Departing Trip Photos

March 30, 2015

Family,

      All I wanted to say this week is the Savior's atonement is real.  I have felt him in my darkest hours of need and I know that he cares for each and every one of us.  If you haven't felt his love or you need to be healed right now in your life,  start by simply asking.

This is an amazing video produced by the church.
https://www.lds.org/?lang=eng

Sister Rogers

Working with the Ward

Here I go!



March 23, 2015

 Family (believe me, you all are family),

            Hair chopping day!  You can see from the pictures that I got a new look.  I wasn't planning on it ‘till yesterday when my companion saw my pics when I cut my hair last summer.  She kept telling me to do it again and lo and behold our t-up is going to school for hair.  Sydora was just so sweet I couldn't resist giving her a shot at my poker-straight hair. Everyone at the school thought I was crazy for cutting so much off.  They had to cut it 3 times to get it the length I wanted. That was the first time I have ever paid for a haircut and it cost me
a whole 12 dollars.  So worth it.

            There were so many changes in our work this week.  We establish expectations with Bishop because he had the authority over the work. After that things seem to all fall together.  We were able to teach more and see the people that really needed our help.  This ward has a hard time with keeping the new members active.  We addressed the common problem that no one was being their friend.  The key to the work is we must strengthen the ward before we bring anyone new into the church.  It seems that as we have had that perspective as our focus then the work starts to really progress.  We are no longer afraid to drop those who are not ready for the gospel at this time. We are truly doing what the Lord has called us to do.

            Amazing quote that was shared in the YSA Sunday School about the Savior.  “He came to pay a debt he did not owe because we owed a debt. we could not pay.”

Love you so much!

Sister Rogers



 



 

 

 

Me and my companion, Sister Brown

Maplewood

Me with my new compaion, Sister Brown

March 16, 2015

            So everyone gets an apology if I didn't write them last week.  I got locked out of my email and they just barely cleared it today.  I was also sick this week and so I wasn't able to write letters.

            I have an amazing companion, Sister Brown. Of course, she is from Utah, but her heritage is from Samoa and Tonga. Her current course in school is physiology at the U.  There are 6 in her family with a brother on a mission in South Africa.

            This past week I was sick with major congestion, sore throat, and headaches.  Basically my nose is leaking like a fire hydrant and I've used my fair share of the toilet paper.  Church was still a lot of fun because we are over the Young Single Adult ward and they are so much fun.  It is amazing how we are teaching someone from every age 60 to 19 about the Christ's Gospel and it truly applies to every one of them individually.  The Savior can truly heal all wounds.

2 weeks ago
             Miracles happened the first teaching day I was here.  We were teaching Allen, an investigator who had been taught since November, and he was bringing up so many concerns about the word of wisdom and just prophets in general. We started asking him soul searching questions and it was revealed that there was something missing. Finally we asked him "Allen, have you ever felt that God loves you?"  He said no. Why would he accept Joseph Smith as a prophet if he first didn't know that God cares? The Spirit works miracles.

            The next teaching appointment was equally as powerful.  Sister Brown committed our new investigator to pray about God's vision for his life and next time we would teach him about God’s vision and how he can achieve that.  There was such a powerful spirit.

Sister Rogers  

Here is My New Address
46C Meadowbrook Pl.
Maplewood, NJ 07040

 

Saying Goodbye

Brother Thiong, Brother Jacob, and Me

March 2, 2015

            I'M LEAVING.......  Actually, both my companion and I are leaving.......In fact all the missionaries in the branch are leaving and they will have 4 new missionaries tomorrow.  I'm not sure what happened.  So basically it has been a bit of a hectic week.

            Well since I didn't send a letter last week I'll give you an update. Tuesday we got a phone call from our mission president's wife saying that she wants to go do missionary work with us.  That night we met with our investigator Agya and taught him about the book of Mormon.  Sister Taggart was amazing.   The not so exciting thing we did at district meeting was eating Balut ( it is a half incubated duck egg).  It tasted a little like a gross egg--very horrible.

            New York pizza is the best in the world.  So our awesome member brought a pizza all the way from New York for us to try.  I have never had such good pizza.  The crust was amazing.  Don’t get me wrong Jersey pizza is amazing to, but there is something about NY pizza. Everyone says its the Brooklyn water and I think I believe them.

