Monday, October 27, 2014

Waking People Up, It's What We Do!

Hi Familia!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful week last week. I loved all the pictures...it makes me miss home, but I love it out here, so I am doing just fine! I can't believe that I hit HALF WAY this past week. The time has just flown...it's crazy. And all I have heard is that once you hit 9 months it goes down hill from there really fast. Which I don't want it to end...I love being out here. So I am taking every opportunity to live the mission. 

Well this past week was really good! It was not as busy as the last 3 weeks have been, so that is good! I enjoy having time to actually work in the area and see our investigators progress.

Monday- after emailing we got all our shopping done and then we played ultimate frisbee, which is really hard in the wind I might say! We then got flu shots and ran home quick to change for dinner. And I was SOO excited to open the mail! I got so many wonderful packages from my family :) I felt so loved! SO thank you family! You are awesome! I have already eaten half the packs of gold fish, and candy...! hehe. After dinner we helped some of the ladies in our ward do their visiting teaching and then we contacted the rest of the night.

Tuesday- We had a lesson with Maura Martinez and we read with her where she is at in the Book Of Mormon. We also set her with a baptismal date of Dec. 27th!! She told us that she is ready before that date, but that she can be married by then. So that made Hermana Lau and I excited to hear. We then met with the ZL to plan for MLC (which is mission leadership council) and guess what...we are TEACHING in it! My first one, and we are teaching it! haha. Is that nerve wracking or what? We then had some potentials and referrals we contacted, sadly no one wanted to open the door...it's a bummer when that happens! But you just keep moving forward and find those who WILL open the door to you. We then stopped by one of our investigators and while the mom was busy doing things about the house we read with Thalia, the daughter, in Alma 32 talking about how faith is like a seed that can grow and she asked us, "how can I find the truth," and we simply explained to her through prayer and her feelings. She then quietly asked how we knew this church was true, and both Hermana Lau and I bore our testimonies about how we know this church is true. She smiled at us and was like "I want to know the truth like you two do"...this literally brought tears to my eyes. This little 12 year old wants to know the truth and she has such a strong desire to know it! I love it! We then had a really fun FHE with the Juarez family talking about the amour of God and what we can do to keep that amour on! We drew a man with all the amour on, so pictures to come with that.

Wednesday- MY HUMP DAY!!! I still cant believe that I hit 9 months this past week...TIME FLIES when you are having fun! But the day started out a bit slow, I woke up with a bad headache, but my awesome companion baked cinnamon rolls, so those were delicious! We then went out to work and we found a new investigator named Tony. We taught him the restoration, not sure how interested he is but we are going back for sure to teach him more! We then ate some lunch and while making lunch I cut my finger really bad, so that was not so good. Luckily I didn't have to get stitches! We then headed back out and passed by a few homes but no one was there, so we walked down the street and a potential that we talked to was outside with his little girl, so we started talking to him and taught him the Restoration and half the plan of salvation because he had so many questions for us. And we set him with a baptismal date of Dec13! So that was really good! We then had a relief society activity and we made these BOO suckers - the ladies in the branch liked that! And then we headed to a lesson with Pedro and we taught him the Word of Wisdom and he told us that he is getting baptized in the month of November! But he wont tell us a specific date...





Thursday- We had service in the morning and that was a blast. We worked in the kitchen and made bags of food for the shelter. Later that day we had a lesson with Chris, a newly reactivated member and that lesson was one of the most powerful lessons I've had on my mission. We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ and he kept telling us that we were saying exactly what he needed to hear and that he really does want to change and be better. The spirit really does guide us in what we need to say. We then did some fun planning, and visited a less active family that we haven't been able to contact. We shared with them 2 Nephi 25:26, and talked about Christ and their conversion to the church. 

Friday- We taught Maura English in the morning and also shared with her some scriptures to help her out in this hard time in her life. We then had district meeting and talked about inviting people to church! Because that is one of the hardest things to get investigators to do...for some reason. We then contacted for the rest of the night!

Saturday- We had a lesson with Rosemary in the morning and we read 1 Nephi 17 about Nephi being commanded to build a ship and we related that to the Lord commanding us to be baptized. She really understands now the things that she needs to do to prepare to be baptized. I am hoping that she will be baptized at the end of the year. We then contacted a bit and we drove by our investigator's (Miguel's) house to see if he was home, and he was! So we stopped and taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ and reset his baptismal date for Dec. 19th! He has such a strong desire to learn about Christ and the church. That is one of the things I love the most, to see those we teach have a true desire to learn and grow.

Sunday- It was a really good day! A little bit cool and the sun was shinning and we got up early to knock on people's door to get them up and going! And guess what, It WORKED! TWO of our investigators came to church! Pedro and Miguel!  After church we did some contacting until dinner and then we had a meeting with our Branch President, and we were able to help him really understand his role. It was a really good meeting. 

