The First Week of a New Transfer

Hello!

 

We had a great lesson with Teodoro this Wednesday! He came over to the Branch President's house for dinner and a lesson. We talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Lesson 3). I think it really helped him to understand the importance of baptism and of the Holy Ghost. When Elder Smith asked him if he was excited about his baptism, he said, "It's getting there." It was a good lesson, overall! He connected pretty well with Presidente Osorio, even though he (Teodoro) is a pretty reserved guy. We told him about the importance of coming to church, but alas, he did not come. That was a bummer. Hopefully he'll keep progressing!

We had a couple of good first lessons with some new families. The mission standard was just raised from 4 to 5 new investigators each week, and we hit it! We didn't even find out until Saturday morning that the standard had changed, so I'm really glad to have hit it. The mission is definitely lifting. It's a completely different mission than when I got here!

One magnificent blessing I have received from the Lord is the gift of tongues! I've been able to speak much more quickly now than I used to, and I realized it's because I don't have to translate nearly as many of my thoughts from English to Spanish. Most of the time I can just think and speak in Spanish. Another indicator of improvement is that everyone understands me (most of the time). People used to say, "Como?" or "Mande?" a lot, either because what I said didn't make sense, or they couldn't understand my pronunciation. Now people respond without obstruction or delay! As far as the interpretation of tongues, that's been improving a lot as well. If a gringo is speaking Spanish, I can pretty much understand perfectly. It's still iffy when a native goes off on a rant, but I can understand them when their sentences are relatively short, MUCH more than I used to! Of course there are still words I don't know, conjugations I mess up, and so on, but there's been noticeable improvement. Blessings from the Lord!

It's been getting colder, and there was a nice little blizzard on Sunday! Elder Smith's first snowfall! It all melted. But there will be more!

On Saturday we had our Branch Thanksgiving Festival, or as our branch mission leader calls it, "Festibal de Thansgeeveen." He's a gringo; he's just trying to be funny. It was great! We (Elder Smith, the Sisters and I) prepared a limbo game.

Let's Limbo!

 

 

We had lots of delicious non-Mexican Thanksgiving food, and then played games. We threw darts at balloons, played stick pull, and the greatest hit: shooting a turkey pinata with a bow and arrow! It was lots of fun. Unfortunately, none of our investigators came, even though we invited them all. But there were a couple of less-active members there and Alejandro and Chelsey came! It was a good time.

We are focusing a lot on... well... missionary work! I was going to specify all of the things we're focusing on, but then I realized it can be summed up as missionary work. We're just getting another push to keep up with the Lord in this hastening of the work! There's a huge Christmas season initiative from the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve called "He is the Gift." We'll be focusing most of our finding efforts and our work with members on utilizing this new initiative. It's going to be huge!

I'm grateful for the gospel. I'm grateful for the scriptures. I'm grateful for my jacket and earmuffs, my car and apartment, my branch and my fellow missionaries. I'm grateful for all of you, and I'm grateful for this opportunity to serve a mission! I love you all! Count your blessings! There are a lot of them, I promise. Remember that Heavenly Father loves you! That's something to be grateful for! Happy Thanksgiving!

Sincerely,
Elder Rogers

Baptism by Fire

Howdy!

Well this week has just been nifty! We've had a lot of good opportunities to teach, preach, and baptize.

We started off the week by teaching Teadoro, an 18-year-old investigator. We had already taught him about the Plan of Salvation, so we taught him the Restoration on Monday night at the church. It went really well. He understood the message, and had questions. At the end of the lesson, he asked Heavenly Father in prayer if our message is true. I know if he reads the Book of Mormon and continues to pray, he will receive an answer. Later in the week, we had him over to our Branch Mission Leader's house for another lesson. We taught him about the importance of baptism for the remission of sins, and he decided to be baptized on December 20th, provided he has received an answer to his prayers by that time. As I said before, I know he will.

We've had a lot of experiences with finding and teaching lately that have given me desires like the sons of Mosiah in Alma 17:9,  "that [I] might be an instrument in the hands of God to bring, if it [is] possible, [my] brethren, the Lamanites, to the knowledge of the truth, to the knowledge of the baseness of the traditions of their fathers, which [are] not correct." We have been teaching a lot of Lamanites here in Montrose, and for the most part they are stuck on the traditions of their fathers. It takes a lot of work and a lot of the Spirit to peel back the scales from their eyes sometimes! But we continue to teach and preach and work as missionaries do! The Lord will provide.

