Elder William Lassen’s Blog

Dearest Family

            As always it was wonderful to hear from you! I am glad that you had a good week! Things have been nice here in Brighton! So, for transfers I am staying with Elder Bryan for another 6 weeks! I am excited about that, it should be fun. This is a great ward with wonderful members, and with people who are ready to listen. Elder Bryan keeps joking with me because apparently I didn’t look too happy when I heard the news… haha I just have a very serious face. Haha This week we have been busy which is always nice!

            We have been tracting and this past week we were knocking on some doors and it was so hot. It was in the 90’s but every doorstep seemed to reflect that 90 degrees and make it feel like 100. Needless to say once we finished that street we went to the Hammonds. They are awesome members, Elder Bryan used to live with them, and since our house is 13 miles away and we can’t always drive back there for lunch we eat at the Hammonds. So we went there to use the bathroom and get some water. I thought that we had tracted for long enough and was planning on trying some people. Elder Bryan however, felt that we should tract near where the Stake President lives. So we did and the second house we knocked on we talked to Jackie. We told Jackie about the Book of Mormon and she mentioned that her son had received one from the Johnson’s son. So we told her about it and she invited us in. We didn’t have that much time so we covered the 1st lesson in about 5 minutes. She seemed excited to read the Book of Mormon, we gave her a chapter to read and she then asked well “is there anything else you want me to read?” So we gave her some more! We were both super excited after that! It was a wonderful blessing to see. We worked hard and we followed the spirit and were blessed!

            We also have been receiving a lot of referrals from the members of the ward which is great! It really helps us when the members lead us to their friends who are ready to learn, that we might never have found on our own. The Lewis family in our ward has a daughter that wants to take the missionary lessons before she is baptized and she also wants her friend to take them with her. So Sister Lewis called her daughters friend’s mom to invite her and she said that she would love her daughter to take the lessons! Sister Lewis also told the mom that she would be more than welcome to join in on the lessons! It was awesome! Hopefully we will be able to start teaching them soon!

            We also helped the Fort Lupton missionaries help one of their members who doesn’t really come to church too much. His name is Chuck and he owns about 80 acres. Chuck has about 6-8 Horses, I can’t really remember how many, he also raises some cows, I think he has about 10 cows. He also has some chickens, and two pigs. It was fun to be able to help him. I mainly helped clean out the chicken coop. It was kind of disgusting. I had a lot of fun working hard though. We should definitely raise some chickens, just think about it, you wouldn’t have to buy eggs anymore!

            We also got to help a family move into our ward on Saturday. It is a family consisting of a single mom and her 4 kids. They were very nice and appericated our help. It was kind of a last minute move so it was two other people and us . They moved into the 3^rd story of an apartment complex. So moving their stuff up there was interesting… We carried a heavy table up, and also a couch, and some other things. They are really nice people and were grateful for our help, they also have a son who is almost 9 and the mom said she would like us to teach them the missionary lessons before he gets baptized! So that was some good news! We also taught another family this past Sunday who have a daughter that wants to be baptized! It is fun to teach little kids! Elder Bryan made a little booklet for the kids that we teach and consists of a bunch of pictures for the principles that we teach with an explanation of the picture on the back, we teach with it and at the end of the lesson we give it to them to help them remember what we taught!

            Well I have rambled on for long enough! I love you all dearly and am glad to hear that things are going well for you! I hope that you have a great week! Good luck with college, Hanna!  Have a fun time! It was great to hear from you! I will talk to you in another week!

Love

Elder Lassen

Miracle of the week: We worked hard, followed the spirit and were blessed to be lead to someone who let us in briefly and who is ready to hear about the Gospel!

I LOVE YOU FAMILY!

Dear Family!

            It seems like you had a great week! I am glad that things are working out for you! It sounds like you have met a lot of nice people there is Missouri! That is really cool! For me this week went really well and I can’t believe how fast is has gone by. This is the last week of the transfer already! We’ll see what happens with transfers for the next transfer, I think we might stay together but you never know. Elder Bryan told me he asked President Ely if we could, I guess he really likes me! Haha He is a great companion! I really like him too!

            So I can’t remember if I told you, but last week our water heater broke so we had to take cold showers and since our member works really far away and has to leave at 7ish every morning, we stayed home for a little bit so the man could come and install a new water heater! It was really great to take a warm shower after he was done! Haha During the time he was installing it we did a lot of cleaning around the house.

