Great Blessings

This past week we were at our investigators house & guess who we see!  P biking to see our investigator!!!!  He BIKED about 1 1/2 miles to come say hello.  He is an amazing member!

For branch conference in Brazos Hermana O and I were able to get R to church! We had a member call and invite him to church and then another member went and picked him up! I know it means a lot more when a member of the branch calls and invites and investigator to church instead of us missionaries doing it every week. The meeting was very powerful and during President P's talk he pointed out R and how blessed he is to have the chance to live in America right now and have the chance to learn about the gospel. R had a great time at church, so many people were talking to him and making him feel welcome. After church President P asked if we could go visit with him and R and have like a simple lesson. We were able to have a member with us too and we taught him at the park. It was amazing to see how President P taught with such simpleness but power. Without telling President what R needed help with, President P spoke about everything R needed to hear to understand more about Joseph smith and other topics. I could tell R's mind was enlightened and he wants to be baptized. right now he just is praying for himself what day he feels god wants him to be baptized on. 

M is the grandma of some members in our branch. She loves learning about the gospel. We have an FHE set up this week at the members home. Hopefully hearing the testimony of her kids and grandkids will make her feel more excited and understand the importance of baptism and going to the correct church. 

L and his family are new. We were able to teach the dad and 3 of his kids this week. The mom and other daughter were not home. The lesson was really good we used alot of the how to begin teaching points and invited the spirit in with a prayer. We were able to teach the restoration and watch the restoration movie. The family really liked it and L is really interested in learning more about the church. They accepted to read and pray about the book of mormon. Invited them to church. We are visiting their family this monday to teach them more.

A for I we are praying to know what to do with her. She had a blessing from the elders which afterward she said during the blessing she felt no pain. she loves our visits but we are worried shes not remembering what we are teaching her.

S has been taught for about a month now. Shes going through a lot which is the reason why she was open to talking to us. this last lesson we taught the restoration. we had a member family the J's with us. the lesson was good and S was open to reading the book of mormon. at the end of the lesson Hermana J asked if S knew the mother of Hermana Juarez. She said yes and they gave each other a big hug! We found out that S is the god mother of Hermana J and they lost conact with each other at least 10 years ago!!! we were shocked and because of that we were finally able to talk to the husband of S. He was so excited to see Hermana J again and he told us that him and S would try and make it to church sept 1 to see what its like and since they have friends who go to the church!! :)

My Companion Hermana O with our bike helmet/lights :)

I am starting to understand how important it is to stay on the Lords time and do things the way he wants them to be done. When R wasn't able to be baptized on the origional date he accepted (aug22) i was really upset and wondered why couldnt God just make him not have work so he can go to church! But after the lesson with President P I understand know why R's baptism fell through. I feel it was more the date I wanted R to be baptized and I didnt go and prayer with all my heart to God to know if that was his will. I know I cannot be do this work without the help and guidance from my Heavenly Father. 

-Hermana Ashley Jaeger

Storm Season

We thought the storm would pass... nope

This week we had such a crazy storm!!! The weather here is so weird! Its been so hot and sunny. then after dinner the other day we walked outside and the sky was crazy gray. we knew a strom was coming but just thought its pass. as we were biking to our appartment to get something the wind got soooo strong haha we couldnt bike so we got off and started pushing our bikes along the side of the road (rememebr in my area theres no sidewalks haha). some car pulled infront of us and stopped. it was a lady with a 6 month old baby in the car. she asked us if she could take us home. we told her we were only 2 minutes away from our house and she said, "please i want to take you home! if my kids were in your position i would hope someone would take them home too". as we started putting our bikes in her car lighting cracked 20 feet away from us no joke!!! it was so loud and crazy! we got in the car real quick, her poor baby was crying :[ as she took us home we quickly got to know shes a baptist and has a big family.  shes so sweet and she accepted for us to leave her a church cad with our number on it. as we walked away the lady said, now you all be careful!! i know you go around knocking doors" haha,. as we got in the appartment the assistance told everyone to stay in side for the next 1 1/2 hour until the storm passed. as we waited we got a call. it was the same lady saying we left a helmet in her car haha! she said she could drive it right over. i struggled to think what we could give her a s athank you.  for some reason a book of mormon popped into my head. SO I grabbed one, wrote a quick thought in the front, and as we meet with her i said, "i know this is random but if you ever want to know more about yout purpose here on earth, read this book" she smiled and tookt he book. I'm not sure if she'll ever read it or ever join the church but one thing I do know is that on that stormy day a tiiiny little seed was planted into her heart.

Pday with the Hermanas

This past week we have been praying fervently for R. we prayed that hed have the opportunity to go to church this past sunday because mission rule is investigators need to go to church twice before they are baptized. we even did a fast for him saturday that hed have the chance to go to church. We meet with R saturday night at the church. then after the lesson we asked if he is going to church on sunday. he said he couldnt because he had work. my heart sunk so low and my comp and i just looked at each other. we explained he needed to go twice before his baptism. he said he just wanted to learn more before being baptized. we finished the lesson real quick and left. for the next 25 minutes ebfore we could head home i just cried. i felt i did all i can as a missionary to have R go to church and he wasnt able going. this moment was probably one of the hardest moments ive had on the mission. because R is ready!! he knows its true and its sad that work is going to keep him from baptism. sunday night we actually ran into R and taught about the mercy of god and how we need the atonment or else we cannot be saved. it was a powerful lesson and he said hed make a rgeater effort to goto church this time.

