Friday, September 24, 2010

Almost Conference Time

Hello everyone! Can you believe how fast time flies?? It's already almost October. And you know what that means!!!! GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!! It's going to be an amazing conference this year, I can just feel it! And we're gonna see SOOO many people come. I can't wait! We only get to see one session of conference (SO SAD!) but it's ok because the rest of the time we will be uplifting members and encouraging them to do missionary work and spread this wonderful gospel!

This new transfer is sooooo great! I'm enjoying it a lot! My roommates and my companion and I are all becoming really great friends, and we're having a blast together as we live the life of a missionary! Sister McNaught and I have been together for a week and 2 days, and we've only taken TWO tours! You know why that is? It's because we're in Fleet, and in the West Gate Booth. We stay in the booth for 6 hours everyday. We organize and arrange all the language tours and motorcoaches on the square. It is quite a stressful assignment, especially when sisters don't respond to their pages, or when there are hardly any sisters on the square to come take tours! But we manage and we have fun. WestGate doesn't allow us to take tours of course, so what happens is one of us steps outside of the booth and contacts the people that come through the gate. It's a bit harder to teach, testify, and invite, but it's definitely possible!! I really like being in WestGate and in fleet! There's always something to keep us really busy, especially as the summer season is ending and a LOT less people are coming to Temple Square. Right now we're preparing to train all the sisters who want to pass off in driving. We get to teach them the driving rules of the mission, give them a written test, and take them on a drivers test!! It should be fun :)

My Spanish is coming along quite nicely!! I have taken quite a few spanish tours this week and each one of them has been wonderful! Those people are just amazing and accepting. I love them so much! I got to take a lady from Mexico on a tour- she's currently living in Salt Lake City, and her member neighbors brought her here. She was completely prepared to hear this message. She came as a visitor and left as an investigator! The Spirit here is so incredible and it touches the hearts and the lives of the people that come. I'm SO fortunate to be a missionary here. I'm fortunate to be a missionary- period!! My companion and I were studying together yesterday and we were amazed because President Monson has so much weight on his shoulders. His main responsibility is to bear witness of Christ and spread His gospel. But he's only one man and can't do it by himself. So he has put his trust in US to help him. The prophet of God trusts in us to be missionaries- not only missionaries who have been called and set apart to do so, but also YOU as member missionaries! He trusts you. God trusts you. We all have the responsibility and privilege to share this message with everyone! Your friends, your neighbors, your family members, your co-workers, anyone. Everyone! So get up on your feet and get to it! We have work to do! :)

Guess what? Every Sunday morning, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performs in the Tabernacle. After the performance, everyone pours out of the building, and we as sister missionaries get to do what we call "announcing". So about 10 to 15 of us hold up a sign with a language written on it and then we announce in that language who we are and why we're here- and we tell the people who speak that language to meet us afterwards to take a tour of Temple Square. (remember those pictures in the conference ensigns? You'll see sisters holding up language signs- that's what this is!) SO, I get to announce this Sunday in SPANISH!!! I'm really excited :) I'm a little nervous, but it should be fun! I'll let you know how it goes next week :)

Speaking of the MoTab, we get to meet the members of the choir every week. And mom, guess who I saw?! Alex Boye!!! He was about 8 feet away from me!! haha but sadly I didn't get to meet him. I just saw him walk into the tabernacle right before their performace :) I thought that was kinda cool :)

Well, the Lord continues to show His love and mercy to us each and every day. We witness His tender mercies ALL the time. He is there. He is watching over and protecting us and blessing us SO much! I love Him with all of my heart. I'm SO grateful to be here as a full-time servant for Him, to help Him with His work and His glory- to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. To turn the hearts of His children to our Savior, Jesus Christ. I was reading the other day in Alma chapters 56 and 57 about the 2,000 stripling warriors. (You should read those chapters!) They each had such indescribable FAITH. Their faith led them to do whatsoever thing was required of them- as they were obedient and diligent. They could do ANYTHING through their Father in heaven- with faith. It really motivated me to increase and strengthen my faith. I need to forget about my fears- my fears of approaching people, my fears of rejection, my fears of not speaking eloquently, ALL of my fears, and put my trust and faith in God. He will direct my paths. He will lead me and guide me and work through me. I am an instrument in His hands. I am His mouthpiece. I am His daughter. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!

and miss you like crazy!

you're all the best!

keep in touch!!

