Making Lemonade out of Lemons...

     So I went with Chet this week to drop something off to his client. It was one of the owners of Doug Smith Auto in American Fork. I turned the car off and waited. A few minutes later Chet sent me a text saying he was coming out. So I see him and start the car. He gets in and the car starts smoking. I turn it off and pop the hood for him. The radiator hose cracked and we lost a lot of fluid. We sat in the car and said a prayer. My car was still not working from being frozen and was also in Lindon. When we were done I looked at Chet and said "Aren't we sitting in front of a car dealership? Don't they have parts?" Nathan worked for a few years as a service writer here so Chet went and ordered the part. Fast forward 10 minutes later with a borrowed screwdriver we pulled into a back stall and he changed it out. We also laughed when he found the gallon of anti freeze behind my seat in the car. So it took us a total of 20 minutes to get the part, change it and get on the road again. The blessings were huge that day!! So yes we took our lemons and made lemonade!! What did you do with your lemons?

Dear family,


It's great to hear from you all! And to hear that everything is going good! Thank you for all the packages! Everything is so great!! The pants and everything are so nice, thank you so much!


Well i don't have much time today. We have a member waiting for us to take us shopping. But this past week was great, we got a lot of things done and a lot of things movin! Pharrin and Megan are now on date for baptism! February 23rd! We had a lesson on Monday with them and the stake president here, and boy it was so awesome. Pharrin is incredibly solid, it's so fun teaching her! She is reading her Book of Mormon all the time and she recently downloaded the Mormon Channel app and is watching all sorts of great videos and reading her scriptures along with the Book of Mormon videos. She even has recognized the adversary fighting against her decision to be baptized, and that has effected her greatly. But in the positive. She reads and prays a lot more because of it. Man she is awesome! She is a great influence on her whole family and Megan too. Megan is doing pretty good. She has a hard time understanding a lot of things because she hasn't been a part of any sort of religion since she was 6, but all in all she is doing good. The ward is taking them in so well and loving them in to the gospel. What a blessing it is to be able to teach such great people.

So, our area is also covered by the Spanish Elders which is super confusing at times. Last month we received a referral for a french speaking couple from Congo and Elder Watkins was sick so they sent the Spanish Elders (who are also English Elders) to contact them. Since then they have been teaching them and it has been great but hard because they have been going to our ward and not the Spanish branch, so the bishop made the call to transition them to the English Elders-us! We had our first lesson with them on Saturday. Wow they are amazing. They hardly speak english, so we have a translator from the ward with us. It is so cool. Just in one lesson i learned so much about teaching from the heart. Testifying from the heart. Letting the spirit guide the things we teach. It was amazing. We finished the Plan of Salvation and the spirit was so strong. We finished with talking about how families can be together forever, and as the brother was translating i felt prompted to show a pass along card with the picture of the Salt Lake Temple. The spirit was amazing and reconfirmed to my heart what i already knew and confirmed our words to their hearts. In french she said, "Just as we were talking about the temple, i feel a strong desire to go there. I want to go there." And we told them that that was the spirit and that they needed to get there. They are now on date for baptism on February 16th and are doing so good! I am so grateful and i feel so blessed to teach such prepared people. Gosh i love being a missionary, there is nothing better in the world to be.

Well my family, i am out of time. Thank you so much for all that you do for me. I love being out here, and i don't want this time to end. It is a blessing to have this gospel, but i feel it is a greater blessing to be able to share it and see others embrace it. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I know that because of Jesus Christ that we can return to live with our Heavenly Father and be with our families forever. I love him so much. I feel so blessed to know these things.

I love you all! have a great week!!! Share the gospel!

-Elder Robinson

It must be January Blah......

     So I sat here all week thinking about what I should write. Should I write about how cold it is? Should I write that Chet and James shared their love with me and I just loved how my stomach felt this last week. I sometimes feel that even though January is a new start to a new year it is also a blah month. It's cold, everyone gets sick, there's not a fun holiday like Christmas, it's January Blah. I guess I will let the Elder talk about his adventures in a new area.............
 
