email 2014.01.26

Dear Home,

What a crazy week. So, it's not really p-day today. This week is 설날, or New Years, which is a pretty big thing here. Mostly for families, so usually missionaries aren't involved much, but for the three days around the holiday itself, most of Korea shuts down, including the places we shop or email. So, we're taking care of that now, but the rest waits until Friday this week. Lot's of meetings this week.

It's been a good week here. Not a lot of news, but things are going well. I've been in this area for a while now (Over six months), so I'm starting to run out of creative ideas to try. Been digging up some old ideas though. Started using fliers for English class again. Lot's of results there, but mostly women for some reason. Referrals for the sister missionaries. ^^ Also started looking for a lot more less actives this week. Met a couple really nice people and got to talk for a bit. The main thing is that everyone is simply so busy, it's hard to meet them at a good time. It's the people we meet on the street while traveling that I like the most. I love how many people the Lord is preparing to receive this message.

This Sunday we had an awesome meeting Sunday with our Stake President. (He has a meeting with all the missionary leaders in the stake once a transfer) Had a great talk with him, as well as an area Seventy member that was visiting as well. Lots of new ideas came up, and we've been asked to discuss it more in upcoming district/zone meetings. I absolutely love this Stake. I've never met such an involved Stake President. He meets with everyone, knows the conditions of pretty much every ward in the stake, from missionary work on our end, on the ward's end, as well as every other auxiliary from the sound of it. He's poured his whole soul into this work, and it really shows. I've never seen so much fire about this work before. There's always change, always one more method we can try. One more step. At first it was just overwhelming, but now it's incredible.

Not much time today. Gotta run so we can get back to work, but I love you guys. Take care, have a great new years, and I'll talk to you again soon!

~Elder Robarts

2014.01.19 email

Dear home,

Another whirlwind goes into the books. This was a good week. The sisters had a Baptism, so I got to meet with their investigator for the Baptismal interview. She is about 12 in American age, but she's so mature. When she prayed, it was one of the most sincere prayers I've heard. Simple, but strong. Definitely well prepared for Baptism. She got baptised this Sunday, and the service was really spiritual.
Outside of that too, it was great, Lot's of cool miracles, a couple new faces, and little surprises that keep life interesting.

So, this week was transfer week, and Elder Keyser and I get to serve together another transfer. Only one missionary transfered in my district, and he was a missionary I've served together with over half of my mission. Awesome guy, and a fireball of a missionary. The new Zone Leader that came in is awesome too. He seems really receptive to the spirit, and a fun personality. Looking forward to working with him, as well Elder Keyser again.

After that, we had a really good testimony meeting for the end of the BoM reading activity. Our District did one together, then we had a conference call testimony meeting with the rest of the zone. It was a really fast transfer it felt like, but we all learned a lot.

Had a mini Christmas this week too. A while back, I ordered a copy of PMG in Kor/Eng (side by side), and it came this week after MLC. As I've been reading it, it's been really useful for studying, and a couple other thoughts have been coming to mind as I've been using it, one of which is using it when meeting or teaching lessons with members. In the past, my Korean one has been to big and bulky so we couldn't do it, but I think it'll be a really good help. So much we
can get out of it, I want to be able to share that with members more.

 Met an awesome family last week. Found them tracting, and I love them a lot. I think I mentioned them last time. No religion, but open minded. And really nice. This past time we talked about how the Gospel blesses our families, and how knowing about God will help them. Shared about prayer, and they seemed to accept it really well. Kind of funny news though. The Mom is leaving to go to Hawaii for a month to train horses. ...Kind of took us by surprise. Jealous? In another world, I might be, but to be honest, I'm just sad I won't be able to meet them very much. Still have another chance to meet them though. We're hoping
to leave them with something so they can keep searching while they're away.

I love you all. You're the best. I miss you a lot, but I'm glad I can still hear from you and write to you. The wonders of modern technology are a beautiful thing.

