WEEK #22 - Colorado Springs, Fountain Stake CHRISTMAS!

Hello family and friends! How was everyone's Christmas? Mine was great:)

On Monday, we went and played basketball and volleyball with the other missionaries at the stake center. It was way fun and Elder Tu'ifua rocked it. That night, we took one of the family history consultants with us to our lesson with Mitch and taught him how to do a little bit of family history. It is really cool to see how much he has grown and how excited he is to go to the temple!
On Tuesday, I went with our Zone Leader, Elder M. Smith, to the 18th ward. We had an incredible day together and were teaching the whole day. We ended up finding 6 new investigators just that day! It was really fun to have that happen. Elder Hawkins and the other Zone Leader, Elder G. Smith, found 2 new investigators for 3rd ward as well! It was a great day for both of us.
On Wednesday, I went on exchanges with Elder Stark in the Sand Creek area. Elder Tu'ifua and Elder Hawkins stayed in 3rd ward. I took my bike over there and said goodbye to the car for the day. Elder Stark and I biked around with Ryan Call, one of the guys going on a mission soon. We went and did some crappy service (literally) where we pick up dog poop around this lady's yard. It was disgusting. Then we went and taught the 3rd lesson to and active couple. We were going to have a lesson with a less active family, but they didn't show up:/. So for a minute, we practiced our wheelies on the street:). We then went and helped a family move furniture out of their house. Our dinner took Elder Stark and I out to Panda Express for dinner. We then got a call from a very confused Elder Hawkins and Tu'ifua. They had turned the wrong way at a road and were lost. They drove about 15 miles out of our area! So all of the miles that we have left for the month are used up now haha. This means lots of walking now:) we ended the night by playing volleyball with 3rd ward.
On Thursday, district meeting was held today because of the holidays. We had the Sister Training Leaders, Sister Marler and Sister Madsen, visit our district meeting for the day. After that, our Christmas Eve dinner picked us up and we helped get ready. Their family tradition was to have make-your-own pizzas for dinner and so we created some good pizzas:).

On Christmas Morning, we woke up and did some studies before we were picked up by Jeff (Gunga) and Bode Wolin to spend Christmas in Woodland Park. We made some fun mad-libs on the way up. Right when I walked in the door, Amy had my family on Skype right there waiting to talk to me. We had a good hello and then ended it to settle in. We had some good lunch with Elder Tallman and Davies and it was great to see them. I then called my family back and opened my presents in front of them. I got an electric blanket, slippers, cologne, a towel, and other sweet stuff. The best gift was to talk to my family though. It was so awesome to see everyone and to get to talk to them and hear their voices again:) It was sad to say goodbye, but awesome to see them.

I also got to meet Elder Hawkins' family, which was neat. We then had some delicious Chicago pizza for dinner and I stuffed myself. We hung out with the Wolins and then took a walk around Woodland Park in the snow. After we got back, we got to watch The Emperor's New Groove with Bode. I had forgotten how funny that movie was and Elder Hawkins and I were cracking up the whole time. Then we made the drive back to our apartment and had a good night.

On Saturday, since we want to keep our car, we walked all day in 20 degree weather with a strong wind chill that dropped the temperature even more. We were Popsicles walking around and at one point, we walked to the nearest member's house and asked if we could get a ride back to our apartment. Then, Elder Hawkins and I walked to a really cool Japanese restaurant where the cook everything in front of you and have fire going everywhere. It was the best Japanese that I've ever had! The place was called Musashi. We returned to our apartment after that and thawed ourselves out. The electric blanket came in handy that night!

On Sunday, we woke up, got ready, and walked to the church for our meetings. Church was really good, but there were a lot of people gone for the holidays, which cut our ward in half. After church, we took the sacrament to Sister King with Brother Ledbetter and then got a ride to go with Mitch to dinner at the Melvin's house. That night, I called everyone in my district and did call-ins to discuss the progress of the work in my district. We had a good night sleep, and a great week to reflect on.
I love you all and hope you have a happy new year this next week! Love,
Elder LaRose

Kyler.larose@myldsmail.net

CURRENT ADDRESS:

2605 Serendipity Circle E APT #251

Colorado Springs, CO

80917

MISSION OFFICE ADDRESS:

4090 Center Park Drive Ste 4

Colorado Springs, CO 80916

WEEK #21 - Colorado Springs Fountain Stake

WEEK #21

Hello Everyone! It's been a great week so far!

