Wednesday, January 14, 2015

The Enabling Power of the Atonement


Hola familia! Esta semana pasada fue...bien. Pero tenemos esperanza para esta proxima semana! (Hello family! This past week was ... good. But we hope for this next week !)

Monday during the day we played some card games with the Hilton's. We played this game called Mad Gab, but it was Mormon style, and it was so funny! Especially the part where neither Hermana Lau or I could think of phrases in English...it all just came in Spanish, which didn't help us win the game! haha. That night we had an FHE with the Juarez family and we watched a couple Mormon messages about staying worthy at all times so they can rightfully use it. They really enjoyed it and we talked about what things we can do to help us stay worthy like - read your scriptures, pray daily, and go to church so we can take the sacrament. After that we headed to Chris's house and had a really good lesson with him as well. We watched the "Because of Him" Mormon message and then talked about the enabling power of the Atonement and we gave him a talk to read by Elder Bednar.


Tuesday in the morning we went to do some service at a food bank and that was really fun! It has been awhile since we have had time to go and do service. After that we passed by a few less actives', which they weren't home or couldn't meet right then and there, so then we headed over to Carmen's and read Ether 12:6 with her and talked about Faith. We are hoping that she is still interested...it has been hard to schedule anything with her. Before dinner we had a lesson with the Rasch family about the Priesthood and we talked about the power and blessing it is to have in our lives. We then passed by another less active and read Proverbs 3:5-6 about prayer. 

Wednesday we ran by the chiropractor and then came back and tried to visit some investigators/potentials/less actives and no one was home!...it was kind of sad. We then went over to a referral that we got, that we hadn't met yet, and guess what, SHE WAS HOME! We talked to her for a bit, her name is Aida, and small world, her husband's relatives live with her and the grandma has been a member for 50 years and was looking for the church building so she could come to church! That night we had a relief society activity. It was a birthday party for all the ladies who have had birthdays in Dec and Jan. We played that game called fruit basket where someone stands in the middle and says something they have done and if you've done it you stand up and move seats (yes people, we are going back to elementary school!) and it was SO much fun!! During the game I sat on one of the ladies..! We then had cupcakes and cake and talked afterwards. It was a very successful activity, which is what we need here! After that we headed over to a less active and talked with her for a bit and shared a scripture and talked about goals for 2015.


Thursday we had zone conference and President and Sister Wilson were there. It was a really good conference! We talked about how Faith to Obedience to the Spirit is how we can teach with full power. Hermana Lau and I did a training on how to work with the Bishop and it went really well! Presenting and doing training's now in front of people don't really phase me anymore, so I am not sure if that is a blessing or a curse...haha. But I know that the power we get comes from God, and it comes from the atonement of Jesus Christ. The reason why I put the Enabling Power of the Atonement as my title is because this past week the enabling power of the atonement is what kept me going this week, and it's what keeps me going every day. After the conference we had a lesson with Rosemary and read in the Book of Mormon and then talked about the meaning of the sacrament. After that we ran over to the Valdez family because the Dad was going back to North Dakota for work and he wanted to see us and have one more lesson before he left. We had a lesson on the importance of reading the scriptures, praying daily, and going to church. We can have the spirit with us constantly when we do these things :) it is such a wonderful blessing we receive form God. 

Friday we had a short ZTM and had talks on diligence, as well as finding and following the spirit. It was perfect for Hermana Lau and I. I mean, anything related to the gospel is perfect! haha. After ZTM we drove down to Palmdale to pick up our good friends - THE Hermana Wiscombe and THE Hermana Simpson for exchanges. I was with Hermana Wiscombe and we contacted and knocked all day long. We got to talk to a few good people who were actually interested in listening to us! 

Saturday after finishing the exchange we did some planning because we didn't have time to finish it on Thursday. The rest of the day was slow until we headed to correlation. 

Sunday we had branch conference (like ward conference, but a branch) and I got to see a bunch of my friends from North Edwards!! In relief society we had a lesson on how God needs to be first in our lives, then ourselves and then our husbands/wives and then kids...now you ask why they must be in this order? It is because when we put God first, and when we make ourselves lined up with God, then everything falls into place, which is so true! After studies and lunch we visited a lady named Lilian Rodreaguez in our branch and talked with her. She is one of the greatest member missionaries I have ever met! She is an inspiration. At night we finished our planning.

