Rejuvenated

October 7, 2013

ITS GOOD TO FEEL REJUVENATED!

so the first half of the week was kinda boring cuz we didnt do anything... elder crowton just kinda packed all week! then thursday was transfers! and i got my new companion Elder McCurdy. he's from chandler az and wrestled for basha high school! dad, he said youve talked to him a couple of times! hes an awesome kid with a pure heart and ready to serve the Lord so we got to work after a session of weekly planning! 

we had a solid friday, meeting a few of the members in the ward then bringing him to the Brazzells, one of my favorite families thats investigating! then we went to the sisters to try and see how we can help each other and our area. after that short meeting we were supposed to hurry over to the church for a cookie baking contest in which the missionaries were the judges. on our way biking to the church, a guy who we had been trying to see for a long time was outside so we talked to him and were able to set up an appointment with him! we were super pumped after that, but we were late to the activity!

general conference was awesome! i felt like the first session was meant for my investigators! to bad none were there... :( oh well just means that we are going to show those videos throughout the week to our investigators. the second session i felt like it was meant for me and i learned a lot. then priesthood session which is always amazing, and sunday was good but it was really hard. i spent more effort trying to stay awake then paying attention so im going to make sure to read those when next months ensign comes out! 

we ate lunch with bishop which was really fun! hes the coolest bishop when it comes to helping out with missionary work! 

we had dinner with the Zimmerman's and i learned how not to purpose! lol they are an awesome family and Brother Zimmerman definitely knows the importance of family in his busy schedule of trying to become a dentist!

its been a good week! i know that the Lord knows us all personally and he knows the people we need in our life. ive been rejuvinated and im ready to work hard! love you mom!

Elder Rollins 

Oops! I forgot to post this!

September 30, 2013

so this week Elder Crowton has been suuuuppper Transfer trunky and we didnt get a lot done... its was kinda a wast of a week in my oppinion except 2 days they were good and that was saturday and tuesday, we met with the brazzels on tuesday and cleared up a bunch of concerns and im like 100% sure they are ready to get dunked but the dads kinda stubborn. we'll make sure we keep seeing them  and stay in touch with them. and saturday there was a training by President Keyes for all the new trainers. ohhh yeah btw, im training now so im kinda freaking out! i still feel like i have no idea what to do as a missionary and now i have the responsibility to train another missionary and help him become a fantastic missionary himself. nottt gooood, my stress levels have flown through the roof!! but i know  the lord will provide a way 1 Nephi 3:7 andn all that goo stuff. i have no one left to lean on except the Big man himself. so as of thursday ill have a new comp and he'll be even newer than i am. 

sorry for the short email theres just nothing left to be said. the church is true! Christ is our savior! God is our Loving Heavenly Father and i must do his will.

Love you!

Elder Rollins 

New Companion

Oct 5, 2013

TRANSFERS

Hayes did not get transferred. He stayed in the same area, same ward, same apartment. He would love to hear from anyone! He said recently there was a letter drought! hahaha

Address: 

10244 W 81st Terrace #218

Overland Park, KS 66204

The bishop of Hayes's ward is wonderful because he sends me pictures of Hayes, periodically. Tonight after the priesthood session, He sent this one.

I

It might be my imagination, but does Elder Rollins have chipmunk cheeks?! hahaha I'm just not used to seeing the "bigger" side of Hayes. hahaha

Elder Rollins has been out three months and is now a trainer! He got a new companion this past week, Elder McCurdy, fresh from the MTC.

We found out tonight that Elder McCurdy is from Chandler, AZ. They know each other because Elder McCurdy is a wrestler too! hahaha Hayes wrestled 132 junior year and Dannie wrestled 145. Hayes wrestled 138 & 145 senior year and Dannie wrestled 132! hahaha I fear for their apartment because Elder McCurdy's mother just mailed his wrestling shoes to him! hahaha I can just imagine what might take place on P-day in that apartment! LOL

I'm so excited that these two young men get to serve together! There's a saying that goes something like this, "Once you've wrestled, everything else is easy!"  If they serve as hard as they wrestled, the people of Overland Park better watch out for these two righteous wrestlers! hahaha 

Finally some pictures!

