I Fear No Man!

8:23 PM Unknown 0 Comments

So many good things are happening lately! I am learning more and more every day that fear gets me no where! I have been working really hard on overcoming the fear of man, and just doing all that I can to proclaim the goodness of the gospel to everyone, and I mean EVERYONE that we meet!
{The only pictures we have together so far are selfies. Hehe}

Yesterday, everything was falling through, and I've learned over the past 17 months that this is a very normal thing for missionaries to deal with. However, we didn't have any people down as backups... All we had planned was finding. I really really did NOT feel up to finding that day. No way. I was tired, hungry, and cold. However, I knew that if I prayed, the Lord would provide. So I prayed and asked God to help me love every single person we talked to and to allow me to be a tool in His hands in doing His work. I kept repeating in my mind, "Thou art [my] father; [I am] the clay, and thou [my] potter; and [I am] the work of thy hand." (Isaiah 64:8) 

 
 8 But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
And off we went.

We got out of the car, and noticed a man getting out of his car and walking toward his home. We called out to him, "Hey, do you have a minute?" He didn't hear us, so we had to sort of run over to talk to him before he opened the door and shut us out. (Now, you have to understand that I am not normally like this, but I have always wanted to be this type of missionary.) Once he realized we were talking to him, he turned to us with a big smile! He was so happy to talk to us. We introduced ourselves, and had a very good conversation with him. He asked us to please come back! Wow. That was easy! Why don't I normally do that? 
{When people really don't want you knocking on their door...}

We talked to several other people after him, and every single person was SUPER nice!! And you have to understand that that is SUPER rare!! It was incredible. We set up return appointments with some, and even met a couple who had investigated the church in the past! I wish I could convey just how miraculous of a day it was, but you really just had to be there. It was amazing though, how once I made that commitment to God that I would give it my all, He truly did provide for us!

Then another day, just about everything fell through so we did even more finding! (wahoooo!) To make it more interesting, I decided that we needed to find a blue door to knock on, because I was convinced the family behind that door was prepared. Well... we didn't find a blue door anywhere. Finally near the end of our finding, I thought I saw a blue door!! I could've sworn it was blue! However, it wasn't. It was definitely white. But we knocked on it anyway. A woman answered, and after finding out who we were, she started to question everything we believe in! It was intense. My blood was boiling, but we tried to stay calm and stand firm. At the end of our doorstep conversation, she asked us a question like, "how can we know for sure?" It was a challenge and in reply, Sister Brooks said, "We don't expect people to take our word for it, or to believe something just because we tell them to. We simply invite people to pray about what we say. To ask God if we're telling the truth." That seemed to take her back and she asked us to come back the following day! It was amazing. I learned that simply testifying with humility is all you need to do.
{Here's a smoooothie! It has an orange, banana, kale, spinach, strawberries, blueberries, peaches, chia seeds, flax seeds, hemp hearts, and plain Greek yogurt! It is deeeelish!}

I am so grateful for the many opportunities the Lord is giving me to expand my horizons and become better and better every day. I love God, I love this work, and I love all of you as well!! 

Much love,

Sister Robinson

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Be Happy about Little Successes || New Adventures in Valley View!

8:08 PM Unknown 0 Comments

Hello all,


Missionary work is very hard sometimes. I don't think anyone can properly describe the turmoil and stress that goes into doing the Lord's work. It's something that you have to go through yourself to really understand. Its like trying to explain to someone what salt tastes like, or what it's like to feel the spirit. If you haven't experienced it yourself, there's really no way to fully understand. Although missionary work is very hard, it is so worth it when you are able to help someone bring the light of the gospel into their life!

I found an article in the ensign that I really liked though. :)



...
As a young man, I looked forward to the day when I would serve a full-time mission. When I finally entered the mission field, I discovered that missionary service was not what I had expected--it was better. It was harder than I thought, but the satisfaction that came from doing what the Lord asked of me was indescribable.

