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

May 28th Letter

Dear Family,

I can't wait to read about the wedddddding!! Ahhhhh. Congratulations Rus and Marin! Also, Happy Memorial Day :) Here are the highlights from the week...

Wednesday we had mobat and lots of school groups came in for a field trip so that was fun. We had district meeting after and talked about prayer and helping our investigators see the importance of prayer. We also decided to have a district fast for David. Next we had dinner with Casey and Britni, two of our solid members. They are both leaving for school in the fall though so we will miss them! Haha that is if I am still in Helix in the fall.. I have a feeling I might be. We had a lesson with David after about the priesthood. Our member, Neil, came and he said exactly what needed to be said. It was awesome! We invited David to pray for a date to be baptized. 

Thursday we had training and then we did a booth at Grossmont College. It was fun! We met two really awesome guys named Hector, and Edwin. They are going to be mormon someday. We had a lesson with Mary at the institute about tithing and Paige came. We also talked about her Book of Mormon reading and she loves the book of mormon. She said she's been struggling lately and when she read, there were verses that said exactly what she needed to hear. Oh man, the power of the Book of Mormon!! We weekly planned and then had mobat. Today was the day our district fasted for David and it was cool because our member Casey texted us and told us that in institute the teacher told David that he shouldn't wait around to be baptized and just really hit him with the spirit and we were like Brother Morgan is an answer to our prayers! We'll see what David says next time we see him. We had mobat and we were short sisters and it was nuts, haha. 

Friday happy wedding day! We had mobat this morning and I worked on some projects for the Seegmillers. We had a lesson with Kassandra after about charity and preparing for her mission. She is so awesome! She just gets it. We had a lesson with the Edgars next. I don't know what their deal was today, but they could not focus, ha but we attempted to talk about scripture study. We had a meeting next with the ward mission leaders slash ward missionaries and guess what? Only one ward missionary showed up.... haha. BUT the cool thing was it was needed. It was Robert and he just recently got called and he is a recent convert, but we were able to talk with him about his calling and get him excited about it. 

Saturday we had a lesson with a referral named, Michael. He went to his best friends mom's baptism and was impressed by it so the elders got his info and passed it on to us! He is super solid. We had Robert come to the lesson and he was perfeccccct! Ahh. It was cool because Michael went from.. 'well all this sounds nice and cool, but I don't know if I have time right now..' to 'wow yeah I just really want to learn all of this and be apart of it!' And a big part of that was Robert's testimony. It was so sweet! We invited Michael to start reading the Book of Mormon and to pray. He even prayed at the end of our lesson. Next we went to Jackie's baptism! She got baptized!! Wooooohoooo!! It was such a sweet service. Her parents were there and the Spirit was just super powerful. It was fun to see La Jolla people. Mobat was awesome and busy tonight! 

Jackie's baptism

Sunday we had ward council and then church. Sam and Juan got confirmed and received the Holy Ghost!! Sam even shared his testimony and it was so sweet. We taught relief society today and taught off of Elder Andersen's talk from this past conference, 'It's a Miracle.' Such a good talk! Probably my all time favorite quote is, "If you're not a full-time missionary with a missionary badge pinned on your coat, now is the time to paint one on your heart -- painted, as Paul said, 'not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God.'" We had a meeting after church with our new ward mission leader, Dan. He is so solid! We are super excited to work with him. He just is on the ball and wants to get things done! Next we tried contacting and then we were able to visit a couple less-actives. We had mobat next and I met these two awesome girls from Mongolia! They said they are going to come stay with me in Utah when I get home from my mission, haha. 

Monday we contacted and had a lesson with Sam about the priesthood. He is so excited to get the priesthood! I just love how excited and happy he is about everything. Also National City is like straight up Mexico. It's awesome! Mobat was good and surprisingly not too busy with the holiday..

Well that was my week! Super great as always :) I love being a missionary! I want to share one of my favorite quotes with you that I've recently discovered... "If you have felt the influence of the Holy Ghost today, you may take it as evidence that the Atonement is working in your life. For that reason and many others, you would do well to put yourself in places and in tasks that invite the promptings of the Holy Ghost.

