What a Week!

Good Morning Family!!

Well, the news about transfers!!...

I am leaving the area, heading to East Bakersfield (which is little Mexico) and I will be TRAINING! She is native and I am so excited to meet her! This will be a wonderful way to end my mission, training a new missionary! The time will go by fast, but it will be amazing!

So for this past week! It was kind of hectic, due to the weekend still rolling into the beginning of the week.

 (3-legged race!)

Monday- For our p-day activities we played 3-legged soccer. It was a blast! Everyone was falling all over the place, luckily, we did not! haha. I was not about to get hurt. That night we had dinner with the Juarez family and then we started the 5 week program with them and had them do role plays with us, sharing parts of the restoration. After that we had an FHE with Sheila and her family about Prophets. 

Tuesday- Was a hectic day, we had lunch with a member- Ana Gutierrez, and then after that we ran to our next appt, but sadly she wasn't home, or didn't open the door. So we headed to another person in our plans, but he wasn't there either, BUT we got to talk to his wife, and she is opening up more and more to us. So hopefully in the future we can teach her and her husband. We then did some contacting and we talked to this guy named Angel, he was really interested in our message and told us that he has been to all other churches and studied there, but has never studied with the Mormons. So he said that we wants to give it a try! Before dinner we went by this potential family that we have been trying to get an appt with, and we found the husband outside, so we started talking with him and he just wanted to bible bash, so we shared our testimonies of the Book of Mormon and then we left. We ate dinner with the Miranda family and then had a lesson with Susie. She has been reading in the Book or Mormon which is great! But we need to help her get back to church. We taught her more in depth about church and why we go and she told us that she was going to come this Sunday. We then passed by a less active family that just moved into our area, so we met their family and got to know them a little bit better. 

(Sister Martz!)

Wednesday- 15 MONTHS!!!!!!!!!!! Can you believe that I hit that many months...that cannot be real. But it is happening. AHHH! We had a lesson with an investigator named Henry in the morning where we taught about Faith, and then we found out some more things about him and discovered it might be a little bit harder to get him to church than we thought, but we can change that! We then had lunch with Kayla Martz and then headed down to Palmdale to visit Hna Meacham that was still in the hospital- and then to do a follow up exchange with Hna Poole and Hna Usher. When we got back into our area we had a lesson with Aida and we finished teaching her about the Plan of Salvation and about temples and seriously, she is so awesome!! We then ate dinner with Hna Fraijo and after that we had a lesson with Chris and we read a talk by Elder Holland about the safety we can receive when we read the Book of Mormon. And then after that another one of our appts was cancelled, so we passed by Vallarta and got some ice cream for my 15 month celebration.

(​(left) my apt! (middle) ice cream! 15 month celebration! (left) say Hi to Han Soto! This is our study room.) 

Thursday- We did our planning, and then headed to a lesson we had planned with Angel (the guy we met earlier in the week). He wasn't there, but his grandma said that she really likes that we have been coming to try and teach him about God...so we have her approval!! haha. We then had dinner with the Lara Family and after that had a lesson with the Colindres family, and we talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon. We were kind of bold with them, but we got our point and testimonies across! You do what you gotta do! We then passed by the Alvarez family, and they had cake for me and gave me a present. It was the cutest most sweet thing in the world! I love those two! They are like my mission grandparents. While I was there I got a call from President Wilson, releasing me from being a Sister Training Leader, and calling me to be a trainer...!!! FREAK! I was so excited. And so grateful for this opportunity to train again. So then after that we had a lesson with Pedro and we talked about the importance of fellowshipping. And then we told him the news and he was sad. He was telling me that he was going to kidnap me so that I cant leave...oh Pedro. How I am going to miss that man. He has a special place in my heart. 

((left) AIDA! I am going to miss her so much!!! (right) DR Martin, he has fixed my back for the last 7 1/2 months. He must be thanked!)

((left) love these hermanas! (right)This is my favorite girl, Korina :))

Friday- We had a great district meeting! We role played giving church tours, and I never before realized how powerful those are and how helpful they can be to those we are teaching. We then ran to a lesson, but they ended up being too busy...so we did a bit of contacting before our lesson with Maria Morelos. We taught about baptism and confirmation and then we set her with a baptismal date! For June 13! After that we did some visits to Hna Parra's friends to see if they were home, but sadly there were all busy and couldn't talk with us...so we then had dinner with the Rasch family and then we had a lesson with Aida and we taught her about the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity. Want to know how she responded?? Se told us that she hasn't drank for a year, and recently each time she drinks coffee her stomach hurts really bad...she is so prepared! It is a miracle. So she will have no problem with the word or wisdom :) That night we passed by the Rojas and Gutierrez to give them the news about transfers and then by Hna Arnold to take pictures. And so the goodbyes begin!

((left) The Rasch family! (middle) The Rojas family!!  (right) The Valdez family!)

Saturday- We went to Mormon Helping Hands in the morning and helped with some gardening things. It was cold and windy. But it was still great to do service. We then ate lunch with the Parra family and took pictures- I am sure gonna miss that family! We then went down to Palmdale to see Hna Meacham and Hna Flood and do a exchange follow up/ see how Hna Meacham was feeling. There was a baptism at 4 for some elders in our branch. A 15 year old kid named Raul got baptized and it was a great service! And Aida came to the baptism :) she loved it! Before dinner we did some contacting and talked with this lady named Maria. She is a "rebellious catholic" she says haha, but she has Mormon friends and really loves who we are. She is really nice and both Hna Soto and I feel that she is prepared to hear the gospel. She has questions like "why are there so many churches?" and "Why don't we all believe in the same thing?" After dinner with the Gutierrez we passed by the Miranda family and took pictures and then we had our coordination meeting. 

((left) The Gutierrez family! (middle) Chris Parra! (right) The Quinteros family!)

Sunday- Continued with goodbyes. Church was wonderful! I gave my testimony in sacrament meeting. Aida came to church! And she continues to love it and learn more and more. Pedro and the Gutierrez family then threw the missionaries a goodbye party...it was so sweet! haha. We then passed by another family- the Quinteros and then we went back home and we did some studies and I packed a bit and then we ate dinner with the Rojas family and then we ran by the Valdez family, and the Gutierrez and the Rasch family to take pictures and say goodbyes. 

I have honestly loved serving here in this branch. All the members are just so sweet and loving. It will be hard to leave them, but that just makes me even more excited to come back and visit them. So my Sister Training Leader days are over. It was such a great experience and I sure learned a lot. But now it is off to new adventures, new places and new people. I am excited for these last 2 transfers. They will go by quick- but they will be wonderful!

I love you all. Thank you for all that you do! I sure can feel your prayers.

Have a wonderful week! And I will hear form all of you next week with new everything!

Love, Herman Aase