Cassidy's Letter Dec. 23, 2014

Merry Christmas!

The day after tomorrow is Christmas... it is practically here! (just had to throw one grinch quote in here.)  I can't believe how fast it came though. Time is going so fast! And things are going SO good here. I had such an awesome week. I feel like I have so much to say and no time to say it so here I go

First of all TINA. We made some huge progress with her. So basically the other day we couldn't figure out what to teach her.. because she has met with missionaries for so long and seems to have learned like everything.. but it feels like she doesn't understand the basics. Like she doesn't understand that God is her father who loves her. But we were scared to take it back to like the beginning lessons because we didn't want to offend her or anything. Just a hard situation. Anyways so we went to see her and the whole time I was praying to have the Spirit to know what the heck she needed... and we had a good conversation that led to her saying "This is probably stupid. But I want to, and think, that maybe I should go back to the basics and start at the very beginning. (ps right then a cooking tv show called "back to the basics" came on. Talk about a sign.) I want to start as if I don't know anything. I want to start with who is God." And the spirit was so strong and it was a huge miracle because that is exactly what she needs.. and it is her idea! So it is going to work so well. I am really excited about it. ONLY downer... she got kidney stones the other day and is in a ton of pain. Another miracle happened with that. She called us crying in pain and asked if we knew of anyone who could babysit her kids so she could go to the emergency room... and so we were all over it calling everyone in the world... and no one could. And I was about to lose it.. and I just prayed that someone could do it.. and right then this lady came into my mind. But she ALWAYS works. Like always. So I almost didn't call her. But I did... and huge miracle somehow she wasn't at work and was able to! Crazy answer to my prayer! And the lady said "It is really amazing I took today off of work. I think it is because Heavenly Father knew that I needed to be here to help her." SO COOL.

Also get ready for another crazy story. So I have been going to physical therapy the past few weeks because ya know my leg is all messed up. Anyways so while I was doing my stuff my companion was obviously in the waiting room talking to people. And the other day we found out that a lady she talked to contacted Karl Anderson (the coolest guy ever who writes all the books about Kirtland) and she apparently used to be good friends with him, and she told him about meeting the missionaries and how she could feel a strong spirit! And we got to call her and we are hopefully going to get to meet with her. But it was just the craziest thing that God needed me to be at physical therapy so that we could meet her. Like He works in the craziest ways sometimes and it is so cool to see how everything is for a reason. Let's just hope that was the reason my leg was messed up and now it can heal. haha

And then yesterday when I was at the doctor's I gave my doctor a He is the Gift card.. and she said "Can I have some more. I need to give these to people I see. I can give them all the pills they want.. but Jesus Christ is really the only one that can make things better." All I can say is amen to that.

I also narrowly escaped death once again. It is a CHRISTMAS MIRACLE I survived washing this lady's dirty dishes. So we go to her house to take her cookies like nice people do.. and she was telling us how she had pneumonia for the past few weeks and hadn't done her dishes in 3 weeks.. and I offered to help... and yeah basically sacrificed my life. I don't even know what was growing on those dishes. First of all there were like two thousand of them..  and she tried to light a candle to mask the smell... yeah here to tell you that didn't work. There was so much mold that was white and black and some weird orange stuff... and it was bad. I mean bad. My companion couldn't even touch them so I did it all.. she was standing against the wall on the other side literally gagging... haha it was actually funny. I was just laughing at it. Someone God literally made it so I wasn't grossed out and I was able to do it all... even though it took over an hour..... but I can honestly say I felt so good after! Even though I still might die from the mold I inhaled.. it felt really good to do something for someone that they couldn't do for themselves! Doing service really is the best way to be happy. Next time I will just be sure to bring a mask.  haha


Friday was actually one of the funnest days ever. I got to go on exchanges with Sister Smith who used to be my companion back in Hiram. It was like old times! And we got to meet with the super cool guy who came to church a few weeks ago just because he is interested. We had lunch with him and taught him basically all about the Restoration and Plan of Salvation and it seemed like he really enjoyed it! He has super awesome questions and was really just so cool. And we gave him a Book of Mormon.. and like 30 minutes later he texted us and told us one of his ancestors painted the painting of Joseph Smith that is in the book. Haha it was crazy.

We got to see Sister Leyde who had put her not so skinny dog in a sweater that was way too small and it was the funniest thing I have ever seen. And then we went to the Grimms.. and they were trying to show us this German candle fan thing that had angels on it.. yeah they caught one of the angels on fire and were freaking out and it was hysterical. Then they were singing to us in German and it was just funny. I was just sitting there wondering what the heck my life even is. Missions are so weird sometimes. I am sure going to miss all the weird things that happen all the time

Then we went caroling and it was so fun to see how happy people got when we started singing to them. This one lady literally almost started crying (yeah a bit dramatic I know but just go with it..) but she said "This is a dream come true. I have waited 36 years to have carolers... and it actually happened. Dreams really do come true." and she brought us all cupcakes.. it was pretty cool to do something so easy and simple and have it make someone so happy!

And Jerry said the nicest thing this week! He was telling us again how amazing it is how much easier reading the scriptures is and how much it is helping him.. and he said "Ya know I have been meeting with missionaries a long time and haven't gotten any better... but you really pushed me to read and now I can. This is all because you pushed me and helped me. And I am really proud of you for that." It was so nice and it makes me so happy to see him making so much progress.

Good news. The choir performance wasn't a complete train wreck. And I am DONE SINGING for the rest of my mission. haha We did have to sing again on Sunday night at a Christmas Hymn Sing in the Kirtland temple... but that was fun because it was the temple and Christmas and the spirit is always really strong there. But seriously I am going to die if I have to sing in one more thing. I turned into a Jr Nun and now no one will leave me alone. haha

And I have just been having so much fun giving He is the Gift cards to every human I see. I beat my record and gave out 30 the other day! It is like the funnest (and sometimes really funny to see what people do when I just randomly start talking to them) to just go up to people and talk to them about Christ. Some people are not so nice.. but I have only been rejected like 10 times. Most people are super nice and it is just so fun. I am going to be super depressed when I don't get to give them out anymore!

BUT I AM JUST SO EXCITED FOR CHRISTMAS! It really is the best time of year. I love that so many people are open to talking about Jesus Christ. I wish that people would stay like this the whole year. I have just really loved being a missionary and getting to help people feel Christ's love full time. It is the best way to spend Christmas. I am so grateful that I know He lives and that He loves me. I am grateful for everything He did and for the things He has made possible for me. Especially that I can be with my family forever!

I love you all and hope you have a great Christmas! :)

Love Cassidy

Cassidy's Letter December 16, 2014

Well.... here I am again... this is my like 65th letter I believe.... that is a lot. I can't believe you aren't totally sick of hearing me ramble yet. Maybe you are... I definitely don't blame you! But I am going to contiune on anyways!

So this week was good as usual. Not too many crazy cool things happened. People were pretty normal this week. Which was very.. abnormal. But there was some pretty good stuff.

First of all.. we were having dinner at these member's house.. and they have like 10 children and none of them wear deodorant.. and that is all I will say about that. But we were eating dinner, and these two little kids start talking about how they like the candies called "Sour Warheads".. and then their dad... being completely intense and serious said... "Children. Do NOT talk about war in this household." ...... hahahahah it was literally the weirdest funniest thing ever. I almost started laughing but I was too scared he would hurt me. But man it was funny.

Okay. COOL NEWS WITH TINA. She is quitting smoking! We went over.. and she had gone to the doctor and got medicine to help her quit! So she should be done now actually. It is so cool that she is making so much progress! I can already tell that she is happier and doing better since we met her a few weeks ago. She even said  "I have noticed a big difference in my life since I have started praying every day and reading the scriptures." and she said "And now that I am getting clean inside.. I can start doing more of the things that God wants me to." As always it is the best thing ever to see people make positive changes. Makes the mission so worth it.

And apparently ever since we became Jr. Nuns and sang in The Messiah... we are officially nominated to sing in everything now. So we are singing in the church choir.. but it is actually okay because it is FUNNY. So there are mostly all old fogies in our branch, so already it is comical, but then the funniest lady is the choir director and she has no clue what is going on. But she was insisting that the sopranos sit on the left side.. and this other lady started freaking out and said "They always sit on the right. I am not moving" and the director said "No they are on the left. That is how it is." and the other lady got all mad.. and stood up and was like "I QUIT." and left. (I assume she wanted a dramatic exit... but since she has to use a walker and it takes like 4 minutes for her to get out.. it was just hilarious." Man gotta love old people drama.

Another cool miracle is with Jerry! He is just making a world of progress. I think I told you that he finished the Book of Mormon.. and now he started the New Testament.. and has already read the first 2 books in like 2 weeks. It is just insane because when I met him he wouldn't even read a verse a day. And I was talking to him about how cool it is to see the change in him and he said "I have to read now. I have to do it every day. I just had no clue that it would actually help me so much. But it does." Proof is in the pudding. It works.

Oh and I got to see some of my favorite people from Hiram the other night at the visitor center. They all want me to come back and visit when I am done with my mission. It is always fun when people actually remember you. And I saw Brother Jeffery... you probably don't remember him but he was an older guy who would say the funniest things ever. He would tell us to "stop wearyin'" every sunday.. and it was so funny we had a banner in our house that said that.  And he was crackin me up on Saturday. He kept saying "Don't weary. Wearyin' will put you in your grave." and he means "worrying" but he says "wearyin'". And he said "Wearyin' will give you gray hairs. You don't want that. So STOP WEARYIN'". hahaha everyone stop wearyin'! It will all be okay!

