Keldon LaRose Mission: WEEK #9 - "I Looked at the Sun...It Hurt"

A few realizations before I start:

- Just realized that my trailer home is PINK haha :)

- Also realized that no matter how many times you look at the sun it's still going to burn your eyes... haha *slaps forehead*

Just chilling with the comp eating bacon sandwich

Anyways, great week this week, I hope you all continue to enjoy reading them but my invitation to you all is to read the Book of Mormon. It's such a powerful book and has changed my entire life! It tells me how I can follow Christ more in my life and gain great blessings through becoming a member of His true church. Don't be afraid to begin this path! God will help you know what is right :)

Monday: Septemeber 21st

Today for pday we went to this shop and I saw a big half American half Colorado flag wooden picture.... my weakness haha. I bought it. I got to email a lot of goofy people and family as well ;) I love you all and love hearing from all of ya! We had a lesson with Tina and she told us "I need to commit." What a powerful statement! What do you need to change in your life so that you can more fully commit to the Gospel? Where can you begin? Ask the missionaries! :) Haha, we also had a lesson with Roberta again. I love her she's so cool, shes like another grandma to me now haha. She opened up to us about her past and the Spirit was there strongly in the lesson comforting her, she's been progressing really well. :)

Tuesday: September 17th

CRAZY STORY:

Oh my gosh, some people! Elder Gunson and I were in Norwood knocking houses and we knock on this one mans house and he opens the door and immediately rolls his eyes in pure disgust the instant he sees us and tries to shut the door of us. But his REALLY big St. Bernard got in the doorway and was trying to go outside. Elder Gunson helped the man push the dog back inside only to have the man slam the door on Elder Gunson's hand! Gosh, we walked away from the house down the road and turn around to see the SAME big dog we just helped get in coming out right at us. In an instant it snapped and the big dog started attacking Elder Gunson! We bolted out of there but luckily he wasn't hurt. Dang gina! Some people are just flat out rude sicking their dog on us, haha oh well, mission life! :)

Wednesday: September 18th

Today was AWESOME. We met Elder Wong of the Seventy. Basically he is a very important one of the leaders in our church. We were in Grand Junction and he taught us an unforgettable lesson on 1. Humility 2. Working diligently and unified 3. Working with the members in our area and 4. How to become better disciples of Christ. Elder Gunson and I, being from Nucla, had a 2 hour drive back and didn't get home till 9pm haha. We had a lot of time to talk in the car.

Sunsets.... :)

Thursday: September 19th

Today we taught Tina again about the parable of the sower in Matthew 13! We talked about some "weeds" in our life that are growing in our spiritual gardens and are choking our testimony. Tina has really come far and I think she really can see the light at the end of all our struggles she's dealt with for years. We did some service for the Sarffs and we got to stack wood! Yay! Haha, I despised stacking wood as a kid but once Elder Gunson saw how neatly I stack every piece of wood he stopped stacking and just gave the pieces to me to stack haha. They all fit like legos so I love stacking wood now. It's great being able to dedicate two years of your life to just serving others full time. To help them come closer to Christ by getting rid of harmful habits and to reach out to those who need to feel of God's love for them. I hope I have done this for some of you who are reading this. I hope that in the time I knew you that I reached out to you when you were struggling, I hope that you saw something in me that was different. I hope you see the blessings of living a righteous life, please do not succumb to the temptation of living a casual life. If you still need help, dont be afraid to reach out to me and especially to those around you. That's the whole point of my mission and the whole point of being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ. Come, follow Christ and you will find peace in Him. :)

Friday: September 20th

Happy 20th! Twas a good day, we talked with Matt and Jamie again :) They are the infamous "weed story" people haha, I love them so much! We were at their house and a 16yr old kid is there, his eyes are straight red, and he's smoking weed right in our faces. When we left I told Elder Gunson, "I smell like weed" cause our clothes reeked haha! All I had was a deodorant stick so we rubbed it on our white shirts so we didn't have to suffer smelling the weed that is engrained in our clothes haha. We basically wear a shirt that smells the least like weed each day, thank goodness for washers and detergent haha!

Saturday: September 21st

Today there was the Naturita Blues and Folk Festival! We got to talk to a lot of people and invite them to church :) It was a very nice day, I cant believe how fast time is going by but I love soaking in all the time that I have here. As crazy as people are here I'm not that much different so it works out haha ;)

Sunday: September 22nd

I got to give a talk today about missionary service! I wonder why... :) It was great, we brought an Mark who we've been teaching for a few weeks. As soon as I finished my talk he got up and walked the 5 MILES back to Nucla! What? Haha, maybe he needed some reflective time. We had dinner with the Dyers and thankfully Jasper wasn't running around the house butt naked today :)

Telluride Pic ;)

Monday: September 23rd

Today was AWESOME. We were actually able to visit Telluride for pday!! It is SOO beautiful and I would highly recommend coming. The elevation at town level is 8,750 ft and the peak is 13,320 ft!! Dang, I love it up here!