Just a couple of days

So not that much has happened since I last wrote, since that was about two days ago. Church was good, but really long since we attend both wards. Really great talks though. We had a couple of lessons with member families and committed them to the Ward mission plan, which included committed to a date to have found someone for us to teach. We are excited to see where that goes and who Heavenly Father puts in their path! Today for p-day we got permission to go to Fair Oaks and Deseret Book so I could get some garments...they're getting all worn out! I'm excited! We had fun. Then we came over to our members house to check emails using their wifi and they got those fancy hover boards for Christmas, so I tried one of those. I'm a chicken so I was going outrageously slow, but it was pretty fun! So that's what's new! Not that exciting. Here is a picture of Sister Erickson and I in our Christmas Eve pajamas that her family sent. Love you!
Sister Robinson

Just a couple of days

So not that much has happened since I last wrote, since that was about two days ago. Church was good, but really long since we attend both wards. Really great talks though. We had a couple of lessons with member families and committed them to the Ward mission plan, which included committed to a date to have found someone for us to teach. We are excited to see where that goes and who Heavenly Father puts in their path! Today for p-day we got permission to go to Fair Oaks and Deseret Book so I could get some garments...they're getting all worn out! I'm excited! We had fun. Then we came over to our members house to check emails using their wifi and they got those fancy hover boards for Christmas, so I tried one of those. I'm a chicken so I was going outrageously slow, but it was pretty fun! So that's what's new! Not that exciting. Here is a picture of Sister Erickson and I in our Christmas Eve pajamas that her family sent. Love you!
Sister Robinson

Moving on to a new year! in pictures

Here is a picture of the Bountiful crew!

And also the group that I came with! Our 2nd Christmas!

Salto del Itata!

And me standing underneath the waterfall! It's hard to tell, though. But it was pretty wet. 

this last picture is of the table setting we did for the Christmas conference. They came with little 3d glass pictures of the concepcion temple, which was our gift this year from President and Sister Arrington

Moving on to a new year!

Can you believe it's almost 2016! haha. I've already moved past Christmas, if you can't tell. :) haha. It was really awesome though, and actually even busier then I would have imagined, but it was great. We had some amazing, fun activities, and the missionaries had a good time, and President said everything went as smoothly as ever, which is his way of telling is that we did a good job organizing and preparing it. So, hurray! Sure glad it turned out! On Christmas day we had an activity with all the zones that are close by and we played soccer, and football (like 500, you know that game?) and our zones activity was water volleyball! Which turned out to be a huge hit! The Christmas conference turned out beautifully as well! Everyone loved the video that we made, and it was fun to see all the mission together and see friends! There's several people in Bountiful in our mission, so we took a picture of us! haha. It was great.

Talking to Mom and Dad and Charity was also really fun. I kind of like those guys, I guess. :) Jk. I love them a lot! It was so fun to see them again and talk to them and just enjoy being in their presence, so to speak. It was kind of like a really comforting emotional break, to be honest, which I wasn't expecting at all! But it was fabulous.

Anyway, today for P-Day we went to Salto de Itata! Which is a beautiful waterfall about an hour and a half away. We left early this morming and got home around 11 or 11:30, and it was a blast! We all got a little wet, though, because of all the water coming off of it! It's not nearly as big right now as it is during the winter, but it was still really pretty and fun. And we got to get a lot closer since it was a little drier! 

Not too much time today, but now that all of my parties are over, we'll have some more down time and be able to enjoy the calm, again. Just 2 weeks til the end of the transfer, which means there are a couple of conferences coming up, and some missionaries to send off a little early so they can make it to school, and some other fun adventures, but mostly a lot more normal. It's been fun, but it will be nice to have a little bit of a break, and have more time to think and spend more time in our area. 

I love you guys a whole lot! Hope you had a very merry christmas, and I hope you will have a marvelous new year! 

Con mucho amor,

Elder Robinson

Pictures!

We did service at this house and then they wanted to take pictures for us.

Gingerbread house! It's SO CUTE! I love it!

Caroling!

Sugar cookies with a member on Christmas Eve

President and Sister Jardine when they delivered our gifts. You have no idea what a huge deal it is that President wore that thing.

Fun things

MERRY CHRISTMAS! It is the MOST wonderful time of the year! It's been a great week and a half. We have some very solid game plans in the works with our members and we are working out the kinks in execution, so it has been exciting. The Oakridge Ward is emphasizing the Ward Mission Plan, and taking it out to all of the members. We are responsible for teaching the whole Ward the plan, in their homes, and committing them to doing it. We have it all set up so it's kind of like we have 6 rounds. Round one we share a message and they commit to adding one missionary effort into their life such as praying daily for missionary opportunities, making their calling an opportunity for missionary work etc. Then when we follow up we commit them to something new. The long term goal is that they set a date as a deadline to have found someone willing to take the lessons from us.
In these areas there is really very little opportunity to find people to teach other than through the Ward members so we are excited to increase the missionary spirit here and help make their desires to
find people to teach a reality. It's a lot of groundwork that will take a while to produce results, but it's exciting.

In the Silva Valley Ward they don't have the same Ward mission plan, so we have proposed to the Ward mission leader that we visit members with him, share a message, and then create a game plan with them. Lots of people in that Ward know people they are working with, so we are helping them think of what the next step is for the people they know. The members here are honestly so awesome, I am always amazed when I got into their homes. I always thought there was no family as good as my family but it turns out there are tons, they are just all in El Dorado Hills, California! :) haha.

This week we had our mission Temple Conference. It basically consisted of a temple session, a  musical number from each zone (half the zones one day and half the other), some words from  President and Sister Jardine, and a slideshow of all the baptisms for the past year. They recorded all the musical numbers so I am going to get a recording at some point of myself playing the piano. It's been fun on my mission to be useful with that skill. Thanks for making me learn piano, Mom. :). It was nice, and always fun to see missionaries that I used to serve with. A few hours later we did  service caroling at the Folsom Zoo. They put up a bunch of lights and trees and people come to look.
It was a lot of fun, people loved seeing us there singing. It was sort of weird though because tons of people took pictures and videos so it sort of feels like being famous, in the most uncomfortable of
ways. My image is in the hands of so many random people. Anyway, it was a blast and we met some cool people and I saw some members from a previous area so that was super fun.

