January 29, 2018 - New Companion & Families

See ya Elder Pouwer

This past week I've been thinking a lot about families and how wonderful they really are. Our here on my mission I have seen all kinds of families. There are families that yell at each other constantly. I've met kids who live with neighbors because their parents got into bad stuff. It's been kind of crazy to see. So thank you to my family and all that they do for me. I love you guys! This past week was pretty mellow. It's hard getting used to a new companion but we have so much in common, so Elder Ward and I have been getting a long really well! We're both tall blonde boys so we stand out for sure!

New Companion - Elder Ward

This next Saturday we are having a baptism for 3 investigators! We are so excited for them! It's kind of cool because Elder Pouwer and I found these people on my 4th day here so I've been able to see all of their progress! I love being on a mission, it's been cool to see the change in me as I've been out here and how much I've grown! Love of my favorite scriptures for the week is 2 Nephi 10:20. I hope you all have a great week and I'd love to hear from you!  -Elder Robbins

Frog!

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January 22, 2018 - Transfers and Temptations

Um.... what a cool sign!! And a handsome young man:)

This past week has been crazy! We walked in the rain a ton and talked to a lot of people. It was a lot of fun though! Elder Pouwer is being transferred to Silverton which is like 15 miles north of Stayton. My new companion is going to be Elder Ward. He's been out for just over 4 months a so we're both pretty fresh! I've learned so much this past transfer. I've learned a ton about myself and others too. My favorite part has been getting to know all of these cool people here in Stayton and Sublimity. One thing that really surprised me was we ran into this one guy who at first was super nice but then we started talking to him and we asked if he would like a picture of Jesus Christ and he just said oh you mean the man that never existed. This really surprised me because a couple minutes earlier he was telling us how he was almost a preacher when he was our age and then he started reading these books that proved that Christ didn't exist and then stopped believing in him. He then proceeded to tell us that we too should go read them so we could find the truth for ourself. There's more that happened but it doesn't really matter.

This man used tactics to lure us in and then tell us why everything we were doing was wrong and then when we would try to talk he would just cut us off. I imagine this is one of Satan's tactics. He tries to be all nice and then bam tries to get us to change our ways and tell us why everything we are doing is wrong. There is a super cool chapter in the Book of Mormon, it's Alma 47. Read her as if amalikiah is Satan and that is tactics that he uses to get to us.

Bishop and a few of his boys:)

Scotcheroos!

Satan is very real and tries to tempt each of us to go against God. We have tools to fight back against him though. Our previous prophet Thomas S. Monson's last talk was on the Book of Mormon and he challenged each of us to read it every day. I too challenge each of you to do this because I know it will bless your life. I have seen the power of the Book of Mormon. Just in my first transfer I have seen it change lives. We have people we are teaching who recently got out of jail and now they have turned their life around and are on track to be baptized! I have seen it bring families closer together. It has brought peace to me on hard days out here on my mission. It has helped give me guidance on what I should do. I love serving a mission and meeting all of these cool people! I know the Book of Mormon is true and I know that Christ lives today. He loves each of us and knows us by name. We may not see all of the potential in ourselves but he does. He can help us get there if only we ask. I love you all and hope you have a great week! -Elder Robbins

Elders: Dunn, Allen, Robbins & Pouwers

Here comes the rain!

Pinewood Derby!

Elder Robbins in his element!

Other info from Tyler:

• I love the Moses chapters they have a ton of power behind them. some of my favorite chapters from the Book of Mormon is 2 Nephi 31, Alma 32 and Ether 12. I'm almost finished getting through the book of Mormon since I've been on my mission! 
• For transferring, they just drive to their new apartment so my new companion will be here about 8am tomorrow and then Elder Power will head off to his new area. For the bikes we have bike racks usually a member drives us though so they will have a big enough car to fit it in the back. 
• The mission President just travels around the mission. Interviews are once a transfer. 
• I've already had many experiences where I have been somewhere at the right time. One thing that I've learned while I've been out here is that you can be the smartest person in the world and know everything about the church yet you still couldn't teach people. It is through the Holy Ghost that you know what those people need to hear next or really what they need to hear that second. It's been so cool to see how the Lord has used me to get to certain people.

