The Last Days

Hello,

Well it's my last P-day. That is super weird. 

I won't have to communicate solely via email any more, except to all my missionary friends that will still be here in the field. I guess I'll still be in the field too though, just a different field than Australia, and I won't have entirely the same role in the field, but a very similar one. We are all in the field really. 

General Conference was amazing! I loved so many of the talks. I can't believe that I never used to get anything out of general conference. Probably because I used to always just be asleep, how sad! General conference is an amazing event. I'm glad it's every 6 months. 

Thanks for the birthday wishes, it didn't even feel like it was my birthday really. I don't know how I feel about being 23...

We had our miracles from last week come to general conference this past weekend. And we've been teaching them a lot. It's been incredible. It was so good to see the young couple come as a family to church. The other family that I wrote about last week, we are teaching and they are so great. We set a date for them to be baptised this next weekend. I would normally say that I'll email pictures next week..... anyways they are the coolest kids ever, 14 and 12 and just soaking the gospel up like little sponges. They ask the best questions and we've really been having a fun time teaching them. 

It's really surreal to be coming home. I won't try and summarize or compile all the reasons I thank God every day for directing me to come on a mission, but this is the best thing I've ever done with my life and the reasons are many. I think it's been the hardest thing I've ever done too. That's okay though, I've learned more in this 1.5 years than in the all the 21 years before it even with going to church regularly. Just goes to show that you can go to church ready to receive revelation from God or you can go with a hard heart and get nothing. I'm grateful that I had enough of a little faith to prompt me to at least come out here, and I attribute that pretty much entirely to my parents, grandparents, church leaders, and good friends that I've had through my life. I can't thank Heavenly Father enough for sending me to a place where I would have people around me I could spiritually rely on because I was too weak to support my own testimony, and then thank Him again for helping me come here on a mission so I could find my own testimony and strengthen it, even to the point of being able to help others. "I Stand All Amazed" comes to mind. I know that Heavenly Father really does have a plan for each of us. I don't know what the rest of His plan for me is, but I don't mind because He's been doing a really good job of taking care of me so far and I haven't even been listening most of the time. I know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real, because I have felt it change me. Can't wait to see you all! although I'm not going to lie I'm pretty nervous too...

It's going to be weird. 

Love you all!

Sister Rasmussen

Sprinting to the Finish!!

Aloha family!

Well this week has been a week of craziness, and also miracles! I will write all about it to make up for my lack of good emails lately. 

First of all we got a mini missionary for the week. That is when the youth here in Queensland from a particular stake give up a whole week out of their two week school holidays to go and live and work with the missionaries throughout Brisbane. They arrive on Saturday morning and then stay until the next Saturday. We knew before hand we would be getting one, but the other two sisters in our flat received a surprise when another mini missionary showed up at our flat on Saturday morning. So we had 6 people living in our tiny flat. We have a five seater car. We have only one bathroom. It was great! 

We also went up to the Sunshine coast for my last trip up there to see the sisters and go on exchanges with them. It was a lot of fun. While I was with one of the sisters in Gympie and our mini missionary we were knocking on some doors and walking down the street and we saw a mother on the street ahead of us pushing a pram with a big plastic container in it, holding a screaming baby, and struggling with her bags. She was a pretty far way off but the sister I was with told me to go talk to her so I said yup and ran over to where she was, grabbed her pram and asked if I could push it for her to her house. As we walked to her house I told her who we were and what we do and asked her about her belief in God and about her life. When we got to her house I asked if we could come in and teach her a little bit about God and she said that normally she's say no but she felt a different "vibe" with us and it seems good so she let us in and we taught her how to pray. It was so great! When we went down to Kawana Waters we went talking to people at this lighthouse and down the cliffs from us was the ocean and there were all these people surfing! The waves were really choppy and not the best but it was still cool. I was just trying to speak to al the surfers and tie the gospel into surfing and give them cards before they ran over to shower. It's good because it's warming up so not everyone was in wet suits. So that was exciting, the problem with those two days is that it was warm and we were out in the sun working hard all day and our poor little mini missionary just couldn't handle it so she got really sick and had to go home :( sad. I think girls need to realize that part of missionary preparation is being physically fit, we don't walk around in our pretty skirts all day and stay pretty. We come home every night hot sweaty dirty and exhausted.  It's very physically demanding work. 

When we returned to our area on Thursday we had to work double time to make up for the time we had lost. We did witness some amazing things though! So Friday night we went over to a families house who we have been teaching for a while. They are a young couple with three young children, who aren't married. The man is a less active member, and his partner grew up going to church occasionally but was never baptised. We planned to have family home evening with them. We planned to read through Lehi's dream and to draw pictures of it as we read to show each other at the end. When we got there He told us that earlier that week he had an amazing experience where he decided he should truly repent so he looked up the steps of repentance and applied them, and he had the most amazing feeling. He'd since cut down his smoking considerably and started to read the Book of Mormon everyday. He had just finished reading about Lehi's dream and had prayed and asked Heavenly Father to help him understand it better and apply it into his life. Then we came with that lesson planned! We asked him something our mission president asked us in our recent zone conference "where are you in Lehi's drea?" He said last week I was in the building, a few days ago I was drowning in the river, but now I think I'm at the end of the rod in the mist trying to hold on. It was awesome. They told us they are committed to coming to church and to really living the gospel and changing their lives. They went to church on Sunday and he bore his testimony of repentance and his experience this past week. 

Then on Sunday we were at church and there was a new family that came in and sat at the back. The mum got up to share her testimony and she began by saying she hadn't been to church in 41 years. She has had many experiences in the past 2 months that have led her to realize she needed to return to church and bring her children into the gospel. They want to be baptised! She said "I left the church but Heavenly Father never left me, and now I'm back and I'm here to stay." We realized as she was speaking that we had received her family as a referral about 2 months ago but every time we tried to contact her we were never able to catch her at home. We know Heavenly Father was waiting for his timing to be right and now it is. We have an appointment with them tonight that we are really looking forward to. 

Later that afternoon we went out to have splits and my companion was able to find a miracle new investigator as well. And then that night we received a call from the assistants letting us know we'll be receiving a car! Which is another miracle in and of itself because we have so much going on in the next two weeks and we had no idea how we were going to manage to get to any of it. So it has truly been a week full of miracles and I am just full of gratitude to my Heavenly Father for the opportunity I have to be an instrument in his hands, and to be a very small part of his great work. 

Hope everyone's week is going great!

Much Love,

Sister Rasmussen

 P-day with my district singing Happy Birthday to Pres. Hendersen.

 Ian's baptism

Last day on the ferry going to the temple!

Iaorana!

I feel like I don't have a whole lot to report on this week. I was away from my area for like 4 days helping some of the sisters in our region sort out their lives. It definitely trips me out a bit when things like that happen and I realize that I'm the one they turn to to get help and counsel from...when did that happen? last time I checked I was the one that needed the help... it's weird to see other missionaries sort of look up to you in a way. I know I'm about to go home but in so many ways everyday I still feel brand new. It's humbling though, especially as my companion and I went to the Lord a lot in prayer asking for his direction in knowing how to help the sisters because we had absolutely no clue what to do. But we came together and petitioned the Lord, and then slept on it, pondered, and studied a bit and the impressions came.  I know we didn't do it perfectly but when we followed promptings from the Spirit we were truly able to bring the Spirit in to help the missionaries the same as we do when we help those we teach. I also really learned the value of having a companion. Because we were away from each other on an exchange when a lot of the problems began, I felt like I was so lost trying to make decisions, and give counsel on my own. I had to keep telling the sisters I'm sorry I just need to wait until I can discuss this with my companion. It's really great when you have a companion that you are equally yoked with, and especially good when you are great friends and can laugh your way through the ridiculousness of missionary life. It was pretty stressful but we got through it and then we had zone conference on Monday and went to the temple today. It's my last time going to the temple as a "normal" missionary before we go on our last day with President and Sister Henderson. It's a bit surreal. Hasn't yet hit me that things are really coming to an end. Anyways here are some pictures I've been meaning to send. 

