2014.05.25 (Monday, the 26th his time)

Monday we met with the assistant ward mission leader and talked about how to build Mokpo this next transfer. The main situation is last year there was a big push for member missionary work and referrals. Because of that, a lot of members feel like they don't know who else they can invite. There s a great opportunity with Elder Christofferson coming, but there's no one to share it with. That s how a lot of them feel anyway. One thing we're focusing on is past received referrals. Trying again with those that didn't accept it the first time.

After that we saw an awesome miracle. We were going shop for the week and we met an awesome guy on the street. Introduced us to his friend that teaches a Taekwondo academy, talked with him for a while and said he wanted to meet again. Talked with a couple other awesome people later that evening too as we were going to visit a member. 

Throughout the week we saw a lot of other miracles too. We met a lot of students at a university here that were super awesome, one of them attends a local church and wanted to know what happened to ancestors who didn't know about God.. The days I love to be a missionary. :D Such a great discussion.

Then there's transfers. My new companion is awesome. He works really hard, I am pretty sure he is half giant, he studies a lot, and he has a really outgoing personality.

In the past couple of days, we met a couple of cool people on the street, and saw some big miracles. Saturday's miracles were the best. We played basketball with a kid we met a couple days back and told him about ourselves a little more, then he invited us over to his house for dinner the next day. When we visited, his family was awesome. He loves church, and says he wants to come to ours. The mom wants a church, but tried to go to a different one for a while and it didn't feel the way she wanted. She's super open though. And they're such a fun family.

Then we had English class and an after party which went really well. (The assistant ward mission leader is a manager at a meat processing factory, so he likes to organizes 고기 Parties. Essentially BBQ^^) A lot of investigators came or stayed after Eng class, plus a long time Less Active suddenly came and introduced two students from his academy who wanted to meet us. It was a super good time.   I think we'll be able to meet a lot of them again. The member I was really excited about. I'd been looking for him for a while. I had heard of him before, but I didn't have an address for his work, so I could never find him. Then, without us even saying anything, he appears at just the right time. It's official. We've got the best Boss.

I absolutely love Mokpo. It's so beautiful, and I see so many miracles happening this transfer. I'm excited. I'll have to send a picture of my new companion. He's a football player, super fast learner, and has a really outgoing personality.

Then if that wasn't awesome enough, we have an Apostle coming this week! It's going to be awesome! I hope everything is going well back home. You're in my prayers. The more I serve, the more grateful I feel to have the family that I do. It's such an incredible blessing.

You're all the best! have a good week!

Elder Robarts

2014.05.18

2014-05-12

There were a lot of things to be grateful for today. First off, I got to say hi to my family. Not much better than that!

Then Spaulding was resurrected

Most probably don't know Spaulding, but he is a small music player that has technical difficulties when experimented with too much. Lately he has been acting up, but he has recovered. Found out that in order for his immune system to work and allow him to fix himself, he needs a good charge. Once he's fully charged, I know a complex series of steps that usually cures him.

Oven

We bought an oven! A little toaster oven. Not too impressive, but it can make bread! And it's not a rice maker... We've only practiced a couple times, but I like it.^^

Ice cream

Found a place that had a good deal on tubs of icecream

Not the little bars but the real stuff. It's a little more bulk than we are used to. Which means, I begin saving pennies... One day.

Met a less active for the first time This week

We've been trying to visit for ages, but they've been busy. We met them, they're awesome. Love the missionaries. And they came out to church this week, so we're super happy.^^

Yep, good start to the week. The rest was pretty good too, but we got some sad news. One of the investigators here who was planning on getting baptized out of no where says that he needs to move to America in two weeks for school. Super busy, couldn't meet, and it doesn't look like he'll be able to be baptized before he goes. Time to refer to California! 

Trying to think of what other news there was. Transfer calls come today, but we don't have them yet. Looking forward to seeing what happens.^^

 I love you!

~Elder Robarts

2014.05.11 Mother's Day Letter

Surprise!

I wasn't sure if we'd be emailing on Mother's day, but I've got a little time.^^

I love you all so much. I don't even know where to begin. I'll start with mom. Here in Korea, it's not as big. May has lots of holidays, including one for parents day. But Mothers day isn't celebrated. I sure am glad for my mother though. She's a saint,she almost single handed raised 8 children, and I don't think I have ever heard her say a negative thing about the matter. Maybe that it is sometimes tiring or that she wishes she was better than she already is, but never did I hear her say that it wasn't worth it. I never heard her complain of the sacrifices she made. But I can see what she has given for us, and I am so grateful for it. I remember as a toddler asking her to read to me and having her share with me Jesus the Christ. Those who know the story know how special it is to me. It was the start of our reading club, but more than that, it became a firm anchor in my own testimony. Young as I was, I didn't understand what was being read, but even now I remember the feeling I had as I listened. As I grew older, that feeling helped me recognize the spirit more. I don't know if she fully knows what she has done for me, but I hope one day she can feel a piece of it.

