Week 4 out on the mission! Actually, nothing incredibly exciting to share, but I'll do my best to make it sound as such :)
Alright, I lied, there are a couple incredibly exciting things to share:
The first is Kevin. Saturday, we taught him the Plan of Happiness by using little cut out peicesto demonstrate what happens to our bodies and our spirit's as we hit the amazing milestones of the plan. He just absorbed it all! It was pretty incredible how easily he is picking up on the material and how excited he is getting!
Sunday, Kevin showed up for church! Not only that, but he mentioned about 5 or 6 times, that the things being talked about was exactly the questions he had before he came! He is recieving revalation at church! Haha it is so crazy to see this all fall into place for him. Before he left, he said "Hey Elders, just so you know, February 11th will work perfect for me"...I'm so happy for him; and you can tell that he is so happy for himself; That this experience is really changing his life for the better; and to be honest, he really is experiencing his own personal miracles. Anyway, we have 2 lessons planned for this week with him, to help prepare him for 2 weeks from now. I think he will be ready! :D
Next, we met with Shenika, and she is awesome! She has the cutest little daughter and has been keeping up with most of the commitments from the last Elders(or possibly the ones before them...not sure if she even met the last elders). Anyway, she is still progressing. We read Alma 18 with her, and explained what was going on and she really enjoyed that experience of hearing it explained in mondern English. We did not ask her about baptism; Both me and Elder Bassett felt prompted to just read with her, and follow up next appointment, which will be Friday. I am very excited about this!! :)
We have been working on digging out the Less-Active list, and finding all the Part-Member families, and we have a ton! Like 20! That's a lot! We met with Bob and Cindy, which Bob is a Non-member, which I think went very well. He is going to church and has been reading the Book of Mormon(although he struggles to understand it), and so we hope to be able to meet with them again. Also, Carl Jr, Bob's nephew has expressed a desire to take the discussions and be baptized, so we will be getting a hold of him tomorrow :)
We do have some bad news...Of course, with all good news comes bad news. Henry dropped us before the second visit. He found himself doing research in some anti stuff, and could not get something he found, and decided he didn't want to meet with us. He wrote us a note, but the thing he is hung over on is pretty silly, and clearly lacking understanding, but since he won't meet with us, I wrote him a letter bearing my testimony of this church. I guess I will find out how that goes later this week.
As for the letters so far, I did get a letter from Mom, a letter from Grandpa, a letter from Marilee, and a letter from Mike. I wrote back to Mike and Mom, I will get to the others next week(since I got them before I came to email lol). But keep sending me letters! I wrote and sent 6 letters today, so hopefully I will also be filling your mailbox soon too! :)
Anyway, there is only an hour here at the library, and I have to write the mission president before my time is out(plus nothing else, super exciting happened...except the Polar Bear, which happened pretty much right out our house :/ More on that in my journal[or you can look it up on the Carbondale news, I'm sure]).
I love you all!! Keep writing me! I love your letters!!
With love,
Elder Tyler Stephen Robinson
Monday, January 30, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
1/25/2012
So, as you know, January 21st was my one month aniversary on my mission :D I celebrated it by handing out two Book of Mormon's, walking back to the house :)
Anyway, this week has kind of been lacking any real prominant events. Our biggest event, though, was meeting with Kevin on Thursday. We taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He had already read 2 Nephi 31 without us asking him, so he knew quite a bit already before we went into the lesson, but we showed him how the Gospel can be used in our lives, no matter what the situation is. We talked a little bit about his dreams, of who he wants to be, and how he expects to get there and I showed him that the only way we can become that person we see our selves becoming, is through change...through faith in Christ, repentence of our sins, being baptized and receiving the remmission of those sins, and recieving the gift of the Holy Ghost and once we have reached that point, start over...do it again. Change more, become better then you were. There is an infinite ceiling on the person we can become and the only way we can continue to approach that person, is by always making changes that improve on who we were, and that the ordinances of the Gospel are put there so that we can, one day, reach our goals and our potential; and at that final hour, God will open his gates and accept us into his kingdom, to receive all that he has promised.