Much love, Sister Rasmussen

You have been called to the Australia, North Pine Mission!

Aloha!

So I survived my last transfer calls and I am staying here in North Pine with Sister Tama! I am excited! Who would have thought that 7 transfers of my mission would be spent in the one area? not me. That is basically one whole year of mission life here in North Pine. The elders joke that they forgot to tell me in my mission call I was actually just called to the North Pine mission. Most of the members forget that I even left and think that I just have been here the whole time. I think they should let me give a farewell talk like I'm leaving to go on a mission from my home ward, I sort of am just in reverse. This next transfer is going to be really busy, we have zone conferences, leadership meetings, region meetings we have to organize with the sisters, zone p-days, trade-offs with the sisters and all sorts of crazy things going on so it's going to fly by I think. That's a bit sad. But throughout all the madness I know we will see plenty of miracles in our area as well. It's starting to get hot here again. Just as soon as summer comes on I'll be leaving to step into a North American winter....that's going to be rough haha Sister Walter and Sister Tobiassen both stayed in our flat as well and that is just so fun! We couldn't believe it when they told us, it is ridiculous that we are staying together again because we get along so well ha we aren't complaining it's awesome. The elders in our ward both stayed as well, which is awesome because they are great too and we are working well together. So over all things are great here. I'm enjoying my last transfer and trying not to think to much about it all ending. Love You all!

Sister Rasmussen

pictures

Pictures at the house of an inactive couple from Chile that we have been working with and who have been coming back to church.

"How Great Shall Be Your Joy"

 Baptism of James!!

 Sis. Fesolai at the Temple

 Yogurtland after a very busy day!!

ALOHA!

Well I am just so happy! I had probably the best weekend of my entire life this weekend and I'm so excited to tell you all about it. 

It started off with a really hectic week actually, not bad hectic just really crazy. Wednesday after emailing we hung out in Brisbane city with the sisters and ate yummy food at the market, did some window shopping and travelled home. We had a tradeoff with our Sunshine coast sisters so I had to wave goodbye to my companion as she took off for Kawana and I stayed with one of the great sisters in North Pine. We then had an epic road trip Thursday night I drove up to Kawana, switched back, collected my companion and we carried on up to Maryborough. We spent the day there Friday and then drove 3 hours home that night. It was pouring rain all weekend! While in Maryborough the sister I was with and I got super lost wandering around in the rain. I forgot to pack my rain coat and we couldn't figure out where we were going. We ended up in the centre of town which was good because in front of all the shops there are awnings which kept us out of the rain, even though I was already soaked and it was super cold and windy. We stayed there in the centre of town talking to people the whole day long because of the rain all the other appointments we had called to cancel. I saw inside a shop an add for $10 ladies coats. They were kind of hideous but I bought one anyways so that was good. Then my feet were absolutely soaked through and my shoes were so wet I was getting blisters and I couldn't keep up with the people walking long enough for them to stop and talk to me, but I didn't let that stop the work of the Lord! So I went over to a bench, took my shoes off, hid them under it, and proceeded to walk barefoot around the streets of Maryborough talking to everyone I met about the gospel of Jesus Christ wearing a massive old lady coat. It was not my classiest moment as a missionary but it had to be done. I was glad to get in the car and return to North Pine after that day haha

Then Saturday came!! Sister Tama and I took the train/bus into the temple in the morning so that I could meet up with the Cass family from Dalby and also with Sister Fesolai so that we could do baptisms for the dead together. A few other branch members from Dalby were there as well, and one family from Toowoomba ward so it was happy reunions all around. I got to catch up with Sister Fesolai and also with the family and hear all about their wedding and when Chris was baptised in June. It made me so happy! They had done their family history research and were prepared with like 30 family names to bring to the temple. The girls were so excited and the spirit was so strong. Sister Fesolai said something about the family all looking different then before (new haircuts and stuff) and Sister Cass told us no it's because they are happier then they were before, because they have the priesthood in their home now :) It was just such a joyful thing sitting with all four of them in the house of the Lord serving others and giving them the opportunity to partake in the ordinances of salvation. I've never really been able to see the ripple affect of one baptism like I did in the temple on Saturday. Because Sister Cass decided to come back to church, we taught Nya and Chris, who got baptised, and then 30 other souls on the other side of the veil also received that ordinance. It was beautiful, and that's just the beginning for that family. They are truly amazing. After the baptisms we had to travel back home so that we could get things ready for the baptism of James that night! The whole service went so nicely and he was just beaming as he got out of the water and embraced the ward member that baptised him I could just see how full of joy he was. He then received the gift of the Holy Ghost at church yesterday and it came full circle. We are seeing miracles here!! We have another baptism on this Saturday and the elders have one as well, so it will be a double for the ward. It's so exciting! 3 baptisms just this month is pretty great. I really feel like I'm beginning to understand the scripture that says "how great shall be your joy" bringing many souls unto Christ. I don't even want to think about going home! And I asked president to keep me in this area for my last transfer, but obviously in the end I'll go where the Lord wants me to go. Hope everyone has a great week as well and good first week back at school. 

Much Love,

Sister Rasmussen

I Love to See the Temple!!

ALOHA,

So today was temple p-day, which I always love. I love coming down to the city, I love taking the train, I love walking along the river and up the stairs cut into the cliffs, I love taking the ferry and seeing all the buildings and the people, and I LOVE THE TEMPLE. It is truly the house of the Lord and there is a feeling inside that you cannot replicate anywhere else in the world. We have had a great week so far and it is only going to get even better! My poor companion and I hardly spend any time together because we are always on trade-offs with the sisters in our region but it is so fun to serve with all of them and hopefully bless them and help them when we can. It was raining all day on Saturday and I got to be on trade-offs with sister Tobiassen, who is one of the sisters that lives with me. She's basically my Australian twin as far as personality goes, it's a bit of a problem really because we tend to distract each other all the time. But we did have a great day wandering around in the rain absolutely soaked and teaching lessons in cars and all sorts of great things. My companion and I are going up the sunshine coast this week to Kawana waters and then on up to Maryborough and then back by Friday night, just in time for Saturday! We are definitely looking forward to the road trip and the chance to see the sisters up there. 

Then on Saturday we have a baptism scheduled for our investigator James which we are really excited about. It's crazy how the Lord has really blessed us for the time we have spent outside our own area, and maybe not giving it the attention I thought we needed to. We do as much as we can and Heavenly Father truly makes up the difference, and when we have the faith to sacrifice whatever we think we need to do for ourselves, and serve others, everything ends up working out on our end. We started off the month thinking we didn't have anyone to baptize, yet setting the goal that we would and putting into the Lord's hands, and then we went to work trying to serve our sisters and didn't focus so much upon our own area, and here we are! The Lord lead us to find James and he's just as golden as ever, hasn't had a single concern with anything we've taught him and he's all geared up and ready to go for Saturday. We have another one scheduled for the following Saturday as well, and the elders have two for that same day, so we may have 4 baptisms in the one ward this month, that is pretty unheard of here in North Pine, I think they had only 4 the entire year last year. The work is definitely hastening! I also will have the opportunity to attend the temple to do baptisms with the Cass family from Dalby on Saturday morning, so basically I think it's going to be the best day of my life. I'll let you know next Monday! :) Hope everyone is having as great of a life as I am, and if you're not try forgetting about yourself and focusing on other people, it will all work out! 

