November 19th Letter

Dear family,

MOM AND DAD I AM SO EXCITED FOR YOU!!! AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! You two are going to be UNREAL. I can't wait to tell you all about your mission :) haha. Also this is a super surreal and bittersweet email to write.. but here are the highlights!

A San Diego sunset

Tuesday Sister Lehmitz and I got to go on the Naval Base! We've always wanted to do that. Our member, Caitlin, is in the Navy and she's the cutest and she fed us dinner! It was so delicious and fun. Base is like it's own world! We talked with Caitlin about temples. She opened up to us and she is such a rock! Her family situation isn't the best.. but through it all she is the example to them. 

Wednesday mte's with La Jolla! Sister Jarrett and Sister Teanoa. We temple and we met this cute armenian couple. I also had this awesome conversatino with this guy and basically taught him the restoration while the other sisters were teaching the Armenian couple the restoration, haha it was awesome! Missionary power. We met this super cool girl who just got home from her mission and she was so nice and went and bought us pizza! It was delicious. We had a lesson with Patrick Burnes at the mobat. I used to teach Patrick when I was in La Jolla. He is less active. He is really struggling just with motivation and with justifying everything. We talked a lot about prayer and God's will for us and by the end his heart really did soften! We tried visiting two less actives and caught one home and so we shared a scripture with her and talked a little about prayer. Then we had a lesson with their investigator, Joseph. We read Joseph Smith's testimony about the Book of Mormon with them. Sister Jarrett and Teanoa are both so wonderful! Sister Jarrett and I laid in bed talking forever. It was fun and nice :) Oh and this is the day that I found out about mom and dad! Elder Seegmiller called me and I was freaking out and I was so excited!!! Then the next morning I told all the sisters and they are so excited! 

Thursday we had training. We followed up on the character of Christ and then we played signs! To work on our arms and hands for presentation skills. Then the six sang our song for all the sisters because some of them didn't get to go to the fireside and it was a sweet moment. Lots of tears! We went to MTE follow up and studied and then had a lesson with Neina. We talked about gratitude and read some of President Monson's talk with her. She's super excited to get baptized this weekend :) We went to contact a referral but it was the wrong house and we ended up meeting this awesome girl named Isla. She said she wanted to learn more so we set up another appointment with her. Next I had an eye appointment because if you remember last week I told you my eye was hurting and first of all, my vision is still 20/20!!! Wooohoooo! Yay for PRK :) and second of all, I wasn't crazy because there was something stuck in my eye! He numbed up my eye and took it out and now my eye feels great! 

The six sisters who came out to the mission together

Friday we had flickerball and then MTE's.This time with spanish sisters! Sisters Bermudez and Harris. Sister Bermudez is from Orem and she was in the spanish ward that Uncle Mark was the bishop over! Cool huh? We had temple and there was a really cute wedding. Something cool that happened is that some elders came to teach a lesson at the temple and one of the Elders, Elder Cena, is from Italy and this guy came to see what the temple was and he spoke Italian! So Elder Cena told him about the temple and we were able to show him pictures and we got his address and he wants missionaries. So cool! Also this 28 year old guy named Michael Tuner came and had lots of questions! He used to be a baptist minister. He also used to travel a lot for work and he stayed in Marriotts so he's read the BOFM! He and his wife live right by the temple and he's attending grad school at UCSD. He had lots of deep questions and so we answered as simply as we could and finally we told him that the BofM was the way that he could find out if this is all true and that's when the spirit was the most powerful, was when it was the simplest. He agreed to having missionaries over! We had 2 lessons with their investigators after. The first one was about the word of wisdom and I kind of understood it.. but the lady was awesome and has so much faith and was just so willing to give up whatever she needed to. The second lesson I got pretty lost in.. haha but I could still feel the spirit which is the cool part! 

Saturday we had MTE follow up. It was sweet! President talked about the power of positive thinking. At the end those leaving bore their testimonies.. aka I was one of them. It felt surreal being up there after watching so many missionaries do that over the past 18 months. MTE's were at my old chula ward building so I got to see some of the House family! We had district lunch and then district meeting. Mobat was kind of slow tonight.. Sister Patterson and I had an awesome chat though. I love her a lot. 

The six with the Seegmillers

Sunday church was great! Neina came to church!!!! Which means she can officially get baptized :) I am so excited for her! Our new investigator, Lauren, also came to church and everyone was really nice to her. Relief society was an awesome lesson about serving others. Laura taught it and Laura also told me that she is going to go on a mission!! Ahhhh! I am so excited for her. She is amazing! 

The six at breakfast

Monday the six of us got to have a breakfast with the Seegmillers. It was delicoius! We talked about things we have learned about ourselves. I love the six so much! And the Seegmillers. I had mobat and took this awesome tour with Sister O'Neill with these people from Israel! And we had a really cool conversation with them about mormons, jews, Israel. It was sweet! I had a meeting with Sister Frampton and then we went to Edgars. It was his birthday today and when we asked him what he wants for his birthday he said he wanted a lesson with us :) haha he is the best! We also got to talk with Neina, so that was good! We had a lesson with Lauren about the restoration and Stacey came. Lauren really is seeking for truth and she is so shy and so sweet and I know this is going to make her so happy! I had a meeting with the Seegmillers. I will miss those meetings!!

