Hey everyone!!
Hope ya'll had a great week.... we
had an awesome week! There is so much work to be done in this area and we are
super busy!! It is awesome!! I've never been so busy in my life. I love it.
This area has so much potential and there are soooo many people here that need
the gospel and they are so humble and willing to listen!! We have been finding
people like crazy and referrals have literally just fallen into our lap this
week, it has been amazing! There are so many people in this area that are
prepared and ready to hear the gospel. We are teaching this couple... tom and
chris... tom is 66 and Chris is 46 and they have a ten month old baby (ahhh)
haha but they are soooo awesome! Ah I love them so much. I'm so excited for
them. We taught them the plan of salvation this last week and they were blown
away. They couldn't even comprehend everything we told them and they are still
discovering if this is true and if it is the path for them.... but at the end
tom said something pretty cool. He told us how great the message has been that
we have shared with them and that they want it to be true and that they have a
lot of praying to do! He told us that he could see the truth of this gospel in
our faces! He could see it burning in our eyes and that he wanted to feel that same
way and act on the feelings and the spirit we had brought into their home! It
was really cool and a huge testimony to me and definitely increased my
testimony after hearing that.
So this week we had a funeral for
someone in our ward and we were at the church afterwards eating food and this
lady came up to some members and was like "You apart of the church of
jesus Christ of latter day saints?" and they were like "ya of
course" and she said "Missionaries used to come over to my house but
they stopped comin and I want them to come again!!" Turns out it has been
8 years since she met with missionaries and she kept telling us how she doesn't
like her Baptist church because the people are hypocrites and that she wants to
be a part of a church where the people are real and live what they teach and
help and serve one another. So we talked to her a bit and gave her a book of
Mormon and she was sooo excited! She kept saying how she was going to go home
and read the whole thing and that she couldn't wait. I'm not sure she can get
anymore golden... she is going to be walking herself to the font pretty soon.
Ha so we get to meet with her this week and she has already made friends with a
few members and she has called us every day since we met telling us what she read
in the book of Mormon and how much she loves it and how much she loves us and
cant wait for us to come over and teach her! I still cant believe that has
happened, she is so amazing and so prepared! It is so crazy to think that those
missionaries 8 whole years ago left such a lasting influence on her and they
obviously planted a seed that has been growing and now that seed is ready to be
harvested! I know that there are so many prepared people here and that the Lord
is preparing people all over the world! It is crazy to think about all those
people I have come in contact with where it hasn't worked out or they weren't
prepared and to think that just them coming in contact with the missionaries is
preparing them and that when they are ready someone else will come along and
finish the work and will be able to do so successfully because of the
impression that I leave on people. I know that we can all be examples of this
gospel to those who don't have it in their lives and even though it may not
seem like you are leaving an impression you really are! We are all so lucky to
be apart of this gospel and to know what we know. There is no shame in living
the way we do and having the standards that we do. We are so blessed!
So I heard this story awhile ago and
i'm sorry if I have already shared it but this sister in the mission told of an
experience she had with the provo tabernacle that burnt down. She said that she
would go to that tabernacle all the time and she loved it and spent lots of
time there. She was really upset that it burnt down because of one little
mistake of someone just leaving a light on. She didn't understand how one
little mistake could cause such a beautiful building to crash to the ground.
When it burnt down she was going through a really hard time in her life and she
felt like her world had burned to the ground just like that building.... but
after she found out they were going to build a temple in place of the
tabernacle she decided that even though it felt like her life had burned to the
ground.... that she could rise from the ashes and become something more and
something beautiful like the temple. I have been thinking a lot about this
lately just because so often things happen in our lives that can easily get us
down and make us feel like we aren't worth much but I know that we all have the
potential to overcome those ashes in our lives and to be able to turn them into
strengths to help us recognize the potential we have and the potential that our
heavenly father sees in us. He sees us as temples. He created each of us in his
own image and he loves us all so much. Our worth is the same to him whether or
not things are going well in our lives or if things aren't going as good. He
still sees us as the same and still loves us so much. I know this to be true
and I know that we all have a divine potential to become what our heavenly
father sees in us. I know he loves each of you all so much and I know that we
are worth more than we can ever comprehend to him.
The work is going so good here
and I am PUMPED for this week. I'm loving the work, I love being a missionary
and I am so grateful to be here! I know I am supposed to be here for a reason!
I love you all have a good week! XOXO
Sister Roosendaal
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