In Which We Celebrate Christmas

Dear Family,

It was so great to see you on Thursday! You all look so happy and so tired. Don't worry, I felt the same!

This week we had one particularly incredible lesson. One of our investigators has been praying strongly to know whether he should be baptized. The only thing that is holding him back from baptism is that he has not received an answer yet. He asked us to have a lesson with him specifically on how to recognize answers to prayers. I love it, because that is showing his willingness and his true desire to receive an answer and act on it.

We have many people whom we are working with and I am so grateful to have them in my life at this time. Every area you are in, you learn different things from people and you know it's inspired that you've been sent there. I love it, and love the thing that I have learned so far.

Christmas day itself was so great. We saw many people and caroled and shared the story of Christ's birth with everyone we could. People were happy and called out "Merry Christmas!" to us. I love this time of year. It allows us to think more about Christ and His gift to us, and reminds us to think of it throughout the year.

I love you all! Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Rogerson

In Which Transfers Come and Prayer is Powerful

Dear Family,

The news has come in! I'm being transferred from Fontana to Colton a week before Christmas. It will be an exciting time! I'm excited to meet new people and work with those who are ready to hear the gospel, especially during this Christmas season.

We had a really good lesson with D, one of our investigators. We've been working with her for a few months now, and she has never agreed to say the prayer during our lessons. We had a lesson specifically on prayer and how it is how we nurture that relationship with our Heavenly Father. We also talked about Joseph Smith and how it was his vocal prayer that brought the First Vision and thus the whole church came about.

We invited her, again, to pray at the end of the lesson. She shook her head, and we began to testify again that prayer is how we gain truth. I was praying in my heart the whole time that she would accept our invitation. Then D agreed to say the prayer! She offered the most beautiful and heartfelt prayer I've every heard an investigator say. The Spirit came into her home and it was one of the strongest experiences of feeling the Spirit I've had on my mission. Both Sister Hope and I left feeling spiritually uplifted and happy beyond measure.

I just want to testify that prayer is so powerful. It can and does change lives. It changes hearts and brings the Spirit. It is an open line to our Father in Heaven. How lucky are we to have it?? I am so grateful.

Have a great week! Love you all!

Sister Rogerson

In Which Illness Strikes. And I Remember the True Gift of Christmas

Dear Family,

Not much went on this week because I was sick and we didn't leave the apartment for a couple days. We have been busy helping people put up Christmas decorations, and we've gotten really good and putting up Christmas lights on trees.

It's been cold and rainy, so much that it started to feel like winter until today, when it's 80 degrees and we're back to summer.

I'm not really sure what else to write about, other than I think I slept more this past week than i have my entire mission.

OH! There's this amazing video that the Church has put out called "He is The Gift", on christmas.mormon.org. You can also find it on youtube, because it's the headline for the rest of the month!

How incredible is it that we can share the reason for Christ's birth with others? He was born, and that in itself was amazing, but why was He born? To make possible our salvation. His entire life, pre-mortal and mortal, was to prepare Him to do that. Everything relates back to the Atonement and how precious that gift is. We've been given so many gifts, but Christ, Himself, was The Gift.

Have a merry Christmas! 

Love,

Sister Rogerson

Elise and and Sister Hope in footsie pajamas

In Which We Give Thanks

Dear Family,

This week was full of making plans for Thanksgiving! We made a list of families we felt like we needed to see that day...and we are going to end up with 6 dinners that day. One of the families we are going to dinner with is a potential investigator family, and we were planning on talking to them about coming over. Before we could do so, they called us and invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner! God is so great, that's really all I can say.

We've been talking a lot of what we can share on Thanksgiving with all these people we are going to see, and it's made me think a lot about what I am grateful for. Of course, there's my family and my mission and my companion. But this year I'm also especially grateful for general conference and ensign talks. I'm grateful for the people I've been able to meet the past year and for my testimony, which has grown immensely since I really started to concentrate on it.

I hope you all will think of some different things you are thankful for this year! God has blessed us with so many things. Why not look for them?

1 Nephi 1:20

Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Rogerson

In Which Many Changes Happen This Transfer. Just Not to Us.

