They're All Sloths!?!

 Howdy, 

This week was fun. A lot of our friends were busy or out of town, which lead to a lot of time out knocking doors. I really enjoy knocking doors, but it was mostly in the '60s this week, we found a couple pocketfuls of pennies, nickels, and dimes, and set up a fair amount of return appointments so that probably played a big part in why it was so enjoyable this week. Besides that, our week was quite eventful. 

Sunday night as we were preparing to go to bed we found some bedbugs which lead to a search, which resulted in us finding many more. This was very sad because we thought we were past the bed bug problem. We found some on our clothes,  some in the carpet, and a lot on the ceiling, which we thought was odd. When we talked to our landlord that she told us that it's possible they could be creeping down from our upstairs neighbors, but more likely is that they were climbing up onto the ceiling so that they could parachute down on us during the night while we were sleeping, which apparently is common practice for bedbugs. We've had to be extra careful, and our apartment is going to be sprayed in the next couple of weeks to kill them all. In the meantime, we've been doing all sorts of makeshift things to kill and deter them, which have been working quite well, even if it leaves our apartment looking in disarray. Luckily for us, bedbugs don't spread diseases, they are just an annoyance and a little gross and creepy.

I also had the pleasure of going to the BMV this week to renew the registration for all of our vehicles. I think working at the BMV would be rough because nobody wants to go there and doesn't really know what they're doing, so all day every day you would just have to work with confused and annoyed people. Anyway, we had everything all ready and when we got there we gave them the information and they got to work. When they finished they came back and said that the check that we had made was too big by a little over $90 because we had included the postage fee, but that wasn't necessary since we were there in person. They asked if we would be willing to donate the remainder to blind kids so that they wouldn't have to void and redo all that they had just done. I called Sister Ockerman the financial secretary to see if that would be ok, and she gave a very quick no way. Everyone at the BMV was upset and thought that we hated blind kids, but luckily for us, we could just pin it on "the finance lady" so that we didn't look like the ones willing to squeeze lime juice into the eyes of the blind children. Luckily we were able to figure it out in a way that didn't involve us having to come back and the BMV have to redo everything - they just wrote us a check for the difference.

We also found out this week that we will be getting a senior couple to replace us in the office on February 18. After that, we will train them, and then we get to go back to the world of full-time proselytizing. 🙌

At the Ohio BMV, I felt pretty cool whipping out my power of attorney signed by President Nelson saying that I could act in the name of the Church. It made me think that when we are baptized we all take upon us the name Jesus Christ. We always carry his name and are always His representatives, whether we wear a name tag on our shirt pocket or it's written on the fleshy tablets of our hearts. I hope as I enter this new year that I will be able to be a better representative, follower, worshiper, and friend to the Savior Jesus Christ.

Happy New Year! Let's make it a year of striving! 

Elder Rogers 

Church van (not ours)

We went on a run in the rain 

 Skyline chili sign 

Me with soup 

Maybe Christmas Perhaps, Means A Little Bit More

 Howdy!

It's been a pretty great week. Christmas I'm the mission field is fun but doesn't really feel like Christmas as much. Especially since it's been in the 60s the last couple of days. The ward has been great to us and we've had a lot of fun today and yesterday celebrating with some of the families here. We were able to have a nice dinner with our Catholic friend Larry. It was the fanciest meal I've ever eaten. We started off with "snacks" of smoked salmon and cheese with crackers in the kitchen, then progressed to the dining room where we ate on fine china. We had soup, veggies, chicken, the whole deal. Also apparently he's a world traveler and we got to hear lots of cool stories all about that. It was a great time and we gave him a Book of Mormon. We had a nice talk about some of the things that we believe, and nobody bashed at all it was just a nice talk so Larry gets ultra mega bonus points. Other than that we've been busy getting things ready for Christmas conferences and doing our best to get out of the office to go teach. It's been a lot of fun. Today we were able to go visit our friend Judi in the hospital because she got hit by a car and all her family lives far away. Because of the accident, she wasn't able to see them so she was all alone. It was great to be able to talk to her and try to brighten her day. 