Gotta run, but Elder Keyser and I went hiking up in a mountain this morning, so I'll try to send pictures. Love you! Have a good week!

~Elder Robarts

Check that. This computer has a wall between me and the USP port. It wins this round... Pictures next time. ^^

2014.01.12 email

Dear Home,

I love you guys so much. This week has been a crazy one. We've recently seen a wave where all of the investigators we've been meeting suddenly got busy or stopped receiving calls. Keeping them in our prayers. Lately though, we've had a lot of time for finding, and we've seen some cool miracles. Met an awesome atheist family yesterday that welcomed us in and asked us to come back later. The mom used to live by the church and learned english with missionaries when she was younger. Super nice family. Also met a college student who said that he's tried going to church a couple times and thinks that there's a god, but not sure who he is. Said he was interested in learning more. Also, we had a former investigator who got super busy so he couldn't meet. Kept in touch, but his number changed randomly so we lost him. Then one day we decide to call again, and it forwards us to a new number. He told us he misses meeting and want to talk with us a little longer this week. So we're hoping we can meet again soon.

The members are incredible, my companion is incredible, and we're going strong. Transfer calls came this week, but with little changes. One of the Zone Leaders is transfering and we're getting a new one, but outside of that we're still the same. Looking to be an awesome transfer though. We've been meeting a lot of people who have been saying they want to meet at the end of the month. (Beginning and End of the year is a pretty busy time here.)

I love this work. It's a whirlwind and an adventure. Sometimes, you just have to take things one day at a time and accept that the Lord has his hand on the wheel. Miracles come when you trust that. I know that's true.

I'm working on the package for home. There's kind of a lot of people to look for stuff for. It's nothing exciting, but it's coming along slowly. I think valentine's day.  Outside of that, I'll mostly just try pictures today. Love you guys! Have a good week!

Elder Robarts

2014.01.05 email

Hey, all!

I love this mission. You forgot how tired you are sometimes. But this week was good. We've been trying a lot of new tricks lately, and seeing some miracles. First off, we recently got a flip chart from the mission to use in lessons. Although, to be honest, we've found a better use for it. We use it every comp study. We pick a single principle for the other to teach. Then afterward we teach a full lesson using it to help us tag team. In Korea, the hardest part of teaching is probably teaching in unity. It's hard to teach in unity when your companion doesn't always know what is going on. I noticed that in training, but it's true all the time. With a foreign language like Korean, it's hard to follow perfectly. But through something as simple as teaching principles individually, it's been so much easier to transition. That's another thing. Every companion you have will usually have a slightly different companionship study style. When you find what clicks, things are awesome. For me and Elder Keyser, it's Roleplay. That's how we communicate our investigators needs.

Been trying to be more creative lately. Flip charts, cups, utilizing gospel videos more. So many things at our disposal, it's been cool to see a change in our investigators as we adapt our teaching style more.

This transfer is almost over. I can't believe it. I've been here for a while, and so has Elder Keyser. We have no idea what's happening, but I think Elder Keyser is at least going senior next transfer. He's more than ready. Not sure where the cards will fall, but I love it here. Members are just plain awesome. This week, one of them volunteered to coordinate member lessons for us. He got up in third hour and explained what he was doing, then went up to each person individually and asked them when they are available. Then he met with us. Checked all of our current appointments, found people, and he said he'd call each of them that night. Awesome guy.

At the moment, we're in the process of restarting our investigator pool. A lot of them have slowed down or dropped, and we're looking for some fresh souls. (I hope that doesn't sound bad.) Whenever there's a drought of new people, even if you /have/ a large number of investigators already, you hit this slump where not many new ideas come. You need things moving. Finding, dropping, using things learned with one investigator to help another. If they don't move, it gets stuck. We're pushing for that now. We've got a couple awesome people, but we want to be at our best to help them.

As it is, I'm realizing how short a time I have left. I need to make the most of every second. Loving it though. Learning a lot, and I'm excited to see how these lessons apply to life back home. There's a lot of that. Keep praying for my investigators, You're always in my prayers. I love you, and hope you have a good week!

