"A Person to be Loved"

Hey guys!                                                                                             

WOW! It was sooooooo good to Skype with you on Thursday! I still can't believe it happened. It was so great to see your faces and be able to talk to y'all for a while! Jayne walking in the front door was such a nice surprise! To be honest, this Christmas was kind of like last year, where I wish I could've Skyped all over again because there was sooo much I wanted to tell you guys but, of course, my mind totally went blank as soon as I saw you. It's all good, though. I just loved being able to talk with you. Thank you for making my Christmas so memorable!

Elder Roderick & Elder Johnson win the "Ugly Sweater Contest"

It's been super warm in Cornelia, 55 degrees everyday. We've been walking around in short sleeve shirts! But, it sounds like everyone else is experiencing warm weather too on your luxurious vacations. So, I guess I have nothing to brag about. Ha Ha. The ward absolutely spoiled us this Christmas. The great thing about this ward is everyone is so humble and it's taught me so much. There are so many people that do sooo much for the missionaries and for the ward and we’ve learned that they actually have nothing themselves. My favorite part of Christmas this year was spoiling other people! I told you guys a little bit about it over Skype but we basically took a little from all of the packages we received and made little gifts for people.  We also put some cash together acted as a Secret Santa for them. It was the best! I'll never forget running away from their houses and catching myself with the biggest smile on my face!

Elder Roderick's humble Christmas tree and bounty of packages.

Well, after talking with you, the rest of the week went really well. I don't even know what else to tell, since we just spoke, but we did have some really cool experiences at the end of the week that I'll tell you about. We have a lot of people to teach right now.  Most of them are part-member families, which is always the best way to go. First off, Robin is doing so well. I love her so much!! She is so solid and has such a strong desire to come back to the church. From her referrals and contacts alone we've starting teaching 6 other people. It's awesome! And, we’ll probably start teaching a 7th this week too. And, guess what!? She’s getting married! Robin has been dating Jeff for 4 years and they're finally getting married. So, now we're teaching him too! A huge part of why they decided to get married is because there is a sister in the ward who was going to lose her house, and Robin just flat out gave the sister her trailer to live in. After giving away her home, Robin didn't have anywhere to live, so she moved in with her boyfriend. She told us, "Well boys I can't live in sin so we need to get married!!" We are so happy for her! Last night we had a super spiritual lesson with Robin and Jeff and as we were teaching them, I was able to tell them about how our family reads scriptures as a family and how we say family prayers together. Those times have had a great impact on me. So, I told them about how we do that and Robin said, "Ahhh I love that!" Then we committed them to pray as a couple every night and they immediately said they would. So thank you guys for doing that as a family so I can help others do it too! Jeff is a great candidate for the gospel but he works 7 days a week so we'll have to work on helping him work only 6 days a week.

I had very special spiritual experience last night too. A sister in the ward who is probably about 60 years old called me at 9:15 p.m. and requested that I come give her a blessing (she said no one else would do) because her mother was on her death bed and was about to pass at any hour. We have to be home at 9:30 so I wasn't sure what to do.  As I thought about my predicament President Monson's words came into my head, "Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved." So, we decided that even though we’d be out past 9:30 we should go provide her with a blessing. When we got there, she was sitting by her mom, whom you could tell was going to pass at any minute. It reminded me a lot of visiting Grandma June when we saw her right before she went to the other side. Anyway, she asked me to give her a blessing in that room because she wanted to stay by her mom, so we did. It was a really cool experience because I've never given someone a blessing when their own family member was about to pass away. The Spirit was so strong and I don't even remember what I said. I just remember that the words that came out of my mouth weren't mine. I am really grateful for the opportunity I had to use my priesthood authority and I love being on a mission because experiences like that are unforgettable!

Well, I love you guys and I thank you for everything! Sorry to everyone I didn't email back today but we're super short on time. I'll email you next week!

Love y'all so much! Have a great week!

Roddy

Christmas Miracles

Hello Family and Friends,

"I literally want you to follow me."

          MERRRRYYY CHRISTMAS!! The Christmas Season is well under way here in the boonies of Georgia! Everyone is really nice around this time of year, which makes our job a ton easier! We saw so many miracles this week! It's been really good for Elder Johnson to experience some of these miracles because now he wants them every day and it's helping us work hard. I was telling him this week that I need his greenie fire because he's keeping me on my toes, that's for sure!

