The Happenings of 7 Consecutive Days (Notices from the Middle World) II

Family and Friends,

 

I love the title of my new section that describes my weekly happenings... that I decided to name my letter to ya´ll in favor of this most important section. So if you will please read on...

 

The Happenings of 7 Consecutive Days (Notices from the Middle World):

 

SANTIAGO VARGAS WAS BAPTISED!!! We finally got Santiago into the waters of baptism... it was not an easy process... and Satan was against us the entire time... but we finally did it!

 

Friday Santiago was married to his wife Sara Suarez and then he had his interview with the Zone Leaders and a phone call to the President. He passed his interview and we started putting the finishing touches on his baptism. That night we stopped by his house to see how he was doing and to remind him of everything that was going to happen the next day. As we were leaving I reminded him that in the next 24 hours Satan was going to fight against him... in every way possible.

 

The next day we set everything up for the baptism, made some agendas, and then we started inviting everyone to the baptism. That night Santiago and his wife showed up a little late... Satan had done some dirty work. Santiago decided to go play some soccer before his baptism to keep his nerves down. He was returning home when he got in a wreck on his motorcycle. With a quick run to the hospital, a bumbed foot, and some stitches... he said he was well enough to be baptised. Nothing was going to stop him. As I entered the water I noticed he was wincing... but the baptism was completed. Sunday he was confirmed a member of the Church.

 

We are preparing an activity for the 23rd of October. "Día Como Misionero!" (Missionary Day!). We will start at 6:30 in the morning, have a breakfast, 4 hours of "MTC" time, and then the entire afternoon to teach and preach. All the members of ages 12+ are invited and EVERYONE that isn´t a member. When Santiago heard about the activity... he asked us... "even though I have a wife and a child... can I be a missionary for a day?" YES! His conversion is practically complete. When KM26 becomes an independent branch at the end of the year... I bet you anything he will be a Councilor or the Branch Secretary. Super powerful convert. This is why I am a missionary... to find and teach people like him. He will baptise his wife and brother (and maybe his mother) in 2 weeks... along with 5-6 other baptisms that will be taking place in the chapel.

 

We will be changing our house to KM26 next week. I am a little frustrated with how slow the process is... but that is life... paperwork.

 

I don´t have anything else to say. Ask me questions if you want to learn something more. Get ready for General Conference!

 

Here are some pictures:

 

Picture 1: My district/zone. Crazy guys but I love them to death! GO MILAGRO!!!

 

Picture 2: Who just can´t be in love with rivers and nature? BOLICHE!

 

Picture 3: My Jersey that says "PILSENER" (popular beer) but now says "Robinson"

 

Picture 4: Elder Castro (Columbia) with Santiago Vargas a week before he was baptised.

 

Picture 5: Us with Family Vaca (Cow). They feed us every Sunday and I love them to death!

Love you all,

--
Elder Robinson

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

The Happenings of 7 Consecutive Days (Notices from the Middle World)

Family and Friends,

 

I love the title of my new section that describes my weekly happenings... that I decided to name my letter to ya´ll in favor of this most important section. So if you will please read on...

 

The Happenings of 7 Consecutive Days (Notices from the Middle World):

 

SANTIAGO VARGAS WAS BAPTISED!!! We finally got Santiago into the waters of baptism... it was not an easy process... and Satan was against us the entire time... but we finally did it!

 

Friday Santiago was married to his wife Sara Suarez and then he had his interview with the Zone Leaders and a phone call to the President. He passed his interview and we started putting the finishing touches on his baptism. That night we stopped by his house to see how he was doing and to remind him of everything that was going to happen the next day. As we were leaving I reminded him that in the next 24 hours Satan was going to fight against him... in every way possible.

 

The next day we set everything up for the baptism, made some agendas, and then we started inviting everyone to the baptism. That night Santiago and his wife showed up a little late... Satan had done some dirty work. Santiago decided to go play some soccer before his baptism to keep his nerves down. He was returning home when he got in a wreck on his motorcycle. With a quick run to the hospital, a bumbed foot, and some stitches... he said he was well enough to be baptised. Nothing was going to stop him. As I entered the water I noticed he was wincing... but the baptism was completed. Sunday he was confirmed a member of the Church.

 

We are preparing an activity for the 23rd of October. "Día Como Misionero!" (Missionary Day!). We will start at 6:30 in the morning, have a breakfast, 4 hours of "MTC" time, and then the entire afternoon to teach and preach. All the members of ages 12+ are invited and EVERYONE that isn´t a member. When Santiago heard about the activity... he asked us... "even though I have a wife and a child... can I be a missionary for a day?" YES! His conversion is practically complete. When KM26 becomes an independent branch at the end of the year... I bet you anything he will be a Councilor or the Branch Secretary. Super powerful convert. This is why I am a missionary... to find and teach people like him. He will baptise his wife and brother (and maybe his mother) in 2 weeks... along with 5-6 other baptisms that will be taking place in the chapel.

