WEEK #44 - Castle Rock Zone

Hey everyone! It's been a pretty crazy week this week!
On Monday, we first helped a family move out of the ward and then they gave us pizza for lunch. Then we went to the outlet mall with the Spanish Elders and looked around a couple of the stores. That evening, we drove to Parker to exchange with the French Creek Elders. So I went with Elder Stewart for the next 24hrs. As we were finishing up dinner, we got a media referral to go and contact. So we headed out to see if anyone was home. Unfortunately, no one was home at that time.
On Tuesday, we went and did service with Sister Carson and Sister Tucker at one of their investigator's homes. Elder Stewart and I mainly did weeding and edging around the yard. Afterwards, we went and contacted a couple of less actives and such. We then got a call from Sister Tucker wanting a blessing, so we went over and gave her one. When we exchanged back, Elder Tibbitts and I went to dinner with the Burnett's and then had a great lesson at the MacGill's with one of the youth.
On Wednesday, we had our Zone Conference at the Parker South stake center. It was a good long meeting but we were spiritually fed! It went from 8:30 to like 4:00. I got to conduct the meeting and as I would look out to the missionaries, I felt pretty happy for them. They are all great missionaries and we are blessed to have them in our zone. One of the parts of the conference allowed Sister Rehm to talk to us. She spoke on motivation and what motivates us as missionaries. I was taking notes and then I had these lines come into my head so I started writing them down. I have never written poetry before, but this one seemed to work out alright. Here is what I wrote:
There will come a time
Unto men and women of every kind
Where trial and year will knock you down,
Sin and fear bring you to the ground.

Above you stands the Savior near.
You lift your eyes and then you hear,
"Come and take my hand, don't fear,
So I may lift you up and wipe your tear."

And because He drank from the bitter cup,
You reach out your had and He lifts you up.
Then you let go and continue on your way
Only to have Satan lead you away.

Back on the ground, you wonder why
You should continue on, should even try.
Again you lift your eyes to see
The Savior there, so lovingly.

What we need to know and understand
Is to never let go of that extended hand.
For when we grab on and never let go,
We rise and let Him take us to a higher home.

There will come a time
Unto men and women of every kind
To follow Him and to choose the right,
So take His hand to arise and shine.

Pretty good for a beginner right? I credit that one to the influence of the Spirit. It was a great Zone Conference. Afterwards, we went on exchanges with the Elizabeth Elders. So I went to Elizabeth with Elder J Smith. He is just finishing his training as a new missionary and he is a stud. He is just rock solid and a really great missionary and teacher.