We also got to see the Grimms. They are cool as always. Dieter missed church because he slept in.. and Sister Grimm was like "I hate when you sleep in until 11" and he said "Well..be grateful I sleep less than the other people my age. They never wake up. Because they are dead." Good one Dieter.

The sad news of the week is that some of the Graves got in a bad car wreck. They are all going to be okay, but I know their car was totaled and they are really having a rough time. SO please please please keep them in your prayers. They need it! But I am really grateful they are all alive. I would have had a heart attack. But the one cool thing.. well okay it wasn't cool because they couldn't come to church which was really sad... but JoDee did come all by herself! Which is like the most amazing thing of my life. She used to not even come all the time with them.. but never would she alone.. but now she is! She is totaly turning her life around and quitting smoking and working towards the temple and man just so cool. I say that about everything like every week.. so sorry this is super redundant and boring. But really it never gets old to see the Gospel completely change someone's life. And it always starts by really small little things.. and then you look back and huge miracles have happened! I have absolutely loved that about my mission.

I love getting to put on a nametag that has Jesus Christ's name on it. I am really going to miss that. I love representing Him. And I just love talking to people about Christ and the hope He can bring us. That is what I am really grateful for this Christmas time. I am thankful that I have a sure knowledge that I can and am forgiven of my mistakes, that God and Jesus Christ know me and love me and are leading my life, and that I can be with my family forever.  That knowledge gives me so much peace and it really is the best gift in the whole world!

I hope you are all having a great Christmas season! I love you lots and miss you!

Love Cassidy

Christmas Pictures from Cassidy 12-9-14

Cassidy's Letter 12-9-14

Hello everyone... I would like to announce that I am officially a JUNIOR NUN.

Yep that is right. In the Messiah performance this weekend at the Notre Dame Catholic church they put me in the program as a NUN.

So that is I guess a good thing to know. All those times on my mission when people asked if I was a Nun and I said no... I was lying. Oh well. hahah really though how funny is that. Also I LIVED! The Messiah was actually pretty fun. Well besides that both the shows were like 3 hours long and I might have fallen asleep a few times (Sleepyrandy over here).. it was a lot of fun. We raised over 12,000 dollars for a hunger shelter. And it was just a really neat experience to be with people from all different faiths celebrating the birth of Christ. And now I a professional at the Hallelujah chorus!

I just can't believe that is is Christmas time already. Christmas is in 2 weeks.... WHAT. We have been full force encouraging everyone to watch He is The Gift. If you are reading this and you haven't watched it yet... go to christmas.mormon.org RIGHT NOW and watch it. It is so good! I love it because it is just simple and powerful and reminds us that what really matter is Christ was born and died for us because He loves us so much. And that is all that matters. We were challenged to give out 10 cards a day to people encouraging them to watch it. I have been going to all extremes. I GAVE ONE TO SANTA this week. Yep. I waited in line like 5 year old and when he asked what I wanted I gave him the gift instead. haha. It was really funny. There was this Christmas lighting festival at the main square in Chardon and it was super fun. Ya gotta love Christmas time.

Let's see... I feel like all of this week I was singing my head off. But oh okay so want to hear the coolest story ever? So last Sunday ... this young college aged guy just showed up at church.. and I assumed it was someone's son home for Thanksgiving or something... well no turns out he just was really curious about our church so he decided to come. And we talked to him for like a minute and then he had to go. But we called him on Wednesday and he said that he loved church and loved how welcome everyone made him feel.. and how we have people from the congregation speak and no one is paid. He said that when he gets home from school this week he wants to meet with us and learn more! AHH. How cool is that. He literally just CAME to church and WANTS to learn more.... and he was normal. So basically a dream come true. Hahah an early christmas miracle that is for sure.

Also things are going good with Stephen! We had a really good lesson with him this week and he is still planning on getting baptized January 23rd! That is going to be the best last night of a mission ever. But we taught him about the Gospel and about repentance and baptism.. and it was cool.. we asked him why he wants to get baptized and he said "Well I feel good when I am at church. I never felt that at other churches. It feels good and I know it is true. And I want to get baptized so I can get back to Heavenly Father. And I am finding more reasons to get baptized everyday." It was so cool! And reminded me of how simple it is. It feels good and makes people happy... and that is why I love being a missionary. Because happiness isn't a hard thing to have once  you realize that it doesn't matter who you are or what you have, if you are doing what God wants He will bless you to be happy.

We got to see Tina again this week. We had a really good lesson about the Atonement. I think things will be slower moving with her... but it was definitely a miracle that we were led to her so we aren't giving up!

Things have been getting slower at the visitor center. But our Nativity exhibit is in full swing so people are coming for that! And we spend a lot of time on the computers chatting with people. I seriously talk to the weirdest people. Yesterday I got about 59 people who came on wanting to fight we me about how we "aren't Christian". I just wish I could throw a dictionary at people and tell them to read what a Christian is... haha clearly we are. And then people want to argue about the Book of Mormon. First of all I try not to argue back at all. But man I have such a hard time when people are jerks about the Book of Mormon. I love it so much. And I literally LOOSE my mind when people don't even try to read it and then bash it. Give it a shot at least people!  I am reading it for the last time of my mission right now... my 12th time through! I can't even believe that. I would have never thought that was possible before my mission.  But it has completely changed my life. And I am just simply studying Jesus Christ my last time though.. and all I can say is it truly is the best way to learn about Him and feel close to Him. I am so grateful that I can have a personal relationship with Him.. and that I get to spend this best time of the year as His missionary helping others feel His love too.

I hope you all know I love you and miss you and that I am excited to see you next month!

I hope you are all having a good Christmas time! Share He is the Gift. Because it is cool and I said so okay great bye.

LOVE YOU

love Cassidy

Picture of Cassidy 12-3-14

Baptism day!

Cassidy's Letter 12-3-14

Happy December!

I can't believe it is Christmas time already. That came so fast. This past week was such a good week. Some of the most uplifting and spiritual experiences of my mission!

Thanksgiving was so much fun. I had my very first deep fried turkey... and I must say it was really pretty darn good. One of the best turkeys I have ever had. But the best part of Thanksgiving was while we were at the Graves, we all went around and said what we are thankful for. And Brother and Sister Graves both started crying and said how grateful they are for the gospel, and for us missionaries and for how we have blessed their lives and their family. It was one of the sweetest experiences. Even the younger kids said how thankful they are for us and it just made me so happy. I am so thankful for them and for them letting me be a part of their lives. I am grateful that God put me here to meet them and to be with them. I honestly know that they will be a part of my life forever. Nothing makes you love someone more than helping them change and improve their lives. It makes me want to do it for the rest of my life. We also spent some time playing Monopoly... yeah I decided I am never allowed to play that game with humans again. I am way too competitive. JoDee said "I didn't know missionaries could ever be so mean." I guess I found what makes me evil. And I didn't even win. Scam. hahah

And Sunday was Sam's baptism!! IT HAPPENED! And it went a billion times better than I ever even thought that it could. It started just so good.. and we went to the room for the actual baptism.. and I wish there were words to describe how powerful the spirit was. It was incredible. One of the happiest moments of my mission. And after, while they changed, I got to bare my testimony, and Sister Heckert (my old companion) bore her testimony.. which was also such a neat moment. It was really amazing to see how much she has grown while I was companions with her. She is amazing. It is just cool. But then JoDee bore her testimony.. and oh man I wish you could have just been there. She was crying (and if you saw her 2 months ago when we met her... she was hard and just totally different), and she said "I have never felt the spirit as strong as I have today seeing Sam get baptized. I am so grateful. And I know that this is true." and it was the most sincere and powerful testimony I have ever heard. I will never  forget it. And then it got even better. Sam bore his testimony... and he went up there with tears in his eyes.. and said he was so grateful to be baptized.. and so grateful he can having the Holy Ghost and be with his family for forever.. and then he started crying and said "When I came up out of the water... .. I couldn't tell you a single thing I have done wrong in my whole life."  It was the sweetest, most powerful thing. I can't even do anything justice because there really aren't words. But all I can say the gospel is so true. Seeing how happy their entire family was.. just changed my life. That is what this is all about. Helping other families come together and be together for eternity. And I got to see a glimpse of that. And I just feel so blessed!

So that was the highlight of the week. It was too good.

But some other cool things happened too! So basically we had like 1 day to be regular missionaries because of Thanksgiving.. and then we had a meeting in Cleveland.. adn then we were at the visitor's center. Anyways so Saturday we were out in our area.. and we were trying to see this lady named Sister Leyde that we go visit. Well she was in the hospital.. but she got moved. And NO ONE knew where she was. We literally called like 20 people and no one would answer and we could not find her. I was losing my mind. And we were just praying like crazy that we would find her... and we would get so close and then no. So we decided to go see a member who lives in these apartment... and we pull up and I had this really strong impression that we needed to go see this former investigator named Tina. (Well I thought her name was Cindy... and yeah it wasn't so lets just that led to a very awkward moment that I don't even want to type haha) any who.. so we stop by Tina. She lets us in.. but is very like visibly annoyed at the world. And we start talking to her for a bit and she starts doing a bit better.. and then she said "I don't mind that you are here. But can I ask... what made you even come here today?" and I told her that our other plans fell though and for some reason I felt like we needed to stop by. And then we asked her why she thought we came.. and she said "Well to be honest.. I have been really depressed lately. More depressed than I have been in a really long time. And last night it was so bad, and I prayed to God and asked Him to send someone for me to just talk to. And now you guys are here."

What.

