“…Behold your little ones.” 3 Nephi 17:23

HEY PEEPS!                                                                                                     

    

Wow this week was so great! In fact, it was the best week we've probably had in awhile. It's obvious that the Lord kept me in this area with Elder Flake for a reason because we've got a lot more work to accomplish together. The week began on Tuesday when we conducted a church tour with a new family, the Browns, who we met while tracting. Mary and Levi are such nice people and they have the sweetest two kids. Levi is from Jamaica and Mary is from Nigeria. We took them on the church tour with a member of our ward who is also from Africa and who used to be Pentecostal like Mary, so he was a great fit for them. When we took them into the chapel we asked the Browns to be quite for a few minutes and feel the spirit that was there. It was amazing! When we invited them to be baptized, Levi said "When I answer that question, I want to make sure that it's definite. So let's wait, but we're off to a good start." They are really excited to keep learning!

A few weeks ago we met a less active member named Randy Hampl who lives near to the church. His wife isn't a member and his daughter is seven years old, about to turn eight. We got to know him and really connected with him. So, this past week we started teaching them. It makes me think about how many people are out there that we don't know about who are less active and ready to be taught again. Anyway, we taught them twice this week and they came to church yesterday! As we were teaching them, Randy's wife Heather asked a dozen questions, and as we spoke with her, Randy looked through his set of scriptures and saw all of his markings and pictures. You could literally see the Spirit bring things back to his remembrance and stir truth inside of him. It was so cool! Hopefully we can continue to help them progress and get them moving forward.

Enough chit chat.  I need to share the news about Kamari and Aaysia! This week was SOOOOOO COOOOL AHHHH. The Lord is playing such a huge hand in their lives. It's ridiculous. On Wednesday, we went to their place to teach Kamari and Aaysia and talk with them about baptism. We sat down and asked them what they thought about all we have shared with them and Kamari responded, "You know, I was sitting in class on Sunday and the teacher asked me questions and I kept getting all the answers right and I thought to myself, 'why don't I just go all-out in this?' So ya, I want to be baptized." My heart lept as I silently said, “YESSSS BABY.” Ha ha. It was so sweet! His only hold up was he wanted to "feel his answer from the Holy Ghost." So we committed him to pray that night about it. Kamari also said the closing prayer in the lesson, and you have to know Kamari to understand how sweet, yet funny his prayer was.  When Kamari prays, he literally just talks to God like He's right next to him and Kamari is so sincere about his prayers. He starts off and says, "God, Thanks for the lesson today. It was a good lesson! Like, it wasn't too long; wasn't too short; it was just right. Help me keep going with the faith, the repentence, and all the other stuff I can't remember right now." I had the biggest smile on my face because I just love that kid!

              On Thursday night we went back to teach them, like we always do. We were on splits so I was there with Brother Fairclough, the first counselor in the bishopric of our ward. After the opening prayer, Kamari and Aaysia told Emoy that they had made the decision to be baptized. Emoy started crying because she was so proud of them! It was the first time I've ever seen Emoy cry from the Spirit and trust me, she is one of the most spiritual women I've ever met. It was amazing! But Kamari was still held up about getting a confirmation from the Holy Ghost, and Aaysia expressed how she was worried what God would think of her if she messed up after she was baptized. So, Brother Fairclough and I opened up 3 Nephi 17 and read with them about Christ blessing the little children. We asked them to close their eyes while I retold the story more personally for them. I wanted them to picture Christ weeping for them and blessing them. The Spirit was SO strong. I can't even explain it. When we opened our eyes I asked Kamari how he felt and he said, "I felt it! I felt like Jesus was just putting His arms around me!" It was seriously the best lesson I've been a part of while on my mission. The Holy Ghost is incredible and has the power to touch anyone. We set a baptismal date for July 19th! Then, we got some excellent news from Emoy (well, depending on how you look at it). Emoy and Brandon broke up so he is moving out, which means Emoy can get baptized too! We're giving her some time to gather herself and get everything figured out, but I wouldn't be surprised if she joined her children in a few weeks. The way the Lord is working with this family is incredible. That's why I love being a missionary!

