Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Week 2 - 102 to go...

So where to begin where to begin... it has been an insane week of ups and downs we had Elder Neilsen go home this week do to home sickness and it was terrible it was seriously like losing a brother or a best friend you've had for years... but it really brought our district together which helps a lot... Brother Merrill one of our teachers said that Elder Alder and I are one of the closest and tightest teaching companionships he's ever seen here at the MTC so that makes us feel pretty dope... After Elder Neilsen left which was last Tuesday we were all just devastated but we just worked together on prayer and loving each other as a district and we started rocking... So on Wednesday just one day later Elder Alder and I had to teach an investigator who was really feeling the Spirit, and reading, just keeping all of his commitments but he had already been baptized. It was so hard to say that it wasn't from the correct authority but that it was great for him in committing to follow Christ. But he seemed to get it he didn't seem upset at all and after sharing a few Scriptures and praying he committed to being baptized!!! it was so ridiculous how pumped we were like the Spirit was so strong it was like we could have ran a marathon jumped to the moon and then some other stuff haha... I'm seriously so pumped to get to Africa I can't even imagine the joy of teaching and spreading the gospel... I already love the people down there so much and I can't wait to "become South African"... Also cool this week... what an understatement... we met Dallin H. Oaks and honestly that guy can stare into your soul haha he is so stern but when you see him crack a smile its like words can't describe haha it was just like BAM an apostle... I don't know what else to say... His daughter Jenny Oaks Baker played for us and she was incredible she's like a world renowned violin player it was so good. The growth I feel here is crazy I know like I always have a lot to do but I'm no longer afraid of teaching in fact our President asked me to teach a 50 minute lesson Sunday and it was so flippin easy. God really hooks us up when we work hard... so the whole new paragraph thing doesn't work on this computer so sorry about that haha... um to answer some of your questions my schedule is so completely random here I always wake up at 6:20 and go to bed at like 10:45 but other than that every day, every class, every meal is different. Mom and Dad a South Africa tie would be sweet or any other random SA paraphernalia maybe ask Curtis if he knows if I could get a hold of a Springboks jersey... as far as a blogspot goes... I think raginglionrobinson@blogspot would suffice if that is ok... for the shirts you've sent me every day there is probably three hours or so I wear it plus sleeping so they'll all get used. The shirts I have are wrinkle free so all is good there. I have like 160 dollars cash so I don't think I'll need a whole lot more if every week you could just let me know what's in the account that would be good. So my district thanks everyone for the treats and the support and love its really cool its like I have a family at home and a family here... also dad they all say your moustache does inspire them especially elder Williams from Texas... He reminds me so much of Braden it is ridiculous haha... Um question I need to know what Nkosi Sikileli means and also if I could get a copy of the South African National Anthem... I hope everyone had a good Nelson Mandela day on Saturday I hear it was quite the celebration... I'd like to thank all of you for the letters they help a bunch and I've saved them all for reading and memories on long days... Just remember there is only like a week left where it is free to send through dearelder so if you don't wanna pay write this week :D my district is so flippin awesome I'll be sending pics home this week once they get developed because this computer is so weak sauce... if there are any new mission calls let me know... as of now I have seen Elder Ian Gatchell, Elder John Challis, elder Nick Abraham, Elder Mike Meyers, Elder Tyson Nielsen, Elder Wes Eames, Elder Brian Williams, Elder John Mitchell, and Elder Carson Stilson so quite a few... So the big news of this week is we finally got our flight plans! it was seriously such a pump up and relief to get them and it really made every thing real that I could see when and how we were going. So this Sunday at 6 am we fly from SLC to Chicago we then are gonna be waiting there for 8 hours we then fly to Heathrow London on British Airways flight 296 after 9 hours in London we fly British airways 55 to South Africa and Arrive at 7 am on the 27th for a total of 45 hours of travel time! heck yeah... So Mom and Dad I will be able to call in Chicago sometime between 3:00 an 8 on Saturday... gotta go and God Bless!

Elder Robinson


Week 1 - The MTC


So Saniboni everyone it has been exactly 6 days in the MTC and turns out Pday is on Tuesday... I've officially been named Elder Raging Lion Robinson apparently due to my awesome attitude, life stories, and my love of virtually everything, oh yeah and my stories about the ladies haha... so the first day was so hard and it honestly felt like about a month but its really cool because they say "the days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days" well recently I've lost myself in doing the work and honestly it feels like I've been here about 2 days but its almost been a week. So my district has 10 missionaries, myself, and my comp Elder Alder... He's from Boise and I actually knew him from BYU so that's pretty legit... Next we have Elders Neilsen and Yugawa from Delta Utah and Big Island Hawaii respectively... they are both incredible missionaries and my roommates. Then we have our Distric Leader Elder Williams from Killer Texas which is awesome He reminds me a lot of Braden Syphus like in every way we hope to be companions in Africa sometime... His comp is Elder Crawford from Arizona and the kid is hilarious and cracks us all up so much... (sorry for spelling but I only have 4 minutes so I don't really care) ok so we are all serving in Johannesburg and all will be leaving the 25th of July which is when Leonard is peacing out (love you man) and we'll get there sometime the 27th or 28th haha yeah crazy business. 31 hours minimum travel time so lots of time to spread the gospel and pass along cards haha. so two really cool stories this week... crap I forgot the sisters... Ok, so they are all going to temple square and there names are Sister Smith, Sister Paravato, Sister Maneha, and Sister Wilson, all of them are so strong in the Gospel and part of our awesome district of love and yeah we rock pretty much that's the point... ok so two cool stories. Elder Alder and I rock pretty much and we were tearing through lessons and most Missionaries thought we had been here for weeks but it had only been two days... Then we taught Elder Johnson who acted like a devout Catholic and he grilled us and picked us apart... Looks like we gotta learn to be humble haha but I found comfort in 2nd Nephi 31: 19-20 its about life and missionary work totally read it... Then with this new concern we started fresh and began working on the spirit, scriptures, love, and Charity, then we were asked about teaching with Charity and we got to teach Sister Paravato, we learned all about her and were able to teach to and help her needs... seriously so spiritual. We're here to teach people not lessons. Quote of the Week... Love you all... Elder Raging Lion Robinson!