Just pushing along :)

Hey Everyone!

Stella is doing ok but she is moving now to downtown Denver. She used to live there and she will be attended a ward she used to attend. Hopefully she will be retained. 

We had a pretty solid week. Monday was Zone P-Day and that was a blast. We had a Zone Meeting on Wednesday and that was fun. It was somebody's birthday and we all pitched in and bought donuts and chocolate milk. Thursday we had interviews with President and Sister Mendenhall. He is such a good Mission President and they do so much for our welfare.

On Saturday we went on exchanges and we were able to find a couple of new people. We found an investigator and put him on date or June 11th so we will see what becomes of him. This transfer is almost over and they go by so fast now it’s ridiculous. Well I hope you all have a great week!

Love,

            Elder Rodriguez

Baptism!

Hi everybody!

This week was very busy! Tuesday we went on exchanges with one of our district leaders. That day a member took us to Olive Garden. The food wasn't really great. Wednesday morning we went to the Temple and Deseret Book. That was a particularly great experience and I definitely got a lot out of it. We found a new investigator on Wednesday as well. Her name is Fabiola and she is 17 or 18. She likes to wear inappropriate clothes according to our standards. She is really not that promising but we will see what happens to her. Friday was MLCs and that was really fun. This is the first MLC of the transfer and there were a lot of new zone leaders that got called. Some of them I have served with in the past so it was cool to see them there. 

Saturday was the busiest day of the week. After studies and correlation meeting we had to get the program printed out and everything else in order for the baptism. The stake center's water heater is not the best so Elder Conlin and I had to go up to the attic and push the "on" button for hot water at 120 degrees every minute. For some reason it will stay on for that minute and then turn off. We had to stay up there for about 45 minutes before the baptism. But the whole program was great. President and Sister Mendenhall came as well as the spanish sisters that worked with her first. 

Yesterday after skyping we still needed to do our weekly planning because we had to go to MLCs. So we had a busy Sunday as well. The whole week was fun. Today is zone P-Day and we will be playing toilet paper dodge ball and Elder Conlin will be making Jambalaya. This week we will be having Zone Meeting and interviews with president. So it will be another busy week. Well until next time,

Love

            Elder Rodriguez

Trunky

Happy Monday everyone!

This week was an ok week. We didn't teach as much as we would have liked, but it was still a good week. Thursday we did service at a place called Growing Home with a set of sister missionaries. We started painting an office room and that was pretty fun. On Saturday we moved into Brother and Sister Deters home. Every 6 months the Elders rotate homes between Sister Ellis and the Deters. Brother Deters used to be a counselor in the Stake Presidency and they are wonderful people. We had to pack Friday night and get everything cleaned up. 

Saturday the Young Women had a fundraiser to go Girls Camp. They had a pasta bar and silent auction. It was pretty fun and the young woman made so much money. I was able to get a snowboard and boots for $10. It's a pretty nice snow board too. The lady who donated it said she had to get rid of it because she doesn't snowboard anymore. Yesterday we had to meet with the Stake President to give an update on the missionary work in the zone and that went well. This Wednesday we are going to the Temple for the first time in 3 months. Desert Book is always a fun place to go to afterwards. 

My mission has definitely meant the world to me. Every day I look at the now capped mountains an think that home is on the other side. Now that I have 5 more months left I am doing all I can to work harder and hasten the Lords work. When October 5th comes around I definitely won’t want to come home but at the same time I definitely will.  I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Love,

Elder Rodriguez

Old Friends

Hello!

This week was pretty fun. Wednesday was transfers and Elder Conlin and I had to help with luggage and making sure people are in the right place. No more snow for a while or perhaps until winter. Our investigators are doing pretty well. We are working with someone named Suerina whose in her late 40s. She said she watched the Restoration video 3 times and believes that Joseph Smith was a prophet. She definitely feels the spirit but she is not ready for baptism yet. She will need more time. 

We are still working with Vi and Esther. Yesterday we showed them the Restoration video and they loved it. Sister James got bold and testified the crap out of them after it was over. Vi and Esther being Catholics said if the Pope were to take the 6 missionaries lessons he would become a Mormon. But they took it very well and they are anxious to learn the Plan of Salvation this Sunday. Stella is doing a little better. The only thing that was keeping her from baptism is church attendance. We had a lesson with her on Friday with our ward mission leader and taught her the importance of attending church. We also showed the John Tanner video and taught the seriousness of baptism.

