Week 38: STAYING IN G-RAP!

Hey Family and Friends!:D

Getting a call from the Zone Leaders and not President on Friday was the greatest feeling in the world! Maybe I will even end up staying here in Grand Rapids for more than 2 1/2 transfers (psshhhh.....haha....that's funny....probably not....I joke that President just likes to move me all over.) But it has been a good and busy week!:)

The Detroit Temple was beautiful! Small, but breathtaking. Just like my testimony, I like to think!:) We went with Sister Guasta from our ward. We call her our grandma. She is a hilarious, sassy, sweet, fashionista who we just adore. 6 hours in the car with her was an absolute blast. But going to the temple felt like home. It didn't even matter that I was in Michigan. When I was sitting in the celestial room I told Sister Gardner I feel like I could walk outside and be home in Arizona. That's how much I love the temple and know it's the Lord's house because it ALWAYS feels like home. It was much needed after about 9 months without a temple trip.

Craziness!!! I TURN 9 MONTHS ON FRIDAY! I WILL BE HALF WAY DONE! :O Mixed emotions for sure! I am just trying not to think about it and loose myself in this work! Floyd is doing killer but sad news.....we figured out he might be moving in a week...and guess where he's moving......to Downtown Grand Rapids. So we are literally handing Elder Thompson and Laaksonen a baptism. But oh well! Floyd is getting baptized and I got to be his missionary and a part of his journey into the gospel. Who cares if statistics say I was his missionary when he was baptized. That won't matter in the next life. And he will still be in our ward!:D

Sara is........going downhill. She hasn't totally stopped smoking, didn't show up at church yesterday, and won't answer any of our calls. (We called and left messages 3 times yesterday.) We are worried and are suppose to teach her tonight so we will see what happens! Keep her in your prayers! Keep them both in your prayers!

And we are still teaching so many people and picking up new investigators! We will keep you posted! But I love you all! I know Heavenly Father loves us and is proud of us in our efforts to help his work progress here on earth! I also know you will be MAJORLY blessed for helping the missionaries in your area! That is my challenge to all of you this week! Feed, go on splits, go teaching, or just do something nice for your missionaries! You have no idea how much they do!;) Love you all and I hope you have a STELLAR week!;) 

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Remember the church is true and I love you!

<3Sister Rogers<3

Michigan Lansing Mission

We made it!:D

She's going to kill me for sending this! Sorry we are squinting and making weird faces....I thought it was pretty funny though!:D

Sooooo gorgeous!<3

I wouldn't want to be anywhere else!:)

This sick nasty, huge grasshopper we found! Gag! It jumped off at us and you best bet we screamed like girls! 

Week 37: The Spirit of God Like A Fire Is Burning....and BLOWING here in Grand Rapids!!!:O

Hey Family and Friends!!!:D

So I have never been happier to be alive in my life! WE SURVIVED A TORNADO! It hit on Saturday afternoon and I didn't even know Michigan could get tornadoes!!! ONE OF THE SCARIEST MOMENTS OF MY LIFE. We were up in Rockford (30 mins north of where we live) and we were less active hunting. We got a call from our Elders saying there had been a tornado warning but we should be fine because it isn't that serious and it isn't headed it our direction, but that they would call us if they got any other further information. THEY WERE WRONG. We had a feeling to start heading home, so we did anyways. Well not even 5 minutes later we were still trying to drive out of Rockford AND WE HEAR SIRENS! OH. MY. GOSH! I HAVE NEVER HEARD A SCARIER SOUND IN MY LIFE. My heart literally dropped and we were getting calls from our elders, our sister training leaders, our zone leaders, and even some random voice recording saying Grand Rapids is going to get hit and we need to find shelter IMMEDIATELY! So me and Sister Gardner started frantically thinking of what members we were close to because there was no way we were going to get home in time. We thought of the Baker's who we love and they ended up only being 5 minutes away from where we were at. But as we are calling them (and shaking in the process from being so nervous), they WON'T ANSWER! We call both Brother and Sister Baker and their daughter that is our age multiple times! And then we just end up calling their parents who live with them (well kind of, in a SUPER NICE RV in front of the Baker's SUPER NICE home.) But their parents say just drive to their house and the basement door is unlocked. Their parents were out of town and the Baker's were out of town as well at an amusement park and that's why they weren't answering, but we ended up getting a hold of them as we were chillin' in their basement. Well......looooonnnnggg story short, we ended up being in their basement for 1 1/2 hours. Huddling their dogs, saying lots of prayers, and trying to distract ourselves by eating their food and talking about random things. The storm hit Rockford and STOPPED ON THE NEXT STREET OVER LITERALLY PARALLEL TO OURS. Probably not even a mile away. (If you look it up ON google maps, we were on Belding Road in Rockford and the storm ended up hitting Northland.) If that doesn't show you God is real and protecting us, I don't know what will! I have so much to be grateful for! The tornado was bad enough that it messed up some buildings. It was literally soooo crazy!

