WEEK #53 - 1 Year Up, 1 Year to Go!

Dang Gina. What an incredible week! 

"We didn't come this far to only come this far"

Monday: July 20th

AWEsome day today!!! Happy happy 20th! :) What an amazing time to be alive, I'm so excited! Why you ask? Because Heavenly Father is just an amazing Father. He understands us. He loves us. And He sees the desires of our hearts, so walk hand in hand with Him. I'm personally grateful for the direction that God has given me in my life, I know many many blessings are going to come from following His will faithfully :)

Suit Up!! :)

Tuesday: July 21st

CRAZY CRAZY STORY:

We have some very crazy neighborhood kids. Me and Elder Samojla were out on a walk and one of the kids left their wallet on the ground. Elder Samojla picked it up and gave it back to her and we walked away. 5 minutes later we're in the middle of teaching on online lesson and we start hearing just pounds on the door!! The doorbell was going crazy too so we run down there and the kids are out there. Then they straight accused Elder Samojla for stealing 3 dollars from their wallet!!! WHAT?! Are you kidding me? Elder Samojla gave them 3 dollars and told them to never talk to us again... holy cow! Some people these days. 

Wednesday: July 22nd

All mission trainings are fun, me and Elder Samojla did a funny skit to illustrate some Gospel principles. Got to have another lesson with my aunt Staci, she's so awesome and asks a lot of good questions!

Thursday: July 23rd

We had another mini transfer and helped sort things out. Unity is so important to everything. You have to be united with your companion, and with the Spirit. That's the best way to be happy :)

Friday: July 24th, YEAR MARK!!!

One Year pictures!

Wow. I cannot believe it. Thank you so much for everyone who's been following along my journey and is supporting me! I've learned SO much in this past year already. Last YEAR I said goodbye to a loving family, plus many others who've been my support. I've learned many tough lessons out here, but I wouldn't hesitate to go through it all again. I do this for my Savior. I do this for Him. And I serve others because I love Him! Thank you again to everyone who's been right here next to me throughout my journey. I haven't gone far (hence my only two areas of Naturita and Lands End) but I've for sure gone a long ways in my Discipleship to Him... and that's what's most important to me <3 Today I got to train the whole mission again in a cool Facebook Bootcamp meeting. Also got a surprise aud. too, thank you! Great day!

This is the best I've got... sorry :)

Saturday: July 25th

Got to meet with a few missionaries in our area pages for Facebook, it's great to talk to others and help them figure out how to work on Facebook. We had a good Council meeting today as well, so many things to get done! They're thinking of calling more admins for us to train to help me and Elder Samojla out cause we're literally the worst Facebook Specialists haha! ;)

Sunday: July 26th

We got to go to church! It was so good seeing all the ward. They were so shocked to see the Lands End 2 Elders with us. Four missionaries together is pretty crazy, haha! Elder Ashby and Elder Hemming introduced themselves with their testimonies. Always good to have the sacrament, it's such a great symbol of the sacrifice that Christ did for us. Some people ask why would He do that? Why for me? It's because He loves you, and wants you to become a better person. :) 

Samojla Selfie

CRAZY STORY:

The power in our entire complex blew out last night!! It was pitch dark and everyone walked outside to see what was up. Good thing flashlights are a thing. It made me grateful for power and electricity and how functional/dependent we are on it. The Lord loves to bless us with technology, we just need to appreciate it a little more!

 The new order!

This was a great week. Hit many milemarks and can't be more excited than ever! Stay strong. Stay loved. 

Love you all,

Elder LaRose 

2946 D Rd. Apt #D-3

Mailbox - #15

Grand Junction, CO 81504

keldon.larose@missionary.org

WEEK #52 - Fifty-Two Weeks in Naturita and Lands End!

So weird that I hit my year mark in four days from now! It's been a wild ride for sure... more to come! I've been out for almost a year... 52 weeks... and I've been in two of the best areas in the mission!! :)

Samojla Selfie!