That was only one of many memories of my mother. Others include a quiet morning where we go on a bike ride with just the two of us. I still don't remember the reason or purpose of the ride, but as the last of eight children, that quiet time with just the two of us felt very special to me. There were a lot of those. I also recall nights of reading club, days spent baking together and learning the joys of cooking. I remember days being taught with my mom as my teacher, learning anything from math to art. Never criticizing, always supporting. I felt like I could ask her anything. Often, she would tell me where to find the answers, other times she would teach me herself. She taught me love, as well as faith. She shared with me the joy of learning. I remember her often saying, "look in the dictionary," or "if you can read, you can cook." Those practices helped me more than I would ever know. They taught me curiosity and gave me a thirst for knowledge.

But the thing I am the most grateful for is the home she provided for us. A sanctuary for the spirit. Family prayer and scripture reading has always been natural because from the time I was young, she protected those habits. I don't remember many days where we did not pray together or read together from the scriptures. I remember monday nights of family home evenings. We may have missed sometimes, and I may not remember what we talked about or learned, but I remember what I felt. And that too has become an anchor for my testimony. 

Looking back, it would have been easy to lose those blessings. Easy not to pray. Easy not to get up for seminary. But I had a mother that fought for them. Protected them. Even when it was hard. I didn't realize what difference that makes in a family. But I do now. I can say with confidence that I know Christ is my Savior. And I, like the Sons of Helaman, attribute that to my mother.

My mom is awesome. She's artistic, a great cook, powerful reader, and wise friend. She's a shoulder I could always lean on, arms ready to embrace, and has ears that would always listen. In times of trial, I would always find her in prayer. And then, with a heart of faith, she would give the Lord her all. I've never seen her decline a calling, despite demands on her time, I never heard her speak against poorly of those the Lord has chosen, even when her thoughts disagreed. She showed me what loyalty to the Lord meant. She showed me trust in something more.

I love her more than words can express, and I am proud to be her son.

So don't all be jealous, I'm sure your mothers are great too, but I'm inclined to say mine is the best.

~Elder Robarts

2014.05.06 email received

Dear Home,

I like the idea of having notes prepped ahead of time, but it's weird trying to manage the flow of the letter when there's a big block thrown in that I wrote days ago. 

This week has been pretty fun. In Korea, there are a lot of holidays in may, so we have been doing a lot of proselyting activities to find people to teach. On Monday it was Childrens Day here, so our mission decided to move Pday to Wednesday in order to take advantage of all the families going out. A lot of people were there, so it was pretty successful. Hopefully we will be able to meet a lot of them later. But yeah, that was why I wasn't able to email Monday.

I've gotta say, having four Elders in the house again is nice. You can do a lot more when you have more people around. I love how efficient two man houses can be, but I like the perks of four man too.You get to share stories a lot more. Usually serving in a two man and being together twenty-four seven, you have already shared all the stories you can think of.

This month has a lot of excitement going on.Coming up, there are tons of holidays in Korea, then there is a ward fellowshipping activity we are working in to help prepare everyone for the visiting apostle, then Elder Christofferson comes, first to Daejeon to meet the missionaries, then down to Gwangju,so we will get to see him twice! It'll be awesome.

It feels like there is a lot of news, but I'm always at a loss of what to share first. After finding out the notes capability of a translator I use here, I've been finding all sorts of useful things with it. I put PMG on there, I'm working on typing up lesson plans on it, and it is a good place for just simple references. Pretty similar to what I'd been doing with the phone, but with better connections. In a hurry, I also can copy emails onto it and read them later, rather than my method of taking a picture of it like I used to.

Little tricks to make life easier. Of course, these are extremely simple tasks for others with modern technology. As missionaries, we run a little more simple, but I love it. We've also started using little outlines when we make our lesson plans. Found out that helps us a lot. Plus, it makes it easier to record impressions we get for lessons during the week.^^

Yep, Buddha's Birthday, Children's day, things are pretty exciting here. Children's day was the best.

Another fun story: I ran into an old investigator I met a year ago. I met him in Daejeon, and missionaries there found him again. Turns out Mokpo is his hometown and he's started coming down for the weekends to look after his mom. IT was pretty cool to talk with him again. He loves history and says he wants to read the Book of Mormon. He loves the idea of church, but he felt like a lot of them were more monetary than they should be. Loves what he's seen of ours though. He's always been a super nice guy. I hope we get to see him a lot more.^^

~Elder Robarts