Monday, August 30, 2010

I TOTALLY called it

I read Blaine's email first and when I found out where he was going, I jumped up in the middle of this computer lab and cheered out loud!!! All the sisters say congratulations!!! Especially the one from Germany :) CONGRATULATIONS ELDER BLAINE FROGGET!!!! I'm so proud of you and I love you so much! You'll be an AMAZING missionary!!!!!!!! I can't express how happy I am for you! :)

FINALLY... sheesh!! I have been waiting for WEEKS to receive that email and hear the good news! :) I'm SO SO SO happy! And I TOTALLY called it! Whenever sisters would ask me where I thought Blaine would be going, I always said Germany first. :) I am a missionary after all, and we do have extra power and authority! :) (we're supposed to have humility too, but I'm pretty proud of being right about this! haha)

Well now it's hard to calm down and tell you about my week! My week wasn't nearly as exciting as yours, I'm sure! But I'll go ahead and tell you some special experiences I had. At the beginning of the week, we took a group of 40 Chinese people on a motorcoach tour. The great thing was that I didn't have any fear. That morning I had such a powerful and special personal study and I was spiritually prepared. I trusted in the Lord to fill my mouth with the words that He would have the guests hear. I truly felt Him speaking through me as we gave the tour. It was probably the most spirit-filled tour I have ever been on! It was so special, and the people were so teachable. A couple of them were in tears. Temple Square is such an amazing place! It's rich with pioneer history and rich with the Spirit! I am seriously SO lucky to be serving here :) This tour was special to me for another reason as well: Sometime last year I came to temple square (before knowing I would be serving my mission here of course) and saw 2 sister missionaries giving a tour to a huge group of people (similar to the one I took this week). I looked at the sisters and a tiny thought popped into my head that I would be doing that one day. At that time I envisioned myself in that position. As we were taking the motorcoach this week, I remembered that little "vision" that I had a year ago and realized that I was fulfilling it right then and there, by the flagpole in front of the temple! I love temple square! :) and I love being a missionary! This is exactly where I'm supposed to be!

Last week on Sunday a couple sisters and I went to a chapel in Sandy to give a little presentation to a meeting full of bishops and stake presidents. It was a bit intimidating but fun! Basically we encouraged them to use temple square as a teaching resource for YM/YW groups, relief society/ priesthood, investigators, home teaching, etc. Temple Square is an amazing teaching resource, and I have definitely seen success when people bring their friends here to see what it's all about. So hopefully they'll take advantage of such a wonderful place that's SO CLOSE to them!

Yesterday we took a very nice couple- Brian and Joyce- from Texas, on a tour. We ended in the Conference Center auditorium, which, as I've mentioned before, is such a special place to take our guests because the spirit is so strong there. But this tour was 10 times better than any of the others! I prayed so fervently to have the Spirit guide my teaching because I kept stumbling over my words and sentences and couldn't seem to say what I wanted to say! But as I paused and let the Spirit speak, THAT is when we saw miracles. Tears filled Joyce's eyes. As we explained the Book of Mormon, I could literally see both of them turn from visitors to investigators. Wow, it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. I pray that they will continue to hear and listen to the Shepherd's voice. They are two of the sweetest people I know! I love them and pray that they will accept the gospel! I love this work. I love this gospel. I love my Savior Jesus Christ. He is the reason why I am here. Blaine, you have much joy in store for you!!! You will love this work- even though it's tough. It's totally worth it. I love you all so much!!! I miss you and pray for you always!!

Love always,

Your daughter, sister, and friend,

Sister Frogget! :)

Monday, August 23, 2010

God is working miracles among us

ANOTHER week, and no mission call!? Are you SURE the stake pres clicked the submit button? ;) jk. Well, NEXT WEEK FOR SURE!!! I've been praying for you Blaine! I'm so excited for you! And I definitely know how you feel! lol.

I got your tapes last week! It was SO fun to listen to! But way too short lol. I was so bummed when the tape was over. But at the same time I was laughing my head off because you ended it with the answering machine that Blaine recorded. That was hilarious! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time :) Thanks for sharing that with me :) I love you all and I really enjoy hearing your voices! Thanks for taking the time to record for me :) xoxoxox

This week flew by! We're already almost done with week #3! Today is my 2-month mark at Temple square. The 26th will be my 3-month mark for the whole mission. Exciting! So like I said in mom's letter, the temple square mission now has new clothing guidelines! Pretty much we can wear anything now!! We no longer have to wear really long skirts and tucked in shirts and all that. And we can wear prints and patterns!! It's a really big deal here lol :) And we can wear pretty much any jewelry we want! YAY!

