A patriotic week 12

Hello earthlings. I wonder how it is out there in the... REAL WORLD

Anyway this week started out in a delightful Brasilian hospital haha. Kevin’s sores came back and he was literally exploding with pain so President told us to go to the hospital. At the hospital they had Kevin and I sit in a room and they gave Kevin like 3 shots and then made him sit in a chair while a little thingy injected this gel goo stuff into his blood for 2 hours. One of the shots had to be in Kevin’s butt so in the room we were sitting in the lady made Kevin pull his cheek out and she just gave him the shot right there hahaha we made eye contact and both almost imploded. After she left we were laughing so hard hahah. But when we were sitting there the goo stuff was making Kevin super tired but at the same time super anxious so he was freaking out, but doesn’t remember any of it. It was sooo funny and sad haha. I was trying to get him to just chill for like 10 minutes and finally I tossed up a couple quick prayers and felt prompted to give him a blessing, so I did. I asked him if he remembers me giving him that blessing like 2 hours later when we got back to the house and he literally has no recollection. I pondered that for a little bit and a cute thought came to my head. Just like that blessing I gave Kevin, God is giving us blessings, and half the time we don’t even realize it. Half the time we’re half awake half asleep just crawling through life because of the pain were experiencing. What’s always important to remember is that we really only see like 17% of what God is actually doing for us. There is so much that goes unnoticed, and we have way more to be grateful for than we think.

On Wednesday night I have no clue what happened but the sky was like bright orange at 11:20 pm and it was wild. Kevin and i were absolutely baffled it was so freaking rad. 

On Thursday night we had a cute lil activity in the Church and before the activity Kevin and I literally walked all over creation inviting every one of our investigators haha. By the time 7 pm rolled around every one of our investigators either told us they couldn’t come, or didn’t answer the phone. I was pretty torn up over that. We had worked so hard and weren’t getting flippin anything in return. I asked God why this was happening and then started talking to Kevin. He told me something that was very inspired. He said bro, you gotta remember that there has to be opposition in every little thing. But we must remember that after the trials of opposition come the blessing of that same opposition. I really loved that. We really, like really need to always remember that our trials will always serve a purpose. They always have a deeper meaning than we think. Try to learn from them always. They aren’t just little worthless pieces of nothingness that can’t be used for anything. Later that night and after many a prayer we ended up with 3 families at the activity and it was such a sweet little night.

I’m not gonna lie this week got a little lonely. Monday Tuesday and Wednesday Kevin was super sick so I kinda just hung out alone haha.

This week we finally found William and Lazaro together, both awake, moving, breathing, eating, talking, and happy. We just started talking about the importance of reading the Book of Mormon with them, the same old speal, but I felt like I needed to talk to them about something that wasn’t the Book of Mormon, which was interesting. I opened up to them and started talking to them about their day and just everything with them. I talked to them about how they were feeling and just talked about normal life. I really tried to let them know that our purpose wasn’t to just jam a book down their throats, but that our purpose truly is to just help them. Literally the very second after I did that they really opened up to us. William hadn’t been reading the Book of Mormon at all, and right before he left I was talking to him just by myself and he was like "you bet your bottom dollar I’m gonna start reading the book"...no that isn’t the direct translation, but seriously that is IT. The key to it all. Just freaking loving people. I’ll be honest I got so caught up with the idea of just baptizing people I almost forgot why I came out here to do this mission thing. It’s to just love people as the Savior does, to show them I care, to invite the Spirit through genuine love and interest, and let Him do the rest. We can’t do it all by ourselves dudes. We gotta have the Spirit as our companion, and like I’ve said a whole load of times, the fastest way to invite the Spirit is by loving. Just love.

I had a pretty rad experience with a hippie in the park. Now, before you jump to any sudden conclusions let me explain. We started talking to this dude and he was super rad, just the chillest dude you’ve ever met in your life, but for real was super nice. Randomly he goes yo I wanna make you a present, so I was like cool, and then he was like so why the freak are you in Brasil and I was like to teach people about this Church that I love with my whole heart, and he was like dope. Then after that he goes so who are you out here representing and I go Jesus Christ sir, any more questions sir, and he goes yes... If you could describe Jesus in one word, what would it be. I thought for like 5 seconds and then said love. Literally at the same moment I started saying love he held up this tiny bronze rod he bent into a half heart as we were talking and started spinning it, and when he spun it, it made a whole heart. I hope y’all can imagine that in your coconuts. I was literally dumbfounded. Absolutely baffled. Completely taken by surpise, and utterly taken off my feet. It was so crazy haha I don’t know what this hippie is out here doing but he absolutely boggled my brain. It was super chill.

We’re gonna get a little soft for a second. On Sunday I felt like a piece of hud. I was just dying. I was trying so hard to just be happy but satan was full on roundhouse kicking me in the face the whole entire week, and Sunday was just the worst of them all. We went over to the house of one of our people whose name is Natalia and she is so awesome. I went into the bathroom of her house and poured my whole entire heart to God. I begged him to relieve me. I couldn’t continue in the state I was in. It was horrid. After that I had a feeling to just go and watch the Joseph Smith Restoration film with her and Kevin so we did that. After the film ended, and the Spirit was clearly with us, I opened up the floor to a nice discussion. She started to get really sad and she told us she read some freaking trash on the internet so we talked to her and she started crying and told us she was so afraid to continue on this path with us. I literally started balling my face of when i started talking HAHA like full on just lost it. The dam retaining Lake Porter completely broke and the water came rushing with incredible force. I told her that I was literally afraid out of my brain before I came out here on this mission, but I knew it was right and that’s why I am doing this. I literally said to her i know that you know this Church is true, and the closer you come to the Savior and to us, the harder satan will attack you. I told her that we can always expect satan to attack us as we are getting close to accomplishing something incredibly grand, or directly after we have an incredibly spiritual experience (thank you President Bentley.) I told her that these last 3 months of my life have been the hardest, most painful 3 months of my life but I will never regret it because I know this Church is true, and I have a burning desire to spread this gospel no matter how low satans blows get. We were both just chillin there bawling and it was truly a beautiful experience. She is progressing very nicely in the gospel and we are going to invite her this week (hopefully) to be baptized. But for real after all of that happened I realized literally, that right there is going to be my relief for the next 2 years. Spreading the love of God to these super beautiful people turned my frown upside down. I sure don’t expect these 2 years to be easy, but I already know it will be worth it.

