The Good News in South Africa

It's That Time Already!

2010-07-16T07:13:00.001-07:00

Elder Jacob Robinson will have completed his two-year mission in South Africa by the end of July. Any friends and family who would like to see Jacob are invited to his homecoming. He will be speaking in church on Sunday, August 15th at 9am at the Brookside chapel. If you need directions or have questions please call his family at 209-478-0153.

Woohoo!!

The Art of Perfection

2010-04-03T18:20:00.000-07:00

The work continues to be as busy as ever. I got the chance to be companions with two former companions this week. On Wednesday Elder Onsongo and I went on exchanges to my old area of g-west. It was sweet. I taught a lot of the same people and the best was that I got to interview Isaac Monare. He is a nephew to Lape, Bathusi's sister in-law. I also taught Isaac and even put him on baptism date just before I got transfered. so it was sweet to see him and to see the testimony and change within him. That night we also got to stop at Bathusi's place to see the family. We found Bathusi on the couch with a brace on his knee. He told us that on Sunday night he was going to see his wife in Ramotswa where she is schooling and working. On the way he ended up flipping the car and it was rolling. He ended up in a ditch. When he got out of the car he looked at the car and realized he shouldn't be alive. He then started praying. Later, as he came back to the car to get his phone and things, he found his phone, scripture bag and first aid kit sitting neatly away from the car as though someone had placed them there. If you heard the whole story it is easy to see some divine intervention. It strengthened his faith.

Well then on Friday and Saturday we had 5 baptismal interviews. So our district leader (Elder Bakker) came to Gabs to be companions with me. That was nostalgic. Anyways, the interviews went well. One of them who was supposed to be baptized into the Young Single Adult ward next week had to be moved to this week so that Isaac and her could be on the same day. So we had a baptism this Sunday. It was beautiful. Both Isaac and Esther (the one who's baptism was moved to yesterday) gave powerful testimonies. It was awesome. oh man I felt good there.

Other than that I'm still just trying to stay alive. Life is busy...but it's good. very good. :)

love, elder robinson

ps. i've perfected the art of microwave dumbollo and i can make a few different kinds already. it is good.

20 Feet

2010-02-09T17:08:00.000-08:00

First thing, myldsmail has upgraded a bit...all that means for you is that my new email is jacob.robinson@myldsmail.net. Although it's not so important because any mail sent to my old address will be sent to my new one.

In our flat we have one room that has a/c and that is the bedroom of the other missionaries(the zone leaders). There is a bit of a/c around here. A lot more than in SA.

My cooking skills have improved a lot! My current companion has taught me a lot about cooking and I figured out how to make dumbollo (that steam bread I was telling you about) in the microwave...and it's delicious.

The 3 things every new member needs is a friend, a calling, and nourishment by the good word of God.

My companion and I are doing great.

Bathusi's wife, Nene, is doing great. On Friday she hosted a mutual activity that we were putting on at her house for members and nonmembers. Elder Onsongo and I cooked for everyone again. This time we cooked mandazi (fat cakes), chipatti (like tortillas), and dumbollo and then a stew to go on top.

On Sunday Nene watched Bathusi baptize her little sister Lape. It was sweet. After the baptism we went to see the family and we watched a dvd called "Together Forever". It's a little cheesy but it gets the point across. After the movie we asked Nene how she felt and she felt like her whole family needs to be baptized and be members of the church, following the same gospel (she's the only one left now not baptized and was obviously talking about herself!) I asked when she wanted to be baptized and she said she'd let us know...

Too bad I won't be around to see it. Here's some more news, after 6 weeks in Gaborone West I'm getting transfered...about 20 feet. What I mean is that President wants me to be the Zone Leader now with Elder Hopkins. That means I'll still be in the same flat just a different bed. Basically, I'll just be upgrading everything. Bikes to a car (my first one all to myself!), no a/c to an a/c, a better fridge that actually closes, and district leader to zone leader. They are actually splitting the Botswana zone into two. I will be over the Botswana East zone. The sad part is that our area seems to just be picking up. I enjoy working with my companion as well. But I guess this is what the Lord needs from me now. So wish me luck and I'll keep you updated.

love, elder robinson

ps. today we hiked Kgale Hill in the morning and I got stung twice by the same wasp! He was trying to kill me! haha. no worrys though I'm ok.

Bathusi

2010-02-09T16:55:00.000-08:00

Last week we had a power outage right in the middle of the email session...so I didn't get to send you an email.

As for this week we had a few highlights. First of all, Tuesday was mission tour. Elder Watson of the area presidency addressed us. He was the secretary to the presidents of the church before he was called to the Seventy. If you remember you sent me an article in the church news about him at the beginning of my mission and then that Sunday he showed up to our branch in Tsakane. He's pretty sweet and taught us some great things about working with the ward better. I feel like there is a problem here. In Africa the branches grow and they get priesthood leadership but they are never really trained on how it's done. Then by the time we get to a ward we have a lot of people who like to exercise authority but not magnify much. Now, don't get me wrong, there are a lot of great leaders who work very hard. It's just frustrating sometimes. I'm sure that's how it is all over the world...but as you know, if the programs of the church just worked the way they were supposed too then everything would be ok. But the problem is that everyone needs to do their part. Hopefully things will continue to improve so that Botswana can have its own stake. Right now we are part of the Roodepoort stake. Check on google earth where Roodepoort is. That's where our mission office is, 5 hours away! There are plans right now to get this area independent. It wil be there soon.

The best part of the week was seeing Bathusi get baptized. He is an awesome father and has been ready for baptism. The previous elders were waiting for his wife to come along but now she is going to school far away and isn't quite ready. So we went ahead with Bathusi. He has a solid testimony and knows...really knows why he was baptized. He will be one of the future leaders here in Botswana.

So, that was my week at a glance. It is really hot here, although storms come through very often and cool us down...it's like a nice swim even though we're not allowed to swim.

I'm still healthy and safe :)

-love elder robinson

http://johannesburgmission.googlepages.com
by the way you can check out some of our mission pictures at this website... we have a big misison though and you may not be able to find me... just remember i'm in the botswana zone.

That Last Big Push

2010-02-09T16:46:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty dang tired. This week has been a pretty hectic one. My companion is Elder Onsongo and is from Kenya (i told you he was my greeny's mtc companion so he's only been out for 7 weeks now). We've been trying to get the area going but I feel like we're not getting it where it needs to be. We don't know too many members which makes it hard to work with them. Plus, the member bike is out of order so we've been struggling to use members. But hopefully this week will be better.

Our area is pretty much a town area. People are just a lot more well off here... they live a lifestyle more similar to home. Mostly just because there is more money to go around. So people have cars, they live in their own homes, and they even have money to CALL US! haha That's new to me because in SA everyone in the township sends the missionaries "please calls" which is just what it says it is.

Anyways, but other than that the work is the same. We're still trying our hardest and we still have pitfalls...On Sunday night we had a family that was supposed to be baptized on the 24th of January come out with some huge marriage problems...so we'll see. Right now we've got 4 on baptism date (all of which have been taught before I got here) but were all put on date since I've been here. So we're trying our best to find new investigators and help them progress towards baptism. I still haven't seen too much of Bots but I'm hoping to get to a sweet game park soon or something. There's just so much work to be done!

Anyways that's life. I'm trying to not coast the rest of my mission...because it's very tempting. Instead I've realized I've only got so much more time to do this great work. I've got to work harder. Give that last big push. So I'm trying... :) thanks for the love and support as always-

-love elder robinson

ps. did you ever get my christmas card i sent you?

Pushing Forward

2009-12-16T21:39:00.000-08:00

Being a trainer isn't too bad. Elder Halterman knows what's going on. I've been here in Mamelodi for a while now though and it's starting to get to me. I love Mamelodi but, man it is tiring, working so hard and having SO much disappointment...

But let's try to focus on the bright side. Lebo was baptized yesterday. His mom came and we had a very spiritual baptism with a lot of support from the branch. It was sweet. Ursula is supposed to be baptized next Sunday, but we'll see...she didn't come to church on Sunday.

I'm not sure when I'll be able to call home. We're still working out the details. I'll let you know when and everything next week. Just count on it being Christmas morning like last year because of the time difference.

Everything is going good with me. Just trying to keep pushing forward, trying to follow what's right.

much love,
elder robinson

On a Mountaintop

2009-12-07T22:13:00.000-08:00

As for this week I don't even know where to begin. It has just been busy, busy. We now have 20 people on baptismal date. I think one of the sweetest things that happened this week was putting Ursula back on baptismal date. Do you remember the girl that was supposed to be baptized back in October...then she got pregnant. Well, we've been working with her and on Thursday we went to see her. I talked with her about preparing for baptism. Then I asked her if she had been keeping the law of chastity...she said "yes i have!" with so much confidence. She was proud to be able to say that. It was so much different than she had been over a month ago. We then talked about a baptismal date and all of us were just so happy. She kept laughing and I couldn't stop smiling. I was so happy. She will be baptized on the 20th of December.

Another interesting thing that happened this week: So we went up to Stoffel Park on Saturday morning to have Lebo Seketa interviewed for baptism. Lebo is about 16 and lives next to a return missionary and his sweet member family. Stoffel Park is basically a village on the side of a mountain. So when we came up on Saturday morning Lebo's mom told us that Lebo had taken off into the mountain because he didn't want to help his family (they were putting cement in the house which we ended up helping them do later). So we decided to go look for him with Lebo's dad and brother. After about 40 minutes running through the mountains Lebo's brother caught him. We caught up to him and had the baptismal inteview right there in the bush. It was kinda scary because I just saw in my mind another baptism falling through...but he passed the interview and he's ready for Sunday next week.

I wish I could send you some pictures of our little escapade. I'm not sure when I'll be able to send pictures again. I'll try and see.

Hope all is well.

Love, elder robinson

Greeny Time!

2009-11-17T20:14:00.000-08:00

First of all we finally had another baptismal interview. Mmaptiso has passed and is going to be baptized next week for sure. Then there was supposed to be a family interviewed the next day but they had a funeral and weren't able to come to church. So they will be interviewed this week and baptized either this week or the next.
Then we got transfer news. Elder Bakker is leaving me and going to Botswana to open a brand new area. I'm very jealous of him. But it's what he wanted...so I'm glad he's happy. What I'm really jealous of is that Francistown is getting opened and I'm not the one to open it! Nnstead a guy I was with in the mtc is going there! I've been wanting to go there since the beginning of my mission! Francistown is in the northernmost part of Botswana and is the furtherest area from the office. But I guess it's the Lord's will.

As for me...yep, I'm getting a new missionary. A greeny. I'm not sure where he's from yet...we don't find out until transfers on Wednesday. So that should be interesting to train a new guy. Hopefully I can do a good job.

On Sunday Isaac Sereo came to church, but none of his family did(not even the young kids that come every week,they were gone). He loved it again. He said this was the first time he'd partaken of the sacrament and he felt something pulling him. He still wants to get baptized and follow the truth. He just needs to make the time and the effort...which he's trying to do. Please keep praying for him.

Well I'm sick of this keyboard now. Thanks for your love and prayers :)

elder robinson

Working, Working, Working

2009-11-17T20:08:00.000-08:00

ZCC stands for Zion Christian Church. The best part is that there are two separate ZCC church's by the same name. ONW has the symbol of the Dove and the other a star (which they are supposed to wear on their shirts everywhere). They were originally one church that split when the father died (who is their supposed prophet). It's pretty ridiculous.

We haven't been able to see Isaac this whole week because of a funeral he had to go to. His date might get pushed back, but keep praying for him.

This week we had a new record at church, 23 investigators. It was sweet. Two families that we have on baptism date all came to church. That was 6 people just right there. This week we're supposed to be interviewing the Toka's. They should be baptized on the 22nd of November. Please pray for Joshua Toka... he's got to be done smoking this week so he can be baptized. We are suppose to baptize the whole family (except for the oldest son), but I think its going to happen.

Something not so nice happened on Friday. We were preparing the Hamane family for their baptismal interview the next day and we ended up finding out that the mom who wants to be baptized is not married to the step-father that lives in the home...so were gonna have to keep working with them and get them married.

