February 18, 2019 - P-Day

This past week really wasn't super interesting; we did a ton of teaching with many different people. We had an exchange and I was with Elder Eldredge. We went on an exchange almost exactly a year ago so it was fun to see how much we have both grown over this past year. Today for P-Day I was able to talk to my family because of the communication change the church just made. Now families can be much more involved in their missionary’s lives and support them more! I think it is great. Also for P-Day we decided to go frisbee golfing with a bunch of other elders. There is this sweet course but with two of the holes it is over this giant river and we lost 3 disc's in it lol. It was pretty hilarious.

Since I don't have much to talk about I'll tell you about the weather. This past week was pretty cold, it rained way too much for my liking and I still love the ocean so so much. Lincoln City is pretty great. We are working with a lady named Raquel, she was found the week before I got here. She has now come to church 3 times has accepted a baptismal date for this upcoming month and is progressing super quickly! Both Elder Nelson and I super excited for her and many others that we are working with. My comp Elder Nelson is from South Jordan Utah but tells everybody he is from Arizona where he lived 2 years before he left. He is tall and skinny like me so I feel like a lot of the time we more intimidate people with our height haha. Here's my favorite scripture from this past week. It's short and sweet, take it to heart. Jacob 6:12 "O be wise; what can I say more?" Sorry I don't have more to share this week. -Elder Robbins

Elder Eldredge

February 11, 2019 - God Cares

I am so glad to be back here on the coast and I love it here in Lincoln City already! We have a ton of awesome people we are working with here and we're able to put a few of them on date for baptism as well! One of my favorite people we are working with right now is named Mary. She is a super cool lady and has been meeting with missionaries for about 9 months now. She has been kind of on and off with progressing and not progressing. This past week we had two lessons with her and they were both super powerful. The first one she had read the Book of Enos and got stuck on one verse (15 if you're wondering). That verse spoke to her soul and had so much power. We were able to testify of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and the spirit was very strong.

The second lesson was very powerful as well, we talked all about the sacrament and she had some great questions and insights. She almost committed to be baptized but couldn't quite yet. She committed to come to church as well but sadly didn't make it.

On Sunday we did our studies in the afternoon because we were busy in the morning, well I fell asleep and when Elder Nelson woke me up I though we were going to drive somewhere for some reason but turns out we were walking. I didn't bring my beanie and my coat didn't have a hood so the wind blew right through me and the rain was soooo cold. That was probably the coldest I have been on my mission so far. We got to walk by the ocean though and the Oregon coast is beautiful, I love it.... Sometimes.

Today for p-day we went on a hike with a member named Brother Stump. It's called Drift Creek Falls. It was a beautiful hike - only problem is it was snowy and raining and it was cold because we were all soaked lol. It was still a ton of fun.

Brother Stump

One question I ask myself a lot is what makes you happy? Well my thoughts are almost always brought back to what is happiness and what is joy. I've come to the conclusion that happiness is temporary and that it can be overridden with doubt, fear or any other emotion. But joy is something that is eternal, we can still feel joy through all of the sorrow, grief or pains because joy comes in and through Christ. Joy comes when we acknowledge the small blessings that God has given to us. King Benjamin in the Book of Mosiah teaches us that the Lord lends us every breath and that he can take us from this earth at any moment.  What a blessing to be alive today and to be able to glorify God for all things. Look around a little bit in what God has given us, its beautiful how abundantly he has blessed us. One thing I think drags many people down is comparison, when we compare there is no joy. We either compare and think we are better which leads to pride. Or we compare and wish we were to be better off or had more of this or more of that. But God doesn't want us to do that, he has pre-designed for us to be here at this time and for us to feel joy in this life.

For many of you who know me, know me to be a more quiet person. There are many reasons for this but one of the biggest reasons is I didn't know where I belonged in this life and many times didn't feel like I belonged anywhere. Many of you probably feel like this and feel like God may have abandoned you. Well my word of advice to overcome this is don't you stop - keep on pushing forward. Keep stretching farther and becoming stronger but be grateful for what God has already given you. You'll realize later on that God has been right by you all along and that you do have purpose in this life. That people do care about you. Even more importantly, that God cares about you and knows you individually. He has placed us each right where we need to be whether to lift others up or to be lifted up. God cares, so we should care. We each have purpose in this life and can make an impact. Know that I care. I love you all!

