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!!!!!!

 

General Conference!

This was a very interesting week very slow but super good because of conference! Which, lets face it, was AMAZING! We had 8 investigators watching! I loved how Elder Uchtdorf and Elder Bednar talked straight to people that aren't members of the church! I invite everyone that isn't a member that is reading this to go watch thoes two talks on lds.org, they explain a lot about the LDS church!

  We were able to teach Cindy and Gary this week, finally, and we invited her to be baptized and she knows she wants to so we also invited her to pray for a date to be baptized. She has been taking the lessons for about 6 years now and we both think and feel that her time to be baptized is soon!

   We also taught Juanita and her kids. On Thursday we went over with Sister Hatcher ( a crazy awesome mother type member in the ward) and had a big Q and A session and man did they have a lot of questions! They ranged from the Law of Chastity to the Word of Wisdom to random stuff the kids have heard about the "Mormons". Juanita's husband is very cynical right now but that night he really opened up to me and we talked and I answered and clarified a lot of questions he was having, which was really good and we found out that he use to go to the LDS church a couple of years back so that's really cool! The next night we taught then the Plan of Salvation and as Juanita finished reading a scripture out of the Book of Mormon, she says that it is true! We asked them all to pray about baptism and a date. They all said that they will and do want to be baptized! Josh, one of the sons who is 18, said that he had never been interested in religion at all but now since he's been talking with us he thinks about it a lot more and really wants to learn more and go to church.

  This ward has exploded with work, the Lord really does put prepared people in our way to help teach and guide them back to him! Luke is another investigator of ours that is in a very interesting situation. He is still a she but identifies as a male and knows the church is true and wants to be baptized as well. He has so much faith it is amazing! He was talking with different missionaries in Nampa whom he thinks are letting their personal feelings get in the way of him being baptized, which is sad. When he was telling us this an experience I had before my mission came back to my mind and now I know why this person was in my life then and has the same feelings as Luke does. It was to open my heart to their feelings and understand where they were coming from so that when I met Luke it wasnt such a hard transition for me. I could be able to give him the same love and respect as I would give any one else, which he totally deserves!

   So speaking of Nampa and that mission..... me and Sister Delahoyde really don't like them right now! hahaha So Jerod, our golden investigator, moved to that mission! That counts 2 that Nampa had taken from us! I know Nampa didnt "take' them but Heavenly Father knows where he needs to be to gain the best experience and who will be able to touch his heart and understanding better. I just dont like that he's gone. hahaha But then again Logan, my recent convert, was being taught in the Nampa Mission before we baptized him hahaha  I guess we are even then lol

   Well I love all of ya'll and I pray that ya'll will feel and understand the truth of what the Prophet and Twelve Apostles and General Authorities said this last weekend! Have a great week!!! And carry on!
 

<3 Sister Ashley Clawson

Lunch with Sister Wilkes! yum yum yum chicken rice soup! I have come to LOVE soup!!!!!

 

Real Email This Time! :D!

    To start off I'm going to share an experience that most RM's out there will understand. So last Monday we were at Sonic grabbing a drink with a member and I went to throw my cup away and this man says I want to talk with you, so I turn back around and I said I'm sorry I didn't hear you then he said it again so I was like cool could we get your number to set up an appointment to talk. And so he did and we kept playing phone tag for a while till we actually set an appointment. He wanted to meet up back at Sonic.....see where this is going RM's?.....So we did and he sits down and starts into us. Telling us how the Book of Mormon is condemning the Mormons...idk I really didn't listen much after that but I was very nice and I did really well at controlling my red hair, Quamo, I have my companion now calling me Red hahha, and we excused ourselves and left. I love talking about the Gospel but if you are wanting to argue and Bible bash no thank you, contention is of the devil.

    We had a really good week this week taught 16 lessons and 15 of those were to investigators! We have about 10 investigators and one of them is getting baptized on October 11th which is super exciting and we are waiting on a couple more dates to be set hopefully this week! I love how I can see the Gospel change people's lives for the good!

    So every time transfers come there are a bunch of new missionaries fresh from the MTC. Different wards take turns helping with the lunch that first day. No one signed up from our ward because it was really last minute so we signed up and could only do it if we brought an investigator, which we did and it was a blast! So there is this new missionary that I knew his name Brooke Thompson, and he was from Mesa too so I met him and it turns out he went to Franklin East as well but a year under me how cool! Such a small world!

