October 17, 2016 week 52 Vargas, La Colon

So today we were shopping at this one place, where apparently everything is stolen.  So some weird guy was trying to sell us a cell phone.  He was really sketchy and nervous looking, and I was like "Dude, calm down"  He wanted me to pay him money for this really cool sony cell phone, and then he was like how about you trade me your phone for this one, but he didn't like our phone cause it is crappy, and I'm pretty sure his phone was stolen, so we were like no way man.  Anyway crazy day!  We found a forest today, while looking for tarantulas.  Here are some pictures it was way cool, and I really want to go camping..... but I can't...

 

I don't know what kind of trees these are, but they are pretty cool.

We meet some interesting people this week, the son invited us in to talk.  He said he loves to hear about Jesus, so we were like cool.  Then his mom came in, and she was like Oh it's these people...They were nice, but I don't think we will be back there.  

We had a mini conference today, which was pretty good.   Then it rained all day Wednesday, and the power went out.  So we couldn't cook or anything.  I was thinking of making sheepherder taters for dinner too, but we are also out of garlic powder.  

Well The work is moving forward in Quito Ecuador.

Love Elder Rogers

October 10, 2016 Week 51 Vargas, La Colon

Hey Mom,
I got the package, and I will not open it till it has officially been 1 year.  Next week I guess!! Glitter everywhere mom, did you not think that one through?  It's everywhere mom...  It has been raining all week long!  We have had many appointments this week, some good, some bad... but that's how it goes here.  We will be quite busy this week.  This is a hard area I think.   We will be having district meetings and verification this week, so that will be fun.  I really need a waffle iron here, they are super expensive though.
We had a bus contact the other day.  There was 6 of us and we each took a turn standing up on the bus and saying a few things about who we are and what we are doing here.   We told people that we would love to teach them some lessons about Jesus and our church and if they see us walking around to not be afraid to talk to us.  No one has so far, but we still tried it.

We are in winter here, so it is rainy pretty much every day.  I guess I will see you guys later!! Love ya
Elder Rogers

October 3, 2016 Week 50 Vargas La Colon

Hey family, How is it going?? Everything is good here.  We have been working hard.  My companion and I are doing real well I think.  We have met some new people and we hope to get some of them to come to church soon cause that would be really great.

Well the other day we got caught in a rain storm, it was pretty bad.  I did not have my umbrella, but my companion had his.  Always be prepared.... oops... I was super soaked!

 The rain is pretty cold here.

We did some service today for a family.  We helped them move some of their furniture to a new house.  We moved all the heavy stuff.  They even had a dryer. I haven't seen one of those in a house here yet.

I saw some people slaughter some sheep the other day, very interesting.  Like in the street really. Maybe they had lamb chops for dinner.
Anyways conference was really good, we are always excited for conference here in the mission field!! I hope you guys have a good week I will talk to you next week.
Love Elder Rogers

September 26, 2016 Week 49 Vargas, La Colon

Well this week has been pretty good, filled with a lot of Spanish and English. I have to do all the talking cause the newbies don't speak too much. Well it has been good though. Training is real different than being a normal person. It's a little harder just cause you need to teach everything you know to your companion. So that is really fun. My companion already knows a whole lot so it isn't too different than what I am used to but still. Its a little different. I think everything is going really well though. We have been working really hard, my companion and I are always tired now. We have been finding some new people. All in all it's a little hard but it's fun at the same time. It's definitely the most rewarding thing I have done in a long time. We are doing really well though, we had five lessons one day this week.  It was great, how is everything else going there? It's actually been pretty cold here in the mornings like freezing cold. This computer is soooooo slow I can't get anything to upload today..... sorry MOM.... till next week!

LOVE you guys

Elder Rogers

September 19, 2016 Week 48 Vargas, La Colon

Thanks for the package MOM,  I can't believe all the stupid stuff you send me, but I like it. The twizlers taste a little weird, but maybe because they have been in there for a couple months.  My new comp is Elder Synderguard.

Training is going good, there is just a lot to teach.  We have been very busy this week.  We have meet a lot of new people, some pretty cool ones.  I'm just trying to do a good job teaching and such.....
We have had some good days, been feeling pretty good and what not...working like crazy.
I am hoping we have some people come to church next week, that would be really nice.  We saw some nice videos at district this week.  We also got a new cellphone this week. The problem with it is that I can't really hear anyone when we talk on it.
That's crazy that Drew is serving with one of my relatives, even though I don't know him.
Oh by the way I ran into a giant spider today. It was so big, seriously I don't think we could have squished it with a rock, or a boulder, you'd need a car to kill this thing.... It was massive, I hate spiders.  I do want to pet a monkey.  They have monkeys here, I just need to find one.   Anyways gotta go
Love Elder Rogers

September 12, 2016 Week 47 Vargas, La Colon

We had a pretty good week.  I was sick a few days though, it about killed me.  I haven't slept in two days.  I have been staying away from spicy foods and everything. Maybe everyone just gets sick here.  I feel like I've been sick the whole time.  The baptism was real good.  A nine year old boy in our area, his dad baptized him, so it was real good.  They are a nice family.

 I took some photos on the bus for you.

Also my satchel bag is getting holes in it, so I may want one of those for Christmas, and maybe a galaxy s7 hahaha.   Or maybe have Kollin send me a bull whip.  I did order those shoes I told you about, they should be coming soon.  Maybe all these ruined shoes just mean i've been working way too hard hahaha or they are just terrible shoes.
I'm going to be sad to see Elder Hansen go, he is from Wyoming too, I may never see anyone from Wyoming again.  We have a good time making jokes about Wyoming.
I feel like we have been working super hard in this area, but not a lot of progress is happening.  We just have to keep trying hard.  It brings to mind the story Gordon B. Hinckley tells about when he was  not having a lot of success and his dad just told him to forget himself and go to work.  So that's what we have to do.  Just talking to people, even though they sometimes try and hide from us.  I was thinking about my days at the MTC and how they really helped me get rid of a lot of my social fears there.  They just kind of throw you into it.  I'd like to go back there and maybe work there.  It's a really good place, with a lot of good feelings there.
So I guess the biggest news is that starting Wednesday, I'll be training a new missionary!  What the heck, I'm a new missionary, how can I be training?  I'm just going to have to do a really good job and help my companion a lot.  I'm a little nervous. I mean I'm excited but also nervous.  I mean it's probably gonna be the longest six weeks of his life and the shortest six weeks of mine!  He'll probably be American which means I'll be speaking spanish to all the investigators all alone, I mean I can't speak spanish I just do though but really geez..... what the heck...... maybe he was just joking, I guess we will see Wednesday. Love you guys
Love Elder Rogers

September 5, 2016 Week 46 Vargas, La Colon

Hello Family!  How was your week?  Everything is going well here.  These nice people from Peru taught us to make these really good things called Arepas.  They are super good, especially if you put meat and stuff in them.  You should figure out how to make them.  I don't think I want a job where you wear a suit everyday.  Living out of a suitcase is hard too.  There are a ton of bugs here, I keep getting bitten by stuff.  I think they just hide in the grass and wait for me.

Just been looking for people to teach, lots of stairs here.  We had a productive week, I think.  We are going to a baptism this week, we have been teaching this kid who is 9.  His family are members and I think his dad will baptize him.  So that will be good.   No pictures this week, dumb computer is too slow.  The days go by pretty fast, I don't know what else to tell you.  Gotta go talk to you later!!
Love Elder Rogers