Fall outs on fall outs

       Well this week was pretty good! We had a lot of appointments set up to meet with potential investigators, but sadly they all fell out! We did a lot of finding and had awesome member appointments. This is the last week of the transfer already and I'm just starting to be comfortable
with the members, which means I'm probably outta here. Haha I hope not!! Oh and I finally got asked to speak next Sunday, and I'm actually pretty excited, even if it's in German haha!
       On Wednesday we got a call from a member that wanted to meet with us so we set a meeting for Friday. We had an awesome lesson with him and only had a little ice cream that was amazing! He is honestly my favorite person since I ever left my family at the curb! Haha he always makes me feel so much better and I always leave feeling happy to be out here.
        But on the same day we got another call from a former investigator that was taught all the lessons and set a baptism date, but for some reason wasn't baptized. Well he told us to come over to his house on Thursday morning at 9 for breakfast and that's all. We were so excited! Well Thursday morning we get there and started just talking and getting to know him because we both didn't know each other, then we started talking about church stuff. Well we found out that he is a part of some cult, but he believes in Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and all that. His Book of Mormon is marked up a ton and he knows a lot about the church. We are meeting with him this week and hope to let the Spirit hit him hard!! Haha!
       Anyways besides that we are going to a zoo in Heidelburg today, to be honest, I've never heard of zoo's in Germany so it's going to be interesting! Something funny that happened this week was on Monday we got our comp item and I'll just send some pictures because words can't explain how swaggin' this item is! Haha have a good week!!
Elder Rogers

Loving the Lovely German people

       Well this week was honestly a whole lot of disappointments! Haha we had a bunch of meetings set to meet with some potential investigators and they all fell out, but it's all good because we had some awesome member lessons! I love member lessons because one they are the only Germans I seem to love right now and two they always take off so much stress and keep you going! Haha still trying to love the German people, but it's definitely a work in progress. Haha!
       The highlight of the week was probably a member appointment with my favorite member! We set up an appointment to go to his house around 7:30 or so so we figured we would just go finding until we wanted to head over. Well it just so happens that we ran into him on the street and he was going to the grocery store to get food for our dinner that night, so we went with him. We got there and he told us he was going to make some pizzas, I was really excited until he grabbed three pizza doughs... Elder Morley and I got nervous right then!
       The member also grabbed some juice and stuff, but when we got up to the checkout line he wasn't able to buy all of it so he just left the juice and got the pizza stuff. As we left I felt very strongly impressed to tell him that I could pay for him with my personal money, I did without any hesitation. This member has been without a job for a while now and has barely been getting by, but it's one of the coolest guys here, if not the coolest. He had just barely got a job the last weekend and so he told me "thanks brother but I have a job".
       I then did what I shouldn't have done and felt so dumb for acting on the spirit, I felt like I made the member feel so low for not being able to pay for the juice. Well we got to his house and had our lesson as the pizza was cooking, we talked about love for other people and the love that our Heavenly Father and our Savior have for us. He then explained to us that love isn't just shown through simply saying "I love you brother", it's by showing it by doing and saying things that express that love. He then used the example of me telling him that I could've helped pay for him.
       I'm not trying to boast or make myself look all awesome. All I did was simply act on the Spirit, and the Spirit touched the member's heart, not my words. I know that we can all act on the spirit, you don't have to be a missionary, bishop, or any kind of leader in the church. I hope that everyone can always listen to the Spirit and act as soon as possible, you will be amazed and your eyes will be opened to the blessings that our Heavenly Father has for us, I promise!
       Anyways after that awesome lesson, we had one pizza. Then the member said he will make another one and we were getting a little worried, we barely got that one down and then the member said that the first pizza is ok, the second one was good, so the third will be super! Haha before we let him make another pizza we told him the second was super and it's all good. Haha we were stuffed as could be!
Elder Rogers

