I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas {12/22/13}

Holy Cow.

 

Oh wait, first I should say Merry Christmas!!!!

How grateful I am for the opportunity to spend this season focused on my Saviour, Jesus Christ. The miracles that I have seen throughout my mission, and this past week, would not have been possible if it weren't for His grace. I know that.

 

So, this week. Wow! We had our Mission Christmas Party in Muncie on Thursday and it was one of the best things to ever happen to me on my mission. We had a talent show where all of us missionaries got to make fools of ourselves, all in good fun of course. It was so nice to be able to laugh and have fun together. Usually when we're all together it's pretty serious and very spiritual--which is wonderful, don't get me wrong! But every needs to have a little fun every once in a while :) My part in the craziness was dancing in a reindeer rain dance. Yikes. Be glad you didn't have to witness that! One of my favorite parts was Elder Chambers reading a Kentucky redneck version of the Night Before Christmas in his best hillbilly accent. It was only that much funnier because our mission covers Kentucky :) Oh and guess who was there! Well, all of the missionaries I love that I told you about from the last Muncie conference but also Sister Christianson!!!!!! (I lived with her at the Blackhams)! It was a joyous reunion!! Our whole district (besides Sis Parker :( ) was there! Good times. After the talent show we moved into the chapel for the spiritual part of the program. Missionaries alternated reading about Christ's life and singing. Sister Farr and I sang Come Follow Me. I was so nervous! I've never sung a duet in front of a group of people before, but the Spirit was there so it actually went pretty well! The Spirit was SO strong throughout the program. Afterward we shared our testimonies and I never wanted it to end! I've said it once, I'll say it a million times, being with a group of missionaries is powerful. I know that we have truly been set apart from the world by God for this time.

 

We chatted and caught up afterward (oh and got Christmas cards from the 1st presidency!) until they kicked us out of the building. Sister Fox and I drove down with the new senior couple in our district--the Mcclellans. We love them! They're from Morgan, Utah.. as most of our mission is :) They took us and the rest of our district out for shakes after and sent mom a picture :)

 

Okay, let's fast forward to Sunday. Wait, Saturday night was the branch christmas party and it was great. Okay, Sunday morning. Sister Fox and I have been working so hard to get our investigators to church!! The past couple weeks we've had 8 or 9 lined up but the adversary works on them and one thing or another comes up sunday morning. This week we were determined not to have that happen. One particular couple, Dorothy and Rex, have been tryign to come for weeks but Dorothy's health is terrible. So Saturday night the elders went over with us and gave her a blessing (I love the priesthood!). After, she had tears in her eyes and said, "I felt that all the way down to my toes." Wow. Sunday morning comes around and she is feeling wonderful!!! She got a full night of sleep for the first time in over a year!! People, the priesthood is real!! God has restored it!! If this isn't a testament of that I don't know what is. Dorothy and Rex were able to come to church along with SEVEN more of our investigators. Yes, 7!!!!! We had NINE investigators at church!!! If you don't know, that's HUGE. Talk about a Christmas miracle!! Oh and we had 96 people at church which is also huge for our branch. So, let's do a little math. One tenth of the people at church were investigators! Woot woot!! Sister Fox and I sang in the choir and Sister Slavin and I performed Joy to the World on our violins and the whole thing was lovely. Most importantly the Spirit was there and it was strong. And our investigators felt that. Hallelujah. The Church is true.

 

One of our new investigators, Mike, came to the Party and Sacrament with us. After, we were talking and he told us the past two days he had had more positive conversations/experiences than he's had all year and he can't wait to learn more. He has been so prepared for the Gospel.

I honestly cannot think of a better way to spend my Christmas season than bringing my brothers and sisters closer to their Prince of Peace (didn't you love that talk in the Christmas devotional?) Jesus Christ. This truly is a time to celebrate Him!

 

Okay, one more miracle. Lori and Ian fell off date for baptism this weekend. Yep, Satan is the worst. BUT, he will not prevail! Because God is merciful, they were both able to get back on date and we are on for THREE baptisms this weekend! More than Kendallville has had in 3 years. It is going to be a white Christmas in Kendallville! :) The work is Hastening and will not be stopped. God is gathering and preparing His people. Let us all do our parts in hastening this great work of salvation and sharing the light that is within us with our brothers and sisters! And please pray for lori, Ian, and Joe!

I love you all so much and do not know what I would do without your love and support. I hope you all have the loveliest of holidays and remember the true meaning of Christmas. If you'd like to do a little reading to get yourself in the mindset I'd suggest Mosiah 14-16, Alma 33-34.

