Preaching in Preston!

Hello, ever'body!

 

Whew! It has been a crazy week! It was zone conference, so we took the ferry across to Heysham, and we've been staying with the Zone Leaders in Preston all week. It was kind of a rough ferry ride. the seas were pretty tempestuous (nice word! Oh yeah!). But it was good. The Zone Leaders here are hilarious! Elder Aaron Darrow, from Peoria, Arizona, and Elder Joel Sherrard, from Lester, England. So funny! Elder Darrow  is pretty much Sean Stringham. Pretty much the same. I love it. and Elder Sherrard is going to be famous. He has an amazing voice and it way musical, so watch for him one day. But it's been a great time.

 

haha I just remembered something funny that happened yesterday. Elder Sherrard and I tried to speak with this man, and he said, "No! I'm in love!" Pretty sure he was in love, I'm just not sure with what alcoholic beverage yet. strange man. But it's amazing. We also taught this man from China, and he didn't know who Jesus Christ is. It was quite the experience trying to teach him. He had just never been brought up to know about Christ, and so it was interesting. But It was a good learning experience for me. I'm so grateful that I know that Christ is my Savior and Redeemer.

 

So I studied Charity and Love this week, and I was thinking about how Charity and unconditional love are alike. But then I started thinking of how much they are different. With unconditional love, it requires no effort. You can love someone unconditionally and not do anything about it. but as Preach My Gospel states, "Charity, like faith, leads to action." In order to have charity, you must do something about it! So really, Charity isn't unconditional love at all, but rather it is unconditional selflessness. To be charitable, you must be reaching out to others and trying to help them as best as you can. You must put them before you. That's what Christ did for us. He put us, His brothers and sisters, before Himself, paying for our sins, when He himself didn't have any of His own to pay for. But because He loves us, He was willing to carry out His task, and He succeeded. He did not fail, because, just as the scriptures, say, Charity Never Faileth.

 

I love you all so much, and I am so grateful for the love and charity that you have shown me! It means so much to me to have you all praying for me and supporting me even though I'm thousands of miles away. For that I will be forever grateful. I love you!

 

Love,

Elder Ashcraft