Elder Caden Rogers

An Explosive Sendoff

Hi everyone! This week has been an absolute flustercluck of a week, so let me do my best to bring you the top 5 most important happenings of this week, with visual documentation of course.

#5- My old companion, Elder Maxwell, got his car towed!! I know! Tow trucks in Hawaii are crazy sketchy, and in all honesty I hope I never have to deal with this whole pile of garbage again because it was a long and expensive process. We didn't pay for it, but we gave them rides around town to find and rescue their car, so that was a trip that happened.

#4- OH boy if you thought that was exciting, well get ready because it's about to get even.... More.... Exciting... Man I gotta work on my vocabulary. All this pidgin is messing with my English! I gots ta make it mo bettah! Anyway, here's the next bit of fun! We got transfer news this week and that means that I'm now armed with the knowledge of where in the heck I'm going to be spending my precious missionary time from now moving on, and oh Jolly Roger Bay is it exciting! This Tuesday (aka tomorrow) I will be packing up my bags and shipping out for... Drumroll please....

KANEOHE 4TH WARD, KANEOHE ZONE

In case you couldn't tell, this is incredibly exciting for me and I can't wait to see what Kaneohe has to offer. It was hard saying goodbye to all my friends in both the Tongan ward and the Palehua ward, and I'm not ashamed to admit that a few tears were shed. What can I say? I've only been here in the ward(s) for a short time, but I've already made so many friends here, and I'll be sad to leave them, but I rest easy knowing the Lord is leaving them in good hands. That's right folks, Elder Taka is staying in Palehua/Tongan and is getting a new companion from the big island. Elder Durrant is heading to Kaneohe as well, so I'll probably get to see him quite often still, mostly because he's still going to be my companion. That's right ladies and not ladies, we're whitewashing! And Kaneohe, for those of you who don't know, is in fact on the pretty side of the island, and covers the area where they shot Jurassic Park, and, more recently, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. Wish me luck in my new zone guys! I'm so excited! So many new adventures (and pretty pictures) of the jungles of Hawaii await! Stay tuned kids!

#3- perhaps the most intense update thus far, everybody brace yourselves because this is hardcore right here. Are you sitting? OK... Here goes...

We had.....

*gulp*

A picnic.
On the mountain side.
And it was freaking amazing.
That is all.

#2- Well, the title of this email should explain this next one, but just in case, here's what you need to know:

THERE WAS AN ACTUAL REAL EXPLOSION IN THE PAD.

OH boy, get your seat belts on homies, this one's a ride let me tell you about it. One peaceful evening in the pad, we began to smell something, or more accurately, elder Durrant began to smell something. So he asked if anybody smelled it, and then said it smelled like an electricity fire. Then he motioned Elder Taka over. I watched from the comfort of my bed. Elder Durrant suspected the dryer, and walked cautiously toward it to turn it off, and all the sudden Elder Taka goes "NO DON'T TOUCH IT!!!!" And not two seconds later I saw a flash of light from over by the two, and some popping noises. This was all it took to get me out of bed, I wanted to see it for myself. And see I did! There were five distinct pillars of smoke coming out of the washer, and it was making some very curious noises. This was when we decided to flip the breaker and kill the dryer. The thing is, the dryer wasn't even running at the time. So how any if this came to be I have no earthly idea. But wait, that's not all! Apparently the washer and dryer are connected, and so the washer began flooding. But at this point we were all sleeping, so none of us noticed. All I remember is getting up in the middle of the night, seeing a rapidly expanding pool of water coming at me fast, and screaming at Elder Taka to turn off the washer and that there was a flood. Almost 2 inches of water covered the bathroom floor. It was essentially our own absolutely filthy swimming pool I guess. What fun. We spent the rest of the night cleaning it with sponges and a vacuum, and after 3 days of fans blowing on the carpet where it flooded, it's still not dry. I'm just glad we live on the bottom floor.

#1- last, but most certainly not least, is that we had not one, but 2 fantastic baptisms this week. I don't think I told you, but we've been teaching this girl in the Tongan branch for quite a while now, and she's doing absolutely great. It's been so much fun to get to teach her and her little sister, and seeing them baptized this past Saturday was a great finale to my time in the ward. We had Solomons baptism in the Palehua ward, and now Tiani and Lexus are the newest members of the Tongan branch! Yesterday I was given the privilege to confirm Tiani a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Confirmations are always amazing, and the spirit speaks very strongly through you when they happen, as is the case with most blessings. They're just an honor to be a part of, and you really get to see the Lord work through you.

All in all, it was a hectic week, and it's definitely fitting. As I like to say, "There's never a dull moment in Palehua" and I'm sure you can tell now just how true that is! Next week I'll be emailing from the jungles of Kaneohe! Look forward to it!