At The Tiki Room - 

Not The One In Disneyland

The One In North Carolina

Hey y'all!  I had such an amazing week this week!  I hope all of you did as well!  Here are some things that happened!

On Monday-

We had a day dedicated to fun!  We met as a district at a member's lake house!  We pulled up and already, the zone leaders were in street clothes.  I knew it was going to be so much fun when I saw Elder Morrow's HUMP DAAAY shirt on!  We didn't have time to change before we had lunch and all that, so we showed up in pross (proselyting) clothes and had to change there.  Elder Morrow saw me get out and said, "Pross clothes?!  Aren't we forgetting what day it is??"  I love our zone leaders!  They are the best!  We are so glad we get to have them in our district because they make everything more fun.  So after we changed, ate our food, and relaxed for a few minutes while the Elders were playing a 3 on 3 game of foosball.  After that, it got serious!  They moved the couches against the wall, put the dinner table in the family room, moved the pool table out of the way so they could get the ping pong table into the kitchen, moved the pool table into the middle of the game room and it was war!  We had a GIANT game of Quelf at the dinner table which was soooooo much fun!  Elder Burrop won.  That game is the next game our family needs to invest in!  It's the next Snorta... but way more fun!  Then some of the Elders went to play ping pong, so Elder Morrow and I went head to head in pool.  I accidently sunk the 8 ball the first game and lost.  Then I won the second game by sinking the 8 ball at the appropriate time, but then the cue ball scratched it and I lost again, and I sunk the 8 ball when playing Elder Burrop.  It was an embarrassing day for pool.  haha  But it's okay, because Elder Morrow said that he would give the second one to me due to "gentleman's rules".  Then, the elders grabbed my ipad from me when I was transferring pictures so we could get the new ones on Wednesday.  Well, they saw my drawings that I did and we broke out into a debate of how much I should charge for them and keep doing them when I get home.  Of course I am going to keep doing them, but I didn't think about charging any money for them because I love doing it.  Well, suffice it to say that Elder Morrow one that argument and says he wants to pay me to do one for him when I get home.  (But I probably still won't charge him any money!)  ;)  Then we had to start cleaning up and go grocery shopping.  But Elder Perron and Cravey said they weren't done playing ping pong.  So they said they would clean up everything.  Let's just say... I hope they did it.  ;)

Tuesday-

We had the very special opportunity to start family history with a returning member.  He didn't have much information, but to see everything slowly come together made him so happy.  The light in his eyes alone was enough to make my entire week better.  We almost got his four generations done, but he has very little information about specific dates.  He was so willing to continue in the work, that he said, "My aunts and uncles are the only ones with the information about our family.  I don't really have a good relationship with them, but I will try my hardest to get all that I can so that we can do the work for my family."  Just the pure willingness to try anything to get the blessings to the members of his family was amazing to me.  Seeing as it has been a long process for us to get our family's work done, I have so much respect for that.  He is working so hard to be able to get the information necessary and get his life in order so that he can be the one who takes the names to the temple.  It is truly an amazing thing to help others unlock and discover how many people, stories, and backgrounds there are in Family History.  If anyone reading this hasn't done their own or tried to help others, I encourage you to do so.  It brings such an amazing feeling to you.

Wednesday-

This day we had zone meeting!  It was a really special meeting in which we learned all about "Asking Inspired Questions".  We have now talked about that in not only zone meeting, but zone conference as well.  It is something that we are not only focusing on asking good questions, but asking questions that will make the investigators teach themselves in the process.  It is something that is so awe-inspiring to me, that I will probably continue doing it even after my mission in teaching, leading, and guiding others closer to Christ. The fun part of this meeting consisted of two things:

1.       Wasn't actually so much fun, as it was funny!  We have had so many backing accidents as missionaries, that Salt Lake is practically shaking their heads at missionaries because of it.  Check this out.  In car missions in the church in the past year, they have had to pay 25 Million Dollars for backing accidents.  That's pathetic... right?  Our mission alone has had 5 in the past three months.  When someone asked how it is even happening, they gave an example.  Someone in the mission was backing up someone else, and they saw that a tree was in the way.  Instead of stopping them and doing a 3-point turn, they just stepped out of the way and panicked while they saw the driver hit the tree.  What's worse, is the driver wasn't paying enough attention to see the tree.  So we had to have the zone leaders and their third companion give us a "backing demonstration."  It was possibly the funniest thing I have seen yet.  One was driving, the other backing, and one narrating.  OUR ZL'S ARE THE BEST!  And P.S.  Anyone that is going to go on a mission, just pay attention and don't be stupid.  It's not that hard.

2.  We got our new iPads!  They are so amazing!  They run so much quicker because they have so much more storage on them for pictures, videos, etc for teaching.  And we get to keep them afterwards.  They even took extra precautions.  Included in the price that we paid for them, which was actually 1/4 of retail price, (thank you tithing) ;)  I'm totally kidding, was a knock-off otter case to protect it.  It's the best thing ever!  If you have any specific questions about who gets them, how we are using them, what programs, etc.  Write me next week and let me know.  But as my mother asked me, yes.  We are off of Facebook temporarily.  And we are not planning on returning to Facebook as a mission until about June.  No missionaries are.  They are leaving it up to the mission presidents to put it back as they see fit, but we have to do at least a month and a half of training beforehand.  But we will be back soon enough.

That night, we had a lesson with our recent converts.  This lesson was so amazing.  Not really because of the message alone, but what came from it.  You see, we were on exchanges that night, and our sister training leader looked at them and asked what they had felt change in their lives over the past couple of months or how they have seen the gospel play a role in their life.  Now, our recent converts are a husband and wife couple.  The wife responds to everything and is very social.  The husband speaks, but only when asked.  He is just quieter.  But, out of the blue, he was actually the one to respond first to this question.  He looked at his wife and said, "You don't actually know this because I never told you.  But Mormon missionaries have come by the house before.  Numerous times, actually."  She looked surprised and said, "Are you sure they were Mormon missionaries."  He nodded and said, "Yes I am sure.  They would always come by and say they have a message for us.  But I was never interested."  Sister Perez, (our sister training leader), responded, "Barry, what changed?"  He pointed right at me and said, "That one."  I almost fell out of my chair!  I shockingly said, "Me?  How did I change all of that?"  He looked at me with all the sweetness I have ever seen in him and said, "You asked me if I believed in God.  No one had ever done that before.  You just came right out with it."  I was breathless at this point.  Even typing it right now brings back all of the goosebumps, chills, and everything else I felt at that moment.  I couldn't believe it.  There was verbal proof that I was the one that he needed.  He had been given the opportunity before, but had never told anyone about it until this moment.  The undying love I have for the two of them is amazing.  I know that missionaries are sent and inspired to go to different areas because there are specific people waiting for you.  It was so much of a testimony builder.  And honestly, it made me feel so good inside that I just started crying.  Isn't that amazing???

