23 March 2015 - A Million, no a Billion!

We had a super awesome week! We attended another baptism yesterday! It was kind of crazy because it felt like we were doing a million different things and all of it during church so it was hard to focus on the spirit and worshiping when we were doing what seemed like a billion administrative  things getting ready for the baptism.

Things are really going well here in Marshall. I think I finally understand why I ended up here. It is amazing how things will happen so that you end up where God wants you to be. I believe that I will be here one more transfer but I'll make sure I let you guys know what happens with transfers and what mission I end up in, and all that jazz.

So you know how spring officially started on Friday? Yeah, well, it didn't here..it snowed pretty hard last night. Hopefully, that will be the last of the snow for the year but everyone tells me not to hold my breath...and that it could very likely snow again in April. 

The good people of MN seem to get injured often and always seem to be having surgery. It seems like nearly every door we knock on the person answering says, "Not right now, my husband/wife just had surgery and I don't think it would be a good time." (When all my companion and I can think is..."Great! So since you aren't doing anything productive right now anyway, it would be a great time talk about the Savior and having the Gospel in your life!" Ha!) So, either people like to use that as excuse, or everyone gets surgery (for various reasons) here in MN all at the same time.  Maybe it's a great winter activity?!?

Of all the silly things I miss in "civilian life," I'd have to say Fresh Prince! That TV show made me laugh every time I watched it.

Crazy that Chandler will be coming home soon. It seems like he has been gone forever for some reason. It will be cool to see him when I get home.

I love you guys a ton! Hope you all have a great week!

-Love Elder Rasmussen

16 March 2015 - "Super Solid"

Hello, hello again!

This was a super solid week!

We got two new investigators and have two others who have chosen to be baptized.  One is on date for baptism this coming Sunday, and the other the Sunday after! Hopefully our two new friends will choose to be baptized soon as well.  That's my exciting news for the week; things are really going well here.

The temps have been very nice--up in the high 60's and low 70's. I'm so glad spring is finally here. Serving up here in the winter time didn't make me dislike the winter any more than I already did, but I know when I get home I probably won't complain about it as much because Utah winters don't even compare to the weather here.

We talked to this one guy on the street the other day who looked EXACTLY like the guy on Pirates of the Caribbean...the one who only has one eye and the other is a fake wooden one.  I know it's probably not good of me, but honestly that's all I could focus on the whole time we were talking to him. 

I'm glad to hear that Caitlin's baby was born and that he is healthy. He looked really cute and chubby and I thought for certain he would be like 9 pounds, but 7 is pretty good. Can't wait to get home and see the little fellow and meet him over Skype in May on the Mother's Day call!  In a way, none of it seems real because I wasn't there to see Caitlin be pregnant.  

As for transfers, my feeling is that I will be staying here for one more and then I'll probably move on.  That's my guess, but you never know what's going to happen with Transfers.

I did get the packge..Thanks! The GPS is awesome!  I'm super thankful for all that you do for me!

-Love Elder Rasmussen

9 March 2015 - Well, I gotta admit, that slowed me down...but I'm still going for it!

Hey Everyone!

I have some pretty exciting news.   First off, our mission will be splitting on April 28th! It looks like I will most likely be in the Omaha Nebraska mission. (Shout out to you, "Sherri Mom Anderson," booyah!)  Not sure how I feel about the change (feels so weird being called to one mission and likely finishing in another) but I know wherever I end up, is the place where God wants me to be.

I found out a couple weeks ago that an investigator I was working with back in Sheridan got baptized! It was awesome to hear that she made that step in her life and I'm super excited to talk to her after the mission (hopefully before then). Regardless, it will be good to see her again at some point in the future.

This week was really good, we had a baptismal interview for one of our investigators and it went really well.  He's now working to stop smoking, if he's able to do it, he will be baptized on the 22nd of March!

Recently, my companion and I have had a ton of service opportunities which I think is one of the best parts of missionary work. The Church has come out with a new missionary tool called #BecauseHelives. It is truly an awesome thing; a lot like He is the Gift, but it will run all year so we should be able to see a ton of success from it.  I feel it really helping us be more motivated to go out and knock on doors and share the message of the gospel =).

Well today is my "Golden Day,"  the day of the month that I came out on my mission. 8 months! For the most part, it seems like it's gone super fast and I hear it only goes by faster as time goes on. Thanks to everyone for all the support and encouragement!

Answers to last week's questions:

1) Marshall is a pretty quiet town. Most of the people are really nice and don't slam the door too hard. It is a lot bigger than Parowan.  Had I stayed in Pipestone, that would have been more the size of Parowan.  Marshall seems more like Cedar City, maybe a bit smaller.

2) We were able to make contact with Lauri's brother.  We talked with him for a little bit and tried to set up a second meeting, but he was unsure of when a good day would be. We have yet to talk with him again.  

3) We haven't done anything super fun on P-Day lately, but now that it is starting to warm up we may be able to start doing a few things. 

4) Transfers will be the 28th of this month.