—Henry B. Eyring"  Also another cool one is by Plato, "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." 

I love you all so much! I hope you have the best week ever! 

Love,

Sister Cassie Rasmussen

May 21st Letter

Dear Family,

Such a great weeek!!! Wooohooo! And it's an exciting week for you all this week because of the wedding! So awesome :) I am so excited for Rus and Marin! Here are the highlights from my past week...

Tuesday night we had a lesson with Kassandra and Chris and they fed us yummy food. After we had a Book of Mormon study group with some people in the ward and some of our investigators came! 

Wednesday we did a booth at Grossmont College. It was definitely different than the booth at UCSD campus, but it was fun! We ate lunch at the institute and then weekly planned. Then we had a panic attack because juan called and said he couldn't make his baptismal interview at 8pm, that he could only come at 3pm and it was 2:15pm and he didn't have a ride and either did our district leader... so we made lots of phone calls and said prayers and we got our district leader and juan at the battalion at 3pm! He passed and he is excited to get baptized!! Arthur (from my last area) came to the battalion for a lesson so I got to see him and he looks so happy! He is getting baptized this weekend as well. Sam came that night to the battalion for his baptismal interview and he passed and is excited as well! And I am sooooo excited for them!!

Thursday we had training and then we had zone meeting. It was my first time with my new zone and it was great! Different, but great! My new zone leaders are very creative. They taught a cool lesson about the spirit and how sometimes we have this end goal and the path that we think we'll take us there, but if we do those things that keep us in tune with the Spirit, then the Spirit can help us get to our end goal through another path that is better :) so sweet! We had mobat next and it was pretty busy! Sister Madsen's grandma came in and she works with mom at the temple! I took her on tour with Sister Madsen. Sister Crawford and I also took the craziest tour with this guy who is a real estate agent and is proud of it! Hahah he gave us his business card. He also told us that we got an A+++ on the tour. Some of north zone came into the battalion so I got to see some of my fellow missionary friends and then a ton of people from the La Jolla ward came in so I got to see them as well and it was so fun! Arthur took me aside and told me that he wanted to thank me and sister riggs from the bottom of his heart for knocking on his door that night and for not giving up on him.... sooo cool :) his heart has changed so much! All the credit goes to the Lord and His amazing gospel. 

Sam's baptism

Friday we had mobat in the morning and it was busy and then we hurried and made cookies and then headed to the church to fill up the font and get everything ready for Juan and Sam's baptism!! There was a little drama among Juan's family because he didn't tell them until like right before and they were upset and wanted us to change his baptism, but thankfully we were able to figure it all out. They showed up and got in their suits and we took pictures. Right when it was starting the assistants texted us and asked if it was at the blossom lane church and we were like no the orange ave one! So President and the assistants went to the wrong building, but they made it halfway through! The service was wonderful though! The speakers did so well and brought the spirit strongly. Sister Crawford and I sang and then Juan was baptized by Neil Spackman and then Sam was baptized by Edgar Felix. After they bore their testimonies and they were both so sweet. I looooooooooooooooooooooooooove being a missionary!! 

Juan's baptism

Saturday we had mobat in the morning and then had a lesson with a former named Benjamin. He has such a firm belief in Jesus Christ and wants to follow Him, but his heart is very hardened towards the Book of Mormon. He thinks the bible should be enough and that we don't need another testament. He said he is really trying to be open and that he wants to try it out. Next was Arthur's baptism! I got to go. I was so happy :) It was such a neat experience! His parents even came, which is soooo cool. When I greeted his mom she started crying and just said, 'thank you so much for helping my son.' Casmier gave the talk on baptism and he blew everyone away! It was his first talk and it was soooooo gooooooood!!! Ahhhhhhhh. I was so happy I got to see him and David Yang, and just everyone! Sister Riggs, Miller, and I sang the special musical number, 'Did You Think to Pray,' because it is Arthur's favorite song. Tyler baptized him and he bore his testimony after and he just looked so unbelievably happy :) We finished weekly planning and then had a lesson with David Payne. He said he's feeling better about the prophet, but still not 100% sure. We asked him what he thought about the baptism last night because he came, and he said he really liked it, that it felt like a holy moment. We read 3 Nephi 11 with him and just talked about the importance of baptism and asked him to pray about being baptized. He is just so humble and genuine. 

