Week 2 in the mission field!

Ma, family and friends!

Hello! Week two out in the field, can you believe it?! I may or may not still be in shock... I'll let you know.

This past week has been really fun but VERY busy! On Friday we had a baptism for a girl named Alexis. She is 10 and just the sweetest thing in the world. I really love her family a lot! Yesterday Sister Lemons and I set a baptismal date for a 15 year old girl named LeAnna! She is just A GEM! I love her! Her mom is going to start coming to discussions with her, so we are very excited for that. I know that she will be a pioneer for her family and be able to set the example.

I forgot to tell you that I was in Rexburg for a baptism last week! That's so funny that Uncle Jordan was in Mesa while I was in his hometown. SWAPPED. Anyway, I meet so many people that know them! Everyone has nothing but nice things to say about that sweet family. Tell them to come visit me when they get the chance. :) By the way, how is Grandma Busby doing?

OKAY, don't freak Mom. But the SCARIEST THING happened to me and Sister Lemons the other day. Here's our story...enjoy.

I don't know if I told you but we are staying in the basement of a member's home, but the family has been out traveling Europe for the past month so I haven't met them and Sister Lemons and I have been living alone in this big house. Anyway, I was sleeping and then Sister Lemons woke me up in the middle of the night and was just like "Sister, wake up!" I woke up and was horrified because I was listening to the footsteps of someone walking around upstairs. I shot up out of bed and went to look out our bedroom door to see if I could see anything. All the lights were on, so I asked Sister Lemons what time it was and she was like it's 3 AM! That freaked us out more than anything because who on earth would be up at 3 AM?!?!? Right?! So we sat there and contemplated what we should do because we are basically boxed in downstairs and there wouldn't be much of a way to get out except the staircase that led straight to the footsteps that we were hearing. So Sister Lemons called the police and told them that someone was in the house. My heart was pounding, but at the same time I knew that we were going to be okay. Anyway, long story short...the police came to the house and guess who the MURDERER was! None other than the homeowners... :) Major oops, right?!?!? Hahaha! They had forgotten to inform us that they were coming home from their trip early so we weren't expecting them at all! Hands downs scariest moment of my life! Now I just need to buy some pepper spray. But anyway, it was super funny because I had never met the family before and it was basically like this,

"Hi, Pace family! Welcome home! We're sorry that we called the cops on you....by the way, I'm Sister Rodriguez. Nice to meet you." A W K W A R D.

Here's a funny story. So the members feed us dinner (we sound like pets) every night. The other night we had this really great dinner and for dessert they had pistachio ice cream and Sister Lemons HATES pistachio ice cream! Hahaha, but the family just kept giving her scoop after scoop and I was seriously dying of laughter because I know how much she hates it. Hahaha, but she's a champ and ate all of it!

So yesterday I got a phone call from a sister in our ward who is actually out here in Idaho! It was Sister Wendy Pugmeyer! She says she is going to come visit me at the VC, so I am super excited for that!

The sweet Ruttinger family sent me a really nice package too and I have been getting lots of letters from friends and family so it has been great! Mom, do you know where my brother Ryan is living right now? And if so, can you send me his address?

I love you all so much and thank you for all the support and love! It helps me more than you know! I love the mission, it's awesome and I'm growing every single day! Until next time... Cheers.

Xx.

Love,

Sister Rodriguez

PS, tell Uncle Jordan and his fam that Seulbee Lee was in my district in the MTC and we roomed together...They know her! Hahaha, small world!

 Sister Rodriguez and Sister Linford with Elder Stones and Elder Cockriel while at the MTC

Greetings from Idaho Falls

Dearest Ma, family, and friends,

HELLO! And greetings from Idaho Falls! This place is BEAUTIFUL and the Temple is just gorgeous. The pictures on the Internet just don't do it justice. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to call home, Ma. I know I told you that I would but they changed their minds last minute and just decided to send out that email with a picture instead!

