Cardiff, Wales - December 21, 2015

Hey everyone!

Soooo...guess who is back in Wales?!?! I got moved to Cardiff! It is a
pretty big city. Loads of people! There is a huge city centre that
always has sooo many people in it. It is insane! My new companion is
sister Larsen. She is from Logan Utah. She has only just finished her
training so she just graduated from being a greenie.

This week was crazy with moves. Especially since we had to close down
the Notts 4 flat. We had to deep clean it and pack up some of the
stuff in it. It was intense. Plus packing all our own personal stuff.
We had to stay up pretty to get it all done.

But this week is Christmas! The special time when we get to set aside
time to think of Christ! How exciting! Plus I will be skyping home on
Christmas Day! Can't wait to talk to the family! We have dinner with a
lady for Christmas Day then going to our investigators house for tea.
It should be a great day! We will be skyping in the evening here. I
will be on at 7:30 here in the uk on Christmas Day. That means it will
be 12:30 there in Wyoming. Can't wait to talk to you all!

A less active family is taking us to TGIFrdays for dinner which is
awesome! Haven't had that in ages! It's so expensive over here! So
that will be amazing! Haha

Well I love you all! Merry Christmas from the UK! 🏻☃

Love,

Sister Rasmussen

Nottingham, England - December 14, 2015

Hey everyone!

So this week has been super crazy busy! We have taught some great people and we are still in the process of packing up our whole flat so we can move on Wednesday. Our flat as of right now is a mess! I guess that is what moving does for you. But it is driving me crazy haha!

The biggest news of this week is...LINDSEY GOT BAPTISED!!! I am so happy for her. She is so amazing. The Spirit was super strong at her baptism. You could just see her face glow when she came up out of the water. Yay! The ward was very supportive of her as well which is just awesome. A lot of people came for it and brought lots of food for refreshments afterwards. She has great friends in this ward so she will do great. It was such a blessing to be here for such a special day for her. When she came in to the changing room afterwards she just cried! Tears of happiness of course!

This week was very busy for the ward. We had the baptism on Thursday. On Friday sports night at the chapel. Saturday was the Christmas party. Sunday church and then later that night a carol concert. Then Monday family home evening for empty nesters. So there were loads of great opportunities to bring our investigators to the church in a relaxed way and for them to make friends in the ward. It was soooo good! Activities at the church make such a huge difference!

We also had zone meeting on Friday. Luckily we don't have to travel very far to get there so it didn't take up too much of our day. It feels like this week we have just been rushing from place to place and
meeting to meeting! It was great training though! They talked to us about fear and how we let it get in our way sometimes. Also about inviting people to baptism! So this week we are just going to invite
everyone we meet with. Perhaps a miracle will happen and we can get a couple more people on baptismal dates.

We went to Cosmo last pday which is a posh buffet. It has food from all over the world there. It was so good! We ate waaaay too much! It was fun though being together with the district.  This p day we are going to the German Christmas market than playing volleyball at the chapel! Yay!!!

Well I love you all! Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Rasmussen

 

 

Nottingham, England - December 7, 2015

Hey everyone!

How are you this week? This week was pretty great again! This area of Nottingham is so great! I love it here so so much. We are working with the coolest people as well. Everything honestly is just kind of falling in to place here. We are so lucky that Heavenly Father is guiding us so much. So cool thing...we are having a baptism this week! Her name is Lindsey and she is so great! I will send pictures next week. Modern day miracles are happening!

Last p day we all went as a district to the huge manor where they filmed batman!! It is called Wollaton Hall. It was so fun! They had turned most of it in to a museum. It was so pretty though! It really looked like the mansion in downton abbey! So that was a blast. We walked around their huge gardens and there were a lot of deer just chilling about. Then it rained so hard and we had to walk a long way to catch the bus without an umbrella so sister huh and I got pretty soaked.

Every place here has their Christmas lights up! It is so fun! Every town centre has a big Christmas tree up and lots of old fashioned markets are going on. Every where has a festival as well for when they turn the town Christmas lights on. Sister huh and I didn't realize that our town was having a big festival so we went to the high street to talk to people and there were fair rides and food and a big market. We were so confused about what was going on! But we just stayed on the outside of the crowd and talked to some pretty cool people.