On Monday we had a good time playing sports with the other elders in the mission. We finished up the day by going over to Mitch's and celebrating his baptism. Elder Stark and Elder Villaneda came as well.

On Tuesday, it was transfer meeting and our last day with Elder Villaneda. We hung out with them until the meeting. Elder Stark got the call to be a trainer so, We are going to have another brand new missionary in the District!! Elder Stark was assigned to be the trainer of Elder Tu'ifua who is straight from Tonga and is still working on his English haha. He is such a cool guy and we were all excited to have him in the District:) 

​Elder Hawkins, Elder Tu'ifua, and Elder Stark

After our dinner and stuff, we took Elder Stark and Elder Tu'ifua to Walmart to go shopping for the first time. Elder Tu'ifua didn't really know what to get and told us that he normally eats, cows, pigs, horses, and dogs! haha it was hilarious. This is also the first time that he has seen snow!

On Wednesday, We had to go to the mission office and turn in the baptism record for Mitch. After that, Elder Hawkins and I went to the doctor to get his foot X-rayed. He landed on it funny when we were playing ultimate frisbee and there was a bump on the outside of his ankle. We got the results back and there was no sprain or fracture and just some stretching of the ligaments. The bump was from calcium buildup too. We were there for most of the day because you know how doctors are. We went out to eat dinner with a member at a place called 3 Margaritas and had some good authentic food. Our coordination meeting was cancelled, so we played some volleyball and then retired for the night.

Some of our investigators

On Thursday, one of the recently returned missionaries, Brother Duke, took us out for breakfast and then took us to meet his neighbors that he had been introducing the gospel to! We were able to share the key points of the restoration and got 2 new investigators! Hopefully we can show them how much the good news of the gospel can bless our lives. We picked up one of the priests in our ward and took him with us to go and contact some referrals we had received and to visit some less actives. That night, we were invited over to the Allen's house to have dinner with them and to teach Kitana, our investigator there too. Kitana is actually the Granddaughter-in-law to the Allens too. Dinner was great and we had a wonderful lesson with Kitana and her husband. We taught about Eternal marriage and about the blessings of the temple. The spirit was so strong there and you could feel Kitana's desire for a temple marriage. So Elder Hawkins again invited Kitana to be baptized and she said yes before Elder Hawkins could finish the question haha. We are scheduled to have it on the 9th of January!! When we got out of the house and were walking toward our car, we were so pumped and happy for her.

On Friday District meeting started late because the Zone Leaders didn't show up until 30 minutes after it was supposed to start. We had a good lesson and after the meeting, and impromptu snowball fight broke out. Elder Tu'ifua was having a blast! We went and saw 2 members and then went with Mitch to teach Sister King. After dinner, we went and met with the Choate family. It was pretty wild and was hard to corral them all in.

On Saturday, It was Elder Hawkins' 19th birthday! I woke up before him and made him eggs for breakfast. Then, we dropped off a bike and a helmet for Elder Tu'ifua. We did some service and then went to the library to print off talks and stuff. That night, the members we had dinner with took us out to Texas Roadhouse in celebration of Elder Hawkins' birthday. It was a wonderful day.

On Sunday, we went to church and Mitch received the Aaronic Priesthood and was ordained to the office of Priest!! He is looking at going to the temple pretty soon and we are excited to go with him! We walked to Sister Beavers' house for dinner and she is an avid Broncos Fan. So when we got there, we got to watch a little bit of the Broncos Steelers game. It was a good one! 

That wraps up the week pretty well, and I am looking forward to this next week because i'ts Christmas!!! Special thanks to all who have given me gifts, it means a lot:) miss you all and Merry CHRISTmas!

