October 16th Letter

 Dear Family,

 Hello! First of all, parents going to Hawaii!? You lucky ducks! Second of all, Happy birthday to Eden last Wednesday and Makai on Sunday!! And to Celia Jane this coming Sunday. All my kiddies are growing up! So here are the highlights . . . Tuesday night I was assigned to take one of the new incoming sisters out to my area. We picked all the new MoBat sisters up at the mission president's home and then we split up! Sister Jarrett came with me. She is from Nevada! She is awesome. We went and taught a less-active and it was a really great lesson! It was fun to get to know Sister Jarrett.

Sister Rasmussen and Sister Davies

Wednesday I thought about Eden and hoped she had a wonderful, beautiful day! In the morning was transfers! All of the piano players have now left because Sister Stevens was the last good one and so guess who has to play the piano now?? Me . . . haha I got to start practicing again. Transfers were great! President talked about how every transfer should be a new beginning and a time to try harder to be better. I love motivational talks! My new companion is Sister Davies! She is awesome. She is from Alpine, Utah and we actually came out together! I love learning from people and she is great so I have much more to learn from her! It's weird taking over the area . . . haha I am surprised with how well I remember how to get around, that is definitely because of the Lord's help. Sister Stevens told me that would happen :) She is so wise, haha I miss her. We spent Wednesday morning getting all organized and tried to visit a few potentials. MoBat has been crazy busy this week because of Arizona and Utah fall breaks. I took this huge family on tour from Arizona and there were 5 brothers and all their kids and they all live really close to each other in Arizona, haha it reminded me of our family! I loved it!  Thursday was my first chilly day in San Diego! A whole 65 degrees.. haha. It rained too though! It was awesome! We tried to go visit a former and actually ended up talking to his son who is in his late 20s and in the navy. He is married andh is wife is also in the navy and they have a little 2 year old son. We talked to him about the gospel and the priesthood and how it could really bless his family and his son and bring them closer together and he wanted to learn more! So we have an appointment with him this week. I love when people want to learn more :) He just had this light in his eyes and I really hope his heart will be open and he'll desire to progress! We had dinner with a member tonight and she made us delicious mexican! Her little boy Christian who is 5 is the funniest little kid! He could talk for days I am sure. We practiced teaching the restoration with them. Next we visited Sister Scott, a recent convert who moved into our ward, she is soo amazing! She said before she got baptized she was called a dry mormon because she basically lived how mormons do, she just didn't know about the church. I love that! She is such a good member missionary.

Sister Rasmussen with the Fab Five (5 sisters came out in the mission at the same time)

Friday we had district meeting. We have a new district leader named Elder Wise. It's interesting how different district leaders are, haha. After we weekly planned and then had the MoBat. We got to clean the courthouse down at old town state park today. There were a ton of asians who kept asking to take their picture with us, haha it makes us feel cool, but we know it's because they just probably think we are crazy wearing those pioneer dresses. Tawny Christensen and her family came in! They are so awesome! It was fun to see them all and catch up with Curtis. I haven't seen him since he's been home. Sister Christensen said she emailed Mom some pics, so mom I hope you enjoyed that. Sister Kunz who went home last week already came back with her family so we got to see her again and in jeans! Haha it's weird seeing sisters in jeans after you've seen them in dresses and skirts every day! I can't wait for Sister Stevens to come back!

 Saturday we stopped by this guy's garage who Sister Stevens and I had initially contacted. He was finally there! We asked him if he'd been reading and he said he's read like half of the Book of Mormon. He was just getting ready to leave so we just talked for a minute and were able to get his number and make an appointment for this coming week. We then went to visit a former and wow. . . . that was one of the most interesting experiences I have had... he just did not make sense with anything he said. He kept talking about how God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are all the same . . . and so I asked him to explain John 3:16... he just stumbled through some words and tried to change the subject and bring up something else that didn't make sense. Haha he just kept contradicting himself . . . He says he's Christian but then he told us that 'us mormons believe in a totally different God.' So that was weird... He was nice, just confused. He said he's happy where he's at though so hopefully sometime he will be ready to listen. We had a really great expectations lesson with Brandon today. We just asked his expectations in meeting with us and then told him ours. He really does have a desire to change and we got him to commit to another date! November 10. We told him he has to come to church if he wants that to happen though so he said he will come! We are praying for him. We also brought a kid from our ward with us. Also earlier this day we had an appt with Amy and we went and she wasn't there and then as we were walking back from Brandon's I saw her hiding from us so I purposely walked over to where she was and she was like why didn't you come earlier? And we were like we did . . . but then we set up another appointment so we hope she can realize what we have to offer can really help her! Because she is struggling with some things right now. We had dinner at a member's and it was delicious!