          There's a huge flu epidemic going around Atlanta and everyone is getting sick so knowing Georgians, the grocery stores will be empty by tomorrow and the Mormons will conquer because they have food storage. Yay! I've been kind of sick the last couple days myself. So hopefully, I'm better by Christmas Day!

December 18, 2014 Georgia Atlanta North Missionaries
gather at the Atlanta Temple

          TONS happened this week! To start off the week, we had a zone training and the zone leaders asked me to provide a training…24 hours before it started. Ha. Ha. But, it was all good and I think it went well. On Thursday e also had our Christmas party with the entire mission. We had the opportunity to go to the Atlanta temple in the morning and do an endowment session. It was amazing! I hadn't done a session since last November because, as you remember, the last time I went in August our unfortunate driver got in a car accident on the way to Atlanta. The Spirit in the temple was so strong and it was so much fun to see all of my mission friends! There were also some people from the Grayson Ward at the Fireside that night and I loved seeing them again. I sang it the choir that performed at the fireside and Sister Bennion made me a bass, because you know I have THE lowest voice ever. And, she put me on the very back row with all the Elders who are above 6'4". What the heckkk maaaan? So, I just grabbed a chair and stood on it the whole time. Ha. Ha! It was quite a site!

          I'll tell you about a couple miracles we had this week. A few weeks ago I told you about the less active member, Maricruz, who we met at Cracker Barrel. She wasn't on our roles, but she is now. We had a lesson with her on Friday, and for the past couple of weeks we've been praying that she would find another job that wouldn't require her to work on the weekends. Well, she got one! She had been trying for a really long time and as soon as we all started praying together for it she found a new job! The only problem is that the job is in the county below us, which isn't in our ward boundaries and she is probably going to move down there so she can be closer to her job. For a brief second I was sort of bummed because I want to keep working with her and her non-member daughters, but then I realized something really cool! Maricruz is Hispanic and the language barrier has been tough, and this last week during transfers President Bennion felt inspired to put a missionary who has been serving Spanish for the last 8 months in that ward as an English speaking missionary. An assignment like that never happens! But, now he is in the ward where Maricruz will attend church and he'll be able to help her with any language barriers that she has! I just thought that was really cool. At the beginning of my mission I would've been really bummed not to keep working with her, but now I realize that it doesn't matter who plants the seed and who sees the harvest, all that matters is the work gets done and it's humbling to be a part of the whole experience. When we met with Maricruz on Friday she also shared with us some more crazy things that were going on in her life on the day we met her at the restaurant.  We all feel like when we met her we were inspired to find her THAT day instead of any other. Pretty cool stuff!

A P-Day hike on the EDGE...

          On Saturday morning Elder Johnson and I were going to help the Elders Quorum move someone, and we had about 30 minutes until we had to meet them. So, we planned to tract around the spot where we were meeting. When we got to the area, we realized it was pretty much all dirt roads and there were NO houses around, so I was frustrated. Then the Elder in charge called us and told us everyone was about 30 minutes behind schedule, so that gave us a little extra time to do some work. So, Elder Johnson and I said a prayer. We looked on the GPS and found a little circle about 2 miles away that looked like it would have some houses. Then we drove there and, sure enough, it was a perfect neighborhood with lots of people home. I drove about halfway down the street until I found a good place to park, and at the VERY first door we met a man named Scooter who let us in to his home. We went on to teach him and his family for 20 minutes about the Book of Mormon and showed them the “He Is The Gift” video. They told us we could come back next weekend--4 new investigators! It was crazy! Later that night, we knocked the rest of that street  and literally, no one else was interested. It was so cool to see how the Lord led us right where we needed to be-literally the exact door- when we had just a little bit of extra time to spare. Our meeting with Scooter and his family was NOT a coincidence!

          I love being a missionary and having these experiences every week! There are many that happen every day and it's so much fun. It makes me grateful to be here in Georgia at this time of my life! Although it's hard to get Georgians to commit, it's amazing to spread the gospel and watch it change people for the better.    

          I can't wait to talk to you guys on Christmas Day! Thank you for everything! Love you!!