Last thing haha, on Tuesday we were walking down the street to lunch at a members house and some homeless dude grabbed me and goes hey American I hate Donald Trump hahahahaha I was dying laughing and so he just jammed his middle finger in my face haha it was way too good. ahahaha. I have had very few instances in my life where I was more proud to be an American than that moment. I love you dudes. God bless America.

Love, the Elder Porter

email: proskelley@myldsmail.net

Week 11, I think hahaha

BOY HOT DAWGY WAS IT A WEEK

This week I said FORGET IT to my feelings of sadness and just went so hard trying to love every single person I spoke to... (tried to speak to)

But first, holy cow I just discovered the raddest thing. I was reading in D&C section 137 and it was talking a ton about the Celestial Kingdom. In verse 9 it said for I the Lord will judge all men according to their works, according to the desires of their hearts. How rad is that. Everything good stems from the Lord, Jesus Christ, and all good in ourselves stems from a desire in our hearts. All we have to do is keep the desire in our hearts day in and day out and the Lord will guide everything else into place. I know without a doubt that if the Lord sees we have a desire to do anything good, He will help us to an infinite level to accomplish whatever it is that we are trying to achieve. It’s not shameful to need to ask for the desire to do something. The less cool we think we are the more we will receive. You’re not too cool to ask God for the desire to choose the right. It’s not shameful to not have the desire, I have to pray for the desire to keep moving forward on this mission every morning. The thing that matters most is that God sees we’re trying humbly with all we have to follow Him.

Holy the dopest thing happened this week. Like 2 weeks ago Elder Castro forgot his umbrella at Lazaro’s house but we’ve had like 6 lessons with him since then and every time we forgot to grab his umbrella. On Tuesday we were way on the other side of town close to Lazaro’s house and Elder Castro magically remembered that he needed his umbrella so we boogied over to his house and he wasn’t home... but his son who actually got shot 10 times was just chillin on the couch ahhah so he let us in and we talked to him for a while but get this, he told us he read the introduction to the Book of Mormon and he liked it a lot. But just wait it gets better. Lazaro shows up like 20 minutes later and sees were just chillin with his step son and talkin about the good ole Book and out of nowhere the step son goes “yea I know this book is true because I’ve been praying for something that explains to me why Jesus never came to the Americas and blessed the people here. This book already answered my prayers.” DUDE WHAT?! Castro and I felt prompted to ask him if we could help him get prepared to be baptized and he accepted so fast. Dude holy how dope is that! This was all with Lazaro sitting on the couch next to him. I bore my testimony about everything and shed like 5 tears and it was so rad. Every single thing happens for a reason. Goodness gracious. God is always orchestrating something so much greater than we can even comprehend.

We returned a few days later and gave his son a blessing and it was rad. I’m glad I had the opportunity to give E Castro some blessings because it helped me be a little less nervous about the whole situation. Before we gave him the blessing we asked him if he truly has the faith to be healed and he looked at us and was like I really do and so we were like let’s do this thing then bruther. The Spirit was so strong and it was just such a rad and heartwarming experience. The physical power that the Spirit can bring into a room is something I will always be dumbfounded by.

One of the things I realized this week is that if you’re not having fun on the mission, the mission is just lame. Not only in the mission does this concept of having fun apply, but in our lives we need to just have fun and feel joy. Just go destroy an ant hill or something, I don’t know what you think is fun, but whatever it is just go do it. I really have learned that we need to have fun in everything we do. Make work fun, make the things that are literally just awful in your lives fun. God cannot work through you if you are not trying to be happy! You have gotta try! I promise your quality of life will improve! Y’all get my point.

It’s getting hard to write in English. I’m not even kidding. It’s really funny because my brain is thinking in Portuguese, but half the time I don’t have the vocabulary to say what I am trying to say in Portuguese, but my brain doesn’t remember how to say it in English hahah. It’s an absolutely vicious cycle hahaha. It’s almost like my brain is loosing English faster than its gaining Portuguese so I’m slowly just becoming a rock. Nah just kidding its not that bad I can still speak English.

I did a lot of studying this week. In the Bible Jesus says the first and great commandment is to love the Lord God with all your heart, and the second great commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. I really thought it’s interesting that the main two commandments are about love. I am really gaining a massive love for these people and I can’t even communicate super well with them. I have found that when I first choose to love God and let him lead me instead of thinking I’m dope enough to lead myself, I find myself filled with the love for his children. It’s beautiful, love.

This week I really found my purpose in the mission. Truly. I am SOO happy out here. I’m happy when I’m suffering and times are crazy hard. I’m happy when times are going perfect and everything is just good. I’m just happy and it’s so rad. I love you guys, and without y’all none of this would be possible. Keep being you. Really, if you are struggling don’t be afraid to talk to someone. The thing that is helping me a ton is talking with my buddy Elder Kevin. The Lord puts the people in our lives that we need. There are always people that willing to help and love you. Don’t ever feel alone because you are all surrounded by more love than you even know. 

With much love,

Elder Roskelley

email: proskelley@myldsmail.net

p.s.Every night Kevin and I make a delicious banana chocolate milkshake and last night it was Kevin’s turn to make it and he was super tired hahah but wanted one super bad so he attempted to make one but left a spoon in the blender hahaha so our blender exploded hahahah and now there’s a giant chocolate stain on our wall hahaha we were both laughing so hard. We weren’t about to let a hole in our blender stop us from having our daily milkshake, so we patched the hole with some tape (; haahhaha she still works like a champ

Two and a half months? What the fast!

