Dec 2, 2013 Letter - 7 Miracles

¡Buenas tardes familia!

Brrr...who would've thought that I'd be so cold in Honduras?

Wait, what? Cold in Honduras? Yes family, friends, and dearly beloved pets, I was cold this past week in Honduras. I never thought that this day would come, but it did. Let me explain.

This past Wednesday it started to rain. With the rain, came a cool breeze. We were talking with our 'cocinera' at lunch at she told us that there was a cold front coming in that would last for 72 hours. We were a little surprised but told ourselves, "How bad can 'Honduras cold' be?" As we walked home from lunch to study, the rain started coming down harder and the cool breeze became a cold wind. That was when it all began.

For the past 5 days it hasn't topped 70 degrees here in Santa Cruz. I swear there were some days when it didn't top 60 degrees (for Honduras, that's like 20 degrees). The sun didn't come out from behind the clouds for 5 days straight and it was almost always sprinkling rain. The nights were cold to the point that one family gave us extra blankets to keep warm. Some mornings we studied with sweaters and blankets and walked around all day with sweaters. Showering was almost impossible seeing as the water was basically recently-melted ice. The roads were covered in mud and we almost slipped 100 times. 

Sounds rough, huh? Well, it wasn't. I loved every minute of it! :) What a nice break from the constant heat and sun. Today the sun came back out and it's starting to heat up once again. 

Well, this week flew by so fast I almost don't remember what happened. We worked hard once again and saw some of the fruits of our labors in miracles that occured. 

Miracle #1: Jensy was baptized yesterday! What a happy day for her and her family. I hope and pray that one day through her example her whole family can come back to church. She's a strong young lady that can do amazing things if she puts her mind to it.

Miracle #2: Fabiola was baptized yesterday! Wait, what? Who's Fabiola? Good question. Fabiola is the 16 year old daughter of Lilian Corea who was baptized a few weeks ago. While she wasn't open to the missionaries at first, she's been going to church for a few weeks now and has found a few friends that have helped her feel fellowshipped. This past Thursday Lilian called us and said, "Fabiola wants to get baptized." We talked with her the next day, found out she knew all the lessons, and baptized her yesterday. What an amazing miracle! The Lord truly touched her heart.

Miracle #3: I had a Thanksgiving Dinner this week! Who would have thought? Well this Wednesday we were with la Familia Flores and they offered to have us over for their Thanksgiving Day Dinner. Though it wasn't anything grand like in Utah, we still had oven-roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, rice, salad, and homemade orange juice. Afterwards we went around the table and shared what we were thankful for. I told them I was thankful for the amazing family that I have. The whole evening was truly a miracle.

Miracle #4: I found Christmas lights in my house! The other night I was searching for instructions to the portable DVD player in the empty box and when I opened it up, I saw a strand of Christmas lights! I almost couldn't contain my excitement as I rushed to the nearest outlet to plug them in to see if they worked. To my surprise, they still worked! So, thanks to missionaries of the past, our house looks a little more festive :)

Miracle #5: Yesterday after lunch we were calling people to remind them of our appointments. With every call, we discovered that all of our plans had fallen through. My companion got a little discouraged and sat down on his hammock and didn't respond to my questions of what we were going to do. A little frustrated, I said a prayer in my heart to receive guidance to plan the rest of our day. I felt the inspiration to look through a list of members that we have in our Area Book. As I did so, I started listing families, both active and less-active, that we could visit. With that list of people we set out to work. The second family we visited greeted us with open arms and smiles. The first thing the sister said was, "What a miracle that the missionaries have visited me again!" We read 1 Nephi 8:10-12 with them and asked if there was anyone we could visit. To our surprise she told us that she has 1 sister that she would like us to visit. The Spirit truly guided us yesterday. What a miracle!

Miracle #6: Last night we were approached by a drunkard in the street on our way to an appointment. Normally we just keep walking to avoid any confrontations, but last night we stopped to talk with him. As he told us his life story and his interaction with the church, we noticed a man approach us as well and stop a few feet away. As we started to walk away they both followed us. With time, the drunkard, who kept calling us his "bellos gringitos" or "beautiful little white guys," left us, but the other man kept walking with us. Naturally we started talking with him and found out that he is interested in joining the church. He even invited us to his house. What a miracle!

Well that's about all the time I have to share my miracles with you. Know that there are hundreds more miracles that I experience on a daily basis. I understand even better now what Nephi talks about when he mentions the 'tender mercies of the Lord' that are evident in our daily lives. I challenge each one of us to look for the small miracles every day. :)

Dad, you were right about the weather :) Sounds like the weather is really taking a nose dive in Utah! 20 degrees? I don't think I could handle that right now ;) It sounds like you had a great week. Love you bunches!

Mom, yes, I'm feeling much better. I'm not sure what hit me, but it didn't last more than a few days. I'm up and functioning again! The new house is nice. It's bigger than the other one, but it's a little older. The tiles are super ugly and the paint is horridly colorful, but the bathroom and kitchen are in good shape. We have water every other day, meaning that we bring in water using buckets every other day. The neighbors are kind and like to talk to us on occasion. We cook our own breakfast, pay a sister to make lunch, and the members give us dinner. We wash our own garments, but the rest of our clothes are washed by a sister who lives nearby. Everything works out well! :) Thanks for your concern! Love you!

Eric, I have something to tell you. Ahem. ¡Feliz Cumpleaños! o sea, Happy Birthday! I hope you have a super fantastic birthday. Eat an extra slice of cake for me! You should be receiving a letter soon, but knowing the mail system, you may not get it for a few months... Love you brother!

Well, I must be off. There's still lots to do before the day's over! I love you all so so so much. It may sound cliche and repetative, but I truly mean it. I love you! There's just one more miracle I want to share with you.

Miracle #7: T he fact that Elder Roberts has such an amazing family. You are truly a miracle in my life! :)

Keep being stellar!

Con Cariño,

Elder Roberts

Nov 23 Pictures

Lilian and Skarleth's baptism! Happy day! :)

My nasty mattress that I've been sleeping on for 4 months. Don't worry! I got a new one!

Enjoying the coconuts that we chopped down from our coconut tree :)

The bishop, Elder Remington, and I posing for a photo

The trees we cut down. Phew! Talk about tiring ;)

Nov 23, 2013 Letter

¡Hola familia!

I'm free! Who would've thought that being locked up in your house for three days would make you so anxious to get out? I'm grateful for the opportunity to rest and relax, but I'm ready to work once again.

This week was a week of miracles. Despite the news of the death of Grandma Roberts, I was unusually optimistic and happy, knowing that she wouldn't want me to be sad. I worked hard and long and tried my best to make her proud. 

Elder Remington and I are getting along great. Though we speak more English than we should, I'm learning a lot from him. He's been out longer than I have (he completed 13 months this past week). We've taught some great lessons and have had a few laughs together.

