November 26, 2018 - The Greenie

Elder Cathemer

These past two weeks have been absolutely crazy. Sorry I didn't send out an email last week. Our p-day was changed to Thursday and I ran out of time to write one.  First things first, the greenie. I was in a trio with the zone leaders (Elder Rasmussen and Elder Johnson) as I was waiting to pick up my new companion. I learned so much during those few days and also got some more sweet music. (almost 5000 songs haha) my new companion is Elder Cathemer. He's fresh from the MTC but doesn't really need much training. He's from Ogden Utah and he likes to go rock crawling like me! We have a lot more in common but I will spare all of that for later. He is a little bit older so he is much more prepared than I was expecting and ready to get to work. On Thanksgiving, we had 2 dinners and they were both great. At one of them, all of the people were like half my size not joking and so I felt really out of place there but the food was good.

We had a lot of amazing lessons, We have started teaching the Bates family. They are super cool and the dad has been a member for a long time but knows very little about the gospel. They all seem to be really into the lessons but we have to teach very basic principles so we don't give them too much information and overwhelm them. We have taught them about the restoration and they loved it. They have been reading from the Book of Mormon and love it as well.

Brandon still has not been baptized but he plans on it happening soon! We are teaching him a lot but for him it's mostly just a review, he already knows everything.

It has been a long two weeks but we are seeing a lot of success as we do our best to be diligent and follow every prompting from the spirit that comes our way. We have found quite a few people through knocking on random doors. Knocking on doors has been one of the scariest things for me to do on my mission. When you are walking up to someone on the street, you can see them and assess what they have in their hands or if they’re drunk. But with doors, you're standing two feet away from something and you have no idea what they may do. But it turns out most people are really nice and if they don't want to talk then they will just close the door after seeing us.

One of my favorite scriptures from this past week is found in Helaman 10:4-5. It talks about how if we work with unwearyingness that the lord will bless us forever. He will make us mighty in word and deed, in faith and in works. I loved this as soon as I read it and took it as a promise to myself. When I look back on the person that I was before my mission and who I am now, the change is amazing. As I have worked diligently and sought the Lord’s council in all that I do, he has definitely strengthened me a lot in every aspect of the work.

I love this gospel and how much it truly blesses each and every person. Many people do not know that they are looking for the gospel but once they have it, they can't go back without wanting more. 

Sorry this email is kind of a mess. I'm tired from playing basketball with all of the other elders.

-Elder Robbins

Elders Robbins, Tuttle, Cathemer

November 22, 2018 - Thanksgiving Day!

Tyler's P-day was moved to Thanksgiving day, and he didn't write a group email. These are a few things he wrote to me in answer to my questions.

I finished Alma this past week and it was awesome! Now onto Helaman. I was reading Mosiah chapter 14 this past week, actually I studied it for an hour and I loved it. The Isaiah chapters are cool because they make you ponder what they mean. We read it with a member of our church who was a preacher for 25 years and he taught us so much but we were able to teach him a lot as well so it was really cool.

Yes dinners will be changed (members will no longer feed them M-F). It will be weird to implement and apply but we will see how well it works. There pros and cons to it happening. We really get to know the members at dinners and they get to know the people we are teaching at dinners. Kind of wish they weren't changing it but it is for a reason and we will see how it works out. Yes we will get a crock pot. I could use some recipes yes. And our monthly allotment will be increased. They want us out working at latest 5pm till 9 pm. I'm going to have to bring food with us though, I wouldn't be able to make it that long without eating lol.

I am the district leader. There are 6 elders no sisters. My MTC comp, Elder Tuttle, is in my district so that is fun!

This transfer is crazy. We have a mini zone conference this next week to figure out the dinner schedule change. On Dec 8 elder Cook from the quorum of the 12 is coming and speaking to us. On the 14th is the talent show zone conference so it's pretty crazy!

We only have 2 dinners (for Thanksgiving) thankfully. Some missionaries have 4 or more haha.

This past week was kind of crazy and super busy. It was hard not having p-day on Monday and it totally threw us off so that day was rough but we made it through. Elder Cathemer and I get along great and have a ton for fun. He is a great missionary and is very humble and willing to learn! He is brand new from the MTC and he is doing awesome! He is 20. Training is going really good. I was a little worried at first but then I realized I just keep on doing what I'm doing and then explain why and how. He knows pretty well what he is doing already. We have found a few new people to teach.