   The Morgans are such a great family! Their daughter, Sister Cluff is crazy awesome! She says her hobby is missionaries! We spent a couple of hours helping them can tomato soup, soooo good and so much fun! We already have it planned that the same time next year I will come up and help them can everything! hahahaha

  We are teaching this Catholic family who really don't go to church all that much and we taught them about the Restoration and both of the kids say they want to be baptized and to go to church! Their oldest sister was baptized about a year or so ago and they see how much happier she is and they want that in their lives so they are really going to study and listen. We set up a time to come back over and teach more and the daughter, Aaliyah wants us to come over more then once a week!!!!! They all have a ton of questions and are really interested! Their dad has lost all of his faith after his dad passed away and now is on dialysis so he is very close minded on everything right now.

    Luke.......SO I might loose you here so pay attention for this one. Amanda was his name before' now its Luke and his boyfriend is 49 and he is 23 and he believes all that the missionaries have taught him thus far. very interesting situation. Now dont get me wrong I have many friends like this and they can do whatever they want I dont typically like it or approve but they are still my friends and I love 'em. So this will be a really fun conversation with him as we teach him more and figure things out together and we continue teaching :) prayers are ALWAYS welcomed! hahahaha 

   I can't tell each one of you enough how much I love this Gospel and my Savior Jesus Christ! 

--

<3 Sister Ashley Clawson

 

Pictures!

 ( My uncle David says I need to send more because he doesn't want to read my letters.... -_-)

When we travel as missionaries we have to be in our church or proselyting clothes so as we went from one service project to the other this is what it looked like! hahahaha

 

Look closely. doesn't she look like that watermelon?! hahaha Her watermelon outfit we call it! Watch out with that knife!

 

 Got my family history all the way to Adam the first man on earth from 2 different lines!

 

 Oh we are just canning! Yumm!!! So if you get a chance ya'll have to try this! Start off like you are making a Grilled cheese but forget the cheese and put peanut butter with brown sugar on it and grill it! Delicious!  Some more "Barney Butter" recipes Debbie!

 

Rescuing the cat with a Book of Mormon! that is how its done!

 

My turn! it worked this time! hahha

What did we do this week?

Why is that always the question I ask myself every Monday! hahahaha Weeks go by so fast and everything seems to blend in together!  So Sister Delahoyde is a bit of  a prankster. So two of her old Zone Leaders were going home and one of her companions and it was her old comps birthday so we invited them all over to a family in her ward's house and sat all three down and pied them in the face! hahaha It was great! I wish I had the pictures but I will get them. Now I know how fun it was for Joey to pie me in the face for my birthday! hahaha

 We met this super awesome lady Tamara. We met her through her neighbor who told us to go see her. We talked for quite awhile and helped her with her animals - goats and a horse. The horse loves me! hehe She is going through a lot of trials right now in her life. We were talking and she said she has been baptized 2 times, once as a baby and about a year ago and she doesn't feel like shes fully baptized like somthing is missing and she's really interested about learning more and reading the Book of Mormon! You do some interesting things on your mission and this is one of them. She feels like there are evil spirits or orbs as she calls them in her yard because of her neighbor that just moved in and her and her friend had blessed one half of the yard but she wanted someone else to walk around and pray to bless the yard so we did. Can I tell you one of the wierdest things is saying a prayer with your eyes open as you walk around trying not to step in horse poo! haha She also wants us to be there when she puts her dog down for support. She is such a sweet lady who really wants to please her Father in Heaven and come closer to Him!

 So Wednessday we had a Sister's Meeting with all the sister missionaries in the mission. It was really good. We talked about the Priesthood and the different roles people play in it and that we all have the power of the Priesthood. We also had this crazy energetic lady who I'm sure is a grandma and is a persaonal trainer come in and teach us about eating healthy, portion control and excersize. So all in all she called us all fat! hahahaha She sure knows how to make me feel great about myself! hahaha

 So we mow a lady's yard every Wed. and I love it! Except for all the mushrooms. I mean really gross!!!!! ha! So I love it when ladies here try to hook me up with their sons.It's quite funny! I can't help but laugh and most of the ladies that do it I absolutely love ha!

Oh, yeah! Transfers came and I'm staying with Sister Delahoyde. It definitely did not feel like 6 weeks!

  So I love you all and I pray that you all have a great week!!!! Stay safe, DRY,

and carry on! 