We've been blessed to find a few new investigators that have commited to be baptized in the future. One is named Jensy. She's about 11 years old and belongs to a less-active family. She's been attending church for a while and wants to be baptized. We've been working with her for a week or so now and she's ready to be baptized this Sunday. 

We are also blessed to be teaching la Familia Reyes. Their family consists of the husband, José, the wife, Mayra, and their little son. After watching the Joseph Smith movie at a FHE with their neighbors, José received a testimony that this church is true. He told us that he knows that Joseph Smith was called of God to be a prophet. A few days later Mayra told us that she had a dream that she was in a dark, dreary, and scary place when the Lord appeared to her and told her that she would be visited by two angels who would share the gospel with her. He told her that she should accept their message and she told Him that she would. Both of them are preparing to get married and baptized the 28th of December. What a miracle!

As the week progressed we had the opportunity to help the bishop chop down a few trees in his yard. I think we chopped down about 20+ banana trees and 2 mango trees. The funny part is that we did it all with only machetes. While it took a while, we did it! 

Yesterday I think I experienced the greatest miracle of all. Monday morning I became sick. I got to the point when I could only lay in bed and hope I got better. I had a fever, headache, upset stomach, back pain, body pain, and chills. I only slept a little bit, but I grateful for the opportunity to rest. I woke up one moment to find myself in extreme discomfort. I said a prayer to my Father in Heaven that he would do what He saw best. Almost immediately I felt the Spirit enter my body and comfort me. I felt the presence of angels around my bedside comforting me and helping me along. While the sickness didn't leave me, I knew without a doubt that I could make it through. Today I feel much better and am convinced that in no time I will be feeling back to normal. What a miracle!

I want to share with you this week part of my letter I wrote to President Dester shortly after reading your email last week. In this letter, I express my feelings about the passing of Grandma and the knowledge I have that we'll all see her again.

"I understand that my parents have called you to let you know about my grandmother...My heart has shattered and I'm scrambling to pick up the pieces. My thoughts are running in circles with no direction and words can't describe how I feel. I'm sure you've experienced the loss of a loved one sometime in your life, so I trust you understand. Though the tears are flowing and my eyes are red and swollen, I don't feel complete emptiness. There's a voice and a feeling inside of me telling me something that I know to be true.

"If my grandmother passes away, I will see her again. I know it. There is no doubt in my mind that someday we will see each other again. We will wrap our arms around each other and cry tears of joy. I will tell her how much I missed her, but that I've done my very best to make her proud. 

"President, I know my Savior lives. It is because of His sacrifice that I can see my beloved Grandma again. I will never cease to serve Him with all my heart, might, mind, and strength because He has done so much more for me than I will ever be able to do for Him. He is my Redeemer. He rescued each and every one of us from the chains of death. Through His loving grace, we can be saved. We can be healed. We can live.

"I will not stop working. I will not stop serving. I will make my grandmother proud. I am supposed to be here serving my Lord and God, so that is what I will do. Though I may walk through the valley of death and darkness, I know my Savior Jesus Christ will be with me. He has walked my path alone so that I will not have to. He will lead me to a place that is more glorious than anything I can imagine. My faith is in Him. I will not falter." 

Dad, thanks so much for the pictures. I feel as if I was there. Thank you for helping me feel included. I loved it a lot. I hope you're doing okay. Your testimony is strong and your faith is incredible. Thank you for your example. I love you Dad :)

Mom, we don't have anything planned for Thanksgiving. Just another day in the life of a missionary. :) I hope you all eat an extra slice of turkey for me! Sounds like you had some fun at Parent's Day as well. I bet it was fun to see what Callie's been up to the past few months!

Eric, it sounds like you did great at your piano recital this Monday. Keep up the great work! One day you'll be grateful you can play the piano. Everyone will love you on your mission!

Callie, did you get your birthday letter yet? I have no idea when it's going to come, but I sent it a month ago! Let's hope it comes soon! ;)

Well, I best be off. I've got Santa Cruz to conquer! ;) Best wishes for a wonderful week and a Terrific Tuesday! I love you all bunches and bunches. Keep being stellar :)

Con Muchísimo Amor,

Elder Roberts

P.S. Send my love to all the Roberts family, but especially to Grandpa. Tell him that he's in my prayers and that one day I'll play the organ for him and Grandma again someday. Tell him I love him, more than words can tell :)

Nov 18, 2013 Letter

Drew's Grandma Roberts passed away on Monday, Nov 18, 2013 at 5:43pm. Drew's mission president, President Dester, was very kind to us and let us call Drew to tell him what was happening (this was before she passed away). He was able to talk to his Grandmother (she was unconscious) at about 4:30pm. It was great he was able to do that.

Here is his letter for this week:

¡Hola Familia!

To start off, sorry if my thoughts are a little mixed up today. This week has been super busy and there's a lot to think about and to write! So to help me keep on track, here's a day-by-day summary of last week :)

Tuesday: Today was my last day with Elder Pacheco and my first day living in the new house. The house is big, but a little old. We have water every other day, so we get to take bucket showers when there isn't water. It's going to be hard saying goodbye to my 'Papi,' Elder Pacheco, tomorrow, but I'm also excited to start flying on my own!

Wednesday: Today was what you might call crazy. Perhaps you may even have called it stressful. Whatever it was, I loved it. We traveled to San Pedro Sula today to go to la Reunión de Cambios (Transfer Meeting). I was fortunate to see and talk with Elders Dawson, Daniels, Ta'afua, and more. They asked me to play the piano for the meeting as well as to accompany a sister who sang 'O Holy Night.' Before I know it, I'll be know as "the Elder who plays the piano." I don't mind that too much :) I got my new companion today! His name is Elder Remington and he's from Orange County, California. He's super cool, diligent, and speaks English. I can already feel my Spanish starting to decline ;) We also recieved the two new sisters we were planning for, Hermana Alvarez from Guatemala and Hermana Luna from Bolivia. We spent the afternoon showing them the area, eating lunch, and moving suitcases. I've got a feeling that this transfer will go swell!

Thursday: I now know how Elder Pacheco felt on his first day with me. I basically planned the whole day as well as the whole week because my companion knows nothing of the area. Though stressful at times, I felt the hand of the Lord guiding me. I did things I've never done and said things I've never said. All in all, today was great. We're working hard to expand our pool of investigators. Wish us luck!

Friday: Another day of hard work and lots of walking. Let's hope we find some investigators soon!

Saturday: Today we focused on finding, contacting, and having lessons with new investigators. We've initiated a competition amongst members so that whoever gives us the most referrals wins a free pizza. Let the games begin!

Sunday: I'm tired, but it feels good. I haven't worked this hard in a long time. Though only one of our investigators came to church, today was still great. I love the feeling when we do things to the best of our abilities with no regrets. This is what serving a mission is all about!

