June 25th Letter

Dear Family,

Such a great week! And the worldwide leadership training??? SO SWEEEET!! Well, here are the highlights . . .

Wednesday we had zone meeting. It was great! After we had MoBat. I took someone on tour who knows Adam . . . and I can't remember his name, dang it . . . haha. I also saw my high school history teacher! Some of Rus's work friends were at the battalion fixing stuff. We had some good laughs tonight :)

Thursday was my one-year mark! What the what!! So there are 6 (Sis Riggs, Davies, Miller, Madsen, O'Neill, and me) of us here at the MoBat who went into the MTC on the same day and leave the same day, so we took some awesome pictures and sang "Happy Birthday" to ourselves, haha. I love them all so much and I am so glad that we get to serve our whole missions together!  We also reminisced about our first impressions of each other and how we were feeling this day last year. Ah . . . I can't believe it! I am sooooooo grateful that I chose to serve a mission and that Heavenly Father needed me here in San Diego and at the Mormon Battalion Historic Site. We had training this morning. It was my first one and it went well! After we had a lesson with Mary. She is so amazing! She said life since her baptism and receiving the Holy Ghost has just been unreal and that her perspective on everything is so much better. So cool! We then had a lesson with a referral, Arielle. She is open to learning, but right now is just trying to figure out if God is even real. We talked to her about how he's our Heavenly Father and about prayer and asked her to pray and ask if He is there. I know He will let her know! She brought her friend Gabriel who was quite the character. We had MoBat next.

Sisters celebrating at the Battalion

Friday we had MoBat and Sister O'Neill and I came up with some new ideas for training. After MoBat I went on exchanges with Sister Davies! I get to go on exchanges every week now because it is one of my responsibilities. I am really excited to be able to learn from all the sisters! It was so fun to be with Sister Davies again. She is such a powerhouse missionary! She is unreal at being lovingly bold. It's so cool! She came to my area with me. First we taught the Edgars and they were kinda arguing the whole lesson, but it was cool because Sister Davies said things to Ortega that he really needed to hear and it was so cool because she didn't even know the situation or anything, that's how in tune with the Spirit she is! We had a little more time then we planned until our next lesson and we didn't bring food so we stopped to get a California burrito and it actually took a lot longer then planned which means we were 30 minutes late to our next appointment and we were both freaking out because we felt so bad, but the minute we pulled up to his house (a less active by the way, named Nathan) he had just gotten home from work! It's cool how Heavenly Father works out the timing like that sometimes . . . because if we would've been on time, he wouldn't have been there and he doesn't have a phone so we probably would've just tried to go see some other people, but Nathan really needed us that night. Ahhh, I just love how the Lord micro-manages. Anyways, it was probably one of the top lessons of my mission. I think I told Nathan's story last week, how he was in a motorcross accident, so he really is like a teenager and you just have to keep his attention. We started off the lesson and then he was really hungry because he had just gotten off work and hadn't eaten so he asked if we could walk down the street to a Mexican shop so he could get a burrito and we were like sure we'll teach you along the way! And it turned out to be a really cool lesson and we were able to come up with analogys to help him see better why he needs to live every aspect of the gospel. Then at the Mexican shop he was just saying hi to everyone and giving them high fives so we were like Nathan next time you should give someone a mormon.org card, so we gave him one and then as he was buying his burrito he gave it to the cash register and was like "Hey, you should check out this website. It's for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and it's really awesome!" And the kid was like can I keep this? And Nathan was like heck yeah, that's yours! So we told him good job and then as we were walking back to his house we passed this bus stop and this old man was sitting on the bench and Nathan was like, give me a card! So we gave him one and he said hello to the old man and gave him the card and briefly told his story and how it was the gospel that got him through everything he went through and the man said thank you and then we kept walking and we were like pretty far from the bus stop when we heard someone yelling after us and it was the old man, so Nathan was like well we better go back so we turned around and when we got to the old man he said, "I just wanted to say thank you again. The world needs more good young people like you. Thank you, thank you." Ahhhh, it was like the sweetest thing! Nathan was like, "Dang, I feel like stud right now!" haha. When we got back to his house we talked about his potential and how we know his dreams were shattered, but instead of using worldly things to cover up his pain and heartache, he should use the Savior. It was really cool! We made a plan with him to work toward going to the temple to do baptisms :) We sang him "Did you Think to Pray" and the Spirit was so powerful and he said he was really happy. Such a cool lesson! The gospel changes peoples lives . . . not just nonmembers, but members too. 

