6/25/2012

So, it's official! I'm saying sienara to my one and only area that I've served in so far! It's kind of interesting thinking about the contrast between when I got here in this area, and what it has become, because literally there was 0 investigators, 0 records from the last 6 months, the ward was not open to the missionaries, and we were brand new with no idea where any one or anything was. Now, there has been a consistant 15 to 18 investigators, record book is full to the brim, and the ward has learned to love us and works hard to help us. My grandpa pointed out that he was worried I may not see the fruit of my labors...I see them. The harvest started a long time ago, and continues on. This area is a great area now. We've had more baptisms in my time here, in this area, then this area had all year last year. It's awesome to see the success and to see the change, but I've fulfilled my work here, and have a new duty. 

So I guess everyone is wondering where I'm going. They have called me to be a District Leader Follow-Up Trainer in Mexico; so today, I will be packing my bags and preparing for a very long trip. You are probably wondering why I'm being sent to Mexico...Well don't worry; Where I'm going, I don't need a passport, nor do I need to learn Spanish, because it is Mexico, Missouri, which coincidently is only 20 miles away from Paris....Paris, Missouri that is :)

From what I know, it is a small town(11,000 people) just north of Columbia. It is in the Columbia stake(Zone). I'm not sure how many areas are in my District, but it seems that it will probably include the Fulton Ward, and maybe one of the Colombia wards(there are 5 wards in Columbia). The zone is pretty big, but unlike the Cape zone, other missionaries are not extremely far away(we are an hour away from the closest set of missionaries in this area), and I can only assume that Zone P-Day and District Meetings will be a little more convenient. In comparison, based on LDS.org's maps, the area is much, much smaller. It'll be interesting to go through that transition.

Other big news, Letecia is on a great path! She is 2 weeks from her baptism and has done a great job at keeping her commitments! I expect to hear from Elder Elkington that she got baptized :) We are teaching her again on Tuesday. Also, Sylvia, the lady that just showed up for church, is doing awesome! We've taught her 2 lessons already and she has been recognizing things in the Bible that support the doctrines we have been teaching, which were different and big concerns of hers the first time we taught her. She came to church, and brought 2 of her 3 children, even though she told us earlier that she wouldn't do that until she started to feel that she was learning the things of God. It's awesome, and I know that if she continues on the path that she's on, she will be ready to be baptized very soon! I'm super excited for her.

We have been out of the area a lot of the week. We went to the Temple on Friday, after a meeting in St Louis for trainers(Elder Elkington is training next transfer). It was a 3 hour car ride to St. Louis because we drove to Farmington and Farmington drove to St. Louis. It is terrible to spend a whole day in the car pretty much, but I guess it's the sacrifice you have to make. The temple was way cool and I received a lot of important revelation there! 

We did have an interesting lesson on Saturday. It was a girl who is a friend of a Less-Active member who has shown some interest in the church. She invited us over for dinner, so we went over and found that there is 5 women living there with like 300 children!! We had a priest with us who is preparing to go on a mission, and we were a little worried about it, when we found this out. Well, they began to ask questions and very quickly, it became an amazing teaching experience. The priest has gone with us a lot, but he said this was the most spiritual and amazing teaching experience he has ever been on with the missionaries. It was very cool, especially when our expectations were a little scattered at the beginning. All I can say, is sometimes all it takes is faith and you will and can make a wonderful difference in others lives. Hopefully great things come from the seeds we planted there :)

I'm super excited for my new adventure! I don't know if I will have the amount of time to email like I do now, but I look forward to sharing new things of my new area next week! Stay safe! I love you all! Keep up the hard work and keep the Lord close in your work! Until next week!

Love Elder Tyler Robinson

 This is how I know the Chiggers are out this year....and yes they itch like crazy!!!!!

6/18/2012

Treading very close to the 1/4th mark of my mission :D 

As you can probably tell by the pictures, everything is going pretty well. We've had a really adventurous week with some amazing news, of course!

Emily got baptized! that's the most exciting news! The baptism went amazing!! It blows my mind how far the ward went with it this time. It was Saturday @ 4, and a ton of people showed up!! Not only that, but we had an investigator who came and played a music number during the baptism; there was even a large amount of refreshments after, which many people stuck around and talked with her parents and with Emily. The fellowship is great and I think every person made an effort to let the family know that they are so happy for Emily and that they will be willing to support and help her in her participation in the church. It was great!

