September 30, 2013

Sup Peeps?

Well, Jersey life continues to be the beez neez!!!!  I love it out here!  Elder Vellinga and I just have a blast all of the time!  I know, it's been a minute since I wrote an update for the blog, time just continues to run short on p-day.  I hope e'erbody is stoked for confernce (yes, I meant to spell it that way....)  I am so stoked, it's going to be a blast to be able to hear the Prophet speak!  Just FYI, we walked into the library today and it wreaked of pot so if I go somewhere a little of the chain, I am justified.  :P  We have just been havin a blast out here.  I can't believe how much my testimony of God and The Gospel has changed in the time I have been out.  Everyday I see my testimony grow and become a little more embedded in my soul.  Just getting to live it and study it inside and out, all day everyday, just makes it so much more applicable to me.  Man, I learn so much it blows my mind!  It was really weird because two Sundays ago we were asked to bear our testimonies in Sacrament Meeting and I got up and I blanked!  All I could think about was my testimony of missionary work.....I was floored and had to do some eval on my life....I had to overhaul my testimony.  Just over the past week I have been able to see it change.  Guys, I don't know if y'all know this but, THIS IS REAL!  God is ALIVE and he knows us and cares for us.  He knows that I am a die hard snowboarder, that I love UFC.  He knows that I have a deep love of music and most importantly, He knows that I will follow him until the day I die!  3Nephi 5:13 "Behold I am a disciple of Jesus Christ the son of God.  I have been called of Him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life."  Until the day I die I will be not only his disciple, but his friend.  I love God, I love Jesus Christ.  I love that they know me and that I have the power to know them.  I know that God loves you and that Christ came to die for everyone who would ever walk this earth.
Back up or get in, it's fight night!
I love you guys!
Elder Rodeback

September 16, 2013

|||||||||||||||||||||| .-./  ..........................  Lawn Mower Saves the Day!

Sup my friends!

First things first, I LOVE YOU GUYS! :)  It has been a great week out here, filled with meetings and training!  I apologize in advance because my mom wrote me a letter with some questions she wanted answered and I left the letter at home.  So, I have no idea what her questions were.  Jersey is the place to be, I will say that much!  Especially Princeton 2nd Ward.  It is the BEST!  Elder Vellinga and I are loving the area and workin' our tails off.  There is just so much going on out here, it blows my mind.....not kidding, my brain is fried right now.  We have some great members out here and actually some of them are from Utah and to get even more specific, Alpine/Highland/Cedar Hills.  It is really the weirdest thing in the world.  I am just rambling right now haha, I am just mentally EXHAUSTED!
One of the biggest things that has stuck out to me the past little while is how important it is that we not be afraid of what we believe.  It was a huge lesson I learned up in Newark and it just continues to stick out everyday.  We had stake conference yesterday and we had the opportunity to hear President Jeppson (our mission president) speak.  Man, did he SPEAK!  He just threw down about missionary work and it was great.  He talked a lot about the doctrine of Christ and how no other church was correct.  Funny thing, an investigator that dropped us a couple of weeks ago because he had a struggle with coffee was at stake conference.  President Jeppson just threw down on how if you don't do what Christ commands us, you CANNOT enter the kingdom of Heaven.  Our investigator walked up to us after and said, "That guy has some fire and brimstone in him!"  We looked at him and said, "Yes he does my friend."  Boldness is the best way to go, PERIOD!  Just being honest with people would end so much turmoil in this world.
Well, I have gone on with my bad grammar and punctuation long enough......Check out some pictures.

Love you guys!
Elder Rodeback

                                                                      Our new pet!

September 9, 2013

Hey!  How we doin' ?
First off, MY ADDRESS IS NOT IN GARWOOD!  Man, mom you are getting worse than Grandma!  I have received two letters from her and a package at my address in Hightstown!  I am so stoked to be with Elder Vellinga!  We are super similar, both metal heads, both love anything involving a board and most important, both love our mission!  By the way, this is the update that I haven't sent in almost two weeks!  I AM SORRY!  We have been working our tails off and well, I am sorry for not having any excuses.  I am a horrible person, please forgive me.....Man, I love this part of Jersey.  It is so green and covered in trees!  Get this, I can actually hear crickets!  That hasn't been the case in a really long time.  For those of you who need my address, it is 118 Spring Crest Drive, Hightstown, NJ  08520.
The biggest thing that I have been learning the past couple of weeks is the importance of love.  It blows me away at how everything can change just by simply loving someone.  Let's hop into the scriptures a little bit. :)  In Matthew 16: 21-28 this is where Peter says that Jesus won't die and Jesus kind of rips on him.  I don't think he did it because he hated him, I think he did it because he loved Peter.  He looks at him and says,"if you lose your life for me, you will find it."  Christ also says, "Neither has the Son of man came into the world to be ministered unto, but to minister."  Christ didn't come so that people would love him and worship him.  He came into the world to minister, to teach.  He loved all of us so much that He gave up  his learning experience here on earth so that EVERY SINGLE one of God's children could return to their home.  I know that God loves every single soul in the entire world.  Some of the worst men and women in the world are still loved by Christ and by God.  He wants them back too!  I love you guys and I wanna say that God loves all of you as well.  Always remember that you have a Heavenly Father who will ALWAYS be there for you.  If there is something keeping you from feeling that love, FIX IT!  Get over it and FIX IT!  I love you guys, keep pushin and LIVIN the DREAM!
Elder Rodeback

                                                              Elder Hernandez's last day in New Jersey!

September 3, 2013 - Just Pictures!

Elder Rodeback & Elder Bell in Princeton, NJ