Saturday we had coordination with Dan. He's awesome! Then we had a lesson with Kevin and Robert came. Robert like led the lesson and it was awesome! He's going to be such a powerful missionary someday! Kevin is still stoked for his baptism. We exchanged back and then Sister Lehmitz and I went to the MoBat. 

Sunday we had studies and then we went to a family ward because there was a YSA conference so our ward was cancelled for that and then we watched the worldwide leadership training which just got me so pumped! Not just because I am a missionary, but it got me so pumped to be able to be a member missionary the rest of my life!! ahhhh. I love it. I loved the stories that Elder Andersen and Nelson shared, and just everything that was said by everyone. And seeing all those missionaries singing in the choir was so sweet! We had MoBat next and my branch president from the MTC, President Gubler, and his wife came through! Sister Madsen, Riggs, and I were all on shift so we all took the tour and it was way sweet! So many flashbacks because it was this exact Sunday last year that was my first Sunday in the MTC and President Gubler helped me so much. It was so fun to see him!

Some yummy food for their party

  
Monday we had MoBat and then I had a meeting with Sister O'Neill and then one with the Seegmillers and then Sister Lehmitz and I did a night of organization and phone calls and we got some really great plans that we already started las night and I am really excited about it! 

Soo that was my week. It was wonderful :) This week I studied Elder Porter's talk from conference called, "Beautiful Mornings." Such a good talk! 

"Tribulation and difficult times may lie ahead, yet we too have cause for good cheer and rejoicing, for we live in the last dispensation, when God has restored His church and kingdom to the earth in preparation for the return of His son." 

"Every one of us, and our families, can be armed with the power of God as a defense if we will but remain true to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and let the Spirit be our guide." 

"If we humbly, quietly trust in the Lord, He will give us strength and guidance in every challenge we face." 

I know that's true without a doubt in my mind! 2 Nephi 22:2. God is my salvation and I will trust and not be afraid.

I love you all so much!

Love,

Sister Cassie Rasmussen

June 18th Letter

Dear Family,

Hellooooo!!! We went to the temple today and it was amazing! But that now means I don't have much time to email.. so sorry this probably won't be as detailed as it should be which is unfortunate because it was a craazyy week, but anyways... here it goes! 

Tuesday we played volleyball with our zone and with some members in the Helix ward and it was so fun! We then had a great lesson with David and then had Book of Mormon study group. After we went to the mission home to pick up new sisters. Sister Squire from American Fork, Ut stayed the night with us. She is so cute! Whoever gets to train her is a lucky one.

Wednesday was transfers. So because there was only one sister coming to the battalion and I was the only one training... I knew what was going to happen to me, or so I thought. President says, "Helix YSA ward, Sister Rasmussen please stand. Sister Rasmussen will be training Sister Lehmitz." Everyone kind of laughed because we all knew and then President said, "She already figured that out. What Sister Rasmussen doesn't know though is that she is going to be the new Training Sister Leader at the battalion." That took me COMPLETELY off guard.. remember last week how I was feeling inadequate about training? Well yeah then this happens and I feel 200 times more inadequate. BUT once again.. I am grateful for the promise that whom the Lord calls, He qualifies. I am also excited for this opportunity to learn how to follow the Spirit even better and to be able to work closely with Elder and Sister Seegmiller and to work with Sister O'Neill, my training sister companion. And to be able to serve all the sisters here at the battalion more. It definitely will be an adventure! Because I am training, I got to go to the whole mission transfer meeting which made me excited because they are the best! Everyone is so excited. After that I had a meeting with the Seegmillers and Sister O'Neill and we got the whole schedule for the next transfer made and started planning other things. We then had battalion shift and I showed my new companion around. 

Thursday we had district meeting and then a lesson with SAm and Edgar. I love them both so much! I then had mobat and guess who came!?!? Sister Stevens!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhh :) It made me soo soo soo happy! It's almost been a year since we were made companions. I love her a lot and I am so glad I got to see her! I met her mom and sister and took them on tour and we caught up and it was just so awesome. 

Sister Stevens dropped by for a visit

Friday was flag day! We had zone conference and it was soooooo good! We talked about making sure those we teach feel our love for them, because if they do, then they will more likely feel the Spirit and feel God's love for them. I received some sweet revelation for some of our investigators. I love that! We had mobat after and because of flag day we were having this big celebration program thing and so there were lots of people! 

Saturday we weekly planned and then had a lesson with David and Adrienne came. It was a powerful lesson! We helped David see that he does have a testimony and we told him that he is ready for baptism! We finally were able to figure out what really is going on and it's just that he is scared! He feels like baptism is such a big step and worthy goal and that after he gets baptized he wont' have something to work for, so we talked with him about the priesthood and temples and exaltation and how God always allows us to have something we can be working towards. He said he would pray about June 29. We coordination next. It was great! Dan is so awesome. I took 2 really awesome mandarin tours today at the mobat. 

Sunday happy father's day to the most amazing dad ever! I love you so much! Thank you for being the spiritual giant that you are :) I am constantly grateful for your example to me. We met with the Bishop before church and talked about our plan of action to help get the ward excited and more involved in missionary work. Sister Lehmitz was able to meet lots of people! After church we walked over to Nathan's house and he was just leaving so we said hello and tried to set up an appointment but he couldn't remember his work schedule so we said goodbye and decided to walk down the street and street contact, so we did! Then on our way back when we were passing Nathan's house, he pulled up again and said wherever he was going he didn't need to go until later and so we sat down with him and his brother and dad. He has an AMAZING story.. ahh. Their whole family is super into motor cross and about a year ago Nathan was doing an event that was going to determine whether he could go pro or not and he was in first place and then on his last race he crashed right on his head. They didn't think he would live, but he did! He was in a coma for a month and in the hospital for 4 months. He injured his right brain so his left side of his body was paralyzed and they told him he wouldn't walk again and told his parents he might not even talk again. Well now he walks and talks and can function almost completely normal! His dad talked about how grateful he was for the priesthood and it was just a cool lesson and cool to hear that story. It definitely strengthened my faith. We are going to convince Nathan to go on a mission! His little brother Seth is 14 and is also so awesome! We had mobat after that.

Monday we studied and then had a lesson wtih Alan. It was great! We contacted a referral after with Kassandra. His name is kevin and he's been through a lot! But he is super open and prepared. We were able to teach him the restoration and add him and commit him to be baptized at the end of July! It was an awesome lesson and a miracle. After I had a meeting with Sister O'Neill and the Seegmillers. I found out that President wasn't planning on changing the training sister leader after transfer planning, but a few days before transfers, he felt like I needed to be it. That was very humbling to hear. I am excited for this time to learn! 

My new companion is a straight up saint, ha. She is awesome! She's from Wyoming. She's like a little kid though. You know how when people want to be doctors and they are so excited about it and they just want to get in and start right away? But what they don't realize is that they have to take all these classes to prepare for it? That's kind of like how she is. She is super awesome at being a missionary and talking to people and bringing the spirit, but what's hard for her is that we have to plan.. and we have to call people to make appointments happen.. and we have to be efficient in our timing.. and just like the technicalities of missionary work.. so that's probably going to be the hardest part, but it will be great and I am glad the LOrd can help me and I am glad that I get to learn from Sister Lehmitz because she really just desires to follow the Savior and be the best missionary she can be.