Dear family,


What's up with all the sickness over there? Well i guess it's over here too, but man! I hope you all get feeling better! I'm glad to hear all the reading that's going on! 2 Nephi is great! I just finished Alma!

I don't have much time today so this will probably be short.

This past week was pretty good, our investigators are great! Our most solid ones are Pharrin and Megan. They are sweet! Pharrin was found a few months ago by some other elders and just loves the church, and the ward has really taken her in! The only thing that has kept her from getting baptized is that she lives with her boyfriend. But that is all changing!! We dropped by on night and she answered the door and she was like, "Hey sorry guys i've got company over and we're all planning a wedding. We're planning on getting married on Valentines Day!" We were pretty shocked at that ha ha but we are so excited! So the ward now is taking over and planning everything with her. Megan is a friend that is staying with them for the time being and we just started teaching her last week. She hasn't been very religious in her life but is super open to it! And has so many questions! We dropped by last night to set up a time to meet and she handed us a paper with all her life's questions on it. We will be having a lesson tonight and we will be focusing a lot on answering those and helping them commit to baptism. It's going to be a great night.

This ward is awesome, it's been a great experience serving here already. We got a call Saturday night by the ward clerk asking us to speak on Sunday, so both of us were able to speak. That went great! I don't remember telling you, but i also got to speak 2 weeks ago in Batesville. I was informed that i was to be the last speaker right before the second to last speaker was announced in sacrament meeting. So that was fun! ha ha. So this time was nice to have more than 10 minutes to prepare. This ward is so good at giving us things to do and names to visit, i love it! They are pretty missionary minded and very proactive. It's just great to be surrounded by people who are so willing to serve and help one another, what a blessing.

Well i need to be headed off now, i am out of time. This gospel is so true! I love being a part of this great and wonderful church. I love the Book of Mormon and the guidance of modern prophets. Jesus Christ does live and love us and His Atonement is real! The Gospel is how we access it and it is how we can be changed. I love this work and i love being a missionary.

I love you all! Thank you for everything you do for me! and for keeping me warm! :) Have a great week!!!! Share the gospel!

-Elder Chrys Robinson

Oh and we feed squirrels outside our apartment. It is AWESOME. I will get pictures.

Getting Organized sort of..........

     So when Chet and I really looked at the calendar and realized we would be putting 2 people in James' room we kind of went GAH!! It's not bad, it's just reorganizing it for more room. We gave away some levi's that didn't fit James or Chrys. That helped the closet out! We need to make sure under the bed so it can fit his luggage or maybe the closet. We have shelves set up for them to share. We need to decide what to get out of storage of his. I'm not sure if his drums will fit here, but I really want to get them. My mind is just on overload on fitting everything here. We don't have a lot here, but it's just being creative. Then there's the figuring out the little snacks to feed everyone when the homecoming happens. The plans, the plans........did I mention the flu came to visit and kind of messed up the organizing?? Yeah, there's that too.........


Dear Family,


HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHELSIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love you!

Sounds like everything has been good! Thank you for the notes on the talks our neighbor gave. Pretty sweet! And tell TJ hi for me!! Poor Dad and James getting sick! That stinks! I hope they are all better!


Yes it is true. I am back in the Ohio. It's weird actually to be back where a lot of people live ha ha. I guess i got more used to Batesville than i thought. It's great here though. I'm not too far from Pickerington! Actually i get to go tomorrow for a training at the old Reynoldsburg building! So that will be fun! It's been a long time since I've been anywhere near it. Elder Watkins is great. This ward is pretty great. We're in a district with a Spanish companionship and some sisters. Pretty sweet! I've never been in a district with either. They're great missionaries too. So this may be news or not, if not then i wish it was, I'm in a bike area again. Ha ha. IT'S SO COLD. But so fun. I was met by lots of snow and ice which made me cry, then the tears froze on my face which made me cry more. But it's all good. ha ha. It's a learning opportunity, and i am grateful i get to serve here.

