Email letter dated Dec 5, 2012 "It's the Most Wonderful time of the Year!"

 December 5, 2012

Dear Family,

ho ho ho

It´s officially December and we´ve been graced with a lot of rain here in Cotui but we´ve yet to be graced by the sound of the Cotui birds. I actually saw one this week but I think he was scared because he didn´t say anything....

The ¨patronales¨ are in town. it´s a big carnival with a ferris wheel and lots of other little rides including the swings. We are not allowed to participate in such rides but there are tons of vendors selling super cool stuff that are here and they are from all over latin america. On saturday we walked through to buy a few things on the way home and the party was in full swing with everyone drinking and dancing to the music that the whole world can hear because it´s so loud and as we were taking the most out of the way route to get out of the crowd an go home this random woman leaned out and tried to kiss me. I was walking fast and by the time I realized what happened i had already passed her. But Elder Chalas was walking behind me and from what he said she was very close to kissing me that if I had turned my head she would have kissed my cheek.....So we have visited and bought a few cool things which you will be able to see in the package that I sent home. It has not left the D.R. yet but will be sent on Friday I think. I really doubt it´ll be in time for Christmas but you know how it is. 

So Dominican culture for men and women alike is to shave nearly all body hair: legs, armpits, chest... so I decided ¨when in the D.R., do as the Dominicans. I went ahead and shaved my legs up to mid thigh, my chest and my armpits. Hey, don´t judge me. I had to at least see what it´s all about okay. shaved legs is actually kinda nice. I don´t have the time or patience to maintain it though. I respect women who do maintain silky smooth legs, it takes time and work! I won´t continue to do it but I certainly appreciate that you will.

We have contacted a few of our references and they have definitely given fruit. we contacted Eliosel yesterday and he is 19 and talked about serving a mission! I have really high hopes for him. Also Samuel and Magalis and their kids (2 boys) show a lot of potential, they have always read and always have really good questions. Rafi and Rocío also show a lot of promise. Rocío is the heavy hitter. She is very faithful and believes in the Bible and that she needs to receive her confirmation of the truth directly from heavenly Father. She has questions but works for social security in the U.S. so she travels a lot. It makes me crazy when really good investigators can´t progress because of their job...we will see what happens.

I received Nikelle´s Christmas package on Monday and I have not opened it yet because it´s not Christmas yet.

We ran to the local dam this morning and it took a little longer than I thought it would. I quickly found my pace and ran strong. Unfortunately Elder Chalas and the member we were with didn´t want to run more....We walked a lot of the way. It reminded me of when I first started caught the bug to run when I was in Arizona, it felt good to run and to feel my muscles work and my lungs burn. I love to Run. I´ve decided that I want to run a marathon before my 22 birthday. which gives me 4 months to train after I get home. We took pictures and seeing all the water made me want to jump in or go wakeboarding.

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!!!!!!!! i love you!

Elder Robinson

Email letter dated Nov 28, 2012 "First week in Cotui"

Dear Family,

I´ve not yet heard the Cotui birds and honestly may never get the chance because they are so rare nowadays.....I still have hope that I will have the chance to hear them but it looks like I´ll need to go out more into the country to find me one.

The work is a little slower here in this little branch that we have. It really has potential to become a ward but there aren´t sufficient priesthood holders that pay a full tithe. There are sufficeint men that hold the Priesthood but not enough that pay tithing...

Elder Chalas and I get along great! perhaps better than the rest of my companions thus far. We have tons of fun while we work hard. He knows a lot of English and just needs to practice speaking it to really be an English wizard. We have a lot in common and we talk a lot and joke around and teach well together. He is definitely a blessing in my life. A good friend.

We had an open house in the chapel on Saturday and it went well. We received nearly 30 references from all the people that came and the members. At the beginning there weren´t that many people there so Elder Chalas hit the street talking and inviting everyone we saw to the activity and our efforts bore fruit. there were several people that we talked to that came! The purpose of the activity was for members to invite their neighbors and friends to the open house so that they could learn, feel the spirit, and we could obtain that reference but we kinda undermined the activity with all the people we invited because a lot of the references say that they are references from the missionaries.....the important things is that the people came, learned, and hopefully felt the spirit. We have a lot of work contacting all these references in the weeks to come and we are excited.

On sunday we had the opportunity to participate in the sacrament. It was the first tme in nearly 9 months that I´ve been able to pass the sacrament and it was such a good experience. I definitely took such a special opportunity for granted before. It is the most important thing we do during the week!

