This is the Life 2.1.2016

Hey Fam. This week was quite the week! Being in the mission for almost 6 months now one thinning I've come to know for certain is that OUR HEAVENLY FATHER ABSOLUTELY LOVES US. I'd like to share an amazing experience from this week that just strengthened my testimony of his love even more. This story begins after district meeting on Tuesday. We were running late to a lunch appointment with one of our members. Once we got there we ate til our stomachs were a little more than full and there was still so much food on the table SO...Our member packed up the food for us to take home. As we hopped in the car a lady named Carmen popped into our head..so we followed the prompting and drove to her house. When she saw us she began to weep! My Companion and I looked at each other a little confused. She looked up and told us that she had just been praying for angels to help her. She said she was very hungry and only had a dollar in her pocket. LUCKY US, we had the food in our car from our previous appointment and gave it to her. Coincidence..I THINK NOT.

After sharing a spiritual message with her we headed to our appointment with an investigator. As we showed up, they changed their time to be at later in the night. We looked over out of our window car and saw an old investigators home so we decided to pop in and say hi. When we knocked on the door she embraced us in a huge hug and said we had arrived at the perfect time..she was about to leave to the airport because she had just found out her brother who had been fighting cancer was super sick in the hospital. She had been trying to pray but she couldn't focus, so...we prayed with her. She called us her little angels. I was blown away! Heavenly Father was really watching out for his children and I am so grateful I get to be used as an instrument in his work. What a blessing it is. The joys of being a missionary!!! The story continues on with so many more miracles and being at the place we needed to in the exact moment we needed to be there. It showed me how much God loves us. How much he wants us to be happy!! HE LOVES YOU!! My heart is so full.

Yesterday we also had a baptism for Milou! It was so perfect! His whole family was there and they loved it!! It was the cutest thing..as we were all gathered around the font his little girl was up front pressing her face against the window. After he came up from the water she yelled "YOU DID SO GOOD DADDY!!" It was the cutest thing of my life!! His son turned to his mom and said "MOM I WANT TO GET BAPTIZED TOMORROW!! " so many things make my heart melt in the mission. After he received the Holy Ghost his wife and him ran up to each other and gave a sweet little kiss. (Ew, cooties! I know...) no but it was the most perfect day!! His wife and his son are now preparing for baptism. AHHH. I LOVE THE PEOPLE HERE IN NEW YORK. I LOVE OUR HEAVENLY FATHER AND JESUS CHRIST. HES CALLING YOUR NAME, HES WAITING FOR YOU WITH ARMS OPEN WIDE! My heart is in his hands. Missionary life is THE LIFE. He is in charge of my life and will be forever. ️

I LOVE YOU ALL.


XOXO.

Hermana Rogers

Let It Snow 1.25.2016

Alma 26:37 Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen. I'm putting all cards on the table that this will be my last week here in New York and all I can really say is I am filled with mixed emotions. It's always cool to look back on the week and see how the Lord truly directed us to the places we needed to go. He knows what he's doing. That being said..

THIS WEEK WAS AWESOME!

Friday...we decided to take a different route and ended up finding a whole bunch of solid Hispanics!! Our day was FILLED with appointments. At the end of the day my companion and I came jumping into our apartment with the biggest smiles on our faces! Let me tell you, it's fun sharing the gospel!! That night we kept getting warnings and calls from members about some sort of snow storm saying "DO YOU HAVE FOOD?! Do you need candles? Do you have this...do you have that." Our thoughts other than thinking how awesome our members are for thinking of us were PSHH, no big deal! In Utah it snows all the time, we will be good.