Phew! I'm pooped. It's a good thing we have P-days to rest, relax, and decompress, because tomorrow we start right back up again! :)

Today I want to tell each and every one of you that I love you. We never know when our time is up on this earth, so it's imperative that we always express how much we love each other. I know things are difficult right now with everything that's happening, but I want to share with you how I feel. 

I know this gospel is true. Through the grace and sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we can live with our loved ones again. There is no doubt in my mind that He paid the price so we can live again. I can't wait for the day when we can all be together once again in the Kingdom of our Heavenly Father. This isn't the end. It is only the beginning.

Dad, I hope you had fun at the Miner's Club this weekend! Sounds like the nerf gun fights were super fun as well as the simple company of family and Kenny. ;) I hope you're doing okay all together. Let me know if I can do anything for you. I love you.

Mom, sounds like you had some fun at the Miner's Club. I hope you had some nice relaxing time as well as some fun game time. Can I just say how much I love reading your emails? You always make me feel good and let me know that you're proud of me. I hope you know how proud I am of you too! :)

Just a few housekeeping items:

1. Due to the elections in Honduras this weekend, our next P-Day has been pushed back to Tuesday the 26th. So don't get worried when you don't see an email from me this Monday!

2. I'll be sending pictures next week because the computer I'm at today doesn't fit my USB card reader. I'll be sure to get a different computer next week! :)

Well, I must be off! Have a fantastic, splendid, and adventure-filled week! And last but not least, I love you!

Con Amor,

Elder Roberts

P.S. Send my love to everyone, especially Dad's side of the family. Though I'm far away, my prayers are with you all!

Nov 11, 2013 Letter

¡Hola Familia!

Who would have thought that as a 19 year-old young man I would be renting apartments, moving furniture, and manually fixing household items all while living in a third world country? I sure didn't think so. Yet here I am, living in Honduras as a missionary of Jesus Christ doing all this and more! What a fantastic life!

This week has been bizarre to say the least. We spent much of our time looking for a house, signing contracts, waiting for new furniture to arrive, packing our things to move out of our house, moving into the new house, and setting up the new things in our current house for the new missionaries. Here's the rundown on what's going to happen this Wednesday in transfers:
- Santa Cruz will be split into two areas, north and south.
- The new Sisters will be assigned to work in the lower part of the city in the north and the Elders will be assigned to work in the upper part of the city in the south. This means that the sister missionaries will be living in the house we're currently living in and the Elders will move to the newly-rented house.
- Elder Pacheco will be transfered to open a new area in Villanueva as well as he will be training a 'greenie' again.
- I will be staying in Santa Cruz to help the new Sisters get acquainted with their new area as well as to work in the 'Santa Cruz Sur' Area.
As of right now, this is all I know. We're getting the final details tonight. I'm excited to hear the changes, a little nervous to guide the division of the area, but overall thrilled!

Lilian and Skarleth were baptized yesterday! I can't tell you how happy I am. While the baptism was scheduled for this Saturday, there wasn't water in the church due to a broken pump that pumps water into the church from an underground cistern. After a hectic night Saturday, we were able to have water in the church so we could fill the font and baptize Lilian and Skarleth at 8:00 in the morning before church started. I had the priviledge to baptize Lilian and Elder Pacheco baptized Skarleth. Almost the entire family came to watch them get baptized and confirmed. Now all we have to do is to work hard to help the rest of the family come to Christ. Ready, set, go :)

Yesterday we had the opportunity to visit San Isidro again, this time with 21+ members helping us. We took three cars up and divided into 7 groups, each group having 9 pamphlets and a Book of Mormon. The objective was to plant as many seeds as possible and find people that future missionaries can visit. All in all, it was a huge success. In total, after 2 hours, we taught 25 lessons, received 22 referrals, found 22 new investigators, and talked with 53 people. As we ended and got ready to head back to the cars a huge rain storm hit. Luckily only a few people got wet, but the people who did get wet got soaked to the bone. Despite the rain, we all had fun and everyone was smiling when we got home. Missionary work truly is a blast! :)

So the whole time I've lived in Santa Cruz, the stake president's mother, Hermana Amalia, has lived in the apartment next door. She is basically the kindest lady ever. When we aren't home and it starts to rain, she takes down our laundry so it doesn't get wet. Occasionally she'll surprise us with a delicious breakfast in the morning or a snack when we get home at night. She always makes sure we're home on time and that we're in good health. Basically she's like our mom here. :) When we told her we, the Elders, were moving she got super sad. She insisted that we put together a 'goodbye program' so we could share our testimonies with her and in turn she would make us a super delicious dinner. We had a great evening and I'm sure going to miss living next door to her!

Guess what I ate? Okay, I'm pretty sure you'll never guess, so I'll just tell you. :) There's a dish here in Honduras that's called Candinga. It basically consists of all the inner parts of the pig. The heart, the liver, the kidneys, the lungs, and the blood vessels are all included. They didn't tell me what I was eating until after, but it was surprisingly good! It's definitely not something I'll make on a regular basis, but I won't turn it down if it's served to me again.

So, I'm pretty sure the wedding of Family Licona will have to be pushed back a week. Apparently Pastor, the husband, drinks both alcohol and coffee and smokes. While none of these things are habitual, it still is something that he'll have to overcome. I hope and pray that he puts his faith in God and leaves these things behind so he and his family can progress! Right now we're raising money by making orange juice to sell when the men in the ward play soccer Tuesday and Thursday nights. Let's pray everything turns out well!

Dad, I know what you mean. It's hard to come up with creative things to say every week, but don't worry because I love whatever you say even it turns out the same every week :) You calculated right! The next transfer falls on Christmas Day. To avoid the conflicts this may cause, I think the mission has made this upcoming transfer a 4-week transfer and the next one an 8-week transfer to make up the difference. I guess we'll see how things go! I agree that you should move a few of the bushes to other parts of the yard. They looked pretty big in the pictures you sent me! And I hope you all have fun at the Miners Club this weekend! :) And congrats on the missionary experience! I hope you had fun sharing just a little bit of what you love. If there's anything I've learned it's that being a friend is the best way to share the gospel!

Mom, your emails always make me smile. Thanks for making me laugh, cry, and smile all at the same time! You're the best :) Thanks for all the updates on the family and the exciting things that happen every day! I told Callie last week that's it's weird to think that it's getting cold in another part of the world because nothing's changing here ;) I hope you're feeling better every day and that you never stop smiling!

Eric, way to be a stud. ;) Thanks for helping Mom put up the Christmas lights before it got cold. I hope you had fun in the marching band season this year and that you've made some good friends! Have fun at Bingham Ball too! Make Kell's night the best night ever :)

Well, I should get going. We've got a busy night tonight!

