Fall (or Winter) is Here (Again)

Family!

What a week. I have learned so much and am so grateful to be here on the mission. It is so weird that I have been out for 6 months! 

This week it rained a lot and it was impossible to stay dry, but we had such an amazing, fun week. We had zone p-day and that was really fun. We did a scavenger hunt, a team building activity and played ping-pong, Foosball, and Futbol. We also had a district lunch on Wednesday after district meeting since about half the people in our district will probably be transferred this week. I love my district here so much! I love the ward too. I feel like I am part of the ward, to some extent, since after being here for 6 months I know pretty much everyone now. 

We taught loads of our Chinese investigators this week and it is really exciting to see their faith grow. R, a Chinese investigator we have been teaching for about a month now committed to baptism! (November 17). He is a champ. He rarely misses a Sunday at church and is so cool. M2 and S3 are amazing and we read in the Book of Mormon with the intent of teaching them how to learn and receive revelation from the Book of Mormon. We read the story of Nephi's bow with them and it was so cool. Every time we meet them they amaze me, and the Spirit is so strong in the lesson because they are so willing to learn. 

Z, another Chinese student, committed to be baptized this week too. I was a little bit apprehensive about extending the invitation but I did it with faith knowing that I should and she said yes straight away! It was a testimony builder that when we try to be obedient and when we just take the step of faith and invite people to change and make commitments we can be surprised! 

We met S this week to see how he was doing since we dropped him and see if he was ready to fully commit to the gospel; he isn't ready yet. It was pretty frustrating because the first thing he said is that he knows he will be baptized eventually and that there is happiness to be found here, but he is being overcome by his vices right now and is fairly content to be where he is.... All I can say is that we did our part as missionaries and invited him. We taught him the principles, got him to church and helped him feel the Spirit and continued to invite him. The rest is up to him though. I hope that a year from now he will see the light and realize that the gospel of Jesus Christ is worth EVERYTHING. 

We had a stake Relief Society service workshop and dinner which we were allowed to go to since it was a service activity. It was so good. There are many women here that struggle with their testimonies and living the gospel but there are also many that have consecrated all that they have to building the kingdom, serving others and being true to their baptismal covenants at all times. It was so nice to chat with some of them and learn from them and hear their conversion stories. As I have come to know people more I have learned that most of the leadership families in the ward and stake are all converts to the church! Either they are first generation members or their parents are. It is so cool to see how the gospel enables people to fulfill callings and build the kingdom regardless of how long they have been in the church. 

I will find out tonight after nightly planning if I am being transferred out of the area and then will leave Wednesday morning. And let me say- its killing me! I just want to know what is going to happen to me! I have said my good-byes to everyone and have taken pictures with members and investigators. It just all comes down to where Heavenly Father needs me the most! 

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY! Oh- and I finished my journal last week! All 208 pages :) Now I'm on to fill up a new one with the amazing experiences I am having. Sorry the email is shorter today- we have lots of things to get done today since I'm probably leaving the area! Today we are going to a free, famous art museum right in the dead centre of Birmingham. We have put off going, but I would kick myself if I was in this area for 6 months and didn't go! I'm going boot shopping today too! I gotta find some good boots just in case I transferred to a biking area in wales where there isn't as good of shopping haha

With R. 

Best. District. Ever!

It's fall! I just had to take a picture with all of the leaves.

A cute picture with me sporting my new waterproof down coat. 

I LOVE YOU ALL!! 

Sister Roscher

Solihull

This week has been good! Time has gone by SO fast! We have seen several miracles this week in finding new people to teach and helping those we teach feel the Spirit. 

On Monday we had district P-day, which was so fun! We have an an obedient, hard-working district but it was fun to do some fun things too. Monday night we taught M2 and S3. They are really epic. They are from China and I love them! They read Alma 32 and said like 5 times in the lesson they were so grateful for us being patient with them and teaching them about God and Christ, because they "know so little," in their words. The whole time I was thinking how easy it was for me to be patient because I love them and I see they care and want to know. 

