Saturday, July 31, 2010

Last P-day of my First Transfer

Today is my last P-day of my first transfer!!! how crazy is that?!? We start transfer #2 next Wednesday! All the new sisters from the MTC will be coming in! I'm excited to meet them and have a new perspective (not be the baby anymore! lol) The beginning of this transfer was so slow!! But it sure has sped up so fast- and I'm pretty sure that's how the overall mission will be. I love it! I'm learning to choose to be happy and have fun! Missionary work is amazing!! I'm so lucky to be on Temple Square (thanks again Judy Keele! haha) and have people coming to me, asking to learn!! No doors slammed in my face. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of negative people with not very nice things to say, but so many are so accepting and loving. Today we only had 3 hours on the square, and sadly didn't take very many tours. But the one we DID take was a complete miracle. I'm so lucky to have Sister Nakajima who was in tune enough with the spirit that she followed the prompting to talk to this couple from Texas by the Assembly Hall. We took them through the tour and it turns out they have a distant family member who is LDS, as well as some students and co-workers who have all left lasting impressions on them throughout the years. God truly prepared them over the years and then brought them here to the square. They told us they have been looking and searching for the truth and I testified with all my heart and ability to let them know that they found it!!! They referred and will have the missionaries over soon! I just pray that the missionaries out in the field are all in tune with the Spirit enough to continue to carry this message unto their hearts!!! All I can do is pray with all the energy of my heart that these people will continue to listen to the voice of the Shepherd calling out to them. I LOVE MISSIONARY WORK! Another cool thing about that story is that you set an example whether you know it or not!! People observe you and watch what you say and do. You do make a difference in people's lives with those small and simple things. You could have an influence on someone and never know it! So keep setting a good example and choosing the right!! You never know who's watching!!

Last week on the 24th, it was PIONEER DAY!!! YAY!! I've never been in Utah on Pioneer Day, so it was quite the event!! The square was completely dead in the morning because there's a HUGE parade each year in celebration for the pioneers! We heard all the bands and the people cheering and I kinda felt trapped inside the gates.. I wanted to go see the parade!! But luckily our President is AMAZING and let us see the 2nd half of it!!! How awesome is that?! It was fun and I'll print out some pictures today and send them to you! Good times! What did you all do for pioneer day? Did the ward have a party? As much as I love pioneer day, I was glad not to have to dress up as one! :) After the parade is when Stephanie Zeller and her fiance came and met us at Lion House!! They bought us lunch and we took them on a tour afterwards!! Funny thing is... the reason for coming was to drop off the package, but they came without the package!! lol. So Steph will come again sometime soon and drop it off :)

We haven't had a lot of Japanese tours this week. Sister Nakajima has been a little discouraged because lately they've all been rude or un-accepting of the gospel, so she wasn't confident that she'd get any referrals. But I assured her that the next one would be a golden Japanese tour and they would be totally prepared and ready to refer. She just said "sure sister Frogget, whatever you say!" But sure enough, we got the Japanese tour we planned for and they were so nice and loving and accepting! And they referred at the end!! We were so amazed and so happy for such a little miracle! :) Moments like these make missionary work the best thing I've ever done!!

We had quite a scary contact the other day.... we were waiting for a tour at Westgate and a man walked up to us and wanted a tour. I immediately felt uncomfortable around him, but after talking to him he seemed so nice and genuine so I was confused. But we began our tour by the temple and then I found out why I initially felt sick around him... He was an anti!! He knew the Bible like the back of his hand and just wanted to bash us and prove us wrong. He was not there to learn or to listen, but simply to make himself think he was sly and smooth as he tried to prove wrong every word we said. I was so upset inside but I knew I couldn't show it or else his goal would have been accomplished. We had to be kind to him and send him on his way because we're not here to waste our time bible-bashing or arguing with people. We're here to teach! There was one point in the conversation that I felt completely sick to my stomach and wanted to leave! It was such a relief to leave him!!! It was scary, but it brought my companion and I closer together because we trusted in and relied on each other. I had such an increased love for her after that!!!

