Why Faith is Acting

Well, my dearly beloved folks, I don't have that much time to email this week.

Run down of our week...

We visited two hospitals and a rest home to find some service opportunities, we have an appointment with the rest home this week to see what we could offer and do. I'm excited for that!!
We had two appointments with investigators, which actually turned out really well. We dropped by on a less active man and his non-member family, and that was fun. Next step is getting them to Church! We had some really good member appointment, we visited a refugee camp and we witnessed a car accident.

 

Now on to the good stuff/my favorite part...

 

THE GOSPEL

 

This week was hard. Yup. I'll be honest with you. Brain squishing, gut wrenching, disappointment heavy hard. You know that scripture "lose your life and you shall find it?" well...this week was the "I lost it" part of that scripture. Have you ever had those days, or weeks, or months? That's ok. It's part of the condition of mortality. I am IN LOVE with mortality and the difficulty of the journey. Now before you think I'm crazy, just know that I'm a missionary, and I'm supposed be this way. Ha

No really. There is a reason for these seasons of pain. And they too shall pass.

 

I love this quote from The Fourth Missionary

 

 

"

To believe that weaknesses and deficiencies in your character are unchangeable is to reject the central truth of the plan of salvation. You are not cast in stone. You not only can change but you do change all of the time. You are a dynamic, changing, evolving being. You are always changing. You never stay the same. You cannot stand still.
You are right now the sum total of what you have thought, said, seen, heard and done. What you think, say, do, hear and see, cause you to change; to change for good or evil; to become either stronger or weaker...
 Redemptive change happens by the power of the Holy Ghost. But it happens only if and when your heart is right. It happens only if you do not fight against God. It happens only if you unconditionally surrender your will to the Lord.
"

This is why I love mortality. This is why I am grateful for the hard parts. We get to grow, we get to see, we get to become. We get to be happy. How lucky are we?

Also, I had a breakup the other day.

On my mission.

I've broken up with baptism.

Yup

Actually, I've broken up with the expectations that follow missionaries around like a smelly dog, or stick to the bottoms of our spiritual and emotional shoes like abc gum.

To have faith is to act as though what you are doing and what you have done is enough. I don't mean the cocky enough, I mean, we put all we've got into trying, and we know that through Christ's grace, it will do the job.

We will always be enough, as long as we act. We have not failed until we have stopped trying. And with God, there is no try. There is only fulfillment.

I loved what Sister Megli said this week. Like Peter stepping out onto the waves to walk to Christ, we need to take that step of faith and get out of the blasted boat. If you feel lost, that's ok. I do too. But hey, at least we are riding the waves.

Ha

Sorry.

 

I love you all!

 

Sister Roderer

Being Superman

So. This week was awesome.

 

We were sitting in our apartment, about to cook some lunch when a member calls us and asks if we are on our way over. We were a little shocked, because in our planners we had this appointment scheduled for the next day. Turns out that was not the case, so we throw all of our things in a bag, take the peppers and zucchini Sister Megli had been frying off of the stove, and we make a run for the Bahn. Well, we get on the wrong Bahn, then aussteig then start running for another Bahn. We are crossing an intersection, and then we see the Elders walking on the other side towards us. So I am looking at them, and don't see the curb come up and jump out in front of me, so I trip.

Now, when I trip, I jump, because I have figured out that if I get a little bit more air, I have more time to catch my balance on the way down.

So I trip,

And jump,

And catch like two feet of air.

In a split second

I was pretty much parallel with the German concrete,

Flailing my arms

I was more embarrassed about tripping than I was worried about finding the ground. Go figure.

Then my guardian angels in a superhuman effort help me land

Right side up,

on my feet.

 

 

And then I promptly walk into the street and almost get hit by a car.

 

Looking back on the experience, I realized that that is the closest I'll ever come to being Superman. Haha so that's been my theme for the week.

 

 

So, this week Sister Megli and I saw lots of miracles, and spoke with some amazing people, and found some people potentially interested in learning about the gospel. And then we called the Elders to tell them the good news and the one set told us they had just set a baptismal date, and the other set explained that they had seven new appointments with new investigators. All of a sudden what we had done seemed small and insignificant.
Not superhero status.
In the back of my mind, I knew that it was ok, and the fact that we were working hard and talking to people and setting goals and relying on the Lord to achieve them, and we were not only achieving, but doubling our goals, that THAT was what was amazing.
But not seeing the big results has always been my kryptonite. I wanted to save the world, not rescue cats from trees!
It made me grouchy and I wondered why to we have to keep readjusting our expectations. For example:
"Oh, he didn't get an answer to his prayer...I guess he needs to learn patience."
"Oh, they weren't healed...I guess they were needed in heaven."
"Oh, they didn't receive the peace they were looking for today...I guess they need to learn deeper faith."
"Oh, all of their appointments fell out...I guess those missionaries just need to keep holding on."
At some points in my life, I get tired of it. I just want all these people (including myself) to get the answers and peace they were praying for. As I thought this the other day and asked "why?" immediately came the thought
"well, it has to do with priorities, My child. Do you really want the answer or peace that you're praying for?
"Do you think I want to just throw a response out, and give you what you're looking for while you are yet blind?
"or do you think I want to actually heal you, to really take your burdens from you, and give you the peace that will go deeper than calming your fears, but that will actually build your faith?"
"I am not a healer of symptoms. I do not focus simply on the effects of sin or pain, I operate on the source of the infection. I am God, and My children mean the world to me. Come unto Me, and I will not only comfort your heart, but I will sanctify it. I will not only relieve your trauma, I will fulfill your soul. I will not only grant you hope, I will raise you up to everlasting life. And my child, that takes time. Walk with Me, and I will grant you rest. 'Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.' "

Like the apostles and the storm and the boat. They were terrified. It was overwhelming and wet, and stormy, and hard to see, and all of those adventuresome things that make one want to crawl back under the covers and stay there. But we can face the storm, because Jesus is the Christ, and He will calm the tempest. Even if the tempest is in this little heart of mine.
Christ is the real superhero.
Well, may the force of Heaven be with you, and odds are, with Christ on your side, things will turn out in your favor.
I'm going to go save me some cats. Viellei-n-cht (pronounced feline-cht) today will be the day when we will all truly see with deeper clarity the wonders of our gracious God.

