WEEK #26 - Castle Rock Zone

WEEK #26

Hey everyone! It's been a great week full of adventures.



This is from exchanges last week in Perry Park

On Tuesday, since it was MLK day on Monday, we emailed our families and stuff for a lot of the day. We had a good dinner that night and met with more members of the ward later that night. That has been something that this ward had done wonderfully. Each night, families sign up for a 6, 7, and 8:00 appointment with the missionaries. This helps us stay busy and productive during the evening. Later that night, we attended a meeting with the stake for JustServe. As zone leaders, we sign up all of the missionaries for service projects throughout the week. We were able to have a good discussion and things are moving along well.
On Wednesday, we went to the church early in the morning to get ready for a worldwide missionary broadcast that the zone would we watching with us. President Rehm was also there with us to watch. It was a really cool and inspiring broadcast! We learned from Neil L. Anderson, David A. Bednar, W. Christopher Waddell, Bonnie L. Oscarson, L. Whitney Clayton, and Dallin H. Oaks. They went through the fundamentals of missionary work and gave incredible insights and examples.
After the broadcast, we went and did some service at a thrift shop before I went on some more exchanges. I went to a place called Elizabeth and spent the day there. The missionaries live with a member, and in the missionaries' place there are a ton of animal mounts like deer, turkey, bobcat, and bear. It was really cool!

On Thursday, the rest of the exchange went alright, the Elder I was with had to go to the library to email his mom because he needed money to pay for a speeding ticket that he got, so that was a little annoying. We could have been doing missionary work instead. We exchanged back and then I went with Elder Mogle to have a lesson with a guy who is about to go on his mission. His name is Jonah and he seems very well prepared. Afterward, we went to dinner out in Sedalia, Colorado which was really cool because in some parts, you can see both Denver and Castle Rock in the distance. We met with an active family and a less active friend that they have and the less active member is progressing really well toward going to the temple! She also invited us to come along as well which would be absolutely awesome!! We are happy for her and her determination.
On Friday, we went to our district meeting and it went alright. The district leader was getting transferred and so he got lazy and didn't prepare much of a meeting for us. So Elder Mogle and I taught about what was said in the broadcast and how we can use it to improve our missionary work. After district meeting we went to Costa Vida because missionaries get 50% off of everything! So I got a big plate of nachos for like $4.00 :) we then went to the church to have our interviews with President Rehm! My interview went well and he thanked me for my leadership and obedience. He also told me how thankful he was for the group of missionaries that I came out with and the quality we carry. He said that we were the answer to their prayers and I thought that was really cool :) After the interviews, President talked to me and Elder Mogle about how the zone was doing. Then, we got new phones! They are slightly more upgraded than the last and it is weird getting used to a new keyboard and everything. But it's still a dumb phone, not a smart phone :( our dinner was with the Gann family and they are really fun. They have 2 little kids that are really funny. Sister Gann is actually from Duchesne, Utah and we talked about the long drives we had to take to play each other in sports.

Broncos sunsets in Colorado

On Saturday, we were reeled in to do service for a lot of the day. We helped a family move into the ward and got that done pretty quickly actually. Then, after that, we went and helped an old lady move out of her home and into an apartment with a bunch of couches. The couch was super awkward to move around the apartment complex and we finally were able to shove it up 2 flights of stairs, lean it over a balcony and then push in into their apartment. We felt that we deserved a trip to Maverik after that:)

On Sunday, we went and stopped by a media referral that we received and gave her the bible that she requested. We also left her a Book of Mormon to read and invited her to come to church! She didn't come to church, but took the Book of Mormon and said she would read it. At church, we were asked last minute to teach gospel principles class, but were able to get out of it because no one showed up. That night, we met with Bishop Roflson and had a really good coordination meeting. He is a great bishop and is really excited about missionary work. We are blessed to have him:)
Well, this coming week I will hit my 6 month mark! That's pretty crazy for me to think about and it is going by too quickly. Thanks for everything and talk to you later!

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 #25 - Castle Rock Zone

WEEK #25

Hey everyone! It's been a great week but super busy.

On Monday, we met at the church with some other missionaries and played a lot of basketball. It was really fun and competitive. I thought I did pretty good haha:) dinner was fun and afterwards, we met with the 1st counselor in the bishopric, Brother Smith and his family. It was funny because we typically leave a commitment for the family to work on after our lesson, and so in return, Brother Smith gave us some 'homework' to do haha. He asked us what the difference was between doing missionary work and being a missionary. I thought that was really neat and I think that we don't have to wear a white shirt and a name tag to be a missionary. Being a missionary means getting it into your heart that you want to serve The Lord and bring others closer to Christ.