             On Wednesday we had our first 2 and a half hour District meeting! This is one of the changes from Headquarters and so it was interesting. It is weird because it is only 30 minutes shorter than church! It was still good though and we had a nice time! I learned a lot. We also have been still doing a lot of tracting and we have been able to had out some Book of Mormon’s which always feels great! We just got a case of Book of Mormon’s to hand out and our goal is to hand out the whole case by the end of the next transfer! We have been working hard to find people and are having success!

            So I think last week I told you about the person that we were referred to by some other missionaries, well we taught her this last week and it went really well. She is only 21, she just had her first child and her husband who just got back from Iraq wants a divorce. She is having a tough time right now, but when we taught her the first time, the Relief Society President came with us and we had a great lesson. We got to know her and taught her the first principle of the first lesson, God is our Loving Heavenly Father, it was a spiritual lesson and she felt a lot better. The sad part is that she is moving to Texas this Wednesday… So after that lesson we left and that night she called us and said she would like to meet once more before she left so we went and saw her the next day, with another member. We read 3 Nephi 11, from the Book of Mormon and she loved the story of Jesus Christ appearing to the people in the Americas. It was a lesson in which the spirit was very strong! She even commented about it, she said that she felt at peace, she even said that right then she wasn’t worried about the divorce or about moving, she was just at peace. We bore our witness that the feelings of peace that she felt was the spirit. I love how the spirit can calm a troubled heart. There are many times in life  where I have been out in the stormy seas of life and I have been worried about sinking, it is then that I pray for help and the spirit calms the stormy seas, just as the Savior did, when he commanded the waters to “be still.”

            Also this week we got a call from our Bishop and he asked us to give a talk this Sunday in church. We accepted and spoke about member missionary work and also the missionary lessons and how we are going to teach them to the members of the ward to help them with their missionary work and also to strengthen the ward. They actually went really well, I wasn’t nearly as nervous as I was when I gave my last talk which was my farewell talk! Haha I really enjoyed it and it was great, the Lord definitely helped me though!

            This next week we should be pretty busy teaching people and trying to find people! I really like this area, and would like to stay but we will see what happens this upcoming week! Thanks for all that you do! Thanks for your prayers. You are one of the greatest blessings in my life. I thank Heavenly Father for you every night! Have a great week!

Love

Elder Lassen

Miracle of the week: Even though we haven’t found too many people through tracting, we have received a couple of referrals from some members that seem really promising! It is really cool that when you work hard the Lord blesses you, in many different ways!

I love you!

Dearest Family!

            It was good to hear from you! How are you doing today? So before
I forget, I wanted to get a new pair of slacks today because I need some new
ones, and these members gave us this coupon to Kohl’s for $10 off so I will
probably use that today, I think I have enough money in my account, but I
just wanted to tell you! Thanks! So have the kids started school yet? The
kids started school here the end of last week and today usually there would
be a bunch of kids here using computers but they are all in school now. This
week was a good week for us. On Monday we had a good P-day. I was talked
into doing the Blazin challenge at Buffalo Wild Wings, you had to eat 12
wings with their Blazin sauce on it in under 6 minutes, it was really hot! I
made it in time and I was really surprised that I was able to complete it
because I don’t really like hot food. My mouth hurt for the next 20 minutes
and nothing took the pain away. I also got the sauce on my face and my face
hurt for the same amount of time. I got a free shirt to prove it though! I
probably wouldn’t do it again. Haha!

            On Tuesday we went to the Temple and that was a lot of fun! We
got there at around 9:00am and were able to stay there till about 7:30pm! It
was a long wonderful day! Elder Arterburn and his new companion Elder Allred
came down as well and it was cool to see them. We went to lunch at Olive
Garden with them and that was really good. We also went to the Deseret Book
and looked around. We were able to do a lot in the Temple and I love to be
there, I love the spirit that I feel there, It was really refreshing and
just wonderful to be there. The only thing that comes close to how
refreshing it feels is the cold shower I had to take this morning because
Bro Wilson’s water heater broke! Hahaha. Seriously though I love the Temple
and enjoy how close I feel to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ when I am
there.

            We also had a really good lesson with a lady who joined the
church but is going through a hard time, her name is Sister Mcneese. We
stopped by to see how she is doing and she was sleeping because she had to
wake up early and so we apologized and said we would stop by another time,
we then tried someone near by and as we walked down the apartment stairs
Sister Mcneese came running over and said actually I need to talk and hear a
scripture, so we sat on the stairs outside of her apartment and had a really
good lesson! The spirit was strong and we all walked away edified!

