WEEK - 13:2 PACHUCA, MEXICO

Hey Elder have you wondered why so many people
are wearing those funny masks . . . . . .

“For I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you to bear you up.” D & C 84:88

What a crazy week! First of all, I AM OKAY! We are wearing our nerdy dentists masks so we don´t get sick. It is actually kind of funny, on Thursday we were walking and I told Elder Sander that more people are wearing a mask than usual! Haha we didn't know until Sunday that this whole thing was going on. Some members gave us these masks, I didnt really want to wear mine, everyone told me I should and I still didn´t want to. I told Elder Sander we have a “spiritual mask” and we don't have to worry if we´re obedient. Then he said “ Elder, if you get this flu, you could get sent home!” “oooh…. Okay. I guess I´ll wear it then.” If you were here in Pachuca you´d laugh, lets put it that way. Here is how we found out about this whole thing…
I think I have told you about Consuelo. She is the “oro” or golden that we were led by the Spirit too! Seriously! We planned byt he spirit to go to that street, and I know that it was to find her. She has four kids, Oscar 14, Joel 12, and Leilani 10. She just got over a divorce, and I´m sure that's tough on her. We taught them almost every day last week, and they are doing awesome! They are keeping their commitments and every time the light of Christ shines brighter in their faces. It is so amazing to SEE the Gospel working in their lives. Anyways, Sunday comes along. We usually go by each of our investigators homes, the new ones anyways, to pick them up. We passed by Consuelos because we wanted to remind her and what not. So we go by at 9 45 and they´re not ready! She told us that she received a text from a “Sandy” saying that church was canceled! We told her no way, that somebody didn't want her to go to church! She said oh okay We´ll be there then! So a Little later we get to church and the bishop is out front with a really serious look on his face. He told us that Church was canceled for the week because of this flu. Haha…oops. Turns out a sister in the Ward texted Consuelo to tell her that it was canceled. Consuelo showed up with two of her kids too! We called the President and he told us to stay in our house yesterday and just rest. This week we can´t do any contacting and that's the next story…

This past week we worked so hard. Heavenly Father blessed us so much with finding people who are ready to hear the gospel. I went on divisiones with my Zone Leader Elder Tanner from Gilbert! Theres four of us from the Gilbert area here, Elder Tanner (Highland, he knows the Packer family) Elder Reed, and Elder Howard. Anyways, Elder Tanner and I were walking down the street Javier Rojo Gomez in the Colonia Santa Julia. We were looking for Calle 2 so we could visit a recent convert, but somehow we walked a Little too far.. like half a mile or so. I thought that was weird, and that for sure I should have seen the street sign. We back tracked a Little and found calle 2, and there walking down the middle of the street were a lady, her mother, and three kids. We introduced ourselves and asked if we could share this message with them. They said YES. So we went to their house and long story short they´ve accepted their baptismal date, 10 of May, and were going to go to Church if it hadn´t been canceled !
We found others to teach too, which is a real blessing because we can´t knock doors this week. We can only teach those who we had before, and last week Heavenly Father blessed us a ton with posible investigators. (sorry this computer is changing my words to Spanish! haha) I have tos ay the past 5 weeks were a Little bit of a trial. We were working hard, knocking doors and everything but not finding anyone who coudld really progress. Then week 5 comes and we finally have investigators progressing, with a baptismal date set! We are Reading the Book of Mormon as a misión in 90 days. I really like in Mosiah 24:15. I learned if I just need to submit cheerfully and with patience to ALL the wil of the Lord, even if that means no baptisms for a whole cycle! I´m so thankful for all the blessings from the Lord, I really feel blessed to be here.

Questions!
1. This is Elder Sanders last cycle, the one that's coming, or his last six weeks. He studied English before and he´s been learning here. He speaks English really well, but we speak in Spanish the rest of the time. When I really can´t understand he helps me out, but we´re going to start speaking English in the house so he can go to BYU.
2. There is a nice Little internet place right by our house, it costs 10 pesos a hour and is the fastest around.
3. Mom its okay to read my letters! Haha, dont worry about it! The numbers: The first is baptisms this week, the second confirmations, and the third is investigators at Church. The others are visits to members who need to be confirmed and what not.
4. Missionary work is awesome. It is harder than I thought for sure! I thought everyone wanted to get baptized! Haha just kidding. We´re working hard and I know that's what missionary WORK is!
5. The missionaries before us didn't leave us much to work with. All the investigators they had all need to get married or divorced and really don't want to do much, so we can´t help them. We basically started from scratch.
6. Haha the natives… some think I speak really good Spanish when I tell them I´ve been here a month, and some just look at me with scrunched faces even when I know I´m speaking understandable Spanish. I think they think to themselves •” Wait this guy is White, he can´t speak Spanish!” (Bro Taylor and I talked about this! haah)
Send more questions, I think I can tell you more that way.

