Timber! 4/29/19

This week was pretty crazy, not gonna lie. On Tuesday I was in Amarillo for District Council and I caught the flu that's been going around here. 

Thanks to my strong stomach, I was able to work for another 2 days while I was sick. We called the mission office and she told me to stay inside, so for the next couple of days it was pretty boring. 

After that, we traveled to a town an hour away called Nazareth. In this town, there's a population of 311 people, and you can't live there unless you're a catholic.

We do service for this guy named Vince, and last time we were there we started talking about religion. His wife has made it very clear not to talk about religion, but he brought it up, so I guess we found a loophole! 

Anyway, he had us take down this huge tree in his backyard. It was super cool and I was the one to eventually bring it down, so yeah, I'm pretty cool.

After we brought it down, we had a really good conversation and invited him to come to church on Sunday. He didn't show up, but it was a blessing to talk about the gospel with him. 

I hope y'all have a good week.

Love, Elder Robins

Baptisms! 4/22/19

Hello everybody!

This week has been pretty awesome if I do say so myself! We were able to have a baptism for Angelie, Isaiah, and Jeremiah Zepeda on Saturday! So far it has been the greatest day of the mission! They were so excited and so prepared to get baptized and they were nonstop smiling the whole time! When I first showed up, the Zepeda family was inactive and the mom, Joanna, was in jail. As we've been teaching the kids, It's been really cool to see the rest of the family progress as well! After the parents had that incident, where my companion and I were marriage counselors for a little bit, their family has become reactivated and has been extremely willing to help us with referrals for missionary work! They showed up to church yesterday wearing these little button-up shirts and ties and vests! Even the dad Moses was wearing a white shirt! They were confirmed yesterday in sacrament. It's been a real blessing being able to be a part of this family's progression!

Yesterday was Easter and it was super awesome! We were able to give talks in church! Also, we went to 3 different family's houses for dinner and I felt super fat. Maybe I might actually gain some weight! Who knows....

I know that my Savior lives! I'm grateful to be here right now, doing what I'm supposed to be doing! I hope y'all had a good Easter weekend!

I love you guys and have a good week!

Holiness to the Lord 4/15/19

Alright! This week was pretty incredible! Elder Morrison and I were able to give 6 priesthood blessings this week. Last preparation day we met and talked with a lady named Stephanie, whose husband beat her every time she had contact with the church. She came up to us last week and asked us to give her and her kids a blessing! We found out that she left that scumbag and we were able to give the blessings and have a good lesson with her.

Angelie, Isaiah, and Jeremiah's baptisms are on Saturday! I'm super excited for them! This week we came across a difficult situation. The parents have both been baptized, and the father (I won't go into detail) is in no situation to be able to baptize his children. He didn't know that. We were praying to find out how we would tell him that. If the outcome went bad, his children might not be getting baptized. But lucky for us, he was okay with it and everything is going according to plan!

We went to the temple a couple of days ago with the Branch President and his wife! The temple is about 2 hours away, but it is so nice to be able to have one in my mission! I love being in the House of the Lord, and the blessings that come from the work.

Do you remember when I said that a guy locked his keys in his house and I went through the small window to get it? Well guess what! It happened again! He wouldn't answer our calls or texts for a few weeks, and out of nowhere he calls us to help him in the same way that we met! It turns out that he got a new job and his hours were different. We got back on schedule to teaching him again, and things are going well.

I love y'all and hope you have a good week!

-Elder Robins

my amazing photography skills

 Emery is my new best friend

 expensive coke

 the temple

A Very Colorful Week 4/8/19

This week was super cool! We got to go to an animal sanctuary on Wednesday in Amarillo to do service, and I got to pet a white tiger! Elder Morrison and I were riding our bikes and were called out by someone. We were able to give him a Book of Mormon and a picture of the Salt Lake Temple which he requested. Too bad I only had one of the Nauvoo Temple.. How embarrassing!

The wind here has been tearing the town and nearby towns. We've been able to help multiple people by rebuilding fences, removing fallen trees, and rebuilding fences. We have been able to find potential people to teach through that.

General Conference was amazing! Did you catch when President Nelson said "Time is running out"? Kind of crazy! 

We were invited to a birthday party yesterday for one of the Zepeda kids. Little did we know that it was going to be a water balloon party! All these crazy kids started throwing water balloons at us! And guess what? After they ran out of water balloons, they started throwing soda cans, and spraying us with it! My companion and I got DRENCHED in big red soda and Baja blast. At first I was kind of mad that my white shirt and G's and pants and shoes and tie were ruined, but it just fueled my rage to put those punk kids in their place. So you better believe I didn't hold back at getting even! I guess I should feel bad about making these 11 year old's cry, but what's done is done.