And oh boy, we got to teach Chelsey and Alejandro again! Alejandro was happy as a clam and very outgoing and involved in the lesson, which is a change for him! We taught them the message of the Restoration again as the first new-member lesson. They loved it. I love to teach people who have opened their minds to understanding, and their hearts to receiving the Spirit. Speaking of receiving the Spirit! This Sunday was Alejandro's confirmation. He asked me to perform it! It was the first time I've performed an ordinance in Spanish. I think it went pretty well! After sacrament meeting, while we were talking to Alejandro, he rubbed his chest with an open palm, got a smile on his face and said, "Siento bien." (I feel good.) How simple and beautiful! We turn to all kinds of scriptures and experiences to try to explain to people what the Spirit feels like, and he summed it up in two words. Baptism by fire.

I also had the chance that day to translate for the speakers in Sacrament meeting! It was my first time since Grand Junction, and luckily no one was speaking Navajo this time. There are a few members of the branch who are there by assignment, and don't speak any Spanish, and there was also a high counselor giving a talk in English; so I got to translate into both languages! The first talk was given in Spanish, and I spoke the real-time English translation into a headset. There was a point in the talk when the speaker used several words I didn't know, and I got really lost. I sat in silence for a minute, and then said into the headset, "I apologize, but I have no idea what he's saying." Then a minute later he changed subjects and I was able to pick it back up. Translating into Spanish went pretty well because I had a copy of the talk in English in front of me. I could tell the high counselor was speaking really slowly for my sake, and I still had to condense and skip a lot of his talk. I hope the Spirit carried the meaning to the people's hearts!

Despite translation difficulties, I feel like my Spanish is improving! I'm able to carry on a conversation pretty fluently (depending on who it's with), but translating is just a different ballgame. Lots of fun going on here! Oh! and a p.s. before the close (I jsut like to be different). Transfers are tomorrow, but nothing's changing with us, except that one of the Sisters in our branch is getting transferred.

The Church is true, and I love you all! It's getting mighty cold here as well. But we'll keep working! Much love and wishes for prosperity and happiness!

Sincerely,

Elder Rogers

Montrose District

Alejandro!

Hello, hello!

Let me tell you about David y Gabriela. They have five kids between the ages of new and nine, and they're a great family. We taught them the first half of the first lesson a little while ago, and this week we had the chance to go back and finish it. It was great! We explained the great apostasy and the Restoration through the Prophet Joseph Smith, and they loved it! After we explained the Book of Mormon, Gabriela asked "Do you have it in a version for kids?" We downloaded the Gospel Library app to her tablet and showed her the "Book of Mormon Stories" with pictures for kids. Later that same week, we went back to follow up with them. The kids LOVE the Book of Mormon! They said they had read the first five chapters of the children's book. Gabriela explained that she wouldn't let them read any further until we all had a chance to get together and talk about what they'd read, so they wouldn't forget it. Awesome! In that same visit we gave a blessing to David for his injured knee. Afterwards, Gabriela said, "I know that we're meeting for our family to learn the gospel together, but I hope it's okay that I invited our neighbor to come and listen to you guys too..." We assured her that it was very okay! Yesterday we stopped by and gave them a large picture of the Savior to hang up in their living room.

On Sunday Elder Smith and I had a great day! Have you ever had the chance to teach all three hours of Church? It's a blast! I got to give my first sacrament meeting talk in Spanish, followed by Elder Smith; it was our turn to teach the Gospel Principles class this week, but we ended up teaching the whole Branch because the classes combined (there was no teacher for Gospel Doctrine!); and lastly, Hermano Sandoval asked us to teach the Priesthood class, because the subject was missionary work! Loads of fun! I also got to give a talk at...

Alejandro's baptism!! It was great! He asked me to give a talk about baptism, Elder Smith to baptize him, and both of us to provide a special musical number! Just about all of the Branch members came to support him. Between the talks, we teamed up with Elder Zerilli and did a rendition of "Senor, Te Necesito," or, "I Need Thee Every Hour." We went to the local music shop here in Montrose and rented a cello for $10 for Elder Smith to play, I sang, and Elder Zerilli played the piano. It went well! Then, Alejandro was baptized by the proper Priesthood authority and we all rejoiced together! It was a very spiritual baptismal service. The next step is for Alejandro and his wife and daughters to be sealed in one year!

That will be a magnificent day.

The work goes on in Montrose, and all is well with the missionaries! Thanks for all of your love and support. The Church is true! I love you all.

