Dear Home,
I have been in a busing area for over 6 months now, and as such, I've collected a few funny stories about catching (or trying to catch) and riding the bus. But the story that has been unfolding for the last week or so is the funniest story yet, even surpassing the time I tripped over my own feet trying to quickly cross an intersection to catch a bus that was passing us simultaneously.
It all started when Elder Wallace went home (for medical reasons. He's coming back next transfer). His companion, Elder Bennett, then went into a tri-panionship with the Zone Leaders, leaving his car driverless, so the powers that be decided that Elder Grimshaw and I could use their car for the rest of the transfer, including most of the month of January. So we didn't need to buy bus passes this month.
Then the transfer ended and the car went back to Elder Bennett, meaning that Elder Brown (I haven't told you about him yet, have I? Remind me later.) and I are busing, hence, we need bus passes. Of course, you wouldn't buy a monthly bus pass when there's only 10 days left in the month, so we planned on buying day passes. Now I need to share a little math. A monthly bus pass costs about $68 (Canadian). Day passes cost about $6 apiece (also Canadian). 10 Day Passes x $6 per pass = Almost enough to be worth buying a monthly pass, when there's only 1/3 of the month left. The moral of the story: Buy the month pass. But that's only the first part of the story, and I only had to tell you all that to explain why we're using Day Passes now. And now I'll continue the story.
Yesterday, it snowed. A lot. Luckily, we had our day passes (which work kind of like scratch cards. You scratch off the day and the month you want to use), so we were glad that we wouldn't have to walk everywhere in the bad weather. Then Brother Wanner called. We were having dinner with the Wanners that night and he knew we were busing, so he called to let us know that the buses were shut down that day because of all the snow on the road. But of course, we didn't get that phone call until AFTER we scratched off that date on our cards. So not only did we NOT get to ride the bus, we also used up a day pass as if we HAD gotten to. Elder Brown was not happy.
But walking back home from the Wanners was really fun! Elder Brown took out his camera and made a documentary of our voyage. We braved the blasting winds, trudged through mountains of freshly fallen snow, made a snow angel, and (barely) overcame the bitter cold. It was a LOT of fun! And the best part is that Elder Brown has it all on his camera.
I'd say this transfer is off to a great start. ^^
Much love, your cold-conquering missionary, Elder Andrew Robarts
PS. By the way, in case you couldn't tell by my snow angel comment, we /greatly/ exaggerated how bad the weather was. It was actually pretty nice. We were just glad we didn't have to drive much that day. The snow and ice on the road would've made things /very/ slow and unsafe. Luckily, we were on foot, so while it was slow going, we were completely safe the whole time (and having a lot of fun).
PPS. I almost forgot something that may or may not be pretty important. My new Email Address is 'andrew.robarts@myLDSmail.net'. I'm told that Emails sent to elderrobarts@myLDSmail.net will be forwarded to my new account, but just in case, try to remember to Email my new account, not my old (or current) one.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Dear Home,
First of all, the Transfer news. We got our call last night, and I'm staying in Oakwood (same address as before), but Elder Grimshaw's not. He's going to the Battlefords and will be serving with Elder Higginson. I'm going to miss him. It's been kind of a rough two transfers, but that's only because I've been coming to grips with how abnormal I am. I hadn't really noticed that it was a problem until I started serving in Saskatoon again and hung out with other missionaries more. Now I know when to be myself and when to be normal, so I'll be more "wise and mature in [my] conduct" from now on (Quote from the white handbook).
That's pretty much all I NEED to report. I want to talk about Tom too, but I'm not sure how much time I have left, so I'll just start and see how far I get.
Tom is doing well. He's been hanging out with the Andersons a LOT, and that's been really good for him. They have fun together (good, clean fun, which is more than his coworkers can offer him), and with the Andersons being as out-going and gospel-loving as they are, the subject of religion almost always comes up. And Tom /really/ loves to learn! The other day, we taught him the Plan of Salvation, and he wasn't done learning, so we taught him about the Atonement too. He has such great faith in Jesus Christ. ^^ He's quiet, but deep down, he knows that he's part of something bigger than himself, and after what he's experienced, he /has/ to know that the church is true. As he said himself, he's there in his heart, but his mind hasn't fully caught up yet. What does that mean, you ask? It means that we'll keep teaching him until his doctrinal conversion catches up with his spiritual conversion, and since he loves to learn, he has no problem with that. I'm really excited about Tom. He's such a great person, and his story is SUCH a testimony builder. Having seen his conversion unfold thus far, there is no doubt in my mind that this church has God's full support. I already knew the church was true, but after having met and taught Tom... Wow. It couldn"t NOT be true!
