Wednesday, April 30, 2014

AshLee Ontiveros Letter:
Dear Family and Friends,
Another week has flown by here in San Ignacio and as always there's wonderful and crazy stuff that happens. As always I shall start with the spiritual uplifting things and then I will tell about the adventures of Hermana DeLeon and I.
This week we had three of our most progressing investigators in church, the two sisters and the 17 year-old boy. Hallelujah! They really enjoyed church and later that day we went to visit them with a member family and we could really feel the spirit during the lessons and it really helped the investigators to see the happiness that the gospel can bring to thier families, and their, future families. So please, as I asked in the letter that I sent last week, please help the missionaries out by going on visits with them, or by letting them have a lesson in your home. It really helps the investigators to progress and see the blessings that they can have through living the gospel and making that baptismal covenant with the Lord.
We are also teaching a cute family, they have a little girl that is 7, but acts like she's 20, a 5 year old boy, and a 3 year old boy. On Sunday we went to visit them and as we were teaching The Restoration, the little girl asked us "Do you want to stay for dinner?" We just laughed and told her it was up to her mom and then we continued the lesson. At the end of the lesson we asked if anyone had any questions and the little girl said "You never answered my first question. Are you guys going to stay for dinner?" Well as you might have guessed we did end up staying for dinner and it was fun being able to talk with them and hear stories about thier lives.
Speaking of dinner, Elder and Sister Rinderknecht invited us sisters over to thier house for dinner last Wednesday and it was soooo nice to eat a home cooked meal and to just talk with them. They're the best, I love being able to have such a wonderful senior couple in my area.
Sister DeLeon and I are definitely seeing the blessings of our hard work here. We've been working really hard to get our investigators to progress and go to church and we've been working with the less actives as well and low and behold there were less actives that went to church and our investigators. I know that if we work hard that we will eventually see the "fruits of our labors." I know that this is the Lord's work and that he is hastening his work. I love to see how people's lives can change for the better through the work of missionaries and members. I know that this church is true and that this is His work. So we must all do what he asks of us "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men."Matt 4:19.
Love,
Sister Ontiveros
Silly San Ignacio:
Oh so guess who fell off of their bike again? Yep you guessed it..my comp! ha Yeah I'm ridiculous and fell off of my bike again, but luckily this time it was on asphalt so my scrapes weren't as bad. We were heading back from the church from trying to get our investigators to church and well my front tire caught the side of the road wrong and I fell over. So now I have an even bigger scar on the right hand and a scrap on the left and right knee now. Whoops!
Every week we teach English classes to whoever wants to come and learn and on Friday one of our investigators came with her son. Her son sat down on one of the bigger chairs and she told him that he needed to sit on a littiler chair so that she could sit on the bigger one. After she said that her son started to get up out of the chair and she pulled the chair out from under him because she thought he had stood up all of the way..but he hadn't yet. So as she pulled the chair out he slipped back and the bag of cookies that he had went flying everywhere. No worries he was fine, and well the rest of us got a good laugh out of it. ha
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Tuesday, April 22, 2014

