"It blew over like a fart in church!"

Lacey's baptism is this Saturday!!! We are so excited for her! We were supposed to have her interview last week, but the Elders mixed up the time and didn't show up  so now we're super stressed trying to figure out a time to do that and get everything ready! Man this week has been crazy! But we are so excited for her. 

This week was the coolest experience. We've been trying to help Justin pray and everytime we asked him if he did, he says no. So this week we really focused on that and helping him with his concerns and then a few days ago he told us he actually prayed!! He said "It was kinda weird. I felt like I wasn't really talking to anyone. I just kinda talked... but I felt good afterwards..." I had the biggest smile on my face!! Something as simple as that just made my day. The power of prayer is real and it is so important! Justin is still working towards baptism next month and he is doing awesome!

Well this week the weather has definitely been rough. We got our first taste of snow! It lasted only a day and it wasn't too bad but still! It's been getting really cold.. I'm really nervous for this winter. It has been raining a lot and the skies are grey as usual! Which is a bummer, but oh well! 

This week my companion had a doctors appointment in Albany and so did one of the sisters from Oneida, so they went together while I spent the day with Sister Graver! Oh my word. She is the funniest person I have ever met. My cheeks were literally sore after being with her all day from laughing so hard! She's in our district and she used to be companions with my companion! We all get along super great and Sister Maughan and I are actually heading into Oneida today to go carve pumpkins with them for Halloween! It should be really fun! 

We did some tracting this week (of course!!!!) and it's so cool how people just really open up to you if you ask them the right question. Random strangers will just start telling us their life story because they know they can trust us (or they're just crazy, either way). But it is really cool to see the blessings that come from tracting and working hard. I love missionary work!!!! 

This week we spent some time at the Gangs house and Nikki made meatball subs for dinner one night JUST for me casue she knows i them them! It was so sweet! I love her so much. 

Another highlight of my week is that we got to go visit Leta. We see her every Tuesday but this time we got to go over friday night and help her with some things. She's an active member of our branch but she's housebound cause she's so sick. I absolutely adore her! We just helped make dinner and cleaned some things around the house for her. I love spending time with her! She's got the coolest stories and the best family history so we could just sit and chat for hours! 

Well sorry this letter was so lame! The work is going great and things are super busy which is awesome! I'm so grateful for the love and support you all show me! Have a great week! :) 

"The Book is blue, the church is true, and God. Is. Mormon." 

xoxo

Sister Rodriguez

Funny quotes/stories:

"It blew over like a fart in church!" -Keith talking about how Thanksgiving lasted for 7 minutes one year 

"O. M. G. Sister Rodriguez!" -Kayden being sassy to me 

"what do we do if our investigator is lesbian and in love with your companion?" "you kill them and do baptisms for the dead" -Elder Cook

It's time to crap or get off the pot!" -Steve

Pictures:

So in NY everyone just rakes their leaves to the curb and then these big sucker things come out and suck all the leaves up!

I made homemade bread last Monday and it was sooo good! But I put it in the crock pot in the oven and then accidentally melted the handle... oops!

SNOW!!

Sister Maughan got a package and her mom sent her the cutest games! This one is called "ward fish" and you have to collect all the ward members! 

She also included cute slippers!!!

HAMILTON SERIOUSLY HAS MY HEART YOU GUYS I LOVE IT SO MUCH

When your companion spoils you and makes you the best meals!! (like all the time, seriously I'm so spoiled)

Our tracking selfies? (then we call Pam to come pick us up cause we were cold and exhausted and didn't want to walk home)

SOS I'm addicted to Maxwells ice cream!  Seriously its so good.

The Struggle Bus and a Party Wagon

Hello everyone!! This has been a LOOOOONG week! Week 6 is always a struggle but it's a good thing that today starts week 1 of transfer 3! So crazy. It's so weird to think that I'm not being trained anymore! I still feel like I have no idea what I'm doing but I've heard that feeling never goes away as a missionary so I'm not sure how I feel about that haha!

