Over The Hill

I think that describes me pretty well. For those of you that still

don't know, (Don't know how that happened, because I'm sure that my

mom told EVERYONE) I hit my one year mark this last week!!!! It's

ridiculous to think that I've already been a missionary in the service

of Christ for ONE ENTIRE YEAR OF MY LIFE, but it's true. What can ya

do. Actually, technically, I'd already hit my halfway mark, because

when we went to visit São Paulo for a day last week, my companion and

I stopped in the mission office, and I saw my wonderful friend Elder

Carney!!! Which was super great. He's the financial secretary, so he

has all this cool access that I don't have. He showed me my missionary

file, and it said that I'll be finishing my mission on July 28th, two

weeks before my two year mark. You may mark that day in your calendar,

Mother.

I didn't have time to write everyone last week, because we had a super

awesome Zone Activity that Elder Vieira and I planned out for the

other missionaries in our zone. Therefore, we did not have much time

on the computers last week. Being the first time to do a Zone

Activity, we wanted it to be super awesome. Just don't let your socks

get knocked off with the brilliance of our idea. We all got together

in the chapel in our area, all 14 missionaries, and had a potluck!

Everyone brought some food. I made an awesone meat cake, which is

basically a loaf of ground beef with cheese and bacon and sausage

inside! It turned out great. Then, we started our treasure hunt. They

got split into two teams, with one member of the group blindfolded.

Elder Vieira and I were investigators, and the teams had to take turns

doing certain tasks. One person had to make a street contact with me,

and then run to find the other clue. Two other people then had to

practice what they had learned in their Zone Training, applying the

techniques they had learned, inviting me to be baptized. The person

blindfolded then had to do some paperwork, which turned out hilarious.

The blindfolded person then had to navigated a maze to get the next

clue, taking directions from their team mates (and from the other

team!). They then had to apply other teaching skills on us, and in the

end, my companion and I were dressed in white in the baptism font! We

gave them pictures and a letter praising them for their good work and

encouraging them to always work hard to help others in this great work

we're doing! Finally, we took them to our service project, where we

all sang a couple hymns and listened to the conversion story of a

member of our ward here who was baptized blind and without her legs.

Her legs had to be amputated years before, but she really wanted to

hear the message of the Restoration and be a part of the Church of

Jesus Christ! She gave up smoking and now is an active member of our

ward. Blind and without legs, she still goes to church every single

week.

Needless to say, we felt awesome about the activity, and all the

missionaries returned super excited to help everyone in their areas.

Later that week, I had my one year anniversary! That morning, we had

interviews with our mission president, President Farnes. He's super

awesome! We kept ourselves occupied doing teaching practices and

sharing our conversion stories with each other, which really helped us

get to know each other better. Later that day, we stopped at the pizza

parlor here owned by a member, and we ate free pizza! Super fun! I'm

doing great and working hard. These weeks have been rough on us, as we

haven't gotten the results we were wanting, but we are determined to

work better and harder! There are tons of people we are preparing to

be baptized in Christ's church. It's so cool to see so many people

leaving behind their own lives and choosing to follow God in the way

the He wants us to! I'm so proud and thankful and humbled and

priviledged to be a part of this work here. I love you all and hope

that y'all are well! Keep working hard and have fun!

Sincerely,

Elder Ashford

"Perseverance is a positive, active characteristic. It is not idly,

passively waiting and hoping for something good to happen. It gives us

hope by helping us realize that the righteous suffer no failure except

in giving up and no longer trying. We must never give up, regardless

of temptations, frustrations, disappointments, or discouragements."

     -Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin