July 16th Letter

Dear Family,

Life is busy and crazy and nuts and I LOVE IT. Here are the highlights...

Tuesday we went on the trolley tour. It was my first time ever! It was super fun! We get to go for free since we work at the battalion :) We had mobat tonight and I saw this family that I took on tour last summer that knows Ric and Tami so that was fun. I also saw a friend from high school! 

Trolley tour

Wednesday I found out I have bronchitis.. wooooohoooo! Second time on the mish.. haha it's an adventure. We picked up one of our members, Kassandra, to come teaching with us. We first had a lesson with our investigator Ericka and we taught her the restoration. It was a powerful lesson! Kassandra is such a natural teacher and she was able to connect with Ericka so well. It was wonderful! Next we tried to see Kevin but he wasn't home. We street contacted this awesome lady though and she only spoke spanish and so Kassandra was able to talk to her and get her information so we could send the spanish missionaries to her! She also crocheted a hat out of plastic bags! She showed us and it was so cool. We had mobat next and I had a meeting with Sister O'Neill and the Seegmillers. I love those meetings. 

Thursday we had training. We had a powerful discussion about seeking correction from God and then Elder Seegmiller showed us this AWESOME video about the armor of God.. I think it's an old seminary video or something, but it was awesome and so funny. We had mobat this morning and then I was on exchanges with Sister Mulipola so she came to my area with me. She is so cute! We taught Kassandra first about repentance. I love Kassandra! Next we tried stopping by a referral, but she wasn't home. Then it was to the Edgars. We knocked on the door and no one answered, but it was like halfway open so I peeked my head in and Edgar was sleeping so we yelled his name until he woke up, haha and then we had an awesome lesson about making his foundation stronger. I think I say this every time, but he has the biggest heart. Today is 7/11 day so we stopped by 7/11 and got a free slurpee :) We then taught Alan Klos about God's will and showed him my favorite mormon message, the will of God by Elder Christofferson. It was cool because he ended up telling us that his dream of being in the military isn't going to come true anymore and that he's been having a hard time with it, but this helped him see that God intends him to be something else and that he needs to just trust. We went back to the mobat to teach Issac. We finally got to see him again! We taught him the plan of salvation and showed up God's Plan at the end and he teared up and said that really touched his heart and he really wants to learn more and become a better person. He even prayed at the end! Last time he wouldn't.. but this time the Spirit helped him know he could do it! We then ended our exchange. I love Sister Mulipola! She is from samoa. She is the happiest human being and she literally just radiates God's light. She is so good at helping those we teach to feel important and know that God loves them and that we love them. I learned a lot from her! 

7/11 day with Sister Mulipola

Friday happy birthday Mason! I love that little guy. This kid came in the mobat who looked a lot like him and it freaked me out! Haha and made me want to squeeze him! We studied and then we all surprised Sister Affleck and sang her happy birthday because it was her birthday yesterday and we didn't get to see her so I think that meant a lot to her. We had zone meeting. Zone meeting is to share with the other missionaries what we learned in mission leadership council and it was cool because I knew what they were going to talk about this time since I got to go to that meeting, but they taught it in such a creative way! I learned even more! We had mobat and then went to the mission office and then had a lesson with Mary about the plan of salvation and then we had a lesson with Kevin about obedience, praying, and studying the scriptures. He is so excited to get baptized still! It's awesome! He was telling us about everyone he's invited to his baptism. He hasn't smoked since our last lesson, which is awesome! We weekly planned.

Saturday we got full studies and then had coordination. Dan is awesome. We thought of some new ideas to help our ward missionaries fulfill their calling! We had a lesson with David Payne after! He wants to learn again :) It made us so happy. He wants to learn about family history and his really excited to get involved with that. He also brought us this stuff called mango water ice and it was so good! He then came with us to contact a referral which was awesome! Haha but unfortunately the referral wasn't home. I love that he wanted to come though. We had mobat and I took this huge tour with Sister Amendola and these two guys on it were leaving right after and I felt like I should go after them and talk to them so I did. They are both in the Navy and are stationed here in San Diego and they are awesome! We ended up talking for about 25 min about the gospel and I invited them to church and got their info and they said they would come! They are definitely going to be mormon someday. They were so cool. I also took Natalie Carlson's brother and his family on tour. It was an eventful night! 

Sunday we had ward council and church. Kevin didn't come which was sad because now we have to move his date back :( his car broke down on the way or something.. but it's okay everything happens for a reason! Church was really good and we had a meeting after with our EQP and ward mission leader and we are excited about some new things we are going to try in our ward! We then went back and finished weekly planning and then we had mobat. Sister Patterson and I took a really fun tour and had a cool conversation about how missions really do help heal and help us understand the Atonement so much better. It was cool. I love her.

Bowling!

Monday we studied and then I went to the doctor to get some blood tests.. nothing serious, but the reason I am telling you is because it was actually pretty funny. I almost passed out, but I didn't! But the funny part was that I did get really light headed and woosy and so then I got really loopy and I was saying the weirdest things and my companion was out in the lobby and she said that I was talking really loud and they could all hear me in the lobby and I was asking the lady to tell me some stories and if she believed in God.. but really loudly... haha oh my goodness.. I am glad to know that I am still being a missionary even if I am loopy and don't really know what's going on. Once I came back to myself.. they let me go haha and we went and had a fun lesson wtih Sam about the Plan of Salvation and made him go through an obstacle course. Next we stopped by Nathan's for a minute to make sure everything was okay and set up an appointment and say a prayer with him and then we had a lesson with Shawn. Shawn is so cool! He is having a really rough time right now with outside influences and it's crushing his faith a little, but we know he's strong and we helped he be able to see that, and how God is the one who is going to help him through this. We had mobat next and it was great! 

I am still studying the fourth missionary, very in depth. I will share a part with you. "Your heart and your will is all that you have to give that the Lord does not already have. If you give your time, and your strength, you give only that which He grants to you with each beat of your heart and each breath that you draw. If you dedicate your gifts and talents, you only return to Him what He already has given to you. If you pay tithing you only return to Him a tenth of what he has already given to you. Everything that you have to give to the Lord, has its origin in Him, except one thing: your will. He does not have your heart, nor your mind, unless you give them to Him. It is the only gift you have to offer that He does not already have. And so when you give yourself, you truly give everything to Him." It reminded me of Grandpa's letter that Aunt Diana and Uncle John sent out a while ago. Our hearts and minds are powerful and it really is the only thing that God doesn't have, and all I want is for Him to have mine. So that's what I am working on :) 

I hope you have the best week! I love you!

Love,

Sister Cassie Rasmussen