Just wanted to add on to my last letter about what's going on.
Today is P-Day, which is preparation day. It is an opportunity for us to clean, and do laundry, write letters, email and any other things we can't normally do, as free time. It is our first P-Day here, and we only have 2 total in the MTC, which Wednesday P-Day's are the only unfortunate souls, who have that lol. It's been really good though. We woke up at 6:30 today, instead of 6:00, because 4 districts left from our floor this week, which means no line for the showers, toilets, or sinks, so we enjoyed our little extra sleep :) Since then, we've eaten breakfast, cleaned our room(vacuuming, dusting, cleaning mirrors and windows), written letters, went to the store, and now we are emailing...and it's only 9:45!! :) It's amazing what you can fit into the very beginning of the day. We are pretty much free till 6:00, which we have class. But during class, me and Elder Foster are teaching Mark :)
Ok, so here's some details on the guys in my district. Elder Williams, our district leader, is from Silt, Colorado. He is 21 years old, and has worked for several years at an oil rig that his grandpa owns, which has made him quite wealthy, as well as made him very responsible. He's super funny! He fulfills his position of raising the spirits of the members of the district pretty well, because he always makes us laugh!
Elder Marberry is from Salem, Utah. He loves karate and Lacrosse and he's also really funny. Actually most of our district has a pretty good sense of humor...I stand out pretty badly as the smart guy...not nearly as funny as all of them. He is Elder Williams companion, and it is amazing how well they go together...From the first day, they looked like brothers lol!
Elder Eidom(pronounced Item) is from Idaho, and is actually a dancer. He's really small, especially next to his companion, Elder Oberley, who's looks a little bit like Andree Karalinko :)
Elder Oberley is from Sandy. I had actually met him before we came, in mission prep, which is when we found out we were going to the same mission. He's got a way different sense of humor then everyone, but because of his timing and the sarcasm that he uses, it tends to be the funniest things anyone says at the most random times. It's awesome.
These are all the elders who are going to St. Louis.
We also have 4 other elders who are going to Houston South mission. Elder Mitchem is a health nut from Rexburg, Idaho. He's super buff and avoids all unhealthy stuff like the plague. I've been talking to him a lot, comparing some of the things Shauna taught me, as well as some things I can do to keep my self on track and staying healthy and skinny.
Elder Hunt is from Riverton. Out of everyone, he seems to love doing so many things with his hands. He talks about weapons, wood making, metal making, cooking, building, etc. It's pretty cool to hear the things he's interested in.
Elder Alvarado is from Cali. He's super funny! We call him Elder Avocado and it just makes him laugh...His laugh is my favorite out of everyone here, because it just makes you want to laugh with him :)
Elder Nicholes is 25 from Cali as well. He's the most interesting Character here. He is into music like majorly and wants to do duets with everyone. He's got a lot of interesting things to talk about.
I have only a minute left. I love you guys so much! I miss you and I hope everything is going well.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Merry Christmas 12/25/2011
Merry Christmas, and God Bless us Every One!!!(I saw that movie last night :D)
I hope you guys have had an absolutely amazing Christmas!
I just wanted to let you guys know a couple things(I'll be able to do another email on Wednesday). First and foremost, I leave January 10th for Missouri. So you guys should maybe plan to write anything you want me to receive there probably 2 days or so before this date.
Next order of business, obviously this is my email. You can write here and I will read it. I can only write to family through email for the moment, we will see if that is the same in the future or not, but I assume it will be.
Lastly, as far as business, Wednesday is my Pday. This means, I can write and email(email is only 30 mins), on this day. Today we were given writing privileges as a Christmas present(as well as 15 minutes free time...Yeah I'm excited about 15 minutes of free time), but this is not a normal thing.
Alright, here's a rundown of some things that has happened so far. First off, our day is super busy. I am in class a good 7 or 8 hours straight depending on the day, our meals are only about 40 minutes, we have only about an hour of free time including the time we have to use to get ready for bed and write in our journals. So far, everyday has about 2 or 3 hours of personal study time and 1 hour or so of district study. Oh yeah, the district that I am in, is amazing!! Everyone just jives really well. There is 10 of us and most of them are about my age, which is crazy weird and probably the last thing I expected. 2 of them are actually older!! My companion, Elder Foster, is from Idaho. He worked for the parks and recreation group up in Idaho before he came here. He's 19 and is a little shy, but when you get him to break out of his shell, he's so cool. He plays a ton of string instruments like the banjo and guitar and just loves music. It's amazing, looking at the companionship's in our district, because I honestly think that they were inspired choices...the companions are all perfect with each other! I can't imagine anyone decided to put us together unless they knew who we would work our best with.
