Complaints‏

Wassup!? This week went in slow motion but its already over. Not sure how that works but this week felt super slow.... Anyways this week we didn't do too many crazy things. We found some new people... some of them very interested and some of them very not interested. We taught quite a few lessons and we even had 3 investigators come to church which is close to the most that i've had since i've been in the states. We have one boy, TR, who comes every week. He's converted but is waiting for his mom to be converted before he joins the church. The two others that came to church this week is Erin Edwards and her mother Peggy Ramsey. We have been doing some family history with them and teaching them a little bit of the gospel on the side. They were once Christian but have no settled on being Buddhists (they're just confused by how many Christian denominations there are) but they love to learn about religions and were very interested in coming to church so they came. Hopefully we'll be able to help them realize what they're getting themselves into! Saturday morning we got to go to a homeless shelter community and help as volunteers for a children's day there. The kids there were so sick! All these little 3-7-year-old thugs runnin around and having a good time swimming and having water fights. That was fun and it was something different that we don't get to do all the time. 
Now for what i've studied this week. It's a branch of what i studied last week, which was excuses if you can't remember. I studied about complaints... only briefly though because it's not that big of a topic but i heard a talk and it had some things in it about how to fight against complaints and take responsibility to change them. I'll explain the steps and then i'll give an example. The steps are: 1-Recognize the complaint, 2-identify what you want, 3-take responsibility to change it. Example: "This sacrament meeting is so boring." (we've all had that one before). So recognize that that is a complaint now identify what you want: I want to learn something and be uplifted from this meeting. Now take responsibility to make a change: I can take notes from what they are saying and that will help me come away with something. Also to go with this subject is an experience. A man once asked President Kimball, "What do you do when you find yourself in a boring sacrament meeting?" His reply was, "Well, I don't know. I've never been in one." President Kimball's response shows that we can ALWAYS get something out of sacrament meeting. The same goes in any situation where a complaint is used. The outcome can always be changed so this weeks invitation is to take this 3 step process and use it. Notice your complaints, identify what you want, and take responsibility to change the outcome! Have a great week!
-Elder Rogers

Surprise Happy Father's Day text to Ryan.

Tally life is the best of the best!

Tally life is the best of the best! The Walmart here has 2 doors instead of just 1! I miss little ol Atmore but this place is pretty nice. I love being somewhere that i already have been. I don't know the area super well yet but i'm gettin there. Monday after we emailed we went to the mall.... because we can. No money so can't buy anything, can't really do anything there other than covet but it was fun. Tuesday we had district meeting in Tallahassee. 
Something i forgot to mention thus far is that Elder Riddle, the Elder that i was within Atmore for my first 3 months there, lives right behind Elder Jorgensen and I. We live in a place known to missionaries in the FTM as "The Pound." Its a duplex with a 1 bed and bath/carport behind it. There's a set of missionaries in each side of the duplex and there's a set in "The Love Shack" (the 1 bed and bath carport). Elder Riddle and his 2 comps live in the Love Shack.... 3 dudes... 1 bedroom and 1 bathroom. 
Anyways District meeting was good. We talked about repentance as missionaries which is always a subject we can improve on. Wednesday we did some service and i got to mow a lawn for the first time since i've been back in the States! I forgot how satisfying it is to mow a lawn. It has been so hot out here lately. The heat plus the humidity is so awful... i don't know how people can get used to that. And how they get used to gnats is a miracle... cuz those are the worst thing ever to exist.... they suck. I'm a dry atmosphere kinda guy for sure though.
Sunday was another great day at church! I like seeing the progression from the first week of church to the second week at church. Throughout the week you've met or discussed about different members so you know a lot more of them the second week and you start to feel like you're part of the ward and not just the new missionary in the ward.
For the past few months i've been studying here and there about excuses... excuses are so interesting... here's a quote that i found this week while studying... "When a man uses an excuse he attempts to convince both himself and others that unsatisfactory is somehow acceptable... no matter how good or how valid, the excuse will NEVER change lack of performance into performance."... it's so crazy how we naturally use excuses but they never ever change the outcome of why we are using them. So this week i would encourage you to try and notice the excuses that you use... they most often come in the form of "i don't have time," or "i'm too busy." They come in the form of blaming someone or something else for the outcome. They also come in the form of taking your agency away... example "I can't read my scriptures because i have to exercise." What that means is that the exercise will not allow you to read your scriptures... which is not true. Just keep an eye out for it this week and try your best to notice and change it:) Its super awesome and it has so many blessings attached to it! 
-Elder Rogers

