WEEK #79 - Out West Exchanges!

Traveling in the Tundra all around the Western Slope of Colorado was great, I hope you enjoy the experiences I'll share!

The driving stare haha :)

Monday: January 18th

Today was a great day! I'm so happy with the direction my life is going in... why? Because whenever we align our will with that of Heavenly Father's we receive greater comfort, peace, and security for our future as we trust in Him! I know this to be true because I've seen it in my life repeatedly. We spent the evening driving to Rifle for exchanges all out West! It was such a beautiful drive going through Aspen, it was pitch dark going through the canyon but breathtaking nonetheless. 

Rifle snow!

Rifle Exchange!

Tuesday: January 19th

We spent the morning with the Rifle Elders then drove up to Craig! I've never been to Craig my whole mission, so this'll be my first time. The drive felt similar to Naturita – just barren mountains, trees, and land! Just how I like it :) We got to Craig and found that the only thing there was a thousand hotels for hunters and drive through beer places haha. Wow. It was also sitting at 1° the entire day... I was FREEZING! I wore a blanket around me haha, that's Craig for you! 

Drive to Craig

Wednesday: January 20th

Happy 20th!!! I love this day every single month! :) We woke up to 1° weather again and gladly drove through Meeker to get to Grand Junction for warmer weather and exchanges with the YSA Elders. We taught a lot of lessons and it was fun to see people I knew back in Nov 2019! 

Thursday: January 21st

Back down in Montrose! I surprisingly knew all the roads still to get around GJ and Montrose.  Exchanges with the Black Canyon Elders was great, they are hilarious. I got to teach Angela again, she is amazing! She has come a long way in the Gospel. The Savior truly does has the power to change any willing and sincere heart! 

Crashburger in Montrose!

Montrose Exchange!

Friday: January 22nd

Driving back up to Grand Junction was fun because I got to go back to Lands End. My second area... I was there for 7 months! Granted 5 months of that was quarantined to my apartment, haha :) It was great working with those Elders on how we can best help the missionaries in the Zone succeed. We heard of a huge snow storm coming through the mountains around Vail... uh-oh... We may be staying in Rifle for a few days until we aren't snowed in anymore. We'll see what the day holds! 

Saturday: January 23rd

We drove up to Rifle in the morning and all the mountains were covered with snow. We had exchanges today with the Rifle Elders and I worked with Elder Collins alot on reaching out to people using social media. Rifle got nailed with snow today, but we should be good to head back to Denver in the morning. 

Sunday: January 24th

The weather was good so we drove early in the morning our 3 hour drive back to Denver... haha! I love long drives though :) We even saw a herd of Bison on the side of the road! Today was my 18 month mark on my mission. Wow. I can't believe how quickly this day has come, and how little I have left! As soon as we got home we went to church and then had back to back lessons. It was a long day!

Thank you everyone for all the support you've given me in these past 18 months I've been a missionary. I'm excited for what these last months have in store!

Love,

Elder LaRose 

keldon.larose@missionary.org

ADDRESS:
999 East Tufts Avenue
Cherry Hills Village, Colorado 80113

WEEK #78 - Excitement Is In The Air!

 Another great week!

Monday: January 11th

Today I found a deodorant in Target named, "Manly Lavender Smells".... wow, what have they come to in this world? Haha! Only goofs... we had a great Ward Coordination discussion with the Orchard Ward that I'm serving in. It's super helpful to all be on the same page when discussing how we can best help others come closer to our Savior Jesus Christ! 

Goodbye socks

Tuesday: January 12th

Aujourd'hui, c'est mardi!! Wait a minute, why am I speaking French? Haha, goofs... Anyways, today was exchanges with Front Range! I went over to their apartment with Elder Bennett, he's absolutely hilarious. We taught some lessons and tried to share some messages about Christ on Facebook with people. We both got along cause he served in the one and only Naturita!! He came after me when I left in Jan 2020. It was a good day. Excitement is in the air!

Elder Bennett exchanges!

