Write Ashton!

Just a remind to write Ashton whenever you can! I wouldn't know from personal experience, but I've heard mail, especially snail mail, is super exciting for missionaries! And don't forget about DearElder.com if you're running low on postage! It's a great way to contact our missionaries if you're busy!

Elder Ashton Roney
3250 Strawberry Rd
Anchorage, AK 99502

hey there all you people, heres my weekly email to you

Hey everyone!
So this week was good, cold but good. Yesterday it warmed up a little and snowed some more here, that was awesome. Dad, when its cold like weve had it we haven't had to keep the car running, but we have been starting the car like 10ish minutes before we go so its all warm and the windows are defrosted and all that stuff. If I lived up here I would definitely go somewhere warm during the winter.   It's a good experience though, something I definitely wouldn't ever experience if I didn't come on a mission.    But its nice to have it warm enough to snow. That's good that you guys finally got snow, it's about time!   It's January and you just got your first bit of snow.  It sounds like Brolin did a super good job on his talk yesterday, nice work bro! That's aweosme that he wrote it on his own and did such a good job.  That's legit that Jarom got his mission call to Japan!   Thats gonna be awesome, tell him congratulations for me!   That's crazy, they'll have 3 kids on missions at once haha, that's awesome.   And thats super exciting that Tregan and Landon are engaged!   Tell them congratulations!  Im sure Averys loving having the Subaru to himself now that Braedon and Virginia got that kia. I know I loved having it to myself, before Avery got his license.  And Avery went to preference, dances were always fun.  Happy 50th birthday to Barbara Voeks!   Thats good that you got to talk to sister Garcia, I kept forgetting to get you their address and phone number so I had her give you a call and give you that info so I wouldnt keep forgetting.  Thats awesome that Derek (a friend from high school) gets his call on Wednesday! Tell him congratulations for me too. You'll definitely have to let me know where he goes, you should have him write me a letter too, and all my other friends too. I wanna hear from them too. But definitely let me know where he goes for sure! Thats fun that some of my friends came by selling cookie dough to raise money for lacrosse, you really didnt remember them? haha thats pretty funny that they had to remind you theyre some of my buddies to get you to buy some.  I'll be looking forward to seeing that picture though! Thats fun that you started quilting,  And it sounds like dads having fun at all those basketball games and playing ball in the mornings on Monday and Wednesday! Those were always so much fun to go to!   Mom, paige and pierce are 9 and 10 years old, paige is older. and for Eric, we have talked about all that stuff with him. He just doesn't pay attention very good, he's a little immature for his age(18) haha. We just have to go over everything again so he can actually retain it this time maybe haha. We had a meeting with him and his mom and his girl friends family. His mom just had alot of concerns and questions she wanted answered. Because he just told her about all this and how he wants to go on an lds mission haha and so she got super stressed and had us set up a meeting, which was last night. He's made the decision that he's enlisting sometime today, so he can support himself after high school, be baptized and do his 4 years in the army then if he still wants to go on a mission, he will. So that's his game plan.

So this week was good, not a ton of exciting news or anything, I attached the picture of our game room that weve made so amazing. We got our dart board, our ping pong table, one of our couches, our lava lamp, and our cd player for motab. It's obviously an awesome room as you can tell by the picture.  It's probably the coolest missionary apartment in the mission right now.  Also, the days are getting longer. The sun was coming up a little sooner than 10 today and it's been setting at around 5:30!  Were so stoked about it, hopefully it gets warmer in a month or so.   I haven't seen the northern lights yet! unfortunately. I want to so bad though. Im not sure when they'll come out, hopefully soon! And I better see them before the winter ends or else!  So this week was good, not a whole lot of new stuff happening. except the fact that we picked up 2 new investigators! Theyre this old couple in their late 70s, weve done lots of service over there shoveling snow and all that stuff just visiting and helping them out. And they said that they'll come to church this next week and we'll start teaching them and  having more religious conversations.  Gladyss, the wife, she's opened up to us alot lately and talked more to us about religion, and how mormons are christians and good people and a good religion (she was talking about how some guy on tv said that Mitt Romney and all mormons aren't christians). and Del, the husband, his health isn't so good, but it's getting better. They're awesome. So that was great. But we're still just working with Eric, Tasha, Paige and Pierce. Just moving things along - slowly but surely. We're still just waiting on the green light from paige and pierces mom.  and their dad, a recent convert just got his patriarchal blessing yesterday!  It's awesome, he's a stud!   We haven't been able to meet with Tasha this last week, we just haven't caught her home and haven't seen her.  And I told you about the news with Eric. So that was pretty much the bulk of the week, just keeping busy and keeping things going good, and having fun here in Eagle River. We get our calls telling us about transfers this saturday, crazy stuff! This transfers gonna be crazy! Not alot changed in the mission last transfer so there's probably going to be alot of change this time. It's exciting stuff! This week was good though. Anyways, I think that's everything for now! Love you all, I hope you have a good week and a great day!

