Week 51: 25 Days of Christ Initiative

Hey Family and Friends! :D

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, ate lots of turkey, gained a few pounds, and slept a lot! We had a blast! We went and spent our morning playing 4-square and hard core, intense card games (don't mess with missionaries) at the church with all the missionaries in our ward and the Grand Valley sisters. It was way fun! Then we went to the Oliver's in the ward for a yummy dinner, games, and dessert. And then all 6 of us went to the Openshaw's and had more dessert and games. It was so much fun! I love this ward! They are totally family!<3

Me and Sister Vera are SUPER PUMPED for Christmas!!! Like SUPER PUMPED! Jammin' out to Christmas songs, decorating our apartment, and Sister Vera's Mom even sent her this 25 days of Christ activity that we are doing. We were too excited and impatient to wait until December 1st, so we started it the day after Thanksgiving! Hahaha!:D

But we are also working on being more diligent and focusing on Christ more. We were promised in our last week's email from the assistants that as we have faith in our Savior and Heavenly Father, every single companionship would get a baptism this transfer. And man, as we have done so, we have see miracles. Our area is flourishing! We picked up a new investigator on Monday evening named Shannon and her daughter, Lily. They came to church along with Heather! And Heather even brought her husband! Plus, Shannon's son was in town and he came too! We had 5 investigators at church! Miracle! First time in 7 weeks since I have been here! And one of our sweet, less active sisters, Sister Bell, that I love even came as well! Church was a party! And so good! Sacrament meeting was all about getting out of our comfort zones! Our investigators LOVED it! And it was good for us missionaries too. It made me want to push myself even harder.

I know that as we get out of our comfort zones and turn to the Savior that we can see miracles in our lives. I know that he will bless us and we will feel pure joy. Not because of the presents this season, or the decorations, or the music, or the food, but because we have a Savior who is helping us be like him, and someday eventually return and live with him again. Find pure, true, lasting joy in the Savior and your Christmas season will be jolly and bright!

"....and their joy shall be in the Lord..." -2 Nephi 27:30

P.S. Light the World this Christmas season and do the 25 day initiative with your family and friends! Go to Mormon.org to watch the amazing video of Christ and to learn more!<3

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Remember the church is true and I love you!

<3Sister Rogers<3

Michigan Lansing Mission

Party on Thanksgiving at the Oliver's!:D

When members from the Grand Rapids Ward still love me and bring us holiday treats=happy Wyoming sisters:)

OUR "IT'S ALMOST CHRISTMAS" FACES!:D

Week 50: "I'm dreaming of a white........Thanksgiving?!"

Hey Family and Friends!<3

Happy Thanksgiving and Turkey Day! 🦃I hope you all eat wayyyyy more food than you should and have a blast watching "The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade" (my favorite!) This last week was awesome! Me and Sister Vera were able to work so hard since we are healthy and doing well! We even got another set of sisters in the Grand Valley Ward and so now me and Sister Vera are over 10 sisters! Super fun and always crazy busy! I am excited to go on trade-offs with them all this transfer! :)

Saturday was our first snow fall for the season and it was FREEZING, but wayyy BEAUTIFUL! I am grateful for the beauty and holiday spirit the snow brings. It was crazy because it was literally 70 degrees on Friday and we were in short sleeve shirts and flats and then the next day, on Saturday, it was 32 degrees, dumping snow, and we were bundled up like sausages!!! That's Michigan for ya! Hahaha! I don't think it can get anymore bipolar than that!;)

I had the coolest experience on Saturday. I was having a rough morning. The snow was giving me anxiety because I knew we were going to have to be out door knocking in it, my hands and feet were already hurting (darn arthritis!), and I was homesick for my family with it being the holiday season. I literally went into my studies with a heavy and sad heart. I can't even explain it to you. It was nothing I read. No verse that stood out to me. No thoughts that I had come to my head. But I literally felt so much peace as I read the Book of Mormon that morning. We go around each day testifying of the peace that the Book of Mormon brings, but I never had a personal experience like I did this cold, dreary day in Grandville, Michigan. I literally had a change of heart and was able to come out of my studies happy and like nothing was wrong.

I know Heavenly Father gave me that experience to help me know of the power of the Book of Mormon. We were able to have a great day! We door knocked for a total of 7 hours that day! (The longest I have ever done in 1 day on my mission!) We were able to talk to and invite 51 people to learn, out of which 6 were interested and we set up return appointments with! We stayed warm, had happy spirits, our comp unity was on POINT, and the Spirit was so strong. I can honestly say our Heavenly Father gave us the spiritual and physical strength we needed to accomplish our mission on Saturday. He knew we could change lives as we humbled ourselves and turned to him. And we did. Or more like he did.

