1-23-17

This email is going to start with a personal note from my chère companion:

Hello everyone!This is sieur bowman. I like soeur rogers. She reminds me of a movie character. I couldnt tell you which one. But i like her. She likes the color grey... a lot. Its been cold lately, but with the radiating warmth from roggys smile and testimony, i havent felt it...I'll keep her. 

And now we return to our regularly scheduled programming.

This week was SUPER COLD! They told me when I came to Mulhouse that I would be cold... they were right. Whoever "they" is. Anyway, it was an avarage of about -7°C this week (19° for those of you still on the Farenheit system) but the windchill brought it down to about -14°C (7°F). This may seem fine and dandy for my lovely Boston friends, but when you leave your apartment at 9:30 in the morning and don't come home until 8pm, the warmth of your companion's smile can only do so much. So Soeur Bowman and I bonded a lot this week. We managed to save our poor fingers and toes with regular trips inside member's houses, ami's apartment buildings, shopping malls, etc. to warm up (and once to make an emergency sock run- when your feet are already cold at 11am, you have to make some sacrifices and buy socks at H&M). Even though it was hard to street contact when nobody really wants to be outside, we saw some really cool miracles!!

One of the cool things we saw this week was that we were able to find some really prepared people. When you talk to people on the street, you get a lot of "non, merci" "je suis pas croyante" "j'ai pas le temps" and "je suis pas interessé" On Friday we had a day completely open just for contacting and we had a hard time finding people who wanted to listen to us, until the end of the day. We contacted two people in the row who basically said, "Oui, ca m'interesse!" One of them was a really cool young woman named Fallone. We gave her a Book of Mormon and she promised us that she would come to church! 

We also had some really cool experiences with porting this week. The entire week Soeur Bowman and I have been feeling really strongly this week like we should go porting (go to a neighborhood or a batiment and go door-to-door trying to talk to people) but we weren't able to do it until Sunday afternoon when we had 2 cancelled rendez-vous. We knocked on several doors in the batiment where we were and ultimately were able to find 2 people to teach! We had really cool experiences teaching and testifying, and were able to add a name to the list of people to whom we have given Books of Mormon. 

So ultimately it was a really cool week! Thanks to everyone for your love and support and letters!! Have a great week!

Bisous, 

Soeur Rogers (and Soeur Bowman)

1-16-17

Hello!! I need to start finding more creative openings!!

Soeur Bowman and I have had an AWESOME week. I think I'm completely converted to the idea of having your companion a week early. We had a lot of time to get to know each other- our teaching style, our likes and dislikes, how we can effectively contact together, our common goals and intentions, etc. We've worked really hard this week, and had the chance to see some really amazing amis, some old and some new! 

This entire week has really felt like a preparatory week for the rest of the transfer, which is something most missionaries don't get. We made a lot of plans for the transfer last night, and we're really excited about them :) We both had the feeling like we should theme this transfer after the Book of Mormon. Mostly this is because of our Wednesday evening study of the Book of Mormon, which we're starting this week!! We're super excited to kick it off. We're inviting amis, members, less actives and recent converts to come study the Book of Mormon with us, focusing on chapters that testify of Christ. There's a list of such chapters in Preach My Gospel that we're going to use. We're also planning on using some of our companionship and language study time to study those chapters together in French. Our last goal with the Book of Mormon is that we're going to keep track of how many we give out this transfer. We were inspired by a Mormon Message called "A Book of Mormon Story". It's really well done, and I HIGHLY recommend you go check it out. At the end of that video, the narrator says, "Je veux que ce livre remplisse le monde!" or "I want this book to fill the world!" something along those lines. I only have the video in French, I'm sorry!! Anyway the title of our transfer is "Ain't got anything you NEED until you READ... The Book of Mormon: A Transfer"

We also met a really cool ami this week!! His name is Thierry, and we met him on Sunday night while contacting. He said, "Oh! I know who you are. I have your book!" And we said, "Do you really?" So we set up a time to come visit him. When we got around to his rdv on Friday, we came into his apartment, sat down, and he IMMEDIATELY started asking questions! We slowed down, started with a prayer, and had the most amazing lesson about the Restoration of my entire mission (you know, so far :)) He also came to church on Sunday and had a great time!! Highlights Reel version of our time with Thierry: 

1) He studied with the TJs for years and years before meeting with us and keeps talking about how Mormonism makes so much more sense, is so much clearer and less corrupt.