 We had a good time at dinner and then went to have a lesson with one of their investigators. We taught the Plan of Salvation and she understood it really well! She really wants to get baptized too and we are happy for her. After the lesson we went into their backyard to try to scare the fainting goats that they had. Now these ones were more on their game than others. Just yelling at them wouldn't work. So what we did was distract them while the dad lit a noise maker firework. So as we distracted them, he tossed the firework right behind them and it went off. All the goats stiffed up and fell over and couldn't walk anywhere! It was hilarious!
On Thursday, Elder J Smith and I helped the member they live with move in a piece of granite into the shower they are building. It was super big and weighed about 600 plus pounds. We had six guys there shuffling it around and we finally managed to get it into place after a good couple of heaves. After that, we took off to do some service for a less active member and helped shovel out some stalls! My favorite! We then went to visit this one member and then it started raining super hard and hailing! They said that there was a tornado watch going on right then and told us to get inside. It just kept raining and hailing super hard and luckily no tornado touched down. While we were there, the members had us give a lesson but it had to be done the traditional way that they have done it. So what they do is they select an object in the room at random and then I have 3 minutes to prepare a small lesson based on that object. So what they selected for me was a roller for your sore muscles. So after 3 minutes I gave a lesson on how when we get knots in our muscles, we use the roller to straighten them out and to roll out the knots. Likewise, when we sin, our heart (which is a muscle) gets a little sore or a little harder and may have some knots in it. Luckily, Jesus Christ atoned for each of our sins and provided a way for us to overcome our weaknesses. So we must use the roller of the Atonement to roll out the knots that sin creates in our hearts. This will allow our heart to strengthen as well. They then gave me a rating at the end and said I had a nice solid 8 and that not many missionaries had done that before haha. It was fun. We then exchanged back and had dinner at the Young's. we then went to mutual and helped decorate cupcakes to deliver to different people. I used my natural cupcake decorating skills that I got from Aunt Janell:)
On Friday, we had a good district meeting and then went to lunch. Bonaventure was pretty fun and we had a good time. We played Yahtzee and had to coach them through it each round but it was fun. We had dinner with the Kendall's and it was really good. Next we had a lesson with the Spears and we had them do the pick an object thing. So we had to relate a spaceship and a cardboard box to the gospel. And it worked out! That night, the Assistants to the President drove up and we exchanged. I stayed up here with Elder Constantine and Elder Tibbitts went with Elder Buxton to the Springs. So we got some crazy news from the assistants that night too. We found out that the Parker South stake (half of our zone) would be leaving the Colorado, Colorado Springs mission and would be going to the Denver North mission. Luckily all of the missionaries in that stake will stay in this mission and will be transferred into different places Tuesday. That is crazy for us because we have half as much paperwork and stuff to worry about now and can focus on proselyting in our area more!
On Saturday, Elder Constantine and I went way out to Sedalia to find someone and unfortunately they weren't home. It was a beautiful drive though! We had lunch at Piezanos in Sedalia and it was delicious! It reminded me of the East Coast pizza. We came back and were able to have success as we attempted to talk to everyone. Dinner was with the Prescott's and they cooked smoked BBQ Ribs that were delicious! We had a good lesson at the Shifflet's too. We exchanged back and it was good getting to know and learn from Elder Constantine.
On Sunday, bishop's son Jake just got back from his mission to Oslo, Norway. He gave an incredible homecoming talk and is a really great guy. The first thig he said to us when he met us was "what's your number? I'm available anytime for any appointment" we are looking forward to having him at our lessons and stuff:) we then met with Ammon and his friend again and had a good lesson on overcoming the natural man through selflessness. We then went to Sedalia for dinner with the Polson's and then got to go over to the Watts for a good lesson on the Atonement. We then were invited to Jake Rolfson's open house thing and were able to meet some really cool nonmembers there.
On Memorial Day, we picked up the Spanish Elders and then met with the Elizabeth Elders to go out fishing on the South Platte river! So we went down to the river and met up with two of the youth in our ward down there, Blake and James. We had tons of fun just fishing and being together. I didn't catch any fish this time, but I caught some nibbles! Out of everyone, we caught probably 5 fish. Oh and Elder Taylor caught a monster stick too:) after we wrapped up fishing, we went to say goodbye to all of the Parker South missionaries. It is sad to see all of them leave but hopefully I will see them around at some other point in my mission. It was a great Memorial Day.

Thanks everyone for all that you have done for me and what you have helped me to become. Have a great week!
Love, Elder LaRose.

Kyler.larose@myldsmail.net

CURRENT ADDRESS:

4358 Sawmill Court

Castle Rock, CO 80109

MISSION OFFICE ADDRESS:

4090 Center Park Drive Ste 4

Colorado Springs, CO 80916

WEEK #43 Castle Rock Zone, NEW ADDRESS

WEEK #43

Hey everyone! It's been a good week:) we moved into a different member's home so my address had changed! It is now 4358 Sawmill Ct.
On Monday, we went to the computers to email, and then went shopping at the store. Then we went and got fishing licenses from Walmart to go fish for the rest of the day! We were picked up by Elder Rumsey and Elder Smith and then drove through Sedalia, almost to a small place called deckers to get to the spot. We were on the South Platte River and found a pretty good spot to fish. The four of us kind of spread out a little bit and started casting. The weather was just right too. It had just stopped raining when we showed up. After about 20 minutes, I caught a fish! It was a tiny rainbow trout about 5 inches long and I hooked it through the eye. Once I had caught it, I had to get over my childhood fear of touching the fish and so I just grabbed it and pulled the hook out. A couple minutes later I caught another small rainbow trout through the lip:) I was pretty proud of myself. Elder Tibbitts and Elder Smith didn't catch anything and Elder Rumsey ended up catching two small rainbow trout as well.







