4/10/2012

My Easter basket :D

The Easter gift my mom sent me. She got me right on the dot, because I love this thing!! It's pretty much Labyrinth but in a sphere and it's awesome. I'm currently trying to make up an object lesson that would allow me to use this in teaching appointments

Elder Bassett and I with Brian Robinson; An RM who recently joined the ward. He usually is the one that goes out to lessons with us :)

he All-Blacks rugby team flag that we now have hung up in our living room! I personally think it's awesome! :)

The other pictures were at the main SIU sign, in front of the towers which are in the Background. Elder Elkington and I decided we needed to make claim of the area by taking these pictures :)

The first picture is at the Wall & Grand apartments which are super nice and right next to our apartment, which isn't even close to as nice.

Our outdoor food pantry that our neighbors left when they moved out. Since then, it has been demolished, but we thought it was funny as it was there. We never ate anything off of it.

Stack of letters that I have from since I started my mission. I was squishing them as I held it up. There is a ton(Thank you all!!!)

Tree outside of our apartment March 12th when it first started blooming

Same tree as the first picture, one week later(March 19th)

04/9/2012

What an amazing week!!!!!!! I think I say this everytime, but I will say it again, and will continue to say it! :D

The very first part of the week was interesting. On Tuesday, we had a full day of appointments which all went really well. We started it off with a lesson with a Part-Member family who has asked us to come and give the lessons. Mikah, who is the non-member, is awesome and although isn't running towards baptism, is interested in digging deep into what we believe so that he can feel like he's making an educated choice(through prayer and study of course). I really respect that, because that is how I felt as well. I did not want to feel like I was making a decision for anyone else but my self. He is a super awesome guy though, and I am really excited to start teaching him some of the lessons.

After, we went to another Part-Member family and had Ribs, which were THE BEST ribs I have ever had! They were really good! It sounds like they may also, be preparing to take the lessons as well, which is way exciting, of course :D

Lastly for Tuesday, we went down to Francisco's house to teach them the next lesson. Francisco, unfortunately had to leave, prior to the lesson, so we ended up just teaching his parents, but it was really fun! We read 1 Nephi 8 with them in Spanish and they were really excited about the precepts that are in that chapter. We talked about how the vision that Lehi had, really applies to our lives and they talked about how they have seen these things happen in their life. Francisco Sr. has read 1 Nephi 8 twice before this lesson, and so he was clearly excited to talk about it and to ask the questions he had. It was amazing!

Now for the part that I know everyone is excited to hear. Transfers!!! Elder Bassett is going to an awesome area, first off...Like exactly what fits his personality perfectly! I'm excited for him, because he will do an amazing job. He is training and district leader, and the missionary that he is training is dealing with some problems(his whole family has passed away...not sure if it was an accident or how recent the event was). Elder Bassett will be a super hero for him, and that district :)

As for my transfer, Elder Elkington is from New Zealand...he is of Maori decent. He has an awesome accent, and is just way awesome! We have already had a lot of fun and are working really hard. Here's the best part of this transfer.....I get to drive!!! :) Elder Elkington doesn't have a US drivers license so I get to do the driving. We are also getting a new car this week! Ahhhhh I am way excited :)

We've had some way awesome lessons this week, together. We've had 3 visits with Shenika, and right now she is on track to be baptized next Sunday! There is a bit of a concern there, but we have asked her to really spend a lot of time this week really praying about what she is doing and if she is doing the right thing. We want her to have a strong testimony that what she is doing is God's will and that what we have taught is true, and so we really stressed this.

We also had a really cool lesson with a Part-Member family at the north part of our area. The husband is one of the most genuine guys I have met here. He is way awesome, and is planning on really trying to find out if the Restoration and the Book of Mormon is true. I am super impressed with his willingness, and he really asked some great questions, which shows how impressed he was of the lesson. We asked them to pray about what we taught, as well as what we asked them to read! I'm way excited for them!

