When will Peter be home?

Peter will arrive in Calgary at 1:54PM on Wednesday, June 4. Anyone who wants to welcome him home is invited to come to the airport.

He will report his mission in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday June 8 at 9AM and we would love to have you all enjoy his testimony and missionary experiences. He will be speaking for 15 to 20 minutes. If you haven't attended church with Peter, you should know that everyone is welcome to attend church services of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This service will be about an hour and ten minutes. Most men wear a shirt and tie or a suit. Women usually wear a skirt or dress.

Missionaries' Favorite Picture

May 19, 2014

Las Venturas de Elder Rojo: Capitulo 103 

Que maravillosa la semana! Me encanta ser misionero por el Senor! especialmente en esta espoca en que la obra esta creciendo! Ya como muestra la foto eramos bendecidos para participar en un bautismop el la Conversion de J! What a wonderful week! I love being a missionary for the Lord! especially at this time when the work is growing! Now as the photo shows we were blessed to participate in a baptism on the Conversion of J!

I am just bouncing off of the walls right now! J got Baptized and it was such an amazing experience! It didn't go off perfectly though let me tell you! It all started Saturday Morning when our ward mission leader asked us to fill the font. Doesn't sound too bad does it only issue was that the baptism was in an hour and a half. So we went down there only to find that we didn't actually have a key to the font. fortunately there were members there that had been cleaning the stake center for stake conference the next day, and they informed us that the door through the women's change room was open. So we ran through and opened the men's side and began looking for the faucet controls... And we couldn't figure out how to fill it, so we called everyone we could think of until finally we got a hold of one of the other ward mission leaders in our stake who explained to us how to fill the font. He also explained that with the time available to us we would quickly run out of hat water and the font would be rather cold. So trying to ensure that J and H didn't get hypothermia we boiled water in the kitchen with the three biggest pots I have ever seen in my life. It all turned out the font was filled and not freezing. Everything was perfect... Until during the service we heard the font draining. Elder McGee had to jump in the water and plug the drain with his toe until they were actually ready to go perform the ordinance. The adversary did everything he could to stop J from being baptized but the work of the Lord cannot be stopped! After J bore his testimony and said that he knows baptism is only a first step and that he wants o continue to make more! Later that day we taught in his home about receiving the priesthood and he told us that he wants to serve a mission! I have been so blessed to be even such a small part of his conversion! 

That was by far the most exciting part of the week we had a lot of other great things happen miracles and opposition I love it! When people yell at us or try to bash us, when they call us names and throw things at us it just makes me say, "Man this must be true!" I know that the the Lord's work is hastening nothing can stop it at this time because he is at the head of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. 

Con mucho amor, 

Elder Rojo 

Cleared for Baptism

May 12, 2014 
Las Venturas de Elder Rojo: Capitulo 102

Feliz dia de las madres! Aunque es un dia tarde quiero felicitar todos por cumplir el mas grande papel de una madre! Y agradecer a mi madre, mis abuelas y mis hermanas tambien. (Si tengo 6 madres!) Happy mothers day! Although a day late I want to congratulate all who fulfill the greatest role of a mother! And thank my mother, my grandmothers and my sisters too. (Yes I have six mothers!)

I hope you all enjoyed your mothers days! Mine was awesome highlighted by a few details in just a moment! Thanks for the picture of Isaac's baptism! Congrats Isaac you've grown so much! 

The week was incredible full of miracles that I've written in my Journal and you'll all hear more about later because I don't have time today. We're going Parkouring with some awesome people we know! We were going to do it awhile back but we had to cancel so we're very excited for that today! But Sunday was incredible! We had dinner with a Member of our ward who just moved in and she's a returned missionary, she was going to invite a friend over for dinner so that we could attend. When he canceled she invited J our most amazing precious soul ever! It was perfect because we'd wanted to review prophets before his interview that night and were scrambling to figure it all out! So perfect, she had him over for dinner and we got to teach afterwards in a members home! Talk about the hand of the Lord guiding people! Especially because she thought he was actually a recent convert and not a member. So after a delicious dinner we watched Special Witnesses of Christ and testified of President Monson. It was a great lesson and when we asked him if he believed President Monson was a prophet of God he said, "I'd like to believe it." He has such incredible faith! It was also pretty cool because her roommate was studying at the table and she started watching as President Monson spoke. I know she felt the spirit, so we "accidentally" left the dvd there. I really hope that her interest was piqued sufficiently so she'll pick it up and watch it. 

Later that night J passed his interview with Elder Yates. He'll be baptized on the 17th and I'm so excited for him! I know that this is the true church of God, it is the only church with Prophets and Apostles that are witnesses of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! 