Love Elder Ashton Roney

Elder Roney!

Hey everyone!

This week was amazing! But Ill get to that in a little. It sounds like your weeks been awesome! Sounds like Brolins camp out was alot of fun, the sand dunes were always one of my favorite campouts to go on, theyre so much fun.  Too bad it got cold for them though. At least it wasnt as cold as it is here though, right now its about - 12, its been about that cold all week up here for us, or colder. It sounds like you 3 had a fun time skiing at deer valley!  Skiing is always super fun, I'm glad Avery's liking it more and getting better. Its too bad you guys don't have any snow yet, its the middle of January and there's no snow?! That's so crazy, you guys can have some of our snow, I've never seen so much snow in my life. The snow burms and all that stuff here look sort of like the snow burms that are usually up at deer valley, but they're bigger here haha. Hopefully that big storm coming with give you some snow. Its been crazy, there hasn't been snow for a week or so though, I'd rather have snow than cold though. I'm glad everyone's doing pretty good, that's nice that they have school off, all the kids up here love it. Bummer that the Lexus is giving you guys such a hard time lately. Thats awesome that Kinney's getting married, exciting stuff! Tell him congratulations for me. And Jeremy's getting married? I didn't even know they were thinking about getting married, that's crazy, that would be so crazy to be married right now. Hopefully it works out for them. Tell him congratulations too for me. That's good that you all had such a good stake conference, it sounds like it was awesome. That's funny that Brother Edmunds thought it was so funny that his brothers talk got cut out for a while. I could see him getting a good laugh out of that. That's an awesome object lesson Janessa told you about, maybe Ill use that one. We don't do a lot of object lessons, but maybe for a spiritual thought after one of our dinners or in a lesson or something Ill use that one. That's good that the Jazz is doing good, I'm jelous of that picture you sent me dad, that's legit. It looks like it was a ton of fun. Who won that game? And BYU bballs doing great, that's awesome, hopefully they keep it up, that'd be awesome to see them get to the playoffs and do good. Oh and tell Peter hi back for me. Those things you would say dad are awesome. Its so true that were so lucky that we have all those things restored back on to the Earth and that we have all those things. Well, Im glad you all had a good week and are doing good!

 So this week was amazing for us! We taught a good amount and got some referrals from members! It was awesome, we taught a lot of lessons this week, even though we were stuck inside one of the days due to weather. On Tuesday we were able to teach Eric again, and we also taught him last night as well. Were just trying to get him to the point that he feels ready to be baptized and is doing it %100 for the right reasons, and get him to the point where he knows %100 that this is true and what he needs in his life. He wants to be baptized its just a matter of when. So we were able to have 2 super good lessons with him this week, which was awesome! Then also on Tuesday we taught Paige and Pierce, the two little kids. It was awesome, we only shared a short lesson about reading scriptures daily and getting that daily nourishment from the scriptures and we each bore our testimony about reading the scriptures and praying and going to church. It was an awesome lesson even though it was pretty short. And after the lesson we played a game of soccer with them haha. We usually play a game of ball tag with them after the lesson but they wanted to do a quick game of soccer inside their living room. It was super fun. We were able to have a discussion with Tasha on Tuesday as well, we were just pretty much talking with her and answering/asking her questions. Then we were able to meet with some of our potential investigators and with some less active members and we contacted some referrals some members gave us, one might end up being promising, well see.  So teaching was good for us this week, the weathers been pretty crazy though. Last week it snowed once or twice then got super cold right after for a few days then warmed up and snowed again then went back to freezing cold. Last week it got to 20 below, and then a couple days later it warmed up to about 40 degrees and snowed, then stayed about 30 degrees or so for a couple days which was awesome! Then a day or two later it got cold again, and when we went to church it was about -20 at the church and -10 up higher in the neighborhoods, and now its about -12 or -13. So weathers been pretty interesting the past week or so. But the week was awesome overall. The areas making some progress finally. And the suns finally starting to come back! The other day the sun didn't go down until about 5! I love it! I cant wait to have a normal amount of sun light again.  Anyways, this week was great, and it sounds like everything's going great there at home. I love you all and hope this next week is just as good if not better for you all! Love you!