I suggest you look up, read and study these two talks. They have changed my life. 1) Missionary work and the Atonement by Elder Holland, and 2) The Atonement and our Journey through Mortality by Elder Bednar...they are amazing!

Well, I miss and love you all so much! Thank you for all your love and support.

Have a wonderful week and try to stay warm!

Love, Hermana Aase

2 0 1 5 :)

Well family, how crazy is it that it is 2015 now! I never thought this year would come, but look! It is here and already going by fast!

I hope you have all had the chance to make new years goals and look at what we can all do better. I made some goals both during, and after my mission (because I'll be ending my mission this year). I am excited to change and grow and become closer to my Savior Jesus Christ.

Now on to this past week-- it was better, a lot better than the last 3 weeks. Lets just say holiday week for missionaries is wonderful but hard because not may people are 1-home, and 2- want to open the door on Christmas to 2 young white girls sharing a message about Christ. I hoped and wished that they would, but they didn't. But all that is over and we actually got to talk to people this week and have lessons.

Monday- after all pday festivities, we headed to dinner with Hna. America and then did some service with her and after that we headed out and contacted a bit.


Tuesday- TEMPLE!!! Kayla Martz came and picked us up and then we headed off to LA towards the temple. We got there just in time for the session and it was so awesome!! I love love love the temple and how much peace I feel when I am in there. It was so good to remember the covenants that I made with Heavenly Father and the blessings that we can receive as we live the gospel. We then ate at Chick-fil-A, which was yummy! And then we headed home back to Lancaster. We contacted a referral before it got too dark and then we headed to dinner with the Olguin family and talked about making new years goals for 2015. After that we had a lesson with Carmen and her family and Sheila came with us! We read the introduction to the Book of Mormon and then watched the Restoration movie. One of her boys during the movie (at the part where Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ) was like "WOAH"..."I just got the chills!"..haha it was pretty funny and later told him that that was the spirit he just felt. And something that I learned during this lesson is how to make older teenage boys interested in reading the Book of Mormon - just tell them that there are guys cutting off the arms of other guys and lots of war...that got all Carmen's boys interested! haha. 

Wednesday- Was a day FULL of contacting and more contacting and walking out in the coldness. During that time the English sisters that cover that area were following us and we got to our next street and guess whose car we saw...the sisters! So we go and knock on the Morelos door and we walk in and the sisters were sitting inside talking to our investigators!! haha. It was pretty funny!! By the end of being outside I couldn't feel my toes haha, but that's okay! We had to be in early that night since people are CRAZY out here, and I wrote letters and we watched the new bible videos!

 
Thursday- We had a lesson with Maria Reynosa (a newer investigator) and that lesson was really good. We brought a member with us and talked about what she remembered from our last lesson, and then we talked about baptism. We then headed home and planned for a bit. We then went back out to contact...sadly no one was home! After dinner we contacted more until 8 and we went back home to finish planning. 

Friday- District meeting was good. We talked about how we can get to know the investigators better before we start the lessons. After that the Hermanas' from Cal City came up for our exchange and I was with Hna. Alzate for the day. We did LOTS and LOTS of contacting and the miracle for the day was people were actually home and opened their doors for us! It was nice to talk to people again. It has been a long time. We ate dinner with Hna. Lara and then ran to our lesson with the Morelos family. Our lesson with them was really good! The husband Jose sat in on the lesson while we taught about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That night we went over to Sheila's and watched some Mormon messages with them!


Saturday- was a day full of contacting again! And we got into someone's house! His name is Andrew and his grandma's name is Graciela. We taught them about the Book or Mormon and Andrew was really interested in reading it and said that he would! Later we had dinner with the Miranda's and then we headed to correlation and then stopped by Carmen's to invite them to church.

Sunday- Church was good, Pedro came to church! We went out and contacted after our feast with Hna. Harding. We had a lesson with Pedro at Hno. Gutierrez about the Priesthood and then we headed to the Rojas and did the invitation card with them. 

Well I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week! Stay safe and warm :)

Love, Hermana Aase

"Its Christmas time in the mission"

Hello hello family!! 

Wow what a week! I still can't believe I got to talk to you all and see and hear your voices. That is something that I miss the most, your voices. But it was SOOO great to talk to you all and catch up :) I sure do love and miss you tons. 

This past week was good, a bit slow, but the holiday sure helped.


