Tuesday, February 22, 2011

A los Años



Family and Friends,

Because I have not sent photos home... en los años...

1. Elder Tobar- My hospital companion
2. Elder Robinson
3. Hospital shot. Just to show you all I really was ok.

That is all

--
Elder Robinson



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"...Que nos llevan a lo Alto!"


Family and Friends,

     These weekly emails come far more quickly then they actually should. Is it normal that I think yesterday I wrote about the rains of Guayaquil or is that normal? Maybe you all got sick of reading the emails anyway and didn´t notice. Eitherway: I feel that time is moving way to fast. I almost can´t stop to smell the roses ( o sea... if there were roses to stop and smell). The mission just keeps going... and going... and going... and going...

     The last week had its downs but with planning, a few phone calls, and an interchange everything was practically calmed down in the district. Every sector, except mine (we got ours under control a few weeks back), has fallen apart. The Zone Leaders are probably going to have baptisms in March but the others... we have a week before March begins to get everything under control. I am confident that everything will work out right but I really wish that people would understand that nothing I do will change whether or not other elders will have baptisms. If one wishes to baptise one needs to work, listen, and apply what the leaders say.

     On a happier note: We were blessed last week as we were buying food in the mall. I plan to use $18.50 every Monday to buy food, deoderant, shaving cream, and other basics each week. As we were shopping I made a HUGE sacrifice in my spending habits to buy a box of Captain Crunch Cereal (only imported from the USA, and it has the high pricetag to prove it). The box costs $5! What a waste! But I bought it anyway. As we where checking out I noticed that the receipt said that my cereal cost $1.50... thinking it was an error I asked the check-out lady. It was! Someone had entered the cereal´s price into the computer wrong. The lady told us that it was better news for us... she not knowing how to reprogram and reprice items in the system. Gleefully we re entered and bought 4 more boxes of cereal to have a total of 7 boxes in the house! All for $5. As of said shopping experience: I have been the happiest breakfaster for the past week.

     Norberto Rierra is just about ready for baptism. We finished teaching him everything yesterday and he boastfully told us that he has been raised paying a tithing since he was a young child. Tithing, normally being hard to accept, was for once, the easiest principle to teach. Maria, his wife, explained to us that growing up in the Catholic Church in Paute (Cuenca) they had to donate the best of their crops to support the local Father. Listening to her describe how they would pick the best of the lettuce, the best of the pigs, and the best of a few other things was monthly family ritual. I thought I was listening to a biblical story. Speaking of biblical: the Bible was not permited to be read here in Ecuador until around the mid 1950´s. How ancient is that? Just goes to show that world culture has never been equal. 

     The work really is progressing. Nothing truely new to report. I am fine and my health is good. We have everything at our hands to have success here in Portete. We are working hard and we will be having one baptism this week and one the following. The Lord is blessing us more than He probably should. I guess we will just have to work harder to merecer (to earn?) His blessings. All of the blessings are needed porque nos llevan a lo Alto! 

Me basta decir: Les Quiero,

--
Elder Robinson



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Monday, February 14, 2011

Alegria

Ann Maas (Typed while holding a baby. )

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Doreen Robinson" <doreen.robinson@gmail.com>
Date: Feb 14, 2011 5:17 PM
Subject: Fwd: Alegria
To:



---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Elder Robinson <jeremiah.robinson@myldsmail.net>
Date: Mon, Feb 14, 2011 at 2:37 PM
Subject: Alegria
To: Doreen Robinson <doreen.robinson@gmail.com>


Family and Friends,

     If opening a sector wasn´t fun enough: the rains and power outages of Guayaquil are! I had forgotten the pure joy that warm rains can bring to a person. Last night we were in the farthest part of my sector when torrential rains started, within 10 minutes the power had gone out and the streets were flooded with mud. Normally this would have caused me to return home immediately (actually, that is what I should have done: rules) but I was in the farthest part of my sector and my companion and I didn´t want to cross the bridge in the dark. We swam (figuratively speaking) over to a members house and toweled off. They made us a great candlelight dinner and we enjoyed conversing until the power came back on and we reswam (figurative speaking) back to our house. Unlike Cuenca I don´t have to buy Hot Chocolate and bread, take a warm shower, and jump into bed to warm up. The rain in Guayaquil isn´t tropical. More on the warm side. It made for a really cool night.
    
     I think I mentioned last week that my current companion is Elder Calderon. He and I get along great. The work is a little slower in the mornings with him but we do get out and contact every day. My sector can be divided into 4 sections: ¨Portete¨, ¨Girosol¨, ¨Renacer¨, and ¨Jardines del Salado.¨ The latter 3 are comunities on the other side of the bridge. We live in ¨Portete¨ this side of Guayaquil. We have been working a lot in Jardines, the roads haven´t been finished yet and they are still filling in more swampland to put in more houses: it´s a muddy mess. The people we have been contacting are great and very receptive. I expect that we will have a fully fledged program (with just Jardines) in a week or two. The bonus of working with the Ward Mission Leader, the Ward Missionaries, and the Members will only cause the program to explode. Working with the Ward is the best option. ALWAYS.