Well on Monday and Tuesday we spent a lot of time saying goodbye to everyone cause it was Sister Lovelands last few days in Hamilton :( On Monday the Rains threw a goodbye party for her so that was really fun! I was sad to see her go, but I absolutely LOVE Sister Maughan!!!!! Seriously we get along so great, she is already one of my best friends. Last night we were laughing so hard that I could barely breathe! She is literally an answer to my prayers, I love her so much! 

So this week was one of the worst and yet best weeks on the mission. It was so rough because it literally rained for TWO DAYS STRAIGHT! Like with no break at all. I had no idea how big of an impact the weather had on me until I came out here. I get super grumpy when it rains. I just LOVE blue skies and sunshine so I definitely miss that. It's been getting dark here at like 6:45, plus with all the rain and the cold weather and with it being so dark, NO ONE ever wants to talk to us. Ya know those days that missionaries talk about where literally EVERYTHING falls through?! Yeah that was our entire WEEK! EVERYONE cancelled on us. It was so frustrating. I've been pretty good about staying positive but this week was just rough cause everything cancelled. I just get so frustrated because the message that we share is so important and dear to our hearts but it seems like no one ever wants to hear it. During 6-9 pm President Rogers wants us putting our focus on finding and teaching so we usually tract for an hour during that time and try to have our appointments set for then as well but this week tracting was a huge struggle because when it gets dark so early, people go to bed early and they get really mad when you knock on their door. It's seriously so frustrating I can't even tell you guys. Plus when our set appointments cancel it's hard to know where we're supposed to be or who we're supposed to be seeing. But Sister Maughan has been so great at keeping a good attitude so that helps a ton! 

But some great things did happen this week! We were able to decorate pumpkins with the Young womens and Lacey came, we set Catherine on date to be baptized for November 26 and she came to church yesterday, we got another one of our investigators progressing, and we FINALLY saw sunshine yesterday! Looking back on the week, it's easy to see the bad things that happened. But then I remember how many amazing things happened. Nick (from the gang) helped us teach the Plan of Salvation one day last week and he said that he likes to think of life as Satan and Heavenly Father playing a game of cards together. I love that concept! I've thought a lot about that this week. Even though sometimes Satan may lay a good card or whatever, we know that ultimately Heavenly Father has the upper hand and He WILL win! So it's pointless to even put your money on Satan when we know that our God will win. This week it was easy to see Satan try to discourage us. But of course he was trying to because so many good things happened! He's trying to keep with God but it doesn't work. I'm not sure if that concept made any sense to anyone else but I thought it was really neat.

Funny Stories:

So this week the WEIRDEST experience of my life happened. We were trying some potentials one night and we had parked on the side of the road (I'm driving) and we were just looking to see who else we could try. It was dark and cold and raining. We figured out who we were gonna go see when this car pulls up next to me. I roll my window down and this guy goes "Can I help you?" 

me: "oh no, we were just figuring out where we're going but we got it, thanks though!" and then he said something about intoxicated but i couldn't really hear him so i was like "You're intoxicated?"
Him: "No. I think YOU'RE intoxicated"
Me: "oh no.. I'm a missionary for my church and I don't drink so.."

Him: "Well it seems like you are. I got your license plate number and reported you to the police. The cops are on their way"

Me: "....okay....."

WHAT THE HECK, RIGHT?!!?!?! Like how could I seem intoxicated, we weren't even driving, we were pulled over!! It was so weird. We waited and then he drove away and we felt super uncomfortable so we called our district leader and then just went home. WEIRD! But really funny!

The other day we were trying another potential and we were like "Hi is Olivia home?" and this guy was like "yeah.." and then shut the door. And well, like 5 minutes later and he never came back.. haha super awkward!

Sister Maughan: "The two questions missionaries ask the most are: 1. where am I? and 2. What just happened?" haha I totally agree!

Oh another awkward story: We were contacting a referral and this lady answers the door and goes "come in! Oh get him, get my dog!" so I get the dog and start walking in and then she goes "I'm not interested!" and kicks us out! 