On Tuesday the 27th, we went to LITTLE COTTONWOOD CANYON for a picnic!! It was SOOO much fun! That's the place where the pioneers got the granite to build the temple!!! They had to haul it over on wagons with teams of oxen and each 5,000lb block took about 4 days to bring over!!! That's partly why it took them so long to build the temple! (40 years!!) Anyway, we went up there and played tons of games and ate tons of DELICIOUS food that president and his counselors made for us. We had SO much fun! I'll send pictures of that as well! It was a nice break!! President loves and cares about us so much! I love that man! The only down part of the day was that we didn't have time to go home and shower afterwards so we were all gross as we went back on the square to teach people! lol. Oh well, thank goodness for perfume and deodorant! haha :)

Aaaah there's so much I wish I could tell you!!! But I'm glad I was able to give you some of the highlights of the week! I love you all so much! I haven't seen anyone from our ward yet, so COME to temple square!! And look for me!! Actually if you want to schedule a tour with me, you can!!! Just call Guest Services at 801-240-1706! :) And ask to have a 30-minute tour with Sister Frogget!!! (Family can have an hour tour)!!! You are all such shining examples to me and each of you have played a part in my life and have led me to this point that I'm at right now!! I love you so much and miss you like crazy!! Keep me updated and let me know what is going on in your lives (and yes I'm talking to the people reading this in my blog too!!) Much love!! Keep up the good work! You're amazing!

Love love love,

Sister Frogget :)

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Fastest week

I'm pretty sure this was the fastest week of the mission! The summer is flying by so fast! We are taking so many tours and teaching so many people! It's great! Being tired at the end of the day feels good and then I get a really good night's sleep!! :)

Sundays are AMAZING here at Temple Square. I love visiting with all the members that come. They are such good missionaries! (most of them lol). We were giving a Japanese tour on Sunday with a wonderful host family, and I saw one of the guys from the Latter-day Night Live DVD that we have at home! Remember the curly-haired guy that was still single at 30 or something? I saw him and wanted to meet him but I was on a tour so I couldn't lol. Fun stuff!

That same day we met with some guests that were completely anti. I was so uncomfortable talking to them because everything they said was negative and rude about the church. My companion luckily handled it well. I love her so much and can really trust in and rely on her! I couldn't believe that anyone would be so discourteous to ANY religion. I literally felt sick around them. It was a relief when they demanded that we stop talking to them and walked away. Yikes!

Sunday morning some sisters are assigned to announce tours over at the conference center after the Mo-Tab's performance. Remember the pictures in the Ensign with them holding up signs of which language they speak? Those are Conference Center Announcing sisters! So my companion was assigned to announce that sunday! It was fun because I got to go on exchanges while she announced and I contacted all the people coming out of the CC. Maybe I'll be assigned to announce in English or Spanish sometime soon! We ended up getting a tour out of it so that was fun!

You know, anyone who wants to can call ahead of time before coming to the square and set an appointment to have a tour with me!!! So if you're coming, CALL and set one up!!! I want to see you and tell you all I know about the square! it would be so much fun! :) I love you all and hope to see you this summer!! :)

Guess what?! I saw STEPHANIE Zeller a couple days ago!!! She said she has the package from you guys. So we're going to have lunch at the Lion House tomorrow and she'll give it to me then! Exciting! It totally made my day to see her! :) I love my family!

Oh by the way, my performance went really well on Sunday! (wow, I guess sunday was an eventful day! All my stories are from Sunday lol.) Sister Artis sang beautifully and I was able to play with very little mistakes (even though my hands were shaking like crazy!).

Yesterday I saw ADDAM ROBERTS! He was attending his friend's wedding at the SLC temple and decided to walk around the South visitor's center, where I happened to be. It was the weirdest thing to see him after 2 years and 3 months!!! I couldn't believe it was actually happening! We gave him a tour of the square and talked for a while. Good times! He hasn't changed at all!! Except he was asking us a bunch of random weird questions about rumors that he has heard in the church... I guess that's what we get for telling him to ask us anything and we'll do our best to answer lol. But it ended up being a fun tour, and he gave us some potential referrals so that was good!