Thursday-

That night, we were able to go with some less-actives to the church for the Relief Society Birthday Party.  It was so much fun!  The theme was a Luau.  They had everything decorated so well and it actually kind of made it feel tropical in there.  They had Hawaiian music playing and everything.  I attached some pictures.  We ate hawaiian haystacks for dinner and watched Johnny Lingo.  If you don't know what it is, go watch the old version that the church put out in like the 70's.  It's a good one.  Sister Buckner and I practically memorized it before they took it off of Gospel Library.  So we were just quoting it the whole time.  Then the president got up and said a few words about Self-Worth.  It was really inspirational and it made me think again about how much our Heavenly Father loves each and every one of us.  If someone is going through a hard time, turn to our Heavenly Father.  He knows what you are going through and he is anxiously waiting to help you, if you will simply ask.

Friday-

We were able to teach a member referral that night at dinner with some of the recent converts in the ward.  She is... well... interesting?  She came right out with a question about tea and the word of wisdom in the middle of dinner.  So we jumped on it and turned our dinner discussion into a Restoration Lesson.  She is very, very, VERY, sassy.  She is a middle-aged aftrican american woman who is more than comfortable with telling you exactly how she feels.  We tried to teach her each principle with a resounding... "NO.  THAT'S NOT RIGHT." at the end of each one.  Sooo... I don't really know what else to say about her, other than that.  We are going to keep teaching her this week, but we definitely have our work cut out for us.  Pray that we will teach according to her needs,so please pray that her heart will be softened and that we will be able to get the message across to her.  I will follow up with y'all on that next week.  But I had to throw in the fact that not every lesson goes according to plan.  haha ;)

Saturday-

We were able to go do some service for the Habitat for Humanity Restore.  I swear, I am so glad that they have instituted doing service into our week.  It makes me feel so amazing every time I am able to help.  This instance, we were able to paint some signs for the member that manages the Restore for the 5K they are having in April.  Not only were we able to gain some SERIOUS member trust, but we were also able to have fun, do art (thank you for artistic ability Heavenly Father), and we were able to gain more service opportunities from it.  Not only does he want us to make him some more signs, but he wants us to either help work at the 5K, or to run in it.  We told him that if we are still in Shelby, we would love to help out.  Transfers are coming up soon, but I'm sure that whoever is here at the time would love to help with it.  Also, in order to prepare the board on Saturday, we had to detach all of this metal siding that had been clamped to it.  Mom and Dad - Thank you for teaching me to do things and never giving up.  Also, thank you for making me do things in the yard and elsewhere that gained me some muscle, because I had to get rid of all the siding on the board by myself.  Either my companions didn't know how to do it, couldn't do it for lack of strength, or didn't want to learn.  I thought it was rather comical, actually.  But I got it off all by myself.  And it only took me a little less than 10-15 minutes.  Only using a screwdriver I might add.  ;)  I'm feeling a little accomplished about that one.  haha

Sunday-

We were able to go see a less-active yesterday named Mark.  We have been seeing him on and off for about a month and a half now.  The only hard part about it is, we can't get to him as easily because he lives in Grover.  But when we went down yesterday, we brought Bishop Shaw with us.  That was really special because Bishop was the one that baptized Mark about 25 years ago.  The only problem he has about coming to church right now is, how others will look at him.  He has tattoos, long hair, and jeans and a t-shirt for Sunday clothes.  We just threw down (in a nice and loving way), about how no one should care about that and how he shouldn't care what others thought anyway.  We did a very brief gloss-over about the foundation of the church and why principles like "God is our loving Heavenly Father" are the only things that should really matter.  The great thing is, his wife is not a member, and she sat in on the lesson the whole time.  She was even asking questions about the church, the beliefs, the missionaries, etc.  We told her that we would love to come and start teaching her if that is something that she is interested in.  She said that she was!!!  We invited them to church for the third time and are really hoping that they come.  This Sunday is stake conference, so it may be harder for them to get to Gastonia one day and Charlotte the next, but we see so much potential from the both of them.  So could you please pray for Mark and Sandy as well?  I would severely appreciate it.

Apart from that,

Mom- Phoenix is sounding like so much fun!  I can't believe it is already 90 degrees.  In fact, it is supposed to be 81 in Shelby today.  So we are planning on going to hike Crowder's Mountain as a zone!  It's going to be sooooo much fun!  So expect pictures next week from that!  But anyway, how was the Phoenix temple?  I didn't know that it was super tiny.  When you compared it to the size of the Vernal temple, Sister Grace and I just laughed because that is where Sister Buckner is from.  Do you have any pictures from either the Phoenix or the Gilbert temples?  I would love to see them!

As for the questions you asked me:

You are completely fine to look at my Facebook page mom!  I hope you do!  The spiritual thoughts that I have on there are for everyone to read and re-read.  I am glad to hear that that is happening.  And it would be even better if you know of someone that could benefit from them and you can share it with them.  But like I said, I think sometime in the end of May or June is when the mission is scheduled to get back on Facebook.

Things in Shelby are alright.  We actually hit the standard of excellence for total lessons this week!  We hit 18 lessons this week!  That is the first time that has happened on my mission and I hope to see it continue happening with many baptisms and converted brothers and sisters of mine as well.

Transfers are going to be on the 31st of this month.  So probably don't send anything in the mail past the 23rd or the 24th.  There is probably a very good chance that the trio will go down to a pair

Sister H is the woman in the ward that is expecting the baby.  She is doing soooooo much better.  She only gets migraines when she is pregnant, and she can't take anything for them.  So it is harder on her, but she is doing really well.  She loves me so much!  And I love her soooo much!  Every time we see each other, we give each other a big hug and say, "Hi Best Friend.  I just love you."  She is planning on taking us all out to lunch, shopping, dinner, and family home evening on the 30th.  So we/I are super excited for that!  We definitely have to go see her when we come back.  Apart from the fact that she is the S's daughter, she is just wonderful.  Her husband is too!  :)

Investigators are doing well.  None progressing at this point, but we hope to have a few progressing in the coming week or two.  So remind me about it and I will send you updates and let you know who to pray for besides those that are already listed in this email.

