We got a MONTH in the bag!

Hey y'all!!

How is everyone?? Can I just start out by saying THANK YOU! I have gotten some good letters this last week and I am so thankful for them. They really help to be able to hear about home and all the encouraging words y'all have to say. This week has been good! It's had it's ups and downs, but just trying to stay positive. :) Having so much fun though! The gospel is so fun :)

I have a super cool story for you for this week. So last monday Sister Rigby and I had a dinner appt at the Frandsen's hosue. They are probably the coolest family in the ward! Really young and they have 2 kids. Love them to death. Candace Frandsen is the sweetest and so fun to just talk to. So we were talking to her about her kids and their birth moms cause she adopted both of her kids. And we found out that one of the birth moms lives in Farmington. She is my age and she went to Viewmont. She was talking about her and how she just loved her so much. This girl thinks that nobody loves her, not even God, and she has just had a really hard life. So she was just talking about how much she wished she could help her, cause she loves her so much. So we were telling her how one of the visa waiters we have here in West Monroe is from Farmington also and wondered if they knew each other. So Candace pulled her phone out and got on facebook to see if they were friends. Turns out they were. So we were talking about it and Candace really wanted Sister Benjamin (the visa waiter) to write her a letter. Candace wanted to talk to her about it cause she wanted them to be friends. Well we were talking about how maybe this is why Sister Benjamin is in Louisiana and not in Australia yet. And how crazy it would be if she got her visa the day after we talked to her about the whole thing. And also Sister Benjamin was the ONLY one in her district to get sent to the MJM. Everyone else went to Washington. Weird right? So the next day we were going to lunch with the West Monroe sisters and Candace decided to join us so she could meet Sis. Benjamin. Turns out Sis. Benjamin and this birth mom were best friends growing up! And we talked about it for a while and finished lunch and left. When we got into the car Sis. Benjamin said, "wow, this is really weird. I really feel like I should write this girl." So she did the next day! And guess what? THE NEXT DAY SHE GOT HER VISA. She had waited in the MTC two extra weeks, she was the only one of her district to get sent to the MJM, she has been here in the MJM for 3 weeks now, and all the other visa waiters in the mission are close to the mission home and she is all the way out here in Louisiana. Now if this girl in Farmington isn't the reason she's here, then I don't know what else! We all thought that was the coolest thing. God really does have a plan for everything. Sis. Benjamin had been really struggling with being here for so long and now she knows why she was here. Craziest thing ever! God has a plan for EVERYTHING and EVERYONE.

Well let's see what else happened this week.... we have been getting fed a lot by the members. haha They really are nice people, they just need to figure out how the church is supposed to work. haha But I have loved it here! The people are so nice and we always have fun. Christopher wrote me and told me that, "If you're not having fun, then you're not doing it right." So Sister Rigby and I have taken that to heart and it's our new motto. haha :)

So I've told you about the lady Sarah Fisher that we tracted into my first week here. We were able to visit with her again this last week. She has been so so busy with things, it's hard for us to catch her at home. But we caught her and she invited us in and we were there for like 2 hours! Visits aren't supposed to last longer than like 45 min, but this was a good visit! People down here in the south really like to talk. A lot. haha But Sarah is one of the greatest people ever! She loves God with all her heart and her faith is amazing. She is always praying for God to help her with things and she can always see the good in people cause she knows we are God's children. And talking to her is just so fun and amazing. And it helps that she's hilarious! haha We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she really liked it cause it answered a lot of questions for here that she had had about where we came from and where we're going. So that was awesome. She told us that she loves to talk about God, but when somebody starts trying to change her beliefs she doesn't want anything to do with them. So we're a little nervous to teach her the Gospel lesson. The next lesson about baptism and repentance... but we want her to understand that we're not trying to change her beliefs, we're just trying to build on them. Cause if she was to get baptized she would be an amazing member! We can tell that she would be so strong in the church. So we have faith that when we teach her that gospel lesson and ask her to be baptized that she will accept. And we want to get her to church cause we know that she will feel the strong spirit that is there.

But after we left her house we were walking down the street a little ways and we ran into this kid named Christopher. He is 19 years old and he has been in and out of jail a couple times and really wants to change his life around. He actually talked to us first. We were walking down the street and he called out to us and just talked to us and asked us who we were cause he saw our name tags. So we started talking to him and he seemed interested in what we had to say. But it was funny cause while we were talking to him his girlfriend came out of his grandparents house and she just sat there giving us the stink eye cause we were talking to her boyfriend. And she was black so you can just imagine how that looked. Haha but I saw that she didn't look to happy so I kind of yelled over to her and introduced us. Her tone and everything automatically changed and she came over to talk to us. haha so funny! But we were talking to them both about the Book of Mormon and asked if they would read just the introduction and then we set up an appt to see them again. So we went back on thursday and we were teaching him the Restoration. We had barely gotten to talking about Joseph Smith when all of a sudden a gillion people came out of the house, stuffed in the mini van and were like "aight Chris, we leavin. You comin?" And they were going out to eat so we didn't want to keep him. So we hurried and finished up and just asked him real quick if he would read the Book of Mormon and we would be back. He said he would and he went and got in the car. It was really awkward cause they started pulling away slowly so I was being pressured to hurry and finish. So that was weird. But other than that I think it went well... haha we are gonna go back and see him this week.

