Email letter dated June 12, 2013 'Elder De La Cruz'

June 12, 2013

Dear Family,

Wow this week has been amazing. Ever since the day I received my new comp Elder De La Cruz one week ago things have been great. There´s always a little fear when you receive a new comp that you won´t get along or he´ll be disobedient but I´m pleased to say that Elder De La Cruz and Í couldn´t get along any better. We are great friends and we only have a week together. The best part is that he and I both have the same expectations for ourselves and for one another. We work well together and teach well together. I´m technically Senior Comp but I am learning a ton from my comp who has a little over 7 months in the mission. He is Dominican so he is familiar with the problems that are here in the D.R. as far as the church is concerned and he has had callings and experience in fixing the problems and it appears to be his attention to detail that makes all the difference. We are working hard and are feeling the spirit strongly everyday.

I am the most obedient and the most happy that I've ever been in my mission. 

On Sunday President and Sister Douglas came and attended church here in Conani which I´m pretty sure was a big surprise for everyone because I think they came unannounced. Sister Douglas plays the violin and she always brings it to play the hymns wherever she goes. It was fun to see everyone in the congregation mesmerized and in some kind of trance as they watched her movements as she played her violin. There were 75 people in church which is the highest number of people that I´ve seen attend church here in Conani. Ramon and Rosi and Gabriel came and it was awesome. Elder De La Cruz gave an awesome gospel principles class for the investigators and the spirit was very strong. 

I was so happy that day I couldn't help but smile really really big. It was the strongest I've been able to feel the spirit in this branch.

The work is going forward and we are working really hard to find new people to teach. Elder De La Cruz is 25 and he definitely came prepared to the mission. He is strong and is super knowledgeable. 

keep on keepin on and smile every day because I know I am.

Elder Robinson

Email letter dated June 5, 2013 'A New Transfer'

June 5, 2013

Hey all,

It is yet another transfer and I have yet another new comp. His name is Elder De la Cruz. He's Dominican and has about 7 months in the mission. Here you have a few pictures. One is a baptism that we had a few weeks ago. one is of my district  one of of me posing as Malfoy because I'm wearing my Slytherin tie. and the other is of me and Elder De la Cruz

Email letter dated June 5, 2013 'The Spirit'

June 5, 2013

Dear Family,

We had a very interesting experience this week: As you all know we are teaching Ramonand his "wife" Rosi. They have progressed a lot and always read and have received confirmation from the spirit of the Almighty God that what we are teaching is true. Due to work and other things that have come up they have not been able to come to church. Ramon did come once but has had to work on sunday recently.

This transfer is coming to an end in just a week and things are constantly changing. It's really weird as each transfer ends and people I know go home. Elder Johnson has just one more transfer before he goes home and I feel really weird and old knowing that my first comp in the mission field is going home. such is life in the mission...

It's raining a ton lately and we enjoyed an awesome lightning and thunder storm the other night. Life is good.

In other news I'M DEBT FREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

I WANNA DO THE DAVE RAMSAY DEBT FREE SCREAM!

I am finally finished paying my debt for all the loving and thoughtful packages that hav been sent to me. I love packages and wouldn't mind receiving more as long as they are sent to the proper address:
Dominican Republic Santiago Mission

Ave. Estrella Sadhalá #10, 2ndo piso

Frente a UTESA

Santiago, Rep. Dom. 51000

Email letter dated May 22, 2013 'The Cell Phone'

May 22, 2013

 

Dear Family,

 

On Saturday we helped a member in the zone leader's area move to a new house. We got her and her kids all situated and helped clean up the little patch of land in front of the house with machetes and a shovel. It was a good opportunity to serve. We did it in record time.

There was a baptism here in the branch scheduled for later that night so we went from the move to fill the baptismal font. We cleaned it up a little and turned on the water and left the water running while we went home to make pizza. it turned out great by the way. after lunch we went back to the chapel to check on the water. it was really low still so once again we left the water running and went home to shower and get ready to go out and teach. As we got home I threw my jeans into the washer that already had some of my other clothes and I turned it on. I took a shower and got ready to go and was sitting at the table studying when I heard thudding sounds coming from the washer. I thought to myself "it always makes that sound when I put my jeans in there because it has a metal button that hits and scrapes the washer as it moves around. As I got ready to leave I realized I didn't have my lucky rock in my pocket and thought "oh it's in the washer making all that noise" and sure enough when I reached my arm into the washer I pulled out my lucky rock. we were ready to go and we knelt at the front door and prayed and as we stood my comp asked me if I had the cell phone. I said no and we went in search of the cell phone. after about five minutes I said out loud "I cant' be dumb enough to have thrown it in the washer." As I plunged my hand into the water I screamed "NOOOOOOOO!!!" as my hand touched the cell phone.

yes, I sent our cell phone scuba diving......

