I say BRAT.. you say FEST.. BRAT FEST! BRAT FEST!

Well besides the Packers and beer, the next most important thing in Wisconsin is BRATS! On Friday last week Sister Bean and I volunteered at Brat Fest! IT WAS INSANE! It's this concert thing that goes on all Memorial Weekend and members of our church volunteer because then we get money donated to our boy scouts group.. so me and Sister Bean hopped on that because we knew it'd be an awesome opportunity to talk to people.. and it was! There was so many people there, and like 7 stages for bands to play music.. (we stayed by the Christian Rock stage :) ) Me and Sister Bean were for sure the only mormons there, just how we like it :)  We were supposed to be under the brat tent but we got reassigned to the "sparkle committee" so we picked up trash all day... :) but it was awesome! this chinese girl Yiyang (Yee-Nang) got assigned to the same area with us so she didn't have much of a choice than to hear about the restored gospel all day.. I gave her a Book of Mormon, which I will tell you is one of the scariest things ever, but she graciously accepted it and said she wanted to read it. Sadly she's not in our area so other missionaries are going to teach her but she is so awesome!! She goes to Cornell University.. crazy huh! We got SO sunburnt. I am pretty sure I will have this farmers tan for the rest of my life.. It's just lovely :)

Charlotte, our investigator is really progressing. She loves the gospel and loves learning. It's beyond amazing to see this woman change as she has come to know of her Savior, it's a beautiful thing. She is basically teaching her neighbor the lessons because "she wants him to be a mormon too" We love her so much!

Dan (inv) still loves our church.. he'll get baptized.. eventually I know it. 

Micheal, our old investigator called us Sunday and told us he knows the BOM is true and wants to be baptized.. He's a little sketchy so we're not sure what to think but we're seeing him tomorrow so we'll see..

Besides Brat Fest, it's been an awesome week full of miracles, minus our fridge breaking and all our food going bad - we've had blessings poured down on us! I love it here and I love everyone we are teaching. Transfers are next week, so I could be leaving here, we'll find out on Saturday. I want to stay here but I know the Lord knows best and he'll send me where I need to go. 

This week I read this talk called "Progress through Change" and this quote was in it that I love,

C. S. Lewis indicated there is often pain in change when he wrote of God’s expectations for His children: “Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace” (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, New York: MacMillan Co., 1960, p. 160).

I know Heavenly Father has a plan for each one of us and it is far greater than anything we could ever imagine on our own. I am grateful for Heavenly Father's plan for me, there has definitely been a few stumbling blocks put in my path but I know they are all refining tools the Lord will use to make me into who he knows I am supposed to be. 

Love you guys so much!

-Sister Askerlund

"Great souls have wills, feeble souls only have wishes"

Some people may say it's partly cloudy, I like to say it's partly sunny

Hello everyone! Sister A. here! People have just accepted they don't know my last name and just call me Sister A. we tried Sister Ask for a while but some kids in my ward kept forgetting the 'k' and would add an addition 's' so we are keeping it safe with just Sister A.. Hahaha

It has been a beautiful and wonderful week here in Madison, Wisconsin. It looks as if just over night everything just got painted green! It is so beautiful and I love it! With the warm weather the bugs have started to come out.. I swear there is like honey in my blood - so every bug on the planet just wants to bite me. not ideal, but I am dealing :)

Sister bean and I met some awesome people this week, on Tuesday we had an appt that got cancelled so we were driving home from that and there was this house we drove by that a guy was sitting on his porch. He caught my eye (no, not in that kind of way.. ) but I just felt super prompted to stop so I made Sister Bean flip a uturn and we went back, parked, and just got out and started talking to him. (we do super creepy stuff like this all the time) His name is Frank, he is from NYC. He is a single dad with two boys, all of his family is back in New York. We started talking to him about our church and what we do as missionaries and he was super interested! He started bearing his testimony on Jesus Christ and everything he has done for him, he told us he wants his kids to know Jesus and to go to church. We shared Alma 36:3 with him-that talks about whosoever will put their trust in the Lord will be supported in their trials and afflictions, he was really touched and loved the scripture and asked if he could get a copy of the Book of Mormon, he was a little surprised when we just handed it over to him :) He works like 3 jobs but said he wants to learn more so we're going to go back and teach him this week! The Lord is truly preparing people all around us and I can't/we can't know who they are if we are not diligently searching for them. 

Charlotte finally came to church and LOVED it! She felt the spirit after so strong and just kept telling everyone that would listen that "She is going to be a Mormon" I attached a picture of us and her on her first Sunday, its like an aerial view because she wanted Jesus in the picture haha

Sunday we had a going away party for a family in our ward, the Turners. They are the most missionary oriented people I know, I attached a picture with us and Jen Turner and Lisa. Lisa and Jen are best friends and Jen taught Lisa everything about the gospel and got her to meet the missionaries and she was baptized last November! I sure am gonna miss this family!

