"Merry Christmas!! Here's your transfer doctrine."‏

Hey Everyone!

So first off, sorry that it's been a couple weeks since I've sent out a mass email. I've been slacking :P But fear not, I bring good tidings of great joy. The past few weeks have been pretty great. The work has slowed down a bit, but we've been working hard with the members and finding ways to spread holiday cheer. Here's the lowdown:

So this Christmas (including the week leading up to it) was definitely the best of my life. There's a member in one of the wards in our district (his name is Albert. Just in case you were curious) that gathers up all the missionaries around these parts every year and we go caroling in each of the wards. That was an absolute blast. We went every night of the week leading up to Christmas, and then Christmas Eve we spent the whole day caroling to just about anyone we could. It made a lot of people really happy to have carolers haha! Its one of those things that a lot of people don't do anymore.

And then there was Christmas day. After Elder Elliott and I finished reveling in the wonderful gifts our wonderful families had sent us, we headed off to District Meeting which was as awesome as always. We, of course, talked a lot about Christmas and it really set a good tone for the rest of the day. Then we had lunch with some members of our ward, and then we went to retirement home with the rest of the district and caroled to them as well. Afterwards we had the privilege of calling our families (yes we called. We're quite old fashioned here. We don't Skype in this mission, as my mother would be the first to tell you ;) ) Then we headed to our 2 dinner appointments with some of my favorite members of the ward. So yeah. This Christmas rocked :)

The big news, though, is TRANSFERS. I am still sitting pretty here in Newbury Park. There have been a couple changes though. First and foremost, I am now not only covering the Dos Vientos ward, but they are extending my domain to cover the Conejo Canyon ward as well. Also, Elder Elliott has received news that he will be leaving and is heading to (you're never going to believe this) the SANTA MARIA 1ST WARD. NOW PRESIDENT IS JUST TEASING ME!!! Hahaha but all jokes aside I was pretty stoked when we learned that's where he's going. So prepare yourselves, SM; the Elliott is coming. In way of companions, my new comp is going to be Elder Peterson. I know nothing about him. So stay tuned :)

And that's all for now!! Have a Happy New Year everyone :) Love you all!!

Much love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

1. In the midst of reveling



2. Christmas Eve with the Koeppels

The Week of Christmas

There was no general email again this week so here are a few excerpts from the letter he sent me.


Well holy heck you got a lot of snow this week. We got rain!!! That was pretty great :D I actually got to use my umbrella!!

This week has been alright. Work wise, things are lagging pretty hard. Going into the Christmas season you've got to work carefully because you can either make or break the weeks around the holidays, and unfortunately all the factors played into our work breaking until after the new year. It is what it is. Honestly my DL is more worried about it then we are haha! We've been working hard with the members and we know the fruits of that will start to bear themselves coming up pretty soon. We've also been going caroling every night for the past few night with the rest of the missionaries here in Newbury and that's been a blast. You know me, I never turn down an opportunity to sing. I also borrowed a guitar from the Koeppels, so I've been figuring out various Christmas songs in my free time and that's made it all the better.

We also got to go to the temple this week!!!!!!! That was awesome :D The LA temple is SWEET. I was just blown away at how beautiful it was. Plus the whole Spirit aspect was pretty great, so all in all I'd say it was a pretty great experience.


1. Us and the temple (or play "Where's the Elders)



2. #modelstatus

Christmas Countdown‏

Hey everybody!

Well this week has been pretty grand! Not to much to report, but there were a few exciting things that happened this week. Here's the report:

As for me, I'm doing pretty good! DV is starting to struggle a little bit though :P We talked to the fellowships of two of our investigators and they said they are no longer interested, so we had to drop them, and unfortunately the only other family that we're teaching probably won't be able to meet until after the New Year. We have a few recent converts and less actives that we're still working with, but I would be lying if I said that I wasn't a little stressed about the whole thing. But hey, it's part of the job :) We are keeping ourselves really busy working with the ward members though. The Savior is Born initiative is really taking off, and we've given close to 140 or so pass along cards away to members to give to their neighbors, friends, etc. They're all very excited about it, and we're making plans on follow up visits with all of them to see how it went for them. We're making a list, we'll be checking it twice, and we'll be finding out who's been naughty or nice. (Sorry I really couldn't resist) We're hoping that its going to spark something in the ward, and visiting that many members and asking about them talking with their friends is bound to turn into something. We'll just have to press forward for the next couple weeks. This week shouldn't be to bad though. We've got a lot going on. We have a Zone Conference tomorrow, which is going to be pretty great. There'll be a talent show during that, and President and Sister Felix asked me to MC. To say that I'm excited does not accurately describe my emotions :D I'll also be performing a duet with another missionary in my district so that's gonna rock. Then on Wednesday we have an exchange so that'll be pretty great, and on Thursday we get to go the temple!!!!! :D Again, excitement beyond words. Overall we're going to be pretty busy this week, so I really can't complain. The Lord definitely provides :)

In other news, you should've seen the Stake Christmas Party this last Saturday. I wish I had pictures. It was phenomenal. Basically, they transformed the entire gym into Bethlehem. They had people in the stake who work in entertainment make costumes and sets and the like, plus they had a live nativity with awesome music. And the whole thing was catered by a guy that is from Bethlehem, and the food was BOMB. When Newbury does a party, they do it right.

And unfortunately I'm out of time, but I hope you all have a great week! Have a Merry Christmas, and remember the true spirit of the season :) Love you all!

Much love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

1. My Kingdom



2. DV!!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!‏

Hey everybody!

I can't believe its December again. I swear it was just here. Where is my mission going???? O.o Sorry I'm just having a bit of a nervous breakdown...anyhow the lights are up, the trees decorated, and its a frigid 75 degrees. We have it really rough here in Cali :)

Anywho here's the run down of the week. This week was pretty good for us. Not quite as good as I had been hoping :P Our investigators are being really difficult. We FINALLY met all of them, but we still have yet to meet WITH them. Tis the season, but it's still a bit frustrating. Christmas can make or break an investigator, and I don't want to have to put three teaching records into the "Former Investigators" section to start of the new year. However, all of them did say that they would be available this next week so hopefully we'll be able to get something set with them. Other than that not to much goes on. The Koeppels are still doing great! We had the baptism last week, and that was great. The Spirit was there, the boys were happy, and their mom was crying. All that you could ask for :) The transition is kinda hitting the boys a little hard though. This is really the first time in their lives that they've regularly had to attend 3 hours of church and be required to sit still for that amount of time, and neither of them are exactly low energy so its a little bit of a struggle. We're hoping to help them with that though so hopefully things start smoothing out. Lemuel is also doing great. I mentioned Lem, right? He's this super awesome 60 year old (though he looks and acts like he's 35) black guy who joined just before we got here. He's got an awesome story. Anyhow, he's working towards getting ordained a Priest and we're helping him get there. Overall life is good here in DV!

In closing, I want to include a link to the new Christmas initiative the Church just put out last week. It'l called "A Savior is Born." Here's the link: https://www.mormon.org/christmas Click it, watch it, share it, and Discover Why! Remember the true meaning of Christmas this year. "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." I know that Jesus Christ fulfilled his mission that He came to do here on this earth, and I'm so privileged to be able to be one of His chosen representatives sharing the message of His birth and His life. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I have the greatest job ever :)

I hope that you all have a great week! Know that I love all of you and I appreciate all that you do!

