October 29th Letter

Dear family,

Another great week! Here are the highlights . . .

Sister Rasmussen and Sister O'Neill's dresses are wearing out. 

Tuesday we went to the cliffs. I really love that place. That night William had his interview and was told after that he needed another interview just to clarify a few things. I think it hurt him a little, but he was trying to stay positive.

With the Afflecks and Sister O'Neill. We love them!

Wednesday we had mobat and Sister Jarrett and I organized all the Books of Mormon. We have so many languages! Sister Frampton and I had our meeting and had a really hard time figuring out who we should go on exchanges with and then we decided and made all the plans and it didn't feel right so we switched it up and it felt right. I think it's cool how Heavenly Father allows us to choose and decide what we think and then if it really isn't right.. He makes sure we know and we can choose to change it again to follow His will or just do what we want, but I have learned that when I make sure to follow His will, it always turns out better than I even imagined. We went on splits after and Adrienne and I went to Edgar's to teach William. William was like a different person. He was being super negative and had all these bible bash questions. We asked if he thought he had changed and he said no. We asked if he knew the Book of Mormon was true (which he's said yes before) but he said no. We finally just told him that he needed to pray and really figure this out. We then got back from splits and then Sister Lehmitz and I went to see a referral we have been trying to contact for forever! She was finally home :) We seriously know her whole family because of how many times we've tried stopping by. We taught her the restoration and she's way cool! When we invited her to be baptized, she said not until she's older and her mom like piped in and was telling her that she didn't need to wait and like teaching her what baptism really is haha and it was so cool! Her mom isn't even a member. Edgar called us after the lesson and said he had an awesome talk with William after we left. He said that the spirit was literally guided his words and he helped William see that he had changed and also shared with William his conversion story. William texted us later apologizing for being so negative and for saying that he hadn't changed because he knows he has and he knows it's all true. Ah :) His heart was softened. Edgar is so awesome. 

With Edgar and Sister O'Neill

Thursday we had training and we learned about fire safety! We got to do this awesome simulation with a fire extinguisher laser thing haha. After Sister Frampton and I had a leadership training meeting. IT was sooooooo goood! We talked about helping missionaries who are super stressed and also about baptismal interviews and about ministering vs administering. Jesus Christ is the perfect example of a leader, obviously.. but I just want to always lead like He did. It was an awesome training though and gave Sister Frampton and I a better vision for the next few weeks. We had district lunch and then we had mobat. Sister Miller and I took the assistants investigator, Caroline on tour. She is incredible! Sister Huang and I had a really good chat that we both needed. I love her :) She's the one from Taiwan. 

Friday I went on exchanges with Sister O'Neill!! She came to Helix with me. I love Sister O'Neill so much. We had temple and we met this awesome family from Switzerland and they each speak like 6 languages! Then we met this awesome family from Romania. One of the daughters needed to use the bathroom so we sent them to the distribution center bathroom and the dad ended up buying all this stuff! LIke a picture of the temple and some journals haha and he got a for strength of youth for his daughter. He had no idea what it was, but he thought it sounded good. It was so cool! After we went to the mobat to have a lesson with William. We talked about the atonement and then he had another interview and it all went well! He's getting baptized :) He couldnt' stop smiling after. We went and taught Edgar and read 1 Nephi 4 with him and talked about having faith for the unknown. We went and ate some dinner and talked about the future. We both made goals and plans for when we go home of how we can best combine our two worlds.. haha I hope it works! We had a lesson with Robert and he taught us about faith. We are preparing him for his mission! He's such a cool kid. I really love Sister O'Neill and we both really needed today. I look up to her a lot. I am so grateful for all these amazing friends I am making on my mission. 

Saturday Brandon got married! Ah! I hope it was wonderful. This morning we went to the temple to help put up Christmas lights with our ward. It was so fun! I have been looking forward to this for a long time. We had district meeting and talked about companionship unity and then we had mobat. It was a little slower so we got things situated for William's baptism.

William's baptism

Sunday happy birthday Maxwell!!! I LOVE YOU! I hope it was a great day! And happy farewell day for Jorgen! I can't wait to read his talk. Ward council was great. We all were able to get on the same page with our vision for the Helix ward. It was Adrienne's farewell today and she did so great :) Sister Lehmitz and I taught gospel principles about repentance and then after church was William's baptism. It was such a sweet service! Sister Lehmitz and I sang for the musical number and both of the talks were superb. My favorite part most of all is when the person who got baptized bears their testimony at the end and William's was so sweet!! He talked about how much he's changed and how he's happier now and nicer to people and also how his family doens't really approve of what he's doing, but that he know he has a new family in the gospel! Ahhh so cool. We ate and weekly planned and then we had mobat.

Monday we had mobat in the morning. I took this tour and at the end the older couple from Idaho (mormons) really bonded with this cute mid 20s girl from Wales. They seriously talked for about and hour in the back. For part of the conversation I joined and she had such good questions about Mormons. She said she's a world religions teacher in England. She seriously is going to be mormon someday. She's awesome! Sister Frampton and I had a meeting and then we went to our area! We took Tiana a birthday card and treat for her birthday and then we met this awesome girl named Zaire. After we had a lesson with Neina about the Law of Chastity. Neina is getting a lot more comfortable with us so that's good and she really opened up and was so excited about everything and having more peace and the Spirit in her life. We had a lesson with Robert and he brought us delicious food and then we went to the Hanson's for fhe. We just stayed for the lesson part and Neina came and also this potential Joaquin! Yay! We were praying that after we left the ward really helped them feel welcomed and loved. We stopped by Kevin's. He said he didn't really have time so we asked if we could share a scripture really quick. It was so cool because I grabbed my scriptures and there was absolutely no scripture coming to my mind... so I just opened my scriptures right to Alma 31:31 "O Lord, my heart is exceedingly sorrowful; wilt thou comfort my soul in Christ. O Lord, wilt thou grant unto me that I may have strength, that I may suffer with patience these afflictions which shall come upon me, because of the iniquity of this people." Apparently he's been going through a situation where other's actions have caused him some pretty big trials and so he said that is exactly what he needed to hear.. it's so cool! Heavenly Father is aware of all His children. He knew Kevin needed to hear that so he made sure a scripture didn't come to my mind so that I'd have the faith to just open them up and be right where I needed to be. Ahhhhhh. THIS GOSPEL ROCKS.

I am excited for another great week! I have been studying this talk recently that our mission president's wife asked us to read and it talks about how as we open our mouths (as members or missionaries) that just the fact that we are opening them.. shows Heavenly Father that we have faith and therefore will bring the Spirit more fully into our lives. I thought that was super sweet.

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!

so much.

Love,

Sister Cassie Rasmussen

October 22nd

Dear Family,

Tuesday we went bowling! Then after we got ready and had a lesson with Edgar, Edgar, Neina, and Neil. We talked about how we needed their help to build our ward. After we went to the mission home and picked up the new sister, Hermana Sanchez. She is from ARizona and she's adorable! 

