Let the Holy Spirit Guide You

Hello!

How have everyone's weeks been? Is everyone getting excited for Thanksgiving? It is such an amazing time to be a missionary. People take you in and just love you. Of course, I miss everyone at home immensely BUUUUT if I could be anywhere, I would choose to be right here in Meridian with these amazing members that just love us to pieces. 

This week was filled with miracles, tears, laughs, and trials. That's basically every week of a missionary’s life. So, this week I started leading this area. This basically means, at least for the first week, pretty much planning the day by yourself because your companion doesn't know what is going on. Boy, that was hard. I just never knew what to do or who to see. But it was amazing because the Spirit guided me throughout the day, every day this week. When some appointments fell through and we had a spare hour to do something, the Spirit guided me. When we were stuck in a place and needed a ride, the Spirit guided me. When we were out in the cold and needed a place to go to warm up, the Spirit guided me. It is amazing what the Spirit can do when we just humble ourselves and allow it to guide us.

I love all of you and hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with thoughts of all our many blessings.

Love Sister Aase 

Transfers AGAIN???

It is crazy y'all. Transfers are happening again. These things just seem to fly by now. I will be staying here in Meridian but my dear Sis Maschino will be leaving. I have learned so much from this sweet girl. I love her to death and she is going to do so many amazing things in life. 

I will be getting Sister Anderson and she is just the sweetest person and I'm excited to be with her.  I am excited that I get to be in Meridian again and keep on teaching the people here. There is just so much to do. 

I love you all and I hope you are staying warm and getting into the holiday spirit. 

Sister Aase 

Maple Leaves - The SCARIEST Mascot Out There!!!

Helllooooo! 

Happy Halloween! What did everyone go as? Send pictures please!!!! HAHA. I think as a missionary at this time now instead of letters (although you really appreciate those too) you just love love love photos:) so send them away!

Man, this week… so many stories so little time. So I will save my craziest one for the end.

Story number 1 

Title: They dun got dunk 

When: Saturday 

Where: Kuna 

My dear dear friends Ken and Jannet got baptized gahhhh! It made me so happy. To top it all off it was Jannet’s birthday that day and she just kept on saying "you see this is my BIRTHday and I'm being BORN again. Ha. Get it? It just makes sense." She is so flipping funny. Man and ... don't tell President... I even got to hug Ken! Ah, it made me so happy. He said to me after I gave him a handshake "it's a special occasion you can hug me now" gah I died! I love them:) 

Story Number 2 

Title: Let’s GLOOOOW!!!!!!! 

When: Last Monday 

Where: Church Gym

We had the freaking dopest pday last week. All thanks to yours truly. So we had what was called a district P-day because everyone else was off on their temple trips and let me tell you everyone always complains about district P-days because they think they are so boring. Ha Ha wrong-o. I love district P-days, you just have to put some thought into it. So I received a package by my dear friend Sara earlier in the week with a bunch of fun things in it including...wait for it... GLOW STICKS! So we decided to do a bunch of glow in the dark games. Glow in the dark volleyball, glow in the dark hide and seek, glow in the dark lookout. It was the best and everyone enjoyed it.

Story Number 3 

Title: The invisible trunk 

When: Halloween Eve 

Where: Church Parking lot

My dear companion is a convert to the church. She has only been baptized a little over a year. So she had never been to a trunk or treat before so of course, I had to take her to one. She was obsessed! Absolutely loved it. When it came to trunks ours was definitely the best... it was invisible! (remember, we don’t have a car, we are in a biking area)  WOW. We sat in a parking lot and handed out candy and whenever anyone past our trunk we would scream, wait you past our car! They would be so confused. Then we would give them some candy and a Halloween pencil (again thanks to my dear friend Sara). It was the best. 

Story Number 4

Title: Cereal for days 

When: Dinner time

Where: Only the best family ever

WE HAD A FREAKING CEREAL BAR FOR DINNER! what the what??!! it was the best thing ever. Everyone got two bowls and two cups so we could have chocolate milk and orange juice and two different types of cereal all at the same time. Needless to say, we love the Ashtons. 

