Dear Family,
First off, Merry Christmas!! I'm looking forward to being able to Skype home this week! Its weird to think this will be my second to last call home on my mission. Time is going fast thats for sure! Well anyways, we had another great week and a lot of good stuff has happened! I'm not sure where to start. On Thursday we had our Christmas Devotional with the mission. It was only a couple of zones so it was basically just like a zone conference. It was super good though. Since we drive a truck we traveled up to that area early that morning and helped some Elders move into a new apartment and than went on over to the meeting in Nevada City. Like always its fun to see everyone you served around and to be with one another.
So our miracle this week is that we had 5 investigators to sacrament meeting! Even some investigators we weren't able to get in with that week made it which is awesome! The Christmas program is always a very non-threatening meeting good for investigators and filled with spirit! So our main investigators we're working with that are progressing are, Jeff(the father), and his son Colton, Michelle and her family, John Setelo,(the one on date), Noah, and also Wilma(the mother of a very active member). The work is progressively moving forward so good. Its not abnormal to have a good amount of investigators, but to have a good amount of progressing investigators is a little more abnormal so we've just been really blessed!
We also got to have our Ward Christmas party which was a good time. We had a white elephant party and we were able to get a lot of less actives there so it was a good success!
We have plans for Christmas we have been invited over places for both Christmas and Christmas eve so no need to fret we'll be well taken care of. Love you guys looking forward to talking to you!
Elder Rosenbaum
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Sunday, December 21, 2014
December 15, 2014
Dear Family,
First off we received our transfer calls Sunday night. Me and Elder Vielstich will both be staying in our area together which we're pretty excited about! Normally transfers are every 6 weeks but because of Christmas we had a 5 week transfer so our next transfer will be 7 weeks and than it will go back to normal. But anyways, we had a great week and saw some great miracles!
I'll start off with talking about our investigator named John Sotelo. He's a 23 year old man and we're teaching him along with his little sister named Nicki. We have only been teaching them for 2 or 3 weeks. Well we had a super awesome lesson with them this week and John committed to be baptized and set a date for for January 17th! We're super excited its crazy how fast the Lord can work sometimes considering the fact that a couple of weeks ago we weren't even teaching him. Fortunately some other missionaries about a 1 or 2 years ago set some seeds and taught him a little bit where he used to live. Its been a huge blessing that we were able to find him and be able to work with him! What the chances that we would randomly run into him?
Another huge miracle is that I got to go to the temple with Elaine! Elaine was my second convert on the mission and now has made it to the temple!! It was so good to see her there and see the progress she's made and how much she's grown in the gospel. It was definitely a highlight of the mission and super special.
We continued to work with Michelle and her family. We talked a lot of about baptism and she liked the idea but didn't want to commit to a date yet. She committed to come to our Christmas program this coming Sunday so thats exciting. We have so many investigator who are much more willing to come to church this coming Sunday since its our christmas service. And Christmas is usually the one time a year people go to church anyways.
I'm looking forward to being able to talk with you guys on Christmas! Love you guys have a great week!
Elder Rosenbaum
First off we received our transfer calls Sunday night. Me and Elder Vielstich will both be staying in our area together which we're pretty excited about! Normally transfers are every 6 weeks but because of Christmas we had a 5 week transfer so our next transfer will be 7 weeks and than it will go back to normal. But anyways, we had a great week and saw some great miracles!
I'll start off with talking about our investigator named John Sotelo. He's a 23 year old man and we're teaching him along with his little sister named Nicki. We have only been teaching them for 2 or 3 weeks. Well we had a super awesome lesson with them this week and John committed to be baptized and set a date for for January 17th! We're super excited its crazy how fast the Lord can work sometimes considering the fact that a couple of weeks ago we weren't even teaching him. Fortunately some other missionaries about a 1 or 2 years ago set some seeds and taught him a little bit where he used to live. Its been a huge blessing that we were able to find him and be able to work with him! What the chances that we would randomly run into him?
Another huge miracle is that I got to go to the temple with Elaine! Elaine was my second convert on the mission and now has made it to the temple!! It was so good to see her there and see the progress she's made and how much she's grown in the gospel. It was definitely a highlight of the mission and super special.
