The First Week of a New Transfer

Hello!

 

We had a great lesson with Teodoro this Wednesday! He came over to the Branch President's house for dinner and a lesson. We talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Lesson 3). I think it really helped him to understand the importance of baptism and of the Holy Ghost. When Elder Smith asked him if he was excited about his baptism, he said, "It's getting there." It was a good lesson, overall! He connected pretty well with Presidente Osorio, even though he (Teodoro) is a pretty reserved guy. We told him about the importance of coming to church, but alas, he did not come. That was a bummer. Hopefully he'll keep progressing!

We had a couple of good first lessons with some new families. The mission standard was just raised from 4 to 5 new investigators each week, and we hit it! We didn't even find out until Saturday morning that the standard had changed, so I'm really glad to have hit it. The mission is definitely lifting. It's a completely different mission than when I got here!

One magnificent blessing I have received from the Lord is the gift of tongues! I've been able to speak much more quickly now than I used to, and I realized it's because I don't have to translate nearly as many of my thoughts from English to Spanish. Most of the time I can just think and speak in Spanish. Another indicator of improvement is that everyone understands me (most of the time). People used to say, "Como?" or "Mande?" a lot, either because what I said didn't make sense, or they couldn't understand my pronunciation. Now people respond without obstruction or delay! As far as the interpretation of tongues, that's been improving a lot as well. If a gringo is speaking Spanish, I can pretty much understand perfectly. It's still iffy when a native goes off on a rant, but I can understand them when their sentences are relatively short, MUCH more than I used to! Of course there are still words I don't know, conjugations I mess up, and so on, but there's been noticeable improvement. Blessings from the Lord!

It's been getting colder, and there was a nice little blizzard on Sunday! Elder Smith's first snowfall! It all melted. But there will be more!

On Saturday we had our Branch Thanksgiving Festival, or as our branch mission leader calls it, "Festibal de Thansgeeveen." He's a gringo; he's just trying to be funny. It was great! We (Elder Smith, the Sisters and I) prepared a limbo game.

Let's Limbo!

 

 

We had lots of delicious non-Mexican Thanksgiving food, and then played games. We threw darts at balloons, played stick pull, and the greatest hit: shooting a turkey pinata with a bow and arrow! It was lots of fun. Unfortunately, none of our investigators came, even though we invited them all. But there were a couple of less-active members there and Alejandro and Chelsey came! It was a good time.

We are focusing a lot on... well... missionary work! I was going to specify all of the things we're focusing on, but then I realized it can be summed up as missionary work. We're just getting another push to keep up with the Lord in this hastening of the work! There's a huge Christmas season initiative from the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve called "He is the Gift." We'll be focusing most of our finding efforts and our work with members on utilizing this new initiative. It's going to be huge!

I'm grateful for the gospel. I'm grateful for the scriptures. I'm grateful for my jacket and earmuffs, my car and apartment, my branch and my fellow missionaries. I'm grateful for all of you, and I'm grateful for this opportunity to serve a mission! I love you all! Count your blessings! There are a lot of them, I promise. Remember that Heavenly Father loves you! That's something to be grateful for! Happy Thanksgiving!

Sincerely,
Elder Rogers

Baptism by Fire

Howdy!

Well this week has just been nifty! We've had a lot of good opportunities to teach, preach, and baptize.

We started off the week by teaching Teadoro, an 18-year-old investigator. We had already taught him about the Plan of Salvation, so we taught him the Restoration on Monday night at the church. It went really well. He understood the message, and had questions. At the end of the lesson, he asked Heavenly Father in prayer if our message is true. I know if he reads the Book of Mormon and continues to pray, he will receive an answer. Later in the week, we had him over to our Branch Mission Leader's house for another lesson. We taught him about the importance of baptism for the remission of sins, and he decided to be baptized on December 20th, provided he has received an answer to his prayers by that time. As I said before, I know he will.

We've had a lot of experiences with finding and teaching lately that have given me desires like the sons of Mosiah in Alma 17:9,  "that [I] might be an instrument in the hands of God to bring, if it [is] possible, [my] brethren, the Lamanites, to the knowledge of the truth, to the knowledge of the baseness of the traditions of their fathers, which [are] not correct." We have been teaching a lot of Lamanites here in Montrose, and for the most part they are stuck on the traditions of their fathers. It takes a lot of work and a lot of the Spirit to peel back the scales from their eyes sometimes! But we continue to teach and preach and work as missionaries do! The Lord will provide.

