February 29, 2016 Week 19 Riobamba

So we have been working super hard this week.  We contact people like crazy and found a lot of people. We stay busy all day which isn't a bad thing I am just not use to it yet. We are trying to find a lot of people and teach them. So we found some people and one really old guy named Fernando. He is 76 years old and he told us his life story. He can't walk very well and he just reminds me of Grandpa Pepsi. This guy also told us about a car crash he had a few years ago and he said that he died and came back to life. So we are teaching him but the problem is is that he can't read or write. SO we are starting to teach this guy how to read and write in Spanish. We invited him to church yesterday and told him we would show up at 8:30. We got to his house at 8:15 and he was waiting outside for us. He told us that he could walk but I couldn't make an old guy walk all the way to the church. I mean I get tired walking there. So we took a taxi so this guy didn't have to walk anywhere. 
Anyways so we got to the church with him and the familia Bayas and everybody greeted them and all this. This old guy lives in a little hut so I kind of feel bad for him. I am trying to find some clothes for this guy cause his clothes are terrible. Well he loves Jesus and loves to pray. So we gotta teach him how to read. I don't know how hard that is gonna be but well see. So Fernando is awesome. 
We also found some people in Yaruquies who are awesome. They were freaking out when we invited them to church because they couldn't go. We just told them to calm down and go next week. We taught them the restoration and asked them Ok so if a church doesn't have a Prophet and twelve Apostles and the authority of God is it a real church. And they just looked at us and were like....no....So they already understand five times as much as all the other people around here. 
Also One cool thing that happened this week. So we don't have any money....We have some now but we didn't before. So for a few days we didn't eat anything. Well once we completely ran out of money we started to see some miracles.  The minute that I spent my last few quarters random people started to feed us. So for about 3 days we would go and teach somebody and they would give us some bread or a whole meal. Then we would teach somebody else and they would give us a drink. So we didn't have to worry about money or food for about 3 days. It's like that story in the Bible, when Jesus was sending his disciples to teach. They didn't take anything with them. Not money or food or anything. But he promised them that if they were diligent then they would be looked after. Well following the rules for this week has really showed me that if we are trying our hardest, and I know that we are. Then we will receive whatever we need. Anyways this was really cool and I thought it would be nice to share it.

Just looking at some Incan ruins or something.

and a mummy

We also helped somebody who is less active and has been smoking for the longest time and he still can't stop. So we wanted to give him a blessing but he told us that he wasn't worthy to receive a blessing from God. So we basically told him that Jesus was here to heal the sick and afflicted and not the perfect person. So he got this blessing and started to cry and his family was helping him and all that. Well it was awesome and we are trying to help everybody here. I don't really know what else to say. I haven't gotten the packages. Who knows if I will ever get them. Put pictures of the Virgin Mary on the box or something. The people worship and pray to her more than God so.....Love you guys

Oh and also Tungurahua is exploding right now and there is a bunch of ash here. We have to wear masks all day. I also forgot to take pictures of what a volcano looks like when it is about to erupt. Anyways right now it is just moving alot and there is a crap load of ash coming out all the time. They are called sanisas here.

Gotta take precautions, apparently volcanic ash will burn your skin hair and lungs.

February 22, 2016 Week 18 Riobamba

HEY MOM whats up? well this week was interesting. I will try and recap what we did this week. So last monday just normal stuff not much there and then on Tuesday we....Mom I cant really remember what happened too much. Today was so busy. Well I know that we taught a lot of people and visited some members. 

Elder Anderson had to pack all his stuff. Also I got some more shoes and tried to fix them up with something called African cement. I patched up some shoes with that and maybe will wear the other ones and wear them out really fast. I am trying to find some inserts for my shoes but havent had any luck yet. It might help if I actually look though.....Well I am kinda lazy.

I got my new companion today and his name is Elder Pesantes and he is from Guyaquil. He is cool and wants to work super hard so I am really excited for that. I am ready to get some stuff done and baptize some more people. He seems really ready for that too. He only has 2 more changes of his mission left. I also found out that this change is only going to be five weeks instead of 6 because the mtc has change how long people are in there for. So I go home 7 days earlier now hahahaha. Not like I am counting down anything. I enjoy it here even though it is hard every day. We are going to be working harder than ever before this change. I think my new companion wants to work super hard because he goes home soon. I cant wait for that.  

no packages yet, my shoes I might just get repaired or something. The guy who was in the hospital is now walking everywhere and is fine. I do see my converts every week in church. The familia Gomez is still awesome. I see everyone alot and also the familia Maita still makes us lunch and it is nice. I am feeling a lot better too 

