Greetings My Loves!

Hola Mi Familia,

     Wow.  Why didn't anyone tell me missionary work was so hard? Haha.  Man. It was a rouuugh week. There were a lot of factors that contributed to it.  My mission has already been such an opportunity for growth.  I see my desires, my flaws and myself more clearly.  I have been thankful for this because as we see our flaws, we have the ability to correct them, to change, and become better people. But lately I feel I have become overly aware of my flaws.  I dwell on them and when things don't go right with an investigator... I blame it on myself. What am I doing wrong that is keeping this from going right!?!?!  I am a dweller. I dwell. Just ask Cyd or any roommate I have ever lived with.  I dwell.  I dwell on the problem until I feel it has been "fixed."  But things are different now. The problems that I have are big. They are all encompassing. I couldn't narrow it down to just one thing no matter how hard I tried. It’s overwhelming.

       But then there was the General Relief Society Broadcast. And President Uchtdorf spoke about the forget-me-nots.  He reminded us to be patient with ourselves. He told us that God is fully aware that we are not perfect. This hit me like a slap in the face. There is such a fine line between growth and stagnant living. All too often I think the only choice is to either push yourself to the limit or completely surrender and give up.  We need to be comfortable with ourselves while still being motivated to do better.  We need to love ourselves.  President Uchtdorf said, "Keep working on it but stop punishing yourself." To me, that zone... that area between punishment and improvement was a little cloudy.  But sometimes life is like that.  It’s a balancing act in which we need to experiment and try new things. 

     Dang, do I have a lot to learn.  Haha.  But I am hoping, this week, to stop punishing myself for them and simply...grow.

     But this week has not been without it’s blessings! There is a woman we went to visit. She is the sweetest woman in the world. She is in her twenties and has two children.  She was a convert to the church who is now in active and hasn't attended for several years.  Home and Visiting teachers have tried to go by and see them and do service but were always turned away.  Sister Adamson and I rolled through there to go meet her one day expecting a door in the face. But we did it anyways.  Instead we were welcomed in with a friendly smile. She was so excited to see us. We came in and talked with her...at first she was hesitant but then started filling up a bag full of goodies for us. We kept saying, "No, no seriously its okay." But she filled baggies of trail mix and fruit roll-ups and other goodies. And on our last refusal she teared up as she said, "No really, I need to do something for you. It is so amazing what you do."  I was taken aback. I didn't understand how this woman who we had heard wanted nothing to do with us was being so.... friendly? We got to know her a bit and didn't say anything relating to the church when she said..."I miss it. I miss feeling the spirit." We had a moment with her and just... WOW!  I LOVEEEEEEEEEE THESE PEOPLE SO MUCH GUYS!  It’s killing me! Anyways. Her husband was born in the church and has active parents but wants NOTHING to do with it. If she were to go to church or even show interest in those kinds of things it would cause (and has in the past) problems in their relationship. So we have been going by to just check on her and let her know we love her. We haven't been by in quite sometime to see her because her husband is always home and we didn't want to bother him. So fast-forward to this past Saturday night.  I'm feeling awful.  I had a rough week. Our only investigator right now is making no progress and having quite a rough time with things in her life right now. We have no one. We aren't doing the kind of work I wanted to this week. Nothing is happening! So I pray. And I pray. And I stay up waaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy too late Saturday night reading every. single. entry in the area book. (All the people for the last billion years that have been taught or contacted or that are less-active in our area) I read about EVERY person.  And I just... I wanted to know what we could do better. Who is in need. I show up to church the next day soooooo ready to have something good happen. I walk into church and there she is on the pew.  Baby in hand. SHE WAS THERE!  We came over and had a tearful hug and just... I couldn't move. I just... Wow. No words. Sister Adamson would crack up every time she looked at me that day because literally... I was GRINNING from ear-to-ear. Now... I know people say that a lot. But this was like CREEPY how much I was grinning. I have no words for it. But mom and dad. Home teaching and Visiting teaching. NEVER give up. NEVER stop doing all you can to show your love for people.  Be genuine.  Be sincere.  Have no other motive than love for them. Because it works. That faithful visiting teacher that when they wouldn't answer the door, left a friendly card... made the difference! HOW AMAZING is that!?!?! That tiny little name you are given on a sheet of paper. That is your person. That is your 1 of the ninety and nine. I just... I'm grateful. I'm grateful to be here in California Roseville. I'm grateful to have such a wonderful companion.  I am grateful for China. I am grateful for my family.  I am just sooooooooooooooooooooo happy and grateful that I have a Heavenly Father that knows me. That knows when I am stuggling and that loves me enough to bless me and show me the good things in life. I am rambling now. But... I don't sleep much and I'm just GRATEFUL OKAY!?!?!?!

