ALL IS WELL

 "All is well all is well" Theres Not a better song that I can sing than I have this last week and continue to right now.
Im so happy and blessed to have the encouraging angels around me here on earth that I do to
help me see the sunshine beyond the passing clouds. Im so grateful to know this true gospel
and my divine purpose here and where Im going.

ALL IS WELL

Come, come, ye Saints, no toil or labor fear;
But with joy wend your way.
Though hard to you this journey may appear,
Grace shall be as your day.
'Tis better far for us to strive
Our useless cares from us to drive;
Do this and joy your hearts will swell —
All is well! All is well!

Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard?
'Tis not so; all is right.
Why should we think to earn a great reward
If we now shun the fight?
Gird up your loins; fresh courage take.
Our God will never us forsake;
And soon we'll have this tale to tell —
All is well! All is well!

We'll find the place which God for us prepared,
Far away in the West.
Where none shall come to hurt or make afraid;
There the Saints will be blessed.
We'll make the air with music ring,
Shout praises to our God and King;
Above the rest these words we'll tell —
All is well! All is well!
And should we die before our journey's through,
Happy day! All is well!
We then are free from toil and sorrow, too;
With the just we shall dwell!
But if our lives are spared again
To see the Saints their rest obtain;
Oh, how we'll make this chorus swell —
All is well! All is well!

 

Trust in the Lord:

Praying more fervently, faith unceasing, working diligently and honestly...

but most importantly.... Im learning ever so much... how to FULLY TRUST

in the Lord my Savior.

 

Last week we saw some very beautiful miracles. I am always impressed

by the impressions of the spirit. After a very large lunch, we were walking

home and the spirit impressed on me to go home by turning down a very

different route and down this specific street we found a lady broke down

in a car with her children. We spoke of who we are and why we are here,

and we offered to help push them all the way to their house.

With all of our hands on the back and the family inside we pushed

them all the way home. I never wanted to pass out or toss my cookies

so bad in my whole life than after that. At her destination she jumped in

the air and threw her arms around us all and with tears expressed how

grateful she was and that she couldnt believe we would do that in our

skirts and all haha. Sure enough she wants to know more about our

church and the purpose of our dedication to this work and service.

 

Also when meeting with Hermana Laura... we were amazed..

I never expected to have such a powerful prayer after our lesson

when it was her first time praying in front of us...

Sure enough all on our knees, Laura conversed with her Father

in Heaven as if we were never there. It was the most spiritually

intimately sincere prayer Ive ever heard on my mission.

She confessed all of her transgressions and sorrows to the Lord

and how she was grateful for the "angel missionaries that He has

sent to her." We were all in tears and completely silent after the

prayer. I felt the spirit of the lord impress the story of the Bible into

my heart of the woman who is brought to be stoned and the Savior

asks her to go and sin no more. I felt the love of the Atonement hit

me so powerfully through her cry for help. I felt the pain of the Savior

in my soul and how he hurts so much for us. How he cries when we

cry, and how much he desires to heal us of our pains. This was so

beautiful to me that I hadnt found any words sufficient to speak.

Ill never forget this moment in my mission and how it changed me.

 

Trusting the spirit works miracles and guides us where we need to be.

This last week I relized my struggles quickly and decided to commune

with my Father in Heaven for help. Without Him nothing is possible.

I knelt before my bed privately and poured out my heart to Him in love for

my brothers and sisters here in Argentina, for my family, for my friends,

I plead for Him to heal my heart, correct my error, forgive my faults.

I prayed to Him with all my heart to guide me with divine revelation of

what He wants me to learn from everything instead of asking Him WHY ME?

I expressed my deep appreciation for all of the beautiful ways I have felt His

hand guide me in my life and with upmost gratitude I spoke the words...

"thank you Father... thank you for making me so much more than I am."

 

Proverbs 3: 5-6

Trust in the Lord with ALL thine heart,

Lean not unto thine own understanding,

in all thy ways acknowledge Him,

and He shall direct thy paths!

 

He cannot lie, nor does He sway from this or that.

this is a divine promise that we have if we fully lean on Him

in all things and let him take us where He wants us.

Trusting completely means to not have fear, no matter how

high the tide or how far the journey.

 

Transfers:

Hna. Bray and Hna. Vargas were incredible comps and just as we got so

very comfortable together and used to everything we knew the Lord would need

to stretch us again and try our faith... so transfers came last night at 11 pm.

We said our goodbyes and assured one another we are forever friends.

Im now in Caballito... with sweet little Hermana Iñigo who is new to the mission.

Im Senior companion with trust from the Lord to guide and care for her and care

for all in my shpere with responsibility and humility. Im going to need to lean

on the Lord in everything. To always align my will with His in order to fulfill

whats expected of me at this time.

