The One Where We Light the World 12/26/16

Hey everyone! Hope you all had a great Christmas! This week has been pretty busy. On Tuesday, Elder Sirstins and I went on exchanges (he doesn't speak any Spanish but he's a great missionary, haha). We had an investigator drop us, which was a little sad.  But the next one we visited told us that he wants to take the Gospel more seriously and start by reading the Book of Mormon! Our investigator who wants to get baptized is working as hard as he can to quit smoking. When we taught him on Tuesday, the lady who he is renting from (who has never let missionaries come inside her house before) invited us in for dinner and let us teach her a lesson! She invited us back for the next Tuesday so we'll see where it goes!

Christmas was great! We got to go and visit a member who let us Skype with his computer and eat dinner with his family. We just had some really good conversations.  We gave his son a Book of Mormon in Spanish because he leaves for his mission in a couple of months. When his daughter set up the computer for me, her hair got caught on a candle and her hair caught on fire! Haha she dyed her hair red like the day before so her family was calling her 'the fiery red head"

Yesterday I opened presents (please tell everyone thank you for me, they were so wonderful)!  I got a lot of really good presents.  A member gave us about thirty pounds in tamales and I've only gained about ten pounds so everything is all good!

Hope you all have a great week! Love you all!

Elder Robins

My First Door Slam in the Face 12/19/16

Hey everyone!!!!

This has been a pretty crazy week. I had my first door slammed in my face! At that same house we taught the Restoration to this guy who is kind of interested and after the lesson was over he invited us to his son's wedding party that weekend.  The fiance is the one who slammed the door in our face so we decided not to go. The next day we heard more gunshots outside... while we were teaching a lesson about peace and love!

We went on exchanges this week and I got to go with Elder Capulac, from the Philippines. The night we exchanged I was in his apartment and he told me to eat whatever I wanted and that he was going to take a shower. In the middle of his shower he shouted "Oh, Elder!" He ran into the kitchen with a towel wrapped around his waist and told me that there were tortillas in the fridge that he bought specifically for the Spanish missionaries. I’m glad I didn’t eat them. Haha we had a good time.

One of the other things that happened this week was we were talking to one of our investigators about baptism- and he committed to being baptized! We prayed about it and we are going to talk to him tonight about a baptismal date.  Hopefully I can stay here to see him baptized (transfers are at the beginning of January).

In honor of Christmas traditions I bought assorted nuts this morning. I am doing well. The people here are so nice, we have people that invited us over for tamales on Christmas.

I'm not really homesick. It can get pretty hard sometimes but I still love it. Yes I love my companion. Haha I got him all wet last night trying to do a water bottle trick but it's all good.

Yes I got the Christmas package and I loved it! I am happy to report that all the snacks were finished just a few days ago and I haven't opened any of the presents. Really I'm happy to receive any kind of gift.

Well, I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas next week! I love you! I'll talk to you on Sunday!

Te quiero! yo hablare contigo en el domingo!

Elder Robins

Many Investigators, a Matter of Time 12/12/16

Hey everyone!

So this week we had some adventures. On Tuesday, Elder Nelson and I were just riding our bikes around downtown and this older guy in a wheelchair shouted at us as we started to talk.  He let us know that he was a Jew and had some things to say about our salvation. He told us that we needed to repent and turn to God. He told us to be more religious and as he was rolling away he shouted at the top of his lungs "Repent! The end is near!!!"- We decided we were hungry after that so we went to Taco Bell.

We got our first investigator to show up to sacrament!! It was super exciting. And we have a lesson scheduled later this week with one of our ward members. My companion is kind of different but he's still pretty cool (his family knows me as Elder Malfoy). So that's the kind of the family they are, haha.  We've been working together taking language study a lot more seriously and also culture study.

We visited with a potential investigator on Saturday and upon getting to know him, we found out that he has read the Book of Mormon! He loves it, goes to church, and invited us to visit with him! Proof that the Lord does prepare people to receive the Gospel.

In the middle of last week, we tried to call a phone number of an investigator and he answered. We talked to him in English for a few seconds and when we told him we were missionaries he switched to Spanish, saying he didn't know English. Thinking he was safe, he was about to say goodbye but we switched to Spanish. He was so surprised that he didn't say anything for like ten seconds! And then he told us he wasn't interested and hung up.

