Slam DUNK!

"First Baptism on the Books"

                                                            Saturday, September 27, 2013

                                  Elder Auaea, the Heeter Family, Elder Roderick and Elder Gilliat

September 29, 2013

Wassss gucci my friends!! I hope you're all having an awesome Monday in the 801 or wherever you are! I love receiving letters from so many of you and reading about how you're doing. Thank you for the love!!

            It was a slower week here in Hickory Flat. Not as many people were willing to talk about Jesus I guess! The weather has been super nice...70's with barely any humidity. PRAISE DA LORD! This makes our new mission rule of knocking doors for 2 hours a day a lot easier! Everyone is caught up in the middle of football season so I just walk around saying, "Go Dawgs" everywhere I go and it seems to make people like the Mormon boys in white shirts a little more than before. I'm still getting used to everyone staring at us for an extra 5 seconds. Ha-ha. You can tell they're sitting there wondering what in the heck three boys in white shirts and ties are doing walking around in the middle of the day knocking on people's doors. You'd be surprised how many people here have never had contact with missionaries! Most of them have talked to Jehovah’s Witnesses and think we're the same thing.

            This week I got myself into a few bashing sessions and had some interesting door approaches with some very stubborn Baptists! Like I've said, you never want to Bible bash, but every time I do I walk away literally laughing at some of the things people think the Mormons believe! Apparently, because I'm Mormon I believe in a different Jesus than the rest of the world. Ha-ha. JESUS IS THE SAME DUDE WHEREVER YOU GO PEOPLE.  Golly. I can't tell you how many times we've been called a Cult in the past week. It's awesome and, very funny.

            On Saturday we had the privilege to baptize the Heeter family!! It was such an awesome experience! First baptism in the books. Mrs. Heeter asked me to baptize and confirm her two boys who are 16 and 12 years old. I guess the Heeters think Elder Auaea is stronger than me or something because they had him baptize the dad who weighs.......more than his kids. Psssh. I could've done it with one arm. I went last, so I got to see how to do it, or how NOT to do it. Ha-ha. Our new companion, Elder Gilliat, got the job of baptizing the mom, and the kid pretty much double-dunked the poor lady. He didn't realize he would kind of have to push her under, so when he lowered her into the water he brought her up too fast, then you could see him think, “Crap!” and he pushed her back under again. I WAS LAUGHING SO HARD (respectively, of course...with the bishop laughing with me). Ha-ha-ha. I call him Double Dunkin' Gilliat now. So, by the time I was supposed to baptize the boys, I knew what to expect and everything went awesome.

            They also asked us to confirm them on Saturday night. Before we confirmed them, I was so nervous because I had no idea what I was going to say to these kids and what to bless them with. Just seconds before starting the confirmation, I was lost for words. When I laid my hands on their head and closed my eyes the Spirit came to me so strong and literally spoke the words for me. I had no idea what I was saying, but I know I just kept talking. It ended up going really well and after the program was over, Mrs. Heeter came up to me and told me I blessed her boys with the exact things that she was hoping for. It was an extremely humbling experience for me and a huge testimony builder!

We met again with Susan last night. Man, that woman is confusing!! We know she wants to get baptized and wants us to prepare her for it, but she told us last night that she never wants to go to church on Sundays or do service in the church, which is what our church is all about! So this will be hard. But, I know that as she becomes more converted, she will eventually come to realize the importance of attending church and serving. She is going to be helping her mom over the next few weeks by preparing her for surgery, so we aren't going to be able to contact her as much, which stinks. Last night though, she told us she would willingly stop smoking and drinking coffee if that were what she had to do! We didn't even have to fight it or anything. Ha-ha. Last night she told me that I'm going to make a good salesman one day because I never take "no" for an answer. The woman already knows me too well! Anyway, I predict it will be a couple of months before Susan has the opportunity to get baptized. She also got negative feedback from family members who mean a lot to her.  This puts a dent in the whole baptism idea, but its nothing a little faith and persistence can't fix. 

            On Wednesday I went on an exchange with the zone leader. Obviously I was way nervous, but it ended up being an awesome experience and I learned a ton from him. He told me I was very humble, which is possibly the last word I would ever use to describe myself as a human being.  

            Random thought: If I go bald on my mission, will any of you still talk to me?? So many missionaries in this mission are losing their hair left and right. It's mortally terrifying. 

            This week our apartment featured "Health and Safety Training: Food Edition". Elder Auaea hasn't seemed to grasp the concept that raw bacon and chicken need to be cooked BEFORE you start eating them. Tongans. I tell ya. Crazy people! He tries to eat any dog he sees on the road. I wonder what will happen when he actually catches one. Dog Stew I guess.

