Transfers Came !  Now I am in Shelby NC

"On Guard" 

Hey Mom !  So I have just finished emailing and shopping for the day.  And you know, I was thinking ... my situation really isn't that bad (she was feeling sad that she left Pilot Mountain and the people she had come to love) .  But what's even worse is I am letting myself feel sorry for ... ME!
That isn't how it should be!  This, being said - I decided that it would be good to read a talk by Elder Quentin L Cook called "Hope Ya Know, We Had a Hard Time"  It's funny how the Lord Leads you to those talks & scriptures that help you most - right when you need it.  I encourage you to go read that talk.  And do forgive me for my "down in the dumps day!"  I tried to make the pictures and letters as upbeat as possible.  I hope I succeeded.  I really am enjoying Shelby.  The members are great.  Bishop S and his wife, The P's and the M's are some of the people we have to come back to see.  Oh!  and Sister C and the M's, and the T's!!  Just everyone I guess Sister C is a kick!  She took us into Gastonia for District Meeting last week and when she picked us up she was wearing her "fun week"!  She has a very nice new car and BLASTED MANNHEIM STEAMROLLER's - DECK THE HALLS like we were all "hood" or something!  Plus ... I have Sister B as a companion.  And she's like ... amazing!  She just sits there quietly most of the time, but when I can get her going on something .... she doesn't stop! :)  Plus, my district is great!. We have Me, Sister B, Sister S, Sister M, Elder P, Elder C, Elder S, Elder C, and Elder S - He is from South Hampton, England!  I Love England.

I really have been blessed with a lot.  I just need that little reminder and tap on the shoulder from you guys and Heavenly Father.  SO I DON'T LIKE TONS OF CHANGE !  So What?!  LEARN TO EMBRACE IT!!  After all, traveling is an all new experience all the time.  Maybe I need to look at it like that!  So my ankle hurts?  So What?  Like you said, I could have amoebas.  Or I could be Elder S.  He biffed it on his bike a week before Elder Christofferson was here and Messed up his face.  He had only been out like three weeks. :( And yeah, it landed him the the ER.

So I don't love the dangerous areas of town?  SO WHAT?!  At least i'm not in Russia or Africa like some of my friends dealing with war and Ebola.  Like I said, I really am blessed.  Thank you for putting up with me today.  I really hope you can focus on the happy parts of my email.  I am trying my hardest to put a smile on my face constantly.  Because I learned yesterday that you never know who is watching or listening.

I was joking with the elders.  They asked Sis. B to play the piano for the baptism yesterday and they asked if I would sing a solo.  After I said yes... The were shocked.  They told me they were kidding.  So when we got there, I said, "Elders, What happened to my solo? I was so looking forward to it" (just joking with them)  They just laughed and then 5 minutes later a member asked me, "Did you really want to solo Sister Irwin?"  I didn't even know we were all speaking loudly enough for anyone else to hear us.

I few minutes before that, a young girl came up to me and said, "Sister Irwin, you always look like you just enjoy being a missionary and doing missionary things.  You make me want to go on a mission even more now."  I didn't know she had been watching me.  Plus, she had seen me cry at transfer meeting and a little during church.  Goes to show how influential missionaries really are.

In the talk I was reading, it references D&C 121:7-8 "My [daughter], peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment (my ankle), And then if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes."  Isn't that a great reminder of why we're all sent to earth?  Who said it was going to be easy?  If I can't do this ... then what can I do?  After all, I am 1/6 done and can already tell you more than 20 families that I have blessed and that have bless me.

To My Sisters:  Girls, missions are NOT a piece of cake. BUT .. they are worth every living second of it.  I hope you can tell as much as I can how much my mission is already changing me for the better!  If any of you have the desire to go serve the Lord for 18 months DO IT!!!!!!  I can already tell you that it is the best decision I have ever made up to this point in my life.  As I was telling Sister B yesterday. "  Let's knock every house that we can.  It would kill me to know that if I skipped a few roads while tracting, there could be that one brother or sister of mine that I promised that I would find; that has been praying and hoping that we could bring them home."  I also siad "we won't be able to do everything, but we can sure try our hardest.  God will bring them to us or us to them either way."  It means the world to me to know that my eternal family is always loving, supporting and cheering for me !!!

Now we just need to bring that blessing to others!  Mom - thank you for being a little rough with me !  I needed it !  DOn't get me wrong.  I love a little sympathy.  But, it took you and daddy being encouraging yet realistic, to get me don off my high horse and remind me that I AM NOT THE REASON I'M HERE!!!

Y'ALL 'R THE DERNDEST BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO ME

Love, Ash