What a week!

Family!

 

Great news! Remember when I was telling you about Diana Hoelscher and how we were going to try to get her our here? Well......she is coming on July 29th!!!!!!! Sister Knutson and I are so excited! When we met with the Ward Council and they said we were a go for this activity we got right into finding out more about how we needed to get things rolling. So we met with our Ward Missionary Leader yesterday and we picked some dates. He was going to check with the Bishop and we were to check with Diana. We called her this morning and so she is coming on the 29th! This is great news because it is before transfers so both Sister Knutson and I will be here for it!

 

We are also putting on a fireside in the YSA Branch on August 5th - also before transfers. We just got a new Branch Mission Leader and he is moving at the beginning of August and wanted to do a missionary fireside before he left! So we are going to be "acting out the Doctrine of Christ." Sister Knutson did it for a Zone Conference once and she said it was the most spiritual experience on her mission yet. We are hoping that it will be just as good this time! The members will bring friends and we will have a dinner and then the activity. We are also hoping to have a Q&A Session with a keynote speaker. They are going to ask our new Mission President - President Shumway.

 

Speaking of President Shumway, we met him and his family on Tuesday! They are pretty much great! We started at 9, had lunch, and ended at about 3. The meeting was full of spiritual uplifting and scriptural references that will help us all so much! President's message was mainly on obedience. Sadly, I guess we are not the most obedient mission. But we are trying!!! Something cool he said that he was set apart by Elder Oaks and in the blessing Elder Oaks said that he blesses the missionaries that will be working with President Shumway. That means he blessed us as if we were there in the room with him! It was cool to know that we were being blessed by a servant of the Lord! It was a great meeting and I'm excited to be able to work with him and his family for the rest of my mission! His wife is great and he brought a 16 year old son, Taylor, and a 14 year old daughter, Abby. It is going to be great!

 

Church yesterday was PERFECT for the Jones! It was pretty much all on the Holy Ghost! We feel like it was super important for them to hear about that! We will be watching the hour long Restoration movie with them tonight! We pray that it will help them gain a stronger testimony of Joseph Smith and of the Book of Mormon! We'll see how it goes.

 

We have a pretty good week planned and couldn't be more excited or ready!

 

I'm so glad to be out here and to be able to be serving the Lord! I grow each and everyday and have prayers answered all the time! It is great to know that Heavenly Father is right here with me to help me do the work that I need to do. I couldn't do it without him.

 

I love you all!

 

See you soon then!

 

Love, Sister Ashley Pahl