The ride to transfers was awfully fun. We left at about 7:45 to get there on time -2 and a half hours away- and by 8:45 we were stuck in traffic. We were stuck in it for about an hour, so there was already no way were going to make it on time anyway. But then we started to hear squeaking coming from our car in the middle of traffic, and Bishop Phaneuf was noticing that when he let off the gas that the car would stop by it's self. So needless to say after being stuck in traffic for an hour, were stuck in a shop getting our breaks fixed for an hour. They completely locked up and the mechanic could barely get the truck into the garage. But after that the next hour was smooth sailing. So we completely missed the meeting by like 45 minutes ha ha it was pretty funny. We had our own little transfer meeting in the parking lot.

I don't have too much to update you all on because that is pretty much all that happened. I gotta say, i miss Batesville. I love those people. But i am glad to be here and to have the opportunity to serve others. This next transfer i feel is going to be so great! We're going to work our guts out! or our soles off. Either way, we're going to do some WORK! I love this gospel and the power of the Atonement. I love the knowledge that the scriptures give and the questions that it answers. I love the spirit that testifies of truth and leads us along the way. I know the Book of Mormon is true, there is no doubt in my mind of that. I know that Jesus Christ lives, and i know he loves us.

I hope you all have a great week! I love you!!!!

-Elder Chrys Robinson

A very good week......

     Well it was a very good week. We all got what we wanted. James was happy with everything he got. We went with a color theme of red and black. He was one happy kid! Then we got to talk to all the kids and that was sweet! We had our last phone call for the missionary. These last few months have just flown by. I think with this new calling it keeps me busier with less time to think about it. Then James and his school add to that. I'm glad for the distractions. I am so grateful for the days when we get to just be. There aren't to many of them anymore. I hope your Christmas was truly what you needed it to be for you!


Dear Family,

Emailing on Thursday i know, but all the libraries were closed till today, yay!

So first, I hope James had a great birthday!!!!!! It was great to hear from him on Christmas--of course it was great to hear from all of you! It's weird to think that it was my last call, and that i don't even have another general conference to look forward to. I only have a birthday! So weird. This past year went by so fast! It's great to hear that everything went well over Christmas though. I'm glad to hear that everyone is doing so well!

Well today i don't have much time to email, so i won't update you on too many things. Except for Christmas night, in the middle of us sharing the Christmas story with a family, little Carter Utterback threw up on Elder Johnson's backpack and my suit. We all actually had a pretty good laugh believe it or not, especially the kids ha ha it was funny.

I just need to say how much love i feel for the Savior. I've been reading a lot about Him and trying to better understand who He is and the importance of what He did for me. I can't really put in to words all that i have learned and how grateful i really am. It's hard to describe what the spirit has taught me really. But i do know that He is the Savior and Redeemer. I know that he has purchased us with his blood. I know with out a doubt that what He did was for EVERY person. Not just collectively, but individually. That anyone can change because of that. I know that his love is stretched out to each of us. "However late you think you are, however many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you feel you have made or talents you think you don’t have, or however far from home and family and God you feel you have traveled, I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love. It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines." (Elder Holland). I know that this statement is true because i feel that in me. Anyone can change. His hand is stretched out still and will always be. He is the reason i am serving. He makes it possible to hope, love, live and laugh. I love Him for what He did for me, and i love Him because He loved me first.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Elder Chrys Robinson

Just so you know......