These pictures are of a hole I dug for a less active woman this week. She's putting two five-foot deep barrels for sewage in a house she's making out of her garage. I felt like I was in the book Holes with the sun beating down on me and blisters forming on my hands. Yet, I loved digging the hole for her. Since I enjoyed digging a hole, I must be turning insane. Missionary work will do suprising things to a young man.

I love all of you so much! Thank you for your prayers and your support! As you celebrate the Fourth of July remember,

"…this land shall be a land of liberty unto the Gentiles, and there shall be no kings upon the land, who shall raise up unto the Gentiles."

(2 Ne 10:11)

                

      GOD BLESS 'MURICA.

Bye!

Elder Roddy

“Giddy-Up” BIRTHDAY BOY!

HEY Y'ALL!                                                                                                    

How are you doing?? I hope you are enjoying your summer. My life in the ATL is so great! I'm loving every minute of my mission.

Elders in the Grayson Zone

Well, this week was eventful, as always! It's getting soooo hot down here. I have good news, though. I'm staying in Grayson with Elder Flake for another transfer. This means that not only do I get to remain in a place that I love, with an awesome companion; I'm still able to drive around in a car.  By the time my six-week stay is over, it'll be August and I'll be approaching my one-year mark. So, I will have been in two areas for the entire first year of my mission. Crazy stuff! I'm so happy Elder Flake and I are staying together. I believe that during this transfer we will see some amazing things happen and I'm super excited to serve as a zone leader when President Bennion arrives, which is this FRIDAY. Holy moly.

On Tuesday I was on exchange with one of the Assistants and we taught one of his investigators who just got baptized on Sunday. She was having a really tough day and Satan seemed to be hitting her from all angles. So we borrowed her iPad and pulled up a Mormon Message that spoke about peace through the Atonement. It was such an inspiring video and while we watched it, the Spirit filled the room. After the video we each testified to her of the power of the Atonement and the ability it has to cleanse us from sin and let us feel the love of the Savior in our lives. At the end of our lesson she was a completely different person than when we walked through her door. Since I’ve been serving, I’ve gained a huge testimony of the Atonement and I know it can impact each of our lives!

Elder Roderick with the King and Dustin families

On Wednesday my friends from Hickory Flat, the Kings and the Dustins, came down to Lilburn for dinnerrrr!!! I loved seeing them so much! They took us to Texas Roadhouse, which is Elder Flake's favorite place in the world, so he was in heaven. It was so much fun to catch up with them and laugh together. I swear those people are like my family. It's just a testimony to me that God puts us in the areas where he knows we can make the greatest impact AND where we can be impacted the most as well. While we were at dinner they told the waitress that it was my birthday. I don't know if you've ever been to Texas Roadhouse on your birthday but it’s quite an experience.  The staff brought out a little saddle, made me sit on it, and remain sitting there while the ENTIRE restaurant listened to the waiters and waitresses serenade me with some cowboy song. Ha-ha. I was so embarrassed but I put up with it because it was really just so funny! 

On Thursday we went on an exchange with the Lilburn Elders (not the APs) so I was on my bike for the day, and let's just say that God knew to keep me in a car because I would literally DIE out here on a bike. I was dripping in sweat from head to toe in less than ten minutes. Ha-ha.  Then that evening, we had a really cool experience with Emoy, Kamari, and Aaysia. We finished teaching them the Law of Chastity, which they all understood, and we were able to teach them about covenants and how important they are to make. Of course the discussion came to the topic of baptism, and Emoy asked us, "Well what would be the next step for us AFTER baptism?" Part of me was thinking, “Well, let's just focus on the first step.” But, we started teaching them about temples and the sealing power of the priesthood that allows us to be with our families forever. It was really cool to see the way the Spirit touched their hearts and helped it ring true to them. At the end of the lesson, Emoy told us that she would be more than happy to allow her kids to get baptized, even if she couldn't right now. Kamari and Aaysia just grinned. This week we plan to extend a baptism date to them, so wish us luck! They have come SO far. It's truly amazing. 