Dear Family,

Transfer calls were this morning and both Sister Hope and I are staying in this area! We are both really excited to continue working with those people whom we have come to love.

We picked up a new investigator, J. He is one of our investigator's sons. We are very excited to continue to teach him. He has great faith in Jesus Christ already. That makes it easier to teach people the restored gospel. 

Many changes are happening this transfer. We have 15 new elders coming in and 3 new sisters. Areas are being divided and missionaries added to wards. The ward I'm serving in now has one set of elders and one set of sisters, but starting Wednesday we'll have 2 sets of elders and a set of sisters (us) in the ward. This transfer is also a 5 week transfer, because if it was a regular 6 week transfer then it would land on December 23. So many missionaries are finishing their missions in December, so about half of them are going home a week before Christmas and half are going home a week after.

Well that's all the news for this week! I love my mission, it's the best!

Love,

Sister Rogerson

In Which We Have a Happy Halloween

Dear Family,

This week has been really great! On Wednesday we had a baptism of a 9 year old girl. We've been teaching her for about 2 months and she got baptized! Her mom is a returning less active and they are both doing so well.

On Halloween we had to be in our apartments at 6pm, but that didn't stop us from hanging up Happy Halloween signs on 15 member's doors. I thought our ninja skills were getting pretty good, but we got caught a few times by the members. At one house Sister Hope had me distract the member so she could hang it up on the back of their front door and another time so she could hang the sign up in their bathroom.

It also got down to the 60s the past few days. Sister Hope and I got out our winter coats and scarves and felt like winter had come. Then we found out it's supposed to get back up to the 90s this week. I can't complain. Winter here is really just like spring.

I'm so excited for these coming months! It's going to be great, I can just feel it.

Love you all!

Sister Rogerson

A Slowish Week and a Surprise Investigator

Dear Family,

I think this is the first week of my mission that has gone by pretty slowly! It was still a good week though.

We picked up a new investigator, who was by the church building on Tuesday when all the missionaries were arriving for District Meeting. She asked if there was anyone who could tell her more about this church. We talked for a while, then she started to cry as she told us about her broken family and how she just wants relief from the emotional and physical pain she's been feeling. She got a priesthood blessing from some of the elders. It was a beautiful blessing, one that you could tell was directed strictly by the Spirit.

Sister Hope and I have both been kind of sick this week. Our baptism is on Wednesday, and we are really excited about it!

Not much else went on this week. Next week will be full of things to write about!

Until then,

Sister Rogerson

Elise and her companion went to a Halloween party dressed as each other. Freaky.

In Which We Attend a Conference

Dear Family,

Wow! This week we had a mission conference with Elder David F Evans of the Seventy. I'm always a bit nervous when General Authorities come, because they come to either tell us what we're doing right, or tell us what we're doing wrong. This instance was some of both. He talked to us mainly about seeking referrals from every teaching appointment that we are in. It was really inspiring to hear him say that, because that's what this mission's next step is. We're a progressing mission. It's cool to look back and see how the mission was a year ago and compare it to how it is now.

We have an investigator, 9 years old, on date for baptism for the 29th of October! She is really excited and has already made a list of friends she wants to invite. Little kid excitement is contagious! 

We've been also getting a ton of referrals from the MTC and Church Headquarters. This is a testimony to me that God's work is progressing and we need to prepare ourselves for the multitudes of people who will accept the gospel, because I truly believe that there are multitudes and thousands of people who are prepared.

I know this gospel is true! I know that my Savior and Redeemer lives, and that He is with all of us as much as we allow Him to be.

Love,

Sister Rogerson

General Conference and New Companion

Dear Family-

How did you like General Conference?? Wasn't it incredible?? There are so many things I learned from this one. There was a lot of talk about following and sustaining the prophet and about the sacrament. The sacrament talks especially hit me, because it really is one of the most sacred ordinances in the whole Church. And we are participants! We really do need to prepare to take the sacrament.

This week I got a new companion- Sister H. We knew each other in Redlands and actually drove up to Fontana together when we were transferred. We have been having so much fun together, and I feel like we complete each other in a really positive way.

In a few weeks, Elder Evans of the 70 is coming to tour the mission. He asked us to read a few specific chapters in the Book of Mormon and write some thoughts of what those missionaries were doing and how they were successful. We're so excited for this! There are rumors that we'll be getting ipads.