 

Where is our focus? on others or ourselves?

Hna. Bray and I were talking about something so great the other day.

We said, how its so incredible what a difference is made when we

truly KNOW WHO WE ARE. We all have the knowledge that we were

created by a higher being but to literally ponder the depth and importance

that we are actual sons and daughters of a living God defines everything

about us and the way we think and act. Without remembering this,

we stumble and we fall and we hesitate. No wonder Satans favorite

avenue of attack happens to be our self esteem.

 

So what do we do? Well on the mission ive learned,

to expect, the unexpected. Hope for a better tomorrow.

Know who you are as a child of God and the power we

have to change everything in our sphere for the better.

Pay attention to spiritual revelation and act when prompted.

Filter your thoughts and know what source they are coming

from and whether or not it is a positive or negative source.

Change what you are able to, accept what you cannot.

Trust in the Lord the master potter as we remain clay in

His embracing hands. And with all your heart...

LOVE love love LOVE.

 

 

I love my companions. They are my greatest friends. I love my leaders, they give direction,

I love my family and friends that provide unconditional love and support...

I love Argentina and these beautiful people so very much for who they are.

I love our President Richard Gulbrandsen and His wife Karen who sacrafice so

much to be here and do all that they do for us.

I love my Savior so much that there are no words to express even a fraction of what I feel.

All this love grows with each new chapter of my mission....

Im 11 months into my mission already...

and I honestly whole heartedly

...love my mission!

 

with much positivity, love, gratitude,

& on the journey of becoming better...

Yours truly,

 

   Hermana Ashley Ann Gillum

    Buenos Aires Norte, Argentina mission

    Sep. 2010- Mar. 2012

Not Much Time

Sorry but today I actually dont know what to write for once and we dont have much time anyways. Not much is new really... other than I dyed my hair a bit darker because one of my comps is a stylist and she wanted to so I said sure. Its still really cold but at least the sky is clear and pretty most days. So this week we had to travel to San Fernando for three seperate days and have a huge Capacitacion meeting for all those newbies that just got to the mission and for all of us closer to the end or inbetween to train and step up our game plan. We recieved new revelation and were enlightened by President Gulbrandsen because he is incredibly inspired bythe sprit and we are learning so much for him. Its obvious why he is our President at this time. Hes one of the strongest people ive ever met. Him and his wife have faced some very difficult times in thier experiences of life and they both come out strong and ready to help others. Before I struggled with trust. I couldnt trust leaders or others at all and during my mission, noticing how ive evolved into a better person with the Lord and the help of my leaders Ive come to trust and to appreciate them greatly. I Love our President and his wife and I am grateful for the time spent in the mission to learn life long lessons from them in the hardest and greatest of times. President was inspired to speak to our mission on the attack of the adversary and how important it is that we are obedient and on guard to keep pressing forward in the work of the Lord. How critical this time is when Satan is probably more angry then ever that we continue to bring so many to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I had a conversation with our President that I will remember for the very rest of my life. I will apply all that he said throughout my life and apply the teachings to my children. We have an incredible ward. They said that they lost trust in past missionaries here in the ward and it took a lot of effort on our part to gain that trust and love back but here we are serving the members and working with them more and more each day. We had a meeting with the bishop and the counselors and leaders of our ward and spoke about all the needs of our investigators... When we told them that our dear family we have just completed does not have a heater or warm water in their shack home... we were overwhelmed with joy to recieve a call the very next day that the ward had gone over to their house to bring them what they need and they are installing a stove and hot water. I couldnt believe the love of the ward! The tough part is getting them to go out on lessons with us because they all work very tough schedules. So we are working with the youth a little more to bring their friends and classmates to the church. We gave one girl 4 book of mormons that she wasnted to give to friends at school and she had told us some great experiences with doing so. I love Urquiza now.. I am just getting used to things and hope to be staying here long enough to finish what we started with these families. We have had several miracles but also several times that were tough. We had to say goodbye to Victor and we love and care about him so much but he doesnt want to progress. He feels that its not neccessary to choose one path to follow... he believes that all of them will lead him to Heavenly Father and all he has to do is believe. He lacks the faith to act and to change. thats the hard part to get him to see. when we said goodbye to him I walked away from his house and tears fell down my face... the hardest thing ive ever witnessed in my mission... is watching people reject a message so priceless and sacred that they never even bother to open and experience. It really hurts when you believe in something so strongly to have someone tell you that its wrong because you know with all your heart that its not wrong. But thats the building of a missionaries faith. Ill never deny what I know to be true and I plan to spend all of my life giving back to my Savior. Just like President has said... "when your heart is broken, shattered, and you feel completely utterly alone... you have never been more close to the feelings of the Savior. Now YOU decide..... You decide to give that broken heart of yours... to Him, to the master of healing. Thats what I did and it has always done a world of good. because He can make a lot more out of you than you can!" 

