...bubert...bubert...bubert

Good Morning Friends and Family!

How has everyone’s week been? What is the winter like in other places right now? We have not had snow for weeks! We were supposed to have snow this week, but that did not happen. What did happen though was fog... and lots of it. Sister Bubert and I just kept on saying to each other “and this is the moment when the zombies come out of the woods and we die.” Seriously, folks, it was creepy.

So before I jump into the highlights of my week, I want to introduce you to my new companion Sister Bubert! She is from Bountiful Utah, but she was born in Guatemala. Her dad served as a mission president in the CA Long Beach mission. She is the youngest of six and graduated from beauty school before her mission. We have already become very close and I'm so excited to be spending at least another 6 weeks with her. 

Monday; was super crazy with lots of packing and saying goodbye to families. Did I tell you that everyone loves Sister Soelberg because boy oh boy everyone loves Sister Soelberg.

Tuesday; felt like an eternity haha. We woke up super early for transfers and I sent my little chickadee off to Emett to probably “die” (missionary term for your last area before the end of your mission, not actually dying). Then Sister Bubert and I had our first P-day together. Here are some highlights that the day included; going to taco time for the first time, getting very lost and possibly going outside the mission boundaries (shhhhh), being the only sisters that show up to P-day activity #awkward, Sister Bubert basically breaking her thumb #welcometoNampa, taking Sister Bubert to the ER, coming home and having an in-depth conversation with Bro Whitmyer about everything and nothing at the same time (man do I love that guy). Just in case you are wondering Sister Bubert is totally fine. She has a really cool splint wrap now and we've been trying to use it as a door approach...it's pretty awesome.

Wednesday; For those of you who do not know this already--birds are of the devil. Today while we were tracting, a huge swarm of them tried to attack us. I thought I was going to die. 

Thursday; Thursday was a blah day. They happen every once in a while. We tried meeting with people, but they kept on canceling on us. We tried to stay positive though. Sister Bubert and I have very similar senses of humor and we make each other laugh a lot.  

Friday; We got to meet the new district today. We got a lot of new people. I have a feeling that this is going to be a very good district. 

Saturday; Today we went to the Public Library for studies. The Library here is so nice. We loved being there. Also, we talked to this really neat guy named Lonnie. He worked on the temple and he said that he would love to take the lessons #score. I'll let you know how the lessons go with him next week. 

Sunday; I gave a talk in church today. It was my first talk of my mission and I hear that I should expect a lot more. The talk went well. I love giving talks because I always learn a lot from them. Later that night I was talking to the mission president and he told me that he heard my talk at church went really well. HA. Unbeknownst to me, the Stake President was in our meeting listening and he called my Mission President after my talk and told him that I had given an amazing talk. I found it very odd, but ok. 

So yes, that has been the week. Thank you for all the prayers and just thoughts that you are sending my way. I love you all and I know that our Heavenly Father loves us too 

Sister Aase 

P.S. I forgot my camera but I'll send pictures next week.

P.P.S. Bro Whitmyer has been calling Sister Bubert "Sister Bueller" all week and then will quote from Ferris Bueller's Day Off Haha. We just find it super funny. 

Well this is a LONG email!

Hello Family and Friends,

So, this email is a little long and a lot different. You'll have to tell me how you like it.... so, I guess here we go.

Monday: So, some highlights of today was we had a game day with the Gibbens family. Boy oh boy do I love them. We played golf which I haven't played in a really long time and we also played a game called 3 to 13. Both card games - both a blast. Also, today we got “Alpha Smart;” it's basically like a digital keyboard that I can keep at home. So, now when I'm writing in my journal at night I can type it up instead, so my mass email won't take me so long to write. Pretty cool huh? Hopefully, that will make it so my letters can be a bit longer and better :)

Tuesday: I loved President Nelson's address! As we were watching it today, I just had an overwhelming sense of peace. I know that he is going to be a great Prophet of the Lord and lead the Church where our Father in Heaven wants it to go. After the address, we listened to his past 3 conference talks while we were in the car going to appointments. Man oh man I have forgotten how much I love his talks. October 2016 one on Joy is just phenomenal.

