Me & my companion at the Christmas Créche

Ol' Smoky

Hello family!

This has been a very quick week! Plenty of things going on.

Last Monday night, we went over to one member's home. We had the ward mission leader there and his wife and had Family Home Evening with them and mainly went to fellowship them. I feel so many members need to know that they have a friend at church and that we are all struggling with various things in life.

We had Zone Conference last week. That's where typically 3 zones that are relatively close to each other come together where we usually have a general authority and President McCune speak to us. This time we had President and Elder Don Clarke of the area 70. He's such an awesome speaker! He had so many insightful things to share with us all! Essentially the bottom line was that we all needed to be more obedient to mission rules because they say obedience reaps blessings, but exact obedience brings miracles. After that, my comp and I have been trying to focus more on the little things that we need to work on.

One of our stakes put together a Christmas Créche. It's a humongous display of nativities and it was open to the
public as a missionary tool and to help everyone feel the spirit. Centreville Stake needs to do something like that! It was very cool!

We were with Jason R. and his family all day. We went to a team roping event where we supported their two oldest kids. Then we all went back to the ranch and did some service, then had like a super FHE. We invited over this guy and his girlfriend (who also happens to be the Bishop's daughter) and he is getting baptized in Orem.

We went to Jason's Ward expecting it to be one of our last times going there because of transfers. After that we went back to Spanish Fork and taught some great lessons. Good day! That evening we had correlation meeting for one of our stakes and we found out that one of our recent convert's brother had been baptized in Salina over the weekend. Now granted, it's the St. George mission down there,. But we're still overjoyed that it happened! Our next step for convert is getting his Patriarchal Blessing.

This morning at the crack of dawn, we got up and went to the Provo Temple to do an endowment session as a district! It was so nice!. Then we all went to lunch in Provo.

So the transfer list came out....AND ELDER DOHERTY AND I ARE STAYING IN SPANISH FORK YAY YAY YAY YAY

I would have been so bummed if I left because I know this area so well and have created a friendship/relationship with a lot of the members and also the leaders! I'm feeling so blessed to be able to stay here!

Also, Jenise, Dad told me everything that has been going on with you! I hope things continue to end in your favor! Also, that pic of me was with Ol' Smoky at a team roping event in Lake Shore. Hope you had an
awesome birthday!

Mom, I love you unconditionally and I'm glad you hit that final stage and completely kicked cancers ugly behind! Dad, I love you so much! Brother and Sister dears, I love y'all so much! I truly am appreciative of how supportive y'all are about my mission. It truly is a privilege to lead the pack when it comes to missions! I want all the nephews and even nieces and eventually my kids to go on missions to serve the Lord! It truly is a life changing experience! The things you encounter... holy cow! So wonderful!

I can't believe I get to skype y'all in only 10 days! It's incredible just how quickly things have picked up these past few transfers! I remember very vividly saying to myself...."I'm at 3 months"....then a few days later saying..."holy cow I'm at 4 months!".....it's indescribable just how things go.

Anyways....I think that about does it for this week. Looking forward to all the many lessons we have planned next week!

Love you all!!!!

-Elder Ahrens

 Learning to lasso the cow. You never know when this will come in handy.

Lake Utah

Hello family!

So as Jason so thoughtfully brought it to my attention, I should be telling you about what I learned this week rather than what I did. Well, I'm going to do a little bit of both, but instead of going on the day to day, I'm going to go over the highlights.

Last Monday night we had exchanges with our Zone Leaders. I was paired up with Elder Roberts, and Elder Doherty was paired up with Elder Jiles. Elder Roberts is from Wales!  We had a super awesome time. We really had a great time working together! We did a number of finding activities. Later in the day we did a little bit of contacting. We ended up at a member's house. Now this member is an older guy who is originally from Florida. He has been living in this dilapidated house for a little over 10 years. When Elder Roberts and I arrived, he had this flat bed truck loaded up with split wood. We offered our assistance and he obliged. We had a nice long conversation for about an hour or so while we were helping him sort this wood and stack it next to his house for firewood. We had a good time and got to know him really well. That night we exchanged back.

