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

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