Things are great! I love seeing the gospel change people, even if it's only seeing someone have a new mindset about the LDS faith.

Have a great week!!

Love,

Sister Rogerson

Fontana

Dear Family,

Sorry I've been slacking on writing for the blog. It's hard to remember!

This week was really great! We had an incredible lesson with D, whom we found a few weeks ago. D wants to be baptized, and we're striving for October 25. She's one of the people whom you know has been prepared by the Spirit to accept the gospel. I didn't know I could love someone so much so instantly.

I also was able to go to a baptism of an old investigator in Redlands. He is 67 years old and was just beaming the whole time. He bore his testimony and told everyone that this was the happiest day of his life. He has such a strong belief in God already. He is going to be a great asset to the ward.

It was great to have my testimony built even more. It was a really spiritual baptism, the most spiritual one I've ever been to. Not many people were there, but angels filled the rest of the room. You could feel their presence.

Those were the best things that happened this week. Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Rogerson

A Memorable Testimony Meeting

Dear Family-

The best thing that happened this week was testimony meeting yesterday. One of our returning less actives bore his testimony. It was the most powerful testimony I think I have ever heard. He testified of missionary work and that his faith was growing. He expressed gratitude for being welcomed into the ward. It was one of those testimonies that strengthened my own.

It rained so hard yesterday that the roads flooded and we were stuck at a member's home for 3 hours. Rain in California is so rare! It cooled down about 20 degrees and felt great afterwards.

Sorry, out of time now, but have a great week!

Love,

Sister Rogerson

A Week of Odds and Ends

Dear Family,

First off, I am so sorry I haven't been writing for the blog lately! Some days we just don't have time. I'll try to be better at it.

A lot has happened this week. We have a 2 week missionary with us. She's 16 and is trying to decide whether to go on a mission when she turns 19. This is just sort of a trial run for her to see what missionary life is like.

We've worked really hard this week to give her all the good (and bad, but we didn't work for those) experiences we can. We picked up trash on the side of the road and a woman came out of her house to give us more trash bags and express her gratitude. Several members honked and waved at us as they drove by, and one brought us all slurpies from 711. The wind was blowing hard, which felt good as we worked. A lot of tender mercies happened that day just from serving the community.

We met several people this week and developed friendships with them. We also had a very good lesson with TK, who has had some trouble reading and understanding the Book of Mormon. He's starting to get it now and understands more of the old language.

One of our investigators, Nancy, invited us over for a lesson this week. We taught about the Book of Mormon and read through the introduction. At the end of the lesson, we invited her to pray about the truth of what the Book of Mormon teaches. She did! She also came to church on Sunday, and said she feels better and better each time she comes.

I've been so blessed this week with seeing God's hand in this work. This really is His work, and we are just a little part of it. I know, I

KNOW that my Redeemer lives.

Love,

Sister Rogerson

In Which We Begin to Reap

Dear Family-

This week was a little crazy! We had a baptism on Saturday and are planning baptismal services for the next 3 Saturdays. Keeping everything straight and sorted out was a little difficult, but thanks to my wonderful companion we were able to do it! How grateful I am for companions who have qualities you don't, like a good memory!

We're especially excited for our baptism this Saturday, the 28. The ones who are getting baptized are 8 and 9, and they are so excited for it! We are too, because we've been working with these two special girls for at least 12 weeks. They are choosing to come unto Christ and follow His example and receive those blessings that are going to help them the rest of their lives!

God is amazing, and He really is in charge of what we're doing!

Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Rogerson

In Which We Prepare for a Baptism

Dear Family-

This week has been a busy one with preparing for the baptism on Saturday! This is the first baptism I've had the privilege of planning, and I have no idea what I'm doing, but luckily my companion is a pro at planning baptisms. All is set, and we are so excited for Saturday.

We had a really spiritual experience with a less-active this week. He told us that he's turned away missionaries in the past, not always nicely. When we came knocking on his door, he just felt like he needed to let us come back. We have.

every week for the past month, and now he's gaining some of that peace of mind he's been searching for. It's because of the gospel. He bore his testimony to us several times and, for 20 minutes, we just took turns bearing our testimonies to one another. The Spirit was so undeniably there. There was no way we could deny the truth of what we were talking about. Sister Busenbark and I left that lesson higher than cloud 9.