So this week we also did service for our investigator. She has this creepy cellar that looks more like a dungeon. She has a hard time keeping her house clean so we offered to clean it and she said yes we
could help clean her cellar. So we got the elders and went over after district meeting to help. When she showed us the cellar we were in shock! It was piled high with rubbish that she had just been chucking down there for ages! The smell was something else. We were all scared of what might be living down there haha! We were freaking out every time we would grab something and it would be wet or slimy or something! But nevertheless we got it all cleaned out! We were so glad we had brought the elders, sister huh and I could have never managed on our own. We went back to the flat for lunch and I showered about four times to get rid of the smell. We are helping her clean the rest
of her house sometime. Pray for us...hahaha!

We also helped a less active and her non member husband move. When we got there they hadn't even put stuff in boxes yet! So we helped them pack, move, and then unpack everything! It went well though and they definitely couldn't have done it without us. We got it all done in a spaces of a few hours as well! So it just goes to show that when you are a missionary you learn how to pack as fast as lightening and cram stuff in to spaces however small they are. So yeah missionaries are mean packers haha

We have family home evening with members of the ward and some less actives tonight which will be good. It's always good to have activities for people to go to and form friendships at.

So we found out a couple weeks ago when I had just barely gotten here that our flat had been sold and we would have to move in to a new one on the 16 of December. Well then we found out that the mission home had put off finding us a place to live and so they are having us close down the area on the 16th instead of just moving to a new flat. It's so sad because I have had the most success here on my entire mission. The field is definitely white here and they are just leaving the area alone with no missionaries coming in for another few transfers. Ugh...it's so so so sad. Especially with Lindsey's baptism because it is like we will get her baptised then leave. We are praying for a miracle that they can find a flat within this next week for us to move to so that we don't have to leave. Praying very very hard! I already love this place and the people so much!

Well that is the exciting news of the week. Love you all!

Love,

Sister Rasmussen

 

Nottingham, England - November 23, 2015

Hey everyone!

So this week has been crazy! So there were some dodgy missionaries in Nottingham and president found out so they had an emergency transfer to get them out of the area and put me in there. They gave me the call that they were moving me at about 11 last Monday morning and told me that I had to be the mission home by 4 that afternoon. With traveling and everything that meant I had about an hour and a half to pack all my things! It was sooo hectic! But by the grace of God i somehow got all my stuff packed in time. I am now in Nottingham and it is great. Honestly such a fun place to be and there are so many great people to talk to here. I am really excited to be here. My new companion is sister Huh and she is Korean, but grew up in New Zealand. She is amazing! We have already seen so many miracles in just one week. We both prayed that we would see miracles being in the tough position we were in and the Lord blessed us so much. We taught the most lessons I have ever taught in one week! People came to church! And we met so many more people that we will see this coming week! So yeah it was crazy and a huge surprise, but I can tell that it has always been the Lord's plan for me to serve here.

So another cool thing that happened since I have been here is in one of our first dinner appointments with members I found someone who knew Zachary when he came to England! He has a picture of him and everything! His name is Chris Thomas. They are a really cool family. Plus their son, elder Samuel Thomas, is serving a mission in lehi! Brother tho as said that elder Thomas lived by some mink farms in that area which means he lives really close to Ashley!! Jeez, it was the coolest D.A. Ever! Haha

But this week we were finding a lot of new people to teach. We work mainly in a small city centre in a town called Beeston. It is by a university so we are teaching a lot of students, mainly Chinese students which is cool because they are so humble and nice! Some of them I already feel really close too. It's really cool because in my last area, Stourbridge, we taught a lady that could not speak any English at all so I had to learn the Chinese words for the things we talk about like God, Jesus Christ, and Prayer. So those come in handy a lot when we talk to these students haha

This area is way more posh than my last area which is nice. It's not quite as posh as Cheltenham though which means the people are still humble. So it's pretty perfect for those miracles to happen!

