Coming Home

Well This week has been A roller Coaster Ride. Well actually the past six months have been a roller coaster ride. It was a holiday this week but It didn't really feel much different. Mary took us to Poplar Forset (Thomas Jeffersons Get away home) For the 4th. It was very fun there was people dressed up like the way they did back then and it was all very authentic, mostly it was just great to spend a whole day with Mary. I love her so much.

Stanley.. our pet cockroach died, sadly. Sister Peirson and I both shed a few tears. haha how ridiculous is that??

Well I guess its time to get to the point, So the past six months have been the best of my entire life also the hardest of my entire life. I have been struggling a lot with my health problems. I thought that they could get better I have been to the doctor about three times a week and nothing... The mission has done everything they can for me. I thought that I could just keep goign with the pain because I have since I was a freshman in highschool but, missions are hard and they require you to be at your very best health.

My mission president called me and told me he thinks it would be best for me to go home for 30 days to try to figure out what is wrong with me at home. I cryed at first when he told me and he told me to pray about it. SO I did..

I have been being prepared for this even before I left on my mission. But I know that the Lord needed me here for the time I have been here and I also know that he needs me at home for a short time to figure out what is wrong with me so that I can be healthy. I have a whole life ahead of me, I love the Lord with all of my heart. This letter is really hard for me to write because I know that a lot of people don't understand no one really understands except for me and the Lord and that is really all the matters to me anymore. I know without out a doubt that sometimes the Lord has a plan for us that we didn't see but he loves us and everything will be okay in the end.

Last week I was feeling very depressed and confused about what to do. I felt so strongly to ask Elder Brandon for a blessing. I pushed it out of my head and said I didn't need a blessing. Well after the meeting Elder Brandon came up to me and shook my hand, he said Heavenly Father loves you I just wanted you to know that I felt that. It took me back a little bit but I didn't really think twice about it until I was in the car driving back to our area. Then it dawned on me Elder Brandon really did need to give me a blessing. SO we called him and asked him to meet us at the church. He gave me a blassing and in that blessing over and over again he said Heavenly Father Loves you so much and he really just wants you to know that. He also said He has a plan for you that is not your plan, and that I need to be willing to accept his will.

SIster Peirson and I got in the car and I said I think Heavenly Father really just wants me to know that he loves me. I am so glad I got that blessing because it was a week later that I found out I would be coming home for a short time. That was not in my plans. But it is in the Lords plans. I know that.

I love this Gospel so much. My testimony is so strong. I know that I wil NEVER falter because I now know without a doubt that living the commandments and all the thigns that seem "hard" for a lot of people will be so worth it to us in the end when we get to live with eternal Joy and Bliss with our Father in Heaven again. The joy of being a missionary and bringing someone to the Gospel is unexplainable. The best feeling in the world.

This week we found another elect person ready for the Gospel her name is Naomi Overstreet. We taught her the plan of Salvation and she was so sure that it was true. She remember it from Heaven, she set her self on Baptismal date for JULY 27TH! The spirit in that lesson was so strong and I am so glad That heavenly father let me meet one last person here in Bedford that I know will come to the happiness of the Gospel.

I won't lie I am excited to see everybody and I am excited to go to the doctor and figure this out so that I can feel like me again. and finish my mission. This week we also watched 17 miracles. We have watched it alot lately like fifty times a week. I think I already wrote about it but I will again anyways. Sarah franks true love dies while on the trek to utah and she was so devestaed but she kept going because she knew that "It will all be worth it". That is so true every trial that we go through will be worth it in the end. We are never alone and we are never ever forgotten. HE is always there. He is always the light in the darkest of storms. I now know that personally. I love you all and love the support and love that you have given me. Thank you for everything.

 Another week come and gone and now it is July. Where did June go? Time is going by so fast. On tuesday the Elders came down to Bedford to work with us in our area. They found us a few new investigators so I was super happy about that. One of them was Naomi. We went to visit her on Saturday and she seems very elect. Like she knows that she needs this in her life. I am so excited to get to teach her more. While the Elders where doing their thing we went to visit a less active named Richard. It was so FRUSTRATING. He said that he knows it is true and stuff he is just to lazy to do all the work it requires to be LDS. What the heck? I was upset because I just don't understand people sometimes. This church is true. It is Gods one and only true church of course it is going to require work, salvation is NOT easy. SO many people are just so hard hearted.

On Thursday Morning Sister Peirson was showering and all of a sudden I hear a scream, She ran out of the bathroom screaming because there was a cockroach running around the floor. She grabbed a cup out of the cupboard and put it on top of it. Then we both were grossed out and did not want to let it go to try to kill it because it was so gross so we decided to just leave it there. We now have a pet cockroach, his name is stanley. He just chillls in the bathroom with us in his cup. He is pretty cool, as long as he stays in there.

On Sunday Sister Peirson and I were asked to talk in church. She was going first but for some reason we felt that I was supposed to go first so we switched and I ended up talking for 30 minuts on missionary work! Sister Pierson didn't even get to talk. I never in a million years thought I would be able to give a talk that long but I did. I am becoming a Virginian!! haha. I love Bedford it is my home. Transfers are in two weeks and I think I might be leaving finally. I am very sad about it. Things are good here. Not a lot happened this week to write about but it was good! They came out with a new mormon message It is so good!!! http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages#origin :) I love you all, sorry I don't have much to say except that there is no where else I would rather be than Bedford Virginia right now. WRITE ME :)

This week was so fun, hard, happy, and discouraging. All mixed together in one. I did not even know that was possible. Monday night after P-day ended our two new branch missionaries came over for the 24 hour exchange. Kimmie is 16 and Haley is 17. Haley just baptized almost two months ago and Kimmie struggling with her testimony very much. Sister Peirson and I were up to the challenge. It ended up being so much more than I thought it was going to be. We went to Mary's house for dinner and the girls both bore very powerful testimonies after the lesson we taught. We then decided to take them tracting, where they saw how much fun rejection is!! Then we came home and went to bed. Then 6:00 A.m roles around (We wake up early to have enough time to run) we woke them up and they looked like zombies as we were running down the street. They got ready and studied with us. Then we went to a less actives house Erica Quick, we did the analogy of the savior washing his disciples feet and gave eachother pedicures! It was so fun. After that we went to Visit a potential investigator LaCarol. She let us in and talked ot us for about an hour. I was so impressed with those girls they were asking questions and bearing there testimony with out us even having to say anything. I just sat back and was really trying to figrue out what LaCarol needed it finally came to me and I asked her if I could share a scripture with her from the Book of Mormon. I shared Ether 12:27 she was like WOAH! That is exactly what I needed she marked it on the page and put a book mark in to show to her daughter. Then she turned to me and said you've been studying me out. haha it was kinda funny, but really cool to see the spirit of discernment working. She became a new investigator! We went to dinner at the Wolfs and then came back. The girls were so tired they could barely even function. It was so funny! We had them each share their testimony and it was amazing to see how it had grown just in one day. The church is true. I know that!
The next day was a district meeting and I had to teach the other missionaries the principle of Chairty. Just the week before I had to teach Obedience. I think I must be needed to learn something about christ like attributes. haha since they keep asking me to teach them. But something new that I learned about Charity that I was really needing this week was how the second greatest commandment is LIKE unto the first and that is to love thy neighbor as THY SELF!  How can we expect to be able to love others the way chirst does if we don't first love our selves. When we truly recognize who we are but more importantly WHOSE we are, Children of God. Then we can forget ourselves and serve others. This video is a perfect example of that christ like love http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages#god-will-lift-us-up She easily could of said, "Why me?" but instead she turned to the lord to bless others who had it worse than her. That truly amazed me. We can never forget who we are and our purpose on this life. Another video is by Elder Russel M. Nelson about our identity http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages#mens-hearts-shall-fail-them Sister Peirson and I show tese viedoes to the people we teach all the time. They are so powerful.
Friday was another one of those days like last week, we went tracting and no one let us in. Carolyn and Larry dropped us. and to top off the night we stopped at Ray's house (a potential) his wife answered and she said you know we aren't intesrested I believe the bible is the only true book on the earth. and I am honestly not sure where the courage came from but I remeber looking her straight in the eye and saying I respect you and your belief but I would be lying if I said you are right. The Book of Mormon is the words of Chirst it is true and I know it and he wants you to know it too. I promise you that it will bless your life in ways that you can't even imagine. She turned us away but kept the book of mormon. When we got in the car Sister Peirson was like wow that was powerful and I just started crying because the spirit was so strong. If nothing else It completly changed my mission and the way I view the book of Mormon and that is that Heavenly Father wants all his children to read this book and that is true. There is no doubt in my mind about it. And everyone is just to hard hearted and stubborn to realize that, they won't let the spirit into there lives it requires work. Well eternal life and eternal happines.. guess what it is worth the work. EVERYONE NEEDS THIS!! And we can't do it alone we need the members to invite their friends that is the only way people will listen. I never want to get to heaven and someone I love look at me and say "you had this and you didn't bother to tell me about it".
Everything we have been doing lately has just not been working. Everyone keeps dropping us and we just could not figure out what is going on. After that braodcast last night our eyes were opened as to why nothing has been working out because heavenly father does not want us doing this alone anymore. He wants the members to do it and we are just to assist. I know that will help and that will be so much more effective than trying to knock on doors all day. This church is true! I know it. and it was reaffirmed to me last night.Go to this webstie and skip in to 36;50  snd watch to 42:28 then skip to 100:47 to  105;25 those were my favorite parts!  http://www.lds.org/training/wwlt/2013/hastening/special-broadcast?lang=eng I hope everyone has a good week! I love you all so much :) Thank you for everything you do.

