Time Is Flying!

Hey everyone!! 

Well time is flying by over here! I can't believe how fast it is going. I also can't explain to you how much I love this work! This is the most rewarding thing I've ever done by far. I just love teaching people the gospel. Even though most people don't want to hear it I just love telling them anyways. This past week for some reason I think I got more bold with people but I love being bold. This is THE ONLY TRUE CHURCH ON EARTH. People need to know that. Their church might be great, but is Jesus Christ the one running it or just some guy who studied the bible a lot? The message of the restoration is amazing and it frustrates me so bad when people can't seem to understand it even when I explain it simply and boldly. But I love it when we find those people that you know you did touch. It's funny because this week was actually pretty tough for me, having a new companion and everything and having to lead the area is a lot of pressure, but I'm still so happy! Everything ends up working out in the end, and in the Lord's time. People may accept us or they may not but if we just keep doing what the Savior would do as his representatives than we are alright. 

Nothing super major happened this week we just kept on doing what we do :) Sister Walter is getting better at biking even though she still hates going up hills and she is super sore, she's getting into shape. She biked straight into a big signboard in front of the gas station the other night and I about died laughing, but she's getting the hang of it. Hahaha this morning there were these bird that flew outside our window when we were studying and they sound JUST LIKE MONKEYS and she looked up from studying like what the heck, so I told her they have monkeys here that swing around in the trees. She believed me for a while but I'm horrible at those kinds of jokes so I told her the truth. There are also these really pretty birds here that look like white and yellow parrots that sound like horrible dying babies screaming. NOT pretty at all. The animals here are just bizarro. There are also HUGE fruit bats here that swoop down over you when you bike under them and scare the living daylights out of me.  They have parks and trails throughout the whole area we serve in which is way nice for biking and talking to people and its really pretty except there are huge spider webs in absolutely every tree or bush, so you have to stay on the trail unless you want to be covered in spiders. Which all of you know is my worst nightmare. But it's a shame you can't go exploring in the trees. Next week we have Temple P-day and I'm pretty sure we are going to go to the zoo in the afternoon! We can feed Kangaroos there and hold Koala bears! So I will definitely send pictures next week if we do that. Anyways I love you all and hope you are having a great summer!

Love,

Sister Rasmussen

 Kangaroo on the Church grounds!!!!

 Fisher Family (investigators)

Pat & Moana (investigators)

Transfer 2 in Australia is off to a Good Start!

 Zone w/ New Mission President Hansen & Wife

 Companions & Lani

Memmott Family

G'day!

Well Last week was pretty crazy. I ended up with four different companions over the week. I started off Monday with sister Vaipulu, Tuesday I found out I would be training and so I was put with another sister, sister Pulusi, who was also  training while we waited for our companions to arrive, and so we drove all the way back home and as soon as we got home we got a call from the AP's telling sister Pulusi that her companion was at the mission home, but mine wasn't coming in until the wednesday or Thursday. So then I drove all the way back to the city that night to bring sister Pulusi to get her companion and got put with another sister in my zone, sister Parata for all of Wednesday. Sister Parata and I worked together in my area Wednesday just waiting for the phone call telling us to come back to the mission home to get our new companions. We were both freaking out all day we were so nervous. Sister Parata is from Wellington, NZ and she has been out the same amount of time as me, so we were both nervous to be training already. Sister Parata's eye was like twitching all day it was bad. But we got the call finally and we headed to the mission home again that night to get our new companions. It was a lot of driving to and from the city, I'm pretty used to driving on the other side of the car and road by now. I'll probably be super confused when I get back to the states. 

But anyways my new companion is sister Walter from Micronesia. She has been serving in the Nashville, TN mission waiting for her visa so she has been out almost the same amount of time as I have. So basically it's just the blind leading the blind again like it was when I was serving in Michigan. Except thank goodness we have the spirit to guide us or we would really be lost. She is really sweet though and I'm excited to serve with her. She's never really ridden a bike before so that has been a big challenge this week, but she has really been a trooper. I feel bad because I feel like I'm being the meanest trainer by making her bike when she's scared and sore and stuff, but we have appointments we have to get to and it's all part of the experience I guess. I just feel like I'm killing my trainee....

Anyways things here are great and I'm loving it! This next transfer should be really great and I hope we will have a few baptisms. The other two sisters I serve with got changed around too and so Sister Mafi left and sister Tai stayed and her companion is sister Russel from South Africa! OUr flat is so international! Four countries represented! My zone got switched around a lot as well so It's been fun getting to know lots of new missionaries this week. I hope everyone is having a great summer! Winter here is really nice and not cold at all except a little at night. But have fun in the sun for me!

