I LOVE canning!!!!!

This week was  a good crazy week! First things first, we get a text on Monday from Ursula, an investigator, and she says that she got her answer that she would be baptized the 21st of October! We were both super excited!!! Then I looked at the date and it was the 20th so we asked her if she realized that tomorrow, Tuesday, was the 21st. She said she really?! I guess I am getting baptized tomorrow then! So we started telling everyone and it seemed like Bishop just wasn't suppose to be there because every day she had chosen he would be gone including the 21st so we asked for one of his counselors to be there then. Ha! We got the program from her and she wanted her cousin, who had served a mission, to give the talk on the Holly Ghost but she was in Virginia. We said we would ask permission to face time her. So we get home that night and we start making phone calls. The whole world seemed to be against us! Everything was falling through. We didn't get permission to do face time and President Winder, who she wanted to confirm her, couldn't be there because of scheduling conflicts and Sister Wilkes didn't feel comfortable in leading the music, especially since she is basically blind! (and i dont blame her).  We decided we would tell Ursula like "rippen off the band aid" right? Well, that backfired and she was having a break down saying maybe it isn't the right date, maybe she was wrong and just forget it and all!  We just told her to get some sleep and we will work things out tomorrow! So in the morning we were super exhausted because we didn't sleep much or, well, at all. We decided to see if we could make anything work so we texted President Winder to see what time his meeting was so we could move the baptism, if possible. Then he called us back 10 minutes later and said he would be there!!!!!!!!! SUCH an answer to our prayers! We called Bro Siddoway to see if we could to the Face time after all and he said yes!!!! And then sister Wilkes came in and said if Ursula wants her she would do it because this is her day! So we text Ursula not to answer her phone so we could leave a message and we sing her favorite song, Scatter Sunshine,  at least the chorus and then tell her we have a surprise for her and we will tell her at lunch, since we have lunch with her every Tuesday!

      So that morning we were studying and I really didn't want to read the Book of Mormon. I know, shame  on you, Sister Clawson but I didn't! I wanted to read Jesus the Christ! Then Sister Delahoyde reminds me of the mission vision - that we have to ready daily and teach from the Book of Mormon so I give in and I didn't feel like I should continue where I was previously reading. I started over and read 1st Nephi chapter 1 and it turns out that verse 20 was exactly what Ursula needed that day! Thank goodness for companions that keep you straight, especially when you have red hair and are quite stubborn! hahahaha So the baptism was on again! We get to the church house and turns out we can't hook her I-phone up to the tv to do face time so she would just hold it. We get her a cute little white jumper "I only look good in white" that's what she said! ;D! I noticed that she was super nervous when the time got closer for the baptism to start so I asked her if she wanted to go pray in the bathroom really fast. We did and she expressed some fears and we helped her to think about the promises that would be made between her and her Heavenly Father. That helped her alot so we knelt down on the bathroom floor in the big stall that leads to the font and Sister Delahoyde offered an amazingly beautiful prayer and she was ready! We were there to hug her and give her her towel right after she was baptized and she got as wet!!! hahaha Face time wouldn't work so we had her call her cousin and it was beautiful! That night couldn't have gone ANY better! We love her sooo stinking much! The next day we went over and her whole countenance had changed! It was miraculous! 

    The rest of the week went pretty well. We were able to can apples with Sister Morgan! We are a lot alike! hahah We love her sooo much! We were able to see Laci and her kiddos. It turns out that because of their dad being in the hospital and almost dying he took the kids to church! So we called up the Elders over there and told them about the kids and are going to be team-teach and they will be baptized into the Summerset ward tho. And they came to church!

      Juanita and Nick came to church as well and Aaliyah went with her sister, who is LDS, to church and all three of them want to be baptized on Nov 22!!!! We are so excited to finish teaching them and see them all in white!!!!! White seriously is the BEST color EVER!!!!!!!! 

   So many miracles happened this week! I want you all to know that Heavenly Father is VERY aware of ALL your needs and will be there for you any time you need Him! All it takes is some humility and asking for the help and guidance! I love ya'll so much!!!!!