-Elder Robbins

February 4, 2019 - Coast 2.0

The District

Elders Robbins, Wagoner, Tuttle, Smith Cathemer, Stidley, Johnson, Joyner

We got transfer calls this past Saturday and I am leaving Salem and going to Lincoln City! I am going back to the coast and I am so excited! If you remember way back to the MTC days and can recollect who Elder Nelson is, I will be with him. We're going to have a ton of fun! I'm going to miss Elder Cathemer but we knew this time would come. On Tuesday, I had exchanges with Elder Steidley, he is a wild kid and hasn't quite yet been humbled from the mission. We had a ton of fun even though we weren't able to find anybody that day. We have been trying to work more closely with some of the members here and help reactivate others. We have found that is the most productive thing to do at the moment because not many people out on the street have been very receptive, partially because it has been cold and rainy. Today it actually started snowing for a couple of minutes and it made me really happy nothing like back in Utah though.

Salem has been kind of a rough area for me these past 4 months but I am glad I was here for sure. I remember I was praying to come to Salem so I could become a better finder and talk to everybody and that happened for sure but now I've been praying to leave, this place is kind of crazy. Since being here, I have really come to better understand how blessed I really am to have grown up where I did and in the family I did. There are so many people out here who have made a lot of bad decisions and had a lot of bad consequences in return. It's quite sad because many of them may not have grown up in the same circumstances as I have or even had parents who cared about them. I believe a lot of people are who they are today because they either received love or they had a lack of love. God loved all men and blessed many billions of lives all over, because of that, some people loved him and others didn’t. Since being here, I have learned to love all those that I have come in contact even if they smell bad haha. We need more love in this world and it can all start with ourselves and loving who we are. That will then rub off on other people and they will become more content with who they are. Try and figure out how God looks at you and how he loves you and it opens up a whole new world. I love you all! -Elder Tyler Robbins

Last P-Day together

Elder Stidley

Essuman Family

Snowed in Salem

January 28, 2019 - Please stop interrupting me

Elder McElmurry, companion from Tillamook

This past week we had Zone Conference. One thing we do every Zone Conference is play something President and Sister Tateoka call jazzmitton. Basically there is a little birdy that you hit back and forth with what looks like a giant ping pong paddle. Well usually about 30 seconds after we start (we play with our comp) it ends up turning into let's see who can hit their companion the hardest with the birdy and then the other person tries to defend themselves from it. This past Monday we had exchanges, I was with Elder Wagoner for all of Tuesday. Well we go out finding and the first guy we talk to is a hard core Catholic, I have nothing against Catholics but this guy was a jerk. We said hi and he started going off on us about how we were false and how we need to look up religion on YouTube and all of this other crazy stuff. All that Elder Wagoner and I wanted to do with this guy was get away. We would try and talk and end the conversation but then he would just interrupt us. I started to get really frustrated, so me thinking I'm clever just decides to talk over him and try to end the conversation so he starts yelling. We had no idea what he was even going off on.

To end the conversation I shook his hand and didn't let go which made him really uncomfortable and I just testified about the Book of Mormon and that I know God loves him and then walked away. I was so upset and Elder Wagoner knew it so we went back to the apartment and ate ice cream that has been in our freezer forever.

On Sunday I was asked to give a talk in church. I had always heard about people showing forth their faith and getting up there with nothing planned and then speaking for a good 20 minutes. Well me being me, I decided to put it to the test and see if the spirit would direct my thoughts and words to be the message that the people needed to hear. Well I can definitely tell you that God was very aware that I needed his help and he definately did help me to speak for a good 15 minutes. Now for those of you who know me I don't enjoy speaking very much and i showed that at my farewell. At my farewell I was asked to speak for 15 minutes and I think I lasted 7 or 8. After this talk when I sat down I was amazed that I actually filled the full time even though I had no idea what I said. Elder cathemer told me I talked a lot about prayer and incorporating it into missionary work so that's pretty cool. I know That God is there to help us when we need the help, we may not understand how it comes or how we got through but it does happen.

-Elder Robbins

Zone Conference Wagoner, McElMurry, Justesen, Cluff, Schults

Elders Wagoner

Spanish elders in Apt Complex Elders Western & Robinson