Letter #5

Hola Familia!

First of all, I feel so sorry for little Spencer. What a bummer. Has he called and talked to Aunt Krisit about it yet? We all know she too had a problem of falling from relatively low furniture. I want a picture of Spencer with his cast on! (If you print it at a photo kiosk it looks better when it gets here) Speaking of pictures, i got the ones Mom sent. Thanks! They were great and so fun to read!

Stephanie got her Driver's License?!?!?!?! Wow, that is hard to believe. I think it is a double whammy, because I was gone to college and then I came here, and suddenly Steph is licensed to drive? Scary! I'm just teasing. Anyway, it sounds like summer is going well so far. I hope you are having fun. As Carl Vance pointed out in a letter to me recenlty, I will never have a summer vacation again. Oh well...

Pues, we are done with 5 Weeks at the MTC!!!!!!!!!! Only 4 weeks left! Actually, it was four weeks from yesterday! I can't wait to get there, but now I am kinda getting nervice! Oh well though, I just keep doing what I am supposed to be doing and I know that the Lord will bless me. Dad and Mom mentioned something that Brother Odgen had said. I love the thought because it is actually how PMG (Preach My Gospel) and PME (Predicad Mi Evangelio) say to do when people have doubts. Our church is either True or it is not. That is simply how it is. And the truthfullness of our church is all dependent on whether the Book of Mormon is true or isn't. If the Book of Mormon isn't true, then the rest of the Church goes with it, but if it is true, as I personally bear testimony that it is, then we have the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ again on the Earth and it is our duty to tell as many people as will listen about the wonderful blessing that is ours. If you have been thinking about whether or not to try to share the gospel, read the Book of Mormon. As your testimony grows of that wonderful Book, so will your desire to share it with everyone you know. I know that is how I feel, now I just have to learn how to share that in Spanish!!!!!!

In sincerio, the Spanish is coming along. It is amazing to see the Lords hand in all of it here. I have only been studying the language here for 5 weeks and I have learned so much. Oh yeah, before I forget. Our ratio just keeps improving. We have had 5 devotionals so far, and 3 of them have been by Apostles. Thats right, last night Elder Robert D. Hales came and spoke to us all. It was an amazing talk about the light of Christ and of truth and how light has the infinite capactity to dispell darkness. I was really impressed with it. Also, this past Sunday we had some speakers come and talk about the hymns they had composed music for in the Hymbook. I can't remeber their names right now, but the songs they made the music for were: "Our Saviors Love" (I think his name was Crawford Gates) and "Press forward Saints" It was really neat to have them here.

Mom, Steph tells me you haven't sent my package yet, what a relief. I always feel bad because I think of one more thing. I won't add anything else after today, so just go ahead and send it. I would like the Grey shirt and also my blue firecracker race shirt. I just need another shirt to wear to gym and the firecracker one is a good shirt. Also, speaking of gym, i run the track everyday now. I tell you this so that I can now ask for something: You know those little "counters" the ones you hold in your hand and press a little button and it will keep a count for you? They are usually small metalic things. Anyways, if you could find one from walmart or somewhere and send it ASAP it would make my life so much the more enjoyable. I don't think you know how hard it is to keep track of all the laps i do when it takes 10 laps to make a mile. Anyways, thats really all.

Is there anything else you want to hear about?
Time is up.

Love,
Elder Roberts

The Letter Y'all've been waiting for...

Y'all've - definition: You all have. (It's a double conjunction)

I want to start this letter out with a joke:

Chiste: ?Cual es la diferencia entre una fruta y una novia de un misionero?

Respuesta: Una es pera y la ortra no espera.

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!! oh, you didn't get it? Ask someone that speaks spanish.

Kristi R. Judd and Craig Martin (if you get married I'll use your new name too) I have some exciting news - Brother Petersen (Elder Petersen as you both knew him) teaches at the MTC and I met him. He said he knew you both from the Mission. I knew he wasn't lying when he said "Kristi." Anyways, it was fun to meet someone that knew my family.

From the letters I've recieved it sounds like most of you back home are starting your gardens. This is great news to me because I too have started tending a Garden. Sometimes it is refered to as a vineyard, but whatever it is, it's white and already to harvest so I'm just here thrusting in my sickle.

