Sopresa, Uvas, y El Espiritu Santo

Hello Family!

Good to hear from all of you today! I am happy to hear that all is well that the summer has been blast and you are enjoying the time you have together as a family. I am sad to not be there with all of you, but I love being out here. I think I have hit the point in my mission where I absolutely love what I am doing, even when it is hard and I don't have the energy. The Lord has blessed me so much and is helping me out with everything in His work. 

Now to explain what my tittle of this email is about, I’ll explain our week!

Monday after p-day festivities we headed to contact some potentials we found the week before and we started talking to a guy named Hector and we taught him about the Restoration of the Gospel and he shared with us some amazing stories of faith and miracles and the spirit was so strong in that lesson. We set him with a baptismal date and he accepted!! We were very excited about that! We then tried a referral named Cristina that we got last week and we ended up teaching her the Restoration as well...this lesson did go as well because there were many, many distractions. Satan is a huge fan of distractions unfortunately, but we kept teaching and kept trying to keep the spirit there. Miracle for the day: We found two new investigators!!

Tuesday we had a lesson with our Manuel Felix friend and read in the BOM more and cleared some of his doubts about the gospel. We all feel that he is really close to being baptized, but we first must set him with a date, which in the past has been very difficult. We then did some knocking and found this REALLY cool house with a mailbox that was an exact replica of the big house. Of course I took a picture of it and we knocked on it. We found hopefully a family to teach!! Later that night we had a lesson with a former investigator who is now taking the lessons again and his friend we are now teaching. Long story short, the lesson didn’t go for very long, and they ended up talking about how they wanted us to come over and eat dinner, dance, and drink with them…yeah we shot that down REAL fast!! haha. And we taught them that we don't do that. For some reason, older Hispanic men like to hit on young white missionaries…this is a slight problema! We then surprised attacked a couple we are teaching and had an intense lesson with them about baptism and how we have the authority from God to baptized people…not sure how much they got out of that lesson. I have found it hard to explain this concept to people in Spanish. One day I will learn!! Miracle for the day: we saw this tree while tracting that had toys in it!! 

Wednesday we had a good lesson with Hermana Duran. We read in the BOM and again talked about the importance of coming to church. We then did a little service at the Food Bank and then afterwards my head was bothering mereally bad so I took a little nap before we headed to a lesson with a less active named Maria De La Luz. With her we talked about the atonement and how Christ can heal us from anything through his atonement. After that we had an awesome lesson with another one of our investigators Ramon and we taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we invited him to be baptized as well and he said yes!! It was a good day. And the miracle for the day: Maria De La Luz said that she was going to be bringing Nadia and Natalie to church again!! 

Thursday we had another lesson with Manuel and we talked about pg. 59 in the BOM (aka about the Fall of Adam and Eve)…that lesson was kind of crazy haha. Manuel had some interesting thoughts about why the fall happened and about the original sin, which we cleared that up!! That man…haha. You NEVER know what he will throw at you! We then planned for the rest of the day until my chiropractor appt., which man felt good for my aching body, but unfortunately did not take my head aches away...we are not sure what to do anymore...hopefully they will go away…I don't want to live with them any longer. But if this is something I must go through, I must go through it with hope. Miracle for the day: result of chiropractor- I can breath again!!

Friday we had zone training meeting this morning and that was really good! We talked about how we must have quality investigators who are progressing and have real interest in learning about the church also about asking inspired questions, and listening with love - two very important things while teaching. We later had dinner with Hermana Duran and she made us pupusas, which were amazing! We then did some knocking and found a new investigator and that lesson was really good! One of my favorite things is teaching people about the restoration the first time we meet them or contact them. Later that night we had a lesson with a sort of less active in the ward and we watched the Joseph Smith Restoration DVD, and the spirit was so strong in that lesson I loved it! Watching that strengthens my testimony of the restoration each time. Miracle for the day: EVERYONE and their dog love to give us grapes! We got this HUGE bag of grapes, which are delicious!

