Hello World,

There are few weekends in my life that can compare to the one I just experienced. The combination of baptisms and Easter is more than any missionary could ask for. The first was on Friday, where I had the opportunity to baptize Diana. It has been such a blessing to know her. Through the entire program she couldn't restrain her tears. I do admit I was pretty nervous to do the baptism, but it went perfectly. As I was getting changed into my dry clothes, I felt the chills which I personally feel when the spirit is with me. I know that her baptism was of great eternal significance. After I was dressed I gave a talk on The Gift of the Holy Ghost, and then our branch president led in her confirmation. When the final prayer was said I asked her if it had met her expectations. She replied that "It was better than she could have imagined." Diana is a follower of Jesus Christ, which is a manifestation of her strong faith. The second Baptism was for A.J Lundgren. His baptism was on Saturday morning and it was as celestial as the first. I started teaching him the week we arrived in running springs. He has been seeing missionaries for ten years and he has finally taken the step of baptism. The change of heart I have seen with him has been huge. During the baptism he was the picture of sincerity. He is a man who doesn't express too much emotion, but with the Spirit of God unrestrained his emotion was also unrestrained. His father in law baptized him and we had the confirmation in the light of an Easter morning. The reason for the Easter holiday is the same reason we can feel the true joy that I have felt in circumstances like the ones mentioned. It is because of Jesus Christ and His Infinite Atonement. On another note I would like to thank my amazing family for the box of Easter candy! I would also like to thank my dear Grandma Sandy for her package of sweets as well. The support I have received has been amazing. I love you all and I will see you all very soon. (I'm a third of the way through my mission:) 

To Everyone,

This mission has been full of firsts for me. It is the first time I have lived away from a sweet mother who cleans and cooks for me. :) It is the first time I have been personally involved in others coming to Christ. It is also the first time I have gotten in a car crash. For those who have driven with me in past years you are probably not surprised. :) Believe it or not I have been an overly cautious while driving, but it only takes one mistake to get into a car accident. I was driving down the highway here in Running Springs and I made a left turn and I didn't see the oncoming car coming. They hit our back end. If they would have swerved a foot they would have missed us. that initial hit pushed us into the bumper of a car turning right. So the first half of this week we were on foot while I car is being repaired. :( Ironically enough we were able to talk to a lot more people that way and we picked up a new investigator! on Sunday I was able to turn this into a great analogy for living the gospel. when I got to this area I drove in snow and on ice for my first time. I also have never experienced so many drivers darting down skinny mountain roads so fast that you don't see them until the last second. We also have had the experience many times to drive through fog so thick you can't see the yellow lines on the road. But it was the moment when I wasn't fearful of crashing that I made a mistake. At the beginning of this life God has handed us keys to the new car that is our bodies. Though at times we may be careful in keeping gospel principals, when we let our guards down by letting ourselves be distracted or deceived by Satan, we crash. Where this analogy falls apart is that there is no auto body shop on earth that gives you a car better than the one you crashed when they are done fixing it. The Atonement of Jesus Christ on the other hand does. Not only are our spiritual wounds healed but we are lifted even higher than we once were. Yes I just turned a moment of my utter stupidity into a gospel lesson.:) Another first for me in my life will be this Friday, when I will have a chance to baptize someone. Dianna called me one morning B.C (before the crash :) and asked me If I would baptize her. I am so grateful that I will have the chance to be a part of this sacred ordinance. another first for my mission is the fact that we have two separate baptisms this weekend! One for Dianna and the other will be on Saturday for A.J Lundgren. I have loved becoming his friend and preparing him for baptism. At the priesthood session he came to me and a member of the branch council and said that after ten years of going through different missionaries and wards, he feels that he is finally ready. He said that it was the right branch and the right missionaries (ME!:) that have brought him to this complete 180 degree turn. I loved conference. Holland's talk about the "11th hour" and Uchtdorfs talk about "envy and forgiveness" were my favorites. I felt there were many things that I could 'liken' unto myself. :) well thank you for your prayers and letters.:)