Kyler.larose@myldsmail.net

CURRENT ADDRESS:

2605 Serendipity Circle E APT #251

Colorado Springs, CO

80917

MISSION OFFICE ADDRESS:

4090 Center Park Drive Ste 4

Colorado Springs, CO 80916

WEEK #20 - Colorado Springs Fountain Stake

WEEK #20

Hello everyone!
On Monday, we went and played ultimate frisbee at a park with a bunch of other Elders and Sisters. The weather in Colorado has been gorgeous lately! It reminds me of California winters, just without the snow. But yeah! We had our lesson with Mitch and he is so excited for his baptism.
On Tuesday, we went to the library to create the baptism program for Mitch. It was nice to get everything laid out and in order. We had our 2 lessons cancel on us, which was dumb, because we were left with nothing to do and it was already dark out. Our dinner was with the Williams, where we had some good chicken soup.
On Wednesday, we had our Zone Conference with the Fountain stake, Colorado Springs stake, and East stake. We showed up and had to line all of the vehicles up for inspection and a rating. We got a rating of great on the interior and good on the exterior. We all piled in the chapel and got to hear from President Rehm and a couple of other missionaries. Then we moved into the gym for lunch and pictures, when the vehicle coordinator came in dressed all up like Santa and made us sing Christmas songs haha. So all of the cool kids went and got a picture with Santa too.

 We got to hear from Sister Rehm, the Assistants to the President, and all of the departing missionaries. It is really cool to hear the testimonies of those who have served The Lord for the past 2 years or 18 months. I still have quite a while to go:) the overall theme of Zone Conference was to be a shining example to those around you. Also, to remember Jesus Christ our savior and his birth and what that means for us. After zone conference, we went to dinner at the Robins house and they invited Mitch over as well! We Had really good ham and potatoes. That night, we had coordination and volleyball. Elder Stark and Elder Villaneda came to play as well.

On Thursday, the Zone Leaders called, asking for a ride after they dropped off their vehicle for repairs, so we met them at the mission office and got to do that. At 2:30, Mitch came for his baptismal interview with the Zone Leaders. We showed him the program and pointed out that I had made a typo!! Good thing we caught that. We filled out all the paperwork with him and then Elder Smith took him in for the interview. It took an hour for them to do the interview! But Mitch came out just grinning and excited for the baptism:) We had our dinner cancel on us, so we called the Keyes family and they told us to come over for some pizza. We had another lesson with Kitana and taught her about obedience. It was a really good lesson, but we still need to set a baptismal date with her. She is progressing well though.
On Friday, we had district meeting and I taught the lesson on utilizing the gift of the Holy Ghost as we teach others to come unto Christ. We then went to the library to fix the baptism program for Mitch. We were going to have a lesson with Sister King, but she has just not been doing well. We are keeping her in our prayers and hope to see her next week. After dinner, we were going to meet with a less active member, but guess what, he cancelled on us too. So we went and printed a bunch of copies of Mitch's baptism program off. We met with the Choate family too and taught them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The youngest, named Helaman, gave Elder Hawkins and I some sweet Christmas ornaments that he made in school. They are all so excited to get baptized and I can't wait for them either. :)
On Saturday, we woke up at 5:45 and drove to the church to fill up the font for Mitch's baptism. After 2 1/2 hours of watching it fill, we ran home, grabbed breakfast, and came back to the church to get everything set up. Mitch arrived at about 9:30 and he seemed pretty nervous and excited:) we were planning on having everyone in the baptismal room, but so many people showed up to support Mitch that we had to go into the chapel. I thought that was pretty awesome. The beginning hymn was "How Great Thou Art" and then I gave the opening prayer. Then, Mark McConkie, son to Bruce McConkie and former Stake President, gave a talk on Baptism for Mitch. Then we went ahead with the ordinance and Elder Hawkins and I stood as witnesses. It was so good to see Mitch get baptized and the spirit was there, touching each of our hearts. Afterwards, former stake president Richard Savio, gave a talk on the Holy Ghost. It was a wonderful time:) 

Later in the afternoon, our Ward Christmas party started at 3 and went until 5. We had turkey sandwiches and pie and then there was a video presentation done in remembrance of Christ's birth. We had a lot of less active members show up and they all seemed to have a good time. We are working with them all and hope they feel our love for them.