 

Also, President Porter encouraged us to read our patriarchal blessings and make a list of  "I Am..." I've been doing in and it's powerful!

 

With all of the love in my heart,

Sister Kayla Rolfe

 

Oh wait I can't go without sharing a funny story! Ian (9) was sitting next to us at the Christmas dinner. He asked our investigator if he knew Tom Hanks. So we get to talking about Tom Hanks and Ian leans over and whispers to me "I'm wearing Toy Story underwear but I don't think that's appropriate to say in the church. Am I right?" Hahahah :)

 

Ah, sorry, one more thing. Our mission is doing a social media split next month. Members will be with us all day taking pictures of us and posting them on social media sites. I'll be sure to have them tag me so you can share them!! Woot woot for the gospel being spread through social media!

 

Peace and Blessings, ya'll!!

Mail from your favorite missionary! {12/16/13}

So, I don't let myself read any of your emails until I write this one or else, let's be honest, I would never get to it. But, I'm just so excited to go read all of your emails sometimes I rush through this one. Sorry!

What a week!!

I feel like my past few emails have been all spiritual/serious which is fine and great, but let's start this one off on a lighter note. Yesterday at church this guy told me, "Sister, it's so nice to know a blond who isn't ditzy!" Hahah, hmm, I'm not sure wether I should take that as a compliment.

Thursday morning we woke up at 4 a.m. so we could head down to Muncie by 5 for zone conference (Muncie is about 2 hours from K-Ville). We got there and we were the first was there and the building was locked! Soon enough the rest of our zone showed up so we sang Christmas carols until the Muncie zone leaders came and unlocked the building. Brrr!!

ZONE CONFERENCE WAS SO GOOD.

I don't even know what to say. It was just really, really, really, good. Elder Perkins of the first quorom of the 70 was there and we were spiritually fed. Okay, we feasted. I never wanted to leave! Before I tell you about what I learned, get this. Elder Stradling, Elder Chambers, and Sister Ellis were all there! In case you're confused, that's all of the missionaries from my MTC district I came out here with. Reunited and it felt so good! AND, Elder Tanner and Elder Fivas from Eastgate were there!! (they're not in Eastgate anymore) AND Sister Palmberg, my grandma, was there!!!!!!! It was like a big family reunion! Ah, it was so exciting. It's amazing how close you get to the other missionaries. Sister Fox and I decided it's like a really close singles ward without all the awkward relationship drama. I love my missionaries!

Anyway, I learned so much from the conference I don't even know where to start. Basically, I'm ready to take on the world-- or at least, Kendallville. Most of it was focused on how to be a better teacher of the gospel. It was powerful. One of my favorite things, though, was what he shared with us about our weaknesses. If you couldn't tell from my last email. I've been finding a lot of those lately. Elder Perkins said that when satan works on you and tell you your no good it's disparing, but when the Spirit shows you your weaknessed, there is hope that you will be able to overcome them. Don't get confused! Trust me, I have, and it's not a good thing. Heavenly Father will never make you feel overwhelmed with your weaknesses and inabilities. Whew! Good to know.

After our meeting with him, all of the sisters got to stay and have a meeting with his wife. We sat in a big circle and talked about our feelings and our divine role as Sisters/women and as you can imagine there were a lot of water works. Especially coming from me. The spirit just overwhelmed me. As one of our investigators used to say, it was a spiritual punch in the face. I could feel Heavenly Father's love for my sisters and me so strongly and I knew how great our divine potential really is. The world has women stand for all of the wrong things these days and we, the minority, are here to change that. What a sacred and special privilege. As women, we're really hard on ourselves and naturally comapare ourselves to each other (which is really lame and unproductive). Sister Perkins told us to stop doing that. All of sisters are working toward the same cause, we're on the same team and we each have our own individual mission. The same is true in life. I really needed this reminder. We also brought up President Hinckley's wise words-- Try a little harder to be a little better. I love that. All we have to be today is a little better than we were yesterday. Just like Dad has taught me my whole life-- my toughest opponent in life is myself.

Wow that was a huge tangent!