 What a busy week! It was very productive despite two days that I had to be a leadership meeting. The meeting was on Thursday and Friday and it took most of both days to do it. The part I was confused about was I am not currently serving in much of a leadership calling, but President Godwin said that this meeting is for officially called leaders and others he feels have an influence on other missionaries. It is good to know that Pres trusts me and is keeping me in mind. I learned a lot in those meeting that I have already implemented in my missionary service. Another thing we found out is that on the 21st of April M. Russell Ballard is coming to speak with us! So I'm pretty pumped for that.:) This week we picked up three new investigators! The first one is Ken, who we tracted into a couple weeks ago and we have started teaching. Getting the next two investigators was a small miracle. We met a guy named Dean at the post office a few weeks back and he told us that he lived across from the Strebel family in the branch. We next saw him at Jensen's, a small store here in R.S, and we said hi to him there. On Saturday a thought spontaneously popped into my head "let's go see Dean" so we found the Strebel's address on our ward list and drove down his street. Not only was Dean outside shoveling snow but the Strebel's were outside to greet us too! That made it a very casual situation and we were able to help Dean shovel out his driveway. His wife Linda invited us in for hot chocolate and we were able to talk for a while. It turns out that they have investigated before and that she has read the Book of Mormon! We have a return appointment with them next week so wish us luck. It has been great to see the Lord silently lead us where we need to be. Another very funny but sad thing that happened this week was that due to the huge snow storm that just ended last night: CHURCH WAS CANCELED! This was the first time I didn't go to church on my mission, and man I missed it. :) The Snow has not been fun in fact yesterday we got stuck! Snow is a life experience I have assuredly attained out here on the Mish. Well thank you for your many letters and emails! We are still looking ahead to the two baptisms in the first week of April, and we are getting those involved prepared. I love this work. Now I am off to a zone snowball fight being held up here in the mountains! So I'll see ya next week!

We have been so blessed these past few weeks with some great successes. First with Dianna and now with Alex Lundgren. He has been seeing missionaries for ten years now! On Thursday he we set a baptismal date with him for the 7th of April! Seeing him change these last few months has been incredible. We wanted him to set the date himself through prayer. He wanted it to be on March 31st, which is a lot sooner then I thought he would want to do it. Unfortunately and fortunately that weekend is conference weekend, so we moved the date up a week. Along with seeing him change, It has been wonderful to see what the gospel has done and will do for their family. Their two kids will have a rare opportunity to be raised in The Gospel of Jesus Christ. When the time comes they will also have the chance to be baptized by their priesthood holding father. The funny thing about this is that we have decided to keep Dianna's date for the sixth of April, putting both baptisms a day apart. We considered combining them, but our branch president wanted to have the baptisms separate to make it more special for Dianna and AJ. In other news we have a new Branch Mission Leader. Our last one was an older guy named Michael Scullin. His family at one point one more than half of the businesses in Running Springs. He knows everyone in town and we can't go tracting without a few people saying "oh.. you guys must know Mike Scullin!" He has been an amazing resource to have. Our new Branch Mission Leader is one of my favorite members in the branch Earl Purkiss. He has already been helping us a lot in our work. He is very sarcastic and we make fun of each other non-stop, so he's obviously the best guy for the job. :) So we are still working hard here and I hope we can find even more success. I know that the only way that will happen is rely on The Lord. I love all of you and thank you for your letters. :)

Hey Mi Amigo's

It's very rare that I publicly profess that I have seen a miracle. This last week I did. A few weeks ago we started teaching someone who would become one of the hardest people I have taught thus far on my mission. She was a member but she had her records removed from the church a long time ago. She has four kids and she is divorced. Her name is Dianna. When we first taught her it was evident she would be going nowhere fast. She has been indoctrinated with every Anti-Mormon theory out there. She has pushed me to the very edge of my gospel knowledge.:) This last week she said that she had been praying and she knows that this is the path The Lord is leading her down. She wants to be baptized on the 6th of April, which is the first day that she got The Book of Mormon when She was a small girl. Knowing her for the short time that I have has changed my life. There may be concerns yet to be faced while teaching her, but the biggest battle has been won: faith in midst of fear and opposition. I know that this was the hand of Lord in her life. It makes the other awesome activities I did this week seem small in comparison such as riding roller coasters at a small amusement park for a zone activity or even going to The Redlands temple. We are pushing ourselves to do more for this work. I am so happy to have your support. 