I really liked the spiritual thought about the bamboo plant, mom.  Thank you so much for that.  I will re-read that sometimes.  It practically described the past week I have had in the sense of learning to grow through adversity and realizing how many blessings we have in our lives.

I would love to hear the testimonies that you all wrote down!  Mom - You can just send me yours when you get home or next Monday.  I would love to hear friends, family, and my sisters and father's testimonies as well.  You hear me!  Send 'em my way!  ;)

As for how we are gearing up for the change in mission presidents... You can bet your life we are.  We are having TONS more meetings and at the start of every single one, President Craven looks at us and says, "Elders and Sisters.  I feel an URGENCY to share all of my knowledge with you."  We actually are pretty entertained by it because he is trying to teach 3 years of lessons to us in about 3 months.  I am starting to count how many times we hear, "You are the culture of the mission.  You have to keep it running."  So apparently he thinks that as soon as he leaves, we are all going to go "hog wild" and not do anything anymore.  But never fear, the missionaries are here!  We are going to rock the presidential exchange like nobody's business.

If you have any more questions about the iPads, like I said, just send them to me.  I don't really know what you are curious about, so it's hard to talk about.  But let me know and I would love to answer them.

I am really excited for this upcoming week because we are having Elder Kopischke coming to do a mission tour and giving a mission conference on Friday.  AND... Sister Buckner and I are singing O My Father in the beginning of it.  So I will definitely let you know how both of those things go!

Tell Grandma and Grandpa Deinstadt and Irwin that I say hello!  I love them and I miss them.  Tell all my cousins, aunts, and uncles as well.

I just love you alll soooooo much!  I can't even describe to you how much my mission means to me because of all the things I am learning, people I am helping, and testimony I am gaining.  Please remember that our loving Heavenly Father has unconditional love for each one of you.  I couldn't be more thrilled to be a part of the church.  I am so proud to call myself a Mormon.  For a challenge I am going to extend to each of you this week:

Try writing down everything that means the most to you.  Things that you couldn't imagine your life without.  Then make a list of how many of those things you have because your Heavenly Father has blessed you with them.

I am off to go hike a mountain with some amazing people!  LOVE YOU TONS!  Hugs and Kisses from NC!

Ash

Things Here Are A Little Cold Right Now -

I'll Just Have To Learn To Let It Go !!!

Ashley Irwin

 

Hey!  So to start off, instead of giving you the full week from last week, I will give you two or three of my most spiritual experiences or favorite experiences because we have been having a hard couple of weeks.  So I'll share the uplifting things with y'all.  :)

 

First, On Sunday the 1st, we were able to take our new converts, B and L to the Mission Home Fireside in Charlotte with President Craven.  Although the actual conference was nothing different than the things we have heard before, for some reason, a story that President has told a gazillion times stood out to me this time and I would like to share it with you.  In his words (but paraphrased):

Many years ago, I too was a missionary in London, England.  We were walking endlessly on a very tiring day.  We decided to go up an knock on this woman's door.  As she answered and we introduced ourselves, she proceed to yell, 'I want nothing to do with religion!', and began to slam the door in our face.  Luckily my foot was in the way of the door frame or she probably would have taken off my nose!  She noticed that I had stopped the door and began to speak.  I said, 'I have traveled 5,000 miles to come share my message with you, won't you let us in?'  By this time, her husband had also come to the door.  She again stated, 'I want nothing to do with religion.  Not after what happened to me.'  Well that begs the next question doesn't it?  I looked at her intently and asked, 'What happened to you?'  She began to tell us that she and her husband had had a baby some years earlier and the baby passed away six weeks after birth.  When they took the baby to their minister to ask if she could be buried in the church's cemetery, he told them that no unclean thing would be buried at the church.  And since their little girl had passed away before she was baptized, she had gone straight to hell.  I looked at the couple with all the compassion I could muster and said, 'Mr. and Mrs. Rose, can we please come in and tell you where your little girl is?'

 

Isn't that a great story?  It just really reminds me of how great our knowledge is and how divine and merciful our Heavenly Father is to bless us with such knowledge.  It just gives me goosebumps just reading this story over again.  I can't even fathom the love that our Heavenly Father has for us.

 

Another experience we had last week was amazing!  We came to the library again to help one of the recent converts in the ward with more of his family history.  We were here for probably an hour and getting nowhere really.  After a while, I looked at him and asked if there were any other relatives that would know anything that could get us farther down his line.  He said that he had an uncle who claimed to know a lot of things, but he wasn’t sure how much he actually new.  I was so sick of not getting anywhere, that I told him to give it a shot.  We had been searching census record upon census record.  But with no maiden name or middle name, it's really anyone's best guess.  So he called his uncle and it turns out that he knew a lot more than we thought.  He gave us her maiden name, middle name, the names of all her brothers and sisters, and we were set!  We were able to plug it in to the census record that we had been working on, it matched the one that I figured was correct, we plugged in into FamilySearch.org and hit a jackpot.  Another (probably) 9-17 lines opened up.  We actually had to cut off how many names he takes to the temple this time because there were so many!  I am so thrilled with the testimony that I am gaining about Family History work as well.  People on the other side really are going to do everything they can to help you unlock things in order to get their work done.  And seeing how happy it makes the member doing the work is so worth it as well!

 

This week was abnormally hard for reasons I will not go into, but things are hopefully looking up soon.  As a part of "The Great Reset" that we are doing with Facebook and technology, we decided to go through our areabook and drop those investigators who just are not and will not progress.  We are hoping that through this, the Lord will see our diligent efforts to find his sons and daughters that are ready to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and come to learn and accept it.

 

A couple of miracles we saw this week were:

 

We were able to do some Family History with one of the youth in the ward.  We set her up on FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com and we started plugging in the information that she already has.  We found out that a lot of work on all four sides of her tree have been done, but that wasn't going to stop us from getting her a name to go to the temple with.  We searched and searched for about an hour to find her a name and finally found one that hadn't been requested.  We got it for her and we told her that we would be able to keep going and find some names through census records that haven't been found yet, but she didn't seem too interested.  ;)  She was losing patience.  I remember being her age though.  I thought that you could sit down for an hour or two and trace everything all the way back to Adam and Eve.  But it doesn't necessarily work like that.  

