Week 4: Crying (Internationally) and Embarking on a quest to kill Sickness!

Oh man what a crazy week we've had. I'm gonna jump right into it, there's a lot to talk about:

Tuesday Night - Elder Neil L. Andersen came and gave an amazing devotional on the temple and the ways we sometimes take for granted the messages and purposes of the temple. However, the real way I felt the spirit that night was through the after-devotional part. Elder Andersen went around and shook hands with as many missionaries as he could before he had to leave. I didn't get to shake his hand, but I shook Elder Brian K. Taylor of the Seventy's hand, and I got to shake the hands of Elder Andersen's Grandkids, by far the most awesome handshakes. Elder Andersen got to the International Missionaries and started shaking their hands.... many of them started to cry before he even shook their hands.... For many of them this was the first time they had ever seen an apostle, let alone someone high up in the church, and for him to come and shake their hand testified to me of the power of the apostles and their commitment to the Lord's work. the choir started spontaneously singing along to the organ, and eventually everyone was singing, I cried a little bit. The spirit was there, you could totally feel it, it was amazing!

Wednesday - We hosted the International Missionaries today and early arrivals. It reminded me of leaving when I first got to the MTC. It was nostalgic ( can I even say that yet?) of my first day, tears and hugs goodbye, but we made the Elders and Sisters feel as welcome as we could, and it reminded me of my purpose here, and I wasn't sad for them, but happy they made the decision to come out here at the cost of two years of time with their families to serve the Lord completely.

Thursday - So much happened. We learned about the 1700 "Tree Missionaries" out by Payson and Eagle Mountain out trying to bring the message of water to the forest there. We at the MTC said lots of prayers for those firefighters and their dedication to keeping everyone safe and sound. Many times the blaze could be seen by us, from across the pond. We were very happy that they were all safe, and that Tommy came home from fighting it safely. 

Friday - Sgt. Green, as I've started calling him is the little army man sent with me on my mission by my parents. He'll come all the way to Vietnam with me and hopefully back, unless someone else requires his services. Well, I almost went goodbye during lunch when he fell out of my pocket. I found him and stuck him back in. It's my little reminder of home, and I realized how I don't send very many pictures of him home, so here is one of him enjoying conference music (At the end of the email)

Saturday - Our teachers talked about the Doctrine of Ease. During Christ's temptation during his 40 day fast, the real temptation was the Doctrine of Ease. "You're hungry, turn these stones into bread so you can eat, jump down from this building and angels will catch you and many will be converted" "Say you will serve me and I will give you all on this earth" The Devil tempted Christ with that which was easy to obtain for him, and would've made his ministry or his life on Earth much simpler. The last temptation was the devil's last attempt, and he offered Christ that which he had created during the 6 creative periods of the world. The Devil knew this, but wished to catch the savior off guard. Do not fall into the Doctrine of Ease, don't think that because it is easy it will be a better alternative than what you originally planned to do. We cannot apply the doctrine of ease as missionaries or as members of the church or even as Christians, it is simply impossible and not what the Lord intends of his Servants. 

On a happier note, today was zone volleyball, queens and kings rules, so that was awesome. Chi Vu, one of the sisters in our district has been called the khmer killer because of her awesome volley ball skills, she can spike, set and do the whole nine yards on her own and still come out on top. It's awesome, we love her and her help in carrying some of our lack of skill.

Sunday - The Sabbath is always special, this week we talked about the Doctrine of Christ. Enduring to the End is always a topic that sticks out and was talked about almost all Sunday in lessons, talks, and the devotional. The Devotional didn't go as planned, and the media people messed up a few times, and President Martino looked like he was going to kill a few media people. We all silently prayed that the media people would be spared the MTC President's wrath for a little bit. We watched a movie on a talk titled "Open your mouth" by Elder Holland. Missionary work does not happen if we keep our mouths shut and decide to not proclaim the Gospel. Missionary work comes when we talk to everyone, regardless of what they think of us. 

Monday - We cleaned our residence building assignment for service, and I found that through the Ashby and Baker lines I'm related to two of my building supervisors. Brother Arnett through 11th cousins through Sara Jones, and Brother Reese through Dagett family lineage as 10th cousins. that was super cool just to see how our culture is about families, and that the LDS faith revolves around the family and the central role it plays in shaping our communities and our societies.

Today- Just another busy day! As always lots of emails to send and lots of people to talk to, so not much else today, if we have an amazing speaker it will be included in my next week email, promise! Crossing fingers for another apostle here in the next 5 weeks we have at the MTC!

I love you all! 

Anh Ca Ashby

Pictures:
Sargent Green

Trapping Elder Buhler in bed with ladders
Anh Ca Mclain's awesome silly face
Crazy Happenings in Class!