So this week started out very great. On Wednesday we had specialized training with President Pitt. He taught us how to use our time more effectively and that we need to be swimming in deep waters every single day. So Sister Peirsen and I set some very high goals. Well on the way home we were ready to accomplish those goals and there was a horrible horrible reck so we were stuck in traffic for three hours and by the time we finally got home the day was over. We decided to try again the next day even harder. First we decided to try our investigator Bobby, but he was drunk with his friends so we left and knocked on a few doors only one guy answered and I am pretty sure he was drunk too. he siad "im just chilling so im good" haha wierd. Then we picked up Mary to take her to a lesson with us we got to the lesson and the lady didn't answer her door. Of course. So we went back to Marys house and then a huge storm tornado warning came out of no where and we tryed to go outside and literally almost got blown away so Mary made us stay at her house for a while until the storm cleared up. Then we tryed to visit this lady who had asked for a book of Mormon but there was a tree blown down in the road so we had to take a detour and on the way we saw this lady outside picking up twigs and stuff from the storn so we decided to stop and help her, she didn't want our help but we helped her anyways then we tryed to talk with her after but she basically ran inside. so that was a bust. After Dinner we tryed the lady I mentioned above who wanted a bookd of mormon and first she didn't answer but then we saw her in the window and waved (she was annoyed) she came to the door and said no before we could even talk. I was feeling frustrated and felt the need to be bold with her I just bore her my testimony and told her that if she ever got the opportunity to hear this message again she really should not pass it up because she needs it in her life. She was sorta taken back but then agreed to take a card form us. After that There was this guy walking on the street so we walked up to him and turns out he was a baptist preacher. He tryed to convince us that we had not been saved. IT was a great way to end our night. It was because we set such high goals that nothing worked out. I call that the trial of our faith before the miracles!! and that is true because the next day was exchanges ...

So I took Sister Richards with me to try a referall from one of the members her name is Dianne. She saw us and just hugged us and said that she has read the book of Mormon and met with Elders before she knows about this church and she was begging us to come back. he was so funny she told us her whole life story including that she waited to have sexual relationships until she was married and then proceed to high five us. hahaha. She also talked about how if we are all christian then it does not matter what church we belong too. Then she said, Right? and I just looked at her she said you don't belive that do you and I said well do you want to know why and she said YES but not right now I want you to come back and tell me, my daughter, her friend, and my boyfriend! 3 referalls all at once. That was awesome. So we left and told her that we would call and we would come back. She also told us that she was $15 short of rent and she started crying when she was talking about how she just did not know how she was going to make it but she had been praying and she knows that God will provide a way. So the next morning Sister Richards and I went running and on the way back she saw $5 on the ground. She picked up thinking sweet and that it was only five bucks. Well then we went home and showered and got ready then she opend the $5 and there was a $20 inside. Then we felt bad but had no idea how to get it back to the owner. So the thought came to mind it is for Dianne. I suggested that we mail it to Dianne and she agreed. So we stuck it in an envelope with a little note that said God is Listening. It was so awesome to feel like the Lord was giving us that money to send to her. Then when we got back to the apartment a little later that day there was an envelope in the door with $40 dollars in it. When you give you always recieve. It was such a cool miracle.

I was happy when exchanges were over though because Sister Peirsen came back. We have so much fun. It is seriously like being with your best friend all the time but doing missionary work together. It makes a HUGE difference. Lately we have been focusing a lot on the Less Actives and the young women. That is who needs us right now. and that is what President Hodge has asked us to do. Things are going great with that. I couldn't be more happy. I love you all!! Have a great week. 

So, This was such a good week. Tuesday was Sister Curtis's birthday and we had a dinner appointment at the Balls. We walked in and there was streamers and baloons and pizza and a huge ice cream cake and they all started singing to her. It was so cute. I was glad that she could feel loved on her birthday. But the best part was Brother Barton was there and he brought us out two fishing poles with a bow around them for each of us to have. Who knew birthdays could be so enjoyable for the comapnion as well ;) So needless to say now I have a pretty cool fishing pole, not sure how I am going to get that home, but yes I will now be the missionary who carries a fishing pole with her to every transfer. haha 

When we got home there was a million lightning bugs outside, we just sat on the porch and watched them for a minute. I didn't know lightning bugs really existed but they do. they are so cute. When we came inside the Zone leaders called us and they sounded very hesitant. Elder Brandon says "so you know how I said you weren't getting transfered... well you are." Sister Peirsen who was being trained by sister Jang and Sister Curtis who was being trained by me just swapped areas. So now I am trainging Sister Peirsen. It was so unexpected and I was a little bit concerned about it but I can testify that the Lord really does know exactly what we need. SIster Peirsen is like my twin sister. We get a long so great, we keep saying how sad we are that we will proabably only get to be together for six weeks and have to keep reminding our selves that we should just enjoy the time we do have together.  We have so much FUN! This transfer was defineatly and answer to prayers. I finally ahve a companion who is the same age as me which is awesome as well.

Thursday was amazing before we picked up SIster Piersen to do the transfer we got to go with Mary to get her partriatichal blessing. It was such a neat experience. Mary was glowing and all the promises were amazing. It was wierd to think that if I didn't come on a mission I would have missed out on the oppurtunity to teach Mary the gospel and let me tell you she is elect. I feel so extremely blessed that the Lord is using me as an instrument in his hands. Then to make things even better we went to her house for dinner that night and Dee was there. We resolved his concern and he was willing to meet with us again. So we didn't lose him!