Hopefully you like the pictures I sent!! We will take more, for sure :D I love you all! Keep writing me...I seriously love the letters when I get them. This week, I got a ton of letters from Shauna, and wow!! She is amazing! :D She's doing really well, for all those who don't know! One of the letters(this one is old...from January), said that the Christmas present that I asked a lot of you to participate it has really made a huge difference in her mission! Thank you all for helping me do that :D I'm really, just super excited to hear from her every time I get a letter from her :D

Anyway, until next week! I love you all! Keep up the good work! I pray for you all, every day :D
Elder Tyler Robinson

04/2/2012

Alrighty everyone! Final week of training is finally over!!!! :D We got transfer calls on Saturday night, right before the Priesthood Session of General Conference and Elder Bassett is officially being transferred to Hillsboro and being put as District Leader for the district up there.

I, on the other hand, am staying here in Carbondale and am getting a new companion, Elder Elkington, who from what I've heard is from New Zealand. If this is true, I'm pretty excited to have a companion with a New Zealand accent!! It'll be awesome :) Anyway, I know for sure that I will be here in C-Dale for at least another 6 weeks.

Unfortunately, I do not have any news to share about the Tomas family. Their appointment for Friday was cancelled because Francisco Sr. wasn't going to be there, and they are deeply desiring for their whole family to go through the experience.

Although I have no news for them, I do have news about a brand new investigator that we got! After conference yesterday, we stopped by her house(we met her tracting about a month ago) and talked to her about the Book of Mormon. I then felt prompted to talk specifically about families and expressed some of the amazing councils that were shared during conference, as well as the general goal of being able to never be separated from our spouse and children when we move on from this milestone of life. It really was amazing how in tune she was to the things we were sharing. As we expressed our love and desire for her and her family to partake of the beautiful blessings of the Gospel, she told us she was very open to it and invited us over for a second visit, which will be in 2 weeks. I have an extremely good feeling about her!

Anyway, Conference really is the big talk of the week, to be honest. I just wanted to share some things that I was impressed with during the conference talks. These are just some things I wrote down.

Sat Morning

Thomas S. Monson
-With God there is one faith, one doctrine, and one purpose. (One Lord, one faith, one baptism)
-Heavenly Father is mindful of all our needs!!

Boyd K Packer
-Children are the Heritage of the Lord; They are the light of hope
-We learn more from children then we do from our parents
-Lead your children in righteousness and not in anger or fear

Paul E Kodlike
-Missionaries come in as infants and leave as grown men(So true..I fully see myself growing up out here)
-As we seek for goodness the heavens will draw you closer to this goodness.
-Family is a pattern designed in Heaven. This pattern is put forth to help us act in the gospel and it's precepts

Dallin H Oaks
-The symbol of our faith and commitment(in contrast to the symbol of the cross) is within the sacrifices and work of the members
-Those who understand the eternal blessings of the temple; There is no cost, no time, no sacrifice that is greater then this opportunity.
-As you sacrifice for others and your children the Lord WILL bless you

Henry B Eyring
-The level of adversity can never overcome the level of blessings for which God will give, for enduring.(
-Trials give experience. Christ descended to the lowest of the low so that enduring of all things is possible and experience and knowledge can be gained
-Storms WILL come in EVERY life(I like that...very true)

Sat Afternoon
Jeffery R Holland
-This talk was on the parable of the Lord of the Vineyard. I recommend all check this out!! It was very good
-The thing God loves most about being God, Is being merciful; Especially to those who don't expect it, nor believe they deserve it

Robert D Hales
-Temple Worthiness is just living the Gospel(Faith, repentance, baptism, receive gift of Holy Ghost, Endure to the End)
-Follow  your spiritual desires

David S Baxter
-Heaven smiles upon those who sacrifice so much for their children(Single mothers and Fathers)

Ulisses Soares
-There is a well defined line between God and the Devil. If you step 1 inch on the Devil's side, you can not guarantee to make good choices
-You can't be wrong if doing right and can't be right if doing wrong.

