Well, That was a bummer....

Hey y'all! I had a great week! We got to teach lots of people and it

was fantastic! There was just one kinda overly-large downside... Elder

Nelson was supposed to talk to us, and it was all planned out

perfectly. The day before the meeting, we were working with one of the

President's Assistants here in our work area, when he got a phone call

from President. They had cancelled our meeting with an Apostle!!! It

was crazy. There was a planned strike of all the police and bus

drivers in 13 of the Brazilian states, including the state of São

Paulo. They were protesting their low wages before the World Cup

began, because it would mean tons of more work with their already

super low wages. To ensure our safety, they cancelled the meeting and

we all had to stay inside our homes for the entire day. Luckily, the

strike didn't happen and nothing went wrong, but it still stunk. Oh

well! No use crying over spilt milk! We were super excited though,

also since the missionaries from the São Paulo East and West Missions

were going to be there as well, and we would have gotten to see

friends from those missions. Of course though, we were more excited

for the Apostle.

Beyond that though, our week went well! We met some super cool people.

One day, Elder Hossaenian had to use the bathroom REALLY bad while we

were walking, so he knocked on a random house to ask to use the

restroom. Turn man was a little hesitant at first, but then let us in.

We marked an other day to meet with them, and taught them about the

Restoration of the Gospel on our return. The spirit was super strong

there, and they really understood everything. They thanked us for

sharing the Book of Mormon with them, and the tear-full look of

gratitude they gave us was just absolutely unforgivable. Too cool! I

just felt super good at that point and super grateful for God and all

He does to help us!

Beyond that, we have transfers this week! This time it was only 5

weeks, not 6, which is why it seems early. We'll see what happens! I

really hope I get to stay in this area, but I'll go where the Lord

calls us! I hope everyone is doing well and having fun and working

hard! Love you all!

Sincerely,

Elder Ashford

"All progression is spiritual things is dependent upon the attainment

of humility."

    -Elder Bruce R. McConkie

Recap and Fast Forward

This one should be good. HOLY COW THE TIME FLIES. We got to go to the

temple last week, and we had almost no time to do anything else. We

got lost on the way. Almost went to the city of Francisco Morato

instead of the Avenue. Soooo we missed the temple session, but managed

to find something else to do there. Still was super cool. This week

has been tough. No one feels like talking to us. Usually, tons of the

men are drunk at the bar and painting the streets for the World Cup

coming up here, and the few people who are actually in their house

during the day don't feel like listening. We're trying to find new

ways to let people feel comfortable with us entering their house and

hearing a quick message from us. It's hard! But we continue on! We

don't get let down!

It'll all pass with time. There are tons of things happening these

weeks. I'm also fairly certain that the devil is working extra hard in

this area right now, considering that WE HAVE AN APOSTLE COMING TO

VISIT US THIS WEDNESDAY!!! That's right. Elder Russell M. Nelson, a

living apostle of Jesus Christ, is coming to São Paulo to speak with

us help the leaders here, and will also use the time to speak with the

missionaries in the São Paulo North, West, and East missions. Super

cool! We are super pumped to hear from him and get some advice and

encouragement. Woo hoo!

Don't think everything here is bad though. We did have two baptisms

here last Saturday after all. Their names are Ryan and Roger! They are

the part of what was a less active family here. It's a super cool

story. A different area had records of our area from seven years ago,

and brought them too us. We found three baptism records of a family

and went there. That night, one of the older brothers returned

immediately and has been super strong. He's preparing to serve a

mission even! He's 19 and his name is Renan. We helped his mom and the

rest of his family start to come back, and also helped his little

brothers get baptized, so now the whole family is complete!! It's just

too cool! We love that family so much.

Anyways, I'm doing well. Tired, but working hard! I hope everyone is

doing well and working hard as well! Love you all! Until next week!

Elder Ashford

"Worrying does not empty of its troubles... It empties today of its strength."

     -Anonymous

The Miracles are Strong With This One

FINALLY. I managed to get a Star Wars quote as a title. All is well.

Anyways, we had a super awesome week, and have seriously seen the

miracles God has set before us. We doubled the number of lessons we

had, and met a lot of new people with potential to progress. We only

had 4 non-members at church, but we're gonna work to get a lot more on

this upcoming Mother's Day! Speaking of which, I'm SUPER excited to

get to make a Skype call to my family! We only get to call our

families two times a year, Christmas and Mother's Day, and this next

week will be my second Skype call home!

We have seriously been working hard though. We work our butts off to

help as many people as possible, it just doesn't always go the way we

want. Like Sunday, when we did absolutely everything possible to try

to talk with people and share our message, and everyone rejected us.

We managed to stay in good humor though. We saw a sign on someone's

gate that said "Jesus is welcome here." My companion was laughing,

thinking it would be funny if we made a contact using the sign. So, to

his surprise, I did. I knocked and the man finally came out. I said

something along the lines of, "Hello, we saw your sign here saying

that Jesus is welcome in your house, and we're representatives of

Christ here to share His message with you." He still rejected though.

I insisted again, saying that his sign said that Jesus was welcome

there, but he didn't buy into it. Oh well. It was funny. We kept

trying with other people to no avail. FInally, we stopped and said a

prayer, begging for a miracle with the 45 minutes we had left, with no

more plans for that day, and already feeling super tired. We asked for

help, and set out again, trying to talk with people on the streets.

After some searching, we passed by a house that we had tried before

but the person didn't have time. So we tried again! Low and behold,

the lady came back out, and this time we got to teach her an awesome

lesson about the gospel of Jesus Christ and how we can be saved. She

was super interested, and wants to bring her kids with her to church

this Sunday. Woo hoo!!

These are just some of the miracles that happen every day of our

lives. One of the biggest, is the Book of Mormon, which I have the

pleasure to study and share every day. It's such a cool story, with so

many great examples of people who truly followed Jesus Christ. It

brings so much peace in a troubled world. I feel a need to read every

day, even if just a little, because I know life is so much more

difficult without the scriptures in my life. I love seeing the Book of

Mormon change the lives of other people. They sleep better, some are

healed from physical sickness like diabetes, others feel the spiritual

healing power and the power of forgiveness. Having a book to prove

that Christ restored His church to the Earth in these latter days is

something amazing. God speaks to and loves all His children, and I

know that the Book of Mormon is proof of that. Read this book! It's a

must read!!

I wish all a good week! Love you all and praying for everyone! Keep

safe and have fun!!

Elder Ashford

"The Book of Mormon was written for us today. God is the author of the

book. It is a record of a fallen people, compiled by inspired men for

our blessing today. Those people never had the book. It was meant for

us."  ---President Ezra Taft Benson