Transfer 10 Week 6

Dear Everyone,

    It is crazy to think that the transfer has drawn to a close. I have learned so many things this transfer and my testimony is stronger than it has ever been. I have a greater appreciation for the Gospel and for that opportunity I have to aid the spread of that Gospel through service. This week I performed my usual duties wherein I serve at the Meals on Wheels foundation and at the Thrift Store. However, on Saturday it was a bit different since I went in a few hours early and ran a book sale outside until 5pm. It was the first time I had ever run a book sale and especially one that lasted about 8 hours. It was pretty interesting though because a wide variety of people were interested and I was able to speak to a few of them. In the earlier hours people came by with scanner hardware on their PDAs to try to see if there were any books of use for their online stores. Apparently after paying ~$500 for the scanner and some undisclosed price for the service you can make it back in the first week. So, these book hunters go from store to store and I had never seen them until today. Well, now I know. One of the ladies at the thrift store taught me how to make a different style of rice and after two tries it turned out exactly as she wanted it to be. You take a clove of garlic and mince it. Add some oil to the bottom of a pot and fry the garlic. Then add 1.5 cups of water per cup of rice you intend to make. Bring the water to a boil and then add about 1/3-1/2 tbs of salt or until the water is a little too salty (not like sea water though.) Once you have the water boiling add the amount of rice you want. Before adding the rice rinse it in a coriander for about a minute to get most of the starch off. Leave the pot off and leave the water at boiling until the rice and the water are at the same level. When the rice and water are at the same level put the lid on and turn the heat down and simmer it for 17 minutes. After 17 minutes the rice is ready to be served.

    On Wednesday I attended District Meeting and we discussed "Revelation Through the Book of Mormon." We especially focused on presenting the Book of Mormon in lessons and how we could improve. Well, after much discussion we broke out into role-plays and I was able to role-play as if I were presenting it to the guy I had met at the Thrift Store. The Spirit was very strong and I look very forward to implementing it in real life. Well, that Sunday he came to church and we had a marvelous experience listening to the Primary children bear their testimonies of Christ and of His Gospel and church. It was a very inspirational presentation and he enjoyed it a lot. We were able to take a walk around the Temple and discuss a few things after he had met with his friend who attends that ward and also after being introduced to the sister missionaries. We had dinner later that night and I was blessed to be able to share my testimony of the Book of Mormon and share principles and doctrines of the Restoration. He handled the book with great care and was awestruck that he had never heard of more scripture. I invited him to read and as James directs: "ask of God." He readily agreed and after a prayer I departed. That night was an important step for me in helping me realize, in greater measure, the blessing it is to have the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I was in tears on the way home just thinking of how much I have to be thankful for because of the testimony that I have of the Book of Mormon, modern day revelation, Prophets and Apostles and of Christ's divinity. The simple truths are so very powerful, yet so easily understood by the humble and pure in heart. I had the opportunity to read the entire Book of Mormon this transfer and those truths were cemented more firmly within my heart. "No evil man could write such a book and no good man would write it, unless he were directed by God to do so..."

    Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God, he translated the Book of Mormon by the power of God. The Book of Mormon is a record of God's dealings with His children, testifies of Jesus Christ and contains the fullness of the Gospel. I know that sincere seekers of truth can come closer to Jesus Christ and to Heavenly Father as they read, ponder upon, pray about and live the precepts taught therein. I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is Christ's church on the Earth again and that we have a Prophet on the earth today, even Thomas S. Monson. I am very grateful for my testimony of these truths and leave them with you in the name of Him who makes all possible, even Jesus Christ, Amen.

With love,

Elder Roberts

Transfer 10 Week 5

Dear Everyone,

    This week has gone by rather quickly. I volunteered at the Thrift Store and met a new volunteer and was grateful for the opportunity of sharing our mutual convictions of Christian living. I went out with the Spanish Elders from Cary and Garner throughout the week. We have a few progressing investigators, but there is so much opposition. Yet that opposition is just a testimony of the truthfulness of the work. I was blessed to be able to attend the Temple a lot this week. I worked my usual night on Tuesday and was able to join the Elders on Wednesday morning. There is a peace, a joy and a love that can be felt there that is not as powerful anywhere else. Once you have been there, you feel an inner force pushing you above the base influences of the world. Yet, we all have the ability to choose to follow that inner strength or to submit to the darker courses laid out by the adversary. I know that with me it has been a constant battle to overcome and to continue to overcome the influences of the world. So it is with all who endeavor to follow in the footsteps of the Savior.