Our new district is full of leaders. It is crazy! The zone leaders are in our District, Sister Tucket (the sister trainer leader) is in our District and our District leader was the A.P last transfer. So no big deal we are just feeling a little pressure to get our area improving. Saturday night we got two new investigators. The Anamparans. They are from Mexico. Aquiles is a retired surgeon and the most humble guy I have ever met. They had met with missionaries before. She was catholic and he was baptist so they settled for episcipal. (however you spell that) That just does not make sense to me. They don't go because they know it is true or believe it they go just because. I really hope we can help them see why they need the Gospel.

Also Carolyn and Larry are going through a very hard time right now. Larry's sister just died suddenly from a massive anueirsm and so he is very heart broken. When we went to his house he said with tears in his eyes, "maybe you can help me" and then he started talking about her death. I know they will be baptized someday i can feel it.

The youth in this branch are struggling so bad. Last night we went to dinner at Sister Bass' house. She is the yound womens counsler she is single and has two daughters Melanie and Kendall. Melanie is 17 and very prideful and Kendall is 14 and very mouthy. She is always thinking that everyone is picking on her and begging for attention. In a way I have a lot of empathy for them because I have been there but also it really makes me want to hug my parents and tell them I am sorry for all that they had to put up with and thank you for never giving up on me.

Bedford is going to start blossoming again, I know it. Sister Peirsen and I are going to do great things together! I love her soo much.

Hello everyone! It is me Sister Robinson! Boy do I love being Sister Robinson. I love Being a missionary and I am so blessed that I have a father in Heaven who hears my prayers and loves me dearly! After about a month of disappointment and discouragement I have finally made it through. That is how I feel anyways. So I was having a particularly hard day last week and was laying on the couch thinking to my self, "Why me" then I said to my self. "Don't think like that, there is a reason for everything" So I said a prayer and pleaded with Heavenly Father to let me know he is there. When I opened my eyes I noticed the light shining through the blinds and it reflected onto the ground a little rainbow right where I was laying. That to me was a tender mercy like Nephi talks about it Chapter 1 of the book of Mormon. I knew at that moment that everything would be okay and that this is where I am needed and I think I once heard someone say, "Come what may, and love it" We can't change Gods will for us, I don't know why I am sick a lot but I do know that he loves me and he wants me to be happy so why not be happy! I am so grateful that I can finally feel a little bit like myself again.

You might wonder why I am so happy when I tell you about all the discouraging things that happened this week. But it is because I know that I am a daughter of God. He loves ME. He cares about ME. and nothing is going to change that :)

So Tuesday evening we had an amazing lesson with Mary's son Dee. We taught the restoration, showed the Joseph smith movie, and asked him to pray at the end of the lesson. He was Golden. He said his mind was very open to this and Sister Curtis and I couldn't be more excited. Two days later we called Mary and asked how Dee was and she said not good he doesn't want to learn more after sleeping on it. I think he needs more time. Sister Curtis and I were really sad about that but we decided that we will talk to him next week and see what is really going on and plus we had an awesome evening planned at another investigators Linda's house.

We got to Linda's and I asked Soooo have you read from the Book of Mormon Lately? She said no I will not read that book. Every time I pick it up something tells me so strongly to put it down. And I don't believe that families will be together forever that is not Gods plan. (soo sad right) So we left feeling a little more discouraged but we were still not going to let that get us down.

The next day we went to a potentials Jenny. Her mom was there and her husband. We taught them all the restoration and they all expressed feeling like pieces of other religions were missing and they took a Book of Mormon. The spirit again was so strong and they even asked how to get to the church. we set up a return appointment for Saturday. When we left we were like yes that was awesome that must have been what we needed to do. Then.. the next day Jenny called and said they really just weren't interested at this time. MAN! Satan is really working on these people. BUT Sister Curtis and I studied every day about faith and patience. So we know this is just the trial of our faith before the blessings  come because they will come. I know.

Now there was a lot of good this week as well. Here is a list of all the good:

On Thursday we had lunch with our miracle Carolyn and Larry. we talked a little about the plan of salvation. they have been reading the Book of Mormon and they are just so awesome. I love them. We are going back this week to teach them again with President Hodge and Sister Hodge.

We went tracting and met an awesome guy named Cory who accepted a Book of Mormon and was so open about it.

I saw a firefly for the first time!! They are the cutest thing ever. they make me smile.

Erica Quick, the less active that we have been teaching came to church on Sunday and her mom came too!! Then she came with us to teach a lesson to Mary and Haley during Sunday school and I have never felt the spirit so strong. Here I was in a room with Four of my favorite people whom I love dearly and who love me. Sister Curtis, Erica, Mary, and Hayley. It was a good moment.

Lastly, we decided to walk to church on Sunday to save miles. When we left the apartment it was really humid and cloudy Sister Curtis said do you think it is going to rain. Since I am all knowing I said no of course not. So we went to church and left our umbrellas behind. Well when we went to leave church it looked like it would rain any minute. The church is a little less than a mile away and so we just said lets hurry and try to beat it. Well about half way home the sky literally started dumping buckets on us. It was GREAT!! I couldn't stop giggling the whole way home within seconds we were drenched from head to foot and people driving by kept giving us weird looks. haha ah I love the rain.

This really was a great week. I know that the priesthood is real and the power of prayer and fasting is real. Because of all those things I have the strength I need to enjoy every moment of my mission. That is all I want. To love the little things in life and accept all the imperfections because they are going to come that is what makes life great like getting caught in the rain. :)

I love you all and I can't wait for this week and all the adventures we will have!

-life is good-

I don't really know where to start. This week was a roller coaster ride. I got sick and then Sister Curtis got sick, but despite it all we were still able to see a lot of success. We went to Mary's house for dinner on Thursday evening and her son was there. We haven't really gotten to talk to him since Mary was baptized I was grateful for that opportunity. After Dinner we just shared a scripture from the Book Of Mormon, then the spirit took over. We were not planning on asking him if he wanted to learn more but we did and he was so willing to read the book and learn more. Mary just piped in while we were teaching explaining to him what the Book of Mormon was and why she knew it was true. It was so awesome! She was just glowing.

There is a less active that we met this week Named Erica Quick. I love her. I see so much of my self in her. She is really struggling right now. I have been feeling like someone has been praying for us and I just wanted to find them. Well we found her. She said she has been praying for us to come. She is 23. She is awesome! She wants us to be her best friends so that she can surround her self with good people because her work enviroment as a waitress is not very good, there is a lot of temptations. She will be such a good example to her family by trying to get back into the church. I love seeing people change their lives around through the atonment. I know that the atonement is realy. that Heavenly Father really does forgive us and turn us into the person that he needs us to be, the person that we are destined to become.

The past few weeks have been hard for me, I have had to rely on my Heavenly Father more than I ever have before.Therefore I know that he really does know each of us personally and wants each of us to return to live with us again. The trials that we go through are never one alike but there is someone who understands it all and that is our savior. he suffered for everything we go through and that is why there is no one better to turn to in times of trouble than him. My favorite scripture is in D&C 84:88. I know that I have many angels on the others side who are bearing me up. Who are with me every step of the way. I know that Everyone at home is praying for me as well and I can feel all those prayers.

I know that I didn't really write about much this week but i guess that is really all I have to say. It seemed like I had a lot more. One other thing we went fishing yesterday with Brother Barton. IT was a much needed stress reliever, I caught 6 fish in one hour! It was pretty impressive if I do say so myself. Pure luck. I would throw in my fishing pole and two seconds later I would catch a fish. I really truly love being a missionary. I love Bedford Virginia and I know that it is where the Lord needed me to go. I feel so blessed and grateful that he let me come on a mission. Despite everything going on right now one thing I catch my self saying ALL the time is "life is good..." Because truly it is no matter what there is always something good to come out of every day!

