Welcome to Paso Robles!‏

Hey everybody!

So this has been quite an eventful week! Transfers are hectic when you're actually going somewhere haha! I'll give you the quick summary of what happened this week:

So Monday night was spent saying goodbye to everyone that I'd grown close to in my time in Ventura. That sucked. I didn't really anticipate how hard it would be to say goodbye. But I survived, and spent the rest of the night packing and wallowing in sorrow.

Tuesday was an adventure. I hurry and finished packing and did a final sweep of the apartment, and then we were almost late to the meeting because we had to make 2 trips. But we made it, and then afterwards I found my new companion, Elder Fyffe. Then we hopped in the car and headed north. It took about 4 hours to drive up there, which was a little less than fun, but we did drive through Santa Maria! That was really weird. Driving through and seeing all the places I've known since I was but a wee lad. It was cool though!

Anywho, once we got to Paso we stopped by the apartment, but we had to duck out pretty quick because we had a ward correlation meeting. I was really impressed by the meeting. The WML has a solid ward mission plan, and not only that has ward support! All the auxiliaries had a representative there, and from what I've seen and from what Elder Fyffe has told me the ward members are very active in missionary work. The work is flourishing as a result, and things are hopping up here. I feel a bit like a frog dropped in a pot of boiling water, but in a good way.

As for the rest of the week, its been busy. We've had a lot of service, and we've met with several investigators. We set a man named Bob (there's a lot of them up here. It might get confusing) with a baptismal date, and we also met with a former member named Wes. He had his records removed a couple years ago, but he's very nice and told us to come back anytime! It's been a lot of fun! Elder Fyffe is way cool, and we work well together. This is going to be a good transfer :)

And now for those of you who would like it, my new address is:
Elder Brennan Rosenlof
731 Gardenia Circle #3
Paso Robles, CA 93446
Also a reminder, I do love letters/packages ;)

That's about all for this week! Hope you all have a fantastic time this week :) I love you all!

Love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof
Alma 26:12

1. This was really weird.



2. Isn't this place gorgeous?



And here are a couple of his district in Paso Robles. He's finally found his own kind.





And a transfer picture courtesy of Elder Gardner.

Transfers, Archie, and Exploding Meth Labs‏

Hello everyone!

So this week has been an exciting one, as you can probably tell from the title. So I won't beat around the bush!

So the news that you all have been waiting for! Transfer calls came in, aaaaaaannnnnnndddddddd.......I am leaving! They no longer want me here in Ventura haha! I've been assigned to serve up in the Paso Robles 1st ward, which, for those of you not familiar with the central coast, is on the opposite end of the mission! I don't know what I did, but whatever it was it was bad enough to get me banished to the land northward haha ;) It'll be quite the drive to get up there, but I'm very excited to serve up there! It's a beautiful area, and from what I've heard, the work is great :)

In other news, we had a visitor this week! Last Saturday (the 11th), everyone in the mission got a text telling us to meet at the Stake Center the next Sunday (yesterday). We were pretty surprised, because the whole mission is very rarely called together for a conference. A lot of speculation was going around as to what it was. The initial theory was iPads were being introduced, but President Felix quickly put that one out. I honestly thought we were going to have an apostle address us. It wasn't quite that cool, but it was a close second. David Archuletta came and talked/performed for us. He was in LA for the weekend, and wanted to talk to all of us. It was a really awesome meeting. He gave some great instruction, bore a powerful testimony, and sang a few hymns and "Glorious" for us. It was a really awesome experince :)

And now for the explosions. So on Saturday, Elder Corbridge and I were woken up by a loud boom/whoosh. (I know that's a lame way to describe it, but it's the best I got) We weren't really sure what had just happened, and pretty soon we started hearing crying and screaming. We jumped out of bed and looked out our window, and one of the apartments across from us had it's front window hanging off the wall, the drywall ripped off, and we could see flames inside. The police never actually told us what was going on, but, just observing how they handled it plus what we were told by the neighbors, we're pretty sure that it was a meth lab. Gotta love Ventura! (Pics are enclosed below)

I'm definitely sad to be leaving 3rd ward. I didn't really anticipate the emotional trauma that comes with being transferred haha! I've taken a look back on the experiences that I've had since coming here, and it's been amazing to see the growth that I've experienced; emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. I've also been able to see fulfillment of some prophecy in my patriarchal blessing, which has been truly incredible. I really have loved it here. The people I've met and the miracles I've experienced have been nothing short of amazing, and I look forward to seeing more in Paso Robles!

I hope you all have a wonderful week! I'll send my new address as soon as possible! I love you all :) Thanks for everything you do!

Love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

PS The crime scene

A golden investigator and A LOT of faith.‏

Hey guys!

How are you all?? Things are going great here! We've had a really good week this week! Things are really starting to pick up again, and we're seeing more and more the fruits of our labors. I've got just a few highlights though, so here we go:

So I'm pretty sure that I mentioned our new investigator, Sam. Actually now that I remembered that I can look back at my previous emails sent, I know I mentioned Sam haha! Anyway, like I said last time, we're very excited about her. We had a really good first lesson with her, and we had a couple of more this week! We talked to Jaycie (her friend that referred her to us) and she said that Sam has really been doing some soul searching lately. She hasn't been entirely sure what she believes, about God or really anything. We decided to go with the Plan of Salvation for her next lesson, and it went awesome. She remembered learning about it before, but all she remembered was the 3 kingdoms. As we went through it, she kept asking super awesome questions that just led perfectly into the next part of the Plan, and at the end she said, "Wow. That makes a lot more sense now." She's progressing very quickly, and it's really a great opportunity to work with her.

