Mountain, North Carolina

Hey Everyone -

How are you this week?  We have had a pretty slow week this week.  We were only able to get about 5 lessons this week.  On the bright side, we were able to get in with an investigator named C. that we haven't been able to contact for 3 weeks because she has been working 65-70 hours a week, going to school, and she has a 1-year old.  So she has been a little stressed out.  But on top of all of this other stuff happening, SHE HAS BEEN CONSTANTLY READING HER BOOK OF MORMON!  YAY! 

Life in Pilot Mountain is wonderful with the exception of the bugs.  LIKE, DOES ANYONE UNDERSTAND HOW DEATHLY AFRAID OF BUGS I AM???  AND THEY ARE THREE TIMES THE SIZE HERE!  UGH!  Okay I'm done.  Sufficient to say Sister Burrows has the patience of JOB with me when I encounter bugs.   Same old me in that sense.  HAHAHAHA

On Monday, we had P-Day.  We went to King to have a Zone Activity with a lot of the companionships that wanted to come down and that was really fun.  We did that for most of the afternoon, but I couldn’t play Frisbee or anything because President Craven asked me to be careful with my ankle.  But there were lots of other sisters who were hurt that I could talk to, plus Sister B didn’t want to play.  So we sat and talked for a few hours.  After that, we had a few hours of unsuccessful street contacting, and we went to see Brother M and then we checked Facebook and went home.

On Tuesday, we had lots more unsuccessful street contacting and we went to the ward activity that night.  We were supposed to go to help out with the service project.  But instead, the members had us help the Senior ( More Seasoned and Mature ) ladies with the craft they were doing because they were all making wreathes.  We weren't allowed to make them as missionaries, but we caught on to the concept really quickly so we helped all the ladies.  And now I know how to make them when I get home.  The activity wasn't quite done yet and I looked at Sister B and said, "We need to go see C our investigator.  Like, now !"  We went over and caught her 5 minutes before she went to sleep.  But that enabled us to see her one more time this week and we have another appointment with her tomorrow!  YAY FOR LISTENING TO THE SPIRIT!

On Wednesday, we had district meeting.  That was interesting because the Zone Leaders decided that they wanted to do exchanges that day, so they were sitting in on it.  I will try to send a video home of a role play that Elder Richardson put together about wrestling that made us laugh a lot.  We went street contacting and tried to go see a couple of less actives that day again... unsuccessfully.  Sister B is starting to call the Sister's work here in Pilot the refiner's fire.  haha  She has actually been here about 3 months before I got here.  So she is expecting to be here until about December 20, but the rest of the district thinks she is going to "die" here.  That means that we think this is going to be her last area before she goes home in February.  But we will see. 

On Thursday, we went to see a less active Sister named Sister H.  We have been able to see how much the gospel is helping in her life.  She has come such a long way and is a funny, positive, self-assured women who meets life head on.  We are going to start teaching her the lessons again because it has been about 14 years since she has been to church.  But she comes to at least sacrament every Sunday and she is doing a lot better.  We also went out with Sister H that day.  She is such a sweetheart.  We have come to know that coming out with us every week really helps.  She has just a few stresses and working with us brings in the spirit and calms the stress.  Of course you would stress also if you were … the Choir Director of a concert that we are doing on the fifth that includes our choir, the Presbyterian, and Methodist choirs, a live nativity, and tons of people from the community coming. ( More to come on that later because the details are falling into place and I'm really excited! ) Plus she is extending her living room and she wants it done by Thanksgiving.  Plus she is having us over for Thanksgiving (NOTE THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION.  THEY H'S WILL BE FEEDING US THAT NIGHT AND I'M THRILLED!)  And she is having a ton of family coming in, along with having her calling, and having to teach an addiction recovery program at the church every Sunday.  The women in this wards superwomen, I swear!

