Michigan is Beautiful!!
Hey everyone!
Michigan is beautiful! The weather has been perfect these past two weeks. It was cold the first day I was here and since then it has been spring time! There are so many trees here and right now they are all covered in blossoms, it's gorgeous and my comp sis Smith and I just want to go exploring in the trees and climbing but I guess that's why we are wearing skirts. Plus sister Nuttall is a farm girl so she thinks it's hilarious how much we love nature. I will send pictures of how gorgeous it is next week because we aren't supposed to take pictures while we are proselyting. But today we are going with our neighbor Dody to a cider mill in the country! I'm so excited! Dody is the best neighbor ever. She isn't a member but always takes care of all the missionaries. She bakes us cookies and bread home made and gives us left overs and even gave us some home made soap the first time we met her. She is sweet and we are slowly trying to get her to realize she needs the gospel in her life, she doesn't really believe in God now but I think deep down she does. So anyways I will take lots of pictures today and send them home to you next week.
Michigan is also the land of coincidences and connections!
1) So first of all one of the councilors to the mission president lives in our ward and his name is President Rasmussen! I get asked if I'm related to them on a daily basis. We went to their house for dinner the other night and they are so nice! but we have even more connections, president Rasmussen served in Hawaii so we had a great time talking about that together and also their youngest daughter married a guy from Brisbane so they have all this Australian stuff in their house, like diggeridoos(no clue how to spell that), those long aboriginal instruments, so that was really fun to talk about too.
2) there is an elder Baird here that I met my first day, apparently he is Quinn Legeirre(don't know how to spell that either) best friend. He said when we introduced ourselves that he went to arbor view and I was like what?!? but he said he might know Tim. so that's exciting
3) There is a great family here we had dinner with named the Quarnberg's and brother Quarnberg also served his mission in Australia so he was telling me crazy stories at dinner and then I found out that I know their daughter Maury! she goes to BYUH with me and was best friends with my room mate Andrea(shout out to my hawt brazillian roomie) so that was way fun too
4) the bishop of the williamston ward's family moved not too long ago from Las Vegas, bishop Rossen, and the bishop of the singles ward we go to as well with investigators is from Hawaii
5) Last night at dinner I told the sister convey where I was from in Northwest Las Vegas and she asked if I went to Centennial.She is the Lyons from Valley Vista ward's daughter, so I knew her younger sister Chelsea in Highschool
That's all I can think of but it sure makes MIchigan feel like it's not too far from home. I think my companions are sick of me having some sort of connection with every family we have dinner with haha
Yesterday was stake conference here and it was a broadcast for all of the Eastern states. President Uchtdorf and Elder Hales spoke as well as a seventy member and the general Primary President. President Uchtdorf spoke a lot about missionaries/missionary work. He challenged every family to buy a copy of Preach My Gospel and to study it together. I would definitely like to encourage that because it is an amazingly inspired book and I think that it is for everyone not just missionaries. It has scriptures set aside for every single gospel topic you can think of that lay out through the scriptures our beliefs. And it teaches the gospel super simply, yet super powerfully. So there['s my two cents for that, get a big copy and study it together.
Something funny that happened this week:
we visit sister McCord once a week usually when we go out to Williamston which is more in the country than where we live. So this week she somehow started telling us about how she is a health nut (this is the woman who is the best regular customer that McDonald's has) and that she wants to buy those straps that policemen use to hang upside down everyday and increase their circulation. She was dead serious, she says she can't find them in the store so she will have to buy them from TV. So then I was imagining this 87 year old woman hanging upside down from her ceiling like Dracula and I about lost it. But I love visiting her and she's been coming to church again which is wonderful. She has a lot of faith.
Missionary work is the best. The time has flown by and I fell like I just got here but I also feel like I have been doing this my entire life. I love it because every day is a good day as long as we are trying our hardest and obeying. Like for instance yesterday could have been really lame because none of the people we have been teaching and invited to come to stake conference showed up, then the lesson we had scheduled after church wasn't home and then we door knocked for hours and didn't get a single return appointment or even a person's phone number, But I honestly wasn't discouraged in the slightest. I didn't even realize all that bad stuff had happened until I was writing in my journal later that night. Because this is the lord's work and he will allow it to progress through us in his own time. As long as we are doing what he wants us to do then there is no reason to get discouraged. We can always improve but the work will progress no matter what level we are at in our teaching ability, god knows our abilities and will use us the way we can be most effective. I just know we have nothing to worry about as long as we trust him. We are all new missionaries and are learning as we go, but we do have a few investigators that seem promising and we are doing a lot of good things with less active members and part-member families in the ward as well.
Can't wait to hear from you all! now that you know my address I expect to get letters! Please continue to pray for missionary visas, the Lord will move the work along if we are faithful.
Love and Aloha,
Sister Rasmussen
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