 

 

  Oh, we also got to demo a piano! They didn't want it and the only way to get it out was through the window which they didn't want to do so the Elders had some fun with that and so did I!!! hahahaha

 

 Me sitting in the high chair as Brother Rice is fixing my shoe!

 

Its Monday already?

 We had a lot of fun this week and it seems that weeks are going by sooo much faster now! It feels like last Monday was just yesterday. We had dinner with a family who use to be in our ward but moved and we were doing crazy service for, where I was digging holes and the Elders were sitting on their butts :), They have their huge shed up now which some Elders helped to build and he had us write our names on one of the shed doors! It was really cool and its turned out really nice!

  I will have to say that I am sooo thankful that my parents taught me how to work hard! We went and cleaned an apartment condo thingy for a family that just moved out of our ward. We got that thing looken great! And guess who got stuck cleaning the fridge? Me, of coarse! hahaha It rained that day and the winds were CRAZY! If Macky-May was standing outside she would have been blown away! haha It didnt rain too bad so we were still able to mow the lawn of a non-member. She's a very interesting lady, doesn't really talk to us or acknowledge us but that's okay. The Laytons, her neighbors, say she really appreciates it so that's all that matters and she has a huge dog that is super fluffy and looks like a bear! hahaha I love mowing lawns and am so glad my dad taught me how to when I was little!

   We were able to teach Hunter again and we finished up the last 5 commandments and they went really good. His dad is going to rehab to quit smoking so thats awesome! and Hunter went to scouts after we left and he absolutely loved it and he has a baptismal date of Nov the 22nd! Now, just to get him and his family to come to church! I dont think he has ever been to church and Scouts was his first time going into the church building. All he knows is that he really wants to be baptized but he doesn't want to listen to the lessons or go to church! hahaha silly boy!

    Lacie is an inactive member in our ward that hasn't been to church in about 4 to 5 years and she came to church last Sunday and everyone was asking if she was new or visiting and she just straight up said that she hadn't been to church for years! hahaha it was awesome! We saw her on Wedness Day and she flat out told us that she was addicted to coffee and that she knew it was against the Word of Wisdom and that it was just plain bad for you and then she told us that she hadn't had a cup for 2 days now! We went to read Doctrine and Covenants section 89 with her and she said that she had already read it 2 days ago and she had some questions tho so we read it and answered her questions! She is such a great lady and we think she is starting to find her answers about the church! The miracle about that lesson is that during the car ride over we were both unsure about what to teach her so we decided to let the Spirit guide and it was perfect! We remembered what Sister Winder had told us that when you talk to people something they say will always lead back to a gospel principle! and man is that true! 

   So some super fun experiences that I thought I would share. So in Idaho it is legal for people of the same sex to get married so we were contacting some people on our ward list that we didn't know and we knocked at this one door and a man answered and when we asked him if he was brother such-and-such he said no that's my husband....Nothing came out of my mouth. I tried to say somthing tho but I was stuck! hahaha SO Sister Delahoyde saved me! haha Then we met a lady who is Pagan/Wicken and she told us that they have a God and Goddess but we weren't aloud to know their names...interesting so yah let me just say that our area is VERY interesting hahah!

   So this week we helped a family in our ward move to a house that was still in our ward and their neighboor in front of them has a cat, the one that I sent pictures of last week. well he decided that he would come into the house and explore. This is where curiosity did kill the cat....Her dogs somehow got inside and chased the poor thing and because of the tile, one of the dogs caught it in its mouth and shook it like it was play toy. We finally got the dog to let go and I shut the cat in the closet till they got the dogs out. We thought the cat was going to be fine cuz when sister Delahoyde picked him up there was no blood or anything and the cat started to walk a little bit later but was breathing really funny. So we found out the next day as we started to help move again that they found poor spot dead in the back yard....It was so sad! I think I was more terrified then their 6 year old son! So yes I might be allergic to cats but man do I still love them! Funny story tho about those dogs; the new house that they live at there are a ton of squirels in the trees that like to tease the dogs so they are always jumping up, not getting anywhere so there is some kind of pay back there! haha