Lights went on for Kevin...he understood why we would need the Gospel, why we need a Savior, and why it's important for him. He now has a date, February 11th. This means, we need to continue working with him to help him progress and to repent so that he is prepared to make those everlasting covenants with God, in the waters of baptism! I'm so excited for him. Not only did he agree to work towards being ready for that date, but he even prayed outloud for us, which is something he has refused, sincerely, since our first visit. It was so great! We are so very proud of him and his progression so far :)
Anyway, Kevin is a stud! I do ask for all you at home, to keep Kevin's mom, Karen Klien in your prayers, as she is currently going through difficult surgeries that has Kevin very worried. Thanks :)
Sunday night, we went over to the Tolley's house. Bishop Tolley(the old bishop of the ward), is a professor at SIU for Forensic Chemistry(Bree, you would love to meet him :D); He teaches classes, but he does a lot of research. He has worked on a way to test reactions of medication on single cells of the body, so that you can find out what effects will be caused, what side effects will be caused, and any other good/bad thing that medicine can do to the human body. He also invents Chocolate :) He gave us some that had some South American Choa choa bean, which he said "Meh, this isn't really the best I make"...It was AMAZING!! Like, I could easily say that it was the best milk chocolate I've ever had. Not only that, but he has actually made one of the greatest protein bars ever made. It tastes like candy, is 65% protein and 35% fiber...No carbs. We didn't get to try it, but he says his kids will eat them for dessert because they are so good. By the way, they have 7 kids :) They were way cool, and made us a really good itallian soup :D
Mom, I forgot to send you the recipe for White Chili that I mention in my letter(you will understand when you get it), so here is the recipe, which I am sharing with every one...it is so good(Bytheway Brenda, I used your recipe book at the Babcock's house to get this recipe). Anyway, here it is:
4 Chicken breast
1 tsp. oil
1 tsp cumin
4 stalks of celery
1 onion; chopped
2 cans; cream of chicken
2 sm. cans; green chilies
2 cans; Great northern white beans
3 1/4 cups water
2 cubes chicken bouillon
1 bag of tortilla chips
monterey jack cheese; shredded
sour cream
In a large stew pot, put cumin, oil, and celery
Add Cream of Chicken, chillies, white beans, onions, water, boulillon cubes
When finished, top each serving with chips, cheese, and sour cream
Also, this is for everyone who reads this. I need excercises that can be done without equipment. I know a lot of you have your own ideas and do different things, I would like a good variety, so send me them(Best would be through the mail, not email). I do all the same excercises every day, and it is getting harder to do them because I'm working the same muscles. Anyway, yeah please do this :)
Yesterday, we had district meeting. We talked about Finding, and what we can do to improve the way we find people. We focused on the fact that find means to uncover something that has been sought. We are seeking for those who are prepared to hear what we have to say, and we have to approach every person like they might be who we are looking for. Finding has probably been the hardest thing we have done so far; and it's all because we haven't really learned how to approach people with boldness. Give them a reason to recognize that we have something important to share with them, before they loose interest. It's tough, but as we continue to practice, we continue to see improvement :)
Also yesterday, after District Meeting, we had interviews with President Clark. I got a chance to tell him how everything was going and to express how happy I am to be here in Carbondale(because it really is an amazing place to be put at). He said several times that he put me and Elder Bassett here because the area has been so bad lately, that he knows that putting his best missionaries here will turn the area around. I don't want to sound like I'm boasting, but I do agree; we could see a large amount of success in this area. It is just a matter of showing working as hard as we can, which we are.
Anyway, I don't have any pictures this week. I should take one of me and Elder Bassett, but we just haven't had the time yet. We will next P-Day :)
Until then,
I love you all!!! Write me!!!!!
Elder Tyler Robinson
514 S Wall St Apt# 11
Carbondale, Il 62901
I seriously get no letters, so yeah, please write!! Mom, Grandpa, make sure everyone in the family get's a copy of this(Brenda, Ken, Kevin, etc) Thanks!
Hope all is well in Utah! :D
Elder Tyler Robinson
Thursday, January 19, 2012
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| Mississippi River from Cape Geradeau |
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| First week as a District. I took the picture so I am not in this one. |
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| Me wielding a light saber...MTC trains missionaries and Jedi's :) |
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| Hanging out with Elder Foster on New Years Eve |
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| District Goodbye pic with Brother Thacker on far left, Brother Peay right next to him in back and Sister Dunn in the front right. |
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| District Temple picture |
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| Iceland joining our temple picture, holding the Iceland flag |
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| Full group of missionaries that came out on Tuesday. Sister Clark and President Clark are in the center. |
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| Sister Clark, Elder Tyler Robinson, President Clark |
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| Mission home |
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| Cool duck statue in Cape Geradeau. They fly across the street. |
1/18/2012
Top Lt - Rt Elder Foster, Elder Robinson, Elder Mitchem, Elder Hunt, Elder Eidam, Elder Oberle
Bottom Lt - Rt Elder Nicholes, Elder Alvarado, Elder Williams, Elder Marberry
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
1/17/2012
Alrighty! So I'm actually in Cape Gerardeuo(or something like that) today for exchanges for the next 2 days, but for the last week, I've been in Carbondale.
First off, today is not P-Day, but because Martin Luther King day was yesterday(Monday), we had no access to computers, and since it is a requirement to email every week, we get to spend some time Today(Tuesday) to email.
Anyway, let me tell you about Carbondale. It is a college town, where Southern Illinois University is the very heart of the city. The city itself has about 20,000+ permanent families that live here, and about another 17,000+ students that come in and out every semester. We live about 5 blocks from the University entrance and have access to a booth inside the school once a week; which is pretty cool! Our total area is actually pretty big...the church is in between Murpheysboro and Carbondale, and we have majority of Murphysboro in our area. The most northern city in our area is Dequin(Prenounced De-coin), which is 20 miles north of Carbondale. The most southern city is, I believe Dongola, which is about the same distance south of Carbondale. We cover quite a bit East and West, but no one really lives out there, so I don't know what the cities are called.
