Friday, November 26, 2010

Thanksgiving pictures






HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!! Gobble Gobble! :)

How was it for everyone!? It was a wonderful day for us! We had 3 hours of square time in the morning, then personal study, then we all headed off on buses to a place called Noah's- which is a really nice reception place- we watched Beauty and the Beast and Toy Story 3 :) We had delicious food, did karaoke to Christmas and Disney music (hilarious), played volleyball in a racquetball court (I guess you could call it walley-ball lol), and played ping pong and pool! It was a really fun night! A couple of President and Sister Holmes' kids and grandkids joined us! They have 12 children! So we're always seeing all their family members and new grandbabies. It's cute! Thanksgiving came and went so quickly!! And GUESS WHAT?! The Christmas lights turn on TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!! It's gonna be SO exciting! We now have morning p-days so that we can be on the square during the nighttime! And don't worry- I bought some boots today and I got my scarves in the mail (thank you Steph!!), so I'll be staying nice and warm! There is an expected MILLION people coming to temple square this month!! It's gonna be like General Conference time every single night! We are SO excited! There will be mostly members, so we'll be encouraging them to join us in sharing this amazing message with the people that they know that don't have the gospel. What better time than now, during this Christmas season, when the world is celebrating that great birth of the Son of God! The Spirit is strong here. The Gospel is true. Christmas is here. Missionary work continues to carry on! I love it! :)

It has been an incredible week! There were about 3 days when Sister Smith and I didn't have ANY time on the square. But we're making specific goals each week and each day to help us stay focused and missionary-minded, even in the office. All those hours in the office makes square time so much more valuable! Last Saturday we got 5 hours!!!! It was amazing! And we used every minute wisely. We talked to so many guests and just had a blast telling them all about the gospel. They all had so many questions that day and were so interested. I truly felt privileged to be set apart and called as a missionary to preach the gospel. At the end of those 5 hours, we had about 5 minutes left before we had to head back downstairs to the office. We decided to use those 5 minutes wisely and find someone that was prepared to talk with us. We talked to a member couple, and when we asked who we could call and share the gospel with, the lady ended up giving us 10 people to call! I've only called 2 so far, and one of them wants to meet with missionaries! Members truly make such a difference in missionary work.

It has also been an unusual week. On Tuesday, we did service over at Heritage Park and decorated for Christmas!! We came home around 2pm, and we were about to change back into our proselyting clothes, but we got a call saying that the square was closing because of a huge blizzard that was headed our way. So we stayed home for the rest of the night! It was like a mission p-day! All the sisters were in the apartments, cooking, eating dinner with each other, studying, cleaning, and just having a good time. We got a bunch of snow, but it wasn't much of a storm. I was slightly bummed :) Now it's freezing cold outside! Good thing we found some boots today! Gotta love Target :) Anyway, it's almost like we've had 3 p-days this week. So I'm ready and pumped to get back on the square and talk with all the members tonight!!! It's going to be insane! I've heard that sometimes you're walking shoulder-to-shoulder because it's so packed. I'll let you know how it goes! I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!! And I love you all so much! May you remember the reason for the season, and then share it with others!! :)

Loves and hugs,

Yours truly,

Sister Frogget :)

PS: I recently found out that you can still send letters through dearElder.com!!! So if you don't want to use a stamp (which is a lame excuse for not writing lol), or if you like typing better, then feel free to send me a message through dearElder! :) I promise I'll write you back :) LOVE YOU!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

I feel so privileged

Hello my dears!
Well I have less than a year left as a missionary! How crazy is that? I'm loving my mission more and more as it goes along. Even when it's slow and there aren't very many people on the square! BUT, there WILL be more people, once they turn on all the Christmas lights!!! I'm sooooo excited :) They've been working on putting them up since the beginning of August, and they're finally almost finished. The day after Thanksgiving will be when they turn them on. That means our P-days will change from evenings to mornings. So we'll be like regular missionaries for a month and a half! haha.

A few weeks ago, my companion and I got called into President Seppi's office (he's the counselor in the mission presidency). A few other companionships were there as well. We were privileged to be asked to attend the "Orange Street Branch" which is a branch of ladies who are in a half-house, working their way out of prison. It was like a sacrament meeting without partaking of the sacrament. All of the sisters were asked to speak on different topics, except for my companion and I- we were in charge of the music. We prayerfully considered which hymns to sing and which musical number to perform. I played A Child's Prayer from the primary hymn book and the rest of the sisters sang it. It was beautiful!!! And it really touched the hearts of these wonderful ladies who are all working on the repentance process. They were so sweet and full of love! It was an amazing experience that allowed me to see the STRONG power of the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ. It does work. It does change people. It does change lives. I've seen it. I don't fully comprehend it, but I do not doubt in it.

