Saturday, April 9, 2016

Week #83 “Fight All Your Battles On Your Knees”

March 21, 2016

 Hey Mom and Dad! Sorry I don't have much to talk about this week because I was sick all week! Monday night I started feeling crappy then on Tuesday I still wasn't feeling very hot but I had prepared a very nice district meeting so I had to do that and it did turn out great :) After that though we just stayed in the house because the heat was killing me and I had a fever. The only days we ended up working were Thursday, Friday and Sunday for a few hours because I was sick and tired of being in the house so long! I ended up feeling crappy again though while we were working and my fever came back so I was worried I might have dengue or something else. Thankfully it wasn't dengue. I guess just the flu, but I felt awful and it lasted a long time! Once our investigators found out I was sick they offered to bring me food and stuff and Brother Vaughn has been helping me too, as well as the owner of our house who I will miss when I leave she is the kindest lady I've met here. And that's saying something!

On Thursday I got a text from President Aquino telling me I would be transferring on Friday and I was still sick so I called him and asked if i could stay longer until I recover so I'll be here until Wednesday. My new area is Molo in Iloilo so I'm happy Ill be speaking Ilonggo again but I'm going to the hottest place on the island during the hottest time of the year haha I hope I don't die!

My replacement here came on Friday his name is Elder Dapat so we've been a 3 man companionship the last few days which has been fun. That's pretty much whats been going on lately. I'll for sure miss the people in Tangalan just like I miss all my friends I've made in my last 3 areas, but I'm looking forward to meeting new people and working in Iloilo for the first time since my first day here.

Did you think I would forget your birthday Mom? I didn't! Happy birthday to you tomorrow! I can never repay you for all you've done for me. Love you lots and hope you have a great day!

Love Elder Rasmussen

Week #82 “Kindness is Powerful.” Elder Dallin H. Oaks

March 14, 2016

Hey Mom and Dad!

We had a good week and a lot of fun. Preparing people for baptism in the beginning of the week and then on Friday we baptized Bhing and Sassy who were way happy and Sassy was crying during her testimony. They're just really awesome people.

We went on a split in Buruanga on Thursday and that was fun! I interviewed their investigators for baptism and then we got fed a really good dinner by some awesome members in their area. Most everyone is a recent convert but they are way converted and they inspire me! We played some frisbee at the school field in the morning and then went home so we could get our baptism going. I had a lot of fun with KC Villanueva yesterday he came with me and my comp went with another member. Feels great to visit really nice people.

I've been reading a book called "Lord Increase Our Faith" by Neal A. Maxwel. I really love it. I wish now I had taken the time before my mission to read more. I could have been so much better prepared. But better late than never I guess.



Today we went to our church in Tangalan and played basketball with some members. Its starting to get really really hot here with summer coming. March through June are really hot months :) 

Our investigator Bhing showed us her intestine that is coming out of her stomach haha sounds weird and it really is but that was a little interesting fact of our week! She had surgery 2 years ago but doesn't have the money to get it fixed yet so she has a plastic bag that hangs on her stomach where all of her bodily waste goes. She's got a positive attitude about it though, she's an amazing lady :)

Sorry, I'm having a hard time remembering anything else from the week to tell you. Hope you had a great week! Love and miss you all lots!
Elder Rasmussen

 

Week #81 Jesus said “I am the resurrection and the Life…”

March 6, 2016

Hey Mom and Dad - Thanks for sending all the details about your week! 

We had another good week but not as crazy as the week before. Everything was going wrong on Monday we were running around like crazy trying to get everything together for the baptismal interviews and FHE we had that night and of course we didn't have minutes on our phone so we couldn't call anyone but everything worked out and the FHE was fun too.

Tuesday my companion was sick so after our meeting we just went home and he slept while I read "Jesus The Christ" by James Talmage. It has become my most favorite book I've ever read!


