THE FLEAS ARE JOINING US

Ya know...the truth is at times when your a missionary you really wish you could have some alone time...NOPE! sorry. wrong number. but then you just gotta remind yourself that it isn't about you and your on someone else s time and this is exactly what you signed up for. And then sometimes as a missionary when you work and work and work and it feels like you will NEVER see the fruits of your labor, its kinda discouraging not gonna lie, but then...you keep on keeping on and you have a moment like I had this week with a old less active lady named felicitas whome always visit, shes coming to church now but she is NUTS, like coo coo crazy, I really don't know how she got baptized but I love visiting her and listening to her go off about hell opening up and 6 worlds and our skeletons going from dust back to skeleton and crazy stuff like ha ha but this week we were visiting her and she kissed us on our heads and said how we were like her daughters that she never had and then started crying because her 2 adult sons treat really terrible and the thought just flooded into my mind you know even if we don't have a lot of success here It doesn't matter cause were here doing what Jesus would be doing if he could be here and that's truly all that matters. Sometimes missionary success cant be seen in the numbers I've learned. 

well today are changes and my comp is headed off to my quillabamaba... #jealous. i might just hide in her suitcase when shes not looking. my new comp is another gringa. im sure my pensionista will love having 2 gringas still living in her house. i love my pensionista so much! shes so spunky and funny and caring. she spoils her 2 dogs and cat like nuts, it reminds me of mom so much with Mia (that brat ja ja ja)

 shes a seamstress and the other day just randomly she made a jacket for her dog cause it was shedding hair ha ha the funniest part is the dog lets her do anything to it! And her cat while we are eating comes and climbs on her back and puts its face on her shoulder ha ha ha I love it! its so weird!. 

So funny story....we have fleas.... I have bites all over me...ha ha its actually pretty terrible and i wake up in the middle of the night itching like a dog but chaaaknow #mishlyfe4evaaaaa 

don't worry mom fleas don't kill, but satan sure does. ill choose fleas over satan any day. 

Its funny at first I had bites on my stomach and my back and my pensionista is like its intoxication you ate something bad, want a pill? NOPE pills aren't the solution for everything people! so i just put up with it then i was on my bed and was looking at my pillow... "hop hop" #flea

 Hermana Hoskins and I were just sat looking at it for like 5 seconds like NOOOOOoooo(said in slow motion) then we snapped out of it and i killed it. then we took our sheets outside cause the sun makes them hop out? and our laundry lady who is a member and lives right next to us she said the sister missionaries have always had fleas in their sheets  this is the first time anyone has  complained... O_O and my question is HOW?!?  I think im going to develop schizophrenia if we don't kill them soon which we are I think Hermana Juana(our pensionista) has a plan. 

I love this gospel more and more everyday, i think the more i understand the gospel and its importance and the  PERFECT plan from a PERFECT father in heaven  i get more and more frustrated that these people don't know what they are missing and i just want to put them on on leashes and drag them to the church. having people come to church especially here in ollanta is a reeeeeally big challenge because its 30 minutes away and they have to pay. but only if they knew that its their salvation!!  I pray everyday that my imperfections and inadequacies as a missionary and in this language isn't preventing anyone we teach from really accepting and understanding the gospel. but heavenly father is just and everyone will get the chance to hear the gospel and accept it. 

Love and miss you all so so soooooo much and feel your prayers everyday. sometimes i wake up and its like... can i really do this? but then i feel the push and energies that definitely aren't mine and i know angels are by my side. 

big flea filled squeeeeeze, kiss kiss 

hermana Rasmussen

STAY IN THE BOAT

I FOUND A REALLY CUTE DOOR

 Last week of this change! so crazyyy. 

