March 31, 2014

Another fun week in Deer Park! I feel blessed to be working with so many wonderful people, non members and members. Jim, Sister Gooch's brother, came to church yesterday. It was testimony meeting. In the middle of the meeting we had heard a few testimonies and all the sudden Jim stood up, walked up to the pulpit, and shared a rockin testimony with everyone! WHAT!? Sister Fuller and I were beaming hahah. It was wonderful to see him up there telling others that he knows this will bring him happiness. He had a good time yesterday, I know he felt loved and comfortable. Our ward is always welcoming of our investigators.They reach out and let them know they are loved. They are wonderful missionaries too! We received 26 referrals last week! That is nuts. We are excited to contact them all, it might take a little while but it will be good! 

Sister Fuller is way fun, she is from Austin, Texas but she doesn't have an accent. People are always giving her a hard time for that haha. We are really similar. We love a lot of the same things, and laugh at the same things, and have similar ideas so it works out pretty well! Sometimes it might not be the best thing hah but we are having a blast and doing our best. I hope we get to stay together for another transfer at least. 

This last week we went to do service for Sister Haney and her less active husband on their farm. It was nice to wear my jeans!!! She has 25 sheep and 20 little lambs. While one of us helped Sister Haney grab each 165 pound sheep and flip them over on their bums and hold them between our legs while she trimmed their hooves, the other missionary got to play with and hold all the baby lambs (so they get used to people). And then we would trade off. You better believe I am a mutton wrestler now. They are hard to catch but after a couple of sheep I had it down. My hand fell in some sheep poop once and I get wacked in the head a few times as I flipped them over on their bums but holding the little lambs made it all so worth it. I was in heaven. They are soooo cute. We are going again soon so I will have to take some pictures for you or take a video of me doing it or something.

The Relief Society Broadcast was the best! I am happy to hear you and Sadie got to go mom :) The Spirit wasstrong. Those videos they show always get me. And listening to all the primary girls sing primary songs made me get teary eyed. I was thinking about you and Sadie the whole time and how blessed each of us are to have this gospel in our lives. It is so cool to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! I am excited to go with you both next year, that will be fun :) General Conference is coming up. Let me know what your favorite talks were! And I am very glad to hear that Alyssa is doing alright, she is a wild one haha it seems like she has gotten hurt more than any of us! Those guardian angels are doing their job :) LOVE YOU ALYSSA! 

I love you all so much.

Love, Sister Rogers

Sister Fuller! We went bowling with all the Elders, don't worry mom I had boots on that day that covered those socks. All the missionaries thought I was pretty cool.

All the animals love me. He was HUGE. The picture doesn't do him justice.

March 24, 2014

I have never loved missionary work more than I do right now. I feel like there is no way I will be able to keep my mouth shut once I get home. Don't get me wrong, it is still a little nerve racking sometimes to approach people and open my mouth, but the joy that comes from sharing the gospel is just too great to pass up. It makes me SO happy. 

A new stake president was called yesterday for our stake (he is awesome by the way, a young man in his late 30's who is a convert to the church, President Stark!), the former stake president has been called to be a mission president in the Brazilia, Brazil mission. The two general authorities in our area this last week was Elder Golden and Elder Call. The missionaries had the chance to meet with them this last Friday for a couple of hours, then hear them speak for the adult session Saturday evening and again Sunday morning for the conference. Those men bring such a huge spirit with them. And they are full of wisdom, I could listen to them for days. Their testimonies are powerful and as I sat and listened to them these last couple of days I just kept thinking of how blessed I am to be a member of this true church. My heart has been full of so much gratitude for the incredible spiritual experiences I am having on my mission and I am so happy I made the decision to be here. 

Elder Golden is one of my favorite general authorities now haha he is a very powerful speaker. He is packed with deep doctrine, I wish I could just sit at his feet and ask him question upon question. On Saturday night he talked a lot about missionary work and how we can have an increase of the Spirit in our lives. He said each time we pray, read the scriptures, do an act of service, attend church, etc. the Spirit rests upon us and it is up to us to maintain that spirit by faithfully doing those things. The Spirit is everything!. I have come to really understand that on my mission. He then ended with his testimony. The room was quiet and he began to testify boldly of Christ. I wish you all could of been there, it is hard to write just how powerful and strong the feeling in the room was. He mentioned just how thin the veil truly is. He testified that he is a special witness of Christ. He told us, "He is not an absentee master". The way he said it and the powerful Spirit that touched my heart helped me to know what he meant. I had chills haha. Through the power of the Holy Ghost, I know Christ lives. I know he is in the fine details of our lives. I know what Elder Golden said is true. THE GOSPEL! Hahah it is just too good. 

