Week # 28 Responsibility... Booo!! Jk I’m stoked!

April 28, 2014

Subject: Responsibility... Booo!! Jk I’m stoked!

Hello darlings. So this week was one of the slowest weeks in a little while just because the anticipation of changes. We visited a lot of people we haven’t seen in a long time because of semana santa here in Mexico, everyone was gone for vacations. We visited my hommies sandra y paco this week, and they finally went to church, and they committed to go to church every Sunday for the rest of their lives! Nah just kidding but they said they are committed to go every Sunday because they feel that the church is true. They want to pay tithing too, huge change in them soo cool to see. It is so cool to have people change right in front of your eyes but not because of the words but how they feel. Lovin it!!

So I think I’m cursed. My first comp after he was with me got changed to zone leader. My companion got his changes, and is going to be a zone leader. It’s safe to say that if you’re with me then your guaranteed to be a zone leader next. I had interviews with president and he was talking with me and told me that I’m going to be training and going to be district leader. I was like uhhhh yeah not ready president and he just destroyed me (not really) he just told me I’m ready and have to have more faith. So I’m super nervous and excited at the same time. I feel honored to be a trainer, president says its the most important calling you can receive in the mission field is to train, because I will help set the pace for his whole 24 months here. We are gunna do some super dope stuff; we are gunna study in the forest thats close to our house (I hope he like the forest haha). 

So yeah super stoked, weird to think that April is over… went by super fast. I’m gunna miss Elder Vasquez a ton he’s a good friend to me, but he’s gunna kill it as zone leader. 

Well gotta go to the changes my darlings. Have a good week. I’ll let you know the name of my kid (my trainee) when I get him. Hopefully he’s cool.

Love Elder prances with horses

Rodabough

Week # 27 WWlll Dog version

April 21, 2014

WWlll Dog version

So the good news is, is that I didn’t die in the earthquake. Bad news is, that I didn’t even feel the earthquake, so that kinda sucks. I’ve always wanted to feel an earthquake so not my lucky day. 

Well I just saw world war III outside, all these dogs were attacking each other and I think like 1 or 2 died, but I didn’t see cause I was inside getting my camera to video it. But then I thought to myself who am I really, Michael Vick, or a representative of Jesus Christ???, so I put the camera down. I’m sorry for all the people who wanted to see it though. It was like a brawl, but for dogs so that was pretty sweet.

Anyways… we had a super good week! This could be my last week with my homie and companion Elder Vasquez. We have pretty much baptized every week, so that’s super sick! We have a good relationship, we work super hard, but we have fun together too. We both like to pull jokes on each other, so I gotta be on my toes. I will be sad if he leaves (is that how you spell that kind of leaves??) but yeah we are gunna baptize another on Sat., super cool. We are baptizing a girl that had a total change of heart so that was super cool. She didn’t want anything at first, but she opened up and is such a strong convert. Her name is, well Fanny. She’s tight!!

Well the work is good. Just chillin chillin everyday. I Miss the mountains....... ohh and my family. Joke joke haha haha… laugh everyone.  Everyone I love you.

Elder flieswithfeathers 

Rodabough

Week # 26 WORD UP!

April 14, 2014

WORD UP!

So I feel like the weeks are just going by too fast now its really starting to scare me. Even though at times I’m a complete wimp about the stupid time factor. But this week was a super good week and we found a bunch of new people to teach! Super dope I love finding people who are just so stoked to hear the word. 

So it was like 9:30 at night, and we were walking to eat some pizza out at our ward mission leaders house, and we were walking up the giant hill right in front of his house, and these two people walked by me and I had a prompting to talk with him and his wife. So I contacted them and go figure he is a recent convert gone inactive that lived for 8 years in West Valley, Utah! What a coincidence (I think that’s how you spell it...) there are no such things as a coincidences. We talked to him and felt like I should bare my testimony to his wife, and she wants to hear more about the church. I love little cool experiences like that haha.