Wednesday morning we had transfers! Not too much changed, but Hermana O'Neill came back! So I am happy about that :) Sister Frampton and I had our meeting to plan this transfer and set up the schedules and then we had the temple! 

Thursday morning we had interviews with President Clayton. Holy hannah he is one inspired man! I am so grateful for him and everything he does for all of the missionaries here in San Diego. It was really good to talk with him and he gave me great advice. We had the booth on Grossmont campus after. It was definitely a lot crazier day today.. people wise. Haha so many crazy questions. People really have no idea who mormons are or what they believe. We had a lesson with William after and taught him the word of wisdom and the law of chastity. He took them very well and said he's already been living that way. I think that's so cool when people already live that way! We did commit him not to gamble anymore though, because he has a problem with that. I dont' think I have ever taught someone with a gambling problem. We are so excited for him to get baptized! He's just changed so much. We had mobat and I took the cutest family on tour. They own a farm by Parowan and they told me after my mission I could come work with them on the farm :) haha so I have that to look forward to! 

Friday morning we got flu shots and then we had district meeting. We have a new district! We learned about teaching simpler. After we had a lesson with Neina about the 10 commandments and keeping the sabbath day holy and really committed her to coming to church. We also got a new date for her! We had temple again. We met this awesome guy named Jeff. He's like 20 and he's living in ARizona and learning from the missionaries. He knew SO much about mormons. He said he's struggling to find his answer, but we told him to just keep the faith and don't give up on God! I also met this family who is in Brock and Julie's ward! OH and this cute girl I took on tour a while ago and bonded with... I saw her at the temple tonight and she had received her endowments and now has a mission call to Croatia! So cool. After one of our members, Adrienne, had a mission party. She leaves the same day as Jorgen and is going to Peru. Most of her family and friends are non members so she had this dinner and wanted us to go and explain what missionaries do and then we got delicious food. I thought it was such a cool idea! 

Saturday I was on exchanges with Sister Wells! Sister Wells is a chinese speaking sister so I got to be with Chinese people all day! It was soooo fun :) We had mobat in the morning and it was super busy. We taught a less active first named Jimmy. He's had a crazy life! They are working on getting him back to the temple. We had an awesome lesson with him and read 3 Nephi 11. He's so nice! Next we met with their 19 year old investigator, Winnie. Winnie is from Taiwan and is here on an exchange for a year and lives with a mormon family. She is incredible and the sweetest human being. She also doesn't speak very much english so that whole lesson was in Chinese. Even though I really couldn't understand what was going on.. I definitely could feel the spirit! And I was just amazed with the gift of tongues. Sister Wells is from Springville, Utah. Just a cute american girl... but she can now speak chinese! Ahhhhh. So cool. Winnie is getting baptized in a couple weeks! We ate dinner and then went to the Johnsons house. They used to be in the chinese branch. He served in Taiwan. We talked with them about patience. Boy are they talkers! haha but they are awesome and they gave us delicious pie. We then had a lesson with the Ding family. Sister Ding is super active and her husband is super not. It was quite an interesting lesson about the Spirit. Sister Wells is incredible though and I had such a fun time with her tonight and I really really love Chinese people.

Sunday we had ward council and oh my goodness... I just realized I haven't told you the great news yet..... our ward got ELDERS!!! We have two sets of missionaries now aka twice the work can get done!! We are so so grateful and have been praying for this because there was a lot going on and we just didn't have enough time. The elders are way cool and one of them is actually from Orem! I ran track with his sister. So our ward was stoked today about having elders and sisters. It's going to explode now! We are so pumped :) We helped teach part of relief society. Laura gave an amazing lesson about missionary work and had us teach the first lesson to everyone. After we had mobat and I helped Elder Affleck with his new computer. He got a mac :) After mobat we weekly planned.

Monday we had a lesson with Elizabeth this morning about building her foundation with reading, praying, and coming to church. She is such an awesome girl! She just lacks a little the motivation to be completely active. We picked up Kassandra after and she came with us for the next few hours. I love Kassandra so much! She is incredible. We tried contacting a few less actives and then we had a lesson with Alan Klos. We haven't seen Alan for a while. He has a girlfriend now who isn't a member which is why we havne't really seen him at church, but he was the happiest and most positive I have ever seen him. We read Alma 5 together. It was crazy cool because my companion was having a rough day and Alan like bore this powerful testimony about our decision and choosing to be positive and after my companion was like wow heavenly father answers our prayers through the people we teach! I think that's pretty cool too. There have been several occasions where my prayers have been answered by whoever it is that we are teaching. The gospel is for everyone! We had a lesson with Neina next about tithing. As we were leaving I could tell something was up with Ortega so I went and asked him and he said he's having a really rough time and he started crying.. so we talked with him for a minute and set up an appointment to go see him tomorrow. We mobat next and it was great! I was finally on shift with Sister O'Neill so we got to catch up. I love her so much. I also took a really awesome family on tour! 

Basically life is good :) The gospel is TRUE. Studying the scriptures daily, praying daily, and going to church every Sunday, really is the recipe for a solid foundation! Those 3 things keep us grounded and help us remember the right perspective and make our relationship with Heavenly Father and the Savior even stronger.

I love you all so much!!

Love,

Sister Cassie Rasmussen

October 15th Letter

Dear Family,

My last phone callls!! AHHHHH. Don't worry.. nothing too exciting haha we are staying the same! To be honest I was hoping for a little switch up my last transfer, but nonetheless I am happy and it's going to be a great last 6 weeks! There is a lot changing at the battalion though so there were a lot of tears this morning. This week has been amazing as most weeks haha so here are the highlights...

Wednesday we had mobat in the morning and it was crazy with fall break! I had a meeting with the Seegmillers. Oh and it poured rain today! We had a lesson with Eric. We read 2 Nephi 2 with him. He told us that the temple was so amazing and it was the strongest he has ever felt the spirit. We met with Edgar, Ortega, and Neina next and read Mosiah 3 with them. We talked about general conference and committed them to reading one conference talk each week. We met with William next and taught him the 10 commandments and keeping the Sabbath day holy. Something kind of funny is that our other investigator, David came to the lesson with us and helped teach. Haha it was cool. After we watched the Joseph Smith movie with Robert and David. After David opened up to us a little more and I just love that kid so much. He will be baptized someday...hopefully soon :) 

Thursday happy birthday to Eden! I love you so much!!! I hope it was the best day. We had a really good training this morning where we made up scenarios for the sisters to practice greeting people. After some of us practiced our song for the November fireside and then we did one of my most favorite things. We did a booth on Grossmont college! It was so sweet! We met this awesome guy Jonathan and gave him a Book of Mormon. He has Mormon friends apparently. We then met Ramadan and he is from Sudan. He referred and we are going to meet with him soon! Then we met this guy Page. Page has never really been religious, but wants to be a good person and has been curious about religion lately. We got his information and will meet with him soon too! It always boggles my mind when I see that many people (on campus) and that the majority of them don't even know the truth! Ah so sad! This super nice professor who is mormon bought us some lunch :) This cute girl was walking by and she was just looking at us so I was like 'hey do you want to learn about mormons?' and she was like 'Yeah!' Come to find out she just moved here from England and she's living with her Dad and attending Grossmont. She's so cool! She is going to be a member. She's a referral for the La Jolla sisters. Then this guy Ethan stopped and told us he's an atheist (I am pretty sure he's not.. he's just confused right now) and asked us if he was going to hell and we said no! and he was appalled. He said every other religion said he was so we just talked with him about God's plan. We talked to him for like 30 minutes and he just kept saying he couldn't believe how nice we were. We got his contact information and although I think he'll be a slower process.. he definitely needs obviously and wants God in his life. We packed up our booth and headed back to the campus. Tyler Wedemeyer was there! And it was fun to see him :) We had a lesson with a referral, Daniel. We taught the restoration and it went well, but he kept saying these excuses of why he couldn't do things.. I was just thinking.. come on! You don't understand... this will change your life! Haha and I kind of did say that, but in a really nice way :) We had mobat next and it was pretty busy. 

