The Spirit of Mormon and Flying Pigs

Hola!

Sister Parker and I worked real hard scrubbing our apartment this morning so we rewarded ourselves by eating lunch at a delicious Mexican restaurant. Okay, I actually didn't like the food that much but it had GREAT atmosphere so I obviously loved it anyway. 

So, missionary work! It has been another amazing week of work and growth. I've never fallen asleep so fast every single night as I do here. It's wonderful. And somehow the Lord blesses me with strength to hop out of bed at 6:22 in the morning and run. How great He is!

Just last night we had a miracle. Let me tell you about it.

We've been struggling to have member present lessons because our pool of progressing investigators is pretty slim right now. Most of our time the past couple weeks has been spent finding. Our goal for member present lessons last week was 5. Saturday night rolled around and as we planned we realized we had only had 3. Seeing as the next day was Sunday and we didn't have any lessons set up with investigators, we did not know how we would reach our goal! We did have faith, though, and we knew that if we did everything we could the Lord would provide a way. 

Fast forward to 7:30 pm Sunday night. We had had one member present lesson and were earnestly praying for one more. After trying to set something up, and not having any success, we decided to stop by the MccIntires (a family in our ward) to drop off a talk to their nephew and have a quick member lesson. The MccIntires graciously welcome us into their home and we had a lovely lesson with them. Then we invited their nephew, Cory, to go teaching with us sometime. You see, Cory is very shy but isn't afraid to tell you no (and he has before). He's 20 and doesn't have a desire to serve a mission although he grew up in the church. He's living with the MccIntires for a few months because his parents hoped it would give him a new outlook and possibly change his mind. 

Anyway, he told us he would! We asked when he could and his uncle answered "Any time!!"

"So...." we asked, "How about now?" And once again, he said yes!!! He hopped in his car, we hopped in ours, and we were off to visit a man we met the day before who told us to come back the next night. We prayed and pleaded fervently in the car that we would witness a miracle and that Cory would have a positive experience. We even texted the President and asked for his prayers. 

We knocked on the man's door and..... no answer. We knock twice more. Still no answer. So we decide to drive to a potential down the road. On the way, we saw a group of people outside so we stopped to talk to them. One of them, John, actually had quite a few questions for us and we ended up having a lesson with him! He wanted a Book of Mormon and our number but wouldn't commit to a specific return appointment. Although we were thrilled to get our member present goal, we felt like Cory could have had a better experience. We said our goodbyes, invited him to come again, and just as we were about to part Cory asked us if he could ask each of us a personal question. We agreed.

"Why are you here?" he asked. It was quiet for a second. Then Sister Parker and I got to share our journeys with Cory and bare testimony of missionary work and the power and influence it has had in our lives. It was powerful. I know this was what Cory needed tonight. It was a miracle.

The Lord doesn't always answer prayers how we expect, but He does answer prayers.

In more exciting news-- Sister P and I taught over 30 lessons this week!! Holy cow. No wonder I'm always so exhausted! We also had 6 people at church which is really quite exciting. Guess what else happened at church yesterday? Your favorite missionary spoke! Hopefully I'm your favorite missionary so I'm not a liar. I was called Saturday night and we were busy proselyting so I gathered my thoughts on the way to church! It went really well though. You know me--I love speaking in church! Elder Marchello also talked! Still crazy to me that we're in the same ward. I said in my talk that I've been in Eastgate my entire mission (so far) and I wouldn't mind staying here my entire mission. The stake president was sitting on the stand and I hear that he smiled and nodded so I'm hoping he'll put in a good word for me. 

Let me tell you a few more more reasons I loved this week:

1. We found an enchanted neighborhood in the woods
2. We got to see Jamie!! (another miracle story)
3. Mandi sent me the cutest picture book! THANK YOU THANK YOU!! Seriously, it made my day. I can't wait for more photo shoots. My special requests are Snow Canyon State Park and the Dixie Rock. And Rosenburch could be fun. And the Jubilee of Trees and Dickens of course. And the road in Bloomington I love (mom do you know what I'm talking about?)
4. Sis. P and I got caught in a HUGE rainstorm and sung hymns while walking/proselyting in the pouring rain
5.A Jehovah's witness gave us sweet potatoes