For Pday we went into the huge Nottingham city centre and they have an old fashioned German Christmas market! It was so cool!! It was all lit up and they were selling old fashioned sausages and sweets and cakes and gifts which was really cute. We looked around that and met the zone leaders and went in a few stores so that was awesome. And guess who my zone leaders are- I have served with both of them from previous areas....elder Shaw from Cheltenham! And elder kmeztsch from new
castle Emlyn! So I was already like best friends with both of them so I am glad that we have good zone leaders. I also have the best Sister Training Leaders ever! Sister Alexandroia who is in my group and sister Banchini. One is from Romania and the other is from Italy. These two girls have been life savers this past week and have really helped us out. Thanks goodness for amazing people!

Well I love you all and hope this week has been amazing and that it will get even better!

Love,

Sister Rasmussen

Stourbridge, England - November 9, 2015

Hey everyone!

So this week was pretty good. From Monday evening to Tuesday evening we had exchanges I was with Sister Weisner and it was so awesome! We met some cool people, taught some pretty cool less active people and did some service for the relief society president. Sister Owusu and I also did service for this Russian lady named Nadia. She wanted us to take the old wall paper off her ceiling then put new wall paper back on.  She made us some way good Russian food so it was sweet! We also helped with the Poppy Appeal which is a fundraiser thing that raises money for veterans and remembers the people who died in war. It's a really big thing over here so our bishop made sure to get us involved. We ran a booth at the mall near by so that was cool. So a lot of service this week, which was cool because we met a lot of really nice people, especially with the poppy appeal.

It was also bonfire night here in England! It is a celebration they do every year. It comes from when a guy named Guy Fox tried to blow up parliament a really long time ago. So they have big bonfires and set off loads of fireworks all night to celebrate it haha. Weird I know. The funniest part is they make a stuffed dummy and burn it on their bonfire to signify Guy Fox haha! English people...they are strange!

Well love you all! Have a blessed week!

Love,

Sister Rasmussen

P.S. I finally got my picture from when I got to shake Elder Holland's hand! And the other picture is Sister Weisner and I on exchange! She is the coolest Swiss person I know! Then the last one is after service when Nadia made us Russian food!

Stourbridge, England - November 2, 2015

Hey hey hey!

Oh my goodness this week was crazy! So it started off really good with district pday which was way fun. Then we taught the Sorra family that night and it went really well. We taught baptism and confirmation specifically because that is the one commitment they are struggling with haha it was such a spiritual experience! But then Tuesday we went out finding all day and worked pretty hard. It was a good day, but we didn't see too much of the benefit with numbers 😕 oh well we will keep pushing forward! Then Tuesday night I got really sick and was sick all of Wednesday and Thursday. It stunk because this was the one week we had a bunch of dinner appointments in this ward, but we had to cancel all of them because I was throwing up for two days straight. Then it was a fast Sunday this week so like 3 1/2 days this week I wasn't eating at all haha. It is all good though because I lost a
little bit of weight haha that was probably the most eventful things of this week. Except Sunday all day was super foggy. Like the thickest fog I have ever been in. It was sooo awesome! You couldn't see anything further than like a few feet of you. In the picture below, what you don't see is that this is a huge pond and on the right there are huge trees lining the entire pond. There is also a large fountain in the middle of this pond that you can't tell is there either. Gotta love crazy English weather!

Well I better get going, love ya!

Love,

Sister Rasmussen

Stourbridge, England - October 26, 2015

Hello everybody!

So this week was pretty great! We taught some awesome people, found the elect and had some fun along the way we had flat inspections this week and the couple who checks our flat is way strict! They are super particular, like your flat has to be spotless. Well they came and loved our flat! They said it was perfect! Mom and dad you should be proud.... I've come a long way haha!

So I think fall is my new favourite season. Especially in England. The colours are super pretty and there are so many leaves everywhere! Plus when we teach then like everyone gives us hot chocolate we are working with this less active member named Gillian and she is a way good cook. She makes this gourmet hot chocolate and it is the best thing ever! Definitely some favourite stuff ever!

