Week 18/Transfer #3 in Carbondale is
finished, and there is a lot to share!
First and foremost, I stay here in
Carbondale, for at least one transfer with Elder Elkington, which is what we
were hoping to have happen. I've decided that amidst all the difficulties that
do exist in this area, it would be hard to leave a lot of the people that we
are consistently teaching right now. I'm glad that we get to hang around one
more transfer, at least, to help them along the path that they have started to
walk upon. We still have a ton of cool places we have wanted to see and haven't
yet, as well, so of course I'm excited for the extra time we have to go
exploring on P-Days :)
Of course, on Mother's Day, I called
home, and it was wonderful to be able to talk to my family! It's weird, and I
may be the only one who has this perspective, but it really does not feel like
it's been very long since I've talked to them. It was wonderful, still, to
spend so much time talking to each one of them and I was really happy to hear
about some of the great things that are happening at home. I guess that is how
you can tell when the work is really on your mind all the time. Coming on my 6
month's out, It doesn't feel like it's been an incredibly long time, but the
reward has been great. To go another 18 months seems like it will happen real
fast, and I can only imagine what the rewards will be for enduring till the
very end.
Another great thing that happened
this week, is that I went to the Temple for the first time since I've been in
St. Louis. It's a 2 1/2 hour drive up to St. Louis, which means 5 hours round
trip, plus 2 hours in the temple, so a temple trip is pretty much an entire day
affair. We are supposed to go every transfer, and so far, I have been a failure
at making this goal(I promise though, us not going was not my fault). With some
solid planning, we were able to go and it was amazing! Before we left, we
actually spent the morning spreading mulch in a huge enormous garden. With the
spiritual drain, and the hard work we did before we left, we were soooo tired
by the time we got home...We pretty much just went straight to bed after
planning. I loved it though. Next time I go, I promise not to forget my camera
so I can take some pictures of the temple and some other things in St.
Louis.
On Monday, we had DLZL, so we were
up in Cape. After the meeting, we were late on leaving, so we got permission to
stay in Cape's apartment overnight. I got horribly sick...I'm not 100% sure
why, but I had a crazy fever, a terrible pounding headache, and did not get any
sleep. That morning, I had to drive us home...I was pretty nervous about it,
because I still had a fever and a huge headache, plus now I was way tired. We
got home safely(obviously), but yeah I was nervous about it. I stayed home that
day...I just felt terrible. We were on exchanges, so Elder Gast stayed with me,
while Elder Elkington and Elder Valois worked our area. My companion, being
awesome as he is, brought me a Mountain Dew on his way back for dinner...and I
was very happy!! :)
Also, this week, I got 5 letters
from Shauna!! I love it :) She is such a motivator to me! We've gone through
similar trials, nearly at the same time, so it's cool to be able to share and
receive insights on things we learn together, even with being so far away. I've
been super impressed on how many of her letters I've gotten in the last 3
weeks, but trust me I'm not complaining at all!! :D
So, it occurred to me that there are
a ton of things here....that you don't see in Utah...EVER! That I haven't
really shared.
-Very first thing...Amish people!
There is an entire Amish Community just south of Murphysboro and north of
Cobden/Alto Pass. There were two Amish women that were at Walmart last week,
and you can almost always see them in their buggies midday on Highway 127. I
would like to meet them before I leave...not sure how open Amish people are to
that, but I think it would be way cool :)
-Fireflies. I've never seen them
before I came here. If you drive through any rural area out here, you seem them
everywhere! It's actually pretty cool!
-Nasty hot humidity! It's bad. Last
couple weeks have been approaching or exceeding 90 degrees and the humidity has
been turned up to full! It's pretty gross, especially when you are out walking
in it.
-Lots and lots and lots of bugs.
Everywhere. Not kidding.
-Farms, orchards, vineyards. All are
very common in the outskirts of each town.
-Pork steaks...I've never heard of
them before, but they are all the rage here!
Hmmm...I'm sure I will think of others
later. I love you all! I hope everything is going well for everyone at home! It
sounds like everyone is doing well. Write me! I love letters!! :)
Till next week,
Elder Tyler Robinson
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