Much Love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof


1. Found a tree with a giant hole? Guess what my first natural instinct was to do.



2.The District

Week of November 30th

He didn't have time to do a general e-mail this week, so here are some excerpts from the e-mail he sent his Mom.

Ours (Thanksgiving) wasn't to shabby :) We actually got fed TWICE, so there's not much room to complain. We went over to a newly reactivated family later that evening and they fed us some leftovers and pie. We definitely didn't go hungry. Actually that hasn't been a problem the whole time I've been in this ward. If Dos Vientos is good at anything (and this ward is phenomenal so they're good at a lot of things) its feeding the missionaries. We've had a DA every night since I got here, plus they send us home with leftovers almost every night. We hardly have to buy food haha :)

Other than that things are going pretty good. We haven't been able to have sit down lesson with any of our investigators yet. Granted its been Thanksgiving week, but I'm a little concerned about that. Hopefully I'm worrying about nothing and we'll be able to see them this week. If not, the worst that happens is we have to drop them and start from the bottom up, and I don't think that would be to bad in this ward. They're REALLY on top of things, and with Christmas coming around it should make things easier. Also we had a baptism this week!!!! WOOOOOOHOOOOO! Another 10 year old that was brought in by his parents getting reactivated. But that was pretty exciting :)

That's about all I've got! Hope you all have a great week :) And thank you for all the support that you send. Material and otherwise :) Love you!

Love,
Brennan

ps pic from the baptism and 15 foot Rudolph. Pretty much the highlights of the week hahaha :)

Living That SoCal Kinda Life With a Thankful Heart‏

Hey Everyone!

Well this week has been pretty eventful to say the very least. Whitewashing is an adventure and a half, and its really a miracle that I have any form of an idea of what's going on. Stay tuned and I'll give you a quick synopsis of the week.

So first and foremost, let me give you an idea of where I'm at. So Dos Vientos is the suburb of Newbury Park, which is a suburb of Thousand Oaks, which is a suburb of LA. I know, suburb-ception. Pretty needless to say, this area is high end. But that's not as bad as I though it would be! A lot of areas in this part of the mission really struggle work wise, but this area seems to be an exception. They've had 2 baptisms already this year (which is a lot for Newbury. One area hasn't seen a baptism in almost 3 years), and we have another planned for this Saturday!! Woooohoooo!! It's this really awesome family who just got reactivated in the past few months and their 9 and 8 year old sons are getting baptized. Their name is the Koeppells, and we were able to meet with them for the first time last night and I'm really excited to work with them more. Every area I've had I always seem to find that one nerdy family that I relate to really well, and for here that's them. But they're not the only awesome ones here. The members here are on fire. They're all excited about missionary work and are looking for ways to help us in any way that they can, so we're really hoping to capitalize on that. We are also the first Elders that this ward has seen in over 3 years. Could be longer, it depends on who you ask, but 3 seems to be the general consensus :) There is actually one kid in the ward that didn't know that there were "boy missionaries" and was pretty awestruck when he saw us haha! So yeah, so far, I'm liking it here :) I've been very blessed to have worked in amazing wards my whole mission, and Dos Vientos is no exception.

As for my comp, Elder Elliott is also pretty cool. He's from Kansas, and he's been out for about 4 months now. He's spent the entirety of those 4 months in Santa Barbara, and he's pretty excited to work in a new area. He went to a year of college before the mission, and his interests include uni-cycling, sewing, and making some pretty bomb omelets. Needles to say, we're getting along just fine:)

Now this week, we celebrate Thanksgiving, which has always been one of my favorite holidays. But until this year it hasn't really been for the right reasons. I can honestly tell you that the main reason I've love thanksgiving for the past 18 years has been for the food. I mean come on, who doesn't like stuffing their face with copious quantities of carbohydrates and poultry?? And I'm being entirely honest here. But all that aside, I've had a very bad habit of being ungrateful for a good majority of my life. Luckily I recognized that pretty early on in my mission, so for the past 6 months or so I've really been trying to cultivate and "attitude of gratitude." And, yes, I know how cliche that sounds, but bear with me. I received some council at one point in my life that if I focused on what I had, not what I didn't, and I devoted my time to serving the Lord, I would never want for anything. At first I thought that meant that I would be so abundantly blessed by the Lord that I couldn't possibly want for anything. But now I've come to realize that, as I do those things, I realize how abundantly the Lord has already blessed me and I can't want for anything. I encourage all of you to do the same :)

That's all for this week! I hope all of you have a very happy thanksgiving!! I love you all, and I'm very grateful for all of you :)

Love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

He didn't send a picture, but I got this on Thanksgiving.

Transfers (Week of 11/16)

Hello everyone!!

Well to be honest this week was fairly uneventful, but it was good nonetheless! Let me fill you in:

1.) Kyle is doing great! We were actually super impressed with him this week. We had some great lessons with him, and he's really progressing. He loves the Book of Mormon and has been reading it daily. But, we think, most impressive is that he came to church yesterday after having been in the ER this Saturday. He's pretty dedicated.

2.) The biggest thing that happened this week was transfer news. Unfortunately, I'm going to be leaving Atascadero :( Can't say that we didn't see this coming though. They're sending me down to the Dos Vientos Ward in the Newbury Park Stake, and I'm actually going to be bluewashing in. For those of you who don't know what that means, my companion and I are going to be replacing Sisters in that area. My new comp will be Elder Elliot. They're also going to be pinkwashing (Sisters replacing Elders) Atown 1st and just have the Sisters in the ward just north of us take over this ward's work. I'm definitely sad to be leaving. This ward has become my favorite of my mission. But I am excited for the new adventurew waiting for me down south!

That's all for this week! Sorry that this email is so short this week :P I'll definitely make up for it next week haha! I'll have plenty to talk about then :) I love you all! Have an awesome week!

Much love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

1.The District


2. Final selfie with Shannon, Eric, and Jaden!


3. Meet Kyle!

Old Books and Dry Mormons (Week of 11/9)

Hello everyone!!

Well this week has been pretty interesting. First off, California very suddenly decided that it's time for fall and it hasn't broken 73 degrees this whole week. It's been really nice considering that I've been living in temperatures that almost constantly border 100 degrees for the past 6 months :) Definitely can't complain!!

Well first and foremost, we had probably the coolest service project ever this last Wednesday. We got in contact with Lois Eckland again (for those of you that remember her from a couple weeks ago), and she invited us over to help her organized some "old stuff" that she had. We went over, and she led us into her garage that was half filled with boxes on boxes of old books. Her husband was a big collector back in the day, and books were his favorite. We then spent the next 3 hours taking pictures of these books so she could post them online and sell them. It was AWESOME. There were some really awesome books in there, including a copy of Treasure Island that was printed in 1912; a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin from 1896; and an old arithmetic reader from 1856. Afterwards, her husband told us to go through and to pick out a couple favorites to take home. Elder Crook took the Treasure Island, and I took a couple Mark Twain classics. Again, one of the coolest service projects EVER.

Work wise things are slowing down just a bit here in Atascadero, but the work is still going well! We just finished doing 100% accountability on the ward list (going through and contacting everyone whose records are in our ward), but that was our main source of finding so we're currently brainstorming what our next move should be. Kyle is doing fantastic though!! We had an awesome meeting with him on Saturday where we talked about the Book of Mormon, the importance of receiving a testimony of it, as well as how to recognize the Spirit. He also came to Church, was actively participating in Sunday School and Priesthood, and at the end one of the members came up and asked if he was a member that had just moved into the area. He was very surprised to learn that he was investigating. Needless to say, Kyle's on fire :) He's a really great guy that is feeling the joy that comes from gospel living and its going to take him far.