Wednesday we had a Thanksgiving Pie Party at one of our Senior Couples' home.

Thursday was turkey day! We had 3 Thanksgiving dinners lined up and we were prepared! The first family we went to, we are really close to and they always look out for us. He is a ward mission leader so we already see him a ton anyway! We actually returned to their home that night and played games with them and all their family that was visiting! Then we went to the 2nd member's home. After dinner, we went out and I practiced some of my roping. Getting a little better at it but still needs a lot of work! Mom, you're from Texas. Roping and cowboys are your ancestry! The last family we visited was a Bishop's family we really like...one of our favorite Bishops! So we always go over to his house during the week and visit. We're actually doing quite a bit of work in his ward so it keeps him and us up to date. Then we went back to the first member's home and played games.

Saturday we had a baptism in the early afternoon.

On Sunday, we spoke in Sacrament meeting. It went well...but it just rekindled my fire of dislike of public speaking haha. After that we took some Elders in our Zone all the way down 89 to Birdseye, UT. Population 70. :P It's in the canyon so it was quite a view. We went out there so my companion (being the District Leader) could conduct a baptismal interview for them. We'll be going back out there next week to witness the baptism..which is going to be held in a pond by the way! After that we went to Ashley P.'s ward and taught Primary Sharing time for her! So that was fun I guess haha.

That about sums up this week! I really do appreciate all of the support y'all have been giving me!  It truly is picking up quite a bit! I'm still in shock that I get to FaceTime y'all in a little under a month! Transfers are on the 18th and I'm really hoping I get to stay in this area for the new year.

Elder Doherty and I get along so well and have a great time together!

Love you tons!

-Elder Ahrens

P.S - loved the pics of the deck work! keep em comin! I love getting pics!

Me and my new companion.

Yoooooooooo

So some weeks feel slow but quick at the same time but all definitely a great experience :D

So last Monday we had a final district activity because we found out who was getting transferred so it was one last hoorah with everyone.

Tuesday we a couple appointments, but it was mainly a day for Elder Peabody to pack. We had dinner with a member family. She's the one who sent you those pictures a while back. They're really fun! After that we went to go visit another family. Man they are so much fun! The wife is a professional photographer so we were talking about photography for a while because I know I'm only an amateur photographer but want to learn more. So that was cool.

Wednesday the big day came around. We packed it up and headed out to Provo for transfers. We got there a little early because one of the elders in our district was training and they pretty much ride everywhere with us because they live so close. So yeah. I got to see my MTC district which was really nice because I love all of those guys. After hanging out and talking in the gym for a while, we moved in to the chapel and President McCune introduced all of the newbies and assigned them to their trainers. Then everyone else came. Since Spanish Fork area is like one of the last areas to get called, I had to wait in suspense until the very end. My companion is now Elder Doherty. He is 20 years old, he's been on his mission for a year, and he's from Limerick, Ireland! He is so chill. We get along so well..like it's awesome. We're always laughing about something. Never a dull moment between us. That night we had a few appointments but in between I introduced him to both Stake Presidents. That night we had Stake Missionary Correlation for one of our stakes so he was able to meet the Ward Mission Leaders of that stake.

Thursday we had District Training Meeting so we got to meet all of the new missionaries. That was cool so when we got done with that we walked to the front door and it was SNOWING!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO so I was happy about that. We had a few appointments that evening but nothing special after that. We were invited to attend a Bishopric/Stake Presidency meeting that evening where we introduced ourselves and bore our testimonies about our missions. That was cool.

Friday we did some finding activities then went out to the member's house who owns the mink farm and hung little boxes in the mink cages so when he has more mink they'll have a little home. So that was kinda fun. We visited awhile and had a good time with it. That night we had dinner with a family, then went to go meet with another one of our families.