            I'm learning a lot as a missionary!! Serving a mission is definitely the most humbling thing anyone could ever do. As a missionary, you find that people open up to you and tell you their whole life story without even asking them a question. Every day I meet someone who has a crazy life story and is looking for any kind of guidance in their life. Even though it's still a long shot that they will accept the gospel, I know that whatever we teach them will help a great deal, and that's all I really care about. 

            I can't tell you how much your support and words of encouragement mean to me!! I've been amazed at the love I get from you guys! Thanks for being so awesome and please just keep doing amazing things out there. I love you all so much!!!

            Gotta go talk to some hicks out Jesus now. PEACE OUT!!

Elder Roddy 

Quotes from Roddy 9.19.13

Quotes from Elder Roderick (in letters to his parents and siblings)

"I've already gained 4 lbs since being on my mish! (all muscle OBVIOUSLY!)"

"Random thought - Is twitter even funny without me? PROBABLY NOT @MR0ds >>>"

"Here in ATL North everyone seems to be sent from the devil to persecute Mormon missionaries. HaHa just kidding."

To his sister Emily:

"When you're playing soccer, be aggressive and break somebody's collar bone. Just kidding, only break their arm."

"Do the teachers at Hillside still remember me as the kid that got thrown through the ceiling?"

We also received a letter from Matthew's mission companion,  Elder Auaea aka "Elder Tonga":

"I am truly blessed to have your son to be my companion. It is so great. He helped me a lot in different ways. I love him as a brother to me. I will do my very best to protect him even with my life. I am so grateful for your son Elder Roderick for his sincere desire to serve."

Just Trying to Make a Difference in the World

         

"A common sign used here by the wonderful rednecks of northern Georgia. I'm just out here in the struggle trying to make a difference in the world..jeez people #gorams"

Letter 9.23.13

 I hope you guys are having a great day and even better week! I sure did! 

This week Tonga and I got another companion. He's supposed to go to Brazil but didn't get his visa, so they figured they would send him to the South because it's like another world here anyway. He's from Oregon and is really nice!

            On Friday night we got an amazing call from a family called the Heeters (I call them the Haterzzzz). This family used to be members of the Church, then they actually got their names removed because of a horrible experience they had. Thankfully, they saw the light again, and for the last year or so they've been working with the missionaries and have been preparing themselves to be baptized again. They were one of the very first families I met when I got here. So, on Friday they called us and suddenly they said, "Hey. So, can you guys ask the bishop if we can be baptized next week instead??" We were stunned! "WHAT???" I guess they FINALLY got the approval from the bishop to be baptized and become members of the church again! It's so amazing! So this Saturday we are baptizing their family of 4. I'm so excited and so proud of them!! Pics will come… all dressed in white, Baby!

            The most remarkable thing that has happened this week though came from a lady we met named Susan. I am going to do my very best to tell you what we've experienced with her but I don't even know where to start! On Wednesday we were knocking doors doing what we call “Harvest Blessings,” which are when you ask the people if you can pray with them and leave a blessing on their home, rather than offering to share a message. It's a lot more effective. Anyway, we knocked on Susan's door and when she heard what we were doing she let us in to pray with her. I gave the blessing and by the time it was over we looked up and Susan was just bawling!! After talking to her for a while, we learned that Susan's mother is undergoing major back surgery soon and if it doesn't go well she'll probably not make it. Also, Susan's husband, David, died about 10 years ago from a drug overdose.  And, her health hasn't been good either because she smokes, has gained about 80 pounds, and doesn’t have a job. So, we taught her a little about the Plan of Salvation and she was just crying during the whole thing.

On Friday we went back to her house to follow up with her and we took a member along with us. At the beginning of the lesson she asked us "So why do you guys want to come back to me? There are other people that don't even have a faith in Christ (Susan is Baptist) and need it more than me. And I sure as h*ll am not turning into a Mormon." Ha Ha! This hurt to hear, but we explained to her why we cared about her so much and how the gospel could change her life. The lesson ended up going AMAZING and you could literally see the Spirit change her. So, at the end of the lesson we asked her if she would prepare to get baptized, and she said, "You know what? Maybe. Maybe." It wasn't a “yes” but the change that occurred in only an hour was incredible! At the end of the lesson, Susan told us that at least 10 pairs of missionaries have come to her door before but she's never let them in, but on Wednesday she just had this feeling like she had to let us in. She went on to say that at first, we kind of annoyed her with how persistent we were, but now every time we leave she said she feels closer to God then she has ever felt. It was really cool!! Also at the end of the lesson, I asked her if she would pray to know that the things we were telling her were true. She sat there for about 20 seconds and looked at me and said, "I don't need to pray about that. I already know that this is true!" This was awesome to hear.