I got your family tape from Amy the other day!! Thank you SO MUCH!!! It was so fun to actually hear all your voices again and listen to your stories. I absolutely loved it!!! i will respond to what you said on the tape and send it to Amy. I'll have her bring the player over to your house to listen to it! I love you all so much! You're the greatest family a girl could ever ask for! :)

So many miracles happen on Temple Square! I know I say that every week, but it's completely true! One of them was with 2 young girls (probably my age). One from Kosovo and the other from Korea. We had planned the night before to find 2 people at South Gate at 3pm and sure enough, those 2 girls showed up and we gave them a tour! They were so willing to learn and so accepting of the message. I had a feeling right from the beginning that they would refer, and sure enough, they wanted to have missionaries to come teach them more and to bring a copy of the Book of Mormon. They even requested it to be in english rather than their own languages because they didn't want the message to be altered through translation! They were so prepared to hear about the gospel!!! My hope and prayers go out to them! Miracles happen everyday!! I love it!

We got to meet with the President and discuss one of my favorite documents: The Living Christ. President Holmes [see his picture in this article] is one of the wisest men I know. The Spirit was so strong and my testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ, was again strengthened and renewed. That helped me testify with so much more power and authority that day. It's easy to get into a routine and just take the same tour over and over again, teaching the same principles. But it's important to have that renewed testimony of Christ to remember that each person, each family, each group, has their own needs and we must teach accordingly. We must take them where the Spirit directs and speak from our hearts! We must remember why we are here and of Whom we are teaching! And that is Jesus Christ our Redeemer!! I know with all my heart that He lives and this is His true gospel, restored upon the earth! We are SO blessed to have it in our lives and enjoy the blessings that come with it! Let us never take it for granted!!! I love you all so much and think of you all the time. You bring me so much happiness and joy! I LOVE YOU!!!

Love, Sister Rochelle Frogget!!

PS: I don't have as much time this p-day so I won't be able to respond to individual emails. Sorry :( But write me a letter and you will receive one in return! I promise! :) xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Learning how to ACT upon the promptings

Hey hey hey from Sista Frogget!!

Happy Friday!! Life is good here on the square... even though it's one of the biggest emotional roller-coasters I've ever been on in my life. It's hard at times, but SO much fun and wonderful a lot of the time. I had my first Motorcoach this week!!! I'm sure you're wondering what a "motorcoach" is lol. It's when we give a tour of temple square to a huge group of people instead of individuals or small families/groups. People come from ALL over the world and big buses drop huge groups off for tours. Luckily I wasn't expecting it. Normally they assign us a day ahead of time. But this time, they paged us for a tour and we walked over to West gate and it was a group of about 35 people. I was nervous as we led them through, but the Lord led my speaking (and helped me speak LOUDLY haha) so it ended up being a great success!

I'm practicing the piano this week to perform this Sunday!! My former MTC roommate wants me to accompany her in playing Consider the Lilies! I love that song!! Wish me luck! I've only been able to practice less than 15 minutes a day for one week! Yikes! But luckily it's coming along :)

We had a First Transfer breakfast at Nauvoo Cafe the other morning! It's nice and convenient to have it so close! Lion house and the Church Office building are good places to eat too! Yummmm

Guess what?? Remember when I took you through God's Plan for Families video presentation? I took my first Spanish couple through that this week! They hardly spoke any english so I did my best in using my spanish skills! It went well!!! (Even though my spanish is sadly fading!! No bueno!) They were the sweetest people and so understanding. I have the spanish script so I'm gonna start studying that so I can give spanish tours one day! So exciting :)

We're doing "Fleet" Training this week... which is teaching us about safety with the mission vehicles... they scared us with a bunch of videos of car accidents with missionaries in them. :( I was going to take the driving test to be a mission driver, but now I'm not so sure!! haha

A couple days ago, Sister Nakjima and I were assigned to go contact people after the Joseph Smith movie. As people started pouring out, we talked to them about it and asked if they'd like to learn more or share it with their friends. A youth group from a different church was there, and so a couple of girls came out and started asking me questions about Joseph Smith and basic beliefs of the church. As we talked, more and more people started gathering around, and pretty soon I was surrounded by a bunch of people asking me questions. The Lord helped me answer simply and in a way they could understand and have some myths cleared up. It was a lot of fun actually! And 5 of them referred! It was a cool experience and made me happy for the next couple days after that.

I am learning so much here. I'm learning how to ACT upon the promptings that I receive from the Spirit, rather than assuming they're my own thoughts. Acting upon them truly brings miracles and blessings. I rely so much on the Spirit... otherwise I couldn't teach! Missionary work is amazing! Like I said, it's hard at times, and I'm still trying to overcome feelings of homesickness. But I found a quote that has really helped: "If you don't like the way you feel, change the way you think!" Changing the way I think takes a lot of effort and energy, but it really has changed the way I feel. It's awesome. There is still so much to learn and so many ways in which I have to grow, but God is helping me and guiding me through. I miss you all so much and long to hear from you each day. You are my pride and joy! I love talking about you and thinking about you. You're in my prayers always. MUCH LOVE MI FAMILIA!!!