I just cannot express to all of you how much this gospel has changed my life. I've been blessed with the privilege of helping it change others' lives for 18 months- a very short amount of time. Not everybody gets to have this opportunity, and I have no idea why God chose me to be one of His servants, but I am grateful that I have this chance!

Go forth in spreading the gospel! Let it change your life and the lives of those you love.

Love,

Sister Rogerson

In Which We are Sick But Carry On

Dear Family-

This week was slow, mostly because both my companion and I were sick. We spent most of the week trying to get better and teaching people in the evening. We have a new investigator who is the girlfriend of a less active member, who didn't like us at first but now is wanting to come to church and read the Book of Mormon. God is great! We are being blessed so much and I don't think we deserve it. Yet amazing things are still happening, and I'm so excited to see the miracles that will continue!

I'll write more next week, promise!

Love,

Sister Rogerson

In Which We Do a LOT of Teaching

Dear Family,

What up! I am so happy to be a missionary. Every day I get to learn new things and have new experiences that are shaping me into the person God wants me to be. Talk about being in the refiner's fire!

Anyway, now that that's out of the way, we have 4 people on date for baptism for the month of June! Hopefully we can get 3 more on date this month as well. How great is the Lord? Super great! So many miracles have happened for our investigators to be where they are right now.

Cool experience with our 8 year old investigator K! We talked about Joseph Smith with her and the First Vision, and that lead to talking about baptism. She's been doing really good with praying lately, and she hasn't been questioning God's existence like she has in the past, so we asked her to pray about being baptized. Katrina closed her eyes and said this prayer, word for word- "Heavenly Father, I don't know if I should be baptized. Should I? In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

This was surprising, because usually we have such a hard time with investigators praying specifically about that. They will say a really good prayer but leave out the asking-God-whether-they-should-be-baptized part. God cannot give an answer to a question you don't ask.

K sat for a moment, very quiet, and then said, "I feel like God is telling me I should be baptized. I wanna be baptized." We set a date for June 28. She is very excited.

K is probably the one I've seen make the most progress so far. She went from telling us that God is dead to praying only for bribes to wanting to pray just because to praying for baptism and receiving an immediate answer. Every week some sort of progress has been made. God is very mindful of every one of us, especially His little children who are more receptive to the Spirit than I think we realize. How grateful I am for the Spirit which touches people's hearts.

Life is good. God is great! I love being here.

Love,

Sister Rogerson

In Which I Talk to the Family

Dear Family-

It was so great to see you yesterday! It definitely gave me the strength to go on with my mission more dedicated than ever. I'm grateful that I was able to talk to you all! 

We have a new investigator who is doing awesome! We picked her up on Saturday and she is already progressing. She is one of the people who has been prepared by the Lord. The work is picking up in this area.

I don't have much time left, but I love you all so much! Have a great week!

Love, Sister Rogerson

In Which I Learn How to Deal with Stress

Dear Family-

I'm sorry I've been such a slacker when it comes to writing letters for the blog! I'm trying to be better, I promise!

We picked up a new investigator this week. Her name is Lori, and she has the cutest most adorablest baby ever! L has gone to church a few times in another ward, and has really liked it. She especially likes the church because of the welfare it offers, but we hope to change that mindset once we start teaching her, which will be this week!

My new companion and I have been working great! The more I get to know her, the more I absolutely love her! I didn't know that my heart was capable of loving so many people so much at the same time, but God provides a way!

Something that I've thought a lot about this week has been the Atonement. We are all told that the Atonement was performed on behalf of our sins and mistakes and sorrows, just like Alma tells us in Alma 7, but it also covers other things. Like annoying situations and the stress you feel in every day life. Things that are out of your control, your feelings of helplessness and uncertainty. The Atonement has also taken care of that. Matthew 11:28-30 tells us to lean on Him. We're told to, so we should take it as tough experiences come!

Have a great week!

Love

Sister Rogerson

In Which I Get A New Companion and Miss a Wedding

Hey Family!