I love you all soooooo much!! You are always in my prayers :) have a great week!

Love,

Sister Cassie Rasmussen

June 11th Letter

Dear Family,

Transfers again... what the!? Fastest six weeks of my life.... so the verdict is that I am staying in Helix and I will be training :/ I find out who I train tomorrow! Craaazzzzyyyy... Also Sister Crawford is going full proselyting and training!! She's going to do so great. I am grateful for the opportunity that I have had to be her companion. I can't believe we only got 6 weeks together. She is such a solid missionary!!! I am not going to lie.. I am super nervous to take over Helix because I have only been there for 6 weeks and it is a HUGE area... and I am nervous to train! Ahhhhhh... but you know the promise that those who are called the Lord helps them be qualified?? I really hope that promise comes true.. because I don't feel so qualified... BUT I have a lot of trust in the Lord, so I am just going to have to remember that I need to rely on Him through this all.. Anyways, haha that is the big news.. Even though I am nervous.. I am really excited!!! It will be an adventure :) 

Sister Crawford and Sister Rasmussen

Here are the highlights for the week...

Tuesday was my birthday and it was an awesome day! Some of the sisters and I went and had lunch at firehouse subs and then we just chilled in my apartment and talked and it was really fun! Then we had a barbecue at the battalion. The senior couples did it for all the sisters and it was a lot of fun! Then we had mobat. Such a good birthday! Thank you for everyone who helped make it special! 

Sister Rasmussen and Sister Davies on Cassie's birthday (June 4th)

Wednesday missionary boot camp started.. let me explain, hah. Every morning all of the mobat sisters exercise down at the square in Old Town because it has a track thing you can run around and grass and just a place where everyone can do what they want for exercise. Well every morning I just run around the track for all of exercise which has been great, but I feel like it's not really doing anything so a couple months ago I emailed brock for some work outs that I could do within 20-25 min and without any equipment and he emailed me an awesome list and so I told one of the sisters and she was like I want to join and I was like okay well the day after my birthday we'll start missionary boot camp.. just kind of saying that as a joke, but then all the sisters started asking me about it and so we really did start boot camp! Almost all the sisters joined in and it's so fun every morning!! Haha I have a whiteboard that I write the work out on and then everyone can do it at their own pace. It's great! So thanks Brocko! You got about 18 sisters doing cross fit! Haha. And we have all been sore all week. It's awesome! We had mobat this morning and then Juan. He is having a really hard time. He's made some mistakes since baptism and he's really upset with himself. He also doesn't have a lot of self worth and he wears earrings and someone at church made a not nice comment about his earrings and so that was really hard for him. I feel so bad! People who join the church really have to make such a big adjustment and change just to everything about life! I just think it's important that after people get baptized that we don't just expect them to be perfect and to know everything, but to love them and help them along the way and when their heart is changed even more, then the 'outside' stuff won't matter to them anymore. I don't know if that made sense.. but anyways. Next we had dinner with Edgar. He does so much for other people and asks for absolutely nothing in return. Mary had her baptismal interview! She passed :) We had a lesson with David about faith. Faith=trust in the Lord. Faith in Him helps us access His power. 

Thursday we had training and then district meeting and district lunch and then weekly planning and then mobat! I took a lady on tour with 13 children!! And they were all so well behaved. It was so sweet! Arthur came to the battalion and guess what?? His mom is getting baptized!!!!! How cool is that?? I am so excited for them!!! 

Friday we had mobat and I took some people on tour who work with Rus and they love him. After we went and practiced a song with Neil for the baptism and then we went to Jamul! Jamul is like the back country/redneck part of San Diego... hahaha it was awesome!!! We went to the Bishop's house and had dinner with his family and they gave us lots of things from their garden! Yummmmmy! 