And last, but certainly not least, my crazy story for the week. We had a lesson with an awesome recent convert we meet every week. He's 21 and is kinda sorta thinking about a mission. After his lesson we invited him to contact a referral with us at his complex. He was skeptical but we told him it would be a good missionary experience. So, we knock and this sweet little old lady answers and says, "You're the Mormons!" We say, "Yes we are!!" And then things turn upside down. She starts freaking out-- telling us Joseph Smith was a liar and did we know he want to jail?? Yes, yes we did. She kept telling us you're so young and you don't know what you're doing! Apparently she wrote a book about Joseph Smith. She asks if we're afraid of her prayers. Uh, no... should we be? So she prays for us and locks us with Sis P and commands the Spirit of Mormon that is attached to us to be taken from us in the name of Jesus whether it be in an hour or a week. I'm not exactly sure what the Spirit of Mormon is but I'm pretty sure I've still got it! 

Anyway, we got out of there and Tony says, "Is this what happens to you guys every day?!" 

Luckily not :) 

I love you!!! Don't lose that Spirit of Mormon ;)

xoxo

Sis Rolfe

Sis. P and I after getting caught in a massive rainstorm

We finished our painting in our basement!! The weather vane is because we are so directionally challenged and it had to be topped with a flying pig because we live in Porkopolis!

We have lovely picnic dinners in Polo Fields when we spend our evenings proselyting and no one wants to feed us. We usually feel/look quite homeless.

Read at your own risk-- I might be losing my mind {9/16/13}

Another wonderful week in the great and marvelous OHIO!

A lot of you have been asking me if it's fall here yet. Well, last week my answer was NO WAY! It got so hot and humid. Yikes. It was pretty miserable. But I am pleased to announce that this week has been perfectly lovely and fall is surely on it's way to Cincinnati!! Ah, I just love it. 

So, once again I am at a loss of where to start. My thoughts are so scattered trying to think about everything that's happened in a whole entire week. I think I'll tell you a little about my schedule. "A Day in the Life" if you will. Oh goodness this sounds incredibly boring but I'm literally sitting here staring at the screen at a loss for words so here goes nothing.

6:20 roll out of bed and pray/try not to fall asleep

6:30 pray with my comp and head outside to run. It's pitch dark when we run and it's so strange. It feels like the middle of the night! We either run around our neighborhood or cross the street to Avalon Gardens-- a magical forest somewhat like Narnia.

7:00 get ready for the day!

8:00 personal study, except not really because we're not studying for ourselves. We study with one of the investigators we're teaching that day in mind and in case you were wondering we study upstairs in Blackham territory (haha). Brother Blackham always tells us to have a good missionary day when he leaves for work and we love it. I don't actually believe I could have a good day without that it's such a part of our routine!

9:00 Companion study! We sing and pray and recite My Commission and our mission scripture and read out of the white handbook! Then we talk about the marvelous things we've studied, role play teaching our investigators, and read the Book of Mormon. We have become so Mormon nerdy! But it's okay because we're missionaries. Starting over the Book with our mission, highlighting it like I told you about, has given me this burning love for the Book of Mormon. Don't get me wrong, I always loved it, but now I am giddy to read it and ah I just can't even describe my feelings. I love it so so much. We are SO lucky to have the Book of Mormon and I'm so sad that I took it for granted for so long! It was literally written by prophets thousands of years ago specifically for US right here right now. Amazing.

10:00 Training! I learn how to be a really great missionary like my dear Sister Parker. We watch the District and read PMG and what not. 

11:00-9:00 teach the gospel!!! We get a lunch and dinner break of course but other than that we are going to appointments, knocking doors, doing service projects-- all that good stuff. I am not going to lie-- it is absolutely exhausting! But so worth it!

9:00 plan for tomorrow

9:30 get ready for bed/listen to conference call if there is one/write in my grateful journal

10:30 collapse in bed after praying of course. Honestly I don't think it's taken me longer than 5 minutest to fall asleep since I've been here.

Then it starts all over again! P Day starts the same until 10. 10-6 we do laundry, clean house, clean and vacuum car, grocery shop, go to the library to email, write letters, and anything else we might need to do! Then we teach all night. 