So this week was conference weekend for me, i was SO stoked. especially to hear it in the home language. All us gringos watched in together in a classroom, Saturday sessions were the bomb dot commmm. every talk was just like spiritual gold, then  sunday the same. So awesome, those men and women have the spirit SO STRONG! so true...the gospel is SO TRUE. why cant everyone just feel it!! a.-satan

This week was a BIT nuts, kinda tired but all is good. I forgot to tell you last week how my comp started having symptoms of a heart attack....so we called the Hermana leaders and they told us to go to the hospital here in ollanta and to call them as soon as we found anything out. soooo we don't have a cell phone so I carried our big clunky like big office phone with me in my hands to the hospital ha ha but guess what? ya the doctors were on strike...WHAT! I was a bit annoyed and stressed and on top of that calling the Hermanas back was a bit complicated because outside everyone was screaming about the elections and so I had to run from store to store trying to hear our calls and the funny thing is that only speaker phone works on our phone.. so here I am running from store to store talking on speaker phone with this big ol machine in my hand...ha ha it was quite the sight, long story short in a matter of 10 minutes we were on our way to Cusco and went to the doctor...shes fine, it was a muscle thing? we stayed the night in Cusco and were zombies when we got back. my constant cold that  I've had since day 1 here got a bit worse,, its safe to say i was a bit stressed but all is well in Zion. 

                   PELIGROSAS

Then this week the Hermana leaders came to do intercambios, its always a good time when they come around, lots of laughs. They made fun of my hands a lot ha ha we were laughing so hard cause I have hands like ET and I would make sounds like ET and it was just super creepy and funny ha ha..they are so big and lanky.. girl can't help it. my future husband is pretty dang lucky ha ha. I worked with Hermana Valverde, she's super cute and we had a good time. But then we told them how

Hermana Hoskins still felt the pains in her chest sooo othen next morning we were back on our way to Cusco... long story short...we were with the sister leaders of San Geronimo and one of them is the other sister Rasmussen!! so that was fun, we got to talk about our crazy Peruvian mothers ha ha and how our childhood lives are wayyy similar  so i worked in San Geronimo for a day with her comp Hermana Chipanavi who is the best, while Hermana Rasmussen went to the doctor with my comp. and we didn't know we were going to have to but we stayed the night in Cusco and had Nothing to be able to spend the night so they were sweet and gave us pj's and what not. well my comp is fine... still a muscle thing. ha ha we went back home and it was zombies take 2.  

words speak for itself

BUT come what may...gotta love it! 

my nose is running a marathon... you know when your a sister missionary when...you steel toilet paper and napkins from anybody and everybody. 

love you all, hope your lives are amazing and you are happy because life is SO HARD ha ha but not impossible. stay in the boat! and remember who's the captain and who's at the helm.

BIG snuggle and creepy ET hand reach

Hermana Rasmussen 

Did you tell them they were the Lord's chips?

This week...has been a biiiiiit long and sttressful, lots and lots of walking, lots and lots of contacting. not gonna lie contacting is nawwt my favorite thing to do, its always a bit awkward and I feel I lack Spanish people skills but sometimes when you live in a place like ollanta and are basically starting from ground zero0 its a bit necessary, but we know as long as we are putting our part the Lord won't let us down and fail...but he will let you step in a big  pile of chicken poop...like I did two days ago #mishlyfe

No we weren't able to watch conference because of elections here in Peru but its nice to hear how fantastic it was... I'm excited. I feel like the spirit is like- lets get ready to rumbleeee!!!!! (haha dad...) but I'm excited to invite the whole lil town of Ollyanta to watch THE prophet of the Lord talk to US wow....I don't think people understand how crazy cool beans that is!!. maybe I'll even invite our hipppie neighbors that play guitar all day and sell bracelets...

last monday we went to cusco for p day and we went to eat lunch a real plaza with a HUGE mall, and I walk in and I started freaking out cause it felt like I was in fashion place!! ·#civilization. it was so nuts. I ate papajohns cause I was craving some good old greasy amuurican pizza. and then I ate a brownie milkshake...heaven really is on earth sometimes. 

I have really been realizing how truley by small and simple things are great things brought to pass. both good and bad. people dont understand how easy it is to steer off of the straight and narrow when you stop doing those small and suuuper simple things. like praying and reading the scriptures! just do it and no life isn't perfect but you get SO much more power against satan who is CONSTANLY trying to get us to trip into his traps! just do the small and simple things and watch the miricles pour into your lives! 

joke of the week

what do you call it when batman ditches church...

a Christian Bail! 

hahaha love it

love you all with all my heart! which is accumulating lots grease with all the oil they use to cook here haha

kiss kiss 

Hermana Rasmussen

Soooo....The man cancelled church

P- DAY

                  Me and a cow

so Ollanta is like... the Peruvian version of Disney land..and we`re trying to teach the workers the gospel...while they are working... its kind like that haha so its a  bit tough but not totally impossible. There's about 15 members in total here I think? Lets just say we got our work cut out for us. president said it was the hardest area in the mission...can I hear a woot woot!

