Not just a mustache

Honestly I'm so tired I can barely remember this week. Haha it flew by! 

On Thursday we had our last lesson with our investigator Karie. She moved into the Glenville sisters area, so we met the sisters there and handed her over to them! Then that night those sisters came to our apartment and stayed the night before Zone Conference on Friday! At ZC we taught about repentance, we prepared a lot for that so it went pretty well! It's cool because since we knew that's what we would be teaching on, we were able to practice it a lot in our missionary work and taught repentance a lot this week to our investigators! 

It reminds me of a couple of scriptures I'd like to share. D&C 15:6 "And now, behold, I say unto you, that the thing which will be of the most worth unto you will be to declare repentance unto this people, that you may bring souls unto me, that you may rest with them in the kingdom of my Father. Amen." That's one of the scriptures that has kept me going over the past year, knowing that at this time, being on a mission is the most important thing I personally can be doing. My role is to truly teach repentance so we will all be able to return to live with our Heavenly Father again! That leads into the next scripture which is D&C 18: 10-13 which talks about how repentance is a JOYFUL process! Growing up I always thought repentance was a punishment or something shameful. Now I realize that it's a happy thing! Heavenly Father knew we would make mistakes, that's why he provided an opportunity to repent and sent His Son here to overcome sin and death for us! Repentance is part of God's plan for us and it really is a privilege, not a punishment! There are so many blessings that come from repenting, especially daily repentance. 

Another thing I learned about repentance this week is a quote from an elder in my district. He said "We can change without repenting, but we can't repent without changing" Repenting really means turning away from sin, and turning towards God, and by doing so, God changes us into someone He wants us to be! It's so incredible that we have the opportunity to repent everyday.

After Zone Conference we had the Manchester sisters come on exchange with us!! So I got to spend the day with Sister M. Hall! She's definitely been one of my favorite companions and someone I know God placed in my life for a reason. I love exchanges with these incredible sisters because I always learn so much from them. Sister Morley is a new sister to the mission and I got to work with her on Saturday. We met a woman who had no belief in God. Before we left, Sister Morley bore the sweetest testimony. She said "I want you to know that you are a daughter of God. And that He loves you and wants to hear from you anytime in prayer" Holy cow that brought the Spirit so hard! I loved how simple it was, a lot of the time I complicate the gospel, but new missionaries always remind me that it's really simple, to just bear testimony and let the Spirit truly teach.

 

Also God continues to show us His power and miracles every week! On Sunday night we needed to get 2 more investigators in order to reach the Standards of Excellence. We tracted for an hour and decided to try some potentials, formers, and part member families that were in the area we were at that night. We had been praying so hard for 2 new investigators. We went to a street and knocked on this guys door. We asked if he'd read from the Book of Mormon before and he said "Yes!" we asked what he thought of it and he said "It's true. The things in that Book really happened" WHAT?! Hahaha i was honestly at a loss for words. I didn't know how to respond to that, but we were like "Exactly!" we taught him the Restoration and he said he'd love to work towards baptism! It was incredible. Then the next door we knocked on, we taught the Restoration again and he wants to learn more as well!! God really does love us and wants to bless us and help us with our righteous desires. 

I'm so lucky to be a witness of Him and His Son. I love this gospel and the Book of Mormon, just like the guy we met, I can say I KNOW the Book of Mormon is true. That the things in that Book really did happen. It truly is another Testament that Jesus is The Christ. He's our Savior and Redeemer. He lives and loves us SO much. For that I am eternally grateful. If you aren't taking time to read from the Book of Mormon everyday, PLEASE DO SO!!! It's incredible to see the difference that it makes in our everyday lives. 

xoxo

Sister Rodriguez

P.S. 

There's a guy that dresses up as Santa year round, we found his door and knocked on it HAHAHAHA when he came out we literally were at a loss of words, but he wasn't interested, but it's not everyday that you knock on Santas door!

