Elder Tanner Rogers: Squirrel

Howdy,

It's been a pretty good first week in Dayton. It feels just about like Cincinnati, but it's struggling a bit more. On my first day here while out tracting we soon found out that another church had come by not long before us and had delivered pamphlets in each door. They contained a couple excerpts from the Bible, and the name of the pamphlet was: Is There Hope For Dayton, Ohio? Based on the amounts of pamphlets thrown all over the ground I'm not so sure. It is a pretty good place to be though and it is very pretty. Dayton sits on the convergence of the Stillwater, Mad, and Miami rivers and so there are lots of amazing-looking trails that I would love to try out someday. Other perks of Dayton: there are an insane amount of fireflies, and also albino squirrels, something I'd never seen before.

I'm excited about all of the work that there is to be done here. There are about 10 active members in the branch over the age of 15, and so the primary kids do a lot of the callings like ward chorister and they play the prelude and postlude music for sacrament meeting as well. That was very fun to see. I think there is a big opportunity for work here. The Church is about 15 minutes south of our apartment, and there is a big group of Latinos about 10 minutes north of our apartment. Just about all of the work here has been done in this area has been in that little cluster. Yes, there are a lot of Latinos there, but a lot of them can't legally drive, plus gas is 5.10 a gallon so a 25-minute drive to church is asking a lot. A lot of these people can't come to church and we don't have the membership to be able to help them get there. There are considerably fewer Latinos by the church, but they are in a position to come and so I'm excited to try and work there.

On Monday before I left we left our lesson at 8:59 so we ran to the next door so we could get in before 9. A little kid answered the door and after talking for a minute their dog bolted out the outside and the kid slammed the door. We felt bad so we ran away trying to find the dog. It was pouring rain so we were soaking wet and running around trying to find the dog. Elder Moeller said a prayer and we started walking back toward their house. The family had gathered umbrellas and flashlights to look for the dog. Just then the dog came running back towards us, me in particular. I conquered my fears and grabbed the dog by the collar and handed it back to the family. It was a fun last door to knock on with Elder Moeller. We went back and I threw all my clothes in the dryer so that I could get packed.

As I've been adjusting to my new area one of my favorite scriptures has consistently been in my mind. It's Ether 2:16 "And the Lord said: Go to work". God has constantly called his servants to make sacrifices and do hard things in His service. When we go do our part by putting in work, God will magnify our efforts and do what needs to get done. I'm far from perfect at that but I hope that I can do all that I can to build God's kingdom here in Dayton.

Keep Striving Everybody!

Élderito Rogers