--

<3 Sister Ashley Clawson

 

picture time!

 

 

 Did you know that in the fall leaves turn RED?!

 

 

The best picture I have of my district! hahaha

So Many Lessons!

This week has been very interesting and full of lessons the Lord has taught me!

 So the Elders had asked us to help with a service project Tuesday morning at 7 30 am.. I used to be a morning person but not so much anymore hahahaha. So we get there and there is this huge stump in the ground and it turns out that that was our project. We shoveled away to find which roots we would have to cut and get rid of in order to get this stump out of the ground. This thing took 3 hours to take out! Elder Taylor even broke a pick ax! Don't ask me how, he's just a very strong boy! hahaha  So the guy went to go get some blades for his electric saw and I got a hold of the ax and just went to town on one of the roots! I'll have to say I did a pretty good job! hahaha The other Elder couldn't swing it to save his life! hahaha but we finally got that dang stump out! 

A couple of weeks ago we helped this girl Krystyn move her stuff into her house. Well, we went back over there After turning the water on at the Hawks house, which is a different story in and of itself ha, she really opened up to us. Her parents had both died this year a couple of months apart from each other and she had given up her job as a cop to help take care of them. She told us about the struggle she has had with her brother being and alcoholic and how much her Faith in God has wavered and how she wants to be the best person she can be and get back on her feet. We were able to share a scripture out of Either with her which really helped. Turns out that she is lesbian, we both guessed that when we first met her but honestly that doesn't matter at all,. She is still a daughter of God and super sweet and really needs the Gospel in her life right now.

 

Back to the watering thing...So our investigators, the Hawks, moved to Washington and still own the house so they asked us, but really didn't ask us, if we could on occasion water their yard and we have totally forgotten to....I know, shame! So we were going to water it and Sister Cluff, Brother Morgan's daughter, called us in for lunch hahaha She says her hobby is missionaries! She loves having Pday adventures with "her" missionaries and getting to know them So we planned a fun shopping trip for today with her hahaha. 

We had a ton of service to do this week. We went over to Ursula's and took so many weeds and plants out of her front yard and the Elders dug a hole to get to the septic tank. and guess what happened? When we were taking some roots out of the ground Elder Taylor broke the shovel... the metal part! And I was smart enough to take a picture this time! haha that is 3 tools this week that he has broken! haha

One of the many lessons I learned this week happened yesterday. So we have a meeting at 7 am so we had to get up at 6 and I was just plain tired and i didn't eat so not a good combo! haha Plus we both got the opportunity to talk in church. I'm going to send the original home for ma to type it up and post it on my blog but anywhos haha all I wanted to do after church was go home and sleep so half of lunch I slept but I didn't sleep very good so I was kinda grumpy and we went to our first lesson and she wasn't there again.....I didn't want to do anything after that but then we went and taught another one of our investigators and that lesson went great then we get outside and the first family was home and we set a baptismal date with Allison for October 11th! So I learned that if we just keep on keepen' on then we will see miracles and tender mercies happen all around us! And yes, the Lord's timing is EVERYTHING!

One last lesson I learned. We have this forever investigator and I don't know how to take her and I don't quite understand her so I really don't like visiting her. I know, Sister Clawson, you're suppose to love everyone! I know, I know. I was just having the hardest time learning how to love her So I have been praying for help and asking Heavenly Father to teach me how to love her and as I reluctantly followed Sister Delahoyde across the street into her house I learned how to love her! It was the best weirdest feeling that just swept over me! God does answer your prayers. It may not be in the time you ask it to happen or the way you want but he does and this experience has strengthened my testimony soooo much! 

Something really big and dramatic happened to me this week that I cant share but as I was having a hard time with it and was just needing a big hug from my mommy. I remembered what we use to do when life would just get hard. So me and my companion went to just walk around the temple and let me tell you just even being on the grounds you can feel the love of the Savior so strong and the comfort the Holly Ghost can give everyone of us. I had felt the same way I did when me and my mom would go! What a special sacred experience that I will hold onto for the rest of my life. I know as each of you go to the temple to even just walk around you WILL feel the Love our Savior and Heavenly Father have for you! I invite all who have a recommend to go to the temple! I have realized that I took the temple for granted while I was at home and now I go once every 12 weeks, which is great but way to long in between! I know you will find the answers you are searching for on those grounds and within those walls! I love you all so much and hope and pray the best for ya'll!

 

<3 Sister Ashley Clawson