Another week in Paradise:)

10/3/2016

Dear Family,

This week was real good! On Monday we went on a sweet hike and just generally enjoyed life. 

So instead of giving you a daily play by play, Im just going to share an experience I had with a dear investigator, David Fortson, and my insights from General Conference :)

So we met David Fortson a few weeks ago tracting. He didn't seem too interested, but he invited us back and so we went. That appointment went so well, the Spirit was so strong, and we committed him to baptism. The next week he cancelled his appointment with us for family reasons, but we felt that we should go see him, so Saturday night we stopped by and talked with him. He had had a really hard week with some family issues and also some health scares so it was so special to be able to bare witness of Christ's love for this man and God's awareness of his problems. We were able to give him a blessing of comfort and he said that because we had stopped by, he would be able to sleep tonight. The next day we were able to watch conference with him. It was such a tender mercy to be able to hear from David how this message is helping him out. I am so grateful to be a missionary.

So This weekend, as many of you know, was General Conference!!! It was my third out in the field and my 2nd to last as a missionary, so I tried to pay close attention. Because I stayed up late making a cake for Elder Mccleves birthday, I fell asleep during one of the Sunday morning talks haha but besides that, It was good. The three biggest things I got out of Conference was that 

1. I need to improve my prayers, and the way the Spirit told me to do that was too say a prayer of gratitude every day and to pray ten minutes before I go to bed. It was so cool to receive revelation :)

2. Be ambitious boys, Be ambitious for Christ. Elder Yamashita gave a great talk about being better and striving for Christ and his doctrine.

3. I also got the chance to ask the Lord what I needed to work on (what I lack) and I received the prompting to have more gratitude and to stop complaining, even jokingly. 

Another thing I got from conference was a sure witness of the Prophets and the Restoration, and that I need to be bold in my testimony of the Book of Mormon. So make no mistake, this is the true Church of Christ. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. The Doctrine of Christ is what the this life is all about. Have faith brothers and sisters. Don't forget the joy you first felt when you had ears to hear and you partook of the fruits of the Gospel. Nothing else will give you satisfaction, and nothing else will bring true and everlasting joy. 

I love you all,

Elder Rogers

Miracles!!

Sept 26, 2016

Denver Temple Trip - 1 year Baby!

Dear Fam :)

Hey So this week was absolutely amazing!

We have been so blessed here in Canon City (pronounced Canyon). Over the last 4 weeks we have found over 50 new investigators and have taught hundreds of lessons. Working from the ground up seems to be my gig in life, and I've had a great time serving the Lord and trusting in him. Out of all the people we find, we get dropped just as quickly, so the turnover rate is enormous! But out of the many we find those elect few who are really ready for the gospel. Currently we have 7 investigators with baptismal dates, and we will be in the font quite a bit the next few weeks. Here are two miracle stories from this week!

The first one is about a guy named David Fortson. David is literally the epitome of the golden investigator. We tracted into him awhile back and he said we could come back. When we finally got to meet with him, the Spirit was so strong. He said that all his life he felt like something was missing and that he never got baptized because all of the churches he went too didn't feel right. He is reading the Book of Mormon! And he has accepted the baptismal date of Oct 15th!

The other story happened yesterday! We were tracting out a trailer park when we knocked on the door of Cynthia Fraley. 20 years ago Cynthia Fraley was Excommunicated, but she never lost her testimony. As we talked with her, she expressed feelings of not being good enough, and staying away because of transgressions. It was such an honor to be able to testify of God's love for her and tell her just how much she is worth. We even got to give her a blessing, which she had prayed for that same morning. This is the Lord's work, and It is true!

So there is a little taste of what I do everyday. 

This week I was also got to go to the Denver Temple for my half way mark! I cannot believe its already been a year. Time flies so quickly here. It was such a blessing to be in the Lord's house, worshiping Him. 

I know this Church is true. Christ Lives, God Loves us. We can come closer to Him through keeping the commandments. He will never let us down! :)

Love, 

Just Pictures

 9/19/16

I'm Back!!!

