Monday:
We had a fun p-day watching Elder Schnell stuff 58 cheese balls in his mouth! Haha and then for FHE we got to paint pumpkins and gourds. I painted a gourd to look like me. It was a really fun activity! Also, Sister McDonald taught Keith. They found him outside one day and he wanted to be baptized that day. He's been so solid ever since then. He's getting baptized Saturday and once they asked him to stop smoking he just quit. He's incredible!! He came to Stake Conference and a baptism and is going to help clean the temple before his baptism and he's ready for a calling. He's even having his priesthood and temple interview before he's baptized!! This guy is every missionaries dream!
Elder "cheese ball" Schnell
The gourd that I painted to look like me
Two very talented pumpkin painters - Gabbi and Teresa.
Tuesday:
At morning we taught Emily. She informed us that her step father was dying.... So her husband and brother-in-law both came home from deployment. Her husband has only been gone for a month and her brother-in-law only for 1 week. They all flew to Utah to see him. We were bummed because she said she was leaving and wouldn't be back till November 5th. I don't know if I ever told you, but we set a goal to have a baptism on November 8th and we were so hopeful it would be her! We've prayed for that every prayer for the whole transfer so far. She left the next day.
We then drove to Russellville for an exchange with the Hartford sisters. Sister Aiono came with Sister McDonald and I. I just love her. We went to see a few people and then taught Keith again. He's just so solid. After dinner we tracted and we found a member! He just moved in and is Less-active and he said he wouldn't mind having the elders over! We also met a lot of atheists. One told us to keep our testimonies to ourselves. Inside I was like "NO. I will not! God gave me permission to share it with everyone on this planet!" It was so sad to see them and how miserable their lives must be.
We saw Dre. He is doing so good! He had read the intro to the Book of Mormon and he has so many questions! We talked for an hour and a half! He's just so curious! And at the end, we asked him to pray. We all got on our knees and he was so nervous... We explained how to pray and he thought about it... And then he said the sweetest prayer I have ever heard an investigator say. He prayed for us and for knowledge and answers and all sorts of things! It was really thought out and not just short. I just wanted to hug him!! He's the best!
Wednesday:
We got to dress up for District meeting. I was an old grandma, Sister Aiono was a grandpa, and Sister McDonald was our granddaughter that had to wear my clothes and stay with us always. Haha we tied a balloon to her wrist so we could tell where she was at! We also have two Elder Harris's in our district.. And their costumes made them "tourist" Harris and "terrorist" Harris. Haha
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Happy Halloween from the Clarksville district.
Thursday:
We discovered a problem. We added our math wrong and we had gone 75 miles over our limit. Big mistake. So we parked our car and walked everywhere! We had some cool miracles. We met a lady who always wanted to talk with us. She had a Book of Mormon and was super interested so we got her info and we're going to meet with her this week. We met a guy who was interested and we followed up but he was busy. He is still interested though and we thought he wouldn't be!
While we were walking, Emily texted us. She said she felt like the 17th was her day!! We were a little bummed because it was so far away and that's a Monday... But she wants to be baptized!! Miracle!
Lastly we met a girl with a dog that looked like a mop! He has natural dreds! Haha, his name was Maximus Mopsimus.
We had dinner with a member and it was alright. Some form of tacos. I liked it but not enough to eat two. So I sat there while everyone ate more.. It was awkward. We then went to Sports Night and it was fun! Well we taught Chris first. Chris hasn't read or come to church for a couple weeks. No wonder he's not getting an answer. I read the quote from conference that scriptures are more important than sleep and food and work, etc. It hit him... and he said he wanted to read and pray so he could get answers. He's getting back on track.
For Sports Night we played chair soccer.. and had a hand-stand contest against the wall. Bad idea. I've been practically dead in the back for a couple days now. Emily texted us while we were there.... And .... She said...... "I've been thinking about the 8th actually. I still like the 17th but that's a Monday." Ok.. Wait what??? WE THREW THE PHONE AND STARTED JUMPING UP AND DOWN AND SCREAMING!!!! It's a miracle!! We've been praying for that day for 4 weeks!! So she's getting baptized Saturday! We've been teaching her every day over Skype. She gets home Wednesday night and she'll have her interview and meet with us and get baptized!! GOD ANSWERS PRAYERS!!!
Skyping Emily - Sister Rokovitz, Sister McDonald and Sister Oldroyd
Friday:
We had a rough day. It was beyond freezing and our car was at the church, 10 miles from home. We walked to an Investigator, Rainan's place, and he has SO many questions. He is really reading and taking notes. It's so awesome! So we're going to answer his questions throughout the lessons. When we left, Austin was supposed to pick us up and take us to the church... But he was late. So we went next door to see Ebony. Finally he came and then we taught Keith.. And Dre. Oh... for Dre, the last lesson he was dying to know where we go after we die. We said if he read the Book of Mormon we would tell him. So he sat down and we asked if he read it. He said no and we pretended to pack up and leave and he said "where's a Book of Mormon?!" He read his assignment and then we taught the Plan of Salvation. He loved it. I just love Dre and his sweet spirit. I know he'll get baptized one day.