Arthur's baptism

Sunday happy birthday Brandon! We studied and then had Stake Conference which was great! One of the recent converts in the Helix ward got his mission call! He's going to Texas :) so sweeet! He is pumped. We had a lesson with Sam and Edgar about the Spirit. Next we had a lesson with a referral named Isaac. He is awesome! The way he was referred to us was through the temple square sisters who got it from his friend. We were asking him about his friend and he was like, 'yeah scott is way cool...' and I interrupted and was like wait scott who?? And he said, 'Scott Sadleir' And I freaked out and was like that is my cousin!! Haha sooo cool. Definitely not a coincidence. Isaac is super open and excited to learn more so we were able to add him. We taught him the restoration and invited him to read and pray. We had mobat and then after mobat we had dinner with some members. It was great! We had a lesson with David after about prophets again and kind of the organization of the church. He has a testimony about everything except for modern day prophets.. we are just trying to figure out how we can help him see that because he has a testimony of the Book of Mormon and of Joseph Smith, that means he has a testimony of modern day prophets. 

Monday we had a full day! We studied and then visited a less active who just moved into our ward. She is super nice and we taught her a little about how God gives us strength and invited her to church. We then drove to contact a referral who supposedly lives with a member from the Granite Hills ward and when we got there the referral wasn't there but we ended up talking to the lady who is a very less-active member. We talked with her about the importance of prayer and she said she feels awkward praying, we invited her to pray every day this week and we are going to make sure the missionaries of that ward go visit her. We went to the church and ate our lunch and then had a lesson with Robert and Megan Magoffin came. She is the funniest person ever! Haha I love her so much. She made me laugh so hard I was crying. Robert brought us all smoothies! We had a lesson about seeking God first and using the atonement in our life for strength to do so. Robert is having a bit of a hard time because now that he's a member his life course has been completely flipped around. The things he used to want he knows he shouldn't want, but he's saying how it's just hard to think that everything he used to want and dream about, is not what he should achieve anymore. He is so awesome though and he has such a good heart and wants his life course to be changed by the gospel, it's just hard for him right now to figure it all out. We had a lesson with the edgars about the temple. Edgar Ortega got a job! We are so happy for him. Next we met with Juan and talked about the Holy Ghost. He is super excited to receive it on Sunday. We met with a member, Adrian, next. She is preparing for a mission. We role played with her! It was fun. We had dinner next with a member, Laura, and her family. Funny story... Her last name is Kuhle. Her dad is in the stake presidency right now, but anyway.. he said that grandpa jesperson was his stake president when he was in high school/missionary age. He also said he knows who mom is and knows Uncle John. Then his wife annette I think her name was, she lived right by Uncle Eddy and Aunt Glena and is best friends with Kelly and that's how she was introduced to the church and was converted!!! Dang. Small world :) It was fun to make all those connections. We had delicious pizza though! And then we went to fhe. There was a good turn out! It was funny because our relief society president's name is Cassie and Sister Crawford and I were walking from the hall into the room where the lesson would be and someone said, "Oh CAssie!" And I turned around and was like "yeah?" hahaha then everyone just looked at me awkwardly.... it's so weird! haha every time someone says her name I get confused. We had a lesson with Alan after about building a sure foundation, a talk from this last conference by Bishop Davies. Such a good talk!

Well that was my week! I can't wait to see pictures from the wedding! Aka you best send me pictures :) I am so grateful for the gospel. I am soooo grateful for the Book of Mormon and for a modern day prophet and apostles! We finally got our conference ensigns and I just love reading the talks over and over again. We are so blessed and Heavenly Father loves us all so much! 

