Bye Pecan Park!

Well-- Transfers have come yet again and I will be leaving Pecan Park. I am SO sad. I found out on Friday night, even though I saw it coming it was still really hard. Fun fact. My last 5 companions have only been for one transfer... so that has been crazy.

I won't know where I am going until later tonight, but next week you will have an update on how my first week was in my new area! 

Okay and now I will tell you about Pecan Park. Ah I am SO sad to be leaving... this place has changed me in such a different way than West Lake Houston changed me. I feel like I have grown so much in this area as a person. Every area is so different, but I can honestly say that this ward and these investigators have a place in my heart as well! For sure! It was SO hard to say goodbye to people yesterday- but I know that wherever I go is where the Lord wants me to be. 

I think one of the biggest lessons I have been learning here is to submit to what the Lord wants/asks of us. And now that it is time for me to leave, that is the way I look at it. It doesn't make me happy to leave, but I am able to view leaving in a different way. I don't know if any of this makes any sense. But I have an example. 

There is a Mormon message called The Will of God. WOW. I will tell yall about what it says. There is this bush in a man's yard that is large and full, but it doesn't have any fruit. The gardener walks up to the bush and cuts it down until it is nothing more than little stumps, and the bush starts crying as if to say, "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME? I was growing up so big and beautiful! Why did you cut me down?" Then the gardener responds, "I'm the gardener here. I know what I want you to be. I didn't want you to be a shade tree, I want you to be a currant bush. One day you are going to thank me". Then much later, the Currant bush is beautiful, has full branches laden with fruit and says to the gardener, "Thank you for loving me enough to cut me down".
THIS IS HOW I HAVE FELT. These past few transfers have been an incredible learning experience but growth isn't always super easy. I wish I could tell you everything I have learned, but in a nutshell, this is how I have felt. I was pushed a LOT, and felt very cut down by EVERYONE. I said to Heavenly Father, "Why would you do this to me? I was comfortable, I was happy, I had the people I loved and the people that loved me, I had my strength and testimony, why would you cut all that down? Why would you take away the things I want? I was already a good person!" Then I heard Him say to me, "Oh my child. I am the gardener here. I know what I want you to be. I don't want you to just be a good person, I want you to become like me. I have the plans for your mission, and I know what you have the potential of becoming. I have to take away these things so you will grow and become even more strong. One day, you are going to thank me when you have the fruits of your labors. Do you trust me?" And wow it hit me so hard. I know that even when things are hard, we can thank the Lord for cutting us down because this is how we are going to grow. 

I found a quote by Richard G. Scott, 

"Just when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more. (prov 3:11-12). He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion which polish you for your everlasting benefit. To get from where you are to where you want to be requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain...This life is an experience in profound trust- Trust in Jesus Christ". 

I don't know how to even finish this thought process, but basically being about to leave an area you have come to love is really hard. It hurts a lot, but I know that Heavenly Father is the one who holds the plans for my growth and He knows who He wants me to be. This is just another trimming of my branches. 

Leading out this area was really hard. I felt like I had no idea what I was doing and I felt like I was going to mess everything up. Granted, I still made tons of mistakes I am sure, but I learned SO much from this last transfer. I can testify that what President Doty always said is SO true. You really do come to love those you serve and it is powerful the miracles that will happen when you love and have faith in the Lord. I know that everyone here is in His hands. 

Alejandro didn't end up getting baptized yesterday, and while it really hurt to have everything "fall through", it helped me learn yet again that when things fall apart, they are just falling into the hands of the Lord. I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for Alejandro and that eventually things will work out. I just want them to be happy and realize that the gospel is what really matters, not just for this life but for eternity. I am going to miss them TONS though! 

I love this ward. I have learned a lot from them as well. Things are so different from ward to ward but there are amazing examples everywhere you go. I am so grateful for every experience I have had here, even the hard ones, even the heartbreaking ones... Heavenly Father has the game plan for my mission and I trust Him! 

