#Trunky

Hey guys!

Well it was an amazing last week. I'm a little emotional right now, but I couldn't have asked for a better last week. It felt really good. I had exchanges with the Elders from Tomè and it was really fun. Lots of the members there had planned some things for us. They made us sushi and later we had an fhe with an investigator, and it was awesome. Then on Saturday they threw me a goodbye party in Dichato and it was a blast. It was really weird. I've been on the other side so many times and now it's my turn. It was kind of hard.

On the bright side I was able to bear my testimony yesterday in church! And it was really nice. I was reminded that it's not just the privilege of the missionaries to testify of Christ. It's the privilege of everyone who believes. In Alma 30:9 it says, "Now if a man desired to serve God, it was his privilege; or rather, if he believed in God it was his privilege to serve him..." Lucky for me, it never has to end. 

I think the thing that I learned most or that had the greatest impact in my mission and in my life was charity. I remember in my first area when an investigator that I loved a lot commited to go to church and didn't go. I was so hurt. I felt so decieved and didn't even want to go visit him again. Then God gave me a little more light. I thought, "How many times have I told God that I would do something and didn't keep my promise, how hurt might He feel." And then I felt filled with His love and I understood that when we really are filled with the love that He has, we will love them unconditionally. And then even when they fall we only hope and help them to learn and get up again to succeed. I have failed a lot in my life, and over and over and over again I have felt safe in His eternal love. I hope you all feel that love, and that in some small way, I have been able to help others feel that love as well, and pray that the Lord continues to allow me to do so.

Thanks for all your love and support during these 2 years. It has gone by really fast. I hope we can all see each other and reconnect. I love you all a ton! We'll be seeing you soon!

Con todo mi amor y cariño,

Elder Robinson​​

Here is the sushi! with the Familia Peñailillo​​

Here's the goodbye cake they made me. it says "mission accomplished, Good trip"

​And here is the picture I made to send to all my beloved friends :)

La Penúltima

Hey everyone!!!!

Haha. This week was really exciting. On Tuesday night I passed out in a less active member's house, so that was fun. And I hit my hard on the floor pretty hard, so we rested a lot on Wednesday, but we had an activity in the chapel so we went to that, and it was a lot of fun and an investigator went! And then we visited him and his wife on Saturday. They are really receptive, and are really good people. And they didn't go to church yesterday, but they said they would go next week.

Besides that I also sprained my pinky today playing flag... tag. Like flag football but without a football. haha. It's a little swollen, but it'll be all right. Oh and Wednesday night my comp threw up all night, so that was a bummer, so that kind of slowed us down on Thursday, but on Friday we were invited to go see a young man (Matias Coloma) open his mission call, he is Camilo's brother if you remember him from Tomé. He's going to Lima Peru Sur. 

Well I'm a little all over the place right now with my ideas and it's really hard to type with my swollen pinky, pray for my pinky so it can work hard til the end. ;) haha. He's a tough little guy. Also, look up the mission facebook page! We showed up on there with a member working in Dichato! It's called Mision Concepcion. So you can like the page and see how we're working here in our mission. 

I hope everyone can have the opportunity to share their testimonies during the week and especially my nieces and nephews so they can share their experiences in testimony meeting this Sunday! 

I love you all and am way excited to see everyone soon! I have never felt so much love in my heart for people. I love the people here in Chile. And my companions and the other missionaries that I have served with. It really has been an amazing experience. It'll be fun to apply the love and experiences from the mission in real life. But we'll leave the rest of that thought for next week. But I love you all! Have a wonderful week!

Muchos cariños y un abrazo!

Elder Robinson

​And this is a little frog friend that I found and gave to my companion on the way home​

This is what happens when they cancel our lunch appointment and we're already in Conce yum yum

Best P-Day!

Hey guys!

