September 17, 2015

Hi Family,

This week is temple week!  So this afternoon my zone gets to go to the temple. I love going to the temple and always feel so much peace and comfort after going.  I love the spirit that is felt in the temple and how much it stays with you after you leave and head back out into the real world.

Well my week wasn't too interesting and involved a lot of patience.  Ha my companions boil had to be re packed and stuff and they told him he couldn't bike for at least a week.  Which is fine I figured we could just walk, but then this huge rash broke out on him and so we couldn't even walk. After a day I was so bored of sitting in the apartment so we spent a lot of time at members houses just doing service and letting my comp lay on a couch.  But he is back up to good health and was a warrior through the whole thing.  

The only lessons we were able to teach were with members and surprisingly we taught quite a few.   As a ward we planned on having a ton of investigators and less active committed to come to church, but Sunday mornings was just one of those days.  The texts just started coming in with people telling us that they couldn't show up and between the 3 sets of missionary's like 90% of the people cancelled.  We were a little frustrated and immediately started thinking about what we're going to do better next week to get everyone there.

Church this week here in my ward was a little crazy and awkward.  Ha-ha it's a long story but in the end we were glad that people cancelled because if not they probably wouldn't come back.  Ha-ha but all in all everything worked out and Sunday turned out to be great.  The lord has a plan for everything and we just need to be in tune and follow the promptings we receive.

I love you all and am so grateful to be on my mission. There truly is nothing greater than being a missionary. This church is so true and I love the spirit that I feel each and everyday. 

Have a great week! 

Love Elder Roper 

September 7, 2015

Hi guys,

I know everyone says this but I can't believe it's Monday again! Lots went on this week.

Wednesday was zone meeting, which was fantastic. The meeting was all about the Book of Mormon, I loved it.   A quote that I left with that I am going to try to apply to my life is that "at some point we must do more than tell the stories of the Book of Mormon, we must live them"  I love reading the Book of Mormon each day and trying to apply the stories that I read to my life.  

Thursday was awesome.  I got to go on an exchange with Elder Elzey down to Logan.  This was just a great day.  It was fun to be with a friend and be able to talk with him about people back home and stories from high school. We got to go up and see this member’s cattle ranch up in the woods, which was fun.  He is going to have us all down later this week to help him with the cows which I can't wait for.

Friday morning we got up and went and helped someone move.  It took a lot longer than we thought so we didn't actually get home to exchange back until dinnertime so we got to spend a lot of time together.  He is an awesome missionary.

Earlier in the week Elder Cox noticed a boil on his butt which hurt him really bad as we biked. So we stopped biking and started walking, which wasn't much better.  He said he had one before and it just went away so I didn't think much of it.  Sunday it got really bad and he was in a lot of pain so we called our mission doctor and he said to go to the urgent care as soon as we could.  So the other elders came and picked us up and we went. We had to wait almost 3 hours to see a doctor.  They ended up cutting it open and now he is on some pills and in even more pain.   We have to go back again later in the week but they said to stay off bikes so we will see how this coming week goes.  Currently my companion is laying face down in bed in pain and can't really walk.  I feel horrible for him but he is a trooper. The best part about the whole thing is with my I pad I secretly filmed the surgery! Ha-ha hopefully soon we will be back up and going.

Well I hope you all had a great week.  Don't have too much fun at Powell with out me! Tell my wakeboard hi for me!:) 

Love Elder Roper

August 31, 2015

Hey family,

How is everyone? 

I honestly don't have a ton to say today.  This week seemed just kind of like a normal missionary week.  We were always biking around talking with everyone. We met a lot of awesome people and hope to start teaching them this week.  We made lots of progress with a bunch of less active families and seem to be getting into a lot of homes that normally don't like us.

Friday we did service for a couple of hours with the other Elders. I got to run a backhoe for a couple of hours and that was pretty awesome! Ha.

The one thing that stands out about this week was on Saturday we had a ward BBQ.  We had an all right turn out.  They only announced it last week so many people already had plans and weren't able to make it.  But as a ward we had lots of families that don't normally come to church that were there so that was fun.

I wish I had more to report.  We have a pretty solid week planned ahead of us that I am looking forward too.  I promise to write more next week. 

I love and pray for you all,

Have a great week,

Love Elder Roper 

August 24, 2015

Hi family,

My week was stressful and crazy and at some points a little frustrating. But in the end it was a glorious week! 

So I kind of got transferred.  I am still training and still with Elder Cox and still in the same ward but they switched up our ward boundaries.  My companion and I had to move into the city of Lancaster into an apartment complex.  We now cover a fairly small area (it's like 10-15 miles across) and no longer have a car.  So Thursday we spent all day moving all of our stuff over to our new place and cleaning our old one.  This was a hard day for me.  It was sad to be losing all of our investigator and less active families that we hard been working so hard with.  I was a little upset at the way things all turned out and just had one of those days.  That night I was just flipping through my iPad and found the talk "Remember Lots wife" by Elder Holland so I thought I would listen to it as I fell asleep.  This talk changed my entire perspective on the whole situation. He talked about the second shortest verse in the bible, Luke 17:32 "Remember lots wife" and the story in the beginning of the bible about lot and his family.

He said that the problem with lots wife wasn't just looking back but in her heart she wanted to go back and looked back longingly.  Before they had even left the city limits she was already missing what Sodem and Gomorrah had offered her.  This is honestly exactly what I was doing. I was missing my old area.  I didn't trust that the lord new what he was doing and just wanted to go back.  The talk goes on for like another hour but it just changed my whole outlook. He said that the past is to be learned from but not lived in. I decided that the next day I would just trust that the lord put me here on bikes for a reason and was going to be diligent and give my all no matter the situation.  So we did!