As we headed back, the road was really foggy and it was pretty cool to drive in. We are planning another fishing trip for Memorial Day too. That night, we went and had dinner with the Lee family. Come to find out, they are from Cortez, Colorado and we had some good talks about that area. We also had lessons at the  Crabtree's and the Prescott's.
On Tuesday, Elder Tibbitts and I went to Horsepower in the morning and shoveled some stalls. Then, after that, we went on exchanges with the Spanish Elders. So I went with Elder Taylor in his area. We went back to horsepower because Spanish goes there at a different time of the day. So I got double duty on the poopy scoopy. We came home and showered after that and then went to dinner. Also that night, we went to Smart Cow for some frozen yogurt and a lesson with some members.




On Wednesday, Elder Taylor and I studied about finding people to teach and specifically, talking with everyone. We had planned to go knock on some potential investigator doors and things like that around the apartment complex.
So when we headed out, we focused on talking with everyone we could. Just from that short amount of time, we were able to get so much out of it. The very first people we talked to were a very friendly couple who said they were members who moved from Nevada a couple years ago, but their records never showed up in our ward. They seemed not to mind if we stopped by again, they just said work was keeping them busy and it would be hard to catch them. It's amazing how The Lord led us to them at that moment specifically. I can't imagine if we hadn't talked to them. It may have been another couple of years before they were approached by someone from the church. As we continued on, we found 5 other potential investigators that said they would be interested in having us over! In that short time, we really put into action what we ha learned in our studies and the results came! Talk with everyone! Later, we exchanged back and then went to Task Force for some service. After that, we went and had a lesson with Noe and brought Jonah Arocho with us. We are all around the same age so it was fun to have that lesson. We found out that Noe had not been reading the Book of Mormon, so we focused our lesson on how the Book of Mormon answers the questions of the soul and left him some reading assignments. We had to leave earlier because our dinner was early. We went to the Degolyer house and had some good ribs. They are a family that has just recently moved in and they are pretty awesome.
On Thursday, we did our weekly planning and had a good discussion about how we can strengthen our companionship. That evening, we biked to President Davis's home and had a good dinner. We then went to mutual, which was at the Kumpfs for some fondue! It was great for us to be there because the youth had invited some nonmembers that we got to talk with. We also had delicious fondue:) after that, we got to go and conduct a baptismal interview for James in the Crystal Valley ward. James was found worthy for baptism and actually has an incredible story. He is about 60 and is from India and had a brother who was a member of the church. James became a burn victim through a house fire and his brother gave him a priesthood blessing and took his pain away. That was huge for James and so he wanted to be baptized a member of the church by his brother. But just a few days before James's baptism, his brother died unexpectedly of a heart attack. This caused James to fall away and back out of his baptism. He remained angry at God for some time. Then, not too long ago, James had to go through open heart surgery and received a priesthood blessing from the missionaries. Not 4 days later, he was walking around and feeling fine! So that rekindled his testimony of the truth of this church and he has made all the steps necessary to be baptized. We are so excited for the blessings we know that he will receive by doing this.
On Friday, we had a good district meeting and got to talk about those that we are working with. Afterwards, we went and did service at Bonaventure. We had some intense rounds of bingo and came through with the gold on one of the rounds:). After that, we went home and packed all of our stuff away to get ready for the move from the Kumpf's to the Kendall's. we were invited to the graduation party for Bishop's daughter, Katie that night. We showed up and there were tons of nonmembers that we got to meet and build relationships with. One of them was Katie's friend who would totally get baptized if it weren't for her parents. It was cool to see the testimony and faith of someone who isn't even a member of the church. We also got to meet some younger guys and also meet Bishop Rolfson's neighbors and have good connections. That night, we stopped by to see Noe and invite him to James's baptism. He totally agreed to come as well!
On Saturday, we loaded everything into our truck and unpacked it all at the Kendall's.

