WEEK #18 - The Death Cow and the Death Deer #OnlyInRita

Hope this email finds all of you well, thanks again for staying in touch with me!

Whatta wack week with weed... haha :)

Plus almost died this week but that's kinda expected to almost happen here in Rita... buckle up for this one

Telephone fun, haha

Monday: November 18th

Great day, went hiking with Elder Garstin. Emailed family, friends, and played piano. We had another killer lesson with Roberta! She seemed ready and excited to meet with us again :) We covered about the role of the Book of Mormon in restoring Truth! She asked us, "Why do you think there are so many interpretations of the Bible?" To which I replied that it was because they didn't have the second witness of the Book of Mormon to clarify the truths taught within, that's why there's a billion churches on the Bible and ONE church that is founded on both the Bible and Book of Mormon: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! A witness of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon can reveal an understanding of all of this to you. :)

Tuesday: November 19th

Woke up at 4:30am and drove to Junction getting there at 7:30... I bought a gallon of Orange Juice to chug so I wouldn't fall asleep and die, haha! I most definitely thank Heavenly Father for His protection over me and Elder Garstin as we drive. Zone Conference was awesome! President Rees definitely has high expectations for all this principle based handbook stuff, I'm excited for it! Afterwards, I got to go on exchanges! My fellow Zone Leader Elder Davis got to come with me to Naturita (yessssss...) and Elder Garstin got sent to the Spanish speaking area, haha. Elder Davis is an amazing Elder, we connected instantly. I drove and we got home round 8:30pm, geez haha. 

Wednesday: November 20th

Happy 20th! ;) Elder Davis and I woke up to RAIN. It's been 2 months since we've had rain. We had a great lesson with Tina and Karen on patience through trials/pressing forward through setbacks. Tina seems to still enjoy our lessons at least! For service, Elder Davis and I got to feel cool and lift wood up and down. We pick dem up and put dem down ;) 

 Exchanges with Elder Davis!

CRAZY STORY:

It had rained all day today so our driveway was REALLY muddy.... do you see where this is going? Haha :) So I'm drivin the Rita Rav and we get down to the valley thinkin all is well... As Elder Davis and I casually talk missionary talk we aren't aware of the impending danger that lies ahead. Nearing one of the ditches, to our sudden amazement both the back wheels start sliding and swerving every which way in the mud! Dirt was flying everywhere, flinging mud onto the windshield, and covering our view! Using my natural 'Rado mountin man blood that began coursing through my veins at 90mph I wrestled with the fishtail back and forth as we near an impending ditch... Elder Davis was crying out for his mom, I was crying out for my mom too but yellin "YEEE HAWW!!" at the same time, making a desperate attempt to bolster some redneck confidence in me. ;)

Finally after spinnin the wheel back and forth a few times the car comes to a stop as we finally regain our bearings. To our amazement there was also a COW 10 feet away in front of our car... we ALMOST hit it, but it was just chillin there and after having this intense and awesome experience one would think you'd move on, right? Well Elder Davis and I were so surprised at when all a sudden this FAT MEAT SLAB infront of us nearly killed us haha! After nearly escaping almost certain death, Elder Davis and I ended up just takin a picture of the cow... We called it the "Death Cow" haha, wonderful...  #OnlyInRita 

(Just so you know this isn't the story where we almost died... keep going ;)

Death Cow... haha

Thursday: November 21st

It was really awesome that in 24 hours I already made such a great friendship with Elder Davis. Sadly we re-exchanged, but Elder Garstin is just as savage ;) 

MIRACLE:

We had an amazing miracle teaching this lady Pam. She had read from the Book of Mormon and fully understood the Restoration. She expressed a desire to be baptism by one holding proper priesthood authority and was willing to learn more about our truths! THEN she ran over to her neighbors house and brought her friend in to meet US! We gave her friend Terra a Book of Mormon and she was very open to learning more how it could help bring her closer to Christ, especially if our Church had the restored priesthood authority! So we were able to start teaching both of them and encourage them to come to church. Elder Garstin and I were SO hyped in the car driving home! We were singin praises to our God to say the least :)  I love flippin Naturita... now for another good part... 