It's kind of hard...we're working and working and still our investigators just can't make it to baptism. But I know if we can just do missionary work right...something is going to click. I know the Toka's will make it to baptism. On their same date is a girl named Mmapitso. We're also teaching her family and we hope that they will come along as well.

I need your prayers.
thanks for your continued support.

love, elder robinson

ps yes mom i've been healthy. im still loving mission even though at times it gets frustrating. elder Bakker and i still get along but he's most likely going to be leaving me in a week! we'll find out by saturday whats up.

The Sereo's and Other Happenings

2009-09-30T06:40:00.001-07:00

Myself, Elder Bakker, Elder Boreham (from South Africa) and Elder Barnhurst (from Philmore, Ut) they work the west side of Mamelodi.

This week was pretty sweet. We put 3 fathers on baptism date. One of which basically said that he's going to do whatever it takes to be baptized and find the truth. Two of them we actually had our first appointment with this week! On the second appointment we put them on date! It was sweet.

We had zone conference this week. I learned a lot about the spirit that I thought I knew...but I really didn't. Our mission president is very smart. We went into some deep doctrine that has changed my whole perspective of missionary work.

The best thing this week had to do with Isaac's family, the Sereo's. We had planned to cook for them on Thursday and bring it to them in the evening. So we got everything ready and then headed over there at about 7pm. They hadn't arrived yet so we waited. In a few minutes Isaac and his wife, Asnath, drove up with all their grandkids in the car. I guess they had just decided to take the day off and spend the day with the family at the park (it was a public holiday anyways). That family works so hard. It was nice to be able to see them taking time off to spend as a family. Isaac and Asnath have had some serious problems in the past and she even told us that she had been asking God if she should get a divorce but she kept getting an answer to stay even though she was miserable. Since we've been working on teaching them about the gospel and how to strengthen their family they have had so much more happiness in the home. So now the next step has been to bring them the gospel and have them be baptized. We've been trying very, very hard. So on Thursday we only had a few minutes to share a short "our purpose" lesson. Then Asnath asked, "If I was baptized in my church do I still need to be baptized in yours if I come to it?". That was such a break-through question. Elder Bakker explained again about the Restoration and Priesthood Authority. She said that we'd be surprised one day...she'll be coming to church every Sunday. She just needs to get some things in order. So pretty soon we're going to try and get them on baptism date. We'll see how it goes! If you could pray for the Sereo's (ser-ay-oh). My whole heart is into that family.

So yeah, that's my week. Next Saturday is transfer news. We'll see if my companion is leaving. I'm really not sure what's going to happen. Whatever the Lord wants.

Oh and next week is General Conference!!!! Sweet. Don't forget to watch the World Report and look for the Pretoria Helping Hands segment! I was there...see if you can see me. I'd be wearing a yellow hat and my orange shirt that has the panda on it (See pictures of the day below). Check and see!

love, elder robinson

Some more pictures of life on the mission:

You know I keep talking about Isaac and his wife Asnath, this is Asnath. We were helping her peel potatoes. I love that family...it's The Sereo family. They are my main focus out of all the families we are teaching. Isaac will definitely be a bishop someday.

Some pictures from the Helping Hands Day we did a few weeks ago. We had the largest helping hands activity in Africa...right here in Pretoria. The World Report was there so look for us in between general conference sessions in a few weeks.

Pretoria streets and homes:

Baptisms, Hiking and Teaching, A Day's Work

2009-09-30T06:10:00.000-07:00

It was an awesome day in church this week. We had 17 investigators at church! That is my new record...previously in Tsakane we had 14! Even Isaac showed up with all his granddaughters.

Here are some pictures of the last month or so:

A picture of Flora's baptism. The little girl in white is a child of record that was being baptized the same day and they just had me baptize her since I was in the water...her father is not so active:

The family with her is her aunt and cousins (her immediate family was not there, unfortunately).

The baptism was awesome and everyone felt the spirit when Flora gave such a powerful testimony. It was awesome.

The child that I'm holding upside down is Siyabonga, and the girl in front is his older sister Thulisile. They are Flora's children and are completey insane.

The painting I bought. It's huge! But it's on canvaas that is easy to roll up. I may send it home...for now it brightens up my study room as you can see.

Elder Robinson and Elder Bakker teaching the Good News!

Elder Bakker studying:

Here are some pictures from the hike we did last Monday at Hartebees Port.

Love, elder robinson

Spring Day!

2009-09-08T16:32:00.000-07:00

rah rah rahrahrah rah rah rahrahrah gooooooooooooo COUGARS! haha 1 year and I'll be singing that again! SWEET!

This Summer will be hotter for sure since I'm in Pretoria. My suits are holding up pretty well...except for some buttons. I've only lost one shirt...and thats because I burned it haha. I had gotten a bunch of red paint splattered on it in my first few months in Tsakane. So I burned it when I turned a year.

I do still talk to Alex pretty much every week. It's awesome. He's an awesome missionary, but he never told me he was training! Well, I never told him I was district leader. DL basically just means you do baptismal interviews and take stats and watchover the district (which is 6 guys).

So something cool that happend this week. On Tuesday it was Spring Day (September 1st is the first day of summer). So the township basically becomes one big water fight. Elder Bakker and I were riding down this busy road and weren't thinking too much of the water fights...then we began to get closer to a round-about up ahead. I was in front and began to notice that it was wet. There were people gathered on the side with buckets and they were soaking everyone that came by! That was where we needed to go so I said what the heck, why not. I rode straight through. As soon as I got close I started hearing "makgua! Bicycle!" One guy came running from behind and another from the front...and I got drenched, from head to toe. I rode on through and then looked back to see if my companion was wet. They destoyed him too and actually knocked him off his bike. Instead of heling him they continued to throw the water on. It was hilarious. Then we went to our next appointment drenched. They tried to get us later but we were too quick for them.

But it doesn't end there. The next day we had the car and we wanted revenge. We drove past some other kids who were getting everyone wet and we decided to attack. So we went to a member's house, filled a bucket with water and went in. I was driving so my companion ran out, soaked one guy and then got four buckets in the face. It was awesome. There's nothing like Spring Day in the township.

Anyways, another sweet thing that happened was that Flora passed her interview this week! Sweet! So she'll be baptized on the 20th of September. Also, we had stake conference. It was sweet. But at the general session we had it in a big auditorium and the sound was terrible. hey would try to turn it up and the speakers would just begin to reverberate. So none of our investigators had any idea what was going on. But they still enjoyed the experience. It was a nice day.

Thanks again for the support and love. You're still in my prayers.

Love, elder robinson

DF Malan Street

2009-08-23T16:24:00.000-07:00

Man...the cabin. I hope you still have that when I get home. I want to go back there before I start school next fall! Wow next fall...time is flying.

So before I go on I must tell you about Helet. She is the lady that owns the post office we are emailing at right now. This lady is probably one of the kindest ladies I've ever met. She's not a member but she gives us so much. I mean we're emailing for free to begin with. Then she gives us food once in a while and I guess before I got here she gave the missionaries R400 in cash and she wouldnt let them decline! I just watched these three little black children walk in and sing songs for her that they'd been practicing and she gave them sweets. It was cute. So I was able to send you pictures this week because she is so kind to say that if we dont use her internet for free she'd be offended.

so yea got you some pictures finally. first of all there's a picture of our recent baptism of Nkele and Elizabeth. Right now we are teaching the man that's in the picture, Lucas.

He is Elizabeth's husband and their son is a recent convert as well. He wants to be baptized but is having trouble with drinking and really gaining a testimony.

My companion, Elder Bakker and I cleaning out the baptismal font:

The pump is broken so it drains to about a foot of water and then we have to scoop it out with buckets and then mop up the rest. This last weekend the other missionaries had a baptism and we had to clean it again. This time we got smart and used the vacuum. Don't worry it didn't break the vacuum but it went much faster.

The food from a braii (bbq) we had a few weeks ago:

Township pictures:

Then as I told you in my last letter, we went to an elephant sanctuary and played with elephants...yes, the elephant did kiss me. I also kissed him (face first) but my photographer missed the photo op. (i was sad) The place we went was right next to Hartebees Poort Dam where we also checked out the dam.

On the way back guess what I saw...yep, DF Malan street! Little did you know your family name is even in South Africa.

This week has been a little different for missionary work. My companion and I have realized that our branch is having trouble coping with more baptisms. So instead of just baptizing like a lot of missionaries we're trying to direct our efforts toward "tying up loose ends" as we call it. Basically in the branch we have a lot of part member families, part-member less-active families, and altogether less active families. So we're going to members house trying to teach their families and going to find out who is less-active and who we can help. So far it's been slow but we did find a really cool less-active family that has a lot of potential. When we first showed up they weren't too happy to see us. But by the end of our lesson they were inviting us back to see them again. We've had some fun experiences finding some interesting people as well. So over all missionary work is really just making me happy right now.

Thanks for your support and everything. Sorry I've been lax on emails and letters. I think were just working so hard I really don't have enough time. Love you lots though.

Love, your elder robinson

Elephants!

2009-08-23T16:01:00.000-07:00

So my South African mom just loves the missionaries. She feeds us all the time and we paint for her and its a win, win relationship haha.

Mamelodi is a branch but it's on the brink of becoming a ward. I haven't had any more baptisms. I may have told about Flora. Sis Esther's daughter, Beauty, referred us to Flora one day (she is Beauty's cousin). When we first taught her she was a little skeptical. But the whole time we just taught her what the spirit led us to teach and it was amazing. She was really touched. Beatuy couldn't believe us. The first Sunday Flora didn't come. Then during the week she called and rescheduled her appointment. Now we were starting to doubt. Then on Thursday we weren't sure if we should ride all the way to see her if she wasn't going to be there... but we said we would anyways...when we showed up she was waiting for us. We taught her the Restoration and put her on baptism date for September 13th. She was so happy and so were we. It really was an amazing expereince. Then on Sunday she showed up to church with 4 children! (not sure how many are hers). She took care of all of them (even her crazy litle boy who was crying to go home the whole time) and she still loved church. It was pretty sweet.

We also had mission tours this week with Elder Bricknell. He gave a great talk that really meant a lot to me. He's not actually in the 70 I found out. But he has been a mission president before in Poccatello, ID. It was sweet.

Today we went to an elephant sanctuary. It was nice. We played with elephants, brushed them, walked with them, and even got kissed by them.

I'm a little late now. Got to go. Thanks for the love and prayers as always.

Love, elder robinson

ps. I became a district leader when I came to Pretoria. I guess I just didn't think it to be a big deal. My companion is not a DL...I'm over my companion, the other two guys in the flat and our zone leaders. So there are 6 of us in the district and 3 areas.

More Teaching

2009-08-04T11:38:00.000-07:00

Making the famous Robinson Navajo

So as for Mamelodi (the area I am serving in). I'm pretty sure this area is going to be my favorite area. Sister Esther wanted me to tell you not to worry about me. She's taking care of me...She's my South African mother :) Yesterday in fact we had a lunch after church at someone's house and they stuffed us full. Then we were checking on this kid, Thabong, and they were having a braii (bbq). We didn't want to intrude but they wouldn't let us leave! So they gave us some meat. Then we went to Sister Esther's for dinner and she had a huge meal prepared! It was the best torture I've ever been through! But yeah, they're family are all members now (except for the father) but they definitely need some strengthening....big time. Especially Sister Esther who has been a member less than 3 months.

This week...It was pretty sweet as usual. My companion and I have a lot of ideas for our area and were working hard on putting them into action. My companion came here 6 weeks before me. So we're both pretty new to the area. And I think I know the area better than him now! almost... haha.

On Tuesday we were tracting and we ran into this guy named Joel. He seemed like a good guy and was interested. So we came back on Thursday and shared the Restoration. Then they went back on Saturday (I was on exchanges in Pretoria) and they put them on baptismal date! He showed up to church on Sunday and he's lookin good! So that was sweet.

When I went to Pretoria on Saturday I had my 2nd experience so far tracting in town...which is like the tracting that most missionaries think of..."i have my own church", "don't you have something better to do?", "im not interested"... but then we saw a sign on a house saying that they were selling puppies...So we asked to see the puppies. Then they invited us inside and we were in! We taught the Restoration and they were loving it. Then when we left they said "you guys are clever aren't you"... haha they knew exactly what we were up to. But he told us that he probably wouldn't have let us inside so it was a good thing we looked at the puppies. Who knows, maybe they'll get baptized!

