Week 9

Hey y’all!!

So I have good news!! We just got back from the temple and went straight to the travel office because today is the day.  The good news is that the 3 Mexico City Elders have their reassignment to Nevada Las Vegas North!!!!  I am so happy for them!  They leave Monday morning :)  as for us 3 Tijuana Elders....We still don’t have our reassignments or Visas yet but we will be heading up to the consolate sometime next week and leave straight to Tijuana in two weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!  So we have another week in the MTC, but we will head straight to Mexico in about a week and half!  Holy crap I am so happy right now I feel like crying and cant wait to get out of the MTC!  I have a feeling this next 2 weeks will go by so slowly but its all good because I am going straight to Mexico!!!!!!!!  I’m so pumped!!!

Mom I thank you for sending me your talk that you gave in October.  I have learned so much from it in the past two days reading it and I am so happy you sent it.  Brought back a lot of good memories of the freeway and the rough nights there.  But also how it transitioned to being something fun and something that I kind of miss.  Nothing like jackhammering for 8 hrs a night ;)  I am so glad you and Dad had me keep working there because it taught me that through the Atonement of Christ I can be strengthened and overcome anything in my path.  I am seriously so grateful for this Gospel and the blessings it brings me in this life.  How great an opportunity I have to serve the Lord for 2 years!  And not worry about anything else but other people and the Gospel! 

It has been snowing like crazy down here for the past two or 3 days as well.  On and off and on and off.  Can’t wait to get to the warm weather of Tijuana though!  Thank you for the pictures from the snow at home as well.  If we have some time later today we are going to try to build a snowman ourselves.  The snow here is perfect for doing so.  I have ran into both Elder Hock and Elder Paulsen multiple times and both are doing well.  I also ran into a kid named Elder Gamble from Viewmont that I played basketball and baseball against.  He had a mullet as well back in his day.  It was fun to talk and remember our locks. 

Thank you for the Dear Elders and letters!  I’m glad Keaton enjoyed his Book of Mormon - I thought he would!  I will get to call home next week sometime so don’t expect anything for a week or so but I will let you know travel plans. 

Thanks for the update on the Baseball Banquet and all the sports world.  The Braves should be good this year will the upton bros and JHey in the outfield!  I will miss watching them play but its all good because I am doing the Lords work right?  Anyways I hope all is going good and you are all doing well!  I am just happy that I finally have some info regarding our trip to Mexico!!  Yippee!!

Take care

Your son and bro

Elder Roper :)

Hermana Hanson and I - she is from Jenny's home ward it South Jordan

Cool panoramic of the valley WITHOUT inversion 

Elder Tall and I on Sunday 

Our district with Hermana Olson - our first teacher

Elder Russell - fellow Ute Fan!

Hermana Lefevre and I . . . She is from good ole Delta Utah!! or Delda as we say :)

Week 8

Hola Familia!

Sad news...because Monday was a holiday the travel offices were shut down.  So we didn’t get our Visas and re-assignments take place on Monday and we find out on Thursdays.  So we were supposed to be finding out today where were going but because the travel office was closed on Monday our info didn’t get submitted.  So we are stuck here in good ol’ Provo for another week at least.  I am trying to look on it at the positive side and see why God would have us stay here for another but it’s a little hard because we are all getting a little bit trunky!  So hopefully I will get a re-assignment next Thursday.  If so watch your cell phones because I will be able to call home for a bit.  I will still be able to call from the airport, I just don’t know when that will be.  I will let you all know when that is though!

So another week in the books . . . I am very excited Jenny and her call to Dallas!  Even more excited that she will learn Spanish!  I have ran into to both Elder Paulson and Elder Hock this week and both are doing well!  I haven’t ran into Elder Sandburg yet so hopefully I will see him soon! 

There is an Hermana in my zone that came in last week that is from Jenny's homeward so it was cool hearing from her and putting two and two together to how she knew Jenny.  Our days are starting to get pretty monotonous just because we do the same thing over and over but I am trying to have a positive attitude with it and just look at it as extra time for the field! 