Thank you all for the birthday wishes! It really has been an awesome birthday so far. The Alarcon family invited us to go have lunch with them for my birthday and it was really really fun. And it was a delicious lunch. And they made me a cake and gave me the "mordisco" which is a Chilean tradition. Basically, you take a bite of the cake, but there's always someone behind you to shove your face into the cake. But it was a really good cake, although I still have cake in my nostrils. But it was totally worth it. :)

We also found some investigators this week, so that was fun, but none of them showed up to church. But we have a really fun fhe in the chapel planned this week so, lots of members promised to bring new friends, so we have really high hopes for that. And according to the forecast it's not going to rain, so that means that people will show up! haha. We also found a new less active whose dad isn't a member this week. But she was kind of... weird. But she said she would go to the activity on Wednesday, so hopefully she's more normal around other members. She's 19. Her name is Francisca. (snake)

It's been really fun this week to have several opportunities to serve. We got to move a truck, and organize some wood and clean the chapel! So that was pretty great. And there's something really cool planned for the district class this week. So I'll tell you how it goes, but it sounds pretty awesome. :) Maybe you'll see the video on facebook before I tell you about it. But if not, you'll hear about it next week.

This week we were practicing sharing short and powerful testimonies in our tracting. It was awesome. The responses are one hundred percent more positive. It was really cool. The idea was that instead of asking them for their address we just bore testimony and asked when we could come by to share more. It was fun. And Elder Baquerizo said that he felt really strengthened by it. It was a faith-building experience. So it worked!

I love you guys. And I wanted to extend the challenge to all my nieces and nephews to share their testimony with someone this week, and then on August 7th (Fast Sunday) that they can share their experiences with it during fast and testimony meeting. Everyone is invited to participate, but help them get PUMPED about it and do it! They really do feel God's love through our testimonies. That would be a pretty amazing birthday present.

Have an amazing week!

Elder Robinson

​Dichato on a cloudy day

​My birthday lunch today! Photo cred: Gerardo Alarcon

Rama Marbella

Hello everyone!!!

Well this week was crazy. We literally had SO many things to do, and we had mini missionaries which was really fun. I was with Gabriel Giadach from Linares. He was really fun, and it was really fun for me not knowing my sector and yet and being on my own with him. It was really good for me though. It put me on the express train to memorizing the sector. And I got to know a lot of the members and church on Sunday was awesome. I played piano, and gave a talk. There were 16 people there, counting the me and my companion and the 2 mini missionaries. haha. I guess you could say that there is a lot of possibilities here and a lot of opportunities to serve. So it's pretty fun. And we live behind the branch president, who is pretty young, and really nice. I honestly love it so far.

Today I went to with people from my group to Chillan to buy souvenirs. It was really fun and so happy to be with all of them. It's great to have new friends and to have shared this amazing experience with them. And it was fun to go back to Chillan. I really fell in love with that place. And with Tome and Concepcion. haha. I guess you could say I'm pretty whipped for this mission. 

Sorry for the short email today, but I love you a lot and hope that you have an amazing week. One theme for this week was Mosiah 2:17 and I think it's really interesting how King Benjamin talks about service. He served his people all his life so that their burdens would be light, and even so that he was only in the service if his god. And that if they should give thanks to him for his service, how much more should they give thanks to god. And that's how I felt this week. So many people have served me and helped me and showed me how to love and I feel so grateful for them, and the Lord has given me a strong healthy body, and a brain that works and thanks to that I have been able to serve, even if only a little bit, the people here. And when we serve people is when the love of Christ enters into our hearts and allows us to see His children as He sees them. 

Cariños,

Elder Robinson

One month left and me voy a Dichato

Hello everyone!

Well first and most importantly Manuel was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday! So that was pretty amazing. When the members asked him how he felt afterwards he said, "Lleno de gloria." Full of glory. What an awesome guy. He really was such a golden investigator, and he's already an amazing member. Here is a picture of the baptism​

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​The other crazy thing that happened is that transfers are today and I'm going to Dichato. haha. So that pretty much blew my mind. But it will be really fun, because Dichato is here in my zone, and I was actually there on exchanges last week was the missionary that is going to be my companion now, and he's already my best friend. Elder Baquerizo. He's the man. He's really new in the mission, but he's the son of a mission President in Colombia, so he's really awesome already. I am pretty sad to leave Tomé though. But I'll be really close by. Here's a touristic map of Tome so you can see how close by Dichato is.​

​You'll probably have to zoom in a little bit, but there it is. :) So I'll be saying goodbye to a few people today, but I won't have a ton of time because I have to be in the mission office for a self-sufficiency class that I get to go to for the people that are going home. So there's that. And this friday we are looking forward to having mini-missionaries. So that should be fun. Crazy times.