Family and friends- PLEASE send me any personal experiences that you've had that has strengthened your testimony of the gospel. Any specific stories that shows how the gospel has blessed your life! These stories really help when we're giving tours because it makes them more personal and helps us connect with the guests! So anything you have to share would be awesome!!! Send them to my address or email address! I love you all so much!!!!! xoxoxoxox

Love,
Sister RO

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Come to Temple Square

Another p-day! Time goes by so slow yet so fast here at temple square! Let's see, where should I start! There have been SO many miracles this week! I think that will happen just about every week! I am learning so much and my trainer is wonderful and very patient with me. Church was amazing.. we have it in the Joseph Smith Memorial building so the chapel is incredible! I'll have to send you a picture sometime! I'm learning more and more how to teach by the spirit and it amazes me how I can really FEEL him working through me. The words begin to come so smoothly and naturally and I can listen to and hear him tell me what to say next! It's incredible! I love it! It's also very noticeable when I DON'T have the Spirit because I really cannot teach. Let's see, well I can do the pin drop in the tabernacle now! I was way nervous to do it for the first time, but it's fun and everyone loves watching it :) My feet are hurting less and less each day so that's a plus too! The Lord truly blesses us and being tired at the end of the day is a refreshing feeling! And it helps me get a really good night's sleep haha :) I dream all about teaching at temple square lol. It is now my life! One day this week we took a total of 7 tours and each one was a miracle. Sister Naka and I had worked things out between us and strengthened our companionship to a point where we really trusted each other and felt close to one another. We had referrals left and right. I know it was the spirit, not me! There was a family from Denmark and unfortunately we don't have any sisters right now who speak danish so we took them on a slow and simple tour so they could try to understand us. Simplicity is a lot of the time more powerful. The young woman in the family was asking so many questions and wanted to know more. I felt a connection with her and did my best to answer her questions. She ended up wanting a Book of Mormon! There are some people that are just so prepared to come here! God prepares his children to walk in the gates of temple square. They think they're just going on vacation and looking at the sights, but that's not true... they come here because God led them here for us to teach them His message! :)

You know what, the Lord truly knew this is where I was supposed to be called on my mission. For many reasons. One of those reasons is that I really draw energy from seeing people I know, or just visiting with people. I have seen so many people that I have connections with and it makes me so happy and motivates me to keep working hard! So whoever is reading this, come to temple square! I would LOVE to see you! :) Anyway, one miracle this week happened on the 5th! Sister Nakajima and I planned for that day the night before, and at 3:00 we planned to find two people around the Tabernacle area. We followed our plans, and sure enough, around 3:00, we found those 2 people we planned for! And it was BLAINE!!!!!!! and his friend from back at BYU-I!!!!!!!! I thought I was going crazy when I saw a guy in the distance that looked like my brother! They walked closer and closer and I turned to my companion and said, "can I hug my brother?" She thought I was kidding, but then when she realized that he actually was my brother, she said yes and I jumped into his arms :) I was SO happy to see him. I love you Blaine!!! That was seriously such a perfect moment for me to see him. I still get homesick at times and that really uplifted me to see him and give them both a tour of Temple Square. (I just got a letter today from Blaine telling me that it really helped his friend and gave her assurance to stay in the church! So it was a double miracle!!! YAY!) I love you guys so much! I seriously have the best family in the world. I miss you like crazy!!!

So what did you all do for the 4th of July? Watch any fireworks? Did you go to the beach on Saturday or Monday? Did you have a party, visit with friends, relax? Tell me everything! I HEARD a bunch of fireworks... that's about it lol. I was reading and writing in my journal with a bunch of em going off in the background. It was kinda cool, but it would have been cooler to see them! Oh well! I'm not here for fireworks, I'm here to work for the Lord! :)

I probably won't be on my outbound by December. I'll probably go in January or February. You BETTER come visit me. Whoever is coming to Provo, stop by temple square first! But let me know ahead of time so I can schedule an hour tour for you! I would love to see you! I love you all so much and miss you. Please get better at writing so that I can hear from you. You don't know how much happiness each letter brings to me. Love you like crazy! I promise I'll write you back :)

Well today for p-day we're eating lunch at the Lion House, shopping at Gateway, and having a sushi party!!! One of the cool things about having a Japanese companion is that I get to eat Japanese food!!! Yum! I'll let you know how it tastes :)

I love you all so much. Never forget that. You mean the world to me and more. Keep working hard and hanging in there. Strengthen each other. Pray for each other. Serve each other. Rely on the Lord. He'll never let you down. You are my happiness and joy and I can't wait to hear from you again!!

