Never Drink Slushies

We were able to go to the zoo today with one of our members for p-day.... Oh my goodness. There were camels. That's about all I cared about once I saw them. They had a deal where if you have a slushie cup (which our member who took us had cups for us) you can get free refills all day long... So we had a competition and I did 4 with my companion. The headache that I have now was totally not worth it. Especially since I lost. I feel like I'm going to die in a slushie coma. I got a zoo shirt though! I have been wanting to go to that zoo since I got to the mission!

We saw Joe this week and he said being Mormon wasn't for him. He said he's not ready to convert and make a huge life change. We said "we're not here to convert. We're here to bring people closer to Christ" then Sister Lefevor got him to let us come back next week to show him the restoration and answer questions he's been having about the Book of Mormon. So he tried to drop us but we wouldn't let him.

We haven't gone back to Lexi's yet. Her sister is the one who took us to the zoo. Apparently Lexi got married to the boyfriend she just met and moved in with.

Sister Christensen’s mom sent her a picture of the snow on the mountains in Utah from that cold weather this last week. I wish that would happen here. It's glorious when it gets down to 85!

I had so much to say about this week but I can't even think right now. Oh but 2 cool things real quick. Gwen set a baptism date for August 2 - my birthday!!! Haha best day ever! And I don't know if I told you about Dan. He came to church one

Sunday with a member and we taught him and he agreed to be baptized! It was going to be July 5th but now it's going to be the week after. He didn't make it to church yesterday. Ok I have to go lay down. Never drink a slushie ever again!!!!

Remind me next week to tell you about a study I had yesterday. It was so cool! I feel like the last two weeks on Sundays during studies I've just recommitted myself to the work and got pumped about it.

I love you!!

~Sister Rokovitz~

                                                                             

Zone Conference this week.

Hump Day (Amber's 1/2 Way Mission Mark)

I loved your box soo much! I've worn the shirt every single night. I've also slept with Pohako the camel each night. Yes, his name is Pohako. I died laughing with all the "camel" treats! I lined the bottom of my journal pages with camels. We also threw them at each other so there are random camels ALL over the apartment. Thank you so much! And I about died when I saw the Nashville Tribute Band CD!!! I've heard rumors that Nashville Tribute Band is going to do a concert here... They did last year and the whole mission was able to go. Fingers crossed!!!
                                                                           

Me with my Hump Day camel, Pohako.

Opening the Hump Day box that you sent me.

I love my Hump Day t-shirt. "What day is it?"

"Hump Daayyy! Woot Woot!"

I did love the Facebook post!! I wish I was allowed to comment on it... Just "liking" it is lame. But I loved it.

Haha sorry I was so rushed last week. I'm calmer now.. So about my wonderful companion: This is her first area and she's been here for 5 months, as of yesterday. She is from West Jordan. She is 19 and went to BYU-I same time as me!!! Ah! And she has 5 siblings and she's the baby. Any more questions?

I did see Larry's posts. He is so sweet! So I told him that when I come back, I'll bring y'all to meet him. So we have to go see Larry next year. Did you know when I get home, that will be his 1 year mark?! Then he can go through the temple!! How cool would it be if he went when I came back? Oh and he wants to do baptisms soon, and if he goes to the Nashville temple, he wants me to be baptized for his Mom!!!

Ok so about this week... we had a good one! We got lost several times. In fact after institute I was driving and driving and driving and it was a dark road with lots of trees and really windy... Sister Lefevor said "this doesn't look right" so she pulled out the GPS and we were WAY far away from home! Haha we barely made it by 9:30 p.m.

I've really fought to stay focused. When I get up I'm trying to remind myself why I'm here, who I'm here for, what my purpose is and how I can conquer the day. I really focus during my prayers and try to focus during studies as well. I'm trying to think about Heavenly Father throughout the day. It's helping.

The Lord has also been teaching me a lot lately. He's has taught me about humility, patience, and diligence. I guess that's what I get for studying the Christ-like attributes chapter lately. But I've learned a lot. Mainly... This time is precious and very short. I can't hold back and expect to go full throttle later. I have to work my hardest now. And besides, I don't want any regrets. So I'm working on just giving it my all every day and not wishing I was somewhere else. I'm going to be positive, appreciate the moment and enjoy the work.

