Get 'em in the wattta!!!

       This week was so great!! A lot of stuff happened so I'll try not to make this to long! Just to start off we set two baptismal dates with our investigators, Wisdom and Michael!!! We are so excited! Michael will be baptized on the 7th of January and Wisdom will be baptized on the 14th of January!! I feel like ever since we set them time has been going a little faster! As far as reading the Book of Mormon and praying they are doing way good! The only thing they are really struggling with is getting to church. Africans are a little tough to get to places, at least when you want them too. They just kinda do what they do and get there on their on time if they didn't plan anything over it!! Haha but these two guys (and all Africans) are way awesome!! They both know how to make fufu so we are way pumped to have some of that sometime!! Please pray for them to make it to church!
       Anyways besides that, we were able to meet with a less active member earlier in the week and he is way cool!! He is pretty much like a German cowboy, which pretty much means that in the summer he and some buddies dress up as cowboys from Texas and react the wild Wild West!! Haha it's kinda cool and he has a whole room in his apartment with swords and guns mounted on the wall and empty beer bottles (that he didn't drink) on a shelf. It's pretty much one sweet looking man cave! Haha! After we had a lesson with him he took us to this really really old town in our area. It was really sweet and I'll chuck some pictures of it at ya!!
       Later in the week we were able to go to lunch with one of my former companions and his parents! Obviously, he is home, but he came back this week to visit all of his areas!! This guy is such a stud and I look up to him a ton! It was so awesome to finally meet his parents and get to see him again! Haha he also came to church the next day so that's where the pictures are at! Haha but besides that this week was great!! We are finally starting to see the success from the seeds that have been planted from former missionaries and others!! I hope that everyone had a great week and has another one this week!!
Elder Rogers

 This is Karlheinz! I'll be at his house when we Skype!

Anotha brotha!!

       Well this week was good but at the same time kinda sucky!! Just to start off we got another referral from other missionaries in our mission and guess what. It's anotha brotha!! His name is Micheal and he is from Nigeria as well as Wisdom and Richard. But they don't know each other. As far as the week being kinda sucky, we weren't able to meet with wisdom and Richard because they are Africans and they like to just make appointments on top of appointments they made a week ago! Haha they are way cool and love them to death, but we will definitely be meeting with them three this week. And hopefully, 3 baptismal dates set!!
       But I don't have a ton of time! It's crazy how time goes by so fast! I can't believe Christmas is next week! I hope that everyone has been doing their best at sharing that video with family and friends, or even some random homie!! I can definitely agree that it's definitely hard to show people. The video is truly amazing and can pierce any heart when your testimony follows! Well I gotta run! But I hope everyone has a great week! I'll through in some pics, but nothing crazy this week!!
Elder Rogers

1 African? How about 2!?!?

       Well this week was definitely crazy and a ton of stuff happened, but at the same time it was so long!! It's honestly one of those weeks where I just can't explain everything over email as good as I could in person! I guess I can start with the highlight of the week which is we got to meet with two Africans this week that are so ready for the gospel!!!!!! I have been waiting so long for an investigator and i feel like the Lord is so generous that he just threw in a bonus for Elder Moon and I!! Haha He definitely blesses us and knows us personally!
       The appointment went amazing and they agreed to sincerely read and pray over the Book of Mormon and everything we said. They are so ready and we cannot wait! Just to back up, we got one of them, his name is Wisdom, as a referral from other missionaries that baptized his friend, his name is Friday. When we went over to his house we talked to him for a bit then one of his friends walked in! His name is Richard. Hahaha! But although we had a great time with them and got to learn from each other through the Spirit, it doesn't mean that we went skipping back to our apartment with everyone looking at us like we were some all-powerful dudes that have no worries in life, instead, we
were given more trials it felt like. This week has been packed of falling on our knees in prayer and coming to the Lord.
       I can testify that even when life seems to be perfect we never know what the Lord just might have in store for us. Now that doesn't mean when He sees us happy as heck he chucks a trial at us. Rather He sees our potential and doesn't want us to stop and be content there when we can become so much better! My whole life I've always wondered about trials and why they are here and how annoying they can be, big or small. And now it makes sense. Our Heavenly Father is so loving that when He sees how happy we are (which I can testify He loves), He gives us trials to keep us growing and keep us on the path of becoming like Him. I don't know about you, but I imagine it being pretty hard to see one of your own children be happy as can be and then when you see them going through a trial all you can do is step back and watch them work through it. Of course you can influence them, but that's their first time experiencing something like that, just like it is always our first time. I know He loves us and never abandons us!! He just wants us to know how much He really loves us!!!
       Well I gotta be honest I can't think of much this week!! I'm a bum and didn't take any pictures this week! But I hope everyone has a great week and as Christmas approaches to keep the real meaning of Christmas in our hearts! The most amazing present I have and will have received in this life is that of the Atonement. I will forever be grateful for the life of our perfect Savior Jesus Christ! Love you all.  Have a great one!!
Elder Rogers