On Sunday, we began by slipping and sliding all over the freshly powdered roads to church and then sitting in on our Ward council meetings. While we were waiting for the meeting to start, a lady walked in and said that her church was closed due to the weather and so she decided to walk across the street to our church! She had a great time at sacrament meeting and also went to Releif Society meeting. There is a potential investigator that simply fell into our laps. What a blessing. In church, we were able to stand in for the Confirmation of the Holy Ghost to Mitch:) He seems so ready and we are so happy for him. It was such a good day and such a good week. Love hearing from all of you and thanks for everything!

Elder Kyler LaRose

Kyler.larose@myldsmail.net

CURRENT ADDRESS:

2605 Serendipity Circle E APT #251

Colorado Springs, CO

80917

MISSION OFFICE ADDRESS:

4090 Center Park Drive Ste 4

Colorado Springs, CO 80916

WEEK #19 - Colorado Springs Fountain Stake

Hey everyone! It's been a great week.
On Monday, we got our Subaru back from the repair shop and it is so much better. When it snows, we have fun on the corners:) we went and played basketball at a different church building with a gym the size of a tennis court haha. It was fun though.

Delicious Tucanos

On Tuesday, we had lunch at Tucanos and had some incredible food. That place is soo good! Then we brought Elder Stark and Elder Villaneda with us to help a family move out of our ward and into their ward. That took up the whole day because they didn't get a U haul to load everything in. So we had a bunch of people with their trucks loading stuff in and driving to the other house to unload it.
On Wednesday, we had a good lesson with Brother and Sister Larson. It is always good to meet with them. They are very generous to us :) we tried to meet with brother Suydam, but he didn't show up to our appointment. Our dinner was with the Fullers and Munns. After our dinner, Elder Hawkins and I were trying to teach the little kids the hand signals for the 10 commandments and it felt like we were trying to herd cats. I love their families though:) we had a good coordination meeting with Brother Springer and Brother Munn, and then suited up for volleyball. Elder Stark and Elder Villaneda came to play as well.
On Thursday, we did our studies and planned for the next week. We then had a lesson with Brother Brown that lasted 1hr 45min!! All he does is talk and talk and Elder Hawkins almost fell asleep haha. That night, we had a lesson with Kitana. Her husband decided not to sit in on this lesson. We are really trying to teach them both. We taught about the 10 commandments and even did the cool hand signals to go along.

Elder Stark and I

On Friday, we didn't have district meeting because of Zone Training. This zone training we learned about humility, charity, and obedience. It was really cool. They applied the Elder Nash style of teaching and asked "what did you learn?" And "what are you going to do?" After zone training, our appointment with sister king cancelled again which is a real bummer because we love going there. We had dinner with the Choate family and finally taught then our second lesson. It was really hectic. We set a baptismal date for the 4 children, but they are really flaky so we are praying for a miracle.
On Saturday afternoon, we went downtown with Elder Stark and Elder Villaneda and got haircuts at Paul Mitchell. They took a really long time and we got home in time for dinner.
On Sunday, we announced Mitch's baptism at sacrament meeting! There is probably going to be a huge turn out. He is already so well integrated into the church that a lot of people are likely to show up and support. That night we had dinner with Sister Woods and her husband. He is a WWII bomber pilot and is 92 years old. She is a very spiritual person and it was really cool to be with them.
It was a great week! I love hearing from you all, talk to you next week!!

it's going to  be a white christmas

Elder LaRose

Kyler.larose@myldsmail.net

CURRENT ADDRESS:

2605 Serendipity Circle E APT #251

Colorado Springs, CO

80917

MISSION OFFICE ADDRESS:

4090 Center Park Drive Ste 4

Colorado Springs, CO 80916

WEEK #18 - Colorado Springs Fountain Stake

WEEK #18
11.30.15

Hey fam and friends! This week was awesome!
Monday morning we met with Amy and Bode Wolin at an awesome breakfast restaurant called Wade's Cafe! It was really good food and it was also awesome to have them so close:) we then left to the library for emailing. When we finished, we went shopping around different places and I got a really warm jacket at Goodwill for only $8.00!! Then, we went to a park where other missionaries were meeting and had our own little flag football turkey bowl before thanksgiving. There were around 30 elders there to play so we split up into two teams and played. Elder Stark and I bought $10 receiver gloves especially for the football that we would be playing.

