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
Thursday, June 13, 2013
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
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.
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....
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.
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.
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
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Email letter dated January 2, 2013 'Happy New Year!'
January 2,
2013
Dear
Family,
New Year´s
is a big party here. As we were walking around on december 31 we saw many
stacks of wood in the middle of intersections and streets waiting to be burned.
Just about every street had one and if they don´t have one they have a little
stuffed dummy that they burned. for whatever reason they take old random
clothes and stuff them to make them look like a person and then they burn it.
apparently it´s fun...all the kids use soup cans to make little cannons that
they put black powder in and shoot. it looked super dangerous and it´s very
certain that many people have been hurt by these little cannons.
We went to
a less active members house and made fritos (deep fried platanos) and fried
ham. yummm. it doesn´t get any more dominican than that! SOmething kinda cool
that they do is that all the big tv channels here work together to make a big
concert with a lot of famous artists and the concert is free. I think it is in
Santo Domingo. they also broadcast the concert on all the channels and the
concert/party lasted until 9 in the morning on January first. we saw a few
songs at Gisel´s (less active) house and it´s definitely not my cup of tea. A
lot of the music here is just not that good to me...I think I need to here the
songs all the way through and not just in pasing as we walk in the street to
fully judge but a lot of it I think I can say I don´t like...I like Bachata and
Merengue and really want to learn how to dance those dances, it´s all in the
hips and unfortunately I´m the rusty tin man in that category...
Due to all
the parties and other disruptive things a lot of our investigators have either
fallen or slowed way down...we are hoping we´ll be able to get things going
again and find new investigators. the last party is sunday which is dia de los
reyes (king´s day) it´s a celebration about the three kings that came to
bethlehem and everyone just gives away toys to little kids. I should have saved
a few ducks....
As we
expected and hoped Elder Chalas and I are staying together for one more
transfer! yipeee!
It sounds
like everyone back home has had some bad luck with sicknesses or surgeries so I
hope everyone is okay and healing nicely.
Elder
Robinson
Email letter dated December 27, 2012 'Christmas in the D.R'
December 27, 2012
Dear Family,
With all of
it´s differences and the slight lack of Christmas decorations and carols this
Christmas has been truly remarkable. On Christmas Eve I carried a small red
stocking filled with rubber ducks and other little toys and homemade caramel
popcorn balls over my shoulder as if I were Santa Clause. As we walked the
streets looking for inactive members I gave ducks and popcorn to little kids
and some adults. Something that I find weird here is that they don´t say merry
Christmas...but as I handed out my goodies I always was sure to say ¨Feliz
Navidad.¨ There was one experience that happened that I will likely never
forget: We went to go give Christmas Presents to and investigator family and as
we handed out little rubber ducks to each child and their mom there were two
little black kids, a little boy and his older sister, standing outside the
outer gate of the house peering into the house seeing the smiles and the joy of
the other kids with their new toys. As I saw them I instantly sttod up, walked
the gate and handed them each a duck and said ¨Feliz Navidad.¨ As I entered
into the very small house again to sit back down I looked back to see a very
big smile on the face of the little girl. She was so cute and so very pleased with
her new little duck, that smile was a manifestation of what I like to call true
happiness. The happiness that really matters and that fills your whole heart
and your whole soul and radiates from your body filling each person that is
near you. There were many other sweet moments as we gave popcorn balls to a
homeless woman and her daughter who were begging for money, some little kids in
the street, and many members.
Here in the
D.R. the really big party is Christmas eve or ¨Noche Buena¨ as they call it.
They cook enough food for an army and go to town. We went and ate lots and lots
of food: rice, beans, chicken, pork, bread, potato salad, vegetables, yuca,
platano, cookies, sparkling cider........the list goes on and on. Needless to
stay we were stuffed and about ready to burst which was a bad idea because we
had committed to go eat at another members house as well...we went and could
only drink juice and even that was a stretch. All in all it was a great night.
Christmas
day we got up and I opened Nikelle´s Christmas package that she sent to me that
I´ve been saving to open for 3 weeks (now that´s what I call self control or as
Elder Chalas likes to call it- ¨la paz interior¨) in it I found 2 bags of
pretzel m and m´s, a ton of tootsie rolls, a homemade stocking that looks like
a shirt and slacks with a clip on tie, and the cd for the forgotten carols. I
also had saved the gift that was the book ¨the forgotten carols because I
wanted to have at least one present to open on Christmas day. I started to read
¨the forgotten Carols¨ to Elder Chalas using the cd in the appropriate places
to hear the music. He can understand nearly everything he hears in english so
he can understand the story with a little bit of clarification in a few spots.
