April 26, 2010

Dear Home,

 

I am now safely settled into the Flin Flon, Manitoba area of the Canada Winnipeg Mission, but I don't actually live in Flin Flon. I live in Denare Beach, Saskatchewan, where some members own a motel that's right on Amisk Lake. (I had a quick lesson in Cree, the language of the natives here, and Amisk means Beaver, which is Canada's national animal, I think.) It's an incredibly beautiful area. If there wasn't a Don't Go Swimming rule, I'd borrow a boat form someone and check out a few of the hundred or so islands on the lake. If I'm able to raise some money up later on in my life, I'd like to come back for a visit some day. I know I have to visit Saskatoon with my Mom sometime. We've got a lot of bridges to walk across! Perhaps my trip to Flin Flon will include my (future) wife and kids instead.

 

On Wednesday morning, Elder Jons noticed a black animal on the far side of the bay (I thought it was the far side of the lake, but no, this lake is huge. You should try and find a map online, maybe). We thought it could be a bear, so we went out with our cameras and snapped some pictures. I got my camera to zoom in as close as it could, then I zoomed in on the picture as close as possible, and saw that the animal was not a bear. It was a beaver. But still, I got a good picture of it, and I'm very impressed with the zooming abilities of my camera. ^^ A very good buy. Thanks, Mom! ^^

 

Thursday was my year mark, or Hump Day, as most people call it. On that morning, driving from Denare Beach to Flin Flon, we saw a bear. A real black bear. Clearly. It crossed the road right in front of us. Picture, please? No. My camera was in my pocket, and Elder Jons's camera was in the back seat. By the time we were ready to capture the proof our sighting, the bear was in the woods on the other side of the street. I now keep my camera in the glove box, within quick and easy reach.

 

Mom asked me if I celebrated my Hump Day in any way. ...Yes and no. Elder Jons made pistashio pudding, which is really good! But we didn't do anything else. I was going to burn a tie, but I never got the chance. =/ Maybe later.

 

To set your and Mrs Miles's concerns to rest, we haven't been getting mosquitoes yet. A few popped up, but then some more snow fell and now they're gone again. They'll probably come back when the snow melts, but don't worry, I've already got the spray I plan on using. ^^ I'm safe. =)

 

On Saturday morning, we woke up to find over 6 inches of snow on the roof of the truck, and everywhere else, for that matter. Sadly, after about a week of glorious weather, just as I got used to wearing sunscreen again, it snowed, and it's been cloudy and kinda cold ever since then. Luckily, it's all going to melt away soon, or so I'm told. Appearantly, it's normal to get a freak snowstorm just after the end of winter. The locals almost count on it.

 

But that's about all that I have to report, and I think my time is up anyway, so I'll be logging off now.

 

Thanks for reading, and much thanks for those who write to me. I'll write to ya'll again next week. ^^

 

Much love, your missionary who almost feels like he's camping, Elder Andrew Robarts

April 19, 2010

Dear Home,

 

 I'm SO glad I'm outlying again! Outlying means serving somewhere other than in a big city. Here, the closest city is probably Prince Albert, which only has 4 missionaries, whereas Saskatoon has 18. Prince Albert is considered Outlying.

 

I'm running short on time. I was so excited to be sitting next to a printer that I spent 10-15 minutes trying to get it to work. Mistake made; Lesson learned. (That's my new unofficial motto.)

 

So, now that I'm finally leaving Saskatoon (It's a great town, really, but as a missionary, 6 months is a long time to spend in any one area), I've found that I have WAY too much stuff. Packing it all into two suitcases and a backpack was even more of a nightmare than usual, because we recently celebrated Christmas, like five and a half months ago, so I had more stuff to pack than I had before. I might have to leave some of the stuff that I don't need/never use in this apartment. Appologies to everyone whose gifts I don't have room for. I tried fitting everything in this time, and succeeded, but it just didn't work, for reasons that I'll explain in a minute. I need to lighten the load. =/

 

On the way up to Flin Flon, it was raining and the roads were bad, so we had to spend the night in Prince Albert with Elder Woodward (our District Leader), and Elder Hardison (his companion). It went very well. ^^ I got to see some of the people I had taught while serving here 6 months ago, and in the evening, after doing everything we needed to and getting ready for bed, we spent some of the evening throwing foam balls, including my new basketball, at each other. It's a great way to have fun and build unity. Sort of.