Unfortunately there isn´t anyone that plays the piano in the branch but if I can get my hands on a piano to practice a little I think I could change that. It won´t be great and it´ll probably be just the top hand but it would be music nonetheless.

Life is good here in Cotui and Christmas is coming fast. I love Christmas. They have a tradition here they call king´s day. which is the 6 of January and on this day everyone gives toys to the little kids as a similitude of the 3 kings that gave presents to baby Jesus. A fun tradition. I´m still a little kid at heart but I don´t think I´ll be receiving any toys. But I´ll be giving many to the little kids with all my ducks and the little toys Nikelle sent me to give to the kids. It´s more fun to give than receive. I love to their little eyes brighten as they see their little prize.

Go serve someone

Elder Robinson

P.S, I´m going to try and send a package for Christmas, unfortunately it will probably be late.....

Email dated Nov 21, 2012 "Thanksgiving"

November 21, 2012

Dear Family,

Well it is Thanksgiving tomorrow and as I recall last year we I wasn´t ¨home¨ for Thanksgiving that year either. We were in California on our trip to Disneyland and we had sub-par pizza for Thanksgiving. I love our family trips and that is the second thanksgiving we have done in California with pumpkin pie and pizza. Although pizza is very common here I would pay just about anyone 100 dollars to find me a pumpkin pie. haha.

I am now in a city called Cotui. Yes I was transfered today. Elder Escobar received a call from President Douglas on Friday and he asked him to be a trainer for a new missionary. I´ll be honest and say when I saw that it was President Douglas calling and I answered I was a little scared he was going to ask me to train but the first words he said were ¨buenas noches, Elder Escobar?¨ I said nope, give me a second and handed the phone to my comp. We both new why President was calling and Elder Escobar was very surprised. he did not expect or really even want to train 9 months into the mission but he accepted the calling with courage and confidence. But the sad part is that his companion didn´t even come today because there were problems with his visa. He is from Peru. apparently he is going to come next week but until he comes Elder Escobar is in a trio with the zone leaders...sad...So I am now in Cotui which is really far away from the city and is out in the country to the south east of Santiago. I like the city but I feel good to be out here in the country with a smaller area, less noise, less people, and it just smells like the country. I khave a great companion. His name is Elder Chalas, he is Dominican and he has about 9 months left in the mission. He is super friendly, likes to laugh and joke around and from what I can tell a good missionary. he even knows some english.

But back in Las Antillas one of everyone´s worst nightmares came true: on the same street where the missionaries live there are a lot of houses right on the bank of a really nasty river that runs close by. Well early yesterday morning 6 or 7 houses fell a good 6 feet toward the river. The pvc pipes that are supposed to carry the water from the houses to the river that are under the houses broke and the water from the pipes was filtering throught the earth underneath the houses and it got so bad that a bunch of the earth sluffed of the hill and the houses are part of the road dropped several feet. All the roofs or the affected houses fell off and many houses are now uninhabitable. Everyone was hurriedly grabbing all their stuff and putting it in the street. We went by to see if there was anything we could do to help and they told us that they were going to sleep right there in the street and that they need blankets and pillows and other essential things. I started making phone calls trying to see if the ward could do anything because it started to rain and all of thier stuff was getting soaked. Not having anything else to do Elder Escobar and I went home and gathered what things we had to spare to give to these distressed families. I was able to give 3 blankets, a pillow, 2 pillowcases, a couple shirts, 2 towels and Elder Escobar donated a few shirts, a blanket, a pillowcase, and several other clothing items to the cause.

As you can see from the pictures it is pretty bad. I´m not sure what the people who lost their homes are gonna do...

On Tuesday I found myself a few coconuts and decided I wanted to cut them open and drink the coconut milk and eat fresh off the tree coconut. TO get the coconuts I had to climba  wall and stand on top of it that was close to the tree and use a rake to knock the cocnuts from the tree. Coconuts are really hard to knock out of the tree with a rake.....Afterward we took them to a members house and I borrowed a machete and told him I didn´t want him to show me how to do it but that i wanted to learn to do it by myself. I figured i watched 3 or 4 seasons of ¨survivor¨ and had seen many contestants on that show go to town on cocunuts with a machete so I thought ¨heck, how hard can it be?¨ well I eventually did get one cut open and was able to drink the milk and it tasted pretty good. It was a lot of fun. As you can see from the pictures.