Hope you're all recovered from the wedding chaotic-ness! I love the pictures that you sent. You all look very happy, especially Erin.

This week was transfers. I have a new companion, Sister Busenbark. She's from Utah and has been out 13 months. We work really well together. This is going to be a great transfer!

TK, our investigator, came to church on Sunday. We were super happy, because he's been promising us that he would but this is the first time he's actually followed through on that promise. He really enjoyed it, especially sacrament meeting.

I know this gospel is true! There is no way it is not. I know that Christ is risen. He lives and because He lives, we will all live too! What a wonderful piece of knowledge we have.

Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Rogerson

In Which I Feel an Earthquake (YIKES)

Dear Family,

Wow this week has been really good! We were able to meet with several less-active members and bring the Spirit into their homes. Sister P installed a ceiling fan in this older woman's house, which made the woman so happy she said she would come to church this week. She didn't end up making it, but that's definitely progress!

The other sister missionaries in our ward had a baptism on Saturday. That was a really cool experience. This woman was so excited to have all her sins washed away, she couldn't wait to get into the font! Her excitement was contagious. She made everyone else so excited about this gospel!

We met with one of our investigators, TK, last night. Both Sister P and I felt like we should go over, and it was definitely the Spirit that prompted us to do so. We were able to testify of the truth of this gospel to TK, and the Spirit was undeniably there in that room. I can't even remember exactly what I said, because it wasn't me who said it.

The Spirit was so strong that I was shaking a little bit after we left. Things are going to be so good! The Lord uses the weak to bring about His divine purposes. Last night I think I realized that more fully.

Other funny things- I broke my bed. Our beds used to be bunk beds, but they were taken apart so they're separate now. The only thing holding my mattress up is these thin planks of wood. I sat on my bed this week and the middle plank snapped. I broke my bed!

I also felt my first earthquake this week. It originally felt like the people upstairs were just jumping alot and making the apartment shake, but then it kept shaking. It was a neat experience, because mostly everyone here in California and just used to earthquakes and are shocked when I tell them I've never felt one before. Can't say that any more!

This week my testimony has grown. I know now more than ever that this is the Lord's work, that the Lord needs us, His people, to do this. Everything that we do is to further the building of the kingdom. Let's do that more vigorously!

Love,

Sister Rogerson

Spring Break

Dear Family-

I don't have much time to write, but this week was a little slow due to spring break. It seemed like at least one member was gone every day of the week!

We did begin teaching someone new, H. She is a perfect example of someone who has been prepared by the Lord. It is such a blessing for me to be able to teach her and help her come closer to Christ.

That was it for this week! Have a great one!

Love,

Sister Rogerson

Teaching and Learning

Dear Family,

I'm so sorry I haven't written anything for this blog in a while! Things have just been crazy.

This week was really good. We found 2 new investigators, whom we taught the Restoration to this week. They both accepted the challenge to pray and read the Book of Mormon. We set one for a baptismal date of April 26 and the other is praying for a date where he thinks he can be ready by. We meet with him tonight and hopefully that goes well!

We were invited by a member family to a "pie night" on 3/14. They are in medical school, so they invited a lot of their classmates too. We weren't sure if we would be able to find a missionary purpose for being there, so we prayed before we went into the house. Miracles happen, because within 30 minutes of us being there, people were asking us questions, from "Do you get to choose where you serve" to "What's your schedule like" to "What does your church believe about baptism." It was really cool! We ended up teaching the Plan of Salvation, and we learned a lot about their religion too. They are all Seventh-day Adventists. That knowledge will help me as I work in this area. My area is a highly concentrated SDA town.

We also had the privilege of having Elder Neil L. Anderson of the 12 to come do a mission conference with us. He spoke a lot on the Atonement, which I thought was interesting. I was just grateful he didn't talk about obedience or something like that!

He also came to our stake conference on Sunday. There he spoke about the Resurrection. He used to Bible mostly, and spoke about Lazarus and the significance it was the he was risen from the dead. The mayors from San Bernardino and Redlands were at the stake conference, and there were times where Elder Anderson spoke only to them. You could definitely feel the Spirit in that meeting!