            We also had a funny experience, on, I think it was Friday, we
stopped by our Bishop’s house to set up an appointment with him and his
family, and his daughter opened the door, but I think they were busy at the
time so we said we would come back.  Just before we left though their
daughter gave us some cookies that she made… I took one bight and it was
like biting into leather, as I chewed it was like rubber, not to be mean I
said they were great and so she gave us the whole plate! Haha As we got into
the car Elder Bryan asked if they were good and I said they were delicious
just so he could taste them as well. He did and made a really funny face and
I couldn’t stop laughing! We both ate the cookies we took, but that was it!
Haha

            Also on Sunday we were blessed for our efforts to find people to
teach. We have been tracting and on Saturday we tracted a pretty big street
and only one person said they would be interested but they really didn’t
seem that interested. Anyways on Sunday we got a call from a missionary who
served in this area and when he was serving here he tracted into a lady and
gave her a Book of Mormon and that Sunday she came to church with a friend
who is in his area, so he talked to the lady, Latrinda, and she said she
would be interested in meeting with us! So we called her and she was busy
and said she would call us back, and she did and we had a really good talk
with her. She is going through a divorce right now and she is looking for
something, she is definitely ready to learn more about Jesus Christ! It was
an answer to our prayers and efforts!

            That is about it for this week! It was wonderful! I really like
Elder Bryan and we are doing great! Thanks for all of your prayers they are
definitely appreciated and needed. I hope that you all have a great week! I
am glad that things went well moving into your new house! I love you all
very much! I am also going to send home a memory card so I hope you enjoy
the pictures, it’s been a while since I’ve sent on home! Sorry! Have a great
week! I love you!

Love

Elder Lassen

Miracle of the Week: The Lord blessed us and answered our prayers in helping us be lead to some who is ready to be taught more about the Gospel of Jesus
Christ and how it can help her!

LOVE YOU!

Dear Family

            This week was a great week and a lot has been going on! We
have
been kept busy which is great! First I would like to wish Jeff a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I hope that it was good, I am not sure if my card found its way to
you but I hope it did! I addressed it to the new house. I got my glasses and
it’s kind of weird to get used to. Thank you for being willing to pay for them and
letting me get them! They really help a lot, my eyes don’t hurt as much because they don’t have to strain to see things. Everything is a lot clearer, I can actually see a lot better! I didn’t know how bad my eye sight
was because it was gradually slipping away and now I can see a lot better! I
couldn’t find any cool glasses but the ones I found will do their job. They
were kind of expansive though around $220 but I really need them so thanks so much! When I first got them I kept putting them on and taking them off because it was crazy to see the difference that they made! Haha!

            Well we have been working hard this week and trying to find
more
people!  We didn’t find any new investigators but we talked to some people and gave away some Books of Mormon! On Tuesday we did a good amount of tracting and talked to a lot of people. Also on Tuesday we had no
appointments not even a dinner and when we headed into town in the morning it didn’t seem like it would be a productive day. At  the end of the day though we had a total of five lessons which is a pretty good day! That night
we went out with our ward mission leader and tried to see some people who live really far out East of Brighton, kind of by where we live, but not as far. We saw a couple of families. We saw two families in which both of  the husbands don’t attend our church, they were both really nice and we had a great time visiting with them. The houses that we went to were hit by
a huge hail storm a month ago and it was crazy to see the boarded windows and the damaged roofs. We took a picture of some of the hail that one of the
family collected and froze! They were huge! It was really wonderful to come
home that night and see the miracle of how when we work hard the Lord blesses us, it didn’t seem like it would be a day in which a lot was accomplished but in reality we did a lot! It was awesome!

            On Sunday we had an interesting experience… First of all we
had
15 people, who hadn’t been to church in a while, we have been working with came to church! It was a lot, but it was awesome! The Lord is blessing us for our hard work! On Sunday we had a lot of appointments! It was great! Most of them were with members that we are trying to get to know and also other members that we are helping them to share the Gospel with their friends. Two appointments however were dinners… So we had talked to some investigators that Elder Bryan hadn’t really taught because when he got here
they got really busy, so we stopped by to see them and possible start teaching them again, and they said they wanted us to come over on Sunday and
they wanted to feed us! We didn’t want to say no so we set up a time. We met and ate dinner with them at 4:00pm we had some really good burgers and
it was delicious! We then had another appointment and then at 6:30pm we had
our dinner with some members of the ward. When we got there we found out what we were having for dinner…. Yup, hamburgers! When Elder Bryan heard this he jokingly exclaimed “Yes! We haven’t had burgers in a long time!” I tried not to laugh! After that appointment I was stuffed and felt sick. My stomach hurt for the rest of the night! Haha! It was a funny experience I won’t forget, because I was still hungery but not for hamburgers again so I had to force it down. The members were awesome and a really cool family and
I enjoyed that they cooked us dinner but next time I think I will make sure
we only have one dinner a day! Haha

