New challenges.........

     Well I guess they didn't want to wait for the 5 year mark in October for nursery. Sunday I got called to be the Young Women's Secretary. I have never been in YW's. It will be a great and new challenge! I am excited, nervous and very humbled by this calling. There are 45 beautiful girls in there. There will be newsletters, rolls, birthdays and camp. I am still doing nursery on Sunday till they find someone, so I get to ease into this. But I am really going Wow! I have painters that I have gotten mad at in my house. Thank you landlord for not listening and keeping them in the basement. I have now locked all doors and windows so they have to work outside!! It's warm out, they can handle it! I am grateful for all the challenges this week. They have kept me on my toes and also tired me out! But that is what life is all about!!! New challenges........     :]



Dear Family,

Well this week was pretty great. It was different, but really good! We did a ton of service! Man, everyone is moving! Ha ha there's like 5 families moving here. I love helping out though. So remember the Bible bashing people we found the other week? Well we had an awesome lesson with the husband on tuesday! It was the complete opposite than the lesson before! He just basically wanted us back to Bible bash but when we got in there for the second time we gave him our purpose and that we are there to teach. Not bash. It was pretty cool though, it set the tone for the whole lesson. We taught for about an hour and it went so well, but we didn't even get through the first lesson! He's the type of guy that wants all the details and that's what we gave him. He knew a lot about the church but still had it all wrong. He said he was "shocked". In a good way. Ha ha. It was cool.

So i may or may not send pictures of this...we'll see how i feel after. But in district meeting for a readiness activity, i dressed up like a baby. Binky and all. I applied it to helping our investigators(babies) to understand the need of the Book of Mormon, and how to use it. Hey, it worked! Whatever it takes to get it done right? Ha ha.

This last week i went on exchanges with the Fairborn elders. It was awesome! I just love getting out and about and learning from other elders. It's so fun. These missionaries are awesome. While on exchanges, Elder Lamm and Birch had a sweet lesson with Donna and her son Brandon. The bishop came along and everything. Brandon is now all for baptism and is excited for it! We're just waiting on Donna. She is praying for May 26th for her and her son to be baptized. I love those two.

Ok so a really cool thing happened yesterday. At church we were doing our normal thing and helping out in a primary class when a member came in to tell us a guy came in and was looking for us. She asked him if he was visiting and he said "well kind of". Clear indication that either he's less-active or a non-member. He said," is this the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints?" She said yes. He said, "ok. This is where i need to be." After that is when she grabbed us. So we walked in to priesthood and sat and asked his name and if we could talk in the lobby. The first thing he said when we sat down was," Ok, do you have the authority to baptize?" We said yes. Then he said, "Well i'll get right to it, i want to be baptized."   ......Mind=BLOWN. Ha ha. He had been taught 8 years ago and and the only thing keeping him from being baptized was that he smoked and drank coffee but now he doesn't. He had been wanting to go to church but week after week he kept putting it off until a few days ago his sister died and said alright, this is the week. So we taught him the first lesson right there with little 10 yr old Sam McMurray who spoke up and bore testimony on prayer and taught him how to pray. It was one of the most powerful moments of my mission. Amazing. So we're going to be meeting with him as much as possible this week and the bishop said to baptize him as soon as possible. SO it may be this saturday or the next. Woo! The Lord is in this work. He is so prepared and ready to be baptized. I am so blessed to be a part of this work and to be given these opportunities. Wow. I love it.

