STRAIGHT UP JOY

Yesterday I gave a talk in Sacrament meeting on Alma 30:34 and I really focused on the JOY that comes from sharing the gospel. Sister Johnson (my STL) shared with us this week that joy stands for 

Jesus 

Others

Yourself

When we put Jesus first, then others, and then ourselves, we can experience joy. Also the elders can't stop laughing cause I got really pumped and excited in my talk and I said "this is STRAIGHT UP JOY" hahah I guess I should've been a little more dignified but I can't help but get excited when I talk about how much joy comes from sharing the gospel!!! 

Well this was another great week!! On Tuesday we had exchanges in Horseheads with our STLs which was a lot of fun.

Thursday we got to go to the Episcopal church in Corning where they have a Thanksgiving lunch every year. Sister Jerulli (a member of our congregation) usually takes the missionaries there to eat, mingle, and mainly to help clean up. Haha she couldn't take us but she told us about it and we got to go on our own which was really cool! We also got to have a tour of their chapel and it was BEAUTIFUL! Seriously so gorgeous, it was really cool to learn more about their faith! Also they had tons of religious books on these shelves that we were looking at (there were also two copies of the BoM there, heck yeah) and Elder Wright said "the funny thing is, not one of those books will tell you to pray about it" and that got me thinking. It's so true. A huge focus I have on my teaching and my tracting approaches is that we can each come to know these things for OURSELVES. I don't want anyone to believe any of the things I say. I want everyone to pray and ask God Himself if these things are true. We each have our own individual relationship with God and He is waiting for us to come to Him in prayer so He can guide us.

Also that day we went around and delivered cute little notes to our investigators and Less Actives telling them how grateful we are for them. WOW I love being a missionary. We had dinner at the Weilands which was AMAZING and then we headed over to Utica and spent the night in the mission home for our meeting the next day! 

Friday was return and report where all the trainers and trainees came together to see how things are going, etc. It was a great meeting. I'm so grateful for President and Sister Rogers and seriously all they do for us. They are incredible people! 

It feels like we were out of our area a lot this week haha but it was a good week! On Sunday we saw Brittany who's doing really good. She hasn't been coming to church so she isn't able to make her baptism date next month. We had her pull out her phone calendar and set her own baptism date for when she'll be able to make it. So her new date is January 13! Which we know she'll be able to make (But if you could all pray that she does make this date, that'd be great!)

Yesterday we taught Singing Time in Primary again which was SO FUN!!! I seriously miss being around kids so much. But also... THE TORRENCES CAME TO CHURCH!!!!! They're the best family. They were baptized right before I got here but they haven't been able to make it to church FIVE WEEKS IN A ROW. Which they have FELT. Things in their life have been going kinda crazy and all we can do is keep testifying of how they receive so much strength when they come to church to overcome the challenges that are going on in their lives. They were able to come yesterday and it was the best feeling to see them there! 

I love this work so much and I am so grateful for the JOY that it truly brings us in any situation, because when we focus on Christ, we feel joy. Hope you all had a great thanksgiving and don't forget to #LightTheWorld this Christmas season!! 

if you haven't seen the videos yet, check them out!!!

https://www.mormon.org/

Sister Rodriguez

Pics: 

1. WHEN YOU GET YOUR BEST FRIENDS WEDDING ANNOUNCEMENT IN THE MAIL I'M DYING. 

2. Thanksgiving!

3. My MTC comp and I at return and report

4. Beautiful New York summed up into one pic: Chicken riggies, garlic knot, and half moon cookies 

5. Ashley's "rules to being a missionary" 

Dreaming of a WHITE Christmas

... White as in white baptismal clothing!!! We're working so hard to help the people in this part of the Lord's vineyard enter the waters of baptism. It WILL happen! There are so many things happenin here we're so excited. 

You know you're in New York when you have an entire Zone Conference focused entirely on how to survive the winter months here hahaha! Good thing I only have a few weeks of it cause it's already getting really cold, which is no Bueno! 

At Zone Conference we talked about a cool concept of being "I will" vs "I hope" missionaries. That night, Sister Solis went out with the goal of saying "We will find 3 new investigators tonight" (it was Friday and we hadn't picked up any new investigators for the week yet) and guess what? IT WORKED. We picked up three new investigators, God led us straight to them, it was incredible. 