WE WERE STRAIGHT UP LED TO HER. How insane is that. And the craziest thing is right after we left her... we were able to get a hold of Sister Leyde and find out where she was. So God literally needed us to go see Tina. And we couldn't find Sister Leyde until we had. And we were able to just talk to Tina and help her and now we are going to start teaching her. But man God answers prayers. And He really cares about His children. Honestly that was just too crazy. And the best thing ever. I LOVE feeling like God is just using me to help other people. Nothing is as satisfying. It was so cool.

And it was a miracle to find Sister Leyde. That has actually become the like constant quest. Because yesterday we went to visit her at the nursing home... and she was gone from there again. Luckily we found her at the ICU at the hospital. She was so grateful to see us. She got a blessing the other day and she said "I have been in so much pain.. and once they laid their hands  on me I felt better". Miracle number two thousand.


ALSO yesterday we had mission conference INSIDE the Kirtland Temple. Coolest thing ever. No other mission in the world gets to do that. And there is nothing better than being with 200 missionaries inside. I feel like it is a little taste of what it would have been like to be there back when the saints sacrificed their lives to build it. And even though we don't own the temple anymore.. the spirit is still so strong there. I love when we get to sing "The Spirit of God". It always makes me think back to when I was a little girl and I loved that song.. and now I am here on a mission inside the temple singing it. I never in a million years would have thought I would be here doing this.  I am just really grateful that God had a mission planned for me. It has definitely not been easy at all, but it has been so worth it. I have learned more about what is important and how to be happy and just what really matters than I ever thought I would. I thought that I was coming on my mission to help other people... and I am.. but I never really realized how much it would help me. I can't imagine the rest of my life without the knowledge that i have gained while I have been here. I can honestly say that I know Jesus Christ lives and that He loves me and that I know doing what He has taught is the only way to be truly happy.

Also, we had dress rehearsal with the singing Nuns on Sunday! The performances are this weekend. I bet you all wish you could see.  It is just funny because we literally are the only ones under the age of 70. But it is a pretty fun experience. I tried to get some footage on my  camera without being caught not singing... I am excited to see how it goes. Stay tuned for that one.

Okay and funny story. So this senior couple the Robbins are basically our best friends and the other night they took 4 of us sisters to get ice cream.. and we are there eating and they had a calander of their flavors for the month. And Elder Robbins (who is this oldie) was like " I need to circle the ones I like so that I can know when to come back" and so he starts reading them to himself.. and he is circling every single day. I was laughing my head off. I love them and I love that they love ice cream so much. They have us over every Sunday night for ice cream too. They always say that ice cream can fix all our problems.... it has worked so far.

So I probably should go eat some more right now.

Well I have to go! I hope you have a great week! I am grateful for all the love and support.

Love Cassidy

Thanksgiving Letter 11-25-14

Hello!

Well I officially survived what I think was the longest week of my entire mission haha. I am with my new companion, Sister Hancock! She is from Arizona. Funny story actually.. I took some people on a tour at Kirtland like 2 months ago and they said their friend would be coming to our mission... so they took a picture of me and my last companion and I guess they posted it on Sister Hancock's facebook and said "One of these sisters could be your trainer" and then... bam I am! Pretty funny stuff. She is really nice. And she is the one who went to culinary school.... but she has yet to cook anything. It appears she is hiding her skills or something. haha hopefully I will get to try something soon!

This was a really really good week though. And this coming week is going to be so awesome. Sam gets baptized on SUNDAY! It is actually here! I feel like we have been talking about it for like 10 thousand years and now it is happening. We had a good lesson with Sam and with their family. They really are like family to me now too because I have spent so much time with them and I really love them a lot. We had a big branch dinner the other night and I was sitting with Sam and it was just him and he said "I have to miss my big wrestling tournament on Sunday so I can get baptized. But it's okay because getting baptized is way more important." It was the cutest thing! And it wasn't like his parents made him say that, he was just talking to me. It is so cool. And JoDee (she is part of the big Graves family) was talking to us about the temple and how badly she wants to go.. and the other day she said "I set up an interview to work towards getting my recommend. I am going to the temple with my family in the spring. I will be there" and it is SO COOL because she has never gone before and she is just so determined. She has completely changed since the first time I met her. It is honestly the coolest thing in the world to see how much the gospel can change people and how much happier it can make them. I am so glad I get to see it. OH and DezaRae (she is one of the Graves, she is like 22) just got her very first calling ever! Their whole family is just making amazing changes. And I can honestly say it makes me happier than anything else ever has. It is just the most satisfying and real happiness knowing I have been able to help people truly improve their lives. And we get to go to the Graves for thanksgiving and it will be a full blown party I am sure. I am really excited. If I can't be with my family, I am sure glad I can be with theirs!

Let's see... we also saw the Grimms! Man I love Dieter. He is just too cool. He made about 12 billion jokes about how much salt I use. People will never get over that haha. Everywhere I go it like I am an alien or something because I put salt on food. But anyways we had a very intense lesson with him. It scared Sister Hancock to death haha. I am used to it by now. But I was talking about how we have to pray and specifically ask for answers if we want God to speak to us.. and Dieter just gets all intense and looks at me and says "WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME" and I was like... I want you to pray and ask if this church is true. And then he started going off on this long tangent about how we don't know what is really in his heart and he said "You don't even know. I say one thing but I actually mean something else.  Inside I am right on the fence about to do it.. but because of what I say you don't understand" and I was about to jump out of my chair in excitement hearing that he is on the fence. HE IS SO CLOSE. And I finally know what his hold up is. We are making some serious progress. I am just PRAYING sooo hard that it will happen. It would be such a miracle for him and his family. Oh and at the end.. he said "come here and give me hug. I am sorry for all the things I said to you." hahah he always gets so worked up and intense and then feels so bad. Man Dieter is the best. I hope you can meet him someday.

We got to see this crazy lady named Sally who lives in like a controlled apartment place. And you have to get buzzed in.. but she NEVER lets us in... so this random other lady let us in and I was pumped.. so we went to sally's room and she was having  a meltdown. She said "Who let you in here. They can get reported. Was he bald? Was he short? I WILL FIND OUT WHO IT WAS" and I was trying not to laugh the whole time. Also she said she couldn't come to the branch dinner because she hit her rib on a counter. That is a good excuse. Also someone canceled on us last week because her son got a sunburn. HER SON. That was pretty low too haha

Our branch dinner really was the highlight of the week. We had so many people come. We beat the record of attendance for any activity by like 25 people so that was cool. The leaders are happy which makes our lives easier! And is was just super fun. Our Branch President was wearing  a fanny pack though so that was concerning. And also I heard the funniest thing.. we met a former investigator and she was like "Yeah we used to go to the.. what is it called... the twig?" and I lost it. Totally calling it the Chardon Twig instead of the Chardon Branch from now on. Too good.

Fiona is still doing awesome. She is so happy lately! She never talks about all the bad things that happened in her past anymore. It is the coolest change. We got to clean her room again.. yeah still terrifying. But we found her missing twilight movie and she acted like we had just given her a million dollars.

Oh and cool news... We FINALLY got to see Stephen again. He is doing good. This was funny though.. he was like "Yeah I haven't read a ton but I am at the end of 1st Nephi" and I was like "that's awesome what chapter are you in?" and he was like "I am at chapter 4" ........ hahaha yeah not the end but nice try. It was funny.

Sunday was spent with the Nuns once again. Gotta love my nun homies. TWO MORE WEEKS and I will no longer have to spend my days singing hard songs. I did realize though that the performances fall on FAST SUNDAY so not only do I have to stand and sing for 3 hours straight with a ton of old people... I also will be practically dead! This is definitely going to be a interesting experience. But it I must say it is a cool experience to work with people from different churches in doing something that just promotes Christ.

ALSO I can't believe it is already Thanksgiving and that Christmas is in a month. Probably the most exciting thing ever. November went by so fast it is almost uncomfortable. But Christmas time on the mission is the best. We get to have our mission conference inside the Kirtland Temple next Tuesday! And we are going to a Thanksgiving service inside the Temple tonight. My mission is SO COOL.

Well I am right outta time. I hope that everyone has a fun Thanksgiving! I will email on Wednesday next week instead of Tuesday. I love you!

Love Cassidy

Pictures of Cassidy 11-18-14

Cassidy's Letter 11-18-14

Merry Christmas!

It literally is the dead of winter here all of the sudden. We have a ton of snow and it is freezing. I want summer back. But despite it being a frozen tundra... we had a super fun week!

It started with the GRIMMS my favorite Germans! So okay funny story...so my companion and I  have been dying to have crepes for about a year.. so I called Sister Grimm and she said "we want to take you to a mexican restaurant for lunch" but we really just secretly wanted her to make us crepes.. so I was like "We can... but we really just love your cooking" and she said "you do?" and I said "Yep.. and we heard you make really good crepes...." and then she started laughing and said "Is that what you want... crepes" and SCORE hit caught and guess what.. she made us an endless feast of delicious crepes with fruit. It was literally heaven. She thought it was hilarious that we wanted crepes. And then while we were there she kept making more and more... and she would make me dark ones.. and we had to keep eating them.. and literally I probably ate like 23 crepes. I thought I was going to die. I felt like an Elder from Tonga. hahah. But really. It was so much fun though. And in the meantime it was a massive snow storm outside. And Dieter was just being hysterical. I wish you could meet him. It was just a fun memory I will cherish forever.

