Monday, March 20, 2017

Week 69: Lamb of God!!!

Hey Family and Friends!:)

This week was the definition of stellar! We got to go see Lamb of God on Saturday with a bunch of missionaries, members of our ward, and one of our investigators named, Marla. She has already read all the Nephi's in the Book of Mormon and now she is reading some of Doctrine and Covenants. We just need to get her to church more, she has come once, but is still really involved in her church. But it was so fun! It was even better than last year! I knew so many missionaries, I wasn't a newbie, and I felt the Spirit so strong! It was cool because one of the members in our bishopric was Judas and then there were a ton of other members of our ward in the choir!:) I feel the Spirit so strong through music so it was a really good night! And Marla loved it too!

We have been picking up a couple new investigators, so here's some updates about everyone:

-Chris (MJ's cousin): We have been having a hard time meeting with him. His work schedule is crazy and can't seem to get Sunday's off. We will keep you updated on him!:)

-Marla: Talked about her a little bit already! She's our bestie! She's so cute! She's progressing, just a little slower.:)

-Ryan: A potential we found a week ago and then we went to stop by yesterday and he let us right in! We taught him the restoration and he's super cool! He's in his 20's, does jujitsu, and lives with his parents in this really rich neighborhood. He is really open, but we aren't sure how interested he is yet. We meet with him again tomorrow and hopefully find out more!  

-Scott: HE'S SO COOL! It is a cool miracle how we found him! He's in his 40's, married, and has no kids. (They do have a cat and dog, though!) He's Christian and goes to church sometimes, but isn't very religious. We were door knocking on Friday down this main street. Super hard to hear, it starts raining and then hailing (OUCH!) on us. We can barely make out a conversation with him, but then he tells us he will meet us at the Grandville Library down the street in 45 mins. So we meet him at the library and have such a spiritual lesson. We asked him why he met with us and he started crying and said we were a blessing and an answer to his prayers. Melt my heart. We love him! He even came to church yesterday and we are teaching him here at the library after we are done emailing!:)

-Jim: He's our Jehovah Witness friend. He is just super busy and not willing to come to church with us right now, so we will see what happens!

-Donna: Her and her husband have been sick so we will meet with her again when they are better!:)

-Brock and Leticia: Are becoming more and more open with us! Leticia was a chatty-Kathy last time we met with them. We were suppose to meet with them yesterday, but Leticia got sick, so we had to reschedule.:( They are doing good though! Slowly progressing! I love our lessons there! The spirit is strong and I know Brock is gaining his testimony back! Proud of him!

I am so grateful to be on a mission serving the Lord and growing in my testimony of him! I know that I am suppose to be here! And I have come to know that through any and all trials, everything will be ok. God has a plan for me, he has a plan for you, he even has a plan for your enemy. I am so grateful that his whole purpose is for us. I hope these last couple months in Michigan that my whole purpose can be for the people here. Have a stellar week! I love you all!<3
--
Remember the church is true and I love you!
<3Sister Rogers<3
Michigan Lansing Mission



Snow, snow, and more snow!:)

It was sunny so we were really happy!:D


BAHAHAHA! This one is for you Eli! And out of the mouth of Sister Mathis, "Well we know their church isn't true, because obviously Pokemon isn't!"

​Had to have pie on Pi Day! (3-14.....3.14....March 14th)! This is my favorite pie in the world. Meijer's caramel apple pie. I feel sorry for the west coast not having this glorious store. Oh! And the Big Rapids sisters were with us for trade-offs!


​I was blessed to see 4 of my companions at zone conference! Sad that 3 of them are leaving me in a week, but I know we truly are family!:) I have been blessed with the greatest companions and these aren't even all of them!


The Grand Rapids Zone Sisters!:)


Me and Sister Vera!:)


Me and Sister Nelson!:)


Me and Sister Mathis!:)


The old "Merlot" District from back in Lansing at the beginning of our missions! So cool that we are all serving together and got to see each other are zone conference!:)


A fancy restaurant that the York's took us and Marla and a ton of friends to before Lamb of God!:D


1 year later! Remember last year's pics?! Crazy! (Even crazier that we couldn't wear name tags!)


Us with Marla and Sister Nelson!:)


Lamb of God! Yay!:D


It was so fun! Ok! I am done with the picture overload! That exempts me from being bad with pics the last couple weeks, Mom!;)


Thursday, March 16, 2017

Week 68:100 Days...but Who's Counting?....

Hey Family and Friends!<3

Ok....so this subject line may make me sound like the trunkiest missionary you have ever known in your life....but quite frankly, this subject line terrifies me. I was curious how many days I have left of my mission this morning during studies because I am trying to finish all the standard works (except the Old Testament), as well as Preach My Gospel, before I get home from my mission. (Call me crazy, well, I guess I am.) So me, being me, counted how many days I have left of my mission. Bad idea. That is when I noticed that I have 100 days left and my stomach dropped. Haha! So I may not be doing that again! But at least I know how much I have to read every day to finish them! I already finished the Book of Mormon once all the way through on my mission, but I thought why not make it a goal to do it again! I love the Book of Mormon!<3

This week was SO FUN and SO BUSY! You probably could tell how sick I was last week seeing as how short my email was and my emails are usually never short because I like to talk!;) But all is well! Me and Sister Mathis recovered quickly with lots of Emergen-C, vitamins, DayQuil & NightQuil, and LOTS of sleep! Haha! I don't know if I have ever slept so much in my life! Jk! At least on my mission though in a couple days....I probably slept more than I was awake.