I love you all so much! Thank you for the support, love, encouragement, positivity, and friendship. You are the best :)
Love, Hermana Rogers

Sidenote: We had zone conference and WOW. I received so many answers to questions I had. I wanted to share this with you. 

10 QUESTIONS TO HELP YOU REALIZE YOUR POTENTIAL:

1. Do I read the scriptures daily?

-personal revelation comes from individual study of the scriptures

2. Do I REALLY pray and not just say prayers?

3. Is my fasting meaningful?

4. Do I go to bed early and get up early?

5. Am I essentially a happy person?

6. Do I work hard?

7. Am I more concerned about HOW rather than WHERE i serve?

8. Do I love everyone?

9. Am I striving to become 1 with what I know I ideally should be?

10. Do I share my testimony with everyone?

These questions can be applied to everyone! Live up to and discover your potential! :) I love yall! Have a great week! 

It's "Finna" Storm

Have I told you all already about the word "finna"? It means "fixin to" but in shorter language. I love texas. But anyways. I don't want to freak you all out but there is a storm heading our way. We probably won't proselyte tomorrow, but just wanted to let you all know so that if you hear news about it, just know that we will be okay! Our leaders are taking good care of us and God will protect us! We don't know what else will happen this week but I am sure we will be able to let you all know.

This week was amazing! BIGGEST NEWS:
ALEJANDRO RECEIVED PERMISSION FROM SALT LAKE TO BE BAPTIZED!!!! We are SO excited. I wasn't there when Hermana Hurst got to tell him, because I was on exchanges, but he will be baptized this next Sunday :) Happy Father's Day daddio! We are really happy and Alejandro is very excited. I will let you know how all that goes!! 

In case you didnt remember-- sorry I have been bad at keeping up with people we teach, but Alejandro is married to Janet, who was baptized the transfer before I was moved into Pecan Park- we have been teaching him the whole time I have been here and baptism is something he really wants- really their ultimate goal is to be sealed in the temple. They are the greatest! I love them so so so much :)

The reason I wasn't with my companion to tell Alejandro was because I was on exchanges with Hermana Conrad- we went to her area and RICKY ALSO GOT PERMISSION TO BE BAPTIZED! :) He was the one that Hermana Conrad, Hermana Bidstrup and I found in a Taco Cabana when we were on exchanges. We taught him lesson one and committed him to be baptized right there in the taco restaurant while it was pouring rain outside. He was an INCREDIBLE miracle and he will be baptized this Saturday, so I am extremely excited for this weekend :) 

We have the CUTEST VIDEO ever of him finding out that he can get baptized! I will show it to you after the mission I guess! 

I don't know if I had found this out by last week, but JOSE, the one that we had found that wanted to be taught and attend church in English, has a baptismal date for the 11 of July! We are super happy for him and the Elders are doing work with him-- so even when things that you love are taken, just trust that God has things better in store and He will take control! I have been learning that lesson the hard way with quite a few investigators lately, but things are all working out! 

This week we have gotten REFERRALS/TEACHING OPPORTUNITIES FROM MEMBERS! Aka the greatest thing a missionary can get EVER! :) It has really boosted our morale and given us more people to teach. We are stoked. 

The first was when we were with a Recent convert family that we are trying to take to the temple. We were teaching them and showed them a video called "the Hope of God's Light". The whole time we were watching it, the son was crying and said, "Mom that was like me. Thats what I felt like. That is how I learned" etc. It was a really spiritual moment, and then afterwards we were leaving and his girlfriend (they are probably late 20s)-- she said to us, "Hey so I have been thinking, and I was wondering when I could start my classes". We were pretty confused and asked what classes she was talking about, then she told us that she wanted to take the lessons!! She said that she had been listening to the mother of this family as she read her scriptures out loud, she had asked a lot of questions, and she wants to start coming to church! :) We are really excited to teach her :)) (She came to church on Sunday and she really liked it!)