Quiten L Cook
-Testimony must be on faith, rather then physical proof.
-Persistence is the key. Don't ever let life interuppt your persistence

Richard G Scott
-To receive revelation, you must exercise faith by reading scriptures, praying, fasting, and asking specific questions
-Write all your revelations down. It shows God you know of it's sacredness

Priesthood
David A Bednar
-There can be no divine church without the priesthood!
-To break the oath and covenant of the priesthood, is to break the commandments or to do nothing
-Men who bear God's priesthood should be different. Not better, but clearly willing to take upon him the responsibilities of the priesthood
-Righteousness is required to act in power

Dieter F Uchdorf
-The basic Gospel principles need to be the part of our life fabrics
-If we stumble, we will rise. If we falter, we will go on. All through Faith, repentance, and new beginnings

Henry B Eyring
-Thomas S. Monson is the only man who has the power to seal mariages as well as all other ordinances in Heaven
-We are responsible for the leading and gathering of Israel
-No man has the right to go forth and administer ANY ordinance without the authority of the prophet
-Things you can do to be a family patriarch
1. Gain and keep a witness that the prophet holds the sealing powers of God
2. Love your wife. Put her interest first
3. Enlist the entire family to love each other. Consistent care can only come from persistence of the parents and of God
4. Control temper and pride to have the Holy Ghost to be with you

Thomas S. Monson
-Priesthood is an everlasting principle without the end of days or beginningn of years
-Priesthood is a privilege to serve
-When God speaks and man obeys, that man will always be right


Sun Morning

Dieter F. Uchdorf-Refusing to forgive is, in itself, a sin
-Forgiveness of ourselves is a commandment
-Stop gossiping! It's bad!
-Be not overcome by evil but overcome evil with good
-The merciful will obtain mercy

D. Todd Christopherson
-A prophet is only a prophet if they are acting as such
-Not everything that is said by a prophet is instantly doctrine(because they also are human and have biases)
-Scholarship is of value, but divine revelation is the source of all understanding

Thomas S. Monson
-Lay up treasures that are in heaven. For where your treasure is, be where your heart is.
-Priorities are extremely important and should consistently be reweighed

Sun Afternoon

Tom Perry
-The Book of Mormon is a great Book!!! :)
-Both the Book of Mormon and the Bible are needed to establish correct Doctrine
-"These records shall establish the truth of the other, which is from the 12 apostles. It will establish that Jesus is the Christ"


There were others that were really good, but these were the stand out ones for me!
Watch conference if you can get the chance(Lds.org).
Also, I put up a Mormon.org profile, so you should all go check that out :D

Anyway, I am running out of time. I just want to say that I love all of you!!! I truly hope for great things at home, while great things are happening here! I pray for you consistently and love to hear the successes of each of you, in your letters!

FYI, the last email, I almost ran out of time which is why it may have looked like I was in the middle of my thought when I said goodbye. I thought it would be best if I actually sent the email ;)

Anyway, I will have pictures next week(I have some now, but didn't have the opportunity to upload in time). I bid thee all safe passage, until next week!!

Elder Tyler Stephen Robinson

3/26/2012

I've hit the 3 month mark!!! It kind of came and went without really any true celebration but nonetheless, it's pretty cool to see how fast the time is flying by!