Anyway I'll tell you more about them later...want to get the most out of this email time. Me and Elder Foster taught on the second day here. We taught a guy named Chet who's friend is a member of the church. Chet lived with them for a couple years growing up and he has become interested in possibly becoming a member, because he knows that his friend, John, is a good influence, and since John is leaving for his mission soon, he seems to want to make sure he can stay close to John. we taught him a little bit about Baptism, and then talked to him about the possibility of joining John for church. As we walked out, he said John gave him a Book of Mormon, so we asked him if he had read it...He said no, so I invited him to read the introduction of the Book of Mormon. He accepted and we left. We have another lesson planned for him, and I think it is going to knock him off his feet. I'm so excited. We've also been preparing to teach Alan, who is a older gentleman who has a wife and 3 kids, and has been looking to better his life. I can't wait to work with him...It's going to be amazing!
Alright, some other things that I feel you will be interested in; We were treated to a movie and a nativity scene last night. The movie was the Christmas Carol, which we were all(all 2100 of us) were given a bag of frosting covered popcorn(mmm so good). It was great! The music for the Nativity scene was awesome because we all sang in it, like one big choir! Today, for Christmas, we were treated to a Mormon Tabernacle choir production, and then enjoyed sacrament with the amazing Apostle, David A. Bednar. I'll be sure to bring my notebook next time so I can share some things he said , but he basically said that 'this opportunity to serve isn't about us, it isn't about our families or anything we left behind, it's about each life that we will have the opportunity to touch, and change...If we lose ourselves and focus on those who we are serving, and love them and forget ourselves that we will receive the greatest and most amazing change.' The Characteristic of Christ is the ability to reach out, rather then reach in.
I have a district meeting to get to in 2 minutes, so I have to go, but I get to write more on Wednesday! (oh by the way, if there is any weird writing errors, it's because these computers suck really bad and freeze as you type...Got to give me props for doing this whole letter in the time frame)
I Love you all so much!!! Let me know how Christmas went, I'd love to read it.
Elder Tyler Stephen Robinson
I hope you guys have had an absolutely amazing Christmas!
I just wanted to let you guys know a couple things(I'll be able to do another email on Wednesday). First and foremost, I leave January 10th for Missouri. So you guys should maybe plan to write anything you want me to receive there probably 2 days or so before this date.
Next order of business, obviously this is my email. You can write here and I will read it. I can only write to family through email for the moment, we will see if that is the same in the future or not, but I assume it will be.
Lastly, as far as business, Wednesday is my Pday. This means, I can write and email(email is only 30 mins), on this day. Today we were given writing privileges as a Christmas present(as well as 15 minutes free time...Yeah I'm excited about 15 minutes of free time), but this is not a normal thing.
Alright, here's a rundown of some things that has happened so far. First off, our day is super busy. I am in class a good 7 or 8 hours straight depending on the day, our meals are only about 40 minutes, we have only about an hour of free time including the time we have to use to get ready for bed and write in our journals. So far, everyday has about 2 or 3 hours of personal study time and 1 hour or so of district study. Oh yeah, the district that I am in, is amazing!! Everyone just jives really well. There is 10 of us and most of them are about my age, which is crazy weird and probably the last thing I expected. 2 of them are actually older!! My companion, Elder Foster, is from Idaho. He worked for the parks and recreation group up in Idaho before he came here. He's 19 and is a little shy, but when you get him to break out of his shell, he's so cool. He plays a ton of string instruments like the banjo and guitar and just loves music. It's amazing, looking at the companionship's in our district, because I honestly think that they were inspired choices...the companions are all perfect with each other! I can't imagine anyone decided to put us together unless they knew who we would work our best with.
Anyway I'll tell you more about them later...want to get the most out of this email time. Me and Elder Foster taught on the second day here. We taught a guy named Chet who's friend is a member of the church. Chet lived with them for a couple years growing up and he has become interested in possibly becoming a member, because he knows that his friend, John, is a good influence, and since John is leaving for his mission soon, he seems to want to make sure he can stay close to John. we taught him a little bit about Baptism, and then talked to him about the possibility of joining John for church. As we walked out, he said John gave him a Book of Mormon, so we asked him if he had read it...He said no, so I invited him to read the introduction of the Book of Mormon. He accepted and we left. We have another lesson planned for him, and I think it is going to knock him off his feet. I'm so excited. We've also been preparing to teach Alan, who is a older gentleman who has a wife and 3 kids, and has been looking to better his life. I can't wait to work with him...It's going to be amazing!
