Monday, September 17th, 2018

 Lil Mexico

Manuel's Baptism

My District

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Alright I'll start from the beginning. 

On Monday we got to go to chick-fil-a and ah I missed that place. We also found something we call "lil Mexico" in our area and it is sweet, more to come from that one. 

We also got to teach Manuel about temples. Manuel, whose family still lives in the Dominican Republic, loved how his family could be together forever because of the temple. It was so cool to see someone so dedicated to his family and doing everything he can for them. Whatta guy. 

We went on exchanges with the Hill Park elders and I went to Hill park this time. I was with Elder Askelson and that boy can cook holy schneikeys. He made this chorizo breakfast burrito thing for breakfast. So good. 

On Saturday we had a baptism for Manuel  and it was awesome. He shared his testimony and loved it. The hot water actually worked this time, which was a miracle. 

Afterwards, we went to a party, celebrating Mexico's independence day. VIVA MEXICO, QUE VIVA

The food was so good and we pretty much just got roasted for being white. 

That's about it for this week. Love y'all!

Elder Ogden

September 10th, 2018

Today is Elder Ogden's 19th birthday! We got some great texts, pics, and videos from President Mendoza, the area mission leader. What a guy! 

_______________________________________________________

...and now, Elder Ogden's Weekly Email! 

This week was a pretty good one, as always, but we met a lot of cool people and had some interesting experiences.

On Thursday we had a baptism for our boy Jorge, who is actually in a different ward, but he only speaks Spanish so he comes to Santa Fe (which is our area). It was awesome to see that happen and feel the spirit so strong. Afterwards, there was a ton of food and we got to have some papusas. If you've never had papusas, go to the nearest Salvadoran restaurant and get some.

Afterwards, Elder Kuhre and I went on exchanges with the Elders in Hill Park. I was with Elder Felling, who is probably the most interesting man in the world. He can pretty much do anything, including juggling some weird stuff and some lock picking. Cool dood.

We live with another set of missionaries, Elder Hunt and Elder Rowley, and Elder Rowley's dad challenged us to send a picture of the nastiest thing we ate that week. We figured it was gonna be easy, because Elder Rowley burns everything, but we decided to take it one step further by making some orange jello, throwing in some creatine and some packets of Diablo hot sauce. Bad choice...it wrecks your stomach, but I'm expecting to take the win. 

On Sunday we ate a ton of food. We had breakfast with the mission leader in our branch, Brother Mena, and it was a lot of fun. We had lunch with the Gómez family after that. They made some awesome yuca (sort of potato thing). Everything else was awesome too. We had church and then after that we had a lesson with our boy Manuel, who is getting baptized this Saturday! He and his family are from the Dominican Republic and they made us this dish with some fish and rice and tons of other stuff. They also make us Yun Yun, which are pretty much smoothies, but they taste fantastic.

There is a scripture in the Book of Mormon about Prayer, and I love how it describes how we should pray:

Mosiah 24:12 And Alma and his people did not raise their voices to the Lord their God, but did pour out their hearts to him; and he did know the thoughts of their hearts.

Love y'all!

Elder Ogden 

September 3rd, 2018

This week was a fun one with a lot of blessings. The branch is so awesome and has helped us find 4 new people to teach this week. 

We got to volunteer at something called SantaCaliGon, which was just a huge carnival. Our mission President gave permission to someone in one of the wards to use us as volunteers. Elder Kuhre and I ran a booth where we made rope. It was fun and we got to meet some interesting people. 

Yesterday was fast Sunday and our church starts at 2:30 and goes to 5:30. In this branch, they do something called "romper el ayuno", or break the fast. After church we saw them bringing out all the food and it seemed like they never stopped coming out with more dishes. They had some crazy good chicken, enchiladas, even some crock pot Mac and cheese and pretty much everything else you can imagine. These people eat like kings. 