            Well that is about it for this week, we have been working hard
and the Lord is blessing us for our hard work! It is wonderful to see the blessing come! Thanks for all of your prayers! I am glad to hear that you are doing well! I hope that you have a great week good luck with moving into
the new house! Thanks for everything! I love you all very much!

Love

Elder Lassen

Miracle of the week: Despite all of the challenges and hard decisions that we have to make as missionaries the Lord has helped me by blessing me with the Spirit to calm me down and make good decisions as I trust in him.

I love you family!!!

Dearest Family

It was good to hear from you! I hope that everything goes well with
traveling! I can’t believe that you are already moving! Crazy! It is what is
best though! So this week was a good week! On Monday, since we live way out
east of Brighton we biked around home and tried to see some members, it was
fun because we were in the middle of nowhere and the houses are really far
apart! We were biking on dirt roads and just having fun. So the house I live
at is 14825 Almstead St., Hudson CO, 80642. It is sweet. We live with an
awesome member, Bro Wilson, I really like him.

            We also had a great experience with tracting and being lead to
find someone. On Monday night we were planning and as we figured out which
street to tract there came to both of our minds a street that a member lives
off of, so we went there the next day and as we tracted we talked to a lady
named Melissa. We talked to her about the purpose of life and why we are
here, we ended up giving her a Book of Mormon and she said we could stop
back by. We did the next day and she had read what we suggested! We were in
a hurry to get to an appointment so we said we would stop back by another
time. It was really cool being lead to her.

            We also had Zone Conference this week. It was good! I learned a
lot and am excited to apply what we learned. It was a lot of sitting down
though which was hard but I still really enjoyed it. It was fun to see some
other missionaries that I hadn’t seen in a while. We also were told about
some changes that are happening. These changes are straight from
Headquarters, so it is official business. So a couple of changes is what we
will focus on when we receive trainings, this means what they teach in the
MTC will be changed, we will still use Preach My Gospel but what we focus on
will change.  We will also only have Zone Conference every 3 months, instead
of every month and a half. We will also only have interviews with President
Ely every 3 months as well. There are also a bunch of other things that
apply to District Leaders and Zone Leaders and trainers, but I am neither of
those. It was a lot to take in but it is what the church wants so we will be
obedient.

            So I went to Wal-Mart and picked out some glasses. I picked out
some buy the company ECO, they looked ok, I really didn’t like the way I
looked in any of the glasses but these ones looked the best. The frames are
kind of brown, and smaller. The total was around $200, that is with the cost
of the frames and the lenses. They ordered them and they should either come
on August 6th, Jeff’s birthday or sooner. I am excited to get them because
my eyes have been hurting because I have to strain to see things at a far
distance. Thanks so much for being willing to get them for me! I really love
you!

            On Saturday we had a good time doing some service with some
other missionaries. There is a member in their ward (Fort Lupton) who
supervises a horse competition thing, and missionaries always go and help
out. It was actually really fun! I put sunscreen on everywhere but my legs
and boy are they red! Haha So I got to help with the gate and letting horses
into the arena, and also with putting up flags for a certain event. There
were some really good kids and adults there, and it was pretty intense to
see them racing against the clock on their horses.  One girl was going
pretty fast and she was stopping her horse before she hit the fence and it
just stopped all of the sudden and she got thrown under the fence and landed
about 5 feet from me, it was intense because I thought she was unconscious
but she got up and was ok.

            Thing are going well here in Brighton and I am enjoying this
ward and working here. My companion is doing well and I thank you for your
prayers for him and I, they really help. I hope that you enjoy Missouri and
that all goes well with moving in! Have a great week and I will talk to you
next Monday! I also sent a letter and I addressed it to the new house, I
hope that was a good idea! I love you all very much and thank you for all
you do for me! Have a wonderful day! Have fun driving!