Well, this week was really good! I get to go to North Edwards for an exchange tomorrow so I am happy to be back in my home :) I'll talk to you next week!

Love, Hermana Aase

prayer list- Miguel, Pedro, Rosemary, Maura, Jose, Francisco, Connie, and Manual

Girls on a Bike!

Hello family!!

Well all I can say is that this week didn't slow down anymore...haha. We had a busy week, but it was an amazing week!

Monday- after emailing we met with Kayla Martz and her cute kids for lunch and that was a blast! I haven't seen that family since I left my first area, so it was so good to see them!! Later we played some hard core sit down (which is like free range dodge ball) and after dinner we ran over to Angel's house because we were handing him over to the YSA Elders in this area. We then ran to a Family Home Evening with the Juarez family and they are doing so great!! They are doing a lot better. They are reading and praying everyday, which is great to see!


Tuesday- We had an early lesson with Maura (the former investigator who randomly called us and said she wanted to learn again) and that was good! We brought a member with us and we got to know Maura and she told us how she wanted to get baptized, but because she isn't married they couldn't continue to teach her, but now she is like "I want to get baptized! And I am going to ask my husband if we can get married, so I can be part of this church!" Our minds were pretty much blown! After that we had a meeting with the Assistants and all the STL's in this area. We talked about how to be better missionaries and help the sisters under our stewardship. A couple things that really stuck out to me was 1) we teach the GOSPEL of Jesus Christ, not about the boy in the woods or the great apostasy, but the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is what changes us, and 2) the lessons we teach - Restoration, Plan of Salvation, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ are all inter connected - CRAZY, right? So here you go, the Plan of Salvation = what the gospel is, the Gospel of Jesus Christ = how we live the gospel, and the Restoration = why we need the gospel. MIND BLOWN. It was a really awesome meeting! We then had my eye doctor appointment and my eyes are great, but that means they aren't causing my head aches...so back to step one! The rest of the night was busy contacting and walking our areas. 

Wednesday- Our appointment in the morning sadly cancelled. We then headed to Palmdale for the first round of exchanges. We headed with Hermana Wiscombe and Hermana Simpson. I went with Hermana Wiscombe in Palmdale, and guess what...THEY ARE ON BIKES!!! I GOT TO RIDE A BIKE IN A SKIRT ON MY MISSION!!!! So the day started out good, besides the fact that I was flashing everyone as I rode down the street on the bike...might I say, it is hard to ride a bike, in a skirt, against the wind. All I could do is laugh at how we looked. We had a lesson with a 7 year old boy who is about to be baptized and we taught him about the Plan of Salvation. We then biked over to an area close to dinner and knocked on a few doors. Sadly everyone we talked to was kind of rude, but we just kept knocking! We then headed down the street and tried past an investigator who they hadn't been able to contact and she was home and let us right in! We taught her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it was a really inspired lesson and the spirit was strong. While biking home quick before dinner we passed this old guy and he looked at us and was like "Aren't you in style! Girls on a bike!!" It was the highlight of my day!! haha. After dinner with our stomaches full, we biked our hearts out to our set lesson with a new family they found, which when we got there they weren't there...so we got our bikes and walked to our next appointment because I couldn't feel my legs! We got to our other appointment with a lady named Georgina, and that lesson was good. We talked about baptism and confirmation. After the lesson we biked home and we passed out pretty fast. 



Thursday- When I woke up on the morning I couldn't feel my legs. While Hermana Wiscombe exercised I sat on the couch and rolled frozen water bottles up and down my legs. We exchanged back and then we headed to a doctors appointment for Hermana Lau and thenwe stopped by See's candy so that made my legs feel better...well not my legs...but my soul. We then planned for a chunk of the night and did a little bit of contacting. But boy...if I get put on bike later on in my mission, I am going to be way more sore!! 

Friday- We had a lesson with Maura teaching her english and that was fun!! We then had interviews with President and Sister Wilson and those went really well. It is always great seeing them and telling them how the work is and getting some counsel from them. We then headed back to Plamdale and had another exchange with Hermana Moore and Hermana Burns. Hermana Moore came with me, and we had a really busy day! Our first set lesson was cancelled, which made us sad, so we tried a few potentials and then what we thought was the right house for a referral was not, but we found a family that had just moved from Palmdale and was taking the lessons there, so that was cool! We then had a lesson with Rosemary and she is getting close and closer to baptism. She says she knows the BOM is true and she wants to be baptized, it is just picking a date now. We then headed to dinner and the person wasn't there to feed us, so we headed home! And then we went back out and had a lesson with Maria and her family and we read 2 Nephi 31 about baptism, and Maria had some good questions about baptism. We brought a member too and they hit it off! We then ran to a set lesson with a new referral...but when we got there, no one was there. So we headed to Pedro and read Introduction to the BOM and they loved that. By the end of the night we were wiped, but it was such a good day! And we passed with our Spanish. 