We had mission conference this week again to listen to the dedication of the MTC here in Mexico and have a little discussion. President asked what we felt about the talks given and nobody really wanted to share cause they are all pansies (not really). So I stood up and shared what I felt. I shared an experience I had with a member about how when the missionaries with only a little time left are always excited and happy in the mish cause they are almost done. But why not the ones with lots of time left? I shared the need to live in the moment, and just take everything in, and just love it cause we only get to do this once and if we keep living in the future we will end our lives not really living! Felt super good about what I said cause I felt like there were a lot of people struggling with that like I was. So glad I shared. 

I’ve been yelling in my sleep in Spanish and it is freaking my comp out so that’s good. I yelled vamanos so loud that my comp screamed, and it woke me up and I was like…. Dude why are you screaming. And he got mad and said I was screaming and I just laughed. But I’m getting weirder as the time goes on so that’s sweet. The mission is rad.

#livepic

Ps im now blacker than Isaiah. #graciasmexicansun

Well I gotta go eat tacos with a member, so I will talk to you guys later!

Love Elder walkswithlions

Week # 25 General Conference was too siick!

April 7, 2014

General Conference was too siick!

I completely agree with Jaleisa about General Conference. It is the coolest part of every 6 months. I had a bunch of talks just punch me right in the face with the spirit so that was cool. The crappy part was that I was banished to the secretary’s office to watch it in English, so that was also super awesome. When you listen to conference in Spanish, it’s the same translator the whole 10 hours of conference so that kinda sucks. So I like to watch it in English, even if I am banished to the tiny little secretary’s office. It’s still way worth it!!!!! 

So almost every talk in some way talked about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I felt the spirit prompt me that we really are in the last days, and the second coming of Christ really is very close at hand. We should be preparing everyday to meet our Savior. Personally I am too stoked to meet the Savior, He really is my friend and I feel closer to him than ever.

When I came out on my mission I literally didn’t have a testimony of hardly anything. I only had a testimony of The Atonement. I have felt the forgiving power and love that He has for me. This testimony carried me the first four months of my mission, until I gained a testimony of everything else. I know now that we have a living prophet on the earth today, he leads and guides this church through divine revelation from God himself. I know the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ, and his Infinite Atonement. I know Joseph Smith is a true prophet and that I accepted to be his messenger during this time to bring many souls this message, that the true church of Jesus Christ in now again on the earth and never to leave again. This is my testimony now all thanks to the knowledge that the atonement is real.

I love all of you and I cant wait to hear about all the great things you are doing back home in the 801. Love you all. Talk to you soon my darlings.

With Love, Elder Rodabough

Week # 24 Come what may and love it! -Joseph B. Wirthin

March 24, 2014

Subject: Come what may and love it! -Joseph B. Wirthin

So I don’t know if anyone even reads these anymore, but maybe it can relate to just one person. So as you all have figured out is that I am pretty much my own generation of missionary, and I haven’t decided if that is good or bad. I have changed a lot, a 180 degree turn actually for the better, and I like who I am. I never realized how being surrounded all the time with other people actually affected me, and changed who I am. These 8 months I have been on the mission have literally changed my life and I have 16 months to go. Hardest 8 months of my freaking life. But for sure the coolest 8 months of my life. 

           You just have to live it, I guess, life sucks and life rocks! If life always rocked we would forget what rocks, cause it is just always a good time it just becomes the normal. The suck is what makes the "Rad" actually "Rad". So come what may and love it. That’s gonna be my motto I decided. I am just not gunna worry, just come what may and make the best of it. Suck the juice out of every second. Drink, #differentkindofthirsty I will continue to live this way forever. And I will not lose focus because of where I am at now. 

To be honest I’m so out of touch right now its so dope! I have literally no clue what is going on in the United States. My spanglish has taken a turn for the worst I cant hold a normal conversation with a person that speaks english without using spanish words, so thats dope. I can’t even begin to think about how bad its gunna be when I finish my mission. Just got straight shocked by this whacked wire. And these fat mexican men are just saying all the swear words in Spanish, but I love it here. Life is a great journey and people want to rob you of that by making you worry about things that don’t matter and I’ve learned.