Saturday we had lesson with Manuel and we went in with a plan…a plan to set him with a baptismal date! So the lesson started out kind of slow, but we talked about goals and what a goal is and he had the perfect answer - so you aren't just going in circles or progressing, and we were like "EXACTLY!" that is why we want you to have a baptismal date. We invited him to be baptized on Aug 30th and HE ACCEPTED! We seriously wanted to cry and jump up and down and give him a hug and scream and everything else!! We were so happy to hear that he accepted a date and said he would prepare himself for that day! The rest of that say we contacted and carded some houses and my head was bothering me really bad. But yeah! Fantastic day cause Manuel is going to get baptized! Miracle for the day: MANUEL IS GETTING BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday we had church and Manuel and Hermana Duran came again so that was awesome!! We then had a really long meeting after church with the Bishop talking with him about how the work can go better and all. We ate dinner and after dinner I was feeling really sick and my head was about to burst so I took a nap and ended up falling asleep for a while…We then went out and carded a couple houses. 

This past week was amazing, but hard. But the Lord helps us out when we need it and the spirit is what really converts those we teach. 

So explanation for title-- sporesa = surprise, uvas = grapes, and Espiritu Santo = the sprit. 

These three things describe what the week was like!

I can’t believe we are going on week 6!! Only one more week and then we will have transfer calls and be possibly moving!! I’ll let you all know what happens :)

I love you all and I am thankful for your prayers and support!

prayer list- Manuel, Hna. Duran, Jose, Connie, Ramon, Rueban, and Hna. Franco

Love, Herman Aase

2 Nephi 25:26

I don't like the word cancel...

Hola Familia!

This week was a good week, could have been better, but that is why we get a new week each Monday. So it is Hermana Poole's, Hermana Moore's and I's goal to make this week A LOT better than what it was this past week. 

Monday before emailing we had a lesson with an investigator who had two of her daughters and a bunch of grandkids there so it was hectic, but we taught all of them the restoration and it went really well!! We then had a lesson with Nadia and Natalie about temples and that lesson was short and sweet and to the point. There are some things going on with their family so neither of them were really paying attention so we didn't make the lesson too long. We then went over to Raul's (one of our investigators) and introduced him to the Elders because they are going to start teaching him because…long story short...we don't feel comfortable teaching him...so yeah! That was fun haha. 

Tuesday we tried to contact a few people that morning and seriously I have come to a conclusion that we are called to be either "missionaries" or "stalkers with authority"…we have learned how to stalk pretty hard core on some of our investigators and potential investigators…haha. We then had a lesson with Manuel and we read in the BOM and then we headed straight to our interviews with President and Sister Wilson. Those went really well and it was good to talk with them and let them know how I am doing. Later that day we did some more knocking and we taught this guy named Juan, so that was awesome! He says the missionaries are teaching his son, and he has had curiosity (but he understands Spanish better) so we came to the rescue!! We had two lessons planned for that night but unfortunately both were cancelled... 

Wednesday we did service at the food bank since we didn't get to go on Tuesday due to interviews, and in the hour and a half we were there, 8 other missionaries in the area showed up…haha so it was like a missionary reunion! We did some more contacting, which no one was home. We were on our way home from service and we saw this car that its bottom was on FIRE! Literally on FIRE. So it stopped on the side of the road down a ways and this huge family got out of the car. We then came back like an hour later and we saw the fire truck and tow truck picking up that car and it was like half burnt…it was really scary! So back to our day we kept knocking doors and hoping people would listen to the message we share. We then had a lesson with the JW that we are teaching English and that went so much better than last time haha. English is hard...let me just tell you that. I am so grateful that I already know this language or I would be screwed haha. We then had a lesson with Connie about baptism and we asked her about her experience and how she came to the truth of this church. I LOVE hearing about others conversion stories and about how the missionaries came to find them and their journey in learning about the church. 

Thursday was fun as always with planning. We taught Manuel and that lesson was alright. He wasn't in the mood to be taught, but only to be listened too, so we didn't get to teach a lot. But that is alright. Sometimes investigators just need time to talk through things that they are learning. And then we headed over to Hermana Duran and read more in the BOM and talked with her for a little bit before we headed to our lunch appt.  We then came back and started planning and this time we put some music on which helped A LOT. We actually got planning done quicker than normal and we had fun during it. Our appointments that night got cancelled…we think two of our investigators are avoiding us, so that isn't cool. 