Saturday- We contacted in the morning and headed to one of the trailer parks in our area and tried a menos activo (less active member), but they weren't home so we walked down the street and met a guy named Richard, who was really nice and said he would be open to listen to what we teach. Later that night we had correlation and we went by another referral and met a lady named Madeline, and we talked to her for a while about what we believe and what church is like. 

Sunday- Church was great! Maura came, but Pedro didn't, so that was sad. But guess what! We taught about missionary work to the primary kids! They loved it. We gave them little tags and talked about how they can be a missionary now and prepare to become a missionary later. That night we contacted a bit and then ran by Presidente Roja's house and updated him on a few families we contacted.


Hopefully this next week will slow down a bit, but we have another exchange this weekend, so that will be good! And I hit my NINE MONTHS on Wednesday...how weird is that! I am half way done!! 

Well I love you all and I'll talk to you next week! 

Love , Hermana Aase

Prayer list- Pedro, Maura, Connie, Manuel, Rosemary, Miguel, Madeline.










Food Coma's Really Do Exist!

Good Morning Family! Cant believe it is monday again...weird! But I am glad it is monday again so I can recharge for the week and talk to all you lovely people!

The title of my week...it happened. Didn't think I would ever get to that point in my life where I ate so much food that I felt like I was going to slip into a coma!

Monday- After emailing we did our shopping quick and then ran to the church building where we got to watch MEET THE MORMONS!! It was so great. I just wanted to cry the whole time. I just loved being able to feel the spirit as I watched the movie. I hope all of you get the chance to watch it. It was amazing! After that we contacted a few potential investigators and then we had FHE with the Juarez family - a newly activated family in our ward. They are so awesome, and cute and just love the gospel now. And guess what, the husband manages the Panera's here and he gave us free coupons for meals!! 

Tuesday- We went out during lunch and found some really cool service opportunities in the community. So that was awesome! We then had a slow day, but we contacted and talked to a lot of people. That night we had a meeting with Hermana Rojas - she is the Primary President in the branch and we were helping her develop a vision for the primary and making goals and seeing who we want to work more closely with. The work of the Lord really needs the members, because without them, we cannot do this marvelous work. 

Wednesday- We had a meeting with Hermana Juarez, who is the YW president in the branch and just like with Hermana Rojas we helped her develop a vision, goals, and a plan to accomplish this vision. The members in our branch are starting to understand the importance of members and we can already tell that the work in this branch will be moving along a lot quicker than it is now. We then did some service at a member's home helping her make food for a party she was having that night. We made about 100+ kabobs! haha it was a fun time! We then had a lesson with Rosemary and taught her about tithing, fasting and the blessing that those have been in our life. After her lesson we contacted and found a really cool guy named Jose. We started talking about how we really focus on families and that the whole branch is full of kids and that he can bring his little girl and she can be in a safe environment and learn about Christ. We then went back to the member we helped make food and we ate dinner over there and she fed us SOOO MUCH FOOD!!! I thought I was going to burst...then at night we passed by another members house in our area and followed up on how they were doing and if they were reading and how conference was. They are converts of about 2 years, and the Mom just lost her job and she told us that she just started reading the BOM and that it has been giving her peace of mind. So that was wonderful to hear. 


Thursday- In the morning we went to do some service at a food bank where they have clothes there as well. We sorted clothes and got them all hung up for the store to open. We then had a short lesson with Chris about missionary work and how he should share the gospel with his close friends. We really feel as he gets involved with missionary work, he will see more the importance of the gospel. Over the past year he has changed his life a lot, a complete 180 turn. He has such a desire to change and learn and be better. His goal is the temple. Which is SO good to hear. After that we got some planning in before our lesson with Pedro, which we taught his nephew too! So that was awesome. Pedro has a desire to learn and be better, he just has some doubts about being baptized, so we are working with him on that! 

Friday- We helped Hermana Juarez with some of her religion homework in the morning and then headed to district meeting afterwards. We talked about how we must be pure in our thoughts and we dissected the verse in D&C 4:2 about serving God with all our hearth, might, mind and strength. It was a very spiritually uplifting meeting! We then ate a quick lunch and headed over to have a lesson with some less actives in our ward and they ended up feeding us lunch too, and it was SOO MUCH FOOD! haha...this will never end! It is really good food, just a large amount. During our lunch/lesson with them they had the TV on and turned it to that channel that just plays music...guess what channel they picked...LOVE SONGS! haha. Hermana Lau and I could not stop laughing!! It was pretty funny. That day we looked for some more service opportunities and grew our list. So that was good! We planned some more...and then headed to a lesson we had scheduled with a new family. We had a powerful lesson with them and the story behind them is the Mom has been studying with different churches and she has actually taken the lessons before and been to church, but just didn't feel that it was right or didn't understand it quite fully. So she stopped taking lessons. But she told us while teaching her that she didn't learn much the first time she was taught, but now she understands it and that she wants to read the BOM and truly find out if this church is true. 