Also this week we got a referral from the hermanas and we went to go and visit him. Turns out that this referral is a former investigator that my last companion and I dropped because we could never find him sober. We went and talked with him and he was sober so we got through the entire restoration and he loved it! He asked for extra pamphlets so he could share them with his neighbors. Hopefully next time we see him we can have a similar experience.  We have a lot of people ask us about the church and it's only a matter of time before our first baptism.

On Sunday it was really satisfying because we had stake conference and people kept asking me if I could translate the talks from English to Spanish. I'm not quite at that level but I was grateful for the confidence. The Stake had some boundary changes yesterday. There are 6 English wards, a Mong branch, Laotian and Cambodian groups and my Spanish ward. The building we are at now is closer to where a lot of the members live and they combined the youth programs with the English youth so we are hoping to see some more people show up to church on Sundays from now on.

I am doing pretty good. I've been fighting off a cold for about a week now but I'm not letting that stop me from doing anything. I’m sure this sounds kind of weird but I think I sound more Mexican with my gravely voice (sort of like Pheobe from Friends and her bluesy voice when she gets a cold).  So I'll be kind of sad when my immune system takes that away from me.

I got my Christmas package last night!! It's kind of tempting to have a box full of presents under my bed with no adult supervision but I'll manage.

With love,

Elder Robins

BTW this is me and Elder Hacking on exchanges a few weeks ago

Many Great Teaching Experiences 11/28/16

Hey Everyone!

So this week we had our transfers. I got to stay in Stockton and I got put with Elder Neilson.  Technically I have three more weeks than him because I went to the MTC for three weeks and he did for six but we left the MTC at the same time and arrived to Modesto in the same group. Companionships are put together through inspiration. We are both Senior Companions. I think part of that is since we both just finished a program called 12 Weeks (for every missionary's first two transfers). We will both be teaching each other Spanish and how to be Mexican, haha (we are the two whitest Spanish missionaries BTW).

I'm having a fantastic time. We taught a guy about the Book of Mormon last night in our trio and the Spirit was super strong.  At the end of the lesson we asked him to give the closing prayer and he took our hands and started to pray like a Baptist, which is what he was before he left the church. Kind of a cool story, his bishop decided he was a prophet so the guy left that church and when he was praying for truth, the missionaries knocked on his door.  

All this week has been super rainy and cold and our car ran out of miles so we spent a lot of time on bikes. On the first day I wanted to take my companion to some of our investigators houses. Nobody answered and on our way back to the car, this guy stopped us and asked if we were Mormons. We told him yes sir and he just started to tear into our religion (all of the things he thought he knew about the church were false,FYI).  He would not accept any answers from us. We told him we had to go and he said "Ok yeah I'll catch you guys later" and gave us each a hug and told us he appreciated what we were doing... A little confusing!

There aren't too many people here that want to bible bash.  Most of the people are either content with their beliefs, have questions about our church, or are a Jehovah's Witness. I try to focus on the Book of Mormon because the people here all interpret the Bible in different ways. The Book of Mormon is more effective for this.

We were able to contact two referrals, which was awesome, and we have plans to teach a lot this week. We'll see what happens.

The weather is changing and it's kinda funny because only the missionaries from Utah and Washington aren't getting sick. I'm staying healthy, although my six pack is gone. Oh for Thanksgiving we got to spend it with a Chilean family! Of all the Hispanics, Chileans are probably the nicest. They fed us a delicious dinner and taught us the difference between Mexican and Chilean Spanish. Their accents are kind of funny, like speaking American English and trying to understand Scottish English. They are wonderful people and treated us like family.

Love you all, que tengan una buena semana!

New Companion! 11/21/16

Hey everyone!

So this week has been pretty interesting. My companion and I said our goodbyes last night and I have been in a trio with the Zone Leaders since last night.

