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

June 16, 2014

This week was a PRIME week :) Good things going on all day every day. Amanda and Chris are progressing well. Chris opened up to us yesterday and mentioned how he doesn't think he is as committed as Amanda is... he doesn't enjoy that church is 3 hours long hahaha, I have some ideas on how we can help him. He does want us to still come and teach them and he committed to continue reading from the Book of Mormon so I'm praying my little heart out. I think he is more prepared than he might realize. I felt very privileged to sing at his mother's funeral this last weekend. They asked me to sing How Great Thou Art. I think that song is beautiful, especially the third verse. I sang acapella, I didn't have any music to accompany me but I was grateful I chose to do it that way because the moment I began singing the third verse and really paying attention to the words, I started to cry. When the Spirit is strong like that... I'm a goner. I was able to compose myself and finish it up. Our Bishop was also asked to speak so that was exciting. He taught everyone the Plan of Salvation! 

Carrie is so wonderful! I love her. She is sincere and willing to learn, it makes me so happy. She recognized the Spirit and I am excited to teach her more. She is on date to be baptized!

BIGGEST MIRACLE OF THE WEEK. A few days ago Sister Huntsman and I received a media referral. We got a text with the referrals information on it, her name is Sara, and it said it was submitted through mormon. org. The next day we were in the area and decided we better contact the referral so we drive up the road, we pull into the driveway, and there is a woman with her 3 little kids out in the front yard. When she saw us pull up she ran into her house and the first thought I had was.. great she is going tell us she isn't interested and ask us to leave. As we got out of the car, she came out of her house and started walking towards us and then she said, "Are you the missionaries? I submitted my information on mormon.org." She referred herself!! I just assumed it was by a member or something but she is the one who asked the missionaries to come over. We shared our testimony with her that the message we share is a message of happiness and the gospel of Jesus Christ will bless her and her family. She began to cry and told us that her sister married a member of the church and she started visiting with the missionaries 12 years ago but she moved to Montana and never got baptized. She said for 12 years the message the missionaries shared with her has been on her mind and that there was something missing her life. She asked us for a Book of Mormon and wants to meet with us to learn more. We have a church tour with Sara on Thursday! I couldn't believe it! Sister Hunstman and I got in the car and just drove away speechless. I was feeling extremely blessed. I still do! This work is so amazing. I am always reminded of the very fact that Heavenly Father truly loves all of his children and this work is hastening.

I will keep you updated on Sara. I love you! I hope the lovely fathers had a wonderful Father's Day! Have a good week :)

Love, Sister Rogers

June 9, 2014

I don't have too much time, we are headed to a funeral in a bit! A member, Mick Hall, passed away this last week from cancer, he was such a sweet man. I am in awe with the love our ward has for one another... Mick has two kids who are in high school and they don't have a mother or other family to take care of them so a couple in our ward, the Moores, will be taking them in. While serving a mission, I have heard about and witnessed so many trials and challenges people go through in this life and I realize that I have it easy! I have learned so much just by watching others endure patiently and well the things that I feel would break me. The Lord can really provide us literal strength and direct help through his Atonement and I am so very grateful for that knowledge. 

Yesterday we had a miracle! We went to contact a promising potential investigator... he wasn't home but his 17 year old daughter, Carrie, was. It was our first time meeting her and we asked her if we could share a message with her. She was so sweet and allowed us to come in. We taught her the Restoration and asked her how she felt as we taught her about The Atonement and Joseph Smith. She replied that she felt "relief"! I thought that was one of the greatest answers I have ever heard! A young girl who has never heard about the Restoration, felt relief and comfort from this message that we shared with her. The Holy Ghost is so great! She committed to read from the Book of Mormon, she told us she thinks her Dad was reading it as well since we last gave it to him! She also said she would be baptized, WOO HOOO!! We have another appointment with Carrie tomorrow so we are excited.

I was asked by Amanda and Chris to sing at Debbie's funeral. I am a little nervous but I think it is a good opportunity for us to show them our love for them and most importantly the love that the Lord has for them. Our Bishop has become involved and he is helping out with the funeral too so that's good! Member fellowship :) Amanda and Chris told us yesterday at church that they still want to be baptized. I was really happy to hear that because we haven't been able to teach them in a while. We are going to do our very very best to help them feel ready and prepared for baptism. I feel so blessed to be working with such lovely people. The Lord has placed those who are prepared in our hands and I couldn't thank him enough. To think that all of these amazing experiences and miracles all came from a very subtle prompting to go see a recent convert, Sister Gooch, who introduced us to her brother, Jim Brock, who was baptized and is sharing the gospel with everyone including Amanda and Chris! I think it's amazing. Speaking of Jim Brock, he is receiving the priesthood this week!!! And I mean it when I say he is sharing the gospel with everyone haha we gave him mormon.org cards the other day with our number on it to give to those the Lord places in his path. Later in the evening we ran into him and he asked us to give him more cards because he already passed out all the ones he had. Gotta love Jim. He is too good.

