Ups and Downs

February 9, 2015

This week has been crazy. Up and downs all over the place. I feel like this week was a more disappointing week just in the sense that all of our lessons fell through, people didn't come to church, and lots of uninterested people. But I don't feel down or discouraged at all. Missionary work is awesome and I love putting on my name tag every day, even if it means people ignore you or change spots in line so they don't have to stand by you. True story. But I know that I am a representative of Jesus Christ and that I have a purpose. 

Don Price (Sister Price's husband) passed away this week. They are my mission family so it was hard to see him go. The funeral is on Valentine's Day. The Price’s are doing really well and we have shared tons of messages with them. We weren't able to go to the hospital this last time because Sister Wawro was sick (but I guess it wouldn't have made a difference- not funny) It really makes you grateful for the Plan of Salvation. How people can even go on with their lives without that knowledge is incredible to me. It is so comforting to know that we can live with our families forever. I hope the rest of the Price family can come to that conclusion one day too.

A is not on date for baptism right now. She was supposed to be baptized on Valentine's Day but she stopped calling and texting us. She didn't show up to church and yeah... long story short she got antied but some spanish missionaries. Yes, they were elders.

We visited a lot of less actives this week and did a lot of tracting but not too much success. It's true that if your numbers don't show your hard work, but you still feel successful, then you know you are doing all that you can. I don't feel down or discouraged. This week was fun and I learned so much. I just didn't have the number and statistic success. We worked harder than ever and I know the blessings will come.

One of the coolest things I learned this week is that we are all unprofitable servants. I read this in Mosiah 2: 23-24 this week. Everything we have comes from God and we are indebted to him for our very lives. When we are obedient he "immediately blesses us."  We may not see those blessings immediately but they are there. They are the tender mercies of the Lord. But the most important blessing is the atonement. Because of the atonement we can live with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ again and we can live with our families forever. Because of the atonement we can become better every single day. Because of the atonement all things are made possible. Jesus Christ paid to redeem us and all mankind. We may not ever be able to repay him but we can keep the commandments and do our best. God delights in our efforts to be the best we can be and become better every day. Learn from our mistakes and trust in God. It is in His way and in His timing. The church is true and that's all.

Thanks for all your love and support. Being a missionary is incredible.

Sister Rodda.

Faith

February 2, 2015
This week has been amazing, duh! Every week is amazing out here. We did a lot of tracting this week which makes the days a little long but hey, it's already Monday again. How does that happen???? Sister Wawro and I make tracting fun though. This week we met a slug named Homie and he was so slimy and cool. We put him on our bikes and rode around with him all day. We let him go that night. But don't worry, he wasn't our pet or anything because that is against the missionary handbook.

This week we went on exchanges with the sister training leaders and I always get so nervous before but there is no reason to be. I went to a young single adults ward and it covered like 4 cities so I saw a ton of Washington. It was also a really spiritual day and we had some amazing lessons to some of their investigators. We tracted into a crazy drunk who let us in and she literally had so many pets it was a zoo. She had this bearded dragon (I think is what it was called) and I held it. It started crawling up my neck and I got just a little freaked so I “gently” tossed it to the lady across the room.

Sister Wawro and I also met a missionary this week who is serving a mission to convert Mormon missionaries. Long story short it was an hour long bash of him asking questions and us testifying. He was cool. He wore a short sleeve shirt that had a picture of a lizard on it that said "I Guana Be Like Jesus" over a long sleeve green thermal shirt. He had khakis on that were pulled up to his belly button and sandals. It was cute. He could probably win Americas Next Top Model or something serious like that.

We also had a really spiritual lesson with B, our recent convert. He has spent 25 of his 43 years in prison and just got baptized in November. If the atonement can work for him then it can work for all of us. PS: I saw Sister Wawro cry again. Life complete.

A is still on date for February 14th and she has been coming to church so hopefully we will see her in white soon!!! We love her!

The most important thing I learned this week is that faith is crazy. I had been struggling a little bit with faith. Everyone I talked to had this huge testimony and knew so much about the gospel and I'm like, "what the heck am I doing here on a mission. I know jack-diddly squat." but... in my personal study this week I read Alma 32 and it is all about faith. In verse 21 it says, "faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things." and I was like well I have only heard that 50,000 times before. But then I read verse 27, "and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you..."  I really liked reading this because life is hard and sometimes we might not think we know everything or have a strong testimony or can do this or that but if we have just a particle of faith and exercise it or if we only have a desire than we are planting that seed of faith. The seed will grow and become plant, then a tree, then it will have roots, and then fruit, and then we can feast on the fruit and share it with everyone.Wwe don't need to know everything but we can faith and trust in God, his time, and his way.