Love you mom! Tell the rest of the family I love them as well. Talk to you on Monday.

November 12, 2018 - This Week Was Nuts

This past week was absolutely crazy and all over the place. we had our Tempe trip on Tuesday which was great! Wednesday was Brandon's baptismal interview which he passed! Thursday Elder Crafts had a District Leader meeting so I was in a trio with a Spanish missionary. I got to listen to a whole lesson in Spanish and I could understand quite a bit! Friday was district council we did a ton of role plays and then one of the elders told us he would be going home the next day. So Saturday we were supposed to have the baptism but we were also in a trio and it was quite hectic. We hadn't heard from Brandon for like 2 days so we called off the baptism. We had an extra Elder and another area to cover so we were all over the place but we made it work. We got transfer calls that night, I will be staying and training a new missionary. Elder Crafts will be going to Sweet Home. Then Sunday we had ward council, then we went to five hours of church. It was crazy and I was so tired. I was so spiritually uplifted though. As we were sitting in Elders Quorum, I was reminded of something I heard a long time ago.

Back: Elders Peterson, Robbins, Lubbers Front: Elders Johnson, Crafts, Rasmussen

Basically there is this man asking for the Lord to strengthen him. He prays and prays for strength to overcome his trials, all that the Lord tells him to do is go outside and push this boulder. This boulder is huge and no man could push it. Day after day, month after month, year after year he pushes this boulder. It doesn't move an inch, he asks the Lord why he had him push that boulder and not have it move an inch. The Lord then proceeds to tell him to look at himself and the person he has become. His muscles and endurance have grown dramatically over the 10 year period of pushing this boulder every single day. Yet because the boulder didn't move, he didn't feel like he accomplished anything.

Many times we feel like this where we are doing everything we need to be doing and everything the Lord has asked us to, yet we still feel like we are failing. As long as we are faithful, the Lord will strengthen us and make us into the people he needs us to be. We must not compare ourselves to what we accomplish because we will always fall short, but we must compare ourselves to who we used to be and who we are now.

I love this gospel and the person it has made me into! I love the Book of Mormon and the teachings contained within. I'm grateful for all the Lord has blessed me with.

-Elder Robbins

November 6, 2018 - Yep... That Happened

Temple Trip! Elder Robbins & Crafts

Hey everybody! Sorry for not sending out an email yesterday. My p-day was changed to Tuesday so we could go to the temple. It was absolutely amazing and the spirit there is so strong. It’s as if you could cut it with a knife. I got to see a bunch of my missionary buddies while there and I learned a ton as well. Elder Crafts and I had a pretty crazy experience on Monday night. We were going to a lesson for a recent convert, she wasn't there. We visited this other recent convert and as we were walking out we saw these two guys on the ground fighting. Elder Crafts and I wanted to get out of there but our ward mission leader who is barely over 100 pounds decides to try and break it up by flashing lights and yelling. Well all that did was allow the guy on the bottom to push the other guy off and get up. They started throwing some punches then one of the guys shoots a gun straight into the air and the other takes off. So did we, we ran to our car and got out as quickly as possible. I didn't think that would happen while I was on my mission. Now I can count that one off of the mission bucket list haha.

We have been spending quite a bit of time preparing for Brandon's baptism this upcoming Saturday. We are getting really excited for him and he is getting very excited but nervous. He has his Baptismal interview tomorrow and he is so prepared and ready.

This upcoming week is going to be crazy. On Thursday, Elder Crafts has a district leader training so we will have another exchange. On Saturday we have the baptism and then transfer calls that night. It's going to be crazy but so good as well.

One big thing I have been trying to focus on getting better at is my daily habits. There are all sorts of different habits that we can get into good and bad. But some of the most important ones we should start if we aren't already in them is praying and studying the scriptures daily. It may seem harmless to go a day without prayer when we feel that we are doing well. It may seem harmless to not read your scriptures when you are already very knowledgeable in them. The reason why these things are so important to do every day is so that we can remember the Lord all the time. When we don't draw upon his power daily then when we need him the most we won't remember to draw upon his power and be alone. It's been amazing as I have done these two simple things every day, the guidance from the spirit that I receive and how much more I am able to bless the lives of other people.

-Elder Robbins