 

On Thursday Morning, we left Prince Albert and finished the trip up to Flin Flon, but just as we were leaving, on of my suitcases' handle ripped, no longer being able to handle the amount of weight it was carrying. Hence, I'm leaving a few things here next time I'm transferred.

 

Flin Flon Manitoba is a beautiful place. It has lakes, and trees, and rocks, and hills, and still a good amount of sky. Breathtaking. And surprising! I was getting used to the flatlands of Saskatchewan, and now I'm living in an untamed, unplowable mountain wilderness. I just love it. =D But what I don't love is not having a Superstore anywhere within a 3 hour driving radius. There are just some things that I like having that I won't be able to get more of until I get back into the city. But I should be driving through the city again next week. Zone Conference is coming up again, which means we'll be facing the long, long drive to Saskatoon and back.

 

On Friday mornings in Flin Flon, we spend some time at a care center, visiting people who are a bit more mature than I'll ever learn to be. This time, we read short stories to them. The lady who tells us what the tennants have planned for the day handed us some stories that she had printed and stapled together, and we spent the first half-hour reading those. I enjoyed it. Some of the stories were funny. But most of the stories were incomplete, which was a bit annoying. Once we were finished with the stories, we went to ask the lady if she had any more for us to read, but we couldn't find her, so we just sat and talked with our new friends about what they liked to do growing up. One of them used to be able to play the guitar and the saxaphone, 'but not at the same time'.

 

Ack! My time is up already! Actually, it should've been 'up' about 20 minutes ago, but I took a break to eat something. Things are MUCH more relaxed and slow-paced here than they are in Saskatoon. That's a change that I think I could get used to. It's calming. But life's not all about being calm. I need to get back to work! I must be diligent and industrious. Anxiously engaged. And I need to take better notes so I have a better idea what to write to you about next time. Until then!

 

This has been your Many-Miles-Away-No-Matter-Where-On-Earth-You-Live Missionary,

Elder Andrew Robarts

 

Flin Flon

The City of Flin Flon official website

Be sure to visit the image gallery - find it in the left margin of the website

April 12, 2010

Dear Home,

Guess what. I JUST got on. That means I have almost a full hour to write home. ^^ It took me a minute or two to log in, but other than that, the hour is yours. =)

First, the transfer news. I am NOT staying in Saskatoon. President Paulson has decided to move me to Flin Flon, Manitoba, the northernmost area in our mission.My new companion will be Elder Jons, my MTC District Leader, and my new District Leader, who's serving in Prince Albert, was also in my MTC District. This is going to be fun. ^^

On the other hand, I'm a little sad that I'm leaving this area. I don't like transferring. Now I have to pack, making sure that I have Everything I need, while making sure I don't use more space than two suitcases and a backpack. =S That's not going to be very much fun. =/

But hey, let's not dwell on that. I'll tell you more about it when I get to Flin Flon. In the meantime, last Monday went very well. I got everything done that I needed to do, and still had time to write my mom a three and a half page letter. I was very happy about that. =)

On Tuesday, they day we usually feed the Reid Road elders lunch, we also invited the District Leader, the DLs companion, and the 2 Zone Leaders, so there was a total of EIGHT missionaries over at our apartment for lunch! That was pretty crazy. I can see why missionaries don't get permission to do that very often.