Gio, our monk, came to stake conference this last week! We had a lesson with him at the Bishop's house the other night. He shared with us an experience he had a couple weeks ago. He said a voice came to his mind telling him that a new group of people were going to come into his life, that he was going to gain some new peers, and he needs to listen to what they have to share. Isn't that cool?? I am excited for him. He is great and willing to learn more! I will keep you updated. We had two other investigators come to church too yesterday! MIRACLES.

I am about to get kicked off! I love you all so very much.

Love, Sister Rogers

March 17, 2014

We got a monk to sacrament meeting yesterday! His name is Giovanni but we call him Gio. He is so awesome! Sister Fuller and I were driving in the country to try and catch Sister Peterson, a less active, and instead we got Gio. He is staying there because Sister Peterson is living in Arizona right now and wanted someone to watch her house. He told us right away that he is a Catholic monk, he used to live in a monastery but no longer lives the rigorous lifestyle. How he ended up in Deer Park, I have no idea. He has a lot of similar beliefs and views as members of the church but he is huge on reincarnation, I am not sure where he developed that belief. I thought that was a Buddhist belief not Catholic but hey what do I know? Either way, the Spirit will tweek that :) He came to all three meetings yesterday and really enjoyed himself. Our members are awesome! They fellowshipped him like crazy. I know he felt loved and welcomed. The Spirit was strong in our Gospel Principles class too, he joined in on the discussion and had some really great things to say. He said he will be at stake conference next week! We are excited! I hear Catholics make the best Mormons.

We have found some other promising investigators too! A recent convert, Sister Gooch is living with her brother right now, and asked if we could come over and teach them. Jim, her brother, is incredible. The second we sat down he started going off about how he wants to make sure he is prepared and ready for baptism, we hadn't even invited him yet. I wanted to cry I was so happy. We have an appointment with them tomorrow. The Lord is preparing people everywhere, it is so cool to be apart of it. I have such high hopes for Deer Park. Pray for Gio and Jim! 

Sean Foley was BAPTIZED!!! President said it was too far way for me to attend but it's okay, I am just so happy. Can you believe it? He is a member. And I know he is going to be a great one. It is such a great feeling. I feel very very blessed. I need to remember all these great miracles especially when it feels like people say no to the gospel all the time, that can get a little rough. I need to remember that people have their agency and we are planting seeds.

I am a bingo professional now. I know all the lingo... what a flimsy vs. hard card is, sputnik bingo, postage stamp, 3 corners, etc. We volunteered at the Fraternal Order of the Eagles the other day and we were asked to be the bingo girls, when someone shouts BINGO we run over and call out the numbers to make sure it's valid and hand them their prizes. It's pretty fun. The money they pay for their cards goes towards charity and tons of people see our name tags so that's good. The people are so sweet too. And a majority of them are old haha I think that is the general population in Deer Park. Old people are the funniest by far! They are good at making me laugh so I absolutely love it.

The weather has been beautiful. I attached some pictures of a sunset and sunrise! I about died when I saw them.

I LOVE YOU! I hope you have a great week.

Love, Sister Rogers 

 

 

Sunset

 

This is our backyard. Sister Fuller and I had to stop our morning work out and run outside to take a picture it was too pretty

 

March 10, 2014

This last week has been great, the transition from Sandpoint to Deer Park has been a piece of cake. I love Deer Park so much already and all the people in it. Like I said, our ward is full of older people and they make me happy. They say the darnest things haha they crack Sister Fuller and I up and we love being able to spend time with them. Plus they are ON FIRE! I have never received so many referrals over the course of my missionary life as I have in the last week. We already have over 20 referrals to go contact and the coolest thing is we don't even have to ask our members for them, they just flat out say the names, it's great. Our Ward Mission Leader is pretty wonderful. He is a true cowboy that loves to ski haha he and his wife go every single day it feels like. And Sister Fuller is the best, we are the same person I swear. We decided we are going to find the most success through referrals and part member families because street contacting and tracting isn't very productive in Deer Park. Houses are miles apart. So we are excited! We have already seen so many blessings. Here is the story I was going to tell you about our new investigators...