Also it is still super hot here and I dont like it. But that is all of Ecuador.  I miss you guys, I had a list of things I needed and other questions but of course I forgot it again. I dont know how I keep doing that. I am still losing weight somehow. I am down to 225 now, I think I was 250 or larger in the MTC....It must have been those donuts. Oh well I am walking alot now. Also Elder Schaper went home so he gave me about 7 shirts that are still in great condition so I am going to wear the crap out of those. I am still going to wear my others but I still have about 19 months to go so I gotta pace myself mom. I miss you guys and Love you guys, ask me some more questions because I forgot what we did this week. Mostly cleaned up a little and packed some stuff up. LOVE YOU,

February 15, 2016 Week 17 Riobamba

Alright mom I am gonna try and recap what has happened. I hate this...its hard to type everything...Anyways here I go. So on Monday night I started to feel sick again and my head hurt really bad and it hasn't really stopped hurting this whole week but that's whatever. I also think I have parasites but I think now I am going to lose a lot of weight because I am not going to eat for a few days because my stomach hurts.  My pants are getting a little too big. I hope that isn't a problem. I didn't see this coming. 
The parasites I don't think will kill me...but we have been eating in some pretty scary situations. Anyways that doesn't matter, probably shouldn't have said anything but oh well. 
Anyways Elder Schaper lives in Arizona and goes home in 7 days so....that is really exciting for him. Also no packages yet...
I had to yell at some of the dogs that try and kill us. I almost had to kill one with a hoe the other day. He was running after me and I was like "Oh check this out this guys gonna get it" but then his owner called him back before I could swing at him. 
I always drink out of my filter bottle but definitely not enough water that's for sure. Mostly cause it tastes weird and I don't like it. I should probably quit taking Ibuprofen but good thing it is too expensive here so once I run out I will be too broke to buy more. I just get sick a lot for some reason. Maybe I should start working out or something...no terrrible idea. Theres a lot of pregnant people here too. ummm what else...I forget a lot of stuff because so much happens every single day. I always forget to write my questions down. I did start a notebook where I write all of my expenses down on though. I gotta keep track of money and what not.
Anyways then on Tuesday we just worked like normal and had some good lessons and what not then Wednesday we also did normal stuff and I felt a little sick. Then on Thursday we prepared ourselves for the travel so we got up and studied a bit then I packed and we got on our way. 

We had to wait in Quitumbe for like 2 hours but that was fine. Then we arrived in Quito and we had to take this public bus called the Ecovia and the problem with that is that everybody and their dog rides that. SO you literally can't move while you are on it and people are packed in there like Sardines. People are squished everywhere and it sucks. So we took that to the offices and I always think I am going to get to buy scripture cases but I couldn't get them this trip. I might just have to pick some scripture cases up in 20 months right before I leave to go home....Anyways so then we actually got to travel into the Quito North mission and stay with other missionaries. It was really cool because that mission has so much stuff and the freaking zone leaders have washing machines there!!  The only person in this whole mission who has a washing machine is President Christensen. Nobody else. So the guys up there are super rich and have everything. I'm jealous.

Anyways so we stayed there which was pretty cool. In the morning we got up but their shower was broken and only had freezing water. I am serious I felt like I was back in the mountains. I am glad I practiced showering in the river, because I was used to it even though my body went numb. Anyways so after that we headed back into our mission and went to the church. 
Elder Holland came and spoke, so we shook his hand and sat inside the Chapel en la colon capilla. ...anyways to save you the pain he taught us about the book of mormon and said that we don't use it enough and after he just said I love you guys and then it was over.  He had a lot of good points though. We musn't take this work too lightly and stuff. 
So after that we went to subway and drove home. We got home at like 10:30 and I had to give a talk in church the next day. We got a call at like 11 asking if we could give this talk so I didn't prepare anything. I went up there and winged it like I do but I think it went ok. It was like 5 minutes long and it was about repentance and La historia de Enos. So as you would expect it wasn't too great and I just wanted to get it over with because I hate talks. So after church we just ate some food.

Well carnival was scary but it is over finally. I did get sprayed in the face and the butt by some black guy. Really 

made me mad actually but what can you do. Also I think we are pretty safe mom, we steer clear of not so good 

situations. I hate sunscreen mom, I purposely didn't bring any cause I hate it. I really want to find witch hazel here 

because if anything is going to kill me here its gonna be the air pollution. It is terrible here. I might get lung cancer. 

Also my face gets really gross because they don't have anything to clean the air or any regulations agains anything. 

Now it is Monday again and I opened my Valentines cards and everything. Thanks for all those cards by the way mom. I know I said I was never going to use them or anything but I love them so...sorry for not wanting to take them... Anyways mom what else is going on? I forgot to say happy birthday to Clayton but I said it to Christian last week. My hands really hurt from typing a lot. Oh and also I have been learning a lot in my personal study about Christs life and all that. I forgot to put a spiritual part in here but we were basically traveling a lot this week and my head is killing me so I forgot. It is fun but it is really hard sometimes. We are trying our best though. 