2) He decided that he needed to search for a new church because he didn't like the TJs... the night before he met us. Miracle?

3) We asked him "what is your relationship with God?" right at the beginning of our lesson. He says, "What is my relationship with God? Wow, I've never asked myself that question before. What is my relationship with God? Well I know that God sees me all the time, that He loves me, that He pardons my mistakes. Wow, that's a good question..." etc  

4) We explained the Book of Mormon and cited the scripture in the Bible "other sheep have I that are not of this fold" and explained that the other sheep were the people in the Americas. His eyes got all wide, he leaned WAYY back and he said "OOHHH!!! THAT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE!!! The Temoins have a completely different explanation that makes NO SENSE!!"

5) At the end of church last night we asked him how he liked Priesthood. He said, "They were studying out of a book (D&C), do you think I could get one?" 

I have been having a great week here in Mulhouse!! It's a super pretty city with really awesome members! I'm out of time for this email so I love you all and I hope you have a great week! 

Bisous, 

Soeur Rogers

Pictures are of our district (killing Elder Malloy and one drawn by Elder Taylor), my lovely comp, and pretty houses in Mulhouse that are all different colors!

1-9-17

Mulhouse Week 1

Bonjour toute la monde, and guten tag from Mulhouse!!

So you may have noticed that 5 weeks is not a normal amount of time for a transfer, and that I don't normally live anywhere close to Mulhouse. Let me tell you the story of this week:

So Monday night we were at the chapel, finishing our weekly emails, hanging out, when we suddenly get the news that both the sisters and the elders will be moving apartments on Wednesday!! We had requested to move to the Griffins' old apartment, and the elders wanted to take the vacated apartment, but it was really unclear if we would be able to do it for a long time. So on Monday night and Tuesday we spent several hours packing up our apartment in addition to all our normal missionary responsibilities, and then Wednesday was moving day! 

All the missionaries from our district came to help us move, and the elders from Vannes brought their car. It was a super fun day, if a little bit stressful. About 1pm I was standing in our new apartment surrounded by boxes and missionaries as we got ready to eat lunch... and the phone rings. President Babin is calling me. Soooo my adrenaline took a little spike and I answered the phone. He explained to me that Soeur Grace is sick and is going back home, so I'm getting emergency transferred, and can I take the train on Saturday morning? Well, what else can you say? "Oui, bien sûr, Président"

The next several days were SUPER crazy. The other soeurs were gone for 2 days on exchanges and then to Paris for legality, and we were in Rennes with an apartment that looked like a tornado went through it, an adorable mini-missionary (Nolwenn Basset from our ward), a half-packed missionary (me) who still wanted to write in everyone's soeur book, and several appointments for the next 2 days, including a service project, DMP (meeting with our ward mission leader), ward council, and several amis to see. Needless to say, it was a very tired missionary who left her apartment on Saturday morning and took a train (alone!!) to Paris.

SOO as of about 48 hours I have a new companion!! Everyone get excited to hear stories about SOEUR BOWMAN!! She's been in Mulhouse for almost 6 months now and has asked President if she can stay for a 5th transfer so I can meet all our amis. She is a history buff from Colorado with a big heart and a love for experimenting in the kitchen. She is in love with Mulhouse- the members, the amis, and the missionaries. We already get along really well and I'm super excited to serve with her for the next 7 weeks!!