Well I hope you all have a happy thanksgiving and as you are all together eating turkey and pie. Eat a piece of pie for me and think of the little gringo on an island in the sea.

Elder Robinson

Email Letter dated Nov 14, 2012 "BBQ"

 
November 14, 2012

Dear Family,
While you´re getting dumped on by snow we had a BBQ as a zone activity today. hahaha. It was a little crazy because the zone leaders designated our chapel to be the place to do it and asked us to basically coordinate everything: the grill, volleyball net, gas, basketball...... Fortunately the members in our word are very nice and helped us. We found a grill and another guy from the ward helped us bring it to the chapel in his truck. It was a good activity. Afterwards we had to clean up and deliver the grill. The grill was still dirty because we didn´t have anything to clean it at the chapel. So we told the member we would come back in about an hour after cleaning up at the chapel to clean it for her. In traditional Dominican style she said ¨no don´t worry about it I´ll clean it¨ I told her no ad that we would come clean it at her house. It may be dominican culture to clean the dirtied grill borrowed by the missionaries but that is not how I was raised and that is not my culture. If you are nice enough to let me borrow something I will return it in the same condition in which it was originally borrowed, if not, in better condition. Walking back from her house it rained a ton and we got wet. I was wearing my new red alaska shirt (thanks mom). and because it got so wet and I have yet to wash the shirt it turned my garment pink.....

We´ve been working more with members. President Hinckley once said that missionary work to most people means tratcting and handing out pamphlets but those who are familiar with the work know there is a better way: work with the members. For the last little while I´ve felt that we have just been tracting and handing out pamphlets and Pres. Hinckley is right it is not a very effective way to work or at least not nearly as effective as working with the members. So we are trying to be better at that and are visiting members and looking for opportunities to serve. AS we contact we say: we´re missionaries from the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints and we are passing by this area looking for opportunities to serve. Do you have anyway we can serve you? sweep? wash dishes? clean the car? mop?.......very few actually take us up on the offer but we are trying new methods of doing everything.

Chana and the rest of the young men and young women from the ward went to the temple last weekend and it was an amazing experience on all accounts. What a special experience so soon after being baptized. Dionis also went for the first time and he is blessing the sacrament on Sundays.

We honestly don´t have many investigators and we have even fewer progressing i.e. 0. and for that reason we are trying to change the way we do things.

Elder Robinson

Email letter dated November 7, 2012 "A package and an election"

 November 7, 2012

Dear Family,

I got a package on monday!!!!!!!! and what a silly package it was. As you can see from the pictures elder escobar and I had a good time with the clown costumes. 

So obama won huh? that is unfortunate. I didn´t really follow politics before the mission and certainly haven´t followed them since but from what I have heard people say he has not done a lot of good while he´s been in office. And from Mom´s email it sounds like what I´ve heard is right. It´s unfortunate. I really had high hopes for our friend Mit. I learned that Obama won from a Ruta driver this morning on the way to the grocery store....

On the up side things are going well here. We are contacting more than I have ever contacted in my life. And we have found some people that give us high hopes. We had a baptism as you can see from the pics. A priest from the ward, Esaul, baptized Chana (her real name is rosangela). He had to dunk her like 5 times because she would try to dunk herself before he was ready to dunk her soshe would kinda flop like a fish. haha. But all in alll it went well and all is well. She is going to the temple this Friday with all the young men and young women from the ward. 

thanks for all the candy and for the shirt I love it. In fact I wore it for a little while today. It sounds like the cruise was amazing! I want to go on a cruise and ride a zipline and eat lots of food and see live music and whales and museums....someday I think I´ll go on a cruise.

for Christmas I want a yo-yo. A nice one with a brain that will sleep for a long time. A couple extra yo-yo strings would be nice too. 

Did we draw names for Christmas? who did I get?

well I´ve run out of things to say.....

Elder Robinson

P.S. 3 new star wars movies????!!!!! caution is correct. they could potentially ruin a good thing.

Email letter dated October 31, 2012 "Working Hard"

 October 31, 2012

Dear Family,

This week we have contacted more and have had several good productive and successful lessons. As a mission we are working harder to have all of the lessons that we teach be productive and focusing less on the number of lessons and more on the efficiency of those lessons. So we are working to have ´appropriate members´ in every lesson we teach which means if we teach a family we take a memeber that is married and has a family and not one of the young men because they can´t relate as well and are only there because the missionaries brought them but with an appropriate member they will become friends and help them and continue to help and be friends and visit them after baptism. So that´s where we are. 