aaaaayyyyyy (Italian new yorker :),

What a celestial weekend. Seeing Jason Rogerson being baptized was the only thing that could have topped his marriage to Tracy Sansone the day before. They have become close friends with me over the last three months.  On Sunday I was able to do the Confirmation for Jason. When I finished it seemed everyone was in tears. Those precious moments are the reasons I am here. I have been In front of hundreds of people confidently a lot of crazy things, including being in underwear at one point for a stage production. For some reason, the weight or I should say the reverence of ordinances like this, bring me more anxiety than all of that. :) I prayed that I would be calm and in tune with the spirit, and the words seemed to flow without hesitation. In heavy contrast to Sunday, on Monday we went to Pep Boys Auto for a simple oil change. Six hours later we finally drove away. Apparently there was some alignment issues or something. :( Yesterday was had an awesome service opportunity. We "sodded" a baseball field for the community! Our entire zone took the grass at the old Sixty Sixers field (local semi pro baseball team) and we brought it to a field at a park in San Bernardino, which was in really bad shape. Once that grass takes root it will look beautiful. while we were there a girl was crossing the street and she was hit by a car. She survived and we found out this morning that she is with her family now. She definitely had many missionaries saying prayers in there hearts for her throughout the day. I have a new companion! I can't forget to mention that. His name is Elder Hales and he is from Arizona. He has been out for three months, which means I am his "follow up trainer." That puts a lot of the load on me as far as keeping the work going is concerned, but I am ready for this.I hope to make this a chance to "yield much fruit" in this part of "The LordsVinyard." :) Elder Hales is different than any comp I have had. It will be a "growing" experience for sure. Dallon is home and It feels as though I have begun. :) just a year and half left and I'll get to see my cousin. Which is ironically the amount of time our ages differ. I wonder if this is what it was like waiting to get to earth in the pre-earth life when he left. :) Well, I could go on for much longer but I must say goodbye. Thank all of you for the never ending support I have received.

........ Sup..

So It's official. I have been a missionary for half a year!! I hit the six month mark! Now all I have to do it do what I just did three more times. If I could replicate my last six months a few times I will have had a very successful mission. Not more than twenty minutes ago I gave my last comp. Elder Brown a hug goodbye. In less that twenty four hours he will just be known as Ethan. :) there were a lot of great missionaries going home this transfer, including a roommate I had in Hesperia Elder McFarland. He has been one of my favorite missionaries I have met. So Elder Brown going home means that I will have a new victim. I will get my new companion tomorrow at about 9:30. The poor fellow has no Idea that he is being shipped to a snowy mountain to be alone with me for hours on end. :) I really hope we get along and I hope he is ready to work. We have some amazing things happening in our area at the time being. This Saturday We have a baptism! I am very excited for that. Tomorrow we will be putting together a program for it. His name is Jason Rogerson. He has been the most golden investigator I have taught thus far. He will be such a strong member in the church, which is something that is hard to say for a lot of people in the San B area. Along with that we have a few other investigators making some great progress, like quiting smoking for instance. Last week I mentioned that we started teaching a lady with a lot of big questions for us. We met with her twice and both times the lesson lasted more that two hours! Elder Brown said that she pushed him to the very edge of his gospel knowledge. She has a long way to go but I feel that she is a sincere seeker of truth. That being the case she will find out that these things are true by the power of the Holy Ghost. I'm alive, I'm happy, and I'm a Mormon.

HEY Y'ALL,

What a Heaven of a week! We had a great lesson with one of our investigators Alex Lundgren. He has had missionaries talking to him on and off for the last ten years! We decided it was time to get bold, so we read 2 Nephi 31 with him and he is currently praying to find out when to be baptized! Granted this exciting news is not yet set in stone, but it is more progress than we have seen with him since we have been here. In other missionary news we had a family of new investigators fall on our laps yesterday.  In ward council we were informed that a mother and her kids who have been attending Calvary Chapel and has apparently been to Bible College. She now wants to give the Mormons a try. :) She apparently used to go with her mom or something when she was young. We have an appointment with her tomorrow, and She has warned us that she has some big theological questions for us that she thinks we can't answer. I'm pretty sure we'll be fine answering her questions but just to be safe... pray for us. :)  This is my last week were I can use Elder Browns two years of experience in dealing with every missionary situation conceivable. :) I'll let you know how that goes. This month is going to be a good one. I'll have the chance to see baptisms and a lot of progress with others that we are teaching. This Running Springs place is growing on me. I hope my next comp doesn't make things go downhill. Well no funny stories to report this week. The work goes on. Thank you so much for the letters etc. I have a lot of people to reply and not much time, so bare with me.

Ello Chaps!