I was the Quarterback for my team and was telling everyone where to go and what to do. It was funny because I was drawing up all these trick plays in my head and running them. They worked pretty well too! Elder Hawkins was on my team and we worked well together. The Polynesians that were there didn't totally understand the concept of flag football and we finished with a couple of aches and pains. That night we met with Mitch and settled on December 12th for his baptismal date and he is getting excited:) I can't wait!
On Tuesday we were on track to teach a bunch of lessons but 2 of them weren't even there when we showed up :(. Our last lesson was with a less active member that I hadn't met before. His name is Brother Smartt and there are a lot of issues that he needs to take care of. He told us that he is taking are of his mother who was told that she only has 6 months to live. We offered our support and hopefully we will be able to help them in our next appointment.
Wednesday, we had to fill out the final things of the accident report form from a while ago and take it to the mission office. After another 2 of our lessons cancelled, we met with Kitana and taught her about the gospel of Jesus Christ which is: faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. We are continuing to invite her to church but she still hasn't come. We ha dinner with the Melvin's and assisted in giving Sister Melvin a blessing of healing for sickness. Then we went to our coordination meeting and played volleyball.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!! Thursday we woke up to snow and very icy roads. 

On our way to Sand Creek, there was nobody out and about, which was good because we were having fun drifting around the turns. Even the sidewalks were iced over completely, turning the streets into a skating rink. On thanksgiving, the Mission President allows us to watch a movie and so we went to Elder Stark and Elder Villaneda's place to watch The Master of Disguise. We also ended up playing card games and drinking our hot coco. After the movie, we went to the Sand Creek Ward turkey bowl. It was snowing and 19 degrees out the whole time! The sand creek members welcomed me back and it was good to see their familiar faces:) I was on the team with our young stake president as the QB. I caught a couple of touchdown passes and also intercepted a pass thrown to Elder Hawkins haha. We played for about 2 hours. Then we went and got ready for our turkey dinners :) Elder Hawkins and I went to Sister Duncan's and had dinner with her and her 2 kids and her daughter in law. The food was delicious! We had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, apple pie, banana cream pie, and good ol pumpkin pie to full us up. After dinner, we went back to the sand creek apartment and stayed there to snack on eggnog and hot chocolate. Elder Villaneda and Elder Stark have become like brothers to us and it is so fun to be around them.

Elder Hawkins at dinner

On Friday, we held our district meeting where I talked about how to work successfully with the ward members. One thing that I thought was especially important was being a good missionary. When the members see that you are a hard worker and don't slack off, they are more willing to work with you and trust you with the names of their friends. 

after district meeting

After the meeting, we got a call from the Colburns asking if we could help them move. Sand Creek offered to help as well and so we went over there and helped them move all kinds of things. We moved a big heavy piano all the way down the stairs and into the moving van too. Next we got ready to go to dinner and a lesson with the Choate family, who has 3 kids investigating the church and not 6 minutes before we got there, the mom called and said that she had something else come up. It was pretty frustrating. So we decided to visit Mitch and he showed us some really cool pens that his brother in law makes from bullet pieces.

On Saturday, we were picked up to do service in Fountain, Colorado. We helped move a bunch of things to and from houses and that took out a good chunk of the day. That night, we had a less active family feed us for dinner! We encouraged them to come to church and they didn't :( but they are really nice and have goodness in their hearts.
On Sunday, we went to church and had a good time. It was the 5th Sunday so the bishop discussed with the ward about things that they could do to help the Lord's work move forward in the 3rd ward. He was asking for input so I got up and talked about how missionary work is changing. Tracting isn't as effective as it uses to be and the most effective way to be successful is have the members deeply involved in missionary work. The only problem is, our ward is so old in age that everyone is retired and is comfortable with where they are. Hopefully I said something that helped them gain a desire to help us out a little more. I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving!! Love you all and can't wait to hear from you!

