March 30, 2014

So!!! Proselyting with general conference is probably the best thing in the entire world. We have little invitations (courtesy of the elders, thanks elders!) and we give them away to everyone we meet. Every Saturday morning we draw a chalk drawing (haha my artistic skills are not so great) on the ground at the market and talk to people about what we have drawn. This week: Noah and "How does God answer your prayers?" A man and his wife stopped - the man was so excited to talk about a prophet and was soooo keen to hear more , he wanted us to come around the next day. So we went around - and the spirit was soooo strong. Wow! They really want to learn. When we gave them the Book of Mormon, the husband held it in his hands like it was made of gold (which, to us, it is worth that much). He was so excited, and aaaahh!! We ahve to give them to the elders though because they're a family in a different area. Ahh!! So cool! I love general conference!

Also, we met a catholic priest that doesn't like the catholic  church and doesn't know why he's goes there. He said he doesn't feel "fulfilled' there. Invited him to conference.. wow, i hope he comes!!! :D

i love general conference, i love the prophets, i love being a missionary. This week as we biked around i was just overcome with love for the people here. I love the way they are, i love the way they talk, the way they think, all of it. Their hospitality, how they always offer you a cup of soemthing warm when you come in. I love the view of the green mountains, i love the rain, how the houses aren't heated and you're freezing cold during personal study. And i love talkign about God all day. wow. i love it.

have a great day!!
Sister Rose

March 23, 2014

This week went SO fast, it feels like time is whizzing past us. We have seen many miracles this week. I don't really know how to express what happened this week. It's like when you get to that point where you feel like you're not doing enough, yet you're already trying as hard as you can - that's when you see the miracles. This happened this week when we were going to visit a woman who is never home when we set return appointments with her. We went around, and she rescheduled again. But next door was a woman we have also been trying to get a hold of, but she is never home. We went to see the neighbor - she was finally home!! She literally ran to the door when she saw us coming, and put out her hand to shake ours. She ushered us in, and sat us down at the table. Turns out this woman was taught the gospel in the South, in Gore, about 10 years ago. Her mom is less-active, and she feels like she's ready to learn and make that commitment finally. She started to describe what the Holy Ghost feels like - it feels "innocent" and "peaceful." She is really excited, and we can't wait to see how she progresses!

We went around to see a woman again, who had gone to the temple in Hawaii and asked for someone to come and follow up with her. Her two kids were keen on listening but her husband was not. Awkward.... He told us off for us coming to his house and assuming that we could just tell about our religion, but then we explained that we had previously met his wife and she allowed us to come back that night. It got even more awkward when he started getting mad at her about other stuff in the marriage right in front of us.. (this actually happens more often than you'd think. weird, right) Anyways, when he left the room the spirit immediately came in and it was a great lesson. Yay! We'll keep working with her and the kids, hopefully he'll come around soon. They are suuuuper keen, though.

Our english class is picking up! It went so well this week :) yaaay!

The area presidency for the pacific is pushing the members to hasten the work of salvation, especially to work with the missionaries more. Have i mentioned i love being a missionary right now???

Can i just say, that a mission is exhausting in every sense of the word. I can't really even express what i feel sometimes to my companion, let alone anyone else. I am so tired, but so happy.
love you all!!
Sister Rose

March 16, 2014

That's this transfer's zone theme, so Sister Hann and I like to randomly exclaim that (somewhere in between say and shout = exclaim).

Soooo just about everything fell through this week. But we saw soo many miracles!! One of the things that did NOT fall through was meeting with a woman in Stokes Valley. She went to Hawaii and got a tour of the PCC, and wound up at the temple. She said is was beautiful and couldn't stop talking about how much she loved it when we were there. She obviously couldn't put into words what she felt, which was the spirit. She said she already has plans to return in 2016, and hopes to go inside the next time, since she wasn't a member of the church last time she went. After we were there for about 5 minutes she said, "So do I just book a time with you to start learning, or how does it work?" Wow! :D We talked to her about the Book of Mormon and shared when Christ comes and lets the people see His wounds and know that He is the Redeemer of the world. The spirit was so strong there!! She told us that she had been talking to her son, and he had lots of questions about God, and she can't answer them. She wants her whole family to learn and to come to church with her. And she's looking forward to baptism so she can go inside the temple. Ummmm wow?!! SO GREAT!!!
Have i mentioned lately that I love the Gospel? God's plan is perfect. I love Him!!!!

Sister Rose

March 9, 2014

Wow, this week has been crazy! Last week on Monday we spent p-day with the sisters in masterton and had the biggest chocolate sundays ever. This computer doesn't have a way for me to upload photos, so you'll just have to take my word for it. On tuesday I went on exchanges with one of the sisters in masterton - so fun!! we did door-knocking and it was so fun, getting soaking wet in the rain!