And we had such a good lesson with Dieter. He is the one who won't get baptized because he promised his mom he wouldn't right before she died a long time ago. I had spent all morning praying and trying to figure out what to teach him.. and it was a huge miracle. So we had it all planned out and we were just going to use our scriptures and stuff.. but right as we were walking out the door I had a feeling like I should grab my conference ensign even though I didn't need it...so I went and got it.. and right in the middle of our lesson with Dieter he started talking about how he can't believe what he doesn't see... and that morning I had studied a talk in the ensign from Preisdent Uchdorf that was exactly perfect for Dieter. So I read part to him and he said "That all makes sense now. I understand. That was very good" which is HUGE for him.  We are making a ton of progress. I honestly feel like the reason I am here right now is for him. He is so close. He goes to church every week, he loves it, he knows the gospel is true.. he just is not accepting it. But it is my goal while I am here! Man I just love the Grimms and crepes and the Gospel. Doesn't get better.

And then after the Grimms... we managed to get stuck in our car going up a hill... and we couldn't get anywhere... until we prayed and then not even joking we somehow started moving. PRAYER WORKS. Always.

But apparently not everyone else in Chardon knows that. Because it was a mess. It took us over 40 minutes to get 2 MILES though the little downtown. I almost lost it. We ended up having to cancel the rest of our 5 appointments because everyone driving had lost their minds. haha not a joke. It took is like an hour to do a drive that normally takes maybe 10 minutes. Ohioans these days...

Then it was really depressing.. on Friday I was supposed to go to trainers meeting in Cleveland at the mission home.. but thanks to the snow they decided to cancel it. I was super bummed.  But we did get to have a super fun dinner with the Nelsons. They are my favorite family ever! After dinner we were supposed to see this couple named the Marx.. but she called and said, while she was coughing up a lung, "I don't know if you still want to come over. I have pneumonia and Brother Marx got in a car wreck.. but you are more than welcome to come over." I was like...... yeah no thanks I don't want pneumonia. What on earth people. hahah.  Then we got to see good ol Fiona! She called us and said "I really hope you aren't driving in this freaking weather." it was actually super sweet that she was worried about us. If you only could see how much progress we have made with her. She is so happy and laughing all the time and she doesn't bring up all the bad things that have happened in her life anymore.. it is so fun to see the change. She even lets us sing hymns with her and read scriptures.. which she never let us do when I first got here. And Saturday she let us help her clean her room... which not gonna lie was terrifying and I am just going to spare you the details of that one so you don't feel sick the rest of the day... but I really just love her and love how she helps me better understand how much God loves her and me.

Then yeah things got even more interesting this week because the other sisters that we share a car with... got in an accident (they are totally fine) but the car... yeah not so much. So we are currently car-less. So we have to scrounge off of everyone and their dogs for rides and it is a nightmare! It really complicates things. But luckily we have lots of awesome members who take care of us.. like the Graves! We basically spent all day at their house on Sunday due to the lack of a vehicle. But we had a really good lunch and then an awesome lesson. OH sidenote... guess what.. Sam spoke in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday. What kind of investigator speaks in Sacrament Meeting?... it was so cool. It was the best experience to hear him and then his sisters bear their testimonies! The girls have made amazing progress. They are 12 and 13.. and I remember when we first started going over there they we not interested at all.. now they are participating, taking notes, and begging us to stay. It just makes me so happy I can't even tell you. And Sunday night we sat with them at a fireside.. and at one point they had all the missionaries stand up, and when I sat back down Megan (one of the girls) said "I wish so badly I could stand up and be a missionary" it was the cutest thing. It just such blessing to see them love the Gospel! And JoDee who is their aunt, quit smoking! She has been less active for awhile..and she is totally coming back! She is working towards the temple now :) The Graves are just the coolest part of my mission. And the baptism is a go and I can't wait.

Sunday night we also got to go to this cute old couple named the Honeningmen's house for dinner. I have never met anyone who talked so much. The best line was:
"I don't know if you know this... I don't think it is common knowledge.. but the church actually pays the Mafia to take care of the missionaries."  Ha ha ha. Good to know. She probably doesn't even know what the Mafia is. Man I love old people.

Well... that sums up my week! I ONLY HAVE 9 more preparation days left. That means 9 more of these emails...

what the heck.

Too weird. I guess we just have to enjoy it while it lasts! I am excited to start a new transfer tomorrow and to meet the new sister I will be training! It is going to be so good I know it.

I am officially a grandma. But everyone calls me a "mom" since I am training a new missionary. My companion even bought me a "Mother To Be" sash. I will include pictures. It was pretty funny.

okay well I am out! Have a good week! Love you!

Pictures of Cassidy in Ohio 11-12-14

Top picture is Cassidy with Joan, who recently passed away. She was a great friend to Cassidy. Bottom picture is Cassidy with her companion at the Dollar Store.

11-12-14 Cassidy's letter from Ohio

HELLO.

Well biggest plot twist of this week... I got called to train a new missionary who is coming next week! IM SO EXCITED. It is really actually so weird because training takes 2 transfers and I leave in like a transfer and 2 weeks... so I won't finish training her.. but it is so meant to be. It is exactly what I need. I can't think of a better way to end my mission than to help someone else start theirs! It is going to help me so much to stay focused and working hard and not thinking about home which is just what I want. I really want to make the most of each day I have left here. ALSO... one of the sisters who is coming graduated from culinary school.. So I need everyone to start praying RIGHT NOW that she will be who I am with. That would be a dream. haha.

So that was good news. And we had a really good week!

Started a little interesting. Last Tuesday we went to a less active's house... and she was legit high on cocaine. It was the craziest thing. We didn't know she was until we had been there a bit. But she was acting so insane. She was talking super fast and then would be like "I painted my nails look" and then she would listen to our lesson and say that she needs to quit drugs so she can be happy again.. and then all the sudden she would like breath really deep and it sounded like darth vader (or however you spell that) and say "I am going to die from lung cancer listen". It was funny but mostly just really sad. It is so depressing to see people so deep in addiction and see how sad it makes them. Really made me grateful that if we don't ever drink or do any of that stuff we won't ever have to become addicted and let it control our lives. It is interesting how many people thing stuff like that will cure their problems and it never does. BUT the cool thing is people can overcome it and I am praying she will be able to.

We had another awesome lesson with Jerry! He has still been reading The Book of Mormon everyday and it is so cool to see the change he has made. He is honestly so much happier and the fact that his legs aren't hurting when they have been for years.. is just so awesome. I am sorry but no book that is made up could bring someone so much happiness and completely change them. It is one of the coolest miracles I have seen on my mission! Proves that doing really simple things can allow God to give us huge blessings.

We got to see Fiona again. Always an adventure. This time she showed us some old videos of her and her "band" called "The Pussycats". There was one where they were trying to rap and would say "We're the pussycats... yeah.... we're the pussycats.. meow" and Fiona was like dancing to it and thought it was the greatest thing ever hahah it was the best. I wish everyone could meet her. You just can't help but be happy when you're with her. And we are making progress with her! So she hates the church because someone said something mean to her once, and it really wasn't anything but she does have a mental disorder that causes her to hold on to things like that, anyways but she is starting to let us sing church songs with her! We sang the primary song about prayer.. and it was so neat. The spirit was super strong and she was just beaming and the whole time I felt God's love for her so strong. It was one of those times where I realize that I am just here to do God's work and He cares so much about Fiona that He needed me to come here to help her feel how much He loves here. It was a really special experience. After Fiona did say "My best friend is Jewish and so I am trying to transfer" hahah so there is that. hahah

I got to do my very favorite thing ever this week..... SING WITH NUNS. I was actually secretly praying that I would get transferred so that I wouldn't have to sing in this production.. but NOPE. Not that lucky. They are just so intense and overly dramatic about it. The funniest thing is the lady in my branch who is making us do it. First of all she had us to lunch before practice and fed us the scariest pizza and gave us carrots that were covered in white mold. Scary times. Then she was freaking out about transfers and said "You need to tell your mission president to send someone here who knows The Messiah already" and I was like..... are you serious? The point of our missions is not to sing in a production. Haha it was hilarious. The funniest part is my companion who is getting transferred is an amazing singer and does really good.. and I am the one left and man my poor new companion who is brand new. This is gonna be a hoot. I literally just have to mouth the words because I have no clue what is going on. I wish you could see it haha. Anyways that is that nightmare.

So the bummer of this week was we didn't get to see a SINGLE ONE OF OUR INVESTIGATORS. Yeah basically a catastrophe. Apparently the whole world is like sick or out of town or who knows what. I wanted to pull my hair out but I didn't don't worry. This week is looking a lot better though! Sam is for sure getting baptized on the 30th.. and I WILL BE HERE! I am so excited. I never get to be at the baptisms. This is an early Christmas miracle! And we have a new investigator who is ready and wants to get baptized... she is 17 and SO COOL, she is just waiting to be officially adopted so that she can. It is supposed to be soon so hopefully she will get baptized in the beginning of December! Lots of sweet things are coming up it is so fun. And so awesome I will get to be here for it all :) Heavenly Father is the best.

And the Graves are just the best. I can't even tell you how amazing it has been to see their family change. From my first Sunday here until now they are completely different. They are so much more unified and happy and the spirit is stronger in their home.. and I feel like I should be used to it by now... but I will never get over how much of a difference it makes when people are living the Gospel and putting it first in their lives. It doesn't make everything perfect by any means, but it makes people happy and hopeful. And that is why I am here and I feel so blessed to see all these people change.

And yesterday was my very last zone conference. It is so bizarre that I am at the point of having my "last" of things. Time goes so fast. We got to watch Meet the Mormons and it was so good! I was really impressed.