Wednesday: January 13th

Today we felt prompted to eat lunch at Cafe Rio... and guess what? We met one of our members there and she paid for our meal! Wow. I'm so grateful for small and simple things like that! We must always be willing to recognize and accredit even the smallest of blessings to be from the hand of the Lord :) 

Thursday: January 14th

Today was interesting, we had almost every single lesson cancel on us! That's pretty rare for us, but we had a good experience learning how to juggle new plans on the spot. That's the fun part about missions is learning what to do when there is NO plans for what to do, haha :)

Friday: January 15th

Interviews with President and Sister Rees are so fun! They get to assess how we're doing, and we get to have a open discussion. I'm so grateful to be serving along with them! A miracle that happened today is that we were able to enter inside a house for the first time in 3 months!! We are only allowed to be there for 15 minutes with everyone having masks on... what a crazy amazing world that we live in today. We must all ADAPT and trust that Heavenly Father is in control... which He is. :)

Sunset!

Saturday: January 16th

Me and Elder Hawkes trained on having faith, and being prepared. It was a great way to help the whole mission focus more on strengthening their faith in Jesus Christ and being prepared to accomplish the things which He has asked us to do! 1 Nephi 3:7 rings loud and true by saying, "I will go and do..." I know this principle is true!

Sunday: January 17th

Today we had a packed schedule with lessons from 2:30pm-8pm! We welcomed our friend Yenni at church and the speakers talked about how we must reflect upon this past year and point out Heavenly Father's hand in our life. This is such an empowering activity because I've recognize how many blessings the year 2020 has brought into my life, and into the life of others!

Enjoy the week, and continue on the path of righteousness. If you're unsure of where that path lies, I encourage you to reach out. To who? God. He is there! Message me if you don't know how to start.

Love,

Elder LaRose 

keldon.larose@missionary.org

ADDRESS:
999 East Tufts Avenue
Cherry Hills Village, Colorado 80113

WEEK #77 - Peace and Pancakes

 Another week under the belt, keep on keeping on! 

Monday: January 4th

Today we got to drive all the way over the snowy Vail pass! The mountains looked sooo gorgeous... I'm so thankful to be serving in a beautiful place like Colorado. I can't wait to take alll of my family here! :)

Tuesday: January 5th

Happy birthday Elder Hawkes, he turned 20! Today was a hard working day, we got a lot of good stuff done and will hopefully continue to help others come closer to our Redeemer, even Jesus Christ! I'm so thankful for the ability we all have to improve through daily repentance. 

Happy birthday Elder Hawkes!

Wednesday: January 6th

Elder Wong came and roasted everyone over zoom. We met with Ariana, who we contacted through Facebook! She expressed a desire to be forgiven and receive peace in her life so we taught her about baptism and she accepted a date for February 7th! Sadly we'll be passing her off to others missionaries in her area. It's always amazing to see the promises of the Gospel come true in our life as we follow the example set by our Savior Jesus Christ!

Thursday: January 7th

Great day teaching lessons and solving problems. I made pancakes today, of which the mix was given to me by my Nana and Papa! Funny enough I just through the pancake mix into a waffle maker and made pan-waffles... it worked! ;) Enjoy looking at this masterpiece!

The PanWaffle...

Friday: January 8th

I made the mistake of wearing a short sleeve shirt at 8am... it was so cold today in Denver! We had some trainings today to give and then taught a bunch of lessons with members. The members here in the Orchard ward are so amazing, I love being able to meet with them! Granted I think I've hit almost 1,000 zoom calls since COVID came... dang Gina!

Saturday: January 9th

It was announced that we can now go inside homes and do in person exchanges again! It's finally back... again. Only thing is we can be in members homes for only 15 minutes max, haha. Gotta be safe! We called an emergency MLC meeting to talk about some problems that arose in the mission, it was some good problem solving. Me and Elder Hawkes just flamed everything haha :) I love Elder Hawkes, he is a great companion! We've been companions for going on 3 transfers now, which almost beats me and Elder Samojla at 4 transfers! Fun stuff :)

Turkey Alfredo meal!