Good News: One of our teachers, Hermana Padilla (Pronounced Paw-dee-ah), is getting married.

Bad News: She is no longer our teacher because she left to get married.

This is a bummer because she was a really good teacher. She really knew the Spanish language and the Gospel. We really liked her. Anyways, she is gone and now we only have one set teacher, so half of the time we are the foster class, getting passed around to a different teacher each time. Its okay though because we get to learn different things from different teachers. We should get a new set teacher in a week or so. I'll keep you posted.

More good news: I have started using gym time to run everyday. I run 3 miles everyday we have gym. The track I run on is a rectangle and has 10 laps for a mile. If you have ever run on a track like that you will know that it isn't very fun, but I enjoy it and it is keeping my healthy. You are all probably wondering at this point: "How much weight has Elder Roberts gained?" Well, first of all, that is a very rude thing to ask, but because you did, I'll answer. Nada. Nada means nothing in spanish. (It also means he/she/it swims which will be important to remember as you will read later.)

I need to make something clear, because apparently it has caused some feelings of guilt in the family. I was joking about having to sneak cookies into the MTC. Cookies are allowed. I was simply making a joke about how it appeared that mom was trying to sneak them in by wrapping them in my scripture case in bubble wrap. It was just funny to me. I'm sorry if this chiste (joke) may have caused anyone (mom) to feel guilty in any way.

A missionary thought: The church is true, don't be afraid to share it. This seems pretty obvious, but really, think about how happy it has made your life. Don't you want to share it? I love you all!

I want to end my letter with a joke:

Chiste: ?Que hace una pez in la agua?

Respuesta: Nada! (See above explanation of the word "nada")

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! get it? get it? hahahahahahahahahahahahha

Love,

Elder Roberts

I’m not pointing to Dad exactly, but I’m close

I’ll be wearing this tag for two whole years! I wonder if it will be weird to respond to Nate again when I get home?

Myself and Elder Hargis. I think that there are also 2 secret service agents behind us. (The “Elders” in Sunglasses)

Reenacting the “Abinadi” painting. I am a wicked judge.

Me and Elder Albaugh. It was fun running into him here. His cousin was my zone leader when I got here.

“An Instrument in God’s Hand” This is Elder Terry

Neat…we do what we can to make the Temple walks on Sunday more interesting.

A long day at the MTC. I try to stay awake, but it usually catches me when I work on the computer Spanish program. Once I fell asleep and accidentally clicked an answer and it was right!

Me and the four Elders that left our district this past Monday to go to the MTC in Guatemala. We are now a district of 7.

I took this photo. Elder To’a, our district leader. He is 25, speaks 3 languages, and currently working on a 4^th, Spanish!

This tree smells like butterscotch. No joke.

Myself and Elder Leale. You remember him, he came to Idaho Falls with Sean McCombs and Me.

Letter #3 and Pictures!

Elder Roberts

Nate and his District

MTC Classic

Elder's Driggs, Roberts, To'a, Klineman

Nate and his companion by the Provo Temple

Hello family! (And friends)

Well, i better go, but before closing, let me say just a few more things,

We are now officially done with three weeks at the MTC. We leave here to go to Fort Worth in 6 weeks from yesterday. I can't wait to get into the field and start talking to real people. Here in the MTC we practice teaching to members, but it isn't the same. I can't wait to really meet people and share with them what I know to be true.

Mom, I do know Tyler Hargis, we were friends in High School and I saw him here and took a photo with him. That is pretty crazy that we are distantly related. Speaking of people I have seen, it has been really fun to start bumping into people I knew from home and from college. I've see Elder Hargis, Elder Albaugh, Elder (Phil) Creapeu, Elder (Austin) Baker, Elder (Thaddeus) Blankenship, Elder (Hayden) Palmer, and Elder (Seth) Townsend. there are more, but these are the ones I remember right now. Anyways, it is a lot of fun to see them here and know that we are all here for the same reason.

Mom, the cookies traveled really well. Perfectly in fact. Also, nice way of "hiding" them in the scripture case. That was a sneaky move to "get it past MTC security." Anyways, yeah, they shipp really well. I imagine that snickerdoodles, might ship well too... just a thought.