And that's about all the excitement from this week! Just a heads up to all of you that transfers are going to be this next Tuesday! I've got a sneaking feeling that this is going to be my last week here in Atown.

Have a great week!! Thank you for all of your prayers. They help more than you know :)

Much love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

Halloween‏

Hey everybody!

First off, where in the world has this year gone? There is no way that it can be November already. I could've sworn that January was just a couple months ago. Honestly, this mission thing goes by WAY to fast. I remember thinking at the beginning of my mission that this would take forever. Then I blinked. So, in the way of mission advice, don't blink. Blink and your dead. (Sorry but I really couldn't resist)

Aside from my raging mission-mid-life crisis, this week has been pretty great! Not nearly as eventful as last week, but we still say some great things happen. First of all, we've started teaching Kyle. For those of you who don't remember, Kyle is Shannon's nonmember boyfriend who came to Eric's baptism. He's had a bit of a rough past, but he's cleaned himself up over the past couple of years and he's been on a search for God. He believes that He's there, but he hasn't been able to find a church that he's liked yet. So he tagged along to Eric's first recent convert lesson, and we ended up having a stellar discussion on the Restoration. He really loved the concept of the apostasy, and kept talking about how much sense it makes. He also readily accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon, saying that he's been wanting to read it for some time now. We also asked him if he would be baptized if he received an answer, and he gave us this weird look and just said,"...well duh?" Probably my favorite answer to that question so far. Anyhow, we committed him to read, pray, and come to church. Needless to say, we're excited to see where the Lord takes him.

Halloween was also pretty fun. This was my first one in the field (last year I celebrated in the MTC), so I was curious to see what it was like to be a missionary on Halloween. Sadly, we didn't get any compliments on our costumes, but we did get a lot of candy so it was a win for us. We were also the honorary judges at the trunk-or-treat, so we had the privilege of destroying childhood dreams. Always a good experience :)

We also said our goodbyes to Christina this week. She headed up to Oregon this last Friday, and we were sad to see her go :( It's been a privilege to have helped her as long as we have. She's a great woman, and we're excited to see where she goes. At the very least, we found a good friend in her :) Also, she appointed us guardians over her sons beta fish until we can find him a good owner. His name is Teancum.

That's all for this week! Hope you guys have a great one :) Remember to pray for your missionaries and always tip your waiter. Love you all!

Much love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

2. Teancum



1. Us, Christina, and Myles.

Jacob 5, Dunk #4, and the Crest of the Hill

Hey everyone!

This week was a very full week to say the least. We had a LOT of awesome things happen. So sit back, buckle up, and I'll fill you in on the latest from the GREAT California Ventura Mission.

First and foremost, ERIC GOT BAPTIZED!!!! :D Can't complain about that! It was a really great service. He was super excited, the Spirit was strong, and we had an awesome turn out! There were over 40 people there, most of them families with kids from our ward that came to support Eric and his mom. We really couldn't have asked for more. He couldn't stop talking about how happy he was after his baptism, and after his confirmation he was obsessing over how "tingly" and happy he felt. Needless to say, we were pretty tingly and happy ourselves. On top of that, Shannon (his mom) invited her non-member boyfriend, Kyle, to come. He very readily introduced himself to us, and he really enjoyed the service. I kept him in the corner of my eye, and it really seemed like the Spirit touched him. We also gave him a tour of the building, answered some questions that he had, and he agreed to join us at our next lesson with Shannon and Eric! That made it all just that much better.

We also got to help out with what has become my favorite service project of my mission. An older couple in our ward has an olive orchard on their property, and they needed some help with an emergency harvest. While they were gone for the weekend, a swarm of fruit flies took a liking to their trees, and they needed as much help as possible salvaging what they could. So we called in the rest of the district, suited up, and played Jacob 5 for the better part of the afternoon.

This week has also been another testimony to me that the Lord will always provide. I've been really concerned over the past few weeks about our teaching pool. It had gone a bit stagnant, and the people that we were teaching consistently were either getting baptized, moving, or weren't really progressing. But this week, we've seen success in finding for the first time in over a month. Like I already mentioned, Kyle agreed to start meeting with us. We also came into contact with a woman named Lois. She was a referral from a member of the high council, and we scheduled a service appointment with her for this last Wednesday. After service, she fed us lunch and we talked religion for over and hour. She shares a lot of our beliefs, and Elder Crook and I haven't been able to figure out how she isn't already a member of the Church. She's also invited us back. And those are just 2 examples! We have a few other very promising potentials that we're working on. It is yet another lesson to me that I need to just have faith and trust in the Lord, because He has total control over the situation. He knows what He's doing, and His work is moving forward as He needs it to.

Also, this week I passed a major milestone. This last Thursday marked one year since I left everything behind and dedicated myself to serving the Lord. To say that this last year has been hard would be an understatement, but failing to mention the countless blessings me and my family have received; the lifelong friends that I've made; and the amazing journey that I've had would be an injustice. This really has been the greatest year of my life. I'm so incredibly grateful to my Heavenly Father for the opportunity that I've had to serve Him and those of His children here in California. I can't begin to express how much I've grown, and how grateful I am that He has made me clay in His Hand, and the wonderful care that He's taken as He continues to mold me into the servant He needs me to be. My testimony has grown to the point that I can testify that I do know that this is His Church. I know the Book of Mormon is true, and I know Joseph Smith was a prophet. I know that Christ lives, I know that the Father lives, and I know that they have again restored the Father's divine Plan to the earth, and I know that by following that Plan we can find the greatest happiness in this life and in the life to come. It is my privilege to go out everyday as one of His appointed servants to share this message with all I come into contact with, and I look forward to this next year I have to do so. I love being a missionary.

I hope that you all have a fantastic week! I love you all :)

Love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

1. Harvesting with all our heart, might, mind, and strength.



2. Us with Eric and Brother Gouff!

"Thy Will Be Done"

Hello Everyone!

First off, I'm happy to report that it finally seems like we're done with the arid, Atascadero summer heat. The past few days have been GORGEOUS. 65-70 degrees everyday. It feels like I'm back in Ventura haha! But I'm doing great! We had a pretty great week :)

The events of this week have been pretty crazy. We've spent a lot of time hustling around trying to prepare for this Saturday! Eric is all but there, now. We finished the lessons, got his interview done, and he came to church for his 3rd time so he's all set and ready to get dunked! I couldn't be more excited for him. He's like the little brother that I've never had (whom my parents can attest that I campaigned for vigorously). He reminds me a lot of myself when I was his age. But it's been super cool to see him cling to the gospel and to his Savior. He's soaked up every word that we've taught him, and the solid foundation on which he now stands has changed him dramatically. He's so much more confident in himself, and more optimistic. I am truly blessed to have been put here in Atascadero at a time that he was prepared and ready to receive the gospel.