Love

Elder Lassen

Miracle of the week: We were reminded again that the Lord directs this work
and we carry it out, with our experience of being lead where to tract and
having a good contact! I love this work!

I love you family!

Dear Family!

I love you! Before get into the week I need to inform you of something, so
Sister Ely committed me to talk to you today and tell you that I need to get glasses! Haha I wasn’t planning on getting them till I get home but she said I need too and she committed me to do it and I agreed! Haha So I will need some money to get some glasses, I don’t know how much it will cost but I don’t think it will be cheap. Sister Ely did mention though how because of my astigmatism my eyes will have to strain more to see better and that causes my eyes to hurt and headaches, and I have been having both lately. So I would greatly appreciate if you could put some money in my account. I will probably just get some basic glasses right now then get better ones when I get home. Thanks family! I am going to look weird with glasses but they will help my eyes so whatever…

So a couple of questions first, is Jeff moving to Missouri or is he going to stay in California? It would be nice to visit California and give a homecoming talk there but I really don’t plan on moving there when I get back so don’t worry mom. Haha I have realized home is where the family is and when I go back that’s where I want to be. It is interesting I have realized this week the difference between loving my family and missing them, I use to miss you but now I love you. Let me explain, because I love you, I want to be with you but with that deep love comes with the knowledge that no matter wha,t I will see you again, so that gives me the ability to wait. So I love you family and am glad that things are going well with you.

So let me tell you about Brighton Colorado. It is a sweet town! I really like it, the people are nice and are ready to listen! It is a smaller town, but I like it. We are serving in the Brighton ward, which is a great ward, with awesome members. It is a huge ward though! We live with Brother Wilson who is awesome, I forgot my address but we live about 13 miles straight East of Brighton. We don’t have that many miles for each month and 26 miles a day are just us traveling to and from home. It is cool though.

Elder Bryan is awesome, I really like him. He was born in Ohio, moved to Florida and then before his mission his family moved to Alabama. He has been out for 9 months and is 21 years old. He is willing to work hard which is awesome. His last companion wasn’t the hardest worker and so he wants to work hard, and we have been!

We have been tracting everyday, and have been finding people. The first day we tracted we talked to this kid who was outside and he was younger around 16 and I thought to myself “Oh he’s not going to be interested… well I’ll just talk to him anyways” So I did and asked if his family would be interested, he said no then I asked if he would be and he said “ actually yea I would!” his name is Ryan, he lives in Utah and has a girlfriend who is member and is in Brighton Colorado visiting his mom. That day we didn’t have any Books of Mormon on us which was a bad idea to tract with no Books of Mormon so the next day we dropped by and gave him one and he asked us if we could meet with him on Sunday! We were like “yea we could!” So we did and had an awesome lesson on Sunday! His girlfriend was in town and was at the lesson as well! It was great! Ryan unfortunately will be out of town till next week then will go back to Utah after that. It was awesome to meet him and teach him though!

The members here are really nice and that is always nice! We have been working on getting to know all the members because Elder Bryan even though he has been here for a little while still doesn’t know too many members so we have been introducing ourselves to them and trying to gain their trust. This week was a great week! Working hard is really wonderful, I don’t know what I will do when I go home because when I have a bad day, I just go out and work anyways and by the end of the day everything is better, I don’t think I will be able to do that when I go home. It has gone by so fast and time is going faster and faster.

Well that is about it for the week! I hope and will pray that everything will go smoothly as you transition and move to Missouri! I love you so much and hope you have a great week! Also on Saturday night I ate a pickled pigs foot and almost threw up… it was the grossest thing I have eaten… I got it on video too. Hahaha! Have a great week and good luck with the move!

Love

Elder Lassen

Miracle of the week: We were blessed by the Lord and have been working hard and have seen the blessings that come from that.

I love you have a great week!

Dearest Family

Hey! How’s it going? I am glad to hear that you are doing well! I just got transferred and am in Brighton Colorado, with Elder Bryan. I am not a big fan of change but it is what helps us grow and I think this transfer will be a good transfer! I am also in a car for the first time, but I think we don’t have that many miles to use every month so we will probably be riding our bikes a lot too. Brighton is a farming town that has had some newer developments. It seems like a nice area.  I am glad to hear that you were able to find a house to move into! I pray that that will go well and that you will enjoy your new home. I actually talked to Elder Slezak today, and he mentioned that his parents talked to you and that I am moving into his ward.