So, that night we drove to Ft. Wayne with the sisters and went to their ward Christmas party. I forgot what it was like to be in a ward. So many people! We had a sleepover and went on exchanges the next day. When we woke up we were literally in a winter wonderland. Holy cow! It took us 30 minutes to get to a house that's usually 5-10 minutes away. Craziness. And I was driving!! Yep, first experience driving in a snow storm-- check! All of the elders and sisters met at a recent converts house (8 missinaries total) and we cleaned it top to bottom! I cleaned cat hair/droppings out of places where they do not belong. Poor woman. It was so neat to all come together and do this for her though! We sang christmas hymns to her after and she cried and told us how special we are. When we tried to leave our cars were stuck in the snow so the elders had to dig us out. Oh and we made snow angels :) The rest of our day was great/crazy/cold. Foxy and I drove home that night and were very careful, Mom. Sunday, we both spoke in church. It was on the Divine Mission of Jesus Christ and we've been studying the atonement the past couple weeks so I had a lot to say and could not narrow it down. I honestly had no idea where I would go with it when we got to church and was praying really hard. Then, surprise!, the stake presidency was there!! Really? Well, my prayers were answered and it went so well! Thank you Dad for blessing me with the love of public speaking. And thanks to the Spirit for guiding my words/thoughts, of course. I talked about the reason behind his divine mission-- love. And how we need to follow His example, in order to become like him, and love all men. I closed with "let us make it our divine mission to exemplify His." I'll leave the rest up to your imagination. The stake pres was there because we got a new Branch President! President Powell who we're actually spending Christmas with! We're so excited! His daughter is the one going to ken's mission. After church we spoke at the Young Women in Excellence program and you know how I feel about talking to women of the church (I love it! Women are great. Sorry men.) So that was good. Their theme was happily ever after (please, girls reading this, go read Uchtdorf's talk about this) and all the girls dressed up like Disney princesses and talked about how their lives relate. It was so cute!

In Ft. Wayne we went to Panda and my fortune said I would bless others lives through music or something along those lines. This week I'm singing a duet at our mission Christmas party and playign the violin in church for the Christmas program. Please pray for me!

I love you all dearly and can't wait to talk to my family members in 9 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

peace and blessings y'all,

Sista Rolfe

"Place your burdens on Jesus Christ. When you feel overwhelmed by expectations and challenges,
do not fight the battle alone. Follow the example of small children, and drop to your knees in prayer.
Jesus Christ has commanded us, “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.”
Doubt, fear, and worry indicate we have taken all of life’s burdens and anxieties on ourselves.
When plagued by thoughts that you are inadequate, confidently say, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
Then as you “cheerfully do all things that lie in [your] power,” you can rest assured that the Lord will do the remainder and things will work out all right.
The Savior promised, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
As you “cast [your] burden upon the Lord,” you will feel the peace of the Spirit."
Elder Anthony D. Perkins

The missionaries in our branch were assigned to set up the Christmas tree!

Missionaries from my MTC district

Snow day!

Christmas Miracle {12/9/13}

It's snowing outside! I can't believe it's December and I can't believe how much more it feels like Christmastime when the ground is white. So beautiful!

I heard St. George had a snowstorm this week too?? WHAT?! That's definitely not the St. George I grew up in!

Anyway, this week has been a good one. Actually, a great one. 

My dear Lori, who I love with all of my heart, is BEING BAPTIZED!!! Wow. I could not imagine a better Christmas gift! December 27th will be a day I never, ever forget. Lori is so special and has been so prepared by the Lord. She really had a desire to be baptized, but wanted to be sure she was doing the Lord's will, so she took it to prayer. Of course, because the adversary is annoyingly aware of our spirituality, she started facing all of these trials. We had a powerful lesson--one of the most spiritual experiences I've had yet on my mission. We came back two days later and she was completely at peace.. she had received her answer! She prayed about it that night, then opened her Book of Mormon because she is brilliant and knows that the Scriptures are a window to heaven/revelation, and wa-la! The page she turned to was all about baptism. She knew then and there 100% God had spoken. I told you she is amazing. This is what the Spirit of Christmas is all about: bringing people unto Him!

We watched the Christmas Devotional together last night and the Spirit was so strong. I never wanted it to end! I am so grateful for a modern day prophet who received direct revelation from the Lord. What a privilege and a blessing! A couple of my favorite things last night.. "The way to find real happiness is to make others happy"  "The wonder and awe of Christmas is just the beginning" and "Let Jesus Christ be your personal Prince of Peace". Earlier in sacrament I was studying peace in the scriptures (it's been a bit of a hectic week) when the speaker from the high council got up and shared a beautiful talk on finding peace. Then, the concluding talk last night by Russel M. Nelson was on personal peace! I'm pretty sure they were both just for me. Don't you love when that happens? Just another witness that Heavenly Father knows and loves me.

