Our last District picture before the transfer this week.
I had the best studies this week! I finished the Pearl of Great Price!!! And I love it so flippin much!!! Then I get to start the New Testament! It's amazing! This has just strengthened my testimony so much. I know more now than ever that God lives and He knows us so much more than we even know ourselves. It's helped my prayers a ton and my faith.
I know that Heavenly Father was watching over Cory. He even told me so. I found a scripture this morning in D&C 100.
1 Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, my friend [Sister Rokovitz], your families are well; they are in mine hands, and I will do with them as seemeth me good; for in me there is all power.
2 Therefore, follow me, and listen to the counsel which I shall give unto you.
3 Behold, and lo, I have much people in this place, in the regions round about; and an effectual door shall be opened in the regions round about in this eastern land.
4 Therefore, I, the Lord, have suffered you to come unto this place; for thus it was expedient in me for the salvation of souls.
Heavenly Father told me He's taking care of y'all and He has a plan and He brought me out here to help save the souls of Tennessee. Isn't God amazing?!
Every time I study and read my scriptures this week I just feel my heart pounding with the spirit. It's so crazy! I love the scriptures so much!
Brittney and Sharlette are coming to FHE tonight for the first time!!! We've put a TON of effort into this activity. Richard is doing better. We're helping him focus on him and Christ. No Amelia or anyone else. He's getting better! There is still hope! No news from Luke. I think it's so true what you said about young adults this age needing to find a place to fit in. That's why we tell everyone to just TRY coming to the branch! They have no clue what it's like and they don't know the people. But when they end up coming they love it! So we're getting there.
So on to this week:
Monday: We played battleship dodge ball for FHE. It was a lot of fun! And the good thing was a YSA planned it and not us! He did the lesson and also made chocolate pie for refreshments. He's one of the best YSA! He's so kind and outgoing and willing to help in any way he can. Reminds me of my brother,Cory.
Tuesday: We had a miracle! We were looking for Less Active's and we went to the house of a girl named Brook. She is active! She works at Wendy’s right across from our apartment so we went to see her and get frosty waffle cones. She has wanted to come, she just hasn't yet. If she wasn't working tonight she'd come to FHE. But we've been praying for good active girls!!
Wednesday: This day was cool. We fasted. We fasted to find the prepared, the Less Active who need us, and the members who need us. It was hard. We asked the Spanish elders about a YSA in their branch. They told us where her parent's bakery was and we went there. Bad idea! They loved us! They gave us free Tres Leches and truffles and mini cheesecake! And we were fasting!!!! Haha and it was SUPER hot outside. We then went to contact another one... and while we were driving, in the space of 10 minutes, the temperature dropped 25 degrees and it rained like none other! We were soaked when we ran from the car to the building! It was crazy! It's been raining and thundering a lot this week and I love it!!!! I'm obsessed with the rain out here! There was a storm at 4:30 a.m. and I tried to keep my eyes open to watch it... but I couldn't do it. Ok back to the miracles.We also contacted a referral from the CV1 sisters. His name was Ricky. He. Is. A. Miracle. He is interested and had a lot of good sincere questions. He hadn’t read the Book of Mormon but he promised to come to church (he didn't.) He was sincerely searching for truth though! We're going back this week.
Thursday: I accidentally ate my whole tres leches cake for lunch... and I got a migraine. So bad! It would get bad and then slow down, then get bad. It hurt to look around. We went to dinner and had Mexican lasagna which was good... but then they brought out dessert and that kicked the headache back in. We taught Richard out in the sun and he was just struggling that day. He was focusing a LOT on Amelia. We tried to help him focus on Christ but it wasn't very successful. He was real mad. He left and went to tell people about the Book of Mormon on the streets and he ended up getting punched for it. He came to sports night swearing up a storm thinking it was cool. I snapped and said "Richard! Do not swear! Especially on church grounds!" He knew it was wrong and said "oh... ok" and was fine the rest of the night.
That night I sat out of ultimate frisbee because of the migraine. But it was ok because SEAN WAS THERE! Sean is a recent convert.. who got offended after he got a tattoo. But he came! I got to talk to him and he was back to normal. He had popped his hip so he was sitting out. I'm so glad he was there! If that's not a miracle from God, then I don't know what is. We all went to Sonic that night too. When we got home my migraine was just taking me out. We planned in the dark. As soon as we were done, I took out my contacts, prayed and went to bed with a wet rag on my forehead. As I was falling asleep I was just crying thinking "Heavenly Father, this hurts so bad! Please take it away!" Then a thought came to my mind... "This is just a few moments in Gethsemane." It's true. We must all suffer a little bit. I had done wrong by not eating a good lunch... and I knew it wasn't a good lunch... and so I had a consequence. But I knew the Lord knew how I felt and that comforted me a lot. The Lord knows each one of us so personally. He takes care of us and comforts us. That's why its crucial to turn to Him in every moment.