But....on a better note! We have two investigators on date for baptism! Sara and Floyd! They were both at church yesterday and the ward just LOVED them! Sara's two kids also came and we are hoping to put them on date for baptism as well soon!:) How we found Floyd is a crazy story. We were personal contacting and we ran into him coming home from work. He tells us he has been looking for a church, and was thinking about God earlier this morning when he say a quote saying something like, "Be grateful you can tie your shoes in the morning, because without God our live would become unloosed." Anyways, he tells us right then and there on the street that he would like to come to church but he would need a ride this Sunday because he car is getting fixed. So we exchange numbers and tell him we can help him find a ride. Well when we get back from personal contacting and door knocking about 1 1/2 hours later he HAD ALREADY CALLED US BACK ASKING IF WE FOUND HIM A RIDE. We called him and told him we did and he asked us if we could also come teach him that day. We said of course and we were on Cloud 9! We put him on date then and there at that first lesson and he accepted! As far as we know he loved church! We see him again tomorrow and Sara again tonight! We just love them and this area!:)

Sister Zacha wasn't able to come to church because of health reasons and Jodi and her kids had "car trouble", so we will just keep working with them!:) But Sister Zacha finally got her temple recommend!!!! Yay! We are so happy for her and she is glowing!:) She is doing great!

We have also started teaching some new investigators and less actives so we will keep you updated with that as it progresses! :) Grand Rapids is BLOWING UP and I LOVE IT HERE! There are rumors going around that I am getting transferred again.....and I am trying not to think about it. I don't know why I have had so many areas and so many companions already (if I get transferred it will be 4 areas and my 9th companion in 9 months), but if that's the Lord's plan for me I trust him! I guess I will figure out Friday!

But we are going to the Detroit Temple on Saturday for our ward temple day and I am soooo excited! I haven't been in 9 months and I know I will be able to get so much spiritual strength as I go! I definitely challenge you all to go this next week, and if you can't currently attend, change some things in your life so you can! Any and every sacrifice is worth going to the temple and receiving the blessings there! 

Well, I won't be able to talk Saturday, so we have permission to email again this next Monday....unless I get transferred! So it might be a while until you hear from Sister Rogers! But know I am alive, healthy, and happy! And I AM SERVING IN THE GREATEST MISSION IN THE WORLD!<3

HAVE A STELLAR WEEK! I LOVE YOU ALL!

--

Remember the church is true and I love you!

<3Sister Rogers<3

Michigan Lansing Mission

Just look at how adorable my comp is! She has the best...and craziest....momma ever!;)

Isn't my sweet companion just the cutest thing ever?!<3

Not as good as AZ Sunsets....but I still give it a 9/10.;)

"Hey....this is a cool picture! Let's take it!" (Little did we know the sky was getting ready to harvest a tornado just a couple hours later....) #shiver

Week 36: Grand Rapids and the 616 District:)

Hey Family and Friends!:D

Oh my gosh! I thought you could never love an area as much as your old ones, but NOT TRUE! You love all your areas for different reasons and they all hold a special place in my heart. Just like companions. Haha. I seriously LOVE Grand Rapids and LOVE serving with Sister Gardner! We get along great! 2 peas in a pod! She says I am the sister that she has never had.<3 Here are some things that have happened this week......

