Invitation: Invite! (& A Lot of Food)

Send Sister Robinson letters, mail, & packages!
ABBIE'S UPDATED MAILING ADDRESS:
Sister Abbie Robinson 
8925 51 Ave suite #305
Edmonton, AB T6E 5J3
Canada


That's the best one :) Are you going to send me things?? Yay!!

Now onto the letter... 

{I just realized the majority of the pictures I send involve food... no wonder I've gained 10 pounds. Not even kidding. Hopefully ya'll still love me.}

 Hello hello mi familia!!

How is everyone? I love you all so much! I hope you are all doing really well! This week has been really great for Sister Neal and I! Just know that I love you so much and pray for you and the family every single day! I'm glad you enjoyed conference! It was so awesome this year!! I've been rereading a lot of the talks and taking better notes, because it's really hard to soak up all the talks all at once. So I've really enjoyed doing that. Sister Neal and I joke that reading general conference talks is like the Instagram of missionaries, because it's what we do with all of our spare time. I read talks to her in the car, we read them before bed, and during studies.... It's a bit of an addiction! But I love it!!

{"I carried a watermelon..?" If anyone can name that movie, I'll love you forever!}

Yeah, did I tell you we already had Canadian thanksgiving? It's October 12! We ate with this cute lady from england in our ward and her husband :) it was nice. Yesterday, we helped her out with some yard work, and she sent us home with a dozen donuts and homemade apple pie!! She is a doll. Also, she is trying to fatten us up. All of Canada is. Hahaha.

{Thanksgiving Day...}
So for starters, the elders who we shared a car with got their driving privileges taken away, so we now have a car full time!! It's awesome!! Hopefully that will stick. I wasn't looking forward to trudging around in the snow in a clunky pair of boots looking like an Eskimo waiting for the bus. So yay! That's a random bit of good news for all of you lovely people :)

{This sweet lady in our ward we're working with gave us some homemade jam and snapped a picture}

As far as the missionary work, it's all going really well! We have a good teaching pool, and people are progressing nicely. Thomas got the priesthood last Sunday! He is a SUPER Mormon! That's what I told him last night and he was like "Yeaaah! You're good!" Hahaha. Oh man. He is on fire though. He's been so good at sharing the gospel with his friends, and has another one who is interested in taking the lessons!! We're so proud of him! I don't know if I told you this, but last Sunday after he was confirmed, he turned to Sister Neal and I and said, "Good job!" We said, "Good job? With what?" And he said with this big grin on his face, "Good job with Thomas! I am a member now!" Ahh so awesome. Oh and his wife, Hawa is talking to her family about what she's been learning as well! It's amazing how the Lord's work moves forward. :) 



And about Thomas: His wife is not a member yet! She was taking the lessons with him before she went on holiday for a month. Now she's back and she came to Thomas's baptism last Tuesday! It went really well, by the way :) Thomas is so awesome! On Sunday, he was confirmed a member of the church, and the blessing was beautiful! Brother Stone gave it to him. Thomas was glowing that day. He said he felt so good! Anyways, we are now teaching combined new member lesson and investigator discussions to Thomas and his wife Hawa. It's going well! We're teaching them tonight.

{Here's us missionaries taking selfies with Elder Song before he left to go home!}

Also, Brother Trujillo, the member who we've been taking with us to Thomas and Hawa's lessons is super motivated and excited about missionary work now! It's cool. He told us that he wants to teach all the lessons to someone and get them all ready for baptism on his own. We were like "Well..... uh we could help you out a little!" And he was like "Nope! All on my own. I got this." Hahaha. It's funny. But I love how enthusiastic he is! 

{ZTM meeting}

Sharing the gospel really isn't that scary. All we're asked to do is invite! So as long as we are inviting others to take those steps to coming closer to Christ, we are succeeding. Technically, we succeed by failing! ;) People still have their agency, which is frustrating sometimes, but all we are asked to do is invite! Heavenly Father does the rest! I find it comforting that even though people are rejecting our message so often, Heavenly Father is still pleased with the work we are doing and the choices we are making! 