We found 2 less-active's who we've been trying to contact for a while and they seem excited to come to activities!!! Heavenly Father placed so many small puzzle pieces together so we could find those less-active's. He delayed us by visiting someone, he delayed us at stop signs, and put us at their homes at the exact time we needed to be there. He also did that with an investigator named Joe. We were just lifting our hands to knock and he came up the stairs. This was our second visit. We asked if he had read the Book of Mormon and he said "yeah I'm only through the first book of Nephi though ..." AH! He's read all the way to Nephi in a week! He loves it and keeps feeling like God is trying to give him a message but he's not listening close enough.  Well... I think we can fix that. It's amazing to see how Heavenly Father has prepared him.

Ok. Lastly, a story to brighten your day. Once upon a time a member's sister moved out without telling her. The sister, Lexi, moved in with her boyfriend. The member knew her address and asked us to tract into her. So we tried last night. We pulled in, prayed, and then I asked which car was hers. Sister Lefevor pointed one out and then a jeep pulled in. She said "THAT'S THEM!!!" And we laid our seats back so fast and laid there. I sat up a little and watched them go in. Then we called the Fort Campbell sisters and asked them to help us. As we're on the phone, I see Lexi walking back inside!!! Haha she came back out for something so we threw ourselves back again! So we're freaking out hiding in our car. The sisters tell us to come to their complex. We see Lexi's door open again... She came out and walked towards our car!!! (We realized later that our pass-a-long card in the windshield was a dead give away.) She was pacing on the sidewalk looking at our car. We decided to drive to the building where the sisters were so I had to sit up..(randomly appear from nowhere) turn the car on, and drive away pretending to be just one normal person in a car! HAHAHAHAHA she totally saw us! Anyways, it was close to 9 p.m. so we had to leave. But it was a fun adventure! Stalking missionaries. It's our job.

Oh and we're keeping all our cereal boxes from the transfer. We have 5 boxes 2 bags down. We buy 2 boxes and a bag each week and 2 gallons of milk. I love my companion.

We've had a blast finding people and being in the rain. It's getting really humid! Possibly a cause of the migraines. I have 15 minutes left of p-day. We just finished a birthday party for Sister Hess. And we ate cheesecake and played cards and I win every round..... cuz I cheated at the beginning. I learned that from my poppa. HAHAHAHAHA it was fun.

Ok I love you!

~Sister Rokovitz~

P.S. I got a Facebook message from the Illinois elders yesterday and Terry contacted them!! Do you remember Terry? The golden investigator?! He contacted them and said our testimonies touched him and he wants to join the church!!!!

                                                                           

Missionary Minion.

Out by a field.

The fields are alive......with the sound of music!

Creepy place in the middle of no-where.

Major football fans.

Cleaning the car on p-day.

My companion, Sister Lefevor, eats bread, cheese and cereal.

Cereal party, a nightly thing.

Loving Clarksville

Hi!

To answer all the questions you asked:

- How did transfers go? What was the day like?
Oh my... Transfers. I had such a bad migraine that I almost threw up that night in my new area! We missed the whole meeting and I was sweating like none other and I was tired but I found my companion finally and it went well after that.
                                                                             

- Who did you find to take you to transfers?
Sister Kimmel and Sister Young took us. We got a hold of them at 11:00 p.m. the night before. Sister Kimmel had to replace a tire so she couldn't come get us until 8:30 a.m. and then she had to tie my suitcase to the roof of the car so we didn't leave until 9 a.m. and we got lost in downtown Nashville. So we got to the meeting a half hour after it was over!
- What is your new companion like?
I love my new companion! She actually spells it Lefevor. She is so much fun! She loves pranking people and she loves milk and cereal too!!! We are keeping all our cereal boxes from the transfer to see how much we eat. We eat it for a lot of our meals... She's from Utah and she's been out for 3 transfers, this is her 4th.
                                                                             

