The Mission Life

Family!!

This week has been up and down and all around, but in the end its been amazing! 

L was supposed to be baptized on Saturday, but he relapsed smoking on Sunday night and Monday morning... not good. Our District leader and the Zone leaders said to go ahead and do the baptismal interview anyway but not surprisingly the Spirit dictated that Saturday was not L's time to be baptized. The issue is, General Conference! We don't do baptisms General Conference weekend so L was going to have to wait until the 13th of October to be baptized. He was really disappointed in himself and very discouraged on Tuesday after the interview. L had a long chat with the Bishop on Tuesday night and the Bishop called us wondering if something could be done so he can be baptized sooner. By unanimous decision of Sister Sopi and I, the District leader, the Zone leaders and the Bishop it was decided that we would do everything we could to make his baptismal date earlier. This man needs the gift of the Holy Ghost, and he needs it ASAP! However, he needs to be living the Word of Wisdom fully. So the plan right now is for him to be baptized this Thursday night!! It took lots of prayer and coordination to figure everything out, but it will be so worth it! He will be confirmed right after the baptism since it is General Conference and then he will we welcomed into the ward on the 13th. It is unconventional but it is what needs to be done to help him. 

We had an exciting week in finding because the University students are back. We have 2 new amazing investigators from China! R already has a belief in God and is excited to be in the UK where he can worship openly and talk about religion. In our first lesson with him, in the closing prayer, he said he was excited to learn more about God and for this chance to be here in the UK. He also came to church on Sunday and hit it off with T. Hooray! 

Speaking of T, T RECEIVED THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST! What a good day :) He is a champ. I just felt the quiet, warm confirmation of the Spirit in my heart when he was confirmed telling me yet again of the truthfulness of the gospel. 

Our other new investigator was JW. He is from the part of China where panda bears live. Apparently where he lives you can hug baby panda bears. He says after they grow up they are really, really smelly! haha We taught him how to pray and it was seriously the sweetest thing ever because after he finished praying he said "I think I just made a new friend." my thoughts were" YES YES YES YES YES! "

This Saturday M was baptized. She was the Zone leaders baptism but she has endeared everyone who talks with her. What a woman. Let me tell you about her. She is a 75 year old woman. She raised her 5 kids by herself and then raised her sister's 4 kids after she passed away. She grew up in foster care but hasn't let that get her down. She loves to laugh and make jokes and she will tell you despite all the struggles she has had, laughter and God have got her through. According to the Zone Leaders when she passed her baptismal interview she jumped into the kitchen and said YES! I PASSED! what a woman. Then when she was baptized on Saturday  (I saw the whole thing up close because I was holding her hearing aids). When she came up out of the water, she did a fist pump and said YES! She made not only my day, but everyone else's as well I think. 

After the baptism there was a ward talent show. The missionaries participated in it because of a really funny misunderstanding but it went good. We didn't actually know we were in it until Thursday night then we were scrambling to know what to do and it was hard because we only have a limited number of things we can do and resources. In order to go with the "fun night' and not sing just a hymn I volunteered to re-write the words to the primary song "I Want to be a Missionary Now" (Thank you Savannah for singing that song for a whole year, you gave me the inspiration) :)

The lyrics were : 

We want to be your missionaries now

We don't care about the rain or snow

We love Harborne and your personalities 

and we like to come and see you in your homes.

We want to be your missionaries now. 

We are grateful for the food you give.

We're always running late, 

but thank you anyways,

your DA's are a delight to contemplate

We want to be you missionaries now.

England is the place to be for us

We'll bike, walk, bus and do anything it takes

for we know that we are here to serve you all

(that was for your own entertainment) :P

We dropped S this week. It was hard to do, but I know that it was the right thing to do. Heavenly Father gave me the strength to do it, now I just have to have faith that someday S's day will come. 

The work will go forward! There are amazing people like L and T and M to find! My testimony was strengthened so much this week. 

I love you all so much!

Sister Roscher

M on her baptismal day.

