Weekly Update 3-17-14!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Rachel is leaving for Utah!

Elder Cutler is leaving.  Finished his mission.  Halee says "I'm going to miss that kid".

Mission Leadership Council.  All the Sister Trainer Leaders wore vests.

Hey there!

This week was packed and just so great! Lets start off with the weather... is has been WONDERFUL! In the 50's most days... awh it was beautiful:) I didn't even have to wear a coat, just a nice light jacket! 

Monday, was p-day... we did the usual, emailed, shopped, played some volleyball, and hung out with Rachael. Man, I love those days. They go about the same every week but they are exactly what I need. They are wonderful!

Tuesday.. we had Mission Leadership Council all day in Iowa City. A day long meeting but it was way good! Every time I go, I just get a reconfirmation that President Jensen is called by God to lead this mission. I learned a lot about prayer, faith, and studying with the Spirit. My testimony of the Book of Mormon was increased as well. I realized that I am a proclaimer of the RESTORED Gospel. I am SO BLESSED!

Wednesday... We had the sisters from Macomb, IL join us in keokuk for exchanges! I got the amazing privilege to go out all day with Sister Porter. This girl is incredible. She is so valiant in her effort to brings souls unto Christ and I actually learned a lot from her and about her. Her testimony is strong and its really hard for me to believe that she hasn't even been out 3 months yet! We set a baptismal date with one of our investigators Donny. He is awesome. His wife is a LA member and he absolutely loves learning about the church. 

Thursday, we got to spend all day with President and sister Jensen! It was so fun:) Sister Alston and I rode with them to the Nauvoo and Quincy Zone Training Meetings where we gave trainings to those missionaries. We had a bit of a car ride so it was fun to just talk to them and see them in a different light. THEY ARE HILARIOUS! oh my, I love them both so much:) President was sitting shot gun and he was falling asleep in the car and sister jensen and I and sister alston were talking about what to eat for lunch... another missionary had mentioned to me that President Jensen loves milkshakes, so I said well lets find a place where we can get a shake! President shot up in his chair and exclaimed, "SHAKE! Yeah... lets go somewhere where we can get a shake!" hahah it was the funniest thing! It was like he was a little kid:) Man, theres so many other stories I could tell but that would take too long haha anyways, long story short is the President and Sister Jensen are hilarious and I am so glad I got to spend time with them all day.

Friday.. We had weekly planning and taught lots of people! It was greatttT!!

Saturday... We had exchanges with the sisters in Hamilton! They came to keokuk and I got to spend the day with Sister Lindgren:) Man, I love that woman. She came out with me and she is so amazing. This girl has one of the strongest testimonies I know.She is so caring and loving. I want to be like her! We were blessed to find a new investigator Paula! After exchanges, we went that night over to Nauvoo for Stake Conference. It was such a great meeting! President and Sister Jensen spoke, as well as the Stake President and Elder Real of the seventy. It was ALL ABOUT MISSIONARY WORK! It was wonderful:) Sister Alston and I sang "Because I have Been Given much" It went well! I'll have to send a video of it! And then we also sang with a missionary choir that awesome poem by WW Phelps that Sister Alston wrote the music to. People went crazy over it! After the meeting there was like 50 people coming up to Sister Alston to ask if they could have a copy of the song! One guy even came up and offered to score it and copyright it for her! So he went home that night and got it back to her the next day! It was nuts, but so awesome. Sister Alston is amazing and totally deserved all the praise she got! My companion is incredible!!

Sunday.. we had the regular session of Stake Conference. Man.... talk about the spirit. IT WAS THERE. And so strong. My heart was so full of love for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

This week was pretty nuts and full of plans, but I loved it. I am so grateful to be serving a mission. I am learning something new every single day. I love this gospel. I know it is true!! And I just want everyone else to know that too!!

Happy St. Patty's Day! And also... happy birthday to the Relief Society!!