Sunday I thought about Kaisy (Makai) all day! I love that little munchkin. The MoBat was crazy today! Like summer busy. I took tour after tour and there were at least 25 people on each! It was awesome! I love when it is like that. We had dinner with members and then we tried to go see Amy again but she wasn't there. We got to talk to her sisters though! One of them was super into what we were saying but the other one just thought it was funny.. Next we stopped by Brandon's because he wasn't at church so we wanted to see what was up. He said he ended up going to his Dad's house. We decided to read with him in the Book of Mormon so that was great! We then contacted a former and he was so nice and awesome! His business partner is a member and he said he really respects him. We invited him to learn more and he was like 'you know, why not! We could all use a little more of Jesus Christ in our lives!' We were like you are right!

A vandalized car they saw in the street

Monday we had a full day in our area. Full day's are always so interesting. We spent the morning trying to contact potentials and formers. No one was home... Actually one lady who was home pretended she couldn't speak english when she saw who we were, haha we knew she did though because we could hear her talking before she answered the door. We were kind of at a loss because we had visited so many people and no one answered so we decided to go park our car and just walk around. We contacted quite a few people and out of all of them, one person wanted to learn more! Woohoo! His name is Fernando and he just moved here from Jamul. He was such an awesome guy! He just kept asking question after question and was really interested! So we are meeting with him later this week :) yay! Oh also funny story, this morning we were both talking about how we wanted to have one of those experiences where someone saw us and was like, "Missionaries! I've been waiting/looking for you!" And then today when we were walking around this guy came up to us and was like 'hey! I've been looking for you!!" And we got all excited and then he was like oh wait, not you! Hahaha. He thought we were part of a newscast. Boo. But it did make for a funny story! There were some insane car vandalizing in Chula. It was sad! I have a pic that I will hopefully send you. I just don't understand why people would do something like that... Next we ate and then tried contacting a few more people and then we had an appt with Brandon. Another guy in our ward came and it was about the Word of Wisdom. He is so great! We are going to meet with him more frequently now in hopes that that wil help. Next we had an appointment with this lady who just moved in our ward who is a less active and wants to come back to church. She has such a sad life... It was one of those situations where I was just thanking Heavenly Father for the family that I have. Seriously family, you are the best! And I love you all so much. Then we had dinner with some members. Her sister actually went to high school with me so that's cool! Their family was so cute! Then we visited a less active and helped her help her kids do homework. It was definitely a full day! Haha I was so ready for bed, but it was wonderful. I am continually grateful for how Heavenly Father gives me strength each day and blesses us with miracles.

Life is wonderful! I am just continually trying to learn and grow... each day I am so so so unbelievably grateful for the restored gospel. I printed and went over President Uchtdorf's talk from conference and Elder Holland's. Wow. There is something in each day to embrace and cherish. Also, Elder Holland's talk is just so powerful and makes me think if what I am doing really shows my love to the Lord. I hope it does! I always want it to, because I do love Him.

Thanks for all your love and support! I truly love you all so much!! Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Cassie Rasmussen

October 9th Letter

Dear Family,

Before my highlights I just have to say that I am always excited to write you each week, but ever since Saturday I have been particurlarly anxious to talk to you. THEY CHANGED THE MISSIONARY MINIMUM AGE!?!?!?! WHAT!? Haha did I not call that would happen as soon as I left???? That is SOOOO cool!! Even though it didn't affect me, I am so excited for all those other girls that can go when they are 19 if they want! And for the boys too. Does this mean Maxwell AND Jorgen will be gone before I come home?? If so, you better make a pit stop in California ;) So here are some highlights...

Tuesday we played zone sports for a LONG time. It was so fun! After we went and had dinner with our favorite part-member family. The dad is an investigator and we just love them so much! Right when we sat down to eat though, the little boy threw up EVERYWHERE... you all know I don't do well with throw up and to let you know.. that's still the same haha I was kinda freaking out slash felt so bad for the little guy. After we had dessert at a less-actives house. She just recently went through a bad divorce and is having a really hard time. We talked with her about families and how it is crucial at this time that she stays strong to God. I couldn't help but think of a particular someone and his amazing example of staying strong to God through hardship.

Wednesday we had a lesson with Melody. It went well! We invited her to pray about a baptism date and she said she is all for that. We also talked to her about how she really needs to come to church and she said she told her husband she really wants to do that so he is going to help make sure they don't schedule anything for Sunday so she can come. She really is so prepared and ready! Also this day I finally got to read Grandpa's letter and Uncle John's explanation of the letter. WOW. That is EXACTLY what I needed to hear. Grandpa is such an amazing man and missionary. Thank you Aunt Diana for typing that up and for Uncle John for explaining the situation and for mom and dad for forwarding it to me. I think Heavenly Father knew I needed that.

