January 30, 2017

Hey Y'all!

   This week has just been incredible! There is just so much joy in missionary work and I just have so much love for the people in the Eagle Run ward, and the people that we meet in this area and lastly for the sisters at the Trail Center! It is just so happy! How have y'all been?! How is everyone's week going?

   We had two days that we weren't in our area so that was kind of hard to accomplish our goals- but we tried our absolute hardest! A huge miracle that occurred was actually at the Trail Center! We were pretty behind on our goals for the TC and there has been no one on Teaching Center- so pretty soon it was Saturday and it was the last time that we were going to be at the TC that week and so we were determined to make all of our goals! Before we got on Teaching Center we knelt down in prayer and we prayed specifically that we would be able to reach each goal that we had set, and you want to know what happened?! Heavenly Father inspired people to come onto Mormon.org that morning because we exceeded every single goal that we had set for that week! We had at least 5 online lessons, and taught the Restoration more than 20 times within that two hour period! It was just a huge miracle and a huge testimony builder to me that when we tell Heavenly Father our plan and set specific goals he will help us accomplish them!! It was just such a happy and joy filled moment for us!

   Also, another huge miracle happened Saturday and continued to Sunday! We had a lesson with one of our less active members, Tatiana- she hasn't been to church in over two months but she still lets us come over weekly to teach her lessons. So, on Saturday we went over and we were going to teach a lesson about obedience to God's commandments and why it is important. The whole lesson was basically asking questions and she just opened up to us so much! We were able to discern her needs and really just help! At the end of the lesson she just thanked us for being there, and she said she wanted to start coming to church and become an active member!! In her closing prayer she expressed to Heavenly Father how thankful she was that we were able to come over and help her! The commitment that we left with her was to simply prepare herself to come partake of the sacrament the next morning. So we got there early about 10 mins early and she wasn't there, pretty soon Brother Saxton started conducting the meeting and she still wasn't there, and then we started singing the opening hymn and Sister Preator and I were pretty bummed that she didn't show up, but then... halfway through the opening song she walked in through the doors! It was such a sweet moment to see her walk in! We were just filled with so much joy! She not only stayed for sacrament meeting but she also stayed for gospel principles and she participated so much!! It was just so happy!!

As for our investigator Scott, he was set for baptism on February 11, but he was still drinking tea. So on Sunday we recommitted him to not drink tea and we were able to set him for February 18, he was so excited and he told us that he hadn't drank any tea the day before and that he wasn't going to drink any on Sunday either! He had already made up his mind that he was going to drink lemonade! It was so incredible!!

Well, the inevitable happened. It snowed. Pretty badly. We couldn't really drive... haha We tried driving up this super small hill and we could not get up it! We tried pushing and everything! Nothing worked... so twice I had to back her down an entire street, it's pretty funny if you think about it!

Well, that's all for now! Got to go! Bye!!

Love,

Sister Rook

Exchanges with Sister Hall!

Us... being terrified of driving in the snow.

Snow!!

We had dinner with the Tremaynes! They serve with us at the Trail Center!

For once in my life I did my hair... so obviously I had to document it :D  

January 23, 2017

Hey Y'all!

   I decided that since my companion is from Texas and says y'all all the time that I can too :D

Oh my goodness. This week has been so crazy and so much fun!! I love Eagle Run so much!! This ward is absolutely incredible, and there are so many people who need to hear the gospel here (of course there are tons of people in every area, but we are just finding so many here) This week has just been the best! We didn't have a ton of time in our area because we had to stay at the Craig house (it is where the Trail Center leaders/sister training leaders live). We had to stay there because Bob and Lucy had family staying with them... so we were kicked out temporarily. So there was more travel time than usual... but, the time that we did have in our area we used it to its fullest! We talked to everyone we saw and there were so many miracles! Some in particular that really stood out to me were during tracting! Sister Preator and I set aside as much time as we could to tract, because we really need to find new people to teach, and guess what happened?! We found at least 3 potentials! It doesn't sound like a lot, but in our area it is! During our nightly planning the day before we set specific goals, and then something that we would look for- so like a red house or a garden or something, in our case it was a two story house with a van outside. And let me tell you, we tried every two story house and every house with a van outside, and we definitely tried every house with both! We found someone, Her name is Cynthia and she is awesome! We were able to teach her a brief restoration, she said she is pretty content with her church right now, but we plan to have missionaries try her in a couple months! Then, the other day we were tracting for only a couple minutes before our next appointment and we found the cutest old man! He was about 85 years old, and he let us teach him the restoration! We also talked about eternal families and how he could be with his family for eternity, we then asked him if he knew for 100% certainty that he could be with his family forever, and you would not believe what he said. He said no, I don't know if I can or not- do you know that? I was just so shocked because most people say that they do know that they can be with their families! So that gave us the perfect opportunity to testify to him that we could be with our families for eternity!! It was just such a sweet experience!! It it truly just filled Sister Preator and I with such joy! 