Well I have to go. Don't worry!! We have protection from the Lord. Pretty soon I´ll be sending pictures of a baptismal Font! I love you all, hope you got the pictures okay!

Con Amor,
Elder Rasmussen
Ps- dad, the Church is in colonia Rojo gomez, street Emiliano Zapata and C.N.C. There is no number. Our house address is in the picture. Sorry I couldn't send more pics of the hsoes, if you need mroe i will next week.

ps- mom, good job at not having a break down! I´m praying for ya! We´re safe, really. Tell uncle George sorry I couldn't reply today

ps-i think its okay for everyone to write me, I just cant write an email back to them.

WEEK - 13:1 PACHUCA, MEXICO

For the dad it is comforting to see such great leadership in Pres. & Sister Bulloch. I feel very confident Pres. Bulloch is taking every precaution in safeguarding the missionaries, and am impressed with the spirit of the message below.
The truth is Elders, . . . what worries me the most is the potential outbreak of fear, loss of focus and disobedience among our missionaries, the things that will destroy us spiritually. I want you to know that your greatest protection comes from exact obedience to all of the mission rules and a consistent effort to do the work of the Lord. As is promised in the Missionary Handbook, “Following these rules will help you magnify your calling and will provide you with physical and spiritual protection .” Daily obedience and diligence creates a protective shield around you. You know that there are many great promises of the Lord for those who keep His commandments and serve Him in righteousness.. Now is not the time to fear, to relax, and to make excuses or to be disobedient. You need the physical and spiritual protection of the Lord now more than ever before. You should meet this adversity head on and move forward with greater faith and a determination to accomplish all of your inspired goals. The Mexico City East Mission never gives up! Move forward Elder with trust and with more faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and on to the victory.* *

* *

“Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be afraid: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee” (Deut. 31:6).

“Fear not to do good, my sons, for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap; therefore, if ye sow good ye shall also reap good for your reward. Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail. Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not” (D&C 6:33-34, 36).

With love,

President Bulloch

WEEK - 12 PACHUCA, MEXICO

Haha, that´s our ¨theme¨ in the mission. After every district meeting we put our hands in a circle and do a little chant, here in pachuca its: ¨PACHUCA EN AGUA!¨haha
Preach My Gospel quote of the week:
¨Do you want to be happy? Forget yourself and get lost in this great cause. Lend your efforts to helping people...Stand higher, lift those with feeble knees, hold up the arms of those that hang down. LIVE the gospel of Jesus Christ.¨ Pres. Hinckley

Well Hola familia y todos!

This week was awesome. Oh just an fyi, I print off your letters before and read them and then email. Go ahead and email me ALL YOU WANT and I´ll still have time to reply, promise :)
Question time!
1. Do you sleep on a bed or hammock?
-We live in the City, pretty much. Elder Sander says nobody sleeps in a hammock in the mission. I think a hammock would be more comfortable then my bed! haha, but my awesome pillow makes up for that!
2. Do you have a kitchen, running water, hot water,(irons in water do not count!!!)
-We have a nice apartment. After we cleaned it, its pretty nice. Every morning we light the water heater, like the one at home, and the water is usually too hot. The water is fine, we got the bill for the water for this month. $58 pesos, or 5 dollars, not bad eh? The kitchen is small, but we have a refrigerator, sink, and a pan to cook pancakes in (which I made this morning, and I have to say were pretty good...I dont know if Elder Sander thought so though! haha)
3, How do you wash your clothes?
-There are a ton of lavanderias around. We got permission from Presidente to take our garments and everything to one around the corner. The lady is really nice and washes and folds them for 10 pesos a kilo. So its about 3 dollars each time, but hey at least I´m not washing them on a rock.
4. Do you fix your own meals? What do you eat besides chicken feet?!?
-Haha chicken feet was only once. We eat some really good food! Por ejemplo, the other day we were walking down the street and we see a tent with¨barbacoa¨ on it. So we decide we would see how much and everything, I was picturing a bbq, you know a bbq with steak and hot dogs...nope. The guy pulls out some meat from his cooler and looks at me and says ¨billy goat meat is really expensive here!¨ ...yeah we decided not to try it! Yesterday we had molé, I thought of Uncle Steve. It was awesome! We only eat with members at lunch, that is their big meal, but they always feed us a ton. We eat dinner only if we´re really hungry, there are a bunch of taquerias around, dont worry they´re okay to eat at! Tacos el pastor are the best. I´m sure nobody over in Az will be surprised that I spille molé on my shirt yesterday...ay ay ay.
5. Are you wearing your sunblock? Make sure you protect that beautiful Danish skin!!!!
-Yes I´m wearing it, and I´m still getting a nice tan too, maybe I´ll get my wish and look and sound mexican after two years!?!
6. Have you used your water purifier?
-No not yet, we dont´really need to. We buy a 20L thing of water for 3 bucks every week, I just fill my water bottle up with that. I´m sure I will need to use it sometime though, I´m glad I have it.
7. How are you and Elder Sander getting along?
-Elder Sander is great! He has one more cycle left after this, hopefully he´ll still be here, I don't know how I´d get around without him. He is a hard worker, and I learn a lot from him when we teach. He has some awesome analogies and its kinda funny, when people give him excuses he asks them directly ¨why can´t you come to church? you can do that later can´t you?¨ It´s awesome.

