April 30th Letter

Dear Family,

Today is phone call day and I got the dreaded phone call :( I am leaving La Jolla! I am super sad because I LOVE it there and I love being companions with Sister Riggs and the work is just booming! BUT I know that whatever step is next is going to be exactly what I need and it will be great and the Lord will allow me to love the people as much as I've loved the people in La Jolla. Here are the highlights from the rest of my week..

Wednesday we had MoBat and then updated some records. We had a lesson with Casmier about temples and family history. Tyler came. Casmier really loved it and is excited to start his 4 generation pedigree chart! We stopped by a referral after whose best friend is a mormon. He sadly didn't want to learn more, but we had a cool conversation with him. Next we had dinner with Keri. I love her so much! She also brought Maren. She took us to BJs and it was delicious!! We had a pizookie at the end and oh goodness... so good! I am grateful each day to be a missionary, but today for some reason I had one of those moments where my heart was just full of gratitude for this opportunity to serve.. haha and it wasn't because I got a pizookie. 

Thursday we did something new! We did an 'ask a mormon' booth on UCSD campus. Haha it was quite the experience! That campus is definitely not like BYU. It's crazy how different it is. We felt a little out of place, but it was a cool experience. We talked to some great people and even had someone who wants to meet with us! As I was sitting there though and watching all these people walk by it just boggled my mind and made me sad that so many of them don't even know why they're here and don't know they have a Heavenly Father. We had MoBat after.

With Casmier at his baptism

Friday we had MoBat and I took these 2 ladies on tour who were on a girls trip. I found out that they were aunt and niece and they are only a year apart! I was like hey that's like me in my family! I love it :) I also took this way fun family on tour and the daughter goes to BYU and knows some of my friends. Small world! After MoBat we had district meeting which was great and my last one in that district :( and then we went to prepare for Casmier's baptism! It was such a beautiful service. Two members in our ward gave a talk and then Sister Riggs and I sang 'I Feel My Savior's Love' and then he was baptized! It all went smoothly and a ton of people showed up! Yay!! We even had 2 investigators there. When Casmier came out from changing he had the biggest smile on his face! It was great! And then he shared his testimony and his side of the story and it was super powerful! He gets really nervous in front of people so he wrote it all down and I asked him to email it to me so I am going to share it with you... "I'm so greatful for everyone coming out to show their support and for the chance to make a covenant with our heavenly father tonight. I was raised jahovah's witness but was never really there in spirit. At a young age my mother fell ill and that led me to falling out of religion, but I always felt there was someone up above. Being selfish and worldly I never committed to any other religion. Fast forward to last month I had been thinking a lot about God and how I wasn't happy with how far I've gotten myself. It was then that my neighbor and I discussed philosophy and religion and decided to look at the stars just outside, that by greater then chance I met with sister Riggs and sister Rasmussin who had a giant guitar case and was meeting with someone in my community. I asked right away what kind of instrument it was?! We then talked about what we all were doing, the sister's being missionaries and me just Stargazing, they invited me to come to church. Coming here and learning I felt something I had been missing for a good portion of my life... peace love and good influence. I know the teachings I learn are true and that we have a living prophet which is God's mouthpiece for our generation, and that this church is here to better me and give me happiness. I believe we are all children of God and that it takes a village to raise a child and this church is my village. In Jesus Christ name amen." Isn't that the sweetest thing?? Ahhhhhh. I love the gospel!! He's so tender. Basically the whole group who came to the baptism went to dinner after and they took Casmier and our other investigator Arthur. I love our ward! We went to campus to have a lesson with a referral. His name is Bin and he is from China! He is super open and we taught him the restoration and he had great questions. 