I love you!!! Thank you for all the prayers and support and know that I am praying for you too.

Love, Sister Adrienne Rogers

my drive up to Ione, Washington! population 200 I swear, it's so small

my super cool zone, that's Sister Huntsman in the pink!

back porch of a members home! I was dying haha it's so beautiful

 I think I have more pictures of scenery than I do people ha I can't help it. This is at Sister Borges house, a less active member. She has billions of iris flowers in her yard.

June 2, 2014

This last week Sister Huntsman and I have really been trying to talk to everyone the Lord puts in our path... if we are on our way to someone's house and there is a few people walking on the sidewalk, we pull our car over and begin teaching the gospel haha it's a little nerve racking sometimes but you always feel good afterwards knowing you are trying to reach out to all of God's children. We have met some interesting people and have had some difficult questions and objections thrown our way, we have also met some really nice people who seem interested but of all the people we talked to this week no one was really committed to setting up a time to meet with us and allow us to teach them more. It can be a little disheartening at times but I can feel myself growing and learning from all of these experiences I am having, good and bad. I have faith that the Lord will recognize our diligence and give us a little hand haha we will be able to find more investigators in his timing. There is a quote that I absolutely love, it has brought so much comfort in those moments when I feel like the work is moving slowly. It is by our lovely Gordon B. Hinckley... he says to missionaries and members, "Do your best, your very, very best. Say your prayers and work hard and leave the harvest to the Lord." I know that is true. This work is ultimately in his hands and we are here to help Him. 

There was one man we met who we both had a wonderful feeling about. His name is Gary! He was out on his side porch smoking and as we approached him he was welcoming and listened to what we had to say. He said he hasn't been to church in a long time and will going to a church with a friend this weekend. As we shared our testimonies of the truthfulness of this gospel that we share, the Spirit was strong. And I knew he could feel it too because I could see it in his face. We are currently meeting with his neighbor across the street, Brenda, who is actually the mother of one of his daughters, and although Gary wouldn't set up a time with us he did say really quietly that he would come over to her house when we taught her. We had the biggest grins on our faces hahah and then Sister Huntsman (I'm so proud of her) extended a baptismal invite. He looked up at us and said... "we'll talk about it." SO. Gary will be getting baptized :) Whether it's while I am here or some other missionaries. 

I have a wonderful story to share with you! I don't remember if I mentioned this first part, I'm sorry if I have... A couple weeks ago when Sister Fuller and I taught the first lesson to our investigators, Amanda and Chris. Chris' mother, Debbie, was there at their home as well. We weren't expecting her to be there but we were happy to have her because we had heard through Amanda that Debbie was a less active member of the church. She had stopped going to church a long time ago when she was younger. We taught the Restoration and the whole time Debbie was listening intently. We talked about the Atonement and how the Lord knows what each of them are going through. We pointed out to Debbie, who had mentioned to us that she has had some complications and was going to have surgery, that Christ knows the anxiety and fear she was feeling. The Holy Ghost was teaching her the whole time and once we completed our lesson we asked if they would all read and pray to know the Book of Mormon was true. All Debbie could say was "I don't have a Book of Mormon." We gave her one and she looked happy to have it in her hands. When we invited them to come to church, Chris told us that he had already invited his mom to church but she said no. Debbie then told all of us that she might have changed her mind and would come with them!!! MIRACLE. A heart softened right before my very eyes hahaha. One of the greatest things to witness. So now with my second half of the story...

Debbie came to church last Sunday, May 25th, with Amanda and Chris :) I was so happy to see her, I gave her the biggest hug. She was beaming! She was right where she belonged and I knew she would feel welcomed. After the first meeting, she told me she enjoyed it and gave us her address to come meet with her. This last week about four days ago, I got a call from Amanda informing us that Debbie was having severe health problems and was in the hospital. She had started having seizures and her condition had continued to get worse and worse. She was in an induced coma on life support and they were going to have to make a decision in a few hours of what to do. I told her that we are praying for them and for Debbie and that everything would work out that way it needs to. The next day I found out Debbie had passed away. I was sad but at the same time I felt so comforted by all of it. To think that Debbie, who had little knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ, was taught the Restoration and accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon before she passed away. She came to church and after so many years she had the opportunity to renew her covenants that she made when she was baptized a member of the church by taking the sacrament. It gave me chills! I know she is at peace and God has such a wonderful plan for her. I feel so blessed to have been able to prepare Debbie in some small way before she passed on. It's experiences like these when I know I will never ever regret coming on a mission. 

I love you! I wish you all the best this week <3

Love, Sister Rogers