HELLO FRIENDS and FAMILY!
My fabulous week began on Monday when we had dinner at the Bronkema's home. Elder Flake and I actually got to sit down and have a solid lesson with them! They made us an
amazing dinner, as always, and we laughed and talked for a while then we had
our lesson. After about fifteen minutes of gospel talk Vanessa asked, "So,
what do you guys have that you feel like we're missing?" Of course, there
are a lot of things we could've talked about, but the most important thing is
the Priesthood. So, we taught them about it. It was an effective lesson and we
should be going back there this weekend. I love them so much! It's nice to
finally be able to teach them again and share our testimonies.
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| Elder Roderick and Thomas Hostettler at the top of Stone Mtn. |
This morning
Elder Flake and I had a very interesting experience. It began prior in the week
when we received a letter in the mail addressed to “the local pastor of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints." The author of the letter is
a man named Thomas Hostettler and he wrote to us about how America is going
down the drain and all of us "pastors" need to unite and have a
prayer for the nation. So, we called him and said, "Ya. We'd love to
get together!" We thought it might be a good missionary opportunity,
obviously. It turns out that poor Tommy hadn't received one single phone call
back, except from us. Nonetheless, we thought, “Hey. Let's still meet with him
to pray.” So, this morning at seven o’clock the three of us hiked to the top of
Stone Mountain and when we reached the peak, we prayed together for our country
for twenty minutes. Ha! Ha! It was so sick! Unfortunately, the fog was really thick
and we literally couldn't see anything below us, but it actually made it… more
dramatic. As odd as it sounds, it really was an awesome experience. It’s
experiences like this that make me love the South. Random Joes, such as Thomas
Hostettler, just want to get together and pray for America. You’ve gotta love
it, Baby!
On Tuesday
I was on exchange in our area with a Spanish Elder, Elder Lamb, and we stopped
by to teach one of our investigators, Stanley. Stanley is twenty-five years old
but we are teaching him instead of the YSA missionaries because he lives about
five minutes away from our church and he can’t meet with the YSA branch because
he works during their meeting time. He came to church last week but didn't come
yesterday. (Sad face emoticon here.) Anyway, our lesson with him was hilarious.
We taught him about the Restoration, and at the end we asked him to be
baptized. I'll never forget what happened next. He literally sat there for THREE MINUTES, just staring into nowhere and thinking about it. I was praying that no
one would say anything because silence is ALWAYS good during teaching and the Spirit
was really strong. Finally he looked at us and said, "Ya. I'll be
baptized. But how do I know who holds the authority? And how do you know it is
true?" I was just thinking, "DANG! This is goooood!" So, we taught him more about the Priesthood
and shared our testimonies. On Thursday we went back and taught him again and he
had some more questions with long, awkward pauses, but we were able to commit
him to being baptized on August 16th. He was pretty excited about it
but, like I said, he didn't come to church yesterday so we'll see what happens.
I can't wait to see what interesting experiences come from teaching Stanley.
On
Wednesday morning Elder Flake and I had our first interviews with President and
Sister Bennion! I LOVE THEM! Sister Bennion and I just talked about the
Parley's Stake for about fifteen minutes.
We talked about how spoiled we all are in Salt Lake to have the gospel
so available to us. The whole time I was talking to her I was thinking, “Trust
me, NOW I KNOW.” Then, she instantly became my favorite lady ever because she
gave me handfuls of peach Hi Chews, my favorites! Yea, Buddy! My interview with
President was SO SICK. We literally just talked back and forth for twenty minutes
and he taught me so much that it's just ridiculous. I can't even put into words
what I learned from him in that short time. I can't wait to work with him even
more!
Later in
the afternoon we met with Kamari and Aaysia to preview the baptism program for Kamari and inform him about the details of the event.
Before we started I asked Aaysia if she had anything she wanted to talk to us
about and she said, "Ummm… Ya. There is one thing. So, I've been thinking
a lot about it…aaaand...I'm ready to be baptized. I want to do it before school
starts." YEEEEEEE. I was smiling so big! So, we set a date for her to be
baptized on August 2nd. She's going to be baptized with the Kearney's eight year-old son. Oh, and Brother Kearney asked Elder Flake and me to be in the
circle this weekend when he receives the Melchezidek Priesthood! That will
be sweet! We are so excited for the Kearneys and Aaysia!
