This Here's The Wildest Ride In The Wilderness

 Howdy,

Serving in the office never seems to have a dull moment. Transfers were last Monday, and it was fun to get everything ready and to pick up the new missionaries. That also meant Elder Judd left. We dropped him off with the AP's at 6:00, and then they took him to the airport. On Friday we had to get up at 5:00 to take Elder Grover to the airport. We make a lot of trips to the airport here. Transfers happened to come in at the end of the month, which is also a busy time in the office, so we have been very busy trying to get everything done so that the mission can still function. We do our best to make sure we can leave the office by 5 or 6 so that we can have the prime time to go proselyte which has been fun. I really enjoy it when we go out and teach people.

I don't know why,  but Elder Ockerman (the senior missionary that I sit right next to in the office) is convinced that I have a fetish for cherry fritters and buys one for Elder Parry and me almost daily. He is so nice, and we can't bring ourselves to tell him we don't actually want them, and so we've come up with clever ways to give them away. I've been able to run most mornings which has been great. On Tuesday I went on a run with Elder Parry (not my companion, a different Elder Parry who is staying with the APs) and that was fun. He wanted to go 3 or maybe 4, but because of a road closure, the loop we made ended up being 6. I thought it was great - Elder Parry didn't complain too much. 

We have also been having some fun with the APs. Apparently, Elder Judd and Elder Parry Axe bombed them before I got here, and it has started somewhat of a war. We both barricade our doors at night to keep them from getting in, but they still got in somehow. They Axe bombed our apartment with Febreze and so we retaliated by hiding a ton of spare little trees air fresheners we didn't like in their truck. Little do they know we have acquired a spare key to their apartment...

Conference has been fantastic! It is such a blessing to have prophets and apostles on the earth and to be able to hear their council. Hearing Brad Wilcox in conference was also a major highlight. I'm excited to study and review all of these great talks! The Savior lives, and He leads and directs this church.

Keep Striving 

Elder Rogers 

After 6 miles with Elder Parry (the one staying with the APs)

Elder Parry and I bye to Elder Judd

Bye to Elder Judd

Takin' On The Jellies

Howdy

My first full week in the office was an adventure. Normally mission life is pretty set out with an occasional anomaly in there, but in the office, it seems that all we do is help people with their anomalies, and so we are all over the place. It's been fun, and really crazy, especially with the Ensign's leaving. They ended up flying out on a private jet, and so it was fun to drop them off. We just drove right on the tarmac and we got to walk around in the private jet. It was REALLY nice. We are also trying to get everything ready for transfers coming up. With the Ensigns gone we have got the job to assemble bedding kits for the incoming missionaries. It's fun, but we look like the people in math problems because we're walking around Walmart with three carts and 27 pillows. After we got it all it started raining, and so we couldn't put the stuff in the bed of the truck, and so we had to shove it all in the back seat. Turns out 27 pillows take up a lot of room.

On Thursday we took Elder Jones to the airport so that he could go to his original assignment in Brazil. We had been really busy and didn't check to make sure he had all of the papers that he needed, so when we showed up at the airport, he didn't have them. Thankfully, a lady at the desk let us use her computer so that he could fill out and print a health form. By the time he was done, he was supposed to be boarding. I didn't think he would make it through, but he made it through security in 5 minutes. When we saw him get through security we saw that he could make it and so we started freaking out and motioning for him to run fast and so he started booking it down the hall with his suit coat halfway on. The security people got a laugh looking at the situation. 

My companions are Elder Judd and Elder Parry. Elder Judd is the previous Vehicle coordinator that is training me. He goes home on Wednesday. He's from Arkansas and is a cowboy which is really fun. He likes belt buckles, country music, wrestling, and poking people. Elder Parry is the secretary. He has been in the office for 2 transfers now. I served with him for 3 transfers up in Liberty when he was the zone leader and in my district. He is really funny, works hard and likes eating good food. I'm excited to be his companion.

God puts us in the places we need to go, even if we don't expect it, He has a perfect plan for all of us!

Keep Striving!