Amazing

 

So this week started out very great. On Wednesday we had specialized training with President Pitt. He taught us how to use our time more effectively and that we need to be swimming in deep waters every single day. So Sister Peirsen and I set some very high goals. Well on the way home we were ready to accomplish those goals and there was a horrible horrible wreck so we were stuck in traffic for three hours and by the time we finally got home the day was over. We decided to try again the next day even harder. First we decided to try our investigator Bobby, but he was drunk with his friends so we left and knocked on a few doors only one guy answered and I am pretty sure he was drunk too. he said "I'm just chilling so I'm good" haha weird. Then we picked up Mary to take her to a lesson with us we got to the lesson and the lady didn't answer her door. Of course. So we went back to Marys house and then a huge storm tornado warning came out of no where and we tried to go outside and literally almost got blown away so Mary made us stay at her house for a while until the storm cleared up. Then we tried to visit this lady who had asked for a book of Mormon but there was a tree blown down in the road so we had to take a detour and on the way we saw this lady outside picking up twigs and stuff from the storm so we decided to stop and help her, she didn't want our help but we helped her anyways then we tried to talk with her after but she basically ran inside. so that was a bust. After Dinner we tried the lady I mentioned above who wanted a book of Mormon and first she didn't answer but then we saw her in the window and waved (she was annoyed) she came to the door and said no before we could even talk. I was feeling frustrated and felt the need to be bold with her I just bore her my testimony and told her that if she ever got the opportunity to hear this message again she really should not pass it up because she needs it in her life. She was sorta taken back but then agreed to take a card form us. After that There was this guy walking on the street so we walked up to him and turns out he was a baptist preacher. He tried to convince us that we had not been saved. IT was a great way to end our night. It was because we set such high goals that nothing worked out. I call that the trial of our faith before the miracles!! and that is true because the next day was exchanges ...

So I took Sister Richards with me to try a referral from one of the members her name is Dianne. She saw us and just hugged us and said that she has read the book of Mormon and met with Elders before she knows about this church and she was begging us to come back. he was so funny she told us her whole life story including that she waited to have sexual relationships until she was married and then proceed to high five us. hahaha. She also talked about how if we are all christian then it does not matter what church we belong too. Then she said, Right? and I just looked at her she said you don't believe that do you and I said well do you want to know why and she said YES but not right now I want you to come back and tell me, my daughter, her friend, and my boyfriend! 3 referrals all at once. That was awesome. So we left and told her that we would call and we would come back. She also told us that she was $15 short of rent and she started crying when she was talking about how she just did not know how she was going to make it but she had been praying and she knows that God will provide a way. So the next morning Sister Richards and I went running and on the way back she saw $5 on the ground. She picked up thinking sweet and that it was only five bucks. Well then we went home and showered and got ready then she opend the $5 and there was a $20 inside. Then we felt bad but had no idea how to get it back to the owner. So the thought came to mind it is for Dianne. I suggested that we mail it to Dianne and she agreed. So we stuck it in an envelope with a little note that said God is Listening. It was so awesome to feel like the Lord was giving us that money to send to her. Then when we got back to the apartment a little later that day there was an envelope in the door with $40 dollars in it. When you give you always recieve. It was such a cool miracle.

I was happy when exchanges were over though because Sister Peirsen came back. We have so much fun. It is seriously like being with your best friend all the time but doing missionary work together. It makes a HUGE difference. Lately we have been focusing a lot on the Less Actives and the young women. That is who needs us right now. and that is what President Hodge has asked us to do. Things are going great with that. I couldn't be more happy. I love you all!! Have a great week.

Let the spirit in! :)

 

I don't really know where to start. This week was a roller coaster ride. I got sick and then Sister Curtis got sick, but despite it all we were still able to see a lot of success. We went to Mary's house for dinner on Thursday evening and her son was there. We haven't really gotten to talk to him since Mary was baptized I was grateful for that opportunity. After Dinner we just shared a scripture from the Book Of Mormon, then the spirit took over. We were not planning on asking him if he wanted to learn more but we did and he was so willing to read the book and learn more. Mary just piped in while we were teaching explaining to him what the Book of Mormon was and why she knew it was true. It was so awesome! She was just glowing.

There is a less active that we met this week Named Erica Quick. I love her. I see so much of my self in her. She is really struggling right now. I have been feeling like someone has been praying for us and I just wanted to find them. Well we found her. She said she has been praying for us to come. She is 23. She is awesome! She wants us to be her best friends so that she can surround her self with good people because her work environment as a waitress is not very good, there is a lot of temptations. She will be such a good example to her family by trying to get back into the church. I love seeing people change their lives around through the atonement. I know that the atonement is really. that Heavenly Father really does forgive us and turn us into the person that he needs us to be, the person that we are destined to become.

The past few weeks have been hard for me, I have had to rely on my Heavenly Father more than I ever have before.Therefore I know that he really does know each of us personally and wants each of us to return to live with us again. The trials that we go through are never one alike but there is someone who understands it all and that is our savior. he suffered for everything we go through and that is why there is no one better to turn to in times of trouble than him. My favorite scripture is in D&C 84:88. I know that I have many angels on the others side who are bearing me up. Who are with me every step of the way. I know that Everyone at home is praying for me as well and I can feel all those prayers.

I know that I didn't really write about much this week but i guess that is really all I have to say. It seemed like I had a lot more. One other thing we went fishing yesterday with Brother Barton. IT was a much needed stress reliever, I caught 6 fish in one hour! It was pretty impressive if I do say so myself. Pure luck. I would throw in my fishing pole and two seconds later I would catch a fish. I really truly love being a missionary. I love Bedford Virginia and I know that it is where the Lord needed me to go. I feel so blessed and grateful that he let me come on a mission. Despite everything going on right now one thing I catch my self saying ALL the time is "life is good..." Because truly it is no matter what there is always something good to come out of every day!

General Conference!

This week was interesting to say the least. On Tuesday we went to help a member on her farm. Her name is Mable Adams. She owns a huge farm land and runs it all by her self. We helped her pick up garbage as I dodged between ferocious chickens and one giant turkey! I really don't like animals. haha but I am slowly getting over that fear I can walk up to a house with a huge barking dog with no fear now. Before I would run and scream back to the car now I just silently pray that Heavenly Father will keep me safe and it works! Imagine that! I also got to go to prison! We got a referral to go there and talk to a guy who was getting released soon. The officer wouldn't let us talk to him though and said he had been in a REALLY long time. It was an experience sister Davis was so scared to go and surprisingly I was just super pumped because I thought maybe it would be a good story to tell but nothing happened sadly! This week was kinda hard, but still good. I got really sick on Wednesday night. Don't worry I am doing fine now but we couldn't really do much missionary work, poor Sister Davis was so bored she was building card towers and perfecting her crocheting skills. I got my Easter package from you at perfect time though! It really made my day. I loved the letters and I have gotten so much candy I was grateful for the almonds and pistachios! I don't need to gain anymore weight! haha.

