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