CRAZY STORY:

So we were checking up on a less active family that lives in Rita. So we knock on the door and hear a few people yell, "Come in!" So we open the door and step inside the house only to see 6 people in the house, wide eyed, and WEED EVERYWHERE. Haha!! There was weed on the table, there was weed splayed out on the floor, weed hanging from the walls, I mean there was WEED every step we took. There was three teenagers on the couch all wide eyed goggling at us missionaries while they had pipes and bongs in their mouths! The dad of the family was on the floor smokin weed, he said, "Uhhh... now's probably not a good time guys..." And so we shook their hands and left, haha! I guess they just didn't expect the missionaries to walk in on their "party," I wonder why... ;) 

#OnlyInRita

This explains Rita perfectly...

Friday: November 22nd

Today was really fun, we nailed a THICC pile of plans for weekly planning... haha, that's what Elder Garstin called it ;) I'm so glad I get to serve in the Naturita....

CRAZY STORY: Like.... CRAZY....

I was driving from Nucla to Naturita at 8:15pm to finish some last rounds of people. Strangely enough, every person we talked to during the day told us to be careful on the roads... do you see where THIS is going?? So we dismissed it as something causal, but as we were driving it was pitch dark and there was a car behind us and a car coming from the other lane going REALLY fast. Just talkin with Elder Garstin, all a sudden I heard a giant THUD and see the oncoming car NAIL this huge buck!! The buck was hit so fast it slid across the road spinning like a hockey puck and we almost hit it as its body skidded past us! We then got showered with tons of sparks and peices from the other car's bumper which got shattered. Luckily our car wasn't damaged by the sparks and metal, but we turned around just to see the car that hit the deer speed off towards Nucla, dang! The car swerved really hard and ALMOST hit us head on! I got to call 911 and report the hit n run to the Sheriff who took care of it. That experience right there taught me the importance of being grateful for the Lord's protection and safety over us! We could have hit that deer, the car could have swerved into our lane and hit us, so many worse case scenarios... and yet we were protected. I thank my Heavenly Father deeply for watching over me and Elder Garstin tonight! We called that deer now the "Death Deer" haha. So this week we almost nailed the Death Cow AND the Death Deer!! Holy cow... haha, holy deer as well. #OnlyInRita!

Saturday: November 23rd

Well... my mind is blown. Remember that deer story I just told you about? Well, first thing this morning we put in plans to drop by someone we're teaching named Dan. We wanted to go over cause these past two weeks he's avoided us and stopped progressing. We pull up to his trailerhome and we see Dan, his gf Linda, and another guy all outside around Dan's car and...

DAN WAS THE ONE WHO HIT THE DEER!!!!

WHAT. Yeah, you heard that right, OUR person that we are teaching was the SAME guy who nailed that deer last night!! His whole front bumper was destroyed and pieces were blown everywhere. We asked Dan "what happened" all innocently and he told us that he hit a buck on his way coming back from work! Are you kidding me?! Dan was alright thankfully, but Elder Garstin and I gave each other that, *we know what really happened* look... Dang! Of course it would ONLY happen in Rita where you almost die because someone you were teaching nailed a deer and almost swerved their car into yours. Wow. Thankfully the Lord protected BOTH of us from any further injury, but how CRAZY is it that this happened? Haha, what a crazy miracle...

Sunday: November 24th

Well today was pretty chill. No cows. No deer. No dying. Felt really weird NOT being in mortal danger today, haha! I'm just kidding ;) We taught a few member lessons and had a great time in Norwood. The Spirit hit me like a brick wall when we walked past this random bike shop and I couldn't physically walk past the shop. I was legit stopped in my tracks, so I followed the Spirit and walked into the bike shop! We talked with the owners and they were actually really interested in meeting with us! We setup for next week to come back, what a really cool miracle! I love the guidance Heavenly Father gives ALL of us... we just need to listen!