Friday I was on exchanges with Sister Mulipola and Sister Teanoa in La Jolla. First of all, at 2:00 in the morning I woke up to some guy yelling and it freaked me out. I didn't know what to do, but I really wanted to see what was going on and so I climbed down from the bunk bed and found out Sister Mulipola had been awake too and was hoping I was awake so we could figure out what to do together. We spied out the window (their apartment is closest to the mobat parking lot) and there were these 3 people right in the parking lot by our window kind of. We couldn't tell if they were homeless or drunk or both.. but they kept yelling and fighting.. We didn't know what to do so we called the Seegmillers and they told us to call the police and so we did! They left before the police got there.. but it was crazy. We had mobat in the morning and it was busy. I had just sat down to eat lunch when a sister came back and told me they really needed help figuring out a situation up front and I was like ohhh okay so I went up and SURPRISE!!!!!! Haha I love surprises like that. We sat in the theater and talked while we waited for the next tour and then I just got to take their family! So that made me really happy :) It was definitely one of the coolest tours. Ric and Tami look so good! And Jorgen looks like a grown up and even Cacia seems taller than the last time I saw her and Soren and Ayden are so much bigger! Soren actually wouldn't even look at me at first.. but by the end he finally gave me a hug :) We took pictures and panned for gold and then I had to go, but I was so happy to be able to give them stuff to take home for me! So thank you so much!!! And it was a huge tender mercy from Heavenly Father that I got to see them. He knew I needed that :) I love you Ric, Tami, and family! I said bye to Georgen for 2 years :( but he is going to be such an AMAZING missionary. I am so stoked for him! We then went and taught Stanley Busby. We talked with him about President Uchtdorf's talk "Come, join us" It was good! We then went to a baptism in Santee for Alicia. I taught her so I got to go. It was great! Our investigator William even came. We went to dinner with Rodney and talked about general conference and invited him to share his favorite talk and invite a friend to church. We went to contact a less active and met this guy Jay. He was super interesting, but he said he wouldn't mind meeting with the sisters sometime! So that's good. I am super impressed with Sister Teanoa. She is from the Gilbert Islands and she is just incredible. I love both her and Sister Mulipola and I learned so much from them today. I of course loved being in La JOlla again :)

Saturday we had a lesson with Mark and Steven. We taught them part of the plan of salvation.. really emphasizing the Atonement. It was a really cool lesson. Both of them just want to change so badly.. I think they just don't think they can.. but today they really felt that hope. Some sisters needed some last minute coverage at the mobat so we were there from 12-9. I was definitely exhausted but it was great! The sisters even brought us firehouse subs to say thank you :) 

Sunday we had stake conference and it was great! Edgar is getting the melchizedek priesthood!!! So excited for him. William came! We had coordination and then had a lesson with Sabrina. She is moving tomorrow :( I will miss her! We went through the strength of youth with her. She just really wants to make sure that she doesn't fall away and sometimes she feels like she's slipping. She's so cool. We had mobat and then weekly planned! 

Monday happy birthday Makai! I loveth you! We studied and helped Elder Holley with some car stuff and he gave us homeade bread from his wife! So delicious. We had a lesson with Page from the booth and taught him the restoration. It was a sweet lesson! Laura came as well. Page really wants to come to church and really wants to find out if this is true. I love when people have that strong desire to know the truth! Mobat next. It was a little calmer tonight. Some of the sisters and myself got to go to the hacienda and sing happy birthday to this guy for Elder Seegmiller and then he gave us free food! It was delicious. I took this lady on tour with her two sons and they were so adorable. Throughout the tour I found out that her husband recently passed away :( So sad. We talked about how grateful we are for the gospel. Sister Frampton and I had a meeting and then we had a farewell for Sister Crawford. Ahhhh. Oh ps Elder Zwick came to the mobat today. He's so cool. 

This week I have been particularly grateful to know that Heavenly Father is so aware of me and all of us. I might have talked about that recently, but He really is just so incredibly loving. I love this gospel so much! I am grateful for the peace, comfort, and joy it brings. It really brings SO much joy :)

I love you all!!

Love,

Sister Cassie Chea Rasmussen

October 8th Letter

 Family!

Wasn't general conference amazing!?!? Ahhhh so much revelation! Yay! I hope you all enjoyed it as much as me :) Here are the highlights from the week...

Tuesday we went to the temple. SO amazing. I also was able to receive some answers there and I saw Brandon!! He came and talked with me for a little bit :) And gave me a wedding announcement. It's so cute! It was sweet though because as I sat in the Celestial room I picked up the Book of Mormon and opened it randomly 3 times and each time whatever I opened to answered something that was on my mind. The church is true! 

Mission Leadership Council 

 Wednesday we had mobat and I had a meeting with the Seegmillers and Sister Frampton. After we had a lesson with Andrea. She broke down to us because she is still having a rough time with her break up. We taught the plan of salvation and she said it brought a lot of comfort. She's awesome and she is going to be a beast member someday! We had a lesson with Eric next. He never ceases to amaze me. We taught him the Plan of Salvation and tied it into family history. He is so excited to start his especially because he is an orphan. He is also pumped to go to the temple on thursday! We saw Patrick next. Diana came! We taught keeping the sabbath day holy. I love Patrick so much. His prayers are the best! We had a lesson with David. Robert came. Robert is so good with David because he went through the exact same thing. David told us that he's had a rough few weeks and he just wanted to give up and quit this whole mormon thing :( we talked about opposition and Robert bore powerful testimony. We really just tried to make sue he knew that we loved him. He said he doesn't want to give up but that he just needs to start from scratch. I will NOT give up on this kid. He's incredible. We had a lesson with Neina next and also taught the plan of salvation. Neina is so cool. We got to talk with her twin Pachi tonight! He was a little more open to us tonight. 

Thursday happy birthday coley!! I love that little guy. We had training and we talked about our responsibility at the temple. Next Sister Frampton and I went to mission leadership council! My favorite. Today we discussed becoming better and clearer teachers and also companion study. We had a delicious lunch and then I had mobat. I took the CUTEST family on tour. Ah. The dad was in a modern day mormon battalion! I forgot the name of it, but I'd never heard of it before. He had some pretty crazy stories. We had a little guitar jammin session, Sister Miller and I. 