Saturday..THE BLIZZARD. We were kidding ourselves when we thought we knew what a blizzard was. We were told no driving and to stay in our apartments. Hence my point God led us to the prepared Hispanic filled apartment complex the day before because he knew we would be trapped at home all weekend. Unfortunately church was cancelled and we had to move out baptism to next week. We also had another cool story happen to us this week... Background info : my companion got a long chain for Christmas to put the car keys on so she doesn't loose it. -- So as we are walking out of an appointment I pull out this honkin' key chain from out of my pocket. We get in the car, I start the car and we drive. When we got to our destination I go to turn the car off and pull out the key....BUT THEY KEY DOESNT COME OUT. Why you might ask? The key went through one of the chain loops and as I turn the key I can't push it in to pull out because the chain is in the way. #WHOOPS. My companion and I are just sitting there for a good 10 minutes twisting and turning and doing all we can to get the key out..but no luck. We said a prayer (actually quite a few) to help us get the key out. We called the elders, no luck. We called our mission leader, no luck. We were STUCK. Sister Kramer and I sat in the car saying over and over...there MUST be a reason this happened! We KNEW that Heavenly Father heard our prayers and trusted that he would help us. We kept playing around with the keychain hoping it would suddenly come out and out the blue one of our members popped in my head and I knew we had to visit him right away. So we got in our car and drove to his house. We asked him if he could check out our car and see if he had any ideas on what we should do. He said we had arrived at the perfect moment. He had just gotten home from a rough day at work and had a WHOLE bunch of Groceries In the back of his car. As he looked at our car we unloaded groceries. And what do yuh know HE GOT OUR KEY OUT!!! He thanked us and said we really helped him when he needed it. IT WAS SO AWESOME. God works in mysterious ways. Everyday on the mission just gets better and better! I love being a missionary! I love how God works. I love that he loves us!! He sees the big picture and knows what's best. All we have to do is trust him!! Let him guide you. His ways are not ours. BUT HEY! How cool is it that the God that created the beautiful mountains, oceans and galaxies looked at you and knew the world would need you too! God is good. JESUCRISTO IS TRULY OUR SAVIOR!! Let's show him we care!!

Have a great week! Let's do this!

Xoxo para siempre!!

Hermana Rogers

Simply 1.18.2016

Good morning! I apologize in advance, Not much time today. I hope that something sticks out to you though. I'd first like to start my email by saying THANK YOU!! Thank you so much for all you do for me. Where would I be without you all?! gracias! It's amazing being a missionary. I've met so many different people with unique stories and to watch them grow has changed me. I would do ANYTHING for these people here in New York. Transfers are coming up soon and my heart is beating out of my chest. It pains me to even think of leaving these amazing souls..I can only imagine the mess I'm going to be when 18 months is up. These people have the biggest spot in my heart and have truly impacted my life. I know they are in the Lords hand. He guides the work.

On Saturday I and my companion had the privilege to go to the temple with a recent convert. My trainer and I helped her every week to make sure she was on track to enter the temple. It's amazing... Her story starts with her slamming the door 4 times on missionaries. What a joy it was to watch her shed tears of happiness inside the temple. HOLY COW. Temples are spectacular. HEAVEN ON EARTH. GOOOO.

We are so excited this week we will be having a baptism!! Im so grateful for the Father in heaven that we have. He loves YOU. Haha it's so weird to write or speak in English sometimes...my words get all mixed up. BUTTT. JESUS LIVES. HE KNOWS YOU AND HE DIED FOR YOU! he died for you.....just think about that

Alma 7:11. Read it. It changed my life. :)

Xoxo to all!!

Hermana Rogers

Another Rainbow 1.11.2016

What a week.

We are doing a lot of work here in NY. THESE PEOPLE HAVE MY HEART. They are simply amazing. This gospel is made up purely of LOVE. If there is one thing I've learned so far is that God LOVES US SO MUCH. He loves us so much he sent Jesus Christ to be our savior! I LOVE JESUS. This week at church Oliver one of our investigators who is 8 drew a picture of the lord an angel and alma the younger in church. On the other side he drew Lamen Lemuel and Nephi. Pure evidence that he is reading the Book of Mormon! (I mean check out the faces of Lamen and Lemuel! Straight awesomeness!!) We are SO proud of him!! His set his dad on a baptismal date for this month and at the beginning of next month he will be baptizing his wife and son Oliver! 