So i said this week was different, and it was for obvious reasons. But it's different because we found 6 people last week but we're only teaching 2 of them right now. And this week we found only 2 people, but i feel like we found more because they are ready to be baptized. It's crazy how each week differs on a mission. Some weeks you'll find a bunch of people to teach and have none left after the first lesson. And others you'll find 1 person and that's the person you really needed to find. I'm learning more than i ever have. I'm seeing more success from my efforts than ever before, but it's also been harder than ever before. But that just proves that hard is good(President Nilsen's motto). Hard is when we are being molded into the person we need to be. It's when we learn and grow the most. And i am so grateful that the mission isn't easy. I am grateful that my Heavenly Father has given me this opportunity to be here and be a part of this work. I can honestly say that this last year has been the greatest year of my life. And i look forward to another year! I love my Savior. I know with out a doubt, that this is his true church and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. We should each remember that we are representing His church, whether we have a tag or not. We have the fulness of the gospel. We have the light and the only thing that can save this world. Let's share it and love others into His church!


Have a great week!! I love you all!! Ohio is cold and damp. But is wonderful!

-Elder Robinson

Got a little distracted again........

     I was helping with the cleaning of the garage and went oops!! So here I am taking a minute to put the Elder's letter on here. Sorry it's been 2 weeks in a row without my words of wisdom ha ha! But it is the last day for the city dumpsters and I have Chet and James helping today. So hopefully I will write more next week. Have a great week everyone!!   :]


 Dear Family,
 
So, this past week was a rather interesting one. SO much happened i can't remember it all ha ha. On Monday for p-day we went to a park with Conrad and played softball and baseball. Probably the best part was when i hit the ball while Elder Lamm was pitching and it went right back at him and hit him. Ohh that was fun. I'm starting to notice a pattern when it comes to sports on my mission..i play so much better on my mission than i ever did at home. I don't get it! I hope it lasts!

On Tuesday we found a sweet family! The mom isn't so committed...but the kids are so solid. We only got through half of the first lesson because they were asking so many questions and participating so well. It was great. But before we taught, the mom said," I ain't gonna lie to y'all, i'm lesbian, i've done dope and dealt dope, i've been shot and stabbed, and these aren't even my kids." To say the least i was pretty speechless. We both kinda blanked out for a bit ha ha thankfully Elder Lamm knows missionary work better than i do and he broke the silence perfectly and the lesson moved on and was great. Then later that night we found another family who was referred to us by some members. They let us right in which was surprising and we started out just fine but the husband came in and his intentions were completely set on proving us wrong. It was crazy. I'm not a very bible bashing missionary, in fact i do my best not to! But lately i've had more people want to than any other time of my mission. It's kind of annoying. But it does give me opportunities to bare my testimony just a little bit more boldly. Being a missionary is crazy. You never know what to expect.

On Friday we were headed to an appointment with Clarissa down in Spring Valley, which is the bottom of our area, when we felt like we needed to go see Alex, so we did and his fiance was there but not him. It turns out he had a major porpherea (not sure how you spell that) attack and was in the hospital. After that we got in the car and prayed if we should go see him and the answer was yes, and now. So we went and he was awake and was definitely in need. He has been through so much. It was hard seeing him like that again. Hurting both physically and spiritually. So we taught him a little bit, gave him some conference talks to read and then gave him a blessing. He seemed a lot happier after we left. I am so grateful that the spirit prompted us to go see him. We had no idea he was in the hospital, but Heavenly Father knew. And he knew that Alex needed help. The spirit is so wonderful. Later that night we got a referral for a man in the county jail. So we were also able to go to the jail and teach him! His name is Brandon. His mom is a member and his girlfriend is being baptized next week. It was a pretty cool experience! When i was called to be a missionary, i never thought i would teach anyone in jail. But man it's just too cool!

We also were able to go to Linda's and tare down her deck and burn a bunch of stuff! That was fun! I don't have time to explain all the things we burned but i can send pictures ha ha. It was crazy awesome! Except for the nail in my foot. Ouch.

Alright well i gotta get goin. I love you all! Add yes transfers are next week. Crazy how fast that went by! AH! Have a great week!!

-Elder Robinson

I almost forgot to blog.........

