Keeping God's Commandments Keep Us Safe

Hey, how are you all? Today I complete 20 months . . . holy cow I can’t believe how fast time has gone! It's been a long week - not gonna lie - but it somehow went by fast! I’m honestly not trying to think about time so it doesn’t drag on. I remember when I completed a year and time slew wayyyy down. So I am trying to keep busy so its goes fast :) 

The house looks great! I can’t wait to see it! And Hayden and Turkey's room looks great! The carpet looks fantastic too! I feel like I’m gonna be coming home to a whole new house ha. What have you done with my room? ;) But enough about home!

So my new companion is great. His name is Elder Huie. He is from Virginia. He reminds me a lot of myself when I just barely started my mission. He completes 6 months and is still in that greeenie stage ha :) He had a TON of trouble with his trainer and has had a rough start to his mission. So I have been really trying to help him enjoy it. He is a great worker and I’m not gonna lie, he has been draggin me up and down this hills like a dog! It’s a good thing though :) I am trying to help him see that he can relax and have fun as a missionary instead of always being so dang stressed about the work.

Jackson and his new companion - Elder Huie

We had 43 lessons this week and I don’t think I have ever been so dang tired in my life! But it’s to know going home and night that we gave it our best! The ward is great though. The Bishop is fantastic as well. We have a bunch of people ready to be baptized this month and we are just getting them ready :) Mom I have had companions like that as well and yes it’s annoying. So I am doing my best to stay focused and just to keep working. Elder Huie really, really misses home so yeah we just talk about other things ha. I feel a big responsibility for him and my district. Elder Huie hasn’t really had a decent companion and my entire district is pretty much going home before the year ends. So I have to help them finish strong!

Dad you asked about how to have 40 lessons a week - it depends a lot on the area and the planning. I have had areas where I couldn’t have more than 30 a week because we didn’t have a lot of work or weren’t able to find anyone. And I’ve had areas where we are always been super busy. My area right now is a super busy area. We hardly have time to breathe! This week will be crazy as well as we have to go to a couple's wedding and baptismal interviews and what not. Gotta love it :)

Our WML is young but he does his job - which is good! We also have the ward council meeting every week which is helpful as well. From what I’ve seen this is a ward that works well together with the missionaries. So I’m excited even though everyday I’m so dang tired! 

We have a ton of investigators that are just awesome. I’ll take pictures of them and tell you all about them someday when I don’t have to type :) But we are teaching and re-activating a less active member and teaching his dad who is supposed to get baptized this week. But the less active is named Javier. He has had problems with drugs for the past while. Elder Huie and his last companion were able to get him to stop and he has gone 3 weeks without any drugs or alcohol. It’s been amazing to see the change is his eyes and his face. I think that’s been my favorite part of being a missionary. Seeing how people’s faces and eyes change when they begin living the Gospel. It’s a front row seat to see how the Atonement works in others' lives. Anyways . . . he was telling us this past week that the place he usually goes to buy the drugs (Which is super farrrr away from my area mom no worries :) ) that there was a driveby shooting last week and 3 people died. Had he been there, he would have been killed. That impacted me pretty good ha. Keeping God's commandments keep us safe. The commandments really saved this guy’s life. I don’t see mission rules as commandments but they are there to keep us safe. So it’s just better to be obedient so we stay out of trouble :)

Well that’s about it for this week! Pray that I can get used to this stinkin hills and back to shape so I’m not so dang tired please :)

Mom, the money situation is fine. I had to take out of my card today to buy food because the mission money doesn’t get here til Wednesday. I’m good on everything else though. I found a great deal on toothbrushes that I like so I’m stocked up for the next four months :) I don’t know when ZC is and I’ll get a picture with Pres. Garcia ASAP :)

I love and miss you a ton!

See you soon!

Elder Roper :)

Alright, so when I talk about hills in my email this is what I mean. This is what we call Hell's Hill :) It's gettin me in shape for the Turkey Day 5k for sure!  We go up and down it at least once a day. I was having a pretty bad attitude about it, not gonna lie, but I realized that I'm gonna have to do it no matter what, so I might as well just throw a smile on and get it over with.

I ran into Jeffrey Mosqueda again here on Wednesday. He was up here cleaning the chapel.  Hopefully you all get to meet him someday!

Weirdest Transfer Ever!

Wow! So TJ is like the craziest city and place I have ever seen since being in GN for 6 weeks! These have been by far the craziest, most surprising transfers of my mission so far. So let me get you the lowdown. 