On Friday we got to go and visit sister Murphy again. (The old bright pink lipstick lady's who lost her husband) she talked and talked, I can only imagine that's what I'd do if I was alone and someone came to visit me. At the end of our visit she set her face into her old hands and began to weep. I cry every time I am with her. Call me a baby, I know..but my heart is raw this week as I am reminded of the day of my brothers passing. January 14. The memory still vivid..the feelings still tender. Yuh know, we grow up our whole lives learning that God loves us or the plan he has for us (the plan of happiness) at church, in the home or even in seminary but it wasn't until it was actually applied to my life that it had a whole different meaning to me. It wasn't until I got on my knees with truly, a broken heart that I KNEW that God loved me, that he had a plan for us and that my sweet little brother was home and ever so happy. What a joy it is to know that and to be able to share that with the world. DEATH IS BUT A STEP. We have a plan that was made with love. I will never deny the Christ. He is my savior. He is my light. The Lord is my light, my all and in all. There is in his sight no darkness at all.He is my Redeemer, my Savior, and King. With Saints and with angels his praises I’ll sing. The Lord is my light; He is my joy and my song. By day and by night He leads, he leads me along. All that I am and all that I have is because of my father in heaven. On Sunday a huge dark cloud came over us and it started to POUR! After a while of hard rain there was one big sound of thunder! My heart melted a little because I love thunder and rain!! The big dark cloud left and there in the sky was a big ol' rainbow! I broke into tears of joy and said "Joaquin is with us!" ...somewhere over the rainbow.

Hasta luego!

Hermana Rogers

Alégrate! 12.28.2015

GOOOOOD MORNINGGGGGG!!

I hope you all felt the joy of this Christmas season!! CAN YOU BELIEVE ITS BEEN A YEAR ALREADY. I blinked at its already almost 2017. Yes, I'm confused too.....This week we went to visit a member in our ward! sister Murphy. Just close your eyes and imagine the most fragile porcelain old lady with BRIGHT pink lipstick and a strong New Jersey accent to top it off. Unfortunately, Her husband passed away two weeks ago and she is still struggling to get use to living alone. Her story just broke me in two. It shot piercing vivid memories of when my brother passed away. All in all ... ITS HARD to loose someone you love. I couldn't even imagine loosing my husband, someone who sat beside me for 63+ years. Tears filled our eyes as we shared sacred special moments together in her small room. I grow ever more thankful for the knowledge we have of the plan of happiness. Death is but a small step. "The lord has promised us angels on our left and right to bear us up, and HE ALWAYS keeps his word..His love is unfailing" - President Eyering

Fun fact, one of our companionship goals this week was to pray with specific questions or blessings. And let me tell you, if it's the Gods will..IT WORKS. One night I got on my knees and prayed that we would find really prepared woman and a man at 3:00.. Did we find a really prepared man and woman?....YUP! Was it at 3:00, YUP! Booooyah for praying with specifics!! D&C 9:8 We also received an Amazing gift this Christmas!! A Referral! We opened up our iPads to see that we had received a referral from someone serving in a different part of NY. We called her and she was freaking out that they had an LDS church near by because she really wanted to go! Betty mentioned that one of her family members- is a member of the church and continues to talk about the blessings he has seen from being a member of the church.

TALK ABOUT CHRISTMAS MIRACLE.

On Sunday we had the baptisms of Michelle and Tino!! It was a bug ruckus to put together ..I felt like a mom! Everything seemed to be thrown at us all at once with little problems here and there but once they stepped into the waters a sense of peace rushed over me. Everyone went silent and ..YUP YOU GUESSED IT!!..I started crying. The spirit was so strong!! I literally thought my heart was going to pound out of my chest. Pure happiness. We took pictures without them and unfortunately I didn't have the thought to look at them until we got home. When I looked at the pictures my heart about broke...they were blurry. So sadly, I don't have a picture to share of Tino and Michelle and their bright smiles.

