I LOVE Guerrero Negro

Hey, how are you all? Sorry this is coming in late today. We had a bunch of appointments in the morning and by the time we got all the other stuff done we are barely getting around to writing home. Sounds like you all had a good week! Congrats Turkey for being MVP! Sounds like you are getting to become quite the ball player. Keep up the good work! And what’s up with Hayden driving without his permit???? NO ONE let me drive until I had my permit and even the day I turned 16 I couldn’t drive because I didn’t have my actual license...speaking of that my license expires in October...how do I renew it? Or do I just have to wait until I get home? Hayden looks super old too! So how did it go? You all made it home safely then? ;)

This week absolutely flew by . . . can’t believe it’s July either! The work is picking up here. There are still days when we don’t have a whole lot to do and the members have given us all their referrals and there is no one in the street. It can become a little frustrating especially when the zone leaders are right on top of us and pressuring us a bunch, but it’s all good as usual. Let me tell you about the people here. It’s taken me three weeks to realize it but just about everyone here is Catholic. A lot of people think, well if the Mormon church is supposedly the true church why is their chapel so empty? It’s really a dumb question. But yeah we start teaching people and they start telling their Catholic friends all that they have learned and that they are going to get baptized now that they are big and old and understand why we get baptized and that they need to do how Christ got baptized and their friends start to tell them how bad the Mormon church is and that we have a bunch of wives and how we don’t worship or believe in God and just about every rumor in the book you can think of. I’ve heard it all in 19 months of being a representative of Christ and His Church. You know how the news and rumors get around in small towns like Nephi or Levan? It’s the same here and people start to doubt even though they have their answers from God and tell they don’t want to listen to us. It’s heartbreaking sometimes but that’s just the way things are. The door and path we must enter and follow is straight and narrow and not a whole lot of people are going to enter and follow that path so it’s not surprising. Just hard...I dunno what else I expected though? Salvation wasn’t easy for Christ so why would it be easy for me as His missionary? That’s what we are dealing with and battling against here. Granted it’s not an excuse to not have success. But we are working hard with what we can and we have faith the Lord with bless us!

There is a military base about 5 minutes from the city so we are meeting a bunch of soldiers that are really interested, they just don’t have time for their duty and job. I LOVE Guerrero Negro and hope to finish here because it’s a real challenge. But it’s not impossible and I know we will baptize and have success! I really am super happy and am enjoying every day because I know real quick it will be all over . . .

Mom, we have zone conference on the 15th of July in two weeks and I can get packages that day. I just need that memory card. My other two are all messed up right now. The pictures are still there but they just don’t show up on the computer. I’ll have to have Casey look at them when I get home. That and spitz sunflower seeds. If you don’t find pants, don’t worry. I just tuck my pant leg in my sock and everything works out :) Everyone looks great and the fireworks looked awesome as well! I sure love and miss you all! Have a great week and have a happy 4th of July! Have a fun trip to Oregon as well!!

Elder Roper :)

We painted a less active members house this past week . . . 

How could I forget? It was super fun! 

Pictures of the house we are living in

and yeah, that's right . . . queen size beds!!!! I love my life!

Good Week!

Hey, how are you all? Sounds like you all had a fun week. Hayden, how did you enjoy Trek? I loved Trek and I remember being so sad when it was all over ha. I had some powerful experiences. It strengthened my testimony a bunch seeing and feeling just a taste of what the pioneers went through.

I get a kick hearing of Turkey playing ball and pitching. Sounds like he has become quite the little ball player. I can’t wait to watch him and Bucket next season! I laughed hard when I read that he had said they can’t touch my knuckle-curve hahahaha. Dad does it really break and what not? If he keeps throwing it, he can become quite the pitcher someday :) 

So, I’m really loving getting around on a bike. My bike is super light and gets around quick hahah:) and Mom I tuck my pants in my socks so there aren’t problems. ;) Things are much easier and we get to appts a lot faster. I went on interchanges with two elders this week and we had to leave the bikes and walk about 20 minutes to where a member was going to pick us up to eat and it felt like an eternity!!! So I am hoping to finish my mission down here so I don’t have to get used to walking again :)

The work is going alright. I can’t complain. We put two more dates this week and we will have a for sure baptism in July. A brother named Raul has been waiting a year to finish his divorce from a previous marriage and then he completed the year this past week so we are just waiting for him and his wife to get married so he can get baptized. I guess you could say it’s a free baptism ha. He has been going to church every Sunday for a year now and has just had to wait to get married to get baptized.

