January 6, 2014

New Year 

[This is Bethany's new little neice, Mia Helene Lassen, born New Year's Day, 2014!
I sent Bethany this picture today]

Dear Family,

First of all Mia is Beautiful! I love her already! It was so hard to do! (wink, wink!) What an exciting way to start the new year -- congrats!

So my week wasn't as exciting as having a new baby, but it was still a good one. It is all kind of blurred together in one big mesh of a day. This week was exciting because we were able to see a few less active members and we will hopefully start to teach them weekly. One of them we met at the Christmas party. She came with her sister. Then we were able to get her updated address and stop by. It was such a miracle. Members are so important to missionary work. We would not have been able to do anything if it weren't for the help of the members! 

Just so you know my New Year's went like any other day really. But we did get a pizza for dinner and got to reflect on the goals we want to make for this year. It was really weird to make goals for the up coming year because I am not going to be a missionary for all of next year :( WHAT WHAT?!

The most exciting thing that is going down in Augusta ME is our Preach My Gospel (PMG) class that we are teaching on Sundays. It is really exciting to teach, practice, and help the members. Some are more excited than others, but we just keep loving them whether they like it or not! Sometimes my companion and I just want to tell them that we are just trying to help them you know...FOLLOW THE PROPHET... but that probably wouldn't be the best idea. 

The more and more I am a missionary the more and more I love Fathers perfect placement and timing. For example, on Friday the roads were very slick and our car was having a hard time getting up all the hills here. We were on our way to a dinner appointment and we had to get up a hill to get to the house. We tried and the car slowly stopped and would not go any farther. I don't know why I was so calm (probably because I was praying that we would make it there safely) but the thought came to me (the spirit)  to turn around and have the GPS reroute us a different way, one with hopefully no hills. As we follow the GPS we come to once again another hill. We try to go up and I see two people walking in the distance. In my mind I think, "Great, I am going to look like an idiot to these people" The car tries to go up and no luck -- it comes to a stop. Sister Wray gets out of the car to back the car up and lo and behold the two people walking were the ELDERS in our ward! We laugh and the elders helped us get the car up with no problem by telling me to put it into 2 gear. Don't make fun that I didn't know that -- I'm from CA!  I keep saying it but, Heavenly Father must love me or something.

Last story. So I keep having these little sparks of insights and then later on I tell them to someone and it is exactly what they need to hear. It is so cool! I really feel like everything I say is not of my knowledge or wisdom. We were teaching this one family and they haven't been members for a very long time. They are having struggles, as everyone does. As we were teaching them the spirit directed me testify of the Book of Mormon and have him study on his own the question of the soul in PMG. It really was what he needed to hear and gave him the tools that he needed to receive revelation for himself. 

I love you all! 

Sista Lassen