March 29, 2010

Dear Home,

 

On Tuesday, durring District meeting, our District Leader, Elder Eyers (pronounced Airs) asked who felt like a champion that day. I did, so I volunteered. Then Elder Eyers pulled out a big chocolate cake and challenged me to eat the whole thing. At first, I didn't really see where he was getting at.

  What? So, you want me to eat the cake?

Yep. Eat the cake.

   The whole thing??

All of it.

   No way... I can't eat that whole thing!

Just try it!

  But I don't want to ruin it.

 

They cut me a slice, and I ate it, but I ate so fast I almost gagged. The moral of the story is that missionary work is so big, no one can do it all by themselves. We need to help each other out. So, we all had cake.

 

Not many note-worthy things happened on Wednesday, but on Thursday, I went on an exchange with Elder Eyers. It went alright, but whenever we went to a teaching appointment, the person we were supposed to be teaching wasn't there. It was really disappointing, and Elder Eyers got frustrated. Not that I blame him. He's extremely busy, even for a missionary. Seriously, all day long while I was with him, we were so busy running to and from appointments that we didn't even have time to stop and have lunch. Or dinner. It must be so hard being a District Leader. I don't think I'm up to it just yet. The mental and emotional stress would be too much for me.

 

Friday: I'm still with Elder Eyers. He wakes up with a killer headache (not a huge surprise, considering his stress levels). We couldn't work all morning and didn't leave the apartment until noon. Again, no time for lunch. He had a meeting to get to, and lots of appointments and exchanges after that. I feel sorry for that man. =/

 

Note: My mom asked me how I'm sleeping, and I've got to say that I'm sleeping pretty well. Sometimes I wake up before my alarm and can't get back to sleep, but other than that, I normally sleep well all through the night. It helps that this apartment has really comfortable beds. When I go on exchanges and spend the night in other places, I don't sleep quite as well.

 

Saturday: BAPTISM! =D Sister Stacy.... I can't spell her last name, enterred the waters of baptism and was confirmed the next day. That was so exciting. ^^ I'm glad I was able to be there. That one investigator, "Thomas", was able to come, too. He enjoyed it, and got a good taste for what his baptism will be like. =)

 

Something funny: Before the baptism, Elder Brown and I were sitting in the lobby, waiting for Tom. While we were waiting, a pigeon flies out of nowhere and runs right into the glass doors. It stood outside, looking dazed, then made a second attempt to get in, encountering the glass yet again. I got my camera out ((Note to Ben: You ALWAYS carry your camera as a missionary.), but before I could get a picture of the poor bird, someone walked up and scared it off. The pigeon bounced off the window again, for the third time, as he made his exit. I feel a little sorry for that bird, but I still can't help but laugh a little.

 

Sunday: As missionaries, we're instructed to clean out the fridge an throw away the moldy stuff every month. It doesn't ever happen THAT often, but my companion and I cleared the fridge and the freezer yesterday, and man, it is CLEAN now! There's not as much food in it now, but everything that's in there is well worth eating, AND we have a lot of freezer space for the ice cream we're going to buy today. I'm looking forward to that ice cream party this Saturday! But not as much as I'm looking forward to General Conference, of course! 0=)

 

My time is probably more than spent (I forgot to check the clock when I logged on), but I just wanted to add a note about Elder Orr. He's a new missionary that Elder Davidson is training this transfer, and he is SO funny! I really hope I get to serve with him. And what's more, he really wants to serve with me! I was pretty suprised when he told me that, but I was even more suprised when he told me that I was one of his three favorite missionaries. But then again, how many missionaries does he know? =P

 

Gotta go.

 

Love, your day-planning missionary, Elder Andrew Robarts

March 22, 2010

Dear Home,

 

I have.... 40ish minutes left. I'm doing a lot better this week than in previous weeks! I hope I can keep it up!

