August 6, 2012 {Email}

These two years definitely have gone by a lot faster then i had expected too. I can't believe this is my last week! I still don't believe it when i tell people i go home next week. It doesn't seem real.

So, with Lucy and her family things are going better then we could've ever hoped for! Last week monday they all committed to be baptized on the 11th! But because of conflicts with the ward schedule we have changed it to be on the 10th! (mom's birthday :) ) It's going to be a great day! Lucy will be baptized with 3 of her children and then we are also going to baptize one 19 year old boy named Enoch. He has two brothers and a sister in the church. It will be a powerful day. Other then that it's going to be a week full of saying sad good bye's to the amazing people in the ward. I will miss these people so much. It's been such a great experience to be able to gain a close relationship with this ward. I am grateful to have served here for so long.

Everything is going just great! Thank you all for all your prayers and support. I love you all!! See you next week.

Love, 

Elder Rogers

July 30, 2012 {Email}

The time is going by way too fast here it is so crazy! It seems like everytime i think about what day it is it's always Sunday and we'll be like wow that week was fast. But everything is going really great!! I still can't believe in a few weeks i will be with you and all the family. It's been sad every night i think another day is gone. We go to close our day and i don't even want to because that just means i am one more day closer to leaving this place. I really don't want to leave. It's such a strange feeling and i think this will be one of the hardest things i will ever do. You're right about these people here in first ward, they are my family. Every one of them. I do not want to say good bye to them, but i have to. It's going to be hard.

Lucy and her kids are doing great still! Tonight we are going to have a lesson with them and hopefully that will be the big one where they tell us when they want to be baptized. It was amazing on Sunday Lucy couldn't come to church because her family was having some funeral for this old woman, she had to cook for it :(. But the amazing part was when we went to pick up the family for church we didn't know she wasn't going to come, and still all the kids were running around getting ready to come to church. They love it! In primary they are memorizing the articles of faith and singing "We'll Bring the World His Truth". They are so excited about everything with the church. We are just waiting for Lucy to commit to a date and i'm sure the rest will follow. I pray that it will be on the 11th so i can see it. 

Imeh, the rasta man is still doing good but these past two weeks he's had some tough conflicts on Sunday mornings. He still knows that his baptism is essential and wants to do it, just having a hard time with committing to a date. This week will be a big week for him to see if he's ready for it. It's gotta be up to him. Right now i am battling the selfishness in me to see them all baptized before i go. It's been hard to just have faith that when they are ready then they will be baptized. It's not easy. 

Today for p-day we played some serious basketball down by the beach. It was the first time we've played in a while and man we were all rusty ha. I also gotta throw the baseball around with Elder Durfey from Spanish Fork so that was awesome. Any time i get to pick up that ball and glove it just makes me excited. I miss baseball and i can't wait to just get out there and play again. 

Well, that's really all that i have to tell you this week. Everything else that is going on i will just wait to tell you in person. 

Love, 

Elder Rogers

Playing catch with Sister Shultz

Played some basketball with Elder Saili

July 23, 2012

This week was great! Things are progressing very well in our area. The time we've been able to spend with Lucy and her family has been my favorite parts of the day, every day. They are so excited every time we come. All the kids run to get their chairs so we can sit in our big circle for the lesson. This week was the first week they all came to church together! They were well received by the ward members. I gotta brag about our ward members small, they seriously are the most powerful i have seen at fellowshipping new people into the church. Every one in Lucy's family had a friend by the end of the service. And tonight our relief society president is inviting her entire family over for family home evening! It's such a blessing to have such sweet members to work with. For Lucy and her kids, they are now praying about a baptismal date so i hope that day will be before i go. If not, that is fine as long as they get baptized! I just feel blessed to be able to have met them and introduce the gospel to them.

There has been so much success this past week with our investigators. Our rasta man is doing great! He is also praying for his baptismal date. It's been almost like instead of going from lesson to lesson, it's going from miracle to miracle. I am so excited with the way the work is going right now. We have been so blessed. I love going around with Elder Saili, we have been having so much fun with these investigators and our members. 