Doing service with Mormon Helping Hands

Saturday we had mormon helping hands! We painted the youth aquatic center on fiesta island. It was a lot of fun! After we ate lunch and then had MoBat  And the weirdest thing happened to me at the MoBat . . . haha I don't even want to tell the story because I get embarrassed thinking about it, but I feel like you all would get a good kick out of it . . . soo I was outside the battalion waving to people driving by and I waved to this guy and he smiled and waved back and I thought nothing of it.. then like 2 minutes later I was inside by the desk talking to Sister Affleck and Sister Miller and that same guy comes walking in and he says to me, "I am sorry excuse me" And I thought he just wanted to ask something about the battalion but then he says... 'you are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen and I was just wondering if you had a boyfriend because I would love to take you out some time...' At this point I really wish I could've seen my face.. it was like in pure shock. Sister Affleck said, 'This has got to be a joke.' And sister miller was like 'this is definitely not a joke' And the guy was like 'yeah this isn't a joke.. could I take you out?' and I stumbled over my words and was like 'ummm I am a missionary." and he was like 'I don't know what that means." And again I stumbled over my words and Sister Affleck helped me out and said, 'that means no date. no number. no nothing!' and he said 'oh sucks for me' and left... hah oh man. We all just looked at each other and busted up laughing and I turned bright red... it was such a weird experience. After that I took the cutest family on tour! 

The Mormon Helping Hands crew

Sunday we had studies and then ward council. After was church. Jackie, Rachell, and Arthur came! Casmier got confirmed today in sacrament meeting! He asked Tyler to do it and when it came time Tyler was nowhere to be found and so Cy did it instead and did great. Tyler walked in shortly after. After we asked him where he was and he said that he went to prepare spiritually for the confirmation and just got back too late.. you have to understand, Tyler is like the most pure person I have ever met.. haha so of course he was late because he was preparing spiritually and then he felt super bad. At the end of sacrament meeting one of the counselors asked Casmier to come bear his testimony and we didn't know that was going to happen so we didn't warn him or anything and he has really bad social anxiety so we felt so bad because he was sooo nervous, but he did really great! After church we met with Hugh. He is really struggling right now. We talked about when Nephi had to build the ship and how his brother's mocked him and tried to bring him down and how the Lord helped him with the tools to build the ship and just how he needs to use the tools Heavenly Father has given him to become who he needs to be. We had MoBat the rest of the night. 

Monday we had a lesson with Taylor about missionary work. and then a lesson with Arthur. He seemed in much higher spirits today. Next we met with Linda, she is so sweet! And then we met with Casmier and got to meet one of his best friends, Steven. We talked with Casmier about the power of a testimony. We updated records and then had MoBat  Tawny Christensen came in today. It was so good to see her! She is just so awesome. 

Well . . . on to a new adventure! Tomorrow I will find out so I will let you know next week where my new adventure is! I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have had to serve in La Jolla YSA and for all amazing people I have been able to meet. I think my heart will always be in La Jolla.. although I thought that about Chula Vista.. haha I think it's cool how wherever I go is where I am meant to be and I come to love it as much as the previous area. 

I love you all so much!!

Love,

Sister Cassie Rasmussen

April 23rd Letter

Dear Family,

This was quite the week! I hope you are all excited to hear . . .

Tuesday night we taught Casmier's at a members. We taught tithing and fast offering and he thought it was all great! We met with Hugh after. He is great, but he is having a really hard time right now with priorities and caring to much about what other people think.