Love you guys

Here's a picture of my foot I know you like it when I send these

February 8, 2016 Week 16 Riobamba

Hey MOM,

Well first off you are lucky that you have your Ipad and can talk into it and it types for you. I have to type everything and it sucks cause my hands get tired. These keyboards are also very terrible. Well here it goes. So this week was pretty normal except when you walk outside you are in a battlefield. Well I guess there are two battlefields, One with Satan and the other with little kids always trying to hit you with Espuma and Water balloons. Oh and chalk. 

Anyways I thought I would try and make this spiritual....I will try but you know me mom. So there are so many people here that don't believe in Jesus or anything and all these people are very into their culture and that is why it is hard to teach them because everything we present is so different. Some people are just very into their culture. They like to drink and think they are Catholic. We try to teach them things they need to know but sometimes they just don't listen and they don't want to change. But inspite of all that we keep trying and help them. We also found a family who live right next to us and they are from England but they are actually Ecautorianos. So that was weird but we went to their house and talked to them for a while. They have a 19 year old daughter who is... nice. Anyways so we talked to them for a long time and then at the end of it we were like well maybe we can come by and teach you guys and stuff. So the dad is like "Oh yeah you guys are missonaries, like me" so were like "What?" And he just says really casually "Yeah we are Jehovas Witnesses" And usually those people won't let you talk to them because they think that you are spawn of Satan. So the fact that he is actually nice to us and doesn't kill us is amazing. SO we were like well we will pass by and see when we can talk again. Anyways so that was actually kind of cool. 

And I know that Satan has plenty of ways of deception and he will do anything to keep us as the People of Christ away from our brothers and sisters. I know that we just keep trying and eventually these people will find the truth but only if we keep bringing it to them. And there is a scripture in D and C somewhere that says something like this "They are kept from the truth because they know not where to find it" That is one of my favorite scriptures because it basically explains that these people are not part of our church yet because they have not had the chance to find it yet. I love that because we are the bringers of the word of God. We share something that nobody else has. We share something that nobody else has the authority to share. Anyways mom that is what I was thinking.

 Anyways now down to the other war that we are fighting here. IT IS CARNAVAL. Everybody just throws water balloons and soaks everybody with buckets of water. It is really scary actually we always watch the roof tops for people. It kind of sucks because we have appointments and stuff to get to and it sucks when you are soaking wet all day. Some people actually respect us and don't soak us. The other day I was crossing the street and some guy passed me and started praying and putting his hands together asking permission if he could pass me. It was really weird. Also we went to the hospital the other day and they have some good security and you are not allowed in. So we asked if we could go and see a member who was getting surgery on his organs or something. Anyways the lady said that only one of us could go in. So my companion was like "Look we are missionaries of Christ and are only here to visit our friend" So they let us in without any problems and also they didn't take our IDs like they usually do. So we got into this hospital full of sick people and it is kind of hard being in there because you know that you can heal them but you can't because it's not allowed really. So everybody is just staring at us and it was super quiet as we walked through this hospital. Anyways it was really cool and I think the member appreciated it.  He got hurt a few months ago because he was drinking for his birthday and got into a car crash and almost died. Anyways he is alright though. That was also a cool thing. 

I don't really like their donuts or cookies because they are terrible at cooking them and they just don't know how to do it.  We have flour and sugar here but I want to try and make my own stuff maybe. Next changes are in 2 weeks so we will see how this goes. Also we are going to Quito in a few days because Elder Holland is coming to our mission and going to teach us some stuff. I will send pictures of that later. And also I don't know why people don't uderstand that addiction enslaves them. They also have terrible education here though. We also had some guy here that told us that our country is Hell for people like him. Well that is because you can't just go to America and expect that your education is up to par with ours. They just don't know enough to get payed more than most Americans. Anyways people hate us here because they think that we chose to be born in America and have waayyyy better education than them. They also love to charge us about half a million dollars for stuff. I hate that. But I do like their culture here now. It is funny. 

Well also we have been soaking little kids and stuff all week of course and today is the actual day of Carnaval. So we went with some members and played a lot and had a bbq. It was fun but I hope that we don't get wet these next few weeks. We are not allowed to leave the house tomorrow. They just don't want us getting wet and getting hurt or something. So we will just hang out I guess. These are the only times in the year that we have to stay inside though. Also we might make some scones tomorrow. Porque las hermanas de la Primavera nos dio algunas cosas para cocinando scones. Entonces hacemos scones...

Also I want to make some more because they are good. Anyways I dont really know what else.

A lady is teaching us to knit

OH and I forgot to mention mom but we ate a bunch of crab the other day. We have this family from the coast and 

they know how to cook crab really well so we went and bought 30 crabs for 30 bucks. It is super freaking cheap 

here but this family told us that is a lot cheaper on the coast. So I might start eating a bunch more crab because 

they taught us how to cook it and the Condomine sells crabs for 1 dollar each... Are you jealous?