AshLee's Letter:
Dear Family and Friends,
Well to start, I hope that you all had a happy Easter and that you got to go to church and remember why we celebrate Easter. I'm so greatful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how He gave me the opportunity to repent of my sins and become a better person. 
On Monday we had a sports day with our zones and let me tell you, I've never missed playing sports so much in my life. We played catch ("just play catch") and volleyball and it was a lot of fun chatting and playing. After wards we all went out to lunch together and just enjoyed the day. That night we went and visited one of our investigators and watched "The Restoration" with her and it really helped her to see the importance of this gospel and what she needs to do so that she can receive and answer just like Joseph Smith did. We also went to teach a 13 year old girl and her mom basically attacked us for our beliefs and let me tell you it hurt. I can only imagine how Jesus Christ felt when the people rejected Him. 
We've been teaching a 17 year old boy and he really loves the gospel. He came to both of our ward activities on Thursday and Friday and he's reading and praying and he's been to church once. We actually left him 3 Nephi 11 to read and when we came back the following day and asked him what he read, he basically told us the entire story of 3 Ne 11. He told us how people were waiting for Christ to come and how they heard a voice, but didn't recognize it until the third time and then Christ ascended from the heavens in a white robe and the people were able to come and touch his sides, hands and feet. Then Christ called Nephi to come unto him and He gave Nephi the power to baptize. Then Freddy told us he read the testimony of Joseph Smith and how Moroni appeared to Joseph in a white robe that went a little below his knees and how his feet didn't touch the ground. He then told Joseph where to find the plates and Joseph translated them into the Book of Mormon. Yeah can we say this kid is awesome? The only problem is that in order to be baptized he needs three more attendances at church and his parents signature. They usually go and work at the farm and his parents don't want anything to do with the gospel so hopefully their hearts will be softened and he can go to church and be baptized. 
All of you who are members I ask of you to please help the missionaries by going with them to visit their investigators and those less active members. I know that when members help the missionaries their investigators become converted because they feel that they have friends and are welcome to the church. I never realized the importance this until my mission so I ask of you to please go out with the missionaries. It will not only build the investigators and less actives testimony, but also yours as well. 
SILLY SAN IGNACIO:
well I've definitely got some hilarious stories for you. So my comp and I went last week to buy some groceries and as I'm checking out, the chino at the cash register ring up my stuff and then as she goes to ring up my bread, she picks it up and loks at if for a second and then she chuck it across the room! She then looks at me and says "It's expired did you not know that? (laughs) You must be new here." All I could do was stare at her with a blank look on my face because really, who can say that a Chinese woman threw your bread across the grocery store? haha
Well we went to go and teach one of our investigators the other day and her family and thier pastor happened to be there so we invited them to join in on our lesson. So we begin teaching about the importance of prayer when the mom asks me what happened to my knee, so I told her about my accident last week and then pastor stops and looks at me and says "Oh so you're the one who fell in front of the chapel last week! We all saw that!" Yep so now I'm famous for my bike fall. 
Love,
Sister Ontiveros

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Family and friends,
Well guess what? I'm a mom again! This week we had changes and my comp Sister Rodriguez got called to serve in El Salvador, and I received a baby again. Baby number five, oh yeah! Her name is Sister DeLeon and she is 19, and is from Guatemala and she only has six weeks in the mission. Funny enough she only has a family of four, and she has a sister that is sixteen too. ha Luckily she speaks pretty great English and she's really excited to learn more about how to be a missionary and is excited to work in San Ignacio with me. My streak of training and only having a companion for six weeks continues! haha
Well this week has been a pretty crazy one because on Wednesday we had interviews with President and his wife, Thursday we had a multizone and a sister conference in Belize City, Saturday we had breakfast with the Rinderknechts, and Sunday we found out about changes. The interviews went great and I loved being able to see President and his wife. Others of you may think that your mission president and his wife are the best, but I'm sorry President and Hermana Hintze take the cake! At the multizone we learned a lot about being greatful, trusting in the Lord and our companions, and we learned about the importance of really helping your investigators to progress. At the sister conference my companion and I taught about "teaching people not lessons" We cut out different body parts from the Ensigns and we put the sisters in groups and had them put the people together. The people looked silly, but we talked about how every investigator is unique and it's important to teach to their needs. ha We also talked about the importance of using the scriptures and following the spirit. On Saturday we had breakfast with our zone at Elder and Sister Rinderknecht's house and it was a lot of fun. We had fun chatting and the french toast/fruit/eggs that we ate were to die for. I definitely left thier house with a smile.
Things are going pretty great, I'm still in same area, but we have a couple of great investigators that are progressing. We're teaching a pair of sisters that are adorable and they love the gospel and they are really wanting to learn more. I believe that they will be baptized at the end of this month or early May. We also found a 17 year old boy and he is adorable. He's just so innocent and ready to learn. He loves the gospel and he came to church with us last week for the first time and he wants to be baptized. The work is starting to pick up here and I'm excited to see what's going to happen in these next few weeks with my new comp. 
Well there's my week for ya, I'm really receiving great blessing from all of your prayers. Remember that we can do nothing without the help of the Lord and that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is something that we should use everyday.  I know that Heavenly Father loves us so much and in our times of trials He will always find a way to help us get through them and give us the comfort that we need.
Silly San Ignacio:
So I finally did it..I finally crashed on my bike. ha Sister Rodriguez stayed with one of our investigators at the church while sister Reyes and I went to go pick up an investigator and, as you all know I'm not the most coordinated person in the world, I was concentrating on where we needed to go and I wasn't paying much attention to anything else and I took a corner wrong and totally biffed it. But I didn't just biff it on any corner, I happen to fall right in front of a church that has all open doors and windows, so I didn't look like a fool just in front of Sister Reyes, but also in front of an entire church. Yup that's style baby! No worries thought, I didn't break anything, I just scraped up my left leg and my right hand really, really bad. ha After falling I rolled over real quickly and said I'm okay! ha We went to the investigators house and of course he wasn't home, but luckily his mom was and she was able to help clean up my scrapes and what not. 
Love,
Sister Ontiveros