On Wednesday we went on exchanges. I went with Elder Hacking, who is a pretty cool elder. The next morning when he was in the bathroom, I was just getting dressed when he started screaming. He came running out and rinsed his eyes out. It turns out that he confused hydrogen peroxide for contact cleaner! So his eye was pretty red for the rest of the day. Anyway, when that was over we went to the kitchen to get some cereal and his companion had just finished all the cereal right before he left! So me and this poor elder with a burning eye had to ride our bikes all the way over to the grocery store to get some Crunch Berries. By the time we finished breakfast, personal study was almost over and we had to get ready to leave for district meeting. Haha so it was a pretty fun day!

I got a call for my new companion last night. His name is Elder Nielson. I will be staying with him in the beautiful and safe city of Stockton. I have actually met this elder before- he came into the mission at the same time as me! He's a great man and I'm really excited to be working with him.

I hope you all have a great week!

this was a fun day

The Lord Works in Mysterious Ways 11/14/16

Hey everyone!

So last week has been pretty busy. On Wednesday we had a specialized training in Lodi, and then on Thursday we had a district meeting.  Right after that we had to drive all the way down to Modesto for my trainer's departing interview (he leaves next Monday) so we have been trying to get him ready to leave.

Nonetheless, we found a little time to go proselyting. Saturday morning, we got all the missionaries in our ward and some of the members and did a "big blitz" where we all went out and contacted investigators and less- active members. It was a really good experience for me because I was companions with our new bishop and got to know him better.

That night, Elder Jones and I had plans to visit one of the member’s who wasn't home Saturday morning. We planned on visiting them at 6, but the people we were visiting held us really late and when we finally got to the member’s house, we couldn't find a parking spot so we parked all the way down the road and when we finally walked up to the house almost thirty minutes later than we planned, the entire family pulled up in their van! We got to share a message with them.  Because of the message, the father remembered that he had to give a talk at church the next day! It's really cool to see how the Lord makes things work like that.

Anyway, hope you all have a great week!

Love, Elder Robins

The Plan of Salvation and Pumpkin Baseball 11/7/16

Hey everyone!!

So this week has been pretty interesting.  Last Monday we couldn't really go proselyting because it was Halloween, so we got a few companionships of missionaries together and did some activities. The best one was where we played baseball with pumpkins! We all got a little messy but it was pretty fun.

On Thursday our Bishop called us and asked if we knew a certain less active member. We told him we didn't and he said that this less active member has a referral for us. We pulled up the info about this person on the ward directory and someone wrote next to his name "Do not contact". We called our mission president and it turns out that this member practices witchcraft and tried to curse the last missionaries who talked to him. President said that if we talk to the referral we have to take the bishop with us so we are still waiting on more info about that.

That same day, we found one of our investigators and started talking to him about the Plan of Salvation. He promised to go to church on Sunday but we decided he was drunk at the time and probably doesn't remember the conversation. He's a really nice guy and we believe he has really sincere questions about the Gospel so we are going to keep trying!

They called a new Bishop on Sunday, he seems like a nice guy and we'll see what comes of it.

This week we had apartment inspections from the mission office to see how clean our apartment is.  They were really impressed with our apartment!  We even cleaned the wig hanging up on our wall (which we named Olga).

I got chased by some more little dogs this week and a bigger one almost bit me (the homeowner got in the way quick, thank goodness) and the same black cat has been following me around all over the apartmant complex. I guess that just makes me Lord of the Wild.

Have a great week everyone!!

Olga

The Gringo 10/31/16

Hey everyone!

This week was fantastic. We got four referrals on Tuesday and we have spent all week trying to contact them, and also praying for new people to teach.  So at last, on Sunday, a member who has been less active for years decided to come. We have never seen him before but we are going to visit him sometime this week. After church on Sunday, we finally contacted one of our referrals. His name is Hernan, he loved our message, and he is explicitly against smoking and drugs and alcohol.  He asked us to come back!!!  We are super excited to see what comes of this.

Not too much else happened this week. It has been raining like crazy and we are on bikes so we get a little wet. When we were going down a street in downtown this guy started asking us questions about the church. We gave him a Book of Mormon and he told us he had died four times before. Realizing that he was crazy I said "Well this oughta help with the next time that happens" and we took off.