 I heard the Broncos won and what not. That is exciting. Love you guys

Love Elder Rogers

February 1, 2016 Week 15 Riobamba

HEY MOM!

Well so this week we did a service project for a member that told me my spanish stinks.  So I will send some pictures

but we are in the middle of nowhere and I got really sunburned because I hate sunscreen. So that was fun. That was 

on Saturday. The service we did was pulling weeds and building up mounds or something in a corn field. I really love 

Ecuador just because these people have built a civilization in a huge string of mountains. The views here are 

awesome and it is crazy just driving through it. These mountains are so HUGE. It kind of makes the Wind Rivers look 

like a bunch of hills. Also the volcanos are just so big it is ridiculous. I can never get a picture that captures all of the 

nature. You guys will have to come visit sometime or maybe in a few years. It is just so cool here. We are traveling to 

Quito in a few weeks because Elder Holland is coming to talk to us. SO I cant wait to see all the cool mountains 

again. I just love all the nature here and my mission president said he might have to send me somewhere that is like 

Wyoming. So I hope I get sent to a place where there are no tall buildings. Riobamba is kind of a big city but it has 

some places that are just fields and stuff. I am going to send some pictures of what we did this week. It still has not 

snowed here. The weather is the same all the time. It has rained a little but thats it.

We also had a young person named Rodrigo get baptized and we have been teaching him for a few weeks. 

Everybody had baptisms.

The other baptism we had. His girlfriends dad baptized him. 

Also we ate with some indigenous people and I thought I was going to get Giardia but I haven't felt sick yet. 

It was really scary eating there though. They don't have clean water. I don't know where their water comes from but 

you can't just leave when people are trying to feed you. So I'm glad this week we have not been sick and I feel great. 

 

We also had interviews with our mission president because we have them once every 3 months I believe. So he asked 

how I was doing and I told him I was alright but then he asked how my family was and I got sad so then he just asked 

me if I was ok and I was like yeah I'm fine and then he said that I am not allowed to think of my family until Monday 

and only for an hour and a half. So we both started laughing and I feel fine.

Also we went to a members house and I went there my first sunday and then they disappeared and we went back

yesterday to eat and now I can understand what he is saying somehow. So I guess my spanish has actually gotten a 

lot better but I just haven't had anything to compare it to. Now I know what he is saying even though I can't speak 

too much. I just know that me and my companion talk a lot in english because he is white so I feel like it is easier. 

That might be why I can't speak in spanish too much but I usually can. But I know eventually I will be able to speak in 

spanish. 

Everybody here is getting ready for Carnaval and everybody has water and eggs in the streets so we have to 

watch our backs. I spotted some kids from a tall building throwing water balloons and they almost hit us but I noticed

just in time. That was like 2 hours ago. So we have not gotten wet yet. My shirts are getting dirty but just because I 

spill stuff on them and also there is a lot of pollution here and it is really dirty. 

I also made some tea stuff from some leaves I found. It is like pine needle tea but it actually tastes really good. 

It is called auiti aromatica and it is awesome. The indigenous people told me I could drink it. I trust them 

enough...kind of... I will send you some pictures of me making it. I just boil the leaves in some water just like I use to 

do in the mountains.  Well I live in the mountains so it is kind of the same. We pretty much just live in the wind rivers. 

Just think of somebody building cities inside of those mountains and thats where we live. I love it. 

Anyways uhhh. I forgot where I was. I love it here but I just can't think about Wyoming...  We had this one family 

called La familia B but they always tell us that they are always working and that they can't go to church, but when we 

pass by we can see them all in their house just watching tv or something. SO they actually came to church this week!

We ate some pizza after our baptism and our branch President is awesome his name is Presidente Mayo and we are 

going to his house tonight. He has a ps4 and I kindof want to watch him play but I probably won't. Anyways we are 

trying to find new people to teach.  Everything kind of hangs on the people going to church. I thought that was kind 

of dumb because I hate going to church but missionary work is kind of centered on getting people involved in church

and learning a lot. 

I forgot to tell you we made donuts like 4 weeks ago or something....oops

And we accidentally stumbled in to a birthday party

I have been reading Jesus the Christ which is kind of hard to understand but I am trying to read that with the New 

Testament and also I have been reading my scriptures in Spanish but it is still kind of hard to understand everything. 

I hope one day I will know what is going on but this week is not that week. 

I hope my clothes dont get ruined. They also have some spray stuff that gets you really dirty. Anwyways I don't 

really know what else. President told me to learn from The new testament and also read the book of mormon a lot 

so that is what I have been doing. Whats up at home? Love you guys

Love Elder Rogers