December 9th, 2013

Hello dear family,

 

I am going to jump right into the subject: Missionary Traditions. So I completed 6 months in the mission this past week. CRAZY RIGHT?!?! As many of you know when you complete 6 months you get to burn a tie right? So that is exactly what I did.....with a few hiccups. So I completed 6 months in the mission on a Thursday which is our Weekly district meeting and weekly planning day.; So right after district meeting I went home and went straight to burning the tie. I tried doing outside like a good boy, but it was pretty windy and I couldn't get it to catch fire. So we moved inside to the bathroom thinking we could do it in the shower. Well long story short, and as you can see by the pictures, I burnt a tie :) However, not thinking about opening a few windows to let the smoke vent out, the smoke alarm went off :) Thankfully the members we live with weren't home, and we were able to get the smoke out of the room, as well as the smell. So it was pretty fun, and a little scary. So ya Happy 6 Months in the Mission!

 

Well enough about crazy stories about the mission. That is crazy how much snow you guys have at home!! And the temperatures.....BRRR!! Here in Cali things are all right. We had a cold front move through this past week with temperatures getting as cold as 40 in the evenings, and barely getting over 60 during the day. Then to top things off, it rained all morning on Saturday, so things were a little chilly. As you can see from the picture, I have broken out  the sweaters and on Saturday I used my rain jacket. It has been a little chilly I will admit, but just means I am turning into a big wimp now.On Wednesday we did exchanges, and that night I didn't wear a sweater and I was freezing. It was about 40 degrees that night to soooo......You can be the judge of things.

 

Thank you so much for the letter and package. I got it today from our zone leaders. Is the package suppose to be saved for Christmas or can I open it now? Obviously for the letter I didn't wait and I absolutely enjoyed it. Gracias papa por lo me mando, lo me encanta mucho. For the phone call home, I don't know if we will be using Skype or not. My companion, Elder Beck, said that for mothers day they didn't use Skype at all, just a regular phone call home. So we will see, we are hoping that we will be able to use Skype since we are one of the only missions that don't use Skype to call home. Entonces vamos a ver lo que pasara. Oh and so far my clothes are holding up great.

 

So this week has been a pretty good week. We definitely taught alot of people which was good, and helped alot of them. We had a cool experience with one of our investigators named Ruby. She has been investigating the Church for about 6 months now, and has been taught everything. She is also really close to finishing the Book of Mormon as well. The only problem why she can't get baptized is she lives with her boyfriend and he doens't want to get married. Plus she doesn't have the means to provide for herself. So we read Alma 8 with her this week, teaching her about how God provides other ways to accomplish our goals. She loved it and bore a super strong testimony about the Gospel and how she knows it is true. Which lead perfectly into an invitation to share that testimony with her boyfriend.

 

It was such a powerful lesson, and it was cool to see how the Spirit really directed that lesson. Teaching People, not Lessons is something we have been trying to do. Not just teach a lesson and present the Gospel, but apply it to the investigators and help them find the truth for themselves. It is so cool to see how much stronger the Spirit is when you do so, and how much better the lessons is. I am really starting to see the blessings that come from following the Spirit, how to have the Spirit more in our lessons, and how to follow it better.

 

I know this is the true gospel of Jesus Christ. The blessings that come from the Gospel are innumerous and are so significant in our lives. I know that it is with the Gospel that we can find peace, joy, and happiness in a world that is changing daily. Now matter the changes, the Gospel will always be consistent, and the blessings and promises are always there.

 

Thank you for everything you do. I hope you all have a good week. Something we have been sharing as missionaries is Alma 6. Focusing on how the people of the church prayed for those who weren't part of the church. We have been inviting everyone, members, non-members and less-actives, to pray for missionary opportunites. President Tew taught us how important prayer is to missionary work. "If you pray for missionary opportunities, you will find them. If you don't pray for missionary opportunities you won't have such opportunites though you pass by the same people if you would have prayed." Eyes of faith to see other people as our brothers and sisters who need the Gospel. I invite you all to do so, especially in this great Christmas season.

 

Love you all,

 

Elder Roberts

December 1, 2013

Querido Padres,

 

Another week in the books, another week has started. Can't believe we are in December right now, I swear it always sneaks up on us and before we know it, it is the new year. 2014 kind of has a nice ring to it doesn't it? In all seriousness I can't believe we are starting a new year, 2013 has flown by it is insane. But hey it is always fun to start a new year.

