3 Letters Today!

December 4, 2013

I got 3 letters from Elder Rollins today! WHOO HOO!!

Here is a little from all 3 letters. 

I LOVE hearing about his investigators and the progress he is making but it is also really nice to get some day to day details! :)

Mom: How's the training going?

Elder Rollins: "The training is going great! Elder McCurdy has probably caught on better than I did and have. I feel like my ability to train is pretty good but there's probably better trainers out there. Yes. We will be together his whole training! :) I love that we are almost on the same page all the time now! He's good at talking, I am not really. But I know the doctrine fairly well and can usually get a good scripture out and bare testimony. We are both good at gaining people's trust and helping people with their concerns. We could both probably follow the spirit a little better tho... I love that Elder McCurdy isn't afraid to try new things and test his limits and he has really helped me learn to do the same!"

They have Sisters and Elders in his ward so I asked about his area and if it was hard to stay busy with 2 sets of missionaries in their ward:

ELder Rollins: "There is a lot of work to do! WE have lots to do but the sisters are struggling to find people. This is a tough area to serve in cuz its really wealthy. But I love this area! I love everyone I meet!"

“My Thanksgiving was AWESOME! For lunch we went to our investigator’s houses, Mary and Jack and had prime rib! But it was super uncooked so they had to microwave it! hahahahaha Just made me think back to dad always saying, “just nuke it.” LOL It was a good dinner tho. We were able to talk with Jack and get to know him better which was awesome cuz we both really want to teach him! 

Then we had dinner with the Fackerells! I LOVE that family! They are wonderful! We tried some dang firey salsa but the taste was excellent. They made ham and turkey and twice baked potatoes and a whole array of things! It was a good day! :) 

Lastly, we went to the Haughts and watched some church videos! (This must have been after Thanksgiving because the Haughts were in Phoenix for Thanksgiving! lol)

He ends with 2 scriptures:

Doctrine & Covenants 76:22

22 And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the atestimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he blives!

Doctrine & Covenants 58:4

4 For after much atribulation come the bblessings. Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be ccrowned with much dglory; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand.

I always try to get a little information out of my boy of few words! hahaha 

Mom: What do you do for your morning workout? I figured with another wrestler as his companion, they would be really hitting it hard! hahahah NOT! lol

Elder Rollins: “Well, I do pushups and pull ups mostly.”

Mom: What do you eat for breakfast and lunch? 

Elder Rollins: “B - Eggs, pancakes, french toast, cereal, begals. L - pizza, dino chicken nuggets (hahahaha)

Mom: What do you do on your P-Days? (where’s the cleaning buddy?) lol 

Elder Rollins: “Shop, email, basketball” 

Elder Rollins LOVES getting letters! Sister Haught told me that the Elders run to the mailbox everyday to see if they have anything and whenever they do, they are SOOO happy and excited! 

Email is good but letters are BETTER!!

hayes.rollins@myldsmail.net

****When writing a letter, include a self-addressed stamped envelope and you will be guaranteed a letter back! 

Mission Home Address:

Missouri Independence Mission

517 Walnut Street

INdependence, MO 64050-3632

***Apartment Address until December 19th - He may be transferred this time

Elder Hayes Rollins

10244 W 81st Terrace #218

Overland Park, KS 66204

Elder Rollins: “Mom, I just wanted to say thank you for sending so many letters! I LOVE it! Please don’t stop! I LOVE getting them! :)

Elder Rollins thoughts on the new Stetson Valley ward: 

“We have an awesome bishopric! They are going to do amazing things!” 

Elder Rollins wrote me a letter about how much he worries! He listed 20 things that he worries about all the time. Well that worried me! hahaha So I looked up the word ‘worry’ in the dictionary and actually a word that means worry is CARE! So I told Elder Rollins that he probably CARES so much more than he WORRIES! He seemed to like that, so he sent me a letter talking about some of the things that he cares so much about: 

1. Mom, Dad, Haylee (my family) & my relationship with the Lord
2. My friends, the ones I have now and the ones who have been with me and will always be with me!
3. WRESTLING! I miss it so badly! lol It sucks because I never see it anywhere. Everything else I get a glimpse of, but wrestling, I get nothing! There is almost no comparison of how badly I want to wrestle! 

Overjoyed!