Flippin awesome frost

Well, Death Cow and Death Deer might want to seek revenge on us this next week, so please pray that they don't... gosh...only in Rita! :)

Love,

Elder LaRose 

P.O. Box 821

Nucla, Colorado 81424

EMAIL: keldon.larose@missionary.org

WEEK #17 - Is It Your Turn To Drive Now?

Hello everyone!

Been an interesting week, I hope you all are doing splendid!

Mom requested a TrailerHome selfie...

Monday: November 11th
Pday!! Woo! I got to show Elder Garstin our PDay routine: wake up, email at the church, finish pday... Haha, dont worry we're planning a hike next week along with a trip back to Telluride sometime this transfer! We decided that daily contact with Tina would be best to help her truly overcome her holdbacks for baptism. Since we kinda threw it down on her Sunday, we went over to check up on her and she looked really overwhelmed. Sensing what needed to happen, I immediately began building a fire in their woodstove and splitting wood for Tina while Elder Garstin began doing the dishes and cleaned her entire kitchen! She was half expecting us to come in and start "preaching Jesus" only to see us just start cleaning and serving her. We spent 2 and a half hours cleaning her house... but it was most definitely what Tina needed! We were also able to talk with her about her final obstacles for baptism, she started crying and said she was scared she wouldn't be able to make it past them. We talked about the video, "Where Justice, Love, and Mercy Meet" and invited her to take that leap of faith over her obstacle and into the awaiting arms of the Savior. I invite you reading this to truly consider what are some of your obstacles in life, whether spiritual or physical, and ask the Savior to strengthen you as you have the faith to overcome them!

 Niki's cute note to her mom

Tuesday: November 12th
My very first district council as the district leader! It went really well, we got a lot done and everyone was excited to see how I would train them :) I already love my District so much! Despite the 5 hours of driving time today, I at least got to practice a lot of singing in the car, haha! My companion probably hates my singing, that must be why he's always asleep... ;) So obviously mission rules state we both have to be awake in the car, but Elder Garstin is still new to it all so he's tired, but I hate to do it to the guy but it's the rules ;) So I love tapping on the breaks a little bit and watching his head fall forward and wake up, haha. Sometimes I'll use my "mom arm" and do the classic *GASP* if there's a squirrel in the road, haha ;) I love Elder Garstin haha

Elder Garstin and I :)

Wednesday: November 13th
Happy Birthday Dad!!! Randy, Rambo, Rantler, Doo doo head.... just some of the nicknames our family has for him, haha ;) I'm saddened I couldn't give you a hug today but I hope you had an amazing day with our family! Today we dropped by this guy who about 10 min into reading the scriptures with him he just says, "Do you guys want my couch?" What. Then he asked if we wanted his TV and his grill, haha. Some people out here and just... different :)
Tonight we got to drive up to Grand Junction for some training I have to go to as a distrcit leader and trainer. We left at 6:30. We got there at 9... Geez, savage! I love long drives nonetheless, but we found out that the road we take to Grand Junction goes OUTSIDE OUR MISSION for about 20 miles!!!! :0 We got to stay the night with the YSA Elders and I got to reunite with Elder Stoddard! Love that Elder.

Thursday: November 14th
I think my body is fed up with sitting... haha! I got to receive some AWESOME training about how to be a trainer, logistics of being a district leader, as well as discussing the principles of being a leader. President Rees gave some great council to us leaders and I definitely received revelation about how to move forward in my District! :) Elder Garstin and I didn't get home until 5:30pm, we stopped by Tina but she had Niki tell us that she was sick and tired. I am so concerned for her, but I must trust in the Lord's timing if we are to best help her! We swung by this crazy lady who told us that rain didn't exist until Noah's Ark and that her soul would be trapped if she got sealed into a jar or casket when she died, haha. Yet again... some people in 'Rita are just different :)