This week just flew by! As they seem to always do. On Tuesday I received six letters from family and friends! So I felt very loved this week. Elder Brown now has less days than I do months left being a missionary. :) I hope I get a good next Comp. I'll let you know how he is when I do. :) We have had some good teaching opportunities lately. We are preparing a Jason Rogerson to be baptized on the 18th of February. He has progressed so fast in a short amount of time. When I first met him I thought "yea.. we won't have much luck with him," and now he is more active than many members in the branch. :) There are things to be happy about here in Running Springs. On Saturday we had Interviews with President Godwin. I always look forward to meeting with him. He can be a little long winded :), but he always has great advice. This morning I went to a members house for a voice lesson! This has been in the plans for a couple of weeks now, and It will continue every p-day at ten. Sister Brady teaches singing a lot different than what I am used to. I wanted to do it so I can keep this voice of mine exercised, and hey maybe I'll learn a few things. :) I wonder what my average ":)" count is for these weekly messages. I'll have to count them up at the end of my mission. :) Oh, and there I go again. Well I'm still alive, I miss y'all, and I love y'all

January 23, 2012

Hello from Northern Mexico!

This has been an awesome week. On Saturday I was able to attend the baptism of two boys (Kenneth and Kevin Ewing) back in Hesperia! This was a baptism we set up when I was there. It is cool to see that things that we worked on months ago are coming to fruition. It was a very spiritual experience.  Their dad who had been less active was able to baptize them. It was a sweet experience for that family, and I feel it will bless them for years to come. It was great to be one of the few assisting in the confirmation given by the Bishop. It was also such a blessing to see everyone from the Arrowhead Ward. I have some friends there that I will have for the rest of my life. I hope I can continue to gain friends and build relationships like those throughout my mission. We had Stake Conference on Sunday and we were able to be Instructed via satellite by Elder L. Tom Perry. It is cool to see how the Apostles give specific instruction and inspired guidance for each area. This broadcast went out to all of Southern California. This morning we had a "district breakfast" over at the Lake Arrowhead Missionaries' apartment. We bought a lot of food and the six of us ate it all. :) I was surprised we did, though knowing missionaries I shouldn't be.:) I hesitate to put this part in the email but I do so anyway. :) while we were there a couple of raccoons were participating in an intricate part of life right on the doorstep (I will leave that up to interpretation:). Just one of the many things you see while here in this vast wilderness. The Zone Conference we had on Thursday was one I will never forget. There were car inspections and Elder Brown and I came prepared. This inspection is also a competition and they pick the cleanest car out of the two zones, and guess what.... WE WON!!! We cleaned, we came, and we conquered. Elder Brown says that he can now leave his mission happy.:) Hopefully President Godwin was paying attention as to give him more of an incentive to keep me in car areas. :) It did help that our Branch Mission Leader Bro. Scullin owns a car wash and we get free washes and vacuuming.:) But despite how glorious that victory was the real victory was knowing that I helped in some way assisting two more into the waters of baptism. I hope to continue working, having success, and maybe having a little bit of fun on the side. :) Thanks for reading about my simple joys of being a missionary. 

Hello Outside world,

So the other day we had dinner at our Branch President's house. To our surprise there was a very large black bear, which has been stuffed in his living room. upon inquiry, he informed us that he had shot it with a bow from his front yard. He further explained that the black bears in these mountains are more comparable to grizzly bears in size. Just another reminder that I'm not in Kansas anymore. :) Elder brown has only 28 more days on his mission. It won't be long before he has less days than I do months. :) It will be interesting to see what my perspective is on life when I have that short amount of a time before I return home. I have heard many missionaries in there homecoming talks profess that they were sad to leave the mission and go home. I'm not so sure I can have such a heavenly attitude, but hey, a year and a half is a long time for me to become the type of person who wishes to serve longer. anyway we have a good amount of work to do and I'm gaining some great experience as a missionary. I finished the Book of Mormon this week. I have been reading it since I left on the mission, but I have been going through it pretty slowly as to not miss a thing. Just as in other times when I have been through the Book of Mormon, I have received a spiritual confirmation of it's truth. Line upon line and precept upon precept, my testimony has grown more and more solid. Anyway I think I've done enough rambling for this week. Well If there is anyone reading this you should send me a letter! I love those things. :) Ba Bye for now.

Love,

Elder Roos

Hello Citizens!