Saturday it snowed like crazy again. We had a few appointments then went back down to Jason R.'s mink farm and did service all day. It was a nice break from the day to day and a good time to get some service in! Walking around proselyting gets really hard sometimes so we need to be anxiously engaged in a good work...physical work. Thank goodness.

Sunday we went to PEC in one of our wards..then stayed all three hours for that. Then had lunch. Then headed over to one of our Stake Centers to hold a baptismal interview. After that, we went to another ward's gospel principles class because they wanted us there from last week because the lesson was missionary oriented. After that we had correlation meeting, then we went to dinner, the we had a few other appointments. 

So that about wraps up this week. Unfortunately, it's really expensive to get your license in Ireland...so I'm the designated driver once again...which I really don't have a problem with. Anyways. Mom, I'm good on face stuff and pants, thanks for asking <3 As for having a less/inactive over at an active members home is strongly recommended for sharing the gospel with them. Give Josh my best and tell that punk to write me back lol I emailed him. What's his myldsmail account name?

That's all folks!

Love you!

-Elder Ahrens   

Teaching the youth in Primary about prayer.

Elder Peabody & Elder Ahrens



Hello family!

So most of last week we spent walking through neighborhoods to find people to teach.  We spend a lot of time in Ashley P's ward. We had the opportunity to do some service as well as have dinner with on of the members in the Lake Shore 2nd Ward. 

On Friday, we had ZTM (Zone Training Meeting). That's where the whole zone meets together and the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders teach us about gospel doctrine and how to improve our teaching. After that we did some more finding in Ashley P's ward. We're up there a lot.....ANYWAY. Did some weekly planning, then we met with one of our Ward Mission leaders to teach a young girl about baptism as she is preparing for baptism once she turns 8 in a few days.  So that's always a good experience! Following that we visited the another family. They have an interesting story. Pretty much Murphy's Law has been kicking them in the rear. Anything that could go wrong, has happened to this family. It's so unfortunate. The husband was away for 3 weeks and one night while he was away, his wife was doing laundry and her kids were off playing in the other room. She heard a rustling noise in one of the rooms...thinking it was their dog, she calls out to him for him to come. The dog doesn't come. She calls once more with the rustling getting louder. dog still doesn't come...the rustling gets even louder and the dog runs up from behind her and goes and stands in the doorway of where the rustling is coming from. He starts growling and barking...now granted this dog is a Great Dane. She peeks past the doorway only to find a burglar had climbed in through the window. When Brutus, the dog, sees him and starts growling and barking, the burglar books it out the window and over the fence, knocking it over in the process. Way to go Brutus! You see a big dog like that, the last thing you want is his big rear end chasing you! CUZ YOU GONNA LOSE!  So the husband told us a little about his recent past with him and his wife. And despite everything that has gone wrong with them, not once did they ever turn their backs on the Lord...which is a remarkable example of their faith and strength with Heavenly Father. Great, great people and I'm looking forward to meeting with them next week!

On Saturday, we went back out to Lake Shore to contact some of the referrals we got from the leaders out there. Then we came back to SF to meet up with one of our recent converts. We went up to the Provo Temple to do baptisms for the dead! Note to self: NEVER go to that temple on a weekend evening. So busy! However, the assistant baptistry coordinator squeezed us in and I got to baptize him for 5 people! What a sweet experience! That night we had dinner with one of the previous Relief Society President's and the 1st Counselor of the Bishopric up in Ashley P's ward. That was fun. They both are good families. 

On Sunday we went to 3 wards. The picture's you received were from the Primary President. She invited us to teach sharing time about prayer and so we did! Later that evening we had coordination meeting with all of the ward mission leaders from the West Stake. Following that we had dinner with the 2nd Counselor of the West Stake Presidency. So that was cool. He is a really great guy. Actually I like all of the West Stake Presidency! haha. Then, we had the mission wide Coordination meeting and President McCune and Elder Leavitt of the Seventy, spoke to all of us missionaries in our zone, the missionaries in the next zone over, all of the Stake Presidencies, Bishops, and Ward Mission Leaders of all those stakes and wards. It was so cool.

