Und es geht weiter!.....Week 13 in Wiener Neustadt

     Have you ever taken the time to read the Liahona? Or the Ensign? I think that's what it's still called in Canada. Well go into it and read the stories! And especially the Latter Day Saint Voices part! Those are awesome stories! I have been reading so many articles in the church magazines recently and its helped me in so many aspects! That's my challenge, become familiar with them, they rock! 

     I had an awesome experience this week! I got to work with a missionary who had only been in the field for 5 days! I learned so much from his humility! Ahh it's amazing. We call it 'Golden Faith', the new missionaries always have that little edge. Well, we taught a lesson and did some awesome finding. We have been using Family History in finding more now and it's working well. It's interesting! Working with a younger missionary for a couple days makes it so clear to see how the Lord works through his Missionaries. Such a boss! I learned a great lesson. 

     OK there was something said in our lesson in Sunday school that stuck out to me a lot. The teacher (who is a boss!!!) said something like... 'Time allows for a greater appreciation of things. As we go through life we learn to appreciate the little things more and more'. Something like that. Well so true! I've come to love my family so much more from not seeing them for so long. Sounds harsh maybe.. lol but like I just realize how awesome you all are and that I miss spending that time with you. Thus allowing my appreciation to grow. It's a blessing I think. 

     Well Manuel went back to Spain this weekend. Sad for sure! But he will be good there! We taught some good lessons this week and had some fall outs again. I think I say it every week but this next week is gonna be the best week ever! It'll be a gooder. We have so much planned! 

     I'm running out of ideas to write about. Family History and Agency have been the 2 biggest topics on my mind recently. Agency is so cool and applies to everything. Missionary work too of course. So like... think about it. I learned this all from Elder Gibbons. He said it so well. But like everything we do here is based on our attitude. Whether we have fear, or choose not to do something, it comes down to us... haha its amazing to realize each day how much power I have to control things. I control a whole lot more that I thought I did. Ah just think about that!

     I love my mission. This place is the best. People are the best. Happiness is all around. I got to give a blessing today. Its cool to see my improvement. It came a lot easier this time and the German wasn't a hold up. I was able to really help someone out today. Blessing others is a blessing for me. I'm just happy. Wanna be happy? Go on a mission! haha

I love it! Have a great week! I love you all! 

Elder Rodgers!

We have amazing skies!

Got really good hair this day! Haha

At the church for an activity so they decided to
have some fun with pictures

                                   

Leben is schön!.....Week 12 in Wiener Neustadt

Another Week. Already? 

     I think by the end of my Mission ill have some problem with my wrists from writing so many emails! But ja, its worth it! 

     I wanna start out with a way awesome thing I learned today! We just had a lesson like an hour ago. We were able to introduce the Book of Mormon using 2 comparing Scriptures from the Bible and Book of Mormon. We started by reading Matthew 11:28-30 and talked about how when we come unto Christ, that He will always be there to help us. No matter where we are in life. Then we talked about how the Book of Mormon supports the Bible in teachings. We shared Moroni 10:32-33 and showed that this was written on a different continent at a different time, yet it contains the same everlasting truth that when we come unto Christ and let Him help us, we can be made strong and we can find happiness.  

     I am happy. Are you happy? I know that if we come unto Christ whether we are already on the path or not quite there yet, it will open the gate for you to be happy! It's so simple. It's harder to live without Christ, than it is with Him. Ah I want everyone to understand that! Haha we need to make posters and tell the world! LIFE CAN BE HAPPY!!! Even with trials. I've gotten to the point where I ask for trials because by getting through them, I become happier! Happiness. Whoda thought that it came through trials? BUT IT DOES! Cuz we learn!

Life is awesome.

     This week was a trial in itself. Together we did not teach a lesson. We had more than 7 different scheduled appointments fall out though. But through the process of fall outs we found some people who we may not have found if we hadn't had the fall outs. Everything has its purpose. 

     A really cool thought I got this week was in our District Meeting. We were talking about Success. We read together in 3 Nephi 7:17-18 and here is Nephi. It says that Angels Ministered to him daily. Well man how can I have Angels ministering to me daily? And then suddenly the wicked thought came into my head... 2 Nephi 32:3 where it says that Angels speak by the Power of the Holy Ghost. So then I thought - Nephi was a successful Missionary. He did so many wonderful things. And he was successful because he followed the promptings of the Spirit which were given to him. He had the Spirit working through him. Then, I thought, if I feel the Spirit working through me too, that would mean that angels are ministering to me. Thoughts that come into my mind through the Holy Ghost telling me where to go what to do and who to talk to, are indeed angels ministering unto me. 

Is that not cool or what? 

     The scriptures have become one of my best friends. I cant even believe how different I see them now as before. There is so much to be learned and so many simple comparisons and simply so much goodness to be found in the Scriptures. Come unto Christ and learn of Him! 