I want you to know that I love this gospel. End of story. I will never deny its truthfulness. I cannot deny it, for I know without a doubt it is true. Jesus Christ lives. He came to earth to suffer and die for me and you. I will testify of Him and His goodness until my dying day.

I love you all! Thanks for everything you have done for me, are doing for me, and will do for me! I have the best family in the world. Period. Have a fantastic week!

Con Amor,

Elder Roberts

P.S. Send my love to all the ward as well as a 'shout back' to Bro. Gleave :)

Nov 4, 2013 Letter

Hey everyone! Here is Drew's latest letter.

Also, I think I am going to make this blog Private. That means that in order for you to be able to access it, you will need to register or subscribe to it. Look for a link on the page to subscribe! If you have trouble accessing it, let me know! -Russ

Now for Drew's letter:

¡Hola familia!

Vaca santa. (Google Translate time!) Where has time gone? It's already November! I'm not quite sure where October went, but hey, there's not much I can do right? ;) Thanks so much for your letters and the updates on the family. I love hearing about all the adventures you're having! ¡Definitivamente tengo la mejor familia en todo el mundo! 

Today I'm going to do a day-by-day report of the happenings in Santa Cruz. Believe me when I say that lots has been happening!

Tuesday: "When I grow up, I want to be like Elder Roberts." These are the words that every missionary wants to hear and I heard them today. After our missionary activity last week, the little boy of the ward missionary leader told his mom that he had fun with me and wanted to be like me when he grows up. His mom told me tonight in our meeting with our ward missionary leader. Believe me when I say I can die happy. :) I also had the opportunity to spend the whole day with Elder Hebert, one of the APs. This missionary is the best. He talks with everyone, makes them laugh, brings the Spirit, and smiles all the time. He finishes his mission next week and I am more than grateful that I had the chance to spend some time with him. When I grow up, I want to be a missionary like him!

Wednesday: We spent the whole day looking for a house. Turns out that the amount of houses up for rent in Santa Cruz is minimal. We're still looking!

Thursday: Happy Halloween! Just another normal day in Honduras :) Here's an insert from my journal today: "I'm amazed at how much I've changed. I don't mind talking to everyone and it's hard to wipe the smile off my face. I love the feeling I have while I'm working hard." Tonight Mother Nature picked up the entire Pacific Ocean and dumped it on Santa Cruz for an hour or so. After only 3 seconds outside I was soaked. As we rode home in a member's car, we had to turn around once because some of the streets were practically rivers. What an adventure! :)

Friday: Today I helped a stranger recover from an epileptic attack. The sister we were visiting saw him fall and we ran out to help him. He was convulsing and foaming at the mouth. I'm pretty sure I had a panic attack as I asked who had the number of a medic or if someone knew who it was. Everything turned out okay and he recovered well. Afterwards we helped the sister we were visiting "mow her lawn" with a machete. I still think a lawnmower is easier. I don't get blisters using a lawmower.

Saturday: It's official folks! We have water!  After almost 3 months without water, the plumber finally came and repa[i]red a broken pipe and restored our running water. Too bad that after such a long time of sitting dormant, our kitchen sink and toilet both broke. The sink is fixed but the toilet still needs to be repa[i]red... Also, we helped 4 other missionaries baptize 3 kids today. My favorite part of the day was after the baptism of a young girl, she basically dove under the water and swam to the stairs to climb out. She had a smile on her face the rest of the day :)

Sunday: The ward announced the baptism of Lilian today. The whole ward is helping her prepare for this Saturday, the 9th. One sister even offered to make a cake. Lilian and her daughter Skarleth are getting more and more excited! Her husband and family have told her that they'll attend the baptism, so that was a huge relief for her. We also met with Family Licona today and helped them decide to get married the 15th and get baptized the 16th. Oh happy day!

Just a few fun facts for ya:

- Lick-and-Seal envelopes don't work in Honduras. Turns out that they self-seal because of the humidity. But never fear! I'm creative, so I still make them work :)

- I can't send letters very easily as of right now. I have to wait until I see Sister John which is every 6 weeks at transfer meetings. But I still want to reply! So Callie, Martha, Sister Bradford, and Aunt Valerie, expect your letters in a few weeks! :)

- I love you. Yup. It's a fact. :)

Momma, send my love to the Summers! They're such incredible people. And the new sister missionaries will arrive on the 13th of November. The ward's getting pretty involved trying to find a house for them. We're all excited! And nope, we haven't received authorization yet to visit the reference across the reservoir. I hope it comes soon! I wanna go! :) Thanks for all your support and love. You better expect those 730 hugs when I get home!

Dad, I don't think it took the package a month to get to me after it arrived in Honduras, only the two letters. The package got to me a few days after it arrived in San Pedro, but the letters were delayed for some reason. Who knows? ;) And my height definitely helped me in the volleyball game. Thanks for the tall genes :) Oh and thanks for your email. I love love love (etc.) reading them every week!

Eric, I hope you had fun on tour! Thanks for being such a great example of being steadfast and immovable. You are truly incredible. Keep it up. I'm super proud of you!

You know, even after 23 letters home, I still can't express how much I love you. There are no words. There are no phrases. There are no songs. All I can say is I love you. I hope you can feel it!

Well, I must be off! Best wishes for a fantastic week! Don't get too cold!

Keep being stellar.

Con amor sin fin,

Elder Roberts

Oct 28, 2013 Letter & Pictures

¡Hola mi hermosa, cariñosa, amable, excelente, y fantástica familia!

IT CAME! Woot woot! ...sorry for the burst of excitement, but the package and two letters came! From the pumpkin to the candy corn to the Warheads to the photos, I loved every part of it. Can I just tell you how much I love you? Because I truly do. You all better expect the biggest hugs when I get home ;)

This week has been super busy. I don't think I've ever had so many things to do in such a short amount of time. If you don't believe me, keep reading. Even if you do believe me, I still suggest you keep reading. ;)

We found out this past Tuesday that Santa Cruz will be receiving another pair of missionaries, so we spent much of the week looking for a house or apartment for them to live. It's super hard to find a nice rentable house here. We've got a few options, but we're still keeping our eyes peeled! 