Friday was a great day. We meet with lots of people and just had an all around good day.  One experience that sticks out was with a less active named Sean.  He is a single dad raising 2 young boys who used to be very active but hasn't been to church in over a year.  We had a great lesson with him on Friday and he asked us to come back the next day so we did.  In short he came to church yesterday and stayed all 3 hours and had a marvelous time. This might seem so simple as you read it but it was a huge testimony builder for me. 

Saturday we had a very similar experience but with a different family. We went and knocked on their door late that night and he invited us right in.  They haven't come to church in forever because he works on Sunday's and she doesn't like to come without him. It just so happens that he has a job interview and Monday and took work off on Sunday to make sure he was all ready for it.  So of course we invite them all to church and with a little push they all committed to come the next morning. Sunday morning when we walked in the chapel there they were.  If he gets this new job he wont work weekends and they can start coming. The lord knows what he is doing.  It all just worked out perfectly.  The lord knew to send us there because he knew he had work off.  Once again this probably seems so small but it is amazing to watch the lord so his wonders.

I had to get on my knees and repent for my attitude toward the whole thing.  My testimony was once again strengthened and I know that this is Christ’s church and that he has a plan for each and every one of us.  Don't forget that! 

Also my good friend Elder Elzey from American Fork just got transferred into my ward so I get to see him several times a week now so that is fun.

I love you all,

Have a great week! 

Love Elder Roper 

Elder Roper and Elder Elzey

August 19, 2015

Hi there everyone. 

Sorry I didn't email on Monday, another transfer has already come and gone so this week p-day is today and transfers are tomorrow. 

I really don't even know where to start with this week! I have never had a week like this on my mission! I had some experiences this week that I will never forget and that have strengthened my testimony and made me remember why I'm a missionary! 

Friday was new missionary training at OSU (Ohio state university) that was a blast!  It lasted all day long and was fun to just be around other missionary the whole day! There were 44 of us there and a lot of them are my friends and people I used to serve around so it was fun to get  to talk with them again! We started off the day contacting people on campus. The new missionary's stayed out there awhile longer while the "trainers" went in and talked with President and together we all counseled about problems that we have had while training and gave advice to others on how we can become better! I love training and love my companion!!  After OSU we all headed to the temple and got to do a session there!! I love the temple and am so grateful for the peace it brings me. I love going and feeling the spirit and learning new things! After the temple we headed to the church and did a ton of role plays and worked on teaching by the spirit! All in all it was a really fun day filled with laughter and the spirit! 

So in my last email I talked about how Elder Cook would be coming this week! Well my mission president wanted this to be a very special meeting for all of us so he asked us to prepare not just spiritual but physically as well! He asked us to look better than we ever have and be ready to meet an apostle! He told us that if we wanted it to be that this meeting could be a highlight of our mission and something that we will never forget! He wasn't kidding! Saturday morning we woke up early and headed back up to Columbus to meet with Elder Cook, Elder Hallstrom, and Elder Titera. Our whole mission was there by 830 in a silent and spirit filled chapel. The meeting started at about 845. He came in and asked if they could shake all of our hands so to start off we all got to go and shake their hands! That was so special!! The spirit they carry with them is incredible! The meeting started and my mission president and his wife spoke for a total of about 10 mins and then he said the rest of the meeting will be spirit led and conducted by Elder Cook! He told us that they didn't prepare anything to teach us but that they wanted the spirit to lead the meeting. He spoke to us for alittle bit and while he was speaking we got to ask questions and he asked us questions. He said that this would help them know what they should talk about. He had us write down 4 things in our journals! 1. We are ward/branch builders. 2. We succeed when we invite regardless of the outcome. 3. We are the message 4. Focus my spiritual power on my teaching, planning and purpose. He talked about those 4 things for alittle while Then he turned to Elder Titera and said you have 15 mins speak on whatever the spirit tells you that they need! He talked about 3 nephi 7:17 and teaching with power. Then Elder Hallstrom spoke. He talked about agency! I love what he said! He said that agency was so important that Heavenly Father was willing to lose 1/3 of his spirit children because of it! Many of the question we asked them were about how we can help people realize our message and the importance of it. He said if you really think about it that it's a miracle that anyone joins our church! Ha he said that most people go to church like twice a year and we ask them to come every week for 3 hours, most people are self centered and we ask them to always be thinking of others, most of them struggle with the word of wisdom and we ask them to quit it and never do it again, most people we teach struggle financially and we ask them to give 10% to the lord. He gave us several other examples but he said that the people are joining at a rapid rate and said it is because of what they feel! They do all of this because of a feeling! Then Elder Cook spoke again. I am out of time but will tell you my favorite part of his last talk. He was telling us that as members of the quorum of the 12 they have spiritual experiences everyday. He said they are told not to brag about them or boast in anyway but said that he wants us to know that he knows the lords voice and knows the saviors face! At this moment I have never felt the spirit so strong in my entire life!! He left us with an apostolic blessing and then ended. (My mission president wrote us later that day and said) "We were overwhelmed at the conclusion of the meeting Saturday, like many of you we found it difficult to sing the closing song because of the effect of the Spirit.  The power of the Apostolic witness and blessing from Elder Cook was real and palpable.  When we stood as Elder Cook departed, it seemed that no one wanted to move or speak, holding on to the powerful witness of the Spirit.  This past weekend will go down as one of the highlights of our mission." I am so grateful for living day Prophets and Apostles! I know that this is Christ church here on earth lead by Prophets of God and that it is true and I am so grateful to be apart of it!  Sorry if I rambled in this letter! I am just happy to be alive!:) 

Kate, Ben and D good luck with school this year!! 

I love you all! 

Love Elder Roper