On to the Next BIG Thing!

You know how almost every week I write about how there is always something crazy or new or interesting going on in the mission? Welp, this week and the week to come are definitely no different. This past Saturday we received the transfer announcement to let us know who would be moving/transferred to a new area, and who would be staying..well the consensus is...

Drum roll please....Sister Roderick will be TRANSFERRED. Yep. It has been a good, solid 3 months here serving in the Canaman D area (Santa Cruz, Igualdad, and Sabang). I am definitely sad to go but I am excited for what the future holds and all the other exciting adventures coming my way. I know that God has a plan for me and I am putting my full trust in Him as He knows what I need, what the people here need, and where I can best serve as His servant.

In other news for the week, this week was Christmas! Wow! Good times. :) Christmas Eve is actually bigger of a holiday than Christmas Day so we had a curfew on Christmas Eve but not Christmas Day (even though just about everyone was drunker than drunk this whole past week, I am a bit worried for the New Year) Anyways, it was a weird weird feeling, wearing short sleeves and crocs in 85 degree weather on Christmas, that is for sure. BUT, it was good! It wasn't much different than any other day in the field honestly. We focused our lessons more on Christmas and the Savior but still taught plenty of lessons, tracted, studied, etc. We spent pretty much the whole day in our poorest area, Sabang, just tracting, sharing short messages with anyone and everyone that would listen and passing out pictures of Jesus Christ with the articles of faith on the inside and information about our church on the back. It was really a neat experience. We didn't get any new investigators from it but it felt good to be spreading true Christmas cheer and uplifting others around us. What better way to spend Christmas right? Teaching, loving and serving like our Savior, Jesus Christ. It was a very Merry Christmas here in the Philippines. :)

Then the next day I got to skype my lovely fam. It was good to see you guys! I loved hearing all your voices and seeing your pretty faces! :) I miss you guys! I was talking to my mission president the next day about Christmas and skyping the fam, because we had interviews with him, anyways I told him that it was really good to see my family but that it really made me realize how much I have changed. I was afraid skyping would make me homesick but honestly it didn't. I love my family, I love my friends, music, movies, parties, normal food, etc., but it really made me realize how much I LOVE being here. It is not easy living in a foreign country with foreign people, language, food, things, culture, everything, but I absolutely LOVE it. I am very very happy to be here and to be a missionary at this time, in this place, and for these people. I miss some things about home, of course, but this is where I am supposed to be right now and I am going to make the best of my time here. :)

On a less happy note, I was apparently not thinking very clearly when I left the computer shop after skyping my family and I accidentally left my camera on the desk...by the time I realized I had left it and returned to the computer shop to see if it was still there, someone had taken it. Gosh darn it. I was not the happiest camper. Not much I can do though so I will be going to get a new one today, before I leave the city tomorrow.

We gave 2 of our investigators baptismal dates this week! Woo hoo! What a great goal for the new year huh? Be baptized by proper authority and make covenants with God. I am so excited for them and am praying that all will go well and they will be able to be baptized soon!

Another thing that really hit me this week was just how important and truly amazing Preach My Gospel is! EVERYONE needs to be reading and studying Preach My Gospel, on your own, as well as together with your family. It is so great and I love it so much! It is a wonderful resource for people of all ages and is not just for full-time missionaries! USE IT. Read it with your family, study it, ponder it. It is remarkable and has so many amazing resources within it, basic gospel doctrine, scripture references, quotes, suggestions, stories, activities, etc. It really is so great and I encourage and challenge all to read it along with your scriptures for greater understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ and to come closer to our Father in Heaven.

I hope you all have had a wonderful holiday season and are looking forward to the new year with excitement, motivation, and desire to change and become better people. What a great time to push ourselves, set new goals, and make plans to change parts of our lives to become closer to God and more like Jesus Christ in all aspects of our lives. Much love to all!

Mahal kita!

-Sister Roderick

What Gift Will You Give to Christ?

Maligayang Pasko sa lahat!

What a beautiful time of year this is! 

