As I sit and right this email to y'all, It amazes me that I've already been out for 6 weeks. It feels like 2 days. But the most glorious 2 days of my life! Man I love being a missionary!! My life would be so empty if I wasn't! So I have received some letters, but none from my siblings, so I'm wondering if they have the wrong address or something ;) but seriously thank you all so much for keeping me that much more sane. Being a missionary is joy, but your day is that much better when you come home to package or a letter from someone! I can't believe how much I've grown in the last few months, Its incredible becoming consecrated to the Lord. Its seriously the best thing for growth that I've ever done. Just giving God all your wants and desires is the single best thing to become the person you want to be. The more we give the more we get. I know that when we turn over our sphere of influence to the Savior and let the Atonement work through us, miracles happen whether you're a missionary or not. Besides being a big brother, being a missionary is the single greatest thing I've ever done. I love this gospel!! Ok, so here is how my week went.
Mon: So last P-day my companion decided that we would go mountain biking, an endeavor that I have zero ability or grace in. But alas, we went. When we arrived at the park, we picked a pretty sweet trail called the chutes. After about a mile or so of biking up hill I realized that A) Im not very good at riding bikes and B) Im not in mountain traversing shape. At all. But I wasn't going to quit, so I steeled my will and pressed onward with much burning of lung and leg. About half way up one of my zone leaders, Elder Reimer, started feeling sick, so quite sneakily I started suggesting that we go back, because he was feeling sick.....not at all because I was sucking wind haha....ha but he said he wanted to keep trying, so my attempt to escape was thwarted. Which was probably good for me! So we pressed onward, my lungs continued to erupt into flames. Eventually, after I had crashed like 3 times, Elder Reimer threw in the towel ( but luckily didn't throw up). On the way down I discovered why people like mountain biking! Its fun to go fast!! I also rediscovered my lack of skill and ability in this area after crashing twice more, with miraculously no scrapes of bruises, just broken pride ;) But I did get like two feet of air on some of those jumps! So after unsuccessfully mountain biking, my companion and I played monopoly with the Zone Leaders. I'm not good at that either.... But it was a blast! I also got a pretty sweet haircut, the flowee hair is back ;) We taught a less active that night and it was a great lesson, and we were able to give him a powerful blessing.
Tues: We do a lot of service on Tuesdays, I don't know why, but its super good to help people, and to preach the Gospel like Ammon! Every Tuesday we get to serve at a goodwill type thrift store (Dad you would love it, I definitely do!) We organize things and generally pick things up and put them down. But there is this guy there named Speed, who is the best to work with! He loves the Elders and just has the spirit around him all the time! I know he is ready for the Gospel, but because of the church program we are serving thru, we can't proselyte! But I'm pretty sure he will ask to learn more eventually! We then got to help a member clean up their yard, and I got to use a power saw, which I found a lot of valid excuses to keep using... because its really fun. After that we did a ton of stop bys, got rejected just a tad bit more, and went to dinner. We have been really focusing on getting the ward and the Fort Carson Branch excited about missionary work and its been great. Also as a side note, I get fed EVERY SINGLE DAY. Its one of the best perks of going stateside ;) Please work with the missionaries in your ward, they may be awkward, but for the most part theyre trying with all their heart, might, mind, and strength to serve both you and the Lord. Just pretend that they're me ;)
Wed. We taught a bunch of people. We are working with a lot of less active members, and a lot of what they need is a support in the church. A friend that they can lean on till their testimony is strong again. Don't hesitate to reach out and lift people, the Lord will bless you!
Thurs. This was the first time that we had a truly effective weekly planning. Weekly planning is basically sitting down for 4 to 5 hours and receiving revelation for the children of God we are helping! It can be either really boring or really uplifting! This week I wasn't bored, which was awesome. We then had an amazing lesson with one of our less actives that we are working with. His name is Michael and he is so humble and willing to come back. The spirit is always strong when we teach him!
Fri: We taught 5 lessons friday, which was a tie with my previous record! Im so happy that as my companion and I work hard to find those who are ready, the Lord is providing them. We taught Austin, our new investigator, and it went super well, we got him to pray for us! We meet with him tomorrow as well, and I'm stoked! We also learned the power of coloring pages as it relates to crazy children. It works wonders!
Sat: We rode bikes and did stop bys all day long in an attempt to teach people. We didn't get the chance to teach a lot but we were able to narrow down some of our lists that we had of potential investigators.
Sun: I love Sundays, its so good to be spiritually recharged! We learned some more about Family Search and was able to teach a few unexpected lessons! Overall for the week we were able to teach 20 lessons, which was super awesome! I'm shooting for 30 by the end of training!
Brothers and Sisters, I leave you with my testimony. Christ lives, and He is our Savior. He loves us and wants to bless us. Those blessings are completely reliant on how obedient we are. Obedience brings blessings, there is no way around it. The Book of Mormon is the most correct of any book. If you want to receive revelation in your life, read the Book of Mormon. If you take your question to God, He will answer it. I've seen it in my own life. I testify that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, that he did see God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. His testimony was sealed in blood and I raise my voice with his, that this is the true church, that it is led by a modern day prophet. If you want to know for yourself, take it to God. He will let you know. I testify of these things in the name of my Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.
Keep at it and keep me posted! I want to hear from y'all. Love you lots!
Most excellently yours,
Elder Rogers
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