He Knows Better Then I

Photo of Brazos District!

We saw the amazing miracle of having 4 people attend church this sunday!! How grateful I am for the lords help and guidance in this work! We visited I.  Shes is a special person.  Also I found out hermana oneill and i are staying here for another transfer YAY! We love this area. We had a really good week this week, were able to teach a lot of people and attend some branch and ward activities where we were able to meet new investigators! i know this work will not move forward without the help of the members.

this weeks email is going to be a little different. its more about what I've learned then a focus on a specific investigator but i feel impressed to share with you the knowlegde I've received this week. I'd like to share a scripture in the book of Alma that I've been able to relate to while I've been out on my mission.

"Yea, O God, thou hast been merciful unto me, and heard my cries in the midst of thy congregations... Yea, and thou hast also heard me when I have been cast out and have been despised by mine enemies; yea, thou didst hear my cries" (alma 33:9-10)

I know my Heavenly Father hears my prayers. I feel an urgency to talk with my Father in Heaven everyday. Without his help and his guidance I could not do this work. I want you to always remember how merciful our Heavenly Father and His son is. This past week I've been studying a lot about Repentance. 

Me & my Companion

Never in my life before have I feared so much for the salvation of a lost soul. I worry for those who do not feel godly sorrow for what they have done they will not be saved. But in my studies today about repentance I found hope. To repent we need to change our thoughts, beliefs, and actions. We need to feel SORROWFUL for what we have done, pray and ask forgivness, and strive to not repeat the same sin. Results from repentace is that we feel Gods forgiveness in our lives, guilt and sorrow are taken away, we feel the influence of the spirit in greater abundance, and when the day comes when we pass through this life we will be more prepared to live with our Father and His Son. In Helaman 5:10-11 It explains that the Lord, our Savior Jesus Christ, came to earth to redeem his people FROM their sins, not IN their sins. And christ has power from his Father to redeem his people from their sins BECAUSE OF REPENTACE. the scritpure goes onto say, "Therefore, he hath sent his angels to declare the tidings of the conditions of repentance, which bringith unto the power of the Redeemer, unto the slavation of their souls". God has sent his angels, his missionaries and more specifically Hermana O'Neill and I to declare repentance unto everyone living in Rosenburg. What great urgency I feel to cry repentace unto anyone and everyone I come in contact with.

I know the savior rejoices in the souls who repent (D&C 18:10-13). I know if we do not repent of our sins we cannot enter into the kingdom of God. I love the parable found in Luke 15 of the lost sheep. That what man having 100 sheep and if one of them is lost doeth not leave the 99 and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he finds the lost sheep, he puts it onto his shoulders, rejoicing! And calling together all his friends and neighbors saying "Rejoice with me! for I have found my sheep which was lost" "I say unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repentath, more than over the 99 just persons, which need no repentance" (Luke 15:3-7). I know the savior is our Shephard, el gran pastor. He is calling each of us to come unto his fold. Hes asking all of us to go out and find the lost one! To give them rest, peace, and eternal happiness.

It is of great importance, wether you have a missioanry nametag or not, for all of use to preach the gospel. "And now, behold, I say unto you that the thing which will be of the most worth unto you will be to declare repentance unto the people, that you may bring souls unto me, that you may rest with them in the kingdom of my Father. Amen."

I know this gospel is true. I charish the time I have right now to be a missionary. The work is hard but oh so worth it. I love being in the service of my God. I know he watches over and protects all those who trust in Him.  

Love- Hermana Ashley Jaeger

Keep moving forward ... Saving lives!! Ah Ha Moment..

Thank you for your emails, they really do bring a lot of happiness into my life. I get pretty dang emotional when I teach about the plan of salvation and how families have the opportunity to be together forever. When it feels right, I explain that as a missionary I am away from my family for a year and a half to help other families be together forever. i miss my family so much and its sad being away from y'all but how much more grateful I am for the plan of salvation and to know that I will be with my family not just temporarily in earth but forever.

This sunday we had two people attend church! R and a new guy J.  is hard because he feels he is going to receive his answer in the bible. We are praying that we will know which of our investigators is ready to be baptized.