Later after talking with the family on skype I learned that the sd card they
sent me had the forgotten carols music on it along with my mom and dad reading
the book trading off reading chapters as if it were an audio book. I also
discovered the other Christmas music on the card which I am very grateful for,
really wish I would have thought to check that before...
Later that
night we took the gingerbread house kit that the family sent me to Rosi´s house
(she´s the same one we visited the day before to give them ducks and it was at
her house I gave the 2 ducks to the little black kids) We built the house with
them and had a pretty good time. Those little kids did a pretty good job! We
took lots of pictures and had a lot of fun. When we got home I wanted to finish
reading the forgotten carols but Elder Chalas was really tired, I read to him
until he fell asleep and then I finish the story reading it to myself. I´ll
finish reading it to him today.
Today was p
day santiago and it really wasn´t worth it for me....I´m really sweaty and
tired because we had to travel so far to get there and we didn´t really do
anything other than print pictures and I didn´t print very many. In my opinion,
p day santiago isn´t worth the time or the money if you live as far away as we
do...But life is good and I am happy.
It´s been a
different Christmas but it has opened my eyes to my purpose as a missionary:
The focus on Christ is not nearly as prominent here as it is back home, most
people just seem to be happy that they aren´t working for a few days which
makes it even more important for me as a representative of Christ to do all I
can to bring HIS spirit into their lives so that they can feel his love and
know he lives. This is what I have always tried to do but I realize it´s
importance even more now that so many people have not acknowledged or
remembered the savior at this time of year. Through serving and carrying that
spirit of love, hope and happiness to the people here I have felt it so much
more in my life and I know that MY Redeemer lives.
Elder
Robinson
December 19, 2012 'Christmas Testimony'
December 19, 2012 Christmas Testimony
This
testimony is to be printed and read on Christmas eve when the family is
gathered and we are reading the account of Christ´s birth from the Bible as is
customary and traditional for our family on Christmas eve.
Being a
missionary is a great privilege. I have seen many incredible things happen in
my life and the lives of others here. I´ve been blessed in ways that would be
impossible outside of the mission. One great blessing that I have received is
that of being able to catch a glimpse of God´s children through His eyes; He
has blessed me to see the love that he has for each individual I see and teach
and talk to and also to see the potential that each of us have as HIS children.
I´ve been comforted by HIM as I have been told that certain investigators no
longer want us to go by and teach them and I´ve been able to tell them that I
love them and their Father in Heaven loves them. It is hard to see investigators
fall away or stop progressing but I know it isn´t the end for them. Just
because I was not the missionary to see them enter the waters of baptism
doesn´t mean that it won´t ever happen. I have not and will never ´shake the
dust of my feet¨ because I have a firm hope and faith that one day they will
fully accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ into their lives and join us in the
kingdoms of our Father.
Christ
lives and I know that more now than at any other time in my life. He is mindful
of me and is my strength and my rock. He has overcome death and I know that
each of us will overcome the physical gift and that salvation is the sublime
gift of God. I also know that our Heavenly Father does not only want to save
us, rather he wants to exalt us on high. He has provided the way and all we
need to do is get on it and stay on it. The world will not make it easy but as
Elder Holland and Pres. Packer have so passionately stated, ¨It was never meant
to be easy, we are working for Eternal Life!¨ It may be difficult at times but
it is never
impossible. Jesus Christ some 2012 years ago was born in a stable surrounded by
animals. He was born in the most humble of circumstances that could exist for
the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords to be born. He grew to accomplish His
Father´s will and complete His mission perfectly and thanks be to our Heavenly
Father that we are not under that same mandate but it is our mission and our
quest to accomplish the Lord´s will and prepare this world and ourselves and
our neighbors and our families and our friends when Christ will come again with
power and glory to rein as the Son of God on earth. I love my Savior Jesus
Christ and am striving to be like Him everyday and there is no better time of
year to become more like him than this season. Amongst all the parties and
games and gifts and everything associated with Santa Clause there are Always
ways to see the influence of God in our lives and to see the True meaning of
Christmas all around us. This year I am in a very different place than I am
used to at this time of year and I am finding it a welcomed challenge to spread
the true meaning of Christmas. This world is not too far gone that we cannot
make it better by being better.
