FIRST THANKSGIVING NOVEMBER 26, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Birthday Yosh,

It's been quite chilly over here in England yet the sun has been out every single day this week. It's quite the conundrum. It was -9 degrees celcius yesterday morning. I don't know how cold that is but it sounds freezing. I still haven't purchased a coat but I snagged an old one from the zone leaders flat and it is ugly. Keeps me warm though. We are headed out to the trafford centre today and I might man up and purchase myself a coat. We'll see though.

I went on another exchange with Elder Helzer this past week. We spent two days here in the swinton area together. He's a great missionary, great work ethic and his desire to better himself is quite apparent. He also has a crazy german accent which is great. His clip on tag broke this week and he had no way of putting his tag on his coat so I included a picture of how he wore it that night. Very very funny.

We had a baptism this saturday. Ebenezer and Girmaye Liban. They are the sons of Gedo and Fatuma Godona. They were both baptised about two years ago. They lived in Ethiopia about ten years ago and due to problems in ethiopia they had to flee to kenya and their sons were taken somewhere safe in Ethiopia. Then about two years ago they ran into more trouble in Kenya and the british government air lifted them out of africa and gave them a place to live in salford. After ten years, they were finally reunited with their sons in October. They have spent a lot of time and money trying to locate and then prove that Ebenezer and Girmaye are their children. We have had the incredible experience of teaching them and their parents have been amazing in helping us overcome the language barrier.

Their baptism was incredible. Gedo baptised them both and Elder Green and I had the opportunity to witness and give talks as well. The funny part was is that we practiced with gedo quite a few times before the baptism and he has trouble saying the word baptise. He always said "baptism you". Then when it was ebenezer's turn to be baptised, of course he says "I baptism you", Ebenezer started laughing under his breath. It was so funny, but he finally got it. Got some pictures for you as well. I am so excited for the life that will be ahead of them because of their decision to be baptised.

I received one of your packages this week as well. It officially looks like a christmas bomb went off in our flat. I'm guessing i'm not allowed to open the wrapped part until christmas, correct me if i'm wrong. I sent you a picture of the snowmen i made. I'm funny.

We had our sports day this friday and it was actually quite fun. I played american football, basketball and volleyball for six hours straight and i've been feeling it for quite a few days now. I am extremely sore and I think I will refrain from exercise for the rest of my life. It's just not for me. So that was our thanksgiving, we also got to take an hour and a half tea, whoopie. I had chicken nuggets for thanksgiving dinner.

I have had like twenty tea appointments since i've been in the ward and I have only eaten two things. Chili and Rice or Chicken, potatoes, sausage and carrots. They are obsessed with their potatoes. I can't remember if I have already told you this. Every meal they have every kind of potato you can think of, mashed, roast, fried, it's ridiculous. But it's food so I aint complaining. Our ward mission leader just got released so that kind of blows and they still haven't called a new one. The ward can be a little sloppy sometimes I have found out.

Not much is new over here. Elder Green and I are still working hard. Glad to hear about Josh's tourney. You drove all the way to vegas for two games of football, that seems a little silly. Make sure he knows I said happy birthday and if I wasn't thousands of miles away I might get him something. Anyway I will speak to you all next week.

Trace

Elder Rodgerson & Dittmer Salford, England

catching up with Elder Rodgerson!

Here's the email from LAST MONDAY!

Family/Mother/Father,

I hope your birthday was well and I will try my very hardest to keep in mind all the emails i received as I reply!