     At times it’s painful to INVEST ourselves in the care of others. (Like Sis. Aldrich said) But as we do that for people. As we invest everything we have in service, in visiting and home teaching. In being a neighbor and a friend. Others who may not have ever felt of God's love for them...will feel it. People who never had a friend...will have one. We are so lucky to have the blessings of the gospel. We are so lucky to have programs like relief society where people care for each other and provide relief from the pains and sorrows of everyday life. Gah! I feel so corny when I tell you these things but it is so true! This church is AMAZING! This life we have been given is such an opportunity to reach out and to develop charity. The pure love of Christ. I love you all so much. I missed you a lot this week. Thank you for the letters mom. They always come at the perfect time and bring a smile to my face. I haven't gotten the package with the music yet but I am super excited about it! I love you like a crazy person. If people ask why I don't write them back... tell them that I love them. Tell them that EVERY letter I have received...(thank you Sydney Gregson) has brought SOOOO much joy to my day. I love hearing from all of them. 

      Good job on your song mom! Haha. I wish I could have seen Bro. Olmstizz killin' the guitar and Bishop rockin the trumpet. Man I miss our ward! Our ward is AWESOME! Keep it real.

Love,

Sista Mitchell!

Time is really flying by

My Dearest Family,

        It seems like it was just yesterday that I was writing you about my week. Last week we had a member of the quorum of the 70 come to visit us for Half-Mission conference.   His name is Elder Kieran.   He is from the UK and has the raddest accent of all time.  He brought his wife with him and when he walked into the room we all stood up.  He came to the pulpit and asked, before starting the meeting, if he could meet all of us individually.  We all lined up in a line.  (A verrrrrrrrrrry loooooooooong line)  And went up, one-by-one, to shake his hand.  Most people only have life-changing experiences once in their life.  But man!  I promise I am not making it up but it seems EVERY DAY there is something that just hits me.  Something that I look back and just think, "Man! I will NEVER forget that!" This past week... that thing was what Elder Kieran said to me when he shook my hand.  He said, "We appreciate the work you do." I nodded and smiled and was about to go on my way...but he didn't let go of my hand and he said.  "No really. We do." It doesn't really have the power that it had when he said it to me in the way he did.  But I felt an overwhelming feeling of peace.

       We came to find out later that Elder Kieran is a convert to the church. He investigated for two and a half years before he really felt he gained a testimony.  Anyways, there were some amazing talks and I really learned a lot. Sister Kieran said something at the very beginning that has been on my mind a lot.  She said to picture your last 24 hours.  Picture everything you did, eating, sleeping, teaching, study, service, EVERYTHING.  Now imagine having a camera with you every step of the way.  And picture that 24 hours being sent home to your family.  Would you be satisfied?  Would they be proud?  That really put a fire under me.  I have been doing all that I am supposed to. But I need to be doing MORE!

      We make regular visits to this man.  He has these sweet-awesome turquoise rings and bracelets and two different colored eyes.  His nephew lives on his property and he is this biker-dude with leather pants, bald head, and a long goatee.  He is one cool dude.  Whenever we come over to see this brother, his nephew always picks us bags and bags of vegetables (and peppers!) from his garden.  We never teach him.  We just kind of have this understanding.   He blasts the Beatles music when I roll up and I won't attack him with gospel discussion.   But we love each other.   We have become good friends.  Well, one day this week we had a really busy day planned.  But when I woke up I kept thinking about him-- I couldn't stop thinking about him; he just wouldn't leave my mind.  So I tell Sister Adamson... We gotta go see him. So we do.  And to be honest, at first, I felt foolish.  He seemed just fine!  But as we talked with him, this big tough biker dude started to cry.  He told us that his ex-wife, (whom he still loves very much),  just had a heart attack and will be dying soon.  We had a talk about the plan of salvation and how he will be able to see her again.  We prayed with him.  Hugged him.  And we left.

        I had never experienced anything like that.  I had never felt those kinds of promptings before.  But the Lord places us where we need to be. We need only listen.  I love this!  I love Loomis!  I love Sister Adamson!  And I love these people!  I gotta roll out but I love you guys and can't wait to hear from you!  Have a great week!

Love,

Sista Mitchell

Nimen Hao!

