Spiritually-packed week

What a spiritually-packed week it has been! I wish I had time to share it all with you. We began the week with an incredible ZONE CONFERENCE down in Sharon, VT at the Joseph Smith Memorial! We were an HOUR late because of car trouble, but we were still able to get most of the conference. President Wilkey is an amazing man. I look up to him and admire him so much. He actually served his mission in THIS mission! (Including right here in Burlington!) It is fun to swap stories with him. In his weekly letters to us, he sends little excerpts from his journal, which is awesome! During the conference, we learned all about doing is not enough; we must become. We discussed ways that we can become more like our Savior in our missionary efforts. I wish you all could have been there- seriously. President Wilkey showed us a DVD of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, who gave a devotional speech at the MTC in January. He shared the story of Jesus asking Peter if he loves Him. Three times. The last time being the most powerful, since he had to think about it profoundly, and ask himself if he really loved the Savior more than his fish, nets, oars, or boat. He said yes, and at that moment he had committed to the Savior to be His disciple, and there was no turning back. Then the Savior told Peter to feed His sheep. Elder Holland then turned to us and spoke for the Savior with a firm voice: "Do you love me? ... DO YOU LOVE ME?" Tears swelled up in his eyes, and in all of our eyes. "Decide TONIGHT if you really love God and the Savior." ... "and if you do, then feed His sheep." I think every missionary at that moment started crying as we all contemplated our true love for Jesus Christ. Do I really love God? with all of my heart, might, mind and strength? If I do, then what am I waiting for? I need to forget myself and feed His sheep. He went on to say, "Your course needs to be truel. You're going to see Him through. You CANNOT go back. You are in this for ETERNITY." I am in this faith for GOOD. I always have been, and I always will be.

I love Zone Conference. After the conference, we went to the memorial and took some pictures, and then Sister Steinbeigle and I went down to Rutland for 2 days on exchange with Sister Bond! That was a fun change. I learned so much in just 2 days. But it's nice to be back in South Burlington with Sister Rust again. And to our wonderful surprise, we found out that Nancy decided to be baptized on July 2nd!!!! That is TWO days before I go back to Temple Square! I am SO excited. She is finally coming to know this is true, and she's acting on it. I admire and love that woman so much.

We spent our entire Saturday tracting a street called Lincoln Hill... talk about boonies!! It was a LONG dirt road with huge houses, few and far between. There was lots of land and LOTS of trees. And BUGS. Then it started downpouring rain (which conveniently happens every time we tract lol). Sister Rust and I sang our little hearts out as we walked, while Sister Steinbeigle walks silently behind us... I think we embarrass her a little haha :) We continued to walk... and walk... and walk... and walk. We found many people at home, but no one was interested. After many hours we were completely exhausted and weren't sure how many more houses were left on the road. My companions were starting to head back the other way, but I felt a compelling force pushing me to keep going. So I told them and they hesitantly followed. We stopped for a break, resolved conflicts, prayed for help, and moved forward. Let me tell you- miracles happen when sacrifices are made. I have seen it time and time again- when you're ready to go home and go to bed, but you keep on walking anyway, the Lord blesses you. The next 2 houses that we knocked on are now people we will be teaching!!! One was Sheila (who visited Temple Square 20 years ago and got a Book of Mormon but lost it! Now she wants another one and wants us to teach her! YAY) and the other is Jason Cummings- who recognized us immediately when we walked up his driveway! Turns out that he was one of the paramedics who came to the rescue when we called 911 for Sister Acosta a month ago!! He is one of the nicest men I've met, and we're excited to bring the gospel to his home and family. Imagine if we had turned around at that moment when we wanted to go home. We wouldn't have found these new people to bring into the fold of God. "Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven" (hymn #2). It's SO TRUE!

We finally got home that night, and Sister Rust saw blood on the back of my neck- and then found 23 bug bites all along my neck! The black flies really got me. And they're terribly itchy now. But at the time when we were tracting, I didn't even notice! lol. The bugs out here our a nightmare. Yuck!

Yesterday we had another spiritual feast for Stake Conference- it was a broadcast from SLC, and we had the privielge to hear Sister Ann Dibb, Elder Russel M. Nelson, and President Eyring!! What a wonderful conference (and what made it even better... a random man rode his bike past our church building, and decided he wanted to come see if he liked it! We got to meet him and many members welcomed and befriended him. Miracles are poured out upon us! I love it!)