Today I read a talk by James E. Faust that said "When we strive to come unto Him, we come to see how He will then make our weaknesses better known to us, sometimes painfully, in order to help us progress." I feel like that explains this past week perfectly, so I'm glad to know it's Heavenly Father working with me. There are so many things to focus on as a missionary and I feel like I'm falling short on so many of them. I've been a little overwhelmed this week with all of it. But, looking back, I know that it's only helped me to draw closer to my Savior and that He is showing me my weaknesses so I can become better. It can just be a little painful, like President Faust says. I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have of the restored Gospel. I know that at times like these I can find peace in my older brother Jesus Christ because he has been through exactly what I'm going through. How comforting! What a beautiful time of year this is-- a time to celebrate Him and all that He has done for us. He is the reason for the season-- the reason for everything, really.

 

News for this upcoming week. Friday we have a zone conference in Muncy with a member of the 70. His last name is Perkins if you're curious. The next day we'll be on an exchange in Fort Wayne. The next day I'm talking in church. That night we're talking at the young women Night of Excellence. Two days after that I'm singing a duet (all SIX verses of Come Follow Me) at our mission Christmas party. I don't know who got the idea that I can sing! Oh and Christmas Sunday I've been volunteered to play the violin in sacrament!

Activity is the genius of the church, right? :) 

 

Oh, one more thing. We're supposed to do a lot of service at Christmas, right? I have a service project for y'all. Write me letters!!

I love you all dearly!

xoxo

Sister Kayla Rolfe

We had a lovely Christmas party at the Nelsons' this week!

The 4 sisters in our zone!

Choose Faith {12/2/13}

My dear, dear loved ones!

What a week. Thanksgiving didn't slow Sister Fox and I down. We broke our records for member presents (10!) and total lessons (32!!!) in one week!! And we still managed to find 6 new investigators!! The Lord is really moving this week forward in Kendallville! We also got 2 new elders. Elder Chambers-- who was in the MTC with me AND in Eastgate with me (crazy!), and Elder Mcfarland who is brand new!

Thanksgiving was lovely. The Thuillards and Salzgabers made us feel right at home and we ate just as much food as usual. Sister Fox and I even baked pies that morning so our apartment really smelled like Thanksgiving :) It was really special to be able to spend the day visiting members and investigators and share a message of gratitude, rather than the usual Thanksgiving day activities (watching movies, Black Friday ad scanning). I think I caught the true spirit of the holiday this year.

 

That evening as I was pondering the day and the many things I have to be grateful for, I received a call from President Porter. He told me that Grandma had passed away. He also told me that we are faced with 2 battles-- the war in heaven and our Earth life-- and she has won both. I had an overwhelming peace wash over me and I knew, without a doubt, that she has returned to our Father in Heaven and is in a far better place than she was here. I know that the glorious Plan of Salvation that I teach my investigators is indeed true. I don't know how I could cope if it wasn't. I feel so blessed to be able to share the knowledge that brings this peace with others. I was blessed enough to receive a priesthood blessing from my zone leaders and one of the assistants to the president Saturday night. I had the same peace come over me. That was the Holy Ghost or the Comforter, just like I've been promised in John 14:26-27. I know it. I've been blessed with a companion, leaders, and a branch family who love me and take care of me. I've been blessed with an earthly family who love me even more. But, most importantly, I've been blessed with an even stronger relationship with my Father in Heaven. I know that He has heard our prayers. He has blessed me with 3 guardian angel grandmothers.

 

Yesterday I read a talk about choosing faith. Faith requires action, so we are responsible for our faith--or our lack of faith. Isn't that cool? How much faith we have is completely up to us. If you feel like you're struggling, choose to act on the faith that you do have. It's your choice! As for me, I'm choosing not to fear. I'm choosing not to let myself get depressed or apathetic. I'm choosing to draw closer to God. I'm choosing to take His yoke upon me. I'm choosing to access the atonement because I know that my Savior, Jesus Christ, knows exactly how I feel. I'm choosing to be happy. I'm choosing faith.

 

Yes, I'm cheesy. Yes, I love you all!

xoxo

Sister Rolfe

 

Oh, I almost forgot! I didn't believe it when I heard Sister Ryan is in Eastgate. Seriously, I didn't. When I found out it was for sure true AND she is with Sister Parker I almost had a heart attack!! WHAT?! It's pretty obvious who is in charge of this work. I don't know what God has up His sleeve, but I can't wait to find out!

 

Sorry, one more thing. We got to take our investigator, Lori, to a baptism in Fort Wayne with us this weekend. When the lady came out of the water Lori leaned over to me crying and said, "I love how emotional this is! I just feel so happy!" I, of course, was beaming. "Lori, that's the Spirit!"

It was so sweet.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The 12 days of Christmas is the best thing that has ever happened to Sister Fox and me. Mom and Lyn, you're angels!!