Transfer 1 Week 5

Dear all,

    This week has been insane! I transferred from Rocky Mount to Raleigh on Tuesday and attended a mission tour by Elder Maynes! He's one of the General Seventy's and his talk/lecture was pretty intense. I learned a lot and gained more of an eternal perspective. My companion for Raleigh was Elder Allen. He's a way awesome guy and we got a lot of tracting done. For the first day we spent a lot of time at the mission tour and then getting everything set up before heading to some appointments. The second day I memorized most of the First Vision in Spanish. Sadly, I was transferred the very next morning to Henderson.

    Henderson has been interesting. I've been dealing with a lot so it has been tough to focus and be cheerful. My companion: Elder Regnier, has been a great support though. We have some great people here and a possible baptism in October :D

    I'm looking forward to General Conference this next weekend. A chance to hear from the Prophet: Thomas S. Monson and the other leaders of the church. I am going to learn so much! It has been a very humbling week and I've had to come to terms with a lot of my weaknesses. I know that the Lord will provide a way for me to overcome them though. It's what life is all about: preparing ourselves to meet God. That means doing our best to overcome whatever trials come our way and coming out stronger because of them, it means setting our sights on Eternity and not getting hung up in the things of the world. I've been hit with that pretty hard my entire mission and especially this week.

   

    I thank everyone for your prayers and letters and emails. :) I need each and every one of them. For those of you sending letters, send them to the Cary, NC address. Thanks!

With love,

Elder Roberts

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAYLA!

Transfer 1 Week 4

Hello All,

    First I want to stress just how much I am going to miss this area. I love the members, the investigators, the recent converts and I love my companion. I am definitely visiting whenever I can. Until then though I'm transfering to Raleigh, NC (Spanish speaking).

    This week was bike week so I had the opportunity to bike all over town. I came back to our home very sore, but my sleeping hasn't improved much. That's okay though, I've had the energy I've needed to accomplish the work. We had dinner at Ron's (recent investigator) house, but Lorenzo (recent convert neighbor) invited other people without Ron knowing. This led to an interesting situation where we couldn't follow up with Ron except to leave a message on how Christ knows us individually. I know Elder Anderson will catch up with him this next week. Charlie, Tiffany's dad, is showing progress though. He's started taking the lessons and we watched "The Restoration." He got mad at the one preacher in the movie who was pushing Joseph Smith to come to his church. He also came to church and the last talk seemed completely focused on him. He lost his wife back in February and the talk was on how you don't know what you have till it's gone and how the speaker didn't appreciate his family enough. In Gospel Principles we talked about sacrifice and that hit him pretty hard too.

    We ate at the Clarks and Bro. Clark will be getting baptized at some point. He basically said that he's still preparing to become a member and when he's ready, he'll let us know. :) I met the Wilkins family two days ago and they became my favorite family in the area quite quickly. Brother Wilkins and I are so much alike and think alike and have surprised each other with that. :D I am definitely going to keep in touch and visit them post mission. Their daughter is getting married in December to a hopefully by then member: Alec L. We set a baptismal date for October 11th and we'll see what happens there.

    Matthew will be happy to know that we went to see a chiropractor this week. I didn't think my neck and back could pop so much. :D Bro. Treanor, the second counselor to the bishop, is a chiropractor in the area. He went with us to see Sister Lawrence (Laurence?) who used to be Sister Walker. We had quite a time in that visit because she wasn't reading the pamphlets... Brother Treanor and Elder Anderson saw right through her lie and kept pressing her. We ended up finding out that she was lacking in a testimony of the pre earth life and her purpose. We reaffirmed her commitments and ended on a good note though.. I'm usually the quiet one, which to people who know me is quite funny, but I was quite bold and clearly stated some doctrine and she snapped at me.. It was alright though, we got down to the problem and we are at a point where she needs to pray and press forward.

    I've felt the adversary this week, weighing me down and trying to distract me. It hit it's peak last night after giving a blessing to Sis. Dickens but after a long prayer and some hymns I was fine :)

    We helped the Bentons paint some rooms this week and they are moving out really soon. I will miss them even though I only met them twice..

       I love this work, I love the gospel, I love that I have a opportunity to meet and serve my fellow brethren and sisters. I hope that you are all well and if not I hope you find wellness in the near future. Thanks for the letters/packages :D you have sent, they've been a source of strength.

       

       I know this church is true and I love it!