This week our investigator I was in the hospital. sunday we got to go visit her with some members of the church. How sad it was to see 50 year old I sitting in the hospital bed with tubes hooked up and needles intact with her skin. And still with all shes been through, she was wearing a smile. We made her a card and she loved it.  she cried as she expressed how she didnt want to be like this anymore, be so sick.  As we stood and listened my companion started balling. We decided to sign a hymn to her because she loves the church songs, they give her peace. As we sang in her hospital room a group of people stood outside the door, listening. I know the some didnt understand the spanish words we were singing but I know that they were drawn to the music becuase they could feel the spirit. We sang "Abide with Me" which brought tears to my eyes. We prayed with I for strength and comfort. Afterward she prayed, expressed her love for her heavenly father and for the members of the chruch who came to visit, she named us off all individually. she expressed in her prayer her desire to be baptized. this made me cry even more. Many things limit her.  we promised her we would stop by when we can and pray with her. Walking out of the hospital I realized why I am a missionary. I want to be a nurse because I love helping people. i feel its my job to save lives. Now is the time for me to save lives spiritually. As my cimpanion and I knelt in our apartment to pray we asked our father in heaven to take special care our Irma. I know the lord watches of her his children.

I've noticed a difference in myself since when I came to Texas and where I am at now. At first I was super shy to preach the gospel. I was nervous. I worried people would judge me and I would be picked on. I barely opened my mouth because I didnt know what to say, especially in a new language. Coming to a new area my 3rd transfer, having to be a senior companion, and follow up train was an even bigger struggle. I already relied so muchon the lord because of the language but now I was desperate for his guidance because now I was over a whole new area. Instead of being the junior companion and following what my senior companion would do, I had to be the one to say the first word, I had to lead out the lessons, I had to start out extending baptismal dates. A lot is put on the shoulders of a senior companion and after 12 weeks of being in texas i didnt think i was ready for this. I remember, and still have, many nights where I cry unto my father in heaven to help me speak the language, to help me meet people who are ready to change, to help me be a good servant of his. As I started to shift my thoughts from myself and all my worries and struggles to worrying about my investiogators i believe this was the moment when the miracles started to pour in. Yes I havent had a baptism yet. But I have seen this gospel change lives without them commiting to baptism yet. Ive seen eyes light up as we share about the story of a boy who humbled himself to his Father in heaven to know which church he should join and in the procees he sees God and Jesus christ. I see peoples hearts touched by the spirit as we bear testimomny of our savior and his life. I see those who are sick physically, confused mentally, or lost spiritually find hope in this gospel, the gospel of jesus christ. I know with all my heart and souls that this is the true and only church of jesus christ. I will not stop moving this work forward until my savior says so.

I love this work. How gratefulI am for this opportunity in my life to help others

Stormy days in September

So this week has been CRAZY weather!!! Haha i have no idea whats been going on. Yesterday we were biking to someones house. The ride there and during the lesson it didnt rain at all. As we leave the house to our apartment it starts DOWN POURING haha like so bad that I cant even look straight infrount of me!!! We got home totally soaked with only 5 minutes to get ready for a devotional we were going to. God has a great sense of humor.

This week we had the miracle of having 3 investigators show up to church!! I thank the lord for this miracle becuase its so hard to get people to church. S and A are a couple who came and then a girl A came with her cousins who are members! It was awesome. S is the sweetest woman ever and A is so funny. S met A when she was 15 and they soon got married after that and have been together ever since :]

A is a cousin of K a member. A and K LOVE us, they already added me on insta and facebook haha and K has me as her screen saver.  K also has the opportunity to go to the temple now so we brought up baptisms for the dead and told her she could take a family name to the temple! She's really excited and this upcoming Sunday we are going to try and have K and her family participate in the fmaily history class in the branch. We taught K family about the importance of family home evenings, praying, and reading together. We are going to visit with them tuesday.

M is the grandma of K, the O family. We got to teach about FHE and the importance of family time with M there. She loved the idea and wants to be apart of the FHE with her daughter and grandkids.

