Oh Ye That Embark‏

Hey everyone!!

Me again :) Hope that you all had an awesome week! I certainly did! We had a lot of awesome stuff happen this week. Paso Robles is truly a blessed place. Still loving up here as always :D

So the most notable awesome thing that happened this week is that TERRELL GOT THE PRIESTHOOD!!!! Woooooohoooo!!! For those of you who may not remember, Terrell was the man who got baptized my second week here. He's been doing really solid ever since, and yesterday he was ordained to the office of Priest :) And I got to stand in his circle too!! It was a really awesome experience. The more I've gotten to know him, the more I can see just how much he has turned himself around, and it's truly a miracle. Now he and his wife are making plans to go through the temple next year!! Isn't this gospel awesome? :)

We also had a very serviceable week this week! In total we helped 2 people move (we were there on both ends), bucked two huge truck loads of hay (in proselyting clothes), rolled up about 30 feet of ice plant (picture included below), and we helped set up for the Paso Robles Art Fest! We had a lot of fun with it all and met some really awesome people while doing it :)

Other than that, not to much happened. We did have some sucky things happen though :/ Bob started drinking again, so that was a bit aggravating. Also I almost got eaten by a dog! That was great haha! We went to go see a less active, and while we were walking up to his door, his dog ran up to us. At first we thought it was friendly, but then I saw the hatred burning like hellfire in its eyes. Then it had a conniption and snapped at me a bunch, but Elder Fyffe chased it off. So yeah! I can definitely check that one off my missionary bucket list!

And that's about all the excitement for this week! The spiritual thought this week comes courtesy of Ecclesiastes 1:15, "That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered." Without the Lord, we will only be filled with want. The Lord helps us find peace in what we have, and His gospel gives us the perspective we need to find happiness.

Have a wonderful week everyone! Thanks for all the support that you give :) God be with you all!

Love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

1. Isn't this place beautiful?



2. You know me. Hardly workin.

The Week in review

Hey everybody!!

Coming to all of you sort-of-live from sunny, beautiful Paso Robles :) This has been a great week! We had a lot of fun stuff happen, and things are still going great :)

So first off, we had an AWESOME lesson with Valerie. We were on our way to an appointment with some investigators in San Miguel, and as we were pulling off the freeway they texted us and told us they had something pop up and we needed to reschedule. We were kinda frustrated with that because we had driven all the way out there, and so we decided to go see Valerie since she lives up there as well. We'd called her a couple times during the week and she'd never gotten back to us. So we drove up there, and she was sitting in the front yard talking on her phone. She quickly ended the call, and was very excited to see us. As we talked to her, she told us that she had been reading the Book of Mormon and was loving it! Not only that, but she has been defending the Church against some of her friends. She had told them she is investigating, and they were less than supportive. But she straight up told them that they had no idea what they were talking about and that they weren't ever to talk about the Church like that to her ever again. Yeah. She's super solid. We're meeting with her personally sometime this Friday, and she's planning on coming to our Book of Mormon class this Wednesday!

We also met with Bob, and he's doing good. He's really struggling to quit smoking, and unfortunately he hasn't been able to quit in time to make his baptismal date of May 30th. He was pretty bummed, but we left him with a commitment to ponder and pray about a new baptismal date, and we're hoping that if he sets it himself, he'll be more inclined to work hard towards it. He still loves meeting with us, and I've got high hopes for Bob :)

For the spiritual thought this week, I want to talk briefly about scripture study. This last week I had the goal to read the scriptures more often. I've been reading, but I know I can be reading more and I should be. So read at every opportunity I could find. Any free time I had, I whipped those bad boys out. And I saw wonderful things begin to happen. I found that it was easier to resist temptation; to recall passages of scripture; and I had a lot more energy and determination. Overall, I was a lot happier. I just want to bear my testimony of the power of the scriptures. It's real. Those verses are more than just words on a page. They are what make or break a testimony, and the only breakage comes from not reading them. I think all of us have some way we can improve on our scripture study, and I encourage all of you to find a way you can :)

That's about all for today I hope you all have a wonderful week this week! I love all of you :)

Much love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

1. These are Valerie's 6 week old Miniature Australian Shepherd puppies. I want one.



2. This is what happens when Elder Fyffe plays with the nursery toys.

Keep On Keeping On‏

Hey everyone!