Well the funniest story of this week...sister Owusu and I were riding the bus back to our flat and those busses are usually pretty dirty, but this time in particular was sick nasty and it smelled so bad on there. So sister Owusu is talking to me and she is like, "Sister, it smells so bad on here!" Just then I turned around to see this really old man use the grease from his lunch to stick a Greggs (a bakery shop for all you who don't know what that store is) bag to his face to cover up the smell! It was the funniest looking thing ever and like who purposefully puts grease on their face? Yuck! Haha sister Owusu and I cried we were laughing so hard. But this guy never even flinched or cracked a smile at all. He was not amused in the slightest. He was just like stone the whole time. We were trying not to laugh which just made it way funnier! It was the highlight of my week!

This week has been a little tougher getting new investigators and lessons. But hopefully it's just our faith getting tested before the miracles because we sure need them if we are to make anything happen haha. Things are looking up for the Stourbridge area. We are trying hard, that's for sure. So I've been thinking and studying a lot about "yielding your heart to God". I've come to a conclusion that the way we can really do this is pretty much all about putting the Saviour and His will before ours. It's the hardest thing ever. But in the end it's the thing that is best for us because He sees the end from the beginning so He knows which paths we are supposed to take and where those paths will eventually take us. It's only hard because we can't see like He can; we have to take those steps without seeing and trust that it is the right way. Two hymns have come to my mind over and over again this week. The first is Lead, Kindly Light. This one basically explains all my thoughts as of right now because I honestly have no idea what my future holds while I am in this area, where I will go next, or even after my mission. But hopefully I will do the Lord's will and not my own so it turns out right and the way it was always supposed to be. The second is I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go. Especially the third verse. I seriously want to be able to say, "So trusting my all to thy tender care, And knowing thou lovest me, I’ll do thy will with a heart sincere: I’ll be what you want me to be." Sometimes I ask myself why I make these kind of things so hard- mostly because I have an awful habit of over thinking EVERYTHING, but if we could all just trust what the Lord tells us then honestly we would all be in the right path and life would be a lot easier. Over all I think it is about humility, trust, and love for our Saviour. And that is what it really takes to yield our hearts to God. It's about giving up those things that we never thought we could. Putting ourselves to the side. Focusing on the whisperings of the Spirit. And then acting. I still have a long way to go on all of this, but one day I'll get there haha but there ya go, that is your random food for thought from Sister Rasmussen this week. Anyone have any thoughts on this? I'd love to hear what you think! This part member family we are teaching named the Sorra's fed us this week which was awesome because they made Philippino food! It was soooo good! They made a ton and wouldn't let us leave without taking seconds haha they are the sweetest. I love that family so much! Everyone pray for them because the dad isn't too on board with us teaching the kids even though the mom is all for it and is now a strong, active member in the church. Those kids need it! This pday the district got together and carved pumpkins and played some futbol. It was so fun! I think mine turned out pretty awesome

Well I have probably rambled on long enough for all of you haha! Thank you to everyone for all you do in the church and for praying for me. I can really feel it out here.

Love ya!

Love, Sister Rasmussen 

 

 

 

Stourbridge, England - October 19, 2015

Heeeeey everyone!

So this week was awesome!! We had some amazing miracles, found some new investigators and time flew by! I swear I just blink and the whole week goes by! A ton of funny stuff happened this week! First off we were out stopping by some former investigators and it was like 8pm so it was pitch dark by then. We were looking at our map under a street light and we had been walking all day so our feet were a little tired so we decided to sit down on the curb while we look at the map.  So I sit down and notice this big spider by me so naturally I jumped up and ran to the other side of sister Owusu. She wasn't too bothered by it. So this spider keeps getting closer until it eventually crawls under her bag. So she goes to move her bag and when she lifted it up there was the BIGGEST spider I have ever seen right there about to eat the spider I was initially scared of!! I have never ran so fast! It was so
scary!!