:) 12.14.2015

Not a lot of time this week. My trainer leaves me tomorrow and goes back home to UT.

So today is a busy day but I thought I'd share a little something...

Investigator of the week:

Ashlee! I'm pretty sure I've talked about her before because all in all she's AMAZING!

Long story short...

On Saturday my companion and I sat in our car before our lesson with Ashlee and briefly reviewed what we were going to teach. During those few minutes we both had the same feeling to change her baptism date we were going to commit her to. We prayed about about a new date, got an answer, felt good and hopped out of the car to go teach her. When we finally got to her house we sat down and caught up for a second on life. We hadn't seen her in a while because shes had cross country practice and had been super busy! We taught our lesson and Then the moment of it all..the moment I asked her to be baptized on (the date we had prayed for not too long before)...man, I can't even begin to describe the feeling I had inside of me! I looked at her and chills ran all throughout my body and I felt the spirit so strongly ..I was so happy that I started crying! (Yes, I'm the emotional type..lol) but I knew that that was truly what Heavenly Father wanted for Ashlee, I KNEW that was when he wanted her to be baptized. When I had extended the invitation to be baptized tears filled her eyes and she began to cry! 

She knew that was what the lord wanted for her! IT WAS THE MOST AMAZING THING. THE SPIRIT IS REAL , THE CHURCH IS TRUE AND GOD IS REAL. I love being a missionary! 

Dang. I wish I had the time to sit, ponder and put all my emotions into words.

I care about you all!

If you ever need anything please let me know. 

Les quiero! 

Xoxo

Hermana Rogers 

Don't Worry, BE HAPPY! 12.07.2015

WHATTTTTS UP.

 I'm going to apologize in advance if my email is all over the place.. The lord has blessed me so much this week and it's hard to share all I want to share with so little time..so bare with me!

How are you all?! 

This week was full of excitement! I got to go on exchanges and went to an area that is all Spanish! #YES! My heart melted when I heard the Hispanics say "hermana royyyyers" again!! Silly right? Yesterday we had an amazing fireside with all the Spanish missionaries and their members/investigators! As we sang in Spanish the spirit just FILLED the room!! I know with all the Surety in my heart that this was the language I was called to serve In!! We also got one of our investigators to bring his whole family to church!!! His son Oliver told us this week he wanted to get baptized without us even asking!! Wow! We also got to be a part of the sweetest experience yesterday..his 4 year old daughter saw everyone bearing there testimony, grabbed me by the hand and pulled me up to the microphone to help her share her testimony! Oh the joys of being a missionary!!

As I looked back in my study journal this week I realized I read a lot about happiness...and the difference between spiritual happiness and temporal happiness. I was telling my companion how heart breaking it is for me when people rely on temporal happiness. I sat and pondered for a second of what makes me happy and began writing a long list in my journal. In companionship study I started reading off my list of WHY I AM HAPPY.

here is what I wrote:

I am happy because I KNOW Heavenly Father LOVES me. 

I am happy because He has prepared a way for me to return to Him 

I am happy because I KNOW Jesus Christ lives .. And that he died for me..because of his infinite love.

I am happy because of the love and comfort the gospel brings me and my family

I am happy because I KNOW Heavenly Father hears my prayers and helps me.

As I read it to my companion I was touched by the spirit and tears began to pour  out my eyes!!

I was am so happy! These small simple truths have impacted my life SOOO much! They have helped me through the thickest times of my life. We all have trials!! But the gospel IS HAPPINESS!! 

When we know God loves us.. When we know He is there and when we follow the basic principles of the gospel we will be happy! I can testify of that!!

As a representative of Jesus Christ I can promise you that HE LOVES YOU AND KNOWS YOU! He's blessed us so much! Discover who He is

Find everlasting happiness. Yes, there is such thing!