Friday we had dinner with the Edwards--they are related to Heath and Hannah Edwards and Ruby and Dennis Edwards that we knew in Preston. That was a fun connection too. Everyone here knows of Preston, it's surprising. Mostly it's because of Napoleon Dynamite though ha. Saturday we went to visit some members, and all of our visits were great. The people here are honestly just so nice. At one house I laughed and laughed. They wanted us to try their "Rock Solid" machine. Same concept as shake weights. It's something that looks kind of like a scale but it shakes you as various speeds. The idea is even if you aren't moving your body, as long as it is moving you can still tone your muscles. Standing on it I felt like all of my insides were going to jiggle out. It was too funny, I couldn't stop laughing. Not sure that was the most dignified thing I have done as a missionary but it was fun! At church on Sunday since we cover two wards we got to watch both Christmas programs. Very talented people here. One ward had a number from the Ward choir, from the primary, and from the young  men's and young women's. It was really nice. The other Ward did a full blown cantata. It was crazy. There were several non members there so that was cool.

Monday and Tuesday we had exchanges, so I was in the Folsom 2nd and 4th wards with Hermana Ka'a'a. She is from Maui and she's really cool. It was a good exchange. I love when they are real. In the morning before we exchanged we did service cleaning the temple. That was really cool. The Elders members also work at the temple and they took us up into the spire. We got to see the room behind the glass windows and if we had wanted to we could have climbed all the way up and stood right under Moroni. I felt disinclined to get that high...it was kind of scary. So I just went high enough to see the windows from the inside and to see the long weighted pole that keeps Moroni balanced. It was pretty cool. Tuesday we had a lesson with a non member that we didn't plan on at all. We just had a dinner appointment with a family and a friend of one of the kids came over while we were still  there. It was cool because it helped us meet out goals for a member present lesson. Sometimes it feels pointless to even set a goal for that because we don't have any investigators so it is unlikely to have a lesson with a member present when we don't have any lessons. Just further evidence it is not  pointless, if we do our best and aim high the Lord can provide. Wednesday we had a great day.
We got a lot done and it felt awesome! We went caroling at the zoo again and it was pretty awful. The other sisters couldn't come with us so I was the only person in the group that could sing much. Sister
Erickson does fine if she can hear me, but eventually we all ended up singing in different keys. It was painful, but also hilarious. It was still fun! After caroling we went to a members house. The mom is
from Ecuador and she fed us empanadas. They were good! It was fun and fulfilled my dream of trying empanadas.

For Christmas Eve pday started at noon. We had a district lunch to kick off the long pday so that was fun. Then Sister Erickson and I went to a members house to make cookies to take to the Zone gathering that we had that evening. We went grocery shopping and then headed to the Mormon Center for the Zone activity. On the way there we got a call from the Mullen's, the members Sister Erickson and I have both previously lived with in Elk Grove. They dropped by the church to give us Christmas bags of goodies. It was so so nice of them. Seriously, Northern California has the best people. For the zone activity we watched the movie McFarland, USA. It was good! We had fun. It is hilarious though watching a full length movie for the first time in over a year. I was getting so antsy sitting there. The elders were too, most of them were standing and pacing by the end. Also, it had the tiniest bit of romance in it (a couple of teenagers held hands *gasp*!) and we were all freaking out  haha. It's funny because we still see that stuff all the time but somehow it is different when you're all watching it together. It was fun, and President and Sister Jardine provided popcorn too. It was a good
night.

I know it sounds like all we do is party, but we definitely work! Just this week was full of fun stuff! And it's more interesting to write about than say, tracting. Though I love that too. We did finally get in touch with Billur (the lady from Turkey). She has been in the hospital with pneumonia so no wonder she hasn't been answering the phone! She's still recovering, hopefully we will get to meet with her soon.

Today for Christmas we did our own devotional in our room and read through the things you can learn from the Christmas story article in the December New Era. Then we opened our packages. Sister Erickson got some games that we played. She also got some every flavor jelly beans but they are a little different. In the same box they have two jelly beans that look alike, but are opposite favors  (the white ones are either coconut, or baby wipes as an example). We put a twist on Uno where when a Draw 2 or Draw 4 card is played you also draw either one or two jelly beans. We had fun. They had a skunk flavored one that is absolutely horrible. I also got stinky socks. Bleh. It was a fun twist  though. Later today we are going caroling with other missionaries as service, and then we have dinner with the members we live with. So it's been a nice Christmas! Love you all, hope you are
having the best of holidays!

Sister Robinson

Fun things

MERRY CHRISTMAS! It is the MOST wonderful time of the year! It's been a great week and a half. We have some very solid game plans in the works with our members and we are working out the kinks in execution, so it has been exciting. The Oakridge Ward is emphasizing the Ward Mission Plan, and taking it out to all of the members. We are responsible for teaching the whole Ward the plan, in their homes, and committing them to doing it. We have it all set up so it's kind of like we have 6 rounds. Round one we share a message and they commit to adding one missionary effort into their life such as praying daily for missionary opportunities, making their calling an opportunity for missionary work etc. Then when we follow up we commit them to something new. The long term goal is that they set a date as a deadline to have found someone willing to take the lessons from us.
In these areas there is really very little opportunity to find people to teach other than through the Ward members so we are excited to increase the missionary spirit here and help make their desires to
find people to teach a reality. It's a lot of groundwork that will take a while to produce results, but it's exciting.

In the Silva Valley Ward they don't have the same Ward mission plan, so we have proposed to the Ward mission leader that we visit members with him, share a message, and then create a game plan with them. Lots of people in that Ward know people they are working with, so we are helping them think of what the next step is for the people they know. The members here are honestly so awesome, I am always amazed when I got into their homes. I always thought there was no family as good as my family but it turns out there are tons, they are just all in El Dorado Hills, California! :) haha.