ANDdddddd I have to go! But it was a super awesome week! I will be emailing on Tuesday like normal next week. We have lots of cool stuff planned and I am excited. Pray our investigators will return from the dark abyss they somehow disappeared to...great thanks.

LOVE YOU!

Love Cassidy






11-4-14 Picture of Cassidy in Ohio

11-4-2014 Cassidy's Letter from Ohio

Happy NOVEMBER.

What the heck. How did that even happen so fast. Also this was the fastest week ever. And everyone and their dog was sick. But we still managed to have a good week! Okay well actually it was a super weird week. Really weird.

Susie and Stephen were both sick... so that was slightly depressing. But Susie did come to church and is still planning on getting baptized in a few weeks! So no worried there.

Wednesday was well kinda a bust of a day. I hurt my leg running last Tuesday and it didn't hurt too bad and I thought I was just maybe being a baby so I ran on it on Wednesday and yeah well bad idea. Spent most of the day calling doctors and going to the doctor. My mission president's wife was freaking out thinking I like tore my achilles tendon and she said "I am afraid this is the end for you Sister Jensen"... hahah she was like preparing for me to have to go home. Yeah right. The only way I would come home early is if I was in a body bag. Okay that was a bit gruesome. Happy halloween? Anyways it was only a strained achilles so WE ARE FINE. And it is actually amazing because it pretty darn bad to even walk on it.. but I fasted on Sunday and part of it asked that my leg would heal and guess what.... It DID. It doesn't even hurt at all. It is a legitimate miracle! I can't even tell which leg it was. So yeah miracle number 8034 of my mission!

Good news... we FINALLY got to see Fiona again! Man I missed her. She was as funny as ever. She told us about how she went to this dance party and there were 3 guys fighting over her and one called her "hot cheeks" and she was laughing so hard that it literally made me cry laughing. Then she was talking about peanut butter (of course... haha) and she said all serious "any peanut butter is good peanut butter" and then she said "I just eat it with a spoon" classic Fiona. She literally makes every day good.

Then okay it was crazy so everyone canceled... and I felt like really prompted to go stop by some members of our branch... so we get to their house and they weren't there.. so I was like k cool that was for nothing great. Then as we were walking back to our car someone yelled "Hi Sisters!" and we looked and there was this lady sitting out on her porch. We went over and talked to her and turns out she has met with the missionaries in the past and still reads The Book of Mormon.. but she stopped going to church and never got baptized. She said that she was having one of the worst days she had ever had.. and then she saw us. She said it wasn't a coincidence but knows it was God reaching out to her. HOW COOL IS THAT. We were led to the members house so that we would be able to meet her! It is amazing to me God is so aware of everyone and loves each one of us so much.. that He would have all our appointments fall through and lead us directly to her right when she needed it. It was awesome. Nothing is better than really feeling like God is just using me to help His children!

Luckily we can always count on the Graves to feed us and not cancel on us! And every lesson at their house is just so edifying. They have the most powerful testimonies I honestly just feel honored to be the missionaries who get to teach their family and help them get stronger in the Gospel. It has been such a great blessing to me.

Halloween was just straight up creepy! It started with the weirdest lunch of my mission. This member had us meet her at this slightly weird deli/store thing... and there were no places to sit inside.. so she decided we would get our food and then sit in her car. Already sounded awkward. Then I got this soup that literally had I don't even want to know what in it. So anyways we get our food and go to her car.... and there was, not exaggerating, 3 inches of dog hair EVERYWHERE. I almost died. So yeah just picture us sitting in this hairy car, that was freezing because it wasn't on, eating nasty soup. It was a mess. Hahah it was so bad that it was funny.

Then everyone (once again) decided to get sick or who knows for what reason everyone canceled. So we went and did some service at a party store blowing up balloons. Yeah it was weird. Then we stopped by a less active who actually let us in (that was a miracle) but she was so uptight about the trick or treaters that she wouldn't even let us talk.

Then the car we were driving decided that it would be fun to not have working headlights.. so almost died about 87 times driving home.

So needless to say it was slightly not one of the best days of my mission. Then I checked the mail and had a letter from "Lawley".. and I was SO EXCITED because I haven't heard from them in awhile (they were one of my favorite old couples in Aurora back in the spring).. so I open the letter... and I found out that Joan passed away. And I literally just started crying. I am actually still really depressed about it. And I am still in shock. She was only like 70 years old. I had just mailed her a letter like a week ago telling her I was so excited to call her when I was done with my mission. She was one of the number one people I was excited to get to see again. I have so many fun memories with her. She was such an answer to prayers the day we met. I will never forget praying with all my heart that someone would be nice enough to just talk to us and let us in out of the freezing cold.. and then we knocked on her door.. and she knocked back.. and then made us come in and drink hot chocolate! And then we became best friends. I spent so many hours at her house doing service and teaching her. And even though she was slightly crazy and had 890 scary dolls, I loved her so much.  I just can't believe that she is gone. The letter her husband Arlie sent was just so sad. It is comforting to know that she is in a better place and that she will be able to learn more about the Gospel on that side, I guess I was getting her ready. It is just hard though! It did make me realize how much the people I have met on my mission mean to me. I had no clue it was even possible to grow to love them so much. But I really do. I can't even express how grateful I am for all the people I have met who have literally changed my life.

But there you go.. bad day of the mission number one. haha.

Luckily Saturday was awesome! Started with the pancake breakfast with the Community of Christ Church. And that is always fun. Gotta love breakfast with a bunch of oldies.

Then we got to have lunch with the Grimms! She made a "traditional German feast" and yeah I totally felt like I was back in Germany. The sure love to stuff us full, literally. The meatloaf was a bit meatloafy.. but that was okay. With enough salt anything is eatable I have discovered. It is really fun because Dieter is really starting to like us! He made about a billion jokes about me eating salt.. and he also said that if I don't get married within 5 years I will "be an old maid and will never get married". That is always comforting. haha. But it was just really fun. He has the best old sarcastic german sense of humor and we are making a lot of progress with him! At church on Sunday he wouldn't stop participating in the lesson in sunday school. It was so cool. It is just crazy because he literally knows it is all true.. he just doesn't want to break the promise he made to his mom before she died that he wouldn't get baptized. WHY MOM WHY. But really it will happen I have total faith.

We had a good lesson with Jerry! It is so cool because we have been trying to get him to read The Book of Mormon my entire time here... and we hadn't been making any progress at all. So we decided to call and remind him every morning.. and he has been reading every day! And he told us "I can really notice a difference. I feel so much better. And the weirdest thing is.. my legs aren't hurting as much as they normally do. And I know it must be from reading everyday." So cool. I'm telling you The Book of Mormon is a miracle worker.

Sunday was good too! Had another slightly terrifying experience. Did some service for this lady and she had us wash her dishes... which didn't sound too bad... yeah WRONG. There was legitimate MOLD growing. It was so bad she had to light a candle. My companion couldn't even do it because she was about to throw up... this sounds so dramatic but I am not even lying... so I had to do it. All I can say is God gives you weird power to do things you never thought you could when you are trying to serve people. Because it was bad. She also is a legit hoarder so that is always fun. But even though it was one of the grossest things I have ever done... it felt so good to do something for someone that they couldn't, or wouldn't, do for themselves. There really is nothing better than knowing you are helping people no matter how bad it is.

And yeah that was a fun story to end with haha.  I guess this was just a really weird week. Okay well I am totally out of time so I have to go... but I love you have a great week! And I will email on Wednesday next week!

Love Cassidy

Cassidy's Letter 10-28-14

Hey!

Wow time is flying and things have been progressing really well here. We now have 3 investigators with dates for BAPTISM! It is so cool to see all the growth in this area since I got here in September! We have been really blessed.

So cool news with Susie! She has been working on quitting coffee right, so we went over the other day... and she had thrown her coffee pot outside in the trash! She quit! It was so exciting. The biggest miracle ever. And she decided she wants to get baptized on November 22nd! She is just so solid it is crazy. We walked in and her two daughters were listening to primary songs while they were doing homework.... I mean honestly solid. Oh and her daughter said "Mom, can I have a God themed birthday party? I just love him." probably the cutest thing I have ever heard haha. We are really excited about her.

Things are also going really well with Stephen! He set a baptismal date for January 24th... which is the same day I fly home... so if I am still in the area (which is unlikely but still) it will be the 23rd! So my last night would be a baptism. That would probably be the best last day ever. It is really fun to teach him because he is so open and willing to learn. He came to stake conference on saturday and really liked that too. It is just nice to have people who really want to learn and who like to learn too!

And our other investigator Sam is doing great! Still set to get baptized November 30th!  The whole family is doing super good. I just love them so much. They are the dream mission family. They make us feel so loved and at home and she cooks us good food every week and they need us and we need them and it is just perfect. I will be really depressed when I have to say goodbye to them. We had an awesome lesson about the power of prayer and scripture study. We talked a lot about how Heavenly Father has blessings that He wants to give us, but we have to ask Him. Sometimes I forget that Heavenly Father loves me and misses me and just wants me to be happy, and He just wants me to pray and do what He asks so I can be happy. Funny how simple it is but how easy it is to forget. I just left their house really happy! I wrote in my journal "I love the Graves. I love the spirit they have and their humility and their desire to help us and to help themselves. They inspire me so much. Man things are good and Heavenly Father is the best." So that sums that up!

