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? ;)