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
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