Dear Everyone,
This week has been quite an interesting one. On Monday we had Family Home Evening with the Serapio family and we acted out scenes from the scriptures. I was Moses from when he was able to lead the children of Israel through the Red Sea on dry ground. I love that example of revelation because many times the Lord will require us to do something that has never been done or to go a way that has never been achieved before. Sometimes we get hung up with the fact that there is a large body of water in our path, but we must remember that the power of the Lord is over all of His creations. Elder Brown was able to act out the scene of Samuel the Lamanite and how none of the arrows could hit him. It showed how the Lord will protect His servants that go forth by His word, with His authority and power. This is also a good example of how sometimes the Lord will use converts to call the members to repentance.
On Tuesday I volunteered at Meals on Wheels and delivered on the Taupe route, which I had not done in a little while. We had a new man added to the route and it was interesting to meet him and to find my way to his apartment. The rest of my route was unchanged and pretty uneventful until I came down to the last door. This lady answered and noticed my missionary tag. She looked at my tag and looked at me and stated that "she loved Jesus too." I am grateful to know that there are people out there that have a great admiration and love of the Lord. She then asked if I had a girlfriend. I answered that question quickly and then headed back to the Meals on Wheels foundation. XD Well, I went to the Thrift Store and sorted toys which, by the way, I have way too much fun doing. I then heard the song "Eye of the Tiger" playing and it reminded me of an inside joke I have with one of the Assistants to the President since I served in his district in Durham. That will not really mean anything to you, but I wanted to make a note of it. Later that night I was able to serve at the Temple and Sister Jones made this wonderful pumpkin cheesecake, which I will have the recipe for tomorrow. After my shift at the Temple she let me have the rest of it and I was able to share it with the Elders on Wednesday.
On Wednesday I was able to join the Elders for District Meeting where we discussed the Doctrine of Christ. We broke into groups and studied different principles within the Doctrine of Christ including faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands and enduring to the end. After sharing our thoughts and impressions that we received during our study, we solidified our understanding by lining up in the Gym. We held hands and stretched out as far as we could. The Elder at the end had hold of a box of candy labeled "Eternal Life." We then were told at different times that the person we represented stopped doing certain things e.g. repenting, having faith, being worthy of the Holy Ghost, keeping the commandments, etc. We then let go and saw the gap that was created when we miss out on a principle. After District Meeting I made rice for a few Elders and no, there is not supposed to be a tablespoon of salt. I should have put a teaspoon of salt on the recipe last week.
On Thursday I studied over at the Spanish Missionaries apartment and then went to Meals on Wheels. At the Thrift Store, later that day, I learned how to make flan and will try to make it this week. I will tell you how that worked out in my next post. That night Elder Duran and I helped a family move into the branch.
Friday I went with the Holly Spring Elders since the senior companion left and there were going to be two Elders who had both only been out a month. So, I joined them and we were able to meet some families in the ward and offer our assistance for future reference. One of the families wanted us to help clear out some trees in the back, but with the restrictions on tools I do not think we could do that effectively. I then went to the Thrift Store and cleaned out a lot of the back room. Though, by the end of the day, it was full again. I was thankful that the Elders were able to come by and help me, even though they only came since they needed a ride home. :D That's okay though, beggars can not be choosers. For study that morning I studied the Book of Mormon and its role in conversion, testimony, answering questions and objections and the constructing of a saint. It truly is the keystone of our religion and a Liahona for happy living. I thought about the act of murmuring a lot and remembered the words of Elder Holland on a couple of occasions. On one occasion he expressed his belief that "no sorrow or trouble is so bad that whining about it won't make it worse." On another occasion he stated that he believed that Nephi's being tied up for three days was nothing compared to the torture of having to listen to his brothers' constant murmuring. He further elaborated by saying: "he must have said, at least once, hit me again, I can still hear you." I felt a bit of that hearing people complain of their woes and sorrows and the work they had to do. I feel there is too much good in the world to see it so darkly. Even if the world is becoming worse, it is not our job to wallow in the muck of it all, but instead we should clean ourselves up and shine with the brightness of hope the Gospel brings into our lives.
Saturday I woke up and when I was about to begin my study my folks gathered us together to inform us that our cat had passed away. Even now it is weird to not see him loafing around the house or leading visitors to the food bowl. He lived a long and full life though and awaits that glorious resurrection that is a gift to all. I went to the Thrift Store after a meeting and continued to clean out the back room. At night I went with Elder Brown to visit one of our investigator and I was able to share a quote from President Benson about putting God first in our lives. It truly is the path to peace and happiness. We then joined the other Elders and had dinner at the Infantes.
Sunday was Fast Sunday and it was a delight to hear the testimonies of the ward members. I really enjoyed hearing testimonies of conversion and forgiveness. I know that as we forgive with charitable hearts we allow the Atonement to heal us and change us into who Christ would have us become. I then went to the Gospel Principles class where we studied and discussed the importance of prayer. I really enjoyed hearing Sister Guerra's suggestion to take 30 seconds when you wake up to take everything in before you kneel down to pray. I did try that this morning, but I think I will wait until I am up a little bit so my meditation doesn't send me into dreamland. After class I was talking with Greg and told him about the conversion of Earth time to Kolobian time and I was telling him how I had figured out how to convert it how to hours and minutes and seconds. However, when I was about to show him, it all flew from my mind. It wasn't until after I left that I figured out I had the equation backwards. For example, if one thousand earth years is one day of rotation. Then one K day is equal to 365,000 earth days. So 1/365000 = what percentage of a K Day an earth day is. This equates to one earth day equaling about 0.24 k seconds. So the average persons spends 0.07 kdays on earth or 1.68 K hours.
That night I went with the Spanish Elders and taught David and then visited two families before heading home. All in all it has been a really good week.
I know that Jesus is the Son of God, the Savior of the World. I know that He will gather Israel in again and that the seed of Abraham will come forth from among the Gentiles to be united as the covenant people. I know that God is our loving Heavenly Father and that He knows our needs and desires. I have a testimony of prayer as a way to learn the will of the Father and to bring our will in correspondence with His. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, that it contains the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that it is evidence that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God. I know that Christ's church is on the earth again in its fullness with the priesthood and ordinances necessary for salvation. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is that church. I know we have a Prophet on the Earth today, even Thomas S. Monson. Of these things I testify, in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
With Love,
Elder Roberts