This last week was a good week. On Monday we had a good lesson with Rachel, she is still waiting to get an answer to her prayer. I have been praying hard that she will receive an answer! She has some trouble with some of the truths that we teach but the only way to solve that is to know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet and that the Book of Mormon is true. She is so awesome and would benefit so much from joining the church and coming to know that this is the true Church of Jesus Christ once again on the earth. We also had another lesson with her on Thursday, and that too went well. She is constantly reading the Book of Mormon but still hasn’t received her answer, the Lord will answer her prayers though as she prays with faith and real intent.

We also got to have lunch with Travis Felton, the man that we taught then turned him over to the correct missionaries. He was baptized in March. It was awesome. We had a great time being able to see him again and to talk to him. It was such a wonderful experience being able to teach him and see how prepared he was to receive the gospel in his life and the fact that he says he doesn’t feel alone now because of his baptism. It was awesome to see him again! We also taught the Williams family this week. We had a good lesson about Forgiveness. The spirit was strong as we helped them understand that forgiveness and being forgiven brings a wonderful peace to our lives, I know that forgiveness of others and ourselves definitely brings a peace that nothing else does.

On Saturday we got to do some service for a widow in the ward. It was awesome doing some good manual labor. It felt good and especially because we were able to help someone in need. We also taught Doug Smith this week and he is doing well. He still has his struggles but the lessons we are teaching him are definitely helping him to feel the spirit and make small steps back to Heavenly Father.

When I found out that I was getting transferred there was a good amount of people that I wanted to tell and say goodbye too. I told Doug Smith and that was a somewhat sad time, saying goodbye. Since my current contact information will expire in a month, I have been giving some people Mom’s e-mail address because that’s all I can really give that people can get a hold of you so if you get e-mails from random people that’s why! Haha

It is sad to leave Louisville, even though it hard to find people that wanted to listen I still had a great time and really enjoyed it there. The members are really strong and very nice, I will miss them but am looking forward to what Brighton has to bring. I hope that you have a great week. I hope that you travel safely and I will talk to you later. I thank you for all of you support and prayers!  I definitely need them! I will talk to you in a week!

Love

Elder Lassen

Miracle of the week: Despite leaving and getting transferred I am optimistic about the future and feel that everything will work out! The Lord is definitely being my support.

Dearest Family

            I am glad to hear that you made it safely to Missouri! I hope that you are enjoying the weather there! Thanks for all of your e-mails, it is always nice to hear from you! This week was a good week! We had some good appointments and were working hard. This week we were able to teach Rachel twice! Both lessons went really well! Rachel still has some concerns and it may take her some time to resolve them but we were able to get the important fact across that it all depends on whether Joseph Smith was called of God to speak in his behalf. We committed Rachel to pray to ask Heavenly Father if Joseph Smith really was a prophet like we said that he was, she accepted the commitment and we are meeting with her tonight to follow up on if she received an answer! I have been praying that she did and hope that our meeting goes well tonight! It is really cool how every question that a person has about the church can be lead back to the ultimate question of whether Joseph Smith was a prophet. I for myself know that Joseph Smith was a prophet because I know the Book of Mormon is true, and I am grateful I can tell people this wonderful news, and “point them to Zion and life evermore”

            We also had Interviews this week with President Ely and he said that it looks like I will be leaving Louisville… I will be sad to leave. I really like the members here and those that we have helped. We won’t know for sure what will happen till we get the call on this Saturday but if it changes I will be very surprised. It is hard to believe that I have been here for almost 6 months now! It doesn’t feel like it! It really doesn’t feel like I have been with Elder Arterburn that long either. I will miss him. We have become really good friends, but I will be blessed to make another friend this next transfer!

            This week we had lunch with Bishop Gordon and his family, which was sweet! He is a really good Bishop and I really like him. They wanted to feed us one last time before we got broken up, and so they took us to a Mexican restaurant which was great! They are an awesome family. We also had an appointment with this family that we found, the husband, Mark, is a member who doesn’t really go anymore and his wife, Brittany, isn’t a member but her mom is a convert and she would attend church with her mom in another ward when she was younger. We were able to talk to the Bishop of the ward that she attended and he gave us some information and was very helpful! We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she had some great questions. She really likes the Plan of Salvation but still has some concerns that arise from her personal beliefs. We committed them to come to church and they agreed. The member that was with us offered to give them a ride because Mark and Brittany don’t have a car and they agreed! On Saturday I guess Brittany and their son TJ got sick and so they couldn’t make it, but the member who found this out when he called committed them to come next week!         

