Week 24 - New companions this week

This week was so great! Christmas was amazing!

Some tips for anyone who plans to skype with a missionary:

1. Don't think that you have a full hour

2. You have to add in crying time

3. The time flies

4. Be ready for surprises

If you follow those steps, skyping home will be that much more predictable!

This week Elder Blauer and I have been really focusing on the members in our ward because as you can imagine its pretty hard for people to let you in when they are with family and it is 0 degrees.  On Friday it was super nice, it was 40 degrees so we didn't even have to wear jackets!!

We also got transfer calls this morning.  Elder Blauer is getting transferred and will be serving as district leader somewhere else and I am staying in Osceola!!!!!! My new companionship is going to be a trio. I like to call it the trinity, I am so excited and pumped.

Thank you once again to everyone who sent me Christmas gifts!

The greatest gift of all though is Christ's Atonement!!

May we all remember that with this New Year coming.

Love,
Elder Roberts  

Week 23 - 10 below zero, a beautiful white Christmas

There was a huge snow/ice storm this weekend so church was cancelled yesterday.  Not having church yesterday really stunk! Church is so important and a necessity, in both life and missionary work.  Today it is 10 degrees below zero with a strong breeze, but all my snow gear keeps me plenty warm!!

This week has been so cold, but so amazing!! I love this work! I love being Christ's servant. There are some days that are rough to be pumped up about! But just a simple prayer can flip those days around! How blessed we are to know what this Christmas season is truly about. How blessed we are to have a perfect example to strive to be like, who knows everything that we have gone through and will go through. There are many children who have not been taught of Christ and what he has done for all of us! What a blessing it is to know he is our Savior and Redeemer!!

This week we were led to two beautiful families who we hope to teach and help them come into Christ's fold. I hope everyone has a beautiful warm Christmas while I have a beautiful white Christmas!!

The NB2nd ward has been so amazing! I've received multiple packages this week.  Madison Morgan sent me a sweet shirt that I am pretty sure she designed, tell her thank you, and get more details on it for me! Also the Dangls sent me a package with some goodies and letters, tell them thank you also! I am so grateful for all of the love that has been given to me by my ward family! It means a lot to know that people still think of me. 

Thank you so much for everything! Can't wait to talk to everyone in two days!

Love Elder Roberts

Week 22 - Happy Birthday Mollie, great exchanges, great Zone Conf, great packages

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOLLIE!! Wow that picture you sent hit me hard. I sent Mollie a letter on Saturday so tell her to expect it, and give her a kiss and a hug for me!

This week was full of dropped appointments which for missionaries turns into walking, talking, and knocking. We found multiple people who want to learn more about the church! This week we had exchanges in Chariton, which was so amazing! Elder Brown and I got to serve with each other for a day, and we had an awesome time! We taught a couple people in Chariton and then at the end of the night we went to a choir concert with the Milligan family! They are a very great family, and are very interested in the gospel. 

After exchanges in Chariton we went up to Des Moines for a Zone Conference where we got trained by President and Sister Jensen and also the assistants to the president. That was one of the most powerful meetings I have ever been in. After Zone Conference we had exchanges here in Osceola with Centerville, which was also a blast! On Tuesday I received packages from Brother and Sister Wakeham, the O'Leary family, the Wehenkels and also my Aunt Danna! I've also received packages from my grandma Roberts.  Those packages made a big difference in my week!! Thank you so much for thinking about me!!! Other than those exciting things there wasn't anything else that interesting. Just another cold week in Osceola, Iowa.

Love
Elder Roberts

This is the picture mom sent of me holding Mollie the day she was born (RJ was 7):

This is my zone (The Oskaloosa Zone).  Every one of them is so awesome!

The Osceola District:

We barricaded the bathroom door when Elder Blauer was taking a shower one morning:

I decorated a box for Elder Blauer for Christmas.  He only has four months left on his mission so I decided to make him a "trunky" box:

This is me in my normal get up when it hits the 1-9 degree range:

Week 21 - I'm not trying to scare you, mom....

This week has been full of adventures~! It was really cold and we did a TON of service. By the time I am done with my mission I am going to be a pro at shoveling snow for people! We also had a great lesson with Randi, Mark and Cindy, and we have been getting in contact with a lot of part member families who are super awesome!! We are still helping out cross ministry a lot, and this week we are going to see if the animal shelter or any other local places might need help. 

