"I Am Forever Changed, It Is Amazing!

Hey everyone! 

We have had an amazing week! Well parts have been amazing and some parts, not so amazing. 

Sunday and Monday I had huge headaches in the afternoons. I am hoping to be better for the rest of the week!! 

Monday, we had a member of the Seventy come and speak to us! Elder Bruce A Carlson.  IT was amazing! We were all asked to prepare a 2 minute talk about how we are becoming consecrated. I was freaked out! We started the meeting with Sister Carlson and Elder Carlson saying how happy they were to be with us, then Pres and Sister Morgan spoke to us. There were some amazing musical numbers. Elder Carlson said some amazing things that really blew my mind! We talked about so many things! 

He said that some of us are going to live to see the second coming. He is a 4 star general and said knows that because of all the unrest in the world, the end is coming soon. 

He told us the veil isn't as thick as we think it is. My comp and I were talking about how it is a "veil," not a "cinder block wall." How amazing! This is for sure something I have experienced.

Then he called on ME to bare my testimony!!!! I watched him make eye contact with me then I saw president lean over to see who he was talking about. IT WAS ME!! ahhhhhh! that was crazy. I talked about the reason I am here, and that I want to be consecrated is because of the love I have for the Savior, to follow Him. :) 

The First and Great Commandment

We talked a lot about life after the mission too! About how we are learning these things because we are the future leaders of the church! He said that is also a reason why they lowered the age limit. Yes the Lord is hastening his work, but he would have lost some of those souls in those frail, tender years of 18 and 19 years old who needed to be stake presidents and bishops in the future.

I know that Elder Carlson is a called servant of the Lord. It was so amazing to be with him and learn from him.

Elder Carlson Conference talk 2010

This next week will be transfers! I have had 4 amazing cycles here in the Bronx and I honestly don't know what the Lord has in store for me. It's possible that it will include a car, which I haven't driven in over a year, in up-state New York during the winter. Yikes!!! WE SHALL SEE! 

I love you all so much. You are amazing. Remember that we are here to be forever servants and disciples of our Lord. He needs us! not only for the time of our missions, but for our marriages and raising our children and working with our wards. I LOVE IT! I am forever changed. It is amazing. :) 

Love, Hermana Lancaster

Nike Called: JUST DO IT!

So this past week has been pretty cool! In and of that we are putting all and I mean ALL of our faith in the Lord. No room for fear, no room for doubt. We are pressing forward and we are definitely feeling all of your prayers. 

We have been working on cleaning up records and making sure my companion knows the area because, they asked for my drivers license info. I most likely am going upstate. CRAZY! It is actually really crazy that I have been in the city this long. and actually crazier that I have been on a mission this long. WOW! TIME IS FLYING! no me gusta. 

We visited Sulenny, a recent convert, with Jahaira, a YW this past week and we talked about daily scripture study and prayer. They told us the usual about being super busy. SO, we had them set alerts in their phones for the most convenient times for them to read the scriptures. For Sulenny, it was 6:40 when she eats dinner. For Jahaira it is 9:30 when she gets into bed. 

I invite all of you to do this!!! We need to read and pray EVERYDAY! It isn't enough to go from Sunday to Sunday. It has become a necessity to read and pray ever single day. the devil has power. and usually that is finding a way that you are too busy or too tired. 

NIKE CALLED: JUST DO IT. 

I love you guys so much! Thank you so much for everything you do for me. :) 

ILOVEYOU! 

LOVE, HERMANA LANCASTER

"It's not about the numbers, It's About the Love"

Hello everyone! this past week has been pretty great! 

This Sunday, we had a lesson with Nicole and Natalia. Nicole is a member and she invited Natalia to church a few months back and she has been coming pretty consistently. Natalia told us she was interested in learning more about our church and we set up an appointment to visit them both. They are both starting the 8th grade, and are really excited and a little stressed. We talked to them about how they are daughters of God and how they have been saved for these last days! We talked about the 2,000 stripling warriors and how they didn't know how to fight but that they had faith in God that everything was going to be okay. After the story we asked Natalia what she thought. She said, "Well they were probably really scared because they didn't really know what they were doing but they trusted in God and knew everything was going to be okay. I can apply this to me going into the 8th grade because I don't really know what is going to happen but I am going to put my trust in God like them." LEGIT! I was so amazed. Here is this 12 year old applying this story to herself. She is awesome. We went over to her house again on Monday with the elders to give her and Nicole school blessings. It was so fun because her 2 nieces were just running around crazy. I don't even remember much after the blessings because they were just wild! hahaha! 