On Friday, we had street contacting all day.. again unsuccessfully.  But oh well.  We got blessings that morning because the sister training leaders decided they wanted to do a surprise exchange, so they are coming to be with us this Saturday and it threw us both into stressed hysterics.  It was bad!  This is why I DON'T WANT ANYONE SENDING A PACKAGE UNTIL AT LEAST NEXT MONDAY WHEN I TELL YOU WHAT'S GOING ON!  Okay?  That would be great!  Because we get the call from President Craven this Saturday telling us if we need to be at transfer meeting or not, so I will let you know on Monday.  That night, we had dinner with one of my favorite families in the ward.  The Js'.  They are amazing.  They are so funny.  They just ordered Little Ceasers, we sat in the living room and just talked, had pizza, and chips.  They are so funny and down to earth! 

On Saturday, we did a service project with Sister L - She is amazing!  She is the only southerner that I have met so far that acts like a Utah mom.  She eats healthy, cute clothes, lots of kids, etc.  In fact, she is taking us shopping today for more winter clothes in Winston because we are freezing.  I am going to end up having to get a few more than planned because the shirts you bought me from Christopher and Banks decide to shrink a little more every time I wash them.  So if you want to send me a couple of shirts in the package, I wouldn't complain. Then we tried to go see some people in Holly Springs and were a little successful.  We went to see a less active that had been planning to go to church for about 3 weeks and she actually showed up!  She is the cutest lady who is physically unable to come most of the time.  Then after that, we went to see brother M again.  (We are having to teach him all of the new member lessons, that's why we go over so much.  Plus Sister M has been getting our help finishing some puzzles for the children's hospital that are due next week!  YAY SERVICE!)  Then we went home and went to bed.

Sunday was same old same old.  We went to church, choir, some lessons, and dinner, then Facebook, and home.  Although, at choir yesterday, we had told Sister H that we were going to try to practice some of the songs last week because we need to be two of the five people that lead the rest of the choir and when we walked in she said, "Everyone listen to the sisters!  They have been practicing really hard all week."  Her son started laughing because he saw my face and knew that we hadn't been able to practice this week and that his mom had just thrown us under the bus.  haha  But oh well. 

In response to your question, when we go to zone conference/meetings in Winston and Charlotte, I don't get to see anything but the outskirts of the cities.  BOO!  God knows I am a city girl and he put me in the boonies!  haha  It's all good though.  President says that I hope I enjoy getting fed every night here because if I ever get transferred to Charlotte, I'll get 1 or 2 meals weekly if I'm lucky.  haha

The weather has been bone-chilling cold because of the humidity.  It's really only been in about the 40's, but at night it is getting to about 18, plus humidity!  BURRRRR!  

I will be having a Christmas tree in the apartment.  It's about 4 feet tall I think.  I love you to Kolob and Back, to the Galaxy and Back, to Infinity and Beyond, no takesies backsies!  I WIN!

I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU!

Ash 

Pilot Mountain North Carolina 

In the Fall - Can You Understand Why I Love It Here !!! 

Hey you guys!  This week has been soooooo slow.  So what I might do is send you a little bit of a shorter letter this week.  Mom - I have been writing the day by day letters because I have been horrible at journal writing the past few weeks.  So when I get home, I am going to print them all out and glue them into the back of the journal.  Oops!  Haha!! Still trying to get the hang of time management.  You weren't kidding when you said you literally have no time for yourself.  Ugh!  So this week isn't going to be day by day, but hopefully it'll still be good.  :)

This week started out with the trainer/trainee meeting down in Charlotte.  We had two options: get a member to drive us, or waste some of our limited miles (meaning 200 out of the 1,025) and driving ourselves.  Luckily, last minute the relief society president and her husband offered to drive us down that day.  The only downside was getting up at 5:30 in the morning.  We had fun at the meeting.  Just A LOT of guidance, rules, and role plays.  It is so difficult to follow every single rule out here.  I had one day this week where I swear Sister B wanted to kill me because I was so overwhelmed with all the things we can't do!  Haha