We continued to work with Michelle and her family. We talked a lot of about baptism and she liked the idea but didn't want to commit to a date yet. She committed to come to our Christmas program this coming Sunday so thats exciting. We have so many investigator who are much more willing to come to church this coming Sunday since its our christmas service. And Christmas is usually the one time a year people go to church anyways.
I'm looking forward to being able to talk with you guys on Christmas! Love you guys have a great week!
Elder Rosenbaum
Friday, December 12, 2014
December 8, 2014
Dear Family,
It was another good week! A lot has happened and we've seen a lot of good miracles. First off, I received word from my second convert, Elaine, that she's going through the temple this Saturday and I've been invited to go! Fortunately, unlike the last time I went to the temple for a convert I'm not serving at the furthest possible location away from the temple so it will make getting there a lot easier this time being that I'm only about 20 minutes away from the Sacramento temple currently. I'm super stoked. Elaine is someone we found and taught all the way through when I was with my trainer. I remember my first initial contact with Elaine and she was a little stand offish and a little argumentative. Well the spirit worked with in her and now just over a year later she's going through the temple. Elaine and her son, Rivers, are two of my favorite people I've met and taught throughout my mission. Rivers, unfortunately won't be going through the temple this Saturday because he relapsed with some word of wisdom issues but hopefully he'll be there soon!
We're teaching a lady named Michelle right now and we had a super good lesson with her this week. Her two daughters decided to join us in the lesson as well so that was super cool. They couldn't come to church yesterday but they all committed to come to church this coming Sunday. Its kind of rare you get to teach a whole family like that so we're pretty excited. We had a bom restoration lesson with them the other week so hopefully things work out. One of Michelle's best friends is our former relief society president so everything is coming into place a little bit.
We're teaching a part-member family named the Scheighs and their daughter got baptized back in March and we're trying to teach the father and 12 year old son Colton. Well both Jeff(the father) and Colton have come to church several weeks in a row now which is awesome. Colton has expressed interest in being baptized so hopefully everything works out.
And by the way the 'He is the gift' video is amazing. Watch it if you haven't. Christ is the reason for the season and is the ultimate gift and the first gift of Christmas. A gift that keeps on giving today. I hope you all have a great Christmas season! Love you guys have a great week!
Elder Rosenbaum
It was another good week! A lot has happened and we've seen a lot of good miracles. First off, I received word from my second convert, Elaine, that she's going through the temple this Saturday and I've been invited to go! Fortunately, unlike the last time I went to the temple for a convert I'm not serving at the furthest possible location away from the temple so it will make getting there a lot easier this time being that I'm only about 20 minutes away from the Sacramento temple currently. I'm super stoked. Elaine is someone we found and taught all the way through when I was with my trainer. I remember my first initial contact with Elaine and she was a little stand offish and a little argumentative. Well the spirit worked with in her and now just over a year later she's going through the temple. Elaine and her son, Rivers, are two of my favorite people I've met and taught throughout my mission. Rivers, unfortunately won't be going through the temple this Saturday because he relapsed with some word of wisdom issues but hopefully he'll be there soon!
We're teaching a lady named Michelle right now and we had a super good lesson with her this week. Her two daughters decided to join us in the lesson as well so that was super cool. They couldn't come to church yesterday but they all committed to come to church this coming Sunday. Its kind of rare you get to teach a whole family like that so we're pretty excited. We had a bom restoration lesson with them the other week so hopefully things work out. One of Michelle's best friends is our former relief society president so everything is coming into place a little bit.
We're teaching a part-member family named the Scheighs and their daughter got baptized back in March and we're trying to teach the father and 12 year old son Colton. Well both Jeff(the father) and Colton have come to church several weeks in a row now which is awesome. Colton has expressed interest in being baptized so hopefully everything works out.
And by the way the 'He is the gift' video is amazing. Watch it if you haven't. Christ is the reason for the season and is the ultimate gift and the first gift of Christmas. A gift that keeps on giving today. I hope you all have a great Christmas season! Love you guys have a great week!
Elder Rosenbaum
Thursday, December 4, 2014
December 1, 2014
Dear Family,
I'm glad to hear that everyone had a great thanksgiving. As for me I had a great thanksgiving as well! The members here took good care of us. We ended up having two thanksgiving dinners. One of them we had one of our investigators there so that was pretty cool. We also got to play some ping pong which is always good and do some service. So all in all it was a pretty good day. Although unfortunately we weren't able to participate in the turkey bowl.