     Well I guess it's better late than never. I'm just going to let the Elder talk today........Enjoy!!   :]


Dear Family,


So this past week has been pretty great. It was a bit slower for our area because of exchanges. I went to Fairborn for just about 2 days because one of the elders there was so sick and they had a bunch of appointments, then the next day they had the booth set up at Wright State University and they wanted someone who had done it before to be with the other Elder so i stayed a little longer that day. That was SO fun! They have a booth with basically a big picture of Jesus on the table and a couple of Books of Mormon too. And you sit and say hi to people and hey wanna hear about Jesus? stuff like that. It's goofy. I did it before and it went well but this time we texted all the members that we knew that were at school and had them come see us and bring friends, which they did! And when they got there even more people came ha ha! I brought my Ukulele too and played while one of the member girls there sang. Oh man it was so fun.

Speaking of the Ukulele, for some reason everyone has asked me to sing for them. It's so funny. I would carry it around and play whatever and no one would ask me to play for them until now. I love it. I'm no singer, but I'm getting a lot better with the uke. Plus hymns are so perfect to play on it believe it or not. So I've sang for like 15 people this past week. Not including the booth ha ha. It's awesome! Any way to get the work done right?

We had an awesome training from the zone leaders this past week. President Nilsen has been trying to figure out really the one thing that has been holding back the mission from being more successful and has discovered that it is P-days. P-days for the past 2 years has pretty much become a play-day and not a preparation-day. I never really thought about it but when it was brought up, the spirit instantly confirmed that this was the problem! So we're now being strictly obedient to the white handbook when it comes to P-days. I love when president brings out the whip! Ha ha it brings so many blessings when we listen to him. This week is going to rock.

This week we found a great girl named Clarrissa. We tracted a trailer park and found her and sat outside and taught her, she is super cool! She's never been religious and doesn't know much about the Bible or really anything. It's cool starting from scratch and teaching the basics. The gospel is so simple and so beautiful and easy to teach. So easy to understand and it brings so many blessings into our lives. It's amazing. Oh and we found a lady named Barbara! She had been taught before about a year ago and we decided to contact her and see what was up. She let us right in and told us she knew she needs to be baptized and needs to do it soon. What a great thing to hear! Ha ha i was pretty much blown away. She came to church on Sunday and really enjoyed it! We are going to set up a dinner with her neighbors who are members and we're going to begin teaching her. I love how the Lord just guides us! All we have to do is be obedient and do what he asks! It takes hard work but it is so worth it.

Well, I'm glad to hear you Easter went well! Mine went along just fine! We got more candy than i think i got on Christmas. Oh my goodness. What a rough life. Ha ha. I love the Savior. I am so grateful for Him. I love knowing that he lives. I love declaring and sharing my testimony of that truth. I love the spirit, and how when we listen to it, we find those that need us. I love the Book of Mormon. I will read it forever. With all of my heart i know it is true. More than ever in any time of my life do i want to share this book with others! Being a missionary is an amazing thing that changes your life. Man, i am so grateful for such a privilege.

I love you all! Thank you so much for all the support you give me! Have a great week!

-Elder Robinson

Easter time is upon us......

     Easter time is here!! When I was little it was about the dress and the basket. You go to church and have a great lesson all dressed up then go home to all the goodies. Now I don't really put a lot into the Easter baskets. I make them have a few fun things in them with some goodies. But what I love is the Easter lesson in the nursery lesson, http://www.lds.org/manual/behold-your-little-ones-nursery-manual/lesson-29-jesus-christ-was-resurrected?lang=eng. I have been teaching it for 41/2 years now and I still love it. I cut out the figures and put them in a folder that I staple the sides of. Then I write on the top "My Easter Story". I write their name on it, they are so excited to take them home and show them to their families. It's a simple and sweet way of telling the story. I love the Nursery manual. I hope this Easter you get to spend time with your families and know that you are truly loved!! Happy Easter!!


 Dear Family!


Goodness! So much great news coming from home! How amazing! Sinaih! Married?! That's amazing! And Jacob is home!!! Woo! Return with Honor! Once a missionary always a missionary!