We had a great ward missionary activity this Wednesday. The only problem here in Honduras is that if you plan an activity for 5:00, expect everyone to arrive at 6:30. After everyone finally arrived, we played some volleyball. I loved every minute of it because it reminded me of home and was something different than fútbol. ;) Afterwards we shared a short presentation about the growth and history of the church. When we were done we told everyone if they wanted a Book of Mormon to talk to us after the prayer. After the prayer was said, a bunch of people came up to me and asked me for a copy of the Book of Mormon. We had brought about 5 copies with us, and we gave away every single one. Basically we were giving people rainchecks because we didn't have enough! It was super amazing :)

This Thursday we had interviews with President Dester. He is one of the most amazing people I have ever met. Never once did he talk about himself, rather he asked how I was doing and what he could do for me. I am beyond blessed to have him as my "mission dad." And I have to say, my "mission mom," Hermana Dester, is pretty amazing as well. She brought all of us Goldfish and Tampico to snack on while we waited. Mmm... :)

This Friday we made a 2-hour trek to San Pedro Sula to visit Migration. We arrived at the mission office where we waited for the Elder in charge of immigration. I had some fun talking with Elder Hebert (one of the APs), Elder Merlos (arrived in my group), and Hermana McCuestion (a sister in my District). It's nice to talk and laugh in English every once in a while :) As we were traveling to Migration I remembered how nervous I was my first days to be in San Pedro. Now it doesn't even phase me. I even enjoy it! After two super straight-faced ladies took my picture and my fingerprints, Elder Pacheco and I went to Burger King to eat. When we entered we were greeted by Elder Dawson and his companion! Man, I miss that guy :) To reward myself for becoming a legal resident in Honduras, I bought an ice cream sundae. Mmm... Then we headed for the terminal to board a bus home. About 10 minutes into the ride, they had packed the bus like a can of sardines. There was literally no room for anyone to stand or sit and they still managed to squash more people in. It was an adventure I'll never forget! :)

This Sunday I gave my second talk in church. After visiting with a less-active family in the ward Monday, I decided to talk to the ward about the need to rescue those who have fallen away in our ward. After I had given my talk, Elder Pacheco told me it was 'super macizo' and called it 'machete-ing with love.' Overall, I think Elder Holland would be proud. ;) I received many compliments on my Spanish and on my ability not to put people to sleep. Woot!

We also received a super cool reference from the Stake President this week! There's a reservoir in Santa Cruz that's called El Cajon that's about 30 minutes away from the center of the city. The reference lives across the reservoir. In order to reach them we would need to take a 45-minute barge ride across the water. Because we're not sure if it's allowed by the mission, we sent a request to President Dester to see if we could take our P-Day next week to visit the family, who the Stake President says is guaranteed converts! Keep your fingers crossed!

So I've discovered a new treat that I love. Remember peaches and milk? Well, they don't have peaches here, instead they have papaya. A sister gave us one this week and told us to cut it up and put it in milk. I got come, cut up a part of it, and put the pieces in a bowl of milk. Basically it is my manna from heaven. ¡Qué rico! Also, I ate my first entire fish this week! Here they serve you the entire fish on a plate and leave it up to you to cut it up and eat it. So basically I ate the poor fellow while he was staring up at me. Man, I don't think I've ever had a better tasting fish. :) 

This week we made some good progress with our investigators. Lilian has a baptismal date for the 9th of November. We were going to have it this past Saturday, but she wants her family to support her in her decision, so she's decided to delay it a little bit longer. She's basically LDS already, all she needs is to get baptized. I absolutely love this lady so much. She's gone through so much in the past few months and I can see how much she's changed. She's told us, "I've felt a change in my life. My family even tells me that they've seen a change in me." What an amazing daughter of God! We have other investigators, but because my time is short, I'll save them for next week :)

Dad, thanks so much for your email and for the updates on the family! Spanish is going fantastically. I can understand basically everything and speaking is starting to become second nature. Yay! Just wait, in a few more months I'll be completely fluent! To answer a few of your questions Santa Cruz is one of the quietest and safest areas in the mission. There is about a 75-25 ratio of poor / middle class people here. Overall, the city is pretty clean and well-kept for Honduras! Wow! Everyone's leaving on missions! Give them my best and tell them to prepare for the best time of their life ;)

Mom, have I told you lately how blessed I am to have you as my mom? :) To answer a few of your questions, my companion is super great. We're basically brothers after living together for almost 4 months! As for Kevin, he's doing well. Elder Pacheco has gotten pretty attached to the little fellow, giving him corn and oatmeal to eat. :) I guess you could say that the rainy season has begun. It rains practically every night, but not very hard. It brings cool nights and muddy roads. I just love it :) And no, despite our efforts with the landlady, we still don't have water. We've got an appointment this Thursday with the plumber (one of our investigators). Hopefully something happens soon! I've forget what it feels like to flush a toilet!

Con Amor,

Elder Roberts

P.S. During this entire letter a bunch of girls have surrounded my computer asking me questions in Spanish, whispering about what they can tell me in English, telling me how beautiful my eyes are, and searching for me on Facebook. Oh goodness ;) 

 

In September we had sent Drew some letters and a package. He just got them. Here are the details:

 

"The results are in! Who won the letter race?? Drum roll please...

"Ahem,

P.O. Box Letter - Postmarked in Honduras September 24, 2013 - Received by Elder Roberts October 24th, 2013

Mission Office Address Letter - Postmarked in Honduras September 24, 2013 - Received by Elder Roberts October 24th, 2013

Looks like it's a tie! 

Thanks for the fun! I loved the letters so so much. Thanks for thinking of me and tell the whole family thanks for their well-wishes! You are all the best!"

Oct 21, 2013 Letter

¡Hola mi querida familia!

Never stop smiling. Never stop working. Never stop loving. Never stop believing. Never stop laughing. Never stop learning. Never stop trying. Never stop praying. Never stop being you. 

I was reading in Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow this week after we had a fantastic lesson in priesthood about missionary work. President Snow shares an experience he had in his mission in England. His words struck me to the core and they've echoed in my head for the past week. They are as follows:

"The thought that I am between four and five thousand miles from the home of my childhood and all of my early, fond associations, very naturally prompts the question, Why am I here?… I am here because God has spoken, and raised up a Prophet, through whom He has restored the fulness of the everlasting Gospel, with all its gifts, powers, ordinances, and blessings… I have been called as an ambassador, to bear this message to the nations of the earth, which I realize devolves on me a great responsibility which I cannot discharge without the aid of the Almighty.

I am a missionary. I have been set apart as such. I have a message to share and with the help of the Lord, nothing will stop me. Through thick and thin, sunshine and rain, I will give my all that I may honor Him. "When I reflect upon the past, and trace the hand of the Lord marvellously opening my way, and prospering me in every thing ... beyond my highest expectations, I feel doubly encouraged to press forward to the future; language indeed fails to express the deep gratitude of my heart for his blessings."

This week was truly amazing. Miguel and Jessica were finally married and baptized Friday! After many phone calls, much traveling, and a lot of hard work, we organized their wedding for Friday afternoon and their baptism for that night. With every step they took, I could see a new light growing in their eyes. Though Jessica had to be baptized 5+ times because of her fear of water, the Spirit was there. Afterwards we celebrated their wedding with chocolate cake made by yours truly (no one believed me when I told them I could make cake). It was truly a remarkable day.