Monday: July 13th
AWEsome day! :) Always refreshing to sit inside all day... we got to teach Carol in person again which was fun. She's been reading so much lately, I'm glad she's been learning more about the Book of Mormon. So happy we don't have to do phone call lessons with her anymore haha. Also transfer news came out!! I'll be staying for a 5th transfer here in Lands End (7months)

NO judging! I was hungry... :)

Tuesday: July 14th
We had our last District Council in the Melody Lane District. We're being split to make room for the new missionaries, now in the Orchard Mesa District. There are SO many new missionaries that were reassigned that we have to split areas in two and put half the missionaries in HOTELS because of the lack of apartments. Crazy times for sure!

Wednesday: July 15th
Training the whole mission again on... guess what? Facebook! I've come to enjoy Facebook, it's not that bad :) I love how the Lord uses such simple and mysterious tools to accomplish His work! Had a great lesson with Staci, she is such a wonderful aunt. I love her!

This is what my desk looks like nowadays... :(

Thursday: July 16th!
Many memories made on this day! :) Good stuff, ammirite? We sadly had to pass off Angela to another set of Elders. She moved to Montrose so we had our last lesson. She's so awesome, I'm definitely going to miss her but am for sure going to talk with her again after the mission! Also Melody Lane Elders baptized two amazing people named Nate and Colton, they were the very first people found through Facebook that got baptized!!

Friday: July 17th
Today we got to work a little bit with the Lands End 2 Elders! It's so weird seeing so many split areas in the mission. Definitely an interesting time in the world today! Today I also smacked a fly out of the air with my hand... Elder Samojla said it looked cool, haha! :)

 What's up?


Saturday: July 18th
We have officially gone insane. We got another SIM card today, which basically means we have two fully functional phones with service instead of one. That's crazy! It's the Facebook Team Lead phone number which is Elder Samojla of course :) He's so good at Facebook!

Sunday: July 19th
Today was a great Sunday. Got to finally see the new district in person and I could feel the unity between us. As we serve the Lord, we come to realize that we're coming closer to not only God but to each other as we focus on following Him! You come to realize that the best way to truly get closer with those you love is by both following in the Savior's footsteps. Email me to find out what your next step is!

Love you all so much! Have a great week :)

Love,
Elder LaRose

2946 D Rd. Apt #D-3

Mailbox - #15

Grand Junction, CO 81504

keldon.larose@missionary.org

WEEK #51 - Stayven's Baptism!!! And 100 Degrees

This week was insane! Lots of work done and more to come. Such is life, ammirite? :)

Monday: July 6th

Happy birthday McKayd!!!!! Hope you enjoy the day brother :) Today we got lifted from our temporary full quarantine. Everyone is healthy so far in the mission. Thank you for your prayers! I also made the mistake of eating Elder Samojla's burnt lasagna... it was not a good experience. I regret it. Oh well! ;) We got to teach Nick and Carol again. It's so cool seeing how teaching faith in Jesus Christ is the same no matter who you're talking to. We all need faith. We all need Him. So have faith IN Him! :)

Milk of the 24th!! Upcoming year mark :)

Tuesday: July 7th

We got to train the Zone and talked alot about faith and unity. There's great power when a group of people, even just when you and one other person, are fully united and faithful in all causes. The Lord loves this effort and will bless you with strength through your trials together! :) We got to teach Angela and Stayven again, they are amazing. I love them both so much!

Dinner with Angela!

Wednesday: July 8th

Today was PACKED! We had a meeting with someone planned for every 30 minutes of the day... holy cow. Got to talk to my cousin Megan though, she's AWEsome!

FUNNY STORY: You will NOT believe what I did... so there was an 8 year old getting baptized today and someone else was filling up the font. They accidentally let the font fill up for too long and it was overfilling!!! So they were freaking out but I came up said, "I'll do it, no problem." And JUMPED INTO the baptismal font, unplugged the drain, let it get to the right level, and then replugged it... I was NOT expecting to go for a swim today and get half baptized ;) Fun times over here in Rado!

Thursday: July 9th

Today was very exciting to hear from another NAC meeting and MTC training. I got a pretty awesome package from my aunt Staci, cousins, and from Nana and Papa! Thank you SO MUCH!! I'm going to have to hide all those wonderful homemade cookies from Elder Samojla haha :) We had an amazing dinner with Angela outside! She brought us Texas Roadhouse and was very happy to see "her Elders" there. She's so happy now :) I'm very excited for her to one day meet the rest of my family!