My Dearest Family,

     This week has been beautifully busy. Each week on Friday we do "Weekly Planning" as a companionship. During this, we plan out who we need to see during the week, which ones are coming to church, plan lesson topics for each person and talk about our goals for the week. My favorite part is the goals. The bottom line is that we can always be doing something better. We have some great goals for this week and I am excited to see them come forth. The longer I spend with Sister Adamson the better our companionship becomes. It seems the more we learn about each other, the closer we get. The closer we get, the faster the work moves along. I really don't know what I would ever do without her. Things are going so amazingly well.

     Well. I am finally starting to memorize the names of everyone in the ward. During ward council meetings I usually make a chart and quiz myself on the names. It’s hard in our ward, though, because EVERYONE is related to each other. (Not in a bad way. There is no marrying of cousins or brothers or anything like that ha-ha) But there is like a thousand "Strock" boys and then they have kids... and its just difficult to remember who belongs to who. But I'm getting it.

     In fact... last night we had 3 dinners. Yes. You heard me right... THREE! I am eating so much food its ridiculous. The first was at the Rackham's house. They had their neighbors over and we just happpppened to stop by... And then we had a surprise birthday party for Sister Thompson. (The lady that we live with) And then we went to the Strock's. They do a big dinner every Sunday with all the kids and grandkids. The house is PACKED! It was such a blast. One of the sons served his mission in Uruguay back in the day when it was all one mission. He told us some crazy hilarious stories and taught us a few Spanish phrases.

     This week we spent our time in-between appointments visiting potential investigators. (People that have been contacted, not quite interested, started then stopped taking discussions etc...) Sister Adamson is great at being a friend. She LOVES the people in this town and has created such a strong bond with them. It’s truly amazing to watch. Usually people run away from the nametag. But when they see Sister Adamson pulling up the drive, they run out to greet her. She perfectly exemplifies the quote, "Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care." Anyways. We stopped by the house of one woman who Alicia would LOVE! She is probably about 54ish but looks like she's 30. We walk up and there is this huge cabin-looking thing that has a huge sign on it that reads in bright green letters, "STUPEFY!" Ha-ha. She is a huge Harry Potter fan. She is hilariously sarcastic and awesome. For the last Harry Potter she threw a party for all her friends and Sister Adamson, and they played Quidditch! I know right? Awesome. Anyways. She sews for a living. This cabin is filled with scraps of material and crazy sewing machine equipment and its just awesome. She cuts up old sports jackets. (You know, with the patches on the elbows) And she makes the RADDEST messenger bags and beanies. Jackie would lovvvvvvvvveee her stuff. And get this. She sells on ETSY! We found out that I may have (About a year ago) bought one of her hats!!!! Hahaha. Well she works way too hard. She has had stress fractures and lost feeling in fingers from working as hard as she does. She has all the Harry Potter soundtracks and listens to those while she works. Her and Sister Adamson LOVE movie soundtracks so they sit and listen intently while I look foolish because I know nothing about music. So I am just having a blast going around and getting to know the people that live here. This town is packed with talent. I keep meeting these gems of people that are so hilarious and talented and just all-around amazing.

     Well speaking of music... Alicia had asked me this a couple times and I kept forgetting to tell her. I CAN LISTEN TO MUSIC! Ha-ha. Actually... I am quite desperate for it. My Mission President doesn't have any specific rules about music. It just needs to invite the spirit. So... I have a mission for you leesh. Get me some rockin' music! I want anything and everything you can find. (That invites the spirit of course) And...if possible... maybe you could make me some kind of P-Day mix. That has some more upbeat stuff. There is a song that has the ukulele in it. And I can't for the life of me figure out who it is but the lyrics are something like..."Oh lord, my redeemer, thou hast done so much for me." But it's got a good, hawaiianish beat to it. Maybe you can google it. Will you do that for me babe? Can I put you on the quest for good-quality music for me? Or maybe even some of your choir stuff? I hear that you came out with a CD!?!?!?! I hope things are going well with school and work and everything!

     Also... Dad. I know that growing up you had some other religious backgrounds. I was wondering if you could write me, (Kind of in story form), your conversion story. Your background, how you grew up, what you believed... and when it started changing for you. Would you do that for me? I would really appreciate it. That would actually be cool if I could get them from anyone that's willing. Mom, Dad, Bishop Francois, anyone from the ward that would be willing to do so. Mom, could you bring that up in relief society or something. Just ask if anyone is willing to write their conversion story to me? That would be awesome.