Friday we had district meeting and Sister Wilson randomly showed up so that was fun...! It was all in Spanish, so she couldn't really understand our horrible Spanish haha. We then had exchanges and Hermana Moore and I went into the other Sisters area and we knocked a whole bunch, sweated a whole bunch and got tan! We didn't have much luck with knocking but we found this lady named Liz and she was so nice and is totally prepared to hear about the gospel. When we told her what we do she was amazed at the message we share and about how awesome it is. All of us were like "YES!!! It is an amazing message, now we just need others to feel that way too!" She then gave us a huge bag of ice because we were looking...rachet...I’m gonna be honest. We didn't look too hot…haha. :) Life of a missionary in Bakersfield! Husband points for sure! After dinner we visited a less active and then knocked a few more doors and found a super cute girl and she let us in and we taught her the Restoration and in every lesson we asked if they have any questions and Cassi asked us how to know if "this" (meaning our church) was THE true church. And we told her that she can find that out by reading in the BOM and praying and asking God if this is the true church and we testified that God will answer her prayers. It was such an awesome lesson. 

Saturday we had correlation and then exchanged back ate some lunch and then I got some allergy medication to see if it would help the headaches that I have been having everyday for 3 weeks…and so I took some before our lesson with Manuel and I was falling asleep hard core in that lesson…yeah when we got back in the car I looked at the package and one of the side effects is drowsiness…haha. Opps! So we ended up going home because I could NOT keep my eyes open and I zonked out for a good hour until dinner and then after dinner we tried to contact a couple more people but none were home, so we headed back home and my two other companions planned while I zonked out again for 2 hours... I woke up to plan for the next day, put my pajamas on and then fell back asleep…It was an awkward day...lets just say that.

Sunday was a good day...I was still feeling the effects of the medicine I took, so church was long. We then had an early dinner and then contacted a few people and met some really cool people. Two were little kids that we taught the restoration too and they know about the bible and read it, and pray all the time so that lesson was really good. So we are definitely planning on coming back to talk to them. We then had a lesson with Rosario and Guadalupe (two investigators we found in the first week we were together) and we taught them about the Plan of Salvation. That lesson was good, but our Spanish was HORRIBLE...well more mine, not Hermana Poole's. After that we tried to contact a referral and she was outside gardening so we got to talk to her for a little bit and then we taught her the restoration too and that lesson was really good. She was asking questions and adding in her own comments. 

Overall the week started out amazing…and then it got slow and no one wanted to talk to us and then but the end it got amazing again. 

With the headaches…I am talking with the mission nurse and seeing what I can do to help them. I have been drinking more water, taken naps, taken migraine medicine and allergy medicine. So...we will see what happens. 

Well I love you all and I hope you have an amazing week! I can't believe it is already August! 

prayer list- Manuel Felix, Rosario, Guadalupe, Aminta, Hna Duran, and connie

LOVE YOU!

Hermana Aase

The Spirit directs us where we need to go

Hello Family!

This past week was SOO good :) We had tons of things happen (all good of course) and had one really cool experiences. 

Monday after emailing we picked up our NEW COMPANION!! Hermana Moore :) She is so sweet and super fun and is ready to work and find people to baptize. We all get along really well so we are happy about that because sometimes trio's don't work out the best, but ours is! We had a full schedules planned that night. We taught Nadia and Natalie (cutest little girls) about obedience and then did some carding and contacting. Unfortunately no one answered the door…but that is alright!

(The 3 of us. I love being a missionary!)

Tuesday we got out and started to work. We went and tried to contact a former investigator we all had felt to see, but someone was pulling into the driveway as we drove up so we decided to knock on a different house, well we ended up talking to the guy and teaching the Restoration and giving him a BOM and are planning on coming back!! Later we had planned to contact but we felt we needed to go see Jisidro (an investigator we have been having trouble contacting) and we was home! So we taught him about faith, repentance and baptism and read out of 2 Nephi 31 and set him with a baptismal date! And he said no to the date, but yes to being baptized!!!! :) We were so happy! And then we had a lesson with Connie and we watched Finding Faith in Christ, and that video is SOO awesome. If you haven't watched it, WATCH IT! And then we talked about how Christ is important to us and how we can make him a bigger part of our lives. Our day was really hectic, but it was so good! OH and not to mention... it was my 6 MONTHS!!!!!!! Crazy. I don't even understand how that happened. But it did. And it is so cool to see the things that I have learned, and see how far I have come, but to also see how much I have to go and how much more I can learn. So we got some ice cream, which tasted good after a long hot day.