The German Shepard guard dog

Moin moin!!
       Well this week was a whole ton better than the last one! To begin with, the Lord totally pulled through (as always) and we were blessed a ton! We ended up calling the town that took our cards and the funny thing is is that they were waiting for us to call them! They were really nice and they told us that our money would be returned and we would get new cards! But the best news is that they fired the bus driver... Just kidding that's messed up! Haha they really didn't fire him, he was just a little confused. Anyways we were very grateful for that for sure!
       But even better after that we went to a members house and he wasn't home, but as we left his door he was walking up the street! So we went into his apartment and shared a spiritual thought with him. He then told us that he had a tough weekend and has been reading in the Book of Mormon and praying sincerely. He then said that today he was able to accomplish the things he had prayed for and that we were waiting for him at his apartment. He told us that he knows that none of it was some coincident and that it was all the Lords hand in his life. I too testify that there is no such thing as coincidences when it comes to the Lord and Him answering our prayers and giving us comfort. He is
capable of everything and anything, He is all-knowing and all thanks go to Him and the people that act as an instrument in His hand.
       Well just to end with a funny thing this week. Yesterday after church we went by on a couple less active members. One of them we went by had a really scary looking house and when we were about to walk through the gate to knock on his door, we noticed a huge German Shepard laying down on his side asleep looking away from us. At first we stopped and were scared at of our minds! Then we made a plan. We decided to leave the gate open and slowly walk up past the dog, if he woke up we would run out the gate shutting it so the dog couldn't chase us. We started walking towards the dog and we noticed his ear twitched and we were out of that gate soooo fast! We slammed it on the way but also noticed that he wasn't awake. Because we slammed the gate the less active heard the noise and came outside. They noticed who we were and asked if we were scared of the dog. We were ashamed to admit it, but we said yes while looking at the ground. Haha we didn't get to meet with the less active but it had to of been pretty funny for any neighbors watching! Haha
Hope only the best for everyone this week!
Elder Rogers

Freaking bus drivers

       Well this week was definitely a learning lesson for sure!! The Lord definitely throws trials and challenges our way and sees how we are going to take them. This week was a perfect example for that.
       On Tuesday we went to a town outside of Mannheim called Veirnheim. It's not tiny but not big enough to be a city. Anyways we did service for a member there and when it came time to leave we took a bus back to the tram stop because it's a long walk from her house. Well the bus pulled up and we showed the driver our year cards (these just allow us to go anywhere on a tram and bus and last for a year, just so you know they were not expired!). Well the driver said they were old and he
took them and wouldn't give them back. So we got off the bus and he drove off. So we walked to the tram stop and bought a ticket to get us back to our apartment. We found out a couple days later that our cards weren't expired and the bus driver pretty much stole them.
       And it goes on! The next day we totally forgot that we didn't have our cards anymore but we had places to go so we were riding the tram all day. When it came time to come home we were about to get off on our stop and there just happened to be a guy checking people for travel cards. We obviously didn't have them and were fined for it. So we went to the company building and tried to get out of paying because of the situation with the bus driver. Anyways long story short we still don't have our cards back and have spent quite a bit of money on a daily ticket to ride the trams.
       So when all of this was happening I was thinking that because of all of this we were going to be blessed with that golden investigator that leads into an easy but powerful baptism. I was completely wrong. I realized that because we were going through this trial we weren't going to get something we wanted from the Lord, rather He was humbling us and helping us to see how much He has done for us. I realized that this trial may have sucked and is still not over, but we have grown from it just as much if not more then any other trial.
       So I hope everyone is looking at the best side of the trials and not beating themselves up! Just always turn to the Lord in thanks, we have no idea how much he has done for us!
Elder Rogers

Too much fire for Germany to handle!

       Well this week was pretty good! We had transfers and now Elder Morley is at the Mannheim hood! Haha this dude is way sweet! He is a lot like me it's crazy! And he only has a couple transfers left so it feels like I'm getting trained again! Haha but let me tell ya, nothing on Elder Stiles at all, but I loooove not being trained anymore! It's so nice! I feel like a real missionary now! Haha!
       Anyways we did a lot of finding this week and go by's in inactive and less active members! No one answered their doors to talk and a couple did answer but didn't want to talk! Haha it's all good though because what makes you successful as a missionary is trying!
       Church was way awesome and I'm loving the members more and more every day! We only had one member appointment this week and it was with my favorite member Saša! We went to his house on Saturday just to surprise him and I felt bad because he was trying to make us a cake real quick! He is seriously the coolest guy I've met here. Anyways we decided to share the story in Matthew chapter 14 when Jesus walks on water and helps Peter up. We had just read the scripture and were about to get to the punch line in our little spiritual thought. Then out of nowhere, his kitchen had flames shooting out of it and the kitchen was just bright red!!!! Come to find out, the cake had baked just a little too long and he was baking it on top of the stove in a pot!!! Hahahah! He threw a soakin' wet towel over it and it just puffed smoke everywhere!! His fire alarms just started going crazy! Eventually, it settled down and we got back to our chairs. The spirit was still a little there but it was nearly impossible to get the spiritual thought back on track. We finished it and talked with him
some more, then left. It was definitely crazy and it was good to see Saša just laugh about it! I absolutely love this guy!
       Anyways just to wrap this up, I'd like to talk about Jesus on the water real quick like we did with Saša. I always knew the story but never really did any real thinking on it. Often the first thing we think about when we think of Peter was him denying knowing Christ three times. I think it is very interesting that out of all the Apostles, Peter was the only one that was willing to try to walk out
to Christ. Just the word "try" is good enough for our Savior and Redeemers atoning sacrifice. It's not taking the easy route, it's not cheating the Savior of His eternal love. When we try we should be completely giving our all, that is when our perfect example, Jesus Christ, will "lift us out of the depths of the sea" so to say. I know that His grace is sufficient for everyone and I am so very grateful and I also KNOW that He gave His life for us each personally. We always need to be doing our best and giving our all, but as long as we are trying to do better He will ALWAYS be there. Never ever doubt the power of the Atonement. 
Till next week!!
Elder Rogers

A crazy old lady and a bridge

Moin moin!!
       This week was sooo crazy, stressful, awesome, crazy, and all-around just another week as a missionary. Some crazy things happened and if you don't read this whole email then that sucks for you!! Haha! Just kidding, I always worry about my emails being too much me or just too dorky or whatever, so if they are then I'm sorry you feel that way!! Haha!
       Anyways, I just have to say this Saturday is going to be a sad day in the Mannheim hood. We went on a split this week and it was the hardest longest slowest time of my mission so far. The Elder I was with just wanted to go sightseeing and I just went with it because he has been out longer than me. Last time I do that!!!!!! Next time I have a comp that wants to go sightseeing I'm going to laugh at him and just do what we are supposed to. But it made me really miss Elder Stiles and made me very nervous about transfer calls this Saturday. Pretty sure he is heading out because he has been here since January! So he is due for a change, but we have gotten so close in these last few transfers!
I can't believe how close we have gotten, I have never opened up to anyone this much in my life in such short a time that went so fast! He is a total stud and he is seriously such a homie. There isn't one
thing that I would say bad about him simply because there is nothing I can find! And trust me, I have thought about it! Hahaha! That being said, if anyone were to say something bad about him I would immediately know that that don't know the same, Elder Stiles! I'm\ really going to struggle with him gone. He is definitely the first person I have felt comfortable and have had fun with ever since I left my family for the last time. But it is what it is!
       So this week we had not met with Ali. He works a ton with his new job and because of that hasn't made it to church for a month or so now. Which is a total bummer. But we had met up with an investigator named Obeji! This guy is one of the coolest guys I've met on my mission so far and he is from Nigeria so that makes him even cooler! But the downside is, he is a refugee which means no lessons and definitely no baptism. Unless he can get an apartment, job, and visa then we will be able to. We took him to the church and showed him around. The first thing he asked was where is the baptismal pool! Haha we showed him and it was amazing! The fount was closed by the doors that hook together, as soon as we opened them up it was like the Holy Ghost was just waiting behind the doors and just hit us hard. It was powerful and he wants to get baptized so bad. I really hope he can get those things!
       Earlier in the week we met with an active member that hasn't been able to get to church for 4 weeks until yesterday!! But, we were able to meet with him when he was home and talked to him about how he has been doing. His name is Saša and he is probably my favorite member here. He
was very depressed from a number of things, we tried to help him with a bunch of talks and scriptures. Before we left he asked for a blessing. The Spirit works so powerfully and I would NOT be where I am without its help and direction. The power of the Priesthood is truly amazing and I know that it has been brought back onto the earth by a humble prophet and it was the same power that Christ had while on the earth. Absolutely amazing!
       Now for the funny part of the week, haha. We went by on an inactive member that had a stroke a year or so ago and can't speak but can smile huge, and also lives in a senior care home. Usually what we do is just go in, share a message, talk about the week, and then leave with prayers before and after. Before we went into the room this time this older lady was walking down the hall but holding onto the railing on the wall moving really slowly. She was just outside the door when we walked in. We started talking to him and she got through the door, then she slooooowly walked over to me and was about to corner me into the wall! I kept asking her if everything was ok or if she needed help
and she just starred right at me!! Thankfully she sat down in the room and we just continued on with the lesson. We stayed a prayer and right when we got down she was standing right next to me!! It was freaky, then I helped her out of the room, we had the lesson and left. Hahaha it was freaking crazy! Haha you really just had to be there honestly!
       But, just to wrap this huge puppy up with a spiritual side haha! So yesterday following church, Elder Stiles and I went finding on the streets. We eventually got to this bridge that we have crossed only once before. It's a bridge that doesn't have any road on it so it's strictly for people walking and riding bikes, perfect for talking to people. Anyways, the last time we were on it I stopped a guy and just couldn't put the words together right in German for him to understand. We had walked away from him and I began to beat myself up. I thought that I wasn't good enough, that this wasn't for me and that nothing could help me so I might as well give up. Well, yesterday we stopped an older couple and introduced who we were and how we want to help them, they replied and said we are too old. The Spirit told me to immediately fire back and say that no one is too old! So I did, they just laughed and said good day. I was bummed they weren't interested, but I was happy because I had redeemed myself since the last time! 
       So, just like the first time I talked to that guy and failed on the bridge compared to the older couple, it's a lot like the Atonement. We may mess up here and there and beat ourselves up. We may say we aren't good enough to use the Atonement, that it's not for us, and that nothing can help us be better then we are. Well just like I redeemed myself on the bridge, the Savior, our perfect all-knowing older brother, redeemed us by giving up His life so that we can be back with Him and our loving Heavenly Father. He loved and loves us so much that He was willing to give His life for every single person. Just think about that for a couple seconds, actually, always think about that because that's how powerful and meaningful it should be in your life!! His Atoning sacrifice was enough and always will be, no matter how bad we think that we are! We will always have a chance to be redeemed because They will always love us. I know it to be true and I have witnessed it in my life and in others!! It works! Don't underestimate the power that the Creator of the world has, no one is greater nor ever will be!!
       Also, just a quick challenge. Every time you say your personal prayer just make sure it's quiet and after you say amen to close, don't move and just keep your eyes close. I feel like it gives the Spirit a chance to talk back to us, and just think about Gods love for you!
Elder Rogers!

Moin moin!!!

What is up!!!!
       Just so you all know, "moin moin" is something some Germans say instead good morning and it sounds hilarious!! Anyways, this week ended a lot better then it started so that is always good! At the beginning of the week I was just really fed up with people telling me they can't understand me cuz of my freaking accent. I wanted to knock a guy out that asked why I was speaking English. But I'm a missionary so I love him! Haha sometimes you just have to say it even if you don't mean it! Haha!
       Anyways we stayed really busy going by on inactive members and finding people. We finally got to meet with Ali!! We had a member come with us and he helped out a ton! We got him to commit to keeping the word of wisdom for at least 4 weeks and he stayed he will read 2 pages at least out of the Book of Mormon every day. We also told him that if he asked the Lord for help then there is no way he won't be able to do it. I hope he can stick to it and can see the blessings!! Also a guy from Egypt stopped us on his bike, pulled out one of our cards and told us he doesn't know how to get to our church. We told him and he showed up!? It was crazy! He speaks a little German and the whole time at church he kept asking us about marriage. I think at first he liked our church because of the whole plural marriage thingy, after we told him we can only have one wife now he looked a little bummed, but he didn't leave!! Haha! There is a catch to this guy though, he doesn't live in our area but comes to our church because he won't have to pay for a train ticket every Sunday. Plus he could be a refugee so if that's the case we can't teach him at all. So even if we can teach him we can't! Haha it's all good someone else will hopefully baptize him.
       Another awesome thing happened when we went by on an inactive member. No one in our ward has ever heard of him, but he said he wants to come back to church! We are way happy for him! Other then that it was a pretty normal week, we had lunch with a member family and they are way awesome! We have been there once already but it's just an older couple and they are really nice! I got a picture with them but it's a little awkward because I didn't know where or how to stand! It's all good.
       I can't really think of anything funny at the moment so I'm just going to wrap this puppy up talking about the power of prayer!! Sometimes I feel like I pray for something I need to happen over and over and eventually for some reason I forget about its importance but still bring it up in prayers here and there. And then Heavenly Father follows through like always! I'm very grateful for the blessings that my family and friends get at home. A big thing that helps to keep me going is that yeah even if I'm struggling every day, everyone at home is getting blessed and our future families will be blessed! So keep it goin and simply pray! Never forget or overthink the power of prayer.
Love you guys tons!
Elder Rogers