                        P-DAY

we had a multizone conference, and of course it was awesome, every time president talks its likes words of gold are just pouring out of his mouth and the spirit is so strong! He's so awesome. oh and guess who I ran into....Hermana Rasmussen!!!

yep it was all kind of surreal,after hearing and knowing of her existence for so long I was starting to think she didn't exist but lo and behold she exists! 

                 Hermana Rasmussen and                      Hermana Rasmussen  

my new comp is...Hermana Hoskins! from Springfield Utah and she sings opera like suuper amazinggg,so its really fun to sing together. Ya its way different having a gringa comp but I think its helped me step up my Spanish, and through the grace of a loving Father in Heaven I have a lot more confidence in my Spanish and understanding my Incan peeps

Our ward- first sunday playing piano.. so I'm playing and the page starts to turn and I cant see the notes so I start  turning my head really awkward to read the music then Hermana Essig came up and held the page for me then she tried to turn up the volume(electric piano) and accidentally pressed to organ button haha and then I drop the hymn book on the piano...Hola me llamo hermana Rasmussen haha...there was no need to introduce myself. 

my comp killed a chicken this week while I held it down... it was all a rather crazy  experience. I was just screaming and freaking out the whole time but Hermana Hoskins was the calm one. A Hermana in our ward she had surgery recently in her stomach and cant do a bunch of stuff and we were visiting her and she was about to kill the chicken and I felt bad and was like hey do you need help?? ... yep we killed it. probably not in the most humane way cause we,re two gringas who don't uuuuusually kill animals, but don't worrry its dead haha we ate it for lunch a couple day after...ha ha ha oh mission life is great.

             
               The Evidence 

The Lord is is merciful and amazing, The other day we did an invasion of a sector in our zone, it's when all the missionaries in a zone invade one sector and we go with members and do visits and contact and all sorts of stuff, so after traveling to Urubamba then to Calca to do the invasion we were traveling back to make it for women's conference then of course the tire blows out of our combie... after flagging down a car to take us to the church we make it just in time for 2 talks one being that of Uchtdorff lo maximo, when  Hermnana Hoskins and I needed to leave early because traveling to Ollanta from Urubamaba we have to catch a combie and so we leave and are SO dead from traveling all day and it's really late to find a car to take us to Ollanta and were wating in the street outside of the gas station and we pray....and of course BAM 3 seconds later here comes a combie, and boom we got a ride. the lord loves us and is so aware of us  even when it's not a obvious. 

So sad story theres no church this week in Peru...in ALL PERUU! because of elections which not going to lie(which would be an abomination) have been a bit annoying here with people in trucks raiding the streets honking horns and waving flags and yelling...its like do you really think the more you yell in my face im going to want to vote for you?? i don't understand it. so ya The Man Canceled church! so its just going to be just like any other day. 

I love this gospel and I love the scriptures!! I think everyday during personal study that I can't wait for the day when I will be able to just sit in my room (on the carpet...I miss carpet SO MUCH) and read the scriptures and liahonas for hours and hours on end....I'm so weird but its da best. 

love you all soooooo much it makes my heart feel like the grinch's heart when its grows 3 sizes.

muahhhh 

Hermana Rasmussen 

Me being sad because it was SO COLD and I looked like a 5 year old

Is this water sanitary? It looks questionable to me!!

HOLA. wow. SO much change in the last week. change of house comp food climate clothes EVERYTHING. 

So lasts days in quilla...

I wasn't able to leave the day of changes because of the strike which was actually nice because it left time to be able to say bye to people and pack. Lots of bitter sweet goodbyes, my time in quilla was a dream. better said, it was the best of times it was the worst of times. but I learned so much and am so grateful for those experiences and people because I'm changing for the better because of them even though I would never choose to go through some over again, I know it was what Heavenly Father had planned for me.