Elder Roderick

Greenie Fire and Christmas Carols

Hey guys!                                                                                         

It's officially Christmas time here in the boonies of the South, which means there are a lot of Redneck Santas and a lot of Rudolphs being shot for dinner! Ha Ha! Sorry, but it's true! I ate deer three times this week.

Bad Santa Hats & Ugly Ties call for a "Prayer for our Missionaries."

Well, transfers were on Wednesday, which meant I had to drop off one son and pick up another. My new “greenie” companion is Elder Johnson. He's from the same exact high school as Elder Larsen.  What are the odds of that? They even wrestled together. Elder Johnson is great. He's really excited to be here and ready to work. I love “greenies” because they're always so innocent and fired up. We'll be in the car and I'll say something like "Okay, Elder. Now we're going to go here…” Normally, someone would say "Okay, sounds good!" But not Elder Johnson.  He says, "OKAYYYYYY! LET'S DO IT! I CAN'T WAAAAITTTT!" His enthusiasm will be good for me because it'll keep me fired up!

"Good Bye" Elder Covington

A lot of Elders and Sisters that I knew really well, including Elder Convington (one of my companions), went home on Thursday. It's so weird! They were all at 14, 15, 16 months when I got to know them and that seems like yesterday, and now they're home. Time goes by too fast out here!

Our investigators are doing well. We found a lot of good people that we're going to start teaching this week.  So, one funny experience happened on Friday night. We went to visit Bunny (yes, real name), a lady who a member family named the Thompsons told us to go visit. We wanted to sing her some Christmas carols, so our plan was to start singing as soon as she opened the door and try not to scare her away with our voices. (By the way, I'll have you know that Sister Bennion put me in the mission choir and it's really paying off. Ha Ha.) Anyway, we rang the door bell and instead of coming to the door, she yelled from inside, "WHO IS IT!?" I thought to myself, "Crap! Do I just start singing now or what do I say?" So I yelled back, "IT'S US!!!!" Then she opened the blinds, because she was probably wondering who in the heck "US" was, and before we got a chance to start singing she asked, "What do YOU want?" At this point, the caroling idea seemed weird and the situation was super awkward. So I just said, "Well ma'am, to be honest we were just going to sing you a song." Then she responded, "Ugh. Okay. One moment. Let me go PUT SOME CLOTHES ON." (.......) Finally, she came to the door and we sang to her, quite horribly I should add.  Thankfully, our visit turned out “okay” because as soon as we told her the Thompsons sent us, she let us in and we had a great Christmas message with her. During our visit we learned that she has a brain tumor and she was not feeling good that day, and the message really cheered her up and made her feel better. So, it was a good experience. But, you should know that those awkward moments are basically what my life consists of. Ha Ha!

          If you're wondering what else happens in Cornelia, the big news it that there is an old man who comes into the library bathroom every Monday and yells at the top of his lungs while he's sitting in there. Oh joy! I usually cry because I'm laughing so hard.

Have a great week guys! I can't wait to talk to you in 10 days!  Love you so much!!

Roddy

Another Son is Born in the Wilderness

Hey y'all!!                                                                                            

It was a great week, as always! First things first, I'm not getting transferred. Instead, Elder Larsen is! He's going to a ward near Marietta so it'll be good for him to be around more people and see more of the mission. I love that kid and I'm so grateful for the time I've had to serve with him! He has taught me so much! As for me, well I'm training once again. Ha ha. Jeeeeez! I guess I'm so bad at it that President is trying to teach me something. But, I'm looking forward to getting another son who will be born in the wilderness!

Blood  Mountain Sunset in Cornelia, Georgia

Well, last week after emailing, we had our last P-Day with Will (the non-member who always hangs out with us) because he isn't here today. We hiked Will’s favorite mountain, which is Blood Mountain. Man! It was so much fun. By the time we got to the top, it was sunset so we got some cool pictures.  But, then that meant during the entire hike down we were in the dark! I'm lucky I didn't die!