Our apartment is tiny. I didn't realize how small it really was, until we stayed at the apartment that the missionaries in Cape were staying at. It has 2 bedrooms, which we pretty much entirely fill one up with our two beds; the second room is where we do our studying. Our kitchen is extremely small...we have a microwave and a toaster oven that have to sit in the living room because there is no room for them in the kitchen(no complaints though...we work pretty well with what we have). We have a crockpot and a ton of pans, so don't worry about sending us any cooking supplies...I believe we have everything that we may need. Our dining room/Living room is really crammed cause the last missionaries left their bike in the middle of it, as well as some of their other supplies, so it is kind of a mess...oh well.
My companion is Elder Bassett. He's from Layton, Utah and has been out for 4.5 months. He is extremely motivated and loves to work, and trust me...we have gotten a lot of work done :) Anyway, he is training me, and so far we've worked really well together. He is a bit of a health nut, which I'm ok with...just means I have to deal with skim milk and whole wheat bread(I honestly don't mind lol). He actually was originally assigned to Chile but they sent him home in the MTC for medical leave...so this is his second attempt for a mission, and I think that is why he is so motivated to work as hard as he does. It's been great for us because we don't ever just sit around for anything. We are actually Whitewashing this area, which means that we are starting off completely new here...both of us, and because of this, our first week had nothing to go off of and nothing to really do, but we found things to do and were always busy, and it has paid off immensely! I'll share a bit more on that in a minute. So far, we have gotten along really well...Just bonded from the very beginning.
So just to tell you guys a little bit about our mission president. His name is President Stephen Clark. Him and Sister Clark used to live in Provo before being called to being the mission president. They have a daughter who suffered an extremely severe plane accident. They actually made a Mormon message about her and her accident. She was severely burnt and has received skin grafts to fix as much of her skin as possible. Since the accident, she has started a blog where she expresses how the Gospel has continued to change her life and help her cope with the pain of the accident, while raising a family and living in normal society. The blog is actually extremely famous and has changed many lives, with all the advice she gives to her followers. You can see the Mormon message on her here: http://bcove.me/vql1kayb. Sister Clark shows up in the video :) Anyway, President Clark was really nice while we stayed in their house, and I'm really excited to work with him!!!
Our first day, President Clark took us to the St. Louis temple and explained the story about the temple. The plot was originally owned by the Baptist church, where they used to have a school. Prayerfully, our church decided that the location for the St. Louis temple, was supposed to be in that location and approached the Baptist church about purchasing the lot. The Baptist church declined any offer, and told them that they would never sell the plot to our church. When the local members found out that they declined any offer, they began to pray for a miracle that may take place that would cause the land to be sold to the LDS church. Such an event happened. The baptists ran into financial trouble and decided that that lot was costing them too much money and put it up for auction. The LDS church put up a bid for it, but because they would not sell to us before, they completely declined the churches offer.
A local member who was extremely rich(he is the founder of the pixi stick...they call him Willie Wonka here) offered the baptist church $6,000,000 for the plot of land...The baptist church accepted under one condition; He was not allowed to ever sell the land to the LDS church. He accepted this condition, and handed them a check. Immediately after, he went to the church and gave the entire plot of land(that he just paid $6,000,000 for) to the church for free. Because the contract did not say that he couldn't give it away(because that is pretty much an unheard of act), it was a completely legal transaction. The miracle that the local members prayed for was completely full filled!!! So cool! :D
Anyway, let me tell you a little bit about the progress in our area. As I said we started out pretty much completely fresh. Neither of us knew the area, we didn't know any members or any investigators or anything. They did leave us with 2 sort of progressing investigators, but we haven't been able to meet with them, due to specific circumstances involved with each of those families. Now, less then a week later, our investigator pool is now 5. Let me explain who they are and how they are doing :)
The Stamm family: One of the families that the other missionaries did leave us. They are currently going through some personal legal issues that has them in a situation that they don't want to get us missionaries tied into. It is personal for them, so I won't share, but it is nothing that would prevent them from being able to continue to progress and be baptized. We haven't met them yet because of the situation, but President Bartholomew(ward mission leader) says they are pretty close to ready, and so I figure we just need to teach a couple lessons to refresh them, once things cool down and their family of 5 will be ready for baptism.