My area in GN was shut down . . . sad right? The funniest part is on the last Saturday we finally got members to tell us what the deal was in the branch and how we could help. The Lord couldn’t bless that branch because there are wayyy too many problems with clicks, rumors, etc . . . So we shared Alma 60:23 saying that in order to bring others unto Christ we as members have to be fine beforehand and then we got the transfer call saying that they were shutting the area down and that Elder Murdock was staying with his new companion.  Anyways, we get to church Sunday when the sister that we have waiting for 6 weeks now to get married so her husband can get baptized, tells us they are getting married THIS week and that her husband is ready...GRRR!! hahahah that’s just the way things are I guess right? The Lord has a very mysterious way of working with his missionaries. I had no idea what my purpose was as a missionary in GN until my last day. I felt like my purpose was to gain the trust of the members so we could finally know where to help them so hopefully in the future, more elders can baptize a bunch. I kinda feel like my life has had that purpose - not seeing a whole ton of success in my work but seeing it in future generations. But as I say, its all good right? :)

So, we left last night at 11:30 and got here around 10:30 this morning. I surprisingly was able to sleep well and I feel great now. We went to the transfer meeting, so I was able to see Elder Manis, Elder Ivins - that is headed to San Luis...(you might wanna tell his mom so she isn’t worried) and hear President Garcia speak for a sec. Elder Sandberg is still a zone leader but he came back to TJ in my last zone, Otay. I wasn’t able to see him though…

Elder Ivins and Elder Roper

But guess what??  I have my second gringo companion!! His name is Elder Huie! He is from Virginia and he will completing 6 months in his mission next week. Mom, hold your horses . . . I still don’t have a pic yet :) He speaks great Spanish and from what I have seen so far he really wants to get at it and work. So I’m really excited for this transfer. The ward I am assigned to is called Pacifico. It’s the stake La Mesa. My area is FUUUUULLLLLL of hills. I have never been in this part of TJ and I have never been in a sector with a bunch of hills. So, I am excited to work hard and get to know this part of TJ!

Because there are only going to be two missionaries in GN now, they didn’t need my bike. So I sold it and got back what I paid for it :) Score! Not gonna lie, it was tough to sell it knowing that I would be walking again. I would have loved to have sent it home but it was just to big of a hassle.

I’m jacked to hear that Turkey is going to play football . . . Does he have that aggressive side to him? I am super excited to see him play someday!! Does he have to be an x? Or will he run the ball? his and Bucket's room looks great. I always wanted a Utes room.  Hayden and Keaton must get special treatment ;) I got your package in zone conference last week - thank you very much! I was able to bring most of the goodies here to TJ with me :) 

Please keep us in your prayers so that we can find the people to teach that we need to. I have really been a funk being able to find people to teach lately! Thanks!

Well, I love and miss you all very much! I have this transfer and 2 more so it’s probable I’ll finish my mission is this area but who knows after this past transfer?? 

Take care!!

Elder Roper

Families from Guerrero Negro

Hello From Ensenada!

Hey, so I don’t have any time at all so this will be real short this week and without pictures ;( double next week!!

How was the vacation?? Sounds like you all had a blast and you all look so good! Cade and Hayden look like giants...my jaw dropped seeing them! Glad you all had a good time!

Have I mentioned how much I love Ensenada??? I wanna bring you all down here so you can see it! I feel like I’m in California. We got here about an hour ago. We just went to eat and now we are writing real quick.

Mom, yes the bus ride is super long! Elder Sanchez puked all over the place because he got travel sick. So the bus smelled like puke for about 4 hours hahaha. Gotta love it right? We left at 8:30 a.m. this morning, so I am happy to be on my feet with fresh air :)

There was another gringo sitting by us but was asleep when we got on this morning. When he woke up he was super happy to see us. He had listened to the missionaries in Vegas, in Los Cabos, and in Ensenada. He was going back to Ensenada to get baptized. He is from Cali and just a surfer boy if I have ever met one. He said he had praying to know where he should go and didn’t really know what to do. Then when he saw us on the bus and he received confirmation that he was on the right path because we were with him. Cool huh?

The work in Guerrero Negro is frustrating! I’m doing my best to stay positive. We are doing all that we know how to do and just aren’t seeing results. We just gotta keep going. I am excited to meet our new mission president tomorrow.  Pres. Carreon never responded to the emails we wrote him and Pres. Garcia has already responded twice with helpful advice, so I am looking forward to the change.