And oh boy, we got to teach Chelsey and Alejandro again! Alejandro was happy as a clam and very outgoing and involved in the lesson, which is a change for him! We taught them the message of the Restoration again as the first new-member lesson. They loved it. I love to teach people who have opened their minds to understanding, and their hearts to receiving the Spirit. Speaking of receiving the Spirit! This Sunday was Alejandro's confirmation. He asked me to perform it! It was the first time I've performed an ordinance in Spanish. I think it went pretty well! After sacrament meeting, while we were talking to Alejandro, he rubbed his chest with an open palm, got a smile on his face and said, "Siento bien." (I feel good.) How simple and beautiful! We turn to all kinds of scriptures and experiences to try to explain to people what the Spirit feels like, and he summed it up in two words. Baptism by fire.

I also had the chance that day to translate for the speakers in Sacrament meeting! It was my first time since Grand Junction, and luckily no one was speaking Navajo this time. There are a few members of the branch who are there by assignment, and don't speak any Spanish, and there was also a high counselor giving a talk in English; so I got to translate into both languages! The first talk was given in Spanish, and I spoke the real-time English translation into a headset. There was a point in the talk when the speaker used several words I didn't know, and I got really lost. I sat in silence for a minute, and then said into the headset, "I apologize, but I have no idea what he's saying." Then a minute later he changed subjects and I was able to pick it back up. Translating into Spanish went pretty well because I had a copy of the talk in English in front of me. I could tell the high counselor was speaking really slowly for my sake, and I still had to condense and skip a lot of his talk. I hope the Spirit carried the meaning to the people's hearts!

Despite translation difficulties, I feel like my Spanish is improving! I'm able to carry on a conversation pretty fluently (depending on who it's with), but translating is just a different ballgame. Lots of fun going on here! Oh! and a p.s. before the close (I jsut like to be different). Transfers are tomorrow, but nothing's changing with us, except that one of the Sisters in our branch is getting transferred.

The Church is true, and I love you all! It's getting mighty cold here as well. But we'll keep working! Much love and wishes for prosperity and happiness!

Sincerely,

Elder Rogers

Montrose District

Alejandro!

Hello, hello!

Let me tell you about David y Gabriela. They have five kids between the ages of new and nine, and they're a great family. We taught them the first half of the first lesson a little while ago, and this week we had the chance to go back and finish it. It was great! We explained the great apostasy and the Restoration through the Prophet Joseph Smith, and they loved it! After we explained the Book of Mormon, Gabriela asked "Do you have it in a version for kids?" We downloaded the Gospel Library app to her tablet and showed her the "Book of Mormon Stories" with pictures for kids. Later that same week, we went back to follow up with them. The kids LOVE the Book of Mormon! They said they had read the first five chapters of the children's book. Gabriela explained that she wouldn't let them read any further until we all had a chance to get together and talk about what they'd read, so they wouldn't forget it. Awesome! In that same visit we gave a blessing to David for his injured knee. Afterwards, Gabriela said, "I know that we're meeting for our family to learn the gospel together, but I hope it's okay that I invited our neighbor to come and listen to you guys too..." We assured her that it was very okay! Yesterday we stopped by and gave them a large picture of the Savior to hang up in their living room.

On Sunday Elder Smith and I had a great day! Have you ever had the chance to teach all three hours of Church? It's a blast! I got to give my first sacrament meeting talk in Spanish, followed by Elder Smith; it was our turn to teach the Gospel Principles class this week, but we ended up teaching the whole Branch because the classes combined (there was no teacher for Gospel Doctrine!); and lastly, Hermano Sandoval asked us to teach the Priesthood class, because the subject was missionary work! Loads of fun! I also got to give a talk at...

Alejandro's baptism!! It was great! He asked me to give a talk about baptism, Elder Smith to baptize him, and both of us to provide a special musical number! Just about all of the Branch members came to support him. Between the talks, we teamed up with Elder Zerilli and did a rendition of "Senor, Te Necesito," or, "I Need Thee Every Hour." We went to the local music shop here in Montrose and rented a cello for $10 for Elder Smith to play, I sang, and Elder Zerilli played the piano. It went well! Then, Alejandro was baptized by the proper Priesthood authority and we all rejoiced together! It was a very spiritual baptismal service. The next step is for Alejandro and his wife and daughters to be sealed in one year!

That will be a magnificent day.

The work goes on in Montrose, and all is well with the missionaries! Thanks for all of your love and support. The Church is true! I love you all.

Sincerely,

Elder Rogers

Halloween!

It's been a good Halloweek!

After preparing for the week on Monday, Elder Smith and I went with another companionship to Black Canyon National Park. It was saweet! A really beautiful canyon. I'll see what I can do about sending some pictures!

On Wednesday we had our Zone Conference, which you know I always enjoy. I was very uplifted and motivated! I don't know why President Murdock sent out that email about the iPads, because all he said is, "We still don't know." Thanks, President.