We spent the first night in Pocatello and I pretty much stayed in a palace and I had my own room and everything! It was INCREDIBLE. Sister Brinkerhoff handpicked 3 sisters to stay with Hoybjergs in their "celestial palace" out of all the missionaries and I was lucky enough to be picked. They live at the top of a mountain in Pocatello and I had a balcony in my room that looked over the ENTIRE city and it was just beautiful. They treated us so well and fed us too well...ahaha. I'm totally going to gain weight while I'm here. The members feed us at pretty much every single appointment and I just get so full. Mom, the Hoybjergs own John Deere dealerships!

Okay, so my companion is AMAZING! And guess where she is from?! DUH! MESA! Us Arizonans tend to stick together! She is originally from Guam and she lived there until she was 15 years old and then she moved here. And she went to Mountain View! Small world, right?! I know! It's so crazy! Anyway, she is just fabulous and she knows how to wax and everything so I am one lucky girl...she waxes my eyebrows for me. What a champ.

So we have been so extremely busy EVERY SINGLE DAY! I come home so exhausted and guess what...I even started to snore. My poor companion puts up with it, even though she is a light sleeper. Let's hope the snoring stops once I get home. But the families here are are so genuine and nice and I am just so blessed!

Sister Lemons and I set our first baptismal date for a guy named Sany. He is a gem and just so awesome! In our first lesson he said, "I want to learn more about the church, and if it takes me joining the church to live a better life, I want to do it". So we asked him to be baptized at the end of our lesson and he was so just so excited and happy and set his date for next month! We are STOKED! I could hardly contain my excitement but once we left and got in the car I let it all out and just started freaking out with my companion. She's such a sweetheart for putting up with me and all my weirdness.

ALRIGHT. I am so sick of everyone asking me if I speak Spanish and then I have to tell them no and they just look at me like WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU. So I am currently learning Spanish and I have been reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish, and it's actually coming along! One of the bishops in one of the wards that we are over asked me to talk to the mission president and see if he will switch me to the Spanish part of our mission, wouldn't that be awesome!

Anyway, just know that I am happy and that I am loving the mission! I have so much love for the people around me, and it just grows every single day. I love you, Ma. I wrote you a handwritten letter that you should be getting in a few days. I keep you all in my prayers every day, and I miss you all the time but I am happy here! Stay strong, be happy, and love everyone.

I love you. Xoxox.

Love,

Sister Rodriguez

Sister Rodriguez has arrived in the Idaho Pocatello Mission

A message from the Mission President...

Jul 19, 2013, at 9:35 AM

Sister Rodriguez,

Thank you for your email.  Sister Rodriguez has a true light about her and will be a great missionary.  We love her already.  Please let us know if we can ever do anything for you or her.

Love and best wishes to you and your family.

President and Sister Brinkerhoff

Idaho Pocatello Mission

Jul 18, 2013, at 11:48 AM

Sister Rodriguez has arrived safely in the Idaho Pocatello Mission.  Upon arrival, we had a personal interview to get further acquainted. 

We are hopeful you will write or email letters of encouragement to your missionary weekly so she will continue to feel your love and support as she loses herself in the work.  We encourage your missionary to do the same, focusing on the positive aspects of the mission. 

May God bless you as you sacrifice to support this great work.

Faithfully yours,

Marvin T. Brinkerhoff

Mission President

Week 2 at the MTC!

Ma, family, and friends!

HELLO! Another week gone in a blink of an eye! I really cannot believe the way time flies here. I'm loving every single second and there is NEVER a dull moment with Sister Linford. She's always running into something or tripping over something and I'm just behind her laughing my head off. She is HILARIOUS.

So everyone is wondering what we did for the 4th of July! We had a really amazing devotional and then we watched one of my all time favorite movies...17 Miracles. Don’t worry, I cried the whole time. It makes me realize every single time that I watch it that I need to FORGET MYSELF.  After that we had ice cream...Sister Linford and I were like 5 year old girls with how excited we were over the ice cream. Embarrassing, I know. Then we watched fireworks with about 5000 other missionaries and we even got to stay up past our bedtime! COOL RIGHT. It was great.

So I sang in the choir with Sister Linford for the devotional the other day..it was awesome! The topic was "Act Well Thy Part" and it’s so true. Whatever you are, a father, a mother, daughter, sister, friend, be the best you can be in whatever role you play! It will change your life and make you an overall better person!