We were also able to go do service for some member's at the store.  The members that own that store were gone to Vegas for a tradeshow, so they left two of their employees in charge.  Turns out that the one that was in charge, got sick this week and was barely able to function at all.  The main problem was, they had to have the back storage room emptier before the owner's got back, because they knew that there were going to receive truckloads of new merchandise.  So we helped them about 4 hours this week pricing, placing, moving, etc.  It was hard work, but so worth it to see how much it meant to them.  It is so fulfilling to see how much volunteering helps people and how much they appreciate it.

 

Also, something weird happened this week.  We were calling our recent converts to see how they were doing, but we found out that exactly one week after they were baptized and confirmed, the husband was coming down with the flu, and the wife had the flu and pneumonia!  Like, what in the world?  She was hospitalized and treated quickly.  We informed the Bishop, who called her home teacher, and they were over to the hospital that night.  They gave her a blessing, and this is where we saw the miracle.  She was hospitalized, treated, and released in about 2 days as a result of the blessing.  It was amazing to see the power of the Lord work through the priesthood.  We went to see her and she looked so tired and sick.  The next day she was home, and she even came to church yesterday looking as happy as I'll get out.  It was incredible.

 

We were also able to find three new investigators this week.  Although, I think only 1 of them may be solid at this point.  So I'll let you know.  We should be teaching all of them tonight.  

 

Other than that, my week has been all over the place.  The companionship is going through stuff, we aren't always getting along, and it's hard to focus and be supportive of everything that is going on.   Something good will come out of it I hope!   “If the Lord brings you to it, He’ll get you through it”

 

Mom - It means sooooo much to hear you say that right now.  I am having a harder time right now and that just uplifted my spirits soooooo much!  I really needed to hear that, because the adversary is attacking us pretty hard right now.  But thank you so so so so much!  I am going to write that down and hang it up.  That's how much that meant to me.

 

Yes I am still in a trio with Sister Grace and Sister Buckner.  Not the easiest thing in the world, by any means.  But I am managing it.  I won't go into it much because it hasn't been the best.  Every day has its ups and its downs.  But we are doing okay.  P.S.  If anyone reading this is going to be a missionary, don't be numbers driven.  I am so sick of hearing about numbers from the District Leader.  I don't care how long you are out, missionary work is ALWAYS about the people not the numbers!  But enough about that rant.  Just be good missionaries and member missionaries and the Lord will reward your efforts!  Trust me!

 

We don't have many investigators right now because the ones we were working with, weren't really progressing.  Although, we do have one that lives pretty far away from us.  We called her and she said that she is retiring this week and she will be able to come to Shelby and meet with us on a weekly basis.  She is excited about that and she is the one I am holding out the most hope for at this point.  So pray that she will have her heart and mind opened and enlightened by the gospel.

 

I can't believe that Joey is going to the South.  Seriously, he is going to love it.  Tell him to prepare for LOTS of fried food!  ;)  haha

AND MATT SEARCY IS GOING TO MANCHESTER, ENGLAND?!  THAT IS WHERE I WANTED TO GO!  But oh well, I feel like he will still be able to focus there.  And we all know that I would not be able to.  ;)

 

I am going to hit my six-month mark next month.  Who knew I could make it this long?  Oh yeah - you guys did!  Thank you so much for all of your prayers and thoughts on my behalf.  I really appreciate it and feel all of your love so much!  Oh!  I guess I could include a few funny moments from this past week as well!  So... here we go!

 

On Thursday, We had zone conference at 9:00 in the morning, and we were asked to get there by 8 because Sister Buckner was playing the piano for the musical number.  (And when the leader of the musical number asked if she knew of anyone else in the zone that could sing, she said me!  So now I have been enlisted to sing in the musical number at MISSION CONFERENCE on the 20th.  I'll for sure let you know how that goes)!  Well, we found out that three days earlier, we accidentally ran over a screw in the road that was creating a slow leak in our tire.  So we actually had to get to Gastonia at 7 in the morning in order to fix it before the meeting.  Yay!  My car luck continues!  So when we showed up to the meeting, Elder Dedrick asked, "Are you sisters so excited for the meeting today?"  I responded sarcastically, "So excited that we have been here since 6:30."  He looked at me really confused, then I had to explain myself.  But we all had a good laugh about that one.

 

On Saturday, we were at the church using the wifi and the piano for a couple of things.  We heard someone in the hallway and I saw someone run by, but no one's car was there when we got there.  I went into the hallway, only to find the Bishop's wife.  We were playing music in the chapel, like I said.  When she saw us, she said, "I thought there were Heavenly Angels in the Chapel.  But then I saw Sister Irwin."  She paused and we just laughed and laughed at how she phrased it.  I responded with a jokingly, "Well, I never."  ;)

 

Also on Saturday night, we were calling the zone leaders about whether we were going to have zone activity today or whether we could plan a district activity.  Elder B, who I don't think likes me much anyway, answered the phone.  I asked him about it and he responded, "You know Sister Irwin, We have had MLC this week, Zone Conference, and Working with our investigators.  We just have not had a moment to let our hair down, let alone think about zone activity."  NOW THAT COMMENT I JUST HAD TO MESS WITH!  I said, "The hair that you do have, elder."  Now I am not joking, there was a solid 15 seconds of SILENCE!  Not one laugh!  We were trying our hardest not to giggle and he finally responded, "So we'll just get back to you about zone activity then."  We couldn't help it.  We just burst out laughing!  It was the funniest thing ever!

 

Loves and Hugs from North Carolina!  I love you beyond the eternities!

 

Ash

P.S.  I am still at the same address. Some of you were asking so here it is:

1635 South Dekalb St. #1014

Shelby, NC 28152

It Doesn't Snow Here - It Rains Ice !!!!  I Thought I Was Going To The South Where It Is Warm ???          

           

Ashley Irwin

To

me

Feb 23 at 10:58 AM

Hey everybody!  How are you guys doing?

This week, I didn't have tons and tons of spiritual experiences, but there are a couple.  There are also a couple of funny moments, and sad/happy moments.  So I'll include all of those as well!

Okay.  So let's see...