Kyler.larose@myldsmail.net

CURRENT ADDRESS:

2605 Serendipity Circle E APT #251

Colorado Springs, CO

80917

MISSION OFFICE ADDRESS (use if close to Transfer time, they will forward to where he is at): 

4090 Center Park Drive Ste 4

Colorado Springs, CO 80916

WEEK #17 - Colorado Springs Fountain Stake

WEEK #17

Hey everyone! First of all, Happy Thanksgiving this coming week! I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to go on a mission. If any of you are still wondering if you should go or not, go. A mission will shape you into the very person that you always wanted to become. It has blessed my life immensely so far and I have only been out for about 4 months. This week was good! We had some good snow and chilly weather :)
On Monday, we drove downtown and Elder Stark, Elder Villaneda, and Elder Hawkins all got free haircuts at the Paul Mitchell hair school. Then we went and looked around sportsman's warehouse and dick's sporting goods. We narrowed down the baptismal date with Mitch to two dates: Dec 5th or Dec 12th!! I am really looking forward to those dates.
On Tuesday, we got dumped on with snow and they made us park the mission vehicles because of the bad roads. 




So Elder Hawkins and I decided I brave the high winds and stinging snow and go tracting. While we were knocking on doors, we were also looking for people that we could help shovel their driveway for. Nothing came from it but it was worth a shot. We got a call from the vehicle coordinators and they had us switch our dented Subaru for a Ford fusion while it got fixed. We had a good lesson with the Krings and taught them about the benefit of missionaries and members working together.
On Wednesday we went to the library to research and find talks that would help those we teach. We then has a lesson with the Larsons and they told us that not 5 minutes before we arrived, a car had crashed over he curb right where we had parked. I can't imagine what would have happened if we had been early to our appointment that day. Then we has a great lesson with Brother Suydam on the blessings of the temple. He told us that as soon as the temple prep. classes were done, he would begin working towards getting a temple recommend!! That was awesome. We took Elder Stark and Elder Villaneda to volleyball with us this time and we had a blast. I am so happy that they are in my district because they work hard and are super funny too.
Thursday was a blast. We woke up early and picked up sand creek to make the hour drive to Pueblo, Colorado for our Mission Tour with Elder Marcus B. Nash of the first quorum of the Seventy!! He requested that he shake each of our hands and so all the missionaries lined up. We shook hands with Elder and Sister Nash, President and Sister Rehm, and then Elder Hillyer, the area seventy. Elder Nash talked to us Elders as Sisters about working effectively with members. Missionary work is changing and working with members is the most successful way to do it. He also talked to us about being BOLD. Speaking with confidence, clarity, and all out of love. He also told us that our own personal testimony is such an important tool that really works. We learned from him and the others for about 6 hours that day. We made it home in time for dinner with the Fullers and then went home pooped.
Friday we met with Mitch again and went over to teach Sister King. Mitch really loves coming with us to teach her and that was really special to her and to him. Then we met with our new investigator Kitana for the 2nd lesson and it went great. We asked if she had thought about being baptized mormon yet, and she said that she is going to wait and learn more. There is so much more to this church than most people realize! All we are doing is inviting people to learn more about Christ. Kitana is progressing well and we are looking forward to our next lesson.
District meeting was moved to Saturday for this week because of other meetings and so I talked to everyone about how to teach with power and had them share powerful experiences that they have had in their missionary work so far. It was really great to build upon the experiences of the other Elders. During our free time, we called a phone number that we had received. The man is apparently a Christian pastor for another church, but wants to meet with us and has a Book of Mormon that he said he'd read!! All over the phone, we had a 30 minute lesson and even a closing prayer. It was such a cool thing to do and just over the phone. Dinner was with Brother Springer and we had delicious chili while we went over our coordination together. Right after, we went to the adult session of stake conference, where Elder Marcus B. Nash spoke. Mitch was running a little late, but made it in time for the talks. There were various different speakers that gave talks, but after each speaker, Elder Nash got up with the speaker and asked the congregation 2 questions. What did you learn? What are you going to do with what you learned? There were microphones passed around to the audience members and they answered the questions from Elder Nash! It was really different, but really effective and personal. When it came time for Elder Nash to speak, he declared boldly to the audience that they needed to be doing better missionary work and that they needed to use the full time missionaries as a significant resource. He then had all of the missionaries stand up and further testified of the special witness that we carry. Right after the meeting, we took Mitch up to the front and introduced him to both President Rehm and Elder Nash. Elder Nash got really down and personal with Mitch and really cemented Mitch's testimony. Elder Nash then hugged Elder Hawkins and I and told us to keep up the great work. I am so grateful for Elder Nash's willingness to speak one on one with Mitch.
Sunday came and there was a recent concert / investigator meeting with Elder Nash that we went to with Mitch. It was powerful to hear all of the testimonies come from the converts including Mitch's. The meeting led into the general session of stake conference where we heard from all of the great leaders of the stake, the temple president, mission president, and Elder Nash. He bore solemn witness of the truth of this gospel and delivered an impactful talk. What a blessing it was for me to hear from this great man all throughout the week. I know for a fact that he is called of God to do what he does. After the conference, we got a call from a less active member requesting that we stop by and talk! So right before dinner, we went over to the house and had a great lesson. Dinner was with Patriarch Williams and his wife and they fed us elk meatloaf which wasn't bad at all :) after dinner we went to John Taylor's baptism!! 