 

So to answer your questions: Thanksgiving was super good. Like I said we had our district meeting and weekly planning that day, and then we could eat with as many members as we could fit into our schedule. We were able to schedule 3 dinners with members, and it was plenty. Elder Beck and I walked from our 2nd dinner to our 3rd dinner hoping it will help speed up the digestion process, but it didn't. Thankfully the member we ate our 3rd dinner with gave us our food in to-go boxes and we just took it home for lunch the next day and just drank horchata. It was super fun meeting with the members and getting to know them better. I was so grateful for their love for us to invite us to their home. I will admit it was very different having Thanksgiving here and not at home with you all. But it really put into perspective that we are all one big family, all brothers and sisters. It really was a great day and I am so grateful for all the blessing our Heavenly Father has blessed me with.

 

So other than Thanksgiving this week, things have been going well. I was super exhausted during the weekend for some reason, but everything was super good. Really the focus for Elder Beck and I this transfer is to find people to teach. Our teaching pool is a little small, and the few we are teaching will only meet with us once or twice a week. So we have been passing by formers a lot, and contacting quite a bit in the streets. It has been going pretty well. We were able to pick up a few formers and find some new people to teach through our contacting. It just goes to show how the Lord prepares His elect to hear the Gospel. We have also been passing by the few members we have in our area and sharing short powerful lessons with them. Then asking for referrals which is going all right.

 

 

I am so jealous you get to go to the First Presidency Devotional and the Christmas program. Those are always fun activities to help bring in the Christmas Spirit. You will have to update me on the Christmas Programs, the guy doing the narration will do great I bet. It will also be different not being home for the Open House we did, you will have to say hello to everyone for me. This month is going to fly by so fast I bet with all the activities going on. It will be interesting to see what happens here.

 

Well that pretty much sums things up. This week will be pretty normal, just planning on doing 2 exchanges this week so that will be fun to work with the other Elders in our District. We are really going to have to work hard these few weeks before Christmas to really help our investigators feel of the love our Savior. It will be a good transfer, the transfer ends the week after Christmas, so this transfer will be super busy and we will really have to work hard. But I am excited and hope to help our investigators come closer to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ during this holiday season.

 

Love you all,

 

Elder Roberts

November 25, 2013: The Good, the Great, and Ugly

Hello Family,

 

Haha so I bet you are wondering what happened due to the subject line. Haha I will get to that part in a moment. But how are things back home? Thank you so much for the package, I really enjoyed everything in it. My companion also enjoyed a magic cookie and the mini Christmas tree. I was super excited when our zone leaders gave it to me, and while I was opening it I could just feel the love of you guys. Thank you so much! (That is the great)

 

So yeah have a new companion, Elder Beck from Herriman Utah. He has been out for about 10 months now, and he is a super hard worker. It has been super good being productive busy this past week; I could see the difference when you work hard and effectively and just working hard. Just for example, in this week alone we have found almost all of our investigators and have taught them all at least 1 time which is good. Also we have found about 4 potentials to start teaching this week which is also super good. (Hence the good part in the subject). This has really helped me feel comfortable leading the area and introduce it to Elder Beck. It has been super good seeing the success that comes from working effectively and with the Lord's guidance.

 

Now for the ugly. This happened on Saturday, we were getting out of a lesson and were in a hurry to get to our next appointment at 8 pm. We hopped on the bikes and started biking to the next appointment. As we started riding, which it started down hill, Elder Beck passed  me and was really starting to gap me which I thought was super weird. Then I started feeling some resistance in my back tire, look down and it is completely flat with the tube sticking out of the wheel. So we stopped on the side of the road to check it out, only to find a 2 inch nail stuck in my tube. So we started to fix it only to find two other areas where the nail punctured my tube. Well long story short a member in a truck passed by and gave us a ride back to our place and we ended up calling it a night right then. So yeah that is my first real bike problem here on the mission and it sucked super bad. (See the pictures attached).

 

Well another week down in the mission. It is crazy to think that Thanksgiving is this week! Thanksgiving falls on a Thursday which is usually our District meeting and weekly planning day. So far President Tew has said to follow the regular schedule for these meetings, then we can eat with as many members as we want that night. So far I think we have 2 dinners planned that night so pretty much the day before I will eat very little and drink a lot of water to have room to eat. I don't think we will be having the typical thanksgiving dinner since it is kinda an American holiday. But still, Hispanic food is super filling and I will probably die that day. Ha ha I am super excited for my first thanksgiving in the mission, but for sure will miss visiting with the family and all that cool jazz. However, it will still be a super good day.

