New Zone - Aspen Grove Zone (Week March 23 & 30)

So grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ!

Awesome family we visited.

Awesome Family!

Awesome Family!

Elder Greenacre and myself.

We can always go to the Lord when faced with uncertain directions!

I love the temple. Families are sealed together forever.

The Mt Timpanogos Temple.

"P" Day (Preparation Day) requires a little rest.

Well hello everyone! Elder Greenacre and I are still companions. Yea!!!!  

Last Monday, me and my companion moved to a different house. It's really nice. We have our own kitchen and private entrance. And we are now closer to the Edwards!

We saw Jordan Capt last Sunday, which was awesome. When we went to his Ward, I had no idea he was in this YSA Ward...we're sitting there and I look over and there he is with his fiancé! Go figure haha!

This morning we played soccer with the Elders in our district. We are going to start playing every MWF at 6 a.m..So I may come home with some mad soccer skills!

So during the commotion of transfers, several missionaries had gone home but not many came out so several areas were combined into other areas. Me, Elder Greenacre, and Elder Carder (Our District
Leader) were essentially moved out of the Timpanogos zone (which was a totally awesome zone btw) and put in the Aspen Grove Zone. One of our zone leaders, Elder Simonsen is actually from Chesapeake, VA! We get on pretty well and we informed each other that we come from a good part of the country haha!

So far in the Aspen Grove Zone, we have had some amazing opportunities to teach people about the Restoration.

Mom, thank you so much for the Nike+ FuelBand! I love it and it is so awesome! Works great, looks good, and keeps me motivated! Learn more about Nike FuelPoints and you'll know why!

So Sister Edwards has been spoiling me and Elder Greenacre. She's made me chicken enchiladas, banana bread with chocolate chips, scotcheroos, and chocolate chip cookie bars! Holy moly she's the best haha! Even more motivation to work out! Haha

So Dad tells me that y'all are planning on selling the house in Ogden to get another. Last night I prayed to Heavenly Father that he would help you all as you make these decisions. I know and have experienced the power of his hand in my life as I make decisions here in the mission field and I know that he can help you in this time.

What else....uhh I saw a Nissan GTR, and an Audi R8 this week haha!

I'm sure Sister Gerber will tell you, but I saw her this past week and actually taught a lesson with her! It was kind of cool. Mom, she talked about how much she adores you lol. I mean...what's not to love?! ❤️

I think that about sums up the life of a missionary for this week! A big shout out to Brother & Sister Edwards for all they do for me. Sister Edwards told me about y'all's conversation yesterday. Glad she's there to keep me in line and keep you informed haha!

Anyways...love you all! Looking forward to what the future holds! Oh, by the way, I'm going to the  Morning session of General Conference!

-Elder Ahrens

Greetings from Pleasant Grove, Utah

The courage to follow the Savior's example.

New member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Famous Gardiner Sisters

Hello family!

This has sure been a very busy week!

To start it off, we had a mission-wide conference in Provo with President McCune, Elder Clarke of the Seventy, and President Donaldson (previous San Diego Mission president). It was the kick-off of the integration of mobile devices in missionary work. UPM (Utah Provo Mission) has had iPad's for a little over a year now, and that's because we were a pilot mission. We have now left the pilot stage and are in the integration stage and several missions throughout the world are slowly incorporating iPads into their areas. We will be trained on how to use Facebook so we can testify of the Savior and invite all to Christ. All in all, it will be a powerful tool for us to share the gospel. The Lord is truly hastening his work!

We had Zone Training Meeting. That's when the Zone gets together and we talk about missionary work and tools and doctrine and stuff like that! I really like going to those because our zone leaders are really cool and we have a pretty great zone! I learn a lot from those meetings and I feel the spirit so strongly!

Jumping forward to the weekend...the sister I mentioned to you was baptized! We had a wonderful baptismal service at one of the stake centers. There were a lot(!) of her friends there. To see the support she had with this choice in her life is incredible. It gives me comfort knowing she has that much support. Elder Greenacre performed the baptism and I had the privilege of confirming her the next day in Sacrament Meeting. It such a neat xperience! We could feel the spirit so strongly in both events! I truly cherish the friendship and relationship we have with her and her sister. They're strong. They've managed to stand firm against the adversary's ferocious winds of discouragement. A true testament of faith and hope in Heavenly Father.