There are so many distractions that Satan wants us to think about... Ofcourse my distractions are good things such as passing by a baby store and thinking about marriage and kids. (we only teach eternal families EVERY DAY) and wondering about my future family and the joy I have around kids. Thinking about family back home and if my little sister is protected and happy. I have recognized in this time in my mission how much satan slows us down with the simple innocent distractions then he works on us in other ways and wants us to question our standing in the church. I remember when Sheri Dew in the MTC told us.. there are three things Satan will do to destroy you and your mission... get you to: 1) forget you are a child of God 2) forget what the atonement has done for you 3) get you to beleive you cannot recieve revelation and direction from Heavenly Father. Well ive witnessed all three of these in the same time. She was so right! I dont know what else to say this week other then this... My heart did feel broken this week, So many let downs, so many trials, i have struggled, we all have. But now I have chosen to take what my President said and what I know to be true, to change. For the better. To move forward into a new chapter of my mission, and become a changed missionary with greater strength and faith to do the will of the Lord even when it looks impossible. Even when we have had many things fall against us. I choose to change and to have the faith that Moses had while walking in the water up to his head before it actually parted... the faith to move mountains and baptize those brothers and sisters of ours that are ready. Forgetting yourself completely is the hardest task to learn to do but Its the most worth it. Forgetting ourselves literally. Try to go throughout your day and completely forget yourself... when you think "I FEEL" or "I WANT" you are thinking too much about yourself. When you are thinking "I care what others think about ME" you are thinking too much about yourself. Our confidence shines out the best when we know our standing on the side of the Lord and what he thinks of us. To completely forget yourself and to do His will and not yours is a process. We are teaching all of these things also to our investigators who are battling with Satan. Its a blessing to help strengthen eachother and share our testimony. Its this simple... I LOVE MY SAVIOR... I love Him so much and because I love Him I just need to wake up everyday and just get all that He expects done. Just do it because its the right thing to do.This was a great lesson learned. Forgetting yourself and going to work is a walk with the Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. Who else is better to take a walk with. I know of none better then Him.

 

I love you all and hope you remember always your worth

in the eyes of the savior and what Heaven sees in you...

love hermana ashley ann gillum

Happy 4th of July!!!!!

Im just going to flat out tell you the truth that I really really struggled this week. Satan did everything he could to make me sad and feel incapable of the responsibilities expected of me and what we needed to accomplish. Often times the reality that ive only been in the church for 2 steady yrs (in september) effects me the most. I find myself comparing me to other missionaries or members in the church for a long time and Ive had things said about me that were hurtful. As I have a small tattoo on the back of my neck I pay no attention to it because It does not define who I am. I am converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and I know where I stand with my position in the side of the Lord. However others who do not know me are quick to judge or make comments that can be hurtful when they are not constructive. I also struggled feeling that I failed my last companion because I could not understand how to help her to feel happier. When I feel like I fail someone else, I really feel bad! At least I know that regardless of my life before the church was still ME just living a different way. Who I am is who I have always been, but my point of view is much more clear of what I want what my purpose is. Its easy to listen to Satans whisperings telling each of us that we are not good enough... but does that ever get us anywhere good? No not ever. Im grateful to have the gift of charity given to me through constant prayer to not judge people, regardless of their appearance. I love everyone. I love how different people are in their own way and I always have.

 

This week was rough, I cried and struggled all week with different things. The reason being that I felt that I was doing so very good towards the end in Almagro and when I got changed to Urquiza I gave it all I had to make things work and work hard to be great. When I felt like I failed, things went downhill with my energy and faith. I hate to admit that, but its the truth and I needed to change my thoughts and get back into my groove of things. Thanks to tender mercies of the Lord and for having two of the greatest companions I could possibly have I was able to see miracles. Hermana Bray is a friend and teacher all in one. She listens intently and speaks when needed and her way with words is a gift to comfort others. Opposition is difficult yet neccessary to appreciate the blessings more fully.