This week was potentially the longest, most fun, most rewarding week of my mission so far. Everything that could have happened, did happen, I swear. We worked hard and played hard too, believe it or not. haha This Thursday was our mission-wide Christmas party. Talk about craziness. It was so fun but a bit overwhelming at times. Imagine over 200 missionaries plus that many chairs plus mission leaders plus packages and boxes and supplies and everything under the sun, packed into 1 gym at the church (not a big gym either) Yeah, hectic. It was really cool to see all of my MTC buddies though and to meet a ton of other missionaries. Plus 2 of my missionary friends, Sister Simbol (lived with her for the past 3 months) and Sister Christensen left for home the next day after the party! That was weird and sad to say goodbye to them but it was good, oh yeah I am now in a trio again. 2 trios in 3 months. Wow. So many things I never ever expected to happen on my entire mission, let alone in just my training! AH! Anyways at our Mission Christmas Party we mingled, watched the Legend of Johnny Linggo (might be one of my favorite movies now), had a talent show (so funny!, the Hakka included, had a gift exchange, ate lots of yummy pinoy food, took pictures, listened to President and Sister Reeder share a message, and yep, that's about it. It was a very jam-packed, fun day.  

One thing that President Reeder talked about was the wonderful opportunity we have as missionaries to be here for Christmas and to spend so much of our time dedicated to serving others and serving God. He pointed out that very few times in our life do we actually get to wear the name of our Savior on a badge on our chest, right over our hearts, and what a reminder that is to be the best representatives we can be for Him that gave His life for us. Likewise the Spirit of Christmas is not just a 1 month a year thing, the Spirit of Christ should be a part of us every single day of every single year. We must remember who Jesus Christ is, what He did for all of us, and how we can be more like Him in our daily thoughts, words, and actions.

We also found out one of our investigators is pregnant! Don't tell, but I have known for a while. I could just tell something was off. Pretty exciting though huh?

YES, drum roll please....ACE is officially a member of the true Chuch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! He was baptized this past Saturday and confirmed a member yesterday, Sunday. He also received the Aaronic Priesthood after Sacrament meeting yesterday. One of the best days of my mission so far for sure.  

Saturday, the much awaited day, finally came. His baptism was supposed to start  at 1...no one showed up til 1:45...cool thanks for the support guys. It was fine, and we were expecting that (filipino time) but it was still stressful and frustrating. Anyways, we finally got started (with the solid maybe 15 people there (including 7 missionaries...)) at 2:05. All went well after that! It was so beautiful. He looked a little nervous as he stepped into the water but he took a deep breath, went down, and emerged a new man. :) He was so happy! I couldn't get over it! We were all smiling so big! We went to check on his sister (non-member who came to his baptism) who was waiting outside the bathroom for him while he changed into dry clothes. We started talking to her about her experience watching her brother's baptism. She began crying to us and thanking us for bringing him back to them and for helping him change his life around. She explained how much she had missed having her brother being around and how much of a better person he has been lately. It was a very tender moment. She told us she had such a good feeling, something that she had never felt before. (That's the Spirit!) It was amazing. We were all tearing up. After he changed, the missionaries sang "I Love to See the Temple" in Tagalog. Ace then bore his testimony. If there were any dry eyes in the room before, there weren't now..wow. Talk about breathtaking. That was the most simple, yet powerful testimony I have ever heard. He was overcome by his emotions and spoke with so much power, the Spirit was overwhelmingly wonderful. He truly is a new person. The gospel is amazing. 

 Merry Christmas All! Remember what Christmas is really all about! 

I loved this from the recent First Presidency Christmas Devotional, 

“Born in a stable, cradled in a manger, He came forth from heaven to live on earth as mortal man and to establish the kingdom of God,” President Monson said. “His glorious gospel reshaped the thinking of the world. He lived for us, and He died for us. What can we, in return, give to Him?” 

What will you give to Christ this year? I love my Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ and know that He knows and loves each of us personally.

Much love this Christmas Season!

Mahal Kita!

-Sister Roderick

Ace! 

Ward Christmas Party

A Big Ol' Smile in My Heart

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good week!

Can you believe Christmas is in 9 days?? Me neither! It is so crazy! Especially with it being 90 degrees and humid outside, this will definitely be a Christmas to remember. 

Welp, a grand week this has been indeed. 