Friday: November 15th
Had a lesson with a guy named Mike, usually we give people we teach an invitation to read a chapter of the Book of Mormon and then leave. Well we gave him to read 3 Nephi chapter 11 and he picks up his book and just started reading aloud to us the ENTIRE chapter, haha! We were able to finally meet up with Roberta again!! I missed her, it's always nice to meet with someone who actually asks questions, seeks understanding, and reads from the Book of Mormon. We had a great discussion about the purpose of temples and family history, Roberta asked some great questions we were able to clarify. We read Helaman 5:47 which as soon as we did this great peace just flooded into Roberta's home, it was wonderful to feel the Spirit once again.

Saturday: November 16th
Today was one of the most spiritually stressful days ever. But without this stress there would be no growth! ;) Basically our day went like this, Dan has started to close his heart off towards us, Tina decided to ask us to stop coming over but said that we could still teach Niki. It obviously saddening but we respect peoples agency (ability to choose what path they want for themselves). Niki is still pretty avid about coming to our church and getting baptized, but we first want to respect the wishes of the parents so we're treading lightly moving forward. Tina told us we have most definitely brought her closer to Christ, and that's all we can do so I'm satisfied.

 Poor fat cat... 

CRAZY STORY:
We were heading to one of our teaching appointments and we knock on the door and this lady comes out. She told us the person we were teaching wasn't there and we asked why... well... she told us that he got ARRESTED and would be in JAIL for 6months to a year!!! WHAT. THE. HECK. What is it with all our people getting arrested?!?! Haha, that's Rita for you ;) We can't get in contact with people for only three reasons: 1. Not home 2. Dont open the door or 3. They get flippin arrested, haha!

Sunset Savage

Sunday: November 17th
Elder Garstin and I were expecting nobody to show up for sacrament but since it was the primary program (little kids get up and sing/tall about Christ) we had 4 nonmembers there we didn't even know! What a great blessing from the Lord. We raked leaves for Peggy, she used to be very against anything about the Church of Jesus Christ but now her heart was softened and she took us out to dinner! She asked if I wanted a milkshake and I said no. Then she asked why with that *old grandma is going to beat you up if you don't get that milkshake* kinda tone and so I quickly accepted her offer... haha! :) We finished the day with talking to the Sickels and I legit just walked in and started talkin about huntin and we had a 20 minute conversation rolling, haha. I love Naturita! This is most definitely my people haha, everyone gets so surprised when they find out I used to live in Cello. So many wonderful people here and I love serving them!

Lotta soreness this week, both being physically and spiritually drained. But that's the beauty of missionary work, you never can growth without tough experiences!

Feel free to email me, I miss you all!

Love,
Elder LaRose

P.O. Box 821

Nucla, Colorado 81424

EMAIL: keldon.larose@missionary.org

WEEK #16 - I. Am. Baffled... Transfer News Chaos... This Is A Good One

I. Am. Spiritually. Sore.

This week was soooooooo stressful with transfers, temporarily staying in the YSA Ward, getting a new companion on Thursday, and then stressing over peoples salvation! Haha, but man we worked hard! I don't think I've ever been more stressed in my life than this week... STRESS is just so stressful sometimes... ;)