Monday,

We went to Gastonia to meet up with the Elders and Sisters there.  We had planned a district activity that day.  So we went to meet up with them, then to Charlotte we went!  We went to the Premium Outlets in Charlotte!  I MISS SHOPPING SOOOO MUCH!  It was really fun, but more so because I could live vicariously through Sister M, who was going home on Saturday, so she could buy whatever she wanted to.  So we went to Nike first.  Because all of the Elders wanted new basketball shoes.  A couple of them were even contemplating buying shoes for over $120.  I don't understand why you would spend that much money on shoes that you are probably going to end up leaving here because they won't fit in your suitcase at the end of your mission.  But oh well, their choice, not mine.  We went to a few other stores, and then Sister M wanted me to go back to Nike to get these Purple High Tops that she wanted oh so badly.  They were really cute though.  And they were on sale!  So we went back to get them.  One of the stores we went in to had all of this superhero stuff and band merchandise, so Elder C wouldn't go in with us.  He said that it was a "Satanic Store".  So we went in to see what they had.  The majority of the stock was Batman, One Direction, Sherlock, Dr. Who, etc.  They even had a My Little Pony section.  Sister M and I wanted to get some jewelry.  She wanted this bracelet and a necklace.  I just wanted a bracelet.  But the necklace that she wanted came in a set of two, so I have the gold one and she has the silver one!  Awww PRESH!  It was really funny though.  We walked out of the store only to find Elder P and Elder C.  Elder C was giving us this look of pure and utter disgust!  It had to be the funniest thing I have ever seen because we literally did nothing wrong!  In fact, the bracelet she wanted happened to have a tree that looked similar to the tree of life on it.  LOL  When we got home, We tried to go buy Eggs, Milk, and Bread.  Now, the weather was really bad that day and they expected a snow storm.  I have NEVER seen those things FLY off the shelves faster than they did that day.  There was NOTHING!  We were forced to buy Reduced Sugar Almond Milk to get us by until the middle of the week.  Then, once we got home, we got a call saying that we couldn't drive anywhere for the next two days because the roads were too bad.  Figures... right?  haha  So we stayed in and worked on a couple of things we needed to catch up on in the apartment.  Oh, and when I say it "snowed", it didn't.  IT ICED!  There are little chunks of ice that fall from the sky.  And it hurts!  

Tuesday,

We basically had to stay inside all day long.  We taught some Facebook lessons, We watched Johnny Lingo and The Phone Call, and basically had to catch up on studies because we couldn't walk or drive anywhere.  I had never felt so antsy!  Well... one other time I did.  When Sister B was sick in Pilot.  We couldn't do anything then either.  But anyways...!  The really funny thing that happened this day was, we had dinner with the M's that night.  We didn't really want to cancel it, because they are the closest ward members to us.  So we figured we could just walk.  We walked the two miles to their house in the snow.  It really wasn't that bad.  We even found a sign outside of Family Dollar that informed the public that they had bread in stock!  ;)  But when we got there, we were telling them about the sign and Sister M said, "By that, do you mean that you two WALKED HERE!?"  We nodded our heads, and Brother M looked at us and said, "YOU DOOFUSES!"  haha  Apparently they have gone on and on about it for days!  But it's okay.  Because we all had a good laugh about it.  That night, we got Transfer Calls.  We found out that both Sister B and I and the Shelby Elders were all staying in SHELBY!  WOOHOO!  But the Gastonia sisters got pulled, and two of the three elders in the Gastonia Elders' trio were leaving.  :(  BUT I GET TO STAY FOR THE BAPTISM!

Wednesday,

We had district meeting in the morning.  This was a very spiritual district meeting because we left time for departing testimonies from Sister Meads and the rest of us.  Then we all wrote our testimonies down in our journals.  I do so encourage each of you to try this if you haven't already!  It is so neat to be able to write down my testimony of the gospel, and be able to look back on it at later points in my mission and later points in life.  I am so excited to see how it grows over the years and even over the course of my mission.  I will include some of it here:

"I have a testimony of this true and living gospel.  We are so blessed to know all of the things that we do because of our religious freedom.  There is no other way by which we can return to our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ than by studying about them each day and striving to do our very best to live the way that He would have us live and to accomplish the things that we want to, both in our lives and in the gospel.  I know for a fact that Joseph Smith is a Prophet, Seer, and Revelator.  I am so thankful for his willingness to act upon the impressions that he got at such a young age.  Because of his service, we are able to have the Book of Mormon and Prophets to lead us and guide us today."

On Thursday,

We were able to do weekly planning.  After that, we went to go help one of the youth in the ward, I M, start her family history.  We wanted to do this so that she could have some names to do the work for when she goes to the temple on the 14th.  But we ran in to hours and hours of issues.  Mom - I will send the issues we are running into in another email and maybe you will be able to help me work them out.  But we are convinced that this ward is going to do amazing things with Genealogy because the adversary is working his very hardest to make sure that we run into EVERY issue possible so that these people cannot get their work done.  But who said that a few confusions and issues are ever going to stop me?  I just need a little assistance from the two best genealogists that I know (Mom and Grandpa) because the family history consultant here hasn't done it in years and can't answer any of my questions.  But we WILL work this out.  Also, that night we had dinner with some of the recent converts in the ward. 

Friday,

We went early in the morning to help the T's unload a box truck.  After we had unloaded all of it, we were cold and very, very dirty.  We were planning on going home to eat and change before we were going to go finding and teaching.  But, we had noticed that we had a missed call from the Zone Leaders.  We called them back and he was asking us if our baptism was still set for Saturday, how we were doing, etc.  Then he said, "Did you sisters get a ride for your new companion to Shelby after Transfers today?"  We were like, "WAIT... WHAT?"  We were totally scrambling.  We had to set up the extra bed that we had in our apartment, go to habitat to get a desk, set up the apartment, and get a ride for her by 4:00!  That was insane!

BUT I'M IN A TRIO NOW!  It's me, Sister B, and sister G!  She is super sweet!  She is from Lehi, Utah.  We all teach together so well!  And we get along splendidly.  I will be able to answer more questions if you have any later today or on Monday!  :)

Saturday,

We had two baptisms that morning!  B and L B’s got baptized!  They were so happy and so excited to finally be able to enter the waters of baptism and receive all of the blessings that we had been telling them about.  The really spiritual part of the baptism, other than seeing the beautiful smiles on their faces, was Sister P's "Welcome to Relief Society" for L.  She said that while she watched them be baptized, she could almost see the faces of Jesus Christ and John the Baptist while she was watching them.  She said this was a true testimony to her and everyone else at the baptism, that we are all truly following the example of the Lord Jesus Christ by entering into the Waters of Baptism and taking upon us, His name.  I am so thankful for the opportunity I had to find, teach, and assist in baptizing these two wonderful children of God our Eternal Father.  I love them with all my heart!  They are always going to be my friends and my converts.  They always tell us how much we mean to them, and I wouldn't trade that for the world!

