This week was a good one!

Date: July 22, 2013
Area: POCOTELLO, IDAHO
Companion: Sister Andreasen
Well, I would love to tell everyone that I have finished reading the Book Of Mormon and it is amazing! There are so many great stories and so many things that are taught! I have started reading it again and I am going to study it more as I read it this time through. Well, Yesterday in one of our wards I was asked to talk about the restoration and the pioneers. It went really well. There was not a dry eye in the room! Hehe :) Yup! And I cried too! Yes Kelli, it was real! ;) But as I was telling the story of Joseph Smith and I was about to share his experience of him in the grove, the spirit hit me so strong. And right then, I knew, with all my heart, that Joseph Smith restored this gospel here on this earth. And it is because of him that we have the fullness of the church today. If it wasn't for him then I am not sure where I would be. This church is the only full and true church on this earth today. and I am so thankful for that little boy who was 14 years old, and wanted to know which church was true. And I am so thankful that Heavenly Father trusted him with this gospel. And I am so thankful that Heavenly Father trusts me to be a messenger of God, and trusts me to bring his children unto him.
Well, I will start off with Tuesday. On Tuesday Sister Matthews and I went to go see a lady and her name is Na'ane. She is such a sweet heart but she is not really interested in changing churches. While we were talking with her, the spirit was not there. And the discussion did not go well at all. Something is off the minute we walk into her house. So we aren't going to visit with her anymore. But!!! Something exciting happened Tuesday night! I got my baby! (The sister I will be training!) She is so sweet. Her name is Sister Andreasen and she is so awesome.

I am pretty sure that she came out trained already. She is so excited to do the work! But she did come out with some pretty high expectations and she is slowing starting to see that the mission field isn't all that easy. But she is going to be a great missionary! :D 
Wednesday I had to take my other companion (Sister Matthews) to the transfer site so that she could go up to her new area. I was very sad to see her leave. Her and I got very close in such a short amount of time. I hope that her and I will get to serve together again sometime soon! Not a whole lot of things happened on Wednesday. We just did some grocery shopping and we also went down to the Family History Center so we could work on our talks. And I was looking up some pioneer stories and I am so sad that I didnt bring any stories about my ancestors, So mom, maybe you could send me some stories. I think that would be way cool to have! :D 
Well, the only thing that was exciting on Thursday is that I hit day 100! Thats pretty cool! The time has been going by so fast!  I can not believe I have already been out for almost 4 months! :) I have been thinking a lot about the time and how fast it is going and I really need to work on making every minute count. I dont have long on my mission and I want to go home knowing that I did everything that I could! :) 
Friday we went to train the trainers and it was a really good meeting! The meeting was up in Idaho Falls (about 45 min away) and I got to drive up there and I was so excited! Except the car ride was pretty boring. Haha I was the only missionary in the car who was called to an English speaking mission and so everyone was practicing their language and I was just sitting there jamming out to my church music and singing to myself. Hehe. Just trying to make things more exciting than they were! :) Later that day Sister Andreasen and I were out trying to contact people and we werent really having any success. So I had a thought that we should pray to know which house we should go to. So we say a prayer and there is this house that really stood out to me. So we go knock on the door and low and behold, the family was not members. (Very unusual for my area) He was interested but it was good to know that he wasnt a member and we plan to go back to that house to just stay in contact with them and it was also a good experience for Sister Andreasen because we needed to work on door approaches for her. But it was amazing how the spirit led us to that house. :) So, the lesbians that we have been working with, Jessie and Brittany, there are another set of sisters in our stake and they have been visiting with them without them telling us. So we talking with Jessie and Brittany and told them they could only have one set of missionaries visiting them and we told them that we wouldn't see them anymore. Brittany was having a really hard time. But I know that it will be for the best. 
Saturday we didnt really get anywhere we spent the day tracting. And I have been told that our area is no good for tracting but we wanted to find out for ourselves. Yeah, they were right. Half the time we were knocking on members doors, and the other half the people were either not home or were not interested at all. But it was good to get that experience in. We met a lot of very nice people and we had some good conversations. Even if the people we talk to are not interested in the gospel it is important for them to know that we are normal people and that we can have normal conversations and that they are not all about the gospel. :) 
Sunday was such a good day! AMAZING would be a better word for it! We were asked to talk to the primary in a different ward because they have already had the elders and an older couple and they wanted sister missionaries to come and talk to the kids. It was so much fun and they were all adorable! I will send a picture that we took.

We also gave our talks which you heard about. And we were able to teach Drew. He is so awesome. He is working towards baptism and he is going to be baptized on August 10th. At the end of the lesson the member whos home we were at asked Drew if he would give the closing prayer and to ask Heavenly Father if this church is true and if the Book of Mormon is true. The spirit that was felt in that lesson and during that prayer were truly amazing and it was a conformation to me that this church is true. After yesterday, there is no way that I could deny the truthfulness of this gospel. 
I am so grateful to be here on this mission and to be able to bring people closer to Christ. That lesson we had yesterday was so exciting and I would have to say that my most favorite part about being a missionary is one, when you see an investigator come out of the waters of baptism and two, being there during their prayer when they ask to know this church is true and when you see the look on their face after they pray. You can see a light in their eyes that wasnt there before. Its like they are filled with the spirit and they are so happy. I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have had to come serve a mission. And I am so grateful for all of the love and support I receive from the family. 
I want you all to know that I love you so much and I pray for all of you every morning and night. I hope all is going well and I hope to receive some letters from you all soon. If you write me a letter I will write back! I love writing letters! And I dont get to write very many because I get maybe one letter a week Hehe. Feel bad yet? JK! Love you all! 
Love, 
Sister Ashley Halbison