This week has been definitely different and actually ended up being a lot of fun! First off, on Monday, we went over to Francisco's house again. This time, his mom, dad, and sister-in-law-to-be(Apparently this is common in the latino culture) were all there. They showed us the pictures of their family and talked about when they came to the United States from Mexico, about 20 years ago. His father works about an hour and a half away, in Missouri and has actually taught himself English and is actually very good at it! We asked Francisco if he showed his family the Restoration DVD or not, and he got super excited and said "No, but let's watch it now!" and ran off to go find the DVD and the laptop to watch it on. We watched it in Spanish, which was pretty cool...Interestingly enough, I have recently started remembering how to speak Spanish...it's weird, I know but seriously I can understand what they are usually saying, and I can talk back, which I never did, even when I was in Spanish classes...It's cool but weird :D Anyway, Francisco was amazing! He explained everything we taught so thoroughly and was so excited as he did it! I am so impressed with his desire and his excitement to learn more of the gospel. At the end of the lesson, we committed them to read 1 Nephi 8(o 1 Nefi 8 en espanol) and his mom was like "We aren't going to read it right now?" Haha. She is so excited. In the Latino culture, it is normal for the family to follow the mother in her desires, and in this case, I think if she chooses that this is her path, the whole family will commit themselves to find out if it is true for them, so we are very excited to see her progression, as well as Francisco's.

Anyway, on Tuesday, we had District Meeting, and went on exchanges. Elder Rudd, my district leader, blitzed the East side of Murpheysboro, where we met an older gentleman named John. John was in an accident in October that has made walking, among other things, very difficult, so we walked him to the Courthouse and back. What an amazing, humble guy! He's going through a lot of difficulties, taking care of his brother who is mentally unstable, and dealing with the fact that the hospital incinerated his ID during his accident, he is a champ! We invited him to the Internation Potluck that was on Friday, and he came and LOVED it! We plan on visiting with him again next week :D

Wednesday and Thursday, Elder Valois and I were on exchanges together, while Elder Bassett and Elder Rudd went to leadership. We got soooo many things done, but we just had an amazing time! It was just really fun working with him, and having that opportunity to be lead was a challenge that I just love taking. We caught up on some of the work that Elder Valois left without sharing with us(he was here in Carbondale right before me and Elder Bassett came in), and we met several of the people he was teaching. We also did some tracking, and it was a good learning experience to work so hard and actually have a fun time doing the work. We talked about what we did wrong at that last door, and what we can do better on the next door, and clearly we saw progress because we handed out Book of Mormon's to nearly all the houses we knocked on, and gave them almost a full restoration lesson. It was just amazing!

Anyway, we have a really good week ahead of us...Plus General Conference this weekend!! Elder Rudd and Elder Valois are going to join us here in Carbondale, so it's going to be a great opportunity to share what we learn and the revelations we received!

Lastly, I know the Book of Mormon is true! I know, with everything I work for, every single day, that God gave the Book of Mormon to us, as a means of proving that He is God, and that He loves all of us...no matter what nation, color, sex...He loves us all. He gave it to us so that we can know that He has called a prophet, and that that prophet will only lead us to do well, because he is God's prophet. He gave us the Book of Mormon so that we can know how to interpret the doctrines in the Bible, and so that we have something to pray about to know the truthfulness
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ
Amen
Elder Robinson

3/19/2012

Whew!!! What an amazing week!! I actually have an amazing miracle to share!

Earlier this week, we got a phone call from the Elders in the Shiloh area, telling us that that taught the Restoration to a guy who lives in our area, who was visiting a friend in their area. They said, he had an amazing spiritual experience at that lesson, and that we he had asked for us to stop by and teach him more! This is a great thing, of course! Having someone ask for us to stop by to teach more is always a great sign that God has been preparing them.

We drove down on Saturday to his home, which was in Alto Pass, a small city that really doesn't have much going on. Unfortunately, as we were half way to his house, Elder Bassett realized that he did not bring his planner, and that we didn't have his number or his address...It was pretty nerve wracking to realize we may have really messed up(at this point, we were already a bit late). Elder Bassett pointed out that he remembers it being on Elm St, but he could not remember what the number was. So we drove up and down Elm St(only about 8 or 9 houses were on it), looking for an indication of what might be Francisco's house.