We picked up Bob Danielson again last week. He is the member of the RLDS (Community of Christ) Church. His great great grandfather joined the church in Scotland from the efforts of missionaries and made his way over to America. But his ancestors stayed behind with Lyman White and the rest of the former saints. We showed him the How Rare a Possession video, because he doesn't want to leave his church behind. He believes in parts of our church and parts of his church and he says he still needs to pray and seek answers. He will be moving to Fort Collins soon and maybe he will make the transition when he goes there. 

May and June of 2015 was when I served in Westminster for the first time and I had a zone leader named Elder Brown. He came back to visit with his brother from BYU Provo. They are staying with us at Sister Ellis's home. It definitely made me trunky but it was really good to see him. I miss you all.

Love,

            Elder Rodriguez

Spuds

Hello all!

Happy Monday! Transfers are this Wednesday and Elder Conlin and I are safe, thank goodness. Another 6 weeks in the Hidden Lake ward. However there are lots of changes going on in the zone. And yeah we got snow this past Saturday and Sunday. It probably contributed with Stella not coming to church again. If she doesn't start coming soon I don't think she will be getting baptized on May 8th. But the snow pretty much melted already but Sunday morning we shoveled 3 drive ways before church.

I'm glad that Elder Conlin and I are staying but some of the missionaries that are getting transferred will be missed. Some of them I have served with in Denver and Westminster for 6 months. But I'm sure the new missionaries coming in will be great as well. Our investigators are making some progress but not too much. Stella is still Stella. But this week we found another one named Bree, short for Brittney. She is in her late 20s or something and she loved our message on the Plan of Salvation. We are taking her on a church tour with a member this Tuesday. 

There is a senior couple that are members in the Arvada Stake but live in a retirement home in our ward boundaries called the James. They gave us a call and said they have a couple people for us to teach. They have neighbors in the retirement home as well and we taught them the Restoration last night. Their names are Vi and Ester. Vi used to be the mayor of Westminster back in the 60s and is a hard catholic. Ester is a Hispanic lady and is also a hard catholic but she has a couple of granddaughters dating Mormons and they might get baptized. They weren't too receptive but were very kind to us. We might progress with the lessons each Sunday though. 

The ward had an activity Saturday night called the Spud Derby. We each carved uncooked potatoes into derby cars and raced them on the track in the cultural hall. It was a fun night and Elder Conlin and I got missionary action figures from another elder and used them as decorations. I hope you all are well!

Love,

          Elder Rodriguez

Finding Finding Finding!

Hey Everybody,

Stella is still Stella. We had a lesson with her and a family from the ward on Saturday night. That went well and Stella said she would be at church but she didn't show up. She has OCD and she stays up all night cleaning her apartment and her girls a soooooo rude and won’t cooperate. She says she has been off green tea still but we will see what becomes of her. She is still on Baptismal date for May 8th, Mothers Day. 

The weather has been pretty nice lately. It hasn't been too hot or too cold. It rained for the first time in awhile yesterday. This morning Elder Conlin and I did a big bike ride for exercise. He wanted to buy a new suit so this morning we went thrift shopping. Didn't find anything though. We both got our haircuts as well. There is a less active in the area who does free hair cuts for missionaries. She is not interested in joining the church again but she is a very nice lady. We are probably just going to play basketball again in a couple of hours. There was a non member couple that took us out to eat on Tuesday for lunch. They wanted to give back to us from shoveling their drive way when it snowed. They are neighbors to Sister Ellis. We had another Zone Meeting on Thursday and that went very well.

We did a lot of finding this week. We contacted a lot of Part Member Families, Unbaptized children, and tracting. We were able to find 2 new investigators and a couple of other people. There was a family that let us in on Saturday morning. It was a lady and her college aged daughter. We shared the Restoration and you can definitely tell that the mom felt the spirit; Elder Conlin and I did. The daughter said she didn't. They said we can come back in a couple of weeks so we will see what happens.

This is the first time on my mission where we have a 7 week transfer. And if I am with Elder Conlin again he will be the companion I have had for the longest time. On May 1st we will be moving into another members home. They rotate every 6 months with Sister Ellis. They are very nice members so we don't have anything to worry about. Hope you all have a great week and good luck with everything you need to do. Until next time,

Love

          Elder Rodriguez