Some bad news...Our chapel got broken into on Friday night. They came in through the back way which is not so secure and they broke into the safe and stole the computer. This is the second time this year. It's ridiculous because we have this huge impenetrable vault door but then all you have to do is go through the roof and over the door into the room! So yeah, that wasn't nice. But at least church went on well and our investigators came to church.

This coming week...tomorrow actually, we'll be having another mission tour. This time it's Elder Bricknell, a member of the Seventy. So we'll see how that goes.

Thanks again for the love and everything you send me. Especailly the prayers. I know that there are many more missionaries who do much greater work than I could ever... but still I am blessed. And I know that it's from your prayers and the good works which you do that I am blessed with so much success. So thank you :)

love,
elder robinson

Full Member Families

2009-08-04T11:12:00.000-07:00

I had an idea for Josh's eagle scout project. I'm thinking he could organize and send a bunch of ties and white shirts, maybe even shoes for the church here. That is one thing that the kids in some places are lacking. Also, if they could donate soccer balls, it would be awesome to give some to the branch for activities and also for us to just give out to kids on the streets.

To answer some questions.. No, it's not much warmer here...but it will be. Summer is just around the corner...July is already done! Crazy! My last summer in SA :-/ (for now. Yes, I'm still in a township and no, we don't have a car. Bikes. But we do get to borrow the car twice a week (Wednesday and Saturday). Every township is a little different. Even the Sotho they speak is a little bit different. But they still understand me when I speak what I know. The people are a little more industrious you could say. The houses are just nicer and they seem to be more well off.

Anyways this week was amazing. My companion and I get a long very well and I think he'll help me to be a much better missionary. This weekend was the best. First off on Saturday morning we went with Elizabeth and Lucas to the church and helped them get their papers signed to be legally married. They have been together for a very long time but never legally married. So they were very happy about that and so were we since Elizabeth was getting married on Sunday. Later in the day on Saturday we saw Isaac. He's an awesome father of a family of all girls. He is very smart and interested in the gospel. Last Sunday he came to church and loved it. When we saw him on Saturday he loved the Plan of Salvation and we committed him to be baptized. It was powerful. Then we spent all of Saturday night cleaning the font for the baptism. On Sunday we then spent the last 2hrs of church filling the font. We were trying to boil water to throw in since there isn't much hot water in the geyser. Even still the water was freezing. But they (Elizabeth and Dikeledi) were still baptized and the baptism was powerful.

After the baptism Isaac's granddaughter, who came to church on her own, came to us and asked if she could be baptized on her birthday at the end of August! We're gonna baptize Isaac's whole family hopefully! Then Elizabeth's husband Lucas said that he was going to be baptized soon. So later in the day we went and talked to him and set him on date for September 13. Hopefully that goes through because then their whole house will be members.

I've learned that more important than finding new people is trying to teach and convert part member families to be full member families. That is what will strengthen the church in this area of the world.

Well I think that's all for now.

Much love,
elder robinson

Pronunciation... Mamelodi: Mam-e-load-e

2009-07-25T19:02:00.000-07:00

Now we don't technically live in Mamelodi. We live in an area called Ferry Glen. Then we drive into the area which takes about 20-30 minutes. We are in a 4 man flat. I love it much more than two man. The navajoes went great as usual. There are a lot of people I will miss in Sharpeville and a lot that will miss me for sure (at least that's what they wrote in the journal) Remember Okuhle? Well she asked me why I couldn't tell them 'No I don't want to leave Sharpeville!' haha. Oh and she is going to finally be baptized this coming Sunday. That will be awesome. I just wish I could be there for it! I'll try to get you a picture. I was going to send pics but this new internet cafe is lame.

So Mamelodi is not as cold (but still cold) and it also has some hills (but not too much). My new companion is Elder Bakker from Idaho Falls. He's a way cool guy and we get along great. He'll make me a better missionary for sure. I love mamelodi already. I had my first sacrament meeting as a missionary in a chapel on Sunday! Yahoo! haha and it was warm...almost too warm. We have an old branch that is on the verge of becoming a ward and being split. I hope I can be here for that. I'm so excited to get things going. We went to PEC on Sunday and I was blown away. They were just so organized and I can actually have an organization to work through to do some of my ideas. Also on Sunday this man Isaac showed up. We taught him my first night in Mamelodi. It was maybe the 2nd or 3rd time he'd been with the missionaries. He is a smart guy and very interested. So he showed up to church and then we went to see him and his family afterwards. It was awesome. It was his daughter's birthday(her 27th) and at the end I told her I had a present for her. It was the Book of Mormon. She actaully got really excited because she had seen her father's and wanted her own. Then at the end Isaac said he had one more question (the whole family was gathered for a prayer) but he said he'd save it for next time. I felt like we should have a kneeling prayer. So I asked if it would be ok. Then Isaac said that's what he was going to ask and was very happy to have a kneeling prayer. It was awesome. So on Saturday I had my first baptismal interview. It was...kinda hard to describe. I was nervous, happy, confused, and feeling the spirit all at the same time. It really was powerful. It was especially different because the investigator was from Taiwan! He was just a little different but an awesome guy. I'm actually excited to do another one now!

So yea, I've been so extremely busy now since last week...since I found out I was leaving. I'm hoping things will slow down because it's just going too fast right now. Time is flying. Friday is my year mark!

Well that's my email this week. I love mission life. I love you and I'm always grateful for your support everyday. :)

Much Love,
elder robinson

The News!

2009-07-25T18:50:00.000-07:00

Well here's the news! I'm going to Pretoria! That's about 40 minutes north of Jo-berg. I'm serving in the Mamelodi township...and wait here's the best news... supposedly I have a chapel!!!!! wahoo! haha I finally get to tell people "yea come to church at the nice BUILDING" instead at the school but be careful cuz there are 3other church who meet at the school so don't get the wrong one. haha So my time in Sharpeville is coming to an end. It's been sad saying goodbye to people though. I mean I've been in Sharpeville for 6 months now! I've made some good friends. Anyways, so I'm leaving on Thursday.

I did find a place to buy refried beans, but they are expensive. I'm making navajoes again tonight. People love it. It's a little expensive but these people deserve it.

So yea, this week we had some sweet lessons. One was with this guy who just showed up to church last week. We gave him a pamphlet and by the time we came to see him after church at 2 he had already read the pamphlet and was asking smart questions. Anyways, we gave him a Book of Mormon this week and yesterday he came to church again. Then we saw him after church and he had been reading the Book of Mormon a lot and was loving it. He's turning out golden. I'm happy to be leaving the area in a good condition. Right now we have 7 people on date who seem to be pretty solid. Plus there are many more who can be on their way there. To put it simply, I'm sad to leave but it's time to go :)

My second companion, Elder Burnett (who's going home this week to Yackama, Washington), served there for his second area on his mission. Next week I'll hit a year officially. Man...the mission is going too fast! The last 3 months just flew by! And in six months it'll be Christmas again...crazy! Then I could be going to my dying area. I've been really trying to just take advantage of everyday I have on the mission because I know as soon as the end rolls around I won't want to leave.

Well, I'm still healthy. It's still cold here but Pretoria is hot so I'll be good. Plus I got another blanket.

Love you much. Talk to you next in Pretoria :)

Love, your elder robinson

The 4th South African Style

2009-07-06T10:32:00.000-07:00

On the friday before the 4th of July we listened to the Star Spangled Banner and did put our hand over our hearts. It was tender. Then on Saturday night we had a little braai (BBQ) and cooked up a texas steak...that's 2kg of meat. I still have left overs from my quarter piece!

Our Texas steak (go Texas!!)

My companion and I at our 4th of July BBQ

Here are some pictures of Henslop and Yvonne's baptism last week:From left to right: Myself, Henslop, Yvonne, a ward member and my companion

So this week was a little bit warmer...not much. Okhule came back to church and during the week some sisters went to visit her. I think that helped her a lot. I've seen the fellowshipping in the branch go up a little these past few weeks. I don't think anything too amazing happened this week though. Henslop and Yvonne were confirmed of course, that was sweet. But besides that, this may be another short email. :)

I'm still healthy and happy. We are working hard to keep our teaching pool full. We keep having a lot of people that we've been teaching for a long time that just aren't quite there yet but are still progressing slowly. One is named Nthabileng. She is so smart and is the neighbor to the Goniwe family (that is Thandi, Nozizwe, Yvonne, and Vusi who I baptized in the last few months). Last night we taught them missionary work and she was there. She was so excited to help others know the truth. I don't know why she isn't baptized yet!!!! The Goniwe family was so excited as well to share the gospel. Next monday I'm gonna cook navajoes and have Family Home Evening and they are supposed to invite some friends. It will be sweet.

Well much love family. I appreciate everything you give me... love, support (physically \spiritually) thanks again!

love, elder robinson

Be Ready, Feel Ready

2009-06-29T10:19:00.000-07:00

I know that I am truly blessed to have such an awesome family like I do. Being here makes me realize how blessed I was and sometimes I wish I could go back and make some things right...but at least through all the teachings and love you've given me I was at least able to come around.

It gets pretty close to freezing here but not quite. When I got here last year it was towards the end of winter. It was cold but not too bad. I do have a big snow coat and gloves and a beanie and stuff.

Dumbollo is the stuff that the other guys left on the pot a while ago haha. But I won't leave it cooking in the apartment like they did. It turned out pretty good though. I made some on Thursday. I don't know what sweet bread is. It's very simple though, 1kg flour, about a cup or so of sugar (I eyeball it), and a small package of instant yeast, some warm water, knead the dough and let it rise. Then you put it in a plastic bag, put the plastic bag in a bowl and the bowl in a bigger pot. You put water in the pot, cover and set on medium heat. Then it cooks for about 2.5 hrs. It's pretty good.

Father's day is celebrated here. Nn fact an awesome father and his family was supposed to come to church on Sunday but didn't because they had a big Father's day celebration.

In my spare time I am reading The Miracle of Forgiveness. That is a good book. I wish i would have read it sooner. I will most likely be here in Sharpeville for 6 months. 6 months in an area is the usual...sort of. It just depends on where President needs you when and why.

Well as for this week, not too much happened. Our baptismal candidates all passed their interviews...that is Yvonne, Henslop, and Okuhle. But then Okuhle came to me at church wanting to ask if it would be bad if she cancelled the baptism. I was a little shocked but not too bad. She just felt like she wasn't ready. So I talked to her about it and we said we would decide this week. I made sure she knew that it didn't matter either way but that she should be ready and feel ready. So we'll see. I'm excited to baptize Henslop. I remember when I was told I was staying here for another 6 weeks. I was excited so that I could baptize Henslop. That's gonna be great. Oh and a funny story. So yesterday we introduced Prince to Henslop. Now rememeber that Prince is 73 and can hardly see and Henslop is 79 and cannot see at all. So they start talking together at church. Well come to find out- they used to box together when they were younger in the same boxing league! They knew each other! haha. Then Prince showed Henslop to the gospel principles class. That was funny to see...a man who can hardly walk showing another old man to class. Prince's friend Andres was at church who is another funny old man. Seeing the three of them walk, well shuffle, down the passage was classic. You had to be there. It warmed the heart.

So yea, next Sunday we will be having some baptisms. It will be sweet. Thanks again for all the love and support!

Love, elder robinson

Friends and Freezing

2009-06-22T15:40:00.000-07:00

It was actually very very cold this week. It was wet and freezing. But we survived. I was even wearing my big snow coat with my sweater underneath and was still cold! Our tires on our bikes went flat right after we got them and they are pretty useless anyways. We prefer walking, so we just walk.

Alex is doing great on mission. He writes me almost evey week although I didn;t get an email from him this week.

I've made quite a few friends out here. Some missionaries, some members or recent converts. It's been a lot of fun...I guess that's what happens when you work hard...Time goes by and before you know it you've had a lot of success. I'm coming up on a year next month can you believe it?! We see the mission president every 6 weeks in zone conference interviews. I'll see him tomorrow actually.

