Facebook post

So for those few who are no longer friends with Josh on facebook (oh,  me.) My sister took a screenshot of Joshua's facebook post.  It sounds like he is struggling, learning where to turn, and growing.  

"Agony in the Garden" Frans Schwartz

Videos of Josh

Here are a few goofy movies that Josh sent on P-day.  I don't know the rules of this iPad mission thing but until I find out I will enjoy the benefits.

Exhaustion

Sorry this is late!  I was out of town this week and didn't get this posted as quickly. 

"I, Nephi"

So obviously I'm a lotta bit tired! Sall good though! Because it is recharge day!! 

So Tuesday, we have a new missionary meeting. For 7 hours. ADD don't do 7 hours. So I was coherent probably for 5 of those. The last 2, Which happens to include the role play in front of everybody, I was a little restless. And it seems that I have 1 song stuck in my head. And that song is "ain't no rest for the wicked". (Btw, this is a LIE! They are wayyyy more rested than us. And I am pretty wicked.) anywho, to make it more spiritual because resistance was futile, we changed the lyrics. (There ain't no rest for the weary baptisms don't grow on trees. I got doors to knock and miles to walk. And there's nothing I can do) which kinda helped but also didn't. Anyway. That was a long day.

Wednesday. President interviews. Oh joy. Now at this time I would like to mention that my "hilarious" companion thinks it's funny to tell the APs every time we talk to them that I need a leadership position. Not cool. I have no idea what I'm doing and everyone in the district is either a zone leader, an AP, or a sisters trainer leader. Anyway, we go to the interviews. (In a galaxy far far away) and sweat on the couch waiting our turn. (I'm pretty sure you could wring sweat out of the couch cushions) finally it's my turn. I begin my epic entrance. And promptly almost fall on my face... WHYYYYY MEEEEEEEEEE!!! I'm surehe was thinking "Dis wan needs help". (Spanish accent. Dad you're good at this one. So is Brandon)  well he asks about how I'm doing and my family and whatever. Bleh blah Bleh. Then we wait for a bus for an hour and a half and go to work. Then it was just a hot day.

Thursday. District meeting, good lesson. Got rid of some problems (by writing them down and destroying them maliciously) good  meeting. Then all of our lessons fall through. That was not fun.

Then Friday. A couple lessons fall through. 

Then Saturday, I'm super tired and we go out finding after our ward mission leader (who hates us for some reason.) tells us to do better. Low blow so now I have the spirit of contention and we head out for the day while I have to get images of me beating the snot out of him out of my head. Hard because I didn't want to. 

Then Sunday Alice and Joseph don't want to go to church... So with barely controlled anger.. We turn around and then tell them to get dressed because they are going to church. Only Alice went but 1 is better than none. 

Exhaustion.... But I will live!! From the immortal words of that 1 lady. I will survive. And so will you! Church is true people! Preach the gospel always! And if necessary use words!! Smile. Live long and prosper! May the force
(spirit) be with you! Love you all! Peace! Quotes of the week:Rosa Parks: no. Vader: NOOOOOOOOO. urinal in bathroom: just say no. Invictus: I thank whatever God may be, for my unconquerable soul.
Elder Rollins

Here are the questions I asked and he answered...

How would you describe mission life?  Mission life is faced paced but good! 
Who do you play basketball with? We play with the zone leaders usually, and whoever else wants to play! 
Where do you do your laundry? Laundry is done at the bishops house cause swag. 
How do you find most of your investigators? We get tons of referrals,
Is your room a mess? My room is not messy. And not clean.
Did Alice and Joseph come to church? What about Emily and Christian? Alice came to church. Joseph didn't. Emily and Christian still haven't responded.
Who is this investigator who has a lung problem? What is the problem and what do we need to pray for? Her name is Erin. She has some disease that kills her lungs. I dunno the story I've met her 1 time. sorry dawg.
Did you teach some lessons this week and how did the lessons go? ya we tried to teach. The ones we actually did teach went well!! Good stuff ya.
How many miles do you ride in a day? Are you able to handle it? A lot. It's not too bad. There are lots of hills.

Random pictures...

Love the ghetto!

"My companion is a little trunky., Get it? Trunk?"