My brain is super frazzled right now.. so sorry if this email is too. I am speaking in church on Sunday and it's about gratitude which is fitting as Thanksgiving is next week. I read a talk this morning called "Live in Thanksgiving Daily" by Elder Wirthlin and it was SO GOOD. Oh my goodness. He said "Gratitude is a mark of a noble soul and a refined character. We like to be around those who are grateful. They tend to brighten all around them. They make others feel better about themselves. They tend to be more humble, more joyful, more likable." "Those who live in thanksgiving daily, are usually among the world's happiest people. And they make others happy as well." He talks about 3 things that will help us to live in thanksgiving daily.. the first is we must open our eyes. Open our eyes to all that's around us that God has blessed us with. The second is to open our hearts. Open our hearts to the gospel. To Heavenly Father. To the Savior. To the Atonement. And the third is to open our arms. Turn outward! Serve others. As we serve others we serve God. He quoted President Hinckley who said... "My plea is that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. I am suggesting that as we go through life, we accentuate the positive." It was a super amazing talk! We really do have SO much to be grateful for. And it's all because we have a LOVING Heavenly Father. He cares so much about all of us and he really just wants us to be happy :)

Ah. Life seems unreal right now. I am excited to give this last week my ALL. It's going to be a jam packed crazy week, but I am so excited for it. And I am excited to be able to see all of you soon and to hug you and express in person my gratitude for all of you. For your support, for your love, for your firm testimonies in this gospel. For the examples that you have all been to me! I am so deeply grateful for you all. I am so deeply grateful for my mission. This has been the hardest, craziest, best, awesomest experience of my life! I am so grateful I decided to come serve. I have learned more than I could have ever imagined. Mostly I am deeply grateful that I have become more fully converted to this gospel. I know it's true! God lives. Jesus is the Christ. They have a perfect plan for all of us. As we live the gospel that is when we will truly be happy. The gospel has been restored for ALL of us. The Book of Mormon is true! We have a living prophet on the earth today, Thomas S. Monson. This gospel will never cease to amaze me. I love, love it with all my heart.

And I love you all so much!!!! See you soon! Haha weird.. :) 

Love,

Sister Cassie Rasmussen

November 12th Letter

Dear family,

Such a great week! And prepping for an even greater and crazier one! Woohoo! Here are the highlights...

Tuesday we hiked Potato Chip rock. It was AWESOME! Definitely another one of my favorite prep days. I have sweet pictures to show you. 

Potato Chip Rock

Wednesday we had zone meeting. It was the best one yet! We talked about making sure we are personally converted so that we can really testify with all our hearts. At the end they had those of us who are leaving bear our testimony. I wasn't as nervous for this one, haha. Less people. We had a lesson with Neina after. Laura came! We taught the word of wisdom and it was great. Neina said she drinks coffee a lot but she is willing to give it up. She is so wonderful. And she's excited for her baptism! I had a meeting with the Seegmillers and then mobat. Sister Patterson and I took this guy Jeppe on tour from Denmark. He was so awesome! He was super stoked that Sister Patterson and I both had Danish ancestors. At the end of the tour we just naturally started talking about the gospel. We found out he's agnostic and he actually just recently went on a 200 mile walk in spain to ponder about life and God. We basically taught him the restoration and it was awesome! We gave him a Danish book of mormon and he was so excited about it. He loves the fact that we have a modern day prophet. We got his email and we are going to keep in contact with him and see what he thinks about the book. Definitely the most open Danish person I have ever met! 

Sister R and her zone

Thursday happy birthday Cacia! I love you! This morning for training we watched Elder Bednar's talk the Character of Christ. It is soooo good! He talks about how we need to turn outward and stop being so self absorbed. Ahhhhhh! It's sooooo good! Helped me realize I definitely need to turn outwards a lot more. I also love how he quoted Elder Maxwell who said that Christ couldn't have performed the atonement without His character. Who he was and that's who we need to strive to become! First round of MTE's today. I got to go with Sister Davies and Patterson, aka two of my bestest friends! They are a powerhouse team! We actually had a really cool experience where we went to this park and met this awesome mom and her 3 kids. We just started out by inviting her to the Mormon Battalion and then ended up talking with her for about 45 minutes about the gospel. She is so cool! She agreed to have missionaries come over and teach her family more and get this.. she came to the mobat two days later and took a tour from us!! And her husband is awesome too! They are going to be such a sweet mormon family! We had some other cool lessons with some potentials. I loved being with them so much! They just lifted my spirits and I am so grateful for both of them and for the examples they are to me and for the friendship that we have. 

Sister Patterson, Sister Rasmussen and Sister Davies at MTEs

Friday was follow up MTE. President talked about being positive and it was awesome! We had mobat and then a SWEET lesson with Neina and edgar about baptism and confirmation and went over the interview questions with her and then she had her interview. Everything went amazingly well and she actually said it was a really sweet experience for her! We went to Edgar's to teach William. We talked about temples and Neina joined as well! We had a lesson next with Chris and Kassandra. I've really missed them! We talked about prayer and we each shared an experience of when God answered our prayers. 

Saturday we had fireside practice and coordination and then had mobat!

Cassie with Elder Esteban Villalobos. They grew up in the same ward and now serve in the same mission. 

Sunday was an awesome day. Ward council was great! Church was great! The pianist didn't show up for sacrament though so guess who got to play? Haha me. Relief society was such a great lesson about temptation and overcoming it. We had mobat and then my last mission president's fireside!! ahhhh. I love them. It was the best one yet. Jackie spoke! My recent convert from La Jolla and she did AMAZING! I love her. All the sisters who I am going home with from the mobat, we sang a song together. Six of us. Sisters O'Neill, Davies, Miller, Madsen, and Riggs. Some of my bestest friends! We sang a song called 'When He Comes For Me' and it was possibly one of the coolest moments of my life! To just stand up there with those six who I have served my whole mission with and to testify through song about everything we've done these past 18 months. I also was super nervous of course because I just get nervous in front of people.. especially in front of a lot of people! And to make things more nerve wracking.. I had a solo part. But I prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed and Heavenly Father helped calm my nerves and it all turned out wonderfully :) I got to see the Sadleir cousins.. they agreed to take my bedding to Utah for me because they are coming for thanksgiving. So nice of them! Julia and her husband came as well. Oh and I got to see David Yang! Yay!