We're teaching a new guy named Kevin who "isn't churchy, he's just spiritual" He wants us to go to his "drum circles" with him if he agrees to come to one of our Sacrament meetings, this sound be interesting... ;)

Madison Wisconsin is one of the most diverse places I have ever been. No joke one part of town people are all homeless and begging for food and two streets away is mansions. I have seen some very sad things here and met some very sad people. People who are looking for something better. So many people here feel all alone.. that's where us missionaries come in. I love, love, LOVE helping people to feel loved, whether it is love from me or love from the Lord, everyone deserves to feel loved. Everyone deserves to feel special and know their purpose in life. We are teaching some amazing people who are coming to realize there is so much more to life than they ever thought possible, and that is an amazing thing to see.

I love you guys!!

Until next week,

Adios amigos

-Sister Askerlund

"The Lord compensates the faithful for every loss. that which is taken away from those who love the Lord will be added unto them in His own way. While it may not come at the time we desire, the faithful will know that every tear today will eventually be returned a hundredfold with tears of rejoicing and gratitude. "

ZOO

We went to the zoo today for P-day with our favorites, the Lee Family :)

'Murica!

Why do Sister Missionaries always sit with their legs crossed?

Because they only get one P Day a week!

Hahahaha

It's official, I'm positive that talking to your family on Mother's Day is better than Disney World! Yesterday was the greatest day!! On Saturday night I could hardly sleep I was just so excited, anxious and even a little nervous! But it was the greatest! My nephew Drake is the biggest thing and is just talking a mile a minute, my family is doing awesome! It was so good to see their faces! Sure made me miss em though. But I know this is where I am supposed to me. This is where Heavenly Father wants me to be. 

The weather has been bi polar here this last week! (it's not just a Utah thing) :) it was like 85 and humid one day.. I was dying. This desert girl is not used to humidity! but today it was been POURING, lightening and thunder! Pretty sure the Second Coming will look a little like how it did this morning. 

Sister Bean was really sick this last week so she slept a lot.. and I.. well I kept myself busy. read a bunch of talks and watched Mormon Message and rearranged the apt a of times.. :)

Once she got feeling better we kicked it into serious gear. Sister Bean is a hard worker and I am grateful for that! We walked a lot this week and contacted a lot of people. The warm weather makes all the difference, people are so much nicer :) We street contacted a lot (for those who dont know that just means we basically talked to anyone and everyone we saw outside) most people aren't interested but a few people were which was awesome! Friday we started talking with this Jehovah Witness.. They're interesting folk. But she was actually really nice! We exchanged info and we're gonna meet up, pretty sure she thinks she can convert us... she's got another thing coming :)

We had a lot of lesson in coffee shops this week.. Ironic right? People give us the funniest looks! We are teaching this new guy Dan, who is awesome! Awesome but so analytic! He asks the craziest questions about the Book of Mormon, that no mortal man could answer. But he came to church yesterday for the first time so that's a start.. :)

I don't think I've told you guys much about Matt yet, he is less active, but he's not really that less active anymore. He is AWESOME! He was baptized in his youth but then his whole family distanced from the church, his home teachers found him and started visiting. He suffers from major anxiety and depression and it makes him nervous to meet with people, but he has literally transformed over the last couple months. He comes to church every week and some activities even. and this last week he felt a huge prompting to pay his tithing so he did and then this whole last week he said he was just overwhelmed with the spirit and peace. It is amazing to see the blessings of someone keeping the commandments first hand, he's preparing to receive his temple recommend :)

I  just want you all to know that regardless of the rejection and the hard days, I am so grateful to be a missionary. I am grateful for my testimony of the restored Gospel. I may not know everything, but the things I do know, I know with all my soul. Heavenly Father knows me perfectly, (which is slightly scary thinking about all my faults) but he loves me PERFECTLY! Jesus Christ is my Savior, he picks me up every time I fall short, which is every day. he is there for each one of us, we just have to turn to him.

(Can I just tell you when people used to tell me stuff like this, I thought they were full of baloney, but it is ALL true. Sometimes you have to be completely humbled to realize just how wonderful God's plan for each of his children is.)

 "Life is like a Watermelon, sweet and juicy but full of seeds. The fun part is seeing how far you can spit the seeds."

Love, Sister Askerlund

Skyping with the fam :)

Are you doing this for the Savior or for yourself?