Then, we picked up Noe and went to the baptism. It was a little delayed but it was great to see James and the joy in his face. Noe really liked it was well and there were lots of people that were really kind to and interested in him. The baptism went well and smooth and the spirit was strong. We were also invited to the celebration afterwards and Noe came too. James and his Sister made some authentic Indian curry which was amazing! I haven't had curry in a long time. We had good food and good conversation. I really feel that the spirit spoke to Noe, saying "These people really will care about you and love you." We then took Noe back home and he thanked us for taking him. We spent the rest of the day unpacking and setting up and putting away things in our new location. For dinner we went to the Bays and he had smoked some pork for our delicious pulled pork sandwiches. For our next appointment, we went to the Farnsworth's and had an activity on the Atonement. The object lesson was we had candy for everyone there. We asked each person if they wanted a piece of candy if they accepted the candy, I had to do 7 push ups for payment for that candy. So as we moved around the room, I had to do push ups. Then, one of them said that they didn't want candy so that I wouldn't have to do push ups. But I did them anyway. This relates to the Atonement because Jesus had already payed the price for everything that we have done and will do wrongfully. It helped everyone appreciate what Christ has done for us and also helped me get bigger muscles:).
On Sunday, we had our missionary correlation meeting and it was nice not having to go anywhere because it was at the Kendall's. Church was really good and Noe came to church! It was
Great to have him there and stayed for first and second hour. We had some good Greek food with Bishop and his family for dinner and then we went to the church to meet with Ammon and his friend. We had a good lesson on forgiveness and were able to give both of them blessings of comfort afterwards. It was a great week with great miracles. I love being a missionary and love each of you:) have a great week!!

Elder LaRose

Kyler.larose@myldsmail.net

CURRENT ADDRESS:

4358 Sawmill Court

Castle Rock, CO 80109

MISSION OFFICE ADDRESS:

4090 Center Park Drive Ste 4

Colorado Springs, CO 80916

WEEK #42 - Castle Rock Zone

Hey everyone! It was a pretty great week this week!
On Monday, we had a blast. After we went and emailed and shopped, Elder Tibbitts and I went with the Spanish Elders, Elder Taylor and Elder Ashcroft, to the restaurant inside of the Hospital again. After that, we went to the turf field across from the Plum Creek building and played all kinds of stuff. We started off by playing flag football and I got a chance to break in the flags that I got for Easter:). Then we moved to playing ultimate frisbee and by that time the wind had picked up so it was hard to throw it. We then played a little bit of soccer. When we got tired of that stuff, we went over to the church and played some good basketball:) Elder Tibbits went and played the card game Magic with some other Elders so it worked out. We came home and had some burgers at the Rolfson's and then met with the Ganns and the Kumpfs for lessons afterwards. It was a good pday.
On Tuesday, we did our studies and then went to HorsePower for service. We were the only Elders who showed up that day so we helped the owner shovel out stalls. Then the owner went out into this one field to fertilize it with the poop but his tractor got stuck in the mud! So he drove out another machine out there with a chain to try to putt it out and then that got stuck too! So he drove a bigger tractor out there to try to get it unstuck but it wasn't budging. So after we were at it for like an hour, he just said that he was going to call his friend with a big tractor to come pull out everything later in the day. It was pretty funny.

 Later that night, the Wassons took us out to eat in celebration of Gary's birthday! So we went and had dinner at Outback Steakhouse. I had a sirloin steak and shrimp on the Barbie:) we were able to go to the MacGills afterwards and have a great lesson before we retired for the evening.
On Wednesday, we got to go to Task Force and help out everyone there. It is always fun to go to Task Force because they put you to work and you meet a lot of new people as well! We then had great lessons with the Nielsens and the Haycocks.

​Also, Elder Tu'ifua did some drawings on my ukulele!

