Howdy Folks,
This Cowboy country is really getting to me. I think I might even start to like country! Ha Psych! Still not happening, but I am falling in love with this area, Its a great place to share the Gospel! So I'm sure your'e all wondering about the title of this email. Let me explain. When a missionary trains a new missionary, he becomes the new missionary's "dad" its just a slang term for being a trainer. Don't worry, I don't make him call me dad, that would be weird. But other missionaries will call him my boy and they will call me his dad. So there you have it, the secret language of missionaries! My new companions name is Elder Legaspi and he is from Naga City in the Phillipines! He is 100% solid and I love him already! He is 100% willing to work and he is even willing to put up with me. This week was kinda slow missionary work wise but it was still a good week! Here is how it went!
Monday: Elder Thompson and I,went on a legendary adventure out into the wilderness to find the remains of dinosaurs. It was so dope! We hiked for an hour and a half and came across the largest dinosaur tracksite in North America! The tracks spanned the length of a quarter mile and two opposing river banks. Since Elder Thompson and I are professional adventurers, we couldn't possibly be satified with the tracks on only one of the riverbanks, so we took off our shoes and forded a freezing cold river to reach the other dinosaur tracks. it was 100% worth it. The water was so cold that the instant my feet hit the water they just hurt. It was knarly. We then had to trek back to our car and face the wrath of some migrating cows that were pretty, well, bovine. It was definitely my favorite P-Day so far!
Tuesday: It was the last day Elder Thompson and I had together, So we tried to work our bottoms off. We had a great lesson with our progressing investigators, Jonathan and Crystal, and we found some new people to work with. Missionary work is the best!
Wednesday: Wednesday we drove to the Springs to pick up my trainee and to hand over Elder Thompson to his new companion. It was pretty sad. But all is well that ends well! I got some last minute training on how to be a trainer and I also got to meet Tru Faith, my favorite Christian rapper, who happened to be a former investigator of Elder Thompson. We then went to the airport to pick up my new companion and we had a safe drive home, all the way to La Junta, which is like a two hour drive. We are so isolated!
Thursday we got to weekly plan a smidgen and then go meet some investigators and the bishop. Bishop Efird is pretty awesome and we have a lot in common, since he just got called as Bishop and I am fairly new myself. We got to eat dinner with them and they invited us over to make calls to our families on Christmas.
Christmas: We studied like normal and then played Fact or Crap for almost two hours. The game is the best! We then went and saw a less active and shared a spiritual message with him. Its great to be able to share Christ on Christmas! We then got to go over to the Bishop's house and call our families, which was awesome! Shout out to the Fam, my favorite people ever! Luckily for me I get to keep them forever! We then watched Willow, which is by far one of my favorite movies ever. So good! I also have to say thank you to my Mom and my Grandma and Alexa for making my Christmas awesome! The shaving cream works great Grandma! I am a pretty spoiled missionary!
Saturday: Probably one of the roughest days I have had as a missionary. I just didn't know where to start and we had a limited amount of miles and it was just generally stressful. One of the families we were teaching dropped us because they ran into some Anti Mormon literature while doing research. That was pretty hard on me, because they had been a miracle find. But I have confidence that the Lord will soften their hearts and that we will be able to continue to teach them. It still broke my heart. I then had a very drawn out and emotionally draining conversation with an aggressive atheist who insulted my intelligence and called me a sheep for believing in God. If the guy had been humble and polite with me we probably could've have parted ways without me wanting to give into the natural man and punch him, but instead he had to demean me and call me an idiot. I have nothing against other beliefs and even a lack of belief, but there is no reason to be rude. I think he is more mad at God than anything else. Looking back and having thought about it for awhile, I realize I needed to have that conversation to strengthen my testimony and to try my faith. I am very grateful the Lord helped me out and I know that if you ask for it, He will help you too.
Sunday: Our investigators came to church! That is always a win in my book! We got to go meet a bunch of people and recieved a really promising referral from a lady in the ward! The work is really picking up and I am so grateful I get to be a part of it! We taught the Word of Wisdom to our investigators and the they said they would live it! The Lord really made up my inadequacies in that lesson and It was super humbling.
I just want to bare my testimony that I know the Lord Qualifies whom He calls. I know it, because He is doing it with me. I love the Lord and I know that someday I will see Him again. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet. I know that God lives because the Spirit has born witness of it in my heart. I testify that the Book of Mormon can help solve what ever problem you have, if you sincerely search it's pages and include God in the equation. I testify of the power of the Atonement of Christ. (Alma 34) It is the sweetest experience to feel the love the Savior has for us and when we repent and take advantage of the Gift of the Atonement, we feel that love so strong. He has the power to change your nature, your habits, your life. I invite you to let Him. You will not regret it. Life is hard, but it is harder with out Christ. I am grateful for all of you and I love you all very much. Stay safe and live long and prosper!
With Love,
Elder Rogers
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