Hello my good people

Christmas!!!.... was great :) Santa even found me up in these mountains :). I received many packages in addition to the presents I received from my family :) I now have more candy than I could possibly eat, some cash :), and most importantly a couple of light sabers from my dear family :) (they know me well) A special thanks to My fam, The Roos Grandparents, the Harmon grandparents, the Osborn grandparents, Grandma Barbera, the Holloways, the Freihoffners, the Cardens, Sister Ashbie, the Sterners, and of course good 'ol Krysta Klumpp. You guys made my Christmas great, with all of your gifts and cards. I'm sure there were a few I might have left out... please be forgiving of my ungratefulness :(. Of course the best gift I received was to talk to the fam for a good while. They are all as giddy as when I first left them. :) I hope everyone had a great Christmas, especially my other peeps in the field. So in other news the work has been slower this last week due to Christmas and the craziness it brings. But the lessons we did have were great and the spirit has been there to back us up. Hopefully the same can be said for this next week.  We have a couple of very promising Investigators who we hope will find the narrow gate that very few find (Baptism + Confirmation). I will keep you updated. This morning we had a District meeting and afterwards we all went to the legendary Ceder Glen Malt Shop. Once there I ordered myself a peanut butter malt with chocolate and a double carmel twist (my mommy should be very jealous :). I'll have to take some some of you guys there someday. The traffic here has been awful because of all of the skiers headed up and down the mountain. It is a big contrast of what I have seen in quiet Running Springs. well enough rambling.. I love all of you and I hope everyone has the best year ever. :)

That one kid who is on his mish in the San B Forest,

-Elder Roos (or Rooster and Roosey as some have started to use :)

We've been getting a lot of snow this week! We have started helping people who are stuck on the side of the road. In doing this we have realized that we aren't very good at it. :) We don't have a tow rope, chains that will fit other cars, or anything else that would possibly help people get out of the snow.  We are more emotional support until someone better equipped comes along. Shoveling snow has been a great tool to fellowship some less active members we have been working with. The work is here, but it is a hard time of the year to make much progress with it. I feel like I have come miles since I first came out on my mission spiritually and otherwise. My teaching skills are also very much improved since the MTC. :) well I don't have much time today so I will have to go. I wish you all the best Christmas ever. I love y'all! and Happy Hanukkah!!!!

Ello Ev-ery-one

It is week three in the mountains and the snow is coming down. It's an early Christmas for a desert boy like me. :) If you read my last message you can stop crying.. my crazy headaches have slowed down. :) It has been difficult to get the work here in Running Springs up and moving, but we'll get it there. My new Comp Elder Brown and I are teaching well together and that can only get better. So in other news we experienced a Christmas miracle this last week! The local grocery store Jensen's had a freezer brake down, which resulted in a multitude of people surrounding a seemingly unlimited amount of frozen foods and Ice cream! I think it's safe to say I ate too much Ice cream that day. :) (Someone had to eat it before it melted).My only regret Is not having a bigger freezer to fill. :) It was good to see a lot of people get food who may be struggling this Christmas season. I'm sure it really was a miracle for many families who received free food. I wonder if there are special secret agent angels who are assigned to go and break freezers for the common good. :) Angel Robin Hood :) One good thing about all of this snow piling up is that we have a great service opportunity shoveling driveways. I'm sure many people will be surprised to look out of their frosted windows to see a couple of young men they don't know shoveling for them. :) Well not much else to report except that while all of you are going about your daily lives, I'll be "Tractin In a Winter Wonderland" :) Thank you so much to those who write me.

I love you guys!,

So I've had quite a week! From being transferred to a snowy town up in the mountains to finding out I have a disease.  I'll Start with transfers. :) I have been transferred from the desert of Hesperia to the thick forests of running springs. Running springs is beautiful. It looks over all of San Bernardino and I can even see the LA skyline off in the distance. Driving up there was quite an experience as I saw something I hadn't seen for a long time.. SNOW! I will be seeing and shoveling a lot of that by the time I am out of here. Thanks for asking I did say driving! My new Companion Elder Brown and I are driving a 2011 Jeep Compass! These are the newest vehicle installments in the mission and three months in I am driving one in one of the most coveted areas in the mission!  Running Springs is just a short drive from Lake Arrowhead where they pull water for Arrowhead Drinking Water. Around the lake reminds me of Christmas Town on A Nightmare before Christmas! My Christmas is should be as good as it gets without family, so it could be worse. :) I received a wonderful box of presents from my family and some very chritmassy things from the Holloways (I feel loved). Elder Brown is a smart guy who has been out for 21 months! There is a lot that I can learn from him. Combined with my three months together we make one whole mission! Anyway we are "white washing" in to this are so we are still trying to find our way around. So you are probably wondering about the disease I found out that I suffer from. No this isn't a Joke or a Segway into some metaphorical lesson on missionary work. I am a part of the 0.1 percent of the population who suffer from cluster headaches. This past week has been full an incessant pain and sleepless nights. I being one who has never suffered from headaches in the least, thought it would be wise to ask someone about the constant headache which I have been experiencing. I explained my symptoms to our missions Doctor, who recognizing that they are not Migraine Headaches diagnosed with having Cluster headaches.  He then informed me that these are considered to be one of the more severe headaches. At the peak of pain Ibuprofen doesn't touch it despite how much I have upped the dose. I am currently on Excedrin, which due to the caffeine content also keeps me quite awake at night. Now in my latest research of this issue I have found out that the medical community has nicknamed this the "suicide headache". (so comforting :) Dr. Peter Goadsby, Professor of Clinical Neurology at University College London a leading researcher on the condition has commented: "Cluster headache is probably the worst pain that humans experience. I know that’s quite a strong remark to make, but if you ask a cluster headache patient if they’ve had a worse experience, they’ll universally say they haven't. Women with cluster headache will tell you that an attack is worse than giving birth. So you can imagine that these people give birth without anesthetic once or twice a day, for six, eight, or ten weeks at a time, and then have a break. It's just awful." I am grateful that my case has thus far proven to be mild but I fear it has the potential of being monstrous down the road. In my research of the triggers that cause these spurts of pain they say that one trigger could be Cocaine, and one of the others could be elevation change.  I think I'm going to account it this headache attack to me going up the mountain and not illegal drugs.:) Anyway I'm done whining. Because of my brothers I have a need from my childhood for attention when it comes to medical needs. As far as I'm concerned they can keep the attention.:) (Love you guys:) Well P-day was moved to Wednesday so we could have a chance to go to the Redlands Temple. That always is such a spiritual rejuvenation and the Cafe Rio afterwards isn't to bad either. :) Tonight my Family is going to Hawaii. don't have too much fun without me. :) Keep me in your Prayers (I feel like Paul, to glory in tribulation).

Dear Everyone,

Kellie McElroy was my friend. Her death Came as a major shock and I am currently in denial. It will be easy to remain in denial in a world where my contact with those at home is limited. She brought light to my life and on many occasions she lifted my spirit higher. I pray for her family and many friends. I have a firm testimony that she is in a state of peace and rest. (Alma 40: 12) Last night the thought came to me to write her a letter. Now I do not have the chance. I mourn with hundreds of others that loved her and were effected by her bright countenance.

love,

Elder Roos