On the busy Wednesday morning we taught at a retirement home! It was great! We taught about 30 older people about the Atonement. It was so fun. We ate breakfast first, which was interesting. While standing in line there was a pretty bad smell coming from somewhere and i thought it was just the person in front of me. So i went along and got my food and went to my seat. But i still smelled that awful smell! I quickly realized that the smell, had turned into a taste as i took a bite of a biscuit smothered in gravy. It was the gravy! It smelled and tasted like grounded up death. But, i carried on and finished it anyway. All in all it was still a great experience getting up in front of all these strangers declaring the truth of the Savior, that HE LIVES.

Conference! Wow! How amazing! There was too much to take in though ha ha i'm going to print all of them out and study them through the months. Conference is like Christmas for missionaries, well it should be for everyone but for missionaries it's the greatest. For some reason, members also LOVE to feed missionaries LOTS and LOTS of food during conference. Holy moly. I must have gained 20 lbs! So much fooood. But it was fun. Donna came to the Saturday Morning Session! It was great! She enjoyed it a lot and said," It gives you so much to think about, and i love that choir!" It was a great experience for everyone. Then afterwards there's a family here, the Terry's, that take the missionaries to Golden Corral for conference. So Donna came with! She is a wonderful lady and we all had a lot of fun. I love the Terry's.

We went on a few exchanges with other missionaries this week. That is probably the most fun part of being a District Leader. You get to go on exchanges with your leaders more often and the other missionaries in your district weekly. I love it! It's a great learning experience and a great way to get to know the other missionaries. I am learning so much.

The ward is doing great! This Sunday is "invite a non-member to church day". So far we are planning on having the church full! It is going so great. We are receiving more referrals from members than i have ever had, which is amazing. More referrals=more baptisms. It's a fact! We are really working on helping this ward become a missionary ward. It's coming along!


Alright well time has run out! I've got to get goin!! I love you all! The church is true!!!! I love it out here. Have a great week! Share the gospel with someone!

-Elder Robinson

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood......

     It's a beautiful day today!! Spring has sprung! The birds are happy! It's conference time! I hope everyone has a great weekend and really enjoys it before the cold weather gets here on Sunday. But it does that every time we have conference. It's Utah. Have a happy week!!

Dear Family,


I do know Elder Smith! I don't know Elder Alger though. Athens was in my last zone, never been there but i know where it is. It's a good area. I think Elder Lamm came out with Elder Smith, so he might know something. I'll see what we can do! Oh man lucky is old! Ha ha just hearing about her makes me laugh. I love her! Do you think she will make it another year? It's funny, i was talking with someone the other day and she mentioned something about packing in a few months to move, then i mentioned how we had a month ha ha. She thinks we're crazy now ;) Yes, BUCKEYES ROCK! Mmmm talk about sugar rush!


Ok so not a whole lot of time today. This week has been a pretty great one! The weather has been crazy! It was up until Friday then it was all stormy and now it's in the 40's. On Friday though it was a tornado watch for Xenia while we were out at a young men's thing. It was headed for Xenia but turned and headed right for where we were, so you can imagine how crazy it was being there. We had like 15 minutes before it was supposed to hit so we ate as fast as we could and got out of there! Ha ha that was probably the most rain I've seen for a long time. It got real windy too. But it never touched down. Thank goodness. I always told myself that i wanted to see a tornado while I'm here in Ohio, but in the moment i didn't. At least i didn't want to be in it. But all in all it was fun!

We are teaching Karrisa now! She was at FHE at the Ridges on Monday. She is awesome! It's nice having a investigator live with members because it makes it a lot easier for them to keep their commitments ha ha. We taught her the 1st lesson and extended a baptism invite and she accepted! It was great for all of us. It's pretty fun teaching her though because she doesn't know a whole lot about religion so he has some great questions. I just love teaching. A teaching missionary is a happy missionary. And that's the truth!