Hello people

This week was tighter than a young boys shoelaces. 

Lazaro’s (our investigator who was supposed to be baptized on Saturday) step son got hurt and ended up in the hospital, and is somehow still alive. Lazaro was in the hospital a lot this week and doesn’t feel like it’s time for him to get baptized. I poured my heart out to him about just everything that I was feeling. Sheesh, satan really is a dirtbag. Never letting anybody catch a flippin break. It broke my heart hearing Lazaro tell me the things he told me, but I know the Lord has a path prepared for him to be baptized. Just gotta be patient.

This week we did splits with the Zone Leaders and it was so funny. Elder Andrus, the ZL who I was with, is from Idaho and speaks English so every time we didn’t want someone to know what we were saying we’d talk in English hahaha. 

On Friday, Kevin (E. Castro) and I were watching the Preach My Gospel videos and he accidentally put one of them on in English and went to the other room for a sec and then came back and for some reason asked me if I was understanding the video and I was so accustomed to saying “more or less” so that’s what I said. I didn’t even realized the video was in English until after he returned like 30 seconds later and told me ahhah. That was crazy to me. I thought about it all day and realized that the language of the Spirit is the same. In our lives we become so accustomed to the garbage we hear every day that when the thoughts and prompting of the Spirit come into our minds, if we aren’t paying attention, will go right over our heads. We must be ready and listening if we want to hear His voice. I challenge everyone at home to stay ready to hear the Spirit so you never miss the promptings He gives you. Really try to listen for Him in your lives every day, it will bless you more than you know.

Goodness, the sweetest thing happened on Saturday night. Thursday, Friday, and all day Saturday were an absolute doozy for me. I was praying like a maniac for some relief, and it wasn’t until Saturday night that the raddest thing ever happened. We were in the house of Joao, and Branco was there also and we just talked to them for an hour and a half. Joao was going off about how he is so exited to watch his kids grow up and serve missions and how he has already seen God change his life so much through the gospel. Amazing. The only reason he’s not baptized is because his ex-wife is being difficult about their divorce but I think it’s almost finalized. After that happens he can get married to his girlfriend here in Primavera. He was just going off about everything it was the most beautiful night. We were a little doubtful about his baptism until we talked to him about everything on Saturday. Mother of pearl it was a good night. I literally have no doubt that God will always deliver us when were ready for it.

A new President got elected yesterday so last night everyone was out in the street screaming and yelling it was so crazy. They were just throwing fireworks around in the streets everywhere haha. Reminded me of the Fourth of July in the States.

Anyway that’s about it. Keep doing the things y’all do best. Don’t be shy to shoot me an email. 

Peace love and blessings (:

Elder Roskelley

email: proskelley@myldsmail.net

Week 9 was a FESTA

Good morning, afternoon, and evening to you fools.

This week was so much work, but chillin.

It started off so good with Elder Castro becoming my companion. Monday was the best day. We went and ate so much food at Bob’s Burgers hahaha and then later that day got ice cream and it was so delectable. It really showed me that after the trial of our faith comes the blessings. It’s so freaking legit how fast and how certain the blessings come after we remain faithful to what God is asking of us. Never go against the word of God.

On Monday when we were walking back to the house i had to pee so flipping bad it was weird. It’s super illegal to pee on the street in Brasil, but robbing and killing people is chillin. I found a nice place to pee behind this semi and right as I started peeing the semi started hahaha. I was peeing literally as fast as I could and right when the back tire of the semi passed me i finished and it was perfect timing. Elder Castro was laughing so hard.

During my couple weeks in the field I have been learning something very special. I realized that when I expect too much of myself it becomes overwhelming and I get freaking nothing done. We all have things that we need to change, and it’s important to change them, but we need to realize that we can’t do it all at once. Learning to be patient with yourself and with God is the only way we can truly learn and become better people. Always be striving to move forward toward God, one step at a time. The second we turn from God and start walking our own path is the instant we realize our life is trash. Life is so much radder when we take it one step at a time on the trail God has layed out for us.

On Wednesday it rained so insanely hard, and we were like an hour walk from our house so we took shelter in this chicks house. She let us sit in her little garage it was super nice, but the rain never stopped and Elder Castro and I were over sitting there so we just ran home and got soaked haha. Everyone was so confused when they saw us. All of the streets were completely flooded and the water was like up to our ankles. hahahaha

This week I got the raddest opportunity to give Mr. Kevin (Elder Castro) a blessing. He has these freaking terrible hives all over his body and they have really been hurting him for like 2 months so he asked me to help him be healed through the Priesthood. It was super hard anointing the oil because the words are whack in English, but theyre like 7 times whacker in Portuguese ahaha. I gave him the blessing in Portuguese and I don’t remember what I said but I remember it was in Portuguese. When I finished the blessing the dude was just sobbing ahhaha. Later he told me that I blessed him with 2 things that he had been praying for for quite some time. It really proved to me that the Lord’s plan will never be slowed for anything or anyone. He will provide a way for you to be comforted regardless of language barrier, or whatever is standing between you and the blessings he has for you. Kevin’s sores went away in 3 days.

One of the members calls me Elder Roskini. Roskinis are these little Brazilian bread pastries and they’re really good I have come to find out. I had Elder Castro take a picture of me holding a Roskini, and I hope you guys enjoy the underlying comedy in that photo. 

This week we had lunch with the branch president and while we were walking up to his house Elder Castro asked me to give the message but I only had my Portuguese BoM so I told him that I would another day because I was scared. Like 5 minutes after I rejected the responsibility of giving the lunch message President asked me to give a flippin talk in Sacrament meeting hahah. I spent like 2 hours writing this talk and it ended up being so freaking rad. I spoke some supreme Portuguese and everyone understood me clearly and it was such a special experience. I know that if we truly exercise our faith through our actions God will line everything else up for us (:

We have a baptism set up for this Saturday and I am so jittery about it hehehe. I really hope that everything falls into place. Lazaro, the man himself, has been taking lessons from the missionarios for like 4 months and God told us he is finally ready to be baptized. Hopefully satan will lay off a little this week so we can get this thing done.