I've always prided myself for never having dropped my cellphone in the toilet or drowning until today....

so we were without a cell phone for 2 days but in the end it was good because the phone I drowned was super old and a piece of junk and hardly worked and we had previously asked for a new one.

That same day we had a meeting with area seventy Elder Dominguez (his wife was sis hamilton's companion and the one that received the necklace I brought) It was an amazing meeting.
Pres. Douglas talked about tithing and it's amazing how you can gain a strong testimony of tithing when as missionaries we generally don't pay tithing. but some of the things he said were very powerful: "if I earn 1000 pesos and pay 100 pesos in tithing I will only have 900 pesos. but it's 900 pesos with the window of heaven open. to have 1000 pesos is good but to have 900 pesos with the windows of heaven open is better." So awesome!

Everyone can and should pay tithing. it is a matter of faith and can be a great trial of faith but we receive our testimony of all gospel doctrine and principles after the trial of our faith. Ether 12:6

Hey taft, just so you know, when you accepted your call to serve a mission you also accepted the call to be a marriage counselor. Buckel up little buddy. haha.

things are good and really rainy. we are getting wet just about daily.

Elder Robinson

Email letter dated May 15, 2013, 'Moving'

May 15, 2013

 

Dear Family,

 

Well we are no longer living in a house of 4 missionaries. We moved yesterday to our old house again. I´ll be honest and say that I´m tired of packing and unpacking my suitcases and moving houses. We have moved twice in just 3 weeks and as a missionary you usually don´t have to pack up and move unless you get transferred to another area but we have packed up and moved twice without even leaving the area! I`m just tired of lugging my heavy suitcases up and down stairs...

Life is good and a little bit better now that we are in our own house again. it was interesting and fun to be in a house of 4 but it was a little inconvenient: sharing the house, the washer, plates, stove, oven, fridge......and there are more potential distractions. It was good because we could hang out with the other elders and that was fun and we were able to coordinate our efforts in the work a little better since we were living together. we are mostly happy because the old house is close to the church, a super nice colmado, a butcher shop, internet center, barbershop, and it´s actually in our area. so ultimately, better in just about every way.

Our lessons with Ramon just get better and better. We talked about the 10 commandments yesterday with him and his wife Rosi (she is progressing too and is just as awesome as Ramon). As we talked about the commandment to not have any more gods before God he immediately stood up and took a big framed painting of Michael the archangel off the wall. He explained that he had prayed to the painting before and needs to obey the commandments. He and his wife are so open to truth they seem to be willing to keep every commandment once they understand it. He is so passionate about keeping the sabbath day holy and is worried about his unemployment and a security job that might make it difficult to come to church. the only hang up that we see is that he and his wife are not married.......We are going to talk to them about chastity tomorrow so we shall see how it goes. They get me so stoked and excited to teach!

Sis Douglas is super famous and knows the sculptor that made all the amazing statues of the life of Christ and she asked her (I think it´s a woman) to make a special statue for the mission. It is a statue of Christ cleaning Peter´s feet. this has a lot of special significance for Sis. Douglas because one of the things they do in here charity in India is clean the wounds on the feet of the people in the leper colonies and it is apparently an amazing experience. She showed us a couple videos and it looks like an amazing thing that she has going on in India. It´s a one of a kind statue that was made especially for the Santiago, Dominican Republic mission. Oh the things you can do when you are famous and have connections. haha.

We are seeing progress and are still working with many people to help them come unto Christ. It´s unfortunate when someone decides that they don´t want to. Such seems to be the case with the Lopez family. they were doing so well and  progressing and a couple of them were coming to church but now all progress has stopped and now we feel that we are essentially fighting against their free will to get them to progress. So we feel that it isn´t their time right now and that in some future day they may make the necessary sacrifices to gain a real testimony.

for that reason the mission is difficult; you meet so many good people and you do everything you can to help them come unto Christ and when it comes to a point that they just don´t want to anymore it´s hard...

Such is life-there must be opposition in all things. keep on keeping on.

Elder Robinson

Email letter dated May 8, 2013, 'I'm Back!'

May 8, 2013

 

Dear Family,

 

So.......it´s been a little while since I´ve legitimately written...hope to be better.

We are making progress here in Conani: we have been blessed with 2 new investigators which are awesome:

Ramon

He was a reference from the zone leaders. they taught him about the restoration and about the book of mormon and then realized that he actually lives in our area. the way they found him is super cool: the zone leaders were teaching one of their investigators and one of the investigator´s friends, Marcos, was there. they talked a little with Marcos and gave him a pamphlet about the restoration and Joseph Smith and put an appointment to visit him at his house. Sometime in between the time they met him and went to visit him at his house, Marcos went to visit his neighbor Ramon who lives right in front of his house. Marcos left the pamphlet in Ramon´s house and when Ramon got home from work he saw it and asked his wife about it and she said it was Marcos´ he sat down and started reading and he really liked what he read. THe time came when the zone leaders went to go find Marcos. The addresses in this country are so messed up that the only hope of finding anyone is asking the neighbors. So the zone leaders knew they were close to Marcos´ house but weren´t sure so they decided to ask the neighbors and walked to Ramon´s house. They asked for Marcos and where he lived and Ramon told them that he lives in front of the house but that he´s not home. He then invited them to talk with him and were surprised to find that he had read the pamphlet and was interested and had questions. When they introduced us to ramon he had read 2 Nephi 31 and understood it perfectly and that´s how the lessons have continued: he reads, understands and accepts the truth. It´s awesome!

the only problem that we have with Ramon is that just like the majority of people in this country he is not married. He lives with his ¨wife¨ and daughter but they are not married. It´s a very common problem.