And I love all of YOU so much :) Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Cassie Rasmussen

May 14th Letter

Dear Family,

It was sooooo great to talk to you on Sunday!! Ahhhhh :) sorry it was rushed, but I am glad that I got to at least hear a lot of your voices and tell you I love you :) Because I do! So much. Here are the highlights from this week....

Tuesday night we had a powerful lesson with David at the battalion. A few of our members came and we invited him to pray about baptism. He is just having a hard time finding an answer about modern day prophets.. that is his only hold up.

Wednesday happy birthday to Rus & Tami!! I love you both and I hope you had a rock awesome day! We had mobat in the morning and then we had district meeting. We talked about charity! We weekly planned and then we went to a baptism for some elders in our district. We had a lesson with Sam about the law of chastity and two of our members came and they hit it great with him! Sam is so excited to be baptized. 

Thursday happy birthday Tommy!! Today was such a sweet day. We had a training this morning that we call MTE's. We learned about teaching repentance and it was so cool! President talked about how repentance has such a negative connotation but that repentance is what allows us to become like the Savior, and to learn and grow each day. It doesn't necessarily have to be for 'bad' sins, but it's for anything! As we repent we show the Lord our willing heart and our desire to change and become a better disciple for Him. It was such a sweet lesson!! We also talked about asking inspired questions, asking for referrals, and being okay with silence. One of our assistants, elder long, said, 'Silence is when we take a step back and let the Holy Ghost come in to testify." So sweet! We ate and then headed for our first lesson. We had Sister O'Neill with us for the day and it was so fun! I look up to her so much and she is such a powerful missionary. We had a lesson with Sam but he didn't show up so then we went contacting. We knocked on the wrong door and this spanish lady answered and thankfully Sister O'Neill speaks spanish so she taught her the restoration and we had a member, Kassandra, with us who also spoke spanish so they both taught her and it was awesome! She said she wanted to learn more so we will give her info to the spanish elders. We had a lesson with the Edgars next and I just love them. We talked about the restoration and asked Edgar Felix to tell us about Joseph Smith and he just taught so simply and powerfully that it even reaffirmed my testimony of Joseph Smith. We had a lesson with Juan next at Kassandra's and Don came as well. We taught about tithing and fasting. It was cool because last time we committed him to a date he was like 'i'm scared but I guess I'll do it' and then today he was like 'i'm so ready and I'm so excited!! Let's do this!' ahhh i love it. We visited Shawn next. He is great! We talked about repentance and applied what we had learned in MTE's and it was really cool. We had a lesson with David next about Joseph Smith and we were able to help him recognize how he feels the Spirit. Next was Robert. His lesson was super powerful. We talked about his potential and following the spirit. Last lesson was with Sam. We were able to reschedule and we taught him tithing and fasting. Sisters Silva and Amendola brought us this yummy corn stuff. 

Friday we had MTE's follow up session. We talked about changing our ward mission and just making sure we are really trying to get the members involved and excited about the work. It makes me so pumped to be a member missionary when I get home. We went and got golden spoon in Chula and then had a lesson with May. She is still right on track to be baptized June 8th! We had a member, Stacey, come and it was awesome because she said exactly what needed to be said! I love that. We had mobat. The edgars brought us all in n' out and they stayed and watched some videos. Edgar Felix was having a rough night and it was sad to see him so sad! He's so tender. 

Saturday we had exercise and studies and then we finished weekly planning and organized our formers. We tried contacting a few people and no one was home! It was crazy because in el cajon it was 98 degrees and then we had temple and by the time we got to the temple it was 76 degrees. I can't believe the difference! Temple was great. I love being there. We had a lesson with David after at the mobat and watched On the Lord's Errand about Thomas S Monson and asked him to pray and ask if he is the modern day prophet on the earth today. David is so humble and sincere. 

