Alright, this week was an interesting one! After pday last week we waited on people to show up to the church for German class, but sadly they never showed up. By that time we had to be home so we just talked to people on the way back to the apartment.
         Friday we had a meeting with our ward mission leader and talked about how we can better do missionary work. Our ward mission leader told elder Bahr and i to always be finding. We were like, "yo homie, we have been talking to everyone possible!" It's whatever though, it's always good to be reminded to do something we do every day... I guess. Haha after THAT, we left to go get some lunch and talk to people. We later had an appointment with the family Nowaks and they are super cool!! They have 8 kids but only one was with them, the rest are already moved out, and they made some really good dinner. Sister Nowak told us that in a couple weeks on pday she is going to take us and 4 more missionaries to a monkey petting zoo!!! Freaking sick!!!!
         On Saturday we did a finding activity with the district and it was super sweet! I went with Elder Hays and we talked to a ton of people about Christ! We talked to some interesting people, but also some really cool people that were open. After doing that for a couple hours we had an appointment with one of our African investigators named Mike. He is seriously one of the coolest, smartest Africans I've ever met. He has been coming to church for a while, and we are just now getting to teach him. We talked about the plan of salvation and how important of a role it plays in our lives! It went really good. After that we headed home, had some lunch, went to meet with two investigators and got stood up. We then tried meeting with another investigator and got stood up again. Really a pain, but it's all good we talked to some cool people! After that, the day was over.
         Sunday was a great day! I hate to skip it because it's the best day of the week, but I'm tryin to get this thing done!!
         Monday, freaking sick day!! Our district leader called us the night before on Sunday and canceled our scheduled split for Thursday to Friday. We were a little bummed and just said hey why don't we do it from Monday morning to Tuesday morning. He had another split scheduled for Tuesday morning to Wednesday morning, which means he would have to do a back to back split which are very tough and very long! Haha but thankfully he was down! Elder Bahr went with elder Hays and elder Allan came to our apartment with me. We both work in the same area so it's kinda weird but it works out. Anyways, we tried meeting with a potential but it fell out. We ran into a former investigator that we planned on going by on this coming Friday! He was way happy to see us and is happy to have us over! We went by on a couple of inactive members. One of them didn't answer but one of their neighbors came to the door so we just talked to him! He was way interested to talk with us so we will be visiting again in the near future! After that we just went walking around talking to people, as we were walking we came upon a couple basketball courts and there were two teenage kids playing on them, but not together. We walked over and asked if they were down to play some ball with us! They said ok, but we made a bet with them. We told them if we beat them then we get to talk to them for just 5 minutes about Jesus Christ. They were down so the game began! Haha we played a couple games and smashed them, we made sure it was still ok to talk to them for a bit and they said sure. The lesson was short but very powerful, we testified strongly about the Plan of Salvation and about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. One of the boys wasn't really interested, but the other one was really engulfed into what we were talking about. After that we headed home and had some good dinner. That split was hands down the best of my mission! Hahaha
         Tuesday is when the title of my weekly comes in. In all seriousness somewhere between all the walking and playing basketball mixed with the warm weather, I chafed super bad. So bad that even just sitting down the next day was straight painful!! Hahaha! The worst thing about Tuesday is that elder Bahr and i scheduled to go dooring on this street. We even prayed about it and everything and felt that it was the right street for the 2 hours we had set apart for it. I decided to just suck it up and go for it!! We started on one side of the street and began knocking and knocking, but sadly no one on the
entire side of that street wanted to talk to us. We got let in a bunch, but when we got in the front door, (because they are all apartments and not houses) we had to run upstairs to get to their actual front door. It was a huge trial of my faith in missionary work. When we got done with the street I wanted to just call it and get outta there! But my freakin awesome comp Elder Bahr wouldn't let me. I was never mad at him, which is surprising because I was in soooo much pain!! We got through the other side of the street and ended up with 3 really solid potential investigators that all told us to come back the next week. Looking back I am so glad that Elder Bahr was there to keep me going and not let me be a sissy! But if those 3 potentials don't get baptized I'm going to be pretty upset!! I literally gave my groin for those people!! Hahahaha!!
         I'd like to end with my testimony of prayer!! The night after we went dooring forever, I prayed and asked Heavenly Father to help me with the pain. It sounds so silly, but the next day I woke up and I was perfectly fine!! My mind was blown and I know it's because I said a prayer about it the night before. It sounds so weird that i prayed for my groin to heal but think about it. He is seriously our Father in Heaven! He gave His perfect Son so that all of our pains and afflictions could be taken away! He wants to help us and He loves to help us! I'm not saying he will answer all of our prayers that quickly, nor will He give us anything we want. I know that He will always give us what we need. So if you feel like you need some physical, mental, spiritual or emotional healing then please pray to
Him! Trust me, saying a meaningful prayer won't hurt ya, so why not give it a try. Through the Grace of God, all can be made right. Just remember to show your Loving Heavenly Father how much you know He will answer your prayer with faith :)
         Hahaha ok well I hope everyone has a freakin sweet week and trust me be careful with the warm weather!! It'll get ya if you ain't ready for it!! Hahaha ciao!
Elder Rogers