Elder Rogers

Breakfast at Cracker Barrel

Mr. Redlegs statue outside Cincinnati Red's Stadium

Saying bye to President and Sister Ensign in front of the private jet

Elder Judd in the back of the truck with 27 pillows

My new district

Remember All The People You Used To Be

 Howdy,

Yes it's me, yes it's Saturday, and no I haven't gone apostate. This has been the craziest week of my mission so far. It really started out as a pretty normal week.  We went and explored downtown on Monday and had a great P day, but then Tuesday came around. On Tuesday afternoon Elder Brock and I got a call from President Ensign, and he asked to speak with me alone. That is never a good sign... He told me that he was there with Sister Ensign and he asked me if I would be willing to be transferred a week early so that I could come to the mission office and serve as the new vehicle coordinator since Elder Judd will be finishing his mission. Well, I agreed and so I got all packed up and said goodbye to Norwood yesterday morning. One of the oddities of serving in the mission office is that our P - day is on Saturday so that we can have a more typical "office schedule", although from what I've been told we kind of don't really ever have a full P-day it's kind of just busy all the time, and you do what you can when you have time. It was really hard to leave Norwood. Saying bye to my friends I had worked so hard with made me really sad and saying bye to Elder Brock was hard as well. I'm not sure how I feel about being the new vehicle coordinator. Serving in the office is definitely not something I would have signed up for, but it's where I'm at so I will do my best. I will miss being able to proselyte all day every day, but I guess it will be an incentive to use three hours or so that we do have every day even better.

Now, all that was a little crazy, but I've been ET'd before, so it really wasn't that big of a deal. The real crazy factor came Tuesday night around 9:45 when we got a message from the zone leaders saying that we would be having a mission-wide zoom call the next morning at 10:30 and that attendance was mandatory. This was a little weird because it had never happened before, so Elder Brock and I were a little nervous, especially since we were already a little on edge from the phone call I had received earlier that day. Turns out the surprise mission devotional was terrible. They told us that President Ensign had been diagnosed with severe esophageal cancer, and would have to return home on Tuesday the 21st. We had an emergency zone conference yesterday so that they could leave us with their departing testimonies and say goodbye. If I said I didn't cry at that meeting then I would be lying. Since I'm in the office I see them a lot more now and will be driving them to the airport, but it is still really hard. I love them both, and I will really miss them. President Ensign will be in Salt Lake receiving treatment, but won't be released until a new mission president gets here. One of the counselors in the mission presidency will serve as President Ensign's representative here in Ohio. 

It was a crazy and heart-destroying week, but I know God has a plan for each of us, and I know that He is in control. I know everything will work out the way it needs to because of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for His sacrifice for me, and for everyone. 

Keep Striving,

Elder Rogers

Funhouse mirror

Bye to Sister Piphus

Bye to Ben

Bye to Kiara, Rosie, and Froy

Hump day picture

TQL staduim - where FC Cincinnati plays

Last track day in Norwood

Sing the Queen City sign (I am in the C)

Bengals Stadium gift shop

Goodbye President and Sister Ensign

Goodbye Elder Brock

Flying Pig

That's Funny It's Spelled Just Like The Word Escape

 Howdy,

This week was a pretty good week filled with some fun adventures. We had a zone conference on Tuesday which was really fun. The spirit is always strong, and it is fun to see everyone there. Later that day we had a member lesson with our recent convert friend with the funniest laugh on the planet - Sister Jackson. When we got there there was a huge Squirtle stuffed animal on the couch. We told her it was cool, and she said that she was planning on throwing it away because she didn't want it and she didn't really know what it was. We weren't going to let this chance pass us by, and so we asked her if we could have it. She said yes, which made us happy. I rode home holding it which was about ten minutes, and then we did what anyone would do, we hung it up on our wall. Now he resides above our microwave.

We have found another form of entertainment, and that is watching the spiders that live by the church. There is a very large spider that lives just outside the church by one of the windows. Each night when we lock up the church we stop by his web to check in on his progress. It is quite entertaining. On Friday we decided we would catch him some moths, and we had fun watching him drag them into his lair, so on Saturday, we caught a cricket for him. That was a very fun duel to watch, but the spider pounced as the cricket tried to get away, and drug him into the hole. The next day we saw the skeleton of the poor cricket. We wanted to catch a lizard to see if he could beat the spider, but we felt too bad to do that so we let the lizard go in peace. 

It has been a very good week, and I am really excited about all of the progress that our friends are making! It is amazing to see how Jesus Christ can transform lives. It is amazing to see the spirit light up the eyes of our friends, and watch them take steps to follow the Savior, and see how much those decisions change them. I love this gospel, and I love serving as a missionary in the OCM. Please pray for my mission president Ensign. He was admitted to the hospital late last week, and so please pray for him and Sister Ensign. He is expected to be released from the hospital, but please pray he will continue to improve. They say that you are sent to your mission for a reason, and I believe one of those reasons is so that I could come to know President and Sister Ensign. They are both so amazing and have blessed my life in so many ways.