Mur'ica

Monday: November 4th
Today was insane! We got to email all the fam and friends <3 27:33="" 45="" :="" a="" about="" also="" and="" answers="" any="" apartment="" application="" are="" as="" asked="" back="" be="" beautiful="" bed="" but="" can="" check="" children="" collapsed="" consider="" cow="" difficult="" discouragement="" discourgament.="" do="" doubt="" elder="" encouraged="" evening="" exhaustion="" family="" father="" feeling="" felt="" find="" for="" forward="" god="" going="" got="" guide="" haha="" haven="" he="" hear="" heart="" heavenly="" help="" helped="" him="" holy="" home="" i="" if="" in="" intently="" into="" invite="" is="" it="" jayden="" just="" keep="" know="" lesson="" life="" listen="" literally="" long="" lord="" me="" missionaries="" mosiah="" my="" nbsp="" needs="" no="" now.="" now="" of="" on="" one="" our="" out="" overcome="" overcoming="" p="" pday="" peace="" people.="" perfect="" physically="" pleasure="" prayerfully="" pressing="" promise="" questions="" read="" relationship="" rely="" retain="" returned="" right="" rm="" s="" satisfied="" savior="" say="" so="" sore...="" spirit.="" spirit="" spiritually="" steps="" stoddard="" stressed="" strong="" t="" taught="" teach="" that="" the="" their="" then="" this="" those="" three="" through="" throughout="" time="" to="" today="" too="" trial="" trials="" two="" uplifted="" verse="" was="" way="" we="" what="" whatever="" when="" whisper="" will="" with="" words="" work="" would="" yet="" you="" your="">
What happens when Elders get free sonic... ft. Elder Tipton

Tuesday: November 5th
Today was combined District council, basically the whole Zone comes together for a big meeting. Except this isn't my zone, haha! I'll be the only Montrose Zone missionary in the Grand Junction Zone meeting. But nevertheless, it was most definitely a revelatory experience. We are getting a new missionary handbook which will be "principles based." This means that instead of 5000 rules to keep us in check we can seek answers to our own questions, seek our own inspiration/revelation, and live by the principles of the Gospel instead of doing and not doing certain things. I love the direction the CDSM is going! We taught a few people at the Institute building and those lessons went really well.

TRANSFER NEWS:
Oh. My. Gosh. You will NOT believe it. President Rees called me himself! (usually only the Assistants do) He told me that I was STAYING in Naturita!! I was so relieved... BUT that's not all... President Rees asked me if I could be the District Leader!!! WHAT?! THEN he ALSO asked if I could be a follow up TRAINER for Elder Garstin! President Rees knew he could trust me with all this, but holy cow I got so stressed. I'll get Elder Garstin on Thursday and we'll head back to Rita, but he has only been out for 6 weeks and I get to train him after myself only being out 3 months haha! Wow. District Leader AND Trainer... this huge weight of responsibility just got placed on my shoulders, but I definitely am excited to serve my District and to serve my companion as their leader this next transfer! Should be very humbling indeed :)

Wednesday: November 6th
Still stressed... we had a mission wide leadership call with President Rees and we went over each Zone and their needs. Also we actually ate breakfast with the William's who are great family friends who live in Grand Junction! That was super awesome to see them :)
Elder Stoddard and I got pretty stressed again trying to organize transfers and plan lessons. We basically have to call every single person who's getting transferred to or from the two zones in Grand Junction. So. Much. Stress. :)

Elder Stoddard

We had a great lesson with Jadon, he is soaking in the message of the Gospel and finding peace and joy because of it!
Have I mentioned stress yet in this email? Haha... ;) Crazy enough we had dinner with some members but they invited over the SISTERS too! It was kinda weird eating dinner with the Sisters there. Really busy day. I think I've lost my appetite for everything, we just have no time to eat. This one lady told Elder Stoddard, "Dont be sad" and then told me, "And you, don't be skinny! You need meat." Savage, I'm not that skinny! Kind of... :)

Thursday: November 7th
Transfer day! We got to the church and got everyone sorted out where they were going. Everyone could see how stressful it was for Elder Stoddard and I to organize everything but once it was I got to meet Elder Garstin! Right off the bat I could tell that he was an awesome missionary who's willing to work hard. He's already pretty familiar with the lessons so training him won't be too difficult, just helping him create a vision for Naturita and helping him develop charity towards those we teach :)


Elder Garstin, my new companion ill train!

We drove 2 hours home, Elder Garstin was very surprised at how rural Nucla is, I just laughed as he saw our flippin AWESOME trailerhome! I swear one of these days I'll retire and be content with living in a trailerhome in the desert for the rest of my life, haha! I took Elder Garstin around to meet a few of our people we teach. Good thing none of them were ARRESTED... haha. We were able to talk with Tina, she's struggling again :( But we got a lesson setup, so please pray that we can keep helping her overcome her trials and find peace in Christ!

