Weekly Update 1-13-14

She found Gold Canyon In Keokuk!

Mission Leadership Council in Iowa City.  All the Sister Training Leaders & Sister Jensen!

With Sister Murphy & Sister Pratt.

With Sister Pratt!

Dinner after MLC.

Enjoying seeing Sister Murphy again, Halee's first Companion in Mt. Vernon.

Hey there Fam!

Man... My first week in keokuk is down! And I absolutely love it! This week was pretty busy though.. we were really only in Keokuk for about 3 days this week. haha On tuesday, we drove to Iowa City and had Mission Leadership Council, which is a meeting with President Jensen and his wife, the assistants, and all the zone leaders and sister training leaders. It was an all day meeting... 9am-5pm.. but man, it was so great!! We were able to set our new goal for the mission. After a lot of inspiration, praying and discussion, our new goal for the mission is a little different. Each missionary's goal they are working towards is whatever the unit's they are serving in goal is. Its a little different, but it was truly inspired. It is so that we can work closely with those that hold the keys for missionary work in each area (bishops and stake presidents). It's helping us to come together as one as the Lord and the prophets have asked us to. We will be hitting the yoke at the same time! I am pumped. We talked about a lot of other things at the meeting as well. It was really great. I got to see Sister Murphy and Sister Pratt and some other missionaries I hadnt seen in a while, so it was really great!! On Wednesday and Thursday we were in Kirksville, MO for exchanges and Sister Alston and I gave a training for the Quincy Zone Training Meeting. My first exchange as a leader! It was wonderful! On Friday we were in Burlington to give another training at the Nauvoo Zone Training Meeting. Then we had friday night and saturday to come back and work in our area. We didn't get to see a lot of people but we did what we could. We are working with a lot of families! The Lord is blessing us a lot. We actually had a pretty cool experience on Saturday... Sister Alston and I were out looking at apartments because we are moving this week. The members we live with are moving to Georgia... so send mail to the mission address please until I get a more permanent address. ANYWAYS, we were checking out this one apartment... IT WAS A TOTAL DUMP. Heavenly Father definitely did not send us there to find an apartment, but He did send us there to find Cynthia. She was the lady showing us the apartment. We turned it into a teaching opportunity and talked about church and the restoration. She was SO interested. Talking about how she wants to come to church because she doesn't like her church she is at now and wants us to come teach her and her 3 daughters who are all above the age of accountability. IT WAS GREAT! man, I seriously love the spirit and I love Heavenly Father. He is helping us SO MUCH! 

Church was cancelled last week so I finally got to go this week and meet all the members! Everything is going great here. We are pretty darn busy this week with exchanges and things, but I'm super pumped. I just love being a missionary. And I really just love my companion a lot. Sister Alston is the perfect companion for me at this time. She has helped me so much already. I know Heavenly Father loves us. We are all His children and He wants us all to recognize that we are a part of one eternal family. I love you guys so much. I thank you for all your support. Keep living right!

Love sister Halee Rogers

Weekly update 1-6-14

Last District Bowling before transfers

Saying good-bye to the Dillons where they lived in Fort Dodge.

Sister Murphy is also a Sister Trainer Leader.

Sad to be leaving Sis Eggett!  

They are planning a trip to DL when they are done with their missions.

With Sister Alston, her new companion.  They both love DP!

Their brand new jeep!

Only 156 miles!

Trying to stay warm!

With Sister Alston ??

Hey Yall!
Welp... This week has been eventful. First off, I want to say that our mission ended the year of 2013 with 545 baptisms. Only 5 short of our goal of 550. That is 99%. Man, its been incredible. In the last week of the year, we baptized 30 souls! Thats the most people baptized ever in one week in the Iowa Des Moines Missions. It was very incredible and wonderful to be a part of it!

Now, to the news you are all probably wondering.... WHERE AM I??? Any Guesses?? I am currently serving in good 'ol Keokuk, Iowa right on the mississippi river! Yes... also right across the river from Nauvoo!!! I moved from fort dodge... which means I am now on the complete OPPOSITE side of the state and mission. My new companion is a Sister Training Leader as well, her name is Sister Alston. She actually was my sister training leader in Mt. vernon. I am so pumped to be serving with her!! We have already been having a great time. We are over two zones, or 7 companionships of sisters. We live members in Keokuk and we also just got a present from the church. We are now the privileged drivers of a brand new 2014 jeep compass equipped with 4wd! Yeah... its a boss! When we got it in Iowa City, it had 150 miles on it. That is equivalent to the drive from des moines to iowa city. Man... this car is spiffy and we felt like straight up movie stars rolling out from transfer meeting on thursday. Everyone was jealous. It was a pretty good feeling. haha

This week is a busy week. Sister Alston and I wont be in our area much this week, we will be driving a lot. We have Mission Leadership Council in iowa city tomorrow and then we have exchanges in kirksville the next day, and the we have to do a training at Zone TRaining Meeting in kirksville on thursday and then we have another training to do in burlington on friday. It'll be fun though! I am so excited!