September 24, 2013

Faithfully Serve with Obedience

we had zone conference and i can tell you all right now that Mission Presidents are men that are truly inspired of God! everything that we discussed this week was awesome and truly was meant to be spoken about. and the spirit that he brings as soon as he steps up to the pulpit is incredible. so parents with missionaries, know that your sons and daughters are in good hands!

this week was an interesting week! elder crowton has been sick for the past few days now so weve been in the apartment a lot and we'd leave when we have appointments. we had a great lesson with leashia and we think shes going to baptized soon. we also had a pretty bomb lesson with tim. he asked some interesting questions and was trying to get us into a deep doctrine discussion! it was really cool because no matter what he asked we always knew how to answer and then explain to him so that he could understand what we were teaching him.

remember proverbs 3: 5-6

1. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
2. In all they ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

i spent most of the week studying the restoration and the plan of salvation in the scriptures and looking up passages that explained what everything means and trying to receive revelation and a better understanding of how to expound on those topics. also i studied a lot of the church history and almost finished the Book of Mormon and i swear this time a lot of stuff stood out a lot more. my understanding and knowledge of this is quickly beginning to grow and i give full credit to the Lord because i now go to him with all my questions and concerns! if we trust the Lord he will help us! have faith in him! think about Moroni 7:37! 

37 Behold I say unto you, Nay; for it is by faith that ^amiracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men; wherefore, if these things have ceased wo be unto the children of men, for it is because of ^bunbelief, and all is vain.

as missionaries we need to go about and faithfully serve with obedience. i can promise you that if you go through out your day making it a point to faithfully serve the Lord by keeping all his commandments miracles will happen in your life! love you! 

Elder Rollins 

"Our cat Linx" 

"My zone leaders really do love each other"

 "Elder Crowton sleeps weird when he's sick"

A weird big bug!

Funny Exchange

WEEK 12

"THIS IS MY BELOVED SON, 

IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED"

sounds like a crazy week so this week was awesome! 

so Elder Lapray finally got his visa and is headed off to brazil today! kinda exciting kinda not! we are all super sad to see him leave but we had a lot of good times with him. 

i went on exchanges with Elder Brady this week and it was super chill hes a great guy i wish i had more time with him so i could learn more than one type of missionary work. theres that word again learn! lol 

so.. Elder Brady and I had a stake dinner with an aweosme family and at the end were supposed to teach this guy wills daughter. but wills girlfriend was talking and talking and talking and she was super interesting but Elder Brady and i just wanted to teach this girl and when we were going to start the lesson she looked at us and said hey guys it was really nice talking to you but i need to go practice hoola hooping and i was just like what the heck who hoola hoops now adays and then a second thought crossed my mind. who the heck practices hoola hooping lol and the she left. as we walked out to the car i looked at Elder Brady and i said what a hippie lol that was my exchange story 

we also kinda broke a rule this week because we have a pet cat now. him name is Lynx and he is the chillest cat in the world! we need to get rid of him but i dont know if i can! ive grown attached to him!

so scripture that stuck out to me this week was the beginning of third nephi when Christ appears and God says Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name

the rest of the week all i could think about was what would it take to have God say that to me. and then will i be willing to do what i need to to have him say that to me at the time of judgement. 

so i have a qwest for you all that reads this blog: find out what it would say for our Heavenly Father to say Behold my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name- then strive to live to be able to have the Lord say that at your judgement 

love you all Elder Rollins

Learn of Christ!

Sept 9, 2013

THERE IS POWER IN FASTING AND PRAYER

hahah that sounds like a super busy week! must tell you im glad that car i breaking and you are getting rid of it i hated that car! and about getting a new car the Acura TLs are pretty sweet ;) jk jk and that is my dream car! the new versions. not the old ones the old models are gross. just thought id let you know :p also i think that an escape or the sorento are sweet vehicles. i really like the look of the sorento and it has a lot of space! hows the mpg on them though?? 

this week was a pretty solid week. it always starts off slow but by the end of the week we've picked up the slack and our pace and we see a lot of people. so the last week we fasted as a mission and as a stake that we would be able to do missionary work. specifically we fasted for finding opportunities, and for miracles in our mission. ive already seen the power from that fast and those many prayers. the Lord is blessing us a lot. i know the power that can come from one prayer. the power that comes from many prayers and from fasting is so incredible! i can testify that its one of the biggest ways to increase the working of the lord in our lives. 

we spoke in sacrament yesterday and we also had 6 investigators in church yesterday! i have never been more excited in a sacrament meeting in my life! the joy of seeing the people that we are teaching begin to progress in the Gospel is incredible! i have been changed forever just in this short 2 and a half months. 

ive been studying my patriarchal blessing quite a bit and as ive been reading it and pondering it, a lot of new meanings behind the things in it have come to me and lots of new things have been sticking out to me. ive really been following something in my blessing which is to learn all i can about the life of Christ. and i cant believe how much learning of our Savior has influenced my life already. I love the New Testiment and Jesus the Christ. i feel as if they should always be studied together because it makes everything so clear when both are studied together!