Con mucho amor, 

Elder Rojo

Peter's in DENIAL!!! psst (quiet whisper) "The Day That Shall Not Be Named is June 4"

May 5, 2014
Las Venturas de Elder Rojo: Capitulo 101

Que maravillosa la semana! tengo tantas cosas para decirles pero me falta el tiempo! Vamos a hacer un hike hoy, y tenemos mucho que hacer! 

First and foremost! I know that I'm getting close to the day that shall not be named, and I'm glad you love me, but if you mention how soon you're going to see me and all that YOU WILL BE BLOCKED AND SENT TO SPAM MAIL!!!!!!! Ok I really don't want to think about that at all, I know there're things that I need to take care of but that will come later. Just please don't talk about the day that shall not be named! 

Two quick stories: Wednesday as I think you know was my birthday, we had MLC's that day and somehow they all knew it was my birthday so they all made a big deal out of it and yes I had a great birthday. I was hoping to just not think about it at all, but none of the other leaders would let that happen. Anyways it was such a great day and I learned so much from it! 

And a huge miracle story. We've been teaching J for about a month now and he's been coming to everything! Church, activities, FHE you name it and he's there! He backed out of his original baptismal date and was somewhat hesitant on it still. Elder McGee and I both prayed about it and felt impressed that we needed to invite him to be baptized on May 17th. We taught him Thursday and talked about it then, he was still hesitant. We invited him to a baptismal service yesterday and asked him to pray and listen to the spirit as he witnessed someone else make this sacred covenant. We both fasted for him and asked the zone and his fellowshippers to join us in the fast. When we taught him after the service he said, "I'm not quite sure, but I think it's about time that I take a leap of faith." He accepted and is working towards the 17th! I'm so grateful that I get to be atleast a small part of this incredible man's conversion. I know that God is a God of Miracles and that he blesses us for our sacrifice! 

Con mucho amor, 

Elder Rojo

Spiritual growth

April 28, 2014

Las Venturas de Elder Rojo: Capitulo 100

Que ocupado la semana! Con todo que hicimos me siento que estaba aqui en la biblioteca ayer no hace una semana! Es tan loco cuan rapido vuela el tiempo en el servicio del Senor!  That busy week! However, I feel I was here in the library yesterday not a week ago! It is so crazy how fast time flies in the service of the Lord!

Man it was a crazy week, between transfers and several other emergencies it kept us BUSY!!!! thankfully though due to the blessings of the Lord we were still able to have a great week.WE had to do an emergency exchange with the Spanish Elders here in Grand Junction because I am the only other Spanish missionary in the City, So I spent Wednesday in a Spanish area again for a day. It felt good to be preaching in Spanish again, but I missed the Young Single Adults. I truly love the ward here and all those we teach. The work continues to progress at a furious rate! 

Sunday was a huge miracle! We've really been trying to put an emphasis on helping everyone come to church. For our first 10 weeks in the area we couldn't for the life of us get anyone to come and feel the spirit in church. That last few weeks things have picked up slightly. Yesterday we had four people join us in our worship of the Saviour. I also gave a talk that I'd prepared that morning and it went off pretty well so miracle number two! We had a great day just getting out there and working. To finish the night off we taught J, someone who'd been at church. We finished teaching the Restoration, and it was incredible to feel the spirit in that lesson. I feel like I'm so much more spiritually in tune then I've been my whole mission. I feel guided and the spirit is just always there! from the opening to the closing prayer it never left the room. I'm so glad that it was there and that he also felt it, and accepted a baptismal date for May 31st. 

I know that Joseph Smith was the Prophet of the Restoration. He did see God the Father and our Saviour Jesus Christ, and under his direction brought back the same church established by Jesus Christ. 

Con mucho amor, 

Elder Redd

Living and Dying in Grand Junction

April 21, 2014

Las Venturas de Elder Rojo: Capitulo 99

Tengo noticias de mucho animo! Elder McGee y yo nos quedamos una transferencia mas!!!!! Estoy muy feliz servir aqui en Grand Juntion con el. Es un missionero muy bueno y vamos a tener mucho exito, lo puedo sentir! 

I have news for much encouragement! Elder McGee and I stayed a transfer more!! I am very happy to serve here in Grand Juntion withhim. Is a very good missionary and will have much success, I can feel it!

So yes I'm very excited! We got to see a lot of miracles this week, and I can't wait to keep working even harder and see more! One of my favourites was that of X. X is an amazing man he's less active and we've been working with him since we first got here. He disappeared for a little while until last Saturday when we stopped by his place and found him. This week we had two incredibly powerful lessons with him and he's taken some huge strides! The other is C, one day when we were teaching him he said, "Something’s changed and I don't really know what, but I have to read the Book of Mormon! I have to pray and I have to go to church. It's no longer just something that I just do, but I really need to do it!". Too true, too true. 