Tim & Vanessa Bronkema with Elder Roderick 

Well, Friday was someone's birthday. Just kidding. “Thank you” to everyone for the love and support you showed me. It was amazing! It definitely made me feel like the most loved missionary in the world. My birthday was so awesome! I mean obviously it was still a normal day, but for lunch the senior couples, the APs, and some other Elders took us to lunch! We piled in this huge fan and all went to Outback Steakhouse, so I enjoyed my second steak of the week.  Yah, Baby!  Then that night we went to the Bronkemas for dinner and it was so much fun. Wow! I love them so much! It has been so rewarding to get to know them. From the first time I met them, we just clicked and they've been like parents to me. Being in their home was such a fun way to spend my birthday evening. I love the South because I’ve been blessed to meet people like the Bronkemas who love the Savior and His light shows through them!  

Elder Roderick with friends from Grayson Ward in Lilburn, GA

It's going to be awkward going back to church next Sunday because I told everyone in the ward that I was leaving. So, that should be fun. “Surprise! I’m still here.” Ha-ha. I guess that's a good kind of awkward though. I'm loving it in Lilburn! Thank you for your support. I love you so much! Have an amazing week.

Elder Roddy

"IS ANYONE HOMEEE?"

Hey Peeps!                                                                                                     

How are my favorite people?? I miss you guys so much but, as usual, my week in ATL was amazing! The weather finally cooled down a bit and it actually rained a lot, which I love!

Grayson Zone Atlanta North Mission

I am having so much fun right now. On Tuesday, we started off the week with our Zone Training Meeting. This is my third training meeting, all of which I’ve conducted with Elder Flake. I'll never forget the first one we were in charge of when we had NO idea about what was going on or how to train. However, by the time this week’s training rolled around we were both so excited for it and I really have learned to love training in front of everyone. The meeting was great. I love our zone so much! We told each of the missionaries to bring a pair of cheap imitation Ray Ban glasses and afterwards we took a picture of the entire zone posing in them. I think mine are the best because they aren't just glasses. Can you find me?

            The next day I went on exchange with Elder Schaertl (pronounced like turtle...which is what I call him). We had so much fun together! Before dinner we were knocking on doors and we ended up standing on a guy’s porch, having a productive conversation about prophets and why we need one today. Well naturally, I was really getting into it and when I get lost in my discussions I tend to forget about my companion. Oops.  So, during the conversation it started to rain REALLLYY hard, and then, right in the middle of the conversation I remembered Elder Schaertl.  I turned around and found him standing behind me, drenched in rain, because there wasn't enough room for both of us on this guy’s porch. After we left I said, “Dude. Why didn't you say anything!?  His brief reply was, "It's okay Elder Roderick I'll take the sacrifice. "What a good kid!

            So, I'm horrible at updating you on all of our investigators and I'M SORRY I just get caught up in sharing the funny things we do throughout the week. Anyway, for the past couple months we've been teaching a boy in our ward's girlfriend, Kaitlyn. We meet with Kaitlyn and her boyfriend’s entire member family (the Angells) once a week and lately we've started teaching her with them twice a week. At first we were hesitant to teach her because we didn't want it to be one of those situations where the investigator gets baptized just for her boyfriend. But, with Kaitlyn, our teaching and her acceptance have gone much better than we expected! She is really interested in all the lessons and asks the best questions. I think she's come to church every week for the past eight weeks. Last night she commented on how much she loves learning with the Angell family and us because it makes her feel so good and that she knows everything we teach her is true. She always says things such as, "When I'm Mormon…" and "Once I'm baptized…" The problem is she probably can't get baptized until she's eighteen. Her parents are fine with her meeting with us, but they won't let her get baptized until she is an adult. It'll happen eventually though!

            This week we finally taught Emoy, Kamari and Aaysia the Law of Chasity, which is the lesson we were dreading because Emoy lives with her boyfriend, Brandon. We taught some of it on Thursday, and then Elder Flake and a greenie taught her the rest of it on Saturday. They said she took it really well and they also used it as an opportunity to teach Kamari and Aaysia about an important principle of the gospel. Even so, the whole situation is rough because I think she was about to make the decision to be baptized, but now that she knows she can't do it until she makes a change in her lifestyle, it'll obviously hold things up. We're just hoping that the kids can still progress and make the decision to be baptized very soon!

