Transfer News!

No news, I'm staying here. But I guess it's news that Elder Garcia is getting transferred. So I'll get a new companion tomorrow!

Another transfer has come and gone! They keep doing that...

This week was good. Nothing spectacularly out of the ordinary, but a couple of good days. We still have our truck (we haven't taken it back into the shop yet), but our mileage allotment is pretty low for our area, so we spent three days riding the bus to get around. On one of those days we met a nice young woman at the bus stop named Destiny. She told us she had recently moved from Tennessee (there's a lot of those...) and that she was looking for a church. We told her we couldn't help her.

Just kidding. We took her number down and set up an appointment to teach her the next day. We taught her the first lesson about the Restoration of the Gospel and then invited her to read the Book of Mormon to find out for herself. I asked her how long she thought it would take her to read a 531 page book. She said a little over six hours... Alright! She promised to read it. After that lesson a man pulled up in a minivan in the parking lot and stopped us. He said he had a question. I don't think he really had a question. He talked to us for a long time about his Baptist belief that we can know we've been saved unconditionally, and no matter how many ways we said it, or how many times we corrected him, he still left with the erroneous belief that Mormons think they can earn their way to heaven. It was pretty much a "We don't believe that." "Yes you do!" Conversation. He claimed to be trying to understand "Mormon theology," but I think more than anything he was studying up on it with the intent to disprove it. But'cha can't! 'Cuz it's true.

On Wednesday afternoon I went on exchanges with Elder Adling in Vail. It was pretty cool. They have a lot of Spanish-speaking members in their ward, even though it's a Spainglish ward like ours. I went to their ward coordination meeting and told them that my Spanish was "muy, muy mal." They told me not to worry about it. Then they had me offer the closing prayer, and they complimented me on my Spanish! They said I sounded like I was from Chihuahua. I guess that makes sense, since most of the people we taught in Montrose were from there. Probably about half of the Mexicans in Colorado are.

Friday was the first day of Spring! Winter is officially gone, and the weather here reflects it. It's been in the 50s and 60s all week (except one random snow storm), and most of the snow is melting away. Of course there are still 6-foot piles of snow all over the place in the shadows of buildings and the sides of the street where the snow plows came through, but you can actually see the ground and the plants and things, which were buried in snow before.

Elder Garcia and I were asked to speak in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday! The topics were a little strange, though. We were asked to speak on the 8 p.m. lessons we often have with members, and our 5 p.m. dinner appointments... I got stuck with the dinner talk. But it's okay! As I was writing down an outline for the talk, I had a list of a few scriptures I thought might apply. Things really started flowing and I couldn't write fast enough for fear I couldn't keep up with the revelation! It ended up being a talk about the joy of sharing the gospel and our responsibility towards our brothers and sisters who don't know the great news of the Restoration. Then I somehow tied it back into dinner. I want to share just a little from memory of one part of my talk:

In a revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord said, "Behold, I sent you out to testify and warn the people, and it becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor" (D&C 88:81).

Centuries earlier, speaking about this dispensation, the Book of Mormon prophet Jacob taught: "And the day that he shall set his hand again the second time to recover his people, is the day, yea, even the last time, that the servants of the Lord shall go forth in his power, to nourish and prune his vineyard; and after that the end soon cometh.  And how blessed are they who have labored diligently in his vineyard" (Jacob 6:2-3; emphasis added).

The Lord's declaration that "it becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor" definitively eliminates any justification for the belief that the laborers in the vineyard are the full-time missionaries alone.

Sweet! A door labeled "Elect!"

Every member has a responsibility in this, the work of salvation among the living. And who else can do it? No one. If we think we can be children of the covenant with a knowledge of the fullness of the gospel, and stand idly by while the work or our Master hastens on around us, we're mistaken.

"We all have work; let no one shirk.

Put your shoulder to the wheel."

(Hymns, 252; emphasis added)

So I might have embellished a little bit, but that was the gist of my talk. The work is true! It's a joy! Remember that the Savior lives, and that He leads His Church on the earth today. Thomas S. Monson is His prophet. I'm so excited for General Conference!

Sincerely,

Elder Rogers

Because He Lives

I did a lot of driving this week. Over 800 miles!

I forgot my planner in the apartment, so unfortunately this email won't be as coherent or detailed as I would have liked...

But it's been a good week! We started off after we emailed last week by trying to climb Mount Royal. It didn't work out, because we'd never done it before, so we didn't really know where the trail was (it's covered in snow).

Meditating on Mt. Royal

After a couple of hours of wading through snow up to our waists, we decided to consult someone who knew more about the mountain and give it a try next week (today)!

King of the Mountain!

