May 29, 2017 Week 83 Quito, Manantial

Well the dogs are barking non stop as usual.. that's how you can tell its Ecuador I guess...  Still practicing the harmonica.  Rough week, a lot of people not being home and stuff.  Trouble cooking this week also, broke a bunch of eggs, kind of depressing.
I got a nice present from some kids for my bday, they gave me some candy, it was real nice of them.

Being 20 isn't really all it's cracked up to be.  It hasn't been the best week here, but things will get better.  I am sure of it.
I have come to believe the word of wisdom to be really important, I kind of wish more people would follow that.  I believe great things could happen if they would.
The shower is kind of working now.  We got it fixed, turns out it was like all the electrical was burned or something.  They also hung some old lady type stuff as doors, it reminds me of Grandma Pepsi.
Anyway sorry I have to go. Talk to you next week Love you
Love Elder Rogers

May 22, 2017 Week 82 Quito, Manantial

Happy Birthday to me!!

Well I am 20 today!!  I feel a lot wiser actually already.  I am in my early 20's so what ever advice I can give you, please try and listen.  Not right now, but maybe later.....  Thanks for the cards and such... I love my birthday cards.

We had interviews with President this week, I think they might be the last ones we have with him.  I am going to miss him, he has been a great President.  My comp and I are both feeling better finally.  It's cold here.  We got changes this week.  Elder Astin and I will be here for another three weeks.

We had some good visits this week.  Hopefully we get some Sunday attendance.  It's been a great week.  Love you guys

Love Elder Rogers

May 15, 2017 Week 81 Quito Manantial

It was great to Skype yesterday, my last Skype call... Great week this week.  Feliz Cumpleanos Kloe!! Here are some pictures for ya...

The baptism was great, very exciting and a great day.  We cleaned the church up real nice first. It was my comps first baptism, so he was a little nervous, but mostly excited.
We did a bit of service this week, more painting of course...  It was very interesting.
We did a bit of sanding first.  Some other members came and just went to town with us.  Then they used a few machetes to scrape the walls.  It was a great service project.
I thought it was going to take forever, but it was great.  I'm still feeling a bit ill.  I'll pull through, don't worry.  Our investigators are doing well, good meetings with them this week.
We found out one of our investigators is very sick, and I feel really bad for her.  She is a single mom, and she really wants her kids to learn about the church.  I hope she will be ok.
I guess I'll tell you about the shortcut sometime.  It was not what I expected.  There was a little river, lots of mud, and a bunch of people calling us gringos.... Good times.... Any way until next week.
Love Elder Rogers

May 8, 2017 Week 80 Quito, Manantial

Well once again no water!!  Whatever....  We had a great appointment with one of our investigators, he feels good about baptism on May 20,  so that is awesome.  All-in-all a good week of staying busy.  Got a new zone leader, he's a good guy.  We had an activity this week, I got eaten alive by some bugs.  Played a little soccer also.
It's definitely a great ward here in this area, full of great people.  I think we can get a lot done here actually.
Cinco de Mayo here the 5th, made some burritos that day.  I had a couple days of not feeling too well this week, just achy and tired.  It's fine though.  We purchased some stuff from our window today, I'll tell you about that later.  I don't have any pics this week, but we are skypeing in a few days anyway, so I feel it creates more excitement this way.  We also made some more arepas with the Venezuelans.  They are awesome!! Anyway no pictures, oops, maybe next time.
Love Elder Rogers

May 1, 2017 Week 79 Quito, Manantial

This is me with Elder Hernandez

Well we did a little "living by candlelight" this week, just trying to figure out if we could be pioneers. One of our members had an emergency on Tuesday.  He called us in a panic and made us rush over, turns out he needed help with an English exam he was taking.  He really got us there on that one.  We did a little teaching and trying to find people.  Status update on our clothes, we did not get it all back from the lady who washes.  Hopefully that will change, cause I would like all my clothes.   We helped the upstairs neighbors build a bed, but their materials were a little flimsy, so I hope it doesn't break!!  We should also be having a baptism later this month, we are excited about that.  I am hoping it will go well and actually happen. We also went fishing this week, not as fun as Wyoming, but still a good time. They don't use rods just nets.   I am learning to play the harmonica still, it's going well. I had to do another lesson this week, it went very well.  It was about members.  President and his wife will be leaving soon, and we will have a new mission leader.  We had a kind of surprise conference with them this week.  It was fun.  Also I ran into a family that I taught in Riobamba, they are doing really well, and it was exciting to see them. I had been wondering about them.
More weird dreams, this time about open heart surgery.  Very strange.  We did a little jogging this week.  It almost killed me, it's so high here the air is too thin.  Anyway i guess we will skip pretty soon, so I will get the info about that by next week.  Don't worry Mom I'm on it.. Planning it...
Anyway talk to you next week.
Love,
Elder Rogers

April 24, 2017 Week 78 Quito Manantial

Status update on the water.  Or rather lack of water.  Sometimes when we have water we have no electricity.  And when we have electricity we have no water, and sometimes we have neither.  I've had some kind of crazy dreams lately.  We were at a family reunion.  Everyone was there.  It was cool.
We worked really hard this week.  We saw some miracles happen.  Quite a few people came to church, so that was great.  It's very exciting when new people come to church.  Just random things.  We found a few new families to teach actually.  We also got to speak to one of the apostles this week, very cool experience.  Also divisions this week with the zone leaders.  I went with Elder Cox, I really like him a lot, he's a good guy.
I'm also practicing some hymns on the harmonica.  They are coming along.  My comp is getting eaten by bugs, but they aren't touching me.  There was a brawl in the street that we witnessed.  A couple guys not getting along too well.  Never a dull moment here.
Sorry no pictures this week.  We may go bowling next week with another district. We will see.  I guess not much else is happening. I will write more next week.
Love Elder Rogers

April 17, 2017 Week 77 Quito Manantial

Well we are currently without water.  I had to shower with 5 liters of water that I found in the house.  It has probably been stored here for about 12 years.  We are not sure why there is no water, we may launch a protest if this continues.
I gave a lesson in a big meeting this week.  I have to say I did alright.  I made it through it anyway. First week of district leader hasn't been super bad.  I do need a few lessons in what I should be doing I guess.  I'll just do my best at lifting people up and such.  Until someone tells me I am doing it wrong.  The Hermanas in our district are really hard workers, they are pretty awesome. I think they think I'm a little dumb, but that's alright.  I'll figure it out eventually.
We haven't had the opportunity to teach anyone yet.  We are just contacting people.  I'm really exited about this sector though I think it's going to be great.  I got a little sick this week for a couple days, my stomach was not my friend.  Anyway that is feeling better.  I just need to say this sector is waaaaay colder than Santo Domingo, and there are a lot of buses.  We take buses everywhere.   We did some service this week for a family who wanted to make their house bigger.  We had to move all these bricks, so we were tossing them to each other we had a system going.  It was pretty good.

This is what Easter looks like here.  They kind of do these reenactments.

I opened my Easter cards that I have been carrying around for 18 months.  Thanks Granny and Mom for those.  I love juicy fruit!  I guess when you packed these you didn't realize it would be two years before Elder Rogers opened it, I'm just saying you could have written a few more words, but I like what you wrote, so thanks everyone. Love you guys
Love Elder Rogers