We are serving the ward members here a lot! One of them was quite a miracle. We prayed for our planning the night before to which member we needed to serve in the morning and the 2nd counselor's family's name came up. So the next morning we showed up and Sister Jacobson opened the door in tears and asked for a blessing. She said she had just gotten off her knees asking for help and then the doorbell rang and it was us! Then we did a bunch of yard work that they needed done and then we went on our way. She got up Sunday and bore testimony and shared the experience over the pulpit, as well as sharing it with any one she can talk to. It was a miracle. We had people coming and thanking us for being there for the family and after all the service we have done, we are getting a lot of referrals. We did it so we could help the work, but not just that, because we love these people. It's been amazing! The ward is building so much!

This past week i have been thinking and studying a lot about the Atonement. Oh my gosh. I love Jesus Christ. After really putting it in perspective and realizing really what it means to me and my family and to the people i teach, i just love him. I am SO grateful for his sacrifice. I have studied it before and felt that i understood it, but i'm now trying to connect it with everything i do. Everything i study and teach. It has made everything so much better. I love Him.

Well, looking forward to a great week! We get to teach a whole bunch of old people this week! Woo! It's called a prayer breakfast. A member set it up and basically we have breakfast then teach on Jesus Christ and stuff to like 20 old people. It's going to be awesome! Have a great week! I love you all!! Again sorry for the short letter but i gotta go!

The Church is True!

-Elder Robinson

OH and i got pooped on by a puppy for my year mark! How great is that?! Ha ha!

A year changes things........

       A year changes things a little at a time. You don't see the changes all at once till you look at yourself in the mirror. A year ago I was really unhealthy. I am so much better now, not where I want to be, but so much better!! James was shorter than me last year. Well lets just say he looks down at me now. He likes that he is taller! The grandkids are all getting older and really silly!! I love calling them on their birthdays and singing. We so can't sing and they know it, but we laugh together! The Elder has made it his first year and so have we. The big thing is the stuff in his room is still safe. Lets hope it stays that way ha ha!! So here's to another good year! But I'm hoping for another good day, week, month............     :]


Dear family,


I don't have a whole lot of time today. We are in Yellow springs (a.k.a. hippieville). Ohio is  crazy i love it. It's great to hear all that is going on at home! Man, busy busy! Glad to hear Dad's birthday went well with all the family there. So glad to hear Nate & Ashlee are doing well! I goth a letter from them just the other day. :) Woo you signed up for Ohio! Ok....make Buckeyes. You have to! It's the signature chocolate peanutbutter candy of Ohio. Look it up on google or something. They are real easy to make and SO good!


Ok so, it has been a crazy awesome week! First off, LINDA IS MARRIED!!! Brother Johnson and Linda were married at 1 on Saturday. It's not very often you get to baptize someone then see them get married! Usually it's they have to get married to get baptized! It was the other way around for her! Ha ha! It was amazing though. I couldn't help but smile all the day long. And i will never forget the date because it's the same as Dad's birthday! Oh man. It was such a great day. They loved the picture too and they say thank you!!

This past week we found a lady named Donna. Oh man let me tell you. We love Donna! We went driving and we didn't know where, but were driving, and Elder Lamm decided to head a certain way that we don't ever go. We actually ended up at the bishop's house, and they were in need! We were able to talk with them for a little and get some referrals and give the bishop a blessing. We then knocked their street and found Donna who said we could come back tomorrow. So after the wedding we called and she said that we could come by for 10 minutes and talk, well, we ended up staying for about 40 minutes. We started just talking about church and all sorts and then about Heavenly Father, and how much he loved her. In the middle of this she started crying! That room was full of the spirit! We asked her to describe what she was feeling and she said "full, overwhelming". It was wonderful. We talked more about it and she was feeling the spirit big time. We're going back soon to teach her again. I love being a missionary!