Another was M, he was a referral from some other elders and we set up an appointment with him for Wednesday at 10. When we went to teach him he was so excited! He has a friend leaving on a mission tomorrow and he finally decided to accept his friend’s invitation and investigate the church! He really wants to learn and he practically already has a testimony! At the end of the lesson we challenged him to read the book of Mormon and he said, "I like how you challenge me to do it, a lot of times I forget, but now that you've challenged me to do it I'm really gonna do it." It's just so amazing to see the hand of the Lord in this work. He has so many people prepared for his gospel, and if we want to find them we just need to be obedient, go out there and work! 

Yesterday we had a very special experience. One of our members, Jake, invited us to come with him to take the Sacrament to Josh, another member who's in a wheelchair. I don't think I can ever describe the feeling I felt as I raised the bread to his mouth for him. It's made me rethink my whole perspective on the Sacrament and the Atonement in general. I'm so grateful that the Lord gave us that opportunity. 

I know that Jesus Christ is our lord and Saviour. He died for all of us, and then rose the third day conquering death and making it possible for us to do the same. He lives today and guides this church through revelation! 

Con mucho amor,

Elder Rojo

What is it with missionaries and eating??

Las Venturas de Elder Rojo: Capitulo 98

Buenos Dias! Ojala que se encuentren bien hoy. Estoy muy feliz porque es un dia muy bonito aqui en Grand Junction!  La clima es bien rica, vamos a jugar deportes. Ibamos a subir el Monte Garfield pero se cayo muhca lluvia ayer y por esto no quieren la mayoria de la zona. Entonces lotr dia lo vamos a subir. 

Good Morning! Hopefully you are well today. I am very happy because it's a nice day here in Grand Junction! The good weather is rich, let's play sports. We were going to climb Mount Garfield but MUCH rain fell yesterday and thus most of the area do not want. Then another day we will climb.

This week was pretty awesome we saw a lot of miracles and just great things happen in our missionary labours. We also had a ton of fun! First off I'll explain the story behind the pictures. so there is a restaurant in Grand Junction called Dos Hombres. And they have a burrito challenge that they call the Ghost buster. It's a 2.5 pound burrito covered in Ghost Chili that comes steaming hot out of the oven and you need to eat it in 30 minutes without puking or eating anything with a basic pH to make it easier-that means no sour cream, no Guacamole, no milk, just water. Elder McGee had already done it before I served with him and he completed the challenge in 6 minutes. With how competitive we both are I told him I would beat him and we started a smack talk that has been going on for two months now. After emailing last week we talked to some elders from the other zone and they told us that they were doing it. I wasn't prepared at all, I'd eaten a pretty big breakfast and I hadn't been eating anything really spicy for a while but I decided to go for it anyway. That was the most fun I've ever had while being miserable in my life! That's a picture of Elder Koyle, Elder Curran, Elder Milner (from Calgary actually) and I after completing the burrito and winning our T-shirts. Elder Merrill finished it too, but he was puking when we took the picture. 

Alright, now to the actual important stuff. I don't remember if I mentioned it or not, but at Zone conference President Murdock gave us a survey door and OYMing approach. And it's so much fun! 

On Tuesday I went on exchanges with Elder Yates, he's a great missionary and I really love him. We parked the car and spent most of the day walking to appointments and OYMing along the way. The survey approach is so bold and it's so fun! After we explain the survey we ask "May we step in?" and step forward just assuming to get in. The rest of it pretty much follows-we sit ourselves right down in their house and after the survey just go straight into teaching! We saw some incredible experiences and success from it so far! On Thursday we had Zone meeting and we made breakfast for the zone again. We were much more prepared this time and we didn't burn through any cookie sheets. Also the Sister Training Leaders helped and that was awesome. Saturday I went on exchanges with Elder Yee, and that's when we were on bikes. I loved being outside the whole time and having so many opportunities to Open My Mouth! Also that day we had dinner with a family, and the husband was from Cardston. Brother Pitcher, is that someone who we're distantly related to dad? 

Update on our miracle of the month. We taught him Thursday and he's still reading the book of Mormon and loving it! It was such a powerful lesson on the Gospel. He came to church again and is really enjoying church and making friends there. He's come to several activities and the Members are really doing a fantastic job fellow shipping him. I know that the Lord blesses us with miracles everyday we just need to look hard enough to see that his hand is always present in our lives. I know that Jesus Christ lives and guides this church through a living prophet Thomas S. Monson. 

Con mucho amor, 

Elder Rojo