MTC Sendoff

Elder Robinson-
Well, by the time that you get this the MTC will be your permanent residence. I'm not sure how you are feeling right now but I wanted to offer some words of encouragment. In Doctrine and Covenants 68, verses 5 and 6, we read:
“Behold, this is the promise of the Lord unto you, O ye my servants.
“Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was, that I am, and that I am to come.”
I am so proud of you and your willingess to serve a mission, I know that you have heard this from a lot of people. And sometimes one may think (especially when you are surounded by sooo many missionaries) that you are just "one more", can it really make a difference? You are going to be an awesome missionary. You have been blessed with unique characteristics that will be a power and strength to you in Ecquador. You are so smart, others will recognize your intelligence and want to learn from you. You are sincere, funny and kind this will help you to be an excellent companion. Remember a companionship is like a marriage, you both have to be working together. Often the most difficult thing to do is apologize and admit fault. Sometimes we have to do this without completly understanding what we did wrong. But if you are always the first to apologize and fix a situation your companions will recognize your sincerity and respond positively. I don't imagine that every companion will be easy to get along with, thats ok. Learning to get along with each different one will be a key skill that will be so helpful to you in your future marriage, and relationships. Dad, has prepared you (unintentionally ) for this...so maybe you'll thank him :)
Remember that we have imperfections of body, imperfections of mind and intellect—that we are not perfect. And for that reason we are dependent on others. We must be self-sufficient ourselves, but that does not mean independent of help of others. We cannot gain a testimony without having the help of the Holy Ghost. Nor can the people that you serve gain a testimony with out you. Remember to pray constantly for those that you are teaching. Pray that you will be able to adapt to their needs, and serve them in a unique way. Missionary work is like buying a mission suit. Everyone needs to have the suit but one suit does not fit all. You have to have it tailored to fit right, so that the customer will like it. For some the restored news of eternal families is what they need initially for others the restored information of the Book of Mormon. The more your knowledge grows the better prepared you will be, to tune into the spirits promptings of what the Lord would have you teach them. This is a wonderful aspect of the change in missionary teaching. The discussions were a great tool, but with the new freedom to tailor your meetings you can give a unique lesson to those that you teach.Remember that I love you, Jeff and our family are so proud that you represent our familiy as the Lords servent at this time. Let us know if we can send you anything in particular. We'd love to help out in any way. Please dont' ever feel obligated to write back ( I mean this ) we know how busy you will be and we just hope that you'll read our letters. We never want you to feel like your family forgot you ! We can always get updates from mom and dad.Lots of Love
Ann & the rest of the Maas Family