Sister Rasmussen and Sister Stevens

Thursday we had zone meeting which was great! Sister Stevens and I had to present a part of it, which was presentation skills. We learn all about presentation skills at the battalion and President wanted us to pass that on to all the missionaries to hopefully help them particularly with street contacting. MoBat was great. I met the cutest girl from Russia. I just feel so blessed to be able to meet all these wonderful people from all over the world!! Oh something so cool is we got an art display at the battalion! It will be here for a few months. The artist is Liz Lemon Swindle. Her work is AMAZING!! It seriously brings a whole other spirit to the battalion. You can feel it as soon as you walk in. If it ever comes to a visitor center in Utah you gots to go see it!

Friday Sister Stevens had departures so I was in a trio with Sister Ortez and Madsen. We were at the temple from 11:00 until 7:30! It was awesome. I love serving at the temple! At one point the cafeteria got so busy and they only have one lady who works there so they asked us to come help, so we got to work in the cafeteria for like 45 min, haha it was awesome! After the temple we went and had a lesson with a less active in Sister Ortez & Madsen's area. It was an awesome lesson about the sacrament and atonement and cool to see how other sisters taught.

Cassie with Jerry who reminds her of Kai

Saturday GENERAL CONFERENCE!!! I LOVE general conference sooooooo much! I came up with a few questions before conference and they were all answered in the Saturday morning session so that was COOL!! We watched the morning session at the battalion and all of us were freaking out about the age change. I loved all the talks but the ones that stood out to me in the morning session were Elder Christensen's about the Spirit, Elder Bowen's about looking forward with hope, and President Uchtdorf's.. oh my goodness his talk just spoke directly to my heart! He said everything I needed to hear. I love loved it! Especially when he said life is not a race, it's a journey and that we need to cherish the moments with those we love. We watched the second session at our stake center in Chula. Saturday afternoon Elder Perry and Ballard's talks stood out to me. I just loved how basically everything was centered on the family and how important families are! Because that is what Satan is trying to attack the most right now. We had MoBat shift this night.

Sunday we had MoBat shift in the morning so we took numbers and when people came in the next number had to take a tour and the other's could watch. I got taken out during Elder Holland's talk :( so i was a little sad about that, but I am excited to read it soon and I was very happy that I made it back in time for President Monson's talk, which was SO good!! The more we act the more the Lord will entrust us with His errand's. We went to Chula to watch the Sunday afternoon. Elder Hales, Elder Nash, Elder Clarke, and Elder Bednar stood out to me. Obviously all of them were amazing! But the ones that stood out to me just said things I needed to hear at this particular time. We stopped by a potentials after. She is struggling right now with finding a job and we talked with her about how the Lord can help her find a job and if she reads the Book of Mormon everyday, she will find strength in that. She said we could come back next week so we hope that she really takes to heart what we talked about. We had dinner at the House's. They are a family in our ward whom we love! Brother House is the ward mission leader and we are just really close with the whole family. It was a great dinner! We did a few more visits and then did some squeakret service :)

Monday we had MoBatt in the morning. I gave my last tour with Sister Stevens :( after we went to Chula and had dinner with our district and said goodbye and then we went back to the House's to get a picture and then we tried a few potentials. Next we went back to Old Town and did some organizational things so I wouldn't be too freaked out about taking over the area and then we had a farewell BBQ at the MoBat for the departing sisters. It was delicious and fun and so sweet to hear their testimonies. We went back to the apt and I helped Sister Stevens pack.

This morning she got ready, we did her last minute packing, and we took them to the airport. It is bittersweet... I am excited for her to see her family, but I am pretty sad right now because I am going to miss her A LOT. I know that whatever happens will be exactly what is going to happen and that things will be just great, but we have truly become best friends and I have learned so much from her. We had a lot of laughs and I just love her so much! She is an incredible missionary. I know we will be friends for life! And I am so grateful for all that she has done for me. She is on to new adventures and don't worry she is coming to visit you all so be excited :)

Also don't worry.. I wasn't bitter that the age changed after I left haha I know that I am here when I am for a reason :)

I love you all so much!!

Love,

Sister Cassie Chea Rasmussen

October 2nd Letter

Dear Family,

Can I just say how much I love you all? Because I do!! Thanks for being the best family ever :) Here are the highlights this week . . .

Getting a flu shot

Wednesday we had temple, but the temple has been closed for 2 weeks so we had a full day in our area instead. We had a trainer/trainee follow-up meeting and then we had to do some things at the mission office. This day our district blitzed our area. Which means that we gave them each a list of names and addresses in our area and in an hour and a half we tried to contact as many people as we could. It was cool! We got a couple good referrals. It was cool because two of the elders knocked on a door and the kid who answered said he needed to grab something and gave them a letter from his best friend who is serving a mission. His best friend is a member and the letter just said thank you for all that you do as missionaries and for knocking on this door. Keep up the good work! It was cool. We had an appointment with Dee today. He is such an awesome guy! But unfortunately it was our last lesson with him. He just isn't willing to pray about the Book of Mormon. He says he knows it's not true so he doesn't think there is a point in praying to ask if it is true. We hope that someday his heart will be softened because when it does, he will be a powerhouse! We had dinner with a part member family in our ward. They have a bird that looks just like Chico! And they have 2 other birds and this lady loves birds. She lets them fly all over her house and eat dinner out of her bowl at the table, haha it's awesome! We had another appointment with Brandon. He is still doing great, but we just got to get him to church.