S and A the couple came to church this sunday to see what it was like and staid the first hour. We had the J family come out with us and after the lesson we found out that S is the God mother of Hermana J!! This helped S and A feel more comfortable going to church and while there Hermana J sat with them! We had a great lesson.

R attended the devotional this past sunday and loved it. He still has a desire to learn more but will not accept a baptismal date until he receives an answer that the book of mormon is true. He has been reading and keeping commitments. we also had a noche de mormona with R at a members house!

T is a new lady we passed by on the street. This week we got to sit down and teach her and her son J. Both accepted dates for october 5. We asked T and J to start reading the book of mormon together and he started reading right away haha!! T said this week she wants us to go to her mothers house (who lives in our area) and teach her! We are praying that the next lesson we can teach her husband. He believes in God but doesnt believe we need to go to church. 

Singing in the RAIN

Hola mi familia :]

This week has been full of unexpected situations. We were planning on having our investigator R go to an FHE at a members house last week. 30  minutes before we were suppost to have the lesson it started down pouring! The ground on our appartment complex flooded because the storm was so bad!! Sad to say R couldnt make it to the FHE activity because its super dangerous to drive in standing water. But we were able to teach Hermana A and her 3 little grand babies!!!  So to make them focus I taught the first vision of jospeh smith using sour patch kids HAHAHA. I wasnt being disrespectful I just wanted them to learn about the first vision. I promised them after the lesson they could have some sour patch kids and they were sooo attentive after that :] and they understood the first vision.

We were able to teach a new lady T who accepted a baptismal date right after we taught her the first lesson! it was so cool and she really wants to learn more. :]

R is good but a hard investogator. We taught him the law of chastity and he easily accepted to follow it! then last night we taught tithing and he had a problem with it because he belives we should just give as much as we want. but its okay hes progressing little by little and i know someday SOON he will be baptized. Hes a great guy.

Panchito the old member is funny. he bikes to see our investigators. everytime he sees me he goes "Jjjjaaaeger!" Haha hes happy he finally is able to pronounce my name :]

This week we've had a hard time teaching people. We talked to EVERYONE but very few would let us in a dn teach. My comp and I went to knock a house which the person was taught awhile ago, her name was E. This 23 year old kid with an eyebrow piercing opened the door hahaha.  I said, "Hi um does an E live here?" He said no and kept looking at us so I thought well heck what a good opportunity to share the gospel! So as I started to explain that we were missionaries his friend comes from the other room, no shirt on, skinny as a stick, long hair and you could tell right away he was smoking something. He stood behind the otehr guy and looked at me and said, "You have pretty eyes" HAHAHA I instantly said, "Oh thanks. Okay well have a great day!" And we walked away. Later that night I told Hermana O'Neill, "People are going to remember you by the girl with the glasses" she laughed and replied "and you are going to be remembered by the girl with the pretty eyes" Hahaha i cannot tell you how many times weird guys have complemented on my eyeballs. 

I know the work will not go forward without the help and support of the members! We are not suppost to knock doors anymore. We are suppost to receive new people to teach through the members. this week we have a few lessons set up with members which i pray will go well.

This past week had an amzing family drop us. We walked in the hosue and all the kids were excited to see us. We sat down and the mom who is super catholic explained she respects us as missionaries but because we believe differently and read from different books she doesnt want us to teach her family anymore. This was hard because a few weeks ago we had an amzingly spiritual lesson with the dad and kids. As the wife spoke the father just sat there with his head down. I know he wants to learn more about this gospel, but also doesnt want contention in the family. They handed us back the book of mormons and my heart just dropped. I told them i respect their beliefs and just like them, my religion is my life. We left with a prayer and said goodbye. The kids were sad and so were we. But I pray one day the mom will have an open heart to hear of this gospel again.