Elder Escobar is a good companion and a good missionary. We get along better than elder Yépez and I did which is good becuase that was a tense transfer....He is fromthe capital of Honduras. He is 19. He has the same amount of time as I do in the mission in fact we´ll be leaving the mission together in 2014. He helps me with my spanish and I am helping him to learn English which is proving to be difficult because he doesn´t know any English. But with a little patience and a lot of repetition and practice he is gonna learn some English!

I don´t think they really celebrate Halloween here.....there doen´t appear to be much halloween stuff in stores, mostly just Christmas stuff. We shall see as the day progresses and hallows eve falls to see if anything happens.

I got a hair cut today. It needed to happen, it was too long. I´m back to military style at least until it grows out a little more....

I need to work on budgeting a little better. I´ve been basically living off of crackers and oatmeal for the past little while because I spent too much money when we went to the city for P-day Santiago.....I budgteted so well the last money period and followed it up by not budgeting at all......gotta work on that. I know I have my personal account if I need it but I also know that that account is not bottomless and represents a lot of hard work and saving I did before the mission and besides budgeting is a skill that I need to learn now not just to live comfortably in the mission but to manage my money in my life afterwards as well. 

I saw the pictures of the Robinson Halloween gang and you all look great! Taft just can´t seem to let that pumpkin grow. He cried as a baby when mom put it on him and now he wears it proudly. Noah is a classic ninja. That was a good year when Taft and I were ninjas. And Claire wins the costume contest with what´s-her-bucket from snow white! how did you do the thing on your forehead? is that marker or that cool indian temporary tattoo henna stuff?

We are teaching this woman named Dolores who is really good friends with one of the members here and the day we contacted her was kinda cool: all our appointments failed so we were walking around scouting out a house or two we hadn´t contacted yet and Elder Escobar asked me ¨have you ever contacted those apartments?¨ I told him know so we went. We contacted one of the apartments and had a brief lesson and as we were leaving out walked this member from one of the other apartments and upon seeing us motioned for us to come. So we went and she introduced us to her friend Dolores who apparently just before we showed up was telling Ramona (the member) how much she needed to find a church where she felt comfortable and felt it was right. And there we were right on time. On the Lord´s time. We talked to her a little and have had several lessons since and she is progressing. She came to church on Sunday and the lesson was on the Word of Wisdom which can be a touchy subject for brand new investigators but it went really well and she loved it! In the lesson we had yesterday with her she was telling how much she loves the Word of Wisdom and Doctrine and Covenants and that she hadn´t drank her coffee for 2 days. I think Dolores has been prepared over a period of time for the Gospel and I´m excited to see her progress and possibly see her accept it fully and be baptized.

The hurricane had no real affect on us, at least where I am. We got a break from the heat and the sun and hada lot of rain and wind but that´s all. Nikelle´s roommate´s missionary is serving in New Jersey and they are worried for him.... I heard all subway lines are shut down because of the floods and a crane in the docking yards in New York was blown over by the wind. Craziness.

Beef jerky, chocolate orange, flavored and chocolate tootsie rolls, lots and lots and lots of pretzel m and m´s. those are the things I want for Christmas. Also maybe a couple memory cards for my camera.....If I think of anything other than snacks and junk that I want or need I will let you know.

Workin hard and Havin fun

Elder Robinson

Email Letter dated October 24, 2012 "Halloween"

October 24, 2012

Dear Family,
I know it is after 6 but we were assigned to do this survey online and Elder Escobar is still doing it so I have a couple more minutes. This has been a good week with a lot of walking and knocking doors. We have found a lot of catholics and evengelicals and a few jehovahs witnesses and a seventh day adventist that really wanted to teach us a thing or two about the gospel and few people that want to listen to us.....

We have very few investigators right now and even fewer progressing. really just one- Chana and she is a shining star that is definitely getting baptized next month.

It seems that it is a world wide standard that Christmas stuff hits the shelves in stores at the beginning of October and the Christmas lights go up before halloween. I´m not complaining because I love it and hope that every house in the DR has Christmas lights and a Christmas tree. I haven´t heard any Christmas songs yet but I´m sure they are on their way. you are probably saying ´well missionaries don´t listen to the radio so of course he hasn´t heard Christmas music.´ But the people here find it necessary to listen to their music and the radio loud enough for the whole city to hear so we hear a lot of music all the time. 