We've also started working in a small village 20 minutes outside Santa Cruz called San Isidro. As far as I know, we're the first LDS missionaries to preach in the town. We spent the afternoon contacting references, tracting, and developing good relationships with the people there. We even helped one lady and her daughter go house to house selling fish. :) After a successful afternoon, we decided to return again to teach lessons to those we contacted this Wednesday. Wish us luck!

Kevin is still living in our yard. She (yes, Kevin is a girl) doesn't seem to want to leave. Elder Pacheco is starting to get attached to the little gal to the point that he even bought corn this morning to feed her. What next? ;)

Well, that's about all from me this week. 

Dad, thanks so much for your support and your advice. I'm working hard to listen to the promptings of the Spirit, no matter how hard it may be. And I'm glad you had some fun with the ATVs this weekend! You won't believe me, but I saw the exact same ATV that we have about a month ago in the back of someone's truck. It brought back some fun memories of ATVing with you and Eric! :)

Mom, you are in my prayers always. I've been searching for some advice from prophets and apostles that may help you through these hard times. I found this one and there are so many more if you search "Comfort and Hope" at LDS.org. This comes from Elder Nelson. I hope it helps.

“For reasons usually unknown, some people are born with physical limitations. Specific parts of the body may be abnormal. Regulatory systems may be out of balance. And all of our bodies are subject to disease and death. Nevertheless, the gift of a physical body is priceless. Without it, we cannot attain a fulness of joy. 

“A perfect body is not required to achieve a divine destiny. In fact, some of the sweetest spirits are housed in frail frames. Great spiritual strength is often developed by those with physical challenges precisely because they are challenged. Such individuals are entitled to all the blessings that God has in store for His faithful and obedient children. 

“Eventually the time will come when each ‘spirit and … body shall be reunited again in … perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame’ (Alma 11:43).  Then, thanks to the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can become perfected in Him.”

I love you all so so much. I send all my love your way!

Keep being stellar!

Con amor,

Elder Roberts

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Pictures 
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Kevin - The Chicken

Jessica & Miguel

Drew baked a wedding cake!

Oct 14 Pictures

I'm in a cave...and it's dark...and there's a bug smashed on my shirt...

Waiting for the bus to take us to Stake Conference. (Hey! You can see my church from here!)

Sometimes I take naps at lunchtime... (don't worry, I'm not really sleeping!)

Mototaxi: our main form of transportation, other than walking.

Elder Amezcua and me. He insists I'm from Mexico. I refuse to believe him.

Elder Pacheco, Julio, Libby, and me. Yes...I'm that much taller than everyone here. :) 

Woah, I shrunk. I look a little worried, don't you think? ;)

Oct 14, 2013 Letter

¡Hola mi bonita familia!

Wow. Just wow. What a week! I think I'm going to take it one day at a time. But first, let's start off with some fun stories!

We officially have a pet chicken. His name is Kevin. He's not nearly as colorful as his namesake from UP, nor am I sure if he's a boy or girl. He lives in our yard, though I'm not sure how he got in or why he decided to stay. I'll be sure to take a picture of him and send it to you :) Oh, and we've had a few exciting encounters with a frog who likes to swim in our pila, or washing station. I've gone to wash my face a few times only to be surprised by the little guy. Oh what fun! :)

We got caught in a rain storm a few days ago. Right as we left an appointment Mother Nature started to cry. Something must have really upset her because by the time we got to shelter, we were soaked to the bone. What adventures! Secretly I like getting wet :)

Okee dokee, time to explain my week!

Tuesday: Yoni was baptized! Elder Pacheco tells me that it was a super spiritual experience. When he came out of the water, he gave his brother, who had baptized him, the biggest hug that lasted for about a minute. His wife, who is a member, was crying in the congregation. Yoni said that it was one of the most special experiences of his life and wondered why he didn't get baptized sooner! :) I wasn't able to be at the baptism because I was on divisions with one of the Zone Leaders in Yojoa and Rio Lindo. I wish I could have been there, but things didn't work out very well. Elder Pacheco took pictures and showed them to me, so I felt a little better :)

Wednesday: I spent the morning in Rio Lindo finishing up divisions with Elder Rodriguez. At lunchtime Elder Pacheco came and picked me up and we returned to Santa Cruz to finish our day of proselyting.

Thursday: First I must tell a little backstory. We visited a less-active member about a week ago. At the end of the lesson I felt prompted to ask her if she knew anyone who would be willing to listen to our message. She immediately started explaining about her brother who had visited with the missionaries when their mother was sick. After their mother died, the missionaries stopped visiting. A few days before our visit her brother had asked her why the missionaries hadn't visited for a while. That same night we visited him and he is more than willing to listen. Thursday night we visited him again, this time with his whole family. They are all super interested and we hope they go far!

Friday: We visited with Lilian today. She's basically an unbaptized member. We taught her about the Word of Wisdom and found out that she doesn't drink coffee or tea and believes that we should eat meat sparingly. She agreed with everything we said and even gave us the number of her brother who she wants us to visit. He has a drinking problem and she wants us to try and help him kick the habit. We also visited with a new investigator who attended Yoni's baptism. He's listened to the missionaries before, but he's more than willing to listen!

Saturday: We taught Miguel and Jessica Matute today. They weren't able to be baptized this week because some Jessica's birth certificate didn't come in. So we've got everything set up for this upcoming week! Nothing will stop us now! :)

Sunday: Today was fun. Elder Pacheco cracks me up. Sometimes we come home at night and just laugh and laugh. We've had some pretty great times together :) The Primary enlisted me today to play the piano for them. The chorister is tone deaf and can't find the beat to save her life, but we had fun anyways! Also, Yoni was confirmed and he asked me to stand in the circle. It definitely made up for missing his baptism!

Well, that's about all for my week! Thanks for all your emails and for all your prayers and well wishes!

Keep being stellar!

Con Amor,

Elder Roberts

Oct 7, 2013 Letter

¡Hola familia!

80,333 missionaries. 15,000,000 members. 1 true church.

Wow. Can you believe it? How blessed we are to be part of such an exciting time in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! I hope each of you enjoyed General Conference as much as I did. Though it was different watching it in Spanish in the chapel of the church, I loved it just as much as I normally do :)

Well, I'm happy to announce that I am writing you this week from...drumroll please...Santa Cruz de Yojoa! And my companion is...Elder Pacheco! Once again, we will be enjoying another 'cambio' or transfer together. It's pretty rare to have 3 transfers with one companion, but we're both happy and looking forward to another 6 weeks of teaching together, having fun together, and helping people come to Christ together. This place has truly become a home away from home. I love it!

This week was truly one of the most eventful weeks I've had in my mission thus far. Let 'Story Time' begin!

Our zone was split last Wednesday! Because of the amount of new missionaries we're receiving and the amount of new areas we're opening, President Dester saw it wise to split La Zona Villanueva and create a new zone called La Zona Yojoa. My area is part of the new zone, with a total of 2 new companionships and 1 new area. The work in Honduras is growing!