Guys missionary work is literally such a struggle. It's so awkward and the situations you find yourself in are so funny. But they make for great stories! Hahaha

Elder Cook: "umm I will be the captain of the party wagon" 

So that explains my subject line :)

Also I found this awesome quote by Elder Holland this week:
"With any major decision there are cautions and considerations to make, but once there has been illumination, beware the temptation to retreat from a good thing. If it was right when you prayed about it and trusted it and lived for it, it is right now." 

Even though this week was a huge struggle and it was full of uncomfortable situations, I truly love this gospel. Being a missionary is such a privilege and I love being able to wear the Saviors name on my chest everyday. 

Hope you all have a great week!!

xoxo

Sister Rodriguez

Pictures:
Lacey: "pretend like you're eating it!... oh I look like i'm dabbing.."

Our first companionship selfie

When you're an idiot and accidentally get your hot chocolate in a slurpee cup...

So apparently the inventor of the computer was born in Hamilton!!! Represent!!!

Beautiful NY

Jehobo Witness

So this week lacey came tracting with us again! We met a lady who didn't want to talk to us and told us that she's a Jehovah's Witness. We walked away and Lacey turns to us and goes "What's a JeHOBO Witness?" HAHA Sister Loveland and I just started cracking up!

So AWESOME WEEK! But first off, transfers are wednesday!! I will be staying in Hamilton - YAY! But sister Loveland will be leaving :( She will be going to Saratoga Springs to be a Sister Training Leader! She will be awesome. I will definitely miss her! My new companion is going to be Sister Maughan!!! I started freaking out last night when I found out because I already know her! She came on the hike to the Adirondacks with us so I've already met her and she is awesome. I am SO excited! I'm definitely nervous about adjusting to a new companion but I know we will get along great. 

So this week was super awesome because we started teaching Lacey's brother Justin! And I committed him to be baptized the end of November! So hopefully that date sticks. It has been so cool to see Lacey help us teach him! We were going over the Plan of Salvation and Lacey was talking to him and she goes "I love this plan" she didn't say it like a big deal, but to me it was. If only you guys could SEE the change this Gospel has brought to Lacey's life. It is incredible. Her testimony has grown so much even over the past few weeks! She talked to her grandma's and figured everything out, so on November 5th at 2 pm Lacey will be baptized! Her testimony is so beautiful, and being able to see how much she actually knows about the gospel is awesome! Being able to see her share it with her brother is so cool. My favorite part about lacey's testimony is that she told us whenever she has doubts or questions, she prays and Heavenly Father answers her prayers. How incredible is that? She truly sees the Lords hand in her life. I love it! I could brag about Lacey all day!!!! 

Also last week we saw Jason, one of our investigators. He's on date for February 11, 2017. He told us that when we're over, he feels something different. He has said that a few times now! We keep telling him about the Holy Ghost and how he will be able to have that feeling with him all the time once he is baptized! It's just incredible to be able to see the Gospel impact so many peoples lives. 

This weekend was Stake Conference which was great! On Saturday we went to the adult session with the Rains and afterwards they took us to 5 guys! It was sooo good. Then on Sunday we hitched a ride with the Solomons! I love the Hamilton branch so much. I'm so grateful I get to stay here for another transfer! 

Also this week we had Zone Training Meeting. We found out Sister Shulz and Sister Reintjes are both being transferred out of the Zone so I'm super sad about that! But I'm excited for them. ZTM was great as always! I never appreciated church meetings so much until I came out on my mission! Seriously they're like a breath of fresh air! Because for once, we are the ones being spiritually uplifted. We're surrounded by people that have testimonies too! Instead of facing the world where you're fighting to be heard. I just love the leaders of the Utica mission. They're so great and I always learn something new from them.