Also we were out OYM'ing and I told this old guy that I liked his mustache and he goes "Thank you, but it's not a mustache, i have to correct you. Anyone can grow some hair on their lip and have a mustache. This right here: is a chick magnet" HAHAHAHA I LAUGHED SO HARD. HE WAS SO FUNNY. 

At a dinner appointment this week we were leaving and one of the little girls goes "It's actually a good thing that you're leaving cause now we can do something fun" Hahahaha! 

Pics:

1. Zone Conference

2. Traverse day was on Saturday, I've never seen so many people, everyone was in town for the big race and they shut our street down for the day too! Crazy stuff. 

3-4. So far I'm the only Sister in the mission that can say they've been companions with BOTH Sister Hall's, wow I'm lucky 

5. When your comp tries to take your pic but your religion is showing... so relatable

Health, History, and Horses

The 3 H's that Saratoga is known for: Health, History, and Horses! 

This morning the Springs, some members, took us on a tour of the race track in town! I have no idea how I got so lucky to be here. The town is seriously SO busy this time of year. It's the oldest race track in the U.S., it had it's first horse race in 1863. The race season only lasts 6 weeks from August to the beginning of September and I am so blessed to have been here for it. We got a free tour and it was BEAUTIFUL and so so so cool. I for reals love my life. Not only is this incredible because of the history and the busy town and all the people here, but because of the success we've seen this week. 

We worked HARD this week. And we were SO blessed for it. We picked up 7 new investigators and put 5 new people on date to be baptized. I think the coolest experience was Krystal. So in Toga there's this main street called Broadway where EVERYONE goes. Everyone is so fancy and a lot of people are visitors and it's just always so packed. We made a goal to do an hour of OYMing (or street contacting) everyday and we usually go to Broadway because there are tons of people to talk to. Neither of us particularly LOVE OYM'ing but we know it's a way that we can show the Lord our willingness to work hard and do the things we don't always want to do, but to show Him our faith and dedication and obedience. So this one day the time we set for OYMing was from 11:30-12:30. Right at 12:00 we got super hungry and started talking about what we were going to have for lunch and how we were so tired, etc. We sucked it up and kept talking to as many people as we could. We set a goal of teaching 3 '5 minute Restorations'. 12:30 rolls around and we had taught 2 of them and felt good about it. We were tired, hungry, and ready for a break. We walk towards the car and almost got in when we saw this girl standing on the sidewalk smoking and on her phone. We decided one more person, we walked up to her and just asked if we could give her a card. She asked what it was for and we said it was about Christ, she got super excited and was like "Oh my gosh!! I'm like really interested in this!! Do you have something you could share with me? I really want to learn more!" So we taught her a 10 minute Restoration lesson and set up a return appointment. I got in the car and almost cried, I felt so blessed. Here we were tired and ready to go eat, but it really showed me that the Lord blessed us so so so much for being diligent and talking to just one more person.

 

Also crazy story, her boyfriend is named Scott, we met him briefly. 2 days later we went to an appointment we had set up with a former, who just so happened to be the same Scott!!! We put him on date to be baptized! Also Scott and Krystal came to a church tour on Saturday and really want to learn more and come to church!! She asked all the right questions and really is just so so prepared. Wow. Real blessings come from doing the Lords work. 

Everyday Sis DeGolyer and I just talk about how blessed we are. This really is the most incredible area. We see blessings and miracles everyday. The work is going along so well, we're just trying to keep up. I think I mentioned before but we both have served in Manchester, which is well, a little rougher. hahah so we both talk about how blessed we are to be here where so much is going on compared to the past. The Lord really has so many blessings in store for us as we hold out faithful. 