Shenika Hatcher: The other investigator that was left for us. She left for Chicago for the 3 day weekend break, so since she was gone we did not get a chance to meet her yet. We do know that she has received all the lessons, has been going to church regularly, but is struggling with understanding the BoM so we plan on just working with her to teach her how she can learn how to understand the Book more fully. Otherwise, she is ready. Just need to meet with her :)
Dillion Minks - 9 year old boy who has member parents. He's received the first lesson, so once we get the opportunity to teach him the rest of the lessons, he will be ready to baptize(And by his dad no less). His dad is way nice, and sat next to us during priesthood meeting. He has a speech problem, but is really funny, so we look forward to their family having us over :)
Kevin Klien - A media referral. Has a friend in Washington that he grew up with who is a member and told him to read the BoM. We called him(because the other missionaries hadn't bothered with his referral) and he offered to drive up to the church to meet with us...He lives in Dongola; That's a 45 minute drive! We gave him a church tour and told him a little bit about church and the members, then we started teaching the Restoration. He sucked it all up and understood everything... Like, he's seriously been prepared for us! We committed him to come to church next week, to read the BoM and pray about how true it is, and committed him to Baptism! He then told us "Every time I read this book[BoM], it's like it is talking to me"...It's amazing! He is already receiving revelation and everything!!! I'm really excited for him. We meet with him again Thursday.
Henry Dews - Another media referral. He called the number on one of our pass along cards, and I guess told the guy on the other line he wants to be baptized. We went over yesterday(during our P-Day time) and talked with him. He is about 60 years old and has lived a very hard life; He used to curse god, but he received some personal Revelation in his 20's that shaped him up and has drove him to do his best for the last 40 years. He is totally into history, and loves world religion. He has been looking into so many churches and desires to find the church that lines up to all the things that he knows God is, and that he knows Jesus Christ is. We taught him a tailored version of the restoration(not originally our plan...we just wanted to introduce the BoM to him) and included all the very specific historical events so that he was on board with what he was saying. As we taught, the lesson became more and more the lesson that I think Henry was looking for. He really appreciated everything we shared with him and for someone who knows so much history and so much scripture, the church fit exactly all the things he had been looking for. We committed him to read the BoM and we will be meeting him again next Tuesday!!! So exciting :)
Anyway, yeah...in 6 days, this is what we have been able to do...Not only that but we are booked out with appointments all the way into next week. Quite a good start, don't you think? :)
So the story behind me being in Cape. Actually, it's because Elder Bassett has leadership training, so he is going up to St Louis with the District leader who is in Cape, so me and the District Leader Buddy are now companions until tomorrow night, so I will be treading new territory for 2 days :S Anyway...I wanted to get pictures up, but I left my cord in Carbondale(I know...I'm sorry...) so I will remember next week...I promise!
Anything else?? Hmmm... The ward here is amazing! They sacrifice a ton for us, and we are so grateful!! I really enjoy getting a chance to meet and teach the members, because they really are so nice, and they teach us so much. They are a really dedicated ward!
My new address is
514 S Wall St Apt #11
Carbondale, Il 62901
So send your letters there. I haven't received many so yeah, write me so I know what to say in future letters and emails :)
Also, if you send a package, if there is a way to make them hold it at the Post office or something, that's what you should do. Our door step is super easy to see from the street, and I'm sure it wouldn't take too much to convince someone of swiping it away from us. If not, then I'm sure it will be ok...Just better safe then sorry. Also, I will be in this area for 3 months, and possibly more then that. I'll let you know when I find out :)
Anyway, got missionary work to go do...hopefully this long letter is sufficient enough for everyone :) I love you all!!
Elder Tyler Robinson
First off, today is not P-Day, but because Martin Luther King day was yesterday(Monday), we had no access to computers, and since it is a requirement to email every week, we get to spend some time Today(Tuesday) to email.
Anyway, let me tell you about Carbondale. It is a college town, where Southern Illinois University is the very heart of the city. The city itself has about 20,000+ permanent families that live here, and about another 17,000+ students that come in and out every semester. We live about 5 blocks from the University entrance and have access to a booth inside the school once a week; which is pretty cool! Our total area is actually pretty big...the church is in between Murpheysboro and Carbondale, and we have majority of Murphysboro in our area. The most northern city in our area is Dequin(Prenounced De-coin), which is 20 miles north of Carbondale. The most southern city is, I believe Dongola, which is about the same distance south of Carbondale. We cover quite a bit East and West, but no one really lives out there, so I don't know what the cities are called.
Our apartment is tiny. I didn't realize how small it really was, until we stayed at the apartment that the missionaries in Cape were staying at. It has 2 bedrooms, which we pretty much entirely fill one up with our two beds; the second room is where we do our studying. Our kitchen is extremely small...we have a microwave and a toaster oven that have to sit in the living room because there is no room for them in the kitchen(no complaints though...we work pretty well with what we have). We have a crockpot and a ton of pans, so don't worry about sending us any cooking supplies...I believe we have everything that we may need. Our dining room/Living room is really crammed cause the last missionaries left their bike in the middle of it, as well as some of their other supplies, so it is kind of a mess...oh well.
My companion is Elder Bassett. He's from Layton, Utah and has been out for 4.5 months. He is extremely motivated and loves to work, and trust me...we have gotten a lot of work done :) Anyway, he is training me, and so far we've worked really well together. He is a bit of a health nut, which I'm ok with...just means I have to deal with skim milk and whole wheat bread(I honestly don't mind lol). He actually was originally assigned to Chile but they sent him home in the MTC for medical leave...so this is his second attempt for a mission, and I think that is why he is so motivated to work as hard as he does. It's been great for us because we don't ever just sit around for anything. We are actually Whitewashing this area, which means that we are starting off completely new here...both of us, and because of this, our first week had nothing to go off of and nothing to really do, but we found things to do and were always busy, and it has paid off immensely! I'll share a bit more on that in a minute. So far, we have gotten along really well...Just bonded from the very beginning.