We work really closely with the branch president, Pres. Toledo. He is a great guy and knows Pres. Carreon really well. We are focused on raising the attendance. We are around 45-50 and our goal is up to 100. The people here think,  “Well, if the Mormons supposedly have the truth, why is their church so empty?”  People here are funny :) There is another small town called Viscaino about an hour south of here that is part of the branch as well. The missionaries used to take trips down there but there is a new rule from the area president that we cant preach in towns that don’t have a chapel. So we are bummed about that because there are a bunch of people ready to be baptized but oh well, I guess ha. 

Mom, there is a whale festival down here, but we aren’t allowed to go. They come in the winter time so I wont even be here to see them. We did take a short trip to see the salt factory from distance hence the pics of the trucks. There is more salt here than any other place in the world. That makes the food, water, and everything saltier ha. I haven’t noticed anything different though. There is a military base down here. We went and ate with a member this past week. In front is the division of where Baja California ends and where Baja California South begins. There is a big tower called the parallel. It’s where the 28th degree is, if I’m not wrong :)

Dad you asked about the World Cup. People down here go nuts for it. There is a lot of hype today because Mexico plays at two. Actually the Branch Pres. invited us to go watch it today so we are excited :) Everyone has it on their TVs when we visit them so we stay pretty up-to-date ha. We didn’t see any part of the USA game yesterday, but it sounds like it was good. I’m getting into it though. We play twice a week after the ward activities, so I am starting to understand it ha. It’s a lot like basketball just with a bigger field and with your feet. My companion asked if I was going to buy a Mexico jersey and I said no because I wouldn’t ever wear it after my mission. I love Mexico don’t get me wrong but I could never put on a Mexican soccer jersey in the good ole United States :) He just laughed.

I have to tell you all. We went and visited a less active this past week and I was talking and playing with their son who is about three years old. The family is working on potty training him. People are too poor here to buy diapers and too lazy to wash underwear every hour so they just let their kids run around commando in a pair of short. So this lil’ tyke was just runnin’ around in his shorts when he stopped and grabbed his butt. He opened his short legs and two lil’ poop balls fell down his leg right by my foot hahahahaha. I died laughing! Silly kids ha!

Well that’s it for this week! I love and miss you all!

Take care :)

Elder Roper

My New Ride

Jackson and his new ride!

Jackson and his new companion - Elder Sanchez in front 

of Wal-Mart in Ensenada while at zone conference.

Jackson with Jeffrey Mosqueda - a friend from Ensenada that 

he met up with while at zone conference.

Guerrero Negro Is Great!

Alright, before I get going, I can’t believe I totally forgot . . . Happy Birthday Turkey and Happy Father´s Day Dad! Sorry there wasn’t a package this year. . . it’s kind of a challenge sending stuff being 12 hours away from the border . . . we are a a ways down here for sure!

So, super sorry I wasn’t able to write on Monday. We left down here at 6 in the morning to Ensenada. It was a 10 hour bus ride . . . my legs and bum were tired to say the least. We got to Ensenada around 6. Remember the Mosqueda Family from my days in Ensenada? They have a family member down here and she gave me their number so they picked us 4 up from the Ensenada bus station and took us to eat and took us to the Zone Leader's house to stay the night. It was fantastic to return back to Ensenada and see the Mosqueda Family. I must be like Keaton and don’t show my emotions a whole lot but they said I acted very serious ha. Who knows?? It’s definitely nice to know people in different areas of Mexico.

So, we had our last zone conference with President and Hermana Carreon yesterday. Not gonna lie, it was super weird to think I won’t be seeing them for a while. It was a good conference. They told us to be good for the President and Hermana Garcia and not to cause problems and not to try them out to see where the obedience gets to hahaha. Mom I took a picture with them both but the Elder that took the picture messed up and deleted it :( But I have a picture with them and the zone so hopefully that works. They have both done a great job here the mission and we will miss them. President Garcia gets here on the 26th of June next week. Weird right?

I’m dying to send you all pictures, but the computer I’m using is being dumb and won’t let me so you’ll all have to wait . . . sorry!! But Guerrero Negro is great! There isn’t a whole lot of work right now and the days are long but we are making progress. We have two people on date for July and they will be the first two baptisms in our area since they opened it 4 months ago. The wind always blows and there is a bunch of sand and salt everywhere. For being a desert, the weather is perfect. We are on the coast but we can’t see the ocean. It’s weird because there is no one in the street to teach . . . everyone is inside. So we struggle finding people but we are making progress.

I’m loving getting’ around on a bike :) it’s a lot faster and easier than walking for sure! It took me about five days to get used to it, but I’m fine now. Dad there was actually a sweet low rider that I would have bought if I wasn’t a missionary. I bought a silver GT 21 speed. I hope to send pics next week. It’s the best bike out of the four missionaries here in Guerrero Negro . It cost me about 100 bones, but I got a real good deal on it. Hopefully I stay here in Guerrero Negro a while to get my moneys worth because I won’t be able to ship it home when I leave this area. I guess I could do it, but it’s not worth it and shipping here in Mexico is a disaster ha. It will just be a gift for the next elder that takes my spot here in Guerrero Negro.