The temple this morning was good as always.  A little bit of a scary accident happened though.  So it’s been rainy here this morning and cold so all the sidewalks at the temple were frozen and very slick.  I slipped and fell myself on the way back- I am perfectly okay though.  Anyways on our way in the door we here one of the maintainence workers yell for help and someone to call for 911.  An old lady had slipped and hit her head on the sidewalk and was bleeding very bad.  Elder Smith and I go running into the temple to get help.  We get help and go attend to her to make sure she is okay.  At the same time this same Hermana Hanson that I wrote of earlier just happens to be an EMT and was starting to help her out.  Elder Smith and Elder Tall gave her a priesthood blessing and the paramedics showed up to get her taken care of.  It was an interesting experience and it woke me up a lot to know that we will need to be alert like that whenever because anything can happen at any time.  I love serving the Lord!  Can't wait for the field!  I hope to receive the package today and am looking forward to it! 

Once again I will let you all know when we are leaving and when to expect a call.  I hope you all had a good week and are doing good!  I am excited for the Niners and hope they pull off a win for the title!  If they do, especially with Kapernick playing, Alex will be in need of a job dang it.  Pretty sad that the game before he got hurt he was 17-18 and the next he is benched for the season.  Rough situation! 

Take care and I love you all!

Elder Roper

P.S. Has Keaton received his package in the mail yet?

Finally found some Elders that love Coke as much as I do

Week 7

Howdy Y’all!!

How is everyone doing?  It has been a great week down here and I am thriving!  Big news items this week...Tuesday night we had a devotional with guess who? Elder Holland!!!!!!!!!!  So I have heard and seen two special witnesses of Christ since I have been here in the MTC.  Pretty great if you ask me...I am so blessed.  I will get to what he said later on.  The other big item is that I got called to be District Leader for the last 2 weeks while we are still here at the MTC.  I am very humbled and love my calling!  I attend meetings all day Sunday so I guess I can welcome myself to the party with dad :) 

Yesterday I helped with the traffic control with the new missionaries.  I was the first missionary all the families saw on their way to drop off their loved ones.  It was definitely an interesting experience and made me think back to the 28th of November.  Oh, how fast time flies!  I just wish I could somehow tell the families and new elders and sisters that it will be okay and the sacrifice they are making will bring so many blessings.  I was told that but I now have a testimony of it having received and receiving those blessings.  So I ran into the Hock's and Paulsen's but still haven’t seen Nic or Brian yet.  Hopefully soon though :) 

No news regarding the Visa sadly.  So I am expecting to get reassigned now, but oh well.  It will give me more time to prepare for Tijuana and total Spanish.  I am starting to get nervous for Tijuana for the Spanish and regarding safety but I have constant reminders that the Lord didn't call me to speak perfect Spanish and because we are his representatives, He WILL see to it that we are safe. 

I picked up my suit last week and its great!  I will take in this other one today to get it all spiffy before the field.  If I don’t have room for stuff I will just start shipping it home.  I will let you know before hand though. 

Right after Christmas I was really trying hard to diet and eat salads and no soda and no sweets but it didn’t work out too well.  It worked great while I did it but it’s hard and I just tell myself that I will drop weight in Mexico with beans and rice and walking everyday.  Like mom said, I am living it up now but am still mindful of what I am eating.  I dropped ten lbs my first week here just because I didn’t have an appetite and my weight stays the same now so it’s all good.  I just worry about outgrowing my suit! ;)  with what gym time we do have I play basketball or go run.  We get some really good games going and they are usually competitive.  I swear one Elder a week blows out an ankle or ACL though so I don’t play too hard because I don’t want to get hurt right before the field.  It’s still a blast though!   

So there were 3 buildings down here that needed to be rededicated because they had just been refurbished – that’s why Elder Holland came.  Before the dedicatory prayer he spoke to us about a lot of stuff but most importantly teaching by the spirit and doing the work the Lords way which means obeying.  He is my favorite apostle and he speaks so strongly.  He COMMANDED us to come home with at least one convert - ourselves.  If that happens then we will have been successful.  He said that the missionaries in dispensations before us knew they were going to fail...that apostasy would happen in their generation, but they kept working and going because they saw us in this final and last greatest dispensation of all and knew that we were going to win.  Very humbling to know they kept going because they saw the work today and knew we would win!  In the dedicatory prayer, Elder Holland blessed the entire MTC that an act of violence with guns or weapons would NEVER occur here.  That the doors and windows and classrooms would literally be guarded by angels from above.  Very comforting - I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house!  This Church is true and the evidence of that saying is everywhere! 

