Elder Caden Rogers

Hello!

I got a package from you guys! In case you were wondering, it takes a grand total of 4 full days to send something from Hawaii to Utah, and vice versa. Elder Campbell got his 1 year package the same day I got my greenie package! How cool is that! And we wore shirts matching the boxes! I don't know if I mentioned this yet, but Elder Campbell is like an awesome mixture of Justin Zager, Connor Keddington, and Cameron Hilker, and we get along really well.

Anyway, I was so excited to hear that Cameron served in Wahaiwa too! How did he like it? Personally, I love it here, despite the uh, "chronics" if you will. A "chronic" is a homeless person who also suffers from a mental illness. We have a lot of them around here. They don't hurt anybody, usually, but sometimes they act in very odd ways. Yesterday Elder Campbell and I got attacked by one of the chronics. “The Wild Man”, as we call him, is definitely the most dangerous thing out here. He has schizophrenia, and he screams at fire hydrants a lot. Yesterday though, we were stopped at a traffic light, and The Wild Man spotted us. He got very very close to our car, and the light would just NOT TURN GREEN!!! It was so scary I almost started crying. This dude is a VERY SCARY MAN. If you look him in the eyes (or answer the call of the wild) He ATTACKS! Yes, really. We barely made it out of there alive. The least dangerous chronic so far is "No Pants Stan" but he doesn't wear pants, so you know, that's kind of an issue. As you can see, Hawaii is not all rainbows and sunshine, and it is definitely not a vacation.

The other day I caught my first Gecko! His name was Hermin! I let him go though, because I wanted him to be free to choose his own way in life... I think he goes to college now, but I'm not sure. Speaking of lizards, I shot this cool video of a brown Anole yesterday. Did you know they have these cool bright orange frills? I wanted you to see it all the time, and pictures don't do it justice, so I filmed it for you all to enjoy.

Four of our investigators came to church yesterday! WHAT WHAT! Oh, and we now have a baptismal date for Tyler Ramos. Yes, you read that right, we invited Tyler Ramos to be baptized and he said he would! He's going to be baptized on September 2nd! It's going to be hard for him, because he drinks and chews tobacco, but I know he can overcome those things. The spirit was very strong during our last lesson. He comes to church often, and even though we thought he only came because his wife is a member, when she has work and can't come he brings his 2 year old daughter BY HIMSELF and comes to church!

The people out here are amazing! The other day I was able to sit down and enjoy a wonderful spaghetti supper with a member named Leonard Lopez. Leonard is the most Christ-like individual I’ve ever met. He loves the missionaries and so do his two daughters. His charity, and love for others was such an example to me, and I wish you could have seen how his eyes lit up with joy when he spoke about the Book of Mormon. He said with a twinkle in his eye, “I’ll nevah read no othah book!” And that any servant of God, Mormon or otherwise, would always be welcome under his roof. He is the definition of the Aloha spirit, and meeting him was one of the greatest experiences I think I’ve ever had.

Sometimes I miss home a lot, but the islands are full of wonderful things, like lizards (lots of them), and I’ve been so caught up in the work of the Lord that most of the time, no offense, I can’t think of anything but this place being my home. It’s a lot like Japan. Like, we have Ramen and stuff and, I was able to use my Japanese to talk to a Japanese family. I wish I had time to tell you about all of my adventures, but I don't have time in my 1-hour of computer time I get per week. Anyway, last week we went on a pretty hike, and I thought you'd want pictures, so here you go.

You're Welcome.

AND THANK YOU!!!

-Elder Rogers