Love you!

Sister Rasmussen

 With SIster Tama on the Ferry.

Aloha!!

ALOHA!

Well this past week was great! My companion and I are just so busy! It is really so crazy how time flies when you are busy. We have honestly just stepped up our game in every area of missionary work and the miracles have been abundant as a result and time is also just speeding up. I've been a missionary for 16 months now. It's so crazy! I'm so so happy for my new companion, she is definitely not encouraging me to slow down at all as I reach the end here. Not that I'd be one to do that anyways, but she isn't even letting me cruise at the same speed I've been going we are just accelerating! It's so good though. We are especially trying to step up our game being the best STLs we can for the sisters in our region. It's been great to see as we sacrifice so much of our time, energy, and heart to bless the sisters that the Lord really makes up the difference and moves the work forward in our own area, almost without us even trying. We had a goal within our region to set baptismal dates and we were able to set two within our own area! It's pretty amazing. Both of them are with older divorced gentlemen. One of them that we just found my tracting into him and the other one met one of the YSA girls in our ward at the gym and she just casually invited him to come to church and gave him the address and he showed up last week for church, we met with him and set a date on our first visit, he came to church again, and we are meeting with him a couple times this week too. The Lord truly will place people in your path! So for those of you who think to yourself: "I don't know any non-members" try the random stranger at the gym, you never know who the Lord has prepared around you. So that is very exciting. We also are just working really hard to get all the young unmarried couples we are teaching to progress, but we are definitely seeing it happen little by little. We get to go to the temple next week Wednesday which I am looking forward to. And today we are going to play sand volleyball today at this sporting complex. Hope everyone is enjoying the end of summer, it's starting to warm up a bit here which is nice except that really means summer is almost here and that means my mission is ending soon....mixed feeling there. Love you all,

Sister Rasmussen

Ascension August

Iaorana!! 

Well family this has been a pretty eventful week. First off it is just so much fun at transfer time when you get to bring your new companion around to meet everyone you love and you get to plan and prepare for the transfer and set inspired goals to accomplish great things. Sister Tama is the best I just love her, so many new and great ideas have come into our flat and area and companionship. The beauty of a restart! 

This weekend was a weekend of facing FEARS! Everyone knows how I feel about hospitals....So Wednesday night the great Sister Tobiassen told us she thought she must have eaten something off because she had a  sore stomach. She didn't get much sleep that night and the next day she was curled up in a ball all day long with stomach pains, waiting for it to pass, the next night was even worse so by Friday morning she said enough is enough I need to see a doctor. The mission doctor was all booked up for the day so we ended up having to take her to the closest hospital emergency room. Well at first she was in there with Sister Tama while Sister Walter and I went to our first district meeting with our new District leader and his companion, then we went to meet them, and They said I had to go in and sit with her because neither Sister Tama or Sister Walter felt like they could understand anything that was going on because they don't have very much doctory English vocabulary. So next minute I spent allll dayyy lonnnng in the hospital with poor Sister Tobiassen. The emergency room is a horror house, straight up. There are screaming and moaning people everywhere. I saw people with bandages all over their heads like mummies and I saw people with blood all over there faces, people are wheezing and hacking up things left and right, crying screaming children are all over the place, all the crazy machines keep going off all the time. It was so SCARY! And so through all of this I am trying to help Sister Tobiassen get her mind off of all the pain she is in while the nurses run all these tests and scans on her. She ended up having appendicitis. So they admitted her into a ward upstairs and we spent the rest of the day there while they decided what kind of surgery she needed to get her appendix out and then President and Sister Henderson came along and talked with the doctors as well. So she had surgery that night and was in the hospital all day and night Saturday so we went over there again Saturday to be with her after Sister Henderson had to go and then she left the hospital and went to the mission home yesterday. So that was the gist of my weekend. Lots of time spent in hospitals, but hopefully I won't have to go into another hospital again for a very long time.

We are excited this month of August we are hoping to have a repeat of what happened in June so we are aiming for over 100 convert baptisms again. I know it can happen according to our faith. Sister Tama and I have a goal of having a baptism in August as well to contribute but we don't exactly know who yet, we know Heavenly father is preparing someone for us. It is so fun living with a Tahitian again! I am loving life and I hope this will continue and carry me out until October! 

Much love and aloha,

Sister Rasmussen

Mixed Feelings

Iaorana!

I am sad because I dropped off Sister Moran at the mission home yesterday and she flew away on a jet plane today. However I am happy because my new companion is Sister Tama and she is from Tahiti!!!! my people!! We are going to have so much fun and see many many miracles! So for Sister Moran's last week we had a great time working and going on adventures. Our adventure to the gold coast went well, we had a nice dinner with the man that baptised her and his wife and children. It was sad to see that his children just didn't know anything about God, and didn't have that relationship at all in their lives. It went well though and hopefully softened his heart a bit. It took two one hour train trips both way. I love the train so that was great! And that's now the farthest south I've ever been in my whole life haha. Too bad it was at night so I didn't really see much at all. 

We also went to a waffle house place for lunch and it was funny because waffles here are desserts not breakfast foods. So I got a weird look from the lady when I asked for mine without ice cream but with butter on top before the syrup and berries. We had a bunch of people at church again so that was joyful and had a really smashing Saturday which was basically her last full on working day of her mission. So it was a great week and I can't wait to see what the future will hold! It is weird to think this is my second last transfer though...so many missionaries that I love are going home soon! I will just have to travel the world to visit them all after my mission! yay! Love you all!

Sister Rasmussen

This Will Be Short

ALOHA!

Apologies, I have no time today because we are having a special P-day to celebrate our miracle 105 baptisms in JUNE WOOO! anyways so no time and also I had to sort out things for BYUH as well...scary. Anyways this week was GREAT! Sunday was just as hectic but not as much of that was negative in fact most of it was positive! We had a pretty incredible miracle this week I don't have time to write it twice sorry I'm going to copy and paste from my letter to my mission president:

We also had a miracle on Friday when a potential investigator we had planned to visit wasn't home and as we turned to leave her house a less active lady who lived on her same street came walking up with three of her small children. We stopped to say hello and she broke down in tears to tell us she was so happy to see us because her husband just recently left them and she knows she needs to come back to church and start building her life back up "the right way" living the gospel. We found a member almost immediately to be a perfect fellowship for her, one that has a big van and can fit her and her five young children in for church and they all came! It was so joyful to see Heavenly Father using us as his instruments and placing us in the right place at the right time. If we were only a few minutes off we would have missed her entirely and who knows when we would have gone to see her again. But Heavenly Father led us right to his daughter who needed him badly. I love this work!

So Sunday was hectic because of the five kids of this lady who came to church! yay! and also we had one of the young couples we are teaching come with their two kids and the girlfriend of another couple we are teaching with one of their kids and also a new investigator named James come on his own! So we were running around making sure everyone got to the right primary class and had a friend and all of that great stuff. This next week is the last week of my lovely companion Sister Moran's mission so it is going to be great! We are going on an adventure to the Gold Coast tomorrow to have dinner with the man that baptised her when she was a little girl and her mother and her joined the church. He doesn't go to church anymore and none of his family, wife or kids, are members. So that will be super exciting and fun! So that is what is happening    love you

more pictures

 Nathan's first trip to the temple...He was baptized back in April.