How our room looks with the light off and the flag hanging up!
Neft Gun needed to finish our zones wild west duels. (please send) 

Week 3: THANKSGIVING!!!!!

It's been such a crazy week... Crazier than anything I would've expected... So, let's get started shall we??

Wednesday- Day after P-day is always difficult to find motivation for in the mornings, however, we were all very motivated by President Gay's talk (Of the Presidency of the Seventy) It's always uplifting to have a devotional, and it was great to here more about our purpose as missionaries and really why we are here, because we are all here by choice, but we must choose what we focus on here at the MTC.

Thursday- Language study gets intense, the phrases and the words we learn are up to us now, so that's sometimes hard, and you get burnt out, but you do get to pick the phrases you want to learn and the things you want to say. Our teachers are very supportive and give us strength through our burnout sessions.

Friday- We've gotten so many care packages... Thursday the food was too much, and today we got so much soda...... We honestly could feed my mission with all the food we have. I'll make sure to attach pictures of all of it.... It's insanity, and today we emptied and purged 13 boxes from our room.

Saturday- Thanks giving! to celebrate the leaving of the Thais and the Khmay Elders, we held a little thanksgiving, and we all shared the food from our gigantic pile of food in our room. Much ramen was had that night, such good ramen.... Honestly sometimes better than the food here, thankfully the MTC isn't about food, so that's making it okay.

Sunday- I got called by surprise to give a talk in Sacrament Meeting, it went over well. I made an impression on a few people in my Zone, so I'm glad someone felt the spirit through my Ad-libbed talk. I'm very thankful to President Moon and our Counselors. Unfortunately sometimes the message isn't well received, and poor president moon and the rest of our class fell asleep during zone training... yay

Monday - back into language study, the smoke finally cleared from the fire over yonder in spanish fork Canyon near payson..... The blazes we could actually see from the MTC T4 building at night, the little flashes of orange and red on the side of the mountain... A surreal sight.... Today we said a lot of goodbyes and there were lots of hugs and a ton of food and laughter passed around. Exhausting day of work.

PDAY!!! TEMPLE DAY! Always worthwhile and always worth seeing. Thank goodness it came. We have another devotional tonight, so I can't wait to see how it goes.

Scriptural thought for the day: I've been reading Jesus the Christ ALOT the past week, and i've only gotten 200 pages into the 804...so I have a ways to go. I recommend everyone read it, it testifies of the Savior so much, and gives details we tend to miss when reading in the scriptures. I read and we discussed on Saturday many different topics brought up, such as the lost ten tribes, The details surrounding the saviors birth as well as history on the Pharisees and Sadducees.... It's cool, please please read it.

I love you all! 

-Anh Ca Ashby

Pictures:

1-5 are of the food stash and Anh Ca Buhler posing next to our spoils of war

 6 and 7 are of Anh ca Andersen passed out during a study session

8 and 9 are of Anh Ca Buhler's wisdom

The rest are Pictures of my awesome district!

IF they don't work, my mom will be posting them all on the blog, so worry not my dear friends!

Week 2: "GO DOWN.....MOSES!!!! LET MY PEOPLE GO!"

What a week!

Wednesday we had new transfers arrive, it was weird to think that we were the greenies just last week. I'm thankful that the days are long, but the weeks are short. 

Thursday nothing terribly special happened, but classes progressed as normal and more Tien Viet was learned

Friday, we had some interesting things happen. After classes, our Zone did volley ball out in the sand pit at the MTC exercise field. I'm not much of a sports person, but everyone was included and everyone had fun. I'm very happy with how it all turned out. We finally passed off the basic core, so I can say with confidence that Tien Viet has gone well so far.

Saturday....... Well, let's start with Go Down Moses..... So we as a district and room have been really into Soul music, like Swing Low Sweet Chariot and Go Down Moses, well.... My entire room can now sing go down moses, and we do it pretty well. Not your normal church music, but it is what it is.... I wish I could send videos, but just imagine 8 missionaries all singing Go Down Moses...... It was a crazy night, but, the spirit prevailed in the end during district inventory. 

Sunday was amazing! We always have the best devotionals and the best speakers. I'm blessed here at the MTC to get to hear from two General Authorities or leading members of the church throughout my week. We've been warned of extra security and reminded many times to be careful with not bringing bags, something we are told every week, but we were all reminded during choir not to this Tuesday.... Maybe an apostle?? or just another general authority? It matters little, they are still people of God called by him, and they always inspire us with the words they speak. We also watched a mission talk from Elder Holland titled, Missions are Forever, one of the best ones I've seen. We must always remember that our mission are not easy, because salvation wasn't easy..... Our lord suffered so that we may be here, and we must always remember that.