On Sunday 3 people in our ward got in car accidents. I am not trying to scare you mom. But in Osceola they had not salted or put brim down so underneath the 4 to 5 inches of snow there was a layer of ice. While driving home from church we were about to pull into the street to head to our apt. when I saw a van on the side of the road - the whole front of the car was gone, then we saw the family standing out of the car, and it was on of the families from our ward. They went sliding down a hill and their tires didn't grip the cement so they went into the street and clipped the back wheels of a semi. We parked our car when we saw the accident and helped the family with their kids and getting everything out of the van. Everyone was perfectly fine which in and of itself is a miracle! That was by far the most intense thing I have seen on my mission. But don't worry, that won't happen to us, we are professionals.

Love you all

Elder Roberts

Mom sent me the recipe for my favorite meal from home (chicken divan) so I could make it here:

Eating my masterpiece:

The door pose:

Week 20 - A tiring, great week

This week has been the most tiring so far out of all the weeks. We worked really hard! No matter what the weather we walked and knocked trying to find those who are prepared for the gospel.

I saw the pictures of your date night, Amber showed them to me, it looked beautiful.  The scenery here is unbelievable some nights too. Newport Harbor is in the semifinals!!!.... Wow I thought they were going to be horrible this year.

This week other than tracting we visited less active members and did a lot of service, we had many special experiences around Thanksgiving, helping families out that really needed it, there is nothing like serving strangers with the only thought in mind being "well if Christ was here this is what He would do". Thanksgiving was odd being away from home, but going over to the Whitlows' was so fun!

I gave a training at district meeting on obedience. It was my first training because while you are being trained the don't allow you to train. But I loved it, and it went well.

We found new people this week and set up return appointments with them for this week! We are so excited!! This upcoming week is going to be awesome! The Lord really does direct His work today.

Nehemiah 6:3

"I am doing a great work, 

so that I cannot come down:

why should the work cease, 

whilst I leave it, and come down to you?

I love you,

Elder Roberts

Week 19 - A fun adventure & a new address for this month

So this week has been one of the most fun adventures so far on my mission!! We started off the week with some snow and we had some great lesson with some less actives in our area and also some recent converts.

On Tuesday it was cold, about 30 degrees, not that bad, and we had an awesome lesson with "R" and her kids "B" and "D" they are the most awesome little boys ever, and then the rest of the day was based around service.  Then on Wednesday I cant really remember what we did because I am going off of memory because I forgot my planner... 

But here is where it gets interesting, on Thursday we started off our day at cross ministries and then we had a few lessons with recent converts and knocked some doors. It was like 20 degrees. Then it started to rain.... don't ask me how, it just does, so as we are walking to a dinner appointment at  Sis Paulson's house we notice that our winter jackets are getting hit by rain and then within a second the rain freezes on you, so by the time we go to Sis Paulson's house we had a layer of ice all on our jackets and the hoods of our jackets. You might wonder why we walked when we have a car, but we just thought it would be fun! And it was!!!! 

Then on Friday and Saturday it was a little ridiculous, it was like 5-15 degrees the whole day both days with a nice strong breeze the whole time.  Iowa cold goes through all layers of your clothes and chills you to the bone, Elder Blauer says even in Idaho it's nowhere near what we felt this week. And its only November hahaha.  I cant wait for Winter here.

But besides the weather, the work here is going really well, we are really focused and we plan on making a big impact in the Osceola Ward this transfer, with His help!!!

It's getting into the holiday season and I think the first couple holidays away are going to be difficult for me. But that's alright I will just work so hard I don't have time to think about it. For thanksgiving we are going to the Whitlows!!! They are the best.  The coat you sent is absolutely the best thing ever.  I haven't used the boots yet but I bet they will be awesome too.  I still need to find a scarf and hat.

IMPORTANT:  Any Christmas cards or packages need to be mailed directly my apartment or I won't get them until January 2nd.  My address is:

Elder RJ Roberts

219 E. Cass St #4

Osceola IA 50213

Love,

Elder Roberts

Week 18 - Transfers this week

Sorry I didn't mail a letter last week I will this week, I just didn't have time. This week we have been super busy, we packed our schedule everyday and worked hard. 

We are getting transfer calls today, and Elder Blauer has a feeling he will be leaving. I have no clue what is going to happen to me but I will let you know.  

Lately I have been extremely pumped up to work. I cant wait to see the growth in this area. "S" didn't feel comfortable with being baptized this week so we have dropped his baptismal date for now. He is such an awesome kid. I have grown to love him even though he is wild and crazy. He reminds me of me in some ways. 

