Happy 2016!

Happy New Year Family!!!!!!

It seriously was the best christmas present ever to be able to talk to you all. i loved seeing your blurry faces more than anything. this week was so weird because of christmas and because of our trip to Huanuco. no one was in their houses!! but everyone as in the members were so nice to let us crash their christmas. we got a can of fruit cocktail some chocolate. and a ring. and lots of tea haha. but im grateful for how humble these people are yet so giving. i hope you all had an amazing christmas!!

so some exciting news is that Johnny is legit getting baptized Saturday!!Everything is ready. but i dont want to jinx anything so just pray really hard. he is such a good guy and im so excited for him. he really has changed and i love that he can see it too. he knows whats right. yay!! 

(pet frog that died)

we also had miracles happened. we were looking for a less active and were knocking doors and found like four other families of less actives. its kind of crazy but im so glad that we were able to find new people. God really does put people in your path. 

I hope you all have such a good new year! I cant believe its 2016 and i cant believe i wont see you until 2017 haha.. but only like two weeks after 2017 starts. im excited for this new year to better myself and my commitment to follow the savior. i hope you all make new years resolutions and actually strive to follow them!!!!

(Hermana Delgado and Amanda)

I love you all and will skype you in 5 months. you all better be there. but im grateful for this mission and the gospel. we all can be better and the gospel helps us do that. i know that with all my heart.

XOXO

Hna Rasmussen

(water in Cerro)

(Amanda's current area)

 

FELIZ NAVIDAD!!!

family i cant wait to skype you this week!!!! i am so excited! right now i am in Huanuco with Hna Holland... all of the missionaries from cerro were allowed to come to huanuco for a conference of christmas with president. we were allowed to stay with hna holland and let me tell you it was such a joyous reencountering. sorry dont knjow how to speak english anymore. but i am sweating again haha. and i dont want to go back to cold cerro but oh well.

the sad news. we didnt have a baptizm.. we need to wait a little bit and then hopefully it will happen eventually. i know jhnny is really prepared and wants to be a member. but everything happens in the lords time.

 

so for huanuco we had to buy a five sole gift. and i bought a frog.. haha and it was the hit of the party!!! and i got nice pringles in return... haha!!! it was so nice!!! president was laughing at my gift really hard. hopefully his new owner is a good person. im sure he is taking care of him. 

This week we had divisions for the first time. i was with our hna leader hna crawford. it was so nice to see someone elses area in cerro but its very differnt. we have the crazt hectic markets and they have the really quiet suburb area. but its fun to be in the city. 

 

also a member said something this week that really hit me. he comes to church but isnt completely worthy to partake of the savrament. he owns one of the most popilar restaurants in cerro. he told us how much he missed the holy ghost. hes like i miss having that constant companionship. i would rather have that constant companhionship than 1000 of my restaurants and their money. that hit me so hard because as members we always have the spirit if we are worthy. right? but we dont realize it until we miss it. so are we taking advantage of it? are we listening to the spirit? i hope you are all really using him as your guide because thats what he is there for. im grateful for the spirit and its guide and this christmas time. i love you all and cant wait to talk to you!!!!

 

XOXO

Hna Rasmussen

Is It Wonderful For You?

family!!!! feliz navidad!!

Oh how i miss you this christmas season but it doesnt even matter. i love you all so much and hope you are enjoying the real white snow. not this random wet rain like here in cerro de pasco. So guess what. we are having a baptism this week!!! i forgot to write about him last week but his name is Johnny and he is really great. he alrady had such got values and norms. But he is ready to be baptized. we have taught him all lessons in the past two weeks and he always comes to church and activities without hesitation. it really was so easy. i feel like i didnt do anything besides talk about the gospel. hes a really good young guy. im super excited!!!  

 

This area has really opened my eyes. there is so much poverty here. its sad to see little kids living like this but it has made me even so much more grateful. im grateful for a loving family! im grateful for my parents to help me do whats right. im grateful to live in AMERICA! Im grateful for the knowledge and hope i have in the gospel. im just grateful that i can be happy. that i know i can choose to be happy. i love life. i really do! 

 

so i was reading this talk titled is it still wonderful to you? by bishop gerald causse. it really made me think. So im asking you all a question. is the gospel still wonderful for you? are you still learning new things? do you look forward to new things? or going to church? if not then you need to figure something out because this gospel is full of learning. it never ends. it is beautiful!! it is amazing! It is something that helps us in every single aspect of our lives. Find a topic you want to study and study your little heart out and fall in love with the gospel!! But yes it will talk time on your part. you will need to be diligent. and hard working. but this gospel is a blessing. enjoy it! take advantage of it!! Be HAPPY!!!!!! i cant wait to talk to you on Christmas. i LOVE the gospel and i love you all!!!!

Where In the World Am I?

Hi family. so i guess ill start with my last week in Huanuco. it was a beautiful week and it felt like everything that we worked so hard for two transfers was paying off. people came to church and others started to change and do their compromises. then we had transfers. and guess where i got sent?? yep thats right where i thought i would never go. CERRO DE PASCO!!! the highest city in the world and the highest stake. its so high that i seriously cant breathe sometimes. its kind of scary. but there are so many up sides to cerro!! i never have to shower. we dont even need a fridge because its so cold. i never have to do my hair. and also i can wear the same thing over and over and no one even knows. its really hard work here and it rains and snows every day but i guess the gospel really isnt for the weak right? also my new comp is Hna Delgado from Ecuador. I prayed for so long that my new comp would have patience with my spanish. and guess what God answered my prayer. she is so patient with me and i love her sooooo much!!! she really is an amazing person. and an amazing missionary. and im excited to learn a lot from her.