Cassie by a beautiful home in Penasquitos

Wednesday was an amazing day. I went on exchanges with Sister Miller! I love Sister Miller. She is from Lindon. Anyways the day started out with studies and then we had a meeting with Salt Lake about some stuff for the Battalion and then we had a lesson with Taylor. Teaching with Sister Miller was so cool because it felt like we had been companions forever! Our lesson with Taylor was about the power of our testimonies and we went around sharing one liner testimonies with each other. Next we met with a referral, Sarabeth, outside of jamba juice in Linda Vista. This lesson was unreal! It was like preach my gospel dvd worthy.. haha not because of us, but because the Spirit was so strong even with all the outside noise and Sarabeth's reactions were just awesome. She is dating a mormon and that's how she became interested and just really wanted to learn all about it. She told us she is looking for a sense of belonging. We taught her the restoration and when we got to the part about Joseph Smith and his prayer and what he saw, she just kept saying.. wow! wow! We whipped open the Book of Mormon to the introduction and had her read the last two paragraphs. She said it was super welcoming and then we were telling her how she can find out if all of this is true by praying and that God will let her know through the Spirit. She told us that she can already feel something inside of her and so we testified that it was the spirit. We invited her to pray at the end and she did. She said she would always remember us now when she goes to that jamba. We were able to add her! It was one of the coolest lessons. Even my testimony of the restoration was reaffirmed during that lesson. Next we had a lesson with Arthur about the importance of church attendance because he hasn't been coming. We were able to figure out some of his concerns and he committed to coming this Sunday. Next was a lesson with Casmier and Carli came. We taught him baptism and confirmation and then went over the baptismal interview questions with him and he answered them all flawlessly and the most sincere I have ever heard someone answer them. He is just so humble and sensitive to the spirit. It's awesome! We had temple next. It wasn't too busy today. We talked to this lady though who at first she didn't want anything to do with us but then she ended up opening up to us and telling us how her husband had an affair and wants a divorce and she is still in love with him. They aren't sealed and she was really hoping they would be able to be sealed some day and she has some kids who are really struggling. Her heart was just really broken. We just talked with her about how Heavenly Father is aware of her and loves her so much and that the Savior is with her every step of the way. We both gave her a hug and just let her cry and she just kept saying thank you and then left. It was really sad! I was really grateful in that moment to be an instrument in God's hand. He couldn't physically hug her, but we could do it for Him. After we were supposed to have a lesson but it was cancelled so we tried some contacting and it was an adventure. Haha we met some pretty interesting people, but I was able to learn some new street contacting tactics from Sister Miller, so that was fun. I learned SO much from Sister Miller. She is an amazing missionary. She even said some things to me at the end of our exchange that were an answer to my prayers. My heart was really full of gratitude by the end of the night.

Thursday we had training and talked about sacrifice and how much our senior couples have sacrificed to be here. I did a project for the Seegmiller's basically the whole time I was at the MoBat today. Our zone leaders came with an investigator so Sister O'Neill and I took them on tour. Oh we have a new zone leader.. Elder Weidner! He's hilarious. After MoBat was Casmier's baptismal interview and he passed :) Then Sister Riggs got a blessing because she has a really bad cold/sore throat. We taught Casmier and then we had a lesson with a referral, Johnny. Johnny is from sweden and all his best friends are mormon. He loves mormons! He says he hasnt' been baptized yet because he hasnt' been able to feel what everyone else says they feel. We were able to add him and we hope that the spirit can help him feel through us! Tyler came to the lesson and invited him to institute after and he stayed! We had dinner with our member Cory and his family who aren't members. It was delicious! And we had a nice talk about God. We had coordination with Matt after and then a lesson with Jackie. Jackie is so excited to be baptized! 

Sister Rasmussen and Sister Miller freezing (in 65 degree weather) at the temple

Friday happy birthday Ayden!! We had a lesson with Laurel! That was another miracle that happened Wednesday was that we got a text from Laurel saying she wanted to meet with us again! So we met with her again and she said she watched general conference by herself and after she watched it she thought she would be stupid if she didn't meet with us again. She said she's ready to hear all the lessons and wants us to teach her like we would normally teach people, so we were able to add her again! Miracles. Her heart is much more open and soft. We had district meeting which was great as usual! Then we had lunch with Rodney at Red Robin. We talked with him about the power of the Book of Mormon. We went to the church to see if there was a baptismal suit that fit Casmier, but there wasn't. He is like 6'6, haha. We had MoBat after.

Saturday happy birthday Elle!! We had MoBat n the morning. We left a little early so Sis Riggs could go practice her song for the fireside. We then went to the church to start filling up the font and getting everything ready for Casmier's baptsim! Funny story.. there was an ear wig in the font and so I got it out with a paper and then threw it away and as I was turning around from throwing it away Sister Riggs was checking this baptism suit that was hanging up and saw a cockroach and screamed and I already had the heebie jeebies from the earwig so I started screaming which scared her and she screamed even louder and then I screamed louder and it was just really funny. We wish someone would've been there to witness it. We set up the room and then started practicing our song we were going to sing and it was like 4:30pm and the baptism was at 5pm and I was thinking I should check the phone so I did and we had like a billion missed calls and texts and then found out that the baptism was cancelled! :( A few days prior, some of our members invited Casmier to go hiking with them and he said he would if it didn't interfere with his baptism and they were like oh no it definitely wont because a lot of them were involved with the program and wanted to be there and so he was like great! I will go. Well turns out the hike took a lot longer than they expected and at 4:30pm they hadn't even left the place yet and it was 2 hours away . . . we got super frustrated just because we wish our members would've been more conscious of time and everything to get Casmier to his baptism and support him and things . . . but anyway we made a bunch of calls to tell people it was cancelled and try to figure out when we would reschedule. We went to dinner with some of the elders and then we weekly planned. One of our members called us to apologize about everything. He felt really really bad. 

