2 Weeks left, huh?

I am so excited I'm not going to lie lol. I am way excited! I am ready to be back home. I still am hyped to work hard though. Working hard makes time go by fast lol. That's my motto. Kinda dumb but it works haha! It's weird because people are like, "So when do you go home?" And I'm like, ".....next week....!!!!!"

Haha it's a good time.

WE HAVE SEEN SO MANY COOL MIRACLES!!! Not kidding when I say every time we go outside, we always meet someone cool! Let me tell you about them:

Jada: we were walking outside and this girl was 2 seconds away from walking into her house and we were kinda far away from her and Sister Coombs yells, "I like your dog!!!" She then walks up to us and tells us about how the previous night she was praying about how she can get closer to God and I said, "Well, this is the answer to your prayers!" She is super solid and way cool! 

Yosuf: This guy is so cool! He is Muslim but is so ready to learn and explore more faiths! He is so open and asked super good questions like, "Why is a modern day prophet important?" I cant wait to see how the gospel will change him for the better. :)

Well folks, that was only a few of the examples but I am having such a blast! I know this gospel is true and it has helped my testimony grow sooo much! Thank y'all for your prayers and support.

Love,

Sister Rodabough

Welcome to Crazyville!

This is how my mom and I feel: 🤤 Haha! Going home is a weird thing haha. One second I'm like "I am going to be a missionary FOREVER!" And the next I'm like, "I JUST WANT TO GO HOME!" I just don't know what to do with myself any more haha. 

Anyways, on to more important matters. The work has been SO good! I love every Second! I'll give you the update on this passed week.

Monday!!! Coolest day ever! We went to a members home because she was going to help me with some new dresses that were given to me. We walk in and in her house is three families from Mexico! They are all members of the Church but on their vacation through America, their car broke down. They found the nearest church building and the members that they are living with are the only ones in the ward who speak fluent Spanish and have enough bedrooms! The Lord truly provides for all. Those families have the STRONGEST testimony of the church! I love and admire them so much!

Tuesday: We taught Everett again! He is progressing so fast and is praying about a date to be baptized! 

Wednesday: So we are kind of done with tracting apartments because ALL of the students are gone! We just make it fun though. Whatever letter the apartment is, we will say random words that start with that same letter. For example, if the letter is B we go, "Bunny! Bubble! Blind! Because! Ben! Bet! Bat!" Haha it is so funny because we say the most random things. But anyways, we are also finding more effective ways to find people. Lately we've been walking around main street and going to the farmers market and there is a ton more people outside! It is so fun. 

Friday: Sister Cook texted us and said that there is a non member who is moving that needs our help. She told us that she has five kids (blended family) and that they are moving on Monday. We went over there asap and it was so fun because there were a ton of kids and we got to paint! (Anyone who is close to me knows that those are some of my favorite things) It was such a blast! The girls name is Autumn and she is my best friend haha.

Saturday: We helped Autumn again! This time she told us about her brother that had passed away from a car accident. The interesting thing is, is that her little boy has never met her brother but will tell her stories and facts even though they had never met. So we told Autumn about how we lived with Heavenly Father before we came to Earth. She said that it makes so much sense and she started to cry! I LOVE teaching others about the Plan of Salvation because it helps them feel the Spirit and feel so much comfort.

Saturday: We had dinner with Sister Cooks and Autumns family. After dinner we taught Autumn the rest of the Plan of Salvation and she loves it! She said that it makes sense that we have other chances to learn about Christ and that we get to live with families forever! It was such a great teaching opportunity! After that we bounced over to the family ward where they had a pot-luck in celebration of Pioneer Day so that is where most of the pictures come from haha.

Also funny quote from Sister Coombs this week: "Don't you love it when you're sore is cour?"

Super sorry for the novel, missionary work is just the best Haha! Thank you for all of your love and prayers! 

*Doctrine and Covenants 4:7

Love,

Sister Rodabough 

We got phones!!!