Ok so it's "Creepy Story of The Week Time" So every friday we go to this place called 'Grace Place,' it's where they feed the homeless and less fortunate lunch. We go and volunteer and wash tables and trays and mop and sweep and just whatever else. So Sister Rigby and I were just standing there talking when this guy, that can't really talk, comes up behind me, puts his finger to his lips telling Rigby not to say anything and he kind of pokes/grabs my sides and yells in my ear!!! Ok so this guy is not all there and you can't ever really understand what he's saying and just very homely looking. So you can just imagine what my face looked like when this guy GRABBED MY SIDES!!!! First off that's just not ok ever for some weird old man to grab me by my sides, and it's definitely not ok when I'm a missionary!! Rigby was DYING. Then to make it more interesting he starts talking to me like 5 inches from my face and I don't know what he's saying. And all of a sudden he starts talking like daffy duck, just SPITTING ALL OVER MY FACE!!!! Who is this guy and why is he doing this?!?! haha Rigby thought that was just the funniest thing in the world! She's still not over it. She still brings it up all the time and just laughs and laughs. We really never have a normal day here. I don't know why I keep running into all the creepy weird people. It definitely keeps me on my toes. haha

Oh! I hit my month mark on saturday! That's crazy huh?! It feels like I've been here forever, but it also feels like it's going so fast. We're already half way through this transfer. I've been out here 3 weeks tomorrow! Crazy how time flies. Um sorry y'all I have not run into Si or anyone from Duck Dynasty yet. And I've never seen it so I doubt I'd even know they were standing next to me. I'll keep my eyes out though. haha

Oh I guess I did have to speak in church yesterday. Most awkward talk ever. haha First off, the chapel isn't very full to begin with, and I was the last speaker after this high council man that just spoke for like 40 minutes.... So either people were sleeping or getting restless and just wanted the meeting to be over. So I got up to speak being all excited and not nervous. I've kind of gotten over being nervous to speak to people. Kind of. haha but I was talking and I thought I was saying some good things and I should have just stared at my paper and nobody would have even noticed. I could have probably told story after story of nothingness and people wouldn't have noticed. So that was weird... but I gave my talk based on Elder Eyring's talk in Conference called 'Come Unto Me.' I really really liked his talk. But people were telling me I did a good job after. So either people actually listened or they just saw that I spoke so they thought they'd just tell me. hahaha

On saturday we went to help these recent converts move. They were moving from an apartment to a house so we had some members there helping and then us 6 missionaries. But the weird thing was... the people still hadn't picked where they were moving to! So we had their house packed and stuff loaded on the trailer and then waited for an hour for this lady and her boyfriend to decide where they were moving to. Yes she has a boyfriend living with her and she was just baptized like a month or so ago. So sad. Anyway. She finally decided where they were going to move and we drove on down there to pack. Talk about GHETTO. Houses were boarded up, some sketchy people were walking around there and it was just scary! I feel so bad for them. They have 3 little kids and I'm worried for their safety :/ It was the ghetto of the ghetto down there. I was so scared to be there. But some funny things happened. We saw this man dressed up in a really short dress with make up on, a purse in hand and high heels just walking down the street haha Super weird. And then, this girl Hannah is friends with the people we were moving and she is living with them for now. And when she got out of Bishops car she dropped her cigarettes out of her purse. So I went and picked them up and threw them in the ditch. hahaha I would. :) And then she was looking for them everywhere and when she found them in the ditch she was tiiiiiiiicked!! hahahaha you should have seen her face! Oh man, I'm such a terrible person. But I'm just trying to help. ;)

But it was really sad to be down in that part of town. So many little kids just walking down the streets doing whatever they want. It's so sad to see how some people live. It makes me so so so grateful everyday for the gospel, loving family and friends, and for a beautiful safe neighborhood to live in. You definitely don't know how blessed you are until you come down here and see so many people without the gospel! So sad.

Well I guess that's enough stories for the week. I love hearing from y'all and hope you're all doing well!! Can't wait to see where Kayli and Julia get their mission calls!!!! WOOOOO!!! SO EXCITING!! Well, the mission is awesome! Tough, but awesome! Remember, the gospel is true, God loves you so much, and remember to keep praying and reading scriptures everyday!! THE GOSPEL IS SO BOSS!!! :)

Love you all so much!!

Love, Sister Rocha :)

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