WHO WE ARE, WHO WE HAVE BECOME & WHO WE CAN BECOME...BECAUSE WE ARE CHILDREN OF GOD!!!

Hi Family! 

It is so good to hear from you! I love hearing about all the sunday school lessons and that encounter with Moses and God is so inspiring! It is neat to think of what being a child of God actually means. If we really know who we are, and who we can become, we are so much more likely to set goals and make plans to achieve these goals. And we don't sell ourselves short by making excuses or whatever it is, but we fully focus on that divine potential... And another neat thing about that potential is that our focus starts to be on others more and more as we become more and more like Christ. As we learn who He is and how He lived His life, we are able to see the most important things in life, and how we can bless and strengthen others in their path to eternal life, which is the greatest gift God has to give us :) 

Thank you for your letter! I loved talking to you on Skype! Sorry for the emotional side of me... Brother Frost said he was really emotional his first one too but the next ones get much better and easier :)

So this week, Elder Roberts and I have been working with the members more and more... our first day for the 365 day program is this wednesday! And we are so excited to get started with that! 

Marriages huh?! Wow sounds like there's a lot of love in the air ;)

How neat to hear, let them know how much I love them and that I will pray for them and their wives too :) What are their wives' names? 

Savior of The World 2?! You will have to keep me updated! I want to see that one again so bad! Tanner and Ashley will have an amazing experience doing it! I know they will feel The Spirit and God's love for them as they participate, and then invite their friends to "come and see" :)

That is great with Erika! Let me know what she says, I had asked her before and she sounded like she was "okay" with just us members talking to her, but I think how you bore testimony of how meeting with the missionaries in your life has effected you is perfect! It is neat to see how The Lord puts in a specific circumstance for specific reasons and His work will continue to go forward. Mom, your experiences will help Erika more than you know, keep sharing and thank you for sharing so much already! 

Okay, so I should probably tell you a little of what's happening here :)

Waiting for Mario to be able to be married still.

BiBi is still working on her testimony and coffee things. She is waiting for her husband to receive the priesthood because she wants to make the change together, the only problem is that we need to work with him now too. Keep them in your prayers please :)

It is still a little warm out during the days! The summer will be a surprise :0

Our district meeting this week focused on Heavenly Father's vision for us and who we were, have become, and are able to become through...

1.Having a vision

2.Setting goals

3.Making plans

4.Creating Tasks

5.Holding ourselves accountable to God 

and all is possible through The Atonement of Christ! :)

I love you all and will write more in a few minutes! I would love to hear back from you now, but we actually are not allowed to have chats back and forth. :( But I will wait to receive your letter in the mail! :) And do you have Mrs. Brown's e-mail from the office? If so, would you mind forwarding the blog or e-0mails to her and Mrs. Hutchenson? 

Dad, thank you for that. I love that you can still receive revelation for me even though I'm still out on a mission. I had been thinking about hope recently, and I love that so much, it is not a question mark, but an ! 

Thank you for keeping my spirits up, the work is so wonderful, and I am changing so much. I can't believe how much The Lord loves us, and how much He sees in us, even when we don't see it ourselves :)

Love you and hope all is well. I love you. I love you :)

Love you all! Have a great week!

Love, Elder Apsley :)

WHAT'S GONNA WORK??? TEAM WORK :) MEMBERS & MISSIONARIES!!!

Howdy Family! :)

So first things first, I love you :)

Thanks for all the writing this week, I know it takes a lot of time to write letters and they are huge motivation for me! I love hearing about all of the good things happening in your lives and I miss you all dearly, but it is all worth it here! The mission has taught me so much about sacrifice and consecration. They are two of the hardest concepts for me to get down, and I don't believe I will any time soon. But they bring so much sanctification in our own lives and help us become more loving and strong :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! I can't wait to see all of you! It will be for about 30 min and I actually can't check the facebook message, so let's plan for you to call me at ....., and my name is ..... and I'll be ready for the call at 3:00 PM, so if you call at 2:00 PM then we should be good! And thank you so much for sending the package, but I am not allowed to have contact with people normally like that, so next time, maybe just e-mail me beforehand and I can run it by President first :) Thank you so much for the package though! 

Thank you for helping me with the quotes! I love hearing them! They help me keep going, even when it gets hard! How is the family doing? Johnson family doing well with the move? 

D... got baptized and confirmed! on the 21st! And it was wonderful! I loved it, member referrals and part member families are the way to go! 

Our Christmas program was great! Lots of music and lots of great singers! Our Bishop (Bishop W...) spoke and talked on the wise men, and I loved it :)

Yes, using the gloves! Thank you so much! 

