A Reunion in Grayson

Hey y'all!!

It was a week full of changes!! I left Hickory Flat and got to my new area, Grayson, on Wednesday!  Grayson is about 20 miles outside of Atlanta so it's a lot more diverse than Hickory Flat.  There are people from every culture and background, which makes it awesome.  And, we’re busy! My new companion is Elder Covington. He's been serving for about 14 months and he's the most experienced zone leader in the mission. So, that means I'm learning from the best! We have a ton of fun together and we're always laughing. He's really obedient which is good for a troublemaker, like me. It took me about four days of probing before Elder Covington would admit that he's kissed a girl, so there's PROGRESS BABY!!!

            Elder Covington is such a hard worker too! We literally talk to everyone. The other day there was a girl jogging down the street and we started running along her side and talking with her. Ha Ha. Whoever got the pleasure of watching this scene unfold was one lucky man. After running for about two blocks I was starting to get a little winded (this little missionary boy is way too out of shape). So, she yelled her address to us and… yada, yada, yada, now we have an appointment with her next Wednesday! Then, on Saturday we were walking down the street and we saw this little girl walking up to her house, which was about 100 feet away. Elder Covington yelled, "Wait. Hold up!" and he starting running after her.  Can you imagine what was going through this poor girl's head? Two creepy guys running after her down the street. Yikes! Anyway, she told us her name is China and we talked to her mom, Ebony.  We were astonished to learn that Ebony had actually been researching about the LDS church just day before. She wanted to learn more so, we arranged to take her on a church tour tonight! It's amazing what the Lord will do for you if you are willing to work hard (and run down little girls on the street)!

            Right now we're teaching Antonio Gonzalez.  Antonio is scheduled for baptism on March 8th! He and his family came to church yesterday and they had such a good experience! Antonio has been in a wheel chair for 17 years because he's paralyzed from the waste down. When he was 24 he lived in New York. One day he was walking down the street with one of his friends, who was in trouble with a group of people who pulled a “drive-by” and tried to shoot him. Antonio's friend jumped behind Antonia and used him as protection.  So, Antonio took all of the bullets. He was hit in his spine, which is why he's paralyzed.  He was also hit a centimeter away from his temple and the bullet came out of his mouth. I have no idea how this guy is still alive! His survival from this experience shows me that the Lord had more plans for Antonio and he was meant to be here! It's such a miracle and it's so cool to see him progress and take that step of faith towards baptism!!

            Also, I found my car this week in Atlanta. Who drove it over here for me?? Whoever it was, “Thank you.” We had a nice little reunion.

Elder Roderick is reunited with his car. 

My new address is:

2945 Rosebud Rd.

Apt. 612

Loganville, GA 30052

I love you all! Have a great week!

Elder Roddy

SURPRISE! MAX was BAPTIZED

Heyyyyy y'all!!!                                                                                  

My time in Hickory Flat has finally come to an end! I can't even tell you how sad I’m going to be to leave this area on Wednesday. This place has only been my home for the last 6 months but it feels like it's been my home forever!! The people in this ward have become like family to me. I'm also so grateful to have met all the wonderful people that I got to teach and grow with over these months! I've learned that while on your mission, you are never put in a random area. The Lord definitely puts you where He knows you can make a difference and more importantly, where He knows the people can make a difference for you! I seriously feel like I knew all these amazing people before I came to this earth. I've said that ever since I got here and I'll say it over and over again!

Elder Pena, Max and Elder Roderick

My last week in Hickory Flat ended with a bang! MAX WAS BAPTIZED! It was so awesome! We met with him on Wednesday and taught him about the gift of the Holy Ghost, and he said, "I want that as soon as possible." So, we went ahead and had the baptism this weekend! I was so happy because that meant I got to be there and witness it. Even better, Max asked me to baptize him! It was such a cool experience. He had a lot of his family show up to support him. Also, his wife, Jen, tearfully told us on Wednesday that this is where she wants to be too. Whenever we bring members to teach her about eternal families, she feels the Spirit really strong and I can tell she wants what they teach about SO badly. She is going to start taking the discussions, so we are super excited that Max and Jen can take this journey together!

Max and his happy family.

