One Third

I'm really running out of creative titles, and don't really have time

to think of a better one... But like it says, today marks 1/3 of the

mission for me! That's 8 out of 24 months, and it's also ridiculous.

Time passes way too fast here, and I'm quickly losing all the time I

have to help as many people as possible as a full time missionary, so

I'm just gonna live it up and go all out! Yeah!

This week our baptisms didn't happen. The bishop here rescheduled to

this Friday so that we can accomodate everyone. It is his brother and

nephew that are being baptized after all! Super cool stuff. We have so

many amazing people we are working with here, it's just hard getting

them to come to church a lot of the time, which serioulsy impedes.

We're doing everything we can though! It just got a lot colder last

night, and we're hoping it sticks. Tired of sweating all day. It's

good though, because I hardly notice the sweat and everything until we

arrive home at night. I just love this work too much!!

I don't have like any more time, so I'll tell you more about our

baptisms next week when I have pictures. Also, I'll have to do my

standard email about my companion, as transfers are coming next week!

ANOTHER transfer!! Holy cow. It's too much. Just know that we are

working hard, and I'm recording all the funny/crazy stories that

happen, like the guy who told us to repent the other day before it's

too late. Fun stuff! Love you all! Keep working hard and stay firm in

the gospel!

Elder Ashford

General Conference is AWESOME

Super grateful for the awesome opportunity I had this week to  watch

General Conference, in English to boot, which  is always  way better

to hear  the Prophet's actual voice. I was blown away with  some of

the awesome talks we heard.  So good! So much stuff about Jesus

Christ, it  was just amazing! I loved  being inspired by them, and

took  lots of notes that I will be reviewing frequently. I  would

suggest the same to all of  you! After all, reviewing these words  was

 counseled by the Prophet, so  it's gotta be  good for you.

Beyond that, we've been doing great here! We have tons of work to do

and are working with some really  special people. Some of which should

be baptized this week! They know everything is true,  and were

seriously  just prepared by  God. We are working on making this area

grow tons. Our goal for this area is  to be baptizing once a week,

which is super possible here.  The stake  really wants to split, so

God is preparing the people they need to create the new wards!! SO cool!!

This week was  pretty  special as well, as my companion completed one

year of his  mission, and is celebrating his birthday today. We get

along super  well and are working incredibly hard together. The only

problem is, that he loves sweets and desserts. Good, in that now I

know how  to make several Brazilian desserts. Bad, in that I've

gained about 3  Kilograms since I arrived here. This can't last

forever. Happily,  I'm feeling tons better, and any sniffling from me

is mainly seasonal allergies. They followed me here,  and I was so

hoping to escape them for a couple  years. They're passing though, and

we  are  doing just dandy. I'm getting tons of correspondence from

friends as well, which is awesome, and I'm loving it! If anyone  feels

like writing letters,  it takes about a month to reach me, but I love

reading them, and I  have more time to respond them. I also  love

getting pictures so I can see how y'all are doing.  Make sure to share

your testimony and  any missionary experiences  you're having!

I don't have much more time, but I hope next week to talk a little

more about experiences I'm  having here.  Don't worry though,  they're

 all  written down in my journal to share after the mission as well.

Hoping everyone a good  week and sending love! Keep safe and have fun!

Sincerely

Elder Ashford

"We must put God in the foretront of everything  in out  lives...When

we put God  first, all  other things fall into  their proper place or

drop out of  our lives."

     -President Ezra Taft Benson

Da, Da, Da Down With Sickness

Sooooo super sorry about not sending anything last week in terms  of

letters in general. The internet  in  this LAN house crashed three

times, and we left  after  the third. Every time it  crashed, they had

to restart every single machine here. Not cool. Beyond that, no, I

don't think I've even ever  heard the song  in my title all the way

through, it's  just fitting. EVERYONE  was sick after Zone Conference.

Actually, one companion from each pair was sick from like everyone  I

know. Nothing bad, but I  had to nap  a couple hours on Friday before

we got  to work. It was still a  good days work too! Everything is

just amazing here, and we're finding soooo many people with tons  of

interest. There  a  lot of partial member  families here, and we're

helping  people know about  the goespel, so that one  day these

families can all be sealed  in the temple as families for all

eternity. It's  pretty much the coolest thing ever. This  work is

AWESOME!!

