Baptisms, Hiking and Teaching, A Day's Work

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!

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

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!

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

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

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

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