The six sisters who entered the mission together. This is the night of the fireside. They all wore black and picked a different scarf. 

Cassie and her companion. She got new glasses that Cassie picked out. 

Monday I went on exchanges with Sister Huang! She is from Taiwan and she is unreal. I love her so much! I got to go chinese with her, haha so she taught me some more phrases. She also made me lots of fooood! For lunch she made me ramen with eggs and carrots. It reminded me of Megan, haha. We taught a less active and then contacted a referral and even though I really didn't have any idea what was going on... I could still feel the Spirit! It's so cool how the spirit works like that. I had a meeting with Sister Frampton and then mobat. Julia, her husband and her mother-in-law came in and I took them on tour! I got to hear her whole story about how her and her husband met. It was sweet! She also gave me some souvenirs, so nice of her! La Jolla had fhe at the mobat so it was fun to see all those people! Also my eye has been hurting me the past couple days and tonight my zone leaders had a lesson at the mobat and after they asked if I wanted a blessing so I got one and it was a really cool experience because some of my prayers got answered through what was said in the blessing. I kind of feel like Heavenly Father allowed my eye to get this way, so that I would get a blessing so He could talk to me more directly. It was cool! He is so AWARE of us. He loves us so much.

Cassie with some of our Sadleir cousins. People think Cassie and Sarah look a lot alike. 

Well if you didn't know.. the gospel is amazing :) haha just kidding I know you know that! But I am just so deeply grateful for it's clarity and simplicity.

I love you all!! Have the best week! 

Love,

Sister Cassie Rasmussen

November 5th Letter

 Dear Family!

Wow. These last few weeks are going to be CRAZY. I am SO excited. So much to do! I love being busy with this type of work :) Here are the highlights from this past week . . .

Dressed up in outfitting

Tuesday night we had a lesson with William about the Holy Ghost in preparation for his confirmation. We then went and stopped by Juan's and finally got to see him. He's struggling. He's so awesome! I really hope he can get out of this rut. We made him promise he'd come to church before the end of November. 

Wednesday exchanges in La Jolla with Sister Jarrett! People call us twins. Haha it was fun being her companion! We are both tall and blonde. We taught Arthur and Anthony (both recent converts) about missionary work and it was a powerful lesson! Anthony wants to serve a mission. I think that's so cool! Right as we were leaving, their friend Joseph showed up and we ended up teaching him the restoration and adding him as an investigator! We tried seeing Casmier but he wasn't there :( 

Sister Rigs, Madsen, Davies and Rasmussen with their Halloween colors

Thursday happy halloween! I hope to see pictures of everyone. I dressed up as a pumpkin. Hahah I will send pictures. For training this morning the Seegmillers made us breakfast! It was so fun :) and so nice of them! Then we talked about how we were all called here for different reasons and for who we are and we did this activity where we wrote what we liked about each other and it was fun! We went to see a less active who lives on the most ginormous hill ever! Seriously by the time we got to the top I was panting and my legs burned haha we were laughing. We went to see another less active. She was sleeping and we felt bad waking her up so we wrote her a note and talked to her dad. They have pet geese and chickens so he let us feed them! Haha it was awesome. I asked if I could have a picture with them and he said yes and told me to go out in the middle where they were and I was scared but I stuck my foot out to do so and one of the geese attacked my leg! Hahah it was funny. We then had district meeting and then mobat. It was pretty slow tonight! I worked on schedules and the area book. 

Sister Lehmitz and Cassie. Notice her pumpkin. 

Friday we did lots of organizing and figuring our ward list and records out and then went to the eye doctor for sis lehmitz. Brought back memories. haha and then we had a lesson with Kevin. His dog died :( and he was pretty upset about it. We talked with him about recommitting to everything and he really wants to. He's just trying to figure everything out so he said he'd need some time. We went to a potentials, Zaire's and taught the restoration. As we were leaving this couple was sitting outside and we started talking with them and found out that they were meeting with missionaries like 5 years ago but then they moved and lost contact and they missed what they were learning! AH SO COOL how Heavenly Father places people perfectly. We went to Adrienne's and went out with her to visit less actives. We visited this girl named Emily. Whenever she comes to church she is ridiculously quiet, but tonight she was just talking and talking and being herself and itw as really cool to see and to get to know her! We met with Shawn and talked with him about using the Atonement to give him strength to get through the hard things he is going through right now. 

Feeding the geese

Saturday happy birthday Benson! I love you foofy! This morning we went to the temple again to help set up lights. So fun! We had coordination and weekly planned and then mobat. Today there was a film crew from salt lake at the mobat. They all knew Rus of course and talked about how much they loved him. Then they decided to film random sisters and ask them some questions and they picked me (probably because Rus is my brother) and oh my goodness. Suddenly I couldn't speak english anymore. Hahaha I don't even know what I said. But I felt like an idiot. So Rus when you watch that.. you don't have to claim me as your sister, haha. I also saw my 5th grade teacher Mr. Thomas! He came to the mobat and he looked so familiar, but I couldn't figure out how so I finally asked him his name and we made that connection. David Yang also came to the mobat tonight! It made me so happy to see him :) I love that kid! 