Yeah this week was weird...I had my last Zone Conference and that was sad. I love Zone Conference because you just feel SO spiritually uplifted and now I won't have those in my life anymore but I know I can still find ways to feel the Spirit like that! During Zone Conference we mainly talked about phones and how to use them for hastening the work of the Lord so it was way cool. At the end we were running out of time so we started singing the closing song and then President was like, "Wait!" Everyone stopped. He then said, "We need to hear departing testimonies. Please bare a brief 30-60 second testimony. Sister Rodabough, we'll start with you." Silently I was like, 'Dang, I almost got out of it!' So I got up and bore my short simple testimony but thankfully I didn't cry haha.

Other than that the week has pretty much just been getting things entered into the phone. It is crazy because I have had a 18 month phone detox and now I have one again and just looking at it gives me a headache but it's a very useful tool to have.

Sorry for the shorter email but we are pretty busy today. Thank you for everything!

*Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives by President Nelson*

Love,

Sister Rodabough 

Teaching about Temples and Peace

Hey! 

This week was full of fun adventures! First off I had my last exchange with Sister Nicholls! She was my companion for a week and we've been on a ton of exchanges so we had a blast and we saw a ton of miracles! We taught this guy named Laith and he is from Jordan! He had a lot of awesome questions like 'Why is there so much contention in other churches?' You can tell that he really just wants to find out the truth. 

We are also teaching Hannah and she is doing so good! She has been to church twice and I just love her! She has such a down-to-earth spirit. We are seeing her tonight and we are teaching her about temples because she has had a lot of loved ones pass away. I love teaching people about the temple because it brings so much peace to help them know that through the Priesthood Power, we can be sealed with our families for time and all eternity! 

We had dinner with the Biggs and it was SO fun because they are both RM's and they both went to BYU so it was a lot of fun to talk to them and hear their mission experiences. Sister Biggs is also pregnant with their first baby so they are just goals haha.

I just want to give a shout out to my awesome family! I have been really stressed out about going home because I have zero plan lol. But my family is SO supportive and loving. I am grateful for the example I have of the other RM's in my family and for my grandparents and my brothers. Thank you also for everyone else supporting me and helping me these last few weeks! I love and am so grateful for all of you!

1 Nephi 3:7

Sister Rodabough

The Spirit of God

Hey folks! As usual the week went by so fast haha. I'll share some cool things with y'all.

Sister Coombs was backing me one day and I saw her talking to this family so of course I jumped out of the car and we went up to them. It was the mom and dad who are from NC and the son-in-law Justin and the daughter Leah. The mom and dad were just visiting but we came back to do service for them a few days later and now we are teaching Justin and Leah! You can tell that they are just truth seekers. Leah is also pregnant so I really hope they will be able to raise their little baby girl in the gospel.

We had another interesting experience as well. We were going to try a potential on day and it was quite the drive (yeah btw we have a car now, wahoo!). Anyways we ended up accidentally finding a less active family! The dad of the family has been drinking since he was 11 so he is trying to stop. He is also a non-member. The mom is a less active because she is raising 5 of her grandkids. I truly love this gospel because it helps to mend families no matter what situation they are in.

So I love Peach My Gospel! Even if you aren't a missionary you should still study it because holy cow it is so good. I am doing a study in chapter four that talks about the feelings the Holy Ghost gives us. It is the coolest thing ever! I would highly recommend it. Especially for those of you thinking about going on a mission (you know who you are;).

Anyways all is well. I love this work and I know with out a shadow of a doubt that this gospel is true. Live how you understand and the Holy Ghost will enter your life. Don't do anything that would cast Him away.

*Alma 11:22 

Love,

Sister Rodabough

Who are we truly???

Okay. This week was awesome! We are seeing SO many miracles! We are finding and teaching so much. The people here are so open and amazing. We are crazy busy every day which is my favorite thing. 

One thing I've noticed about being a missionary is that the more you open yourself up to the Lord, the more He will work with you. As I have changed, I have seen this taken place. I am more willing to accept and do the Lords will then my own. I think the biggest miracle I have seen on my mission is my own conversion to this gospel. I now know who I am and who He wants me to be.