On Friday last week I was on exchanges with a sister named Sister Newrean, and I went to her area which was Burton/Middlefield. We got to see lots and lots of old people so I was right at home! There was this one old lady who didn't say anything like the whole time.. then all the sudden she goes "Jensen. Jensen. Jensen. I know you from somewhere. I know you." .. I still can't decide if it was cool or creepy.... then she tried to say something else but couldn't talk.. so maybe she is stalking me, who knows?

Another old lady we saw pulled out this weird instrument called the melodica or something.. I will send a picture.. and started playing it and I literally almost died laughing. It was hysterical.

We also got to see this guy named Brother Pitts! He is in his early 20s, and he lives at a special house for people with slight mental health issues. He is probably the nicest kid in the world though. We get there and he said "I just love the Book of Mormon and when I read it I feel so happy and I just want to tell everyone about it but I am scared they will get mad but I just love it." it was so sweet. Then we were talking about the Gospel and The Holy Ghost and he said "The Holy Ghost is the happiness giver." Amen to that.

So Saturday I was having a pretty rough day. We didn't get to go to our area and we didn't really get to accomplish much and for some reason I was just feeling really down and felt like, even though I know my mission has blessed me so much I can't even comprehend it, sometimes I feel like I am not helping anyone but myself. And I didn't come here to just help myself. So I was just feeling bad and I just prayed that I would be able to feel and know that I am here for a reason and that what I am doing matters... and man was my prayer answered. Saturday night was the first session of stake conference... and I got to see SO MANY people from my past areas. And it was literally what saved me. I got to see all my favorite families (and it was really cool because sometimes I think that they have probably forgotten about me/ just don't care anymore since I am not there) but they were SO excited and I was so excited and it just made me so happy. There were multiple people who said they miss me and that the ward misses me and that they wish I could come back. They were able to tell me about how important the work I did while I was there, and how much of a difference it made. And it was amazing because I didn't even realize that I did anything significant.. but they all acted like I had made the biggest difference. Total answer to my prayer. People I didn't even know very well came and told me how much the ward misses me.  It just made me so grateful! I have met so many incredible people and seeing all of them made me realize how amazing my mission has been. I have friendships that will last forever and have experienced things that will forever change my life. And I had no clue that I even grew to love people so much until I saw them again. It is insane. And Sister Baker (who I was working with a year ago) even brought me a freshly baked treat! People are so nice!

But it was the biggest tender mercy from Heavenly Father. It made me so happy and helped me really realize that I am here for a reason and I have made a difference, even if it takes 6 months or 7 years or eternity to see it. My mission president's wife said something that I really loved. She said "As missionaries we are showing the Lord that we love Him, that we trust Him, and that we have faith that we will be blessed for sacrificing and serving Him even if we don't understand how or why things happen." And that is how I feel. I don't understand most of what happens or why things don't happen and sometimes I even wonder what I am doing here... but I have complete faith that Heavenly Father loves me and that I am here for a reason. And I know He will bless me. I am receiving way more than I am sacrificing, and I have faith everything is for a reason.

And then after stake conference we got to go... SING WITH THE NUNS AGAIN. And yep it was even more intense than last time. And okay can I just say I am not like totally musically stupid.. but these are hard songs and they get all worked up.. and have you ever seen a big group of stressed out singing Nuns? It is interesting that is all I will say. Let's pray I get transferred before the performance of I might end up getting hurt. Also the director's name is Aubrey. And he is a guy. So that's that.

And then yesterday we had a good day at Kirtland! I took this tour that was this oldies (they literally couldn't walk it took like 6 years to get anywhere) and 3 of the 4 weren't members.. and they mostly wanted to know the history of stuff, which is never quite as fun.. but I did have a really cool experience. So at one point we have a really old copy of The Book of Mormon, and I was telling them about it and basically I just told them how much The Book of Mormon means to me, and one guy turned to the lady and said to her "Do you see how her eyes light up when she talks about that book. She must love it" and then I told them that nothing has brought me greater peace or made such an impact on my life as The Book of Mormon has.. and the guy said "I can tell. I can see it in your eyes." That was basically the highlight of my day. Sorry I am so over-obsessive with The Book of Mormon I just love it.

And that was basically my week. Things are moving right along and people are doing great! It is just really awesome to see so much progress.. pray it keeps it up!

I love you and appreciate all you do for me. Have a good week!

Love Cassidy

Picture of Cassidy 10-28-14

Cassidy in Kirtland October 28, 2014

Letter from Cassidy 10-21-14

HELLO!

Well it was a busy week out here! We got to see a ton of people and people are making awesome progress. THE MISSION IS GOOD. That is all.

Things are going really well with the Graves family! We had another awesome lesson with them this week. It is really fun because they all want to be there and want to learn. And it is always powerful to hear the parents bear their testimonies of how they have seen their lives improve as they have started to fully live the Gospel. I have just really grown to love their family so much. It is amazing how that happens on a mission. You just love people a weird amount and sometimes it freaks me out a lot.. but it makes it so fun and meaningful. It is cool that I have this opportunity to meet people and they always change my life. I will remember them forever. Crazy to think about how much my mission has changed my life. Sam is going to get baptized on November 30th... conveniently like right after transfers haha... I am preparing myself now to get moved right before. Because that ALWAYS happens to me. It is okay though because I get to do the fun part of teaching him!

Okay time for a funny story. Well I hope that it is funny. It is funny to me. But sometimes I realize that A) I have turned into a weird missionary who finds things funny that most likely aren't actually funny. B) You have to be here to understand why it is funny. But I will tell you anyways. So there is this lady that we go and do service for who is older and from Peru so she has an awesome accent. And we were there for lunch the other day.. and she asked us to move her grill off of her deck and into her garage. (PS why she thought we could lift a huge grill I have NO clue) anyways we somehow managed to get it, but she had to move the riding lawn mower in the garage to fit the grill. And we finally get this huge thing lifted into the garage (and I only broke my foot once going down the stairs) and then I guess she thought she had the lawn mower in reverse when she didn't... because all the sudden she drove smack into the grill and it is like completely tipped over and she could get it to reverse and was freaking out. hahaha I was dying. Just picture this old grandma on a riding lawn mower knocking over a grill. It was too funny. Then she asked us to help her upload pictures to facebook of all these paintings she has done. And her computer was a mess and we couldn't locate this picture and she was like 'We have to find it. It is Jesus riding on white horses" and man it was funny. One of the weirdest service things I have done. But that's okay. It is always good to help grandmas with facebook.

Also... we had 2 lessons with this less active named Billy. He is a nice guy...  BUT HE WAS EATING HIS ORANGE MUSTACHE DURING OUR LESSON. Yeah he literally would put his mustache in his mouth and chew it. Pretty sure that is an all time weird.

We had a miracle this week! We actually got to have a lesson with our investigator Susie! We haven't been able to teach her for like 5 weeks. And we had a super good lesson about the Word of Wisdom. She has quit everything and is working on quitting coffee. She is down to 1 cup a day from drinking like 3 pots a day. She is so solid. She has consistently been coming to church and she loves it! She even cleaned the church last week and loved that so much that she asked to do it every week.... pretty sure she is doing better than most the members.. hahah. But things are looking up with her!

We got to have a very interesting dinner with a family that has 890 kids who are all home schooled and apparently don't know what deodorant is. Scary times.

We had a super awesome lunch and lesson with the Grimms! They are from Germany! It is so much fun because they remind me of our German relatives so much. I almost feel like I am in Germany eating with them. Especially because they don't think that you ever get full and they keep making you eat more and more until you almost die. And Dieter was having a heart attack because he thinks I eat too much salt (which okay I probably do) but I was like "Oh well I will probably die from it." and he said "hopefully soon." and he is an old German with an odd sense of humor so I have basically no clue if he was kidding or not. haha. Then we had a lesson about Joseph Smith.. and it got pretty intense in a good way. Dieter isn't a member, and he has a really hard time with faith. And he gets really defensive when he feels the spirit. And after I bore my testimony to him he got really upset.. and then just said "You are very lucky that you really know. I wish I had that." And it is cool because he can and he will if he will just stop fighting it so much. It's hard because he promised his mom before he died that he wouldn't get baptized... so even if he does know it is true I think it is too hard for him to think he is disappointing his mom. It is just sad. But it ended really well and before we left he got out this thing and he tested my blood pressure 3 times (because he was THAT worried about my salt obsession) and my blood pressure was so low that he almost had a heart attack and told me to start eating more salt. hahah it was so funny.

Another cool thing happened! NEW INVESTIGATOR named Stephen! He is really awesome. He had us over to dinner (which was... interesting) and then we had a really good lesson. He wants to get baptized! He grew up Atheist and started going to our church a few months ago and he said that he has completely seen his life change. He said he has felt so much peace and happiness that he never had before. He has completely given up coffee and alcohol and everything. I asked him why he did that and he said "I just want to be who Jesus wants me to be." SO COOL. And he is taking us to Chipotle tonight so yeah best investigator award. haha. No but really it is so awesome. We are just teaching so many cool people who are so dedicated to it that it is awesome. Miracles just keep happening. I say that every week because they happen every week.

And with that I am out of time. It was a real good week! It is fun having more time in the area! Kirtland is starting to slow down quite a bit so that means we spend a trilion hours on chat... which is fun sometimes.. but other times when people spend 3 hours trying to argue about how Joseph Smith deserved to go to jail I just want to bang my head on the wall. Most the time I actually do. haha.

Okay well I hope you have a good week. I LOVE YOU. Bye.

love cassidy.

Picture of Cassidy 10-14-14

Cassidy with her current companion Sister Heckert at the Cleveland Art Museum.

Letter from Cassidy 10-14-14

Well my friends.. it has officially happened.

