Letter #2 - What Happened to Our Stephen?

So I can tell you how glad i am that I didn't go to Spain on Tuesday. every Tuesday night we have a devotional. And this one we got to hear Elder Richard G. Scott come speak. That is a unbelievably strong man. When he walked in the auditorium, the entire spirit of the place changed, how close to God do you have to be to be able to do something like that? He spoke about recognizing the promptings of the spirit, mostly for protection. It was amazing. In no way would have i traded that to be in Spain right now. He also touched on the subject of prayer and if done with enough faith, how powerful it can be.
Yesterday we had a teacher talk to us about the missionaries we like in the Book of Mormon. After we went through all of that he told us, "Okay, what powers did those missionaries have that we today don't?" And he is right, I am granted with the same powers that Alma, Ammon, Dan Jones, and all those other great man who baptized thousands had. The only difference is do I have the faith that god allow me perform the same works they did.
Besides that no word on the Visa. I know it will come when it is suppose to, but I really am hoping that it is suppose to soon. I mean Spain or Provo, i no its close but i think Spain in the winner. Beside that nothing to report. The Spanish is coming, slow but it is coming.
Love
Elder Stephen Roos
I love you,
*Editor's Note: Pictures to be posted soon, he just sent home a camera card.

Two Letters This Week : Letter #1

So guess what, I'm not on my way to Spain. I bet you didn't see that one coming. O well its fine. I mean I cant think of why i would even wanna leave. I mean this is Provo, UT. one of the 7 wonders of the world right. Well my companion and my 2 roommates left early this morning. Now I'm in a threesome companionship with two of the guys in the district. They are cool so it should work out, I would just much rather be outta here. You know how i am about that stuff.
   Besides that everything is still the same every day. Lets see, i wake up, go to class, eat, a little bit of gym, the press the restart button for the next day. I'm just ready for a different same old same old.
   Well i love all of you hand home all is well.

Second Letter

Hello, two weeks done here. things are going really well. Me and my comp are about the only ones who still dont wanna kill each other. thats probably because we are too busy laughing at everyone else. Spanish is going well. I go to bed feeling like my head is going to explode and i haven't learned anything but then i look back and i'm like wow i've only been doing this for 2 weeks. yesterday we taught the first lesson in spanish, it was only like 7 min though and mostly memorized. Besides that everything is awesome. so it doesn't look like i'm going to be leaving on the 25 because my visa still hasnt come though. that's what i get for sending it in late. but we will see.

Note from Stephen's Family - Please give us your address and email address so Stephen has it.

Pictures

Here are a few pictures of Stevie going into the Missionary Training Center (MTC).

With Mom and Dad before leaving Aunt Penny's house.
Saying goodbye to Grandma.
On the way to Provo they stopped to have lunch with a good friend, Jeff Sites.
The classic MTC Picture.
Dad trying not to cry.
New missionaries are met by other missionaries who are at the MTC who serve as their guide. It worked out that a good friend from home, Robbie Reid, was able to be Stevie's guide.

The Letter

well made it through the first week, all is well here. Went to the temple today and went and saw it on sunday. I love my comp. We get along very well but both of us like to get stuff done. NOthing really to repport, I wake up at 630, got to class, go to breafast, go to class, go to lunch go to class, dinner, class then plan for tomorrow (which will be class) then go to bed and start over. Besides that thats about it, o we do get 35 min of gym. The laungage is going well. Its alot easier to learn it when its what i want to do and i dont hate the teacher.

First Email from the MTC

We received Stephie's first email today, and I have copied most of it below. He has asked for everyone's email and home addresses. He can't send you emails, but I can forward his emails to you or he can send you hand written letters. Please leave you information as a comment. Also, if you would like to email him his email address is jstephenroos@myldsmail.net. He can check his email once a week. He would also love real mail. His address is :
Elder John Stephen Roos
MTC Mailbox #223
SPA-BAR 0825
2005 N 900 East
Provo, Utah 84604

He will be there until August 25, after that he will be in Spain. He would love to hear from people!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Stephen will enter the MTC tomorrow. He'll spend three weeks in Provo, then he'll head to Madrid to complete the rest of his training. He will report to Barcelona towards the end of September. Check this blog weekly for letter excerpts and photo's from this amazing experince.