This past week has been great and i am so thankful to have Sister Alston here to help me get to know everyone in Keokuk. Although, she did pull a little prank on me on friday. She had one of our investigators pretend to be someone else and that he wanted to be a polygamist and a bunch of stuff. It was crazy... but it was pretty funny. haha Theres a lot of anti stuff out here. People think mormons are crazy and not a lot of loving feelings towards us around here. But I know I am here for a reason and I am excited to work! I am so blessed to be here serving a mission. I love you all so much and want you to know that Jesus Christ is central to everything. He and our Father in Heaven are the only people we need to please. They love us so much. As a representative for Jesus Christ I have been blessed to have experienced such a love. My theme scripture right now is 1 Jn.4:18 "Perfect love casteth out fear." Strive for that perfect love! Pray for it and YOU WILL NOT FEAR!!! I love you so much!

Weekly Email 12-30-13!

Christmas Eve at the Bishop's.

Christmas Eve 

Reenacting the Nativity!

Great Cast!

Music with Sister Rogers & Elder Belliston!

Christmas Morning at the Rhoten's!

Her little buddy Jackson Rhoten!

Tim Tam Slams

Showing the Hermana's what Tim Tam Slams are!!

The Jensen Family.  She will miss them!

Good bye pics with everyone!  Hermana Eggett!

Elder Belliston- Zone Leader!

With Sister Batty- her companion!

With Natalie Dillon- the family they live with!

With Sister Quiroz!

She will miss Sister Batty!

With Elder Clark- Zone Leader!

She will miss Jackson Rhoten!

Wedding they attended!

Last District Meeting!

Hola Family!

I hope everyones Christmas was great. I know mine was! I'll tell you all about it. Christmas morning we went over to the Rhotens home. They are a couple in our ward... and they have the two cutest little kids. Anyways, we went over there at about 8 am in our nice PJS:) and they had stockings for both sister batty and I. They had a bunch of presents labeled "A" and "B". So I was sister A and Sister Batty was sister B. We got some sweet gifts from them! It was such a blast! We also took our gifts from you guys over to their house so we could open them. It was way nice. We then had breakfast, played a little bit with the kiddos and then headed back home to get ready for the day. We got home got looking pretty nice and then it was time for me to call you guys!!! Man, I was so excited to see all of your faces! I miss you a lot and appreciate all that you are doing! Seriously, that was the best present to see you. The hour went by way too quick but atleast we got to see each other for  a while!! I LOVE YOU! After skype.. Sister Batty and I and the Hermanas in Webster City went to one of our less actives homes.. the one that gave us the pepper spray! haha we went and ate a little bit and just talked and had a great time. Before we left there we sang them a fewChristmas songs.. it was fun. After that, we went back to the Dillons house(our house) and just hung out with everyone! We played catchphrase for a while which is SO DANG FUN! haha we were all rolling laughing cause it got pretty funny. Then we ate some yummy food with their whole family! After dinner we continued to play more catchphrase and then sister batty and I went to another members home for a little while and had a nice lesson. It was a pretty laxed day... but man, was it a good one! I  am so grateful that it turned out to be such a great day.

Thursday and Friday we just had weekly planning and district meeting and then saturday we went and taught at the prison as usual. Then we went to a baptism... the Elders had an investigator be baptized! It was so great! They found this lady 3 weeks ago and she stopped smoking cold turkey and was baptized this past saturday! MIRACLES! Anyways.. it was awesome. Then we went on like a three hour exchange with the Sister training Leaders and the headed out to Stanhope for a wedding of one of the Hermanas investigators. It was a blast. I wish I could've danced though... that was kind of a bummer. But then we got back that night and the next morning got up for church! Sister Batty and I as well as the webster city hermanas all spoke in church. I did a litrtle calling to repentance but in a loving manner and the spirit definitely worked it all out!! I took lots of pics with people yuesterday because it could've been my last sunday there cause I wasn't sure if I was leaving for transfers this week or not.

So... that brings us to this morning!! At about 8am I got a call from President Jensen informing me, that I have been called to serve as a new Sister Training Leader and that i will be leaving Fort dodge. Sister Batty will be staying here and getting a new companion. I'm a little nervous because I don't know that I'm ready to lead and be in charge of other sisters yet... but I guess if the Lord thinks so, I can do it with His help! I'm anxious to find out where I am going and who my new companion will be! We find out thursday. Which reminds me... all mail for me should be sent to the Mission Office and not my Fort dodge address or else I won't receive it!!