Sister Rasmussen with her district

Friday we had mobat and Sister Riggs and I took the cutest older couple on tour. They even referred at the end because they were touched by the story! So sweet. We had district meeting which was great! We talked about using and applying the Book of Mormon. We had a lesson with Edgar and Ortega about general conference to try to get them pumped. We then went by Chris's and I think we might have woken him up or something, because he was in a completely different mood then last time. He just seemed not excited about anything and it was a rough lesson, so we just decided we'd come back another time to see if he was just having a rough night or something. 

Saturday was Christmas! I mean general conference! Haha it literally feels like Christmas that's how exciting it is! We watched both sessions at the battalion. Our investigator William came and watched the morning session with us and then we had a lesson with him in between. After both of the sessions we weekly planned and then we had battalion. Okay so I thought of a few questions for conference just like I challenged you all and the craziest thing happened.. President Uchtdorf's talk almost always answers at least one of my questions, but this time it didn't! His talk was still one of my most favorites, but it didn't answer any of my questions, and I didn't really get any of my other questions answered in those two sessions, but I wasn't doubting or anything because I knew they'd get answered tomorrow. We broadcast all the sessions at the battalion even priesthood and I was on shift during the priesthood session. I had just gotten off a tour and the senior sister told me I could go watch one talk of the priesthood session and then come back out. I debated whether or not because I just thought maybe I should stay up front and that I could read the talks later, BUT I just kinda had this feeling that I should go, so I did! I walked in right at the close of one of the songs and just as President Uchtdorf was about to speak. He answered every single one of my questions in that talk. And it wasn't even necessarily what he said, but what the Spirit told me. I definitely couldn't hold back tears... which I am usually pretty good at doing. But it just made me know how Heavenly Father really is so aware of me and of all of us. What are the chances that I was at the battalion that night? What are the chances that I just happened to get off a tour right before President Uchtdorf was speaking and saying what I needed to hear? It's all because Heavenly Father is in the details of my life and in all of our lives! So if you are doubting he loves you are is aware of you... DON'T! Because he does LOVE you and he is AWARE of you. Every single day. Every single moment. :) I love this gospel. 

The zone with interesting mustachios

Sunday conference was also amazing! I was on shift Sunday morning so I only got to see the beginning and the end. President Eyring's talk was amazing!! And I saw the end of President Monson's and am excited to read the rest of it. We watched the second session at the stake center. William came! He loved conference so much and just kept thanking us for inviting him. Also yesterday when we taught him, we taught him about fasting and tithing and today he was fasting for his family! So cool. It's incredible how much he is changing. After we street contacted this awesome lady named Pilar. She wants her and her daughters to learn more! We stopped by a referral, Mark. He was home! He lives in a sober house, so that makes things interesting, but we invited whoever wanted to listen to come join our lesson out back. We taught Mark the restoration and it was a super cool and personalized lesson. We asked him if he wanted to be baptized and he said yes, but he wanted more time to learn. We asked him if he'd like to set a date to work towards and he said 'yeah, how bout in 2 weeks?' haha wow! We got him with a date for November 2nd. One of his house mates had joined us by then, named Steven. Steven said he'd been baptized a few times, but he doesn't think he did it for the right reasons and how he wants to shape up his life now and asked us if he could be baptized too! Haha. He's older so we'll have to pass him off to the elders, but his heart is so willing. At the end we asked Mark to pray about Joseph Smith so he did and after before we could even ask STeven he asked if he could pray about Joseph Smith too. So cool! We went to Chris's next. He was definitely a lot more chipper this time. We taught him the restoration and he said he just wants to take things slowly. We went to Kevin's. We finally got to see him again! He's been going through some rough stuff. Thankfully not spiritually, but just with family. We talked with him about the priesthood and recommitted him to everything. We told him how if he really wants to be baptized that he has to be consistent with coming to church and with praying and reading. He said he really wants it. Dan came with us and after we had coordination with him on his porch. Dan is so cool. Sister Lehmitz and I had a good chat and kind of made a new focus. 

Monday happy birthday Julie!!! I loves you! We had zone meeting today. Elders Cena and Calzada made is so wonderful! I think I've said this before, but everything we talk about at Mission Leadership Council, the zone leaders are supposed to come up with a way to teach what we discuss to their zones, so I always like to see how they decided to do it and they did awesome! I really like our zone. We went to district lunch after and then we had an appointment with this guy named two socks. He's super open! We have to pass him off to the elders though. Then the best thing ever happened... all our appointments fell through! Haha just kidding that's not the best. So we contacted for about 3 hours and one of our members came with us. It was actually really good! We were able to find out a lot of information about some of the less actives in our ward. We are trying to clean up the ward list and figure out where everyone is. We had a lesson with Nathan and read from the Book of Mormon, Mosiah 2. Nathan really is making a change in his life. I just love seeing people's hearts change as they accept the Savior and His gospel and His atonement into their lives. That's my favorite thing! 

Basically it was an awesome week :) I am a little sad I forgot my conference notebook so I can't tell you about my exact favorite parts of conference... but pretty much I just loved everything! I love how much they stress the importance of families! I am so so grateful for our family! 

I love you all so much :)

Love,

Sister Cassie Rasmussen

October 1st Letter

Dear Family,

Oh my goodness. I am SOOOOOO EXCITED for general conference :) I don't think you understand. And I get to go to the temple today, FINALLY so I am also super stoked for that. It's just going to be a spiritually high field week :) wooot! Those are the best. Anyways... here are the highlights.. 

Sister Rasmussen and Sister Patterson at the lighthouse

Tuesday night we had a lesson with Eric. He is still unreal. Neil came and we talked about the Christlike attribute charity and how that motivates us to serve and to share the gospel. Eric told us he thinks he wants to go on a mission! So cool :) He would do so great! After we had a lesson with Edgar and Sam. Dan came with us. We decided to do something fun with them so we played the flour game! I remember playing this with the nieces and nephews. It's the one where you build a tower of flour and then you put something on top and you have to cut parts of the flour away and whoever makes the item on top fall has to put their face in the flour to get the item. Anyways we turned it into a sweet lesson about building our foundations! It was fun! And then of course Edgar and Sam got in a flour fight at the end so I'll send you a picture of that. 

