You're Killin Me, Atwood!
٩(◦`꒳´◦)۶

Hoo boy! What a week it's been. I typically begin these updates with some sort of introduction thing, but this time I'm just gonna go ahead and jump right in to the action. Everything else will come up as we go along.

So last week while I was talking to my mom exclusively because my brother was asleep and my dad took my little brother to go snowboarding, I learned that enrollment in college courses happens in April. Yeah boys, things just got a bit more real now didn't they? Well, the grand beginning of this week was that while Elder Atwood did digital organization, more on that later, I was looking at general requirement classes for college and picking out classes I thought could be interesting because if I have to take a biology class anyway, it may as well be a class that could also potentially help me in my field, or at least one that fits closer to my actual interests. Like, say.... Plant Kingdom class, because in animation you often have to draw many varied types of plants, and having at least a small knowledge of different plants and how they function in the real world can later help me come up with and animate fictional plants that are more believable, better looking, and more diverse than they would otherwise be. All of this preparation for college kind of tripped me out a little bit, but I made a list of general classes that appealed to me, and I figured that was as much prep work that I needed to do while I'm still in the mission field. I sent the list of possible classes home and I'm leaving up to my parents to enroll for me so that I can, of course, stay as focused on my mission as possible. That said though, having real life peeking through the window at me again is a bizarre and somewhat difficult thing, even though I'm more or less prepared for it because I already have a pretty good idea of what I want to do in life and how to get there. So for me at least, getting all worried about stuff like college isn't as big of a stress, because it's already planned and thought out. For those of you who are planning on serving missions, figuring out what you'd like to be beforehand can help you to be less scared of the future while you are in the field. Obviously the spirit may prompt you to do something other than what you initially thought, and who knows, it still has time to do that for me, but I have found that having at least an idea or loose plan for after your mission helps you to stay more focused on your mission, because you can remind yourself that you already have a plan for later and don't necessarily need to worry about it. Anyway, now that that's out of the way, next order of business.

Walt is still progressing more or less. I think he's the kind of person who requires a lot of patience and perseverance, but he is slowly becoming more and more open to receiving the gospel. He's very kind, and very happy when we come by, so all in all I think it's safe to say he's doing well.

So another thing about this week, I got to do exchanges again, and stay in Kekaha again. So that's a big hooray kind of thing. The current district leader over here, Elder Barbeau, is probably my favorite missionary in the whole zone. He's a hard worker, and he loves the people a lot. He's also from Canada, so of course his accent on the word "bag" is also a plus. While he was here however, Elder BBQ, for BBQ I'd his nickname you see, had a bit of an interesting morning. And for those of you who are easily grossed out, now might be a good time to stop reading. As Elder Barbeau was stretching out in the morning, he began to notice what appeared to be small white slugs, completely covering the carpet. I'm sure most of you know where this is going. Yeah boys, we got maggots. Maggots are terrible. I hate them. So the morning was spent taking care of a mass amount of maggots crawling throughout the carpet. And why were they there? Because Elder Atwood left raw meat outside on the counter. Now we have a consistent and constant maggot battle. I don't even know where maggots come from. They just sort of appear on dead meat that's gone bad and they eat until it's all gone. Then they just disappear. I'm serious if anybody out there knows where they actually come from I'd like to know, because I know they can't just be spawning in like Minecraft villains or something. They've gotta be coming from someplace. Well anyhow, the problem was soon dealt with, and by that I mean we took out the trash. The problem with taking out the trash was that after we did that, we discovered we have no more trash bags. Oh goodie. Which of course means I've been fighting a war on this stinking maggots issue since the exchange, which was on Friday. I was planning on going into much more gruesome detail on this aspect of the week, but I figure that can wait until I get home. There are some things that emails just cannot convey. And the horror of seeing maggots in your house is one of them. The rest of that exchange went pretty well though. Lots of fun, but then, with BBQ it always is.

The most significant challenge is the struggle to get along with Elder Atwood, and it's a struggle for reasons that I don't even fully understand. For some reason our companionship is the most bipolar thing on the planet. Sometimes he's the worst I've ever had to deal with, sometimes everything is more or less alright. Sometimes he's just mildly annoying. Most often I just find myself saying "You're killing me man!" (or smalls)

So that's definitely an ongoing struggle to be sure, but you can all rest assured that I'm doing my best to get along with him, and I'm figuring it out slowly but surely.