The work is so good we will have 3 baptisms this week in our ward so that’s super good. All super good converts. Me and Vasquez are killin it here in Real Del Bosque. 

Love,  Elder Rodabough

Week # 23 F.O.M.O. (Fear of Missing Out)

March 3, 2014

F.O.M.O.

Acronym of the week: F.O.M.O Fear of missing out. One of the things I worry about most is the fear of missing out. So this acronym has inspired me to live more, and go do things that I normally wouldn’t do. I need to live this moment more fully. And that is my dare to you guys this week. Having the fear of missing out is one of the best "fears" we can have because it inspires us to live more in the moment. Then you notice things that you’ve never noticed before. This is what God wants for us, is to live every moment. He wants us to notice every creature that crawls on this earth. Enjoy the beauty of every mountain, every wrinkle of every face, everything on this earth is for us to either learn from, or enjoy. We should even enjoy the times that suck because we need to know the suck to realize the good. That is my semi deep thought of the week.

So this was the fastest week of my life. And it was super dope. Well I have good news and bad news... I will start with the good cause I like the good news more. I had a great week and learned a lot, and we had a great time at the visitor’s center with our investigators. Many of them saw the temple and could feel the power and the holiness there. Many had the desire to get baptized when they saw the temple so that really strengthened my testimony of the temple. So that’s the good news! 

      Now the bad news. Totally just got straight out robbed this week haha. We were straight walking down the Lopez at 5:30am, in the morning with the sisters, taking them to the taxi station because one of the sisters had a doctors appointment. Then two hommies (strangers, never seen them in my life), straight flexin on the curb stood up and told us to go over and face the wall. And out of nowhere a car just pulls out of some alley and a guy hops out of the car and grabs me, and the other two grabbed my comp, and pushed us against the wall. The freaking guy that had me was pretty ripped but I had like a whole foot on this fella so I was tempted to try to fight him (and this was my thought process). My comp is mui tai champion and he would knock out the other two guys, and then save me from the other guy haha. But, the spirit was just like "take it easy" and it was a super strong feeling/voice so that was cool. We didn’t bring anything besides like our cell phone, and keys so they were outa luck. My comp had his planner and that’s it. So they pretty much chose the wrong people to rob. The guys took the sisters scriptures and I was like screaming for them, and the guy that had me was at the car with all the stuff they had robbed from us. Then, I asked super loud for the scriptures and the guy at the car just looked at me, and pulled out a pistol from the back of his pants just like in the movies, and pointed it at me… so I thought I was dead. So I just straight turned around and waited for him to either shoot me, or leave. The longest 20 seconds of my life but the guy just left and I didn’t die, so this is actually more good news than bad haha. 

But anyway that was pretty rad, but anyway kids I love you and will talk to you next week. 

Love your cellphone-less Elder Rodabough  

P.S. I’m the white sheep in an all black fold son!!!! (minus the other white kid but he doesn’t count)

Week # 22 “Celestialized”

February 24, 2014

“Celestialized”

So this week I had some pretty deep thoughts, deeper than I’ve ever thought in my entire life. Had this hommie named axacautyl (yes, thats how you spell it) about some super cool stuff about the Book of Mormon, and the temple, and Joseph Smith. Made me think a lot about the next life, and how this world will be changed into the Celestial Kingdom, and how sick will that be to be able to visit like Zion National Park but like celestial style. That just made me pretty stoked. 

My week was good! We had a bunch of investigators at church, not gunna tell how many or how many investigators we have cause I don’t want to live my mission like a competition. I feel like to many missionaries worry about the numbers they base their success on numbers. I could care less about numbers; I just want to help as many people as I can, and if that means I only help 1 person I’m good, mission completed. 

So we had 18 investigators at church....Kidding kidding

No but for real this week was super good helped lots of people, We will be going to the visitors center with a bunch of investigators, so that’s super sick. Had the 2 families in my other ward get baptized so that’s awesome. Just the work is going forward in 2 more months there will be 100,000 missionaries in the field. The time is almost at hand.

Love you all like crazy talk to you guys next week:)

Love, Elder Rodabough