Now I get to tell you something exciting if you're still reading that is. I'm terribly sorry for all of that nonsense. Anyway, last night we were on conference call listening to all the zone and sister training leaders report their weekly numbers and guess what! Sister P and I had the most new investigators in the mission! Not that it's a competition or anything, but I was pretty excited because we've been working so hard on that since all of our investigators dropped off the face of the Earth. It's so neat listening to everyone's reports though. We get to listen to everyone's miracles. Wow. I wish I could just email you those. It is truly amazing what the Lord will do for his children so they will have opportunities to hear the Gospel.

Here's my funny/cute story of the week. A dear family that I love, the Hurst family, came to church with us yesterday (they're investigators). Their 8 year old Aurora and I are basically best friends and she calls me Ralphie. Not Sister or anything, just Ralphie. Haha. And she loves my "gold book" (my scriptures). She always tells me that when she grows up she's going to be a missionary too and that she's going to take good care of me!

Another quick one-- I forgot to mention in my schedule that we pray all the time for everything. In and out of the car and house etc etc. The other day I accidentally prayed that the people we were meeting with would feel fear instead of the Spirit. :) Oops!

Oh get this. Sister P and I chopped and hauled wood for a guy the other night. He was pretty impressed. Unfortunately, he's not too interested in the Gospel, but we will see about that. He was pretty shocked when we actually showed up at his house in our service clothes a week after we talked about it!

Oh goodness! I almost forgot my miracle story!! We were at the church for Ward correlation the other night. Our meeting was moved back an hour and that is the only time during the week we're at church aside from Sunday. This lady comes into the room and says I need them! (Pointing to sis P and I) so we go out in the hall with her and we know she looks familiar but honestly have no idea who she is. Turns out we are teaching her father in law. Anyway. She just found out she has cancer for the second time and she has to take a bus every day downtown to get treatment but she literally has no money. She had just found out that day and had been at her house crying all day when God told her to find us. She had never even offically met us--just seen us at her dad's house next door! So she found out where I church was and came exactly when we were there. Wow. The Elders gave her a blessing and we gave her some numbers and information for organizations that could help her. It was amazing but it gets more miraculous. When Sis P and I left later we realized that the door to the building was locked!! I have honestly no idea how she even got in the church-- oh and her car was on empty. God is a God of miracles! If he wasn't he would cease to be God!

Okay. I'm contemplating erasing this whole thing because It is so random but then you would get no email so hopefully you get something out of this. 

I LOVE YOU!
xoxo
Sister Kay Rolfe

We ate at the cutest cafe in Newtown. It was born the same year as me!

After church we had lunch with a sweet lady in our ward and her mom who we're actually teaching. The Blackhams were also there! Yay! We had pumpkin ice cream and it was delicious.

This is the WONDERFUL Martha!! I literally do not know how this woman does everything she does. Wow. She amazes me! Anyway, she is so very sweet and calls Ma and Pa!

I almost killed a dog {9/9/13}

I don't know where to start so how about with this.. I LOVE YOU!!

Really, I do. I cried and cried this morning because we were talking about families during our companion study and I was just so sad that families are not important in our society anymore and that I was one of the very few who was sent to a perfect family (hahaha). Really though, we are so so lucky.

Okay, no more sappiness. For now. I'm sure you're all dying to know how Sister Parker's and my life as a Sister Training Leader companionship is going, right?! Okay, probably not, but I'll tell you anyway because I bet Dad actually really wants to know. Well, not much has changed beside us feeling a ton of pressure to be awesome because our area is known for being super duper successful. We were both a little overwhelmed. BUT, all is well. We've overcome that and I'll explain in a minute. Anyway, my favorite part so far is that we get to listen to the bi-weekly leadership conference calls. Yes, I am crazy and love conference calls. You would too, though. It's the President, Assistants, Zone Leaders, and Sister Training Leaders and it's powerful. I LOVE it. I am so blessed to be receiving this training as a greenie!

Back to us being overwhelmed. Eastgate is basically always on fire. Sister Parker and I felt like we started on but these past couples weeks our flame has been smothered. Seriously, almost all of our investigators have dropped or gone Anti. Not good! We got in a little bit of a rut. We've been working so hard on becoming better missionaries and being obedient we had no idea how this could have happened! 