Sunday

Was a day of getting more comfortable in a trio.  In church, we were able to friendship lots of members, Sister G got to know a lot of people, and we got to know how well we get along together.  After church, we all watched Johnny Lingo while eating lunch.  (Because Sister Grace has never seen it).  Then we were able to go teach two lessons.  When we were teaching a man named T yesterday, he said that he thinks we might be someone that God sent to him, and that he needed to listen to us.  Although we weren't able to teach the entire restoration, we were able to teach him about the Book of Mormon, and he accepted the invitation to read it and to pray about it.  One thing I learned from Sister G yesterday, (because she has a lot of mission knowledge - being out ten months and all), was that if we mess up in lessons and don't deliver the message in the way that we wanted to, maybe it's because that is the way that the investigators or the less-actives needed to hear it.  Interesting... right?  I had never thought about it that way.

Other than that, I am pretty good.  I have had a couple of moments where I have been homesick this week, but I say moments because they were brief.  I do miss you guys tons, but I wouldn't trade the work that I am doing at this time, for these people, for anything in the world.  It's amazing!

The weather is pretty weird.  At the beginning of the week, we were having ice storms and it was 2-6 degrees.  But the past couple of days it has been around 57-60.  We even went for a run this morning.  Granted, mine was a walk/jog because my foot started hurting.  But I'll take it.  I am glad I am a little more south than I was in my last area though.  According to pictures, they got dumped on and it's super cold!  ;)

Sister B is a lot better.  I think she was just getting a little worried about transfers.  But we are all good now and we adore Sister G!  And the California family will be glad to hear that, she is an ANGELS FAN!  :)

I got Sister Burrows to send you a friend request on Facebook and she says that she will send you her new phone number if you want it.  :)

I am glad to hear that Elder Standefer's homecoming went so well.  I will definitely tell MawMaw that the elders say hello.  We actually went over to eat with her last night.  MawMaw's real name is S M.  She is Brother M's Mother.  Bishop S is doing well, but can you guys please pray for their daughter.  She has been in and out of the hospital her whole pregnancy and had to go to the ER again yesterday because of a serious migraine, and since she can't take anything due to the pregnancy, she could use a lot of prayers.  The girls they were talking about are the W's.  I have mentioned their grandmother Sister M before.  And yes, they still live here.

I am still in Shelby, so please keep sending letters and packages to the same address.  And go ahead and send the vitamins as well (with the apartment number) in the next couple of days.  I am out of the main one already, so I would greatly appreciate it.

YES!  Tell Bethany to email me with pictures of Sweethearts so I can see everything!  I am glad that the little ones are doing well.  And I am glad that Cait can play soccer again this year.  She was doing so well last year!  DON'T BE AFRAID TO GET IN THERE BABE!  The genealogy is doing well, I don't know if there is anything you can help with right now, but I did mention that you are willing to.  So if they ask for your number, I'll give it to them. 

What kind of dancing did you and dad do at the Sweethearts dance?

You're right!  The zoo was soooo fun!

I have had an interesting week.  It has been a lot of cleaning, preparing, and rearranging, but it has been good.  I missed you guys a little more this week, but I notice that it happens around every transfer meeting that I get a little bit homesick.  So oh well.  Satan didn't really mess with us or with our investigators before the baptism other than that though, so that's always good!

I am doing great and I will let you guys know if I need anything!  I love you lots and lots and lots and lots!  Loves and Hugs from NC!

Ash

P.S.  I am off to play Settlers of Catan with the elders.  Wish us luck?  ;)

We Went To The Zoo

In The Pouring Rain

And Had A Blast

Ashley Irwin

To

me

Feb 16 at 4:04 PM

Monday-

WE WENT TO THE ZOO!  It was... Shall we say... An interesting experience?  You see, when we finished planning that morning, we got two voicemails from the zone leaders.  One said that we didn't have to wear "Proselyting  Clothes"!  Yay!  We got to wear... JEANS!  The second voicemail was Elder Morrow doing his impression of a weatherman.  He said, "Elders and Sisters today we are expecting a slight chance of precipitation overhead, hope to still see you there!"  But there was no way rain was going to stop us!  It didn't start raining though, until we headed into Gastonia to meet up with Sister M and Sister T to ride up there.  We also had to take our car in that day to Firestone while we were at the zoo to get a leak checked out.  I thought it was brake fluid, one member thought it was power steering, one member thought radiation, and one member thought oil.  So we just brought it in to find out for sure.  So once we headed into Gastonia, it started POURING!  We couldn't see ten feet in front of us!  But we made it safely.  Then the sisters picked us up from there and we were on our way.  It was a total party!  Sister M is always a good time!  On the way, we were looking for a place to eat, so she screamed, "SISTERS!  BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR CHICK-FIL-A!" over the blasting gospel music!  Once we found one, she barreled across the highway, we spent ten minutes looking for the actual building, stopped to inhale our food and keep heading to the zoo! 

Now, when I say zoo, it was really more of a ranch.  But it was the closest thing within our boundaries and they had giraffes and zebras.  So I'm counting it!  We got there and it was still down pouring.  We went in the gift shop and we all decided that it would be more fun to pay the ten dollars each for the hay ride than to try to see which animals would come out in the rain.  SO WORTH IT!  We saw Emus, Ostriches, Buffalo, Bison, tons of Llamas, Deer (My favorite because they had baby deer), Giraffes, and Zebras.  I am probably missing a couple, but you get the picture.  :)  The entire time we were on the wagon, we were allowed to feed all the animals but the zebras and these weird cow things with mega horns!  I'll show you a picture.  But because we were allowed to feed them, they would not stop following us the entire time!  We felt like Noah in the Ark the way they would follow us!  After the hay ride, we went to see a couple of animals like the wallabies and such, took a zone picture, and had to head home.  (The wagon ride takes about two hours).  So we headed back, smelling AWFUL!  It was like animal feed, wet fur, and slobber all mixed into one smell.  Rank, rank I tell you!  Haha  But as we got back into Gastonia, we had the sisters drop us off at Firestone and leave.  Well, since I am the "experienced" one with cars in the companionship, (thank you dad), I got the task of figuring out what to do about the car.  But, when we talked to the manager, he said it was a good thing that we had our car towed into the shop because it was leaking engine oil and if they started the car without this part they had to order, it was going to explode.  Guess the drive from Shelby that morning wasn't the BEST idea ever... But I wasn't going to tell them that.  Our vehicle coordinator called and asked if we did have it towed and started to get irritated because we hadn't asked permission to tow it.  When I told him we had actually drove it in he said, "Whoops.  Don't tell them that!"  And he started laughing and wished us luck on getting home.  So there we were.  Stranded an hour from Shelby.  We called the sisters, had them take us to the church, and we got a ride home from the P's when they offered to come get us.  Eventful day... Right?  The sisters said we should have just stayed at their house and slept over for zone meeting in the morning, but Sister Buckner said no.  :(

