Sister Mary-Ashley Esplin: Another week teaching the gospel!

HELLO!!!

I hope that y’all had a WONDERFUL Halloween. It sure was crazy over here in Arkadelphia. They actually didn’t really have kids trick or treat at houses but they went to the university in town and the clubs and organizations did a “safe” trick or treat. But, there were still a lot of people out and about, which meant that driving was terrifying. Also, I was able to go to the dentist on Halloween and that was awesome! Everyone at the office kept talking about how it might be scary, but it is okay. I just kept telling them that I love going to the dentist! Shout out to Uncle Clint for being the best dentist ever!

This week. Hmmm. Well. We had some ups! And we had some downs. Last week, if you remember, we had the really awesome lesson with Sister Mckim. Well. On Tuesday we got a really sweet text from her telling us that she was grateful for the opportunity that she had to know us and telling us to take care and God be with us. All we responded with was “Thank you so much! Happy Halloween! “ Well, the next day we texted her and asked if we could come and see her on Wednesday. She replied that the note she had sent us the day before was telling us ‘goodbye’ and that she was not a Mormon any more. What…WHAT?!! On Friday we went over to her home and she grumbled at us through a closed window that she told us not to come back. We both were SO sad!

We also have lost Robert. He moved to Fayetteville because of some things that happened. Now we are just teaching Sara and Michael-which is still great! But it is sad that Robert is gone. One of the things that he took with him though was his Book of Mormon and he said that he is going to read it every day. On Thursday we had a lesson with his mom and brother and with the primary president and her boys and it went pretty well! We talked about service. One of the things that I love in Preach my Gospel is found on page 87, “All callings are important and help build God’s kingdom. We are to accept such callings and work diligently to learn and fulfill our duties. As we do so, we grow in faith, develop new talents and a greater ability to serve, and receive numerous other blessings”. I love that! Everything that we are called to do is to help us in specific times in our lives so that we can learn and grow and become more of what Heavenly Father wants us to be.

We went ‘finding; this week and when we did, no one seemed to be home. But we won’t let that get us down!! SWEET IS THE WORK! I know that there are people being prepared and that before long, we will find them!

This week we had a lesson with a lady named Brandy and we were able to teach her the restoration. It was so cool! My companion, Sister Black, asked some awesome questions! She asked if she ever wondered why there were so many churches. Brandy told us that she wondered that all the time. She said it must be because there are so many religions. We told her that Christ only set up one church though, so how are we supposed to know which one is His church? She loved it all! She told us to come back another time thought because she was having tooth problems so she really isn’t able to pay attention because her tooth pain was so bad. She also had the cutest little 3 year old twins!! They were all over the place. We tried to show Brandy a video and the twins kept turning the video off! 😂 They were so so cute though, so that made up for all their shenanigans.

Okay, for my spiritual thought this week I have thought a lot about how sometimes things just seem like they keep getting worse and worse and that a lot of times we aren’t able to see the light. I love the hymn, ‘How Firm a Foundation’. One of my favorite verses is verse 5 where it says: “When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply. The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design Thy dross to consume, thy dross to consume,Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine”. I know that God has a plan for each and every one of us and that He is in control. We do not need to fear as we have faith in Him. At one point in my life, When I could only see a little farther ahead of me, I wondered why God would let difficult things happen around me and to me if He really loved me. I knelt down in prayer to my Father in Heaven and poured out my heart to Him, asking Him why He would let all these things happen to me. I was humbled then and I still am today by the peace and love that I felt at that time. I am stronger now from the trials I have experienced and I know that He truly is there through our refining fires. God is in control and I know that we can turn to Him for peace and for comfort. This is truly the Plan Of Happiness! The things that we go through are for our good. You may not understand now, but you will someday. He is so organized. He sees the whole picture. I know that this church is ABSOLUTELY Jesus Christ’s Church, restored on the earth today through Joseph Smith. I KNOW that the Book of Mormon is true. Oh my goodness, it brings me such joy and happiness and it has helped me in my life so much. I am so grateful to be on my mission and to give my life to the Lord. This is what I love doing. There is so much to do and so little time. I pray that I will not miss any people I was meant to personally serve!

I love y’all so so so much!! I hope that you have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Esplin

Ashley