I just love this work, and love the people that I get to serve and serve with and that also serve me. I'm so grateful to be able to dedicate my time to serve God and help the people here in Chile come unto Christ. I feel so much love for the people here. I know that this is the love of Christ. Being willing to sacrifice your life for your friends, and now I am willing too.

Love you all as well and I hope you have an amazing week!

Love,

Elder Robinson

P.S. Here's a picture of the 4th of July hamburgers that Hermano Domingo made for us​

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Happy Independence Day!

Hello everybody!

I hope that if you haven't seen Independence Day 2, that you can go and see it because it was really good! ;) haha. Just kidding. But I've seen some nice-looking posters of it, it looks nice enough. Anyway....

Manuel is progressing miraculously! He told us on Thursday that he thinks he has taken long enough time thinking about it and that he feels that he should be baptized on the 9th. That's this Saturday!!! Yay!!! So that was pretty amazing. I've never heard anything like that during my whole mission, so that was pretty special. We didn't even have to ask him if he had recieved an answer, he just told us. So he will have his baptismal interview tomorrow. But the members are finally starting to talk to him and he is adjusting well to his new ward family.

Camilo... is fine. But I think he might need a little more time to prepare for his baptism. He hasn't smoked or anthing like that for 4 weeks now, but he just doesn't seem to understand the importance of the Sabbath Day yet because he didn't go again this Sunday. So we'll see how he does in these next coming weeks.

What a cool thing that p-day is independence day! haha. And we get to go have a special 4th of July lunch today with a member that invited us, so that's pretty fun. I feel so blessed to be a citizen of the United States. A place was prepared so that the gospel could restored and Zion could be established. And now her stakes are being established in the whole world, thanks to the example that the US government set of religious freedom. God truly is wise. 

I saw a funny bumper sticker the other day, it said, "I'm not the owner of the world, but I'm the child of the owner." I thought that was pretty cute. haha. 

And President Catala is really cool. He has a lot of fire and love for the work and he gave us a new rule to sing in ever lesson. No problem here. :) haha. And he has a really high vision for what he wants us to achieve and I think it's time, and I believe the Lord will give growth now in preparation for the temple here in Concepcion, if we can just get the local leaders on board.

I know that this church is true and is guided by a living prophet, Thomas S. Monson. I know that Jesus Christ lived and died for us, and that through His everlasting love, we can be perfected in Him. I love you all and hope and pray that you can all feel His love, and help others to feel it too.

Have an amazing week and Happy 4th of July!

Elder Robinson

P.S. Some pictures of our lunch last p day and goodbye President Arrington​

Goodbye Pres Arrington, Welcome Pres Catala

Hello everyone!

This last week I had my last zone conference and I gave my last testimony. Haha. It was fun. It seemed really early, but it was fun to hear the testimonies of all the missionaries that came with me, the whole mission was together for the last conference of President and Hermana Arrington. It was really nice. They gave us all coasters with the Mission Logo and we all signed a chilean flag for them. It was a really spiritual and sentimental conference. They have been really awesome and it will be fun to reconnect with them after. And this wednesday President and Sister Catala will arrive with their 15-year-old son, so we'll have another conference with them on Friday. That will be fun as well! :)

This week was really fun and flew by. Manuel went to church again! Which was really awesome, and there are several members who have already made really good friends with him, so we feel really happy about that. In his prayer this last week he prayed and asked God to permit him to be part of His church. Miracles never cease. I felt so nourished and strengthened by his growing testimony. It really is a delight to teach him and see the positive changes in his life. He is still progressing toward his baptism on the 9th of July. Please continue to pray for him that he will receive strength beyond his own and be able to recognize and follow the answer (or answers) that he is receiving.

Camilo went to church! So that was awesome, but he won't be getting baptized until the 9th of July, please pray for him so that he will continue to study the scriptures and say his prayers to be strengthened as well.

Today has been really fun, too! Chile won the Copa America AGAIN! yesterday. So a member invited us over to eat a chorrillana which was really delicious and we also played what are the odds which turned out to be really hilarious. :) 

It's a pleasure to serve, and when we learn to love to obey His command, is when the light of the gospel really starts to make lives change. 