 So I now would like to extend an invitation to each of you: This week, take a leap of faith and invite someone to come unto Christ! It could be inviting someone to church, giving someone a copy of The Book of Mormon and inviting them to read it, inviting someone to family home evening, or even inviting someone to learn from the missionaries ;) Whatever it is that you decide to do, I PROMISE you that Heavenly Father will be so pleased with your efforts and he will bless you in every aspect of your life! The gospel is meant to be shared. Yesterday, Thomas said "The Lord doesn't want me to be selfish! He wants me to share the things that I've learned with my friends." We receive so many blessings when we invite others to come unto Christ. No one will be offended, in fact, they will most likely be flattered that you thought of them and want them to have what you have! So go and DO!! I believe in all of you, and I am so excited to hear the stories you'll have to tell me next week ;) 

{The sisters}

I almost finished The Book of Mormon!! Maybe that's why I'm in such a good mood today. Moroni puts me in a good mood. Hahaha. I have 3 chapters left in that blessed book! I'm so stoked. I'm going to read the New testament next. Crazy, I know... But that's the plan! :) This morning I was reading in Moroni 7, and he was basically talking about a way that we all can have joy and goodness in our lives. Well...  Moroni said that the only way we can have joy is by having faith in Christ! If we have faith in Christ, and pray with REAL INTENT to our Father in Heaven, "Whatsoever thing ye shall ask the Father in [His] name, which is good, in faith believing that ye shall receive, behold, it shall be done unto you." Sounds like a pretty good deal to me! :) Prayer works, everybody. I promise you that.

{Tim Horton's. It's the Starbucks of Canada. So here's a white girl pic.}

Well I just want all of you to know that I love you and I miss you so much!! I hope that school and work and normal life is going well for you all! Tell America I love and miss it. Seriously. I could use a good burger right now. Too bad Canadians aren't AMERICANS.


{Members give us so many leftovers!}

OH MY GOSH. This week. I don't know what it was! But so many people told us their depressing life stories, and it was so eye opening! We are #soblessed. Seriously. The things some people have been through are so sad. Oh but how much Heavenly Father loves his children is insane!! Hmm maybe that was the wrong word. How much Heavenly Father loves his children is amazing! ;) No matter what our struggles and trials are in this life, the Savior's atonement can overcome all of it! Isn't that awesome? How blessed are we?! #soblessed!!! It's been really cool to see how the power of the atonement works in different ways in people's lives. It can heal any wound! I love Jesus :) He's a very very nice guy. His atonement truly is infinite, and this week I gained a greater understanding of just what that means.




Alright, well that's all for today!! Sorry this email is so dang scattered. That's my brain for ya! ;) I love you all so much! Have a good week! 

Thank you for all that you do! I love you to the moon and back :)
XOXO

Much love,

Sista Robinson

Conference Weekend Update

Hey!! How are you? Did you get to watch conference? We got to watch it with our favorite (or favourite, as the Canadians spell it) member families!! On Saturday we watched it with the Smith's, and on Sunday with the Trujillo's. It was so fun!! I felt like a normal person... So weird. We were just hanging out, eating their food, cuddled up in a blanket on their couch! It was a blast. The Trujillo's fed us SO MUCH FOOD. It was crazy! They gave us tuna fish on saltines, just like mama used to make us! I wanted to cry. And then chips and salsa, hummus, these fried plantain balls (they're Colombian by the way), donuts, yummy Colombian stir fry, and cookies! We were stuffed. And then we had a supper appointment right after that, and they fed us THANKSGIVING DINNER... WITH PIE AND COOKIES TOO. I think I've gained ten pounds and there's literally nothing I can do to stop this madness. They say I won't regret having the extra layer when the cold winter air rolls in... We'll see. 

{some quotes from conference}

As for other random news... Thomas is getting baptized tonight! I'll send pictures :) He's so ready. It's awesome. We stopped by his house last night to figure out a few random things for the baptismal service, and we talked to him about why it is so important so share the gospel with others. He's already doing it though! He told us that he talks to his coworkers about what we teach him all the time, and he basically said "I feel so much joy when I read the Book of Mormon and when you teach me about the gospel. I know that the Heavenly Father wants me to help other people to feel the same way, and even though a lot of them won't accept it, I know that Heavenly Father is proud of me when I share it with others." I wanted to cry! When he said that, the spirit was radiating out of him, and Sister Neal and I were like.... YES. Thomas!!!! Ahh I'm so excited to see where this takes him in life. He also told us that he wants to serve a mission with his wife when they're old and grey! CUTE OH MY GAWSH. 



Soooo yeah :) The church is true. That's the little highlight of my week! Tell me about yours! 
So the scripture I am pondering is Alma 5:16! :)

 16 I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?

He mentioned that one in his talk, so I thought it would be a good one to start with. I love 2 Nephi 31:20 though!! 