Another amazing thing that happened was that we set a baptismal date with Letecia, which is July 7th. There is a huge chance I won't be here for that, but she agreed with it completely; she set up a calendar, and has kept every commitment so far, including coming to church(which she even brought her husband to). With review of all the lessons, she will be ready for that day in no time!! :)

Next amazing thing that happened was that 7 investigators or potential investigators came to church(including Letecia and her husband). Not only that, but the whole entire ward went out of there way to make them feel so welcome! It was awesome! We had one lady there, who had decided that she just wanted to try our church. She participated in Gospel Principles and really really liked it. Everyone was super nice to her and made her just feel loved. She called us last night to see if she can learn more, so we will be teaching her tomorrow afternoon! What a blessing!! 

Of course, the pictures I sent show that we've been going to some exotic restaurants lately, which has been provided by some awesome members. They were all pretty awesome! We spent 2 hours waiting on food at the Blue Boar, but I didn't mind too much; the place was crazy awesome! The pictures I sent is just a small set of really what was there, and the food turned out pretty good. The Lodge was also very similar and had real good food. We also had the opportunity to eat some legit Mexican food at the Tomas family's house. They made us a soup that is a true Mexican delicacy. It had a spicy broth, with some veggies and beans in it, as well as some slow-cooked cured pork mixed in. It was awesome! A great week for food :)

Today we are in Cape for Zone P-Day. We are going to have a Nerf war, which sounds like a ton of fun actually :) I should wrap up...I'm sorry this is a short letter. I didn't get as much time here as we do in Carbondale. I love you all! I love hearing from everyone! I have done a terrible job at writing people back, but it is because, as you can probably tell by my last couple emails, P-Days have not really had too much free time to write home with. It's just been a crazy transfer! By the way, I will know about transfers next week, so be excited to hear about that :D

Have a great week!! 
Elder Tyler Stephen Robinson

Our trip to Giant City Lodge. Bryan and Emily took us, and it was way awesome. They have an All-You-Can-Eat Fried chicken dinner, which they just keep refilling everything, and an awesome scenic building. Outside is a water tower which you can climb up, which is the consistence of most of these pictures :)

Emily's Baptism!!! It was awesome!!! :D Bryan, her boyfriend was the one to baptize her :)

These are pictures from the Blue Boar outside of Anna. The animals are all stuffed and surround the entire inside of the building. That picture at the waterfall is just outside the building. It's an awesome place, out in the middle of no where, and I think more people were there that day then the population of most the cities in our area haha. It was awesome!

6/11/2012

This may be a short letter, because I only emailed just a couple days ago, and although we had a good week, I have already reported on the highlights of it.

We taught a lot of lessons this week. After we emailed, we went over to the Larson's to teach Mikah again. It went real well, but he has been trodding down a difficult path towards finding the truth. Almost like baking the cake before putting in the eggs...It doesn't work, and makes a bigger mess than what you started with. He has been digging through D&C, because he finds it more interesting, as well as finding more reasons to doubt or to find doctrine that disagrees with what he believes already. We talked about the Book of Mormon and it's purpose. There is a process; a time and season for everything. Coming to know of the truth's of the gospel is a step by step process, and something that takes time and work. If you do not know that Joseph Smith was a prophet, then the revelations he received will mean nothing to you. If those revelations mean nothing to you, then you can never find out if the church is true, for they are central to the restoration of the Gospel. The steps are very simple. You must search the Book of Mormon; You must show God that you have a desire to know it's true. If it is not true, then no other doctrine that is contained in the church, because the keystone of our religion is the Book of Mormon...if it is false in any manner, everything else falls. BUT, on the flip side, if you know that the Book of Mormon is true, then you know that the people that are spoken in it are true, and that their stories and prophecies are true, and that Joseph Smith was directed by God, through God's power, to translate the record for a great purpose of God, to act as the evidence and proof of the Restoration. If those things are true, then Joseph Smith was called of God to perform that mighty work. He was called to be the prophet who would bring the Kingdom of God, in it's fullness, with all the powers and authorities under Heaven, in preparation of the Second Coming. If this is true, then the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price play an even more important role in your understanding of the Gospel, because you will know that they are revelations for this day and age, received by a man, called of God to perform such a Marvelous Work and a Wonder. There is no other path to the truth. We have been trying to help him understand this, so that his focus is solely on the Book of Mormon, because it is there where his Testimony will really sprout.