Things are going well. I still don't have the package you sent, but maybe it will be there by the time I get back to the apartment...who knows?  As you know, I was feeling pretty low a few weeks ago...in that place where you question if you're going to make it, and whether you're doing the right thing?  Despite that, I have been thinking about it a lot and I have decided to  raise my level of commitment. I'm going to serve my heart out and give it my all until July 2016. I know more hard times will likely come, but I also know I will regret it if I go home early and don't finish what I was sent here to do. I love you tons!  Thanks for all that you do; I can't thank you enough.

Love, Elder Rasmussen

2 March 2015 - Lunch with Trunch

Hello guys!

Last week was rough but things are better this week!  It’s still cold here, but it's getting to the point where it should start warming up…hopefully. 

We spent a lot of time driving all week last week—going from town to town working to contact those we don’t see often at church and people who were formerly investigating the church. My companion and I are planning on going out to each town in our area at least once a month if not more. It’s a lot of driving, I'll tell ya! 

My companion and I are doing well together and are working as hard as we can. I'm having fun here in Marshall.  If there is one thing I have learned on my mission, it is that although you may be doing the same thing every day, no two days are alike.   I’ve discovered I love meeting new people and I am learning to appreciate how different we can all be. 

The other day, my companion and I were driving and we saw a giant green dinosaur.  Out here in Minnesota, you never quite know what you are going to see along the side of the road. 

I'm finally over the food poisoning and the cold I had so we can focus our efforts on bringing others to Christ. We have a person on date to be baptized at the end of the month and should have another good soul on date soon.

My companion and I were cleaning our apartment  and decided to include getting one of our windows back into the track.  A previous companionship of missionaries decided to open the window and somehow, the glass came out of the track.  They never put it back in because it appeared the only way to get it back in was to do so from the outside. Well, my companion and I found a way to do it from the inside…it took an hour to get it , but we finally got it in and now there isn't a wicked draft coming through our apartment AND the window doesn't shake when it’s super windy. Silly Elders!

We were at Subway the other day and the lady working the sandwich line looked identical to Ms. Trunchbull from “Mathilda.” I kind of just stood there and stared for a few seconds because she was the spitting image of the Trunchbull, so I got a weird look from her until I finally came to my senses and told her what kind of sandwich I wanted. We also have a guy in our ward that looks like that crazy guy, Inspector Dreyfus, from "The Pink Panther Strikes Again.” You know, the short one that fires the laser at the building?  It was awesome to finally make that connection because for weeks it was driving me crazy why he looked so familiar.

Love you guys a ton!

Elder Rasmussen

23 February 2015 - Frozen

Well..it's been a cold week here in Minnesota.

Probably the coldest weather I have ever experienced. It was down to -40 the other night with the windchill! I'm so ready for spring!  I have never really liked winter anyway, but now I'm just trying to hold on until spring gets here. I'm tired of putting on 3 coats and two pairs of gloves and multiple pairs socks…with thermals…just to walk outside.

Enough of the cold! My new companion is named Elder Eastin. He is from Arizona and is pretty cool. We have a lot of the same interests so we get along well. His mannerisms and speech make him a mix of cousins Logan and Trevor. We are pretty similar in terms of the things we want to complete while out on our missions, so it's easy to work together. We teach very well together and are already seeing success.  We have someone on date for March 22nd, and we are excited to see him be baptized..even though it’s a few weeks away.

This area has been challenging for me and I’ve been struggling—feeling like I’m in a bit of a rut.  Honestly, I wouldn't mind going somewhere else next transfer. Don't get me wrong, Marshall is a great place but it seems like things are soooo slow here.  Imagine that, me who loves “small town” and “slow.”  I don't mean to complain, but I just needed to get that out.  Whew!  Guess I’m just still trying to get the area down and wondering what I'm supposed to do while I'm here…what I'm supposed to contribute, who it is that I’m supposed to meet and help/learn from.

So after recovering from my bad bout with Burger King, four days later I got a cold so I'm now just getting over that. It's been a rough couple of weeks..but now everything is back to normal.  No more crazy transfers or exchanges so that's good. I can finally focus on the area and get back into the swing of things. 

Please let the Brandelmyer's know that I'm sorry to hear that and that I send my regards.

Glad to hear that Noah is a lady killer!  Seems like he is spending a lot of time at dances and stuff…nothing I would have ever wanted to do. I certainly would not have wanted to spend my money on all that.  Blegh!

I hope things are still going well at home. Have a good week. Love you!

-Elder Rasmussen

9 February 2015

Greetings!

So you know how when you go on a mission say...in the middle of the U.S., and it is supposed to get super cold? Well, so far, that has not been the case for me. It has been in the 40's most of the winter but then, here and there, randomly dropping to 2 degrees the next day. 

We went to a Catholic Church service this Sunday with one of the people we've been working with. It was a very unique experience for me since I had not been to a Catholic service before. It was good to see how people of other faiths worship, and good to see some of the similarities and differences in Christianity.  We had an investigator come to church with us this Sunday, and it was awesome to have him join us.  He is super close to baptism, just trying to work some things out.