Alright, some other things that I feel you will be interested in; We were treated to a movie and a nativity scene last night. The movie was the Christmas Carol, which we were all(all 2100 of us) were given a bag of frosting covered popcorn(mmm so good). It was great! The music for the Nativity scene was awesome because we all sang in it, like one big choir! Today, for Christmas, we were treated to a Mormon Tabernacle choir production, and then enjoyed sacrament with the amazing Apostle, David A. Bednar. I'll be sure to bring my notebook next time so I can share some things he said , but he basically said that 'this opportunity to serve isn't about us, it isn't about our families or anything we left behind, it's about each life that we will have the opportunity to touch, and change...If we lose ourselves and focus on those who we are serving, and love them and forget ourselves that we will receive the greatest and most amazing change.' The Characteristic of Christ is the ability to reach out, rather then reach in.
I have a district meeting to get to in 2 minutes, so I have to go, but I get to write more on Wednesday! (oh by the way, if there is any weird writing errors, it's because these computers suck really bad and freeze as you type...Got to give me props for doing this whole letter in the time frame)
I Love you all so much!!! Let me know how Christmas went, I'd love to read it.
Elder Tyler Stephen Robinson
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Elder Tyler Robinson is officially on his mission
December 21, 2011 We dropped Elder Tyler Robinson off at the Mission Training Center in Provo Utah at 1:00 pm.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Farewell Talk
I wish I had a little more time to write about somethings, but I don't...I need to go to bed actually :( BUUUT, I got my Farewell talk uploaded and ready to listen to. Just press play below.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Sherlock Holmes 2: The verdict; And a letter from Shauna
Alright, so quite a few people were there(8 total), and we sat almost at the very top left of the theater. I decided I had the right to go all out and bought the large popcorn, and soda. We sat down and chatted for about 30 mins(we were way early) before the movie started! One thing I noticed, was that this movie was packed with the most amazing trailers!!! Seriously!! MIB3, Hunger Games, Dark Knight Rises, Man on a Ledge, some spy movie where the guys are trying to date this one girl(don't remember the name...looked good though). Anyway, holy crap!! People cheered for almost every single one...I've never seen that before.
Hmm...Sherlock Holmes. I love Sherlock Holmes. In both movies, he delivers a line that says "I see everything; that is my curse." It's hard to explain, but I understand this. I have ADHD, and although I do not have the capability or capacity to understand, or derive understanding from the things I notice, daily, I do know what it's like to jump focus till you've noticed ever interesting thing in the room. It's hard to explain, but I love that line, because I can relate to it a lot.
Anyway, on to consensus! I loved it! It truly was an interesting movie...Quite a bit different from the last actually. In the last movie, there was a lot of focus in the magic and not enough focus on Holmes(for example, he broke down his moves and the things he notices only twice), but in this movie there was no magic, and a lot of Holmes. You delved into his mind a lot more and he broke down his moves a lot. You also jumped into his head when he observed a room, or the people in the room. These parts in the first movie, were probably some of the best parts in the entire movie for me, so I was extremely happy to see them bring it back, especially with how much they used it this time.
The movie ended with an amazing twist...The first movie, he solved the crimes and the mystery of what everyone views as magic(showing that it was all science), and that was it...It was great, but predictable. Nah...expect the unexpect this time around. Not only that, but the entire movie was funny, it was smart, and that whole romance situation they threw into the first one...Gone(for the most part).
It was a great movie...I wish I were better at expressing what I thought of it, but I didn't go into the movie looking to critique it, so I'm coming at this writing thing a little unprepared! :) Anyway, I think it was the perfect movie to leave on!
Alright, now into some other Missionary-esque news. I've pretty much gotten all packed, besides the things I still need till I leave. I cleaned my bedroom downstairs, and should be ready to move out before I leave. Ummm my farewell talk is on Sunday...I don't have an official talk finished yet, but it should be ready by tomorrow. Also, have some gifts to prepare for Christmas and a car to clean, as well as some other preparatory stuff for Sunday, and I really think I'm just about done and ready to go, to be honest :)
Also, I did an update for ShuffleTone, that met a lot of complaints that were stated by my customers. Took me forever... BUT, I do think I came up with some interesting solutions for some of the problems, and I think all my customers deserve that support from me. Anyway...fun stuff :) hopefully no more bug fixes before I go, because I don't think I have the time for it :)
Lastly, I got a letter from Shauna today!! She loves me so much... I haven't seen her in 4 months; I hear from her every 3 to 6 weeks, and I don't get much of an opportunity to communicate with her anymore, but I know that she loves me more now, then she did when she left. Me and Shauna did not pick the easy path. We both offered up a lot, and as we sacrificed, it only seemed like the trial itself got harder, but the rewards; our love, has continued to grow and flourish. I know the girl I want to spend the rest of my life, and of eternity with. Before you scoff and shake your head, let me tell you I understand. It's going to take a lot of hard work and a lot of patience and understanding from both of us. I know there is no perfect guarentee, but what I do know is that I know who I want to dedicate myself for, and I will do all the work in my power to make sure that I am the one who will lift her out of the Veil in the last day. I love Shauna very much...Every memory, every letter, every picture, strengthens me...pushes me to be my very best. Because if I'm going to be anything in the future, it's going to be my very best, for her and my future family, because they are the most deserving of my infinite potential which God has granted me.