Everything is going great so far. i'll be completely honest, I am quite homesick. It all hit me at once just a few days ago and i'm spending quite a bit of time on my knees trying to forget about home. This is probably one of the hardest things i've ever done but I know it will be worth it. It helps when I am able to build relationships with the members and investigators. My first sunday in the ward was yesterday and it went well. I was able to meet so many people. The ward is rather large but everyone knows each other. It's a great community they have there. Everyone comes late into sacrament meeting because they were all busy socializing in the hallway. The ward mission leader is brother ashton and he is very nice. He is extremely helpful to us and is always available to come out to teach with us. We had dinner at there home this week.
The people we teach are all amazing and I was able to develop really strong relationships really fast. I love nothing more than being able to go to their homes to chat and to feel the spirit. Most of the people we teach attend the University of Salford and that is where we do most of our finding. I would love to tell you all kinds of stories about the people I teach so send me a letter if you want to hear them!
That is pretty wild that chub got baptised (they use an "s" here, it's kinda weird). good for him. Katelin sent me a picture of him with Jared and Mike it was adorable of course.
I love my family but I miss Josh pretty bad. I think about him all the time. Also Joe, I hope I will be able to work for him again.
How are zach and josh doing?
Hopefully I'll talk to you soon. But for now, cheers mate!

Trace

15 Theatre House
Langworthy Road
Salford, England
M6 7AH

And here is today's:

I am so sorry about how short this email will be but a stupid zone activity got us to the library with about fifteen minutes to email. I do laundry in our flat, we have machines. We grocery shop at lidl, the grocery store is very different. I really love the mission president. He is very strict and old fashioned but is very likeable and very sincere. I see other missionaries quite often at conferences and trainings and mission home firesides. I have great pictures to send home but unfortunately i have no time. I will make my companion spend two hours here next monday. I wrote a very detailed letter to katelin about all the people I teach so have her explain a little bit more about what's going on with me. My companion and I are growing very close and we are actually having a way good time together. We are learning each others humour and it is helping quite a bit. We had a lesson where we watched Legacy, i had some serious flashbacks. We watched it with our investigator Deivija (dated for the 30th, woot), at the Raemons home (phillipino, hopefully they cook as well as anita parsons) with Brymo (nigerian, 18, recent convert) and the bishop. It was such a good lesson and we had such a good time. I can't remember the last time I laughed as hard as I did last night. I will send you pictures of all the good times we had. The work is moving along quite wonderfully, I really love all the people we teach. We are in a pretty big city so we spend a majority of the time street contacting and riding the bus. We teach Ebenezer and Jeremiah tonight. Two young boys from a part member family, I love teaching them because they barely know english so we just play games with them and have there parents translate. Slowly the homesickness is fading. Sorry this was so short.

Trace

P.S. I loved the package, even though there was a bunch of random stuff in there it helped me out quite a bit. The pretzel m and m's was money! My companion loves the ball that lights up, he thinks its the coolest thing ever. The glowsticks me and my companion decided will only be broken after a baptism so let's hope its soon, it's very tempting! We teach a man named brymo wells from nigeria. 18 years old and happy all the time. He writes songs and upon listening to his songs Elder Dittmer and I decided we needed to have him change the words he said. He tried to justify it by saying he only said crude things on occassion. I said "Brymo, I'm gonna make you some brownies alright? and I'm just gonna put a little bit of poop in them. Sound good?"...Thanks Mom. He received it well and decided he is going to change his songs. I had my first experience with looking the wrong way while crossing the street. My companion apparently still has the same problem because we got to the median of the street both of us swung our heads right and stepped into the street only to be honked at and nearly missed by a car coming from the other side. Oh England.