I woke up friday morning after having a dream I found to be very profound and revelation for me... So here we were (a group of missionaries) As much as my old companion kept saying "I just want to go home" I kept watching her in my dream and then started to say the same. Our President in my dream said, for those of you who have thought that home might be better for you right now, we have designed a way for you to visit your home for a few days and see how you feel then you must return and report how you feel. So we all were in my home which was mixed into las vegas and St george it seemed... I saw many friends and family members and at first I was very excited. we all were very happy. But then, with time this happiness was fading out and we all could feel it. We went in groups to some parties with some of my friends back home and just kept going from place to place which was because nothing seemed to be worth it... we ended up returning more excited to be back in the mission field. We had a huge building that was like an mtc but it was on top of a huge mountain with a half circle drive way and everyone was glowing white that worked their. When we entered the building we werent glowing white like we used to when we were there before our trip. We became embarrassed and sad. three people from our group reported back that they were more happy to go home and they were given the opportunity to have friends come get them and leave. The building was tall above the clouds and the sun was setting beautifully. We could see a much prettier view as missionaries and we were all waiting for these three to leave. We were all crying for them. Their friends came in cars with loud music and screaming people that were all lost in oblivion and seemed just like the dark and spacious people across the river in Lehi´s dream- Tree of Life ( in the book of mormon) We all watched them enter these cars and speed down the long mountain and throw their Mission Plaques out the window crashing to the street. We were so incredibly sad for them that we felt our hearts actually aching. All of us that reported we want to stay were automatically turned white again and were part of the lords work again. We all stood there on this huge white staircase in the sunset and could feel all the people that would be lost from just these three missionaries going home. I reported that I realized home was not all I cracked it up to be in my mind. It was only distracting from the most important plan and purpose in the universe... the work of the lord. I realized that everything on our trip was temorary and distracting above anything else. I reported that I felt everything besides being a missionary is a huge giant waste of the precious time we are given here to make a difference. I awoke with a new energy. I was sad to think of ending my mission. I am more filled with fear of returning home and becoming average again then I am to be in a whole other country spreading love that only a missionary can 24/7.

Then in my studies I turned open to my book by John bytheway that ironically happened to be on the page titled, "5 scriptures that will motivate you to action." I basically said to myself, oh Heavenly Father... I love your sense of humor, thank you, I get it! We went out to work and Victor (an investigator) bore his testimony of gratitude for our service and sacrifice here as missionaries far from home. I shed a few tears that the Lord had used my investigator (who im supposed to motivate) as an instrument to help motivate me (the missionary) I was so taken back and humbled by this lesson we had and I felt the spirit reassure and console us all.

 

 We prayed and prayed to find Carlos De La Cruz so we could talk about the importance of baptism and sure enough... the Lord heard our prayers. He called us... asking about when he was to be baptized! So this Saturday Carlos entered the waters of baptism and was a completely happier person during his baptismal service. It was beautiful. His family is now complete and Im sure his wife on the other side of the veil is very happy. Just yesterday before finishing up our work to head home I stood waiting on the curb in a streetlight as my companions were on a porch searching for which door bell to ring. I just decided to pray in my heart in thanks to my heavenly father for understanding me when no one else can. i thanked him for his patience, and divine love that unconditionally wraps around us when we need him. Just then in my hoodie and my face cold and buried in my scarf I looked at this old folks apartment home to see one window lit up and cozy. I saw in this window a man with white hair starring back at me with a smile. I removed my hood and my scarf from my mouth and smiled back. His hand went up in a kind wave and I waved back in response. Then pressing his hand to his lips and blowing a kiss as if to say Hello and farewell at the same time, I blew a kiss back and he seemed to have tears on his cheeks as he pulled down the shades. That was like a precious moment that could have been in a Chirstmas movie or something special. I felt my heart fill up with joy to know that that man noticed me and me noticing him made a big difference to him. Heavenly Father assured me with a comfort so clear this revelation that I find we all need to reflect on...

" Others actions may hurt you, others may not understand or may not have the ability to help or notice. But my dear daughter, I know you, I see you, I love you. You were created for greater good. You can and you do and you will always.. make a difference. I know you, Let that be enough to keep you going"  we are all his children striving to be good enough, happy enough, work hard enough, but we may find comfort that He is always with us loving us all the while.

 

I cant believe its already 4th of July! I turn 22 AUGUST 29th!!! ahh im so old its scary!!!! haha time flies so fast!

On this 4th of July, i am across the world in another country serving the army of God. But I am ever so grateful for the men and women who have given their lives for the freedom of my country that I love. The land of the free that costs so much to keep it that way. Hna Bray and I will be having our own little BBQ and sing the national anthem with our little flags that we have. We will be wearing red white and blue and thinking of our families that we hope will enjoy all the fireworks without us. We pray for all the families in the US to look for all the tender mercies and blessings we have as an American people. To have a deeper appreciation this day as we reflect on the reality of whats most important and worth our time. Family is everything and freedom to choose is onie of the greatest blessings of all. I love you guys.... we are all under the same moon... its just in a slightly different spot haha.

You are all on my mind! Take care and have some fun!!!! HAPPY 4TH OF JULY 2011!!!

SEND ME A BUNCH OF CUTE PICTURES so im not missing out! LOVE YOU ALL!!! Chao

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Love Hna. Ashley Ann Gillum