Africans, gotta love 'em

          Well alright, this week was way awesome and we weren't lost as much!! We explored more of our huge area and we met a ton of people that were way cool, but a couple were a little crazy. It was fun though!! We met a ton of Africans, which is always my favorite. I wish I was African.
        On Tuesday we met with an African potential investigator named Jeremiah. He is super sick and of course he is a homie. We talked with him about the restoration, Book of Mormon, and Jesus Christ. He was very happy to answer questions he had, and even though he looked a little confused and like he had a lot of questions he was comfortable talking with us. He told us that he was really stressed with multiple things goin on right now. Elder Bahr and i both promised him that the Lord would help take his stress and worries away if he would just pray to him and show him the faith that he knows that the Lord will answer his prayers.
       On Monday we got to meet with a bunch of missionaries from around our area! It was super sick to see all the homies in the mission. I got to take a generation picture with my golden and my trainers new golden! Haha it's super sick I gotta say. After zone conference got over we dipped hardback to Köln to meet with an investigator, we still didn't make it back on time. We called him when we got to where we planned to meet him and he forgot about our appointment, so we scheduled a new one. After that, we decided to call people and get appointments set up. After that we had dinner.
        Other than that, last week we went to a castle and today we just walked around from store to store lookin at stuff that we can't afford!! Hahaha well just to end, we had interviews with our mission president a couple days ago. It's always awesome to have someone on one time with the mission pres. He is an outstanding guy and sometimes I don't know how he does it! At the end of the interview, he asked how I have come closer to Christ lately. To be honest the question caught me off guard, but I told him by the daily routine of repentance. We talked a lot at our zone conference about repentance and how when we first hear it we think of it as something terrible. Elder Bednar said that another word to assist repentance is redeeming. We become redeemed every time we repent, thanks to the Atonement. What a blessing!! As Easter approaches, I constantly think on the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how much meaning it has to me. The power of the Atonement gave me a new life and I know it can do the same for everyone!
        Everyone have a good week.
Elder Rogers