The missionaries at the talent show.

T's Baptism

Dear Family,

I'm having a hard time believing that it is soon going to be October! I was thinking about where I was last October for a few minutes this week (there really isn't much time to think about it) and it was pretty amazing to compare where I was then to where I am now, and where I will be next year! I am SO grateful for listening to the Spirit and going down to Cedar City even though it didn't turn out like I wanted it to. It turned out better! Just goes to show the Lord knows what's up! I am on a mission now, instead of a nursing student like I thought I would be, but this is such a good experience. This is where I am supposed to be right now! (Sorry for the extraneous use of exclamation points!) :) 

This week ended on an incredible note- T's Baptism! It is such a blessing that I was able to be here for it. (I'm here for another transfer) He was so excited to be baptized and for the past several weeks I have been able to see how committed he is; he was going to be baptized and there were no ifs, ands or buts about it in his mind. We met with him on Thursday to have a lesson with him, Elder Woolsey (the man who baptized him) and Sister Woolsey. It made me so excited for Sunday! He is rock solid in the gospel. He knows how important the gospel of Jesus Christ is. Teaching T has been an incredible blessing in my life. He has changed me, and help strengthen my testimony! I still remember the Thursday that Sister Miller and I GQ'ed him and then his first Sunday at church etc. Its crazy to think it all started about 3 months ago. I have seen his deep conversion to the gospel and that was the best reward!  His baptism was just the icing on the cake for me. The whipped cream will be his confirmation and the cherry the first Sunday he is able to pass the sacrament after receiving the priesthood! 

We have also met with L almost every day this week and he seriously inspires me. In our lesson on Friday he handed us an envelope titled "tithes." What a champ! We hadn't gone through all the logistics because we just needed to make sure he would commit to live the law of tithing. We taught tithing simply, without going over how to fill out a tithing slip etc. Then we explained to him that we couldn't collect it but that he would be able to give it to the Bishop on Sunday. He is SO cool! Such faith and dedication! He really wants to understand the allegory of the olive tree and other things like it in the Book of Mormon and its causing me to study up a lot to help answer his questions! Its so good! 

We had a rough week with S, but hopefully this week we will see him progress further. It is hard to know what to do as a missionary sometimes. We have done everything we can for him as a missionaries, but it is time for him to take his stand and really commit to living the word of wisdom. If not we will need to consider dropping him soon, which would REALLY stink. It is frustrating because he knows the church is true and that it is the way to find happiness in his life he is just stuck in his old ways. Agency- its a gift and a curse :)

Nothing else too eventful has happened this week. Fall is in the air and the rain is too! Luckily I hardly ever straighten my hair, so it doesn't really matter if gets wet :) University of Birmingham starts up this week, so it should be an exciting time finding! Perfect timing, because we need new investigators!!! 

We watched to restoration DVD this week with one of our less-active members and it hit me especially hard this time. Church history here is different. There isn't as much emphasis on the things of early church history in the U.S. but more of an emphasis of the history of the church here in the UK. I felt privileged this week to have seen so many of the church history sights! Part of my testimony of the restoration comes from my experiences at these places where so many important things happened in the early restored church. 

Now for some pictures:

A cool  English Cemetery

Sister Roscher and Sister Sopi with T at his baptism!

A picture of Sister Roscher and T :)

Sister Roscher also sent some pictures of her flat! Check it out:

What they call their "getting ready" room

Hardwood floors. These guys lucked out!

Their bedroom. Looks like they have plenty of space :)

Check back next week for more about Sister Roscher's life :) If you're reading this, you're awesome and keep up the good work!

Autumn is Here!

Family! 

This week has brought a few new things into the life of yours truly. First, a deeper conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ through study, prayer and experience and second and (greater) love for missionary work! 

On Monday we had Zone P-day which was really fun! We did Book of Mormon/Bible trivia as teams, a few relay races and human Foosball. It was a fun way to begin the week. We have a really good zone right now. Funny thing? The sisters (there are 6 of us) all had  to play in the same line because we couldn't have physical contact with the Elders. HAHA It didn't really bother me, I just thought it was funny. Missionaries do live the higher law, that's for sure! 