Last night we were driving home and I just felt like we had to go see her. I don't know why but I knew we had to. So we went and knocked on her door and she said, "Come in. Come in I have things to ask you guys!" We sat down and she started asking us all about the spirit world (we had her read about it) and what happens to people there. When we told her that her husband would have the chance to hear the gospel there and accept Christ she just started bawling! I guess she's been really nervous about that. And, she was so amazed at the fact that it was possible for her to live with him again, forever. So at the end of the lesson, we asked her again if she would be baptized. She refused to set a specific date for baptism, but she said she would let us prepare her to be baptized!! It was so awesome!! I'm so excited to keep working with her and make sure she gets ready. The whole smoking thing will be hard but it will happen!

So, as you can see this whole week with Susan has been pretty incredible and so fun to be a part of!! I'm so proud of her! Hopefully she will stay committed, because in her own words, "My family will sh*t a brick when I tell them I'll be getting baptized Mormon." Ha Ha! Obviously, this is not the best choice of words but it made me laugh soooo hard.

            Apparently my Tongan companion still hasn't gotten the grasp of all the American swear words yet. Yesterday, we were in the apartment and I heard him say "SH******T!!" I was said, “Bro you can't say that!!!!!” He was so confused!! It turns out he thought "sheet" and "sh*t" were the same word because his pronunciation isn't that good. So, when he heard us laugh when Susan said it, he thought it was okay. Hahahahaha! Good stuff! Good stuff!
       
I hope each and every one of you are having an awesome week!! I love you guys!!

Elder Roddy

Bashing and Baptizing

            Whaddduppp peeps!!! Just wrappin’ up my second week in the mission field...and what a week it was!! I think I'm finally starting to get used to the missionary lifestyle. I've come to accept that I'll never, ever get used to waking up at 6:30 though...that rule was made by Satan himself.

            Elder Tonga and I have been really busy this week. Lots of door knocking and tons of contacting whenever we can. It seems to be paying off!! Right now we have about 7 investigators who we are actively teaching. I love meeting with people over and over again and doing my best to answer whatever questions they have. I'm already starting to see the change in some of them.

Like I mentioned last week, everyone here is so stubborn with their religion. Everyone is convinced that "their Christ" is the only true Christ. I'm like "Listen yo, Christ was the same yesterday as he is today and he is never going to change". Lucky for me, I've already had a few classic Bible bashing sessions! Just kidding they're rough! They can be fun sometimes...but they're completely pointless. There are tons of people who let us in just for the intent of bashing. In fact, we have a dinner appointment next week and my companion has been to their house a couple times already. According to him, all they do is look up anti-Mormon things on the computer and ask us questions, then write down our responses for their own use at their church. How stupid!! So our plan is to go there and just ask them if there is any service we can do, and avoid any discussion. A lot of times we'll be meeting with someone, and they'll be bashing us and we will have the perfect doctrine or scripture to totally shut them up, but we know that it will only build the contention so we don't. This is super frustrating for me! Especially because I love to argue with everyone...oops. I've quickly learned about why they say the South is so passionate about their Bible!! Whenever we get into a bashing situation I just remind myself of Elder Holland's quote...."Never Bible bash. But if you do, WIN."

            Despite all of our bashing and getting rejected in every way possible, we have also managed to have a lot of success!! On Friday night, I committed my first person to baptism! I'm really excited about it!! It is a lady named Tiffany who my companion met before I got here. On Friday, we had a really spiritual lesson with her and I asked her to be baptized and she said yes!! She is on date for the 5th of October. She has trouble with smoking so I'm hoping that she'll be ready for that day. Whether she is or not though, she has committed to be baptized and it will happen eventually. I couldn't be happier! We also have two other investigators who are ready to be baptized and said they want to, but they aren't on date. One of them needs to get married or move out of her boyfriend's apartment...so it's tricky. The other is a 15 year old kid who lives with his grandparents but needs to "work out some issues with his dad" before he gets baptized, and it is taking painfully long. Both of them will fallow through soon though!!

            I absolutely love being a missionary so far! In my short time here, I've already seen the hardships and the rewards of this work. It's so humbling to see all these different people and their situations in life. We have it really good back home!

            Gotta go...Tonga is getting hungry......and that's not good. Must feed Tonga now.          

Love you all!! Hope you guys are having a wonderful week!

Elder Loteliki (my Tongan name...living with a Tongan pretty much makes me one, right?)

Greetings from ATL, Hickory Flat and Tonga…

Greetings from ATL, Hickory Flat and Tonga…

What's up guys!! I am finally in Atlanta!! So crazy!! It's so different here! No mountains, no cool sunsets, trees EVERYWHERE, humid air, and a lot more bugs. BUT I LOVE IT!!!!