On Tuesday I got to go on exchanges with Elder Smith, my companion from San Juan! He's my Zone Leader now, so he decided to come to my area for the day. It was great. We taught some good lessons, and found a couple of new investigators. It was great to talk about old times and people from the area where we served together. We taught one lesson to Genesis on the exchange. Elder Smith was really impressed with him! It was a good, short lesson about the post-mortal spirit world, and, as per usual, Genesis understood everything like a champ. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to meet with him since because they have him working so much at the Marriott, and he doesn't get home until late... Elder Garcia suggested: "We kill his boss, and place him on the judgement seat." I vetoed that plan.

After the exchange (which is where most of my 800 miles for the week came from), Elder Garcia and I had a good lesson with one of our investigators in Leadville. Her name is Toni. I mentioned her earlier, I think. She really understood the message of the Restoration that we shared! We talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon in coming to know that the Restoration is true. We asked her what she thought the most important thing to do at this point would be, and she said, "Well, I guess I'd better read that book." Yup! She seems really willing to progress, but unfortunately she's moving back to Tennessee for the summer season to work. Darn. We'll do what we can while we've got her here!

This is the closest I can get to skiing as a missionary!

 

We spent a lot of the day on Thursday driving around and looking for a new apartment. We realized there's only so much the mission office can do to find one while they're in Denver. So we went around and got some information from a few different places. The trouble is that it's still ski season, and most of the rental space in the county won't be available for another month or two. Even then, the rentals that open up are pretty pricey. The next day we got a call from the Housing Coordinators letting us know that they finally got a hold of the man who bought the property we live on, and he agreed to sign another lease with the mission. So we're staying! That made things a lot easier. Also, we won't have to move!

Garcia and Rogers

Saturday we got to drive back down to Denver for a zone meeting. It was really good. One of the main purposes for the meeting was to introduce the Church's Easter initiative: "Because He Lives." It'll be similar to the Christmas initiative in December, but the time we have to work with it will be shorter (March 27th-April 5th). I'm excited for it! The Church has a couple of great videos depicting the importance and impact of the Savior's resurrection.

He lives! Don't ever forget that. Joseph Smith said, “The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it.” I know the Savior lives, and my life revolves around that knowledge and the glorious gospel truths that are appendages to it! Joseph also mentioned the testimonies of the Prophets and Apostles. And guess what!! We get to hear from them ON Easter this year! Look forward to that! That you for your love. I send my love to you all, with the hope that you all will be excellent to each other!

Sincerely,

Elder Rogers

The Missionaries Who Served on Foot in the Rocky Mountains During the Winter Club

It was a good week! Yesterday the clock jumped from 11:59 pm to 1:00 am, so I lost an hour of sleep (it's that same weird thing they did last year around this time...), but it's okay!

On Tuesday we had another lesson with Genesis, and he is doing awesome! Towards the very end of the lesson, his friend Daniel came in and asked to sit in on the lesson. We were pretty much done, and it was time to leave, but we told him we would be there again the next day, and he said he'd be there! Genesis said, "Yeah man, you should come to church. I really liked it there. Hey, maybe you guys can teach him all the stuff you already taught me!" And so we did. The next night Daniel ended up being late, so we had a great lesson with Genesis about eternal families. Then, when Daniel arrived, we taught him about the Restoration of the Gospel. The most powerful moment in that lesson, by far, was when Genesis himself bore humble testimony of the truthfulness of our message. He said (speaking about the Book of Mormon), "I love this book, man. I haven't read it all, but it's so awesome. And it's so great to know that we have a living prophet on the earth today." I felt the Spirit so strongly when he said that.

That day (Wednesday) we got our truck back from the body shop (finally!!)! It was snowing hard when we picked it up from the shop, but don't worry. I didn't get into any accidents. I can't say as much for the Vail elders, though. They drove their car into a ditch and (presumably) totaled it. 

So now, they have joined the club of Missionaries Who Served on Foot in the Rocky Mountains During the Winter! That club includes Elder Serrano, Elder Garcia, me, and now Elders Graham and Adling. On Thursday we drove all the way to Vail to pick them up for District Meeting, which was all the way in Leadville. Then we went out to lunch and Elder Garcia lost a game for which the punishment was to eat a half a cup of horse radish. Then we took them all the way back to Vail and drove all the 

way back to Summit County, where Elder Garcia rested from his horse radish headache and then we went to dinner. That was a long day of driving!