This week we received training from Salt Lake from two brothers that work at Church Headquarters I think! They were amazing! Lee Donaldson taught us about how we can use the Preach My Gospel How to Begin Teaching Points to help investigators accept the invitation to be baptized. We invite people to be baptized on the first lesson, and extend a date for it on the seccond lesson. And get this, we are moving toward never teaching a lesson to anyone, unless a member is present with us! This is all directed by The Spirit of course, and if we feel they need a lesson without a member then we are able, but the idea or mind set is to never teach without members! :0 THE WORK IS MOVING FORWARD!!! :)

I can't wait to talk to you all, but as for now, I love you. I hope you are all having a great Christmas season and finding joy in coming unto Christ and feeling Him shape us into someone new, it is hard but all worth it, because He loves us. :) I know our Father in Heaven loves us, and forgives us, and helps us choose correct choices :) I know The Book of Mormon is true and it is our greatest tool (along with the Spirit) in conversion :) Help people READ THE BOOK :)

Love you all and talk to you soon, oh and p.s. only you three can be there for the call, I would love to talk with the Johnsons but not allowed :)

Love, su hijo

Elder Abner Apsley :)

STRONG FAMILY TIES ENCOURAGE CORRECT CHOICES

Well hello family! 

Sorry the letter is a little late this week, we had a giant mission conference this week and yesterday was when it was. We got to hear talks about Christ being our Master Healer and about Christ and temple work. We also got to hear a message during 2nd hour about family history and "the dash". That was really neat! They said that as you learn more of your family history and the stories of their ups and downs, then your family ties (current family) become much stronger and you are more prone to choose correct choices.

Loved that lesson! 

Then we had some get to know you activities too, and attended the temple today :) That was great I loved it! I am learning about how Heavenly Father is our Perfect Teacher and He gives us everything in life to help us grow. It's up to us to take what He's given us and apply it and let it transform our lives.

Answers to those questions:

1. What would you like for christmas?

Some accounts or journal entries from you and Dad or even farther back to read about missions or life in general... if that's not too hard :) And some male names to take to the temple for endowments :)

2. Should we send something for your companion?

He has gotten 2 Packages! But maybe if you send anything something small would be really nice :)

3.Are you guys getting together as a mission for christmas?

Already did at the mission conference :)

4.You got the music player form a ling time ago right?

Si

5.Is it still cold enough in the evenings for you guys to wear sweaters?

Somewhat, it is warmer during the days, but colder at nights, so it varies.

Lots of marriages! (cousin Spencer & friend Josh) How exciting! Send me some pictures if you get the chance! :)

I'll finish writing in a second but I want to read Dad's letter first! :)

Oh and skype, yes we need to set up a time to do that! So if you set up a time and mail me a letter back about when you want to do it Christmas day in the mail, I can get that letter and finalize all the information next monday when I can write the letter :)

So when you pick a time, just mail a letter here and I will be able to write from that one back next week for that. And would you mind sending Tanner's account name too? :)

Thank you so much! :)

Thanks for everything you are all doing! I couldn't be here if it weren't for you, and your love for me. I love you all so much and thank you for all the letters and great things you are telling me about. I love the goal of going to the temple so often, that is going to bless your life so so much:) Thank you for all the help you give me in all of life, and I pray for you all daily. I know The Lord and His Atonement give us hope, purpose, and peace in this life. We have so much given to us through The Restored Gospel! And I know that it's all true! It's a hard journey at many times in our life, but the trials and challenges only make us stronger. I know The Lord is always willing to reach out His hand and invite us all to come unto Him. I love you all dearly and hope you all have a great week preparing for Christmas. :) I love the idea of giving gifts to The Savior, and the greatest gift we can give Him, is us :) He loves us and desires us to draw near unto Him :) I love you all and will talk to you next week! :)

Love,

Elder Apsley :)

And we have a baptism this week! The girl named Dannisshiah is getting baptized! Member referral :)

HEAVENLY FATHER SEES WHAT WE CAN BECOME

Hi wonderful family! It is so great to hear from you! Hope you are all doing well!

You know, Heavenly Father must love a whole lot, because for us to see what we can become, but not be able to reach it instantly, He really knows what we can become. And even though we can't see it all right now, He can and He loves us enough to allow us to feel such love. 

I am so happy to get to talk to you all today! Hope Thanksgiving was great and Christmas will be even better! You have the tree yet? :) 

We did get to watch the Christmas devotional! And it was amazing! Elder Nelson's talk about The Savior was perfect for me :)

I really loved this week! We were able to find an investigator that was totally prepared! Her name is Dannisshiah and she is getting baptized on the 21st of December! :) The Lord is wonderful!