Two hours later we were teaching another lady, there we met her 20 year old daughter M. The spirit was so strong in the lesson and she asked for us to come by her house and teach her more. At that moment I realized, God knows exactly which people are ready to listen and change for this gospel and which aren't. God allowed at that moment for L and his family to stop seeing us so we can have mroe time to teach M who is ready to change. I know this is the lords work and its important to follow his guidance to attcheive,

The past week it has been extremely HOT.  As I bike down the looong roads in the hot Texas sun with my super grande backpack I cant help but imagine my savior when he had to carry his cross, alone, down a long lonely road. My testimony of my savior grows more and mroe as the days go by. I know he suffered for all of us so we dont have to suffer alone. Hes felt our pains, afflictions, difficulties, temptations. Hes been there! But through it all he loved those that cursed him, bore his pain with patience, and did the fathers will. He is the perfect example of enduring to the end. when times are rough he's there to lift up my spirits. He's the reason why I keep moving forward. I keep biking the extra miles. Keep visiting the investigator who has no time to listen. Keep acting on my faith in God.

I love this work. I love being a representative of christ. I know things happen for a reason. Some days the sun shines brighter then others. But even as the storms of life pass over me, i still find myself singing in the rain!!!

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

Everything's BIGGER in TEXAS!

Doing laundry and felt something in the washer! Took forever to get it off.  The bugs are BIGGER in Texas.

This past week has been pretty good! We've had some hard times but have also seen miracles :] Yesterday we went by to visit a less active named F C. She has a very sweet and big heart. The last time we visit her she said she was cleaning her hosue but that we could home in. I told her we would love to help and her excuse was, "No you both are so pretty I dont want you to get dirty!" Nevertheless, haha, I did as my mother has taught me and right as F let us in the house I picked up a broom and started cleaning. She laughed at me and said, "What are you doing?!" I said, "Haha are you going to be mad at me if I help clean?" She said, "..No. but I dont want you to get dirty". Then I laughed and said, "Its okay I love to help and I need to get dirty, it shows that I worked hard today".

After that day we've had a good relationship with F. Last night we were able to meet her friend J! Funny enough the day we visited them he told us that morning he told F he wants to start going to church, he wants to change. We had a great lesson with them about how families can be together forever and temple sealings. They loved hearing about the gospel and Juan wants to start taking the lessons.

We are also teaching two sisters; B and A. We found them walking around a complex. I said hi to her and she responded, "Hi. You're pretty!" Haha we finally have been able to teach her AND her sister! B gets so excited to see us! She acts like she just received a present haha! A knows A LOT about religion and is so eager to learn more! She accepted a baptismal date for August 24. This week we are going to talk to her parent about everything and see what they say because we cant baptise B without her parents permission.

Thanks for my shirt ~ I love it!

 I is doing better. She still wants to be baptized August 10! We just need to make sure shes ready. We have permission to baptize her in a pool. I'll let you know. :)

This week the Spanish Stake also had a night of talents! It was so fun we went with one of our investigators R. Each ward/branch did a special dance from different parts of the world (like Argentina, Slavador, ect.) I also got to see members from Missiori City which was the ward in my first area!!!! I was so excited. I got to talk to J L . He was so happy to see me and said that Hermana Kennedy and I were a huge part of him coming back to the church and now he's preparing to go serve a mission!!! :) I was so excited to hear that and am amazed to see that by just sharing my testimony with him and allowing the spirit to touch his heart he is now going to serve a mission.

Those are the biggest high lights of the week. I'm so grateful for this gospel. I know its true. I know that we need difficult and hard times so that we can enjoy the good ones. I know we are blessed automatically when we keep all the commanments of God. Everyone can be a missionary, you dont need a nametag. Just open your mouths and share the gospel. Its surprising how many people you will actually effect. I love being a member of this church, its what gives me so much happiness. And I want everyone else to experience this happiness as well. I love you and hope you have a great week!

Love-Hermana Ashley Jaeger

Week of Miracles

Hello to all my loves!

In the MTC my teacher told us something I will never forget. He said, "On my mission when we had a hard day we would call it 'the day before miracle day' because the day after we had a rough day we would see many miracles!" I have seen this happen repetidly while on my mission. Last week was defiently 'the week before miracle week'. I am grateful the Lord has felt like we were ready to receive miracles these past few days.