I'd like to end with a video I watched this morning. (WATCH IT! Link below!!)Elder holland says it best.

"Everyone has times in life when we need to know things will get better. My declaration is that that is precisely what the gospel of Jesus Christ offered us. Especially in times of need" 

No but for real.. Take a pause of life and recharge with this amazing video! I pinky promise You won't regret it! 

Good Things to Come (4:55)

Have an amazing week! Spread the love! 

I LOVE YOU ALL

Xoxo 

Hermana Rogers!!

Grateful 11.25.2015

Hey everyone I have about two seconds to write a group email this week so I just wanted to share a quick scripture with you! Alma 29 I love this chapter and how it fit the theme of gratitude ever so perfectly for me this week. In this chapter Alma talks about how He wishes he could be this or do that but then says "But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things the lord hath allotted unto me..I ought not to harrow up in my desires.." Isn't that the truest thing? I can definitely say I catch myself getting caught up in the things I wish I could be or the things I wish I could do rather than be thankful for who I am and what I can do. Of course we can always progress but I love what alma says.. Be happy with what the Lord has given you. Be thankful I am overwhelmed with gratitude this week! So much has happened and I am jumping for joy every day!!! The lords work is real!! Everyone : well, duh! Our investigators just keep getting one step closer to baptism! We got one investigator from the elders. They told us to try him out because he has been taught for 14 years and there hasn't been any progress. So we went over and started with his kids. They literally knew nothing about Jesus Christ! Nothing! It was crazy for me! So anyway we taught them about Jesus and ever since there has been miracle upon miracle. Usually the mom is always working or milo (our investigator) sets up appointments when she wouldn't be there she doesn't freak out. So this week we went on over and she was there!!!! Which was amazing for us! We sat down and chit chatted over milk and bread and ended so getting her to watch a Mormon message with us! When the video was over she was in tears and after..She got to watch all three of her little kids pray!! She wiped her tears and told us she was so happy! And the best part is they invited over for thanksgiving!! ITS A MIRACLE!!!!!!!!

I'm thankful for all you and your support! I can feel your love all the way here in NY!

I love you all!! Happy thanksgiving!!!!! 

Faith Bombs 11.16.2015

ANDDDD BAM! There we were in the middle of a narrow road In Haverstraw, NY. Dark gloomy clouds lingered above us as the rain fell softly upon our heads. Knock upon knock we were getting rejected. It wasn't the most successful day but we continued about our day with a smile on our face. As we walked down this narrow read we saw a wet $10 bill on the ground. The next thing we knew we were following a cash trail along this street. We picked it up and looked around to see if it belonged to anyone, but there was no one around. We decided we'd hold onto the cash and give it to someone that day! At the end of the night we went to our last appointment with Maria. We gathered around her table to eat delicious food and started talking about her poor niece in Mexico who lives off $12 a week to feed her and her 3 children. 

IMAGINE THAT! 

We were all in tears by the end of her story.. Then the lightbulb came on!! My companion and I looked at each other at the exact same time with eyes wide open, both realizing we had the same idea!! The spirit told us that the money we found earlier was for this woman's niece. We pulled out the wrinkled bills from our pocket and handed them Maria. Her face fell into her hands and she cried. I love how God works. Such mysterious ways!! I am soooo happy to be a vessel in the Lord's hands. Especially for these people on the east coast!  Their faith is so strong. They are literally walking faith bombs! The people here in New York have changed my life. I am so humbled and honored to be here.

Gracias a Dios.

We truly in any situation must always trust in our Heavenly Father and his plan for us. Pray to him. Let him into your heart. I know I say it every week, but as a representative of Jesus Christ I can testify that HE LOVES YOU. A lot of things happened this week and that seems to be the only thing running through my mind on this p-day. I hope you're all doing fantastic. I know you're all changing the world!

Keep smiling through the thick and the thin.

xoxo

Les quiero mucho!!

Look Forward with Faith 11.9.2015

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING!