Then another time this week we went to go to a member's house in Westfield.  Apart from our stupid GPS getting us lost in the freaking boonies, we were alright.  Not kidding though, I was somewhat terrified.  It was like those movies where the people in the car get lost, drive into a forest, and get killed by people hiding in the trees!  Was that too dramatic?  Oh well!  You did say you guys missed my sense of humor!  ;)  When the whole ordeal was over with, we got to her house to find KFC on the table.  I am quickly learning that KFC really is some of the southerner's favorite food

There were about two days between the meeting in Charlotte and Zone Meeting down in Winston-Salem.  Let's just say in brief terms, that those two days consisted of A LOT of getting lost and unfortunately getting no new investigators.  :(  We are even having to drop some of our current investigators because they were never taught "How to Begin Teaching".  So they don't really understand the point of us being there.  So we are making it our goal to find new "gators" as Lauren calls them! ;)   (Lauren is a friend of Ashley’s who is serving her mission in Florida – with the Gators - Investigators)  The main areas we are focusing on is Holly Springs (Where the H's live) and Westfield.  Although, we tend to like Holly Springs more because it doesn't seem like people are going to chase us away with guns like it does in Westfield sometimes... Even though it's a little farther away.  :)

Let's see... The weather here is good.  Just getting colder and colder every day.  We woke up to frost on our car the other day.  But that melted fairly quickly.  No snow yet... Thank goodness.  Just really windy and cold.  But hey, I grew up in Spanish Fork!  I should be used to that by now... Right?  ;)

The work is pretty decent.  The problem is, like I've said before, (I think), Pilot has been knocked for about 5 years.  So our mission president doesn't allow us to knock doors in Pilot.  And since the fall/almost winter has come, people decide to go into their houses to hibernate.  So we are trying to branch out to both of the other cities that I told you about above for now and seeing where we get with that.  Not much luck this week, but we keep trying.  We haven't been able to teach many discussions.  The goal for our mission was 20 lessons a week before the training in Charlotte.  This time, president told us that the new goal according to the Standards of Excellence is 18.  This week we only got 7.  Not so great.  But the silver lining is that  I am here to help the people not achieve a number, and two of our days this week were taken up by meetings all day.  Haha

The way we go contacting is by walking around Pilot, driving/walking everywhere else because the houses are so far apart!  But oh well, life (and the work) must go on right?

Oh!  And last night, we had interviews with the mission president.  The thing about President Craven is that he is very in tune with things.  Even if you don't mention anything.  Sister B warned me of that before interviews.  Now as I have told you in previous emails, I have had a rash on my arms because of bell peppers, my ankle is still really swollen, and my migraine hasn't gone away.  So I go in, sit down, and he says "Sister Irwin, I am not going to talk about the work with you in this interview.  I am up to date on your emails to me and we talked in Charlotte.  So what's wrong?"  This threw me off a little bit.  I replied, "What do you mean President?"  He said, "There is something bothering you.  And I'd like to know what it is."  So he started getting specific and I figured it would just be better to tell him than to lie to him and say I am fine.  So I told him about all three emphasizing the fact that it is not impairing the work in any way.  He said he was glad about that, but that he still wanted me to watch them and work with the medical coordinators to see what we could get done.  So there is an ER Doctor in our Ward that we are going to go talk to about my head and my ankle to see what he says. 

I have been focused a lot on my patriarchal blessing this week because people keep talking about the state of the nation and politics and things like that.  Ugh!   Did you hear about the new senator of West Virginia?  She's 18!!!!  Like, you're not even old enough to know how to pay bills!!!  What the heck?  And she is prolife and pro heterosexual marriage!  And what's with Mia Love getting elected? Keep me up to date on that as well.

Know that I love you guys lots and lots!  As you saw on my Facebook post this week, I have also been thinking about what a blessing temples are and how much our eternal family means to me. Never forget how much I love and miss you!  To the sun and back!  (Because the Sun is farther than the Moon). ;)

Love,

Ash

P.S. 

