“I wish to be up and doing. I wish to face each day with resolution and purpose. I wish to use every waking hour to give encouragement, to bless those whose burdens are heavy, to build faith and strength of testimony.”


—Gordon B. Hinckley, “Testimony,” Ensign, May 1998, 69

“This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3).






“My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.


“… He that keepeth thee will not slumber.


“Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep”
(Psalm 121:2–4).


FEED MY SHEEP
Don't be discouraged in times of difficulty, But hang on, exercise faith, and keep up good courage, let what will, come; don't deny the faith, and all will be well."



----Joseph Smith


YOU ARE INVITED TO COME UNTO CHRIST

"Mormons Believe in Jesus Christ"

"Mormons Believe in Jesus Christ"
WE BELIEVE

"Oh, Lord, thou shalt save me if thou please; if not, thou shalt lose me; yet Lord will I keep my rudder true"

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Wed, 2 Jun 2010

Hey hey,

This was a very busy week for us here in Houlton. We got a lot done and as well got a lot of new people to see. We knocked 30 hours this week - in turn found 5 new investigators and have a ton of lessons to teach here. I'm excited! This last Sunday, here in the whole Country of Canada, was Stake Conference. I called it the Country Conference and we had the privilege of hearing from President Uchtdorf and Elder Ballard as well as Elder Pace of the Seventy. It was such a great conference. One thing that stuck out to me was that President Uchtdorf said that we are all citizens of the Kingdom of God and that is where our first loyalties lie. I really liked that, but he also talked a lot about being worthy to enter the Temple which made me sad because a Temple is too far away for me to enter right now and I would be going if i could.

Crazy story of the week: I almost got eaten by a dog this week. I was walking up towards a house and the dog let me pass by and as soon as my back was turned to him he went off and he was trying to bite my legs but I was always one step ahead of him and dodged all the attacks. I felt like Spiderman after that, with the spidey sense, haha, but it was an experience.

Love you all,
Elder Rogers

Tuesday, June 1, 2010



Date: Wed, 26 May 2010

Well what a week, that's for sure,

This last week was transfers and so let me tell ya, it was hard to see my companion leave knowing he is heading home, but I had to make do, right? My new companion - his name is Elder Trump and he is almost home too. He just got pulled out as Zone Leader to be with me so I am really loving it. He is a really hard worker and he knows what is helpful to get this mission where it needs to be. Some things that happened this last week were, John and Wendy were confirmed. It was really awesome to be there and see them fully come unto Christ and as well for this week, our Mission President just upped our finding hours again. Wow, lol. It's now up to 21 hours in a week but when I look back at the beginning of my mission, which wasn't that long ago, I said to myself; what did I do with my time really? Now we are more time efficient, that's for sure. In fact, the knocking has helped us find the people that are being prepared for us and it is an awesome feeling to find someone elect. Funny story of the week, we knocked into some crazies and and Elder Trump and I just had a hay day with them. We got pictures and then had to leave, but it was pretty much awesome and made us laugh the rest of the day. We actually have a lot of crazy people around this part of the country sad to say that, but they are awesome to talk to and to hear their life story.

It is now hot here. Yesterday it got up to 91 with 100 percent humidity then two hours later the sky decided that it wanted to release all that humidity and we got drenched, lol. That's how fast the weather can change up here, which isn't usually a bad thing, but we got caught out in the rain storm with just our white shirts and ties on :(

I love you all,
Elder Rogers

* * *

Wed, 19 May 2010

Hey what's up b'ys?