Gabriel

we were talking with an old contact and trying to help him find a verse in the bible. He is a contact that straight up told us that he´s catholic and that he will never change religion. He read about the restoration and ¨can´t believe that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and the Son.¨ but we still talk to him and we are kinda friends. anyways, we were talking with him a little bit and as we were talking this young guy came out of nowhere and was kinda looking at me funny and he finally asked me who we are and what the book of mormon is amoung other things. He is 17 or 18 and he is interested in the church and the gospel. We gave him a book of mormon and invited him to church the next day and he came! He brought his younger brother and they were there at the church before everyone else waiting for someone to show up and open the gate. Pretty cool. At the end of church they asked what they need to do to be baptized! we are gonna keep teaching them and hope they see the waters of baptism.

Immorality is a big problem in the world but it is problem number one here in the D.R.. It is a serious problem. Fornication is rampant and Adultery seems to be child´s play. Many families are destroyed by this plague and the members of the church are not safe. We have to protect ourselves just the same if not more because I am seeing many good wholesome, strong, loving, families be destroyed by this. It´s very sad and very frustrating to watch and I can´t imagine what it would be like to live it....

less actives are harder to teach and help than investigators. All have excuses and all of them womp. I´ve found myself lost as to how to help these people come back to the fold. They just need to feel the spirit like they did before. It bites.

Feeling Good

Elder Robinson

Email letter dated April 24, 2013 'The Gang's all Back Together'

April 24, 2013

Dear Family,

Transfers are here again and Elder Castro and i are still together here in La Vega. We are both pleased that we stayed and are ready to put our shoulder to the wheel and get to work. Although neither of us left the area we both had to pack up everything and move because they divided and created a new area near ours and have put sister missionaries there and now the sister missionaries are living in the apartment where we were living and we are living in a bigger apartment with two other missionaries that share our branch if that makes sense...there are four of us working here in the same branch but the area of the branch is divided in 2 and we have to live out of our area now and have to walk about 10 minutes to get to our area....but that´s okay. more walking means less weight. speaking of weight I weighed myself last week and according to the scale in the mission home i weigh 160!!!!! wa-hoooo!

The sister missionaries also have to live outside of their area but they live way outside of their area....

Living in a house of four missionaries should be interesting...I hope i can be a good example.

It´s really rough to hear that your converts are inactive....Elder VillaNueva seems to be following from zone to zone because he is now here in La Vega and I got to talk to him for a minute and he said that ronald and wanirsy are less active.... that bites.

We are trying to rescue those that have been lost here in Conani. There are surprisingly a lot of people that got baptized to please their mom or dad or family or grandma or boyfriend or they just see their baptism as a little fling and taht it was a good ride full of good experiences but the fling and the ride are over. They don´t realize that once you´re a member of the church you´re a member for life and you have obligations with God because you´ve made covenants. So we are trying to help these people gain a real testimony. it´s a little hard but it can and will be done.

I pray for you all so much and hope you are all well and see that Lord´s hand working in your life.

Elder Robinson

Email letter dated April 17, 2013 'Pet Store'

April 17, 2013

Dear Family,

Today we visited a pet store here in Santiago and I´ve always been kinda sad to see all the cute little animals in boxes and cages, but this pet store was different: they let some of the animals out of their enclosures and let them hang around the store. As you can see from the pictures we made friends with Emilio the parrot. He´s a very curious bird and likes to eat neck ties as you can see from the picture with my comp. it also looks like Emilio is trying to hang him with his own tie. haha. when emilio was perched on my shoulder he tried to eat my tie as well. Apparently he also likes to pop the buttons of of peoples shirts. haha

We also saw a little black, super fuzzy dog that was loose and playing with one of the workers. so fun! there were fish and turtles and hedgehogs and sugar gliders and mice and hamsters and puppies and bunnies and a shark and tons of different kinds of birds and monkeys. It was super fun to tour all the animals.

Notice: If you are going to send me a package send it directly to the mission office and not the miami florida address. I am almost done paying off my debt to the mission for the packages and it can´t be soon enough.

Mom please tell Kim Hamilton to email about the scripture cases even if it´s just to say yes or no. if she wants to do it it definitely be best to deposit the money to my debit account to pay for them.