This week we spent a lot of time serving-- I think that is what is getting us in with the members so much more. We made 150 cookies one morning and divided them up on plates and made a bunch of deliveries and asked what we could do for the members. One family we went to visit, the mom invited us right in and we went inside to her UNFINISHED HOUSE. They don't have any sinks set up, they all sleep in the same room, (her husband and 2 kids and herself). It is a really nice house but they just moved in and are remodeling it while they live there. The kitchen was PACKED with boxes. It was crazy. So we asked what we could do, and initially, she said nothing. But we talked to her for a while, and she showed us around the house, and there was SO much to be done. So we asked again what we could do and made some suggestions about where we could start. We spent a couple hours at her house moving boxes into the attic, playing with her kids so she could get things done, cleaning and organizing toys, etc etc. She was SO grateful. The next time we went over there, her daughter RAN up to us and gave us these butterfly notes she had written on. She called us her special friends and asked if we could keep coming over forever. It was heart melting. And she made us cookies and drew on the plate which cookies were for Hurst and which cookies were for Rogers. It was SO sweet.
That member brought a friend to church on Sunday :) 

Okay one other miracle! We were on bikes all day Saturday, and at one point, we pulled over and went to this gas station to use the restroom. As we were walking out and unlocking our bikes, we saw this guy-- we were walking past and he yelled out to us, "Wait. What church are you guys from?" We told him who we were and he asked if we teach people. He basically just said, well will you write down all my information and come teach me sometime? I am free on Sundays!" It was so cool how Heavenly Father puts us where we need to be, even if it is entirely unexpected opportunities like that! 

Sunday night we went and visited a bunch of people! We finally found our long-lost investigator Eric that we had been looking for this whole transfer. Turns out he was in San Antonio for work and just barely got back. We just happened to see him outside as we were driving past- we had thought he was ignoring us. 

We also finally for ahold of Carolina- the mother of the 3 little boys (the 10 year old that was giving really profound super sweet answers during our first lesson with them). She said that her sons would be gone for most of the summer except the youngest one, but it was so good to see her again! She said that we could go by and visit her anytime! Hopefully from now on she will be a little easier to get ahold of! ;) 

We also contacted and taught an adorable little group of old ladies at a McDonald's one morning :) It was super fun and turns out one of them is childhood friends with a member of our ward! They are both from the same place in Mexico! So fun! :) 

Anyways that was the big events of our week in a nutshell! Look forward for an exciting email for next week haha it should be an interesting and eventful one that's for sure. I will try and be better about including things I am studying about and learning in my emails home! Today I forgot my study journals and notes from everything but it has been a great week!
I love you all so much! Hope you have a great week!

Hermana Rogers

By the way we are getting calls this Friday night to find out if I will be leaving this area-- I really hope I don't, but it is a possibility. I would leave next Monday. But that will be news for next week I guess! I love you all! :)

Helaman 5:12

And now my sons, remember, remember that is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall. 

What a Unique Week!

Okay so I will do my best to give you all an accurate description of this past week!
I think I could sum it up in one word.

INSANE! 

Haha but so wonderful at the same time! We taught like crazy this week which was amazing-- we also were able to find opportunites to serve which was even cooler- because as we were serving, it opened so many doors! I love service! 

I'll talk about the funny/crazy stuff first- This week we ate some of the most interesting food! We had frog legs in some seafood restaurant... but it tasted like they were still swimming. Haha we bit into them and they juiced out into our mouths and it was the weirdest sensation- I would love to not experience that one again in a while. It doesnt help either that instead of having the frog legs like little drumsticks of a chicken, it looked like they just cut the frog in half and threw it in a frier. The legs were still attached to the spine, flippers and all. Super fun experience. haha. 