Saturday- We did some church visits during the day. No one wanted to answer their door, so that was a tad bit frustrating. All we want is for them to be happy!! We then finished our planning...finally! And had correlation later that night and did some more visits and contacting. I wasn't feeling 100% so we headed in earlier. 

Sunday- First time at church!! It was cool! Lots of new faces who I don't know their names yet! We then had a lesson with Chris, and boy does he talk a lot! But we got to talk about how God really is here to lift us up and strengthen us. We read Helaman 5:12 and something really cool that Chris pointed out to us is that at the end of that verse it states, "where if men build they cannot fall" the key word in that sentence is "if they build" we must continually build that foundation on Christ. And we do that through scripture study and prayer and Church and all those wonderful things :) The rest of the night went by kind of slow until we got a call from President telling us to go over to one of the sisters apartment to take them to the ER...we were there until about 12:30 and by the time we got home and went to bed it was 2am...so yeah. Crazy day. 

I hope you all have a wonderful day and week!!
Thanks for all the emails and I am sorry I didn't have time to respond to all...I will next week :) 

I love you all and I will talk to you next week!

Adios!

Hermana Aase

prayer list- Sister Fuatia, Pedro, Samuel, Maria, Manuel, Connie, Miguel, Carmen, and Rosemary

Picture:
- Hermana Lau and I prepping food!

I feel like a chicken running around with my head chopped off!

Good morning family!!

Well all I can say is look at the subject line of my email and now you know how I felt this past week. Haha. It was all good things, dont worry, it was just crazy busy!!

Monday- During the day I made a pinata! Pictures to come. We then did more running around until dinner. After dinner we headed over to Carmen's and we taught her kids. They were very attentive and liked what we taught. We then invited them to read a section in the Book of Mormon and while we were talking to Carmen the oldest son came out and was like "I am done!" haha. What a good kid!! He is practically progressing already! We then had a lesson with Maria de la luz and that was good. It was sad to say goodbye to her and Carmen. You'll never guess what we then did.. we saw CINDY!! We texted her telling her that I was leaving and she was like I want to say goodbye!! So we went over and talked to her and Mike for a while and they gave me flowers! It was so sweet!! The rest of the night I was up late packing..

               

Tuesday- Transfer meeting! Of course it was sad to say goodbye to my baby, but I know that she will do great with her new companion. Hermana Lau is my new companion and I love her to death!! I am so excited for this transfer :) It will be great! After unpacking and dinner we visited Presidente Rojas- the branch President in the Joshua Branch and then we got some groceries! 


Wednesday- We got up ready to work! We had a planning meeting with the zone leaders to get ready for zone training meeting Friday and that was really awesome. I never knew until now how much prayer, planning, and inspiration go into planning these meetings. After all that was finished we went out knocking and we met a new investigator! his name is Fransico. He knows a lot about the church, but says he has never met with missionaries before...so we will be finding out more about him as we continue to teach him. Oh and something awesome happened.. during that lessons Franciso turned to me and was like "you have really good spanish"... I was about to burst into tears!! It was so uplifting to hear that! Heavenly Father has truly helped me out so much with the language. We then had a lesson with a 14 year old investigator named Rosemary. She is in a part member family and really awesome. She is developing a real strong testimony of the BOM and she has a desire to be baptized which is wonderful to hear too! Later that night we had a meeting with our WML and the relief society president in the branch to get missionary work rolling in every aspect of the branch. Something that is going on in this branch is that we are trying to get the whole branch more involved in missionary work and helping the work of the Lord hasten on! We then had a lesson with another one of our investigators Pedro. We talked about the things we do after we are baptized (he is preparing to be baptized, so he wants to know what things he needs to do before had and what things he needs to do afterwards). The lesson went really well. We had our WML with us and he explained about the priesthood and passing the sacrament and going to the temple. After baptism we have a life full of experiences and opportunities to grow. It is awesome!