Blessings on blessings!!!

       Well now that Thanksgiving is past, by the way, this thanksgiving was probably the saddest thanksgiving of my life. Elder Moon and I had 2 minute noodles for dinner, while we thought about our families, throwin down turkey and sleeping... it's ok though because we got blessed for it!! Hahaha! And actually we were invited by a member family that has an exchange student from Utah, so she made us all a very good American thanksgiving dinner! Definitely, miss that food.
       We had a super cool experience though!! We were at a member appointment one night for dinner and a spiritual thought. We shared a simple but powerful spiritual thought, we talked about how we can put our faith in Christ and make Him our foundation, and we also talked about why it is important to be set in Christ. The Spirit was so there and we all felt it. After we closed the appointment we asked the family if they needed help with anything and they said no then asked
us if we needed anything. We said to just simply pray that we will be able to find a new investigator. Right then our phone rang and it was another set of missionaries giving us a referral!! We were mind blown and it felt too good to be true!! Come to find out, this referral has lived in our area for a couple years and after he saw his friend commit to baptism he said he wanted to learn about it. Sadly we
haven't been able to meet with this guy yet because he has been a little too busy, but this week we will meet with him for sure!! All we know about him is that his name is Wisdom, he is excited to learn about the Book of Mormon, he speaks English, and this homie is African!! Hahaha seriously the best race in the world! But that's also half the reason why we haven't met with him because Africans are so dang hard to meet with.
       Well sadly I don't have any pictures but I promise next week I will have more, I've been kind of a bum lately and just haven't taken any! But one last thing before I dip!! Yesterday at church we were blessed to have a former investigator come!! Elder Moon and i have never met her and don't know anything about her, but the whole ward does! We talked with the bishop and he said she is willing to meet with the missionaries but said she hast to warn us because she has lost the spirit and hasn't been taught for a year or so. We found out that she had been taught all the lessons and was ready for baptism, but something happened and she just never came we are still a little unsure on what happened. But we are so excited to meet with her and we hope and pray that we will be able to get her back on the road towards baptism.
       Please pray that my amazing new missionary Elder Moon and I will be able to teach her simply and clearly and that the Spirit will be able to work through us. I strongly testify that the Lord blesses us with more than we think. Actually, I think He is the most generous person anyone has ever known!! Just think about it, He was so generous that He blessed the world with His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. Who gave His life for every single one of us! And He still hears our prayers, He still calms our hearts, and will always be a prayer away. How amazing our Father in heaven is. I pray that we will be able to recognize his blessings more, especially as the time comes when we worship the precious birth of Christ. I love this church and I know it's true! Hope everyone has a good week!!!
Elder Rogers

Sunrise

Cool Church

Crazy fetchin good week!