Also, last story. But this week our mission had a car fast. No one could use their car all day. It seriously made me so grateful for the car that we do have. Our mission has the most cars out of any other mission in the world (or at least one of the most) bc it's literally impossible to get anywhere in Upstate NY without a car. We had to cancel our service bc it was about 10 miles away. We were so blessed that day. Saw so many miracles and that's really what it was for, to show the Lord our faith and willingness to be diligent in talking with everyone. We walked about 10 miles that day (honestly to the missionaries that don't have a car, idk how y'all do it but props to ya) but we were just EXHAUSTED at the end of the day. But we saw blessings and miracles all around! We pray every night now and thank Heavenly Father for our car hahaha 

Pics:
1. NY in one picture

2. THIS GUY WAS DRIVING AROUND WITH A PANDA HEAD ON IT WAS SO CREEPY

3. Falafel den lol what an adventure

4. Saratoga Lake (how did I get so blessed to be in such a beautiful area)

5. Our last appointment for the night fell through on our car fast day so we walked around for the last 30 minutes. Well, in Manchester this would happen all the time (like every night haha idk how I survived 6 months in that place) so Sister Hall and I would balance a Book of Mormon on our head while we walked around trying to talk to people, so I got really good at it. So this week, when we walked around for the last half hour, I balanced the Book the entire time and Sis DeGolyer was so impressed she took a picture. Hahah what can I say it's one of my many talents

6. My comp snapped a pic of me right after we got home after the car fast hahah I've never been so tired. We're still recovering

 

$20 million house in Toga :)

Where do I even live?!?!

The rest is of our Tour of the race track!

Us placing our bets ;)

Also the horses were getting their shoes changed and one was being washed.  It was so cool!

"We believe in miracles. We flat out do."

In relief society yesterday there was a sister who expressed how sometimes she feels uncomfortable sharing about Priesthood blessings because she doesn't want to sound crazy. Then she said "I need to remember that we believe in miracles! We flat out do!" I felt the Spirit so strong because we really do!!! Miracles happen every single day. We don't need to be shy about asking for them or talking about them because our God is a God of miracles!

 

This is going to be a little short cause I'm out of time but things are great! Transfer weeks are always crazy, we had MLC so I got to ride to Utica with Folkman and DeGoyler who both served in Manchester (and of course I was there with Folkman and Folkman was there with DeGoyler before I got there) So it was super fun to be able to talk about Vermont with them  Also at MLC we randomly got picked to do a role play in front of the entire MLC, hahaha that was one of the most intimidating things I've had to do yet  but good thing DeGoyler is an incredible teacher! We'd only been comps for 24 hours at that point and yet our comp unity was on point. 

DeGoyler is awesome! I seriously love her. She's from New Mexico and only has 2 transfers left so we might stay together for those, we're not sure! But I've learned a lot from her. She's got so much faith and really pushes me to be the best that I can. I love people like that. Plus she's super funny so we're always laughing which is the best, cause "if it's not fun, it's not worth it." Right Maughany? ;) haha Since this area is so incredible we are really looking and searching for not just anyone to teach, but those that are ready. We are here to REAP! 

Also one thing I forgot to mention last week is that on Tuesday (2 weeks ago) we went to Skidmore College and taught a religions class. It was pretty small, only about 15 kids and some of them were from high school taking a summer college class. We were able to go and share why we're Mormon and why we're missionaries. It was really intimidating and they asked us some questions so of course birth control and women and the priesthood came up. But it was a chance for us to share the truth to some millennials (which is the age group we're trying to focus on) the professor emailed our mission President and told him that we did a great job, and that was such a relief! At the end we gave out pamphlets, Bibles, Copies of the Book of Mormon, and mormon.org cards. There was a Muslim girl that took a BoM and said "I'm really excited to read this" The response from her peers was "You're Muslim, you can't read that" so she said "I don't care, I'll hide it! I'm gonna read it anyways!" haha it was awesome! We're also trying to get on campus to do tabling or something so pray that that will work out!  

Anyways, Love y'all and hope you have a great week! 

xoxo

Sister Rodriguez

P.S.