I have been assigned to an area called Hickory Flat! It's like Hicksville. There are a lot of open fields and the roads are hilly and narrow. The houses are spread apart and have long, steep driveways that are covered with forests. It's so cool!! Just like Salt Lake, there are the rich areas and the poor areas… but to a much larger extreme. In one neighborhood you can have huge houses then you walk down the street and suddenly you feel like you're in a ghetto trailer park infested with disease. Ha Ha, it's hilarious. There are definitely tons of people with that typical southern accent...it makes me laugh every time. I can't help it. The ways they say some things are just too funny. However there are also still tons of people who don't have an accent at all. A lot of people moved here from other places because Northern Atlanta is where all the suburbs and best living areas are. 75% of the people in my ward are either from Utah, have lived in Utah, or have ties to Utah. So I am not too engulfed in the southern lifestyle...but still plenty enough! The people in my ward are really nice and welcoming. They feed us fairly well (not as much as the sisters...) and they are accepting and very friendly.

My companion is literally straight from Tonga!! His name is Elder 'Auaea (uh-why-uh). Haha, he spent 9 weeks in the MTC to learn English! At first, I was SO confused that the president put me with him because he is still learning to speak English. But, after a few days with him, I am having a blast and we get along so well!! I joke around with him a lot and we just have a good time.

So as you can imagine he has a really thick accent. He is difficult to understand at times but he does really well for the most part. Somehow I got him speaking in this medieval Tongan creepy accent all the time and it's hilarious. He has the funniest phrases. Whenever something good happens, he says "absolutely!!" But it sounds like "aaaabzelootleh" hahaha. Literally, every time he sees a dog (which is every house in Georgia) he says "oooo dog... good for da tasteee". He used to kill and eat dog ALL the time in Tonga!!! Ha Ha. The only thing he knows how to cook is chicken and top Raman...so he eats it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He throws chicken legs onto to the stove, bone and everything, and cooks them and then just adds the noodles and eats it however he can. Every day I am reminded that he is straight from there and the last 17 months have been his only months in America. He's not like most of the Tongans in Utah where their parents are from Tonga, but they have been raised in Utah most of their life and are completely used to the culture. He gets confused about why people do certain things all the time. I can only imagine what it was like to be this kid's trainer!! Every morning at 11 he does language study..., which is pretty much watching Bible movies... it's so awesome. During companionship study I usually end up teaching him about what certain words mean and how they are pronounced. I have quickly learned that God really does put us with the companions that he knows will benefit us the most! Even though I feel like I train him just as much as he trains me, it has forced me to grow up quickly and I learn a lot from him! I help him with English and keeping the place clean and buy food, while he teaches me how to be a missionary. It's a good balance and it has helped us get along because we both feel like we have to rely on each other.

            The people here are either really nice, Christian people or sent straight from Hell. Ha ha, Seriously. Everyone is Baptist, Methodist, or Catholic and are very persistent on their beliefs. They think that they're already saved because they've accepted Christ as their savior and that's all they think they have to do. So for us, it is very hard to get them to listen to us because they are content with what they have and think they already have it figured out. What we do is knock on their door and offer to leave a blessing on their home instead of saying that we have a message for them. Since they are all religious, they are down to pray and let us in. From there, we teach them about what we do and share what we have to say. We do a lot more door knocking/street contacting than I expected! Out of the field, you hear about all these new ways missionaries can contact people because door knocking isn't effective (which it really isn't)… but they haven't really established any social media stuff (yet) and the only advantage we really have is a cell phone so we can call potential investigators and stuff. (I'm so tempted to call home... like it's right there in my pocket. ugh.) But ya, so I am already experiencing all the different ways people react to missionaries. We will go park our car and get out to knock doors, and someone will be walking their dog towards us then quickly turn the other way hahaha. We'll see people inside their house, but they won't come to the door. A lot of people say they can't talk right now and invite us back another time, then we go back and they yell at us for coming again and tell us they aren't interested. “Just tell us you aren't interested the first time so we don't waste our time. You idiots!” On my very first day a guy chased us out of his backyard with tree clippers and he had a pistol in his pocket hahaha. It was pretty scary but so funny looking back on it! Don't worry Mom. It wasn't that bad.

            Anyway...sorry anyone who is reading this is probably asleep by now. But I am really enjoying it!! One thing 'Auaea said was his best advice to me was to "Just laugh all of da time. Because there will be the days where you have forgot to laugh and those are the worst of days because no one will talk to you and slam da door in yo face". What great advice from my Tongan buddy. I'm just trying to laugh and have fun! I miss all of you so much!! Thanks for showing me so much love!! Even if I can't reply as fast or as much as I want to your words don't go unnoticed. They help me so much! Ofa atu!! Love you!

Roddy


Here's a picture of Elder Roderick with his mission president and wife (President Mark Wolfert)