On Thursday, the missionaries were invited to a luncheon for all the volunteers at Task Force. The luncheon was held at the Canyon Community Church and there were probably 200 people attending. They recognized a couple of different people and then we had a good lunch! After the lunch they gave out some awards to different people and then had all 8 of us missionaries stand up. They thanked us in front of the crowd and said they were grateful to have their "Mormon power". It was pretty cool to have that happened and may have changes some of the way that people view us. What a great opportunity. After that we went and had a meeting with Brother Jones, the Parker South High Councilor over missionary work. We had a good discussion about the documents we give to the stake and about how the stake is doing. He also told us about some of his funny missionary stories. When we came back to Castle Rock, we went to the Metcalfs and worked on their swing set:) dinner was with the Buhlers and the husband doesn't come to church so it was nice to be in their home and to have a lesson. We then went to mutual and taught the Teachers and Priests about a day in the life of a missionary. It was really good for them and we gave them a bunch of different situations in where they had to tell us what they were going to do. Not all of them have it down but that's alright.
On Friday, we had a good district meeting and Elder Tibbitts got to teach the lesson. For lunch, we met with the senior couple over the JustServe projects for the mission at Cafe Rio. Elder and Sister Searing were going to pay for us but then some members came up to us and gave us some money anyways haha. The Searings still payed for us anyways. We had a good lunch and a good talk about all the JustServe projects we are doing. After that we went to Bonaventure and played some memory games with the tenants. We did a couple of different trivia questions and their answers were pretty funny. After that, we finally completed the Metcalf's swing set!

The kids were pretty happy and excited for it to be done:) so that night, all the fathers were at Father's and Sons's so no one could meet with us that night. We ended up going to Chili's with the Spanish Elders.
On Saturday, our morning consisted of studies, finalizing paperwork for our stake meetings, and having lunch. We got to stop by a lot of new people as well. That evening, we had a lesson with Brother Hunter for the first time. He is a less active member who is looking to try out coming back to church. We are excited to be working with him and hope the best. We set out on foot for that evening and walked to the Palmers to have dinner and a lesson. Also, today our investigator Clint got married civilly to the member he was dating in Boulder! Bishop Rolfson actually performed the marriage up there for them and he said lots of people were telling Clint that the next step was to be baptized! Haha hopefully that gave him a little more of a push.
On Sunday we woke up early and got a ride from President Haycock to our meetings. We first went to Parker to meet with President Rehm and the stake there. It was a great meeting and we got a lot accomplished. We then went to the Castle Rock meeting and it was good to finally touch base with them. It was the first meeting we've had with them since January! After that we went to Ward Council and learned a lot and discussed the needs of the Ward. Church went really well and Brother Hunter showed up and sat by us! It was a good meeting too. Dinner was at the Grats and then we had to book it to the Castle Rock just serve meeting. After that meeting, we met with Bishop Rolfson and talked about some more people. We finished by singing a hymn accompanied by me on the ukulele:) even though the sabbath is a day of rest, we were busy at the Lord's work for most of it:)

I am grateful each day for the blessings that a mission brings into my life and into the life of others. There is no other place where you can find such peace, joy, and comfort than in this gospel. I love you all and have a great week:)
Elder LaRose.

WEEK #41 - Castle Rock Zone

Hey everyone! Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there and to my mom!




On Monday, we went to lunch at this place called Manna. It's a unique restaurant because it is inside a hospital. I had a Colorado lamb burger with goat cheese on it and it wasn't that bad!


we had a good Pday in Parker. We met up with most of the missionaries out there and played some volleyball and some soccer. It was pretty fun. For our evening appointments, we went to the Farnsworth's, Sister Howland's, and the Snow's. The snows have a special needs kid who's name is Ethan and he is the greatest. We are good buds.
On Tuesday, we went to the HorsePower ranch to shovel stalls, but when we got there, they were too muddy so we walked around and fed the horses... only to scoop up the digested version next week ;) Beause it was the beginning of the month, we spent a lot of time figuring out missionaries' miles and stuff for the stake before our meetings. We went to dinner at IHOP and then taught lessons to Brother Keiler and Brother Crabtree.
On Wednesday, we woke up early and drove down to Colorado Springs for our monthly meeting with the leadership of the mission. It was a long long meeting but we had good discussion and were able to share some good ideas. It was really fun to see all of my friends who came out with me there. First, Sister Smith, who is a Sister Training Leader in the San Luis Valley zone, Elder Clancy over the Pueblo zone, Elder Stark over the East Colorado Springs zone, and Elder Tallman over the North Colorado Springs zone. We stopped by the mission office and picked up supplies to take back to our zones. We took a couple of pictures too:)







