Week 48 - A week where things fell through

This week has been a lot different than most of the weeks here. A lot of the things we planned on doing just fell through. 

We get transfer calls today! We haven't heard anything yet. 

I got my packages, thank you soooo much. I love everything! I looked at the calendar Mom made me for Christmas, and noticed that you are going to be very busy this week. Good luck! Happy birthday to Sophie and Annie! 

Nothing is new this week, except for possible transfer doctrine. I wouldn't be surprised if everything stays the same here in Muscatine. But I am also ready for what ever happens, the Lord's work can sometimes be unpredictable. 

Oh, and I shaved my head.

Missionaries in the Muscatine district (all serving in the same ward):

Making poppyseed salad for dinner:

Elder A. made Hawaiian curry for district lunch:

Week 47 - Lots of lessons

Monday we met a man named Juan.  He is very prepared and wants to learn more, but he expressed the fact that his whole family is Catholic and it would be very hard to change. Then we had dinner with a wonderful family here the MacAffes.

Tuesday we walked a long ways from appointment to appointment getting swarmed by bugs!! It was awesome.

Wednesday we saw countless miracle after miracle!! God truly put people in our path and we were extremely blessed.

Thursday we had a Zone Training Meeting in Washington. President and Sister Jensen came to it! And they gave us great advice and counsel. After ZTM we had dinner with the Beans, and had a great lesson about the Savior's purpose in coming to this Earth and him visiting the Americas.

Friday we had an amazing lesson with Juan! At the end of the lesson we invited him to be baptized on July 12th when he finds out that this is Christ's church!

Saturday we had a great lesson with Barbara y Vince. This was our first time teaching them. They had many great questions! We are very excited to continue to teach them more and help them find the truth. Then after that we headed to IA City for the adult session of stake conference! Elder Pain of the Seventy was there and it was such a great meeting.

Sunday we went up to IA City again for the morning session of stake conference, and the rest of the night we worked here in Muscatine.

Our week here was great and this week is going to be amazing as well.  Hope everyone is doing great!

Love,

Elder Roberts

Week 46 - One of the best weeks so far

This week was one of the most amazing weeks I have had on my mission so far! We were truly blessed, and were led by the spirit to people who are interested in learning more about the gospel!

On Monday we had a great P-day! We grilled at the church and played sports and celebrated memorial day! At 6 o'clock it was back to work. So the whole night we knocked on doors. We met a man named Andreas and taught him about the Restoration of the Gospel. It was a wonderful experience! We learned a ton from the lesson we had with him

On Tuesday we had a amazing day, too! We started the day off by visiting someone that had been taught by missionaries before. We taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and he told us that he wants to make changes now, and wasn't ready the first time the missionaries taught him. Then we went over to Bishop Cloves' house and had an amazing dinner made by Sister Cloves and the Sister Missionaries. After that we went to find more people to teach. We knocked on tons of doors. But one door was so funny!!! We knocked on the door and a teenage girl answered the door she was probably 16 or 17. Her face was priceless, she was in complete and utter shock! She said "I don't know what to say!" We proceeded to tell her about what our purpose is as missionaries. I didn't seem to sink into her brain though because she was just staring at us! She told us that we could come back and talk with her whole family!! We were super excited.

Wednesday we went to West Liberty. We had an amazing lesson with a member who has not attended church in a very long time. He wants to come back but realizes he will have to change a lot, so we are starting with baby steps. The rest of his family are not members of the church so we are also teaching them. 

Thursday I woke up with a pretty bad cold. We had an awesome district meeting, got our car fixed at Good Year, and to wrap the day up we taught Kat and her mom Catalina and left them to read more about the restoration of the gospel. 

Friday we had an amazing exchange with our Zone leaders!! I was pretty exhausted from having no sleep the night before but we went out and hit the ground running, finding many people to teach and contacting many Hispanic people!!

Saturday we did a lot of service and had a wonderful dinner with Ross #1 Hawk Eye fan! And the baptismal font we have been building is almost done!!!

Sunday was amazing we had a great Sabbath day and had an amazing dinner with the Heath Family. Brother Heath helps us out a ton here in Muscatine. He teaches Spanish at a college here, and comes to a lot of lessons with us.

This week I learned that when you are afflicted yet choose to go to work and do everything you can, the Lord will bless you for your efforts and help you get through it. The spirit definitely carried me a couple times this week.  

I love you all!!!