 With Sis. Kaifti on trade-off's in Kawana Waters.  The Pacific Ocean!!!

 I was so filled with joy just to hear the waves!!!  ha ha!

Sisters in the Brisbane North Zone.

Long Time No Email

 Crocodile & Kangaroo....tastes just like steak & chicken!!

 "Who lives in a pineapple under the sea..." On the road to Maryborough.

Shaun's baptism.  What a miracle!!

Aloha!

Well it feels like I was just emailing two days ago......

Actually to be honest it feels like I emailed 5 years ago because of how long and crazy everyday is as a missionary. It's such a weird phenomenon I don't even know how to describe it but it's like everyday is super long, but the weeks just fly by so fast if you blink you'll miss it. This weekend was very eventful as usual. Sister Moran and I went on a trade-off with the sisters that we live with, so I got to be with Sister Walter again! It was super weird being companions again in the same flat where we were companions before. We at least went to her area instead of mine, because that would have been just so weird haha. That was fun anyway. Then Sunday was just bonkers. Just off the chain crazy. It was the most spirit killing time I've ever had at church easily. Sacrament meeting was great, it's a bit crazy in our ward because of all the baby traffic, but that's nothing new to me coming from Centennial Pointe Ward. Gospel principles class is usually a bag of crazy, kind of like you never know exactly what you're going to get but you know it's going to be an experience. Well this week was just bad.... our recent convert got really offended over how our ward mission leader teaches the class. He's just really sensitive and must have been having a bad day already, plus he's already not a big fan of our ward mission leader. He chose to confront him and basically tell him how he feels about him in the very middle of Gospel Principles however....suuuuppperrrrrr awkward. And it didn't like blow over either it just escalated until the spirit was completely absent and the spirit of contention was fully there and the ward mission leader just gave up, sat down, and we just ended class early. After that I was happy to just try and get the spirit back somehow by going to relief society but that class ended up being bonkers as well, with people and children from primary running in and out the whole time. I don't know if the whole ward was just going nuts or what but the lesson itself was a bit crazy too with people getting all over the place with their input. After that we just couldn't wait to get out of the building! The elders were meant to drop us off at a members house in their area after church but something happened with them I'm not sure but they had to drop the other elders off somewhere and basically we ended up sitting at the chapel for an hour and in that time the worst thing of all happened. So this other good sister was extremely mad at us over something and decided to just confront us about it in the middle of the foyer after church in front of everyone....we were so confused as to what we did to upset her and she was asking us really inappropriate questions and just really angry at us. Then there was some more craziness after that because we weren't sure if our recent convert had a ride home from church. Eventually we made it out of that building and it couldn't have happened soon enough! I wish the rest of the night was relaxing but Sunday nights are the busiest nights ever for anyone in mission leadership because we have to make about half a million phone calls to different zone leaders of the sisters in our region, our zone leaders, the assistants and all the sisters in our region as well. Sleep was so welcome. Then I had a really crazy dream I was in a big house and this guy was chasing me around trying to attack me hahaha so even my sleep was a bit stressful. But that's alright we will move onward and upward. It's great when you hit an all time low because you have no where to go but up after that. There is definitely something to be learned after all that, not quite sure what it is but when I do figure it out I'll let you know! Hope your Sabbath was spiritual and refreshing! I'll send some recent pictures of things. 

Love you all!

Sister Rasmussen

It's Been too Long!!

ALOHA..finally

well it's been a very long time since last I had a P-day. It's just been a really crazy week. Our P-day was meant to be yesterday actually, because we were meant to go to the temple yesterday and have interviews with our mission president on Monday. Then we got informed that interviews had been re-schedulesd until Thursday and our P-day was changed to Tuesday. However someone hadn't thought that one through properly because the temple isn't even open on Tuesdays so then on Monday morning they changed it to Wednesday, but then later that afternoon they ended up changing it to Friday. Then on  Tuesday night they let us know our interviews would actually be Wednesday afternnon. It's a bit "all over the shop" as they say here in Australia. We just gave up trying to schedule and re-schedule our appointments by the end of all that. We almost couldn't believe it was true when we finally got on the train this morning to go to the temple. But we made it! and as usual it was beautiful and peaceful and amazing and just what I needed.  Now we are emailing from wonderful Brisbane city before we head back to the north side. Interviews were cool, president and sister Henderson came to our flats for this one so that was a new experience for me. They had done that before but I was in Toowoomba then which was too far for them to travel. It was funny Sister Henderson couldn't believe we don't have an oven. haha We were like take a look around, where would they even be able to fit an oven?! not that we have time to cook anyways so it's all good in the end. President interviewd me for about 30sec it feels like and was proabbly more like 5 minutes, which at the end he said alright you're good, you don't need anything and stood up to go...so I guess that's a good sign? haha I love him!

So this week hasn't been the best as far as appointments go, that has a lot to do with things getting re-scheduled and also just I have this firm belief that Satan attacks us and our investigators just before we go to the temple, and he knows when we are weaker, like when it's been a long time since we had a P-day.  But never the less we are doing great and seeing miralces. When we split our ward with the elders and then after Shaun was baptised we realised we didn't have many investigators to work with anymore. At least none that were really solidly progressing or anything. But it didn't take us long at all to start finding people, and not in the usual way. I'm used to having no one and then knocking on heaps of doors until we find a few people here and there, mostly crazies, with a few goldens thrown in there. This time we just keep meeting part member families. I think at the moment we have about 8 young un-married couples and 2 recently married, where one or both of them are a less active member. It's interesting teaching them because most of them are right around my age, but we are just in such different places in life. They are pretty much dealing with the consequences of major transgressions of the law of chastity, which is why they've all got 1 or 2 young kids and other sins as well addictions and what not. They know they want to have a strong family and have a good foundation to build on, but the problem is they started building already before they could even lay the foundation down. So now it's harder because it's like we have to lift the house up to make room for the foundation under there. It's interesting because none of these situations is going to be a quick miracle baptism. In Queensland it takes at least 30 days if not more to be married because of all the paperwork and stuff. (haha there are no drive-thru wedding chapels here! and they call it brisvegas......hahah) anyways it's going to be a long road and a lot of hard labour but I know it will be worth it in the end if we can help just one of these families to start now and see how bright their future can become. So that is what is going on here. In other news because of the mission achieveing our goal of 100 baptisms we get to hae some sort of celebration in the next few weeks! should be fun ;). We also get to have a meeting with all the sisters in our region. It's weird I still don't feel like I should be a leader of any sort because I still feel really new but then I realize that I hit my 15 month mark yesterday...my companion only has two weeks left on her mission so that's making it a bit hard not to freak out about the future and how I'm going to have to join real life again soon, but I'm going to try not to think about it and live it up for the time I have left.

I'll be emailing again on Monday so not sure what I'll even have to say. Happy 4th of July!

Love,

Sister Rasmussen

100 in June!! JuneBoom!!!!

ALOHA!!!

TODAY HAS BEEN SO JOYFUL!

Such a good end to our Joyful June with our goal of 100 baptisms. We had a mission wide conference call with our mission president and his wife and also President and Sister Hamula the area president. They announced to us that we did it! Something that has never been done before in the history of the Australia Brisbane Mission as it currently stands, that is break over 100 baptisms in one month! We got 105 during this joyful month of June! I am so happy for the mission and mostly for all those 100 beautiful people who entered into those waters. 2 of which were people that I really had a lot to do with. The first was a beautiful young mom who I found and taught in Toowoomba who was baptised earlier in the month. We met her in January when we were following up on some less active sisters for our relief society president. The lady we were originally looking for didn't live there, but I think Heavenly Father knew who we were truly looking for. We taught her and saw her progress and start to truly build her relationship with her Saviour and with Heavenly Father again. I was so sad to be transferred but I knew Sister Fesolai and her new companion would be able to continue to help her and after much fasting and prayer and the softening of her husbands heart she was baptised!