At the Trunk-or-Treat on Thursday, I dressed up as Elder Smith, and he dressed up as me. It got really complicated. I wore his tag and told people that I was actually Elder Smith, but that I had spent all day in front of the mirror making myself up to look just like Elder Rogers, and vice-versa! I'm not sure how many people understood... Anyway!

This week we also did quite a big of service for a member in the branch. He recently bought a new house, and is working on fixing it up. He has a lot on his plate right now, so we cleaned up his yard for him and picked up the thousands of little crab apples on the ground. It was some good, fun service! On Halloween night, we went back to his house and helped him install some blinds and change out some electrical outlets. I really like home improvement stuff! It's loads of fun!

On Saturday I went on exchanges to the Uncompahgre ward with Elder Jensen. This is his second transfer in the field, and he is from Gilbert, Arizona! He went to Highland High, and graduated the same year I did! Whaaat? When I got to their apartment I saw a family picture he had on his dresser and asked,"Is that at Freestone?" He was pretty impressed that I could recognize it from the trees alone. We had a great day out in the boonies (Olathe, Colorado). I got to speak English again, which was a little refreshing. It can be frustrating struggling to express myself in Spanish sometimes. We taught a great investigator of theirs who will be baptized at the end of this month, and a very firm old atheist man. We rebuked him for his blaspheming and called him to repentance. He didn't budge. But, it was a good learning experience, nonetheless. Elder Jensen learned the importance of rebuking with the Spirit, and not just out of anger or frustration! That's key.

On Saturday while I was gone, Elder Smith and Elder White taught Alejandro some important commandments to prepare him for his baptismal interview on Sunday. He came to church the next day and then passed his baptismal interview! Their family is so strong, and they're taking this change seriously. It's good to see. Very refreshing from the typical super-flaky Hispanic culture in the area.

Also a-typical is one of our new investigators Yuliana! She came to the Trunk-or-Treat with her son, and kept her commitment to read from the Book of Mormon! She's also one of the only investigators we have that asks questions about what we teach. Last night she asked us why the account of Joseph Smith's vision is different in his testimony at the beginning of the Book of Mormon from the account of the vision given in the Restoration video we showed her the week before. And that question led to a great teaching opportunity! We got to explain to her that the vision she saw in the video was the First Vision, where Joseph say Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and the vision she read about in the prophet's testimony was three years later, when the angel Moroni appeared and revealed to Joseph information regarding the ancient record called the Book of Mormon. I can't tell you how nice it was to actually be asked a question, because that means the investigator has actually been listening to what we've been saying! Unfortunately for us, Yuliana is just visiting family, and actually lives in Greeley, Colorado, outside of our mission. She'll be back there before the end of the week. But she seems well-prepared to investigate the Church no matter where she is!

The Church is true, and Heavenly Father answers prayers! I know it! Stay on the straight and narrow, and be happy! I love you all!

Sincerely,

Elder Rogers

It's been a good Halloweek!

After preparing for the week on Monday, Elder Smith and I went with another companionship to Black Canyon National Park. It was saweet! A really beautiful canyon. I'll see what I can do about sending some pictures!

On Wednesday we had our Zone Conference, which you know I always enjoy. I was very uplifted and motivated! I don't know why President Murdock sent out that email about the iPads, because all he said is, "We still don't know." Thanks, President.

At the Trunk-or-Treat on Thursday, I dressed up as Elder Smith, and he dressed up as me. It got really complicated. I wore his tag and told people that I was actually Elder Smith, but that I had spent all day in front of the mirror making myself up to look just like Elder Rogers, and vice-versa! I'm not sure how many people understood... Anyway!

This week we also did quite a big of service for a member in the branch. He recently bought a new house, and is working on fixing it up. He has a lot on his plate right now, so we cleaned up his yard for him and picked up the thousands of little crab apples on the ground. It was some good, fun service! On Halloween night, we went back to his house and helped him install some blinds and change out some electrical outlets. I really like home improvement stuff! It's loads of fun!

On Saturday I went on exchanges to the Uncompahgre ward with Elder Jensen. This is his second transfer in the field, and he is from Gilbert, Arizona! He went to Highland High, and graduated the same year I did! Whaaat? When I got to their apartment I saw a family picture he had on his dresser and asked,"Is that at Freestone?" He was pretty impressed that I could recognize it from the trees alone. We had a great day out in the boonies (Olathe, Colorado). I got to speak English again, which was a little refreshing. It can be frustrating struggling to express myself in Spanish sometimes. We taught a great investigator of theirs who will be baptized at the end of this month, and a very firm old atheist man. We rebuked him for his blaspheming and called him to repentance. He didn't budge. But, it was a good learning experience, nonetheless. Elder Jensen learned the importance of rebuking with the Spirit, and not just out of anger or frustration! That's key.