Every week is a week of miracles. Family search is such an awesome place to be! Such a great missionary tool! A college-aged girl named Aimee came in the other day with her grandparents. She just moved to Salt Lake City last week. A lot of her family is LDS but she is not. We talked with them and built such a great relationship with them! They're such wonderful people and it was hard to say goodbye! The next day while we were working on the square, we got a call from family search telling us that the grandpa (Ken) had called them and said that the "redhead and the japanese girl" really made an impression on his granddaughter and he wants us to come and teach her because she's interested in learning more!! Unfortunately we can't go out and teach anyone!! :( SO SAD!! But thankfully, we have the Referral Center. So Ken gave us her phone number so we can call her and invite her to have the SLC missionaries come and teach her. I haven't gotten a hold of her yet, but I will call her tomorrow and hopefully she picks up! I love the RC :)

Speaking of the RC, I was there yesterday, and as I was going through my list, I came across a potential referral that I got from an RM (Sam) that I met on Temple Square weeks ago. I wasn't in a hurry to call him because the 'potential' that he gave me was actually a member- Sam baptized him last year and just wanted me to check up on him because he heard he was inactive. The RC isn't really meant to call inactive people so I didn't really feel like calling him. Plus, he was spanish-speaking so I was nervous to use my spanish! BUT, I had an undeniable feeling that I needed to call him (his name is Lazaro). I knew I had to, but I really didn't want to speak spanish!! Despite my fears, I decided to put all my trust in Heavenly Father to put the words that I needed to speak into my mouth. I called the number, hoping Lazaro wouldn't pick up, but he did. And sure enough, I received SO MUCH help from Above!!! I was able to speak more fluently than ever before and the spanish words that I had forgotten came right back into my mind!! I talked to him about why he wasn't going to church. I assured him that he needed to go and that he needed to read the Book of Mormon with a sincere heart and real intent. At the end of the conversation, he agreed to go to church the next morning, even though it was early :) And he agreed to read from the BOM that day!!! I hope that I was able to make a small impression on him and help him realize the importance of attending church and staying active!! I love spanish!! Even though I've had so much fear of using it lately! But when I trust in the Lord, He truly guides and directs me in what I need to say! That being said, I need to pass off the temple square tour in spanish pretty soon! Sister Cheta from Argentina is the spanish coordinator, and she told me on Thursday that I only have ONE WEEK to practice and then I have to pass off.... so that's my homework this week! Wish me luck! I'm so nervous! lol :)

We met an AMAZING couple last week: Joe and Lisa from Washington DC. We took them on a tour and had such a connection with them. Joe met Lisa in the middle of his conversion. He had been searching for the truth for 3 years and when he met her and went to church with her, he knew right away it was the true church and asked to get baptized. He has been a member since January and has such a solid testimony!! I hope the two of them get married! They're so cute! And they're in their 30s so they better hurry! :) Anyway, we asked if they knew anyone we could call and share the gospel with and they couldn't think of anyone. But we coincidentally ran into them hours later in the north visitors center JUST as we were headed toward the RC, and they had been looking for us because they thought of someone we could call! So I called Joe's friend, Johnathan and talked to him all about the church. He had been studying A LOT of anti-mormon literature and had so many incorrect ideas about the church. I tried my best to clear things up for him. He talked so much and so fast that I could hardly fit a sentence in! We ended up 1 hour late to dinner... whoops! So I finally was able to offer him to have the missionaries over to answer more of his questions and give him a BOM so he could find out for himself if it's true or not (and not just take my word for it). He said he would REALLY like that! 'Coincidentally', we ran into Joe and Lisa again in Family Search and I was able to tell them that their friend wants to be taught by the missionaries. They were so happy, and on top of that, we were able to find a lot of Joe's ancenstors! They developed such a love for us over the course of that day, and so we had to take a picture at Ellis Island together :) We also exchanged addresses :) What a special day!