The second baptism of the 105 that I was directly involved in was of Shaun. We had the baptism this weekend. I wrote about it in my letter to my mission president already so I might just copy/ paste that in here so I don't have to type it all again:

Dear President Henderson,

This week was one of the most epic, spiritual, faith building, weeks I've ever had. It was such a hard labour of love getting our investigator Shaun into the waters of baptism, I really can't believe it, but I can because throughout it all even when it seemed impossible Sister Moran and I had this overwhelming sense of peace in knowing that although we might not be able to see exactly how we knew that God would make it happen. On Tuesday Shaun was really flustered. He wanted to wait to be baptized on July 26th. He felt like he wouldn't be strong enough with his smoking to get baptized any sooner and he was not feeling confident or ready at all. We left that lesson not knowing quite what to do but feeling hopeful and having faith that he would in fact be able to be baptised this past weekend. We decided to just act in faith and have him interviewed for baptism anyways. So he was interviewed Wednesday and he passed his interview perfectly fine, which helped him recognize that he really was qualified and ready to be baptised, but he still wasn't really keen on this weekend. We had been fasting on Wednesday that he would be able to be ready and so we had a talk with him and shared scriptures from Alma chapter 18. I could really feel the spirit teaching through me. I shared insights to those scriptures in our lesson with him that I had never even thought of before. It was pretty incredible. In the end we committed him to pray and ask God if he should be baptised on Saturday. Later that evening he called us to say after we left he had gone outside to chat to the neighbours, who are members, and asked them about what they think he should do, and they encouraged him to be baptised "straightaway" so he knew he should go and pray to God about it and he did! He said he received an answer from God that he should do it now! When we heard that news we were overjoyed. The events leading up to his baptism and organizing things are all a blur. I know it was the enabling power of the atonement giving us the strength and clarity of mind to do more than we normally would be able to do as we organized a program, made assignments, found clothes for him to wear, made sure the font was filled and all those other wonderful things that need to happen. We somehow got it all done in time. He was confirmed Sunday at church and said he had a wonderful warm feeling of light all throughout him. I have literally seen the power of the atonement heal this man throughout the time we have taught him and I know now that he is baptised he will only continue to become more refined and more whole. It has been an amazing miracle! Thank you so much for all your love and support and encouragement and faith, our mission is in such a different place then it was just a year ago, it is incredible. 

Just to add a few more details. The morning before his baptism which was scheduled for 2pm, at about 12 we realized our new assistant ward mission leader was a bit lost and confused because after talking to him we learned that in fact there was only one confirmed speaker, no program typed up, and no one was filling the font. So off we sped to the library to make a program in about 20min. We drummed one up and added in a few speakers, while he told us he'd sort out the font. 1pm rolls around and we call him, turns out still no one is filling the font.....so we race to the chapel and we have to pick up the elders along the way. Their job was to find him some white clothes, turns out they don't have any pants to fit him. So on our way we pass a sports store and I suggest we just run in and buy some cricket pants, we park in front of an opshop and decide to check in there first and what do we see but a pair of white pants exactly the right size for him! Small miracles like that are what show me Heavenly Father truly is involved in every little detail of our lives. We get to the chapel and hallelujah someone had figured it out and the font was filling, and the rest is history, Shaun got baptized.  He did try to sit on the back row of the chapel for his own baptism which was funny but in the end it happened and Sister Moran and I were like too exhausted to even jump for joy. We also got a mini missionary dropped off to our house that morning for the week. So that should be fun!

Sorry for this extra long novel of an email but this week was really just epic.

Love you all!

Sister Rasmussen

Joyful June in Full Swing

> Well joyful june is still in full swing. We were a bit disappointed when one of our investigators didn't make it to church so we had to drop his baptismal date. but all is well and we will persevere. Another of our investigators is preparing for baptism but he is just finding it very difficult to give up smoking. So we are doing our best to help him and have the faith that by the end of this month he will be fully smoke free! So that is exciting. Another exciting this is that Sister Moran and I are having an epic roadtrip this afternoon to travel to Maryborough which is about 3.5 hours north of us up the Sunshine Coast. I am excited to go on a roadtrip! We are staying with them for a day and then driving halfway back down and staying with the Sisters in Kawana Waters for a day and then coming home on Thursday night. It should be fun. I'm exctited to be anywhere that has "coast" in the name haha apparently Kawana waters has lots of surfers, so that will be great fun It's a bit hard to juggle the responsibility to go on tradeoffs with the sisters and our own area. We are missing three days of our own work and things, but I know that the Lord will provide for us with the enabling power of his infiinite atonement he will make it possible for us to do all the things we need to to serve him and provide a way for us to accomplish more than we thought we were able to and to get the important things done. Anyways I hope everyone is having as Joyous a June as we are here in Sunny Australia. Love you!

> Sister Rasmussen

Joyful June is Nearly Over :(

Aloha Family,

So this week has been pretty fun! and you know how time flies when you're having fun.... although I'd say that "fun" when you are a missionary is definitely defined differently. BY "fun" what I mean is that my companion and I have barely had time to think. fun=busy. So anyways you'd think we would be less busy now that our area is smaller and we are splitting it with the elders, but ever since they got here it's like we have had so much to do! and having the other sisters in our flat with us as well has been a bit hectic. We had to rearrange everything in the flat to accommodate for them to have a place to sleep and study as well. So everything has been a giant mess as we've moved everything around and so every spare moment, which isn't often, we've been having to organize, clean, and try and get things in order. We also have the elders ringing us every hour because they are totally lost trying to get around the area and they have no idea where to go. We finally have an assistant ward mission leader, so we are trying to correlate with him, and we have more appointments then we can possibly fit into a day. Which is great. We are sharing our car with the sisters and now we are one day with and one day without the car, so we have the added time constraint of trying to travel around. We are trying to organize for the elders to come with us to meet the investigators we have in their area that we will be passing over to them, and then trying to squeeze in time to go out and find new investigators and people to teach in our area. We also have the biggest region of sisters to look after, 8 companionships spread out from just north of Brisbane all the way up to the very top of the Sunshine coast. So we have to try and contact them throughout the week and make sure they are all doing well, and everyone has been SICK like something is going around. I guess because it's Queensland "winter" at the moment, which really isn't cold at all. So we have to fit in doing a trade-off with all of them in the 6 weeks we have, which now is only 5 because week 1 is finished. We did go on one this weekend, but 7 more to go in the next 5 weeks will be crazy. Then on top of and most important than all of this, we are putting all the faith and prayer and time and energy we have to getting our investigator Shaun to the waters of baptism this weekend. It is crazy because we have literally been watching the powers of God and the power of the adversary fighting over this poor man's soul. At least we know that good will always triumph over evil in the end, but it will take so much faith and so much work. This next week will be intense. I have faith though and I know if it's God's will that Shaun be baptised this weekend it will happen. So that's just a little bit of the things going on here at the moment. The work is rolling forth down under and I'm so grateful, blessed, and excited to be a part of it. Hope all is well back home. I heard the US is doing alright in the world cup :) 

Alofa Atu,

Sister Rasmussen

Transfer 11 in Now Underway

Aloha!

