21 September 2015 - 500 Since 2004

Howdy!

Everything out here in Omaha is great! Elder Ferguson and I are doing well. The weather has been absolutely beautiful; fall is just around the corner..the leaves have started changing and some trees are already dead. 

It's crazy that General Conference is just around the corner...it felt like not too long ago it was April and we were all waiting for that Conference to start. I'm excited once again to hear the words our living prophet, and the other men that have been called of God. We have been doing a lot of work with the ward members lately and have been trying to help them in every way that we can. We know that members are the most important part of missionary work and that they are the ones who are the best at finding those who are ready to be taught. We as missionaries are simply here to help the ward in their missionary work. 

The members out here are great! I'm glad that I have the opportunity to serve with them. Now that all has settled down from the E.T., my companion and I are working really hard to keep the work progressing in this area as best we can. We have been doing a lot of finding mainly through less-active members and former investigators. We found a huge book full of people that have been contacted in the past and we counted over 500 people that have been taught since 2004 (that was the earliest record we found).  Many of the people don't even live in the same house or the phone number doesn't work or has been transferred to someone else, but it always makes for an interesting conversation and a good way to share the gospel when you walk up to a door looking for someone and they haven't lived there in years.

Answers to Mumsy's Questions:

 1) Elder Ferguson is from Lancaster California, He has been out for 9 months..the first companionship I've had where I have been out longer, but that may likely be the case from now on.   I actually met him when he first came out back in January  at the Mission Home in South Dakota. He has grown a lot since then and has lost a lot of weight. If you would have asked me, I wouldn't have necessarily guessed that we would get along so well, but I think he will likely end up being one of my favorites so far.

2) As Dad predicted, I pretty much just hit the pillow and I'm gone in like 5 minutes. Some nights it still takes a little while, but  for the most part I'm asleep very quickly...unless my companion starts to make this really weird clicking sound that he does.  I don't even know how to describe it over an email, I'll have to show you an example when we chat at Christmas.  Apparently all his companions have confronted him about it, but he brought it up with me. I didn't say anything about it until he asked.

Yeah, Jacob goes home soon..I'm a little sad because it always feels like I'm behind him and Austin. I just hope that when he goes home next week, that I won't get too trunky.  Ha!  I think it will be a rough week for me honestly, but hopefully I'll get over it quickly.  I'm really excited to be able to see Jacob and Austin when I get home, I have been missing them a lot lately. 

Well, have a fantastic week.  I hear that Cort is about to get married or something like that? ;) haha. I don't know why, but most members say they can see me getting married within 8 months of coming home.  I can't see it, but whatever! 

Have a great week; love ya!

14 September 2015 - Goodbye, Blendtec!

 Hello Everyone!

So this week was a crazy one. First off, my Companion, Elder Hansen, got E.T. (Emergency Transferred) out to McCook Nebraska which is way out west. Goodbye, Blendtec!  My new companion, Elder Ferguson, had a seizure and needed to be closer to more sophisticated medical facilities instead of being out in the boonies. It was a long trip for me on Thursday...four hours to get there and and another four hours back. So that was most of our day that Thursday.  

Elder Ferguson and I are getting a long great. I don't know what it is with me, but I have been part of several E.T's. while I've been out, none because of either my companion or me, but rather some other missionary that has had something happen. At least this time I stayed in my same area. 

Sad news, the investigator that we thought was doing so well dropped us last night. He said he is more of a "non-denominational kind of guy" Which, I guess if that's where he feels closest to God that's where he should go. It's always hard to see someone go after you have been teaching them for awhile. I wish the best for him and this upcoming week is going to be full of more "finding" activities for us. We said goodbye to a lot of our investigators that were not progressing or wanting to make commitments. I hope that in the future, when other missionaries find them, or they interact with members of the church, that they will be more ready to commit. 

Other than all that transfer stuff, not a whole lot has happened. People are still nice to us at the door even though BYU beat Nebraska in the game. I was worried that people wouldn't like us to much after that but it seems like they have gotten over it for the most part. ;)

To answer mom's question, all the food here has been really good. I haven't had any weird foods since Sheridan,  surprisingly.  And as for the winters here, I'm told are not nearly as bad as the ones out in Minnesota or South Dakota; they say there isn't a lot of wind so I'm expecting more mild conditions, I should be fine.

