Finally P-Day! Elder Russel M Nelson, my sis, temple

I cannot explain how much I needed this P-Day hahaha. So We had stake conference this weekend and Elder Russel M Nelson from the 12 came here and spoke to us!!! Oh my gosh it was the coolest experience ever! Sunday morning he was the last speaker and at one point he asked all the little primary kids to stand up and wave their arms to him! Our little investigator K came and she counts her self as a primary kid :] our mission presidents little 8 year old daughter sat by us and we had to help interprate the talks into English for her. Anyway, as the primary kids stood up he asked them to sing Soy Un Hijo De Dios. Their little voices were so soft and sweet, just like the spirit. I cried. At the end Elder Nelson, who is 89, took both his hands, kissed them, and waved them to all the children :] He stood at the door for like 2 hours afterward to shake everyones hand :]

Me and my sister!

oh no I only have 8 minutes left cause ive been emailing mom and kels HAHAHA ill send a written letter home but know im doing a lot better. it was hard to hear about kels going home but I am relieved to know she is honorably released from her mission and is safe at home :] I went to the temple today and prayed so much for my sister. Kels and mom I also put your names in the temple.

Houston Texas Temple trip

Kels I know God loves you. My mission presidents wife receved some revelation for you that I want to share :] God doesnt go by measurments. Like in school we see how we are doing by our grades which tell us how we are doing and where we need to improve. But God doesn't measure like that. He loves you because your his precious daughter. He is EXTREMELY happy to see that you served with all your heart :] He knows your heart and he knows your sacrifices. He is so proud of you for serving more than other teenagers would! God wants to teach us what we are ready to learn. He realizes your sacrifice and is so grateful for the missionary you were and the person you have become.. I am so proud of you my sweet sister Kelsey. I cannot put into words what an inspiration you are to me. You are my best friend and I will do everything and anything to protect you and to make you happy. As I entered the temple today my mind flooded back with a moment when we served together in the temple :] I got emotional. I didn't want to take of the temple clothes because I felt like I was at home. So after the session, in the locker room I sat in my white dress and said a prayer that I will have the strength once I put my street clothes back on to do the lords will and that I can feel okay for the next 7 months. And you know what, I feel okay :] I know God will help me. I know he will watch over you Kels and I am just so happy you are back safe in loving arms. :] Take care, my heart is always with you all. P.S. Kels every time I put on my nametag I still think of you, my other Hermana jaeger (my sister)

We get bashed & just SMILE back :)

Doing what we love to do on Pday's!!!

Hola mi muy bonita familia!

Wow that's crazy Kelsey's video of us opening our calls is on the Deseret News page! That's super awesome I hope it helps motivate youth to go on missions, especially the young women! Being a missionary is the best decision I have ever made in my life :] It's not easy but oh is it worth it. Not only does the mission change the lives of others but it also is changing my life. Its helping me prepare to be a strong member of the church, funny enough teaching me good mom skills and wife skills hahaha. I love reading the scriptures and just gaining more knowledge about the church. Its amazing I thought I knew a lot about the church and in the scriptures but being out on the mission I've come to find out theres always room to learn more about the church haha.

Oh thank you SOOOOOO SOOOOO much for the package! One morning I was walking out of the bathroom and my companion yells, "Its christmas!!!' Haha someone dropped of the package to our apartment and I was so ecxcited! I love evrything that you put in there thank you so much you really didnt have to do that but i really appreciate it and am so grateful!  I cant explain how happy that made me.

This week we had the chance to teach a few new people. We are teaching a members husband named L.G.  who is awesome! We watched the Restoration video and he loved it, hes been trying to figure out which church is the right one. He was really interested in learning more and we are so excited to go back and teach him the Plan of Salvation with his amazign wife.

Took off our shoes to go help wash cars :)

R. B. is amazing and progressing so much! When we stopped by her house she was outside washing her car. so we took of our tracting shoes and helped her wash her truck, she was so grateful and the whole time we washed her car she was asking us about hwat she had read in the scritpures!!! In just a few days she had already read the first 6 chapters on Nefi!!! As we were finishing up her truck, her husband pulled up to the house and was so impressed that we were helping wash the car in skirts! He was kind and offered us water and started helping us clean the car. After we finished we hurried and ran over to C. truck and started washing his! It was fun and it reallly showed them how much we care for them. They were nice and afterwards helped wash our car. Then we taught them about church and showed the pictrues of the church building (great idea from Elder Lewis) and they loved it. 

Though we have few members in the branch that can help us they are wonderful. We have received a lot of help from L R. We taught the restoration to a family and it was really powerful!!! The spirit was so strong! My companion and I did really well with explaining the restoration in a good amount of time. 