We finally got a ward mission leader called (after the last one decided to resign). Hermano Abarca served a mission in Argentina, he's from Chile, and he knows how mission work should be.  So we are really excited about what is to come.

I am starting to gain a reputation around here as the Gringo. Three different people on three separate occasions called me Gringo, including our investigator!  I love the culture here and I'm almost used to the food.  I have been trying really hard to get the language down and teaching the Gospel, and I have been blessed with the gift of tongues.

Hope you all have a good week! Happy Halloween!

Love,

Elder Robins

Tostados 10/24/16

So this week was crazy!  On Thursday night, I went on exchanges with Elder Buhler which was pretty fun. We mostly tracted that day but for a dinner appointment we got to teach the plan of salvation to a kid named Kenny. His family is impartial to him joining the church but he committed to be baptized next month!!

The next day after that, I exchanged with Elder Baird, my new zone leader. When we were doing our personal studies he noticed these two older guys talking outside and he wanted to give them a pass along card. We went up and started talking to them about the gospel. The guy started asking us really hard questions about the bible and we just told him that we could get back to him about it. That seemed to surprise him. He then spent the next hour talking about the different churches he has gone to. After he was done talking, he said "You know, I have been living here for five years, always with you Mormons around the corner, and none of them ever talked to me before". He told us that he was offended by the church because the Elders never talked to him before but he invited us to stop by his place next week to talk about the restoration!!

Also, one of the less active members of our ward went to church yesterday. He went last week and the last time before that was about seven months.

While we were out one night, we met a family, the wife's name is Maria and the husband's name is Jose. They had gone less active years ago. We shared a message about the love God has for us and our testimonies and it was super good. They want us to meet the rest of their family so they invited us to dinner at their house the next night for tostadas. We accepted and when we were walking back to the car I told Elder Jones that I was super excited for tostadas. Then he reminded me I was going to be on exchanges in the English ward and wouldn’t be able to make the dinner! I was a little disappointed because English speaking people don't quite cook as well as Mexicans do (except my mom, of course). Haha so on the way to mission council we stopped at Taco Bell and got a tostada out of spite. But apparently the dinner went well so we are hoping to get them to come to church in the next few weeks.

Today I felt like a Utah mom because we went to Walmart and all I got were hand soap (scented), and some really fancy hand towels that have fall leaves as a design on them. Yesterday at the flea market, Sonia, the lady we help out, gave me a tub of gel called “Johnny B”. If you are thinking about getting any gel for Christmas, I definitely recommend it.

Beside those things, not much else is happening. My companion only has four weeks left in the mission. I hit two months in the field in five days. I'm finally at the point where I can't say or bear my testimony in English anymore.

Anyway, hope you all have a fantastic week!!

Love,

Elder Robins

Hi everyone!

This week has been super great! On Saturday, Elder Jones and I went to the CDA Cares program to be translators. It is a cool program where dentists donate their time to give dental assistance to people who can't afford it. It was a great experience for me to practice my Spanish and I got a free t-shirt out of it.

Last week we contacted a man named Miguel and we decided he was too drunk to talk to so we told him we had to go and would see him another time. When we saw him a few days later, he wasn't drunk but sober and super paranoid. This happened three times and as we were walking away, we decided he wasn't ready to hear the gospel.

As we were leaving his place, we felt impressed to knock on his neighbor's door. A woman named Anna answered and we talked to her a little bit. She said that the Spanish elders visited her before a few years ago, but just stopped coming. We gave her a restoration pamphlet and we are going to visit her probably a few times this week.

Also, we have been trying to contact a retired man named Louis for about four weeks and finally he answered. He was super excited to hear about the gospel and he wants us to teach him and his daughter.  He also wants us to listen to his son's story on how he changed his life around. They are a sweet family. The other one is Jose. Jose is retired and he is this goofy old man. He speaks Spanish slow (thank goodness) but has a really funny accent.

The city of Stockton and really the mission in general is a huge melting pot. I have seen people that only speak Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Portuguese, Mong, Filipino, and Laotian that make plenty of friends and get around fine. Most the missionaries leave being able to speak a little bit of a few different languages, mostly Spanish.