So there it is, the story of a soeur serving in Bretagne who got transferred to Alsace. You can get to Germany/Switzerland in about a 30 min train ride, and this part of France is not really like the rest of France. Sigh. Maybe one day I'll serve in France. Until then, here's some fun facts about Alsace!!

1. People here bise left cheek to right cheek instead of right cheek to left cheek

2. It snows here frequently (a nice change- I thought I wouldn't get a real winter!)

3. There are several regional Alsace specialties that don't have anything to do with butter

4. You can buy spaetzle in the grocery store

5. I don't have many more. I've only been here 2 days, give me a break!!

This email was not very spiritual. Whatever. I'm really excited to be able to meet the members and amis here in Mulhouse. I've met several already and they seem really cool. We had an amazing member present lesson with one of our amis named Joel where we basically just explained why we used the Book of Mormon with the Bible, and how it helps to complete the Bible. The Spirit was really strong afterwards, and the ami committed to begin reading the Book of Mormon!! That lesson really helped to confirm my testimony of the Book of Mormon. I know that it's a powerful book that really contains the word of God. It can help us to understand what God wants for us in this life, and how we can become better every day. I wouldn't presume to give you a New Years resolution, but I know that daily time in the Book of Mormon gives me spiritual power for the rest of the day. 

Thanks everyone for your love and support!! Have a great week!!

Bisous, 

Soeur Rogers

And photos!!

1. Melanie, a super cool JA in Rennes

2. Saying goodbye to Jacqueline 

3. It snows in Mulhouse!

4. Museum in the center of town
5. Soeur Bowman! (after-hours)

1-2-17

Hello everyone!! Guess what happened this week! No, go on, guess. What, you don't know? Okay, I'll tell you. IT SNOWED!!! All during studies and into the afternoon, it snowed. Not only did it snow, but it didn't melt afterwards! Instead the little bits of snow on the trees, bushes, grass, cobwebs, etc. frosted over and turned all of Rennes into a winter wonderland for about 2 days!! It was SO beautiful, and although everyone else complained about the cold, it felt so much more normal for me. 

In spite of the fact that this week was REALLY frustrating for missionary work, with everyone on the street home for the holidays and everyone home not really interested in meeting with the missionaries. Every rendez-vous we had this week felt like a special gift, especially the time we spent with Jacqueline this week. We are seeing some amazing progress with her! She has been feeling the Spirit so strongly as we meet with her and as she prays and studies on her own. She is committed to her baptismal date of Jan 14, which is the Saturday before I leave Rennes! I'm so excited for her!!

We also had the most AMAZING lesson with our ami Jackie on New Years Eve. We contacted Jackie last week and talked with her a lot about the Plan of Salvation and what happens after we die, because her dad died when she was young and she has the feeling like he watches over her still. She came to the chapel and we discussed the entire Plan of Salvation, with her posing incredibly thoughtful questions the entire time! She wanted to know if it was possible to do everything right on earth without God's help, if people who are disabled were especially good or especially bad before this life, if the people who are in the Spirit World remember our pre-mortal life and if they can communicate with us. Everything seemed to natural to her and made so much sense to her, and at the end she said, "So it seems like the entire purpose is so that we can become like God." We said... yup, pretty much, that about sums it up. It was the most incredible testimony to me that we knew the Plan of Salvation before we came to earth, and that when we learn it again on the earth, it seems familiar to us because it really is. We gave Jackie a Book of Mormon, and she was really excited to read it!

One of the things that I learned this week was how important it is to keep working all the way to the last minute and beyond. During exchanges this week, Soeur Spencer and I got out of a rendez-vous and walked home with about 20 mins to spare before dinner. Rather than going inside early to get out of the cold, seeing as there was PERSONNE out on the street, we decided to keep going, and to use those last 20 minutes to maybe knock on some doors. We found a residential street and said a prayer, and then decided to walk a little further down the street. We then contacted the only person we saw- a younger, white guy getting out of his car and going home. Without super high expectations, we stopped him and started talking. It took him a moment to warm up, but ultimately he was touched by the Spirit, and we even got his number!