       Well this week was great!!!! We had an awesome mission conference with a member of the 70, Elder Adler, and he gave some amazing talks and insights about things!! We learned a ton about having faith in finding and just in general. After the meeting, Elder Moon and I had a split with the Zone Leaders and I got to bring Elder Rowe to the Gelsenkirchen hood!!! We ended up getting back so late that all we had time to do was plan for the next day and sleep. We were in Dortmund forever!! But we eventually got back! The next day we went by on an inactive family in the ward. We got to the address and I failed to put the right address in cuz I'm a noob. But it's ok because we got to talk to some cool people on the street and I got to learn tons from Elder Rowe.
       After that we had some Chinese food with a couple members and had a spiritual thought right there at the restaurant! It was honestly way spiritual and just amazing. If you get the chance to share a scripture and talk about it at your local Chinese restaurant, I would highly recommend doing it. Hahaha! After that we did some more contacting then split back with our comps at the end of the day.
       Later in the week we met with a recent convert and the spirit was sooo there. We came over, had some food, then shared a scripture about the Spirit of Christ and a quote about the Holy Ghost. We then talked about how important both of them are and also how different they are. It was way awesome and we could all feel the spirit sitting in on our lessons. Then, Elder Moon my crazy son followed the impression to ask our recent convert if she would pick a place on a map where we can go find, of course, we started with a prayer and definitely received revelation on where to go. She pointed out a little area than said don't cross the street and go to the hospital because it's bad at
night time and especially in the winter. Then another member texted us right then and told us the same thing. It was crazy!! We all just sat there with our jaws on the floor. Then our ward mission leader that was there said, "the Lords Holy Spirit is with us." Hahahaha i wanted to laugh just cuz of how we all looked!!! But luckily I held it in and didn't laugh the spirit away.
       We have yet to visit the place that our recent convert picked out, but sadly we have had absolutely no time to do it. But we are planning on it this Tuesday so pray that we will find as many investigators that the Lord will give us!!
       Well before I leave I'd like to just leave my short, simple, but firm testimony that I know we are the Lord's children. At times life can get hard and it seems like there is no time to catch up, but I can testify that I know that the Atonement will pick us up and carry us, just like the Savior Jesus Christ picks up the lost sheep. We are all that one sheep that has lost his or her way. If we can just simply come to him he will always, every time, without fail, pick us up and carry us. The Atonement is real and i can testify it is so real! Its power is from the most high and the best thing is that it will always be there I love you all and hope you have a good week!!
Elder Rogers

Elder Moons terrible piano posture

eating Chinese with a member and Elder Rowe

Elder Rowe and I on a split. (I might look way short in this pic,
but it's because he is way tall)

Super crazy week!!