Saturday we had temple and there were a lot of weddings! It was great! One was a girl from La Jolla so I got to see lots of people :) We gots delicious BJ's after and then we headed to Mary's baptism!! We set up and took pictures. It was so cute when she walked in because she squealed and then she gave me a hug and she said, "I don't usually squeal, but I am just so excited!" It totally reminded me of Mosiah 18:11 when the people clap their hands and are so excited to be baptized because it was the true desire of their hearts. The baptism went wonderfully and the Spirit was so strong. The speakers did superb! Sister Crawford and I sang a song called, "He Loves Me," which is one of my favorites. Her testimony was so sweet. She has such a willing heart. We had a lesson wtih Robert after about Pres. Uchtdorf's talk from priesthood called, "Four Titles" Such a sweet talk! 

Mary's baptism

Sunday we had ward council and church. Mary got confirmed and received the Holy Ghost! We taught gospel principles today and it was quite the experience because no one talked.... Haha everytime we asked a question or for an experience it was like crickets chirping every time. It was a good experience though. After church we had mobat and it was super busy! I took a guy on tour whose mission president was Uncle John and Aunt Diana!! Elder Ryan Clawson I believe. We went to the mission president's fireside. I love those! They always pump me up. This wife and husband spoke who are recent converts and wooooow... their story was incredible!!! I saw some Sadlier cousins! Their daughter Sarah, everyone thinks we look alike and she even told me that someone from my Chula ward told her that she looked like a sister missionary that served in their ward and when they asked who they said Sister Rasmussen and Sarah was like that's my cousin! Haha crazy. 

Monday we had mobat and it was pretty busy. I took this couple from Belgium who love the Mormon Battalion and followed their whole trail! They weren't even mormon. So cool! We tried contacting a few people and then had a lesson with the Edgars. We finally got to see Ortega! He's been MIA lately. We had a good lesson with them about agency. We also street contacted this 16 year old named Encino. He's going to be Mormon someday! We went to fhe and a lot of our less actives were there, it was awesome! Then we had a lesson with Alan C at the mobat. We talked about having hope for the future. He is a good guy! He just needs to change his priorities a little. There was a HUGE massive black spider on our ceiling after planning and both of us are scared of spiders so we were freaking out and called Sister Pagel to come kill it because she's not scared of spiders, haha. She's so nice. It just reminded me of all the times I had to call mom or Brock to come kill a spider for me. 

Among my studying this week I studied Elder Perry's talk from conference. I loooove it! "Satan has many reasons for doing what he does. Perhaps the most powerful is the motive of revenge, but he also wants to make men and women miserable like he is miserable.... Each choice you and I make is a test of our agency... Sin will always be sin. Disobedience to the Lord's commandments will always deprive us of His blessings. The world changes constantly and dramatically, but God, His commandments, and promised blessings do not change." I think I've learned the real importance of obedience on my mission. Obedience really is important and brings us a better state of mind, because we know if we are living how we should.. then everything is going to be okay! Sure challenges will still arise, and we'll still have to go through trials, BUT we can face those trials with more confidence and trust in the Lord and know that it is just an opportunity to grow and understand the Atonment better. 

Anyways.. sorry if this email is scattered... my brain is scattered.. hah it always is at transfers. I hope you all have a wonderful week!!

I love you so much!!

Love,

Sister Cassie Rasmussen

PS I got Rus and Marin's announcement. So cute!!!! 

June 4th Letter! Happy Birthday, Sister Rasmussen!

Dear Family,

Thank you, thank you for all the birthday wishes and love :) You are all wonderful!! It's been such an awesome day so far! Here are the highlights from the week...

Tuesday night we had a lesson with David about service and Josh, a recent convert, came and he said the perfect things. Seriously our members are rocking it lately! Next was a lesson with Michael. We taught him the restoration and he just soaked it all up! Robert and Hailey came. His prayer at the end was so awesome! I am so grateful that we get to teach him.