Things are good out here in the field. Make it another great week.

I love you.

Elder Roskelley

proskelley@myldsmail.net

p.s. Note from Mama Lynda - I received the sweetest surprise email yesterday from one of Porter’s investigators. She sent me the two photos at the bottom. . . made me SO happy!

Porter holding a delicious Roskini bread/pastry

P-day treat - Bob’s Burgers

Chiquinho Ice Cream shop

Week 8 with Elder Fartinez

This week got a little funky...

Elder Martinez was not having it this week haha. He took down my tiny basketball hoop so I put it in the other room haha. Also he told me he doesn’t like when I play the harmonica so I told him that I won’t play it for him anymore I’ll just play it for myself and then I go play it just as loud in the other room hahaha.

On Wednesday things got a tiny bit wacky. For real. Elder Martinez and I were out hitting doors but he would always stand like 3 feet behind me and not help and I was over it. I looked him straight in the face and go “do you just not want to work” and he didn’t say anything so I told him “you are my freaking senior companion and I cannot do this work alone, freaking help me.” and then we went to work. 

I have been getting really good at teaching lessons tho. I try my very best to speak to people and God puts the words I need in my mouth. I always just pray for the Spirit, and I have yet to have a moment where I don’t receive the words I need when I’m teaching. It is so freaking rad.

Every night someone in our apartment building smokes the good old herb so it always smells extra green in our rooms. We have a joke that Martinez puts some marijuana in his sandwiches every night. It’s like the one thing that makes him laugh  haha.

I was eating a banana and I set it on Martinez’s bed to grab something and I forgot I set it there and he was so butthurt for like 30 minutes about it hahahah. He came out of his room holding my brown banana and just goes “que isso” in his monotone voice and Elder Dias and Elder Castro started laughing so hard. Que isso means “what is this”, but the way he said it made it mean “what the heck is this freaking banana doing on my freaking bed.” hahaha

Long story short we had Zone Conference and it was super dope we all had a fun time and also Elder Martinez is being tranfered. Gonna miss how derogatory the dude was. Also gonna miss him giving me words in Spanish and then memorizing them and then having Elder Castro tell me that all the words I memorized were in Spanish. Elder Castro (from Lima Peru) is my new companion and its gonna be weird to have a companion who walks next to me. I’m actually really exited to have a companion that will help me. It’s going to be a huge blessing.

I had a super nice experience this week tho, We were teaching this dude named Joao Baptista and his wife and after we finished the lesson I was literally overcome with the love of Christ for these people. I felt like I needed to tell them how much God loved them and how he is aware of the struggles they are going through and also that he is going to help them through it all, so I did. My Portuguese was freaking whack as always but the Spirit was so strong and I got a little bit sappy and it was beautiful. I cannot wait to see what God has prepared in heaven waiting to bless these people with.

We had 5 people investigating the church in Sacrament meeting on Sunday and it was super cool because President Granja was there and he gave a super nice sermon hahah. He just talked about the Church with them and talked about how the Church isn’t meant to tie them down it’s meant to help them live a more smooth life. I definitely agree with him. I have found out on the mission that there are so many people who think living their lives without God gives them more freedom and it takes them a while to realize it but they always end up figuring out their life is trash without a form of God. I’m just the dude trying to find the people who are feeling like that haha.

Last thing. Prayer. Literally the most important thing in our lives should be praying. Pray for the people you care about, pray for the kid who bullies you. Pray to have the feeling of happiness every day. Pray for literally anything. God just wants to hear your voice. I have been physically uplifted on this mission more times than I can count because I poured out my emotions to God. I know with all of my self that God will help you with those things that are on your mind right now. Give him a prayer.

Welp another week down.

Stay in school kids.

Appreciate your clean working toilets for me.

Love y’all much <3  (;

Porter says they are eating lots and being fed VERY well! Yay!

Pounding the pavement in Primavera do Leste

Porter loves his new companion/trainer - Elder Castro!

WEEK 7 YEE!

Jumping jellyfish, I’m in the field nerds.

It took me two days to get to my area but I am finally here. It was crazy, on my drive to my area, Primavera do Leste, which was like 5 hrs, I woke up from my nap on the bus and looked out the window and saw this little hillside that looked super familiar. Then I recognized it as THE PLACE I SAW IN MY DREAMS WHEN I WAS EXPECTING MY MISSION CALL. I was so freaking shook it was crazy. It was such a rad tender mercy from God.

On my first day I went out with my comp Elder Martinez. He’s from Mexico. The other two dudes living in our apartment with us are Elder Castro from Lima Peru, and Elder Dias from Cape Verde. Nobody speaks English haha, not even a lick. But I got the opportunity to teach a lesson about faith to a super nice dude who is investigating the church. I shared Alma 32:34 with him and bore my testimony about faith. I felt the Spirit so flipping strong it was so rad. 

If I were being completely honest it’s pretty hard to learn a new language. I try to talk to people but it always just ends with me telling them God loves them and also me smiling super big haha. They seem to love it so I’m not worried.

As soon as the people investigating the Church find out that I’ve only been here for like 7 weeks they ALWAYS want me to pray haha it’s so funny. I always offer the most broken, wack prayers and they just love it. I always feel the Spirit tho and its dope so I guess I’ll just keep praying for people.

In my area there is one branch, and it’s pretty small. The church building is an old house that they converted into a cute little church. It’s pretty cool.