Tuesday-

We had zone meeting this day.  It was absolutely amazing!  We had an amazing training given by a member of the Gastonia ward.  Brother B trained on how to more involve members in missionary work.  He is also really into psychology.  So he went around and "read our body language and speech" as we were role playing.  That was a little weird.  But he is really cool, so I didn't mind it.  We had an amazing rendition of If You Could Hie to Kolob by Sister T.  Then, we were going to have a training on using Facebook in the work, but it was going to ruin the spirit in the room.  So the STL's did their training, and we had departing testimonies from the missionaries going home.  Talk about spiritual!  Elder S and Sister M made me cry the most.  I probably sat there for a straight ten minutes and just cried.  Then, after the meeting was over, I went to congratulate and say goodbye to Elder S.  He then proceeded to make me cry again.  Unintentionally of course!  I am just a big sap when it comes to missionaries going home!  If I could simply just tell you how much I enjoy zone meetings!  (Apart from role playing of course, that's awful!)  But the spirit you feel and the things you learn are indescribable.  And I do take lots and lots of notes! After zone meeting, we ended up waiting for a baptismal interview to be done, going to lunch and an appointment with the Gastonia sisters!  By the way, I really LOVE hibachi grills!  Mmmmmm!  The appointment was good, we were teaching one of their new converts about family history and temple work!  So very appropriate for what my talk was on this week.  Then we hurried to go pick up the car so we could get to our dinner appointment.  Then we basically planned and made up for the time we lost.

Wednesday-

Unfortunately, this was one of those days where we didn't have any solid lessons scheduled or they had fallen through.  So we planned to help a ward member chop some wood for he and his wife so they could stay warm this upcoming week.  They find it pointless to pay for heat and air conditioning for some reason... Lol.  But since I had chopped wood before, (again, thank you dad), I let Sister B go first.  We had to first chop a piece of wood by hand for "experience".  It took her about 50 swings to finally get it.  But it was pretty good for her first time chopping wood with an ax.  Then it was my turn.  It took me all of 5 swings to chop it.  He gave me oak, which is harder to split.  I was a little rusty, but I split it nonetheless.  ;)  Then we got to split the rest of the truck load of wood with the wood splitter.  That thing is AMAZING!  If we had a wood fireplace, I would tell you to invest in one!  All you have to do is set the wood on there and guide a lever forward.  It’s trying work! ;)  It took us about 45 minutes to split all of it for him.  It was really fun!  But I think the most fulfilling part of the entire thing was when he wife said, "Girls, you have no idea how much that means to me.  Our room was 53 degrees last night, and that wasn't even with the storm warning.  We are actually going to be warm next week.  Thank you so much!"  It's little things like this that make me appreciate more and more the work I am doing for my brothers and sisters, the Lord's children.  It is not only about serving those outside of the church, but strengthening those already in it as well.

Thursday-

I'm not going to lie to you guys.  The spiritual side of things this week really didn't start picking up until Friday through Sunday.  So I will tell you about a funny lesson we had instead.  We knocked on this door in Patterson Springs and before we could even out our hand forward to knock, this girl opened the door and her giant dog came barreling out.  This would have been fine if the dog didn’t looked like it wanted to kill me.  All she said was,"I'm glad you're here.  I needed someone to talk to.  Don't mind the dog.  He won't hurt you.  Come in."  I have never been so hesitant in my entire life.  She said that she was sorry about the smell, but they raise 6 dogs, two rats, tons of fish, and she is a lizard breeder.  She then proceeded to tell us how one of the two rats they had to shoot because it ate three of her lizards and bit off one of the geckos tails.  Then she showed us the geckos tail growing back.  Gross!  I never want lizards or rats.  Ugh!  She invited us into her room to look at the decor which consisted of, how do I say this, band posters who thrive on singing about death, misery, and destruction.  Tons of fun!  :/  She told us to go back into the front room and she would wake up her mother who is a minister, and we could all talk.  Basically, the actual lesson wasn't bad.  She just sat there and judgmentally stared at us.  Meanwhile, her 16-year old kept asking us if she was going to heaven or hell.  We shared the whole restoration and planned to go back last night and read the Book of Mormon with them, but they didn't answer the door.  Oh the experiences you have on a mission.

Friday-

This day, there were two really amazing things that happened.  A couple of weeks ago, we had this bible referral that we had dropped because we had tried multiple times to get ahold of her with no success.  And the number she had was disconnected.  But, the other night, while we were looking for another former investigator, we noticed a car at her house.  So we decided to knock on the door to see if she was home.  She answered and we set up a return appointment for Friday.  So when we got there to give her the bible, we were determined to teach her about the restoration as well.  We taught a very basic restoration lesson because she had a few questions.  But she said, "I am so thankful you girls were able to come over today.  I have been looking to get closer to Christ since I was saved last year, and my church that I'm going to doesn't seem to be preaching the truth all the time."  She agreed to come to church with is, though she never actually showed up.  Then, we headed toward Mooresboro because that's where our dinner appointment was.  Two things came from that:

1.       On Thursday night, we went to dunkin' donuts because sister b wanted some really badly.  When we left, we saw this car covered in storm troopers and Mickey Mouse heads because they had run the Disney triathalon.  We thought nothing of it and left.  But when we were in Mooresboro, we saw the same car at a neighbor's house of a less-active!  So we are going to see if we can go teach them soon, instead of just asking if they know their neighbors like we did the first time.  If they let us teach them and they end up getting baptized, I am going to use the hashtag - #dunkindonutstodunkinfamilies!  Isn't that funny??

2.  We were in Mooresboro, and we got lost.  Surprise, surprise!  So we went to a members store a few miles back to get wifi.  When we got there, they said that we should go visit their daughter.  Funny enough, we planned the night before to go see her that day.  There was an incident and her ten year old got in serious trouble.  So we stopped by to visit her.  She looked at me and started crying.  She asked, "How do y'all always know where to go at the right time?"  I told her that we go where the spirit guides us to go.  This was a true testimony builder that if you show faith to the Lord, he will place you in the paths of those of his children that you need to be.