Soeur Piazza and I ran into a similar situation a couple days later. Thursday night after the baptism of an 8 year old boy in our ward, the family was all together to celebrate and invited the missionaries to join. We didn't have anything planned, but our ami (who was sick with a cold) wanted us to come visit her. It was cold outside, we didn't want to get sick again, and the members really wanted us to stay and eat pizza. Right now the choice to go out seems obvious, but in the moment it was one of the hardest choices I've had to make on my mission. But when we finally went out, we were an hour and a half late to visit out ami because we got impression after impression to talk to that girl, to talk to the bus driver, to help that lady carry her things home, etc. We finished the evening with a POWERFUL lesson on the doctrine of Christ and felt happier and more successful than we had all week. 

So because I'm a missionary, I'm going to leave you with a challenge: Dare to do what's right and to act on promptings of the Spirit, even and especially when it's hard. It's a simple New Years resolution, but I know that it's something that will bring you lasting happiness. Thanks to all of you for your love and support. I'll be home in a year! The end of my mission seems so close now, I can't afford to waste a single second!! À bientôt!

Bisous, 

Soeur Rogers

PICTURES!!

. IT SNOWED!!

We went to a New Years Eve party with 3 young married couples, and they played a mean trick on Soeur Piazza- put her arms in Pringles cans so she can't bend them, and thus can't take the Pringles cans off her arms ;)

6. Adorable mugs!!

12-26-16

Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas! I hope you all had a great week, because we sure did! 

This week Soeur Piazza and I spent hours eating and chatting with members in true French fashion- meaning EVERYTHING took a really long time. One thing I've learned about French people this week with mangez-vous upon mangez-vous, is that it is indeed possible and in fact normal to have a meal that lasts 2 1/2 hours or more, including AT LEAST 3 or 4 courses, and to fill all the time in between with light conversation about everything and everything. Adults love it, kids expect it, and missionaries (including me) get astonished every time they look at their watch and see that an hour and a half has flown by! We sampled some awesome French food this week, including raclette, foie gras with little toast rounds, salmon, and tons of French pastries and chocolates! I don't know what I'm going to do with myself when I get back to the States!

With 7 long holiday season meals with members, and everyone else shut up at home for the holidays, we didn't have a lot of progress in our missionary work this week, but that doesn't mean we didn't see any Christmas miracles! While coming back to our apartment on Wednesday afternoon, we contacted a SUPER cool African couple, David and Deborah. We talked to them a little bit about who we are, shared the Christmas video with them, and asked them if we could leave them with a prayer. We joined hands in a circle for the prayer (SO much fun to do when contacting Africans) and were about 2 seconds away from starting when a CRAZY Muslim guy jumped in the middle of our circle and starting spouting nonsense! He told Deborah she was pregnant (she's not) or at least will be soon (no) but no he's sure it's coming, but now YOU, David, your grandfather is still alive (no he's dead) but somebody old who you love, surely, they are still alive (no sorry there are no old people in my home) and YOU PIAZZA someone in your family is dead! He then grabbed David's hand, muttered something in Arabic, spat on the ground, and said "You're healed!" So ultimately we said "OKAY we'd like to say a prayer now, goodbye!" and he finally left. 

We prayed with them and there was the sweetest, most wonderful feeling of the Spirit, and I'm sure they felt it. We asked them if we could meet with them again, and David said "Not today, but if we see each other again, I'll take it as a sign from God and you can come eat dinner at my house" Sooo we took it as a maybe and parted ways. I'm sure you can see where this is going. Friday morning we walk into Republique, not a care in the world, and who do we see walking towards us? David and Deborah, with big sheepish smiles on their faces! We exchanged numbers and promised to call so we can pass by for dinner this coming week! MERCI PÈRE CÉLESTE!