Also, Mario and Angelica are not living together anymore! He actually is not living with them anymore and now they can get baptized with two of their kids hopefully on Dec. 28th!

I feel like coming on a mission is teaching me things I never would have learned beforehand, especially the need to rely upon The Lord, the constant need to listen to The Spirit, and how precious time is. I love all those quotes you sent me!

Facebook is pretty good, we are having trouble using it efficiently to find people to teach. The people from Mom's side haven't responded too much but the ones that have are nice, just not too interested.  Thanks for all of your prayers they mean a lot to us. We can feel them very often! Ward meetings are great! They are a great source for revelation and a place that it is fun to see lots of different personalities. We are working this week to get members more involved and in fact Bishop Wilson has set up a program for next year where there will be a family or member working with us missionaries EVERY DAY! Pretty neat! I'm super excited for that! :)

Those packages were amazing!! Thank you so so much! I loved the blogs and the ties! And thanks a ton for sending Elder Roberts a letter & tie :) The tie is so so great! It's my favorite kind of tie! Love you! :)

We had a training this week and in it we were able to share miracles that have happened so often in the field. Miracles are all around us, they just need to be seen with spiritual eyes! I know that as we pray for miracles names and faces of those who we can share the Gospel with will come to our minds. The words to speak will be given in the very moment we need them and we will have opportunities come to us that we never thought possible. Faith will overcome doubt, and The Lord will bless us with our very own miracles :)

This week we have had some amazing things happen! We are wearing our sweaters now too, and I got to play a piano solo in Sacrament Meeting (Silent Night). It was a tender mercy :)

I love you all and hope your weeks go great! Keep on trucking and I know The Lord is our greatest Friend. I don't know anyone else who would put up with all of our trails and challenges and still love us as much as He does. :) I love you all and hope you get to see Dad again soon! I am grateful for all you've shared with me I love the parable of the lost sheep. We can all be shepherds and all help Christ in one way or another! Mom I love that gift to Christ! I know that will the biggest difference in the lives of those people than any other service we can give! I think maybe 15 CD's to start would be great, Christmas ones por favor :) I miss you all and have a great week! 

Love, Elder Apsley :)

THE WORK OF THE LORD IS WONDERFUL & SO FULFILLING :)

Ahh so good to hear from you! I love your e-mails! I can't wait to call on Christmas! :) 

So this week has been much more peaceful. I thank you so much for all the love and help you have given me. I have a letter for you all but I haven't sent it yet :( I'll send it this week, sorry about that! 

I miss so so much the comfort of home. I miss so so much the ability to talk to you every day, but I know my Heavenly Father will keep me close to you and in President Monson's Conference talk this and last time, He says, The Lord will never forsake us and even though continents may span how far apart we are... (or miles) hearts are as one. :) I know you are all very close and that we are able to feel each others love, I can feel it as I write this e-mail. :)

It's hard hearing about broken families, and I can't thank you enough for the worthiness and love you have provided me with as I have lived at home. :) I love you all thank you so much for everything :)

So this week was a little slower, however Mario came to Church! With his whole family!! :) I loved it! The marriage thing is still being figured out, I don't know what to do, his wife is still not able, but we'll see about it today.

Alex is still meeting with us, but seems not as interested as we thought he was. It is really sad when you love people and want to see them happy, and they don't make the effort to keep commitments :( But he will come around :)

I taught the restoration in Spanish! 1 1/2 times! The gift of tongues is really real! Except I had to get some help from the spanish speakers son to translate a line or so... Haha!! :) I am going to practice the Great Apostasy and Restoration more so I can teach that part better in spanish, that was a little tough haha!
And we made your smoothies they were delicious!! :) Thank you! 

I'm going to send more in a second, I will read the other e-mails and get back to you, maybe like 10 CD's? If more are needed I can send you another e-mail :)

Glad to hear the cousins are moved in! How has that been so far?  Fun getting the tree! :) I miss those times, but these times are great too! The work of The Lord is wonderful and so fulfilling! :) As you give your all to it, He blesses you more than you would ever expect! :)

I miss you brother! You are such a great kid! I miss everything about you, especially your sense of humor :)

Thanksgiving was great, we had all the food you could imagine! And I'm for real now eating mashed potatoes!  Kind of crazy, huh?  Anyways, I hope all is well with you guys too.  Be good at school, it can be a crazy place.  And I love you tons.  Hope Ashley is doing well and I heard you had thanksgiving with them?  How neat! :)

Hope seminary is going well!  Keep up those studies, and let me know how it is going :)

Love you and guess what, one of the Elders here has the first name of Riley :) pretty cool huh? :)

Love

Elder Apsley :)