Sister Rasmussen and Sister Riggs trying on some members' funny mustaches

Sunday we had studies and then ward council. Ward council was definitely super awkward.. people were just really upset with one another about everything that happened on Saturday. I started feeling really bad for the people involved in the hike because they already felt super bad about everything and then they just kept getting hounded with more guilt in ward council.. :( Church was good besides that. Casmier, Jackie, and Arthur came! Everyone was super nice and welcoming to all of them. We had MoBat after and then we had a mission president's fireside just for YSA! We sang in the choir which was fun. Sister Riggs sang a song called "Walk With Me" and her voice + Elder Wallentine's piano skills + this guy who played the viola = an amazingly beautiful song! Ah, I didn't want it to end. Casmier, Jackie, and Arthur also came to the fireside :) yay! We said bye to some elders that are leaving next week! One of our assistants is leaving which is crazy because he has been the assistant since I got here! He is an awesome missionary and I am grateful for everything he's done for all of us! 

Monday was a full day. We had studies and then a lesson with Laurel about the restoration. It went well but was definitely interesting.. We then had a lesson with Arthur and it was a good lesson because he just laid everything on the table for us! We finally got him to just tell us how he's feeling and what he's thinking. He decided he really does want to be baptized and he want so work towards it so we set him with a new date, May 18. Wahoo! We ate lunch and then tried contacting some people. We had a referral for a Hmong girl who they said she was like ready to be baptized, she just doesn't have any missionaries and we were like sweet! Then we showed up and she speaks like hardly any English and said she didn't want to learn more.. so we were super confused. We had a lesson with David about putting on the armor of God. He was in some pain because apparently one of the senior couples went with all of them on the hike and got heatstroke or something and David carried the sister all the way back down the mountain! He is the nicest! We had dinner with a member after and it was delicious and then we had a lesson with Raquel about the priesthood! She said she is going to wait to tell her father until she moves back home, which is in June. She told us this is what she really wants though so she will tell her father and she will get baptized.. she just wants to make sure everything is okay with her father because he just always wanted her to be his little jewish girl.. I can't imagine how hard that would be. 

And that was my week! Pretty eventful. At least it seemed like to me.. haha maybe it won't for you when you read it. I also had some really great studies this week as well! I am in the middle of Alma. I love Alma so much! Alma 33 is one of my new favorites . . . verse 11 says, "And thou didst hear me because of mine afflictions and my^asincerity; and it is because of thy Son that thou hast been thus merciful unto me, therefore I will cry unto thee in all mine^bafflictions, for in thee is my joy; for thou hast turned thy judgments away from me, ^cbecause of thy Son."  He is always listening, never judging. And because of the Savior that is even possible! Ahhh I just love the Book of Mormon so much. I hope you all have a wonderful week! 

I love you all so much!!

Love,

Sister Cassie Rasmussen

April 16th Letter

Dear Family,

WOOOOOWWWWWWWW. Big news last week! 

Here are the highlights for the week . . .

Tuesday night we had a lesson with Casmier about the gospel. What's cool is that he told us that he went to the MoBat today and we hadn't even told him about it! He really enjoyed it. 

Wednesday we ran to the MoBat real quick to grab something before we went out to teach and Sister Rockwell told me she met my uncle and I was like what?? And she said "yeah he is in a meeting in the theater. Go peek your head in!" I had no idea who she was talking about and I didn't want to interrupt the meeting but I really wanted to see and so I did and it was Uncle John!!! It was SOOOO  good to see him! It's been 3.5 years since I have seen him so it made me really happy. We chatted for a minute and then I had to leave. He told me he was meeting up with Nate to go surfing.. haha of course. We had lunch with Carli at her beautiful house. She is just the sweetest and she is going to be such an amazing missionary! She is almost down to a month before she leaves. I remember what that was like! Almost a year ago.. crazyyyyy. We had a lesson with Arthur and read Alma 24 with him about burying his 'weapons' or his sins. We had a member come and it was so great! He was super good with Arthur and got him to open up more than usual. 

