A Great Week!

November 12, 2013

A GREAT WEEK!

The members here for some reason dont really like to mingle with us so our biggest thing has been gaining the trust of the members. weve been trying to do that by serving them and talking to them and trying to work with them but so far we have been seeing very little progress... it has been frustrating but the progress we have made has been very uplifting. we are working with this guy that is huge! like 6'4" and massive! he wants his daughter to get baptized so we are trying to get him and the rest of his family active and him divorced from his wife so that he can marry the lady he is living with! cuz she wants to get baptized as well but cant cuz shes breaking the law of chastity, stupid technicalities hahahah i mean they consider themselves married, its just not by law....

they are such a sick family tho! were gonna keep working with his home teachers and a lawyer in the ward and try to get the legalities taken care of!

the overland park 1st ward missionaries! OP1!

Elder McCurdy, Elder Rollins, Sister Matta & Sister Halverstadt

we did a sick service project that had to do with setting up 1000 flags for veterans day! and it was like the coolest thing ever! check it

thats me when i fell down the hill.. thats sister halverstadt laughing at me...

those are sister matta and elder McCurdy coming to help me up becasue i fell lol 

Photo disclaimer: okay so it was a steep hill and he took pictures of me the only time that i fell down lol i swear other than that i never stopped working! i was usually the one running up and down the hill getting the rebar for everyone because the sister wanted to do the pounding lol so i fell down the hill! i wasnt sitting! thats why sister Halverstadt was laughing and elder mccurdy and sister matta were coming to help me up!

but it was a sick project! we get to tear it down next week!  it was a really fun week! this week!

Hayes and I got to email back and forth today! It rarely happens because I always work on Mondays but since he emailed on Tuesday this week, I happened to catch him right at the right time! What a little tender mercy. :)

MOM: Did you get your T-Shirt Quilt?

What do you think?

Did you get the corn bags?

HAYES: yes and yes! i love them both thank you so much! we hugely appreciate it! 

MOM: I wish I could use my corn bag! It is going to be flippin 92 degrees today!!! BLAHHHHH! lol I want it to cool down so I can stop sweating and start wearing my jeans and sweaters! I saw that it is 23 degrees right now in Overland park! Are you freezing or do you love it?

HAYES: i love it! i put some thermals on and im doing good! 

MOM: I NEED you to answer this question!!!

Have you purchased warm stuff yet like gloves, scarves & hats? Do you want me to send you this stuff?

HAYES: no i havent purchased any of those things yet lol not cold enough yet... hahahha jk jk it was 19 degrees this morning! yeah actually, i did get some gloves! and if you want to send me stuff sure, if not ill take some time one day and get some stuff to keep me warm!

MOM: Oh good! I'm glad you bought some gloves. I wasn't sure about buying you gloves. Your hands are so huge!!! hahaha but I can definitely pick you out a hat and scarf! Is there a specific type of hat you would like or are beanies ok? Do you like the ones with the ear flaps?

HAYES: yes i like the ones with ear flapps! lol and i think the hats look better than beanies lol either way as long as im staying warm i do not care.

HAYES: so my pants ripped a little bit and i asked sister matta (green shirt in the pictures of the flag service project) if she would sew them back up for me and she did but she decided that itd be funny to sew her name on the front of my pants as well, that way i could never forget her... hahhahha that sounds like something haylee would do isnt it??

MOM: Yes, totally! I love it! That was so sweet of her. :) I'm so glad you have people to take care of you. 

HAYES: hahah yeah me too lol sadly she went home yesterday.. :/ yeah we plan on keeping in touch. its funny because she reminded me of mackenzie rocque quite a bit and she was super chill! and sister halverstadt reminds me a lot of kylee (his cousin)! 

HAYES: umm, i jacked up my ankle playing basket ball again, which sucked but its healing quickly! the Lord is on my side! and im doing his work so he will help me!

MOM: Hayes, That's horrible!!!!

Stop playing basketball! lol 

Preston broke his ankle and you have a jacked up ankle and Brady has to have knee surgery when he gets home! hahahah you guys need to take it easy!!

HAYES: hahah theres nothing better to do than basketball cuz im not allowed to wrestle! it hurts up high and if it hurts a few more days im supposed to go to the doctors but i dont think it will last that long. also thats what i want for Christmas. a new pair of wrestling shoes for when i get home! lol 

MOM: hahahahah! Oh my gosh! How are we supposed to pick you out wrestling shoes!? hahaha 

When will you use them? 

HAYES: ill use them when i get home! and go online and send me pictures of the shoes and ill tell you the ones i like ;)

DAD: Hayes doesn’t need new wrestling shoes. Colleges issue the shoes to their wrestlers, so we don’t need to buy him anymore. 

MOM: Oh! Speaking of wrestling, Robbie mathers is wrestling for University of Missouri! and Zack Walton moved to Oklahoma! 

HAYES: what zach moved to Oklahoma??

MOM: Yep! 

HAYES: flash drives about half full expect it in a few more weeks! oh and the chair was exactly what you thought it was! lol 

I can always expect at least one random picture from Hayes! hahaha

hahah the middle light broke in half.

