G'Day Mates!

G'day mates,

People really say that here. I say it back to them and they compliment me on my accent usually ha I think I'm going to sound super weird when I get home from my mission. Well this week was a bit rough no lies. Basically all the investigators we have dropped us in a matter of two days. We were supposed to have a baptism on Saturday and that didn't happen and we haven't seen that investigator for over a week now. So we are basically at square zero....but that's alright! We will keep on keepin' on. Sister Tempany had to go to a doctor's appointment at this huge hospital in the middle of Brisbane on Thursday, and ya'll know how I feel about hospitals....so that was an adventure. And it's hard because we are so far away from Brisbane right now that that took up most of our day and then we had to go in again for interviews with president the next day, once again taking up most of the day. I'm looking forward to this week, which we only have to leave tomorrow for a zone meeting and it's not quite as far away (45min instead of 2hrs) It's been hard getting the work really started here when we haven't really had a full week yet at all. But this week should be ok and the next week also, and then it will be the end of the transfer already! I'm already half way here. In a way it seems like I've been here for AGES AND AGES I think just because we have gotten off to such a slow start and had a lot of struggles, but what's life without struggles right?? I know I'll be stronger after getting through this, but that doesn't make it any easier, just more bearable I guess. I don't know what will happen going forward but I would kind of appreciate a break from training at this point....so because I said that I'm sure I'll train again. 

In other news! Toowoomba is BEAUTIFUL! They have these gorgeous Jacaranda trees that bloom with these super pretty light bluish purple flowers all over and these other trees that have this really bright reddish orange flowers all over. There are so many trees here it's crazy! I will take some pictures and send them to you next week, I forgot my camera cord this week. 

Enjoy Halloween for me! They don't really celebrate it at all here ;( It will just be a old Thursday. So take pictures and send them to me please! They have Christmas things out in the stores here already though...so early! They totally skip over Halloween, it's sad.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Sister RAsmussen

1 Year to Gooooooo!!

Well today (Oct 21) is my release date for my mission, in one year. Don't think that I'm getting trunky or anything, I just can't believe how fast time is flying by. It's pretty crazy! If the next year goes as fast as these past 6 months it will be no time at all before I'm home. That's kind of a weird thought. I don't know whether to be excited by it or sad or scared. But anyways I'll just try and live in the moment. 

Last week was good, we had to go into the city so that Sister Tempany could go through this kind of orientation type thing that our mission president is doing with new missionaries where they stay the night and have a "perfect morning" so we drove in on Tuesday and I got to stay the night with the sisters in that gross flat I was talking about last week. They made it look so nice and cute in the week after I left it! They got bunkbeds and everything and it was fun to spend time with those sisters again. I love making friends with all the sisters in the mission. Sister Carter is finally here from waiting for her visa for forever and she is training and my MTC companion sister Solomon is training, and our other MTC sister has trained twice too now; it feels so weird to  be the "older" sisters now, or at least old enough to be training, because I still feel like I just started. Here in Toowoomba  In my flat I am living with another American for the first time, sister Alberts from Idaho, and sister Tauti from Auckland. It's pretty fun, it's just always an adjustment getting a new companion, or getting a new area, and I got both! And a companion that is trying to adjust to just being a missionary, so it's been a bit stressful around here but I'm starting to get things together and have a bit more organization. There are two wards here in Toowoomba and there are four elders in the other ward, they are splitting that area as well. So they sent four extra missionaries but no new car, so the eight of us are having to deal with sharing one car and that is making things difficult as well because we have some really tiny little towns that we have to get out too as part of our area. But the Lord will provide a way somehow I know it. We had a few good investigators to start with that the other sisters had been working with, but just recently (like this morning) they all are freaking out on us, soooo hopefully we will be able to work out their problems but if not, then it's just back to square one! Oh well though we are sent here to invite others to come unto Christ, and if we have done all we can do it's still up to them to accept the invitation. This area is super different then the rest of Brisbane and there is a tree on every corner, it's super pretty and there are parks everywhere, they have a famous flower festival here every year and it's quite a bit cooler than any other part of the mission during summer, so that's a blessing. We had a ward activity on Saturday which was really fun, not as many nonmembers there as I would have hoped but we had a good time, I even let the Young Women spray color the ends of my hair blue and green haha (it washed out that night). Well that's about all I can think of for this week. Hope everyone celebrates Halloween extra hard for me because they are just party poopers on holidays here in Australia. 