 after the drive home, we had dinner and then had a lesson at the Pierce's. That night, we were actually able to meet with Clint our investigator again. We had a lesson on eternal marriage and temples and brought Brother Kendall with us. Clint will actually be getting civilly married to a member of the church he has been dating who lives in Boulder this weekend. Clint loves everything about the church and wants an eternal family but is scared to make the commitment of baptism. He said he knows he needs to but can't bring himself to go to the calendar and put his finger on a date. He said that he is going to surprise us all and one day decide to be baptized. It was a good lesson and we are praying for The Lord to maybe flick his head or something haha.


On Thursday, we did our planning for the week and had a good time talking deeply about those we are working with. We went to lunch at Guadalajara in honor or Cinco de Mayo. We had bacon wrapped shrimp, carne asada and pollo asado. After lunch, we went and met with Sister Tucker and Sister Carson to discuss what we were going to teach for Zone Training. After we got all of that settled, we came back and had dinner. After that we went to mutual with the youth for their Cinco de Mayo party. They had chips and salsa and horchata there. The main event was the pepper eating challenge and we were all in. We first started with a nice Bell Pepper. Then we moved on to a Jalapeño and then my mouth was tingling. Next was a Red Fresno and that added on to the heat and made me start sweating. Next up was Serrano pepper and yeah it was tough to put down. Finally, we ate a Habanero pepper, which is not a good idea. Initially it wasn't that bad and then like 2 seconds later, the heat came. It burned like crazy! I was crying and my mouth was in pain. I was drinking milk and horchata by the gallon trying to stop the fire. Even when I would talk an breathe it would bring the heat back. After my mouth calmed down, we went over to the Wolfe's for a lesson. I now could talk but my stomach felt weird. We went home after that and let our stomachs recover through the night.

On Friday, we had our Zone training. We talk a lot about having effective plans throughout the day and about being the missionary that The Lord wants them to be and that their moms want them to be. It was a good meeting and we had good discussion from the zone. After lunch and everything, we went to Bonaventure with the spanish Elders and played UNO and a would you rather game. It was pretty thought getting them to participate and stuff haha. In the afternoon, we drove out to Elizabeth to give one of their investigators a baptismal interview! Elder Tibbitts gave the interview and it went really well. We had dinner with the Spears and then met with Kelly Carlson to plan stuff for her baptism!! Kelly had removed her name from the records of the church a while ago and now has gained a testimony of the true church and wants to come back and be baptized! To give you a little background, Kelly had been living in an apartment and was going to move out to a different location and then that person backed out on her. So she had to emergency move in with our Relief Society President, Sister Howland. So she has been looking for places to live and is planning on moving to California this Friday. She wanted to get baptized before she left and so she sprung this on us and we were excited to participate. So we set the program and everything that night. She asked me to perform the baptism and Elder Tibbitts to confirm!
On Saturday, we went to the Baptism of Elizabeth's investigator and that was awesome. The spirit was strong.

We then made the program for Kelly's baptism. We went to the Etchells for dinner and she fed us delicious pork chops and mashed potatoes. We went to the church after that and set things up. I changed into my white clothes and we waited for it to start! We had an opening song and prayer and then it was time! Kelly and I walked into the font and I baptized her in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. It was so great to be a part of this big step in the right direction for Kelly. We changed and then Elder Tibbitts performed the confirmation. We had some closing remarks from Bishop Rolfson and then Kelly shared her testimony.
On Sunday, we had a great time at church. They had 5 youth speakers speak on different topics about Mother's Day and they all gave great talks and spoke highly of their mothers and the women who have influenced their lives. After church we went to Brother Kendall's house to talk with our wonderful families!! It was so great to see their faces and talk with them. We had to hang up and drive to the Turnbaugh's for dinner in Sedalia. After we ate we were able to get on Skype again and talk with the fam for a couple more hours. It was sad to say goodbye but I left with more determination and confidence. I love my family so much and am grateful that I got to see all my brothers and sister and parents.

