Memorial Day fun!

Hey Everybody,

Hope you had a great Memorial Day! I had a blast yesterday. It was Zone P-Day and we all played Dodge ball and Volleyball with the sisters. We also carved watermelons. It was weird but fun. Our ward mission leader had us over for a barbecue as well. Then right after that we taught a recent convert the Plan of Salvation. 

This week was really hard because Elder Takis was sick for a couple of days. So we had to do some exchanges and stay at home. I was able to clean the apartment a little though. There is a senior couple in the mission that works in the mission office, named the Hollingsworths. He is in-charge of the mission vehicles and she does other stuff in the office. Friday we had an appointment with a new investigator that we picked up last week and I had to go on exchanges with Elder Hollingsworth but our investigator didn't answer the door. He then bought lunch for Elder Takis and I and another set of Elders that were at our apartment.

We really hit it big on Saturday. Elder Takis was feeling better and we got another investigator and 4 potential investigators. We have a super busy week coming up and we will be teaching a lot. It is kinda hard to cover 2 wards at a time but it definitely keeps you busy. Elder Takis asked me to give a training, like a lesson, tomorrow at district meeting. That should be fun. I love you all! Until next time,

            Love,

                        Elder Rodriguez

Life in the new area :)

Hey Everybody,

Happy Monday! Things are going great here in Westminster CO. I am right next to my first area in Arvada. My first week of the new transfer was awesome. The Assistants got transferred out of the ward and they left a ton of work for us to do. We even snagged a new investigator this week. He accepted baptism! He lost his wife about 2 years ago and has a son that's about 6 or 7ish. Elder Takis and I share the ward with the Sister Training Leaders or STL's. We also have a fantastic ward mission leader who is always on top of things. It feels super good to be back in a family ward again. I am getting fed a heck of a lot more than the YSA Ward. We have dinners everyday now! The ward is about the size of the Pickering ward, not a whole lot of people but still a good size. I really like Elder Takis, we get along super well and he is also the district leader. I love my new zone. Everybody is super cool and fun to be around. We play football a lot for morning exercise. We are working with quite a few people. We have a couple of recent converts and a few referrals to try as well. We are now working with 2 investigators, one from this ward and another from the other ward that just Elder Takis and I cover. 

The weather has definitely warmed up, but not warm enough for me, haha. I want it around 75 or 80. We have a busy week planned. We are going to the Temple this Wednesday and we have some service opportunities as well. Since Elder Takis is the district leader he has weekly meetings with the other district leader and zone leaders. So since I am his companion I have to go to those as well. But Elder Gillming is the companion of the other district leader so we just do whatever we want together until our companions are done. There is a chance that Elder Takis and I along with another set of Elders will be going to a baseball game on Memorial Day! Some missionaries helped out a member and I heard he was going to give us tickets!  Hope everything is going well in So Cal!

            Love,

                        Elder Rodriguez

Happy Mother's Day!

Hey Everybody,

Happy Monday! I got transferred! Transfers went very smoothly. I am now with Elder Takis who is from Logan Utah. Second Utah comp in a row. I am going to miss Elder Merrill but I think I am really going to like Elder Takis. I am now in Westminster CO.  I am happy to be in a family ward again but I will miss the YSA Ward. We are sharing a ward with sisters again but they are from our mission. They weather is warming up again so I will like that. I really think I am going to like my district and zone. They are really cool missionaries.

And a Happy Mothers Day! It was so great to skype my family. I wish I could’ve seen all of you. I am a little over 7 months out now, so I guess until then, I hope you all are doing well.

Love,

Elder Rodriguez

Hello May

Hello Everybody,

This week hasn't been this solid in a long time. We hit 13 lessons when we usually average about 6. We had many diner appointments as well. President Mendenhall spoke to Elder Merrill and I about the Springs Sisters. He said that I will probably get transferred and Elder Merrill will stay in 2 weeks. We have exciting news! When President spoke to us about the sisters he said he spoke to the Colorado Springs Mission President about the whole boundaries issue with the YSA ward. Both Presidents agreed that both we and the Springs Sisters can do missionary work in all the boundaries in the YSA ward. Meaning Elder Merrill and I have permission to teach members of our ward and proselyte in the Springs Mission!  And the same goes for the sisters. It is a very weird situation but it is what it is I guess.

So get this. We are teaching members of our ward right now and we met him  on Saturday. He is a voice actor and he showed us his studio. He has voiced a lot of characters in movies and tv shows. He was the voice of the talking stove in Beauty and the Beast, he did Emperors New School, the Bernstein Bears, and many other things. He gave us autographs and I got a picture with him. It was really cool. On Saturday Elder Merrill and I taught one of our investigators with an RM that got home a week ago. We had to drop her because she had a lot against the church and said she will not convert even though she has been seeing missionaries for the past 10 years or so. This Thursday we will be getting judged on how clean our car is. It is kinda a competition and whoever wins gets a gift card of some sort. So we got to clean, vacuum, and wash our car as well. I really love the YSA Ward but I also miss the normal family ward. I would really like to get transferred in 2 weeks but I also would love to come back to Parker some time in my mission.

I went on exchanges with my district leader on Saturday and took him to our ward Cinco De Mayo party. That was super fun. We had tacos and a piñata. We also had Zone Conference on Thursday and we had to switch our car with another set of elders because we now need a ton of miles haha I miss you all and hope you are well!

Love,

Elder Rodriguez