7 Days, 7 People, 7 Books of Mormon

Good morning family!

This past week was I think one of the most amazing weeks I have had since being on my mission. It was THAT good :)

I am proud of my title, one because I though it was cleaver, and two because the Lord blessed us with many, many opportunities to share the gospel. 

Monday was chaotic as always, but it was good. We played volleyball for a good 2 hours with the district and my arms were bright red. I bought a new ball and lets just say it was kinda hard…haha. After dinner we headed to knock some homes and we found a lady named Evyln (Person 1, Book of Mormon 1). She is a Baptist, but feels that she needs something more. She has great faith and told us that she loves the story of Joseph Smith and that she will often watch "preachers from our church"...(I am thinking that is BYU tv and she doesn't even know it!) We started talking to her about the gospel and we told her about the Book of Mormon and how it has blessed our lives. We gave her one and invited her to read and pray, and she said that she most definitely would! It was such an awesome experience. 

Tuesday we had a slow morning, but it picked back up once we headed to the Food Bank for service. After the Food Bank we tried to contact some potential investigators until dinnertime. After dinner we went knocking and something that we are trying to do better is talk with everyone, those who are sitting outside, unloading their cars, etc. So we started talking to these two guys Jesus and George (Person 2, Book of Mormon 2) and started teaching them the Plan of Salvation and Jesus was asking really good questions and about how we know these things are true and we bore our testimonies about the great plan that God has for us and how it is the guide to our lives to help us along this crazy, confusing road. We then gave a Book of Mormon to George and told him that he can find all the answers to his questions through this book. He was excited to read it. 

Wednesday I had a doctor’s appointment to get a check up on my sinuses and to get blood work done because the antibiotics didn't help a whole ton. So yeah! It was a blast…haha. We then headed to the library to shelve a million and a half books. Before dinner with contacted a few streets and got a lot of return appointments to go back and teach these people, so that was a miracle all in itself! After dinner we headed to go contact a referral we got and we started talking to him, Prudencio (Person 3, Book of Mormon 3). We taught him the Restoration and it was an awesome lesson!! Like, one of the best lessons. He really understood the need for a restoration and that the Priesthood is essential for baptism. And he told us that he wants his family to listen and to come to church. Oh and one more thing that I thought was incredible that he told us. He said that when we were talking with him that he felt like he was talking with God...Missionaries are representatives of Jesus Christ. We have been set apart to be HIS messengers! How great is that! How real is that! And what a blessing that is! Sorry, back to teaching Prudencio- we shared with him our testimonies of the Restoration, the importance of the priesthood, and Book of Moromon. 

Thursday- We had an intense lesson with Manuel and we asked him about his doubts and concerns and we emphasized that he doesn't need the missionaries to tell him what to do, that he already knows what to do! We then set him with another baptismal date!! And he ACCEPTED!! Manuel's new date is Nov. 1^st. We are hopping to move it up closer as we continue to teach him. We then had a short time to plan because we had all set appointments that night. Unfortunately 2 out of the 3 lessons got canceled, so we decide to head back to Jesus (Person 4, Book of Mormon 4) and George's to teach them more, but George wasn't there so we taught Jesus. We taught about the Book or Mormon and told him that he could find peace and joy through reading this book. He was excited to take it! And so were we! We then had a forever long lesson with Manuel and Teresa and we brought a member with us to help us teach and so she could tell her conversion story to them. It was a tough lesson, and I felt like we were teaching the same principle over and over again. So hopefully they understood it! 

     (Hermana Diaz and I)

Friday morning we had correlation and district meeting and then we had exchanges with Hermana. Diaz and Hermana. Poole. Hermana. Diaz came with me in my area and we did a LOT of knocking and we sweated like nobodies business. haha. And I think we got sunburned too…it was about 115 degrees that day! Perfect for knocking...!!! We knocked some more houses after dinner and at about 8:30 we decided to do some carding and we started walking up to this house and the door was open so I turned and asked Hermana. Diaz if we should knock on it and she said yeah. So we knocked it and this lady Maria (Person 5, Book of Mormon 5) came out and we started sharing a bit about our message and about the Book of Mormon and I bore my testimony of it and how it has changed my life and that I find great comfort, peace, and joy when I read this book. She looked at us and was like "can I have one of these books?" Hermana. Diaz and I were both like "YES!" She thought it cost something but we told her it was free and her face just lit up. It was so cool. We walked away from that house and I was like "what just happened!" the Lord gives us SOO many opportunities to share the gospel and give out Books of Mormon, but we must be willing to follow the spirit to know where exactly to go. 

Saturday morning we had a lesson with Hermana. Duran and we read with her in the Book of Mormon and told her that she can find strength as she reads just a little bit in the Book of Mormon each day. I know that as I have read and studied the scriptures that I feel so much happier and have so much more peace in a day. Why wouldn't we want this?? We then exchanged back and Hermana. Robles and I had to finish planning. We then headed to a baptism that our zone leaders were having for one of their investigators. It was so spiritual and such a wonderful service. Then after dinner we headed out and knocked more and this one house we came up to had super loud music on that was not pleasing to my ears, and so Hermana. Robles and I started singing primary hymns and it helped so much!! haha. We then knocked on this house and as always someone drove up as we were walking away from their door. We stopped and talked to a guy named Archie (Person 6, Book of Mormon 6) and found out that he was baptized years back, but stopped going to church a long time ago. So we gave him a Book of Mormon and told him that he can feel that happiness he had when we was learning about the church and when he was baptized. He said that he would read and pray about it! 

Sunday we headed out a bit early before church and invited a few of our investigators to church, all said that they had something to do which was sad, but they said they would come next week- so we will make that happen!! Manuel (like Manuel and Teresa) came to church again. He came for gospel principles AND stayed for priesthood! It was so awesome!! Sooner than later he will be staying for all hours! We then were trying to contact a referral and there was a lady washing her car and so we walked over and started talking to her. Her name is Lisa (Person 7, Book of Mormon 7) and we found out that she is a Baptist and had such a strong faith in Christ and we shared how as missionaries we help people grow their faith and knowledge in our Savior Jesus Christ and she really liked that. We shared with her about the Book of Mormon and testified to her that this book is the word of God and that it can bring her closer to Christ as she reads it. She willingly accepted it and she told us that she would read it and pray about it. Later after dinner we headed to a potential that both Hermana. Rolbes and I had felt we should stop by and when we walked up to him we asked if he was Julio and he was like "you remembered my name". We taught him about the restoration and invited him to be baptized and he said he would, but he wanted his wife to be with him in this process and for us to come back in about a month. 

This week was amazing. And the Lord gave us SOO many opportunities to share the gospel

Yo quiero compartir mi testimonio sobre el Libro De Mormon. Yo se que este libro es de Dios. Que el puede me traer mas cerca a mi Salvador, Jesucristo. Yo se que cuando yo leo este libro, I puedo sentir mas paz, gozo, y el amor de Dios. Yo he orado saber si este libro es verdadero y yo he sentido el poder el contiene. Yo les invito leer este libro y orar a saber si este libro es verdadero. Yo se que, Dios contestara su pregunta y el espíritu santo testificara de el verdadera.

I love you all! And I am so grateful for your love and support and prayers!

I will talk to you all next week!!

Herman Aase

prayer list- Cindy, Mike, Jesus, George, Manuel, Manuel and Teresa, Rogelio, Valt, and Pruencio.