When I returned home from the baptism on Saturday night I got a call and was asked to speak in church on Sunday because the concluding speaker cancelled. Life of a missionary I guess! I was so tired from planning the baptism and everything that I didn't want to write a talk so I just got up there and winged it...and, IT WAS AWESOME, if I do say so myself. Ha! I had all of the old ladies in tears, if that counts as anything. I only care about them anyway. My topic was the divine mission of Jesus Christ and I was so surprised at how easy it was to just get up there and talk for 15 minutes. The missionary mantle is real!

          Leaving Hickory Flat means I have to go somewhere else and I've been nervous all week to find out where I'm going! President Wolfert called us this morning and told me I am going to be serving as a Zone Leader down in the Grayson Ward, which is in the Lilburn Stake. The Lilburn Stake is the farthest south, which means I'll be closer to downtown ATL!! Hopefully that means I'll get a little more taste of the city life!

I'll let you guys know my new address as soon as I get it!

Love y'all so much!!!! Thanks for everything! Have a great week!!

Elder Roddy

P.S. GOD BLESS AMERICA AND ITS WONDERFUL PRESIDENTS, INCLUDING THE LEGEND MITT ROMNEY. I can't tell you how many conversations that guy has started for me. Bless his soul. Bless you all. Peace!

Listen Y’all, “The BOOK is Better!”

                                 

Hey y'all!!!

It was an awesome week in Hickory Flat!! God definitely blessed us, that's for sure. We witnessed miracle after miracle and our hard work finally started to pay off! This week seven of our investigators came to church, which was amazing to see! One family we've been teaching, the Francos, showed up with all five of their cute, Hispanic children and the entire ward was so happy to see this new family walk in the building. While they were sitting in front of us I couldn't help but think about how much potential each of the Franco children had in the gospel and the difference they could make around the world as missionaries! I'm always looking at the big picture, which sometimes gets me into trouble. Hey, you can never dream too big right? After I leave Hickory Flat, I hope the missionaries can continue to help this family progress and grow!

            On Tuesday we visited our top investigator, Max, and I had to lecture the poor kid because he hasn’t been taking our discussions or his commitments very seriously. Well, I think it scared him half to death because before we knew it, he was doing everything we asked of him and he has been reading the Book of Mormon every day. What a change it has made in him! After church on Sunday, he wouldn't stop talking about how good he felt and how the church "felt like home!" Right now he is scheduled to be baptized on February 22^nd, which is after I'll be gone, but that doesn't matter! As long as it happens, I'm happy. I'm so proud of the progress he's made and it's been amazing to see the way the gospel has made him so much happier. Satan hits him so hard every week with all sorts of trials and doubts but I know he'll get through it!

Elder Roderick visits the Methodist Church and
enjoys their rock band and choir.

            Yesterday we decided to visit a Methodist church down the street from our apartment. It's been pretty fun to go to different churches on Sunday and experience the South to its fullest. This Methodist church members were really nice and they had a great choir. It's easy for me to understand why people would rather attend churches other than the LDS church because we don't have a band, you have to dress up and "MAN! our Bible is just so hard to read!" Ha Ha. But one thing I've noticed is that none of these churches have the most important ingredient, and that's the Spirit! Don't get me wrong, they are full of amazing people who have the right foundation, but the Spirit that is felt with the LDS church is incomparable!

            The best experience of the week BY FAR was on Saturday night! Elder Pena and I were asked to go to Atlanta with the Assistants and contact outside of The Book of Mormon Musical which is being performed at Fox Theater. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, it's a musical written and produced by the producer of South Park (who used to be Mormon) that basically makes fun of and mocks Mormons the entire time. It was a great opportunity for us to talk to people about what Mormons really believe and know to be true! We contacted outside for a while, then at around 10:30 the musical ended and people came pouring out of the theater.  I can barely explain what happened next.  Suddenly there were 5,000 people coming at us HARD right after they had been filled with false truths!

On the streets of Atlanta headed to the Fox Theater.

I would pick two people in the crowd and start walking with them down the street and talking to them about the real Book of Mormon, and when I was done with them, I'd pick two more and do the same thing. Before I knew it I was three blocks down the street from the nearest missionary and a million people surrounded me. There were tons of people laughing and yelling at us, but there were also a lot of people who were  intrigued by the play and genuinely interested in reading the Book of Mormon. There where times when I would go to a street corner and start talking to about twenty people while they waited to cross the street. Might as well get 'em while they're stuck right? I felt like a preacher. I would yell, "How did everyone like the play!" and they would all shout, "We loved it! It was hilarious!" blah blah blah, so I would scream, "Well, the book is better!" They would respond, "Really?? Give us one!" It was seriously so awesome! We distributed 300 books and materials and talked to over 500 people. There was also a newscast outside the theater that filmed Elder Pena and me talking to a couple during the play. It was so scary knowing I was on camera because the guy was hitting me with some tough questions but it was also so much fun! I'll let you know when the video comes out.  They said sometime in March!

