Trials are How We Learn

This week was fantastic! I know that sounds weird after the title I

put on, but it's true! We did not get the results this week that we

were hoping for. We couldn't find many people to talk to, our baptism

fell through, some of our investigators with the most potential turned

us away, and we had to just keep on moving. It was definitely hard,

but worth it. We learned a lot together this week. I went to my first

Leadership Counsel on my mission this week, now that I'm a Zone

Leader, and it was just super cool! The advice and training that our

Mission President gave to us was extremely useful and will be super

effective! I'm excited to be able to pass on all this learning to the

rest of our zone tomorrow in our Zone Training. It'll be awesome! It

was also super great to see lots of my best friends and old companions

there! It was funny. Sister Farnes, our Mission President's wife, did

a super funny demonstration with my friend Elder Berrios there. She

explained about planning! Elder Berrios had a bunch of seemingly

random cooking ingredients and had to use them all to make a cake

without a recipe! We have no idea how it turned out, but we'd rather

not try it, just in case it went bad. Then, we ate cupcakes that she

had made following the recipe. Super smart! We need to follow the

instructions every day while we plan as missionaries, because if we

don't do things in the right order, everything can turn out bad!

Planning is important!!

Also this week, my companion was having real trouble with forgiving

himself of his weaknesses and moving on. He'd been having a hard time

with that and asked for a blessing of comfort. I gave him one, and it

was super cool. I could feel the Spirit just giving me the words that

he needed to hear. I truly felt that it wasn't me that was speaking,

but the Lord. I was truly an instrument in the Lord's hands, because

in the blessing I said a few things that no one else knew about, just

my companion and the Lord. It was super cool to see the power of the

Priesthood take effect in Elder Vieira's life as he left his worries

and troubles behind and starting working better to help others. I love

being a missionary! This week was really one of growth and we are

excited to have a much better week now! We're working hard and well

together and I've been truly blessed here in Vila Progresso. The

church is true! God restored His holy priesthood on Earth to further

benefit the salvation of all mankind! This power and authority resides

in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints because it is the

church that our loving Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ came

down in these latter days to bring again in its fullness to the earth!

I'm know that Christ lives and leads this church! We can all push

through and learn from our mistakes and trials, and need to, because

we will never understand the lasting effects of this while we're here

in this life! I love you all! Keep seeking and finding! Stay strong!!

Have an awesome week!

Elder Ashford

"No missionary can determine the lasting effects of his or her labors."

    -Elder Richard G. Scott