            Had the coolest experience on my mission.  Camilla(our investigator) prayed for the first time in her whole life.  The spirit was so strong.   God cares so much about his children and it is amazing to see how even the most simple experiences help change us.

            Spending there last couple of days saying goodbye to all.  I’m going to miss this place.

Signing out
Sister Rogers

Grossed Out

Having fun in the car

February 17, 2015

            So at District meeting today we ate balut which is a half-incubated duck egg.  I still feel sick.  Our District Leader made it for us because he and the rest of our district are from the Philippines and that is something they eat over there.  Google some pictures or if you have a weak stomach it might be better not to.

            I’m having a good time here in Elizabeth with my companion, Sister Clarke. We had an awesome Valentine’s Day because a single sister in the ward took us out for Chinese food and bought us Valentines donuts.  They were really good.

            I'm running out of time, but I love you all so much.

Sister Rogers

 

Bad picture of the donuts we got on Valentine's Day

 

Another Week in the Garden State

February 9, 2015

            NO time to write this week, so maybe I will actually get some letters out to you.  We finally have a branch mission leader.  We haven't had one in about 3 months, so we are super excited.  They actually had to move him from the Spanish ward to the English ward because our ward is so small it needed to happen.

            Our investigator who has cancer went to the hospital because he got the flu.  It is so horrible and he is so sick.  His name is Rafael and if you could pray for him that would be great.

Miracle:

            We were about to check out some referrals that had been given to us when right outside the building, a man and his wife were trying to get their car off the ice. They were having a really hard time of it so we spent about 15 minutes pushing the car back and forth to get it on the road.  Afterwards, the husband said we could come back over and we taught them and their five-week-old baby girl the next day.  It was such a neat experience.  I love how God puts us exactly in the places we need to be.

Love,

Sister Rogers

Snow Miracles

February 2, 2015

            Well if anyone was watching the New York or New Jersey news, you would know on Monday when I last wrote they were predicting this crazy storm.  It was supposed to be so terrible that they shut the bus and subways down; In addition, if you were caught on the street past 11:00in New York they would give you up to a $300 ticket.

            The storm was nothing to be alarmed by.  In fact, it blew over and we only got about 10 inches. So I have learned something in New Jersey. Never trust a weather man.

Miracle This Week

            Recently we had received a headquarters referral that a man wanted a bible.  We dropped the bible off, but it became very hard to get in contact with him to see when we could come visit him.  Many times we stopped by and either he would be at work or sleeping.  Of course the night we stopped by, he was sleeping, but his college-aged daughter started asking us questions.  It was amazing how she had grown up in such a strict church (They are not allowedto wear pants or make up).  She was discovering man's truth and God's truth for herself.  She was actively trying to understand what God wanted her to do.  We are so excited to teach her next week.

            We also had called a random less-active in our phone that was not on our branch list.  We met with him on Saturday and found out he had never been baptized.  He just likes being called brother with his last name.  He also came to church on Sunday.  So awesome.

I love you all.

Keep sharing God's love,

Sister Rogers

Snow, Snow, Snow

January 26, 2015

            It has finally snowed in New Jersey.  It looks as if it will be a blizzard.  I'm excited.  I've heard we will be getting everything from 6 inches to 3 feet.  As I'm writing, the library is closing due to the storm, so I better make this quick.

            We spent two days walking because the walking elders needed our car so they could go to a transfer conference.  Gratefully, we met some really cool people along the way or else it would have been a long day.  One of my favorites was a Haitian man by the name of Kola like the drink. He shared with us that on the day of the ice rain he had almost been killed in a car accident, but God protected him.

            I was also able to talk to Sister Papin from my last area today and she lost her job so now she is super excited to come to church all the time.  God works in mysterious ways.

            Crazy thing about Jersey—because of the snow it is really hard to find parking, so in order to save a parking spot, people put out trash cans and chairs in the street so they can have somewhere to park.  It is really funny.

            We had the best surprise Thursday morning.  A member gave us a call and asked what we were doing.  It was about 9, so obviously we were studying.  "Well I'm at the diner right next to your house; come meet me there."  We had the best breakfast every.  I love how much the members care!