Mission leadership council friends

Sunday was Sister Patterson's birthday! So we did some little surprises for her. Oh also daylight savings... so none of the sisters phone changed and all of our alarms went off and we were all confused because it was still dark outside and then we finally figured out that our phones didn't change and we went back to sleep :) Church was great! We had a couple non members show up. We invited them to learn more and one of them wanted to so we are meeting with her this week! William received the Holy Ghost so that was sweet. We helped with break the fast and then had mobat. We had a ward mission plan meeting after with the elders and our ward mission leader/missionaries and had some dinner and it was great! We came up with an awesome plan that we are calling the Avengers. Hahah it is going to be so great! I am excited. Helix is going to explode. Oh and NEINA came to church today! Yay!!!!

Mission leadership council

Monday I had mission leadership council. Best. One. Yet. So SWEET!! We talked about loyalty, and concerns in the mission, and the doctrine of high expectations. Basically I just want to be even better and be a better example! And President is just so good at teaching in a way that makes us understand and blows our minds! At the end of big mission meetings or mission leadership council, they always have the missionaries who will be leaving that month bear their testimony at the end. At mlc usually there are like 1 or 2, but today there were 9!!! It was super powerful and spiritual. I was SO nervous to get up there in front of all these amazing leaders, but it was a cool experience. After we ate lunch with all of them and helped clean up and took pictures and then Sister Frampton and I made the schedules for MTE's which are the next 3 weeks which is why it is going to be crazy! But so great. Sister Lehmitz and I took a note to a less active and then had a lesson with Nathan and Seth Duckett. We love that family. We read Enos 1 with them and it was sweet.

Sister R with Nathan and Seth Duckett

It was GREAT week!! President pointed out something SWEET yesterday. He read 3 Nephi 12:48 with us "Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect." And talked about how when Christ gave the sermon on the mount before his resurrection how he didn't say even as I.. because perfect really means complete or whole. We are not complete or whole until after we are resurrected. As long as we are striving and trying our best to do what's right and show God we love Him, then we are on the right track! But it's okay if we are not perfect yet :)

I love you all!! So much.

Love,

Sister Cassie Chea Rasmussen

October 29th Letter

Dear family,

Another great week! Here are the highlights . . .

Sister Rasmussen and Sister O'Neill's dresses are wearing out. 

Tuesday we went to the cliffs. I really love that place. That night William had his interview and was told after that he needed another interview just to clarify a few things. I think it hurt him a little, but he was trying to stay positive.

With the Afflecks and Sister O'Neill. We love them!

Wednesday we had mobat and Sister Jarrett and I organized all the Books of Mormon. We have so many languages! Sister Frampton and I had our meeting and had a really hard time figuring out who we should go on exchanges with and then we decided and made all the plans and it didn't feel right so we switched it up and it felt right. I think it's cool how Heavenly Father allows us to choose and decide what we think and then if it really isn't right.. He makes sure we know and we can choose to change it again to follow His will or just do what we want, but I have learned that when I make sure to follow His will, it always turns out better than I even imagined. We went on splits after and Adrienne and I went to Edgar's to teach William. William was like a different person. He was being super negative and had all these bible bash questions. We asked if he thought he had changed and he said no. We asked if he knew the Book of Mormon was true (which he's said yes before) but he said no. We finally just told him that he needed to pray and really figure this out. We then got back from splits and then Sister Lehmitz and I went to see a referral we have been trying to contact for forever! She was finally home :) We seriously know her whole family because of how many times we've tried stopping by. We taught her the restoration and she's way cool! When we invited her to be baptized, she said not until she's older and her mom like piped in and was telling her that she didn't need to wait and like teaching her what baptism really is haha and it was so cool! Her mom isn't even a member. Edgar called us after the lesson and said he had an awesome talk with William after we left. He said that the spirit was literally guided his words and he helped William see that he had changed and also shared with William his conversion story. William texted us later apologizing for being so negative and for saying that he hadn't changed because he knows he has and he knows it's all true. Ah :) His heart was softened. Edgar is so awesome. 

With Edgar and Sister O'Neill

Thursday we had training and we learned about fire safety! We got to do this awesome simulation with a fire extinguisher laser thing haha. After Sister Frampton and I had a leadership training meeting. IT was sooooooo goood! We talked about helping missionaries who are super stressed and also about baptismal interviews and about ministering vs administering. Jesus Christ is the perfect example of a leader, obviously.. but I just want to always lead like He did. It was an awesome training though and gave Sister Frampton and I a better vision for the next few weeks. We had district lunch and then we had mobat. Sister Miller and I took the assistants investigator, Caroline on tour. She is incredible! Sister Huang and I had a really good chat that we both needed. I love her :) She's the one from Taiwan. 

Friday I went on exchanges with Sister O'Neill!! She came to Helix with me. I love Sister O'Neill so much. We had temple and we met this awesome family from Switzerland and they each speak like 6 languages! Then we met this awesome family from Romania. One of the daughters needed to use the bathroom so we sent them to the distribution center bathroom and the dad ended up buying all this stuff! LIke a picture of the temple and some journals haha and he got a for strength of youth for his daughter. He had no idea what it was, but he thought it sounded good. It was so cool! After we went to the mobat to have a lesson with William. We talked about the atonement and then he had another interview and it all went well! He's getting baptized :) He couldnt' stop smiling after. We went and taught Edgar and read 1 Nephi 4 with him and talked about having faith for the unknown. We went and ate some dinner and talked about the future. We both made goals and plans for when we go home of how we can best combine our two worlds.. haha I hope it works! We had a lesson with Robert and he taught us about faith. We are preparing him for his mission! He's such a cool kid. I really love Sister O'Neill and we both really needed today. I look up to her a lot. I am so grateful for all these amazing friends I am making on my mission. 

Saturday Brandon got married! Ah! I hope it was wonderful. This morning we went to the temple to help put up Christmas lights with our ward. It was so fun! I have been looking forward to this for a long time. We had district meeting and talked about companionship unity and then we had mobat. It was a little slower so we got things situated for William's baptism.