We were set and determined to "step into the realm of the miraculous" Sunday (as president says. We were ready and willing to pay the price, whatever it may be. Let me tell you. Blessings were literally poured out upon us. People!! Put everything in God's hands and then have faith. That is all it takes. We asked Him for 4 investigators and promised that we would follow His will in finding them. We prayed for guidance all day and we were led. We had the most powerful companion study we've had yet and were simply reading scriptures about Christ from the Book of Mormon to each other. I had the clearest revelation that we needed to simplify our teaching. All we needed to do was read the Book of Mormon and bear powerful testimony of what we know. We did just that and the results were incredible. We talked to a man at his door for no longer than 7 minutes and he was in tears because of the Spirit (so were we!!). I feel like I broke down a huge wall, or something finally clicked, and I was finally the bold missionary I've been trying so hard to find. I've known all along what kind of missionary I wanted to be and I've been praying so hard to be able to give of all my heart, might, mind, and strength, and yesterday everything just kind of fell into place. I don't even know exactly what it was. But I do know that it was because of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I know that through His atonement we can be made whole and that everything that is unfair about life will be made right. I know that I am a daughter of a gracious Father in Heaven and I know that He knows and loves me personally. 

I love my mission so much and there is nowhere in this world i would rather be than here because I know this is exactly where my Father has placed me. 

Sister Parker and I started over the Book of Mormon and New Testament, reading them side by side. Our mission also started over the Book of Mormon, but we each got a new copy and are highlighting everything about Christ, all of the miracles, and the story line. We're going to finish by Thanksgiving! I encourage you all to do the same. Get a blank copy of the Book and reading highlighting only one specific thing-- the Savior, faith, anything you want to learn more about or understand more fully. I know that the Book of Mormon is the most true book on this Earth and that if we read it prayerfully, with real intent, we will find answers to every question. I love it. I love it so much. 

Oh! And we didn't get 6 new investigators. WE GOT 8!!

I don't know how to transition this, but let me lighten things up a little and tell you my funny/embarrassing/ "yep, I'm still the same Kayla" story of the week. 

 

We really needed to find new investigators the other day and we didn't have much time so we prayed in our car and when we opened our eyes there were two ladies standing right in front of us! We talked to one of them and she really needed it. We're meeting again! Anyway, she referred us to her elderly neighbor whose only friend is her dog she's had forever. But the dog is really sick. 

So we go to J's house (the old lady). And she is so sweet and invites us right in and tells us her whole life story! She tells us about how much she loves her dog and the dog comes limping in. So I lean over the pet the dog (I'm sitting on the couch) and much scriptures slide off my lap and hit the little dog smack dab on the head and the dog stumbles and bashes her head into the coffee table! I'm obviously mortified. I probably just killed this poor woman's dog who is her only family. Luckily, the dog was fine and there were no hard feelings. Anyway, I don't know if this was one of those you had to be there situations, but that night I couldn't even get myself together I was laughing so hard over it. That would happen to me!

Well, I love you all and I will do my best not to kill any precious pets or family members this week. I would appreciate it if you did the same.

xoxo,

Sister Rolfe

Oh and please please please pray for Jamie!! Her friends, ugh, are trying to convince her the Mormons are a cult and they are basically the only friends she has so she is really wavering. Why people feel it's okay to spread crazy rumors about our church I do not know! 

We got three new elders this week in our ward! Two English and one Spanish  The Spanish elder is Elder Marchello from Meridian, Idaho!! AKA the Elder from Sandi's ward she kept telling me to watch for!! Yep, he's in my ward! Crazy! 

We went to Chick Fil A with Brother Alex! Our Lebanese friend who I told you about last week. He's doing much better! We gave him a pass along card and he  read the back... "What is my purpose in life" then he got so excited and said (in his thick accent) "Oh! I must read this!!" 

Surprise from Ohio! Mum had a birthday shout hooray :)

Surprise!! Happy happy birthday to the best Mamacita in the world! I love you more than I have words to express, Mom! You are my sunshine.

xoxo

Your baby girl/missionary

2 days late and 2 sisters short {9/4/13}

Hello Hello!

Happy Missionary Mail... Wednesday!! :) The verdict is in and......

Sister Parker and I are both staying in Eastgate!!! HALLELUJAH! I could not be happier. You don't know how hard I've been praying.

But wait, there's more.

Sister Parker has been called as the Sister Training Leader for our zone!! Wow! I don't know what exactly is in store for us but I know it will be good! We will be going on a lot of exchanges so sister P can do trainings so I will get to work with a lot of Sisters! I'm excited! Once again, I cannot tell you how amazing Sister P is. This only confirms what I already knew-- I won the companion jackpot!