I'm  sending pictures of my companion and I in  a different email. The

 other  picture, is me mixing the dough to  make  the  SUPER delicious

cheese bread  they have in Brazil,  and that  I will be  able  to

make when I come home  as well, so  no  need to be  too jealous

people.

Beyond that, I'm  super excited for General Conference this  weekend!!

I love hearing from the prophet and the apostles and hearing their

testimonies and getting  counsel from them. We're even pretty sure

that we  can get it hooked up in English here  for the  few American

missionaries here. Awesome, huh? This church  is amazing though,

beyond  that  fact that it's true. Kinda a side benefit  of having a

church  that Jesus Christ came down to organize, and  then reorganize

in these latter days, I guess. I hope everyone  is doing  well, even

better than I'm doing, which is hard to beat. THinking of everyone and

missing y'all! Sending love!

Sincerely,

Elder Ashford

"The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved."

     -Victor Hugo

Back in Black (and White)

ANNNND I'm back in São Paulo! My color reference was to the clothes I

wear every single day in public. I got transfered this week to a new

area with a new companion! I was shipped out of Itapetiniga, and am

currently serving here in the Vila Medeiros Ward. (Sound familiar

Elder Youd?) Elder Palhares is my new companion, who I actually

already now. He was nearby in my first area here, and we did a few

companion exchanges there, so we already knew each other. This area is

super packed with people, and we know we'll do super well this

transfer. We're going to work super hard and help lots of people get

baptized!! It's really great here, but I feel as if I'm slowly losing

commodities... I've been told that the washing machine here isn't

great, so I got to wash my clothes by hand for the fist time today!

Fun stuff!

This is all super cool though. Some people, namely my mother, think

I'm softening things up for everyone at home, but I'm really not

having any problems. I'm loving everything I do so much, that I just

don't feel down or upset, and if I feel sick, I just don't let it get

to me. Yes, this work is super hard. But we just keep working here! It

seriously is a marvelous work and a wonder that we can do all this

stuff! It's an amazing experience!

 I'll add on pictures of my old zone in Itapetininga, 

and the scripture cases I bought, 

but I haven't taken any more yet. I know, I know, I've been slacking with pictures, but

I'll get better! There's lots of stuff here to photograph! I love

hearing about all the fun everyone's having, so I hope it continues

for everyone over there! Thinking about everyone, missing people lots,

and praying for y'all! I hope everyone has an awesome week! Love

y'all!

Elder Ashford

Oi! Tudo bem? Me chamo: Elder Ladwig

Well, well, well. First off, I totally realized that I repeated my title in my last email, so sorry for being repetitive. Second, Carnaval was super fun! Because we had tons of lessons! Where I am, Carnival is literally non-existent, and we just had a great day finding everyone in their homes doing nothing! I was a lot luckier, as I did not see naked people on television like Elder Youd. Sorry bud! Thirdly, we've been seeing some awesome sights with the weather lately, so y'all get some pictures of sunsets and stuff! And fourthly, my topic today is about my current companion, Elder Ladwig, as transfers are this Wednesday and we may possibly be parting!

Elder Francisco Alberto Ladwig is of German descent. He was born in Porto Alegre, the capitol of Rio Grande do Sul, the most southern state in Brazil. His family currently lives in Tramandaí on the beach

of the before mentioned state. He has 1 year and 7 months on the mission, and is excited to be returning in 4 months. He loves cars and motorcycles and worked stocking a super market before the mission. He

is 24 and wants to go study at a college, but doesn't know what yet. Elder Ladwig is super cool and I've learned a lot from him. He's had some troubles on the mission, but works through them and is an excellent, excellent teacher. He listens to the Spirit well to discern what these people need and genuinely cares for our investigators. He is a great example to me. He finally came on a mission, partly because of his mom. He says that lots of crazy things happened, including having his car stolen at gunpoint, which his mother always said wouldn't have happened if he was serving a mission. So finally he came! He has one sibling, a younger brother, who also came to this mission a few months before him, but unfortunately asked to go home after a couple transfers. Elder Ladwig and I have been working hard, in spite of sometimes difficult circumstances and disappointing results, and we had an excellent week! He's awesome, and I was happy to serve with him these past six weeks. We'll see what happens with the next six!