Letter #3

Yo family,

Hartford, Connecticut Temple!
Happy Birthday Mom

I got some serious updating to do so here it goes. I'm serving in Salford. It it a city that existed before manchester but as time went on manchester sort of enveloped it. It is a pretty dumpy town to be honest. It looks just like bridgeport...it's like coming home. Lots of trees and big brick apartment buildings, it's a pretty rough place. I've had a homeless wheelchaired man yelling at me trying to get me to call an ambulance for him, which we almost did, A crazy drunkard harassing us in a walkway tunnel trying to get some leaflets from us and a man who's been to prison twice, the first time for murder, the second time for murder, yelling at me telling me joseph smith is not god. I continued to explain to him that i was well aware of this. Our flat is nice but pretty small i didn't take pictures this time but next time for sure. The food aint so bad. I found a new favorite snack, crumpets with some choco-duo sauce. My companion, Elder Dittmer is from hamburg, germany and he is like proper german, as the english would say. We are both about the same hieght which is pretty nice. The problem is we don't find eachother very funny, so it can be boring at times. He's a great trainer though. He is a district leader and he's been out almost a year. He has taught me a whole lot so far, including how to walk fast. He calls it walking with purpose. We teach very well together, I finally started to figure out what teaching by the spirit is. We came out of an appointment after teaching the first lesson and in the lesson the investigator asked a pretty tricky question and referring to the prayer at the beginning I was able to answer her question. My companion said afterwards "I was going to say that exact same thing. If that's not revelation, i don't know what is." Pretty good stuff. The missionary work is hard that's for sure but it turns out to be very rewarding. Every morning I wake up and I am homesick like you wouldn't believe. I feel awful in the mornings but as the day progresses I feel better and better. By the time we arrive home every night, exhausted and sweating, I am happy and I feel great. It is this cycle i keep going through but i am told it gets better with time. We have a quite a few investigators and a transfer goal of six baptisms. we have zero so far and zero dated. Nevertheless, we will continue to work hard. We teach a lot of recent converts as well. My favorite is brymo from nigeria. He is eighteen years old and ends all of his sentences with "you knowum sayin?". It is fun to teach him and watch his progression. I am very jealous of the missionaries that found him first. It makes me realize how much of a change we can have on people's lives. We are also teaching a boy named hadrian who is preparing to serve a mission. We teach him and do lots of roleplays, it makes me feel important. General conference was great. We spent the whole day at the stake center watching all the sessions in a row. There was a point where it was raining so hard outside that the sattelite signal cut off for quite a while. That darn english weather. Street contacting is pretty scary stuff but worse than that is bus contacting, it terrifies me. I get on the bus and my companion starts chattin away and i just freeze up and sit down. I don't know why I am so scared of it. I suppose i will get over it as time continues. Plus we ride the bus everywhere. We set up a lot of appointments with people but a majority of them fall through, I think Elder Dittmer and I intimidate people into meeting with us. I met Elder Helzer at General Conference, he is in our district. He is best friends with Torsten and he speaks about as much english as him as well. For P-day today we went out to the city to do some sight seeing and I will include some pictures. Best believe I be preachin' in my wallabees! It's good to hear from everybody and i'm excited for my package! Happy Birthday Moms and you should call Jake up and say the same 801-205-9416. You have the same birthday you know! I saw one of the tripp girls in the choir at conference and a kid i went to high school with. Talk about homesick!

Peace,

Trace

ELDER RODGERSON HEADS OFF TO MANCHESTER

Yo fam damily!

Last night here at the mtc and they're giving us fifteen minutes to email. So i'll keep it brief. went tracting in chorley on friday with a missionary from switzerland who doesn't speak no english! I was talking way to much and way to fast but got two new potential investigators and gave 4 books of mormon baby cakes. The mtc has been actually rather enjoyable, the teachers are all great and they give some very useful practical tips about the field. I'm gonna miss my companion and the scottish janitor ronnie (groundskeeper willie for all of you simpsons fans). My companions humour is really dry i'll try to include some jokes of his if I have the time. I have ruined two of my white shirts since i got here, so if you really feel like sending me something you should send me some white shirts, or not, i don't care. But my watch, i would rather just get a new one, it would be just as cheap. or i'll just deal with my loose second hand, mike wants my watch maybe i'll trade him for one of his. Anyways they're picking me up from the MTC at six thirty tomorrow, pretty heavy stuff. My time is up, i got fifteen minutes instead of ten from elder powell, the mtc secretary who reminds me of grandpa fairchild, because i fixed his internet for him.

