The News!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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