December 2, 2013

OVERFLOWING WITH FEELINGS OF JOY!

we are just working hard and trying to find the people that lord has prepared for us! and we have truly been blessed this last week! 

    we have been working with this investigator, leashia, for like 18 weeks! and she is finally catching on! she is coming to church and reading more and has finally agreed to a baptismal date! im so excited for her! she was the very first lesson i taught and now ive seen her grow into having her own testimony and ready for the next step! its been a huge faith builder for me and its cool to see how the Lord will make things work in his own time! :)

    we've been working with another family the brazzells for a while now and things are finally starting to fall into place! :) we have been meeting with them about 2 or 3 times a week now and they are progressing quickly, the daughter gabby, this week, shouted out that she wanted to get baptized and i about cried cuz it was so cool to hear. the father is sick, hes hilarious :) and he has been holding the rest of the family back and this week he broke it down for us and said that he's ready to start keeping our commitments and said that he needs to start coming to church and reading and praying more! the spirit in their house is so strong now! :) and its been really cool to see the transformation in this family that ive grown to love so much. and last night we got a phone call from their close friends that got them in contact with the missionaries and they called us and asked us if its true that the brazzells are beginning to progress as fast as they thought they are! and then praised us about how great of missionaries that we are and told us that he had a bad experience with one missionary and that had caused him to stop taking the lessons and that if we could get to the brazzells we must really be special :) i was about in tear because the spirit was testifying to me how the Lord really does put us where we need to be! man! these are the experiences that missionaries live for! :)

     i have been so blessed this past few weeks with many things! 

love you! ELder ROllins! 

ps thanks for the Christmas gifts and the pumpkin bread i love it! :) 

We got this picture from a member that had the Elders over for Thanksgiving dinner. Looks like Elder McCurdy got his wish! 

This past weekend, the Haught family, from Elder Rollins' ward came to Phoenix. They stopped by our house to meet us. They asked if I had anything I wanted to send back with them, so I got a few packages together and they were so kind to deliver them to the Elders. 

Last night Sister Haught sent me pictures of Elder Rollins after receiving the packages I sent to them. He did not know she was doing this! While the Haughts were at our house, I immediately remembered the back roller! (that's what we call it) I literally jumped up and got it for them to take back to Hayes. I was inspired because Hayes said he was going to call the mission nurse today because his back is so bad! I was literally MOVED by the spirit to get that roller! Hayes was so happy! He used it immediately! It was such a blessing! I'm glad I listed to the spirit and followed that prompting!

ps thanks for the Christmas gifts and the pumpkin bread i love it! :)

I made Elder Rollins and Elder McCurdy a Christmas stocking. 

As for the Christmas stockings... Sister Haught said that when Hayes opening up the box with the stockings he literally screamed! hahahaha

They were both so excited! Hayes took out every present and shook each one trying to figure out what the gifts were. LOL 

These are moments of joy for a mother! :)

The Work is Progressing!

November 25, 2013

this week was freezing cold!!!!! like 29 was the high a couple of days! which means it was tcfh (to cold for hayes!) lol but on the bright side we had a sick week! 

i have decided that i love service! we were able to rake some leaves for Mary faith! and she wants us to come and help her rip out her carpet next week! and on top of that shes coming to church with us! :) when someone says that they want to come to church with us i want to like cry cuz no one ever wants to come to church with us! 

we finally hit Brother Brazzells heart yesterday night! he truly sounded sincere when said he will really read and pray about the Book of Mormon from now on. i was so excited! now that he's on board his family should be baptized before the end of the year! :) i am so excited for their family!  

Leashia will get baptized soon, just kinda needs to break down her wall, its like when someone gets heart broken from a relationship and they put up a wall and dont let anyone in cuz they dont wanna get hurt again, thats where she's at.. 

so today for pday we have to deep clean our apartments... no basketball and no sports.. im very sad but happy cuz now our apartment will be spotless! even though its already pretty clean.

this is what i studied this week because president gave me some scriptures to read!, i hope you like it and understand it and it can help you cuz it brought new light to me! 

the scrpitures were Isaiah 58:6-9 doctrine and covenants 121: 45 and doctrine and covenants 50:29 

so this is what i learned from the scriptures he gave me:

i learned that when im fasting that i truly need to put my heart into it and that as im fasting for repentance that i will literally feel my burdens get lighter and the chains holding me back will be lifted from me. i have already begun to feel that happening. sin covers us up from the spirit and as we repent its like the sun coming up in the morning. the difference is incredible as you feel the spirit starting to come back into your life and as we continue to live righteously we will have the spirit more fully. then the Lord forgives us fully the more sincere we are and takes us back into his presence when the Holy Ghost is willing to be with us.

sin usually begins as a thought and if we learn to control or to watch our thoughts (Mosiah 4:30) we can better keep away from sin and as we stay away from sin we will be more charitable because sin is usually a selfish desire. also as we live better we have the spirit with us and are worthy to use the priesthood which will help us be charitable because the priesthood just allows us to serve others. every aspect of the priesthood is meant for us to serve.

as we become clean and purified, we will be blessed and we can ask for whatever we need and if its in line with the will of our Father he will let it be done. so we need to be clean so that our prayers will be answered because our cleanliness allows us to have the spirit and the spirit will guide us to ask for the things the God wants us to ask for so he can bless us.

love you! 