20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

That's a really good one :)  




So what was your favorite general conference talk? I can't pick a favorite, so I'm asking around to see what other people's favorites were :) I loved the women's session and the last session of conference the most though! Maybe it was partly because I was at the Trujillo's house, and they were feeding us yummy Columbian food during the last session. Who knows? :)



KILOVEYOUBYEEEE
Sister Robinson

General Women's Meeting

Hello my dearest!

My week went so goooooood! I'm happy :) even happier to be able to write my friends and family. It's fun. 

We had a lunar eclipse the other night, so that was cool! Is that the same as a blood moon?

Aaaaanyways, my week was good! Sister Neal and I are really trying to find new people to teach. We got a new investigator named Margaret last week! She's so cute and amazing and I love her. The elders that serve in our ward started talking to her one day while she was sitting on her front porch! She asked if there were girl missionaries, because she only ever sees the "guys," so they passed her on to us. We stopped by her house one day, and she was on her porch having a smoke. (Side note: I said a quick prayer that the smoke from the cigarette wouldn't give me a headache, and right after I did that she put out her cigarette! Thank you, Heavenly Father!!) 

Anyway, we introduced ourselves, and she was super nice! She said that she read everything on mormon.org, and agreed with everything she read... Except for the Book of Mormon. We were like EASY! So we talked to her about it and gave her a copy. It was funny, because she was like "well I won't know if it's true unless I read it and pray about it... So I'll have to do that." We were like YEAH YOU DO! Now, that may not seem like a super big deal to you, but it was. A lot of people won't gain a testimony of the gospel, because they don't read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it's true. So we were excited :) We set up a time to teach her the next day, and we were able to explain everything a little more in depth. She is definitely very interested! I'm excited to see where it goes. She's the cutest lady ever.
{this is about half of our mission!}
Another highlight is Thomas is getting interviewed for baptism tonight! Wahooo! This is really happening! I'm so happy for him and the commitment he's making! He has an amazing desire to follow Jesus Christ. I love it. We are going to be watching general conference with him and the Trujillo's (a family in our ward) this weekend at their house! Should be a party. Don't worry. We won't go too crazy. 

Everything is going really well for us overall. I'm very thankful for the opportunity I have to serve the Lord. It's amazing. I learn so much every day, and I hope all the lessons I learn stay with me for the rest of my life. I'm keeping a journal too, so that helps ;)



My favorite part of this week was the General Women's Conference! Oh my goodness it was so fantastic! I think I loved it so much, because President Uchtdorf spoke. Did you get to watch it?? If not, at the very least watch his talk. You won't regret it. For this session, I did something a little different. I wrote down 4 questions that I had, and listened for the answers during the conference. It was cool, because I received an answer to each one of them! The questions were: How can I be a better missionary? How can I have more humility and patience? How can I be happier and more willing to serve? How can I use Christ's atonement every day? It was so awesome, because every speaker like... spoke to my soul!! So here are a few little points that I just loved:


"Trust in God and BELIEVE in good things to come!" Rosemary M. Wixom

"We cannot play with Satan's fiery darts without getting burned." Linda S. Reeves

"When you accept the atonement of Jesus Christ, all that caused heartache is taken away and replaced with peace and rejoicing." Linda S. Reeves

"If we understood the love that our father and savior have for us, we would be willing to do anything to return to live with them." Linda S. Reeves

"Whether we are age 8 or 108, each of us is ‘precious in [His] sight” (Isaiah 43:4)." Carol F. McConkie

"There is enough that doesn’t go right in life, so anyone can work themselves into a puddle of pessimism and a mess of melancholy. But I know people who, even when things don’t work out, focus on the wonders and miracles of life." Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"God didn’t design us to be sad. He created us to have joy! So if we trust Him, He will help us to notice the good, bright, hopeful things of life. And sure enough, the world will become brighter. No, it doesn’t happen instantly, but honestly, how many good things do?" Dieter F. Uchtdorf

One more... (Uchtdorf is my favorite)

"Now is part of eternity, and eternity is composed of now's. They can be dark and gloomy now's, or they can be bright and joyful now's" Dieter F. Uchtdorf

{picture from last week... I embarrassed Sister Neal with all my selfies}


I am SO STOKED for conference this weekend! It'll be great :) Anyway, I love you so much!! Have a good week and keep updating me throughout the week like you did last week! I loved that.

xoxoxo

Sister Robinson

The Baptism, & Is It Still Wonderful?