This week we had our mission Temple Conference. It basically consisted of a temple session, a  musical number from each zone (half the zones one day and half the other), some words from  President and Sister Jardine, and a slideshow of all the baptisms for the past year. They recorded all the musical numbers so I am going to get a recording at some point of myself playing the piano. It's been fun on my mission to be useful with that skill. Thanks for making me learn piano, Mom. :). It was nice, and always fun to see missionaries that I used to serve with. A few hours later we did  service caroling at the Folsom Zoo. They put up a bunch of lights and trees and people come to look.
It was a lot of fun, people loved seeing us there singing. It was sort of weird though because tons of people took pictures and videos so it sort of feels like being famous, in the most uncomfortable of
ways. My image is in the hands of so many random people. Anyway, it was a blast and we met some cool people and I saw some members from a previous area so that was super fun.

Friday we had dinner with the Edwards--they are related to Heath and Hannah Edwards and Ruby and Dennis Edwards that we knew in Preston. That was a fun connection too. Everyone here knows of Preston, it's surprising. Mostly it's because of Napoleon Dynamite though ha. Saturday we went to visit some members, and all of our visits were great. The people here are honestly just so nice. At one house I laughed and laughed. They wanted us to try their "Rock Solid" machine. Same concept as shake weights. It's something that looks kind of like a scale but it shakes you as various speeds. The idea is even if you aren't moving your body, as long as it is moving you can still tone your muscles. Standing on it I felt like all of my insides were going to jiggle out. It was too funny, I couldn't stop laughing. Not sure that was the most dignified thing I have done as a missionary but it was fun! At church on Sunday since we cover two wards we got to watch both Christmas programs. Very talented people here. One ward had a number from the Ward choir, from the primary, and from the young  men's and young women's. It was really nice. The other Ward did a full blown cantata. It was crazy. There were several non members there so that was cool.

Monday and Tuesday we had exchanges, so I was in the Folsom 2nd and 4th wards with Hermana Ka'a'a. She is from Maui and she's really cool. It was a good exchange. I love when they are real. In the morning before we exchanged we did service cleaning the temple. That was really cool. The Elders members also work at the temple and they took us up into the spire. We got to see the room behind the glass windows and if we had wanted to we could have climbed all the way up and stood right under Moroni. I felt disinclined to get that high...it was kind of scary. So I just went high enough to see the windows from the inside and to see the long weighted pole that keeps Moroni balanced. It was pretty cool. Tuesday we had a lesson with a non member that we didn't plan on at all. We just had a dinner appointment with a family and a friend of one of the kids came over while we were still  there. It was cool because it helped us meet out goals for a member present lesson. Sometimes it feels pointless to even set a goal for that because we don't have any investigators so it is unlikely to have a lesson with a member present when we don't have any lessons. Just further evidence it is not  pointless, if we do our best and aim high the Lord can provide. Wednesday we had a great day.
We got a lot done and it felt awesome! We went caroling at the zoo again and it was pretty awful. The other sisters couldn't come with us so I was the only person in the group that could sing much. Sister
Erickson does fine if she can hear me, but eventually we all ended up singing in different keys. It was painful, but also hilarious. It was still fun! After caroling we went to a members house. The mom is
from Ecuador and she fed us empanadas. They were good! It was fun and fulfilled my dream of trying empanadas.

For Christmas Eve pday started at noon. We had a district lunch to kick off the long pday so that was fun. Then Sister Erickson and I went to a members house to make cookies to take to the Zone gathering that we had that evening. We went grocery shopping and then headed to the Mormon Center for the Zone activity. On the way there we got a call from the Mullen's, the members Sister Erickson and I have both previously lived with in Elk Grove. They dropped by the church to give us Christmas bags of goodies. It was so so nice of them. Seriously, Northern California has the best people. For the zone activity we watched the movie McFarland, USA. It was good! We had fun. It is hilarious though watching a full length movie for the first time in over a year. I was getting so antsy sitting there. The elders were too, most of them were standing and pacing by the end. Also, it had the tiniest bit of romance in it (a couple of teenagers held hands *gasp*!) and we were all freaking out  haha. It's funny because we still see that stuff all the time but somehow it is different when you're all watching it together. It was fun, and President and Sister Jardine provided popcorn too. It was a good
night.

I know it sounds like all we do is party, but we definitely work! Just this week was full of fun stuff! And it's more interesting to write about than say, tracting. Though I love that too. We did finally get in touch with Billur (the lady from Turkey). She has been in the hospital with pneumonia so no wonder she hasn't been answering the phone! She's still recovering, hopefully we will get to meet with her soon.

Today for Christmas we did our own devotional in our room and read through the things you can learn from the Christmas story article in the December New Era. Then we opened our packages. Sister Erickson got some games that we played. She also got some every flavor jelly beans but they are a little different. In the same box they have two jelly beans that look alike, but are opposite favors  (the white ones are either coconut, or baby wipes as an example). We put a twist on Uno where when a Draw 2 or Draw 4 card is played you also draw either one or two jelly beans. We had fun. They had a skunk flavored one that is absolutely horrible. I also got stinky socks. Bleh. It was a fun twist  though. Later today we are going caroling with other missionaries as service, and then we have dinner with the members we live with. So it's been a nice Christmas! Love you all, hope you are
having the best of holidays!

Sister Robinson

Picture

After Christmas dinner with Elder Villanueva, Elder Gomez, Sister Miggin, sister Salmorin, Sister Baclayon, Sister Averion 2015

Friday, December 19-Friday, December 25. Merry Christmas!