Keep Striving!

Elder Rogers

Me Eating Sardines - Elder Brock did it too, but I had to fry them for him. It wasn't as bad as my face made it seem

Ohio Ave.

Biking with Squirtle

Squirtle on the wall

Us with the Norwood Spanish Elders At Skyline

Spider at the Church

Spider with cricket skeleton

Downtown Cincinnati 

Big tree

Zone Conference - I am in the very back middle right back from Sister Ensign

Pottery and Ventriloquy, Candle Making

Howdy

This week was a pretty great week here in Norwood! On Tuesday we had a virtual tour of the Sacred Grove with our friend Kiara. I would recommend those virtual tour things, they are free, and the spirit is still strong, even though you aren't really there. When the tour finished we asked Kiara what she thought, and the first thing she said was that she thought the Sacred Grove was creepy because it was just quiet and a bunch of trees. That was kind of a rip, but we were able to have a nice conversation afterward, and the spirit was strong there too. A lot of our friends are progressing, and it is a great time to be in Norwood! 

We went through the old paper area books and found lots of names and phone numbers to call, so that has been very helpful. We were able to find five new friends yesterday, which was very exciting. A lot of our lessons were canceled, and so we had a lot of time to make phone calls. We got bored of sitting around, and so we decided we would go make phone calls somewhere adventurous. Our church building has a basement with an old baptismal font and classrooms, and it also has an attic with an abandoned classroom. We decided that we would make calls in the attic to change things up a bit. Turns out that the attic must be closer to heaven or something because we were able to have a lot of success up there! 

One of our friends has a son in third grade who is obsessed with paper airplanes, and so every time we go visit we bring a new paper airplane we made and fly it with him in the front yard and then go talk to his mom on the porch. We think he is more excited for us to come than she is, so hopefully, he'll be able to convince his mom to come to church so he can go to primary. I convinced Elder Brock to buy some sardines with me, but he is being a wimp and won't eat them, so I'm trying to come up with a way to cook them or do something so that he will try it. It's like a secret agent mission to try and get him to eat a sardine. 

This week something that came to my mind during my personal study is the importance of names. In Helaman 5, Nephi and Lehi are reminded of those that they are named after, and this is an encouragement to them to keep the commandments and follow in the good example of their forefathers. I was reminded of those that I was named after, John Tanner, My Grandpa Anderson, and my last name is the name of my Dad. All three men whose names I carry set great examples, and it was fun to think of traits of theirs that I can strive to develop. As I finished this, I was reminded of one more name that I carry - a name that I chose to take upon myself - Jesus Christ. When we are baptized, or partake of the sacrament, we choose to take the name of Christ upon ourselves. This means we should try to remember Him, emulate Him, represent His name well, and do things to make Him proud. I hope I can represent the Savior and His name well, and I'm grateful for His atonement, and the opportunity I have to take the sacrament each week so that I can try again.

Also if you are ever playing hide and go seek, make sure you don't put on too much perfume or you will lose. 

Keep Striving Everyone!

Elder Rogers

Cincinnati District

Alien Rogers

Spaceman Rogers

It's fall - time for hoodies again

 Us by the Jesus is Lord sign

Our paper airplane friend Glenn

Our Plan of Salvation (Elder Brock looks like his head got chopped off)

Olé

 Howdy

This week after much probing I got a different bike with functioning brakes. This would be a good thing, except I've been on a bike without brakes for so long that an adjustment period was necessary. While riding down a steep hill we were coming to the bottom, and out of habit I grabbed my brakes and squeezed pretty hard. I felt my back tire lift off of the ground, and I thought for sure I was about to fly into the stopped car in front of me. There must have been an angel by my side because the next thing I knew my bike tire slammed back against the asphalt and all was well. The new bike is actually pretty nice. I got it from other missionaries that weren't using it. It has thin tires and can cruise pretty fast. The only issue is that it is easier to pedal, so I get less of a workout which I consider unfortunate, and the thin tires are also very slippery in the rain which has been fun. The moral of the story is if it ain't broke, and sometimes even if it is, don't fix it. All joking aside, I am grateful to have brakes and a safer bike.