We had the opportunity to do a lot of service this week, which was actually really nice! Its only the 4th or 5th time I have been able to get into my trousers during proselyting time. SCORE! We did service for a non-member who is friends with a member of the ward. It was cool because the member is going to give her a Book of Mormon and we are going back to do more service this week too! You never know what can happen with service, love and the Spirit! 

We handed Q over to the elders this week, because she lives in their area. It was really sad, but she will not be hurt from us being obedient to the area boundaries. During the handover lesson her answers were SO good. We team taught the plan of salvation, and it was so cool. We talked about how the plan of salvation helps us realize there is more than just this life and it was really cool because after we went through it she asked "What are the most important things then?" I LOVE it when investigators ask good questions like that. Her mind was blown at the end of the lesson. She said if it is true, which she believes it is, then she needs to rethink her life. She is so good. The elders will take good care of her; they are really good missionaries.

We had a first lesson with Sa this week. He is a masters student from Iran, although he's been in England for 14 years. He is really cool, and he committed to reading the Book of Mormon. He is so dedicated too. We committed him to be baptized on Nov 17 and he said yes, I should give him time to read though the whole Book of Mormon and know if it is true haha what a champ :)

The weather keeps alternating between being really cold and just nice. Having some nice weather days makes me so grateful!

On Saturday we had a "work over" in one of the areas in our Zone. This is when missionaries leave their areas to help the missionaries in a specific area find more people to teach. There were 16 missionaries that went in for the work over. It was in Solihull (you can look it up on the map). It is a really hard area because it is pretty posh and the missionaries get shut down all day every day. It taught me a lot about how different areas are and I feel so grateful to have served in Harborne for 6 months! The dynamics of the areas were very different, because we work mostly with University students and they are very receptive to the gospel. After the work-over, the members of the ward had prepared a thanksgiving feast for us to eat. I love ward members! These ward members really really want to see the missionary work improve in their area which is so touching. The first step of member missionary work is to actually care, and then to act. This ward is doing both! There are people to find there although right now it is hard, but with the members and missionaries working together, things will take off.

I love you and hope you are all well!  Thank for your continued prayers and support.

sorry, no pictures today, I forgot my cord! 

LOVE YOU ALL!
Sister Roscher

Fall

FAMILY!

This week has gone by SO fast because our schedule was a little different, making it fly by. We had P-day Monday, and then Tuesday was the trip to Benbow Farm and the Gadfield Elm Chapel. It was seriously so cool! There wasn't enough room on the coach so we drove down with the sister-training leaders in our area. It was really fun to drive through the English countryside. It really is beautiful, and exactly what I would picture the English countryside to be in my head to be. I even continued the family tradition of mooing at all the cows we passed by. 

We started out at Benbow pond and we talked about the story of Wilford Woodruff which was really cool. then one of the Elders offered a prayer of remembrance and a Sister sang a song and then President asked one Elder and myself to bear our testimonies. It was crazy because I didn't have any notice, but It was actually a really cool experience because I just felt the confidence that comes from the Spirit. I felt proud to be in England serving a mission and following the footsteps of so many of the leaders of the church. I felt I had the Pearl of Great Price, and I felt my love for my Savior. I am grateful for the opportunity President gave me to strengthen my testimony. 

After that we drove the 30 min to the Gadfield Elm Chapel  where we had a meeting and took a tour. It has a really cool history and some pretty incredible things happened there! A total of 65,000 saints from the British Isles immigrated to the U.S. I have lots of pictures from  our trip so I'll send you some! 

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday passed by pretty fast. We has some really cool lessons. We had one of the most powerful lessons I've ever been in on my mission this week as well. We were teaching Md and Sd, 2 of our Chinese investigators and the Spirit was just SO strong. It was undeniable, and they felt it too! That is when I feel the most like a missionary, when I feel the Spirit working through me to help our investigators understand and believe. The lesson was quiet, but powerful. There was no need to use lots of words and explanations; the spirit was the teacher. 