Thursday- We did a little planning for STL things like exchanges and when we are meeting with all the hermana's under our stewardship. We then had a lesson with a less active in the ward named Chris. He is really cool. He has had a hard life, but is now realizing that he needs the church and that he wants to be a better person and work toward the temple. So we taught him about family history work and how he can prepare to do the ordinances in the temple and just what a blessing it is for us! We then did some weekly planning for the coming week until our meeting with Presidente Rojas. After the meeting we had a lesson with another investigator named Angel. He is super cool! He is 18 and really interested in learning more about the church. We read 3 Nephi 11 with him and answered some of his questions, sad thing, but happy thing is, is that he is moving, but we are going to have the YSA missionaries come teach him. We feel he will do a lot better in that kind of environment! For the rest of the night we planned for ZTM..which took a long time, but we wanted it to be good, and what the Lord wanted us to teach the other missionaries on our zone. 


Friday- ZTM! We got up early to get everything finished up and go through our notes. We got to the church a bit early to set up and guess who came to our zone training meeting... Sister Wilson!! haha..on my first one!! It's okay because it went really well! The ZL talked about how we need to pray with faith, we need to rely on the spirit and how we can do those things by studying the scriptures, being obedient and having that faith while we pray. We then talked about how to work the Lord's way, which is by working with members and ward leaders. We must gain their trust and love and serve them as much as we can! Overall it was really good! We watched a couple videos from Hastening the Work website off of LDS.org. They are inspiring if you havent looked at them before! We then ate lunch with the WINTERTON'S who were down here at the meeting also, so that was great to see them and a couple of their kids :) I sure miss that family! We then headed to visit a less active couple and they are as cute as can be! We read with them Moroni's promise and reminded them about conference. We then visited Fransico again and read with him in the introduction to the BOM, and then we continued our weekly planning for the rest of the night. 

Saturday- CONFERENCE!! It was awesome. Like freak, all my questions were answered in the first session of conference, it was wonderful and inspiring!! And I loved the different languages that some of the general authorities could speak! I could actually understand the Spanish one! Something that really stuck out to me was the testimonies of Joseph Smith and truly the impact that he has had on my life and those of others. I am so grateful for the prophet Joseph Smith, he had the faith and the desire to pray and ask God, and because he did so, we have the restored church back on the earth. Also, about how we need to stay in the boat!! :) That night we had a lesson with Miguel and we read 3 Nephi 11 also and invited him to conference. He has a baptismal date and wants to learn more and more about Jesus Christ. That night we had correlation and funny story, I randomly looked down at my skirt and all of the sudden I see this green bug on my skirt..and long story short I started to freak out and my face got all read and everyone was laughing...haha. That was the entertainment for the night!

Sunday- CONFERENCE 2.0!! It was also awesome!! Something that stuck out to me was the talk from President Eyring about receiving personal revelation and confirming truth. I love how conference can fit into everyone's life and needs at that moment. I hope all of you had that same experience. Between session we got some lunch from a couple in the stake and then we made some visits to those who weren't able to attend the first session. Unfortunately none of our investigators came, but we had a less active came and he loved it! The rest of the night was full of planning! haha. 

Well I love and miss you all tons!  I hope that conference weekend boosted your faith and grew your testimonies. 

I hope all of you are well and I will talk to you soon!

Love, Herman Aase

Prayer list- Pedro, Rosemary, Miguel, Fransico, Connie, Manuel, Carmen, Alvaro and Julia. 

Friday, October 3, 2014

HEY IT'S YOU!!

Good Morning family!! I hope all of you are well :) Thanks for all the awesome emails, I sure do love reading how everyone is!

This week flew by..okay lets be real..every week in the mission flies by. I don't understand how that happens. Haha. But it does. And crazy how another transfer is over! And I will just tell the news now, I am leaving Buena Vista :( I am super sad to leave this area, the ward, the investigators, and especially my baby, Hermana Robles. We have had a blast together this past transfer and we have learned a lot together. I know that she will be great and that she will continue to do awesome things. Now for the awesome events of this week!

Monday- after p-day we had an awesome lesson with a less active Maria and we taught her about the restoration to help her regain her faith and knowledge about the gospel. She is so cute, right now she is taking the classes to prepare for the temple and she wanted to try her dressed on and ask our opinions on them. I just wanted to hug her. Whenever i know someone that is preparing for the temple I am just so happy and excited for them to make this promise with God. After her lesson with headed to contact a referral and guess what, they were sitting outside!! We started talking to them and they knew who we were. They asked us to come the next day and teach them, freak! Yeah, we were like, "YES we can!"