I pray for you all the time!!!

xoxoxoxoxox

Love,

Ro :)

Friday, September 17, 2010

Being a Fleet director

My dearest family,

It is always great to hear from you! Thank you for the emails! I just love ya :)

Well, we're back to Friday p-days! This is my second p-day this week, but to tell you the truth, it sure doesn't seem like it! It has been a CRAZY 3 days! Being a Fleet director, there are a LOT of responsibilities that we have to take care of. In fact, Sister McNaught and I have only been on Temple Square for TWO HOURS in the past 3 days! Everyone calls us about the vans, p-day schedules, moving their stuff, and pretty much anything that involves using a vehicle! With sisters going outbound, going home, coming BACK from outbound, and all the new transfer sisters, we have organized and arranged MANY trips to the airport, walmart, back and forth between apartment buildings, and soooo much more! Not only am I learning all the new stuff for "Fleet", but we're covering the Westgate booth for half the day! So that means that we organize and arrange for motorcoaches and tours and answering really random questions and giving information about the square and the city. Both responsibilities are REALLY busy and a bit stressful. Going to bed is definitely a treat! We sometimes don't even have time for personal study or companionship study! We didn't make it to the square today... so we're teaching a lot less, and taking care of all the behind-the-scenes stuff lol. What's cool is that we have our own cell phone! haha :) And our own car :) This transfer will definitely be a lot different than my past 2, but it will be good. I'm really learning how to be a leader, how to use good judgment, and how to deal with stress!! (which is great because I lack skills in all of the above!!)

It's really weird to be with someone other than Sister Nakajima! This is my first time having a different companion on the square, so it will take some getting used to, but Sister McNaught is SO good! I feel like I'm being trained again because I have to adjust to new teaching styles (and also because I knew very little about fleet or westgate before this week). She is SUCH a good teacher and a really hard worker. She's a great example for me and is helping me become better and better each day. Sister Nakajima is training a beautiful sister named Sister Felici! That's my sister now! :) There are a LOT of changes happening on the square- which follows the mission motto: Always Improving. Our President is SO good to us and is such a wonderful and hard-working man. I love this mission SO much and I'm so happy to be here! I thank you all for your love and support and prayers. It all means the world to me. I hope all is going well at home and I hope to hear from you as soon as possible! I love you! :)

Love,

Ro

Monday, September 13, 2010

Back to cover zone

My dearest FAMILY!!!! Long time no see!! :) I JUST LOVE YOU ALL TO PIECES!!! I was SO thankful to have been able to see you and take you on a tour :) And then see you again right before you left! What a blessing and tender mercy from the Lord!!!

Guess what!??! TRANSFER CONFERENCE was this morning!!! We got to find out what zones we'll be in and which companions we'll have!! It turns out that Sister Nakajima is TRAINING again!!!! She's getting another new MTC companion! :) I'll have a SISTER! :) haha so she'll be living in the same place with the same roommates. I'm kinda bummed that i won't be living with all of them anymore, but I'm also excited because I will now be with Sister McNaught!!!!! From Idaho :) She's really nice and she's the FLEET director, meaning she's in charge of all the vehicles and driving and training new sisters to pass off driving and stuff like that. So I'll be her assistant :) This transfer will be quite different from my last 2. It's exciting! We're in the "cover zone" (that's what I was in my 1st transfer!!! I love cover zone! yay!!) So that means that I will have p-day on Fridays again!!! (I have 2 p-days this week! I guess that makes up for last transfer when I went more than a week w/o a p-day!) Transfer conference was so much fun :) and 26 sisters are going outbound!! Crazy! It was so fun to see all of them open their calls :) And it's so fun to find out who everyone's new companions are! We don't actually switch till Wednesday, but we found out today. So there's the scoop on all the changes!!!! Fun stuff! :) The mission is so much fun in SO many ways!

Well, soon after you all left the square yesterday, I got a page for Spanish! But it wasn't a nice, small tour- it was 13 people! From SPAIN!!! I was scared out of my mind! I even said that I wouldn't do it because my Spanish isn't good enough, but the sisters at the booth told me to just do it- it'll be good for me. After my half glare, half smile, I reluctantly walked over to the south visitors center, hoping that some other Spanish sisters had found them. But that was not the case! So it was my job to take them on a tour! I was SO lucky and blessed because they were so nice and understanding. I seriously stumbled and stuttered and was all over the place. But they were willing to listen- to my words, and to the Spirit. We ended at the Christus and 8 of them referred! It was quite the miracle, that's for sure! Heavenly Father helped me every step of the way. I was SO exhausted after that. Luckily we had a one hour lunch break and I took a nap! I thought I was done with Spanish tours for the day, but I came back to the square after lunch, and an even BIGGER group came! 17 people- a youth group. So most of them were members, but it was still intimidating because the group seemed so big. I did my best and God did the rest. Man, I really need to work on my Spanish though. There are so many words that I have forgotten! I'll be studying the script a lot more this transfer. I'm learning and growing so much! And those Spanish people are so open and accepting and loving! I love them so much! :) A few days ago I took a Spanish couple on a tour. They were catholic and from Bolivia. As I taught them they were taking everything in and soaking it all up. When I took them to the Christus statue, the husband seriously just broke down in tears. It is so amazing to see those people that truly just LOVE Jesus Christ so much. I think we as members of the church can work on increasing our faith in and love for Him. That couple ended up referring. They were so amazing!! Aaaah I just love this gospel! And I love my Savior Jesus Christ!!

