Thursday, December 17, 2015

Sis Aase with her Arkansas map

Each sticker represents a day in the mission.  Each color represents where she served. 

Blue -- Mission Training Center, Provo Utah
Yellow -- Conway Arkansas
Green -- Little Rock, Arkansas
Red -- Searcy Arkansas


Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Lunch with Sis Pochop

Saying goodbye to Sis Pochop at the BEST Arkansas BBQ restaurant. YUMMY!!


Picking Sis Aase up from the Mission Home

Sis Aase standing by the Mission Home Christmas Tree decorated with photos of all the Sisters & Elders in the mission, just over 200.






















Scale replica of the Memphis Temple made by a missionary using only materials bought at the Dollar Store.


Saturday, December 12, 2015

To Love Another Person is to See the Face of God

Dear friends and family,
This is it, my final email to y'all as a full time missionary.  This week was awesome a perfect way to end a mission. We had a mission wide sisters meeting on Tuesday and then a zone conference Wednesday. So I got to see and say goodbye to all my missionary friends and a few members too :)

We had the Mountain View sisters staying with us Monday and Tuesday for the big meetings. These sisters are some of my favorite people. We had lots of fun together and may have stayed up a bit late laughing all together. Eighteen months has gone by so fast and so slow at the same time. I have loved my mission and am so grateful for the privilege I have had to serve.

I have learned a lot on my mission.
  • I have learned how to make the perfect grilled cheese sandwich.
  • I have learned how to de-lice someone's head.
  • I have learned how to backup a car.
  • I have learned how to call bingo and the hogs.
  • I have learned the correct usage of the word fixin, y'all and reckon.
  • I have learned some Chinese and some sign language.
  • I have learned that people are more likely to open their door for carolers than for missionaries.
  • I have learned that there are a whole lot of good people in this world and a lot of them love Jesus.
  • I have learned the importance of the Ward Council.
  • I have learned that the Book of Mormon is truly the word of God and will change lives.
  • I have learned that this is God's work and His church and His children therefore He is going to be involved in every aspect of this work.
  • I have learned to rely of my Savior and trust him.
  • I have learned that He is my friend and that His grace is sufficient for even me.
  • I have learned what Jean Val Jean said it best "to love another person is to see the face of God." To love God is to love his children. To serve God is to serve his children. To come to know God we must love Him and serve Him. John tells us in the bible, coming to know God "is life eternal" (John 17:3)
  • I have gotten to know God a little more on my mission.
  • I have come closer to Him and my Savior. And that has made all the hard stuff worth it.
Thank you all so much for supporting me for the past year and a half. Thank you for all the thoughts and notes and prayers. I would not have been able to do it without all the love and support from y'all.

This is the Lord's work. This is His church and His gospel. It is true. It is what brings happiness in life and eternal life in the world to come.

See you on the other side,

Love
Sister Aase


Monday, December 7, 2015

Final Countdown!!

Dear friends and family,
I'm down to single digit days. How did this happen?!

This week was awesome. Why? Brittany Hunt is baptized or as our 9 year old recent convert would say bapbatized :)  The devil was trying really hard to make it not happen but the spirit is much more powerful :)  First Brittany worked all week long and so we couldn't see her very much. Then Sister Pochop got a horrible stomach bug on Friday and we weren't able to make it to her baptismal interview. We stayed in Saturday so that we would for sure be at church Sunday because not only was Brittany getting baptized but her family was going to be at church too and we were doing singing time in primary. So we had to be at church. Sister Pochop felt a little better Sunday so we went to church. Since we were going to be in primary we put the elders in charge of filling the font. Right after we had sacrament we had Brittany and Bryce (boyfriend who baptized her) try on clothes. Clothes didn't fit right and both had forgotten underclothing. But we worked it out. Then the elders forgot the font so it got very full. Too full. We didn't have a way to unplug the drain to let out some of the water so we improvised by bailing out water with pitchers from the kitchen. We formed a make shift assembly line and got the water level down enough to not flood the church. Needless to say it was a little stressful but she is baptized! And so happy about it.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week. A week from tomorrow I will be hugging my parents. So crazy how fast a mission flies by. I have loved every minute and am excited to work hard this last week.

Love
Sister Aase