 

  Last week, after P-Day activity, I realised that I didn't have my planner with me. My planner has my weekly shopping list in it, so I had to go by memory that week, but that was okay. I knew what we needed. After all the P-Day stuff, we went out to work, and I once again realized that I hadn't botherred to grab my planner, which had all the plans for what we were going to do that evening, but that was fine, too, because Elder Brown had his planner and he knew what we were doing (lesson learned: two heads are better  then one). That night, we went in to plan for the next day, and I still didn't know where my planner was. Did I leave it at the church? No matter. I found a blank day in one of my old planners and use that. The next day, we went to look for my planner at the church. No luck. My planner wasn't in the church. It wasn't in the apartment. It wasn't ANYWHERE. I had lost my planner.

  My mom has a planner, too. she uses some kind of portable computer device to record names, dates, addresses, phone numbers, To-Dos, appointments, and everything else. She calls it her brain. Last week, I lost my brain. I lost my mind. I had lost it. But luckily, there was a blank planner in our apartment, so I started filling that one up, and it's the one I'm using now. I'd better not lose this one! That would be terrible! D= Luckily, that's not going to happen. I'll keep good track of my planner from now on. ^^

 

  I've heard it said that any useful talent you have will be put to good use on your mission. Example: Brother Wanner put on a Celtic Music concert a while ago. He used electronic audio equipment, and asked the missionaries to help him take it down. Meaning that there were wires to coil up, and the missionaries and I were to be the ones to coil them. When I was younger, my father, who deals with electronic audio equipment all the time, had taught me how to propperly coil a wire, so when I was handed a wire to coil, I knew exactly what to do.

  But coiling wire isn't my only useful talent. I also like to write. Sister Paulson, the Mission President's wife, found out about this talent, and asked me to write the conversion story of one of our investigators, whom I've told you about. I think I called him Thomas. He's been having a lot of ups and downs lately, and the ups and downs have been becoming more and more dramatic as time goes by. He's VERY close to baptism, but he's also having family experiences that are tearing his soul apart. Please pray for him. He needs all the help he can get, and, with a little bit of Divine help, he'll feel ready for baptism soon enough.

 

  Most of the missionaries are done now, but I'm not! D= Why am I always the slowest one?

 

  Today marks the end of my 11th month as a missionary. One more month, and my mission will be half over! That's crazy! It doesn't feel like it's been that long. I'm not ready for my mission to be half-over! =( I'm learning too much out here! I want to keep it up!

 

  But now I have to go. =/ There's never enough time =(

 

Love, your The-Time-Is-Far-Spent missionary, Elder Andrew Robarts

 

PS, I love you! -hugs everyone- -hugs Mom again- Talk to you next week. =)

March 15, 2010

Dear Home,

I have received an abundance of blessings (particularly in the form of mail from home) this past week. I once again feel that I don't deserve the letters that I get because the letters that I send back are so few and far between. Oh, if only there was more time for writing letters, like there was in Prince Albert. But the good news is that I'll probably be transferred soon, since by the end of this transfer, I'll have been serving here for about 6 months, so I may be getting a companion that believes that writing letters home is a greater priority than the things my current companion likes to do on P-Days. But I won't worry about the things that are wrong with the world right now. I'm in a good mood and I don't want to spoil that.

About... -thinks back- two nights ago, that is, Saturday night, Brother Wanner put on a Celtic music concert in the church's cultural hall. It was a BIG success, as far as I'm concerned. The music was amazing. What talent there is in this city! And in the members of the ward, most of whom thought they had no musical talent. It seems that most people incorrectly assume that they don't sing well enough for others to enjoy hearing them. Those people are figuratively burying their talents by not using their gifts to please the heart and gladden the soul. Hundreds of people are missing out on great blessings because those that have the ability to bless their lives have jumped to the conclusion that they have nothing worth sharing. How very tragic. Join the choir. Make some joyful noise. Sing the praises of your Creator. Even if you appeal to no one else's ears, you will certainly please His, and He will find ways to thank you for sharing your talent with Him.

