Splits and Investigators

What a week! I feel like I was just barely here typing last weeks email, the time is flying by! 

This week I had the opportunity to do splits with our district leader named Elder Lainez (no pictures, I know. boo me) which was such a fun experience. he has a little bit over a year in his mission and we really enjoyed working together. We visited a guy in his sector who several of his kids are members, has received all the lessons, just needs to commit to baptism at this point. His problem is that he wants to know everything before commiting, so we decided to talk to him about faith and how we will never ever ever know everything about the scriptures and the church, we just need to know that it is true and follow in faith. We felt the spirit so strong, we testified a lot, but we cant force him to make the choice. I hope to hear good news about him soon! 

Yesterday at church we had 4 investigators at church and it was awesome! one of them sat next to us and we were able to answer his questions about the church and he seemed to really enjoy it! we have another cita with him this thursday and we are pumped to see what he thought! 

I am so happy to be here! i know this church is true and we are here to spread the light of Christ. the more I study and learn of Christ I am even more blown away by his sacrifice and his love for us. In elders quorum yesterday we were talking about christ and I was for real fighting back tears. I the mission definitely made me a cryer. 

Love you all! 

Elder Roberts

after splits we were meeting up at the bus station and found our companions talking bible with some jehovahs witness, it was a good little chat

for light the world on saturday we did a little public service with the members and it felt soooooooooo good to get my hands dirty (and a little bloody) cleaning weeds and stuff out of the sidewalk and street

I love dogs even if they dont love me

District pizza today for pday. we ate 3 of those big pizzas. me, Elder Sellers, Elder Wright, Elder Pinto, Elder Chamorro, Elder Lainez

Be of Good Cheer

Good afternoon! 

Week one down here in Turubamba, and guess what? its colder than Latacunga! but that is to be expected since my zone is literally on top of a mountain. my sector is called "Oriente Quiteño" and we live in an area called Argelia Alta. We have an awesome view over all of Quito, I took pictures, but naturally pictures just cant do it justice! 

My companions name is Elder Chamorro and he from Huancayo, Peru. he recently completed 1 year in the mission and he is really fun! He is super patient and chill, which is so awesome for me to be around because i really need to learn how to be more like that! he is also really good at english. on wednesday morning he surprised me by says "can we talk in english today?" so we decided that every other day is english day! 

So the week before I got here, Elder Chamorro and his previous companion to decided to drop a lot of the investigators that weren't progressing, so most of our planning this week has been contacting and visiting members to ask for references. we still have a few people that can progress that we have a weekly visit with planned so that is good! 

Honestly i expected the first week in a sector to be harder, but i have really enjoyed it here so far (except for it rains allllllllllll the time lol) and I am excited for more! 

I am so grateful for this opportunity that i have to be here, I know that this is the Lords work and that we are gathering scattered Israel. I know that with faith and hope we can achieve miracles. Be of good cheer! this is the Lords work! 

Love,

Elder Roberts

monday night I had to say bye to Fausto. when I told him I was leaving he responded with a "NO!!" but I got him to smile for a few photos so it was a good few last minutes with him! 

My name is Elder Roberts and welcome to my crib

some of the view from my sector

me and Elder Chamorro (it took us too many times to take this picture) also, behind us is a map of our sector

also on sunday we ate crab for lunch

¡Turubamba!

I finished my 4th transfer! Last night we got the call and I am headed to Turubamba tomorrow morning! I am sad to leave Latacunga and all of the amazing members here, but I am so excited for the next adventure! 

This week we had the opportunity to go out contacting with some of the youth in the ward, it is really fun to kinda show them the ropes of missionary work, as some of them are preparing for their own missions. I was really hoping to get a random lesson from contacting while with them, but we didn't! so we just contacted for a little bit! 

Yesterday our district leader, Elder Reynolds headed off to Quito, and tomorrow morning he is getting on a flgiht for home. he finished! I absolutely loved getting to work with him while he was here, I learned so much about myself, about humility, and showing genuine love by following his example. I was going to include a picture of us together, but I dont have any of just the two of us lol.

anyways, thank you all for your love and support! This is going to be an exciting new week learning a new sector! 

Elder Roberts

The Simple Things

Good afternoon friends and fam!