As for Christina, we have an update: she will not be getting baptized on Saturday, and because she is moving the following Friday she will have to wait so she can be baptized in Oregon. It was a very interesting series of events that led to this, though. First off, the Lord spent a lot of time humbling me this week, which I'll get into in a moment. But for a couple weeks now I've had the nagging feeling that we should just refer Christina up to Oregon and have her baptized there. I always pushed them off, thinking that was ridiculous because she seems ready; President told us to baptize her before she moves; and a number of other reasons. Anyhow, yesterday we were unable to get ahold of Christina before chruch to arrange a ride. We did so anyway and just sent her a message with the details, but when they went by to pick her up there was no answer. She needed to come this week to qualify for baptism, so any plans for that immediately fell through. We went by after church, and she was home and welcomed us in. As it turns out, she was asleep until about 2 pm. She hadn't been able to fall asleep until about 4 am, but her phone had an alarm set so she wasn't to concerned. Well her phone mysteriously turned off in the middle of the night. She still doesn't know how. What I've taken away from all of this is that, even when we aren't humble enough to accept the Lord's council, His will is brought to pass one way or another.

This was a really humbling experience for me, and kind of the cherry on top of a week of humbling experiences. Humility is a tricky thing. Pride is the downfall of every man, and its something that I've learned I can't recognize in myself. But thanks to the loving council of my wonderful mission president and a few promptings that I had myself, I have realized just how proud I have permitted myself to become over the last while. But through the power of the Atonement we can overcome anything, and I can testify that I've seen that power in my life this week. It wasn't easy, and it wasn't painless, but so far its been worth it. He placed those experiences throughout my week so that I would be prepared to accept His will concerning Christina. I'd be lying if I said I'm not a little disappointed, but it feels right. I can tell you with full confidence that this time last week, I wouldn't have the humility to kneel down and say "Thy will be done." I would have much preferred MY will.

Have a wonderful week everyone! Thank you for all of you prayers :) Love ya!

Much love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

In honor of his "Hump" Day this week. Here's a throwback

Week of October 12

Hey everyone!

Well this week was pretty fantastic! We're continuing to see a lot of success :) The Lord really has been to kind to us. Let me fill you in on the latest from this week:

First and foremost, we were able to touch base with Christina! Thank you so much to those of you who kept her in your prayers :) Anyhow, we decided to stop by on our way to an appointment, and she answered and told us to come by right after our lesson! We rushed over after we finished up with one of our other investigators, and we were able to sit down and have a good talk with her. She gave us some good news and some bad news. Bad news: since she hasn't been able to find any new housing here in the area, she's being forced to move in with her mom up in Albany, Oregon on the 30th :P Good news: she still wants to get baptized! So we called President Felix and asked him what he thought we should do, and he agreed with us that it would be best to baptize her before she moves. So we rescheduled her date for the 24th! That's also the same day that we have Eric scheduled to get baptized, so not only are we having 2 baptisms this transfer, we're having 2 baptisms on the same day! We're super stoked to say the least.

Eric is also doing fantastic. He's very ready and very excited to get baptized. It's been really cool to see the transformation in both him and Christina. He has had a bit of an unstable life so far, and seeing him cling to the Gospel and start the foundation of a solid testimony of Christ has been awesome. He just soaks up everything we teach him, and you can just see it in his eyes the difference that it has made for him. Its been cool to see his mom come back to it as well. Its really giving her hope and strength to keep pressing forward regardless. But this is not to mention the world of a difference I've seen in Christina since I first met her. She is living proof of the hope that Christ brings. She called us when she was in the pit of despair, and now she somehow has strength to continue on. Seeing all of them change their lives for the better has made my job all the more fulfilling. I love being a missionary :)

That's about all for this week! I'll keep ya'll filled in on the excitement as it comes :) Hope you all have a blessed week!

Love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

Ps Pics will follow shortly...

1. Me and Eric! I love this kid.



2. #memberdinnerfast2015 #poutine



3. Atown City Hall. Ain't it majestic?

Week of October 5

Hello Everyone!

Well we had a lot of great stuff happen this week, and then some not so great stuff, but the great stuff made up for the not so great stuff! I'm a little short on time today, so I'll just shoot you the highlights of this week:

1. Eric is scheduled to be baptized on October 24th!!!!! We had some great meetings with him and his mom, and he is SUPER excited to get baptized. He's a really great kid. He's had a bit of a rough life so far, and he needs something that stable and unchanging. What better than the gospel of Jesus Christ to fill that? He just soaks up everything that we teach him, and he absolutely loves the Book of Mormon. We're both very excited for him and his family.

2. We're a little concerned for Christina right now. She's out of the hospital, but we haven't been able to meet with her since then. Ever since she got out she's been so tired that she's spending almost all of her time asleep. We've had a couple appointments set with her, but by the time we show up there's no answer because she's fallen asleep. If you all could keep her in your prayers, that would be much appreciated. She is very prepared for the gospel, but we're just a little worried.

3. CONFERENCE!!!! I really love general conference. Have I mentioned that before? How awesome is it that we just had an opportunity to listen to the Lord's chosen prophets??? That's pretty sweet! Not only that, but we got to see 3 more called to the work!! That's pretty great :) I'm not sure I could pick just one talk as my favorite, but all of them had a t least one line that seemed like it was just for me. I hope all of you had a great experience as well!

By way of transfers, both me and Elder Crook will be camping out here in Atown 1st for another 6 weeks! So stay tuned for all the awesomeness that we're looking forward to this month. Have a great week!!

Much love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

Photo Cred Elder Weiss and Fam

Miraculous Weekend and Spiritual Backhoes‏

Hello!

Well you know you've had a great transfer when you're idea of a bad week is still a really great week! This week wasn't as great as the others have been, but we still had a lot of really great experiences this week :)

On Tuesday we got to drive all the way down to Oxnard for a trainers/trainee meeting. This was the first time that they decided to do this, and it was really great. We had a lot of great discussion, and the trainers got further training on how to help their trainees as they train. (Boy that sentence was like Grand Central Station. So many trains. (*buh dum dum tss*) ( Sorry I really couldn't resist.) The trip took up basically the entire day, but hey road trips are always a blast :)

Christina also was released from the hospital this Saturday! She's feeling a lot better, and they are planning on putting another power port in, but not until AFTER she gets baptized. I love how the Lord works :) We talked more about baptism and went over some of the interview questions, and it amazed me how ready she is. As we talked about it, she bore a simple but powerful testimony of Joseph Smith and her Savior, and she told us that the Church has helped to fill a void that she's had her whole life. That was a pretty amazing experience :) She was planning on coming to church as well, but she's been in the hospital so long that she thought yesterday was Saturday haha! She felt bad, but she's definitely planning on coming next week!

Also, one of our LA/PM families came to church yesterday!!! Shannon and her son Eric and daughter Jaden came to our ward for the first time, and they loved it. I was so excited about the ward's outreach to them, and the family that had us over for dinner also invited them, and we had a great lesson on the Plan of Salvation with them all. They had a wonderful experience yesterday, and Shannon is now talking about setting a date for Eric to get baptized!! That has made my week.

Now for the funny story/spiritual thought of the week. So last Wednesday, while we were at Barber Dan's (a member) getting Elder Crook's haircut, we got a call from the 2nd ward Elders. Long story short, they slid into a ditch while trying to do a U-turn and were stuck. So we went and picked them up and brought them back to talk to Barber Dan about what we should do. While we were talking about it, a construction worker walked in and overheard our predicament. He freely offered to help and asked where the car was. We told him, and he went out, hopped in his backhoe, and followed us over there. He hooked up a chain to the car, and hauled it right out no problem, no harm done. It was awesome, and there's a lot we can learn from this story. First, don't judge. That really rough looking construction worker named Tiger could be one of the most charitable guys you've ever met. We've also drawn a gospel analogy between the whole situation because we're missionaries: when we commit sin, we spiritually get stuck in a ditch. We can't move forward. We've halted our progression. But Christ can provide a "spritual backhoe" for us and haul us out as long as we're willing to accept His help.

