Dear Family,
First of all, part of the area I serve in right now (Pacific Beach) is actually where Mom, Dad & I stayed for one of the Ashton trips in 2007. It has always looked familiar to me and yesterday we actually drove by the place we stayed at and then everything came back to me and I remembered the IHOP we went to and the path we walked to the beach! Haha so that was cool. Here are the highlights . . .
Wednesday, happy birthday to Jorgen!! I can't believe he is 18. And happy anniversary mom and dad! I love you! At the mobat today, Sis Pagel and I gave an awesome Mandarin tour and 5 of them referrred! They were straight from China. The Chinese are so humble. We also had some 4th graders and Sis Pagel and I played the violin for them and marched with them. We had a lesson with Tanya after and she is still progressing so well. Next we helped our zone leaders, Elders Kirchhoefer & Poulson. They had these three sisters who were going to get baptized but because of female reasons they didn't know if they could and they just wanted to talk to some girls, haha so we helped them out. It was interesting though because when we arrived the elders were just going to introduce us and then leave, but the girls started telling the elders how they didn't even want to get baptized anymore . . . it was kind of an awkward situation, haha, but we told the elders we could handle it and we'd figure out what was going on. The sisters were so cute! They told us their concerns and we had a great talk with them about the feelings they've felt from the Spirit and why God wants us to be baptized. We sang them "I'm Trying to be Like Jesus" and by the end they were so happy and excited. It was really cool! They just needed some girl talk, haha. The elders called us after and were freaking out, and then they were so happy and kept saying they owe us big time, haha. We had a lesson with a less-active and then we went to dinner with some members at CoCo's. It was fun and delicious! We had a short lesson with David.
Thursday we had district meeting. Oh, MoBat was intense this day! Some guy was running away from the cops and ran through the Battalion and so there were like 8 cops searching all around the Battalion and we had to stop our tours so they could search it. It was nuts! David came to the Battalion and we had a lesson with him and then while he was waiting for his baptismal interview we played a Mormon message called, "Lessons I Learned" After I asked him if he liked it and he said no because it made him cry, haha it was funny. Then we had him watch God's Plan and after he was crying again so we talked about how he felt and about the video and he told us that his friends' baby just recently died and that he knows that they will be able to see their baby again. It was so tender! He had his interview and passed :) For the law of chastity invitation we had him write a promise to his future wife and today he showed us and it was adorable. I will take a picture of it and send it sometime. It's too long to type right now, haha but it was so awesome! David is just awesome.
Friday MoBat was pretty slow. We had a lesson with David after and all just bore our testimonies about the gospel and being baptized and then he bore his testimony. Next we had a lesson with our Ghana friends. Two of them kept saying they won't accept anything but the Bible . . . they literally won't even open up the Book of Mormon and read the title page . . . it's a difficult situation.
Saturday was David's baptism!!! It was so wonderful. A lot of people came :) The talks were so good and Sister Riggs sang I am a Child of God and sang a part of it in Chinese. It was really pretty. At the end he bore his testimony and it was so sweet and sincere. He said after he was baptized he just sat in the locker room for a second and felt the Spirit tell him that this is right. I feel so honored and grateful for the opportunity I have had to get to know David and to teach him and help him along his path to coming closer to Jesus Christ.
Sunday David received the Holy Ghost and the priesthood! He even got his own nice set of scriptures and he was so excited about it. Oh and he fasted and bore his testimony in sacrament meeting. So SOLID!! We met with Keri and then James, both recent converts. We went and talked to our Ghana friends about faith and we tried to set up a time that they could come to the Battalion to watch the Testaments. We think that could help.
Monday we ran to the mission office and then tried contacting some less actives and then had district lunch! The thing I love about being in public places is that you always know when people members because they say hi to us :) haha .We had a lesson with David about the priesthood and missionary work. He wants to go on a mission! Oh and he did baptisms at the temple this morning!! Seriously, unreal. MoBat was great!! I met a senior couple serving here in San Diego named the Kramers . . . they are from Orem!!
Well, this is the last week of transfers . . . I can't believe it! I have a feeling things are going to be shanken up a bit this next transfer. We shall see though :) In my study this week I read a lot of talks from the amazing compilation that Eden made me. And one of the talks that really hit the spot was "Becoming a Disciple" by Elder Maxwell. I'll just share a couple of my favorite parts . . . "The more we become like Jesus, the more we come to know Him." "God will not withhold from us certain growing experiences that He, in His infinite wisdom, allows us to undergo for our eternal benefit. His timetable, if followed, prepares us incrementally for the journey of discipleship and for going home." "the cross of discipleship must be taken up daily." "One of the dangers we face in discipleship is drifting . . . not that we become necessarily wicked, but rather that those who drift merely exist and are not truly alive in Christ." "God is in the details of our lives." Ahhh, I just love it. He really is in the details--every little one! We are working on becoming alive in Christ and to do that we must do and become . . . not just sit and stew. This gospel is the truth!
I love you all so much! And I hope you have a wonderful week :)
Love,
Sister Cassie Chea Rasmussen
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