Don't worry I haven't been eaten by any of the bears or mountain lions that roam these parts. I am alive and well continuing my missionary service. Tomorrow I will have been on my mission for five months! In another month I will have completed a fourth of my mish! Of course it doesn't feel like that at all. It is amazing looking back at all I have experienced thus far. From meeting so many amazing people to Being apart of baptisms (not to mention many great meals :), I have truly been blessed. I have been so well supported by family and friends along this journey of mine. It is also very exciting to look to the future. God has been undeniably involved in what I have gone through so far and I can't wait to see what he has in store for me as I push forward.  Yesterday was a successful day as we had five Investigators at church! From what I've been told that is a high number for the mountain areas. There is of course much progress needed for these individuals, but It shows that what we are doing is not in vain. As a completely random side note: Our new District leader has decided that we each need Jedi names. :) So next week I will update you on what we have decided mine is going to be. :) In other news it has been unseasonably hot here in the mountains, and they don't expect snow until February! To many this was welcome news, but for me it is the saddest weather forecast I have ever received :). This area seems naked without the coat of snow across the the skyline of trees. Well I hope all is well for everyone. All is well for me.

Love,

Elder Roos

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

Hey!

What a week! this has probably been one of the more frustrating weeks on the mission so far. Our Baptism dates for this Saturday have been delayed.... until February. That one fact alone seemed to drain the motivation out of us this week, but we have pressed forward. They baptism date has been moved so far because they want to have a big wedding with their family. And the mother, who will be the financier, wanted it on Valentines day. Despite this unforeseen circumstance, there is a chance I will be here come February. Anyway, one thing i love about being a missionary is that as I focus on other people my trivial problems wash away. This is our last week before transfers so we are going to make it good. Speaking of transfers I'm not sure what will come of them. I'm finished with the training program so it is unlikely Elder McKay and I will stay together. So I will probably be staying in this area. One thing that has been fun lately is rehearsing for the mission wide Christmas concert on December 3rd. There will be 200 of us singing! Without some kind of music I would shrivel up and die out here. :) Well I will know what is to be my fate when I write again.

"Mawwage. Mawwage is what bwings us together today. Wove, twue wove...So tweasure your woves forever" :) It seems as a missionary you never stop hearing about getting married.  My Comp in particular talks about getting married every other hour. :) He plans to get married the second he gets home.  As for me I think I can manage waiting for a bit longer. :) Marriage is also something that causes stress for missionaries when a couple is not married but wants to be baptized. The other Elders that live with us had a baptism ready to go if it weren't for the adamant of the couple to not be married. Luckily for us in the Arrowhead ward in the Hesperia Stake that is not going to be a problem.  Jake and Athena Rivera are getting married on the fifteenth of this month! With the subsequent baptism on the nineteenth it should be a week they will never forget, nor I. :) Anyway, with the political campaign in full force we have had a couple of investigators who have come to church ask us if we are a colt. We simply asked "I don't know you've been to church, are we?" :) It's funny how Satan has filled this world with thousands of misconceptions about Mormons. It has started getting colder.  In fact the mountain that happens to be the same mountain on the arrowhead water bottles is covered with snow (yes arrowhead water bottles come from San Bernardino County).  Yesterday I learned of an interesting statistic: San Bernardino County has the third highest gang population in the nation. I've got some work to do. Well it's time to go. Congrats on Les Mes everyone who is involved. I'm sure it is glorious. :)

Today i will be doing something i haven't done in my entire life. I will not be dressing up for Halloween! (though i think dressing up as Ammon or Captain Moroni would be pretty sweet).  We have been instructed to be in our apartments at six: no exceptions. I have still found ways to celebrate Halloween with the ward Halloween party and carving pumpkins with a family. I carved a missionary pumpkin :) (His name is Elder O' Lantern).  Thanks to my dear Grandmother sending me a pedigree chart I have concluded that In this ward ,which I am currently serving in, resides Rulon Taylor my Great Great Uncle.  He is 89 and now calls me his new nephew. :)  The missionary work, like most things in life, seems to have many ups and downs. The trick is to make the best out of every day given you despite differing circumstances. This last week was was fortunately an up for the most part.  We have been focusing a lot on a couple named Jake and Athena Rivera. They have recently undergone a court case to gain custody of their child. With many prayers on their part and on ours they now have him back. I don't doubt that this was God's doing as they have brought their lives closer to his teachings.  We are shooting to have them baptised on the nineteenth of November. :) It is sad to see some that we are working with pull away in some degree. There is not a lot that we can do but keep trying with them and hope for the best. At the end of this transfer will be the end of my official training period.  Which means that my Comp Elder McKay will more that likely be leaving me. :( I will be a little bird leaving the nest getting ready to fly on my own. :) well i think that fills the cliche requirement for my messages which means it's time to go. Does anyone read these? I really have no way of knowing. Thank you all for the letters and the Halloween treats. I love you guys!