Guess who's back? Back again?‏

Well everyone this one is gonna be a little short due to lack of time. Transfers were this past Wednesday and i got transferred. It's been a huge blessing to serve in Atmore and with Elder Browning. I had a lot of fun, i learned a lot, and we worked hard. Its also i huge blessing to be where i am now. I got transferred all the way back to Tallahassee. I am now serving in the Tallahassee 1st ward and my companion is Elder Jorgensen. Him, and Elder Milne, were my first companions when i came from Africa to the FTM. And we're back living in the Compound! I love the zone, i love Tallahassee, and i love serving with Elder Jorgensen. This week was a lot of figuring out the area and finding new people to teach. We had some really good appointments with a new investigator of ours. Her name is Tina Johnson. We started talking to her about the Restoration and she was really interested and invited us back the next day to teach her more about the Book of Mormon! It's always really refreshing when you have an investigator who is interested in what you have to say. 

The highlight of my week was definitely church. After our meetings were finished the 5th ward was getting out of sacrament meeting so i got to see all of my friends from that ward. It's just a huge blessing to be back in Tally!

-Elder Rogers

Trust‏

Well everyone... this week went super well. We taught a lot of our investigators and one of them actually came to church... and she said she's interested in coming back which is super awesome! We went to see Bubba(the baptist deacon) and he wasn't there so we walked around and talked to some people for 30 minutes and then we went back to try his house one last time before  we had to leave Bay Minette and go back to Atmor

e. Well, prayers are answered everyone... just not in the way we thought they would be. He wasn't home. So we had to get in the car and head back home. Well, about 10 minutes outside of Bay Minette he calls us (we had left a card in hopes he would see it) and invites us back to his house so of course, we turned around. He gave us a tour of the house, we ate dinner with him and his family, and we discussed what we had left him to study which was the Plan of Salvation. First, his house is huge and extremely nice.... second, we ate steak, rolls, salad, potatoes, cucumber, squash, tomatoes, and blackberry pie. It was delicious. We discussed his studies between the house tour and eating dinner. I have never seen someone study that pamphlet so in depthly but he had highlighted and directed everything in that pamphlet. He came to the conclusion that we could be right but he still believes the baptist ways. There wasn't too much that we could do other than teach about the restoration and invite them to continue searching and studying and praying for the truth. He is like in the top 5 most important people in their congregation of 1000 people.... not to say that he can't be converted, but it's gonna take some time. Him and his wife are probably the two nicest people that i have met down here. We felt like we were instantly their best friends... that's true southern hospitality. Well transfer news came everyone and i'm leaving. I stayed about 6 months here and i'll be going somewhere else... most likely the last area that i'll serve in. Extremely sad to leave this area and Elder Browning. But that leads me to this week's great life lesson. As i was praying earlier this week i was asking the Lord to keep me where i'm at and don't transfer me... during my prayer i stopped and was thinking to myself. I was trying to take control of the Lord, or at least that was the intention and direction of my prayer. It was more like i was saying "You better not move me Lord, I'm comfortable here." That was completely faithless of me and showed an extreme lack of trust in the Lord's plan for me. In my next area and companionship's i will face different challenges that i won't be comfortable with. Well in those challenges are lessons that the Lord would have me learn so that he could continue shaping me into the person that He wants me to be. So i decided to try my best to trust in the Lord and ask for help through whatever happens and that i'll be able to learn the lesson that i'm supposed to.... cuz here's what it comes down to- I was getting moved regardless of what i asked for in that prayer... so i could either ask to stay and be devastated when i find out i'm leaving or i can trust that whatever happens the Lord wants me to learn something that will benefit me... yes i am sad that i am leaving... it's gonna be hard to readjust again but i went to Africa and back so that i could be where i am today to learn the lesson that i'm about to learn so it must be pretty important for me to learn. So my invitation to anyone struggling with their current position of discomfort, sorrow, pain, whatever it is... whether it be the death of a family member or the loss of a job, or the inspiration from the Lord to go somewhere you don't wanna go or do something you don't wanna do... trust in the Lord and trust that he has a reason behind it and a lesson that you will learn. Compared to those things a transfer is small and i haven't ever really faced something like the death of a close family member but i do know that the principle is the same. Life happens and we can either trust in the Lord and learn the lesson or we can let those things devastate us. The beautiful thing is that God gave us our agency and we can choose! I love you all and hope that you have a great week!
-Elder Rogers. 
"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding." -Proverbs 3:5