Ok one more cool story and then I must be on my way! We met a guy named Adam the other day who just got baptized 3 months ago. His conversion story made my jaw hit the floor! He's from Canada and one day he was walking down the street. He found a pass-along card IN A BUSH, picked it up, saw that he could get a 'free book' and called the number. The book was sent to his house, he read it, found the nearest chapel to his house, went to church, and 2 weeks later, he was baptized!!! He hasn't been happier than in these last 3 months. I'm still speechless. It's incredible! It's true! I love this gospel and I love the tender mercies of the Lord :)

I love you all so much and think the world of you! Keep being shining examples and lights to the world. You really do make a difference. I love this work and am learning more than I ever thought I would. The Savior lives! God is working miracles among us! He is working through YOU. Continue to follow the Spirit to be the best instrument you can be in God's hands. Much love! God be with you till next week :)

LOVE,

sister Rochelle Frogget!!!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Entirely worth it


Aaaaaah I can't believe Blaine hasn't gotten his call yet!! That's crazy! I've been looking forward to checking my email ALL week so I could find out!! But I guess I'll have to go through the torture one more week!!! Good luck Blaine! Be sure to pray to heavenly Father to know that the place where you get called is where the Lord needs you. If you are willing to go ANYWHERE in the world to serve the Lord (yes, that includes Provo haha), He will reveal unto you by the power of the Holy Ghost that you are needed in that specific place. I'm SOOO happy for you!!! :) This is so exciting!!! :)

This week has been CRAZY! And full of people that I know!!! I LOVE IT! First of all, I saw the Redds! I immediately recognized Jennifer Ogles' parents when I saw them. We saw each other in the Family Search Center, and her mom knew I was related to Cathy because she said I look and sound exactly like her lol :) So that was fun! Good luck to Lydia Ogles!! If you're reading this, I love you and hope you have fun at snow college! :) I also saw the CROSSMANS!!! We were on a Japanese and English tour (mixed), and we ran right into them in the Tabernacle!!! It was an answer to their prayers and it completely made my day! They kindly took us out to lunch at Nauvoo Cafe which was SO delicious, and it was so much fun to catch up with them! They're such an example to me. I love them so much!!! A couple days later, we finished our assignment in FS and I ran into Sarah Rands and her husband Trevor! It was so good to see them!! As we took them on a tour, someone even asked if Sarah and I were sisters :) Saturday was the craziest day. Grandma and Grandpa Frogget came to visit me in FS! We looked up some of our ancestors but unfortunately didn't find much... weird! I guess I'm not completely Family-Search-savvy yet! But I'm getting there! We took a picture at Ellis Island and then I had to get to work so it was a short visit. I love you Grandma and Grandpa!! :) After our shift I ran into my wonderful roommate from BYU- Dana Bramhall!! Who is now ENGAGED!! Aaaah they're super cute together and they're getting married in the SLC temple, so maybe I'll see them! :) (not likely). Do you remember Shawn and Paula Heusser (I think that's how you spell it)? They recognized me but sadly I didn't really recognize them lol :( They're from the Dayton ward, and Paula was the photographer at Girls camp. Tara do you know who I'm talking about? They were here for a family reunion. Later that day (this is still Saturday), a random lady walked up to me and said, "I've been looking for you! You're beautiful!" and I was slightly confused because I had no idea who she was. It turns out that she is Grandpa Ron's cousin so we're related!!! She hugged me and was glad to see the name Frogget on a missionary name tag. Her name is Jean Erickson Barnes. And she's a host at the Conference Center. So that was kinda fun to meet a distant relative! Last but definitely not least, I saw AUNT GLORIA AND UNCLE MARK!!!! When I saw them I threw my stuff down and ran into Gloria's arms. She hurt her right arm a while ago, so I think it was a painful hug for her (sorry Aunt Gloria!!! lol). We talked for a little bit- I was sooo happy to see them! They're moved back into their house in Provo! :) We only got to talk for a few minutes because we had to go to the Referral Center (RC). It was weird because Saturday was the day that I spent the LEAST amount of time on the square, and yet I saw so many people that I know or have connections with! It was great! :) Now all the sisters in the mission keep bugging me because they got so many people asking for Sister Frogget! Apparently more people came looking for me but didn't find me :( Make sure to call guest services and set up a 30-minute tour with me! Then I'll be able to see you! :)

