September!!!

Buen dia!

Man, it has been a hard week, but such a good one! We'll start with Tuesday. I was on exchanges with Elder Britton, our District Leader's companion. Our car was having some problems with the transmission, so we took it in to the dealership at 8:00am. The dealership is a ways away from our apartment, so we did our studies under an overpass, next to a stream . I didn't get to study too much because of a Zone Leader conference call, but it was still good. Elder Britton and I walked along the street northward from there and ran into a couple of cool people. We stopped and talked to a girl at the bus stop with headphones in. You'd think it would be hard to talk to someone while they're listening to music, but they pretty much usually just take the headphones out to talk. We set up an appointment with her to teach her about the gospel! (The appointment fell through, but hopefully we'll get another one set up-- we have her number.) We also ran into a man named Robert who told us he had recently gotten out of jail, and his uncle in Utah told him to stop the missionaries and talk to them! So he did! We set up an appointment for him to meet with the family ward missionaries. He seemed to have a lot of sincere desire, and told us he wanted to get into the faith.

Later that day, on our way to dinner (By the way, apples grow on trees like lemons here! We ate a few while we were walking), Bruce, an investigator of ours, called us and asked us to meet him at the library. We met him after dinner and had a good lesson. We taught him on Thursday as well, but he didn't show up to our Saturday appointment. It can be pretty discouraging, because he can be so flaky. But we're working with him!

We went to the Family History Center with one of our recent converts, Cali. We found some of her grandparents on her father's side, and printed off the names of three generations (six names) on her mother's side for her to take to the temple!! That will be so great for her! We're excited to do some more work with Shay and Ashleigh also, so they can get some names of their own to do work for.

Man, oh man we've had a lot of appointments fall through! It's been frustrating, but we actually saw a miracle from one appointment falling through. We went to go see an investigator named Alex, and showed up about 15 minutes early (because our prior appointment with Amy had fallen through...). He wasn't there, but we decided to give him a little time to show up, since we were so early. Elder Mecham suggested that we walk around and talk to people on the street. I told him we could walk and I'd show him where we met Alex (just a little ways down the street). We walked there, and as I was explaining our first visit with Alex, a girl in her early twenties walked across the street quickly, obviously on her way to something. We stopped her, and introduced ourselves. She told us her name was Michelle. Elder Mecham gave her a card with our number on it, and we told her to call us. She said she would, then she was on her way. We went back to Alex's house, on time now, and he still wasn't there. So we took off towards our place to finish up some weekly planning. On the way, we saw Michelle walking on the side of the main road, and I pointed her out. Then we watched her wallet fall right out of her pocket and onto the ground without her noticing! We pulled to car over, got out, and were greeted by Michelle's "You guys are fast!" Then we told her about her wallet, and she thanked us. We reminded her to call or text us, and then got back into the car. Later that day, she texted us!! I don't know if you're aware, but that almost NEVER happens! I think it was because we were able to meet her twice in one day and to give her some service by returning her to her lost wallet. We're working now to set something up to teach her the gospel, because she seemed pretty willing to learn. What a miracle! We never would have met Michelle if our appointment hadn't fallen through!

Elder Mecham and I have been talking a lot about the zone, and what we can do to lift it. A lot of the missionaries here are in a rut, and they just think their area isn't good. We looked through the history of the zone and determined that they are wrong! The missionary defines the area, not the other way around! When missionaries have great attitudes, their areas thrive! We talked about a lot of things that missionaries can do with their own agency, regardless of how others react to the message of the gospel. We made a bunch of silly plans, and have been implementing them ourselves. We wake up by stretching, work out six days a week, eat right, smile at ourselves in the mirror in the morning, and sing happy hymns throughout the day. We also have a thing called "smile check," where we simply say, "smile check" with a smile if we see our companion looking down. It's been good so far, and our spirits are definitely lifted! We're going to teach these and other things to the zone in hopes that it will lift them and their areas as well!

The greatest joy is knowing the gospel is true! I know it, I live it, I love it!! Keep on keepin' on, and make it a GREAT week! Love you!

Sincerely,

Elder Rogers

A Thought from Mom:

" I am determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances."

~Martha Washington