Onward ever onward

Hello everybody!! Had a tougher week! Lots of looking for new investigators. Not to successful. But still having fun! Well you know, as much fun as you can have in the ghetto! The week started out good had a few lessons on Monday and Tuesday but then Tuesday night one less active texts and says he has found another church. Then asks to be removed from the church lists. We tell him we can't and say it would be a mistake. He says don't make me call the authorities. We laugh and tell him to call whoever he likes and that he has to remove them himself. He hasn't talked to us since. 

Our view. 

Then this 20 year old girl who is waiting for new lungs is not doing to well. Our 2 baptismal dates almost fell through because they were fighting. But we literally taped pictures of Jesus to their chests and literally told these 87 and 90 year old adults that if they had nothing nice to say to not say it at all... Mom and Dad, I know for a fact that I sounded like these two. And I am sorry you had to sit through it so many times. I almost bit my tongue at them. But contained myself.... Lucky for me. 

My area

Then we biked ten miles to turn around and ride back to Alhambra . But I remembered Elder Merrill walking through sewage. And laughed it off. It's a good thing I can laugh or this would never be fun!!!

My transportation for the next 2 years

I've taught elder coontz how to sign a little and we sign to each other on the bus about the smelly hobos... Who constantly ask for money. I told one guy he couldn't buy alcohol and he said he didn't want the money then. So I told him to find a job. So I guess the spirit of contention was working hard. But there is opposition in all things.

We managed to pick up 2 new investigators! Woo who! So the work continues! And I am still glad to be here and still having fun!! I am learning patience! Which is good! And bad.... But mostly good!

Now for the happier story! We go to a less actives house. They open the door and say "hello!
Sogladyoucouldmakeitsitdownhereisasodawhatdyahaveforustoday?" Now I was just sitting there enjoying my soda and then I hear "Elder Rollins is going to give you a message" my amazing answer was something along the lines of "uhhhhhh yeaaaaaaaa let me open up the Book of Mormon real quick" in the meanwhile the nonmember wife says "this should be good he is right from Utah"... Greaaaaaaat thanks....... So I said a prayer and begged for help. I opened up the scriptures and said in personal study this morning I read a scripture that says "wherefore can ye doubt" and said that Nephi was saying this to his wicked brothers when an angel had come and they had seen all these signs. And then I said that when we receive signs of what we should do we should not ignore them. Simple simple thing to say... He bursts into tears and says this is exactly what I needed to hear. I have had these signs and have still been questioning. I said like 40000000000 prayers of thanks. And he committed to come to church. Which he did. So morale of the story is THE CHURCH IS TRUE! 

Now go do some missionary work! Love you all! Have a good week! You are loved! And I love you too! Mostly
because it's a commandment and I have too! Jkjk love you lots............... K bye.

Elder Rollins

Here are some of the answers to the questions I have asked him.  

Tell me about your ward. 

It's a chinglish ward... They say the sacrament prayers in both languages!! Weirddddddd. The ward is small and it's kinda hard to communicate the WML (Ward Mission Leader) is focused on the Chinese missionaries. But we get fed better than the Chinese so it's all good! 

Chapel

Tell us who to pray for and what they need.
ok so Christianand Emily stood us up for church so they need to come and Alice and
Joseph the old people also need to come to church! Those are the main
ones I'll keep you posted.

I can't believe you unfriended me on facebook.  What do you use fb for?
I unfriended you because it's the rules! We talk to investigators when they move away on fb.

Did you get your 2 packages? I sent a greenie one and the one with your camera adaptor. It show that it was delivered to the mission office on Thursday. 
Loved the greenie package! Yummy! Ok I'll look for it! Ring?? 

You said you play basketball on p-day.  Where do you play?  
We play basketball at the south Pasadena building because our gym is carpet. 

What is the strangest thing you have eaten?
Chicken feet. You bite off the toes and spit out the bones. I choked. Coughing. And weird breathing. But I didn't want to offend. So I made it seem like laughing. Darn chickens.

Week 1

(Note: Thank you ipad for autocorrect so there is at least a little bit of punctuation and capitalization. The rest of the errors are all his!)  

Hellooooo!! The flight went well! But I have not received any packages because I have been working sooooo hard. Anywho, here is my week. I got off the plane and their were Asians EVERYWHERE. Then they take me up to some short Mexican guy who's English is rough and says this is president v.... And the rest I didn't understand. Then they put me in a truck where I had to hold my eyes open to stay awake and we talked about the mission and the World Cup (good work Germany) and guy stuff. 