Thursday was awesome! We had mission tour which means a general authority came to instruct us! We had Elder Whiting. He gave the Temple Standard talk last oct general conference. It was SOOO good. He talked a lot about desire and what we truly desire and how that will lead us to what we achieve. He said that desire precedes obedience which precedes faith which precedes miracles. Something else that I love that he said was that sometimes the way we label ourselves makes us deny the atonement. So true! I just loved every minute of it. He also knows the Goo's haha of course. He lived in Hawaii forever. We took zone pictures with him and then all had lunch together. It was fun! We also all shook his hand. Next was MoBat  I took this guy who was from Canada and he started asking me how we run the place if it doesn't cost anything and that led into a gospel discussion which led into him wanting to learn more and asked if I would send the missionaries to his house! So sweet. 

Friday was another great day! We had the temple which we haven't had for a while. We met this awesome chinese girl named Yuyu. She is so open and prepared and so sweet! The elders in our district are teaching her now. I talked to some really great people. One guy just kept asking how he could get inside! We had district meeting which was great. We talked about working with members and gaining their trust. After we had dinner with Elder Sims, Paxman, Poulson, and Kirchhoefer. It was the last time we would see Elder Kirchhoefer because he is going home a little early to see his family in Germany before he starts school at BYU for the spring. We dropped some muffins off at Gleb's house and then we were supposed to have a lesson with Casmier but he cancelled so we decided to visit two potentials who live pretty close and to talk to everyone in between, so we did! The potentials weren't home and everyone we talked to didn't want to learn more sadly, but it was a great practice for street contacting since we haven't in a while. Next we had a lesson with Jackie & Rachell. We had planned to teach the law of Chastity but we ended up just answering some questions and seeing how they were feeling about everything. Jackie was talking about how she is praying for an answer but she still hasnt' gotten one. We read Alma 32:28 with them and then Sister Riggs had Jackie read it again replacing seed with faith. When she started reading it wasn't really fitting together too well, but what was cool is that when she was done reading she said, 'oh my gosh. I feel something in my chest!' And then she just started crying!! Then she said, 'This is my answer! I want to be baptized!' Ahhhhhh!! SOOO COOOL!! It was awesome. I love being able to be apart of someone receiving answers and feeling the Spirit. We set a date for April 27. Miracle!! Rachell said she's not ready yet and that she doesn't want to just do it because her sister is. 

Saturday we had coordination and then David Yang took us to lunch. It was delicious! We were supposed to have a lesson with Casmier, but he wasn't back yet. He went out of town this weekend. Next was MoBat. I had a really cool experience with these four gals from Maine. They just wandered in and said they didn't have time for a tour so I offered to show them the artifact room and they said yes so we headed back there and then I felt like I should ask if they knew anything about Mormons and one of the girls said no, but we've always wanted to know! Could you tell us?? That went into a 45 minute discussion about the gospel. I taught them the Restoration, I answered questions they had, and it was just awesome! They told me it was very informative and wonderful experience and that everything made total sense. Right then I was going to be like, well, if you want to learn more I can send missionaries to you, but then I felt like I shouldn't which was weird, but then they started telling me how they know some Mormons but were always afraid to ask and also that missionaries knock on their door all the time but they never talk to them and so I made them promise me they would talk to them the next time they knocked and they said, "oh yes of course we will now!" So I guess they just needed to have a good experience with Mormons. I hope I was able to plant that seed. 

Sunday happy birthday to Ry Ry!! Little cutie. We had a new Sunday schedule today so we studied and then went to ward council for once! Woot! Church was great! Arthur didn't come though so we'll have to push his baptism back :( but they announced Casmier's baptism in church and everyone talked to him after about how they were so excited for him! Everyone has been super nice and welcoming to him. It's awesome! Rachell and Jackie came to church as well. Jackie decided to push her date back because her parents want to be able to come and she wants them there because they are less-active and she hopes this will help them have that spark back in them. After church we had a lesson with Casmier and Ricky came. Then after we had dinner with Jason and he invited Casmier to come, so that was fun! We had MoBat after.