On Tuesday, I went on exchanges with the Spanish elders! We had a busy day, which was awesome, and some of the lessons we had were in "Spanglish" but most of them were in Spanish haha. So I had no idea what people were saying except for a few words the whole day:). Our last appointment was dinner and it was a lady from Columbia and her family. Right when we walked in, she said "Oh my! Look how hungry their faces look!!" and then proceeded to fill our plates with food haha. Whenever I get close to finishing a plate, she would take it and plop a ton more food on it. I thought I was going to explode.

On Wednesday, I went over the work in the area a little more with Elder Mogle and we have a lot of room to improve that's for sure. We did service at a thrift store for a couple hours and if you volunteer, you get crazy discounts on stuff, so I got a cool Colorado avalanches (hockey) sweater. We had dinner with the bishop and his family which was really neat. I can tell that he is a great bishop and am excited to work with him. After that, we drove for about 30 minutes to a place called Elizabeth to do a baptismal interview for an investigator they are teaching. I was the one to conduct the interview and it was really cool. The lady they were teaching was so prepared and absolutely ready to be baptized. After the interview, we got to know them a little better and then had to take off for the long ride home.

On Thursday, we had to get some paperwork done for the stake and then visited some less active members around the area. Dinner was with a less active family and we were able to have a lesson and a good influence on them in their home. We taught 2 more lessons that night, both to active members and one to our ward mission leader, Brother Kendall! He is a really funny and cool guy to be around and he knows how to work well in his calling.

On Friday, we got ready for a Zone Training! Yeah I know, I've not been out here for 5 days and I have to teach a Zone Training. Haha no it was great; Elder Mogle and I prepared a great lesson and really felt good about what we were going to talk about. We decided that the zone needed training on studies. Elder Holland, in a talk to the MTC pointed out that there are 3 things that missionaries don't do very well, one of them being studying. So we focused on utilizing both personal study and companionship study. If you think about it, Joseph Smith was just doing some personal studies when he came across the verse in James 1:5 and look where that led. So are we making our personal studies worthy of such a change as Joseph's? The meeting was really rough. A lot of the missionaries in the zone are lazy, disruptive, and unfocused. For example, some elders showed up with no suits on, one showed up with a black dress shirt, one with flip flops on trying to be funny and it destroyed the atmosphere of the meeting immediately. It was a challenge to bring the spirit into the meeting because it didn't seem like anyone was paying attention. I shot them a question asking them if they were being the missionary that God wants them to be and if not, what will they work on? We kind of pushed our way through the meeting and pulled through at the end. There is going to need to be a lot of change in this zone and maybe I'm here to help with that. Right after that, we drove back to the springs to pick up our truck that was in the shop. I got to see Elder Hawkins at the mission office for a little bit which was super awesome. He says he misses me and I miss him too. We drove back and exchanged with the Perry Park elders. I went with Elder Jolley to his area for this one. Perry Park is a cool mountain town with huge homes and very wealthy people. The views are incredible too and it was fun just being there. We drove to an activity for their ward that night and it was actually a comedy show where some guy from Utah came and did clean stand up comedy! We were approved to attend because there were some investigators that showed up as well. He was really funny and had me laughing a lot.

The next morning on Saturday, we went on a small hike and got to see a little more of Perry Park. We then drove to Castle Rock to do some service for a member of their ward who was having a retirement party. Our job was to help set up stuff, make sure no kids climbed over the cool vintage cars that they had in there and help people find parking. It was a really cool place to have a party.

That night we exchanged back and I went with Elder Mogle to the Crabtree family for a lesson.

On Sunday, we woke up at 5:30 to get ready to go to a couple of stake meetings. We first met with the Parker South stake presidency for our missionary coordination meeting. President Rehm was also there to discuss the work. After that meeting we drove to meet the Castle Rock stake presidency for missionary coordination with them. That lasted for a little while and then we went and attended our ward council meeting that went for 2 hours!! I was learning so much through these meetings and have a page full of notes that I was writing haha. Right after Ward Council, we had our church at 1:00-4:00. there were so many youth I had forgotten how youth deprived my last ward was! it was a good change:) Dinner was really good and we went to the home of a single dad who is a chef! So we had some really good Chinese food that he made. We then had coordination with Brother Kendall and then went home pooped from the long day:)

On Monday, because it was a holiday, the libraries were closed so we met with some other missionaries in the zone and hiked to the top of castle rock! It was super cool. 