So everyone here thinks i am hna Rapunzel. no one can say my name. i bore my testimony in the church yesterday and they introduced me as Hna rapunzel. its kind of funny. so these two little boys straight uo believed it. they asked for my autograph! then they thought i lived in disneyland and asked me all about the other princesses. haha it was cute. i really struggled the first two days when i got here but ive been praying so much for love and i can testify that the scripture by moroni about charity is true. if you pray for love you will recieve it!!!! ah i really like cerro. I just miss my comp hna Hollland. because she was my best friend but no importance. i just love the work of the lord. He knows what he is doing. im not doing anything it feels like. i love you all so much and cant wait to talk  to you in like 18 days!!!! have a good week and listen to christmas music for me! i miss it a lot...

 

XOXO

Hna Rasmussen

so angela is progressing!! she told us that she knows everything is true! she just hasnt accepted a date yet but shes praying about it. pray for her!!!!! ah i know shell get baptized. also cambios are this week. im super scared. i dont want to leave my mom because i love her!!! shes my best friend. i also hit four months. happy birthday everyone haha. im sorry i dont have like anymore time. but ill write more next week. thanks for everything everyone and im glad you all had an amazing thanksgiving. Cute hna Martha made us turkey and mashed potatoes!!! it was the cutest thing ever. it actually tasted really good. for peru haha. but i love you all and hope you ate tons of pie for me!!!!!

Gracis for Ustedes!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

No they dont celebrate that here. but we told our cute pension about it and she said she would make us pavo which is turkey and mashed potatoes. shes so cute!!! I hope that you guys have a good day. and get super super stuffed. i wish i could be there but just know im really there in spirit!!

this week was different. we had to go to the dentist again to figure out the jaw situation with hna holland. poor girl. her jaw hurts so bad. they said she doesnt have liguid in her jaw and needs more liquid.so they gave her stuff to drink but i dont think its helping. then we had to go to five hospitals to find a rabies shot... so it was day 8 and the elders hadnt seen the dog for two days. but the guy told us that if we find it through day 10 then she doesnt need it. the elders found the dog that bit her on day 9 then day 10 they went back and told us that the owner acted way annoyed and just told them that the dog died... of course day 10 but i doubt it died. so we have to go get shots for her. its one a week for five weeks. 

So funny thing. that pic i sent that says lives with jose smith? Found out that its a real guy. and he isnt even a member of the church!! how crazy is that? but hes family of the pioneer family here in huanuco. hna holland and i were laughing so hard when we found out. 

angela is finally doing her commitments!!! but she still doesnt want to be baptized yet. i can see her in her white clothes. i know shell be baptized eventually. she is amazing!!! she came to church yesterday and everyone was so nice to her. i love her! also everytime we have a lesson something happens. its totally satan. the last time it was night and we were talking in her house and the power went out. totally killed the spirit. because it was pitch black but its okay! we just keep trying. 

i just wish i could be with you guys this week but im having my own thanksgiving over here! haha

LOVE YOU ALL!!!

XOXOX

Hna Rasmussen

Dogs

hi family. I bet youll never guess what happened this week. Hna holland got bit by a dog!!! It was a mama dog. she was running and then stopped because she was running up the hill and then it just lunged forward and bit her. the other elders in our area, one got hit in the eye with a soccer ball so he cant work this whole week so theyve been going back to see the dog. we have to watch it for 10 days to make sure its still alive and doesnt have rabies. her bite is pretty sick! She looks like a warrier now. its just on her calf. i just cant believe that happened still!! it happened wednesday. but shes going good now!! 

so its sooo annoying how real satan is. just this past week it seems like every lesson we had something happened. it wasnt like a perfect spiritual lesson. its so hard!! but thats the job of the missionary is to invite that spirit. but we found the pioneer family. the first ones to be baptized here in huanuco and they are both 92. the mom is in really bad shape and is in the hospital but the dad is the cutest thing ever. mom i wish you could meet him!! He gives us high fives and he sings the hymns without even looking at music. his daughters are taking care of them so we go help out. he loves to see us and he loves to tell stories. he tells one and then at the end laughs and then immediately says another and then starts right into the next one. its sooo cute!! just his laugh makes my day. You guys know how much i love old people. this other lady asked us to come visit her son. she has like 70 years. and her son isnt a member but she is. we get to her house and there are four chairs perfectly lined up with saltine crackers and cola on the table with her house perfectly cleaned. it was the cutest thing ever!!! but her son couldnt come.. it was sad. i just love how wise old people are. we can all learn so much from them. they are so cute.

nothing really exciting happened this week. im not going to lie. my spanish is still struggling but its definitely coming!!! thanks to the gift of tongues. i just love you all so much and wish i could give you all big hugs. 

XOXO

Hna Rasmussen

Oh my schedule!

I wake up at 6 20 and work out until 7 then shower and get ready until 8 because we eat breakfast in our room. then at 8 we do personal study then 9 we do companionship study then 10 spanish study then 11. a program called 12 weeks for the newbies what i am. and then we go teach a lesson at 12. then at one have lunch. then work until 8 when we have dinner. then plan for 30 min at 9 and then go to bed usually like 10 haha. its sometimes long but only if you dont lose yourself in the work.

This Week Changed My Life

Well guess what guys, this week has been amazing because everything just clicked!! Well duh I obviously cant speak one hundred percent but I can understand and communicate and teach!! It has been amazing. We have had so much more success this week. We are teaching with the spirit and its amazing. Also we have tried  to talk to more people every day and I have definitely seen a lot of  blessings because of that. I'm a lot happier because I'm fulfilling my purpose as a missionary. Also I'm forgetting about myself. I am a witness that even through hard times something amazing always comes out! Yes we still have hard days out here but as long as we are righteous we will be blessed. That scripture says that we cant control the priesthood. Only through our righteousness can we be blessed and its true. We cant control what happens but we can only change our attitude. So be happy!!!! and be righteous.