Transfers are on Wednesday...I'll be staying in the area...but Elder Peabody is getting transferred. So next week I'll have a new companion...hopefully we will connect as well as Peabody and I have over these last 6 weeks. After we do emails here in a little while we're gonna try to get the District together...because half of our district is either getting transferred or going home. So one last HOORAH.

Anyways...I think that about sums it up for this week!

Until next week! I'll tell you how my new comp is!

With love.

-Elder Ahrens

Elder Kirk Ahrens 

 I've been looking for a pink ribbon wrist band to wear all the time to always remember that MY mom kicked cancers ugly behind!  You are a brave, courageous, strong woman and am proud to call you my MOM! I love you more that there are stars in the sky!

Hola mi familia!

Wow this has been a good week.  Slow at times, but a good week.

Well as you know last week we trekked up West Mountain one of the member's jacked up Ford Excursion. West
Mountain is now covered in snow so it would be pretty sweet to go up it now!

So we actually had 2 exchanges this week! We had an exchange with the River Stake Spanish Elders. This time I was paired up with Elder Ramos. He is a big, burley Alaskan. He's super cool and we work well together. We had a few appointments, made some return appointments, and taught some lessons. We get along great so there was never a dull moment between us. That night we had Stake Missionary Correlation meeting. I took the lead and we had a great meeting. Finally, we had ALL of the ward mission leaders in attendance. It was great!

We finished the following day with the exchange, had District Training Meeting then proceeded to do an
exchange with the Zone Leaders. I went with Elder Jiles who is awesome. We had a good time, rode our bikes
around town, made some appointments, visited some leaders, and taught some great lessons. A highlight of our evening was when we visited a brother who has a very interesting past.  He grew up in Vegas, decided to turned his life around, left a foster home, and returned to live with his parents. He's had a rough life.

Once we finished with that, I went back to my area to find out that my companion had been stricken with a deadly disease....not really but he has a hacking cough and very congested...so I've been doing my very best
to stay out of his way so I don't get sick.

That night we had our own little Halloween party! We gathered together as a district at a chapel, with plenty of blankets and pillows, pulled the lounge couches and arm chairs into the gym, and enjoyed each other's company. It was very cool. A sister in the area, who is totally awesome, hooked us up with Sloppy Joes, Utah Jello, chips, brownies, pumpkin choco chip cookies, pink lemonade, and fruit punch. So we were seriously livin large that night!

We had an early morning Sunday with a long day ahead of us. Got ready, and headed over to the Spanish Fork West Stake Center. We were invited to attend the Stake Presidency meeting and discuss our missionary efforts to the stake. We also issued them a challenge to get a name for us to visit. Following that we attended a ward council meeting. Shared a quick message about making and keeping commitments. After that we finished up there we went to one of the wards we preside over.

Following that at 11 o clock, we were invited to attend High Priest Group Meeting in the 3rd Ward. We shared with them a very powerful message about prophets and also about the Book Of Mormon. The spirit was so strong and it was awesome! We issued a challenge at the end to everyone asking them to hand out 1 Book of Mormon to a friend or acquaintance. It was such a neat experience being in the same room as so many strong, valiant, powerful Melchizedek Priesthood holders.

Following that we went and taught Relief Society. LOL

After that we had a lesson and then we went on to another Stake Missionary Correlation meeting. That night we had several cancellations and ended up missing out on BYU Vocal Point at one of our local Stake Centers. I was bummed. Oh well. What a memorable long week!

Anyways, that's all folks! I look forward to hearing from y'all!

Love you all tons!

Me and Elder Peabody heading to the top of West Mountain

God's creations are absolutely incredible.

New members

Selfie

Weekly Email Oct 27th, 2014

Hey family! Sorry this email is coming so late! It's been a very busy P-Day!   So this past week has absolutely flown by!

This past weekend we had 2 baptisms and on Sunday, the confirmation! It's so nice to see these two sisters take the necessary steps to return to their Heavenly Father.