Love ya:)

Love

Sister rogers

Weekly update 3-9-14

Sunset from apartment patio.  Mississippi River with Nauvoo Temple background.

With Pam!

Hey there!

Its March and it is wonderful!! This week has been so great and so crazy! We had 3 exchanges this week!! 

Tuesday... Sister Alston and I were in Hannibal, MO ! It was great! I knocked doors all day but found some awesome potentials which was really great!! 

Wednesday, we had two sisters from quincy come to Keokuk! Unfortunately, one of the sisters got ridiculously sick, so sister Alston stayed in all day with her and Sister hancock and I went and took on Keokuk together! It was awesome! We taught 8 lessons and got 1 new investigator! It was a major success!! Since Sister Barker was so sick, they stayed another night at our apartment. The next day was district meeting and I gave a training on How we as missionaries can gain the spirit more in our lives and how we can become more converted to the gospel. I had a hard time preparing for it, since this was something that I had felt like I had been struggling with, so I felt super inadequate to be training others on it. But it all worked out. heavenly father and His spirit work wonders. My testimony and faith grew stronger and the Gospel of Jesus Christ is written deeper into my heart because of it! I LOVE this gospel. It's the only thing that matters! The ONLY thing!:)

Friday... sister Alston and I went on an impromptu exchange in Kirksville. It was super short and quick, but it was effective! we do lots of role plays on these exchanges which is good because then we can refine our teaching skills more and it makes us keener to the subtle promptings of the spirit! 

ANYWAYS... that was pretty much our week! We have a pretty bsy week ahead of us but I am looking forward to it! I love being a missionary! I love being a representative of Jesus Christ! There is joy and satisfaction in the Gospel!

I love you... keep working hard and being wonderful examples to me!!!

Love

Sister Rogers

Weekly Update 3-3-2014

Zone Conference!  Great Group of Missionaries!

Sister Rogers & Sister Alston at the Nauvoo Temple!

Cute Sister Missionaries heading to Zone Conference.

Hey Fam!

So this week was really great! 

Monday and Tuesday we were on exchanges in Burlington with the sisters there! It was freezing cold but it was good! We knocked doors all day long... but it was good for me because I haven't had to do that since the beginning of my mission. It was humbling and really effective to not just knock doors but to follow the spirit and have Him help us to find people to teach. We had a really cool experience.. I was with Sister Woodbury and we decided to pray over a map to see where we needed to go. After our prayer the spirit told me that there was a less-active member in which we needed to go visit. He didn't tell me who to go visit, or even where, but I knew there was a LA that needed our visit. So after discussing and talking and looking through the ward directory we both felt we should go see a certain lady on the list. We drove to the house and soon realized that she had moved from that house and no longer lived there so we kept driving and turned the corner and parked. The street we had parked on had a LA living on it so we decided o get out and just go check it out. No one home. So we just kept walking down the street and decided to do some tracting. We found some potentials and stuff and right before we were going to head back to the car we decided to knock on one more house... I am positive it was the spirit prompting us to. So we knocked and a lady opened the door, we did our whole schpeel and she said, " I know who you are... I am actually a member." Both of us caught off guard, asked her her name and neither of us had heard of it.  Apparently her records are in Nauvoo but she lives in Burlington most of the time. So if we hadn't knocked on her door we would have never found her and we would've never been able to introduce her back into the fold. I know that she was the impression I received about us needing to see a Less-Active member. Little tender mercies like that are what remind me that I am doing what is right and that Heavenly Father is in the very details of our lives.

Wednesday was great! because of the weather and most of this week we were not permitted to walk outside. The other day it was a wind chill of 41 below. It's pretty frosty!! 

Friday we had zone conference in Nauvoo! It was really really great! The musical numbers went pretty good and so they asked sister alston and I to sing in stake conference next week. haha Woo hoo! I am so glad that Heavenly Father has helped me to overcome my fears of singing in front of others. I haven't completely overcome it. but I know that Heavenly Father has blessed me not for my personal benefits, but so that I can uplift and bring the spirit into others lives. 