"I have so many journals I just need to abridge them"
"Okay, Mormon" (We've all been missionaries for way too long hahaha) 

We were asking this 13 year old at dinner what she likes about the BoM and she goes "I don't like to talk" and we all just bust up laughing because she hadn't stopped talking the entire time we got there until we brought 

that up 

Pics: 

1. MLC

2-4 TOGA

5. RS silent auction ft the Petersons 

AMAZING

Hello! This week Gloria got baptized!!! She was smiling so big the whole day and she seriously has the most beautiful smile I've ever seen. Such a genuine person and truly a Kingdom builder! Of course it wouldn't be a baptism if SOMETHING didn't go wrong, so here's what happened: we got to the church early to set everything up, fill the font, print the program, yadda yadda yadda. We got everything done just in time! Gloria showed up and she wasn't late so that was awesome. She changed, we took pictures, then we sat down waiting for the baptism service to start. We were pretty pleased that everything was going so smoothly! Well we're still sitting there wondering why it hasn't started yet when we look around and see that Brother Cobabe (the one baptizing her) isn't changed yet. We find out it was because he didn't bring his white pants and none of the pants there fit him. We were like "We'll call the DeRoussels and see if they have any pants you can borrow!" Okay, the DeRoussel family is literally my favorite family. They are the greatest people I've ever met. We do our laundry at their house every week cause they don't want us to have to pay for it, they feed us dinner all the time, and we hang out with their kids a lot on P days, so they're just the best. The mom answers and tells us that they're not home but we can run over there and grab Calebs pants in their room. So we book it out of there in our car cause they live pretty close to the church. They also gave us a key to their house hahah so we run inside, grab the pants, run back, possibly may or may not have gotten an 'aggressive driving' from our little friend TiWi (the box inside our car that watches how fast we drive) and run inside the church PRAYING that these pants fit! And they did!!! So he got dressed, the program went well and the baptism was great! We were in the bathroom after Gloria got out of the water and we asked her how it went. She looked at us and goes "it was AMAZING"  I felt the Spirit so strong when she said that! Cause it really was amazing!

I also found out two people in Hamilton have gotten baptized the past month! Two people that I taught when I was there are now baptized. It made me really really happy to find out that they were able to overcome their obstacles and follow Christ by being baptized.

 

Also this week we got transfer calls and found out that Sister Park will be leaving! She's going to Syracuse (super jealous, I wanna serve in the Cuse so bad) and Sister DeGoyler will be joining me in Saratoga! Sister DeGoyler served in Manchester right before I got there so it'll be fun to be able to talk about Vermont with her! I've heard incredible things about her and I know she's an amazing missionary so I'm super excited to learn more from her!

 

I've been thinking a lot this week on how this life (especially as a missionary) is to help us grow, stretch, and learn. So we can become what God needs us to be. We listened to a devotional by Hank Smith this week on putting the armor of God on and how that sometimes makes us uncomfortable. There's a reason that it's ARMOR, not sweats or something comfortable. It takes effort. He said something that really stuck out to me: "God doesn't care how comfortable we are" I loved that! It's so true. It doesn't matter if we're comfortable, we need to constantly be changing to become more like Christ and that means being pushed outside our comfort zones a lot of the time. One more thing he said that I loved is "I'd rather sit at home without friends than without the Holy Ghost" It made me think a lot about where our priorities are and how blessed we are to have the Holy Ghost with us. If that means giving up worldly things, then so be it. I definitely know I'd rather have the Holy Ghost with me than any worldly possession, whether it be a movie, friends, music, etc. My challenge this week is for you to ponder about what you're putting before the Holy Ghost! And cut that out of your life so you can have the Holy Ghost with you more! I promise it will bless your life more than anything else you could possibly think of! 

Have a great week and love you all! 

xoxo

Sister Rodriguez

P.S.

"where did you hear that?" 

"Google. Well, Wikipedia, so it must be true"

"we want to play a game but it needs to be gospel related"

"how about duck, duck, goose. but instead: Jesus, Jesus, Christ" 

hahaha we were like "nooooo, that's bad!!!!" 

Pictures: 

1-3. Tennis, Red Robin, Wal Mart, Target, and Humpty Dumpty with Ethan

4-6 Gloria's baptism!!!

The Butlers!

One of the office couples, Elder Lee, came to inspect our apartment last week and totally roasted me for being a Utah fan.  so when we sent him our gas receipts for our car this month, we decorated it completely with the Utes and this is the text he sent us

Our boy Gio came to church this week!

District pics :)