Life is gooood! I'm feeling pretty sick today, so that's not very fun. But everything else is good :) The weather has been all over the place! Today it is overcast and rainy, but yesterday it was a pretty fall day. It changes fairly frequently, so we never know what we're going to get. We just hope and pray that the weather won't be too cold on the days that we don't have our car. Ughh my stomach hurts. being sick is the pits! Sister Neal and I were both dying last night, and we ended up going to bed at 6pm! It was crazy. Definitely helped us to feel better though. Hopefully I don't have a parasite or something. Hahaha gross. Luckily I'm not in Peru, so I don't need to worry about that.

This has been an interesting week to say the least! Lots of ups and downs, but mostly ups! For example, Diana got baptized!! That was the highlight of the week for sure  :) She was so excited all week, and Sister Neal and I were sooo nervous! But it all worked out! When Sister Neal and I watched Diana enter the baptismal font, we were both so full of joy! Diana has been meeting with missionaries for over four years now! A lot of missionaries were not patient enough with her, and gave up on her. It definitely goes to show that Heavenly Father puts people into our lives for a reason! Diana needed a good set of sister missionaries who would be patient enough with her and who would show her the love that she truly deserves. Diana has been through A LOT in her life, and it really scares people away sometimes. But I just wouldn't let myself give up on her. She is a shining star! I love her so much! It was amazing to watch her change and grow as we taught her each week. There were a few missionaries that had taught Diana in the past who told us we were wasting our time, and even some members in the ward who told us that no matter how hard we try she'll never change. But I am here to tell you that anything is possible! I know that if we rely on the Lord through hard times, he will give us good results! When Diana came out of the water, she whipped her hair around and said, "Okay Sister Robinson, you can take my picture now!" She's so funny. We ended up taking a picture in the washroom, because she really wanted one taken of her when she was all wet. :) She's awesome. 


{She really wanted to take a picture right after she came out of the font!}

 After the ordinance, the relief society president gave a talk about the Holy Ghost and welcomed her into the relief society. She told Diana that when she's ready, she can receive a calling. Diana totally cut her off and said "Oh but I am ready right now! Can I get my calling tomorrow?" it was awesome. She's so excited about everything, as you can tell.

{Sister Neal, Diana, and Sister Robinson}

So now for another bit of good news! Thomas is getting baptized on October 8th! Wahoo! It was going to be the 1st (Mama's bday), but not anymore. Anyways, yay!! He is basically a member already! Everyone in the ward just ADORES Thomas! He is so excited to be baptized. Something cool about Thomas is that he has lived in Sierra Leone, The UK, Ontario, and now he lives in Edmonton. But he has come across missionaries everywhere he's lived! In Sierra Leone, The UK, Ontario, and now here in Edmonton! It's basically just meant to be :) I am so excited for his baptism. He has an amazing testimony of this gospel, and he truly knows that it is for him! The ward members have been so helpful as well! He's made like 50 friends already! Whenever we try to talk to him at church, he gets bombarded by a group of people who want to shake his hand and sit with him in Sunday school! It's so awesome though. 



Sister Neal and I also had an opportunity to teach a boy named Christian, who is 17 years old. He has really strong faith in Jesus Christ and we're excited to see where things go with him. We found him in our former investigators list, and tried by his house like 7 times before we actually caught him at home! It was funny, because his little brother Peter would always be home when we'd try to get a hold of Christian. So when he finally was home, Peter answered the door, and when he went to get Christian for us we heard him say "The girls are here!" HA! So funny. Guess he'd heard that we were trying to contact him for a while. Anyways, we taught him about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and it went well! I was super nervous though! Sister Neal and I were both just sweating like crazy! But we invited him to be baptized, and he said that he would!! It was awesome! He was going to come to church on Sunday, but he ended up sleeping in... Typical. But we're excited to see where things go with him :)
{This is supposed to be the smoulder... Did it work? I don't think so... But I tried. We took a selfie break from our weekly planning sesh at the library}

This week was definitely very humbling. I know it may be pretty obvious, but I am so thankful for this gospel!! It changes lives! There is nothing else in the world that offers positive and lasting change the way the teachings of Jesus Christ do. I read a general conference talk this week called "Is It Still Wonderful to You?" It basically talks about ways that we can continually marvel at gospel wonders and strengthen our faith. It gets hard sometimes! Our "spiritual sensors" tend to go into standby mode if we aren't consistently striving to build our foundation on Christ's teachings.



In his talk, Bishop Gerald Causse offers three ways that we can build up our testimonies. First, we need to realize that "the gospel is a fountain of knowledge that never runs dry. There is always something new to learn and feel each Sunday, in every meeting, and in every verse of scripture." And it's so true! I have found that the Book of Mormon is a totally different book than what I remember from reading it before my mission! It has opened my eyes in ways that I never thought possible! It's crazy though, because I know that it's the same book... But that's the beauty of it! The Book of Mormon truly is the word of God. 

