We started
the week off with Zone P-Day as I mentioned last week. We just played a
handful of games, and it was a lot of fun, but nothing incredibly
special as far as what we played. After, we had a combined District
Meeting with the Zone, which kept us out till the end of the day, which I
stayed in Belleville with Elder Hunter while my companion went back to
Waterloo with Elder Beaumier.
It was Tuesday which was the start of something
really interesting. Elder Hunter, last year, was confronted by two 18
year old men, who robbed him and his companion at gun point. Tuesday was
the finalization of the guy who held the gun's trial. We went down to
St Louis and participated in the whole thing. They thought it was going
to be a trial, but the guy already plead guilty, so really it was just
Elder Hunter's opportunity to tell him how the event made him feel. He
got up, in front of this man, who one year ago, demanded, with a gun in
his hand pointed at him, for his things, which he hasn't gotten back
yet. He, with an awesome brilliance, told this young man that he
forgives him. That he truly has let it go, and that he asks that he let
it go as well, and work towards change because he believes, with all his
heart that there is a great man behind his choices and that Jesus
Christ will give you the power and the ability to change so that he can
shine forth out of and above all those choices and mistakes. It truly
was remarkable, and I think everyone in the courtroom was touched
because of how forgiving and sincere his testimony was to the man who
did such an awful thing to him. It was really a great experience to see.
Wednesday, we went to a outer town, called Lenzburg,
to teach a family that took the lessons a while back and had a
baptismal date, before kind of falling off the radar(probably because of
the distance). We had a great lesson, and Ivah, the mother said she
really wants to be baptized and that she knows that there are changes in
her life she needs to make, but for the first time she feels confident
that she can make that change. We now officially are meeting with them
every Wednesday. She is planning on coming to church regularly, probably
with the whole family. We just need to line them up a ride! We are
super excited for them :)
The next bit of news is one that is very interesting
and really surprised me. On Thursday morning, I received a call from
the Office Assistance. Turns out, that there was a missionary that was
in the office about 6 months ago. He created a very complicated system
for handling the weekly indicators, and with the new year, it's
completely stopped working(it was having problems before). They called
me in to see what I could do to address the problem. We discussed
several ideas, but came to a conclusion that we may be able to fix the
problem, but most likely it will fail again. In comes a brand new
project that President Clark has asked that I work on, which is a new
system that will work now, and will continue to work in the future, with
no weird problems like we saw this year. So, believe it or not, I spent
Thursday and Friday, the entire day, programming :) Don't worry...I'm
not in the office, I'm still out in the field, but there is a chance
that I'll either find myself taking several trips to the office, or I'll
be in the office officially for a time. With the new influx of new
missionaries, new areas, possibly new zones, the office needs someone
who is capable of keeping the work effective and efficient, and I it
sounds like the Lord has hand picked me to provide such a path.
I did fix the original program for temporary means,
but it will not last this next two transfers. In a total of 3 months we
will have 40 new missionaries, and an increase of probably 10-15 new
areas, and that system isn't made to handle those changes at all. I'm
super excited to be able to use my talents in such a special way!
Something that could expand to even greater depths...maybe even be used
in other missions in the future.
Anyway, there is an interesting story to tell, from
my experience in the office. On Friday, Elder Beaumier and Rowley joined
Elder Facer and I in the office, and Elder Keller had a task for them. I
stayed in the office, and Elder Keller, Beaumier, Rowley, and Facer
went to the car dealer to get 3 new cars. That meant one missionary per
car...you can probably already see the risks of this story haha. Well,
Elder Beaumier did not know his way back to the office and while on the
freeway, did not realize that the group turned off, and he continued
driving. To make things worse, the phone was in his coat, which was in
the mission office. Needless to say, he was lost in a city he's never
been in, with really no resource. The office started a search party, and
luckily Elder Beaumier was able to get a hold of a phone, and called
President Clark(who by this point already knew and was looking for him),
who came and picked him up. Ughhh...I officially lost my companion for 2
hours...It was weird! He's safe, and there really wasn't any
problems...but it was crazy and it had me totally freaked! Haha
Anyway, Saturday, we had interviews with President
Clark, who made the very true statement of, "We should of just done this
in the office yesterday!" Lol It was good though. I truly believe that I
have learned more true principles and developed the greatest change in
these last 5 weeks, then I have at any given time in my life. This
companionship was so inspired....It's been a learning experience because
it's been honestly hard, but not without the great effects that I've
been able to see. The change and trials that my companion has gone
through are ones that would bring even the elite to their knees, but
together we have championed over mountains and monsters of every sort,
and we see success! It's so great! I love it! We may stay together next
transfer, but whether we do or not, I know I've become a greater man in
every aspect because of this short 5 weeks so far. I look forward to
whatever happens.
Lastly, Sunday we had Danny, Connie, and Tiffany at
church! They were awesome and stayed second hour and really enjoyed it.
After they left, we had a discussion with the BML about them and their
progress, and the affirmative action that we are receiving from the
branch, is so awesome! Everyone is so willing to just love anyone who
walks into the doors, and the Melching family feels and knows that. It's
awesome!
We lastly, stopped by their place that night and had
a pretty informal discussion with Tiffany about questions that she has
just never asked yet. She told us, that nothing is going to stop her
from being baptized...she's already made the decision because she knows
it's true and she knows that God expects her to act on that. She did say
that if it is possible to get there without a war with her dad, she
would much rather pick that path, but if her dad says it's either him or
baptism, she will pick baptism. As hard of a decision as that has to
be, I truly am proud of her and her willingness to make such a sacrifice
for what she knows is right. I know her mom and Danny, walking the same
path, will be a door that will allow her to fulfill that desire. As we
were leaving, we talked to Connie, and she told us that she is willing
to do whatever the Lord asks her, to get her off of her addiction of
smoking. We have just the thing :) We will be presenting the
Stop-Smoking workshop this week to help her achieve that. Unfortunately,
I will be in Belleville again during that lesson :( Exchanges can be a
great thing, but sometimes they just land in inconvenient times lol.
Anyway, Friday and Saturday I will be in the office
again, which will be fun and exciting :) I look forward to telling you
about transfer calls(I'll know on Saturday, what's happening). That does
mean that I may be leaving Waterloo next Wednesday, so plan on mailing
to the mission office this week to be sure the mail gets to me :)
I love you all! Have a wonderful week! :D
Elder Tyler Robinson
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