Oh yeah, we had a good new years. Really funny because all of our investigators are a different age now. I'm 23 by the way. Korea count makes me feel old.

~Elder Robarts

2013.12.29 email

What an awesome week!

Some of the highlights: Had a last meeting with an investigator. Prepared guy, let me tell you. He's moving to Seoul, but we've been meeting for 4 weeks, and he's accepted the message of the Restoration, the Plan of Salvation, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ really well. And when it came up that he's moving, He asked Us to introduce him to the missionaries up there. There's a new light in his eyes each time we met. He reads and prays so well, and he told us he felt something different when he prayed with us for the last time. He's so ready to receive the Gospel, we're going to be following up a lot as he keeps meeting in Seoul. His family is still down here, so he plans to visit a lot. Such a great person, we'll both miss him a ton.

Also, there's a program here to help with member missionary work. First off, we always pray for members. We pray for them, and they pray for our investigators. We've so many miracles like the investigator who disappeared for two months and came back. Now we're praying for them. And specifically, we pray with a ward list next to us, and we pray to know who has someone near them that is being prepared to receive the Gospel. If a name comes, talk to them. If not, don't worry. But when we talk, simply share the experience, acknowledge they probably don't know who it is either, but ask them to pray to know who, and how they can invite. So far, we've had two names come to mind. First time, the member brought a friend to church, even before we had a chance to talk to him. Then this week, the name of a less active came to mind. We went to visit last night, and before we could mention it, he said he knew someone for us to visit. Needless to say, we were surprised both times, but it was pretty amazing.

We had a good Christmas, and I've been able to learn a lot recently. One thing about having a district to look after. Makes you think a LOT. This week, my thoughts are on Ammon and Aaron, and some differences in their experiences. Alma 17-21ish if you're interested. Ammon became a servant, and sought for them to become his friends and "brethren" (Alma 17:30). Aaron and some of the others were more simply "contending about the word" (Alma 21:11). At least at first. It changed after they met up with Ammon again. Results changed too.

Last week, the impression that came was that what we teach doesn't help them nearly as much as what they learn on their own. Our goal should always be to help them learn for themselves. Especially through the scriptures.

This week, the impression is that in order to help them do that, we must first be their friends, their brethren. We must love them and want their happiness. That should be more important to us that simply teaching material. Big lesson that I wanted to remember. And it's something we always need a refresher on sometimes.

The feeling is just so weird sometimes. Having ideas of things I need to consider and study, extending beyond myself. As a result, it helps me a lot more than anything else. But I've really come to learn how sacred that time is in District Meeting. It's a time where we can receive revelation. And preparing for it, I've felt that revelation come a number of times. Sometimes through external sources. This morning, I read it in the Book of Mormon, President Shin even mentioned it in the Conference Call with the mission this week. It all confirmed the things I was already thinking about. The spirit truly is a powerful thing.