Saturday due to weather again... cars were grounded and we had to be in our apartments at 5:30.

Sunday... they cancelled our church because of the snow. It really wasn't that bad but there was nothing that we could do about it... so sister Alston and I went to the Nauvoo ward. It was wonderful!! I love testimony meetings. So powerful. Sunday night we had a fireside for the branch council on the work of salvation. We set a branch baptismal goal for 2014. And overall I would say the meeting was pretty effective. We have spent weeks on putting this fireside together for the branch council and it turned out well. One thing we are striving to accomplish in our branch is unity and hitting the yoke at the same time. Sometimes we lose sight of what really matters and end up becoming our own worst enemies. Satan delights in this. He loves to turn brethren against one another. He does it pretty darn effectively too, but one thing to always remember is that if the spirit of the Lord abides in you, you will not be deceived.

I just feel truly humbled and blessed this week. I love being a missionary. And more importantly I love that Heavenly Father trusts me enough to represent His son, Jesus Christ. How great is my calling!

I want you all to know that I have a testimony of my Savior, Jesus Christ. The efficacy of His Atonement is majestic. His stripes can heal EVERY ASPECT of your life. He is the author and the finisher of our faith. I know He lives. The greatest thing is to feel of the spirit every time this testimony is confirmed to me. It is my conviction that these truly are the last days. We are preparing for the coming of the Savior of the World. It will be a glorious day!

Love you!

Sister Rogers

PS... I just want to give a shoutout to my awesome brother riley and my incredible sister emmee for their performance at the gilbert temple cultural celebration. It makes me tear up to think how awesome of an opportunity you have been given! You two are great!! You danced for the prophet!!!

PPS... I got my hump day package last Monday after email, but I just want to thank you mom and dad for sending that to me! hahah I LOVED it:) I can just imagine the moment mom thought of the idea to send me half eaten packages of candy and food! I assume it was mom's idea at least... haha it was wonderful! I laughed super hard!:) And also... thank you so much for the camera! You didn't have to do that... but what makes you the best mom ever is that you did anyways! Youre amazing. I love you so much!!!:)

Weekly Update 2-24-2014

Wonderful baptism day!

Nauvoo Temple with Rachel.

HEELLLLOOOOO my wonderful family and friends!!!
I just want to start off this email by telling you that I love you ALL so so so much! Each of you... individually. I love you and I can't adequately express my gratitude towards all of you. You make me happy.

This week felt like 6 years... LITERALLY! It was long, but man was it dang worth it!!!!! I am so humbled and blessed to have a loving Heavenly Father and a Savior who is Jesus Christ that care about us intimately as individuals!!

Let's start with 

Monday... PDAY... we did nothing.

Tuesday... MLC!! or Mission Leadership Council as we call it! It's a meeting with all the zone leaders and sister training leaders in the mission. We meet from 9 am to 430pm with the Assistants and President Jensen. It's a truck of a meeting! Anyways... it was awesome!! Learned a lot and gained a lot of insights and knowledge of what I can do as a leader to help the missionaries I am over. We talked a lot about learning by faith! Such a good principle!! Afterwards, we all went out to chili's and ate... SO GOOD! I got to see Sister Murphy and Sister Pratt again... man I love them:)

Wednesday we worked here in Keokuk.. we took P to the font and showed her exactly what would happen on Saturday. The guy that was going to be baptizing her was there and showed her everything. It turned out great!

Thursday, Sister Alston and I were in Quincy for a Zone Training Meeting. We gave a training on Sacrifice. It turned out pretty good! It was a little rocky but thankfully the spirit took over and did the teaching!