Hey ya'll

this week has been really awesome and we have met some amazing people! The Lord definitely guided us this week to certain individuals and it was amazing because it was all the spirit!

We met awesome people at the most random places and they were so warm and welcome. We hope to be able to start teaching them soon! our car got recalled so we had to spend one morning at the Chevy dealership, the guys that work there had a hay-day teasing us, asking how many wives our husband has and if we are rivals with Jehovas Witnesses. They thought they were real funny, but they were cool guys. After all the jokes we got a little serious and bore our testimonies about the church and the book of mormon. It touched them, I know it did. One guy in particular Joe was really intrigued, he asked a lot of questions and I shared Ether 12:4 (my favorite) with him. 
4 Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with ^asurety ^bhope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which ^chopecometh of ^dfaith, maketh an ^eanchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in ^fgood works,being led to ^gglorify God.

he loved the reference to anchors because he used to be in the Navy, he is awesome. we are definitely stopping back in this week because we "forgot some things in our car" haha..

After Chevy we had to go to the mall to go to the Spring store because our phone broke as well... (it was a bad week of breaking things for sister bean and I) but as soon as we walked up one of the workers was like "are you guys Jesus people?" she must have read our name tags... :) Her name was Luz and she basically told us her life story and about her daughter who is going through a rough time. While Sister bean was with another worker I kept talking to Luz. She asked me to pray for her and her daughter. and then she asked if I would pray right then with her in the middle of the mall at the kiosk. So.. you know me, I totally did! The spirit was so strong and she was crying!  

This Sunday was truly amazing. We had five less actives there, (that usually never come). It was truly a miracle for some of them to be there! We had our investigator Nate there too, he is awesome!

We also committed our investigator Charlotte to baptism. She is amazing. I have truly seen this woman transform before my eyes as she has accepted the Gospel into her life. She felt the spirit so strongly last week while praying and it testified to her that this is the true church.

Yesterday we stopped by a less actives named Blake. Neither Sister bean or I had ever seen his name before or recognized it so we stopped by. He answered right away and was super friendly, he had the cutest dog that just jumped all over me so you know i was in heaven. We got to know him a little and his background and he told us it was super crazy that we happened to show up today because he's been having a really hard time right now and the night before he had prayed for the first time in a rrrreeeallly long time, he said he didn't think his answer would come so fast but here we were on his door step. IT WAS AWESOME! We are going back this week to meet his wife who isn't a member! Hopefully we can build a friendship with his wife and start teaching her soon :)

Guess who is in my ward in Madison Wisconsin.. none other than Coach Gary Anderson (formally coach of USU but now he's out here coaching the badgers.) He's inactive.. for now... ;)

He supposedly isn't interested in the church at all right now.. Our bishop told us that an Apostle contacted him and talked to him about his membership in the church and encouraged him to come back to church. (because that would do amazing things for the church in Wisconsin if people knew the head coach of the Badgers was mormon..) but any way.. he basically said "no thanks" TO AN APOSTLE. He was way nice but just said no thanks.

Soooo...
basically you know me, I've been obsessing over it and want to meet him so bad to see what he is all about.

Sunday is Mother's Day so I get to skype my family... to say I am excited would be the understatement of the century! I LITERALLY AM GIDDY JUST THINKING ABOUT IT!

I love all of you guys and I hope your week is so awesome!!

with all my love, Sister Askerlund (Ask-her-lund--- it's really not that hard)

Jesus is for Everyone!

Hey guys!

Sister A here! Okay first off.. no one out here can say my last name.. like NO one. I never realized my name was hard to say till I got out here.. People just call me Sister A or just Sister...

I guess that will just have to come over time haha

Last week was beautiful and sunny in Madison Wisconsin and this week it's a frozen tundra, it is raining cats and dogs. and a freezing kind of rain that chills you to the bone. Me and Sister bean went running this morning and it just started to pour! but on the brightside... rain means rainbows :)

We had Stake Conference this last weekend and that was so awesome! Elder Carlson of the Seventy talked and a bunch of other wonderful people.

Elder Carlson said that "the mere fact that we are here on Earth is because we had faith and chose to follow our Heavenly Father's Plan of Happiness. We left Heaven only because we knew we could and would make it back. We walked out that door, knowing we'd walk back in"
I loved that. I know that is true.

I read something about life and judgement the other day that hit me really hard, it said that "Judgement day will not be a day in which Heavenly Father gets out a list of all of the good and bad things we did in life. Rather it will be a time in which we look at what those decisions we made helped us become. It is not what we did, but rather who we have become"

I hope my Heavenly Father is proud of who I am becoming.

I love you guys and I love this work.
We are going to ask Nate to commit to be baptized this week.. Keep him in your prayers :)
Love you guys!!