STILL
AWAKE? Okay. Good! On Thursday I had a really cool experience with a less
active member, Tim Luzier. We visited him because the ward wants to know if he will
take the missionary lessons. So, we asked him if he would be willing to listen
to the lessons and he said, "Naaa. I think I'm good Guys." So we continued
to talk to him about the lessons and the conversation turned to the Atonement
and we commenced to have a LONG conversation about all that Christ went
through. When we were done, he sat there for a second. Then he said,
"You know what guys? I changed my mind. Want to come in?" We were
thinking, “WHAAAT?” We couldn't go in to teach him right then because we were
out of time. But, we're going back tonight! It was crazy to see how the Spirit
influenced him and softened his heart and how he came to realize again the way
that the Atonement could impact his life. The Church is trueeee y'all.
This weekend
I also had some very meaningful conversations with a couple of the mothers in
our ward. One was during a dinner appointment with Sister Angell. We've been
teaching the Angell family and their high school son's girlfriend, Kaitlyn.
I've told y'all about them. Anyway, when we teach the Angells we make sure that
we focus on Kaitlyn but we always leave commitments with the entire family to
pray for truth. So, the Angell's daughter, Marissa, who is fifteen years old, went
to girls camp last week. Sister Angell told us that at the end of camp Marissa
bore her testimony to all of the girls and told them how the Elders had been
teaching her family, and she decided to act on her commitment to read
the Book of Mormon and pray to know if the Church was true. She went on to
tell them about how she had received an answer to her prayers and now
she knew for herself that the Church was true. While recounting Marissa’s
experience, Sister Angell was just bawling and she said, "Elders I know
you focus on teaching investigators, but you never know who you are
actually touching and the impact it has on them." Pretty
cool huh? Then on Sunday another mom came up to us and starting thanking
us for taking her son, who is also fifteen years old, with us in the afternoons to
teach Kamari. Apparently, he loves the experience and it's making him want
to serve a mission himself! She couldn't stop thanking us! It was really
so cool to hear these stories and know that in one-way or another we are having
a positive impact on the ward!
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| THE MAIN EVENT: Kamari dressed in white after his baptism! |
NOWWWW…FOR
THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALLLL BEEN WAITING FORRR…(Hopefully, you read that in an
announcer's voice because that's how I intended it to sound). KAMARI'S BAPTISM
WAS ON SUNDAY. Holy Moses, Peeps. It was so sick! So, we held the baptism on
Sunday because the Young Men were going on a campout from Friday to Saturday
and Kamari was planning to attend. Unfortunately, the campout got cancelled.
But, his baptism had been announced in church the week before and everyone in
the ward loves Kamari and his entire family so EVERYONE wanted to attend the
service. And, since the baptism was immediately after church it was convenient
for everyone to stay for it. We started the baptism service in the Relief
Society room, but we had to move it to the gym because there were too many
people to fit in the Relief Society room. We even had to open all the overflow
doors because people poured in. There were literally over a hundred people
there! The Stake President said he had never seen so many people at one baptism.
Ya, Baby! Since we had to open all the overflow doors in the gym, the other
ward had to wait for us to finish before they could start their sacrament
meeting. Ooops! That's how many people were there! Anyway, the program was
great and I had the opportunity to baptize Kamari!
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| THE STAR OF THE SHOW with his family. Kamari (left), Emoy (right) and Aaysia (center) |
After the baptism, he and I
just sat in the bathroom and hugged and laughed because we were both SO! HAPPY!
When we finally got back into the gym, Emoy (his mom) bore her testimony, which
was such a surprise because she isn't even a member! The Spirit and love in the
room was incredible. I've never felt anything like it. Then, Kamari stood up
and bore his testimony. As usual, his
words came right from his heart. He explained that ever since Easter Eve he has
been meeting with us, and how frustrated he felt sometimes because he prayed
over and over and over again about the truth of the Church but he didn’t get an
answer. Then, one night he finally felt the Holy Ghost surround him, and he
knew the Church was true. It was literally jaw dropping to hear it! I don't
think I've ever been happier in my entire life. I can't wait to watch his
family continue to progress together!
Well I
think that's it. I’m sorry if you fell asleep in the middle of my stories, but
I just had a lot to share. I love Georgia!
There is no place I would rather be right now. I love being here even more than being with my family on our annual trip to Colter
Bay Village, believe it or
Elder Roddy
P.S. Happy eleven months to me!
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