Friday, December 19 Ray ironed shirts; I prepared Christmas for Quenie and family; scripture candle.
Saturday routine, washed eggs, Ray writing missionaries, I did mine yesterday😇.  Baptism at 9:30, then all day with North Stake--1st Relief Society, then Trade Fair with those who have graduated from "Starting and Growing My Business".  There were about ten businesses represented.  At 4:00 was the start of a cultural show.  (Pictures). It was so fun.  Sister Cagape brought food for the three of us.  She said that there are so many people to eat.  She just brings her own.  We were glad.  See pictures of Christmas dinner.  We went to Mang Inasal after for chicken.  Home 8:45. Scripture candle.  Bed.
Sunday mission fast.  Quenie didn't come to church, so after sacrament meeting, we went by her house.  Her house help was just leaving, so we were able to talk with Brakie.  House help said Quenie was asleep.😟. We are worried about her.  This time is so critical that she not jump out of the ship because she is having struggles.  Brought all the missionaries home.  At 1:30. Attended San Miguel group.  Then we received an invitation from President and Sister Aquino to join their family for the opening of their daughters mission call.  Of course, we went.  They were expecting her brother off the plane at 5:30 but the plane was delayed and he didn't arrive until 9:00 so they had also invited a few friends and their bishops family and struggled with how to entertain us all besides feeding us.  Yes, they had a great meal with a fruit salad, ham, noodles with crab and shrimp.  Whew!  I almost had some, even had dished it up on my plate.  I had a feeling so I asked Ray to taste it.  There was shrimp.  I passed mine over to his plate and typical of my childhood, no foods were touching each other😆.  Saved me some calories anyway.  So...entertainment, we sang some carols and in-between I told stories,  It was nice that it was a different crowd this week than last week, so I told the Christmas Oranges and then I read the abridged Mansion.  Then Ray was starting to tell Abram and Zimri brothers story and they arrived from the airport!  So guess where Sister Jasmine Aquino will serve her 18 month mission, English speaking, entering the Provo MTC March 29?  Twin Falls, Idaho Mission!  I jumped up and down screaming.  My birth place.  I could tell them lots about it and that she will get to meet some of my kids!  And I showed her a picture of the Perrys.  I said I wanted to bring some of the Philippines home with me!  It couldn't have been more exciting for us.  President and Sister said they will probably come pick her up and we can tour them around.  How sweet is that!
Monday routine, did wash and it even stopped raining long enough to dry the clothes.  We went shopping, paid the phone bill, and returned to the apartment for lunch then at 1:30 we went to the center.  So here is what I have to say about the BYU/Utah game:  Utah beat one quarter/BYU beat three quarters😜
I've been so sad about the loss of the coach but excited for Sitakis opportunity.  I believe he will be exceptional and especially good at recruiting.  4:00 we left the center to walk the Esplanade 5:00 home.  Went to the sisters apartment to see Sister Miggins Christmas box stuff.  She is from Hyde Park.  Back to our apartment, snack, read, scripture candle.
Tuesday district meeting in our apartment 10 of us in a very small space.  After meeting we fed them bacon, 2 kinds of sausage, pancakes, bananas, oranges, and four seasons drink.  They stayed and talked until 10:30.  It was nice.  Then clean-up and go.  Went to center at 11:15.  Returned to apartment about 2:30.  A man came to fix the leak from upstairs to our c.r. And replaced the light receptacle.  Then we picked up a pizza to take to Brakie for her 12 birthday and took them Christmas gifts and food:  ham, rice, oranges, bananas, Tostitos, peaches...  Then we walked the Esplanade, crossed the bridge and walked the other side of the river, and then crossed the bridge at the other end to return back to finish the full length.  There was a great breeze and it was wonderful!  After the Esplanade, we went to SM for a Christmas wonderland of lights and music, and ate chocolates and churros.  7:00 returned home.
Wednesday routine, washed eggs, cleaned; Ray ironed and worked on washing machine. These are days never to be forgotten.  I wanted to serve a mission as a senior couple to give back to the Lord and His church some bit of my own gratitude for my great life.  But it turns out, a mission is for seniors as it is for the young,--another immense blessing!  I love my life with Ray in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The sealing power can be a great teacher of self-discipline and can help us cross the obstacles of self-deception and the so-called wisdom of the world, of men's philosophies.  All the commandments and covenants we make are opportunities for increased blessings.  My cup runnerth over.  Five new shingles but they are more and more mild and are most bothersome for only three days. 10:00 we went to SM and I tried the beauty shop again--I got a haircut; it looks better, feels better, and it's not too short.  Then we got a ham and cheese waffle, then a buko juice.  We went to the center and stayed until 2:30.  President Insigne gave us a different key to the front door to use while there is Christmas break.  Then we came home and ate squash soup and fajitas in a spring roll pastry sheet.  We walked the Esplanade in a warm breeze then returned to the apartment and had Swiss miss with orange chocolate and whip cream--this is my comfort food when I'm missing my kids.  Scripture candle.
Thursday routine, Molo to send payment for caribou; picked up Cushings at the wharf, stopped by Jalandoni to use the Internet, went to apartment and played Rummicube, ate chips and six layer dip, then went to Arevalo to pick up package from Bacolod.  Then we went to Tatoys and ate blue Marlin and halo halo; at 3:30 we let them off at SM and went home to prepare a dish to take to Sorilla's dinner party tonight.  I took a Filipino version of chicken tikka masala.  Then at 5:15 we went to Sorilla's.  There we played to 5,000 Farkle, then dinner and dessert. 9:00 back to apartment, scripture candle.
Friday MERRY CHRISTMAS!  I'm sure all of our children are remembering us today and our family traditions.  I was reading in 1 Nephi 18:2 ". Nephi built a ship-- not after the manner of men but after the manner which the Lord showed unto me".  If a ship was that important; how much more a family--built after the manner the Lord shows us.  But how do we know the manner?  The Lords words--in scripture and modern-day prophets.  Have ye inquired of the Lord what manner to build your family?  :3 go oft (scriptures) pray oft--wherefore the Lord showed unto me great things.  :7,8...after we had prepared all things...we were driven forth towards the promised land(celestial kingdom).  North Stake had a "White Christmas" at 10:00.   There were only 11 baptisms but they seem to be quality baptisms.  They each bore testimony after the baptism and when the service was over, President Suya had the newly baptized members stand in front where all those who attended could come by and shake their hands.  It was very classy.  We took Elder Gomez and Elder Villanueva with us.  They are serving in San Miguel.  12:45 it was all over.  We gave the two elders a ride to Robinsons Mall to skype their families.  Then we went to the center to type this and send it off.  Love to all!  Sister Robinson III, Grandma, Mom

More pictures

The three people in the picture all have Nov. 29 B'day

The Sister with us is the mission president’s daughter. She has a mission call to Twin Falls Id.