-$ister Askerlund

okay guys... take the time to read this little piece of a talk I read this last week. IT CHANGED my outlook on everything!

"God uses another form of chastening or correction to guide us to a future we do not or cannot now envision but which He knows is thebetter way for us. President Hugh B. Brown, formerly a member of the Twelve and a counselor in the First Presidency, provided a personalexperience. He told of purchasing a rundown farm in Canada many years ago. As he went about cleaning up and repairing his property, hecame across a currant bush that had grown over six feet (1.8 m) high and was yielding no berries, so he pruned it back drastically, leavingonly small stumps. Then he saw a drop like a tear on the top of each of these little stumps, as if the currant bush were crying, and thoughthe heard it say:“How could you do this to me? I was making such wonderful growth. … And now you have cut me down. Every plant in the garden will lookdown on me. … How could you do this to me? I thought you were the gardener here.”
President Brown replied, “Look, little currant bush, I am the gardener here, and I know what I want you to be. I didn’t intend you to be a fruittree or a shade tree. I want you to be a currant bush, and someday, little currant bush, when you are laden with fruit, you are going to say,‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for loving me enough to cut me down.’”
Years later, President Brown was a field officer in the Canadian Army serving in England. When a superior officer became a battle casualty,President Brown was in line to be promoted to general, and he was summoned to London. But even though he was fully qualified for thepromotion, it was denied him because he was a Mormon. The commanding general said in essence, “You deserve the appointment, but Icannot give it to you.” What President Brown had spent 10 years hoping, praying, and preparing for slipped through his fingers in thatmoment because of blatant discrimination. Continuing his story, President Brown remembered:
“I got on the train and started back … with a broken heart, with bitterness in my soul. … When I got to my tent, … I threw my cap on thecot. I clenched my fists, and I shook them at heaven. I said, ‘How could you do this to me, God? I have done everything I could do tomeasure up. There is nothing that I could have done—that I should have done—that I haven’t done. How could you do this to me?’ I was asbitter as gall.
“And then I heard a voice, and I recognized the tone of this voice. It was my own voice, and the voice said, ‘I am the gardener here. I knowwhat I want you to do.’ The bitterness went out of my soul, and I fell on my knees by the cot to ask forgiveness for my ungratefulness. …

“… And now, almost 50 years later, I look up to [God] and say, ‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for cutting me down, for loving me enough to hurtme.’”⁵

God knew what Hugh B. Brown was to become and what was needed for that to happen, and He redirected his course to prepare him for theholy apostleship."

The first picture is me Sister Bean and our Investigator Nate, (the one who tried to hug me) he is HILARIOUS!

the next picture is Aven Lee, he is my favorite member of the Madison 4th Ward

#BECAUSEOFHIM

Wow! Easter was so remarkable yesterday.. I have never felt so close to my Savior. He really truly lives. I know he does. so many people we meet out here, when we ask them about Jesus, they always say "I love Jesus, he died for me" while that is so powerful and so true, I think so many people forget to realize, HE LIVED FOR THEM also.

On Saturday, Sister Bean and I got to travel to her old area to see a baptism of some she used to teach! It was so awesome.. i cried like a baby.. of  course!  

We are teaching Nate, the black guy who came to church and tried to hug me. The other day we were teaching him and talking about church and he was like.. "why was there no black people at church on Sunday? There must have been a big BBQ goin on or something" hahaha you might need to know Nate to understand how funny this was but I was dying haha He is awesome!

on April 15th, we went with our investigator Coredyn to Orange Leaf to get Fro Yo, (they had a deal going on that you could get as much fro yo as you wanted and it would only cost $4.15 because of tax day..) so you know me... I LOADED up my up. like LOADED! I think I put half a pineapple in there! It rung up as $9.10.... and turns out you had to have the advertisement printed off in order to get the deal. so I had to pay $9 for fro yo! This is completely not gospel related by any means but I just wanted to let everyone know that I think I broke my record for fro yo weight. It was a proud moment for me :)

I have like no time on the comps today because we are getting a tour of this place called Epic today that is within our boundaries. It's like this medical analysis place or something.. I don't even know but it is HUGE and I'm pretty sure it is taking over the world haha google it or something. it's insane... but so I have to get going because we're meeting an investigator over there for the tour.
Sorry I didn't get to write many people back :(
I'll talk to you all next week!
I love you so much!

God is real and there for each one of us if we will seek him 

Miracles are all around us, we just have to look for them :)
Love you guys!!

with all my love, Sister Askerlund

ps attached is some pics of me and my Comp Sister Bean
hahaha people were giving us the weirdest look the day that we matched each other :)

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me

It has been humbling week for Sister Askerlund.