     Just so you know I am running out of time and I am not ready. I haven't done the Christmas blog. I haven't sent out any cards this year. The shopping is not finished. The baking is not done. Family and friends will be here soon. Birthdays will be happening. The days don't stop just because your not ready. The big phone call will be coming!!! Last one till he comes home people!! I need to take back my kitchen table from Chet and the clutter. I do this on a daily bases, but it has become a problem area. I need to decide what I'm going to bake first or just start. GAH!!! Ok I feel a little better. No I don't. I need to get off this blog and get my bake on!! I need some Grandkids to help!!! That's what I need!!! I hope you all are more prepared than I am!    :]


Dear Family,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love you both!!!!!! Party on!

Sounds like a pretty great week you all had! I laughed at the little one throwing up everywhere though ha ha. That sounds fun! :/ "waiting for the missionaries" - how cute!

Well this past week was a pretty eventful one. It went by at a very fast but slow pace, it was weird! But we had a lot happen. We found 3 new investigators and had a bunch of great lessons. We found Brett on Friday, we had found him tracting a few weeks back but had never been able to catch him home. But it was at the end of the night and we drove by and decided not to knock because the whole house was dark and figured everyone was sleeping, but as we drove away i felt a nagging at me that we had to go back which i blew off at first until it got worse about 20 minutes later. So we decided to just go give it a shot, even though we had to be in our apartment in like 5 minutes. So we showed up and knocked and he invited us right in and sat us down and we started talking about the restoration! And the spirit was for sure there. I felt it. Especially during the first vision! He agreed with everything we taught and agreed to read and pray about the Book of Mormon! And we will hopefully be going back to teach his girlfriend as well. Woo! Gotta love the spirit :)

So it turns out that Matt and Tyler don't live in our area. Not even in our Mission. Just by like a street though, SO we counseled with our Bishop and President Nilsen and they left it up to us to say what to do, and then we met on Sunday and talked about it and we're going to be passing them off to the Connersville Ward. Bishop actually made the call, but the spirit confirmed the decision and it's be for the best! So we will be talking tonight with Matt and letting him know. It's sad, but we feel pretty ok with it all. I definitely know why all this happened, because now that we don't have anyone on date for December we're going to work even harder to get one! It going to take some faith, but we are committed. We're fasting praying and working for it. And tomorrow we're going to the temple! Oh man i haven't been there since Pickerington! I am SO excited. I want a baptism. Yup. It's going to happen.

Last night was pretty sweet, we went and had a lesson at the Boyds, which went pretty well! Sister Boyd is still real hesitant, but that's ok. It was still a great visit. After that we drove home to Batesville to finish the night and we dropped by a media referral named Joshua that we had dropped by like 5 times in the past couple days but he's never been home. But last night we finally caught him! He let us right in and his brother came down and we offered for him to sit in, and it turns out that he's more interested than his brother! Ha ha. Joshua is 15 and Atheist, Jacob his brother is i think around 17 and has been to a bunch of churches and knows a few members of our ward. They are sweet! As soon as we had finished talking about the Book of Mormon Jacob was like, "let's go grab us one of those books!" (for i had forgotten to grab one out of the car before we walked up). So we went outside and grabbed one then came back in and finished up and left with a prayer. It was a great lesson and the spirit was felt! We will be meeting again with them on Wednesday. The work is moving!!

April and Ashish both made it to church Sunday! They are so awesome. We helped them put up Christmas lights this last week which was so fun but so COLD! We haven't been able to meet with them for a while because things have been so crazy, but they want us over for dinner this week and get back on the lessons. Gosh we love them, they are such a great family.

Well i have to get going now, all out of time! I just want to say thank you all for the love that you have shown me and the support you give me. And thank you so much for all the Christmas cards and packages! They all mean so much to me and i am so grateful for them. Thank you! I know that this church is the true and living church on the earth today, and i know that because the spirit has spoken to me. I know that Jesus Christ lives, He is the Savior of the world! And that through him we can really hope for a better world, even a spot at the right hand of God (Ether 12). That is great knowledge to have- especially in the crazy tumbling world we live in. I am so grateful for the gospel that He has given me and this opportunity that i have to share it as a missionary.

Have a great week! Be safe! Christmas rocks!