Durchfall

       This week was straight crazy!! It was the last week of the transfer/first week of the new transfer so Elder moon and I were workin hard to get things finished up before the next transferred started. Unfortunately, we couldn't do anything for two days straight (Friday and Saturday) because of elder Moons bowels... I don't know what he ate, and whatever he ate I ate too, but I guess his stomach really did not like it. Once we got home Thursday night he was on the toilet until 2 in the morning, then he got a little sleep. Next day, Friday, he counted and went to the bathroom 25 times!! Hahaha man, I felt so bad for this kid, he was in and out of that bathroom seriously every 5 minutes! Hahaha yeah, so we were in the apartment the whole day... well kinda.
       As far as missionary work goes! On Friday we had an appointment with two of my favorite members in the area and i did not want to miss out on a possibly last appointment with the, because of elder Moons butt!! So the Herne Elders helped us out and we did a little power split so we were able to make it to that appointment. After that elder moon and I were at the apartment the rest of the day, getting in studies and all that.
       On Saturday, it was pretty much a repeat of the day before. Elder Moon was asked to still stay in the apartment. He was givin the ok to have food that was only light on his stomach so we had some really good enchiladas. They were delicious as heck, but it set elder moon back to square one!!! Haha disappointingly he didn't break his streak of 25 the day before, i think it was only like 10 or so, but come Sunday he was a lot better. Oh and the last thing about Saturday that I forgot!! It was transfer call day. President hit us up in the morning and released me as district leader and that was the only BIG news. Then later that night we got another call about if we were leaving or staying and all that. They told elder moon he would be getting a new companion and that I would be white-washing an area with another elder in Köln (Cologne)!!!! Holy crap I was nervous as heck!!! Btw white-washing just means you go into the apartment but the last missionaries there leave... so pretty much the elder I'm going to be with (Elder Bahr) and i have no idea where we are or how to get to places or anything. Definitely wasn't expecting that phone call, but yeah Köln is pretty dope so I can't complain.
       Sunday, we went to church, I said goodbye to a bunch of members and packed.
       Monday, packed a little bit more, went and got elder Moons visa, set up stuff for a street display, and yeah that was it.
       Tuesday, most stressful day of the week, transfer day!! I had a train that took me straight to Köln and holy cow, I was nervous as heck. Köln is the biggest city in our mission, and it's a little nerve-racking being by yourself with two heavy bags and hoping that other missionaries will be there to pick you up... which they weren't there by the way. It was cool though! I just borrowed some homies phone and called them, and they found me. We went to the apartment and Elder Bahr and i were told we had an appointment in an hour. We got to the apartment, dropped our stuff off and then headed out for our appointment. The Elders that were with us took us to where we were meeting the investigator and then they peaced out. Hahaha we just waited for this guy we never met, but eventually met him and had he decided that we would meet on Saturday with his friend because his friend can speak English and French (they are from Africa. Brothas). Which we said was cool. After that we got some Burger King for dinner because we have no food.
       Wednesday we went to the city building and got stuff figured out there. We then had our studies and went finding/on an adventure in this huge city that both of us have never been to! Hahaha we got lost and decided not to look at our maps. We eventually (after 3 hours of walking) found where we needed to go and by that time we had ward council soon so we headed to the church. We got there and met with the leaders of the ward who are way cool! Elder Bahr and i introduced ourselves and we met all of them... I just said that... anyways after that we came home.
       Today for pday we are going hiking
       Well thanks a ton for all the emails!! Hahaha if you don't send me an email about your week then do it!! It takes like five freakin minutes!! Hahaha hope y'all have a good one! I'm very grateful to be
in this area with a missionary that wants to work! It's going to be really fun and I'm happy to always be able to go to the Lord in prayer for help and for thanks. The power of prayer is real and I know that it doesn't matter what we have done or how bad we may think we are, our Heavenly Father wants to hear from us! He loves and misses us!
       Have a dope week, I'll hit y'all up next week!!
Elder Rogers

Pictures with members after church

Our bomb enchiladas

Last dinner with Elder Moon

Last Doner with the district

Koln

Koln

Uhhhhh

    What is freaking up!! This week was super sick, but to be honest it was a pretty normal week... so I don't know why it was super sick... I guess I'm just running out of names for my weeks. Anyways!
The end of the transfer is next week! (On Monday). So I'll have no freakin idea if i should stay or should I go, but it's goin to be a Clash. Hahaha but yeah I guess that will be the surprise for next week, for y'all and me.
         Well to start off with the coolest thing this week! Since there are sooo many JW's here and just about everyone mistakes us as them, it just makes missionary work a little harder. (JW's haven't left a good impression on the German people). So Elder Moon and i decided telling people straight up that we are Mormons! Haha not a lot of people have heard of Mormons, but you'd be surprised at how many know what a Mormon is. And I know you're probably thinking, "Elder Rogers you turd! That's not even the real name of the church!" Yes, I know, the churches name is on my left peck every day... thanks. But! We have found out that when we say we are Mormons and want to share an amazing message with you, they actual listen longer than a door to the face.
         A cool example of that was on Tuesday! We were dooring a HUGE apartment building and somewhere down the doorbells some guy walked up and told us that no one in this whole apartment wanted to talk to us. I kindly, but in a very German-like way, told him that they can make there own decisions. He came back with some German sass and said they have all had a bad experience. He started getting frustrated so we just let the old fart when and we went across the street hahaha! We started dooring some actual houses, telling everyone who answered that we were Mormon and wanted to share an amazing message with them. Well we got a couple house down and this older yelled through the door, "who is it!?!?" I thought, oh boy one of those people that don't answer the door they just yell through it. We yelled back, "Mormons! We have an amazing message for you!" She opened the door and said please come in, please! We were like what the heck!?!? We gladly went in and talked to her. Come to find out she had visited Utah and saw the temple and all that. She was a little over 80, had been born Catholic, and just like every other German, was dying catholic. Which is ok! We don't want to convert people, we just want them to see that the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can make it better haha! We just chatted with her for a bit, about random stuff and the Book of Mormon then left.
         Besides the cool old lady! It has been raining for the past 5 days here!! Gotta admit, if there was some thunder in with it or it stopped raining here and there throughout the day I'd be cool with it. But it just won't stop!! I guess that's just how spring is in Germany. It is cool to see the weather slowly changing, and it doesn't start getting dark at 4 in the afternoon. Anyways, i hope everyone had a
great week and that you don't hesitate to send me a quick email!
         I know this church is true!! I wish people were more accepting and that they would at least just let us teach them only one lesson. I know that if they let us just teach one they would not be able to deny the Holy Ghost. I love being able to feel it every day as a missionary and to be able to work so closely with it! He's a homie! I hope everyone tries to feel the spirit this week! (One of the best ways is bearing testimony to a friend or helping someone in need ;) ). And let me know how it goes!! Just cuz I send stories every week doesn't mean you guys can't send me any!! So please! Bis nächste freaking Woche! #danglish
Elder Rogers

Just a funny garbage can I thought my dad would like.