Thursday we had training in the morning and then MTE's with a couple other zones and President and the assistants. It was all about street contacting which I definitely need to be better at! The assistants talked about this part and really helped me see how I need to street contact like Jesus Christ did. President talked about working with members and how vital it really is and how we should try to have lessons in members homes. Sister Stevens was going to be a coach for another companionship so I went on exchanges with Sister Riggs to El Cajon! Mom,  I was in your territory! What street did you live on?? The appointments Sister Riggs had set up fell through. We then went to try to visit a less active and I saw this lady sitting under a tree with her bike and she looked really sad. I told Sis. Riggs if the less-active wasn't home that we should go talk to the lady and she agreed. Well the guy wasn't home so we went over to the lady and asked how she was and she said not that great, pretty miserable actually. We asked if there was anything we could do and she said no then we asked a couple other questions and she gave us short answers so we just kinda looked at each other and told her we hope her day gets better and got in the car and drove away. We both felt bad because we couldn't help her. Sis. Riggs started asking what we do in a situation like that where they don't really respond to us.. I just started thinking about what we learned at MTE's and tried to see through Christ's eyes and what he would've done in that situation and so I said something like they may not want to talk and we may not be able to help them physically or temporally, but we can help them spiritually. We can tell her she is a daughter of God and that her Heavenly Father loves her and share something from the Book of Mormon and testify that the Savior knows what she is going through and just show her there is hope and that she is not alone. So Sis Riggs was like should we go back?? And I was like yeah sure why not! We felt a little awkward going back... but we both knew we needed to so we did. The first thing we said is we came back! And she just said why? We told her we felt bad leaving her when she felt miserable and then we told her how she is a daughter of God and that Heavenly Father loves her so much and she immediately began crying. We told her she is never alone and read from the Book of Mormon and invited her to church and gave her a hug. We asked if there was anything else we could do and she said we had already done enough and that she doesn't feel so alone and that she could get up. It was SO COOOL! After Sis Riggs and I just wanted to cry because we felt the love the Savior had for her. We contacted her as the Savior would. I think that's all that matters. Making sure we are trying out best to see through Christ's eyes. MoBat was good tonight.. I met some pretty incredible people. 

Sister Rasmussen with her zone at MTE's

Friday we had MTE's again which was equally as good! I just love the motivation that meetings like that give. Oh also I had my first flu shot ever! President really wanted us to get them so he gave them after MTE's. Sis Stevens and I were companions again and we went to our area and contacted some referrals, a couple who seem really interested so that is always exciting! Oh also I met this really cute girl from SLC and she was here on business and wanted to visit the MoBat . . . anyway I wish I would've gotten her info because she was so awesome and I just thought how her and Brandon would be great together, haha I'm still looking out for you Brandon. 

Saturday was the General Relief Society Broadcast. SOOOO GOOD!!! Oh my goodness. I loved it. It made me soo soo pumped for conference! It was all about the atonement and made me realize I need to center everything I teach and talk about around the atonement, that's what will touch people's hearts. 

Sunday we had a ward missionary meeting which was good! We got to meet all the ward missionaries. Church was wonderful, it was fast Sunday. MoBat was great! We had dinner with some families in our ward. Lots of fun! 

Yesterday was great! We contacted some potentials and then met with a less active. She is such a sweet lady! She has some amazing stories about her life and I think she is starting to recognize that God has her on this earth for a purpose! He has everyone here for a purpose, and I love that!! 

This is the last week of the transfer. I can't believe it!! Sis Stevens leaves in one week from today :( I am going to miss her so much! She is such an amazing missionary and has been a wonderful example to me and I can tell we are going to be friends for life! We have lots of fun together and we also love working hard. I told her she has to come visit you all, so you can look forward to that :)

I love you all so much!! 

Love, Sister Cassie Chea Rasmussen

September 25th Letter

Dear Family,

Life is wonderful! Here are some highlights....

Sisters Stevens and Rasmussen with twinner hair

Tuesday we went shopping for Sister Stevens' going home outfit. It's a tradition here :) Also Tuesday night was really fun because I woke up at 12:30AM (so I guess technically it was Wednesday) with the stomach flu! Thankfully I only threw up once (even though it was a lot! TMI?? Haha sorry) and thankfully it was only 24 hours. It's no fun being sick when you are a missionary though. Your companion has to stay with you and you just feel worthless... haha but like I said, thankfully it didn't last too long.