But anyway, I'm out of time. Talk to you later!
Love, your blessed missionary, Elder Andrew Robarts
First of all, the Transfer news. We got our call last night, and I'm staying in Oakwood (same address as before), but Elder Grimshaw's not. He's going to the Battlefords and will be serving with Elder Higginson. I'm going to miss him. It's been kind of a rough two transfers, but that's only because I've been coming to grips with how abnormal I am. I hadn't really noticed that it was a problem until I started serving in Saskatoon again and hung out with other missionaries more. Now I know when to be myself and when to be normal, so I'll be more "wise and mature in [my] conduct" from now on (Quote from the white handbook).
That's pretty much all I NEED to report. I want to talk about Tom too, but I'm not sure how much time I have left, so I'll just start and see how far I get.
Tom is doing well. He's been hanging out with the Andersons a LOT, and that's been really good for him. They have fun together (good, clean fun, which is more than his coworkers can offer him), and with the Andersons being as out-going and gospel-loving as they are, the subject of religion almost always comes up. And Tom /really/ loves to learn! The other day, we taught him the Plan of Salvation, and he wasn't done learning, so we taught him about the Atonement too. He has such great faith in Jesus Christ. ^^ He's quiet, but deep down, he knows that he's part of something bigger than himself, and after what he's experienced, he /has/ to know that the church is true. As he said himself, he's there in his heart, but his mind hasn't fully caught up yet. What does that mean, you ask? It means that we'll keep teaching him until his doctrinal conversion catches up with his spiritual conversion, and since he loves to learn, he has no problem with that. I'm really excited about Tom. He's such a great person, and his story is SUCH a testimony builder. Having seen his conversion unfold thus far, there is no doubt in my mind that this church has God's full support. I already knew the church was true, but after having met and taught Tom... Wow. It couldn"t NOT be true!
But anyway, I'm out of time. Talk to you later!
Love, your blessed missionary, Elder Andrew Robarts
Monday, January 11, 2010
01/11/10
Dear Home,
Maybe I should stop asking you guessing-game like trivia questions. But then again, if we stop doing the trivia thing, then I don't have to keep thinking of questions. And it would save me Email time anyway. But in case anyone was wondering, the game the Andresons invited us to play was Settlers of Katan. ((Note to Ben: By the way, Sister Anderson is planning on starting the Mistborn series pretty soon. Apparently she likes fantasy books. ^^ Small world, hey?))
In more important news, it's WEEK 5! That means that next week we'll be getting our transfer call, the call that tells us whether we're staying or whether we're going, and until then, I won't know where I'll be for the next month and a half. I hope we're both staying here. I'm probably staying, but Elder Grimshaw has been serving in this District (in this half of Saskatoon) for 6 months. That's a LONG time for a missionary to stay in an area. Still, I feel like the friendship Elder Grimshaw have developed has been short-lived compared to how long it took us to become friends. At least I can be confident that God knows what He's doing, no matter where He inspires President Paulson to send us.
In the meantime, we saw the Olympic Flame!!! It happened to be traveling through Saskatoon on a P-Day (today), and we got to go see it! We were too late to see it enter the park that we were in, but we got a picture with the person that brought it there, then we got pictures of the person who's running it to the next place. We actually got pictures of the flaming Olympic Torch in motion! THAT was fun!
A recent occurrence that's not quite as exciting, but worth mentioning is that the ward I'm serving in has gotten a new Ward Mission Leader. His name is Brother Steed, and he's REALLY excited about the work! Even better, he has a deep interest in our investigators, and he has great ideas of how we can get the regular members involved and excited about the missionary work in their ward. I can /definitely/ see this ward going places with Brother Steed's inspiring enthusiasm leading the work. I hope I stay in this area a little longer. It'll be amazing to see the changes that are taking place.
I'm so excited about missionary work. I've been having my ups and downs lately, but I /know/ that God has been blessing me, especially through other people, like Elder Grimshaw and Brother Steed. I love having the opportunity to serve the Lord and other people. It's been an amazing and very rewarding experience, and it's only 3/8ths over! I can't wait to see how much I've changed by the end of all this. I know it'll be an incredible change for the better. All of our experiences on Earth are designed to help us learn and grow, and I am SO grateful to have such a powerful experience as serving a mission to learn from. I'm going to have so many wonderful memories by the time I go home. If you ever get the chance, I would STRONGLY encourage you to serve a mission. You will learn so much about yourself and about the Lord, and the experiences that you have on your mission will bless you forever, at least, I've got a feeling that my mission is having that kind of effect on me.