On Wednesday and Friday we had some awesome lessons with Manuel, the guy who stood up to introduce himself and said he wanted to be a member of the church. He is going to be baptized on Sept 15th and we're super excited for him. On Wednesday, we talked about the Plan God has for us and why we're here on Wednesday and on Friday we talked about the gospel that Jesus Christ taught while He was here on the earth. During this lesson, he turned to us and started talking about his studies in the Book of Mormon. We then invited him to pray about the Book of Mormon and see if it was really the word of God, but he said he already knew it was true! He told us how he knew it and why he knew. It was one of the coolest moments of the mission so far. 

I was studying hope this week and came across this scripture: 

Moroni 7:

41 And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise.

Love y'all!

Elder Ogden 

August 27th, 2018

This week flew by so fast. We had a ton of promising contacts and some super cool lessons and have seen some real miracles. 

There are quite a few senior couples coming into the mission field lately, and so we have been helping the other senior missionaries move furniture and things into their apartments because we live so close to the mission office. It's actually been pretty fun and you see the sacrifice these senior couples make to be out here. Also they tend to buy us doughnuts when we help. 

We had Elder Wilford Andersen of the 70 come to our zone conference with half the  mission. My favorite quote from Elder Andersen was "He can't guide our footsteps if we aren't moving out feet." 

We live with another set of elders, the zone leaders, and so we get along pretty well. On Friday, we went on exchanges with them. I went to Riverview (downtown KC) with Elder Rowley. We cover the same area, except they do the English work and have their own branch, so it wasn't too different. But it was a ton of fun the guy's hilarious. We got bashed and this guy used the story of Jacob and Esau in the Bible to prove that God doesn't love white people and his final argument was "what are y'all sports?" I responded with swimming, but he didn't like that too much. Then I said "hold on, what about guys like Christian McCaffry?" His response: "but is he better than Randy Moss?" So we took the L (loss) and walked away. 

On that exchange, we got to take a a member and his wife, who isn't a member, to the Visitors Center. We talked about families and how they can be forever, and the spirit was so strong. They loved the tour and the importance of families that was emphasized and how important they are to God. 

Elder Rowley also spilled water all over himself in the car and soaked his pants, so after that contacting was super fun. 

On Saturday we got to go to a members house for lunch. The wife was from Cuba and she made some of the best rice I've ever had in my life. There was also some crazy good plantanes. 

We met a guy who came from the Dominican republic named Manuel. He just came from the DR on Saturday. He stood up during Elders Quorum to introduce himself and said he wanted to become a member of the church. ARE YOU KIDDING ME WHAT A MIRACLE. 

I love you guys and hope everything is all good. Stay cool have a fun summer!

-Elder Ogden

August 13th, 2018

"not 1 weekly email, not 2 weekly emails, not 3, not 4..."

-LeBron Blames

This week was transfer week. Elder Garrison went home to Oregon and I got transferred to....

SANTA FE, THE PROMISED LAND.

It's the Spanish branch that covers downtown KC and Independence and IT'S THE HOOD. I love it so far. They got some good food too. There's also a ton of taquerías and there's one called Ponchos that is really good.

My new companion is Elder Kuhre (Curry) outta Utah. He's been out about 15 months and in Santa Fe for a month and a half.

There's a quote from Elder Brian K Taylor I wanna share:

"I invite each of us to seek God and His Beloved Son. “Nowhere,” President Nelson directed, “are those truths taught more clearly and powerfully than in the Book of Mormon.” Open its pages and learn that God does “all things for [our] welfare and happiness”; that He is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, long-suffering and full of goodness”; and that “all are alike unto [Him].” When you feel hurt, lost, scared, upset, sad, hungry, or hopelessly abandoned in life’s extremities—open the Book of Mormon, and you will come to know that “[God] will never desert us. He never has, and He never will. He cannot do it. It is not His character [to do so].”"

I'd write more but I really don't know whats goin on yet. So till next week. Love yall.