Then we were at this chapel and we got interviews and then began the greenie initiation. Where we got our I pads and tapcards (tap cards are credit cards that get us on buses) then the trainers solemnly came in with epic hymns playing behind them and walking all slow.... No.... Wait.... They were just a bunch of regular kids. Boooooring. We then begin sorting... I sit in anticipation. Where will I be?. Not slytherin. Not slytherin. Boyleheights! Yes ladies and gents, my trainer is elder coontz and we begin in Boyle heights. Aka. The ghetto. Well we head out to where home base is. Which is in the bishops back yard next to an awesome swimming pool. Shoot me. But that's not all. I put my bag down. Take of my coat and elder coontz says let's go. What theeeee? So we walk into the ghetto...and talk to an investigator named Charles. He is progressing and has just moved back in with his mom. Which is out of our area. Dad gum. Oh ya I forgot .Elder coontz is from Tennessee in the land of Memphis. Ain't no rest for the wicked. Anywho. Nobody else answered their door so we went home and I crashed.

The next day we went through the schedule did some comp study personal study worked out etc. Then we went back out. Jeez time flies. Day 2 elder coontz tells me I have to talk to scary angry people on the bus. Yay. So I do. And they tell me the government is spying on me with the cameras from my I pad. Shoot. We go around to members introducing myself and such and then just before we go home we go to an investigators named Emily's and her bf named Christian. Christian isn't home so we just stand on the doorstep and talk. I bear testimony feeling pretty good and then we leave and start walking back. 

 Then some old guy starts talking to us. And I feel sick inside. He asks what our mission is. I stupidly say Arcadia. (Idiot) he's like no your mission. I say invite others to come unto Christ. He says BS and is asking questions and being stupid. So we leave and he calls us the devil and then it hit me hard..... as the stupidest thing I have ever heard! I literally laughed. We yelled goodnight and went home jauntily on our bus. (Not in icky gross stuff from the sewer) gross elder Merrill!  (Explanation: His ward friend Elder Merrill described his mission in the Philippines and mentioned that when it rained the sewer "vomited" up onto the streets and everywhere else)

Our home.

Our room.

Anywho the rest of the week was introducing and talking and teaching!! Lots of fun spiritual stuff!! I got to use my sign language and attempt to speak to a deaf man this week.  I was clumsy but oh well.  Lots of Asians in my area. We are the only English speaking missionaries out of 8 missionaries. (He says in another email that all the rest of the 8 are speaking Chinese) 

Everybody thinks that it's hilarious that I've only been out for a week for some reason. But I don't care! I know that the only opinion that matters is Gods and mine about myself. 

That's the week! Love you all!

Elder Rollins

Arrival

 We received these pictures and some information last night.  So here he is.  He looks so happy.  So he is there safe and somewhat sound.

Look what a great batch of missionaries this is.  I was surprised at how many there were.  Lots of new enthusiastic and inexperienced missionaries.  What fun.

I thought it was pretty funny that the letter had a paragraph in bold letters proclaiming that they were very aware that southern CA was a popular vacation place for family for friends and to please refrain from seeing our missionary while on vacation.  Hmmm.

Greenie!

Well, we got a phone call at 6:30 this morning and had a nice but short visit with the very tired and yet excited Elder Rollins.  He told us that he was up late packing and had to be up at 4:30.  He sounded wonderful.  He took the time to talk to all his brothers and laughed with them.  He told us that he has been humbled while in the MTC.  I asked him how he was humbled.  He said that he realizes that he isn't going to get to the mission and covert all the people there.  He is going to have to rely on the spirit more and that makes him a little nervous.  Don't get me wrong.  He was super excited about going and actually getting to work.  He is ready and willing.

I asked him about his "investigator" that he mentioned and he said he met her while he was in the "Skype Center".  He said there were about 6 missionaries going to Arcadia and a few were Spanish speaking. He was excited to meet his trainer and meet the mission president.  He told me that he needed to go because there were only 3 phones and hundreds of missionaries and he still wanted a minute to call his dad.  I told him we loved him and were praying for him and knew he would do a good job.  Then I cried.  Sheesh.  I am pretty sure that is the last time I will cry.  Pretty sure.  