Well this week has been full of miracles!! Miracles happen every day, every hour here! I love it! :) One of them was in the referral center!! I was making phone calls and I came across Sonya Davis on my list. She's actually a potential referral that I got from an Elder at the MTC a few months ago. I have called her so many times over the past few months and kept getting the answering machine. I was confident that I would get sent to the voicemail again, and since we're not encouraged to call more than 5 or 6 times, I decided to delete her off my list. But before hitting the delete button, something told me that I should try ONE more time. So I did, and amazingly enough, she ANSWERED!!! I talked to her about the church and it turns out that she has been visited by missionaries plenty of times before. She's actually in the middle of reading the Book of Mormon! As we talked, she told me that she's not sure if it's true, but she keeps reading it. I encouraged her to follow Moroni's promise and to listen to and look for the feelings that come into her heart as she prays to know if is truly the word of God. She said she would. Then, I was prompted to challenge her to baptism!!! So I started talking about Jesus Christ and how he was baptized even though He was sinless. He needed to set an example for all of us to follow. We all need to be baptized just like Christ was- by the proper authority and in the proper manner. I asked her if she would do that once she came to the knowledge of the truthfulness of the BOM and the gospel. And she said she would!!! It was an awesome conversation and I was glad that I followed the prompting to call one more time! :)

As we were contacting on the square yesterday, I met an old lady from Arizona named Carmela. She was so sweet. We talked for quite some time and I brought up the Book of Mormon, her countenance completely changed and she started getting really upset. She said she needs nothing more than the Bible. She told me the Bible warns us not to add to it and it was almost like something came over her as she went on and on about how evil the Book of Mormon is. It was slightly frightening to see that change in her, but I calmly and happily explained the purpose and content of it. I was reminded of 2 Nephi chapter 29. Carmela completely fulfilled that scripture!! You should read it! There will be plenty of people that say they need nothing more than the Bible. And Carmela was one of them!

Yesterday we got to spend the entire day on the square! Which is so weird after spending so much time in family search! We also got to go see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform in the conference center!! It was INCREDIBLE! The Spirit was so strong! It strengthened and renewed my testimony in so many ways and I was as happy as can be the rest of the day. Renewed testimony brings miracles in missionary work. As I testified with more passion and more strength, people were able to feel the Spirit more strongly and want the missionaries to teach them at home! I now pray each and every day to receive a renewed testimony in some way so that I can continue to testify with the Spirit and more easily bring this happiness to others! I love this work so much!! As hard as it can be sometimes, the miracles make it entirely worth it. I love you all and miss you! You're always in my prayers!

Much love,

Sister Frogget!!!!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Transfer to South Zone

P-DAY! Finally!!!! It was hard waiting an extra 3 days, but we survived :) haha

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLAINE IAN FROGGET!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm happy that I get to email you on your actual birthday!! I LOVE YOU!!! HAVE FUN!!!!! :)

I'm glad you all got the letter with the pictures! :) Hope you liked them! I'm glad I could warn you about the delayed p-day lol
OK this past week and 3 days have been AWESOME and crazy and hectic! Sadly I missed the Gardners!!! All the sisters were telling me that they were walking around somewhere so I was keeping my eye out for them and looking for them too! But I guess I wasn't supposed to see them.... sad! Tell them HI for me!!
Alright so here's how TRANSFERS work! On Monday of last week, we had a HUGE transfer conference where all the sisters and the president got together early in the morning and announced who was going outbound!! It seriously is like opening a 2nd mission call!! It was loud and fun and everyone was screaming and cheering for the sisters that got called on their outbound! So fun! I don't think I'll go until my 7th or 8th transfer... that's normally when they go. I have a feeling I'll be going to Atlanta Georgia!!! haha we'll see :) We also found out who our companions would be for the next transfer (6 weeks), what zone we would be in, where we're living, and what assignments we have. I'm staying with Sister Nakajima! YAY! And we don't have to move rooms or apartments, so that was SO nice! We moved from "cover zone" to "south zone" so we sadly can't contact people in the North visitors center or in the tabernacle anymore :( which is sad because I LOVE north! That's OK, south is awesome too! We stay around the assembly hall, the south visitors center, the statues and seashell fountain. Luckily when we take tours, we can take our guests anywhere we want, so we make extra efforts to find people so we can take them to North!!! haha Our specific assignment this transfer is FAMILY SEARCH!!!! We stay in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building for about 6 hours per day (except Sundays) so if you're wanting to come visit me within the next 6 weeks, go to family search and you might be able to find me!!! :) (tell everyone in the ward that so they can visit me!) Anyway, we went an entire week in family search without ANY training whatsoever, so it was really difficult to help the guests that came in because we knew just as much as (or less than) they did! But I tried my best to capture as much info as I could from the Senior missionaries that we work with! They're hilarious and fun to work with! It's going to be a good transfer :) Basically what we do is greet the guests as they come down the stairs and take them to a computer to get started on their search. But before we do that, we have to take them on a "mini tour". There are different displays in the center talking about families and things like that. So we have to bridge the displays to the gospel, teach them a principle as we're prompted, testify, and invite them to have missionaries bring them a Book of Mormon. It's sometimes tough to do that in family search, but when we have faith to see miracles, they really do happen. There are a LOT less referrals in Family search (FS). And it's a bit tiring to be cooped up inside for hours (when we were so used to being outside on the square all the time last transfer). I REALLY have a love for being on the square now! lol. When we have time on the square, we really take advantage of it now and make sure to find people to teach. I love it! I've seen so many more miracles because I've worked harder and searched with more faith and happiness. It really works :) We BARELY had our training this morning! So now I know a little more about what I'm doing! yay!! And now I really want to work on my own family search! But unfortunately we aren't allowed to do our own. So I'll just come home and tell you all how to do it when I get back!! :)

