:) 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

Buenos Dias October 19, 2015

Buenos Dias! 

I hope you're all doing good! Life In NY can simply be described in one word: AMAZING.

i also want to keep things simple ( because of time ) but still share a little from how much we were blessed by the lord this past week. 

Investigator for this week: Ashlee from the DR we found her looking for someone else and she ended up letting us In and we shared the he lives video with her and she cried!! We seriously love this girl!! She is 15 and she told us she was having a hard time in school. We've been meeting with her about every other day this week and she said "this week I have been so happy! And I think it's because of you guys!!" She IS THE CUTEST THING!! She is so open and willing to try anything. She has so much hope. #baptismbound

Member of the week: sister gene louis!! Holy this lady, I love her!! She is from Haiti and you can barley understand her when she talks! Jajaja BUT she was converted 2 years ago! Here are some of my favorite things she says : "do you know who's been my best bud? The Holy Ghost, he my best bud" or "I need my sistuhsss!!" She seriously is so converted I'm Christ! It's inspiring!! She's dropped and given up so many things to be obedient unto the lord. Her faith blows me away!! She loves this gospel with her WHOLE HEART #power 

Fun fact of the week: Dominicans don't say their "s" so for example : instead of "como Estas" they say "como eta," instead of "escuela" they say "ecuela.".. Anyhoo, we went looking for one of our investigators this week and one lady opens the door and instead of saying "estamos buscando por " I said "etamo bucando por" 

IT JUST CAME OUT! I am starting to talk with a Dominican dialect and I'm not sure I want it! Jajaja 

But hey at least the Spanish Is coming , right ?

Book of Mormon chapter of the week: 2 nephi 4!! NEPHI IS MY EXAMPLE! He seriously has the best attitude and is soo humble. What I love about this chapter es que he says if he's seen all these great things and knows the Lord so...why be sad? Why be angry? Why loose strength in our afflictions? ..then my favorite part he says "Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart" He's just like WAKE UP! BE HAPPY!!!! So my invitation to you is to..BE HAPPY. 😋

ANDDDD..read 2 nephi 4 and write me back on what you liked on this chapter! 

Moral of the story, BE HAPPY. BE STRONG. & BE GRATEFUL for all the the little things. It's all about your attitude ..

So keep it good and life will be good even In the hard times. ❤️ 

Los amo a todos 

Chow!

Xoxo

(This week I'm especially grateful for ice cream..YUM)

(Hermana Rogers' blog has gotten a little behind so she has asked me to get it caught up for her. It might take me a few days but I will add the group emails we have received up to this point and then keep it updated from there.)