Love you all! Have an amazing week!

Elder Robinson

All the elders from my group at the conference on Friday!​

Hello everybody!

Well, since I wrote way late last week, we decided to write early this week! :) haha. This last week was pretty cool. I had an exchange with a Brazilian elder who got to the mission 2 weeks ago! I couldn't understand him way well, but he was learning Spanish pretty quickly. His name is Elder Ribeiro. He's from the northern part of Brazil. It was a cool experience, though. 

We also had zone conference this last week, and we had it all by ourselves! haha. It was still really fun, though. And we had tacos again, because they were really good, so I'll send some pictures of that. :) And this week we have another conference for the farewell of President and Sister Arrington. They leave next week, and the new President, President and Sister Catala, will arrive on the 29th. So then we'll probably have another conference to meet them! But that's for next week.

We found a totally golden investigator this week! His name is Manuel. He went to a baptism that the sisters had here in our ward, and he went to church yesterday. He accepted and committed to a baptismal date for the 9th of July! He needs your prayers. He's really awesome, though. A nice guy, and a gentlemen. He doesn't drink or smoke, or drink tea or coffee. Así de dorado. So we're pretty excited to continue working with him, and he was actually a reference that we received from Camilo! So that was fun. But Camilo actually didn't go to church yesterday, sad times, please continue praying for Camilo so that he can receive the strength and make decision to repent and be baptized.

I love this work. I feel so humbled and grateful to be a part of it. I hope that everyone can find the joy that we have all felt, because I know that everyone has felt the pain and hopelessness of being alone. And what a joyful opportunity we have to help them feel the love and joy even as Alma did. "18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death. 19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more. 20 And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain! 21 Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy." Alma 36

Have a beautiful week! I love you all a ton!

Elder Robinson

Zona Tomé!​

​The game we played in zone conference​

​And here's me and Elder Hartvigsen (he came with me) at a private beach in my area. :)​

Jesus Christ is ALWAYS nearby

Hello everyone!

I don't have a ton of time today, because we had a really long zone activity. It was really cool, though. We went through a long tunnel to get to a private beach. It was cool, but the tunnel was really dark and we couldn't see anything, but some people had brought flashlights, so we were saved. Hurray! :) 

Camilo went to church yesterday! So that was pretty awesome. And he didn't smoke for the whole week! Impressive. So please please continue to pray for him so that he can be prepared for his baptism on July 2nd, and so that he can continue to progress towards eternal life afterwards as well.

Our mission president shared part of Elder Renlund's talk with us from the last general conference. I'd like to share it with you: 

"The closer we are to Jesus Christ in the thoughts and intents of our hearts, the more we appreciate His innocent suffering, the more grateful we are for grace and forgiveness, and the more we want to repent and become like Him. The sacrament truly helps us know our Savior. It also reminds us of His innocent suffering. If life were truly fair, you and I would never be resurrected; you and I would never be able to stand clean before God. In this respect, I am grateful that life is not fair.

At the same time, I can emphatically state that because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, ultimately, in the eternal scheme of things, there will be no unfairness. "All that is unfair about life can be made right." Our present circumstances may not change, but through God's compassion, kindness, and love, we will all receive more than we deserve, more than we can ever earn, and more than we can ever hope for. We are promised that "God shall wipe away all tears from [our] eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." No matter where you stand in your relationship to God, I invite you to draw nearer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, the Ultimate Benefactors and Givers of all that is good. I invite you to attend sacrament meeting each week and partake of the holy emblems of the Savior's body and blood. I invite you to feel God's nearness as He is made known to you, as He was to the disciples of old, in the "breaking of [the] bread." As you do, I promise that you will feel nearer to God. . . . As we draw closer to God, the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ will come into our lives. And, as with the disciples on the way to Emmaus, we will find that the Savior has been nearby all along."

This really touched me and reminded me that Jesus Christ is always nearby. I love the picture of Jesus knocking at the door. He seems to be listening as well. Attentively listening to hear if we will come, and hoping that we will. 

I love you all and I hope you have an amazing week and remember that He is always nearby. 

Love,

Elder Robinson

Testimony

Hey guys!

