Federal Way Washington LDS Mission

President and Sr. Rasmussen

I hope you are all having a beautiful fall like we are here in Washington. It get into the low 70’s in the day and the leaves are starting to change. When you have as many trees as we do, it still stays very green all winter with all the pine trees even after the leaves have dropped.

                The work is going really well. We have another transfer next week with 11 returning home on Monday and 25 new missionaries arriving on Tuesday. We may get an additional 2 visa waiters who will be with us until their visas arrive. A mission is truly a revolving door of almost constant change.   We agonize over losing our experienced missionaries who have grown and become such great teachers and leaders. But when we meet the new group at the airport we see that that Lord blesses the Washington Federal Way Mission. They bring the fire of the MTC with them and it lifts all of us. The sacrifices they make, as well as their families, bring great blessings to the missionaries, their families and our mission.

                This transfer will be our highest baptizing since we came. We set a goal of 38 baptisms and are working with great faith. We appreciate your prayers in our behalf. We have seen miracles and blessings come as we have been focused on this goal. We will know our final number next week as we continue to baptize this weekend. Goals were set as companionships, districts, zones and then our mission goal with all working for one great cause---to see 38 of His precious children start on the covenant path back to Him. I wish you could see the charity the missionaries have for His children as they guide them in their journey to conversion. They show such great faith and diligence as they set out each morning to find, teach repentance and baptize His precious children.

                We always look forward to interviews and zone conferences as we get to see and talk to our missionaries. At zone conference we meet with two zones each day. We counsel together, are trained, have lunch, hear from our nurse and Elder Leavitt regarding our cars. This help us feel connected to them. Bishop Waddell told me when he was here that it isn’t a bishops ward, or a presidents stake, but they are our missionaries. I love thinking about that. I don’t know how to describe it, but they do feel like they are ours. Having a smaller mission geographically is a blessing as I feel like we see them quite often. In addition to zone conference and interviews each transfer, we have new missionary training meetings, Mission leadership council, baptisms, attending district meetings, sometimes going out with them in the evenings, seeing some on Monday at the office and church on Sunday. We are not far from a companionship or group of missionaries. They truly bless our lives as we watch them in action. We have the great blessing of seeing them as they stretch, grow, sacrifice, cry, love and care for each other. There is no sweeter sight than to see progressing missionaries grow in testimony and dedication to this work. I wish you could all have a front row seat to this as we are blessed to.

One dimension of our calling is we get to keep in touch with those who have returned, We love following their post mission adventures on social media, texts and emails. The best treat is when they visit us as they return to attend a baptism, go with a convert to the temple or just visit the many friend they left behind.   Our record is five visits one weekend this summer. When they leave we tell them every time we see them we will ask three questions:

1.        Are you keeping your covenants?

2.       Are you reading the Book of Mormon every day?

3.       Are you praying every day?

So far they have made us very happy. A saying we like to repeat here is “A mission is the MTC for life”. We have grown so much through our service here! We have to pinch ourselves sometimes to see if this is real or just a dream. We are so blessed to have these opportunities each day to be with this valiant army of God’s

Sister Rasmussen

Guess Who the Middle Person is?

We challenge our missionaries to know important callings in the church!

Answer found at the end of the blog.

We Teach about health issues

Cloudy, rainy days that begin in the fall in the Federal Way Mission can be difficult. The sunshine on your skin produces 20,000 units of Vitamin D in the summer. The cholesterol in your skin is vital in the process. During the winter when the sun is not as warm or present due to the clouds and rain the process is interrupted. This can lead to depression, lack of energy, fatigue, tendency to over eat along with unintended weight gain.

Did you know that magnesium increases the episodes of REM sleep which causes melatonin to rise which causes deeper sleep. The deeper you sleep, the more you can dream.

Did you know that more missionaries feel like they want to give it up and go home in the fall and winter in the Northwest part of the country? This is normal for this time of year. Why is is normal? Because the lack of light can create a depressed attitude . Keep the sunshine in your heart!

"We love to see the Temple, we're going there someday".
Each month the missionaries go to the Temple. What a glorious day that is! They love to go to the "Temple"

X is an expression of light intensity

Changing of the Guard:

While it was sad to lose the Nydeggers who were well loved by the missionaries, it is nice to welcome Elder and Sr. Leavitt. They are our new office workers and if you ever have a need to call the mission office you will probably get to speak to one of the Leavits.

Elder and Sister Leavitt on the left Elder and Sister Nydeggers on the Right.