Christmas decorations

Christmas conference.

Pictures

Goodbye to Sorilla's

Esther Insigne's 18th birthday

North Stake couples "Rekindle the Spark"

Fall in the night trying to kill a cockroach.

Saying goodbye to Elder BJ Villavert

Institute leaders Christmas

Mission Christmas Conference. There is bubble gum in there somewhere.

North Stake Christmas cultural show

North Stake cultural event

North Stake Christmas dinner

On the first day of Christmas...

My President gave to me...

A really really really long list of fun things to do! :)

Hi guys! I hope your Christmas preparations are more extensive than ours! Because getting it ready is almost as fun as actually doing it! Let me give you some back ground.

We have, as a mission, a Christmas conference. The missionaries from all over the mission come together in a big chapel and we have something like a zone conference. That means enough ham, salad, potatoes, bread, drinks, silverware, cups, plates, tables, chairs, etc, for a little over 200 missionaries. It also means an hour long Christmas video made by yours truly and the other missionaries in the office, and burn a copy of that video for every missionary. We also got to resize a little over 200 pictures of missionaries so they were the right size to print off! It's for a missionary that's really artistic so he's gonna make a picture of the Concepcion temple with the pictures of all of us with a picture of our favorite temple. 

Another fun thing we got to do was go to a wrapping party at the mission home! How fun is that! We filled and wrapped about 100 boxes for gifts to the missionaries here who did not receive gifts this year for Christmas. (I'm pretty sure it's for being naughty, but just in case it's not...) It was really fun. There are a lot of missionaries in our mission who receive little or no support from home, so it's something that President and Sister Arrington have done every year so that everyone gets presents! Aren't they the coolest? And Elder Quinn's family also sent ties and treats and t shirts to add to the gifts! It was really such a blast.

The down side is that we've had to dedicate most of our time this week to prepare for the Christmas conference on the 22nd, and we're also have a Christmas activity on the 25th, which we also get to set up with the assistants! Hurray! It's honestly too much fun. Just wait til I send you some pictures later on!

Oh ya! And for the stake Christmas activity we got to march and sing Hark! The Herald Angels Sing for the finale of the concert that they organized. We did the first show last night and there was actually a lot more people than I expected! Around 250 or 300 probably. And they're saying that even more will go on the 23rd! And for that performance we are doing it in the plaza in front of the temple sight! How cool is that? And they asked me to help around 60 of the missionaries warm up before the concert. I'll just let you guys imagine how humorous that was. :)

If I were with my family on Christmas I would...

1-wake up at 4 (in my Christmas pajamas) so we could have our early morning devotional

2-Cry when my dad cries when he bears his testimony of the Savior

3-Go eat some See's candy and keish (or however you spell that)

4-Look for that delicious juice that we started drinking for Christmas a couple years ago.

5-Go to my piece of furniture where the gifts are at

6-Get distracted and eat more See´s chocolate

7-Go give mom and dad and Charity and whoever else is there hugs

8-Make sure everyone opens up their gifts from me

9-Eat some more See's chocolate

10-Look at how much keesh there is left

11-Go outside and play in the snow! 

12- Wait for my brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews to come home so we can party!

That's something my dad did and I really liked it. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, and I know that He lives and loves us. I know that through Christ we can be clean and free from the weight of our sins, and I know that He was born, died, and raised again so that you and I can live again and can return to live with Him and our Heavenly Father with our families forever.

Have a very merry Christmas! I love you all so much!

Love,

Elder Robinson

Us with the gifts!

And Elder Livingston! He's my friend.

 

 

for Christmas

If I could be with my family on Christmas morning:
We would share special stories that remind us of the love and goodness that comes from our  Heavenly Father and of his gift to us of his Son: and of his son’s obedience and desire to do the will of his father; and of the Son’s love for us and his infinite atonement.
if I could be with my family on this Christmas morning:
I would read from the book of Luke about the coming of Our Savior into the world; or I would read from 3 Nephi 17 …And it came to pass that when Jesus had thus spoken he cast his eyes round about upon the multitude and beheld that they were in tears…and then my eyes would be in tears as I could feel of His love for us as if I was there in the multitude.
If I could be with my family on Christmas morning:
I would give each of you a hug and tell you how much I love you and how much delight I take in seeing the honorable and wonderful way in which you live your lives.
I do know that our God is the only true and living God and that His Son Jesus Christ is our savior and redeemer; and that he is our perfect example and teacher. He has given us everything we need to know and do to find happiness and eternal life with our families.
I look forward to the time that we can be part of Heavenly Father’s eternal and exalted family together.
I love you all.
Dad

