Week of May 30, 2016
This week was just as phenomenal as last week. Oh my heck I'm loving this transfer. Great companion, great area, fantastic ward, and even fantastic-er (that's a word now) investigators. I'm forever going to look back on this transfer with fondness :)
As a follow up, we did commit Johnny's friend Selen to be baptized on June 18th and they're both doing really well. In one of our lessons with them this week we taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ and they both talked about how they have felt their faith grow and how it's compelling them to change their language and things like that. They both agreed that they've felt the Spirit more in their lives and Johnny told us that he believes everything that we've taught and he feels it's all true. We were excited to hear that, and Selen was to because, apparently, Johnny was saying that he was an atheist just last year. So yeah. That's pretty freakin exciting! We also went to Moorpark College on Wednesday, which was super fun. Technically its outside of our zone, but we have permission to go because a good amount of the student body lives in Simi. It was a blast, and we ended up picking up a new investigator!! His name is Aaron, and I'm really enthusiastic about him. Hopefully it all goes well with him :)
So unfortunately I'm out of time :P Sorry this is kinda lame, but if I have time I'll write a letter!! (Mom note: Still waiting for the letter. Lol.)
Week of June 6, 2016 (His Birthday BTW)
Haha thank you so much!! Yeah I'm a pretty blessed soul to have a p-day birthday. Not to many have the privilige. But hey, God loves me and thinks I'm special so he lined it up for me. He's been doing stuff like that a lot. Pretty good at it to, I have to say. We're planning on hitting up the Presidential library to celebrate and I'm pretty stoked about that. All I hear is good things so it should be great.
Looking at our past week this week, Simi Valley continues to be a place of miracles. By way of updates, Jessy will not be getting baptized this Saturday unfortunately :P She said that her concerns about women and the preisthood and homosexuality will prevent her from getting baptized that soon, but we were able to have a great lesson where we were able to find her deeper concern. As it turns out, she's really been taking a lot of what we say for face-value and just believing it because it sounds good rather than seeking a spiritual witness that it is true. So we've put a lot of core focus on that and hopefully she'll be ready to receive that. That's the biggest news of the week, everyone else is doing very well. We also found a couple of really solid potentials that will hopefully be turning into investigators by the end of this week! On top of that we have another MLC this week, our last exchange for the transfer, and of course just partying it up in the YSA ward. Yeah. I love my job :)
That's about all that goes on for me! This week wasn't the most exciting necessarily, aside from the work moving forward at a breakneck pace. It has been hotter than blazes though. Thankfully its cooling down a bit this week!
Thanks again for the birthday wishes! I'll let you guys now how it all goes when its all said and done haha :)
Love, your old fart of a son.
Ps Also, we found some pretty sweet cliffs last week (don't worry I'm still in one piece)
Week of June 13, 2016
I honestly can't believe its Monday again. The weeks are just whizzing by now and it's getting ridiculous. The more you begin to appreciate your time as a missionary, the faster it begins to go. It sucks. Bleh.
Anyways, the me birfday was pretty great! Yes I did get the package, and everything was in great shape. I'm proud of myself, to, because I've managed to make those donuts last all week. Talk about self control. The Reagan Library was really cool to! That was time well spent. We got in free because our bishop is a member there, but we paid just a little extra so we could get into their featured exhibit on the Vatican that they have going on, and let me tell you it was worth it. It was really cool. They had all sorts of stuff there: relics, paintings, ridiculously gaudy papal thrones, the whole 9 yards. It was like watching the Apostasy happen live. Pretty sweet. Definitely a testimony booster that the Church that Christ established was lost and that the Restoration was desperately needed.
Work wise, this week was a little slower than previous weeks, but I'm not to troubled considering that it was still a very productive week. Mostly it was because we had a ton of meetings and other administrative stuff we needed to get done. We had MLC on Tuesday, which was great. They're really cool meetings to be a part of, and it's humbling to be a part of them. We also had reports we had to file with the stake, a meeting with the Stake President to present those reports, and evaluations on our zone members we had to get to President Felix so he can start on transfers this week. That was enough to keep us busy on its own, but we still found plenty of time to get some actual missionary work done. We've spent some time meeting/working with the recent high school grads in the stake. We've met with most of them and we're helping them to make plans on how they can invite their friends to learn more about the gospel. Everyone we've talked to so far has had someone in mind, so we're really excited to see what comes out of this. Jessy also continues to do well. I'm hoping that she's starting to reach the end of her concerns. We had some pretty good lessons this week, and there was a talk that was given in sacrament meeting that seemed to us as if it was written specifically for her. If she continues to progress and exercise faith at this rate I think she'll be baptism-ready by the end of next transfer. Fingers crossed for her! We also saw a pretty cool miracle with Johnny this week. We were planning on pushing his baptism (which is scheduled for this Saturday) back because he was going out of town this week, but he randomly showed up at Church yesterday! He told us his grandma ended up getting pretty sick so they canceled their trip. We should be meeting with him later today to talk about the baptism, and, if all goes well, we should be having a baptism this Saturday! Please keep them in your prayers :)
And I think that's all for this week! Pretty great week :) I can't believe the end of the transfer is almost here. I'm not to concerned about any changes for us though. I'm 99% sure I'm staying, and I'm 65% sure me and Elder Du Plessis are together another 6 weeks. Prayers that both those things happen! Hope you guys have a great week :)
1. I won.
2. Oval office.
3. Air Force One
4. This supposedly has pieces of Paul and Peter in it. Yeah. Gross.
5. #mykingdomisnotofthisworld?