            We also had an amazing lesson with Doug Smith last night. Doug had to cancel on Wednesday but rescheduled for last night. The spirit definitely attended our lesson because I felt so peaceful and was able to convey to Doug my thoughts and what I wanted to say. Our lesson was supposed to be on how to recognize the spirit because he mentioned that he struggles feeling it and receiving answers to his prayers. We switched half way through the lesson and mainly based it off Doctrine and Covenants Section 88, verse 33, which basically says that if we don’t really appreciate the gifts we have it is as if we never received them. I had been struggling with this for a little while and have been doing a lot better at realizing who I am instead of who I am not, and what I have instead of what I don’t have. Last night I realized why I was struggling with this, and that is because I was meant to know how to get out of that and help Doug get out of that because he was experiencing that trial as well. It just all made sense when I told him that he needs to learn to see the good in himself because he really doesn’t. In that moment and right now I realize that all my trials and challenges have some way given me experience to be able to help someone else who is experiencing that challenge. That doesn’t mean that I like challenges. Haha It is a humbling experience when you realize that truth that we may struggle not just to help ourselves but to help others.

            I have to go now, I hope that you have a great week! By the way I am going to the eye doctors today and will tell you next week how that goes. I love you all more than you know. I thank you for your prayers for me I definitely need them and appreciate them. Have a great week and fun week and I will talk to you next week!

Much Love

Elder Lassen

Miracle of the week: Mi Familia

We told Will this week that we are moving @ the end of this month even if our home hasn’t sold yet.  We feel we need to get in & settled before his younger sisters start school.  As you can read, he is very supportive.

Dearest Family

It is good to hear from you! I have had a good week this week. It has been pretty eventful. It is good to hear about your decision to move to be closer. I have been praying for you and feel calm about the future and that all will work out. I hope that you travel safely. I feel that the house will sell soon, as I pray for you every night I have lately been feeling a comfort that it will sell and all will work out. I love you very much and thank you for your prayers for me. Thanks for the money that you put into my account, I will probably get my eyes checked and see what happens, I may get glasses, probably not  until I tell you how it went next Monday. Thanks for the package that you sent! It was really nice and I appreciated it! Elder Arterburn enjoyed the goodies as well, he didn’t really get anything and it has been getting to him so thanks for remembering him! I love you!

So this week was good. On Monday we had a good lesson with a tenant of Sister Bements, the member who has a private pond that we fish at. Her name is Rachel and she is in the Air force and is currently going to school in Boulder. She is really nice and we have enjoyed teaching her. We taught her the first lesson on Monday and the second lesson on Thursday. Rachel has been reading the sections of scripture that we give her, and she prayed about the Book of Mormon.  We have been praying for her and that she will receive an answer. She did however tell us the last time we taught her that she didn’t believe the account of Jesus appearing to the people in the Americas happened. I was saddened but when she receives her answer that the Book of Mormon is true she will know it did and it will be awesome! We have a lesson with her tonight and we are praying and hoping that it goes well!

We also taught John on Tuesday! We did some service for him and during that we took a break and taught him about God and figured out his view of Him, and gave him a section of the Book of Mormon to read. Hopefully he has read and felt the spirit, we will meet with him again this Tuesday! We also had a great lesson with Doug Smith, we really felt the spirit strongly and we felt as instruments in the Lord’s hands as we taught by the spirit. Doug is slowly making progress and it was awesome to hear him as he told us that we have been his life line and with out us stopping by he doesn’t know where he would be. We are trying to help him realize that coming to church will greatly improve his week and help him feel the spirit. We really love him and enjoy the time we have spent with him.

We also got to have our 4^th of July picnic on Saturday. It was a lot of good food and fun. We were able to talk for most of the time with the Husband and Mother-in-law of a recent convert. It was great to be able to get to know them more and I hope that we had a made a good impression with them. We also got to go see a baptism for an investigator in the Boulder Ward. We also saw Travis, the man that Elder Arterbun and I taught back in March that was baptized, he gave a talk on Baptism at the Baptism and related the story of his Baptism and it really touched me and I felt the spirit.