And really that's about all this week! I know. I said it was a good week but only have one story. Sorry :P But! I really have had some faith strengthening experiences this week. Nothing really huge, but a lot of tender mercies that have helped me to better realize how much my Heavenly Father loves me. I hope you all can have some similar experiences :)

Also a quick heads up! Transfers are next Tuesday, and I've got a high likelihood of being shipped out of Ventura. I know you're all on the edge of your seats, but I'm afraid you're going to have to remain there until next week. I'll keep you posted :)

I love you all! Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

Ps 1. Always remember safety. Always.



2. Also, who says you can't pick up chicks on your mission?



3. This is the one of the greatest things ever given to me by anyone on my mission. Juvenile tiger shark mandible. Courtesy of a potential investigator, Pharell.

Missionary Christmas and a (more) solid foundation

Hey everybody!

How are you all?? I'm doing awesome! This week has been a good one, so I'll jump right into it.

So first off, we have a new investigator!! WOOOOHOOOO!! Her name is Sam, and she is the best friend of our WML. Honestly I'm not sure why we haven't been teaching her this whole time. She goes to church at least once a month, attends seminary often, and has been to at least one Youth Conference. We've talked to her a couple times before, but nothing really extensive. But they invited her to dinner on Wednesday, and afterward we watched The Restoration. She absolutely loved it and had a bunch of solid, searching questions. She enthusiastically agreed to take the discussions and to read the Book of Mormon. Yeah. She's pretty solid.

Aside from that, not much happened. Oh wait I'm forgetting something. What was it.....oh yeah CONFERENCE!! :D I think it's probably needless to say, but it was awesome. If you were to ask me which talk was my favorite, I'm not sure I could tell you. There were so many that were just amazing. But I do have to say that Elder Dale G. Renlund really hit it home. I love how he talked about how through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can literally be transformed. "Twas I, but tis not I." I really loved that line. God doesn't care about who we were, so much as who we are and who we're becoming. Awesome stuff. And then of course Elder Holland was as epic as always, and I really loved President Uchtdorf's talk on grace. Overall, let's just agree that conference is awesome and the fact that we have a prophet on the earth today is probably the coolest thing ever.

However, I want to share a quick experience with you all. I've had my testimony challenged by people this transfer than any other time on my mission, especially this last week. The adversary has been doing his best to tear me down as much as he can, and, as much as I hate to say it, he's taken a toll. I didn't really realize it, but my faith was weary and shaken. The final blow, though, was during the sustainings during Conference when that small group voted against the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve. That really disturbed me, more than it should have. I was filled with a lot of doubt and fear. I began to doubt the Church and why I'm on a mission. But as the session went on, those fears and doubts were calmed. Each of the talks that session carried at least one sentence that built me back up and helped calm my troubled heart. By the end, I walked out of that session feeling much better than when I'd gone in. I gained a stronger testimony that God knows what we need better than we do. I went into Conference with questions, and yes they were answered in one way or another, but He answered a question I didn't even have until the moment of. He met a need that I didn't have until He was going to answer it. That was pretty awesome.

Anywho, that's all for this week! I hope you all enjoyed Missionary Christmas! Make sure that you continue to ponder and pray about the answers you recieved this weekend :) Remember how much the Lord loves you, and I love you all as well. Have an inspiring week!

Love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

Interviews, temples, and the SoCal Mormon Choir‏

Well hello everyone!

Coming to you all (not-so) live through an interwebs broadcasting system, I bring tidings of yet another awesome week here in sunny, wonderful, beautiful Ventura! We've had a good week this week, so hold on to your hats and I'll give you the low down.

So we've had a pretty good week this week. The work is slowly but surely starting to pick up here and we're beginning to reap the fruits of our labors. We have a few people who are just on the brink of becoming investigators, most notably a man named Timothy. I think I mentioned him last week....he's a former investigator we found in our area book who has a LOT of potential. He wasn't ever really dropped either; missionaries just stopped coming. Anyway, we were able to meet with him this week and he talked to us about how much he admires the Church and its members, and that any organization that puts out such wonderful people must have something to it. Personally, I have to agree. We have an appointment later this week, and I'm really looking forward to it.

We also had President's interviews this week, and those were as awesome as always. I really look up to President Felix. We had a really great talk, and he helped answer a few questions I had. But the best part was that he gave us permission to go to the temple with Lauren Tennison (remember her? The sister with a less active family that we've been helping prepare for a mission ever since I got here) when she goes through in a couple weeks :D So that's awesome!!

And then last night we went to probably the best fireside I've ever been to. The stake hosted and Easter Concert from the Southern California Mormon Choir, and it was AWESOME. All the other Elders were practically bored to tears, but me being the music nerd that I am, loved every minute of it. So yeah. That was pretty much the highlight of my week haha:)

For this weeks Spiritual thought, I want to leave you with a challenge and a link. The challenge: come up with a list of 3 questions. Just 3. Then pray about those questions, and then watch conference. I know how cliche that sounds, but just do it. Then I'd like to hear about what happens :) As for the link, this is to the new Because He Lives video. If you haven't watched it, click it. If you have, click it.http://www.mormon.org/easter?cid=HP_FR_3-27-2015_dMIS_fMRMN_xLIDyL1-A_

Hope that you all have a wonderful week and Conference weekend! I love you all :)

Love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

Ps Here's a picture because ya'll seem to like those. Also, take a moment to applaud Sister Wixon on her epic photo bomb.