General Conference was AMAZING!! I took twenty pages of notes and I actually stayed awake for all four sessions. haha. I feel so up lifted after hearing from the servants of the lord and I never realized how much they talk about missionaries until you are one! Saturday and Sunday I was able to feel like a missionary again. I notice as I stop thinking about my self and think about serving others I begin to really love the work that I am doing and it gets easier. I don't even know where to start about which talk was my favorite. I loved Sister Dalton's talk about how I am a daughter of God I knew that but I never thought about WHOSE I am. I am his daughter I owe it to him to be different from the world. To stand as a witness of God at ALL times in ALL things and in ALL places. The things I want to change the most about my self while serving a mission is my "me me me" attitude. Well Richard G. Scott said that "selfishness is the root of all evil!" This church is literally centered on service. That is who we are. A church full of love and compassion. I am grateful to be serving a mission. I thought I was ready to get married, to be a mom, NO WAY! The world needs women who are resilient in the faith and my future kids need me to be that way also. this mission is the BEST opportunity Heavenly Father could have blessed me with. I noticed that the central theme was around obedience. Blessing come only from striving every day for exact obedience. That is especially true for me as a missionary I loved the talk by Bruce D. Porter about being optimistic. I really am striving to be happy and not say negative things but when that alarm clock goes of in the morning it takes all I have not to hate it. Well when we talked about his roommate singing Oklahoma it hit sister Davis and I hard. So this morning when our alarm clock went off we sang that song. Then as we were running down the road we were actually laughing and singing the whole way. Attitude really is everything. I love being a missionary. I love this opportunity to change into the person I have always wanted to be.  As the Words of Elder Nelson, missionary work is the thing to do and we should all

"CATCH THE WAVE"!! Give the missionaries in your area people to teach. They need your help we can not do it alone! I love you all to pieces and pray for you all the time. Thank you for everything!

sister Robinson!

Wanting to make a Change

Nothing to exciting happened this week really. It was kinda a slow week but still good. We had another lesson with Mary on Wednesday. We had it at our branch presidents house. It was so awesome! They pretty much taught the lesson to her ,and sister Davis and I just sat back. She is so excited to be baptized. I just marvel at the miracle of Mary. She is so amazing, we met her tracking and she told us no at least a dozen times and now she is getting baptized and she is just so happy. I have seen her change. Heavenly Father has been preparing her for this all her life. I feel so blessed to be a part of it. Then we had another lesson with Haley it was the one I was dreading, word of wisdom, because she likes her coffee and Ice tea. When we taught her she was so willing to just give those things up without question because she knows that the blessing of being baptized will be worth it. She is also amazing. She is so elect and she is going to do so much good with her life. Janice, one of our new investigators is starting to progress. She is divorced and has a nine year old son and is always taking care of her father who is very ill. All she wants is to do what God asks of her. She has been reading so much from the Book of Mormon and always has so many hard questions. but she is really serious about finding the true church and I know her heart is being softened. she told us if Gladys knight believed it was true maybe she could too. haha. So every since I have got to Bedford I have had a goal, to leave an impression on this Branch. the reason I made that goal is because about two years ago there was a missionary her name was sister Anderson and her companion was Sister Webster. They baptized so many people and they brought the Branch closer together. They really had an affect on the Branch and every member talks about them literally ALL the time. They are famous here. and ever since they left no one has been baptized and the missionary efforts have not been as good. So after my first week after hearing all about them everywhere we went I resolved that I wanted to change that, I wanted to help Bedford see that God has prepared people here and that we are doing our job and working hard. So last weekend when we got to meet Elder Oaks, the priesthood in the area also got to so our Branch president, president Hodge went to that meeting there he talked to President Pitt. Well President Pitt called on Wednesday night, which he NEVER calls so we knew it was important. He called to congratulate us on the progress of our area , then he said I was talking to President Hodge at the meeting on Saturday he talked about Sister Anderson and Sister Webster and said they were great missionaries and did a lot for the Branch, then he said Sister Robinson and Sister Davis and doing that again and I am so pleased with what is happening. the missionary fire is in this Branch again. When he said that my heart jumped. I was so happy because that has been my goal since week one. I love it here in Bedord. So every Friday we do service for a food pantry. Bonnie and Jim Norman own it and we have become very close friends they take us out to lunch every Friday and they have been working with missionaries for two years yet none of us have shared the message with them, maybe it just wasn't there time yet. Sister Davis and I have talked about asking them to learn more a lot but we always chicken out. Last Thursday Sister Hodge the relief society president asked Bonnie to speak at a thing for our church after she gave her a book of Mormon. Bonnie has been talking about that experience a lot lately and on Friday we were at lunch and she said that she was cleaning her yard on Saturday I took that as an opportunity and told her that we would love to come help. She agreed and sister Davis wore here I am a Mormon t shirt which prompted her to ask us about the Book of Mormon that Sister Hodge gave her. Sister Davis just said if you want to know about it just read it. That wasn't enough for me so as we were walking the leaves down to the lake side it was just me and Bonnie and I said as my heart was racing a thousand times a minute. Bonnie has any of the missionaries ever taught you what we believe? She said no not really, I have seen some stuff on TV but I don't know if it is entirely true. I really am curious and I want to know more. WHAT! why as no one asked her yet? because she is our friend and being a missionary to our friends is SO much harder than complete strangers. Needless to say Sister Davis and I are going to be teaching her the lessons. I am so happy that we followed the promptings to serve her and ask her if she wanted to learn more because asking is all it took. On Sunday there was a freak snow storm, they canceled church early and closed everything down. It was pretty bad. Sister Davis and I thinking that we could handle the snow because I am from Idaho and she is form Utah decided to go out and visit people anyway. We got stuck getting out of our drive way but we got out eventually and made the trek to Lisa's house (a less active) needless to say it was ridiculous the five minute drive took us about half an hour because there was about a foot snow on the roads and no plows. I got lots of pretty pictures though. SO we spent our evening after that inside and studying. This week I studied about grace and I learned that Grace is literally the power that makes the atonement work. It is that thing that strengthens us from day to day. Without Grace we could not go on. I am so thankful for what Jesus did for me and for everyone. My testimony is growing so much. I love this gospel. I hope everyone has a good week! love always Sister Robinson

Happy Easter!!!

 