       Well holy crap this week was just ridiculous!! I'm never going to keep stuff from my parents because I think it's funny ever again!! Haha not telling my parents that I got called to train and be district leader was the worst idea ever!! Haha it totally came back to get me!! So yeah anyways the big man president asked me to train 2 weeks ago... so this last week I picked up my new homie in Frankfurt!! It was actually way awesome because my trainer was there so we got to take a generation photo!!
       First of all I don't even remember Sunday Monday and Tuesday at all, those days are just gone. But Wednesday was my first morning with my new missionary Elder Moon!! Haha this guy is crazy! When we woke up in the hotel his alarm went off 15 minutes before 6:30.... then I hear "Guten morgen Elder!!" I was just thinking, ohhh boy this is going to be a really long 2 transfers. Hahaha!! Elder Moon honestly reminds me of the Golden on the best two years, just without the big glasses and the southern accent. Haha he speaks German a lot to me which is awesome!! The gift of tongues is seriously a real thing, ever since he got here my German has just taken a whole nother step and it's crazy! I give all the credit to the Lord.
       Anyways Elder Moon and i got back to good ol Gelsenkirchen around 5 in the afternoon and on the way home we noticed a bike that looked exactly like ours, weird. Well we get back to the apartment and where two bikes were chained up only one was and there was a broken chain next to it. Hahaha man I was just so not feeling it so we took Elder Moon's luggage up, dropped it off, and went back outside to steal our bike back!! Well instead of stealing it which would've been sick, but
instead i called someone in the office and he said to just let it go so I don't get in trouble, lame. Later we had a little Christmas planning meeting for the ward here and it was kind of a waste of time for us. Every time we gave some input they would just say "hmm ok, any other ideas?" Haha whatever we tried!
       On Thursday we had to go to the city of Dortmund for a meeting called district leader council, and trust me I definitely need some district leader council that's for sure! It was way awesome to talk about the zone we are in and our districts separately. Elder Moon and i also get to go on a split with the Zone leaders this week so I'm way excited for that! So after the meeting we had a member appointment with two of the coolest members in Gelsenkirchen!! Its just a mom and her daughter and they are both Hispanic. The daughter is grown up and married and they are both so friendly. Man I love sharing a scripture and talking with people about it after. The spirit that you feel is so strong that everyone can feel it, I can't believe that all comes from just a little book that some homie forever ago translated. Crazy!! Hahaha! Anyways right after that we had another appointment with a new convert and again had an awesome lesson. But she did make some food that was a little strange, but it's all good!!
       Friday we had district meeting and fetch those are hard to plan!! It still went good even though we went a little over time and Elder Moon got to eat his first Döner!! Well he eats slower than a grandma and didn't finish it but that's ok! After that we headed home and went finding which is always great... hahaha! Oh and just to end our lovely Friday night, we were walking back to the apartment and low and be-freaking-hold our second bike was gone... hahaha people are fetchin messed up!!
       So Saturday cam quick and we had service for a member in our ward. She is way cool and very funny! She was telling us how to carry the couches and where to put them and then finally she just admitted that she was talking to much. Haha i then asked her if she knew what the word nag or nagging meant and i said, for example, when my mom tells me to do things that usually have to do with some lame chore! Hahaha!! To tell this story I'm gunna have to refer to three apartments so I'll just call them apartment 1, 2, and 3. so!! We had to take a couch from apartment 1 and put it into apartment 2, which was of course on the 8th floor with no elevator. After we got done with that we had to take some cabinets and a couch from apartment 3 and put them in apartment 1 because someone is moving out of apartment 3 into apartment 2. yeah pretty much it was insane and took up most of the day! After that we had to get past just about everybody in the city of Gelsenkirchen to
catch our Straßenbahn to get back home. Yeah it took forever but we got back home just in time for our dinner appointment with the family Strohmeier! They are so awesome and I love going over to their house every Saturday night! After that we came home head butt our pillows.
       Ok so pretty much yesterday was Sunday and so we had church, a lunch appointment and a little finding. Nothing to crazy, we ran out of bikes to be stolen so no excitement there!! Haha today is worldwide cleaning day or some lame thing like that. Anyways I'll chuck some pics in for this email!! But before I wrap this big puppy up I just want to leave my simple testimony that I know with absolute surety that Heavenly Father and His perfect Son Jesus Christ live and love us more hen we can even imagine!! I testify that Jesus Christ was on the earth to die for each of use personally. I have felt the reassuring power of the Atonement in my life and have seen it in others. This church is the true church and you don't have to serve a mission to realize that! All you have to do is simply open that amazing book, read it, and pray sincerely to your loving Father in Heaven!
Have a great week!!!
Elder Rogers

Elder Stiles and I!!!

Our generation picture with Elder Moon

Elder Kramers trainee that dept falling asleep!

Haha!

A church in Gelsenkirchen

The Koln dome outside of a train

Email from the mission home

Dear Parents,
Elder Steven Rogers will be training Elder Joshua Moon in Gelsenkirchen. We’re pleased to have your sons here serving with us. They are fine young men.

Versetzung Versetzung Versetzung SR

       Well holy crap another transfer down! Can't believe that I'm already going into transfer number 5! Time goes pretty quick!! I'll be sending my current comp home and be getting a new one that won't be going home anytime soon so I'm excited!!
        As far as the fetchin week goes it was great!! Got a bit colder but we still managed to get missionary work done! We went by on a few inactive members again and sadly no one answered. This whole transfer we have found new investigators but they always live in someone else's area so we have to give them over. It's a bummer, but it's ok because we are all on the same team!! Besides the go by's we had some last appointments for Elder Faloon with members! The members here are all way awesome! That's one thing about some wards in Germany, everyone is really tight and just straight homies because there aren't a ton of people. But that doesn't mean we aren't trying to feel the chapels here!!!
       Well yeah so that's about it!! I promise I'll put more thought into my next weekly! This transfer has been such a blur I can't even remember what happened yesterday at church!! Hahaha! I hope everyone has a great week!
Elder Rogers

Happy Halloween!

