That Flat

This week was an amazing week. Elder Cusworth and I have really got a good pace going. We love the bikes and we talk with everyone. We found a bunch of new investigators this week and are excited for their progression. We don’t have any baptismal dates just yet, but stay tuned, because there are some amazing things happening up here. I love Fremont. I love the cultures, the people, the interesting things that happen every day. It’s a great place to serve. 

Spiritual: The Lord has a tenancy to do His work in His way. Even when we think that we know a better way. :) We don’t. This week was proof in my life that God works in ways that we do not expect to fulfill his purposes. For example, this week we were biking around talking to people and we were on the sidewalk. Elder Cusworth was in front and talking to a Chinese woman. She was not really in the talking mood so he went around and found to his surprise a nice patch of goat head thorns. No Bueno. Both of his tires were flat. Really Flat. So, we turned around and walked on home to change bikes. As we were walking though, the Lord placed us in the path of those that we needed to talk to. We met Maria and her son Harold. We had met them about a week ago and talked to them. They said that they were kinda interested in attending a baptismal service and hoped to meet us again. The Lord answered our prayer with two really flat tires. Because we had to walk home, we were exactly where we needed to be to meet those two! We invited them to come to a baptismal service on Sunday night and read some scriptures with them and prayed. They felt the spirit. They came to the baptism last night with two of their friends. One of whom had a husband who was Mormon and had come to church for 10 years and never joined the church. It was an amazing miracle to see the Lord work His work in His way. I am just grateful to be part of it and learn to love the journey and marvel at the hand of God moving in His way. 

Funny: This week we were talking to some kids that were outside playing. There were probably about 12 kids playing and we gave them all cards, did a little card trick with them and told them that we were missionaries. We asked "Do you know what missionaries are?" One little girl in the front innocently said "Insurance?" We paused for a moment not quite sure how to reply and then said "Ya. Kinda..." It was a really funny moment. Yes to the whole Life Insurance, but not quite how you might think of it. 

Where I am at: Fremont is blowing up. I am so happy to be here at this time. There are so many great things happening in our area. We are doing a bunch of finding and teaching. We just can’t wait to start doing the baptizing part as well. :) I am very happy. I absolutely Love Elder Cusworth. He has a great drive and determination to work hard and to be obedient. It truly yields miracles. Things are going so well here. I am excited to see what else the Lord has in store for us here. 

Fremont

This week has been one of the best weeks of my mission. Its feels so good to spread my wings and really let loose and go all out in missionary work. It’s been a great week. We found 5 new investigators and talked to everyone we saw. It was awesome. It’s really great to go and serve with everything you have. It’s been a great week. Elder Cusworth is an amazing missionary! Seriously, one of the best missionaries I have ever worked with. He is humble, hardworking and culturally attuned. He is from Thousand Oaks California and is a great missionary. 

Spiritual: This week we have had a goal to talk to everyone we see. Fremont is very diverse. As in very very diverse. It’s the largest melting pot I have ever seen. It could well be called Little India. So many different languages and cultures. It’s not uncommon to see people in Turbans and robes walking down the street. I have a few goals for Fremont and one of them is to find the best curry recipe that I can. :) We were biking down the street after a meeting at the church and we stopped to talk to a little old Pilipino woman who was pushing her shopping cart down the street. She was so prepared. She told us how she was going from church to church and seeking the truth. She just didn’t know where to find it. Well, we knew where it was so we started talking to her about it. As we were talking to her two other guys rode up and said "Hey! Are you Mormons?" we replied "Ya! How are you doing today?" “Man, Things are good. Do you have something for us to read? We are on our way to our program, but we are trying to come closer to God!" One book of Mormon, prayer, invitation and return appointment later and they were off. We finished talking to the Pilipino woman and had a really good lesson with her. I am amazed how following Preach My Gospel when it says to talk with everyone, results in miracles. I am so happy to be in Fremont. It broke my heart to leave the Almaden Ward, but I am excited to see what new adventures the Lord has in store for me here in Fremont. 