Wednesday we studied and then had district meeting and then had a lesson with Mary about the priesthood. She is so excited to get baptized! We started weekly planning and then had mobat. I worked on some projects for the seegmillers.

Thursday we had training and went over short tours which was much needed. We temple and it was such a beautiful day!! We got to see a less active from our ward at the temple so that was cool. It was basically an answer to our prayers because we had lost her number and were trying to find it and instead of finding the paper, Heavenly Father just sent her to us to get it again! I met one of Spencer's friends. Jack Demooney or something? Anyways, he is super nice!! He was there with his family and he gave us money for lunch, so nice! After temple we met with Juan and talked about the priesthood. Juan is awesome. Next we had a lesson with Edgar Felix and read 1 Nephi 17 with him about building the ship and it was cool because that is exactly what he needed and last night we both had felt like we should read that story with him. Next we met with Adrienne and did some practices with her. Then we got a California burrito at Saritas and it was SOOOOOO good!! Wow. One of the best I've had. We were supposed to have a lesson with Nathan Duckett but he didn't show up so a member came contacting with us. We street contacted this guy named tow truck dave. Ha he was sweet! We finished weekly planning.

Friday we studied and then had a lesson with Sam about temples. He is so excited to go and do baptisms! We had a lesson with Mary next about temples as well and Emily came. Mary loves Emily! It was perfect. Mary really loved learning about temples and eternal marriage. We had a lesson with Alan Klos next about the atonement, particularly about forgiveness. He also needed that. I love how Heavenly Father knows exactly what all these wonderful people need and He lets us know through the Spirit. It's so cool! Mobat was next. Uncle Mark Jesperson, his friend Larry, Jenny, Mitch, Soren, Isaac, Eric, and Mckenna came in today! I got to give them a tour and it was super fun to see them! The twins are sooo cute! A bunch of La Jolla people came to the mobat so it was fun to see them! 

Saturday we had mobat and then we had coordination with our new ward mission leader, Dan. He is so awesome! He has such great ideas and just really wants to get the work moving in our ward! We had a lesson with David and Adrienne came. We just read with him in the Book of Mormon to help him understand better. Next we had a lesson with Alan Carson about repentance. Oh and I saw one of my friend's brother! 

Sunday we studied and then had ward council and then church! People were really great at telling Mary how excited they were for her to get baptized. We had break the fast after church and it was delicious! And the ward sang happy birthday to me, which was nice of them. We contacted and then had a lesson with Edgar and Sam about sacrifice and faith and how they are the pioneers in their families. We had mobat after.

Monday what a day! We had studies and then mobat and I went on a few tours and then Sister Woolstenhulme asked me to go look for her husband so I was walking out the front to go to gold panning and I see Paige around the corner and I was like what the... and then I see Karsten, Abby, Cacia, and Eden and they all ran towards me and screamed and gave me a huge hug and it was glorious :) I LOVED seeing them.. ahhh! We chatted and laughed and they caught me up with some things and then I took them on tour and they loved it and then we got to chat in gold panning and took pictures and then they were off! I was really grateful for that tender mercy that Heavenly Father gave me :) After mobat we had a lesson with Sam and we read in the Book of Mormon with him and then we contacted a lot! We saw a former, Rogelio and then we were able to add another former, Erica. She is so great! We talked with her about prayer and trust in God. and she is just open and ready!! 

With reading the conference ensign I have discovered one of my most favorite talks! 'For Peace at Home' by Elder Scott. I LOOOOVE it! One of my favorite quotes is at the end he says, "In response to our sincere prayers for guidance, He will direct us in what should be emphasized at each phase of our life. We can learn, grow, and become like Him one consistent step at a time." We can!! I am learning that so much on my mission, and that's all I want to do, is become like Him. He has provided us with all the tools and resources to do so :)

It was a great week! I can't believe I am 22... weird! Haha. I love you all soooooo much!! Oh and congrats to Jorgen and Maxwell for graduating!! Woooohoooo!!!

Love,

Sister Cassie Chea Rasmussen