We found a less active named Vanessa. she is so cute! she has only been inactive for about 2 years. she used to accompany the missionaries and ride with them to Lima. but she started working on Sunday... be careful people! Little things really can do big damage. she has such a strong testimony. she just needed someone to remind her.

Also Angela came to church!!! shes so cute. she believes everything. she just needs a little more help recognizing this church as the church of god. the only church of god. she is adorable and i have loved being her friend.

i didn't write yesterday because we had a multi zone. it was fun seeing a lot of other missionaries and i saw hna Holden! shes doing great in cerro de pasco. i love president so much!!! he is so funny.

also something funny. so remember in the best two years when the guy was speaking English to him and he had no idea what he was saying? The same thing happened to hna holland! it was the funniest thing. the guy said what is your nationality and i started laughing because he was way old and i didn't expect him to speak English. then hna holland looks and me and says what is he saying??!! haha i laughed even harder!! hna hes speaking english. it was great.

I love the mission. there are so many fun things out here. Come what may and love it right???

I love you all so much!!!

XOXOX

Hna Rasmussen

Happy HALLOWEEN!

Hey you guys had to go to the dentist this week,, so did I!!!! I woke up and my tooth was hurting real bad and all i could think was oh great. I have 15 more months which happy 3 months by the way. and so my sister leader called a dentist. We went and she told me i have a cavity there that needs to be fixed and then i have 10 fillings that are starting to go... we all know how my teeth are which is the most annoying thing ever since i take such good care of them!! But she fixed it up right there. It was better than the states in the fact that i didnt feel a thing and i was only numb for like 30 min after.  And the best part was it was only $20!! Can you believe that? But who knows how great of a job she did. It seemed like she did the exact same routine,. it just might need to be fixed when i get home. 

So this transfer has been extremely hard just emotionally and i was reading in preach my gospel and there is a sentence that says dont get discouraged. discouragement weakens your faith. I read that and it  hit me like bricks. I knew that i shouldnt get discouraged. Now i cant because i know i have faith and i dont want me faith to be lessed. So all of you out there.. DONT GET DISCOURAGED in anything. God knows what he is doing.

We got a new pension!!! Thanks heavens too because our last one was great but we didnt feel the best all the time. She is so cute. She kept telling us how much of  blessing we are in her life. And i found out why. Hna Martha's sister died right after giving birth and she loves having our spirit and she loves being distracted. She is the cutest thing. Shes only 29 and i just love her so much, You can feel the spirit so strong in her house where as we were eating in a restaurant before and i didnt like that very much. i just love Hna MArtha.

We found someone!!!! Her name is Angela and she is so smart! She is studying engineering and i just think shes amazing. She is catholic but has found so many faults like why do they pray with repetition and why they dont have prophets. She believes all of the plan of salvation. she vbelieved in the judgmenet before we even came. she is soo prepared its not even funny. She told us she believed Joseph smith was a prophet. Holy cow i dont feel like ive done anything but knock on her door. God is amazing people.

Something funny. So peruvians believe funny things. There was a guy drilling metal and you know how it makes sparks? Well this guy walked past and told me not to watch it because i might get an infection in my eyes... haha be careful people!! Make sure you dont watch the lights!!

I love each and everyone of you..

XOXO

Hna Rasmussen

This Is Going to Be Boring. . .

Whoever said it was easy to baptize in South America is a LIAR!!!!! It is not easy at all. We have worked sooo hard and had no visible success. It is hard to just walked and knock doors day after day and have people yell at you in spanish and then have drunk people just stare at you because they have no idea whats going on and then to have people look out the window and hurry and run away because they see who you are. Its hard work but i just want to help someone have the joy of the gospel like I have! Everyone here is so content with where they are and they dont even realize that there are things even greater out there! what can you do besides just keep working and trying harder. nothing.

Cambios were this week and im so blessed to be with Hna Holland once again. She really is my best friend i love her a lot. I got to see a lot of the new missionaries that just came in this transfer and i love it! Im not the newbie anymore but also i have been able to see how much i have grown in just the past six weeks. its crazy how much i have learned and how much i will continue to learn.

So since we havent had much luck we decided to make something for the Hermanas in our ward to gain their trust. Its way easy and sooo yummy! Its just a can of milk a can of sweetened condensed milk and seven limes and you lay down a layer of gram crackers and then that milk lime stuff and then another layer and then more milk stuff and then put it in the fridge over night. Try it!! Its so easy and so yummy! We went around and shared a message about missionary work so hopefully that worked.... 

So its crazy how close to the spirit you really are as a missionary. You can feel it leave immediately. We had a less active member who wanted to show us a picture of her friend. Well we looked at it and little did we know she is a devil worshipper! haha and the spirit literally left so fast. Its crazy how just little tiny things we do can ofend the spirit. Thats why we need to be so careful of what we do. Im grateful for that guide in my life though. It really is such a precious gift that we all have from our father in heaven so make sure you use it for your advantage!! Im grateful that it is in everything we do as missionaries. We know which streets to walk and who to talk to and what they need to hear. We were talking with this menos activo and she was baptized 25 years ago and the missionaries have been visiting her forever. She has a testimony but just wont come to church. We were so lost and had no idea what to teach her. Its frustating because she already knows everything but we both felt like we should teach tithing. How weird. She said she wasnt paying it and we promised her that she would have more success in her family if she did. You could tell the spirit was testifying to her and she felt guilty for not doing it. Hopefully something changes!! 