     Well I don't want to make this too incredibly long. But I do want to share one last story. I wrote to you last week about a less active woman. Well... we had a lesson with her the other night and it ROCKED! We finally got all the TV's around the house turned off. And when it came time for the end of the lesson we asked if she would say the prayer. Now, although she has been baptized. (A thousand years ago) She has NEVER prayed vocally before. Every time we ask her... she says no. But this time... was different. After some begging? She agreed. And she said the most beautifully unique prayer I have ever heard. One of the things that stood out to me was this, "Dear God, thank you for sending me the Sister Missionaries." I thought to myself the whole drive home... does she really believe that? Does she really believe that God would send us? (ME!) to her door? Her prayer was definitely a tender mercy in my life this week. It reminds me that no matter how many times we get a door slammed in our face, there are people out there that are prepared, that are waiting, and our Heavenly Father will guide us to those that are searching.

     I love you all and miss you dearly. I have been receiving much love in letters and couldn't appreciate it more!

Love,

Sister Ashley Rose Mitchell

Loomis Baby!

My Dearest Family,

        It’s the real deal now!!! Sorry my email is a day late. Although yesterday was our Preparation Day... we used it to do service. So we ended up not having enough time to email. But hey! I'm here! I'm in my area! And I must say... it is the most marvelous area on earth. I am in the smallest town in the mission in an area called Loomis. It’s really close to Roseville and Rockland towards the bottom of the mission. I. LOVE. IT!  No seriously. This is not just "pumped-on-life-mission-positivity." This town is seriously the BEST! It’s gorgeous. Everything is green. We have dinner appointments with the members EVERY night. And get this... the food we eat...almost ALWAYS grows in their backyard! What? I didn't know that really happened. The "Clements" are one of my favorite families. Brother Clement saw me drooling over all the green things in his backyard and took me on a little tour. By the end of it I had stacked piles of grapes, tomatoes, ASIAN PEARS, apples, zucchini... you name it, we picked it! It was funny to see me walking around out there in my dress and dusty shoes with blackberry juice smeared all over my face.. It was quite the sight. They spoil us. He is big into construction and is just all around an awesome man. He makes these awesome necklaces out of whalebones and antlers. Just the kind of stuff I like you know? Man. I have met SO many amazing ward members. I never realized what a blessing it is to be able to go to member’s houses for dinner. To be honest, I thought it was just because Elders didn't know how to cook, haha. (Just a joke) But it truly is a blessing to be able to feel of the spirit of these members. To get to know them. To gain their trust. And also to be able to leave a spiritual message with them. It’s uplifting. I have not gone one night without a meal from a member in our ward. I honestly don't know where I would be without it. As we get to know the members, our ward grows stronger and it’s AWESOME! I have only been here a week but as I sat there in church on Sunday looking around at all the people who had let me into their home, I felt the deepest love for them. It felt like home.

     Well... and now the question you've all been waiting for... what is my trainer like? SHE IS THE MOST AMAZING PERSON ON EARTH!!! Her name is Sister Adamson. (Laura) And she is from Orem Utah. Seriously... I don't know how I got so blessed. Heavenly Father is really making things easy on me right now. She has only been out for 6 months and she is already training! She knows the people in this town sooooooo well and they LOVE her. As we make the rounds to our investigators and less-active members I get threats of.... "Sister Adamson is amazing! You better take care of her Sista Mitchell..." Haha. And I hope that I have. I have so much to learn from her. She really knows how to listen. (And not talk all the time...like I do....) She is really out here for the right reasons. Not because of appearances or because she wasn't doing anything else but because she wants to work! And man have we been working. I have never been so tired in my life, but I love every minute of it. When my muscles ache... my heart is content because I know I am doing all I can.

     Oh! Random side note.... The first day I arrived. We drove to Loomis. Put my suitcase in the house and literally two seconds later were out the door. Sister Adamson sure doesn't mess around. We got to the Rackham’s house soon after. (After driving through gorgeous stretches of green trimmed roads, that is, and seeing turkeys on the road...) Brother Rackham is our ward mission leader. His wife made us a marvelous "Greenie Dinner." I'm not sure if you know all the crazy nerdy mission lingo but "Greenie" meaning fresh/new missionary. EVERYTHING was green haha. Jello, mashed potatoes, salad, dressing. It was hilarious. They have three young kids and they are adorable! Now... that name might sound familiar to you...maybe not. But I had a Bishop in Ephraim named Bishop Rackham. I took a shot in the dark and asked if they knew anyone in Manti with the name Rackham. Guess what? It’s his DAD! Haha. So we had a few laughs about that. I am sure that the Francois remember him. You should ask them about that. I seriously find these connections ALL the time. It’s insane. And by NO means a coincidence. Also... Sister Rackham has a picture of a bride up on her wall by the name of Ashley Kersey. She is a good friend and roommate of Meredith's that I knew. Craziness.