I AM SINGING IN A CHOIR WITH 75 YEAR OLD NUNS.

Yep. Never saw that one coming did ya? Yeah I sure didn't. So apparently the branch I am serving in requires the missionaries to participate in this big production of The Messiah at Christmas that is put on by this Catholic Nun school... so yep I get to spend my Sunday afternoons rehearsing songs with old Nuns. It is pretty much one of the oddest things I have ever done. Also, not sure what it has to do with missionary work at all.. but I tried everything to get out of it with no luck.. so looks like I am a Jr. Nun after all! And this song we sing says "His burthen is light" about 89 times at least so that is the story of my life now. But my burthen is sorta kinda heavy. But that is okay.

Also.... I had to pull out my puffy winter coat this week. That is a bad sign. People can officially start calling me a marshmallow again. YAY. Not. haha how did it get so cold so fast? I swear it was just summer. Oh well, despite the cold I had a pretty good week!

We had a lot of fun going to the Cleveland Art Museum last week! It was surprisingly good. I didn't know they had anything that good in Ohio! it was a pleasant surprise. And there were normal people there... I didn't realize those existed in Ohio either. I love the odd Ohions that I work with though so don't even worry.

We had an awesome lesson with the Graves family! I think I talked about them last week but my memory is failing so I will explain again. They are a huge family that just moved here.. and they are all at different places in life/the Gospel. We are teaching the 11 year old so he can get baptized, but we are also teaching the whole family. There is an aunt who was there last time and she was really touched by the Plan of Salvation. And it was just such a cool lesson because everyone was teaching each other.. and we just basically got to testify! And man there is nothing that is more fun than teaching a family about how they can be an eternal family. There were multiple people crying because the spirit was so strong! Nothing is better than the peace and knowledge that comes from really knowing we can be with our families for eternity and I love teaching them and helping them see that! We are going again tonight and I am pumped.

Wednesday was Fiona's birthday and it was so fun. We bought her a frozen hot chocolate at Dairy Queen which is her favorite thing.. and man if you only could have seen the smile on her face when we showed up at her apartment with it. It was like a kid on Christmas! We spent awhile with her and she was happy and laughing and it was so fun. She is the funniest and sweetest girl. Then she had a birthday cake but she didn't have any candles... which I was not okay with so I decided to go knock on doors around the apartment and find someone with candles, and yeah NO ONE HAD ANY which was a fat scam.. like who are these people?.. anyways we did meet this nice lady named Virginia and Fiona randomly invited her to come have cake and so she came and joined the party. If I wasn't a missionary it would have probably been one of the weirdest things ever.. but it was super fun. And it was kind of a miracle because Fiona and Virginia (even though she is a lot older) have a lot in common. A lot of the really horrible things Fiona went through Virginia went through too and she was already helping her a lot. It was totally part of God's plan to get them together. Also, Virgina is interested in learning more..so we might have a new person to teach! It is so cool how that happens. Anyways Fiona's birthday was a success.

We stopped by this less-active member... and we talked to him for a few minutes at the door and then he said "hold on a second I am going to put pants on"... yeah that happened. Then he when he came back he came outside with a beer and a cigarette in his mouth totally just to try and irritate us. Then he said "God is just an extraterrestrial.. He is an alien. And we are simply robots" So yeah add that to the list of weird things I have heard. haha.

Other weird things I heard this week... So this really nice and slightly odd lady had us over for dinner.  When we got there she was talking to her dogs like they are humans.. she literally said "It is okay baby in 32 minutes you can have your dinner. Just wait 32 minutes." Then she left the room and came back and said "the doggie piddled in the bathroom" and we tried our best not to laugh... then in the middle of dinner she said "Excuse me, I must go feed the doggies" and she came back and said.. "They sure love their piddle pads." Hahaha it was hysterical. Gotta love dog pee talk over dinner that is always fun.


We spent quite a few days at Kirtand this past week. But GOOD NEWS.. now that it is technically not the "busy" season anymore.. we only work there 2 days a week! So will have about 87 more hours to work in our area which I am so happy about! But we had the coolest tour yesterday. So this couple that lives in Cleveland was driving to this like nature park thing that is pretty close to the Visitor Center, and for some reason they drove by and decided to come and see what it was. And it was crazy because neither of them knew ANYTHING about our church. They hadn't even heard of it before.. not entirely sure how that is possible but that is besides the point. So we got to start by teaching them the Restoration and about the Book of Mormon. It was funny I asked if they had heard of it and the guy said "that is part in the Bible right?" haha close enough. But they loved the Whitney Store! We could tell that they had become really interested in what we were saying. But then the weather started looking bad so they had to leave before we could finish the tour.. and I said "well you will have to come back and see the rest!" and they guy said "Oh we definitely will." Then as we were walking back he said "I want to learn more about that book. I want to read that. It really sparked my attention." I was so excited I literally ran to find a Book of Mormon to give him. Then he said "I think it was fate that we somehow ended up here today." SO COOL. First of all Kirtland is the coolest place and it is impossible for people to not feel closer to God here. Second of all... now he has a Book of Mormon and the possibilities are endless.

Because we all know that my love for the Book of Mormon is almost obnoxious but I am not even sorry. I finished it for the 10th time on my mission on Sunday! And I just wish I could tell you how much the Book of Mormon means to me. It is the number one thing that has helped me on my mission. And it is just so cool because I really didn't know it or read it very much before and I was just missing out so much. I feel like if I take nothing else with me from my mission (which I will because I have already learned approximately 1 billion other things) It will all be worth it because of my strong testimony and love for The Book of Mormon. It is crazy to me that I will only get to read it 2 more times on my mission. Time flies so fast. But I just have a strong testimony that the Book of Mormon can and will bring people closer to Jesus Christ, because I have really witnessed that miracle in myself over the past 13 months, and I know it can do it for everyone we give it to!

And there you go. Me and my Book of Mormon rants I AM SORRY I do that like every week I just really like it okay. And I really love being a nerdy missionary. I really will be normal when I get home. I hope. If not... oh well it was worth it. I have to leave but I LOVE YOU and miss you! Have a great week!

Pray that Ohio decides that it wants to be summer again so I don't freeze to death thank you!

Love Cassidy

Cassidy is in a rap video on You Tube 10-2-2014

Cassidy and her missionary companion and others made a rap video to promote General Conference. Please go to the You Tube website. Once there type in "Restoration Beat-Box."

A great video with rapping and singing will entertain you. Plus it is a great way to see and hear Cassidy!!

Enjoy!

Cassidy's Mom

Cassidy's Letter October 7, 2014

Hey!

Well... exciting news! For once in my life I am NOT GETTING TRANSFERRED! Neither is my companion! So we get to stay for another 6 weeks!  This is the first time in a trillion years that I don't have to pack and move. I am pumped.  Especially because we had the coolest experience this week!

So at the Gladys Knight event there was an option for people to fill out a referral card, which said they were interested in the missionaries bringing them a Gladys Knight CD, a Book of Mormon, and a dvd. And the other day we got one of the referrals and so we went and stopped by this lady named Angela. And she is SO COOL. She let us right in and we had the coolest discussion with her. Her and her 15 year old daughter loved the Gladys Knight fireside and are pretty interested in learning more. She is Catholic, but said she has always kind of wondered what was the full truth. She said she is excited to read the Book of Mormon! She is just super solid and it is a huge miracle. BUT the craziest thing was she was telling us about this lady that she works with, who was the one who invited her to the fireside. She  was describing her and telling us about how she can sing  and how she was tall and she said "Jenette is just one of the best people I know" and I could picture Jenette so perfectly in my head.. so I said "She really is one of the nicest people" and my companion looked at me like I was a lying crazy person and she said "Jenette is not in our ward we don't know her".. so I was weirded out because I swear I knew her. But I couldn't figure out how the heck I did.  So I asked Angela where exactly Jenette lives (because I was assuming she lived around Chardon) and she said "She lives pretty far away actually. She lives over in Avon"... which is in the LORAIN WARD. So... I know Angela's good friend from the time I was in Lorain! How crazy is that? I will tell you.. it is crazy. The odds that I was full proselyting there, then came back to Chardon, then met Angela.. who loves her... not a coincidence. It is really cool because I know that God had this all worked out. The spirit really testified to me that I am completely an instrument in God's hands right now and He is using me to help the people here... and that is the best feeling ever.  And now we are going to teach Angela! At the end of the lesson she said "Thank you so much for coming. I really am so glad you came." And multiple times she said she had "goosebumps" while we were talking... so she totally felt the spirit. And then her 7 year old daughter asked us to never leave... so at least someone thinks we are cool! Even if she is seven. Haha.

So that was the miracle of the week. Also can we just talk about how good General Conference was? I swear it gets better and better every single time. It was practically like Christmas.  I feel like I learned so much. It just makes me so grateful for modern revelation and for the fact that I know God loves us and gives us a living prophet. You can't watch conference and not feel that God is still speaking to us. Like don't even try to tell me they are making that stuff up. It is too good.  I really just loved learning how I can better live the Gospel. I especially loved how much they talked about loving, accepting, and helping others. Especially those who are different than us. I have gained even greater respect for people of different faiths while on my mission, and I know that Christ really just wants us to stop judging others so much and just love people.

And I'm glad I am a missionary right now so I can just focus completely on getting to serve and help others. I am kinda scared to going back to real life and being busy with school and all that stuff. Missionary life is just stress free and so rewarding. Like okay we are helping this huge family who just moved here.. they have a son we are teaching, and then a few members who are struggling with the Gospel... and teaching them is just so fulfilling. They have lived with the church and without.. and they can see the difference it makes in their lives, so they want it again. We had a really awesome lesson with them last week! We are meeting with them again tonight. I feel like one of the reasons I am here is to help their family.

