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