  

Tuesday T passed his baptismal interview (HOORAY!) with flying colours. He will be getting baptized this Sunday the 22nd and it will be amazing. It will be such a blessing. T is seriously AMAZING! Future general authority of China, that's for sure! He rocks. He canceled our appointment on Friday because he didn't have time to meet due to the YSA dance that evening. Talk about fellowshipped! 

On Wednesday. we had Zone meeting. It was all about the commitment pattern and what we can do as missionaries to help people make and keep commitments. We also were able to teach S on wed. He came to the adult session of Stake conference on Saturday night, but he is really struggling to stop smoking. As missionaries there isn't much more we can do to help him other then teach him the gospel so that his conversion to the gospel with help him overcome this addiction. He's gotten a blessing, we've done daily contact, we taught him the stop smoking program and everything in the book! 

Thursday we had a really good lesson with the Ws. I love that family! We watched the John Tanner video and it is powerful. I didn't know it existed, but the church produced a 20 min video about John Tanners life. It is even more cool because I am related to him! Family- you should get a copy of it. Its probably even online.

Saturday was crazy, but amazing! We had back to back lessons and through tender mercies we got to all of our appointments on time and caught our buses. The night ended with the adult session of Stake conference. Both L and S attended and L felt a powerful witness of the truthfulness of the gospel during the meeting. L is seriously SO elect. He has already made it to Mosiah 29 and he understands most of it. He says he can't put it down. THAT is the power of the Book of Mormon. The Bishop and his 1st counselor gave S a blessing after conference to give him the strength to stop smoking.

 L loves the bishop now, which is a very good thing. He also came for the Sunday session of stake conference and loved it. The temple president of the Preston temple and his wife were there and to there was a lot of talk of temples. L just keeps on saying he can't wait to go to the temple after he gets baptized :) :) :) And, he is on track to be baptized on the 28th. President and Sister Rasmussen spoke at stake conference and so L got to meet them and he was glowing afterwards.

Sister Sopi and I have laughed a lot this week too, which is a good thing. Gotta keep the morale up since the weather is turning for the worse! :) Autumn is here! Its been tights, scarfs, boots, umbrellas and the heater on! Also its getting dark about 7:30 now which  scares me for winter! But, the work will go forward, even in the winter! 

Most importantly though, this week I have learned how to be a better missionary. I have been striving every day to rely on Heavenly Father and to become the kind of missionary he wants me to be. There are so many things I need be better at, but with God all things are possible! 

A talk I read this week that I LOVED and I recommend everybody read is "That We May Always Have His Spirit to be with Us" by David A Bednar (Here's a link to the talk)

I am really sorry this email is scattered and all over the place! Basically being as missionary is amazing. I wouldn't want to be do anything else with my time right now! Jesus Christ is our Savior, and the center of everything! 

I love you all! thanks for your continued love and support!

Sister Roscher

2) This sweet little girl who I LOVE! I met her and her mom my first night in Harborne. She gives the best hugs! She put the 'hat' on me right as we were leaving.  

Yep... we gave in and bought cupcakes from a pastry shop

 The largest snail I have seen in my whole entire life!!!

1) Sister Sopi, L and a guy from our stake who just got  home from a mission to France and served with Sister Sopi's older brother. Its so fitting that L is holding his Book of Mormon :)

I Love Cookies! (Biscuits)

This week has been good! It has really been kind of a blur, but I think that's a good thing. On Monday we went to city centre after we had emailed and we had a good time. I always like going into city centre (especially because its the city centre of the 2nd largest city in England). We had a good time, and because we did our grocery shopping at Tesco's I got to buy lime squash!! (Its a very popular drink around here). I would like to note that I am so grateful that for my whole life I have had a car to go grocery shopping. I was staring at a box of cereal at the store and thought "is carrying a box that big all the way home worth it?"especially because we live up a decent size hill :P