One more story and then I must go! (I hope this email is long enough for you, Mom! haha). Yesterday, we had prayed to be instruments in God's hands, and to be an answer to someone's prayers. We tracted an area (right next to the lake- it was beautiful!) and found an old lady- Janan. Instead of talking about the gospel right away, Sister Rust was prompted to say, "We are here in the area, and we came to see if there's anything we can do for you today." The lady was a little surprised and said, "Yes, yes I do need some help." She later mentioned that she had been praying for someone to help her with all the things she needed to do that day, and an hour later, we showed up at her door- offering help! She was so relieved and couldn't thank us enough. We will now be teaching her the gospel! :) I love being God's mouthpiece and instrument. We are angels, proclaiming the truth and spreading the good news! I LOVE IT!

and I love all of you.
God bless you!
~Sister Rochelle Frogget

The floods came

Querida familia,

As the days and weeks fly by, the rain keeps falling, and the floods keep coming.... The rain came down and the floods came up, and the house on the sand washed away... And the house on the rock stood still! I've seen all of that happen up here in Vermont! We drive by houses that are half way in the lake! It's really sad to see so many families being driven out of their homes, leaving all their damaged belongings behind. It reminds me of the scripture in 3 Nephi 14. "Therefore, whoso heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock-- and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon that sand-- And the rain descended, and the bloods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell, and great was the fall of it." We must prepare ourselves by building our house and our testimony upon a rock. The storms will come, and when they do, we won't need to fear. It will be a "sure foundation, a foundation where on if men build they cannot fall." Christ must be the center of our lives. He is our Foundation. I love that!

We are trying to make Christ the center of our teaching and finding. Not many people around here care to hear a message about Him- they're either strong in their own faith, completely atheist, or believe in the energy of the universe. It's interesting to try to find a connection with them and help them find out that there really is a God who knows and loves them.

It's especially hard when they're chasing you out of the neighborhood! We knocked on this lady's door, and the moment she saw us, she yelled at us, saying she's calling the police and that the neighborhood was private property. As she was yelling at us to go away, I told her to have a great day, and she said she wouldn't until we were gone. She followed us all the way out of the neighborhood in her fury, and watched us drive away. Crazy people! Luckily, we fulfilled the purpose of even going to that neighborhood in the first place. Right before that happened, we met a wonderful lady named Maxine who loves us, loves the Book of Mormon, and wants us to come back to teach her more! So we'll be going back next week! (hopefully the angry lady doesn't see us!! lol)

I absolutely love teaching out here! We continue to find investigators- on the street, in the mall, at the store, and in homes. This place is full of people waiting to hear the truth. It's our time to open our mouths and declare this beautiful message!

All the best to you, mis amigos! Until next week- work hard, play hard, love hard.

xoxoxox

Love,
Sister Rochelle Frogget

Spring in full force

Hi again!

Long time no talk, eh?? It was SO much fun talking to you last night! I love you all so much and can't thank you enough for your support and enthusiasm as I serve. You are my GEM!

Like I mentioned on the phone, Spring is coming in full force, and it is breathtakingly beautiful here! I really feel like I'm in a landscape magazine! It's gorgeous. When I'm not the one driving, I just stare out the window in awe because of all the green rolling hills and trees everywhere! I love it! It has been raining a LOT here. Which has been causing a lot of flooding. We knock on people's doors and they say it's a bad time because their basement is flooded. Roads have turned to rivers. The lake is higher than ever. And there's still so much snow in the mountains that will be melting soon, meaning more flooding.

We've been tracting a lot of boonie areas too, so that means a lot of walking in the mud and puddles. I take full advantage of it, since we don't get much of that at Temple Square! I was jumping in all the puddles like a little girl, and my companions thought I was insane. We sing hymns and share miracles to keep us focused on the work, and to stay happy!

We've been having lessons left and right, attended a baptism (one of the Elders' investigators), and uplifting the members. The ward here is incredible. They are all such great missionaries, and they help us as much as they can. They have helped set an example for me- for who I want to become and how I want to act. That's the beauty of living in families and wards and in friendships- so we can all uplift and strengthen each other, and buoy each other up. I love relationships with people and the love that we can have for each other. It all comes from our Heavenly Father. I've really been striving to have more of His love and His Spirit in my life. In fact, as a companionship, we've decided to pray about ways we can improve as missionaries so we can come closer to Him and really set this area on fire (as far as missionary work goes lol).