            Got to go, the storm is coming.

Sister Rogers

Nothing to Say

January 19, 2015

 

Well family I ran out of time this week, but know that I love you so
much.  Miracles are happening everywhere.

 

Sister Rogers

3 Months to Go

Elaine and myNew Blanket

January 12, 2015

            I learned this week about the power of the atonement in the lives of all God's children.  We have many people that are trying to make it back to church and a lot of them are struggling with addictions.  One of them, Brother Elco, expressed to us his concern that he could not come back to church because he smoked.  We talked to him about how that was a false notion because the Savior wants us to come to church no matter what and he wants us to repent.  The next week we brought a recent convent who also is struggling to stop smoking and her advice to him was to read his scriptures and just keep praying.  It is so amazing how God asks us to do such simple things and miracles come that would never have happened on their own.

            The picture below is one of our beloved members that made me a blanket that is around my shoulders.  Elaine has some special needs, but she is so funny.  She gives all the missionaries nicknames. Some of the names are not so appealing like no-no, turtle, drum, and rice ball.  Lucky
enough I got the name of Singer.  She makes blankets for all the missionaries that serve in Elizabeth and likes to call us 5 times a day.  Elaine is working on going to the temple this year.

            So many of you have noticed that I have been on my mission for quite a while and don't worry I still have a few more months left.  You might be pleased to note that my companion that I am currently serving with reminds me every day that I only have 3 months left and when missionaries leave the mission we call that dying.  So every day I get to hear "You are dying soon."

Love,
Sister Rogers

 

Miracles in the New Year

January 5, 2015 

To my Favorite People,

            The week has been amazing.  The Lord blessed us with 23 lessons and usually the area only get 18 on a good week. 

Miracle this week: We were walking home for correlation when a mother and her son started walking with us.  I asked her how her New Year's went which lead into a conversation about how she is changing her life with the Savior. Before I could even ask if we could visit her, she was giving us the address to her home.  On Saturday we taught Lena and her husband about the restoration.  We asked her husband, Roberto how he has felt the spirit. He told us that as we were talking to Lena he felt the spirit telling him to go listen to what we were talking about.  It was so spiritual.  They even said they would be baptized and Roberto came to church on Sunday.  Sadly they live in the elders’ area, so they will continue to teach them.

            That was the big miracle for the week.  New Year’s we were out contacting at 8 at night.  People thought we were crazy.  It was so cold, but so worth it for the Lord.

            I ;ove this great work.  See you next week.

Sister Rogers

Christmas in Jersey

The love I felt at Christmas!

December 29, 2014

        Christmas was awesome.  The presents I receive where amazing. They filled me up with so much joy because it reminded me how much you love me and that you are all taking time out of your busy lives to think of me.  Best Friends and family ever!  We had so much fun on Christmas with a breakfast to feed an army prepared by our wonderful senior couples.  I had probably 5 strips of real bacon.  It was so good. Though the best activity we did with the zone was making ginger bread houses.  We were under the impression that it was an activity that involved creativity, so of course my district went all out turning our gingerbread man into missionaries contacting a snow man.

            Christmas Eve we had 3½  dinner appointments.  I have never been so full in my life.  The last dinner appointment was a buffet.  We managed not to throw up, which is still a mystery to me because I didn't think I could make it out of there. Thankfully we never get fed like that.

            The best Christmas present of all was going to the temple in New York. It was incredible and I also got to eat a gyro from the street vender outside the temple.  If Aunt Estefania is wondering, I did not get it with lamb.

            I love you all so much and I'm so excited for what the new year will bring.  We are all united in Christ.

Love you all,
Sister Rogers

At at Christmas Party

Our Gingerbread House



Photos of my Zone

Celebration

Christmas concert - I sang a solo!

December 22, 2014

            I'm turning 21!  I never thought I would make it this far.  Getting older while on a mission is weird.  I still don't even feel like I'm 20 and now I have to add another number to it.  It’s weird to think that I would have been just now sending in my papers if the age changed hadn't happened.  That's how God works.  Thanks for all the presents that were sent.  I'll hopefully be able to write you after Christmas. 