So this week...not too much new happened. We had about 4 new people show up to church though, 11 investigators with 4 of those people we just met this week basically. Anyways, that is the best to see someone actually come to church when they say they will. Man it's hard to get people to church. But it seems this week we were blessed. Other than that we had some sweet lessons but nothing that stands out too much in my mind. This coming Saturday we will have interviews for the baptisms on the 28th. It shoudl be Okuhle, Yvonne, and Henslop (our blind invetigator). We always have powerful lessons with Henslop because he's blind but you can tell he has felt something so powerful and he's had a mighty change, as the scriptures would say. Oh yeah, I also learned how to make dumbollo...it's an African steamed bread. It's awesome. Now I can make that for you when I get home. I hope you have a big pot though.

Well I'm still healthy and safe. Everything is going great. Much love :)

Love, elder robinson

Henslop

2009-06-09T20:07:00.000-07:00

I basically got over my cold. I still had a runny nose all week but I was over the sore throat and achey body last week. Luckily I didn't have to stay inside because of it. Am I warm enough? Well as warm as I can be. You know how some places just aren't prepared for certain climates...I mean like the way the houses are set up. It's just cold. There's no insulation, the walls are brick, the floor has tiles and all we have are two small portable heaters. Yesterday it got below freezing by morning. But it's not too bad. By the time I leave here it should start warming up. I found out that I'll be staying in Sharpeville for the next 6 weeks at least. Transfers are this week and our whole district is the one having one guy leave.

So anyways this week...First of all on Wednesday Elder Kitimbo and I took my guitar proselyting. That was fun. We walked around singing hymns and stuff. It didn't sound too good...you know my voice and my companion doesn't help much. But it was fun. We met some cool people and played for some investigators and recent converts. It was a good day.

So yeah, that was fun.

You'll notice the shacks that go on forever.... you can see that they live in a shack yet they have a dish. The irony.

A picture of the Grace Bible church in Sebokeng. No, that is not a circus. It's a church and it's a very common thing in the townships.

A picture of the Rastafarian "last supper". Please go look up Rastafarian. you will be confused.

A picture of me holding a Christmas tree. I also look very confused. Do you remember the senior couple that worked with us in my last area, the Blooms? Well they are going home this month and gave me their Christmas tree. I wasn't sure what to think. Now I'll have a Christmas tree for Christmas.

Anyway, so the coolest story of the week:
So a few weeks ago we tracted into an old blind guy named Henslop...That's a weird name even for South Africa. He understood English well and was interested. We weren't sure how things were going but everytime we went he kept saying he was praying and he was seeing something different, but wouldn't say much more. Then this last week his son who's been missing for a few weeks turned up dead. It was a horrible situation. We weren't sure how things were going to turn out. On Friday we went to see Henslop. He had about the same expressions, not much was different. But then we taught him the gospel of Jesus Christ and when we got to baptism I asked him if he had a testimony. He proceeded to tell us his story how he's been trying to find the truth for a while. How he was raised in a church and wasted a lot of money on it only to realize it was false. He said he's had many people come to him from different churches but none felt like the truth. Then we came and he said something was different. He said he's been praying and he has felt a change come over his whole house since we've been there. He knows that Joseph Smith was a prophet and he said he is ready with his whole body and soul to join this church. He had never even visited the church but he had felt the spirit. So we put him on baptismal date and we got him to church on Sunday. He was so excited to come to church on Sunday. It was amazing. It is a lot like our experience with Prince. Except this guy is completely blind instead of just partly! We then saw Henslop again Sunday night and he was so happy. We've taught his wife once before but he said he's going to come to church every week from now on and he's going to do everything to get his wife there. I really hope that his wife will also gain a testimony and we can get them both baptized on the 27th of June when Henslop is scheduled.

This week we have one baptism on satuday the 6th of June. Lindiwe is getting baptized. She is the cousin of a member family and has been investigating for about years! She said she just never really took it seriously, you know trying to find the truth and all. But now that she has she is our most golden investigator. She is very excited to be baptized. It's gonna be good.

So yes, things are going very well. I'm having a blast and learning so much about the Book of Mormon again! It is so amazing how everytime you read that book you learn something new. Thanks so much for your support and your testimony. It strengthens mine. Much love and prayers.

Love, elder robinson

Not For The World

2009-05-19T11:20:00.000-07:00

This week has been pretty sweet. We've been teaching the recent convert Nozizwe's family for a while now. I think I told you about them last week. There is no father but the mother has seemed very interested and so close to a testimony. Then last week she said she was ready. Anyways, so we interviewed her and her 9yr old son, Vusi, on Saturday. That was awesome. They passed and will be baptized on the 24th this week along with the daughter of a less-active who has started coming to church again. The daughter is 15 and is excited to be baptized. She even studied everything so she could pass the interview. It was awesome.

So we've also been teaching Nozizwe's neighbor, Nthabile. She is very smart and very confused about all these different churches. She has also been very close to a testimony for a while but hasn't come to church. Then this week on Tuesday we confronted her about why she won't come to church and she said she has a lot of problems and feels like God has abandoned her. We talked about the trials and the Atonement and all that but she didn't seem to feel content. Then I luckily remembered I had a talk in my back-pack by Elder Withlin, "Come What May and Love It". It's one of my favorite talks and I knew it would help her. So I gave it to her to read and on Friday we came back to check. Her entire countenance was different and by the end of the lesson we asked her if she would come to church on Sunday. She said she would and so I said great we hope to see you on Sunday then... she said "no, it's a promise I'll be there". Then she came to church! That was powerful. I think we'll be able to get her on date this week.

So we've had a powerful week to say the least. In the past 3 weeks we've had 41 new investigators! At the moment we're pretty busy and just trying to weed through some of them, hopefully to find some serious ones.

I'm still loving the mission and making the best of it for sure. I love teaching people the gospel and I love seeing when they finally find the truth for themselves! It's amazing the difference that comes over people. I love it. I would not trade anything for the experiences I'm having now.

Thanks for the love and support! Keep it coming! :)

Love, elder robinson

Hatched

2009-05-05T18:14:00.000-07:00

Man, I wish I was able to be home for the wedding. I know you don't want me to say this but I hope Nathan doesn't get married till I get home. I want to witness the sealing for at least one of my siblings! (before I do myself). Anyways, it sounded like you all had a lot of fun. Especially in that house! But what can you do. My time will come right?

I have got a new companion, his name is Elder Kitimbo from Uganda. He's 25 years old and has only been a member 2 years and only a missionary for 3 months! But even still he's a way better missionary than me and is teaching me a lot. He's way cool and great to get along with. Things are going well.

Elder Kitimbo and I at zone conference on Friday in front of the chapel in Bedfordview.

It's actually the stake center for the stake Shapeville is in- the Bedfordview stake.

Myself and Elder Pugsley who will be going home in June to Park Valley, Utah.

Anyways, one of the great missionaries I've ever known...and my former zone leader in my last area.

A picture of the sweet African chess set I bought at Bruma.
I haggled it for only R150...that's like $15 bucks!! I know I felt good about it.

Then a picture of the nest on our balcony!

The eggs hatched! Now I'm going to train the birds from their infancy to be my personal carrier pigeons and take my mail home for me. So be on the look out..haha

Thanks for telling me about the guy who had read my letter. That is amazing. I didn't even realize Bishop Mullen was putting up my letters. I mean I think I sent him and his wife a few letters in response to theirs. Anyways, that's so cool that something I said struck him. Makes one feel good.

So this week was pretty normal. It's getting pretty cold now. Our area has taken a little bit of a down turn. We had 6 people on baptismal date for May but it seems none will be ready. One is even moving to the other side of SA! Elder Kitimbo and I are trying hard to get things back up to speed. We have a lot of promising people but only time will tell. Last week we found 12 new investigators and this week we had 15! So hopefully we can get them along. Missionary work is hard but I love it. I'm tired but I still love to teach people and when someone finally gets it. That's my pay-day. Thanks so much for the updates and love. I can't wait to talk again on Sunday! I can't believe I get to call again. I feel like it was just yesterday I was calling home at Christmas! Love you!

Love, elder robinson

The Convert Formerly Known as Prince

2009-04-24T18:19:00.000-07:00

Anyways I'd better get started on my weekend...I don't have too much time and a lot to say.

So first off the week was normal. Although last Monday we saw some monkeys playing just near our flat.

Then came Saturday, the baptism of Prince and Tokelo.

Myself with my (from far left to right)companion, Prince and Tokelo (with myself standing behind them) and the branch mission leader and his wife

Prince:

I baptized Tokelo (the youngest one) and our branch mission leader(Zach)baptized Prince. It really was a miracle that Prince made it under the water. He told Zach that his leg had trouble bending. But when it came time everything went as planned. It was sweet. Prince and Tokelo gave some powerful testimonies and are going to be very valuable priesthood holders in Sharpeville. Prince can't move very well but his mind is brilliant. Tokelo is only 16 but is so much more mature, he could probably be the young men's president! Needless to say it was an awesome service.

So now I have to update you on an investigator that has progressed so incredibly rapidly. Last week on Saturday we were walking and this lady stops us saying she used to be a saint (she was wearing a ZCC badge...that's a different church). She said there was someone she needed us to teach. So we came this last Wednesday and taught her daughter. She is actually adopted as of this year and she is 19. She has a baby girl and is about to deliver another one this month. Anyway, on Wednesday we taught the Restoration. Thursday was the Plan of Salvation. Saturday we taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ and she wants to get baptized! It was awesome! She has read every chapter we've ever given her the very same day and if she didn't understand it she would read it again. Then on Sunday we were at church early...about 8:15am. Lo and behold she was there. The first one there. Talk about a golden investigator. We saw her again yesterday and taught the Word of Wisdom. We haven't even known her a week and she's already on fire.

Church was pretty good. After church we had to leave at 5 to make it to a zone meeting in Bedfordview. The next day on Monday we were having a zone Preparation day there and so we spent the night at some other elder's flat. They are way cool guys and said they had dinner for us on the stove...well I decided to joke and say I hope it hasn't been on too long...there might not be a flat when we get there. Well I spoke too soon. We pulled up and opened the door and a huge billow of smoke came flowing out. We came to find that the elders were making dumbollo. Which is like a steamed bread. Elder Nelson who was making it had done it many times before but we were just at the meeting too long. Luckily there were no flames. But the bread was definitley destroyed...

The next day we had a zone p-day just playing sports and having a good
time. It was fun but tiring.

So we had an eventful weekend to say the least. Then next weekend we will find out what's going on at transfers! Most likely either my companion or I are leaving...not for sure...but pretty sure.

Well I'm still doing great and I had a great birthday on Sunday. I saw the comments on my blog and I just want to say thanks to everyone for the love! Life is starting to fly by. I don't feel 20. And the mission...man going too fast.

Love you lots and I miss you. I hope and pray all continues to go well at home!

Love, elder robinson

General Conference April 2009

2009-04-19T07:41:00.000-07:00

Yes, I shaved my head. I didn't want too...it is mission rules. Well of my options in mission rules you could say I wanted to. plus its the easiest. Elder Lind just pulls out the shaver and in 5 minutes my hair is short. Also before I forget,thanks for the family history. I was thinking though if it were possible that you could somehow copy a family tree or something that I could print out. Something that I could show people that I know my ancestors. If it is not possible I can always just copy the names you gave me. But I know you have family trees that go way back. I think that would be cool to show people. You don't understand how obsessed they are here with ancestors...except they don't actually know them. So they think we don't care about our ancestors because we don't worship them when in reality we care much more than they could understand.

Yes, we do get lightening storms a lot around here. If you want to know what they're like put a fork in the microwave and set it to 10 minutes. Stand back.

So anyways, this week went pretty well. It was just all in anticipation of General Conference! WHOO HOO! Man, General Conference is better than Chrsitmas for missionaries (only if we got to call home). I mean we spend our days teaching and testifying so it's nice to be taught and testified too by men so much more progressed in the gospel than you...so much more. Not to mention their apostolic authority and prophetic wisdom. I could go on and on about the best talks. I will mention though that Elder Holland's talk on the atonement was amazing. But besides the spiritual food and uplifting talks, the best part of the weekend was Prince!