Wednesday: We taught seminary today! It was so strange being in a release time seminary classroom. The whole feel of the class is just different. We taught all about Alma 5 and having a change of heart (great chapter btw, would highly recommend it).

Thursday: That was an interesting day. I got to experience my first real basher #fun. We fasted all day on Thursday because we are really trying hard to find some new investigators. I would love to tell you we had this miracle moment where the last door we knocked on opened and they had been waiting just for us, but that didn't happen. We planted a lot of seeds, we hopefully cleared up some misconceptions, and we just learned a lot about patience. This is God's work and it all happens on His timing. He appreciates us working hard, but sometimes we really just need to, as it says in D&C 123:17, "stand still". We are doing all we can and now we just need to wait for the Lord's hand to be revealed.

Friday: District Meeting! I'm going to miss our district. We all got along well and had some great memories together.

Saturday; Well transfer calls came and I regret to inform you that my dear tiny quirky companion Sister Soelberg will be leaving me. She got called to Letha... don't worry if you don't know where that is... because literally, no one knows where that is.

Sunday: Sundays are always just the best days. You get to see everyone you know and love, be uplifted by your meetings and stay super busy. I love it. Sunday was a sad day though because Sister Soelberg had to say goodbye to everyone. The members in the 1st and 36th ward love Sister Soelberg and are going to miss her so much... not as much as me... but still a lot. To celebrate Sister Soelberg's last Sunday though we wore our matching gingerbread socks with Sister Gibbens! We also ate with the Arters that night and told riddles and cheesy jokes for an hour. (The joke book that I got for Christmas really came in handy) :). Here is a riddle for you that stumped all of us last night "What can go up a chimney when it's down but can't go down a chimney when it's up?" Email me with your guesses:)   

Well, Transfers happened this morning and now I'm with Sister Bueburt. She came out from Bountiful but is originally from Guatemala. She is super nice and I love her already. So, what do y'all think? Did you like the longer email this week haha? It was way easy to write. Hopefully, it wasn't extremely boring. I try to make them fun and spiritual because guess what SPIRITUAL THINGS CAN BE FUN! I was talking to a 6-year-old named McKenna on Sunday and she was trying to convince me that missions were boring and I should quit and go to the movies with her. haha. I talked to her for a while telling her why I love my mission because I get to bring people true joy every day. I get to feel my Heavenly Father's presence hourly. I get to watch cheesy Mormon videos. I get to be an instrument in the hands of my loving Heavenly Father. How fun is that?!?! Answer: So much fun.

I love this gospel and I love being a missionary. I hope you all have great weeks and know how much I love you all at home.

Sister Aase  

Always in My Thoughts

Hello Friends! 

How has everyone been this week? It's been another great week here in Nampa with lots of laughs and goofing off. Sister Soelberg and I made a music video this week and I would show it to you, but it's way too long to send so I guess everyone will just have to see it when I get home. So with the impending doom of transfers coming this week, I thought I would tell you about all the investigators we have been teaching here in Nampa just in case I leave... because who knows what will happen. 

Courtney: Courtney is a sweet girl and was someone the Elders found before we came. She is in her twenties and has two super cute kids. She has a very solid testimony and is just waiting for her husband to get home from the military to get baptized. Her date right now is in May... but it might even happen soon because her husband is now coming home sooner. I will keep you posted. 

Alexis and Tyler Childer: Alexis and Tyler are two “bomb” kids that the Elders started working with after their parents got baptized. They love the Gospel and want it in their lives so badly. Right now we are just working with the biological mom to allow them to get baptized. It's very dramatic and feels like we are in some crazy soap-opera some weeks but it keeps us entertained and we love the kids so we just keep on moving forward. 

Faith: Faith is the sweetest girl and basically my best friend. She just graduated last year and so has a lot of free time. We come and talk and hang out with her all the time. She has had a pretty hard life but loves this Gospel and finds so much comfort in the singles ward. As to why we are teaching her and not the Elders in the singles ward.... umm... she told us she likes us better... so we stole her. We feel kinda bad about that buuuuut we also love her so much so we are all good. 