We also taught Emily the last 2 lessons! She is totally awesome and ready. Her interview is tomorrow and her baptism is on Saturday. We are way excited for her! We met with her parents and they told us pretty much what we knew from teaching her; She is doing this for herself, and she knows it's true. They signed a paper, giving permission for the baptism and for her joining the church. Look forward to those pictures next week!! :)

We also taught an awesome lesson with the Baxter family, which is a first time ever! Tim, who has in the past, avoided gospel discussions, talked to us about his thoughts and feelings about church and about his thoughts about what he would do once his wife and daughter return back to church. One important fact about him is that he loves his family, and I know that once his wife and daughter start back in church, he's going to want to be there, just for them. I don't think he has thought about it yet before, so we helped bring that to the forefront of his mind. It was very cool.

One cool thing this week, is we got an invitation to go to another church next week. I'm pretty excited about that. We learn a lot about other people's religions, but rarely do we get to experience what they experience. It's an opportunity to better understand and know the things in which they feel so strongly about. Cathy, who is the one that invited us, asked us why is it not something that our church discourages. I told her that any doctrine that says that provides a limiting factor on the knowledge that exists in the world is not of God. The 13th Article of Faith comes to mind, where it says "If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things. I would add to this principle that if there is truth or knowledge to find that we also seek after it...We accept all truth as long as it is truth, and we verify all truth with our Father in Heaven, who is the center of all truth. With such a great resource, why would we ever worry?

Just as an FYI, two years and a day ago, I asked a wonderful, young Daughter of God if she would accept a commitment to fall in love with each other, and to bear each other's burdens to help each other grow and learn in all aspects, with the potential of a very future together. This amazing young lady, is performing a remarkable service on the other side of the world, and walks with God on her side as she does it. I am so proud of her, and am so happy that not only did she accept that commitment two years ago, but much of it has come to pass, as we continue to walk together in our trials and as we continue to show our love for each other and our God, in a singleness of purpose as we serve Him, who has offered us such a great blessing. I love Shauna very much, and am so proud of her and her willingness to follow the example of Jesus Christ; helping others come closer to Him by the power and authority that has been granted to her. She is in my prayers every night, and is a strength and motivator to me every single day. I ask that you all keep her and her work in your prayers as she continues to magnify her calling. :) 

Also, congratulations to my mother and Glen for their recent 6 year anniversary! It's strengthening to me to know that I have a family at home that is not broken in any way, but for the first time in my life, is solid and unchanging. I love you both, as well as the rest of the family of course!

Anyway! I love you all! Keep up all your hard work! Till next week :)

Elder Tyler Robinson

Pictures of a firefly. I'm sorry about the quality. It's hard to take a picture of a bug while it is moving around your hand and timing it to when it's butt lights up...But as you can see, they are pretty awesome!! :)

6/6/2012

I'm trying to think back on my previous week. It feels like this week has been forever long(as you can see...today is Wednesday and not Monday.) We worked on Monday and pretty much was left with no time to shop or email, so we moved our P-Day over to today, which we are still shorted some time. We may not have time to write at all.

Last week, was a week of Exchanges. They started on Tuesday and went to Friday morning. I worked with Elder Gonzales during that time. We visited with Laura, which I talked about last week. She is actually a member. She joined in Kentucky and when she moved, she didn't tell her home ward, so her records never got transferred. After we visited on Thursday, we came back on Friday and she told us that her husband asked her for a divorce the night before. I really feel that we found her at the perfect time, to best help her. She is way awesome though. We owe her a Spanish Book of Mormon so that she can start reading again. I'm excited for her.