So funny of the week but kind of sad. we have to carry around that book of mormon case thing and this stupid dog ALWAYS! barks at us and i pretended to chuck my book of mormon at it because they usually run away when you pretend but i didnt pretend... my book actually went flying and he ran after it and chewed it!! Now i have teeth holes in my book haha. Dogs,.... They are annoying.

Well i love you all a lot and God bless each of you!!

XOXO

Hna Rasmussen 

Fish Fart

So this week has been tough but can you believe i am done with one transfer! We find out cambios tomorrow. Im pretty positive Hna holland and i are staying together which thank heavens because i love her so much. 

So we went to visit this lady named Sonia a couple weeks ago and she was very hard hearted and very catholic. i didnt really think anything would happen with her so we just kind of put her on the back burner. Well last week we were walking past her house and i had the biggest feeling that we should visit her. She accepted us and boy is she prepared now. We taught her how to pray and she just bawled as she prayed and all i could say to her was how much God loved her. She has had a really tough life but its cool to see how the lord prepares people!! I love that she is somewhat progressing. No one has been doing anything and then  in the same day all of our people told us they were reading their book of mormon. It was like finally!!!! I just wanted to cry because i was so happy someone actually did something. 

I read D and C 1:23. I love it because the gospel can be preached by the weak and let me tell you i feel weak a lot but that doesnt matter. I can do it!!! The scriptures are amazing. I know they can help with every single problem in this world. I love this gospel.

So yesterday for lunch we had shrimp... and idont really like sea food but i ate it and it sure was squishy. And Hna holland put it in a napkin and put it in her bag. Well we go to church and she opens her bag and it smelt soooooo bad!!!! Haha i thought it was pretty funny. she forgot it was in there. She opened her bag and yells ew it smells like fish fart. haha it was good.

Sorry this is so short but i love you all so much!! Thanks for everything! Oh yeah and we tried to make cookies and that didnt really work out either.. just tasted like flat burnt chocolate with oats. but it was a good little taste of home. Lve you all!

XOXO

Hna Rasmussen

Almost Done With My First Transfer

Familia!!!

This week has been my favorite yet. We strive to work really hard and we could see so many more miracles in our lives. It is amazing how the harder you work and the harder you forget yourself the Lord really does bless you. And also with the whole exact obedience thing, you really are so blessed when you are exactly obedient. The borders are not good. We have another investigator from a member. He is a single dad and already has a baptismal date for the first week of November. He is very prepared. We taught the mom that we thought was so prepared. I dont know if she will get baptized. She really loves talking about God but she still goes to the catholic church. She hasnt really felt the importance of just one true church on the earth. We took her to a baptism and when they went under the water she started laughing... so i dont know what that means exactly.

We did our first service activity. We forgot our camera and i was so mad but it was still fun. We went to the middle of nowhere in the middle of nowhere peru and picked up trash. It was fun. But they didnt have gloves for us... haha and then the only logical peruvian thing to do with all of the trash we collected is burn it. There was this field they dumped it all in and then they burnt it. The smoke was really heavy and dark and it smelt so bad haha. And it was so hot!!!! But it was fun being with the members. My ward really is great. We just got a new bishop and he has a lot of good visions for the ward. After we went and got ice cream. This creepy old lady with rotten teeth came up and started feeling my leg up and down for money!! and then she wanted my hair so bad haha. I was a little creeped out but the elders just sat and laughed. Please dont touch my hair lady.

Speaking of hair. i plugged in my curling iron and since the voltage is different here i put it low but not as low as i should have. I put my hair on the curling iron and it burned to bits instantly!! It smelt so bad! and i freaked out a little bit but luckily you cant tell that my hair is half gone. 

Another funny story is we were sitting in the church alone waiting for the elders to finish their meeting and this guy that was a little handicapped walked in and started talking to us. We couldnt understand him at all but were a little creeped out. And then he gave us an advertisement for a massage. Then very clearly he says i have killed someone and just stares at us. We looked at each other and freaked out! We stood up and just ran to the elders. It was so creepy!! Haha but we felt bad because i think it hurt his feelings. We just laugh about it now.

And yesterday we fasted. We went to lunch so excited to eat!! We couldnt wait and guess what we had, cow heart and chicken heart. It was really interesting. I felt like i was eating it straight out of the chest because i swear i could taste blood. The chicken heart was better even though i could see the straight arteries... i have definitely been blessed in the food here. It hasnt been extremely weird yet besides that. Our pension was just laughing at us so i hope we didnt hurt his feelings! haha

Someone thing i have learned that i dont think people understand here is the importance of church. ALL 3 HOURS!! The ward council was trying to make all of these excuses for why its okay that these women dont come. One has two little babies, um there is primary for that. Another has a 19 year old son that she needs to cook for. Let me repeat that, 19 year old son. I dont know why people think its okay to skip. Christ gave his life for us and we cant even give three hours once a week?? How sad. I hope everyone at home reevaluates why you go to church and go with a better attitude. Its to help us! Not be an annoyance. I know this gospel is the only true church on the earth. I love you all and God bless you!

XOXO

Hna Rasmussen

Is Your Water On?