In all, we had a super awesome Christmas week in France. In following with the Rogers family tradition, I got my Christmas package late. At least for me it was only 1 day late, and not 2 months! I loved spending Christmas day at church, with members and skyping with my family. The French have got it figured out- Christmas day is a day to take it slow and to spend time with your family. I'm so grateful for the opportunity I had to spend Christmastime in this beautiful country with the members I have grown to love, to sing Christmas carols in French and to testify of my Savior over and over again. I love being a missionary! Have a great week!

Bisous,

Soeur Rogers 

PS Christmastime is a great time to write missionaries and send them pictures :)

12-19-2016

Hello all!

I must warn you all that je suis menacé par la grippe (I am threatened by a cold aka I'm getting sick), so this will not be the most creative pre-Christmas letter. However, that doesn't mean that we haven't been having some amazing Christmastime miracles!

We have the most amazing amie named Coco. It's hard to believe that we met her only this week, but it's true! We had a lesson with our amie Awa and immediately afterwards she got a phone call from her step-sister Coco, who was on her way to go visit her but got lost. A pardonnable offense- it's really confusing to find Awa's apartment. Anyway Awa went to go find her before we got to really finish the lesson so we just awkwardly sat in her apartment waiting for her to come back and wondering what we're supposed to do. Awa comes back in her with Coco and immediately dismisses our claims that we have to go home and eat lunch because she's going to make lunch for us. So while Awa is making lunch, we are having an amazingly powerful lesson with Coco and ultimately shared the Restoration with her. The Spirit was so strong and she was so excited, she told us we could come visit her the next day!

So the next day we go to visit Coco. In true Elder Uchtdorf fashion, she lives on the 8th floor, last door of her building ;) We came in with the intention of simply re-teaching the Restoration to make sure she really understood it, and ultimately stayed 2 hours just answering her questions about the priesthood, preisthood keys, the organization of the church, the gift of the Holy Ghost, modern-day prophets, everything! Coco was so excited to read the Book of Mormon and find out for herself that it's true! We left that lesson so full of the Spirit, it was amazing! Something amazing must have happened between that powerful lesson and Saturday night, because she sent us a text asking us if she can be baptized! So we are anxiously awaiting our rendez-vous with her on Friday.

Coco is not the only prepared person we met this week. We also met an amazing woman named Esther who lives really far out in the country. Buses to go out to her house come about once every 30 mins, so when we missed our bus we showed up really late to the first rdv! We felt so bad about being late, but when we got there we were checking the mailbox to make sure it was the right house and they pulled up! They apologized for having forgotten we were coming, and we silently thanked God for having made everything work out just right. We only had 10 minutes before we had to go back to Rennes, but we managed to have a wonderful 10 minute lesson and feel the Spirit really strongly, and then come back the next morning. She was also really touched by the Spirit, and has already begun reading the Book of Mormon!

We are really getting into the Christmas spirit here in France! It is so fun to be able to celebrate this beautiful holiday in this beautiful country. I love being in the center of Rennes because there are beautiful Christmas lights over and around all the streets. It's been really foggy and a nasty, wet kind of chilly outside for the last couple of days, but every time we are able to share a little bit of Christmas cheer with the people around us through the Christmas video (mormon.org) we can see people light up inside. I hope you all have an amazing Christmas! Take advantage of this special time of year we have, and the opportunity we have to draw closer to and to serve our families, loved ones, and even complete strangers. Joyeux Noël!

Bisous, 

Soeur Rogers 

Pictures!

1. Miracle contact! Suzy lives in St. Brieuc and has been searching for a Christian church for several years. She was so happy that we contacted her and went to church the next day!

2 and 3. The crazy fog that we had for 2 days straight!

4. Me and our recent convert Joy

5. Elder Rivas' last mangez-vous. He left Rennes today and heads back home to Belgium in a couple days. I am now officially the oldest missionary in Rennes!

6. We're not allowed to go to the Marche de Noël :(

12-12-2016

Hellloooo boys and girls!