Well this week went by really fast! And it was really cold. haha. We got lost a couple times because it's a really big area and I don't have very much time yet in the area, so that was pretty great! haha. But it actually wasn't bad. And there were some pretty incredible breakthroughs and we saw some unexpected miracles. 

Well first off, I want to give a shout out to Susan, for participating in the missionary work. It was really incredible. There's this guy named Camilo, and his twin's name is Matias, and they love the missionaries. Matias is a member, and he is waiting for his mission call. Camilo is not a member, but he's read the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price, and just has not been baptized because he's scared to leave his old life behind and make the decision. He's been listening to missionaries for 2 years now, and this week we decided to just light him up a little bit, we taught repentance, and committed him to stop smoking and to prepare to be baptized on the 2nd of July. I've never taught so boldly I don't think. And he accepted and committed to go to church. He showed up right on time but didn't want to go in because he was on his way to lunch. I was really sad, so I told him that I felt deceived and sad, and let them go. He called yesterday evening but I couldn't answer, and then he called again today. ( new paragraph for a long story )

I answered and he told me that he had been talking to Susan on Facebook and that she had shared her testimony with him and I think a scripture as well, and he said that it touched him that my niece already knew it, and that he knew it too, and said that he is going to make the decision now and be baptized; he has been 3 days without smoking now and is reading the scriptures. Please pray for him so that he may be blessed by the joy of this amazing gospel.

There was another cool miracle too, but I don't have time, so it will have to be for later. But I love you all a ton and I hope you all remember the importance and power of testimony. 

Con Mucho Amor,

Elder Robinson

P.S. Here's some pictures from this last week! We ate pizza and played soccer with the zone today! And one with my comp! Elder VARGAS!!!

Out with the old and in with the new!

Hello everyone!

I'm glad to announce that I thought of another good subject line! :) haha. But seriously, today I said my last goodbye to Elder Smoot, tomorrow morning he will take the flight to Santiago, and from there visit the temple and take a flight to the states in the evening. It was a good week, he said goodbye to everyone, and we had some really good lunches since they were his last ones. It was pretty great. Yesterday he had his last interview with President Arrington, it's also the last interviews that President Arrington will have. This transfer, he will leave and President Catala (from Argentina) will arrive. At the very end of June he and his wife will arrive with their 15-year-old son. So that's pretty exciting! But we're working on something cool to do for President and Sister Arrington before they leave, but it's a surprise! So don't tell! :D

Tomorrow, I'll get to meet up with my new companion, Elder Vargas! He is from Argentina! I already know him a little bit, and he's a really great guy, I'm honestly really excited to work with him. I'm excited to be with a latino companion again as well. It's been almost a year since I was with my last latino companion. Wow. Long time. haha.

Anyway... This last week honestly FLEW by. I can't even remember what we did! haha. Just the lunches. :) HA! Just kidding. Everyone was just sad because Elder Smoot was leaving. They had a little farewell party for him in the chapel, so that was pretty fun. He plays baseball, and one of the converts made him a baseball cake. It was really cute, and totally delicious. 

There's not too much time today because of transfers, but I love you all and I hope you have a fantastic week! You know I will! :) I should have more time next week to tell you all about Elder Vargas and the people we're working with. We have the goal as a mission to take 2 people to church this sunday in each area. So that's what we're going for. It's actually a challenge the area presidency gave us. So that's what we're looking at for this week! Pray for us!

Com muito amor,

Elder Robinson

P.S. We have a lot of Brasileiros in our zone, so that was portuguese. Para que no se confunden! and here are some pictures from an exchange I had with Elder Oliveira (a brasileiro) and it's like 3 hours away from my area. haha. It's way out in the booneys! They say there are more cows than people there. I think it's true.

 

And here's a really big spider we found in the air on the way down from Cerro Navidad.

Woops... I ran out of good subject lines

Hello everybody!

This week was pretty cool! It was my companion's birthday on Saturday, which was way fun! haha. He didn't want anyone to know, but some sisters in our ward planned him a little surprise birthday party for him, and they gave us some delicious cake. :) We actually got three pieces of cake that day! But only one of them was for his birthday. One slice we got was from a less active brother named Augusto's birthday, and the other one... I don't really know why they gave it to us, but I just figured it was just a delicious tender mercy. :)

We were able to see a miracle as well this weekend. We went to visit a less active sister whose name is Monica, and there was another lady there, but she looked busy so we just shared with Monica, but apparently the other lady was listening and she really liked what she heard so she told Monica she wanted to know more and she brought her to church yesterday! So that was really cool. The lady's name is Irina, and we have an appointment set up to teach her this week, she seems really receptive, so we have high hopes for her.

