WEEK #36 - The Junctionites

What a crazy crazy week, I can't even to begin to explain all the miracles the Lord is bringing to this mission! Trust in Him.

Also, I called this weekly The Junctionites because that's the name we came up with for both the Zones we run in Grand Junction, haha!

Monday: March 23rd
Great pday! I learned a lot of new things... ;) We had a District call and Sister McEwan gave her departing testimony. It is so so sad to see 14 wonderful missionaries sent home because of health risks. That put a huge hole in the mission, but I know the Lord is very protective of His missionaries and mindful of the world's situation. All will work our in His timing though.

Goodbye Elder Jorgenson

Tuesday: March 24th
We had to drop off another Elder at the airport. That was really hard to see him go. We took his companion Elder Wade in with us. He'll be staying for the rest of the transfer and we'll be in a trio of Zone leaders! Crazy! Now we have to run two areas, Land's End and GJ YSA. Lots of work, but it's pushing us to become better!
We had great virtual lessons with Danyel and Angela, still so weird teaching via technology! But I know the Lord has made it become a blessing for us all to stay in touch :)

What we do everyday... :)

Wednesday: March 25th
Had a lot of meetings today, but we were able to have lessons with a lot of YSA people.

Thursday: March 26th
Taught 5 lessons today, we have lots to do granted that we aren't walking around talking to people haha. We actually taught Hank and Stacy too!

Friday: March 27th
Great planning, we taught Justin more about the importance of the Restoration. We spent all day in our apartment. So weird, but the Lord is blessing His missionaries who excersize patient faith in Him!

Saturday: March 28th
More lessons with Justin, Angela, and Danyel. I'm sorry this is so lame I don't have much time haha. I'll do better I promise! :)

Sunday: March 29th
We had a unique experience having the sacrament in our own apartment. We didn't have any cloths to cover it so we ended up using Elder Samojlas Chicago flag on bottom and my Colorado flag on top for a covering. The sacrament has such a great importance in my life! Being able to remember the Savior each week and each day just brings greater joy, growth, and learning!

**Keldon will most likely GO LIVE on FACEBOOK every sunday around 7pm MST. Look for it on his or his companion "Cordon Wade"'s FB page.

What a great and crazy week! Sorry, I'll write more next week haha. Ya goofs :)

Love,
Elder LaRose

2946 D Rd. Apt #D-3

Grand Junction, CO 81504

Mailbox - #15

keldon.larose@missionary.org

WEEK #35 - "We're FBI Agents Now..."

Hello everyone! This week was insane. No worries, me and Elder Samojla are working hard and staying focus in what matters most right now... that is trusting Heavenly Father! :)

Also, shoutout to my cousin Kennedy who got called to serve in the Milan Italy mission!! Woo!! #Squaw

Monday: March 16th
Today was a historical pday! We had very limited options, just email and emailing. I love it though and look forward to emailing every week. It's like missionary mail :) We had an all mission zoom meeting..... from now on NO MORE Tracting!!!! Ahhhhh, dang it! We also can't go into ANY home with people younger than 15 or older than 60. Sorry mom, that includes you ;) Dang, that literally wiped out almost 80% of our members that we go by. The Lord definitely has some interesting plans ahead for this mission, and for His church!

Virtual Training!

Tuesday: March 17th
Had our very first VIRTUALLY combined district council! It legit felt like being a news reporter with Elder Samojla haha. We trained on the mission culture (what wordly things we should consecrate and sacrifice to be better disciples) and on how to hit our key indicators. This is a picture of a funny roleplay I did with Elder Samojla in front of the Zone about how floral ties, and dressing strangely is against the standards and we need to represent our Savior Jesus Christ respectfully. No florals, oof, that hurt. But thank you all for the floral tie birthday presents! I'll gladly stare at them now :)

 Anyone care to explain?