     We have some AMAZING investigators. One of whom has been on my thoughts every waking hour of every day since the first day I got here. She is, like me, a veeeeeeeerrrry logical thinker. I will read the scriptures sometimes and my mind will go rampant. Sometimes I find things that, to my understanding, don't exactly make sense. And so I ask questions! You know this mom. I am never one to....how you say... blindly follow? I'm a question asker. This investigator does this same thing. She has been coming to church with us for a while now. She will scribble notes down in church with questions to ask us when we come see her. So here I am... on my very first day as a missionary. (Wednesday) And she has her questions. I love her.  But anyways, point being... she's awesome. She's curious. She just wants to KNOW things. With this concrete knowledge that can't be shaken. Lets just say that the first lesson we had with her... didn't go the way we hoped. And it KILLED me. I just... I want to know more. I want to be more so that I never have lessons like that again. So I flopped. I flopped big time and it has been the greatest thing for me. It has helped me grow and learn in ways I could never imagine. I know exactly how she feels because I've felt that way! But when you have that roadblock in your head, that question that you’re stumped on... it means you've closed your heart. As you open your heart to the feelings of the spirit and pray to your Heavenly Father for the answers you are seeking...your mind will be opened. The heart is the key to the mind. We have several other people we meet with but man... she NEVER LEAVES MY MIND. I love her. Its crazy to meet with someone for only one hour on only one day and still love them. That’s the love of our Heavenly Father.

     I never really completely realized the gravity of my call until I was sitting in a lesson with another woman. She is a less active member. She has had some... very rough patches in her life and has endured a lot of painful experiences. As human beings, we naturally sympathize with people. We see others in pain and we want to comfort them. I have felt that before for my friends or family or even strangers at times. But it wasn’t until sitting in this lesson with this woman that I really realize the full extent of how much our Savior loves us.  But as I sat there with her, I felt this physical feeling of love wash over me. This all-encompassing, unconditional LOVE for her. I just thought... I want to do whatever I can to take away the suffering that she feels right now. It was almost uncontrollable. And in that moment... I realized the smallest portion of how much our Savior loves us. INDIVIDUALLY. How much he truly cares about all his children. Even the ones who have gone astray or who blaspheme his name. Even the ones who aren't as patient or as kind or as loving as they should be. He loves us so much. That feeling I got that night changed the way I see this world. Like I said in my talk before I left. These are the people we walk amongst every day. These are the people we see at the grocery store. The people we might avert our eyes from because we don't have the time or the patience to give a friendly smile. We need to love everyone that we come in contact with. We need to reeeallly love them. We need to show it in everything we do regardless of our circumstances.

     Sooooooo many people have been awesome about writing me. I really can't tell you how much your advice and council really lifts me. Things are not easy. But I got an email from Tammy Schick that really just...wow. Just helped me a LOT. She talked about planting seeds and harvesting. I'm here for both. But if there were no seed planted... there wouldn't be a harvest. Because you invest yourself so fully in this work. Because you put your whole heart into it... its hard not to let it effect you. You love these people and you want the best for them. But I cannot ever be disappointed! Disappointment is wasted time. You have to just pick yourself back up and keep going. Its such a fine line between disappointment and success. Because this thing with that first investigator... she is CONSTANTLY on my mind. But I think it’s a good thing. We just have to keep that balance. We have to be sure that we care deeply enough to let it effect our life. But you have to use those times of slight disappointment to push you forward. I don't know. Does that make sense? This church is true. I have FELT it’s power.

     There is a quote by Spencer W. Kimball that I read every morning before I go out. (We tapped it into our shower) It says, " If only you could see the vision as I have. I wish I had your bodies to do this work. I would run from house to house telling everyone of the gospel, and after I lost the strength to run, I would begin to walk, and after I collapsed from walking, I would begin to crawl, and after my knees were so bloody that I could not use them, I would use my arms to drag myself, and once every muscle in my body was gone, I would begin to yell! Oh, if only you could see the vision as I have.

     Serve others. Work with every fiber of your being to be a tool in the Lords hand. I am so happy to hear that you are all reading from Preach My Gospel. I know that will really bless you. I miss you guys and hope everything is going well.  I didn't have time to write ANY letters this week. But I love you all and am so grateful for all you do for me. When I got to the mission home there was a letter waiting for me from Montana (Jessica Stoneman) and it made my whole life better! I love you all and hope I get this whole P-day thing figured out soon so I can write all you wonderful people back!!!!

Love,

Sista Ash Mitch

P.S.S.S. We used to be in charge of Loomis 1st and 3rd ward but now we are just Loomis 1st! There are two other sisters in the 3rd ward so it means we can get sooooooo much more work done! Yay! Sorry if I didn't answer some of your questions.... next time for sure. Love you!