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