We also visited the Tomas family twice so far since I last wrote. We found out that Francisco was in jail recently for getting in a fight with his brother after they had both been drinking. While he was in jail, he was asking about us and really feels that we are the answer to his prayers and could really help him change his life. The family, all together, thinks that this will change their family for the better and really has a huge desire to take the name of Christ upon them. They still have some work to do, including some lifestyle changes, but they are doing amazing! We are currently trying to get them to church.

We also have had a couple lessons with Letecia, which was someone who the missionaries taught a year ago, but they stopped the lessons for a little bit. She keeps telling us that she is pretty sure she knows she wants to be baptized but that she wants to make sure she knows 100%. I'm glad that's what she thinks. These are eternal covenants that people are making, when they get baptized. In no way should that be taken lightly...you should know 100% that it's true. This is God's church, and she knows that God will claim it, if it really is his. I'm super excited for where she is heading.

Emily is the bomb! She is still on her way for baptism on June 16th. We have a couple lessons left to teach, but she is pretty much ready! We are meeting her family tomorrow. :)

We also had an awesome lesson with Chad this week! He has finally decided that he may not be in the right place, and that if he doesn't find out whether or not this is true, he could be missing a lot of things that God wants him to know. He said he is determined to really pray hard this week about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. He has finally put forth some real commitment. We think he may, once again, be ready to be invited to baptism.

Anyway, as you can tell, it has been a ton of work here. A lot of success has really been rolling out. We are doing our best to really help our investigators to really understand and diligently search for truth. I read this week, that any doctrine that says that there can not be more truth added upon any single principle, can not be true doctrine. This is something Joseph Smith taught. There are many reasons that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true, but one thing Joseph Smith said is that it is the purpose of man to search out all truth. We accept all truth. If it is truth, then it is from God, therefore we accept it. No other church claims that. The doctrines of other churches limit the amount of truth that can exist...If we had the opportunity to stare into heaven for 5 minutes, we would learn more then a lifetime of searching the knowledge that is available here on Earth. If that is the case, then why does it not make sense that there is more that God wants to give us. If he has an infinite store of knowledge, and we are to seek out and obtain as much knowledge as we are prepared to receive, then no doctrine in church can say that there can be no more knowledge on this subject(I.E. There can be no more scriptures then what is in the Bible). Always seek for truth! Search it out, ponder it in your mind, ask God, who is the center of all truth, and he will reveal it unto you by the power of the Holy Ghost. This is the true doctrine of God.

Anyway, I just wanted to share an awesome lyric from a CD my mom sent me. It is from David Osmond's "Road Less Traveled" CD. The song is called "Loneliest Walk". I recommend it highly!!

(By the way, this is about Christ and his atonement)

"He pushes up the board they've tied onto his shoulders

He bears, with dignity, disgrace

He hears the jeering and the wind is getting colder

Tastes the blood upon his face

His body bruised and back still open from the scourges

The consequence of wicked men

He knows no man on earth has ever deserved this

But still He bears it all for them

And he keeps moving up the hill to do His Father's will

With each step He takes there's another to follow

And one more ache, one more tear to swallow

We all stand by and watch as the price is paid

Through the loneliest walk of His life

So we don't feel alone in the night

We can have His hand holding the light

Through the loneliest walks of our lives

Keep pushing through this lonely walk you're going through

'Cause someone's walked this way before" 

The song itself talks about a women who's new born baby is dying, and she feels lost, walking a lonely path in which the weight is heavy as well as a man who has lost his wife from a disease. He is at her grave as he remembers their time together...His lonely walk, literally being that he lost the one in which he held so close. Christ atoned for the world, so that in all situations, no matter what they are, Christ can walk beside them, so that they are not lonely any more. For he is the only man who has truly walked the lonely path. I like this song a lot! :)

Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well! I love you all! Congrats to Scott, who just got home this week! I'm sure that was super exciting and awesome for everyone who was there! I was there in spirit ;) Congrats on an honorable mission!

I love you all! Write me! :)

Elder Tyler Robinson

 We were in a line of traffic, wondering why it was going slow. Elder Elkington leaned out the window a little bit to see what the hold up was, when he exclaimed, "Ahh, it's the bloody Amish!!" Haha It was funny(and nothing against the Amish of course. They are awesome!)

 The "Ugly Naked Cat" from the Tate home. This is literally what they call it! :)

New Zealand's very own Dr. Evil