Mom, you even caused a riot here in MEXICO! When I pulled out my mini PMG all the Elders in my district said ¨NO MANCHES!¨and pulled it out of my hands! I wonder what its going to be like when the Spanish one comes. (you did say she was sending one right? I can´t remember)

Nothing big happened this week. The investigators we were working with towards baptism either said they don't´want to, or can´t. You have to be married to get baptized, and a lot of people aren´t. Its hard to get divorced here and a lot of our investigators have to do that first. BUT there were a ton of miracles this week.
Friday night Elder Sander told me about this thing called ¨Referencias Celestiales¨Its where you start with prayer for inspiration, then one of the companions reads out 10 street names while the other writes them down. You both look at the names of the streets, and pick the three or four you feel you should go to the next day (this is during nightly planning). Then you come together and see which ones to go to. We had three same street names, so we decided we´d go to them on Saturday.
Saturday came and we went to Mezquititlan in Parque Poblamiento (I think.) One of the first doors was a lady who was interested but couldn't talk cuz she was moving in. We invited her to church, told her what she should wear, and told her we´d pick her up. She said she wasnt sure but woudl try to be ready. Sunday came and when we went by she was ready to go! We went to Church and after testimony meeting, the stake president introduced himself and talked to her. She asked if she could bear HER testimony, and the President said ¨Adelante(Go for it)¨ Cool eh? We have a cita with her tonight.

Also, we´ve been praying for service, to know who we can help and what not. So we were tocando puertas (knocking doors) when we knocked on the door of an older couple that lives next to a member. We went in after the lady said her husband was sick. We went in to their small home to fnd a man in a bed moaning in pain. This guy has had diabetes for the past three years. I´m guessing it´s slowly impairing him. We gave him a blessing, and asked if we coudl help with anything. The wife said we could help put him in his wheelchair, which we did, and returned later to put him back in his bed. We did it yesterday too, and will continue to do help them this week. Hopefully they will want to hear the message of the restoration sooner or later!

Also on Saturday, we were walking down Puerto Tuxpan and I saw this family and the dad kept looking at us. Elder Sander was talking to some young men from the ward, and I knew we needed to talk to them. I told Elder Sander, Elder, we need to go contact them! So we walked over and the wife and the daughter hurried away but the dad stopped to talk. Turns out he´s been going to another ward in a different part of the city for a year but never been baptized. We took down his ¨datos¨ or address and went back later. He answered and told us to come back later, when we did they were there but wouldn't answer. _I think the wife doesn't want to listen, and that is why, but still pretty cool! My whole point in telling you all this is that the Spirit will direct us if we just open it up for him too.

We are studying the Book of Mormon for 90 days in the mission. We highlight all the principles of conversion, Christlike attibutes, everything the Lord says, and references to Christ and write the total on the bottom of the page. I´m learning so much, We´ve used scriptures from our morning study in our lessons several times! It´s so awesome. I´m learning things to apply as a missionary. It has really strengthened my testimony that the Book of Mormong testifies of Christ, on every page.
Well I want to send some pics so I´m going to send this. I love you all, If you want to know specific things, you could send an email with all the questions and I can print it off before and take time to answer them.

Thank you for all your prayers and support, this is the greatest work in the world and I´m so thankful to be a part of it!

Con Amor,
Élder Rasmussen

Dad- Our Chapel is on C.N.C. and Emiliano Zapata. Our house is on Tatzadho and Tulancingo, the orange one on the corner.

Mom- Have you sent anything in pouch yet? I´m curious to see how long it gets here. No worries about the package. Some CDs would be nice, Elder Sander has a bunch of music and a cd player so we listen to that every day. Anything you´d want to send me woudl be a treat, really! Thanks for being thoughtful. Happy Birthday again, I love you!
Grandma and Grandpa- Thanks for the emails, I really appreciate it!