Sincerely,

Elder Rogers

Halloween!

It's been a good Halloweek!

After preparing for the week on Monday, Elder Smith and I went with another companionship to Black Canyon National Park. It was saweet! A really beautiful canyon. I'll see what I can do about sending some pictures!

On Wednesday we had our Zone Conference, which you know I always enjoy. I was very uplifted and motivated! I don't know why President Murdock sent out that email about the iPads, because all he said is, "We still don't know." Thanks, President.

At the Trunk-or-Treat on Thursday, I dressed up as Elder Smith, and he dressed up as me. It got really complicated. I wore his tag and told people that I was actually Elder Smith, but that I had spent all day in front of the mirror making myself up to look just like Elder Rogers, and vice-versa! I'm not sure how many people understood... Anyway!

This week we also did quite a big of service for a member in the branch. He recently bought a new house, and is working on fixing it up. He has a lot on his plate right now, so we cleaned up his yard for him and picked up the thousands of little crab apples on the ground. It was some good, fun service! On Halloween night, we went back to his house and helped him install some blinds and change out some electrical outlets. I really like home improvement stuff! It's loads of fun!

On Saturday I went on exchanges to the Uncompahgre ward with Elder Jensen. This is his second transfer in the field, and he is from Gilbert, Arizona! He went to Highland High, and graduated the same year I did! Whaaat? When I got to their apartment I saw a family picture he had on his dresser and asked,"Is that at Freestone?" He was pretty impressed that I could recognize it from the trees alone. We had a great day out in the boonies (Olathe, Colorado). I got to speak English again, which was a little refreshing. It can be frustrating struggling to express myself in Spanish sometimes. We taught a great investigator of theirs who will be baptized at the end of this month, and a very firm old atheist man. We rebuked him for his blaspheming and called him to repentance. He didn't budge. But, it was a good learning experience, nonetheless. Elder Jensen learned the importance of rebuking with the Spirit, and not just out of anger or frustration! That's key.

On Saturday while I was gone, Elder Smith and Elder White taught Alejandro some important commandments to prepare him for his baptismal interview on Sunday. He came to church the next day and then passed his baptismal interview! Their family is so strong, and they're taking this change seriously. It's good to see. Very refreshing from the typical super-flaky Hispanic culture in the area.

Also a-typical is one of our new investigators Yuliana! She came to the Trunk-or-Treat with her son, and kept her commitment to read from the Book of Mormon! She's also one of the only investigators we have that asks questions about what we teach. Last night she asked us why the account of Joseph Smith's vision is different in his testimony at the beginning of the Book of Mormon from the account of the vision given in the Restoration video we showed her the week before. And that question led to a great teaching opportunity! We got to explain to her that the vision she saw in the video was the First Vision, where Joseph say Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and the vision she read about in the prophet's testimony was three years later, when the angel Moroni appeared and revealed to Joseph information regarding the ancient record called the Book of Mormon. I can't tell you how nice it was to actually be asked a question, because that means the investigator has actually been listening to what we've been saying! Unfortunately for us, Yuliana is just visiting family, and actually lives in Greeley, Colorado, outside of our mission. She'll be back there before the end of the week. But she seems well-prepared to investigate the Church no matter where she is!

The Church is true, and Heavenly Father answers prayers! I know it! Stay on the straight and narrow, and be happy! I love you all!

Sincerely,

Elder Rogers

It's been a good Halloweek!

After preparing for the week on Monday, Elder Smith and I went with another companionship to Black Canyon National Park. It was saweet! A really beautiful canyon. I'll see what I can do about sending some pictures!

On Wednesday we had our Zone Conference, which you know I always enjoy. I was very uplifted and motivated! I don't know why President Murdock sent out that email about the iPads, because all he said is, "We still don't know." Thanks, President.

At the Trunk-or-Treat on Thursday, I dressed up as Elder Smith, and he dressed up as me. It got really complicated. I wore his tag and told people that I was actually Elder Smith, but that I had spent all day in front of the mirror making myself up to look just like Elder Rogers, and vice-versa! I'm not sure how many people understood... Anyway!

This week we also did quite a big of service for a member in the branch. He recently bought a new house, and is working on fixing it up. He has a lot on his plate right now, so we cleaned up his yard for him and picked up the thousands of little crab apples on the ground. It was some good, fun service! On Halloween night, we went back to his house and helped him install some blinds and change out some electrical outlets. I really like home improvement stuff! It's loads of fun!