This week was interesting in the fact that it was just weird. We had interviews on Tuesday with President and i loved it! It was so nice to get to talk to him and just feel his fatherly love haha that sounds weird but its true. I love him a lot and am so glad he is in my life to guide and direct me. Then  Hna Holland got a little sick. So that was definitely not good. We changed pensions so we think it might have to do with that. He owns a restaurant and his food is very good and very peruvian. But Im not sick so its really weird! Just cross your fingers its not coming. Then this is the funniest part, so we were just finished praying to start planning for the next week when our district leader calls us. He tells us that they are going to shut off the water for the whole city of Huanuco for three days. And we need to hurry and fill up all of our buckets with stuff. Well we only have two little trash cans and then a bucket for our mop. That wasnt enough so we go ask our landlord lady who is so old and cute and she gives us a bucket a bit bigger than five gallons and then this massive massive metal bucket pot thing with handles. We went back to our room to fill it up. The only water that worked is the one from a little faucet close to the ground by our sink. Its randomly there. haha so we take two hours to fill up these things!! Two hours! We wasted so much time. And then Hna Holland is like dang it i should have washed my hair this morning! So we thought it would be the smartest to hurry and wash it while we have some what of water. So she was like laying on the toilet and i was washing her hair. We had no room because of all of the buckets full of water! She was laying there and saying i think im going to pass out. Hurry hurry! It was the funniest thing! Then we go out and work and come home and guess what. our water works... Like are you kidding me! So we were practically praying that our water would be off the next day so we could use the water in the buckets haha. And guess what it wasnt. it has worked this whole time. It was a pretty exciting experience. And then we had to find random time to finish planning. but i love Hna Holland. We have a really fun time.

We are teaching a single mom with three kids. They are so cute! They accepted to be baptized and i love teaching them because i stumble a bit on my spanish and it doesnt even matter because they are still being taught by the spirit. They have given us a lot of new investigators through their family and friends and are amazing people. Its true when people say you just love them so much and you dont even know why!

We are teaching another 22 year old mom. She has so much knowledge! We asked her to read the book of mormon intro page and she read all of the testimonies and when we asked her what she had learned she recited the whole joseph smith story like she was reading it. It was amazing! She really wants to get baptized but needs to get married to her husband first. So we might be having a wedding in the future!! Woo hoo!

She even came to conference with us. She really liked it but her daughter is one and kept running around so that was a distraction. And i watched the first session in spanish! I could understand the gist of things but wish i could have watched it in english but thats okay because i watched the rest in english. its fun watching conference with a lot of missionaries. it really is a lot better actually! I loved conference. Its interesting how they kept warning us to prepare. Prepare and love others. We need to really look at our lives and evaluate them and change them where needed. The prophets really can see what we need for the future so try a little harder to be a little better.

Heres a little tender mercy. So we have to carry a book of mormon in our hand 24 7 and sometimes you forget it because you have so many other things to carry. Well we have like case things to put a book of mormon in. Well last p day we went out shopping with our pension who is so sweet and bought each of us two new skirts... and were coming back with our groceries. Hna Holland forgot her case and BofM in the mototaxi which there are millions and theres no way you honestly could get it back. I felt bad because she had lost it already before and had to buy a new one so when she realized she lost it again i felt so bad. She would have to buy her third one! So I kneeled and prayed and then two min later there was a knock on our door. It was our landlord lady holding her book!!! The guy realized she left it and brought it back. Ah i couldnt believe my eyes. There are so many moto taxis here and there is no way they are that nice to come back. The Lord really is watching over us and answering prayers here even simple little ones. He loves all of us so much!!

I hope you all are doing amazing and if i can help let me know!! Even though im in the middle of peru.

XOXO

Hna Rasmussen

HoLa!

I cant believe i am already writing you guys again!! Its crazy to me. We found a place to live and I am so grateful! Because I can finally study. So that's been nice. I love studying honestly! The gospel is so amazing if you just take ten minutes to sit down and study! You learn so much. Everything about this gospel just makes sense.

sorry this keyboard is sooooo bad! so fix me errors for me please!

We have only less actives that we are really teaching. One is a couple that isn't married. The guy doesn't want to get married but wants to know more about the church. Its so sad! Really I am so grateful for my parents who are married. There really are so many blessings from a man and a woman that do the will of God and get married. I can tell our family is more united from it and oh how I am so grateful for my family. 

The other is just struggling with life. She is so funny. We went to visit her and she walked out with no pants on! haha we were laughing so hard. She is like 50ish too. We took her to a little girls baptism and you could tell she knew she needs to get her life back in order. She was baptized 25 years ago but needs to do some changing. I love her and her sweet spirit. 

Another family, the dad wants to baptize the little girl but cant because he isn't wiling to give up some things. How grateful I am for dad!! I know he loves us and will do anything for us. If this mission has taught me anything it has taught me how important family is. It really is the central part to the gospel. God loves us so he gave us families. I am grateful for mine. And I know no family is perfect but that's why we are a family to grow and learn and help each other. I hope each of you are finding ways to help each other and support each other because the family is all you really have left when everything else is gone. I LOVE YOU GUYS!

Church here is so different but still the same. As missionaries its frustrating because people don't realize the importance of church. We really do need to go every single week no matter where you are in the world. Because you need to renew your covenants and show God and Jesus Christ that you are trying and you are remembering them. Ward council is a little frustrating. They think that missionary work is totally all done by missionaries which is totally false. Missionaries leave every six weeks but members are there forever! They should be fellowshipping the people. They assign us families to go visit. We went and visited this one and the mom looked out the window and said no another day and walked away. It was actually kind of funny but we tried another time and they weren't home. So in ward council we told this guy what happened and he told us I know missionary work is hard but you guys are lacking confidence and need to try harder. It made us so mad!! We were so frustrated because we were thinking this guy has no idea what we are going through. He isn't learning a new language and what were we supposed to do? Be annoying and make them hate us? But one thing I am grateful for is the fact that the Savior knows what we are doing and how hard we are working. Don't let other people influence you. Always have the savior in mind and get your approval from him and be good to the missionaries!! Help them!! It is so much easier for investigators when members are involved. 