 

We will be changing our house to KM26 next week. I am a little frustrated with how slow the process is... but that is life... paperwork.

 

I don´t have anything else to say. Ask me questions if you want to learn something more. Get ready for General Conference!

 

Here are some pictures:

 

Picture 1: My district/zone. Crazy guys but I love them to death! GO MILAGRO!!!

 

Picture 2: Who just can´t be in love with rivers and nature? BOLICHE!

 

Picture 3: My Jersey that says "PILSENER" (popular beer) but now says "Robinson"

 

Picture 4: Elder Castro (Columbia) with Santiago Vargas a week before he was baptised.

 

Picture 5: Us with Family Vaca (Cow). They feed us every Sunday and I love them to death!

Love you all,

--
Elder Robinson

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

Mostly Marriages & Missionaries

Family and Friends,

Special Thanks: To all of you who wrote me this week. There were a ton of you... that was really cool. The moral boost that EVERY letter brings to a missionary is something special and for the most part sacred. From the deepest portions of my heart please accept my thanks.

 

My Week: What a selfish person I am. For exactly 16 months now I have been writing letters home and have always had a section called "My Week." I think I am going to change this sadistic habit. Not that it is MY week or anything I did that made it special. It is more of The Happenings of 7 Consecutive Days or Notices from the Middle World.

 

The Happenings of 7 Consecutive Days (Notices from the Middle World):

 

Our house in 26 was aproved by the Assistants! This means that we will begin moving in... THIS WEEK! What day? I hope that the process is said and done by Saturday. I don´t want to drag this out. We actually found a better house for only $60 per month. But... it was more than slightly filthy... and with first impressions these days... We are going to stick with the $100 apartment that covers the light and water bills.

 

We had changes today. I was super nervious last night that I was going to be changed from 26. I had more nerves because I had no clue what President Montalti was going to do. He is still on the "unpredictable" side. We have so many families that are progressing... I can´t leave yet. Anyway. I am practically positive that I will be here for another 4-5ish months. !Que Bueno¡ But the changes did hit my District.

 

In my district there are 4 wards and 10 missionaries. I am the District Leader and love teaching lessons every Tuesday. Actually. I got sick of teaching lessons last Tuesday and we played a game called "Maestro Mas Persuasivo" that deals with how well you teach and know the Lessons and the Scriptures. Back to the District. Elder Lopez from Columbia, Elder Aballay from Argentina, Elder Sanchez from Columbia and Elder Lema from Ecuador were all changed out of the District. I am sad to see them go... but I am still super stoked that I get to work with Elder Mejia, Pavon, and Castro. 3 of the coolest missionaries I have ever know. District Activities are an absolute BLAST! This change we want to go to Bucay... I hear there are some amazing photos to take of Waterfalls.

 

This week we will be baptising Santiago. I think I have said this for the last 5 weeks. But this time is for sure. We have ALL of his paperwork so that he can be married and he has been going to church for the last 3 months... so he is far more ready that any invstigator I have ever had. He will baptise his wife, mother, and brother in 2-3 weeks. We are going to wait for General Conference to be finished to have the baptisms.

 

We are also working miracles in Boliche. The Ward President (The Ward does not have a Bishop... but it isn´t a Branch) assigned 6 ward missionaries to help us and they are all super excited. Our days are now full of appointments with the help of the members and I feel that something big is on the horizon...

 

Oh- more marriages. Maria Chavez I believe will be married this month. When that takes place we will go forward with her baptism. This week we are also working on the marriage for Dario. That should take place this week... or next week at the latest. Marth Tomala, the mother of Santiago Vargas also wants to be married so we made a stop by the Registro Civil to take out some of her documents. Maybe that will happen in 2 weeks. All in all... we have 2 marriages planned for the next 2 weeks and 2 other marriages that could take place in 2-3 weeks. I have participated in 4 marriages during my mission and I absolutely love it when people decide to get married and to get baptised. I will try to end the mission with 10.

 

I received a package from home this week. I have new shoes and had some great No Bake Cookies. Thanks mom. I love you and Dad so much. The mission is flying by so fast. Mom, Please make time stop. (When I was little I thought my Mom and the Primary teachers could do anything... so one day I asked them to make me younger... that is when I learned that they can´t do everything).

 

This change will bring more miracles, stories, and growth.