Jump ahead a few hours. This is when we went to the Lindon YSA Ward. We sat with the Gardiner Sisters in sacrament meeting then afterwards we talked for a bit. Hailey, Allie, and Mandi are super cool and I'm really glad I got to meet them! I will probably see them around again.

Backup to earlier in the week. There is a young woman who lives in the stake. She has been preparing to serve a mission in the England London South mission...which also happens to be Elder Greenacre's home mission! How about them apples! Anyways, Tuesday night was her setting apart. She invited us to be a part of it! Beforehand, President Gleason (Stake President) gave a little shpeel about serving and it was kind of like what President Dionne told me...it was kind of nice to hear it again because it reminded me why I'm really here. Anyways, It was so cool because I had never been in a setting apart circle for a missionary! You could feel the spirit just flood the room! Wicked cool.

Welp....today we have Zone Activity. That's where the whole zone gets together and does stuff and has a good time! Looking forward to getting out there and getting active! That about sums up this week.
Pics will soon come! Love you all!

-Elder Ahrens

Unitah Mountains

I'm amazed at these mountains.

Sunset from Dry Canyon

Dry Canyon

What a view!

Aloha!

How are we doin? I hope everyone is doing well! I know I am! Things are going pretty well here in Pleasant Grove! I'm loving all of the pics that y'all send me! I like to see how the fam bam is doing! I heard mom ended up with a brand new Samsung Galaxy S5! Yet, for some reason she gave granny her S4....so we'll see how long that lasts! Love you Granny! Dad, glad you're holding fast to the rod of Apple. iPhones do it better!

So about 2 weeks ago, an elder in our district became very sick. This past week we did exchanges with them because he's been so sick. Basically, we swapped for 3 hours each. Elder Greenacre took the first shift, then I took the second shift. After that, we went back to our usual areas. We're keeping him in our prayers that he'll recover soon.

I've mentioned our mission parents in the past. They take really good care of us and help us out! "Dad" is actually the High-Councilman over missionary work in the Mt.Timpanogos stake. (The other elders' area). We see them pretty much every day so it's kind of nice.

Y'all remember our investigator who is getting baptized. We're super happy for her and are looking forward to this momentous occasion!  We're still praying for her parent's hearts to be softened. I really enjoy working with the YSA's because we can relate to each other. We have a good friendship with her, her sister, and her boyfriend. Course....Her boyfriend and I get along because we're both car guys. Haha

So, we had another exchange! This time with the Zone Leaders! They are Elder Cox and Elder Jiles. Elder Jiles was my zone leader when I was in Spanish Fork so I know him pretty well so it's a good deal. This time, Elder Cox came into my area with me. I had never really talked to the guy prior to that..but it turns out that he's like the coolest zone leader ever! Also, we have a lot of similar interests. He's from a small town in central Oregon. We went and talked about guns, trucks, hunting, four-wheeling, and girls for hours hahaha! We both have that "country boy" mentality so we got along really well! I would not mind serving with him at all! Course...he's been out 17 months and he's a zone leader so I highly doubt it will ever happen haha. Who knows!

So while we were on exchanges, the night previous we got an invite to a YSA Ward breakfast. We figured it would be a good opportunity to meet some people, get ourselves known, and maybe get some referrals. Anyways, we were sitting there, and after the breakfast portion, they played a game. So as I was looking around I looked towards the other side of the room and saw someone familiar. We went to throw our plates away, and I noticed two more people who I recognized. You may not know them...but it was the Gardiner Sisters! (They're sisters who sing together and they're awesome. I've seen their videos on YouTube but I never thought I would see them in person!) So I was like...holy crap. So I started talking to them. They're super nice. If you don't know who they are, Google them or search them on YouTube.  It's crazy that they live right here in my area! They've worked with The Piano Guys, Lindsey Stirling and other YouTube famous others in the past.

Well...that pretty much sums up my week! Pretty good week I'd say. Mom and Dad, I wish you luck back in the tundra that is the east coast.

Love you all!

-Elder Ahrens