Friday: We got to go out to dinner with Abbie this night. She was so excited about her mission! She just asked loads of questions! She's such a great example to me! She's the only member in her family and she's stayed strong for a year and now she's going on a mission! She went through the temple the next day and she said she absolutely loved it! I'm so glad!!!! Lastly we taught Richard at the church. We read scriptures with him about Alma the younger and how it applied to him. So many things clicked for him! He would pause and say "OOOhhhhhhh!" Haha That lesson went so well. I've been trying to use scriptures more in my teaching and this lesson just proved how well it worked. DUH! It's the word of God! It's what we're teaching... it's supposed to work like that. I'm finally getting it!
Saturday: We got the transfer call early that morning and I was just so excited.... but Sister Frampton just loves this area so much! She was just sobbing. This is my favorite area so far! This day was long... we made up some fliers for a Book of Mormon reading challenge and had to copy those. We then contacted a Less Active.... He got baptized a year ago and is already inactive. It seemed like he got baptized for the experience and to be "saved." It's so sad that people can't see the deeper meaning behind the covenant of baptism. They don't understand how real the gospel is and how it can be applied in their life.
After dinner we went to teach Richard. Another investigator, Eli, stopped by to say goodbye to Sister Frampton. I think I mentioned him a while ago. He's actually becoming interested! He said he'd read the Book of Mormon when he finished the book he was reading. Well he finished and said he'd start reading it! He is a good guy.
We had a great lesson with Richard about focusing on him and Christ. A lot more things clicked for him. I shared the scripture in Phillipians 2:12 about working out your own salvation. He knew then that he needed to focus on his testimony rather than trying to share the Book of Mormon with everyone he meets on the street. He also made up a Mormon rap and performed it for us! And we just took a lot of fun goofy pictures. I love Richard!
Sister Frampton, Richard and me.
Richard, Sister Frampton and me.
Sunday: What a long day. We went to church and... my mouth dropped... Gwen was there with her roommate. I have no clue why... but she was there! And she acted like nothing had ever happened! I'm stumped. I bet she knows the church is true and she was wrong... Also Calvin came!!! And we discussed with Brother Frogue about calling a YSA couple to be over sports and activities and help run it instead of us doing that. They know exactly who to call!
After church we sped down to the other building, eating lunch on the way, and went to 5th ward. Then we met with the 3rd ward bishop and he's on gear for YSA. Then Annalee, a YSA showed up and her and her brother helped with knowing who people on our list are. YSA is going so well! The Stake President knows how important it is. He even sent out emails to all the bishops saying to not give any YSA callings in their homeward.
We came home and had the hardest time staying awake for studies!!! It was rough! Then we had dinner and just crashed. Before we went out, we decided to do some last minute work and just go for miracles for the last night. We stopped by the home of Annie. She is a Less Active that we made one visit to and she started coming. We asked her to be the chorister and she said she would love to! We got to talk with her and her mom for an hour and they were so fun! Normally Annie is shy but we have something in common... we both want to do Video Production! So we talked about her classes and projects and stuff. Then we made one more last minute attempt and knocked on Caleb’s door. Thank goodness it was pitch black! He couldn't see us through the peep hole so he had to turn on his porch light... which is a dead give away of "You're home!" So he answered and we discussed the Book of Mormon again... Sister Frampton said a lot of inspired things! He often tries to look like he's thinking deeply about what to say but really he's just stumped and has no clue what in the world to say. He said once again he'll read it... We'll see.
I just want all y'all back at home to know how much I LOVE the gospel! It means everything to me! The more I read my scriptures, the more I love it. The more I serve, the more I love it. If you don't feel this way about the gospel, something might be wrong. Do what it takes to gain a testimony so you love the gospel too!!! I read in 2 Nephi 9 today and verse 40 says : "the righteous fear them not, for they love the truth and are not shaken." I love the truth and I will never be shaken from my testimony. This has brought me more happiness than any other moment in my entire life!!! I know.... when I got my car, that was pretty great... when I ate grilled pizza for the first time.. that was pretty great too. But that happiness fades. This one won’t ever fade!!!! Just try it out, you won’t regret it.
I love you so much. I know you know that. But I just say it over and over so you know. I love you!!!! Have the best week ever!
~Sister Rokovitz~
America, Peace and The Book of Mormon
KENTUCKY!!
Skateboarding in a skirt.
Too many bug bites.