After last weeks email I might have scared some people about missions, but this week I am going to hype it up a little bit more. I hope!

This is seriously such an amazing experience that I and everyone else have. We get to spend 2 years completely dedicated to helping other people. something I love about my companion is he ALWAYS asks people if we can help them with something. he even lists stuff off! cleaning, painting, cooking, all of it. its so so so awesome that we get to do this. 

I dont really know why, but Latacunga loves parties and that stuff. lots to celebrate here. Yesterday was a big parade RIGHT IN FRONT of the church. for all 3 hours of church there were drums and all kinds of noise, but hands down it was my favorite sunday so far in the mission. here is why. 

During sacrament, one of the members gave talk about keeping everything simple in our lives and relying on the Lord always in everything we do. He shared stories about his life and when he had work and when he didn't, and how his faith would be tested and then strengthed. such an awesome talk. he then said something along the lines of "what have you done in your life to get better?" and the answer needs to be "Everything" 

In our second class we talked about the atonement, and the teacher got so specific but still so simple on the explanation. he didn't explain anything too differently than we would have, but he put so much emphasis on the things that Christ did, and the things he felt. I realized that we need to spend more time focusing on Christ during the lessons,and that is one of my personal goals right now. 

today we went back to quilotoa, which was pretty much the same as last time, but its so crazy to think that I went there 3 months ago. its insane how fast time goes by out here. I am trying to savor every minute that i have, because it goes way too fast! 

that is all this week! Thank you all for your love and support!

Elder Roberts

decided to throw a fat gainer into the lake too... maybe not

also, it rained super super hard this week and my shoes are still drying out from it 

Missions Are Hard

Good afternoon!

This next sentence might be controversial, so buckle up. Missions are really hard. I know, shocker. but let me explain why! 

We all as people have different personality traits and strengths. The Lord wants us to become stronger than we ever think we can become, but in order to do it, he has to make sure we are ready for the changes he wants to help us make. so how does he do it? he breaks us down first. makes us into molding clay where he can construct us into something we cant even imagine. 

today we were with a bunch of other elders and we got into a discussion about the work, faith, and all sorts of cool stuff. Something that was brought up is that on the mission, we sometimes reach the lowest lows of our lives, so that we can grow and become better. and usually its because we are realizing the areas that we can improve and we ALSO realize how important those changes are. 

Recently I have been praying and studying a ton about developing more faith and charity. But something else I need to do better is focus on making the necessary changes to become the missionary that He wants me to be. not the missionary that I want to be, or even the missionary that my parents want me to be. Faith is having the ability to keep on pushing through, knowing that this work is in His hands, and we need to keep on working until we become the mouthpeace he needs for His people. 

anyways, those are my thoughts for this week! nothing too exciting during this week. we had zone conference which was really awesome, but after that we had to stay in the house because of La Mama Negra round 3. so thats cool! 

Love you all and I excited for another week here in Latacunga!

Elder Roberts

Today for p-day we went and looked at a super cool waterfall and we all looked like total tourists.

Liquid Diets and Scavenger Hunts

Good afternoon!

Another week has flown by, and I feel like I have done so much personal learning and growing during this week with Elder Nieto. Our companions truly are inspired and we are put with them for a reason. 

This week we had a lesson with a new investigator named Cinthia. A couple years ago her husband passed away and she has been raising their 3 kids solo ever since. when we first contacted her door we were just talking and she opened up and started crying and everything. she said we could definitely come back and teach her a lesson! During the following week, she talked to one of her friends who apparently is an inactive member of our church. this friend of hers said "The years I spent in the church were the happiest years of my life. I can't say anything bad about it." WOW. Now we dont know why exactly her friend is inactive, but that was absolutely amazing to hear! We are so excited to go back and visit Cinthia again this week, we think she has such a strong spirit and desire to learn more!

thursday morning I woke up with bicicleta, which no, is not a bike. unfortunately. I'll let you guys figure that on out on your own. but anyways, on with the story. The rule in the mission is you need to start a 24 hour liquid only diet, which I was not excited for. when I dont eat, I crash really easily and I get really annoyed super fast. but, thursday was easily our most productive day. we found a ton of new people and I had all the energy I needed all the way until I laid in bed and was OUT. Definitely was blessed with energy to get through the day! 