As we were doing this, a Beetlebug pulled off in front of a yellow house, and a Hispanic lady got out of her car. President Bartholomew(who was driving us), got out and asked her if she knew Francisco, which it turned out she was actually there to visit Francisco! Francisco's mom let us in, and we were brought into this attached apartment in the back of the house. Francisco's mom, Theresa(the lady we met outside), and Francisco joined us for our lesson. It turns out, Theresa was with Francisco when they were taught the first lesson, and that she also experienced an amazing spiritual experience. Francisco's mom was only Spanish speaking, so we needed people to translate(President Bartholomew, Theresa, and Francisco knew both English and Spanish). As we introduced what we were going to teach, Theresa began retelling the entire First Vision, in almost perfection, to Francisco's mom, all off of memory she had from the first lesson in Shiloh. Francisco helped assist her in all the details, but she basically retold everything we had prepared. We then introduced the Book of Mormon, and expressed that the Book of Mormon is God's proof to us that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that we can pray about the truthfulness of the sacred texts that were in it. As we taught, we were translated for Francisco's mom, and she understood, and agreed fully with everything we said! The spirit was so extremely strong, and to be honest, by how much Theresa and Francisco helped teach the lesson, it's hard to believe they aren't members themselves...you can just tell that know what we were teaching was true! It was amazing, and even with how much I've already written, there is so much more to the actual experience. It was a miracle, and it was amazing to see the spirit just touch them and confirm our words to them! I'm so excited for this family!

What made it even more of a miracle was that Theresa wasn't actually planning on stopping by. She had a spiritual impression that told her to hold off her plans for the day(which was head to Carbondale from Percy), to stop by Francisco's house. She told us she didn't know why she was going there until after we started talking to her outside Francisco's door, in which she said "I think God wanted me to be here." Wow!

After having such difficult weeks lately, with all our lessons falling through, this was just an amazing turn around and I was so proud to have that opportunity to be apart of the change that will happen in that family!

Anyway, I love you all! I pray for you all every night! Keep writing me, because I love hearing from everyone! Keep Francisco and his family in your prayers as well! :D
Elder Robinson

3/12/2012

Hey hey everyone!

So I realized that last week, I forgot to tell everyone that that Tornado that hit Harrisburg was about 30 miles East of where we live, which is a bit nerve wracking, but at the same time, I feel comforted being in Carbondale. The landscape is pretty hilly, and so tornadoes are actually extremely rare here. I think someone said that in the last 20 years there has only been 1 tornado and it was small, which even Utah had a big tornado in that time frame. The members of this ward, in Carbondale, have been driving up to Harrisburg to help them rebuild the Hospital and the Wal-Mart, as well as delivering supplies and other things to help the people there. I heard that the missionaries in that area were recently moved from their apartments to a different place in their area, and the apartments that they were staying in where completely demolished...how's that for Mission President inspiration?

Anyway, what a week! We had a ton of appointments this week, scheduled out to fill our entire week almost, and every single one fell through :(. We ended up tracting for 19 hours total this week, which is wayyyyyyy too much!! :) Anyway, because of spring break at the school, this week Carbondale is literally empty, so we are going to do everything we can to get out of Carbondale, and visit these other semi big towns around the area. It's going to be way fun!!!

Also, this week we had an interesting event up at the school. It was a Meet the Mormons forum, and we were a big part of it. We presented the timeline of the beginning of the church, which we didn't really know how to approach, because it wasn't a presentation for members and since it is inside the school, we need to do everything we can to present facts rather then proselyte. Anyway, as we were teaching up to Joseph Smith's death, the spirit seriously just flowed right out, and I began testifying of the cruel martyr of Joseph Smith; it was cool, and I could tell that it touched everyone as I expressed how it was a disgusting act of carnal violence. Anyway, we presented some information of who we are, and why we are on mission(including sharing the things we used to do before we left), and we answered a ton of questions. It was really cool, and there were quite a few non-members there that had all their questions about who the Mormons are, answered. It was fun!