    I got a letter this week! I do so very much enjoy receiving mail. I know that it is a little different since I am still at home for my mission, but that does not change the fact that missionaries love receiving letters. :)

    I made a cake for a missionary this week since it was his birthday, but the frosting turned out too thin. I put it in my car so I could deliver it and when I went up the exit it slid and the icing dripped out into my seat. :( When I arrived we were able to clean it up though. Thankfully the cake still tasted fine. Next time I will whip the dry ingredients before I add the milk.

    I am grateful to be engaged in the work of the Lord with such valiant men and women. I am grateful for the strong testimonies that have been borne in my presence and the opportunities I have had to participate in the preaching of Christ's Gospel. I know that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior and the Son of God. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the Book of Mormon was translated by the power of God for the convincing of Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ. I know that Thomas S Monson is the Lord's mouthpiece on the earth today and that through him Heavenly Father makes His will known unto His children. Of these things I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

WIth Love,
Elder Roberts

Transfer 10 Week 4

Dear Everyone,

    This week has been a very interesting one. The missionaries and I had a great lesson on Monday night where one of our older investigators agreed to work towards a baptismal date. I remember meeting him back when we were meeting with a friend of his and how I was only a few months into my mission. Now with five months left, he is on his way. :D I had the blessing of working in the Temple Tuesday night and had some wonderful experiences and one very interesting one. I was at the recommend desk and two elderly ladies were getting some help from the Temple President. Once they were finished they started to talk to me. Once they discovered I was a missionary they tried to persuade me to move near them and their granddaughters after my mission. XD  Is there anywhere safe for a missionary? On Wednesday I had the opportunity to visit the Temple again and then head to District Meeting. After District Meeting I accompanied the other Elders to Hibachi Express and then to a few lessons. We had a lesson with Alfredo who up till now was okay with coming to church, but not willing to progress or accept a baptismal invitation. However, there seemed to be a change of heart and we were very grateful for the presence of the Spirit and the sweet boldness of Elder Olaya. We had a lesson with Carla after that and were able to watch a clip from General Conference. We watched President Monson's address concerning the resurrection of Christ and the hope that it gives us of live after death. We were able to answer some questions that she had concerning the Bible and resolve some concerns. She is so ready though. We had dinner at the Santiago's and then had a very interesting lesson with a man named Jose. He is searching for the truth, but his heart was not open to it. We left that lesson pretty saddened, yet we remembered that we fought a battle in the preexistence so that our investigators could have the chance to say no. On Thursday I spent most of my day serving a member of the Spanish Branch and Friday was a pretty hectic day. I went to the Temple and had two wonderful sessions. Then I headed over to the Santiago's and helped Brother Santiago out for a few hours. Afterward I went with the missionaries and we had a lesson with Silu. After that I tried to see a Sister in the ward, but she was not home. I found out later that she was in the Hospital and will try to see her in the next few days. Saturday and Sunday were dedicated to General Conference and gladly so. I had a wonderful experience listening to and taking notes during General Conference and look forward to listening to it throughout the year.

    I am so grateful to be a missionary and to have this chance to devote all my time to serving God and His children. I know that this is His Church, that we have a Prophet on the Earth today, even Thomas S Monson, whom I had the pleasure of sustaining Saturday afternoon.  I know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God and that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. I know that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the promised savior of the Old Testament. I know that He lives. I bear my witness of these things, in the name of Him who makes all possible, even Jesus Christ, Amen.

With Love,

Elder Roberts

Transfer 10 Week 3

Dear Everyone,

    This week I was able to do a variety of service. In addition to my usual service at Meals on Wheels and the Healing Place Thrift Store I also went with the Full-time missionaries, a ward missionary and went to the Temple. I have started having study sessions with the Spanish Elders on Tuesday and Thursday mornings so that we can work on role plays and I can improve my Spanish. Those have gone pretty well so far and I look forward to them tomorrow morning. We have a few progressing investigators and I am really excited for them. They have been coming to church, even though it has been hard catching up with them. When we are able to teach it is definitely a blessing for all of us. We had a really good lesson last night with one of our investigators and we were reviewing the first discussion. It was really nice to see them come to a better understanding of why prophets are so essential. I was glad to be able to help in a small way, even if I do not speak the language as well. It just makes it all the better when the Spirit takes over and I am suddenly able to speak fluently. I have noticed that I think too much when I am trying to teach. I sometimes mentally prepare against so many things that when none of that happens I freeze and wonder what to say. It doesn't help when I don't always understand what exactly is going on, but thankfully I am not able to "bash" because of that. That being said, it is better to do what you can to prepare and then just listen with love and reply by the power of the Spirit. Without that Spirit it is impossible to teach the restored Gospel. You can share information, but you cannot teach.