Tuesday was met with L (our golden investigator) and he rocks!! We taught him the plan of salvation and he totally loved it. We also had a really awkward lesson with this man Sm. We taught him a few times before, but he 'dropped' us. We ran into him on the street and set up another appointment, but it was a really weird lesson. I think the lesson I learned from it is that our job as missionaries is to give them the information and help them feel/recognize the Spirit, but it is their decision to decide to care. He pretty much acted like he didn't care the whole time. I thought at first I was doing something terribly wrong, but I had prayed diligently and prepared by the Spirit what to teach him. So I was able to share with him the message Heavenly Father wanted him to know, but he had his agency and chose not to care. Situations like that are never fun as a missionary. 

Thursday we taught T and T2 (two of our 3 Chinese investigators) and it was a learning experience. T is amazing. He has his baptismal interview on Tuesday and will be baptized Sunday after Stake Conference! He makes me SO happy. With T2 we taught him the plan of Salvation and he was REALLY hung up on all the little details (he's incredibly smart, and wants all the facts.) Finally after 30 min of hashing through details and telling him we don't know all the answers I just said "Thomas, all the little details aside, and just focusing on the fact that God loves us so He gave us a plan to be happy, do you believe this is true?" It was a learning experience for me, because he looked thoughtful for a minute and then said 'Yes, I do.' When we are teaching people, it is important to help them focus on the main ideas. The details don't matter so much, especially at the beginning when you are teaching someone with no religious background. 

Friday we travelled to the mission home for the "specialized training for trainers and new missionaries" meeting. It was a good meeting, and it has changed a little bit since I went to mine as a trainee 3 months ago. It is always good to focus on the basics and to recommit to excellence in all that you do. Sister Sopi really enjoyed seeing the people she had been in the MTC with, and I enjoyed learning more from President. I think President Rasmussen is the busiest man alive. Our mission will soon have 280 missionaries in it and I think (know) that keeps him REALLY busy. 

Sunday K was confirmed, so that was really cool! She is such a good girl, and she setting a good example for her family. 

This week I have thought a lot about this quote by President Monson "In reality, you can never love the Lord until you serve Him by serving His people." This is what I am doing as a missionary right now. 

I am grateful for this chance to serve a mission. It can be really hard sometimes, but we learn the most in hard times. This is when we separate the boys from the men- when its raining outside and you're cold and wet and you keep on pushing through to find someone new to teach. I want to become the type of person that the Lord can 100% rely on,. that He will know whatever challenge or assignment I am given I will do it. and I will do it with a smile on my face, warm love in my heart and a commitment that can come only through conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

I love you! Thank you for your love and support. You all continue to amaze me through your emails and stories.

Sorry, no picture this week, I forgot my camera cord! 

Love, Sister Roscher

Oh and P.S. I really do LOVE cookies. so many different kinds here... so good! 

The Joys of Missionary Service

This week was probably one of the best weeks on my mission so far! It went by so fast and really strengthened my testimony. 

It started off on Monday with K passing her baptismal interview!!  Then we went on our 24 hour exchange right after that. I stayed in our area. Sister Kryllborn, a sister training leader, came with me and Sister Sopi went to the other area. I had such a good day working with her and learned SO much. That is my favorite part of exchange, you get to learn new ideas and ways to be a better missionary. We were running around all day getting from appointment to appointment and we had some really good lessons. We taught in unity really well together too. She helped me realize the things which I need to be better at as a missionary and we had a good time getting to know one another. She is such a good missionary! 

Wednesday and Thursday went by really fast with nothing too eventful happening. We did watch the Restoration DVD with T on Thursday and it was really cool because T knows that Joseph Smith is a prophet and he knows the Book of Mormon is true. Meeting with T makes my day because he is just so strong!