But it has been a wonderful week! I know the Lord is mindful of me.. (minus the fact there was snow outside this morning.. that must be part of his sense of humor)

It's been an awesome week full of lots of laughter, lots of tears and lots of Jesus! What more could you ask for, right?

First of all, this coming weekend is Easter... :)

I don't know about you.. but I am guilty of thinking about cadburry eggs, my hatred of peeps, and jelly beans a whole lot more than I think about Jesus Christ. 

I love my Savior, and before my mission I thought I had a good relationship with him.. but being out here.. has changed all that. I feel him with me every day. He's with me as I walk, he's with me as I knocking on every door, he's with me at the end of the day during my prayers, he's with me when I feel  rejected, inadequate and defeated. But he is also with me during my lessons as I bear my testimony of His love for the people I am teaching, he is with me when we commit someone to be baptized, and he is with me when someone repents and feels the atonement work within them.

I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVES.

He lives! He may have died on the cross, but he lives, and guides this church and his people today! I find no greater comfort than that!
Speaking of Easter.. guess who got asked to speak on Easter Sunday.. none other than Sister Bean and myself.. I'm a little nervous to say the least. No pressure right?.. :)

everyone, watch this video,
it is amazing!!

https://www.lds.org/youth/video/because-of-him?lang=eng#d

We have been working with some amazing people this week! Sam is awesome! Pretty sure we are the same person! She loves dogs, she has a weiner dog named Oscar... haha cracks me up every time! We taught her the plan of Salvation.. she had so many good questions! We are teaching her again this week!

Nate came to church! The awkward hug guy... He's black.. and our ward is 100% white so he added a little flavor haha he is so awesome!! 

We dropped Micheal.. (the guy who went to Jail) which means we aren't teaching him anymore.. which is really hard.. but it's what's best for right now. The Lord will continue to work with him till he's ready again. 

There's this lady Lisa in my ward who got baptized last November and he is SO awesome! She has such a love for the gospel and has such a light about her :) I truly love her!

We met this awesome guy Robert, who started talking to some Elders at a gas station, and he was like "hey I tried to be mormon once" so he wants to be taught again, he smokes, but we can help him with that :) Lucky for us he lives in our area so we get to teach him! he's had a hard life but has such a positive outlook on life!
We have this investigator Cindy.. who is awesome, she has a quad, has been to temple open houses, basically knows more about our church's history than I do.. but she doesn't believe all of it. She has a problem with our beliefs in Grace. But on Wednesday we made homeless packages with her. She bought all this stuff, like granola bars, socks, a tooth brush, juice boxes and even little bibles and we separated them all out and put them in bags to hand out to homeless people. we even put scripture references on each thing in the bags. She is the most Christlike person I have ever met! 

On Thursday, I had my first exchanges, Sister Johnson came and stayed with me for the day.. and wow was that interesting! Sister J. is from Texas and is SO awesome! She is on fire! We tracted and met the most amazing people! We met this guy named David who at first wanted nothing to do with us.. he first thought we were Jehovah Witnesses, then when he found out we were Mormon, He asked us how many husbands we have.. after we cleared all that up, his dog came out and I bent down to put her (of course) and I asked  her name, He said Lacey, and when I looked up at him he was crying.. he said that was his wifes name and today was the anniversary of the day she died.... I stood up and told him how sorry I was and I told him she was in a better place and that he'd see her again, he was really crying now..the spirit was insane!! We asked him if we could pray with him and he said yes. He told us we could come back whenever... so we definitely will :) the Lord guided us to his home that day, I know it!

I know all this stuff sounds so happy and the perfect missionary life but I will tell you... there is A LOT OF REJECTION! A lot of people don't like us.. and there is some mean people. We are just here to help and uplift people and build their relationship with Christ, I pray that some people will soften their hearts and realize that.

But
the work is hastening and the Lord is preparing people :)

I know this is where I am supposed to be.

I know Heavenly Father has guided me through life to this exact point, he has placed people in my path to help me get here. I feel so blessed to be a missionary.

This is the happiest times of my life.

"Yea, I know that I am nothing, as to my strength I am weak; therefor I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things yea, behold, many might miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever"

Alma 26:12

with all my love, Sister Askerlund

"God engraven upon your countenance"

Am I the only one who is just floating on a spiritual cloud right now? Conference was the BEST! People say that Conference weekend is the best weekend of your mission, and they are RIGHT! I feel bad for everyone else because I just feel spoiled since all the speakers prepared their talks just for me.. or atleast that's what it felt like ;) I especially loved Bednar's talk about the "load". We spent time the Lee family, they are my favorite! We even went our to Orange Leaf in between sessions, so you can imagine.. I was a pretty happy girl :)

This last week has been amazing and full of miracles :)

The fields are white in the Madison 4th Ward.. and whitening every day we are here. People are searching for us, they are searching for God, they are searching for the gospel. It's amazing!