First off we interviewed him on Saturday and he passed with flying colors for his baptism this week. Then he came to General Conference! We had to travel to Sebokeng to watch the sessions (it's about 20 minutes away). Our branch provided some transport. But the fact that he made it. I heard that he had even come to the school to be picked up too early and someone told him that noone was coming so he walked back home! Luckily we told them to make sure he made it on the transport and they went to his house and picked him up! On top of that he stayed for all three sessions on Sunday! (We watched priesthood delayed Sunday morning, then Saturday afternoon delayed to Sunday afternoon, then Sunday morning live that night). We weren't done there till 8pm! I asked him how it was and with a smile he told me he had really enjoyed himself. He said he'd go straight home and hop in bed and fall asleep with a smile on his face. Oh man, that was sweet.

To say the least it was a great week. Walking is tiring but it also makes the days go faster. I'm still healthy and safe. Nothing too crazy has been happening. I guess that's good. Right mom? I may be leaving here in a few weeks. Not sure. Maybe my companion. We'll find out in a few weeks. Love you lots. Thanks for all the support and love!

Love, elder robinson

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Elder Robinson

2009-04-12T07:16:00.000-07:00

We LOVE you!

Untitled from amber on Vimeo.

The Work Goes Forward Boldly

2009-04-02T07:43:00.000-07:00

Yep, I'm walking all over now. It's not too bad. We are getting used to it. I do like
cooking...but only for the results, haha. I don't really enjoy the whole preparing and cooking and stuff. I'm always afraid I'm gonna mess it up and all the food will go to waste. I have become pretty creative with the limited things I buy. It's nice to eat a good meal. Oh and guess what? I found refried beans!!! I was so excited. So excited that I didn't care that they were 6 months expired! haha. I think it should be fine. Also last week I cooked navajos again, this time for our branch president. That was cool. They loved them.

Yeah, I don't think that anyone knows who DF Malan is unless they really know history. But for the majority of people in township there wouldn't be too big of a deal walking around with a Malan tag. I've asked people before and they don't know who he is. It's like the only history they know is post-aparteid. It makes sense.

Baipidi is 23. She really is a great lady.

It's people like her that I can't wait to see in 10 years how much they've progressed in the gospel. Relief Society president? haha. They have all the same programs here, they just aren't always up to speed because of the lack of leaders. It's tough for a branch president to get a branch into a ward and get all the auxiliaries going when you don't have leaders to fill callings. Most people in the branch have callings but most of the people that come to church on Sunday have been in the church less than a year or two. So everyone is just new.

Thanks for telling me when Easter is. I never know but now it will be easy to remember since this year its on my birthday. It's always like the second Sunday or something? I did get my birthday package and I thank you very very much. I was too anxious to wait to open it. At first I was going to wait but then I realized that my book may be in there...and now I'm devouring The Great Apostasy! It's amazing. It makes everything so much more clear about the apostasy that occurred for close to 1700 years. It is crazy how clear the scriptures and history bear record of this. I love how in a "Marvelous Work and a Wonder" where he quotes some guy who says that it's between the Catholics and the Mormons. And that debate comes down to the great apostasy. Anyways, so that's pretty sweet.

This week was pretty normal. We've been walking all week which I said was not too bad. Tiring for sure...hot for sure. But we've at least been lucky to not get any rain. We had Zone Conference on Tuesday and I talked to president about the car situation and he said that there are a lot of areas that really need a car and our Zone Leaders basically decided we didn't need one in Sharpeville. I also learned that somebody was lying when they told me that it was going to Tsakane (my last area), it went to some elders who had been walking for 2 weeks already because their car got flooded. These guys are covering two areas! No, we really have no room to complain. It's still pretty safe and things are working out. The other missionaries that live in our flat complex just take us and pick us up every day. It's pretty simple.

We got to go to the temple again this week. That was sweet. I hadn't been since I was back in Tsakane and I was missing it! The one of the city is Jo-berg. You can see its pretty big and that is just one part.

My companion and I

Our group

That was probably the highlight of my week even though that day was extremely long. Waking up at 4am to make the 7am session and also going back to our area by 2pm to go to work! Long day.

The best part of the week was probably Sunday. Baipidi was confirmed...but Prince and his friend he said he was bringing didn't show. I was pretty bummed about that until at 9:45am I looked out the door and saw him coming around the corner ever so slowly. You see we offered to have someone pick him up again but he said he needed to get used to walking since there won't always be someone there to help him. He is a very independent man. So it was so funny to see these two old guys walking up to church. Right in the middle of the testimony meeting he comes up to us and says "I made it!". Man, it was great. Then after church he walked back home. Pretty soon you'll see a picture of this prince guy. He's getting baptized on April 11th.

Anyway, Sunday went on and we ended up putting 6 people on baptismal date! It was sweet! So now we're up to 9! The hardest part is getting them from saying yes to baptism to having them confirmed...especially making sure they get to church! But the work goes forward boldly, nobly, and independent until the great purposes of God are accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done....Sorry I've been working on my mission quotes...got that one stuck in my head.

I love you all and miss you but one day I'll be there sharing my mission with you in person. Until then there are souls I need to save in South Africa!

love, elder robinson

Walked and Walked and Walked and Walked...

2009-03-24T12:35:00.000-07:00

I'm glad to hear the family is doing great. You know being away from family and seeing how broken the majority of families are makes me miss our family reunions and just being together with them. It really makes me feel so incredibly blessed to be a part of the family I am.

So this week was pretty eventful. First of all we had heard last week that Saturday March 21st was Human Rights Day or Commemoration day.. commemorating the Sharpeville massacre! Back during aparteid the Blacks had to have this ID book that they called some name that basically meant stupid person or something like that. So Sharpeville residents started to protest so much that they sent an army in.. with a helicopter.. dropped down and just mowed down the crowd. Supposedly 69 people died in the first incident and many others shortly after. So our branch mission leader told us it would not be safe on that day especially with the elections coming up. At first we thought we would be home all day. Then President Poulsen so no, we needed to work...So we did. We came into Sharpeville a little on edge not sure what to expect. Down by the soccer stadium there were huge tents that we saw set up and a huge stage and things like that. On Saturday there were huge buses everywhere bringing people in from everywhere. Anyways first appointment...we were sitting outside and a little boy walked by and stopped, looked at me then came to the gate and tried to get in.
He couldn't and instead just yelled.. makua watsamaiya... meaning "white man get out of here". Not a good start. Luckily we were safe the rest of the day and nothing crazy happened... just tons of people all over Sharpeville.

Another highlight of this week was that Prince made it to church! We had our branch president's wife follow us and she gave him a ride. Man, he was so excited to be there. He even participated in the discussion in combined Relief Society/Priesthood. We were talking about Home Teaching/Visiting Teaching (which he doesnt even know about). It was awesome. I almost shed a tear haha. Then after church we had the baptism of Baipidi. That was awesome. This girl has been ready since we got here.

We are losing our car here in Sharpeville. It's an interesting story...remember when our car was wrecked back in Tsakane and we had to walk for about 3 weeks until there could be a replacement car or ours was fixed? Well the same car has been smashed again. But this time they are taking my car here in Sharpeville and giving it to them. So to clarify- both times that this same car in the Tsakane/ Kwa Thema area has been crashed- I'm the one who ends up without a car. Even when I'm serving in an area at least 2 hours away! Strange coincidence, nay? So now we'll have to get around Sharpeville walking...pray for us. It's going to be a hard transition. We've had days this week with an appointment every half hour. Plus our investigators are spread all over Sharpeville!! But I guess the Lord will provide a way.

Just know that I am healthy and still loving the mission. Love you lots and I always
appreciate the support!

Love, elder robinson

P.S. Do you think you could send me a condensed version of my family history? The people here love their ancestors. So much that they pray to them. When we say that they shouldn't pray to them their response is "you mean to tell me you don't have any ancestors?" So I want to whip out my family history on them!

Hiking and Epiphanies

2009-03-15T08:28:00.000-07:00

Preparation day hiking...

Chillin' South Africa Style

First off, Prince is getting baptized. We came to see him this week. Remember his eyes don't even allow him to read the Book of Mormon. So, all he's had is our word and prayer. I asked him flat out how he feels about all this or if he'd received an answer yet.. he said "all I have to say is, it's true". Man, that felt so good. Then when we were teaching him he had one of his epiphanies. Elder Jasi taught him about faith and then he said "so its not faith unless I DO something about it". Man, this guy is amazing...Especially for an old guy! We put him on date for March 27th. It will be a challenge though to get him under the water. I hope I don't have to baptize him...I'm afraid I might break him. I'll send you pictures when he gets baptized. Also this week we had the baptism of 4 sisters!! (not blood sisters). Two young women age and two young adults all from different families. I'll get the pictures to you next week. But the service went great. We had it on Saturday and I was asked to baptize one of them. Then the next day on Sunday I was asked to confirm 2 of them. It was a great weekend for Sharpeville.

I'm not sure we taught any super special lessons this week. It's kind of hard to
remember. We are always super busy. Which is the best way to be on a mission. It makes time go much faster. So now we have 4 people on baptismal date spread out from March to April.

We have transfers this week. Everything is the same with my companion and I. But two guys are leaving my district. Including the district leader. His name is Elder Cunico. He's only a few months older than I on the mission but he's a great leader. I hope our next DL is the same.

So today we went to a Nature Reserve called "suikerbos"... supposedly there are baboons and things there. But all we saw were some spring bok (almost like deer) far in the distance. Plus there was suppose to be this 10k hike but the trail disappeared after about 1k. So we ended up just exploring around going through the bush. It was pretty cool to be out hiking again. I miss the outdoors so much. I miss hiking. I keep telling people that as soon as I get home I'm getting off the plane and walking into the bush to go backpacking for a month. Then I'll be able to go home. haha. That's why I really want to get out of Gauteng. I want to go up to Botswana or the north east province or even down to Lesotho.

Right now it's raining harder outside than I've ever seen it rain. It's ridiculous.
Well thanks again for all the support and prayers. Know that I'm staying safe and healthy and working hard!!

Love, your son elder robinson

Remarkable

2009-03-09T11:59:00.000-07:00

I got a letter from on of my recent converts who ended up becoming our branch missionary in Tsakane and coming to teach with us a lot. I told you about him. His name is Wandile. We spent Christmas at his house. Anyways that was a nice surprise. It's amazing to see the change happen in a person's life when the gospel takes affect.

So for this week I think the most interesting experience was a guy named Prince. We tracted into this guy maybe two weeks ago. When we taught him and his wife at first we weren't even sure if he spoke English. But after a short time we realized not only did this old man speak English very well but he also understood all of the concepts very well. So at our first lesson he told us he and his wife we alcoholics. We tried to give him some words of advice to quit and he hasn't touched alcohol since. The bad part is that soon after our first lesson we came back and asked him how he was. He said not good. His wife had left him. To this day she still hasn't come back but that hasn't stopped him from gaining a testimony. I can already see this seed growing inside him. It's amazing. This old man who can barely walk has been on alcohol his entire life. Then here come the missionaries and teach him truth. what do you know, he changes his life around and is coming to know what is really important in life. The level of understanding at his age is remarkable. I mean go read Alma chapter 12 and you'll find some pretty interesting concepts in there that may even be hard for someone well-learned to understand at first. We would teach these things to Prince and he would look at us like every other person(blank stare) but he would then ask very thoughtful questions. Like he will ask "so your saying we can't be free of sins without following the gospel of Jesus Christ?" or "Well then what happens to those who don't free themselves of their sins?". It's great to meet someone who is not just interested in your message because its from God but because he actually wants to know truth from God! Then to have that person be over 70 years old is remarkable.

Anyway so that was my awesome experience this week. We're going to try and put Prince on baptismal date tonight actually. Yesterday we had baptismal interviews. We have 4 people getting baptized on Saturday. That will be awesome! Last night I cooked those cookies you sent me at Christmas. Let me say thank you mom and thanks from all the missionaries in my district. They were a hit. Now I'll have to try and make some from scratch.

Thanks for all the love and support! I know that I am truly blessed to have such loving friends and family. Know that I am safe and healthy and still loving the mission. I love you all!

Love, elder robinson

Intrigued

2009-03-02T11:39:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday we were surprised in the middle of the meeting to sing a song that we hadn't even practiced and the piano wasn't even set up! No one was on key until the last verse! It was embarrassing. Then this Sunday we practiced since they will join the stake choir next week for stake conference. With my limited knowledge of the piano and their limited knowledge of singing it was painful.