On Saturday I was on exchange with Sister Krylborn all day. She is one of the best missionaries I have seen on the mission so far. She knows how to be a missionary and to find, teach, and baptize! She understands what it is to leave everything behind and to focus on the work. It was a privilege to be with her for a day and learn from her. We also get along really well so that's super fun too! 

It has rained a lot for the last 3 or 4 days and been really cold. Its been getting below freezing too. The rain makes it so green and beautiful, but the cold changes missionary work a little bit because there aren't as many people out. When we were on exchange we were GQ'ing (golden questioning) from 6:30-8 and it was pouring rain and freezing cold. We stopped this one man and we were having a good conversation with him. As I stood there with my feet soaked, holding my umbrella and talking to this man in the dark I was thinking to myself that this is missionary work. Missionaries go forward to teach the gospel regardless of the weather and the time because we know we have a message that is more important than anything else. 

Oh, and L received the priesthood on Sunday! Bishop ordained him. It was so exciting. We talked to him afterwards and he is just so excited to reach out, serve, and bear his testimony of Jesus Christ! He is a star, that's for sure! 

This upcoming week should be a good one! We are going to be pretty busy and we should have a lot of teaching appointments, which is always the best! Things are good here, and time is zooming by! 

Transfers are on Oct 30, so In about 2 weeks. I'm not quite sure what will happen, but I've been in Harborne for almost 6 months now, so there is a pretty good chance that I will be transferred to another area. It will be exciting to see what happens! I won't find out until the evening of the 28th though, after I've already emailed for the week, so you will find out after I've already moved if I do haha 

Now for some pictures!

Benbow Farm

At Benbow pond

Four sisters at the chapel!

Sister Sopi and Sister Roscher at the Gadfield Elm Chapel.

Thank you all for your love and support!

Sister Roscher

My Tribute to Members

Dear Family-

This week has been absolutely incredible and ended with General Conference. Monday we went into city centre and went shopping. I was on the hunt for a new coat and boots. I found a long down coat that is water proof (I tested it.) I bought water proofer too for after the water proof wears off. It was reasonably priced too. I still haven't found boots that fit me that are within my price range, but the hunt will continue! Monday night we also met these 2 amazing Chinese girls! 

Tuesday we taught R and he is SO cool. He had been researching and learning. He had totally connected that if the church is true than that meant that the great apostasy really did happen! Now he is just studying and praying to know if the church is true. He came to General Conference on Sunday and liked it! All of our Chinese investigators had a hard time understanding the speakers for whom English was a second language haha

Tuesday we had members answer our prayers. Sister McMorn had come teaching with us once with L and she was really touched by his earnestness and commitment to the gospel. She invited us over for a dinner appointment with L on Tuesday. It was so good! L got to be in a member home and feel the spirit. Her and her husband have 2 little kids and are a really strong family in the church. L LOVED it and it helped us keep him busy the week of his baptism. 

Wednesday was an amazing day! We had our district meeting, and L's baptismal interview (which he passed with flying colours) and we got to talk to a whole bunch of Chinese people! We taught E, one of the chinese girls we found on Monday. She is so cool! She doesn't really know anything about religion, so we had to start at the very basics. It was funny because she asked if God could lift her pen up to tell her He is there. She is amazing though. She came to General Conference too and was really touched by Elder Holland's talk (You can click on the link to listen to Elder Holland's talk again. Or for the first time, as the case may be. Do it. Click the link!)

Wednesday night we popped by to see two Chinese potential investigators who were REALLY nice. We knocked on their door and they said come in! So we taught both of them and their 2 other flatmates on the fly. It was such a cool experience, though it was slightly nerve-wracking. All four of them were listening intently to every word we said! we taught about how God loves us and prayer and invited them to pray to know God it there. It was such a cool experience! 

