Texas Te Amo

CAROLING MADE MY CHRISTMAS es verdad. Okay I will say honestly that sometimes the holidays can get kind of long on a mission. There's definitely effort that needs to be expended to not get distracted by imagining what is going on at home which is not going on in the mission field (SNOW! WASSAIL! SLEDDING! COZY NAPS IN FRONT OF THE FIRE! SNOW! SKIING! BAKING! SHOPPING WITH MOM! WRAPPING PREZZIES! CLIMBING! UGLY SWEATER PARTIES PROBABLY! AND OTHER THEMED PARTIES! ET CETERA! BUT WE DON'T THINK ABOUT THAT HERE NOPE!) haha buuuut I will say that I still enjoyed such a special and sacred Christmas here, and will probably remember it for the rest of my life!! I am grateful for Christmas on the mission, odd though it may appear, because it is so isolated from the presents, creature comforts, etc. that can sometimes crowd out service and, like, well Jesus. We linked up with the groovy Rockwall Hermanas to go caroling at an old folk's home. So tender!! Okay I will say that the fi...

Malachi  4:2 "But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth..." this scripture was sacred to me this week. I am learning more about Jesus Christ than I ever have my entire life. As I allow the Light of Christ to further permeate into my life, my being, my existence, priorities, and perspective naturally align.  I am grateful for a Savior who knows me perfectly. It is Him to whom I turn when I truly know that nobody else can even begin to understand me. When I sometimes don't even understand myself. He knows the end from the beginning, and in Him I can find refuge within my self. I am so glad. How precious is this knowledge to me..!  I have seen, time and time again, that Christ wants nothing more than to comfort, to heal, to save, and to exalt us. I focused on turning with all my heart towards all the sources of goodness in my life, and they bloomed before my eyes. After a rocky week I fina...

Hi my dear friends!!! I deeply hope this letter finds each of you happy, healthy, cozy, and brim with Christmas cheer!! It has been a tougher week for this particular Hermana Rasmussen for certain. Some emotional lows kinda out of nowhere, that is no fun!  But nonetheless we had some miracles amid the chaos. Met some groovy members here Rowlett, ate homemade flour tortillas (MEGASCORE), and learned a lot about myself.  I am grateful that Heavenly Father doesn't expect us to be doing or feeling our best 100% of the time. Even though, yes, it would be top notch to be feeling and doing fantastic all of the time, we do not! These trials can rock us to the very core. A lot of times, like often in my case, the trials we experience make zero sense and can hit right out of the blue. But I can absolutely say for certain that God will deliver us and sometimes we have to struggle to the point of knowing of a surety that is was GOD who delivered us-- because it is to the p...

holaaaa mis amores!!!!!! Luis-- reflecting on our obstacles /testimonies We were waiting for someone to answer the door (basic) and this friend marched up and we immediately started having such a meaningful conversation about overcoming addiction, the power of the word of God, and how each of us have to go through certain things in order to recieve a testimony. he acknowledged that he really needed to talk to someone in that moment, and confessed that, after 4 years of being completely sober, was about to drink for the first time. When he saw us he renewed his desire to stay strong and sober- so cool!! moments like these build my testimony and have really helped me see that God places us where we need to be. It is by far one of the greatest pleasures of missionary work to witness tiny miracles in the world and realize you played a (albeit tiny) role!! blessings rain.  (h)exchanges/hawks/hermana holbrook Hermana Holbrook is a good friend!! I like her! We had a good exch...

a funny thing that happened to us while we were tracting that really did not phase me but in hindsight I logically re evaluated the encounter and realized it was actually hilarious: so we knock on this door.  We see through the unveiled window a huge sheet covering a doorway inside this home. All we then see is a completely shirtless man wearing very short jorts peek through the sheet, then stride confidently to the door. He opened, we introduced ourselves, all he said was "I have something to show you. come with me." we readily explained that sir, we cannot come inside your house because that is a rule, sorry, but could he show us out here? "I'll go get it" he said  He returns with a confident stride, with a headlamp (?) strapped to his forehead (turned on), and carrying a HUGE, hard-cover, full-color bible, open to a very specific page.  He then proceeded to show us some actually really beautiful copies of renaissance paintings within the Bible! I...

HELLOOOO I officially have a fleco aka STRAIGHT ACROSS BANGS and I love them!!! Basically this is a dream I have had for approximately several years but the homie who always cut my hair artistically disagreed with straight across bangs. Here I am, liberated by the independence of mission life over here in my happy place of Garland, TX, and I impulsively let my fav hermanita chop my hair!! I am happy :-) anyway we had a lot of other fun things happen this week apart from myself getting the bangs of her dreams! hehe earth shattering zone conference i would be happy to explain more if you would like, shoot me an email. I will be brief by saying: I learned how to construct my very own memory palace, realized who I truly am, now understand the concept and principle of obedience much more deeply, and can see missionarywork in a much more wholistic and universal perspective. Thank you Elder Klebingat for helping me escape the suffocating miopic!! admiring: Christ's c...

hermana reyes was explaining how when she would go out with the missionaries every day in el DF she would trudge out in the mud in high heels and would just yell "ANTES MUERTA QUE SENCILLA" (these happen to be song lyrics) which means I would rather die than look simple. i love that hermana.  hii 'tis I!  we had a really fun week!  ¡la grua nos llevó el carro! :,( who is ready for overly detailed story time from Hermana Ras? Hermana Mera and I were heading over to the home of La Familia Orrosco because the hermana "nos iba a cocinar algo SABROSO". We even were very extra in parking in visitor's #legal. Sidenote, it also happened to be approximately 20 degrees and we parked on the ~opposite~ side of the complex :'). We entered into the lesson, consumed some amazing enchiladas rojos con chocolate abuelita y galletas marias, and taught them about Jesus Christ. This segment of the evening was excellent! We emerged, crossed the stretch of the...