I love this gospel. Everything about it just makes so much sense. It really is a beautiful thing when the holy spirit testifies to you and when you testify of the gospel. I am grateful I am here preaching what I love so much and what makes me happy.

Love every single one of you!

XOXO

Hermana Rasmussen 

or as some people like to call me Hna Rapunzel

I Promise I'm Alive!

Familia! Oh it feels so good to finally be able to write to you. My life has drastically changed but thats expected. The ride to Huancayo was rough. It was long and i felt so sick. I didnt think the altitude would bother me so much but it definitely did. I love President Henderson! He is so funny and very willing to help. He is a real guy and i love that he is very straight forward. I also love that Hermana Henderson is the same. She is very motherly which i love.

Hermana Holland and Hermana Rasmussen

My new companion is Hermana Holland from Orange county California. She is a blonde as well so its been fun being together. I love her and we get along so well so it is amazing!! I have been blessed with her as well. We traveled 7 hours away from Huancayo to Huánuco. Our área is Colonial and we share it with elders. We are opening it but not really because we are just taking the spot of other elders. It has been really stressful because i dont even know what i am doing let alone trying to start from scratch but its been fun. My pensionista is amazing!! her name is Karla and she makes amazing food. we havent eaten rice once! But we eat chicken quite a bit. she is such a cute lady. she is only like 36. So cross your fingers because i havent gotten sick yet.

 We dont have an apartment yet. so we have spent a lot of time looking for one. we have been sleeping at the Hermana leaders house on the ground with mattresses, living out of our suitcases haha. we think we found one and hopefully can move in tomorrow! I cant wait to finally get started. this week has been crazy and long but good haha.

The Ward here is great. There are two sisters here who help us all the time. i love it! they go with us to appointments and i appreciate their help so much. It makes me want to help missionaries when i go home. So sunday was interesting. we as missionaries had to take five min and bare our testimonies. It wasnt all that scary so thats good i just hope people understood my spanish haha. also they ran out of cups for the sacrament so they tried to fill some more up´but the wáter was turned off so they gave a Little deacon money to run and buy a wáter bottle down the Street. we all just sat and waited. it was pretty funny. oh latins! haha church is very different but also completely the same.

my first p day was great. we went on a hike but our bus broke down half way up the mountain so we walked the rest of the mountain to do the hike. it was beautiful. you hike to five differnt lakes. it actually looked a lot like Iceland. we were with a ton of missionaries and every single one asked if i was new. haha is it that obvious?? how funny. wow. life is great and i love being a missionary. its fun walking down the Street with random people coming up to you saying hermanas! and i just love my companion.

so patience,, haha i have definitely needed to learn that especially with spanish. i get very frustrated because of spanish. i cant speak it and i feel like i pronounce everything wrong and having a gringa companion doesnt help because all i want to do is speak english. and then in lessons i just sit there and smile and say my testimony a few times throuhgout the lesson. but i learned that patience and faith go hand in hand. everything will work out  with time. That is the key Word. preach my góspel says patience isnt being anxious or angry and that is something we can all work on. Now i need to work on humility.

So i was baring my testimony about family home evening i know kind of random but i realized how important family time is. Not being with you guys i cherish those moments when we were sitting in the family room and dad was yelling shush the yak. haha i love it. so spend more time together and enjoy it!!! because it really is the most happy you can be and this i testify.

Until we meet again.

XOXO
Hermana Rasmussen

Mission President's Letter

Dear Rasmussen Family

     We want to let you know that Sister Rasmussen arrived safe and sound here in the Perú Huancayo Mission.  We are grateful to have her here!   She and the other 12  new missionaries arrived from Lima on Tuesday afternoon, and we oriented them that evening and for much of the day on Wednesday with their new companions. Your daughter and her training companion then headed to their proselyting area in Colonial Ward, Huanuco .

     Thanks for letting Sister Rasmussen come to our Mission.  We look forward to eighteen good months together with her.

President and Sister Henderson

Perú Huancayo Mission

So the bus ride was like 10 hours with lots of stops but it wasnt bad. my head hurts way bad from altitude and also my hands and feet are very numb from no oxygen. we are at 11000 feet. my new companion is hermana Holland but i havent met her yet and i am going to an area unknown but i am also opening an area... can you believe that? i have to train and open an area hermanas have never been before!! here i go... im going to go kick some spanish booty!!

love you all and my new p day is monday 

XOXO

Hermana Rasmussen

Here Comes Huancayo

Happy birthday MOM!!!! I have been thinking about you all day and want to wish you a very special day. I hope you know i am there in spirit for the festivities!!

You guys will never guess what i experienced. AN EARTHQUAKE!! it was way little but Hna Holden and I were in with an investigator for the very first time and i was talking and then all of the sudden the house shook. so i kept talking and then the house shook again!! and i said what is that in spanish? and in english our "investigator" goes, thats an earthquake. we need to get out. so we walk out and i was freaking out because it was way cool but i wish it was bigger... apparently there was a 5.5 earthquake somewhere else and lima felt the after shock. then a few days later we felt a tiny little one. it was pretty exciting! I guess in Huancayo there arent any earthquakes.