We also have many part member families that we are going to try and start teaching this week!! The Lord has been putting us in places at the right time and perfect moments. 

I'm planning on re applying to BYU when I get back I think, I have been thinking about fire fighting and it would sure be hard to stay active while being a fire fighter, I have seen while on my mission how important church attendance really is.

I love you so much

Elder Roberts  

Week 17 - The weather is "terrifyingly awesome"

So this week we had a week full of service and strengthening the members in our ward, this week we didn't see any success with finding new investigators, but that's alright we know they are out there. We also went on exchanges in Knoxville because Elder Blauer and Elder Graham had to go to a leadership meeting in Iowa City. Elder Underwood and I stayed in Knoxville the whole day and worked. We got home from Knoxville at 10:20 and we were both exhausted, I tossed my bag next to my bed and just feel asleep. Then the next day it was back to work. We haven't been seeing much success and have sort of hit a road block but this week we are trying everything and going to try and truck on through. 

My favorite thing to cook is probably fried rice and omelets. Other than that our meals are pretty simple.  We got fed 4 times this week by members!!!!! It's pretty easy to budget for me. "S" is doing great, we are having a lesson with him tonight on Faith and making sure we are still on track for his baptism.  I don't have a hat or scarf.  It's supposed to be a high of 33 tomorrow and a low of 15. The weather here is terrifyingly awesome.  I don't miss that much food from home, except your cooking which can't travel in a package. But I would LOVE recipes from home. 

I love this mission and I love the Lord.  Here are some pictures of Iowa, I have more that I will send you next week but we have to get off because our hour is almost up, and we have to be obedient.

-Elder Roberts

Week 16 - Fall in Iowa

It's so beautiful here in Iowa right now! Fall time is absolutely gorgeous. 

My week was so great, this week I saw God's hand play a role in our week countless times! I love the mission so much, it is pretty unreal. There is nothing like serving people 24/7. The best feeling ever is helping people out and seeing the smile on their face. 

This week we had a great experience, we gave a man in our ward whose name is bro sham a Pohnepian Book of Mormon, his face let up like Christmas.  Since he left Pohnpei he could not find a Book of Mormon in his language  (Pohnpei is a Micronesia language spoken on the island of Pohnpei). He is a very quiet man but when we gave him the Book of Mormon, he couldn't stop saying thank you. 

We do a lot of service but we have also been teaching a lot lately too! We taught Skyler last Monday and wants to be baptized! We set a date with him of Nov. 23 and he said yes!! He is very excited. 

Elder Blauer and I are working well together.  Transfers are on Nov. 21, and YESSSSSSSSSSSSS I want to stay in Osceola, it's amazing!!!

P.S. I got the flu shot so hopefully I won't get the flu!

Love

Elder  Roberts

The first picture is of me and Elder Brown.  On Halloween we moved our desks into our workout room, laid down four mattress and then we all had a wrestle mania.  We had to be in at 6pm on Halloween so we decided to make it fun!

The second picture is Elder Blauer while I was flinging pumpkin by at his face in the apt. it was so hilarious...

Week 15 - Knockin' doors

Hey Hey, how is everyone doing? This week has been a great week! We didn't have that many lessons, but we were really busy! We had a trunk or treat here on Wednesday and the ward did a primary program this Sunday! It brought back a lot of great memories. We have not found any new investigators but we are working with S and C as much as possible. We have knocked a lot of the doors in Osceola most of the time we get a response like "Hello boys how are you doing, I'm not interested right now". Osceola is a small town and everyone knows who we are, so knocking doesn't work too well. But we keep trying and having faith that the Lord will prepare someone. Well I love you all so much have a great Family Home Evening,

Love,

Elder Roberts

An Iowa sunset:

This spider was outside the door of our apartment

ME:

This is me and Elder Ganoe, he's serving in Lenox, IA and is such a stud:

Our District:

Week 14 - Strengthening the members

This week our focus was to strengthen members, recent converts, and less actives. We had a very successful week, and we cant wait for this week to. We had exchanges with our Zone Leaders on Friday, the exchange was great! I learn so much from our zone leaders every time they can make it down here. They are great examples to me of awesome elders. I can't express the love I have for the members here. They are amazing they just need help to get started. Bishop Bair is an amazing guy too. We had our biggest week number wise this week. We really want to keep the momentum going this week and throughout this transfer. We have interviews with President Jensen coming up not this week but next. There is a pretty good chance that I will be training next transfer. I think it's a 50 50 chance right now. I have no idea how I can train others when I wasn't really trained, I just trained myself. But I know God will mold me into what he needs me to be.