They do appear to celebrate halloween here in what way I don´t know but they recognize the holiday and the day. I highly doubt little kiddies dress up and go house to house asking for candy seeing as how there are constantly people telling us how dangerous it is in the street, especially at night. don´t worry at no point in my mission have I felt in danger and the Dominicans are a generally paranoid and superstitious people. I assume they use Halloween as an excuse not to go to work and throw parties and like every where else in the world drink.....We shall see what halloween looks like in the DR in a week.

I hope everyone is okay and staying afloat with work and school. It sounds like everyone is extremely busy and working hard. hey Dad it´s exciting that you´ll be in Florida soon. you´ll be a lot closer to me! :)     hopefully the trade show goes well and you are still enjoying your new job and you are settling in. 

Taft, I´m super excited for you and all the things you are doing and will be doing in your life in the coming months. The mission is a big deal and i don´t think anyone is really truly ready but you can do a lot to prepare. Like you said, read the scriptures and study them with the mission in mind. you have a great advantage having grown up with the church as a integral part of your life and i am thankful for that every day as I teach and testify. Preach my gospel is the manual of the missionaries and being familiar with it will benefit you greatly. Keep up the hard work and know that I am praying for you and the rest of the family.

I´m still waiting for an explanation of what exactly dad´s new job is and what he is doing in the water park company....

Life is good and spanish is coming everyday.

Elder Robinson

Email letter dated October 17, 2012 "Contacting"

 October 17, 2012

Dear Family,

This last week has been full of contacting. We´ve had a couple days when all we´ve done is contact and it´s been good. We have met several people we are really hoping will read, pray and progress. I feel I have become more confident in contacting and in speaking the language. as far as the language is concerned, it really helps to look back to where I´ve been and see how much progress I have made in just 8 months. I still don´t understand a lot but I feel I can basically say what I need to say and understand nearly everything with a little help. 

I´ve done so well budgetting lately that I treated myself to chinese food today at lunch. kinda expensive but it was sooooo good. sesame chicken yum.

hey is the blog still going? I know everyone is crazy busy and there may or may not be time to keep it updated.....

so exciting about Devin and Andrew! can´t wait to see pictures.

We have one progressing investigator right now and she is 12. her sister is a recent convert of about 5 months. She always reads always prays nearly always comes to church, and has a testimony that is slowly growing. She has a baptismal date for the 10 of november! Her name is Chana, well I think that is a nickname, I´m not sure what her real name is......I think I´ve only heard it once....

I am happy although the work is slow gonig right now due to the fact that we have a lot of new people we just contacted and several people who have stopped progressing for various reasons....trying to figure out the best way to get people animated about coming to church and acting in general. 

I think this Christmas is going to be difficult, I have felt a little homesick as I´ve seen decorations and christmas stuff appearing in stores. This is my first one away from home, away from family, and away from snow......The best remedy for homesickness is work so I´m gong to work hard.

I read the miracle of forgiveness a little while ago and everyone in the world needs to read that book! I want to read Jesus the Christ too the only trouble is finding the time to squeeze that in with everything else I´m doing and studying.

My old companion Elder Jensen did indeed finish the mission and he lives in Rexburg and I gave him a package to deliver to Nikelle which has a memory card with nearly all the pictures from my mission on it so she will be making a trip to Utah to deliver that soon after the package is delivered by jeremy (elder Jensen it´s weird to refer to him by his first name).

The work goes forth like a stone cut out of a hill and will continue to do so until the coming of Christ.

Elder Robinson

cool stats- there are approximately 7,000,000,000 people in the world 55,000 of which are missionaries. thats 0.0000079% of the worlds population. we are very few in number and the opportunity to be a missionary is incredible and something that many people do not have the opportunity to do. Also in the history of the world there have been 1,400,000 missionaries in the history of the world. Cool stats.

Email letter dated October 10, 2012 "New Transfer"

October 10, 2012

Dear Family,

sorry I didnt write last week I really did try. the churches email site crashed and I tried for 45 minutes trying to make it work changing computers, using every web browser known to man, and ultimately waiting watching the spinning ball of death that bore no fruit....