Flag Project

November 11, 2013

FLAG PROJECT

We received this email from a member of the ward where Hayes is serving.

Hi,

My name is George Gille and I'm a member of the Overland Park 1st Ward where your son is currently serving. I am the priest quorum adviser and I'm writing to share with you some pictures and a little story about your missionary. 

The pictures are from a big service project/fund raiser we did yesterday where our Boy Scout troop was charged with installing over 1000 American flags on a hillside along the highway adjoining a shopping center as a Veteran's Day tribute. The shopping center there sponsors this display each year and it's quite a breath taking sight as you come upon it while traveling on the highway.  If I have some time this week, I may take a few more pics of the finished product to share.

For a project of this size, having too few volunteers show up would be disastrous. Our troop is rather small right now so we put the word out that we could use all the help we could get. Thankfully we had several people show up including your son and his companion as well as the Sister missionaries who are serving in our ward as well. It was awesome to have all four missionaries be a part of project. 

Elder Rollins in particular was awesome! He worked just as hard as anyone there and it was truly impressive. Unfortunately, I only had my camera out for a few minutes at the beginning and then around the end of the project (because I had to work installing the flags as well), so I'm hoping that one of the other brothers was able to capture more of the actual work with his camera. 

I have had your son and his companion in my home for dinner and I want you to know that he's a wonderful missionary. My son is a priest and is preparing for his mission and he enjoys interacting with your son. And my daughter just left in September and is currently serving her mission in Mesa, AZ and loving it. She was able to have some fun conversations with your son prior to her departure. 

I hope you enjoy the photos and this short note of gratitude for your son's service in this part of the vineyard. May the Lord bless you and your family. 

Bro. Gille

Elder Rollins isn't in many of the picture, which isn't surprising! lol He's a pill when it comes to taking his picture!

But I'm sure he loved the opportunity to spend the day doing service. :)

Sister Matta

Sister Halverstadt laughing at Hayes after he fell down the hill!

Short & Sweet

November 4, 2013

SHORT & SWEET

so this week was a solid week! 

we worked our tails off and it payed off! 

sadly we didnt get to see Jillian or leashia this week! normally they are our set appointments but they had to cancel and then stuff came up so that they couldnt come to church but this week we will get to see them and hopefully leashia will get to come to the visitors center on saturday! 

we worked hard and tracted a lot! and it payed off! we were tracting and got a call from one of our investigators and he started harassing us cuz he just drove passed us!  then he told us to swing by a bit later! and when we got off the phone call we had been on a corner and i looked at Elder McCurdy and was like thats a sweet corvette lets knock on this guys door! so we turned and walked to his door and knocked on it! and the door opened and this huge dog came barreling out at us! its a bull mastiff.. i almost peed my self cuz she ran right to me and stopped then looked at me and started licking me... i was so relieved lol then the guy came to the door and said hey, ive kinda been waiting for you. you came at the perfect time!

so moral of the story! work hard! be diligent and you will be blessed!!

love you!

Elder Rollins

 I guess Elder McCurdy needed to be quiet! lol

I'm kinda regretting getting Hayes his own hair cutting kit! hahaha

Random Pictures! hahaha

Hayes is a weirdo! LOL

Maybe this is the chair where he sits and receives all his personal revelation! Who knows? hahaha

4 months out!

October 28, 2013

OUR BEST IS GOOD ENOUGH!

ok so this week was an interesting week! we got 2 new investigators! we received a call from this old lady that needed some help doing service and so we jumped on the opportunity to actually do some physical labor! we were going to take some walpaper down but then we ended up taking a shower stall down. the whole time we were there, we both felt super weird but we kept sticking it out because for some reason we felt like we needed to be there! so while we were waiting for more work to do we saw her husband and the spirit of the situation dramatically changed! he was the reason why we were there!  While we were having dinner with mary and jac, Elder McCurdy, being a stud, just kept talking to them about being missionaries and what we do. then we ended up talking to them about our mission, our families and the communications we have with them! and they talked about their idea of families and then we gave them a family proclamation to the world! then the next day we dropped off a Living Christ to them and so far they love everything that we give them and really enjoy our company! they also give us service opportunities so were going to keep seeing them and teaching them and hopefully they'll get baptized!!

we had zone interviews which were awesome! president keyes is just a truly inspired man! so at these interviews, we have questionairs that we fill out and at the bottom theres a place where we can write down our concerns and i always try to make president laugh! so this time i wrote "why do i worry so much??" so he got to the question and just laughed and then told me Elder Rollins why do you worry so much? and i joking said i think i inherited it from my mom! we laughed a bit then he continued by saying Elder you worry because your faith isnt as strong as you wish it to be! there are 3 levels of faith.
1)  most Christians have a good understanding of the 1st level and that is having the faith that Jesus was the savior and died for us and its through him we are saved!

2) the next one most latter day saints have down and it is that its through our works, desires and through christ that we are saved!