Anyway sorry I'm just rambling. This new Elder came into our district who is from Utah and is a runner so I'm hoping we go on exchanges so we can go running but we'll see.

It's amazing to see the miracles that happen out here. I know that I am protected by angels and the Spirit is really guiding us. I have been practicing Spanish like crazy and praying for the gift of tongues and it has been paying off. There is absolutely no way I can deny that the gospel is true and the miracles I have seen.

My time on the computer runs out in a minute but I hope you all have a good week!

Elder Robins

Organizing the Ward and Blessings 10/3/16

So this week has been pretty interesting.  We are working like crazy to get the ward organized and excited about missionary work. I gave my first blessing in Spanish on Tuesday! I was on exchanges with an English speaking missionary so neither of us knew what I actually said... haha or why I gave the blessing.  The sister we blessed speaks really fast Spanish and I still don't understand the language completely but she seemed happy afterwards so I guess it worked. 

When we were coming back from an appointment on Thursday, it was dark outside and we were in a rougher neighborhood.  As soon as we opened the car doors this guy came out of nowhere and asked if our car wipes was a candy bar.. haha.  It was apparent that he was intoxicated or something so we explained that it wasn't a candy bar, gave him a pass along card and he went on his way. My companion and I turned pens into BB guns... I'll just leave it at that.

The majority of people we talk to are homeless. We talk to a LOT of homeless people and they always accept invitations to see the missionaries later (not always sure how that works out). When we were doing service at the flea market this weekend, Sonya, one of the people we do service for, had this cage of exotic birds.  She was moving them from a big cage to a smaller one. After a few birds, she turned to me and said "hermano, you try". Haha, I spent like ten minutes trying to catch the darn thing and I caught it! So I'm pretty much Bear Grylls now. Also, It rained today which was nice, I haven't seen a cloud since I was in Utah.

My favorite talk from conference was Elder Holland's in the priesthood session. I got a new pair of boots today actually for a fantastic price (dads teachings).

If you (Joseph's immediate family) want to send any treats or anything anytime please note that I am not specific but I would happily receive anything, especially considering I am living off of Mexican food and raisin bran. Thanks!

Tell Grandma and Aunt Amy I say Happy Birthday. Sorry I'll try to take pictures for next time. 

I love you so much and miss you. Tell everyone I say hello with love. If you get the chance, watch Tour De Family from John Bytheway for FHE. Thanks again Love you!

Pranks, Exotic Cheese, and the Escobar Family 9/26/16

This week was crazy!  So last Monday night I made some Jello and put my trainer's lucky lighter in it. When I set it out the next morning he saw it and was like "dangit, Jim!" (From the tv show "The Office")  Haha, it was super funny. 

On Tuesday we ate with the Escobar family. They are from El Salvador. They own their own upholstery business and he works at least 12 hours a day! The next day I went on my first exchange with Elder Buhler, my district leader. It was really interesting, my first real day of English work. It wasn't the best because I got really sick and I was on a bike all day. When we exchanged back, Elder Jones (my trainer) was just as sick as I was, and it turns out we got food poisoning from this exotic cheese from El Salvador. We spent all day Thursday in the apartment resting. Friday we rested for half the day and visited some of the members asking for referrals.

My Spanish is better than most brand new missionaries but I'm still only catching about every fifth word- I could be a trainer in two weeks so no pressure! 

Also, I never thanked you (Dad) for the lessons you taught me growing up. You should find some joy in the knowledge that the kitchen is clean, my bed is made, and the bathroom is clean.  I still can't cook eggs the way you used to but I'm trying!

Love you, hope you have an awesome week. 

Elder Robins

New Investigators 9/19/16

     So this week was pretty exciting! We saw a house burn down (if you want to look that up btw).
     At the flea market I got a new hat. It reminded me of my Scheels hat and I fell in love with it. 
    Tell April and Grandpa that I say happy birthday and save me some cake, haha.
    We have a couple new investigators so that's pretty exciting. On Wednesday, we were talking to this older lady and I thought she was a member (I still don't understand when natives speak spanish). I asked her if she had a Book of Mormon and she said no so I tried to give her one after what I thought was a pretty good testimony. She got really confused and my companion had to swoop in and teach her the restoration so that was a little awkward but she accepted it!