Beyond that, congratulations to all the people who got accepted to college, got a mission call, or are filling out mission papers! My mom told me a lot, mainly about the people in my ward and a couple from the Heritage Trails ward, but I would love to hear from all of you people specifically about how everything is going! Things are super exciting here. A mission is just the most fantastic thing ever, and I'm so happy to be here! I'm excited for all those coming down here soon because they just got their visa recently and wish them luck and

safe travels! Thinking and missing everyone! Love you all! Keep safe and work hard!

Elder Ashford

P.S. I'm super sorry I'm a slacker and that this is the second week I've forgotten to bring a quote with me to the LAN House. Sorry y'all, especially the Townsend Family. :(

I sure do love those quotes though!

Just Another Week in Paradise

I don't have too much to say for this week! I sure love the mission,

this area is just a little more difficult to work in! But we've

seriously had miracles. This week we had few lessons, but all were

with people that seriously want to change their lives and know if this

is the true church on the Earth. (Don't worry; they will! It's a

promise from God after all!) So even though our numbers were low, they

were all quality lessons with good people. Gotta count your blessings!

We've been finding lots of people who just stopped going to church,

and are helping them come back! It's super cool to see these people

rediscover the joy of the gospel and the old faith they used to have.

Life changing experiences! We also had a really cool experience where

a guy stopped us who had just moved back here from Japan. He knows the

gospel is true, hasn't been baptized, and wants us to teach his family

so they can know too and they can all be sealed eventually as a family

and live in heaven together! Also super cool, and we're meeting with

him again today! Miracles truly happen on a mission, every single day.

You just have to look for them, and sometimes God even has YOU make

them! I love this church and I love this work! I'm working hard and

having an amazing time with a life fully centered on Jesus Christ and

His church! Love you all! Keep strong and working hard, and have fun!!

Elder Ashford

Another Week, Another Pizza

I wasn't really sure what to call this one, so this is what I came up

with as we were hungry one night and decided to order pizza from a new

place. The pizza was HUGE. Like about 18 inches in diameter. So that

was cool. The pizza here is really not that good in comparison to the

US though. Ohhhh man I can't wait for a good American Pizza! Y'all can

cast lots for who gets to go with me for pizza when I get back. (Man

I'm reading the scriptures too much....) 

Beyond that, the other picture is in the house of a member. We didn't have lunch one day

because the member moved, so were invited to eat with the other Elders

in our city! The family was awesome and the lady was super funny and

made us eat with towels in our collars to protect from spaghetti sauce

splatter. And let's not mention how many red dots Elder Carney STILL

had on his shirt after lunch. Whoops. He just read that.

Something cool is that I find a new love for the scriptures every day.

They are seriously awesome. I had a super fun time Sunday morning

doing a scripture marking fest and finding a bunch of new stuff that

I'd never noticed before. The scriptures have so much knowledge and so

many good examples that can help us improve ever day. Reading the Book

of Mormon is dear to me now, as it brings so much more peace into my

life ever time I read. I'm super thankful for the hours I have in the

morning to read and study and ponder, and then find how I can become a

better person because of the things I've read. It's cool to see the

references to Christ everywhere. The constant symbolism keeps you on

your toes, and always gives you something new to learn.

Beyond scriptures, we've had a good week. My companion and I get along

really well and we do good work together. We're are still having

trouble finding people with interest, but we've had some people with

real potential crop up recently, and for that I thank our Heavenly

Father for having us return to the investigator's house just one more

time, even though he's not normally home. I think that's all I have! I

pray for everyone and hope y'all are doing well. I send lots of love

and good wishes. Keep firm and strong! Have fun!

Sincerely,

Elder Ashford

PS. Thank you so much to the Townsend family for my letter! Thanks to

them and the envelope full of awesome quotes I have now, I want to

begin sharing cools quotes with you every week!

"It was meant to be that life would be a challenge. To suffer some

anxiety, some depression, some disappointment, even some failure is

normal. Teach our members that if they have a good, miserable day once

in a while, or several in a row, to stand steady and face them. There

is great purpose in our struggle in life."     -Elder Boyd K. Packer