Sister Mary-Ashley Esplin: Facebook, Smartphones, and Messenger OH MY!!!

Hey y'all! It's Sister Esplin again!

This week has sure been a crazy one. So much has happened! I feel like the days and weeks are shorter and shorter. There is not enough time in the day to do everything that I want to do! But anywhoooooo, ON WITH THE SHOW!

THIS WEEK WE HAD ZONE CONFERENCE!!! AND WE GOT SMARTPHONES!!!!!!! It is so so so crazy. I keep looking around and thinking, Is this real life? It is so cool though because we get to be a part of something HUGE!!! As they were explaining things to us, there was just a spirit of being a part of something special. I cant even describe it! President Hansen also talked about our temple covenants at zone conference, so that got into some deep doctrine, but I loved it. He is amazing. I am so blessed that I have had two wonderful mission presidents.

On Monday we went to the temple and it was so AMAZING! the spirit was so strong and I felt some peace about life. I feel so blessed to have been able to go to the temple.

Later in the week, we were able to have a wonderful lesson with a recent convert family about missionary work!! They are awesome, their names are the Bradys. THE BRADY BUNCH!! YAY! They were so willing to share the gospel. Their youngest son, Michael, is ten and said that he wants to go on a mission. YES! This is why we do this work! He also told me I can’t sing, so that was funny. I suggested that we sing the song, “The chapel doors”, and so Sister Black and I sang so they would be reverent as we had a lesson in the chapel and he pointed at Sister Black and said, "She can sing" and then pointing to me he shared, " You cannot". Okay. I get it. Hahahahaha! But he redeemed himself when he said the closing prayer and thanked Heavenly Father for getting to meet me. :)

Another great highlight was that we attended the general women’s session for General Conference and, let me tell you, it was simply FANTASTIC!! I loved it, I always receive guidance and help when I watch. I had questions in mind and some of them I didn’t even expect to get an answer about because I felt like they were probably not important, BUT THE LORD ANSWERED MY PRAYERS. I felt the spirit so strongly testify to me that Heavenly Father knows me and that He loves me and because there are questions in my heart, even though they might not be super important, because they are important to me they are important to Him. I know that He is my Father in Heaven and that He loves me and all of you. I invite y'all to come to General Conference with a question in mind and pray and ask for help and guidance with that, THEN WRITE THE PROMPTINGS YOU RECEIVE DOWN!!!! I promise that Heavenly Father will answer your prayers. He has for me, EVERY TIME! In fact we challenged a sister in the ward who actually goes to a Seventh Day Adventist church to watch it, because she has BYUTV. We promised her the same thing and she texted us before having lots and lots of concerns and at the end she texted us again and she told us that she wants to come to church and that she was crying. She actually said, "THERE IS A RIVER IN MY LIVING ROOM!!". She was so touched. She said that she heard exactly what she needed to hear.

This week I studied a lot! Oh my goodness, I was studying in Doctrine and Covenants section 100 and 101 at one point this week and there were a couple of verses that really stood out to me. I loved 100:12, 15. The lord says, Lo, I am with you even uno the end. HE IS ALWAYS THERE. In verse 15 He says, “All things shall work together for good to them that walk up rightly and to the sanctification of the church”, which goes along with in section 101:5, which says, ‘For all those who will not endure chastening, but deny me, cannot be sanctified”. I thought about that and sometimes I feel a little hurt or sad when I get chastened by the spirit, but chastening is the time for us to be sanctified. If we back away or get offended or hurt, we are not growing. I was reading a talk from Elder Jeffrey R Holland and he brought up Joshua 3:5 which says, “And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves : for to morrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” As we grow closer to God, like Ether 12;27 says, he will show us our weaknesses. We will be sanctified. As we recognize our weaknesses, pray to understand how we can grow from them and then ACTUALLY do it, He will do wonders among us. I know that is true in all aspects of life. I have seen it on my mission so much, that I have felt horrible because I realize I am falling short in something, but that is the Lord loving me enough to not let me fail and fall back. He wants me to move forward and He understands that I will fall short and He wants to help me!

I know that this church is true, I am so grateful to be a missionary today and be a representative of the lord. I love you so much! I hope that y'all have a great week. Remember to watch general conference and to read your scriptures and pray!!! love you lots!!!

Love,

Sister Esplin

Ashley

Missionary

General Conference fan girl

Striving to be sanctified

Your sister with a smartphone