We found out during the week that Genesis' work schedule has changed, and the Marriott now has him working on Sundays! Gah! Hopefully they'll be able to get some more help soon (someone quit) and he can keep coming to church. He really wants to. He worked all day every day this week, so we didn't get to see him; which is tough because that gives a lot of room for Satan to get in there and lead him away... But we had gotten a Tagalog copy of the Book of Mormon that we ordered in the mail, so we decided to try by on Sunday night to see if Genesis would be there (even though he told us he doesn't get home until after 9:00-- our curfew). We stopped by at 8:30, and he was there! He was so happy to see us! He told us that it was the only day all week that he had finished early enough to catch the earlier bus. He had just gotten home a few minutes before we showed up. And he was cooking. He's always cooking. And he always makes us eat it. But I'm not complaining! Let me tell you, Filipino food is amazing. (Quick side story-- On Wednesday when we were there his cousin made a bunch of Filipino food for us to have. They laid out rice, and soups and sauces and something weird that was fried. I said, "Ooh! What's that??" Genesis said, "Fried chicken..." Oh.) Daniel was there (we're back to Sunday now), so we taught a good lesson on the first half of the Plan of Salvation. Unfortunately we had to cut it short, because of missionary curfew. But it was great. Genesis hasn't smoked a cigarette since the day we taught him about the Word of Wisdom!! It's been like 10 days! Wooo! Thank you for your prayers in his behalf.

On Sunday night, just before we went over to see Genesis, we decided to contact and teach a couple of potential investigators from Mexico. We knocked on the door and asked if we could come in and share a message. The man who answered, Armando, said "I dunno, it's not my house." So I stuck my head in the room and asked everyone if they wanted to hear a message about Jesus Christ. They said sure. So we went in, sat down, and started to share the message of the Restoration. The gift of tongues is real, because after a month of not being in San Juan (we don't use too much Spanish here) I should have been pretty rusty, but the Lord blessed me to be able to share His message with these people. After we had taught for about 20 minutes, I asked if they wanted us to continue (we're taught that if a first visit is under 20 minutes it increases the likelihood of the investigator inviting you back a second time). Octavio, the man of the house, said, "God is never an inconvenience for me. Continue." I'm really glad he said that, because it was an amazing lesson. As we talked about the great apostasy, I could tell that they could relate to the confusion that we explained as having taken hold over the entire world. As we taught them about the First Vision, the Restoration of the priesthood, the reorganization of Christ's Church on the earth, and the fullness of the gospel being restored through the Book of Mormon, I noticed in their eyes and expressions that the dark veil of apostasy was being lifted from off their minds. They all felt the Spirit, and graciously accepted our offer of a return appointment.

On the way out to the truck, where we were going to grab a couple of copies of the Book of Mormon for them, we were accompanied by Armando, one of the investigators in the lesson. Knowing that Ana, his friend who was with us in the lesson, was a Seventh-day Adventist, he asked, "Why do you guys go to church on Sunday? Ana says the Bible teaches that we should worship on the seventh day of the week." I said, "That's a good question... I'll give you two answers. A really long, not solidly-founded one, and then a firm, simple, short one." I proceeded to explain a little about how the Savior was resurrected on a Sunday, and that if my memory served me well, one of the Apostles said we should celebrate the event and worship on that day. I also mentioned the Lord's revelation to the prophet Joseph Smith in which He stated that the food and drink of the sacrament don't matter as long as we do it for the right reasons, with the correct symbolism in mind. Perhaps it's the same with the Sabbath; that it isn't so important which day of the week we observe it, but that we keep the commandment to take one day in seven to rest from our labors and pay our devotions to God. "There's the long explanation." Then came the short one: "Priesthood authority has been restored to the earth, and we have a living prophet who receives revelation from God. He says we should observe the Sabbath on Sunday." He really like that answer.

The Gospel is simple, the Gospel is clear. The Church is true, and I know it! I'm so thankful for the testimony I've been blessed with, and this irreplaceable opportunity I have to share it with others as a missionary. If you don't know yet, find out!

Sincerely,

Elder Rogers

P.S.  Oh! I can't believe I forgot. So, guess what. Alright, you don't have to guess; this is kind of a one-sided conversation. But our brand new shiny truck (it's a 2015 Nissan Frontier, by the way) got backed into twice this week. The week we got it back from the body shop. Once in the church parking lot on Sunday, and the other just this morning before we came to email. It was parked both times, so I (as the driver) am not at fault, and I'll retain my driving privileges. But can you believe that?? The first one wasn't too bad, and I wasn't going to tell the fleet coordinator until, well, until my very last transfer meeting (that way I don't have to jump back into the "club"). Then the one this morning was pretty bad. Very noticeable, a big dent in the side of the truck. The mission fleet coordinator called and said, "I had a man call me and tell me he backed into your truck. He said his name was _____." I was confused, because I didn't even know the name he gave me, and it definitely wasn't the name of the man (a member of the ward) who had backed into us this morning. I voiced my confusion and he said, "Yeah, he told me it happened yesterday in the church parking lot." Oh. Then I had to explain to him that we had gotten hit agAIN this morning. So... We might not have a truck for another little while.  -___-  It's still driveable, but the Church wants its cars to look presentable. Oooooh wellll.... But it's okay, it's a cool club.