- Do you go to FHE and institute with these Young Single Adults too? 
Yes!!!
- How do you like the ward?
I love it! It's actually not even a branch yet... But we're getting there.
- How do you feel about being in another YSA ward?
I'm so stoked. It's honestly a relief to not have so many people to take care of and not adults... YSA is just where I belong!
- How is the teaching pool in your new area? 
We have a few investigators. We have a new one named Gwen who has been taught for a while by other missionaries. Her concerns are she doesn't like the idea of eternal punishment for anyone, as in outer darkness. She likes reincarnation. And she believes all churches are good and right.
- How did Sister Schenk feel about being transferred so soon into her mission?
She was not happy. She was so sad and stressed but I think she is going to do just fine.
- How far is your new area from your old area? 
2 hours. It's 40 minutes from Nashville.
- Do you have a car?
Full time. I've been so spoiled!
- Do you use the library for emails or the church or what?
Church or McDonalds. Church today but still on ipads.
- What is the town like and the area?
It's like a smaller Nashville. Populated, 2 sets of missionaries in our complex and 3 sets close by. We get to see other missionaries!!! It's so much fun here! We live right next to the Fort Campbell military base so a lot of people are military. One of my Nashville YSA's lives there and I saw him the other day!
- What time does your ward meet on Sundays?
9:00 a.m.... But for the weirdest reason they have a meeting at 7:15 a.m.. It's terrible.

We've been doing a lot of finding this week. We have a list of 600 Less-active Young Single Adults in the area that we're finding and we've been tracting. We have a new game for tracting where we knock, I'll say a random word, and Sister Lefevor will have to use it in the conversation. Oh we laugh so hard! We switch at every door and you never know if your door will be answered or not.

Last night we were Less-active hunting and we met a girl who is active in the family ward.  She is a nanny for her relative. The relative she is staying with is named Amy and she is moving to Hawaii soon. Well.. not soon, when she finds a job. Her husband is in the military and is getting transferred there. She is a nurse and will have to work and so she needs a babysitter for her 4 month old boy. She's moving to Oahu and so I told her I might be able to help her out with that because I mentioned that I had family there.... She said "oh this is such an answer to my prayers!!" So maybe Terri has some teenagers in her family or older daughters who could babysit. I've been praying that there is someone there to help her.

Here's a miracle from this week that happened while tracting: We met this really cool guy the other day. His name is Caleb and he has heard of the church before. We gave him a pamphlet to read and when we went back yesterday he had read it!! But he said he didn't believe Joseph Smith was a prophet and the Book of Mormon wasn't necessary. We asked questions to understand his views... And he ended up saying he thought we were wrong but he didn't have evidence to say that and he's never read the Book of Mormon so he can't say it's wrong. We asked if he believed that God answers prayers. He said yes. So we asked him to take a leap of faith and read the Book of Mormon and pray and ask God if it is true. He asked if we had an extra copy of the Book of Mormon. I was shocked and slowly handed him the one I had. HE'S GOING TO READ THE BOOK OF MORMON!!!!! It felt so good to testify by the spirit and to have him accept. We are giving him 3 weeks to "bake" and read and pray. I'm so excited. That was such a miracle.

Things have been going good. It is so nice to have a fresh start. I had a commitment renewal yesterday. I studied sacrifice, repentance and accountability. I felt so renewed! I renewed my commitment to serve. Sister Lefevor and I are doing the 40 day fast together and ever since we decided that, we have seen miracles. Like with Caleb. The Lord spoke through us... The spirit was there and we asked inspired questions and testified by the spirit! It felt so good!!! Yesterday we made goals as a companionship and one of them was to dedicate 15 mins of every meal time to the Lord, to read scriptures or study etc. I'm reading Jesus the Christ and I can't put it down! I love it! I feel closer to my Savior already and I know this transfer is going to be full of miracles.

Also... There are Piggly Wiggly's here. I shall shop there one day haha. I'm sorry this is so short. Thank you for your support and advice and all you have done for me. Have a great week!

I love you so much!!!

~Sister Rokovitz~
       
 (Amber did not give explanations for these pictures so I can't really tell you what they are about. Also, some look a little fuzzy or blurred because she takes a picture with her iPad of pictures that are on her camera and sends them to us while we wait for another SD card in the mail.)
                                                                             

It's Transfer Time Again - Surprise!

Our day has been beyond stressful. Ok.. Here's why I'm stressed. WE ARE BOTH GETTING TRANSFERED. Yeah. Didn't see it coming at all. I have never been wrong with a transfer call. I knew we were staying. Nope. Both leaving and elders are coming in. So we have to pack, prepare the apartment, leave info about everything, and find a ride... and it's stressful. We have to find a ride that has a man coming so the elders can ride back and someone who can fit 6 suitcases and a bike.... so far we have NOTHING!!