So because of the strike I had to be ready at any moment just in case there was a pass in the road, so i never got my classic quillabama polleria goodbye dinner but I got chicken for lunch just for me my pensionista bought cake cause the joke was how much I loved cake cause I would always mention it if she asked what we wanted for dinner. so i finally got my cake! but I left at like 4 from Quillabama, saying bye was sweet, especially to Poli, she cried but I know the ward and the hermanas are going to take care of her. 

            Poli and her family

Of course it was sweltering hot when I left Quillabamba, I usually never sweat but that day I was sweating, and the mosquitos where attacking my legs again, 13 new bites I would say it was quite terrible but I think it was a sign it was my time to leave haha, I cried saying bye to my pensionista and her daughter Brissa and my comp, they have been my family for the last 6 months and I saw them everyday but like what peewee herman says..gotta move on. 

 One more cookie with sister Luque

                 

   

    Last lunch with my pensionista

    Bye Quilla... going in a torito

so we left quilla at like 4 and I arrived in urubamaba at like 9 and I had to sleep with the sisters in urubamaba before I ould meet my comp in ollantaytambo and who was there to meet me? hermana Essig!!!! I basically jumped into her arms and screamed i was so happy to see her.

               Hermana Essig

So I slept with her and her comp that night and in the morning I met my comp hermana howskins and we arrived at ollantaytambo which is like 40 minutes from urubamba. but can I just 

say ITS UNREAL

                My new comp

Ollantaytabmo is like a unreal happy little tourist village enveloped in history. its beautiful and SO cute walking the streets I keep saying how cute it is. We live above the store of my pensionista and the view from my window is also unreal, I mean I can see all the ruines! ruines from my window...who could have guessed. I remember when we went as a family and Scott said that the missionaries lived in ollaytaytambo and the foundation of their house was like the real Incan rock...little did I know that that would be ME! I walk the streets and I'm like "do I really live here?" 

                   I live upstairs

You know you left Quillabmaba and live in Ollantaytambo when...

You are using clothes for the cold you have never used your whole mission and boots you have never used 

you look like Rudolf and your nose is red all the time. 

you sleep with a scarf, a thermal shirt and a sweatshirt, thermal tights, sweatpants, 2 pairs of socks 4 blankets 2 of which are about 1 inch thick

You wake up and do exercises to get warm, you do squats and do ninja kicks before after and in between studies just to get your blood moving and jump around and do exercises throughout the day to raise your internal temperature 

You look up at the mountain and there are gorgeous ruins everywhere 

church is 30 minutes away 

Hippies and gringo old couples in full columbia hiking gear is NOT uncommon.

the bathroom in downstairs from your room and outside sooo when you wake up in the middle of the night having to go the bathroom (almost always..TMI?) its like a death sentence. especially because it entails walking past your super creaky wooden floor, down the stairs, through the store, through the kitchen, and opening the door to outside that you 'can't ever get open and the dog barking... ya its an adventure. 

Although this is NOT my climate and I am the BIGGEST baby you will ever meet when it comes to the cold,  I am very happy to be here and serve the people, this area is a little hard cause its all touristy so nobody really lives here in ollanta but we are going to be working hard and put in all in the hands of the lord.

love you all

big warm brother bear hug

Hermana Rasmussen

not ooash ascar!! (Madagascar)

AHHHH CHANGES!!!!!.........

I'm going to URUBAMBA babby!!!!!!

Zona Valle Sagrado, distrito Urubamba, sector Ollantaytambo and my new companion will be hermana Hoskins! (gringa with one less change then me)(scary)

ahhh don't cry for me quillabmabaaaaa!

 I knew my time was ticking here in the jungle, but I'm not going too far away.

Did I mention that Quillabama is in a strike and we really haven't been able to work much cause these people have turned a little loco crazy. They put abandoned cars in the middle of the street and throw rocks at the torritos. It's funny during studies if we hear noise outside all of us run like locas to the windows to see whats up. Nobody is working really and there's not vegetables to buy aaaaand....a few people have died. BUT don't worry mom I'm perfectly safe where I am. The problem is they are blocking all transportation so I might just stay here for a while before I can actually leave to my new area. 

Did I ever mention we teach seminary too? we switch off with the other sisters every other day. 

what I have learned...I don't want to be a seminary teacher.

ha ha and I have grown in respect for my seminary teachers old. Raquel I don't know  how you kept your cool..or did you? ha ha well its all cool when they are actually engaged in the scriptures but more often then not like this last time the conversation ended in  zombies and the walking dead. 

highlight of the week POLI got BAPTIZED. whoot whoot! It was so awesome

You know you're at a Peruvian baptism when...