  

Wednesday I spent most of the morning sleeping because I was up all night. The night was good though because I got some good Book of Mormon studying done and some one on one time with Heavenly Father since I couldn't sleep. At around 12:00 we came to the battalion so Sister Stevens had something to do. I just sat in the back and read some more and made some phone calls. I started to feel pretty sick again so we went back to our apt a little early and I took another nap. When I woke up I felt much better, but it kept going in circles. We went to our area because we had quite a few appointments and I didn't want to cancel. I asked some of the elders in our district to give me a blessing so they did. It was a wonderful experience and it wasn't even an hour later that I was feeling much much better and finally ate a little something. Sister Stevens was so nice and helpful while I was sick. Our appts this night went well though! We added 3 new investigators! A mom and her 2 kids. She said she is looking for a good foundation for a family. She will soon find out that the gospel is the best foundation for families! 

Thursday I was 100% better! And it was my 3 month mark... crazy!! I have had some time at the battalion to read the site guide which is some of the basic history that they give us to read so we can know it better. It's cool to really learn more in depth about the Mormon Battalion's story. We did some more squeakret service this night. I love secret stuff!! 

Parking a little too close to the car in front of them

Friday we had an appt with Brandon. He committed to baptism!!! He is working towards October 27!! Maxwell's birthday! But it was super exciting! We taught him about the plan of salvation and he said he likes to know that we have purpose here on earth. We had dinner with some members this night and it was delicious and they were so sweet! We had district meeting which is always good and uplifting and motivating! My district leader is really good at helping us get excited and find new solutions.

Saturday we had an appointment with a less active family in our ward. They are so sweet! We talked to them a lot about the importance of church and scripture study and prayer. We also ran into another less active who used to avoid talking to us when we would see him, but today he was so cheery and nice and opened up and said he stopped chewing tobacco!! He was going 10 days strong. It was so awesome! We can totally see a difference in him. The MoBat was soooo busy tonight! Like summer status busy! It was a fun change! 

Sunday there were so many new faces at church! Sister Stevens and I were a little overwhelmed because we wanted to try to find out who they all were! We found out a couple of them. Our investigators didn't show up to church :( It's hard because they are progressing in every other way and have a desire to learn more, but we just can't get them to come to church.. any suggestions? MoBat was busy again. I met a guy who knows Rus and worked with him and I also met an older couple from South Jordan with the last name Rasmussen! We got to talking and he wanted to know where my ancestors came from and I said Rasmussen was from Denmark and he said oh I served there! And I said so did my dad! And then he totally remembered dad! So small world! Dad you remember a Steve Rasmussen from Arizona? He said you were about a year a part I think. After MoBat we had dinner at a members. They were the greatest! We just love our members. 

Cassie's district

Monday was Dallin's birthday! Happy birthday Dallin!!!! I wrote him a card and forgot to send it so I will send it today. I hope he had a great birthday! Wait, is he 8?? MoBat was good. I got a note from Danny Door! He came in last night and just missed me apparently, but I am glad he left a note! I met the nicest couple from England and I talked to them for a good 25 min about life and the gospel. They were so nice! I invited them to look up our beliefs on mormon.org. I think I have said this before but that site is awesome! Also Mormon messages. Everyone should go watch the most recent mormon message called the Will of God, by Elder Christofferson. It's sooooo good!! Tonight we had 3 dinner appts... oh my goodness. I have never been so full in my life! They were delicious though and it's so fun to get to know more people in our ward. I know I've said this before too but California has the biggest spiders and they are everywhere! We saw at least 20 tonight. Also Sister Stevens and I started laughing so hard after our appts just thinking about everything and how much food we ate and because we were so full it hurt to laugh! I think I have laughed the hardest in my life on my mission. It's great :)

Today we are just getting things ready for the rest of the week! I can't believe this transfer is almost over.... :( I am going to miss Sister Stevens so much! There are big changes ahead. I know it will be good, but it also makes me a little nervous. I learned a lot this week though! I learned that God gives me strength when I need to do His work, I just have to ask for it. I am also learning the importance of staying positive. Satan gets us down with negativism and with doubt. But if we choose to be positive and have faith, that is when we will see miracles. 

I love this gospel! And I love all of you!!

Love,

Sister Cassie Chea Rasmussen

September 18th Letter--Lots of visitors!

Family!

  

Great week once again! Here are some highlights...

Tuesday night we had a lesson with Brandon. A lady from our ward came and it was so great to have her there! She really helped Brandon see that he can receive revelation for himself. The lesson was cool because we decided we wanted to read in the Book of Mormon with him, just to show him how it can relate to his life. We were trying to figure out what chapter we should read with him when I had the idea that we should let him pick. When we sat down with him and told him to pick, I got a little nervous because I was like what if he picks an Isaiah chapter or something?? But then he flipped to Helaman 5 which couldn't have been a more perfect chapter to read with him and relate to him. Oh my goodness the Lord is in this work!!  Afterwards she took us out to dinner at Panera Bread. It was delicious! 