Sunday: January 10th

Another chance to go to church! I love being able to feel of the humble peace that resides as we focus on remembering our Savior Jesus Christ... this can be done anywhere anytime, but I love the sacredness of doing it together. We taught Jay a little more about how to be sincere in our prayers and study of the Book of Mormon! I began a prayer journal which I'd recommend to each of you! Basically whenever I pray I record my thoughts and impressions, especially as I listen in silence after my prayer. Good way to practice receiving revelation!

It was sooo good!

I hope each of you enjoy the week, keep being awesome! 

Love,

Elder LaRose 

keldon.larose@missionary.org

ADDRESS:
999 East Tufts Avenue
Cherry Hills Village, Colorado 80113

WEEK #76 - 2021... Happy New Year!

Happy New Years everyone! It is so crazy to reflect upon what the year 2020 has brought us all. We have been tested, tried, discouraged, and denied from many of the things we love... but in return, Heavenly Father has given us incredible blessings as we've walked, and will continue to walk, hand in hand with Him <3

Monday: December 28th

A great day to keep trusting the Lord :) 

Tuesday: December 29th

Today was virtual MLC... it was long! But we solved a lot of problems and made some good plans. We also made some preparations for this upcoming transfers !

What me and Elder Hawkes look like on transfer days... (yes, that's a cord to charge my phone!)

Wednesday: December 30th

Today was crazy. We drove to the Denver airport to pick up 15 missionaries... BUT there's a catch. They were all on different flights, coming in at different times, of which 2 had been delayed... wow! Luckily after a lot of prayer and speed walking we were able to gather everyone up, haha. Surprisingly everything went smoothly and we got everyone where they needed to be! It was a long day. 

Denver airport trip!

Thursday: December 31st

Another early morning getting the new missionaries up at 4:15am. We got everything situated with the transfer bus, and everything went pretty smoothly! I had to check everyone's temperature but it was too cold for the scanner to work... that's Denver for you. We drove to the airport again to pick up a Sister who's flight had been canceled yesterday. It was a day without any breaks! I've been thinking about the year 2020 and I've noticed that despite my flaws and trials, I've become a lot more patient. I always would say to myself before my mission, "Oh, I wait till my mission to learn how to be patient" well.... little did I know how true that was! Patience is rarely built without a difficult and enduring trial. How else would we grow? I'm still learning patience, but I've been able to embrace my trials with long-suffering because I know how much strength our Savior truly gives us as we fully rely on Him. 

Pretzel bun sandwiches? You had me at pretzel ;)

Friday: January 1st

Happy New Years!! What a relief that it's 2021, because just like every year it's going to be full of challenges, blessings, mountains to climb, and miles to walk! We'll reach many destinations and begin many journeys... so exciting! Today we drove to the Denver airport again to drop off a missionary leaving for Uganda. Both me and Elder Hawkes were so exhausted. We taught this lesson to a Spanish member in our ward and she could NOT get my name right, haha! In the end she just called me, "Brother Flower" :) I hope you all had a wonderful New Year and will make 2021 the best it can be as we follow the Lord!

Saturday: January 2nd

Today me and Elder Hawkes got pizza and as we picked it up from the store we ACTUALLY TALKED TO A PERSON. Haha, it was so weird having a normal conversation with someone! I realized how it's been at least 10 months since I've talked with someone normally. What a world we live in now. 

Amazing orange sky!

Sunday: January 3rd

Had a great sabbath day today, just working hard out here serving the Lord. That's the best thing you do, and you don't even need a nametag to do so. All we need to do is be willing to follow Heavenly Father's will and we will be led to how we can best serve the Savior!

Beautiful blue sky!

I hope you all enjoyed the New Year! 2021 will bring many many things into our life, and I pray that we will more fully turn to our Savior for His comfort, love, and humble embrace...

Love,

Elder LaRose 

keldon.larose@missionary.org

ADDRESS:
999 East Tufts Avenue
Cherry Hills Village, Colorado 80113