Wednesday we had a lesson with Manuel and we did a "heart to heart" with him to see where his testimony is at and what kind of questions he has etc. That lesson was good, Manuel likes to change the subject a lot…haha. We then had a really good lesson with Hermana Duran with reading in the BOM and talking about how is can relate to us now. And afterwards she fed us tamales and they were REALLY good! :) This Spanish food is growing on me haha. Later that day we did some more contacting and taught a lady who wants to learn English…yeah that was fun. Something that I have come upon is that the English language is confusing, and hard to teach to someone. But it was good! And then we stopped by another one of our investigators who is super busy with work and at the time not home, but guess what? HE WAS HOME! So we taught about faith and talked about how Christ is important to us. 

(My 6 month mark!)

Thursday was planning day and that took forever since we had to fill Hermana Moore in on all our investigators and such and so we were inside for almost the whole day. But we needed to leave the house so we decided to visit an investigator who doesn't like to keep appointments, and he wasn't home, so we knocked the house across the street and the younger girl was like "yeah you can come back!" And then we knocked next door on a potentials and we taught him and his wife and they seem interested! It was so awesome getting 2 new investigators, especially a family! Something that I, and I am sure my companions are learning, is that there is always another reason why you are in an area. It may be for the person you have planned, and it may be for someone you are inspired to knock into. But when you listen to the spirit, the Lord will direct you to who is ready to hear the gospel.

Friday we had another lesson with Manuel and that was fun as always! We tried to bring up baptism again, but that did really go in the direction that we wanted it to, but that’s alright! We then contacted some more and did more planning and then had a lesson with Nadia and Natalie again about Tithing and fasting. And then we all felt to go visit this less active family who are also very hard to get it contact with and he was home! So we read in Alma 26:12 about how through Christ we can do all things. 

(Proof that it was 120 degrees)

Saturday was busy and hot...like 120 degrees hot…I’ll just start with that haha. We had correlation in the morning and then had to run to our lesson with Hermana Duran and she said she was planning on coming to church and we really hope she does! Church is SOO essential to our spiritual growth. We then contacted and met this really awesome guy who is probably going to get baptized soon! He is English, which means he goes to the Elders, but we taught him the Restoration and set him with a baptismal date and he was agreeing with everything we were saying. It was so awesome. We did some more contacting and by the end of that night we were all exhausted!!

Sunday was awesome and guess who came to church..?!! Hermana Duran! And Manuel came :) we were so happy to see them both there. Church was wonderful and I’m loving this ward. We had a lesson with Manuel that night and really dug down deep about baptism and what is holding him back…he sort of opened up which was good, but didn't answer our questions. We then tried to contact a referral and she was home, and let us teach her on her door step. And the Lord seriously loves us cause he time we came to a door step and we started to teach the temperature would cool down and then as we walk back to our car the temperature would go back up…THIS CHURCH IS TRUE :)

I am happy to hear that all is well at home in MN! I miss it, especially the weather, but I love being out here. Lots of good things are happening. The Lord is helping me so much. 

Thank you all for the support and love! I can feel your prayers :)

Have a wonderful week!!

prayer list: Manuel Felix, Manuel and Teresa, Vicky, Alfredo, Jisidro, Connie

Love, Hermana Aase

Let there be MIRACLES!

Good morning family!!

I was excited to see all the emails from you guys. And to hear what is going on!

This past week was a really good week too. This area is just awesome and Hermana Poole and I are doing awesome too! :)

Monday after emailing we headed to hang out with our zone and play some sports and then later that night we had a lesson with two cute girls, one who just recently got baptized. We taught them about the law of chastity...haha that was fun! We just focused on keeping our words, thoughts, and actions clean, so hopefully they understood that! We then had another lesson with a recent convert, Connie, about Eternal Marriage and families and Heavenly Father’s plan for us. 

