Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays!

This week was fantastic for me and Elder Timothy. We had Zone Meeting on Thursday and we practiced our Zone skit for our big Christmas Devotional. Our skit is making fun of our last President and his wife, Pres. and Sis. Mendenhall and some of the AP's. It's pretty funny. We also had a baptism of the investigator we have been teaching. This was my first baptism and Elder Timothy gave a talk on the Holy Ghost and I gave the presentation. Saturday night was my ward's Christmas party as well. My district leader, Elder Bassett, and I both played some Christmas hymns from the hymn book.

We finally got a little more snow but it wasn't a lot. Hopefully we will get some more soon. I hope we have a white Christmas too.

Saturday Elder Timothy and I went to a member’s home and had diner. It was by far the NASTIEST thing I have eaten on my mission. It was butternut squash soup. Elder Timothy liked it but I thought it was gross, lol

I miss you all,

Elder Rodriguez

Baptism!

Skate Park Photos 

Baptism

Hello Everyone!

It has been an exciting week for us! My district leader just interviewed our investigator for Baptism and he is good to go for this Saturday. And right after that we have our ward Christmas party which myself and my district leader will be playing a trumpet duet in the program. Elder Timothy and I go to this music store where we both bought sheet music for popular songs. They also have really nice trumpets.

We also have another investigator who has two sons that are potentials. I really hope they all get baptized really soon.  We are back at Sister Morales's now and it feels good to be back. But we will have to move again soon, because more of her kids are coming for Christmas. I just had my second and last training for all new missionaries that came out with me. I took a picture with one of the AP's that is going home this week.

I miss you all. I miss the food we have in California too, especially in N out. There is not one in my area. But Elder Timothy told me a story that some VERY disobedient missionaries in my mission drove all the way to Provo just to go to In N Out. The Mission President found out and they all got sent home.

Until next time,

Love, Elder Rodriguez

Happy Thanksgiving

Hello everyone!

I hope you all are doing well. It has gotten warmer this past week. Almost all the snow melted away. I am glad to say that we had a very good week. We have a brand new Investigator who is super interested. We taught her the first lesson and she wants to meet again. Her mom and step dad are recent converts as of September and they love having us over; they also give us hot chocolate. Her kids love to come to church as well. My companion and I survived transfers! We are the only set out of our zone of 26 missionaries who are staying together. We also had zone meeting Tuesday last week. Elder Timothy and I and another set of Elders went to lunch at Subway and we meet some people who were interested. We placed two copies of the Book of Mormon! This past Thursday went out with the second counselor in the Elders Quorum to see somebody and after that he showed us his warehouse where he and his brother own an electrical business. He showed us all the cool stuff he has in there. And to my amazement he showed us his indoor skate park! It was so cool. We also went to the Temple on Wednesday and it was so spiritual and wonderful.

 So get this, the ward members of the Christmas party committee found out I played the trumpet and now they might have me play in the program. Sister Morales has a trumpet that her son used to play.

Elder Timothy and I had a great Thanksgiving. We had it at our member’s home with her Mom and daughters. This week has been pretty crazy because we have been moving all over the place. Sister Morales's daughters came from Utah two weeks ago so we moved to another member’s home then we moved to Bishops house for the majority of the week. Then Bishop and his family came back and now we are at another member’s house right now. But we will probably move back to Sister Morales's today. The snow has pretty much all melted. It snowed a bit last night but that's it. 

Elder Timothy and I had kind of a slow week because of the Holidays, but we did what we could. We did a lot of service though. We helped Sister Morales and her daughters put up Christmas lights outside her house and then helped them decorate the inside. We also helped some ward members move into a new house.

So Saturday night, Elder Timothy and I planned for a good week but then Sunday morning he started throwing up a lot. He has been really sick lately. I went on exchanges with our district leader because his companion is sick to. I think he will be ok in the next couple of days. So we have our Christmas social on Dec. 13th right after a baptism. There are a lot of biking opportunities in my area. I really miss mountain biking a lot and I hope I will be using a bike when the warmer months get here. 

I miss you all, until next time,

Love,

Elder Rodriguez

Burrrr it's cold!

Hi Everybody!


This week has been a lot better with the work. My companion's ankle is healing a lot this week and we are back to working again. My companion was a Church Service Missionary for 10 months before he came out. He served in a Family History Center so he knows a bunch of stuff. All the missionaries in our zone go to the family history center every Friday. It is so cool; we really stress about getting referrals from people through family history work though. But we do have a great plan for this week and we are determined to get it done. There are quite a few families that have signed up for diner this month. Our dinner calendar is full for November except for like 1 day. My ward is pretty big, I would say about double the Pickering Ward. The ward members are so nice, but we are the only set of missionaries in the ward.

So we finally have an investigator on date for Dec.13th! I'm giving the opening prayer and my companion is giving a talk on Baptism. Another Elder that taught him awhile back is going to baptize him.

So we are teaching another investigator who has been taught by the missionaries for quite some time, long before I came out. His new wife and her kids are members but he is just not ready to accept the gospel yet. We are also visiting a less-active member who is hard to work with. He is very bitter and is struggling with health issues. Last visit we were over there we gave him a blessing and he appreciated that.

It finally snowed! It was around 70 degrees on Monday morning during emails then when we were done it dropped down to like 20! It has been snowing all week but I'm staying warm. I got some boots that are really good. My companion and I decided we would walk a little instead of driving to enjoy it. We also did some snow shoveling for Sister Morales.