Story Number 5

Title: What's Halloween without a little blood

When: HALLOWEEN

Where: An innocent looking neighborhood

So here we were riding our bikes home for lunch after a great time contacting. Sis Maschino and I were 1 starving 2 freezing so we were so excited to get home. So we were just traveling home and we saw these gorgeous maple leaves and we love to ride through them because the crunchy sounds give us joy... they did not give us joy this time. I biffed it so hard. I as my family would say pulled a big fat Quinn. Man, so there I was laying on the ground not able to move and out of nowhere this man comes and says "are you okay". Being so embarrassed I looked up at him and said no no I'm okay. And he just looked at me and said haha no you are not okay. I then looked down and I saw a bunch of blood yikes. So they fixed me up and then took us home.  Then Maschino checked for a concussion and I was all good and so I took some rest. I woke up to a bunch of elders in OUR APARTMENT. They gave me an amazing blessing and it made me feel so good. Wow, I love the priesthood. So do not worry about me. I'm all good now just a black eye and a couple bruises on my face (haha my face broke the fall lol). And now I have a fear that cannot be tamed of bikes (not really I'm good just a little scared of leaves now). But the blessing of this is I was wearing my gloves and leggings so a literally have no scrapes on any other part of my body just my face haha.  

Story Number 6

Title: I all alone there's no one here beside me

When: A dark dark night 

Where: A confusing neighborhood

So here we were again back on the bikes and it was pitch black. Sis Maschino wanted to see this family to say goodbye to them and I was totally on board until we got outside. I just kept on saying to her, Maschino this is so dumb. But alas we went. So I was going really slow because umm pitch black and fear of bikes haha. But it was freezing and Maschino is from AZ so she was going really fast. Before I knew it, she was gone and as much as I yelled her name she never came back. I was a little nervous to say this least. So here I was in the dark, with no companion, and no idea where to go, and had a missing contact lens (dang black eye... it's been making my contacts fall out... I've only completely lost one though). Let’s just say I was companionless and lost for 20 minutes. It was terrifying. I have realized that the adjustment of coming home and being without a companion is going to take me a while. 

Man so this has definitely been the most eventful week of my mission, but I have loved every second of it. Even the scary ones. As Sister Maschino says it's all part of the mission experience right. 

I hope all of you had some exciting things happen to you this week. I love you guys so much and stay safe out there... far away from the maple leaves. 

Sister Aase

Photos:

1. Us at pday glowing in the dark game - bomb!

2. Maschino and I with our invisible car

3. Me recreating a picture of me as a youngin' with a black eye haha

4. Jannet and Ken's baptism 

The Browns

Hellooooo!

How has everyone's weeks been? I had a great one up here in the good ol' Idaho. We had Zone Conference this week and I absolutely love Zone Conference. I love seeing my friends and being spiritually uplifted.

So let me tell you about the Browns because I absolutely love them and I feel like I never talk about the people I'm teaching. So the Browns have two daughters and they are the sweetest things in the world. They just came from Utah because they realized that the people they surrounded themselves around were not good influences on them so they decided to get out and turn their life around. The first place they went to when they got here was the church. Brother and Sister Brown both left the church when they were kids, but they decided that it was time to come back. It has been amazing to see the change in them. They have that light back in their eyes. When we first started teaching them, they told us that they don't know or remember anything, but lately, everything has been coming back to them. Yesterday we sang "I am a child of God" with them and Brother Brown remembered all the words. I have loved seeing the change in them. It's amazing what the gospel can do for people.

I love you all and I know that this gospel really does change peoples’ lives. I love this Church, I love my Heavenly Father, and I love each of you. 

Sister Aase

Photos:

Sister Blood and I

The Browns! 

MN Comin' in Clutch

Hello! 

How has everyone's weeks been? This week’s been a blur... but what's new haha.  I will tell you two amazing things that happened this week though. First I hit my one year mark! Woot Woot. It's crazy that I've been out here that long. It feels like just yesterday I was back in Nampa with Sister Soelberg living with the Whitemyers teaching James and Mercedes and all my favorite people. But nope. I love being a missionary and these next 6 months are going to fly which is so scary. So if anyone has a machine to make time slow down that would be much appreciated.

Second amazing thing. Do y'all remember my dear friend Susan? Sister Robertson and I taught her here in Meridian and SHE GOT BAPTIZED THIS WEEKEND! It was such a sweet experience. She asked Sister Robertson and me to do a musical number for it and so we sang an arrangement of "I'm a child of God". She cried. It was amazing. 

Wow other than that it is very cold here. Thank goodness for MN preparing me all the way. 

My 1 Year Mark

 I love you all and I love this work. 

Sister Aase 

Photos

1-3: We got to wear our hats this week. We both are big fans of the beanies

4: Susan's Baptism

A True Follower

​Wow, what a week!

So I will be very honest this week is very jumbled in my head. With a brand new area, celebrating birthdays and my 12-month mark, learning how to ride a bike in a skirt, teaching all new people, AND listening to an AMAZING General Conference, I don't even know where to begin. 