Haha! Well this week was so, well, interesting. I had a lot of firsts this week. Lets start with the funky and end on the good, shall we, Ok? I finally ate my first weird thing here. Took me long enough right? It is something called a fiddlehead now to discribe it to you. I'ts a plant that grows in the spring here and everyone goes crazy over it. We were at a dinner appointment and so they had fiddleheads for dinner and if you have ever shoved a weed in your mouth you will know what this tastes like -and they gave me a whole plate of it too. They say it has more "anti" something or other then blueberries. You all know what i'm talking about, right? Another thing I saw for the first time was a big black bear during knocking. We heard something off in the woods and we looked and a huge bear was just chillin, eating some berries and we tried to get closer for a picture and he saw us and took off, but that was really awesome, lol. So the grand finale, this last Sunday we had a double baptism here in Houlton and on Elder Allen's last Sunday, we had to send him off right I guess, lol. But everything went according to plan even though we planned for the worst it couldnt have gone any better. I was so nervous out of my mind and nothing was calming me down till it was over, ha, but we got through it and after the baptisms were performed they opened it up for a testimony meeting and so of course as missionaries we got up because it's a great opportunity to get new people to teach. There were a lot of non-members there, but the spirit was so strong when the testimony meeting started and it only increased as the meeting went on - it was definitely one of the spiritual highlights of my mission, so far, ha. But I couldn't have asked for any better, I have been so blessed and can't wait to see what the lord still has in store for me.

Love all of you,
Elder Rogers

Everyone that knows Elder Rogers:

At the end of every post is the word "comments." If you would like to send some words of encouragement and or your love, just click on that word and it will bring up a comment box for you to type in and then just save it and it will be attached at the bottom of his posts for him to read the next time he gets on. He would love to hear from all of you.



Thank you to those of you who have left a comment to let us know how you know Elder Rogers and have become a follower. It will be a memory for him in his mission book that will be made from his blog. We would love to hear from everyone eventually.....Just go to Monday, May 3, 2010 in the archives list and pull up the "Getting To Know You" post and leave a comment. Thanks so much for supporting Elder Rogers.







A Title of Liberty

A Title of Liberty
In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children. Alma 46:12

The Book of Mormon as a Personal Guide

The Book of Mormon as a Personal Guide
By President Henry B. Eyring First Counselor in the First Presidency:

All of us feel, in our best moments, a desire to return home to live with God. He gave us the gift of His Beloved Son as our Savior to provide the path and to teach us how to follow it. He gave us prophets to point the way. The Prophet Joseph Smith was inspired to translate the record of prophets that is the Book of Mormon. It is our sure guide on the way home to God.

Joseph Smith said of that precious book, “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”1

The precepts of the Book of Mormon are the commandments of God we find in it. Some are direct commands from the Savior through His prophets as to what we are to do and what we are to become. The Book of Mormon gives us the Savior’s example to increase our faith and determination to obey His command to follow Him. The book is filled with the doctrine of Christ to guide us. Here is an example from 2 Nephi:

“[Jesus] said unto the children of men: Follow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?

“And the Father said: Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son” (2 Nephi 31:10–11).

The book makes plain that we must receive the Holy Ghost as a baptism of fire to help us stay on the strait and narrow path. We are taught that we must pray always in the name of Christ, not fainting, and that if we do, we have this promise: “Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life” (2 Nephi 31:20).

The Book of Mormon makes plain in the marvelous sermon of King Benjamin what it means to have a love of God and of all men. When our natures are changed by the power of the Atonement and through our faithful obedience to the commandments, we will be filled with the love of God (see Mosiah 4:1–12).

The Book of Mormon also gives us confidence that we can become so purified in this life that we have no more desire to do evil (see Mosiah 5:2). This hope gives us courage and comfort as Satan tries to tempt and discourage us on our way.

Each time I read even a few lines in the Book of Mormon, I feel my testimony strengthened that the book is true, that Jesus is the Christ, that we can follow Him home, and that we can take those we love home with us. It has been for me the book of books. It is the word of God.

I pray that we and all those we love will drink deeply and daily from it. I testify in the name of Jesus Christ that it is a true guide.

Mar. 2007

The Message: Gifts to Bring Home from the Mission Field
By President Gordon B. Hinckley

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quite a few years ago I was in an airport and happened to meet some returning missionaries. Their families were there. They were picking up their baggage, and I said to one of them, “What’s all this you have?” He said, “These are gifts I am bringing home.” And that has given me the title of what I would like to share: “Gifts to Bring Home from the Mission Field.”

1. A knowledge of and love for God our Eternal Father and His Beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
“This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). There is no greater gift that comes to anyone in this world than a certain, reassuring conviction that God, our Eternal Father, lives and that Jesus is the Christ. I believe that. I think it is so very, very important.