William's baptism

Sunday happy birthday Maxwell!!! I LOVE YOU! I hope it was a great day! And happy farewell day for Jorgen! I can't wait to read his talk. Ward council was great. We all were able to get on the same page with our vision for the Helix ward. It was Adrienne's farewell today and she did so great :) Sister Lehmitz and I taught gospel principles about repentance and then after church was William's baptism. It was such a sweet service! Sister Lehmitz and I sang for the musical number and both of the talks were superb. My favorite part most of all is when the person who got baptized bears their testimony at the end and William's was so sweet!! He talked about how much he's changed and how he's happier now and nicer to people and also how his family doens't really approve of what he's doing, but that he know he has a new family in the gospel! Ahhh so cool. We ate and weekly planned and then we had mobat.

Monday we had mobat in the morning. I took this tour and at the end the older couple from Idaho (mormons) really bonded with this cute mid 20s girl from Wales. They seriously talked for about and hour in the back. For part of the conversation I joined and she had such good questions about Mormons. She said she's a world religions teacher in England. She seriously is going to be mormon someday. She's awesome! Sister Frampton and I had a meeting and then we went to our area! We took Tiana a birthday card and treat for her birthday and then we met this awesome girl named Zaire. After we had a lesson with Neina about the Law of Chastity. Neina is getting a lot more comfortable with us so that's good and she really opened up and was so excited about everything and having more peace and the Spirit in her life. We had a lesson with Robert and he brought us delicious food and then we went to the Hanson's for fhe. We just stayed for the lesson part and Neina came and also this potential Joaquin! Yay! We were praying that after we left the ward really helped them feel welcomed and loved. We stopped by Kevin's. He said he didn't really have time so we asked if we could share a scripture really quick. It was so cool because I grabbed my scriptures and there was absolutely no scripture coming to my mind... so I just opened my scriptures right to Alma 31:31 "O Lord, my heart is exceedingly sorrowful; wilt thou comfort my soul in Christ. O Lord, wilt thou grant unto me that I may have strength, that I may suffer with patience these afflictions which shall come upon me, because of the iniquity of this people." Apparently he's been going through a situation where other's actions have caused him some pretty big trials and so he said that is exactly what he needed to hear.. it's so cool! Heavenly Father is aware of all His children. He knew Kevin needed to hear that so he made sure a scripture didn't come to my mind so that I'd have the faith to just open them up and be right where I needed to be. Ahhhhhh. THIS GOSPEL ROCKS.

I am excited for another great week! I have been studying this talk recently that our mission president's wife asked us to read and it talks about how as we open our mouths (as members or missionaries) that just the fact that we are opening them.. shows Heavenly Father that we have faith and therefore will bring the Spirit more fully into our lives. I thought that was super sweet.

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!

so much.

Love,

Sister Cassie Rasmussen

October 22nd

Dear Family,

Tuesday we went bowling! Then after we got ready and had a lesson with Edgar, Edgar, Neina, and Neil. We talked about how we needed their help to build our ward. After we went to the mission home and picked up the new sister, Hermana Sanchez. She is from ARizona and she's adorable! 

Wednesday morning we had transfers! Not too much changed, but Hermana O'Neill came back! So I am happy about that :) Sister Frampton and I had our meeting to plan this transfer and set up the schedules and then we had the temple! 

Thursday morning we had interviews with President Clayton. Holy hannah he is one inspired man! I am so grateful for him and everything he does for all of the missionaries here in San Diego. It was really good to talk with him and he gave me great advice. We had the booth on Grossmont campus after. It was definitely a lot crazier day today.. people wise. Haha so many crazy questions. People really have no idea who mormons are or what they believe. We had a lesson with William after and taught him the word of wisdom and the law of chastity. He took them very well and said he's already been living that way. I think that's so cool when people already live that way! We did commit him not to gamble anymore though, because he has a problem with that. I dont' think I have ever taught someone with a gambling problem. We are so excited for him to get baptized! He's just changed so much. We had mobat and I took the cutest family on tour. They own a farm by Parowan and they told me after my mission I could come work with them on the farm :) haha so I have that to look forward to! 

Friday morning we got flu shots and then we had district meeting. We have a new district! We learned about teaching simpler. After we had a lesson with Neina about the 10 commandments and keeping the sabbath day holy and really committed her to coming to church. We also got a new date for her! We had temple again. We met this awesome guy named Jeff. He's like 20 and he's living in ARizona and learning from the missionaries. He knew SO much about mormons. He said he's struggling to find his answer, but we told him to just keep the faith and don't give up on God! I also met this family who is in Brock and Julie's ward! OH and this cute girl I took on tour a while ago and bonded with... I saw her at the temple tonight and she had received her endowments and now has a mission call to Croatia! So cool. After one of our members, Adrienne, had a mission party. She leaves the same day as Jorgen and is going to Peru. Most of her family and friends are non members so she had this dinner and wanted us to go and explain what missionaries do and then we got delicious food. I thought it was such a cool idea! 

Saturday I was on exchanges with Sister Wells! Sister Wells is a chinese speaking sister so I got to be with Chinese people all day! It was soooo fun :) We had mobat in the morning and it was super busy. We taught a less active first named Jimmy. He's had a crazy life! They are working on getting him back to the temple. We had an awesome lesson with him and read 3 Nephi 11. He's so nice! Next we met with their 19 year old investigator, Winnie. Winnie is from Taiwan and is here on an exchange for a year and lives with a mormon family. She is incredible and the sweetest human being. She also doesn't speak very much english so that whole lesson was in Chinese. Even though I really couldn't understand what was going on.. I definitely could feel the spirit! And I was just amazed with the gift of tongues. Sister Wells is from Springville, Utah. Just a cute american girl... but she can now speak chinese! Ahhhhh. So cool. Winnie is getting baptized in a couple weeks! We ate dinner and then went to the Johnsons house. They used to be in the chinese branch. He served in Taiwan. We talked with them about patience. Boy are they talkers! haha but they are awesome and they gave us delicious pie. We then had a lesson with the Ding family. Sister Ding is super active and her husband is super not. It was quite an interesting lesson about the Spirit. Sister Wells is incredible though and I had such a fun time with her tonight and I really really love Chinese people.