     We are preparing for the baptism of Norberto Rierra. He is a 75+ year old gentleman who has been a Catholic his whole life due to tradition. His wife was baptised in December and never received permission from him to do it. She told us that he was hard hearted and she knew it was right so she did it anyway. He has been receiving us with gusto the last few weeks. He even happily accepted a baptismal date. He wasn´t baptised with the last missionaries because he had a hard time understanding them (which makes no sense: I am American and they are Chileans). Last night we were teaching them and I was under the impression that he knew that his wife was a member (his wife has been going to church for the last 2 months) and I mentioned that he would be baptised in the same way that his wife was: oops. He was super confused. He looked over to his wife and said, ¨Baptised like you? You´re not a Catholic anymore?¨ He looked slightly sad. She smiled saying, ¨Didn´t you see the change in me a few months ago? Haven´t we been happier than ever the last two months? Aren´t you a different person? I am part of Christ´s Church! And the two YOUNG Chileans were my friends to help me do it.¨ I sat back to see how the conversation would unfold. He paused. Thought. With a smile he declared, "This is serious business then. Will I be baptised Saturday or Sunday?" I could have laughed. The Gospel changes lives and families and I love watching (or at least seeing) the results in the lives of the converts. I am 100% confident he will be baptised before the first week of March but we are aiming for the last week of February.

     Everything else is going great. We are working hard. The District is having problems and we aren´t meeting the high baptismal standards that the President wants us to but all of that will come in time. Now I need to get back to my sector and work.

     I love you all. I am excited to be seeing you all in a few short weeks. I was listening to "Showtime!" from MoTab and they sing a song from Lord of the Rings called "In Dreams." I haven´t replayed it as much as Christy and I did with the "Utah!" CD and "I should have left you" but I have heard it a few times now. As I listened to the lyrics I realized that it had a lot in common with me. I can´t tell you how many times I have dreamed and all or some of you are there. I awake and sometimes I honestly think we talked during the night. Dreams truly are amazing and whether they be real or not they keep us going.

But in dreams
I can hear your name
And in dreams
We will meet again

I will go there
And back again

     One of these days the dream will come true and we will all talk face to face. Happy Valentine´s Day!

Alegria,

--
Elder Robinson



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Monday, February 7, 2011

Beginnings


Family and Friends,

     The last Family email I wrote today was una bina. Lo siento por la carta terrible. I didn´t have time to write more than just a few breif lines. So here is a real update on what is going on here in Guayaquil Ecuador.

     As I mentioned last week: I am currently in Portete Guayaquil. The sector is much quieter, in social terms, than my last sector in Guayaquil, although the sector is only 15 minutes away in bus. I guess 15 minutes can really make a huge difference in a city. My companion was Elder Tobar. We have been in the house for the last 2 weeks recovering from medical issues. He actually should be fully recovered today after the docter takes some plastic plates out of his sinus system. I was going to be present for the appointment but last night we were told that Elder Tobar would be transfered to another sector in Guayaquil and that I would be receiving Elder Caldaron from Loja. He should be arriving tonight around 6sh. The bus ride from Loja is 8-11 hours long. I went with Elder Tobar to the Terminal this morning. He wasn´t all that happy to be leaving Portete but there is not much we can do when it comes with changes. We just go with the flow and pray that everything turns out right. I will be opening my sector. To open a sector means that 2 new missionaries are present who don´t know the program, the members, nor the investigators. That would be Elder Robinson and Calderon. Elder Tobar was going to show me around the sector today... but that didn´t work out as we thought. Anyway. I am excited to get back to work. I have gotten pretty sick of the house and the 2 rooms we have.

     Health Update: My knee is now doing fine. Everything worked out right and we wont have to be doing any form of surgury nor further treatment.

     I can´t describe how excited I am to get back to work! How cool is it to be a missionary in Ecuador! Anyway, everything I hear about Portete tells me that it is one of the greatest sectors in the mission. I am blessed to be finishing (I hope) my mission there. This will make a great begining for the end.

Thanks for your prayers and support.

I love you all,

--
Elder Robinson



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Livin´ la vida loca!


Family and Friends,

Saludos de Ecuador!!!

Everything is back to normal. My knee is now ok after:

4 Blood Tests (I hate donating blood)
5 Shots en las nalgas (if your from Mexico that might be offensive)
$300+ of medicine
5 Hospital Days
1 IV
5 Docter´s visits
2 weeks of pills
Draining fluid (from the knee)
1 Lab Test

But everything is back to normal!

There were emergency changes last night and Elder Tobar left. I am now going to go back to work tonight... but I don´t even know where the members live. I have not left my house in 2 weeks. Anyway. I am going to love getting back to work.

Sorry the email is short, I am really short on time.

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.