This week Hermana K and I are having an inner/outer beauty night with the young women for mutual. We are so excited and we hand made 25 invitations for the young women and for them to invite their friends. We hope as we meet new nonmember girls we can teach them at the members home.

We have helped reactivate some less actives.  They feel so happy being back to church. I think what sparked the interest again was having them have the chance to talk about their baptism and how it was such a special day. Its awesome to see the reaction of them coming back to church and feeling that happiness and peace again from attending church. 

MO City District

Spanish is coming along pretty well! everyone is so nice and keeps complimenting me on how my spanish is improving. I'm working really hard on it and practice something in the spanish textbooks everyday. I love serving a mission and just want to help everyone I come incontact with!!! Funny, a few times this week we've had to knock doors and I'm sure it surprises peoplethey are bashing and I'm just smiling back at them becuase I seriously have no idea what they are saying to me. But I've realized even if I dont understand spanish and the people that speak it I have such a great love for them because I see them the way God sees them. Precious.

Thanks for all the love and support and prayers!

Love-Hermana Ashley Jaeger

fav quote: Heaven is a continuation of the ideal home :]

Week 2 MTC done! "Walk By Faith" - & Elder Faust visited

Protection while cleaning our room

So I just finished my week 2 at the MTC! It's been such a growing experience. To anyone who wants to serve a mission at a young age or as a senior companion mission may I offer some advice, prepare now. Read the scriptrues daily, pray daily and always, and know that the mission will be a humbling but rewarding experience. I know the gospel of Jesus christ is true and I will live the rest of my life sharing its truth to others. Remember when you receive your missionary tag that you are a representative of your family, the church, and most importantly jesus christ.

 

(My District Hermanas ~ My Companion Hermana R and I)

Yesterday we had to teach a lesson to a member of the church but in spanish. So our first member to teach was guy who went on his mission 6 years ago. He was speaking spanglish so i could kind of understand him. Going into this lesson I did not feel prepared. As we were trying to teach he kept telling me to relax because i looked so tense and stiff haha. I tried so hard not to get nervous but it was hard to try and understand what he was saying. Then as we were teaching our lesson I guess my eyes started to water and right in the middle of my companion speaking he looks at me and asks whats wrong. I started crying because I was so sad I couldn't express how i felt in spanish! He was so kind and shared with me a scripture Exodus 4:10 :] read it, ponder it, love it.  Basically the scripture was about a prophet who asked God why he was poor in speaking and God said it was for his own good, that faith in him would give him the power he needed to speak. That's exactly what i needed to hear. After we teach the members they write about what we taught them. Our teacher said that because of us it made him want to go and serve another mission:]

(Pday/Temple Trip ~ NO Touching ~ Hermana M ~ Elder C from home/Zone Leader)

Oh and I can honestly say I have never prayed so much in my life!!! I pray atleast 6 times a day. I know the Lord listens to our prayers and answers them. But usually after we ask a question we receive INSTRUCTIONS first from the Lord before receiving an answer. Here's a story to back up that thought. When Lehi and his sons were in the wilderness and all the bows and arrows broke they started to murmur. Lehi went to the lord and asked him where they should go to find food. The Lord instructed him to look upon the Liahonna to find an answer. The Liahonna only worked when Lehi and his family had faith. Pretty interesting story.

Sister Missionaries from my Zone!

I love my time here in the MTC and even though it's not the easiest thing in the world I am grateful for the preperation it is giving me before I head out into the field. Today we are going to the temple today and I am so excited! I love the temple.

Sis Kelsey and I spotted each other far away during Choir.

 I love this gospel. How grateful I am for Joseph Smith and for him to have faith to pray to God to know what he should do. His example caused me to pray to my Heavenly Father to know if I needed to go on a mission or not. ALWAYS be intuned with the Holy Ghost! He witnessed to me that I needed to go on a mission. I like how James E Faust explained the spirit, "The spirits voice is ever present but is calm...listen to and follow the spirit. This is an ancient and eternal solution...This solutions requires pateince in a world that requires instant gratification. The voice is quiet, peaceful, and sudden. This solution requires you to walk by faith in a world governed by sight. Learn to ponder the things of the spirit and respond to its promptings...As you become atuned to the spirit thin ears shall hear a word behind thee syagin 'this is the way, walk ye in it'".

Me, Friend from home and sis Kelsey in MTC

I know if we follow all the commandments of God and be EXACT obedience we will be able to have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. Pray specifically to heavenly father, let him know EXACTLY what you need. The book of mormon is so true, that is one of the ways the Lord answers our prayers is through the scriptures, prophets, personal revelation.