            This year for Christmas we have rain, rain, rain, and a few snow flurries.  It is probably a good thing because it is super hard to park in Elizabeth. I regret failing the parallel parking on my driver's test because it could come in handy about now. 

            The Spanish ward and our branch combined for a Christmas party this year.  It was the most interesting church party I have ever been to.  Clowns, Mickey & Minney Mouse, and Santa came.  It also lasted until 11 at night so we didn't get to see how the food went, but apparently they ran out of food because there was 160 people at the party.  It was a bit crazy.

            So here is a picture of my new companion.  She is pretty cool and likes to try on crazy hats at the mall.

 

            I just wanted to end by saying I know Jesus Christ in my Savior.  There is something so special about this time of year when people decide to remember the one who makes everything possible.  Because of the gift he gave I have been healed of the pains that I have suffered.  I know he can heal you too.

 Sister Rogers

 

Transfer to Elizabeth

December 15, 2014

            I went to the beautiful land of Elizabeth.  I'm working in an English branch that also has a Spanish ward in the same building.  The area is so city with tons of people and the diversity is amazing.  Mostly we are the only white girls on the street.  The church building is not actually a church, but an old business building.  It is super fun to be in a branch.  Most of the members are actually Spanish that speak English very well.  The Lord has prepared this place for miracles to happen.

            My companion is Sister Clarke.  She has been out only 3 months and is super fun.  She loves to talk to everyone and enjoys pranks.  I am in trouble.  She is from Rigby, Idaho and loves to run, eat, and do crazy things. 

            So we live in an apartment with 2 other Spanish-speaking sisters.  It is a little different than my last apartment because instead of getting my own bathroom, I'm instead sharing one with three other people. It works out pretty well. 

Miracle this week:

            The church put out a new video called “He is the Gift” and as missionaries we have to share it with 10 people every day.  We stopped a man on the street and had him look up the video on his smart phone. During the video his appearance changed as the spirit of the Lord filled him.  He instantly wanted to share it with his Grandma.  He gave us his number all from watching a little video.  It really touched him.  I felt the spirit so strong.  Such a neat experience.

Sister Rogers

My new address is:

167 Elm St.

Elizabeth, NJ 07208   

Moving Day

Me and Sister Rigby

 December 7, 2014

So I don't have any time because we have to move a lot of things to the car to leave.

Our area is closing and I have not seen so many things in my life.  We took 2 car loads of just stuff.

Sister Rogers

Highlight of the week is I went bowling and scored a 95 miracle

 

Saying Goodbye

Princeton Stadium for Turkey Bowl

The Turkey Bowl at Princeton

 December 1, 2014

            We played football at an Ivy League college stadium – Princeton.  How much cooler can it get?  I even played.  “Don't Fall Over in Your Chairs.”  Sister Rogers actually ran around for an hour as people scored touch downs.  We even had some festive weather with the snow (My area didn't get any because we are too close to the shore).  My team won and I even dropped the football.  

            Thanksgiving dinner was amazing.  Sister Kniesler really outdid herself.  She made food for at least 10 people and there were only 5 of us.  My favorite dishes where bacon stuffing, broccoli and cauliflower casserole, and best of all a French onion soup thing.  I don't know how she made it so good.  I could have just eaten that for dinner and I don't even like onions that much.   We had two homemade pies, pumpkin and apple.  The potatoes and gravy where good, but I miss the Sadler version.

            We were quite satisfied with our Thanksgiving, but on Sunday night we had our second Thanksgiving surprise when a non-member (who has gone to relief society for 13 years) invited us over for dinner.  The turkey was as big as a medium dog.  Right before we ate she told us that the turkey was alive this morning.  She was at the farm and couldn't decide which one to choose until one of the turkeys flapped it wings.  You might say he volunteered as tribute. 

            Bishop Linares is the best bishop in the world.  We have recently been struggling to find new people to teach and we have been doing a lot of door knocking.  We asked him what we should do. He told us something I will never forget. "Sisters you have already done the hardest part.  You came here.  It is really our fault (the members) that you don't have anyone to teach."  That brought so much comfort to know that the work doesn't ride just on our shoulders but everyone has an equal part in missionary work.  That is something I want to try to remember so I can become the best member missionary ever.  It is such a blessing that the Lord is teaching me these things now.