Well the work continues on. This past week we've had a lot of success in both teaching and finding. The people here are just ready for the gospel, it's only a matter of finding them. Some don't care but some are really interested. I love it when you teach a lesson and by the end they are just amazed. That happened this week with a guy named Alfred. By the end he was just so intrigued at the thought that this could be the gospel of the restored church on the earth! But even the best investigators won't go anywhere if they dont keep commitments. So we'll see, we can only hope and pray.

We also came across a lady tracting yesterday who didn't want to dissappoint us because she had already found the way. She said it was this guy (who she's never met before) that is the next Pastor Chris. Pastor Chris is basically pretty close to every false prophet that the New Testament talks about. He goes around doing huge concerts where he heals people and stuff. Anyway this other guy, named MR Mokoena, supposedly heals all kinds of people. This lady was so into it...I was seriously afraid she was going to jump on us- that's how ecstatic she was! Then she goes on to tell us that she has been bewitched by her husband and basically her whole life story (keep in mind she never wanted to talk to us in the first place) and that she has what doctors tell her is arthritis but since she cant "see" it only feels it she knows she is bewitched. So we told her she should have Mr. Mokoena heal her (she wasnt listening to a word we were saying) and then she said that that is why she's following his church... which is called Durane, by the way. Well that was an experience. We had our ear talked off for half an hour (nothing new) by a lady who was following a clearly false prophet. If some of these people would just read the bible that they hold so close to their hearts but never open... they would not be so easily deceived. It's sad but one day I think they'll have their chance.

Well that's about all that's new here. We're still working hard. This Saturday we have 4 baptismal interviews for the following week. Wweet! Thanks for all the love and support! Tell Camilla I said hi!

Love, your son

Devour

2009-02-17T13:02:00.000-08:00

We had a baptism this week. Just one lady named Disebo. It went well and her daughter is even now on date for March.. so we'll see how that goes.

Before I forget, I was thinking... my b-day is coming up.. now I don't really want anything too much.... but i was thinking. I just finished reading Jesus the Christ this week, amazing by the way, and now I just want to devour all of Talmage's writings. Not only is he an inspired revelator but he is an amazing writer. So I was thinking for a b-day present... either the complete works of Talmage (besides jesus the christ) or simply "The Great Apostasy"...that book I am dying to read. That would be awesome.

For my studies right now I'm planning on reading through the New Testament and then going to BOM, D&C, and Pearl of GP, ending with the old testament. All the while finishing the missionary library, pmg study, and any other books I have or that you might send. Yes, I am loving learning to much about the gospel...I've already learned a lot and still have so much more to learn.

The area is getting better. We have a couple of father-led families that we're teaching now. That's always exciting. One of the fathers came to church on Sunday. That was awesome since he works most Sundays but the one he had off he came to church! This particular one doesn't even speak English very well. In our last visit he was speaking Sotho with our branch mission leader, and Shona with my companion Elder Jasi, and I was just lost. It was cool though.

Right now we have 5 people on baptismal date and are working on more. I'm still
healthy and working hard. My area is very safe and is so ready for the gospel. I'm
excited to see where this area will go before I leave! I love you all and always love the support you give!

Love, elder robinson

Baptism Dates

2009-02-16T19:25:00.000-08:00

Well first of all I have to clarify something. This choir was led by Elder Hnatiuk who was just transfered. They were preparing for branch conference to sing. Hnatiuk is a musical genius and one of my good friends here on the mission. So I couldn't let his choir go to waste. So last Sunday I stepped in and helped as I could with my limited skills on the piano- that is what I meant- I was playing the tenor line softly to help them out since we only had 2 in the choir. We have about 5 sopranos and 2 altos. My companion was the only base. It was pretty weak but it still sounded nice and I at least helped them to hold the thing together. So they could perform for branch conference.

Anyways it was nice to see so many people getting trained on Sunday and it made me really excited to especially help this branch get some more priesthood leadership. We only sang one song and that was "Nearer My God to Thee" straight out of the book. It sounded nice compared to how the branch normally sounds... bad. haha they do the best they can though.

We have a car to ourselves and we are living in a two man flat but in the same complex as 4 other missionaries. The saftey in Sharpeville is probably more safe than Tsakane cause we have a car. Plus Sharpville is tiny. Very small. I don't know why Tsakane has bikes when the area is ten times as big. haha

So the area is picking up well. Elder Jasi and I are working hard and teaching a lot of people. Some not so serious but some that are. We've put 4 people on baptism dates just this week! That was awesome. Too bad no future priesthood holders. There's this one girl that the missionaries found a while ago but then went straight on holiday. We contacted her just last week for the first time since she's gotten back. Then on Saturday night we put her on date. It was the fastest I've put someone on baptismal date! Plus she's come to church both Sundays since we've taught her. Then this week I think there are one or two more people we're planning on getting on date! Sweet! On Saturday we're baptizing Disabo, a woman that the other missionaries had been teaching. That will be cool to see her get baptized. We have to go to the chapel in Vereeniging so that we can go to the baptism. Luckily our branch president and his counselor have trucks to transport people. So we just meet them there. Far less stressful than in Tsakane.

Anyways so things are getting better and better. I'm just taking everything one
day at a time. But everything is just flying by. Thanks for all the love and prayers. I love you all!

Love, your elder robinson... or as they say here elder robertson spices

Let Us All Press On

2009-01-29T19:36:00.000-08:00

I'm not in a new area yet. I got my transfer news on Saturday (which was also my six months on the mission mark). The news is that I'm going to another township called Sharpville which is only about an hour away. I was a little bummed that I wasn't going to any of the beautiful country up North or down South but I got something else instead. It's a new challenge. You see they are white-washing the area. That means my new companion (Elder Jasi) and I will both be new to the area. Missionaries have been there but because of some other circumstances they have to transfer them both out at the same time. So that will be interesting to see how we cope. I'm sure we will do fine though. I'm also excited to be in a 2 man flat. That way I don't get distracted. I'll be able to concentrate more and study harder.

Yes, I do miss playing my guitars.. with a passion. Especially the electric... with some distortion.. oh yea haha. I told you that my trainer Elder Brown played the piano. That's why I started to lead. Then I got stuck doing that. It wasn't till this last Sunday that I didn't have to lead sacrament meeting.

There are some really poor areas. But the thing is- there is opportunity. I was just talking to a guy about it the other day(from Tsakane). He was telling me how there are so many programs to help people out from the government. They just dont take it.Plus they say there is a huge unemployment problem yet you'll see 10 guys standing around fixing a chip in the sidewalk. So to put it simply life is hard for them... its true. But for the most part it is usually because of the dead beat fathers. Like Sannah. I've told you about her so much. She has an awesome testimony but is just so poor. She works almost everyday and has so many problems with her family dying and things. It is sad. And what have I seen her husband do? Sit on the couch and watch tv. Every time we're there. I asked if he worked and Sannah said nope. But they still manage to get along somehow. It really hurts to see people in situations like that. You just wish you could just get them out somehow...they do have electricity and running water and all that... but its not always reliable. Then you have to remember that this country is like the America of Africa. It's the best. Everyone wants to come here. But they do their best and I am impressed by their will to push forward.. even when there isn't much hope. That's why its even more important for us to share the gospel with them. Give them some hope.

Anyways, so this Sunday was a busy one. First off I confirmed Thuli who was baptized last week. That was a great experience as usual. Then I was asked at first to give a departing testimony which actually became me taking the time of the third speaker who didnt show up. I just went through with them the sacrament prayers. I told them if there is anything I want to leave with them it is the need to stay true to those baptismal covenants. Then I related 2Ne 4 where Nephi pours his heart out. And lastly I read with them "let us all press on". I felt good about it and after I bore my testimony I felt even better. On Wednesday I'll leave this area. I'm gonna miss them very much. The people here are awesome. Right now we have some poeple that I just can't wait to see get baptized. It's so amazing to see people get baptized and how they change. It's great. But it's time to move on and I'm excited for the future.

Thanks for all the love and support. Keep it coming!

Love, elder robinson

There Are Ups and Downs

2009-01-04T20:59:00.000-08:00

It was great to talk to the family this last week, although it seemed all too short haha. It just made me excited to get home and show you all the pictures and tell you all the stories. It will be great. My companion didn't get to talk to his family on Christmas day, but the next day we went back to the chapel and he called them with a calling card. Then I got to wait and do nothing while he talked. So it balanced out.
It's weird to think that Phil is already home and that I'm already 5 months on my mission working on my 6th! It's just plain weird.

On Friday we got kicked out of a house. It was pretty funny actually. We were teaching this girl (who's about 30-40 yrs old) and her drunk father walks in and says "do we owe you anything?". We explained we were just missionaries. Then he said "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!". We were a little confused. His daughter said no its fine, stay. Then the father started saying something about this is earth and heaven is heaven and asked us if we thought we were better than him. We tried reasoning but that doesn't work too well when someone is intoxicated. So we left and it made the daughter cry that her father would be so rude. That was sad.

This past Sunday we had a lot of bad bad luck. First we had to ride like 10k's just to our lunch appointment. After we rode back our 3rd,4th,and 5th ended up all being gone. Trying to find something to do we went to see Agent Mishak. He's been trying to get baptized but won't come to church and was having a hard time stopping smoking. A few weeks ago he seemed to be all done with everything and seemed so intent on coming to church. The next Sunday, no Agent. Then last week we went to help him build his cucu's nest and he wasn't there. We kept checking on him but he wasn't there! We thought he might have died (he's very old). Then on Sunday we went to see him since he didn't come to church again. This time he was drunk! It made me feel sick. We've been working so hard and then here is Agent just drunk saying he wants to get baptized and how he doesn't need to quit drinking until after he's baptized. People really turn into someone they're not when they're drunk. It's ridiculous. I can't stand it. So we set an appointment to come back when he was sober. That really brought me down though, especially being on top of everything else that went wrong yesterday....But you know... missionary work is not supposed to be easy.

On Saturday we went to see Sannah who I've told you about. She has such a strong testimony and has hardly come to church once! She lives so far from the school and she is very busy. She cried on Saturday because she feels it is so true and wants to be baptized so much and come to church every Sunday so much. It's amazing to see how in such humble and even bad circumstances (her mother and sister are very sick) she can feel so much joy, and you know it's because it's true. The church is true. Experiences like that just help me to keep going. Especially after days like yesterday. Hopefully the holidays will end soon. Then everything will be back to normal.

Thanks for all the support. You know I need it and I appreciate it so much.

Love you all
-elder robinson

My Week in Pictures

2008-12-17T11:35:00.000-08:00

Baptism of: (from left back) Nombuso, Elder Bloom, Sarah, Babalwa, Zola, me,
(Front): Johanna and her brother Paul

A typical day in Tsakane (my planner):

Then a long day ended with some cokes. Elders: Gideme, Burnett, me, Hawker, Pugsley

The weather is getting pretty hot. Rain storms are very frequent.

So yesterday we had two more baptisms. Dallis and Gladys. A husband and wife who will be a huge addition to our branch. I can't wait to see them progress. I performed the baptism for Gladys. It was way cool. I'm getting kinda lazy with pictures, I know. But I'm gonna make a picture CD soon and send a bunch home. One of my flatmates, Elder Hawker has lost a bunch of pictures from his memory cards getting corrupted. So I don't want that to happen to me. There are a lot of virus' in this country everywhere you go. It's crazy.

Well that's all for this week. Thanks for the love and support.

Love, elder robinson

Normal Week

2008-12-11T11:20:00.000-08:00

Our mission is having a Christmas party next Tuesday. Then transfers are the next day. I should be in Tsakane for another 6 weeks, but you never know. I see my mission president every 6 weeks at zone conference where we have interviews. My district leader is my companion and he's awesome. Then my zone leaders, Elder Pugsley and Gideme are also awesome. Pugsley especially just knows how to be a good leader. He's an awesome missionary and knows how to lead without managing.