Love you!

Sister Rasmussen

Toowoomba!

Well I moved everyone!

I'm in Toowoomba now, it's about 1.5-2hrs outside of Birsbane and it's up in the mountains. So it's much drier and cooler here than in brizzy, which is awesome because it was really starting to get hot down there. It's a bit like if Cedar city were part of the Vegas mission, I'd be in Cedar city. It's about that size as well. The whole dynamic here is way different. People here actually go to church and there is like a church on every corner. It feels like when I was serving in Michigan all over again. 

But last week was easily one of the strangest I've had yet on my mission:

Sunday night we went heart-attacking our ward members before transfer calls which is always good fun, then we got called and sister Tai and I were told we were leaving so then we celebrated our birthday's (we have the same birthday) and then started lining up who we needed to see to say goodbye on Monday and started the beginnings of packing. 

Monday we got up and after attempting to study, but not being able to concentrate at all we left the flat at like 9am and were out going from house to house and family to family so say goodbye, members investigators less active members and just everyone we had grown to love, we did that straight until 9pm and never stopped at all or went home or ate. It was labor day which was nice so everyone was home. It was one of the most tiring days of my life. Then when we got home we had to pack all of our things up so that took until about 1am. 

Tuesday morning I woke up at 430 and went with sister Russel to go pick up our bikes where we had accidentally left them in our ward mission leaders back yard and then we had to clean the car. Then I went home showered so fast, and Sister Walter and I went over to say goodbye to one last family before the kids left for school, that I love so much that wasn't home when we went Monday. Then we somehow managed to get all of Sister Tai and I's things into our car and drove to the south side to our transfer meeting where I found out I'd be training again. WOO! So I was companionless until my trainee got in later in the week but I was paired up with some sisters in Beenleigh. I also got reunited with sister Carter from my MTC district and BYUH for the first time since we got split up when our visas didn't come through. It was a sweet sweet reunion and we played BBALL all day haha So then I got put with two sisters for the night who were whitewashing/opening up a new area where two elders used to live. One of the sisters is also training and the other has a new companion that is sick and staying at the mission home at the moment. so none of us were each others actual companion but we were all together for the next little while, which just felt weird. And then it got weirder...so we found our way to their new flat, which used to be an elders flat except when we got in it became very apparent that the elders were still living there because their stuff was all over. So then we just felt suuuuuper weird even being in there and we left again. Apparently there was some sort of mix up and the elder's weren't aware that they were supposed to move out. So we called and get that sorted out and they hurried over and packed up their things and left as quick as possible, leaving us with a flat that had lots of random boy things still in it and was pretty disgusting. The elders had been sleeping on mattresses on the floor and just ewwww it was just ewww in there. So we were all really stressed out by that and left to buy cleaning supplies, as we were driving by the shops we found a mexican restauruant and ended up just stopping and eating because we hadn't eaten all day. POor Aussies attempt at Mexican food just doesn't cut it. So by the time we got back at night and did what we could to make it sleep able it was too late to do much else. 

So the next morning on Wednesday we woke up and cleaned the bathroom until it was decent enough to shower in and then got ready for our day and studied. then we changed clothes again and commenced cleaning the kitchen for the next 4 hours. Then the assistants called us and let us know that we could go pick up our new companions. So we went to the mission home and my new companion is sister Tempany from Melbourne. It's so nerve wracking getting a new companion, it's like getting picked for teams in school or something. Anyways the plan was for the assistants to drive us out here to Toowoomba that night but the meeting went too long and there were so  many things they had to sort out that by the time they were done it was too late for them to drive all the way out here and get back. So we spent the night in the mission home! It was so fun! We got to have dinner with president and sister Henderson and sister Massy (the sick companion from earlier) And sleep in nice beds and shower in nice showers and have a nice breakfast, it was just so great! 