I would like to introduce you to my wonderful new companion- Soeur Piazza! She is from Lyon so she has an impeccable French accent (she worked on it a lot) but she also speaks really good English! It makes it easier when we want to communicate in English in the apartment with all 4 soeurs. She is really good at beatboxing (which is a little sad that I can't rap) and it generally super cool. She is also amazing at teaching and making friends with everyone, including people we meet in the elevator, people at the grocery story, and African men sitting around drinking beer. We'll get back to that story in a minute.

Funny moment: Soeur Piazza loves making phone calls. I'm not even being sarcastic, she really enjoys it. She says it's because people are funny, which is very true. We called a guy we met named Albert to try to have a rendez-vous, and he thought I was the pastor of the church and Soeur Piazza was all like umm no we are just the missionaries :) 

So last week we contacted a cool lady on the metro. Her name is Awa, and we had a rdv with her! And it was so awesome! She feels the Spirit so easily and so strongly. Her family is Muslim, but she told us that she wants to follow Jesus Christ. And then she came to church and arrived late, but she loved it so much! She said she's coming back next week with her son for the Christmas program!

Ok so back to the story, on Sunday night we went to go see our ami Neyda. We walked into the apartment and there were 5 African men (from Congo Kinshasa of course) just sitting around drinking beer and having a grand old time. Soeur Piazza walked right into the middle of the room and started shaking hands with everyone, complimenting this one on his beard, talking with that one about how we're missionaries and wow that's so cool that you're Muslim! So I just sort of followed her in and tried to do the same thing, and very quickly had to explain to a guy why we don't bise men (touching cheeks and making a kissing sound). We then found out that his brother is a Mormon (he thinks he's a bishop) back in Congo! So we finished this lovely encounter and then went into the kitchen, where we proceeded to have a SUPER powerful lesson with Neyda about the Restoration. We did a soft invite to baptism and Neyda said yes! So then just as we finished Neyda's sister and "Pastor Serge" (as he introduced himself) walked in the door. We talked with them and introduced ourselves for juat a couple minutes and then gave both of them a Book of Mormon on the way out the door! We got back down to the lobby and were talking about the lesson, how we felt the Spirit so strongly during the lesson etc. and were about to say a gratitude prayer when Pastor Serge walked into the lobby! So we invited him to join in our gratitude prayer and reminded him again to read the Book of Mormon (he was still holding it in his hand!) as he walked out the door! SUPER cool experience! I'm so glad to have Soeur Piazza as my companion. She has NO FEAR and makes friends with everyone so easily and so quickly! I have a lot to learn from her, and it's not just French.

Wow, this email is a little bit partout! But that's okay. We are so excited for Christmas here in Rennes. If you haven't seen the new Christmas video, I don't know what you're doing with your life, but you need to drop everything and go watch it. Mormon.org. Go. Anyway, we've been doing a lot of contacting with the Christmas video recently. It never gets old. Every time I watch it with some random person we met on the street, I feel the Spirit so strongly. I'm so happy that I get to be in France for the beautiful Christmas season, spending my time serving others and following the example of Christ all day long. I love you all and hope you are enjoying the holiday season! And remember, I love getting Christmas cards, Christmas packages, anything! I still live in Rennes!

P.S.
We contacted a lady on the street the other day. Really scary looking- 10 piercings on her face, super tall, shaved head, wearing a corset and really interesting clothes. Natually Sœur Piazza decides to talk to her. She told us that she believes in elves and fairies because she's seen them, and that we could find them in the magic forest outside of Rennes. She also told us that she was a unicorn, but it wasn't her choice, that's just the way God made her. We gave her a card that said mormon.org on it and she was all like "wait you're the Mormons? Okay, I have some questions to ask you, I'm going to call you" So we are anxiously awaiting her call. Dang I love being a missionary :)

Soeur Rogers 

Les Soeurs Missionaries 

2 Rue Moliére 

Rennes France 

Love you all! Have a great week! Bisous!

Sœur Rogers