Wednesday I went to a meeting with all the other sister training leaders, zone leaders, and district leaders on the north island. the meeting was 2 hours away and lasted 5 hours. We met with President Kezerian and his wife and went over all the rules of the mission so that we are all on the same page. whew! It was pretty fun though, got to catch up with all the other missionaries i haven't seen in ages!

Thursday i was on exchanges again, but in upper hutt. I was with a sister who is on her last transfer, so it was really cool to see her work her magic. We went to visit a single mom who has twins with intense down syndrome, and a son with cerebral palsy. She loved her kids SOO much - i wish I could explain it, but I can't. She seriously loved them more than anything I've ever seen.It was so great :)

When i finally got back into my own area, the zone leaders took us to a family they are teaching - another one from Colombia! We taught them, and the spirit was so strong. Which was helpful, because i taught most of it in spanish and none of the other missionaries could really help. And it was really, really helpful because i have like zero practice teaching in spanish, only talking about like anthropology and hiking haha :) The spirit was so strong, now it's just a matter of getting them to allow the spirit to change them, versus just feeling it.

We are beginning our english class this week! We brought the flyer for it to church on sunday and Bishop was so excited that it was going to start happening already. He asked for us to get it announced in the other wards and tell them that he approves it. We got a call from him Sunday night asking if we could come around to discuss the class. I got scared we were going to get told off or something! We showed up 20 minutes later and it turned out that he was just really, really excited about it and wanted to talk about the details because he was so excited. How cool! Wow, this is so awesome! The area here is doing well, and im so excited for this class!
Does anyone have any ideas for an english class? Like activities to use? Just let me know! We would love to have some fun ideas!

love,
Sister Rose

March 2, 2014

This week has just been a blur! Saying goodbye to Sister Woodbury (bestest friend ever) and everyone from Westport was just too sad, i didn't draw everything out, just left before i started crying like a blubbering fool. It's just way too hard to say goodbye all the time, I hate it! (all the time - ha. This is just my 3rd area)

One of our investigators was so sad that i was leaving, and mad sure we came by right before we left. She said she was really upset that i was going when she found out the night before, and was praying about it. She said she opened up her Book of Mormon and came to 3 Nephi 28:18 - "But this much I know, according to the record which hath been given—they did go forth upon the face of the land, and did minister unto all the people, uniting as many to the church as would believe in their preaching; baptizing them, and as many as were baptized did receive the Holy Ghost." Wow! If i wasn't about to cry earlier, i was about to cry then. So powerful!! 

I'm now companions with Sister Hann - i served around her in Christchurch! We have been on exchanges heaps of times before. And she is like the most amazing, charitable, friendly, happy person in the world. Granted, we've only been together a few days. BUT! I love her.

Here are some great things about our area (Lower Hutt):

- We cover 4 wards and try to go to all of them on Sundays. One of the little girls at church came up to me and started ripping (literally, it kind of hurt) the rings off my fingers and putting them on her fingers. Then she put her hand on my stomach and said, "You look like you have a baby in there!' So, if anyone is worried about me not eating enough, you may officially stop worrying because apparently i look like i'm pregnant hahahaha!!!

- This is the area that my trainer, Sister Paongo, opened for sisters. This is where she came after she left Ashburton!

- I'm finally in a busy city where there are people to talk to!

- Our only baptism date right now is a woman from Colombia. She basically only speaks spanish, so i have to either translate for her, or teach only in spanish. WOOOOO!!!!!! Also, my spanish is sooo rusty and child-like, i am SOO grateful for the spirit. We had a lesson with her, and it was totally lead by the spirit because i could kind of actually speak when i haven't taught in spanish in ages. Also, i can't speak in Spanglish with her like i could in Ashburton because she doesn't understand any english. A challenge! I accept! 

- Elders give us referrals all the time so we don't have to solely rely on our own finding. 

I am also Sister Training Leader again this transfer! I feel so silly being called to this calling because I have never served on the North Island before. And missionary work here is SOO different! People actually know who we are and respect us! Door-knocking is totally different, so i will have to figure that out. 

I was reading over the area book, trying to learn about our investigators (can i say it's a lot less stress not to be training and not opening a new area?). I was reading about the lessons they taught, and it was obvious that the previous sister training leader was an amaaaazing missionary! At the drop of the hat she could just whip out scriptures about random doctrines like 144,000 being saved in revelations, etc. I cannot do that. I just can't. The end. I felt so stupid, so under qualified, so not the right person to be in this bumping area as sister training leader. I went to go pray about it, and a quote that Laura Magallanes sent me popped into my head: "Amplifying what is great within you will accelerate your life faster than trying to fix what you "think" limits you." (from Brendon Burchard). So, that Lord will use our gifts that are individual to us. that is why he gave them to us. And what's great, is that the Spirit will make up the difference. I am looking forward to this new area, and am just hoping i can be an instrument in the Lord's hands here. And my companion is the man. 

love you all!

Sister Rose