We also had a lot of less actives committed to church on Sunday, and almost all of them went! It was really good to see them all there, it had been quite a long time for some of them, and it was a really powerful sacrament meeting.

I want to share with you something I wrote to my mission President near the beginning of my mission. I wouldn't have expected to learn something from what I said, but I think it's really true, and I'm grateful for this time to serve.

"Yesterday we were talking with our Bishop and he reminded us that this is the only time in our lives when we'll be able to focus so completely on doing the work of the Lord. I've been told that so many times but for some reason this time I really finally understood it. Better late than never. It's such a gift we as missionaries have to just forget everything else and give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord. At home it's a whole different life. It's all about balancing church and family and education/carreer. But here and now, it's really just us and the Lord and the people. Which, still, is a task. But it's easy because we're doing it with the Lord, or really He's doing it through us. And we just have to keep ourselves pure and malleable for Him to work with."

It's a concept to apply for all times of life, we need to humble ourselves and maintain ourselves in a state where the Lord can work with us, and hopefully, deepen that humility and allow ourselves to be filled with His everlasting love and light. 

I love you guys and I hope you all have an amazing week! Thanks for everything you do to be disciples of Christ and teach and help those around you to do the same. It's our little teaspoon, but for the Lord, every single one is important.

Con cariños y amor,

Elder Robinson

This is my comp's bday party. haha. he has his tie off because here they make you bite the cake (tradition) and then they smash your face in it. It's really nice. ;)

And a pic from our zone activity today!

Three down, one to stay - more pics

This is Agustina, she's one of our chilean moms in this ward. She has elephants EVERYWHERE in her house.

And a #sunsetselfie

Three down, one to stay

Hello everyone!

To explain the subject, when I started my mission, I was shortly joined in the field my my parents (who served in the Philippines) and then a couple months later I was also joined by my sister (who finished her mission this week in California) so it's kind of a landmark to be the only one in my family on a mission! haha. But I hope that my sister is well received and that she gets terribly spoiled and loved and gets to hold the new nieces and nephews that have been born while we've been gone. I know that she has missed it!

This week was pretty great, and yesterday was the cherry on top!  Recent convert in our ward was assigned to talk about the day of rest, and the sacrament. He's really new, and it was an amazing talk. He received the priesthood last week and is the 2nd counselor in the Young Men's. He's honestly on fire. His name is Diego. He's studying in the university right now, and he's really smart. He talked about why we wear white shirts to symbolize and remember that white clothing we wear when we are baptized and the clothing we wear to enter the temple as well to make other covenants and to do ordinances for the dead. It was honestly an inspiring talk, and it was a blessing to see how much his testimony grew by researching for and delivering the talk, he also blessed the sacrament for the first time on Sunday.

We visited a lot of people this week to invite them all to go to church and commit them to baptism to see who really had desires to follow Christ, and it was successful, but most of them really didn't, so this week we're really excited to dedicate a lot of time to finding people to teach and contacting some more member referrals that we have received. 

We also had a ward missionary activity this week and invited everyone to have a family night in the chapel with us! It was really fun, and we had a lot of support, we made sopapillas (those are like scones) and the sisters gave an AMAZING message, and I think everyone really enjoyed it, so hopefully they'll tell everyone about it so even more people come next time.

I hope you all have a wonderful week and are reading your scriptures and saying your prayers every day. I was studying the plan of salvation a lot this week about the fall and the atonement. "An act of supreme love for God and His children." He obeyed because He loved His father and because He loved us. That's the difference between obeying because we should and obeying because we want to. A sincere desire to obey Him because we love Him will perfect us.

Love,

Elder Robinson

P.S. Here's some pictures from this last week!

The day AFTER Mother's day

Hey everyone!

Guess what?! I'm actually in Chillán right now writing, because my companion got permission to come here to buy souvenirs before he goes home on the 31st, so we decided to come here today. It's fun to be here again and see some familiar sights. 