Mercedes: Mercedes is the cutest girl ever. She is 22 and is way pregnant which makes us all laugh because she claims she never cries but she is always crying in our lessons because "hormones" (but we all know what’s really happening). She is planning to get baptized pretty soon because she just knows this is true. Her husband is a less active member so we are working with him because we would love it if he could baptize her, but we will just have to see what happens. 

James: James is awesome. He is in his 70s and his wife is a super strong member. He worked in the Meridian Temple open house quite a bit and even met President Uchtdorf. The whole experience changed him and opened his heart and so now he is taking discussions from us. He loves us and we love him. He is really sad that one of us might be leaving this week and tells us that he is going to call the Mission President and complain... we really pray that he doesn't haha. 

We have a lot of other cool investigators that I love but these are definitely our most progressing investigators. I hope that didn't bore you all haha. These people really are just my life and they are all I think about.

Who are you working with at home? How are you serving those around you? Who do you think about? It took me coming on a mission to realize how selfish I was when I was at home. I just constantly thought of myself. Hopefully when I get back home I will remember to think of others. 

I love you all,

Sister Aase  

I Love Being a Missionary

This week has been pretty typical ups and downs but hey that's life for ya. I have definitely gotten into the routine of missionary work and boy howdy I love it. So I present you with the top five things I love about being a missionary. 

(in no particular order)

1) Silly companions; Sister Soelberg is just a hoot. It doesn't matter what she is doing whether it be ranting about a video game, dancing, or telling me about crazy dreams (this week was all about the battle between the pudding cup and the garbage disposal) she never ceases to make me laugh. 

2) Tracting; People are crazy, like literally crazy. They are also terrified of us. Both of these facts just make me laugh so hard. The highlight this week was knocking on a door... hearing someone walk up... seeing them peek through the window... hearing them tell someone that there are two "random" girls on the porch.... and then hearing them lock the door. Bahahaha. It cracked me up so much. We really aren't that scary we promise.

3) Meals with families; I had some great meals this week. People in Idaho know how to cook.

4) Getting to read my scriptures every day; The scriptures are so good. I just love them so much and they make me happy every time I read them. 

5) Seeing testimonies grow; It's amazing to be with someone for weeks teaching them little by little and then it just clicks with them. It's also amazing to see the same thing happen within yourself. This week the big click that happened with me I AM A CHILD OF GOD. How cool is that?!?!

I love you all so much and I love this work and this Gospel. I know that it is for our day. I know that it brings happiness to all who truly seek an understanding of it. I know that it is true.

Hope you all have great weeks:)

Sister Aase  

Get Ready for some CHEESE

Let's talk about opposition, shall we? You want to know what a typical day in the Aase household is? I think I can describe it in 3 words... singing, dancing, and singing. I cannot even tell you the number of times I have quoted lyrics from musicals in lessons (a popular one that comes up are the lyrics from Wicked's "For Good"... love it). But the song that was in my head this week is from a cheesy 70s musical called My Turn on Earth. I wish I could record my voice and sing it for y'all but I will just quote it. 

"Opposition, my friends, opposition. It's a necessary condition in this world...of... ours" 

#somuchcheese

It is so true though! This week Sister Soelberg and I had two extremely long sick days. We both got the stomach bug for 24 hours (I gave it to her ☹). Until these days though we never appreciated how much energy we usually have. The rest of the week we just kept on saying to each other "Okay that person was really mean or it is freezing outside etc…. BUT AT LEAST WE’RE NOT DYING IN BED!" So I'm grateful for our sick days and the door slams and the cold because it makes our health, amazing investigators, and beautiful sunsets so much more meaningful.

The mission is great and I love being out here every day (even the sick ones) 😊

I hope everyone is doing great at home and had a great Christmas and great New Year. 

I love you all 

Sister Aase 

P.S. Also I got a harmonica this week because...ce la vi 

Beautiful Sun Rise

Ninja Sister Missionary in her Olaf Christmas PJs