So, because I’m the newest elder here in town, I’m not an official counselor but we do all the meetings and everything together. We counted tithing Sunday and all that fun stuff :) I spoke in Sacrament Meeting and I gave my farewell talk, but in Spanish of course. It was a hit! The meeting house here is sweet!  Super nice . . . but the pulpit super short. So I said, “ I hope you will all be able to hear me because I won’t be able to use the microphone!” ha. Everyone laughed :) Dad I learned that lil trick from you . . . if you crack a joke before the talk, it makes everything a lot easier!

There are about 50 people that attend the ward regularly. The ward mission leader is inactive right now. It’s interesting because we are still missionaries preachin’ the word but we have other responsibilities now. I’m sure I will grow a ton. We have 3 meeting every week as a presidency.

It’s a lot of fun . . . I’m grateful for this opportunity . . . here is the weird part - I could finish my mission here! Yikes!!! hahahah

Turkey, I hope you had a happy birthday and congrats on making All Stars! Hit a jack for me!

Dad Happy Fathers Day on Sunday! How was your day? Thanks for being a great dad and teaching me all that you have over the years. There is a talk from General Conference called the “Priesthood Man” by Elder Eyring and it made me think a lot of you. Read it. It’s great!

Hayden, yes pay attention to the College World Series!! There is a lot of great baseball played and Coach Brown teaches a lot of the same stuff. You will love it! How are the weights comin’ along? You will be a big buff stud with a deep voice by the time I get home . . . that’s super weird to think about ha.

Mom, I hope all is good with the change of school . . . I know change is rough, but its worth it!! It’s when we grow most!! I’m going through a big change right now as well, but I know I will grow and be better because of it.

Sorry for the lack of pics . . . the computer I’m using sucks ha. I’ll try and send some from the chapel later today. Mom don’t sweat the package – I’m actually fine on pants. I just tuck them in my socks so they don’t get caught it my bike chain and everthings fine. I do need a new SD card though. My other ones are all pooped out. I still have the pics but it’s just a struggle. If they aren’t too expensive could you send a new one?

Thank you all! I love and miss you! Have a great week!!

Elder Roper

I Made It!

Hey, how are you all?? Sorry I couldn’t write yesterday...the phone signal went down and when that happens the Internet goes down as well. I honestly feel like I’m in Nephi or Levan. Everything here is super flat. We are on bikes . . . I forgot to mention that Monday morning. The bike that was here when I got here was a piece of junk and wayyy too small for me haha :) So yesterday I had to buy one with some money I had. I still don’t have pics of the new bike or my companion or Guerrero Negro but I’ll get some for next week okay? :) 

Getting around on a bike is super fun. My legs and butt are already wayyyy tired and hurting, but I will get used to it sooner or later. My new companion is Elder Sanchez from Puebla. Mom, I’ll have pics next week for ya. 

We have Zone Conference next Tuesday in Ensenada so if you don’t hear from next Monday that’s why. We will leave hear Sunday afternoon and get there Monday morning. It’s ten hours from here to there. It’s a good thing I have grandparents in small towns or I would probably be miserable. It’s super flat here and there isn’t a whole lot of nothin. But the branch is great and things are going well. We are 4 missionaries here and we make up the branch presidency with the branch president so we will planning sacrament meeting and counting tithing and all that good stuff. Being here will be a great experience for me!

Oh, the hours changes here so we are in Utah time. The bus got here around 7am. I got home and passed out until one and we started working. So just to send you all this lil update and let you all know I got here safe and sound and everything is great!

Talk to you in a week!

Love you!!

Elder Roper

Here are some pics from the past week with converts and friends from my last ward!

I'm Getting Transferred

Hey, I just found out my transfer and guess where they are sending me?!?!?!?!?!?!?

GUERRERO NEGRO :) 

The furthest south of the mission . . . I'm super pumped! 

I'm writing from the bus station here in TJ, so I got like 10 minutes. I don't leave tonight until 6pm. We travel all night and we should get there around 6 am Tuesday and start working. I'm super excited. I was a lil worried about the fish and shrimp, but I just talked with the  Elders that got back from GN and they said they didn't eat it at all and the ward is great. I never thought I would be going there, so I'm excited to see whats in store! 

A sister from my first ward here in Otay is gonna stop by for us so we eat and bring us back around 5:30pm. I'll try and write tomorrow, but who knows what's gonna happen. The best news is that I'm a normal missionary again and not District Leader. Yippee!!  My companion will be Elder Sanchez . . . I still don't know him. I will be traveling with another Elder that is headed down there with me. 

So if you don't hear from me tomorrow, take care and have a great week! 

Love you!!

Elder Roper