I must admit that I love the food here. It's simple, but tasty; however, sometimes members give us things that we've never seen. In the true spirit of missionaries, we eat whatever is given us. Two Saturdays ago we were given a 'mystery meat' of sorts. After trying a little bit, we found that while it had a different texture it didn't taste bad. So we ate it all without giving it another thought. The other day we were with the sister that gave us dinner that night and we asked her what type of meat she had given us. With a grin, she said, "Lengua de vaca." Yes. I ate cow tongue without knowing it. And guess what? I'm not dead! Score!

7 baptisms! Say what? That's right. We're planning on having seven baptisms this month. Woot! Miguel and Jessica Matute are finally getting married this Thursday and baptized Friday. Everything is in order and boy is everyone excited (including me)! Let's pray that this time everything will go smoothly! We're also planning on helping Pastor and Rosa Licona get married the 24th and baptized the 26th. They are a little hesitant to get married, but they attended the Sunday morning session where half the speakers talked about the importance of families and I think they're starting to see the blessings of marriage! Also, we're helping Lilian and her daughter Scarlet work toward the 19th as their baptism date. She's had so much opposition from everyone in her family, but in her own words she said, "I'm going to keep fighting." Everyone says they've seen a change in her, and she even says that she's felt a change in her life. Despite her challenges, she's happier than ever. And last but not least, Yony Hernandez is once and for all ready. On my very first 'missionary split' with a member Friday, he told us that he wanted to be baptized the next day. We explained that he needed to be interviewed first, so we agreed that he could be baptized tomorrow, the 8th. 

I testify that Satan has power. He's working harder than ever to drag the children of God away from everything that will make them happy. He wants them to be miserable like unto himself. But I testify that God has more power. As the ultimate Being of the universe, He can bring to pass anything that He sees fit. He wants every one of His children to be happy. He wants us to live with Him again. He will do everything in His power to help us if we just put our trust in Him. I know this without a doubt. 

Sorry about the scare last week. I'm not sure what happened with my email last week, but everything came in late. I didn't recieve some of last week's emails until today! But all is well and I'm glad you got my email. Oh, and I email from one of two Internet Cafes in town, Sky Net or Yojoa Net. :)

To answer a few of your questions, the rainy season has not yet hit. We've only had one good storm in the past few weeks, but we have faith that the rainy season will come soon! And no luck with the water yet...we talked again with the landlady today and she's going to send someone to look at it Tuesday or Wednesday. Who knows if it will actually get fixed. ;)

Mom, I just got your other email today. So expect a personal response soonly :) And we haven't had 'La Ruta' for the past few weeks. This means that we haven't been able to get mail for a little while, but I'm hoping tomorrow I'll get one of your letters! Fingers crossed! And muchísimas gracias por las fotos! I couldn't stop smiling :)

Well, I must be off. There's still much more to do today! But before I go, I want you all to know something of utmost importance. I love you. Have I mentioned that before? ´Cause it's true. I truly love each and every one of you around the world and back again!

Con mucho amor y abrazos,

Elder Roberts

Sept 30, 2013 Letter

¡Hola Familia!

I feel it appropriate to title my letter this week, "I'm Singin' in the Rain." There are two reasons in particular, of which are explained in the following paragraphs. The first is literal and the second is a little more spiritual.

1. Welcome to the rainy season...maybe. The locals tell me that the most rainy part of the year begins in the latter part of September and continues through all of October. I'm not sure what happened, but Mother Nature seems to have decided to play a joke on us. It's rained less in the past week than it has in any other week that I've been in Honduras. For instance, it has rained every Tuesday that I've been in Honduras except for last Tuesday. In place of rain, it's been hot, humid, and sunny. The roads are covered in a layer of dirt and dust to the point that we have to shield ourselves when a large truck drives by. I think I'll start singing, "Rain, rain, don't go away. Come back every day!" Let's hope Father Time whips Mother Nature into shape sometime soon so I can start singing in the rain! ;)

2. Sometimes there are storms in life. These storms are not storms of literal rain and darkness, rather storms of sadness, hardship, affliction, trials, and other difficulties. Not every day is sunny and pleasant. Occasionally we are faced with partly-cloudy days or days with chances of rain. Other days we experience thunderstorms or even hurricanes. No matter what type of storm the day brings, we always have the same two options: watch and wait for the storm to pass or dance and sing in the rain.

In my mission this concept has been more evident than ever before. I've endured some of the fiercest storms in my life these past 4 months. I've had days when nothing goes right, appointments fall through, investigators don't keep their commitments, and nothing gets done. I've had days when all I can do is fall to my knees and beg my Father in Heaven for some kind of help. But through all these 'storms,' I've learned that there's no use in sulking around waiting for things to get better. If we want to make it through life, we must learn to love the rain. We must learn to smile when we hurt the most. We must learn to laugh before we cry. We must learn to love when we feel the most hate. We must learn to sing in the rain.

So, with this in mind, I'm gonna start singing (you might want to cover your ears). ;)

Nobody was baptized this week. The Matute Family wasn't able to get married because some of the paperwork fell through and thus wasn't able to get baptized. But we're working harder than ever to get everything in order for this week! They're super excited and I'm pretty sure Jessica (the mother of the family) has told the whole ward about the wedding and the baptism! As for Yony, he struggled this past week with his testimony. An Evangelical friend started to confuse him by teaching other doctrines from a different religion. He wants to be baptized, but hasn't been able to recieve an answer or a testimony. We are hoping to help him work towards the 12th of October! 

Life in Santa Cruz is going fantastically! Transfers, or cambios as we call them, are this Wednesday. We find out tonight whether or not Elder Pacheco or I will be transfered. We both want to stay another 6 weeks to help the people we've grown to know and love, but we know that sometimes God has another purpose in mind for us. Personally, I'm willing to go and do whatever my Heavenly Father sees fit. So you might be hearing from me next week from a new area or with a new companion!

The language is coming quite well. I can basically understand what people are saying now and can generate a slow response, but communicating with everyone is much much easier. I'm excited for the day when I can blabber on and on without stopping! In all reality, Spanish is so much fun!

Sounds like you're all having fun and keeping busy at home! Band competitions, Disney plays, and more! Tell Eric congratulations on the 3rd place finish at Nebo! I hope they can keep getting better and better as the season progresses. And send my love to Ashley. I bet she made the best of Tiggers :)

... thanks for the pictures of Emmie! I couldn't stop smiling. I showed them to Elder Pacheco and he said, "¡En serio! ¡Es como un león! (Holy cow! It's like a lion!)" And sounds like the weather is about as crazy there as it is here, perhaps even more! But hey, what can you expect from Utah? ;)

Well, I must be off! I love you all bunches and bunches and wish you the best of Conference weekends! 