Wednesday morning we had an appointment with Melody. We talked about the plan of salvation. She is so great! She loves learning and just will ask us any question that she has and I love that she is not scared to ask. At the MoBat this night I met a family... oh shoot I am the worst at remembering names these days.. I think it was like Rudda? Or something like that.. Anyway, they used to be in the Sharon Stake! He was in the bishopric with President Camp a while ago. We also got to watch some of Elder Holland's CES Fireside. It was soooo gooooood! Everyone should watch it or read it. His apostolic blessing at the end was so powerful and how blessed we are to have that! This night Sister Stevens and I made some really delicious cookies and also made some funny videos that you will all get to enjoy one day. 

Thursday we had some time to watch Mormon messages and I am Mormon videos. Everyone should check out mormon.org. It really is such a great site! I could spend hours on it watching those things. They are so inspiring!! Also a good way to help people who are struggling or who are less active.. just find a Mormon message and email it to them and invite them to watch it! That's a challenge for you all :) Also the new bible videos are so great! Remember me telling you about a girl last Sunday who just walked right into church?? Well we met with her this day and she has such a strong desire to follow Jesus Christ! It's so cool. She just kept saying that Jesus Christ is her everything. Her mom attends a Christian church but she said she feels like something is missing there and she really loved her experience at church last week. We got to add her as an investigator and I know that what we have to share will fill that space that she says something is missing.  We had temple shift this night and it was actually chilly! First time it's been chilly since I've been here and it wasn't even that cold. We came back to Old Town and did some service for the sisters. We call ourselves the squeakret service :) haha!

Uncle Ward and Aunt Janet surprised Sister Rasmussen

Friday was a neat day! Friday morning we had training with Mark Lusvardi!! It was super inspiring and helpful. He helped me see the importance of being myself and being natural! President Clayton talked about the power and authority associated with our call. Missionaries have such an amazing and unique calling. Mark shared examples in the scriptures of what President Clayton was talking about. Ah, it was just all so good!!! He took a pic which I think he sent to Rus so you all probably saw. We had district meeting which was good as always. MoBat was good tonight! It was a little slower so they let us have a lesson with one of our investigators. We had him come to the MoBat and we watched the new Joseph Smith movie with him. That movie is soo good! Everyone should watch that as well. Afterwards we talked a little, and we had some members there with us. It was evident that the Spirit was there. I felt it, Sister Stevens felt it, the members felt it, but we couldn't help Dee recognize it. He just kept saying he doesn't trust his feelings and he just said he finds too many contradictions with the Bible and Book of Mormon. It is so hard because he is such a nice a awesome person and neither Sister Stevens or myself want to give up on him yet. We know that once it clicks, he will just be a powerhouse, but making it click is the hard part. After that lesson I came out of the theater and guess who was sitting on the couch in the lobby?? Uncle Ward and Aunt Janet!!! Oh my goodness it was so fun and good to see them!! I am so grateful that they took the time to come see me. I got to talk with them a little bit and we took some pictures. Then right when they were leaving, the Trujillos walked in!! The whole gang. They gave me the package, thank you! And then I got to talk with them and take them on tour. 

The Trujillos were in San Diego to be sealed as a family with their son Elder Villalobos

Saturday was so HOT!! In the 100s. Is it cooling down in Utah yet?? Because it definitely isn't cooling down here yet. We had temple shift and so I got to be there when the Trujillos came out of the temple! I took some pictures with them. They were so adorable! I am so happy for them!! 

Sunday was church which was great. Our investigators didn't show up though :( We had MoBat and then after we had dinner with a less-active. The elders came as well. It was delicious! And then we had dinner with the Rodriguez family. Double dinner?? Haha I was so full. The Rodriguez family is so sweet! I really look up to this family. We talked to the 20 yr old daughter for a while about missions. She wants to go, but doesn't know if now is the right time or what. Haha she was saying the exact same stuff I was saying when I was trying to decide, so we tried to help her. She would be such a dynamite missionary!! 

Monday we had another lesson with Melody, and a member came. Lessons with members are always so much better! Every time we meet with Melody I just realize more and more how prepared she is. Almost every time we've had a lesson with her, we have prepared something and then as soon as we sit down and say a prayer with her, she asks us a question and it always has to do with what we prepared to teach her. It's so cool! Once again this is definitely the Lord's work! Yesterday was kind of rough though... we had 4 appointments fall through and so we tried to do contacting, but contacting in Chula is hard. No one is ever home. Finally one lady was home and let us in. She was great! Her sister is a member and she wants her kids to learn about the church so she invited us to come back on Wednesday. We came back to the battalion and did some online chatting. We talked to someone who heard about the Book of Mormon musical and wanted to know exactly what the Book of Mormon is. It was a great conversation! Missionary work through chatting is such a neat experience. 