2. A knowledge of and love for the scriptures, the word of the Lord.
As a missionary, I read each evening before going to bed a few chapters of the Book of Mormon, and there came into my heart a conviction which has never left: that this is the word of God, restored to the earth by the power of the Almighty, translated by the gift and power of God to the convincing of the Jew and the Gentile that Jesus is the Christ. I thank the Lord for the testimony which I have of the truth of the word of God as found in these sacred revealed books. And I would hope that every missionary would leave his or her field of labor with a conviction in his or her heart that these things are true.

3. An increased love for parents.
I have attended hundreds of missionary meetings over the years. I love to hear missionaries speak of their love for the Lord, but I also love to hear them speak with great appreciation and love concerning their parents. Boys who had been careless and indifferent stand on their feet and with tears in their eyes thank the Lord for their fathers and their mothers. In these days, what a salutary and wonderful thing it is to hear a strong young man stand up and speak with great feeling concerning his father and his mother, saying things he would never have said before in all of his life. Every boy and girl ought to come home with an increased love for parents.

4. A love for the people among whom they labor.
I love the English people. No one can sell the English short in my mind because I labored with them, I lived with them, I was in their homes at their firesides, I learned to know their hearts, and I learned to love them.

I have learned to love the people of Asia. I spent 11 years among them, and I love them. To me, I love them as much as I love anybody because of the experience I have had as a missionary, as it were, among them.

There’s something wrong if a missionary doesn’t come back with a great love for the people among whom he labored.

5. An appreciation for hard work.
Every missionary ought to come to realize that work, work, work is the key to getting things done, the key to success in life. There is no substitute for work, for getting up in the morning and getting at it and staying with it to get the job done. I don’t know of a greater asset for whatever lies ahead in life than the capacity to discipline oneself to work.

6. The assurance that the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is available to each of us when we live for it.
The availability of inspiration—each of us, if we live for it, if we cultivate it, can have it. I love these great words of revelation, these words of promise: “God shall give unto you knowledge by his Holy Spirit, yea, by the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost” (D&C 121:26). What a precious gift to bring home—the assurance, the certainty that if we live for it, we have available to us that which comes by the power of the Holy Spirit.

7. An understanding of the importance of teamwork.
No one can do this work alone. We work in pairs. “In the mouth of two or more witnesses shall [all things] be established” (2 Corinthians 13:1). We work together. There is no place for prima donnas in the mission field. Our efforts are largely team efforts, and what a marvelous thing it is to learn to work with other people.

8. The value of personal virtue.
I think there is no greater thing concerning future integrity that a missionary can learn than the value of personal virtue. I think there are fewer words greater than the promise given under the inspiration of the Lord as set forth by the Prophet Joseph Smith: “Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly.” That’s the commandment. And then the promise: “Thy confidence [shall] wax strong in the presence of God” (D&C 121:45). That’s the promise to those who walk in virtue.

9. The faith to act.
“I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way … that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth” (1 Nephi 3:7).

We ask tremendous things of missionaries. It is so hard for shy and diffident young people to do the things we sometimes ask them to do. But what a marvelous thing that they try. They have the faith to do, the faith to act, the faith to go forward and make the effort. And what a marvelous gift that is to bring home.

10. The humility to pray.
Recognize that there is a power greater than ours, that no matter how good a man is, he is not good enough, that no matter how wise he is, he is not wise enough, that no matter how strong he is, he is not strong enough for all of the things which he will face in life, and that there is a source of power to which he can go with the assurance that he will be listened to and that there will be a response.

These are 10 gifts that I would hope every missionary would bring home with him or her—not a lot of tinsel, not a lot of dolls, not a lot of rugs or furs or dresses or plates, but these great, enduring, wonderful things. God bless you to keep the faith, and while doing so, enjoy with great happiness that which you are called to do.

For more on this subject, read “Ten Things to Know before You Go” by President James E. Faust, New Era, July 2002, p. 4.

[photos] Photographs by Matthew Reier; far right: posed by models

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