One Love,

Trace

England Manchester Mission

Springs Wood Suite G5

Booths Park

Knutsford

WA16 8QZ

ANGLAND!!!!!

SECOND letter from trace!!!

First off, happy birthday dad. You've almost lived half a century. That's old. I am here til next wednesday, just a heads up.

We went out finding last friday and it was terrifying. We hopped on a train with 27 of us and a few teachers from the MTC with a bunch of pass along cards and books of mormon. We got off at the picadilly station in the heart of manchester. There were thousands upon thousands of people and they called it the "talking to everyone activity." Me and my companion spent the first twenty minutes getting over our nerves and then the fun began. We went from person to person for about an hour just talking to them about religion, god, prophets and whatever else we saw fit. We handed out a few pass along cards invited a few people to do things like pray to know if there was a god and then hop on mormon.org! We were having trouble trying to get people to let us take enough time to teach them a lesson but then we went on splits with a couple of the mtc teachers. I went with brother perry. He just got home from the manchester mission and you could tell. He was running between people, stopping people on their bikes and trying to talk to people already on their cell phones. it made me uncomfortable to be honest, but he knew what it was all about. He definitely talked to everyone. We were able to talk to a man named migisna from somalia (who was on his phone at first). He agreed to sit down for a minute and let us teach him. He is a student at manchester university and barely spoke english. We taught him the entire first lesson from preach my gospel but he had a little bit of a hard time understanding all of it. We were able to leave him with an english book of mormon (which he can't read) and he agreed to have the missionaries come by to speak to him. He also agreed to try to attend church on sunday. It was a pretty incredible experience and just what i needed to be motivated to work hard. It was great to see how the lord prepares people for the missionaries. We go out knocking doors on friday.

The sun came out for the first time today. We were able to go out on the field today. I scored a goal or two and showed those europeans how to play a little football. It's funny how different our cultures are. They honestly think that american football is the gayest sport in the world and every single one of them is good at soccer. It was good to see the sun today and go outside for a little. We were supposed to on a church history tour to preston but there were so many accidents on the motorway that it wouldn't have been worth it. So we spent the day playing sports and getting a free haircut from the hairdresser that they have come around.

My watch broke this week. tell joe that nixon watches have given us nothing but trouble. the second hand is broken on it but the hours and minutes still work. if you feel like sending me a new one, time teller black with the tan face, that would be cool. but don't worry about it, i'll just buy a blinged out fake rolex from my companion.

Dad, my favorite scriptures are as follows, i had a hard time picking one:

St. Matthew 10: 16-20

St. John 14:27

St. Mark 14:38

Enos 1: 27 (this one sounds like i'm dying though)

Anyways. how's joshes football team doing? who won america's got talent? Did the pats win the s-bowl yet?

These are just a few grueling questions that have been weighing heavy on my mind.

I love ya'll keep it real

Trace

Cute Poem Authored by Collette Cook

Without a Trace
There is no race
I miss you like crazy
Please don't be lazy
Have an adventure
In Manchester

Love/ Collette

FIRST LETTER TO HOME!!!!

I apologize you haven't heard from me sooner dear family but it's officially p-day and they are pretty strict on the rules here. I found this out very early on when the mtc president came barging into our room at 10:32 telling us to turn off the lights and they we need to be better missionaries. Lights out was supposed to be at 10:30. Regardless, I will begin from when i left you.