I hear you're all doing pretty amazing things out in the world. Facing many challenges and overcoming weakness. 

Oh how I look up to you all!!!! 

This week was a tough one.. A week where the words from many people back home ran throughout my mind " serving a mission is HARD!" A week were the feelings of inadequacy ran through my bloodstream. Where my heart couldn't seem to keep itself together. This week I found myself in mosiah 23-24. And what I love about it is even though we might be doing good things and living righteously the lord still seeth fit to test and try our faith and patience. But when we put our trust in the lord & when we call upon Him for help we will be lifted up. When we choose Him he will make our burdens light. I love that He gives us these challenges to make us stronger and I love that he doesn't leave us to work through these challenges alone. He is with us every step of the way. He doesn't leave us in our tough times. HE IS THERE. HE LOVES YOU. HE KNOWS YOU. We are placed on earth to be tried and tested. "Our response to life’s experiences will often greatly influence our testimonies."- Elder James B. Martino

We must look forward with faith and a positive attitude as we go through out our trials. YOUR ATTITUDE CHANGES EVERYTHING ..so hey, smile:)

A moment of happiness. the most heart warming feeling I felt this week. Simple but CRAZY powerful..this sorry might steer off into so many different directions..but I hope you can bare with me as I try and express my feelings here. One early morning this week I was studying for our peeps and I came across the Mormon message "mountains to climb" and felt the strongest feeling I needed to share it with one of our investigators that day but I couldn't quite pin point it on who actually needed it. I stared and stared at our appointments for the day but I could not figure out who to share it with. As the day rolled along we were driving to one of our appointments and as we were driving into the parking lot we had a feeling to reschedule and go visit one of our members...we ended up showing her the video I had come across that morning. In the end she was in tears! She looked up at us and said " you guys are my angels. You always come EXACTLY when I need you most, this video is EXACTLY what I needed to hear." What a beautiful indescribable feeling it is..to be a vessel in the Lords work. The spirit is REAL. 

Also..We had our first investigator come to church with his family this week. WOW. What a cool feeling!!

Les quiero.

xoxo

Here are some cheesy pics

Happy November 11.2.2015

Coming up with a good way to start my weekly emails is almost as hard as coming up with the perfect caption for an Instagram picture. My mind has been running through so many different things I could share with you this week.
Not much went on this week except for meetings and guys telling us that we were "in the hood and going to get shot in the head"...comforting right? Need not fear the angels are near!
On Tuesday we got to hear from an absolutely amazing guy! I'm not sure if many of you have heard of the Riccardi letter...but the author came and spoke with us! If you haven't read the letter I HIGHLY recommend it..In one part of this amazing letter it talks about prayer. And boy oh boy if only there were words enough for me to describe my most deepest feelings on prayer!! When we pray we are literally talking to our father in heaven.. AND HE HEARS US!! I can testify of that. It's amazing to see..especially as a missionary what a most simple and humble prayer can do in someone's life!!
Investigator of the week: or should I say investigator(s)! A Dominican couple! Vanessa and Salvador! They are so prepared!! This week we went and shared the restoration with them and Vanessa cried!! She said she felt so good! And then!! at the end we gave them each their own Book of Mormon and when we gave it to Salvador he held it like it was the most amazing thing he had ever held!! His eyes were open and he held it like it gold was handed to him! We walked out of their house skipping and crying the spirit was so strong! 
THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!
fact: my companion and I are basically taking care of the area right now...Taking care of both Spanish and English! I was telling my dad Spanish words out of my mouth when I'm trying to speak English and when I'm trying to speak Spanish all I can think is English...WHAT A STRUGGLE. But. Yea. I forgot what I was going to say....
Goodness. I hope you're all doing good! Hope you all had a good Halloween. Halloween here is sketch town.
My pondering scripture of the week is: Proverbs 15:13 A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken. So stay positive!!! :)
LES QUIERO
XoXo