Transfers have come and gone. I made sure i didn't tell Carson this so i could tell you ha ha but i have been called to be a District Leader. Now Mom, don't get too excited it's not that great ha ha. I apparently am now the oldest in the district. Whahh? I'm still young!! But i did pray to learn as much as i can this next transfer. And this is what i got ha ha. Things are great though. All it is is an opportunity to serve more! I'm so excited!

Alright well i am out of time. Sorry for the short letter this week! All is well! I am loving being out here. Being a missionary is so amazing. Tiring, especially when the people below you are arguing into all hours of the night. Ha ha. Geez. But it is so fulfilling. It truly is the best 2 years. No doubt. I love it.

I love you so much my dear family! Have a wonderful week! Share the gospel with someone!!

-Elder Robinson

    Chet's Mom brought some old pictures with her on her visit. We found this and fell in love with it. We had been married only 2 weeks at the time. We were such babies!! I was 19 and Chet was 24. Wow! It seems like a lifetime ago. So here we are now married for 26 years and dating for 27. Yes, I feel you should always be dating! I am so in love with my husband! He is the most caring and giving man! I am so blessed that he asked me to dance all those years ago! This Saturday is his birthday. In Elder Robinson's letter he says 61, but that is just his humor. Chet is only 51. I am grateful for everyday and every minute I get to share with him! Happy Birthday my Chet!!! Thank you for choosing me!! I love you to eternity and beyond!!!  <3


Dear family,


HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The big 61! Err i mean....ha ha. I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have a great week!!!!!

Wow that facebook group sounds like a great thing! Tell all them i say hi! Man you're naming off all the elders i know ha ha that is awesome. Ohhh man James has been called to the rival state..Ohio and Michigan hate each other. You better look out ;) it's a good mission though. I've heard great things about the church there. Missionary month, what a great experience! How exciting to be a part of! What mission did you all sign up for?? Or are you allowed to sign up for any..? Ok.....so.....MADI IS GOING ON A MISSION?! I read that and i couldn't see the look on my face but i'm sure my eyes were bigger than my head. That is SO AMAZING! Way to be Madi!!! She is going to be such a GREAT missionary! She will do great things.


This week has just been awesome. I love love love being a missionary. AHHHH. This past week we didn't have the car because it was in the shop, so we did a looottt of walkin. It was great though. Thursday was pretty bad though ha ha it rained and rained and rained. And we knocked and knocked and knocked. Ha ha. We got into 1 house in 4 hours. It was fun though. We were so soaked and cold, that we really didn't care, on the way home we splashed in all the puddles! Was it childish? Maybe...but it was fun :) That was basically the story of the whole week. We've been working really hard to find new people to teach. Tracting and visiting part members every day all day. It's amazing being out talking with so many people but man is it hard. But it pays off!! Yesterday we found a man named Dwight who is so cool. He's been looking for a new church for him and his family and wants to change. We'll be having a chapel tour with him this Thursday. 

Last night we went over to the Ridges, a less active family we have been pushing to get to church and the temple and it's been hard but there has been such a huge difference in their home!! Plus a non-member friend moved in and last night we went over and the daughter talked us up and the church and by the time the night was done she asked if we could give her the lessons. We had to be home then but we are going back tonight to teach her and the family!!! I know it is because we have been obedient and have been working hard that we found them. There is no other way we could have. I am just so happy. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!!

Big news......LINDA IS GETTING MARRIED ON SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHH!!!!!!! Yep Dad's birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We're giving them the picture of the temple you sent that day :) i thought i should have waited and i'm glad i did. Gosh we are all so excited though!!!!!! Actually we're all kind of freaking out ha ha. She is a miracle. I am so grateful i was able to teach her and bring her into the Gospel. I love this. AHHHH ha ha i am just SOOO happy!!

Oh and transfers are this week....i'll let you know what happens!!

I love you all!! Have a great week! I know with out a doubt that this is the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Missionary work is the BEST! I love these people. It's so fun to see others testimonies grow. There's just nothing else like it.