Light the World

Hello! Its official kids...I am getting transferred! Do I know where I am going? Now brothers and sisters that is the question isn't? I do not. I find out tomorrow where I am going and who I'll be with. I can't wait! Other exciting news is that my current companion, Sister Adams has been called to be a trainer!!! She is going to do so amazing she doesn't even realize. Her trainee is going to be lucky lucky.

Christmas time has officially arrived!!! That means that all y'all need to go on lds.org and watch the Light The World 2017 video. The one on the main page is just the daily one. If you want the main video search 'light the world 2017' and click on the second video. It is truly powerful and I know that you won't regret watching it.

Now that I've talked about Christmas first, I'll talk about Thanksgiving. We went to the Davis' and it was such a party let me tell ya. They had a bunch of cute little kids running around and they smoked the turkey with a bunch of herbs on it so it was reallllly good. They also are kind of rich so everything was really fancy looking. The silverware was gold and the chandelier looked like something you would see in the temple. I felt very spoiled thats for sure lol.

Honestly nothing else really happened this week other then those things...finding has been a struggle. We have had to stop teaching a lot of our people because they just won't progress. It is sad because they are restricting themselves from so many blessings. But good thing that Heavenly Father is always preparing people! We just have to qualify for the guidance of the Spirit in all things and trust that He will guide us.

Thank you for everything. I hope that everyone has a great week!

Love,
Sister Rodabough

I love the Radford ward

Hello folks! Yet another week has passed by us and yet another week will come to pass. My mission is going by faster and faster...that is my biggest fear is that one day I'll wake up and not be a missionary. But good thing I still have 8 months!

Monday: We had dinner with Angie and she is a recent convert (and kind of less active). She has been struggling to gain a stronger, more solid testimony so what did we do? We told her to read the Book of Mormon every day. She recently told us that when she read Mormon 9 she knew that the Book of Mormon was true. She said that she doesn't have any more doubts and that she will not miss another Sunday. It really is a cool thing to watch the Book of Mormon change people's lives. It is very powerful.

Tuesday: We had interviews! I always love those few short minutes where I get to spend some time talking to President. I love him and I have so much respect for both of my Mission Presidents. I am grateful that the Lord blessed me with them. Okay we are so blessed, let me tell ya. We went to try some potentials and we knocked on the door and she was like, "Oh! Hold on one second, let me grab my baby." We waited for a few minutes and got kind of scared that she wouldn't come to the door again but she did! She let us right in! We set up a return appointment and she even offered to feed us sometime. I am really excited about them because they are a young married couple with a new baby and they have a car! I can't wait to start teaching them.

THURSDAY!: Best day ever holy cow. We had the mission tour with Elder Foster (of the 70) and he is so cool! A lot of the conference was about how we really need to be working more with the members. He said that missionaries should not have to ask for referrals and that if we try really hard to improve our skill level, each zone in our mission could be baptizing 40 people a week. That is crazy. I am really going to try hard to be able to make that happen. He also said that the mission isn't about how many baptisms you get. A while ago we had a zone conference with President Lindhardt and he said that there needs to be a unity of effort. And when our mission has a unity of effort, we will have a unity of success. Thus, we all take part in each baptism and we all take part in each others success. I think that is really cool that he wants us to find success in others, not just ourselves. I love mission conferences because it always makes me feel so pumped about the work! It is an unexplainable feeling.

Friday: Friday night we went to see a less active member who has not been to church because she has anxiety and she got offended. We taught her about the Plan of Salvation. She says that she knows that it is true and that she understands everything, she just doesn't want to be judged by other members. We told her that church is not about the other members, it is about keeping the promises that we make with God. We committed her to come to church and she actually did! We are so blessed and I am so grateful to work with so many amazing members and nonmembers. 

Saturday: Saturday was a pretty rough day. A lot of people canceled on us and the day just went by soooo slow! Some days are just like that though and we've just got to keep pushing through. On the bright side, we did pick up a new investigator (blessed) and I hit my 10th month mark that day!

SUNDAY!: Also Sunday was the best day ever too lol. We had 5 less active members come to church and we had three investigators at sacrament meeting! It was a huge blessing because we had to extend a lot of people's teaching so we were afraid that no one would come to church. But I learned that when we put in our best effort, the Lord will always make up the rest.

Monday (today): We had district Pday! It was so much fun. We played volleyball, basketball and chair soccer. I love hanging out with my district and playing games with them! It is such a good time and I will cherish these memories forever.