    We are doing super well here. If you ever feel like sending my work boots and a cook book It wouldn't be inconvenient, but whatever. I love you and miss you all!

Elder Robins​

Teaching the Gospel and Spicy Peppers 9/12/16

     I am so glad to hear everything is going well at home. Haha, and I'm glad Spencer has something to remember me by. (Spencer had to clean out Joseph's car so he could use it, it was a big mess, shocker). When you get this could you please tell Spencer that my companion and a member convinced me that a chile macho was sour. I ate the whole thing. It is in fact very hot and because I am so prideful I told them to watch this as I ate another with a straight face. It wasn't so bad until the next morning in the restroom... Jeremiah 4: 19-21 should explain the rest.

     The mission field is awesome. I am still struggling with understanding spanish but my trainer hinted that I could be a trainer myself at the end of this transfer! I do want to add that my trainer is doing everything in his power to turn me Mexican. I am getting the language down, I love the food (that isn't spicey) and mexicans are super hard workers and some of the most humble people I have ever met.

     I'm in Stockton right now. It is pretty ghetto, there's a ton of homeless people and we've even been mistaken for cops once. We taught the restoration to a family the other day and they got super interested! Also, there's a few families that we are teaching that we want to challenge to get baptized!

     Hope all is well tell dad I said hi and I love him and thanks for the email (we still haven't found the mailbox key yet). 

Love, 

Joseph

Stockton Living and Ghetto Bikes 9/5/16

So this week so much has been happening that I don't know where to begin. 
I arrived in Modesto and was assigned to Stockton. It's not bad and the people here are super nice and the food is pretty good. I love all the Elders here. I still can't eat spicy food. 

My Spanish still needs a lot of work but I can definitely feel the gift of tongues working. It's a little rough because I don't understand much of what is going on around me but I have a head start compared to the other missionaries. My trainer's name is Elder Jones. He grew up in Maine and only has two transfers left. He speaks fluent spanish and most people think that he is Hispanic.

This Sunday was fast Sunday and I bore my testimony. The two things I can do now are pray and bear my testimony. The people here are so humble and most have some sort of relationship with God which really helps out a ton. For whatever reason Hispanic people can't pronounce 'Robins'. I either have to explain like the ice cream or like the sidekick, haha.  Whenever we go to the store people always ask if we work there because of the shirts and ties. I love the bike BTW. I covered it in duct tape. Apparently bike theft is a full time job for a lot of people so I had to ghetto up the bike and buy a U-lock. I really do love it here. It's pretty and this time of year is what dad would call perfect weather (clear skies, 70 degrees outside).

We hand out a lot of pass-along cards. We are actually hoping to follow up with a man named Airo and turn him into an investigator in a couple hours so wish us luck!!

I love and miss you all and I hope things are going well at home.

Ama, 

Your really white soon to be Mexican son Elder Robins

This is our zone

Meeting the Mission President and his wife! 8/30/16

President Palmer and I are happy to welcome Elder Robins to the CA Modesto Mission.  His trainer is Elder Jones from Livermore, ME.  They are serving in the Delta Spanish Ward in the Stockton California Stake.

We look forward to serving with him.

Love, Sister Palmer

Arrived in Modesto 8/29/16

     I made it in Modesto and its pretty cool here.  They took us to the lower income area to proselyte and we gave a Book of Mormon to this guy and he promised he would read it! and it was all in Spanish!! 

     Sorry I don't have too much time but today is weird so I will send a full email next week. The Gladwell's sent me a letter each and I loved it. Grandma sent donuts which was pretty great. I had to dry clean a tie because I got doughnut custard all over it.

     I really feel the spirit here and I cant wait to start really being a missionary. By the way my nickname in my old district was 'el gringo puro' which means 'the pure gringo'. I said the closing prayer at a devotional with about 2600 people in it and I got a new haircut... which was weird to be honest. Anyway I love you all and miss you and tell the family I said Hola. I guess I meet my trainer tomorrow, I hope he can keep up! 

 I love you and miss you,

Joseph