Wow so much to say! Happy two months to mee!!!! It literally goes by SO fast! I can't comprehend it.. I'll be starting a day and then it will be dinner and then I'll be in bed and then I'll be up... and on and on and on... It FLIES! I'm really trying to enjoy my time here. Sister Vandenberg told us before she left to really cherish it because it goes by faster than anything else. It really does.
So, Sister Vandenberg is back in Utah.. being a civilian. I miss her so much!! We went out to dinner at Cracker Barrel and sang to her a cool song and she cried!! I really am blessed to have known her before she went home. I can't wait till we can just sit and talk forever!
The Philippines story is so sad. I didn't hear about it actually. Haha Mom... I'm a missionary. We don't even hear about what the weather is going to be like the next day. We literally hear nothing. Nothing. In fact when we went out to dinner one time with 2 members they mentioned that there had been several shootings on Vanderbilt, right near our home. But I really hope no missionaries are hurt. I feel so bad for the families who don't know yet.
I'm so glad Mia got her letter. That melts my heart that she was so happy!! I love my little buddy and miss her so much!
Want to know something way cool?? Drum roll please....dudududududuududududududuudududuu
I GET TO SING TO A GENERAL AUTHORITY ON TUESDAY!!! The General Authority who is over our mission is coming to visit and president loves our musical talent and he's been wanting us to sing his favorite hymn for quite a while now. So Sister Tenny (Sister Hulme's new companion) is playing the piano, and me and Sister Giles and Sister Hulme are singing Brightly Beams our Fathers Mercy. And I have a solo!!! I've wanted a solo since 7th grade. That’s 7 years ago!!! AND NOW I FINALLY GET ONE!!! I am beyond stoked for this!! It's going to be one of the greatest experiences on my mission. I can't wait!! I also can't wait to see how singing with my heart beating out of my throat will go... should be interesting.
Also.. the Country Music Awards happened here in Nashville this week, but... that doesn't mean anything to us as missionaries. Just thought my country music loving papa would want to know. And also I don't know if you know who Alex Boye is... but he was in our ward on Sunday! WHAAA??! Cool right? I didn't get to talk to him though because our ward was busy flocking to him.
So about this week...
Monday: We had to have our last hurrah with Sister Vandenberg... Dinner at Cracker Barrel. It was so... not as yummy as I planned. A $10 meal... blecky. But the other memories were good! We sang and gave her letters and laughed. I sure miss her.
Tuesday: Sister Vandenberg went home. Saddest day of my life!! We had Elder Horner "finagle" a way for us to sing at the transfer meeting so we could go. I got such a good hug from her when we left! We walked down the hall a little ways, stopped, turned around waved, and repeated that process all the way down the church hall. I cried. She is one of the greatest friends I have now!! And she's gone!!
Also later that night we got a text from a less active named Devin. He wanted us to come over and talk. So we took a ward member and went over. He told us he is ready to come back to church. He struggles with drinking, and is just sick of being miserable. He knows he can turn his life around or stay in misery. He has had a rough life. He is incredible and has an amazing testimony!! He really has a true desire to come back. We gave him a chapter to read and then we were on our way. The meeting was awesome because the spirit was so strong there!
Wednesday: Devin texted us in the morning and asked if we had anything else for him to read. WHA?! So we gave him another chapter and some specific things to look for. He is so cool!! We invited him to Institute but he said he had to work till 8:00.. but... lo and behold, who shows up to Institute about halfway through? DEVIN!! He made it! We also met with Cha (Shay - I've been spelling it wrong!! Haha) She is so awesome. She is struggling with her goals still but she has a desire. We invited her to Institute and she came!! And she sat with a member and she laughed and payed attention!! WHOO!! She also asked us after if we could teach her how to study the scriptures!! My heart just swells with so much joy! I cannot get over how great she is! (P.S. Before institute... we were tracting in the rain and we got soaked even with our umbrellas! Haha good memories! Especially when I stepped on what I thought was a curb... it was a skinny deep mud puddle. Oh missionary work!)
Thursday: So.. during Sister Giles FaceBook teaching time, we saw a picture that Cha posted. A ton of drinks with the caption: I may or may not drink all of these. BROKE MY HEART! Seriously. When we went to teach her that day I hardly spoke. And she seemed a little tipsy and not all the way there. My heart hurt so bad. She slipped. I just want to make her not drink and repent and get baptized!! But I can’t.. and it hurts. Hold on. I just received inspiration: That's how the Savior feels for me!! He loves me so much and rejoices when I succeed! When I slip it hurts his heart so bad! He still loves me and still helps me push forward but he is so sad. REVELATION!! I want to try harder to make my Savior proud. Anyways.. We also met with Nancy that night. Nancy is a referral from the Green Hills elders! She's amazing. So we all went and taught her together. She is solid! The spirit was definitely there. And she said she would get baptized if she found these things to be true!! WHOO!! I love people! And the gospel!
Friday: We met with Cha and watched Finding Faith in Christ with her. I told her to pay attention to the spirit as she watched it. And she watched intently. It was awesome. The spirit was totally there helping her realize what's important. She re-wrote some goals and I told her that now is the best time to start. It will only get harder the longer she puts it off. Hopefully it helps.
Saturday: We met with Cha and helped her clean her apartment. It was fun. At one point she turned on her music really loud and me and Sister Giles looked at each other like "Crap! What do we do!" And I kinda looked at Sister Giles like "I'm the Jr. companion, I don't know what to do, you take care of it - haha it was funny. She was fine with turning it off and instead we learned a hymn with her. She really likes doing that! We also met with Latasha and Dorothy. We found both while tracting in the same complex, but we didn't know they were related! So we got to teach both of them together! Dorothy keeps calling it the Book of "Norman" Hahahaha kills me every time! Latasha seems to understand it more and same with Dorothy. Hopefully we can bring the spirit more the next time we visit.
Sunday: Oh boy did I have a migraine!! It was terrible!! I kept thinking of excuses to go home instead of be at church but then I knew that was wrong. So I powered through it. We had lunch at Chrissy's house (the girl who got baptized the weekend I got here). She's awesome. When we got home for studies I prayed so hard to be able to push through it and do the work even though what I really wanted to do was just lay in bed. I was quite dizzy while studying but I kept going and I REALLY trusted in the Lord. I ate a good dinner and then got in a 15 minute nap. And I was fine. Amazing what prayer, faith and endurance does for a person. I am learning so much about my Savior and strengthening the relationship that I have with Him while I am out here.
Last night we were going to an appointment with Kyle ( a member ) but the appointment wasn't home. So instead we got to talk to Kyle a bit. He is a convert of one year. He was a really strong Catholic and well versed in the Bible. He was even dropped from the missionaries twice!! Eventually he had to beg the elders to baptize him! And he's been strong ever since then! He really strengthened my testimony. He said one line that is either from Bruce R McConkie or Jeffrey R Holland that I just loved: "We worship the Father, in the name of the Son, by the power of the Holy Ghost." I loved that.
Mom... I can't tell you how much I am grateful to be out here on a mission. You were right. I was meant to come. Dad was right, I can do it. I was doubtful... and now I am here. Doing it. Growing SO much each day. It's incredible. I love the work. I love this gospel. I know that my faith and testimony is enough for now. It grows each day and then it is enough for the day. I love it. Thank you for believing in me and not giving up on me. This is where I am meant to be.
Have a great week! I love you so much!!
Love Sister Rokovitz