I am trying to think of some of the funny things that happened this week.... I got bit by a dog while I was praying one day.  That was fun. And Fiona wasn't wearing pants when she opened her door so that was terrifying. Also I had one of the most awkward times ever.. so we stopped by these less-active members of the branch... and their young son opened the door and then ran away.. and the parents were in on the couch... but wouldn't stand up or acknowledge us... so we were just standing there in the doorway for what felt like 20 minutes... and finally I just asked if we could come in and then finally  the mom acknowledged our existence. We started talking to her and she said that a lot of the time the reason they don't come to church is because they have sports on Sunday... and she said "But it is okay because sports are really good for the kids. It teaches them a lot. So it is totally fine they don't go to church."... and first of all I was like... DO YOU HEAR yourself?? No offence... but WHAT. I didn't even know how to respond... I was like.... okay.... It was really interesting because we had just finished watching conference and so many people talked about how we have to set priorities and not put what is just "good" above what God wants us to do. I think it is so easy to justify things but all those small decisions make a huge difference. In the end a football game when you are 6 will not really change your life, but developing a relationship and testimony of Jesus Christ will be eternally beneficial. I mean people these days really don't think that God matters.. which is just depressing to me. I think being on a mission you get to see that the happiest people are those who put God and their family first in their lives. I have been in so many homes where people are always "busy" and involved in a billion things, and have all the material things they want.. but there isn't a feeling of real happiness in their home. I sound like I am being dramatic but it is so true. And It has really taught me that no matter what, the single most important thing is to live the Gospel. Sports, cars, clothes, trips, and all that can be good and fun.. but if you aren't living the Gospel than you won't truly be happy. And I am grateful that God has let me see that so I know how to be happy the rest of my life!

And that is all I have time for today! Sorry to be short and boring! We get to go to the Cleveland Art Museum today and I am so pumped. I hope you all have a good week! Thanks for the letters they always make my day.

I love you!

Love Cassidy

Cassidy's Pictures 9-25-14

Cassidy's Letter 9-25-14

September 25, 2014

HI

I say it every week but seriously this week was SO GOOD. I am not even sure where to start so maybe I will just start with the best part of the week.

Well actually there were a lot of good parts. We had a ton of fun at the Gladys Knight and Saints Unified Voices fireside/musical performance shindig. They were so good. She was amazing for being so old. The spirit was really strong and it was fun to see people standing and singing and clapping and all that jazz. It was super fun. And the senior couple who took us, took us out to dinner afterwards at this super fancy fun seafood place.. it was heaven. I felt like I was on vacation or something haha.

But I think the highlight of the week for me was yesterday. So this is a super cool story. We were working at the visitor center... and it was weirdly busy. And so they split me and my companion up and she was out with a group, and I was inside just waiting. Then this group came in and they asked me to take them on tour.. and then all the sudden they decided that someone else should take it. I had no clue why but I was like... okay. So I sat down on the front couch... and then like 15 minutes later I see MICHAEL (my investigator from Ashtabula) walking to the door! It was such a miracle that I wasn't on a tour. Especially because I got to have the BEST lesson ever with him. So he told me that he is still meeting with the Elders.. but that he isn't doing as well. He said he had a really hard when me and my companion both left.. and he hasn't been reading the Book of Mormon as much.. and that he has gone to church but not as much. He told me that he feels like he hasn't been learning as much or changing as much, and he has seen that his life just isn't going as well as when we were there. ... which I was really sad about. But then I got to teach him that it is up to him to learn and progress. I explained that it wasn't Sister Coontz and I that were teaching him so much.. it was the spirit. And it was himself. Because he was reading the Book of Mormon every day when I was there and he was quitting coffee.. and that is why he was progressing so much and seeing so many positive changes in his life. And it totally made sense to him. And it is actually really cool because it is strong evidence of the power of small things. Reading every day makes a huge difference. And he is starting to really see that. I also got to help him understand some things and work through some concerns. The coolest part was all of the things he is struggling with and questioning... are things I have studied the past week. Not even joking every single one. I could feel the spirit telling me what scriptures to share and it was just one of the best experiences of my mission because I could really feel the spirit working through me to help him. My companion was amazed that everything he asked about was what I had just learned about. God totally prepared me to help him yesterday. I just wish you could have been there. It was the best lesson of my mission. I feel like I can't begin to explain it like I want to.. but it was seriously just so powerful. He told me that he felt like after meeting with me yesterday he felt like he can really move forward and be better and he knows what he can and should do. He said that meeting us completely changed his life. Yesterday he got all quiet and serious and just said "how did I get so lucky?" It was really neat. Basically just the coolest thing ever. It was the biggest tender mercy to get to see him and help him again. I am positive he is one of the main reasons I needed to come to Ohio, so it is neat to be able to still help him.

SOO there is that novel. Also mid lesson with him there was a bee flying... and out of nowhere he just grabbed it mid flight in his fist and then threw it on the ground. It was hysterical.

Let's see.. I got to do some fun service this week. It consisted of scooping up horse poop out of a barn... I just LOVED that... cleaning out cobwebs in a barn... I really loved spiders falling on my face... and we cleaned out this old lady's food cupboard... there was stuff that expired in 1992. BEFORE I WAS BORN. There was some sketchy moldy stuff back there. I hope I never have to do that again. haha. The worst part was she like breeds dogs.. and had these 3 huge dogs that shed everywhere... there was a good inch of hair on the floor. And we had to walk through this room to throw all the food away.. and it was the worst smell in the entire world. I actually thought I was going to die.

We got to see Fiona a few times this week. She was funny as always. Some classic quotes..
So I asked her if she had been eating any peanut butter lately.. and she said "Why do I have some on my face?" and I said "oh no I was just wondering" and she said "Well I just try to eat as much of it as possible." hahaha goes right along with her "Peanut butter is the only thing that makes me feel good about myself" comment. She also sang some Rihanna for us... it was the best. And she showed us her year book and we were laughing at some kids pictures and she got all serious and said "please don't laugh about my classmates. I love them." it was sooo funny.

And don't worry I made myself look dumb this week as always! We met this really cool kid and had a super awesome discussion about prayer and prophets and all that good stuff... and I asked if I could say a prayer before we left... and in the prayer I said "please bless Kyle" and then something else about how we were glad we could "meet Kyle" and we got done and he said "My name is Derick." and I was like COOL. Where did I even get Kyle from? Apparently I am losing my mind. Let's just hope DERICK will still let us come back haha.

We also got to meet the COOLEST LADY EVER named Homa. So this missionary gave us a referral to stop by this old lady.. so we drive for a billion years into a creepy forest and finally find her huge house. and we go up to knock on the door and she is sitting on the couch, and I knocked and she just looked at me like "Who the heck are you?" And I tried to explain we were missionaries.. and she was super freaked out. She wouldn't open the door.. and then it was really crazy all the sudden I said something about Jesus Christ and she said "I am Muslim. I like the Christian. Come inside." so she let us in.. (sidenote she has an awesome house) and we had the best discussion ever. So she is from Iran, she lives alone now.. her husband was a doctor, she has a daughter who is a professor at Harvard, and another who is a professor in Canada, and all of her family is brilliant. So obviously she is a genius. And so nice. We got to talk all about her religion, which I luckily know quite a bit about so we were really able to connect. We got to talk about faith and prayer and the importance of religion. It was just super enlightening and I learned a lot from her. And I love when that happens. She told us that we made her entire night. And then she said "If I know anyone who ewho is struggling who needs to meet with you.. can I give you their names and numbers?" DREAM COME TRUE. Basically Homa is my new homie.

This week was also full of lots of good food adventures. First I took Sister Heckert to her first Chipotle ever... she loved it of course. We also got to go to a picnic with a bunch of old people. They gave us awesome steak. Mom would have been so happy. Also one day I had a bag of jerky in my purse... and this lady's dog started attacking my bag trying to get to the jerky... I literally had to take my bag to the car because the dog was having such a spaz attack. Jerky probs.

And then.... we went to a SKETCHY HOUSE for dinner... we were terrified about dying. But for reals I am so good at the hiding gross food in my napkin and getting rid of it later. It's a talent. Luckily the Robbins (this super sweet senior couple that serves at Kirtland) invited us over for pie and ice cream.. so we survived. They are actually the nicest people ever. They invite us over for ice cream at least twice a week and they take us out to dinner and just really spoil us. I have no clue how I got so lucky but I am just grateful for it!

Kirtland was pretty busy! We had a fun group from Englad come. And yesterday I had a bunch of old people who asked the WORST questions... I thought I was going to die. This lady was looking at the map of people's homes and said "Did Eliza Snow really have a house here or is this map wrong?" I was like.... clearly we would just lie on the map for fun. And then this one lady, oh man it was a struggle, so I shared the first story in the School of the Prophets.. and then she said "Do you even know what else happened here?"... I was like... actually YES, I do, because I WORK HERE. Hahah it was just crazy. People sometimes just don't use their brains. And I think it is so I will learn patience. I have 4 more months to learn it so hopefully it happens. haha.

And just like that I am out of time! But yeah super awesome week. I love this area and I really love my companion. I basically forget I am even training her like every day. She is awesome. And we are having a lot of fun. I honestly am so happy I am a missionary. I appreciate it more every single day. And I have to go. But I LOVE YOU and hope you have a wonderful weekend! I will talk to you on Tuesday!

Love Cassidy