       Well This week was flippin fast!! I can't believe November is tomorrow! Time really does cruise by when you're not thinking about it! But as far as the work goes it has been awesome!! We got a list from our bishop that has tons and tons of inactive members on it. We call it the home teaching list! Haha! Sadly a lot of them don't even live at the address we have or they just didn't answer. But it's all good because the members here are keeping us on our feet!
       We had a member appointment with a part member family and they made us some pretty boss sushi!! We were a little worried because we pictured sushi from a German not being very good, but we were dead wrong! We had an awesome lesson and left the spirit in the home! After that we got a ride home in the dads Mercedes Benz! Man I need a fast car one day.
       Anyways I'd love to leave my testimony with you all that I simply know that our Savior lives and loves us each personally! He is our older brother and literally gave His life for us! He is and was perfect, and so is His example. I hope we can all try to be like Him more and more everyday by using the power of the Atonement! I hope everyone has a good week!
Elder Rogers

Fetchin' JW's

       This week was pretty fast!! I can't believe that there are only two more weeks in the transfer! And I can't believe that I hit my 6-month mark this past week! Time seriously does fly when you stop looking at the clock!! Hahaha!
       Well this week was crazy, but we are finally seeing some success from our hard work! We finally get to meet with a potential tomorrow and we are way excited! Hopefully the best works out with this guy. Also we had some really good appointments with some recent converts and we helped them to set some really good goals to quit smoking!
       On Saturday we had a street display with the district. It was pretty cold, but we got a bunch of potentials out of it! It was also the first one I've been to that had JW's at a stand on one side of us and on the other side was Muslims and their stand. Haha and it made it way fun because all they can do is stand there and only talk to people if the person comes to them. But as missionaries for the TRUE church, we can talk to people when we want, how we want, and where we want! So just to make fun of the others, we first and got a book from the Muslims (the Quaran, because they are cool not gunna lie) then we started contacting people right in front of their stands! Haha the Muslims didn't care, but the JW's kept moving! Haha I guess that's what happens when you have 19-year-old boys as missionaries haha!
       Anyways, we also had zone training on Tuesday so I'll send pictures of that, the video is from that too and it was a little lesson we did about how Christ will put us on his back and carry us. I testify that He will and He quite does daily! This church is the true church people, it just makes sense. It's so simple but insanely powerful, which is how it should be. God is there and hears each one of our prayers, we can never waste His time because we are His children! His love for us is imaginable. I hope everyone has an awesome week!!
Elder Rogers

Zone training

The zone

Freaking huge triangle

       Well I'll be dead honest this week was really fast and sadly we didn't see the success we wanted from the week. We got to go on a split with the Herne elders and I got to go to Herne with Elder Kenley the district leader! It was a little crazy but way fun! We had a German class with some investigators and others then after we had a lesson with a recent convert and talked about serving others! It was very spiritual and the recent convert is definitely on the path to Christ! Everything just makes sense to him it's great!
       Anyways in Gelsenkirchen, we did a ton of go by's on less active members and sadly they either didn't answer or had no interest! It makes me so mad that someone can be baptized and then years later just give it up for some dumb cigarette or whatever. But we have free agency and can't change anyone's so it is what it is.
       Well today we aren't doing anything crazy, but during the week we were finding in the area of a triangle thingy that you can climb into!! I'll send pictures so it makes sense! Haha this week was honestly really fun, but was really just a lot of inside jokes and things you just had to be there for! That's a bummer about the mission, it's too hard to explain the stuff that happens!! I hope everyone has a great fetchin' week!!
Elder Rogers

Just another week at the office!