It was a busy and crazy week with lots of great things. Love you all and wouldn't want to be doing anything else. I love my mission:)
Love, Elder LaRose

Kyler.larose@myldsmail.net

CURRENT ADDRESS:

4438 Buena Vista Ct.

Castle Rock, CO 80109

MISSION OFFICE ADDRESS:

4090 Center Park Drive Ste 4

Colorado Springs, CO 80916

WEEK #40 - Castle Rock Zone

WEEK #40
5.2.16

Hey everyone! It's been a good week, because of the end of the month, we had to do a lot of paperwork and stuff for the Castle Rock and Parker South stakes.
On Monday, we had a great pday with everyone before transfers happened. First, we met at the fairgrounds soccer field and played soccer for a little bit. It got really windy and so we decided to move into the church building across the street to play volleyball. It was pretty good and everyone seemed to have a great time. For dinner, we went to the Pappenfusses and later to the Robinsons and had great lessons at both homes. This ward is so awesome that it is hard to pick a favorite family or two. All of the families are just too awesome:) it was a good day.
On Tuesday, we went to Horsepower while everyone else transferred and moved around the mission. We were the only ones at the ranch so he put us to work shoveling out the poop and all the good stuff. In the afternoon, we substituted the Spanish Elders at Bonaventure and helped all the tenants paint things to decorate their rooms with. We had a lesson with Brother Smith and then had a great dinner at the Wolfe's. They are a young less active family that we have been going over every week to have family home evening with:) It is good to see them progress and participate.
On Wednesday, Elder Tibbitts had to call an advisor about college because he leaves for home this summer. We also went to task force and helped them move furniture, put clothes away, and price different objects. We were going to have an appointment with Noe at like 5 but he ended up cancelling on us because he had to work late that night. We finished the night with a good lesson at the Young's and another at the Crabtrees.
On Thursday, we spend a good amount of time weekly planning and then went to Parker to help set up some displays for the Family Discovery Day event that they were holding. The displays are similar to the portable visitor's center that we used in Connecticut. After that, we headed home and started walking to our evening appointments. We went to the Jones and then went back to pick up our truck to have a lesson with the Arochos.
On Friday, we went and had a good district meeting and got to meet the newest member of our district. Sister Pongyan is from the Philippines and is really awesome! She will be a great missionary. We went to Bonaventure again and had a good time playing a memory game with all the people there. It was good because it helped them remember things from their lives. We had dinner with the Secrist's and a good lesson afterwards. It started snowing again today and didn't stick to the roads, but stuck to everything else. It didn't stop until Sunday!
On Saturday, we went to Weston Graves' baptism! We had been teaching him the missionary lessons to prepare him for his baptism. He is a really cool kid.

At the baptism, Bishop Rolfson came up to us and said that Clint asked him to marry him civilly to a member who lives in Boulder. We are really excited for him and hope this pushes him towards baptism. We set up a lesson with him for Wednesday. We then went back to Parker and took down the displays used for Family Discovery Day. When we got back we entered in some information for the stake. We had a good dinner with the Prescotts and then went over to the Jones again to have a lesson with them and the Nielsens.
On Sunday, we had our studies in the morning and then went to PEC until church started at 1. We had a great meeting because Camille Haycock, who just returned from her mission, gave her homecoming talk and it was great. After she spoke, they opened up testimony meeting and there were some pretty great testimonies borne. We taught gospel principles class and talked about the different gifts of the Spirit. After church, we went to the Glancy's home and they are pretty awesome. We had great food, great company, and a great lesson. Then we went to the Graves for a little bit to eat snacks and celebrate Weston's baptism. Then we went over to the Ganns for a great lesson and finished the night with coordination with Brother Kendall and call ins.
It was a good week and we are ready for sunny weather and not snow, but I guess that's what you get when you love in Colorado. The mission is the greatest thing ever and I wouldn't trade it for anything! Love you all!
Elder Kyler LaRose.

Kyler.larose@myldsmail.net

CURRENT ADDRESS:

4438 Buena Vista Ct.

Castle Rock, CO 80109

MISSION OFFICE ADDRESS:

4090 Center Park Drive Ste 4

Colorado Springs, CO 80916