Monday, December 27, 2010

Last Shot



We were playing around with Elder Johnson´s camera today. It has a cool panoramic setting. I hope you enjoy the view!

--
Elder Robinson



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New Years!


Family and Friends,

There really is not a lot to report... sorry. Let me give you a day by day description so that you can understand why:

Monday: P-day. I only have 3 hours to work... so nothing big to report.

Tuesday: District Meeting... which will not be held at 9:30 AM. Cool no? We had a Zone Activity and we gave each other presents. I received a tie and I gave a "Rain Maker" Who can beat that I ask?

Wednesday: Interchange in Miraflores. My companion went with the other Zone Leader to teach our family that was preparing for baptism... They had a great lesson. We put 2 more baptismal dates in Miraflores... and lost 2 others. We taught an amazing lesson on the law of tithing. The Sister had a baptismal date for Christmas. She accepted everything... but when it came to tithing... she told us that God would never associate himself with money and that it was something of men. After 2 hours of trying to reason with her, sharing scriptures, testimonies of the members... she finally told us that she was not going to accept. So we had her pray. And in her prayer she decided she was going to tell God what he should do... O´well, It was a lost cause. It was a good lesson though. My faith in the law of tithing is stronger.

Thursday: No one wanted to listen to us. Oh Christmas Season.

Friday: We were locked in the house all day, starting at 2:00 PM. We didn't leave until Saturday at 5:00 PM. Thus is the life in Ecuador when everyone is drunk. I am pretty sure that this week will be the same... the word though is that they will be extending it for a whole 2 days. Talk about 10 games of Monopoly!!! I also talked with my family. I love them so much. They are the best. ALL OF THEM!

Saturday: Familia Guaman (see picture) was baptised. They are super powerful. They accepted everything we taught them and there were about 40 people at the baptism. My clothing showed up late so I was unable to do one of the baptisms. But the Bishop did 2 of the 3 and Elder Caal did the other.

Sunday: Church! We ended the week with poor showings... but 3 baptisms. So who can complain? Not me! I love the work here in Ecuador. It is cool to be starting another year here.

Happy New Years everyone!

Love,

--
Elder Robinson



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Monday, December 20, 2010

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year


Family and Friends,

So the Christmas Season is upon us again. A time when Families are together (well most of them), People enjoy giving and sharing presents (if you are in North America), Snow is abundant and Hot Chocolate is delightful (Snow: Once again if you are in North America; yet I drink a lot of Hot Chocolate here), and there is an ever present feeling of love and warmth all around. It is the "Most Wonderful Time of the Year!"

Thought things are different: It is the Most Wonderful Time of the Year here in Cuenca, Ecuador as well.

My Week:

So I forgot to mention that there were changes here in the mission a week back. Nothing changed in my house. We are still the same 4 Elders. In Cuenca we received a new Zone Leader and 2 New Missionaries: Elders Neilson and Romney. Both are great Elders.

We have been working hard but we have also been doing a lot more activities than normal. Christmas is a time to enjoy... and there are more ways to share the Gospel than knocking on doors (or ringing electronic computerized devices that make it all the more easy to say "sorry, I´m busy"). Anywho (good phrase from Christy) we went Caroling. Last night with many of the Young Adults here in Cuenca we went to the houses of the Less Actives and sang to them. They were so excited to see 15ish people that actually cared for them... singing to them... To finish off the night we went to the Bishop´s house (who also is a recent convert) and sang to him and his wife. His wife and neighbor cried when we started singing. Oh the Christmas Spirit.

Saturday we went on a ward activity to the mountains to have a "Paseo" or to say: Ward Barbaque. It was a ton of fun and the mountains of Ecuador are SO pretty. We had pork (something we can now eat) and a ton of Coke Cola. We did have a few investigators present but I highly doubt that any of them will actually progress. We did teach a "homestead" family. When we gave them the Book of Mormon we also gave them a bowl of pork. About a half our later they called us back to explain a few things about the Book. The husband was so excited to have the book (especially with the page that has the abbreviations for the Book of Mormon, Old Testament, New Testament, and D&C) that could help him understand the other scriptures God has given us. He said, "Look! It´s like a Light bulb... if you really want to see well you need 2... and now, if I understand what you are saying... I have 3!" He than asked for 3 Books of Mormon more. One for each of his daughters. Though they live FAR out of our sector... it was fun to teach someone a little bit about the Book of Mormon. They will be a great reference for Tarqui.

We are preparing the Familia Guaman for baptism. They were Hari Krishna... but now they are determined to be Latter-day Saints. Due to a few problems we had... they were unable to attend to the Ward Activity. I personally went with a member to pick them up. Due to a few hurtful words and actions on the part of alguin... Sister Guaman said that she would not be going to church nor the activity. I felt devastated. I watched as the 3 kids sat down to cry... and I about died. No!!! We had worked so hard to help the family... only to have a few words and actions destroy EVERYTHING. When I returned to the chapel I was not in a talking mood. I told my companion that we would not be going to the activity and that we had to go home and rethink. Unfortunately the members did not take my decision in a good manner... and we were carried off to the ward activity. I was in a silent mood until the aforementioned story when we shared the Book of Mormon with the "homestead" family.

