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