The brotha is back... and still black!

 Yo what up homies!! I hope I can make up for the sucky weekly emails I've sent out lately, and luckily this week was a good one! It was really fast so I hope I can remember everything!! Sadly we haven't been able to work with any of our investigators this week, but the week ain't over yet!! We did, however, run into one of our former investigators named Wisdom at a gas station. It was seriously the weirdest thing. We had an appointment with a member around 3 o'clock so we got there around 2:45, knocked on the door and got no answer.. At first we had no idea what to do. I don't know if it was an impression from the Holy Ghost, or I was just thirsty, but there was a gas station across the street and I was craving a drink. Elder moon and I started walking towards the gas station and as we turned to approach the door our old brotha, Wisdom, was walking out!! We immediately recognized each other and did the typical, "my brotha! How you doin!?" Followed by the homie handshake and the typical African snap afterward. Haha we just chatted for a bit with him, seeing how he was doing and stuff and then he told us that he needs to come to church. Hopefully we can meet with him and get him to church, but we will see. This is one tough African.
         Other than that we had some awesome appointments with members! We were out and about with my boy Karlheinz, he is pretty much the hardest-working member I've ever met and he is pushin 80 years of age. We went by on a lot of people and Karlheinz told a lot of people about how we are Mormons. He loves telling people we are Mormons and takes every opportunity that is given to him! Haha I absolutely love this guy, our bishop told us if he was to pass away one day or even be in the hospital for a while our missionary work in the area would come to a stop. And I totally agree!! The members really make the difference, for example. We are out all day tryin to talk to people about Jesus Christ, and sadly that name scares people. We tend to get down as missionaries/members as we share what means so much to us, but when we as members pick each other up the work will keep moving and people will soften their hearts more and more.
         Also, sometime in the last 7 days, I can't really remember exactly. We went to a members house that lives really close to surprise visit them and to ask them if we could shower in their bathroom... let me explain though so y'all don't think I'm some freakin weirdo goin over to members houses askin if we can use their shower. Elder Moon and I haven't had hot water in our apartment for a while and at first we were like ehh it's not that bad we will just tough it out. Well a while passed by and our first world problems got to us. We called the owner and everything to get it fixed, but it was staying the same. So that's why we asked these homie members. Which i'm glad they were cool with it, because their bathroom is so freaking sick! I can't even explain it it's so cool! Pretty much the husband remodels crapy original bathrooms into super dope bathrooms that you would throw a party in. If our hot water wasn't back on I would go take a picture of their bathroom next time I'm in it, but sadly/luckily our hot water is back on. Hahaha man members are awesome!
         Well just to wrap this little hush puppy up I'd like to just simply share my testimony on the Savior, Jesus Christ. Every time I see or hear his name everything goes quiet and I feel at peace. His
name has so much meaning to it: happiness, eternal life, eternal families, peace, love, perfect, mercy, wise, kind, example and tons others. I am still trying to understand why when some people hear us
tell them that we are sharing an amazing message about Jesus Christ they get scared and shut their door on us. It breaks my heart that they don't want to at least give Him, the Savior and Redeemer of the world, just one chance. But I feel a type of happiness that I don't feel doing anything else when someone does want to learn about how much love the Savior has for them. I testify and know that Jesus Christ loves each and every one of us. He will always be there for us, in times of joy and times of sorrow. He lives! His mercy and forgiveness is endless, I know that especially to be true! He has
given me a new life and continually shaping me every day. I know that He will be there, right next to our loving Heavenly Father, waiting for us just to simply pray and ask for comfort. Life is hard, but it doesn't have to be without the perfect love of Christ that we can feel every day.
         Well I hope everyone has another freaking swaggin' week!! Shout out to my Grandma and Grandpa Rogers!! ;) hahaha! Love you all, unless you think that's weird then I don't... anyways I finna but y'all up next week, Ciao! 🤙
Elder Rogers

The district

Zone pic

we had some for real burgers