1.) We went to the John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids with our elders last week and it was SO FUN! We got up CLOSE and personal with a grizzly bear (I named him Smokey.) Haha. It was crazy!

2.) We have been doing a lot of service which is fun! Building fences, learning how to can, and helping people move furniture! We are buffer than you might think!;)

3.) Our half mission P-day was this last Thursday here in Grand Rapids. We had our zone, the Kalamazoo zone, and some of the Lansing Zone! So I got to see my sissy, Sister Child! I died!:) Sadly, our mom, Sister Nelson was on the other half of the mission though.:( But it was so cool and fun to see old family members from my other districts. Even cooler to see how they have grown as missionaries and people! Eternal friends for sure!:)

4.) AND OUR AREA IS PROGRESSING! WE ARE PICKING UP NEW INVESTIGATORS AND LESS ACTIVES!!! YAY!!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS!

Here is an update of how everyone is doing....

-Sister Zacha: She sadly couldn't come to church yesterday. It has been super rainy and the weather is affecting her health. But we see her tomorrow and she is still going strong. She is the one we have been doing service for as well. :) Movin' all those boxes and furniture with our strong, buff arms! Bahahaha!:)

-Jodi (Jaden and Jenica): THEY CAME TO CHURCH YESTERDAY! Everyone loved seeing them back and they felt so loved and welcome. Jenica kept saying, "Sisters! I want to be baptized!" And it warmed my heart when Jodi was talking to an old friend and said, "Thanks to these sisters, they are bringing me back." I adore them!<3 We are going to help Jenica get ready for her baptism even though we don't have to do much. It goes through Bishop and not the missionaries since she is 8 and it's not a convert baptism. But who cares! Being a part of people's story in bringing them back to Christ is all I care about!:)

-Samantha: Didn't come to church yesterday, but we are hoping this next week! We met with her this last week and she opened up a lot! She let us meet her kiddos and everything! We teach her again on Wednesday, so we are super excited!

-Ian: Is a former investigator we picked up this week. He has trouble with faith, so we see why the Elders stopped teaching him, but there's always hope! We meet with him again this Friday so we will see where it goes!:)

-Sara: We also finally met Sara who is awesome! She is an investigator the Elders taught and she already knows the Book of Mormon is true! We just have to help her stop smoking and teach her some more about the Sabbath Day because she believes the Sabbath is on Saturday because she is 7th Day Adventist. But she should be coming to church this next Sunday!:)

5.) We had a really awesome experience this week!.....we got shined by someone that we were suppose to teach and then it was like one of those moments that you get a stupor of thought. So I knew we needed to pray and ask God what we were suppose to be doing. So we said a prayer and both had the feeling to go try the lady's door one more time, and then go talk to her neighbor that was outside. Well, the lady still wasn't home, so we talked to her neighbor. Her neighbor's name was Stephanie and she was telling us how she had been praying about what church to attend in the area because her family just moved her in April. It was awesome! We told her our experience of Heavenly Father telling us to come talk to her and she told us it gave her chills! And then her neighbor (that we were suppose to be teaching at the time) came up yelling, "I'm sooo sorry! Did I miss my appointment?" And we told her that we were talking to her neighbor and now they want to take lessons together! We are going to be teaching them Saturday!:) Praying it goes well! There are members of the ward that even said we could teach them at their house! So that was awesome! It was funny too, because the Jill (the lady we were suppose to be teaching) said, "Oh! Look! That's my pastor from my church!" And he came up and starting talking to Stephanie and Jill about his church and when we introduced ourselves he barely looked at us. It was crazy! And then when Jill asked, "Pastor, what do you think about the Mormons?" He said, "I won't make any comments right now." But it was crazy to see how Satan is trying so hard. Luckily Christ tries harder and we already know the outcome to this fight.:)

6.) Me and Sister Gardner have had some life or death experiences this week due to Sister Rogers being tired while driving....I am just going to leave it at that....haha!