The first elder i ran into in line at security in slc was elder burgoyne from taylorsville, who's only been on a plane once when he was nine. He must have been a little shell shocked because all he could say for the first hour or so was, "this is so crazy. this is crazy". We eventually were met up by three three other elders at the gate. manning, dudley (originally from London), and starr. We flew to JFK where we picked up two more elders. Mannwaring from Newport Beach (originally from Utah) and Mlynar from Detroit. We then ate some Burger King for like ten bucks a meal at the airport and waited for our flight for about three hours. I called home from a payphone, but as expected, no one answered. The flight to Manchester was pretty rough but I did have my own video screen with digital radio and games. I played round about a thousand games of solitaire and jammed the black keys. When we arrived in England it was everything you expect. It was cold and it was raining, and hasn't stopped for six days. We were picked up by brother mount, who looks like a professor straight out of harry potter, after going through customs, adjusting to everyones accents. The agent at the desk said cheers to me. We walked out to the mission van and loaded in. It was great to drive through and look at all the scenery, we were able to see the manchester city center from the motorway and some countryside in between manchester and preston. The mtc sits on a large complex that includes the temple, the distribution center, a stake center, temple patron housing, the temple presidents housing and the mtc. The grounds are beautifully landscaped with a giant fish pond, flowers and hedges. the whole place looks like alice in wonderland. We were welcomed by the mtc presidency and ushered through a variety of interviews, orientations, and other routine matters. Missionaries from all over the world started to trickle in from all over the world until, finally, there were twenty some of us. 7 americans, 14 brits and some australians, danish, swiss, philippino, german and taiwanese.

My companinon is Elder Youles from London. He's short, buff, buzzed head, and a flat nose. He looks like some sort of british henchman from a movie. He by far has the thickest accent and I always have to make him repeat everything he says. He's very reverent about spiritual things, a funny guy and a great companion. He's also kind of shady though. He has a ton of fake rolex watches that he's been trying to sell since he got here. He's been teaching me lots of things though. Like how to put on a duvee cover, and how to talk like you're english. drop your h's, th's are f's, and er's are uh's. With this many brits around it's hard adjusting to being the foreigner. Every meal there is some sort of weird english dish that is just awful, they're "fizzy drinks" are totally different, they're cereal is off, and every single one of them is good at football. I also learned that they love listening to an american accent just as much as we love listening to a british one.

The classroom instruction is very helpful. It's very directed and focused on what we need to be taught. we do a lot of role play and things and we are going out this friday to the manchester city center to have a crack at being a missionary. I'm glad i've gotten over the fear of talking to people but the context is completely different and it's still a little terrifying.

I have to run because i'm only allowed thirty minutes but I love you all and I hope to hear from you soon. Write me letters if you will.

Love,

Trace

Trace Arrived Safely in England!

Dear Rodgerson Family,

Just a short note to let you know that after a long journey Elder Rodgerson has arrived safely at the Missionary Training Centre here in England. He will be sending a personal e-mail to you on Wednesday. His missionary e-mail address is:
We are delighted to have him with us, and thank you for sending such a wonderful young missionary. We are certain that he will have a great experience here in the MTC. We are committed to his happiness and success. Kind regards,

President Terry and Sister Melodee Clegg
England Missionary Training Centre
01257 226 156 (w) Ext 156
melodeeclegg@ldschurch.org

Elder Rodgerson Leaves For Manchester

Today we bid farewell to "T" It was a bittersweet day. We are so proud of him. We are also very proud of mom for holding it together. We will sure miss you 'T"! Good Luck in England- Cheerio Trace. We love You !!!!

Trace was set apart by President Morgan of the Mountain Point Draper Stake on August 8, 2010.

Trace's Farewell

Sunday was such a wonderful day for our family...Trace spoke at sacrament meeting on the topic of Faith. He did a great job... Jim and I were so proud of him. Whitney sang in sacrament as well. What a beautiful voice and it was a great gift to Trace. It really was a rewarding moment that makes us feel so grateful to be parents. I was overwhelmed with gratefulness to Heavenly Father for blessing Jim and I with such great children, family and friends. I have been given more than I could have ever imagined! Thanks to all who made such a special day for our family!!!

Friends and Family at Trace's Farewell

Grandma Rodgerson and Grandma and Grandpa Fairchild came out for the farewell. It really meant alot to have them there to share this great time

Trace's Farewell was held on August 29th- Trace spoke on subject of "Faith" We held an open house after wards for friends and family.