So yeah, quite a swell week. I wish you all the best from the northwest.

xoxo

Sister Rodda

1. Faith is nothing more than a desire

2. Charity is the pure love of Christ

3. Throwing lizards leads to rejection of the gospel in homes

Timberrrrr...

January 26, 2015
This week has been a good one. I can't believe it is another week down. It is going way too fast. I think that is what happens when you love your mission and you love your companion and when you are obedient. I seriously have no clue what I would have done without going on a mission. I have learned more in the last few months as a missionary than I did in all of my school years. You learn so much about yourself and the world, life lessons, and you learn so much about the gospel. I don't think it can get much better than this!

This week we met a guy named E. He is a little out there. We thought he was an investigator but it turned out that he is a convert of about 10 years and has been less active for 2 years. He is crazy. He is like the Kevin (from CBC- timberrrrrrr) of Washington. He has seen God and he told us some poetry and yeah.  We are also teaching a part member family and they have great potential. I love teaching (even though I don't know everything yet). We are just teaching people all over the place but no specific progressing investigators. We do have one lady, A, who is on date for February 14th. She is doing really well and we just went over the baptismal questions with her! She answered them really well. When we came to her home her dad was there. They haven't had a relationship in years. When we showed up he asked if we were Mormons and said "Oh, you believe in Joseph Smith."  We were like yeah... and he said, "Oh good me too!"  Neither of them had any clue that they were both investigating the church. We asked if he was a member and he said no but that he was going to be! It was awesome. Hahaha - they had no clue that they were both talking to missionaries.

This week we got to do some service. We worked at the Bishop Storehouse which is always fun with our whole district. Then on Saturday we went up into a forest and made a trail. It was hard, hard work but it was so much fun. I told everyone that if I starting rolling down the hill just yell, “timber!” and warn everyone at the bottom. I'll be okay. I didn't die or anything so that's good but I destroyed my Davis High running shoes (that's pretty close to dying). They aren't perfect but they work now that I washed them. I was a little bitter at first when they were covered in mud but then I realized who cares? Shoes are meant to be dirty. Well, some shoes. haha

Yesterday we had a missionary fireside where we met with all the ward missionaries, a family, and some bishopric members and we taught a lesson to them and we just got them more excited about missionary work. 

We had ward conference last week and it was really spiritually uplifting. They talked a lot about how life isn't a giant checklist. Missionary work isn't a giant check list. But it is all about where you are headed and who you become. God gave us agency and expects us to use it. Everyone has a different pathway but we can all make it back to Heavenly Father and live with Him again. It's okay to make mistakes. Use the atonement, make things right, change, and move on.  I used to think that repenting was only for these huge sins. But really it isn't about that at all. The atonement is there so we can become better. Every night I account with the Lord and I say the things that I could have done better and then the next day I work hard to do those things just a little bit better (not perfect). And then slowly you progress and progress and you become who you are supposed to be. Life isn't about doing this, doing that, but doing those things to become who you are. I know that the atonement is real and it is available for us to use and to better ourselves. Christ suffered for me.  For us. It is there for our advantage. I love being a missionary. I love sharing my testimony. And I just love loving people. I love you all. 

Have a great week!

xoxo

#holdtotherodda

Love, Sister Rodda

Seahawk's Fan? Who are you?

January 21, 2015

Welp, what a week. I always feel like I have so much to say on a day to day basis but then I get here and have no idea what to say. But first thing is first - I am doing great. I love it out here. Nothing extremely spectacular happened this week but it was the first week where I noticed how much I need to be out here. Like what the heck would I do with my life if I didn't come on a mission.  I know that I am supposed to be out serving. Nothing this week was amazing or over the top incredible but we had a lot of lessons and it is true that the more you bare your testimony, the stronger it becomes. It is the best feeling when you are feeling the spirit and you can just share what you believe with someone else. Missionary work is WORK. But it is so exciting and I have a lot more to learn but I'm getting there. It's amazing to just see changes in yourself. 

Biggest change this week: went to the mall and to 5 separate stores and did not buy a single thing. Are you proud or what? This mission stuff is the real deal. It doesn't matter the "costliness of your apparel" -Jacob 2:13 -but it matters what is imprinted on your heart. Now my Toms addiction is still an on-going concern but I'm sure this mission thing will help that eventually.