OH... quick sidenote... This Friday is zone conference.. I am singing with Sister Alston at it! We are singing because I have been given much. And then I am also singing that song in the 2nd session of zone conference that Sister Alston wrote the music to. YIKES! A lot of solos for Sister Rogers here lately. haha but don't worry that's not all.. I am also singing at stake conference in march. haha But I like it... its fun!

Now on to Friday... CRAZY DAY... but not the craziest... just wait. Friday, we went to Burlington to give another training to the Nauvoo Zone. That was awesome! The spirit totally took control of our training and it was incredible. It was such an amazing experience to be used as an instrument and vessel for the spirit. Humbled. After the meeting we got out and I checked our phone... 15 notifications on our phone. Nobody ever talks to us so to have 15 was a huge deal. Basically the jist of it all was that P, who was supposed to get baptized the next day was refusing to get baptized. She contacted our branch president and told him she wasn't getting baptized so he told everyone else in the branch that the baptism was cancelled and it was nuts. So we called a few people and were like "HOLD ON... let us talk to her and don't cancel anything yet!" haha So we made phone calls all day and talked to P and went and visited her and got everything worked out. Baptism BACK ON.

Come that night, we got permission to go to the temple!! So we went and did a session and get out of the temple and we get a call from a member saying she's not sure if P is going to get baptized. 

NEXT MORNING... Saturday... my 9 month mark...We get a phone call about 7 am... Baptism cancelled. P had a dream that she hit her head on the hand rail in the font and so she took it as a sign she shouldn't get baptized. We reassured her that it was Satan putting those thoughts in her mind. She didn't budge... so the baptism got cancelled. We get a call about 8am from her close friend who is a member and has been working very very closely with us in this process. She tells us to come visit P with her. We do and talk to her... P says that she still wants to get baptized just not in the font. She said earlier that morning she had another dream of her being baptized in the pool at the YMCA. So we said okay... lets go talk to the YMCA. So sister Alston and I take a trip to the YMCA and ask if we can do a baptism there. they said yes. SO we said great lets do it tonight! Baptism back on. but then we found out that P wanted to do it the next day. Baptism still cancelled for Saturday. So we talked to the aquatic lady at the YMCA after waiting an hour and she said we could reserve the pool for the baptism either right before open swim or right after open swim. open swin was from 1pm-4pm. Our church doesn't get over until 1, so we decided to do it after open swim at 4pm. We called P and the guy that was going to baptize her and worked it all out. We talked to the branch president and president Jensen and they were all okay with it. PERFECT! BAPTISM ON FOR SUNDAY AT 4PM AT THE YMCA. Crazy... I know. So we go on the rest of our day... get another phone call from the members that are going to baptize P and tell us that they can't be in Keokuk at 4 because they have an important meeting in Nauvoo.... BAPTISM OFF. Seriously at this point I wanted to just give up haha I have never felt so much opposition from satan before!! Anyways... AFTER MANY PHONE CALLS.. we get the YMCA to swith our pool reservation for sunday at 12:30 instead of 4pm. The next morning we go to church... still not knowing if P is getting baptized or not. We talk to our branch president and he is fine with her getting baptized at 12:30 at the YMCA on a Sunday in the middle of church. SO.. we called her she was still planning on being baptized. BAPTISM BACK ON. SO to make this long story short... at 12:30pm on sunday... P was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It was well worth the fight against the adversary. She will be confirmed next week! Glorious day.

 

That's all Ive got for now. I love you all. And just want you to know that God is real and He loves us so much!! Have a wonderful day and know that I love all of you! I KNOW the church is true!

Love Sister Rogers

Weekly Update 2-19-2014

Having Fun on Valentine's Day with the Sisters.

Saw her Ft. Dodge Missionaries, Elder Belliston & Elder Clark at 

Mission Leadership Council in Iowa City!

Saw her first companion, Sister Murphy, at Mission Leadership Council.  

Their funny faces are due to their top buttons being buttoned.

