Disfrunten Naranjito... Yeah!

Hey,

So this is the third email... maybe I should send pictures more often...

1. We were way up in the mountains and all the people are indigiounous. This is how the women dress.

2. Me cold with the ruins in the background.

Elder Robinson





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Entre de Navidad y Año Nuevo... :)

Family and Friends,

I don´t have a ton of time to write... I was sending you all pictures. But I really wanted to wish you all a very HAPPY NEW YEAR.

I was in Guayaquil today trying to buy some things so that I could listen to the really cool music my mom sent me. A guy tried to sell me some speakers for $18, I told him I would keep looking. $15. Nope, I will not spend more than $10. Please! Please! Please! $13, no less. Sorry bud.

Moral of the story: I walked away with my speakers for only $10. He was a little sad but... I know they have been used before and in the markets of Guayaquil I would not be surprised if everything has been previously stolen.

We saw these amazing masterpieces of art. At this time of year everyone has Manaquines, and for New Years they will burn them ALL. I hear that at midnight the first of January it is impossible to sleep in Guayaquil. Good thing I am an hour and a half away.

I had the great time talking to my family this week. Mary as well. I am so glad that I was invited to Michelles Marriage Lunch. Please save me a seat in the back, I should be a little late.

I wanted to ask if anyone has seen some GREAT american movies. Please, don´t ever be ashamed to tell me if you have.

I love being a missionary and as this New Year starts I am going to go to work with ALL my might, heart, mind, and strength. I really would not have it any other way. Why else be a missionary?

I love you all,

Elder Robinson

Picture: One of those really cool things they burn newyears night... they look like whatever they want them too... people, movies, the hulk, Obama...


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Disfruten Naranjito otra vec!

Hey All!

More fun filled pictures.

1. Our nametags before the baptism.

2. Gomez Troya, married with CTR rings (thanks mom!)

3. My district up in the mountains. Really cool trip.

4. The waterfall that we hicked to. There are 7 in the picture. This was a really cool trip, rain, an Elder fell in the water (accident)... cool trip!




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Naranjito Disfruten!

Family and Friends,

Here are 3 images from Naranjito.

1. Familia Gomez Troya. Happy as can be, just married.

2. Familia Garcia. The mother was baptised. Isabel. Happy as can be, just before baptism.

3. Our chaple. Nicer than our chaple in the states. I like it. Happy as can be, in Naranjito.



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Navidad de Ecuador

Family and Friends, Those who are back in the States, and who ever else likes to read long letters from missioneries (wow, I can´t spell that word),

Shout Out: Isabel Garcia. I forgot that we baptised her 2 weeks ago. She is absolutely amazing and I am so glad she was baptised. She is the last person in her family to be baptised and I hope to see them in the temple next year. Go NARANJITO!

My Week:

Miracle 1. We are trying to get a family married, so that they can be baptised. They are old, and both of them are in their 70´s (but people age different here so they act like they are 90). Anita Troya wants to be baptised really bad and has been going to church since our first meeting (she walks herself there).

As such my companion and I have been in Milagro the past few days trying to get all the paperwork done for them. We almost had it done when the power went out one day... the next day we returned only to have the mean bald guy tell us that we could not access their information because we were not THEM. (Ecuador does not have privacy laws...)

We had been praying all day for a miracle... and we had one.

My companion turned to me and said,"They can´t be baptised, we will never get them to Milagro to get their paperwork."

I said, "Lets go talk to the boss."

We did. He is a kind gentleman of about 70 years with greying hair. We had met him the day before in a plesent meeting. We walked into his office and we said,

US "Hey, we are the missionaries who you spoke with yesterday.

HIM "I remember."

US "We are trying to get a family married and they live in Naranjito and they are really really old. We need their Datos de Affiliacion."

HIM "You can get those in Naranjito I believe."

US "No, they sent us here."

HIM "Then what is the problem."

US "That bald guy that works for you said that they had to come in and get the information for their proper selves."

HIM "Hmm... is that so."

US "Yes."

HIM "Here is my signature. He should not be a problem for you."

We thanked him and left. We went to go talk to the bald guy.

Bald Guy "Sorry. I will not give you the information."

US "Ok, but whose signature is this?"

Bald Guy "(Pause)...do you have 2 dollars?"

Familia Gomez-Troya will be married tomorrow or Wednesday and Anita will be baptised with Maria January 2nd.

Miracle 2.

We had another family tell us that they want to be baptised but they are not married. They told us that they don´t want to be married and that there was nothing more we could do for them. We dropped them as investigatores.

They were at church.

After church he called us over (he has 60+ years) and asked "So what papers do I need to be married and can my children be at the City Building for the marriage?"

We are working on their papers now. They will be baptised in January.

CHRISTMAS!

I love you all and I am hoping that you all will have the most wonderful time of year. I promised last week that I would send pictures this week... but the computer is not accepting my camera right now... next week.

Family, I mailed a letter home for you and someone else. Please take care of the letters.

LOVE YOU ALL LOTS. THOSE IN UTAH, INDIANA, OTHER COUNTRIES, RECENTLY BACK FROM OTHER COUNTRIES, SCHOOL, HOME... WHEREVER!

Os amo mucho,

Chiao

Elder Robinson


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Woome

Hi,

A friend sent me an email to vew a video and she just sent me this email: 

"I have some bad news, I signed up to look at a friends video and it took me to the " woome" web site.  I cancelled right away, but it already notified everyone in my email. I'm really sorry."