We saw some pretty cool miracles this week. We have a few progressing investigators but mostly right now we're kind of just in finding mode. We were out tracting and knocked on a door where a guy answered and he told us that just the other week one of his best friends left for Maryland on a mission which was pretty cool. We were able to teach him a little bit and he wants to know what his friend is basically doing for two years so he wants to meet with us. We have another appointment with him this week so that was pretty cool. And crazy enough it just happened to be the first door we knocked on. We found 4 new investigators this week which was awesome. One day we talked to a man named Ron and he invited us back the next day and we taught a full restoration with him and his wife joined in so that was super cool. The spirit was incredible during the lesson. Its cool to see the hand of the Lord in our work and giving us so many tender mercies and just allowing people to come in our paths to either talk to or teach.
Me and my companion spoke in church on Sunday which ended up being really good. We focused on missionary work obviously and the whole 5th Sundaylesson was on missionary work as well so hopefully we got a lot of the members excited and willing to help us and work with us. Oh and David came to church again.. he progressing really well and he's even telling members at church he's gonna be baptized but for some reason or another he won't commit to a date. We challenged him to pray about it so hopefully we can get him on date soon.
Oh and mom, you will be very proud of me. I'm kind of experimenting a little bit more now with my cooking abilities. I made a mean 1/2 pound juicy elk burger which was delicious. Love you guys enjoy this time of year!
Elder Rosenbaum
I'm glad to hear that everyone had a great thanksgiving. As for me I had a great thanksgiving as well! The members here took good care of us. We ended up having two thanksgiving dinners. One of them we had one of our investigators there so that was pretty cool. We also got to play some ping pong which is always good and do some service. So all in all it was a pretty good day. Although unfortunately we weren't able to participate in the turkey bowl.
We saw some pretty cool miracles this week. We have a few progressing investigators but mostly right now we're kind of just in finding mode. We were out tracting and knocked on a door where a guy answered and he told us that just the other week one of his best friends left for Maryland on a mission which was pretty cool. We were able to teach him a little bit and he wants to know what his friend is basically doing for two years so he wants to meet with us. We have another appointment with him this week so that was pretty cool. And crazy enough it just happened to be the first door we knocked on. We found 4 new investigators this week which was awesome. One day we talked to a man named Ron and he invited us back the next day and we taught a full restoration with him and his wife joined in so that was super cool. The spirit was incredible during the lesson. Its cool to see the hand of the Lord in our work and giving us so many tender mercies and just allowing people to come in our paths to either talk to or teach.
Me and my companion spoke in church on Sunday which ended up being really good. We focused on missionary work obviously and the whole 5th Sundaylesson was on missionary work as well so hopefully we got a lot of the members excited and willing to help us and work with us. Oh and David came to church again.. he progressing really well and he's even telling members at church he's gonna be baptized but for some reason or another he won't commit to a date. We challenged him to pray about it so hopefully we can get him on date soon.
Oh and mom, you will be very proud of me. I'm kind of experimenting a little bit more now with my cooking abilities. I made a mean 1/2 pound juicy elk burger which was delicious. Love you guys enjoy this time of year!
Elder Rosenbaum
Monday, November 24, 2014
November 24, 2014
Dear Family,
Another good week has come and gone. Although this week was a little harder than most nonetheless it was still a good week. To be frank the amount of teaching we did this week was pretty minimal and we did what we could to find and teach and we worked hard so thats what matters. Although we did have a great lesson with our investigator named Noah. Noah has done a ton a study on theology and actually referred himself to us and has come to the conclusion thats its either us and the catholics that are right. So we had a great lesson with him and really stressed the apostasy and it seemed to click with him so that was good! He had a lot of questions a couple of them referring to baptism so we got to talk to him about that as well. Noah took us on a walk on a trail(he lives out in the middle of nowhere basically in the mountains) which led to some water falls which was gorgeous. We ended up having our lesson there which was pretty sweet. Although our teaching was minimal this week we still had 3 investigators come to church which was pretty sweet. All of them but one we were unable to meet with but they still came so that was pretty sweet.
