May 31, 2010

Dear Home,

One of the problems I face as a person is that I'm rather forgetful, which frequently extends it's negative effects to those around me. Case in point, I remembered that today is P-Day, but I forgot to bring paper for writing letters, and I forgot to bring the wires I need to Email pictures. Both of those things negatively affect most of you. I also forgot to bring the planner that has all of the notes of things that I wanted to write home about, so I'll have to limit myself to what I can remember. And, as already noted, I have a rather poor memory. =/

But there are two things that I do remember. The first thing is an event that I call the Cream of Mushroom Miracle, which I partly remember because of the name, and partly because of how dramatically it changed my day. The other thing I remember is the Canada-Wide Multi-Stake Conference we recently enjoyed, partly because it was so much like a session of General Conference (I'm glad I had paper then!) and partly because we have a recording of it which I was able to watch durring the time when I would've been writing letters.

First, Cream of Mushroom. To set the stage a little, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed that morning. I was uncharacteristically grumpy and iritable. The rain that day didn't help much either. We knocked on a couple of doors that morning, but we didn't find anyone who wanted to talk to us (which was probably a good thing, because sharing the gospel wasn't really at the front of my mind right then). After a few hours of not much happening, we went in for lunch. Elder Jons, a skilled cook, made some soup-ish stuff out of rice, green beans and a can of Cream of Mushroom soup. It's good stuff, but it needs a little salt, so when we eat it, we usually have it with Saltine Crackers. Those who are familliar with the kind of saltine crackers I was raised on, the kind which Elder Jons and I eat now, know that those crackers come in plastic bags which are dificult to open. Much like most chip bags, you can pull pretty hard and not have the bag open at all, but when you pull a little harder, the bag seems to explode, sending chips everywhere.

Guess what happened.

Fortunately, when I tore the bag open, all of the crackers stayed on the table. But unfortunately, when the bag exploded, my elbow hit my bowl of soup, which splattered onto my shirt, tie, pants, raincoat, and the carpetted floor of the church (where we eat most of our meals).

So how is this a miracle? First of all, nothing got stained. Second of all, the situation was so unlikely and unfortunate that I couldn't help laughing at my own bad fortune. Just a minute or two after the explosion occured, I started thinking of how that spill couldn't have been any more perfect, and how Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles advised us to learn to laugh at times like that. I think that God wanted that to happen. He knew that I needed a good laugh to cheer me up at that time. I'm glad that God is wise enough and loving enough to give us what we need, even if it's not what we want.

I'm out of time, but really quickly-

Stake Conference was great. All 47 Stakes and 5 Districts across Canada were included in the broadcast, in which Elder Glen L. Pace of the 70 and President Uchtdorf, the Second Counsellor in the First Presidency gave inspiring messages which seemed to include some personal guidance from my Heavenly Father to me. I got lots of motivation and direction for what I am to do. I've got a long way to go before I get where I want to be, but I know that with God's help, especially through direction from His Apostles, I can do anything He needs me to do.
Thanks for reading. I'll write more again next week, as usual.

Love, your frequently-blessed missionary, Elder Andrew Robarts

May 24, 2010

Dear Home,

 

Where on Earth does all my time go?? Maybe I spent too much time writing to individuals, but those that I wrote to were VERY important individuals to me. I tried to be breif, but at the same time, I had to write SOMETHING. Do you know what I mean? Anyway, long story short, I have 20 minutes left. -sigh- I hate Mondays.

 

So, a lot of you know that I recently celebrated my 21st birthday, and many of you wished me to have a happy one. Thanks to the many kind and wonderful members in the area, I did. ^^

 

Sister Cooper, who has us over for dinner occasionally, found out that her son and I share a birthdate (we turned the same age on the same day), so she invited us over for dinner again a few days before my birthday and gave me a birthday present which I wasn't going to open until my birthday, but Sister Cooper (being a super nice and generous woman) also gave Elder Jons the same thing, and he was excited, so we opened our gifts that night. There was lots of candy, gum, and mints to enjoy, also Subway Gift cards (I had sandwiches for lunch on my B-Day. ^^), nice dress socks, and lots of expensive-looking shaving supplies. Unfortunately, I don't use a straight-edge razor (for fear of slicing all my acne off and scarring up my face), so I gave all the shaving stuff I got to Elder Jons. Now He's set for the rest of his Mission!

 

On my actual birthday, the Angells invited us over to dinner. We had hamburgers and baked potatoes (( Side note: For my 22nd birthday dinner, I want hamburgers. ^^ )), and after dinner, we had cake and ice cream and green jello. Jello is and Angells family tradition. Another sidenote, they accidentally put 22 candles on the cake, unsure of how old I was turning (I actually like it better that way.). I blew them all out with one breath. ^^ Yay for having strong breath! xD And the Angells gave my a birthday present, too, which also included more shaving cream for Elder Jons. Lol.

 

My time is up. =( I love you! I'll write ya'll again next week!