I hope you all have a wonderful week! As a reminder, transfers have come around once again so be conscientious of that. However I don't think I'll be out of Atown quite yet. But I'll let you know what the verdict is next week! I love you all!

Much love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

1.The backhoe!



2. Elder 'Murica



3. Greetings from the A-Town Elders

A Blast from the Past‏

Hey everyone!

Well this has been a really interesting week! A lot of exciting shenanigans went down, so I'll give ya'll the spiel:

We had a lot of really great lessons this week. Christina is still in the hospital, but we've been visiting her when we can. She's not doing quite as well as she was, but she's hoping and praying that she'll be out by this Sunday so that she can come to church. But she's had a lot of time to get some good reading done, so that's good ;) We also had some great lessons with a LA named Shannon and her 10 year old son, Eric. She's really wanting to get back into church, and he's as sharp as a tack. We talked with them about the Restoration and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and they both just soaked it all in. We're hoping to be able to get a baptismal date set this week, and if so we'll probably have 2 baptisms next transfer! That would be awesome :D

The weird moment of this week happened on Wednesday at Zone Conference. The conference itself was nice, but it was held at the Santa Maria Stake Center, which, for those of you who may not know, was the building I was raised and baptized in. That was kinda weird. It brought back a lot of fun memories and made me feel like I was 12 again, which isn't necessarily a good thing but it was fun anyway. The greatest part of all of this was that President Felix gave me permission to visit with my grandparents while I was in town. That was a really awesome experience :) They were so excited, and so was I haha! Plus my aunt was there helping them, so that just made it all the better. We were able to talk for awhile and we had a small dinner in the cafeteria of the complex they live in. Anyhow, its not something that many missionaries get to do and I'm really grateful for the experience :)

As for the spiritual thought for this week, I just wanted to talk about a big testimony building experience that I had this Saturday.So we had an exchange with our Zone Leaders, and I spent the day with Elder King in San Louis Obispo. It was a very interesting day to say the least. SLO is a college town, and this whole last week was their "week of welcome" which, essentially, is a week long party to welcome the incoming freshman. Almost the entire day was spent witnessing people my age make absolutely horrible decisions, and the saddest part of it all was that I could tell they were earnestly seeking some sort of fulfillment and freedom. But they were looking in all the wrong places. It made me incredibly grateful for the knowledge I have of who I truly am, where I came from, and what my potential is. We take for granted sometimes the knowledge that we have and the power that it gives us. Those who don't have it can and often do waste parts of their life trying to find that power, but they are "kept from the truth because they know not where to find it." (Doctrine and Covenants 123:12) It's given me a renewed sense of duty and love to spread the gospel to those of my brothers and sisters who are lost, and I encourage all of you to seek after them as well. Often times all that stands between them and exaltation is an invitation to accept the truth.

I hope you all have a marvelous week! Keep on keeping on everyone :)

Love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

1.1250



2. Me and two of my favorite people :)

Blessings in Disguise

Hello everyone!

Well this has been another very successful week! The Lord has been more than generous to us as we've gone about doing His work. We're seeing a lot of miracles, which is one of my favorite perks of being a missionary :) So here's low down from this week:

First and foremost, Christina is in the hospital. She's had a fever of at least 101 for the past week, so she went in to get some help. But fear not, my friends, because this whole thing has actually been a multitude of blessings in disguise:
1. We've been able to get several members of the ward involved in helping her out. Someone gave her a ride, and there have been a few that have gone to see her and talk with her.
2. The doctors identified that the source of the infection was her port, the same port that was going to make baptism tricky. So to stop the infection, the performed an emergency operation and removed it. Now, she's feeling a million times better and her baptism will be a million times easier. So that's pretty awesome :)

Also exciting is that Cassidy is now planning on getting baptized! If you don't remember Cassidy, she is the granddaughter of a member that I found about a month and a half ago. She's known the missionaries for a while, but Elder Walker and I started teaching her. She has been so incredibly prepared, but unfortunately we had to refer her to the YSA Elders because she's 22. However, we've still been a part of the teaching process because the YSA Elders mainly work in San Louis Obisbo and don't make it up here to Atascadero very often. So we go over stuff she has trouble understanding or has questions about, and they'll take the lead in teaching her the actual discussions. Anyhow, we were doing a church tour with her and her Grandma (the member) and we were showing her a picture of Alma baptizing at the waters of Mormon. As we were talking a little bit about it, she just smiled and said, "I actually agreed to get baptized in October, yesterday." Her grandma just about passed out, she was so excited. We're really excited for her to,and now I'm praying that I don't get transferred so I can be here for it!

And that's really about all the exciting highlights of the week! For the spiritual thought, I just want to leave you with a quick quote by President Monson: "The future is only as bright as your faith." I hope you all have a bright week! Love ya!

Much love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

Miraculous Happenings in a Hastening Work‏

Well hello everyone!

I have to start off by saying that I know that this is the Lord's work. This week would be to good to be true if it wasn't haha! This week was just one miracle after another, and Elder Crook and I have been running around like mad men trying to keep up with all of it. Here's the low down for the week.

We had an AWESOME lesson with the Gentry's last Monday. We sat down and started talking to them, asking them how their week had been all that good stuff. We talked for a bit and I started trying to think how we could transition it into the lesson, but no sooner had I thought that did Sam, the wife, ask, "So what's the first thing you teach people when you meet with them?" We, of course, were happy to tell her. We then launched into an amazing discussion about the Restoration, and we managed to answer some pretty searching questions from the both of them. By the end of it, Sam kept saying over and over, "You guys have finally helped me to see the need for modern day prophets." Her husband, Chad, who had at first been a little hesitant to talk to us, had also warmed up to us by the end and they both readily accepted another appointment for later today!

Christina has also taken a big step! She's agreed to be baptized on October 17th!!! WOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!! :D We talked with her and she has really enjoyed church each time she's come, and she also feels that she's beginning to receive her answer on the Book of Mormon! I'm very excited for her to say the least :)

But hold on ladies and gents, that's not all. We've also started working with 3 different LA/PM families in the ward that want to start coming back and have their children baptized, as well as working to reactivate a few LA. We've also picked up a former investigator that is really looking to change his life, and we're working on picking up another. I've honestly been blown away by everything that's happened this week. I was very nervous about dropping some of our investigators, but the Lord has provided for us in ways that I didn't think possible :)

For the thought this week, I want to share a couple of quotes. The first comes from CS Lewis: "If you are looking for a comfortable religion, I certainly wouldn't recommend Christianity." The second is something that has stuck with me since the MTC: "There is rarely growth in a comfort zone, and there is rarely comfort in a growth zone." As disciples of Jesus Christ, we should not be "getting comfortable." I think Nephi said it best when he said, "Therefore, wo unto him that is at ease in Zion!" We should be constantly striving to magnify our calling and to do all that we can to further the progress of the work.

I hope that all of you are well!! Thanks for all that you do! Have a marvelous week!