Sunday happy mother's day to the best mom ever!!! I love you mom. We had studies and then church. The edgars passed the sacrament for the first time today!! So sweet! The bishopric got these cute plaques for all the girls in the ward that says, 'to the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.' We did stoplight chart after church and talked with our bishop and tried contacting and then phone calls!! That was definitely the highlight of my day!! Once again sorry it was so rushed.. I always wish we had more time, but it's okay! Next time I talk to you all it will be in person.. ha weird! And don't worry.. I am not trunky :) I just love all of you a lot. 

Monday we had studies and then a lesson with Sam about the word of wisdom and went over the baptismal questions with him and Kassandra came. Then we had a lesson with Robert about the gospel. He needs to go on a mission! He is a recent convert, but he would make such an awesome missionary! Then we had a lesson with Alan and Laura came. We talked about tithing and he said he's struggling with that right now and we just promised him that if he'd be obedient to the Lord and pay, that the Lord would bless Him. I know that's true! We had mobat and it was great. Elder Day gave us a little history about the battalion at the end of the day.

That was my week! It was great :) I still love being a missionary. I love it SO much. I just want to sprint to the end and give it my all these last 6 months... oh speaking of which.. I didn't tell everyone, but my release date is November 26 and I am telling you this now so that you can make plans to be there when I come home :) heh. 

I was thinking this morning about how much I have learned and changed since being here.. I have even changed in ways I didn't know I needed to change. I just love letting Heavenly Father shape me into who he needs me to be. I hope that I can be humble and willing enough always to let Him be able to do that. 

Thank you, thank you for all your love and support. I love you all so much!!

Love,

Sister Cassie Rasmussen

May 7th Letter

Dear Family,

The verdict is..... I am not in the Helix YSA ward which covers the El Cajon and Sweetwater stake. Huge area!! But mom, I am serving in your hometown!! Haha so cool. My companion is Sister Crawford. She is from wyoming and she has been out just a transfer before me. She is super awesome! I never thought it'd be hard for me to leave an area, but I have been having a hard time leaving La Jolla. I just loved it so much there. On Sunday I fasted to be able to love Helix as much as La Jolla and to know my place there, and it was cool how just that day, my heart expanded and I already love Helix so much!! Oh and I get to talk to you all on Sunday!!! I am so excited :) I decided if it is going to be crazy like last time.. I need you to be prepared :) haha so think of  little summary of your life you can tell me or something. Anyways, here are the highlights...

Tuesday we had a barbecue/played sports/going away party at mission bay with our zone. It was so much fun! I love north zone. We went to the institute for a lesson with Johnny and I said goodbye to some people. Johnny had really great questions! After we had a lesson with Taryn. She is struggling with health problems, but we talked about hope and she really loved it. Next we went to the mission home to pick up some new sisters! Oh and we got a new assistant. Elder Long! He's awesome. I packed up all my stuff.

Wednesday we had transfer meeting which was great! Oh and ps Helix is complete opposite everything from La Jolla... the area, the people, just everything! Haha it's nuts. Oh and dad something kind of funny is the Helix ward dynamics are almost exactly like your YSA ward when I was in it! So it's fun because I feel right at home :) We helped load cars after transfer meeting and then we were dropping off sisters and holding people's stuff so we got lucky enough to go to the normal transfer meeting which was super fun! I haven't been to one since my first transfer here. All the missionaries freak out and get so excited, haha I love it. After we went and had a lesson with Mary, our investigator! She is super sweet and prepared and is getting baptized on June 8th! We went back a little early to move all my stuff. We had mobat and it was great! Oh and Sister Davies is back from being full proselyting!! Woohoo! So good to have her back at the mobat. 

Thursday, Happy birthday to Brock!! I love you brother! We had mobat in the morning and I helped Sister Seegmiller with a project. Sister Jarrett and I are the two who always help and she went full proselyting so now it's up to me! Haha woot. I really like doing it though so it's okay. Oh and I met Rus's mission president's second wife. She came to the battalion. After mobat we weekly planned and then had a lesson with another investigator, David Payne. He's quiet and super humble and also prepared! We had a lesson with Jen, a less-active. She has a strong desire to come back! I love when that happens. We updated records and then I unpacked.