Sunday, we had the opportunity to attend the confirmation, but we also attended another Ward and we shared with the Priests in that Ward what kind of decisions we had to make to prepare for a mission and also committed
them to go on splits with us ever week working our way down the list! It was awesome and it was nice to share that with them! Hopefully, it sparked an interest to serve a mission for these boys!

For P-day we met up with a member who took us to the top of West Mountain. Pics coming. Plenty taken! What an amazing view!  I truly appreciate God's creation! Then afterwards we went to Jason R.'s house and had dinner, then watched his kids ride their horses and practice roping. I was walking horses around for them, petting them, saddling them up, and all that good stuff! Quite the experience. Granny would have been so excited!

I'm thankful for all the support y'all have been giving me throughout the week! I love you all tonnage!

-Elder Ahrens

WASSSSSSUP!

This is weird....it has NOT been another WHOLE week! Time is speeding up! What da heck?!

I'm starting to lose track of what has happened over the course of the week because of how fast it's moving!

So thinking back....we went tracting in probably the most luxurious trailer park you've ever seen. About 15 double wides positioned in a grid in this 55 and over retirement "village". We did some exploring there. Went door to door like typical missionaries do. We ran in to a couple less active families. Old couples. We ended up staying there for quite some time because of all the stories they had to tell! I love old people haha! So one of the houses we visited belonged to a member. A couple from South Africa! Super cool and they had plenty of stories to tell as well!  We went back up there the following day because of time and we revisited those who weren't home the previous day.

While I was on exchanges, I went in to a bilingual area (English and Spanish) with Elder Escobar. He's super chill and we had a good time! It was actually nice because I could practice my Spanish! When we did studies in the morning, we were reading Preach My Gospel in Spanish and I was actually understanding some of it! I could gather as a whole what the paragraph was saying! It was pretty neat so I'm hoping that I can continue to practice my Spanish as my mission goes on. While we were at our dinner appointment, it was at the Senior Missionaries' home, and they were housing a mother and her daughter from Hungary! It was so cool to hear them speak in Hungarian. The daughter is 9 years old, knows perfect Hungarian, and has lived here in the US with her mother for a year, and speaks flawless English! Oh the gift of tongues is very real! Ever since I came on my mission, I've become more and more fascinated with different languages!

This past Sunday, we had that young man who was recently baptized conferred and ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood and become a Deacon! He's really moving up quickly and we're so proud of him! He'll be passing the sacrament next Sunday! So cool!

So a less active we're working with....we had been talking to him for a while and he's a really cool guy. He's got a heck of a story. He's a truck driver. Well...He's been fighting unemployment issues for a while and finally got a job with Ryder Van Lines. He's probably headed out to St. Louis with his rig right now to start his new job.

So today we have Zone Activity. That's coming up so we're going to go get some lunch and head out that way!

So YEAH! Talk to you all in a week! Sure won't feel like it!

Hasta Luego! Love you all!

-Elder Ahrens

Enjoying God's Creations

All things were made by him: John 1:3, 10

Hey hey!

What the heck?! It has NOT been a whole week since I've emailed you last! :P Where is the time going? Guess that means I've been keeping busy!

We had a baptism on Saturday! He's 13 years old. Elder Peabody and Elder Griggs have been working with this young man for quite some time now before I got here. He had an awesome baptism program and he had so many family members there to support him even though 90% of them weren't members! What I thought was really cool was his GREAT Grandpa baptized him!  Just had his confirmation yesterday and I had the opportunity to stand in the circle! So cool!

Within the coming weeks we have two more baptisms. A couple of sisters. Super glad that they're taking the necessary steps to the font! So we're working with them and getting them ready.

So today I went back up to Alpine (North East of Lehi) and while we were up in that area, I visited several of the families I got close to while I spent my time in Lehi. If you recall, Elder Straub, the missionary that I really like from the Lehi East Area, we visited him and his new companion. Looks like they'll be having a pretty good time this transfer!