Anyway, more tomorrow? I don't know, maybe...stay tuned :)
Hmm...Sherlock Holmes. I love Sherlock Holmes. In both movies, he delivers a line that says "I see everything; that is my curse." It's hard to explain, but I understand this. I have ADHD, and although I do not have the capability or capacity to understand, or derive understanding from the things I notice, daily, I do know what it's like to jump focus till you've noticed ever interesting thing in the room. It's hard to explain, but I love that line, because I can relate to it a lot.
Anyway, on to consensus! I loved it! It truly was an interesting movie...Quite a bit different from the last actually. In the last movie, there was a lot of focus in the magic and not enough focus on Holmes(for example, he broke down his moves and the things he notices only twice), but in this movie there was no magic, and a lot of Holmes. You delved into his mind a lot more and he broke down his moves a lot. You also jumped into his head when he observed a room, or the people in the room. These parts in the first movie, were probably some of the best parts in the entire movie for me, so I was extremely happy to see them bring it back, especially with how much they used it this time.
The movie ended with an amazing twist...The first movie, he solved the crimes and the mystery of what everyone views as magic(showing that it was all science), and that was it...It was great, but predictable. Nah...expect the unexpect this time around. Not only that, but the entire movie was funny, it was smart, and that whole romance situation they threw into the first one...Gone(for the most part).
It was a great movie...I wish I were better at expressing what I thought of it, but I didn't go into the movie looking to critique it, so I'm coming at this writing thing a little unprepared! :) Anyway, I think it was the perfect movie to leave on!
Alright, now into some other Missionary-esque news. I've pretty much gotten all packed, besides the things I still need till I leave. I cleaned my bedroom downstairs, and should be ready to move out before I leave. Ummm my farewell talk is on Sunday...I don't have an official talk finished yet, but it should be ready by tomorrow. Also, have some gifts to prepare for Christmas and a car to clean, as well as some other preparatory stuff for Sunday, and I really think I'm just about done and ready to go, to be honest :)
Also, I did an update for ShuffleTone, that met a lot of complaints that were stated by my customers. Took me forever... BUT, I do think I came up with some interesting solutions for some of the problems, and I think all my customers deserve that support from me. Anyway...fun stuff :) hopefully no more bug fixes before I go, because I don't think I have the time for it :)
Lastly, I got a letter from Shauna today!! She loves me so much... I haven't seen her in 4 months; I hear from her every 3 to 6 weeks, and I don't get much of an opportunity to communicate with her anymore, but I know that she loves me more now, then she did when she left. Me and Shauna did not pick the easy path. We both offered up a lot, and as we sacrificed, it only seemed like the trial itself got harder, but the rewards; our love, has continued to grow and flourish. I know the girl I want to spend the rest of my life, and of eternity with. Before you scoff and shake your head, let me tell you I understand. It's going to take a lot of hard work and a lot of patience and understanding from both of us. I know there is no perfect guarentee, but what I do know is that I know who I want to dedicate myself for, and I will do all the work in my power to make sure that I am the one who will lift her out of the Veil in the last day. I love Shauna very much...Every memory, every letter, every picture, strengthens me...pushes me to be my very best. Because if I'm going to be anything in the future, it's going to be my very best, for her and my future family, because they are the most deserving of my infinite potential which God has granted me.
Anyway, more tomorrow? I don't know, maybe...stay tuned :)
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Movie Night
Today is December 15th, 2011; or in otherwords, opening night for Sherlock Holmes 2!!! :) I've gathered a handful of friends to go celebrate my last movie(at least in theater) that I will see before I leave next week. I'm really excited for this movie, so tonight is going to be a pretty awesome night(Especially with all the friends that are going to be coming).
