Transfer 7 Week 2

Dear Everyone,

This past week has been pretty wonderful. My best friend received her call to Eugene, Oregon and I couldn't be happier for her. She will be an amazing missionary. We had Zone Conference this last week and we switched it up abit. Instead of having it in the chapel we had it in the gym and the tables were set up in a conference position. We were able to see everyone, but the acoustics were lacking. Needless to say, much that was said was not heard by all. However, I heard the things that I needed to hear and was much edified therefrom. I volunteered at Meals on Wheels, Helping Hands and the library while working with the missionaries and helping them get where they needed to be. We had another baptism just yesterday! I am so happy for her. She has worked hard to get where she is and she will go far with the Gospel of Jesus Christ in her life.

Well, I have been studying about repentance, obedience and sacrifice this week and have gained many insights from the scriptures and from the mouth of one of Christ's latter day apostles. When Christ appeared to the Nephites in 34 A.D. the first words that came out of His mouth, when He had the attention of everyone as far as the eye could see, were testimony of His divine mission, the fulfillment of prophesy and taking upon Himself the sins of the world by partaking of the bitter cup. In all these things He declares "I suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning." That is a powerful declaration of what it means to be a disciple of Christ, what it means to truly say Thy will be done and mean it. It is the calling of a saint, meaning the calling to be a member of His church, His fold. It means that you are willing to sacrifice riches, dreams, ambitions, offices, prestige and the honor and praise of the men of the world and all these things because of your faith in and love for God. " It means you kneel when you might not want to kneel, you bow when you might not want to bow, confess when you might not to confess, even if it is a confession born of experience that God's thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are His ways our ways." We give all we have, all we are and all that we hope to be the God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. We tear down our idols and are determined to have no other Gods before Him, "especially if that would be God is [ourselves.]" We go and do what the Lord has commanded, for we know He will provide a way for us to accomplish those things and in doing these things we strive to be as Christ and "suffer the will in all things."

I know that God is Our loving Heavenly Father and that His will is that His children return to live with Him again. He desires our eternal happiness and welfare. I know that Jesus Christ is His only begotten Son and that He truly did the Father's will in all things that we might be able to return to Him. I know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God and that through him the Gospel of Jesus Christ was restored with all the authority that was necessary. I know that Thomas S. Monson is God's Prophet on the earth today. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

With Love,

Elder Roberts

Transfer 7 Week 1

Hello everyone,

    Well, another week has gone by quite nicely. I returned to volunteering at Meals on Wheels and at the library and helped the Spanish Elders by driving them around. I spend the first half of the week using a mini van to get around. It worked out fine though and I got my car back a few days later. We've been teaching one of our "recent" convert's family and it has gone pretty well. We watched "The Restoration," and they were able to finally understand what we meant by a restoration. I find that that movie clears up a lot of questions concerning the basic principles and doctrines concerning the need and also the events of the restoration, even if certain aspects of the restoration were left out. Well, that went quite well and we had a few really other good lessons during the week. I am looking for other volunteering opportunities, so if you have any, even if it is a garden to be weeded, I 'd love to know.

    Well, I learned a lot this week and my Spanish has improved. I read a chapter out of the Book of Mormon in Spanish and I am working on recognizing common words and the pronunciation of the larger words. I was teaching our Japanese foreign exchange student a few of the basics of Spanish and I noticed just how much oral word goes into it. He noted that a good number of the sounds correspond with some Japanese sounds. I wonder if Jeff noticed that during his mission? Well, on my Meals on Wheels route there was an elderly lady who had her husband pass away. I was glad to be able to go over and deliver her meal and have a prayer before I went. I am very grateful for how much strength both prayer and the knowledge of the gospel give. I have used both quite frequently these past months to over come many a trial.

    We had a marvelous sacrament meeting on Sunday. It was themed around Mother's day of course and the primary children got up and sang a few numbers. There were three speakers, but the second speaker really got to me. I don't remember specific words or anything in particular, but there was a confirmation of the sacred calling that motherhood and womanhood are. Thank goodness for mothers, none of us would be here without them.

    Therefore, let us all be more appreciative and show greater love towards our mothers, whatever type they may be; by type I mean friends who mother us, mothers who mother other mother's children, foster mothers, adoptive mothers, or just women and young women who exercise inherent mothering traits.