Welp... Thats about it. I love you all so much. And I am grateful to have such a wonderful family. Keep working hard to share the gospel... our salvation depends on it. I love you!

Love,

Sister Halee

Weekly update 12-23-2013

Hey There!

So my subject to this email "Big Week" has a couple meanings. This last week has been a pretty big one and also, this coming week will be a big one! Lets start with this week...

It was great!! We taught a lot and just had some pretty cool experiences. Most of which happened on Saturday. So.. Sister Batty and I teach every Saturday morning at the Fort Dodge Correctional Facility AKA DA PRISON. We teach five prisoners, members and nonmembers, all males though. It's pretty tight to be honest. We always have someone there with us though, so don't worry mom. ALso, I only had to go through the metal detector twice my first time visiting.. so that was a plus! Anyways.. this week we taught them the restoration and it was solid! The guys are way cool! So on our way back home from the prison we drove by an apartment complex that one of our potential investigators lives at. We were planning to go see her later that day but Sister Batty and I just decided that since we were in the area we would just stop then. We went and no one was home. But as we were walking back to the car I stoppped because I heard a baby crying. I look over and in a parked car in a car seat there was a baby just screaming. Let me remind you that it was about 10 degrees outside. This child was frigid. So we looked around and didnt see anyone near so we went and knocked on the apartment a few times that the car the kid was in was parked in front of. After knocking for a few minutes no one answered.... So we werent just going to leave a baby crying in a car in the freezing cold! So, I called the cops. First time dialing 9-1-1... of course it happens in Fort Dodge. haha The cop came and started looking in the car and the all of the sudden a lady comes out of the apartment we had JUST knocked on a few minutes ago. She comes out and asks what is going on.. we told her we heard the baby crying and she acted quite surprised to see her child in the car. She hurried and grabbed the carseat out of the car and then thanked us. The baby looked like he had been in there for a while. Poor guy... he honestly could have died. The cop talked to us for a few seconds and then went to talk to the lady that left her child in the car. We left the scene just thanking God that He led us to that place at that time. If we wouldn't have been there that baby could have froze to death. We were both just very thankful that we were worthy of the Gift of The Holy Ghost that led us to the right place at the right time. It was a very humbling experience.

 

Later that night, Sister Batty and I went to visit a less active lady. She's way cool. She has tats all up her arms, is a dang good singer, and has a sweet motorcycle. haha Anyways, before we left her house she gave us a present for Christmas... guess what it was? PEPPER SPRAY! It was sweet! It even has a cute little case and everything! I'll show you when we skype:)

 

Everything else went really great this week. We are working hard and staying warm. Yesterdayin cchurch, Hermana eggett, sang "Come Thou Fount" Accapella... dang that girl has pipes. It was seriously one of the most incredible things Ive heard. That sister just continues to amaze me. She is incredible and I definitely look up to her.

 

This next coming week is the BIG because... 1) I GET TO SEE YOU ALL ON WEDNESDAY! 2) because its the last week in December, which means... the last week to reach 550! God works miracles, I know it can happen!!

 

I am so excited to talk to you all on wednesday. I love you very much. I know more than ever that Jesus Christ is my Savior. His Atonement is central to the gospel. Without Him, we cannot accomplish anything worth value. I know this because of experience and because the spirit of the Lord which consumes me. I love you all and I promise you in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, that this work is true and His love is unfailing.

 

Merry Christmas to everyone!Hope the Spirit of Christ dwells within all of us this special season!

Love, Sister Halee Rogers

Weekly update 12-17-2013

Halee saw some of her favorite Sisters & Elders at Zone Conference this week.

Elder Cleverly

Hermana Stroud

Sister Batty (her current companion)

Sister Jensen (Mission President's wife)

Sister Tobias & Sister England, her Sister Training Missionaries.

Elder Tall

Chillin with her scriptures!

Hey Family!

It's been another great week here in Ft. Dodge. Cold... but good. We got a new investigator this week... her name is summer. We met her knocking doors one night. She was definitely a tender mercy. She has accepted a lot of what we have taught and is currently working on not smoking! We also had zone conference this week! It was really great! I saw a lot of people there that I knew and it was really inspiring to to hear from President and Sister Jensen. We watched this movie called, "Ephraim's Rescue"... Man, it was really really good!! I cried a lot, but the spirit was way strong. It was a real testimony to me of what faith is.

We worked really hard this week and I am just totally exhausted, but its been really good. It was in the negatives this week, so it got pretty chilly, but I'm still alive! haha

There's not a lot new, that has happened so it's a pretty short update.