   Everyday I am striving more and more everyday to recognize the Lord's hand in my life everyday! And it is incredible to see all that he does for me and all that he continues to do for me. Since my 9 month mark I have been thinking a ton about change and how the mission changes different people and specifically how my mission has changed me, and I have decided that at the end of every lesson I am going to see how that lesson changed me! I am pretty excited! 

Well I think that is about it for now this week! Thank you so much for all the support you give me!! I love you!! 

Love, Sister Rook

. We had to say goodbye to the Crandalls this week, it was so sad- but the new directors are incredible!

We also had to say goodbye to the Clarks D: 

We also had to say goodbye to the Whittles 

We were doing service for a member in our ward and she gave us money to buy dinner afterwards... so what do we do? We go to little Cesars and we bought a pepperoni pizza... and bacon cheddar breadstick bites... and you best believe that we ate all of it! And... to top it off... we got a milk shake and finished that too... At the end of our missions people will literally have to roll us onto the plane. :D 

January 17. 2017

Hey Everyone!! 

This week has been so good and so crazy! I feel like that is how missionary work is all the time! So as you all now... Transfers were this week! And guess where I am now?! I am a full proselyting missionary and I am also speaking Spanish!! I'm officially a Hermana!!! hahaha jusssssst kidddding! I did get transferred. Sister Borla and I closed the Old Mill ward temporarily for sisters because there aren't enough sisters in the mission right now! I just think that is so crazy! So Wednesday comes along (transfer day) and I find out my new companion and what area I'm going to, then president pulls me aside and tells me something is wrong. I started freaking out! So we went to his office and he told me he was unaware that some sisters couldn't drive. So... I was assigned a new companion... but he didn't know who that would be... So I was companionless and arealess for about fifteen minutes... it felt so strange! I hated not having a companion! haha! Then he finally figured it out! So now I am in the Eagle Run ward with Sister Preator! She has been out for 7 months and has been in that area her whole mission! And she is from Mckinney Texas!! So that is pretty cool!! I love her so much! She is just an absolute incredible human!  

Well, besides transfers there have been so many miracles and the transfer just started! I am so excited to see what the Lord has in store for us in these next six weeks. The biggest miracle we saw this week was on Friday. We were in our area and we had set appointments for this 1 1/2 hour chunk of time. All of our appointments fell through, every single one of them! It was a little disappointing, but we were guided to where we needed to be which was awesome! We tried a potential and that lead us to passing by a less active member's home that Sister Preator hadn't visited in a while, so we tried that house and she was home! We couldn't stay for very long because the member was busy, but she was so grateful that we had thought to stop by! Afterwards we were walking to our car and there was a lady outside her house so we started talking to her and she invited us inside to hear the first lesson! She is now a potential, her name is Amanda! She had previously met with missionaries before, I think it was when the assistants were in that ward so she was kind of familiar of what we believed in. We were able to answer a lot of her questions and vanquish some of the myths that she had in her mind about the church. Then we got all of her information! It was incredible and it is a testimony builder to me that if we follow any prompting we receive from the spirit that we will always be guided to where we need to be! 

Highlight of the week.... Megan and Joe surprised me!! They came to the Trail Center while I was on shift! It nearly knocked the socks off of me because I was so surprised to see them! Oh my goodness. It basically made my whole entire life. I missed them both so much! 

Well, I think that is all I have time for today, I am so sorry my emails have been super short and lame. I just want yall to know how much I appreciate and love everyone of you! You have been so incredible with all the support you have shown me! I hope yall have the best week ever!! I miss and love you to pieces!!! 

Love

Sister Rook

Transfer day!

Final Saturday morning Trail Center training with the wonderful Elder and Sister Crandall

Elder and Sister Crandall with President and Sister Gardner

Megan and Joe!!! Ahhhh!!!!!! I just still can't believe I saw them!!! So much Fun!!! 

Sister Preator and I now live with a family instead of in an apartment. This is Bob and Lucy and their grandson. I already love them to pieces! They are not members, they are Methodists, but their daughter converted and served a mission!

I helped Lucy take down their Christmas decorations....

Traditional new sister photo with Lucy's 5 foot 2 inch zebra! The zebra still has the remains of a Christmas party on it's head!

Sister Borla and I on our way to the transfer point!

All of the full pros sisters went back to being full pros and I am still at the Trail Center!! This is sister Cutler by the way!! She is awesome!

My new companion! Sister Preator!!! 

January 9, 2017

Hey Everyone!! 

This week has been pretty good! I feel like so many crazy things happened this week! There have been so many miracles that occurred this week, some were big and others were pretty small, but you can always recognize them if you are looking for them! 

1. Last Monday we let some sisters borrow our gps and we forgot to get it back before our dinner appointment and so we were driving and we both realized that we weren't completely sure how to get there- because we always rely on the gps! But after a lot of prayer... Heavenly Father led us to the house we were eating at! It seems pretty ridiculous, but it was such a huge miracle to us at the time! 

2. Marissa (our investigator) is doing so well!! We have taught her the restoration, and Plan of Salvation and we are teaching her the Gospel of Jesus Christ tonight, and lastly she has come to sacrament meeting! She absolutely loves church and she loves having a more loving relationship with God, She has also been fellow shipped by pretty much all the young women in our ward and also some from the stake, so literally all we have to do is teach! It is awesome to see Old Mill become more missionary minded as the weeks go on! It just makes me so happy!! 