Friday, December 11-Friday, December 18

Friday later we went to Arevalo to turn in rent papers, to apartment 2:30 to eat, went downtown to mail Medicare papers.  At 5:00 I visited with Institute young single adults  during party preparations, then at 6:00 we rear-ended in traffic all the way to Pavia, a fifteen minute drive turned into one hour drive.  The party was so fun!  We danced cha cha.  The people think we are cute dancers.  I was invited to bless the food.  Later I told the Christmas Oranges story and sectioned one orange, smaller than a tangerine, off to give to the little children around me.  It was a wonderful time--outside, breeze, lights on palm trees, music and such lovely people. 9:35 home.
Saturday routine, did wash, made chocolate pudding with boxed milk, chocolate cream cheese frosting, Cosco chocolates left by another couple, and quick tapioca--a treat.  10:00 baptism for Joy 17 and Mary Rose who has been investigating the church for four years but couldn't be baptized until she was married.  They got married December 7 and baptized today, her husband is less active member.  She always comes to church and many people thought she was already a member.  We have been hearing about her since we arrived in the Philippines.  So happy for her.  She is cute and so thankful to be baptized.  We went home for lunch and then to Jalandoni to do work with the Internet.  At 4:30 we headed to LaPaz for North Stake leadership Christmas party.  We had a lot of fun and received more invitations.  Home 7:30 and did scripture candle.
Sunday headed to gas station to pick up Darlene to attend Pototan Ward and have their third "My Path" devotional.  There were about ten to attend.  It went well.  Returned home for a quick dinner and then went to Arevalo for the First Presidency Christmas Devotional--wonderful!  It was suppose to be at 4:00 but it was changed to 5:00 on Facebook.  We were there at 3:30 and hadn't looked at facebook😃.  7:00 home.
Monday 9:00 went to Arevalo to practice for the missionary conference and also to administer the English test to an outgoing elder.  He is serving in Kalibo, too far away to come in sooner, 4 1/2 hours each way.  The test went well and we ate tuna on crackers and a tuna sandwich, I had made earlier because I knew we would not have time for anything else.  Conference began at 1:00 with zone skits and competition in between.  One competition  was five from each zone lined up, chose numbers 1-5 and then stood in order as each uncovered the cup with the lid having their number and they were to eat it or put it in their mouth and spit it out at the other end of the room.  1- was chopped hot peppers 2-live gold fish 3-cooked pork tongue 4-chicken head 5-balusters.  A sister in North Zone ate number 4 and that won it for them.  Another competition was one from each zone came forward and had a bowl of flour which they were to keep their hands behind their back and with their tongue find the two tic tacs and eat them then find the bubble gum and chew it and blow a bubble.  Central zone won that one.  A dance competition was next--fun.  There were some missionary pictures put to music after the dinner and Elder Swanton from Nibley made up lyrics about the mission experience while Elder Larson accompanied on the guitar.  It was a lot of fun.  8:30 home.
Tuesday 7:00 am breakfast, singing Christmas carols and then a Missionary Forgotten Carols.  It was very inspiring and set the tone for the rest of the day.  Then we moved to the chapel, six missionaries spoke:  1) this is a family centered work, beautifying and sanctifying D&C 18:15-16, and 81:10 2) I feel happy when our investigators keep their commitments. 2) A story was told of an investigator who had had a stroke and usually had to be asked question two or three times but in reading the Book of Mormon, he had read about Nephi and Laban and remembered every detail of the plates etc.  3) How?  Firm of purpose, steadfast.  Genesis 37-50 Joseph was obedient and faithful in every way. Alma 8:10-18 speedily the other way, away from sin. Joseph Smith Jr. History 13-16. Determination.  Act.  There is no chance, no fate, no destiny that can circumvent or hinder or control, the firm resolve of a determined soul.  President Monson "Love is the essence of the gospel".  4). This elder told about when he was eight years old and throwing out feed to the chickens of rice grains, the hen kept scratching for the food even though the rice was on the top of the ground.  He thought the hen was "stupid" but then later he came to understand that she was teaching her chicks.  Food wouldn't always be found on top and they needed to learn to scratch from her.  Jesus Christ showed us how to be. 1 Timothy 4:12. "Be an example of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity."  Leaders and trainers, missionaries, because of your light, we see our potential.  Keep the light burning. 3 Nephi 37:37. You may not lead many but for sure you will light your own path.  5). Faith by choice--not by chance.  2 Nephi 2:26. Then we sang Away in a Manger. 6) My purpose:  to invite others to come unto Christ..."only the gospel will save the world". Ezra Taft Benson. ". 7)  "Think what you need to think,  learn what you need to learn, feel what you need to feel". Bednar "No pain, disappointment, hurt is wasted.  It causes changes to our hearts."  Elder Gomez read Luke 2 with background music.  Sister Aquino:  Mary and Martha story.  Help me.  As we are in this mission, we have chosen the good part.  President Aquino:  Light, life, love, remembering...we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ ...very emotional.  I believe in the Christ...(I will send a copy).  After lunch, we took pictures and gifts were handed out to each missionary--a card from the First Presidency, a huge Apple, a t-shirt, some m&ms.  3:30 we took Cushings to the wharf and went to the center for an hour, dropped stuff off at the sisters apartment and a bag to the elders and onto Jaro for their Christmas party.  They played games, ate, and danced and we danced like crazy!  9:30 home.
Wednesday routine, wash, make grocery lists, went to SM to get money our transaction was denied.  Shop, back to apartment, ate, rested, purchased water on our way to Jalandoni.  Institute 3:00 "Providing for self, family, and others".  We only had one show up an hour later.  Well, it's Christmas, and finals, and Ward parties, and school practices, and families visiting other islands...but we enjoyed the one.  Then we went home and brought in our clothes from the rain and off to the Mandurriao Ward Christmas party--all but one person from San Miguel group came and on time, actually early.  It was great.  The Relief Society asks two women from the San Miguel group to help serve but then many different women gave them different instructions constantly and one sister had to leave.  It made her sick to have confusion.  It made me so sad when I found out what happened.  We picked her up on the street as we were giving rides to those from San Miguel group which is so far away from Mandurriao.  Late at night there is no affordable transportation, jeepneys are full or are not running any more for the night.  Anyway, I understood a little better why the "Lords house is a house of order".  Home 10:00.
Thursday career workshop--5 sisters, 1 elder going home.  It turned out great! Home 12:00 after taking the missionaries back to Arevalo.  Lunch.  Prepare for Institute class tonight as substitutes.  Yesterday at the BDO where we get money, the machine kept our card for five minutes and then denied the transaction, but the bank at home withdrew the money from our account.  We waited for thirty minutes to talk with a representative at their office and then were told to contact our bank.  Ugh!  Back to Jalandoni 2:00.  Ray emailed the bank.  Class 5:30 Book of Mormon 3Nephi 8-14. We showed part of the Testaments, talked about how we stone the prophets today.  How joyous to follow our Creator, who made us and knows what will bring the greatest joy and we talked of our true riches--our children and our posterity.  Ray invited them to give themselves a Christmas gift:  Read 3 Nephi 1-17 as a gift to themselves and feel the joy of the Spirit.  Home 8:20.  Snack.  Bed.
Friday 10:00 left for the Atrium to purchase a few items.  Then to the center.  Home by way of McDonald's.   Love, Mom, Grandma, Sister Robinson
P S. Our bank responded and returned our money that we didn't get😐

Pictures

Today for pday we went to a Greek restaurant and ate some yummy gyros. I was SO happy to have found a place with Greek food. Fun!