That leads us to today. I am just getting everything ready for the next week! I love this gospel so much. Even on the hard days, I am so grateful that I have this knowledge of the truth, and I am grateful that I get to share it with others. My testimony grows stronger each day. I just love being a missionary :)

And I love you all!!

Love,

Sister Cassie Chea Rasmussen

September 11th Letter

Hola Familia!

Okay this week has been great as usual! Life here is a roller coaster, but it is a wonderful roller coaster! Highlights...

Tuesday I ate strawberry flavored tortillas, so good!

Wednesday we had an AWESOME lesson with Melody. She invited herself and her kids to church so it was the best! We had a member come with us and that always helps so much! Melody is definitely prepared. This night at the MOBAT I took a family on tour from Orem! Shoot, I can't remember their names... They are in the Sharon Stake and know Dad and Rus from high council and the grandma is actually in Ric's ward. She went on and on about how great Ric & Tami are, haha I told her I guess I agree.. :) Oh, also this night this lady tried to set me up with her grandson... so that was the weirdest thing ever. I was like ummm do you see my name tag?? Missionary here! 

Thursday we had zone meeting which was so good! We talked about how the best is yet to come and we need to make sure we are working our hardest. I love zone meetings and district meetings because they get me so pumped and excited to share the gospel! I also learned that the Lord has put me in Chula Vista for a reason and that I need to figure that reason out. We had a lesson with a less-active today and she talked about how she wants to come back to church, she just doesn't really know how. We told her we are here to help her every step of the way! We want to find her some good friends in the ward as well. 

   
Friday I had an interview with Elder & Sister Seegmiller. It was great! Elder Seegmiller told me that he used to be quiet and reserved like me but his mission taught him how to break out of his shell. It made me feel like that is one reason why I am on a mission, haha to learn how to break out of my shell. I think it's working a little bit. We had an appointment with Dee tonight, but it got cut pretty short so we didn't have much time to talk about a lot. We had it at a members home though so that was great! Members are so key! Next we had a dinner appointment with a family in our ward. They are awesome! She is from Mexico and so she made us some mexican meal that was SOOOO SPICY! Seriously I was like sweating while I was eating.. haha you know I don't do well with spicy. It was delicious though! Maybe I'll learn how to like spicy food. 

Saturday we helped one of our investigators move :( I LOVE this family. They are a part member family, the dad was our investigator and they moved just outside of our ward boundaries. We are sad we won't be teaching them anymore because we love them so much! But we are excited for them because they have a great new house and the dad is still progressing and we know the elders who will be teaching them now so it will all be great. 

We had the temple shift tonight. So we have this tent we sit under at the temple and they put a sign on it that says temporary visitor's center hahaha it is the funniest thing! But now we got lots of people coming over and asking us if there is going to be one built. Any details on that Rus?? We met this couple, the girl is from Russia and the guy is from Brazil, they are both here for school and we talked to them about the gospel and it was just such a cool conversation. They were both very intrigued with what we had to say and they wanted to know how they could get married in the temple so we got their information and are sending them the missionaries in their area. Oh, I met a family from Hawaii and so of course I asked them if they knew the Goos and they said that Brother Goo sealed them!! So that was cool! I can't remember their names unfortunately. We broke in the sisters apartments and did secret service :)

Sunday something way cool happened! We were just going from sacrament meeting to Sunday School and this guy in our ward walked up and said he found this girl wandering around. Her name is Sangrin, she is from Africa and she's 19 years old. She said that she is just looking for a religion and that she saw this church and wanted to come here. Missionaries love hearing something like that!! She is so sweet. We are meeting with her later this week! I love miracles. Also the gospel principles teacher didn't show up so guess who had to teach it? Sister Stevens and I. Boy, I am doing lots of things on my mish that I never thought I'd do, haha. We had dinner with a member tonight, so delicious! Then we went to a mission fireside in Penasquitos. It was awesome! We got revelation for one of our investigators. I love revelation! 

Monday was another day of miracles! We were going to visit a less-active but then ran into this guy who is in the Navy and he was super open with what we had to say and we asked if we could come talk with him and his family some more and he said yes! So we are going tonight and I am so excited! Next we were going to visit a former [investigator?], but he wasn't home so we ended up talking with his mom and she is so nice! She was grateful and open with everything we said and she said she wants her family to all learn so we are going to see them next week!

So basically this gospel is AMAZING!! I love that the Lord is SO mindful of us all. I love that we never have to be alone. I love feeling the spirit. Ah. I LOVE being a missionary! Oh, P.S. Sister Stevens has brothers named Rus and Adam too, so we were meant to be companions. We still have so much fun together! I am going to miss her when she goes home after this transfer. 