-sees the clock- Wait a second. How am I out of time already!? This is so upsetting! D= Too soon! I need more time!

I'll tell you my bus story anyway.

So my companion and I were trying to get to some guy's apartment, and we had to take a bus to get there. We got on a bus at a stop four blocks north of the apartment building we were going to, and the bus let us off right in front of the building. Great, right? Well, it would've been, but I had accidentally taken us to the wrong building. The building where this man /actually/ live was only two blocks south of where we got on the bus, and two blocks north of where we were at the moment I realized my mistake. Bottom line: We should've walked. But it didn't set us any farther back than where we were before, so it was no big deal. It was only the running through mud puddles to catch the next bus and ending up getting mud all over my suit pants that became a big deal. Fortunately, the mud wiped right off with a cloth, so that ended up not being a big deal either.

But now I really have to go. =(

Love, your time-constricted missionary, Elder Andrew Robarts

March 8, 2010

(in response to my email - Bits of Life - little Facebook type tidbits) Wow, a bunch of random stuf this week! It's all good stuff, but the missionaries I'm with now don't like to spend a lot of time Emailing. They'd rather be at the mall. -_- They'll just have to wait. But I don't want to make them wait TOO long. =/

 

In reply to what you said about the computer not workin: (whenI said "spit"):
Your coworker is right, euphamisms are dangerous things. One could easily mistake what you say, causing embarrassement and confusion. It's safer to say what you actually mean, but I'm still working on that.

 

Ruth's sonogram is exciting news! But why the name Naomi? Is it a Bible name? It kind of sounds like it. But it also sounds like a rather uncommon name. I'll look it up in the Bible Dictionary. Poor Jared! Another Girl! I hope she's a red-head.

 

I just checked. I've been on the computer for over an hour. x_X There's just never enough time. (Not my fault, my Bits were not that long.  Ok, who's getting all'his time??)

 

Luckily, I don't have much to tell you. I sang Ave Maria at a dinner appointment at the request of Sister Pulkinen, who feeds us every week and has us sing hymns. That went alright. I had to practice for weeks, though. I don't think Elder Brown liked that. =/

 

I have another funny bus story, but that can wait a week. But it won't take long for me to tell you that the rubber band ball that I started at the beginning of my mission now has 200 rubber bands on it. I'm halfway to the point where I'll be out of rubber bands! xD

 

All the other missionaries are done now, so I'd better get off, to be polite. =/ Talk to you all next week!

 

Love, your slow missionary, Elder Andrew Robarts

01 March 10

Dear Home,

This letter will probably be a short one this week. I'm somewhat pressed for time right now.

I know you deserve better, especially since last week all I wrote was a list of things I wanted to be updated on my blog  (most of which I changed but did not post in his blog - B), mostly my wishlist. How can I ask so much of you and offer so little in return? I must be a jerk. >_<

I know you've all heard this already, but I've just got to tell you (Mostly because it's such a huge deal around here) that Canada won the Gold Medals for both Mens and Womens ice hockey!! I wish I could've seen the Men's game USA vs Canada. I heard that it was a real fight to the finish! That would've been fun to see.
Hey, you remember Kevin Porter? He's the one getting baptised, standing between me and Elder Taylor. He had a Stake Priesthood Meeting recently, and he's going to be recieving the Melchezidek Priesthood! (Yes, I know I spelled that wrong.) Isn't that exciting?! I'm so encouraged to see that someone that I taught as a non-member is now progressing so far in the Gospel. ^^ It just makes me feel so happy inside. ^^

Oh, by the way, we got transfer calls. I'm staying here for another month and a half. I'm excited about that. ^^

Well, I've got a few more things that I wanted to tell you, but I don't think I have time. I'll have to save it for next week. Or later today, if I get more time. Until then, you know where to reach me.

Your Weekly Disappointing Missionary, Elder Andrew Robarts