I've had the words of a hymn have been in my mind lately: "Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

“God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,

With peace on earth, good will to men.”

Till, ringing, singing, on its way,

The world revolved from night to day,

A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,

Of peace on earth, good will to men!" 

Because of the birth of Jesus Christ, our night sky is not only a little bit brighter, but our hearts and our futures are as well. God speaks to us today, and we can always carry the spirit of Christ with us through the year as we remember not only His birth but also His sacrifice and we try to follow Him. I am so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ. I know He lives, and I love Him.

Merry Christmas everybody!

Keep Striving!

Elder Rogers 

 Dinner with Larry

Ammon street 

Us at the hospital

I'm wearing Elder Tolley's pillowcase as a mask because I forgot mine. 

When You Said Ouch

 Howdy,

It's been an interesting week. Transfers usually prove chaotic but this week had a fun little twist. Monday night we came in late to the office after some teaching appointments to get some last-minute things ready for transfers. I was helping Elder Parry by cutting the incoming missionaries' ID cards on the paper cutter, but apparently, I wasn't paying attention very well (and also I was using the side without the guard) and I ended up cutting a lot more of my finger than I did paper. I quickly wrapped it up without really looking at it, and we finished getting everything ready. Fast forward to when we get home at 10:15 and I quickly go to clean out the wound and get to bed because it's WAY past my bedtime. So I take off the tissues I had used as a bandage, which had bled through a couple layers, and it was then that I realized it was worse than I thought. I had cut through my nail, and my nail as well as the end of my finger was chopped off and hanging on by a piece of skin. There was blood everywhere and it looked really nasty so I started feeling pretty nauseous. We decided to call the mission nurse to see if I needed to get stitches, which was a very bad idea. She asked for pictures and talked to a couple people and then told us that it looked bad, but that since all the urgent cares in our area were closed we needed to go to the ER. So there we were, heading to the ER at 10:30 at night. I was not happy about this. A piece of advice to anyone going to the ER - don't change the bandage right before you go out they'll never look at you. I wanted to go home, but I was told I had to stay. So I waited in the ER waiting room for 4 hours in the middle of the night so that I could be told that no stitches would be necessary and they put some super glue on me. They did give me a work note saying I didn't need to go to work for 2 whole days though. That note went right in the trash. We got home a little after 2:30 AM and were up at 6:30, running and presenting at transfers by 8:00. It was a long day. Luckily we got to bed at a reasonable hour the next couple of nights and now we're doing great, with a sore thumb and an even stronger desire to never call the mission nurse. 

Other than transfers and the ER it was a pretty normal week. I did my first ever muscle up so that was fun. One day while we were tracting in the rain I found 48 pennies. I was completely amazed. I spent a couple moments in shock and then Elder Parry said "You know what you can buy with 48 cents? Absolutely nothing." That might be true, but life, like collecting pennies isn't about having everything all at once. Good things come through small but consistent efforts. I may not be a millionaire (yet) but I am 48 cents richer. When we do our part, the Savior will help us to be our best each day until we get to where He knows we can be. 

Quote of the week: "I want this meeting to hype us up, just like us guys get hyped in the locker room about sports or how girls get excited about cheer or... reading books." - Elder Cox our district leader.

Keep Striving!

Elder Rogers

Beans and sausage again

Elder Parry and I

ER in the middle of the night (don't change the bandage)