We had a really solid week here in Cornelia, especially working with the less actives. It's crazy! In the past two weeks between us, the other elders and the ward members, we’ve found five less active members who aren't on our records. Each of them is extremely kind and open to meeting with us. They just haven't been to church in YEARSSS and a lot of them don't even remember very much about the Church. They also have less-active kids and some non-member family members! So, it's basically like teaching investigators because of their lack of a knowledge and testimony (yet). The only difference is just that they’ve already been baptized. Our situation with them reminds me of something Elder Nelson said, "The return of less actives is equal in importance as baptisms for the growth of the Church. We need them as much as we need new converts." I think that really hits home for the Cornelia ward.

One of the people that I'm talking about is Maricruz Galicia. We met her while we were eating after our District Meeting last Tuesday at a place called Cracker Barrel.  She is the restaurant hostess. When we approached her she said, "Hello Elders, follow me." When we sat down, I asked her how she knew we were Elders and in her Mexican accent she replied, "Because I'm Mormon! Just no more activity. I don't know where church is!" So, I immediately thought, “We can help you with that!” We went by her house and met with her on Thursday.  We found out that she has three kids who were also baptized, one of whom is living with her but doesn't really remember anything about the church, as well as two daughters who haven't been baptized (but one of them is 6). So, we're going to be working with them! There are other cool stories like that that happen all the time in this area because it is so vast and there are so many people who we don't even know about. It's crazy how the Lord just puts us where we need to be, even for lunch!

I love you guys! Talk to you next week,

Roddy

P.S. I ate deer last night at the Dustin's house! Josh shot it in his own front yard. Haha! Dang Rednecks!

What Are You Thankful For?

WHAT'S UP GUYS!                                                                                                                                                                  

Pie in the Face Round 2

Our week was so great! And, like always, we're limited on time today so I'll try and get in as much information as I can. Well, we started off the week last Monday with an early Thanksgiving dinner with both of the Dustin families! It was so much fun! And, you know what that means....Yup! Pie in the face Round 2 and it was just as good as Round 1! Ha Ha! I wish you guys could've seen it. Brother Dustin had the entire pie stuck perfectly to his face so at first, all I could see was his nose. Of course, I couldn’t really see because I was too busy eating pie off of my face. Ha Ha! 

Actual Thanksgiving Day was great as well! We had a lot of free time in the morning because we had two dinners and our first wasn't until 2. So, we were trying to figure out what to do and we decided that knocking doors on Thanksgiving wouldn't really be the best idea. Instead, we made a sign on a white board that said, "WHAT ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR?" We walked around the Walmart parking lot with it and asked people to sign it and then we gave them a picture of Christ. It was great, until the store manager kicked us out. So, then we just went to Ingles Market and the manager there actually signed the board and told us to keep doing it. It was tons of fun and some people even got emotional over it as they thought about all the things they were grateful for!

Like I said we had two dinners, one at 2 and one at 5 then some dessert at 8. I was stuffed! I was well taken care of and no one fed us anything crazy. So, I'm safe...for now!

We had some great success with our investigators this week. Unfortunately, Robin keeps getting sick with a nasty stomach virus and she has to keep going to the ER but we were able to have a great lesson with Renee and James on Wednesday. It's amazing how far Renee has come. At first she was totally against us and now she asks us tons of questions and she even got off work next week so she can come to church. We're planning to put James on date for baptism this week, so pray for us!

We're finding a lot of interested families to teach right now too.  In fact, we found one mom who let us in her home to talk to her and she explained that she didn't like some of the small churches that she had been going to because she has 7 kids and everyone judged her for it. Ha. Ha! Elder Larsen and I were both laughing and we said, "Your family of 9 would be 1 of 5 at our church..soooo..." She is basically already Mormon, she just doesn't realize it yet.

Elder Roderick and Allen Dustin 

Earlier in the week we had a lesson with one of our other investigators, Eric. When we went to teach him we found out that his grandpa's health had suddenly taken a turn for the worse and it looked like he wasn't going to make it. Then, later in the week we were driving, and we got a prompting to go visit him, so we did. Well, Eric wasn't home. So, we thought that was weird. Later that night we got a text from him and he told us that his grandpa had passed away and he asked us to keep his family in our prayers. When we told him we had stopped by earlier that day, it meant a lot to him and that's when we recognized why the Spirit told us to go visit Eric.

So, as you can see, it was a great week. I'm off to hike a mountain in December! I love Georgia!

Love you guys!!

Elder Roderick