June 3,2009 Dear Loved Ones,

From: Andrew Robarts ElderRobarts@myldsmail.net
Date: Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 12:34 PM
Subject: Dear Loved Ones,
To: motherof8robarts@gmail.com

I have been unusually busy this week. I went on two 24 hour exchanges
this week (one with Elder Porter, one with Elder Adams(who's going
home at the end of this transfer)), and they've kind of thrown me off.
Hopefully this week will be a little less eventful.

It seems I forgot to tell you that my Companion, Elder Kirkland, is an
AMAZING cook. The pizzas he makes are incredibly good, and even the
regular stuff, like spaghetti, when he makes it, it tastes great. Yes,
I'm being well-fed. Elder K and I have had two dinner appointments so
far. The first was with the Stones, a local member family, and the
other was with the Eastmans, a senior couple in our mission, who
decided to throw me a late surprise birthday party. Leftover cake
tonight! ^^

I love the people in our mission. They're all so nice. ^^

We did some yardwork for Sister Crabtree, who's been helping us with a
mentally challenged investigator we have. She's been fellowshipping
Leslie for two years and she knows him better than anyone. He has had
a hard time quitting coffee in the past, but mostly thanks to Sister
Crabtree's encouragement, he's really making an effort. ^^ We've set a
baptismal date for him at the end of the month, and he's well on his
way to achieving that goal. ^^ It's really encouraging. =)

Oh! I almost forgot! I want to tell you about a few things that
happened when Elder Adams and I were on our 24 hour exchange. Okay
first, we've been walking all day. We're tired. We're thirsty. There's
20 minutes until the next bus comes. And there's a McDonalds just
across the street. Elder Adams had been craving a McDonalds ice cream
cone for MONTHS, so we pop in, we both get ice cream cones, then we go
back to the bus stop. No sooner than we got there, two homeless people
come up to us, tell us they've been walking all day, and ask us for
some money for food. Missionaries don't carry money, but we did have
our half-eaten ice cream cones. We offer. They accept. And they walk
away with the ice cream cones that we bought five minutes earlier. I
don't quite know what to make of that, but I'm sure God had a hand in
it.

Second story: We're back at Elder Adams's apartment. It's nighttime,
so we're updating the record books and planning tomorrow. However, the
record I'm updating has run out of room, so I have to do a little
cutting and taping to make more room. No big deal. So I take some
scissors and some tape, and- whoa. There's something different about
these scissors.
Elder Adams: Yeah, watch out. Those scissors are LEFT-HANDED!!!(emphasis added)
Elder Robarts: Really?! Are you left-handed, too?
Elder Adams: You're left-handed?
Elder Robarts: Yeah, and these scissors are RED, too! (Earlier, I had
mentioned that I have a red collection.)
Elder Adams: Yeah, I found those in my first area. I've brought them
along with me my whole mission. I'm not left-handed or anything; I
just brought them along. I had no idea why though- Until now.

And he GIVES me the RED, LEFT-HANDED Scissors! IS THAT NOT
INCREDIBLE?!? I had no idea that left-handed scissors even existed
until I came to own a pair. I will cherish these scissors for the rest
of my life.

Aaaannnndd that's about it. I have no other stories to report on,
Except that I wasn't able to send a letter home last week (ran out of
time). =( But I WILL send a letter home THIS week, today.
The CD hasn't been checked yet. Maybe I'll just have my District
Leader (who is also my companion) give it a listen and see what he
thinks. I /know/ it's okay. I just feel the need to get it cleared by
somebody.

Time is running short, so I'll close now. I love and miss every single
one of you That said, I love missionary work. ^^ I'm learning more
every day. I can FEEL myself gaining strength and experience. I'm
really glad I'm out here. ^^

See you in 23 months!
Your Happy Missionary, Elder Andrew Robarts.