IT'S OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL!

It is officially official.

For two years we've waited for this day and now 

it going to happen in

36 days!

December 18th Sky Harbor Airport 10:07 PM!

Be there or be square!

What a wonderful CHRISTmas Present we will have this year!

Elder Rogers has put his heart mind soul into his missionary work.  The blessing he has brought to our family are countless and everyone in his family back home are so thankful for his service and appreciate his hard work and dedication! We are so thankful for Pres. and Sister Perry- for taking our son into their arms and "LOVING him like their own son".   He not only served an honorable mission, but has "served with great effectiveness" and "exceeded every expectation" of the MP!  I know Elder Rogers loves the Perry's very much. We are very proud and honored he serve a mission as a Saturday's Warrior!  

We will have our return missionary, our son, in our arms for about  10 days then off to BYU Idaho he may roll......

How can this mothers heart take that?

A GIRL NAMED SANDY

Date: Sun, 28 Oct 2012 23:18:14 -0400
Subject: Virginia Richmond Missionaries are riding out the storm!
From: jperry1218@gmail.com
To: 

All missionaries have called in and are safe this evening. The sisters in Kilmarnock are spending the night with the RS Pres and her family. All else remains the same. All missionaries have been instructed to stay in and hunker down tomorrow until further notice. We suspect many of them will take the opportunity to get a little sleep (they work so hard!) so they can be ready to roll when the storm is past. We are anticipating many opportunities to serve when the winds die down :) Thanks for all your prayers.

Sister Perry

Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2012 13:35:03 -0400
Subject: 
From: jperry1218@gmail.com
To: 

If you are receiving this and your missionary has come home, please e-mail me and I will remove you from the list.  Thanks!

Dear Parents of Missionaries in the Virginia Richmond Mission

This is the first of what will probably be several e-mails to keep you updated on the safety of your missionary during the next few days.  As I'm sure you are aware from reports on the news and weather channels the East Coast is bracing for a humdinger of a storm!  And you thought a mission in the states would be adrenaline free  o_0

In preparation, we are in the process of moving all of our missionaries inland from these areas:  Newport News 3rd, Poquoson, Hampton, Glouchester, Virginia Beach, Easter Shore, Norfolk, Sandbridge, Elizabeth City and Nags Head.  These are the coastal and low lying areas that will probably see the most damage from this storm.

In the areas inland the biggest effect from these storms is usually the power outages which can last for several days.  We have asked all of our missionaries to prepare by having water and food on hand (it's the end of the month and most missionaries will be low in funds on their Missionary Support Funds card -- if you maintain a separate debit account for your missionary now would be a great time to make sure it has a few extra dollars in it :) and a flashlight, etc.

President has set up a phone tree that will go into effect tonight (Saturday the 27th) with all missionaries checking in with their District Leaders who will report up the chain to President each night thereafter until the worst is over.  This will ensure that each of your missionaries is accounted for every day.

All of the local leaders and members are aware of and looking out for your missionary as well.  Also, I will be updating periodically on my Facebook page which is Virginia Sara Perry -- you are welcome to find that page and request to be friends.  It may help you while away some time looking at pictures while you are waiting for information :)

We appreciate all you do to support your missionary.  They are amazing young people and I suspect they will spend more time helping than being helped during this storm.

Please do not reply to this E-mail -- if there is an emergency and you must contact me please E-mail me at jperry1218@gmail.com.  That is my private E-mail so it is not the place to send inquiries about day to day things that need to be addressed by the mission staff such as travel arrangements, addresses, release dates, etc.  For day to day correspondence send E-mails to: 2011409@ldschurch.org.  We hope you understand that even though we would love to talk to all of you, we have 230+ missionaries and cannot reply individually to each parent.

There is a real possibility that our power will go out at the mission home so don't automatically panic if you don't hear from me -  it probably just means we are in the dark...literally.  We will make contact as soon as we can find someone with the lights on.

OK!  Here we go!  Batten down the hatches!

Love,  Sister Perry

My Hero!

There is one experience that crosses my mind when I think of Grandpa.