Well another eventful transfer day is now here again. I'm not going anywhere and neither is my companion Sister Moran, and I do know that she will be leaving me for sure after this transfer, she's going on the big transfer home, so that means I'll more than likely be here for another transfer after this. So that's a lot of time spent here in this area at the end of the day. But you know what?  I'm excited because I will really know what it's like to live here and I already love the people and the ward and can't wait to serve here and see miracles. However it wouldn't be a transfer P-day without craziness. So we found out this morning that our ward is getting a companionship of elders to come and serve with us! YAY! Really though I'm excited it's a big area and a lot to handle on our own so it will be good to have the elders and they will be able to engage the men in the ward in missionary work in a way that we really can't. BUT WAIT there's more. We are also getting two sisters moving into our flat who will be splitting the elders ward south of ours into two. So it will be two sisters and two elders in both wards, the same thing president has been doing throughout the mission in all the zones. But I'm just excited to have more sisters in our flat, even though it means shorter showers and less hot water haha I'm even more excited because one of the sisters is Sister Walter!! I love her and am so excited to be in the North Pine flat again with her. We are back to exactly the place we both were in one year ago next month. The Lord surely does direct his work in mysterious ways. We have this big mission goal of 100 baptisms in June so for the next two weeks that is our biggest focus in getting people into the waters of baptism. We have 2 investigators that potentially could be baptised next weekend the last weekend in June, we just need to help them quit smoking for good, and get to church. Smoking is so horrible!! But I have faith that it can be done, it might be harder then moving a mountain in at least one of the cases but it definitely can be done. So that's what is going on in my life at the moment. Also I just can't believe the short amount of time I have left here as a missionary. It is flying by much too fast and getting faster all the time. Anyways Alofa Atu and have a great week!

Sister Rasmussen

Joyful June!

Aloha Family!

So our mission dubbed May to be Miracle May and now we are going into Joyful June! Yay! Our mission has BIG GOALS for the month of June, like having 100 convert baptisms in June. The funny thing is that I arrived in Australia a year ago this week, and when I arrived we were in the midst of sending President and Sister Langeland "home with 100" baptisms in June that year. We definitely fell short of that goal. The thing is that this time around I can feel that we are going to see miracles and that this goal will be accomplished because this is Heavenly Father's goal. I think last time it was his goal too, but maybe it wasn't ours. The mission really wasn't in a place to accomplish the goal, we weren't as obedient, as skilled, as diligent, as prepared, etc as we are now. We have been through a lot of refining and what President Henderson has helped us understand is "the mighty change" in our hearts and the hearts of our members as well. Things are so different than they were a year ago, and nothing has helped me really see that then being in the exact same area that I was in a year ago. It's difficult not to make the comparison of where I am now, to where I was then. The mission has truly changed myself more than anyone else. It's funny because I remember before I left thinking to myself that I hoped I didn't change at all, I wanted to still be "me" when I got home. I'm glad I pretty much abandoned that idea within my first week at the MTC and I've been slowly and steadily handing over bits of myself to Heavenly Father to make what he wants out of me instead of what I can make out of myself. That's definitely a practice I've realized I will continue for the rest of my life and probably all of eternity as well. He just knows so much better what awesome things we are capable of, we limit ourselves so much. Stepping into this whole new leadership role where I have to step up not just for myself and my companion but a whole region of sisters and in a way all the other missionaries in the mission is definitely proving to continue to refine me but I know I'll get the hang of it eventually. 

In other news it's starting to get cold here First day of winter was Sunday. We got to go to the mission home and have P-day with President and Sister Henderson last P-day because sister Kjaw is going home and she is a chef, so she wanted to cook for them before she left and we got to enjoy the ride! Also sister Henderson had butter flavoured crisco!! WOO!! So I made cookies too ;) that made my day! here's a link to the pics: http://www.australiabrisbanemission.com/2014/06/sister-kyaws-red-curry-chicken.html 

Hope everyone has a great weekend start to their summer! 

Ofa Lahi Atu

Sister Rasmussen

PS GO SPURS

Week 1 Back in North Pine

Aloha,

Well a lot of things are going on. It's been pretty crazy adjusting to being in another new area, sort of, and new companion, and new responsibilities etc. But the great thing is I haven't really been too stressed. The comforting power of the Holy Ghost is real, and also when you focus more on others than on yourself you don't really have room to be stressed. So that's been good. I had to go to my first Mission Leadership Council meeting. That was weird. Then I had to go on my first tradeoff with a companionship of sisters in my region, also weird. I got through it though with some help from my friend the Spirit and also a lot of help from my wonderful companion. It was cool going to church on Sunday and seeing all the wonderful members in North Pine ward that I missed and also meet some new faces. It was good to see Bishop. Things with the ward have backslid a tiny bit...like they are back to having no ward mission leader again where they were when I first got here. But it's ok because the first thing Bishop told me is he wants to meet with us once a week again so we can keep up the work and stuff. So I'm glad I already have that good relationship with him and all the other good members here which can help us push the work forward in unity. I was really sad to leave Camp Hill ward though because I really loved it so much and there were some really great members there and investigators and people we were really able to work with and so much good potential in the area. I know that Sister Semaia and Sister Robertson will do great though.  Anyways I'm short on time but I hope all is well back home. I hear really interesting things all the time about how much the United States is struggling, but I take that with a grain of salt. A lot of Australians have a pretty weird conception of what it's like to live in the U.S. 

Ofa Lahi Atu

Sister Rasmussen

Well, This is Crazy!

ALOHA

You may be wondering why I'm emailing twice in one week. 

Well let's just say that immediately following me getting up from the computer at the library on Monday a lot of things changed very quickly. 

I got a call from President Henderson....that is usually not a good sign, many things run through your mind when that happens. I was worried about something bad happening back home, and thank goodness it wasn't anything like that. 

So he informed me that there was a need for an emergency transfer, and that I was going to be going back to somewhere I've been before. TOOWOOMBA???? NO.. NORTHPINE! YES. So my poor friend, Sister Parata, was serving in North Pine and she got very ill to the point of not being able to work at all and now she's in the mission home until they figure out what's wrong with her, and they sent me to her area, which is North Pine. It's my old area plus the other half of the ward because since I left they've gone back to being just one companionship in the ward.  I have a new companion named Sister Moran. She is from Melbourne, Australia (my second companion from there) and is wonderful. I am having this weird reverse culture shock kind of though because I got really used to being with Samoan sisters. Anyways the reason I'm emailing again is because for this zone their temple trip was this week, today. So I got two P-days this week kind of. I'd like to say that Mondays "P-day"  was more of an anti-preparation day though because I was not prepared for any of that. We were at the library when President called...I had just emailed him this: " So things are looking up, I'm not eager to leave Camp Hill any time soon." OH THE IRONY. Heavenly Father really does have a sense of humor. This is how you know you can't get too comfortable in your area. There was a bunch of other switches and a new sister came in from the MTC mid transfer that made it all work out for Sister Semaia to gain a new companion over there in Camp Hill and I have full confidence that they will continue to see miracles there although I am going to miss it and her. It was a really great area. North PIne area is basically completely the same except it's totally different....if that makes sense. It's really weird to move back in to my old flat and be driving around the old streets where I was trained, and look in my old area book and see my own handwriting. I've seen some of the members and people I really grew to love already though and that's been really fun. I'm not quite sure how long I'll stay here. Either I'll stay for only like 3 more weeks and then get transferred again when proper transfers are, or I'll probably stay for a while because Sister Moran goes home in one more transfer. It's weird being with a companion who has been out longer than me again and back in the area I was trained in. Sometimes I feel like I'm just back to being trained again. Especially when she knows the area and I kind of don't but kind of do, which hasn't ever happened to me because every time I've been transferred so far I've been opening the area and neither me or my companions have known what's going on. So basically moral of the story is It's been a pretty crazy week and I think I'm probably reeling a bit from all of the craziness as you can probably tell by this email which I'm not sure even makes a whole lot of sense. Going to the temple this morning was great though, nothing comes close to the peace you find in there. Hope everyone elses week has been a bit less hectic. Love you all!