{There are better pictures on Brother Stone's camera, but this is us outside after the baptism}

Second, anchor your faith in the plain and simple truths of the gospel. "A sister missionary told the story of three men she met during a district conference in Africa. They came from an isolated village far away in the bush where the Church had not yet been organized but where there were 15 faithful members and almost 20 investigators. For over two weeks these men had walked on foot, traveling more than 300 miles over paths rendered muddy by the rainy season, so they could attend the conference and bring the tithes from the members of their group. They planned to stay for an entire week so they could enjoy the privilege of partaking of the sacrament the following Sunday and then hoped to set out on the return trip carrying boxes filled with copies of the Book of Mormon on their heads to give to the people of their village.The missionary testified how touched she was by the sense of wonder these brethren displayed and by their wholehearted sacrifices to obtain things that for her had always been readily available. She wondered: 'If I got up one Sunday morning in Arizona and found that my car wasn’t working, would I walk to my church only a few blocks away from home? Or would I just stay home because it was too far or because it was raining?' These are good questions for all of us to consider." 

The last thing he invites us to do is to constantly seek and cherish the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Seems like a simple thing, but the Holy Ghost makes allllll the difference! If we didn't have the spirit with us in our lessons with Diana and Thomas, they would never be converted! But since we strive to carry the spirit with us every day, they can feel it when we enter their homes, and it gives them that desire to come close to Christ. I know that this church is true! I am so thankful to be serving the Lord as a missionary! I hope you have a good week :) I love you so much!! 



xoxoxox
Sister Robinson

Cold, Baptism, & Sister Neal's Letter

My week was really good! The weather here has been super rainy as well! We haven't had another super cold day again, (knock on wood) but we sure are getting tons of rain! It even snowed a little yesterday. It didn't stick, but it was snow!! Winter is right around the corner!! Scaryyyy! So yes, it's getting cold here. Booooo. Lame. 
{This was last week before I bought any sort of coat. It was awful. 4
degrees Celsius and we were walking and knocking. Cold cold cold.}

 Okay, but I gotta skip to the good stuff........... DIANA IS GETTING BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!!!! Oh my gosh oh my gosh! Wahhoooo! I'm so happy for her. I'm so excited. We've been working with Diana for almost 4 months now, and she has changed so much! She is so ready. She's amazing. I love her to pieces. She has developed such a strong testimony of the gospel, and I am so proud of her! She's so excited and happy too! It's amazing how much the gospel has influenced her life. She has become an amazing young woman. I'll send you lots of pictures from her big day! :) It's taking me a long time to wrap my head around the fact that she's actually getting baptized! Another soul is entering the Lord's kingdom! I'm just so happy! Sister Neal and I are walking rays of sunshine. It's amazing. Woot woot!!

 So yeah. That's my biggest news. Other than that though, things are great! The work is moving along slowly but surely! Sister Neal and I are getting better at talking to random strangers on the bus and doing our best to invite random people to learn more. So far, we haven't found anyone to teach, but we have made a lot of friends! Sister Neal is such a light, and she makes everything a lot of fun. We're teaching a lot of less actives right now. A lot of them want us to reteach them the missionary lessons, which really helps them to build a testimony. 
{So I bought a coat! All is well!}

Oh that makes me so happy that people are reading my letters and enjoying them :) I'm doing my best to bring light into the lives of others. It makes everything easier when I focus more on helping other people than on helping myself. I often wonder how much I've already changed. I'm going to be in that "awkward return missionary phase" for a long time after I return home! It'll be.... interesting. We'll see :) 

So, since we're short on time today, I had sister Neal send me the group email she just typed up, because she told a lot of funny/awesome stories about how things have been going for us over the past couple weeks. :) Here we go: 