So just to tell you guys a little bit about our mission president. His name is President Stephen Clark. Him and Sister Clark used to live in Provo before being called to being the mission president. They have a daughter who suffered an extremely severe plane accident. They actually made a Mormon message about her and her accident. She was severely burnt and has received skin grafts to fix as much of her skin as possible. Since the accident, she has started a blog where she expresses how the Gospel has continued to change her life and help her cope with the pain of the accident, while raising a family and living in normal society. The blog is actually extremely famous and has changed many lives, with all the advice she gives to her followers. You can see the Mormon message on her here: http://bcove.me/vql1kayb. Sister Clark shows up in the video :) Anyway, President Clark was really nice while we stayed in their house, and I'm really excited to work with him!!!
Our first day, President Clark took us to the St. Louis temple and explained the story about the temple. The plot was originally owned by the Baptist church, where they used to have a school. Prayerfully, our church decided that the location for the St. Louis temple, was supposed to be in that location and approached the Baptist church about purchasing the lot. The Baptist church declined any offer, and told them that they would never sell the plot to our church. When the local members found out that they declined any offer, they began to pray for a miracle that may take place that would cause the land to be sold to the LDS church. Such an event happened. The baptists ran into financial trouble and decided that that lot was costing them too much money and put it up for auction. The LDS church put up a bid for it, but because they would not sell to us before, they completely declined the churches offer.
A local member who was extremely rich(he is the founder of the pixi stick...they call him Willie Wonka here) offered the baptist church $6,000,000 for the plot of land...The baptist church accepted under one condition; He was not allowed to ever sell the land to the LDS church. He accepted this condition, and handed them a check. Immediately after, he went to the church and gave the entire plot of land(that he just paid $6,000,000 for) to the church for free. Because the contract did not say that he couldn't give it away(because that is pretty much an unheard of act), it was a completely legal transaction. The miracle that the local members prayed for was completely full filled!!! So cool! :D
Anyway, let me tell you a little bit about the progress in our area. As I said we started out pretty much completely fresh. Neither of us knew the area, we didn't know any members or any investigators or anything. They did leave us with 2 sort of progressing investigators, but we haven't been able to meet with them, due to specific circumstances involved with each of those families. Now, less then a week later, our investigator pool is now 5. Let me explain who they are and how they are doing :)
The Stamm family: One of the families that the other missionaries did leave us. They are currently going through some personal legal issues that has them in a situation that they don't want to get us missionaries tied into. It is personal for them, so I won't share, but it is nothing that would prevent them from being able to continue to progress and be baptized. We haven't met them yet because of the situation, but President Bartholomew(ward mission leader) says they are pretty close to ready, and so I figure we just need to teach a couple lessons to refresh them, once things cool down and their family of 5 will be ready for baptism.
Shenika Hatcher: The other investigator that was left for us. She left for Chicago for the 3 day weekend break, so since she was gone we did not get a chance to meet her yet. We do know that she has received all the lessons, has been going to church regularly, but is struggling with understanding the BoM so we plan on just working with her to teach her how she can learn how to understand the Book more fully. Otherwise, she is ready. Just need to meet with her :)
Dillion Minks - 9 year old boy who has member parents. He's received the first lesson, so once we get the opportunity to teach him the rest of the lessons, he will be ready to baptize(And by his dad no less). His dad is way nice, and sat next to us during priesthood meeting. He has a speech problem, but is really funny, so we look forward to their family having us over :)
Kevin Klien - A media referral. Has a friend in Washington that he grew up with who is a member and told him to read the BoM. We called him(because the other missionaries hadn't bothered with his referral) and he offered to drive up to the church to meet with us...He lives in Dongola; That's a 45 minute drive! We gave him a church tour and told him a little bit about church and the members, then we started teaching the Restoration. He sucked it all up and understood everything... Like, he's seriously been prepared for us! We committed him to come to church next week, to read the BoM and pray about how true it is, and committed him to Baptism! He then told us "Every time I read this book[BoM], it's like it is talking to me"...It's amazing! He is already receiving revelation and everything!!! I'm really excited for him. We meet with him again Thursday.