Sam and Edgar after the flour fight

Wednesday I was on exchanges with Sister Patterson! I adore Sister Patterson :) It was soooooo fun! Our morning appt cancelled so we tried stopping by Nathan's but he wasn't home so we went to see a referral, Chris. Chris is so cool! He's 18 years old and has definitely had a rough life, but when we asked him what he likes he said, 'I love skateboarding, and I love God!' We talked with him about prayer and feeling the spirit and the Book of Mormon. He was really excited about everything! We were able to add him. Then when we were walking back to our car this guy was like hey are you missionaries? And we were like yeah! And he started talking about how he's looking for a church and so we got to talk with him for a minute, but he was working so then he had to go and we got his information. I love when people call us out! Next we met with Patrick. A girl from the Helix ward who just recently got home from her mission came with us. Her name is Diana. We taught him about the 10 commandments and following the prophet and talked with him about conference. He is so excited for conference! We invited him to think of a question and he is pumped and knows it will be answered. Diana came with us to our next appointment with Ryan. Ryan is really struggling. He just doesn't understand priorities. We talked with him about prayer and he said he would try to pray at least 2 times a week... and we were like no no no.. you don't understand.. pray every day! It will help you with school.. work.. family life.. EVERYTHING!! At the end he said a really sincere prayer and I hope he can just realize that as we develop our relationship with Heavenly Father that we will feel his presence so much more in our lives. Diana also came with us to our next appointment with Andrea. Andrea has had a rough week because her boyfriend of 2 years broke up with her. We were able to tie that into the gospel lesson and it was a sweet lesson! At the end Andrea was just smiling and laughing and said she felt so much better. We had temple next. The security guys brought us ice cream :) We talked and met lots of cool people. I hated being the bearer of bad news though when couples would come to do a session and we had to tell them it was closed :( I loved being with Sister Patterson though. She is incredible at being in tune with the Spirit and she just has such a pure heart! She's definitely become one of my best friends out here.

Sister Rasmussen and Edgar with his new scriptures with his name on them

Thursday we had training this morning and it was the best! I don't if I've actually told you, but I figured you might have gathered this from my emails, but part of my responsibility as sister trainer is Sister Frampton and I plan the trainings. This mornings training was based on my favorite show.... SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE! Hahaha. We did so you think you can give a tour? It was super fun! We had everyone pick a partner and then they had to pick a style (we had accent, hiccups, sad, robot, and singing) and they had to do a part of the tour that way. We are trying to help sisters break out of their shells and have fun with the tour so we did that in hopes that it would help. Then after the silly  one we had them practice conviction with the courthouse which is the part where we sum up the story and really talk about what these men accomplished because of their faith. It was super fun and I think all the sisters really enjoyed it. After we had a lesson with William about prophets and baptism. He said in his prayer that he knows he will be ready to be baptized on October 19. Ah yay! He's changed so much. We had district meeting and it was super cool. We talked about remembrance and the Spirit. We had temple again. Edgar got his patriarchal blessing!! He called us to tell us that it was the most amazing experience. Ah! I am so happy for him! Oh so at the temple these sisters from Burley came and they knew our family! The Robins family? They took a pic and said they were going to show Adam on facebook or something. We also met this adorable lady from Albania. She couldn't speak much english but she just kept saying "It's good, it's good." Haha and she got our email and took pictures with us. We then weekly planned.

Sister Patterson and Sister Rasmussen at the temple

Friday we had zone conference! In my old stomping grounds aka Chula Vista. The assistants did an awesome training about the Spirit. Figuring out how the Spirit works is definitely one of the hardest things. I feel like sometimes I have it down and know really well and then other times I have no idea.. It's awesome that we get to keep learning how it works though. President talked to us about stress and member work and planning. I got to see some people from my Otay Lakes ward and it was fun to see some missionaries I haven't seen for a while. We had mobat next and Sister Jarrett and I took a tour with these awesome Asians who were SO ready for the gospel. One of them told me she'd teach me Chinese for free! Haha i wish! Sister Mulipola and I took the assistants, Elder Long and Elder Wilkey, and their investigator and a member family on tour. It was definitely one of the funniest and coolest tours. We had them dress up and do the campfire part and the kids all loved it so much. 

Can you lead a tour?

Saturday we had mobat and I helped Sister Bement with a project. After mobat we went to our investigators but he was sleeping and so then we stopped by a referrals. He was sick, but said he'd love to meet with us this next week. Next was the relief society broadcast and oh my goodness it was SO good!! Ahhhhh. All about keeping our covenants and the sacrament and i LOVED President Monson's talk. It was just what I needed :) It made me ever more pumped for general conference. Speaking of which.. I challenge you all to take questions to conference. It's the coolest thing ever! I know they will get answered. They had a delicious potato bar after and then coordination. 

Sister O'Neill and Cassie reunited

Sunday was fast sunday. We had ward council and then church was great! Patrick was sick :( but William came! And he really enjoyed it. Eric got his temple recommend and he's SOO excited! He's going this week! He also passed the Sacrament again :) Nathan Duckett is getting called as a ward missionary and I have never seen him so happy. He was just glowing after church when he told us. We had break the fast and then mobat. I took this family on tour that I took last year at this time! And they remembered me haha so that was fun. We had a lesson with Alex and then with Nathan. Dan came to both lessons. With Nathan we read Alma 36 with him and he just hit home. He bore such powerful testimony about his experience. It was awesome! 

The assistants dressed up!

Monday we had mobat in the morning. It was pretty slow! I worked on schedules for the Seegmillers. After we had a lesson with Neina. We read 2 Nephi 31 with her and talked with her about enduring to the end and how scripture study, prayer, and going to church are going to be the key things that are going to help her to do that. It was cool because we went into that lesson planning to teach the plan of salvation, but then she hadn't read her assignment (2 Nephi 31) so we read it with her and Sister Lehmitz and I both had the feeling to talk with her about church, reading, and praying. Yay for the Spirit being the true teacher! She opened up to us a little more.  Next we went to the church to meet some of the girls in our ward to go on splits with and while we waited we talked to this really nice man named John. He lives right next to the church and comes to the parking lot to play fetch with his dog. We invited him to come in sometime and he said he'd really like that! Brooklyn came with us to Patrick's lesson. We taught him the word of wisdom. He was feeling better today, but still a little sick. He thankfully doesn't have a problem with the word of wisdom, but it was still a great lesson to help him see the importance of that commandment. We tried visiting a few less actives with Brooklyn, but no one was home. We stopped by FHE and then I had a meeting with Sister Frampton. Sister Frampton is really awesome and I am grateful that I get to work with her. We balance each other out pretty well, haha so it's good. 

It was another great week though! I still love being a missionary :) haha. It's the best ever! I am in the middle of Alma right now with my reading. I love Alma! I love Alma and Amulek and just the love they have for each other and how much they back each other up. I also got to read one of my favorite scriptures again, because I am at that part in the Book of Mormon. I might have shared this scripture before, but I love Alma 33:11 " And thou didst hear me because of mine afflictions and myasincerity; and it is because of thy Son that thou hast been thus merciful unto me, therefore I will cry unto thee in all minebafflictions, for in thee is my joy; for thou hast turned thy judgments away from me, cbecause of thy Son. "I just love that Heavenly Father is ALWAYS listening and he is never judging. It's like what President Monson said this past weekend, that Heavenly Father loves us so much and that love never changes, no matter what! We just have to show our love in return by really taking that time to communicate with him, to read from his words in the scriptures, and to go to church so we can seek even more revelation and especially to help strengthen others around us. This gospel is UNREAL. I love it :)

I love you all! Eat sticky buns for me please :) 

Love,

Sister Cassie Rasmussen

September 24th Letter

Dear Family,

First of all.. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DALLIN!! I hope it's the best day ever. Here are the highlights for the week :)

Tuesday night we had an appointment with Kevin. We read 3 Nephi 11. He's kind of had a rough few weeks. He knows the gospel has changed his life so far and that it continue to do so, but he's getting his priorities out of order which is hard because he really wants to be baptized, but because of things from his past he can't be until he gets permission and shows that he's putting forth the effort and really wants this in his life. Next we met with Alexis and Sabrina. Sabrina told us that she's been having a hard time at church because she just feels like she never knows what's going on or what people are talking about and then she's scared to ask question because she fears people will be like...'uhhh you don't know that?' So we tried to help her see that she shouldn't be scared to ask questions and that people would be really understanding because they know she hasn't grown up with this her whole life and how she needs to be patient with herself and the learning will come as she continues to pray, study the scriptures, and come to church. She felt a lot better after the lesson.