Today is a big deal, because of a handful of reasons. Very first, I've finally finished ShuffleTone 3.0, which has been a little longer then a year in the making. I'm so happy, because it is sooo smooth, fast, reliable. Like everything that a professionally done app should be...and I did all by myself. All 3 versions of ShuffleTone show an evolution in my abilities as a programmer...Understanding design and creating simplistic systems that are easy to change and catch if there is problems. I have to admit, there was a slow deterioration of design as I rushed to finish, but I took advantage of a lot of really cool things, and it works GREAT! Like I have seriously been using it for a while now, personally, as I finished fine tuning pieces, and it's just an enjoyable experience to use, and it's so simple. I think the simplicity will strike people the hardest. Plus it just works, and works right. It's great and I'm very proud of it.
I wish I could do more though. I had some great ideas...things that would open up the possibilities for me, and thousands of developers(yeah, I dream big), and really could have made a difference in the realm of phone personalization. I wish so much that there was just a little more time...Just so that I can sit in my corner for a month and program. It's my fault though, I had the time and opportunity to take advantage of, but I chose to do other things and now I'm regretting not taking advantage of my time. Even though this is the case, I am so proud of this accomplishment. ShuffleTone has always been so important to me, so when I started on this project a year ago, I really drilled out some great ideas, and I accomplished a lot of them. Now, when I get back, maybe the fruits of my labors will be ripe to present the world with the ideas that I have now...That would be very cool! :) Even more awesome-uh-er, is that I may actually have better ideas or new ideas to work on when I get back...it's going to be amazing!! I am so excited for the present and the future...both open up so many doors for me, and I can't wait to experience it all!
I also worked on AudioVolumizer...not nearly exciting, but I did make some awesome icons for the app(yeah, the guy who sucks at pretty much all computer art). In a lot of ways, I wish this app went a lot further...I think it's actually well endowed with options and functionality, for what it was. The code was simple, the application is simple, and has a ton of options, as far as how you use it. It's awesome...it really is and I am really proud of it! It was nice to take an opportunity to put some work back into this...making just minor but vital changes for it's future.
Umm, lets see...I am pretty much all packed as of today. Excluding a couple things, but everything is purchased and about ready to be packed. Sunday is my farewell...I plan on delivering a good talk. I actually wrote most of it, almost a year ago. I'll add it onto the blog before I leave. I think this is it for today. I'll post tomorrow with pictures at the movies!
I'm excited!
Love you all!
Elder Tyler Robinson
Today is a big deal, because of a handful of reasons. Very first, I've finally finished ShuffleTone 3.0, which has been a little longer then a year in the making. I'm so happy, because it is sooo smooth, fast, reliable. Like everything that a professionally done app should be...and I did all by myself. All 3 versions of ShuffleTone show an evolution in my abilities as a programmer...Understanding design and creating simplistic systems that are easy to change and catch if there is problems. I have to admit, there was a slow deterioration of design as I rushed to finish, but I took advantage of a lot of really cool things, and it works GREAT! Like I have seriously been using it for a while now, personally, as I finished fine tuning pieces, and it's just an enjoyable experience to use, and it's so simple. I think the simplicity will strike people the hardest. Plus it just works, and works right. It's great and I'm very proud of it.
I wish I could do more though. I had some great ideas...things that would open up the possibilities for me, and thousands of developers(yeah, I dream big), and really could have made a difference in the realm of phone personalization. I wish so much that there was just a little more time...Just so that I can sit in my corner for a month and program. It's my fault though, I had the time and opportunity to take advantage of, but I chose to do other things and now I'm regretting not taking advantage of my time. Even though this is the case, I am so proud of this accomplishment. ShuffleTone has always been so important to me, so when I started on this project a year ago, I really drilled out some great ideas, and I accomplished a lot of them. Now, when I get back, maybe the fruits of my labors will be ripe to present the world with the ideas that I have now...That would be very cool! :) Even more awesome-uh-er, is that I may actually have better ideas or new ideas to work on when I get back...it's going to be amazing!! I am so excited for the present and the future...both open up so many doors for me, and I can't wait to experience it all!
I also worked on AudioVolumizer...not nearly exciting, but I did make some awesome icons for the app(yeah, the guy who sucks at pretty much all computer art). In a lot of ways, I wish this app went a lot further...I think it's actually well endowed with options and functionality, for what it was. The code was simple, the application is simple, and has a ton of options, as far as how you use it. It's awesome...it really is and I am really proud of it! It was nice to take an opportunity to put some work back into this...making just minor but vital changes for it's future.
Umm, lets see...I am pretty much all packed as of today. Excluding a couple things, but everything is purchased and about ready to be packed. Sunday is my farewell...I plan on delivering a good talk. I actually wrote most of it, almost a year ago. I'll add it onto the blog before I leave. I think this is it for today. I'll post tomorrow with pictures at the movies!
I'm excited!
Love you all!
Elder Tyler Robinson
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