Much love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

1. Surprise from an old friend and old Elder!



2. Greenie dinner!



3. Selfie with some of the greatest kids on the planet.

Diet Truth

Hello everyone!

This week has been absolutely awesome! Its been hotter than heck, but we've been hitting it hard and I've got a lot to cover, so here goes:

Well Elder Walker is no longer with us. He has passed on to the other side, but he died honorably and went out in a fiery blaze of spiritual passion. It was majestic. Then out of the ashes, a little green at gills, rose my new companion! His name is Elder Crook, and he hails from Lyman, Wyoming which is a little town in the middle of nowhere, and he has a wit so sharp I'm surprised that he hasn't cut himself yet. It's definitely an honor to bring this fine young Elder into the mission, and after what I've seen this week I'm a very proud father :)

Work wise, things have started to explode! We unfortunately have had to drop a couple of our investigators, but we've also received some very good leads! One of them is the Gentry family, long time friends of the Cruzen's, some members of our ward. They asked us to go by, and we were welcomed with open arms. We have an appointment set with them for tonight, so hopefully that goes well!

Christina also came to church for the second time this week!! She was a little apprehensive after her first visit, but yesterday was a really good experience for her. She got to know some more members and really felt a part of everything. Needless to say, I'm a bit relieved. Even greater news, she texted us last night asking about getting baptized!!!! :D.....with the added request of possibly not doing it by complete immersion because of her health. That's the first time I've gotten that request on my mission haha! But hey! Now we know what to go over with her in our next lesson :) Plus that's a HUGE step forward for her.

I need to be a lot better about spiritual thoughts, so for this week I'm going to include a quote by Sister Mitchell, our WML's wife, from gospel principles yesterday: "Once you taste the truth and really embrace it, everything else just becomes diet truth. You don't want Diet Jesus." First of all, I thought this was hilarious. But more importantly, I love the principle behind it. What we have is the most beautiful thing in existence. Like Alma, it is "delicious to me." (Alma 32:28) And that's why I'm out here. To show everyone the beautiful taste that is the fullness of the gospel and help them to experience it for themselves.

That's all for now! I hope that you all have a blessed week.

Much love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

1. My little portion of the vineyard.



2. My boy!!

Papa Rosenlof :D‏

Hello everyone!!

Well this week has been pretty great! We saw a lot of awesome things happen, but first I want to report on the verdict for transfers! The votes are in, and........I'm staying!!!!! Surprise surprise, haha :) As for my companion, I've been assigned to train this transfer!! That's right, I'M GONNA BE A DADDY :D :D :D In case you couldn't tell, I'm just a little bit excited. I've wanted to train since pretty much day 1 of my mission, so this is pretty much a dream come true. I won't learn his name or any other information until I meet him tomorrow, but I'll let ya'll know that next week.

That was pretty much the highlight of my week, but we did have some other exciting stuff happen this week. We've started teaching Christina's son, Myles, which I'm very excited about. He's kind of a wandering soul, but he joined in with us this last week and agreed to meet with us when we come over to teach his mom.

Well to be honest that's about all that happened this week haha! I'll have a lot more to talk about next week, though, so be excited for all of that. But until then, I hope that you all have a marvelous week. Love you guys!

Love,
Elder Brennan Rosenlof

Wrapping up the Transfer‏

Hey guys!!

Well this has been a great week! We've had a lots of exciting adventures this week, but I'm running low on time so I'll give you the greatest hits of the week:

1. Christina came to church yesterday!!!! WOOOHOOOO!!! She's wanted to come the past couple weeks, but it's been hard with her health problems and all. But this week everything lined up perfectly and she was able to make it! She was super nervous but I think she really enjoyed it! We have an appointment with her this Wednesday so we'll be able to ask her then!

2. We also finished up our exchanges for this transfer!!! (FINALLY) The first was with Elder Hatman, who, for those of you that recognize the name, was my MTC companion. That was super fun. We had a great time and got a lot of awesome things done. We also went with the ZL's, and I stayed here in Atown with Elder King who is just awesome. He and I were cut off of the same block so we had a blast.

3. And last but not least, my favorite find of the week: The Thompson family. So they are a less active part member family. He's the member, she is was raised Catholic but now has an issue with religion in general. Anyhow, we went and visited them and they welcomed us in with open arms and a bunch of food. (Always a good combo) But we had a great talk with them, and they are super prepared. I'll keep ya'll updated on them :)

And that's all for now! Just a reminder that transfers are coming up this week, but I'm pretty sure that I'm staying. Regardless, I'll let you guys know what the verdict is next email! I love you all! Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

1. Awesome shirt from my awesome mom!

The Cali (Missionary) Life‏

Hello everyone!

Well things are as great as always here in the Great California Ventura mission, and things are even better in Atascadero! This place is really awesome. I honestly just love it in the northern part of the mission. It's still technically SoCal, but it's more of the transition from SoCal to NorCal, and I love northern California. Plus, the people here are always so courteous and friendly :D

Anywho, I'm still loving it here in Atascadero. Things have slowed down just a little bit, but we're still hard at work. We're gradually working our way through the ward list, and we've met some really awesome people along the way. There are a few people that we're hoping to start teaching on a regular basis, and a couple of those are part member families which are always promising :) We've also had the opportunity to take some time in both High Priest's Group and Relief Society to talk to them about member missionary work. Both went very well, and we committed both groups to read Chapter 9 of PMG. We're in the middle of following up with the HP, and then we get to take on the task of following up with the RS. That will be an adventure haha! But overall I think a lot of success will come out of this. We also gave them a recommendation to look into "The Power of Everyday Missionaries" by Clayton M. Christianson, which is a personal favorite of mine, and I've been surprised to see how many actually have accepted the invitation. We've even had a few people pull out their tablets and buy it on the spot! And everyone who's read it is super fired up and willing to help in any way that they can! I'm excited to them get so excited, and I'm also excited to see them feel the joy of spreading the gospel :)

This week will also mark the end of all our exchanges this transfer, and thank heavens for that! We've had to do 5 so far, and we have 2 more to do this week. So. Many. Exchanges. The ones that I had this last week were a lot of fun though. Last tuesday I went with Elder Stewart who was comps with Elder Collard after he finished training me, and then on Saturday I was with Elder Waite. That one didn't feel any different that any other day last transfer haha :)

As for the miracle/spiritual thought for this week, I just wanted to talk about how awesome it is to meet those that have been prepared to receive the gospel :) So this week we started teaching Cassidy, and she is the daughter of a less active. She was a little apprehensive at first, but she finally agreed to take the lessons with us. We met with her for the first time last Tuesday, and because of some questions she had and what the Spirit prompted us to do we ended up teaching the Plan of Salvation, and she absolutely loved it. She said she's always had a problem with Christianity (or as I call it "mainstream Christianity") because she doesn't believe that a loving God would damn His children to a Hell to suffer for eternity. When we taught her about the resurrection and the three kingdoms she said, "That's what I believe! I never could fully describe what I though heaven was like, but now that you've said it I know what I believe." We had to pass her off to the YSA Elders unfortunately, but it was great to work with her for just a little bit and see just how ready she is to receive the gospel at this time in her life :)

Well that's all for now! Hope that you all have an excellent week! I love you all!

Much love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

The Lord Will Always Provide

Well hello everyone!

This week was great! We worked really hard and had a lot of great things happen this week, so I'll give you all the highlights.

