Monday, November 28, 2016

For God So Loved The World!


Hello Everyone! I hope you had a good Thanksgiving. My Thanksgiving was great! My companion and I built Lego Temples with a family in my ward, the Nelson’s.  I'm very grateful for them feeding me and my companion.  Speaking of which, I have a new companion, Elder Coumbs!  He is from Sacramento California and has been on his mission for 21 months! So, he is almost done. We have been getting along well.  
We have had a lot of cool miracles happen recently. A lot of people that wouldn't answer the door for Elder Dyer and I, have been open and willing to listen to us. It's been really cool to see all the help that the Lord has given us, with finding new people to teach. We found a new investigator Teresa! She is awesome and super prepared! She told us that she will be able to find answers to her questions in the Book of Mormon! Super cool! She is excited to come to church this week. It is cool to see all the miraculous things that are happening in Maryland.
I'm very grateful for everyone who is supporting me at this time. It has been a big help for me and even though I miss my family dearly this holiday season, it is also a season to remember the love that Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father have for each one of us. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son" (John 3:16). I'm very grateful for this time of year and to be able to reflect on all the wonderful blessings that I have been given and for the love that my family has for me.  I hope you have a great week!
Thanksgiving Day with the Nelson's!

Provo City Center Temple

The Lego temples were FRUSTRATING.
I was trying to build the Provo City Center temple (My fav temple)
and it took like 6 hours to get to where I was.
By the end of it, I was just fried and done. Ughh!





Missionary turkey bowl


Missionary Thanksgiving!







 Text to Elder Ainsworth's mom states:
"Elder Ainsworth and Coumbs.  We're enjoying the happy sounds of missionaries building Lego temples while we prep dinner. So thankful to have them spend this day with us! Happy Thanksgiving from the Nelson's in Maryland."








Monday, November 21, 2016

Happy Thanksgiving!


Hello everyone! I hope you had a great week thus far! Transfers are this week and I will be staying in the Susquehanna area! Elder Dyer will be leaving and I will be getting a new companion, Elder Coumbs! He is a District Leader, so my track record of having district leader companions is still going strong!
We will be meeting with Jordan later tonight. It's been hard lately to get in to see him, but it's looking good at the moment. We also found a new investigator, Obeng! He was a media referral and he's interested! He's from Guana and is here in America, for schooling. We will be teaching him later tonight, as well.
Since it is Thanksgiving this week, I would like to say that I'm thankful for this opportunity to serve a mission. I have learned so much and seeing the joy that comes into people’s lives has been amazing. Prayer has been an anchor for me lately. I am super grateful for the love and comfort Heavenly Father has for me. I'm also grateful for my family and all the hard work and sacrifice that they give, for me to be out here. I have truly come to love my family like never before.  I hope that when you spend time with your family this week, you can remember all the blessings that our Father in Heaven has given us. I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving!
This past Wednesday was MLC. I stayed with the Cheseapake Elder, Elder Head, for the day.
While I was there, I made my Dad's fluffy eggs! They turned out ok.

We also made this Salmon Patty mix.  They weren't bad!


Yep, they were really good! I will keep that recipe in mind!

This was the huge bag pile of leaves from the last time we helped and this time!

Had to get my picture with the chicken pot pies.

These pot pies are super good! It was a real treat being able to eat them!

Text to Elder Ainsworth's mom states: "These guys are all my faves!
They came back to assist with the leaf raking job and had chicken pot pie for lunch--
a Wainwright favorite!  Oh, and our friend Aurora was babysitting next door
and stopped by too!"

This was the linger longer we had at the church!
The bulletin boards had baby pictures pinned to them.
No one guessed who I was.  It was a lot of fun!

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Serving Those Around Us!


Hey everyone! I hope your week went well! This week, we have been focusing a bit more on service and serving those around us. We have been volunteering at Habitat for Humanity and going around raking leaves at homes.  It's been amazing to see the blessings and heartfelt gratitude that come from serving those around us. We are still teaching Jordan and we will be meeting with him later this week. It will be exciting to see what happens!  I know that by serving others, it is how we can get through harder times, as well as feel the true joy that the world seems to be lacking.
I'm grateful for my family. It's been something that I have been reflecting on a lot lately and I am super grateful for the things and the people that I have in my life. Sometimes, I see people on the street that are sad and missing the blessings of the Gospel. It just hurts my heart to see it. Something else that has been pounded into me, thanks to the Spirit, is obedience. I know that as we strive to follow what the Lord sets in place for us, that we will be blessed beyond what we ever thought possible. I hope you have a great week and stay warm!!!!
Text to Elder Ainsworth's mom from the homeowner stated,
"Your boys raked my leaves today. Half an acre of them. So grateful!!
Thanks for raising such amazing young men!!"


The Raking Adventure with Elder Ainsworth!





I visited Fort McHenry!  The War of 1812.








Maryland Crab Cakes!!! OH MAN.
These things were good!


Monday, November 7, 2016

The Joy of Repentance!


Hello Everyone! I hope your Halloween was good! Things are going well in Maryland! It's finally starting to get somewhat chilly and by now most of the leaves have changed. So, it's finally feeling like fall over here!
This week was a crazy week! To help with the work in our area, we decided to go around and rake leaves on people's lawns for them. We had a variety of mixed messages, but overall they were very appreciative of what we were doing. We even have a few people who were willing to have us come back later! Very cool! We had our Stake Conference on Sunday and Elder Calderwood of the Seventy was there! He gave an awesome talk on the joy of repentance. It was definitely something that I needed to hear, because now I can go forth and share with others the same joy that all of us can feel, if we live our lives more like how the Savior lived His life. I'm grateful for the experience of a mission and all the memories that I have made from being out here. I hope you have a great week!
Halloween Party



A missionary cut my hair!

Believe it or not, but with much coercing,
I actually did something different with my hair!



We ate at this super good restaurant, Uncles!
It blew my mind.


We went to a military base today.
A member gave us a tour of the helicopters.
He flies them!




We climbed in them!






He even turned one on! Didn't start the engine, but we could look
at all the instruments they use. It was really cool!
His helicopter had a crazy camera on it and you can see me on it!
Super cool!