Thursday, November 27, 2008

Really Felt Like a Rebirth

We have been without a car this whole week. On foot. The Zone Leaders who work in Springs give all 4 of us a ride to the area and then we have to walk while the other elders at least have the bikes to get around. It a lot of fun.. not. The mission president was just happy we were safe. He really didnt say much about it.

I'm pretty sure they celebrate Christmas the same way we do. That's the next holiday coming up. Next Monday we are getting together with a bunch of missionaries next Monday and having a big Thanksgiving feast. We will be able to call home for Christmas. I'm excited for that. I am not sure how its going to work but I'll let you know as soon as we get the details figured out.

I have been in Tsakane a while. In fact today is my 4 month in Africa. Then December 14th will be my 4 month in Tsakane. Time is just flying by. Usually they keep you in your greeny area about 6 months. If not it will be 4.5 months. Then after that it really depends on a lot of things but an average time in an area is about 4.5 months if not 3 months. I love this are though. It's true that my companion is pretty quiet but he's way cool and a great teacher. I got really lucky to get him as my follow-up trainer. Really lucky actually....because there are a lot of stuck up missionaries. More than you know.

So this week was pretty frustrating but ended good. As you know our car got wrecked. So the bikes we normally share with the other elders had no way of being transported out of their area that day. Basically that has put Elder Burnett and I on foot for the past week. Not fun. I know that plenty of elders have to walk around the world so I really have no right to complain. It's just hard to plan especially when you don't know how long it takes to walk here or there. Plus when we want to check on someone we have to make sure they are close to us or our next appointment. It makes it pretty frustrating. We had zone conference this week in which we learned to use more effective ways of finding people. We're trying this walk-about thing which you take a member around their neighborhood and ask about the different neighbors they know. Then you try to make a plan and get them to do the missionary work. The missionaries then come in at the end to teach the doctrine. So we'll see how that goes. It was perfect because on Sunday we watched a conference talk on DVD in the combined lesson. The talk was the one by Elder Bednar where he says "missionaries are full time teachers while members are full time finders". That was perfect. Plus on Sunday we had a baptism which always spurs missionary work.

So the baptism went great. We ended up having 5 ladies baptized on Sunday. I got to baptize for the first time and I baptized 3 of the 5. It was way sweet. It was a little unnerving especially since the 3 were fairly big girls. But all went well and it all worked out. It was again very stressfull but it all went ok. The testimony of one in particular, Zola, really struck me. We've taught her a lot (ever since I've been here) and she's really come to feel something strong... she just doesn't say it. But on Sunday she bore it out where she said that the baptism really felt like a rebirth. Yes.... yes. I was so happy. Then we ended the day with some sweet lessons. The week really ended well.

I'm doing well. Healthy and safe! Thanks for your support and prayers! I love
you!

Love, your elder robinson

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Boom!

So something crazy happened this week. First of all, know that I am safe and no one got hurt.

We were having two baptismal interviews this Saturday, one at 11am and one at 12pm. I was also planning on making navajo tacos at a member's house on sunday. Since we have the car on Saturday but not Sunday, I was going to drop the food off at a little tuck shop that is owned by another member, then take the food to the member's house where we were going to cook later. Anyways, so as we drove into our area (the zone leader and I) I began to slow down. Now remember that we drive on the left side of the road here, and the tuck shop was on the right side. so i went to cross the road (there is no intersection here by the way). As I looked at the man standing in front of the tuck shop I looked for maybe a hello or something. Instead I got a horrible look and then BOOM!! A car hit me from the right side (my side) knocking me back to the left side. The car that hit me then bounced off to the right. His left tire hit a rock launching the car into the air. The car landed going back to the left just as he tried correcting to the right, he hit a speed bump(a big one) and finally stopped about 100ft down the road from me. I stepped out of the car in fear of the air bags exploding on me. I walked over to the tuck shop dazed, not sure what just happened. Sister Johanna (the one working at the tuck shop) came running out screaming "are you ok?!!" I looked around to see people coming out of their houses and kids coming to see what happened from the park. I began to realize that I was the only white person here and got very scared. Whatever happens, in a township it is always the white man's fault. As we began to sort things out another member sent her husband to go get the police (they don't come if you call). They came and told us we'd need to file a report at the police station. Our car was messed up. Basically it was only drivable for short distances. The driver door doesn't close and the right front tire is scraping something. Anyways to make a longer story short, the kid driving didn't have a license and it was his dad's car not to mention he was speeding (which was ridiculous in itself since there was that speed bump right in front of us and he lived just around the corner). So the father was on our side and so was the police. We filed the report and gave the car to the mission to take care of. I think they will be able to take care of all the legal stuff with the other party.