I have some really sad and devastating news.. My dad sold my blazer.. For those of you who had been on adventures with me in that baby understand what I mean. "mourn with those who mourn" Haha I hated that car and it died on me so much but we sure have been through a lot together. My dad sold it to a friend, he said he "hopes he doesn't lose 15 years of friendship over that piece of junk" Brutus, was a good car, he will be missed..

Also, BIG NEWS! Brady turns 18 next week! Hold the phone, when did time fly by so fast? Make sure to give him some birthday love next week for me :)

Life has been great out here in Wisconsin! We got two new investigators this week! Trisha and Sam! (<<<<<good name!) but they are both awesome! and I am so excited to teach them more! Trisha is a single mom of older teenage girls! She loves religion and was taught by missionaries like 20 years ago! She has such a light about her, I love her already! Same is married and has two teenage boys! She is awesome! Not to mention i love her cuz of her name! It's crazy, and almost creepy how automatically you can begin to love someone out here.. I feel so much love for the people I meet because I know God loves them! (cheesy but it's true!) God loves all of us! He loves us so perfect, regardless of our imperfections, our mistakes, our shortcomings, he loves us SO MUCH! I am just begin to understand the smallest layer of that love and what it truly means to be a child of God. We are also visiting a less active named Tamesha who was baptized a long time ago but never went to church. She cried last night when we were reading the scriptures and said she has "never felt so much love in her life" :)

AWKWARD MOMENT OF THE WEEK: so there is this guy named Nate who works at a gas station Sister bean and I always stop by at, he is black and AWESOME! He knows every customer, by name. So he has gotten to know us pretty well and what we are about. So we went in on Wednesday and he was like "my siiiiiistas" and started coming out from behind the counter to greet us and I knew what was coming.. he was going in to hug me! (as a missionary, I can't hug men) So here I was with like .27 seconds to react, but it wasn't enough time because he was too fast so he started hugging me and I AWKWARDLY went like all stiff and then I went into like this bent over position while he was still trying to hug me, this whole time I was just screaming "i can't hug you I can't hug you" I wish I could describe it better, and I wish I could show you a picture of his face and reaction after.. he was like shocked. We then had to spend like 10 minutes explain why I can't hug him, and we had to assure him that other mormons can hug him. (it was the most awkward moment of my mission, thus far) Anyways, he is so awesome! We gave him a BOM that day and he promised he'd read. His mom is a Jehovah's Witness, and he said if she finds this book he'll be burned at the stake and that he will make sure to haunt us in his after life." hahaha he is awesome!

It's finally warming up out here.. Wisconin is so full of wild life haha there is bunnies everywhere! I need to try to get a picture of them in our front yard! and WOW the squirrells! EVERYWHERE!!  I cannot wait for spring out here, people say it is so green and beautiful! :)

Micheal is out of Jail.... wooooo! So that's good.. he is still moving towards baptism but he definitely still has a lot to go. Tim is on two weeks no smoking! If I don't see another miracle my whole mission.. Tim will be enough. It is amazing seeing the Lord work within someone :) He is so awesome!

I'm doing really good ) don't get me wrong, it's hard.. really hard. But it's worth it! People are generally pretty friendly out here.. haha till they find out we're Mormons, then they run away like we have the plague! But it's all good! The work is  progressing. We are building up our teaching pool and find new people every day! I know this is the true church of God on Earth, and I know it can bless lives, like it has blessed mine! that is why I am out here.. I would hope we all can reach out our hands to someone as Christ would, you can changes someone's life by bringing the Gospel into it.

I love all of you guys and I am so grateful for all the love and support my family and I have received! Especially the prayers on my behalf and on the behalf of my investigators!

Until next week, god bless <3

all my love, Sister Askerlund

"stop waiting for the rainbow and thank God for the rain" -Utchdorf

#cantstopwontstop

[that awkward moment] when your first investigator with a baptismal date is now in Jail...

..kind of puts a damper on things :(

Sister Bean and I were just sitting in Sacrament waiting for Michael to show up and he never did, after church Bishop told us the bad news.. It seems he got in an argument with his neighbor and things got out of hand. We're not sure exactly what went down but I guess we'll find out soon..