Tuesday- morning we had a lesson with Manuel Felix and man did I miss that guy! It was a long time since we had seen or taught him. He was out of town. We taught him about the plan of salvation and really focused on teaching from the scriptures so he understands that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. We then headed over to Alvaro and Julia (the couple we met monday night that said to come back the next day). Han Robles and I were so nervous for the lesson cause we wanted it to go super well, but obviously if the spirit is there, it will go wonderfully :) So we started talking and the first thing that Alvaro told us is that his mom is a convert of 30 years, and about 15 years ago he used to attend the mormon church, but was never baptized. So fast forward 15ish years, a Christ pass along card is put on the door, he calls the number on the card. The really cool thing is that he called the number on the card to not get the video, but because he knew that missionaries would come...!! AHH. Isn't that just so cool. Talk about prepared. So he goes on to tell us that he knows that the gospel can bless him and his families life. He knows that he NEEDS the gospel in his life. Hermana Robles and I just sat there in awe...it was amazing. Heavenly Father leads you to those who are prepared to receive the gospel. We taught them about the restoration and they loved it. WE gave them both Books of Mormon and they said they will read it and pray about it. AHH. I still can't get over how amazing they are. It will be work and we know that we must be patient still, but this family will be baptized and sealed in the temple for time and all eternity. Later that afternoon we did some service at the food bank and then contacted and talked to a lot of people! 


Wednesday- I had another Dr appointment, and good thing is my sinus infection is gone, but I still have headaches. So the doctor gave me some nasal allergy spray and I am still taking an allergy pill a day...so hopefully moving areas will help my headaches! We headed over to have a lesson with our new investigator Carmen, but she wasn't home, so we headed across the street to the family that makes piñatas and talked to them. Guess what, she let us in her house and fed us the most bombing tamales in the world! And she told us that we should feel special cause she never lets the JW's or anyone else in her home. Getting the trust of potentials! They have 5 year old son and the instant we drive past their house, come talk to them, go inside their house he screams and runs toward us yelling "HEY ITS YOU!"..haha. Oh the joy of little children. We then had a lesson with a former investigator and retaught her about the Book of Mormon and read Moroni 10:3-5. She was glued to what we were saying and told us that she would read and pray! It was a short, but powerful lesson. After her lesson we did some service at the library. We then had a hummer dinner at B-dubs with Ruby Cruz. And then we headed to our lesson with Ramon. We read with him in 3 Nephi 11, and it was really awesome. Normally we just leave that chapter for the investigators to read on their own, but when we read it with him the spirit was so strong and Ramon really understood the main topic of that chapter. After that we ran to our next lesson with Gema Fernando, and their daughter Barbara. Their other daughter Fernanda joined us in the lesson which was awesome! She is much more curious about our church so she asked us a few questions. The mom, Gema told us that she loves when we come over because they actually talk and want to listen, unlike when others come over or when they go to mass. We also read 3 Nephi with them and talked about the importance of baptism and church. They hopefully will be coming to churn on Sunday.

Thursday- we had an appt with Julia that got cancelled.. which was sad and we brought a member with us to fellowship her, but we will have to go next time! We then took the member back and talked with her and her two daughters that are at home and then shared a message about repentance and the atonement of Jesus Christ. And it is incredible to hear the testimonies of other members and to hear their conversion stories. I think that is one of the most amazing things to hear and learn about form other members. After lunch we planned until our lesson with Mnaulel, which we continued to teach the plan of salvation, slowly but surely we will get through this whole lesson haha. We then had a lesson with Manuel and Teresa and we brought some members with us that helped a lot! We started teaching about the Sabbath Day Holy, and then they started asking questions about coffee and tea, so we then jumped into teaching the Word of Wisdom.. moral of the story- missionary must ALWAYS be prepared to teach anything! haha. 

Friday- morning we had district meeting and took fun pictures. We then headed over to Carmen's and she wasn't there again..so we walked across the street and their 5 year old son ran across the street yelling "HEY ITS YOU!" again.. hahaha. He does it every time! At least someone is excited to see us! We then talked to Veronica for a while until Carmen came home and then we headed over there. We asked her how she was doing and is she had time to read and I what had happened was her sone took the Book of Mormon to work with him cause he wanted to read it..haha. say what!? So she didn't have the chance to read. So we also read 3 Nephi 11 with her and asked her what she got out from it and she said baptism! She then went on to ask us question and how she can become a member of this church.... say what!? SO we invited her to be baptized and she said yes!! We are so exited and she told us that she wants us to teach her three kids as well!! Another family the Lord has led us to! The answers the Lord gives us are amazing :) That night we contacted a couple other people and as a lesson with a guy named Joseph. Log story short, the english elders gave this referral to us cause there are spanish signs all around the house, come to find out, he doesn't speak spanish haha. But we taught him the restoration and it was one of the most powerful lessons I have been in. He has such a curiosity for the church and already tries to teach his kids and students about God and he does bible study. We know that the Lord has been preparing him for the missionaries, and that he will be baptized and feel that complete joy. 