Until next week everyone! Aloha!
٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و

Sorry.  Not many pictures this week. 
Elder Atwood chopping wood, and Elder BBQ on exchanges

And Just Like That, Everything Changed

Well now. I'm sure you've all heard the news, but in case you haven't.... The time has come officially. Effective immediately, all missionaries are able to actually CALL HOME on P days. Now, what I suspect that means is that for the most part, emails aren't going to be all that common for much longer. At least, not missionary ones. But you see that's the Rogers Difference™. I don't know about the rest of these guys, but as for me, I'm still giving out an email a week. Why? Well, because I've come this far already, and if I can go 19 months of weekly email updates but then shut down after that, when we're all so close to the 24 month total, well what are we fighting for, am I right? Of course I am. You know it and I know it. But anyway, dramatic news and changes aside, what's the latest in good old Kekaha?

Well first things first, the attic. It began as a joke. One of those "Hey, wouldn't it be cool to build a fort up there?" kinds of things....But now it's actually happening. We're building a fort up there with a little help from Ace Hardware. It's going to be legit. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of it at the moment, but I guess you can wait until next week to hear more about that because like I said, you will continue to get updates weekly, even though the new announcement makes it kind of unnecessary. I figured there were a few of you who'd still enjoy updates. So yeah, don't worry you'll get an answer to the question of what the fort looks like. But there's more than just that question to answer, so moving on.

“What about the weather?” Is the most common one. Well, the windstorm may be over but the cold has decided to stay. I'm keeping warm though. In fact the other day I got to break out that alien hoodie I've been waiting to wear since last January! It was a very exciting day. I wore it because we've been going on morning runs lately, so the morning chills are a real issue for us. At least they were. You'll be happy to know that the cold weather of about 59-60 degrees and 56 degrees with wind chill, is on its way out of town, and it won't be long before the usual melting heat has returned, making things more or less back to normal again.

Walt is still doing fantastic, we saw him just yesterday in fact, and we set up an appointment with him for later this week, helping him out with a service project. We're very excited about it. Elder Atwood and I are getting along better, and we are slowly learning how to work with one another. All in all, it's not been that bad of a week, all things considered. The only thing left to talk about now, is the car.

That's right folks.... THE CAR!

Big Z is back in town!! Well.... I guess it's a bit delayed because we've actually had the car for a little while now, and it's not even temporary, it's here to stay. We had to go get an oil change in Lihue, and thanks in no small part to poor planning skills, that simple oil change took all day long to get done. Yeah, it sucked. But what sucks even more, is that while I was there, there was a Hyundai dealership next door, and I beheld what I consider to be a true sin-the 2019 Veloster Turbo. It looks horrible. And now, I'm left with the 2017 Veloster Turbo as my car of choice. Not that it matters considering the amount of time before I'd be able to get one, because my goal is to one day walk into the dealership and pay for the whole car all at once, and then drive away debt free. It's not an imminent desire, but a wish for someday. Problem is if all future Veloster models look that bad I'll have to choose a different car. My favorite part was the front headlights-but anyway, 2017 aqua blue Veloster Turbo. That's the dream car. After the whole thing was over though, the oil has been changed in Big Z, so he's happy. I don't have to worry about it anymore. All joking aside I'm grateful for the car, even though we still end up biking most of the time anyway, because Elder Rogers is a terrible planner.

Lastly, I'm pleased to say that our food situation has improved somewhat. I've been trying all sorts of new recipes and it's been fun, though I doubt I'd choose it above other hobbies. I like to think that I occasionally make food that Gordon Ramsey would approve of. Ha. Haha… as if that could ever happen.

That's about all for this week. I'm not sure what else to say at least. Despite the news, you'll still be able to get updates every week here, until the end of my mission in July. (holy crap that's getting close... ((((；ﾟДﾟ)))))))

Until next week guys.
Aloha!


Pictures:
Broke out the hoodie for the first time since I got it. I was so excited.

This is a grilled porkchop lightly seasoned and buttered, with grilled asparagus and white rice on the side. Looks good eh?

This is the magic dressing. It's my favorite thing, because it makes vegetables and salad taste good somehow.

 I discovered that Sour Patch Kids cereal is a thing. I've been eating it for breakfast for about a week. I still can't decide if I like it or not, but it tastes better than I thought it would. I wasn't even going to get it, but while I was at Walmart I saw it and had to do a double take because, I mean come on its Sour Patch Kid cereal, and you just have to sit back and wonder what on earth led to the creation of such a thing. So I stood there looking at it, trying to figure out what kind of insane mastermind came up with this, and how he was able to get it to happen, and whether or not this is actually worth the purchase, when all of the sudden this lady comes up behind me, hands me five dollars, and says "Splurge Elder, it's good". So at this point I have no choice but to try it out and see if it tastes as weird as it looks. It does. In fact you might say it tastes even weirder than it looks. But it's not bad either..? I dunno. It's beyond explanation yall are just gonna have to try it yourselves. I also love the picture of me eating it, because it looks like it came straight out of a 90's ad. You might say it's, well, "rad". *flees immediately from the Mob of booing readers who hate the word rad*

The most interesting thing is this sign. We found it near our house. Apparently the wind helped it take flight like a helicopter and it landed 5 streets down. Couldn't resist taking a picture with it. Consider this the aftermath picture.