-Dinner appointment: We went to an older couples house for dinner last week. Their son  (probably around 40) and his kids live there too. One of the kids, around 12 years old, was exactly what I would imagine a grumpy Nacho Libre to be. And he is.....someone who farts a lot. Awesome. It was the most awkward dinner ever. I can't even tell you. Hahaha.
-Members in lessons are the best thing ever! A member named Brother Purnell came with us to our first lesson with Jeremiah, a former investigator. IT WAS SO AWESOME! There was such a strong spirit and witness of all of our words (sister Robinson's, Brother Purnells, and mine). Jeremiah could feel that The Restoration was true. We are hopeful that he will accept the invitation to be baptized. The only problem is he is crazy busy so appointments fall through a lot. We will see what happens! 
-Bailee Zym the cat: we got an online referral from someone who wanted a bible...when we stopped by she yelled at us, and then we asked her if Bailee Zym lived there, and she said it was her cat. All around, very confusing and funny for sister Robinson and I . 
-Listening to a prophet is like listening to God... He receives revelation to lead Christ's church. How blessed we are for this knowledge! 
-Imagine if Moses from the bible was coming to speak...would you go? That's exactly like having our modern prophets today (who have the priesthood authority of God). So prepare yourselves for general conference because it is going to be awesome! 
-Less actives are also my favorite! We teach a less active named Shelley Macdonald, and she is the sweetest. We teach at the church every week because she lives with her brother and he doesn't support her in the church. She has such a strong desire to grow her knowledge of the gospel. AND she follows through on commitments. Go Shelley!
-"If you don't want to slip don't go where it's slippery"  we have a member who is trying to quit smoking and we talked about making sure we don't put ourselves in situations that will make us vulnerable to our temptations. She quoted this slippery quote, and I just thought, 'well that makes sense!' 
-I'm 14 apparently: we stopped by another former investigator and after she made a comment about how raising children is hard, I said 'yeah I'll know one day soon enough'. She look startled and was like " oh my goodness I thought you were like 14!" I thought to myself....'seriously? Ugh.' Hahaha but she thought Sister Robinson was 16. So I don't know. It was interesting. 
{This picture depicts all of the garbage on the ground everywhere! Gross.}

-Role play with Joe...we met real Joe!: during companionship study one day sister Robinson and I role played a street contact and made up the name Joe...that day we actually street contacted a Joe and he was really nice! It was awesome!
-Jeanie- "I prayed and all I got was that the church is true": Another less active, named Jeanie, is being retaught the lessons. When we came to follow up on the first lesson about The Restoration of the Church, we asked her if she read The Book of Mormon and prayed to know if it/this church was true. She replied by saying yes, and said, "I prayed and all I got was that the church is true."... Hallelujah! The Church is true!!! It was even more neat because she continued by saying that she was actually surprised, and that she didn't think that she would receive an answer so quickly! Jeanie has been inactive for quite a while, so hopefully with this renewed faith she will come back to church! 
-Elder and Sister Christoffer golden (They are from South Africa and sound British): We had a mission conference this last week and it was intense. I sat in the very front row directly in front of Elder Golden of the Quorum of the Seventy, and we had to sit there for 5 HOURS. Anyone who knows me well--well actually, you don't even have to know me well, I basically have narcolepsy. And Elder Golden was standing two feet in front of me, making eye contact with me on and off for 5 hours. Yeah, I struggled. 'Stay....awake...Sister Neal' I thought. His message was awesome though. At the beginning he promised that 'the veil' would be very thin if we were attentive during the meeting. It is very frustrating when I want to pay attentive and be attentive so so so badly, but can't. I still did a pretty good job though. The Lord has helped me while I've been out. Elder Golden mostly talked about how to become a baptizing mission...We don't have very good statistics in Edmonton. He was still very kind and loving though. SO, all around, it was great. He spoke at Stake Conference and held a fireside that week as well. 
-Elder Watson: bright and light countenance....infectious smile: Okay okay, this is my prideful moment. One of the senior elders came up to me after the mission conference and told me that as soon as he saw me at transfers, he could feel me radiate enthusiasm, and told me that I had an infectious smile! Yay me! He said that that was very important for a missionary to have, and that Sister Robinson make a great pair. He truly made my day! 


{Sorry all we take pictures of is ourselves! There aren't many pretty things here in Clareview... Maybe when I move to a new area the pictures will be more interesting.}

Those are all of her awesome updates! Pretty much sums everything up perfectly :) I love you!!! Have a good week!!

Love, Sister Robinson

Why Bad Things Happen

"Lord, give me experience, but not grief, not sorrow, not pain, not opposition, not betrayal, and certainly not to be forsaken. Keep me, Lord, from all those experiences which made Thee what Thou art! Then let me come and dwell with Thee and fully share Thy Joy!" 