BTW, we are not going to go hiking today. President Bartholomew cancelled on us, so that will be something we do on a later day. Instead, we will do the normal cleaning and writing we do every week :)

Anyway, I can testify that this work is the work of God! Even though our week wasn't incredibly successful, as far as teaching lessons, I know that the lessons we did teach, we taught by the spirit, and that the spirit does tell me what to say, how to say it, and reveals to those who I speak to the truthfulness of what I say. I love this work and I love this gospel, and we have it because God loves us more then anything else in the world. We are His work and His glory; the things we do in this life are what make Him happy, because He sees that it makes us happy. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen

I love you all!!
Elder Tyler Robinson

3/6/2012

 

Playing at the train station in downtown city center, here in Carbondale. :) This was a restored train(I assume at least), that is set on a separate track that doesn't go anywhere, outside of the train tracks. It was just the engine and the caboose of the train. As we were taking pictures, there were some bums making fun of us at the doorstep to the Commerce building(Which used to be the train station). If you ever wondered what Carbondale is like, that's pretty much it... :)

So, to start off the week, we actually had Zone Conference on Tuesday! I think I may have mentioned that last week, but basically we drove down to Cape, and received a bunch of trainings from the Mission President, his wife, the Assistant Presidents, the Zone Leaders, and some of the District Leaders. We also got BRAND NEW PHONES!!!! JK, it's not that exciting. The phones are better then the last ones, in my opinion, but they don't do anything different then the last phones, so I'm unsure on why we needed to upgrade; but anyway, yeah new phones :) We also found out that we are in rotations to get a new car(we need one...ours has almost hit the mileage limit, and it's kind of junky as it is). I expect we will find out, within the next couple weeks(I hope :D).

As for the week, we have been trying to find new investigators, and spent quite a bit of time trackting. It was pretty cool because we got a good 7 or 8 potential investigators that seem pretty solid; assuming their appointments don't fall through. I'm really excited about that :D

I do have a good story to share...it's embarrassing but I have to admit, it's funny...I just wish it didn't happen to me lol.

We were over at one of our members house, who we were teaching a friend of theirs who is currently going through the process of going from Less-Active to Active(Both him and the member who's house we were at were doctors). We were eating dinner first, which was beef stew...It was pretty good!! She then layed in front of us, this amazing looking pie things(not sure what it's called) where there was like a cookie crust bottom, and on top it is a pretty thick pile of chocolate & vanilla pudding, which was extremely rich. For those of you who do not know this, I'm allergic to the proteins in milk, but typically I don't have much of a problem. Honestly, there are only a couple things I've eaten that I know cause me major stomach problems, because of the allergy, but most of the time I'm fine. Well, add super rich pudding to the list, because after I ate it(literally almost instantly) my stomach started going crazy! We began teaching the lesson, and as I was teaching the whole room would echo a *GRUAGGAAGA* sound, which came from my stomach, and everyone was laughing because it was so loud! Nonetheless, I continued to teach, and the lesson was amazing(Even with my poor suffering stomach). As we were preparing to leave, Elder Bassett continued talking with them for a good 10 mins, while I stood there, suffering :( I told him after, that in my mind as he was talking, I was thinking, "If you don't stop talking, I'm going to punch you in the face!" Haha...I feel bad for thinking that now, but trust me...I was paying the price... Needless to say, all is well that ends well. I made it to a bathroom just fine, thank goodness! My stomach continued to have trauma through the night, I guess. Elder Bassett said I was moaning in pain through my sleep.

Anyway, just a heads up...President Bartholomew said he wants to take us hiking next week, so if that happens, we might have some good pictures of the beautiful outdoors here, but this means that my writing time may be less then normal. I do write everyone back, so if you have written me, and haven't received a letter back to your letter, I promise I have read it and am planning on writing back :)

I love you all! Thanks for all your support!!
Elder Tyler Robinson

This is a picture of our board of names we are working with right now(It's a little outdated by now...I took the picture at the beginning of the week). The left had side of the board is Potential investigators and investigators, and the top center is the Part-Members, and the right hand side is all Less-Actives/Recent Converts. Of course, this is not all we are working with...We have a huge list of more Less-Actives to meet with.