So yes, I am doing great!  I don’t need much anything else but I will let you know next week incase I do!  I am doing great!  Hope all is well at home and everything is good!

Until next week-

Elder Roper

Us 6 Mexican Elders 

The 4 Columbian Elders that left this past Sunday

Funny pic with the district just older than us that left this past Tuesday as well.  Just notice Elder Tall's simple smile.  Just describes his personality compared to the rest of us! 

Our whole district before the 4 Columbians left 

Another fun pic

Elder Hill and I.  This Elder promised to take me snowmobiling during the winter of 2015 . . . looking forward to that!

Elder Conaway and I sporting our rivalry shirts . . . 
let's be honest though the red looks so much better :)

Week 6

Hey there!

Another week has come and gone and it’s hard to believe how fast they go by.  We only have two and a half more weeks here - hopefully!  The Elders in my district finally got their Visas so they will leave on Tuesday.  It’s all becoming a lot more real that the field is just around the corner.  I am very nervous, excited, and happy but all will be well as long as I do my best right?  

I haven't heard a thing about my VISA :(  so if they don't get it in the next week or so, I will get reassigned to somewhere in the States for a transfer or two I am assuming.  Where in the State?  I don’t know but I sure hope its somewhere warm.  It has been freezing cold down here the past week but with the storm coming through the inversion is lifted and quite pleasant outside.  I am loving today.  It’s gorgeous!  After the session today in the temple we ate breakfast in the cafeteria there and it was the best food I had had in 2 months.  If the MTC fed us like in the temple, I would have put on 20 pounds by now! 

Jenny also told me that her papers were officially in and I can’t wait to see where she is headed in this world!  Same with Marlee...it’s always a nice surprise to hear where family and friends are called!  There are in for such a fun ride!

The MTC is well but with all the older districts in my zone leaving I am ready to get out of here.  Don’t get me wrong it’s great but its just hard to be in a classroom for 8 hours a day.  I hate having to diet too...it is what it is and when I get to Tijuana,  I am sure I will wish I was back in the MTC ha.  I think I get to host either next week or the week after that.  What days do Elder Hock and Paulsen come in?  I will definitely look for them!

This past week has probably been my hardest week since I have been here but guess what?  I made it through :)  I sometimes put a lot of pressure on myself because I don’t want to be the Elder that is lazy and the Mission President has to worry about so I overthink a lot of simple things down here sometimes.  If I teach a bad lesson, I am just hard on myself.  I prayed and prayed and even asked for a blessing from Elder Tall that this would stop and it really has.  Thank goodness for my worthy companion who holds the very power of God to bring me comfort and peace.  The past two days have been amazing!  We were reading in D&C 4 and one of the things its says is required is patience.  So I have been trying to be more patient with myself and realize that if I fail, I will always have another chance.  This two years is a marathon not a sprint.  Coach Brown always said the season is a marathon not a sprint.  I have applied so much from baseball and basketball especially from the State Championship game into missionary work.  Also cool that my pregame meal for State was Zupa’s and my pregame meal for the misson was Zupa’s.  Interesting huh?  Nevertheless I am doing great and as long as I am positive and patient I am fine.  I hope all is well at home and life is treating you all well.  I love and miss you so much!!  Thank you for all you do for me! 

Take care

Your son and bro,

Elder Roper

My coat is huge but very warm nonetheless!

District picture 

My bud Elder Jones from Cali that left to Boise, Idaho spanish speaking Monday-funny huh?  Boise!!

Panoramic of the clear valley and skies after the temple today-thank goodness!

Our food from the temple this morning-it will probably make me ungrateful for the food here at the MTC. It was so good!