Love you so much,

Elder Roberts

Week 13 - Time flies and it's getting colder

Time flies when you work your hardest. Missionaries tell me that the first 6 months are slow and then the rest fly by.  If that's the case, I can't process how fast my mission is going to go. My first 3 months have flown by. I'm scared though, here in Osceola we do not use a lot of Spanish! If you are not completely  surrounded by it, it is very hard to improve!! I think I have lost some of my vocabulary!! 

I would love another sweater it is getting cold here. Do we still have three missionaries in our ward? We mostly have 1 dinner appointment a week here. On a good week 2. In our ward we are trying to figure out how to pump them up. We now have 6 missionaries in this ward, 4 elders... Me, Elder Blauer, Elder Brown, and Elder Croxall which is what we have always had. But we got 2 sister missionaries this week who opened up a new area down in Lamoni, so now me and Elder Blauer's  area isn't an hour distance north, south, east to west!!!! It's going to be nice. Our ward does have a trunk or treat on the 23rd. We aren't in a car share anymore, Chariton has their own car now, so we will not have to walk every other week. 

In Osceola right now we have dropped all 5 of our investigators because they didn't want to keep any commitments and weren't serious.  This whole week Elder Blauer and I are going to focus on finding the elect that God have prepared to be taught the Gospel. We are really STOKED! It going to be a crazy week. We also get to go on exchanges with the ZL's this Friday which I always love, they are such solid missionaries and I always learn so much from them.

I got your card, It was pretty hilarious!! Thank you so much for the letters the make the hard days a little better.

I love you,

Elder Roberts

Week 12 - 6 weeks in Iowa already, and pictures!

Right now we are at the church. That's where we email from if we have the car. If we don't have the car we go to the library.

First I want to tell you about the new thing Elder Blauer and I started. Since he is training me how to be a successful missionary, I decided that I would be his personal trainer... So every morning we wake up a 6am and go on a run, then we do a workout, then yoga to finish everything off. I do yoga about 3 times a day it is awesome!!! I thought it would be dumb but it is actually cool. 

This week the work didn't go so well, it's hard to recover from a big hit sometimes, no matter how many times you say "O lets go, let's work our tails off".  The work is going to pick up here soon, I know it, we are doing everything we can think of this week!!

The temperature dropped here pretty fast! Thank you so much for the sweater. It says it was like 40, but that doesn't take in account the wind, when the wind hits you its about 30 something degreeeeeeesssss.

                               

Training is a 12 week process so I'm here in Osceola for at least another 6 weeks.

  

My favorite General Conference speaker is always Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, he is the man!!

I look forward to getting emails, it's so awesome to hear from the real world! Some days it gets hard to remember what the real world back home is like. O and did you know Danny W, Amber's husband has the same birthday as Dad and also he LOVES the Miami Dolphins too!!!!

I pray for the family a lot, and hope everything is going great, I'll talk to you soon.

Love your little boy,

Elder Roberts

And some fun pictures this week....

This is what we made when we were on exchanges with the Centerville Elders:

It's a pizza with 2 lbs of bacon, then 2 boxes of mac n cheese then more bacon then crazy bread then another pizza on top.  Eating dinner with Elder Blauer, Elder Keeley and Elder Bailey:

My desk:

The awesomeness that is Iowa:

I have been studying like crazy, my preach my gospel is pretty destroyed with notes everywhere. It is a great tool in missionary work:

I made this for dinner the other night -  I've found out I am a great cook!

These train tracks are by our apartment, we walk on them a lot to cut through certain parts of town, they are a shortcut!

Week 11 - Not discouraged

I got both boxes and sweater! Thank you so much they made my day.

Wow if there was ever something that you would never want to happen to you as a missionary. It happened to Elder Blauer and I this week. It was a week of greatness which then came shattering down instantly with one text... Elder Blauer and I this week worked everything out and now are going to be unstoppable here in Osceloa. We were so pumped we were having a great week. When we then had a lesson with C. We taught her about baptism and the gift of the holy ghost, after the lesson she seemed really excited for baptism! But... The rest of the week the contact with her was very small, she wasn't being like herself. We got a text on Sunday night that said "I'm sorry guys I don't want to be baptized anymore. Elder Blauer and I looked in shock at each other. With tears streaming down our faces we had no clue what to do. She explained why with more texts. With this experience I wondered why does God give everyone agency. I had fasted for her for 24 hours, all of fast Sunday and then broke my fast, and then we received that text. It was hard to swallow. Very hard. Me and Elder Blauer aren't discouraged though!!!!! We know there are many souls here in Osceola that are prepared!!! We are more determined than ever! Other than that, our week was fantastic! We taught many people and were guided by the Spirit. I love you all, keep me in your prayers, and Elder Call too.

