Wassup Wassup??

Wassup Wassup?? This week was really fast! I had an exchange on Wednesday so Elder Smith and i went to Monticello and we had quite the adventure. We went to Fred and Sue Williams home and had lunch with them. Afterward he gave us the "Jungle Tour" which is just a tour of his property. He's the guy with the pond and the alligator. We went out to the pond to see the gator but it was way to cold so the gator didn't wanna come out. After that we went around and did some other super cool missionary stuff. Friday i was on another exchange and this one was with Elder Christensen. We stayed around Tallahassee for this one and we did some pretty good missionary work! We went around talking to people and we ran into one guy who was walking his dog and he definitely had been talked to by missionaries before because we said "Hey you have a beautiful dog. What kind is it?" which is a great way to start a conversation! He's been down this road before cuz this was his reply "No i don't wanna talk about my dog and i don't wanna talk about your religion. I'll go to heaven because of my relationship with God. Not cuz Mormonism is gonna take me there.".......... walk away. The best part is as he's saying that he's talking with his hands and in his right hand is his dog's leash and in his left hand is a bag of dog poop... i just wish it had smacked him in the face or opened up... but it didn't. Well Elder Troxel has had the flu so i've been doing some very serious studyin over the last three days. And some letter writing. Most of you should be receiving a letter. If you don't then send me your address and i'll get you one! Love yall!
-Elder Rogers

(Sent to us by text)

Wassup everyone!

Wassup everyone! Life is the same ol same ol down here in the south. Crazy rain and wind storm today and it feels and smells just how Sierra Leone did.... i'm not trunky for home i'm trunky for Africa...... one day i'll go back. Anyways this week we did a lot of teaching and seeing a lot of less actives. One crazy thing about serving a mission (and i don't know if this is a southern thing or not) but i've run into a ton of people who are hoarders. Its gross!! I can't believe how much stuff some people can pack into a house or a room or a car.... just through your crap away!!! This week was actually pretty uneventful outside of the usual preachin and teachin! We got a new investigator!!!! Which is rare! He's a retired school teacher who is interested in finding the true church... however he struggles in believing in a God... which is a big problem but we're doin our best to help him overcome that. On Tuesday i was up in Quincy again and i got to hang out with Chickenwang for a few minutes until he passed out onto his cot. He had a plastic bag full of beers and he was already drunk..... he drinks that stuff like water.... pretty crappy life, but really funny to watch him try and move around and function. Anyways that's pretty much it! Love y'all!
-Elder Rogers

funnest dodgeball tournament i've ever been in!

Call me Daddy...

This week was freakin crazy! Transfers were Wednesday and i am staying with Elder Reyes and Elder Troxel. Thursday morning comes around and i have to go to the mission office to fill out some driving papers so i can start driving again. When i go in and fill them out i had to sit down with Elder Bell (one of the senior missionaries over vehicles) and talk to him about my two little accidents that i had. He asked about them and i told him straight up that i was distracted and that's why i got in those accidents. He laughed and said thanks for the honesty but you shouldn't have told me that.... well President Smith walks in and Elder Bell goes into his office to talk to him about my driving record because President is the one that has to sign off on the people he allows to drive. I'm walking away and almost out the door because i thought i was done when President's door opens and Elder Bell yells to me that President wants to see me. So i go into his office and sit down and we talk about my driving record. He told me very bluntly to stay focused when i drive because he's gonna need me to drive. He then allows me to leave and about 5 minutes after we (Elder Troxel, Elder Reyes, and I) leave we get a phone call from President and he tells us to come back to his office.... so we do. When we get in there he says that there is an emergency transfer taking place. One of the missionaries in another zone needs to come back to Tallahassee so he needs to send one of us up there in his place. He talks to us and says that he'd like Elder Reyes to go up there and take his place. Then he says to me that i need to go up with him and drive back the other missionary...... its a two-hour drive. I didn't realize that when President said he's gonna need me to drive he meant like... now. So we go up and trade missionaries and we head back to Tallahassee and we arrive safe and sound... i could not believe the timing of everything. I went into the office... got my privileges to drive about an hour before i had too.... and we made it back safe:) So now it's just me and Elder Troxel in Tally 2.2 just kickin it. I'm his trainer now... gonna be pretty interesting! :) Love yall!

-Elder Rogers

Chickenwang!‏

Wassup wassup?! This week was crazy! Tuesday i went on an exchange with Elder DeGroff in Quincy (his area). Quincy is full a homies! And you know what i mean by homies... my black skinned bruthas! Anyways we're up in Quincy and we're ridin bikes and talkin to a ton of people and it comes to 4 o'clock in the evening, and we had an appointment with and investigator, so we head on over to her house. When we get there we see that there are a ton of cars parked outside so we go up to the door and she comes out and says that now isn't a good time so we asked if we could come back in a few hours and she said that that would be fine. So a few hours pass and we head back over to her house... the cars are still there. We are met by the investigator's mother this time who really loves missionaries and has a lot of faith in the things that we do, so she tells us to come on in and pray for them. The investigator's cousin had gone missing so they were all mourning with each other so we go on in and we meet everyone and we're standing in the front of their living room and there had to be at least 20 people in that room. So here we are standing in a room full of people and Elder DeGroff starts praying and its kinda hot so we're sweatin a little and i am just getting flashbacks from Africa! Elder DeGroff finishes the prayer and then we leave. As we walk out i see a man across the street walking with a cane and he can barely walk straight and he's being pulled along by another, much larger, man. I ask Elder DeGroff if we should go over there and he said "nah he'll be alright. That's just Chickenwang." "Chickenwang"(don't know how he got that nickname) is a drunkard that hangs out at the gas station on the corner of the street... always drinkin and always drunk. Anyways he tells me that that is Chickenwang and then one of the women that were inside for the prayer came out to get something from her car and Elder DeGroff asks her "Is that Chickenwang?" and she looks up and across the street and in the black woman tone of voice says "Oh myyy... someone needs to pray for that man. He drunk for everyone!" That was definitely the funniest thing i had heard in a long time... I love the Quincy people so much! They are way funny! They found the cousin a few days later just so ya know. After that, not much has happened. Transfer news came last night and i am gonna stay with Elder Troxel and Elder Reyes for another transfer. They will be my 3rd and 4th companions that i have stayed longer than one transfer with. It's gonna be nice not havin to pack my bags this transfer:) This week we have been doing a lot of contacting on the streets and we've been using Family History to try and spark interest in people. It worked pretty well. The whole week was planned a long time ago to be a family history competition. If you got a return appointment using family history then you got a point and at the end of the day you send them all into your DL who sends them to your ZLs. At the end of the week there is a huge dodgeball competition (which is today). Its a huge tournament and the teams are set up by district. Our District is gonna own!!! The team(district) who got the most points during the week gets a few perks to help them. Its gonna be way fun! Our district is doin a blackout so we're all gonna wear black to harness the power of intimidation! Haha hope it works! Anyways love yall but i gotta "dodge" out (<--haaa get it). See ya!
-Elder Rogers

A picture of the Tally Zone from the mission blog.