John had asked me earlier in the week if I would give the talk on baptism and I couldn't say no haha:) so I gave my talk on baptism and promised him the blessings that come from making this promise with The Lord. We watched him get baptized and it was so cool to see how happy John was through the whole thing. It was a great way to end the week and I couldn't have asked for more.
I love you all and hope that you have a wonderful thanksgiving!
Elder Kyler LaRose

Kyler.larose@myldsmail.net

CURRENT ADDRESS:

2605 Serendipity Circle E APT #251

Colorado Springs, CO

80917

MISSION OFFICE ADDRESS (use if close to Transfer time, they will forward to where he is at): 

4090 Center Park Drive Ste 4

Colorado Springs, CO 80916

WEEK #16 - Colorado Springs Fountain Stake

WEEK #16

Hey everyone! This week has been such a testimony builder and a blessing:)
On Monday, we went over and played phase 10 with Elder Stark and Elder Villaneda at the Sand Creek apartment. So far, I was undefeated, but Elder Stark won this one:) on the way back from emailing, we were looking for a place to grab a bite. People were saying all these different places, but for some reason, I made an executive decision and said we were going to a place called Schlotzsky's. I thought it was my stomach telling me to go there, but not 10 minutes into us being there, a woman came up to us and asked for a Book of Mormon! We have her a copy and then she left! I am glad that I was able to listen to the promoting of both my stomach and the spirit haha. After we ate, the four of us changed into some old church ball jerseys that we found for the 3rd ward and went to play basketball. The other missionaries were totally jealous of our jerseys haha.