THEN I FINALLY HAD MENUDO! I heard about it for the first time in the MTC, everyone would warn us about the menudo-- it basically is intestine soup, and depending on how well it is washed out, you might get some digested material stuck in the intestines still. Suffice to say I was terrified for the day I would have to eat it. That day came this past week. So we were teaching our investigators Isabella and Douglas, and they looked a little uncomfortable so we knew something was up. We stopped the lesson and asked what we could do for them and Isabella told us, Well he has to go to work in about an hour and I still havent made him lunch. So we jumped up and started helping her cook while Douglas got ready to go! hahaha then we saw it.....MASSIVE slabs of intestine sitting on her stove just cooking in their intestine juices. But she was so excited to have us help her prepare it, she invited us to stay and eat with her! What a blessing! :) Well it wasn't AS bad as I was expecting, but man there was times it was really hard to choke down. But I was grateful for them being willing to share their food with us. Apparently Guatemalans prepare Menudo differently than Mexicans, they just leave it in huge chunks and eat it with some tamales and rice, whereas in Mexico they put it in a soup- so I had intestine tamales.
THEN.. that same say that we had eaten menudo for lunch, we went to a members house for dinner and they gave us these wonderful sandwiches!! It had ham, avocado, shredded pork, onion, tomato, beans, white cheese, yellow cheese, chorizo, and then this stuff called Chicharron. Basically Chicharron is straight up pig fat... or skin...or sometimes both! If you're really lucky, there's still little hairs on it! Mmmm.. but the sandwiches were really good. I've also heard that Chorizo is just basically blended cow-- all the stuff that doesn't go in normal beef is in chorizo. It was fun. Quite the eating experience to say the least. 

Aside from that, it was a week full of miracles. 

So one day we went to our bishops house and helped them pack up a ton of things because they are about to move into a house they are building (WHICH IS GORGEOUS) but anyways. We helped Hermana for an hour or two, then went to an appointment, and as we were about to go to another appointment we had, that person cancelled. Earlier that day on our way out the door, we saw one of our neighbors packing things up and we asked if they needed help, and they said maybe later. SO because Eduardo's appointment fell through, we had a bit of time to come back and help our neighbor move. We went and knocked on the door, expecting to find one of our neighbors at home but INSTEAD, a different neighbor was in there. (turns out they are sisters) Wow this is confusing. 

Anyways so we helped out for a while, then told her we needed to leave and she said, "okay thats fine. But before you leave will you do me a favor? Will you pray for me?" So we asked her if there was anything in particular she wanted us to pray for and she BURST into tears. She told us ALL these things about her family, boyfriend, kids, work, home, food, money, etc and was SO stressed out but had been holding EVERYTHING in and no one knew she was struggling. But because we were there helping her clean, she opened up to us. We were able to go back to her house and say a prayer with her, and as we were walking out the door, she yelled out to us asking if we could come back another day and have pizza or something. So we agreed and will be eating pizza with our neighbor soon! Sidenote me and Hermanas Davies and Johnson had tried to talk to that neighbor about the church and she didn't want anything to do with it, but service opened that door wide open and now she trusted us and asked us to pray with her. It was just a cool experience of how even when our plans don't go through, Heavenly Father always has a backup. :) 

Then later that day something similar happened-- one of our appointments cancelled, so we went to try and see Janet and Alejandro, but they weren't home. So as we sat there wondering what to do we had the feeling to try Janet's familys house-- we had been teaching her brother and mom, but her brother had a lot of concerns and mom talks over him all the time. We just really wanted to see him alone. So we went over there and only Marvin was home so we had a lot of time to talk to him and see everything that was going on in his life and he opened up to us a ton. It was really cool. 

One night we were about to go knock doors and said a specific prayer to find someone that just needed to talk and that we could bring comfort to (kind of like the experience we had with our neighbor was what we thought we had in mind). We went to this park, talked to these people for a little bit, then right as we were about to leave, these 3 girls walked up. We started a conversation with them and turns out they are homeschooled, haven't talked to anyone in a long time and were really lonely and wanted friends. So we sat with them at the park and showed them videos on mormonchannel.org and just let them tell us about themselves. Their dad was sitting in his car at the park so after a while of talking to his daughters, we introduced ourselves to him and he said that we needed to talk to them because they don't listen at church. So we will see where that goes! It was funny though how Heavenly Father answered our prayers and gave us exactly what we asked for, just not in the way we were expecting. 