I am currently working on getting a family history night started in the Ward.  So I'll keep you updated on that.   Tell grandma and grandpa thank you for the package.  (Check Beth's letter for what I want in mine). And also tell my sisters to step it up when it comes to letters.  I didn't get one from Cait or Beth this week.  Which is fine because theirs were long last week, but Em's was short and I want to hear from all of them.

And Daddy, so glad the Ward is going so well.  I constantly pray for you to have strength in guiding the Ward because working with the bishop here has made me realize how hard it is.  I admire you so much for it!!!!!

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!

Happy Halloween - It's Not Snowing Here Yet !!!!  

Hey guys!  How are you doing?  I'm alright.  The first week a missionary is out in the field is appropriately called "Hell Week".  It is just really hard and overwhelming  I only call it "Hell Week" because it was soooooo beyond uneventful. 

Monday was VERY uneventful.  We were both so tired that we didn't have enough energy to do anything.  After I emailed you last week, we went shopping for food, picked up some lunch and went home to eat.  We planned on eating and then cleaning the car and the apartment, then going to dinner.  Well... Plans change pretty rapidly when you're a missionary.  Instead, we came home, ate, talked for a little while and both fell asleep because we were exhausted.  Only to be woken up by a phone call we received from a member that was supposed to be feeding us that night telling us that three of her family members were throwing up and it probably wasn't a good idea for us to come over.   She offered to drop dinner off to us, (which was very sweet and generous), but she failed to mention the time that she was going to drop it by.  So we stayed at home until she came, which was about 6:30.   So, after that we blew off the rest of the night, because we had to eat until 7:30 and be in by 9.  Let's just say that we taught NO ONE that night because Pilot Mountain is literally dead in the Fall/Winter evenings when it's cold outside!  Yay!  We knew this week was going to go one of two ways; really well or horribly.

Tuesday was a little more eventful, but not by much.  After studying, we went to a store on Main Street that one of our investigators owns. She had to put away all the Halloween/Thanksgiving decorations by herself, so we offered to help her bring out all the Christmas decorations.  We spent about 3 hours there and headed off for a few hours of very unsuccessful street contacting.  No one.  By that time, we had a dinner appointment at Talakipaki.  It is the Southerner's version of Mexican food.  As for cleaning I offered to vacuum the car for us on Tuesday and I ended up smacking my head on the car getting up.  So I have had a nice little migraine all week.  Anyway, after dinner we went street contacting again and did teach a lesson.  Unfortunately it was the investigator who has already had the Word of Wisdom Lesson 3 times. That concluded that night because all of our other appointments cancelled on us.  :/

Wednesday consisted of getting up, planning, and going to district meeting.  All in all it was interesting … We will just leave it at that.  The meeting ended and Elder R said "Okay, it feels like a cemetery in here.  It's too quiet.  Someone give me input on the meeting."  Which subsequently lead to me saying "Other than the fact that when we walked in for meeting preparation, I felt all the happiness drain out of me, I'd say it was fine."  Which made Elder H laugh really hard.  Yes I know I got a little mouthy. But it was called for. ;)   He then said, "Alright.  I guess we're being bold."  I said, "Well, if we're being bold, you're right.  It feels like a funeral home.  No one is happy."  Which made everyone laugh.  It's now a district goal to actually have fun in district meeting.  Imagine that!  ;)  The elders then said they were going to go to Subway for lunch before the service project that we were all going to.  They invited us to come along.  Elder H bought cookies for everyone with Elder R’s gift card and gave him $5 cash instead.  That turned into an all-out sarcasm battle which weirdly sounded a lot like fighting.  Haha  But we calmed them down.  Silly boys!  :)  So after we all ate lunch at Subway, we headed to a woman's house to do our service project.   After service, we had even more unsuccessful street contacting, made dinner, more street contacting, then we decided to see our investigator that works at the Wine house. We had a very nice conversation with him. Apparently, I am the only missionary that has ever taught him that he won't say no to!  :) :) :)  That puts everything on me because he actually follows through when he says he'll do things.  After our discussion with him, we headed home and went to bed.