Cassie at the temple

Wednesday I went on exchanges with Sister Riggs in Santee! It was super fun to be reunited with her. I love her so much! We had mobat in the morning and mom's temple friend came and brought me pumpkin bundts!! AHHHHHHHH mom. Thank YOU so much!!! I decided to be nice and share with some of the sisters and all of them about passed out when they took a bite because it was so insanely delicious :) I really love those pumpkin bundts. Sister Miller and I took a really cool tour with these 3 french ladies. Even though they couldn't really understand what was going on, after the tour they had tears in their eyes because they could feel what was going on. That's what I LOVE. The Spirit speaks through how we feel, not necessarily what we hear. After mobat we had a lesson with a less active, Alex about being healed through the Savior. Next we had a dinner with a member, Luke, who is leaving on his mission soon. We talked about how he must be patient with himself on his mission and remember that the Lord will give him strength. Next we met a recent convert, Vanessa and talked about eternal marriage. She is so sweet! We went and contacted some less-actives, the Augustines. We found out the Dad joined the church when he was 18 and then left on a mission a year later and served for 2 years and got married in the temple and had 3 kids (who were the less actives we were trying to meet) and they were all baptized and then something happened... now he is re married and doesn't want anything to do with the church. His 21 year old son whom we met, didn't even know he served a mission and didn't really know anything about the church. It was really sad :( We tried to share something with them, but they didn't want anything to do with it.. so we invited him to some activities. We had a lesson with Stephanie, a less active, and taught her the plan of salvation. She is super cool! I saw Scott and Brent Sadleir so I got to talk with them for a minute and then Alexis pulled us to the side and asked us how we knew we wanted to serve a mission. She told us the thought keeps popping up her in mind and she just doesn't know if that is what she's supposed to do. Ahhh she would be an amazing missionary! Oh ps I feel bad for whoever has to replace Sister Patterson in Santee someday. So whenever I go on exchanges people always have a little panic attack that transfers happened and they didn't get to say goodbye to the other sister and usually it's just a little panic attack, but like every person in Santee that I saw were like flipping out that Sister Patterson was gone, haha it was funny slash crazy. Sister Riggs made me laugh a lot though. She opened up to me about some struggles she's been having and so we had an awesome chat and I challenged her to do something every day.

Sister Rasmussen and Sister Patterson. Cassie says she is like her best friend and she loves her. 

Thursday we had training in the morning and Bishop Seegmiller (Elder Seegmiller's cousin) is the transient Bishop here and he came to talk with us about homeless people because sadly it is a huge problem in San Diego. We had mobat in the morning and Sister Teanoa (She's from Kiribati) and I took a tour with this cute family. After the dad was super interested and had so many sincere questions and we gave him a Book of Mormon and then as they were walking out I could hear the wife kind of getting mad at him and asking him why he wanted the book and wanted to learn more. It made me really sad for them. She doesn't realize that her husband is realizing how much more happiness could be in their family!! After the mobat we tried stopping by a referrals and she wasn't home but we met her awesome uncle and talked with him for a little. We had a lesson with Edgar, Ortega, and Sam next. We taught them about courage and used the mormon message and story about Esther and invited them to use their courage to make a hard decision that would help them for the better. Edgar made us tater tots and chicken nuggets, haha. AND he told us he is getting his patriarchal blessing this next week! Ahhhhhhh I am so excited for him!!!!!! Next we had a lesson with Patrick and we taught him about the Plan of Salvation. Dan came and it was really great lesson. Each time we see Patrick I can just tell his eyes are being opened a little wider. Dan came with us which was awesome because he invited him to church and Patrick really liked that. We found out Patrick's only concern about going was that he didn't have any nice clothes and Dan told him that no one would judge him and not to worry about that. After Patrick's lesson, my companion was having a really hard time and so we had a really long talk and it was cool because the Spirit doesn't just speak through me as a missionary to my investigators, less-actives, or even members, but He speaks through me as a friend to the Sisters here and especially my companion. After our conversation I just sat there thinking to myself where did that come from? Because the Spirit was literally guiding me with everything I said. It was so cool. I love being an instrument in the Lord's hands! 

Friday we taught William the Plan of Salvation again. A member, Cameron came. William's heart really is softening. We had district meeting. I really like our district! We talked about utilizing members and played this fun game which was good to relieve some stress with all of them. My companion got a blessing after and it was a really cool experience for me, mainly for 2 reasons.. 1) The elder she chose to give her blessing is an 18 year old fresh out of the MTC and as soon as he started giving the blessing, this wave of reaffirmation came over me of how real the power of the priesthood is especially because of reason number that Heavenly Father really is speaking through whoever is giving the blessing and 2) what he said in the blessing was basically exactly what I had said to her the night before and it just made me realize more so that the Spirit really was speaking through me last night and how important it is for us to be worthy of the Spirit, but more importantly to be sensitive to it. Because there were a lot of things I wanted to say, or that I could have said, but I listened to her.. then I listened to the Spirit.. then I spoke only what I felt I should say. I just wish I could always be that way, ha but unfortunately sometimes I let other things get in the way and then I start to say or do what I want to do, instead of what He wants me to do or say. We had mobat next and I helped Sister Bement and Jarrett with a project.

Saturday we had coordination. DAn is awesome! We then weekly planned and had temple. It's closed right now for maintenance and cleaning, but the temple president really wanted the grounds to be open and for us to be there still and it's a good thing we followed his inspiration because there were SO many people tonight! Like more than when it's open, haha. We met this awesome couple who were less active a while ago and got married and had 2 kids and then they ended up getting a divorce and they were divorced for 2 years and then they both started getting active again and then they got back together and now their family is sealed in the temple! Ah! We also met this awesome couple from SWEDEN! And they weren't members, but they had such sincere questions and it was so cool! Don't worry Jorgen, I told them all about you :) They said they will keep their eye out. It was also freezing tonight at the temple. The security guard brought us free ice cream which was so nice and so delicious, but made me so much more cold, haha. 