We visited with a recent convert this week and planned to teach her about enduring to the end. It was my turn to lead the lesson so I started in with a question...I said that it was great that she had taken that initial step to be baptized and make those covenants with God, but that this was just the beginning and how was she personally going to stay on the path of righteousness..she looked down, was quiet for a few seconds, then tears began to pour down her face. I was very confused and felt very bad at first. I had no idea what I had just said or did to make her cry so you can imagine my confusion. Anyways, she began to explain how since she was baptized, things in her life have seemed to just be falling apart and how she has been really weighed down with sadness and feelings of loneliness. It was really hard to listen to and all 3 of us were crying as she was explaining some trials that she has been dealing with. She told us that she had not told any of the previous missionaries that had taught her but rather she just pretended that everything was okay, until now. I don't know why she decided to open up to us but I know that that question I asked was an inspired question from God. I didn't know how to ask that and was not planning on starting like that but as soon as I opened my mouth, that was what came out. I am so grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost and the power the Spirit has to truly speak through us as we are God's messengers and instruments in His hands. I felt impressed to ask if Sister wanted a Priesthood blessing. She said she did and we told her that we would return as soon as we could with a worthy Priesthood holder to give her a blessing of comfort. We did just that and returned with a member of the Stake Presidency who lives close by. The Spirit was so strong in that room. Sister texted us later that night and thanked us for being there for her and for bringing someone to bless her. She told us how the pain and sorrow that had been weighing her down for so long was gone. She said that she was able to think clearly again and seemed to have completely forgotten the trials that were causing so much pain and anxiety in her life. I know that her pain was lifted through the power of the Priesthood. What a remarkable experience that was to be there and to hear from her the power it had in changing her whole countenance and literally lifting the depression from her shoulders. 

The next day was Ace's baptismal interview! Woo! We went over that morning and talked with him to go over any last minute questions he might have had then off we went to meet with President Reeder. They came out of President Reeder's office 40ish minutes later, President walked over to me, shook my hand, and said "Congratulations Sister, He is ready." AH! Yay! We are so so so excited! We literally could not wipe the smiles from our faces the whole rest of the day! We are so excited for him and he looks happier than ever! This truly is a great and marvelous work! Ace's baptism is this Saturday at 1pm! It is going to be a very long, crazy, jam-packed, fun week but we are beyond excited!

Thursday we have our mission-wide Christmas party/activity, pretty much all day Thursday so that will be really fun! The first time our entire mission will be together in one place! Cool huh? Lots of pictures to come, I'm sure.

A batch of missionaries leave the next day to return home, including one of our Sister Training Leaders that I love so much. So because Sister Simbol is returning home this week, Sister Sanft will become our temporary companion for the next week and a half until transfers, making us a lovely trio again. Crazy huh?

Then Saturday we have Ace's baptism at 1, followed by our ward party at 5. So much going on! 

Definitely an exciting week!

This week we have really been trying to focus on teaching families and can I just tell you how much more beautiful our message is when we get to teach it to a mother, father, and their children. This gospel is for families. Baptism's are great and wonderful but when families learn and grow in the gospel together, it is truly beautiful. I am so excited to continue to try to teach whole families and to help them  recognize the importance of being together forever and how the gospel of Jesus Christ is the way to make that happen. 

I love this gospel. I love being a missionary. I love sharing my testimony. I love my Heavenly Father. I love Jesus Christ. I love Christmastime. I love the true Spirit of Christmas. As Christmas approaches, take a second to think about all the blessings in your life and what Christmas really means to you. This has already been a very different Christmas season for me and being  here has really helped me focus on the true meaning of Christmas and to focus on my Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Like President Monson said in the Christmas devotional, if you take the last syllable from Christmas you get the Spirit of Christ. That is what is of most importance. Not just in December, but year-round. We must turn our focus to Christ and center our lives on Him. 

I know Jesus Christ is my Savior. I am so grateful for that knowledge and for the knowledge that He lives. He lives and He loves me. It's true. He loves each of us personally and wants the very best for us. Where is your focus this Christmas season?

I love you all! Sorry to all those whom I have not been able to respond to yet but know that I love you, think about you, miss you, and pray for you always. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Mahal Kita!