I found this quote in Jesus the Christ that I really liked this morning. It says, "If he willingly sacrifices all that he has, he shall find that he has enough. The cost of the hidden treasure, and of the pearl, is not a fixed amount, alike for all; it is all one has." I love this and know it to be true. The gospel and kingdom of God is worth all we have. So let us keep giving. Have a stellar week! I love you all!<3 

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Remember the church is true and I love you!

<3Sister Rogers<3

Michigan Lansing Mission

Under a beautiful waterfall at the zoo!:D

It is blurry but we were sooooo close to that bear. It came right up to the glass!:D

Meet my new, little, friend, Smokey!:)

A family picture! Except we are missing Sister Nelson! ;( Sister Sodja (in the blue) is my grandma (a.k.a. trained my trainer-Sister Nelson for those of you who aren't caught up on missionary lingo), Sister Child is my sister, and then Sister Gardner is my child!:D *Excuse how we look like scrubs and I am burnt on my forehead. 8 hours in the sun can do that to you.*

Another one!:)

Some Saturday nights call for ice cream.....and it is worth the pain!;) 

Love her!<3

Kinda blurry but this is our tiny, but strong, district! And our "Run 616" shirts that the Elders got us! That's our nickname for our district (it's our area code!) Haha!

This is the true personalities of our district though........

Some of the crazy houses in our area....and this is a small one.....

We are going to be pro-wives someday with our new canning skills! Haha!;)

Week 35: Faith is Greater Than Knowledge

Hey Family and Friends!:D

So this week has been crazy busy and tiring, but really fun! We have been on car fast this whole week and man.....I can actually get tan......well some color more like....bahahahaha! We have had our fair share of exercise this week that is for sure! Luckily we have wonderful members to give us rides as well though!:) And we got the car back yesterday so that helps!;)

Oh! And so many miracles happened this week! We picked up our first investigator and her name is Samantha! Super sweet, mid 20's, with little background in religion; however, she is super open and we are hoping she stays solid. :) Keep her in your prayers please! We have only seen her once so far but we meet with her again on Wednesday. She just moved to Kentwood and lives down the street from us. She has 3 cute kids and lives with her boyfriend and we are super excited to keep teaching her!:)

We also had the miracle of Sis.Zacha coming to church yesterday! Crazy story: We promised her blessings the last time we saw her and told her despite her health issues, if she came to church the Lord would bless her health and she would feel good and happy. Well she said she was feeling great yesterday morning when all of the sudden right before she left she started feeling nauseous! Satan is such a dog! But she remembered our promise and pushed thorough! She only made it to sacrament meeting because she is slowly easing into all 3 hours, but we were so proud of her! She also has been reading the Book of Mormon like crazy and she's already in the 20's in 1 Nephi! We told her we can tell she seems happier, and she said she does! Love her!<3

We also met with a new less active this week named Jodi Johnson. She had two cute kids: Jaden-11 and Jennica-8. Jaden has been baptized already, but Jennica hasn't. We are trying to get them back to church first and then we are going to see if Jodi wants Jennica baptized and if she's ok with getting the lessons. But the kids are adorable! Just super crazy! And Jodi has had a rough life! She got in a car accident when she was 13 so she has an internal brain injury, but she has the sweetest heart. She works as an activities director for an assisting living center. We are praying she will come to church this next Sunday!:)

I also had my last trade off with my fav STL, Sister Young this week!;( I love her so much. I got to go to Wyoming for a day while Sister Vera came to Grand Rapids with Sister Gardner. It was fun, but I can't believe Sister Young goes home after this next transfer. She was my first STL and she has been such a good example to me. It just shows me how fast a mission flies by. It feels like just yesterday she was on trade-offs with me in Lansing on my 2nd week out in the field.

We also had a killer Zone P-day this last Monday and did a ton of games. We even carried elders.....well...not literally......we carried them in blankets.....with the other elders helping us.....haha.....we are strong.....4 of us carrying 200 pound elders.......bahahahaha! SO fun! 