Sunday we had ward council and oh my goodness... I just realized I haven't told you the great news yet..... our ward got ELDERS!!! We have two sets of missionaries now aka twice the work can get done!! We are so so grateful and have been praying for this because there was a lot going on and we just didn't have enough time. The elders are way cool and one of them is actually from Orem! I ran track with his sister. So our ward was stoked today about having elders and sisters. It's going to explode now! We are so pumped :) We helped teach part of relief society. Laura gave an amazing lesson about missionary work and had us teach the first lesson to everyone. After we had mobat and I helped Elder Affleck with his new computer. He got a mac :) After mobat we weekly planned.

Monday we had a lesson with Elizabeth this morning about building her foundation with reading, praying, and coming to church. She is such an awesome girl! She just lacks a little the motivation to be completely active. We picked up Kassandra after and she came with us for the next few hours. I love Kassandra so much! She is incredible. We tried contacting a few less actives and then we had a lesson with Alan Klos. We haven't seen Alan for a while. He has a girlfriend now who isn't a member which is why we havne't really seen him at church, but he was the happiest and most positive I have ever seen him. We read Alma 5 together. It was crazy cool because my companion was having a rough day and Alan like bore this powerful testimony about our decision and choosing to be positive and after my companion was like wow heavenly father answers our prayers through the people we teach! I think that's pretty cool too. There have been several occasions where my prayers have been answered by whoever it is that we are teaching. The gospel is for everyone! We had a lesson with Neina next about tithing. As we were leaving I could tell something was up with Ortega so I went and asked him and he said he's having a really rough time and he started crying.. so we talked with him for a minute and set up an appointment to go see him tomorrow. We mobat next and it was great! I was finally on shift with Sister O'Neill so we got to catch up. I love her so much. I also took a really awesome family on tour! 

Basically life is good :) The gospel is TRUE. Studying the scriptures daily, praying daily, and going to church every Sunday, really is the recipe for a solid foundation! Those 3 things keep us grounded and help us remember the right perspective and make our relationship with Heavenly Father and the Savior even stronger.

I love you all so much!!

Love,

Sister Cassie Rasmussen

October 15th Letter

Dear Family,

My last phone callls!! AHHHHH. Don't worry.. nothing too exciting haha we are staying the same! To be honest I was hoping for a little switch up my last transfer, but nonetheless I am happy and it's going to be a great last 6 weeks! There is a lot changing at the battalion though so there were a lot of tears this morning. This week has been amazing as most weeks haha so here are the highlights...

Wednesday we had mobat in the morning and it was crazy with fall break! I had a meeting with the Seegmillers. Oh and it poured rain today! We had a lesson with Eric. We read 2 Nephi 2 with him. He told us that the temple was so amazing and it was the strongest he has ever felt the spirit. We met with Edgar, Ortega, and Neina next and read Mosiah 3 with them. We talked about general conference and committed them to reading one conference talk each week. We met with William next and taught him the 10 commandments and keeping the Sabbath day holy. Something kind of funny is that our other investigator, David came to the lesson with us and helped teach. Haha it was cool. After we watched the Joseph Smith movie with Robert and David. After David opened up to us a little more and I just love that kid so much. He will be baptized someday...hopefully soon :) 

Thursday happy birthday to Eden! I love you so much!!! I hope it was the best day. We had a really good training this morning where we made up scenarios for the sisters to practice greeting people. After some of us practiced our song for the November fireside and then we did one of my most favorite things. We did a booth on Grossmont college! It was so sweet! We met this awesome guy Jonathan and gave him a Book of Mormon. He has Mormon friends apparently. We then met Ramadan and he is from Sudan. He referred and we are going to meet with him soon! Then we met this guy Page. Page has never really been religious, but wants to be a good person and has been curious about religion lately. We got his information and will meet with him soon too! It always boggles my mind when I see that many people (on campus) and that the majority of them don't even know the truth! Ah so sad! This super nice professor who is mormon bought us some lunch :) This cute girl was walking by and she was just looking at us so I was like 'hey do you want to learn about mormons?' and she was like 'Yeah!' Come to find out she just moved here from England and she's living with her Dad and attending Grossmont. She's so cool! She is going to be a member. She's a referral for the La Jolla sisters. Then this guy Ethan stopped and told us he's an atheist (I am pretty sure he's not.. he's just confused right now) and asked us if he was going to hell and we said no! and he was appalled. He said every other religion said he was so we just talked with him about God's plan. We talked to him for like 30 minutes and he just kept saying he couldn't believe how nice we were. We got his contact information and although I think he'll be a slower process.. he definitely needs obviously and wants God in his life. We packed up our booth and headed back to the campus. Tyler Wedemeyer was there! And it was fun to see him :) We had a lesson with a referral, Daniel. We taught the restoration and it went well, but he kept saying these excuses of why he couldn't do things.. I was just thinking.. come on! You don't understand... this will change your life! Haha and I kind of did say that, but in a really nice way :) We had mobat next and it was pretty busy. 