Monday after emailing we got all our shopping done and then headed back to the church to do a white elephant gift exchange and in the process of the gift exchange I picked up this box and it felt like there was a balloon with water in it, and on the box it says "don't shake"...Hermana Lau looks at me and is like "shake it!"...haha so I shook it. So then I sit down and I open the box and come to find out inside the box was a LIVE FISH!!...haha. We all died laughing!! In the end I got two mini ping pong paddles! They will be used :) That night we finished the cupcake run and tried to stop by a few investigators but later I was super dizzy so we went in early and I headed to bed early after planning. 

Tuesday morning we got a call from our Branch President to come help deliver turkeys to families in need in our ward, so after we loaded about 4 turkeys in our trunk we headed off to drop them off and all the families were so grateful! It was a really cool way to wish families a Merry Christmas. We then had a lesson with MIGUEL! It was so good to see him, we haven't had a lesson with him in like a month! But we did like an over view of what all we have taught and he remembered almost everything! After his lesson we did a bit of contacting until we headed to dinner with a less active. After dinner we joined up with the young women in our branch and went caroling! Oh and Miguel came and caroled with us! He loved it! haha. But singing was fun and all those we visited loved the music. I mean it's Christmas music, who doesn't love that!? We then had a lesson with the Valdez family and their Dad/grandpa/husband was back into town from working in MN, so we had a lesson on the priesthood and talked about how much we need/needed the priesthood in Christ's church. 


Wednesday (La Noche Buena) we had the chiropractor in the morning and then headed to a companion study we had with the AP's and other STL's on this side of the mission, and we discussed how we can help our Hermanas' more in the work, and we also talked about how much the Atonement can really help us in all aspects of our lives, not just when we make mistakes. but when we are sad or frustrated or lonely- the Atonement of Jesus Christ covers ALL of that. And that is something that we need to help our Hermanas' and the whole mission understand. We then had dinner #1 with the Rasch's and that was great. All the family was making tamales for later that night.  After lunch/dinner we headed over to Pedro's and taught him how to bless a house because there is a lady in the ward that asked him to do it and he talked to us and was like "I have no idea how to do that!" so we helped him out and hopefully he feels more comfortable about it. We then brought him to a lesson we had with Miguel and we read the scripture in 2 Nephi 19:6 and answered some of his questions. We then had dinner #2 with the Gutierrez family (the same family that fed us for thanksgiving) and then we met up with our district and went caroling with them to some of our as well as their investigators. Then at 12pm Hermana Lau and I decided to join with our Hispanic friends and open some presents. That was fun!

Thursday (Feliz Navidad) We woke up and did some studies and then we opened our presents! It was so awesome! I felt like I was at home...well kinda. We then headed to the Miranda's and skyped family! :) It was SOO awesome!! It was so good to see and talk to family. We then had a lesson with Miguel and we brought Pedro! And we read the Christmas story in Luke 2. We then ran over to the Valdez's and ate some tamales and read the Christmas story with them too. After that we ate dinner with the Rojas family and it was really nice of them to feed us, both our dinner and the Elder's dinner cancelled for Christmas, so that was a miracle! After dinner we went caroling with the zone to some more investigators and less actives and it was fun! It sounds better for sure when you have more people singing with you! haha.


Friday we headed to district meeting and then did our planning since we had no time on Thursday to start it. After a bit of planning we contacted a bit and found and talked to a guy named Randy. He was super cool and has talked with missionaries before, so that was a good house the spirit told us to knock on! We then had dinner with Miguel and Pedro- we ate tamales in his garage and taught about the 10 commandments, keeping the Sabbath day holy and the Law Chastity...lets just say that law of Chastity lesson was THE MOST AWKWARD lesson I have ever taught on my mission. We then came back and planned some more. 

Saturday was not super busy, we headed over to Hermana America's house and did some service with her- helping her make pupusas. We then finished our planning and after that headed out and had a lesson with Miguel and we started the Book of Mormon with him, and something that I have come to realize is that Miguel is one of those prepared people that we aren't even teaching...it is ALL the spirit. It is so cool. He just soaks everything up! He looked at lds.org about temple and was just fascinated by all of them. After that we had correlation and then stopped by Carmen and talked to her for a bit. 

Sunday was good. Sadly none of our investigators that planned on coming came. After church we had to run to Palmdale to help some of our Hermanas' out, and then we got back and headed to dinner with the Miranda's and then passed by the Juarez family and talked about New Year's Eve goals!