Sister Rasmussen

Mission Tour and other Exciting Things

Aloha!

So we had our mission tour with President and Sister Hamula this week. It was really great. He is the Pacific Area President. We had a zone conference type of thing with him and then went to a meeting with all the ward council members of all the wards and stakes in our mission, which was also broadcast throughout the far reaches of the mission on Thursday night. It was a cool meeting. Just to see how everyone can come together with the same goals. It was good to see lot's of missionary friends too, we always like getting together. We have been busy here in Camp Hill as always. Knocking on so many doors everyday and speaking to people at bus stops and on the streets. Recently, actually on Mother's day I think it was, we were talking to people at the big bus station which  is connected to the mall in our area. During that 2 hours we were there talking to people we had a very interesting time: between my companion and I we found 5 people who were interested in the gospel....just one problem not one of them lives in our area! But we got their information and were able to give some other missionaries referrals, which I love doing because referrals are great. Also in that two hours my poor companion had every religion under the sun thrown at her....we got finished and she said she got told off my Muslim, Buddhist, Lutheran, Hindu, and Anglican people. While she was getting converted into other faiths I was busy getting asked out on dates! I had two creeeeeeepy individuals come up and ask me to go out with them. 

One guy introduced himself and stuck out his hand, so I shook it, then he wouldn't let go....

he asked if he could kiss my hand, 

(in my head: WHAT THE?!?!?!) 

out loud: NO. 

then he goes Oh...are you single? 

(in my head: taken by God!! haha) 

out loud: NO.

then he goes Oh...can I have your number too? (I had just given my number on a card to a nice girl on the bus stop next to me) 

(In my head: HECK NO) 

Out loud: Here is a card where you can call this number for a free DVD of Christ, I have to get going now, have a nice day!

Then I ran away. 

After that another guy that I talked to wouldn't let go of my hand after I was just leaving and saying nice to meet you and stuff and he said "would you go out with me?" seriously I don't know what was going on that day it was so weird. I think the weird guys are just attracted to the spirit or something. Anyways things are going pretty well here and I'm still alive. 

Love you all!

Sister Rasmussen

Miracle May

Aloha!

So this month has been dubbed "Miracle May" by our mission president. In preparation of the mission tour which is this week where one of the area presidency members comes and tours the mission from the top to the bottom. I'm going to the meeting where he will speak to us on Thursday with a few of the other zones so it should be good. But we have been preparing as best as we can spiritually for the tour and it's been really cool to hear other missionaries miracles and to see our own. My companion had some pretty crazy cool things happen to us this past week. We went knocking on doors on Thursday and without knowing it at all we knocked on  the door of an elderly member of our ward. He doesn't make it to church often because of his health. We were able to sit on his patio and visit with him and found out he had been very depressed recently and not coping well with the death of his wife of over 60 years. His family had been taking it in shifts to stay with him and look after him but he asked them to stop a few days prior and told them God would take care of him and whatever happens happens kind of. And the next day we knocked on his door! He told us it was so nice to see us and we were able to lift his spirits by reminding him of the promise that he is sealed to his wife for eternity and that he needs to trust in the Lord's timing. Then we happened to have the next night free for our dinner appointment so we told him we would come back and cook him a nice meal and so he could have the missionaries over for dinner. It was so much fun and one of the best and most fun dinners I've had on my mission. The same day we knocked on his door we also met his neighbor who is a young mom who is also going through losing a loved one and has been looking for a church to answer a lot of the questions she's been having about life. She is so keen to learn and prepared and it was such a miracle! We stopped her just as she was getting in her car to drive away. Miracle May is real! also a lot of other funny/ cool stuff has been happening but I'm out of time so I'll have to save that for next week. 

Love you all!

Sister Rasmussen

One More Transfer in Camp Hill

Aloha!

Well we got transfer calls Sunday night and I'm staying in Camp Hill for at least 6 more weeks as well as Sister Semaia. The longer I stay in Brisbane the farther away my dream of going up north goes. haha But that's ok I just want to be where the Lord wants me to be really, and I guess he knows me well enough to keep me away from the ocean :)  I'm actually really stoked to be staying here because our ward is so great and on to it here that I know we will be seeing miracles here soon enough. Heavenly Father won't lead us to those who have been prepared until we are prepared to receive them, but this ward really seems like they are doing all they can to hasten the work and so I'm sure we will find those people here soon. 

It's been really weird this week to be at meetings and things and realize that I'm one of the oldest missionaries there....I feel like I just got here! But then I think back to one year ago and where I was and who I was and I realize that a lot has changed..in a good way. 

This month we are having a mission tour coming up with our Area presidency and other mission presidents and people so in preparation our mission president has been having mission wide conference calls and has been having us do some special things to spiritually prepare for the tour. So we have been studying chapter 5 and 6 from Preach my Gospel the past two weeks. Ch. 5 is about the Book of Mormon and ch. 6 is Christlike Attributes. It's been really good. I've been focusing on studying more this past transfer than I have ever on my mission. Like I study in the morning during breakfast, before studies start, I study at lunch if we are at home, I study at dinner if we are at home, and I study at night before bed. I've been reading Jesus the Christ and the Ensigns. I think being with only one sister in my flat has contributed to that. I get way less distracted haha. Anyways I love studying! Also Elder Ballard challenged every member to start studying Preach my Gospel in his conference talk and my companion and I have been going around and issuing that challenge to our ward members...so consider this as me also extending this to you my family as well. Preach my Gospel is truly inspired, it is the words of Prophets and Apostles and so it is also the word of God. I you want a good place to start might I suggest chapters 1,3,5, or 6. But really the whole thing is good and will bring you closer to God. In the mission we have also been submitting in little "miracles" we experience every day to be recorded in a book. This month is going to be known as Miracle May, and I can't wait to witness the miracles! We have already seen some pretty cool ones. Hope your May is going well too. Happy Cinco de Mayo! We got $5 burritos yesterday at this Mexican place in the mall that is the only yummy Mexican food place I've ever really found in Australia that tastes like home. 

Love you!

Sister Rasmussen

Pictures

 A mural in the train station we use alot.  This is in the ramps that go under the tracks between platforms. I feel like Harry Potter when I talk about train platforms. Haha.  You know when him and Dudley get attacked in those tunnels by the dementors?   It looks just like that but with cool paintings.

 Look how close I am to the city! It's right there! Just across the river from my area. It's super weird to be so close.

 Look at these birds!!  Australia has some really cool birds.

 Me and my good friend, Sis. Russell, who we picked up from the airport, coming from Mackay, so we could drop her off at the mission home to go home to South Africa.  :(   I will miss her.

My beautiful companion!

Camp on the Hill

So I don't have a whole lot to write about this week. It was pretty normal. I am starting to really know where I'm going around here now which is good. We really really tried to get people to come to church for Easter, the only problem is that here in AUS it's like a major holiday weekend, so everyone travels up the coast or down the coast or to some sort of coast and a lot of people were out of town. So that was kind of a bummer. We haven't had any investigators come to church yet in this ward, which kind of bums me out, but we also don't really have many or any solid investigators which is a bit of a bummer,  but it just comes with opening an area. I've done it three times and I can do it again. It just takes a lot of patience in the beginning. We are doing all we can to find those prepared people, I'm positive we will be lead to them eventually. 