-Elder Chrys Robinson

Laughing, listening, life.......

      I really didn't have the words to post a few days ago. I had to just sit and think on thing. If I write what I really feel I think I will cry. So I will write what brought me joy this week. We went to a friends house for a birthday party. We haven't seen them in years. After sitting at the table meeting new friends and seeing my old ones, I remembered how much I loved being around them. We shared our life stories  with trust in the people around us. We cried and then laughed so hard we couldn't breathe. It was truly a evening of need. I walked away knowing why I loved these friends so much. They have the biggest hearts and love the Lord. They show it in everything they do. I came home recharged. I am grateful for so many things in my life. But with such bad things happening in the world, it's good to know there is love in it also. In church today our speaker from the high council said " The only solution to Connecticut is the Kingdom of God. Spreading the word of God." Let us be examples and spread the word and love of God. That's where the happiness is.......   <3 p="p">

 Dear family,

Woo Spencer is home! Thanks for sending the pictures ma! I love them, Jacob is all like, 70's looking kind of ha ha. Spencer looks the same! Good ol Spence. Devin has his call already?! Gosh i know i say this a lot but time flies. I heard from Elder Riggs yesterday that Carson got her mission call!! That's awesome!!!

Well like always, i don't have a lot of time today. We've got a billion things to do! So i'll have to rush through this a little.

We had another booming week! We have 4 people on date for baptism!! Things are picking up so much lately, it's hard to stay caught up sometimes. Last week we put Tyler on date! It was awesome! We were doing an overview of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for him and he said, "This is so cool, I really like this. I would really like to be baptized." So he is on date for Dec. 29th with Matt!! We are so excited. They came to church and really enjoyed it, and then Sunday night a member family took them along with us to a fireside in Dayton where Shawn Bradley was speaking. It was great! The spirit was really strong and the chapel and gym were packed!! Shawn is so awesome, he talked a lot about making right choices, and not just making them in the moment but making them early in life. He chose to serve a mission 15 years before he even did and he said making that decision so early helped him to make correct choices through the rest of his life. It was really inspirational and the things he said were so true. Matt and Tyler really enjoyed it and are really loving the gospel. You can really see the change in them as they are embracing all this, it's so cool to see. And Matt quit smoking! Woo! :D

We also put CV and Emily on date for January 19th! We went over and had dinner with them and had a great lesson that i think pointed them in the right direction. It was all on baptism and change. They brought up all the concerns that we were worried about and the spirit addressed them and set them on the path! Emily is having a hard time right now with the baby and all, but they are doing so good. We love them so much and are so excited for them!

On Thursday we had a dinner with a less-active member and her friend actually stayed for it and the lesson afterwards!! The member said that she had been working on getting her to take the lessons for years but she wouldn't do it. So that is definitely good thing! Her name is Kathy, and she is pretty willing to make some changes. She just kept saying how much she want to get right with God and fix things up. So we taught her the restoration and invited her to be baptized and she accepted! She doesn't have a date right now, but she soon will! We should be meeting with her this Thursday for another lesson.

April and Ashish made it to the Ward Christmas Party on Saturday, but then got sick and couldn't make it Sunday morning. So we will hopefully be going over today or sometime soon to give them a blessing. They are so amazing. I don't think I've loved another family besides my own so much! I am so grateful that Heavenly Father has trusted me to teach them :)

Things are really moving right now. I LOVE it. I haven't had this much fun ever. We knocked like half of this tiny town on Sunday and we have a couple lessons set up for tomorrow night! And another set up for tomorrow afternoon in Batesville. The ward members are really reaching out and helping our investigators, they are so supportive. I love these people so much, and my desire to help them come to Christ grows every day. My testimony grows every day. I love my Savior so much and i am so grateful for Him during this Christmas season and always. We had our mission Christmas Devotional yesterday and man it was amazing. The spirit was so strong through the whole thing. At the end of it all they had a slide show of all the pictures that the missionaries sent in for the baptisms and things that happened this past year and it was so good. I was choked up the whole time but the second to last picture of the slide show was of Linda and I at her baptism, boy did that send Elder Riggs and I over the edge! It was a great day yesterday.