 

We had a cool experience on Thursday this past week. We had a zone conference with Elder Packer. Not the Apostle Elder Packer, but his son who is a member of the 70. It was a super good zone conference and I learned a lot from him and President Tew. Elder Packer helped us understand our purpose as missionaries to teach with the Spirit, as well as how we can apply Family History into the work here. It is a little difficult applying family history into the mission here, but we came up with some great ideas to apply it. Overall, I could just feel the Spirit so strong during the conference and I know that Elder Packer is a servant of the Lord to help us be better missionaries. Between the trainings from him and President Tew, it as a spiritually packed day.

 

I know for a fact that I am so thankful to our Heavenly Father for this opportunity to serve Him as a missionary. It is crazy to think that 6 months have passed by already. I know this next year is going to pass by so fast, as long as we stay busy, and actively helping the work of the Lord progress. I am learning so much this transfer, and during this time as a servant of the Lord. This truly is His work here on the Earth, and He is hastening it day by day. I am so grateful for the blessings of family. I love you all so much and am so grateful to have a family built on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Your examples to me are great and I look up to each and everyone of you. Thank you for your support, love, and testimony.

 

Love you all,

 

Elder Roberts

 

 

November 18,2013

Hi everyone,

 

So yeah here is the start of week 1 for transfer #4. I am staying in the same area, up in Whittier, and my companion is Elder Beck. I didn't receive any leadership calls, however, Elder Beck is the District Leader. So I will be doing a lot of exchanges this transfer (We have 5 companionships in our district, so a lot of exchanges). It will be interesting to see how things go. I will admit I am a little nervous leading the area this next transfer, especially with all the exchanges we will be doing. But it will be good, we have a decent size teaching pool of investigators and potentials so we should stay pretty busy.

 

I am so excited for you guys to meet Elder Kunz next month. I saw him at a fireside the mission does and it was good to catch back up with him and things in Bolsa Chica. Just don't believe everything he tells you because it probably won't be true ;) (JK). He is a super cool guy and was an even better missionary. The only rule I have with him is dad needs to talk to him only in spanish ;)

 

So things are going pretty good here in Whittier. This past week was hard, and we didn't get much done. Mostly because of all the activities for the departing missionaries. We did, however, were able to find one of our investigators we lost contact with for almost the entire transfer. She invited us to her son's birthday party on Saturday, and told us that she has missed having us over, as well as coming to church. Overall she has seen the blessings that come from the Gospel and how much it really does bless our lives. So we will start teaching her again and help her towards baptism which will be good.

 

Overall I am super excited to get back to work again. It felt like we slacked off this transfer, mostly because this was Elder Curtis's last transfer here in the mission. I am super excited to work with Elder Beck, I have heard he is a great Elder, plus he started his mission in the same area I did, in Bolsa Chica. So already we have something in common. Plus I hope to get back on the bike and lose a few pounds as well :)

 

Well I will end this email, you are probably bored of the info. Thank you for the updates on things back home. It sounds like, in general, everything is going well. I know that the Lord is blessing you all as much as He is blessing me. I know that we are blessed even more when we are obedient. I have seen that a lot this transfer. Just like it says in D&C 121 ( I believe), that the blessings of heaven are bound by obedience.

 

Love you all,

 

Elder Roberts

November 12, 2013 PART 2!!!

Hi Everyone! I figure you are probably tired of reading emails so I figured you would enjoy a nice, handwritten letter. I have to admit, Mom was right I would be writing letters in addition to sending emails.

Can you believe that 5 months ago I left for the MTC? Now I am almost done with my 3rd transfer in in California. I always say this in my journal, but time is flying by very quickly. Because it's passing by so fast we need to take advantage of every opportunity to share the Gospel. I know it is a little difficult to share the Gospel outside of church but when we do open our mouths, the Lord truly does give the words to say. I have seen this blessing many times, and hope to have many more experiences. I know this blessing isn't only for missionaries, it's for everyone. Really the best place to start is reading Preach My Gospel; I just barely got done studying it and have started over. The principles in Preach my Gospel are amazing and truly are from modern day prophets and apostles. Again, Preach my Gospel is for EVERYONE who wants to share the Gospel and help the work of the Lord. I strongly encourage you all to study Preach my Gospel. The Stake President in Westminster has been studying it every day for the past year and every time he reads it, he finds something new or something to improve on. It truly is revelation from our Heavenly Father to us through modern-day prophets. I promise that as you study Preach My Gospel, along with the Scriptures, you'll find new ways to share the Gospel and strengthen your testimony.

Well, you are probably tired of reading this so I'll wrap things us. Again, thank you for everything and for all you have done and are doing for me. This is the Lord's work here on the Earth today, and I am so grateful to be apart of it. This transfer has been a little difficult, but has still been amazing. I am so grateful for his guidance every day and all that I learn of Him, I know that He lives, and that He is leading and guiding His Church today. I know it, I live it, I LOVE IT!