Tuesday we had Zone Conference and it was so inspiring and so much fun. They had all the new missionaries take a picture with President and Sister Mendenhall. So this week is the last week of Transfers and we don't know who is going where. My companion has a feeling that he will leave because he has been in the area for so long. We have a diner scheduled for Thanksgiving but there is a possibility that we will be somewhere else. Transfer day is next Monday.

Well goodbye for now! Hope you all are doing well.


Love,

Elder Rodriguez

Halloween!

Hello Everyone!

It is almost Halloween! We have to be home by 6:00pm on Halloween. They want the missionaries to be safe and everything. My companion and I went to eat dinner at a member’s home then we went home and watched "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration". And we ate a lot of junk food that night but it was fun. My companion and I and another set of Elders went to my ward Halloween party with the Trunk or Treat. It was so much fun and was an excellent missionary opportunity.

It hasn't snowed at all yet but it will soon. It is a little chilly but not extreme, my companion and I still wear short sleeved shirts. I have been battling a cold the past couple of days but I feel a lot better.  So my companion and I were doing yard work service for the sister we live with and then my companion stepped on some bricks and fell and sprained his ankle. So now he is on crutches and we can't really do anything. So as of right now, I'm the driver for our car! We didn't even go to church yesterday. I hope he heals soon so the work can move a lot faster. I did come across some cool dirt biking jumps though!

I hope you all are doing well,

Love,

Elder Rodriguez

"Ready to serve the Lord"

"I found my new playground"

First Week in the Field

Hi everybody,

This is the end of my first week in the field and I have learned a lot. I haven't met a lot of people from the ward yet because yesterday was Stake Conference, but I have met a few and they are super nice. We are getting fed here and there and the work is getting better. There is an issue with my ward and the ward missionaries. My companion and I feel like they are expecting the full time missionaries to do all their work. The Bishop gave us a list of like 200 inactive members and told us to see what's up with them. So we called the Mission President and told him about the assignment we were given and he wasn't pleased, he doesn't want us to do the work of ward missionaries. But we can use the list to an extent.

Anyways, it is not too cold here but it gets a little chilly. Thanks for sending my sweater. Me and the other new missionaries in my mission all got to see "Meet the Mormons" at a church building! It was very good and interesting.

Elder Timothy and I and other missionaries do some service hours at a retirement home called Arvada Estates. We go every Tuesday and Thursday. We play Bingo and balloon volleyball.              

My companion and I have a car and I'm loving it. He got in a bike accident and he can't ride until next summer. So I don't know when I will be needing my bike but I will keep you all posted. I have been getting some altitude sickness here but I'm getting better everyday. It's not that bad. I'm glad to hear you are all doing well. I'm doing fine here as well and I am learning a lot. We got to go to the Denver Temple and do Endowments this last Wednesday and we also went to Deseret Book as well. It is such a beautiful temple.

I love you all, take care!

Here are some Pictures from the previous week!

Arriving in Colorado!

Hi Everybody,

I've made it to Colorado safely and have arrived at my residence. My new companion is Elder Timothy from Chandler Arizona. He has been out for a little over 13 months. He is a very good companion and a really good missionary. I know he will train me well.

The weather here is kind of like Provo except it is just a little colder. I don't think I will absolutely be needing my coat right now, but I will definitely be getting it soon. To be honest, I feel like my residence is Grandma Gravley's house. The weather, the town and everything just reminds me of her house. But my companion and I live with a single sister named Sister Morales and she is very nice. She has a couple of kids but she and her husband got divorced. There is also an exchanged student from Saudi Arabia that lives with us as well. I had my first dinner appointment last night with a member family.

I am doing well and am glad to be starting my "real" mission now. My first area is a place called Arvada, Colorado and the people I have met so far seem really nice. My Zone leaders and AP's are very nice and loving as well. President and Sister Mendenhall are such great and loving people. Sister Mendenhall is a nurse so we are in good hands.

The President and AP's picked us up at the airport and took us to the mission home. We ate lunch there and met our new companions. Then Elder Timothy and I had to make some arrangements with our car and luggage along with other Elders and then we got to work. My District family and I have gone our own ways with our new companions and I hope I can see them again sometime.

Until next week,

Elder Rodriguez

Last Moments

Saying Goodbye at the airport and getting set apart as an Elder!

First Week!

Hello Everyone!

I have arrived safely and I have been doing well at the MTC!I think the MTC is great! Conference was very inspirational. The weather here is cooler than California, it's about 60 or 40ish or so. My schedule is pretty busy, we always have different studies and classroom instructions, but it is taught by very good loving teachers. My companions' name is Elder Fisher and he is from Northern California.  I found out that if I went to the MTC a week earlier than I did, I would have had a chance to sing at the Conference center!!!! I was mad.  The food here is a little less quality than I expected but it is still good, it keeps us full. My district consists of my companion and I, another set of Elders and two sets of Sisters. So there are 8 of us. One set of Sisters are going to Vancouver Canada, but the rest of us are going to the Colorado Denver North Mission.

I actually went to the Provo Temple a couple of hours ago. But it looks like that will be the only time I we get to go. My impressions at the MTC are that everybody has a common purpose to bring souls unto Christ. I didn't know how big the campus was, and didn't know there was a West Campus. The Flight here was cool, I just got a little dizzy and queezy. I haven't uploaded pics yet, I don't know if the computers here let you. But I will upload soon. As I look at the mountains next to the MTC everyday I really miss Mountain Biking and doing the things I like, and I think to myself "I still have 2 years to go!" but I know that what I am doing is far more important. I am really anxious to get to Colorado and I want to start the work now! I love you guys and I hope all is well. Goodbye for now.

Love, Elder Rodriguez

Arrival!

Here is Elder Rodriguez reporting for the MTC!