Friday I was on exchanges with Sister Mulipola and Sister Teanoa in La Jolla. First of all, at 2:00 in the morning I woke up to some guy yelling and it freaked me out. I didn't know what to do, but I really wanted to see what was going on and so I climbed down from the bunk bed and found out Sister Mulipola had been awake too and was hoping I was awake so we could figure out what to do together. We spied out the window (their apartment is closest to the mobat parking lot) and there were these 3 people right in the parking lot by our window kind of. We couldn't tell if they were homeless or drunk or both.. but they kept yelling and fighting.. We didn't know what to do so we called the Seegmillers and they told us to call the police and so we did! They left before the police got there.. but it was crazy. We had mobat in the morning and it was busy. I had just sat down to eat lunch when a sister came back and told me they really needed help figuring out a situation up front and I was like ohhh okay so I went up and SURPRISE!!!!!! Haha I love surprises like that. We sat in the theater and talked while we waited for the next tour and then I just got to take their family! So that made me really happy :) It was definitely one of the coolest tours. Ric and Tami look so good! And Jorgen looks like a grown up and even Cacia seems taller than the last time I saw her and Soren and Ayden are so much bigger! Soren actually wouldn't even look at me at first.. but by the end he finally gave me a hug :) We took pictures and panned for gold and then I had to go, but I was so happy to be able to give them stuff to take home for me! So thank you so much!!! And it was a huge tender mercy from Heavenly Father that I got to see them. He knew I needed that :) I love you Ric, Tami, and family! I said bye to Georgen for 2 years :( but he is going to be such an AMAZING missionary. I am so stoked for him! We then went and taught Stanley Busby. We talked with him about President Uchtdorf's talk "Come, join us" It was good! We then went to a baptism in Santee for Alicia. I taught her so I got to go. It was great! Our investigator William even came. We went to dinner with Rodney and talked about general conference and invited him to share his favorite talk and invite a friend to church. We went to contact a less active and met this guy Jay. He was super interesting, but he said he wouldn't mind meeting with the sisters sometime! So that's good. I am super impressed with Sister Teanoa. She is from the Gilbert Islands and she is just incredible. I love both her and Sister Mulipola and I learned so much from them today. I of course loved being in La JOlla again :)

Saturday we had a lesson with Mark and Steven. We taught them part of the plan of salvation.. really emphasizing the Atonement. It was a really cool lesson. Both of them just want to change so badly.. I think they just don't think they can.. but today they really felt that hope. Some sisters needed some last minute coverage at the mobat so we were there from 12-9. I was definitely exhausted but it was great! The sisters even brought us firehouse subs to say thank you :) 

Sunday we had stake conference and it was great! Edgar is getting the melchizedek priesthood!!! So excited for him. William came! We had coordination and then had a lesson with Sabrina. She is moving tomorrow :( I will miss her! We went through the strength of youth with her. She just really wants to make sure that she doesn't fall away and sometimes she feels like she's slipping. She's so cool. We had mobat and then weekly planned! 

Monday happy birthday Makai! I loveth you! We studied and helped Elder Holley with some car stuff and he gave us homeade bread from his wife! So delicious. We had a lesson with Page from the booth and taught him the restoration. It was a sweet lesson! Laura came as well. Page really wants to come to church and really wants to find out if this is true. I love when people have that strong desire to know the truth! Mobat next. It was a little calmer tonight. Some of the sisters and myself got to go to the hacienda and sing happy birthday to this guy for Elder Seegmiller and then he gave us free food! It was delicious. I took this lady on tour with her two sons and they were so adorable. Throughout the tour I found out that her husband recently passed away :( So sad. We talked about how grateful we are for the gospel. Sister Frampton and I had a meeting and then we had a farewell for Sister Crawford. Ahhhh. Oh ps Elder Zwick came to the mobat today. He's so cool. 

This week I have been particularly grateful to know that Heavenly Father is so aware of me and all of us. I might have talked about that recently, but He really is just so incredibly loving. I love this gospel so much! I am grateful for the peace, comfort, and joy it brings. It really brings SO much joy :)

I love you all!!

Love,

Sister Cassie Chea Rasmussen

October 8th Letter

 Family!

Wasn't general conference amazing!?!? Ahhhh so much revelation! Yay! I hope you all enjoyed it as much as me :) Here are the highlights from the week...

Tuesday we went to the temple. SO amazing. I also was able to receive some answers there and I saw Brandon!! He came and talked with me for a little bit :) And gave me a wedding announcement. It's so cute! It was sweet though because as I sat in the Celestial room I picked up the Book of Mormon and opened it randomly 3 times and each time whatever I opened to answered something that was on my mind. The church is true! 

Mission Leadership Council 

 Wednesday we had mobat and I had a meeting with the Seegmillers and Sister Frampton. After we had a lesson with Andrea. She broke down to us because she is still having a rough time with her break up. We taught the plan of salvation and she said it brought a lot of comfort. She's awesome and she is going to be a beast member someday! We had a lesson with Eric next. He never ceases to amaze me. We taught him the Plan of Salvation and tied it into family history. He is so excited to start his especially because he is an orphan. He is also pumped to go to the temple on thursday! We saw Patrick next. Diana came! We taught keeping the sabbath day holy. I love Patrick so much. His prayers are the best! We had a lesson with David. Robert came. Robert is so good with David because he went through the exact same thing. David told us that he's had a rough few weeks and he just wanted to give up and quit this whole mormon thing :( we talked about opposition and Robert bore powerful testimony. We really just tried to make sue he knew that we loved him. He said he doesn't want to give up but that he just needs to start from scratch. I will NOT give up on this kid. He's incredible. We had a lesson with Neina next and also taught the plan of salvation. Neina is so cool. We got to talk with her twin Pachi tonight! He was a little more open to us tonight. 