The rest of the week we just visited our investigators and made sure everything was good for their baptism on Saturday. The baptism worked out good and I baptized Kiah. Her sister even came who I have never met before. Her other sister is on a mission and she was way happy when I emailed her that we were teaching her sister. 



Yesterday came really fast this week just flew by every Monday just pops out of nowhere. I still feel sometimes though that I have an eternity left before I go home haha but that doesn't mean I'm not still happy to be out here and doing the work!

Sorry this is short - I don't have much to say this week.

Love ELder Rasmussen 

Week #80 “It Is Never Too Late to Be Who You Might Have Been.” George Elliot

February 29, 2016

H Mom and Dad!

We had probably the best teaching week in my mission this last week. Every day we had members working with us and had at least 5 lessons most of the days. Investigators have just been popping out of nowhere lately and they are all great people with a lot of potential! We walked way out into the palayan (rice field) and met these two people a mom and her daughter and they were very kind and we had a nice lesson with them. We also started teaching these 2 ladies named Wela and Gerylyn who are two of the kindest people I've met here in Tangalan. One of them is from Iloilo so I get to speak Ilonggo to her :) 
Our 2 invest who will be baptized on Saturday have been going through some trials.They are way cool though and even work with us sometimes which always makes meeting new people a little easier.

We met another lady named Shane on Friday who is from Iloilo as well and it just makes me so happy to hear the Ilonggo language here in Aklan. I understand most of what she says and she understands me. It's so nice! Nanay Bhing is trucking along in her study of the gospel and she has been introducing us to new people to teach and they also came to church yesterday. These blessings are just piling up right now its been way nice :) But it does take a lot of work and patience making everything fall into place but things will work out good. Tonight we are doing a FHE at the Bhings house with like 15 people and we're cooking food for everyone. I suck at making FHE's fun haha but Elder Dansalan is way good at it so I just leave him to the making it fun part. 

Love and miss you all!
Elder Rasmussen



Week #85 - “Know Ye Not That Ye Are in the Hands of God?” Mormon 5:23

April 4, 2016

Hey Mom and Dad! 

This week was super fast! A ton of different stuff happened so that's probably why. I taught the district meeting on Tuesday and it went well. We were in A/C for the first time in my mission so my back wasn't wet like it usually is. I'm learning more about my companion and he is learning more about me. We are doing good and hopefully our companionship will get better as time goes on. 
We have a few investigators. They all have issues they are working on and we are continuing to help them. We had a cool experience last Friday. I went to DLC (District Leader Conference) which was fun to see all of the missionaries. We came home and as my companion and I planned I feel like we had a disagreement over what we planned but nothing serious. It was kind of awkward as we went out because I was worried about where we would go since we didn't have any appointments. I led and we walked into a neighborhood that I thought looked nice :) we walked straight to a particular house that for whatever reason looked encouraging to me. A guy answered the door and he ended up being really nice and very interested in the restoration and about the church. He even said he was hoping for someone like us to come and help give him direction in his life. After that happened I was convinced we were led by the spirit to his house because it was a big neighborhood and we walked directly to his house not even knowing why. The rest of the day went great. 


On Sunday we went on a split with some members. I took 3 with me and they were fun to work with. Its always a confidence booster to lead the area and do well. We also have two new housemates this week that came in named Elder Dean who is from Utah and brand new in the mission and a Filipino Elder Named Talactac. It feels good to be the old missionary in the house because its the first time I've been around new missionaries since I was the new guy. 



I got some exercise in this morning running at the church and then we went and ate lunch at McDonalds, So that's pretty much it for today. Love and miss you all so much.  Thanks for the pictures of home. Glad to see you are still finding projects to do to keep you busy! Its starting to feel like its been a while since I have seen everything haha I cant wait ;) The excitement to get back on a motorcycle again has been killing me lately! I saw this bike the other day and I about went nuts! 

Thanks for the details about your week and the encouragement! 

Love Elder Rasmussen