General Conference is in 3 weeks! We should prepare ourselves now to hear from our beloved prophet :)

Sister Rogerson

A Trip to the Temple and a Surprise Wedding

Dear Family,

This week has been so good! We were able to go to the Redlands temple last Wednesday, and that was just so breathtakingly beautiful I can't even being to say. It was great to go in and do a session in that temple. It makes it more personal now.

Sis P and I found 2 new investigators this week. One, D, was a referral from the referral system (Salt Lake City). We went to see her and she told us to come back next week, because she was going out of town. So we did, and we talked about how the priesthood is restored and about the church meetings. She lives in Yucaipa sometimes, and she had met the elders there and read some of the Book of Mormon with them. She does have some concerns about how blacks were at one point not allowed to hold the priesthood, but we're hoping to resolve that tomorrow. She came to church on Sunday and really enjoyed it!

The second investigator is K, who is the fiance of a less active. We met her while trying to find her fiance and we ended up talking to her and teaching her the Restoration. Her eyes got bigger and bigger as we talked about how the Church has been restored and that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith. I thought her eyes were going to pop out of her head!

One other surprise this week is that B and C got married! They were going to be married on March 1, but family drama was going on so they decided to just get married after church on Sunday. I was able to go and see it. I'm so happy for them! Hopefully they set their eyes on the temple now. Well, baptism for B first, and then the temple.

Love you all! Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Rogerson

Life in Redlands

Dear Family-

This week was great! My new companion Sis Parkin has been taking me to meet several less active members, and almost all of them offered to feed us dinner sometime in the next few weeks. That doesn't happen too often, so we were super excited!

Our investigator Ivan, who has been struggling to get an answer to his prayer that this Church is true, got an answer! He felt like he should meet with the elders in his ward, so he contacted them and set up an appointment. We are no longer teaching him, but he says he feels he is closer to the day that he will be baptized!

We've also been hustling to get the work moving with the members We've been going to their houses and talking about family mission plans. A lot of members want to do missionary work, but don't know necessarily how to do it. We got a list of ideas and have been handing them out to people and helping them make their own mission plan. It's been great so far! Everyone's been really willing to try it out.

Nothing much else went on this week, besides the fact that Sis. Parkin makes me run with her in the mornings! I'm getting buff now :)

Have a great week everyone!

Love,

Sis Rogerson

Transfer to Redlands!

Dear Family,

First things first- I'm being transferred from San Bernardino to Redlands. They are complete opposite areas in the sense that one is super ghetto, and the other is super nice. Sis Wall keeps telling me not to have culture shock when I get to Redlands!

I'm not sure who my companion is. I'll find that out tomorrow!

We got to go to a baptism and A was able to come with us! She was super observant of everything and when we talked to her at the end she said she liked it, and that baptism was something she still wanted. We watched the Restoration video with her a few days ago, and I think she's starting to notice the change that's growing within her.

I know that Christ lives. I know that the things we learn here on earth are going to help us with the rest of our lives. I know the Atonement changes lives. Christ would not have gone through all that pain if it weren't for nothing. HE LIVES! It's amazing.

Love you all!

Sis. Rogerson

In Which I Learn New Things Every Day

Dear Family (plus all those who read this blog)-

Sorry I haven't written in a while! Things have been super crazy awesome!

This week the south elders had a baptism. This particular baptism was one of the most spiritual baptisms I've ever had the privilege to go to. The woman who was baptized has been working hard for 3 months to overcome her difficulties, and this week she was able to take that first step to becoming more like our Savior.

We had a lesson with A, who came to church on Sunday. She is progressing and she's getting to know more of the ward members.

We also had a lesson with B and C too. C opened up to us and expressed some difficulties she and her family have been facing. We were able to bear our testimonies about the Atonement and tell them that those trials that they are facing are exactly what the Atonement covers. They were able to get some things taken care of. The Lord really is watching over them.

I'm learning every day. Something new comes up everyday. I think that's how life is, too. God would have us learn something new every single day. We should watch out for those little lessons from God that are going to make us more like Him. I'm grateful for this experience! Being a missionary is the single greatest decision I've ever made in my entire life. Make those decisions that bring you happiness! That's all God wants for us- our happiness.

Love you all and have a great week!

Love,

Sis Rogerson