It's so crazy how soon i get back. I still don't think it is real and i know that day is going to come, but it still feels weird. It has been so cool to see so many miracles happening these past couple weeks. I have felt more intune than ever before. I don't want to finish my mission now that i feel so comfortable and one with the work. It's like i am getting to that peak right now, instead of the bottom. It's going to be a lot of fun to sit down and share mission experiences with all of you. We all have a lot of catching up to do, 2 years is a long time.  


Well, i hope you all had a great week too and have another one this week! I love you all!

Elder Rogers

Zack and Elder Saili playing baseball...Ghana style

July 16, 2012 {Email}

As a district today we watched 17 miracles and we all enjoyed the m&m's and skittles. That was my first time seeing that movie and it's gotta be one of my favorites! I'm also way grateful for the things to give to the ward members. I will do that in some kind of fun way for them before i go.

With the mission split things do feel a lot more focused. I know that President Shulz is very excited to see what we can do now as a mission. It definitely is weird being separated from them up in Kumasi. They gave both missions new phone numbers so there is no communication anymore, kind of sad. We had our council this week and a lot of it is just how we can better work with members and get them to do missionary work too. President and the AP's have been very inspired with the plan they have put together. We will be strengthening our members in missionary work a lot more then we have been. It's pretty cool to get these new ideas and we get to try them out on members that we already know very well. I feel so good with these members here, they are just like family. The work is going to improve even more as we put this new plan in motion.

Lucy and her kids are doing awesome!! We are hoping that they will be baptized before i go, but it's not set yet. The other night they all came to the church to watch the Restoration film with us. It was great and now the kids know a lot more about Joseph Smith. Lucy was teaching them all as the movie was going, just showing us that she has really made it a part of her life. We have been so blessed to be able to teach this family, they are so powerful.

Everything is going just great here! I hope all is well back home. I love you all.

Love,

Elder Rogers

July 9, 2012 {Email}

This week was another good one! We have been blessed with powerful investigators like Imeh (rasta man) and Lucy (the mother). Imeh came to church again and loved it. Lucy was sick on Sunday :( but she is very certain she will come this week. Both of them we are pretty sure will be baptized sometime but we feel we should let them get settled before we rush right into giving a baptismal date. I've always been the one to get so excited and just give it right away, but from the past i've seen those baptismal dates get postponed for various reasons. We want to set a solid date for them when they know they are ready for it! Hopefully in the next couple weeks we can have a date for them after they come to church one or two more times! With Lucy we had an awesome lesson on the Word of Wisdom and all of the little kids were sitting around. These little kids are smart telling us all of the things they shouldn't take ha they knew more then i did. We are having some difficulties with the older daughter because all of her friends are in another church and she wants to stay with them. She's a typical teenager ha and i can understand why she would do that.Everything is just going great here! I get to celebrate another birthday in Ghana this week so i'm stoked for that. We'll probably have a big coke and make some burritos ha i can't wait! Have a great week everyone! 

Elder Rogers

Elder Saili and me at Takoradi last week

The Cape Coast 1st ward

Victor and his family at his baptism

Our baptism on June 9th. Mankessim branch and Cape Coast 2nd Ward also joined us 

July 2, 2012 {Email}

So yeah, it is official that the mission has split. It's strange to think that Kumasi is now separated from us. Kind of weird that i served for a year in a different mission than i am in now. But it's going to be so awesome to see how both of these places can grow with having more focus from the mission presidents.

So last week i remember telling you that we were kind of having a hard time finding some serious investigators. Well, with a lot of searching and praying we have got some serious people now! One kid named Enoch Dadzie has been coming to church whenever he is back from school and he was here on sunday so we found out he will be back for a while at the start of August. So when he gets back he will be baptized on August 11th! We were so blessed to meet him and he is ready for it. We also had a rastafarian man we have been working with come to church. That was his problem, he accepted all the teachings and even had the desire to be baptized but the joining a church thing was the problem holding him back. We have been trying to just get him to come for over 3 weeks and this week he finally showed up with his sweet dreadlocks ha. I was very grateful that all the members were friendly with him there, and he loved it! We'll see where it goes from here but i really enjoy teaching this guy. 