       Well I'll be pretty honest it was another solid week in the Gelsenkirchen hood! We had a bunch of member and recent convert lessons, but sadly our only investigator at the moment is out of town till the end of this week.
       One thing that was pretty wild is when we did our weekly planning on Friday we set a goal to have two new investigators and two referrals received. Well come to find out at church yesterday, the bishop's sister came up and told us that she has two coworkers that have interest. So if things happen to work out with these homies then boom that's two goals achieved! Hahaha! But missions aren't about the numbers, in reality, it's about "helping others come closer to Christ!" It's not whoever reactivates or baptizes the most people win in the after life, it's the little things that turn into big things later down the road or in the near future!
       For something funny this week, we went out to a city clear out in the middle of nowhere to go by on an inactive. Well we didn't realize how far he was till we pulled up the map and he was almost 3 miles away from our bus stop. We were probably just under halfway before we turned around and came back! Haha it was a real bummer but the walk was pretty cool and we only got to talk to about 3 people the whole way! Haha!
       Well sorry for the short lame email this week! I worry about putting everything into my weekly because I don't want it to end up in the ensign! Hahaha I'm totally joking! I hope everyone has a schön and süß week! (Gleichseitig) haha!
Elder Rogers

our long walk in the middle of nowhere

my Aussie comp and I throw' food down!

our district and zone leaders

Up in the Gelsenkirchen hood!!

       This week was freakin crazy! My new area is way cool and it's definitely taken a lot of adjusting! I honestly hope I'm up here for a while because I hate packing!! But I do miss the south of the mission! But the Lord will send us where He wants us so you get what you get and you don't through a fit!! Haha!
       We were really busy getting me situated in the new city and have been meeting new people and running to catch buses and trains, but it's been great!!!! My new comp was born in Australia and moved to Ireland 3 years ago, so he has an Australian Irish accent that is pretty funny! He is really chill and has been a lot of fun so far!
       Well, first of all, let me tell you how hard it is just to watch conference in Germany! We ended up getting home past missionary bedtime the past three nights due to having a busy schedule as a missionary, but I am so glad!! This is probably the first conference that I have actually paid attention to and I am so lucky we were able to watch it (even though we didn't get to watch the Sunday afternoon session) and learn from the Lord's wise men!!
       Anyways I think I'll just end with bearing my testimony on how I know that we have a living prophet today. Although he may be human and a little aged, he still has more power (on earth) than any man!! This conference he talked so quietly but yet his words were powerful. I know he is the living prophet today, I love him, testify of him, and sustain him, his counselors, and the twelve. They are all so much wiser than us and completely put their trust in God. I hope that we can all follow their amazing examples and when we do I know that we will come closer to our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
I hope everyone has one swaggin' week!!!
Elder Rogers

Courtesy of the old man Elder Fultz

Who said there wasn't baseball in Germany!?

Our swaggin' bikes

the view from our roof (the Schalke soccer stadium)

Just another view.

Hello from Elder Stiles

       I've been wanting to write you an email ever since I finished training your son and left Mannheim. The time that I spent with Elder Rogers has been the best two transfers of my whole mission, and I loved every second of it. He is an incredible missionary! When I found out that I
would be training, I prayed so hard to have a diligent, fun new missionary to work with, and he was honestly an even better companion than I had hoped for. He not only works hard but also makes the work fun. And his testimony of the Book of Mormon is so powerful! He told me that during our time together, he was reading the Book of Mormon from cover to cover for the first time. His testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon grew, and then he shared that testimony with people we meet on the street and in appointments. Your son has such a powerful testimony, and the Spirit felt while he shares it is incredible! He told me a lot about your family during our time together, and he looks up to and loves both of you so much. He is also very grateful for the awesome siblings that he has. I know that you have a wonderful family by the way that Elder Rogers talked about you and by the type of missionary that he is.
       Your son has become one of my best friends. President Holland said that your mission companions will become your life long best friends, and that is definitely true for me and Elder Rogers. I just barely got asked to serve as an office elder and I had the chance to go down to the Heidelberg zone to deliver some things and I got to see your son again, and that honestly made my day! I am definitely looking forward to hanging out with him after the mission and hopefully also getting to meet you and your family. I just wanted to thank you for raising such an awesome son and for supporting him in his calling. He has had such a positive influence on me and I am so grateful for that. I know that he will continue to see miracles as he serves faithfully.
       I hope you and your family have a great week and that all goes well!
Love,
Elder Stiles