 

Besides that little blunder it's been a splendid week in the Madison 4th Ward! I feel so blessed to be here! Especially to be with Sister Bean, she is the best trainer ever! I would literally die without her, that is for sure! And I'm 100% positive our ward is the absolute best ward ever! The members are all so member missionary oriented, everyone wants to help, everyone wants to come to lessons with us, and everyone feeds us.... WAY - TOO - MUCH! (surprisingly still haven't had any Wisconsin cheese, I know.. it's a little disheartening) Sister bean and I are both new to the area, it was an Elder only area but President decided it need to be changed so he kicked the elders out and we took over. Even their apartment... scary right? But I guess the last few Elders just haven't been working very hard, they left no investigators so Sister Bean and I have totally had to start fresh, which has been insanely hard but insanely rewarding. We've had so many people tell us we are so different than the Elders, we had 5 people at church on Sunday.. I guess there hasn't been any investigators for a while so it's way different. I'd be lying if I said this difference was because of us, because it totally isn't! it's because of the Lord! He guides us to everyone!  I am just feeling immensely blessed! I know this is exactly where I am supposed to be and I have truly never been happier in my life. Amazing things happen when you "forget yourself and get to work". This is the Lord's work.

 

Okay so Tim, the less active we visit with is going on 9 days without smoking!! This is the guy who used to smoke 6 packs a day! It is literally a miracle! he is reading the scriptures daily, praying, and coming to church! he is so awesome!! We celebrated his week mark with him on Saturday with Martinelli's.. haha we walked up to his apartment with the bottle of Martinelli's and everyone who drove past us was giving us the weirdest looks... he is so awesome!! It's amazing the difference I can see in him just over the three weeks I have known him. He's like a different person! The gospel changes lives :)

 

We are also teaching this guy named Rocky... you can only imagine how awesome he is with a name like that! He is a retired school principal, and for anyone who remembers me in high school I was BFF with the principals so I love Rocky! He is an inactive catholic and he says he is just looking for more in a religion. He took the Book of Mormon and has already started reading! He's awesome!

 

We are also teaching this lady Kim, she is so awesome! She has been through so much! She has three children, all from different dads and the last one is in jail. She just feels lost and doesn't know her way, but she wants to follow Christ she just doesn't know how.. It's amazing to see the Lord working with her and in her home. She is African American and she told me she likes me cuz I act black... I told her thank you! haha my older brother Justin would get a kick out of that! She is great though! She is reading and praying and she is trying to keep the word of Wisdom!

 

We are also teaching Jim, the guy from the bus.. He has read the whole BOM!! but hasn't gotten a confirmation that is the word of God... but he won't pray about it.... BAH!

 

Sister Bean and I are working with so many amazing people! I wish I had all the time in the world to tell you about our other investigators but time goes by so fast on these computers. But we meet the most awesome people every day and as terrifying as it is to go up to complete strangers and start talking to them about Jesus Christ it is truly amazing the light we can see in people's eyes. The Gospel is true, I know it is. I know it with all my heart! The church is true!

 

I cannot wait for Conference this weekend!! AHHH! It's like Christmas!!

 

I love you all so much!!

I am so happy out!

 

With all my love, Sister Askerlund

 

Ether 12:4

"wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, year, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast always abounding in good works being led to glorify God"

Taking the sin out of Wisconsin...

one person at a time.. So far SO great in the Madison 4th Ward!We are seeing miracles every single day! We have met so many amazing people here and the lord is definitely helping us find them.

I have learned to follow the spirit because he knows so much greater than me! He has led us to find people that are searching.. searching for something they don't even know they are missing.

There are miracles every single day and I can see the Lord's hand in all of it. The lord leads us to these people, the lord teaches these people, the lord testifies to these people and the lord answers their prayers. I can sit and bear my testimony until I am blue in the face, but it is useless with out the spirit. 

We were on the bus the other afternoon with all these people who had headphones in/talking on their phone/ etc. and I felt helpless, I felt like I couldn't talk to anyone. and I had this thought/message come to me that said, if you can't speak the gospel, show with your actions. So I got out my BOM and was barely even opening it when the man standing above me said WOW I've never seen a mormon bible that big before... so i explained to him that the first part of my quad was the bible, how we use the bible and the book of mormon hand in hand as one. He was amazed, he had never heard that before. He told us how he knew about the Mormons, he had had a few mormon friends who had talked to him about Joesph Smith. He had even seen the Restoration movie, he asked us if we had a copy he could borrow. IT WAS AMAZING! We set up an appt with him for the evening and we're going to talk more about Joesph Smith/BOM/Restoration!