    I love this calling. I love the opportunity to serve and to reach out to those I may not have met otherwise. I love the opportunity to learn and grow ever so much. I love this church and the opportunity I have to serve within it. I know that this church is the true and living church of Jesus Christ. I know that Thomas S Monson is His Prophet and that Joseph Smith was a Prophet. I know the Book of Mormon to be the word of God along with the Holy Bible; both are testaments to the divinity of the Son of God, even Jesus Christ. I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that "by Him and through Him and of Him the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants are begotten sons and daughters unto God." In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

With Love,

Elder Roberts

Transfer 6 Week 6

Dear Everyone,

    It feels so good to be home, literally; about two Saturdays ago I started having sharp back pain. I took ibuprofen and that did not really help, so I just decided to bear it for awhile. I got worse on Sunday and then was pretty fine throughout the week. It flared up the following Saturday and I ended up seeing a doctor from one of the other wards. He told me to take ibuprofen and call him the next day. No change. So, I ended up getting checked again and calling another doctor over the phone. I was told to get an x-ray, so I went to the hospital and ended up waiting six hours there and ended up leaving and coming back home so I could see my usual doctor. Within 30 minutes I had a diagnosis without an x-ray and medicine to make it go away. As of today I feel no pain in my back :D. Though, I am still a bit stuffy. To pass the time these past few recovering days I listened to many talks by Elder Jeffrey R Holland and attended the Temple and a Family History Conference. All were edifying and I began to feel a lot better emotionally too. Just coming home felt like giant weights were being lifted off my shoulders.

     Missionary work is not easy, it never has been and never will be, but it is worth every effort, pain and failure just to have one success, one heart turned toward God and everlasting salvation. Our mission president put it really well with the phrase "If they are not baptized, they are damned." I think more than a few of the missionaries were struck by that, even if we don't envisioned damned as being stuck in fire and brimstone, we know that they cannot enter into a fullness of joy if they deny the saving ordinances in this life when they had the chance.  That's why we are here, that's why we keep knocking, keep pestering members for referrals, busting our butts on bikes and wear out coats and shoes. We are here to give them that chance to accept  an invitation to drink from living waters and partake of the bread of life. We are here "to invite others to come unto Christ  by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end." This is my purpose as a missionary, service or otherwise, to bring others unto Christ. For He is the Way, the Truth and the Light of this world. For there is no other name given under heaven whereby men can be saved. No other way.

    I know that Jesus is the literal Son of God. I know that He lives. I know that God is our Literal Father in Heaven and that He loves us with perfect parental love. I know that they appeared to a young boy, Joseph Smith, in the year 1820 and that through him the church was restored in 1830. I know the Book of Mormon to be the word of God and a companion to the Bible to testify of the divinity of Christ. I know that this Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the only true and living church on the Earth today. I know that Thomas S. Monson is God's Prophet and that the twelve apostles and first presidency are the foundation spoken of in Ephesians 2: 19-20 with Jesus Christ as the unbreakable chief cornerstone. These things I know. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

With Love,

Elder Roberts

Transfer 6 Week 5

Hello Everyone,

    I hope your weeks have gone well. I know mine has :D. This has been by far the strangest week in my mission. On Monday night we got a call from the member who has been suffering from Leukemia and he asked us for a ride and a place to stay. We tried our best to find someone and later found out that he was supposed to stay there. He collapsed at about 1am and was rushed into the ICU for two days. I saw him later on that week and he was doing a lot better. Well, Elder Salazar and three other Elders, including me, went to the Garcia's on Tuesday to eat and I had my first taste of squirrel. It was quite tasty actually. We went to Zone Conference on Wednesday and we ended up having an activity where we broke into teams and we played 5 different games. I ended up being team captain for the Moronites, or as my team members affectionately called me "Captain Moroni." So, true to our namesake, if all teams had been like unto the Moronites they would have won every game, which we did. After Zone Conference I went to Raleigh on an exchange with Elder Stewart. We talked to one young woman and asked if she had received an answer about the Book of Mormon. She said she had, but the answer was kindof mixed. She said the answer was yes, but that she was told not to do anything about it. My companion helped her understand that part of the answer was from God and the other from that great imitator we call Satan.

    The next morning I thought about the statement "If it does not rise with you, you shouldn't be doing it." I thought about my hobbies such as video game playing, photography, writing and whatnot, and thought about which ones would be the most edifying and helpful to work on in terms of my eternal disposition towards happiness or misery and I decided to focus on those that were the most uplifting. I returned to Durham that day and went on an exchange with Elder Childs the next day. We ran into Howie again and I was able to talk to him in more depth about how he was doing. Elder Childs and I taught some great lessons and then went to eat with the other Elders with the Rodrieguez family. On Saturday we did service at the Durham Central Park and I got a call from the mission president asking me if I could stay. I found out that my companion is getting transferred and I am taking over the area for a few weeks... Well, I take comfort that who the Lord calls He qualifies. I know that this is the Lord's work. I know that I am a member of His restored church. I know that we have a Prophet on the Earth today and that Christ knows and loves each and every one of us. He knows our pains and our afflictions. Let Him heal you. In His sacred name, even Jesus Christ, Amen.

