"YOU WILL PROBABLY HAVE CHIGGERS" UHH

I am currently writing from the bus! Buses are my second favorite mode of transit so this is fun for me. We are headed to Dallas to go ice skating with our sister training leaders

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context for my subject line: we snagged a dinner with the elders up in Wylie 2 days ago with a cool older couple! We were waiting for the food to finish cooking so we asked the sister if we could see her garden. It was sweet!!! A fig tree, a huge patch of sweet potatoes, watermelon, and loads of peppers. She loaded us up with armfuls of peppers (mm SCORE) and we headed inside. As we were heading to go sit down she just casually mentioned: "oh, and you will probably have chiggers"

I just smiled politely and laughed slightly because I had no idea what that meant. I looked at my companion with a slightly scared look on my face and she just calmly said "chiggers are tiny microscopic bugs that hide in tall grass and burrow into your legs, suck your blood, and lay eggs under your skin"

Hahaha lol what? Come again?

So she told us to go wash our legs in the bathroom so we sprinted in there and lathered up our calves with some suave green apple shampoo (does anyone's grandma NOT have this shampoo?) And scrubbed for several minutes. It was a funny moment.

The dinner ended up being really cool though. The sister we were talking to knows a lot about advanced massage therapy techniques, spiritual-muscular connectivity, and family history. Made for some super engaging dinner conversation!!

FOOD

- One of the best things about my ward is the snaxxxx. I am a hungry hungry girl and love them. I get so hungry at church especially and it was so funny because we sat by Hermana Reyes (the funniest and sassiest mexican woman you will ever meet) and she just handed me 2 granola bars and then the rest of the sacrament meeting she was just slamming multiple granola bars super discretely the entire time. I was also given an unlabeled, slightly sketchy looking baggie of mexican coated peanuts that were actually GOOD, and a freaky peep-like sugar skull that was not good. It's always a mixed bag and super fun. Last week Hermana Reyes just brought us a HUGE tupperware of cut up ham, apples, and cheese, all together like a salad. super funny and just so random that she would present that to us in the middle of church. so funny also very kind.

- we discovered a cute little square in downtown Garland. We studied and ate lunch there one day and I ate probably the best salad I have ever had. It was buffalo chicken and had a homemade italian dressing and was sooooo yummy. I talked to them after and asked if I could get the recipie, they said no.

- we ate white people food at dinner once and it was healthy but also weird because we are used to just so much fried yummy stuff. I am grateful to be in a Spanish area

QUOTES

- "you will probably have chiggers"

- we started talking to this guy on the street the other day. Here is approximately what went down:

us: "hello can we share a message with you about our church?"

him: "I AM THE CHURCH."

us: "oh cool, hey so we have a book, called the Book of Mormon. It contains--"him: "I AM A WALKING BOOK. I studied philosophy. That's a lot. a LOT. Trust me."

us: ...

him: *walking away slowly, backwards* "stay beautiful ladies. stay beautiful. On the inside. Mentally."

- many other funny things that I can't remember currently

PERSONAL

Im starting to understand a theme of the gospel/life/missionarywork:Learning how to be comfortable in uncomfortable situations

- I'm starting to love awkward silences more and more

- I realized how much comfort reading the Book of Mormon brings me. Yesterday I was feeling really unsettled, easily annoyed, a bit homesick, etc. I finally had a sec to read a little of el Libro de Mormon after church and I felt a little dose of comfort and something that felt a lot like home. It was sweet.

- A sweet district training by Elder Richanrds and Elder Salmon. They were talking about Charity, or the Pure Love that comes from Jesus Christ. We can feel this love for everyone, even people we don't naturally like or get along with, if we live righteously and pray for charity. I like this idea, but I have always wanted to know how to tell if you *have* charity? They said that, in those moments when your heart is softened, when your heart feels full and you are just beaming with love for other people, Jesus Christ is changing your heart. and helping you have more charity. I thought that was so cool!!! and made me happy because there are many moments on my mission when my heart feels very full.

A CHALLENGE

this new and improved portion of my email is inspired by my cool friend/ex roommate Hannah Hayden over in Taiwan!!! shutout to that cool chick!!!

my challenge is to be more aware of your coping mechanisms. The next time you feel sad/bored/lonely, try doing something besides looking at your phone. Take 10 deep breaths, read a verse of the Book of Mormon (there is a free app called "The Book of Mormon" if you are interested!), think about what you're grateful for.

This has been something I have been forced to learn while on my mission because I basically never have a reason to look on my phone (no sim card, no wifi, no apps). It's something that has helped me be a lot happier and more present and I want to make sure I continue doing once I return to the real world :))))

I love you homies! Write me!

2854 belt line road apartment 293T Garland, Texas 75044

xoxo

hermanita rasmussen

fotos: (this week wasn't crazy eventful, so mostly selfies)

1. we went to an old navy. it's overpriced and makes me feel weird because I always expect it to be really cheap. so we took a fun photo

2. self timer in from of the testigo chapel

3. this was the bomb buffalo chicken salad!! if you ever find urself in downtown Garland, go to main street deli & purchase this little number!!

4. this is my cute companion in a cute tunnel of trees!!

5. a typical scene from la vida misional. me, in a braums, eating carrots from Frozen (tm) ziploc baggies:D