One of our investigators, Micheal committed to Baptism on Saturday!! My first one! He is so awesome! He is african-american and almost 70 years old.. and he is a jazz player (are you picturing him?) he has such an awesome spirit with him. So we have been teaching him that last two weeks and Saturday me and Sister Bean decided we we're going to commit him to baptism so we planned to ask him about May 10th. At the end of our lesson we we're talking to Micheal about goals and how we wanted him to set a goal date that he wants to work towards, and he was like.. "well my birthday is May 10th, I think the Lord wouldn't want me to get baptized May 10th" Micheal saaaaay whaaaaa?? We showed him our planners and how we had already written May 10th down for him, he was amazed and said the Lord must have told us. He is so awesome! He has come to church the last two sundays and talks to EVERYONE! Everyone loves him! 

One of the other people we teach is Tim, Tim was baptized like 20 years but was only active for a little while. He lives in our complex and is a very, very very heavy smoker... like 6 packs a day kind of guy. so you can imagine how his apartment smells.. Well over the last week we challenged Tim to lessen his smoking and to eventually stop. He started out with small changes, like a cigarette every hour... and so on until it was every 2 hours.. every 3... and he said when he ran out he was going to be done. He ran out on Friday morning.... AND HAS NOT HAD A CIGARETTE SINCE!! it's literally a miracle! Sister Bean and I and a few ladies from our ward helped him clean his apartment Saturday... words cannot even discribe what his apartment looked like... or smelled like. he has a dog (which is so cute, but probably has long cancer from his smoking...) who just goes to the bathroom where ever... We cleaned for two hours, took out seven, YES SEVEN garbage bags full of garbage. there was cobwebs everywhere, mountains of beer cans, (that's next on the list), a very very scary microwave and an even scarier bathroom, scrubbed the walls to get the smoking stains, his dog ripped his bed spread so there was feathers EVERYONE it looked like it had snowed on the ground. They say the Lord is with you during times of trial, he definitely was with me Saturday, there is NO way I could have cleaned that apartment, with my gag reflexes without him. My mom would have a heart attack in this guy's apartment, just setting foot in there. She would walk to clean everything haha... but two hours later it was beautiful. I honestly think if I go the rest of my life and never do another good deed I will still go to the Celestial Kingdom for what I did on Saturday at Tim's apartment... but it was so worth it. He came out of cleaning his bathroom and looked around and started to cry. He just kept saying I don't deserve this, i don't deserve this.. and all i could think was what Heavenly Father would say, "of course you do, you are a son of God"

Being out here has truly already changed me. I feel this overwhelming desire to see people how the Savior does and to treat them like the Savior would. 

We also met this guy Mark in our complex last week who we schedueled an appt with this week. When we texted mark he said he didn't remember us but still agreed to meet us at the mall to talk. When we met him there.. it was definitely not the guy we met at the complex... he had tricked us and given us his friends name and phone number.. but turns out... the REAL Mark is AWESOME!! We taught his the first lesson right there in the food court of the mall and he wants to learn more! He is so sweet and loves God and Jesus Christ and said he feels something with us he has never felt at his church....!!!! MIRACLES every day!

Our ward is amazing and so member missionary oriented! It's been amazing to have such support and so many people express their desire to share the gospel!  We have this lady in our ward that is like 30, and likes the missionaries to call her Momma Lee. She takes such great care of us... so don't fret! There's amazing people out here taking care of us! 

We stopped by one of the Elderly couple's house the other night just to say hi after one of our appointments fell through and we had barely walked inside when their phone rang and the wifes friend was upset and on the phone. Sister Cue told her to come over. We met her, explained what we are doing out here and taught her the first lesson. it was amazing!! We taught her again Wednesday and are seeing her this week today. 

We are blessed to be here!

This work is life changing. and life saving. 

the fields are WHITE, especially in the Madison 4th Area!

I am sorry if I am not replying to some of your emails... I don't know why but they like get hidden so I don't find them till weeks later. If you do reply to any of these maybe start a new message instead of replying to this one because when you reply directly to this one they all get jumbled together and I miss a bunch of em. Also sorry if I don't send you the emails every week. every time I copy and paste the emails it messes a bunch of them up so they won't send.

I love all of you guys and appreciate all the letters and emails and love and support! I am so blessed!!! 

I KNOW THIS IS EXACTLY WHERE I AM SUPPOSED TO BE! 

The gospel is true!! I am learning that more and more every day out here as I am seeing it bless so many lives, especially my own. I thought I had a good testimony of this gospel when I left, but after just a month I have come to realize that was just a tiny building foundation of what a real testimony can be. I rely on my Savior, I love my Savior and am trying to be like him.

On an even brighter note... I found Fresca here... FINALLY!! After two weeks, tons of gas stations, walmarts and groccery stores I finally found Fresca!! HALELUJA!!!

Love you all! 

-Sister Askerlund

The Askerlund Fam

 Sister Wood & Sister Askerlund