This coming Sunday we are suppose to have a husband and wife baptized. They will be interviewed this week so we'll see. The holidays have made missionary work frustrating. I mean we are extremely busy and teach a lot... but hardly anyone will come to church. The frustrating part is that you think you've had a successfull week and then noone shows up to church- and really that's what shows how interested they are. So besides that we've had a rather normal week. We got a replacement car on Thursday which was sweet. We're able to get around better. Much better. We still only have the car every other day but at least on the off days we can have the bikes now. That's awesome.

Well I guess that's all for this week. I'm safe and healthy! I love you all

Love, elder robinson

Holidays on the Mission

2008-12-04T11:01:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was our flat-mate's birthday so we went to Ocean Basket and had some seafood. It was good, but not thanksgiving. I'm just excited for Christmas! I can't wait to call home so I can tell you all how it really is here. Also, can we set something up with Camilla so I can talk to her? Are they coming this Christmas? If not maybe I can talk to her over the webcam or something.

Yes, we're still walking around. It's not fun. Believe me. Phil (Hall) is going home on December 17th. I'll be there at the transfer meeting to see his family. That will be cool.

You know, here in South Africa there are a lot of poor people but not neccesarily poverty. What I mean is that like up in Zim, Sudan and central Africa it's much much worse. That being said, Americans would still be very surprised at the conditions that people live in here. It's pretty sad sometimes. I do serve in a little branch called the Tsakane branch. We have a few active priesthood holders... like three reliable ones. It's very frustrating. In fact on Sunday I led the music, passed the sacrament with Morris(a recent convert) while Wandile(a recent convert) blessed along with Rosewell (the branch clerk/everything else that people won't do). Our branch President is ok...he couldn't come to church yesterday because of work though(he's a teacher and was grading tests). So on top of all this on Sunday I also was chosen to confirm two of the 5 that were baptized last week. The fun part was that only 2 of the 5 showed up before sacrament. I was pretty mad. Luckily we were able to do it at the end of the meeting because one of them was leaving this week for a month or so...and so we had to get her confirmed. It was a stressful sacrament meeting. Besides that, our branch is pretty lame. We have a few strong awesome members, but besides that the rest are pretty lame. I mean last Sunday we had 92 at
church. This Sunday we had less than 50. Most of which didn't even show up till after the Sacrament. It gets pretty frustrating and it will only get worse around the holidays. The schools here are kind of like the year round schools back home. Except the end of the school year is now and it starts again in January. This world is messed up. People even see the light and gain a testimony here but they let it die so easy. You know how people were reading the BOM and coming to church in Africa before the church was even here? Well that takes on a new meaning for me now. I suspect that they really didn't know what was going on. Here church is just church. It doesn't mean anything more. No one is concerned with doctrine...even members of the church. I mean I can't say everyone. Once in a while you come across people who are concerned with important things...there is simply an overwhelming culture of
church in this country...it's a business.

Well enough about that. Even still I love missionary work and time is just flying by too fast. It's gonna be gone before I know it. I can't believe December is here already. We've been increasing our teaching pool and gaining smarter more competent interested people than before. So I'm excited. We'll see what happens.

I hope everything is going well back home!! I love you all.

Love, elder robinson

Really Felt Like a Rebirth

2008-11-27T20:18:00.000-08:00

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

Boom!

2008-11-19T09:52:00.000-08:00

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

Keeping Busy

2008-11-14T10:37:00.000-08:00

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

Going Strong

2008-11-05T10:41:00.000-08:00

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

Best Days of My Life

2008-10-27T18:30:00.000-07:00

To answer some questions: We are on bikes or in a car. My first 6 weeks we were on bikes everyday except Thursdays and Saturdays. Now we've got it Tuesdays as well. We share the car with the other elders in our flat. They work at Kwa-thema.. the neighboring township.

I will see Phil again. I should see him at these transfers on November 5th, that's when I lose my trainer too. I'm going to get a new companion in about a week. I am a
little nervous. Elder Brown and I get along very well and we are doing so much good work. With 11 people on baptismal date and a few more possibly on the way, I'm not sure I am up to taking over my area. I just hope I get a sweet new companion. Also, everyone in my branch loves Elder Brown. I have a big name to live up too. He was like the spark that got this place going and now I'm gonna have to keep it going. I guess we'll see what happens.

So there's not too much new this week. This Sunday I confirmed Wandile, it went well. We had an investigator show up to church that we've been teaching since I got here. She hasn't been able to come to church because she works everyday and when she hasn't been working she is too poor. She started crying on Saturday night when we taught her because i gave her 50 rand to get to church (thru taxis). She has wanted to come to church so bad. Then she made it and started crying when she had to leave after gospel principles. It was such a good day. This week has just been fun. My companion has started to open up more and we joke a lot more. We still are working hard but having so much fun at the same time. Man this place is just hoppin. I can't wait until next month comes and we can try to get all of these people baptized who
say they want to. It will be a challenge.

Thanks for the love and support. I'm having the best days of my life and they are going too fast. I love you all!

Love, elder robinson

Bittersweet

2008-10-22T13:05:00.000-07:00

The Johannesberg Temple

Well we were supposed to have three people baptized on Sunday, but then something happened. One of our investigators tried to kill herself. She tried to OD on some medicine that was for her dad. She didn't even get close to succeeding but she still went to the hospital. So the day that we were supposed to interview her we went to her house. She had left a note on why she wanted to kill herself and she said it was her family. When we went to the interview she was at her Aunt's house. So instead we just had a talk with her family. Now you have to know that by family I mean that she lives with her Uncle because her father died and her mother can't support her. She also has a brother from another father(same mother) that lives in this house. Then there are two daughters of the uncle who live there. The oldest daughter was baptized about 3 months ago and has an illegitimate baby, the younger sister and the brother were baptized last month. So you'd think that some Christ-like love would be over-taking the atmosphere of the home. This is what was so frustrating. The younger sister who lives in the home has something against her cousin, Johanna, our baptismal candidate. Anyways, we tried breaking down some of these barriers but all this little sister could do was laugh. Her cousin (who she calls her sister) just tried to kill herself. We asked her how she would have felt if she had succeeded. She just said "awe she would been buried, it would have been fine"... this made me very angry. All I could think was to pull out the pride card and shambock her with some scriptures. It didn't seem to have any effect on her. I'm not sure what to do. So that was very frustrating, but the week ended happy.

We baptized two future priesthood holders.
(L-R) My companion, Elder Brown, Wandile, Ernest and Me

They are both very smart, one of them even used to be a Jehovah's Witness(who know their scriptures very well). They both had a lot of issues with the gospel at first. It even took a while but eventually they came through. One of them was taught by the older couple missionaries that work with us. So we owe that one to them. The other, Ernest, was originally taught by my companion and his previous companion. I simply got to reap the reward of all their hard work. But still it was an amazing baptism. Their testimonies are so strong and they are going to be huge additions to this ward. We have 10 people on date for next month. It's going to take a lot of work to get them all to go through. We'll see how that works out.

Here are a few other pictures:
The township we are working in.

Another picture of our flat!

Love, elder robinson

My First Confirmation

2008-10-13T19:30:00.000-07:00

It is getting very warm now and there are very few a\c units in all of Africa. So, our flat has no a\c or heat. They say up in Botswana and where it gets really hot it's easy to get up on time because you can't sleep once the sun comes up! We'll see when it gets hotter. We don't tract into white people at all. In fact the only time I've taught a white person was on exchanges when I taught in town. Only black and colored people live in townships. It is very segregated still. Even though there are a lot of blacks in the government, it's just that many years of aparteid takes a long time to change. There are a lot of problems in this country. The funny thing is that South Africa is the "most stable country" in Africa, yet they just illegally impeached their president a few weeks ago- with only 6 months left in office. So there is a lot of turmoil. But hey, life goes on. It could be worse. It could be war. Let's just cross our fingers against that one.

So this week:
Well not too much happened this week. We put a few more people on date and now we have 13 on date for baptisms. Our neighboring township (Kwa Thema) has 20 people on date! But they have a chapel. If we had a chapel we'd be exploding too. Even still the work is going forward fast. We have tons of investigators, almost too many to keep up with. This sunday we had the confirmations of those that were baptized two weeks ago. One of them, the young man Paul, asked me to confirm him. My first one. Man I was nervous. But ya know what, I prayed in the morning and I really felt led by the spirit as I gave him his blessing. It was awesome.

Love, elder robinson

Summer is Coming

2008-10-11T11:46:00.000-07:00

My first baptism last week. We had three in one day!

Hello!

It is too cold to be summer. The weather is pretty crazy right now. It finally rained though. It was perfect too. We went in for a lesson, it rained the whole lesson, and then it stopped by the time we were done. Also, our bikes were not even wet.

I'm going to try to make the pap and meat that they eat here. I can't wait to make some of this stuff for you guys when I get home. I'm gonnna try and make my own kotas for you. It's great. We do have a microwave though and a stove. We do run into people that don't speak English and normally we just keep going on. Most people know English and unless they are really interested we just use our time on people that will be able to understand. In fact this week we started tracting in Gelukstal (thats pronounced Hall-uk-Stall with a gurgle on the H... its Afrikans). It's an area in Tsakane that has nicer houses and is almost completely colored (that means black/white mix). Anyways, it's sad but true that the whiter they get the higher economically they get. It's a sad reality and a product of my ancestor... DF Malan. I haven't really read Preach My Gospel from cover to cover. But that is not how you are suppose to read it anyways. More like I study the parts that are revelent to me
at the time. I should be studying out of it more though. I'm trying to do that. I am better with my scriptures but no where near a scriptorian haha. It's really hard for me to remember where certain scriptures are. I'll get better at that though. I'll try to write Sister Walker. She's awesome.

Elder Phil Hall and I met up at transfers.

A peek at our flat:

Well this week was not too exciting. Monday we just played basketball in the township. Then this weeek there weren't too many interesting stories. I guess the most excitement was General Conference. Man, I love General Conferece now. We watched the Saturday morning session live on Saturday at 6-8pm then a rebroadcast of the priesthood and Saturday afternoon sessions at 11am and 2pm on Sunday. Then we watched a live session of Sunday morning at 6pm on Sunday. So we only missed the last session. Did Elder Holland talk in the last session? If he didn't that would be disappointing. At least I can read it when the Ensign comes in a month. My companion and I kind of got annoyed by how lightly the Africans take conference. At almost every session the chapels we went to would have been empty if it wasn't for the missionaries, besides a few members. But yeah, I love hearing from the Apostles and Prophets. It's sweet. I hope you guys enjoyed conference as much as I did.

Well that's all for this week. I'm going to cook the navajoes this week so we'll see how that goes. Thanks so much for the support. I do realize how lucky I am to have such a strong family in the gospel. I am blessed for it and others will be blessed for it as I am an instrument in the Lord's hands. Thanks again for everything. I love you all.

love, elder robinson

ps. It's not really that cold. It's actually started to finally warm up. We had a hot, hot day just this week. Summer is coming!

Sweet Week

2008-09-29T10:40:00.000-07:00

This week was sweet. First of all, Wednesday, was transfers and I got to see Phil Hall. Transfers was sweet. My first transfer not being a greeny! ha, but anyways, that night we went to Sister Johanna's place for dinner. This week she was trying to make lasagna for the first time after my companion taught her last week. Man, it was some of the best lasagna I've had! Her oven is one of the tiny microwave size ovens. It was awesome. But the real highlight of the week was Sunday. Sunday was baptisms! No, I didn't get to baptize anyone but it was an experience.....

So we started off going to church. It was a cold day but we still had 11 investigators and a good amount of members show up. When Africa gets cold, Africa stops. Anyways, our branch is growing. Then after sacrament meeting my companion and I went to bake some breadstick things for the baptism. Once we got over to the Kwa-Thema Chapel (the neighboring township, where the elders we live with work), I thought the branch president would actually take care of something. Nope. My companion was getting ready to baptize and so I had to make sure everything was going right. Man it was stressful. I pulled out my camera and ten black hands reached for it trying to grab it saying, "borrow me borrow me". It was frustraing just to take pictures! Then when the service started we still couldn't relax. I had to lead the music and my companion had to play the keyboard. Oh and something funny... after pictures we walked into the room to find everyone sitting there with our elder's quorum president siting up by the keyboard playing the preset tunes on the keyboard "When The Saint Come Marching In" with the horns and everything...I was just thinking how spiritual this is going... haha. But anyways it ended up all working out and they made it through. Finally we were able to relax. When we were eating the refreshments one of our investigators came up to my companion. So this investigator used to have the missionaries teach him but he was just a Jehovah's Witness who wanted to bible bash. He was dropped by the missionaries and stopped coming to church. But then a few weeks ago he came to church and became interested again. We taught him for the first time in a while just last week. Then he came to the baptism and afterwards asked my companion if he could be baptized. It was awesome. That makes 6 people we've made baptismal dates for this week. All together that's 9 people we have on date for Oct/Nov baptisms with like 3 more on the way to be on date. The work is going great. We are blessed so much and it only motivates us to work harder.