1. You tell everyone the baptism is at 5:30 so everyone will get there at 6, but it ends up starting at 7.30(Peruvian standard time)

2. The person getting baptized is late because she can't leave her store cause there's crazy protesters outside. 

3. While singing the special musical number you look down and there's a fat little dog waddling around your feet.

4.The hermano baptizing her doesn't fit into his jumper , so he put on the pant part(which was tight jajaja) and rolled up the top part around his waist and put on a white shirt. 

Before the baptism she kept saying how she was never going to forget this day because it's like the first day of her new life I couldn't stop smiling just thinking about how awesome is power of conversion and the light that the gospel brings into the lives of these people. My favorite part was when she bore her testimony and said how happy she was that before she didn't have her mom or dad or a lot of family but now she has a big loving family in the church. 

Lots of all

Hermana Rasmussen

Sister Tango and I working on backpacks

I'm roasting like a toasted cheezer!!!

                              Sister Tamariz (sister leader)

Did I ever mention that somehow I became the teacher for music time in the primary? its kinda funny, I just have to teach them the knew primary song for the year. Sometimes they listen and sound like they are actually learning the song and I feel super proud, then I'm like ok one more time!! and they don't know the words and just scream the chorus ha ha ya...I'm not ready to have kids is what I've learned from all this. 

                      
  
            Poli and her family


Poli had her interview and shes getting baptized Friday!!! she was super nervous for the interview, and kind of was too when we were going through the questions with her and she said repentance was listening to the word of god but we got it all cleared up ha ha. so Friday is going to be lo maximo! with my three favorite things #baptism #holyghost #CAKE 

so changes are next week... I've been here for 6 months...my expiration date is coming and the milk is getting sour. I really don't want to leave but my hernana leader hermana Tamariz said she received revelation that I'm going to sicuani. I got the same feeling that I'm going too. #NOOOO any climate colder then quilla is too cold for me. here my nickname is flaca and make fun of me when its windy and say that I'm going to blow away. I'm also cho latinga. half latina half gringa. half chola i say that and they laugh.

I'm not going to lie, this life is hard, satan is real, and we are at war! but we got the POWER! we got the scriptures, we got examples of people like Mormon and nephi, when everyone around then were falling they just put their trust in the lord and never wavered. I pray that I can find that strength and we all can find that strength in the Lord and be profitable servants in this gran work.

love you all way too much. enjoy every day cause its a gift! and someone go eat some Cafe rio pork salad for me. 

fin....noggin....dood. 

Hermana Rasmussen

IF I GAVE PUDGE FISH IT WOULD BE AN ABOMINATION!!‏

The biggest banana I have ever seen in my life

             Going to the tinajas

These past 2 weeks we've been visiting with a less active lady and shes pregnant with twins! boy and a girl but she was suffering from some serious baby blues like seriousssss. we started teaching her husband and have really felt the spirit with them and yesterday she gave birth! we went and visited her and she was still drugged up but the dad seemed on cloud nine. we saw the babies in the incubator together and they were so precious!! we almost died. so pure and straight from Heavenly Fathers presence. hopefully we get her active again and get him swimming soon jaja

Haha yesterday at church theres a cute super old grandma Hermana Gregoria who always comes with her braids and walking stick and speaking Quechua and wet grandma kisses. Yesterday when she was leaving I kissed her bye and then she started to try and tickle me!!! haha I started laughing so hard... sighhhh I love these people. I'm going to cry like a baby when I leave Quillabama.

Mom, I like aji de gallina, and rocoto relleno it's yummy. my pensionista makes stuff you make. like arroz con pollo verde and lentils, and sometimes she also makes yuca frita. Love it!! 

In our apartment we have visitors through the windows every once in a while and by visitors I mean humongous bees that look like they came from the nuclear plant. It's getting hotter which means more bugs... yesterday we were standing outside of the church and I think I was tired and had a bad attitude and then a million mosquitos attacked my legs and I started going loco crazy like what happens to the alien on Lilo and stitch in Hawaii hahaha and my legs felt like they were on fire haha but after I calmed down and itch sort of  went away. I'll take it as a sign to watch my attitude or I'll leave here without legs and elefantitis. 