The devotional yesterday was amazing. We had another Apostle!!!! That is two apostles in three weeks. Amazing! It was Elder D. Todd Christofferson last night. It was a really good talk. One thing I loved and wanted to share was: "The Spirit can't direct your steps until you start taking steps." This is a powerful quote and very true. As we try to seek direction in our lives from the Lord, it is important to remember that he needs us to start taking steps before he can guide us. In fact, we talked this week about how even "failures" can turn into miracles. We heard a few stories where Missionaries were given fake addresses and such, but because they were told to slow down and look for the miracle, they would find someone at or near the fake address who had been prepared to recieve the message. Its important to remember that as we take steps in Faith the Lord WILL direct our paths, we just need to be observant and see how He is doing so because it may not be in the manner we expect.

I was asked "Has it snowed at the MTC?" Let me tell you... Yes. On monday it snowed a whole bunch, in fact, an announcement came over the intercom that said, "Missionaries, please do not walk under branches of trees. Due to the weight of the snow the branches have been snapping. Again, do not walk under tree branches." the snow was breaking branches, but luckily, no one was "knocked on their noggins." Monday was a scary day here at the MTC though. The snow was heavy enough that it caused a tree to snap and fall over. It wasn't a little tree either, it was a big one. But that wasn't the scary part, the scary part was that it was literally inches away from smashing the mail room. Maybe you haven't been on a mission, but mail is a big deal...

Huh, i don't know what else exciting is happening here. We sit in class for almost the entire waking day. We are learning a lot.

I love you all...

Love,

Elder Roberts

Letter Number 2

Hello Family!!! (and friends)

Wow, two weeks down, only 7 left to go before I am out of this place. The classic saying for time in the MTC is that the days feel like weeks, but the weeks feel like days. For all of you out there that have read Frankl, you will know that this is a prisoner mentality. I really like the MTC, I am learning a lot, but i still can't wait to be done here and get to Texas. I am so excited.

Mom- I do like to hear what everyone is doing. It doesn't make me homesick, it just makes me smile.

Kristi and Jen asked a few questions:

I do love the devotionals. They are really great. Yesterday we had Craig C. Christensen come and talk about the power of the Book of Mormon. It is so true. I mean, his message, and the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is true. One neat thing we talked about afterwords is how the challenge in Moroni 10:3-5 "isn't like the chicken pox, you can do it more than once." - Elder Scott. This is very true.

I really like my teachers. They are Hermano (Brother) Pace and Hermana (Sister) Padilla. Son muy excellente!

My day offficially starts at 6:30, but usually i get up around 6:15-6:20. (You have to get up a little early if you want to guaruntee a warm shower. Cold showers are terrible. I've been lucky so far. If you wait for like a minute or two it usually gets warm, so i haven't taken a cold shower yet, but I found out something equally terrible: Lava hot showers. We thought we would save time by going to another floor to shower after gym one day, and the shower was pretty good at first, but then it went to super lava hot and wouldn't get colder. It was terrible.

Story time:

Here at the MTC you are supposed to match your companion. This is a very loose matching that is required. For example, if your companion is wearing a short sleeve shirt, so should you. If your companion is wearing a suitcoat, so should you. However, the two Elders we saw wearing matching pink ties... i think they are just sending the wrong message...

Also, if you didn't know, the closest contact you should have with a Sister at the MTC is a handshake. Well one day myself, Elder Crocket, and Elder Scott were sitting in the door of the classroom (all within sight of our companions) and a new Sister in the Zone was walking past. We parted to let here get to her room, and she thanked us and patted Elder Scott's and My shoulder as she passed. You missed it didn't you? You don't see what was wrong do you?? Well, three weeks ago neither would I have seen it.SHE PATTED OUR SHOULDERS!?!?!?!?!!?!?When she patted our shoulders Elder Crockett just backed up out of reach and stared at us. Then when she had passed Elder Scott and I tried to just keep talking about the gospel, but we couldn't help but start laughing. We can't believe we are already in missionary mode. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Congrats to Bradley!! I think Stateside spanish speaking is the way to go! We have been hearing horror stories about the tapeworms of South America. (Our teachers both served in South America) Speaking of South America, Congrats to Jonny V on his mission call to Chile!!! Don't worry jonny, they have pills to kill the tapeworms.

Love,

Elder Roberts