We had a really fun video call yesterday, got to talk to Mom and Dad and Charity and I also got to see Raymond and Julie for a little second and Susan and Tia! And I got to hear Sammy as well, but mom and dad's video had cut out. haha. That's all right though. It was really nice to see them and talk to them all again. Feeling really blessed to have such an amazing family. Sure do love those guys.

I have some sad news, too... We went to visit Carlos Nicolas to schedule the baptismal interview for this Wednesday, well we were doing divisions actually with a young man and our ward mission leader, so my companion went with our ward mission leader, and apparently it didn't go very well. He doesn't really have desires to follow Jesus Christ, he just wanted financial help from us and from the church. I guess I could have seen that one coming from what I had heard from his former experiences with the members of the church (always giving him things to help him out) but hopefully he continues and can get out of his depression.

I'm doing really well, it's getting pretty cold here now, but it hasn't rained very much. The members in Tomé totally spoil us. haha. But luckily there are a LOT of really steep hills so I can eat a lot and not get fat. haha. There's a member that brings us a package every Sunday with TONS of chocolate and bread for us to eat. It's hilarious. And I got to play the piano in Sacrament meeting yesterday, and accompany a special Relief Society choir. A song called Mi Bondad no se apartatá de Ti. Some of you have probably heard it in English. But I don't know what it's called in English. It went really well, considering we only practiced this week, and it was a beautiful sacrament meeting focused on the relief society and women in general, but especially for mother's day and the anniversary of the relief society. So that was pretty great.

We have several people we're working with and so this week we're going to focus on them and see which ones are ready to progress, or maybe all of them will be! :) I sure do love all of you guys and I hope you have a wonderful week and I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's day yesterday!

Cariños,

Elder Robinson

En Abril, Aguas Mil (viene Mayo, solo quiero hablar con mi familia :)

That's the Chilean version of April showers bring May flowers, but it turned out that it's not really true any more. It didn't hardly even rain in April! Except for that little rainstorm that flooded most the houses that weren't on the hills. But other than that, a reasonably dry month of April. And it's still pretty sunny out!

But anyway, I hope you all had an incredible last week of April! It was pretty great for us! The members gave us a TON of referrals, so that was a miracle by itself. I just felt so grateful for their help. It's honestly so much better with member referrals. So we hope to have a fun time contacting more of them this week and hopefully finding a lot of new people to teach!

Good news! Our investigator, Carlos Nicolas Sanchez Navarro, went to church yesterday! But it was a TASK to get him there. His depression makes it really hard to muster up the desires to leave his house. It's pretty difficult for him. But he did get there, and he really enjoyed it. He's been in and out of investigating the church for 10 years! We found that out this last week, but it seems like it's time. But please pray for him that he will continue progressing and be able to conquer his depression through his obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Also, please pray for the Valencia family. They are a family that got flooded in the rainstorm, and the stake president and some other members showed up to help them make some preparations and clean up. We have an appointment with them today. 

Testimony meeting yesterday was a healing experience. A young man got home from his mission in Guatemala last week and so his whole family bore his testimony, along with him. It was beautiful, and then the rest of the ward just followed suit. There was not a moment wasted and many were able to share their testimonies. It was a really special experience. You could see everyone's testimony grow and be strengthened by sharing it. I hope all of you share your testimonies with others frequently, and don't let more than a couple testimony meetings go by without sharing yours. You never know who might need to be nourished by your testimony.

I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week and a Happy Mother's day!!! I'm so excited to see Mom and Dad and Charity on Sunday! WHOO HOOOO!!!!

Love,

Elder Robinson

Pics

Here are some pics from this last week! As you can see the chapel is about 20 yards from the beach. :)

I'm killing again.