Love you guys!


Elder Rasmussen

7 September 2015 - Bishop Chuck....is that you?!?

Hello Everyone!

We had another great week. Elder Hansen and I found a new investigator who is rather unique. He has mixed views on religion and considers himself to be Jewish-Christian, mixed with a little Jehovah's Witness. It's kind of unusual, but we hope that he will progress well.  Another one of our investigators came to church again this last Sunday, and even bore his testimony! It was awesome! 

The BYU / Nebraska game was a pretty huge thing here; tracting was useless that day because everyone was getting ready to watch the game and didn't want to be disturbed. We actually got permission to watch the game (in a member's home) provided we earned the perk by memorizing and passing off 12 new scriptures.  I can say that it was well worth it.  The last play just about blew everyone's mind.  We watched the game in the home of some big Nebraska fans so when that happened all the missionaries went crazy and the family sat there in shock--it was pretty funny.  

We also were able to attend a fireside that the BYU football players put on. While there, I was able to see our former bishop, Chuck Anderson, from back home! It was a weird but great feeling and almost didn't didn't seem real because you never expect to see someone from home while you are out serving a mission.  It felt almost dream-like, but very cool to see him there.   It felt great to be able to talk to him and to see how the ward was doing. I'm really enjoying my time out here!

Answers for mumsy...

1) Yes, I did get a card from Uncle Jim and Aunt Jillynn...tell them thank you!
2) Do I still fold my ears over?...yes, I do, though it's actually something that I'm trying not to do anymore because I don't want my ears to be super droopy when I'm like 50. It's a hard habit to break because sometimes I do it without even noticing.


Tell Uncle Bob I hope he feels better soon, I don't like to hear that he's not feeling well.  I look forward to seeing everyone again at next year's Iron County Fair and I hope that you all had fun this year! 

Well, love you all! Have a great week.


Elder Rasmussen

31 August 2015 - The Awesomeness Continues!

Greetings!

We have had an awesome week here in Omaha! We had a wonderful experience with an investigator the other day. We had another lesson with him after not seeing him for 2 months and shared a message about the Plan of Salvation. We then Invited him to church and he came! He stayed for all three hours and said he really enjoyed it! We are going to meet with him again this week sometime soon! We are hoping to invite him to be baptized since he said he is "on board" with everything that we are teaching.  We believe our next lesson should be the one for the invitation.

There is a member family in our ward who was re-activated about a year ago; the family is now currently working toward going to the temple and being sealed as a family.  We are so excited for them and the progress they are making. We had the opportunity to go to the temple this last week. It is amazing, the spirit you can feel when you go to the temple.  Our mission president and his wife were there with us and we had a great time. This is the second time I have been to the temple since being in the Omaha mission.  It was really hard to go to the temple in the Rapid City Mission unless you were right in Bismark, but most of the missionaries here are able to go to the temple several times while serving in the mission.

Jacob is really excited to be going home and so is Austin; they have been talking about it a lot now that he only has like just a few weeks to go now.  I'm happy for their reunion, but I try not to think about it too much 'cause I have more than just a few weeks to go.  Ha!  

I'm a little sad to see summer go but not sad to see the temps go. It has been one hot, humid summer.  The locals say that it starts snowing about the end of October, mid November here, with one early snow fall that goes away quickly because it warms up again, so we will see.

Woah! Cort has a legit love life now?!?! He hasn't written me in like three months so I don't hear anything from him...neither has Noah.  I guess Caitlin really does love me the most..(don't get your hopes too high Caitlin!) HAHA! 

To Mumsy...yes, I was actually just thinking about the "What's New Pussycat?" song the other day as I was petting a member's cat! And yes, I remember that episode of Fresh Prince where Tom Jones made a guest appearance...it made me laugh super hard!

I'm a little sad that I will miss the Labor Day festivities in PTown, but glad to know that I can be there next year...kind of crazy that this is my last "holiday season" as a missionary.

Love you guys...have fun!!

-Elder Rasmussen