Well, I hope you are all doing well :) I love hearing from you!! And I love you all!

Love,

Sister Cassie Chea Rasmussen

September 4th Letter

Dear Family,

Let me just say that I love you all so much! This week has been great as usual. Here are the highlights..

Tuesday we went to the zoo! It was a lot of fun! The zoo is so big though. We went on a bus tour to see most of it and then we just walked to our favorite animals to take closer up pics. We got in for only 18 dollars so that was nice! The zone leaders in our district know someone who works at the zoo so they helped us out. We got to meet some of the new sisters this night!

Wednesday we had transfers in the morning. I am still in Chula Vista with Sister Stevens and I am so so happy about that! It is her last transfer so we are going to work so so hard so she can leave with nothing left. They also opened a new area for the MOBAT (Mormon Battalion) sisters. We have 4 new sisters and 3 sisters left. The new sisters are so wonderful! 

I came across a wonderful quote this day which is, "The shortest distance between a problem and a solution, is the distance between your knees and the floor." I LOVE that, and how true it is. 

Cleaning the courthouse

Thursday we had temple shift. Since we have 10 companionships now we will have more temple shifts which makes me really excited because I love temple shifts! We taught Brandon tonight the gospel of Jesus Christ (Lesson 3 in Preach My Gospel) and invited him to be baptized at the end of this month. He said he really wants to pray about it so we are hoping that he sincerely does and will get his answer. It was Sister Miller's birthday today so this night we sang happy birthday to her! 

Making an agreement to not eat treats

Friday Sister Stevens and I made an agreement to not eat treats... haha we'll see how long this lasts. So far so good. I am learning how to cook better... kind of? Haha. I finally had some people email me back from my referrals at the MOBAT. There is this one guy named Zhimin from Hong Kong and he is so awesome! I get to teach him through emails and it is such a neat experience. Also everyone should read this months Ensign. It is soooo good!!! It is basically all about missionary work which is a wonderful thing. I think I have said this before, but I never realized how important members are in missionary work until my mission. I am already excited for when I get home how I can help the local missionaries out, haha is it too soon to be thinking about that?

Saturday the MOBAT was sooo busy because of the holiday weekend. I like when it is busy! We had district meeting today and met our new district. We have 2 new elders. I definitely miss my old district, but I know that change is good and this district will be great as well. We challenged the elders to street contacting this night and we got 6!! We definitely beat them and we are learning how to be better at street contacting which is nice. One of the contacts was this guy who was working in his garage. We talked to him for a good 30 minutes about the Book of Mormon. We gave him one to read and he was amazed that we weren't making him pay for the book. He said he loves reading and that he would definitely read it. We set up an appointment with him for this coming week! I love little miracles like that. 

A San Diego sunset

Sunday was good as always. Fast Sunday is always a little hard at the Battalion because we have to be standing and giving tours and using lots of energy, but the Lord helps me with the strength I need :) We had dinner at a members tonight--an awesome family! The wife is from Germany and the husband served in Germany (which they didn't even meet on their mission) but it's cool because they are teaching their kids German so their kids are fluent in 2 languages! 

Monday the MOBAT was busy again. Sister Stevens and I also went down to Old Town Historic Park to clean the courthouse so that was fun. Also someone came through that knew Brock and then I had my first experience of someone asking me if I was related to a Megan Rasmussen because I looked like her... haha I was just waiting for that one! In our area we had an appointment with Brandon but he wasn't there.. so we tried some other contacting and then went to a members (the Dixons) for dinner. They are such a great family! She made us such delicious Mexican food. They are all about member missionary work. It is so exciting!! After we decided to stop by Brandons again and he was home thankfully. We watched the restoration with him and just bore testimony about Joseph Smith and the restored gospel. It was such a neat experience! He gave such a sweet and sincere prayer after. We ended at like 8:00, which is the hardest time because we have to leave Chula by 8:30 in order to be home at 9:00PM, so we were trying to decide how to best use our time and we decided to pull over and say a prayer. After the prayer we felt like we should go visit a potential named Victor, who was kind of out of the way, but we decided to follow that prompting. When we got to his house, no one was home. At first I was super disappointed and couldn't understand why we both felt like we should go there... and then no one was there.. but then i just to this huge overwhelming feeling from the Spirit and heard specifically in my mind "your efforts are never wasted." Maybe the purpose of that was the Lord wanted to make sure we would follow the Spirit? I don't know, but what I do know is that the Lord has a reason and purpose for everything and I am really grateful that I was able to have that experience and know that as long as I am working my hardest, my efforts aren't being wasted. 

I love this gospel and this work! And I love you all!

Love,

Sister Rasmussen

P.S. The fam I havent heard from yet... I think it's about time to hear from you :)