Sunday Eric got the aaronic priesthood and he passed the sacrament! It was SO cool!!!! He is incredible. Church was great! A RM gave his talk about his mission and then the Rockwells spoke. Patrick came to church! And guess what? He was wearing a nice shirt and tie! Dan bought some for him! Isn't that the nicest thing ever?? OH my goodness. William also showed up to church! He was a little skeptical of it all, but I think he had a good experience and everyone was really nice to him. Patrick loved it! Mobat was great! I got to take Elder and Sister Holley's family on tour so that was fun (they are a senior couple in our mission who I get to work with quite closely) After mobat we had a lesson with Nathan. He told us he really wants to put his past life away and be worthy and go on a mission! So that was pretty cool. We read Alma 7 with him. 

Sister Rasmussen with the Rockwells

Monday we had a full day. We had a lesson with William and we watched the Joseph Smith Movie. He really liked it. It actually made him quite emotional and he just cares about his family so much. He is worried that none of them will accept this message and that he will always be the only Mormon. We told him he is going to be such a great example to his family! We ate lunch and then I had a meeting with Sister Frampton. Next was a lesson with Patrick. Adrienne came and we taught the gospel with the soap demonstration. Patrick really enjoyed that. He also told us that when he woke up this morning he just felt so much better and happier because of yesterday at church. So sweet! It's funny because it's really hard to get investigators to come to church for the firs time, but once they do, they usually love it! Next we met with Mary. It's been a while since we've seen her. Our member, Brooklyn, came and she was in charge of the lesson. It was great! We then went out with another member Sarah so visit some less actives and then we had a lesson with Neina. We taught her the gospel lesson with the soap also. She is hard to read sometimes, but I know this is what she wants. She set a date to be baptized! Edgar is so overjoyed that someone in his family is finally accepting this! We went to fhe for a minute and then we had a farewell for the Rockwells. I love the Rockwells so much!!! We are definitely going to miss them. 

Our cute recent convert Sabrina, wrote us the nicest note this week. I want to share some of it with you. 'I just want to give you guys a quick thank you for being you! Without missionaries like you girls I don't know where this world would be. You two brighten my day and make me feel loved and that is such an amazing blessing because you two were once strangers and now I'll have you in my heart forever. Sister Rasmussen, at first I couldn't say, read or properly pronounce your name so I would call you Sister R or think of you as Rapunzel because of your long hair, that's how I remembered your name but now I can never forget it! Thank you for always having a smile on your face and being so happy. It really cheers me up when I'm down. I know you nor Sister Lehmitz or any missionary are the type to judge but I still get embarrassed being completely open with people that aren't family, except with you. I think it's because you have such a happy-go-lucky spirit and I am hoping it rubs off on me someday. And I love that you and I both love Taylor Swift!' Then she wrote a super sweet paragraph for Sister Lehmitz. I just wanted to share that because I feel like there's a lot of people out there who just don't know how much they are loved and it's so amazing to be able to help them see their potential and their worth and help them know they are loved by us, but most importantly by Heavenly Father and the Savior. It's funny because I was reluctant to share this with you because I didn't want to seem boastful or anything, but then I read Alma 26 this morning and I was like no way! Haha I am not boasting in myself, but in God! Truly though. Anything I have done or become out here is because of Him and His son. I am so grateful for Their love. I hope all of you feel of Their love every single day!

And mine too. Because I love you :)

Love,

Sister Cassie Rasmussen

September 17th Letter

Dear Family,

Well wow. Haha it has been quite the week! I am assuming most of you have heard about my ankle by now.. so I will tell the whole story in my highlights.. 

Tuesday the La Jolla sisters invited us to go play volleyball and of course we accepted. I love volleyball and I love north zone! It was a lot of fun! But near the end I went up to spike the ball and the next thing I knew I was on the ground and my ankle had split basically in half and I heard and felt a popping. I got up and hobbled over to the side and it started to hurt pretty bad. Luckily I was with very athletic elders who probably had done this a time or two so they knew how to help me. They told me not to take my shoe off or it would swell immediately and they got me some ice. I felt a little like I might pass out because as you know I am prone to do that especially when I am tired, but I kept praying I wouldn't so thankfully I didn't :) After about 5 minutes the pain went away and I tried walking on it and I could just fine! Maybe just a little hobble, so I kept playing, but I babied my right foot. We headed back to the battalion to write letters and then I thought I should have Sister Seegmiller look at my ankle so she did and it was hardly even swollen and she was amazed and she said that I should be fine unless it starts hurting really bad then I should go to the doctor. Well we had two appointments that night so we headed to Patricks and on the way my ankle started hurting again and then I got out of the car to walk to Patrick's and I could hardly walk on my foot... well Patrick wasn't home so we headed to our next lesson at the temple with Eric. By this time my ankle started hurting really bad. I had to hop into the temple because I couldn't even put pressure on my foot and then as we were teaching it still was hurting way bad even though there wasn't pressure on it at all. I started getting really light headed and the member who was with us was like 'Sister Rasmussen.. you don't look so good.. your face is really white..' I thought I might pass out again but I just breathed really deeply and laid there for like 5 minutes and I didn't feel like I was going to pass out, but I was still in a lot of pain. My companion wanted to take me to the ER but I was like heck no. They took me in a wheelchair out to the car and I called some of the elders to ask if they would come give me a blessing at the battalion. They gave me a blessing and we went back to our apt and that night was a pretty long night.. I couldn't sleep because of the pain and I had even taken ib profen and so I watched Legacy, Finding faith in Christ, Mormon messages and bible videos, tried reading in the Book of Mormon and praying a lot. I finally fell asleep around 4 and woke up at like 6. Needless to say I was pretty exhausted.

The swollen ankle

Crutches!

Wednesday when I woke up the pain wasn't as bad and I just laid in bed for a while. I got an appointment with the doctor and Sister Seegmiller took me. He thought it might be broken and so I got some xrays, but it wasn't! He said it probably would've been better if I would've broken it because I tore the outside and inside ligaments. He gave me a little boot/brace thing and I got some crutches and headed to zone meeting! Zone meeting was great. My zone was so kind to me and my zone leaders are awesome! Elder Calzada is from Guadalajara and Elder Cena is from Italy. President even came and he was like ..'uh oh sister rasmussen what happened?' haha oops. About the end of zone meeting I started feeling pretty sick. I just was exhausted. We went and got some food and then I had a meeting at the battalion and then I was sent to the couch in the back to rest so I did. I worked on a few projects as well. That night I went to bed early. 