We have a new program which the church has spent a lot of money to establish its called just serve and its give missionaries or even regular people if they want a chance to get involved in the community and to serve the people in really any capacity. So we went and volunteered at a old folks retirement home and helped set up for this huge thanksgiving dinner for the residents. I felt like I was working my catering job again so it was pretty cool. All the residents and all the employees and other volunteers were asking us lots of questions about us because we were able to do it in our proselyting clothes. So that was a cool opportunity to get our name out there.
We had zone conference this week as well so that was really cool. It's always fun to see previous companions and people you've served around. And also to be spiritually uplifted.
We have lots of plans for thanksgiving. We've had numerous members invite us over to there place so don't worry we'll be well taken care of! Love you guys! Hope you have a great thanksgiving!
Elder Rosenbaum
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Another good week has come and gone. Although this week was a little harder than most nonetheless it was still a good week. To be frank the amount of teaching we did this week was pretty minimal and we did what we could to find and teach and we worked hard so thats what matters. Although we did have a great lesson with our investigator named Noah. Noah has done a ton a study on theology and actually referred himself to us and has come to the conclusion thats its either us and the catholics that are right. So we had a great lesson with him and really stressed the apostasy and it seemed to click with him so that was good! He had a lot of questions a couple of them referring to baptism so we got to talk to him about that as well. Noah took us on a walk on a trail(he lives out in the middle of nowhere basically in the mountains) which led to some water falls which was gorgeous. We ended up having our lesson there which was pretty sweet. Although our teaching was minimal this week we still had 3 investigators come to church which was pretty sweet. All of them but one we were unable to meet with but they still came so that was pretty sweet.
We have a new program which the church has spent a lot of money to establish its called just serve and its give missionaries or even regular people if they want a chance to get involved in the community and to serve the people in really any capacity. So we went and volunteered at a old folks retirement home and helped set up for this huge thanksgiving dinner for the residents. I felt like I was working my catering job again so it was pretty cool. All the residents and all the employees and other volunteers were asking us lots of questions about us because we were able to do it in our proselyting clothes. So that was a cool opportunity to get our name out there.
We had zone conference this week as well so that was really cool. It's always fun to see previous companions and people you've served around. And also to be spiritually uplifted.
We have lots of plans for thanksgiving. We've had numerous members invite us over to there place so don't worry we'll be well taken care of! Love you guys! Hope you have a great thanksgiving!
Elder Rosenbaum
November 17, 2014
Dear Family,
Its been quite a week for me. We'll start from the beginning. Tuesday was the day I traveled to my new area. Due to it being super far away, and many other delays to say the least it was a long day of traveling but I made it here just before 9 o'clock that night. My main area is the Auburn city which is about 30 miles from Sacramento but I also cover two smaller towns called New Castle and also Forest Hill. If you have a chance to goggle them, I would encourage you do it, it's absolutely beautiful up here. My last two areas have been a lot of the main city and this area is completely the opposite, so its cool to have some change and experience something new. Also after 8 straight transfers(one year) on a bike I'm finally back in a car. We actually have a Nissan truck so that's pretty cool. My new companions name is Elder Vielstich and he's from New Jersey so that's pretty cool as well. We also live with members here and I'm pretty sure their house is well worth over a million dollars its huge. We live in what they call 'the barn' but its just a giant garage on the side of their house which is super nice. I feel like I've adjusted well and I'm really gonna like it here.
We saw a ton of miracles this week. Due to a lot of what we cover is upper class people, I understand the work in this area has generally been a little slow. They seem to only get like 3 or 4 lessons a week if they work hard. Which I'm definitely not used to so hopefully we can pick things up. But we were able to get 9 lessons this week and that's without being here on Tuesday. They were literally all miracles. We had some super spiritual lessons. On Sunday we went over to this Lady's house her name is Michelle and she was a referral from a member. I guess the missionaries have tried numerous times and she had never been there so we were just gonna try one more time, then just drop it. But we went by and she invited us in and was super friendly and just ate up the first lesson. It was super spiritual. She soft committed to be baptized and was super excited to read The Book of Mormon. I guess her daughter who isn't a member has been anxiously engaged recently reading the BOM as well so hopefully we can start teaching her as well.
We also have this this investigator named David who we were able to teach twice this week with his grandmother who joined the church a couple of years ago. It was super cool. He was super open with us and is progressing really well. We invited him to be baptized and tried to set a date with him but he said no and expressed all his concerns to us which we were able to help address them which was super awesome. He said he would pray about being baptized and ask a specific question so he can receive a specific answer. So we had some good things happen this week.