 

Love, your happy, 21 year old missionary, Elder Andrew Robarts

 

PS, If Elder Bryson is still in the Area, tell him I said 'Hi' ^^

 

 

-sneaks back on really quick-

Dear Home,

I /did/ tell you that I'm staying in Flin Flon for another six weeks,
right??? It would be /very/ foolish of me to have forgotten that!! But
anyway, I'm staying, which is great news for me because I love it here
(and I know that a few packages of mine are already on their way
here). Elder Jons is staying here too, which I'm very happy about. All
is well. =)

Love, Elder Robarts

May 24, 2010 email exchange

I don't know if  this is all we are getting this week or not.  : ]

Dear Mom,

I'm going to try doing what Elder Jons said he does, adding comments to the Email you sent me as my reply. It'll be about the same content as usual, but hopefully It'll be easier for you to follow.

On Mon, May 24, 2010 at 12:27 AM, Barbara <motherof8robarts@gmail.com> wrote:

Bits May 17-23
Monday - we ate some peas we grew from seed - straight from the pod - sweet and tasty!

 (( Yummy peas! =D I'm so glad they turned out well for you! =D ))

Thursday  was the last day to apply for the Fort Bragg. I didn't.

(( Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I know you like the people that you're working with, but also that your job is sometimes very stressful. I also know that you love the children and grandchildren that live in and near Sacramento, but that you also have beloved relatives in (or near?) Fort Bragg. Maybe this staying-the-same-ness is bittersweet for you. It certainly has both pros and cons. I'm not sure what I would've done if I was in your shoes (besides pray) =S ))

Saturday -   I hope your birthday is (was) happy. I suppose for a missionary that would mean either a baptism, a good contact, or a well recieved lesson. Or an awesome wildlife sighting would be good, too.

(( I did have a happy birthday. Thank you so much for wishing it on me! ^^ We, in fact, DID have a good contact/well recieved lesson. Her name is -thinks- would Barbara be an okay name for her? Or maybe Ruth. Anyway, she was really interested in how our church was founded and organized. She wants to check out the General Conference website and learn more about our church from us. She became a new investigator (which is really exciting these days, as new investigators don't happen as often as they used to, for some reason). I'm really excited for teaching her again this Sunday. ^^ ))

We - 8*3*5 &; I - are going to Yosemite for a week spring 2011!!!
 (Happy Homecoming & Happy Birthday 2011!)
 Make sure you start exercising every day if you want to climb Half Dome!

(( It took me a moment to realize what you were saying here. At first I thought 'What?? You're going to Yosemite?? Lucky!!! Send me pictures!' Then I realized that you're leaving after I get back- and I'm coming with you. We're so lucky!!! We have to take pictures!! =D Thank you some much for arranging this! =D I can't wait to get back to the apartment so I can put this on my calendar! Oh.. Wait, this is NEXT year. Nevermind about that calendar thing. But I'm still WAY excited! I'm looking forward to this! =DD ))

Love you! Mom
(( I love you, too!

Love, your Happy Missionary, Elder Andrew Robarts ))

May 17, 2010

Dear Home,

 

Due to the rapid progression of time and the weight of all that has been done and has to be done, my head has begun to spin. Or overheat.

 

What I did earlier in the week doesnt seem nearly as important as what's happening now, but I'll tell you about it anyway.

 

On Tuesday, we left the apartment early in the morning to travel to Prince Albert (a Four Hour Drive) so we could attend District Meeting in person and go on an exchange with the District Leader and his companion. It was a nice (long) drive, and we were very excited when we saw a moose along the way. I took a good picture, which I'll have to try to Email you next week.

 

On Wednesday, we traveled back to Flin Flon. That took up most of our day, but we also got to take our truck in for an oil change and have a Teaching Evaluation with our District Leader before we left. Not very exciting, eh?

 

On Thursday, something exciting did happen. I saw something that I thought I would never see anywhere except within the walls of my own home: Plastic Kool-Aid Cups. The Davises had us over for dinner, and the kids were drinking out of fun, plastic cups, while we adults got the plain, glass ones. Life is so unfair. =P (They even had a plastic Kool-Aid pitcher to match!)

 

On Friday, we saw another fox. This one was sitting on the side of the road and crossed the street after we passed. No picture (Sorry!). I also ate a piece of Cookies and Cream hard candy and thought of my Mom. ^^ I love my Mom. =)

 

That's about all that has happened lately, but what's coming up is going to blow my head apart, and it'll probably give my family yet another good reason to be mad at me. Transfer calls are a week from yesterday, and since the mail usually takes a while to get this far north, the birthday presents that you've been sending me (Thank you so much, by the way. I really don't deserve it. It's actually a little embarassing, the amount of mail I get. I'm so richly blessed, but that's a litle beside the point right now.) Those packages might not get to me until after we get the news and make the change, and I have a reason to believe that I might be changing my address in a week. =/

 