Our lesson with Mitch went really well and we are going to set a baptismal date with him the next time we meet:)
On Tuesday we had time from 12:00pm until 5:00 pm to tract! After a couple of slammed doors and curses, we came to a house and could hear a woman crying inside. We knocked and she came to the door with tears streaming down her face. Immediately, we asked "What's wrong?" and "Is there anything we can do?" and "Are you okay?" She seemed resistant at first, but we continued to offer help. Between sniffs and gasps, she told us that she had just found out that her nephew had died in a car crash. I then bore my testimony to her about the plan of salvation, and about the chance we have to live with our families again in heaven. She seemed comforted by this and she accepted a Book of Mormon and sad that she would read it. We gave her our  number and she said that we could come back next week so that she could learn more. We left the doorstep by saying a prayer with her and leaving good wishes. That, was incredible. When powerful experiences like that happen, I look back at what led us to be there at that moment. That morning, we had an appointment cancel on us. If that appointment hadn't cancelled on us, we would have been in a completely different area. As a back up, we had planned to tract in a specific area, but for some reason, we decided to work in a different area, which turned out to be where we met this woman. The Lord continues to bless our lives continually. That evening, we had a lesson with the Keyes and then the Krings. It is good for us to have these lessons with active members because it can remind them of their own testimonies and hopefully encourage them to share our message with others. Our dinner was a lot later than usual, and it was with the Hanchetts, who are a young couple who got married just 6 months ago. They are really funny and can relate to us pretty well. It was a good day and we were pooped at the end of it.
On Wednesday, after our lunch and studies, we went to go see the 2 potential investigators, Nancy and Joan, that I contacted with Elder Reimer. Neither of them were home, but we were able to get some more information on them. We had a lot more free time again, so we went knocking doors for a little longer. Nothing came from it other than a few good conversations. We had a lesson with a less active member, and he has been coming to church for the past couple of weeks!! It's good to see him progressing. That night, we had coordination meeting with Brother Springer and a good game of volleyball afterwards.
Thursday was an alright day, we were at the apartment for most of the entire day for a few reasons. First, we had a really good weekly planning session that took up a good chunk of our time. Then we had to wait for the housing coordinators come by and inspect our apartment. We did really good and got a "celestial" score on our checklist. For dinner, a member was going to meet us at Golden Corral and as we were on our way there, we were rear-ended by the car behind us! We were in the left turn lane, and the car came up to us and BAM! We jolted forward, but it wasn't too bad. Elder Hawkins and I looked at each other and he said "Dude, we just got hit!" The damage wasn't too bad to the car because we had our bike rack on. It only put a big dent in the bike rack and a dent in our trunk. Nothing happened to his car.

After the collision, we got out and I got the information from the dude that hit us. Then we called the vehicle coordinator and he told us what to do and that we were going to have to do a lot of paperwork now. So after all of that craziness, we had dinner which was with the Tanners. Terry Tanner, I found out, actually grew up in Dove Creek, Colorado and his family owns the bean plant in town. It was really cool to talk about or stomping grounds.
Friday was Dad's birthday!!! happy bday:) 

First Snow!

We woke up with sore necks from the whiplash of the collision, but other than that, we were alright. We had Zone Training too and got lost on our way to the building. It was funny because we were trying to find out where we were on this big map of Colorado Springs that I bought. We learned about how to make our planning more meaningful and how to set goals that we could actually reach. I found out that Elder Tallman, my MTC companion, was called to be a trainer too! He got his call from President Rehm later because he is training Elder Davies who is from England and was waiting for his visa. He saw a Taco Bell and said "It's just like the movies!" so after zone training, we took him to Taco Bell for the first time in his life haha. Afterwards we filled out the paperwork and stopped by the police station to get some more forms. After that we took Mitch to teach with us again and he was solid:) Our next appointment was with a less active member, Sister Christian, who told us that she was going to bring a nonmember with her to the lesson!! The friend's name is Kitana and she is a 19 year old mother who is living in the basement of Sister Christian with her husband who is also less active. We taught about the restoration and Kitana received it really well. At the end of the lesson, we invited her to ready and pray about the Book of Mormon and to come to church and she said yes! It is so amazing to have that miracle happen!
Saturday was our day of service. We met up with Elder Johns and Elder Clancy who are serving in Falcon. They picked us up to go do some service for the homeless. 

homeless service with Elders Johns Clancy Me and Hawkins

We did things like give them food, give them toiletries, and give them clothes they needed. That was really cool. After we got back, we went to sand creek and did some more service with them. This time we sorted meats into packages for a food bank.
Sunday was a good day! We saw Doug Thomas there! (He is the homeless man we were going to teach in his field) We were able to teach him a lesson before church and he stayed for the whole meeting:) after dinner, Elder Hawkins and I had the opportunity to give a blessing to Sister Christian. We are so glad to be a help to others :)
What am amazing week it was! We got 2 new investigators and are excited to see the good news we share bless their lives:) love you all!
Elder Kyler LaRose.

Kyler.larose@myldsmail.net

CURRENT ADDRESS:

2605 Serendipity Circle E APT #251

Colorado Springs, CO

80917

MISSION OFFICE ADDRESS (use if close to Transfer time): 

4090 Center Park Drive Ste 4

Colorado Springs, CO 80916