We had a virtual lesson with Danyel which was weird not to be in person. And Angela is 52 so we met with her and had a very powerful lesson on the Restoration and Joseph Smith!
Sad Story:
We met an amazing 86 year old man named Craig last week. He asked us nicely for a Book of Mormon when we were at dinner with him at some member's house. We gave him the Book and he looked SO happy... he told us, "Give me 4-5 weeks and I'll read it. Thank you so much Elders!" Well, today we found out he passed away from cancer. My heart reaches out to those who suffer and have suffered in the like manner. The Lord heals all broken hearts <3

Wednesday: March 18th
We had virtual interviews and virtual MLC. So much virtual stuff. We got to talk to our neighbor who actually took a Book of Mormon and is interested! Today me and Elder Samojla walked around feeling like stalkers, haha! We literally park in our flippin mom van with aviators and people watch. Then we scramble out of the car and speed walk to try and talk,to them, haha! I love my companion so much, we are such idiots together :)

 Elder Samojla, the Stud

Thursday: March 19th
Our ENITIRE mission just got put on semi-quarantine.... gosh, this is going to hard to do missionary work but it'll make it all worth it! We had exchanges with the APs which basically means we video call into each other's lessons for the day. We had another lesson with Danyel and it was FOUR missionaries on one call with him. We hammered him with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and at the end he prayed for the strength to tell his mom he wants to get baptized! I am so excited for him :)

Friday: March 20th
Happy happy 20th! Been so long... today we were able to plan, and plan... and then plan some more. Then we decided to change things up and plan how we planned. I swear, I wouldn't survive this whole quarantine Corona thing without the crazy things me and Elder Samojla do, haha! I'm getting used to this new tech way to do missionary work, but our Zone has already seen so many blessings from it. We now have 5 more people willing to be baptized, and they were all through technology! The Lord's work must press on!

Saturday: March 21st
Today was long. We got another set of restrictions from our mission president today due to the Corona Virus. We no longer can talk to ANYONE in person. We can't walk around and OYM (Or, open your mouth) so we just have to smile and wave basically. So our proselyting efforts are now entirely through technology. Me and Elder Samojla are definitely going to have to get used to this! It's crazy, during the first FOUR days me and Elder Samojla were companions we talked with over 187 people!! We averaged talking to 48 people a DAY. But, the Lord blesses His people in mysterious ways, so we keep pressing forward.

Fine, I won't take your bread
Sunday: March 22nd
Today was INSANE. We got Angela the sacrament and Danyel came too! They both are progressing pretty well, please pray for them. We also got a MISSION WIDE emergency transfer. 14 of our beloved missionaries were sent home early today because of health risks. Meaning, Elder Samojla and I are taking over the Grand Junction West Zone as well as our own Zone. We will now be in a Zone Leader trio and cover the entire CITY of Grand Junction! Wow. We'll be over 34 missionaries and about 80% of Western Colorado because I'll be serving in the GJ YSA as well. This is going to be some insane times. This is history that we are living in... so make sure to write in your journal! :)

District Sacrament! (President said we all have to be 6 feet apart haha)

Crazy week, I love it though. The hard work of the Lord is SO worth every trial and setback. Stay safe everyone!

Love,
Elder LaRose

2946 D Rd. Apt #D-3

Grand Junction, CO 81504

Mailbox - #15

keldon.larose@missionary.org

WEEK #34 - "This is going to be a trazy cransfer..."

Sooooo.... first, welcome back! The headline of this email explains it all... it's transfer week! That was a funny quote I said about what was going to happen for transfers, haha. We'll see what happens...

*Also, update on whatever the heck this Corona stuff is, as for the state of Colorado, we are now in a State of Emergency. There are over 50+ cases in Denver and the cases are spreading and moving more and more west towards Grand Junction. The closest to us has been 9 cases in Gunnison. Luckily we haven't been hit yet. Our mission president has terminated all handshaking and is considering possible quarantine for all missionaries if the Western Slope starts showing more and more cases. So far I am healthy, me and my companion have doused ourselves in hand sanitizer, haha! My prayers continually go out to those impacted, especially to my cousin Anziano Barnes serving in Milan, Italy. Keep safe

Monday: March 9th
Ok, today was all over the place. Got to play bball with the Zone again and then go antler hunting! We drove all the way out to Whitewater but found nothing.

Antler hunter

We then got a call from the APs, sadly we have to take one of the Elders in our Zone home early. We drove him to the airport and dropped him off with his mom. That was weird to be back in an airport and see an Elder return home early. He will be missed. We took on Elder Barson as a temporal third companion, he's awesome. We taught Elijah again and he exclaimed that he was seeing progress in his relationship with God! Such a cool experience to help build someone's relationship with God when for their whole life they've lived in doubt of His love.

Tuesday: March 10th
We had an amazing lesson with Hank and Stacy. He opened up to us about his recent trials and we gave him a priesthood blessing! The Spirit was very calming and peaceful in that home, that was much needed for them. We then had a lesson with a guy who was totally high on meth and pain pills. His eyes were shot and he couldn't focus at all. So weird to see how differing our lessons can be each day, haha. Today we also got transfer news!! So Elder Kofford is being transferred to Rifle and I'll be staying with my new companion........ Elder Samojla!! OH. MY. GOODNESS. He was my first Zone Leader in the mission, and now he is my companion! He is such a stud. Absolute stud. I can't wait to start a new transfer with him.