Elder Roberts  

Week 10 - First month in Iowa down and another baptism scheduled!

First I will answer your questions Mom. I met Hermana Eggett at the CCM and sat next to her on the flight from Detroit to Des Moines. She is a really amazing sister missionary. Yes I am wearing my retainers. Yes we have a cell phone. I fall asleep every night as soon as my head hits the pillow. I exercise for 30 minutes every morning, I’m  still 180 lbs (down 20 lbs since I left). We don't have any sisters in our area yet, but we are getting some down in Lamoni this transfer. Hermana Eggett is in my zone though, so we talked at the Zone Training Meeting we had last week. We don't talk to the mission president unless it’s an emergency or unless we are at a meeting with him. At the Zone Training meeting President Jensen and I talked for a while, though. 

Our week was sort of normal this week, except for Saturday. KRISSY GOT BAPTIZED!!! And then confirmed at church yesterday. Then after church Krissy's daughter CeLena told us to come over and said that at her mom's baptism she received an answer. Her baptism date is scheduled for Oct.12. We are so excited and blessed that God has trusted us with this family.

Tons of love from me to you,

Elder Roberts

P.S haven't got the packages yet, but I can't wait for them.  'Ill be sending a package home pretty soon.

Week 9 - Baptism this Saturday

Pday is the day we recharge. We normally start the day off by studying.  After that we have time to be a little normal for a while. We shop for the week, we email, then eat, then we get to relax and clean our apartment if necessary till about 6 pm then p day is over and we go out and teach tell 8:30.

On a typical day here so far we don't wear a suit because it was really hot, but starting Sunday the temp dropped and we might start wearing them. It’s bitter cold here now. I love how different it is here.

Bishop Bair is so amazing!!! He and the bishopric are so focused on the work and help as much as possible. We go to ward council every week with the Chariton Elders who are also in our ward.

For the past two weeks we have made all 3 meals for ourselves, which is fine. The people here are really busy, it just means we have to budget even more.

This week was full of travel. We had exchanges with Lenox.  Since I'm the district leaders comp. we have to go on exchanges with every set of missionaries in our district. We arrived in Lenox, and me and Elder Stock got paired together. Elder Stock and I came out together, so we were pumped to work together; the 2 new guys. We killed it in Lenox together it was so much fun. Then on Wednesday we had Zone training! It was awesome too!! Elder Gay from the 1st quorum of the seventy taught us from 9am till 4pm, it was so amazing. It pumped everyone up. 

On Thursday the zone leaders had to come down for Krissy's baptismal interview, so we went on exchanges with them while they were down here. I went with Elder Cutler, he is the Elder I want to follow while out here, he is JUST like me.  He just has been out 18 months so he has a lot of knowledge I don't have, we had such a great day together here in Osceola.

Krissy is going to be baptized this Saturday!!!!! We are so grateful for her and that she let the Spirit and the Gospel change her life. We have many other investigators we are planning on giving baptismal dates to this week.

How is everyone back home doing?? This mission is crazy hectic but amazingly awesome.


Elder Roberts & Elder Blauer:

Week 8 - Hard but great

This week was hard but great. We walked every day, in weather a lot worse than you're having it - was at least 100 everyday (except maybe Elder Call)... It sticks to you here. It’s like a heavy heat. It’s WAY worse than Newport. 

We have mostly 3 to 4 dinner appointments a week here. We make our own breakfast and lunch every day and we live on our own. We don't use bikes because we don't have bikes. When we tract we bring as little as possible, but no matter what we are dripping in sweat. I have not got a shoulder bag yet, I don't really want one. 