Another miracle! There is this less active recent convert that we had been trying to contact for a while, but didn't know where she lived and she wouldnt answer her phone. Then we got a referral from hermana Williams to try and contact her mom! So we found out where she lived and went over there. The house is all fenced in and there is no way to get in unless you have a key or someone comes and lets you inside. So we went around the back of the house to see if there was any way into the fence, and on the porch balcony we saw the door open and her mom walked out! So we waved at her and she knew exactly who we were! She let us in and we were able to get to know them :) The timing was perfect. 

Okay one more! So right by where Carmen and Alejandro live there is this lady named Marcel. She has been saying hi to us and talking to us almost every time we are in the area (which is a lot). One day she stopped us and told us she was Mormon and wanted girl missionaries to come by her house. So we called the english sisters, tell them about this referral less-active and yeah. Time goes on, the sisters got flushed out and apparently had never gone over there. So she asked if we would just teach her-- we told her we were the spanish missionaries and she started telling us about how her husband got mad when the Elders were coming over so she just needed someone to teach her again. We went over a couple times this week and turns out SHE ISN'T ACTUALLY A MEMBER, she just calls herself a Mormon because she has been talking to missionaries FOR 15 YEARS. Ah it was crazy. So basically she has been reading the Book of Mormon and Gospel Principles on and off for 15 years. Yesterday while we were there she told us that she feels so much peace when she reads the Book of Mormon, its like all her stress melts away and she is super happy. She said that happiness lasts her way more than with anything else she does, and she is less angry, etc. Wow it was an awesome lesson! So we are pretty happy about her! :) 

Also we made dinner yesterday for a family that feeds us every Sunday (the family with the 6 kids where 2 of them are members) we haven't seen the brothers for a long time, but yesterday we made dinner for the mom and the oldest son! Are you proud of me?? I cooked! Well...my companion mostly but I helped a little bit and learned alongside her :) haha. 

Well that was pretty much the events of this week and as far as things that I have learned-- WOW I couldn't explain it all in words. This transfer for me has been a huge transfer of growth and learning and I feel like my eyes have been opened a lot. This week the Elders came over and gave me a blessing because I had been pretty sick-- my stomach wouldn't hold anything in and I couldn't sleep through the night for a week and a half or so. It was pretty bad but I was just going to ignore it until it went away, but thankfully Hermana Hurst is a lot more wise. So we called over the Elders and they gave me an incredible blessing. I thought it was just going to be a blessing of health, but Heavenly Father knew better. It was mostly a blessing of comfort- and wow did I ever feel comforted. I think the most powerful thing that stuck out to me was that Heavenly Father was proud of the person I am becoming. Hearing Him tell me that was amazing. Then at one point, he said, "According to your faith you are commanded to be made whole from any infirmities" When he said that, I felt the pain in my stomach (that had been there for DAYS) leave me. It was similar to the experience I had in the CCM and wow it was just such a reminder to me that God loves me- the Priesthood is real I just need to be aware of and seek for those blessings. I heard exactly what I needed to that day and it was amazing. i have also had some pretty amazing lessons taught to me by my companion. Sometimes I feel like I am the investigator and I just need to listen to her teach me. But I have learned tons from her. This past week I was focusing a lot on asking myself the question, "What do I need to do or change in order to become the person Heavenly Father wants me to be?" and I learned so many things, but one of the biggest was that i need to just live up to my privileges and understand my divine identity. Heavenly Father is proud of me and when I accept that I can continue to do my best to make him proud. 

