Letter from the Mission President... arrival in Argentina

LA IGLESIA DE

JESUS CRISTO

DE LOS SANTOS

DE LOS ÚLTIMOS DÍAS 

August 30, 2013 

MISIÓN ARGENTINA NEUQUÉN  

Zapla N° 24

8300 Neuquén

Neuquén – Argentina   Tel.:(0299) 443-2413

Dear Ashworth Family

We are pleased to inform you your son, Elder Tyler  Ashworth, has arrived safely in the Argentina Neuquén mission.  We were excited to meet him on as he arrived at the Airport here in Neuquén.  Enclosed please find a picture that was taken during the mission orientation he was given on Wednesday. 

Thank you for your willingness to share your son with us as a missionary and representative of the Savior, Jesus Christ.  We know it is a sacrifice for you, but also know the Lord will bless you richly while Elder Ashworth  is here in the mission field.  We encourage you to write him every week with positive, encouraging news and comments.  You should also receive a message from him every week.  Missionaries have a limited amount of time on preparation day. They are permitted to send and receive letters by email, thus communicating with their parents, family members and friends. You can also send letters and packages. Instructions for mailing letters and packages to your missionary are included on the attached information sheet.

For your information, missionaries are permitted to call their family twice yearly for 30 to 40 minutes.  These calls take place on Christmas Day and one other time (usually mother’s day).  They should not call at any other time or for any other reason without permission of the mission president.

We were immediately impressed with the desire of Elder Ashworth  to become involved in missionary work.  On Thursday evening, he left for his first assignment.  We are confident Elder Ashworth  will be a faithful, effective missionary as he applies what he learned in the Missionary Training Center.

May the blessings of the Lord be with you and your family as your son serves faithfully in this most sacred calling.  Please feel free to communicate with us regarding any questions or concerns you may have.

With sincere best wishes,

 President Paul R Lovell    

Argentina Neuquén Mission

Can You Find Me?

Yo estoy aqui!!

He made it!!!   I spoke with Tyler on Monday in the Atlanta airport.  They had a 5 hour lay-over there before flying directly into Buenos Aires...an 11 hour flight.  I told him to take some Benadryl...maybe he could sleep some. :0) cuz they can't even watch any movies!!!!  He said there were about 20 other missionaries all traveling together to Argentina...mostly Elders but some Sisters.  This made this mom more at ease...because at least they had each other and that he wouldn't end up lost somewhere all alone! 

 

He sounded excited.  I asked him to talk to me in Spanish and he did a really great job...I understood most of it (the phone connection was not so great)...and he didn't sound too much like a Gringo!  He said that he thought that he was going to stay in Buenos Aires for a couple days before going to Neuquén.

 

Looking forward to MONDAY!!!!

==========================================================

Hey Mom

Well I made it Argentina. All is good I didn´t lose any bags and I could find and under stand most people. I cant talk long Monday is p-day and I will be able to talk longer than. I haven't got assigned my area yet but I will let you know once I do. Oh can you tell dad to I made it here. Other than that I still don't know my address so I will let you know. I am a little scared but its awesome. Well I will see you soon.

 

Love,

Elder Ashworth 
 

 

Well it’s one of my last preparation days

Hi Mom

Well it’s one of my last preparation days. This morning I had the opportunity to go to the Provo temple and do an endowment session. it was really amazing the session was completely full of elder and Hermanas ( sisters ). I didn't realize how much I missed the temple till this morning. The new video is really awesome I really enjoyed it. The Provo temple is extremely beautiful.  

So I don't recall my starting weight at the CCM but when I find a scale I will let you know how much more I have put on. And thank you I did receive the box it was really awesome. It made my day eating potatoes. Well I can’t think of anything I need super bad. My departure date is still the same but today I should receive a letter talking about my travel plans. I will try and send some picture home if not I will email them later tonight. Everything is going well. I considered a veteran now of the CCM. Last night I had the opportunity to practice teaching to new elders and sisters. It was extremely weird and odd speaking in English. Today I start concentration week when I only speak Spanish all day. I nervous but excited it’s going to be very funny acting out stuff. And that is really sad about the teachers. Hopefully things get better in Nampa.  

Oh ya, Tuesday night in devotional, the speaker was Elder Scott (of the 12) it was extremely awesome to see him up close. I didn't get to shake his hand but the spirit and his testimony was very strong. All Argentina elders love him since he was a mission president in Argentina. I still wonder if I should send my extra suit and back pack home since I don't really need them. I would have to get a shoulder bag there or here before I leave and I need the extra room. So if I sent my suit home I would have a lot of room and help keep me underweight. The other guys have a smaller suit case for their carry on with some cloths in case our bags get lost. I don’t know what to do. Send me your thoughts on my situation please.

Love Elder Ashworth

Well I am officially half way done with the CCM (MTC)

Well I am officially half way done with the CCM (MTC) the time has flown by like the wind. We have a cafeteria which is amazing way better than main campus. I’m defiantly going to put on weight I’m guessing I’ve put on at least 7 pounds I’m going to weigh myself this afternoon. The language is the language its hard but when I relax I speak very well and I don’t sound too much like a gringo. Elder Johnson told me that Monday night he woke up to go to the bath room and he heard me talk Spanish in my sleep. Maybe I just need to relaxed more and just let the Spanish out. The doctrine is coming along too, our teachers want us to go deep into the doctrine of Christ, and making sure we have our purpose down as a missionary.

 

Yesterday we did TRC which is when members, inactive, or non-members come in to help us practice our language. We teach a lesson that has to be 20 min long and we don’t really get time to prepare the lesson. We had an amazing time we taught how to receive revelation from prayer. We made it into 5 steps: be humble, ask, listen, answer, ponder we had scriptures that went along with all the steps it felt soo good the lesson i hope the people got something out of it. the two people we taught were both members but one was a mission president in Mexico and another was on in Belize they were both very fun to talk to once we were done. Both lessons we went over the time limit but it was awesome. The MTC is so awesome we just had I think 1000 elders and sisters join west campus. Most are crazy languages so that will be fun on speak your language day.

 

Other than that I can’t think of anything new. We haven’t had a general authority speech yet but I’m really hoping this Sunday we have one or Tuesday night devo. so far we have had some emeritus (retired) members of the 70 the last one was really good Jay Jensen he gave a very good take about study techniques and the depth of the scriptures and always be feasting upon the scriptures. Oh, if you could just print out some small quotes from prophets about anything I would love it I’m gonna stick them into my scriptures. I hope everything is well in Idaho. I will check my email again at 300 before I go to evening class. So if you write me back I should be able to write you back one last time before next Thursday.

Here in the West campus of the MTC letters are truly a blessing for us. The campus has around 600 elders and sisters, we are getting around 1000 new elders and sisters this next Wednesday it will be super packed after that. The language is coming along super well, I have a lot of afternoons where I have to go on walks with my companion to cool off cuz it gets frustrating some times specially with the investigators. My companion is a great guy really quiet and reserved he is perfect for me. The main highlight of p-days is going to main campus and eating some hot food instead of cereal or sandwiches. Thanks for being a great uncle feel free to write me as much as you want.  I will try to write back every preparation day

 

Love
Elder Ashworth