Lemon"AID" part 2

June 25, 2015

HELLO!!!

I am so grateful that I have been able to work with Sister Westover for the last few weeks. We have been able to try a lot of different finding ideas, as well as service projects, new tracting approaches, Book of Mormon contacting, and bettering our Area Book. Two weeks ago the Assistants gave us a box of Book of Mormons. 40 that is! And our goal was to give them all out by the time Sister Westover left. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to give them all out but we have given out 30. The Lemon"AID" stand helped with that, as well as using the Book of Mormon in most contacts. Something else we have found successful is giving copies of the Book of Mormon to every family member to give away by the end of the summer. We talk about the Power of Everyday Missionaries and 4 steps that can help them do this. Then we do role plays with the members. After that, we hand each of them a Book of Mormon and invite them to pray for opportunities to give it away to someone. We are waiting to hear back results and hear their experiences but it is going to be great!

We also did the Lemon"AID" stand again. It was really successful. We gave out some Proclamation to the World's, copies of the Book of Mormon, and free lemonade! It is a really good ice breaker because most of the time they ask YOU what we are doing or what church we attend. It's really amazing to hear how many people KNOW other members of the church. 

I also think one of the biggest tools that we have been able to use is object lessons and analogies. When people are taught in that way, it just clicks! 

Oh and Sister Westover and I have this obsession with popsicles. It is just so hot here in WA. People don't have air conditioning. So we eat popsicles and we sleep with ice packs and we put our beds together and have fans run all day and all night. It is quite the treat. We have tons of fun together but more importantly we work so hard. I love being a missionary.

This was my plead to president, "PS: CAN I PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE STAY IN BURLINGTON- Skagit River 2nd. Okay, I know that it is Heavenly Father's decision but if you need any input... there ya go!"

loveyouall.

sister rodda.

Lemon"AID" part 1

June 15, 2015

SO talk about AWESOMEEEE. This week was great! Sister Westover and I are working so hard. It's funny how when you are dedicated to the work not just physically and mentally but with your whole heart, how happy you become. I haven't been this happy in a long time (not that I was ever unhappy). We have a mission goal of getting 16 contacts everyday. These don't include "hi" "bye" conversations but really working hard and discerning their needs so you can give them the greatest opportunity of learning more. Needless to say, and not bragging in case, we have exceeded multiple times this week. This is showing that when you are focused on the work and you do your very best, Heavenly Father GIVES you opportunities and blesses you with so many experiences. I have always said that I love being a missionary. I think I mean it now more than ever. FAMILY, I LOVE YOU AND ALL BUT I AM NEVER COMING HOME. #BurlingtonMissionaryForever

So let's talk about highlights of the week. Last Monday right after I emailed my most beloved peeps I saw a lady staring at all the missionaries. Welp, all the missionaries were talking and I kept getting this impression to talk to her. So I left the group and went to this lady. Sister Westover followed shortly behind. Well long story short this lady was actually very quite upset because the missionaries were giggling during our email time. She also was not all that happy to receive a genuine compliment from me. She thought I told her she looked beautiful so that she would have to tell us that we looked pretty and she didn't want to. She was actually interested in the church at one point and had listened to MoTab and all these different things. When she was younger she traveled all the way to Utah to attend "a Sunday service in the temple". She was offended because they told her only members were allowed to go. We weren't able to get in a word to explain that she CAN come to church though. She liked some swear words and liked to raise her voice. People are great and right now I am wondering why I just shared that story but I wrote a lot and I don't want to delete my hard work so there ya go.

We also taught M and A this week. A's oldest daughter became a new investigator this week and she has some awesome questions. We cleared up her concerns on bulletproof underwear. They are doing awesome. M is still a stubborn 14 year old but we love her and she will be baptized one day. We just have to start at the basics. A was going to come to church yesterday... but... something came up I am assuming because she didn't come.

The Mount Vernon sisters (including sister westover- that's where she was just serving) had a baptism this week. Ironically this was actually someone we had been teaching in our area then she moved. We referred her to them. So that was an awesome baptism to attend. Her name is D.A. and it is so exciting to see someone exercise their faith.

We went back to the mall this week for some more creative finding. I am not sure why i keep doing that to myself... it is quite the distraction. But it is successful so I guess I will continue to suffer and refrain from the shoes. NO PAIN NO GAIN.