We contacted a Chinese motorcoach the other day! That means that we helped 2 Chinese sisters as they took a huge group on a tour- by handing out referral cards and Joseph Smith pamphlets at the end, and carrying around the speaker during the tour so everyone could hear what they were saying. It's so fun! And Chinese people are SO prepared to hear the gospel! It was hilarious because as they were all getting off the huge bus at west gate, we stood there to greet them and get them organized into groups. I was the one to carry the speaker, and the Chinese sister was standing a few feet to the side of me. The people were so confused because they heard Mandarin coming from where I was standing, so they thought that I was speaking it! They all started laughing when they realized that it was just my speaker and the one who was REALLY talking was standing near me with the microphone. All throughout the tour they were taking pictures of me and complimenting my hair with the little English that they knew. After the tour ended, there was a line of people waiting to get pictures with me!! I guess they've never seen a pale redhead before lol :) They thought it was so beautiful... I felt like a celebrity hahaha It was fun :)

We gave a tour to a former sister that served here on temple square about 10 years ago!! You should ask sister Altum if she knew a Sister Decker from California. She's married to a nonmember now- her husband was on the tour as well. He was SO smart, especially in his knowledge about the Bible and the gospel. We tried so hard to teach him, but so many missionaries have tried to and he just won't budge!! All he needs is a testimony of Joseph Smith and his experience and everything else will fall into place. It's amazing how have a testimony of him really gives a foundation for pretty much everything else in the gospel. He either was a prophet or he wasn't. If he wasn't, then we're all living a lie and this is all a hoax. But if he was, then all of this is true and we have the TRUE restored gospel upon the earth today. We're just praying that he'll gain a testimony of such a wonderful and revered prophet- Joseph Smith. I love that man!!!

I saw Elder David Harris last week!!! Remember him?? He served in Gardnerville from 2003 to 2005 I think. He remembers Gville so well and loved it so much. I saw him at the missionary reunion when I went to it last year. Remember that? Anyway, I was asking him about the people he remembers, and he wants me to ask you about Jill Kushing... do you remember her? How is she doing? I also saw Ben and Carly- my 2 friends from my freshman ward at BYU! It was awesome to see them!! And Ben proposed to Carly later that day!! So they're getting married in December! Exciting! :) SCOTT came to temple square too!! he was taking pictures for a wedding and I only got to see him for like 5 minutes. But it was fun! he's coming back in November!

I met President Hinckley's home teacher the other day! :) How cool is that? It would be pretty intense to be the home teacher of a prophet! :)

Well I don't have much time! I'm now an official driver, and I have to go drive some sisters to walmart and the Asian market to get some food! We'll be making sushi again this week!! YAY! :) I love you all so much and always think about and pray for you!!! Have a wonderful week and know that Sister Frogget LOVES YOU LIKE CRAZY!!!! I love you family!!!! :) :) :)

Love,

Rochelle


PS: I'm no longer a baby anymore!!!!!!!! I'm now a 2nd transfer!!! It's so weird!! I see all the new sisters and it's so much fun to talk with them and comfort them :) I was just in their shoes and now I'm helping them out with the same struggles that I had. We have new roommates!!! Sister Harris went home :( and her companion moved to a different apartment complex. So we now live with Sister Ah-Sha from Tahiti (We're learning Tahitian dancing!! SO FUN!!!) and Sister Fox from Boston!!!! They're super cute and super fun. It's gonna be a great transfer :)

PPS: What's the weather like over there? We're getting random rainstorms and I LOVE IT!!!! It's so beautiful and smells so good! :)

PPPS: I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!

PPPPS: HAPPY BIRTHDAY (again) BLAINE!!!!!! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox