Mr. Bluebird's On My Shoulder

Howdy, 

This week was pretty good. Thanksgiving was really fun! There was a pool table at the family who fed us and so it was fun to play with the kids. Our friend Alissa finally got out of quarantine but then she was puking buckets and we weren't able to meet up again.

This week it seemed that every time we talked to anyone something about farming and funny animal stories so that was fun. It didn't matter if it was zone conference, with our friends, or just around the office, I've learned a lot about animal parts and how to deal with farms. At zone conference when we weren't learning, sharing stories about cows or sheep, Elder Parry and I were doing car inspections which have been lots of fun. Most people's cars were pretty nice except that they all smelled bad. I really like some of the little tree air fresheners like vanilla bean, cherry, piñacolada, and Black Ice is ok sometimes. 

Our friend Rickey is doing really well! We are excited because he is so excited to learn about the gospel and he has been reading the Book of Mormon daily and taking big steps in faith. 

 Thanksgiving was a great opportunity to look back and remember all of the things that I am grateful for! I truly am grateful for this gospel and the opportunity I have to share it every day as a missionary! I found a quote that I really like from my great ×5 grandpa John Tanner that explains why I chose to serve: “Conversion is the greatest miracle. It is even more wonderful than healing the sick or raising the dead. For while a person who is healed will eventually fall sick again and ultimately die, the miracle of conversion can last forever and affect the eternities for the convert as well as for his or her posterity. Whole generations are healed and redeemed from death through the miracle of conversion.” I love serving as a missionary because I know the Savior lives! 

Keep Striving Everyone! (Also buy an air freshener)                                                                                                              Elder Rogers    

P.S. it's a plum

Thanksgiving 

We found some deer visiting our friend Heidi at the care center

Elder Parry took a selfie 

We found pork chops on clearance at Walmart so we bought them and cooked them for a 9pm dinner 

A Penny Lost Is a Penny Found

 Howdy,

So every day we go and run at Bicentennial Park, and we always talk with our two Catholic Priest friends, Larry and Bob. About a week and a half ago our friend Larry went missing. He just stopped showing up. We started to get really nervous, and we missed him a lot. At district council, we got an invitation for more of the friends of the missionaries in the district. So Elder Parry and I decided we would take the invitation pretty seriously. It came as a nice reminder to be better at praying more specifically for our friends and their needs as well. We decided that we would pray for our Catholic Priest friend Larry and that we would see him again soon. We went to the park the next day and he was there and we were all very happy to see him. We had a nice chat with him. Long story short prayers are answered. 

I also learned that it is important to double-check the math on spreadsheets, make sure you carry a spare mask, and that pizza trays are not a worthy substitute for aluminum foil. 

As I studied the life of the conclusion of the Savior's mortal life in the New Testament this week, I thought a lot a lot about Peter denying the Christ, and how I sometimes act similarly. I would hope that I would stand tall, and defend Christ in every circumstance. Each and every time we don't share the full message of the restoration of the gospel and of the Book of Mormon we are in a way denying the Christ. We fear men and ridicule or rejection more than God. Perhaps today there are loving words which Jesus would have me speak. I know that with the help and encouragement of the Savior, my voice shall echo the message sweet, and I'll say what He wants me to say. Christ lives and there is a work to do. I pray that I will live worthy, listen, and act so I can fulfill my part. 

Go enjoy some rainbow jello this Thanksgiving 

Keep Striving

Elder Rogers

The sign Elder and Sister Ockerman made for my chair so the assistants will stop stealing it (It stands for The Most Amazing Vehicle Coordinator Ever)

Wheelchair basketball 

Elder Parry and I in wheelchairs

My two newest ducks

Most Little Birdies Will Fly Away

 Howdy,

This week was quite wild. Transfers were at the beginning of the week, and we made a total of six trips to the airport over the course of 4 days (3 on Monday, 0 on Tuesday, 1 on Wednesday, and 2 on Thursday). This was the McGuire's first transfer ever and thanks in part to a power outage in the Phoenix airport and delayed flights, it was wild. I feel bad that all of the crazy things happened on their first transfer here. The weirdest thing that happened to Elder Parry and me is that we were at the airport trying to pick up missionaries whose flights had been delayed. We wait and wait and finally one sister missionary comes through alone. We ask her about the Elders on her flight, and she said that there were none. We called missionary travel, who told us that they could possibly be in Houston or Charlette, but they really didn't know. That meant that Elder Parry and I drove back this one sister missionary back to the mission home. It was a little weird, and we felt bad for her. We survived though. We were insanely busy, but the APs had it much crazier than us. They woke up at 4:30 am on Monday to get some missionaries to the airport, had a crazy day, had to go back to the airport that night (to meet the lost Elders), and didn't get to bed until 2:00 am Tuesday (21.5 straight hours). They then woke up at 6:30 on Tuesday (after 4.5 hours of sleep)  and had to do a ton of stuff to help with transfers and conduct the new missionary training meeting. I'm not sure how they survived. 

An exciting thing about this week is that we were able to put our friend Alissa on date to be baptized on December 18! We had a great lesson with her where the spirit was so strong. She is so excited to be baptized and continue to study in the Book of Mormon and come closer to Christ. Everything was going so amazingly until yesterday she found out that she has covid and has to quarantine. We are in the process of figuring out how we can do lessons with her over zoom, and trying to help her watch church online and everything. It is a bummer, but really just a small bump in the road. I am excited to continue to help her strengthen her relationship with the Savior!

This week, like most weeks in the office, has flown by in a flash. I have come to realize here that life is exactly as fun and as enjoyable as we choose it to be. It is easy in the office to be bugged that we can't spend all of our time doing "regular missionary things", but life is so much more enjoyable when we find joy in the opportunities that we have to encourage, uplift, compliment, and serve those that have made sacrifices to serve the Lord. When we stop focusing on things that are out of our control and start focusing on doing better at the things that we can, life becomes a wonderful and joyful journey. "Saints can be happy under every circumstance (because) the joy we feel has little do with the circumstances of our lives, and everything to do with the focus of our lives. For Latter-day Saints, Jesus Christ is joy!" I know that Jesus Christ is the source of all joy, and I love and rejoice serving as one of His representatives.

Keep Striving, Drive Safe!

Elder Rogers

Me with a hammer at the Loveland Castle today on our P day adventure 

 Me with a sword

Elder Parry with the hammer 

Us and the APs in front of the Loveland castle 

Us with "Pastor Mom" on a special assignment from President- we all have the same goal of bringing people to Christ!

Us with Denise at church

Us with Elder Dixon at Skyline (he liked it 💪)

A Million Dreams

Howdy,

This has been a pretty great week in the Ohio Cincinnati Mission Office. It's been quite busy preparing for the upcoming transfer, and we also had some fun adventures with the police. On Wednesday we woke up and got ready to drive to a nearby park so I could get in my morning run, but the truck sounded quite funky, so I turned it off and back on again but the noise persisted. Upon further inspection, we saw that the exhaust pipe had been cut with a saw and the catalytic converter had been removed. Apparently catalytic converters on foreign makes contain rhodium, which sells for about $30,000 an ounce. Apparently, it's becoming an all too popular trend to steal them. Our truck still runs, it just sounds like we straight piped it by taking the muffler off and it smells pretty bad. We had to call the police and I feel like a big boy talking to insurance companies and the like. I'm excited to get it replaced. We felt really cool driving the loud truck for about five minutes, but then it started getting us headaches and we felt like punks. 

We had a fun trip through Lawrenceburg, IN to help open up a new missionary apartment last Tuesday. We stopped and ate there, and it made me really happy to be back. Elder Parry's mom sent him a message on Thursday saying that we could get free tacos from Taco Bell because of something that happened in the world series. We had fun going to 2 Taco Bells during our dinner hour. At the second one, we ordered a taco, and they gave it to us, but we had to pay because they ran out of "free tacos". It was ok because it was cheap. A free taco is way better than a cheap taco. We got high fives and called bad A's because we knew a scripture reference, and we also had a really fun time jamming to Christmas music.

Deliberate practice with the help of the Savior makes perfect. We can all become better as we remember the Savior in our day-to-day lives. I know He lives and that the Book of Mormon is true!

Keep Striving!

Elder Rogers

Cincinnati parking (Not us)

What they sawed off

District

"Free tacos"

Elder Ockerman's Facebook post about me

What they sawed off from the other side

Tanner's Creek Drive

We finally found the basketball hoops at our apartment complex after we asked our landlord if there were any security cameras to find out who stole our catalytic converter