Oh, and Mom...don’t die but....I may not be coming home until 2015. Sister Linford and I just received the news and laughed for like an hour straight out of pure shock and devastation. But we love it here, haha! Don’t get me wrong! There is no place I would rather be right at this moment because I am growing with each and every day!

Okay, so I have been humbled A LOT. And I'm realizing that I can’t just rely on myself for everything and that I need to seek the Lord's guidance in ultimately all that I do and it is helping me grow so much. I need to work on it, and I'm getting better.

So there is this guy in our district that is the biggest jokester and he absolutely drives me crazy because I can never tell when he is joking or not! But the other day he came up to Sister Linford and I in all seriousness and told us that we are his favorite sister missionaries because we work the hardest but we have the most fun. That touched us a lot because we really have been trying to give it our all and keep our heads up when it gets hard...and we appreciated that someone noticed it.

Mom, I need to ask you huge favor. There is an elder in our district that hasn’t even received one letter since he has been here and his birthday is coming up on the 16th of this month! It makes me so sad because I know that I have so much support and I always have a pile of letters waiting for me. But I was thinking it would be really nice if you wrote him a small letter with words of encouragement and maybe you could send him a small birthday package with some candy or something in it. I will send you his mission address. It would really mean the world to me, and I know it would to him as well.

I love you all so much and I am so thankful for all the love and support that I have been getting! I will try and respond to as many letters as I can in good time! I love you, I love you, I love you.

Xoxo

Cheers.

Love, Sister Rodriguez

First week at the MTC!

My dearest Ma & family!

WOW. Just WOW. I cannot believe that I have been out here for a whole week now! Time is flying, but in a very weird way. Its true what they say that the days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days. I don't have much time, but let me try and update you the best that I can!

First, off thank you so much for all the emails and letters and packages! It has been so wonderful to see how much support I have and what great friends and family I have! You are amazing, thank you so much for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers...I can definitely feel them.

So here's the craziest news I could possibly have for you...my companion is SISTER ALISON LINFORD! What are the chances of that even happening! She is so amazing and it has been a crazy fun experience, we just love each other so much and it has been an overall wonderful experience. Okay, so the first day in, Sister Linford and I were called to serve as the sister training leaders of our zone! So we have about 20 girls to take care of and it is so great, we really love all of them. But it is a lot of work because we always have meetings to go to and a whole bunch of rules we have to go by and blah blah blah...

I saw Brent Hakes and the Allen twins a few times, it is so nice to see people that you know! It has been so weird, though- only being able to shake their hands and whatnot.

ATTENTION EVERYONE. I did NOT I repeat did NOT bring my phone! Hahaha, I have received so many emails about that! (Tell Ma to check behind the drivers seat in the BMW in that pocket thing). It should be in there.

5 more minutes. Lets see what I can squeeze in here.

I have been pretty sick for the last few days (don't worry, mom...I'm fine) so I ended up finally having to go to the Health Center to get some treatment and everything but now I am feeling much better and I am back to working my hardest! (SO EMBARRASSING TO GO TO HEALTH CENTER)

On the 4th of July we are going to have a special program where we get to watch fireworks and stuff, it is supposed to be a lot of fun...so we cannot wait for that!

Let me tell you a little bit about the MTC. It is hard work but in totally different ways than you would ever expect. It is hard to wake up early, to have a schedule that literally gives you ZERO down time, and to always be with your companion. Well, the companion part hasn't been hard for me because we just love the heck out of each other. But that has really been the most difficult part because it is hard to stay awake sometimes.

NO TIME LEFT.

Okay, next week I will tell you a little about our experiences with our investigator and everything! Thanks for the letters, keep them coming because they help me so much! Mom, I love you and thank you for writing me every single day. You are so amazing, and I miss you so much. Tell the family I love them. Give Tristan and Ashdon hugs and kisses.

LOVE EVERYONE AND BE NICE TO EVERYONE. DOUBT NOT, FEAR NOT.

But seriously, be nice to everyone and love them because I have learned by doing that, I am a much happier and better person for it. I'm really learning what it means to love someone, so just work on it!

Love,
Sister Rodriguez