-Sister Roderick

Cooking in our apartment

Heart to Heart

Hello All! :)

How are you? As always, things are crazy, yet wonderful all at the same time. This is now my 3rd time being at the computer shop (different shops each time) because we have had a nice, wonderfully convenient influx of brownouts today! Yay! So I don't have a ton of time for my nice long email (I say that every week and yet I always write way more than anyone wants to read, oh well, let's see how much I can write this week) 

Ace's baptism is in less than 2 weeks! He is progressing still! Reading, studying, praying, searching, making new slideshows about the gospel everyday. Really though. He is awesome. You guys already know that though. Well this week, we were teaching Ace about the 10 commandments and in particular keeping the Sabbath Day holy. Long story short, he began to bear testimony to us of the truthfulness of the gospel and began crying as he explained some tough experiences he has had in his past and how the gospel really is the answer to all of his prayers, the only thing that has made him full, truly spiritually full, in his whole life of searching. The lesson ended with the 3 of us, Sister Webster, Ace, and I crying and expressing our love for God and Jesus Christ and bearing testimony of this true gospel. It was a wonderful experience for me, one that I will never forget. It was very humbling too. To have a 37 year old man crying and opening his heart to you, a 19 year old girl who hasn't experienced anything close to what this man has been through, that is something that touches your heart and really helped me recognize my call as a missionary. I am truly called of God to bring these truths, this gospel to these people. Wow. During our lesson he expressed to us his true desire to be baptized, to be made clean, and to rid himself of all those burdens, guilt, and pain that has been weighing him down for so many years. I have never seen a greater desire to change and to become clean than what I see in this man. What a great example he is to me. We must trust God, have faith, and act on that faith by repenting, being baptized, receiving the Holy Ghost, following the commandments, and enduring to the end. Any commitment we give him in preparation for baptism he does immediately, without second thought about it. He is doing every single thing he can to become clean and to become ready to make those sacred covenants with God. I am so very grateful to be one of the missionaries to find him and to guide him on his path to true conversion. What a remarkable man. 

Also, remember Ariel and Oliver? Ariel and Oliver are the 2 cousins that are actually Ace's cousins too, crazy I know, anyways, Ace came with us the other day to teach Ariel. It was amazing how much he helped and how strong his testimony is. It was really cool to see a non-member bear testimony of the gospel truths and to explain how he has come to know it is true, why he is getting baptized, and why Ariel should do the same. Thanks Ace! Talaga, astig po siya at sobra handa po siya din. 

So yep, we are a bit excited for his baptism. That will be a big, busy, insane day. We have Ace's baptism at 1 (meaning it won't start til at least 2 with Filipino time) then we have our ward party that night at 5! Woo! It's going to be a great day!

Another investigator of ours, Alex, is so close to baptism! He has so many amazing questions and we always have just wonderful lessons with him. He is so smart! I think I talked about him last week? I don't know, the weeks just seem to run together now. But we taught him this week and he again was asking lots of deep, hard, great questions when finally after reading a scripture he says excitedly "You know what I just realized?! I can't get answers to all my questions, I am not going to know everything, I just need to have faith. Faith, yeah." Can I just tell you as a missionary, that is one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard? YES. Bingo my friend! You got it. Thank you! It is so true. We are not going to know everything. Faith is the first principle of the gospel for a reason. It is so important! Picture yourself surrounded my fog. It is pretty scary to be surrounded my that cloud and that darkness and we essentially have 2 choices in that situation: 1. let yourself be frightened, sit down, and refuse to move, or 2. pick yourself up, take a deep breath, and step forward with faith. As we step forward into that fog, it is still dark, it can even still be a little scary, but with every step we take we are able to see just a little bit further ahead of us until finally we make it through. The same is true with life. Sometimes we face challenges in life and it seems that there is no way out but as we humble ourselves, kneel down and pray to God, then get up, ready to act, and step forward continuing on the right path, then Heavenly Father will help us and guide us through our different hard times. Remember the wise words of our good friend Alex, "I just need to have faith." There you have it folks, simple as that. :)

Some other funny/weird/crazy things that happened/noticed/fun facts from this week:

-went to a fantastic, cute, classy, delicious, little, restaurant this week: White Bean-so good!

-went to find the house of a padyak driver we met...his wife took us behind there house to this back shack thing, opened the door, and invited us in...but luckily I saw in beforehand and noticed all the lovely people in there worshipping idol things and saying different chants...we kindly declined..yeah, it was scary.