Genesis and a Prayer Rug

Gee, it's been an interesting week!

We still don't have our truck back from the body shop, so we're using the bus to get around. There's a lot of times when we have an appointment that's an hour bus ride away!!

Yes--It's cold on Public Transportation!

But it all works out. We got a few referrals from Church Headquarters early in the week. We contacted one in Leadville who lived way out in the boonies. We knocked on the door for a minute, then wrote a card for the person with our phone number on it, left it in the door, and then a guy answered. We said, "Oh, hi! Is Jene here?" He sounded really annoyed and said, "No! There's no Jene and you just woke me up! I work nights!" What we said: "Okay. Sorry, have a good day!" What I thought: It's not my fault you live your life contrary to human nature. How were we supposed to know you'd be sleeping at 3 in the afternoon? That thought comes to me every time someone gets mad at us for waking them up during the day. The DAY. When the sun is out. But it's okay. Sometimes people are grumpy when they wake up... Anyway, the address for the other referral didn't exist, and the last referral we had was Genesis.

We were able to call Genesis and set up an appointment to meet with him on Friday night. When we went over to his house, he was super happy to see us! He's 22 years old, he's from the Philippines, and he's been in the United States for about a year and a half. Probably one of the nicest guys ever. He said he had been to a Mormon "mass" in Utah, he was trying to change his life, and he wanted to know how we could help him. We had an amAzing lesson on the restoration of the Gospel, and he told us, "I can't wipe the smile off my face!" When we told him that the priesthood authority of God was restored to the earth, he interrupted us and said, "You know what I'm thinking? I want to share this with my family." We saw him again on Saturday and taught him about the Book of Mormon and the Word of Wisdom. He said he needs to quit smoking. We told him we'd help him! That night we downloaded the Gospel Library app on his phone and got him the Book of Mormon in Tagalog. He said, "I'm blessed." He worked from 11pm-7am that night, and then came to church with us at 10:00. He loved it! He is so excited about all of the things he's learning.

Saturday was great.

Life as a missionary is GOOD!

We went to Leadville in the morning with a few of the members of the ward and helped a sister in the ward load up her moving truck. The members also shoveled off a roof (for you Arizonioans, that's something you do when the snow on your roof gets so high it covers your vents, or so heavy that it threatens the structural stability of the home). We didn't help, because w allowed on roofs. Then we had lunch with all came at this great place in Leadville.

After that we taught a few lessons in Leadville, and topped off the night by going back to Silverthorne to teach Genesis! We've taught a few people this week that I'll tell you more about if to progress. (Funny side note. One of those people is named Shane. We were tracting, and met a girl who was wearing a sweater from some university in West Verginia {where Elder Garcia is from}. After we talked to her, Elder Garcia said, "That's probably the only other persom West Virginia in all of Colorado!" The next person that answered the door was Shane, and he was wearing a shirt that had the name of his hometown on it: Wheeling, West Virginia. That was a funny coincidence.)

On Sunday we had a neat experience. We tracted into a man from Mauritania, Africa. He welcomed us in and then asked if we could wait for five minutes. We told him we could. He put on a floor-length light brown robe over his clothes, laid out two small rugs on the floor, and invited a youth who was also in the house to join him for something (in some other language). He put a bead necklace on the rug, and Elder Garcia whispered, "It must be time for their prayer." They began to say a lot of things in a different language, and proceeded to stand, kneel on the rug, and put their heads worshipfully to the floor, periodically repeating a foreign phrase. They repeated this pattern for about five minutes, whispering what seemed to be short personal prayers from time to time. When they were done, the man (who's name is Alasa) got up and said, "What's up guys?" So that was pretty cool to see. I guess they have that prayer five times a day at certain times. Anyway, we asked hima few questions (well, actually all of them) from our survey, and began to talk about a few gospel principals, but he didn't seem to interested in learning.

We finished off the week with a trip to Breckenridge! Our ward mission leader informed us of a man on vacation there, a member of the church, who had been injured in a skiing accident and requested a blessing from the Elders. We rode the bus about an hour and a half to Breck (there are TONS of resorts and hotels and lodges there)! We went to the cabin where the man, Brother Coon, was staying with his wife and two other couples who were not members of the Church. We talked for a minute and then administered to him. One of their friends decided to stay in the room and watch, so that was a good missionary opportunity for the Coons.

Things are going great! It's been snowing lightly on and off all week, and it's cold, but today seems warmer, because all of the buildings and trees are dripping. The work rolls forth! I know it's true! I've had great experiences feeling the Spirit recently confirm to my soul the truth of the message of the Restoration that we share. The Church is true! Much love.

Sincerely,

Elder Rogers