On Saturday I went on exchanges to the Uncompahgre ward with Elder Jensen. This is his second transfer in the field, and he is from Gilbert, Arizona! He went to Highland High, and graduated the same year I did! Whaaat? When I got to their apartment I saw a family picture he had on his dresser and asked,"Is that at Freestone?" He was pretty impressed that I could recognize it from the trees alone. We had a great day out in the boonies (Olathe, Colorado). I got to speak English again, which was a little refreshing. It can be frustrating struggling to express myself in Spanish sometimes. We taught a great investigator of theirs who will be baptized at the end of this month, and a very firm old atheist man. We rebuked him for his blaspheming and called him to repentance. He didn't budge. But, it was a good learning experience, nonetheless. Elder Jensen learned the importance of rebuking with the Spirit, and not just out of anger or frustration! That's key.

On Saturday while I was gone, Elder Smith and Elder White taught Alejandro some important commandments to prepare him for his baptismal interview on Sunday. He came to church the next day and then passed his baptismal interview! Their family is so strong, and they're taking this change seriously. It's good to see. Very refreshing from the typical super-flaky Hispanic culture in the area.

Also a-typical is one of our new investigators Yuliana! She came to the Trunk-or-Treat with her son, and kept her commitment to read from the Book of Mormon! She's also one of the only investigators we have that asks questions about what we teach. Last night she asked us why the account of Joseph Smith's vision is different in his testimony at the beginning of the Book of Mormon from the account of the vision given in the Restoration video we showed her the week before. And that question led to a great teaching opportunity! We got to explain to her that the vision she saw in the video was the First Vision, where Joseph say Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and the vision she read about in the prophet's testimony was three years later, when the angel Moroni appeared and revealed to Joseph information regarding the ancient record called the Book of Mormon. I can't tell you how nice it was to actually be asked a question, because that means the investigator has actually been listening to what we've been saying! Unfortunately for us, Yuliana is just visiting family, and actually lives in Greeley, Colorado, outside of our mission. She'll be back there before the end of the week. But she seems well-prepared to investigate the Church no matter where she is!

The Church is true, and Heavenly Father answers prayers! I know it! Stay on the straight and narrow, and be happy! I love you all!

Sincerely,

Elder Rogers

 It's been a good Halloweek!

After preparing for the week on Monday, Elder Smith and I went with another companionship to Black Canyon National Park. It was saweet! A really beautiful canyon. I'll see what I can do about sending some pictures!

On Wednesday we had our Zone Conference, which you know I always enjoy. I was very uplifted and motivated! I don't know why President Murdock sent out that email about the iPads, because all he said is, "We still don't know." Thanks, President.

At the Trunk-or-Treat on Thursday, I dressed up as Elder Smith, and he dressed up as me. It got really complicated. I wore his tag and told people that I was actually Elder Smith, but that I had spent all day in front of the mirror making myself up to look just like Elder Rogers, and vice-versa! I'm not sure how many people understood... Anyway!

This week we also did quite a big of service for a member in the branch. He recently bought a new house, and is working on fixing it up. He has a lot on his plate right now, so we cleaned up his yard for him and picked up the thousands of little crab apples on the ground. It was some good, fun service! On Halloween night, we went back to his house and helped him install some blinds and change out some electrical outlets. I really like home improvement stuff! It's loads of fun!

On Saturday I went on exchanges to the Uncompahgre ward with Elder Jensen. This is his second transfer in the field, and he is from Gilbert, Arizona! He went to Highland High, and graduated the same year I did! Whaaat? When I got to their apartment I saw a family picture he had on his dresser and asked,"Is that at Freestone?" He was pretty impressed that I could recognize it from the trees alone. We had a great day out in the boonies (Olathe, Colorado). I got to speak English again, which was a little refreshing. It can be frustrating struggling to express myself in Spanish sometimes. We taught a great investigator of theirs who will be baptized at the end of this month, and a very firm old atheist man. We rebuked him for his blaspheming and called him to repentance. He didn't budge. But, it was a good learning experience, nonetheless. Elder Jensen learned the importance of rebuking with the Spirit, and not just out of anger or frustration! That's key.

On Saturday while I was gone, Elder Smith and Elder White taught Alejandro some important commandments to prepare him for his baptismal interview on Sunday. He came to church the next day and then passed his baptismal interview! Their family is so strong, and they're taking this change seriously. It's good to see. Very refreshing from the typical super-flaky Hispanic culture in the area.