I feel great here, already I love the people so much. O and I haven't got home sick here. I think it’s because I'm constantly focusing on other people, and how to teach them the gospel. Our investigators are doing fantastic right now! Krissy and CeLena are doing really good. I never thought that I would gain a love for people I barely know so quickly but I did. Elder Blauer and I went out on Thursday and bought supplies for Krissy that would help her stop smoking because she couldn't buy it.  So we showed up on her doorstep and surprised her with the supplies. Her baptism date is the 21st and she is so excited she just has to stop smoking. She went from a pack and a half a day to 5 a day last week, and now this week she will be at 0.  QUICK STORY On Tuesday we were walking to a less active families house when Elder Blauer told me Grandma Opal lives by the road we were walking on and we both thought we should visit her. At the visit we learned that she had found out early in the morning that she has kidney disease and that they are failing her fast. We comforted her and talked and helped her with some chores for about 2 hours. We were so grateful for that experience we had that day. Then while walking home from her house we saw two men on a porch smoking, and we just asked them how their day was going and if they needed anything and one of them said he was less active and that he wanted to re activate and bring his family to the gospel, and that we would see him at church on Sunday. Experiences like these let us acknowledge how much God's hand is in our lives every day and that what we are doing is His work, not our work. There are some difficult times and I don't ever think rejection will be easy to take, but I'm grateful for the many experiences God has given me so far on my mission. I love everyone, and I pray for you a lot. Keep praying for me!!

Love forever,

Elder Roberts 

Week 7 - Osceola, Iowa

THE MISSION IS REAL.

I can’t believe I’m actually here finally. It is absolutely fantastic. The people here in Osceola are so warm and humble. My companion’s name is Elder Blauer, he is 6'7 and 280 lbs. He is a big dude, makes me look small! He is district leader and my trainer. It was weird leaving Elder Markstaller but I bet it will be even more weird to leave my trainer, and eventually my first area. I already love the people here so much I can’t explain.

The first night I got here we ate the best food at the president’s house I have ever had, I almost started to cry. Only 4 out of 32 missionaries at dinner went through what I did in Mexico and we all felt the same way. Then we slept at a member’s house and were supposed to wake up the next day at 5:30 and be at the president’s house at 6:30. We woke up at 6:20.... and ran all the way to his house. Then after breakfast at President Jensen's house we had a 2 hour drive to transfer meeting. President Jensen and Sister Jensen are probably two of the most kind and loving people I know. At transfer meeting I found out that my companion would be Elder Blauer. He is so amazing, he has been out 17 months and is a little trunky, but I kick him in the bum every morning and we go out and work our hardest.

After transfer meeting I found out that we would be driving 3 hours to my new area... Brother Williamson drove us to his house which is a town over from ours where our car was and then we drove from his house to ours.  Danny and Amber Whitlow were also in the car. They are ward missionaries here, and they are like our parents here pretty much. The people here remind me a lot of our crazy family, it’s really funny.

Right now we have 6 investigators but it’s really rough here to plan appointments because everyone works a lot. We have Krissy and Celena who are mother and daughter and have had rough lives but know the gospel is true. The only problem is every time we set up an appointment the adversary throws something in the way. They have had to cancel 5 times already, I get really frustrated some times. Their baptismal date is set for September 21, but that might be delayed. Then we have Randy and Charity, they are single moms with 2 kids each and are really busy balancing kids and work.  Beverly is also an investigator, she works a lot and said she will get baptized in November. We also work a lot with less actives, that is a big issue here so we visit less actives a lot.

This week we are walking which means every day we will probably be covering 10 miles. We switch off with another set of missionaries and have a car every other week. Every night we get home I collapse on the couch and want to pass out. It’s amazing! I have fallen asleep on my journal in the middle of writing so far and also have fallen asleep on my scriptures while memorizing. This work is amazing. Oh yeah this week I also got a prompting to knock some doors in a Hispanic part of town on Sunday and on Sunday we fasted and prayed to find new investigators.  We ended up finding 2 possible investigators in the apartment complex. Florinda and the Flores family those are our only Spanish speaking investigators. This is a bi-lingual mission so we speak English and Spanish.

2 days ago we helped a man build 2 barns on his property and it was 105 degrees here, with the humidity it was calculated to be 120 degrees, Newport weather is nothing compared to Iowa's magnificent weather.  The cookies were great and the ward was different, but fantastic. I learned that not every ward sings and has an organist as good as ours.

I’m good with money, I’m budgeting so I don’t know if I’ll ever have to use my debit card. I’m learning the ways of how to shop like a poor man from my trainer, it’s awesome

My pday is normally on Monday but since it was a holiday yesterday, the library was closed so we had to email today. Keep me in your prayers.

Love you all so much

Elder Roberts