There is hope!

This week was wonderful and full of a lot of hopeful things! :)

First off, I am so grateful for the light of Christ, for the trials and hard times I have to go through, but to then see how great our Heavenly Father is and helping pick us back up.  Over the past few weeks I have been struggling, both with the work, studying, confidence, and here and there companion frustrations.  And it was weighing me down, making me think if this is all worth it...But I knew this was hard, I voluntarily signed up for it, and I made a goal to myself that I would not go home for any reason, that I would hold out and push forward through the hard times.  And you know the result of that over the past few weeks??  We had an awesome week, and I saw hope that lied ahead and I just kept running toward it.  I am still learning and growing everyday, but I am seeing how the Lord's hand is in this work and how loving He is to his children.

So this week!

Monday - after emailing we headed over to a park and had a water balloon fight with a bunch of missionaries and I was not planning on getting soaked, but the other missionaries did not see that same plan...so long story short, another Hermana and I were pelted and soaked by the end of the afternoon...haha.  It was fun but so cruel at the same time. 

Tuesday - we had our normal studies and then the Sister training leaders came down and we had exchanges.  I headed back with Hermana Darby to the Spanish area in Lancaster.  At first I was freaking out because I haven’t used or taught any lessons in Spanish since the MTC, but at the same time I was so excited to see what Spanish work was like and see how much Spanish I really did know and remember.  We had a lesson with an 8 year old that is preparing to get baptized and that went really well.  She was a cutie and took notes as we taught her (in English).  We then headed out to contact some potential investigators and we ran into a lady who let us in and we taught her the Restoration.  It was rough.  I totally fell on my face with Spanish, but the lady understood and was sweet about me trying to use my Spanish.  She agreed with what we said, but said she had enough with just the bible…ugh…oh well, hopefully one day another set of missionaries will knock on her door.  We knocked a few other houses, met a young mom and scheduled a set up a return appointment, and then headed to dinner.  She had the most amazing dinner in the world!  She had pupusas.  They are masa with meat, cheese, beans inside then flattened and then cooked.  You put cabbage and salsa on top, and seriously I could have eaten 50 of them, but I did not have room for that haha.  (There will be a picture at the bottom showing what it looks like).

 (These are the pupusas, and they tasted wonderful!)

Wednesday - we were still on exchanges and we did our studies, and then Hermana Dodge and Hermana Scaife came back and we had to take our car in the get the bumper fixed, which they didn’t actually fix yet- it is so frustrating!  So while we waited for our car to not get fixed, we did some work in the Hermana's area.  They dropped us off in a neighborhood and then started knocking.  The first house we knocked a lady from Ecuador opened the door and she let us in and we began teaching her in Spanish, and I tried hard to understand what was going on and I got about 60% of it!  And I talked about Jesus Christ and his life on earth and I didn’t fall on my face!!!  THERE IS HOPE FOR ME AND THE SPANISH!!!!!!!!!!! :) We knocked on a few doors and got some return appointments, and then we got our car back and headed back into the middle of nowhere haha. 

Thursday - we had our normal studies and did some weekly planning and then we had our lesson with Jennifer.  Jennifer is a golden investigator!!!  She is so wonderful and so open to learning and she is reading and coming to church and loving all of it.  So we went in prepared to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but she hadn’t read in a day or two so we ended up just reading in the BOM where she had left off.  I loved reading with investigators because you get to see their expression, and how they understand the scriptures.   Plus you get something different out of each person you read the scriptures with, so that was just awesome!  Oh and it was super hot outside...and I don’t think the temperature is cooling down at all.  OH WELL!  That is part of the journey, right?  We then did some more weekly planning and then headed to dinner with Sister Bernard, a wonderful lady in the ward. 

Friday - we had personal study and I studied How to Begin Teaching and my Spanish scriptures, which I am starting to not need my English to translate as much!  So it is coming, slowly but surely.  We then had a district meeting and we talked about patience and obedience, which are two VERY important principles to remember in missionary work and regular life.  We then did a role-play that was from Hermana Dodge’s time in the MTC.  What we did was we prayed and asked Heavenly Father what question(s) we needed to ask the elder or sister we were with, and then to be patient and to let the spirit tell us what to ask.  It was a very spiritual moment and experience to just sit there and have your mind open to what ever the spirit was ready to tell you, and the question came and it was perfect for the Elder that I asked it too.  The spirit works through you, as you are patient and obedient.  We then ate lunch and then headed to our appointment with a less active in the ward.  She has needed some love and support, and that is what we tried to do, so hopefully us coming and sharing a message lifted her spirit.  We then visited a few people and picked up pizza because we didn’t have a dinner appointment.

(THE TEMPERATURE REACHED OVER 100 degrees...I’M GONNA DIE!!!!!!!!! hahah…and get an awesome tan.)

Saturday - we had another appointment with Jennifer, and we taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ and she understood and took hold of what we were saying and then I invited her to be baptized...AND SHE SAID YES!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D whoooo hoo!!!  She is scheduled to be baptized on June 14th!  She was so excited and already asked us the things she needs to do to get ready for it, so I am hoping and praying that things go well for her and that she can really get herself prepared for baptism.  We then headed to correlation with Bro. Winterton, and made goals for the lessons and who we are bringing to those lessons.  I had no idea how important the ward mission leader was until I came on my mission.  They are so awesome to help with the hastening of the work.  We then had dinner with Tommy and Becca that night and we had a lesson about the things we promise to do when we get baptized (Mosiah 18), and we recommitted a date for them to be baptized on, which THEY ARE GETTING BAPTIZED on June 11th!!!!!!  And Tommy will be done smoking on May 31st.  We are so excited and so are they! :) We are so happy for them!

Sunday - we had church and Jennifer came again and she loved it, and she is beginning to make friends and have connections with people, which is exactly what we want happening!  After church we did our studies and I studied a wonderful talk from Elder Holland about the Book of Mormon - the talk is called "Safety for the Soul."  You all should read it.  It is amazing!  But he just testifies about how important the Book of Mormon is to our conversion and how so many people have tried to tear apart this book, yet it still stands.  What a wonderful testimony that is to all of us.  And we MUST share this to everyone we know!  I can’t stress that enough!  We then headed to our dinner appointment, and then dropped some cookies off at some potential investigators house and then came back and finished planning. 

I cant believe this is the last week of the transfer...how do they fly by so fast??!  But it was a great transfer and I am really learning and growing and starting to understand what missionary work is and how we can do it to our best abilities.

I love you all and I am so grateful to have such wonderful people in my life that are supporting me and helping me push on :)  "Keep Moving Forward"!

Have a wonderful week all! 

Oh and transfer calls are this Saturday, SOOO I will let you all know what is happening with Hermana Dodge and I next Monday!

Prayer list-- Tommy and Becca, Patrick, Jennifer, Eli, Christian, Britney, Mikaya, Wayne, and Dave and Linda Sousa.

I love and miss you all!

Love, Hermana Aase