            On another afternoon this week, the funniest thing happened while we were on a split with a member of our ward, Brother Grimsley. It was one of those things where you had to be there to experience it, but hopefully I can help you capture the humor. We were going around visiting some members whose records we have, but that we’ve never met or who don’t go to church.  Since we were trying to contact people in the middle of the afternoon, of course no one was home. At the last house, we were standing on the porch and Brother Grimsley kept debating with himself about whether he thought someone lived there or not. You probably should know that Brother Grimsley is a high school teacher and talks more than anyone I've ever met. He is completely bald and grows a nice brown beard. So anyway, we were on the porch and Brother Grimsley has his ear to the door and is listening to hear if anyone inside, all while talking to himself about their "lack of yard management." Then all the sudden HE STARTS BANGING HIS HEAD ON THE DOOR and yelling, "IS ANYONE HOMEEE?"  Literally, I was DYING. I don't know if it's the heat or something in the Georgia water but every – single - day I'm amazed at the originality of these people!

            I’ll share one more cool experience then I have to sign off. On Saturday we were tracting, and the street we were knocking on was pretty empty and no one seemed to be there. There were several times where Elder Flake and I talked about going somewhere else, but the Spirit kept telling us that despite the fact we hadn't talked to many people, we needed to stay on this street.  At one of the last houses on the street, a Jamaican guy named Levi Brown opened the door with two of his children. We introduced ourselves and we felt prompted to leave a harvest blessing on his home. He immediately let us in and we were able to leave the blessing with them and get a return appointment with their family for tomorrow. They said we came at a perfect time because each of them were struggling and needed something good to happen. It was really cool to see the way the Spirit led us to them and how they had been prepared for us to come that day! They mentioned they had had Elders in their home before.

            This upcoming week we are taking in another Elder because his companion got his Visa and is headed to Brazil. So, that means we will be covering two areas and going to both churches and everything. It should be crazy, but fun. I'm lovin’ it in ATL! Thank you guys for everything! I love you so much! Have a great week!

Elder Roddy

P.S. Happy Birthday Day to me.

GOOD NEWS from HICKORY FLAT

HELLO LOVED ONES,                                                                                  

Another week has come and gone and I’m still here, just soaking up the Georgia humidity and trying not to die. YAY! Just kidding. I love summertime here! The Georgians are always barbequing and having a great time.

            All right I have so much to tell you guys and I have to be quick so hopefully I can mention all of it! First, the week began with some great news from Hickory Flat! I found out that Max and Jenn got their temple recommends and went to the temple for baptisms this weekend! Sweet huh? Then later in the week I got Mom's letter and in it she talked about Opal and how the gospel can still affect people even if they don't get baptized. Well that same night I also got a letter from Opal! We've been writing back and forth and she's been having a really hard time.  Anyway, she sent me a six-page letter, which explained some of her troubles, and then she told me how grateful she was that we came into her lives at just the right time.  At the end she wrote out 3 Nephi 9:22 at the bottom of the page!

Therefore, whoso repenteth and cometh unto me as a little child, him will I receive, for of such is the kingdom of God. Behold, for such I have laid down my life, and have taken it up again; therefore repent, and come unto me ye ends of the earth, and be saved.

How cool is that? It was awesome to see that even though Opal isn’t baptized, she is still reading the Book of Mormon and benefitting from the words of Christ!

            Last Sunday we had a gratifying experience! For the past two months we've been teaching Sister Hinkle who has been less active for a while.  But, since we’ve been working with her she's been doing great and is completely active again. So, on Sunday, we had the opportunity to bless her baby and it was amazing! Ever since coming back to church and living the commandments, Sister Hinkle has become so much happier.

            Right now we're teaching Shakira, a single black mom who’s about 30 years old (dare I guess her age?) Well, quite often I send Shakira texts about church or an appointment we have with her, and every time she responds she says, "Hi Roddy!" Ha Ha! I honestly have NO idea how this lady knows that people call me, “Roddy.” Elder Flake has never taught her with me because we're always on splits when we do, and none of the missionaries I’m teaching her with ever call me “Roddy.”  So, I have no idea how she got the idea to call me “Roddy.” I guess the name is spreading! Gotta love it. Now I even have a nametag that says Elder Roddy on it!

            Everything else is going great! The zone is doing really well. This week we had a competition to see who could get the most contacts and the missionaries went CRAZY! Everyone worked so hard and it was really cool to see. I love serving here so much!

            Have a great week and know that I love you all so much! Send me postcards and letters from wherever you are this summer because like I said, I’m still here soaking up the Georgia humidity.

ELDER RODDY