Henry Dews - Another media referral. He called the number on one of our pass along cards, and I guess told the guy on the other line he wants to be baptized. We went over yesterday(during our P-Day time) and talked with him. He is about 60 years old and has lived a very hard life; He used to curse god, but he received some personal Revelation in his 20's that shaped him up and has drove him to do his best for the last 40 years. He is totally into history, and loves world religion. He has been looking into so many churches and desires to find the church that lines up to all the things that he knows God is, and that he knows Jesus Christ is. We taught him a tailored version of the restoration(not originally our plan...we just wanted to introduce the BoM to him) and included all the very specific historical events so that he was on board with what he was saying. As we taught, the lesson became more and more the lesson that I think Henry was looking for. He really appreciated everything we shared with him and for someone who knows so much history and so much scripture, the church fit exactly all the things he had been looking for. We committed him to read the BoM and we will be meeting him again next Tuesday!!! So exciting :)
Anyway, yeah...in 6 days, this is what we have been able to do...Not only that but we are booked out with appointments all the way into next week. Quite a good start, don't you think? :)
So the story behind me being in Cape. Actually, it's because Elder Bassett has leadership training, so he is going up to St Louis with the District leader who is in Cape, so me and the District Leader Buddy are now companions until tomorrow night, so I will be treading new territory for 2 days :S Anyway...I wanted to get pictures up, but I left my cord in Carbondale(I know...I'm sorry...) so I will remember next week...I promise!
Anything else?? Hmmm... The ward here is amazing! They sacrifice a ton for us, and we are so grateful!! I really enjoy getting a chance to meet and teach the members, because they really are so nice, and they teach us so much. They are a really dedicated ward!
My new address is
514 S Wall St Apt #11
Carbondale, Il 62901
So send your letters there. I haven't received many so yeah, write me so I know what to say in future letters and emails :)
Also, if you send a package, if there is a way to make them hold it at the Post office or something, that's what you should do. Our door step is super easy to see from the street, and I'm sure it wouldn't take too much to convince someone of swiping it away from us. If not, then I'm sure it will be ok...Just better safe then sorry. Also, I will be in this area for 3 months, and possibly more then that. I'll let you know when I find out :)
Anyway, got missionary work to go do...hopefully this long letter is sufficient enough for everyone :) I love you all!!
Elder Tyler Robinson
Thursday, December 29, 2011
12/28/2011
Just wanted to add on to my last letter about what's going on.
Today is P-Day, which is preparation day. It is an opportunity for us to clean, and do laundry, write letters, email and any other things we can't normally do, as free time. It is our first P-Day here, and we only have 2 total in the MTC, which Wednesday P-Day's are the only unfortunate souls, who have that lol. It's been really good though. We woke up at 6:30 today, instead of 6:00, because 4 districts left from our floor this week, which means no line for the showers, toilets, or sinks, so we enjoyed our little extra sleep :) Since then, we've eaten breakfast, cleaned our room(vacuuming, dusting, cleaning mirrors and windows), written letters, went to the store, and now we are emailing...and it's only 9:45!! :) It's amazing what you can fit into the very beginning of the day. We are pretty much free till 6:00, which we have class. But during class, me and Elder Foster are teaching Mark :)
Ok, so here's some details on the guys in my district. Elder Williams, our district leader, is from Silt, Colorado. He is 21 years old, and has worked for several years at an oil rig that his grandpa owns, which has made him quite wealthy, as well as made him very responsible. He's super funny! He fulfills his position of raising the spirits of the members of the district pretty well, because he always makes us laugh!
Elder Marberry is from Salem, Utah. He loves karate and Lacrosse and he's also really funny. Actually most of our district has a pretty good sense of humor...I stand out pretty badly as the smart guy...not nearly as funny as all of them. He is Elder Williams companion, and it is amazing how well they go together...From the first day, they looked like brothers lol!
Elder Eidom(pronounced Item) is from Idaho, and is actually a dancer. He's really small, especially next to his companion, Elder Oberley, who's looks a little bit like Andree Karalinko :)
Elder Oberley is from Sandy. I had actually met him before we came, in mission prep, which is when we found out we were going to the same mission. He's got a way different sense of humor then everyone, but because of his timing and the sarcasm that he uses, it tends to be the funniest things anyone says at the most random times. It's awesome.
These are all the elders who are going to St. Louis.
We also have 4 other elders who are going to Houston South mission. Elder Mitchem is a health nut from Rexburg, Idaho. He's super buff and avoids all unhealthy stuff like the plague. I've been talking to him a lot, comparing some of the things Shauna taught me, as well as some things I can do to keep my self on track and staying healthy and skinny.
Elder Hunt is from Riverton. Out of everyone, he seems to love doing so many things with his hands. He talks about weapons, wood making, metal making, cooking, building, etc. It's pretty cool to hear the things he's interested in.
Elder Alvarado is from Cali. He's super funny! We call him Elder Avocado and it just makes him laugh...His laugh is my favorite out of everyone here, because it just makes you want to laugh with him :)
Elder Nicholes is 25 from Cali as well. He's the most interesting Character here. He is into music like majorly and wants to do duets with everyone. He's got a lot of interesting things to talk about.
I have only a minute left. I love you guys so much! I miss you and I hope everything is going well.