Friday night we taught S at the church and we had a good lesson with him. The Woolsey's (a senior couple) have been coming to our lessons with S and they have been so helpful. We've been teaching S for almost 4 months now, and he still hasn't come to church because he says he's not ready. This Friday we mixed the lesson plan up a little and scrapped what we had originally planned. We took him around the church, stood in the chapel and talked about what happens there, pointed out the sacrament table, asked him how he felt etc. Then we went up to the family history center and watched the Mormon Message "Men's Hearts Shall Fail Them". We discussed it and how his being baptized on the 22nd and then receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost was depending on him coming to church. We explained fasting to him and we all committed to fast together this Sunday that he would have the courage and strength to come to church.

Saturday we had a first lesson with L, a man Sister Kryllborn and I GQ'ed (If any of you know what this means, I'd appreciate it if you'd enlighten me...) on exchange. We did a quick church tour and taught him the full restoration. He committed to read the Book of Mormon and come to church. He said when I was speaking he could "see beams of light coming of me" (I've never got that one before, but pretty cool :) ) and that he felt something when we were talking about the Book of Mormon. We committed him to be baptized on the 28th of September, in the FIRST lesson! 

Then came Sunday, the best day of my life!!! ( for several reasons). K got baptized!!! (More on that later). AND L came to church and LOVED it. He had also read almost all of Alma chapters 1-32 (we assigned him Alma 32) between Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. Golden Investigator? I think YES. In fast and testimony meeting people were talking about temples, and he asked about it so I was explaining it to him, and about how we can go there after we are members of the church and living all the commandments and he said "I can't wait to go there after I'm baptized" :) 

Then, we were sitting in Gospel principles, and a sister came up and said "There is a man named S downstairs asking for you two". My heart seriously stopped! S CAME TO CHURCH! Finally! Fasting, prayer, and diligent effort work!! He just came for sacrament meeting (which is last) but he came! And what is more, he really enjoyed fast and testimony meeting! He said he found it "very satisfying"' We talked to him on the phone last night and he committed to coming to church next week too (and the week after that, and that and that). Now that he has come to church hopefully he will have the strength and determination to overcome his addiction to smoking. S can make it! That man has taught me so much about being a missionary. About Heavenly Father's love for his children (no matter what walk of life they are in) and about teaching by the Spirit to the specific needs of people. I will not rest until I have done everything I can to help this man enter into the waters of baptism and have the fresh start he so desperately wants/needs.

K was baptized after church!!! It was such a cool experience. I first met the Wrights when I had been in the field for less that a week. And have been working with them for 4 months. I have grown with that family, and especially with K. They let 2 inexperienced, young missionaries into their home, and listened to us. They still loved us and let us come back again even when we made mistakes in lessons. K was SO excited to be baptized and she really knows her stuff. You can ask her about any of the lessons and she knows it really well. I'm not gonna lie, getting everything sorted and handling 4 investigators at church, and getting members out teaching with us after/during church hadn't really given me time to focus on what was happening, but that moment when she was standing in the font was seriously SO cool. I had the time to think about how I felt, and about this incredible thing that was happening at church. We couldn't have done it without the help of Heavenly Father, the other missionaries support, and the ward's support. I AM SO BLESSED! They asked me to give one of the talks at the baptism (touching right?) and I was SO nervous, but when I was standing up there talking, I just felt how proud of K her Heavenly Father was. 

I KNOW the church is true. I know the Book of Mormon is true with my whole heart and that God loves all of his children SO much. I know that the message which we have is worth sharing and that all the hard times are 100% worth it in those moments like this last Sunday. My heart was so full of gratitude to my Heavenly Father. I kept on thinking why me? Why is he so good to me?! I continue to pray every night that I can become the missionary and person Heavenly Father needs me to be in order to find His children. 

Thank you for your continued love and support!  I think about you often and want to make you proud. You are in my prayers and I am so glad that you are all doing well! 

Now for pictures! 

Unfortunately, I don"t have a good picture from the baptism... but I'll send you the best one I have. and I will get one with K for sure before I leave the area.

Sister Roscher's new bangs ;) She may kill me for putting this on here later but hey-it was a part of her week :)

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! 

Sister Roscher