September 20, 2010 - email exchange

Mom:
I keep meaning to ask you if Elder S is getting his daily cookies.  I am pretty sure he is.

Elder Robarts
(( Yes, he is. =) Actually, we changed the rules a little bit, so now if one of us is too lazy to exercise, neither of us gets cookies. That way there's still the team effort, but it's not so one-sided if one of us keeps to the schedule and the other one doesn't.))

Mom:
We have moved most of the stuff back into the kitchen. Still things scattered about the house - mostly the family room and the patio. There is less and different storage space now and of course we are trying to have it look a little less cluttered and messy.  A bit of a challenge.

Elder Robarts:
(( Challenge, that's the kind of obstacle that Ben responds well to. Then again, he may be pretty busy and perhaps a bit stressed by his Eagle Scout Project. He's an amazingly diligent worker, but one brain in one body can only do so much in one day. I'm sure he'll surprise us with how much he's able to accomplish, even if it's not all done overnight. ))

Mom:
We decided not to do the dining room and the front room separately,but to paint them both at the same time.  So now we are trying to stash everything from both rooms.  Not much from the dining room as it was already out, but OH the front room!   Hours and hours boxing books.  Interrupted by the discovery of the Family Ties(family newsletters from years ago) binders and some happy reading - especially out loud to Teresa things about or by David.

Elder Robarts
((Wow! Straight from one project to another! I wasn't really expecting that. I wish I was there to help, but

I've got people to help over here. Too bad I can't be in two places at once. =/ And all of those books! I'm not surprised that it's taking hours to organize and box those books. We must have hundreds of books in  there. Not to mention the couches, tables, TV and DVDs, etc. You all must really have you hands full! =S ))

Mom:
I know transfers are coming soon.  It will be a bit sad to leave Flin Flon and Elder S, I know.  But I also know that you will trust the Lord and find good where ever you are called.  And that Elder S can be a forever friend.  You guys will love Facebook when you go home!

Elder Robarts
((Yes, transfer calls are next Sunday, so if you could spread the news about that, that would be great. In the meantime, there have been rumors that they might take missionaries out of Flin Flon completely, meaning that the members would have to do their own missionary work. =S It would be nice to be able to stay in Flin Flon, but since they're downsizing the mission, the chances of that aren't good. I wonder what'll happen to the people we're teaching. I hope God knows another way to give them what they need than by sending missionsaries. =/ Oh well. He's got it all figured out. All we have to do is trust Him and do our best to do what He asks of us. ))

(( You know, I think that once we've had a testimony of the gospel, it never completely leaves us. Some people may have decided that it was just too hard to repent of something-or-other, so they just stopped trying, and perhaps a few of those people have tried to block out the painful pleas of a loving Heavenly Father by pretending that such a being doesn't exist. But that still doesn't change the truth, and the Spirit of Truth won't let people forget the truth that God loves them.  I am convinced that not heights nor depths, nor angels nor demons, nor oceans or mountains or anything else, for that matter, can separate us from the love of God. ))

Your-slightly-improved-since-the-last-time-you-saw-me missionary, Elder Andrew Robarts ))