Two hour drive anyone??

Friday: November 8th
I initiated Elder Garstin into the Naturita area... which means we ran our driveway in 12° weather haha. We had an amazing lesson with Tina. We set a goal for November 16th for her to be clean from all her addictions so that she can be ready for her baptism on the 30th! We helped her envision getting out of the water and giving her daughters a big hug, she was crying and saying that she could picture that day. I know that Tina can do it! Before I even came to Naturita in August Tina was labeled as a "lost cause," but now she's been changed more than ever by her willingness to leave behind the past and follow her Savior :)

Saturday: November 9th
Elder Garstin and I made top ramen with each other... how's that for comp unity? ;) Today I introduced Elder Garstin to Matt and Jamie! Matt was totally on some spiritual high, haha. But at least we came out smelling like smoke instead of weed. Weed smoke is the worst guys... ;) We went over to Tina's and she had a mental breakdown. She has some really negative feelings towards herself and doesnt think she can meet God's high expectations. We were able to help her realize her worth as a daughter of God, and she said, "I don't want to live like this anymore" and "I can do this." I could see her determination to overcome her trials and hold backs. Satan definitely is working hard on her, especially being so close to her baptismal date. It's like trying to handle hot fire with our bare hands, we'll have to suffer for a bit before we can get her to the right place.

 Dolores River again!

Sunday: November 10th
Drove two hours to Stake Conference... that was fun, good thing I love long car rides! I had an interview with my mission president, President Rees. He is awesome and loves all his missionaries enough to hold them to high standards. We drove home and realized we forgot to get gas so in the middle of Dallas Divide we got the low fuel signal!! :0
But guess what? After a lot of coasting and prayers we made it home (and calculated it) with about 0.064 gallons left in the tank!! Dannnng! ;) Luckily our landlords had some gas at their house when we got there haha. We went over to Tina's house AGAIN. This time she asked some great questions that we were able to discuss. We taught the Restoration, which is how we explain how our church differs from every other one and why it's unique, and we got it boiled down to where Tina told us, "I don't know, I'll have to pray about it." She's really struggling, but that's all we can ask her to do is pray! To seek her own personal revelation and spiritual confirmation of the truths we bring forth to her. That's all we can do, is leave it up to her choice and still respect that decision/support her in whatever path she chooses.

I don't see the stress getting any lower anytime soon, but I'll manage :) It's not like I'm, "Concerned about your Salvation and stuff!"
- Nacho

This month will be the death of me, love you all,
Elder LaRose

WEEK #15 - Goof Proof, and Goodbye Gunson :(

Wow. Rough week. But how else is something going to become smooth without having something rough shaping, sanding, and molding it? :)

Monday: October 28th

We got SNOW! We woke up and Nucla got NAILED with a snow storm! Haha, it probably helped that last night I forsook my bed and slept on the ground with a blanket on the heater. I love floor heaters :) 

Snow Galore

Today we got to finish our thug mugs which we'll pick up on Friday. I also beat Elder Gunson in three games of chess while emailing my family and friends. My brain hurt after so much divided concentration but it was worth it haha. Our lesson with Roberta went well, all she really needs is to come to church and feel connected with the Gospel! :)

Goodbye Elder Gunson!

Tuesday: October 29th

Today was a GREAT day for many reasons! First off, as I was driving up through Ridgeway I saw a funny sign on someone's car that said, "Have Better Days So Children Haveit Easier" Haha, what a goofy motto, but I for sure love it!  My parents most definetly would love that sticker, haha :) Then, we had an awesome district council. Sadly, it's the last one before Elder Gunson is going home! Next I got to go on exchanges with Elder Berry again in my area here in 'Rita. We drove the 2 hours home through the snowy Dallas Pass. BEAUTIFUL. The drive took soooo long that Elder Berry and I grew facial hair... haha! ;) Enjoy the following pictures...