Thursday we had a full day which I was a little nervous for.. being on crutches and all.. but it worked out great! We had training in the morning with President and Elder Seegmiller and they taught us about the spirit. They basically said we need to stop worrying about every little detail because the Holy Ghost can say things that we can't or don't say and how the elect will hear and feel and be influenced. I loved it! We studied and then went to lunch at Elizabeth's. Her mom is in town and she made us the most delicious food and cupcakes! ahhh. so yummy. We talked with them about our relationship with Heavenly Father. Next we had a lesson with Janess and we taught her the plan of salvation. She is so awesome and ready to change right now! We found out we can't teach her anymore though because the Bishop said she needs the support of the family ward so we are going to pass her off to the other sisters, which will be good! But we'll miss her. Next we had an appointment with Kevin but he wasn't there so we tried contacting a referral and then we had a lesson with a referral, Andrea. She is actually Gabriel's sister. She said she is really searching for a church right now and she feels like most of the church's are not focusing on what's important and that they change their standards according to what the world sees. Our jaws like dropped and wow.. she is awesome! We taught her the restoration and she was excited about it all. We went to see Ericka but she wasn't home and we ended up having a cool lesson with her brother Peter. He declined learning further right now unfortunately, but I know he'll come around! Next we were headed to Edgars and we ended up teaching two of his neighbors outside. We taught them both about prayer and they were really grateful for our service. Edgar bought us pizza. So nice of him. We were talking about Patriarchal blessings and gifts and Ortega showed up and we both felt like we needed to show them the mormon message 'Will of God' so we did. After Ortega's eyes were filled with tears and he said 'Can we please watch that again?' So we did and there were more tears. It was cool that it was exactly what he needed. We had a lesson with Sabrina at the church and taught her about service. I love her and Alexis so much! 

Friday I went on exchanges with Sister Brown in Mira Mesa. By the way.. my foot is healing so quickly! Yay for the power of the priesthood! No more crutches for me today. Sister Brown and I taught a recent convert who is amazing She just soaks up the gospel so much and she is one of the most Christlike people I've ever met! We went to this place to meet a less active for lunch. She showed up super late and then when she got there she bought us the food and said she had to go! Haha weird... but the food was really delicious! Next we had a lesson with their investigator, Nadia. As we were going inside, she was trying to get her dogs in the back yard and she has this huge black dog and Sister Brown was trying to keep it away from me and my foot and then her bag like broke so she was picking it up and the dog got past her and came behind me and went through my legs like it wanted me to ride on it hahaha it was super funny and painful because I ended up falling over as I was trying not to step too hard on my bad ankle.. haha. We had a really cool lesson with Nadia about the restoration. She is from Iran! And she is so prepared. It's exactly what she needs in her life.. well duh! Everyone does haha :) Next we were driving to the temple and it was super funny because I was telling Sister Brown how it'd been a while it seemed like since I saw anyone I knew and then who shows up at teh temple? Aunt Sissy, Nate, and Kale! Haha it was so fun and good to see them :) At like 7:45pm Sister Brown and I were packing up to leave and like 20 non members all showed up at the same time in different groups so we started running around trying to talk to them all. I ended up talking to the most adorable little Asian family and was able to get their info so the chinese sisters can contact them! Ah they were so cute! It was way fun to be with Sister Brown today. She is an amazing example of how to be lovingly bold. Something I have worked on my whole mission! I feel like I can do the loving part..but the bold part lacks, haha. 

Kale, Aunt Sissy and Nate with Cassie at the temple

Saturday we had an amazing lesson with David Payne. We followed up with him on President Morgan's invitation for him to be baptized last Sunday and he said he knows it's what he needs to do, but he's not quite ready yet. We talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ and showed him the soap demonstration and he really liked that. He told us how he was just scared. Thankfully Robert was there and Robert went through a really similar situation so he testified about how he just needed to do it and that it would bring him far greater happiness than he can imagine. He also told him he just needed to have faith in himself. We read Mosiah 18 with him and asked him if he had the desire to be baptized and he said yes and so then we asked once again if he would be baptized and he said yes! He said he wanted to talk to his family first and that he wanted to finish the BofM which he is almost done. So we set a date.. Sept 28 he will have all of that done and then he will set a baptism date. Ahhhh he's so close!!!!! I have been teaching him for almost 5 months! WE had coordination and then weekly planned and then had the mobat. I finally took tours again even though I hobbled through them haha it was great. 

Elder Long, Sister Frampton and Elder Wilkey

Sunday we had ward council and church. There were some great talks about how we must be aware of those around us! After church we had mobat and Sister Patterson and I took the coolest couple on tour. We got talking to them after and they both have pretty incredible stories. The guy is from India and he married a mormon and they had a daughter and his daughter was raised mormon and a few years ago he and his wife got a divorce... but his daughter never gave up on him and he was baptized a little over a year ago! And the girl she wasn't a member growing up but when she was 16 she was hit by a drunk driver and she said she was killed on impact, but they brought her back to life. The doctors told her and her family that she'd be a vegetable the rest of her life. Her attorney was apparently mormon and he and his family decided to take her in. She was in rehabilitation for 8 years and she miraculously was able to re-learn everything! She had to learn how to read, write, speak, move, walk.. everything! And she did! And if you saw her you would never guess that happened. She was baptized shortly after she was healed!! And she is hilarious and so happy and she talks about how it's all because of the gospel. That God has been so good to her and she just wants to share the gospel with everything! Her mother even was baptized 6 months ago. Ah man it was so cool. I took the most adorable chinese family on tour. We came back to our apt and it smelled super bad. It's been smelling pretty bad the past few days, but it smelled extra bad today so I decided to figure out what teh problem was and lo and behold I found a dead mouse between our counter and fridge. Gross!!!! I called one of the senior elders to come get it, haha. We went to see Juan but he was sleeping so we ended up teaching his brother Joel. He's so cool. We talked about the importance of teh scriptures. Next we tried contacting a referral but ended up teaching this man named Robert who was watering his lawn. He declined learning more, but we offered to come help him with his yard or clean the house and he accepted! 

Monday I woke up and I was super dizzy. I have had dizzy spells every so often on my mission, but they usually go away within and hour or less. This one just wouldn't go away though! And it was making me super nauseous. I went outside for exercise though because I thought fresh air would be good and it was.. but then it just got worse so I laid in bed until about 10:30 and then I started feeling much better and I got my pioneer dress on and went to the mobat and guess who came?? Aunt Sissy, Nate, Kale, and Brandon!!! So Sister Patterson and I took them on tour and it was fun :) I love them so much! And I got mad at Brandon for getting married before I come home.. haha but he showed me lots of pictures so that made me happy. A few hours later I started feeling pretty sick again so I laid down in the back.. I think my body is trying to shut down on me.. but I told it.. I said..'hey.. you only got 2 months to give it your all.. so you can't fail me now!' And thankfully it obeyed haha and I definitely prayed a lot. I started feeling better again. Don't worry Mom I am making sure I don't push myself too much and am taking care of myself :) I think my body was just so overly exhausted from everything going on. We went to our relief society president's house and had a meeting with her. She's so on the ball! It's awesome. We came up with a game plan. We stopped by fhe and then we went to Patrick's and taught him the restoration. 

Kale, Nate, Aunt Sissy, Cassie and Brandon

It was a crazy, but great week! This week I was just extremely grateful for prayer. I am grateful for prayer every day obviously, but this week I really relied on it a lot and I am grateful we have a loving Heavenly Father. I am grateful He gives us strength. And I am grateful He answers our prayers. It's not usually in the way we want or in the timing we want, but He always answers in the way that is best for us. He knows us so well :) Ah. I love being a missionary! I love the gospel. The gospel=pure happiness.

I love you all so much! Thank you for your love and prayers!

Love,

Sister Cassie Rasmussen