On Friday I was reading the talk “Joy and Spiritual Survival” by President Russell M. Nelson and I stumbled on a nice line. “Our afflictions shall be but a small moment, and be consecrated for our gain.” It kinda really hit me in that moment that God doesn’t just give us random trials for no reason. They are always going to be turned around to bless us. That’s so freaking rad. I think it’s super interesting he uses the word small when discribing times in our life that seem hopeless and neverending. It’s super important to remember that it is not our decision to decide how big “small” is. But it is our decision to choose how long we’ll keep faith and be patient with God and his perfect plan for all of us.

I love getting all of your emails!! So freaking much you have no clue. I would love to see pictures of you guys doin dope ish, so if you don’t mind, i mean, it would sorta, like kinda, be cool to see pics of yall. So please send em on over!

Love you guys. 

Keep doing what your doing.

Read your scriptures.

Love,

Elder Roskelley

proskelley@myldsmail.net

Porter in his first area - Primavera do Leste

Week 6 letter!

WELL HELLO THERE.

I mean, you could say it was another nice week.

I learned a lot this week about something I need a lot of. It’s gonna take a lot of it to get more of it. I know that if I continue to use a lot of it I will be a better person for the rest of my life... PATIENCE haha. Everything will come in its due time, but learning to be patient will help us learn a lot more. It’s like a cycle. The more patient we are the more we learn, and the more patience we acquire. It’s super tight.

I have realized that God has a timeframe for all of us and that regardless of what we think we know, He always knows the best. He loves you more than you can even comprehend. He blesses you with struggles, and also happiness, so you can grow. 

I have the strongest testimony of endurance. God will never give us a challenge larger than we can handle. Never. I know without a doubt in my mind that every struggle is only for our benefit, and that if we endure them with positivity and patience we will see the blessings pour from heaven upon us. The key is trusting in God and being patient in all things. I can only imagine how patient God had to be with me over the last 18 years of my life. We must be willing to do the same for Him.

All I gotta say is I have the best mom on the whole entire planet. Everyone at home please go give her a hug for me. She deserves the world.

So long story short I ended up with an extra suitcase. I had no clue what I was going to do with it and was praying for a way I could get rid of it. Last week an Elder from Mozambique came and he showed up with almost nothing. This Elder is without a doubt the happiest person I’ve ever met in my life. We all call him Elder Feliz hahah. I felt prompted to ask him if he needed a new bag and when I did he was so happy and just kept saying I love you I love you over and over again and it made me start dripping from my eye sockets. The Spirit was so strong and when I took the bag to him I popped in an extra white shirt and McBride put a tie and some socks in. Thats what it’s all about folks. If you feel like crap, go love someone. If you are having a rough week, or month, go love someone. It is the cure for any illness. 

I am so freaking ready to go into the field. I have a firm testimony of love and how it truly is the only way to change people. ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE. If someone is being a tool, love them. If someone bugs the freaking tar out of you, love them. The more you love the less you’ll care about what bothers you, and the more you’ll see God and angels manifest themselves in your life.

Everyone go listen to wake me up when september ends by greenday.

Be yourself nerds. (:

Love,

Elder Roskelley

proskelley@myldsmail.net

Porter with his homie in the CTM - Elder Vasquez

PORTER IS IN CUIABÁ! Week 6

Hey guys!! I am in freaking Cuiabá and I am so stoked! The mission President (Pres. Granja) and his wife are the raddest people ever. Cuiabá is really hot but the mission is so big that some of the southern areas are pretty chilly I guess. 

I have no clue who my new companion is yet and I don’t know my area but I am so happy to be here!

My new Pday is on Monday so I will be able to actually email you then.

I have one request. I probably won’t be able to listen to General Conference in English and I am bummed but I will be fine. If you guys could send me a couple of the huge things that happen on Sunday that would be great so I could read them on Monday. 

I love you guys tons! I’ll update you with pictures and all that cheesy stuff on Monday!

Hope Drake and Ry are doing good. 

Talk to you in a few! Love you!

Elder Roskelley

proskelley@myldsmail.net

p.s. A funny thing that happened last week. . . one of the CTM leaders told Porter his hair was too long and that he needed to cut it. So without saying anything to anyone, he just went in the bathroom and buzzed his hair all by himself then walked back into class haha! Here is the updated look! :

WE'RE DOING IT - WEEK 5

WHATUP EVERYBODY!

Yes, t’was another nice week.

It has now been over a month since I left home and I don’t know about you guys but it went pretty fast. I am itchin like none other to get out of this CTM. Not because it isn’t an absolutely lovely and incredibly spiritual box, but I just wanna serve the people of Brasil so bad. 

I took my Patriarchal Blessing into the Celstial room with me this week and was praying to find some sort of motivation to just grind every single day and I’m not gonna get into too many details but I got so so many answers to all of my prayers. I promise you guys if you take questions to the temple with you and truly ask God for help understanding your questions you will get a response. 

On Thursday night I was talking to my language teacher about what he did when he had tough companions. He told me he would always try to serve and love them as much as he could and through that love their hearts would change. In that moment it hit me so hard. I realized that on my mission, and throughout the rest of my life, i need to use love to help people, whether that be some Brasilian who wants the gospel, or one of my best friends. I really realized in that moment loving people is the only way to truly help them find lasting happiness. It is so beautifully simple. Just love people, regardless of what they are doing because they need your love more than you know. 

All I’ve gotta say is the gift of tongues is real. We only spoke Portuguese on Friday last week and it actually went super well. My language teachers only speak Portuguese to us now and almost every single word makes sense. Almost haha.

This week they fed us some very interesting food. To name the worst, they fed us pig heart and some 5 star MTC fish. You don’t think you like eating rice and beans every meal until they put a left ventricle on your plate. But on the bright side they fed us buttered noodles and chicken nuggets the next day. Mom it reminded me of when you’d make me chicken and parmesan noodles haha definitely my favorite meal. Love you.

This week went really crazy fast. I really just kind of stopped worrying what day it was and just freaking worked. I seriously am learning so much. Not only about the language, but about myself and also learning how to better become like Christ and aquire his attributes. It’s dope.

I am finding lasting happiness out here. I know I say this every week but I really am happy. I’m ready for the rough days and I’m going to enjoy the good ones. 