Saturday-

This day, we were able to go see a man that we met last Sunday.  We met him on his porch while we were walking down the street.  We were able to teach him the restoration and set up a time to come back on Saturday.  When we came back, he told us that he was having a really hard time accepting the fact that Joseph Smith was called as a prophet and that he could receive revelation.  So what we did was, we read the Book of Mormon Introduction with him.  Nothing to out of the ordinary, but as we read it, he said it was too much to take in.  I pulled up Mosiah 10:3-5 and read it to him.  I invited him to read from the Book of Mormon and pray to know about its truth and the truth of our message.  He suddenly calmed down a bit and he said, "Well since y'all took the time out of your day to come explain this to me, I will give it a shot."  The thing that was different is, it was nothing that I hadn't said in a lesson before, but you could sense the love of God for him through me.  I felt it so strongly.  Our Heavenly Father was trying to reach out to him!  I was just his temporary mouthpiece!  It was amazing you guys, really.  I couldn't have been happier that I was so willing to open my mouth and proclaim the truth of our everlasting gospel!

I gave my talk this day!  Mom - I really appreciated your copy of your talk because I stole all of the stories from it.  I basically just changed the perspective of the stories and added a few paragraphs and testimonies of my own and took out some of yours.  It went REALLY well.  I had two people ask me for copies of my talk because they "couldn't take notes fast enough."  I also had the bishop, his wife, and loads of other members tell me it was the best talk they've ever heard on family history!  So thank you so much for the help!  I didn't end up having the time I thought I would to write it... Silly me!  But I had three members say that my talk made them so excited for family history, that they couldn't even wait until I was done.  They were using the church wifi on their cell phones to sign up for and use family search!  One of them found their four generations DURING SACRAMENT MEETING!  And one of them got on and found where their grandmother was born, and they had been looking for a long time!  I also had the assistant family history consultant ask if we would come talk to the family history committee of the city of Shelby once he gets some more credibility down there!  Isn't that great??

The other great thing that happened this day was... OUR INVESTIGATORS WERE ABLE TO GET OVER THEIR WORD OF WISDOM ADDICTIONS IN ORDER TO BE BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!  That's right!  I have two baptisms set in stone for Saturday!  They are so happy.  The amazing thing is, that the bishop was able to get out of them something they hadn't shared with us.  He asked them how long they had been looking for a religion.  She replied, "Oh, probably 20 years.  See, we had been going to a Church of God.  When we were in a hard spot, we asked the preacher for counseling, and he said he wouldn't do it.  We got to the point where I was praying every night because we couldn't do it anymore.  We couldn't do it on our own.  Then these two lovely ladies showed up at our door."  20 YEARS!  I was almost to the point of tears when I realized that I was the answer to that prayer.  Missionary work is the greatest!  God called me to Shelby for them specifically, and I am so grateful for that!  And they are ready to start family history and attend the temple after their baptism.  And they are looking forward to maybe being able to go to the temple with us when I come back if it will work out.  So we'll see.

Apparently, all the missionaries are going to be giving their iPads back to the mission in March and we are all getting new ones to use.  So I'm just wondering how much they had you pay for them.  I want to see if I can buy it off of you... ;)  So let me know!

As for the Vitamins, I am going to find out if I am getting transferred or not on Tuesday (tomorrow).  So just hold the order and any other mail until I can let you know after transfers on Monday.  Okay?  Oh!  Speaking of which, I think if I am getting transferred, I am going to be able to send a package home before the end of the week.  But I have a question, I want to keep things like the drum sticks you sent me for Christmas, but there may not be room for them.  So what kind of things am I allowed to send home and not allowed to.

Speaking of packages though, I am OBSESSED with my Valentine's Day package!  Thank you sooooo much!  Dad - I got the cinnamon lips finished in like three days and they were delicious.  Beth - I am savoring the chocolate!  THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!  But, I would have to say, my favorite (non-food related) thing was the two frogs!  Who am I supposed to give the other one to?  And was there a purpose behind the FROG?  ;)  lol

Tell grandma happy birthday for me!  Sad that I am missing it, but tell her I am sending her hugs and kisses from North Carolina. And no!  I can't believe how fast time is flying!  It's insane!  You'll have tons of fun at Elder Standefer's homecoming!  You'll have to tell me if you hear him say anything about Pilot Mountain, or Y.O.S.O. (You Only Serve Once)!

And basketball sounds super fun this year!  I wish they had thought of themes when I went to play with the young women's!  That would have made it so much more fun!  And I am also glad that they get to go to a scout camp for girls camp this year.  That was by far my favorite year of girls camp!  Far too many memories from that year!

Thank you for the idea for the genealogy night!  I'll keep it in mind if I do indeed stay in Shelby.  My thoughts on transfers, they are definitely closing the Gastonia area for sisters, which I am sad about.  But we think they might transfer Elder P and Elder C.  My personal thought is they might close Shelby for Sisters as well because we are losing so many sisters in the mission!  This transfer alone, we are losing 17 sisters and only 9 are coming out.  Then, we are losing 14 elders and only 8 are coming out.  So I think that one of us will be transferred, they'll close the area to sisters, or they'll keep us both here.  (Which I honestly don't think is very likely).  But I'll let you know on Monday what happens!  I probably won't be able to let you know before then, but like I said, please hold the vitamins and any other packages or letters until Monday when I let you know for sure!  Because, mail is going to be even slower getting here because of the weather. 

Speaking of weather, THIS IS INSANE!  I have never seen anything like it!  We are having blizzard warnings left and right!  Now, the actual snow is not the thing I am concerned about, considering where I grew up.  The thing that concerns me is the 1-digit temperatures and the rain and snow instantly turning to ice.  It took us 5 minutes to start our car to get to Walmart when we came home from Gastonia today, and when we got to Walmart, all the eggs, milk, and flour were gone.  Stores are shutting down, and people are going into hibernation.  Literally.  I think it's funny!  I'll let you know more next week as it continues!

The outlets in Gastonia were great!  I got some new bracelets.  So I'm excited!  I wanted a lot more, but I have no room first of all, and second, I can't wear the stuff I wanted while I'm out here anyway.  Practically everyone in our district bought either Nike's or Van's... But I had no room or money... So ya know.

I did hear Jessica and Robbie had their baby!  He is so cute and I am so excited for them!  Thank you so much for all the pictures!  I love them!  Finally I get to SEE how y'all are doing!  Haha JK

Next week, I'll let you know about the baptisms, transfers, weather, etc.  But until then, LOVE YOU SO MUCH AND HOPE YOU ARE ALL HAVING SO MUCH FUN!

Hugs and Kisses from NC!

Ash