3) the last one is where im lacking, as long as we are living our lives the best that we can, our best is good enough to be saved! i worry that my best isnt good enough but i now know that my best is all i can give and that is all that our father in heaven asks of us! He makes up the difference! so i am going to keep giving it my best and my all!

i know this church is true! i know that it is through Christ our savior and redeemer that we are saved! and i know that all we can do is give it everything we got and thats what we are asked to do! our church is a church of action. but not just of our works, its is also our desires. our true desires. we can do all we want but if we arent doing it whole heartedly, its like we are not doing things for the right reasons. check your heart before you do something and see where your heart lies. make sure your heart is for Christ and thats how we return to live with our father!

love you!

Elder Rollins!

Advice from a Missionary

Oct 21, 2013

4 THINGS TO DO 

TO INVITE THE SPIRIT INTO YOUR HOME

MOMMMMM whyd you do that.... i miss wrestling so much! ohhh man, i just want to find an investigator that wrestles so that i can teach him the gospel and how to wrestle, i dont know of any wrestlers around here tho. now one in the ward is super athletic they all are more into music! 

im gonna need to start buying some warm cloths tho... it was like 38 degrees this past week! its crazy how bipolar the weather here is!

so this week was a pretty good week! its starting to get cold tho! we had another great lesson with leashia! sister moss killed it with her lesson on sunday then was our team up for our meeting with her so we just continued on with talking about how to invite the spirit into the home! 

so the main things to do to have the spirit in the home are: 

PRAY as a family! like really tho! every morning and night! theres nothing that bring the spirit in like a sincere prayer!!!

READ the scriptures as a family!! at least every night! and then study the scriptures on your own through out the day! so a cool thing that missionaries do during comp study is we talk to each other about the things we studied and then ask the question “how can we apply what we read” to 3 things: our investigators, our companionship and ourself! 

so if you want to try something new for family scripture study, do this. instead of everyone taking a verse and reading around the room, have everyone read where ever they are in the scripture for like 15 minutes and then come together and share how what they read can help them grow individually and as a family and how it can help one of their friends! THIS IS SUPER EFFECTIVE!

MUSIC listen to good uplifting music! it brings in the spirit! D&C 25:12

For my soul ^adelighteth in the ^bsong of the ^cheart; yea, the^dsong of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads.

CLEAN  keep your home clean its harder for the spirit to dwell in unclean places!

we  also met with the Brazzells again. hes kinda stubborn and wont read the scriptures and its hard to bring in the spirit cuz he always has the tv on. so next time we go over we are  going to try have them turn off the tv and read the scriptures in their home to invite the spirit in and then teach them some stuff! cuz its the spirit that teaches not us! 

i love you!!

Elder Rollins

Our friend Jeff Garrett was visiting his Sister Tammy (wife of Andy Reid - NFL head coach for the Kansas City Chiefs) and saw Hayes at church! Hayes is serving in Tammy and Andy's son's ward. So Jeffy got to see Hayes again! It's always so fun to get surprize pictures of Hayes. 

The Garretts also know Hayes's companion, Elder McCurdy! JT (Hayes's friend from birth) and Dannie were friends in high school! Man it is such a small world!!!

Tracting Does Not Work

Email #16

TRACTING DOES NOT WORK!

October 15, 2013

ok so this week in a nut shell, lots of work with less active members! i love my companion hes amazing! birthday for sister matta and LOTS of paper work! 

We spent a lot of the week trying to see less actives because tracting does nothing! so we took the ward roster and went to a few apartment complexes that had multiple members living there and decided to go and see the less actives that live there! we left a card at a guy named scotts house and that night he called us and said that he will becoming to church that sunday and thank you for stopping by and letting him know where the church he was supposed to go was located! then we went to knock on this other guys door looking for a cody grammer and a sister came to the door and expressed that she was a member and knew that we were there.. she told us that she had just gotten engaged and that she didnt want to scare the her finace and that she would have us over for dinner sometime so we could talk to him and her and maybe start teaching him! we were super excited! 

leashia is doing great and Jillian is doing great also! they are both ready for baptism and we are hoping to see leashia enter the waters this weekend! 

this week has shown me that you get what you work for! just like with wrestling. what you put in, you get out! only now, when we put our effort in, what we get out is helping others be better not just helping our self be better! the harder that me and Elder McCurdy work the more we get out of it! so we will continue working as hard as we can so we can be blessed! 

so sorry mom, i spent a little bit of money this week on gifts for sister matta and Elder McCurdy because being out here on your mission you have to make the other missionaries birthdays good because you never know what they will get! so i bought some things for them... a tie and a dragon for Elder McCurdy and sister mattas been going through some ankle problems and a hard time lately so we got her a few of her favorite things! she really appreciated it. you can tell by her face in the pics! ill send some next week cuz the wifi thing on the new camera isnt working!! 

remember the Lord has his hand in all things. there are no coincidences! 

love you!

Elder Rollins

My Posterity

this is my posterity from oldest to youngest on the mission it goes ELder O my great grandpa, Elder Lee my grandpa, Elder Rentfro my uncle, Elder Crowton my dad, Elder Hayes my brother, me and Elder McCurdy my son! we are one happy family!

(I can't enlarge the photos any more than this or the photo is super blurry)

Elder McCurdy baptized his father before he came out on his mission. im telling you, this kid is incredible, i already feel like he's my best friend!