Studing is my new favorite thing to do! isnt that weird mom?? i bet you never thought you would here that! i just really like to learn now! it doesnt even matter what it is. knowledge is everything in this life. its the key to success. i just want to know everything! and anything even if it has no importance it may later on without us even knowing. 

the ward is super good to us right now! the work is continuing and pressing onward. i think that as my faith growns and we continue to work hard there isnt anyone that we cant influence and allow them to feel the spirit! i love the Gospel and i love our Church! our Lord is amazing and the more i learn of Christ and our Fathers mercy the more amazed i am with the Plan our Father in Heaven has for us!

learn all you can!

Elder Rollins

Doing Good Stuff!

LETTER TO MOM

Mom,

It's great to hear about everything. I love all of it! Thats so exciting that Derek is back. I miss that kid like crazy!

Sounds like a great seminary teacher! and Yah, for his sake I hope he can handle the kids!

We had one of the BEST stake conferences I've ever thought possible! The spirit was incredible and it really got me thinking about my life and I felt some of the heaviest guilt in my entire life. i realize that if I could go back, I would change so much in my life. My eyes have been opened and I truly see the things I must do and become!!

We work hard and have lots of fun!

All your advice was amazing! me and my comp are working well together. I think he has realized I am a little more advanced than most new missionaries! Also I have revamped my attitude and my thinking. It has been a great week and I have seen the Lord's hand play a key role! and lastly, I will pass all my lessons off monday. and then I will be done with everything so I can train other missionaries and drive the car! and I could possibly be a trainer next transfer... which would mean I am the youngest trainer in the mission. If that happens, I will need your prayers.

Thanks for writing about all the talks from T-Bird Hills ward for me. I love hearing it and I can picture the people up on the stand talking! Thanks for everything!

I got Zack's package.

I got Haylee's b-day package.

I got the razor from dad.

I got 10-11 birthday cards. Thanks everyone!

I got the b-day money from you, dad and grandma Peggy.

I got the shoes.

Brother Church is NOT in my ward.

I get $150 per month but the ward feeds us so well that I usually have about $60 left over each month.

Don't really need a satchel.

No polaroid camera yet.

My little ipod player broke.

Possible need a new camera. This one is doing some funny stuff. 

Might have to buy a duffel bag. 

Love You Mom!

Sept 3, 2013

so last mondays pday was great but we have a lot of new people in our area so we kinda have a hard time doing sports now! we'll have to think of some way to get things worked out! 

so we got to work at the farmstead again last week like every other week but this week it seemed super slow and boring for some reason! i feel like the service we do there is kind of a waste of time but they are super thankful afterwards and that always soften my heart and makes me want to go back. we then studied and went to lunch all the way until dinner! which was good but sucked cuz we didnt get out to see anyone at all til after dinner and then we had a team up and we went to see some people but the 8 people that we went to go see didnt answer their door even the people that always answer their door so we were super frustrated.

we were able to teach jillian twice since last week and every week she impresses me with the amount of information she retains! its crazy how much an 8 year old learns! we were really hoping that she was going to be able to go to church on sunday but she seemed really concerned about it and then when sunday came she wasnt able to go because her sister was cheering and no one could take her! them dang cheerleaders ;) haha just kidding and she really thinks she'll be able to make it to church this next week tho so we are super excited for that!

we also were able to meet with Leashia again! and she seems to trust us more and more every week and it seems like she really wants to come but shes super apprehensive! she said that she would come to church this week and then her daughter got stung by a bee and had a bad reaction to it so she wasnt able to come again this sunday but im hoping that she can come this next week! we are trying to take her to the visitor center because the spirit it so powerful there! i love going to the visitors center! i wish we could go at least once a week! if you ever go and have the opportunity to have one of the sisters there to take you through do it its incredible! 

we did a lot of service this week! like a few hours everyday but saturday and sunday! it was pretty sweet to have the opportunity to serve people! service really opens peoples hearts to you. serve every one you can and always be willing to serve! never pass up the opportunity to serve. you will be amazed at what comes of it! 

Elder Crowton just told me we get to teach Devin tonight so im stoked! i hope Devin comes to the understanding of how amazing this gospel is. hes a great kid and i know the gospel will bless his life as it has mine! well its time to get off 

This church IS true! Knowledge IS power! Jesus IS our Savior!

love you all! you are in my prayers! 

Elder Rollins!