Today is P-Day, which is preparation day. It is an opportunity for us to clean, and do laundry, write letters, email and any other things we can't normally do, as free time. It is our first P-Day here, and we only have 2 total in the MTC, which Wednesday P-Day's are the only unfortunate souls, who have that lol. It's been really good though. We woke up at 6:30 today, instead of 6:00, because 4 districts left from our floor this week, which means no line for the showers, toilets, or sinks, so we enjoyed our little extra sleep :) Since then, we've eaten breakfast, cleaned our room(vacuuming, dusting, cleaning mirrors and windows), written letters, went to the store, and now we are emailing...and it's only 9:45!! :) It's amazing what you can fit into the very beginning of the day. We are pretty much free till 6:00, which we have class. But during class, me and Elder Foster are teaching Mark :)
Ok, so here's some details on the guys in my district. Elder Williams, our district leader, is from Silt, Colorado. He is 21 years old, and has worked for several years at an oil rig that his grandpa owns, which has made him quite wealthy, as well as made him very responsible. He's super funny! He fulfills his position of raising the spirits of the members of the district pretty well, because he always makes us laugh!
Elder Marberry is from Salem, Utah. He loves karate and Lacrosse and he's also really funny. Actually most of our district has a pretty good sense of humor...I stand out pretty badly as the smart guy...not nearly as funny as all of them. He is Elder Williams companion, and it is amazing how well they go together...From the first day, they looked like brothers lol!
Elder Eidom(pronounced Item) is from Idaho, and is actually a dancer. He's really small, especially next to his companion, Elder Oberley, who's looks a little bit like Andree Karalinko :)
Elder Oberley is from Sandy. I had actually met him before we came, in mission prep, which is when we found out we were going to the same mission. He's got a way different sense of humor then everyone, but because of his timing and the sarcasm that he uses, it tends to be the funniest things anyone says at the most random times. It's awesome.
These are all the elders who are going to St. Louis.
We also have 4 other elders who are going to Houston South mission. Elder Mitchem is a health nut from Rexburg, Idaho. He's super buff and avoids all unhealthy stuff like the plague. I've been talking to him a lot, comparing some of the things Shauna taught me, as well as some things I can do to keep my self on track and staying healthy and skinny.
Elder Hunt is from Riverton. Out of everyone, he seems to love doing so many things with his hands. He talks about weapons, wood making, metal making, cooking, building, etc. It's pretty cool to hear the things he's interested in.
Elder Alvarado is from Cali. He's super funny! We call him Elder Avocado and it just makes him laugh...His laugh is my favorite out of everyone here, because it just makes you want to laugh with him :)
Elder Nicholes is 25 from Cali as well. He's the most interesting Character here. He is into music like majorly and wants to do duets with everyone. He's got a lot of interesting things to talk about.
I have only a minute left. I love you guys so much! I miss you and I hope everything is going well.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Merry Christmas 12/25/2011
Merry Christmas, and God Bless us Every One!!!(I saw that movie last night :D)
I hope you guys have had an absolutely amazing Christmas!
I just wanted to let you guys know a couple things(I'll be able to do another email on Wednesday). First and foremost, I leave January 10th for Missouri. So you guys should maybe plan to write anything you want me to receive there probably 2 days or so before this date.
Next order of business, obviously this is my email. You can write here and I will read it. I can only write to family through email for the moment, we will see if that is the same in the future or not, but I assume it will be.
Lastly, as far as business, Wednesday is my Pday. This means, I can write and email(email is only 30 mins), on this day. Today we were given writing privileges as a Christmas present(as well as 15 minutes free time...Yeah I'm excited about 15 minutes of free time), but this is not a normal thing.
Alright, here's a rundown of some things that has happened so far. First off, our day is super busy. I am in class a good 7 or 8 hours straight depending on the day, our meals are only about 40 minutes, we have only about an hour of free time including the time we have to use to get ready for bed and write in our journals. So far, everyday has about 2 or 3 hours of personal study time and 1 hour or so of district study. Oh yeah, the district that I am in, is amazing!! Everyone just jives really well. There is 10 of us and most of them are about my age, which is crazy weird and probably the last thing I expected. 2 of them are actually older!! My companion, Elder Foster, is from Idaho. He worked for the parks and recreation group up in Idaho before he came here. He's 19 and is a little shy, but when you get him to break out of his shell, he's so cool. He plays a ton of string instruments like the banjo and guitar and just loves music. It's amazing, looking at the companionship's in our district, because I honestly think that they were inspired choices...the companions are all perfect with each other! I can't imagine anyone decided to put us together unless they knew who we would work our best with.
Anyway I'll tell you more about them later...want to get the most out of this email time. Me and Elder Foster taught on the second day here. We taught a guy named Chet who's friend is a member of the church. Chet lived with them for a couple years growing up and he has become interested in possibly becoming a member, because he knows that his friend, John, is a good influence, and since John is leaving for his mission soon, he seems to want to make sure he can stay close to John. we taught him a little bit about Baptism, and then talked to him about the possibility of joining John for church. As we walked out, he said John gave him a Book of Mormon, so we asked him if he had read it...He said no, so I invited him to read the introduction of the Book of Mormon. He accepted and we left. We have another lesson planned for him, and I think it is going to knock him off his feet. I'm so excited. We've also been preparing to teach Alan, who is a older gentleman who has a wife and 3 kids, and has been looking to better his life. I can't wait to work with him...It's going to be amazing!