            All is well my peeps!! Thank you for all your love and support! I'm probably getting transferred next week so that means I won't be at the same apartment anymore! If you could send your mail to the mission office for the next couple weeks, until I find out my new address, that would be great!!

1150 Cole Drive SW

Lilburn, GA 30047

Love y'all! Keep on keepin' on and remember God loves you because I know he loves me and I don't deserve any of it! Laterzzzz

Elder Roddy

Serving in the SNOW and chatting about CHICKEN SALAD

"You Can't Walk with God Holding Hands with the Devil"
Elder Roderick holds hands with Elder Pena

HEY Y'ALL!!

First things first...I'm sorry I wasn't able to reply to each of you today. While at the library I only had time to email my parents because we had to leave early for the stake center. I'll get back to each of you next week.

CRAZY WEEK in ATL. We got 3 inches of snow! FREAK OUT RIGHT? Ha Ha. It doesn't seem like a lot, but for Georgia that's a ton and the city doesn’t know how to handle all of it because they don’t have plows or use salt on the roads. It started snowing on Tuesday afternoon and didn't stop for the rest of the day. The snow would fall, immediately stick to the ground, and ice over.  Since they don't have any plows or snow removal plans, everyone got terrified and rushed home all at once. This led to huge traffic jams with cars crashed all over the sides of the road and a ton of chaos!

We were on our way home from a district meeting when we pulled up to this

poor mother who was stuck on a hill in her Suburban. She was crying and didn't know what to do. So, luckily there were 2 other Elders and 2 Sisters right behind us. We all stopped and got out to help her. We pushed her up the hill and she was off. When we looked back to the bottom of the hill, we saw car-after-car stuck at the bottom.  What do good missionaries do?  We started pushing them one-by-one until 3 hours went by and I couldn't feel my face anymore!! Ha Ha. It was so awesome! Everyone was so grateful and appreciative so it made the whole adventure worth it.  

One lady was in a tiny red car that was a clutch, so the poor thing had no chance of making it up the hill by itself. When we approached her car to inquire if we could help her, she rolled down the window and said "NO STOP RIGHT THERE!! There's nothing you can do! This car is a clutch so it's worthless! I don't need your help!"  We sat there and watched her as she tried and tried but the car didn't move an inch. Finally, after watching the lady cry and cry and bang on her steering wheel, we just walked up behind her car, and without even asking, pushed the little thing up the hill. When we got to the top, she could barely make out the words, "God bless you kids" and then, she was off.  Gotta love serving the Lord right?

Elder Roderick's numb face & warm heart.

MAN, WASN'T THE SUPER BOWL SO AWESOME! Just kidding. I watched the first snap then my sorry butt was out the door. Elder Pena and I decided that knocking doors would probably be pointless, so instead we went to the nearest Waffle House where we hoped to have a miracle and find someone to talk to. When we arrived there was one lady sitting at the bar. So, instead of sitting in anyyyy other place in the entire restaurant, I went and plopped down right next to her. I kept trying to start a conversation, but she wouldn't even look at me so it was pretty difficult.

Finally, after a million tries I got her to talk a little. The topic? CHICKEN SALAD. I asked her what she was eating, and she went on and on about how "amazing the chicken salad was because it's the best thing on the menu and they make it special for her.” Just so y'all know in case you're ever in Georgia, the chicken salad at Waffle House is better with mushrooms and no dressing "because that's healthier." ANYWAY, Elder Pena and I cornered this poor lady and started talking to her because now she was starting to open up. We found out her name is Sharon, and she's actually talked to some missionaries but never been given a Book of Mormon. After being extremely persistent, we got her phone number and set up an appointment for this week. So, while all of you were watching the Super Bowl, I was talking to Sharon about chicken salad. That's the life of a missionary...and I love it!!

Have a great week!! LOVE Y'ALLLLL!!!

Elder Roddy 

Three days after the storm and not a snowflake in sight!