Hello! This week i do not have a long email because nothing much has happened since Wednesday when i sent my last email. So this week was my final transfer news.... Elder Moss and I are staying in the Tally 1st ward and this will be my "final resting place" It's kind of relieving to know that i'll never have to sit in anticipation for someone to tell me if i'm leaving or staying! Elder Moss and I have a baptism tonight! His name is Torres Rosas Lebrun. He's been taught and coming to church for about 8 months and he's finally received his answer. It's a super huge blessing to have been able to be a part of his conversion at this time and i've learned a ton from the past few weeks of lessons with him! We're super stoked for that. Today is our transfer annual Tally dodge ball tournament so today should be a day full of fun events! That's it for this week! Deuces!
-Elder Rogers
p.s.: my next keyboard sermon will be next week!
Monday, August 31, 2015
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
#sanDESTINation
Well this has been the freakin most awesome last 3 days of my life! It all started with a phone call on Sunday night at 8:57. Elder Jorgensen calls us. And he says "hey we've got a top-secret mission for you guys... do you accept." Top secret mission..... of course! What had happened was... the two Seventies came in on their flight Sunday evening however Elder Stanfill's luggage was delayed.... So by the time it got there, the Assistants, President and Sister Smith, and the Seventies had already headed over to Fort Walton for the half mission conference on the other half of the mission. So they couldn't get his luggage. So they needed us to go to the mission home and pick up some baggage claim tickets, go to the airport and pick up his bags, then take them to Destin (where he was staying) and hand-deliver his luggage to him..... ohhhhhhh yaaaaaaaaa. Destin is the most beautiful vacation spot in our mission.... white sand beaches and tons of hotels, and its about a 3-hour drive away. So Elder Moss and I hit the road! At about 1 in the morning we hand Elder Stanfill his luggage. We got to meet him, so that was pretty cool! President Smith told us to call him when we dropped off his bags, so we called him and he gave us some phone numbers of the missionaries who lived closest to where we were. So we called them. The first number was a set of sisters........ so that wouldn't work. The second was a set of elders but they didn't answer the phone. So after we had tried their phone for about 5 minutes we called President back and asked him if we could just drive home... and it's about 1:30 in the morning at this point. He told us that he'd rather put us up in a hotel than have us drive all the way back to Tally at this hour. So that's what he did!! He got us a room at the hotel where he was staying. It was so sick! 2 queen-sized beds...... so celestial... and what was the best part??? The words that came from President.. "Sleep as long as you want." OOOOOHHHHHHH YAAAAAAA!!!! But i have come to find out that when you have gotten up at 6:30 for almost 2 years straight your body just starts to wake up at that time on its own... so since we went back an hour with the time change i was up at 5:30 ready to run a marathon! I wasn't even tired... but i laid there for an hour trying to fall asleep cuz this is probably the only time i'll ever be allowed to sleep in on my mission.... and i fell asleep for 30 more minutes and got up at 7. Elder Moss didn't wake up for like another hour... so in the meantime i showered and "brooked" (that's right... bringing Africa back:)) my g's and dried them with an iron.... then Moss and i went downstairs to eat... breakfast was great and i was expecting a ton of people to be there but wait... no one vacations on a Monday:) so we started our p-day off with a great breakfast and since it was our p-day we stopped at the Destin beach for a little bit....... wow. So beautiful! That's near the top of the list of things to do on the mission re-visit. Elder Moss and i headed back to Tally after that.
Monday night all the missionaries came into Tally for the half mission conference for the east half of the mission. So at the compound, we had 12 missionaries. 6 that live here and 6 who came for the night. Milne was one of them so we had a party! Then was the conference! Tuesday morning at 8 all the zone leaders and sister training leaders had a meeting with the seventies and we learned some cool principles of leadership and putting more action into our leadership. Then we had the zone conference from 9-3 and that was some more super awesome spiritual enlightenment! Then from 4-6 we had a Mission Leadership Council (the zone leaders and sister training leaders again) and we learned some of the most valuable leadership skills that i've learned as far as being an example and correcting disobedience. After the MLC we had another party! Browning and Milne were now staying in the pound with us.......... that was way too much fun for missionaries. Then this morning we woke up and played a huge dodgeball tournament from 6-7.... this has been the craziest, the sickest, the spiritualist,.... most awesome past 3 days of my mission.
So what did i learn from the conference? What i learned came from the MLC. We were taught that "Your silence means yes." What that means is that your silence as a leader or as a member of the church means that you aren't against what is happening. For example: If elder moss and i are in a conversation where some missionaries from our zone are planning to do something disobedient and we don't say anything.... we have just told them that what they plan to do is okay. So the same goes in our lives as we are examples to everyone. If you don't speak up and say something then people will say "Well so and so was there and they didn't say anything about it so it must be okay." I hope this is all making sense! If you find yourself in one of those situations this week... "Be thou an example of the believers!"