WEEK - 11 PACHUCA, MEXICO

Hola hola familia!
I have 30 minutes to write you today!
This week was great. We´re working hard to find as many people as we can. The problem we run into, and a lot of other elders here, is that people love to hear the message or anything about Christ. But when we encourage them to read and pray to know for themselves the message that can change their lives- they don´t. Alot of times after a lesson, they will say thank you and tell us they´re catolícos and don´t want to change. So we´re going to take a new approach this week, we´re going to start teaching more short first lessons, so we can reach more people. After conference this weekend, we´re going to get the members involved more, or try at least. We have a plan to go to the members homes for a short visit, and ask them right then to have everyone write down a few names they know. Then ask them to pray about the names, share a scriptures with them, then come back the next day to see who they have. Hopefully it will work!
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=114054482221229652040.0004666afc317de7d9100&ll=20.109417,-98.780351&spn=0.030909,0.038495&z=15">

Dad, you have our area exactly right! It´s a triangle. Our street is Tulancingo. We´ve been working alot in the "Puerto" streets, they´re apartments in Palmar. There are alot of people there that we can contact. Our area is pretty big so we´re going to start going to the other ares of Santa Julia.

Mom, Elder Reed is in my zone, he´s in a different district though. My district leader is also our Zone leader.

Okay you ready for this? Remember in the Church News they had a bunch on the Mexico City East Temple? I remember when Grandpa showed that to me, I looked at the picture of all the missionaries in front of the temple and wondered if my future companion was in it, well he was! Elder Sander is the 4th one in from the left, barely poking his head in the picture. The 7th elder in is my Zone Leader, Elder Camacho. Pretty Crazy huh?


L TO R: Elders Camacho ZL, Trevor, Sander(Comp) , Tanner ZL

Wow, Conferencía was perfecto no? The first session was in Spanish. That was hard! I wanted to know what Pres. Monson was saying, and I caught some of it. But I definetly caught when he talked about México! Everyone in that stake center perked up and whispered and got excited. It was neat to hear that. I felt the spirit so strong in that conference though, so that was good. That was how I had to learn, by the spirit! I really liked when they sang Israel, Israel God Is Calling! It reminded me of our home because Mom always has the hymns on! I don´t know why but that particular hymn has always stuck out to me, and I remember hearing it in our home.

Then the choir sang Consider the Lillies of the Field! I dont know if I told you or not, but in the MTC I sang in the choir once, and that was the song we sang! I´m so glad I was able to sing that one, it has so much meaning especially now that I´m in the field. I know Heavenly Father cares about every one of His children and wants them to find true happinnes in this life.

It was awesome to hear Elder Ballard speak! I felt some type of connection with all of the Elders that participated in conference we heard in the MTC.
I really liked Elder Pearsons talk. I want to thank you Mom, Dad, Grandpa and Grandma for having faith. He said "If we do not give them faith we have given them little" You 4 have definetly given me that and I¨am so grateful for that! Thank you. Dad and Grandpa, I wanted to thank you too. In priesthood Elder Costa quoted Elder Ballard saying that fathers need to "prepare them both spritiaully and temporally to look and act as servants of the Lord". I felt very grateful to have you two as amazing priesthood examples to look up to. Thank you again to all four of you, Pres. Monson told us to thank our parents, and if I have felt anything being out here inthe field its gratefulness for all you have done for me, every lesson and act of love, I have felt really grateful to be raised by such wonderful parents, and have such wonderful grandparents.

I really likied Elder Eyring´s talk in priesthood. Actually alot of these talks helped me specifically as a new, junior companion. Elder Hollands talk was great! When he said his message was to a new missionary feeling homesick the other elders in my zone looked over at me to see if that was me or not! haha!
The last song was awesome. "God Be With You ´Till We Meet Again" I felt the Savior´s warmth, and love knowing He really will watch over my family "till we meet again".
Yup, Conference was great! I learned so much and am going to be a better missionary because of it.

Sorry, I guess my whole email was about conference. I dont know what exactly to tell you about here, Everyday we go to our teaching appointments. We do alot of contacting and I´m getting better at that! Every other Tuesday we get mail, so tomorrow we should get some in our District Meeting. Hmm, what else..Do you have questions for me? Oh! I ate patas de pollo the other day! I knew it would come sooner or later! (chicken feet) It wasn´t as bad as I thought it would be, I just tasted like chicken- go figure!

I love you all, sorry I don´t have time to email each of you, Trent and Maegan and Maddie. We only get an hour to email. This Church is true! I know the Book of Mormon is true. I know the Spirit guides us and the promise is DyC 88 that He will go before our face is real. I have felt the Spirit speaking through me, when my Spanish vocabulary is drained and we´re in the middle of a lesson. How else would I be able to teach about Enduring to the End if the Spirit wasn´t there to help me? Thank you for all you do for me back home, I love and appreciate you all. Adios!
Élder Rasmussen