Friday we had district meeting. My new district is way awesome! My new district leader was in north zone with me so it's fun to have a familiar face. We talked about the spirit and how it's so important to help investigators know what the spirit is and how they can feel it. We then had a lesson with the edgars!!! I am in their ward now and it makes me so happy. The edgars are known throughout the whole mission. They are these two latino guys who have been best friends since birth and they are both named edgar. They came in contact with missionaries around November and they have just grasped the gospel with full heart and it's SOOOO cool. One of the edgars even turned himself into jail because he couldn't get baptized unless he first took care of some things he had done. He took care of them and was in jail for about 2-3 months and then he was able to get baptized and they are both just on fire! I am so excited to teach them now. We talked about the Sabbath day and we also had our investigator Sam there who is friends with them. Sam is super sincere. Next was mobat and I took a super fun family on tour.

Saturday was a long day! Haha it was cinco de mayo celebration in Old Town which meant we were on mobat duty from 9am-9pm. For four of those hours though we got to be at the booth down at the square which first of all, Sister Jarrett, Crawford, and I designed the back drop for it and it looked awesome! And also I was assigned to play the violin with kids, haha it was super fun! I definitely need to brush up on my violin. We got a solid referral from the booth too! She started asking about mormons and this lady at the booth with us, Sister Uri, invited her to church and I found which church she needed to go to which is in north zone and contacted the elders and told them to look out for her at church. The edgars brought us lollipops and then Rachell and her boyfriend came and I got to give them a tour! I was soooooo tired by the end of the night. 

Sunday, happy cinco de mayo! I slept SOOOO great last night. Probably the best I have in a while. We went to ward council which by the way, the relief society president's name is Cassie so it really kept throwing me off the whole meeting, haha but then we had church. I love the Helix ward already and it was fun to meet more people! Edgar Ortega received the priesthood today and he was so excited and he also became a ward missionary! Edgar Felix got called as the elders quorum secretary. We had break the fast after and it was delicious and then we had battalion. Tanner and Sarah came in but I missed them :( They left me a picture though! And then I got to see Jonathan and Kelly and their kids!! It was so fun to see them! After mobat we had mission president's fireside and it was in Chula Vista!! It was fun to be back in Chula and I got to see Jessica and the House family! Ah I love them. The fireside was wonderful as usual. I love those firesides so much! They always get me pumped up. I made one of the edgars a scripture case box and he brought it to the fireside and was showing everyone because he was so excited about it, haha it was funny. 

Monday, happy birthday Matthew! I love you! We had mobat and then we had a lesson with Juan. He is an investigator and his cousins are members and were at the lesson and it was a sweet lesson! We went over the baptismal interview questions and just talked about everything. They all had such good questions and we were able to figure out Juan's concern about baptism and he committed to May 18th!! Woohoooo!! So excited for him. He is awesome! Also Kassandra, his cousin, made us really delicious food. We had a lesson with Alan next. He has a heart of gold and has been through some really rough times, but he has so much faith and it's awesome! He's been a convert for almost 2 years. Next we just tried contacting a lot of people and no one was home... ha but we did meet this really nice lady who is not a member who is going to let us come do service for her! We are excited about that.

It's been a great week :) I am so grateful for Heavenly Father and for all He has blessed me with and helped me with. This really is His work. Oh and I read a talk by Elder Bednar called, "That We Might Not Shrink" Soooo amazing! You all should read it. It's from a CES fireside in March. He says a devoted disciple is someone with strong faith in the Savior and is submissively accepting of His will and timing in our lives -- even if the outcome is not what we hoped for or wanted. He tells a really amazing story about this couple that once again you must read! But he talks about having the faith not to be healed... and just how sometimes we have to have that paradox in order to accept the Father's will. I also loved when he said, "many of the lessons we are to learn in mortality can only be received through the things we experience and sometimes suffer. And God expects and trusts us to face temporary mortal adversity with His help so we can learn what we need to learn and ultimately become what we are to become in eternity." 

I love you all!! I can't wait to hear your voices :)

Love,

Sister Cassie Rasmussen