I better get going! there's lots to do today, including packing all my stuff and moving it downstairs! lol. I don't have to go too far which is quite a blessing! But before I go, I would like to publicly say HAPPY BIRTHDAY TARA!!!!!!!- the best little sis in the world! I LOVE YOU and hope you have the greatest day ever! :) You are such a beautiful young lady with a heart of gold! :) I love you all and I will email you again this Friday!! :) Hope to hear from you soon!

Much much love,

Sister Ro-Belle :)

Monday, September 6, 2010

My very first Spanish tour

My dearest family,

Well it has been an eventful week!!! I took my very first Spanish tour (without passing off yet) with a guy from Mexico. I found out at the end of the tour that he already referred, but at least I was able to get some good practice in!! It went pretty well! And I realized that I'm more ready than I thought to pass off. That was on Tuesday last week. THEN, on Thursday, I PASSED OFF THE SPANISH TOUR!!!! I was pretty scared at first, but Sister Cheta (the Spanish coordinator) was so sweet and helpful. She actually got a Spanish page while we were practicing together and so we took that one! It was with a family that is getting baptized this month so they were really nice and understanding, and that tour is what I did to pass off! SO EXCITING! I now get Spanish pages all the time. But since there are so many Spanish sisters, I hardly ever actually get to take them. But yesterday, we were walking through the south visitors center and 3 Spanish ladies from California came to us with all kinds of questions about the church. I answered to the best of my abilities and bore simple testimony to them. They ended up referring! My first Spanish referral!!! (that was yesterday!) Those people are so open and accepting to this message! I'm in for many miracles throughout my mission with those Spanish people!! I'm excited! :) And I'm excited to keep my Spanish going! I never thought I would have passed off this early in the mission!! yay! :)

GUESS WHAT?!? Do you remember when I emailed you about a guy named Charles? I think it was last transfer. Well we took him on a tour quite a few weeks ago and taught him. He was so accepting and so golden!! He referred to have missionaries come teach him more. Well for the first time on my mission I have actually been able to see progression!!! Charles came to the square last week! He told us that the missionaries have been coming for almost 3 weeks now and he has been going to church. He says it feels like home when he goes. He's reading from the Book of Mormon. He even shared with us his favorite scripture! (Mosiah 3:19) He also shared what he's learning and feeling. He has such a strong testimony and he knows he has finally found what he was searching for all these years. He has given up chewing tobacco and is currently trying really hard to give up smoking. He says that's the hardest part, but he now recognizes that the temptations are from Satan, so that helps him resist. What an amazing man!!! I love Charles so much and I'm SO GLAD we could run into him again on Temple Square!!! He's definitely on the right path to following Christ's example and getting baptized!! I was in awe because I actually got to see success from one of our referrals!!! Miracles happen every day!! I truly felt the joy of missionary work that day. I'll never forget it. Charles has motivated me to forget about my fears and just BE BOLD!! this message is for EVERYONE and we must do our very best to share it with them!!! I love being a missionary :)

It must be amazing to be a proselyting missionary! To find people, and then actually continue teaching them and seeing progress in them! We found a young man in the Assembly Hall yesterday who grew up in Arizona (which has a high LDS population). His parents raised him in the church until he was 6 years old, and then they went inactive. So he never got a chance to be baptized. But most of his friends were LDS and he even went to seminary with them sometimes. He goes to church once in a while but he's not active. And he doesn't plan to become a member anytime soon. He said he's still young and has plenty of time to do that later. Plus he's busy and doesn't really have a desire to be a member anyway. BUT something that he said threw me off a bit. He really wants to get married in the temple!!!!!! When he said that, Sister Nakajima and I looked at each other, looked at him, and then we started being really bold with him. What is he waiting for!?? We read him some scriptures about the importance of baptism (since he asked why we have to get baptized if we can still live good lives and follow Christ without getting baptized). We explained the importance of following Christ's example. We also explained the importance of doing it NOW!!!! Don't procrastinate! After a while, I was prompted to challenge him to baptism. So I did, and his countenance changed. He nodded his head and said yes!!! He filled out the card to have the missionaries teach him the discussions and we made him promise that he would come back to the square (since he lives in SLC now) and tell us when his baptismal date would be!!!!! Aaaaah it's so exciting!! I wish WE could be the missionaries to teach him because we built a great relationship with him. But we just have to trust the missionaries in SLC to do it! We were so happy after that. What a miracle! I love missionary work! I love Temple Square!! I love this gospel with all of my heart! I love my Savior Jesus Christ!! I love you all!!! Have a wonderful week! You mean the world to me! :)

LOVE LOVE LOVE,

Sister Rochelle Frogget!! :)