Pray...but not for patience!

May 23, 2016
Welp folks of planet Earth - another week bites the dust.
This week is a titch of a blurrrr. We had two interviews with president. Which was quite extremely helpful on so many levels. I sure love that man. I would say that I was called to President and Sister Bonham, not Washington Everett. We were asked to give instruction at a meeting this week and it went surprisingly very well. :) I hit my 18 month mark... I only know that because people like to keep me informed of big landmarks throughout my life. We went on exchanges this week with some of the sisters we are serving. AND GUESS WHO I WAS WITH?! The one and only Sister Bell. I love her so much. It was good to work together, talk together, and get caught up on life together. She really has changed and improved so much since she first came out and was my companion. She is definitely a friend for life. Maria just signed a lease with her boyfriend for another 6 months so it looks like the baptism won't be until after that. :( We are still seeing her but we probably won't see her as much as we usually do. Jodi Berg is 22 days smoke free and is doing AWESOME. Unfortunately her date got pushed back a couple weeks due to church attendance, but that is okay! We went over the baptismal interview questions with her and she is solid! Love her! Oh, so it looks like I am going to need a trip back up here soon so I can go to her baptism (hint hint Momma J and  Poppa Husky). Sister Barletta had an investigator get baptized from a previous area so we attended that on Saturday! We also went down to Seattle for a doctor visit... and Sis. B had a counseling appointment.
SOOOOOO THAT WAS MY WEEK IN A NUTSHELL... OR AN EMAIL.

I think my biggest advice this week is: don't pray for patience. but also, that Heavenly Father really does hear our prayers. I know that he answers them according to his will and timing. It is up to us to align our will with his. If we do so, we will experience much joy in this life. The Church is true. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. We have prophet on the Earth today who leads and guides us so we can return to live with Heavenly Father and our families for eternity. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. There is nothing that he has not felt or already overcome. I know that as we turn our lives over to the Gospel we will be blessed immensely.
Love, your favorite sister missionary whether you admit it or not,
Sister Rodda 


Enduring WELL


May 16, 2016
Dearest peeps,

Monday was a typical Preparation Day. My companion wanted to sleep so I just had a lazy day and laid on the floor. It was quite eventful. lol but that night we went on exchanges with some sisters that we serve. They are assigned to a Young Single Adult ward and it was Family Home Evening that night. We played chair soccer and I totally got everyone out and won. VICTORY FOLKS. VICTORY.


Tuesday we were still on exchanges. We went to the Everett Community College and went contacting. It was really fun. I like Young Single Adult age people... they aren't as mean. Hahaha we also had to fill out an exchange form so we went to Coldstone. It was like a birthday party in my stomach. We had a couple appointments set up that day and we totally taught directly to the people needs rather than the straight lessons. It was really successful. One of my favorite things being a little over half way on the mission is the scriptural knowledge you have. I can be put in any situation and have a scripture to apply. That night we had Cafe Rio for dinner. WHAT, WHAT!? Sweet pork salad, black beans, mmm mmm mmmm. We also went to institute that night. I surprisingly enjoyed it. I can't wait to be involved with institute in the far future.

On Wednesday, Sister B was sick so we were on level C again. We had zone meeting and for the most part it was good. We had to give instruction on diligence. I don't mind giving instruction... I actually enjoy it. I love being handed situations where I can bear my testimony... I guess that's why tomorrow (Tuesday) we were asked to instruct again. Hahahahhaha. We taught Maria, Adolfo, Reymundo, and Jakob that night.. still progressing... we just need Maria to get married or move out... the progress is a little hindered.
 

Thursday: THE WEATHER WAS BEAUTIFUL. I FOUND SO MUCH STRENGTH IN THE SUNLIGHT. I EVEN GOT SUN BURNT... YES I DIDN'T THINK THAT COULD HAPPEN IN THE STATE OF WA EITHER. As of TODAY Jodi is 16 days SMOKE FREEEE. I am so proud of her for accomplishing this. She has worked really hard for years and years and years to quit. And she finally beat it! She is getting baptized June 4th!!!!!

Friday night we had dinner with a cute family in our ward. Brother Pexton is in the bishopric and so kindly announced that they were talking in the bishopric meeting about how they wanted me to give a "farewell" talk. After 7.5 months in an area I guess you become ward family. So yeah, I am now on the schedule for this upcoming week. Another opportunity to testify!


We were on exchanges again on Saturday. This time I was with Sister Krummenacher. We attended a day of service (to see lots of pictures of folks in orange look up the hashtag #dayofhope  - you will probably see some missionaries from the Washington Everett Mission!) A local Christian church called the Gold Creek Church put this on and we joined in to help the community. We love service. And we love wearing pants! We got the job of being sign wavers... it's harder than it looks. We cleaned a homeless shelter. And we ate food. A member took us out to Applebees! It was yummy yummy in my tummy!