I'll leave you guys with two quick funny stories:

Sister Loveland noticed that I pee a LOT so she started keeping track of how many times I pee.. well in one week she counted 36 times!!! Hahaha 

A while ago we got some music from another sister in our district and one of the tracks is "If you could dub to Kolob" and it is SO WEIRD! Like we switch it everytime just cause it's like super weird. So it came on and Sister Loveland changes it and goes "If you could dub to Kolob? No, more like DABBING to Kolob" HAHAHA! Lacey and the boys talk about dabbing ALL THE TIME so we joke about it and she seized the perfect opportunity. 

I love you all so much and can't even tell you how much I appreciate the love and support I've received. Don't underestimate the power of an email! You guys are the best. Keep being good examples to those around you and always make sure your day is centered around Christ. 

xoxo

Sister Rodriguez

Pictures:

Sister Reintjes and Shulz at ZTM

Remember Prince that I told y'all about a while ago that I met on Blitz? Well this is Prince! I saw him at Stake Conference! Love him.

Our fav PAM 

Chipotle after ZTM with Oneida sisters and elders!

5 guys after Stake Conference with the Rains! 

Our cute District Prom photo 

Be An Organ Donor...

...give your heart to Jesus!" haha that was from another church sign I saw this week! Church's have lots of funny ways of advertising things I've decided. New York is so crazy because there are SO MANY religions! I am able to see first hand of just how confused Joseph Smith really must have been. Speaking of Joseph Smith.... I GOT TO GO TO PALMYRA THIS WEEK!!!! Oh my goodness it was incredible. We got to drive by the Hill Cumorah which was so cool! We were not able to go to the Sacred Grove which was a bummer, but the temple was beautiful! It was really really small, but still the Spirit that was there was very strong! And Elder and Sister Morgan (the temple missionaries in our Branch) were able to be in the session that we did! That was sweet. We drove 2 hours to the temple with Brother Morgan and our returning Less Active, Chris Moglia who had not been to the temple in almost 30 years! It was the sweetest privilege to be able to attend with her. We had been able to see just how hard Satan worked to prevent her from going. Since I've been here she's been ready to go but has had to wait for  her clothing and everything to get shipped to her! So about a month ago, she got her package, but it was missing an article of clothing! So we had to wait about 2 more weeks to get that! There was a lot of other stuff that was just a mess that we needed to figure out before we could go. So on Saturday in the car, about 20 minutes into the drive, her husband Skip called and said he forgot to put her dress in the car! But no worries, we were able to get to the temple and they had a dress for her. It seemed like one thing after another Satan was trying to prevent her from going but Chris definitely knew she needed to be there and wasn't going to give up until she got there! 

After the temple, Brother Morgan treated us to lunch! Sister Loveland has been telling me that New Yorkers say "hamburg" instead of "hamburger" and so far I had only heard a few people call it that, but at the diner we went to, the MENU even said hamburg! So weird. But it was really good! After that, we took our 2 hour trip back home. That took place of our P-day but since it was an all day thing, President gave us permission to email today!

This week, we were able to go watch Nick (from the gang) in his football game! His team crushed the other guys! It was awesome! After the game, Lacey asked us what we were doing and we told her we were gonna go knock on some peoples doors and she goes "Can i come?!?!" So we said sure!! And she came with us! While we were tracting, she got kind of discouraged because (like always) everyone said no. She asked us "Why does everyone say no?" I loved that question. Lacey knows how important this Gospel is and she wants to share it with everyone and it made her sad that people said no. She was confused as to why anyone would want to decline this happy message that we share! I told her I wondered the same thing. On our last house I asked Lacey if she wanted to talk to the people and she said yes! So she figured out what she was going to say and knocked. She said "Hi, we're sharing a message about Jesus Christ and we're wondering if we could share it with you" or something like that and the lady was like "I know all about him" and Lacey goes "oh. okay. bye" and just turned around and walked away. Haha I was so proud of her for opening her mouth! The lady was kinda rude so that's a bummer but she did awesome! She asked us if she could come again so tonight she's going tracting with us and then she'll join us for dinner at The Duclos's!! 