I love you all so much and pray for you everyday. Thank you for the sweet letters and the packages! I am so blessed!

Love-Hermana Ashley Jaeger

Week 1 MTC! "Obedience brings blessing, but exact obedience brings miracles"

Hola!!!!

I've had to wait 8 days to finally receive my P-Day haha so I'm happy it's finally here. I miss you guys so much and hope all is well. Thank you for all the letters and everyone else. I get at least 3 everyday and it makes the other missionaries jealous haha not that I want them to feel like that but it makes me feel loved to receive letters:] Oh side note, Kels is doing great and she loves you.

Okay so here's how the MTC has been for me. First 2 days were awesome and so spiritual! Ive never experienced anything like the MTC. My companion is Hermana R from Utah she is so funny. We have grown a lot together. Shes just as sarcastic as me, as tall as me, and likes to laugh like me. The first thing she said to me when I met her, "Oh my gosh I watched your video on youtube of you opening your call! I cant believe your my companion!" Her mom said that I am famous in their house hold hahaha!

I am slowly getting use to the language. after 4 or 5 days in the MTC (its called CCM in spanish) we had to teach our first lesson in spanish to an investigator which is actually a teacher. The lesson went horrible because the investigator did not understand A WORD we were saying in spanish! After the lesson we went out and cried and prayed so hard! I have never prayed so much in my life. But as the days go on and I pray more and more and read the scriptures my knowledge grows and I'm starting to get the hang of things. I know we can be blessed with the gift of tongues aslong as we a diligent in learning the lanuage.

I've seen a couple FRIENDS here like Elder F, Sister W, Sister L, and a few others!! Oh FYI we arent singing at Conference haha someone said that and it spreadlike crazy, it was a false statement.

Elder Finnie (friend from home & Hermana Ashley Jaeger)

I have so little time and I am trying to think what to say!! Just know that I KNOW this church is true! I believe it with all my heart. We must always strive to be obedient to be able to hear the voice of the Holy Ghost. "Obedience brings blessing, but exact obedience brings miracles".

I see my sis Kelsey every night! I love it. I feel I must always protect her because I'm her older sister.

How blessed I am to follow the spirits promptings and go on a mission. Its hard no doubt but it's helping me grow and become what God wants me to be. I want to live my life always in his service. I know his words are true and he lives. How excited I am to teach others the love of this gospel!

I love you guys so much. I pray for you all the time. Sorry this letter is all over the place. I'll try and explain more in writing :]

Until we meet again,

Hermana Ashley Jaeger

Good Bye ~ The Drop Off

On our way to the MTC!

Saying goodbyes at the Provo Temple

 

Saw Elder Finnie as we entered!!

  

Look at all those cute Host Missionaries!

"God be with you 'till we meet again"

And there they go!  :)

Open House ~ Farewell

Farewell Talk After Church.  ME & MY SIS

Texas & Washington Candy Bar

Best cup cakes ever.  Thank you Sarah!

"3" OF US GIRL COUSINS ARE ON ~ MISSIONS!!!!!  One boy is coming home!

Some more Cousins! 

BEAUTIFUL NANNY :)

OUR WONDERFUL STAKE PRES ~ OUR AMAZING BISHOP

GRANDPARENTS

GRANDPARENTS

PARENTS

BROTHERS & SISTERS (AUSTIN, KELSEY, BLAKE, ME & GARRETT)

SET APART ON MY 21ST BIRTHDAY! 

Called to Serve-in Houston, TX

A few days before Christmas of 2012 my sister Kelsey and I received our mission calls on the same day! I will be reporting to the Texas Houston South Mission and Kelsey will be reporting to the Kennewick Washington Mission. We both will be speaking Spanish and both be reporting to the Missionary Training Center on February 27, 2013.

The Jaeger Family. The day we received our mission calls

My sister and I had the priviledge before our mission to work in the San Diego temple. We thought this would be a wonderful opportunity to help us prepare for our missions. What a stronger love I have for the Lords temples. There we are able to make and keep sacred odrinances that allow us to live with our families for all time and eternity. My grandpa is in the Temple Presidency and we got to see our grandparents each week

Working at the San Diego California Temple

On February 21, 2013 my sister and I were set apart as missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This was such a special day for me because it was also my 21st birthday! Being set apart means you are set apart from many worldly things such as the internet or use of a cell phone so you can focus all your time and efforts to serving a mission. 

My amazing parents 

My sweet siblings

How excited I am to go and serve and love the people of Houston Texas. My love for this gospel grows stronger with each new day!!