Greetings from Elder and Sister Leavitt.

We are excited to be serving the Lord in the Washington Federal Way Mission. We are from Murray, Utah and have three children, eleven grandchildren and two great grandchildren. I (Elder Leavitt) enjoy hiking, yard work, traveling, cars, genealogy, and motorcycles. I have a restored 1929 Ford Model A Roadster and my grandchildren love to ride in the rumble seat. I like riding my Harley with my biker gang, the “Mild Hogs” that includes one of my past Stake president’s, three past Bishops High, Priest assistant, secretary and the ward Mission Leader. I served four years in the US Air Force.

Greetings from Sister Leavitt. I have wanted to serve a mission most of my life. This is the perfect place to be. We already love all the missionaries here and have been welcomed so much. We have been good friends of President and Sister Rasmussen for many years and were delighted to be called to serve with them in this beautiful state. While John is off riding with his “gang” I like to shop. Of course, many of the other riders wife’s like to shop with me and we make it a day of shopping, eating and then some more shopping. I also love to garden, walk, read, do counted cross-stitch, travel, but never do anything at all with a computer but am catching on. It's all great!

Institute: Learning and Good Fellowship

New Cook in town: While Sister Olsen was out of town becoming a new grandmother, Elder Olsen stepped in like a Pro and made the missionaries favorite dish - French Toast!

That is a lot of French Toast - hungry Elders, It did not last long!

Mingling and good fellowship - nice way to introduce investigators to the Gospel.

Service is an important part of living the Gospel. Missionaries are taught on their missions that it blessed to serve others. This was a day declared to be a national day of Service. Their excitement at the opportunity to serve was infectious!

Sister Johnson (middle) and Sr. Grob (Right) - Two special Senior Missionaries.

Elder Olsen and his son singing for the patients in the Nursing Home - Visiting Grand-baby in Elder Olsen's arms.

Elder Payne and Elder Hill -Planting flowers. See those missionary smiles....

Elder and Sister Reynolds at the National Day of Service - another special senior couple. They are very sincere and helpful!

Sisters teasing Sr. Leavitt - they know she loves McDonalds.

"Oh, Look where we had lunch today"

Sr. Hillier and Sr. Tippetts. Lovely sisters!

September Baptisms - They all worked so hard this transfer.

Sr. Lambert, Hermana Everet, Hermana Van Leuven

Hermanas Everett and Van Leuven with Joey and Nazareth

Sr. Tippetts and Sr. Hillier Elder Lewis

Elder Reicho Elder Perkins

Elder Hancock Elder Drabecki Baptism of Ann Bolis

Elder Leavitt Sr. Williams Elder Scheidell

Fun Moments as people rest from their labors - Clark Lake Ward missionaries continue to do the work of the Gospel

Sr. Mintindo from Kenya - Clark Lake Ward New Convert

What a blessed convert she is. She learned about the Gospel when a member talked to her about the church at a bus stop. When asked if she wanted to have the missionaries visit her, she said yes. She has not missed a day of church since. While not having the support of her family she moved forward anyway and is strong.

Elder's Cook and Payne - A much deserved amazing meal for two hard working missionaries. They are assistants to the President.

Sr. Mintindo and the supporting group from Clark Lake.
Left to Right

Sr. Ford-Trudo
Sally Ward
Elder Cook
Elder Payne
Sr. Mintindo

Sister Ford-Trudo found a baby to hold. He enjoyed the picnic also. Sr. Ford-Trudo is our mission nurse. Sister Sally Ward is one of the Clark Lake Ward Senior Missionaries.

Note the lovely member's yard where the picnic was held. One of the members from the Park Orchard ward supplied all of the food for the entire group which had to be several hundred. He had 6 BBQs going. There was chicken, ribs, pulled pork, steal, etc. What a great contribution to the memberss.

Christmas is Coming - Hint, Hint! Parents take heed!

At the desk type - optimal

baseball cap visor

Happy Light glasses

Since the Northwest is a place that is dimly lit in the winter due to low light hours and cloudy, rainy days people suffer more from winter blues and disturbed circadian rhythms here than more southerly places. A nice gift for your missionary would be a therapy (happy) light. Above are some examples of such lights. These lights are known to reduce the "winter blues".

Zone Conferences - a place to learn, to be trained, to communicate, to fellowship, and to be inspired. There are 4 zone conferences every 6 weeks in the Federal Way Mission:

Enumclaw Zone