If you guys need anything please ask haha. I know I’m like 10000 miles from home but you guys at home still matter more than anything to me. I would love to do anything that I can for you while I’m away. Don’t be shy. (;

One of my district members made a flute out of an old plastic pen and he plays songs on it for us when I’m not playing songs on my harmonica. It’s super dope.

keep it real,

keep it clean, 

and the Spirit inbetween

Love, Elder Roskelley

Our Sunshine! His hair. . . and that tie. . . oh my! haha

WEEK FOUR boys and gals!

Hello guys! I have some lovely things to share this week.

First off... DESIRE.

Desire is everything. I was thinking about what truly helps you lose yourself in missionary work, and its desire. D&C 4 is so freaking rad. It talks about how if you have desire you are called to the work! It does not say "if you are super smart ye are called to the work" or "if you never get homesick you are called to the work" It literally says if ye have a desire to serve God you are called to the work. I have found out more now than ever that keeping that desire is the main thing we need. If we have desire, God will give us the mental capacity to overcome all dificulties and also give us the physical endurance to go as hard as we can every day serving His people. You cannot do life alone. All God askes of you is to keep the desire to continue to try to be a better person, and he will give us everything else we need.

This week I got a ton of photos in a little album that one of the new elders brought me. (see photo below) My mama gave it to him to bring down here and seeing pictures of you guys was the best thing ever. I missed seeing your faces so so much. I’ve got a lot of love for you guys. You’re all better looking in the pictures than I remember. Except you Garrett.

I cannot explain how important the temple is. Even if you just go sit outside of it i promise it will make your week better. It is the raddest place on this whole entire earth. The feeling inside of any and every temple on the earth is the same, and that has been a huge testimony builder to me. The Spirit is the universal language.

Portuguese is finally clicking! The freaking gift of tongues hahah. I am learning so much and I can talk to people!! It’s so sick. I am so exited to actually get out in the field and teach the Brasilian people. They are the nicest most patient people ever it is insane. The Spirit is so strong every day in the CTM and it is carrying me every second. I just wanna get in the field hahahah. The mission is so dope.

One of the Brasilero Elders loves the NBA and we talked to him for like 25 minutes about the Utah Jazz and he was going bonkers he got so amped about basketball haha I love talking to Brasileros. 

My mom sent me a harmonica with some sheet music and I figured out how to play that little metal windpipe so fast it is wierd. When i come back from my mission you guys better be ready for some nice harmonica solos. I will master the ability to play the harmonica before I return.

On Saturday we got to go and proselyte out in Sao Paulo and it was so rad. There was this certain dude in particular that Elder McBride and I stopped and we were talking to him for a little bit but then he asked me why I decided to go on a mission. I spoke to him for about 5 minutes about how love carried me here, and specifically how the love God has for his children is what i count on every day to help me learn Portuguese, keep my family and friends safe, and ultimately bring the happiness i feel so strongly every minute to the people of Brasil. Love is everything. It is beautifully simple.

I am so exited to spend eternity with you dudes. I cannot wait to bring the happiness I feel from knowing i can spend eternal life with my family and friends to the people of Brasil.

This week has been one of the best i’ve ever had. The feelings I have out here are like none other. Once I realized this two years has nothing to do with me something changed in my heart and I have never desired to serve the people of Brasil more. This is the best work in the world.

If you guys need anything don’t be shy to ask.

I love you guys. Keep grinding at home. I’ll do the same.

Amo Voces

woah woah yeah <3

Elder Roskelley

proskelley@myldsmail.net

Porter’s dorm room in the São Paulo CTM - he looks so happy!

WEEK THREE NERDS - photos below!

Tudo bem squad. 

Another week another dolla. $$$

On Sunday afternoon i was eating some slop and i was sitting with my discrict and I accidentally burped pretty loud and one of the Brasilian elders who is the AP came over to me and was like ^here in Brasil burping is very rude and if you do it people will take incredible offense^hahah he totally toasted me. He just kept telling me over and over how rude it was and it went on for like 5 minutes so i just go ^Dude i understand, i’m sorry i burped but i get it^and then just walked away haha. I learned my lesson tho.

This whole mission experience is beautiful. Every time i get down I feel God carrying me once i decide i want to put in the effort that is needed. 

Anyway, yes i still miss you guys. A lot

Once again I was blown out of the water by the temple. This week we went to the Sao Paulo temple and it is a lot smaller than the Campinas temple but the Spirit was still larger than life. Sitting in the Celestial Room is not of this world. Without the Spirit i would be absolutely nothing. The Spirit is what is teaching the people and keeping me happy and keeping the love flowing. It is everything.

I have recently discovered that God will never leave us alone. On this mission I have found out how many angels are in each of our lives. I have felt them an incredible amount these past weeks and i have an undeniable testimony of their presence. Every single one of you also has angels watching over you every day. I promise you on everything that i have, they are there. Never ever forget that. They love you and desire to bless your life in crazy wild ways.

Pizza night is every Thursday night and usually the pizza sucks so bad, but on this thursday the cheese pizza tasted like Dimitris pizza from the Junction in Alpine in like 2006 and it just took me back. I could go for some nice homecooked cuisine right now.  Mom I have never appreciated your cooking skills more in my life. When I get back I want Pesto chicken enchiladas pretty pretty please. 

We have actividade fisica almost every day for 1 hour and all the Brazileros love me because i play Volleyball with them every single time. Since i have been playing like 5 days a week for the past 3 weeks i have gotten pretty lethal hahah. 

The Spirit is the only reason i am learning anything here. Ever since i have gotten here i have felt just like a lost puppy and the Spirit is guiding me through everything. I had a 12 minute conversation with someone in Portuguese and I understood what they were saying and they understood what I was saying. It has barely been three weeks and i can speak outrageously average amateur Portuguese. There is only one explanation for that. With the companionship of the Spirit I can do anything.