    I felt more useful at the Thrift Store this week now that I am used to how things go. I almost feel like an assistant manager, or the manager's voice for the back. In the back we sort clothes and other purchasable items and prepare them for pricing and organize them in various parts until they can go out. Only two people have pricing authority, a few have clothes sorting authority and even less have toy bagging authority. Most of the people who come in to volunteer end up straightening up the room in the back, which is constantly needed due to donation traffic. Those who come in on a more regular basis decide the places for the sorted items to be placed prior to them going out and accept other such orders from the manager of the store. All in all it has been a neat learning experience.

    I know that I am engaged in the work of the Lord. I am so grateful for the blessings I have experience as a missionary and the opportunities I have had to extend the blessings of the Gospel to others. I am extremely blessed to be a member of Christ's church and to have living apostles and prophets on the earth today. I am grateful for the blessing of being able to listen to their counsel. I am grateful for the opportunity to listen and watch General Conference this weekend and hear them speak. I know that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the World and that He leads and guides this church. I have a testimony of the Gift of the Holy Ghost and of the Gifts of the Spirit. I know that the Gospel can heal families and individuals and bring them closer to their Savior. I know that God is our Loving Heavenly Father and that through faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end we can return to live with Him again. I know that the plan of salvation truly is the plan of happiness, showing us who we are, why we are here and where we can go as we hearken to the precepts and doctrines taught in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that Christ lives. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God to His covenant people is these the latter days. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that through him the Book of Mormon was translated, by the power of God, to stand as a testimony that the Gospel has been restored. I have read, I have prayed and I know by the power of the Holy Ghost that has been. I invite all to come unto Christ and partake of the blessings He has prepared for us. In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love,

Elder Roberts

Transfer 10 Week 2

Dear Everyone,

    This week I volunteered at the Healing Place Thrift Store and also at Meals on Wheels. On Tuesday night I worked at the Temple and was able to go as a patron on Wednesday morning. I usually go to District Meeting afterward, but when I went there was no one there. I waited for quite some time and then found out they were all at a training meeting. Well, I went out with the missionaries several nights this week and we had some great lessons. We had an especially good lesson last night with one of the families in the branch. The Spirit was very strong there and we were able to teach by that Spirit and help bring someone closer to Christ. It was that lesson, more than any other in my mission, that highlighted the importance of eternal families and the role the Gospel of Jesus Christ has in forming and sustaining such families. I know that as they continue to learn and grow in the Gospel, their lives will be after the manner of happiness.

    Wednesday night I was able to go with one of the Ward missionaries and have a spiritual discussion with one of the sisters in the Ward. It went really well, though I think we were the ones being taught. I hope to make visits with the Ward missionaries on a weekly basis to different families, but am still in the early stages of implementing it.

    Well, all in all this week went pretty well, but was over too quickly. I know that this is the work of the Lord. The Spirit testifies of it. I know that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of all mankind that will humble themselves, come before Him with broken hearts and contrite spirits and accept Him as the Way, the Truth and the Light. I know of the great Plan of Salvation prepared by our Heavenly Father from the beginning for the happiness of each and every one of His children that would choose to follow it. I know that this plan can and does bring lasting happiness, yea, even eternal happiness. I know that I am a child of God and that I do have great worth in His and in my Savior's eyes. I know of the great darkness of the universal apostasy and the glorious light of the restoration. I know that we have a Prophet on the earth today, even Thomas S. Monson, who, under the hand of the Messiah, leads this church. I have a testimony of modern day revelation as manifested in the Book of Mormon and other the other standard works, along with the day to day revelation that comes through the Holy Ghost. Of these things I bear my witness, in the names of Him whose church this is, even Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love,

Elder Roberts     

Transfer 10 Week 1

Dear Everyone,

       This week has been a pretty interesting week. I spent quite a lot of time with the Elders and went from place to place eating and teaching with them. On Tuesday I spent most of the day driving back and forth from Cary to Raleigh to Cary to Raleigh to Cary to Garner to Apex. I had a wonderful time at transfer meeting because I was able to see so many of the missionaries that I have come to love. Sadly, Elder Larsen's mission had come to an end and he was departing with a few other missionaries I knew. Thankfully, I was able to bid him farewell. We lost two missionaries in the transfer, but their replacements are wonderful missionaries. One of them has been out one week and the other is on his last transfer, so we have both ends of the spectrum. We have some new investigators and have been having quite a time getting in touch with them. We also have some not so new investigators where we are having the same difficulties. Well, the work shall go on. We were able to have a really good lesson with one of our contacts from this past week and the lesson went really well. The Cary Spanish Elders did really well in cultivating a spirit of reverence and peace during the lesson and inviting the family to act. I was grateful to be able to share my testimony and add my witness that those things spoken by the Elders were true. As far as service outside the full time teaching Elders goes, I went and volunteered at Meals on Wheels and also at the Thrift Store. I was down a day at both of them due to transfers, so it was good to return on Thursday and Wednesday respectively. I spent Tuesday night after transfers at the Temple, I look forward to going more days this week.