My companion and I had to speak on Sunday for Easter in Sacrament meeting. That was a good opportunity for me to reflect a bit more on Easter and the real meaning of it. Since it was just a normal if not even more intense work weekend for us it didn't feel that different, so the speaking assignment helped me to remember  the Savior's resurrection even more. I used that book you sent me the Infinite Atonement, and also Elder Christofferson's talk from conference on the resurrection. I feel like I learned a lot about the importance of the resurrection and how vital it is for us all to have a personal testimony that our Saviour died and that he still lives today, and that we can gain that personal witness by reading and praying about the Book of Mormon which testifies that he was resurrected and that he did visit those people after his resurrection. I think it was an alright talk. I learned a lot even if no one else was listening. 

Anyways it was a good week and I had a very good Easter so I hope you all did too. 

Also check out this lds.org video. This is my ward mission leader, he is THE MAN. We love him. 

www.lds.org/prophets-and-apostles/unto-all-the-world/a-prodigal-son-returns?cid=HPFR102513131 

Have a great week. I'm going to the temple next Thursday so I don't get another P-day until then...so I won't hear from you for a while that is why. 

Alofa Atu

Sister RAsmussen

Food Poisoning & All Sorts of Weirdness!

So I don't have a lot of time and the shift key is broken. Sorry for the horrible punctuation and capitalization. So last week was going really well until my companion and I both woke up with horrible food poisoning. That was icky, and we were down and out for 2 days. I have never taken a sick day my whole mission but there was just no way around it. And wouldn't you know that  it would hit me on the year anniversary of my first say in the MTC! It was a great way to celebrate....basically sleeping all day and running back and forth to the bathroom, alternating with my companion. Gross! Satan just sure knows how to get you. But it is pretty cool to think of all that has happened to me in the past year. It has been just the craziest time. This week we have a mini missionary with us which is cool. We did have two but one didn't quite make it past her third day. She said she was sick and had her family come pick her up. Kind of sad but I don't think she wanted to come really in the first place. We have interviews with our mission president this week which I am looking forward to. Oh and General Conference was just amazing as usual. It's funny the closer I get to the end of my mission the more I have to think about the future...scary. But hope your week is good! love you!

Sister Rasmussen

Camp Hill is Very Hilly!

Hello everyone!

I don't have a whole lot to say today. This week was much better than last week. We were much more organized and set up in the area so we were able to really just get to work and work and work this week. My area is super full of hills, and we live in the very top of a tall building with no elevator as well. My calves are going to be huge when I get home....Oh well! We have been figuring out the bus/train system around our area. It feels really weird to be traveling around by bus and train again because we didn't have any of that in Toowoomba. It is really nice though a major bus line runs from our place (which isn't in our area) to the train line which basically runs across the whole north end of our ward, and it also runs us up to a major bus line that goes right through the south half, which is my area. So it's been good we are blessed And even though it's hilly we haven't had to bike much because of the buses and trains. We still don't really have anyone to teach beside all the families that the ward wants us visiting, but we are always finding and talking to everyone we meet. I'm sure that Heavenly Father will lead us to those people who are ready here shortly as long as we continue to work as hard as we can. Anyways hopefully you all have a great week and you enjoyed General Conference. We get it this next weekend which should be great. I'm really looking forward to it. Another chance to receive heaps of revelation and have our testimonies strengthened by our living special witnesses of Jesus Christ. It's pretty great. 

Love you!

Sister Rasmussen

Week 1 in Camp Hill

Well I've been here nearly a week now and I'm starting to know my way around things a bit better. We had our first Sunday with the ward and President and Sister Henderson came and spoke! So that was really cool, they stayed for the whole 3 hours and then there was a luncheon for all the recent converts and returning less active members of our ward and the ward that meets after us at 1 and then they both spoke again in that ward. I've been to 6 hours of church once on my mission and it was pretty intense but I'm sure they are used to it. Anyways so that was really good. The ward I'm in now is so different from Toowoomba ward, much younger, much more technological, and much more fast paced with everything. They are putting us to work, and have given us heaps and heaps of families and people to start visiting. We are going to be going on splits 3 nights a week, which is awesome as well. I'm excited to work with them. It's cool sharing a ward with elders as well because now we can involve the entire ward more between the lot of us. This week was a bit slow because we were spending a lot of time going through lists and area books and splitting things up and organizing ourselves and getting our maps and stuff but we are super organized now and should be ready to roll for this coming week. The biggest problem we have at the moment is we have no one to teach at all. So knocking on doors on doors on doors this week until we find those people that Heavenly Father has prepared for us. Hopefully by next next week we will have lots of people to teach. It's always slow like this when you open an area, which frustrates me but I know it will get better. Have fun watching general conference live this weekend! We get ii one week delayed but that's alright. I'm really excited for it anyways. It's always good to hear the Prophets speak to us. 

Love you all, 

Sister Rasmussen

Welcome to Camp Hill, Sis. Rasmussen!!

Well it finally happened and I've been transferred away from Toowoomba. I will miss that place so much, but Heavenly Father knows how to direct his work and he has sent me here to Camp HIll. I couldn't have left Toowoomba on a more positive note than I did. We had 7 investigators at church last weekend, we had a baptism in Dalby with a family that I absolutely love, we went on splits twice in one week with the ward, and had more lessons than we have had probably in the whole 6 months that I was there. There is so much potential in that area now. I feel very blessed to have been able to serve there and I am happy that I did put my all into building up that area into what it now is because it was pretty dead when I got there and now they have so many wonderful people to work with. By the end my companion and I were able to accomplish pretty much every goal we had set for the area and I know it was made possible just because we worked really hard. So as usual I come in to build an area up as best as I can and then I get transferred to a new area as soon as it gets going, so I can build the new place up haha. I may not see much fruit myself by working that way but I feel really good about it all the same.

I was a bit confused at transfer meeting but I think I've sorted out what is happening. I'm moving to an area where they are taking two sisters and two elders and switching us over so that there will be a set of elders and a set of sisters in each of these two neighboring wards. So my companion has already been living in the flat that I'm moving into, and she was expecting to pick me up at the meeting and introduce me to everyone she has been teaching in Holland Park ward but next minute we found out at transfer meeting about the switcheroo and now we know that we are basically opening a new area in the neighboring ward, and two elders are taking over her old area. I think she is a bit sad about that but as for me I am stoked to be starting a new area off from scratch.  That's all I've done my whole mission is open new areas so I don't really know any different. One thing that is weird is that I am in the heart of Brisbane now.  It's like a big city here! so different than Toowoomba. Way faster paced, way more humid! and smaller areas with trains and buses and all of that kind of stuff. It will be a whole new adventure. I can't wait! My new companion is Sister Semaia, from Samoa, so all the Samoan I learned off my wonderful sisters in Toowoomba will come in good handy. She's been out maybe 6 or 7 months now I think. Sister Fesolai got sister Hwang from Korea to take my place in Toowoomba which will be so fun for them. She is cool and goes home with me so I am glad for them there. I know they will see miracles, and I will too here in my new home. Oh and my new flat is sooooo nice. It's like brand new and compared to the flat in Toowoomba it's like a palace. I'll hopefully know a bit more about everything that's going on next week, but just remember Heavenly Father is in charge.  He will direct our paths for good if we allow him to, and I can't wait to see the good that comes of this. I'll send some pictures home from the baptism!

Alofa Atu,

Sister Rasmussen