Hello Everyone:)

Sorry for the late email... monday all the libraries were closed for President's day and then yesterday we had Mission Leadership Council all day in Iowa city, so today is the first time I have had a chance to get to a computer!

This week has been great! A lot has happened! But I honestly can't remember what went on!! I'm losing it... seriously. hahah I can't remember which day is which and what happened when and if it happened last week or last transfer. So bear with me here haha

Last Monday we got our transfer doctrine... Sister Alston and I will be staying together in Keokuk for another six weeks! I am so excited!! I love Sister Alston. She's amazing. I have learned so much from her. Last week on Tuesday I sang that song that Sister Alston composed at the lecture in Nauvoo! It turned out really good! Everyone said they enjoyed it:)

Wenesday was P-day and we played 4 hours of volleyball:) I loved every second of it! Man, my body was ridiculously sore but it felt so good!! We go play at this facility owned by members. It's the most wonderful thing ever:)

On Friday, it was Valentine's day! Sister Alston was way sick so she slept and I studied! It was really good acttually because I needed some ME time with the ook of Mormon. I love that book. A little later in the afternoon Rachael and Sister Pena and her daughter came to our appartment and heart attacked it. It was so nice and we felt really loved! It was so thoughtful of them:)

This week Pam had her baptismal interview and she is ready to go for this saturday! I am so excited!

This week has been really great and I have grown much closer to my Savior Jesus Christ. I am so thankful for His Atonement. I am grateful that His mercy is available for each of us regardless oof what we have done. I know that repentance bings true joy. When you repent and try harder you are happy. I am very grateful for this opportunity I have to serve. I LOVE this work. I love the people I meet each day. I so badly want everyone to know of these eternal truths that our Father in Heaven has so lovingly provided for us. The Atonement of Jesus Christ has changed me and is helping me to become a better version of myself. I can't imagine where I would be without this opportunity. I love the Lords. So much.

 

Have a wonderful week! And remember that if YOU have questions, turn to the Lord! He is the only one that can answer them Seek to learn by faith:) I love you!

Love

Sister Halee Rogers

Weekly update 2-10-14

Carthage- Window where Joseph Smith fell from after being shot.

Looking through the bullet hole in the door.

Window where Joseph fell out after being shot.

Halee's great, great, great, great grandfather, Noah Rogers, is listed on the Pioneer Memorial and Exodus to Greatness Monument.  The 2000 names listed are pioneers that died along the mormon trail.

Carthage

District Meeting!

Zone at Carthage!

The Exodus Walk.  Standing on the frozen Mississippi River.

With President & Sister Jensen.

The tunnel/bridge where Joseph & Emma kissed in the restoration movie.

Sister Alston cut 7" off Halee's hair.

Valentine's decoration sent by Chet, Shelly (Adams) and their girls.

Hello There,

This week has been crazy! A lot has gone on... so sorry if I forget anything! We will start with Monday... Monday we went as a zone to Nauvoo and Carthage! So fun! Theres lots of pics! I bought a replica of the original Book of Mormon. pretty cool! Then later that night Sister Alston chopped all of my hair off. Well not all of it but about 7 inches! haha I needed a change:)

Tusday... the weather was super super bad! We got grounded at like 12 in the afternoon. So we were at a members house practicing a song Sister alston and I are going to be singing at a baptism. We got to hang out with Rachael  for a little bit. I don't know if i have ever talked about Rachael before, but I will now. First of all, she is AWESOME! She is 22 years old and a nursing student here in Keokuk. She is in the branch and she is so dang cool! She comes out a lot with us to people's houses and just has a powerhouse testimony! Man, I could say so much about this girl! I LOVE HER!