 Sending Elder Leavitt to France

Sending Elder Leavitt ×2 

I can't spell 

Noodles

That's French For Front Door

 Howdy,

This has been a pretty great week here in the office. A little while ago while we were out knocking on doors a guy named Richard opened the door and let us in. We went in and we had a nice talk about the restoration with him. Everything was going well until we were about to leave and I noticed a bedbug crawling up my bag. I quickly flicked it off, but it made me super nervous. After we left Richard it was time to head home for the day. I told Elder Parry and when we got home we sprayed all ourselves, our truck, our apartment, and all of our clothes with permethrin, and checked each other for bedbugs. We didn't see any, and we thought we were safe because we sprayed so thoroughly. Well, we were wrong. The next morning we found a bedbug in our apartment by our clothes we had worn the day before (which we threw off in the corner to quarantine them), and I found a lot of nice little bite marks on my wrists. We threw basically everything we had touched in the last two days in the washer and dryer and sprayed again with permethrin. This time we were more successful, and we haven't seen any bedbugs or bites since. Our apartment, clothes, and truck smelled so strongly of permethrin that I don't think any bedbug would want to come close to us at all. It gave us both a little bit of a headache, but it was worth it to kill the bedbugs. They're nasty. 

Elder Parry and I go run every morning at a park close to our house, and we have a couple of Catholic Priest friends, Bob and Larry, that we see there every day. This week while we were talking to them after our run Larry asked us if we had anywhere to go for our Christmas dinner, and when we told him not yet he invited us over, and so now we are going to go have a Christmas dinner at a Catholic Priest's house and we are very excited! It's kind of fun that we are friends with them. We get excited every day to wave and say hi, and we get bummed when they aren't there or we don't see them. Apparently, they aren't there sometimes because they go to mass every single day, and sometimes it runs long. 

We've been blessed to be able to stay really busy. We have a lot of lessons, and we've been crazy busy in the office. I have had to spend a lot of time on the phone and freaking out about being on the phone with the insurance company, but everything seems to be working out quite swell. I am grateful for the Savior, and for this time of year when we have extra opportunities to remember Him!

Keep Striving,

Elder Rogers

Elder Ockerman pranked us

The assistants had us over for homemade corndogs because Elder Acor worked at a corndog truck

Tuna sandwiches 

A Company Is Like An Enormous Clock

Howdy,

I never thought that I would have to use a fax machine on my mission (or ever really) but I guess life takes us to unexpected places. Turns out fax machines are kind of cool but also annoying. It kept yelling at me saying I needed to dial one before the number, which I had already done. I think I'll stick with email, but I guess it's another cool life skill the office has given me. 

We went on exchanges with the YSA Elders yesterday, and it was lots of fun! We went down to campus to do some street contacting, and it is weird. Everybody there is like - in college and my age and stuff. There was a lot of cool stuff there. UC is playing Houston in their conference championship game, and everything was getting set up. They were putting up banners everywhere, and we even saw ESPN camera crews getting shots of the sunset, with the trophy, and just other places around campus. While we were talking with some people the busses with the Houston football team rolled in and all the players were just walking around. It was so cool. Then as we were leaving the cross country team ran by us on the sidewalk and I freaked out it was so cool. The campus is cool, but I don't think I'm quite cut out to be a YSA missionary. I feel much more comfortable striking up conversations with adults and people older than me. For instance, we found a friend named Heidi. She lives at a care center not far from us, and we've had a couple of lessons with her. I feel right at home in a care center. She started telling all of her friends about us, and now there's a whole group of people at the care center that want to talk with us more about the Book of Mormon. 

I've been blessed to be able to use Spanish a lot here, and have even taught a couple of lessons. It's wild to me that even though I haven't ever served in a Spanish area (yet), I've been able to use Spanish so much in each of my areas. The Lord has prepared me to be able to serve and teach wherever I've been placed. I'm grateful that God sees the big picture, and that I've been ready to serve as His hands in this part of the world.

Our friend Rickey is doing very well. He has a strong desire to get baptized and strengthen his relationship with God. He has been reading the Book of Mormon, watching the Book of Mormon videos, and even watching the Chosen in his spare time. He is so fun to be around and I'm so proud of the progress he's made in his life. Please pray that as we talk about the word of wisdom and law of chastity this week that he will feel the spirit and accept the message.

Thank you for all your prayers! Christ lives!

Keep Striving,

Elder Rogers

Elder Parry and I on kazoo for the birthday of a missionary in our district

Leg lamp

Our lunch experiment (I wouldn't buy again, Elder Parry says he would)

Me on campus with the ESPN crew and the trophy in the background 

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