On our way back to Spanish Fork, we stopped in Provo to drop a few things off at the mission office, then we ventured to Mr. Mac so Elder Peabody could get a new suit. While we were there, I was walking around looking at stuff and I looked up and saw my bud Nick! It's been since EFY (Especially For Youth) that I've seen this kid and here he was in the middle of Provo, UT getting stuff for his mission! He reports to the MTC here pretty soon to prepare to go to Mexico for his mission! The exact same mission that Josh is assigned to actually! It was so good to see him and it was a little shocking because of how many years it has been! Small world!

Anyways, we're keepin busy here! Doing plenty of service projects and teaching! I really enjoy a lot of the Ward Mission Leaders here.

Until next week! Love you all!

-Elder Ahrens 

Helllooooooo family!

My new area!  Spanish Fork really does remind me of home which may or may not be a problem LOL. You've got your town with all the homes and stores and shopping centers and stuff...then you drive about 2 minutes to the west and BOOM. It's seriously like leaving Manassas and going into Catlett on 28. It's crazy just to think how close this portion of Utah is so similar to Virginia. I love it!

So as for my companion! He's awesome. He's from Austin, Texas, and he's pretty laid back. We got along so well and very rarely is there a dull moment between us! 

Having a car is super nice! It's 2011 Toyota Corolla LE. We call her Courtney. With the temperatures dropping, I'm definitely thankful that I have her. I treat the car like my own. It underwent a thorough interior and exterior cleaning today. The engine is next. Soooo dusty. All dirt does it retain heat. Not all that great for an aluminum block.

As for the area. Well I'm slowly learning my way around. In my last area..I realized that I take back everything I said about the grid system. So flippin convenient oh em gee. We have some really good Ward Mission Leaders in this area. Once again I'm over 2 stakes so there is always someone new to meet.

General Conference! Conference was super good! So many good speakers and talks! 

As for my zone and district. I am in the Hobble Creek Zone. Our Zone Leaders are pretty cool! Definitely hip to the area! I haven't met the rest of my zone yet but zone activity is so that'll be cool! I love my district. So many fun people! We have 2 elder companionships and 2 sister companionships. One set of elders (me) is English, other is Spanish. Same for the sisters. We all get along and have a good time together! Today (actually pretty soon here) we're all going to a chapel to play volleyball together! Good times!

So yesterday for the afternoon session of conference, we went to this member's house.He is SO chill. His whole family is in fact. He is one of our favorite families in the area. He and his family are a bunch of cowboys essentially and his kids are always practicing their roping on a dummy bull. They show in rodeos and stuff here in Spanish Fork. He is actually a mink farmer so he has one 1/4 mile shed full of mink currently. He said by 2018 he's gonna have 4 more sheds like that full of mink. He told me all about em and how much bank he'll end up making from all of their pelts. Good stuff. Definitely be going back there soon. We do service projects for him all the time and hang out with him and his family. Yesterday I tried roping, I just embarrassed myself haha.

So yeah! My apartment isn't a member's home here. It's part of a quadroplex of apartments. So we get it ALL to ourselves. Livin' large!

OH YEAH! So a couple of days ago I went and visited Ashley Padilla! Dayton was at school and she was home with Clay and Owen. The boys were sure surprised to see me hahaha! 

I think that about sums up this week! I have no wifi in my apartment so we have to go to one of our stake centers to email.

Until next week!

-Elder Ahrens

Hello family!

So this week has been something else! It's been really eventful...mainly because we visited people, taught people, and had a wonderful time! Then I did an exchange with the Lehi East Elders and met good, good people in their area.

Last P day we had District activity! Our district got together and we made pupusas and played volleyball! Totally chill time!

Other than that this week has been pretty busy and pretty fast! Hoping it stays that way.

A couple of minutes ago I found out I was getting transferred. I love my current area so much I don't want to leave! I love the members, the wards, the people we're teaching, and my landlords! I'm gonna be so bummed to leave them! But I know the Lord has much in store for me!

Anyway, if I think of anything else today I'll tell ya!

Love you all!

-Elder Ahrens