Con mucho amor,

Elder Roberts

P.S. I've taught Elder Pacheco a new phrase: holy cow, or vaca santa in español. He's been using it a lot and we hope to make it a new trend in Honduras! ¡Vaca santa!

P.S.S. Elder Christofferson is incredible. Watch one of his Mormon Messages here: http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=2649255347001

Sept 23, 2013 Letter

Excerpts from Sept 23 letter:

This week was pretty normal. Nothing super exciting happened but I do have a few fun things to share with you.

1. Remember the zoo that I've visited a few times? This past Wednesday it was seized by the U.S. Government along with 4 other businesses on accounts of drug trafficking. In total, they seized 500 million dollars worth of property. The apprehended all the suspects and they are now facing charges. Fortunately the zoo is still operating under the direction of another company, so the employees and animals are still employed. The zoo is a big part of the community here in Santa Cruz, so I'm hoping it can stay open (under correct administration) to help provide jobs for the people here!

2. We found an avocado in our yard the other day, so Elder Pacheco decided to play a game of avocado baseball. He threw the avocado up in the air and, with an unused broomstick, smacked the avocado. To our surprise, it wasn't the avocado that went flying. When he hit the avocado, it broke the broomstick in half and one half went flying toward the gate at the other end of the yard. Talk about a surprise! Never again will we play baseball with an avocado.

3. Stake Conference was this week! Seeing as it was held in Potrerillos (about an hour north of Santa Cruz) the ward provided buses for the members to ride together. I was fortunate to be able to play the hymns for the two sessions on Saturday as well as accompany the choir in both these sessions as well. On Sunday, all the missionaries in La Zona Villanueva sang in a special missionary choir in two other sessions. What a great spiritual experience to be gathered together with so many of the faithful saints of Honduras. A few of our investigators were able to accompany us as well which was super exciting!

The weather here is pretty normal: hot and humid. They say that we're entering the rainy season, but I haven't noticed an increase in the amount of rain we've recieved. I guess we'll see more of a change as we enter October and November. All I know is that I'm glad I'm here in Santa Cruz where the nights and mornings are cool so I can get a small respite from the heat! :) I hope you're all enjoying the beginnings of fall! What a fun time of year!

In all reality, I'm not sure what's going to happen with our baptisms this week. I've personally seen the hand of Satan working in the lives of each of our investigators to try and keep them from being baptized. Here's a brief update on our progressing investigators:

José won't be baptized this Saturday. We're not sure what happened, but one day we met with him and asked him how he felt about his baptism. He told us that he needs more time to learn about baptism. We're going to keep working with him and hopefully we can help him work towards another date.

Miguel and Jessica are some of the most humble people I know. They literally live with hardly anything and the money they earn goes directly into buying food to eat or paying rent. In order for them to be baptized, they need to get married. It's been hard for them to gather the money in order to pay the fees for the wedding. I hope we can help them find the money they need so they can continue on the path to baptism!

Yony is perhaps the most sincere person I've met on my mission thus far. He always wants to do what is best and trys his hardest to find out what is right and correct. His road to baptism has been more like a rollercoaster than a road. One moment he is sure about being baptized and the next he isn't sure if it's right for him. Last night we met with him and he expressed his doubts about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. He said he'd been reading the Bible and found some things that confused him. I felt the impression to promise him in the name of Jesus Christ that if he read the Book of Mormon that night and prayed to know of its truthfulness, he would recieve an answer. I've prayed, fasted, and prayed some more that he might know by the power of God that this is true. I know God will provide. I just hope he recognizes the answer. We'll see what he says tonight.

I know without a doubt in my being that this church is true. I'm forever grateful for the incredible opportunity to share this knowledge with the people of Honduras. What a blessing!

Keep being stellar!

Con Amor,

Elder Roberts

Sept 16, 2013 Letter

Hola Familia!

My goal in this email is simple: to help you smile. That being said, keep in mind that the following stories are true and are in no way fabricated or exaggerated. 

The other day Elder Pacheco and I were walking down the street as usual greeting various people with "¡Buenas!" or "¡Hola!", when we walked past a man standing just outside his front door. He greeted us with "¡Hola!" to which Elder Pacheco responded, "¿Cómo está?". As we waited for a casual response like, "Bien, ¿y usted?" or "¡Bien bien!", something a little different happened. Rather suddenly he raised his hands to the heavens and shouted, "¡Bien, gracias por la voluntad de Dios!" (Great, thanks to the will of God!) As we continued walking down the street, we both had smiles on our faces and I could tell Elder Pacheco was on the verge of laughing. I guess some people have a little different way of communicating than others. ;)

Later that day we taught one of our investigators in the church. As we finished our lesson, we asked him if we could kneel and say a prayer and if he would feel comfortable offering it. He gladly accepted and we knelt to pray. Time passed and nothing was said. We waited and waited for him to say something. After about 30 seconds, I looked up to see what was going on. Elder Pacheco also looked up and I could tell from the confused look on his face that he didn't know what was going on either. In a gentle voice Elder Pacheco asked, "Hermano, are you praying?"  "Sí, sí," he responded. "Could you pray out loud so we can hear?" Silence. "I don't think I know how to pray." With a smile on his face, Elder Pacheco guided him through a simple prayer. As I look back, I realize that sometimes people just need a little help. It made me smile as I thought back on the days when I prayed saying the words that were whispered in my ear. :)

That same night we were sitting at the table planning the next day. As usual, Elder Pacheco loosened his pants a little to relax. After we were done planning, he stood up, said something motivational, and starting walking to the bedroom. Just like in cartoons, his pants suddenly fell down to his ankles. He scrambled to pick them up as I burst out in laughter. I couldn't stop laughing for the longest time. :)

You may ask, what was the point of all this storytelling? Well for one, hopefully it made you smile. Second, it was to help you realize that a mission, while it is hardwork, it is also fun. I smile many times every day and laughter isn't hard to find. 

All in all, this week was good. We've got 4 baptisms planned for the 28th of September, Miguel and Jessica (a couple), Yony, and José. Over the past few weeks, I've developed an immense love for each of these people and the fact that they're willing to work so hard to grow closer to God amazes me. You can literally see something change in these people. There's a light that grows in their eyes and they smile more often. It's incredible.

We were also blessed to have Presidente Dester and Hermana Dester visit our ward yesterday. They called us the night before at 10:00 and asked if they could join us for Sacrament Meeting. We enjoyed having the opportunity to talk with them about Santa Cruz, the ward, and our investigators. Afterwards, they stopped by our apartment to make sure things were in order (it's a good thing we're clean!). I can feel their immense love for us every time I see them. They are truly amazing.

Thanks so much for the emails! I love hearing about all your adventures. There's nothing better than feeling the love of family members and friends through your encouraging words. ¡Muchísimas gracias!

Con Amor,

Elder Roberts