Sunday: Meeting, meetings, more meetings! But they were all great. Sundays are definitely my favorite day of the week.
I will be sending packages soon, family! So keep your eye out for some heavy boxes of books. :)

Something I learned this week is the importance of enduring WELL. I was playing soccer in the YSA ward and the game just kept going and going and going. Just so you know I was in a skirt still, with boots, and my hair down... I thought man, I can just stand here and eventually the game will be over. But I wasn't happy that way and I was waiting out the time. However, I realized at that moment that Heavenly Father was teaching me something very important. We are given so many situations in life in which we can choose to just stand there and wait for things to pass. This makes us an object... something to be acted upon. Or we can become an agent (someone who acts) and we can finish out the game and actually try. As we do our part- even if we win or lose- we are happier. We are enduring WELL at that point. I really don't even know if this analogy makes sense the way I wrote it but it made sense to me. hahaha

Have a good week, my fellow friends!

MUAH. xoxo SIS RODDA

 
 


No Regrets

May 9, 2016

WELL FIRST OF ALL HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL THE BEAUTIFUL MOM'S OUT THERE. Especially Momma J. I love you!
It was so great to talk to my family yesterday. It is amazing to me that you can be so far away from someone physically but you are still family and still have relationships. I love the Rodda clan. I will keep them. ;)
This week was interesting. There were some things we needed to do that took us away from our missionary efforts but we were still able to experience miracles. We had stopped seeing J-B (the doctor that smokes) for about 2 weeks. She was keeping her commitments and coming to church but she couldn't really progress until she stopped smoking so we were giving her some time. She randomly texted us on Wednesday and said, "Sisters, I just wanted to let you know I have been smoke free for three days!" I have been here for six months and finally she has beat it. She is now a week smoke free and she put herself on date for the 1st of June! I am so happy for her and so proud of her!
We also had lots of opportunities to serve this week! We did a “just-serve” project and did some trail building. We just cut back plants and made the trail wider. It was fun to be outside with lots of members of the ward and lots of fellow missionaries.
We had our first exchange this week and it went well. I love the sisters we are serving. I learn so much from them. Unfortunately we had to exchange back sooner than planned because of some things but we are going to go on another exchange with them!
We had Mission Leader Council this week as well as District Meeting. They were both great and I was able to learn a lot this week.
The thought I want to share this week isn't even my thought... it came from my dad in a recent email. He said, "Stand firm in the knowledge that if you choose to do right, the Lord will make it right. You may not know the results of your actions for months, years, or maybe you will never know. But if you are obedient and follow the rules you will NEVER have regrets." I know that Heavenly Father asks us to do hard things so that we can choose the "harder right" like President Thomas S. Monson said. 
I love you all! XOXO
Sister Rodda


Trials

May 2, 2016

To my dear fam&pals,

Welp, this has been a weeeeeeek. A very long week. 

Monday: We found out that Sister Washburn was being transferred. :( It was a sad and emotional day. haha. We got out of the house though. We ended up getting our nails done and eating Panda Express, then we pretty much packed and packed and packed. We did play basketball and soccer with the elders for an hour or so. That was fun. That night we had FHE with a cute family in our ward (they wanted to say goodbye). We also went to a returning member’s house to say goodbye. And we went to our bishop's house. He is literally amazing.

Tuesday: We had to do some more packing and cleaning. We had lunch. Then Sister Peterson drove us to transfers. It was definitely a hard goodbye knowing I won't see my BFF for 15 months but all is well in Zion. I have a new companion. Her name is Sister Stacie Barletta. She is 28, she's a convert, and she is from New York. We are about as opposite as it comes, haha. She came out with Sister De Arman (a past companion) so she has been out for a little over 13 months. I have been her Sister Training Leader, she has been my Sister Training Leader, and now we are Sister Training Leaders together. Oh and she was trained by Perkinson.

Wednesday-Sunday: She has been sick so we haven't done a whole lot.

Meet the Mormons movie night: We had been planning this activity for a month or so and we had passed out a gazillionnnnn fliers to people. It started at 7:00 and at 7:05 nobody was there... it was scary. Ha - but by 7:15 we had a full house with 8 nonmembers. It was great!

Mom -Skype at 3:45-4:30 my time... so 4:45-5:30 your time. Does that work?

People say "God doesn't give us any trial we can't handle."  BUT I know that Heavenly Father gives us trials that we cannot handle alone. We have to turn to him and the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ. I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true. That is why I am here on a mission. He never abandons us no matter how lonely, helpless, and hopeless we feel. I know that we have a loving Heavenly Father who hears and answers our prayers.
Sincerely, Sister Rodda

There is a renewed effort to “scam” the grandparents of serving missionaries going around. The scammers find out about you and where you are serving by reading on social media (so be careful what your family is posting). Then they figure out who your grandparents are and call them to tell them a lie along the lines of your needing money to pay a fine to get out of jail or for emergency health care. Sometimes they say that the fine and jail is for a DUI and that you don’t want the mission president or your parents to know but you trust your grandparents. Then they ask to have hundreds or even thousands of dollars sent to them using a wire transfer or the WalMart Green Dot or something like that where they won’t be able to get the money back. If your grandparents fall for it, they will get scammed for hundreds or thousands of dollars. Please have your family warn these sometimes vulnerable people that love you so that they know it is a scam or check it out with the mission before they send money. If they call the office with a question about whether you are in jail, we call you to check, then call them back to say you are fine.