But this week I have a strong testimony of faith. Faith is what has helped me my whole mission. My whole life to gain the testimony I have today. I am so grateful for all my trials and doubts because it makes me fight for my testimony and what's right. It makes me rely on my Father in Heaven even more and my Savior, Jesus Christ, and his enabling atonement. I was reading in Numbers 16 in the bible this week and in verse 5 it says, "....and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him." My Heavenly Father has caused me to come near to him through the trials I have experienced on my mission. They have humbled me. Even his chosen servants (missionaries) experience hardships. No one is exempt. And how grateful I am for those trials. But "....as thou has believed, so it be done unto thee." (Matthew 8: 13) Keep believing. Keep the faith. I love you all! Have a STELLAR week!

--

Remember the church is true and I love you!

<3Sister Rogers<3

Michigan Lansing Mission

Week 34: 616 #anticapitoloftheworld

Hey family and friends!:D

I HOPE YOU HAVE ALL HAD A STELLAR WEEK! I KNOW I HAVE!<3 

So some funny stories.....

Last P-Day we played volleyball as a zone and just imagine a 250 lb, Samoan elder serving a volleyball as hard as he can.....and you are on his team.....and it slams you right in the side of your face as you turn to see where it's going. Yep. That was Sister Rogers' face. Angels were protecting me (I know without a doubt) because my nose should have been broken. Like hard core. I didn't even have a bruise or a headache. Blessings from above. He felt soooooo bad after.......he even called me that night saying he "is still repenting"! I told him no forgiveness needed! I wasn't even mad! It was just hilarious! And then my poor baby, Sister Gardner, got slammed in the face by an elder later that day too (not as hard though). We told them they aren't getting the elders back that were in this area so they might as well stop trying to kill us!;) They said we passed initiation. Bahahaha!:D

So this week was way long, but good! A roller coaster of adventures! We have done A TON of door knocking. Grand Rapids is the anti-Mormon capitol of the world for those of you who didn't know. And man, we came in to a pool of 0 investigators! And slowly....but surely....this area is progressing! We are working with a less active named Sister Zacha right now and helping her get back to the temple! All she has to do is come to church, but it is hard because of all the health issues she has. And we are finding a ton of potential investigators as we go finding....but keeping appointments we set up is the hard pray. Pray for softened hearts and that the Spirit will lead us to those elect searching for the gospel. I know they are here. It is just like a gold mine to find them.

Sister Gardner is doing STELLAR though! I keep telling everyone she is training me!;) I have never had a companion that has door knocked with me in such great unity with me so fast! She is a fast learner, great listener, and a wonderful companion. I already feel like her sister.<3

This ward is still AMAZING! LOVE THEM!<3 And they for sure love us! Dinner appointments nightly, rides to places, etc. We are definitely being taken care of here in G-Rap!

Oh! And we went up to Rockford for the first time the other day because a member took us out to lunch! And oh. my. beautiful. I will have to send you some pictures! Although I miss Lansing, this area is beautiful! I have to give it that!:)

This week I have been focusing a lot on how to repent better. Daily repentance. It is such a beautiful thing. Because the atonement of Jesus Christ we can progressively get better each and every day. Even when we are already good Saints, we can become even better Saints. More like our Savior, Jesus Christ, which is our goal. It is attainable. Not in this life, but I know and can testify our Father in Heaven and Savior are patient with us. They love us and will help us reach our goal of perfection as we strive to come closer to them. I am so grateful that my mission has helped me rely and come closer to them. Every trial I have gone through has been worth it. And I can promise in the name of Jesus Christ that every trial you are going through will be worth it as well. 

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! HAVE A STELLAR WEEK!<3

--

Remember the church is true and I love you!

<3Sister Rogers<3

Michigan Lansing Mission

Welcome to the Grand Rapids Zone! :D

The sisters in the G-Rap zone!<3 I get Sister Young back! She is my STL again!:) And my other STL, Sister Vera, just came up with me from Lansing.

My cute, lil' sis! Love her!<3

This is in Rockford out the window of the restaurant! Gorgeous view of the dam and river!

Gorgeous flowers a member gave us! The flowers and nature here is TO DIE FOR!<3