Hey guys! :)

So just so you know... my new companion, Elder Smoot, dies at the end of this transfer, so I'm "killing" again. haha. He's a great missionary, though, so he probably won't finish trunky. But this week he'll have a special training with all the missionaries that are finishing that's called "finish strong" so that will probably help. :)

This week went really well, though, I was able to meet a lot of the members, and I already am in love with this ward. It has a lot of nice, wonderful families and I honestly feel right at home. Or I would... if it weren't for all of the hills. It has like 6 huge hills, and then "centro" and "California" are the only two neighborhoods that are flat, and there's also two neighborhoods that are like 20 minutes away on bus that are flat and pretty areas too. And I'm also right next to... THE OCEAN! It's so awesome! Beautiful views from the top of the hills, and the smell of the ocean breeze is heaven for me. It did rain really hard a couple days ago, and all the dirt and garbage from the hills were rushing past our house in the river that was running down the street. haha. It was awesome. It's a really tranquil place, secluded, but it's big enough that it's not filled with hillbillies either. So that's kind of nice. :)

We had 3 people committed to go to church this week and none of them showed up! So that was really sad. But we were able to visit one yesterday afternoon, and he struggles with depression, but he committed to go to church next week, so we're working really closely with him.

The week went by way fast and it felt kind of like a blur, but it was fun. I hope you all have a wonderful week and I sure do love you lots! 

Que Dios les acompañe,

Elder Robinson

Me Voy a Tomé!

Well... I got the transfer call last night and I'm leaving... I'm honestly so sad. But I'm excited for my new sector as well. Tomé is on the opposite side of Chile, the coastal side. So I won't be very far from the beach! Hurray! And my companion is way cool and fun, his name is Elder Smoot. So I am really excited about that. I'm gonna miss Chillan and Los Volcanes a lot, though.

There was a really cool miracle this week, though. One investigator, Maurice, went to church this alst weekend. He's atheist, but we've been helping them out with some projects at their house, and we've gotten pretty close, so he accepted the invitation to go to church with us! Oh ya! It was truly a tender mercy from the Lord to see him in church before I left. 

Also, I'm finally gonna send some pictures today! For real! :) haha. My memory card had some little viruses on it so that's why it hasn't been working for a while, but now it's all better, so be ready for pictures galore. 

I invite you all to read 2 scriptures and ponder on why Jesus Christ, our Savior, was the only one that could bring to pass the atonement. 3 Nephi 11:11 and Moses 4:2

They teach us here in the mission and before as well, that obedience to the commandments allows the Spirit to work more in our lives, therefore recieving more guidance and benefiting by more spiritual power. So the more obedient we are, or the more time we have being obedient, or trying to do so, the greater influence the Spirit can have on our lives, and in the longer run, the more we will become like Jesus Christ. I have definitely witnessed that in my life, even though I wouldn't have put it in those terms, and I have been able to see it a LOT during my mission and in my own life. They say that the more obedient (or the more clean) we are the thinner the veil gets between us and the Lord, I believe that it's true.

I love you all and I hope you have a fabulous week! I'll get to tell you all about my new area next week, so be ready for story time! :) Please pray for me and the people in my new area, so we can find each other and be edified and grow together, and that Elder Smoot and I wil be able to find the people that God has prepared to recieve our message.

Elder Robinson

P.S. here's a picture of collected salt on a tock in Cobquecura

and a rainy sunny day we had last week!

 

 

Week 8!

Yep... this is the beginning of week 8. Normally transfers are 6 weeks, but not this time. 8 weeks. But it honestly has flown by. But next week will be transfers, so we'll find out my destiny next week. :) haha. There's not a lot of time this week, so I'll keep it short.

I'm doing really well, it's officially fall here, it rained again this week, and it's supposed to rain a lot this week. Good thing waterproof clothes work and exist. 

I love the idea of mutual improvement. The idea of improving mutually, where both parties benefit. As it states in Doctrine and Covenants, "enseñarse el uno al otro la doctrina del reino" I think that among all of us we would be a lot happier if we looked for more opportunities to learn from others and serve them as well. In the ward where I'm at, the poison of gossip and pride is dividing the ward, and it's sad. I've honestly never seen anything close to it, and it's a ward FULL of potential and great leaders. But they are really divided and try to cut each other down with gossip and it's really too bad. I hope I can be humble enough to recognize it if that poison starts to take over me. We all think sometimes that it will never happen to us, but it can happen to anyone. That's why humility is so important, I think. As Alma wrote, joy comes from humbly seeking happiness.

I love you guys all a lot and hope you have an incredible week!

Elder Robinson

P.S. Sorry for the short email, I'll do better next week :)