-Elder Rogers
Monday night all the missionaries came into Tally for the half mission conference for the east half of the mission. So at the compound, we had 12 missionaries. 6 that live here and 6 who came for the night. Milne was one of them so we had a party! Then was the conference! Tuesday morning at 8 all the zone leaders and sister training leaders had a meeting with the seventies and we learned some cool principles of leadership and putting more action into our leadership. Then we had the zone conference from 9-3 and that was some more super awesome spiritual enlightenment! Then from 4-6 we had a Mission Leadership Council (the zone leaders and sister training leaders again) and we learned some of the most valuable leadership skills that i've learned as far as being an example and correcting disobedience. After the MLC we had another party! Browning and Milne were now staying in the pound with us.......... that was way too much fun for missionaries. Then this morning we woke up and played a huge dodgeball tournament from 6-7.... this has been the craziest, the sickest, the spiritualist,.... most awesome past 3 days of my mission.
So what did i learn from the conference? What i learned came from the MLC. We were taught that "Your silence means yes." What that means is that your silence as a leader or as a member of the church means that you aren't against what is happening. For example: If elder moss and i are in a conversation where some missionaries from our zone are planning to do something disobedient and we don't say anything.... we have just told them that what they plan to do is okay. So the same goes in our lives as we are examples to everyone. If you don't speak up and say something then people will say "Well so and so was there and they didn't say anything about it so it must be okay." I hope this is all making sense! If you find yourself in one of those situations this week... "Be thou an example of the believers!"
-Elder Rogers
Monday, August 17, 2015
Blessings!
Well everyone this week was awesome! We had MLC again! It's once a month but it comes super fast! MLC is always fun cuz we get to chill with all the cool mission homies like Milne and Browning and Jorgensen.... all the cool guys! life is good here in Tally 1! Silena White came to church on Sunday and she is super excited to be baptized this coming Saturday! She brought her friend to church with her and we went up to her to talk to her after church and this is how the conversation went:
Elder Moss: "Hey Yolanda!"
Yolanda: "Hey Silena invited me to be baptized on Saturday."
M: "Oh so you're gonna come to her baptism?"
Y: "Ya but i'm a little nervous... i don't know how to swim."
Then it hit us...... Silena really did invite her to be baptized on Saturday with her. She's so naturally missionary minded! She was talking to someone in a store and he said that she had a glow about her and she straight up told him its because she attends the "LDS church of Mormons"....... and then she invited him to come and everything. He didn't come but it was still awesome. Elder Moss and I never leave our appointments with her without a huge smile on our faces. Whenever you leave or end a conversation on phone call or text she always says "Blessings." She's so sick!
On Friday Elder Jorgensen came back to Tally 1 for the day on an exchange! It was a lot of fun! Just like ol times! It was really weird actually! I had to keep reminding myself that we weren't companions and that its been 3 weeks since transfers! Well that's really it for this week! We're prepping ourselves spiritually for a General Authority visit that is coming up a week from tomorrow. Elders Nielson and Stanfil from the 70 are coming!
The "sermon from the keyboard" this week is something that i would invite everyone to ponder and take action in whatever way they feel that they need to. President said at MLC that "When the Lord hastens the work... He hastens it on both sides of the veil." Think about it and do whatever you feel you need to do to hasten the work!
-Elder Rogers
#blessings
Elder Moss: "Hey Yolanda!"
Yolanda: "Hey Silena invited me to be baptized on Saturday."
M: "Oh so you're gonna come to her baptism?"
Y: "Ya but i'm a little nervous... i don't know how to swim."
Then it hit us...... Silena really did invite her to be baptized on Saturday with her. She's so naturally missionary minded! She was talking to someone in a store and he said that she had a glow about her and she straight up told him its because she attends the "LDS church of Mormons"....... and then she invited him to come and everything. He didn't come but it was still awesome. Elder Moss and I never leave our appointments with her without a huge smile on our faces. Whenever you leave or end a conversation on phone call or text she always says "Blessings." She's so sick!
On Friday Elder Jorgensen came back to Tally 1 for the day on an exchange! It was a lot of fun! Just like ol times! It was really weird actually! I had to keep reminding myself that we weren't companions and that its been 3 weeks since transfers! Well that's really it for this week! We're prepping ourselves spiritually for a General Authority visit that is coming up a week from tomorrow. Elders Nielson and Stanfil from the 70 are coming!