            It has been so amazing to be a part of this ward.  I am going to miss it.

Check about this amazing video about the real meaning of Christmas.  It is so powerful

http://www.mormon.org/christmas?cid=HPFR112814529 

Sister Jersey



Me and my companion at the turkey bowl



My companion at the turkey bowl

Been Blessed

November 24, 2014

            The work isn't always easy.  Actually it is never easy.  That is what makes us grow.

            Well this week I've had a run-in with my lack patience.  The Lord has been trying to teach me this lesson my whole mission and I've had a hard time learning it.  We have been contacting at least 10 people a day and the promise that we received was that we would double our investigators.  It had been a hard week and half of contacting people with no success.  I was ready to give up a bit.  But thankfully the Lord blessed me with an amazing companion.  She talked to everyone, even those who were a little less than friendly.  This is not her typical nature but she decided to give up insecurity and do what the Lord asked her to do.  Mostly because of her, we were able to speak to over 70 people and we got some great potentials.  She is such an example of being patient in the Lord's time.  I'm so grateful to have someone like her to teach me that the Lord fulfills his promises.

            As we have been consecrating ourselves this month, it has been a new experience of sacrifice.  I've discovered as I give up my imperfections (pride, selfishness and fear) to my Savior I have become a much better happier, person.  It has been a wonderful experience.  

            Sorry the letter is so short.  Our time was cut short.  I love you all and am so blessed to have you as family and friends.  Thanks for all the prayers.  I know they have carried me more than once.  I feel your love even all the way out here.  Have a great Thanksgiving.  I love you all.

Sister Rogers

Bury Your Weapons

​My First pair of shoes that I got a whole in. 
For awhile I put tape on the hole so rocks wouldn't get in. 
Missionaries wear down soles to save souls

November 17, 2014

            This week was great.  We talked to almost every single person we saw, which is something that has always been super-hard for me, but the Lord called me to “bury my weapons" just like the Anti-Nehi-Lehi people did.  My weapon has been fear.  I've tried to bury that weapon this week and we talked to 74 people this week on the street!  The Lord helps us to lay aside our weaknesses.

            A cool miracle on an exchange happened.  Sister Shiman and I had driven to find a less-active and as we got out of the car, I said hi to someone getting out of their car, but I did not try to talk to them.  I felt super-guilty.  But there is proof that the Lord gives second chances.  After we were unable to find the less-active, the same girl we saw before was walking her dog.   Miracle!  We talked to her and she was so excited to hear more about the message we had to bring.  God is always planting people in our path to help.  The greatest help we can ever give someone is the gospel.  

            On Saturday our appointment that we had set cancelled and being tired, I wanted to move our dinner up.  However, the Spirit had other plans; I am grateful for my companion who was listening.  We still needed 9 people to contact before we could go home, so I said a prayer pleading for people to be outside that we could talk to (people are sometimes annoyed when we knock on their doors.)  We found four people to talk to us, which was a saving grace.  Even the people behind the doors were nice to us.  The spirit was so strong as we drove home.  We had kept the promise that we made to Heavenly Father.

            We taught the young men this week how to teach the first lesson.  They did such a great job bearing their testimonies.  The spirit was strong, especially at the end where they each got to teach one other about the gospel.  They are going to be great missionaries one day.  Even those new 12-year-olds were so good.

Sister Rogers from the Shore

My New Companion

I got my ears pierced!

November 10, 2014

            Well I forgot to inform all of you, but I got my ears pierced a few weeks ago.  I don't know how I got the courage, but my companions had to hold my hand.  They even took a video of it.  

            Sister Rigby is from Rexburg, Idaho and her Dad works at BYU Idaho in the computer technology department. She is the oldest of four siblings with the next oldest being 17, 12, and then 10.  She love books and talking with people.  Sister Rigby has been out for 6 months, but she has spent all of those in the little area of New York that is part of our mission. 

            Sorry it is super short, but I need to go.  There will be more next week.  Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Sister Rogers

My new companion - Sister Rigby

My new apartment



Furniture inside my apartment

The chandelier