Most of Thursday was weekly planning.  I still can't get over the fact that we have to do it until 12 or 1 every Thursday!  :/  haha  After that, we made lunch and decided to go see our less active member.  It was an okay visit. We sang her a song, invited her to come to church again and to keep reading her scriptures.  After that, we went home and finished getting ready because we hadn't put makeup on that day.  (Whoops! ;) )  Then we had Sister M offer to take us into the Urgent care in Mt. Airy so I could figure out what the heck is wrong with my arm!  There is a rash all up and down both arms!  (I have concluded that it was probably due to the fact that when I am at home, I avoid Bell Peppers because I had a feeling I was allergic.  Well, over the past two weeks, they have been cooked into A LOT of our meals).  Things didn’t go so well, and the doctor wouldn’t listen to me so I went out and told Sister M what had happened and she was furious!  She said that she would send me to the Herbologist in Pilot Mt. the next day and see what she said.  Turns out, the owner of the shop could tell me exactly what was wrong and gave me a spray and a cream that were all natural and topical that would clear it up in 3 weeks for $35 instead of the $75 they wanted for the steroid.  I was so mad!  Grrr.... haha  But after the fiasco at the Urgent Care, we went to the M's for dinner.  We had Long John Silver's.  Then we headed home and went to a viewing with Sister P in Mt. Airy.  

On Halloween, we got up, studied, went to the Herbologist which I talked about above, and made lunch.  We went out for EVEN MORE UNSUCCESSFUL STREET CONTACTING!  We did get one more lesson in that day though!  We had to tread really lightly that day because it was Halloween and everything gets a lot more dangerous.  Anyway, then we went and "practiced" a lesson with Sister N.  We got to count it as a less active lesson and an investigator lesson because non-members were present.  And here is something really fun, we ended up on the news that night because we started talking to the owner of the restaurant we went to.  They were talking about this bridge that has been closed for months and has put tons of companies out of business because people aren't willing to take the long way around to get here.  And the fact that it was closed for months blows my mind because the bridge is only about 75 feet long.  I have also decided that being in Pilot is going to make me really fat because the members always take us out to eat.  We are currently trying to form a work out plan so it's not as bad, but Sister B says this is the only area where that happens.  So enjoy while you can.  Two of the places they love are Sopper's and Tlaquepaque.  So we went out to eat  …  and after dinner we went to the ward Trunk or Treat to try and build up member/missionary relationships and it turns out that the people that showed up were the same people we already have great relationships with.  We weren’t there very long before it started raining, so everyone packed up and went home after about an hour because it's been getting really cold.  It's not snowing in the valley's yet or anything, just cold and windy. 

Saturday/Sunday were the days of Mercy.  That's about all I can say.  We did the regular things like street contacting, dinners,church, etc.  But the Lord provided so many opportunities to teach!  It was great!  We got up to 14 lessons this week in the matter of about 2 days!  We are supposed to get about 20 a week.  But oh well.  I don't worry about the numbers as much as the actual work.  It's still important, but not as important.   We went to Choir yesterday to practice for the program in December that I told you about last week.  Let's just say that the H’s make it VERY entertaining, even choir practice. 

This morning, we got up and went hiking up around Pilot Mountain Knob.  I will send you pictures of that and the new bike that Elder Richardson was nice enough to bring me this week.  Then we had lunch and now I'm here emailing you!  :) <3

Remember that I LOVE YOU LOTS AND LOTS!  MISSING YOU!  BUT THE WORK IS GREAT!  AND IT’S ACTUALLY MAKING IT FUN FOR ME!  HAHA  ;)

Ash

P.S.  We are going to try to get to Mt. Airy's Walmart next week for a Rain Coat, LongJohn's, Healthy Food, etc.  

LOVE YOU!  NOW TIME FOR PICTURES!