On Wednesday, the seventh day of April, I got a letter from my Mom, and a package from my sister, and I was delighted to recieve them both. ^^ Thank you so much. =) I'll try to write to you both more often, but with all the missionary things I have to do... I'll just do my best. Unfortunately, that's all I can promise. =/

On Thursday, I gave myself a haircut. Now my hair is nice and short again, so it doesn't take hardly any time at all to make it look good. =P I also broke a jar. Appearantly, when you heat a glass jar up by washing it, then quickly cool it off by pouring juice into it, bad things happen, including making the floor kinda sticky. There were some good things that happened that day, though. We also got to help a guy shovel rocks out from in front of his house. He saw him working, offered to help him, and, miraculously, he agreed. By the way, just a note to all of you, when someone offers to help you, let them. They'll recieve blessings for it, so by letting them give you a hand, you're really doing them a favor. At the same time, there are some instances where someone will want to do something themselves, so they can feel like they've accomplished something by the end. For example, is someone was climbing up Mount Everest, and a helicopter dropped in and offered them a ride to the top, they'd probably decline, and years after that, they'll be able to say that they've accomplished something great, all on their own. That's important to some people. But still, it wouldn't hurt to offer to lend them a hand. So, whenever there's an oppertunity for someone to help someone else, remember this counsel: Give generously, Recieve graciously. I can't remember who said that, but it's good.

On Friday, a storm blew in. The weather had been unseasonally wonderful up to that point, but that afternoon, the wind was so strong and the snow was so thick that a person could hardly see where he or she was going, and Elder Brown found ourselves stuck in it. Once again, like at the beginning of our time serving together, we trekked through a snowstorm together, and we both had a lot of fun. I also found out something that I think will be important for me to know later; my leather gloves are GREAT for making snowballs. While we were traveling, Elder Brown and I had a snowball-throwing contest, each of us taking turns throwing snowballs at a street sign, trying to see which of us could hit it first. Neither of us ever succeeded, though, and eventually we gave up and moved on, but we didn't get far before we saw someone crash their truck into the side of the road. Fortunately, he didn't get hurt, his truck was off the road, not blocking traffic, and he got help before we got to him. Some nice person pulled over and gave him a ride somewhere. I hope he's doing alright now.

Saturday was pretty good. We met with Megan again. At first, she had us worried, saying that she felt she was already baptised and that she didn't need to be baptised again, but then, the member that we had brought with us explained that, while she was already converted to Jesus Christ (which is what she thought we meant), she had not recieved baptism, which is a sacred ordinance, an outter expression of our inner commitment to keep God's commandments, and has to be done by priesthood authority. Now she understands what our purpose is, and she's definitely willing to learn more.

And on Sunday, we got our transfer calls. I'd write more about Sunday, but there's something else that I have to bring up.

Having bought an amazingly good and versatile winter coat at the beginning of the season, I now have two jackets when I only need one, and I won't need a jacket at all during the summer. Okay, I'll need a raincoat, but that's all, so what should I do with my extra coat? And what should I do with my coat during the summer? I don't want to have to pack around more stuff than I need. Maybe I'll mail some stuff home and have you mail it back to me when it gets cold again. Would you be okay with that? Another option is that since the store I bought my new jack at has an amazing return policy, I can give them my jacket back and get a gift card that I can use to buy another coat next year. That's probably my best option, but it almost seems dishonest. =S I'll pray about it. I'd ask for advice, but since correspondence is so limited, I'll already have had to make a decision (if even a short term decision, like keeping both of the jackets for now) by the time any advice arrives. But if you DO have any advice for me, please Email me or post a comment. I can use all the help I can get in the decision-making department of my brain.

Time's up. I love you.

Your soon-moving missionary, Elder Andrew Robarts

April 5, 2010

Dear Home,

First of all, it's transfer week, and I've been in the Oakwood area for 6 months, so I'm /probably/ going to be moved. Everyone says it's a for-sure thing that I'm moving, but I thought my move was a for-sure thing last time, and I was wrong then, too. It's all up to God. Let Him send me wherever He wants me, and keep me there however long He chooses. But, if it were my choice, I'd move to another part of the city. I don't want to leave Saskatoon- Saskatoon's great! -But some kind of change would be nice. Maybe I'll hop the river and go back to the District I was in when my mission began. What do you think?