But it's not just in missionary work. Every week our family has District Meeting. It just goes by the name of Family Home Evening. Every week we have an opportunity to create an environment to receive revelation. And in preparing for it, we can experience those same impressions. When I made that connection, it brought a lot of peace. Heaven knows, I'd miss this feeling if I couldn't have it anymore after my mission. But we all can. That's the beauty of the Gospel.

~~~~

It may not show, but that's been on my mind a lot lately. But in other news, life is good, I love the tie you guys sent me. Everything else is amazing too, but that was something I've been looking forward to. It's nice to look at in the morning. I hope you guys enjoyed the phone call as much as I did. I know it can be stress sometimes with such a short time, but I loved it.

I hope you are all doing well! I love you! Have an awesome week, and remember that God loves you! Happy new year!

~Elder Robarts

2013.12.22 email

New email place, and I'll say this: It has very nice chairs...

Now that that's out of the way... IT'S CHRISTMAS! (Almost)

I love this work. My head hasn't stopped spinning since I got here really. There's always a person to help, a new method to try. Recently, we've been thinking about what we have to do in order to help people come unto Christ. A thought that I've been thinking about a lot this week is follow up visits. I've said it before. This is Korea, and people are BUSY. We're lucky to meet them once a week. Daily contact isn't usually possible. Since there is no time, follow up visits are hard to manage, but we've been thinking about their importance. Lessons allow us to share testimony, but in all reality, these follow up visits are solely meant to Build Theirs. We've been trying ways to include those, including alternating lessons and follow ups each time we meet, and there seems to be a difference. People are making life changing decisions. It helps to give them time to share, without other expectations.

But I won't go super deep into it. That's just one of the focuses for our district recently.

Seriously though, it's Christmas! What a blessing it is to know that a Baby was born to save the world.  To be completely honest, it's hard for me to picture Christ as a baby. I've thought about that time, and I've thought about the time of the second coming, but the most distinct image I have of Him in my mind was during his mortal life. His example and sacrifice. His love for everyone who came to Him. The Atonement. It leaves such a strong impression that it's hard to comprehend that it all started in a manger. But it did. He is the Savior of the World, but He calls no glory to Himself. His desires were always for others.

And for two short years, I get to share it with everyone I meet. That's what I'm grateful for.

So, With Christmas, I suppose there are some things to mention. I'll try to call 10am on Christmas here. That's some time in the evening Christmas eve there. I can't remember what all is necessary for the conference call (might not work with the number I'm using), so I'm guessing I'll have to use separate calls. I'm looking forward to it though. It's been a while since I've heard your voices. Yep, it'll be short, but it'll be good. Let's try not to stress over it though. We know we won't be able to share everything. It's not really what it's meant for. (we can always write letters, right? ^^) It's just to get a chance to talk. A little soul to soul action. 

Needless to say, it'll be good. I love you guys. I've grown to love so many people and places here, but I'll always remember my home. I think about you almost as often as the people I'm working with here, and I pray for you with all my heart.

Coolest thing this week: Taught a woman on the train for two hours last week on the way to the Christmas party up in Daejeon. She used to go to church, but stopped going. We got to talking about her family, and we talked about the Plan of Salvation and the Restoration. She seemed genuinely interested in it, and said she would read the Book of Mormon. Here's the fun part. Turns out she lives in our area. So we said we'd love to talk again, and she said she might come to our ward christmas party. ^^ Keep your arms folded! (Mormon twist on keep your fingers crossed. Sorry, I'm losing my jokes...)

The Christmas party was good. Had a white elephant exchange. Got a santa puppet. Got to see some old friends and listen to amazing music. Good times. Anyway, almost out of time, so time for pictures. Do I even have any? I'll have to check. Love you!

~Elder Robarts

2013.12.15 email

love you guys. It's been a crazy week, but here are the highlights.

Our zone is reading the BoM in its entirety this transfer. We just finished Purification, a self examination of ourselves and letting go anything that takes away from the work. This transfer is filling in those holes with the spirit, especially through the Book of Mormon. Since starting, so many promptings have come of how we can use it. Making time to share things we learn. But even more, a way to use it on the street. Every morning I write scriptures that hit me. Then I choose one or two to share on the street. One thing I noticed. People are /really/ willing to listen when we ask if we can share something we learned. And that leads perfectly into a discussion of the Gospel. Lots of miracles there.

Also, an old investigator came to church this week! He's been a miracle since the day we met him. But after church, we talked with him, and he said he still wants to get baptized. He's spending the week thinking about when he feels he'll be ready. We know he is though. We're so excited for him.

There's so much more to share, but I'm out of time. Since I became DL, emailing president takes a little more time. Discussing needs in Korean takes a while... I love you guys though! I'll try to get back into writing hard letters, but I have no idea when. I'm hoping you'll forgive me. I look forward to hearing you next week! Have a great one! Love you!

~Elder Robarts