1 Sayin' goodbye to Rocky and Amber 

2 A part of Kansas City

3 An old church 

August 6th, 2018

 My awesome zone

Howdy! I'll start with food reviews.

First, Lucille's, the legendary diner in Louisburg. WHATTA place. Lucille owns about half the town, but she is also a wicked good cook. I got a Pork Tenderloin with a biscuit and mashed potatoes and gravy. Holy schnikeys, that lady can cook. 5/5

Second, BB's Grill in Spring Hill. Bacon Burger was fantastic. Fries were even better. Has some pretty cold water, too. 4.5 stars. 

Red Robin was pretty good. 3.79 stars. 

Then we had some AMAZING pizza and wings at the Lewis'. Had the New York flop. 

Conclusion: we've been eatin' good. 

This week we had 2 exchanges, where we switch companions for a day. They were pretty fun. The first one I stayed in Paola, but the 2nd one I went with Elder Roberts to Gardner. Exchanges with that guy are always fun. We've done a couple this transfer.

We got to take some people we are teaching to the temple to walk around and to Liberty Jail. It was awesome to see what they thought of it. While Joseph Smith was in that Jail, he received some revelation concerning his trials, which is very relatable to us. 

It says, 

"7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

   8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.

   9 Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands."

Elder Garrison is going home this week, so it'll be interesting. Talk to y'all next week. 

Elder Ogden 

July 30th, 2018

Yes, this is my 3rd weekly in a row. #3peat #dynasty 

Alright bad news first.

We play basketball with investigators, members of the Elders Quorum, and the youth on Thursday nights. Helps with fellowship and all that great stuff. We play some pretty fun games and it's one of my favorite parts of the week. But then something horrible happened. I was driving to the left of the basket and took a step back fade cutting towards the baseline, when outta no where, my boy Greg Grant comes in there and literally demolishes me. I got stuffed like a turkey.

Good news.

I got to use my Spanish this week on an exchange with the zone leaders and had some of the best food of my life. 

Also we started teaching a lady named Tiffany! She is super awesome and she notices there's something missing.

We've had a lot of opportunities to serve this week, especially with moving people this week. The highlight was getting a washer stuck in a doorway (it's still there).

Yesterday at church we talked about how important it is for us to choose in this life and why we need to be able to. There is a scripture in the Book of Mormon that talks about how we should use this ability to choose, or agency.

2 Nephi 10:23" Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves—to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life."

After we act and do our best, then we can experience the grace of Christ and continue to progress through everything, because we know we have Christ on our side. As described by Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9

  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Well I'll talk to yall next week, but love y'all! 

Image 1: Grandstand Burger's "Kelly Burger"

Image 2: Elder Bytheway (heading home soon, this elder is hilarious)

July 23rd, 2018

Nicole and her son, Isaac, awesome investigators that we love teaching. Isaac getting ready to show animals at the fair.

Hey everyone, hows it goin'?

This week was pretty busy and we've learned some lessons, like the fact that Elder Garrison is SUPER allergic to cats. We walked out of a lesson yesterday and this guy couldn't even see it was so bad. He knocked himself out with benadryl though, because you can have allergies when you're unconscious.

We have seen a ton of miracles this week, like a lady named Joyce. She is super kind and loves to read and has been reading the Book of Mormon like crazy! We have also had the chance to start talking with some other people.

There was a fat ol storm that rolled in on Thursday and the lightning hit a tree in the backyard and split that bad boy in half.

That's about it for this week, love y'all and remember:
1 John 4:
   18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
   19 We love him, because he first loved us.
   20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

Elder Ogden

July 16th, 2018

 Kansas City Royals had a Mormon Night and all the missionaries in the area got to go. It was awesome.

 My zone at the Kansas City Temple.

QUÉ TAL  IT'S BEEN A MINUTE

This week started out pretty well. Lots of tracting because we decided to hit up the small towns in our area and see what went down. So we went to 2 little towns called Freeman , MO and Cleveland, MO. It was wicked hot outside but we met some awesome people. 