Love Elder Roney

Alaska's getting all our snow!

Hey everyone!

So this week was pretty good, but its still too cold, and were still getting tons of snow. Ill start out by answering questions and all that fun stuff. So when other missionaries sleep over they just sleep on the couches. Theyre pretty comfy couches, easy to fall asleep on and just use extra blankets we have. And on new years day the mission home wasnt open for missionaries to stop in. Everyone just treated it like a normal Sunday and visited people  and some elders had a multiple dinners. Mom, I do have some work gloves, I just  didnt have them on when the shovel almost froze to my hands. We were visiting a family and on the way in we shoveled really quick and my hands stuck to the shovel for a second. The same thing happens with metal door handles sometimes. Im glad Braedon likes the hat, and I did get your package with all that good stuff, thanks so much! I havent gotten the letter yet, Ill probably get it today or sometime in the next few days. With Eric, we try to meet with him twice a week, but if we cant meet twice we meet with him once a week, depending on his schedule and the schedule of the family whose house we have the lessons at (his girl friends house). We do still meet with people once theyre baptized, but we try to pass them on to the ward once theyre baptized. And we do tract in Eagle River, not everyday because of weather and its not super successful but we do tract. And we do meet with less actives here, theres lots of them, so we try and stop by less actives homes and visit them. Theres lots of less active work to do here. Those are good ideas for Eric and Tasha dad, thanks. Maybe well try and set a baptism date this week with him.

Thats crazy that you guys don't even have more than an inch of snow yet. Its January! Yesterday when we came outside to go to church and meetings we had at least a foot of fresh snow! The snow comes down here like theres no tomorrow, it snows like that a couple times a week. It definitely gives us service opportunities though, so thats good. The snows crazy here, so were always shoveling peoples driveways. Oh and weve gotten stuck and slid around a few more times haha.  We couldnt stop these times either, except one of the times... And we got high centered on the snow trying to get into the church parking lot haha, some guy in a big truck matched bumpers with us and pushed us out, it was awesome, then he floored it and took off haha, I think he thought he might have damaged the car or something, I dont know. Obviously our little chevy malibu isn't the best for this kind of weather, you definitely need 4 wheel drive if youre gonna live in alaska. Anyways, so dad, you said you were lucky to have 2 solid investigators, was your mission tough in that aspect? were the people pretty anti and not open to you guys or were the people pretty nice in tennessee? Thats good that fast and testimony meeting was so good for you guys, it was awesome here too. The bishop gave an awesome testimony and alot of the ward was crying and then a bunch super awesome solid guys got up and gave their testimonies and talked about the same stuff. The bishop was talking about how its hard even for him sometimes to want to get up and go to meetings and church and that if you pray and ask for help from the Lord he'll help you and lift you up. Then alot of the guys talked about that same stuff and also enduring to the end and always improving. It was super good, sounds like yours was awesome too.

