Just like this Mustang is quicker than other vehicles, "The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior."

—Boyd K. Packer, "Do Not Fear"

Frozen lake!

Hello family!

We've had several lessons over the past week! Lately, we've been so much busier and have had 15-18 lessons a week as opposed to 7-8 when I first got in the area. Slowly but surely, we've been working the area back up and have gotten each Ward Mission Leader involved even more so. Pretty soon Spanish Fork West will be shining even brighter!

So over the course of the past week, my "just do it" attitude has kicked in quite a bit and it has totally been a good thing. LOL! Something I've noticed over these past 4 months that I've been in this area is that folks tend to want to break the ice when it comes to working with new people that we as the missionaries have never met before. They want to work with them a little bit and then slowly integrate the missionaries into their visits. We end up waiting for the opportunity to work with them, then sometimes lose the opportunity. I feel us missionaries should be involved very quickly, and there are creative ways of doing it. 

Let me share an example. Last week, we met with this guy and he's a cowboy for goodness sake! Mom, you and Granny can relate ya Texans! :)  We got to meet with him on the first visit instead of waiting for somebody else to establish a relationship first! They're not going to do any of ice breaking. No, we're going in on the first visit. :) 

Let me give you another example. We spoke with one of our Ward mission leaders and he told us of a man who lived nearby who has been inactive for a while. Without hesitation, we went and visited him. We met him, introduced ourselves, and asked if we could share a spiritual message. He declined and we left on good terms. We didn't waste any time and didn't wait for a member to say anything. Yes, we were declined but at least we know! At least we didn't miss out on the chance that he could have accepted.

This is what I've learned over the past week. Please, feel free to share this with the missionaries in Ogden, Manassas, Louisa, wherever! It's time that we start moving forward with sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ in these latter days! The heavens have been opened as we receive modern day revelation through a Prophet and 12 Apostles on the earth today and that message needs to be shared. What Mormons Believe.  As our Prophet has counseled us, we need to "Hasten the Work" by way of every member and the 88,000 missionaries serving throughout the world. Millions of people are being denied the gospel because there are missionaries and members/leaders who are skeptical and hesitant to act! Don't just break the ice, destroy the ice. Remove that barrier.

I love you all! I invite all of you to be member missionaries the best you can! Obviously it's not as prevalent in Utah, but when you go back east, share it. Don't worry about offending! If it was meant to be, the Lord will soften their hearts and open that door of opportunity!

Dad, I've been thinking about this for a while now. When you head back east in March, I'd like you to give our friend a call. He felt the spirit when we shared the gospel with him.  He needs to be baptized! I don't want that to be a lost opportunity!

Until next week!

-Elder Ahrens

Hola mi familia!

So this past week there was one particular day I really wanted to touch on! One of our Assistants to the Mission President went out with Elder Doherty and I all afternoon and into the evening. He's been on his mission about 23 months, and he's been serving as an AP for as long as I've been out. When we first met up with him, we were a little skeptical about a few things...kind of like "Why are you with us? What did we do?" Haha but as we started our day and began to contact a few people. It only took a short time to realize what an awesome missionary he was and what a tremendous testimony and love for the gospel he had. This initially kindled a fire of motivation and inspiration in me. As the day went on, we went and contacted a few more people before we had lessons, and it led to having more lessons right there in the spot! Then we continued as our schedule went along. Eventually, we ended up at a young couple's home.  Their Bishop had expressed just how much of a desire this couple had to learn. So we contacted them, set up an appointment, and went and visited them. They have such a desire to learn about Christ and his gospel! We proceeded to teach them the discussions. AND they were married this past week! They invited us too! It was at their Ward building, and their bishop married them. It was pretty sweet because it was cowboy style. I said there ain't anything like a good ol country wedding. It was an awesome ceremony and we're super happy for them! We met with them this past week with Elder Moreno and we talked about the Book of Mormon.

Just overall we saw so many blessings and miracles that day serving with Elder Moreno. Seriously, that guy is fearless! Talked to everybody! True inspiration.

Anyways, that was the highlight of our week. Love you all! It was truly a blessing to be able to talk to all of you a couple of weeks ago!

With love,

-Elder Ahrens

Myself & Elder Doherty at Christmas time.

Skyping with mom and dad on Christmas Day!