My Companion Hermana O and I

We have been stopping by "I"'s house every other day because she is very sick. We have been praying to know what to do with her because she wants to be baptized. Our last lesson we invited her to be baptized on August 10 (yes Kelseys birthday:]). She wasn't to sure about it but decided she would pray about is while we were there. As we knelt in prayer and she prayed in her wheelchair the spirit's presence was so strong. "I" gave a beautiful prayer and started to cry. After her heartfelt prayer she said she felt good and she wanted to prepare to be baptized on August 10 but wants to be feeling well on that day and to be able to stand. I've never seen her stand yet. But my companion and I are praying and fasting that on the day of her baptism she can stand.

We also were able to teach a man we talked to two weeks ago but havent been able to see him. He is AWESOME and has kids and a beautiful wife. We taught about the Book of Mormon and the Restoration and he liked it. He's excited to read the book of mormon and told us when we come back we better be prepared to answer his questions haha. We are excited to teach him more!

We met with a woman named I. She is excited to take the lessons and we invited her son S to go to our night of activities with the branch. We found out he liked soccer which was perfect because for this weeks activity we are playing soccer! S is excited and is going to go to the activity.

The members in the branch helpus out so much I am so grateful for them! One member Carlos Torres actually came out and BIKED with us haha it was great! How thankful I am for such helpful members in the branch. They show so much love. I know the best way to find new investigators is through the members.

It says Temecula!  That's my home :)

We go over 3 times a week to a recent converts home named P! He is older and is adorable!!! The other day we saw him at the gas stattion and we asked what he was doing. He said he wanted to go for a walk...and he lives over a mile away from the gas station haha! He went and bought my comp and I a soda :] we love visiting him because he is so funny! The other day he let us ride in his wheel chair HAHAHAHA it was so fast! He was laughing so much. We are helping him prepare to go to the temple in 4 months :] He has a picture of me as his screen saver on his phone HAHA!

Okay here is the BIGGEST miracle of the week! The other day we had to pull over and call a member. As we were on the side of the road a truck pulls up by us and the man mumbles something that sounded like, "Do you need help" We smiled and said hi and he pulled over to talk to us. We walked to his car and realized he was a deaf man. He got out a notepad he had and started writing to us explaining that he could not hear. We introduced ourselves and asked him about this life. His name is V. At age 8 he got Maleria or something and it caused him to go deaf. His mother and father have passed away.  He told us he has been sad. We told him we would invite the sign langauge missionaries to go over and teach him and he was so excited! We actually ended up "talking" to him for over an hour!!! We laughed a lot too he really enjoyed our company. We scheduled an appointment for 7pm on friday. V told us he would wait by the window until he saw the missionaries becuase there was no other way he would know someone was at the door.

My Trainee

A few days later we were on that same streeet and we saw a lady in her garage. Even though we were heading to an appointment we felt we should stop and talk to her. Her name is N and she is a devoted Christian! She is english AND spanish speaking! the more we talked to her the more things we had in common such as great faith in god, tithing, ect. She invited us into her house and started feeding us quesadillas haha! Shes in her 60s and had lost her husband and some of her children. We were able to share about our religion and she loved it! She told us what beautiful woman we were to be preaching about God to the world! As we got her information I noticed she lived on the same street as the guy V lived on! I asked if she new him and she did! She told him he needed God in his life and that would make him happy. She was excited to know we had talked to him about god! all of a sudden the sign langauge (ASL) missionaries texted us and told us they couldnt visit our other friend V that day. We asked N if we could go to V's house real quick and let him know that they werent coming. She said of course and said to invite him over to her house! As we walked up to V's house we saw him sitting by the window. He hurry and got up from his chair and opened the door for us! We told him if he could go to N's house so we could teach him. He was so excited and happy he grabbed him notepad and hurried and locked up his house!

N was so excited to see V. She loved that he was laughing and kept telling him it was a blessing he could meet the missionaries. We explained a little about our church and invited them to church the next day at 9am. They said he'd maybe come and was confused by the directions. It was a miracle we could meet N and that she knew V and we could teach both of them at the same time!