I found a renewed sense of motivation this week, I learned ways to make change happen, and I learned how I feel the Spirit. All these are lessons I will continue to learn throughout my mission, but I was so grateful for the little glimpses I got this week of my potential and purpose here. It was amazing.
Well this has gotten really long and I have to go! But I love you all so much. Thank you for the love and support that you always give me!
Hope you all have an amazing last week of school and that everything goes well with finals and field day and golf retreats and all ;) I love you!
Love, Hermana Rogers

Disciples in the Digital Age

I officially have an ipad in my hand! Well...sitting on the table next to me at least. I am using a real computer for this email haha. BUT ANYWAYS. It has been crazy to start working with an ipad-- I felt so out of the loop with technology! It is so cool.

First of all, GOSPEL LIBRARY! Did anyone know HOW MANY THINGS ARE ON THAT?! I was downloading for days, there are videos, talks, pictures, books, hymns, magazines, preach my gospel and other manuals, conferences, suggestions for teaching, lessons, categories for family, sharing the gospel, children and youth, leadership, temple work, etc. IT IS SO AMAZING. 

Also- the church's websites!

mormon.org

lds.org

mormonchannel.org

to name a few. We had an investigator "do some research" before we came over because he had a lot of questions about mormonism. He found some random websites about facts of the mormon church and suffice to say Google isn't the best resource to learn about the church. So I started showing him the websites of the church and I GOT SO EXCITED! The Church has SO MANY RESOURCES for people to learn more, ask questions, read about our beliefs and values, watch videos, etc. I love it. I accidentally said, "Wow. I forget sometimes how cool the church is and then I see stuff like this"... my companion heard me but I dont think he did thankfully. I didnt mean it like that but I didn't really process we were with an investigator and that I really do think the church is cool haha. My bad. But that was just a funny moment of this week. 

Okay I am going to go back to Monday and update you on everything that has happened since I didn't take the time to on Wednesday. SO a couple weeks ago on Saturday we were on our bikes, riding to an appointment when my companion stopped and looked at the apartment complex across the street. There was someone sitting outside on their porch and she asked me if it was one of our investigators- we came to the conclusion it wasnt, but that we had already made it awkward by standing across the street staring at him forever, so we decided to go over and talk to him. We went out of our way walking across 4 lanes of traffic with our bikes to go contact this guy. By the time we went over there, there was a younger guy standing next to him. Their names were Jorge and Jose. 

Jose was the younger one, and he told us that he was about to go inside, but his uncle saw us biking past and then told him, "Wait right here, those 2 girls are going to come talk to us" (way before we even knew we were going to go over there) anyways, we taught them a little bit, then set a return appointment on Tuesday with Jose. 

Jose in the first lesson with him opened up and told us a whole bunch of things that had happened to him in the past which all led to this point of him looking for religion. He was catholic, but for some reason felt the need to look in different places still. He loves to learn and has a desire to know everything he can about God. he has an amazing relationship and trust in Heavenly Father already, he just wants us to talk to him and teach him so he can learn more. 

Thursday we went over to see him again. He told us that when he had woken up, he was thinking about us and he couldn't figure out why because he thought the appointment wasn't until next week. But then we texted him and asked if we could still come by and we did. HE HAD READ THE PAMPHLET AND FELT CHILLS WHILE READING IT. He told us that he had the same questions as Joseph Smith so he could relate to everything that happened, but had a lot of questions about the "mormon book". We showed him the Book of Mormon, then he asked us, "Do you need the Mormon book? So...can I have this one?" it was so awesome. :) He told us a lot of his doubts about religions he had been in before, and one of the things that he brought up was that he wanted to be a Catholic Priest, but he also wanted to get married. He said to us, "It's hard to balance both those things with the Catholic church...sounds like it would be a lot easier with your church". Man Jose is so awesome. 

We saw him one more time Saturday and then invited him to church and he said, Yeah sure! I'll go- thats how I will learn about yalls church right? I have to go! 