What a great Easter it was! I am so thankful for the knowledge I have of my savior and that I know that through him we can all live again. What a marvelous promise. This week was really awesome! On Monday night President Hodge gave me a blessing that this sickness I have been having will subside so I can focus on the work. I am a strong believer in priesthood blessings and although I still get stomach pain it is bearable and I can feel Heavenly Father helping me all the time.
We met a women, Linda. I can't remember if I already told you about her or not but she has cancer and she wanted us to come over Monday the night before she went in for surgery. We talked with her about the book of Mormon (while she was smoking, but people can change) she said she was going to take it with her to the hospital and read while she was recovering. She is really searching for the truth. We sang Be still my soul before we left and the spirit was definitely there. She asked us to please please come back. The lord is preparing her.
Also this week we got air conditioning installed in our apartment. These two guys were installing it and when Sister Davis and I went downstairs to change our laundry they started talking to us about what we believed. We gave them Book of Mormons and all through out the week they kept on asking us question. They weren't in our area so we referred them to some other missionaries but it was awesome cause the one guy Matt he had so many questions like why to preachers get paid and stuff, all the things I could answer.
On Wednesday we had specialized training. Which is when all the missionaries in our area come together with President Pitt and we learn together. I learned that my original definition of the word Sacrifice- to give something up is not correct because actually everything I have is not mine it is the Lords so really Sacrifice means - to make sacred. To bring my will in line with Gods will. It was really deep I still don't full understand that but I have been studying it more and praying more fervently because Prayer is a from of work. After the meeting we all got to go bowling! It was a blast. I got three strikes in a row. I think my bowling skills have improved while being a missionary. I told everyone I was really bad before we went then they all thought I was lying. haha! I didn't think Missions would be fun, but they are. But what does FUN even mean really? My definition of fun now days is bringing people the truth of the Gospel! It brings so much joy.
Oh another interesting experience happened this week. We were visiting a part member family. The Scchicatanos. they live in a very nice neighbor hood and after wards we had like twenty minutes before dinner so we said well lets go knock on these two houses. So we knock on the first house and the guy answers the door and he was really nice and said come in they he saw our name tags and got really really mean. Long story short he almost called the cops on us for "soliciting" on private property. I was just so grateful that I wasn't an Elder cause he probably would have called the cops. It actually wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. Probably because we have God on our side. When we left we said a prayer for him that the next missionaries who knock on his door on accident maybe his heart could be softened. All we want to do is share a message about Jesus Christ but NO one wants to hear it.
On Saturday we had a lesson with Mary about the word of wisdom. She was really mad at first because she had just made a pitcher of ice tea and she liked her iced coffee too. She said she didn't know if she was ready to give up those things yet. We bore our testimonies of how the word of wisdom will bless her life and I felt really prompted to share a story with her which I won't mention because I don't know who all reads this and it is not about me so I don't know if a have permission to share it but anyways it was really powerful and then I asked her to pray and ask God to help her give up these things. Her prayer was so powerful and in her prayer she completely changed her mind she said "Heavenly Father I will try.. no I will give up these things I promise in fact I will go dump them out right now because I want to be baptized in this true church". Then she got up and said do you want to watch me? and poured them down the sink and wrote lemonade on her grocery list. that was SO powerful. Then Saturday night was the young women's broadcast. It was amazing. And we went to the church to watch it with Haley. She was the ONLY Young Women who came to watch it and she is not even a member yet. Our two investigators are stronger than a lot of the members. They are even stronger than me. I know that they truly have been prepared and that I have a lot to live up to for the rest of my life since I am the one that brought them this truth and they are already better than me. It is amazing.
Church was so great! President and Sister Pitt happened to be passing through so they came to our church. The speakers did a great job and I learned all about my saviors life. This week as I was studying about my savior I came across one of my new favorite scriptures it is in Doctrine and Covenants 6:34 and it says: "Therefore, fear not little flock; do good; let the earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail." and I know this to be true, as long as we are living the Gospel the best that we can we have no reason to fear because we are his sheep and he is our shepherd and he will always protect us.
I love you all so much, I pray for you everyday.
love, Sister Robinson

P.S My address for any who want it is :

1656 Shady Knoll Ave. Apt B

Bedford VA, 24523

and they just announced that we are now allowed to email whoever we want friends family anyone. So if you want to email me my email address is:

sydney.robinson@myldsmail.net

I would love to hear from you all :)

Another week

Another week has come and gone. This week went by so fast. Two of our investigators have baptismal dates now so I am very excited about that. Haley is on May 4th and Mary is on April 20th. Sister Davis and I are so happy for them. It is amazing to see how much the lord has prepared them for this step in their lives. They are elect I know that and they are going to be strong members of this little branch. We had a relief society birthday party Thursday evening. It was SOO fun. I never thought I could have so much fun in Relief Society but these women are becoming my best friends and my second family. Sister Wachob the 1st counselor said to tell mom and dad thanks for making me! haha It was a great time. I was smiling and laughing so hard and I just feel like I am at home here. Missionary work is becoming who I am now and it is amazing to see the change. Heavenly Father has Elect children in Bedford and I feel so blessed that he sent me here to find them for him. The best day by far was Saturday. We woke up at three A.m and drove to Charleston for a mission conference. There we got to hear Elder Dallin H. Oaks speak to us. Not only that but I got to shake his hand!! He looked me right in the eye and said "Nice to meet you SISTER ROBINSON!" then I got to sit in the third row from the front right in the middle. I would say that is pretty awesome. After we heard him speak we got to stay and talk awhile with the other missionary. I saw my other district from the MTC they were all glad to see that I am still alive and we got to take a picture since we didn't get to when they left me. It was awesome to here how good everyone is doing! That was pretty much my week. Nothing crazy happened or out of the ordinary. Besides that there is a possum that keeps getting in our trash can at night and dragging it all across the lawn. GRR! Heavenly Father really does answer humble prayers. That is what I learned this week from Elder Oaks. When we are willing to act on the prompting that we receive then he will be willing to give us promptings. The holy ghost will ALWAYS guide us in correct, safe paths. Just let it go... everything that is holding us back from being 100% obedient to Heavenly Fathers commandments. Any selfish desire and pride in our hearts just LET IT GO! and be willing to submit to the lords time table. His will and His way. When we go forward with faith knowing that everything will work out in the end everything WILL work out in the end. This is not my mission it is Heavenly Fathers mission and I feel so blessed that he is allowing me to be an instrument in his hand to bring salvation to his children. He is hastening his work I have seen that so much since I have been here. People are more prepared than ever to hear this message! I love you all. I hope that you will have a great week :) love, Sister Robinson

I love you

 

Hello Everyone!

Another week come and gone. I have been in the field for a month. Transfers are this week and I can't believe I already filled up a whole mission planner!! I never thought the day would come. haha It is crazy that it has been a month in the field but also it feels like it has been an eternity. An awesome eternity at that. It has been the most challenging, trying, spiritually uplifting, growing month of my life!! NO DOUBT. But so worth it.

We had another lesson with Mary. She is a miracle. The one who told us no at first when we went tracting. the lord prepared her for us I know. She said that she feels the need to be baptized again. the spirit was really strong in that lesson as we taught her about faith and how it leads you to act. We had another lesson with Hayley to. We are on to the Plan of Salvation with her. The spirit was so strong and she can't wait to be baptized. That evening we had dinner with the wolfs. they are a younger family from Utah. Rudy Wolf joined the church when he was 18 then served a mission in Mozambique (not sure how to spell that) Africa. He met his wife Melissa at BYU and they moved here because he is A dentist and the pay is really good here. They are always doing missionary work, so at dinner there was a man Jose. He is going through a really hard time he has been divorced and his wife just got custody of the kids. He wants the hope that we seem to have. We shared a scripture thought with him and asked him to take the lesson he agreed! The spirit was so strong. I know I saw that a lot but really it always is so strong.

There is member we always go visit her name is Sister Overstreet. She had a stroke and can't get around very well she is lonely and loves "her girls" she calls us. Well it was her birthday and she loves these Lemon Cranberry bars (Sounds gross) well they are. We attempted to make them for her and after three batches we gave up they were so nasty! But we took them to her anyways and she loved them! YUCK! She even called a few days later to tell us thanks again and that they were better than hers ever where. oh dear, haha. I love serving others, something I never liked to do before my mission. But it is such a tender mercy when you can see someone light up because of something that you did for them.

On Saturday we had a lesson with Mary again all about church and we took her on a church tour. She was really excited to come to church and we were really excited that she was willing to come. So Sunday morning we picked her up and she said that she really enjoyed it and looks forward to next week. YAY!!! Mary is such a sweet lady. She would never pray and we finally got her to pray on Saturday. After she prayed she had tears in her eyes and said "I said a lot more than I thought I could say and I felt a lot more than I thought I could feel" Then she told us thank you for changing her life forever. And this is why missionary work is awesome. It is like a constant roller coaster ride but the moments like this are all worth it.

Last night after we went tracting we were driving home and the GPS always likes to send us the shortest route for miles so we turned down this random dirt road that is more like a walking path that is barely big enough for a car. This is normal here though that is how almost all the roads are there is houses down in these hills they call them hollers and they tell you to avoid them cause they are pretty sketchy. Well sister Davis and not knowing any better kept getting deeper and deeper into the hills and then there was this random house on stilts it was the weirdest thing and all of a sudden the river just runs right through the road and you see it come up on the other side. there was no where to turn around because it is cliff on one side and mountain edge on the other and to make it worse it was getting dark.  So we back up all the way till we get to the house so we could turn around. Then me, being kinda dumb decided I wanted to take a picture of the river running through the road so I got out of the car and ran all the way back took a picture and then I heard A door slam and I got a really bad feeling, I ran back to the car as fast as I could and we started to drive away right as we saw the man of the house walking towards us. Talk about scary and talk about listening to the prompting of the holy ghost. I felt bad for sister Davis because she saw more than me but didn't dare call out my name to draw attention to us. I guess what I learned from that story is that when people tell you that weird things happen deep in those hills I fully understand how weird it is in there. I am grateful that we have the spirit to protect us from danger.

