Happy Thanksgiving Week!!! I cannot believe Thanksgiving in four days. I just can't. But, I do have a LOT to be thankful for! Wow, where to start. This week has been a whirlwind, but it's been another amazing week. It is such a blessing to see the Lord's hand in my life and in the lives of so many around me every single day. This weekend in particular!
It all started Friday with the annual Kendallville Branch Thanksgiving Dinner that the branch, for some reason beyond me, thought it would be appropriate to put Sister Fox and I in charge of. The Thanksgiving dinner is Kendallville's event of the year that everyone comes out to. It is not to be taken lightly. So, we were a little stressed. But, the Lord was on our side (and the Hoovers family) and it turned out smashingly. Yep. The decorations were lovely, the food was delicious, and the company was great. They were right, everyone comes out to the Thanksgiving dinner! I was so happy. I love our little branch so much. I really feel like a part of the family. One nice thing about having a branch is that you know everyone! I love it. AND Laura and Lori, two our investigators, came!! Laura brought her son Isaiah and Lori brought her mother in law and aunt! Wow! And one of the Elders investigators came! It was so great.
The next morning Foxy and I woke up to snow! Yikes. By the time we headed to our first lesson it was sticking to the ground. We drove out to the country and gathered around Rex and Dorothy's kitchen table in their warm country cottage and talked about the Restoration of the Gospel with their family. It warmed my soul! Rex, Dorothy, Colleen, and April have been so prepared for this message! They eat it up. They've all been reading the Book of Mormon above and beyond what we ask. They just can't get enough of it! As we talked the Spirit was so strong and I could just feel Heavenly Father's love for this precious family. I could also feel Rex's anticipation. He knew the baptism invitation was coming and he was so eager and ready for it! We got on the topic of the power of music and Foxy and I sang I Need Thee Every Hour for them. The Spirit was practically tangible. Then, we invited them to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority and they ALL said yes!!! Even Dorothy who has had issues with the authority because she's already been baptized. It all just clicked today and they knew that this is the true Gospel. I was practically in tears!!! When we left, we had to walk through a blizzard (basically) to get to our car. Rex came running out after us and said "Sisters! I really am ready to be baptized! I don't know about the others (haha) but I am so prepared!!!" We were beaming. We assured him that we knew and that, yes, he definitely was. It's going to be a white Christmas in Kendallville in more ways than one! How blessed I am to watch a family enter the waters of baptism this Christmas and enter the gate to becoming an eternal family.
That evening was the adult session of conference in Ft. Wayne. It was all about the hastening of the work. Our stake president read the letter from the first presidency that I'm sure you all heard in your conferences and as soon as he read the line "called to serve" all of us full time missionaries marched into the chapel from the foyer singing Called To Serve! It was so powerful!!! Actually, it was a little awkward for us missionaries haha but SO powerful it didn't even matter! There are 24 full time missionaries serving in the Ft. Wayne stake in case you were wondering. Everyone was crying and the spirit of missionary work was just so strong. President and Sister Porter talked and were wonderful, as always. Our stake president followed and talked about us missionaries love for president Porter. He said we would follow him through a fire. I thought about that and I think we really would. We are so blessed to have such a powerful leader (and wife!!!). I love the Porters with all my heart.
Throughout conference I felt such an urgency for the work. We truly are living in the last days and cannot put off sharing the Gospel!
The next morning Lori, our investigator, came to conference with us and brought a friend. She's such a good little missionary already! I absolutely love Lori. We sat in the back with a million kids around us and it was mostly about the temple (we haven't gotten that far with her yet), BUT the spirit was there and she felt it.
Conference Notes
President and Sister Porter spoke again as well as the Chicago temple president and his wife and the stake presidency. It was SO good! A few of my favorite things were about the temple. It was said that no work is of more protection, more spiritually refining, or gives us more power than temple work. And there will never be a time we need spiritual protection more than now! We ARE living in the last days! We will be better wives, mothers, fathers, husbands, missionaries when we go to the temple. For it is there that we call down the powers of heaven to become (I love this because I've been obsessed with the talk the Challenge to Become by Elder Oaks on my mission). It is in the temple that we find our "real" selves. We should be comfortable in our spiritual skin! We spend too much time not realizing that there is one simple lesson to learn in becoming perfected: kindness. And according the the temple president, that is what we learn in the temple. We personally can't convert anyone, that's the Spirit's job, but we can provide situations for people to feel the Spirit. We don't have to share planned out Gospel lessons-- our family can be our message. And our homes can be the spiritual environment where we share that message. We need to have a speace of peace and joy in our homes. The spirit will leave as soon as there is contention and any decisions we make will not be influenced by the Spirit. We will suffer serious consequences for those decisions.
The last talk was all about marriage and although I'm a missionary and my heart is locked I loved it. I'm saving it for a couple years down the road. For you married folk-- don't miss the opportunities to do the little things because in the end they are not the little things at all! A lie is never a white lie. Your spouse should be the most important person in your life and they should know it (actions speak louder than words). Show it; talk is cheap. It isn't just a temple marriage; it's an eternal marriage.
Okay, my rant is over. As you can tell stake conference was a spiritual feast. Even better than the feast we'll have this week for Thanksgiving in my opinion!
I am so grateful to be serving the Lord in Kendallville, Indiana! I love this gospel with all of my heart. And I am so very blessed to have all of you praying for and supporting me. I pray for you all every day! Enjoy your turkeys.
All my love,
xoxo
Sister Kayla Rolfe
Oh, and transfers are tomorrow! Someone will have to write me and tell me where Sister Ryan is sent because I won't be there! Hooray for Thanksgiving and Christmas in K Ville with Miss Foxy!! BOTH of our elders are leaving though! CRAZY!!
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| The lovely Thanksgiving dinner set up before the madness! |
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| Volunteering at the Library and getting things ready for the Hunger Games premier!! The library ladies love us and we love them. One of them came in and asked "are you the sisters?!!" "yep!" "You're just as cute as they said!!!" |
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| Our branch found out I have some violin experience. There isn't much musical ability here so there are never musical numbers. So, I've been nominated to play in the Christmas program! YIKES! Please pray for me!! |
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