Elder Rollins

Some Questions:

Q. How often do you get to use the car? 

You should definitely get a picture of you guys directing each other when you are backing out of a space! hahaha i always get a kick out of the missionaries having to do that! 

A. we have the car every other week! and i dont have to direct the backing up cuz im the senior companion and Elder McCurdy doesnt have driving privileges yet.

Q. How much time do you get on the computer each week?

A. im on for like a little over 2 hours. pretty much we have time to do what we need. we were told to take at least 2 hours if we need it! :)

Q. How many emails do you usually get each week? 5, 10, More?

A. ive been averaging like 35 emails a week.

Q. Where do you go to check your emails? Library? Church building?

A. we check them at the library

Q. Are you going to get a facebook?

A. we will get face book but probably not until july when President Keyes leaves.

Q. Did you get the Thanksgiving package?

If you don't eat the Pumpkin bread right away, keep it in the frige.

A. yes got it and i already ate it lol :) mail me more:) i love it and it wasnt enough!

Q. hahahaha! There is never enough pumpkin bread! lol

Did you share it? or Horde it? hahah

A. shared it lol most of it. actually 2 loaves to mccurdy, shared with elder smedley and a loaf to the sisters!

Q. if you get transferred, does that mean someone else will finish training Elder McCurdy? How is his training going?

A. no. his training ends at the end of this transfer. he wont freakin do his lessons, other than that hes an awesome missionary!

Q. Do I write too many letters?

Let me know if I am going over board!

A. nope keep sending them!

Q. Hows the ankle?

A. IDK GOING TO THE DOCTORS THIS WEEK IT HURTS HIGH UP AND ITS WEAK! .............. AHHHHHHHHHH

Q. When are your next transfers?
Should I send your Christmas presents to your apartment?
I will be mailing them the second week of December.
Will you get them?

A. send stuff to the mission office to be safe and transfers are december 19th.... i think i'll be leaving.

Transfers

November 18, 2013

TRANSFERS

so this week was transfers week, i said goodbye to two of the people that i had become really close with and im still kinda sad about it...:( 

but im sure that i will stay in contact with them! :)

this week started out super jammed packed! i messed up my foot on monday. but it has been healing decently, i should have listened to dad and taken the DMSO ;) hahah but seriously that would have helped! then we taught Jillian and Johnny! we read the Book of Mormon with them it was just really cool to see Jillian help her brother in praying and reading the scriptures! and the best part is they finally showed up to church this sunday! we are really hoping that if we get the kids excited about church then the rest of the family will start coming back too! the children, thats how you get to the family ;)

we finally got to see mariza again and shes progressing incredible! shes almost ready to be baptized now! she just has a little more to learn and hopefully she will before she moves! 

we did some more service for Mary Faith! thats the pictures you saw on facebook! lol:) 

we saw the brazzells a lot this week! all thats left is for brother brazzell to read and pray and he will be baptized. he just is hesitant about doing it! oh yeah, mom could you send me a few recipes?? we found the best way to get to them is so could you send me the crembrule french toast and the pumpkin bread recipe?? 

the chiefs lost :( it was heartbreaking for them to lose and thats like the biggest thing going down in kansas right now so its saddening... but they are still doing great! lol were praying for Andy to do well ;) hahah but seriously they are a great conversation starter with people right now!

leashia finally got to the visitors center! and it was sick! the sisters in there are incredible!!! they asked every question and hit on every point that i was hoping they would and now leashia is praying about being baptized in december!! :) it was so powerful there! we took her through God plan video. and she loved it then we took her to see some of the history presentation downstairs and next we want to take her to the liberty jail! we think it would really help her!

well i love the work its going great and i dont wanna get transferred before Christmas.... i would cry if i did ! i love it here! its like a new kind of home for me! 

love you!

Elder Rollins!

Digging the floral tie! 

Don't know where he got it, but I like It! :)

So glad we live in AZ and don't have to deal with Leaves like this! hahahaha

They found a few friends while raking leaves! LOL

Dead Bird!

Dead Possum! LOL

His companion! hahaha

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