At the birthday party however, I was able to talk to the mom and dad about getting their kids back on date for baptism. The date I set is the 20th of April. I then told the 3 kids and they were beyond excited! We were also able to talk to their aunt and now we have an appointment with her. Many kids asked us about our church and were excited for their friends and cousins to get baptized! What a blessing!

I love you all and have a good week!

Elder Robins 

Photographs 4/1/19

Okay! So, this week was pretty good! We did a lot of service. There is this weed called the wild mustard weed that is EVERYWHERE. We were asked to pull all of these weeds from this lady's backyard, and to be honest, I didn't see a backyard when I got there. Just green and yellow. Also, we found a letter taped to the door of the church saying that we need to cut all of the weeds on the church grounds, signed "The Neighborhood". Kind of weird but kind of funny.

Today I officially got to start driving! Hence the receiving the keys thing. Texas road laws are a lot different than Utah's but that's okay! 

We got an investigator to come to church! His name is Moses and all he needs to get baptized is just to stop drinking, smoking pot, and work on keeping the law of chastity! So pretty close!

The Zepeda's stayed for both hours of church yesterday again! We have General Conference next week and Branch Conference the week after, so we're setting their baptismal date for the Saturday after that! I'm super excited! The oldest 3 are getting baptized, Angelie, Jeremiah, and Isaiah!

I'm very excited for General Conference! Hopefully a member will invite us to watch it with them, because otherwise, we probably can't watch it, so fingers crossed!

I love you all and have a good week!

-Elder Robins

Hail Reigneth Down Upon Me 3/25/19

Alright! So this week was pretty crazy! The first couple of days were great, we went down to Amarillo to go on exchanges with the District Leaders. When we came back, my companion and I got a text from a member saying that there was a storm warning and that, if it got too bad, we could stay in their basement. We were doing our studies at the church, and as we were leaving, it started to hail. At first they were tiny and I thought, "Wow, that's pathetic". Haha I was definitely wrong!

After a few minutes, golf ball sized hail were coming at us from all directions! We got home just in time, but we were trapped between our carport and the apartment.

It was kind of cool how the hail shredded up the trees and the land. 

Unfortunately I wasn't able to see a Tornado, but it hit about an hour away from us.

The only thing the Zepeda kids needed to do in order to be baptized was go to both hours of church. Yesterday they accomplished that! They wanted to go home, but we promised to stay with them and went to primary with them. Don't tell Elder Morrison, but I had the best coloring in the class and the best voice at singing time!

The Zepeda Parents have been baptized, but have kind of fallen away. As their kids progress, It's cool to see them progress as well and become closer as a family. It's a blessing that the kids actually sit down in the lessons, because the first few times they were bouncing off the walls! The kids told me that they really enjoyed church and are going to go to both hours every week!

I love you all and keep doing good! There is always someone who needs help, don't be afraid to stretch out your arm!

-Elder Robins

The Windy(er) City 3/18/19

Alright! So this week was absolutely crazy!

In the Panhandle, the wind can get kind of crazy, but ended up clocking in at 85 mph on Wednesday! There were trees falling over, roofs falling apart and I saw one get completely ripped off. A power line got pulled from the ground at hit the line and the whole south side of the city was without power for a few days. I have never seen anything like it, but my companion and I have gone around helping wherever they need help this week.

We went on exchanges with our District Leaders on Tuesday and Wednesday. While we were exchanging back in Amarillo, we got a call from a member saying that her husband was going to kill her. She said she was in a closet crying. We were about an hour away from their house, so we went as fast as we could. When we eventually showed up, we knocked like 3 times. We called multiple times, but no answer. So we left. As we were driving away I kept on getting the prompting to turn around and knock again. As we got farther and farther away, the silent prompting turned into a scream and began pounding in my head. I told my companion and we went back. When we knocked they answered. Followed by them screaming at each other with tears in their eyes and insults flying. My companion and I became somewhat of marriage counselors, and were there for about 3 hours trying to rekindle the love that they have for each other. Long story short it turned out to be a success and they came to church on Sunday. I know that the Lord was in that room and in that conversation, with the spirit of the Lord telling us what to say. If I ignored my prompting, the situation could've gone another way.

I love you all and remember to listen to your promptings and trust in our Heavenly Father always.

-Elder Robins