We also had a woman named Lucy come with two of her children. Same thing, we have been trying to get her to come for a while too and finally she made it. When sacrament meeting ended our relief society president ran over to her and gave her a huge hug. I guess they are sisters! It was pretty sweet so now she has a great friend in the church! We'll also see where it goes with her! Everything is still great and now it's even better because we got some people acting upon the message. It makes the work exciting. I am thankful to be here.

Today for P-day we went to Takoradi to play football. I was so excited to go there because i have never seen any place in the cape coast mission except for cape coast itself. Takoradi is a way cool place and i wish i could've had some small time to serve over there but it's all good where i am now.

It's been a good week! I hope you all have a great week!

Elder Rogers

June 25, 2012 {Email}

In our apartment we now have 6 elders! The Bakaano elders are staying with us now because their apartment is not finished in their area which is right next to us. So we welcome Elder Barnett (England) and Elder Adair (Utah) to our sweet apartment. Last night we celebrated Elder Saili's year mark by burning shirts and eating Chips Ahoy cookies while playing Monopoly Deal. It was tight and the cookies were amazing. Today is Elder Saili's birthday so we had some elders over to make hamburgers with us. It was like an actual McDonald's right in our apartment. SOO good!!! I'm lovin' it. 

Our area is going pretty well right now. We've got some potential serious investigators. The only trick is to get them to church so they can have that spirit and be among the members. We will be switching to 9 o' clock this week so i think that will help us out. I know it will come if we just keep doing what is expected of us.

We visited Millicent (our recent convert) last night and watched The Testaments with her. It was very spiritual and Emmanuel is going to try again to quit his smoking and drinking. He really wants to hold the priesthood! Bishop Essien has been talking to him a lot so hopefully he can get working with the members more and not just us so that they can help him always since we will be leaving one day. And by the way Millicent is WAY pregnant! Emmanuel is way excited because he says it's going to be a boy which is what he has always wanted. So within the next few weeks we will find out! It's crazy because i've been seeing her through the whole process. Man, i guess i have been here a while if i'm going to be able to see the baby come! 

Everything is going well!! Our mission splits on Sunday, pretty crazy to think we will be separated from Kumasi.

I love you all!

Elder Rogers 

June 18, 2012 {Email}

Our area is once again kind of in a tough spot with progressing investigators but we're not too worried about it. We have been working a lot better with our sweet members to get it going. Even though we don't have much progress right now, we are definitely progressing with the members. They seem to be a lot more excited and concerned about the missionary work. If we can get them strong in the work then this area will be strong forever and that's what it's all about. I kind of feel like i am still here because i really know these members and they trust me so i need to be a part of making this push of getting them involved more. 

I had one of those "pay day's" as mom would call it. On Sunday, Victor showed up to church early. We had invited him to come and bless the sacrament. He was definitely nervous but he went for it. He messed up the first time but nailed it the second time. He had just a huge smile on his face when he looked at us and we gave him a thumbs up. That kid is going to do so much in the future. I hope we can get him to serve a mission later on. I love seeing members so happy and strong as they fulfill their duties. Victor is solid. 

Oh, we also did transfers this week. Everything went great! It was pretty cool to see all the new missionaries again. We have 10 new ones, 6 of them have gone to Kumasi. Down here we kept one from Australia, one from England and one from Western Samoa. Elder Saili was stoked to see the Samoan. They all had some big culture shock as we put them on tro-tro's to their new area ha. I remember that first day and how crazy it all was. That will be the last time i see new missionaries come in. Crazy. Have a great week everyone! 