Thursday happy birthday coley!! I love that little guy. We had training and we talked about our responsibility at the temple. Next Sister Frampton and I went to mission leadership council! My favorite. Today we discussed becoming better and clearer teachers and also companion study. We had a delicious lunch and then I had mobat. I took the CUTEST family on tour. Ah. The dad was in a modern day mormon battalion! I forgot the name of it, but I'd never heard of it before. He had some pretty crazy stories. We had a little guitar jammin session, Sister Miller and I. 

Sister Rasmussen with her district

Friday we had mobat and Sister Riggs and I took the cutest older couple on tour. They even referred at the end because they were touched by the story! So sweet. We had district meeting which was great! We talked about using and applying the Book of Mormon. We had a lesson with Edgar and Ortega about general conference to try to get them pumped. We then went by Chris's and I think we might have woken him up or something, because he was in a completely different mood then last time. He just seemed not excited about anything and it was a rough lesson, so we just decided we'd come back another time to see if he was just having a rough night or something. 

Saturday was Christmas! I mean general conference! Haha it literally feels like Christmas that's how exciting it is! We watched both sessions at the battalion. Our investigator William came and watched the morning session with us and then we had a lesson with him in between. After both of the sessions we weekly planned and then we had battalion. Okay so I thought of a few questions for conference just like I challenged you all and the craziest thing happened.. President Uchtdorf's talk almost always answers at least one of my questions, but this time it didn't! His talk was still one of my most favorites, but it didn't answer any of my questions, and I didn't really get any of my other questions answered in those two sessions, but I wasn't doubting or anything because I knew they'd get answered tomorrow. We broadcast all the sessions at the battalion even priesthood and I was on shift during the priesthood session. I had just gotten off a tour and the senior sister told me I could go watch one talk of the priesthood session and then come back out. I debated whether or not because I just thought maybe I should stay up front and that I could read the talks later, BUT I just kinda had this feeling that I should go, so I did! I walked in right at the close of one of the songs and just as President Uchtdorf was about to speak. He answered every single one of my questions in that talk. And it wasn't even necessarily what he said, but what the Spirit told me. I definitely couldn't hold back tears... which I am usually pretty good at doing. But it just made me know how Heavenly Father really is so aware of me and of all of us. What are the chances that I was at the battalion that night? What are the chances that I just happened to get off a tour right before President Uchtdorf was speaking and saying what I needed to hear? It's all because Heavenly Father is in the details of my life and in all of our lives! So if you are doubting he loves you are is aware of you... DON'T! Because he does LOVE you and he is AWARE of you. Every single day. Every single moment. :) I love this gospel. 

The zone with interesting mustachios

Sunday conference was also amazing! I was on shift Sunday morning so I only got to see the beginning and the end. President Eyring's talk was amazing!! And I saw the end of President Monson's and am excited to read the rest of it. We watched the second session at the stake center. William came! He loved conference so much and just kept thanking us for inviting him. Also yesterday when we taught him, we taught him about fasting and tithing and today he was fasting for his family! So cool. It's incredible how much he is changing. After we street contacted this awesome lady named Pilar. She wants her and her daughters to learn more! We stopped by a referral, Mark. He was home! He lives in a sober house, so that makes things interesting, but we invited whoever wanted to listen to come join our lesson out back. We taught Mark the restoration and it was a super cool and personalized lesson. We asked him if he wanted to be baptized and he said yes, but he wanted more time to learn. We asked him if he'd like to set a date to work towards and he said 'yeah, how bout in 2 weeks?' haha wow! We got him with a date for November 2nd. One of his house mates had joined us by then, named Steven. Steven said he'd been baptized a few times, but he doesn't think he did it for the right reasons and how he wants to shape up his life now and asked us if he could be baptized too! Haha. He's older so we'll have to pass him off to the elders, but his heart is so willing. At the end we asked Mark to pray about Joseph Smith so he did and after before we could even ask STeven he asked if he could pray about Joseph Smith too. So cool! We went to Chris's next. He was definitely a lot more chipper this time. We taught him the restoration and he said he just wants to take things slowly. We went to Kevin's. We finally got to see him again! He's been going through some rough stuff. Thankfully not spiritually, but just with family. We talked with him about the priesthood and recommitted him to everything. We told him how if he really wants to be baptized that he has to be consistent with coming to church and with praying and reading. He said he really wants it. Dan came with us and after we had coordination with him on his porch. Dan is so cool. Sister Lehmitz and I had a good chat and kind of made a new focus. 

Monday happy birthday Julie!!! I loves you! We had zone meeting today. Elders Cena and Calzada made is so wonderful! I think I've said this before, but everything we talk about at Mission Leadership Council, the zone leaders are supposed to come up with a way to teach what we discuss to their zones, so I always like to see how they decided to do it and they did awesome! I really like our zone. We went to district lunch after and then we had an appointment with this guy named two socks. He's super open! We have to pass him off to the elders though. Then the best thing ever happened... all our appointments fell through! Haha just kidding that's not the best. So we contacted for about 3 hours and one of our members came with us. It was actually really good! We were able to find out a lot of information about some of the less actives in our ward. We are trying to clean up the ward list and figure out where everyone is. We had a lesson with Nathan and read from the Book of Mormon, Mosiah 2. Nathan really is making a change in his life. I just love seeing people's hearts change as they accept the Savior and His gospel and His atonement into their lives. That's my favorite thing! 

Basically it was an awesome week :) I am a little sad I forgot my conference notebook so I can't tell you about my exact favorite parts of conference... but pretty much I just loved everything! I love how much they stress the importance of families! I am so so grateful for our family! 

I love you all so much :)

Love,

Sister Cassie Rasmussen