I lost one of my name tags and was really sad.  I prayed and prayed that I would find it.  One day I went out and somehow it was clipped onto my bike helmet :).  I was so happy!

My lost name tag appeared!

today i read a talk by deiter f utchdorf titled your ownderful journey home. its amazing that as i read the words of prophets and apostles i find exactly what i need to hear, "it is not your responsibility to convert anyone. that is the work of the holy ghost. your task is to share your beliefs and to not be afraid". i quickly realized after entering the mission field that this work was going to be hard. i believe christ understood the same about his mission here on earth. but i know with all my heart that as we endure well our trials in the end it will all be worth it. just hang in there! And as trials come upon you remember the sweet words christ spoke "do not fear, for i the lord am with you".

love-hermana ashley jaeger

We bike at 8am to get people up for church! :)

good morning everyone! This week has been good! A lot of our investigators are showing interest in learning more. We are trying to prepare all of them to be baptized :] 

We love P...

The other day I was on my bike and I decided to start praying to myself. I was praying to know why I was sent to Brazos area and who I was suppost to talk to that day. i asked my Heavenly Father to open my ears so I may understand others.I asked him to guide me to those who are ready to hear the gospel. Every person we went to contact opened their doors and let us in! I was able to understand them and get to know them. God has shown theres a purpose and a reason to why I am serving where I am serving and why I am serving my mission at this time in my life. I know Heavely Father listens to ALL of our prayers and if we have anough faith in him and trust in him with all our hearts he will answer our prayers.

This is P... he was baptized 8 months ago! Hes 78 and is a fireball HAHA! We go over and teach to help prepare him to go to the temple. The other day he was talking and all of a sudden just stood right up and walked away. Then my companion goes, "Uhh SIster Jaeger P... is on your bike!" Haha I turned around to see Panchito struggling down the driveway on my bike! It was so funny he loves to joke around. Hes the member who has a picture of me as his phone screen saver haha!

We've been able to meet A LOT of new people who we are planning on teachinng this week! Its so true, the Lord does put people in your path who are prepared to hear about the gospel. i wish I had time to share about all the investigators we are teaching haha but I guess I will just focus on the ones that are progressing.

R is wonderful we took him to a devotional last night and he loved it! He has a desire to learn more and be baptized. We've had some powerful lessons with R, we taught him in the church and the spirit was so strong!

Sweet I is doing better. shes preparing to be baptized the end of september. Shes so sweet and I care a lot for her, i think my nurse instincts kick in when I arrive at her home haha. P brought her over a new wheel chair and she was so excited!!!

We were able to teach I who has just recently had a baby! As we were teaching her her 2 sons came in and one of their friends!!!! We were able to teach them and set up an appointment for next time, I loved that we were teaching her children :]

So this is what we eat on a normal day!  This is called a Papusa and we made bomb spanish rice.

Sunday morning we biked at 8am to get people up for church! Hermana ONeill and I are getting very bold with people but in a loving way haha. We knocked on our other investigators door and a roommate said they were sleeping :[ but the roommate wanted us to go over later that day and teach him!

Our area is doing well. I thank the lord everyday for the miracles he gives us in our area. I know my purpose here, to invite other to come unto christ. And how important it is to call people to repentance!!! Sorry this letter is short but know that I am doing well and my area and investigators are well :] Ilove you and hope you have a good week!

Week of Unexpected Surprises

Good morning!  So sorry I dont have tons of time to email today but I'll try and give you the low down on all the crazy things that happened this week.

1. i love the picture calendar you sent me!!! its so cute!

2. my comps wheel to her tire went flat. took forever to get it fixed and for a few days she had to borrow the elders bike

3. my seat to my bike got super lose which stunk and i had to bike slow for a few hours because i was afraid i was going to break it ahha

4. library will be closed for 2 months so we have to email at the church. we have to be here for 3 hours til the other sisters finish up so we basically are living her at the church lol

5. during a prayer i was giving outside i got bite by something. the bite/sting hurt SOOOOO BAD but afterward i was fine. the next day i noticed my ankle was a little swollen but nothing else. later that night i started having pain in my ankle and it felt warm. the nurse in the mission told me to take benadryl and ice it. the next morning i woke up with a huge swollen foot/ankle and couldnt even touch my foot to the ground without having  pain shooting up my leg. The nurse told me i was lucky and there would be a doctor at the office today that could check my leg and see if i just need to ice it more or go to the ER for a shot. The doctor said it didnt look infected and he believes i had an allergic reaction to whatever bit me. he told me to take benadryl, ice and elevate it and see how i felt at night. the benadryl knocked me pretty well by that evening i felt no pain and even though my ankle was still super swollen.  Out of all the meds mom gave me I have no Benedryl haha!  I insisted we still go out on our bikes and visit investigators!

** It was a blessing we went out that night because we were able to talk to two of our new investigators who happened to go to church the next day!!!!! our other amazing investigator  R rode his bike to church!!! and the deaf guy i was telling you about the other week came to church too!!! Haha we had our branch packed with our investigators. R accepted a baptismal date! He said this is the only church hes had a desire to follow and the only thing that would keep him from being baptized is if he had work that day lol! I is really sick and not ready to be baptized this week :[ but we are stopping by a lot to see how shes doing.

Sorry this email is short! Our area is doing well and we are seeing a lot of miracles! The members tell us we are their favorites :] they always buy us food haha shhh we dont tell the other missionaries. i love you and hope you have a good week!

Love-Hermana Ashley Jaeger