Every now and again, I have to remind myself how blessed I am to serve in Hawaii. Kauai even. It's a great place guys. Even if it sucks sometimes, it's a great place.

 

Gone With The Wind

Aloha folks! As yet another week comes to a close and with a whole slew of new things to talk about, the hardest part is figuring out where to start. For some reason I found it difficult to decide what to title this one. Originally I thought about calling it Misty Mountains Cold but I didn't think anybody would get the reference, so instead I went with this one. (Most of my emails are titled in a way that references something I'm a fan of.)

This week has been marred by violent windstorms so strong that thus far they have picked the chickens off the ground and slammed them into things, which, kills them, to say the least. During the relatively short calm periods looking around outside is kind of like looking at the damages after a hurricane hits. The wind is still blowing strong though, so we've been saying many gratitude prayers due to the fact that we live in a cinder block hut that is rock solid. This whole week has been like this, and with that in mind, we've been staying nice and warm by riding our bikes as much as possible. Winter has arrived ladies and gentlemen, winter has arrived. And before you go around laughing at me for getting cold in Hawaii let me explain a little something. When it's 60 degrees outside, it's pretty warm. When it's supposed to be 60 degrees and the wind chill makes it 46 degrees, it's pretty cold all of the sudden. And in Hawaii, there's no such thing as a heater. So the thing is, when it's 60 outside, the heaters on inside isn't it? Because typically you want it 70-75 degrees inside. So if we have no thermostat, our options are to A: use the AC to make it colder. B: Put on a sweater. Lucky I kept that Alien hoodie, huh? Well, don't freak out and send things to keep us warm, because typically this kind of thing doesn't happen. In fact typically in Kekaha I'm sweating the cheeks off my face. So it's just a weird rainy season occurrence. I'll tell you where it really gets cold is up in the mountains of Waimea Canyon. Whew! We were up there for a service project this week, and signs point to us being up there again, but next time I think I'm bringing the rain jacket up there. It was beautiful, don't get me wrong, but at over 1300 feet above sea level its a bit nippy compared to the 2-3 feet above sea level I'm used to. That said, the project was a lot of fun. We were helping out the Goff family, who are non members, with their cabin in the woods (see what I did there?). And it was definitely the first time I've ever been mudding in a Toyota Corolla. Elder Atwood, who just came from Malakai (where mudding is a common experience apparently) was having the time of his life, and the whole time I was just hoping we didn't slide off the jungle cliffside. That said, the pictures we got up there are nothing short of legendary. You'll see what I mean. All things considered, it was probably the most fun I've had in a long time.

As for Walt, well he's progressing! That's a miracle I tell you. It's probably going to be a long time before anything related to baptism gets brought up, but the fact that we're even teaching him is enough to make me happy. Keep him in your prayers anyway. Can't hurt, am I right?
٩( 'ω' )و

So last but not least, we've been cleaning the pad when the winds are too strong to be outside, and that led to the discovery of a lifetime. While Elder Atwood was cleaning the place, he found.... Drumroll please.... AN ATTIC!

Yes, really. So with the attic occupying all of our attention and curiosity, we decided to go up there and check it out. The first thing we noticed is that missionaries have been up there before. As evidenced by signatures that go back a long time. As in, April 1999. Yeah. This place is the coolest thing ever! Elder Atwood and I also found a few long lost treasures up there, among the signatures, and of course we added our own names to the list of those who have been brave enough to scale the depths, or heights rather, of the attic. Now I don't know what I expected, some kind of fort or something of that nature I guess, but as of yet no fort has been built. I say as of yet because currently plans are underway to construct a fort up there in the near future. Anyway, I better finish this up before the wind takes out the power over here, which it will do soon by the sounds of things. We lost power at church quite a few times so, yeah. Hopefully this makes it to ya.

Have a good week guys! Stay warm out there!
-Elder Rogers

Pictures from the service project up in Waimea Canyon. It's like no other place on earth up there. 

The attic.  

Look what I found!

It's The Hard Knock Life

Well now.

:;(∩´﹏`∩);:

It's been a week since last I addressed all of you, and in that time I must admit a lot has changed. For those of you wondering how I'm doing, well as the title implies, it's the hard knock life, for me. It's the hard knock life, for me. You know how it goes.