January 15, 2018 - Christ Like Attributes

Missions are all about Christ. But while I have been on my mission I have learned more about him than I have my whole life. I've been studying his attributes a lot and how I can improve mine. my main focus attributes this week were faith and hope. we all need to learn about Christ to become like him, that is the goal of this life.  This past week was kind of rough but looking back now everything that happened was so funny. we met some very interesting people that said some very interesting things. the most interesting one to me was we walk up to this guy and started talking to him. we asked him if he was religious at all and he said he believed in Thor and Odin, Elder Pouwer and I weren't really sure what to do haha.  On Thursday it was super rainy and Elder Pouwer wanted to go play in the rain so we did and then we realized the key to get back into the church was in the church so we were locked out for a little bit. haha

I found this quote from Dallas H. Oaks that I really liked it says: 

“None of us should be like the fisherman who thinks he has been fishing all day when in reality he has spent most of his time getting to and from the water, eating lunch, and fussing with his equipment. Fishing success is related to how long you have your line in the water, not to how long you are away from the apartment. Some fishermen are away from home for twelve hours and have their line in the water for ten hours. Other fishermen are away from home for twelve hours and have their line in the water for only two hours. This last type may wonder why they do not have the same success as others."

I love this quote and completely agree with it but there is more than just how long we have our lines in the water. if we don't have the right bait to catch the fish then we aren't going to catch anything. I think this could be applied to almost every situation. you can try to solve it for some long as you want but without the right approach you won't accomplish anything. just thought that was kind of cool. 

We have been teaching this amazing family. we found them the first couple of days I was here in stayton. They have been loving the gospel and loved church too! the other day we were going to teach them about eternal families but at the beginning of the lesson the dad asked us a question and he basically asked us when he can be baptized. we were so excited and we taught the family on baptism instead! the dad and 3 kids are on date to be baptized on February 3rd! we are so excited for them! They were golden contacts and were so prepared for us to meet them. 

Something that lots of people probably don't know about Oregon is that there are lots of christmas tree farms everywhere! it's pretty cool!

We also have one of the coolest wards! they give us lots of food! don't worry mom I'm not starving. haha

This week has been crazy but we have seen so many little miracles. I am so thankful for all of the miracles because without them I don't know how I would get through the week. I love this gospel, I love being on a mission. it has been one of the greatest experiences of my life so far. I've learned to love the book of Mormon and to look to Christ for guidance in everything I do. thanks for all the support! love you all. 

-Elder Robbins

Food from the ward!  They're the BEST!

January 8, 2018 - New year, New investigators, and a forgotten email

Hey everybody! I totally forgot to send out an email last week so sorry about that. Elder Pouwer and I have seen so many little miracles in the past two weeks. It's been super cool to see how much the Lord has been preparing the hearts of all these people. The past two weeks I have been working on having more faith and listening to the Holy Ghost.  I was able to go on my first two exchanges the past two weeks. They are a lot of fun and it's cool to see what other missionaries do throughout the day.  I had my first interview with my mission President. I passed and went on my way.

Some days are super slow and others we are packed. It seems like it's either a hit or miss there's no in between haha. Depending on the day we could have more than 4 lessons and a ton of other stuff to get done or we are finding all day. I enjoy it all though.

It's fun going out and talking to people because half of them tell us the same thing and so I'm pretty sure other churches around here might be very anti Mormon. The other people we talk to are so nice and we have some pretty good conversations with.

I love the lessons because you become so close with some of the people. We have a great family that we are teaching right now. We have a few other super good investigators that are doing so well and loving everything they are learning.