Saturday:
The whole day wasn't going as planned. We were late to a few things because YSA cancel and reschedule nonstop. We skyped Emily for the first time that night. Her sister-in-law was there. She was serving a mission in Colorado Springs but came home for her father’s funeral. In that family there are 10 siblings so they were all there with their spouses and stuff. But Emily got to be taught by 4 missionaries. I asked if I could play a musical number at her baptism and she said yes! Whoo HOO! I'm excited.
Sunday:
Church was good. We got 2 new Investigators from church. Two members had brought their friends and they were both interested. Wayne and Yuri are the two new ones. We taught Wayne that night at 6. It's not every day that you have 12 YSA at church and 2 new Investigators. Miracles!!
The rest of the day consisted of visits, and follow ups. Sister and Elder Bolos fed us dinner and it was so good! I don't know if y'all knew this... But I am known for my cereal and milk obsession here. Elder Bolos always has a glass of milk ready for me. And they joked that the funeral potatoes were special for me because they had corn flakes on top... Cereal haha.
That night we taught Chris who is still just chugging along. He really wants to know and desires to get an answer. We're doing something now where we'll send him a Book of Mormon scripture and he'll send us a Bible one. Next week we'll switch roles.
We also taught Emily on Skype and her sister-in-law was there again as well as her husband. She's just so prepared!! Everything is so easy and not a problem. She's getting baptized!!
It was rough. But because of Christ, I made it. I just wanted to email you all week. I just had a lot of tears and trials. Lots of pleading prayers.
This is kind of hard to talk about, but I want to tell you about an experience I had this last week. I accidentally blew up at Sister Oldroyd last week. Ever since then... Things have been awful!! Oh my heck it's bothered me! It's gotten to the point where she would blame me for so many things. I was trying to stay calm and see her side of things and not react and not bring it up so things wouldn't get worse.... But things got worse anyways. I cried each night as I knelt and plead for help from God. I literally was brought into the depths of humility in order to ask for help. I cried and prayed and wrote down impressions. Nothing I tried worked. It got to the point where I was considering emailing President and saying I couldn't be her companion anymore. I do feel like I'm getting transferred which kills me though. So. As I knelt in prayer last night I just told Heavenly Father that I was having a really hard time loving her. I couldn't. I asked for His love and to help me put aside my selfishness to be able to overcome the trial.
I woke up this morning still sad as every morning. Avoiding eye contact and looking at the ground. I felt as if I had forgotten how to be happy. She finally noticed something was wrong,.., she wanted to talk about it but I didn't because I knew she'd get upset. She did. She left the room and I just cried. Sister McDonald talked me through it and helped me form my thoughts into words. Sister Oldroyd came back down and we all talked to overcome the problems. I've never felt the atonement work more in my life. I felt literal relief as things were discussed, walls were broken down, scars were healed. I knew it would work out. I think the study of prayer lately has really helped me out lately because in this trial I just prayed my heart out and I KNEW He heard me and would help me. I tried not to complain to Him, but rather explain how I felt, and explain I understood He loved her too... And there was a way to get through it. This took so much faith and trust and prayer and study and courage. But we've been laughing today, finally. Things are still slightly awkward ... And tonight Sister McDonald is staying somewhere else because we have a big meeting all day in Nashville tomorrow. So it will just be Sister Oldroyd and I tonight. I'm not worried about it. We can talk more and just rest. The atonement is so real and so is God. I had to fight with everything I had to resist Satan. He wanted to put anger in my heart. I now understand the phrase "tugging at my heart strings." Because Satan was. I tried not to boil over and react or yell. I tried to be calm and speak with love... That's the way Christ would do it. I tried to understand Sister Oldroyd's feelings and where she was coming from. Wow. It was incredible what Christ did for me. I immediately knelt and thanked my Father in Heaven for that. For the help and the love and the courage. The gospel is just real. This has been such a major testimony building experience. I was ready to email y'all today and just complain and murmur. Glad I didn't have to! I'm so glad I got to be happy instead! I love you so much!! I have to go, but I hope you have a great week!
As time goes on... It just keeps getting shorter and shorter. Two elders were saying:
"I go home next transfer"
"And then it's me"
And then I said. "And then it's me........"
Transfers... Only 3 more left and then I come home that 4th transfer. I can’t be this close to being done! I'm not done growing and learning and serving and studying!! I don't want to ever end this! Please understand... I have to stay here forever.
We'll have a great week! I love you!
~Sister Rokovitz~