Sister Neal sent me that quote, isn't that awesome? I love it. Sometimes, we just want to glide through life and for everything to come easy, but it just doesn't work that way! One of the hardest questions that people ask is "why does God let bad things happen to good people?" It's a valid question! But if God didn't let bad things happen to us, we would just stay exactly the way we are. And is that the point? Heck no! We were not sent down to earth so that we could return to heaven exactly the same, but uh... with a body! Ha, nope! We were sent here to earth to learn how to endure trials and to learn how to love and to learn to rely on the Lord. We were sent here to learn and grow, so that eventually we will become worthy to return to our father in heaven! That's what it's all about. Returning to Him. I've learned a lot about the atonement week. I don't think I ever realized that the atonement wasn't only done for us so that we could be cleansed from sin. Christ suffered for us so that he would be able to understand what we're feeling in every phase of life, and more importantly, understand how we can become better from every experience. He did it for us so that we would always have a way to make it through everything and anything. The enabling power of the atonement is real! It is for each and every one of us always. Even when everything is going right, and especially when everything is going wrong. I just had to share that. I love it. :)


Anyways, I'm doing really well! Being a trainer isn't as hard as it was the first week! Haha! That was difficult. but no, sister Neal is super awesome and i love her! We had a good week :)
Man, it's been a busy day! Sister Neal and I bought coats today :) I had enough money, so that was good. I got one really warm one, and a wool one that's a little lighter. I'm happy. They were good finds! Other than that, we aren't doing anything exciting for Pday. Everyone here just started school this week.



So this week was great, but I'm so busy and don't have a whole lot of time to email! I'll tell you interesting stories next week. Deal? :) sorry about that. I'm going to try to send some letters this week also. :) That'll be good. Anyways, I love you!! Have a good week!
Sister Robinson

Brand New Missionary Mom

{Sister Robinson, Sister Neal, and their mission president}
I am now a missionary mom. It's so awesome. Hahah it's definitely a learning process though. I was dumb and had THREE INVESTIGATOR LESSONS set up on her very first day!! *face palm* slow it down, Sister Robinson... I definitely didn't realize how fast paced and routine everything became with Sister Hatch! I expected it to be just as easy and to flow in the exact same way, but ha! I was wrong. It's still great, and she is super amazing, but it is a lot harder!! Oh man... Something super cool happened that first day though! One of the people we were planning to teach, Joyce, asked us to meet her at her cousin's house for a lesson, but she was a no-show. (missionary life) Anyway, we were able to talk with her cousin, Patience for a while, and eventually she started asking us questions about what we believe! It was cool, because we were like "Well... Do you want us to teach you?" She sorta shrugged her shoulders, and we were like "let's do this!" So we just whipped out the first lesson, the restoration! We taught it simply and quickly, and she said she believes that it could be true! We committed her to pray about it and to ask Heavenly Father if Joseph Smith was a true prophet and if the Book of Mormon is true! She also said she would read the introduction and as much as she could from the book of mormon! At first she seemed skeptical, but once we started the lesson she was a little more interested! It just goes to show that Heavenly Father will always lead us to where we need to be! Good times. We set up another time to meet with her, and I'll keep you updated on that!

Oh yeah! I have a new companion! Almost forgot ;) her name is Sister Neal! She's from Nampa, Idaho. She is very excited about missionary work, and it is a lot of fun to be her companion! After our first day, which was crazy busy and rushed, I decided it would probably be wise to take things a little slower the next day. It's just funny, because on that first day I was like "Yeah! This is awesome!" and she was like "Ohhhh my gosh this is insane!" It's okay now though. We're getting there ;) 

{we felt like taking selfies while waiting for the bus}
So being a trainer is... hard. I love sister neal, but it was a big adjustment. HOWEVER, I actually love being a trainer. It has helped me to be more obedient and excited about missionary work, because I have to be an example to sister neal every second of every day! We have quickly gotten very close, and we have a lot of fun together. I've been very fortunate, because I haven't gotten any crazy companions yet! (knock on wood) Ha! But it was super awesome. As soon as I saw her, I knew she would be my new companion! and then president called my name in the transfers meeting, I stood up, and he said "Sister Robinson, you will be serving with sister neal in the clareview area." I wish I could send you pictures from that day, but they're all on my camera, and I'm still trying to figure it all out! I can't get my camera to connect to the library's internet. It's dumb. You'll see them eventually though! 

