Hey everyone!!
Sounds like there is lots of snow there in utah!! There is no snow here yet.. just lots of very cold rain... they actually cancelled most churches yesterday except ours but we still only had sacrament meeting. They are whimps here! I never thought church would be cancelled over rain! It made me laugh! Haha but anyway, It has been an INCREDIBLE week! I dont even know where to start. I am loving this area so much and so many miracles have been happening it is unreal!! This week... believe it or not we taught CHRIS!!!! Never in my life did i imagine myself sitting in another lesson with him teaching him yet again. It was amazing. He is so awesome. He told us that the reason he lost contact with the church is just cuz he got caught up in school and friends and just being a typical college kid which is understandable.... he just lost focus on the church and religion in general and even stopped reading the bible cuz he became so busy and caught up with things. It was an amazing lesson though... we were just trying to figure out where he was at and where he was coming from with the church like if he had concerns or questions or doubts but it was nothing like that at all. He told us that he knows the book of mormon is true. There is nothing about the church that he questions or doubts. He knows that it is true. He has recognized a huge difference in his life since he stopped meeting with us and reading and everything. He told us he always felt like something was missing and that he couldnt figure out what it was. I have never heard a 19 year old boy talk the way that he did just about having a desire to be more spiritually in tune and actually recgonizing that he had been slacking a little bit and recognizing a difference in his life. As he was talking, i honestly just couldnt believe that it was happening and that he was saying the things that he was... i just felt so powerfully heavenly fathers love for him and so powerfully that he has a plan for him and for whatever reason... chris needed that break for a little while but he is ready now. That is why we found him is cuz he is ready. He agreed to be baptized at the beginning of next semester when he can focus more and not be so caught up with finals. YES!!! GET PUMPED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We are still teaching Tim and we set him to be baptized on December 28th! He is doing amazing. This past week we taught him the plan of salvation and never in my life have i seen someone with big wide eyes while we taught him the whole thing. Tim has lost both of his parents and only has one sister who is still in Ethiopia..... when we told him that he could live with his family for eternity his eyes got even bigger and he said "Wait, you really believe that?" There is no greater work, no greater feeling than helping someone understand and recgonize that they truly can live with their families forever and that they can see their loved ones who have passed on again. We are so blessed to have the knowledge that we do and there is nothing better than sharing that with others and helping them know that there is truly a plan for them.... and not just a plan but a plan of happiness cuz this is the plan that leads to pure joy and happiness not just in this life but in ETERNITY.
On Saturday we had a busy day planned and a few lessons set.... however as we were going throughout our day things started to fall through... all lessons cancelled and we knew what we were going to do but something popped into my mind that was completely off the wall that i wasnt sure if it was the spirit or me just being weird.. haha but we knelt down and prayed about it and sure enough we went along with the prompting we received. We felt we needed to go down to petersburg (my old area) which where we needed to go was a lot of miles and a lot of time for us to travel. There is a less active that lives there that has been on my mind constantly since i got to this area. I met him a few transfers ago but had no idea he was less active but since i got here i have felt like we needed to go see him. We had no clue if he would be home or not and it was a huge risk using all those miles to go somewhere that we didnt even know if he would be home. But we did it anyway, and we got there and sure enough he was there! He works all the time and is rarely home and it was a huge miracle that we got to see him. He has only been baptized about 10 months and i think he forgot that feeling and the spark from his conversion cuz by the time we had left after we had read the scriptures with him and uplifted him his whole countenance changed and idk what it was but he just seemed more at peace. On the way home, we stopped to see another less active since we were in the area and miracle is, she was home too. she works 70 hours a week and told us that she wasnt even supposed to be home at the time that she was but thankfully the lord directed her otherwise and we were able to see her and uplift her. I just know how aware the lord is of his children. It just takes courage to act on the subtle promptings he gives us even when they seem completely unrealistic. He is so aware of ya'll. I hope you never forget that. No matter what you are going through or who or where you are he knows you. He knows your weaknesses. He knows your strengths. He knows you better than you know yourself. Dont ever forget that there is a supreme being always watching out for you. Even when it seems like you are all alone. .. you arent. The lord always has your back. He is always right there with you, walking along side of you.
I just want to share with ya'll something that changed not only my whole misson but my whole life this past week. Our district leader shared with us a story from the ensign that talked about a boy who played basketball and ran track in jr. high and he was a very good athlete, very talented and enjoyed playing sports and being athletic. The longer he was on the basketball team things started to go downhill.... the coach started to tear him down telling him to take a seat on the bench, telling him he wasnt good enough, and that he never will be good enough..... nothing but negativity and criticism came from his coach and this boy he isnt a quitter... but he finished out the season and put up with his coach for that season but after it was over... he never went back to playing sports ever. It scared him to death. He avoided everything he possibly could that involved sports. He didnt think he was good enough cuz he believed what his coach told him. He didnt want to embarrass himself cuz he knew he was no good. Well, this boy he ended up on a mission with a companion who was nationally ranked as a track runner and they were in a place where the busses dont stop at all... .you have to run and try and jump on. One day they were out and trying to catch the bus and his companion told him that they would have to run super fast to try and catch the bus... the bus passed by and they ran as fast as they could... well... he beat his nationally ranked track star companion to the bus... then every day... they ran to the bus and he beat his companion every single time. This boys life had been stolen from him. He took what his coach told him in jr. high and believed him and because he believed him he was living below his abilities from that time on until he discovered on his mission that he was actually good at the things he did in jr. high but he let just one person tear him down and ruin him. I love this so much and it changed my life so much cuz you are what you believe! Dont let anyone EVER cripple you! Ya'll are good enough. If you want success, you must go and get it and you must believe. Dont let outside forces ruin you. Believe in yourself. Believe that you are good enough. Believe that God loves you. Believe that you are talented. Ya'll are in control of your life! You control it. No one else. No outside forces. No one. No friends, peers, family members, and especially not satan. If you want to be happy, you must make yourself happy. If you are going to dream... DREAM BIG. Ya'll can do anything. Ya'll can do anything you set your mind to. You must believe.
I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!! XOXO
Sister Roosendaal
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