Then we were out talking to people on the high street of this random town and there was a cop parked on the sidewalk talking to this drunk chav. So sister Owusu and I were walking by them and just watching them because it was hilarious. We weren't watching where we were walking and walked right through this huge pile of throw up where he had just vommitted! Yuck!!! The worst part was we had to ride home on the bus wi it all over our shoes because there was no grass anywhere to wipe it off on! I'm pretty sure everyone on the bus was giving us dirty looks because we smelled like disgusting up-chuck!!!

Then we were doing service with the elders for this Russian lady we are teaching named Nadia. She is in her 60's and is one of those people that has no filter. Like whatever is on her mind she says out
loud. So the elders were outside in the garden and we were in side painting her lounge. She was making lunch for us and I had a question so I went in the kitchen to ask her. As soon as I got in there she turned around to tell me how I looked like Brittany Spears! Haha then she started to tell me at I need to find a good boy to settle down and get married to and how he needed to be tall and have a job and his parents and my parents needed to be friends and all this stuff haha she basically just gave me a "boys 101" talk! It was the funniest thing ever especially with how blunt she is, her broken english, and thick Russian accent. She is a gem!
Then on Saturday night sister Owusu and I got woken up to two big groups of chavs fighting right outside our flat! We live on the high street close to a couple pubs so we can hear drunk people all the
time, but this was at like 3am and they were sooo loud! Anyway so this big fight breaks out and we heard all his clashing and stuff. So then in the morning I got up and looked out the window and found that they had ripped the door from the hinges of this old abandoned building near by and used it as a weapon! They had left it right outside our door! Like, we had to step around it to get out our door haha. Crazy people! We live in flipping chav central!

The ward here is super tiny! Like on a good day there is thirty people that show up to sacrament meeting. They are desperate for priesthood holders. It is sad because if the ward doesn't grow it is going to get shut down. Jeez...it is intense stuff! But luckily this week we have found a couple amazing families that want us to come teach them so we are praying for miracles! The flat here is nice and newer than my one in Cheltenham so that is way sweet! We walk everywhere or take the
bus. But other than that it is pretty much the same work, just a different area. We really are being blessed in this area though. Some huge miracles are happening here. For example, the first lesson sister Owusu and I had together we had like zero time to prepare for because it was my first day here. But we went in and taught in like total unity. Seriously I have never been so in sync with my comp. before and it was the first lesson! And it has been that way ever since it helps that we are like best friends haha! She is the greatest! I am super grateful to be here. It has been a really big learning
experience already.

Well love you all and hope this week is amazing for you all! I can really feel all your prayers out here so thank you so much!

Love,

Sister Rasmussen

Stourbridge, England - October 5, 2015

Hey everyone!

So who else loved General Conference?! It was so amazing! I took loads of notes on it and I am really loving going back to study them. There were so many great talks that there was no way I could pick just one to be my favourite. I especially loved Elder Uchtdorf's talk on keeping the gospel simple! That is definitely something I need to work on. I over think pretty much everything. I loved how he said basically when we have questions or doubts, just go back to the simple, basic truths. Go read the Book of Mormon again and then pray about it, just like we all had to at one time. Go study the Plan of Salvation and figure out just what it is that we believe. But yeah it was great!

So yeah I got transferred to an area called Stourbridge. It is a way old ward who are seriously lacking in priesthood holders. It is mostly made up of widows. So I guess we'll just have to find and baptise a bunch of young men ready for the priesthood haha sounds like, a good plan to me. I love my new companion! She is from Virginia and is legit! Her name is Sister Owusu. We have been working hard finding a lot these past few days. So she has only been here one transfer then I came here and the area was pretty dead when we both arrived here. We are going to have to work really hard to get it going.  It won't be us really though, we will have a lot of praying and fasting and hard work to do, then the Lord will make great things happen. Definitely depending on Him for this transfer. Idk if I've ever really felt closer to Him. It feels like I am just in constant prayer with Him, I'm sure He is sick of hearing my voice by now haha but I have never been more grateful that He is there to listen to me. Thanks everyone for your prayers! I can seriously feel them out here. Hope you all have a great week and love you lots!

Love,
Sister Rasmussen