The Book of Mormon is true. If I know anything in this world I know that it is true. It gives us power. And I will be forever grateful for this other testament of Jesus Christ and for the prophet Joseph Smith and all he went through so that we could have this treasure. I love you all and hope you have a STELLAR Thanksgiving! Thank you for your prayers! Remember, keep the faith!
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Remember the church is true and I love you!

<3Sister Rogers<3

Michigan Lansing Mission

Some of our zone before Elder Mafile'o left last Monday!;(

Our pathway to our apartment!<3

Me and Sister Vera found our new fav, cute, little restaurant called Russ' down the street from us. What we thought was a hole in the wall.....was some of the BEST FOOD EVER!:D

One last picture of the pretty snow!:D

Week 49: Happy Holidays...Already...say what?!

Hey Family and Friends!:)

So this week was....ehhh......let's just say staying in the apartment for a week was awful! Poor Sister Vera was super sick! This nastiness is like spreadin' across the whole country right now and I am sick of the sickness! Haha! But all is well now, she is better and we started off yesterday right! :)

We got to hit the ground running yesterday again (well....almost....). Church was great! I finally felt like I knew mostly everyone yesterday and that it was home. It is always a great feeling when you get to that point in an area. :)

We also picked up a new investigator yesterday named Andy! He is awesome! He's in his 50's, a retired dairy farmer, and super religious. He loves God. And he found the Book of Mormon so interesting. He already loves us! He said, "Well.....I never had sisters growing up! Only 3 brothers!" And we said, "Now you do!" I have a good feeling about him. Keep him in your prayers please that he will have strong spiritual experiences as he reads the Book of Mormon and as we meet with him!

Heather is doing great! She finally committed to come to church with us on November 27th and give it a try! Pray she will keep that commitment! And Sy is also doing well! We taught him Saturday night with a member in the ward that speaks Vietnamese! It was super cool! We even got the Book of Mormon in Vietnamese on the gospel library app on his phone! We are going to start reading it with him so that can help him with his English! Pray he will understand it!

Anyways, God is good. I really don't know how much I can emphasize that. He is there. He loves us. He is aware of us and this work is the most important work anyone can do. I was reading Jacob 5:70-72 the other day and it hit me really hard.The Lord is laboring "with us". He isn't letting us do this by ourselves. If we were left to ourselves we would epicly fail. But with him we can epicly win! I love my Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. I love this gospel. And I love the Greatest Mission In The World, The Michigan Lansing Mission!<3

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Remember the church is true and I love you!

<3Sister Rogers<3

Michigan Lansing Mission

Our crazy awesome Hasting's district....and the Spanish Elders too....hahaha! We are going to miss our stellar, Samoan, district leader Elder Mafile'o. He is going back to Hawaii!;(

Merry Christmas from a sick (meaning cool and physically sick) reindeer! Bahahahaha!

Got to see my momma for the first time in 6 months when we went down to Lansing for MLC (training for leaders in the mission). So weird being back to my old area and we died when we saw each other! Love her!<3 

Sounds familiar.........just can't put my finger on it.....

Trade-offs with my child! Just like old times! Love her!<3

Week 48: Moldy Leaves ;)

Hey Family and Friends!:)

I hope you all had a great Halloween! We got to eat dinner at the Richardson's in our ward and then go to President Smith's (our Stake President-he's in our ward) house to hang out with them after dinner! It was so fun! Love them all!:)

So me and Sister Vera spent most of this week sick with that nasty cold/horrible allergies that are going around. I guess it is really bad here because of all the moldy leaves. And especially bad for me since leaves don't really exist in Arizona. The only reason I am excited for winter is because everything will be dead!!!! Hahaha!

Sister Vera was also able to go to Dr.Vickor's and now we are both getting fixed! Our jacked up bodies are feeling a lot better! So that is really good!:)

We had trade-offs this week with the Ludington and Grand Rapids sisters! I got to be with Sister Phelps and then my baby, Sister Gardner! It was so fun! Just like old times! I love being a Sister Training Leader. I learn so much from the sisters here in this zone. It is amazing.:) They are amazing.:)

We are also slowly teaching more and picking up new investigators! Yay! Thank you for your prayers! They are working! And Heather is doing good! Understanding the Book of Mormon better and really desiring to know if it is true.

I love this gospel. It is the essence of a happy life. Especially when Jesus Christ is at the center of it. I love you all and hope you have a stellar week!<3

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Remember the church is true and I love you!

<3Sister Rogers<3

Michigan Lansing Mission

Happy Halloween!:)

:D

:)

                           I don't know who she thinks she is?! Haha.......this describes our companionship perfectly.:)

Love her.<3