Sorry for the insanely long letter haha. I hope that y'all have a great Thanksgiving!

Love, 

Sister Rodabough

Ups and Downs and some Burned Bread

Whats up friends and family? I'll give y'all the rundown of the week.

The beginning of the week was reaaally hard. We had a baptismal interview that didn't work out, all of our appointments fell through, people were not keeping any commitments and it seemed like no one wanted to talk to us. Some weeks are like that but I've learned that that was just a trial of faith that we had to press through.

Thursday: The Morgans brought us soup and bread for dinner. Sister Morgan said to but the bread in the broiler so that it gets all nice and crispy. We ended up putting the bread in for too long and now we are going to use them as weapons because they are as hard as a rock lol. It was just the laugh we needed to get us through the week. Later that night we had our lesson with Morgan about the Word of Wisdom and she loved it! She committed to completely live the Word of Wisdom!

Sunday: Sunday was awesome! We had an awesome Sacrament meeting. Sister Draper gave an awesome talk and we had great lessons during class. After we had dinner with the Grospec's. They live literally right by the lake and there house is really big and really pretty. I loved getting to know them because they are amazing people! We then taught Morgan once again and we did the Stop Smoking Workshop with her! She is doing so awesome and is really progressing.

Lately I have learned quite a few lessons and I would like to share them with you;
-You don't have to be perfect, Heavenly Father loves you just the way you are
-Don't change for anyone, just be you
-Make sure you date before you get married (lol)
-If you are feeling the Spirit, the atonement is working in your life
-The Book of Mormon is truly the most powerful book. I know this to be true
-Don't compare yourself or underestimate yourself, doing that takes the Spirit away

The mission really is super hard, I'm not going to lie. It is 100% worth all of the sacrifice though. I am grateful for the person Heavenly Father has aloud me to become because of my mission. I am especially grateful for my friends and family who love and support me. This gospel is true and I know this without a shadow of a doubt. Satan is real but Heavenly Father is more powerful and more loving then he is. I know that we cannot get back to our Heavenly Father without living ALL of the commandments. I know Christ, I know He is my Savior and Redeemer and I know that he knows me perfectly. I know these this to be true. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Tis the season lol

Well, Halloween has passed and now its time to listen to Christmas music! I love this time of year! Especially in VIrginia because all of the trees are bright red and its still warm outside so I'm a happy camper. Speaking of Halloween, we had a blast. We went to 3 different Halloween parties, handed out a ton of pass-along-cards and saw some super dope costumes. I swear holidays as a missionary are so much better then normal for some reason. 

Thursday: We had an AWESOME lesson with Morgan. We had some members come with us and they just made the Spirit so much stronger! Morgan loves the Book of Mormon and she says that she know's that it is of God and that belief makes her want to read it more. We also fasted with her so that she will be able to get work off on Sundays so that she can come to church. So we'll see how that goes. 🙂

Tuesday: We were so busy on Halloween holy cow. We served at the daily bread in the morning, then we locked the keys in our house. Okay back story, not last week but the week before we had so many car problems! We locked the keys in our trunk, then we had our check engine light on, then we had to get air pumped into our tires and THEN we locked the keys in our house. We just keep laughing and laughing because Satan tries to stop us but he fails. Anyways after that we had the Pulaski Trunk-Or-Treat. We also went to the Turpins house and handed out candy to little kids so needless to say Halloween was a huge success thanks to our awesome ward members!

Saturday: At around 7:30 we went to go try a potential and we accidentally knocked on the wrong door! Luckily they let us in. In the home was an old drunk man and his 40 year old niece. The man has a lot of love for our Savior. We asked him if he would like some help overcoming his drinking problem and he said something along the lines of, "No thanks I'll just have another drink." I thought it was so funny because he telling us over and over and over again how much he loves Christ. I thought to myself, "Sir, if you loved Him that much, you would change." I don't know if that is rude to think but it is true. If we truly love the Savior, we are always changing and trying to be better.

Okay I am so excited. On the 16 Elder Foster of the 70 is coming to our mission to talk to us! I feel so honored and slightly unworthy lol. But I can't wait to meet him!

I just want to say that I love being a missionary more than anything. I am SO grateful for my family for providing me with this privilege. I do not look forward to the day that I have to take off my name tag but I am grateful that I get to make memories and grow my testimony. So thank you to all who have helped me come this far.

Love,
Sister Rodabough