Ashleigh Got Baptized!

Ashleigh got baptized! It was a great baptism. Isaac, a member of the ward and her friend, baptized her. Elder Rosequist and I stood as witnesses. One of the greatest miracles is that her family came to the baptism! Her father and brother and sister all showed up to support her. And after the ordinance, Ashleigh got up and bore her testimony to everyone, including her family! The next day she was confirmed in sacrament meeting. She asked me to confirm her! It was the first time I've ever performed that ordinance. I was honored.

Aside from that, I've been a taxi service this week!! I gave some elders a ride to a leadership meeting in Golden on Tuesday. Later that day (actually right after the leadership meeting), I drove an elder to a doctor's appointment. Wednesday we had our Mission Leader Conference (MLCs) in Vail, so we got to drive three hours there and three hours back. Then on Thursday I did a BIG clockwise loop around Denver to take an Elder to a doctor's appointment in Aurora. Phewsh! All the while, Elder Rosequist was working with the other elder's companion. That's one of our many responsibilities! Whhhewww!

So, unfortunately, we didn't get to proselyte in our own area as much as we would have liked to. We didn't find any new investigators this week, although we do have a lot of good potentials! The last time we didn't find anyone was the week we baptized Taylor and Shaylan. I'm noticing a trend... One investigator we did get to see, though, was Alex. We talked to him on the street a couple of weeks ago, and this was the first time he was able to meet up since then. He's 23 years old, and lives in a house with a few roommates. He really opened up to us at our lesson this week. He was pushed off of religion when his mother tried to force it on him, but he still has a belief in Deity. He has had experiences that have made him question his faith, and if God really cares about him. We testified of the healing power of the Atonement, and of the reality of our loving Heavenly Father and of His Son, the Living Savior. He seemed to absorb a lot of it, and I see great things in his future if he will heed the promptings of the Spirit, and take the challenges and advice we give him.

We've also been working a lot with all of our recent converts. One of them, Taylor, is sad that she works during institute, where they're studying the teachings of living prophets. So we've decided to teach her the new member lessons found in Preach My Gospel, and base our teachings off of conference talks! We did our first one yesterday with Elder Perry's talk entitled: "Obedience to Law is Liberty." It went really well!

We also started teaching a member of the ward who has been less-active for a while. His name is Brandon. the Bishop told us he was thinking about serving a mission, and that we should teach him and help him get prepared. We went over this week and taught him about the importance of the Spirit in conversion. He had good insights and examples, and I think he'll be prepared soon enough to be a missionary. Right now he's working at Goodwill. They have him working every night, so he can't come to any of the singles' activities! But they've started making him work Sundays, so he's looking for a different job. They have him working the fork lift in the back. And he's blind. I forgot to mention that; he's blind. AND THEY HAVE HIM ON THE FORK LIFT!!! I don't understand their reasoning, but I'm not in charge.

At church yesterday, Ashleigh gave Elder Rosequist and me each a little book that contains evidences of the Book of Mormon. One of my favorites was chiasmus. Chiasmus is a form of poetry used in ancient Hebrew. It follows a patter of addressing topics in a certain order, and then revisiting them in reverse order. In my studies this morning, I discovered this chiasmus in the Psalm of Nephi (2 Nephi chapter 4, paraphrased):

(a) God hath shown me his marvelous works......................................................................v 17

    (b) Nevertheless, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh...................................v 17

        (c) Yet I know in whom I have trusted.....................................................................v 19

            (d) And he hath confounded mine enemies.........................................................v 22

                (e) So why should my heart weep?...................................................................v 26

                    (f) And why should I yield to sin?................................................................v 27

                        (g) Rejoice, O my heart!.............................................................................v 28

                        (g') Rejoice, O my heart!...........................................................................v 30

                    (f') Cause me to shake at the appearance of sin!.....................................v 31

                (e') My heart is broken, and my spirit is contrite!.......................................v 32

            (d') Let me escape from before mine enemies...................................................v 33

        (c') O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in the forever..................v 34

    (b') I will not trust in the arm of flesh..........................................................................v 34

(a') I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh.............................................v 35

How awesome is that! Nephi's a poet and we didn't even know it! It was cool for me to discover this ancient Hebrew art form for myself in the Book of Mormon. I enjoyed studying it! And of course, there is much to be learned from the verses themselves. I love the Psalm of Nephi!

The Book of Mormon is true! It's an ancient record of scripture written by prophets in the Americas who came out from Jerusalem. Joseph Smith was and is a true prophet of God. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord's kingdom reestablished on the earth. Thomas S. Monson is truly a prophet, and Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world! I know these things to be true. How blessed am I?! How blessed are we!

Sincerely,
Elder Rogers

A Thought from Mom:

“For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more….”

~2^nd Nephi 28:30