Elder Lete and I had the opportunity to go to the Bismark ND Temple. We went on P-day and a member drove us the 7 hours it takes to get there from here--it was a really good experience. We didn't get any sleep because neither of us could sleep in the car very well. It was well worth it though. We got to do temple work for a lot of people. The best part was sealing the families together..it was an awesome experience. I didn't think that I would ever get the chance to go to the temple on my mission, feeling like I'd likely never serve in ND.

Valentines Day this year will likely be like any other day. I mean, back home I don't think I ever really had a "Valentine" but there was always that hope/thought in the back of your head that someone might give you something anyway. (A Charlie Brown moment.)  This year there won't even be that.  Haha!

Transfers are coming up next week, my companion and I are thinking that he will get transferred out because he has been here for 7 months...guess we will see what happens. I have no idea if I'll stay here or not, there is a lot going on with where missionaries are serving and for some reason, I don't feel like I'll stay in Marshall--just have to see. 

Mother and family...you will never escape my socks! I have placed them all over the house in spots you would never even think of looking, then one day you'll do some deep cleaning and voila!  Hahaha! You are now forced to do so!

The 3D image/ultrasound pic of Caitlin's baby looks as she would say, "totes fat," which is good because even if the baby is homely, chubby babies are cuter than non-chubby babies, right? =) Haha!  JK, I'm excited to see him.

Thanks for the package it was awesome to receive!  It's easy to feel alone out here because we are on the outskirts of our mission and the closest missionaries are 2 hours away.  It was very nice to feel that my companion and I are cared for and remembered.  I feel like my patience has really been tried lately and the so the care package was a nice pick-me-up and reminder to be forgiving, patience and understanding with others. 

Dad will be pleased to learn I am picking up the local accent rather well, and learning all sorts regional substitutes for words--like "ooofta" is something you say when you get hurt. Question...does Laurie happen to have a brother/cousin that lives in Marshall or the surrounding area? There is a Spitzenburger on our ward list--just curious. 

Well, It's time I get going. Love you all a ton and miss you,  Hope you have a great week!

2 February 2015

Greetings!

Well, another week has come and gone out in the mission field. This week was a rather slow one where missionary work is concerned unfortunately, but it was also very fun. We had a Zone Conference in Sioux Falls on Friday so that took up our entire day. It was awesome to go to and feel the Spirit as mission leaders conducted training and helped inspire us to improve our missionary work. I was able to see a lot of people that were in my MTC group and other missionaries that I served near in my previous area so it was really fun to reminisce about some of the memories of Sheridan and the MTC. I have some pictures to send, but unfortunately the computers that I have been using don't have an accessible USB port, so I haven't been able to send any.  

Yesterday was a bit of a challenge finding productive things to do. With it being the Super Bowl, we figured everyone would be watching the game so as we went door-to-door, we expected people would get mad at us for disrupting the game and their Super Bowl parties.  To our surprise, we actually met and talked with a few people who said they wouldn't mind us coming back another day. Things with our pool of people investigating the church are going well. We are hoping to put a young man on date for baptism this Thursday and another one on Saturday. Hopefully everything will work out and we will be able to see them progress.

So apparently the groundhog saw his shadow? (What a surprise, not!) Has there ever been a time where he doesn't see his shadow? I feel like there have only been two times in my life where the ground hog has predicted early spring--and I think you all know how much I love the winter! =)

Adventure for the week:  The other day we were teaching a lesson to an a guy investigating the church and all of a sudden, right as we finished the opening prayer, his roommate decides to start playing his guitar and singing along with his screamo music. It was a very interesting lesson as we pretty much shouted the whole time.  It was hard for me personally to feel the spirit with "HJSSILEIUAIWPQIWHRA!!!!!!!!!!!!" going on in the background (cause that's pretty much what screamo sounds like to me) but the guy we were teaching said he had a great experience, so I guess that's all that matters! It will be interesting teaching him if his roommate feels the need to rock out during our next lesson about the Plan of Salvation.

That's awesome that Noah did well with his swim meet. That's too bad that Calvin didn't do as well as he wanted to, I really do miss him and Chandler quite a bit. Church was always fun when the two of them where there.

So when is Caitlin's baby due again? It seems like people have baby showers just to get free stuff, but hey, whatever works. It's odd that you mentioned that you were thinking a lot about me the past week because I was thinking a lot about home. Last P-day I was pretty down, one of those days where you just think, "why am I here again?" and want to go home, but I got through it and I'm doing better now. It's important to not let things get you down for long.  Serving in Marshall is a bit harder for me than it was in Sheridan (I think because I don't feel as much of a connection to the people here yet, so I think that may be part of my struggle) but it has it's good moments too. Don't worry about me, I know that I will be able to push through it with the help of the Lord. The people here do take good care of us though, so that's good.

I don't think I NEED anything, but I wouldn't mind some letters from my siblings because I haven't had any since 2 weeks before Christmas!  (Just saying.)

Love, Elder Rasmussen