5/29/2012

Thanks to Mike and the Chicken Pot Pie filling he sent me, I made this wonderful pie! It was awesome!

Me, Jaida, and Elder Elkington. Jaida is the one who posed us :)

Jaida posing :)

Jaida and Shenika

Another week, another challenge!! :) Just kidding. It was actually an amazing week! 

Of course, Memorial Day is the reason we are emailing today, instead of Monday like normal. Since everything public was closed, we have to revise our schedule to make room to email later in the week.

I guess I will start off with the big news first. We have 3 more baptismal dates!!! The Tomas family has agreed to work towards knowing that the teachings we have shared with them, are true, by the end of June. We have their date set for the 30th of June. We had a really good lesson on Thursday with them, where we brought Sister Herrera, who translated very well(like as we were talking). They understood very well and said if we find it to be true, why wouldn't we get baptized...if it's God's church, that's where we want to be. It was very cool!!

We also met with Emily on Friday. We moved her Baptism date to June 16th, because Bryan, the one who referred her, won't be in town on the 9th. She is totally ready for it though. She is on vacation this week, and we've been texting her scriptures, and she absolutely loves it. She writes back with a summary of her take on the scripture, and it's really cool to see her pick up on the understanding of each one. While we were in the lesson, we asked "Why do you think Baptism requires the proper authority?" in which she responded, "Because this is a restored Church, which means God brought this Church back. Things are supposed to be done God's way, and that means that you must be baptized the right way, which is by someone he has said is allowed to baptize." She is amazing! She just understands everything so well, and you can tell that she is changing, according to the things she learns. It's really cool.

Another awesome experience we had was during, what we call "Spirit Tracting," where you basically let God direct you where to go. Elder Elkington and I were walking down Wall St. headed north, when he randomly said "Lets go down this street." 

We just walked down it, where we came by a bridge. He said "What's past this bridge?"

I said that I've never been on it, so I don't know, so we walked across it, where we came up to a street. Elder Elkington said, "Let's tract this one"

The fourth house we knocked on, a young lady with a 3 year old answered the door. She immediately said, "I'm sorry, I don't speak English"

It turned out that I had packed some Spanish "Gospel of Jesus Christ" pamphlets earlier that day, and so I pulled it out and handed it to her. Her eyes lit up like fireworks, and she got extremely excited and let us in. She began to explain her life story, how she was born right in the middle of the Drug Wars in Mexico(Her whole family was dealers and users), and that she spent her early teenage life trying to escape the situation, which at age 12 she fled to Tijuana, Mexico and looked for someone who would take her to the United States. She did some very bad things to basically get her way, out of Mexico, but she finally came into America, where she went from Arizona, to Tennessee, to Kentucky. By this time she was homeless in America, and felt like all her efforts had failed her. She was in the park, crying because she knew she had no resources to live in America anymore, when two Missionaries(one English, and one Spanish), sat by her and asked her if they can help her. She was reluctant, but eventually eased up and bore out her situation to them. They immediately called a member and got her a place to stay, and started helping her get back on her feet. She began to take the lessons and going to church, and for the first time had friends and a real family to trust with her ward and the missionaries. Her whole life, she struggled to find God, and she asked for help from Him many times, but she felt He wasn't answering. These missionaries changed her entire life! She now has a wonderful husband, a beautiful young boy with Autism, and a house to live in...free of the evils that she was raised in. She told us that Missionaries were her angels and that she loved them. We are going to see her again on Wednesday, but it is amazing to see that God knew her, and knew that she needed us, which is why we were guided to her house. If I didn't have the pamphlet, she may not have even talked to us, so preparing early definitely put us in a position where we could deliver God's help to her. She is amazing and we look forward to teaching her.

Shenika leaves this week :( it makes me sad, but I know that she will do well in Chicago. We had dinner with her yesterday(thanks to Mike for sending me the Chicken Pot Pie filling...it was awesome). We had a lot of fun with them(see the pictures)

Also, we had a Memorial Day Picnic yesterday. The food was awesome and while we were there, we played Softball and my team lost :( It was really fun though!!! It's nice to see the members relax and just have fun with each other...it's definitely a different group of people when their time together isn't work and reverence. It was fun to be able to let the kids play with us in softball, and they really enjoyed it! It was way fun!

I realized last week that I forgot to tell you about a funny little event from 2 weeks ago. During District Meeting, up in Steeleville, Elder Elkington decided to do a Habenero challenge, but wasn't going to tell the missionaries that it was a habenero. All 6 of us put it in our mouth and started chewing, and it was so funny to just watch everyone's face change. I chewed mine up and swallowed, like any real man would(Just kidding). Everyone else hung over the porch and spat on the ground and drooled for like 10 minutes till their mouths cooled down. I just laughed at them because it was sooooo funny!!! If anybody around looked at that porch, you would think that some just tried to poison them all or something, the way they were spitting and everything. Don't get me wrong. It was hot, and my eyes drained for like 2 minutes, but I just ate some chocolate and stuff, and it didn't bother me too long. Everyone else though...they are wusses! Haha! Just kidding. It was funny though.

It's been a real fun week. Right now, we are with the Cape Elders, who are going to be here all day today and staying the night; Tomorrow it will just be me and Elder Gomez till Thursday night after leadership. It should be pretty fun though. We have some good lessons prepared for that time. At least I don't have to leave Carbondale :) 

On Saturday, I got the awesome opportunity to call my Grandparents for a little bit(due to some late approval from Mothers day). I talked to both my Grandpa and Grandma, as well as my Great Grandpa, and it was great! 

Anyway, I hope everyone's Memorial Day was fun! Ours definitely was! We had an amazing week and had some awesome lessons! We have been very blessed in this area, and we continue to work hard so that God can bless his Children here, according to our Stewardship. I love the Gospel, I love the work. The Lord blesses his Missionaries, all around the world...for their faithfulness and sacrifice. No good thing in this world can come without sacrifice. God sacrificed his Son. His Son sacrificed his life, willingly, for us. Sacrifice is an important piece of the Gospel, and we must be willing and we will be blessed for our willingness to offer what we hold dear. Missionary work is hard work...it is a sacrifice. It is putting away who we are, for the welfare and future of others. God will bless those faithful in this calling; He will bless their families, their future, and their present. I am doing the Will of the Lord. I offer myself willingly, as the Son offered his life, for the benefit and welfare of others in whom I come in contact with. It is the greatest calling in the world, and I would not trade this opportunity for anything. 

I love you all. Keep working hard and continue to bear life's trials. Blessings are definitely in store! 

Until next week,

Elder Tyler Robinson