It makes you Happy!

It makes me Happy!

     I love people so much. I love the experiences that I have collected. I love everything about the people here and the wonderful work which I am able to be taking part in. This life is the great! Imagine the next... :)

Have a wonderful Week! Stay safe!

Elder Rodgers <3

The biggest Schnitzel Cordon Bleu EVER!!! It was so good!

The Church!

Bahnhof Selfie!

Veränderungen......Week 11 in Wiener Neustadt

     To start I'd like to wish my Dad a Happy Fathers Day! You're the best buddy! I hope you had a lovely day! Thanks for helping me be me!

     Transfers are Thursday. We are staying together here in Wiener Neustadt :) I'm glad!

     Wow. I'm sitting here at this computer again and I'm looking back through the week and I really can't come to think of what happened. I don't just wanna make this a list of what my days were. I wanna try and throw in experiences and make it meaningful, you know? I've had a lot of thoughts this week about Positivism (being Positive). Haha don't fret, I'm not getting depressed or nuttin. I just want to be more positive! But in the same sense I don't wanna come off as that hyper dude who doesn't take life seriously and no one can talk to haha. So I was trying to find how I could do that better.

     We had a day this week where I was about to give up and be blah! It was 35°C with no wind. We had absolutely nothing before us. We studied. I studied hope. Then we went out at noon into the blazing heat. Before we left the apartment I was sweating. We ended up going by on a lot of Less Active Members. We got to a little town and then pulled out the map to find where a person lived and realized it was way in the middle of this field thing. From the train it took us over an hour to walk there. Then of course it was the last house at the end of the street. And he wasn't home. And we had to walk back. Now I was trying my absolute hardest to be positive and from that I learned a valuable lesson. I control my attitude in every circumstance. I choose whether something affects me and drags me down or I can choose to go out and do what the Lord expects me to do because I know He will help me through it.

     That was important for me. My studies have been doing well lately. I am making them more topic based and therefore learning more and off of what I learn I am setting goals. Now I just need to record results and be accountable to myself for what I do. Then I believe I will start to improve.  

     We had our final conference with President and Sister Miles this week. I will really miss them a lot! They taught me so much. Our day was awesome, we were so well taught and uplifted! It was great! Just a wonderful day in Vienna. I really enjoy the time we have to meet with one another and to learn from others. I feel like I always come out with some way to improve myself. I just need to make sure I follow through with it now!

    Friday and Saturday there was a huge Youth Weekend thingy here. We were able to help out with it, doing lots of stuff! It was really fun! I got to know a ton more youth, mainly from Vienna lol, but nonetheless it was good! We were able to play sports with them and also help out in the kitchen and with other teaching activities. It was a really cool weekend.

     Life here is good. We had 4 people in church yesterday :) A real Improvement! Life is great! I am happy! If you wanna be happy go on a mission. It'll change ur life! It sure has changed mine. I love this place and the people I have been fortunate enough to know. They are my friends.

Have a wonderful week everyone :) I love you all :)

Elder Rodgers <3

Took a journey to Semmering this week!

Semmering

Semmering

Semmering and me!

President and Sister Miles

Elder Peterson

Elder Moon! He is going home :(

Sister Allman

Happy Canada Day (July 1)

Kommt zu Jesus!.....Week 10 in Wiener Neustadt

     Wow. This week was hot. I mean that literally. Like it was up to 32 or so degrees this week. I'm not a fan of the heat. But, heat leads to sweat, sweat leads to weight loss, which leads to me weighing the least I ever have in like over a year and a half. Not too shabby eh! I actually don't know how many people really care about that haha. Its a big deal tho ok! haha

#missionaryproblems
     So this morning I go to my closet.. Open it up and I was looking at it for a bit. Elder Smith asked me what I was looking at. I said I was choosing which shirt to wear. He proceeded to say... ' Hmm that's a hard one. The white one, or the white one?' Yes Elder Smith.. haha its a choice every morning! lemme tell ya! We got long sleeve then short sleeve (never long) we got wide or narrow collar, we got tight or lose fit, we got European fit or american fit. We got choices people! Then comes the pants.. oh man!

     The coolest event of this week was Friday, there was a special Fireside in Wien (Vienna). We were visited by Elder Patrick Kearon (2nd Counselor in the Europe Area Presidency), Linda Reeves (2nd Counselor in the Relief Society Presidency) and Rosemary Wixom (General Primary President). It was a really really good meeting. the focus to me was on a very simple topic, that we are all children of a loving Heavenly Father and all he wants is for us to be happy and to return to Him. We do that by following the path that was sent before us by Jesus Christ... Hence.. Come Unto Christ.

     It was a really good time. They are wonderful speakers.They spoke in English and then it was translated at the stand into German. Haha it always very cool. I have mad respect for the translators. They did it good. Then we got tot talk to them after. It was cool, they are great examples of love.