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

AshLee's weekly letter:
Hello family and friends!
Well this last week I hit my year mark, feliz cumple ano a mi! haha It's crazy to think that one year ago I entered the MTC in Guatemala and Sister Chant and I became friends/companions. There's been a lot of crazy, wonderful, and testimony building moments on the mission that I know I wouldn't be able to have if I hadn't come on the mission. The mission really has helped to change my life for the better, it has helped me to gain a better testimony of the work of the Lord, and it has helped me to gain a better outlook on life. And now I've only got six months left, crazy how time flies!
This weekend as you all know was general conference, and as always it was very powerful and full of great messages. I loved how they talked a lot about the importance of showing love for others and about using the Atonement of Jesus Christ in our lives. I know that I am very greatful for the Atonement and that applying it in your lives really helps you to become closer to Christ and learn about His will for you. We had a couple of investigators come to the Sunday morning conference and they absolutely loved it. They said that the messages were wonderful and that it has really made them want to learn more about the gospel. And that my friends is the power of conference.
On Monday we went to one of the biggest Mayan Ruins in...Guatemala. Yep that's right, yesterday I was in Guatemala for my P-day. We went to a ruin called Yaxha and it is a large Mayan city. It was really pretty and I had fun going with my zone to see the ruins and to go back to Guatemala where I started my mission.
Silly San Ignacio:
This week I saved a puppies life. We were on our bikes and we stopped to contact someone and when we got done I heard this distant squeaking noise. I asked my companion if she heard it too and she did so we went to find the source of the noise and when we found it, we found a little puppy that had fallen in the ditch outside the gate of his house. I went to get the puppy out and the mom started barking like crazy at me so I got scared to touch it, but I was like I have to save this puppy! haha So I went in the ditch, pulled out the puppy and put him under the fence to be back with his mom. Unfortunately the mother didn't appreciate my efforts because she just kept barking like crazy at me, but whatever one day she'll thank me for saving her son's life! ha
Well that's my week for you, thanks for all of the support and love you've all given me. I hope that you have a wonderful week!
Love,
Sister Ontiveros





Wednesday, April 2, 2014

This week has been a fun one, on Monday we went to another set of ruins and they were super tall, but it was fun climbing to the top and looking out at the view. Every Thursday we have a family night that the missionaries do and this week we watched "17 Miracles." I had never seen that movie before until this last Thursday, but it was so good that I cried. It's one of the best movies that I've seen, if you havn't seen it yet, you'll have to watch it soon. Last Wednesday was Sister Chant's birthday (my comp.in the MTC) so that was fun to be able to celebrate with her. Oh on Saturday we watched the women's conference and it was so good, I loved it. I could really feel the spirit and all of the talks were so good. I loved how they had everyone sing together too, that was fun. Watching it though made me miss you and Mads a lot though, but only six more months hurrah! Can you believe that a year ago today is when you guys dropped me off at the airport? There's definitely been days when it's passed slow, but for the most part the mission has gone by so fast and now I only have six months left, we can make it mom don't worry. Well I hope that you have a wonderful week, I love you tons! 
Love,
Ash