Tallanasty!!!!‏

This week went by so fast! I was on an exchange with Elder McLaws on Tuesday and Wednesday. We were in Bay Minette ( the southern city in our area) and we were way out in the boonies! Trailer parks, dogs, and fishin boats! I still can't figure it out...... why do people live in a destroyed trailer that is filthy but they buy nice trucks and boats...... priorities are outta wack! Friday i was with Elder Swenson in Atmore on an exchange and it was fun.... no guns pulled on us which is always a plus. Elder Browning and i had a meeting in Tallahassee on Saturday so we got up at 6 and hit the road Saturday morning. 4 hours there and 4 back..... we had a lot of bonding time... actually it was the highlight of my week... we had a ton of fun road trippin! In Tallahassee we got to hear from President Smith and he talked about gaining members trust through being obedient. It was so awesome and uplifting. I wish that everyone in the world had a chance to sit in a conference and be taught by President Smith. He teaches by the spirit and everyone feels extremely uplifted afterwards. It's extremely spiritually refreshing! After President Smith taught us we had the opportunity to be taught by Elder Munns of the Area Seventy. He taught us about earning the spirit and working by the spirit. He also taught us about how we should study and strive to understand the Atonement and how we can draw from that and draw from the powers of heaven. He also taught us about how angels are all around us to help us in the work. Most times they are unseen but they are always there. 
I was struck by the doctrine of how we get the spirit with us. Its a doctrine i feel i should know by now and maybe i do know it and i was just being refreshed. I feel like most times when we cannot feel the spirit we as natural people start to focus on the negatives of "What am i doing wrong?" or "Have i done something to cause the spirit to leave?" I've been frustrated lately with this exact situation and maybe that's why Elder Munns' words struck me but here is what i understood from the spirit as i listened. During these times of frustration i usually decide to wait the dull period out. Just wait it out and eventually the spirit will come back. When really the answer that lies in the doctrine is that we need to EARN the spirit. The spirit rarely will just appear in your life and hang out. He's a good friend..... a good friend must be invited into your life. You must invite the spirit in your life by drawing nearer to God by DOING SOMETHING. Most of the time an action is required. Why is this? Because when there is a righteous action made 1- the spirit wants to be around you. 2- your righteous actions show the Lord that you desire to have and keep the spirit around you. So next time that you are frustrated with why you can't feel the spirit examine yourself and if you find something out of line with the gospel change it... if you are in line with the gospel... do something above and beyond to show the Lord you want the spirit. Study the scriptures, give service, pray fervently, fast....etc. Don't worry. The spirit will come. He wants to be around those that want him around bad enough to do something about it:) 
-Elder Rogers

We received this email later the same day:

I'm back!
Power went out... just like Africa!!!! But we made good use of time.... we went fishing with Ed Spencer our investigator.... we didn't catch anything near as big as that dagum shark Annika is holding but we did catch 62 fish;)