We got a refferal, and so we went to go see him because he wanted a book of Mormon. He was an older guy and super nice. When we got there we came to find out he, as described by some wise words from Christmas Vacation, "couldn't hear a dump truck driving through a nitroglycerin plant."  - Uncle Lewis

We had zone conference and went to the temple afterwards. Highlight of the week.

My companions name is Elder Garrison and he's super chill. We get along pretty well case this guy LOVES basketball. The Andersons fed us this biscuits and gravy the other night and they were so good ah man it was the best thing in the world. 

We found some new people too and we are super excited because we've been on a drought recently.

A scripture I've loved this week is in 3 Nephi 27, where Jesus Christ is talking. 

   13 Behold I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel which I have given unto you—that I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me.

   14 And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—

   15 And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works.

   16 And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world.

Jesus Christ came and provided a way for us to make it back to out Heavenly Father, and he can help us every step of the way through His grace! In a butchered quote from a devotional, Grace does not come into affect after all that we do, grace is the power that motivates us to keep progressing and get us through to the next day. He is there for you!

I love y'all!

Elder Ogden

Early July 2018

Transfers were last week and my new companion is Elder Garrison. These pics up top are of me and Elder Fenton before he was transferred. This other pic is with my boi, Grant Stivers. It's been over 100 degrees and we have been biking...so hot.

Best memory of this week was this stupid dog. We went to knock on this door and this thing was really happy to see us. It was just peein everywhere so Elder Garrison and I are dodging this things stream and we look like we're dancing doin some tribal ritual thing. Dumb dog. 

June 2018

It's so hot and humid here. I actually really like it. 

Also you would not believe your eyes. If 10 million fireflies. Lit up the world... Sorry. But fireflies are pretty sweet. ;)

Our landlords, the Connell's, are a part member family and they are super nice. They have a cool wall that all the Elders write their names on...so check it out, mine is on the wall of fame now. Our house was built in 1903.

Theres been so many miracles. Our district is getting a lot closer. We actually had a really good district meeting this week. I'm really learning to love the people. It was the last of the transfers and so we did a little testimony meeting. It was pretty cool to see and also we had some role plays THAT PEOPLE ACTUALLY LIKED. That never happens. The spirit guides us for sure.

Something I'm trying to learn lately is trusting that the Holy Ghost WILL guide me. All I must do is prepare but then stuff NEVER goes as planned and so rather than trying to dominate it back to what you have planned, let the Spirit guide. The Spirit isn't going to let you fail if you've done your part and prepared.

1 Nephi 4:7 is a good example, but think about the brother of Jared (Ether 2 and 3). The Lord didn't tell him to go make some clear stones and see what happens, the brother of Jared had to just go for it and have faith that the Lord would do his part after he prepared. A lot of the time I expect some answer like "go to this town and knock on the house on brown Street that has a blue door." Although those do happen, most of the time they're not gonna be like that. Just go work and do your part, showing you have the faith. 

I had a cool experience with it though. We were with McKayla, and investigator, and I tested it. I said, ya know what McKayla, that reminds me of a scripture. I had no idea what scripture I was gonna share, but flipping through I went through a couple and they didn't fit but then boom Alma 7:11-12. Fire verses. I thought it was cool to see that all we have to do is DO. He'll do the rest. 

May 21st, 2018

This week was transfers, and I'm with Elder Fenton again. He was my MTC companion, so it's gonna be fun and we are gonna work hard. We are so different, but it'll be fun. I've gotten him to eat a bug and drink hot sauce, so it'll be interesting!

One day this week, I studied Daniel 1, 2, and 4. THAT'S GOOD STUFF RIGHT THERE. We have some progressing investigators, but we need to find more. It's tough to find, especially here in the middle of no where, but we will keep trying.

I had Wendy's this week. Also, I miss Mom's cooking and leftovers.
Make sure you read your scriptures and eat your greens. 

Elder Ogden