I love you much and I'll write again next week!
Your Enriched Missionary, Elder Andrew Robarts
Maybe I should stop asking you guessing-game like trivia questions. But then again, if we stop doing the trivia thing, then I don't have to keep thinking of questions. And it would save me Email time anyway. But in case anyone was wondering, the game the Andresons invited us to play was Settlers of Katan. ((Note to Ben: By the way, Sister Anderson is planning on starting the Mistborn series pretty soon. Apparently she likes fantasy books. ^^ Small world, hey?))
In more important news, it's WEEK 5! That means that next week we'll be getting our transfer call, the call that tells us whether we're staying or whether we're going, and until then, I won't know where I'll be for the next month and a half. I hope we're both staying here. I'm probably staying, but Elder Grimshaw has been serving in this District (in this half of Saskatoon) for 6 months. That's a LONG time for a missionary to stay in an area. Still, I feel like the friendship Elder Grimshaw have developed has been short-lived compared to how long it took us to become friends. At least I can be confident that God knows what He's doing, no matter where He inspires President Paulson to send us.
In the meantime, we saw the Olympic Flame!!! It happened to be traveling through Saskatoon on a P-Day (today), and we got to go see it! We were too late to see it enter the park that we were in, but we got a picture with the person that brought it there, then we got pictures of the person who's running it to the next place. We actually got pictures of the flaming Olympic Torch in motion! THAT was fun!
A recent occurrence that's not quite as exciting, but worth mentioning is that the ward I'm serving in has gotten a new Ward Mission Leader. His name is Brother Steed, and he's REALLY excited about the work! Even better, he has a deep interest in our investigators, and he has great ideas of how we can get the regular members involved and excited about the missionary work in their ward. I can /definitely/ see this ward going places with Brother Steed's inspiring enthusiasm leading the work. I hope I stay in this area a little longer. It'll be amazing to see the changes that are taking place.
I'm so excited about missionary work. I've been having my ups and downs lately, but I /know/ that God has been blessing me, especially through other people, like Elder Grimshaw and Brother Steed. I love having the opportunity to serve the Lord and other people. It's been an amazing and very rewarding experience, and it's only 3/8ths over! I can't wait to see how much I've changed by the end of all this. I know it'll be an incredible change for the better. All of our experiences on Earth are designed to help us learn and grow, and I am SO grateful to have such a powerful experience as serving a mission to learn from. I'm going to have so many wonderful memories by the time I go home. If you ever get the chance, I would STRONGLY encourage you to serve a mission. You will learn so much about yourself and about the Lord, and the experiences that you have on your mission will bless you forever, at least, I've got a feeling that my mission is having that kind of effect on me.
I love you much and I'll write again next week!
Your Enriched Missionary, Elder Andrew Robarts
01/11/10 quick note
The Olympic Torch is coming to a park in our area pretty soon (or so we were told), so we're going to go see it, then come back to some other library later to finish Emailing. This is going to be exciting! I've never seen an Olympic Torch in person before!. I'm so glad the Olympics are in Canada this year. ^^ Everyone is being extra patriotic, which really helps to build on this whole Canadian experience I'm having. =)
Anyhow, I'll be back in a few hours. LOVE YA!
Your Canada-happy missionary, Elder Andrew Robarts
Anyhow, I'll be back in a few hours. LOVE YA!
Your Canada-happy missionary, Elder Andrew Robarts
Monday, January 4, 2010
January 4, 2010 - testimony of love
Dear Home,
I don't know what card game you're guessing about, but if I mentioned a card game arround Christmastime, I was probably referring to 'Bang!'. It's too complicated to try and explain with my limited computer time, but if you can find it, I recomend getting a copy. It's pretty fun. ^^
The giant inflatable thing was not a giant Santa. It was a jousting game. There were four foam platforms in the middle on an inflated landing area. The object of the game is to knock the other players off of their platforms by hitting them with long, foam sticks. There were several minor injuries, mostly bruises, but they're all healed now.
And the question: What did I recieve from the Wanners and leave in the home of the Andersons? A box of chocolate-covered cherries. They're okay... but I had a feeling that a woman like Sister Anderson would appreciate them more than I would. And she did! Except that we're all getting 'chocolated out' (Note to Mom: Yes, surprisingly, it /is/ possible to have too much chocolate. Most of it is MILK chocolate, though, so that might explain things.)