In the name
of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Email letter dated December 19, 2012 'It's Christmas Time in the City'
December 19, 2012
Dear Family,
Dear Family,
Christmas
is coming in a hurry and I´m trying to do things to make it a good one. I´ve
made sticky popcorn balls and have given them away to people, I hung up some
Christmas lights and hung up the stockings that we have. We are having a branch
Christmas party on Saturday and we are having a gift exchange. I pulled Leidy´s
name out of the bag, she´s a 14 year old dominican girl and I really don´t know
what I´m going to give her.....What do 14 year old girls like?
Samuel and
Magalis (our golden family) are slipping a little. We haven´t taught them for a
little while because they haven´t been home and have been busy.... They didn´t
come to church on sunday....I have such high hopes for them, I just hope we
haven´t lost them...
Elder
Chalas and I are feeling like we are going to stay here in Cotui together for
another transfer but no one really knows. Trainer calls are today and with a
bazillion of new missionaries coming every transfer it is very likely that
everyone could be called to train. We see what happens. Personally I hope we
stay together because we get along really well and we work well together.
Christmas
without snow is different, everyone go jump in a big pile of it for me. Then
take a hot shower. Both snow and hot showers don´t exist here. Which makes
showering in the morning slightly painful: although there is no snow it is
slightly cooler at night and in the mornings here, by no means is it cold even
though every dominican will tell you that it is. But these slightly chilly
mornings make freezing showers uncomfortable and a big shock to the system.
Which is good for waking you up but man it´s cold...
Go serve
someone and spread the true meaning of Christmas. Also say Merry Christmas to
everyone you see today.
Elder
Robinson
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Email letter dated Dec 12, 2012 "Packages, letters and Christmas Party"
December 12, 2012
On Monday I
got 2 packages from home and 3 letters from Nikelle! Jackpot!!!!! I opened the
packages from home and saw all the goodies that you sent me. Thank you!!!!
Elder Chalas says thanks too. He really likes the yo-yo and all the other
things you sent him. We will definitely build that gingerbread house.
So
yesterday we had multiple zone conference with 2 other zones and Sister Douglas
went nuts making tons of food. It was basically a thanksgiving dinner with
turkey and pork and stuffing and fruit and of course rice. You wouldn´t think
rice would appear at thanksgiving but we are in the D.R. where there are some
people that if they don´t eat any rice during the day for whatever reason have
to cook and eat rice before they go to sleep. It´s a weird mental Dominican
thing that makes me laugh but it is true of some people. Needless to say it was
an amazing meal. After which we had an amazing meeting with a short talk by
President Douglas about Testimonies and then we had an incredible testimony
meeting where nearly everyone, including me and my comp, bore their
testimonies. It was awesome. After the meeting we watch Ben-Hur. I´ve never
seen the whole movie and it looks like I may never see it all the way through
because we had to stop and prepare for the Christmas Program that we had that
some members attended. One elder gave the narration of the Christmas story from
the scriptures and we sang teh Christmas hymns as the program progressed. I
wish I had had my voice recorder to record it because it was so good! The
conference was in La Vega which is quite the drive from Cotui so we stayed the
night with some of the Elders in La Vega. It was a fun night with lots of
talking, laughing, and making banana shakes. yumm......
As we left
to make the long car ride back to good ol Cotui we accidentally left our house
keys in the other elder´s house.....so we got home a few hours ago and didn´t
have the keys to get in the house.....I got pretty car sick on the ride back
and was not super thrilled at the thought of making that trip again.
Fortunately we worked out a plan for the Elders in La Vega to send the keys in
a small package with a taxi driver that was coming to Cotui anyway. So we are currently
waiting for the taxi to arrive so we can get in the house, I can shower because
I am really sweaty and stink and finally have a chance to relax for a minute or
two.
Unfortunately
we´ve not been back to teach Rafi and Rocío because she is in the U.S. and he
has a tricky schedule.....same story with Eliosel, we´ve tried a couple times
to get in contact with him this week but have come out empty handed.He lives
far away and we have to take a car to get to his house so if he´s not there or
we aren´t sure that he´s there then we don´t go because we can´t waste tons of
time traveling. We´ll see what happens. Samuel and Magalis and thier two little
boys: samuel and Isaac came to church on Sunday and the cool thing about
smaller towns out in the country is that nearly everyone knows each other and
as they were there everyone was saying hi and making them feel welcome.
It´s really
hard when members go inactive due to a local leader in the church. It is really
dificult for me to understand and even more difficult for me to understand how
to help them overcome the stumbling block and come unto christ again.....
Life is
good and Christmas is on the way. I plan to run out of ducks before the year
runs out and in doing so put some smiles on some little domnincan faces.
Feliz
Navidad
Elder
Robinson
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