Second wave

Saludos a todos, 

An interesting thing happened last night. At an unknown hour of the night, I was awoken from my slumber by a very loud crash from outside, and then moments later, a plethora of sirens. 

On our way to the store this morning, to our bewilderment, a car had crashed into a powerline pole and the entire road had to be blocked. This resulted in a few hours without power, but it has since then repaired. Waterbury always seems keep us on our toes. 

My new companions name is Elder Olson and he's from the factory (la fábrica as Hispanics say, aka Utah). He's brand-spanken-new here in the mission. That means I'm going back to the basics of the gospel and the language. It takes me back to when I was new and how I acted. It also makes me feel kind of old in the mission. 

And though time was short with Elder Barbee, we had a great time getting to know each other. 

This last week we got some tough news. We've been advised to no longer work in the chapels outside of the regular scheduled meetings. This is a result of the recent surge of cases here in New England. It's kind of feeling like a second lock down as we run in to wave two. 

I think I found one of my favorite chapters in the New Testament. It's Romans 12. For me, it seems to hit different in Spanish than it does in English. One verse I like a lot is in verse 17 which tells us: "Expect the best of all men and women". 

We should really do this more often upon meeting people for the first time, or even for those we've know our entire lives. The question to ask from this is "Why would someone purposefully and meaningfully try to wrong you? When nine times out of ten they never had intentions to. 

Now, don't get me wrong, there are those who chose to hurt people with their actions. That on the other hand is wrong. Most often times though, we get offended by the story we tell ourselves, when we don't even know the reasoning behind someone's actions. If and when people offend you intentionally, always remember the God will always have vengeance. That means in the end, He will make everything right and even for everyone according to their works. 

So, as human beings, let us express a little bit more love, and expect only the best things of people. I promise you will enjoy your life more, and it will be more enjoyable to be around others. 

On a different note, today Elder Olson and I, while visiting down town Waterbury, we walked in on an Immaculate Conception mass service. I've always wanted to see one, and it came true today. I kind of felt what our new friends feel when they come to church for the first time. They said a couple of their prayers, the priest was giving everyone holy water, and we sang America The beautiful, which was nice. Overall very new, and interesting experience. 

Thats all for this week, hope all is well with you, stay warm and healthy. You're in my prayers! 

con mucho amor,
Elder Rasmussen

-The Holy Land USA, check it out on google

-really good dinner I made

-Michael (member) and Elder Barbee