Well family, this past 2014 has been so great!
I have seen the change in myself, just from the time I left on my mission to this Christmas. I love this work and I don't want to stop it. I love the Savior, I know he lives and loves me and loves every single one of you. I know this church is true and can bring us lasting happiness.

I hope you all have a fun and safe New Year's Eve. Watch the Ball drop for me :)

I love and miss you all so much!

Love, Hermana Aase

Feliz Navidad y Milagros (Happy Christmas and Miracles)

FELIZ NAVIDAD Familia!!

How happy I am to be coming upon this week. I get to skype with my family :) This time has been long awaited since May...crazy to think that was 7 months ago. Boy does time fly fast! This past week was alright, we have had better. We saw miracles though, so that is all that matters!

Monday was busy shopping and signing shout out journals to those missionaries that were leaving to go home, or that were switching areas.  We then had dinner with the Juarez family, and then read in the scriptures as a family. After that we ran to Hna America's house and had an FHE with her. We read the Christmas story in the bible and drank Abuelita and ate pan :) I had a super bad cold so we went in early so I could get some extra rest.

Tuesday we were supposed to go to the temple, but our ride got sick, so that was sad. I still wasn't feeling good so we got ready for the next transfer and then headed out and visited some less actives and ate dinner with the Miranda's. We then ran to another lesson with the Rasch family and studied about the scriptures in the gospel principles book. We passed by Carmen and her family, but she wasn't home so we just talked to her kids for a little bit! And then we stopped by a family that wasn't at church on Sunday so we could see if they needed anything, but found out they were all sleeping...so we didn't get to talk with them much. But thats okay!



Wednesday we had the chiropractor, and I guess have been keeping all my stress in my neck and shoulders...so they aren't too happy with me. We then had lunch with the Alvarez's and also studied out of the gospel principles book about the scriptures. The scriptures are SOO awesome. I can't even explain it. They give us so much direction and peace of mind. I have truly come to love studying my scriptures on my mission. We then were talking about the temple, and the Alvarez are converts of about 10 years but they haven't been back to the temple for a while, and they told us that they have a goal this next year to make it back to the temple and I couldn't help but just smile :)  We then had an FHE with Rosemary and her mom and we taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was such a good lesson. We then ate dinner with them and headed to the church building for our relief society activity that we put on...sadly only 3 people came, but it was fun watching a Christmas movie and drinking hot chocolate!

Thursday we finally had our normal studies and then planned!! Woo hoo planning! We then had fun helping our investigator Julissa decorate 100 cupcakes for a school pot luck. I had a blast time!! All those cake decorating classes paid off :)


Friday we had an awesome district meeting and learned how to help investigators resolve concerns with the Book of Mormon. It can only be a true book if it resolves concerns :) We contacted a bunch and walked around...unfortunately it was freezing outside and no one was outside for us to talk to. That night we had a lesson with the Morelos family and we read Ether 12 and it REALLY helped resolve Maria's concerns. She was so worried about having a weakness of learning new things about the gospel, and then we read Ether 12:27 which says, "I'll make weak things become strong," and she was like I can overcome this and learn more! It was a miracle. We ate dinner with Hna Paty and she made some sick Tamales :D And then we passed by the family that we tried on Tuesday and they were awake this time! We read the Christmas story out of the BOM and talked about what we can give Christ for Christmas this season. 

Saturday we went to a mission wide Christmas Morningside and we watched Mr. Krueger's Christmas :) so that was fun! And then we ate donuts and talked for a bit to all our Hermana's in our stewardship and other missionaries that I have served with. I also got the family tree book that the family filled out for me :) it was so cool to read!! We then had a short lesson with a less active and then started the cupcake run. We made cupcakes for some of the less actives and members in our ward and ding dong ditched them! It was really fun! It is more worth it to give than to receive. We then headed to our Branch Christmas party and that was a blast! There was a lot of good food, music and a piƱata! AND 4 of our investigators came!! It was so fun!

Sunday Pedro received the priesthood!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were so happy! That means he can bless the sacrament next Sunday :) After church we had a lesson with a new investigator named Maria. She had a lot of good questions for us and it was a really powerful lesson! And then after dinner we did more ding dong ditching with cupcakes...it for sure gives you that adrenalin rush!

Family, I love and miss you tons! I hope you can get all ready for Christmas and I WILL SEE YOU ON THURSDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :):):):):):):)

Love, Hermana Aase