Love,

Sister Rasmussen

 Fisher Family

New Companion/Sis. Walter

Changes!!

G'day everyone how's it going?

I am in the middle of my first transfer P-day! It's been a crazy past week let me tell you. Transfers make everyone crazy I think. My lovely companion sister Vaipulu is returning home to Tonga/NZ tomorrow and so last week was a struggle for me to keep her motivated to do anything. She was so great the whole transfer and not trunky at all but she did lose it a little bit this last week haha it was hard to feel like I was pulling all the weight around here, but I may have to get used to that a little because I found out this morning I am going to be training a new sister! scary! but actually I think it is most likely that I will get a sister who was waiting for a visa like I was so she will be already half-trained probably and that's not so bad. I'll find out who I will be training either tonight tomorrow or thursday because they are getting here in different groups, from 2 different MTC's and other random missions. But I hope and pray that whoever I get will be a solid missionary because I am overwhelmed enough as it is. Everyone told me they thought I would train but I was still pretty surprised. I finished training myself two days ago?!? But as always I will go and do and the Lord will provide a way for me to accomplish the things he requires of me. I'm excited a lot for the new transfer because I feel like my area and myself as a missionary could really use a fresh start and new perspective. My investigators need someone new I think, to help them bridge that gap to become really converted and start keeping commitments better. We took a bunch of great pictures when we went around to visit everyone before sister Vaipulu left but I don't have my camera with me today.... sorry! next week I will send heaps I promise. and a picture of my new comanion as well. This week was hard also because Satan really has been working just as hard as we have with our investigators and all of them have been strggling in one way or another. We got dropped by one family that we had set dates with :( and other drama and stuff has been going on that was hard to deal with, without my companion also being an emotional rollercoaster. So I was really looking forward to today and getting a fresh start. Things are looking up though! and Satan will continue to work hard so I will just work harder. The great thing is that in the end I already know who is going to win and the Lord won't let me down as long as I am obedient to him. 

Thanks for all of the wonderful emails! I love hearing from everyone and finding out what you are all up to! 

Love you all!

Ofa Atu

Sister Rasmussen

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Last Week of my First Aussie Transfer

Last Week of my first Aussie Transfer

G'day

Well this week was interesting. It's crazy how hyper-sensitive mission life makes you to the spirit. At the beginning of the week we didn't get our studying in like we should have and I could feel the difference it made in the rest of our week. Things just didn't go the way we had planned at all. But the amazing thing is that even though we didn't have the week we expected the Lord is still the director of this work and he still lead us to the places we needed to be and the people we needed to speak to. I remember before I left I would hear people talk about "lazy missionaries" or missionaries that were junk and when I got to Michigan I honestly couldn't even see how you could be lazy in this work, but now I realize that there's a difference between missionary lazy and normal people lazy. It's crazy how your perspective changes. But I'm going to try my best to never become any kind of lazy, even though I could feel this week the little things starting to creep up now that I'm getting the hang of how this all works. I just want to come home exhausted every night knowing there was nothing more I could have done for the Lord that day.

Sister Vaipulu and I are getting so overwhelmed in this area by all the people the Lord has placed in our path. It's insane and like I've said before it really scares me at times but I just need to learn to trust in the Lord. So some of the people we are teaching: The Fisher family; a single mom with 6 daughters! they are 19,17,14,13,10, and 6. we are also teaching the 19 and 17-year-olds boyfriends. They are Aboriginal and just the sweetest family, it will take some time and patience and a lot of work but I honestly know the Lord lead us to them so that we could baptize their family. Then we are teaching another single mom named Lisa and her daughter who is also 10 and her 7 yr old son. They are awesome and will be really great members as well.Then Another couple Michelle and Adrian and their, you guessed it 10 yr old son, and they have a new baby. Michelle is really cool and young and a baby nurse and the Memmott family have been helping us fellowship them really well. Then we have another couple named Rob and Nicole who are cool. They are both going through really rough times but they are super receptive to the message and I can already see their relationship with God growing. And then another couple named Suni and Renee was kind of a miracle find for us. So the very first night I was here we went outside our flat for something I can't remember and we were waiting for the cross walk sign to light up and Suni and Renee walked up to us. We started talking to them and found out they are pretty involved in their own church but they gave us their address and said we could stop by if we wanted to. So this whole transfer we have been riding by their house and we will stop and knock and they've never been home so we will leave a note on the porch saying that we stopped and hopefully we will see them sometime. So the other day we were in front of our flat again and Suni was coming out of McDonald's and when we talked to him he told us to come over Monday night! So we taught them and it was the best first lesson I've ever had so far on my mission. They are so ready for the gospel in their lives! So we will keep teaching them and get them to church and it should be all good there as well. Those are just the poepl we are teaching that have baptismal dates. We have 10 people commiteted to be baptized sometime in August. It's crazy! That is verrrry not typical for our mission, like we have more people with baptismal dates in just our area than most entire zones in the mission have in their zones. So that is why I feel overwhelmed sometimes. But The Lord won't give me anything I can't handle. It is stressful also knowing sister Vaip[ulu is leaving next week and I'll have a new companion on top of it all as well, but....with god nothing shall be impossible, so I got this. 