We are finding more and more inactive members in La Vega everyday. Some just need a little push to get them to come back, others need to be comforted and animated to come back and others are unable to come back fully due to financial situations and for their work situation...

working hard and having fun and healing from a sunburn...

I went and saw the mission doctor today about engrown toenails and it turns out that I have nasty foot fungus....to cure the fungus is a long expensive process involving taking a certain drug for 3-6 months minimum and getting liver tests every month to make sure the drugs aren´t killing the liver. It´s not feasible to do in the mission so It will have to wait. I just need to keep it clean and try to help it not be engrown. And even after the mission I´m not sure I´ll go through this long procedure, it´s not life threatening and my toenails don´t usually hurt me so it´s not big deal.

Keep the Faith. Trust in God.

Elder Robinson

Email letter dated April 10, 2013 'Conference'

April 10, 2013

Dear Family,

It was a good but stressful conference this past weekend. We tried everything in the book so that Elder Munoz and I could watch it in English but we had to give up and watch it in Spanish....we saw the last hour and a half of the priesthood session in English but the rest was in Spanish. Which isn't so bad because i understood just about everything; the thing that I have noticed about myself is that if I don't focus and concentrate on what's being said i may understand but I easily forget. So I didn't get very much out of this conference due to being a little tired, language barrier and technical difficulties.

Technical difficulties should be expected in a third world country I suppose, but I was very frustrated... I love conference and i take it very seriously and it hurts my heart when conference starts and the only people there are the missionaries and the guy that brought the laptop...that's how it was on Saturday. in true dominican style there were some people that came late so better late than never I guess. All in all I am really looking forward to receiving my Liahona (international version of the Ensign) so I can read the conference.

The one investigator we had that was progressing really well toward baptism and that had a baptismal date for this Saturday dropped off the face of the earth...We haven't seen or talked to him since the Sunday before conference. His son was going to come and visit from Spain and he was gong to be out of town for a couple days but we have passed by his house almost daily to try and find him and have had zero luck...We don't know what happened. We are going to try and find him today here in a little while so we'll see what happens.

This area has a lot of potential and I want to see it come to fruition.

Today my comp decided he would give himself a haircut. haha. After about two hours he came out and I thought it didn't look too bad and i thought it actually looked pretty good. we later went to a haircut place so i could get my haircut and it was super fast and short. the barber looked at my comp and asked him if he wanted him to help him fix his hair. haha. It looked good before but looks better now.

Today i got creative and taped together who knows how many pieces of paper to make a big square with which i made a giant origami inflatable box. you gotta find fun ways to make p days interesting. haha It actually didn't come out as big as i thought and hoped it would but it was fun.

We are seeing some difficulty due to inactive members taht are inactive due to something that some other member did to them or they were offended by one of the leaders or they were released from their calling as branch President and just left because they were offended that they were released. We are just seeing a lot of people that don't know the purpose of the church and why they joined the church and how it functions.

We gotta keep on keepin on and helping these people come unto Christ

Elder Robinson

Email letter dated March 27, 2013 ' Little Conani'

March 27, 2013

Greetings!

Our area according to the mission is called Conani B but I found out this week that Conani is just the name of the branch here and it gets it´s name from a school named Conani that is close by. Kinda confusing, at least it was for me, then again I´m a little slow...
Things are a little slow going here because we don´t have a lot of people that we are teaching. We are currently trying to find new people to teach and contacting is always a little rough. My comp has 4 months here and from what he´s told me and what I can tell he has contacted a lot here and doesn't really have tons of desire to contact the same houses and people he contacting a month or two ago. I totally understand that feeling because I've been there too. But we´re missionaries and we gotta go find the diamond in the rough. We do have a few investigators that are progressing and a few that aren't...

Victor is a very intelligent and curious man. He constantly has weird off the wall questions that have nothing to do with his salvation or really anything to do with what we are teaching and he insists on answers. for example: Why are there black people and white people. now that one is not too off the wall and is a logical question and can even be explained and analyzed in the Book of Mormon by looking at the Lamanites but this question brought another question: where do the Chinese come from? if we all came from Adam and eve where do the Chinese come from? I actually studied this one a little bit and I´m not saying that the answer isn't there but from what I could see there is nothing doctrinal that states where they came from and why they have maintained their race so pure. We do learn that the Egyptians came from Noah but I couldn´t find anything on the Chinese. I´m just gonna tell him to look it up on google because as far as i know there isn´t anything doctrinal as far as that goes. He´s a very interesting character that has been told his whole life that God the Father is Jehovah so we had to help him with that. The difference between him and so many others i have talked with on this subject is that he is open to truth. There are so many people that will fight you to the death to prove their point but Victor sees and understands truth when it is presented. He has a baptismal date for the 13 of April so we will see what happens, I have high hopes for him.