I love being a missionary and I am sad that time is flying. Why can't it just slow down. I am going to be done before I know it and I just want to be a missionary forever. I also love Sister Wawro. At zone conference this week all the departing missionaries bore their testimonies and Sister Wawro did such a great job. She isn't a crier and it has  been my goal since I got here to see her cry and GUESS WHAT? It happened. I can die happy. Like I said we had a zone conference this week (which was totally amazing, duh) and Sister Bonham did an obedience game. Every one stood up and she would say a phrase and if you didn't do it then you had to sit down. Most of them were big things like, "did you have companionship study in the last 24 hours?" and "have you taken vitamin D every day (that is a mission rule because there isn't sun here)? and some were, "have you flossed last night or today?" there was a bunch of questions and Sister Wawro and I both won! Out of everyone there, multiple zones, we won! And we didn't lie! It was awesome. 

I feel like so much has happened and I don't have a lot of time to email this week because you only get an hour on non p-days.

Embarrassing story of the week: I was calling some less actives to see if they were still interested and I had to leave a message for one. It was great until the end when I closed "in the name of Jesus Christ, amen" Moral of the story: you can never pray too much as a missionary.

I have to go but I love you all.

PS: WHY IS THE SKY BLUE AND THE GRASS GREEN?  BECAUSE GOD IS A SEAHAWKS FAN.

Super Bowl instructions

The Seattle Seahawks won their game against the Green Bay Packers, so the Seahawks will be playing in the Super Bowl against the New England Patriots on February 1. The game will begin at 3:30 p.m. our time. Missionaries will all need to be in their apartments by 5:00 p.m. to avoid the crazies—if the Seahawks win, the local folk will be deliriously happy and possibly drunk; if the Seahawks lose, they may be bitter and angry—and possibly drunk. This would be a good evening for weekly planning. Remember that Seahawks Offensive Coordinator (coach) Darrell Bevell is an active Church member, married in the temple, and a returned missionary who served in Ohio in 1990 and 1991. He was an outstanding college quarterback at University of Wisconsin and helped beat UCLA in the Rose Bowl in 1993. Practice using those facts to transition sports conversations to gospel conversations.

6 Weeks in Washington!

January 12, 2015
6 Weeks in Washington!

AH! First transfer down. I seriously can't believe it! The days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days. Guys, a transfer is 6 weeks. Can you believe it?! I can't, obviously. We haven't gotten word of who is being transferred yet but I won't be transferred and I'm 98% she won't be either. That'd be sad. I would cry. I love Sister Wawro and we are BFFs to the max. We literally burn more calories laughing everyday then I did in all my years of soccer combined. Maybe not, but it feels like it. I have learned so much in these 6 weeks. Our personal study is my favorite part of everyday. I love studying the gospel and I love learning. Sometimes there is a lot to take in and to remember and to say but you have to forget all that stuff and just rely on the spirit to tell you what to say and do. I love being a missionary. I love my mission. I love EVERYTHING. 

This week has been AMAZING! Prayers, fasting (except for fruit snacks because my blood sugar has problems sometimes when I don't have anything), scripture study, working hard, being obedient... it all pays off. It's true that the Lord is in all things and has his hand in all things. We got two new investigators this week. One is a 30 year old guy named T. He is awesome. He didn't want to say the closing prayers but we got him to! And it was awesome! He had never prayed out loud before. And the second one, her name is A.  She is a single mom of two girls. We started teaching the restoration and all we said was, "God is our loving Heavenly Father." and she started crying.  We didn't get much further in the restoration but that was exactly what she needed to hear. we just kept bearing our testimony and she is awesome! 

I don't really know what else happened this week. I feel like I always have so much to tell but then I start writing and I really have nothing to talk about. I had the most awkward contact this week. We were out riding our bikes and a lady walked by.

ME: hey, how are you?!

LADY: good

ME: GOOD! how are ya?

hahahaha like what? I started crying I was laughing so hard (this has been happening a lot lately) and it was so embarrassing.

Nothing else is really new... I just love life. I kinda wish I had a terrible companion so that way it could only go uphill but I got the bestestest companion EVERRRR. 

Welp, I hope you all have a great week. Ya'll are awesome. Go Seahawks. 

xoxoxoxox

Sister Rodda