When I was 14 years old Grandpa and I where down at the barn, all alone. There was a big pile of wood right in middle the barn. The pile blocked the alley and made it hard to move anything in or out. Grandpa said he wanted to get it out of the way… So, we started to work. He pulled the deer skin gloves out of his pocket and slipped them on his worn, callused, wrinkled hands. We moved the wood outside and added it to another pile close to the fence line. After working for what seemed like forever the pile looked as if it had been untouched. Soon, my muscles started to ache and my mind started to wonder. My curiosity took over and in no time at all I found myself at the other end of the barn looking in one of the stalls. Just as I dipped out of sight I heard Grandpa shout my name. "Koltn!" he said, in the way only Grandpa could. “You get over here and help your Grandpa!” I sheepishly made my way back to the pile. The next few moments will be cherished in my heart forever. As I returned and started back to work, Grandpa recounted some of the stories from his past. “Wooo-whee,” he exclaimed with that Grandpa tone as he remembered the anger of his mother when he came home from school with a ripped shirt. I listened more than I talked for some time as he continued to retell the life lessons he had learned. He talked about how wonderful Grandma is and how pretty she has been since the first time he met her. He seemed to teach me about all the important things in life without even trying. He spoke of life in Pomerene, cutting hair, and fishing with Carl. After a few stories the stack of wood seemed to disappear. As I grabbed the last few pieces of wood he grabbed a flathead shovel and scooped up a few small wood chips off of the floor. As I looked at the empty space that the giant wood pile was in Grandpa whistled off of the front of his teeth and said in the way only Grandpa could, “Looks good son.” He then taught me a lesson I will never forget. He said, “Koltn, if I had to give you one piece of advice to remember it would have to be to work. Don’t you stop half way through a job. Once you start something, you better finish it; and finish it right the first time. When you have a line of rocks that need to be moved, you start with the biggest one, farthest down the line, and don’t you quit till you’re through with the last one. When you could do something to make someone’s life easier, you do it. And don’t you forget, your Dad is a good man! You remember all that son and you’ll be alright.” That moment standing at the barn door will forever inspire me to do my best until the job is through. That lesson wasn’t just taught through words but through his lifelong example. Richard Grant Rogers changed the lives of all those around him. He brought a special light and love to anyone he talked with. He is a great man. Love you Grandpa!

~Koltn J. Rogers

COOLISH!

Just Baptized!

CRAMAZING!

Elder Rogers Right side, second row with the big grin!

 

Elder Rogers Back and Center, blonde hair!

Elder Rogers left side, on his knees (where he spend most of his time)

8/13

AWESOME WEEK!  Love being here in Virginia land! Love what the Lord has me doing.  Love everything  serving where and when I can. 

Q: Can you name the First Presidency and 12 apostles?

    We met to start with transfers this week. We met 2 time for 3 hours and got a lot of the moves down. We still have a lot to go until we have what Heavenly father wants for the mission. Slow and steady though. We meet a few more times and then on Sunday we will make all the calls! This week should be CRAZY. We have Zone Conferences this week. One in Richmond on Monday, one in Midlothian on Tuesday, one in Newport News on Wednesday, and the last one in VA Beach on Thursday. We will have between 50-60 missionaries at each one. We are training on "Working with the Bishop and Ward Council" it should be good.

   What do you mean by "Moving" things?haha I guess I will be re assigned to attic duty!

   Things have been a little cooler out here this week. The humidity is SUPER HIGH today. We have had a call for rain every day but haven't seen much.

    There has been a lot of people that have said they would be willing to buy leather goods. There is a big market in VA for that kind of stuff. Maybe dad will have to start a little side business.

    I can't believe school has started already. We still have a few more weeks until it starts out here. And with the start of school is the start of Football. We went into Dick's Sporting Goods the other day and they had all the football stuff out and in front.  

   The thing to miss about back home isn't the dryness but the lack of trees....We where driving the other day and came to a place where they clear cut the trees on both sides of the road. Elder Farr and i flipped. It was the first time we had been able to see farther than 50 yards in a long time. I sure do miss the "Big Sky" effect that the western US has.

   A:   First Presidency= President Thomas S. Monson, President Henry B. Eyring, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

         Quorum Of the 12= President Boyd K. Packer, Elder L. Tom Perry, Elder Russell M. Nelson, Elder Dallin H. Oaks, Elder M. Russell Ballard, Elder Richard G. Scott, Elder Robert D. Hales, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Elder David A. Bednar, Elder Quentin L. Cook, Elder D. Todd Christofferson, Elder Neil L. Andersen.                   (Just a little quiz to get you thinking.)

Love y'all   

Be Humble Don't Stumble,

         Elder Rogers

8/6/12

Hi,

  Not much happened -well in missionary proselyting- but we did a bunch of administering. The good times comes as we minister not administer. But when you are serving God there isn't any "Bad  Weeks" All in all we worked hard and we are trying and doing and dying!

   Preparation day was fun. We had a Tri-Zone sports day at a local park. We played ultimate Frisbee and tossed the football around. It felt good to jump and catch.... I got sunburned on my face and neck.   Ouch good thing ore ward mission leader had some aloe vera. Just trying not to move my neck too much on my collar. It was HOT. All of us where burning up from the heat and soaked from sweat from the humidity.

   Glad the b-day was fun. I bet it was good to get all the family together. Hope i will get to see everyone when i get home and they aren't all tired of being around each other.

   Ya ya Klete and Dad better keep practicing on their shooting. I don't want them to be rusty when i get home. I have been practicing shooting by the spirit. They better watch out i here that is the best way to shoot.

    I never want to move furniture or talk on the phone after my mission. I have done more than enough of my share while i have been out here. I left my phone at home the other day and when i got back to it (3hours and 30 min. later) i had 16 missed alerts!!!! AHHHHHHHH I feel like we could start "The Mormon Missionary Moving Men" (The MMMM). But in the long run missionaries are transient so we will forever be opening and closing apartments and moving furniture.

Well love y'all and miss you. Still working on sending all the thank you letters.

Thanks for the address.

Be Humble Don't Stumble,

         Elder Rogers