 

Bring it on!

--
Elder Robinson

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Twists and Turns

Family and Friends,

My Week:

This last week was an absolute blast! I had three interchanges (Elder Pavon, Elder Castro and Elder Mejia) and a ton of fun working in my sector. I am of the opinion that if someone is not enjoying their time as a missionary... they are dfinitely wasting their time. The mission is "chucky jam full" of great experiences and excitement. How can one not love the mission and its "twists and turns?"

Twists and Turns for this week:

This week starts the "Specialized Training" that we have to undergo every 3 months... or 2 months... quizas cada mes.... yo no sé! The Twist: Elder Cruz ( mi hijo) has been sent to live in Naranjito for the next 4 days. I am now companions with Elder Rivero from Bolivia (Santa Cruz). He is a great missoinary and I am looking forward to working with him over the next few days. Every morning this wekkk we will be leaving our apartment at 6? AM so that we can arrive in Guayaquil (that lovely l city) at 8 to be ontime to take a bus/taxi for the conference at 9. We will then return home every night at 6ish and work with whatever time we have in KM 26. I doubt we will have any working time this week. You got to love the twists. All Jr. Comps have to stay in their sectors. I guess they don´t need training.

Elder Lema from Otavalo left to go live in La Troncal and Elder Castro is now with Elder Catamayo from Peru. Our house now consits of 1 American! 1 Columbian! 1 Bolivian! and 1 Peruvian! I think they are some of the 4 best missionaries in all of Milagro/Truinfo. It will be a blast to live with them for the next week.

Other twists that should be covered:

My entire mission (even before my mission) I always heard stories of people that had dreams of the missionaries.... and then the next day the missionaries arrived. Or people that recognized the faces of the Missionaries even though they did not konw them before. Well... here is my story that I have to tell you:

We found Maria Chavez while I was on an interchange with Elder Mejia. She lives just short of the 24 (KM 26 is SOUTH of Milagro, you will NEVER find it on a map). We always walk past her house while we are on our way to visit Familia Vargas. I have always felt... "hmm... that is a pretty trail, maybe we should to there..." but I never ever took the trail... until the interchange. We had some extra time on our hands, so on our way back from Familia Vargas we entered a trail that lead back into the brush and some houses. The first house we stopped at we asked them if we could share a message. We did. We met Maria Chavez and she accepted our message. I didn´t really think much of the lesson. We gave out a Book of Mormon.... and left.

The day after we stopped by again and retaught lesson 1 to her sister. Maria showed up at the end of the lesson and we reminded her that she had to ask the Lord if she wanted to know if these things were true.

Finally Friday we stopped by again and she invited us back to her house (some 4 houses behind the first house we found her in, 1 room separated by sheets, house of sugar cane) and she started to talk to us about her work in the Banana Fields. She lightly touched on the fact that she fogot how to pray... and felt bad because she wanted to pray while she was aty work so that the Lord could help her have more strength. She talked about how she works with som other woman and how they usually talk about their days and families. She then mentioned the following, "I ahd a dream. Are you here to change my family?"

Me: Yeah. We help families change for the better.

Maria Chavez: I thought so. I had a dream that 2 boys came to my home to teach me and my family things that would make us happy.l I dreamed that everyone in my family accepted the message (except for my husband) and that with time my husband came to realize that we were happier than he was and he accepted what the 2 boys had to say. Are you the two boys?

Me: Stunned

Elder Cruz: Yeah!

Maria Chavez: It was a really beautiful dream. It made me feel really good to have it. And then a few days later... you showed up at my house.

Needless to say we have now taught a fraction of her family (10 people of 30ish) and all of them were uper interested in the BOok of Mormon. Sunday Maria Chavez came to church with us and absolutely LOVED the experience. She told us that next week her entire family would be present so that they could be as happy as she was during the meetings. We are on our way now to go teach her. We have a lesson at 6 with her and the Ward Missionaries.

The Lord is preparing peoplall over the world to hear the message of the Restauration. Sometimes we just have to take the "pretty trails" to find these amazing people... and if we do... when we come to the end of our journey we will find the people that the Lord has put in our way that desparately need the message. How grateful I am to be a missionary! And to think that I only have... algunos meses mas!

Family and Friends: I love you all so much. I don´t miss you. I will see you again. But until then...

That is all,

Love,

--
Elder Robinson

Mom- Did ou send out the pictures that I sent you last week? Or did you never receive them? Shucks... why do you have to be in Yellowstone!?!

Sorry. This is the 2nd time I have written this letter... Internet failed in the last place... and I don´t have time to fix all the errors that are in this letter.

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.