Monday, well, basic core was easy.... but today we did our first mock contacting, and I realized I cannot understand Tien Viet when it is spoken to me... A humbling experience, as we realize that everything is not at ease in Zion, and that this language will be hard, and we as a class needed to realize that, as we started falling into overconfidence.... Let's just see how it goes

Today I'll try to get pictures out. I finally figured it out so everyone can see it, but if you need it, my mom has a blog up and running at  https://hanoivietnammission.blogspot.com/ if you can't get into the pictures I send. 

I love you all so much!

-Anh Ca Ashby

Week 1: When Vietnamese, the Spirit, and Sick Companions are All Stuck in the Same Room Together

Wow, what a week. First let's start with getting here. The first two days of the MTC were very overwhelming, and at many points throughout the days did I want to go home. Thankfully, but day 3, I had settled into the pattern, and my mind was turned to the Lord and the work he had set me about to do. I'm currently in a tripanionship, with Elder Anderson and Elder McClellan. Elder Anderson is from Philadelphia, and Elder McClellan is from Lehi. Both are amazing men of God. I thought having companions would be difficult, and at times it sure is, especially with there being three of us. However, for my first set of companions, i love them both so much. They are both amazing and we always work together, there hasn't been fighting or frustration, just lots of jokes and laughing. 

Our Distrct is only 12! We have 3 chis (sisters) and 8 Anh Cas( Elders). All the chis and eight of the Anh Cas are going to Vietnam, the other Anh Cas are going to Vietnamese branches in the states. Vietnamese as a language has been pretty awesome to learn. I've learned how to introduce myself, how to give a simple pray and how to testify. Again, all these things are very simple, but with time this language will hopefully come to me and I'll be able to turn a heart with my message. But the thing to remember is that no matter how you speak the language, what you say will not convert someone to the gospel. What they FEEL is what will convert them, that feeling being the spirit, and the spirit will ultimately be what makes people ask you to come back again as they heed the spirit's promptings. I am thankful for all the time we've spent talking about this.  Anh Ca McClellan has had a hard time learning this language, and he works so hard at it. I've spent more time with him going over stuff I've learned than going over new stuff I need to learn. I still keep caught up, but I realize he needs it, and I'm understanding it, so why not help where it is needed. And i've realized, by going over the material that I know with him, it cements it in my mind, and I learn it and almost commit it to muscle memory. The Spirit and our Heavenly Father truly knows what's best for us. We were put into this companionship for a reason, and I know that one of my purposes for being here was to teach Anh Ca Mcclellan and help him study Tieng Viet (vietnamese), of which I am more than willing to do. 

Our first Sunday at the MTC was heckin' busy. Our Sundays are filled with many meetings, it is not the day of rest for Missionaries. On top of the 6 meetings for the day, it was Fast Sunday(!) So in itself a trial. However, I felt the spirit more than I felt an empty stomach. We watched the Character of Christ, a film of a talk David A. Bednar gave during a Christmas visit to the MTC, that was so impactful the MTC asked for special permission to replay the recording. The talk is powerful, and explains to us how to perfectly be missionaries. The words I remember the best are this, "This mission is not about you! Get over yourself!...... The Character of Christ is presented when the Natural man would turn inward, Christ would turn outward." In short, when I get frustrated with my mission, don't get frustrated and fume to myself, but go to work, help my fellow missionaries and my companions, and the happiness will flow almost as strong as the blessings you will receive. 

Monday..... Anh Ca Anderson has been sick for the past 3 days.... And tonight he asked for a blessing. I was asked to anoint the oil, an honor in its own right. Anh Ca McClellan was asked to give the blessing, which I believe was for a reason. He has been struggling so much with the language, but his testimony of this gospel and the power of the Priesthood is evident in this man, I know that we as a companionship were meant to be together, and I know that we can continue to uplift and help each other. I've never felt the spirit so strongly in my life, and I'm so glad that I can have the gospel in my life. 

However, there is one thing detracting from the spirit...... the khmay elders going to cambodia.... many of them have been here for 7 weeks and are ready to leave, however they are in many ways disrespectful. I have no doubt they believe in this gospel, however I don't think they put the Lord before their temporal needs. The way they act doesn't say so at least. However, we still love them and socialize when we can, I just step out when it gets too much for me. Anh Ca Anderson stately it better than I could when we says his phrase "Let me serve you." He tends to say this when he helps someone, but he also says it when he is frustrated with someone and they are doing a task, and instead of getting angry he goes and helps..... I love my companions, and i cannot correctly articulate that to them....

I want to leave you all with a Vietnamese quote today: Chua Gie Su Ky To Yeu Thoung Anh (Jesus Christ loves you)

My best wishes and all my Love,

-Anh Ca Ashby