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