With love,

  

Elder Roberts

Transfer 1 Week 3

Dear All,

    Oh wow... This week has flown by! I've had so many wonderful experiences in this area. We have found at least one new investigator each day. I have had to restain myself from just teaching everything at once on a couple of occasions. :) One of our best lessons was with the neighbor of a recent convert, Lorenzo.. Lorenzo kept calling Elder Anderson with issues and such and finally Elder Anderson told him to go find someone we could teach... He called a little bit later and told us to come over at 4pm. We ended up teaching a really good lesson to his neighbor, Ron, and he invited us to dinner to teach the second lesson today! :D

    I love Sundays! We had Ward Conference and Bishop Compton and Stake President Judd gave really good talks on being an example of a believer. I was feeling a bit homesick in choir, I really missed having other tenors singing alongside me. I've been really working on focusing on my mission though and living in the here and now, but it has been a challenge since I am used to thinking into the future and such. I've also been working on being a better companion and losing myself in the work. I have found a greater love for those I serve, but am still struggling with being a better companion. I'm not going to give up though, I know Elder Anderson and I can learn a lot from each other if we are patient with one another.

   

    This week I have been adjusting to missionary life and to teaching the gospel. I didn't go through the MTC (missionary training center) so I have had to brush up on teaching techniques and such with the help of Elder Anderson. He's a good teacher and I am learning a lot from his example and by studying the Preach My Gospel manual. I've memorized the main points of the first 3 discussions and the First Vision. I've also been working on recognizing and following the Spirit.

    I love bearing my testimony! We were at a couple's house, the Clarks, and were teaching the Word of Wisdom. Bro. Clark got hung up on the commandment not to drink tea or coffee, but after we all bore testimony of the truthfulness of the church all was well. Preach My Gospel teaches that most disputations on commandments, if not all, tie back to whether or not Joseph Smith was a Prophet speaking in behalf of God. Once they read, pray and get a testimony that the Book of Mormon is true then that proves that Jesus is the Christ, Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God and that the commandments given were of God and should be followed. Bishop Compton, a convert, gave a great example of this when he told the story of how the missionaries kept trying to scientifically tell him why he shouldn't drink tea. He kept rationalizing it away until one missionary told him "I can't tell you why you shouldn't drink tea save the Lord has commanded that we not." This pierced him and he hasn't had any since.

Overall, this has been a marvelous week, we have a nice pool of new investigators, and a few people with plausible baptismal dates. I know that this area has so much potential and I look forward to finding it! I love this gospel, I know it changes lives and that as long as we harken unto the words of our Prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and strive to keep our will in line with the will of our Father in Heaven, we will find joy and peace in our daily lives.

With love,

Elder Roberts

Transfer 1 Week 2

Hello All,

Being an Elder has been quite an experience so far. I got set apart on Sunday night and immediately headed out to Rocky Mount where I met Elder Anderson, Elder Wilson and Elder Nelson and settled in quite nicely. On Preparation day we got up and went about the morning schedule: wake up, exercise, personal and companion study, breakfast ect.. We went to Office Depot to make copies and Wendy's for a nice lunch. Elder Anderson and Elder Wilson went golfing and Elder Nelson and I went to the bookstore where we waited, out of the rain, for Elder Anderson and Wilson to finish. After that we went back home and played Frisbee in the rain. After P-day ended, Elder Anderson and I visited some recent converts: Lorenzo and Judy and then we stopped by and met up with Quantay who had been having a hard time. After these visits we stopped by to visit Tiffany who had just been baptised the previous Saturday. We then headed back to the house to have a planning session and turn in for the night.

Today we had to email because the libraries were closed yesterday. Elder Anderson and I went around delivering media to those who had ordered it. We are so grateful to have the car this week because there are 50 orders to fulfill... We delivered a bible to Julius B. and had a really good discussion on the restoration. He seems to be taking it in pretty well and should see him in a couple of weeks. We then stopped by and dropped off a "Faith in Christ" movie and talked for a bit with Lisa. We then met with Sharay and had an absolutely wonderful teaching experience. She has been searching for the right church for so long and she's finally found it. She's a really good person and sincerely wants to know her Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. She felt good when we told the restoration story, especially when we came to the First Vision. She agreed to come to church on Sunday and we are going to bring a member over on Saturday so she has someone to go with. Finally, we went to the Holleman's to drop off a bible. We hope to meet with them again soon.

Overall, it has been a good few days. I know I have so much to learn in the ways to teaching and getting used to things. I am thankful for this opportunity to serve and for the support of my church leaders, friends and family. I love you guys! I love this church. I know that this, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is the restored church and the true and living church. I pray that all of you are well and that all of you are having a good week.

With Love,

Elder Andrew J Roberts

P.S. You can email me, but I can't answer. Those who want to write me, email me your mailing address @ tenchi30401@gmail.com

Ello again, I just found out this morning that I will be immediately placed with a companion after I am set apart. His name is Elder Anderson and he's from  Rexburg, Idaho. That's all I know for now. So, for those of you who write me, my address will be different for 2 weeks starting Sunday night. If you need the address just email me or call.  I'm so excited to have a companion so soon! I thought I would have to wait till November. Oh, I'm also getting my number changed on Saturday, so call me before then if you need to bid me farewell.

Until later,

Elder Roberts