Never before had I experienced the joy of helping someone attend church. Never before had I felt the thrill of hearing someone say, “Sure, come on in” so that they could hear the restored gospel. Never before had I sensed the reality of the power that came as we declared repentance. Never before had I prayed with such real intent. Never before had an hour of scripture study gone by so fast. Never before had I been brought to tears by the realization of my imperfections. Never before had I experienced the devastation that comes with the words, “Elders, please don’t come by my house anymore.” Never before had I gotten a blister on my foot the size of my thumb. Never before had I felt so protected. Never before had I felt so much responsibility for my actions because I wore the name “Jesus Christ” on my chest.

Never before had I been so close to my Heavenly Father as I came to be during my full-time mission. 
...


 
{Sister Lacno and I got a reward for having a clean car!}

This week, sister Lacno and I did a lot of tracting, and we saw quite a few miracles! It was great! However, there were also some huge let downs.

We were knocking doors one day, and we met this really cute girl named Brooke! We talked to her for a little while on the front doorstep of her house, and showed her the "Because of Him" video. She loved it, and we could tell she was really feeling the spirit while we talked to her about how Jesus Christ is our Saviour. We said a prayer with her before we left, gave her a Book of Mormon, and set up a time to visit again and talk to her more about the restoration of the gospel. She was really excited!

However, when we stopped by for our next appointment, we heard some yelling inside her house. Her dad answered the door and did NOT look happy to see us. He said, "Are you people from the church?" I said, "Yes we are! Is Brooke h-" Before I could finish my sentence, he said, "I told Brooke she is done with this church stuff! Enough already!" *DOOR SLAM* 

I just do not understand how some people can be so rude, but I really try not to take it personally. However, this time I did. Normally I don't cry over rejections like that, but Brooke was so promising and so excited about the gospel! It was a hard night for me. Thank goodness for my wonderful companion, and her patience with me. We sat in the car, said a prayer, and she pulled up the Mormon Message, "Good Things to Come." Good things really do come, but we have to understand that the Lord's timing is different than ours. 


{Got to go on exchanges with Sister Priestley! Had a blast! :) }
This morning, Sister Lacno and I read Alma 26, where Ammon is rejoicing over the successes that they had as missionaries! Ammon did feel like giving up at one point, but he says in verse 27,


27 Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success.  

Patience is the key! And I am learning more and more every day to be happy about little successes. As long as we are trying to follow the Lord's will for us, we are doing what's right! Thank goodness for the Lord's patience with His impatient children. :) 

Oh! And here's some good news: Tanisha, one of our investigators is getting baptized this weekend! Wahoo! :) 

{Here we are at Tanisha's baptism!}

Thank you for all that you do! I love you bunches and bunches. 

Love,


Sister Robinson


...................................................



What a week!

Oh my goodness. So for those of you who don't know, Sister Lacno and I had our world turned upside down last week when we received a call from President Pattison saying I would be leaving Grande Prairie and WHITEWASHING Valley View with a fairly new missionary. 

{ZEDTM}


So like I said earlier... what a week! Things have been absolutely crazy over here. I feel like there is such a huuuuge weight on my shoulders, but I am just doing my best. Praying hard. And trusting that the Lord will do the rest. That's how the gospel works, right? You do your best and then comes God. 

We do have some promising investigators we have been working with though. One is a foreign exchange student from Denmark! She is living with some members in our ward. We taught her the restoration yesterday, and I feel like we really connected with her. We went over the Saviour's Earthly ministry and then talked about the great apostasy, and after we told her about how Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ, her eyes got all wide and she excitedly asked, "Then what happened?!" As we told her about how the priesthood was restored and the Book of Mormon came forth, I felt so much warmth in my heart. I'm so grateful for the gospel and how it brings so much joy into people's lives. 

{Introducing... Sister Brooks! She is from British Columbia!}

Aside from teaching a few people, we have done a bit of tracting in deep deep mud, and a lot of working with members. I feel like this area has so much potential, but we really need to get it kicked off. It's tough, but worth it. 



I love you all so much! Thank you for everything! 

Sister Robinson 



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