One of my favorite parts about being a missionary is the chance I have to bear my testimony. Because even if im not a good teacher or have this language down, I can say what I know is true and I feel my testimony grow every time I do. 

I know the savior loves me and we have the truth!!

Trust the lord and like its said in Meet

The Robinsons-

keep moving forward! 

big abuelita Gregoria kiss and tickle

Hermana Rasmussen

                   

        Sister Luque and I in one of the tinajas

BE OF GOOD CHEER

What up peeps!!!

 Para paraaaa paradiseeee. Quillabamba is so pretty, its like Hawaii but with out the beach and more drunk people. 

I was thinking the other day... I'm in Quillabama, the jungle, fruit is so plentiful and I LOVE fruit...fool why am I not taking advantage and eat a load of fruit for breakfast!!! so I went to the market with my pensionista and she bought fruit for me of all types cause they rip me off when I buy alone. after trying a bunch of fruit bananas and mangos still reign my favorites.

 Hermana Luque!!!

Pobre Gatito

Buying flowers for a wedding

Arcos de Agua

Well I haven't had a comp allllll week long. This is how it went down, So my comp has had a lot of health issues that she hasn't been able to figure out so after a couple of calls and tears they said that me and her were going to viajar a Cusco so she could have a interview with president then an hour later the zls call and say we have 15 minutes to pack our stuff and be in the terminal cause my comp needed to go to Lima and do her papers, so after frantically packing which was the worst cause usually it takes me 5 years to pack to go anywhere, we were at the terminal with all our stuff and all I could think was I'm going to throw up cause I  didn't have any more motion sickness pills, but wait for it....the Zls come and are like oh no only hermana Luque is going to viajar... bahhhghhg, so away went my comp and I had to wait for the hermanas to come and pick me up cause I  couldn't walk home alone obviously, and the hermanas came and I was at my limit so I said lets by ice cream...so we did and I  went back and had to unpack and then repack and alll my stuff . Did I  say all of this occurred before noon?  I was tired. 

We are here to change this

so my comp has an appointment with the doctors in Cusco today so if were lucky she'll come tomorrow but I've been in a trio with hermana Tango and hermana Irvine. Hermana Irvine was sick this week and has had to get injections in the back side if you catch my drinft and she has a fear of needles so ive put it upon myself to try and distract her, I think its working...or at least I hope it is haha poor thing. 

My area is kind of dying with out a comp and being in a trio and hermana Irvine is sick and shouldn't be walking that much...my area is left to shrivel in the Quillabama sun. its kinda stressing me out.

Good laugh: We live next to the evangelico iglesia peruana. and they sing..all the time and LOUD so its like free music all the time I  really don't know how the preacher man has any energy it seems like hes singing all day long. anyways yesterday morning I was looking out my window getting ready and in front of the church in the street was a drunk guy dancing and it was one of the funniest things I've seen, I wanted to throw him a word of wisdom pamphlet and an applaud for being my entertainment for the morning.

Spiritual thought: I was reading and thinking about the story of when the apostles are in the boat with Jesus and there's a terrible storm and they are all freaking out and super scared and Jesus is sleeping and they wake him up and are still freaking out and I was thinking about how sometimes when we are in the storms of life and were freaking out and don't know what to do and feel like our boat it about to go top side and we forget...

we forget that the SAVIOR is in OUR boat! 

The Savior and creator of the world, the power of his atonement, our Loving all mighty Heavenly Father, they are all in our boat and yet we still lack faith, we still get scared, and we still doubt if we are going to be ok. 

I have a testimony that everything will be ok, everything will workout, all our doubts fears, weaknesses, problems, sicknesses, stresses. EVERYTHING is going to work out, through faith in the mercy and love of our savior redeemer and friend Jesus Christ.

He will calm our storms. All he asks is that we look to him in every thought and every deed we do and he will calm our storms. 

Don't forget that Jesus is in the boat. and Heavenly Father is the captain. 

Love You all so much 

hugs and snugs and tickle fights ELF style (i miss christmas i think the david archuleta christmas music is getting to me)

Hermana Rasmussen