Well I gotta go! Have a great week! I love you all so much! Share the gospel! THANK YOU FOR ALL THE CHRISTMAS CARDS AND PACKAGES! :D

-Elder Chrys Robinson

I promise to get better at this........

     The week got away from me what can I say. I will do better next week. So I don't have to post 2 letters here is a quick post and the Elder's letter. Have a great week!!!    :]


Dear family,

I have pretty much no time today so this one will be a short one. Sorry :( so much to do! So little time!

This past week was great! We got a lot of good lessons in! And found 4 new people and had 6 at church! The most i've ever had at church in one week!

The week started out pretty normal and good, except that changed with a call for an emergency specialized training for all Zone Leaders and District Leaders. So on Tuesday we rode with the Lakeside Park elders up to Middletown, OH to meet all the other elders and President and Sister Nilsen. It was so sweet! And Elder Riggs was there too!!! He was called to be a district leader this last transfer! It was great to see him. The whole thing was on leadership and how the learders are going to help us all make our goal of 500 baptisms for the year. Really opened my eyes. Right now we are sitting at 439 for this year, which is a huge jump from our 361 of last year. How cool! The work is moving faster and faster every day. And we are already at about 200 missionaries because of the age change. The mission is growing, the work is progressing, and we are finding to baptize. So many miracles have happened this last year. I am so grateful to be able to be here and see all these wonderful things happen. So Elder Johnson and I have set a goal to fin 3 people to be baptized this month. Which will happen!

We've been knocking a bunch of doors lately and trying to talk to everyone, which resulted in the 4 new people this last week. I've been feeling so much more confident about myself and about this message we have to share, I am trying to see everyone I meet as they could be, or in other words, as they WILL be. Trying to invision everyone i meet being baptized, and it has really helped! I feel that when i do the spirit leads me more to what i need to say to touch the hearts of the people i meet. It's been a great experience. We're working hard! Harder than i ever have! And it's because i know how much the gospel changes lives. I love being here and i love sharing the Gospel.

April and Ashish are doing great! They participated in the fast yesterday and they said that it went really well. They are so fun though, we challenged them to fast and Ashish wasn't sure he could do it, but April was like let's do it! Ha ha she kept egging him on to do it, which he did and he did very well. In Gospel Principles class we had a lesson on the Gift of the Holy Ghost. During a part of it we had a discussion on what the Holy Ghost feels like and Ashish was actually the first one to comment on it ha ha. That got me pretty stoked. They are doing so well and we will be meeting with them this week to finish up the lessons :) we love them so much, it's is so cool to see other embrace the gospel and to see them just change. Wow.

Both Boyds made it to church!!! Sister Boyd kind of fell of for a while because i think we were all pushing too hard. So Brother Boyd decided that he would just let it be and back off and head to the Methodist church for a while. We decided that it was probably a good thing to do for her. So we didn't hear anything from them for the whole week then we got a call from a member saying that they were both coming on Sunday! She seemed to really enjoy it and the members loved her! Hopefully this week we will be able to pick things back up and help point them in the right direction. They are a sweet couple, and i'm excited to see what happens in the next few weeks!

Oh and yes, a soda exploded in the car the other day. That was fun to clean up.

Well that's about it for this last week. Things are so good here right now, and the people we are teaching are really progressing! We are fasting and praying that all things work out and that we can continue to find the elect and prepared. Miracles are happening in this mission and here in Batesville. I am so grateful to be here, i don't what life would be like if i hadn't of served here with these amazing people. I love being a missionary.

Thank you for everything you all do for me! I love you all so much and you are always in my prayers. Happy December! Share the gospel! Give the gift of the Savior!

-Elder Robinson