Monday we had MoBat in the morning and then we were supposed to have a lesson with Arthur but he wasn't there. Then we had a lesson with Casmier. Two of our members came, Linda and Tyler. We taught the Word of Wisdom and then law of chastity and it was kind of crazy because his nephews were running around all crazy and then his sister sat in on some of the lesson which was great but she had all these questions . . . but it ended up well and Casmier committed to living them. We had dinner with the Tervort's after. It was delicious! Brother Tervort is in our bishopric and they are both just so kind and giving. We had a lesson with Raquel after about missionary work and service and Taylor came. Next we had a lesson with Jackie & Rachell about the law of chastity which we were a little nervous for . . . but it ended up the complete opposite then we expected. Jackie told us some personal stuff and how she is so grateful for the law of chastity and how she knows we have it for a reason. Rachell was a little skeptical about it because she has a serious boyfriend who she'll probably marry, but we just tried to help her understand why God has given us this law. I love both of those girls so much. 

I'll leave you with a quote from President Uchtdorf, "Explain to Heavenly Father what you are feeling. acknowledge short comings. Let Him know of the trials you are facing. Plead with Him in Christ's name for strength and support. Ask that your ears may be opened, that you may hear His voice. Ask that your eyes may be opened, that you may see His light." I LOVE that. With Jesus Christ, darkness cannot succeed. 

I love you all so much! I hope you have a wonderful week :)

Love,

Sister Cassie Rasmussen

April 9th Letter

Dear Family,

Wow. Wasn't conference amazing!?!? I just love conference SO much. I hope that you all had a great week! Here are my highlights . . .

Tuesday we played sports at Mission Bay with our zone. It was one of our zone leaders last prep days because he is going home a little early for school. We then had MoBat that night. 

Wednesday we had MoBat in the morning and then we found out that we needed to move apartments! We got a new sister last Tuesday. They had her scheduled in the MTC for 6 weeks but then realized she already spoke Spanish fluently so she came part way through the transfer. She was put in a trio with two other sisters which is why we had to move apartments because our apartment was set up for a trio. We were sad because we love our apartment and I loved sleeping in my cage (the top bunk) haha but our new apartment is great and coming along. We had a lesson with Casmier about the first half of the plan of salvation. Next a member took us to dinner at Panera Bread and it was super good! Then we had a lesson with David who is still rock solid. Then we stopped by a members and she is super overwhelmed with a new job and we just let her know that Heavenly Father loves her and I think she really needed to hear that. After planning we hurried and packed and moved all our stuff. Our new apartment looked like a tornado had gone through it, haha.

Thursday we had training and it was really cool. We got in groups and each had a room of the tour and thought of how to relate that part of the story to our lives. It ended up being a way cool experience! We also talked about serving each other and picked secret sisters. I felt like I was at girls camp, haha but I am excited to do it. Next we had interviews with President Clayton. Mine was good and super short. President said some really nice things to me that I needed to hear. We had a lesson with Arthur after and he brought his friend. We taught a brief version of the Restoration and his friend said he felt super enlightened and that he even thought the sun got brighter as we were talking, so that was cool! His friend said he wants to learn more and asked for a Book of Mormon. His friend is not in our area, but we are excited for the missionaries who get to teach him because he is super solid! We had a lesson with Raquel next about the temple and eternal marriage. She said she is going home this weekend and she'll try talking to her dad. We talked with Brother Mckay about doing booths on campus and then had MoBat. Alexa Smith, who I used to hang out with in the summers when she was staying with the Reynolds, her family came through the MoBat! And we made that connection and that was fun. I also took a family on tour whose son knows Karsten! He played basketball with him. One of our members, Tyler, brought us dinner and we had a nice lesson with him and then we met with our new Relief Society president. 

Friday I thought of Jenna all day!! I hope her wedding was wonderful. I want pics :) We had zone meeting which is always good. Our zone leaders are the best. We had coordination and then MoBat.

Saturday, General Conference! I love, love that the main theme was about families and making the home a place of refuge. Thank you, Mom & Dad for making our home that way. The first session I was on shift at the MoBat so I only caught the first half. I loved when President Packer said "We are free to act, but not to choose our consequences." Which was cool because in zone meeting our zone leaders were talking about how it's our job to be obedient, not to pick the blessing that comes from that. I feel like too often we expect Heavenly Father to give us exactly what we want, instead of what we need. After we went to a barbecue at the institute and then we watched the second session. I really loved Elder Cook's talk about peace and Elder Bednar's talk. We tried stopping by Casmier's and a less-active but no one was home. We weekly planned and then organized our apartment.