We are also teaching the Lopez family. They are a great family that really reminds me of mine because they are loud and silly and happy and goofy and totally not normal. haha. It´s Katy and her 4 kids: 1 son-Ambiorix, and 3 daughters-Karen, Vanelly, and Valery. ranging in ages 11-22. Katy was in an accident on Sunday: she was on a motor scooter and a car hit her. She´s pretty banged up and hit her head pretty hard but she is getting better. They called us yesterday and we were able to give her a blessing and every day she is getting better. The struggle that we are having with them is that Ambiorix doesn´t participate very much and isn´t progressing because he doesn´t read and has not yet come to church. He needs some encouragement so we´re going to see what we can do.

Life is good in La Vega. It´s really hot and it´s only gonna get hotter....I just have to survive one more dominican summer...

Elder Robinson

Email letter dated March 20, 2013 'Receiving Big News and a Week in Las Vega'

March 20, 2013

Dear Family,
Elder Taft Robinson will be entering the Wisconsin, Milwaukee mission on July 24!? That's so crazy to think about! It's weird to think that there will be another Elder Robinson out there...So while I'm here in the D.R. dying of heatstroke year round Taft can be dying of hypothermia there in Milwaukee. haha He'll probably get tired of seeing snow while I would pay money to feel a cold breeze. haha. No enough comparisons, seriously the Wisconsin, Milwaukee mission is the best mission in the world.

Katie and Gabe are going to Ohio and then Virginia so us Robinsons are all spread out. It's good that Parker and Alaura will be returning to the happy valley. it'll be cool to have them close when I arrive there as well.

The first week in La Vega has been interesting. coming from 4 months in the countryside to the loud city of La Vega is a little different. There is constant noise and more drunk people than I've seen up until this point in my mission so that's sad, kinda scary, and also a little funny.

My comp is awesome. Elder Castro knows a ton and is a great missionary and we are already great friends!

Time is running short. sorry mom that these letters seem to be getting shorter and shorter but there are a lot of people that write me and a lot to write. I hope you understand.

It's hot and sweaty and happy

Elder Robinson

Email letter dated March 13, 2013 'I'm a Step-Father!'

March 13, 2013

Howdy Y'all!
I am currently in Conani, La Vega. that's right folks, today is transfer day and I learned in zone meeting Yesterday that I would be leaving good old Cotui to come her to Conani which is actually pretty close to Cotui which is really nice because I didn't have to travel a ton and I still had a full P-day. I am Elder Castro's step-dad which means that I am his second comp in the mission field. He just finished being trained by his dad Elder Grover. I am senior companion and am worried that I might not be a good senior companion...

Conani, like Cotui, is a branch but from what Elder Castro tells me it is a little more organized than Cotui in the fact that there are more callings filled and that the members aren't as busy working in the mine because the mine is in Cotui. From what I can see it is a good area. Upon arriving I see that it is busier and bigger and there are more people here and there is more movement which means more noise. I'm still kinda out in the boonies but I'm not really out in the countryside anymore, which has it's pro's and con's: paved streets (it's harder and hurts your feet to walk on rocky dirt roads all the time), closer to internet centers, smaller house (less house to clean ya know), house on the second floor...the con's are that I'm not out in the countryside anymore and I liked being out there with less noise, and more nature sounds and lots and lots of stars.

I didn't really want to leave Cotui and I was hoping and thinking I would be there for one more transfer so it was a surprise to me when they told me I was leaving. I packed all my stuff like a white tornado (do you remember those mom? haha). I didn't want to leave Cotui because Juanirsy is getting baptized this Saturday; ronald, roelin, domeiris, and possibly juanirsy are going to the temple to do baptisms at the end of the month and I wanted to be there when they get back to talk to them. I also wanted to stay for Robert Samantha, Rosi, Pablo and Issaury, Roelin, Ronald.... As you can see it is the people of each area that make it hard to leave. The very people with whom you have talked with, taught, cried with, comforted, laughed with, cooked with, and worked with.

A few days ago Ronald brought a bat to our house that he caught in his house. it was the first time I had ever seen a bat up so close and they really are little rats with wings...but kinda cute. I think he has a broken wing and can't fly so that's really sad. We put him in a laundry hamper and covered it with a t-shirt so he could be in the dark. When we got home later that night he wasn't in the laundry hamper....not sure how he escaped...yesterday Elder Villanueva found him and put him back in his little cage. Not sure what Elder Villanueva will do with him but I hope he doesn't die but if he can't fly I'm not sure how he will live...

Despite the sudden change of scenery i am positive and happy.

Elder Robinson

Email letter dated March 6, 2013 'The Parade'

March 6, 2013

Dear Family,

The carnaval parade was pretty cool. The people go crazy for carnaval and they make big huge elaborate costumes. They make them out of plastic bags, plastic cups, dried leaves, toilet paper rolls.....they put a ton of time and work into it.