We ran into some members there and they saw me climbing up this more difficult part of the rock. The dad then said to me, "You must be from Southern Utah - this is easy for you!" I thought that was really funny because that is exactly where I am from:) then we went and played touch football with some other missionaries. After football, we went to the Castle Rock outlet mall for a few minutes before dinner. Dinner was with Brother Pappenfuss and his family and I'll tell you, they are about as cowboy as you can get. They even know where Monticello is and know a cowboy named Mel over there:) Brother Pappenfuss had a beard with a nice curly mustache and everything. He even used to be a bounty hunter, or a fugitive retrieval officer, which is pretty much a bounty hunter. He told us all about these crazy stories and scenarios he was in with his job. It was super fun to talk with them

Well it's been a busy week and hopefully it only gets busier!! 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

WEEK #24 - Castle Rock Zone, NEW ZONE LEADER!

 WEEK #24

This week has been insane. You'll just have to find out why.

On Monday, the church building was closed for cleaning so we just went to the Citadel mall and checked out a couple of stores. It was fun hanging out with the crew again. Our dinner took us to an authentic Mexican restaurant called Pueblo Viejo. Mitch said he wasn't feeling good that night so we didn't go over there.

On Tuesday, we went to the bishop's storehouse and did some service for a couple hours we did stuff like stack food storage and pack it for some orders that were coming in. Afterwards, we had lunch and went to our other appointments. Lots of our appointments cancelled on us and we didn't have a dinner appointment so we came back home and ordered some pizza :) we had an active member lesson that night and were able to have a good lesson on goal setting, focusing on the new year.

On Wednesday, we did our studies and had a good lunch. Afterwards we went to the library and looked up a couple of conference talks and other resources that we could use in our lessons. That night we went to coordination meeting a little early and were roped in by the Boy Scouts to play a game called foot hockey:). A little kid who was about 5 years old was playing and fell on his back. He sat up and was crying so his dad went and picked him up. When he was picked up, he went into a seizure and so we laid him flat on the stage in the gym. It only lasted for a few seconds and the kid seemed fine when he came out of it. We were there to help and I even took part in a blessing of healing for the little man:) it was cool and I hope they find out what happened. That night we had a good volleyball game with the ward and then retired to our apartment.

On Thursday, our day was packed full of studies and we didn't have anything to do from about 3 to 6 so we went and street contacted and tracted. After dinner, we had another lesson with Kitana. She wants to push back her baptism date because of the pregnancy. It's understandable because we could tell that she could be due anytime now. We taught about CPR to her which is Church, Pray, and Read. Those three things will keep us spiritually alive if we attend church, pray every day, and read our scriptures every day. It was pretty neat.

On Friday, we had zone training at a building that was 30 min away from us. So we left in the morning to pick up Elder Stark and Elder Tu'ifua. The zone training was good and we learned a lot from the zone leaders. It was a long meeting and afterwards, we met with Elder Tallman and Elder Davies at subway for lunch. We went home and changed out of our suits and then drove down to fountain for a dinner that one of the members were putting on for the missionaries. We came back at night and cleaned up our apartment. At about 9:45 we got a phone call from President Rehm. My heart started pumping. I answered it and president said that there was going to be an emergency transfer. One elder was going home early and another elder was going to be made an Assistant to the President. He then asked if I would be willing to be a Zone Leader over the Castle Rock and Parker stakes. I was thinking "ARE YOU CRAZY I'VE ONLY BEEN OUT FOR 5 1/2 MONTHS?!" But I trust President Rehm in his decisions and accepted the assignment. I will be serving in the Plum Creek ward in Castle Rock as a Zone Leader. President said to pack my things and be ready to leave on Sunday. THAT WAS IN 2 DAYS! Elder Hawkins was super bummed but excited for me. He will still be covering 3rd ward when I leave. I couldn't sleep at all that night.

On Saturday, we had haircuts scheduled for Paul Mitchell Hair School. They usually take forever so that took up a lot of time but I really like the cut. We then came home and started throwing stuff into suitcases. The Melvin's fed us dinner and were the first members to find out I'm leaving 3rd ward. We continued to pack and clean until bedtime.