Sunday morning session . . . wow!! President Uchtdorf's talk was soooo good. The gospel really is the light! I loved when he said "with Christ, darkness cannot succeed." So true!!! I loved Elder Andersen's about missionary work and how the badge can be painted on our hearts. I loved Elder Clayton's talk about relationships. I loooooved Elder Perry's bold and powerful talk! I loved President Monson's about obedience. Ahhh. In between sessions, the stake president and his wife fed all the missionaries in our stake. It was delicious! The second session I was working at the battalion. I was so happy to be able to see Elder Holland's talk though because I missed it last conf due to being on tour. I loved how it was about belief and I loved his powerful testimony at the end. I really liked when he said "what we know will always trump what we do not know." I also loved Elder Christofferson's about redemption. Basically I loved all the talks :) Conference makes me so happy! I can't wait for the Ensign to come out. After conference we met with Caitlin and then went and visited a potential named Gleb. We weren't able to add him yet, but we think next time we will. He is from Russia and he's just awesome! We had dinner with Hannah after and it was delicious. Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SOREN! And today was my one-year mark of going through the temple :) yay! 

Monday was great! We had a lesson with Arthur about his baptism. He still needs a little more time to prepare which is why it's good that it's at the end of the month. Then we had a lesson with Casmier about the 2nd half of the plan of salvation. He was just soaking it all up! We found out his mom died not too long ago so it was super comforting for him to hear all of this, because he had no idea where she was. Next was a lesson with Rachell. We talked to her about baptism and she said she just isn't ready yet to make the commitment because she loves tea and she just doesn't feel prepared. We tried to help her see that she is prepared and that by giving up tea she isn't missing out on anything. We committed her to really pray about if she needs to be baptized and if so, when. We had a conference call with Salt Lake and then MoBat. It was super slow tonight! Spring break is definitely over. I did talk with a lady who works with Adam though! That was cool.

Well that was my week! Full of miracles, full of happiness, and full of too much food! Haha. I love you all so much!! 

Love,

Sister Cassie Chea Rasmussen

April 2nd Letter

Dear Family,

I am SO EXCITED FOR CONFERENCE!!! Ah. I hope you all had a great week and Easter! Did the annual huge Easter egg hunt happen? Oh and I am sure you are already having a great week this week seeing as it is spring break. We are getting lots and lots here at the MoBat from Utah. I love it :) Here are the highlights for this week . . .

Wednesday MoBat was busy! Busy season is now until about Octoberish. Bring it on! This little kid had his birthday party at the MoBat, haha so cute. We had a lesson with a less-active about the Atonement. We are having a hard time getting her to open up to us. Next we had a lesson with Taryn and Sierra. They are sisters and they are so cute! They both are less-active, but Taryn told us that she really wants to become active and that she just has a hard time staying strong on her own so she wants to start meeting with us weekly. We had a lesson with Arthur about the law of chastity and he said that's a struggle for him, but he wants to live it and so he will! 

Cassie playing a video game? 

Thursday we had training and then MoBat. I took this tour of 37 people and 30 of them were children! Haha it was crazy. But on that tour there were these members from Russia! They were so awesome and adorable. One of the guys is a general authority! He's in the quorum of the 70 and is here for Easter. The cute Russian mom gave me this magnet as a gift because she loved the tour. We had district meeting and then district dinner. Then we stopped by LeRoy and Philip's with a member and they both said they were on their way out but that they want to meet up soon. We hope that happens! Cris was so nice to stop by with us. We shared a little message with him and found out about his story a little. He's the only member in his family! But he said the gospel has brought him so much happiness. So cool :) We went to Bishop Bostwick's and shared a message with him and his wife. It was nice to get to know them a little better. They are both converts! I had no idea. Bishop joined when he was 25 and Sister Bostwick when she was 19. I love that because it's right in the age group we work with every day! It just makes me think how we could be working with future bishops and relief society presidents.