After we visited these girls we went and saw a less active, Teresa. She is going to England this week to start her major! She is awesome. The elders gave her a blessing of comfort and we watched some bomb Mormon messages. http://www.mormonchannel.org

Then she told us that at the end of last school year, she prayed that she could find God again in her life. She told us that this summer we showed up and helped her back on the path. I was so amazed. Heavenly Father used me as an instrument to help Teresa remember how much she loved the gospel. WHAT!? I love love love love love my mission. Because of experiences like these that just show me that it really isn't me at all.  Heavenly Father knows all of us so well. 

Every other Monday we go and visit Marta Santiago. She is probably 70 and was baptized a year ago. She moved into our ward about 4 months ago and we didn't even know she lived in our area! She is so amazing. I will forever remember her, and oh how much I love her! This Monday we talked a little about families, the theme of our Sunday School class, and then we talked about where she is in the Book of Mormon. She is starting in Ether and then going to 1 Nephi. In chronological order. :) She was like, "So.... who is the brother of Jared? I can't find his actual name anywhere and I am confused!" Then we were like "ohhhhh hermana! His name is really long so they just refer to him as the brother of Jared." she was like, "Okay!" She is so awesome and just wants to learn. I love her so much. I sometimes think of myself becoming somewhat like President Monson in the future, visiting the widows in the ward. :) 

Last night, we went to a new less-active, I say new because we didn't know he existed. yes, this is the Bronx, not Utah. He wasn't home but his wife Candy, his mom and his daughters (one who is named Ashley) were home. We got to know them and then we talked about prayer. We read in Enos about praying. IT WAS AWESOME! She was like, "You know, I really want you guys to keep coming back." We were like, oh for sure! :) 

This past week, my companion (Hermana Dunn) and I found something amazing. We all know that going on a mission is going to change us. We all know that it isn't going to be easy, and that we will not always get cheerful smiles. But we don't go on missions to accomplish something, we go on missions to become something. We aren't here to get the highest number of lessons taught in a week. We are even told that numbers don't matter. Unfortunately, we are all human and the competitiveness in us says that we should be better than others. This is Satan telling us this. He wants us to think that we are not good enough. I have been feeling this way for the past little while. That's because I am not a leader and other sisters, who are younger both in the mission and in real life, are leaders. I felt I must not be doing something right, or that I am not good enough. But this is not what is important. I invite you all to read the amazing talk by the amazing President Uchtdorf from October 2012. My companion and I applied this to our very short life here as missionaries, and we are changed! I now understand the true reason to be here......to be more like the Savior. Here is a link to President Uchtdorf's talk:

Of Regrets and Resolutions

I love my Savior so much for providing the perfect example of someone who loves. 

Ashley and Hermana Dunn

I hope you all have an amazing week!! 

Love, Hermana Lancaster

also, thank you all for your prayers. The Lord is working miracles with us! 

Hasten the work!

Hey all of you!! We need you!! We cannot do this work alone! There is a better way than knocking on doors!! Watch these videos and change the work! HASTEN IT! 
Missionaries

We Need Your Faith!

Helloooo! Sorry about last week! We went down to the city and we didn't have much time to e-mail. 

I have something that I need to ask of all of you. For the month of September, our mission president has promised us, and commanded us from the Lord for each companionship in the mission to have a baptism in the month of September. He proposed this in mid-August and at that time we had 4 potential baptisms. As of today, we have 1 potential baptism for the month of September. We have come to a realization that these people aren't who the Lord needs to be baptized in September and we are at a stand still. We are fasting and praying so hard to complete this goal and we know we cannot do it alone. We, Sister Dunn and I, are asking for all of your faith to help us in completing this thing the Lord has commanded us. WE NEED YOUR FAITH! It has been such a blessing to be exercising the most faith I feel I ever have in my life, and such a struggle to see that it still doesn't measure up to what the Lord can do. Please help us. Prayers are very very very welcome at this time. 

This past week I have been under the weather, which really has been hard considering we need to have a baptism in September. I have been trying to rest myself the best I can so that I can be over this quickly but it is still here. I know ya'll are already praying for me and I know that your prayers have helped me to recover at this pace! Thank you Thank you!! 

Last week we went to the temple for p-day. OH MY HEAVENS! I am so thankful to Heavenly Father for the new temple film. It helps me to really understand so much about what happened there. I loved Eve and her wisdom. (girl power) and I really liked how they portrayed Satan. He truly is the father of all lies! cunning and deceiving  I invite all of you to go and to pray for more understanding of who God needs you to be right now! 

We have been working with the YW and it is amazing. It is very very different here in YW than it is in Utah. We have loved talking with the girls and really helping them understand why it is so important to come to church and learn these things! I love them so much! 

Thank you all so much for your love! I love you all so so much! I can feel your prayers carrying me when I am the weakest, and really helping me to reach my full potential  THANK YOU!! 

Have an amazing week! 

Love, Ashley