Elder Samojla!! (When our tire was flat)

Wednesday: March 11th
Today we worked in Fruitvale with Elder Barson and then headed over to a very powerful lesson with Angela. At first things were really chaotic but once we started teaching the Spirit of calmness entered into the room and we were able to put Angela on date for baptism! The Spirit bore powerful witness to her that she could overcome her past grief and trials by following the example of our Savior and being baptized. I LOVE the Spirit so much! I usually feel a great burning of warmth in my chest and it's such a sweet feeling. The Lord's work is moving forward!

Thursday: March 12th
Transfer day! As soon, and I mean as soon as I saw Elder Samojla we both ran at each other and gave one another a big hug. Immediately we got so hyped for this next transfer!! We couldn't stop! :) We went out and worked and in a matter of 4 hours we were able to talk to 52 people!! Dannnng, we could've got more but at 7pm we got a flat tire that shut our day down. We were still hyped like two 4 years old who just ate a 5lb pack of gummy bears and we noticed that while our tire was getting fixed that there was a lady in the car next to us in the gas station parking lot who was smoking a bong and watching some bad things. So what did we do? We talked with her and was able to place a Book of Mormon! Savages. With me and Elder Samojla just slayin it we totally didnt even check our phones. One of our Elders in the Zone called us and asked if we had checked our emails. We were in the middle of tracting haha. They told us that church was temporally suspended... WORLDWIDE! We sunk to our knees... woah, we are living in history right now. Nothing like this has ever happened. We said a prayer and then got back to work. I know the Lord is mindful of His people, have faith in Him!

 We prepared for anything ;)

Friday: March 13th
We got our tire changed then had a mission wide Zoom meeting where we talked about more the Corona Virus and how the work will still move forward. Luckily no one is quarantined in our mission, and now we can't touch anyone haha. Also, sacrament will have to be administered in people's homes. Crazy crazy times we live in! Me and Elder Samojla worked hard today. He's such a stud companion, feels like I'm companions with my brother that's how awesome it is haha!

Saturday: March 14th
Today we had a powerful lesson with Angela! We brought a trash bag and she threw away her coffee! Hey, honestly the whole point is to fully depend on the Lord. He loves you, but He wants you to turn to Him :) SOO proud of Angela, she is finding a lot more peace in her life as she learns and lives more of Christ's Gospel.
*Corona update, there is a confirmed case in Mesa County. Meaning, somewhere close to somewhere I am there is a case of the virus. Elder Samojla and I bought like 5 packs of hand wipes, haha! Also, I think I'm going to have to get used to top ramen for a while. I really really don't want to be quarantined. But, either way the Lord will hasten His work! :)

Woah...

*Another update, our mission now is actually semi-quarantined. Meaning we have a few areas in our mission that are quarantined completely like Rifle, Frisco, Aspen, and others. They have to stay inside all the time.

Sunday: March 15th
Today. Was. History. I got to conduct my very own sacrament meeting! That was so weird! We were able to go to the Guslers home and bring Angela so she could take the sacrament.

The Guslers & Angela

Then I conducted the sacrament meeting in the Baldwins home so Danyel could get the sacrament too. Me and Elder Samojla also gave talks too, haha! This day will live in infamy in my life. We also were able to talk with 50 people, place 5 Books of Mormon, AND pick up 5 new people to start teaching – all today! The Lord truly truly brings miracles upon the faithful, the patient, and the diligent. Glad I can work day and night with my companion to achieve such goals. Also had a few dogs try and bite me and Elder Samojla... nice! :)

There's a cat... in church...!!

Please be safe, read your scriptures, eat your cereal, (preferably Lucky Charms ;) and have a great week!

Love,
Elder LaRose

2946 D Rd. Apt #D-3

Grand Junction, CO 81504

Mailbox - #15

keldon.larose@missionary.org

WEEK #33 - Elder Cake Face

Hello everyone! I hope and pray that this week has brought you closer to our Messiah. 

Flippin Yeet!

Monday: March 2nd

I can't remember who's birthday it was today, but there was someone I was supposed to give a shout out to today. Oh well, I think he turned 19 and is in the Colorado Denver South Mission so if any of you guys know him, tell him happy birthday. Haha ;) Today I got to talk with the family, the goofs. It was great to see them today and talk with those I love! 

