Signing off

  Well this week was a good one for sure! I can’t believe how fast time goes, it makes no sense. I’m so grateful for this area though! I’m so glad i was able to be here for so long and meet some many awesome people. It’s awesome to be able to work with so many awesome people that are all working towards helping others come unto Christ.
  But, a little bit about the last 7 days! On the weekend we did some service for a German family that had a ton of wood in their driveway and they needed it in their garage. After we moved a ton of wood we went finding for a little bit longer before our dinner appointment with the McLaren family. They are way cool and brother McLaren does tons of family history work. Actually, the member we met with the day after that also does a lot of family history! It’s way cool to hear stories from them about their ancestors and stories that they know now.
  Sunday was crazy! A couple members in the ward were at dinner a couple nights before Sunday and one of them was wearing a BYU hoodie. Their waitress was interested in their hoodie and told them that she wants to go to school there but doesn’t know if she had to be a member or not. But she also said that she believes what the Mormons believe in! It was crazy! So she made it to church, she is a super cool girl that can speak 4 languages and is way mature! She had a couple questions about the church, but the Spirit was able to testify to her about what we were saying. It was so awesome to meet her and we gave her over to the sisters since she’s a single young woman.
  Earlier in the week we went finding in this city called Linden and this city was insane! We got there and we just started knockin doors and everyone who answered would just wave us away. Which was no big deal until we ran into this cat that was pretty much possessed! This cat just followed us around and kept meowing at us all weird! Elder Adams was super scared for some reason, but it was more funny than anything. Eventually the cat stopped following us and we were able to talk to some cool people. No one had tons of interest, but a couple were willing to at least let us in and hear us out.
  Wednesday was awesome, we had an awesome district meeting and the senior missionaries, the Jacobs, made us an awesome lunch. They are such great people and I am waaay glad I was able to serve alongside them. After district meeting we met with a couple people that sadly asked us to kindly not come back but were grateful we stopped by and chatted. We had German class and were able to talk to the young men about how to teach as missionaries. We definitely aren’t perfect at
it, but it was awesome to be able to talk with them and give them pointers on how to reach teach by the Spirit.
   Today we visited a castle in Heidelberg and thinking about it  I think I visited the same castle my first pday on the mission, that’s crazy!
   But just to close out one last time, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about success and becoming who our Heavenly Father knows we can become. I realized that our success/satisfaction comes from our
personal conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ. This conversion propels us to keep going and keep looking forward. As we do this we can’t help but let our example beam out like a light for others to
acknowledge.
    I know the gospel of Jesus Christ is true. I know the Book of Mormon testifies of Jesus Christ and has that power of conversion within its pages. All of life’s big questions can be found and
answered inside the Book of Mormon. I also know with my whole heart that the healing, redeeming, never-ending power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ is needed for us to be able to put our bad habits and sins in the past and follow our Savior, Jesus Christ. Don’t be so quick to run from the outstretched arms who’s hands were scarred for your eternal salvation. Because Jesus Christ went through such a hard (to us impossible) trial for each one of our sins we don’t have to be sad throughout our life on earth. I know this to be true because I have experienced this power in my own life. Be positive, know that there is happiness coming, and look to Christ for comfort and council!
    I hope everyone has a great week! I’ll see you next week!
Elder Rogers

Hmm, so you’re Trinitarian..?

Wow what a week, people are funny and it was great to meet with some people! Honestly this was one of the most spiritual weeks of my life. I learned a lot about revelation in my studies and especially about the power of the Book of Mormon.
    To start off, last Thursday evening we had a member split with some of the guys in the ward. We visited some members that the ward council has been talking about for a while and sadly all the people that me and my split companion visited weren’t home, or they were really busy at the moment. But we still had a good time!
    On Friday we knocked on some guy's door and he said that he knows us so he let us in. We got talking about the church of course and he was asking tons of questions about it, which was great but we felt like we were being interrogated! But sometimes that is the case. The discussion continued on and we were on the topic of the Godhead for a while. We told him that God the eternal Father and His Son, Jesus Christ are separate beings; that both have bodies of flesh and bone and that with the Holy Ghost they make up the Godhead. They aren’t one God, but they are one God in purpose. He then leaned back and thought for a second, then said, “Hmm, i never knew Mormons were Trinitarian?”
(Meaning we believed in the trinity, which we don’t). We tried to explain it over and over different ways with scriptures and he still wasn’t getting it. Eventually he asked us, if we were to die right
now, do you know you would go to Heaven? I had always thought of this question, but it was the first time someone I had just met asked me that. We thought about it for a second and then gave our answers.
    After that little discussion with that guy I started to think about having that knowledge and faith that if you did all of a sudden die would you go to Heaven. I'm very grateful for the knowledge of the
plan of salvation and I hope everyone can receive that testimony of it as well.
    I can’t really remember Saturday too much, except for we met with our only German investigator and he is super cool! We talked about the restoration and the Book of Mormon and he seemed to like it. He’s got a way dope beard and I’m pumped to teach him further.
    Sunday was great, a member in one of the wards decided to take one of us to go visit a new member in the ward that was inactive in her last ward. So he wanted to go visit her and see how she was doing or if there was anything we could help with. Luckily I got to go and I’m
so glad! I really look up to this member a lot.  When I first met him I thought that he didn’t really like me all that much, but over the time with eating dinner with his family and working with him with
missionary work I’ve come to really like this guy. Since I go home soon he was giving me some great advice about when I get home. Pretty much advice on sticking it out through the hard times and holding to my testimony. It was really awesome and I’m so grateful for him.
Before we met with the member that we visited, he suggested that we said a prayer in the car before we walked up to the door. It was super spiritual and I can’t even describe how awesome it was to be sitting in some car in the middle of nowhere, in Germany, feeling the spirit
speak to us. It was like the Holy Ghost was in the car and said the prayer for us.
    Other than that we met with a former investigator that is super cool! He was this jacked dude with long hair and a beard, pretty much like Tarzan just had clothes on hahahahaha! He is really chill and
laid back about a lot of things so religion isn’t a worry for him.
    Well I just realized this email is already getting thick so I’ll do you guys a favor and end it! Haha! Lately I have been studying revelation and I realized I wasn’t understanding it as well as i should’ve. So I went to God in prayer and asked for help! I realized that I wasn’t being specific in my prayers. I had forgotten how all-knowing and all-powerful God is and for some reason I thought that he wouldn’t understand me if I asked him to help me understand revelation as I study it. Instead of praying for really general things, we need to be more specific! God knows exactly what we mean! He is that friend that you can go to about anything and He will understand you perfectly!!!! Trust in Him, know that He is there and don’t give up.
    Jacob 4:8 says
“Behold, great and marvelous are the works of the Lord. How unsearchable are the depths of the mysteries of him; and it is impossible that man should find out all his ways. And no man knoweth of his ways save it be revealed unto him; wherefore; brethren, despise not the revelations of God.”
    Everyone have a great week!
Elder Rogers

It’s already March

Well, another week is gone just like that! It’s crazy how fast it goes when you’re busy! Winter finally hit and it’s actually cold now, it felt like a really long fall until this week! Last weekend we had a split with the other elders! I got to stay in Ktown with Elder Heller! It was awesome to be with a German for a whole day and just get to really speak the language and learn some great tips from him. He’s a super great missionary. On our split we helped a family move some wood from their front yard to the back and then had a super great lunch with them. They are a really cool, humble German family. It was super strange to have a German appointment because I’ve only had American appointments for the last 10 months! Not complaining they have been awesome. After that we had an appointment set up with a less-active member, but he wasn’t able to make it sadly. So we went finding! We didn’t have a ton of success, but it was still good to get out and go work.

   Sunday was great, Elder Adams and I both gave talks in one of the wards and then elder Ashworth got up to bear his testimony. Elder Adams and I were super psyched out to give talks, but they both went great and we didn’t go over, so the bishopric was happy. Earlier this week we had a great Missionary Conference and learned a ton about the importance of using the Book of Mormon because of the power that it has.

    We also went on a member split with some priests and the bishop from the ward and it was a ton of fun! Elder Adams, a  priest, and the bishop went by on an investigator and they had a really good lesson with him. Elder Ashworth, me and two priests went to another appointment with members and had a blast. We taught them about how we can become immune from the temptations of the adversary and how important it is to set goals and stick with them.

    Well just to wrap up I hope everyone knows how important it is for us to be converted. As i studied for my talk last Sunday i learned that Alma the younger wasn’t converted when the Angel appeared to him and the sons of Mosiah, he was converted to much fasting and much prayer. In other words, it took time, it took enduring trials and learning for himself. I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is what we can use to be converted, it’s what gets us on the path to Christ and keeps us on it. I hope everyone has a great week!!!

Elder Rogers