With Love,

Elder Roberts

Transfer 6 Week 4

Dear Everyone,

    I cannot believe that I am now in week five of the six week transfer! Time really does fly when you are serving the Lord. This past week has been pack with tender mercies and miracles. Since we lost our baptismal candidate and were able to find four new ones XD. The Lord truly does provide. The first two were referrals from a recent convert family and when we arrived the wife told us she had dreamed about us and was waiting for us to show up! The other two we found by following the Spirit. We had three really good lessons and were able to have one come to church. He said he felt the presence of the Spirit the entire time and cannot wait for us to teach him more. Sacrament meeting is such a spiritually beautiful meeting, full of the spirit of revelation and of forgiveness and love. I love to see the joy the fullness of the Gospel brings to my fellowmen.

    I have been pondering on the Doctrines of the lessons these past few weeks and I studied Faith in Jesus Christ and repentance. I thought about my weaknesses I have and how much of a gift they are from God. Without my weaknesses pride would creep in and extinguish the light I do have. I am grateful for the ability to repent when my weaknesses put me contrary to the will of God, for I know that He would only have for me to be the happiest I could. I know this because I know of His love for all of His children. That is why I am here. God has blessed me with a finite portion of His endless love for His children and that love leads me to gather them so they can feel a fullness of that love. I know that God lives and that He has the same power today that He had in ancient times. I know that we need Him now more than ever and that He is the same then, today and forever. I know that He speaks through His prophets as He always has. He leads them to record His word and directions for His children as Holy Scripture as He has in times past. He is a God of miracles and He is a God of love as He has been and as He always will be. These things I know. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

With Love,

Elder Roberts

Transfer 6 Week 3

Dear Everyone,
 Another week has gone by and I am now 20 years old.. On Saturday I made cake and monkey bread and we had ice cream and Little Ceasar's pizza. It was quite an experience. During the past week my companion and I have found many new potential investigators, but lost our baptismal date. That is alright though, we would not want to baptize her unless she was really ready. We want to find, teach and baptize the elect, those who are seeking the truth and greater light. I think we found one last night though. He had been to several churches and he had talked to several teachers and preachers, but none of them could convince him. Well, we informed him that our job was not to convince, but to teach and testify and let the Spirit bear witness of the truthfulness of our words. We let him know that he needs to read the Book of Mormon and search it out for himself in prayer. That reminds me of another man we were teaching. His faith in prayer brought me to the verge of tears. I told him to pray and that he would receive and answer. I know both of them and anyone who puts Moroni's promise to the test will receive a witness of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.

    I know because I have received this witness for myself and many other witnesses concerning the truthfulness of this work and that God is not a respecter of persons. If He gave it to m, He will give it to any of His children. I know that God lives, I know that Jesus Christ is His Son. I know that Christ lives and guides this church today through a modern day prophet and through modern day scriptures and revelation. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve and hope to continue to make a small difference where I can.

With Love,

Elder Roberts
 

Transfer 6 Week 2

Dear Everyone,

    First off I want to give a shout out to my comrade Greg and hope that all is well and look forward to seeing him again. Secondly, I want to send out my love and support to Sister Barney. :) Truly sweet is the peace the gospel brings...

    How about that General Conference?! I do not know what I would do or who I would be without it. The talks ranging from parenthood to purity to having faith and hope in the atonement and the resurrection of Christ our Lord. I was especially touched by Jeffrey R Holland's talk and also by Julie B Beck reminding us of the sanctity and beauty of womanhood and just how grateful we should be for the women in our lives. I know that I would not be here today without the help of a couple of choice daughters. My mother for one, who without I would not exist, and two my loving aunt who raised me as her own. Not to leave out the many other choice daughters who have joined in being there when needed. A heart-filled thank you to all of you. Some of you know who you are, and others may never know. Keep being virtuous, modest, neat and clean daughters of God. Your influence will be felt throughout the eternities.

    I was also shown more fully the privilege I have to be able to hold the Priesthood. It is such a blessing to have the power of God on the Earth and such a capacity for service. To be an extension of God's power and love on the Earth is such an honor. May we all live up to this great responsibility.

    As for Durham, all is well. We are working with our investigator towards her baptismal date and as a companionship it has been smooth sailing. I have been blessed wit a righteous companion and am grateful for that added strength in the work. Reflecting during conference I penned my deep gratitude for my mission and the changes that have taken place thus far. "So much has happened so far. Weaknesses [have been] tempered, relationships sown, lives lifted and homes pieced together by my being an extension of His Holy love. How I was ever given this wonderful chance I know not, but I will do my best to uphold the trust the Savior of the Wold has in me..." It is a privilege to serve. I have gained a stronger testimony of the work and of this church. I know that Christ lives and that He lives to guide, comfort and bring all of His Father's children home. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

With Love,

Elder Roberts