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