Talking to the goofs with my new hoodie

We went over to the Chamberlains for dinner and they made a strawberry shortcake for me. Then, Sister Chamberlain smashed a piece of the cake in my face, haha! The cake was ALL over my face, it was hilarious. I think the video of that is on my mom's facebook if you want to see. It was definitely an unforgettable day, I don't think I'll ever have another birthday as this one. Great day!

Elder Cake Face

Tuesday: March 3rd

Today we were also walking down a dark street at 8pm and Elder Kofford said he wanted to race me. So we did. He's such a goof! I know a lot of goofs... ;) Oh, and I won by the way haha. Sometimes, as a missionary, you race each other... just for fun. :) We had a great lesson with Danyel where we compared life to fishing and explained how we must avoid the temptations of life. He's progressing quite well. 

Dinner at Chamberlains

Wednesday: March 4th

Got a couple of "Hail Satan's" thrown at us today. I'm not even mad at them anymore, just sad at their poor decisions they make in life. All is good though, we taught Carol again and she's a stud! She read the first 6 chapters in the Book of Mormon and has a strong desire to read the whole thing and know if it is true. What greater gift has God given us than more Word of His Son? So many people don't see this. The Book of Mormon is the word of God, and working together with the Bible, testifies that Jesus is the Christ and our Savior! Dang Gina, amen. 

What happens during phone audits

Thursday: March 5th

Today was a special Zone conference of FIVE zones! That means I got to see the Naturita Elders :) We had Shane Littlefield, a former mission president come and speak to us about how to improve as missionaries, being more effective, and how to engage members too. Everything about it was a really great training, I'm excited to continue to consecrate myself in the service of the Lord! There is no work more important in the world today than gathering Israel. Afterwards we found three potential people to work with and gave them all copies of the Book of Mormon. Such a great opportunity to be a missionary these days!

 Elder Sheets finishing his mission

Friday: March 6th

Today was MLC with Shane Littlefield in Avon, CO. It was amazing to be in a room full of such great leaders as them. We really confronted a lot of concerns in the mission and it was a very powerful and spiritual experience. We talked about changing the culture of the mission to be more focused on missionary work. It's so true that we have to set the example if we expect others to follow in suit. Just like the Savior, He wants all of us to follow Him! How did He do that? By setting the example and undauntedly striving to accomplish His purpose. Follow His example, walk with Him hand in hand, and trust in His will. ;)

 Elder Tesch

FUNNY STORY:

Elder Kofford and I were walking in the street by these apartments and someone opened their door. All a sudden these two dogs just flippin bullet run out of the house barking and running directly towards us! Elder Kofford screamed and ran behind the car, and I just turned to look and saw these two tiny dogs that weren't even intimidating at all, haha! Elder Kofford got so embarrassed that he ran from those tiny dogs. Great day

Saturday: March 7th

Today I got to go on exchanges with Elder Ashby in the Grand Mesa area. We cover Clifton, Palisade, and Colbran. He is an awesome Elder, I admire his dedication to the Gospel and to missionary work! We worked alot in Palisade and picked up 8 potentials. 

Exchanges with Elder Ashby!

Despite the warm weather, Palisade is wack! I had this little pug nipping at my leg and then it BIT me! What! Dogs are the worst on missions, especially Colorado. Another guy yelled at us, "I should've warned you. He's a pagan buddhist!" and then gave us cans of green tea. We also moved in a dishwasher for this person while their entire house was blasting dubstep music. 

And to finish it up, the member dinner we had just turned into the members talking to just themselves all about WEED and their weed farming business... heck! Haha, today was an interested day, but I'm glad to have worked with Elder Ashby. 

Sunday: March 8th

Today two people we are teaching, Hank and Stacy, made it to church! That was a blessing. We then ZOOM called into a big meeting with Elder Wong from the Seventy. He's back! He came in September, but now he's back to roast us all again on how bad we are doing :) He taught us alot more good principles that we'll have to apply into each of our zones in the coming days. 

Crazy crazy week, we'll see what transfers this next week brings us! 

Love you all,

Elder LaRose

2946 D Rd. Apt #D-3

Grand Junction, CO 81504

Mailbox - #15

keldon.larose@missionary.org

WEEK #32 - The Power of the Book of Mormon! And Bleached Hair...