Later that night since we had to go to our apartment and just sit there because of the bad weather, one of the members called us and came and picked us up and took us to dinner and then over to Nauvoo to hear the lectures by Sister Susan Black Durrant. Not sure if you know her, but she's pretty famous in the church world. She knows everyone important. ANYWAYS, during her lecture she read a poem that was written by W.W. Phelps. She came up to Sister Alston afterwards and asked if she would write music to the words. Something you must know about Sister Alston, she is INCREDIBLE at anything music and ESPECIALLY at composing and playing piano pieces. Sister Durrant then turned to me and asked if I would sing it once she was done writing the music! haha So long story short, I am singing a lost poem written by W.W. Phelps on Tuesday night at the Lecture in Nauvoo! Crazy stuff. Sister Alston did SUCH a great job with composing the music. It's terrific, and Sisteter Durrant said she was going to send it to Mack wilberg! haha SWEET!

Wednesday... Pam  had her interview. She passed with flying colors but decided to wait until the 22nd to get baptized. She prayed and the spirit confirmed to her that the 22nd is when she needed to get baptized, so it will happen then!

Thursday... District Meeting! That was great. That night we had dinner with Rachael!! Goodness I love her. I know that part of the reason I was called to Keokuk was to meet her!:) She's wonderful!

Friday... It was pretty normal. Weekly planning. a few lessons. Nothing out of the ordinary

Saturday... BIG DAY! We started off the morning in Nauvoo! They were having the Exodus commemoration which is the reinactment of the saints leaving Nauvoo. President and Sister Jensen were there and told us to come:) So that was fun! It was way way way cold but we got to walk on the Mississippi! It was totally frozen... I was even jumping. haha After the Exodus walk, we went to the Stake Center in Nauvoo. Youth Conference was going on and President and sister Jensen were in town to speak to the youth. They asked Sister Alston and I to come and be on a panel of missionaries with two other elders. We sat up front with microphones and the youth got to ask us a bunch of questions about missions and stuff! It was way cool! Sister Jensen had Sister Alston stand up and show our cute clothes that we as sister missionaries can wear now. haha it was fun and it was great to spend so much time with president and Sister Jensen... I love them! Afterwards, Sister Alston went up to them like little kids to their parents and with puppy dog eyes asked, "Can we go to the temple?" President Jensen replied, "Yeah, you're already here, go ahead." haha YES! So we got to go to the temple AGAIN! It was so wonderful. And we are so spoiled... not many missionarie get to go to the temple twice in two weeks! Blessed.

Sunday... We got a new branch presidency! I aso taught sharing time in primary... that was fun haha And I got to take the Sacrament so thats a plus too!

Man... It was a solid week. I know that Heavenly Father is so aware of each of us. His plan is Perfect. I love you all so so much and thank you for all the prayers!:)

LOve,

Sister Rogers

Weekly update 2-3-2014

Hey Ya'll

This past week has been pretty good! Sister Alston and I started out our week by heading to Quincy, IL for exchanges! It started out real well, until.... I got sick. I tried really hard to fight it and keep working but eventually I felt like I was going to die. haha Not an exaggeration. I was confined to the couch for a couple days. BUt I was eventually able to overcome it. haha I hate being sick. It's super lame. haha

ANYWAYS, we also had some pretty cool experiences this week that allowed us to be used as instruments in the Lord's hands. There was one lady named Pam, who has a baptismal date for this Saturday. She is about 40 or so but was hit by a car when she was 5 and has definite brain damage. She has members from the Nauvoo ward that are her friends and that have been helping her in all aspects of her life. But, let me tell you... this woman is a special child of our Father in Heaven. The veil is so thin with her. Every time I feel discouraged or just down we go visit Pam, because she just makes everything better. She is so close to God. And he uses her as his instrument ALL THE TIME. she is getting baptized this Saturday and I am so excited.

Everything else is going really well! The snow keeps coming and its been way cold recently but all is well! There is supposed to be a giant storm coming in tonight that could give us up to 24 inches of snow! Its gonna be fun haha

 

I'm sorry this is such a short update this week, but know that I love you and that Christ's Atonement is real. Keep up all of the great work! I Love you!

 

Sister Halee Rogers