Mission Pictures

Mission pictures of Laura.

She Made It!

She made it to South Carolina and is doing so well! We were all able to talk to her when she flew out from the airport on Tuesday and she was really happy.  South Carolina is in for a treat.


She said she had this song stuck in her head as she took off for 'Carolina.'

March 2, 2015

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Hey Everybody!!! ​My branch president let us write our families today because we won't really have a P-day tomorrow. SO YAY! I was so happy that I got to be able to e-mail you guys before I leave the MTC. It sounds like everyone is doing great with a lot of adventures! SO..... Carolina here I come!!!!! I keep singing the song in my head by James Taylor, "in my mind I'm going to Carolina, can't ya see the sunset, and can't ya just see the moonshine, yes, I'm going to Carolina in my mind!" I am so excited to go! I have loved my stay here in the MTC but I can't wait to go serve and teach. This week has been really good. It has been a total blur but so many great moments. We first started the week with welcoming the new sisters coming into the MTC. It was really fun to get to know them and give them a tour of the place. I felt inadequate giving a tour though because I have only been in the MTC for a week so what do I know! Haha. It turned out well though. I can't remember the middle of the week. Haha I need to go check my journal. I just remember it being good and teaching a lot of lessons and  learning a whole bunch. SaturdaySister Simpson and I taught 5 lessons after our class time. It was a good, long day. I PASSED out when I went to bed. Cool experience: This whole week I have had the thought pop into my head that I needed to study Eve. I kept telling my companion that I had no idea why I needed to study Eve's life but I just knew that I needed to. So I spent hours of my personal study time reading Genesis and looking up talks about the role of women and how important women are and our purpose. I  had no idea why I was researching Eve so much I just knew that I needed to. I learned a lot. It really helped me understand my importance of a women and I grew to understand women's role in the priesthood and how essential women are to the plan. 

On Saturday my teacher was explaining some of her trails that she was going through and  she said her Bishop just gave her a blessing. During the blessing her Bishop said that she needed to study Eve and it would help her in her trail. I was kinda just shocked for a moment. I wasn't sure if I was hearing things. Sister Simpson spoke up and was like, that is really interesting because Sister Ashton has just been studying all about Eve these past few days. I don't really remember what I said but I just testified to her how important Eve's role was and what I learned while I was studying about Eve. I told her that she was a good wife and she was doing an incredible job of nurturing her husband and she was following the example of Eve. It was a great reminder to me that God knows the needs of His children. I had no idea why on earth I was studying so much about Eve but He knew. :) 

 This week was just filled with moments like those. I wish I could tell them all to you. I just had my last class in the MTC! It was really great! I am going to miss my amazing teachers. We ended our time in the MTC with teaching a girl named Steph. She asked Sister Simpson and I how you find scriptures that answer your life questions. She said that she kept hearing all her Mormon friends having these amazing experiences with scriptures and she didn't understand how that happened. Sister Simpson began to explain that answers to our questions don't come instantly. Sometimes it takes a lot of studying, prayer, faith and time for our questions to be answers. I then decided to pipe in and said, "Our society today is so fast passed, we are all about grab and go. We want results right now. It's kind of like the difference between eating at wendys and eating at your favorite fancy sit down restaurant. Fast food is fast and easy but it doesn't usually taste as good, and it isn't very high quality. A sit down restaurant takes more time but the experience and the end result is so much rewarding and better. OH goodness, I don't know why I say these things. To make matters worse we were being observed by that one way window thing. I had no idea I had people watching our lesson. Haha  oh well, Step said that the analogy made sense. Anyway, I can't wait for tomorrow!! Thank you again for all of the e-mails! I love you all dearly. Thank you so much for your support and prayers. 

Love, 

Sister Ashton

February 24th, 2015

Dear Family,

Thank you guys SO much for all the e-mails! A+++. I felt the love when I opened my account. It sounds like everyone is doing well from Standely eating bananas to Dave sending me a bunch of profanities to see if the system works. It didn't work in case you are wondering. I got all of the words. Hahaha! I was laughing for the first 5 mins of opening emails. It was great! I love my brothers. Emily! You got to talk to Elder Bednar?! No way, that was such a cool story, I loved it. I will try to respond to all of your e-mails individually if I have time. If not could you guys all give me your mailing addresses? I want to write letters to y'all. :)  

Forgive me if this e-mail doesn't make sense. The Elders next to me are arguing about how big the door to Narnia is....haha. It's a little distracting but also hilarious.  

This week has been GREAT! I actually really love the MTC! It's weird. I have always heard the MTC is like a prison....I guess that means I like prison. Haha It actually feels more like a small campus to me. It's like going to school but better! This week has probably been so great because my district is SO great and I have an AMAZING companion. She is so sweet and we get along SO well. It's really nice to have someone who I can laugh with after studying all day. She is from Idaho and she just graduated high school in 2014. Having a companion is so nice. It's like I have TWO brains. We feel really in-sink. Our thoughts are usually similar and then we just fill in the blanks for each other. It's an incredible feeling. We taught our first lesson yesterday on Skype to a girl named Lianna. This is called the TRC. The best way I can describe it is watch the scare simulations in Monster's Inc. You go into this room that looks like a house and instead of scaring people  you teach a lesson. :) We are told that some of them are members and some of them are not but you should treat them as if they are investigators. I am pretty sure Lianna is an investigator. That is what we have been told at least. Our first lesson with her went REALLY well. We found out that she knew a lot about the church so instead of teaching the restoration we just answered her concerns about the church. She has a lot of concerns about Polygamy so Sister Simpson and I have been researching a lot about how to respond to those kinds of questions. It's hard. I mean that subject isn't easy for me either but we keep studying and impressions keep coming to our minds. Sundays are the best in the MTC. We get to just listen to devotionals, go to church, have personal study and watch church movies. It was so refreshing!! My head was about to burst after Saturday. Teachers usually start the lesson with, "take 5 mins to study the restoration or the plan of Salvation and then go teach your companion." Haha it's very fast. I have said some interesting things while we have been role playing. I accidentally asked my companion if she believed in satan instead of asking asking her if she believed in the Savoir. Haha we had a good laugh after that one. OH DEAR. It's ok though, it's ok to make the mistakes in the MTC. I am just glad I didn't ask that to someone who was really investigating the church. It was weird. As soon as I entered the classroom in the MTC I starting asking a bunch of questions and making a lot of comments. I rarely  raise my hand in school and make comments. It seriously have received SO much heavenly help. I have felt it SO much this week. I am always getting help. It have never felt the Spirit work within me so much to learn what I need to learn. Mostly what I have learned this week is that this mission isn't about me. It is for the people I need to find in South Carolina. I have felt several times in my prayers that there are people thirsting for the Gospel. They are ready, I just need to go find them. Also, I got my travels plans for next week! I leave on March 3rd. We all leave at 3am to the SLC airport. I guess I am the travel leader, which means I am responsible for all the missionaries leaving to South Carolina with me. There is 7 of us so please pray for me! I also am in charge of carrying a cell phone here at the MTC. Haha I won't call home I promise but I usually give it to my companion because you know how I am with phones. I am going to loose that thing or drop it down three flights of stairs. Haha she is a lot better at that stuff than I am. I am telling ya, I'm spoiled!!! Anyway, my laundry is about to finish up so I better go!! I get to e-mail you again next week and then I get to call you at the Airport! YAY! I am SO excited to hear your voices. Thank you again for all your letters!! I miss and love you! Don't worry about me though. I am lost in the work and a happy camper. :D 

Much Love, 

Sister Ashton (Sister Sippy)