Wednesday: October 30th

Woke up with the weather saying, "10° feels like 1°" AWESOME :) Elder Berry and I got to have a lesson with Tina! Last time in my last weekly she wasn't doing too hot. She told us, "I just want to be better" and she realized that she WAS deserving of the Savior's love! She also told us she wanted to get baptized and finally fix how she "messed up [her] whole life, family, and love." I'm so glad to see that hope and peace has finally been restored in her life :)

CRAZY STORY:

We had a scheduled dinner appointment at 5pm so we went over to their house..... we found out that the person who was supposed to feed us dinner got ARRESTED! WHAT. Holy cow! Well that happened.... again... Let's just say that we ate dinner at the trailerhome instead today... 

Thursday: October 31st

Happy Halloween! Today we got to drive back to Montrose and reexchange. Since it was Halloween we had to be home by 6pm so Elder Gunson and I cooked some Ramen (yummm).  So what does one do with 5 and a half hours of time in Naturita?? You build a fire in the wilderness. And sit by it. Haha :) We burned a buncha Elder Gunson's stuff and I read my scriptures by the fire like a savage... PERFECT scenery! Nothin beats chillin by a campfire in the middle of the desert by your trailerhome readin the word of God.... ;)

Savage Rita Man...

Fire...

Friday: November 1st

Wait it's November already? Today went by very fast, we taught Kyla Hood who is SO ready for baptism! She loves the Book of Mormon and knows it's true, we'll keep working with her.  We had our last lesson with Roberta with the "Guns 'n Roses" team :) Roberta was sad to see Elder Gunson going, but excited that I'm staying. She loves reading the Book of Mormon, it really is a powerful book! You reading this should give it a try ;)

This is Roberta!

Did someone say trunky?

Saturday: November 2nd

Went around saying goodbye for Elder Gunson to a lotta people. We got to see MATT and JAMIE!! They are finally back from court and good news they are getting their baby back on the 15th. They've seemed to have gone through some crazy stuff lately, but Matt was stoked to see us again. He didnt hesitate to light up his bong and smoke some weed in our faces... nice ;) Basically my "mission smells" consist of smelling like dogs, smoke, and weed. That about sums it up, haha! 

The Legendary Matt

Today I got to drive on HW 141 up from Nucla to Grand Junction, such a beautiful drive. I get to stay with my temporary companion Elder Stoddard who is a Zone leader in the Grand Junction YSA Ward! (Young Single Adult Ward age 18-31) 

Sunday: November 3rd

Today. Was. Wack.

I got my last goodbye in for Elder Gunson, he was such a great trainer. Taught me a lot that I'll never forget. Plus he also got me into the habit of saying, "narly!" Haha :)

*cue the sad music*

A YSA ward is SOOO different than flippin Naturita! I haven't felt this confused or overwhelmed in a while haha. I came from a branch of 40 old people, now there are at least 50+ young adults all around me. Haha, I guess I'm just used to old people in the middle of the desert. :) Sunday was awesome, I bore my testimony on the power of Peace and it's role in my life. Peace is one of those emotions that is coexistant. That means, peace can truly exist in our state of joy and happiness as well as in our times of sorrow and trial. I love Peace, especially since our Savior is the Prince of Peace and can bring it into our hearts as we follow Him! For the rest of the night it was going from one thing to another, this way and that, awesome classes and great meetings. I haven't been THIS stressed, even for a different area! Great day though, I love Elder Stoddard. He is an awesome leader and I hope I can serve with him full time someday. 

Crazy week, this upcoming week will be full of YSA stuff, transfer calls, transfers/new companion and then finally and hopefully returning back to my beloved Rita! :)

Love you all,

Elder LaRose 

P.O. Box 821

Nucla, Colorado 81424

EMAIL: keldon.larose@missionary.org