Thursday was L's baptism! We were out finding about 2 hours before the baptism and we talked to this Chinese girl J, who is the most enthusiastic investigator I have had yet by far! She grilled us with questions and then we told her about the baptism that night and she said she would love to come! Problem was, we had to get to the church an hour early to fill up the font. We called Dana, this amazing RM YSA (That stands for "Return Missionary Young Single Adult" for those of you who don't speak in abbreviations) from the U.S. who is getting a Masters degree here to see if she could walk up with her. She was coming to the baptism already and she said of course! So Dana and J walked up together! J had LOADS of questions and loved the service. We taught her a lesson after the baptism was finished and she loved everything! We had a dinner appointment with Dana on Friday so Dana invited J. Then J told us about her friend from China "who really wanted to be baptized." Dana invited her to bring her friend. So Friday we did a dinner appointment and lesson at Dana's with J and her friend Q. They are SO cool. Q is so elect and is truly searching for the truth. She learned that God was there for her in China when she was having a really hard time, and she prayed in her heart after coming across a copy of the Bible. She explained to us that coming to the UK is a gift from God to her to become a Christian and find Him more. She does have some questions about which Christian church to join (all the different Christian churches really confuse the Chinese students) but the spirit will/is manifesting the truth of the gospel to her. Dana watched General Conference with them Saturday night and it was so good because Dana was able to bear her testimony more and help answer some of their questions.  Dana was another answer to prayers! She is fellow-shipping so well! 

Ok. L's baptism. He made it! When he walked into the chapel Thursday he said "Now my life can begin." He was confirmed right after the baptism because of General Conference. Priesthood power is real! Everything said to him in the blessing after he was given the gift of the Holy Ghost was exactly what he needed to hear. God knows His children perfectly! The ward came out and was so supportive. And L was glowing. The next step for him is a calling and then the Temple! 

Now for General Conference. Because of the time difference the Saturday morning session is broadcast Saturday night 5-7, then on Sunday the priesthood session is from 10-12. The Saturday afternoon session is shown from 1-3, the Sunday morning session from 5-7 then the Sunday afternoon could be watched from 9-11. I'll just have to read this session when it comes out in the Ensign or download in on my flash drive. We watched conference at the chapel. It was cool to watch it in the chapel and sing the choir/congregation hymn with an actual congregation instead of just a family :) We had a really good turnout of investigators too! I love being in Harborne SO much! I never want to leave this area! Its fun because now I've been here for 5 months so I know almost all of the ward. 

Heavenly Father has been SO good to us this week! We got to teach so many new people, L was baptized and received the gift of the Holy Ghost and things are looking up! This is an amazing time to be a member of the church. There is so much good all around us! I loved how in Conference they talked about member missionaries and members and missionaries working together. Members make the difference! Especially in the retention of new converts. When the missionaries bring people to church, go up and talk to them! Get to know them, invite them over for dinner, help them feel the strength of your testimonies. The 2 dinner appointments which we had this week with members and investigators were EPIC. It is an important part of fellowshipping. Do more than just say hi and bye. Be their friend! Ok sorry, I'm through preaching about that now haha. I just have had such good experiences this week with the importance of member-investigator relationships.

Tomorrow we get to go down to Gloucester as a Zone to go see the oldest church building in the church! We are going to the Benbow farm and the Gadfield Elm chapel. Wilford Woodruff and others taught there on their missions to England. 

This is what President Rasmussen sent us about them:

"The Gadfield Elm Chapel near the village of Pendock in Worcestershire, England, is the oldest existing chapel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The structure was built in 1836 as a religious meetinghouse by the United Brethren, a group of breakaway Methodists led by Thomas Knighton and John Benbow. In 1840, Elder Wilford Woodruff of the Quorum of the Twelve preached among the United Brethren; ultimately all but one of the 600 members of the United Brethren were converted. After the conversions, the structure was deeded to the Church by Thomas Knighton and John Benbow. Three prophets have spoken in Gadfield Elm Chapel.

At Benbow Farm, Elder Wilford Woodruff first began to preach the restored gospel in Southwest England and at the farm’s pond he baptized many of the United Brethren group, including John and Jane Benbow. These new converts immigrated to America where they made significant contributions to the Church."

SO cool! I'm excited so see this part of church history.

Now for some pictures:

Yay Conference!

This is a really cool building. The architecture in England rocks!

Sister Sopi and I with L. What a champ!

Family and friends- I LOVE YOU! Thanks for your love and support!