On the real tho all of you guys' emails keep me rolling. You folks at home, and specifically mom and dad, are the ones who made this all possible. Thank you for your constant support and continuous prayers. They don’t go unnoticed.

Everytime I feel the Spirit I get so amped up to preach the gospel and I am just so exited to get out in the field. Learning Portuguese is definitely a struggle but I can do anything with the Spirit. I have been humbled so many times here and am realizing the only way I can do anything is through Christ. He is the reason we can wake up every day and continue on this beautiful journey of life. This gospel is everything! 

I want to share one more experience for the week. On Sunday I was having the roughest day i’ve had in a long long while.  I got to Sacrament meeting and took the sacrament and then just listened to the speakers. I was praying so so hard to recieve some strength from God. Every single speaker talked about how reguardless of how well you know the language the people will feel of your love and that will change thier lives. It took me back to my farewell talk in which i talked about how love is all I need and everything else will come. God isn’t always going to send some gigantic thing to deliver us. We must watch and wait for the little blessings that add up to our deliverance.

It sounds kindof weird, but mom I want to marry someone who raises my children as good as you raised Drake Ryker and I. I didn’t realize how good of a mother you truly are until i got out here. I owe you and Dad everything. Thank you for giving me such an incredible example to follow for the rest of my life.

I KNOW I am supposed to be here and this week has not been easy, but it will be worth it.  I have the strongest testimony of prayer and know that if we pray with faith to Heavenly Father he will answer. We must excersize faith and be patient.

God will answer you. Don’t ever forget that.

I LOVE YOU GUYS

please continue to send prayers

i will do the same (:

Love, 

Elder Roskelley

proskelley@myldsmail.net

p.s. Porter really likes his companion Elder McBride. . .they are getting along so well and are helping each other a bunch.  SO happy he was finally able to send a couple photos. . .

Templo de São Paulo Brazil with Elder McBride

São Paulo Brazil CTM with Elder McBride

WEEK TWO FOOLS (for the boys)

Oi Familia! I gave my first priesthood blessing this week to my companion and it is such a special experience. I could truly feel the Lord talking through me. I was pretty nervous and honestly dont know what I said but i felt so good and i love having the priesthood and just feeling the way I feel here.

On our first Pday we got to go to the Camphinas temple and it was the most stress relieving thing i've ever done in my life. I seriously love the temple, the feeling you have inside is like none else. I challenge all you g~s at home to go hit the temple as much as you can. Set a reasonable goal. I know every week can be a lot so maybe go every two weeks or if you're feeling it go every week. It's chillin either way. If your not clean then try to get clean. Go sit outside the temple and just soak up its goodness. Give it a shot.

Mom and Dad the package i got from you guys made my world. Seriously it made me so happy I feel like a different person. I am so happy out here and nothing will ever replace my family and my friends back home, but having the Spirit so constantly out here definitely makes it easier.

I watched one of my district members pick his boogies and eat them and it made me feel super weird because he is the friendliest dude on the earth and such a kind dude but he always tries to shake everyones hand and i just like dude like eh like what like alright i'll shake your dang hand.

Portuguese is coming super well and i am having a super good time learning it (for the most part). I can already see the time rolling. We always teach "lessons" and the Spirit is so strong and i am really anxious to get out in the field. During one of the lessons my companiero was trying to say Î am so happy for you but he accidentally said Êu muito feliz natal para voce which means i am very happy christmas for you roughly and it made me giggle hehe.

This mission is going so fast already. It is gonna pass way faster than we all think. The Lord has blessed me more than i ever could’ve imagined already and I am just so exited to continue on this adventure (;  All of the people in my hallway at the CTM want to meet you Mom and Dad. 

Everyone wants to join our friend group when I get home from the mission because I tell them how rad all of guys are. I miss you guys more than you know and I don’t know how lucky i got to have such good friends like you guys. Get ready for your missions rn because you will not regret coming out here to serve the Lord. You don’t need to change who you are but change the direction of your heart to the Lord. You won’t regret it. The most important thing i have learned thus far on the mission (a whole two weeks is so long i know) is that God wants you to be you. He doesn’t want you to be some 24/7 scripture reading nerd or some self-righteous nutball, He just wants you. Don’t change yourself just change your heart. People need the Spirit that you and only you brought to this earth. Remember that.

I was in the shower on Friday next to a Brasilero. His name is Elder Santana and he was singing so i go voce Justin Beiber which means you’re Justin Beiber (i think) and then he started yelling VOCE JUSTIN BIEBER back at me so loud and then we just starting yelling it back and forth at each other and it was so funny hehehe. 

During our study one day we watched a video and it was Elder Bednar talking at the MTC a few years ago. It was titled the Holy Ghost i think and he talked about how the Spirit will work through you if you are just trying to be a good person. You don’t need some huge prompting from the Holy Ghost. You don’t need the Holy Ghost to tell you every step to take. I promise you that if you are trying to be good the Holy Ghost WILL work through you, and you will feel of its presence. I want you guys to watch the video if you have time. Just google Elder Bednar Holy Ghost MTC talk or something like that i bet it’ll pop right up eh.

I AM LOVING BEING ON MY MISSION. I am seriously so happy out here and i love and miss all of you greatly, but momma ain’t raise no kid. You are the people who got me here. 2 weeks down 96 more to go, but who’s counting: (;  (they send us home six weeks early down here so i’ll see you guys 2020 July)

 BUT RIGHT NOW I GOTTA SERVE.

Til next week.

YEETMODE

love you momma & pops

Love,

Elder Roskelley

proskelley@myldsmail.net

**NOTE from Mama Lynda: Can you believe the difference one week has made. . . wow he sounds so great!  I just wanted to THANK EVERYONE for ALL of your love, support and prayers. . . Porter is really feeling it!!  He said he got a bunch of emails from so many people, which made him super happy. . . yet kinda stressed because he wanted to respond to everyone.  He only has 50 minutes to read all emails, then try to respond, which goes SUPER fast.  So if you didn’t get a personal response, I know he’ll try to get to you next week.  Keep the letters, and prayers coming!  You all are the BEST! Xo

Still no photos from Porter. Hmmmm. . .