{I think I've been working her a little too hard. She fell asleep on the bus like 5 times!}
Also, Thomas is one of our amazing investigators, and he is practically a member, but he just couldn't get work off on Sundays. Very frustrating. BUT sister Hatch and I came up with the brilliant idea to teach him about fasting and to plan a day where we would all fast for him to get work off on Sundays! It was me, sister hatch, brother trujillo (a member in the ward, and his new BFF woot woot), and Brother Reid (another member in the ward!) We also invited a few missionaries to join us in the fast, but I don't know if they remembered. Anyways, we all fasted last Sunday for him to get work off and it was powerful and amazing, and everyone had really strong faith. So then, this week at church Sister Neal and I were in Sacrament meeting, and we were just talking to some members and having a lovely time... And then I turned and saw Brother Trujillo standing at the door with (wait for it...........) THOMAS RIGHT BY HIS SIDE! I practically jumped out of my chair to go say "Hi" to them! Brother Trujillo said he thought my eyes were going to pop out of my head! Ahh it was the greatest moment of my life!! So much joy! Thomas was so excited!  I was so excited! And so many ward members came and said "Hi" to Thomas. It was great. Brother Trujillo, Sister Neal and I all bore our testimonies as well. It was a really powerful testimony meeting, and I'm so happy that Thomas was able to come! He stayed for all three hours, and then the trujillo's hung out with him all day! They were telling us that they all had supper together, and that Thomas was talking about how happy he was all day. It was glorious! I could talk about it for hours. He'll be baptized in no time ;)
{here we are with Thomas}
Another amazing thing happened! Last Tuesday, Sister Hatch and I said goodbye to a lot of the people who we've gotten really close to over the last three months, and one of them was Betty! She is this awesome lady, who we see once a week and we talk to her about God sometimes, and I love her! About a month ago I was feeling brave and I just asked her straight up: "Betty, do you want to learn more about our church?" And she said: "right now, no... I'm too busy, but possibly another time." So we continued to stop by her house just about weekly, and then stopped by so sister Hatch could say goodbye. She asked Sister Hatch if she had any requests or words of wisdom to give her before saying goodbye. So she sat there and thought about it for a second... And then she looked at her and said "Betty, promise me that if you have the desire to learn about the church that you will let sister Robinson and her new companion teach you." You could see the spirit working with Betty while she was thinking about it... Then she finally said, "Okay, I will." Yay!! We have been stopping by Betty's house for three months now, and we have grown to love her so much! Something kept us going every single week, even though we didn't always talk about the gospel. We just continued to stop by and now we know why. So yesterday, Sister Neal and I stopped by and we talked and talked for a long time. Then Betty said "So... What are you going to teach me today?" I was so surprised! I said, "What?! Betty, you really want to learn?!" and she nodded. So off we went! We taught her the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and I don't know if I've ever been able to teach that lesson as simply and powerfully as we did yesterday. The spirit was definitely there, and she said she would start reading the Book of Mormon and pray about it! I know that if Sister Hatch and I had given up on Betty that we would never have been able to bring this gospel into her life. I'm so excited to see where it goes, and I will definitely keep you updated!

Diana is doing really well! She's pretty much ready for baptism! It's a lot of fun teaching her, and I have a lot of faith in her. I am excited to see how she progresses and continues to grow in the gospel. I love her so much! She really wants to meet my family and she talks about what we'll do when I visit her after my mission all the time. It's adorable. Sister Neal is warming up to her as well. Diana's definitely a hard one to get used to, but Sister Neal is being really patient with her. 

{At the transfer meeting!}







 Oh my gosh, I have so much more to tell you, but so little time! Here's the breakdown: This church is true. It's truer than true. It is God's kingdom here on this earth. If we put our trust in him and turn our will into His will everything will fall perfectly into place. It may not be easy at first, but the point of this life isn't for it to be easy. How would we learn to be strong if this life was easy? How would we learn patience if we always got everything we wanted exactly when we wanted it? But I know that our Heavenly Father knows each of us individually and wants what's best for us. All it takes is faith. In our district meeting this week, the district leader said, "90% of the time we don't succeed, because we lack the faith." He doesn't want us to fail! He wants us to put our trust in Him! To realize that- no, we can't do this on our own! We can't do anything on our own. And if that's hard to accept, then we need to be more humble. We need to become like little children and rely on our father in heaven in every aspect of our lives. He is always there at the other side of the door, knocking and waiting for us to open it and let Him into our lives. I know that Christ lives and loves us so much. I know that because of Him, we have the capacity to become exactly what our Heavenly father intends us to become. All we have to do is change our will to his will. I love you. I miss you every day, but I am so happy to be here on a mission! There's no place I'd rather be, and I'm not so sure I'll be ready to come home when the time comes. Don't worry though. I'll do it anyway. ;) Thank you for everything, and I hope you have a wonderful week! I'll keep you in my prayers.

XOXO

Sister Robinson
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