Love you all,
Elder Roberts

November 12, 2013

Querido Padres,

 

Well as the subject lines say, This week was tons better than last week. It started out pretty slow, we had 0 lessons through wednesday, but picked up alot by the end of the week, we finished with 4 other lessons and 2 less active lessons. It was a good solid week of working hard, and putting our trust in the Lord. The highlight of the week was we received 2 referrals from Church Headquarters and both are super bomb, with one of them coming to church this past Sunday. Also this past week we were able to find three of our investigators which was great. Overall this past week, I believe, was a "sign" that the Lord is helping us with the work in our area.

 

So to answer some of dad's question. My bike is working great, haha I have only riden it once this entire transfer. We have been stuck in car because of Elder Curtis's knee, and because of so the unwanted gaining of weight (I am at 170.....DISGUSTING!!!). The bike "repair" was I  bought some anti-theft axles for my wheels because Elder Curtis suggested I switch out the quick release axles, especially if I get transfered to Long Beach in the future. So nothing too serious.

 

As far as coordination with the ward for missionary work, we have a Ward Mission Leader in our ward and we meet with him as a district once a week to update him on our investigators. Then he, along with either the Zone Leaders or the District Leader, attend Ward Council every Sunday and update the Bishop on the work in the Ward. Then the Zone Leaders attend a Stake Correlacion every month, since usually a Zone in the mission is the stake boundaries. Hopefully that clears things up a little bit.

 

As far as other info, we are in the last week of transfer number 3. So Elder Curtis will go home next Tuesday. This transfer really has flown by it is hard to believe, it feels like I just barely got here. So ya next transfer I will be leading the area, which I think I have learned. I will admit, I have been having a subtle thought that I will be receiving a Leadership call this next transfer. No matter how much I try to ignore it, it comes back. So I don't know, we will receive leadership calls tomorrow night, so I will let you know what happens next week.

 

So ya that pretty much is everything to update you on. Sorry it isn't alot, and you are receiving this email so late. We couldn't email yesterday due to Veterans day, plus we had to go to the office for Elder Curtis. I hope all is going well for you guys, and I hope Mom doesn't get sick like she did last year around this time.

 

Thank you for your love, support, and desire to help the missionary work progress in your ward. I can promise you guys that if you keep setting goals to pray for missionary opportunities, and act on the promptings you receive, you will have such opportunities and help bring one soul closer to Christ. This truly is His work, He is hastening it, and more and more people are being blessed because of Him.

 

Love you all,

 

Elder Roberts

October 6, 2013

Hola padres,

 

Wow, no puedo ceer que estoy escribiendo un correo electronico a ustedes. Este semana ha pasado muy rapido. Estamos en semena cinco, vamos a terminar este translado en dos semanas. ES LOCO!!! Haha pero todo esta bien aqui en Whittier.

 

So this past week has really been interesting, and very hard. To quickly answer mom's question we did not work very much on Halloween night. We had zone meeting and weekly planning that day, then only 1 hour to work, and had to be in our house at 6 pm cleaning. We didn't do anything with the members because most of them don't believe in Halloween or were out with their kids trick-or-treating. It was a good day to just clean up everything and just relax a little bit. Elder Curtis and I had a bit of a pizza craving that night and did a pizza run real quick, but other than that it was a good relaxation day.

 

So ya this week was super difficult. The biggest problem we had was we couldn't get ahold of any of our investigators. They were either not answering our phone calls, answering the door, or were going to visit family in Mexico (We had 2 investigators leave for Mexico for two weeks). So most of our time was knocking and finding people. But even that was frustrating because every neighborhood we were planning on knocking were recently bombarded with Jehovah Witnesses and their "propoganda". So finding people was pretty hard as well. But hey I guess we have to have those types of weeks at least once in a transfer right? This week will mostly be trying to get ahold of our investigators again, pass by formers, and alot of knocking. Should be fun!

 

Well not much to report on this week. Like I said earlier, it was a super difficult week and I hope that we can rebound from it this week. I was reading in Preach My Gospel this morning (typical right?) in Chapter 9  the very last section. It talks about how our efforts as missionaries will not be wasted and the Lord always will provide us opportunities to teach others. I have really been praying for the Lord's help in this area, and how we can find those ready for the Gospel. I am really  going to be praying for His guidance this week to find those who are ready. I do know that this Gospel is true, and the Message of the Restoration is very unique. I absolutely love teaching people about El Primer Vision and telling Joseph Smith's experience. Every time I share that moment, my testimony about it grows and is strengthened. I can't wait to share this message with some one new this week.

 

Love you guys,

 

Elder Roberts