This was a great week The scripture this week is Doctrine and Covenants Section 9:7&8. We should always turn to our heavenly father when we are in need but we can't just ask him to help us when we haven't done our part yet. I know that he is always there willing to help us when we ask and when we study out the questions in our minds we will be able to receive our answers. I love you all! I love this church. I know that Joseph smith was a prophet and that the book of Mormon contains the fullness of the gospel. I know it with every fiber of my being. Love always,

Sister Robinson

Bedford, Virignia

Thank you so much for the package! It was awesome and it made my week. I love getting your letters. Also Congrats Jake on your mission call that is awesome I am so happy for you. you are going to be the best missionary EVER!  This week has been so great! Last Monday for P-day we went to the moonshing exhibit. Haha... I don't think I was missing much before. All I have to say about it is that some peope are weird. Why go to all that work just for achohol? Also the most disgusting thing ever happened to me.

Monday night we had a dinner appointment with a non member named Cindy. She isn't interested in the church just the social aspect. Sister Davis warned me about her cats but I was not expecting what I saw. 8 Cats everywhere! They ran the house. There was cat food on the floor on the table. ICK! it was gross. She bought us pizza from little Ceasers but it was pizza without sauce just cheese. So Sister Davis had to ask her why she doesn't put sauce on her pizza and what happened next was so horrifying. I am scared for life. She said well you see I have a stoma (If you don't know what that is it is when they cut a whole in your stomach so that your bodily functions meaning number two not number one flow through into a bag) okay I thought that's alright I can handle that BUT THEN she whips it out to show us. Oh my heck I almost threw up I had to put my hand over my mouth to stop my self. and all Sister Davis could say is oh cool. hahaha! I couldn't eat anything that night. Just thinking about it now makes me want to throw up. I don't understand why she would show it to me. yuck!

Anyways on a more spiritual note this week has been hard but so awesome. When I got to Bedford we had four investigators who were not progressing and who Sister Davis hadn't even met with some of them before. Now we have 11 and we have been able to contact most of them and begin teaching them. I would say two are actually progressing towards baptism and it is such a cool thing. Sister Davis said she has not seen numbers like this on her mission yet, that these past two weeks have been the hardest best weeks yet. I asked her what the difference is and she will testify that being 100% obedient is when we can see miracles. You know me, I am going to follow the rules. I never knew missionaries didn't follow the rules but apparently they don't. But now I fully understand what it means when everyone says follow the white hand book and you will have a good mission. AH I JUST LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY! That missionary fire is the best thing EVER!!

I think the number one thing to tell you about is our investigator Haley. She is 17 and we were able to meet with her and teach her for the first time on Tuesday. I love her so much. She is already progressing she said she wanted to get baptized without any hesitation. Her mom is divorced and less active on Sunday they came to church and stayed the whole time. I gave her one of my old CTR rings and she loved it and wears it all time. I know she is why I am here in Bedford. It is crazy she is one of the people that I swear I knew before I swear we were best friends in heaven and I promised her I would find her and give her the gospel. Just thinking about that gives me chills. I have been able to share so many personal spiritual experiences with her. Bedford hasn't had a baptism in two years and we will be seeing one with her as soon as we finish teaching her everything! That brings me so much joy. Her family is getting closer and her mom is regaining a testimony. I could go on and on all day about how much I love Hayley and how grateful I am to have met her in my very first area and to be the one to teach her everything. She told me I couldn't get transferred until she is baptized. haha ah I just love her so much.

The other investigator who is progressing is James Shelton.He is about 70 and has no teeth but at least he got a hair cut recently so he isn't quite so scraggly. I don't know how much he is progressing because he still thinks that he has been saved but he is keeping commitments, he is reading the book of Mormon and he has come to church twice. AND we got him to pray at the end of the lesson which he was really struggling with he always said I think that is just between me and the man. Well I read him a scripture in D&C 19:28 you'll have to read it. And he prayed after that with no hesitation. It was awesome. Then on Sunday I had to speak in church! SCARY! and I shared a lot of scriptures from the bible. He was there. Afterwards we asked him what he thought of church he said man I liked how you used the Bible I love that book this other book I don't know much about. I don't believe in lady preachers but if there could be one I would pick you. haha what a funny man.

People here just don't understand. We have to teach them like we are teaching a 3 year old the gospel which has been so hard for me but I am getting better at it. We met with another investigator Serina last night for the first time we just planned to stop by and see if she was home but we ended up teaching the whole first lesson and she was so interested, she said she was going to read the Book of Mormon and take it to work with her. We also gained a new investigator Mary Gates. She is 75 and she just moved here. I wanted to knock on her door because we were in a sketchy area and she had a pretty wreath so I thought that she would probably be a nice lady. I was right :) at first she said no and no and no again but we just felt really prompted to not leave. so we kept talking and getting to know her better and by the time we left she had a book of Mormon and was asking us to come back. I can not wait to teach her more she is the cutest old lady I have ever met.

Well missionary work is pretty much awesome. There is no way for anyone to understand unless they experience it. It is so hard I am not going to say that it is easy and that I don't miss home and that I don't get discouraged because I do but that happiness I feel is so much greater than all that. I just love it! I hope this is a good week. every week is good as a missionary. I have grown to love the book of Mormon so much. I can read it for the whole hour of study and not want to put it down. My favorite scripture from this week is Ether 12 pretty much the whole chapter is just amazing all about faith and how when we have faith that is when we will witness the miracles. I can testify to you all that I have so much faith. I know that Heavenly Father can do anything we humbly ask for and I know Sister Davis and I are going to see miracles. I love you all so much. I love your letters and your prayers. I miss you, I hope you have a good week. Write in your journals every day. Those memories will be worth so much one day.