Elder Roberts

Week 45 - Walked a lot of miles

So this week here in Muscatine, Iowa it has been very nice weather! It is supposed to start to heat up though! I heard it is pretty miserable to walk in 100 degree weather with 110% humidity, but that is alright!

This week we had a great time serving the people here.  We are seeing a lot of progress with the people we are teaching and we are having so much fun!  I am going to be honest and say it is pretty hard to remember what we did last week, because I didn't write in my journal.

We do so much everyday that it just sort of all meshes together! We walked a lot of miles and taught people the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Love

Elder Roberts

Week 44 - Week of service

So this week here in Muscatine we did a ton of amazing service!!

Monday- We had P-day. After that had a wonderful dinner with the Filmores. Then we went and had a lesson with Jenny and Eric.

Tuesday- nothing too eventful.

Wednesday- We went to West Liberty and ended up being an answer to a less active member's prayers. We helped him shut down and cleared out the bar he was running. Shutting down one bar at a time!!

Thursday- We continued to work on the baptismal font, then traveled back to West Liberty to meet with an awesome member. He is the only member in his whole family!!

Friday- We had Zone Training Meeting in Washington, and then had an amazing lesson with Eddy! He is not a member but his wife is. He has been taught the lessons like 3 times. So we are teaching him differently than the "normal way" and he has been loving it!!!

Saturday- We had a ward activity, the Spring Fling, and afterwards had a baptism for a boy whose name is Nathaniel.

Sunday- We went to church. After that we went to Fairfield which is 2 hours away, because Elder Steele had to interview one of the people that they are teaching for baptism.  Then we drove back and had dinner with the Burton family.

Mom, thanks for the "card" workout you sent.  Right now we can do it in 25-30 minutes, want to get down to 20 minutes before the end of this transfer.  We are still recovering  from doing it the first time! We were literally dying of soreness the next day and the day after that and the day after that!

Love

Elder Roberts

Nathaniel's baptism:

Still working on the font:

Week 43 - A new comp (trio now) & Mother's Day Skype

This transfer went by so fast! It was by far the fastest transfer so far on my mission. Elder Steele and I are serving here in Muscatine still, but they put us in a trio! Elder Steele and I have already both been in trios so it isn't that crazy for us. We have an awesome companion, his name is Elder Akaka from Hawaii. He was baptized in 2011 and has a very powerful testimony! We are doing a lot of work right now, and loving it. This transfer we are expecting big things.

Mother's Day was amazing! Getting to talk to my family was amazing, definitely not as hard as Christmas.  We are so blessed to have the technology we do today! 

Right now I am loving serving the Lord and the people here in Muscatine and can't wait to see what is in store for the rest of my mission. I love this gospel, it is so simple and true.

Love,

Elder Roberts 

At transfer meeting on 5/8:

 Elder R and Elder S with their new comp, Elder Akaka:

With the Whitlows:

Some building in Muscatine:

The English & Spanish Elders in Muscatine:

Mother's Day call across 3 states (CA, IA, MA):

Week 42 - Six weeks in Muscatine, a crazy man & a temple trip

One transfer (6 weeks) down in Muscatine!

Monday - We worked, didn't get to have p-day because we had a temple trip planned for Saturday! We had a great dinner with the Hensen Family, and helped the Jara family pack up their house so they could move to Iowa city on Thursday.

Tuesday -We did service at the MCSA (Muscatine Center for Social Action) and had some great lessons with some people we are teaching.

Wednesday - We had exchanges with the English Elders.  Elder Coalwell came with me which meant I was on my own when we had appointments with people who only speak Spanish... Luckily I got by!

Thursday - We had a great district meeting and afterwards we tried a couple people that said they might be interested. We went to one man's house, he was very drunk and said he was high. We started talking about Christ and he snapped... He saw Elder Steele smile and almost went berserk. Luckily the man thought I was cool so he didn't get angry at me and I calmed the situation down. During his rage he threatened to put Elder Steele through his porch. He was a 280 lb white man. Afterward our adrenaline was pumping like crazy.  Once we got the car we just laughed it off and kept working.

Friday - We focused on finding more people to teach.

Saturday - We had a soccer game. We lost 10-1.... Then we went to Nauvoo and had an amazing time there, it was much nicer not having a 4 hour drive. Instead it was just an hour and a half.

Sunday- We had a great testimony meeting and had great time after church teaching people.

Love

Elder Roberts