Elder Rogers

May 27, 2012 {Letter}

I am so grateful for this time I've been able to serve a mission.  Looking at where I am now with my testimony, priorities, self-reliance and knowledge compared to before I came is a huge change.  I feel like an entirely different person when it comes to my mindset.  I now KNOW with a surety that this is the true gospel and Church of Jesus Christ.  Because of this I now KNOW the importance of staying active, reading the scriptures, listening to the prophets and sharing this gospel.  We are so blessed to have been born into the Church.  Our test is to stay faithful all the way to the end.  Aren't we lucky to have each other to help us out with that?!  Everything in this gospel is perfect, because it is founded by our Savior.  There are so many times that I just think about Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, President Thomas S. Monson and it all just clicks, it is all true.  Along with getting to KNOW all these things are true, my mission has strengthened me the most in my trust in God.  With Him all things are possible.  The way we are used as instruments in His hands is incredible.  He has led us into so many peoples path's so that we could help them find their way.  It has been so great to be that instrument.  One of the most valuable lessons I've learned here is the power of prayer.  I have so many experiences of my prayers being answered.  I don't dare to do anything big without counseling with Heavenly Father first.  I can't wait to come back and tell you all of the stories.  I want you all to know that yes these 2 years have been hard, but they will be the best 2 years FOR my life.  The things I have learned and experienced I will never forget.  I know I will be crying a river when my time comes to leave this amazing place.  I wish I could just bring you all here and stay here forever.  It's sad, but exciting to come home.  Please don't judge me too quickly when I get back ha I will be a bit weird. ha.  I love you all so much!

FOREVER STRONG

Elder Rogers

June 11, 2012 {Email}

This week was a great one! Everything went perfect with the baptism for Eric and Victor. The coolest thing was seeing Victor's mom, Efua, coming with him to the baptism and to church. Elder Lawton and I were working with her for the entire time i was with him but she couldn't take the step to come to church. She finally did this week! I really feel like Victor can have a big impact on her right now. We'll be sure to follow up on it this week to keep her going. The baptism was huge because we combined with Cape Coast 2nd ward and Mankessim branch. The room was packed tight and everyone was excited and ready to watch baptisms. Of course they are never perfect here in Ghana because the water isn't their best friend but we made it through ha. Elder Baird, a new missionary in Mankessim, got to baptize for his first time on mission so that was neat. It took me back to my first baptism and how excited i was. Baptisms never get old. That is why we are here is to help bring others unto Christ and when it happens, it is so true about how great our joy is. I love it!

A crazy thing happened the other day haha and please, mom, don't worry this doesn't happen often or ever.. But ok! We were walking by the park when we saw our homeless/drunk friend Peter who always says hi and follows us around talking about crazy things for a while. This time he really insisted that we should sit down and talk. We were in a hurry so we just told him sorry, we had to go. He got real upset this time and threatened to kill us and shoot us, which was out of the ordinary. So we started walking faster getting a little bit nervous. When we turned and looked at him we saw him reach into his pouch bag. Both of us were just in shock thinking he was going to pull out a gun.... We started walking really fast.. To our relief he didn't pull out a gun but instead pulled out a bunch of rocks and started throwing them at us! ha it's a good thing he's not a baseball player, but still it was crazy to have someone throw rocks at us. It was intense though, stuff like that never happens here. I actually was way scared for a second. Today we saw Peter again and he was cool and talking to us like normal. I can't imagine what that was like for all those prophets of old who got stoned and even killed. That's my fun story for the week! :)

So transfers.... well i'm going to be crying a lot saying goodbye to everyone here in cape coast. I've spent almost 10 months here and to have to leave these people is not going to be easy. This is my home and i don't want to leave it. It's a good thing i won't have to say goodbye to them for another two months. I'm very happy to continue doing the work here with Elder Saili. We're going to help bring more souls these next two months. I'm stoked!

Well, i hope all of you had and will have another great week! I love you all!

Elder Rogers

Elder Saili and me with Victor

Victor and his family

My recent convert, Alfred from Asuoyeboa! He called me when he was in Cape seeing the castle. He's still strong :)

My old high school classmate Rebecca and me

Rebecca's group took us to lunch