Hello everyone! If you read anything in this email read this: The Book of Mormon is true... please, read it :)

Monday: February 24th

Great play, got to play bball with the Zone and talk with my family. I love them all so much! All the goofs... ;) Elder Kofford also taught me how to rope on the dummy cow! I swung the rope around my head and roped the back legs and everything haha. You can consider me a full blown cowboy now... :) For the rest of the day we scrambled and stressed trying to get a bunch of reports in that our district leaders hadn't collected. I love missionary work!

Service day!

Tuesday: February 25th

Went to the E 1/2 district council. They were surprised to see us. We drove out to Whitewater for a little bit of missionary work there. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Book of Mormon! I try and reference to it at every door we knock and explain to people that it truly is another testament of Jesus Christ. There is SO much peace, guidance, joy, and purpose we can find therein as we study the words of so many of the Lord's prophets and disciples. I encourage each of you reading this email to truly "treasure up the words of life" that are contained in the Book of Mormon. If you have a testimony of the Book of Mormon, then turn it into a conversion. Nothing will last in these latter days except for what we are converted to, so if you aren't converted to Jesus Christ and His restored Gospel... to time to begin is now. 

I want all that honey! ;)

Wednesday: February 26th

Had a good MLC call with President Rees. Then we did some service and packaged enough food to feed over 2,000 kids in need! It's always such a blessing seeing how much our service actually means to others - and to God! :) We had great lessons with Danyel and then with Angela. Both are progressing super well, I hope to continue to help them along the Lord's path of discipleship!

Thursday: February 27th

Saw a Connecticut license plate driving by. Who from Connecticut would be in Grand Junction of all places?! Oh wait... that's me. We taught Dayrest who was really motivated to commit to learning more in the Gospel. We are glad that she is willing to progress!

A missionary's worst nightmare

Friday: February 28th

We had an interested lesson with Christie. I really thought she was solid, until she started expressing to us that she no longer could put any heart into the Book of Mormon or even the Bible. She told us she had many questions of the soul that weren't answered, and all I could do was promise her that the only way she could receive answers to those questions, and figure out what really is truth, would be to move forward with a sincere study of the Book of Mormon. That is the entire purpose of the Book of Mormon: to draw us closer to our Savior Jesus Christ as we discover more truth about Him. She told us she decided to remain in confusion and not seek the help that this wonderful book of scripture offers her. Pray for her please. We got home and Elder Kofford thought he could be macho man and told me he could kick the ceiling with his foot. Too bad I didn't get video of this, but let's just say Elder Kofford was NOT able to kick the ceiling with his foot, haha! ;) Us missionaries are crazy. 

 Sunset :)

Saturday: February 29th

This day won't happen again for another four years, dang gina! Got to go on exchanges today with our DL. Me and Elder Oakes worked hard today and picked up two people to teach.

CRAZY STORY:

We went to a members house for dinner and we had hamburgers.... it turns out that MY hamburger just so happened to be the ONLY one that was placed on the edge of the grill and not the center. This meaning that the flame couldn't reach my hamburger enough to cook it. I was sitting in the home and the member gave me this hamburger with all the toppings on it too. I thanked them for preparing it for me and took a big bite of the hamburger. Everything looked fine until I looked down at my hamburger and realized it was RAW. The edges were brown but the ENTIRE middle was pink and red....I ate a flippen raw hamburger! My stomach did not feel good after, hopefully the members didn't notice me sneak the half eaten raw burger into the trash... haha!

Also, this one member was staring at me very observingly and blurted out this... "You look German. He's a Nazi! He looks straight like Hitler's son! You look a lot German. Thin hair, eyes that sink in, the nose, small lips big smile. You're German." She laughed when I told her I bleached my hair for wrestling and kept roasting me for looking like a German. Hey! Germany is awesome. My dad lived there for a bit and served his mission there! Love you Dad :)

Sunday: March 1st

Happy March! I don't have any bias, but March is totally the best month of the year... ;) Haha! Church was good, I always really love the sacrament. We had Angela come to church! She is progressing SO well, her family is very supportive of her and the ward just completely welcomes her in. She told us, "Imma stay forever" when asked about how much she likes church. We are making progress! We had to roll out a ton more reports to the district leaders cause our mission reports is all moving to google sheets. What a wild time to be a missionary!

Great and stressful week, doesn't seem to be slowing down though. Oh well, press forward. 

Love,

Elder LaRose

 My NEW ADDRESS is:

2946 D Rd. Apt #D-3

Grand Junction, CO 81504

Mailbox - #15

keldon.larose@missionary.org