I’ve been in some sort of funk for the past 3 transfers. We can’t seem to find anyone decent to teach. . . the ice has gotta break sooner or later right?

It’s nice being here in Ensenada on a mini vacation for a bit. Looking forward to your package as well!!

Well, that’s it for this week.  I’ll try and get you pics later this week. We have transfers this week, so if you don’t hear from me for a bit, that is why.

I love and miss you all!!

Elder Roper

A Week of Service

Hey, how are you all? Glad you are doing well and having fun on the road. Let me just say I’m super jealous!!  Be sure to take a lot of pictures in Oregon! Sounds like it will be a blast!

I have to laugh how competitive Turkey gets while he is playing.  I love his determination that no one scores runs while he is pitching! Hayden, glad to hear ball is going well too.  It’s hard to hit the ball to the opposite field after pulling it your whole life, but if you listen to Coach Brown all will work out well in the end!

So things are getting a little better here in Guerrero Negro. Still rough. We only found two new people to teach this week so we are struggling a bit. But I have found that when we struggle, we learn new things are we grow a lot. I am learning a ton about myself, about the church, and my testimony. I finished reading the Book of Mormon in SPANISH for the first time this past week :) I have been reading it on and off for the past year and I finally finished it. I just have to tell you all that it’s still true in Spanish. Ha I was just thinking about what I had read and how it applies to us all and what not when I felt the Spirit testify to my heart yet again that it was true. Just a super comforting feeling that I’m sure you have all felt. If you haven’t read it, then read it and put it to the test! 

We only had about 35 people come to Church on Sunday. The attendance was super low. We only had 1 investigator at church between the 4 of us. I was asked to bless the Sacrament and I had the chance to sit up in front the entire meeting. Oh let me add that the Branch President was out of town on Sunday, so we four missionaries ran Sacrament Meeting :) Cool huh? But yeah I was just thinking about why more people don’t come to church and why people go to other churches when I realized that being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is not easy at all. Elder Holland said it was hard for Christ to do what he did and even wanted a different way to do it, why should we think that its easy being members of the church of Christ? We have been really focused on contacting because we aren’t receiving too many referrals. So when we have nothing to do, we just cruise around looking for people to talk too.

There was an older man outside sweeping his porch, so I decided to stop and talk to him. I asked if he needed help and he pretty much said no and to go away ha. So I started talking and asking him if he went to a church and the dude started saying how we are the ones who are confused and that we are crazy and the only true church is the church in Rome. It honestly made me laugh. He contradicted himself like 5 times. But this man went on saying how he is a member of a certain church but just goes to the parties, weddings, baptisms, and what not and how he is still going to be saved. I just thought, “Wow! how easy!” So looking out on the congregation Sunday morning was a good experience to see 35 brave members choosing the right and choosing to be Disciples of Christ. It’s not an easy thing being a member of Christ´s Church. He once said that it wouldn’t be easy, but it would be worth it and that’s the truth! 

Besides talking with everyone in the street, we have been trying to find ways to give service . . . hence the pictures. Have I mentioned that there is sand EVERYWHERE here in Guerrero Negro? The wind is always blowing, so the sand bunches up. On Saturday morning we helped a less active clear sand out from the side of his house. There was about a foot of sand for about 30 feet of sidewalk. 

Not gonna lie though, it was super fun working with a shovel and wheelbarrow again. We finished in about 2 hours and the member fed us. So, it was a good trade off :) The other picture is of me using a sledge hammer to break a hole through a concrete wall. Fun huh? :) They had to get the drain through the wall and no one here is rich enough to have a jack hammer or even a drill so we just used blunt force! I had fun though :)

Also, I have mentioned there is a military base on the outside of town. We meet a bunch of soldiers from all over Mexico. My first week here one of them named Moises talked to us in the street saying that the Elders in Chiapas (south Mexico) had taught him everything and was waiting to be baptized pretty much. So we have been teaching him and when he can go to church he goes. The only thing the Elders didn’t teach him was chastity. Turns out his guy has 3 girls that he provides for, so when we taught him chastity he was pretty upset. He thought it was okay to have multiple wives hahahah. So, he is in the process of picking which one will be his wife so he can get baptized :) 

I spent the 4th of July with Elder Murdock.  I was super proud, not gonna lie, getting around with another gringo on the 4th. It was a pretty normal day though. 

Well, have fun in Oregon. We are headed up to Ensenada on Monday morning early, so you won’t hear from me until Wednesday probably. Looking forward to the package!!

Love and miss you all! 

Take care :) 

Elder Roper :)