My email is pretty long this week but I have to share another cool experience. A while ago, we mentioned how testimony meeting would be on the 9th because of General Conference. Lacey was excited and I asked her if she would want to bear her testimony! She looked a little nervous and so I told her she could read it if she wanted to (a while ago we had a lesson and helped her write down her own testimony) so she said she would just read it! Well she ended up losing that paper, so on Sunday in Sacrament meeting, she pulled out a piece of paper and  started writing down her testimony. With no help from Sister Loveland or I. She was really nervous but eventually she was bold and got up to bear her testimony. She talked a lot about how she knew Heavenly Father loves her and blesses her and how she loves the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In the middle of her testimony, she started crying, which needless to say, I had tears streaming down my face. I have been so lucky to have seen this Gospel change Lacey's life. That was probably the best experience I've had on the mission so far, was being able to see Lacey get up and proclaim to everyone that she knows this church is true. It was the neatest experience. 

While Lacey was writing hers, she helped Trevor write his down as well. Trevor told me that he would go up after Lacey if I got up after him so i told him i would! So after lacey sat down, I made Trevor get up and he wasn't going to but eventually he goes "SCREW IT!!!" and marches up to the podium to bear his testimony! When he was coming down, he looks at me and goes "Alright you better get up there NOW!" hahah so amid my tears and laughter, I got up and bore my testimony. I love this gospel so much, and I love how I've been able to see it bless the lives of those here in New York. Being a missionary is SUCH a privilege. 

This transfer has gone by really fast and it makes me sad knowing that my time in Hamilton might be coming to a close soon. We think Sister Loveland might get transferred next week cause she's been here for almost 6 months. That makes me really sad! But one thing I've really been learning is to put my trust in Heavenly Father. One of my favorite quotes from Conference was something along the lines of how we need to trust not only in Heavenly Fathers knowledge, but in his love as well. Wow I loved that. I know Heavenly Father loves each and every one of us. We need to put our trust and faith in Him, and He will make us more than we could ever imagine. 

My funny quote from the week is from Trevor of course:

This week we were having a lesson with Trevor on prayer and we asked him how many hours there are in a day and he goes "48. Because when it's dark here, the Chinese people have day" Hahaha yeah okay! He cracks me up. 

Pics:

When your companion gets too lazy to clean a pot so she uses a PAN to cook her hot dog. #LifeOfAMissionary

Palmyra New York Temple trip:

The gang got a new puppy and I'm OBESSED!!!

Becky Thomas and I at Nicks football game. I LOVE HER!!!! (and yes that's her husband Rohn in the back!)

Of course I have to brag about how beautiful NY is!

Chris and Brother Morgan and us at the diner :)

 Lacey coming tracting with us!

5.

"RODI!!"

If I had a dollar everytime my companion yelled "RODI!!!" at me while I was doing something stupid, well I would be VERY rich!! Hahaha Rodi (road-ie) is a nickname that Sister Loveland has got everyone calling me here in Hamilton! Today I was sticking a nice piece of my hair in Sister Loveland's photo album so "she could remember me" and she turns around and yells "RODI!!!!" again :) Hahaha it's a great sound! We have LOTS of laughs throughout the day and we've started a quote board in our living room! We love finding funny moments in the work.

Well I'll start off with saying just how AMAZING conference was!!! Seriously I can't believe how powerful the Spirit was that I felt. I can't pick a favorite talk, I starred so many of them so I can go back and read them! I LOVED President Nelson's talk on JOY :) This Gospel truly brings us joy! As missionaries we leave our homes to bring others JOY! Jesus Christ is JOY! his JOY is CONSTANT! Ahh I loved every second of conference!... Until it was over.. I was so looking forward to hearing Elder Holland speak. Sister Loveland and I predicted that he would be the last speaker. So when they announced the closing song and prayer, I was devastated! I was so sad that I'll admit, I started tearing up a bit! Trever (from the Gang) was like "I've never seen a missionary cry before!" and Sister Loveland and I just started laughing and we were like "you have no idea, we cry all the time!!" We were able to watch Conference with Pam and Mike on Saturday and with the Gang on Sunday!