3. Our investigators Sokha and Srylek (mom and daughter) came to church as well! We had a lesson with them last Thursday and we taught about Jesus Christ- turns out they know a lot about him and we can totally teach them the restoration this week!! They absolutely loved church, and Sokha basically bore her testimony in Relief Society about how she is here and she is meeting with us to find out for herself if the Book of Mormon is true! Also, it was pretty cool Sokha works at walmart and one of her co-workers is LDS and so her friend Jinney came with her to church! Jinney is a recent convert and is less active so it is awesome that she came!! Sister Borla and I were just filled with so much Joy we could hardly contain our selves, at least that's how it was for me! 

4. We got to go on Exchanges!! I was in Papillion (still in Omaha area) for the day and guess who I was with.... Sister Draney!!! Oh my heck! It was so good to talk to her! It was just such a miracle being with her and like always so many miracles happened while we were on exchanges!

Alrighty, in my studies lately there has been a focus on really getting our investigators to come to know Christ- whether that is from reading the Book of Mormon or striving harder to recognize the Spirit in their life, and it is so cool to hear all about their experiences from the past week! And seeing our investigators look for Heavenly Father's hand in their life makes me grateful for all the miracles that I have seen on my mission so far- and that I will continue to see!    

Also, I passed my 9 month mark this week, and I just have such a determination to work my absolute hardest on my mission! I know these nine months are probably going to fly by, so I am determined to do all that I can to follow the Lord's will for me! Well, I think that is about it! Thank you so much for all the support y'all have given me! You are all the best! I miss and love you to pieces!! Have the best week ever!!!

Love, 

Sister Rook

New Year's Eve party at the Trail Center!

Sister Jensen!! She is a returning member we are working with, and this is Sister Petty, our AWESOME ward missionary!! 

We had dinner with the Bascom's, they are a senior couple who work at the trail center... Everyone was supposed to make a funny face... it didn't really work haha 

We also had dinner with the Clark's, another senior couple. They are so cute!! 

We took their investigator on tour!! She is getting baptized this Saturday!! 

Exchanges with Sister Draney!!!

Because every companionship needs a jumping pic!

I am going to miss Sister Lewis so much! She is such an incredible missionary! I love her to pieces!

Our desert that we had with the Clark's... it was so good :) 

Just Because :)

So... it is a tradition in this mission on your nine month mark to take a pic like this... so here ya go! It is so crazy to say that I have been out for nine months! 

Did I mention how good that dessert was...?

January 2, 2017

Hey Everyone!!! 

This week has been pretty good, the gingerbread festival is over and so the Trail Center has slowed down so much, but that gives us more time to have studies, and to go on teaching center!! Speaking of Teaching Center- it is so cool to teach people online!! It is so amazing to go on and teach the restoration so many times in one day! I love being able to talk to so many different people and to see how prepared they are, then lastly to send the referrals to the missionaries!! It is incredible!! This past week, I talked to people who lived in France and Finland and Haiti! Then I was able to send Missionaries to them!! It just made my heart so happy! 

This week we have visited with a couple less active members. We saw Michelle Jensen- we are trying to work with her on not smoking.  We are going to start going over the Addiction Recovery Program with her in hopes of accomplishing that. We have seen some active members as well in hopes of getting referrals, or helping them with their missionary work! That has been going pretty good! Lastly we met with our investigator Marissa! She is so awesome!! She is 17 years old and she really wants to build a good relationship with God. She was part of a catholic church with her mom and she didn't like how all they focused on was having them fear God and that he wasn't loving at all. So that is where we are at with her! We are also meeting with our investigator Srylek and Sokha (her mom) and we are going to teach her the Restoration!! We are so excited!! We are still working hard to find people to teach. One day we will find families who are prepared to receive the restored gospel! 

Interesting Things that happened this week... 

1. On New Years Eve the Trail Center had a party... so we were able to play games with the Senior Couples... I'm still not used to having "parties" at the Trail center.. I'm used to being with members! 

2. Last Monday Sister Borla sent a package home, and the mail lady at first was soo mad- by the end she was singing songs about Jesus! She had a complete change of heart! 

3. We finished planning on time one night this week and Sister Borla had a dance party... of course I joined in before going to sleep haha it was so fun! 

Well, I think that is about it for this week, I am almost out of time! Sorry It is super short! Just know That I love you and miss you all so much!! Have the best week ever!! 

Love, 

Sister Rook

Super Cute girl from Thailand! She was visiting a member from our ward who served in her ward back home! 

.Because it was $2 Tuesday... and our lunch break... so naturally we had ice cream! We are sooo healthy ;)

KELLY AND DAVE AND JASMINE CAME TO THE TRAIL CENTER!!!!! I got to take them on tour!!! It was the best thing ever!

Sister Pinhey went home early from her mission on Saturday, it was so sad. I love her to pieces! 

New Years Eve! We all look so good :D

Just because :) 

These are some of the gingerbread houses that were displayed! Some of them were crazy!!