Mannheim

 

 Hallo All,

I am here in Mannheim, and I love it so far! It is very different from Wiesbaden. It actually looks more like a German version of Manhattan.

 My companion is the fabulous Sister Megli.

She is from Sandy Utah, and is simply lovely. She has about five more months of her mission left,  she is an artist and super super sweet. I am really excited for the time we'll get to serve together.

This week was the first time that I have gotten to experience Chalking.  Chalking is when you go to a public area, like the shopping strip or main plaza, and you draw the Plan of Salvation or something in chalk on the ground. So there are usually a couple missionaries chalking, and the rest talking to people asking

"Have you ever heard of The Plan of Salvation?" or something like that.

People stop to stare and are always super curious as to why a bunch of well-dressed young folks are drawing in chalk.

I got to have some really fascinating conversations with people. My favorite was this young girl who was visiting from a different country who spoke only broken English. We gave her a Book of Mormon in her language, and she took a selfie with me.

I also was talking to this guy who was waiting for his Bahn. I quickly walked him through the chalk drawing of the plan, and asked if he wanted to learn more. He said yes, and I asked for his contact info. He gave it to me as his Bahn pulled up. He then ran across the street and just as he got up to the doors, they shut, and the Bahn pulled away. I felt soooo bad.

"Hey, ya there....haha sorry I made you miss your train, but I'll be keeping you from missing the eternal train...."

His number didn't work, somehow I am not surprised. Just kidding. Haha

There is one phrase in my Book of Mormon reading that really stood out to me. It's at the beginning of the book of Helaman, right at the end of all of the war chapters (which, reading, for this missionary, was like watching the next Avengers movie...

(almost...)) .

It's just a simple, seven word sentence.

"...and [they] gave unto them battle..."

It's like the Book or Mormon way of saying

"you hungry? Good, 'cause I'm about to give you a knuckle sandwich!"

But I think it has some real, daily applications as well. This was proactive, offensive, deliberate battle. There was no

"You shoot first!" mentality. That was long in the past. The peeps in Zarahemla had done themselves in with disobedience, and they were being slaughtered.

I think temptation or weakness or complacency can be like this too.

It comes in by the back door, when we least expect it, like a thief in the night, or justification in the nfheurhfhfjend day time.

Sometimes I think we just kinda coast along until we run into something, and then we change course.

Folks,

AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR DAT

You want to lose out on

happiness,

freedom,

accelerated progression,

dreams achieved,

success,

love,

peace?

I sure don't.

So what do you do when life's got you down?

Just keep swimming

a.k.a. beat the ehdhdhddjejd out of the things that scare you.

Be proactive. Fight for the right to hold close the things that inspire you.

God provides, God inspires, God instructs, God redeems, God supports, God is your loving Father, who wants nothing more than your eternal and current happiness and satisfaction.

That's worth fighting for.

So what do we do?

Simple.

Be obedient.

Ask God for His direction in your life.

Read in the Book of Mormon everyday.

Look, search, dig, and discover the good in everyone around you.

Give up that awesome TV show to go visit or call someone who is lonely. (It's worth it, I promise. I've been there, done that, and it is more than worth it).

Write a missionary........................

"...repent, and cry unto [God], even until ye shall have faith in Christ..."

And never, ever give up.

Alma 56

47 Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.

56 But behold, to my great joy, there had not one soul of them fallen to the earth; yea, and they had fought as if with the strength of God; yea, never were men known to have fought with such miraculous strength; and with such mighty power did they fall upon the Lamanites, that they did frighten them; and for this cause did the Lamanites deliver themselves up as prisoners of war.

Yeah, whatever, Sister Roderer, this was OBVIOUSLY beginner's luck.

HA

Nope.

This is the product of faith. This is the product of acting on truth!

This is the promise given to each of us. This is the power we hold in our covenants, in our obedience, in our daily, consistent sacrifices.

This is what it means to believe in a just and merciful God, who is filled with grace and truth, and whose glory and goodness defy description.

So go, go grow up.

Go be free,

And fly,

Fly, my pretties!!

All my love,

Sister Roderer

All Grown Up

Well folks, the lots are in, the jury's voted, and die is cast.
My pre-trained Golden is all grown up and TAKING OVER WIESBADEN.

That's right. I've been transferred.

That came as a shock. But here I go, down the rabbit hole of packing, stress, and good-byes that come with leaving bits and pieces of my heart strewn all over the streets of Wiesbaden, like the litter of yesterday's lunch left on the ground to be vacuumed up the next morning by the weird three-wheeled street sweepers.

Anywho.

I am headed to Mahnheim!

                                                           L-R  Me, Simon, Elder Melanson, Danyal, Elder Christensen                                                      Three leaving missionaries, one recently returned missionary, and one future missionary