-everyone and their mother smokes here. it is gross and I am pretty sure I am going to die from secondhand smoke

-we were standing in line at McDo's the other day to get an ice cream (in the middle of centro, a ton of people, bright daylight, lots of cars and what not passing by) when all of a sudden a little kid, maybe 2 years old, pops a squat 3 feet away from me, and pees on the sidewalk in front of everyone...no matter how many naked children I see running around each day, things like that still shock me everytime. It is so sad. :/

-one day this week, Ariel was at work when we went to teach him so we asked if anyone else was home and ended up teaching all 5 of his siblings plus a cousin! our investigator wasn't even there! it was awesome! haha hopefully some of them will become investigators in the near future

-we had zone training this week- we are now allowed to drink coke products, and we found out that we have been eating bawal (forbidden) food...whoops. turns out this type of pancit canton (like ramen noodles) has tea in it...we didn't know but I still felt bad, anyways, that one is cleared up now, don't worry :) (and we gave all our pancit packets away to a family that we have been teaching through what we call "tao po-ditch" haha instead of ringing doorbells you just go to people's gates and yell "tao po?" meaning "people?" and then they come, so we tao po-ditched and left them some din-din :)) put that bawal food to good use eh? haha

-we had a Stake Relief Society Christmas activity this Saturday and to say the least it was potentially the craziest, longest, most overwhelming activity I have ever been to! It was really fun but there were SO many people! 

-today we went shopping for some new skirts at Ukay-Ukay (there version of thrift stores that are literally on every street corner) and I got 2 skirts then we met a lady there that is a member from another ward and she gave us each 2 skirts free! yeah buddy! my frugal, cheap self really likes and appreciates that. 4 skirts for 120 pesos (aka less than a dollar for each skirt) that my friends, is a dang good deal. :) 

It has been a great week. Lots going on, as always but I love it. I never get enough sleep, my showers are still ice cold, and I get at least 5 mosquito bites a day, oh and we have cockroaches and lizards living in our apartment, and I LOVE IT. It is amazing to be here in the Philippines, talking, meeting, interacting, teaching, and loving these people. I would not rather be anywhere else right now. This is where I am supposed to be right now and let me tell you, I am very grateful to be here. I love you all and hope your Christmas month is going well so far!

Life is great! Be grateful for what you have and recognize God's hand in your life every single day. He is there for us and loves us dearly. Thank you for all the support and love!

Mahal Kita!

-Sister Roderick

Power

Shout out to my favorite soon-to-be 7 year-old, Charlie Elizabeth! Happy Birthday Char-Bar! Love you and miss you lots! :)

What a week this has been. Sister Webster had her toenail removal surgery thing last Tuesday. Pretty much they wheeled her back in a wheelchair (hilarious and totally not necessary) and sent me to sit in the hot, un-air conditioned hallway to wait. That was a cool experience though because it was just this man and me sitting out there in this hospital hallway. (btw it was very very weird not to have my companion with me, I was freaking out inside the whole time, "where's my companion?" "I'm supposed to be within sight and hearing range always!" "Ahhhh what if she gets kidnapped?!" "What if I get kidnapped?!" yeahhh internal struggles of a sister missionary haha) anyways, I committed to myself at the beginning of my mission to try my absolute hardest to talk to as many people as possible and to never let an opportunity pass in which I could have shared the gospel. It is impossible to talk to everyone but I try to talk to as many people as I can and for those who I may not get to actually share a message to, I smile, wave, say "Hi" to, etc. I am just determined to be the best I can and to represent Jesus Christ and His church in the best way possible. Anyways, the man in the hallway terrified me. Not because he was mean or big or anything, but because I knew I had to talk to him but in case any of you lovely people forgot, I am not fluent in Tagalog. Yeah, it is kind of difficult or something at times. So yep, you betcha, I started talking to him, and yes, you better believe my heart was pounding like crazy, sweat building up on my forehead, and the Tagalog slowly, terribly, spurting out of my mouth, but it went well! No he is not getting baptized, no I did not teach him the entire gospel, but I was able to talk with him, visit with him, give him support and comfort as he was waiting for his 2-yr-old son to come out of cleft lip/palate surgery, and plant that seed in that man's heart. My Taglaog was terrible and my heart was racing but I felt the Spirit speaking through me and helping me know what to say to the man. It was a really cool experience. I felt accomplished after giving him a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and keeping true to my commitment to talk to everyone I can. Sister Reeder, Preisdent Reeder's wife came to the hospital and stayed with me for about 40 minutes while I waited. She asked me if that man I was talking to was a member and was very surprised to hear that he wasn't but that I was talking to him and sharing the gospel with him. That surprised me that she was so surprised. It was a good reminder to me though that I am doing good, I am doing the best I can and that is all that is asked of us. Isn't that why I am on a mission? Isn't that why we are blessed to have the gospel in our life? So that we can share it with others?...Why would anyone want to keep this gift and truth and blessing to themselves? It is too wonderful not to share. I love sharing the gospel. :)

 Alma 26: 35-37  "Now have we not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we...

Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever."

Sooo after about an hour they let me go back to see Sister Webster. They made me put on a gown and shoes and a hat thing hahaha when I saw her we both about peed our hospital gowns laughing so hard. She was sitting in the hospital bed with her toe all wrapped up and big. We sat and waited for the doctor to let her go, taking pictures of course, and talking about how weird it was not to be with each other for the past hour. It was so good to see her again! It is so funny how attached you can get to having a companion. It seriously was the weirdest thing not to have her with me even though it was just an hour! Anyways then Sis Reeder drove us to get medicine then we went back to our apartment to finish studies and let her toe feel better. She still wasn't feeling so great but we went out that night anyways for a few hours :) We were blessed for sure. Every lesson we taught that night, the spirit was just so strong and we both knew that Heavenly Father had blessed us for our efforts to go to work despite the pain she was in.

Remember Ace? Welp he is doing just dandy. We had dinner at his house again last night and it was some of the best food I have ever had! It was SO GOOD. Yum. Really, we could not stop eating. His Mom's lumpia is the best lumpia I have had here so far in the Philippines, is is delicious! Anyways he is doing great! He came to church for the 4th time in a row yesterday and is so ready to be baptized. We are really excited for him to be baptized and are so excited for the 21st of December to come around! :) Oh earlier this week, we were leaving his house after teaching him and I couldn't find my shoe...well turns out his dog, Power, took my shoe and chewed it up. Yup. It still works though so that's good. haha Yes Mom it was my tan Keens shoe too. I couldn't help but laugh, there was nothing else I could do haha he offered to have it fixed but we'll see, I feel bad. Anyways that is excited eh? 

I had my first fish on Saturday since being here in the Philippines. Yep, already been here 2 months and just had my first fish. Luckily it was tilapia so it was one of the less fishy fish...haha It was pretty good but I am still not the biggest fan of fish. It takes so much effort to eat around those dang tiny bones. It was an overall good experience though, hopefully it always goes that well. :)

On our way to teach a recent convert this week, there was a group of teenage boys standing around the canal (there is a little river, canal, gutter thing that is allllllll over the place here to drain the water, I don't know how to explain it, but the water is disgusting and if you touched it you would probably die on the spot) Anyways, we asked what was going on and apparently there was an eel in the gutter thing and they were trying to catch it! HA! What?! Where did that thing come from?! We didn't get to see it but I thought that was the craziest thing. 

Also, we went to visit one of our investigators earlier this week, whose uncle just recently passed away. When we got to the house, her son told us that she was at the hospital because she had gone in to labor...we didn't even know she was pregnant...She was 5 months along and things went bad and the baby didn't make it..Mom is okay but the baby passed away. We were shocked and felt so bad. Two major losses in this poor family's life one right after the other. Although this was shocking, terribly sad news, it made us even more grateful for the gospel in our lives and the opportunity we have to share it with others and with this family to give them hope, guidance, and comfort in this time of sorrow in their life.

This has been a long week but a very short week all at the same time. Oh one more thing, we missed Thanksgiving. YEP. It is true. That's what happens when you lose yourself in the work I guess. :) Kind of sad that we forgot but it shouldn't really surprise me with the amount of things on our to-do list always. I hope everyone else had a splendid Thanksgiving though! Lots of good food, football, and giving thanks with friends and family! :) What could be better?...Oh yeah being on a mission ;) haha just kidding, but really, there is no place I would rather spend my Thanksgiving. What a great way to spend Thanksgiving, teaching people about our Savior, Jesus Christ. Sometimes, I wonder how I got so blessed. I am a missionary. I have the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life, the knowledge of how I can be happy here in the life and someday return to live with my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ again. I am happy. I am so unbelievably happy and at peace. :) That's what the gospel does for you folks. And we get to share that with others! What is holding you back? Whatever it is, put it aside and get to work. :) We have great reason to rejoice! 

I love you all so much and am so grateful for all the letters and support I have received! You guys are the best. Make this week a good one. :) (especially you Charlie, party hard, have lots of cake and ice cream, and be nice to everyone) LOVE YOU!

-Sister Roderick