Monday, March 26, 2018

God Gave The Increase




This week was so busy and so fun I don't even no where to begin...

Tuesday: We taught an amazing girl named Rachel! She is our new best friend haha. She is 35 and we taught her about pretty much everything in a lesson haha. It was jam packed. She is a Baptist's Preachers daughter so she has a lot of questions. She was very nice and sincere. She is very interested in Eternal Families and how it all works and she can't wait to read the Book of Mormon

Wednesday: we had interviews with the President. I love him so much. The Spirit was so strong that we were both shaking a little bit. He told me that I will be heading to my last area next week so we'll see how that goes. After interviews we had exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders. It was so much fun! I was with Sister Nicholls. We saw Gods hand/timing in the work so amazingly. God really does produce miracles if the timing is right and if we have faith.

Thursday: We picked up Scott! Guys Scott is legit the coolest. He is second generation Russian and he used to be a professional football player for the NFL on the Chargers team. He is also like 6'7 and broke my hand when he shook it but its fine. ðŸ˜‰

Saturday: We taught Shannon and Aisa! They are a couple in their 30's who is so ready to learn about the gospel. It was so funny as we were sharing the First Vision Shannon was like, "Wait he saw God?!" He couldn't believe it. The Spirit that comes from Joseph's experience is so amazing. After that we met Randy. He was interesting. We talked to him for about an hour and he said that we are apart of a cult and they brainwashed us to make us think a certain way and that we need to leave the church. He also said the Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon, not translated. He just went on and on. He didnt say those things in a mean way or anything, I just felt bad that he couldn't feel the peace and the strength that comes from this gospel.

Sunday: At first Sunday was really hard. I just felt so down and sad the whole morning. And I didn't know why. Just this empty feeling was inside me. Then at church our Ward Mission Leader came up to me and said that Michael passed away. Michael was an amazing member of the church, he was in the hospitable for 6 months before he passed away. Ever since I met him I felt a very strong connection towards him. I really felt like we were friends in the Premortal Life. I love Michael but I know that he isn't suffering anymore. After church we had dinner with the Farrera family! They fed us really amazing Mexican food and it was just a blast. After dinner we picked up the Sublet family, Ashley and Kaden. Random story: The elders from the Huston Texas mission called us on Thursday and gave us Ashley and Kaden as a referral. That's chill, just randomly getting calls from missionaries in Texas...whatever. So we go to their house they had so many questions! Questions about the Priesthood, the Book of Mormon, Exhalation, Joseph Smith, everything. It was very powerful. 






Sorry for the long email haha. This week was just AMAZING. Full of ups and downs #missionarywork. I know that God is in the details of everything. He knows us perfectly and has a perfect plan for each one of us. I know that He wants us back with Him but we can only do that through obedience and repentance. I am grateful for this General Conference/Easter season that we have. Brothers and Sisters this is the true and everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ. I know it is true.

*Enos 1:4-8
Love,
Sister Rodabough



Monday, March 19, 2018

A Trial of Faith





So to be honest this week was kind of rough. Through out the week we have been praying for a family to teach because we recently stopped teaching all of our investigators. We were praying and praying for a family. Monday went by and nothing happened, then Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday...as of Saturday we were feeling really discouraged. And on top of that Sister Durfee and I are really good at putting ourselves down and comparing so that did not help haha.






Its finally Saturday and we still didn't find anyone so the whole day we are just feeling really down and being really hard on ourselves. During dinner, we forgot we had an appointment following immediately after dinner to go see a Less Active family. It was already 6:00 (the time set for our apt) and we got there 5ish minutes late. They opened the door and they were so excited to see us! We both felt inspired to show them the 'Where justice, love and mercy meet' Mormon Message even though we didn't think it would help them that much. We shared the video and they were both very emotional and they loved it. We had a very very powerful lesson with them. Probably one of the most powerful lesson I have ever had on my mission. The family's name is the Farrera's. Brother Farrera answered so many of my prayers. He told us that we have been in the right place at the right time and that we are good missionaries. He (Brother Farrera) thinks that he doesn't really speak through the Spirit anymore because he hasn't been to church but I knew he was and I knew that Heavenly Father was using him to answer my prayers.

During the Spirit-felt lesson they expressed that they were so scared to come back to church. We promised them many blessings and they felt more comfortable. On Sunday they did end up coming to church and it was the best Sunday of my entire mission to see them there. I love the Farrera family so much and I feel so close to them.

This experience really strengthened my testimony about prayer. Heavenly Father will always answer our prayers but a lot of the time it is not the way we expect it. We prayed for a family to teach but instead Heavenly Father gave us a Less Active family which worked out better because we all needed to help each other. I know that He always answers our prayers. He loves us so much that we cannot even comprehend. I know with my whole soul that this gospel is true and that we can return to Heavenly Father if we try our best to obey Him.

Sorry for the long email this week but I thank you all for everything you do/have done for me. I hope you all have a fantastic week!

*Alma 26:22
Love Sister Rodabough




Monday, March 12, 2018

Faith or Fear?



Okay this is crazy I thought yesterday was Pday so what the heck? Anyways, this week went by so fast. Sister Durfee and I really spent some time getting to know each other and now we are super tight. Time is just flying by.

As most of you know, it has been a hard time to find new people to teach lately, I am not going to lie. However, this week my testimony of missionary work has strengthened so much. We have been working super hard to find new people to teach and no luck. But the ward has been giving us names of people to go teach almost every time we go see them. We now have a bunch of referrals to contact and lots of new areas to work in. I know that when we go through any trial, if we just work hard and try our best the Lord will always magnify our works. I also know that we must also work with an attitude of faith because the Lord cannot help us if we fear Him or His plan. We must always trust in Him and whatever He has planned for us. When we do so, He will always give us the strength that week need.

I can't remember anything that happened this week haha. It just goes by super fast. On Pday last week we played soccer and it was so fun and we went to this way cool ice cream place after were they role your ice cream right in front of you. They also played amazing music like M83 and Sia. It was a good time lol. 

Also you know you are unified with your companion when you accidentally have the same subject line. Haha.
Thank you all for your prayers and support. I am grateful to each one of you. 

Your Sister Rodabough

Monday, March 5, 2018

The Power of Prayer





The power of prayer
This week was full of fun as usual.

Monday: We got Priesthood blessings from Brother Dutton and holy cow. He is so amazing. He talked to us for like two hours about the Plan of Salvation. Lately I have had a strong desire to learn all I can about the Plan of Salvation, to do that, I began to read Jesus the Christ. It has taught me so much. My testimony of the Plan of Salvation has grown more then words can express. I know it is true and I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ know us perfectly. Also, on Monday my younger brother Chip was kind of having a rough time so I invited him to pray and ask God to help him. He did so and Chip told me that he felt so much better. I love the power of prayer and that we are able to ask our Father for help. He always wants to help us but we must show faith in Him first by asking in prayer.

The rest of the week was kind eh. We had fun helping a lady named January move and had a crazy fun dinner with the Gettys. That is about it. I hope that y'all have a great week. Thank you for all of your love, prayers and support.

Love,
Sister Rodabough