On Friday we were supposed to have a lesson with a lady, but she texted us and said she might be thirty minutes late. We had another appointment not long after, and so the logical thing to do would be to tell her we couldn't bike there, and we would have to reschedule, but it didn't feel right to me. I felt like we needed to ride there and see if she was home, and that she would get home before she told us. It was hot outside, and Elder Brock suggested we made calls. It did not feel right, but I eventually agreed because biking did not seem logical, even though it felt right. I told myself that we could make phone calls instead and that maybe I was just looking forward to riding bikes, and that calls could be a better use of our time. The whole time we made calls I felt sick inside, and couldn't focus. I knew we shouldn't have been doing it. Right at the time we would have arrived at her house on our bikes, we got a text from her saying that she was there, and ready to meet. Luckily we were able to set up a time to talk later, and the lesson went well, but I still wonder what could have been if I would have listened to the spirit and acted. In President Oaks' Hear Him video he says: "When you get an impression, act upon it, however unusual it seems or however inadequate you feel in following it. There is a reason, you may not know the reason, but blessings will come to you and someone else if you hear Him." The spirit is real and will bless us in our lives, but we need to have the faith and courage to act on our promptings even if they are strange or illogical. God sees the whole picture, while we just see the pieces.

Please pray that our friend Kiara will choose to be baptized soon. Kiara and her husband Froy have two young kids, and she is originally from Puerto Rico. She is very close to baptism but is scared to commit for fear of making mistakes. We are heartbroken because she didn't come to church yesterday, so please pray that her prayers will be answered, and she will be able to hear God speaking to her.

Keep Striving and Listening

Elder Rogers

 Elder Brock and I

Me with a big cicada we found one night

A window display

Elder Brock with a kitten we found while knocking doors

Me picking up the kitten (He didn't take one of me actually holding it)

Me looking like the Meet the Robinsons villain

French bread pizza

Avondale mural 

Spider Brock

Well I Gotta Help You Cross Something

 Howdy,

This week was pretty good! We had a really good member lesson with our friend Kiara (who hopefully will be on date for baptism by the end of this week!), and the member told her that she could sit by their family at church this Sunday. Elder Brock joked that that way she wouldn't have to listen to our singing. Kiara then pointed right at me.. Rip so apparently I'm a bad singer. 

While riding my bike with zero brakes we were going down a hill, and I had to go a little bit up on the grass and down off the curb so I could make a tight corner. A little kid saw my desperate maneuvers, and said, "Hey that ain't nothing watch this." Hey then sped up and tried to go up over the curb, and wrecked his bike. We stopped our bikes to make sure he was ok. He was, and so it was funny after that. 

Speaking of wrecks - the driving coordinator made Elder Brock the designated driver in our companionship because apparently, I drive too fast. We don't drive very often, and so Elder Brock was driving for his second time on his mission, and while we were stopped at a stoplight we got rear-ended. Luckily we were all ok, it was just a pain to have to fill out all the paperwork and things. 

We got a media referral this week, and we gave him a call. Turns out he spoke 0 English, but I was very happy because from the moment he answered in Spanish, I was able to carry on a full conversation, and set up a time for the Spanish Elders to teach him. The gift of tongues is very real. It's been a long time since I've been able to speak to anyone in Spanish, and I know God helped me to be able to understand and speak. 

Another crazy thing that happened this week is that during weekly planning we heard a knock on our door. The mailman sometimes has to knock to get in, and so we go to open the door, and it wasn't the mailman, it was a Baptist missionary. When he saw it was us he instantly tried to bash us. We didn't have time so we just told him we weren't going to join his church, but that he could try the other doors in our building. He gave us a nice pass-along card which I taped in my journal though. We thought it was funny we were getting tracted. 

There was a youth baptism in our ward this week that we got to help out with. It was really fun to be there and help. She got very nervous right before and was crying as she was in the font. As soon as she came back up she yelled "I did it!" It was really cool to see her overcome her fears to follow the Savior. It brings me a lot of peace knowing that despite all of my fears, flaws, and imperfections, I can do it because of Jesus Christ, and everyone else can too. He is the author and finisher of our faith, and He makes everything possible. I am so grateful for His love and His strength. He is there for me, He will be there for you.

Thank you all for your prayers for my support and safety! I definitely feel them as I walk the streets and ride my brake-less bike! 

Keep Striving! 

Elder Rogers 

Us with our friend Ben at a Mexican restaurant 

Elder Brock wanted a picture with Yonkers Ave.

Scary stories 

 Elder Brock with two tags on his suit at church