I’ve grown so much while I've been out here. I’ve learned a lot about life and I've created some habits that will hopefully last for life. My favorite habit is reading the Book of Mormon. You can gain so much knowledge from it about pretty much anything. It has helped me the past couple months, it has helped my investigators so much. I know it well help all of you guys too. If you aren't reading it at the moment I would challenge all of you to start. Not only will it make you happier but it will help give you guidance too. I love it out here in Oregon and wouldn’t want to be anywhere else right now. Love you all and hope you have a great week! -Elder Robbins
Other info from Tyler:

This past week was a great week. We have been so busy though. I'm starting to love the mission more and more. At first it was kind of hard getting used to everything. Now it's just another wonderful day haha. The hardest thing for me to get used to is talking to all of the people. I'm getting better at it though haha. It's crazy how many people just say no or something along those lines when we just say hi. (Upon further questioning) Lots of people don't say hi back they just say no or tell us to go away. It's kind of pathetic. I think that other churches are teaching people how to get rid of Mormon because they know we're right haha.

• I always feel like there is somebody else there with me. I don't think I could get through a day on my own and have as much energy as I do throughout the day. 
• They had 11 investigators at church yesterday!!!  A couple (same one they brought food to a few weeks ago) that are going to get married on February 14th!  It'll be 15 years to the day that they got engaged. They taught them about eternal marriage.   Another lady came that is doing great. She is trying to stop smoking but has said this time it's with God's help.  Tyler and Elder Pouwer's brought her dumb dumb suckers to help:)  Tyler says - It's very hard to stop smoking though I would imagine. She is married he isn't interested at the moment but her dad is! She brought her daughter last week but she was sick this week.  They are going to pizza on Tuesday with this family and her father. And lastly a family with 5 kids came!  Tyler says they are a great family! The dad has had a rough past but he is one of the nicest guys! They are changing their life around though.
• They gave a blessing to a 1-yr old twin this past week.  He's not sure how he's doing now.
• Yes get fed every night and some sometimes lunch too.
• We do exchanges 2 times a transfer (every 6 weeks) just so the district leader can see how we are doing. 
• (For the car)We have something called tiwi basically we have to have a card that logs into the car so they can track if we are driving too crazy. I don't have my card yet.
• The interviews are pretty short like 10-15 minutes. We just talk about how I was doing. How Elder Pouwer is doing. How the area is doing. I learned a lot too. I like my mission President a lot. 
• The weather really isn't too bad right now. It's just a light rain it's almost a mist. I've never felt it in Utah it's a weird rain.
• We walk to less active members homes or potential investigators and just talk to people along the way. There aren't always people out but on nicer days there usually are.

January 1, 2018 - Email to Family

It was so fun talking to you all on Christmas! I'm doing really good. It's a lot of fun being out here but sometimes I forget I'm not in Utah anymore. Yesterday I met someone from Lehi!! I am in the Stayton ward but our area covers the Stayton ward and the gates branch. we go to the Stayton ad and do most of our work in the Stayton area. In about a month there will be a senior couple in the gates branch so we will loose that area sadly. We have a couple of good investigators over there. Even if we did commit them before they would still be transferred to the senior couple. There is a possibility that the 3 there could be baptized this month though. We are teaching quite a few people. We are teaching 2 recent converts including this guy who's over 70 years old. The ward is great and includes him quite a bit. Also, there is the family of 7. And then a few others too. We are pretty busy. One of the ladies is doing really good. She made it to church yesterday and loved it! Yes she has 2 little kids, she only brought one yesterday though and her daughter loved it too.

We're trying to get a couple to the point where they are self-reliant I guess. They struggle with a lot of things but there is plenty of help here if they need it. At times I can feel someone else's presence with us in lessons. It's really cool how the spirit works. There are some lessons when we are walking out that I don't remember anything I said but I knew it was good. It's super cool the guidance He gives us. On New Year's Eve, we had to be in by 6pm so we watched a movie called The District 2. It's a missionaries video. I haven't set my new years goals yet but I will by the end of the day. Goal setting is a big part of being a missionary and life in general. Part of setting a goal is setting a plan to do it afterwards though.

Greenie package!

Gift from a member

Love pictures from members!!

Yikes!