I have studied a lot lately about who the Lord wants me to be. Here are some things that have stood out to me:

1. Value Beyond Measure by Joy D. Jones “God is your Father. He loves you. He and your Mother in heaven value you beyond any measure. … You are unique. One of a kind, made of the eternal intelligence which gives you claim upon eternal life. Let there be no question in your mind about your value as an individual. The whole intent of the gospel plan is to provide an opportunity for each of you to reach your fullest potential, which is eternal progression and the possibility of godhood.”

2. Remember Who You Are by Elaine S Dalton "You are not alone! Though you may be the only Latter-day Saint in your school or your group of friends or even your family, you are not alone. You can rely on the strength of the Lord...I learned about what I now call “deep beauty”—the kind of beauty that shines from the inside out. It is the kind of beauty that cannot be painted on, surgically created, or purchased. It is the kind of beauty that doesn’t wash off. It is spiritual attractiveness. Deep beauty springs from virtue. It is the beauty of being chaste and morally clean. It is the kind of beauty that you see in the eyes of virtuous women like your mother and grandmother. It is a beauty that is earned through faith, repentance, and honoring covenants."

3. Certain Women by Linda K. Burton "May we remember the many certain women who refused to abandon our precious Savior during the excruciating experience He suffered on the cross and yet hours later were privileged to be among the certain witnesses of His glorious Resurrection. Let us be found staying close to Him in prayer and scripture study. Let us draw ourselves near to Him by preparing for and partaking of the sacred emblems of His atoning sacrifice weekly during the ordinance of the sacrament and as we keep covenants by serving others in their times of need. Perhaps then we might be part of the certain women, disciples of Jesus Christ, who will celebrate His glorious return when He comes again."

Reading these conference talks, other scriptures and my patriarchal blessing have made me know who I am. I am confident that I am a divine daughter of Heavenly Parents. I know that Heavenly Father wants us to understand who we are. We understand who we are as we understand who Christ is. I know this to be true.

*D&C 121:45

Sister Rodabough

Mission Tours!!!

Y'all this week was crazy!!! As you know we combined with Christiansburg for a week because a Sister went home but we just got back to the normal swing of things. So we are just serving in Blacksburg now and it is just the two of us. But we did get a car! I am grateful but also sad...mostly grateful haha. Anyways, here is the update:

"Jane" is super great! She drank a couple times again but I know her heart is changing because now she HATES drinking. She just wants to stop. I love "Jane" though because she just pushes through no matter what and she just motivates me. I am so sad that I wont be able to teach her anymore though because we are back in Blacksburg but I am still going to write her so that we can stay in contact! She was also able to come to stake conference but she got nervous with all of the people around her so we just went to one of the separate rooms where it was played over the intercom and I actually liked that a lot more too haha. 

Stake Conference was super sweet I got to see everyone from the Radford ward and it was like a big reunion!!! I saw my recent convert (Haley Stone) and other amazing people that I love! I also learned a lot. I learned that the point of ministering is to just love! We don't need to make it into some complicated thing because God doesn't want that. He just wants us to serve and care and love each other. I made a goal to look for people who need help each day. Okay that idea actually came from my amazing mother who set that as a goal but I am going to do it too because in the end all we can do is find opportunities to help and love others. :)

The day after Stake Conference (Monday) we had the mission tour! Elder Bennett is our new area 70 and he came to talk with us. He is so cool. He spent 7 years in Russia serving as a missionary and a mission president so he had some AWESOME stories! Here is one of them: As an Elder he was walking down the street and this lady comes up to him and says, "My husband passed away two years ago, what do I need to do to get sealed to him in your temple?" He taught us that we too can have experiences like these if we obey with exactness. And this whole time I was like, wait what even is exactness? Because we will never be 100% exact. He said that exactness means a complete performance. He said as long as we try our best to complete the performance, the windows of heaven will pour upon ourselves and our mission. That got all of us so excited because the Spirit was SO strong! Ever sense then we have tried to be exactly obedient and we have seen so many miracles! 

Sorry for the essay...it was just an awesome week haha! Thanks for tuning in and I'll talk to y'all next week!

This is Sister Rodabough signing out.

*Luke 22:40-42