On Saturday while I was gone, Elder Smith and Elder White taught Alejandro some important commandments to prepare him for his baptismal interview on Sunday. He came to church the next day and then passed his baptismal interview! Their family is so strong, and they're taking this change seriously. It's good to see. Very refreshing from the typical super-flaky Hispanic culture in the area.

Also a-typical is one of our new investigators Yuliana! She came to the Trunk-or-Treat with her son, and kept her commitment to read from the Book of Mormon! She's also one of the only investigators we have that asks questions about what we teach. Last night she asked us why the account of Joseph Smith's vision is different in his testimony at the beginning of the Book of Mormon from the account of the vision given in the Restoration video we showed her the week before. And that question led to a great teaching opportunity! We got to explain to her that the vision she saw in the video was the First Vision, where Joseph say Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and the vision she read about in the prophet's testimony was three years later, when the angel Moroni appeared and revealed to Joseph information regarding the ancient record called the Book of Mormon. I can't tell you how nice it was to actually be asked a question, because that means the investigator has actually been listening to what we've been saying! Unfortunately for us, Yuliana is just visiting family, and actually lives in Greeley, Colorado, outside of our mission. She'll be back there before the end of the week. But she seems well-prepared to investigate the Church no matter where she is!

The Church is true, and Heavenly Father answers prayers! I know it! Stay on the straight and narrow, and be happy! I love you all!

Sincerely,

Elder Rogers

 It's been a good Halloweek!

After preparing for the week on Monday, Elder Smith and I went with another companionship to Black Canyon National Park. It was saweet! A really beautiful canyon. I'll see what I can do about sending some pictures!

On Wednesday we had our Zone Conference, which you know I always enjoy. I was very uplifted and motivated! I don't know why President Murdock sent out that email about the iPads, because all he said is, "We still don't know." Thanks, President.

At the Trunk-or-Treat on Thursday, I dressed up as Elder Smith, and he dressed up as me. It got really complicated. I wore his tag and told people that I was actually Elder Smith, but that I had spent all day in front of the mirror making myself up to look just like Elder Rogers, and vice-versa! I'm not sure how many people understood... Anyway!

This week we also did quite a big of service for a member in the branch. He recently bought a new house, and is working on fixing it up. He has a lot on his plate right now, so we cleaned up his yard for him and picked up the thousands of little crab apples on the ground. It was some good, fun service! On Halloween night, we went back to his house and helped him install some blinds and change out some electrical outlets. I really like home improvement stuff! It's loads of fun!

On Saturday I went on exchanges to the Uncompahgre ward with Elder Jensen. This is his second transfer in the field, and he is from Gilbert, Arizona! He went to Highland High, and graduated the same year I did! Whaaat? When I got to their apartment I saw a family picture he had on his dresser and asked,"Is that at Freestone?" He was pretty impressed that I could recognize it from the trees alone. We had a great day out in the boonies (Olathe, Colorado). I got to speak English again, which was a little refreshing. It can be frustrating struggling to express myself in Spanish sometimes. We taught a great investigator of theirs who will be baptized at the end of this month, and a very firm old atheist man. We rebuked him for his blaspheming and called him to repentance. He didn't budge. But, it was a good learning experience, nonetheless. Elder Jensen learned the importance of rebuking with the Spirit, and not just out of anger or frustration! That's key.

On Saturday while I was gone, Elder Smith and Elder White taught Alejandro some important commandments to prepare him for his baptismal interview on Sunday. He came to church the next day and then passed his baptismal interview! Their family is so strong, and they're taking this change seriously. It's good to see. Very refreshing from the typical super-flaky Hispanic culture in the area.

Also a-typical is one of our new investigators Yuliana! She came to the Trunk-or-Treat with her son, and kept her commitment to read from the Book of Mormon! She's also one of the only investigators we have that asks questions about what we teach. Last night she asked us why the account of Joseph Smith's vision is different in his testimony at the beginning of the Book of Mormon from the account of the vision given in the Restoration video we showed her the week before. And that question led to a great teaching opportunity! We got to explain to her that the vision she saw in the video was the First Vision, where Joseph say Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and the vision she read about in the prophet's testimony was three years later, when the angel Moroni appeared and revealed to Joseph information regarding the ancient record called the Book of Mormon. I can't tell you how nice it was to actually be asked a question, because that means the investigator has actually been listening to what we've been saying! Unfortunately for us, Yuliana is just visiting family, and actually lives in Greeley, Colorado, outside of our mission. She'll be back there before the end of the week. But she seems well-prepared to investigate the Church no matter where she is!

The Church is true, and Heavenly Father answers prayers! I know it! Stay on the straight and narrow, and be happy! I love you all!

Sincerely,

Elder Rogers

“There is no end to His power to bless and direct the lives of those who seek truth and righteousness.”

~Elder Boyd K. Packer