Also a-typical is one of our new investigators Yuliana! She came to the Trunk-or-Treat with her son, and kept her commitment to read from the Book of Mormon! She's also one of the only investigators we have that asks questions about what we teach. Last night she asked us why the account of Joseph Smith's vision is different in his testimony at the beginning of the Book of Mormon from the account of the vision given in the Restoration video we showed her the week before. And that question led to a great teaching opportunity! We got to explain to her that the vision she saw in the video was the First Vision, where Joseph say Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and the vision she read about in the prophet's testimony was three years later, when the angel Moroni appeared and revealed to Joseph information regarding the ancient record called the Book of Mormon. I can't tell you how nice it was to actually be asked a question, because that means the investigator has actually been listening to what we've been saying! Unfortunately for us, Yuliana is just visiting family, and actually lives in Greeley, Colorado, outside of our mission. She'll be back there before the end of the week. But she seems well-prepared to investigate the Church no matter where she is!

The Church is true, and Heavenly Father answers prayers! I know it! Stay on the straight and narrow, and be happy! I love you all!

Sincerely,

Elder Rogers

“There is no end to His power to bless and direct the lives of those who seek truth and righteousness.”

~Elder Boyd K. Packer

They have Halloween Celebrations in Colorado...

New, clean T-shirts

Carving pumpkins on P-day

My Jack-O-Lantern

Scary!!!!

Another Week in Montrose

October 27, 2014

 

Yup, it's been a week!

Desafortunadamente, I forgot to bring my daily planner to remind me of all the things I did this week, so this one's going to be one the fly. It was a good week, tough! One thing I remember was Zone Meeting. I really enjoyed getting the opportunity to train on one of my favorite subjects- studying. I guess that'll make me a pretty effective student some day; my mission has taught me to love studying! I enclosed the notes on my training in a letter I sent to Mom and Dad, so they know what I'm talking about. But the one thing that I've really enjoyed this week that I learned while preparing that training was designating and using a sacred study journal! I've already had so many awesome experiences receiving revelation as I study the scriptures, and I know it's because I'm prepared to record it! There are a lot of concepts that I would not have remembered learning were it not for my sacred study journal! I encourage you to look at the notes on the training; they'll direct you to the pages in Preach My Gospel that will teach you how to keep a sacred study journal of your own! I can't believe I ever studied the gospel without one.

The whole mission got an email from President Murdock this morning, and it began thusly:

"Good Monday Morning to you, we hope you are well planned to have a productive, fun, preparation day. Sister Murdock and I just returned from our Mission President's Seminar in Nauvoo, Illinois. It was inspirational and very instructive. I know one of the first questions most of you will be asking is when are we getting our iPads. We will answer that question in our Zone Conferences over the next two weeks."

So! It sounds like that will be happening soon! So many aspects of the work will be made more efficient with the blessings of advanced technology. I think our zone has the first Zone Conference in the mission, this week Wednesday! Of course I'll let you know any updates on the situation next week.

Chelsea and Alejandro came to church for the first time yesterday! It was great. Tonight we're going over to a member's house to have Family Home Evening with them! You always have Family Home Evening, right? I really hope so. If not, *coughrepentcough* you can always try harder! :) Pablo works in stone in Teluride, and he has a big project he needs to finish before snow falls, so we probably won't be able to see him for at least another week. But he still seems willing to progress. It's hard to remember everyone without my planner!! But know that people are coming closer to Christ, or at least we're trying to help them do so.

So, I don't like spicy things very much, because I don't think mealtime should be a painful experience. Sin embargo, I can take some pretty spicy stuff. Elder Smith, on the other hand, cannot. He hates spicy food. We've been trying to build up an immunity to spiciness recently. We were over at a member's house for dinner, and we convinced Elder Smith to eat a jalapeno (don't worry- I ate one too!). He just about died. It was pretty great.

The work moves forward! Thank you for all of your support. Sorry this one isn't too long, I'll have to remember my planner next time! Enjoy the pictures of our pumpkin carving on preparation day last week! Endure to the end, and be nice to everyone.

Sincerely,

Elder Rogers

A Thought from Mom

“We must not falter nor weary in well-doing. We must lengthen our stride. Not only is our own eternal welfare at stake, but also the eternal welfare of many of our brothers and sisters who are not now members of this, the true Church. I thrill to the words of the Prophet Joseph Smith in a letter that he sent to the Church from Nauvoo on September 6, 1842: 'Shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward. … Courage … and on, on to the victory!” ~President Spencer W. Kimball

 

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