We had a great 4^th of July! We had dinner with Sister Decker, an older single lady in the ward who really likes Elder Arterburn and I, and her son! We had good food and enjoyed the company. We also saw some people on the west side of the South Boulder hill, and as we were coming back to work more by home, we were at the top of the hill and were trying to decide what to do about dinner tomorrow because something came up, as we pondered we thought of some ideas. We then saw a bolt of lightening not too far away and hear a super loud crack of thunder! I was enjoying it but Elder Arterburn suggested that we move down the hill, it then started to sprinkle, and as we kept going the rain got harder and harder! It was intense! There wasn’t a part of me that wasn’t wet by the time we got home! We were out in the rain for maybe 10 minutes but that was enough to soak us through! I was able to cover my backpack with this rain cover that it came with, it protected my belongings but my clothes were soaked my tie was soaked, my shoes were full of water and I couldn’t stop from laughing because of what was happening! It was a fun way to end the day! Haha Well that is about it for this week! I hope that you are all kept safe and watched out for! I love you all very much! Have a great rest of the week! I will talk to you next Monday! I love you all so much!

Love

Elder Lassen

Miracle of the week: Gratitude, A lot of the people we have talked to this week haven’t really been interested in the wonderful message that we share and one day it kind of got to me and because of my short sightedness overlooked the fact that I have been blessed with the Gospel, when I had this ah ha moment I was overwhelmed with thankfulness towards Heavenly Father that I know this gospel it true.

I love you all so much!

Dear Family,

I am glad to be able to hear from you! I really enjoyed your e-mails! This week has been nice!  So this week we were able to do some more service with John! It was fun! At the end he fed us some buffalo burgers which were delicious! We also invited him to take the missionary lessons and he said that he would be more accepting to a discussion and not a set lesson but we’ll take what we can get! We will teach him tomorrow on Tuesday!

We also had an appointment with the William’s family on Tuesday which went really well. We taught about the Atonement, baptism, and the sacrament, the main theme being the forgiveness of sin and the washing clean of our mistakes. It never really occurred to me before my mission this wonderful fact but it has greatly changed me and I have really used the Atonement to be forgiven for my mistakes! I can never thank Heavenly Father enough for sending Jesus Christ to suffer for our sins. We committed them to come to church this Sunday and Sister Williams came but the older kids didn’t and the younger kinds couldn’t because they were with their father. I really hope that things work out for them because they really have had a rough past.

We also helped the 2nd Councilor in the Bishopric move a piano this week. That was a funny experience. We went to lift the piano and it was just me and another man and he was pretty strong and I am not, he lifted up his end no problem and I was just shocked that I lifted it up, I carried it for about 2 feet then almost dropped it! Haha We moved it safely to his house, it was a good work out though. Haha

We also had a chance to do a little bit of service for Mike. We invited him to the Ward 4^th of July picnic and he wanted to go but he will be out of town that weekend. When he get back we will talk to him again and hopefully he will accept the invitation to take the missionary lessons! We had another great lesson with Doug Smith. He is doing well and has made a lot of improvement but hasn’t really come back to church yet. He is praying and asking if he should accept a calling that was extended to him to make the ward programs on Sunday. Doug is a really great man, he doesn’t really think he is which is sad to see, but we are really seeing improvements it his life. It is really awesome!

We went out to Gunbarrel twice this week. The first time we biked out there in the hot summer heat and that was probably a bad idea. I was fine and we had a great day and saw some people that we usually don’t get to see. The next day however Elder Arterburn was suffering from heat exhaustion. He felt really hot the whole day and had no energy, so we called Sister Ely and she told us to stay in and take it easy. On Saturday we had an awesome experience and went to the Temple! We went with Bro Thompson who is a temple worker and so we went down with him for his shift which is from 12:00pm-5:45ish pm. It was so much fun! On the way down there, there was a ladder in the middle of a lane on the freeway, and we barely dodged it! The Lord was looking out for us! We had a lot of fun serving in the Temple, since we had so much time went to the Baptistery and asked if they needed some help and they did so we were able to witness Baptisms for the dead for an hour or 2. It was a lot of fun. It made me realize that the Lord really loves everyone and give all a second chance to accept him and his Gospel, even after they have passed from this life!

Overall this week has been great! Elder Arterburn and I are getting along really well! We are working hard and seeing the blessings. For example, yesterday we got a call from a member wanting to set up an appointment with us because her friend wants to take the missionary lessons! So we are teaching her tonight! We also have an appointment with Jay at 7:00pm! Thanks for all of your prayers in my behalf, they really do help! I love you all and hope that you have a wonderful week! I love very much!

Love

Elder Lassen

Miracle of the week: The Lord blessed us with a member referral. We have been tracting and talking to people on the street and praying that the Lord will lead us to those who are ready and his is!

I love you family!