Alright, some other things that I feel you will be interested in; We were treated to a movie and a nativity scene last night. The movie was the Christmas Carol, which we were all(all 2100 of us) were given a bag of frosting covered popcorn(mmm so good). It was great! The music for the Nativity scene was awesome because we all sang in it, like one big choir! Today, for Christmas, we were treated to a Mormon Tabernacle choir production, and then enjoyed sacrament with the amazing Apostle, David A. Bednar. I'll be sure to bring my notebook next time so I can share some things he said , but he basically said that 'this opportunity to serve isn't about us, it isn't about our families or anything we left behind, it's about each life that we will have the opportunity to touch, and change...If we lose ourselves and focus on those who we are serving, and love them and forget ourselves that we will receive the greatest and most amazing change.' The Characteristic of Christ is the ability to reach out, rather then reach in.
I have a district meeting to get to in 2 minutes, so I have to go, but I get to write more on Wednesday! (oh by the way, if there is any weird writing errors, it's because these computers suck really bad and freeze as you type...Got to give me props for doing this whole letter in the time frame)
I Love you all so much!!! Let me know how Christmas went, I'd love to read it.
Elder Tyler Stephen Robinson
I hope you guys have had an absolutely amazing Christmas!
I just wanted to let you guys know a couple things(I'll be able to do another email on Wednesday). First and foremost, I leave January 10th for Missouri. So you guys should maybe plan to write anything you want me to receive there probably 2 days or so before this date.
Next order of business, obviously this is my email. You can write here and I will read it. I can only write to family through email for the moment, we will see if that is the same in the future or not, but I assume it will be.
Lastly, as far as business, Wednesday is my Pday. This means, I can write and email(email is only 30 mins), on this day. Today we were given writing privileges as a Christmas present(as well as 15 minutes free time...Yeah I'm excited about 15 minutes of free time), but this is not a normal thing.
Alright, here's a rundown of some things that has happened so far. First off, our day is super busy. I am in class a good 7 or 8 hours straight depending on the day, our meals are only about 40 minutes, we have only about an hour of free time including the time we have to use to get ready for bed and write in our journals. So far, everyday has about 2 or 3 hours of personal study time and 1 hour or so of district study. Oh yeah, the district that I am in, is amazing!! Everyone just jives really well. There is 10 of us and most of them are about my age, which is crazy weird and probably the last thing I expected. 2 of them are actually older!! My companion, Elder Foster, is from Idaho. He worked for the parks and recreation group up in Idaho before he came here. He's 19 and is a little shy, but when you get him to break out of his shell, he's so cool. He plays a ton of string instruments like the banjo and guitar and just loves music. It's amazing, looking at the companionship's in our district, because I honestly think that they were inspired choices...the companions are all perfect with each other! I can't imagine anyone decided to put us together unless they knew who we would work our best with.
Anyway I'll tell you more about them later...want to get the most out of this email time. Me and Elder Foster taught on the second day here. We taught a guy named Chet who's friend is a member of the church. Chet lived with them for a couple years growing up and he has become interested in possibly becoming a member, because he knows that his friend, John, is a good influence, and since John is leaving for his mission soon, he seems to want to make sure he can stay close to John. we taught him a little bit about Baptism, and then talked to him about the possibility of joining John for church. As we walked out, he said John gave him a Book of Mormon, so we asked him if he had read it...He said no, so I invited him to read the introduction of the Book of Mormon. He accepted and we left. We have another lesson planned for him, and I think it is going to knock him off his feet. I'm so excited. We've also been preparing to teach Alan, who is a older gentleman who has a wife and 3 kids, and has been looking to better his life. I can't wait to work with him...It's going to be amazing!
Alright, some other things that I feel you will be interested in; We were treated to a movie and a nativity scene last night. The movie was the Christmas Carol, which we were all(all 2100 of us) were given a bag of frosting covered popcorn(mmm so good). It was great! The music for the Nativity scene was awesome because we all sang in it, like one big choir! Today, for Christmas, we were treated to a Mormon Tabernacle choir production, and then enjoyed sacrament with the amazing Apostle, David A. Bednar. I'll be sure to bring my notebook next time so I can share some things he said , but he basically said that 'this opportunity to serve isn't about us, it isn't about our families or anything we left behind, it's about each life that we will have the opportunity to touch, and change...If we lose ourselves and focus on those who we are serving, and love them and forget ourselves that we will receive the greatest and most amazing change.' The Characteristic of Christ is the ability to reach out, rather then reach in.
I have a district meeting to get to in 2 minutes, so I have to go, but I get to write more on Wednesday! (oh by the way, if there is any weird writing errors, it's because these computers suck really bad and freeze as you type...Got to give me props for doing this whole letter in the time frame)
I Love you all so much!!! Let me know how Christmas went, I'd love to read it.
Elder Tyler Stephen Robinson
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