February 26th Letter

Dear Family,

Helloooooooo! From sunny San Diego :) Haha, just teasing. I am sorry if you are all freezing. This week was wonderful! Here are the updates . . . 

Tanya's Baptism

Tuesday we went to the temple! I love the temple :) Then after we played volleyball with our zone. It was fun! We had a pass off lesson tonight with Tanya. The UC 2nd ward got sisters so we had to pass her off. I love her! I am so glad that I got to teach her. Next we went and met our Vietnamese friend and gave him a Book of Mormon and talked to him about it. Next was a lesson with Raquel. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she loooooved it! She said it sounds too good to be true! But that she knows it's true. We invited her to be baptized and she said she wants to, but she is really scared to tell her parents because they are Jewish. She doesn't want to do it behind their back so she said she needs some time to get the courage to talk to her parents about it. She is awesome and I know that she'll get the courage to talk to them soon! We told her we would pray for her to have the courage and also that her parents hearts would be softened. 

Wednesday we had lunch with a member and it was delicious! We also weekly planned and then we had MoBat. One of Mom's temple friends came in with her daughter and her daughter's family. They were so adorable! I got to take them on tour so that was fun. 

Cassie with a MoBat visitor's bird

Thursday Sister Jarrett and I cleaned the courthouse during MoBat time. After we had a lesson with Cassandra about the Plan of Salvation. She is so sweet! She said she wants that for her and her daughter. Next we met with Jackie, who is a former, and her sister Rachel. Their parents got baptized a few years ago and are inactive now, which is super sad, but the girls said they both want to be a part of the Church They said they want to just start from scratch and learn it all again. Next, we had a dinner with a member and it was the funniest situation ever. When we got there she had this guy over to eat with us and he looked SOOOO familiar, but I couldn't figure out how and he was looking at me like I looked familiar and he asked if I knew someone who served in his mission with him, which I didn't. Then I asked him where he's from to try to figure out how I knew him and he said he's from San Diego so then I just thought maybe I'd seen him at the Battalion or something. Then he asked where I was from and I said Orem and he was like do you know the Stopas? And I was like Yeah! They are my cousins and he was like oh my goodness . . . we are cousins!! Haha, it was Scott Sadleir! So that was a fun to catch up and reminisce about our family reunions. 

Friday, HAPPY sweet sixteen to Karsten!!! I hope he had a great day! We studied and then had a lesson with Taylor about the temple and encourage her to get her recommend to go to baptisms. She's excited about it! Then we had district lunch and meeting. We had a lesson with Max about the Restoration and he said he thinks it's a nice story and we were like well do you think it could be true? And he was like definitely! So we invited him to pray and ask if it is true and then if it is . . . what that means for him. We had coordination with our ward mission leader and then MoBat  We took down the Witnesses of Christ art exhibit tonight :( The walls look so empty now! 

Saturday we had MoBat and then we were supposed to have a pass off lesson with the zone leaders but when we got there they said they found out that the guy had mental issues so they didn't want to pass him off to us. They did introduce us to this awesome kid named T though who is a less-active and can come to the YSA ward, so we had a lesson with him about the sacrament and he said he'd come to the YSA ward if we could get him a ride. Next we had a lesson with Alex who is preparing for a mission. Then we tried visiting James but he wasn't home, and then we had a lesson with the Ghanians. We don't quite know what to do with them anymore . . . they can't take that the Book of Mormon is also the word of God. They say the Bible is the only way and truth and they don't need another book. We are trying to figure out what we should do next or if we should stop seeing them for a little bit. 

Sunday morning was MoBat and it was pretty busy. David came in and watched the Joseph Smith movie. We had ward conference today and the bishop and the stake president both gave excellent talks on standing in holy places. The ward choir sang a musical number and Sister Riggs and I joined them. After church we had dinner with a member, Jason. He had invited his roommate named Gleb. Gleb is from Russia! He's 18 and plays tennis for Mesa College. We talked with him about God and prayer. He said he believes in God, but he doesn't really pray or anything. We invited him to read a talk and Jason said he is going to have us over for dinner again so we can follow-up with Gleb about the talk. Next we had MoBat again because we were covering for some sisters. We also had planned this ward activity called "Missionary Movie Night" our slogan, "You bring your friends, we'll bring M&M's." We thought it'd be a genius idea to have a movie night and show the Testaments or Joseph Smith movie and then people could bring their friends and it'd be super non-threatening and then after we could have an open Q&A. Genius idea right?? Yeah well not so much. Only ONE person came . . .  and it was a member . . . bahaha. We ended up having a really cool lesson with him though, so I guess that made up for it. We'll try again. Hopefully our ward will try harder next time.

Jessica's Baptism

Monday we tried visiting a less-active but she wasn't home and then we had a lesson with a member. Her name is Julie and she lives in the cutest apartment! Next a member, Jared, took us to lunch at Casa de Guadalajara! It was so delicious!! I love Mexican food. Next we had a lesson with David reviewing the plan of salvation with emphasis on the atonement. David is just so in tune with the Spirit and has such a sincere heart to do what's right! It's awesome. We watched the Mormon message, "My Burden Was Made Light." You should watch it. It's all about the atonement and forgiveness and it's just so good. Makes me almost cry every time. Next was MoBat. Another one of Mom's temple friends came in! Haha, it was fun I got to take her on tour too and she was also so sweet. 

Basically it was a great week! I am just grateful for this opportunity that I have to be a missionary and for what I am learning each day and for how Heavenly Father is making me stretch and grow. This week I was studying about trust. How important it is to trust in the Lord. He knows what's best. He'll never leave us alone. He knows our hearts. He loves us. I really really really love this gospel. 

And I love all of you!! 

Love,

Sister Cassie Chea Rasmussen