Week of June 20, 2016
Anyhow this week was pretty wonderful! Transfer wise, the Lord heard the pleas of Elder Du Plessis and I and both he and I are going to be kicking it here in Simi for another 6 weeks!!!!! WOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!! Hahaha we were pretty stoked when we got that call. We felt like we still had a work to do together and we're glad that our righteous desires have been granted, so buckle up because the adventures/reign of Rosenlof and Du Plessis will move forward boldly, nobly, and uninterrupted. President scared us pretty good though haha! The Friday night before transfers is the night that President calls and informs missionaries if they're receiving a new leadership assignment, and the only reason either of us would get a call would either be a release as a zone leader or being reassigned to an AP. Well about 9:40 our phone starts to ring and, sure enough, caller ID says President Felix. We answer and he asks us how we are and if was nearby. My heart about dropped out of my body. Elder Du Plessis hands me the phone and President says, "Well Elder I was just calling to inform you that you're assignment has cha- oh wait that was last transfer." And then he just starts laughing. He decided that, since he had forgotten to call me last transfer and let me know that he was making me a zone leader, he would make up for it this transfer and give me a little scare while he was at it hahaha! Like I've said, I have the world's greatest mission president.
Work wise, Simi is still flourishing. We're very excited about Jessy. We had a few really great lesson with her this week, in which she really realized her divine potential. It was really cool to see that piece of the puzzle fit into place and for it to change her outlook on things. She's also been asking questions about baptism, which is always a good sign!! Johnny is also doing well and is steadily progressing. He came to institute this week and had a great experience, and he's still looking towards getting baptized! Unfortunately we had to push it back because he slipped up and had a cup of coffee, but he felt bad and is now looking forward to July 2nd. Finding wise, things have slowed down a little, but then again so have we. We're repenting and we're really going to hit it hard looking for new investigators this week. All in all, Simi is the promised land. I'm pretty sure that this will be my last area, and I am WAY okay with that. Great work, great people, great place, great companion. What more could an Elder ask for? Maybe a baptism, but then again I will be surprised if Jessy and Johnny aren't baptized sometime in the next 6 weeks sooooo.....yeah. Basically the perfect situation :D
We also got to go to the temple for my birfday this week and that was great! I realized I haven't been since November, and that is WAY to long to go between visits to our Father's house. Our buddy Jake drove us down, and we just had a grand ol time. Also on the spiritual side of things, I had a pretty cool experience with the Book of Mormon this week. I was noticing that I had been feeling a little off, and I wasn't quite sure why. I was just in a weird mood for a few days and couldn't diagnose the problem. Then during studies one morning, the Spirit helped me realize what was wrong: I hadn't been reading the Book of Mormon as much as I should. I'd been reading maybe a chapter a day, but that was mostly for investigators or other purposes. I hadn't really been reading as a spiritual rejuvenation for myself. I started immediately, and I can happily report that I am doing much better now. That was just a pretty good testimony to me of the power/importance of the Book of Mormon. Amazing what the word of God can do :)
That's about all for this week! Stay tuned for next week and hopefully I'll have some fun stories for you then.
1+2. The Duo at the Lord's doorstep.
3. This was at 12 today.....
4. Not sure if I've mentioned it before, but Jessy is a bit of a hippie, and a proud hippie at that. This is the back of her car. It epitomizes her well.
Week of June 27, 2016
As for my week, here's the run down: this week was a bit slower than the past few have been. Part of it was making sure that transfers went smoothly and that everyone got settled (which is a LOT harder than it sounds, especially as a zone leader), and the other was because EVERYONE kept canceling their appointments. We had a couple days this week that were jam packed with appointments, and nearly every one of them ended up canceling. It was a bit discouraging, but we persevered and managed to actually meet with a few of our investigators. Jessy is still doing really well, though she wasn't able to make it to church this week. We're hoping to set her with a new date this week and work towards getting her baptized by the end of the transfer. We feel like us staying together is a sign that its her time. We've been able to connect with her better than anyone else in the past and she's made a lot of progress over the past month. In other news, it looks like Johnny is all set and ready for baptism this Saturday!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! We just have to get his interview done and get everything planned and out and then we're all systems go. We also found a SOLID new investigator this week. His name is Jay, and, long story short, he grew up in the Church, but his mom left before he was able to be baptized so he never became a member. He's done his own thing for the majority of his life now, but he's facing consequences of some decisions he's made and now he's looking for redemption in the only place he feels he can find it: Jesus Christ and His restored Church. We had an excellent lesson with him, and it's truly incredible how prepared he is. We think that baptism isn't to far off for him either!! Simi is truly a place of miracles :)
Hope you guys are good and well :)
Ps Brontosaurus
Week of July 4, 2016
This week has been pretty good....haha I've been kinda stressed out this week. We had a bit of a problem with investigators keeping appointments. They kept canceling last minute, so this week we're going to talk to them about that. We're hoping that should help correct the problem :) We love them, but when they cancel their appointments multiple times each week it makes it harder hahaha! Other than that things are going great! We ended up pushing Johnny's baptism back one more week for several reasons, mostly because we felt he needed another week to be ready. But we've got the interview done, we're working out the other various logistics, and we're all systems go for his baptism this Saturday! He's pretty excited and so are we!!! So be ready for some pictures in white next week :)
Other than that, not to much happened this week. We did witness a wildfire though!!! That was pretty sweet. We were just driving through town and we saw a massive pillar of smoke, so, naturally, we drive towards it. Video will be included :)
That's about all I've got for this week....sorry :P Hope you guys have a great Fourth!! We're doing a BBQ with the zone so that should be fun :) Talk to you next week!