We waited around for like 2 and a half ours to see the parade but it was worth it. It was cool. Technically it´s my only independence day here in the D.R. since I´ll be home for the next one and it was my first and only opportunity to see the carnaval parade. as far as independence day goes there wasn't a lot to show that it was independence day. there weren't any military in the parade. there were a few flags hung here and there but not like 4th of July back home. Apparently they go all out in the capital with military parades and it´s a bigger more noticeable deal but here in small town Cotui there wasn't a lot to see in that regard. 

It´s been a good week. Not a lot of exciting things have happened. I started using sunscreen! 

Mom I know that you´ve always been so proud of your missionary that is not like so many that only writes two sentence emails on p days but this one is gonna be short. I love you all and love all the emails and letters that I get that give me such fun and interesting and needed insights into your life.

Elder Robinson

Email letter dated February 27, 2013 'Dia De Independencia'

February 27, 2013

Dear Family,
Today the Dominicans are celebrating 169 years of independence! Today is supposed to be a big day for Carnaval and for the country. From what we've heard from members we shouldn't be worried about it being dangerous or crazy or anything. Everyone is off work and all are celebrating with ridiculously loud music and really annoying motorcycles. A lot of people have costumes and there were parades and I think there will be other parades later so hopefully I get to take some pictures of a Dominican parade.

This week has been good. I've felt really good about the work we've done and the spirit we felt.

On Saturday we hiked up into the hills to help a member plant some avocado trees in his little patch of land he has. We got the other missionaries from the other areas in the district and we all went. It took a lot longer to get there than we thought and we spent a lot of time cooking food over open flames and got back late but the trees got planted and hopefully in a few years those little trees will give some big delicious avocados.

On Sunday President Douglas and his wife came to attend church here in Cotui. Sis. Douglas played her violin in sacrament meeting and it was awesome. The meetings were good and attendance was a little better than usual which was good, I suppose it was because everyone know President Douglas was coming. He had a leadership training meeting with the leaders of the branches and district here and from what I heard it was really good. President Douglas has plans to come here and work more often so that these little branches can get their act together and progress. After listening to President Douglas speak and after talking with him and Sis. Douglas after the meetings I´m stoked to be a missionary. They both have an energy about them and they are so excited and animated about the gospel and about the work. Here in a couple weeks 20 missionaries will be entering the mission and they will be opening new areas and putting more missionaries in existing areas. The missionary work is exploding!

Taft sent me an email and I´m so stoked for him! I know that he´s more prepared than I was thanks to diligence, leaders, mom and dad and good friends. I´m not saying that I didn't have those things I'm just saying that I think Taft has taken greater advantage of his time to prepare himself. I´m excited to find out where he will go. keep me updated on the process!

Time is flying by and I´m trying to open my heart more fully to the lord and to the people here so that the spirit may guide me and I may know how best to help God´s children. Immorality is rampant and there are many that have made unfortunate decisions in their lives and are now in less than ideal situations that are very difficult to change and be liberated from. I feel sad for them and hope one day they will have the courage and the trust in God to change thier situation to more fully accept the gospel and the blessings of god.

Everyone seems to be strong and happy keep it up. 

smile

Elder Robinson

Email letter dated February 20, 2013 'New Transfer'

February 20, 2013

Dear Family,
Well it is a new transfer and this is our little transfer of just 4 weeks and I have a new comp. Elder VillaNueva. He´s from Mexico and I know him already because we were in the same zone about 5 months ago. He has about 8 months in the mission and talks a little faster than the dominicans so that is proving to be a little tricky. He speaks pretty good English so that´s fun.

I Got a package from Nikelle and one from home today. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Life in the mission chugs along........I don´t have a lot to say right now.................hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I got a haircut yesterday.

We have a pet beta named shark

we tried to fly homemade kites yesterday but there wasn´t any wind....

look up mosiah 5:12 and then read Ezekiel 36:26

Elder Robinson

Email letter dated February 13, 2013 'For Cultural Night for Missionary Month'

February 13, 2013

Dear Family,
This could be shared with the youth during missionary month:

The Mission is great here in the D.R. The things that I have experienced and seen are manifestations to me of God´s love for all of his children and as it says in Nephi, the Lord cares about the Isles of the sea and the people here. There is no greater joy in this life on earth than to feel the spirit of the Lord in you life. The best way to feel that spirit is to serve and the best way to serve is to Preach The Gospel. No greater joy will be found or no joy that is quite the same will be found in your life that can compare to the joy and love you feel as a missionary.