Today, for our P-Day activity, we went Bowling. So much for playing Basketball all the time! I got beaten pretty badly. It's MUCH easier on the Wii.
But in more exciting news, I got a package from Dad! It was a late Christmas present. ((I am SO lucky that I have such a large and loving family. I feel really privileged, especially this Christmas. Thanks so much to everyone who has given me something this year. ^^
But nothing I've recieved this year can compare in value to the Spirit I've felt these last few months. I know God's watching over me. He cares about me. He loves me, and He wants me to succeed in life. I'm so grateful to know that. I wish that everyone knew how much God loves them. The world would be a MUCH hapier place if everyone saw themselves the way God, our perfect, loving, Heavenly Father saw them. I wish everyone knew all that I know about the Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost. I wish everyone could recognise when they feel His pressence, and know what it means when He's around.
Yesterday, durring testimony meeting, one young man related an experience he had on a youth hiking trip. One of the leaders invited the boys to ask a certain question in their minds while they hiked back down the mountain. The question was: Does Heavenly Father really love us? When I heard the young man say that, my soul filled up, almost so much that I thought it would burst, and I /knew/ that Heavenly Father loves us, all of us, especially each of us, as individuals. I knew that God loves me. I felt a portion of His love inside me. I can hardly describe the way I felt. I just knew. And I still know. For a fact, I KNOW that God loves me. And I wouldn't trade that knowledge for anything in the world.
I wish that everyone knew how much God loves them. I felt a little piece of God's love yesterday, and until then, I barely understood. I still don't fully understand how much God loves me. There's a story that I'd like to share with you, but I'll have to share it later. I'm out of time.
Have a great year. Stay close to God. Try to feel His love for you, and express your love for Him. Read the scriptures. Say your prayers. Notice the good things in your life. Be happy.
Much love, Elder Andrew Robarts
I don't know what card game you're guessing about, but if I mentioned a card game arround Christmastime, I was probably referring to 'Bang!'. It's too complicated to try and explain with my limited computer time, but if you can find it, I recomend getting a copy. It's pretty fun. ^^
The giant inflatable thing was not a giant Santa. It was a jousting game. There were four foam platforms in the middle on an inflated landing area. The object of the game is to knock the other players off of their platforms by hitting them with long, foam sticks. There were several minor injuries, mostly bruises, but they're all healed now.
And the question: What did I recieve from the Wanners and leave in the home of the Andersons? A box of chocolate-covered cherries. They're okay... but I had a feeling that a woman like Sister Anderson would appreciate them more than I would. And she did! Except that we're all getting 'chocolated out' (Note to Mom: Yes, surprisingly, it /is/ possible to have too much chocolate. Most of it is MILK chocolate, though, so that might explain things.)
Today, for our P-Day activity, we went Bowling. So much for playing Basketball all the time! I got beaten pretty badly. It's MUCH easier on the Wii.
But in more exciting news, I got a package from Dad! It was a late Christmas present. ((I am SO lucky that I have such a large and loving family. I feel really privileged, especially this Christmas. Thanks so much to everyone who has given me something this year. ^^
But nothing I've recieved this year can compare in value to the Spirit I've felt these last few months. I know God's watching over me. He cares about me. He loves me, and He wants me to succeed in life. I'm so grateful to know that. I wish that everyone knew how much God loves them. The world would be a MUCH hapier place if everyone saw themselves the way God, our perfect, loving, Heavenly Father saw them. I wish everyone knew all that I know about the Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost. I wish everyone could recognise when they feel His pressence, and know what it means when He's around.
Yesterday, durring testimony meeting, one young man related an experience he had on a youth hiking trip. One of the leaders invited the boys to ask a certain question in their minds while they hiked back down the mountain. The question was: Does Heavenly Father really love us? When I heard the young man say that, my soul filled up, almost so much that I thought it would burst, and I /knew/ that Heavenly Father loves us, all of us, especially each of us, as individuals. I knew that God loves me. I felt a portion of His love inside me. I can hardly describe the way I felt. I just knew. And I still know. For a fact, I KNOW that God loves me. And I wouldn't trade that knowledge for anything in the world.
I wish that everyone knew how much God loves them. I felt a little piece of God's love yesterday, and until then, I barely understood. I still don't fully understand how much God loves me. There's a story that I'd like to share with you, but I'll have to share it later. I'm out of time.
Have a great year. Stay close to God. Try to feel His love for you, and express your love for Him. Read the scriptures. Say your prayers. Notice the good things in your life. Be happy.
Much love, Elder Andrew Robarts
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