See, even though I LOVE this area and my companion, and even though my companion has been here for three months longer than I have and is soon due for a change of scenery, President Paulson (the man who tells us where we go and how long we stay) realized a few weeks ago that he made a mistake when he sent me to Flin Flon. It's a four hour drive to get from here to Prince Albert, and, for safety reasons, President Paulson would like us to switch drivers every hour or two, just so the driver doesn't get drowsy from the monotony of the terrain. The only problem with that idea is that I can't drive. I don't have a driver's licence. President Paulson made a comment that he forgot that about me when he assigned me to serve in Flin Flon. So the question becomes: Will President Paulson correct his mistake as soon as possible (next week), or will he let me stay here a little longer because things are going so well for us right now? I'm worried. And if I'm called to another part of the mission, I'm worried that anything you have sent to me over the passed week might take a while to follow me back down to Saskatoon, or Regina, or Winnipeg, or wherever I end up.

 

Cheery thoughts, eh? =S But on a brighter note, I'm celebrating my 21st birthday next Saturday! -tries to sound excited- Yaaaay! And I'm going to drink a lot a Root Beer! Yaaaaaaay! With maybe some ice cream in it! We'll see.

 

We will see... -gets worried again-

 

Talk to you next week.

 

Love, your worried missionary, Elder Andrew Robarts

May 10, 2010

Dear Home,

Today, Elder Jons and I moved ALL of our stuff from the apartment where we used to live to the apartment we'll be living in from now on (while we're still serving in Flin Flon). But to those whom it may concern, my mailing address hasn't changed.


The bad news is that moving to the new apartment and cleaning up the old one took up a LOT of our P-Day time, and after having sent a return Email to the only person who emailed me this week, I now have very little time left. =/

On Tuesday, we helped Brother Angell, the man who owns the motel we live in, chop some wood up into burnable pieces. On Wednesday, we were sore, and we saw a fox running along the side of the road. I got a blurry picture, but I forgot the wires I need, so I can't Email you the picture now. I don't have time anyway.


Other than that, the only thing I have to write about is talking to my family yesterday. I owe my whole family a BIG apology, especially to those I didn't get to talk to. I guess I forgot the Mother's Day is still a working day for us missionaries, so we can only spend so much of the Lord's time talking to my family. I will get the chance to talk to you all again, for as long as we want, but right now- these two years- is the only chance I have to teach and testify to the people in Canada as a full-time missionary. I need to use my time more wisely. I regret to say that I wasted far to much time talking about things of very little importance, but hopefully, I will have learned from my mistakes, and I'll be able to pass what I learn onto my brother before he leaves on his mission, so he doesn't have to make the same mistakes as I made. To put what I've learned in a nutshell. On Christmas, missionaries have just about all the time in the world to talk to every member of their family for as long as they want (no matter what the white handbook says), but Mother's Day is a work day, and a special day in honor of MOTHERS! If I had another Mother's Day on my mission, I would limit myself to One Hour on the phone with my family, and I would spend ALL of it, or at LEAST 45 minutes talking with my Mom.


But now I have no time left to write or talk to anyone.


Many regrets,

Your time-denied missionary, Elder Andrew Robarts

May 3, 2010

Dear Home,

 

The biggest thing that happened this week was Zone Conference. On Thursday morning, Elder Jons and I hit the road. We travelled for 4 hours to get to Prince Albert, spending the last leg of that journey pretending we had Southern accents. Somehow, we ended up role-playing a story about a man who inherited lots of exotic animals from a traveling zoo that went out of business, then had a hard time figuring out what to do with all those animals. That's what living in a small town like Flin Flon, then driving over flat terrain for 4 hours does to your mind.

 

Once we arrived in Prince Albert, we visited the missionaries who're serving there. They gave me two packages from home, one of which I was expecting, though it came sooner than I thought. That package was a pair of shoes meant to replace the shoes that I was wearing, which were starting to wear out. The other package was an Easter package, which I didn't know was comming. Both were greatly appreciated, especially the Easter package. There was so much good stuff in there! Chocolate, hot chocolate, instant oatmeal, and one of the CDs that I asked for, The Messiah, preformed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I love The Messiah, but I quickly got the impression that the other missionaries in the car didn't love it as much. I'll listen to it more later. ^^

 

Eventually, we got to Saskatoon, where Zone Confrenece was being held, and I was soon surprised with ANOTHER package! This was a Hump Day package, and it included a pedometer (which I'm currently wearing), a magne-doodle board, many missionary reminders to do fun and/or important things, and lots of candy. ^^ My mom is the best. =D

 

But I'm almost out of time, and I'm just about out of things to write home about, so I think I'll quit while I'm ahead. See you next week! Well, I won't actually SEE you, but you know what I mean. Stop being so technical! =P

 

I love you! -hugs everyone- -hugs Mom again- I'll talk to you next week. ^^ Happy Mother's Day!

 

Love, your far-far-north missionary, Elder Andrew Robarts