Also this week, the mission was able to take a field trip to BYU!!!!!!! (It was weird going back! I miss it! lol) We went to the Museum of Art where they had two wonderful exhibitions on Jesus Christ. The artists were Carl Bloch and James Tissot. Bloch is a pretty well-known artist in the church. Tissot, however, is probably not. His art was very unique and interesting. He did hundreds of watercolor paintings of Jesus Christ and his life. It was interesting to see all the different points of view that he had. I was able to think about my Savior and His life in a new way. As a mission, we were able to spend a number of hours there looking at all the paintings. What a testimony- builder! I know that my Redeemer lives! What joy this sweet sentence gives! :)

I feel so privileged to be a part of this mission and a part of this work. There's nothing else like it. When I forget myself and think of others, I truly see the rewards and blessings and joys of missionary work. In the Referral Center a couple days ago, a man called in and he only spoke spanish. Despite my fears and doubts about my spanish-speaking abilities, I pushed them out of my mind and bore testimony in Spanish of the Book of Mormon and Jesus Christ. I did all I could, and God did the rest. The man ended up wanting to meet with missionaries. I love this work! Oh, the gospel is true! (no matter what language you speak haha)

I love you all and can't wait to hear from you! Your letters mean so so so much to me! :)

Love, Sister RoFrogget!

Friday, November 12, 2010

Buenos dias mis amigos!!!

Buenos dias mis amigos!!!

Can I just tell you how much I love you? And can I just tell you how much I love missionary work!!? I wish you were all out here doing this with me! There are experiences that you just can't get anywhere else. Last Saturday, my companion and I were called to do MTC CONTACTING!!!!! That means we were, in a way, trainers for a day! The sisters in the MTC that are going to other visitors' centers came here to get a taste of it. That's exactly what I did during my last week in the MTC. And that's when I saw you guys! Remember that? lol. Anyway, I was a little nervous about doing it, but once we met the sisters, everything felt right and I was excited. My companion, for the few hours that we were together, was Sister Hyde from Alabama, who is going to the visitors' center in St. George- Spanish speaking. What a sweetheart! We planned for the people we would meet that evening, and went up to the square. We found a group of college students, who were here for a convention, and took them on a tour. It was a little rough because most of them were atheists. Not to mention there was a concert in the Assembly Hall that was really loud, and we had to try to speak over the music. Plus, it was scattered and unorganized. But none of that really mattered because we were sharing what we knew and bearing our testimonies together. Sister Hyde has such a radiating testimony, which brought the Spirit into that tour, and all of our contacts with the guests that night. She was fresh from the MTC and still had that "fire". It reminded me to "keep the fire" and never let it go. She had such LOVE for the guests. And, as a tender mercy from Above, we met LOTS of spanish people and she was able to practice her spanish! I was quite impressed to say the least! I was so proud of her. :) I wish she was coming here to Temple Square. We became such great friends within that short time, and we've decided to write to each other and maybe even be roommates when we go back to BYU in 2012! I love that girl so much! And I love the gospel and being able to keep that fire and bear my testimony everyday! That whole experience made me really excited to train someday!! :)

On Sunday, Sister Smith and I were able to attend the "Music and the Spoken Word"! Go MoTab!!! :) They are absolutely amazing! And it's kinda fun to point out all the choir members that I have met and gotten to know when I was in WestGate last transfer!! haha. I feel SO privileged to be here where the headquarters of the church are, and to be able to be a part of all the amazing things that go on here. At the end of the performance, we were excited to find out that President Monson was there with us! I love that man :) Afterwards I was able to give a spanish tour to a family whose daughter has been called here to Temple Square! She'll be coming in January!

Ok, Monday I had one of the most amazing experiences ever! It was a great day in general. We started off by going to the Church History Museum for companionship study :) We learned and saw so much! All about the pioneers and what they went through, and we saw some original belongings of the prophets and pioneers! I could have spent hours in that place. We're going again SOON because there's so much to see and so little time! My love for the pioneers grew so much. It was a great way to start the day. When we walked out, it was breath-takingly beautiful outside! It was raining and all the leaves were really bright colors. It felt like I was walking around in a painting! I love Temple Square! :) After working in the call center for a couple hours, it was time for our district to do SERVICE!! And guess where we got to go?? Inide the Salt Lake City Temple!!! We did temple cleaning for 5 hours that day! And let me tell you, it was INCREDIBLE. That temple has so much history behind it. My appreciation for it grew 100 times what it was before. Sister Smith and I were taken from the group of sisters to do a "special assignment." And boy was it special! We were assigned to go through all the rooms and check if the outlets were working! haha it sounds kinda funny, but it was amazing. We got to walk through the beautiful hallways and rooms and just gaze at all the intricate details on the walls and ceilings. I could feel the presence of the pioneers. I could feel the Spirit's peace. We saw all the sealing rooms- I could feel the power of heaven as I thought of families and couples being sealed for all time and eternity in those very rooms. I saw and felt the granite staircases. I gazed at the large windows, and miraculous paintings and murals. We walked through the large solemn assembly room. (I could really feel the temple model in the south visitors center come to life at this point!) We saw the study room where James E. Talmage wrote Jesus the Christ. We got lost so many times because there are more than 170 rooms in that temple, but it was okay because there was so much to see and so much to feel. I felt SO privileged to enter into such a sacred place. I have a whole new perspective of that temple now. There's also so much that I learned and felt there. Not only is it beautiful and amazing physically, it is more importantly the most holy and sacred place on earth. Heaven on earth! I LOVE THE TEMPLE!!!