Love,
Elder Robinson

Email letter dated February 6, 2013 'Service'

February 6, 2013

Dear Family,
Hello all,

Last Wednesday was spent rendering service to Rosi and her family as they moved into a new house. In my opinion they should have stayed where they were because in this new house there is not water or electricity and there is a giant termite nest in one of the rooms slowly eating everything wooden and when it rains the run off from the roof enters the house due to an unfinished part...regardless of all the set backs they needed to move and we helped. in the morning we went and helped clean the house and in the afternoon helped move all their belongings. The new house was only about a quarter mile away from the old house and they are a small family with few possessions so we thought we could do it no problem. Well after a few hours of hauling all the stuff we regretted not trying to find others to help and not working harder to find someone with a truck to help. We were so tired we could only go a few feet at a time as we carried the very slippery and greasy stove to the house. It helps to have a good sense of humor in situations like that. I'm pretty sure I destroyed the white shirt that I was wearing but that's okay. We helped them get settled enough to be able to sleep in the new house and we made them dinner: rice and eggs. Since then they have organized everything but still don't have water so they bring gallon jugs to our house every once in a while to get water because we always have water. They are borrowing electricity from the neighbors with an extension cord until they can set up a contract with the electric company which seems like it will take some time seeing as how Rosi lost her job last week...the owner of the business she was working for fired her because she just doesn't like Rosi...she didn't even tell her she was fired. she just found and hired her replacement and Rosi heard from a member that works there. Working in this country is very different and the people don't have a lot of rights. it was unfair, unjust and without reasonable cause.

We've been doing a fair amount of contacting this week seeing as we have zero investigators progressing or coming to church. We are continuing to teach Rosi but it is a slow process as she puts all the things of her life in harmony with the gospel. We made several what I thought were promising contacts on Friday and put appointments for yesterday with several of them but for whatever reason all the appointments fell through.....It is necessary that there be opposition in all things but wow that really womps! I've been a little down lately due to all the difficulties here in the mission and especially in Cotui. Cotui is a small branch that needs a lot of help and to be honest it would be hard to say that the church is even established here thus making it hard to do missionary work or at least missionary work in the sense of bringing new people to the gospel and baptizing. I think that missionary work here is to establish strong leaders and help this little branch be stronger and more faithful. It sounds a lot easier than it really is....

Carnaval is in full swing. it's a giant party that happens every year in February and it involves costumes and music and dancing and a lot of other things that I don't know. I hope to learn more about it as the festival progresses. Here in La Vega has the second biggest carnaval celebration in the world and it is international. the number one carnaval is in Brazil. A lot of members condemn carnaval because of all the bad things that happen: drinking, drugs, violence.....I'm sure they are right but I think there should be at least a few redeeming qualities. we shall see....

Life is hot and life is sweaty. enjoy the cold weather and if you complain about it being cold I promise to give you a good karate chop when I get home because I would love to have a little bit of that cold weather.

Elder Robinson

Email letter dated January 23, 2013 'Baptism in Cotui' and a Special Phone Call'

January 23, 2013

Dear Family,
So we have been helping 12 year old Ronald prepare for baptism over the last few weeks and this Saturday is his baptism! The is only 12 years old and there is a lot of danger and risk involved with baptizing someone so young if they aren´t getting baptized with their parents or other family members. The risk of going inactive is significantly higher. But as we have taught Ronald my doubts and fears that he won´t be a stalwart active member of God´s true church have disappeared. He´s very smart and is a scriptorian. I hope that he can be a good example to his family and one day his siblings and mom can enter the waters of baptism. 

On Sunday I got a call from Elder Johnson (my first comp) and he said that he met someone from my ward that was here visiting. Kim Hamilton was here for about a week and I was able to talk to her on the phone for a little bit on Sunday and yesterday. She is returning home today so you can go ask her about her trip and about the conversations we had. She came because her old companion´s daughter´s farewell was on Saturday. This is the same companion that she had me try to find to give her a letter that Kim sent with me. The very same day her old comp received the letter she got on facebook and found Kim and they began to talk. Kim really only needed one good reason to come back to the country she served her misson and the farewell was it. I did not get to see her because I´m clear out in the boonies but talking with her was great.

Saturday and Sunday we had regional conference in the church and on Sunday we watched a live broadcast of the conference from the capital with Elder Russell M. Nelson. I´m the only American here so it was in Spanish and I was very proud of myself to be able to understand the translators and David L. Beck and Elder Zwick who didn´t need translators because they both speak Spanish. It was a great conference and a cool opportunity to see and hear (kinda) from Elder Nelson. Sis. Hamilton told me a little about the opportunity the young men and young women had to meet and talk to L. Tom Perry last week. How was that?! What did he say?!

Things are going well and the work has shifted from trying to find investigators to trying to find less active and inactive members. We've seen some pretty tough situations with less actives. The key is to never be less active. Never even think about it. if you decide to just take one college class every otherSsunday, or play baseball on Sundays or you get a job working Sundays that´s it. It´s begun and if you´re not careful you´ll be inactive. It surprises me how much a person can forget of the truth if they've been away from it for a long time. Some of the less active members are more lost than a lot of non members....

Life is good.

Elder Robinson

Email letter dated January 17, 2013 'Another Week'

January 17, 2013

Dear Family,

It´s p day again huh? wow I feel like I was just here. The weeks are really flying by. It´s really weird....