Our second or third day here Sister Fuller and I went over to Brother and Sister Alexander's home for lunch. After lunch we were sharing a message with them and Sister Alexander began to tell us about a friend from her sewing group that she had talked to about the gospel. She told us she lives right up the road and her husband told her to give her a call and see if we could come over right then and meet her. Sister Fuller and I were impressed haha and excited. Sister Alexander called her up and Patricia said we could come over! She was such a sweetheart and was so willing to allow us to come into her home so last minute. We all sat around her big kitchen counter and talked to her and her 18 year old daughter, Caylee. They shared concerns they had and questions that led to us sharing the the Plan of Salvation with them. They were excited about it and committed to read the Book of Mormon. We set up a return appointment with them for two days later and when we had come back Patricia had invited one of her neighbors, Denice, to join us! We taught the Restoration and invited all three of them to be baptized. Patricia and Caylee were a bit hesitant but Denice said with a cute smile on her face, "I've been wanting to get baptized for awhile." I was so good to hear her say that! They all agreed to continue to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. We were pumped! We haven't had a chance to see either of them this last week, they are all busy working in Spokane and they live far out in the boonies, but we continue to pray our little hearts out for them and we are going to do our best to see them this week! 

Fun little fact from me to you... I go to bed every night listening to the coyotes howl right outside my window. At first it was creepy but I've gotten used to it and I actually kind of like it now hahah I'm so weird.

Oh! And President said I might be able to go to Sean Foley's baptism in Sandpoint this Saturday! How cool is that?

I love you so much. This gospel is true. I know Heavenly Father listens to our prayers. He is fully aware of the concerns that we have. I know that once we toss our worry to the side and exercise even a particle of faith in Him, we will be blessed with great comfort and a surety that he loves us and wants to help us.

I hope you have a lovely week!

Love, Sister Rogers

March 3, 2014

Man oh man oh man. This place is the epitome of a small town haha the boonies... Deer Park, population 3,000. It's small and spread out. Sister Fuller and I are still trying to get used to the fact that it takes 20 minutes to get from one house to the next, and we don't get to see quite as many people in the day as we were able to in Sandpoint and Moscow(her previous area) but I am loving it. We have only been here for a few days and we have seen so many miracles already! Our members are so missionary minded. It is so cool to be surrounded by people who have a desire to share the gospel with others and who are so willing to share with us the names of those who have been on their minds. Yesterday was our first day attending the ward. It isn't very big and 90% of the people are past their 60's and retired. Which I absolutely love :) I think their words of wisdom is one of the greatest things I will cherish from this experience as a missionary. I have learned so much. Sister Fuller is wonderful. We are very similar, laid back and excited to meet people and we love to have fun while we do missionary work (there are some missionaries who have a hard time with that). We live with the Gilsons in a little separate apartment by their house. They are both so great and very welcoming. I will have to send you a picture of them sometime soon!

I have so many things I want to share with you from the last couple of days! One of them being we have already found 3 new investigators who are progressing beautifully! The Lord is preparing the hearts of so many people. It's incredible and it is such a happy thing to witness. I will tell you the story next week, I am running short on time today :/ I also got word that Sean is still set to be baptized on March 15th! I am so excited for him. What a cool guy. 

I LOVE YOU!!! Be safe and have a wonderful week. Spring is coming soon. I. AM. SO. GLAD. I'm tired of snow..

Oh! What day is Sara getting married? No one has told me yet.

Love, Sister Rogers

 

This is my humble home! The one on the right. The Gilsons live on the left. We got dumped on yesterday.

 

This is where I preach the gospel :) Out in the middle of no where. My area is huge.

 

 

On occasion you get swarms of wild turkeys crossing the road. They are funny

 

That is my bedroom up there in the left hole! We were so excited when we saw these ladders for the first time haha it's like a treehouse.

 

This is where I study every day

 

Our lovely bedroom :)

 

 

we went knocking on doors in the wilderness