On Saturday we had a 4th of July BBQ at the Memmots house which was wonderful! We had burgers and hot dogs, which are not quite the same here but close. And all the typical BBQ things. But it got dark at like 530 and was "cold" because it's winter so that was weird. It actually wasn't cold at all it was like probably in the 70's but they have a different idea of what cold is in this country. I  made the sisters I live with sing the tar spangled banner with me on the 4th too. I hope everyone set off tons of fireworks for me!! You know how much I love the 4th of July! I miss Summertime as well and just the whole atmosphere of July, becuase here it is winter but not Christmas so everyone is all grumpy and wintery without having any Christmas cheer. It's trippin me out. So live it up in the summer sunshine please! 

Love you all!!

Sister Rasmussen

Things in Aussie are sweet-aazzzzz...

Things in Aussie are sweet-aazzzzz......

G'day everyone!

Things here have continued being awesome. We had a super busy week and can't believe the way the Lord has blessed us in the work here. We have a number of investigators that are now working towards baptisms, and it's going to take a lot of working through things but I have faith that every one of these people can make it through and will get baptized. A ton of people here in Australia smoke, way more than in the states I've noticed and so that is something we have to help people with a lot and also heaps of people live together and never get married. But even though these are pretty big changes to make in their lives if we can help them be truly converted to the gospel I know they can overcome anything. It will just take some really hard work and perseverance and patience on my part. Which I can do too with the Lord's help. 

We saw the worldwide broadcast  Work of Salvation and it was so awesome!! I hope you all got to see it and if you didn't go watch it, it's on the church websites. Everything the apostles said is so true! Missionaries are not here to do missionary work alone and get the wards help when we need it, we are here to help the ward with their missionary work when they need it. I have seen first hand how much members effect the successfulness of missionary work. These people are your friends they don't think you are weird (or they do and they are ok with it haha) so it really shouldn't be too hard to invite them to learn about the thing that you value most in your life (or you should) If the gospel makes you happy it will make them happy, so just tell them that. One thing that one of the men who was a recent convert in the broadcast said really made me think about how member missionary work should be he said that "it felt good to be wanted". We do want our friends to be a part of our congregations, so we should just tell them that. How hard is it to tell them "I would love it if you joined my church" Maybe this is just missionary me speaking but I don't think that would be a weird thing to say to a close friend. Also the work is so much easier when the ward members step up to fellowship the people that the missionaries bring in. We have two families in our ward that have helped SO MUCH in fellowshipping our investigators and it has made all the difference. Just let the missionaries know you are willing to have investigators over for FHE. Or better yet go to lessons with them and then invite the investigators yourself. Anyways just things to think about.Missionary work is the best and you'll only be blessed even more if you sacrifice a bit of your time to it every week. 

This morning we played Lazer Tag with our zone for P-day. Naturally I dominated. Our new Mission President starts his first day today! I hope we get to meet him soon and that he enjoyed his 15 hour flight here yesterday. President and sister Langleland leave today as well. All the missionaries I serve with are super sad to see them go. I am too but I'm not as close to them since I've barely served with them at all. I'm really excited for the new mission president and the changes that will and are happening to missionary work here and all over the world. It sounds like we will be using the Internet a lot more which will be interesting. Rumors are flying around everywhere as usual about us getting iPads by the end of the year, which actually would be awesome! We use Mormon messages a lot when we teach and having iPads would help with that. Some of the Mormon messages are really great. Check out the one called Mountains to Climb. (mom it will make you cry) 

I only have two weeks left in this transfer!!  Crazy! Sister Vaipulu is gappin it out of here after this transfer haha Australia slang. Anyways I'll be getting a new companion but since we just opened this area this transfer I don't think they will transfer me out of it so I'll be here for a while yet. Which is awesome because good things are happening here! Hope yous all have a good week.

Ofa Atu

Sister Rasmussen