So I'm sure you want to know where I'm going. You'll never believe it. Clarksville YSA!!!!! AHAHA Back to a YSA! It's in Tennessee right on the border of Kentucky. I thought I was finally making it to Kentucky. YSA is in my blood! I'm going to be with Sister Lefevre. She's only been out for 3 transfers. Sister Schenk is going to Columbia Tennessee with Sister Pingston... Don't know who that is, but she's only been out a short time too... So we leave tomorrow morning at 7:00 am. If we have a ride that is... I can't believe it. It's been weird.

I had such a bad migraine yesterday because I fasted breakfast, ate lunch, went to choir practice and had to skip dinner because of the performance. The headache made my ears buzz and I was close to getting sick. I was so grateful that our members were so hungry and decided to stop at DQ even on a Sunday. They had to get just a small something to hold them for the ride back. I got a water and sipped it the rest of the way back. The migraine is gone now though. I rubber-banded a warm cloth to my forehead last night. Genius!
                                                                             

Trying to get rid of my migraine

The piano songs went great! I had all of them down except one that is painfully hard. Not even Elder Alarcon could play it. Sister Schenk tried and she couldn't get it either. So we played it for him before and he suggested dropping a lot during the key change. He said he didn't care what I did for the right hand as long as I had a steady bass line. I wish he had told me that earlier. So I had 15 minutes to rewrite the song and practice it. He also gave me the option of just playing He is Risen out of the hymnbook instead. It just sounded so dull because the piano song added SO much to it. I knew that it would be ok to play the hymn or have him play it... but I also knew that I would feel like a failure to myself. So I had to just play it. And I DID IT!!!! I did it! I slaughtered it but it was singable and beautiful and it worked better than I had ever imagined it would!!!!!! Prayers were said every time before I sat down to practice all week. And they paid off. It was such a miracle. I knew that Heavenly Father would guide my fingers and ease my mind so that the spirit could testify to the audience and that we could praise Him through song. It was the coolest miracle ever! Then we had a notebook signing party after. The whole zone is getting swapped around.
                                                                             

Our missionary choir group (Amber is 3rd from the left.)

Ok so now a tiny bit about the week. Jully came to church yesterday and didn't even sit by us, she has her friends in the ward now, which is fantastic.  We went over and taught more about the restoration and watched the video and her husband Greg was there and he watched it.  I was pretty nervous for him to see it since he doesn't do religion but he didn't say anything negative. Hopefully he felt something.  It was sad on Sunday because we told everyone we are leaving. That is mission life. Amber and her fiancée came to church with their daughter Bailey. I hadn't met Amber's fiancée before so we were a little nervous. He seems nice though. Cathy came to church as well, bless her heart.  She is sad to see us go. I want the best for her.

Now for the sad news of the week. We went to see Roxanna during the week and we scheduled an appointment with her and when we got to the door there was a box with all the scriptures and videos we had given her, outside the door. I started saying, "oh no she is dropping us." We knocked and knocked on the door but she didn't answer. We tried calling her but nothing. We left a note on her car. It was really hard. We thought everything was going great with her and she had a baptism date and Brother Cardin had been coming to her lessons. The worst part is we don't even know why she won't see us. I can tell you now that Satan is real and he works hard on those who are making good choices. He doesn't want us to progress and follow Christ. I am sad that we have to part ways with her like this. Keep praying for her.

The humidity is starting to peek it's head out. It rained a bunch the other day and then it got humid, like a rain-forest.  I could see the moisture in the air, seriously.
                                                                         

Big black rain clouds.

It's getting so green here. I love it.

Tonight we are going to go see a bunch of investigators and less actives and teach them one last time. I will try not to cry. I really do care about these people especially our investigators and I want them all to be loved and taught the gospel. If any of them get baptized I can go though, which is great. I bore my testimony on Sunday and basically cried and said "I love you all so much" That about sums up my whole testimony......... I said I knew the church and Book of Mormon was true too though.

Oh and the fireflies are everywhere out here!!! There was a field with about 80 flashing! And one night while riding bikes we were trying to catch them mid-air with one hand. That was so much fun! I love it out here!

And now I know that my summer is going to be even hotter. Going more south. Whoopee. Time for buns!

Ok I have to go. I love y'all so much!!! I will write a better letter next week!

~Sister Rokovitz~

                                                                               

A donkey....right in the middle of no-where.

Last district picture together.