Silly Companions

Sunday came and we tried our best to get people to church but it didnt seem like we had anyone coming. As we waiting in the foyer during the opening prayer my companion goes, "Oh wow I think I just saw V pull up!" We walked outside and sure enough there was V!!! Book of Mormon and salvation pamphlet in one hand and wearing a huge smile on his face! We had him sit by us and we translated what the speakers where saying on paper so he could understand. It's a miracle the lord helped me translate in my brain from spanish to english and write it down on paper really quick for him to read! And amazing enough sacrament meeting was on the plan of salvation!!! The members were very welcoming to V. V stayed 2 hours and then had to go. We walked outside and expressed our thankfullness for him attending church and that we were happy to see him. He was very happy and was excited to learn more with the ASL missionaries on Saturday.

I know the Lord had us stop on that road at that specific time on that specific day for a reason. We needed to meet V. And even though other missionaries will now be teaching him we set a good foundation for him and we all became life long friends. At that moment I was reminded of the scripture Ether 12:27 "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weaknesses. I give unto men weaknesses that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselvs before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them". I love being a servant of God. I love being a missioanry. How grateful I am to have this gospel in my life. 

Yo se que este iglesia es la iglesia de dios. Estoy es muy agradesida por my slavador jesucristo. Me encanta ser una missionara. Yo se es muy importante tener fe en jesucristo y actuar en nuestros fe. Con Dios todo es posible!

love with all my heart- Hermana Ashley Jaeger

Another week in Paradise! "Your not hard to notice"

Good morning!!

Loving every minute

Good to hear you all are doing so well! Thank you for the package I got last week my favorite part was the pictures, especially of Austin when he was drugged up from getting his wisdom teeth out!  HAHA poor guy. I love that he wanted to play the piano. I was listening to a song the other day and thought of Aus, I miss him playing. And I miss Garretts big hugs. And Blakes desire to go out with me to places like the pool. Everyday I am remined how lucky I am to have such incredible parents. Oh and I loved the pictures of Kelsey!!! I miss her so much.

My week has been pretty good. The members here are wonderful and they come out with us everyday!! Even though we are on bikes they follow behind us in a car haha! And they ALWAYS bring us food. Biking is getting a little easier but last night I made us go home early because the lightening was crazy! The lightening was so close and we had no car for protection. Sometimes its best to follow how you feel.  

I'm learning a lot with being a senior companion. My comp is a hard worker. I know its my burden to bear right now and I have faith in God that someday I'll get the language. Everyday I see how my patience is tested.  Our apartment is always falling apart haha. For showers its either boiling hot or freezing cold. And our sink desposal is not working.  The office said they will fix it today.

We see miracles everyday. The other day we stopped by a house the elders told us to visit,it was the house of a member who just moved to the area. She had afriend there at the house that was not a member named A. We were able to teach her a brief lesson and when we asked for her information she told us just to teach her at the members house every saturday. Then on Sunday in the morning we called and texted EVERYONE we knew and invited them to church and asked if they needed a ride. As we got to church we had a feeling we would have no one. Then in comes the new member with A AND As daughter D!!! That was probably the biggest miracle we saw that week. I prayed so hard that we could have an investigator be at church and the Lord made it possible.

Oh haha the other night we had members out and we taught our investigator F the 10 commandments. It was good but we did stay pretty long during the lesson.

Another ouch from the bike

This week was a hard one for me but I just keep my thoughts focussed on the miracles the Lord provides daily. I make an effort to talk to EVERYONE I make eye contact with and say hi too. And even though some people dont want to talk I know I left a little impact upon them. Some drunk guy told my companion and I, "Yeah you guys stand out, your not hard to notice. Its easy to spot the mormons." Haha but I took that as a complement because I LOVE that people know who I am and what I represent just by my apperance. I know the struggles and challenges I go though are just going to make me stronger. I know I am dealing with all this for a reason and I love what it says in 3 nephi 12:11-12 "And blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persicute and shall say all manner of evil against you falsley, for my sake; for ye shall have great joy and be exceedingly glad, for great shall be your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you".
I love you all so much!