This week was just full of miracles though! Yesterday a member of our branch told us he'd love to come out teaching with us and to call him if we have any investigators that speak Chinese. Well what happened that SAME night? We picked up a new investigator that speaks Chinese and said we could come share more with him! God is so good. He really does have a plan and truly is in control.

Another highlight of the week is that we got to teach Singing Time in primary! Wow I forget how much I love being around kids! I almost cried a couple of times because the Spirit was so strong when they sang the songs and answered questions. I was amazed at their knowledge of the gospel! Huge tender mercy. 

Ashley!!!! A Less Active, Autumn, referred us to her friend Ashley who we are now teaching!! We are so excited about her. We went back to see her and the daughter who is 7 was so excited to read from the Book of Mormon! She was showing us the Restoration pamphlet that we had left with them and the pages were almost falling apart because it had been flipped through so many times. She went to the depiction of the First Vision and goes "This is my favorite picture". Ashley also accepted a soft invitation to be baptized!! So we're hoping to put her on date soon. 

xoxo

Sister Rodriguez

Funny story for the week... we accidentally drove to Pennsylvania one day this week hahaha OOPS. 

Pics:

We made "i'm grateful for" posters with the Torrences. The last one on Will's poster, next to the fire emoji, says "Church is lit" ... so true Will, So true. 

NY is GORGG

We went to the Rockwell museum earlier today and it was really cool! Here's a pic of one of my favorite pieces. 

Also here's a pic of me Calvert and Hansen posing like Spiderman

What do the Amish, Mormon Missionaries, and cows all have in common?

Y'all better pray they all stay warm this winter hahaha on Saturday Sister Solis and I were driving back from a dinner appointment out in the boonies and they have tons of Amish people as their neighbors and we were talking about how we wondered how they stay warm in the winter and same with their animals, but then we wondered how missionaries stay warm hahaha we have been praying for warmth, that's how! 

Well this week was great because I found out that KARIE AND MONISE GOT BAPTIZED!!!!! Two of my past investigators, both from Saratoga that I taught while I was there. While I'm super bummed I wasn't able to be there, I'm so incredibly proud of them and their decision to follow Christ. Truly the best feeling ever is knowing two of our sisters are back on the path to return to live with our Heavenly Father again. 

Cool little miracle this week: Our mission president really stresses having us out the door at 10 am and 6 pm exactly to show the Lord our faith and diligence in being exactly obedient. Well on Tuesday we usually have District Meeting, but since it was half mission conference, we didn't this week so we had nothing to do at 10. But we decided to go see a potential/former investigator we've been trying for forever. She answers the door but has never let us in. Well on Tuesday God blessed us for being diligent for being out the door at 10 and we saw Lisa and she let us right in and we were able to pick her up as a new investigator!! huge miracle.

Thursday, Elder Kim B. Clark from the 70 came and visited our mission for a half mission conference. It was really great and I learned a lot from him! Those meetings are always super humbling and yet encouraging to help us be the best missionaries we can be. The conference was from 9-4 and yet it took ALL day since we live so far away. It was in Syracuse so we left at 6:30 am and didn't get home until 9:15 pm hahaha it was kind of a bummer because we had to miss two of our appointments. But it was a great day!

Sunday we got to go to Owego for Stake Conference! Elder Clark also spoke at that so it was a great meeting. He focused on how when we take the Sacrament we remember Christ's perfected body, but how He still has His scars to remind us of His suffering for us. I'm really excited to take the Sacrament this Sunday and focus on that. The way he put it was really cool. 

We also saw Brittany and read from the Book of Mormon with her. She is on date for baptism for December 16th! She is so sweet and I love seeing how Christ changes us into much happier and peaceful people. She has such great retention and I was so impressed with her memory. TEACHING THE GOSPEL IS SERIOUSLY THE FUNNEST AND BEST THING EVER. Seeing people have a desire to learn more is the best. I love that feeling. 

One more cool experience!!! A few weeks ago a member gave us a referral to go try her friend. It wasn't a super solid referral but we decided to go try her anyways. On Sunday on our way back from Stake Conference we stopped by and found her house (miraculously cause no one has house numbers in NY ha). We just used a tracting approach and she let us right in and we shared the Restoration with her, she took a Book of Mormon, and said we could come back this week! It was such a great experience. This work CANNOT be done without members help. I want to encourage ALL of you to pray and ask God to help you find someone that the missionaries can teach. And then talk to anyone He puts in your path. Elder Clark taught us 2 golden questions to help with this. He said members should ask their friends 

1. "What do you know about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints?"

and 2. "Would you like to know more?"