We also had trail builders this week. I think I have talked about that. We basically go up the side of the mountain and make trails. It is actually quite enjoyable to be in nature. Plus it is free donuts. If only they had s'mores donuts... :(

NOW HERE IS THE BEST PART OF THE WHOLE EMAIL. Sister Westover held our own, our spectacular, our indescribable, LEMON"AID" STAND. It was awesome. We gave out free lemonade with a mormon.org card that had our number on it. We also gave away free Book of Mormons and pamphlets. We got 14 contacts and we are doing it again this week. It was so much fun. It was a great way to serve and to talk to tons of people. I put most of the decorations together while Sister Westover would do her language study. She called me the future relief society president. I cried. We also went to a park where there was a recent shooting to bring some happiness to the park and it totally worked!!! This week we are going to Sedro Woolley so we can go to the other part of our area and so we can go to a bigger park. It is going to BE AWESOME.

Thanks for all your love and support back home. It means so much to me. I LOVE YOU ALL. I hope you have a great week!

Love,

Sister Rodda

Changes...again

June 8, 2015

Hi EVERYONE!

GUESS WHAT?! I AM NOT LYING WHEN I SAY THIS WEEK WAS GREAT! Yes, the beginning was not all that fun. My trainee, Sister De Arman, went home early due to some health challenges. And it was difficult with Sister De Arman leaving and trying to make all those small changes. BUT, Sister Westover (my new companion), and I are doing really well. She is from Highland, UT, but she has lived in a lot of places INCLUDING CHINA. Talk about cool! She is also in training so I will be finishing her training until she leaves for Taiwan on the 23rd. She is learning Chinese so we have 4 hours of studies everyday. personal, companionship, training, and language. We usually get out of the house around 1 when we have lunch in there too. haha. We are working hard, FINDING people, and we are making the most of our time and our resources. I think we have found most of our success and most of our people by using our planning time effectively. I came up with an idea (okay, it wasn't my idea, it was inspiration) for weekly planning. Everyday we plan a service activity, a finding activity, and we would set a goal for how many people we would contact each day. Well I don't think it is ironic that we are doing that as a mission now. It has been really successful. Sister Westover and I have used the Book of Mormon in contacts and it was great. It can definitely be improved but that is why we have studies and role plays. I am so happy to be out and working.

We had exchanges this week. I think I beat the record of working with 3 different companions in a week, but it was great. I used to hate exchanges. The concept of spending the night with a stranger was not pleasing for me. But it was great!  We were able to combine ideas and think of ways that we can better ourselves and the mission. It was great and we had lots of fun. One of her goals was to do the splits before she goes home next transfer so our work out in the AM was SPLIT workouts. I am a little sore. That's all.

It is amazing how much can change when you are prepared. When you are prepared to teach, you are blessed with people to teach. When you are prepared to do something, you can accomplish it. What is the scout's motto? Be prepared? That's ironic, NOT. Sister Westover and I found two REALLY SOLID investigators this week. They are siblings. Mark and Valarie. They just lit up when we talked about Joseph Smith and almost immediately new it was true. We are teaching them again soon!

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY and seeing the Gospel bless people's lives. I am grateful for scriptures. I can never study them enough. I love prayer and when you are finally able to recognize an answer. And the knowledge I have that I am a daughter of God finding my lost brothers and sisters.

I got to say my first prayer in sacrament meeting yesterday so that was cool! 

I JUST LOVE BEING ABLE TO WORK, WORK, WORK AND I AM GRATEFUL FOR A PRETRAINED TRAINEE WHO KNOWS HER STUFF AND WANTS TO WORK TOO!

LOVE YOU ALL. HAVE A MOST SPECTACULAR WEEK!

Love,

Sister Rodda

PS: since we can't have pets we decided to get a pet plant (i think that is legal). Their names are Shadrach, Meshach,  Abed-nego and... DAVE! They are pretty cool plants.

Memorial Day after

May 26, 2015

HELLO.

THIS WEEK HAS BEEN SWELL AND I HAVE LIKE 0 MINUTES LEFT TO EMAIL SO LET'S SEE WHAT I CAN BUST OUT IN THAT MUCH TIME.

We have had a great week in the lesson/service aspect of things. The work is going really well just waiting to find more people. We tried to find ideas this week. Like going to the mall to contact.  And yes, that was putting me in a dangerous position (I like shopping) but it was so successful. We were able to find some referrals and we were also able to talk to people who knew some members. It was great. We have also decided to try a family home evening with the sisters where you can bring a friend or another family to join. Just trying a billion new ideas.

I am doing great. I love being a missionary. You learn so much and I'm not gonna lie if I say I have changed. I just feel so happy and I feel like I am learning some of the most important life lessons out here.

I am really sorry this email was not all that great but i don't have a lot of time. I hope you all have a great week. xoxoxoxoxo

love, sis. rodda