We left church early last Sunday after sacrament meeting because I could barely sit up straight and keep my eyes open! And then by Monday night we were feeling a lot better! We door knocked a little bit that night and we were literally sore from not doing anything Friday-Monday! Haha! It was pathetic! Tuesday, we did some service at Meals on Wheels! I love that place, it is so fun! And then we door knocked this trailer park and we said a prayer to find a new investigator and the first 2 doors we knocked on were new investigators! Shyleigh and Zack! So cool! God answers prayers! Sadly, Zack dropped us because he went SUPER anti! He looked up all this crazy stuff. It was sad. He was really awesome and nice, but he will accept the gospel someday.:) Seed planted. And we are still trying to get a hold of Shyleigh again, so we will keep you updated on her. That same Tuesday night, we taught Chris. Our cool, homie that is cousins with Michael Jackson (by marriage). He is doing well. Progressing slowly, but doing well.

Wednesday we had district meeting and taught Sister Bell! She is doing so awesome! She is the one who stopped smoking on her own, she's praying and reading her scriptures daily, and coming back to church! We taught her tithing and fasting and at church yesterday we saw her praying her tithing! So cool! We are so proud of her! Hopefully we can go to the temple with her soon!:) Thursday we taught Marla and she's doing really good as well! While we were teaching Marla (we taught her at Panera because she bought us dinner) there were these 2 teenage girls sitting at this table and I felt like I should talk to them! Well, not only did they turn out to be potentials, but there names were Riley and Meagan (sound familiar?). It was weird because I think I had prayed that day and asked God to show me a sign he was there. I know of course. But it is cool to do that at times. And if I hadn't listened to that prompting, I would never have see that cool miracle. It shows that God makes us work for answers, and sometimes we don't listen to him, we just talk. We all need to listen more. Later that night the Grand Rapids sisters came over and I got to go on trade-offs with MY MOMMA! I literally love Sister Nelson! We may have stayed up until like 2 in the morning that night just laughing and talking and we didn't even notice. Opppsss! ;)

But Friday was so fun to be together and we door knocked a lot! But it was good! It was so cool to see how each other have grown and I know I wouldn't be the missionary I am today without my awesome trainer!:) I am so blessed to be so close to and have so many amazing companions! Saturday, we got to trio it up and it was so fun! Sister Anderson came up to be with me and Sister Mathis for the day (she serves at WMU in K-Zoo) because her companion was going to the temple and that was really fun! I haven't been in a trio since I served down in Lansing at the beginning of my mission, so it was fun to get back into that. We even got let into this house of this family from Congo, Africa. It was one of the most interesting door knocking experiences on my mission. One guy had to translate because he was the only one who could speak English and he ended up being super interested! The rest of the family didn't seem too interested. There were so many people in the house, we were so confused! Well it turns out this huge family lives there! People kept just coming in the room! It was crazy! And then they told us they also have church in their downstairs basement, so that made more sense. But the man who was interested name was Omari and his uncle was this pastor! Pastor Alex! He went off on some Sermon and then blessed us before we left. It was a very unique experience......let's just say that! But we got a new gator, Omari, from it!:) He even said he will come to church this next Sunday! Fingers crossed!

Yesterday at church, it was SO GOOD! The spirit was so strong and I have come to love church and the sacrament a lot on my mission. The sacrament is literally how I survive week to week. Spiritually, physically, emotionally, mentally, etc. I know Jesus Christ can enable us to do all things because of his atoning sacrifice. That has come to be very real for me on my mission. And sacrament was all about finding joy in our trials! I loved it! We even got to teach Onna yesterday! She's doing awesome! We are working on family history with her tonight to try and get her to the temple! Yay! And then we also taught Chris again! He's going to try and get work off again! And then we also taught Brock and Leticia Williams yesterday! They are the part member family we are teaching and we love them! We are hoping Leticia will get baptized and Brock will start coming back! They are so cool and have the cutest 2 year old! Keep the faith, family and friends!<3 I don't ever want to see any of you lose the faith! It's too precious! Love you all! Have a stellar week!<3

--
Remember the church is true and I love you!
<3Sister Rogers<3
Michigan Lansing Mission


There's only 1 today because I have been a scrub on pictures lately! There will be more next week! Here's one of me and Sister Nelson on trade-offs though!!! Love her!:D

Monday, March 6, 2017

Week 66...or 67...Lost Count: The Plague Has Hit Us!

Hey Family and Friends!
Well....The plague has hit us! HARD! I feel like I got hit by a truck! This nasty bug that is going around kills! We have been in the apartment from like Friday afternoon to this morning and I am still not feeling the greatest! But we had trade-offs with Grand Valley and Ludington this week! I got to go with Sister Black and Sister Rhead! I love the sisters in our zone! The work is still doing good! Marla came to church on Sunday as I am trying to keep my head up during sacrament meeting! Haha! We were so glad she came though! And we are also teaching this new guy named Chris and he's cousin's with Michael Jackson by marriage! Super cool! Well, this is a sad email but due to my brain being overtaken with sickness, that's about as much as I remember from this last week! I love you all! Be healthy and have a stellar week!

--
Remember the church is true and I love you!
<3Sister Rogers<3
Michigan Lansing Mission


**So we're including some pictures that the lovely Sister Emery texts us on a weekly basis since Sister Rogers was feeling too ill to send any today, darn it!

Sister Emery, "The sisters have the colds that are going around! Taking them home to rest!"
You'd never know it by their smiles, right?  Always picture perfect! :)


Sister Emery, "Prayers they will be feeling better soon!"