Semana #1!! The start

Hello loved ones. So far my mission has been absolutely wild.  Although i have been missing all of you very much i have felt so many tender mercies already it just makes me so exited to continue on this journey. On the first night during the plane ride i was having a very hard time. I was praying for God to give me some sort of feeling or something i could look to for strength. As soon as i finished my prayer i looked up and the napkin the lady gave me with my drink said "the world is better with you out in it." Right in that moment i knew i was supposed to be serving regardless of how hard it got.

When we landed it took forever to get out of the airport and then forever for our bus to come. I slept the whole bus ride to the MTC. When we arrived at the MTC some random kid looks at me like he knows me and goes DUDE i totally know you after staring at me for like 20 seconds. He goes i’ve seen you in all these super rad videos on youtube. it was the strangest thing and then I asked him where he was from and he told me Virginia and that he watches Micah Browns videos all the time hahah like what the freak. Some random kid from Virginia. It made me feel right at home and made me miss all you guys especially my close buddies. I love you guys so much and you are all in my prayers every minute. After that i walked down the hall and this other kid goes where are you guys from so i told him Alpine Utah and he goes do you know Calvin Huish and i was like alright what the cuss is going on. Then he told me he was best friends with Sam Jensen at BYU. Such a small world. 

Mom i miss you far more than anyone and i am so grateful for all of the little things you do for me. I love you. Also, 3 people have asked me about paingamez and it surprises me every time hahah. Small freaking world.

On Friday morning I asked Elder Fuller for a blessing. Right when I woke up i was so sad and feeling inadequate and super home sick and he told me that he was super grateful for my attitude and that he knows I was supposed to be here. The first thing he told me in the blessing was that I need to remember the words of President Bentley as i got set apart and specifically that i needed to remember that he told me my family would be okay. He had no clue what President Bentley said to me in my setting apart which is such a testimony builder. God told him exactly what he needed to say to me and exactly what i needed to hear. Also he blessed me with an increased dose of the Spirit and the ability to learn the Portuguese language quickly. 

There are so many elders here that make me feel at home and feel less homesick. I brag to everyone about how i have the best parents by far and everyone thinks dad is the coolest man on the planet after telling them about mountain climbing and also everyone is so jealous of me because i am the healthiest person in my district by far. My district leader is kind of a hard nose but patience is a virtue. I can learn to deal with all kinds of people. 

Portuguese is so beautiful at times but also so stressful. We taught our first lesson to someone in the MTC on Friday and it went well. Dome de Linguas (the gift of tongues) is real (: 

Today I got super homesick and really opened up to my companieros and they all pitched in and got me a ton of candy and put it under my pillow and seriously made me feel like i was right at home. The Lord is looking out for me so greatly. I busted out the CD player and am playing some William Joseph Hymns and all of my companions are so stoked on it. Mom you are the greatest mom on this whole entire earth. Seriously greater than any mom to ever walk the earth. Better than Eve. No that isn’t sacrilegious.

Monday was a super amazing day because it was the day that I started to pick up Portuguese very well. I talked to some Brasileros in the bathroom and i could actually understand them and it went so freaking good. My companion and I are getting along super well. His name is Elder McBride and he’s a super nice kid from Cache Valley. Elder Wall (the one who recognized me from the videos) is always asking me about my friends, and on the real, i love all of the memories we’ve had. Every single one of you brings so much to my life and I know there are so many memories to come. 

Todos voces amo (i love you all, in Portuguese…i’m pretty sure.... conjugating is hard)

But on the real I am already exited to get out and teach the amazing people of Brazil. I have so much love for them, just gotta learn Portuguese (;

Go make someones day this week and don’t forget to say your prayers hehehe.  

PLEASE WRITE!  proskelley@myldsmail.net

Love,

Elder Roskelley

p.s. FYI. . . Porter said, while in the São Paulo MTC for the next 5 weeks, his P-day is on Wednesday, but that is also their temple day so he was allowed to email us this morning. (Tuesday) 

**HE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU!! 

And. . . he's off!!

After anticipating this day for 4 months. . . it's hard to believe Porter is on his way! En route to the São Paulo CTM (Centro de Treinamento Missionário) to report first thing tomorrow morning. Man, this just does NOT get ANY easier! Yet knowing he is well prepared for this moment he has been working toward his entire life makes it all a little sweeter. Porter will be a powerful force in Cuiabá Brazil. They sure are getting a great and noble one for the next 2 years! We love you dearly, Elder Roskelley, and are SOOO very proud of you!! You are in our constant prayers!!

FAREWELL Elder Roskelley

What a sweet experience to hear Elder Roskelley speak in church (Mountainville 3rd Ward) on August 19, 2018. Porter gave a beautiful, heartfelt talk on "the blessings of His Spirit to be with us", sharing several personal experiences he has had while serving others . . . forgetting about himself and anything hard he was going through, while serving those in need. He talked about service leading him to love others, then that love invited the Spirit of Jesus Christ, which ultimately made him genuinely happy even during rough times. He also shared. . . in many of his journal entries over the years, he mentioned how much he LOVED the Spirit and the huge difference it had on his life when he sought to have the constant companionship of the Spirit, and lived worthy of it. . . everything just worked out better.  It was so sweet to hear his realization that all he needs to do is just love others and stay close to the Spirit, then everything else will fall into place. Wise counsel, my 18 year old boy!  It was overwhelming to see the chapel completely packed with so many friends, family members, leaders, coaches, beloved elementary school teachers and loved ones who have influenced Porter's life in such a remarkable way, which has helped shape him into the fine young man that he is today. It truly does "take a village..." we are humbled and very grateful for the incredibly loving and supportive village we are part of! Well done Elder Roskelley!!