Friday: July 10th

Today was cool to have another Facebook Council where we get a lot of things moving forward. Also got to talk with my awesome Aunt Staci about the importance of having a spiritual foundation. We have really good conversations, if you're ever interested in having them with me and Elder Samojla then reach out! :)

Nana's famous cookies!!

Saturday: July 11th

Today we had our second in person dinner with a member. It was so relaxing to just be outside for once! I'm sure the Lord is very mindful of all the trials we go through each day, put your trust in Him! He's the only place where trust should be put :) 

Sunday: July 12th

Stayven's baptism was today! It was such a wonderful experience seeing him make that decision. We taught him for about a month and he's opened up so much. His parents were extremely appreciative towards me and Elder Samojla for teaching him. Such a good kid. Danyel actually came to church today too! Unfortunately we had to leave cause of a new mission rule where we have to leave church if more than 5 people aren't wearing masks... rip. We only lasted for 10 minutes haha. 

Stayven's Baptism!!

Well I love you all! Thanks for reading these emails, I hope they brighten your day!

Love,

Elder LaRose 

2946 D Rd. Apt #D-3

Mailbox - #15

Grand Junction, CO 81504

keldon.larose@missionary.org

WEEK #50 - The Same Four Walls: Challenge Accepted

Welcome back! Notice this is week 50!! Holy cow... time truly flies when you've only been in two areas ;)

Monday: June 29th

Today was awesome! Got to email, gmail, and do all the mail. That's right. I'm awkward :) Haha! Today we got to go to Walmart and saw this random guy with gloves on going insane with doing pushups in the middle of the parking lot... what?! Haha. Story of my life here in GJ. We have crazy people doing pushups in Walmart parking lots... in the evening we were able to have a lesson with Carol in person! 

Happy Fourth of July!!

Tuesday: June 30th

We drove all the way to Avon for an in person MLC! That was so insane to see everyone there in person, we still had to wear masks. We had them on for 10 hours straight! Me and Elder Samojla gave a facebook training and it went really well. I really enjoyed the scenery of driving through Colorado, it's a good place :) We then had a lesson with Stayven too!

Mask Life

Wednesday: July 1st

Happy month of July!! Wow. It's July. I still have the Christmas tree up though so... :) Today we got to train the whole mission again, we practiced how to invite members to like and follow the area page on Facebook! Such a simple way to be apart of spreading the Gospel in a normal and natural way :) Got to talk to Megan and Staci again, they are awesome! 

Thursday: July 2nd

Happy Birthday Mom!!!! I'm so proud of you, I love you so much!! I'll give you a hint: my Mom's age is the same as my weekly... haha, I love you mom!! ;) Today was fun, we got to drive around some missionaries for transfers and added some more help to our Facebook Council! Elder Samojla is officially the Lead Facebook Specialist now, he's going to do great. :)

Friday: July 3rd

Today was a ton of busy work! We met with the MTC and then started creating a shift schedule on google docs for the whole mission. There was about 18 new missionaries that came into the mission, so many!

 Elder Samojlas resting face ;)

Saturday: July 4th

Happy Independence Day!!! Today was definitely a unique day. We found out the some members of the MLC developed some "symptoms of illness" as President put it so me and Elder Samojla got put in full quarantine away from all in person contact. No stores, no public places, no nothin! Please keep these missionaries in your prayers that are sick, I hope they get better soon. We had an awesome nightly devotional focused on patriotism and the freedom our Nation brings into our lives. More importantly, the freedom that Christ brings!

 
That's right, we wearing necklaces...

Sunday: July 5th

We struggled getting onto any Zoom meetings cause our connection so that was life. But even when everything seems to not work out, just remember (always remember!) that through relying on your Savior Jesus Christ and remaining forever strong and true to His Gospel you can be given the support, strength, and help you need in the VERY moment of your trials. Trust. Trust Him :)

This is what happens when you love notecards but write the same idea down on 10 of them

Shoutout to my cousin Kaysen, he's a BEAST! :)

I love you all, hope you enjoy these emails, and I hope you keep being such savage studs :)

Love,

Elder LaRose 

2946 D Rd. Apt #D-3

Mailbox - #15

Grand Junction, CO 81504

keldon.larose@missionary.org