All my love,

Sister Rochelle Frogget!!!!!

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Friday, July 2, 2010

So many miracles

Thank you so much for the email! I love you so much and MISS YOU a lot. Yesterday was probably the best day EVER!! I was so happy and everything and everyone on the square reminded me of the happiness that I have found from my family. I love you SO MUCH. I can't wait to be with you again and continue to enjoy our time together. There are so many miracles here! It's amazing! Yesterday sister Nakajima was prompted to talk to a group of 3 people. I was very uncomfortable when we were talking to them because I knew they were not interested and they were even laughing under their breath because they thought it was amusing. I didn't want to teach them. But we ended up talking to them for like 40 minutes and my companion is such a good teacher so they began to feel touched. One of the guys (probably around my age) pulled me aside and asked some more questions about the BOM and the temple. He was so open and so accepting to it! He ended up referring and wants to receive one from the missionaries! The others ended up feeling the Spirit as well. It was a strong end to our day!! I just loved it! :) I was SO HAPPY! My perspective on things is going back to normal and I can focus on teaching and doing missionary work again!!

Funny story... earlier this week, we were contacting in the North Visitors center (NVC) and we were with 2 other sisters. It was hilarious because a family came up to us, and I ended up standing in the middle of a circle where my companion was speaking japanese to the RM in the group; another sister was speaking Portuguese to the mother of the group; and another sister was speaking spanish to the daughter of the group! It was crazy and I just stood in the middle marvelling at all the languages being spoken around me! lol. Having a japanese companion, we get to go on a lot of japanese tours! It's so much fun! EVen though I don't understand ANYTHING (except for hi, how are you lol) I can still feel the spirit and they're so accepting of the gospel. Temple square is full of amazing stories and wonderful people! God truly does lead his elect to temple square so that they can recognize his voice as we teach them.

I got to go to the SLC temple yesterday morning for the first time!!! it was INCREDIBLE!! I love the live sessions. They're amazing. And the artwork is unbelievable. The spirit was so strong and I was so strengthened that entire day. YAY FOR THE TEMPLE! :)

Yes, it's a lot of fun to be living with sister harris. Did you know she's on page 44 of the november 2009 ensign? haha Oh and mom you know how she reminded us both of someone we know? I think it's Sarah!! My byu roommie!! Don't you think? They remind me so much of each other.

I have seen quite a few people I know here! And sisters have been telling me that people come looking for me. Scott Jarvie was one of them! bummer i couldn't see him. I saw Jen Bowen and Hailey and Shelby Patterson! It made me happy to see them because they came around the time that I was feeling really homesick!

sorry, all my emails are so random... We get to work in the Referral Center 7 hours a week, and there are so many miracles in there! I have actually had a couple people refer after talking to them! The key is: Teach, Testify, and Invite!! That pattern works so well! I love it! I called one of sister denny's friends from home and she wanted the missionaries to come teach her more! This work is so incredible! I love seeing people want to change their lives and have the Spirit in their lives. It's great! I think everyone should have the opportunity to serve a mission!

I had my first spanish contact the other day! It went well even though it only lasted a couple minutes. Some sisters on the square want me to pass off the spanish tour pretty soon... we'll see how it goes! Wish me luck!!! I love spanish :)

You should email [some of my friends] and anyone else to read it. It's easier for me so I don't have to write the same thing in all my letters :) Thank you so much!

Please keep praying for me!! I need your prayers. They help me so much. I love you all SO MUCH!! I'd also love to hear from you in letters!! I love you!!!!

You are the best family I could ever ask for. Keep in touch. You mean so much to me and I want to hear what's going on in your lives! I love you and miss you and can't wait to see you again. God bless!!

Love, Sister Rochelle Frogget!!!!