   We had the Elders come to help move the big stuff and they took the washer and dryer up a flight of stairs! Really wierd house but they did great and they had a blast moving and riding in the back of the pick up ! It was a blast!  After we got them moved over there we had joked about taking the piano out of the house but they have a split level so in order to do that they would have to take the window out and lift it up and out on its back. Sister Rice didn't want it anyway so she had a great idea to smash the piano! So we did! I have pictures as well!!! It was really fun and I got to use a chain saw as well!!!! hehehehe Who said those toys were just for guys!!!! hahahaha

   We taught Juanita, Nick, Josh, Enrique and Vanita the Plan of Salvation and it went great except for all the tangents so I've decided for that family since their tangets are a ton bigger than squirels I'm going to call them kangaroos! hahaha Vanita has taken all of the lessons and had a baptism date down in Twin Falls for her and her kids but her husband decided that if she was baptized he would divorce her so she has been going back to the Catholic church. But she knows the gospel is true. It just breaks my heart! Nick decided that he wants to be baptized so he told his mom that he was going to get baptized on Nov 13th! We are super excited!! Just really hope the family will catch on soon! Juanita is sooo close and Josh is starting to think about it he's never really been into religion at all so this is a start for him! 

   I have seen the Lords hand in my life sooo much these past couple of months especially in this area! I love you all and I pray that ya'll will feel the love of our Heavenly Father and Savior! Till next week Be safe and Carry on!

 

 <3 Sister Clawson!

 

 

pictures!

 

This is Ursula in the middle and her daughter Mercades! oh yeah, she's getting baptized tomorrow night at 7:30!!!!! Yay!!!!!

 

This is what happens when a lady who let her sons throw a toilet off her 2 story house roof just to see the explosion happen and when she doesn't want a piano any more! hahaha sooo much fun! poor piano!

Are we missionaries or children? :D

This week was full of fun! So just to start off by explaining the title! haha so we have the coolest people in our ward! The Morgans! So brother Morgan is an engineer so he made a zip line in his back yard and has a big field and a dirt volley ball court! Best of all, he has this train that he made out of barrels and a lawn mower! It's so sweet! I didn't have my camera so I'ill send some pictures of the train next week! We also carved pumpkins! Super fun! Now seriously felt like kids for those few hours that we had, it was great!
One of our investigators needed help with cleaning/organizing her garage so we helped her and man she has a HUGE collection of beanie babies! Seriously, bags and bins full of them! It was hilarious!

We had 5 investigators come to church today and more next week that are for sure coming! Super excited about that! Super awesome news for this week is the Baptism of Allison! She is a 9 year old that we have been teaching and she got baptized on the 11th and confirmed as a member of the church on the 12th, my 8 month mark! Both of her parents are inactive members and her dad really wanted to baptize her but seeing that he is inactive he wasn't worthy to perform the ordinance. He has one more daughter that he can do that for in 4 years so we are hoping and praying through Allison's example that she will be able to help both her mom and dad come back into full activity in the church! 

Things are going great here in Idaho! The Lord is hastening His work for sure now the question is can we keep up? This area has exploded with new investigators and people that are ready to come back to church! One question one of our investigators had the other night after we told her that a lot of people in the ward know her and thinks she's awesome was if they think that, why don't they ever come and say hi to me.....kick to the heart! I didn't know what to say to her. No matter what situation we are in if you think people are interested in the Gospel or not, my challenge to ya'll is to reach out to EVERYONE and never forget about them. Just like we all need someone one time or another in our lives they do too! Look for people to serve and invite and befriend them! I love you all and can't wait to see and hear from ya'll!!!!! Have a great week!!!!
--

<3 Sister Ashley Clawson

 

Elders carving pumpkins!

 

 Allison's baptism!

 

Ursula and some funky wigs!!!

 

 Sister Hughes last zone meeting!!!!

We put on the same pair of shoes not knowing it! Can I say companion unity!!!!

 

Elder Patrlow and Jijon! love them!

 

 

And this folks is my favorite companion!!!!!!