Love you guys I hope you all are doing well!
-Elder Rosenbaum
Its been quite a week for me. We'll start from the beginning. Tuesday was the day I traveled to my new area. Due to it being super far away, and many other delays to say the least it was a long day of traveling but I made it here just before 9 o'clock that night. My main area is the Auburn city which is about 30 miles from Sacramento but I also cover two smaller towns called New Castle and also Forest Hill. If you have a chance to goggle them, I would encourage you do it, it's absolutely beautiful up here. My last two areas have been a lot of the main city and this area is completely the opposite, so its cool to have some change and experience something new. Also after 8 straight transfers(one year) on a bike I'm finally back in a car. We actually have a Nissan truck so that's pretty cool. My new companions name is Elder Vielstich and he's from New Jersey so that's pretty cool as well. We also live with members here and I'm pretty sure their house is well worth over a million dollars its huge. We live in what they call 'the barn' but its just a giant garage on the side of their house which is super nice. I feel like I've adjusted well and I'm really gonna like it here.
We saw a ton of miracles this week. Due to a lot of what we cover is upper class people, I understand the work in this area has generally been a little slow. They seem to only get like 3 or 4 lessons a week if they work hard. Which I'm definitely not used to so hopefully we can pick things up. But we were able to get 9 lessons this week and that's without being here on Tuesday. They were literally all miracles. We had some super spiritual lessons. On Sunday we went over to this Lady's house her name is Michelle and she was a referral from a member. I guess the missionaries have tried numerous times and she had never been there so we were just gonna try one more time, then just drop it. But we went by and she invited us in and was super friendly and just ate up the first lesson. It was super spiritual. She soft committed to be baptized and was super excited to read The Book of Mormon. I guess her daughter who isn't a member has been anxiously engaged recently reading the BOM as well so hopefully we can start teaching her as well.
We also have this this investigator named David who we were able to teach twice this week with his grandmother who joined the church a couple of years ago. It was super cool. He was super open with us and is progressing really well. We invited him to be baptized and tried to set a date with him but he said no and expressed all his concerns to us which we were able to help address them which was super awesome. He said he would pray about being baptized and ask a specific question so he can receive a specific answer. So we had some good things happen this week.
Love you guys I hope you all are doing well!
-Elder Rosenbaum
Saturday, November 15, 2014
November 10, 2014
Dear Family,
Well first off we received our transfer calls yesterday night. After 4 transfers(6 months) of serving in Redding, I am now being transferred to the Auburn 3rd ward and I will also be covering the Forest Hill Branch which I understand is basically out in the middle of nowhere. I'm excited for my new assignment and I know that this is where I'm suppose to go. Its weird to think that this may possibly be my last area that is if I stay there for 5 transfers. My new companion has only been out 3 months so I'm excited for the opportunity to serve with him.
As far as this week goes there wasn't anything too crazy that happened. I had the chance to say goodbye to a lot of people which was super sad. Redding really did feel like home while I was here.
Kyra will be getting baptized this Saturday!! We met with her a lot this week and getting her as prepared as she could before it. I'm kind of sad, I probably won't be able to go since my new area is so far away.
I'm short of time today, but I'll give more info about my new area next week and whats going on! Love you guys!
-Elder Rosenbaum
Well first off we received our transfer calls yesterday night. After 4 transfers(6 months) of serving in Redding, I am now being transferred to the Auburn 3rd ward and I will also be covering the Forest Hill Branch which I understand is basically out in the middle of nowhere. I'm excited for my new assignment and I know that this is where I'm suppose to go. Its weird to think that this may possibly be my last area that is if I stay there for 5 transfers. My new companion has only been out 3 months so I'm excited for the opportunity to serve with him.
As far as this week goes there wasn't anything too crazy that happened. I had the chance to say goodbye to a lot of people which was super sad. Redding really did feel like home while I was here.
Kyra will be getting baptized this Saturday!! We met with her a lot this week and getting her as prepared as she could before it. I'm kind of sad, I probably won't be able to go since my new area is so far away.
I'm short of time today, but I'll give more info about my new area next week and whats going on! Love you guys!
-Elder Rosenbaum
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