Elder York left for Nanakuli at 10:00am on Tuesday morning, and just a half an hour later, at 10:30am, my new companion for the next 6 weeks arrived. His name is Elder Atwood, and it didn't take long after his arrival for things to get.... Interesting, to say the least. Between Elder Atwood and I, our first few days together were some of the toughest I've ever had. Elder Atwood probably doesn't know that though, so don't inform him. He's friendly enough, and hardworking too, but all of those changes at once were simply too much to take on at once, and my mind went into a state of extreme panic. It's difficult to explain to you why exactly it is that it's incredibly difficult for me right now, but trust me when I say that it is. This area is taking everything I have, that's for sure. It's come to a point where a lot of times all I can do is pray that God will help me make it to the end of the day because I can't do it on my own. Luckily, God is the kind of person you can count on.

Interviews happened first. Such is the way things work on Kauai. My interview with President Bekker went really well. It was a kind of personal experience, and because of that I won't share everything, but what was kind of cool that President shared with me was when he said, "You know Elder Rogers at company parties and whatnot they give out prizes and awards to different employees for different reasons like top salesman or best marketing campaign, but there's also an award for the employee who has grown the most. Elder Rogers if we gave out similar awards as a mission, I think I'd have to give the award for most growth on the mission to you." I felt like mom and Dad specifically would want to know that part of the conversation. It's definitely not been anything less than a bumpy ride, but I can also say with utmost confidence that it's been so much more than just a bumpy ride. In the movie Cars 2, which I like for multiple reasons even though nobody else likes it I don't think, but anyways: there's a line in there from Mater when he says he never repairs his dents because they're all memories or something of that nature. I think to a degree I understand what that truly means now. Every dent is a lesson learned, but not every devil is a Part Timer. In short, the lessons I've learned from the mission are like Mater's dents. They can't be taken away. If anybody reading this has any doubts about serving a mission, follow the council of Nike, and Just Do It. It's not now, and it never will be an easy experience. In fact, it will stretch you to the very boarders of your own willpower and sanity, and by the end of it you'll have nowhere else to turn but to God. But once you've gotten to that point, you finally begin to understand what all of this really means. I'm equal parts happy with myself and frustrated with myself on a daily basis, but I think I'm learning. If only I could properly convey my thoughts to you, but I suspect anyone else who has served a mission knows this feeling all too well. 

The day after interviews is Zone Conference, and Zone Conference was really great this time around. Kekaha is on the opposite side of the island from Lihue, which is where the conference is held. That means that if Zone Conference starts at 9:00am, which it does, we can't get there in time by driving from Kekaha in the morning. So the only solution to this problem was to have a sleepover at the Zone Leaders apartment. Now the nice thing about that is that the Zone Leaders have a couch. The not so nice thing about that is that there's only one couch. Well, with my couch war experiences under my belt backing me up, I knew that the couch was my domain, and whatever grim fate awaited Elder Atwood on the ground of the zone leaders pad was just something he was going to have to deal with. But that was when Elder Atwood had an idea. He simply found a way to bring his bed with him to the Zone Leaders place. I'm honestly impressed he got it to work. All in all, I'm willing to bet that he was probably more comfortable than I was that night.

One thing that has been an off and on struggle for me is cooking my own food. It seems to me that whenever I try to experiment with something new, things go terribly wrong. I learned how to make french fries while I was in Japan, and I remember that a lot of the others enjoyed them. So, I figured "why not? I'll give it a try!" (｀･ω･´)

......

Ugh.........

Well it turns out that hot oil can burn things that are made of plastic, and when we tried to strain them in the collinder they went Xenomorph blood and melted right through it. It's the hard knock life....

ハード ノック ライフです。

But anyway, most of you will be happy to learn that of all people, Walt is back. That's right! The boys are back in town! And Walt is getting taught now! He's becoming more and more excited about the gospel, and we actually got to teach him! He may be baptized in the future because of it. So whoever has been praying for him, please continue to do so. Our prayers alone might be enough, but I'm not taking my chances.... Anyway, more on Walt next week. For now, I gotta go. I have a towel in the oven and I gotta hang it dry.

BYE ME!!!!!!!

(*whispers: it's the hard knock life*)

Now go listen to that song again and get it stuck in your head. 

Pictures:

The strange fork at our bishops house.

Elder York and I on the green at the Wailua golf course. I learned that day that I'm not good at golf. Like, at all. I hit the ball backwards on accident with a driver. Don't even ask how that happened.

Transfer day at the airport. ヾ(｡>﹏<｡)ﾉ

The Fried Nightmare

After the fries were poisoned by liquid plastic, we were afraid the metal bowl would be next on the chopping block. Luckily though, it survived somehow.

The Morrey family fed us on Thanksgiving when no one else would. I know we don't pick favorites, but they may be my favorite family of members I've met so far. They're moving to San Diego, but they have family in Utah and visit quite often. Brother Morrey also visits Japan quite often so he said we could definitely meet again after my mission. Their kids are a blast as well. Just all around great people!  

For your viewing pleasure, I've also included a picture of how Elder Atwood got his bed to Zone Conference.