So remember how i told you all that i got called to speak on sunday two weeks ago? well everyone kept telling me how lucky i was that i didnt have to prepare talks anymore because i already gave mine. i kept preparing them because they asked us to and i didnt not want to just in case. well i am sitting on the front row during sacrament meeting and they say we are very pleased to hear from the following. i got extremely nervous for some reason and i lean over to hna Holden and say ahh! i am so nervous for you guys and then all of a sudden the guy conducting goes and Hna Rasmussen in the Huancayo mission. I yelled out front the congregation AGAIN? i cant believe i did that... but he goes again? well did you prepare a talk? and i said yeah and he goes well maybe we will just have to hear from you twice. then the branch president stands up and goes no we will pick someone else. Afterward the guy conducting came up and apologized and he said for some reason i just really really was pushing for you to speak. i knew you needed to.. i dont know what that was about but im just glad i didnt have to speak again. And now i am a laughing joke in the CCM because anytime they need people to do something everyone goes have Hna Rasmussen do it. I literally get called on to do everything. its fine. Thanks for the last name dad haha because i guess it just speaks to everyone.

The coolest thing happened today! We went to the temple this morning. We were supposed to leave at 6 40 to be at the temple by 7 05 for the 7 30 session. we sat waiting for a bus and didnt get one until 7 10.. because every single one was full so we thought we wouldnt make it on the bus. well we finally had to split a bit to fit us all on buses so my companionship and a companionship of elders got on a bus. i see this cute old lady smile at me as i get on and i just say hello how are you. and she said im okay really sadly, so i said why? obviously this is all in spanish and she said my son died one month ago. It was so easy! so im like who has a plan of salvation pamphlet!! haha and then we gave it to her and she was sooo grateful. it was neat. she gave us her name and address and said she would love to learn more. she seriously was so grateful and That is why we couldnt get on a bus earlier. we needed to be there at that time. Who knows if that lady will ever join or who knows what but it was fun.

Elder Bednar came. There were 800! missionaries! It was crazy. and long. he talked for three hours straight but we sat there for four all squished. He had a good question and answer segment and this sister asked how do i know if i am teaching by the spirit. i loved what his wife said. she said every single week we are taking the sacrament right? and one of the blessings is to ALWAYS have His spirit to be with us. so always literally means always! as long as we are worthy. i had never thought of it that way. it just never hit me i guess. but Elder Bednar said dont get so caught up on having the spirit with you. Realize when it leaves you! Because you can feel that. it made me change my perspective a lot on the spirit and teaching with it. i really am glad someone asked that because just like my bus story just barely. the spirit is with us and will guide and direct us always.

What did yall learn about faith? I learned two very simple things! faith is action. Duh! literally every story in the Book of Mormon is about faith and acting on it and when we act on faith we can literally move mountains! okay maybe not move mountains but things we can do is so powerful that its like moving mountains. i have been pretty nervous about going into the field and all i can think about is this phrase, exercise your faith in christ and face your fears!! It is that simple! Faith is an amazing concept and i am excited for life to keep facing my fears and acting on faith. 

This week i really want to work on patience. i am going to need a lot of it especially with myself these next few weeks. Because guess what!! I only have 5 days left in the CCM. I leave for Huancayo Tuesday morning. Like 2 am early morning. I am ready for that 8 hr bus ride. Here we come! I am so nervous but i am so excited to share the joy i have with others. We all joke we are going to the lost land because nobody knows where it is and it is so far away from everything that nobody really cares about it. There are 2 north american sisters, 3 latin sisters, 3 latin elders and 4 north american elders. I am so excited!!

I hope you all have a great week! And dont forget to seek to have more patience.
XOXOX

Hermana Rasmussen

mi familia! como están?

so this week was pretty intense. i am officially the oldest at the CCM. How weird is that? as long as i dont look old.I have officially been gone a whole month which doesnt seem like that much but honestly it is because i only have 17 months left! i am not counting down though because i dont want to wish it away. I love learning more about the Love God has for each of us.

 

so i went proselyting this week and it was amazing!!! I was freaking out though because they put me with a member who got back from her mission 1 year ago and then just me. I was literally only spanish speaking. we were in the lima east mission. we started walking down this street and this old man was walking toward us. she said okay talk to him. so i started talking to him and then i literally talked to him!! i gave him a book of mormon and he was thrilled. he loved that i was american talking to him in spanish. he was having so much fun. he was the cutest old man mom like those ones we love that are farmers and wear the overalls. i felt pretty accomplished but then i thought dang i still have two hours and i already got rid of my book of mormon. so then we walked to a park and talked to a ton more people.

 

I am grateful for God because i was really lacking confidence in my spanish and so i was extremely nervous. i talked to this lady with a son and she was talking to me in spanish and then all of a sudden she started talking in english. I was a little surprised but i kept talking to her in spanish. she asked me how long i had been learning spanish and i said its been 3 and a half weeks and she wa BLOWN AWAY!! she couldnt believe that she could actually communicate with me. it was really really neat. and then she said in english, oh man i am so confused because i dont know if i should speak english or spanish to you. And then i said in english, you tell me what ever language you want and ill speak it. it seriously just made me realize right then and there that because the lord has trusted me to learn spanish, think of how many more people i can speak with. it was the neatest experience. i am grateful for that lady because she helped me realize that i really am speaking with the gift of tongues and i am learning extremely fast. then the member i was with told me my pronunciation is amazing. she asked me if my parents were from spain because i am white but i can speak so great, that is definitely not the case my friend. remember my setting apart blessing? yeah i do too. then she said at this rate, in three more months you will have perfect spanish. it was a really neat day.

 

then we went and contacted this way old couple wearing like the traditional clothes. they were from cerro de pasco which is my mission!! We literally sat on the grass of the park and taught them the plan of salvation. it was really fun. i couldnt understand it all but when my companion looked at me i knew where to start. I am so grateful they gave us that opportunity on saturday but now i just want to go to the field and learn there! haha which probably isnt good because i have lots more to learn but i looking forward to learning more outside of the huge walls of the CCM.