So Thursday morning the assistants picked us up and drove us here to Toowoomba. Except we needed petrol and all the stations were all out so we had a bit of a panic where we thought we might be stuck and run out of gas, but we made it eventually. My new flat is awesome. I live with two other sisters sister Albert (Idaho) and Tauti (Aukland, NZ) Sister Labert has only been out 6 weeks and she is the only one who has served here so she's having to show all of us around and be in charge until we figure out what's going on and she is doing great at it. So we have been spending the rest of the week at  general conference and splitting our area up so that we know what's going on. It's been crazy. I can't wait until we have everything organized and we can go out and just be effective and start finding people to teach and working with people. We do have a few of the sister's investigators that are on our side of the split area and at least one that will be getting baptized here soon which is awesome. So good things here to come in Toowoomba and I'm happy to be here! Training is kind of hard, and I feel really inadequate most of the time to be doing it but that's ok, because I don't have to do it alone. 

Sorry this was such a novel but it was such an odd week I just had to share. 

Love you all!

Happy Columbus day! 

Sister RAsmussen

"I Don't Know About You, I'm Feelin 22"

 Baptism of AJ Edwards

WOW I have so much to say and so little time!

First things first, I got transferred from North PIne, so don't send things to that address anymore. I don't know my new address so just send things to the mission PO box.

Ok back to North Pine: Aaron got baptized!! WOOOO It was so great. He invited 4 of his friends to come who weren't members and it was just a beautiful service. He is a man that the Lord truly prepared because we literally didn't have to do anything but teach him. He accepted everything we told him right away, and kept every commitment we gave him and showed up to every appointment. He had already made up in his mind that he wanted to start going to church but just didn't know where to start and then who should he meet but Sister Walter and I walking on the street one night...and the rest is history. He got confirmed on Sunday as well and it was also fast and testimony meeting. Aaron is a really shy person and it took him a long while to open up and talk much with us or pray in front of us, let alone in front of entire congregation but he got up and he bore the most humble simple and most powerful testimony I've heard without anyone asking him to. It was so special. The whole meeting was amazing, and easily one of the best sacrament meetings I've ever attended.

I absolutely love the North PIne ward and I was so sad to be transferred :( the ward members really took such good care of us and have risen up so well in the past few months that I've been there. They have really caught the missionary wave and are creating miracles in the ward.

I may only have 30sec left but  love you all! I'm training again :) pick up the new comp this week

ok sorry.I'm back for emailing round 2

I will send pictures of Aaron's baptism and going around and saying goodbye to everyone I love in NOrth PIne, It was hard :(

And I am now headed to TOOWOOMBA pronounced like it sounds. Apparently it's in the mountains? Australians have a different idea of what mountains are then we do so i will have to judge that for myself. BUt that will be nice because it's getting to be summer now and I hear it is much drier and not as unbearably hot there. Everyone should google it because I can't. I know it's south/inland of the city? Anyways I'm opening a new area, or rather splitting a sisters previous area. So that should be fun! And I'm training. So for the moment I'm staying with some sisters in a place called Beeleigh until I get my golden missionary (we use golden instead of greenie here) So basically I went to transfers expecting to find out where I'd be living and who with and didn't get the answer to either of those questions! YAY FOR SURPRISES! BUt i'm excited for new challenges, I've seen miracles already and I know what the Lord can do and more If I will just humble myself and let him direct me, so I'm expecting to see more of the same in this new place.

We get general conference this next weekend as well which is awesome. I've heard it is great and I am really looking forward to getting heaps of revelation from true prophets of God. So yep things are lookin up and I am excited! Hope everyone's week will go well.

Love

Sister RAsmussen

PS If anyone gets the urge to blast Taylor Swift on Saturday in my behalf I highly encourage them to do so :)