First and foremost, Elder Walker got his trunky papers this week!!!! For those of you who don't know, your trunky papers are a packet that you get 3 weeks before you go home that includes your travel itinerary, basic instructions, things like that. Anywho, I'm only including this because I like giving him flack and it still hasn't quite hit him that he's going home in a few weeks haha ;)

I also had the opportunity to go on a couple exchanges this week which were awesome! Since Elder Walker is the DL and has to go on exchanges with everyone, I also get to go on exchanges with everyone which is fantastic! This week I went with Elder Weiss and Elder Anderson. Elder Weiss is from Indiana and his family makes parts for Indy cars. So yeah, the mission has showed him a whole new side of life. I've made it one of my life goals now to teach him how to middle class. So far its gone well! He had his first Frosty the other day and enjoyed it! Elder Anderson is from Montana and he will be joining Elder Walker on his return to civilian life. My exchange with him was honestly the funnest exchange I've ever been on. We had a ton of fun, and we just had people popping up left and right to teach. Overall it was a good day :)

Now for the miracle of the week! So last Monday we were on our way home from P-day sports and we got a random call from a woman named Christina. She's had a really rough go over the past few years, and she's decided that she needs to come closer to God. Her aunt is a member, and she helped her track down our phone number. We met with her twice this week, and in each meeting we had an awesome discussion with her. She has truly been prepared, and she's a huge blessing. We've had to go through our investigators and we're probably going to drop a few of them, and I've been praying that He would send us someone. Funny how a prayer of faith really brings miracles :)

And that's all for today! I love you all! Thank you all for you prayers, and know that I'm sending some your way in return!

Much Love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

1. Dr. Pepper is a lot more essential to missionary work than you might think.



2. The District.

Close Encounters‏

Hello hello hello!!

It's been another awesome week here in the Great California Ventura Mission. Life is great, the work is great, Atascadero's great. All around everything is just great :)

So. Exciting news for this week....well to be completely honest not to much went on haha! We've spent most of our time going for 100% accountability on the ward list, so we've talked to a LOT of less active members. Not really any weirdos or mean people on that end. That's one thing that I love about being on the northern end of the mission: even people that don't want anything to do with you are generally pretty polite about it :) We did meet this one guy yesterday though! We were over talking to one of our investigators, and on our way back to the car this guy randomly walked up to us and thanked us. Turns out a few months back some missionaries helped him move and he wanted to thank missionaries in general for the help. We talked to him for a bit, and it turns out he is a Jewish Freemason. We had an interesting conversation with him, in which he informed us that when we get high up enough in our Church we get a ring. We're obviously not there yet, but that sounds cool to me! He then bid us adieu with a 2 minute long song in Aramaic. And I've got to applaud the guy. It was pretty good!!

Aside from close encounters of the odd kind, we had President interviews this week! He decided to switch it up a little and come visit us in our apartments which sent all of us into a panic. It's not everyday that Pres just decides to come and visit you in your apartment. Needless to say, we scrubbed every inch of our apartment last Monday. But it was a good visit. I know for sure that I'll be staying in A-town for at least one more transfer, which I'm totally okay with, and I think that there's a possibility that I'll be training next transfer which I'd be super stoked for. If there's one thing I want to do on my mission, it's train haha :) So fingers crossed!

Anywho, that's about all for this week! Hope ya'll are doing great! Thanks for all your support and your prayers!

Much love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

1. The Rosenlof and the Walker

Killing the New Comp and Adventures In A-Town!!‏

Hola mis amigos!!

Well we had this weird phenomenon yesterday. Little water droplets fell from the sky? Is that normal? I don't know. We never see that in California. Me and my comp just hid in the corner all day. Pretty scary stuff man.

Aside from that it's been a pretty adventurous week. We had transfer meeting, which was as great as always. That also means that we sat in a car for a total of 6 hours. Less great, but hey. Whatever works. I'm loving it here in Atascadero. The ward is great, and the area is beautiful. It's all rolling hills, and after the rain yesterday it's even looking a little bit more green! So as for the area, so far so good.

My new comp is also pretty great. His name is Elder Walker and he's from Eugene, Oregon. He's finishing out his mission this transfer, so that means that I'm going to have another Elder to add to my list of kills. He and I are getting along great, and we're having a lot of fun so far. So all around it looks like this is going to be a great transfer.

Highlight of this week was a great miracle we had yesterday at church. We've been praying for investigators over the past week because we don't have many and the ones we do have unfortunately aren't progressing right now. But the bishop's wife brought a friend with her to church. She loved sacrament meeting, and in gospel essentials she made some great comments. My favorite was as always: "This just makes so much sense." I love it when people say that. Anyway, we talked to her afterward and she said she has a ton of questions for us and would love to meet with us. We set up an appointment for this Thursday at the bishop's home. All in all, I love being a missionary :) We get to see miracles like this everyday and it's just great!

That's all for this week! I love you all! May God be with you :)

Love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

Transfers and Dunk #3!‏

Hello everyone!

Well it's been another marvelous week here in Paso! I really love it up here. This town is truly blessed by God and I've loved the chance I've had to serve here. You can call that foreshadowing, but I'll get to that in just a sec!

First, ELIZABETH GOT BAPTIZED!!!! WOOOOOO!!!! Baptisms are great :D There are two things in this world that any missionary loves, and that's mail and baptisms. Not necessarily in that order, but still. Anywho, it was a really great service. Her husband, Jon, had a lot of family there, and he also invited several people from where he works at Camp Roberts. There were also a lot of people there from both our ward and the Templeton ward. The Spirit was SUPER strong, and it was just awesome. Again, I feel so privileged to have been a part of it all. God's hand has truly been in these people's lives :)

Now as for transfers! Results are in, and I'm...........moving! Kind of haha :) I've been assigned to serve in the Atascadero 1st Ward! For those of you who don't know much about California, that's only about a 10-15 minute drive from where I already am! So I'll still be close by. In fact, I'll even be in the same district. And since my new companion is the District Leader, I'll likely come on an exchange here at some point. Speaking of, my new companion is Elder Walker. I haven't worked around him much, but he's a hard worker and we should get some great stuff done.

I hope that you all have a wonderful week! If any of ya'll want to know more about how everything is, always feel free to write :) Love you all!

Love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

1. Me and Elder Waite with Elizabeth right before she took the plunge.



2. Me with the rest of the Cripps Clan!

Heaven on Earth, the Loss of a Legend, and One Crazy Year‏

Hello everyone!!

Well. It's scorching up here in good ol' El Paso de Robles. Summer has finally hit, and it's hit with a vengeance. But no matter! The Lord's work never slackens so neither do I.

So the biggest highlight this week is that we got to go to the temple! That's a very rare opportunity in this mission since we don't have a temple in our boundaries. But we are permitted to go during the month of our birthday so we had a member drive us out to Fresno. Let me tell you, that was much needed. I've been going through temple withdrawals over the past 8 months and it was so good to be there again. The temple is such a wonderful blessing. The work that's performed there is miraculous and to be a part of it is a wonderful privilege :)

I'm also sure all of you have heard the news about President Packer. It is definitely a loss. I honestly wish that I had the same tenacity as Boyd K. Packer, because that man was not afraid to say what was on his mind. He was a wonderful man and a wonderful Apostle, but I'm sure that he's doing even greater work now in the presence of the Master.