Us at the Oakridge Christmas Party

Live Nativity

This week was awesome! It honestly just flew by.  Man time goes way too fast.  On Tuesday we met Grandma Dot.  She is a former investigator.  She's been taught about one lesson and we "randomly"(ahem, nothing is coincidence!) planned to go see her this week, knowing nothing about her.  We went around 5:30 at night and she immediately began lecturing us on how it is much too dark for young ladies such as ourselves to be out and about.  The lecture lasted quite some time and then she asked us if we would like some hot chocolate.  Sister Erickson said she didn't need any, and then I said, "Yes, please!"  I did not want hot chocolate.  And even if I did I would normally say no, but I figured if I said yes she would let us in and we could talk more so I said yes.  I'm getting tricky. :). So we went in and had a great conversation and learned a lot about her.  We showed her the video, "A Savior is Born" and she really liked it.Then we invited her to the Live Nativity that the Folsom stake put on this weekend.  More on that later.  She said she would come!  We were so excited.  She is just a sweetheart and it was fun talking with her.

We met Lisa on Wednesday.  She is really cool.  She is Catholic and not really interested in learning more right now but we keep visiting her because she introduces us to ALL her friends!  It's amazing, she is a gold mine for meeting non members.  While we were talking to her we met her neighbor and her husband.  She is also the woman that introduced the sisters to Billur at Thanksgiving.  Billur still hasn't responded to our calls or anything.  She really is busy though.  We are going to try dropping by tonight and see what we can set up. Thursday we did service at the Nativity.  So the Nativity was put together as a community event run by our church at the Mormon Center, which is the church right next door to the Sacramento temple.  They converted everything behind the church to look like a little Bethlehem.  Then you walk back there and they do a short reenactment of the story with an angel choir and everything.  We were not allowed to proselyte since it was meant to be a non-threatening community event but they wanted us there at a table nearby with pass along cards and things  so if people wanted to talk to us they could.  We were there and available to give chapel tours if anyone wanted them. Well...no one wanted a chapel tour so we didn't get to do much other than direct people to the bathroom but we heard amazing feedback about the nativity.  The whole thing was put together by Kristen King I guess (she is Amy's sister).  No surprise it turned out so well with her behind it.  It was really incredibly polished and well done, from the invitations to the set, music, and lighting.  Very impressive, especially for a first year event.  We had increasing numbers every night, including Sunday night which had pretty bad weather.  What was amazing is the forecast was for rain every night, but it always stopped right before the shows needed to start.  Heavenly Father wanted this activity to happen.  It was such a great missionary tool. The final count for the four nights was 7500.  We are estimating I think 25% as non members.  The number of people that talked to the
missionaries increased with each night as well.

Friday we tracted a lot of the day.  There is not a lot of tracting done in this mission.  Hardly any really, but there are not a lot of other options in this area because we can't really bike around and talk to people on the streets due to the hilly-ness, size of the area, and the fact that no one is out.  However, we talked to a LOT of people while tracting.  It was awesome.  No new investigators from it but at least we were talking to people! I was amazed at how many answered their doors.  And we did find a less active member that way. Hopefully we will be working with her.  That night we took Dot to the Nativity and boy did she enjoy it.  She really loved it a lot.  We took her on a chapel tour beforehand and answered a lot of her questions, then we saw the Nativity.  She loved it and kept saying how beautifully done it was and how she had never seen anything like it. It was just SO rewarding to take her because of how much she enjoyed it.  We took her on a temple tour afterward.  She was pretty beat after, I'm sure she slept well, but she sure loved it.  The way she was talking though, she doesn't have a lot of interest in learning more but she did enjoy her experience thoroughly and liked what she learned.  It was really a great night.  Such an awesome event to be part of, I am really thankful to have been here for this time. 

Saturday night was Oakridge's Christmas party.  It was Polar Express themed and these people know how to throw a party.  It was honestly incredible.  One member built a mini train (picture included), and the whole room was decorated in that theme.  The tables were made to look like train tracks with the front of a train taped to the head of the table.  There were windows around the room with snowflakes.  When people entered there was a ticket office and they had these fancy tickets.  Then you entered into a hallway that they made to look like you were in the Polar Express and had a conductor punch your ticket. Then you entered the dining room.  It was seriously hardcore.  There were some non members there that we were able to meet.  We filled the water cups so every single person there saw us.  It was a little too crazy to meet many people while doing it but at least they saw the missionaries there and serving.  It was a good place for us to be.

Sunday night was the last night of the nativity.  We were at the the table and got to talk to a lot of people.  Many of them were members but they grabbed pass along cards to share with people so that is exciting!  I also got to see some of my favorite members from El Dorado ward and that was so fun.  Turns out El Dorado Ward is being dissolved so that was a surprise.  They are being absorbed into nearby wards.  So one of the areas I served in no longer exists, which is weird.  It was so good to see them though.  We taught the Mia Maids class about hastening the work since that was their lesson this week. They were not terribly responsive but it went fairly well.  Hopefully it got them excited about missionary work a little. Something else cool this week is that the stake president and high councilor over missionary work in our stake came to our Zone Training this week.  It was pretty cool to have them there, it definitely improved the stake president's opinion of us missionaries and I think that made all the difference in his willingness to include us more in the nativity.  He trusts us more now, so that was pretty cool. 

Today on our way to the church we witnessed a car crash.  It was a little old lady that ran a red light because the sun was in her eyes.  Poor thing!  It was sad.  Pretty bad crash but no serious injuries,though both drivers will be quite sore.  Turns out I have no idea what to do if I witness an accident.  We ended up turning around and leaving them with our phone number in case they needed witnesses or something.

Anyway, overall a great week full of miracles and cool opportunities!  Dot kept asking us why her? Why did we put all that effort into taking her and helping her through the evening?  My first thought was just that she happened to answer her door and she was willing to come.  We didn't particularly choose her, but I believe Heavenly Father did.  I don't know why, but He does.  He wanted her to have that experience.  I know that He has a plan for each of us, down to the little details.  I know we are all in good hands with Him.  Love you all!

Sister Robinson

P.s. There will not be an email for lots of days, until Christmas because that is when the next pday will be.