I'll start by telling you that I love my new area and companion. My new companion's name is Sister Maschino and she is just a ball of energy and I love her. She has been teaching me all the ropes and it's crazy because she has only been out for 3 months. It's my first time being in an area where my companion knows the area but I don't. Isn't that crazy! For a whole year now I have always been either leading the area or my companion and I have been the "blind leading the blind." It's so different being a true follower. 

Being a follower this week has taught me a lot. I think growing up and in school, I was taught (but really taught myself) that followers are weak and so you always need to be a leader. With that mentality, I became very comfortable in leadership positions. It was easy for me to know what was going on and guide others in the right direction. I have learned this week that being a follower does not mean you are weak. I have learned that I have a lot to learn when it comes to being a follower. A true follower is humble, willing to ask questions and seek correction. A true follower trusts their leader, even when actions might not make sense. A true follower walks with the leader, never sitting just waiting for the leader to drag them along. This week as I've had to humbly ask questions, trust my companion, and give all that I had (even though I couldn't give much) I've started to become a​ true follower. 

This slow process of becoming a true follower has ow that following him doesn't mean that we are weak. It means that we are humble, that we trust Him, and that we are willing to walk side by side with Him. I know that as we each choose to follow our Savior that we will become like him and come to love Him almost as much as He already loves us.

I love this gospel, I love being a small part of God's work, and I love each of ​​you.

Sister Aase​

Birthdays, bikes, and back to the beginning

Hello! 

Thank you guys so much for the birthday wishes. It has been making me so happy all day long. It actually has been a crazy day today because today is transfer day. I am going to Meridian again! Back to the same zone that I started my mission in. I have already served in that zone for 9 whole months and I'm excited to find the reason that I'm being sent back. I have absolutely loved being here in Kuna. I love the people here; members and nonmembers, full-time missionaries and member missionaries. I have had to say goodbye to so many people yesterday and today and it has been so hard. But I am so grateful for a childhood that has taught me that it is such a blessing to have hard goodbyes because that means that you have the ability to really truly love.  

I also get to be in a biking area in Meridian. I'm so excited to be able to bike. I have gotten to be a biking missionary one day in my mission so far AND IT WAS THE BEST DAY EVER. We saw so many miracles that day. I feel like God truly blesses the missionaries who bike because they are sacrificing just a little bit more for His work. Also, just a side note to my parents don't worry about me getting a bike my good friend Sister Bubert is letting me borrow hers while I'm in this area. She is the best. 

So a miracle that happened this week is that we got two new investigators! Last Sunday Sister Goodrich and I were roaming the halls after Sacrament meeting. We weren't really sure what class to go to (which by the way never happens. We typically always have a very mapped out plan for Sundays). So there we were not sure where to go when this lady ran up to us and said: "sisters do you have any place to go right now!?!". It ended up she had two of her grand-kids with her this weekend that weren't members and she wanted us to teach them the first discussion. So we bravely walked into a classroom filled with 9 and 10 years olds and taught them the first discussion. Let me tell you guys 9 and 10-year-olds are crazy. But it was the most amazing thing. We got in there and they were wild talking and telling us all about their lives. I knew that we needed the Spirit in order to teach them, so I said a prayer and from then on every time we spoke they were silent and listening to our every word. It was amazing. At the end of the lesson, I talked to Hiri and Stockly (the grand-kids to this lady) and asked if we could come over next weekend and teach them more. They both said, "that would be cool" (obviously, because they couldn't show any excitement ;) ) We went over Saturday and had an awesome lesson with them. I'm so sad I won't be able to teach these kiddos more, but I'm so happy for the little experiences that I had with them. 

So as for my birthday haha, a lot of people have been asking what I want and I've been racking my brain because I want to give people the opportunity to serve (I always hate it when we ask people what we can do and they say they are fine) and so I came up with the one thing that would mean the world to me if you did it. Please invite the missionaries to teach in your home. I doesn’t matter if you have been an active member your whole life, a return missionary, never have had any contact with missionaries besides my emails, or haven't had a testimony or gone to church in years. The missionary lessons will strengthen your testimony. They will make you a better person. They will bring you immeasurable amounts of joy. On top of just making a missionary’s day. There are so many days out on the mission where all you want to do is testify of Christ and His restored gospel but no one will let you. Please invite them to your home and let them. 

I love being out here on my birthday. I love bringing joy to others. I loved Kuna so much and I will come to love these new people in Meridian. 

Thank you for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers,

Sister Aase