Hola!

October 20, 2014

It's been a good one, this week.

On Monday night, we gave a blessing to Chelsea before her scheduled delivery the next day, and taught the family about temple marriage. They were pleased to accept the commitment to prepare themselves to be sealed in the temple! I went on exchanges later in the week to Delta, and didn't get to teach them at our return appointment, but Elder Smith told me things went really well, and they're still going strong. Everything went well with the delivery, and the family is happily at home. The Relief Society also arranged for a couple of dinners to be dropped off at the house, which I know Chelsea appreciated greatly. And now they've met many more members than they knew before! Good things are happening. Elder Smith and Alejandro set a baptismal date for November 9th (while I was in Delta). Alejandro just has to come to church every week until then to be baptized!

On Wednesday, we taught a good lesson on the Plan of Salvation to an investigator named Janette. The reason it was so good was because of the gift of tongues! Elder Smith and I were both definitely able to speak more fluently than we aught to have been able to speak, and I understood more than usual. That's been a blessing as well this week. I've been able to effectively speak my mind in Spanish my whole mission, but understanding the native speakers is a different story. I've noticed that in my short time here in San Juan, speaking to Latinos every day, I'm understanding more and more. It goes to show that the gift of tongues and the gift of the interpretation of tongues are two different things!

We also had a good lesson with Pablo again. We had planned to teach the family about the Plan of Salvation, but only Pablo was available, so we ended up putting that lesson off for our next visit. What's been great so far about Pablo is that he always keeps his appointments. That never ever ever ever ever happens with Latinos! We will be teaching him again tonight with our ward mission leader, which will hopefully help the family get some good fellowship in the branch.

On a quick side note, we have an investigator named Carlos who isn't really progressing, and always bails on our appointments. We stopped by the other day and he told us he was busy, but gave us some carne asada he was grilling up for the road. It was definitely one of the best meats I've ever had in mortality. Delicious. Succulent, even!

We had a good lesson with a familia we call Ismael y Rosa (those are the parents' names). It's difficult to tell if they are really interested in the message of the Restoration, because they always let us in and listen to our message, but they never have any questions, comments, or objections. And 98% of all Latinos will let you in to talk about the gospel. Sin embargo, we had a good lesson about the Book of Mormon with them this week, and I'll keep you updated, because they seem a little more solid than most of the people we meet.

Saturday and Sunday we had Stake Conference. The Sunday session was conducted by a member of the Seventy, broadcast from Salt Lake to Stakes in Colorado, Montana and Wyoming. Speakers included the Seventy, a member of the Primary General Presidency, and Elders David A. Bednar and Richard G. Scott! The Seventy spoke about the hastening of the work, the member of the Primary General Presidency spoke about families, Elder Bednar spoke about consecration, and Elder Scott taught us about prayer. I was edified! We went on to spend a good part of the day in a very Mexican trailer park, and got a lot of appointments with people for later in the week. Also, we got attacked by a dog. But it was small, and there's no harm done!

The work is going well. We're focusing on helping our promising and progressing investigators to be baptized and confirmed, and not wasting time with those who don't want to accept the gospel into their lives yet. We don't teach as many lessons as the area used to, but we want quality over quantity. And it's going well for us! I love the work, I love the mission, and I love this gospel! Thank you for all of your support. I feel you love and prayers! Choose the right, always have FHE, always read from the Book of Mormon, and be excellent to each other!

Sincerely,

Elder Rogers

A Thought from Mom:

“Never assume that you can make it alone. You need the help of the Lord. Never hesitate to get on your knees in some private place and speak with Him.”

~Gordon B. Hinckley