Where to start this week??

I hope your Labor Day was splendid even though it wasn't missionary mail day. I was on an exchange with Sister Penrod (Sis P was at a training at the mission home). We were invited to a member's house for a Labor Day Luncheon. They live back in the woods a little and have a pond for swimming and a beautiful house/lot! Bro. Bradford was actually a mission president in Brazil! He really intimidates me. There were about five other families from our ward there including the bishopric and stake president! I got to get to know them all better, tell them about some of our miracles, and share a message with them-- it was great! The only way it could have been better would have been if I hadn't accidentally called Bro. Bradford Sister Bradford. Yikes!!! I was so embarrassed because, like I said, he is very intimidating and isn't the type of man to just laugh it off... more like a death glare actually.

Anyway, Miracle time. Woot Woot!

I believe I've told you about Alex from Lebanon. Well, he was going to go to a baptism with us on Saturday but when Brother Blackham went to pick him up he said he was sick. Well, the Cherry Grove Sisters had a bunch of food they had just got from a member and suggested we take it to him because he is poor. So we did just that. When we got there we found the usually very cheery Alex in the depths of despair. He wept as he told us that his life had no purpose, that no one cared about him, and that he was pleading all morning with God to take his life. He was obviously inconsolable. We called down the powers of Heaven the best we could and did the best thing we knew how-- sang him a hymn. A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief actually. The mood and Spirit in the room was instantly lifted. It was amazing. Alex told us he decided he wanted to go to the baptism. We went and he spirits lifted even more. Afterwards he was able to receive a blessing from a couple men from the ward and the Elders. He wept again as he thanked us over and over for saving his life. He showed us the dozens of prescription pills he was about to take that morning. If only we had come a couple hours later it would have been too late. Luckily, Alex is a man of God and he felt God telling him to be patient. So he waited and we came knocking. 

How wonderful it is to be a tool in the Lord's hand. I have been so humbled. I was blessed with the Gospel. the best family in the world, and everything I could have wished or hoped for growing up. And here is a man who had to escape from his home country to be free and safe, who has not seen his family in 13 years, who has been betrayed by the only friends he had in this country, who feels as though he has nothing to live for. 

This experience has given me the extra boost/reminder I needed this week to give this (my mission) ALL of my heart, might, mind, and strength. Jesus Christ gave his life for me, I can give 18 months of service for him. If I can help good people like Alex, even if Alex was the only person I helped my entire mission--it would be worth it. I think I have a bit more understanding of the scripture that says how great will be your joy if you bring only one soul unto Christ. Alex's life was saved this week because four young girls decided to serve missions. I know that it was not any of us who saved him, but I am so grateful for my choice to be here, to let the Lord work through me. 

After sharing this life changing experience together, we found out the Cherry Grove Sisters are leaving us. They are moving into their own apartment in Cherry Grove :( My heart is broken! I love these sisters so much. I really feel like they are my Sisters! The Blackhams took us all out for family dinner Monday night at Outback and Roanna (is an angel) bought us all matching Labor Day shirts (really cute striped shirts from the Gap). We had the best night!! I love my little mission family and I don't know what I'll do without my sisters! An older couple took a picture for us after and they really thought we were all family--haha. :) This morning Sister P and I rearranged our room. We moved out the other beds and moved all the other furniture around. It feels HUGE now!! We have the whole basement to ourselves and it's almost finished! It will feel so lonely though! We're also painting a mural on one of the walls I'll send you a picture of at a later time and date when it's finished.

All is well in Ohio! The weather got really hot but it seems to be cooling off again so that's wonderful. I can't wait for fall here! I'm praying I'll get to stay with Ma and Pa B for the holidays. 

One more fun story for you. Sis P and I ran out of miles on Saturday, the last day of the month (our car is a 2013 Chevy Cruz if you were wondering) so we walked from the church to our house-- a few miles, through tall grass, down windy roads, in the 95 degree plus major humidity weather. We made a good time of it and sang/made up stories :)

I LOVE YOU!

xoxo
Sister Rolfe

Sister Palmberg and I love to match. We scored these shirts at Meyer for $1. Please notice all of our Elders photobombing. 

Walking home! (we think this should be on a missionary ad)

Our little matchy family on Labor Day!

Our home!

They made me green pasta because I'm a "greenie!"