Therefore:  don't go to the "woome" site.  I'm sorry if it has continued on.

Doreen

It´s in the singing of a street corner choir...

Amados familias y amigos,

Shout Out: Dad, Ann, Spencer, Jeff... and all of you that are still in school and preparing for finals. Best wishes to you. Study hard. Pray. Good luck!

Mi Semana: (...its going home and getting warm by the fire...)

So if I had to truely describe Naranjito in a way that everyone could understand: Cokeville WY. There is just something about being in the middle of nowhere, dirt roads, open fields, and cows that just makes it feel like WY and Cokeville. Naturally it is a little more green than WY, but it is HOT, Dusty, and quite dry. Thus... Cokeville WY.

This week we had a lot of fun going places. We went to San Fransisco, Milagro, Guayaquil, San Carlos, and the Bridge of NOWHERE.

Why?

San Fransisco: There is a family of members that live here. The problem is that they live in the middle of nowhere, 30 minutes away, and did I mention that it was in the middle of nowhere? They live in the fields, their neighboors are family and then their next neighbors are 10 minutes away in the next field.

Milagro: Why not? Actually, we just have to travel through it. We really weren´t there.

Guayaquil: We had Zone Conference this week. Zone Conference for Milagro y Truinfo is in Guayaquil. I don´t really know why, I think it is easier for the President. For us... 1.5 hours of travel. A veces 2 hours of travel.

Zone Conference was a blast. I saw Elder Thayne and Elder Peterson. Two Elders that I have not seen since my first day here in Ecuador (I lived in the MTC with them). I still have yet to see Elders Johnson and Sawyer, though rumor has it that Sawyer is really sick and has been for months. I don´t think he will be leaving Guayaquil soon, if at all during his mission (and then there is me... who has yet to serve in Guayaquil).

I learned a TON in Zone Conference. I can´t really describe it all, but it is always a great experience to learn from the President and the Assistents. The Area Presidency is different here in South America. There is a New Presidency and they have established the rule that before baptism a person only needs to go to Sacrament Meeting 2x... this is new for us. 3x was the rule before. YEAH! More people to baptise! This will be interesting to see how this affects the mission.

San Carlos: This is the town next to our town of Naranjito. San Carlos has no Elders, they were taken out and San Carlos was closed because there was no success (small towns can be rough on missionaries). San Carlos is part of our sector. We have lunch there every Wednesday. Wednesday we were going to have an intercambio with the District Leader, but because he lives 2 hours away we have a meeting point: the Bridge to Nowhere (it actually has a name, but it is in the middle of nowhere.)

Bridge to Nowhere: My companion and I left for the bridge at about 9:30 in the morning. We have to take 2 busses to get there. at 10:30 we arrived at the bridge to nowhere. We got off of our bus and sat under the man made shelter that sits at the crossroads of two highways. We watched busses go by, cars, police... every now and then there were people with us waiting for busses... we talked, we tried to share our message, we memorized scriptures... for 3 hours. We decided that the District Leader was not going to show up so we left. We went to San Carlos and had a great meal and charla con un amigo de un miembro.

When we got back home we had a message waiting for us from 9:45. The District Leader was sick and was unable to make it to the Bridge to Nowhere. Something about not being able to leave the bathroom.

Interesting week.

Also! The Christmas Devotional! Amazing! I loved it LOTS! At least the songs are in English. And the talks were great!

Wierd News: (...it´s true wherever you find love...)

So I was asked why there is always a white boat in the back of my pictures. So here is my answer...

Those pictures are from Machala. We had the chance to see the ocean every monday, if we wanted. When we were at the ocean their was really only one dock for us to go to. At this dock we took pictures. Always there was a White Boat in the background... the Aukland Star. I think this is a company and I think they own the dock. I think it is always a different boat but it always looks the same and it always has the same name... or it is the same boat every week. I doubt that.

Talk about weird news.

Also... If I had to say that the most beautiful thing I have seen here in Ecuador... besides the people... THE LAND! Whoa. ok. Near Guayaquil EVERYTHING is dead. I don´t know why. But in Pasaje and the places far distant from Guayaquil are BREATHTAKING. The mountains are huge, the green is green, the sky... oops, yeah never saw that in Pasaje... clouds. But I love the land. When the rains come I think we will finally see how beautiful Guayaquil can be.

Pensamientos:

1. The yellow tie and the man that can´t see (milagro)
2. The power of talking
3. Learning through discussion
4. Gomez-Troya
5. Wishing somehow you were here to see what I can see

Wish Washes of Warm Wishes,

(... it feels like Christmas!)

Elder Robinson

(for those of you that cant figure out all of the "..." here is the song:

It's in the singing of a street corner choir
It's going home and getting warm by the fire
It's true, wherever you find love it feels like Christmas
A cup of kindess that we share with another
A sweet reunion with a friend or a brother
In all the places you find love it feels like Christmas
It is the season of the heart
A special time of caring
The ways of love made clear
It is the season of the sprit
The message if we hear it
Is make it last all year

Go watch the "Muppet Christmas Carol"

Also my favorite quote right now:

I´ll guard my post no matter where,
believing God must need me there,
For Great and Small there is but one test,
´Tis that each man will do his best.