But I guess, I'll take this time to bear my testimony. I know that God is our Eternal Father in Heaven. I know He loves us very much, more than we can comprehend, and I know this plan of happiness He has created is tipping in our favor to return to Him. I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and He was sent here to save us from our fallen state. I know that He was born in Bethlehem to a mortal mother Mary and an immortal father in heaven. There is no greater peace that is brought to my soul than the peace I feel when I partake of Christ's infinite Atonement. His love for us in unfailing. I've never been more happy in my life than I am when I help others to come and feel of this same love.

 

I hope you all have a great Christmas. Remember what it is about.

 

I love you!

Sister Halee Rogers

Weekly Update 12-9-13

She found a little piece of home!

Casey's baptism!

Yes it's COLD in Fort Dodge!

Elder Sanders will leve to go home this transfer.  He's been a great Elder!

Elder Belliston & Halee practicing for their musical number for Zone Conference!

Mother Dearest as well as the rest of my beautiful family!!

This week was SO GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Casey Parmalee was baptized on Thursday! It was awesome... we had a few malfunctions but everything worked out! So the baptism was at 7pm on thursday so Sister Batty and I went at about 5pm to fill the font so it would be nice and warm! We turned it on and plugged it and left and then came back at about 6:30... the font was supposed to take an hour and a half to fill.... when we got back to the church it wasn't even CLOSE to being filled.. and the water temp. was at about 120 degrees!!! We were freaking out a little. So we started filling up pitchers of cold water and pouring them in the font so we were able to cool it off. But the font still wasnt filling up! So we went on with the baptism anyways... Needless to say that Casey had to get baptized three times in order to be fully immersed because the water level was at her knees (not lying)... her back basically touched the bottom of the font when she went down. I'm not sure how they got it done but they did! It was miraculous. We later came to find out that a little bit of the string that was connected to the plug in the font was wrapped sneakily under the plug causing some of the water to drain!! It was nuts... but it all worked out and the service turned out great! One baptism closer to 550!!!

So that was some good stuff on thursday! On Friday, we had Zone Training Meeting! It was way way good! I learned a lot! The Assistants had a really good training as well as the zone leaders and sister training leaders! the meeting was about 3 and a half hours long but it was so good! And I cant remember if I told you last week but this coming week we have zone conference and each district is either doing a play or a musical number. Our district is doing a musical number. Elder belliston and I are playing an arrangment of Silent Night on the guitars and everyone else is singing! It's super tight and we got to practice that on Friday and it sounds way sweet! I guess you could call it angelic! haha just kidding!

We also got to attend a really fun White Elelphant gift party on Saturday for the ward! It was way fun! Then we had church yesterday and it was awesome as usual! Then we got to watch the Christmas Devotional last night. It was way good! I love Christmas time!!! Everyone is so nice!!!

So... we are currently at 461 baptisms as a mission and our goal is 550. WE CAN DO IT!!!! I know the Lord is going to bless us if we just work hard and keep our covenants!! Please keep praying for us! I love you all so much! Can't wat to see you...16 days!!!!!

I know this church is true... if you ever struggle get back to the basics! PRAY,  READY AND GO TO CHURCH!!! LOVE YOU!

Sister Halee Rogers

Weekly update 12-2-13

Alrighty Fam!

Hey yall! How was everyones thanksgivings??? I hope it was great!! Mine was... I had 3! Needless to say my appetite is WAY higher then it needs to be!!! haha so I have to repent and make sure I am keeping the Word of Wisdom and not eating too much this week. But man, the food was all SO DANG GOOD! haha

This week was pretty slow since a lot of people were out of town. We were supposed to have a baptism last Saturday(2 days ago) but there were some issues we had to work out, so hopefully Skie will still get baptized before the end of the year. We are are going to do all we can to HELP her get there. She is really prepared just has trouble being completely obedient. With the help of the spirit though, we will be able to discern her needs and re set her date this week. This week on Thursday we have a baptism!!!! Casey is getting baptized and man is she ready! She is so excited! She passed her interview on Wednesday and even went out and bought a skirt for the occassion! She is so excited and very ready. You can just see the joy radiating from her! She has also had a huge desire to share the gospel. She has done so with her mom, and now her mom is a newe investigator! It is way cool to see how much of an example Casey is becoming to everyone around her.

So this week, I got to wear jeans more than I have my entire mission! We did a lot of service! It was sweet and way nice to do some manual labor for a little while. We worked with a lot of lessactives and members this week. For the upcoming zone conference each district has to do a skit or musical number so our district is doing a musical number. Myself and the two zone leaders are working out a sweet arrangment to silent night on the guitar. Its going to be awesome! And it gives me the chance to play! I LOVE IT! haha

Everything is going so great. Sister Batty and I have grown a lot closer this past week, its been great and she is really opening up now. It's been way good.

Welp family, sorry this is so short... but I love you and I know that the gospel is true!!! It really is!

Also... the book is blue!

LOVE YOU!

Sister Halee Rogers