     And then a personal thing. Ha there's a guy from a Wien ward who is from Lethbridge lol so we chatted it up good after! He's cool! That was way fun to meet him! Then that night 10 missionaries stayed in one apartment in Wien haha. We had a huge sleepover cuz it was so late and couldn't get home haha. Never gets old.

     I was looking through some notes I had from stuff and came across a quote. It says.. 'The Lord uses the unlikely to accomplish the impossible'. Well now think about how true that is. First example. Me. Or missionaries in general. Who could really think that teenagers from 18-25 could be the ones out teaching the Gospel and bringing people to the truth? That in itself shows how much the Lords hand is over us in this work. Really eh?

     The story going along with this quote is in Judges 7. Its a really super story. That was an awesome personal study when I went into that. Really great!

     Another one that hit me this week was just the overall message to Come unto Christ. Especially for missionaries who are just starting missions; reading Moroni 10:32-33 is a huge source of revelation. So much to be taken from there.The scriptures are so full of messages. Too many to count. They really make me happy :)

     I am so happy. Teaching happiness is easier when you yourself are happy. Teaching by example is the way to do it. Blessings are flowing! They sure come freely to all those who ask for them! I love my Mission so much! These people here are the best!

Have a wonderful week everyone :) And this week, try to come closer to Christ! Its worth it!

Elder Rodgers <3

sunset pictures

Und das Werk geht weiter!....Week 9 in Wiener Neustadt

    Well my loving Family and Friends. I would like to tell you that this week has been one of the coolest weeks ever! For all reasons possible. Ranging from Spiritual Highs to Personal Achievements and Fun. Life. Is simply the best!

I have a few announcements to make first...

1. To start off I would like to tell every mother to enroll their child in Sewing when they are in middle school. It should not be called sewing.. rather Mission Prep. I took to the needle this week and absolutely worked miracles on my pants. I fixed 3 pairs and now suddenly have way more variety in my outfits! Not to bad eh? hahahaha

2. OK I actually don't have another announcement. I just couldn't think of a new way to say that sewing thing.

So moving on!

     Well I'll start with what one would call... Things of the World... or what I'd call... My Personal Pleasures. So today is Pday. I went hiking. Climbed a mountain sogar! Sogar is german übrigens. Übrigens means by the way in German just for those who were a little confused there. (still confused? So what he said was Climbed a mountain by the way) Yes. We climbed the Schneeberg today.. The highest mountain in Lower Austria. Not too bad eh? I enjoyed myself a little too much. Like it was just the best. I was smiling the whole day. Brother Pillmann took us up there. It was a really cool climb. Just over 4 hours in total and like 3600ft of Elevation gained. For those who hike.. that's quite good! And for those who really hike.. It's kinda is like a mix between climbing Sofa and Crandel in Waterton. Both types. Ha way cool though! I was happy!

     OK moving on to the week then. I worked in Vienna on Tuesday on a Tausch (exchange). Lots to do. Taught 2 lessons there. It was a cool one. Too big of a city for me tho and it was pouring rain too. Then on Wednesday after our day we went back to Vienna and stayed the night with 4 elders because in the morning we went to a bahnhof (train station) in Vienna and ran off Elder and Sister Strong. So run off means when the train drives away we all run down the platform and chase the train for as long as we can. Its fun. Ha that was cool :) I enjoyed it! Then we came home and had our day.

     So that guy I talked about last week. Mario.We set a baptismal date with him! He really is a super guy! 3rd week in a row at church and we are doing lots with him. He is reading and doing great in making steps toward baptism. He is a super guy! Doing awesome :)

     Well the biggest part of the week was clearly the baptism on Saturday which was absolutely amazing! It was all in Spanish too haha with German translation. I was a witness with Elder Smith. And we also were in the circle when he got confirmed too. So he was baptized by his dad! Which was awesome! The spirit was so strong the whole time. The elders and sisters and our ward mission leader (who is Spanish) sang a song in Spanish! It was way cool. Its called 'I'll Find You My Friend' in English. Yeah. I sang in Spanish. Gift of Tongues to the max there. It was an awesome day! Everything went so perfect!

     This week was really great! Makes me so glad to be out here. So many good things happen everyday. It is amazing to see and be a part of. I love it so much! I really am blessed. The Gospel blesses so many people. In fact, everyone who wants the blessings from it can have em.Its just that simple. Come and get em!

Life is simple awesome!

Elder Rodgers <3


P.S  Hey I just found out that a girl me and Elder Carlson found in Ellwangen is being baptized in 2 weeks! dude! So Awesome!

Selfie! on the train

  Schneeberg!

Hiking!!

signed the register found in the cairn at he top

Elder Smith & Tanner on top

On top of  the Schneeberg

Hiking with Bro. Pillmann

Happy to be hiking

What a view

The Book of Mormon to the top