So this week was pretty good, its still cold and snowy but its so pretty here so that almost makes up for the cold haha. This week we saw a few more moose, theyre everywhere here. We had another lesson with Eric this past week, it went pretty good, we talked about the importance of the book of mormon in our religion and that he needs a testimony of the book of mormon. And the past few lessons he has been realizing how big of a commitment this all really is and hes actually thinking and making sure he really knows for sure. Also, we were able to talk with Tasha more and help her move some stuff. Were starting to build that good relationship with her so now she feels more comfortable talking to us, and I guess she told sis Goff(her mom) that she would maybe like to take the lessons sometime in the future, so were definitely making headway with her. And, our other investigators, two kids Paige and Pierce might be getting baptized sometime in this transfer or next. The only thing holding them back is their mom, whos divorced from their dad Doug, a recent convert, and shes been super against the church. I guess Doug was talking to their mom and asked her if it would be alright if they could be baptized, and instead of flat out saying not she told him that shed talk to them, see what they would like to do and then decide if she wants them to be baptized or not, so shes definiteley having her heart softened! We had a training meeting with president Beesley and our district, it was super good, I wish it was longer though. It was only about an hour and a half long. It was great none the less. Sorry, theres nothing super crazy or eventful thats happened this last week.  Anyways I think thats everything, thanks again so much for the package! I love mail so much! Anyways, Love you guys!

Love Elder Roney

2012

Hey everyone!

    Happy New Years! Sorry I didn't email yesterday.   The library was closed and same with the college, so we didn't get to email.   They're still closed, but we're all using the family history library computers today.   So I attached the pictures of the moose we saw last week at the mission home.   I was able to get pretty close, it was cool.   Also, I attached a picture of the garcia family.    They used to be not as active a long time ago, but now they're pretty solid and active and have been for a while.   They're doing good.   We read scriptures every night with them and do family home evenings and all that fun stuff.   The picture of elder MacPherson is him burning his shirt.   He hit his year mark last week, so as a missionary tradition - you burn a shirt at your year mark.  That's what he's doing in that picture, it was pretty sweet.    Oh and that last picture was from new years eve, we got martinellis and played darts, it was fun.   That's the mug the garcias gave me.   Once I poured my martenelli into the mug I realized how funny it looked, so we got a picture.
  But this week was good.  We did have to be in early for new years eve.   We were asked to be in our apartments at 7 because alcohol's a big problem up here.   So, from 7 on we played at least 40 games of darts and drank our martinellis and ate alot of the candy and stuff you guys have sent.     Elder MacPherson felt sick the next day - haha.    Our district leader and his companion slept over and we had fun with them.    By the way, me and elder macpherson beat them at darts 20 games to 16.   We went to the mission home yesterday and hung out there for P-day.  I asked President Beesley if I could see Braedon and Virginia when they come up next july-august.  He said he'll think about it but not to get my hopes up.
We taught eric more lessons, he's doing awesome.   So far, we've shown him the restoration dvd, taught the restoration, and also taught about the gospel of Jesus Christ.   And he did accept a baptismal invitation, we just need to set a date with him.   So he'll probably be baptized sometime this transfer, which is awesome!   He said he just needs some time to make sure he really wants to be baptized and make that commitment and do it for the right reason.  But he wants  to know the truth and join our church.   He's awesome.   Also, we have another investigator named tasha. We're slowly but surely making progress with her.  We've watched the restoration dvd with her and talked a little bit about it all.   But a few months ago she didn't even want anything to do with the church and now she'll  take the lessons.   So this week was good, not a whole lot has happened.
It's good that you guys are having good weather and temps in the 40s, right now its -5 here.   It's gotten really cold the past few days, I hate the cold...(Wow, that's news to us!!) My hands almost got stuck to a shovel the other day, the cold just hurts haha. You're lucky that you get to go skiing to.   That'd be awesome if we could ski as a missionary, i'd be all over that.   A member invited us to go skiing with them yesterday and we had to tell them we weren't allowed, haha. That's good that Avery likes skiing so much, and a bummer Brolin doesn't.  It sounds like everyones having fun, thats a bummer that aunt Nancy got stung by a sting ray, that would be terrible.   Thats awesome that Braedon got that grant, thats gonna be awesome for him! {Braedon applied for and received a financial grant for school}   Anyways, it sounds like everythings pretty good for the most part. Everythings good here. I gotta go, I love you guys!

Love Elder Ashton Roney