But.......he told us he wanted to go to church in English. Basically my heart fell out. So we will be handing Jose off to the English Elders this coming week, but he was such a miracle opportunity to teach him this past week- we will see what happens with him I guess. We went to church in English on Sunday to be with him and that was awesome- he stayed all 3 hours and said that Principles of the Gospel answered a lot of questions of his. It was cool- the class was on the Holy Ghost and that was something he had questions about Sunday and we did our best to answer everything, then he came to church and got to learn more about it! :) He is AMAZING! 

Also another new family!! Carolina and Joe and their sons Hector, Adam and Royal!!!!!!!
SO they were sitting in the back of their car one day as we were walking around this apartment complex, so we went over to talk to them and showed them Because He Lives video. We set a return appointment with them this past week and OH MY WORD. It was AMAZING. So we went over and the kids were kind of rowdy- we got to know Carolina a little bit, then asked the kids if they wanted to learn more about Jesus, and they came running over and sat down. (They are 10, 8, and 3). We started with a prayer, taught the kids about prayer and it was the cutest thing ever. We asked TONS of questions throughout the lesson and Hector had the sweetest answers. For example, we show the picture on the front of the Restoration pamphlet (Christ holding the lamb) then ask people what they see in that picture, how they think the lamb feels, how they feel, etc. Hectors answers were so sweet and my heart melted. The whole lesson, he was paying such close attention and answered every question so sweetly :) We got to the part of the Restoration and wow. The spirit was REAL. We told them about Joseph Smith and that he saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and as we showed them the picture, Hector's eyes were glued to the pamphlet. He reached out to hold it, and then just held it in his lap so carefully and just stared. We bore our testimonies to Carolina and I felt so much LOVE. I had tears in my eyes and I really felt everything once again, the Spirit testified to my heart that everything we were teaching was true. Carolina said she felt peace in her heart. We explained that those feelings were the Spirit, testifying that these things are true. It was so strong in that room. Royal was running around and being kind of crazy, but at that moment I didn't even notice at all. We told Carolina about the Book of Mormon and showed her a copy that we had been carrying around for days (it was kind of run-down) but when she held it in her hands, she said like, "wow. I can't believe I've never heard of this book before" and just stared at it and looked through it at the pictures. We told her we could bring her a newer copy and she said, "This one is perfect". Meanwhile Hector had started to read the entire pamphlet and his little brothers were poking him and trying to play with him, but he just went over into the corner under the lamp and started to read. It was the sweetest thing ever. That was an incredible lesson- Hector said the closing prayer and my soul was a puddle haha my heart just melted. Carolina thanked us SO many times for coming over and I had so much gratitude and love in my heart for them! Wow. Being a missionary is the coolest. 

Those were a couple major highlights of this past week. :) It's crazy how my emotions just get played with out here -- what with having to hand off Gerardo and now Jose- I realize how fast I have come to love people and WOW it is amazing the capacity to love! I am so grateful for all the people I am coming to know and love out here in Houston Texas. 

Pues-- that's pretty much all I have for this week! But sidenote- Now that I have an ipad, I have kind of been going all over reading conference talks so if you have any suggestions of ones I should read, I would love to know :) I will likewise pick ones out to share with you all!

One of the ones I read this week was 

The Greatest Generation of Young Adults by M. Russell Ballard

"what we need now is the greatest generation of young adults in the history of the church. We need your whole heart and soul. We need vibrant, thinking, passionate young adults who know how to listen and respond to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit as you make your way through the daily trials and temptations of being a young, contemporary Latter-day Saint".

I thought about this and how the theme for the youth this year is about serving with your heart, might, mind and strength. If the youth learn how to do this now, then the transition into a mission won't be hard, and then the transition out of a mission won't be as hard because we will already know what it means to serve the Lord- on and off the mission field. I am learning bit by bit that I am forever going to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, whether I have a nametag or not. I am grateful that I am learning here what it means to love and serve so that I can forever build up God's kingdom. :) 

I love you all so much! Hope you have a great week! Thank you for all your support, love and prayers! 

Hope you have a great week and good luck with finishing up school and everything!
Love, Hermana Rogers