(Our district cleaning up)

Tuesday we had a lesson with a less active in the ward, Hermana Duran and I read with her in the LDM (libro de mormon) and she loved it. We are trying to get her to come back to church and we both feel that reading in the LDM will help her with that. Our miracle for the day was that we got a call from the assistants that we are getting a THIRD companion. Her name is Hermana Moore, she went home for a little bit but is coming back out!! We were shocked but excited :) Later that night we did some carding. It is like knocking doors, but when you are knocking at 8/8:30 at night people don't like it very much, so we do inspired carding, where if we feel something about a house we will put a card on it. There is a certain card that we like to use called "rocket Jesus" They are our favorites! haha

Wednesday we had lunch with a cute widowed lady in our ward named Hermana Josie, and she reminds me EXACTLY of Mamo, just Spanish. So I call her my Spanish grandma! And then we had a lesson with an English lady that we knocked into who used to be a member but isn't anymore, and we just shared the scripture about building our house upon a rock, which that rock in Jesus Christ and that through the wind, rain and storms we will not fall as long as we build upon that rock. After that we did some service at the library. Miracle for the day- air conditioning in the library!

Thursday was busy full of planning, which is always fun, but so necessary! Later that day we ate lunch with the other Hermanas in our area and then we had a lesson that night with Manuel and Teresa. They are a couple investigating the church and they are the miracle for the day. We taught them the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the spirit was so strong there, and the Holy Ghost helped us so much with what words to say. It was just a really good lesson and we are so grateful that the spirit was in that lesson testifying of the things we were teaching about. 

Friday we had district meeting and Hermana Poole and I had to give the training, and the assistants showed up!! That was a surprise to all of us. haha. So it was a bit nerve racking knowing the assistants to the president were watching you give a training all in Spanish! But it went well and the message about extending invitations, promising blessings, bearing testimony and following up got across clear! Later that day we were contacting some potentials and formers and our miracle for the day was someone we FINALLY got to talk to. There has been this couple Hermana Poole and all her companions have been trying to contact for the last few months and they have NEVER been home. And today he was home and he told us that he has family that are members and he invited us to come back!! Woo hoo!! And then also we got to teach one of our less active families that haven't been easy to get into contact with either because they have been sick, but we taught about faith and how we need to nourish our faith by reading the scriptures, praying and coming to church. 

(Free slurpies on 7/11!)

Saturday was busy, busy, busy. We had a lot of lessons planned that went through that is a miracle all in itself :) We had a lesson with Maunel Felix (he is the old guy who has lots of ideas and jokes for us) and we taught him the plan of salvation and invited him again to pray about baptism and he said didn’t say yes but he also didn't say NO! So that is progress! And then we had another lesson with Hermana Duran and that went well. We are hoping she comes to church on Sunday! Later we had a lesson with Raul (an older guy we found the first week) and that…didn’t go quite as well. He didn't let us talk or share anything, so we aren't sure what to do. He also creeps us out…haha. So we will probably send him to the Elders! The rest of the day was busy with just contacting and tracking and more carding, but my brain was fried by the end of the night! But the miracle for the say was that it RAINED! Only for like a couple minutes, but STILL! It was under 100 degrees that whole day!! We were loving the "cool" weather! haha

Sunday was also a good day, not too much happened. We had a fireside we went to about missionary work and an older sister who used to serve here came back and spoke to us and then later that night we did some more contacting and carding. 

Today we are getting our new companion! We are nervous but excited! 

Something that I learned in studies this week is that like the Liahona that guided Lehi and his family to the promise land, it was only by their faith that lead them. I must have faith and put trust in the Lord for him to guide me to where I must go to find people who need to gospel. 

(My wicked shoe tan line...haha #awkwardmissionarytanlines)

I know that this church is true. Without a doubt in my mind. I come to that knowledge each and every day. I know that my Savior died for me and took upon him all the sins of the world so that when I make mistakes (and I do frequently) I can repent and be forgiven. Reading your scriptures, praying and going to church are ESSENTIAL things we must do to help us endure to the end. When we don't do those things we are letting Satan have more power. I love what I am doing. It is hard. REALLY HARD. But it is SOOO worth it. 

I love and miss you guys so much!!

Have an awesome week and tell everyone that I say Hello! 

Con Amor,

Hermana Aase