The Damage:


The "good side" of the car with the tuck shop in the background.

Now it was sad that we missed our appointment's that day but I know that we were and are blessed to be safe. If I would have been through the turn just a little bit more I would have been creamed. Instead we just bounced off him. So we were lucky in that. Plus we were able to walk around that same day and we finished one of the baptismal interviews. The other one we had to postpone. So it was quite an experience. I'm glad I am safe and I know it's because of the prayers of my friends and family. So thanks!!

Here are some other recent pictures...

Preparation-Day activity:


Saying goodbye to my first companion, Elder Brown:


The best missionaries in South Africa:

Well besides that we have to figure out all our transporting problems this week. We might get a replacement car but we're not sure. So I guess we'll just see. This is gonna make our baptisms next week very hard. Hopefully we'll get a car soon.

Love, elder robinson

Friday, November 14, 2008

Keeping Busy

By the way... that little girl was not on a bike. She literally just ran into my car with her own two feet. And believe me, I wasn't going fast. You can't in townships, there are speed bumps every 100 yards.

My new companion's name is Elder Burnett from Yackama, Washington. He's a quiet guy but is way cool and we get along great. I'm very glad that I like him because I was already afraid of taking over my area. I mean we have 14 people on baptismal date, 13of which we are trying to get them on for November 23- in two weeks! On top of that we have to keep up on less-active and recent convert work all while trying to expand our teaching pool mostly by tracting. So needless to say, I'm keeping busy. This next week we'll start interviewing some so we'll be able to put some people on the 23rd for sure.

The work is going great. Lots to do and lots of investigators basically asking to be taught. It's amazing. I mean look at the plan of salvation. What is it that gets us to prepare to meet God? Covenants. As we make and keep covenants we become more like God. So if you can get people to start that process by asking them to read the Book of Mormon, to come to church, but most importantly to pray and ask God about these things then they will begin to feel that power that brings conversion... the spirit. Just remember that a committment extended without a follow-up on how it went is empty and worthless.

Thanks for all the encouragement and support. I'm lucky to have such awesome parents and family. Well I'm healthy and safe and I miss and love you guys.

Love, your elder robinson

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Going Strong

My companion who is leaving to Betheleham this Wednesday. He is standing in front of the school we meet in for church. Real classy!

Hey!
As far as the elections go, everyone keeps asking about it. Asking who we want to win and stuff. EVERYONE here is in love with Obama... it's ridiculous. When it comes to logistics, like politics and how they do things, i can't stand these people. But luckily we don't have to deal with that kinda stuff too much as missionaries. We are just able to make friendships based on the gospel. It's sweet.

So this week is going to be transfers. I'm losing my trainer and I'm going to have to take over my area. We'll see how that goes. I'm a little nervous about that but I think I'll do fine. My area is growing. They are looking to build a chapel in my area. Well, they are just trying to get the area office to come and look for a site. So it will be a long time till we get one. Probably next year. We'll see. As I told you, we meet in a dumpy school. It's a big hassel to get things set up and its very dirty. Not nice to get investigators to come too.

I am getting enough food and sleep. We are fed very well by the members. I think I told you but we're fed Sunday lunch and then dinner Monday thru Friday. It's very nice.

Alex Leng is doing great on his mission. He just keeps gaining speed and is having a blast. I'm so glad he made it where he is. The mission is changing him incredibly for the good.

There hasn't been much new this week. Except... something kinda crazy happened. So I was driving into my area when I heard something hit the back of the car. You have to remember that in townships you are in more danger of a pedestrian running into you than you running into them. They don't look where they're going. So i looked in my rear-view mirror and saw a little girl laying in the road. I started freaking out and turned around. She got up and ran to the side. When we got there she seemed fine but there was a huge group around who seemed determined to blame something on these Americans. They were making all these claims like the mirror hit her when clearly there was nothing wrong with the mirror. Anyways, we gave them our number and left. It was kind of scary but nothing came of it.....the little girl was fine.

So that's all that's new. Next week I'll tell you how everything with my new companion is going.

Love, elder robinson