Finally, I realized today that this Thursday marks a year since I received my call to serve! A year ago now, I honestly could not have imagined where I am now and what I've experienced. This past year has been a roller coaster, but it's been the greatest ride of my life. I'm more and more grateful everyday for the opportunity I have to be a missionary of Jesus Christ. There's no greater calling :)

And that's all for this week! I hope you all have a marvelous week. Thanks for all that you do, and may God be with you all!

Love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

1. The 2nd ward Elders also came! Me, Elder Magoon, Elder Payne, and Elder Waite.



2. Me and Elder Waite with Bro. Grover, who drove us out there.

Week of Miracles‏

Hey everyone!

We have had a great week this week. The Lord has been very generous to us here in Paso, and it just feels like its been one miracle after the other.

In our Zone Conference last week, Elder C. Scott Grow of the Seventy advised us that we need to be praying for new investigators and referrals. I decided to take his council, and holy heck why wasn't I doing this earlier?? The Lord has done any and all finding for us. It's been amazing. We have been in the right place at the right time far to frequently for it to be a coincidence. I just keep praying that He'll continue to bless us like he has and that we'll be able to handle it if He does!

Most notably was a referral we got from the Templeton Elders. Her name is Elizabeth, she's the daughter of a Southern Baptist minister, and she is married to a newly reactivated member. They've been attending the Templeton ward for the past couple months, but they live in San Miguel. (Right next door to another newly reactivated member and recent convert couple, the Plale's. The Lord is funny like that.) She decided to look into the Church since her husband is getting back into it, and so she read the Book of Mormon, all of the pamphlets, and half of the Gospel Essentials manual. She decided that she wants to be baptized, and honestly her meeting with us is more of a formality than anything else. She's practically teaching us! If you looked up the term "Golden Investigator" in Webster's, there would be a picture of her right there. I have a hard time believing that this is actually happening because honestly its feels like a story right of the Ensign or New Era. But she and her family are awesome, and Elder Waite and I really hit it off with them. I couldn't ask for a greater miracle.

Other than that, we've received a lot of referrals, wrestled a dog to get it's owner to church, and got condemned to hell by a now former investigator. So yeah. Just the average week in the life of your everyday missionary :)

Have a great week everyone!! I wish you all the best :) Know that I love all of you, but remember that so does the Big Guy Upstairs! Adios, mi amigos!

Love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

1. Our DL got the Sister Training leader's van for a couple days so we took a district road trip...to Wendy's.



2. Elder Waite attempting to pry a rope out of that dog's mouth.

Awesome week!!‏

Hey everyone!

Well I wish I could say that I'm coming to you live from beautiful Paso Robles, but, while it is still pretty, it has been hotter than the furnace in Satan's kitchen for the past week. Luckily I haven't melted, and I'm still coherent enough to bring you this weeks report. I'm running out of time unfortunately, so I'll quit wimping around here and give the highlights:

1. We had an AMAZING lesson with our investigator, Valerie. We met with her at her home with a member of the bishopric, and she had a list of questions to ask us. They were all solid questions, and we ended up teaching her the Plan of Salvation. She loved it, and said this about it: "It feels good. Really good." I LOVED that. Because really, what doesn't feel good about the gospel? She's also consistently reading the Book of Mormon and she's almost finished with 2 Nephi. I'm a very proud Elder.

2. We drove 30 minutes east to a little town called Shandon to try and contact a few less actives. We went up to one of their houses, and we ended up recontacting and elderly woman and her granddaughter that we had met on the street in Paso a few weeks ago. They immediately recognized us, and invited us in. The woman's husband is a less active member, and they were very open and receptive to us. We had an awesome lesson with them, and left them with a couple copies of the Book of Mormon. What's even more is the granddaughter went into rehab the next day. It was undeniably a miracle.

3. Elder Grow of the Seventy was at our Zone Conference this Friday. That was awesome. He talked a lot about always finding ways to step it up a notch, and he talked a lot about consecrating ourselves as missionaries and setting meaningful goals. I really got a lot out of it :)

And those are the three big hitters for this week! I hope you all have a wonderful week, and I hope you always remember that, with God, all things are possible. Without Him, nothing is. I love you all :)

Love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

We Are Consecrated Servants of Jesus Christ‏

Hey everyone!!

That time of the week has come again where you all get to hear from your favorite Elder :) Things are going great up here as usual here in El Paso de Robles!! We've gotten a lot of awesome work done this week, so are the highlights :)

1. We spent most of our week this week contacting everyone we could on the ward list. We've met a LOT of awesome people, and there's several people that we're hoping to start working with. Hopefully we'll be able to help them recapture the Spirit they once felt and bring them back to the fold! We still have a ton of people to go, but so far its gone well!

2. We had an awesome lesson with a LA that we've been trying to get ahold of FOREVER. We talked about the importance of the gospel in our lives and he said that he really wants to recapture the excitement he had when he was baptized a couple years ago. And guess what??? He was t church yesterday!! So that was awesome!!

3. On a less awesome note we had to get our tire fixed because we ran over a nail :P But we ended up talking to this really cool guy at the tire store and had a really good gospel discussion with him! The Lord works in mysterious ways :)

As for the spiritual thought, I just wanted to share something really quick :) So the mission goal for this transfer is becoming more consecrated missionaries. As I thought about that, I read an awesome talk by Elder Christofferson. After reading it, I was able to identify 5 things that really define a truly consecrated disciple of Christ:
1.Humility
2.Repentance
3.Charity
4. Servitude
5.Dedication
I'd encourage all of you to find ways that you can consecrate yourself further to our Savior's work :)
I hope you all have a good week!! Keep on keeping on :)
Love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

Here's a picture with his birthday cake. He accused me of stalking him.

Transfers, Birthdays, and Other Such Adventures‏

Hey everyone!

Hope that you're all doing good! I'm doing awesome! It's been a pretty good week! It was a little bit uneventful, but I'll give you a quick rundown of the highlights :)

So on Tuesday we had transfers, and that was interesting. It's quite a change to go from being in the city where the meeting is held to being in the area that is the furthest that you can get from it haha! We had to get up at 4 in the morning so that we could make it on time, and we still made it just 5 minutes before the meeting started. After that, it was a solemn goodbye to Elder Fyffe and a joyful hello to Elder Waite! A quick rundown on him:
1.He's from Loveland, Colorado. (My first comp not from Utah)
2. He's been out about 20 months now.
And that's about all I can think of....haha! If you have any other questions on him just give me a holler.

I also celebrated a very special day this week! Saturday marked the 19th anniversary of when I made my gracious entrance into this sphere which we call the world! In other words, I turned 19! If you want to know how I feel, I can honestly tell you that I feel kinda old. I know that's weird coming from a whipper snapper like me, but seriously. I never thought that I'd be 19. I thought that was a figment of my imagination. So yeah. Old.

So enough of that rambling. I don't have any marvelous stories about our wonderful investigators this week :/ All but one of them was out of town or sick or had a sick/dying family member, so that kinda sucked. But we did make a start on our goal of contacting everyone on the ward list, and that is quite the endeavor. But we've already met a lot of awesome people, and our wards activity rate is about to skyrocket because of all the moveouts we've found haha! But overall we've had a really good week. We've worked hard, and things are still going well here in Paso :)

Quick spiritual thought: Always remember that the Atonement is always there. It's the greatest 24/7 service that there is :)

I hope that you all have an awesome week! Keep being awesome, aight?

Love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

Ps I think this picture pretty accurately describes our companionship thus far.