Yesterday we received news that Elder Neil L. Anderson will be coming to the mission in February! pretty cool! 

Yesterday we finally were able to have a lesson with Samuel and Magalis, it´s been really difficult to have lessons with them because christmas vacation is over and all the school and college and work schedules are returning back to normal making time for the missionaries hard to come by...the result of our lesson wasn´t great...we just didn´t have the same feeling we did when we first started teaching them. They just aren´t as into it as they were before. As we left we didn´t put another appointment to return but I stopped Elder Chalas and we went back and put another appointment and left them a chapter in the book of mormon to read. I´m not giving up on this family yet.

We put a baptismal date with Ronald for 26 of this month. He is smart and has been coming to church even before Elder Chalas came to Cotui so that´s at least 5 months of attendance in the church and he went to the temple when the primary made their temple trip in December. We are still teaching his mom but she is a little slower to progress and we are hoping that putting the baptismal date with Ronald and baptizing him will help motivate her and the rest of the family. Ronald has a brother that could potentially be baptized. They are a great family and I want to help them so badly. 

On sunday I finally heard the cotui birds sing!!!!!!! ¨cotui, cotui¨ honestly if no one had pointed it out to me I never would have known that that is the bird or that is the sound. It really does say ¨cotui¨ but you have to know what it sounds like and how to recognize it. Now I see them all the time and they are constantly reminding me where I am ¨cotui cotui¨ haha the pictuer is of the cotui birds.

We are working more with less actives and it is hard...everyone has what they think are good excuses but none are. God always provides a way. If we have faith and do everything possible he will make it possible to carry our cross and keep ALL his commandments. I will never work on Sunday. Period. 

Alright alright, I´ll own up and say that it does get cold in this country. but only in the mornings and at night. during the day it is not as blistering as it usually is in summer but it´s still hot.

If you´re gonna send me a package, don´t send me pretzel m&m´s. I know it´s a shock but I still have a ton. send me peanut butter m&m´s instead. haha.

Elder Robinson

P.S. I completed my deck of cards from the street!!!!! For those of you who have forgotten about my silly goal, I will explain: in my first area I decided to start collecting playing cards that I found in the street to see if I could form a full deck and ladies and gentleman we have done it!!!!! many are from different decks and many are really gross from being in the gutter or out in the rain or who knows where. I don´t like to think about it because I touched them...but regardless the task is complete.

Email letter dated January 9, 2013 'Some Sad News'

January 9, 2013

Dear Family,
Last Thursday we got a very urgent call from President Douglas. He said that he was here in Cotui and that he needed to talk to us immediately. We were clear out in the middle of nowhere but we told him we´d be at the chapel in 15 minutes. The whole time we were walking there we were talking about what it could possibly be that was so important that President Douglas came all the way from Santiago personally to do. When we got to the chapel President Douglas took Elder Chalas into a separate room to talk. i sat outside trying to occupy my mind by studying the scriptures. After about 15 minutes President Douglas opened the door and invited me to come in to give my companion a blessing. As President Douglas pronounced the blessing he talked a lot about the plan of salvation and at one point said that Elder Chalas´ Dad is now with Heavenly Father. At this point I understood what had happened and I began to cry. After the blessing I talked with President and he explained to me that Elder Chalas´ Dad passed away that same day. He had been sick for awhile and he passed away. Surprisingly to me Elder Chalas was very positive and upbeat as he always is which was really strange to me because I know that if something like that happened to me I would be completely destroyed. He explained to me that 6 months ago he had a dream that someone in his family was going to die while he is in the mission, after studying and praying a lot he said that he has been prepared emotionally and spiritually for this to happen and I know that is true. He is such a good example of faith, strength, love, and trust in our Heavenly Father. In the days since there have been some very sweet and somber moments as he has remembered his dad and has told me stories about him. All in all I think he is very positive. He has had a few moments of sadness but for the most part if I didn´t know what had happened I would never be able to guess. That same day he called home and talked to his mom, his sisters, his aunt and his grandma. Many of them wanted him to go home. He has decided to stay. And I am very grateful for him. He´s a good missionary and a great comp.

Our golden family, has kinda fallen off the face of the planet as we´ve tried to have lessons with them. We set appointments and when we go by they aren´t home or are too busy...so that´s tough. We´ve decided to try and focus more on inactive members because there are a lot! If we can help the inactive and less active men be more active in the church and pay a full tithe we could see a ward and eventually a stake here in Cotui. President Douglas has expressed his vision and desire to see a stake in Bonao and La Vega before 2014. That´s not Cotui but it´s close and if those wards and districts are growing and become a stake I´m willing to bet that Cotui won´t be far behind.

I got letters from brother orton, the Bruderers, and Megan Butler lately along with a package from Uncle Kerry and Aunt Marilyn. And of course letters and emails from home and Nikelle. Thank you everyone!

Elder Robinson