Last Monday, we played football (Don't worry, Mom. It was Two-Hand-Tag Football. No injuries.) And we played the same thing again his week. It was beautiful weather both days. We've been so blessed. ^^ And I'm getting better at playing football, too. I make a good 'final defender'. That's what I call it. I stay towards the back, and don't let anyone from the other team get behind me. That way, if the other team goes for a long pass, I tag them out before they can make it a touchdown. I haven't found my offence position yet. I guess that'll come with time and practice.

On Tuesday, I lamented the fact that there's never enough time on P'days. Sure, we have all the time we need for Activity, Emails, and buying what we need, but by the end of the day, there's just not enough time to write any letters. It's a terrible dilemma because my family deserves the best that I can give them, but I haven't been able to give them anything! D= I came up with a solution, though. I would just write letters whenever I wanted. Who cares if there's a rule that say to only write letters on P'days? I'm just too busy then! There's no time! God understands, right? Well, God understood a little better than I did, and He decided to teach me a lesson that altered the course of the rest of my mission. That night, I lost my wallet on the bus.

Allotment card, GONE. Home card, GONE. Bus pass, GONE. Temple Recommend, GONE!! I was in BIG trouble!>

Wednesday morning, I prayed. I knew God wouldn't necessarily fix every problem that came into my life, and it wasn't like I couldn't fix this problem myself. A few quick phone calls, and I could cancel anything a thief could use. Then I'd buy a new wallet, get the replacement cards I need, and NEVER let it happen again. Maybe God meant for me to loose my wallet. Maybe He had a lesson for me to learn. But... at the same time... I REALLY wanted to get my wallet back. I prayed HARD, but as much as I asked God to preserve my wallet in the Sask-Trans Lost and Found, I told Him that I would accept His will. Then I remembered: When God wants to reveal His will to the children of man, He often does so through His Prophets. The white handbook, the little rulebook that says I can only write home on P'days, came from the living Apostles, whom we sustain as Prophets, Seers, and Revelators. Therefore, as it is the will of God that we should keep the commandments that He gives us, even through His modern prophets, I promised God that whether I got my wallet back or not, I would accept His will and not write any more letters on non-P'days (Sorry, Mom). A few hours later, I got my wallet back. It /was/ at the lost and found.

But there was another lesson God wanted to teach me this week, and it also concerned His will. As if loosing my wallet wasn't heart-stopping enough, I lost my camera also. Luckily, I knew for a fact that my camera was in my apartment, so I looked in all the likely places, then a few unlikely places, then prayed. I told God that I had done my best. I had searched everywhere. I couldn't find my camera without His help. No answer seemed to come. I kept searching. Desperately, I kept a prayer in my heart, begging God to lead me to my camera. He didn't. But after a while, I got the feeling that my camera was in the bedroom. I looked in there, and couldn't find it. I knelt down, prayed again, and kept looking. No camera. Frustrated, I started looking in other rooms again, but still, a constant thought in the back of my human mind told me that my camera was in the bedroom. I searched that room, thoroughly, top to bottom, North to South, East to West. The camera Was Not in there. I searched elsewhere, but still felt like searching in rooms other than the bedroom was a waste of time. I prayed again. I asked God where in the bedroom my camera was. He didn't seem to want to tell me.

Days later, I found my camera in an inner pocket of my overcoat, which had been in the study room, not the bedroom, the whole time. I opened Preach My Gospel and studied Chapter 4, Recognizing the Promptings of the Spirit. At the back of the chapter, I found a quote which I'll now paraphrase (everyone else is done Emailing by now). "It is good to want to be led by the Spirit, but the Spirit won't give us direction in all things. Sometimes, we ask God for an answer that He, in His wisdom, doesn't want to just GIVE to us. Those who persist in seeking the Lord's guidance in an area where He has decided not to answer us, we might create an answer of our own fantasy." Which is exactly what happened with me. I believe that God was trying to teach me to be patient and diligent in searching, rather than asking Him to just tell me where the camera was.

But now I REALLY have to go!

Bye!-Elder Andrew Robarts