On Sunday, we woke up early to go to PEC and Ward Council and that's where I announced the news. Everyone didn't want me to leave but congratulated me on being a Zone Leader. They even announced that I was going in sacrament meeting an thanked me for my service in the ward. We got some last pics with Elder Stark and Elder Tu'ifua before we went home to finish cleaning up the apartment and going over any questions that Elder Hawkins had. I am confident in Elder Hawkins and know that he will take good care of 3rd ward. Then we drove to the mission office and met with our new companions to exchange luggage. I am going to be companions with Elder Mogle now and he seems great. I haven't heard anything bad about him. He is a little awkward and quiet but we will get along just fine:) We drove for about an hour up to castle rock and it is such a cool looking area. 

iconic Castle Rock

Kitchen with Elder Mogle 

All of the houses are huge and cool looking. That night we had dinner with the Wells family. they have 3 small kids who are super fun. Then we went and had another lesson with the Pettingill family. There are a whole lot more youth in Plum Creek than in 3rd ward and I'm excited for that:) I am again so humbled to have this trust placed in me and know that I'm going to need a lot of help. I was told that we are going to be training the zone this Friday and so it's gonna be nonstop work. Love you all! MY NEW ADDRESS IS: 4438 Buena Vista Ct. Castle Rock, CO 80109

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 #23 - Colorado Springs Fountain Stake - NEW YEARS

Happy New Year everyone! This week was awesome!

On Monday, we were really limited on our miles so we just picked up the Sand Creek elders and played volleyball at the Murray building with members of the sand creek ward. It was good because we tried to get people who actually knew how to play volleyball there. We had a good competitive game and it was great:) afterwards, we went and saw Mitch and helped him get some family names to get ready for the temple.

On Tuesday, we got picked up by Bishop Obenchain and Mitch to drive up to the temple to do baptisms!! It was a beautiful drive up to the Denver temple and it was so awesome to be there for Mitch. I got to be the one to baptize him and I also did a couple baptisms with Elder Hawkins. Usually, in our mission, you only go to the temple at your halfway mark and at the end of your mission. But this is already the 3rd time I've gotten to go! Once in the summer, once in the fall, and now once in the winter! What made it extra special was that it was my 5 month mark that day too! We drove home and Mitch absolutely loved it. We had a good lesson with the Krings that night and wet to bed pooped.

On Wednesday, we had a lot of lessons scheduled and met some new people that just moved into the ward. Then we met one of our new investigators, Chris, at the McDonalds and taught him about the restoration there. He seems genuinely interested, and we are hoping that he keeps up the desire to learn more about the gospel.

On Thursday, it was New Years Eve and we weren't allowed to do any stop bys or cold contacting. So we did our weekly planning and went and taught a lesson to a less active member about tithing. For dinner, we went to the Williams house and had elk roast from the elk that Sister Williams killed in the fall. It was great:)

On Friday, we were in the same situation as Thursday and could only go to planned appointments. We had a lot of those cancel on us though. So we had District Meeting and learned a lot from each other. This meeting I focused on the importance of commitments. This is what I came up with: Commitment leads to action. Action leads to understanding. Understanding leads to revelation. Revelation leads to faith. Faith leads to conversion. Conversion leads to endurance. Endurance leads to salvation. Salvation leads to ETERNAL JOY. This is what we want for those we teach when we extend invitations and commitments is for them to have a reason to have joy each day. After District meeting, since we couldn't do any missionary work, Elder Tu'ifua taught us how to play rugby in the church gym and we did a 2 on 2 game for a little while:) (dont worry mom it was touch rugby). Then went and played baseball with Elder Stark and Elder Tu'ifua.

On Saturday, we helped a lady move into the 3rd ward from the Sand Creek ward and that took forever to get done.

Sunday was a great day because we had our new investigator, Chris come to church! He stayed for all 3 blocks and thought it was wonderful! We got to teach him in Gospel Principles class too. There were 11 less actives that showed up to church today and that was such a great miracle:) That night, we took Chris and Mitch to the Work of Salvation Fireside. This is where recent converts are asked to bear testimony of their conversion and then the pulpit is opened for others to share their testimony. Nothing brings in the spirit better than pure testimony and the spirit was rich. Chirs really liked it and said that he felt the heat in his heart that night. It was wonderful. So that night, I was reporting the statistics of my district to the zone leaders and they commended me on my leadership. They said that our district alone has as many progressing less active members and less active members at church as the entire Colorado Springs stake!! It just shows how much the Lord is a part of our everyday lives and work:)

It's been a great week and I love you all! 

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 #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