I know it seems scary to talk to people about the Gospel but this is the Lord's work and you cannot fail!!! If you sincerely pray for a missionary opportunity, the Lord will help you! Remember, it's the missionaries job to TEACH full time, but it's the members job to FIND full time. YOU can do it. The Lord can use YOU to help further this work along! There is no greater joy than sharing the gospel with others. I'll be praying that each of you are able to find someone the missionaries can teach. (I promise it'll make the missionaries day if you tell them you have someone for them to teach) 

Love y'all!!

Sister Rodriguez

P.S. 

Elder Baum: "You could knock on someone's door in NY at 3 am and they'd say 'oh sorry we're just sitting down for dinner'" -that right there is the cold, hard truth

Elder Gavito: "If you say you don't McDonalds, that's like saying the gospel's not true. It just doesn't make sense." -also the cold, hard truth. 

Pics: (there's a lot this week)

1. You know you're in Corning when... (I took this pic for you Sis Jenkins)

2. Sister Solis!!!! We got Poppletons. So good. 

3. CORNING

4. Shout out to ya boy Parker for sending me my FAV gummy worms from Disneyland

5. HAPPY BIRTHDAY PACKAGE FROM MY MOM TO SISTER SOLIS WHOOO

Sister A. Hall (ft. sis M. Hall in the back) 

Sis Park

The truest homies ft. Calvert, Hansen and Hoyt

Sister Solis

CAMPY (I'm convinced she's the reason I was sent to NY)

Shulz, Park and Campbell.  My heart.  

Rain rain go away!!

Literally everyone knows how much I hate the rain and dark skies so basically y'all already know it was a pretty tough week for me! But luckily I have Sister Solis (my new comp) to help remind me of all the little things I usually overlook as a missionary. She reminds me of a beautiful place that we're serving in, how we're here to share the Saviors love for the people, 

This week was particularly tough because we worked SO HARD! We were so obedient and so diligent and yet nothing happened. It was one of those weeks were you work harder than ever before and yet your numbers are lower than ever before. (it's a good thing it's not about the numbers and that the Lord knows our efforts) but it's still tough when you have nothing to show for it. 

So to keep me from complaining I'm gonna list a couple of the highlights/things I'm grateful for in this week: 

-Mooneys mac n cheese

-Sister Jenkins (I already miss her so much) 

-being able to find the dump so we could recycle (thanks to Vermont for drilling recycling in me)

-Halloween trunk-or-treat (and being the judges of the dessert contest #blessed)

-having 3 lessons sister Solis's first night here

-Joey saying how the Plan of Salvation "makes sense" and it matches his idea of who God is

-Brother Wood committing to coming to church this month (for the first time in 10 years)

-Jennifer

-Reading the Book of Mormon with the Torrences. Chara: "We can read one more chapter. We can read another one. Want to read one more?" 

-Brittany changing her life

-CHURCH (especially getting answers to prayers at church)

-Having 2 awesome lessons last night where we were able to apply what we role played earlier that day.

When I look back it really was a great week and I'm just grateful to be a servant of the Lord! I'm constantly reminded that this is about Him. I'd like to leave with my testimony that I know Jesus is the Christ. That He is our Savior and Redeemer. Life would be pointless without Him. I know Him and I love Him. 

I leave that in His name, even Jesus Christ, Amen!

xoxo

Sister Rodriguez

P.S. I of course have a couple funny quotes: 

me: "This is one of my favorite scriptures"

Jennifer: "you say that about all of them" 

me: "true"

Me: *ending weekly planning prayer(which is the longest prayer)* "amen. ..... Sister Solis? Did you fall asleep?"
Solis: "Yeah... the last name I remember is Payton." hahahaha

Sister Solis: "I wrote in my journal 'missionary rule number 1: everyone and everything is weird'" 

haha welcome to New York! 

Pics: 

1. Mooney's Mac n Cheese (iconic)

2. Please excuse the terrible face I'm making but THERE'S A BYRNE DAIRY IN CORNING #BLESSED

3. my whole heart