When the activity was over my companion and I went home to pray. and pray. and then I started a fast (OK: I am not trying to puff myself up by telling you all I fasted. But sometimes it is what needs to be done). We had to gain Familia Guaman´s confidence again and we had no clue how we were going to do it. So we put everything into the Lord´s hands. We went to go contacting and had absolutely no success. Some funny contacts... but no success. We really didn´t talk much. We were both thinking of what we needed to say to Familia Guaman for we had planned to pass by their house later that night.

When it was finally time to pass by their house we stopped a block before and sat down to have another prayer. I dreaded the fact that I had to face the family again (Side Note: It was not something I said or did that made the family sad... I was just present) and I really didn´t want to talk or to look into their eyes. I personally feel that they lost all confidence in me (that´s what happens when you promise blessings... and then the blessings don´t come) and my calling as a missionary. When we knocked on the door all the kids came to greet us. When Sister Guaman arrived she was quite short in words with us. We tried to convince her to come to church with us the next day... and she said no. That she had to go to work and what. I put it all into my companions hands (I was still unable to make eye-contact). My companion began to talk... and talk... and talk. Neither he nor I remember what he said. But at the end she, with tears in her eyes explained to us that what had been done was now done... and that it had cut her to the soul... but that she would be going to church with us the next day. It was all a miracle The kids were super excited.

Needless to say they loved the Church. The members are so kind and gentle towards them. The Bishop had an interview with Sister Guaman and tonight we are going to confirm if they are going to be baptised this Saturday. There are still some major problems that are in our path... and we are going to depend on the Lord to help us resolve these insurmountable tasks. But He can do it. and He can help us. Sometimes we just have to put more trust in him. I personally learned that everyday I have to put the same trust in the Lord as I did Saturday. Really, I can´t do His work without Him. I really have a lot to improve and I feel like there is not enough time left to become the person I need to be.

Christmas is this Week!

I hope you all have filled your free weeks with fun activities with your families. It does not matter what the activity is... but you have to do things with your families. You will never know how important they are to you until you don´t get to do anything with them for 2 years.

I love you all so much.

I wish you a the Merriest of all your Christmases

Love,

--
Elder Robinson



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Monday, December 13, 2010

Conferences and Such

Family and Friends,

This week was an absolute blast. I was really quite pleased with the results. Lets talk about them:

1. We had conferences. We had Zone Conference and a Specialized Training. (Silly keyboard is not working... this will really try my patience!!! Or make for a short email)

2. We started teaching a "Hardi Krishna" family. I never thought I would teach someone that believes in 50ish gods. But I am... and they accepted a baptismal date.

3. We were teaching a guy from Ivory Coast... and he gave the final prayer in French and I understood! Cool thing about knowing two languages that are realated... I can now understand Portegues and French (no I can´t speak them).

4. The keyboard still isn´t working... it takes me 2 minutes to type 1 sentance!!!!

5. Enjoy the pictures!

Love,

--
Elder Robinson

Spencer,

     The changes have to do with the way we teach. Good luck with the cars. They kill!



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Monday, December 6, 2010

Brrr...

Family and Friends,

I forgot my jacket and a freezing to death so we will make this email short.

The last week was great. We didn´t have a whole lot of success when it came to finding new people but we did find some people that can potentially progress. We had to revamp our program. The people that were progressing before... are not progressing now so it looks as if we are going to drop them if they don´t start making some progress. Sad day... but necessary so that we can use our time more effectively.

Friday Elder Caal and I were just running around contacting whatever house that was in our path. We had probably contacted 30ish houses without any success (which can do a lot to the moral that one has). We decided that we were going to make our way to a members house to teach them some things from Preach My Gospel when we walked past a house with no lights on. I turned to my companion and said: "no lights, next house." so we started to move on when I thought, "lame excuse not to knock on a house..." We turned and went back to the house. We rang the doorbell, I openly sighed, and we waited. About a minute later my companion said, "no one´s home... lets go." when the door opened.

We were received by a middle aged man and his 9 year old son that has some mental illness. He invited us in and we took a few minutes to get to know him. Once we knew who he was we taught him about the restauration. He listened really well and the spirit was really strong. At the end of the lesson we asked him how he felt and he told us that he felt great. He then said, "Most importantly, as you can see, my son has mental disabilities. He is always hyper and never stops talking. But the entire time that you talked and taught me... he stayed quiet and payed attention." It was just a little miracle but it was enough to help him recognize that our message is true. We have another appointment with him and he is excited to receive us.

Saturday we went Caroling as the Zone in Calderon Park. It is a part that is situated in the center of the city in front of the city´s largest Cathedral. It was really cool. A lot of people stopped to listen to us and of the 18 of us, 2 were always contacting and receiving references. A lot of people want us to visit their houses... they thought it was strange that "Mormons" believe in Jesus Christ... let alone sing songs about his birth!

Like I said, it was a great week. Better weeks to come!

Love,

--
Elder Robinson



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