This was the first Conference that I went in having prayed to Heavenly Father with a specific question that i wanted answered. It seemed like every. single. talk. was aimed at me! Everything I heard was able to answer my question. I LOVE this Gospel! Like seriously, it was an incredible Conference. I'm sad I have to wait 6 more months before we can hear the leaders of our church again. They are truly called of God. This IS the same church that Christ established while He was on the Earth. My testimony was strengthened SO MUCH this weekend. Heavenly Father truly does answer prayers and the power of the Holy Ghost is REAL! Another talk I really loved was Craig C. Christensens and his "because Joseph was a prophet..." saying. It really strengthened my testimony of the Restoration. Another one of my favorites was M. Russell Ballards! "To whom shall ye go?" This Gospel truly provides so many answers to us. We sometimes take for granted what this Gospel offers us. We can't go anywhere else to find what Christ offers us in His church. 

Conference was basically the highlight of my week! But some other good things happened too! On Saturday morning we were able to go watch Rohnald and Warren (some of our investigators) play football! It was flag football and the cutest thing. Rohnald ran off the field, looked at his coach and was like "I wanna go say hi!" So in the middle of the game he ran over and said hi to us and gave us hugs! Ahh he's the cutest. Sister Loveland calls him my little "boyfriend" cause he always hugs me everytime he sees me, it's so cute! 

Things are going great with Lacey! We may have to push her baptism date back but we will see. She's so sweet. We've gotten so close. I feel like she's the little sister I never had. So far I've braided her hair, painted her nails, helped her with homework, and sent her off to Homecoming! It's been so fun hanging out with her and seeing the Gospel bring a new light to her! 

Also this week we had Blitz! I just adore Sister Tesch and Sister White. We met this guy named Prince and well, he reminded me of Parker because he was just so funny! He was like "Today in school I had to realize something." "what?" "I had to realize.. that I look GOOD!" hahaha It made us laugh. Also on Blitz we did a lot of OYMing. Sister Loveland and I really struggle with that but Sister Tesch was so diligent and did a really good job! Even though no success came from it, "we'll be blessed in other ways" (a huge saying I've learned on the mission hahah) Oh and on Blitz sister Loveland and Sister White went to the Mission Office and while they were there they found some cool New York license plates so we get to take those home! 

Funny stories for the week:

This week while tracting some guy turned us down so naturally we asked him if he knew anyone that might be interested and he goes "Mr. Rains!" us: "...Dan Rains?..." "yeah! He's always looking for uplifting stuff" Hahaha Dan Rains is a member of our branch! We told him we got his name as a referral and we all had a good laugh.

Also one downside to having Facebook is that people know your first name! We were at the Farm (the first half of the Gang) for dinner and Becky was talking to me and she called me Stephani!!! It took me completely by surprise and I freaked out! Hahah she gasped and was like "SORRY!!" it was so funny!

"If you say you've never crapped your pants, you're lying. We've all done it!!!" - Pam :)

One last thing, so Lacey has decided she's gonna go to Idaho to live with Sister Loveland when she gets home and Trever has decided he's going to come live with me in Salt Lake when I get home and we're going to have a Bugatti and a tower of Mentos and Tic Tacs in our house! So now whenever he sees me he always brags about how he's going to move to Utah to live with me! hahah I love him!

Well I hope you all have a great week! Don't forget the Spiritual impressions you received during conference! And make sure you all apply what you learn. Member missionary work was completely emphasized this weekend. Just because you don't have a name tag doesn't mean you're exempt from being a missionary! Go spread the Gospel! Puzzle piece by puzzle piece! LOVE YOU ALL!!

xoxo

Sister Rodriguez

Pictures!

1. You can't have Conference without German Pancakes so I whipped us some up :)

2. Cute lil Rohnald after his game (PS what is my finger doing???? idk??!!!) 

3. The GORGEOUS Lacey off to HOCO

4. Dakota off to hoco

5. My girl Alex off to hoco! :)