Saturday- was kind of a crazy day, but we stopped by Connie's house and talked to her for a bit until we had correlation. After correlation we headed to Veronica's but she wasn't home, so we then knocked a bit and contacted a few people before we headed to dinner at the stake center before the women's conference. The women's conference was AMAZING!! No joke, it was so awesome, like every conference we have with the general authorities of the church. The main thing that I got out was that the temple is the House of the Lord, we can receive personal revelation to help us through our daily lives, that those covenants or promises we make with God, connect us to him and it is so, so, so important that we remain worthy and prepared to enter the House of the Lord. I hope all of you go something that you needed out of that conference! This just makes me even more excited for conference this next weekend!! 



Sunday- it was sad saying goodbye to members that I have gotten to know, but something that they all said to me that I was touched by, was that I will do amazing things, that as I trust in the Lord and work my hardest the Lord will bless me and help me. It was really nice to hear those words from the members that I came so close to, and hopefully I will be able to see them again before I end my mission. We then had dinner with Maria and then we passed by a couple investigators houses until our Family Home Evening with Maneul and a family in the ward. We talked about prophets and we hope that the lesson helped Manuel understand the need for prophets. 

Well, this week was crazy, but awesome.

I love this work and the gospel. Deciding to serve a mission was the hardest but best decision I have ever made I my life. If you are reading this and trying to decide if you want to go on a mission or not I would suggest that you do. I may ben biased, but I know that you will never regret your decision to serve the Lord. 

I love and miss you all! And I hope you have a wonderful week! 

Love, Herman Aase

prayer list- Connie, Manuel and Teresa, Manuel Felix, Alvaro and Julia, Gema, Fernando, Barbara, and Fernanda, Fabian, Carmen, and Veronica.

Families Are Forever

It is P-day again!! and my EIGHT MONTH MARK!!!!!!
Can you believe it. Next month ill be hitting my HALF WAY MARK. Seriously, I can't believe time has gone by that fast!

But onto other things, this week was good! We had many different events that occurred this week that really helped us out, not only in our work, but with our selves and becoming better missionaries. 



Monday we had fun celebrating Mexico Independence day! Later that night we went contacting and got to talk to two of our referrals...too bad both aren't interested. The first house we stopped at the parents sent the little girl to the door to tell us that her parents weren't home, which is a pretty good sign that they aren't interested. Oh well, they will be contacted in the future! The second lady we talked to was a JW..so she was not too interested either. Before my mission I had never really ran into Jehovah's Witnesses, and now it is at least once a day that we see them or knock on a house where a JW lives. 

Tuesday not too much happened. We contacted a lot in the morning and boy in the weather a LOT nicer haha. I feel like I am not sweating the instant I step outside. We then did some service at the Food Bank and we actually had a work out. Hermana Robles and I were DEAD by the end of the 2 hours we were there. We had to shower cause we were so sweaty. The rest of the night was busy contacting and knocking on doors. 

Wednesday we contacted some more in the morning and then headed over to a potential investigator that we found in the beginning of the transfer who said she was interested in us coming back. So we went back and she let us right in and we taught her the Restoration and she loved it. She told us that she had gone to a Christian church and loved it way more than the Catholic church and so we were like "come to our church!" and she was like "YES, I want to !" and we asked her if it would just be her and she was like "nope, if I am going to church, my kids are going to church!" What a good answer haha. She seems so open to learning and reading the Book of Mormon and praying about it. We are excited to see where her learning goes. We then had some unexpected service at a members house in the ward. She was moving and needed her house to be cleaned and so all of us missionaries headed over there and cleaned her house...I thought I was tired and sweaty after the food bank...not even close to how I felt after cleaning her house. I think Hna Robles and I gained some good muscles in our arms washing walls. That night we headed to a set appt. with a  former investigator and we taught the mom (Gema) the dad (Fernando) and their 14 year old daughter (Barbara). We retaught the restoration and committed all of them to read and to pray. We hope and feel that they are ready now to make that change in their lives and be baptized. 

Thursday was planning of course and that was fun!! We had lunch with Maria and she made the MOST amazing food ever. Like I wanted to keep eating and my stomach told me no...true story. After lunch we planned some more until our set lessons for the rest of the night. We headed over to our 6 o'clock and he wasn't there, so we decided to pass by the other potentials on the same street and neither of them were there either...Hermana Rolbes and I both felt there was someone we needed to talk to or teach on this street so we started walking and there was a family sitting outside their house so we stopped by and introduces ourselves and she let us in and we started teaching her the Restoration and at first it didn't seem like she was listening or interested, but then we started asking her questions and she told us how she had just been feeling like God doesn't hear her prayers anymore and isn't there and then she saw us and she wondered if we were going to come over and talk to her and then we did and how she needs help feeling that love again from God. We bore testimony that God does love her and hears her prayers and wants her to be happy. It was a really cool experience, and it is so true about the Lord putting people in your path to talk to at certain instances. We then had a lesson with Ramon and taught him the importance of prayer and scripture study and how they are commandments of God. The lesson was real simple but it was powerful. We then recommitted him to a baptismal date!! He chose Nov 17! We are hoping to move this date up, but it was a date that he wanted. After that lesson we ran over to Manuel and Teresa's and we had Obispo and Hermana Carranza came with us to that lesson to help teach and answer some of their questions. We taught about the plan of salvation for half the time because the rest of the time Obispo was testifying of the gospel and how certain little things don't matter to our salvation and we feel that this lesson could have been a turning point. Manuel did tell us that he has been praying to know if this church is true but that God isn't answering his prayers, and we told him that we must do our part too. It is a two way street from God to us. God will always do his part, but we must do our part to show our faith and our desire to know whats right. 