Funny: We did some service this week at the American Cancer Society on Wednesday. It was quite a funny adventure. We happened to show up right on the 50th year anniversary celebration. It was great fun. Lots of food and tons of people to talk to. We also met Mr. Mayor of Fremont. It was an unusual service day, but it was a good service day. 

Where I am at: Elder Cusworth is a great companion. I am so happy to be with him. He has a heart of gold and is willing to work hard. Our big push with the zone is to help everyone open their mouths and share the gospel. Talk to everyone we meet. It’s been a spiritual highlight to put that principle into action and see the blessings that have come from doing that. Things are wonderful here. I have truly entered Zion. :) I love you all! Be ready for some cool miracle stories to come! 

Interesting fact: Ammon is now serving in what is probably his last area, Fremont, California. Fremont was actually his dad's first area when serving in the Oakland Mission many years ago.

Keeping Commandments

This week has been really busy. We have played the part of Santa all week where we go out and handed out all of the Ipads to the missionaries. We were the most loved missionaries in the mission this week. :) It was a fun week but it was hard for us to find time to do a ton of missionary work. We did get to interact with a lot of missionaries. It was a really fun week. :)

Spiritual: I want to share a very interesting perspective this week. This comes from President Rob Davis who was the police chief in San Jose for many years. In his professional career right now he does consulting work around the nation for different police forces and he helps them improve their relations with communities that they serve. He spoke last night at the outgoing fireside and it was so powerful I wanted to share it with you. He told about how he was in Baltimore helping the police and citizen relationships before the riots started and he was there when things started going crazy. He commented that the world focuses on fixing the symptoms of the problem instead of hitting it at the core. He talked a lot about getting back to the basics. Problems in cities arise when there is a lack of father figures and a high word of wisdom problem rate. The solutions to problems like this that arise are found in the basics of the Gospel. A family teaching their children how to obey God and His commandments. Doing good to others and loving the way Jesus loves. I thought it was a beautiful and a very real perspective from someone that is very affected by this in his day job. There is peace in your personal life and in society at large when we follow the direction that God has given us. 

Where I am at: I am getting transferred on Tuesday. I am sad to be leaving Almaden. I spoke in Fast and Testimony meeting yesterday and said that I have 9 new sets of grandparents, and 30+ younger siblings and lots of best friends there. It was a special day. A great ward. I feel so loved there. I am ready to move on though. I am excited for my next adventure! I love you all!

It's a Simple Message

IPads are in. Wow. Anyway, things are going well. Its transfer planning this week so things are going to be crazy. We might not do much missionary work but we will do a lot of missionary things. We also have to roll out ipads to the zones as well. Crazy times. 

Spiritual: This gospel is a simple gospel. This past Thursday I got the wonderful opportunity to go on an exchange with Stanford. It was really neat. Everyone there was so trendy and it was a totally different experience than anything I had ever encountered. One of the people we were able to teach was a Chemistry Professor who was working at Stanford. She was very very smart and the missionary and I who were going in to teach her were a little apprehensive about teaching someone who was so smart. The spirit of the Lord confirmed to us though that all would be okay and that we knew enough. We walked into the lesson confident in the Lord and ready to do his work. We taught her about the book of Mormon and the spirit there was incredible. The thing that stuck out to me the most was that even though she had an advanced degree from a prestigious university, we still had to explain the why of the gospel very simply. She felt the spirit and we did as well. It was incredible. The Simple truths that the gospel has are so powerful to those that are educated as well as not educated. The Gospel is a Gospel for everyone. :) I love it. It’s true. 

Funniest comment said this week: "Wow! What a delightful ball of fluff you have! Oh my goodness! Did you know there is a dog in here? Rich people with Pomeranians. :) "

Where I am at: Almaden is going well! We had a surprise yesterday when Sam and Lori showed up to church! Yay! I love them. Still hard to meet with but nice all the same. Things are great. I am looking forward to a busy week. Lots of things to do but I am excited. I love feeling the spirit with me. I love you all!