My skirt got caught in the bike wheel :(.... "My Savior keeps me going"

Hello everyone!

First off to my brother Austin I've heard a little about your mission! I hear the flight there is like 18 hours away?! I know you will be wonderful though :] Hey and dont stress about the language, it will come faster once you are set apart as a missionary. You should still TRY and study some things but just remember to spend time with the family okay? Thats whats most important.

Mama Hope made these scarves for us :)

So there was a lot of confusion for me on transfer day haha. I am actually follow-up training which means I'm finishing training a missinary whos only been here for 6 weeks. I'm the senior companion but she knows more spanish then me haha! We are in her origional area called Brazo City biking area...yeah our area is pretty small. We  bike from one side of our area to the other in a hour. The area is nice, the people are so sweet and since we've been on bikes we've had a lot of opportunity to talk to people on the streets. The members here try and come out with us everyday!!! But they are all men so we cant drive with them haha so we ride our bikes and they follow us in their cars to people we want to visit.

My companion Hermana O is sweet and we work well together and we take good care of each other.

Our investigators who we are mainly focussing on his I who is a very sick woman. I'm not sure what she has but shes can barely move and before i came into the area she was in the hospital. We visit her everyday and teach her. She wants to be baptized but feels she needs to wait until after her 3 surgeries which she doesnt know when that will happen. Also we had the opportunity to talk to her husband P who is very funny and reads the Ensyclopedia for fun! We gave him a word of Wisdom pamphlet and the next day we visited he told us he didin't know Joseph smith was killed, he looked up Joseph smith in the Encyclopedia haha.

We are also teaching J A a 20 year old. Its hard to teach him because he works until about 7:30-8 at night and starts at 7am. He also has a testimony of the book of mormon and Joseph smith. We talked about having faith and trusting in God. 

Its nice the members come out with us especially at night because they're are A LOT of "barachos" or drunk guys in our area haha! the other night some came up to us and started talking. He wanted to learn more about our religion so we said he could call us when he had time. We were so thankful C T a member was there because the drunk guy was big and a little intimidating.

The other day as I was biking I was thinking to myself, "Hey I really like biking areas. There not too bad" then all of a sudden my skirt got caught in the back of my tire and stopped the wheels and I flew of my bike haha. thank goodness I put on my biking pants because my skirt was down to my knees when I feel over!!!! Cut and bruised my knee pretty bad and its hard to kneel and pray haha but I just think that whenever I'm tired or my back is hurting from my heavy back pack or when people honk and tell me to move I just think of my Savior. Aww I'm getting emotional writing this but its true. I know he knows EXACTLY what I am feeling; the physical pain, the heat, the yells from other people, awkward stairs from others and other things. My savior is what keeps me going. Funny enough, even when my body feels like its going to collapse I keep going. When someone turns us down, we keep going and praying that we are able to complete what the Father wants us to do in this little area of ours. 

My sweet companion fixing my bike for me.

I am also really blessed to have such a loving and supprotive family. Thank you for taking care of me, you have no idea and I cannot express in words how amazing you all are. Someday I wish I could just get a quick hug form y'all and then I'de be okay. But I know I'm here to help other families be together forever just like what I have.

Being the senior companion is really hard, I feel so much weight on my shoulders. I know for a fact I cannot do this work without the help and guidance of the Lord. I love the scripture in Alma 26:12 and I can relate to it because all the blessings and miracles I see as a missionary come from God. I am nothing without his help. 

Hermana O and I have had a lot of opportunities to talk to people in Spanish and even though we barely know how to speak the language somehow the people are always accepting of our message and open to us coming back and teaching them. I have full confidence in God that anything is possible. The language is still hard and I struggle everyday with understanding and speaking it, but its making me rely on the Lord every second of the day. I've never had to work this hard for so many consistant days but I am happy. I know my struggles and trials are for a moment and they are stretching me to become what the Lord wants me to be. I will not stop this work until I've done everything I can.

I love you all. You are always in my prayers. Thank you for taking such good care of me.

Love-Hermana Ashley Jaeger