June 23, 2014


C>A>N>A>D>A

Remember when I told you before I left that I wanted to go to every state and country in my mission? Done. I am proud to say I have lived in beautiful Sandpoint, Idaho + enjoyed a day of riding bikes in Coeur d'Alene. Stayed the night in the boonies of Montana more than a few times. I am currently serving in the green state of Washington and now I've been to Canada and I ate all their yummy chocolate. Dad would love their kit kats. I think their kit kats tasted better than ours but maybe it's all in my head because everyone says Canada's candy is the best. They pretty much have the same treats that England has so I felt a bond with Elder Hutchins while I was eating them. Kelsea too :) We spent the day in Grand Forks blitzing with the rest of our zone to help the Elders up there find more investigators. They have been having a rough time. The Church in Grand Forks is really really small. They meet in a little office building and they are classified as a unit... smaller than a branch. A lot of people haven't been very receptive to the missionaries but we had the faith that all of us would find some solid people for them to teach. With the help of the Lord we were able to find 9 new investigators and tons and tons of baptismal invites were extended. It was awesome. Sister Huntsman and I contacted people in this big park by the river and we found this super golden lady, Judy. She was awesome. We noticed she was crying on the bench and when we approached her she looked up and asked to share the message we had because she really needed it. We taught her about the Book of Mormon and the restoration of the gospel. We had her read some verses that were perfect for the challenges she was facing and you could feel that the Spirit was touching her heart. She asked us for a copy and committed to meet with the Elders. The Elders have a wonderful person who is more than prepared. I am so excited for them. The area will keep improving, I know it. The Canadians were super nice.. one day Grand Forks will be booming with the gospel!

JOHN BELL GOT BAPTIZED! Do you remember my investigator, John Bell, in Sandpoint who really struggled with smoking? He has been so diligent in trying to improve. He would come to church almost every Sunday and study from the scriptures.. he was baptized and I am so happy for the man. He has been wanting it so bad and he has finally been able to make that covenant with the Lord worthily and full heartedly! 

Yesterday we met a man who was a very strong believer that we do not have it in us to make choices, that we are some how programmed to be a certain way and make certain decisions and that God chose his elect before we were born and those who were not chosen are just kind of here for the heck of it unless God decides to open their eyes with the power of the Holy Ghost. His belief is pretty much that God picks and chooses favorites and that's just the way it is. I shared my testimony with him that Heavenly Father loves all of His children. He shot that down quickly. We also told him about agency and how the Book of Mormon teaches over and over again that we have our agency to act for ourselves, to exercise faith or not. We told him that in order to know if what we had said to him is true he would need to read and pray about the Book of Mormon but he wasn't having it haha. He had some strong scriptures and examples that seemed to really prove his point (for ex. Romans 9... when you get the chance Dill, study that one and tell me what you think about it ha) but I walked away feeling very grateful for my testimony of the Book of Mormon and the knowledge I have that God is our loving Heavenly Father and that he has given us our agency... that is such a huge part of His plan! All of His children will be given the opportunity to accept the gospel whether it is here of after this life. I know this is true because I have felt the Spirit touch my heart and tell me so. 

We are heading up to Colville to play kickball with our zone today so that should be fun, thank you for the WalMart giftcard!! We don't have one in Deer Park but Colville is a little bit more happenin than here so I will be using the card up there today. I LOVE YOU

Love, Sister Rogers