love,

Sister Robinson

Sydney's first letter

Howdy Howdy Everyone, I have been so excited to write this letter all week. I am absolutely positively loving being a missionary. The first day after you dropped me off until this very second I have not had one second of free time. But that has been awesome because I have not cried once. yep, you better believe it. Not even once!! I just love it so much. It is amazing how much the Lord has blessed me with peace. I have felt so calm and I know this is where I am supposed to be. My companion is Sister Olson she is amazing. We complete each other perfectly and I know that she was meant to be my companion. She sincerely loves everyone and is willing to do anything for anyone. My district consists of six sisters and six Elders. I have only been here for a week but I have grown to sincerely love them all. Elder Prince is from Canada so hence the Eh! haha that is our district thing. Everyone else is from Utah pretty much. One girl sister Conova is 19 like me and I feel like me and her are the strongest, everyone is strong but we have always had to help the sisters with there "Mental Breakdowns" yet some how as the youngest we are able to stay so strong and be an example. I have never felt so loved in my entire life. Every day all the Sisters and Elders tell me how much they love me. And the Sisters always ask me for hugs because they say mine are the best. I am so grateful for the life that I have. So many of the people I have gotten to know have had such hard trials in there life and I am just over here like, Hello why am I so lucky!? I seriously feel so blessed. Everyone in our district is sick except me and elder Hurt He is barely 18. I just thought that was cool. Anyways, I am the germ freak because I refuse to get sick. So every time we walk into class I also spray everybody's hands and if they cough, they get double sprayed. so far my method is working also maybe my positive attitude of not wanting to get sick. We have had a lot of good devotionals. On Sunday the general primary president came to talk to us in relief society, She said that elder missionaries are great but sisters are SHIZZAMM!! and also I know that I cannot fail. We have already began teaching. We taught a lady for the first time yesterday her name is Michelle. She said that we were probably wasting our time at the begining of the meeting and that she did not believe in Christ or the Bible or anything. We started with a prayer and I asked her to read Jonh 3:16 which was crazy because before we went into the lesson I said I need to have a scripture ready just in case. That is the one I felt impressed to pick and it turned out that was the one she needed to hear. By the end of the lesson she was just soaking up everything we had to say she told us she would read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it is true. That was so cool. We felt the sprit so strongly in that lesson and I can't wait to teach her again tomorrow. It is experiences like this that make me so excited to go into the field, but I love the MTC I wouldn't mind staying here forever. Today we got to go to the temple as a district, it was so amazing. Some of the sisters have been having a really hard time, so the elders volunteered to give them a blessing. It was so amazing to see their testimonies and feel their spirit. I really love all of them. I will send you a picture next time I just forgot my camera. Last night we had a devotional by David F. Evans. He talked about faith and the angels all around us. I felt my grandma right there with her arms around me telling me how proud of me she was and what a good example I am setting. It was a really spiritual experince. I have taken this step off the cliff into the darkness and into the unknown because I know I ABSOLUTELY know that there will be light at the end of the tunnel. I can do hard things. I have gotten to know my Father in Heaven so much better. I have never prayed this much in my entire life. I pray at least 50 times a day. But I can always feel the spirit whispering to me. I want everyone to go on missions so they can know how amazing it is. There was no need to be scared. The Lord is helping me so much. The days seriously feel like weeks. It feels like I have been in the MTC for  three months. We just learn so much in one day that it doesn't seem like it has only been a day. I know that I have already made friendships that will last forever. A lot of these Elders and Sisters that I am with I feel like I have know them for a long time, like we have been best friends forever. It is so cool. I have been trying so hard to forget myself and to focus on serving others and that has really helped me not get homesick. I just want you to know that I am doing amazing. I am loving every minute of this experience. My advice that I have learned is it is not how much you read but how much you learn. If you read one verse of scripture but talk about it for ten minutes in means so much more than reading five chapters and getting nothing out of it. I love the scrpitures I love this Gospel so much and I love all of you and miss you I hope you have a great week.  Love you all, Sister Robinson

Another week down. What a crazy week it has been. I had the most amazing experience, we do this thing it is called TRC we get to teach people who volunteer to come and let us teach them.  Most of them are members and some are not, but they don't tell us. So me and Sister Olson went to teach and this girl came out of the room she said that she went to BYU and met a friend who is not a member and she finally convinced her to come here and listen to us. The spirit testified to me that this was a real investigator and she really needed to hear our message. Her name was Katy, we testified that god loved her so much I honsetly don't remember everything I said because it wasn't me teaching it was the Spirit, In the middle I asked her if she would pray, she had never prayed before I explained how and felt prompted to ask her to pray right then. She didn't really want to at first but as me and Sister Olson talked to her about how important it was she said okay I want to. We knelt down and she began praying. She asked God if what we were teaching was true and before she finished she started bawling. The Spirit testified to her and she told us she felt it. Sister Olson and I felt it too we were crying and I just felt a little glimpse of how much Heavenly Father loves Katy. That was the most amazing experience. This week has been hard because my companion and Sister Conova's companion have been sick ALL week. I feel so bad for them. It has been a struggle working with someone else who is not your companion, but Heavenly Father is blessing me every day with strength. Monday night there was only five of us out of the twelve left in class. I am so happy I have been able to stay healthy and not get homesick. One day I was having an expecially hard time and everyone around me could tell. I would randomly open my scriptures and find random drawings from the elders and notes of encouragment. We do this for everyone, always trying to encourage each other and we are truly becoming a family, I am going to be so sad to leave them in a week. Also I always look forward to my letters from all of you they make me so happy. Special thanks to you dad for sending me a letter EVERY day. That is pretty cool. and it is always something that I needed to hear right then.  One of the girls that I went through the temple with, she is actually in my zone. She is awesome. We have gotten to spend a lot of time together. It is such a small world that we would be together. I really wanted to send picture this week but I will have to wait until I get into the field because I can't do it on this computer. I am loving life. the MTC is amazing and I am making so many friends. I love feeling the sprit every day. My teachers are great, Sister De Arton and Brother Burdette. Every time they come to class I swear they are inspired and always teach exactly what I wanted to hear and needed to hear. Another cool thing was when Brother Burdette was teaching us about how to teach with the spirit and we were doing a role play As I was teaching my pretend in investigator he told us to pause and not say another thing until we felt an inspired question then we could talk. I waited and then it came into my head and I knew what to say and the whole atmosphere of the lesson changed completely. What an awesome experience. I have also learned how to teach people not lessons and you really feel love for them even when you just barely meet them. Today at the Temple I was talking to a lady who used to live in West Virginia she said that the people are very closed and in order for them to open up to you you have to show them that you really love them. I would of been worried about that before but now I know that I will be able to feel that love and teach them the gospel. We do role plays a lot which I always thought were pointless because it was just pretend but our teachers would always say if you take role play seriously you will be surprised how much it will help. So I was really nervous about teaching this kid Steven because he would not open up to me and so beforehand I role played with a Sister and when I got into the lesson Steven said the EXACT same things!! It was so crazy. I am getting used to being a missionary. Even in my head I call myself Sister Robinson. haha! I am so lucky to have this amazing oppurtunity and I am so glad that I am here right now. There is no where else I would rather be. I love you all so much. I hope you have a great week. I don't know when my next P-day will be but you will hear from me eventually so don't worry! love, Sister Robinson

Have I done any good?

I felt that I had no direction in life. I didn't know what I wanted to be or what I wanted to do. Something just seemed to be missing and I couldn't quite figure out what it was.
Then President Monson announced the missionary age and everything changed, I was sitting in my living room, listening to the sound from the kitchen when I heard the announcement. Tears streamed down my face because I knew this was the answer to my prayers, the direction that I needed.
My mom having all girls never thought she would have to send a missionary out, she was happy for me but encouraged me to pray and make sure it was the right thing.

I prayed and fasted, it was a Tuesday, I went to devotional and the opening hymn started to play. It said:
 Hymns 223, Have I Done Any Good?

1. Have I done any good in the world today?
Have I helped anyone in need?
Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad?
If not, I have failed indeed.
Has anyone’s burden been lighter today
Because I was willing to share?
Have the sick and the weary been helped on their way?
When they needed my help was I there?

[Chorus]
Then wake up and do something more
Than dream of your mansion above.
Doing good is a pleasure, a joy beyond measure,
A blessing of duty and love.

2. There are chances for work all around just now,
Opportunities right in our way.
Do not let them pass by, saying, “Sometime I’ll try,”
But go and do something today.
’Tis noble of man to work and to give;
Love’s labor has merit alone.
Only he who does something helps others to live.
To God each good work will be known.

That was my answer I knew that my loving Heavenly father what giving me this amazing oppurtunity and how could I even think to let it pass me by?

Well TONIGHT is the night!! I will be a missionary in T-Minus 6 hours!!
I love this gospel and I can not wait to serve.

Let me just leave with this.

Proverbs 3: 5-7

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he shall direct thy path.^[a]

⁷ Be not wise in thy own eyes;
    fear the Lord and depart from evil.

I love you all, Thank you for your support as I made this life changing decision. 
-- Until next week :)