Live Nativity

This week was awesome! It honestly just flew by.  Man time goes way too fast.  On Tuesday we met Grandma Dot.  She is a former investigator.  She's been taught about one lesson and we "randomly"(ahem, nothing is coincidence!) planned to go see her this week, knowing nothing about her.  We went around 5:30 at night and she immediately began lecturing us on how it is much too dark for young ladies such as ourselves to be out and about.  The lecture lasted quite some time and then she asked us if we would like some hot chocolate.  Sister Erickson said she didn't need any, and then I said, "Yes, please!"  I did not want hot chocolate.  And even if I did I would normally say no, but I figured if I said yes she would let us in and we could talk more so I said yes.  I'm getting tricky. :). So we went in and had a great conversation and learned a lot about her.  We showed her the video, "A Savior is Born" and she really liked it.Then we invited her to the Live Nativity that the Folsom stake put on this weekend.  More on that later.  She said she would come!  We were so excited.  She is just a sweetheart and it was fun talking with her.

We met Lisa on Wednesday.  She is really cool.  She is Catholic and not really interested in learning more right now but we keep visiting her because she introduces us to ALL her friends!  It's amazing, she is a gold mine for meeting non members.  While we were talking to her we met her neighbor and her husband.  She is also the woman that introduced the sisters to Billur at Thanksgiving.  Billur still hasn't responded to our calls or anything.  She really is busy though.  We are going to try dropping by tonight and see what we can set up. Thursday we did service at the Nativity.  So the Nativity was put together as a community event run by our church at the Mormon Center, which is the church right next door to the Sacramento temple.  They converted everything behind the church to look like a little Bethlehem.  Then you walk back there and they do a short reenactment of the story with an angel choir and everything.  We were not allowed to proselyte since it was meant to be a non-threatening community event but they wanted us there at a table nearby with pass along cards and things  so if people wanted to talk to us they could.  We were there and available to give chapel tours if anyone wanted them. Well...no one wanted a chapel tour so we didn't get to do much other than direct people to the bathroom but we heard amazing feedback about the nativity.  The whole thing was put together by Kristen King I guess (she is Amy's sister).  No surprise it turned out so well with her behind it.  It was really incredibly polished and well done, from the invitations to the set, music, and lighting.  Very impressive, especially for a first year event.  We had increasing numbers every night, including Sunday night which had pretty bad weather.  What was amazing is the forecast was for rain every night, but it always stopped right before the shows needed to start.  Heavenly Father wanted this activity to happen.  It was such a great missionary tool. The final count for the four nights was 7500.  We are estimating I think 25% as non members.  The number of people that talked to the
missionaries increased with each night as well.

Friday we tracted a lot of the day.  There is not a lot of tracting done in this mission.  Hardly any really, but there are not a lot of other options in this area because we can't really bike around and talk to people on the streets due to the hilly-ness, size of the area, and the fact that no one is out.  However, we talked to a LOT of people while tracting.  It was awesome.  No new investigators from it but at least we were talking to people! I was amazed at how many answered their doors.  And we did find a less active member that way. Hopefully we will be working with her.  That night we took Dot to the Nativity and boy did she enjoy it.  She really loved it a lot.  We took her on a chapel tour beforehand and answered a lot of her questions, then we saw the Nativity.  She loved it and kept saying how beautifully done it was and how she had never seen anything like it. It was just SO rewarding to take her because of how much she enjoyed it.  We took her on a temple tour afterward.  She was pretty beat after, I'm sure she slept well, but she sure loved it.  The way she was talking though, she doesn't have a lot of interest in learning more but she did enjoy her experience thoroughly and liked what she learned.  It was really a great night.  Such an awesome event to be part of, I am really thankful to have been here for this time. 

Saturday night was Oakridge's Christmas party.  It was Polar Express themed and these people know how to throw a party.  It was honestly incredible.  One member built a mini train (picture included), and the whole room was decorated in that theme.  The tables were made to look like train tracks with the front of a train taped to the head of the table.  There were windows around the room with snowflakes.  When people entered there was a ticket office and they had these fancy tickets.  Then you entered into a hallway that they made to look like you were in the Polar Express and had a conductor punch your ticket. Then you entered the dining room.  It was seriously hardcore.  There were some non members there that we were able to meet.  We filled the water cups so every single person there saw us.  It was a little too crazy to meet many people while doing it but at least they saw the missionaries there and serving.  It was a good place for us to be.

Sunday night was the last night of the nativity.  We were at the the table and got to talk to a lot of people.  Many of them were members but they grabbed pass along cards to share with people so that is exciting!  I also got to see some of my favorite members from El Dorado ward and that was so fun.  Turns out El Dorado Ward is being dissolved so that was a surprise.  They are being absorbed into nearby wards.  So one of the areas I served in no longer exists, which is weird.  It was so good to see them though.  We taught the Mia Maids class about hastening the work since that was their lesson this week. They were not terribly responsive but it went fairly well.  Hopefully it got them excited about missionary work a little. Something else cool this week is that the stake president and high councilor over missionary work in our stake came to our Zone Training this week.  It was pretty cool to have them there, it definitely improved the stake president's opinion of us missionaries and I think that made all the difference in his willingness to include us more in the nativity.  He trusts us more now, so that was pretty cool. 

Today on our way to the church we witnessed a car crash.  It was a little old lady that ran a red light because the sun was in her eyes.  Poor thing!  It was sad.  Pretty bad crash but no serious injuries,though both drivers will be quite sore.  Turns out I have no idea what to do if I witness an accident.  We ended up turning around and leaving them with our phone number in case they needed witnesses or something.

Anyway, overall a great week full of miracles and cool opportunities!  Dot kept asking us why her? Why did we put all that effort into taking her and helping her through the evening?  My first thought was just that she happened to answer her door and she was willing to come.  We didn't particularly choose her, but I believe Heavenly Father did.  I don't know why, but He does.  He wanted her to have that experience.  I know that He has a plan for each of us, down to the little details.  I know we are all in good hands with Him.  Love you all!

Sister Robinson

P.s. There will not be an email for lots of days, until Christmas because that is when the next pday will be.