Here is his "Greenie" package.  You may see a theme here.  The younger boys were complaining that Josh gets all the good stuff.  I told them that the reason I was taking pictures is so that I would remember what I had done for him so I could do it for them.

July 7, 2014

Hello Everybody! Elder Rollins weekly update! but first! a funny story!

It all started when i heard about the Orange Juice.... Dreaded among fellow MTC students.... I approached this case with a sense of masculinity and not wanting to get my man card cut up... "bad things happen when you drink the orange juice" they said.. i was the chosen one... i approached the drink stand... a cold sweat running down my neck..... an old lady falls over. i helped her up. i approach the drink stand with a renewed sense of urgency... i grab the cup. i begin shaking.. i see the label.... ORANGE JUICE... the cup begins the decent... closer closer closer.. crap.... i dropped it.... i pick it up. i push the thingy majig. i feel the coldness through the glass. i bring it to my lips. mouths all around are agape.... and i promptly spill all over myself.... but i focus on the mission. i get the sip...... oh the wretched man that i am....( that was for grandma Rencher) i hear thunderous applause in my head... and laughter in the real world.... "he wont last the night" "doomed DOOMED DOOOOMEDDDDD"  i walk outside.... and suddenly my face hits the stomach of a 6 foot 10 poly. i promptly return to the residence to change my underwear. i trip down the stairs on my way out.... i can hear the Orange Juice laughing at me from the inside.... it comes out in a MEGA burp...... woww Ethan would have been proud...... I advance through the day.... the curse lingers...... tripping. shoes don't seem to stay tied. blister. sneeze super loud during a prayer. by the end of the day. i want to crawl into a corner and rock gently whilst in the fetal position.... future missionaries.... BEWARE THE OJ........ Bewareee bewarreeeeeeeeeebewarreeeee.....

so my week was eventful!!! to say the least!!! but i enjoyed it and the spirit was strong as ever!!! laundry stinks... literally... and can't wait to get out into the field! this will be the last message from the MTC... next time i will be a real missionary.... time is already going to fast!!

Part 2 

my schedule is super busy i never get any nap time.

my teachers names are brother usevitch and bro gigena they teach exactly the same and both of them think im funny so i like them both.

i had a real investigator named jessica buttars. but we don't get to teach her anymore. i think she is actually a recent convert because she said some things that i hadn't told her yet.. weird. 

right now it is just me and elder strickland. the others left. and only Elder strickland is going with me.

i have met Sister Thatcher she is pretty cool and laughs at my jokes so shes obviously going to be a great missionary.

i've loved my district and comp.! we have had so much fun and we always brought the spirit!

I told you about the time that we were giving a sister a blessing and after the blessing i had a prompting to go tell her that her Dad loves her and is proud of her. her dad died of cancer a few years ago so naturally she burst into tears..... whoops. but the spirit was like a brick wall it was so thick! 

we don't know the time of our flight we get the tickets on the bus there but i will call home and it will be early in the morning so be prepared! 

I have already packed i am soooo excited! i just want to get out there and get rejected a ton and then find that one person that makes all the failures go away! 

the hardest part about the mtc is all the sitting.. the chairs are not so comfortable so i end up with a rather sore tush! but all the learning makes up for that. 

whats a journal? yes i have been!  ( I asked if he had been writing in his journal)

I got all the packages and they were extremely "Darling", delicious and enjoyed! everyone is so nice! 

i loved the pictures! but those better not be the last! 

i felt the most discouraged when Jessica would not pray. but i got over it and realized that i am not the one teaching. i invite the spirit then my job is to open my mouth. this is His work.... not mine... 

i haven't been homesick really. i am only 45 minutes away. we will see how it is in Cali.

love you all!!!

gma and tricia i ran out of time to write you back.  i will write next week... love you!

First Pictures from the MTC

So Brother Bennion from our ward is an architect who is working on the new MTC in Provo so he is down there often.  Both times in the past week that he has been there he has run into Elder Rollins.  Today he was there and looked over at the information desk and there Elder Rollins was again!  This time he took a picture of him with his companion Elder Strickland.  

 Here is the companionship at the information desk.  I bet Josh lost something!

 Here is Bishop Bennion with Josh.  Bishop Bennion is the prior Bishop and worked with Josh in the Priest Quorum.  Such a great blessing that he has seen Josh and now has provided pictures.