I hope that all of you are preparing yourself to enter into the temple. Those of you who already have, I hope you are keeping yourself worthy to go. And I hope you are GOING OFTEN! Weekly if possible! The Lord will bless you and strengthen you and pour out blessings upon you.

I love you.

And congrats to you, Elder Frogget, for becoming the ZONE LEADER!!! You will be amazing. The Lord will bless and guide you more than you could ever imagine.

All my love and support and prayers,

Sister Rochelle Frogget

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Aloha from Temple Square

Aloha from Temple Square!! It's still amazingly warm here and it's NOVEMBER! I'm in shock! But snow is coming our way on Monday... you're probably already getting it right now! Well, it has been another wonderful week! (That's how being a missionary is! I love it!). Sister Smith and I received an assignment to work at Welfare Square every Saturday morning! Last Saturday we took one tour with 2 ladies- one of them was from Croatia! She was so sweet, and she loved what she saw. She now wants to meet with the missionaries! Only one tour, but that means one soul was brought closer to our Savior Jesus Christ. Welfare Square is so great. We get to see not only how the church is able to give to those in need, but also how the church helps those people foster self-reliance by working for what they receive. Also, many church members volunteer their time, talents, and skills to do much of the work in the facilities here. And a lot of our fast offerings go to the Welfare program. As I was learning all about it, I felt the need to increase the amount of money I contribute to fast offerings. You can never contribute too much. We are told to "feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to provide for the widow, to dry up the tear of the orphan, to comfort the afflicted, whether in this church, or any other, or in no church at all wherever he finds them." (Joseph Smith). We cannot attain eternal life without serving or giving to the poor and the needy. God will pour out blessings upon us as we give freely! That's what the gospel of Jesus Christ is all about. His teachings motivate this welfare effort. Welfare is not a program, but the essence of the gospel. It is the gospel in action!!! And Sister Smith and I have another opportunity to serve there tomorrow! In fact, we were just told that a group of 200 people are coming!! I'm a little nervous since I've only given one tour before, but I'm confident that the Lord will bless us as we prepare ourselves and express our love for the gospel. Wish me luck! :)

Well how was your Halloween? The night before Halloween, the square closed at 6pm so we got to go home and make and decorate pumpkin cakes! We had a little party with our roommates :) The next day, Sunday, the square closed at 5pm and we had a "mission meeting" where we all gathered together and watched movies and ate candy! haha! We watched the Emma Story and the Errand of Angels. Loved it!!

Don't worry, we've been doing more than just partying! We've been working too!! Sister Smith and I planned for a Spanish contact one day, and sure enough, that whole hour was full of spanish people. Our nightly planning is seriously such a sacred time- Heavenly Father gives us a little glimpse of the future and lets us know who's coming and helps us prepare for them. As we are faithful and obedient, we really see those people come and miracles happen. I love it! We're also blessed when we don't pass anyone by- and talk to everyone! We saw a girl sitting on a bench the other day and figured that a bunch of sisters had probably already talked to her. We were almost about to pass her by, but we felt the need to talk to her. Surprisingly, NO sisters had approached her that day! We ended up taking her on a tour and developing a really good relationship with her. She had so many questions and was so accepting to everything we shared with her. To our amazement, we later found out that we were teaching the great niece of President Ezra Taft Benson!! And she had hardly heard much about the church! Except from some of her LDS friends!! Crazy huh?? She referred to have missionaries, and so we're hoping that she continues to keep her heart open and continues turning more towards Christ. I'm sure President Benson would be proud :) Another day this week, we were walking, trying to find someone to teach. We saw a man by the New Testament paintings and felt the need to talk with him. We walked towards him, but then his phone rang and he left the building. We were kind of disappointed. But a couple hours later, that same man was by the flagpole and we ended up taking him on a tour! He absolutely loved everything he saw. It was just a blessing to me because it renewed my testimony of the guidance of the Holy Ghost. As we are worthy of His constant companionship, and as we truly listen, He will speak to our hearts and lead us where we need to be, and help us say what we need to say. We are all instruments in the Lord's hands. I am honored to be assisting Him in this magnificent work!

Well, I sure love you all so much! And I miss you too! I hope you're having a great week- despite the challenges and trials that may come your way- just keep your chin up and keep moving forward! Trust in the Lord with all your heart. He will direct you. LOVES!!!

xoxoxo

RO


we went to heritage park again yesterday for service



My lovely Sister Smith, me, and Sister Gilbert at the mission meeting on halloween night.



roomies and i had hot chocolate one night.



look at all the junk they gave us on Halloween! President Holmes is really trying to make us obese!!!