9/12/16

Dear Family,

Just between you and I, for the last three months I have slowly felt less and less like a missionary. I am 100% back and ready to go, but the last two weeks have been a wee bit painful to refocus! Imagine going from teaching all day everyday, and feeling successful, to not working at all.  Then, back to training!  I know God always has a plan. Always.  My testimony never died, or even came close. I definitely have felt the Love of the Lord a ton lately, especially over the last three months. One of the blessings that God gave me is that the last three months flew by. You know what else has flown by? My mission. I am officially a year out, with only one year to go :/ I just have been given so much, I just don't understand it. Even in my darkest moments the Lord continued to bless me.

ANYWAYS!! My week was amazing and full of miracles! Also, I took a ton of pictures this week, but I left my camera at home -_-

Monday: We cleaned the house and had a grand old time at a barbeque! We are helping this family get ready to go to the temple and be sealed, and Im just so happy I get to be apart of this work!

Tuesday: I had to go up to Specialized training because I'm a district leader, which means more meetings.  Canon City is an hour away from Springs, so it was a lot of driving that day. Also, Elder Morgan was sick, so we didn't end up doing much that day!

Wednesday: We Tracted!! A lot!!

Thursday: We weekly planned and Tracted a lot!

Friday: ZONE TRAINING! We talked about our path of discipleship and our love for our Savior and it was so powerful! Im so grateful for Jesus Christ!

Saturday: We tracted a ton. From like 11 in the Morning to 8 at night. It was insane!

Sunday: We had Church and talked about families in Elders Quorum and I was reminded that I had the greatest family in the world!

Sorry the details are spotty! I forgot to write down exactly what happened! But we have this super solid guy named Nathan who is going to be baptized soon! He is so prepared for the gospel!

All in all we taught 88 lessons this week, and found 21 new investigators! And I am super unfocused right now! #ADHD

I love you so much! And next week will be better!!

Love,

Elder Rogers

Matching Cat Shirts, Miracles, Morgan and Mccleve

9/5/2016

Dear Family and Frens and Loved Ones and Cat fanatics. And My Mom, This is for you!

After three months of perpetual torture and lack of doing anything, I am back! I want to apologize for the state of my emails, and my disposition. Sorry if I gave any of you scares (mom)!

This is how my week went :)

Monday we went to the Royal Gorge as a district! A recent convert got us all tickets and even bought us lunch!! It was so kind of her! It was really scenic and awesome! But I forgot to take pictures. I must have missed out on that gene, sorry dad, Im making a goal to take 3 pictures a day :)

Tuesday! My Camera was dead, So I don't have any pics, but I picked up Elder Morgan and Elder Mccleve! Elder Morgan is from Sacramento, California! And we are basically the same person. He likes fitness, I like fitness. He is the oldest of six, Im the oldest of six. He has one sister, I have one sister. And Its in the same order as well! We also have a pretty similar sense of humor, and we just get along great. Already best friends! Elder Mccleve is from one of the nine stakes in Queen Creek, Arizona!!! But I didn't know him before now! From what he has told me, I won't even recognize my home town! We all get along dandy, and we bonded over a similar love of ANIME!!! #nerdsunite

Wednesday: I took my boys tracting, and they loved it! They are naturals at talking to people! 

So, at this point, all the days blend together! So I will summarize my summary ;)

Because our teaching pool was dead and empty, we focused on finding people this week. So as we took it to the Lord and exercised our faith, the Lord blessed us with meeting over 155 people this week, teaching 71 lessons, and finding 18 new investigators. 

Two of the new Investigators have accepted baptismal dates for the 24th of September!  Their names are Nathan Ford and Norma Jean Mazarik! Im so glad to be able to serve the Lord.

I truly testify that none of this success has anything to do with any innate drive, skill, or ability I or my companions have. All any miracle takes is faith in God. These were His successes! These are His investigators. This is His work. I know that I have a Father in Heaven who loves me perfectly. He loves me when its not convenient. He just loves me. And I can't express how grateful I am. I often think of the hymn "How Great Thou Art". I am constantly in awesome wonder. I testify that the witnesses we receive by the Holy Ghost are real. And we can feel the love of God through them. I know that Christ lives. I know it I know it I know it. He is my Savior. My Redeemer, My Best Friend. I testify that He engraved each one of us on His palms, and in His side, and on His feet. Just ponder why, as a perfected Being, He would keep the marks of the nails and the thrust in His side. The answer is perfect love. Because of that love, I can change. I can be clean. And so can you. Come unto Christ (Moroni 10:32) You'll never regret it. Loved ones, I know these things because God led a young boy into the woods to pray. And because that young boy prayed, and because God loves us, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is on the earth. It is the true church. I know it. The Book of Mormon is the Word of God. I never tire from its pages. Joseph Smith was a prophet. We have a living prophet today, Thomas S. Monson.