The "sermon from the keyboard" this week is something that i would invite everyone to ponder and take action in whatever way they feel that they need to. President said at MLC that "When the Lord hastens the work... He hastens it on both sides of the veil." Think about it and do whatever you feel you need to do to hasten the work!
-Elder Rogers
#blessings
Monday, August 10, 2015
"Alright Satan..... i'll get another one."
Well this week was awesome! Silena White, our investigator, is extremely excited for her baptism coming up on the 22 of August and we're excited for her. We love going to teach her cuz she understands everything and she just soaks it all in like a sponge. She's got so much fire already and she's not even a member. The ward had a temple trip and she was super bummed cuz she wants to go to the temple SO bad. She's looking way past baptism and setting her focus on the temple which is something that i wish every investigator could do. She goes down to Gainesville, FL, quite often for treatments and she is always sharing the gospel with everyone. It's not uncommon for us to get a phone call from her as she's riding the bus down there. She'll be having a conversation with someone about the church and when they ask a question that she doesn't know the answer to, she'll give us a call and hand the phone over to the person that she's talking to. She left her Book of Mormon on the bus one time and when she got home she called the bus driver and asked her where her Book was and the driver said she didn't see it on the bus and doesn't know where it is.. What was Selina's reply? "Alright Satan..... i'll get another one." She's super funny and so awesome! Life is all good in the hood in Tally. Sunday was probably the highlight of the week! We went to church and guess who was visiting the ward before us?? Elder Dube from the First Quorum of the Seventy. He's from Kenya and he was part of the West Africa Area Presidency when i was there. So between their sacrament meeting and 2nd hour i was waiting outside the chapel and he walked out so i shook his hand and got to talk with him about Sierra Leone a little bit. Being around someone from Africa and talking about Sierra Leone was so sick... it made me so Africa Trunky all day. That was definitely the highlight of my week!
This weeks "sermon from the keyboard" is a little different. It's an activity that i learned from one of my companions almost a year ago and has helped me so much on my mission. Here's how it works. You'll need a piece of paper, a pen, and an envelope. On the piece of paper you write down something that is distracting you from your goals or something that is becoming a burden that is to "heavy" to carry... example for a missionary would be: "I'm worried about my family back home,"or, "I don't know what i'm going to do for a career path when i get home." I don't have a great example for a normal civilian cuz i'm not there yet.:) But find what is holding you back from becoming better and write it down on the sheet of paper... it can be one thing or it can be many things but write at least one down. Once you've written that down fold it up and put it in the envelope. Seal the envelope. On the envelope write the words "In the Lord's hands now." By doing this you are putting whatever is holding you back or whatever you are struggling with and you are putting it in the Lord's hands. For him to take care of. Tape it up on the wall, use it as a scripture bookmark, or place it somewhere that you will see it daily. When you see it you'll be reminded of what's inside and what you are leaving up to the Lord to take care of. Also do this prayerfully so that you are letting the Lord know what you're giving him. Once you put it up do everything in your power to leave it to the Lord. It's a hard activity to explain over email but it works! You don't have to share what is inside with anyone either.. you can if you want but i would advise keeping it to yourself. This activity will help you trust in the Lord and you will see that the Lord is in your life and supporting you and helping you through the things that you are struggling with. Try it out!
-Elder Rogers
This weeks "sermon from the keyboard" is a little different. It's an activity that i learned from one of my companions almost a year ago and has helped me so much on my mission. Here's how it works. You'll need a piece of paper, a pen, and an envelope. On the piece of paper you write down something that is distracting you from your goals or something that is becoming a burden that is to "heavy" to carry... example for a missionary would be: "I'm worried about my family back home,"or, "I don't know what i'm going to do for a career path when i get home." I don't have a great example for a normal civilian cuz i'm not there yet.:) But find what is holding you back from becoming better and write it down on the sheet of paper... it can be one thing or it can be many things but write at least one down. Once you've written that down fold it up and put it in the envelope. Seal the envelope. On the envelope write the words "In the Lord's hands now." By doing this you are putting whatever is holding you back or whatever you are struggling with and you are putting it in the Lord's hands. For him to take care of. Tape it up on the wall, use it as a scripture bookmark, or place it somewhere that you will see it daily. When you see it you'll be reminded of what's inside and what you are leaving up to the Lord to take care of. Also do this prayerfully so that you are letting the Lord know what you're giving him. Once you put it up do everything in your power to leave it to the Lord. It's a hard activity to explain over email but it works! You don't have to share what is inside with anyone either.. you can if you want but i would advise keeping it to yourself. This activity will help you trust in the Lord and you will see that the Lord is in your life and supporting you and helping you through the things that you are struggling with. Try it out!
-Elder Rogers
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