Friday was a great day! First of all it's Chase's birthday so I was thinking about him and the Jespersons a lot and then in my studies I read Alma 11 and verse 44 meant a lot to me particularly today because of him. It talks about how our body's will be restored to a perfect frame and just how his body didn't look exactly the same because of the accident, but that when we get to see him again . . . it'll be perfect and be the Chase that we remember :) I love that. 

After studies we did service with some of our elders. We raked pine needles and pulled weeds, which brought back great memories of Saturday morning chores in the summer, haha. The couple we did service for was so nice and they gave us all Easter bags. Next we went to our members parent's home in Penasquitos. She lived in the nicest community and her house was so massive and beautiful! Mom would've loved their backyard. We had lunch with her and her mom and sisters. She is preparing to go on her mission in May and we are so excited for her! She is such a sweet girl and is going to be an amazing missionary. We had a lesson with Daniel and then had dinner and a lesson with two of our members. We then got to see Carlene again finally. She is still about the same, but said she'd really try to come to church.

Doing service with the elders

Saturday we helped one of our members, Brittany, move! She is moving into the cutest apartment. It was fun to help! We had Firehouse Subs for lunch :) and then we had a lesson with Arthur about the Word of Wisdom. He seemed in higher spirits so that was good. Next was MoBat! Sister Newman came to visit with her family! It was fun to see her. 

More service

Sunday Happy Easter! Sister Riggs made me this giant cookie shaped like a bunny. It was cute! We had MoBat and it was busy and then we had church which was wonderful and all about the atonement. Sister Riggs and Brittany sang in sacrament and they did amazing. We had a combined third hour and the bishop taught about the Atonement and it was so so good. Ah. I love the Atonement. There is always so much to learn about it. Arthur didn't come to church :( so we'll have to push his baptism date back. Casmier came to church though! And he had an awesome experience. We taught him a little after and actually invited him to be baptized on April 20th and he said yes!! :) wooo! We had some Easter time with Keri, her mom, and Rodney. She is so awesome and shares the gospel with her mom every day and always invites her to church and to read and we were able to have a great talk with her mom about the Atonement. Next, we had Easter dinner with the Bishop and his family. It was fun to be with a family on Easter. Next we went to see Hugh. We haven't seen him in a while because he switched to the mid-singles ward but that ward doesn't have missionaries. He is having a really rough time because everyone in this new ward always expects him to be someone he's not and then he feels bad. He is super clean cut and if you were to just look at him and talk with him, you would think he'd been a member his whole life. He has only been a member for like a year and a half though and he has an Alma the Younger story. So when people discover he's not this guy who has served a mission and gone to BYU or has his masters degree or knows everything about the gospel . . . they start treating him differently and it's really sad. So he's been a bit overwhelmed and so we are going to start meeting with him again and work with him on going to the temple. I am so grateful for Easter though. I am so grateful to know the Jesus Christ lives. I am so grateful for everything that is made possible because He lives. I couldn't help but think a lot about Rus today and just that all that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I love the Savior so much.

Monday I went on exchanges with Sister Pagel in Black Mountain! It's up North in Penasquitos. We had MoBat in the morning and guess who came through? The Crocketts! It was soo fun and good to see them and I got to take them on tour. I am so thankful they stopped by! Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!! I thought about you today. I love you! Thanks for being the best mom! After MoBat we went and taught this guy named Oliver and then tried contacting some people and then taught a girl named Paige. It was a cool lesson because the night before when we were planning we felt like we needed to talk with her about the Atonement and show her this Mormon Message and after she watched it she was told us that she really needed that and that she thought it was funny we chose to show her that today because of some situations that had been going on with her just that day. Then we had a lesson with Brian about the Restoration. We also played an April Fools' joke on everyone that Sister Miller got emergency transferred and I was Sister Pagel's new companion and I was a 19-year-old that she was training. It was funny because Sister Miller has been in Black Mountain for a really long time and so people were freaking out, haha. It was fun to be with Sister Pagel again though! It was also cool because it made me realize how much I love the people in La Jolla. Not that the people in Black Mountain weren't great, but because I just missed them all day! I love that Heavenly Father lets us love these people so easily. 

Well I have a challenge for all of you . . . think of a few questions to have for conference and then watch them be answered :) It's my favorite! 

I love you all so much!!

Love,

Sister Cassie Rasmussen