And because of all these witnesses, I have unshakeable faith. Doubt not, only believe. I promise that if you experiment upon the word, if you can only desire to believe, than you can come to know these things too. (Alma 32) You can receive your own testimony. You can become converted! (Alma 5:26, 45-47) 

I love Christ, and I love yall! 

Youre Homie,

Elder Rogers 

P.S. In mission lingo, I am now the father of 4 boys and 2 girls. #ProudPapa

​The fam at the Royal Gorge Train!

​Cees baptism (a month late)

​Royal Gorge Bridge!

​Elder John Tyler Mccleve!

​Flawless Selfie with my boys! (Mccleve on the left, Elder Morgan on the right)

​Elder Morgan, Preaching the Gospel

​Elder Mccleve, Enjoying Colorado Sunshine, and also Preaching the Gospel

​Rainstorm at Sunset It was cooler in person

​Me and Cee, enjoying the wind playing with our hair ;) I love this lady :)

Almost Half way :)

8/22/16

Hey,

Hows it going? I'm doing dandy! Thanks for the package, it did my heart good! plus the Shades are sweet! And they fit my face. So in a week It will be a year left. Not that anyone is counting. #September14=365. I miss you all terribly! I heard you are moving? Anyways, sounds like everyone is doing good!

Unfortunately, the work is pretty dead here in Canon.The ward hates us because we don't do a darn thing. My comp doesn't really care at all. I plan for days and nothing happens.  So, often I am napping during the day because my companion won't do anything. But, I'm choosing to have a good attitude. Also, its kind of hard to write weekly emails when you have literally done nothing all week. Only one more week, and then I get a new comp. hopefully. But life is still great!

I'm just trying to make the most of it. Trying to be happy!  I'm at 50 pullups and 50 dips! I've been struggling with motivation but, I feel it coming back! I really want to get into the habit again. I am getting kinda big though. I will send a pic. Besides that, life is good! Love you lots. We do have one investigator, and he has a date for baptism, which is really sweet! His name is Jeff, and his wife is a member and they are so cute! Sometimes the Lord lets tender mercies happen!  We found them through going out with brother Johnson, who is a member of the bishopric.  

I might double train next transfer, which would be super dope! I hope I train again. I need that greenie fire back in my life! Also that greenie drive for obedience haha. I miss that. I love being a missionary out here, serving the Lord, easily the best thing I have ever done! Thanks for sending protein, you know me so well :) Just let me know if its too much of an inconvenience! Tell me how the business is doing! Tell me how you and dad are doing! I'm going to be writing more letters soon.

I love you so much!

Mason

We had a baptism!!

8/15/16


Dear Family,

This last week we had a baptism! It went so great and she looked so happy! Her name is Cynthia Sullivan, but she goes by Cee, and the Lord had been after her for a long time. 

So this week went by pretty ok! Thank you Coppetier family for the package, I love you! Thank you Kaylie for the Chunk shirt, you know me so well! And thanks Mom and Dad for the Package, I needed the Sun glasses!

So on Monday we had this awesome experience with some non members who had some questions. The Nelsons, a family from the ward, invited them over to meet with us, and I hope someday we get to teach them more. I got to explain the true nature of God, and the Spirit was so strong. I love being a missionary.

So Tuesday went by same old same old, as did the rest of the week.

Thursday was awesome though, because we had a sweet miracle happen. We were working with our Ward Mission Leader and the family we had planned to stop by wasn't home, so we prayed and got the idea to go visit a less active member who hasn't been to church in years. The visit went great and he committed to coming to church this upcoming Sunday! So excited for him. He is trully ready to come back!

I forgot my camera, otherwise there would be pictures! 

I testify that God lives, and the Jesus Christ lives and loves us as well. This is His Church. This is His Work. I know that the Book of Mormon contains the Words of Christ, and that it is the word of God. 

I love you lots and I hope your week is going good!

Till next week,

Elder Rogers