Talking to you was such a boost! That was the last time that I'll be talking to you until November! Crazy! I'm trying to treasure each moment out here. They go by fast and they don't last forever. I love this work and I love my Savior. I know Jesus Christ lives and I know this gospel to be true. It has brought me the greatest happiness. I LOVE IT! and I love you!

Have a wonderful week and remember what Christ has done for you!!

Love,
Sister Rochelle Frogget

Buenos di­as mis amigos!

How are you all doing? Missionary life out here is absolutely amazing!!!! Sister Rust, Sister Steinbeigle (wow that's really hard to type lol) and I are such a great companionship- we're teaching well together, getting along with each other, and having a blast doing the Lord's work! We've gone through a lot already! I don't have much time today, but I'll give you some details of the week. Miracles still happen constantly. We've been singing songs with the elderly in nursing homes, teaching English to a Chinese family, tracting in the most fierce thunder and lightning storm that I've ever been in, washing mud off our feet, freezing in the cold weather, and dying of heat in 80 degree weather the next day (major sunburns... ouch!). The weather here is even more bipolar than in Utah! Plus humidity! As we've been going about doing the Lord's work, we have learned, laughed, grown, and felt the Spirit guiding us. I love being a missionary!

Last Thursday was a very interesting day, to say the least. We pretty much tracted the ENTIRE day. In the down-pouring rain. We were soaked, despite our umbrellas and rain boots. We knocked on door after door.... after door. People weren't home or weren't interested. We decided to say a prayer, since we had gone HOURS without finding anyone to teach. We continued, and still, no one was interested. "I'm all set" is what they all say LOL it's hilarious. It was about time to go home (don't you love these stories? lol), but we decided to knock on one more apartment complex. The rain had stopped and the sun was shining. We met a young woman named Mary. She had never stepped foot in a church before, but always wanted to find increased peace in her life and was really interested! She thanked us for being strong and knocking on all these doors, and thanked us for choosing her door to knock on. We are teaching her later tonight!! I'm SO excited!

That same night, we had an appointment with a less-active old lady in the ward: Sister Acosta. She's from Puerto Rico, and is in extremely bad health. Two bad legs, fractured knees, bad feet, a bad back, a really bad stomach, and a bad nervous system. She has some CRAZY stories. I'll have to tell you about it later. Anyway, she always has us do service for her, since she's still living alone. So we had already seen her 3 days before, but we set up an appointment to give her a spiritual message. The moment we walked in the door that night, we sensed something wrong. We turned around the corner, and she was on the kitchen floor, sitting in a complete mess of food, spilled liquids, and her own waste. It turns out that she had fallen right after we visited her on Monday night, and couldn't get up- so she stayed there for 3 days!!!!! She couldn't reach her phone, the bathroom, anything! Except for the water bottle in the fridge and some Cheerios on the counter. She was in even worse shape than before. So we called the ambulance to get her to the hospital, even though she is one of the most stubborn and intimidating old ladies I've ever met! She told us to hang up the phone as we were calling, but we knew we had to do it. The paramedics came and rushed her to the hospital, even though she told them not to. She'll be there for a while. We stayed at her house and cleaned up the huge mess. Interesting night! We were wondering why the Spirit hadn't warned us to help her earlier, but we realized that it was a huge blessing in the long run, since she was so stubborn, she wasn't getting the help she needed, so the Lord provided a way. The hard way. lol.

We have been teaching our WONDERFUL investigator: an African-American lady, Nancy. She works at Ben and Jerry's and always gives us SO much ice cream! Anyway, she is so close to the Lord, and knows that what we are teaching is truth. We are currently shooting for June 24th as her baptismal date! I love assisting people in coming closer to our Savior and entering in at the gate to the strait and narrow path, which leads to eternal life. There is no greater work! No greater call. As our mission president says, "God doesn't call the qualified; He qualifies the called."

Love you so much!!!!! Let me know how life is going with you! I feel isolated from your letters! lol :) LOVE YA

<3 Sister Rochelle Frogget

PS: Another wonderful quote: "The only limits that we have are the ones we set on ourselves."