So this is probably going to be pretty short. Sorry :p But it's been a fairly uneventful week. Not bad! Just nothing stands out haha :)

We had a few good lessons with some of our investigators. We met with Bob Graff several times this week, and we had some good discussion with him about the Plan of Salvation and a few other things. He's having a really hard time giving up smoking though, and if you all could keep him in your prayers that would be very helpful. We also met with Bob Sevryk and had a good lesson with him. We talked a lot about the Book of Mormon, and we told him that it would answer any question that he had about our church. He agreed to read it, and I really hope he does. He's a great guy, and I know how much this could mean to him and how much it will help him.

Mother's Day calls were also great! It was great to talk to those of you that were there haha :) Hearing the voices of your loved ones gives you so much of a boost. I feel ready to take on anything the Lord has in store for me! (Hopefully I didn't just jinx myself.)

So for the spiritual thought this week, I want to talk a little bit about my favorite scripture, Alma 26:12. It reads, "Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever." There are several different aspects of this scripture that I love. Overall, I love the humility, gratitude, and faith that Ammon has as he declares this to his brothers. He KNOWS that he has done nothing. He has only been an instrument in the Lord's hands, and he's grateful for that opportunity. The Lord is always willing to bless us, but he's more willing to bless a grateful servant. If we begin to boast in our own strength, we may end up like the Nephites in Helaman 4:13: "And because of this their great wickedness, and their boastings in their own strength, they were left in their own strength; therefore they did not prosper, but were afflicted and smitten, and driven before the Lamanites, until they had lost possession of almost all their lands." Remember, without God we are nothing. Thank your Heavenly Father for all that He does for you.

I hope that this week goes well for you all! I'd love to hear how ya'll are doing :) *hint hint* I love you all!! May God be with you :)

Love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

1. Standing outside a mission, inside my mission, on my mission. Confused? Good.



2. We found someone in California that actually likes guns. Who would of thought?

Miracles Abound (and dunk #2)‏

Hey everybody!!

So this was quite an eventful week. A lot of awesome things happened, but as always I'll stick to the highlights:

So first off, we have a super solid new investigator named Valerie. She came as a referral from HQ, and it's a miracle in and of itself that she was legit. A lot of people use the system as a way to pull a joke on their friends. It was also miraculous that we found her, because she lives clear out in the boonies of San Miguel. But we found her and had an awesome lesson with her. She recently had a friend pass away that was LDS, and she was impressed by the Church outreach and wanted to know more about the doctrine. We taught the Restoration, and she thought it was about the coolest thing she's ever heard (and she's not wrong). She was very excited to read the Book of Mormon, and we're going by later this week to follow up with her.

We also had one of investigators come to church!! Bob Graff has been working with us on and off for quite some time, and he has a baptismal date for May 30th. He committed to come to church, but we were a little hesitant because he's skipped out before. But when we showed up to pick him up, he was waiting for us in a shirt and tie with his scriptures in hand. Plus, he really enjoyed himself. All around it was pretty awesome :)

And now for the big miracle..........we had a baptism!! WOOOOOOO!!! Terrell has been taught by missionaries for a little while. He was living down in Arroyo Grande, but he's moving up here now to be with his wife and kids. So the AG Elders referred him to us with a baptismal date for April 25. Unfortunately we weren't able to work that with transfers and all, but we were able to make it happen this Saturday! Some may call that cheating, but I'm putting it in PmG anway haha! But it was really great service and the Spirit was so strong. He was very happy, and his wife is thrilled. I can imagine they're planning on a temple date already haha! All jokes aside though, this is what makes it worth it. Being able to see the joy of the gospel bless someone's life and make it possible for their family to be together for eternity is just about the greatest things anyone can imagine. Being a missionary is pretty awesome.

That's about all for this week, friends. I hope you all have a marvelous week!! I love you all! May the fourth be with you ;)

Love,
Elder Brennan Jon Rosenlof

1.Terrell's baptism! He's on the right.



2. Almost 100 BoMs. Awww yeah.