 

so since i am on MY journey to become more like the savior, i want you all to join me!! Every week i am going to study a christ like attribute. This week i am going to study all about faith. Study it too and then email me before next week and tell me what youve learned. some great places to start is in the bible dictionary and preach my gospel chapter 6. we can all improve in every part of our lives. Faith is an amazing thing and with it anything can happen. so try to increase your faith and become more like Christ. growing is a wonderful thing.

 

something funny but not that funny is another spanish mishap. Hna Holden and i were sitting on this table with all latinas. We were eating and that day we just barely learned the word for shoulders which is hombros. so this one girl fell and really hurt her knee so another girl said she would massage it. then i said will you massage my hombres. which is men. and the whole table just laughed and laughed and laughed. i didnt realize it for a while but it was pretty funny. much more of those will come!

 

I have realized that i really am tired all of the time. but this work is energizing!!! When i study i dont sit and think i want to sleep. If thats what you are thinking then you need to change what you are studying. Study something you find interesting. Study what the lord needs you to hear. I am just so happy and cant wait to actually change peoples lives and bring them the most amazing message on this earth that Christ lives and we can be happy. This is a gospel of joy and we need to live it like it is. Be happy!! God loves you and so do i.

 

OH YEAH!!! Elder Bednar and his wife are coming to the CCM today!!! I forgot but i am very excited. ill get to shake his hand! ah so exciting. but ill let you know about it next week. Have an amazing week at school at home at work or wherever you are. Christ lives and is our savior.

XOXOX

Hermana Rasmussen

Half Way Done with the CCM

Holy cow!! I finally was able to go to the temple today. It was so nice to be able to listen to something familiar even though it was in español haha. But i loved being there. The room was so tiny. it only fit 25 people and we were all missionaries... but i am grateful for the house of the lord. This week has been lots of ups and downs. I think i finally figured out how to plan so i have a better and more productive day and i love to teach actually. Hna Holden and i taught our district about when nephi goes and gets the plates with his brothers. There are so many things in that story that apply to missionaries. My favorite part is when nephi comes across a drunk man and his miracle is literally right there before him!! he doesn't realize it but thats his miracle. i just think how dad always said that you never know who can change so treat everyone like they are a miracle. You dont know what youll come across next but what you do could be a miracle. I love that story. I love that literally every story in the Bookof mormon can apply to us in some way. its a great book!!

So on sunday, we all have to prepare five min talks. in spanish. in our own words. Then out of all of the north americans which is about 90 they pick 4 to speak. 2 elderes and 2 hermanas. They always call the avancados which are the people that have been there the longest. And the people that just turned avancados, none of them had gotten called yet so they all knew it was going to be them. I am an intermedio so im in the middle and then the people that just got there are pricipiantes. So i prepared mine about the holy ghost and how we need to stay worthy of it and i wrote about lots of things it helps us with. I kept feeling like i needed to look over it and keep fixing it. I bet you know where im going with this huh? So on sunday morning i have a feeling to mark all the scriptures in the spanish book of mormon incase i get called... so they call three people up and they are all avancados. then all of a sudden he says hermana rasmussen serving in the peru huancayo mission. Every hermanas head just turned in my direction so fast... I freaked out! I did not want to get infront of every body and have them judge my spanish but i had to do it. So i get up and sit on the stand. Then i gave my speach and then i sat down. I actually felt really comfortable up there. After ward, EVERYONE kept saying how good it was and how good my spanish sounds and how they could completely understand what i was saying. My branch president said in front of all of the intermedios who are the people that came the same night as me, that i did a wonderful job and that i am definitely using the gift of tongues. It was nice to hear some good feedback. Im glad i don't have to really worry about giving a talk now. but with my luck ill probably get called again. but if i were Amber... :)

Heres a tender mercy for you. It was seriously such a bad day and i told Hna Holden all i want is homemade lasagna and homemade breadsticks. We walked to dinner and they literally had lasagna and garlic bread! It was really cool. It definitely wasnt as good as moms but i knew the Lord was lookin out for me haha.

I have a joke for you all. How did Harry Potter get down the hill? By walking... JK rowling. I laughed and i hope you did too haha.

I love playing soccer with all the latinos. Its pretty fun and because you are an hermana, they arent allowed to touch you so you can just run up and grab the ball. Its so fun! Amber and scott would be so proud. im going to get way good and then ill kick your trash when i get home muahahaha.

I have been sick still which is annoying. I woke up one morning with all this goopy stuff coming out my eye. I was freaking out because i went to class and the elder i sit next to said the same thing... So i went to see Hna Gonzales who is the CCM president's wife and she made me go see the doctor. They had to look at it like three different times to rule out pink eye. So i had to wear my glasses all week and throw away my contacts... My cough is way annoying and this elder is obsessed with asking me if im okay! ITs so nice but kind of annoying. Every single time i cough. Are you okay? YES! haha hes nice but i'll be fine.

All i have to say is that everytime we have a bad day, i swear the next day is always sooooo amazing. i love it. And then the next day you barely remember why you even had a bad day. Thanks for you quote dad. The one about all you have to do is whats necessary and then whats possible and you are doing the impossible. Some days you feel like you have no time to do anything but you have so much to do! and this has given me a lot of hope. I love GOD!! This church is true and i am grateful for the chance to serve the people here in Peru. This saturday we go proselyting and im so scared. But so excited!!! It'll definitely be an eye opener for sure.

I love you all and thanks for you prayers!!!

Until we meet again XOXOX

Hermana Rasmussen

Hermana Rasmussen and Hermana Nielsen

Hermana Holden, Hermana Rasmussen,  Hermana Schyler, Hermana Olson (from Canada)

The Lima temple