Friday was a busy, long, awesome day! We got up early had headed to Zone Conference!!! We had a member of the Seventy (Elder Schiwitzer and his wife) come and that was awesome. We all recited D&C 4 and then heard from President and Sister Wilson, and then Elder and Sister Schiwitzer. The conference was about 4 hours long, but it was filled with so many inspiring words. The main thing that I took out of the conference was related to D&C 4:2 "Therefore, oh ye that embark on the service of God, see that you serve him with all your heart, might, mind, and strength..." We as missionaries must serve God with all we have, serving him with our heart means loving all those we come in contact with and are teaching. Love them so much that we are willing to be by their side and help them through this change of life. Serving him with our mind means, being pure and constantly repenting an becoming better. Serving him with our might means, begin diligent with our work, begin exactly obedient, and finding new people to talk to and teach at every opportunity. And serving him with strength means, leaning on the Savior and his grace. Staying strong and not giving up. We have a fight to win and we must not give up! So yeah, that is pretty much what I learned :) We then headed home and got ready for the SWAP MEET! It was really awesome!! It is just like a farmers market, but hispanic. We set up our booth around 4, and It was slow for the first hour or so, but about 6 o'clock there were a lot of people walking the swap meet. We roughly talked to about 200 people, gave out that many or more pass along cards, and gave out 15 or so Books of Mormon. We got to see current investigators, formers, and some potentials that we have knocked into before, so that was really cool. I loved just having people see us and see who we were. By the end of the night we were covered in dirt, sunburned and tired. But it was an awesome experience. 

Saturday we stopped by Hermana Duran's and read with her and then she fed us really good lunch. After that we headed over to the "piñata" family who make piñatas and we talked to her for a long time and got to know her some more and we figured out that she used to have the missionaries stop by and she didn't know that we were mormon as well! She was really surprised but happy at the same time. When we first walked up she was happy to see us and talk to her. She told us last week that she wanted us to come back and tell her about how our party went with the piñata! WE then had correlation and then headed to a ward party. The food was really good and we got to talk with a lot of members in the ward!! We then headed to our set appt. with a guy and his family. It is a young guy, Fabian, his wife, Olga who is pregnant and due today, and their little girl. We found him last week on exchanges and he agreed to have a return appt. We went back on tonight and he let us right in. The beginning of the lesson was kind of slow and shaky, but as we continued to teach and testify the Lord helped us gain more confidence in teaching the lesson. At the end of the lesson we invited him to be baptized and he said CLARO!! (which means YES) and he said that if he reads and comes to church and finds that this church is true he would be baptized. It was such an awesome experience. He had no feelings against being baptized and his wife didn't resist either!

Sunday was good as always. We headed to church, unfortunately none of our investigators came to church- this is something that we are going to work really hard on and pray for. We NEED our investigators to come to church...it is essential to begin baptized. We then and a meeting with all the Hermanas' in this area to learn how to better work with the ward and who we can get them pumped to to missionary work. Never before my mission did I think the ward was THAT essential...but it is! It is a huge part of keeping investigators and new members feeling loved! We then headed out and contacted and no one was answering their doors, so we decided to head to Prudencio's and check on how he is doing. He was home!! So that was good! We taught him and his wife the restoration, and invited both of them to be baptized, his wife said no, but Prudencio said yes, but he first must read and come to church! But he still said yes!! It it such a great feeling when those we teach accept the invitation to follow our Savior Jesus Christ and be baptized but someone who holds the authority of God. 

Well, I always try and make emails short, but as you can see that never happens.. haha. I hope you are all doing well. I love and miss each one of you!!

And we will talk next week!!

OH! And transfers are next week already..CRAZY right! These last 6 weeks flew by! Hopefulyl Hna Robles and I will stay together! :) I love begin with her!

Love, Hermana Aase

prayer list- Prudencio, Leticia, Manuel, Manuel and Teresa, Connie, Laura, Fabian and Olga, Gema Fernando and Barbara, Marcella and Ramon.