    I have a goal of reading the entire Book of Mormon this 6 week transfer and am currently reading 12 pages a day to complete it. I know that as I do I will draw closer to the Savior and invite the daily revelation that I need as I read, study, ponder and pray about the will of the Father. I love being a missionary. I love the time that I have to reach out and serve others in the work of the Lord. I know that this church is true, that it is Christ's church restored once again upon the earth. I know that Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten Son of the Father in the flesh. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that we have a prophet on the earth today, even Thomas S. Monson. The Gift of the Holy Ghost is real and baptism truly is essential to salvation. There is only one way and Christ is that way, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

With love,

Elder Roberts

Transfer 9 Week 6

Hello Everyone!

I can hardly believe that not only another week has past by, but as of now I am also at my one year mark. So much has happened in the past year to change me in so many ways. I have a deeper love of the Gospel and the doctrines and principles therein. I have a stronger testimony that I did before. I have a brighter view of what direction my life should go. Yet, I am more aware of the many faults and weaknesses that I have. It has been an incredibly humbling experience to try to consecrate my all to the Lord and to make inviting His children home my primary focus. I can definitely say that I have a long way to go with that, but I am so very grateful for the tender mercies that I have experienced each and every single day as I have tried to put off my wants and tried to be like Christ in living for others instead of self. There was a really good talk I was listening to a few weeks ago and I may have made mention of it before. The title is "Being a Christian Perfectly" by David C. Perry. A point in the talk has been bouncing around in my head the past weeks, and for a good while in my heart. It is that to be perfect is to be whole. It means that no part is working against the other parts in a goal or purpose. If your purpose is to be like Christ, then if there is any part of your life that is preventing it, you are counseled to cut it off and cast it away. I was reading Alma chapter 24 where the Anti-Nephi-Lehis are burying their weapons of war and the reason they are burying their weapons of war is because they have been guilty of murders. They have a problem with, I would call it, bloodlust. So, they bury their weapons of war. Not that the weapons themselves are evil, but because they are a source of temptation inasmuch as they are working against the whole in being righteous. This meaning of perfection has really illuminated my mind. It touched me that at so great a cost they buried their weapons of war and kept their oath even as they were being slaughtered. All because they recognized the great mercy of the Lord in forgiving them of their great sins and they wanted to be clean and whole. I find that I struggle a lot with trying to keep myself whole. I feel pulled in so many directions in this life, voices from every direction are calling, loud, soft, sweet, harsh. Each beckoning in their own way while leading the ear and tugging at the heartstrings of emotion. There truly are so many directions to go in this life, but we are taught in Nephi to hold to the iron rod. Which rod is the word of God through His Son Jesus Christ and His Holy Prophets leading and guiding the children of God to the tree of life or Christ, which fruit is His Atonement. Christ is also known as the Word or the Word of God. So, the iron rod, or Christ leads to Christ whose fruit is the Atonement. So, we hold onto Christ and His teachings, His light and His example and He will lead us to partake of the fruit of His Atonement. Just some interesting things I studied this week. 

This week I was able to go on splits with the Spanish Elders a couple of times and also once with the Zone Leaders. I continued to serve at the Healing Place Thrift Store and at the Meals on Wheels foundation. My favorite part of the week though, was being able to serve and work in the Temple. That is the place to truly lay aside the things and voices of the world and tune in the the voice of the Spirit. I am so thankful that there are hallowed places on this Earth where we can feel a little closer to Heaven and things celestial. I know that the Temple truly is a House of God. 

I know that Jesus is the Christ, I know that He is the Son of God and that He lives. I know that He is everything, the Alpha and the Omega,  the beginning and the end, He is the creator, enabler and exemplar. I know that God is our Heavenly Father who loves us and cares for us. I know that He has a Prophet on the earth today, even Thomas S. Monson. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. I know that Christ's church was restored through that Prophet and that the Priesthood is once again on the earth. I am humbled and grateful to be a bearer of that holy Priesthood and know that it is a blessing and is only a calling to reach out and serve and bless as if we were Christ's hands on earth. Of these things I testify in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

- Elder Roberts