I hope everything continues to go great for you back home. Sounds like you are doing well. We're trying so hard to get the members involved with our teaching. Since they don't give us referrals we'll just take them along with us. Hopefully with all the baptism zeal they'll get into it.
Love you, hope your doing fine!

Love, elder robinson

Say Something

2008-09-23T19:15:00.000-07:00

The backyard where we stay. The flat we stay in is above the garage of the house you see on the right.

I am going to see Phil Hall at transfers this week. He's leaving Sandton and my companion has never missed a transfer meeting and doesn't want to break the tradition... haha. I'm going to buy a camera no matter what today because we have baptisms this Sunday. Three actually. The weather is really weird right now. The rains were supposed to come like a month ago but haven't and its supposed to be getting hot. Instead it just gets really cold and on Sundays no one will come to church. Yesterday it was freezing in fact. When Africa gets cold, Africa shuts down.

So for this week... First of all last Monday we went to a tri-zone p-day where we played rugby. That is a fun sport. Then we went to a buffet where i had tongue(I think cow) for the first time along with crocodile. That was not that good, in fact the whole buffet was Africa at its best. Not that great. Then on Wednesday we went to this former investigator's house who just started coming back to church. We were going to give her a baptism date. Then she told us she had gotten pregnant recently and wants to have an abortion. She was crying. I had no idea how to handle the situation. My companion was the same and tried to say something that didn't really answer the problem much. Then I felt as though I should say something. As soon as I started talking it was like I was overcome and just kept talking. I didn't know what to say but the Spirit did. I even went to a scripture, Alma 39, thinking this isn't a good scripture- all it does is condemn. But when I got to it there was a great scripture in there of hope and relief. I think I helped her to see what the right choice would be... Well, the Lord helped her see. Man, it was a sweet experience.

Right after we went to our dinner appointment at Sister Johanna's house. This is where my companion cooked lasagna. It was so fun. Before my companion and I Sister Johanna and her family didn't really like missionaries. The two daughters who live there don't even eat with us usually. But this day they did. I think we've opened them up to missionaries. This week one of the daughters, Larotto, is coming to an appointment with us. Missionary work is fun.

On Sunday something awesome happened, or really someone. Mom you know that article you sent me in my package about Elder Watson just being called to be a Seventy in Africa? Well I read it and thought it was cool. Then I get to church and guess who walks in the door...Elder Watson. It was so cool to see him there. He took a few minutes at the end of the meeting to speak and I love how General Authorities are so good at taking simple doctrines and making them profound. It was sweet. I talked to him and he told me that he'd take my greetings to President Monson when he went back for General Conference. Yep, Elder Robinson is going places... hahah. Everyone keeps saying that I'll be AP which i hate. I don't want to be stuck in an office all day. But our (me and my companion's) prophesy is that I will open Francistown up in Botwana. We'll see if that happens.

Here I am with a local.

Well that is my week. I'm going to get a camera today whether my Pakistani friend, Solomon, has one for me or not. I hope everything is going well in stockton and it's great to hear from you with the update! Oh and keep sending me pictures. Especially older pictures from family renions, pole vaulting, hikes. Time to go now. Tsakane sends its love!

love, elder robinson

ps. i have been leading the music in church for the past while and my comp plays the piano. thanks mom :)

Missionary Days

2008-09-16T17:18:00.000-07:00

So for my typical day. Well, we get up at 6:30am and shower/eat/get ready. Then we study until about 10:00am, then we usually head to our area. Then we usually have appointment's all day that mostly fall through so we'll go check on people or just tract. Then we are fed dinner Monday through Thursday at 7pm. Then we head back to the flat after. It's a pretty full day usually. When we're in the area we work hard trying our best to find people and teach. It really isn't that hard. I mean this place is just ready to explode. I mean we are always teaching, the hard part is finding people that are actually interested or getting them to be committed. That is hard.

This week we taught 27 lessons. That's a little above normal. But it is usually around there. Once we get a chapel though, man, we are going to have 20 investigators at church every Sunday. This week we had nine. That's still pretty good. I mean the members were even saying how we are working hard. They notice. That means the previous missionaries were lazy. We've heard how they used to go to a member's house and watch movies. Lazy! But we're working hard. Pretty soon we'll be out of the school into like a portable chapel, and then some missionaries will eventually get to see them move into a chapel. I think it will be a stake center. We'll see though.

Nothing too exciting happended this week. Today we're having a tri-zone p-day. We are playing football and then going to a buffet. It should be fun. I miss you all and I love you.

love, elder robinson

Spring Week

2008-09-08T16:56:00.000-07:00

Quite a bit happened this week. Well, really this weekend. So this past week is called Spring Week with Spring Day on Saturday. It's some stupid excuse for everyone to waste money and get drunk. In some townships they throw water on everyone. Luckily not ours.

Anyways, on Saturday we drove up to this street to check on some people. We saw this guy being chased and having things thrown at him. Not a rare occurence in the township. So we went and taught our lesson. When we came out we looked across the street. Now everyone has a fence or wall around their yard so we couldn't see what was on the ground but we saw these guys kicking something and smashing something with crates. As we walked up, a guy was sitting on the ground taking all this abuse. My companion decided we were going to help him and I knew it was the right thing to do, so I followed. As we came closer one guy picked up a brick and rushed at the guy but someone else stopped him. The mob stopped when they saw unfundizi's (that's us) coming up, but this guy was already badly hurt. My companion took out his first aid kit and bandaged him up. All while they were still yelling at each other to the point where the father of the house came out with a machette. That's when things got intense. Now anyone reading this do not fear for my life. You see, Africans respect pastors and stuff so our white shirts and ties protected us. Plus when we walked up these guys who were beating him were really nice and just wanted us to help get him away. That was the whole problem. You see this guy owed the old man of the house some money. Instead of paying he always wants to come and fight the old man. This time some younger guys from next door came to help the old man. The one who got beat up would just not give up and their anger got away from them. Anyways, so the bobba is sitting there with his machette threating this guy's life, swearing and whatnot. It took too long to get this guy off the property and we finally got him back to where he stays. But it wasn't over. We assumed where he stays would be like his family or something. We walk in with him and everyone is sitting around the kitchen table. They just stare. we ask if the guy lives there. The Grandma starts yelling in zulu, so we back out. A man follows us and starts yelling at this guy in zulu. He tells us he'll take it from here..... whew. Later we hear more yelling. We go back to this house where we took him and everyone is just yelling at him. Finally after some yelling and some slapping of belts he goes out and sits on the curb. A guy from the house comes out with a huge bucket of water and dumps it on the hurt guy. Supposedly that is a symbol of rejection. We end up finding out that this guy is from Mozembique and has no family in Tsakane. He's also been doing some drugs which made things worse. Oh and to top it all off we called the police at the beginning of all this. They are worthless. Man, it was a crazy experience. But that man would have surely died if we didnt help him.

Just another disclaimer: Mom, never were we in any danger. In fact our being there is what kept more fighting and stuff from happening. So we were paying attention to what was going on... don't worry. But yeah, that's my crazy story for the week. Hope you enjoyed.

love, elder robinson

p.s. This week I found out that Tsakane and the greater area of Tsakane has somewhere around 2.5 million people. Who'da thunk?

Getting IT

2008-09-04T18:10:00.000-07:00

The usual has been going on down here this week. Actually it was pretty busy. On Tuesday we had my first zone conference where we got to see all the other missionaries. That was pretty cool. Then we went to Pretoria on Thursday because my companion was asked to teach some of the youth there, the haka. He's Samoan but he's from Salt Lake City, Utah. Anyways so that was cool. Plus we went to the biggest mall in the Southern hemishpere which is in Pretoria. It was pretty cool. To be honest I was a little annoyed that we wasted a day and a half in Pretoria just to teach the haka. The real reason was that my companion was trained in Pretoria and he had area sickness bad. But we still did good work when we were in our area.

On Saturday I had a cool expereince that reminded me why I am on a mission. We have been teaching this lady that lives way away from the church building and hasn't come to sacrament meeting yet. We'd taught the whole first and second lesson and she always gave the typical "yes, yes, yes, i love jesus" response. She just didnt get it. To top it off she always had this friend there who was a sangoma(witch doctor) which was kinda weird. But then on Saturday we went to see her expecting to tell her we'll make another appointment when she comes to church(our way of dropping people). When we walked in she was sitting at the table with her Incwadi kamamoni (Zulu Book of Mormon) open, all marked up and she was smiling. We sat down and asked her how the reading and praying was going. She got so excited and told us that she felt so happy and peacful whenever she prayed to know. She said that she did know that its true. To top it off she said her friend, the sangoma, had felt the same and was excited to talk to us. I felt bad that we had to leave to go to a dinner appointment, but man it felt good to finally see someone get it.

Well that is all from TSAKANE. I hope everything is going well. I love you all and miss you.

love, elder robinson

Tsakane Greetings!

2008-08-25T15:30:00.000-07:00

Missionary Training Center (MTC) group

I am out of the MTC and my preparation-day (P-day) is now on Monday. I saw Elder Philip Hall at the transfer meeting and the day before also. It was so awesome to see someone i know here. He's crazy but a really good missionary. He serves in the richest city in the southern hemisphere- Sandton, so you know he's good. He's also the Zone Leader over that area.

Oh and when you do send any packages make sure and write on the package "missionary supplies", put pictures of the temple from church magazines, and dont mark the contents to be over about $30. The pictures and stuff will help to keep people out and if you put a big price tag on it I have to pay a big amount to get it thru customs.

I am assigned to serve in the Tsakane area, right outside of Springs. Tsakane (you dont really say the T) is a dirty little township where people live in conditions you wouldnt believe. Its really amazing how content they are with their cement walls and sometimes aluminum walls. Some of the houses are about as big as our den and so no one uses their front door. We always have to go to the back door. The work is great. We usually tract for about an hour everyday because of cancelled appt's and we'll do about 4 houses teaching about 3 lessons. We have a branch in Tsakane that meets in a little school classroom. On Sunday I saw the meeting for the first time and there were about 37 people there including my self. My trainer, elder brown, said that was a bad day because it was a cold and windy day. Yes, it does get cold here!! Its weird. Actually at night I have to sleep with wool socks and a sweatshirt to stay warm because we don't have heaters and there is no insulation. Its great. Anyways, our goal is to turn this branch into a ward. Right now we have about 50 average attendees and we need 70. But most of all we need worthy priesthood holders. It seems like the women are very accepting but the men are just drunks... well most of them. we have some good prospects on men though. Hopefully we'll be baptizing about 3 or 4 in the next month... hopefully. Something interesting about how they live is that they are so poor yet almost everyone has a cell phone. Most people have t.v.'s and some sort of sound system. Instead of saving up to get out of poverty they just spend it on stuff that will probably get stolen anyways.

Here are some pictures from a game reserve we visited recently:

So yesterday i drove a manual transmission on the left side of the road for the first time. It was weird. I drove Phil's beamer like twice but its definitely harder than it looks (manual trans). I'll get it though.

Much love, I'm doing great, and stay well family. Fill me in on the details and send letters!!

love elder robinson

Farewell Elder!

2008-07-22T10:53:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, July 21, 2008 I gave my farewell talk in church. A lot of friends and family came to hear me speak. Afterwards, everybody gathered at the house for food and last minute advice. Here are some pictures.

The extended family

Loving James, not so much Alex

Me, my niece Camilla and my sister Amber

Me, my seminary teacher Sister Walker, Alex

Clara, Jacob, Kelly

The "goodbye" bonfire