But I am still alive and am doing well. The transfer has ended and tomorrow Elder Yepez, Jensen, Sweeney, kimball, Burr, and a hand full of others are going home as they have finished the work the Lord called them to do. My new companion is Elder Escobar, he is from Honduras and is actually Elder Yepez's kid (elder Yepez trained him). Im not sure what the deal is with these father son combos Im getting as companions- I had elder Ferreras then his dad Elder Jensen, I had Elder Yepez and now I have his kid as my comp Elder Escobar. Elder Escobar has the exact same amount of time in the mission as I do. he has one more transfer in the field because he was only in the mtc for 3 weeks and I was in the mtc for 9.

Conference was good. We had the opportunity to watch it all in english which I was very thankful for. I think I would have been able to understand it in spanish but its just not as easy to concentrate and definitely not as easy to take notes. So many good things this conference! Elder Holland was so powerful. I also loved the Elder from the 70 that talked about the plan of salvation and related his feelings about his little son who passed away due to an accident with a piece of chalk becoming lodged in his throat. He was very passionate and it was a very strong talk. We are so blessed to see and here the messages of the prophets of God.

the picture is of Me Elder Yepez and Dionis whom Elder Yepez baptized on September 29.

I have learned a lot from this last transfer and I hope I am able to improve everything I do as a missionary. I have learned the importance of winning the confidence and trust of investigators and members and it is something that I really need to work on. I dont think I am really a people person......

Its exciting to hear about all the good things you are all doing. So glad Nikelle could be there for conference. I figure if I cant be with  her the next best thing is her hanging out with my family.

Noah keep it up bud. So glad you found something you love.

Dad I am glad your trip went well and that you are having success at your new job.

Love to hear about the garden.

Claire and taft great job at Shakespeare! 

Mom thank you for everything.

We are going to continue working her in Las Antillas and build the kingdom of God on earth.

Elder Robinson

Email letter dated September 28, 2012 "Rody"

 September 26, 2012

Dear Family,

On Thursday i fasted to know if we should baptize Rody. i was very specific: I want to baptize him and he has the desire to be baptized but i will accept thy will for Him and for Me. These are our desires, please help me to know if they are correct.

After prayer and fasting I feel that it is not Rody´s time to be baptized as everything currently stands. President Douglas is really stressing Building the kingdom in the mission and I don´t feel that baptizing him at this time would be contributing to that cause. There are too many factors and too high a risk that he´ll just be another inactive member of the church. He has the great desire to be baptized and he can technically pass the baptismal interview but I cannot deny what I feel and it is that this is not the right thing to do right now. So for now he will not be baptized. i think we will try talking to his mom and see if we can´t help bring the spirit to soften her heart, if she were to be baptized with him and show real conviction and strength then I would feel a lot better. But as it stands now, it is not happening.

This morning for a zone activity we played baseball. Alright it was softball but still. And I gotta admit. I was so dang proud of myself! I didn´t strike out, not even once, I got on base almost every time I was up to bat, I played second base and didn´t totally womp! I haven´t played baseball since I was like 10 and turns out its kinda like riding a bike. you don´t forget. Man I was so stoked. I also got very sunburned. I thought about putting on sunscreen before leaving the house but decided not to. A decision i regret.....I wore my tilley hat but we played early in the morning so the sun was level with my face and my arms, calves, face and neck are very red....It was tons of fun but wearing tall socks and black slacks is just not quite as much fun when your calves are burned......

Conference is coming!!!!!!!

We are really trying hard to find new people to teach because a lot of the people we´ve been teaching are just not progressing, lost interest or have straight up told us not to come back....I have been praying and studying how to motivate these people and to reawaken them to the spirit they had when they first started sharing with the missionaries and started gaining testimonies.

i´m so glad everyone is getting my letters! i love mail it is so fun to receive mail. 

Brigham City temple done! How many temples is that in utah now? 12? 13? I kinda feel like a jerk when I say I´m from Utah and that the temple is within walking distance and that there are tons of temples there and I´ve visited like 6 of them....I am so blessed to come from such a place as that. i miss the temple. I went twice a week after I was endowed until I left for the mission. It´s been about 5 months since I´ve been to the temple and it´s likely I won´t see the Santo Domingo temple again until the return trips I make later in life....

Well we have an activity with Elder Cornish here in a little while and we gotta go do some other things. I love you all and am excited every Wednesday to hear from you. God is good and will provide for our needs. he does work miracles in our lives. He inspires us to know what to do and what to say. All we need to do is ask.

Elder Robinson