600 Days Later...

Well folks, I guess the title says it all this week. 600 days ago to the day I entered this mission, and honestly speaking I could never have even imagined the amount of struggles, happiness, or experience I would gain in giving everything to the Lord. A lot has happened in the past 600 days, as I'm sure these emails have been attesting to you. But with yet another 7 days come and gone, I find that this week was one of my favorites. This email is probably going to be a little bit short, but I hope it can convey everything I am feeling at this point in my life, and somehow also exclaim my excitement and nervousness for the days that lay ahead. I can't help it-its just so exciting to be a missionary right now! So let's dive on in to the recap.

If you haven't heard already, back in June in Kaneohe I got to be a part of a special film project that I wasn't allowed to talk about very much until the official release of the product. The Church has officially released that project, and it's called:

THE SAFETY ZONE!

Yup. Cheezy, I know, but hey. You're first project is rarely your best. Anyway! I watched it and I thought it was actually pretty funny, and on top of that, they left my lines about getting the money shot in the footage, which I of course was secretly hoping for. What made me laugh actually was that one of the hosts actually plays off of that line by saying "That's the Real Money shot" later on, which I got a kick out of. That means I can finally share the behind the scenes set photos with you! Our director at the time also happened to be a stunt double for a number of years, including major projects like Saban's Power Rangers, the X-men movies, and even Footloose. The director of cinematography has been involved in projects like Touched by An Angel, and so on and so forth. We were lucky to have such a talented crew to work with, and I think the final product really shows that a lot of talent and passion went into the project. And it's actually pretty important too, because in later episodes they talk about how missionaries who fail to follow proper safety precautions, especially in foreign countries, can end up suffering from serious injuries, and in many cases even death. My role in the show was to make an example of what not to do, and be used to show how to properly show respect for foreign cultures and people, so that missionaries can make the best impressions they can. This is a topic I strongly believe in. I think that when we are in other countries, we represent our own country whether we want to or not. This means respecting other cultures and traditions is absolutely important to us as Americans so that we can represent the American people in the best way possible, and that goes for all ethnicities and peoples traveling abroad. Be a good representation of the manners and respect you'd want travelers to show for you and your country. Live the Golden rule guys!

So in other news, I met someone who spoke Japanese a couple weeks ago, but on Saturday I managed to find out what her name was. It's Michiyo. We had a pretty full on conversation, and Elder Atwood was very confused the whole time. When we left, he basically asked me how the lesson went, because he had understood absolutely nothing of what was going on. Well, the conversation with Michiyo ended up being about how in Japan, there are not many who believe in Jesus Christ or go to church, but that she had always wanted to learn more about him. She thanked me for my missionary service and asked if Elder Atwood and I were brothers, because we both have blonde hair. I thought that was pretty funny. She then explained to me that once she heard about Jesus Christ, she knew He was real and she could feel His love for her. She already goes to a different sect of Christian church in Waimea, but she has no problem with talking to us again sometime. For me, it was cool to breach the language gap and really honestly have a serious conversation with someone in Japanese. It was cool because I could really feel that she knew I could understand her, and because of that she was simply able to speak her mind to me and tell me what she believed and what she had experienced. It was equally cool to be able to respond to those kinds of experiences with experiences of my own, which I could express properly and openly back to her, and at the same time feel that my words were being understood. It's a feeling that's almost impossible to describe, but it makes me happy regardless.

All in all, that's my week's highlights in a nutshell. Anything I forgot will probably be brought up in pictures later, but as for me and myself out here, I'll be writing you all again on Day 607.

Look forward to it!
-Elder Rogers

Pictures:
1-Safety Zone.
2-A sports ball that bears the name of a certain anime character from Attack on Titan.
3-On Thursday the BYU-H Street Band and Shaka Steel came for a free performance, and we were lucky enough to gain permission to go!  It was a lot of fun to see them perform, and I highly recommend it to anybody who gets the chance.
4-Walt gave us matching shirts!  We're so grateful for his kindness and that we were able to teach him.
5- Our little house on the prarie