The ward here had a fun little scripture scavenger hunt on saturday so we stuck around in the church to watch. there were groups of 3-4 people, everyone tied together and some blindfolded. they had to go around and find the hints and all that fun stuff. pictures below.

Faith is following along without knowing all the answers. Sometimes we dont know exactly why we do the things we do, but we do them. As one of my friends in the MTC told me "the lord will give you strength according to your faith." Just keep on doing the small little things, and everything will work out!

Love,

Elder Roberts

I have a little paper on my tag cause I was one of the clues

Spanish Words

Good afternoon!

Not too much to report on this week, so I'll keep this short and sweet. 

first off, a lesson in spanish. there are a lot of words here that we use even when talking in english that I keep typing into my emails and I have to correct so I decided I'll just teach you all those words so I can justify leaving them in my emails. I know. I'm so smart. Fecha means date. Pilas literally translated means batteries, but in Ecuador they use it as like "on the ball" or "killing it." when I think of more words, I'll teach them. 

You all remember Ivan? our golden investigator who asked if he could get baptised? well, talking to him this week we found out that he lives in the sector of the other elders. so we basically handed him over to them. We taught him basically all of the lessons, just one or two more at this point and he can get baptised. 

Elder Nieto and I have been working really hard this week! we found a lot of really cool people that we are excited to return and teach again! We also have a lady named Graciela and her granddaughter with fecha for the 17th of november, so we are also really excited about that! 

Thats all I really got this week, but more to come for sure! 

Elder Roberts

me and Elder Nieto

Me and Elder Nieto again

suprise! me and elder Nieto again (and Elder Cox)

I'm a big kid now!

What a week!

So do you remember last week when I mentioned about that guy we met at church that wanted to meet with us? Well we met with him on Tuesday night and before we even started the lesson he asked us when he could get baptised! So we set a day for October 27! He has such a desire to learn more and follow Christ!

CONFERENCE WEEKEND!

I got a lot of questions about if I was able to watch conference, and oh boy I was! in english too! Everyone is able to pull out a different message that applies specifically to them in their life, and I was so blessed to hear the things I did. More than anything else, I felt reminded to rely on Christ always, especially when things get hard. As everyone says, missions are hard and I definitely can feel myself growing closer and relying more and more on Him. The challenges we face make us stronger.

I remember when President Nelson released the message about using the full name of the church, my companion and I talked about it a lot to see how it would all go etc. But I absolutely loved LOVED LOVED his talk about it. This is the Lords church and we need to make that specific part known. We are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! 

Today for P-day we went out to this big rock that apparently rolled down the volcano the last time Cotopaxi errupted (dont worry mom, I am talking like hundreds and hundreds of years ago) so we went out there to check it out.

 

I have officially finished my training! I am staying in Latacunga and tomorrow I will meet my next companion! such a big boy! 

I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to be here in Ecuador, serving the Lord and bringing the happiness of the plan of salvation! I am so ready for more!

Love, Elder Roberts

George Washington

Good afternoon all,

Another week has just flown by!  To be honest, the last few weeks have been a little bit disappointing in regards to the work itself. Elder Brown and I have been working hard to find more families to teach, and always passing by and teaching our current investigators. at the same time we are responsible for a few inactive and part member families. With the inactive and part member families every week they always say that they will be at church. saturday night AND sunday mornings we call them all but nobody comes to church. It can be frustrating sometimes, but we are still keeping up hope! Apparently our zone leaders are going to come here and do divisions with us this week because we haven't had any investigators at church or baptisms etc. so we will see how that goes. But our spirits are still high!

This week we met George Washington. During our lesson with one of our investigators who owns that one bread store I talked about a few weeks ago, this guy walks in and instantly says his name is George Washington. literally. like, thats for real his name. he was born and raised here, but I guess when he was born he was (and still is) really white looking. his brother said that they should name him that and now, 65 years later, thats been his name his whole life. Apparently he once was heavily investigating the church, had gone several times and everything, so he knew we were Elders. we got his information and we are going to try to meet with him sometime this week! 

Elder Medina and Elder Reynolds (the other Elders in Latacunga) had a wedding and then a baptism this last week! Robert and Martha were being taught by them, they taught the law of chastity, decided to get married and get baptised! it was a total miracle how it all came together. we weren't sure if they could get married when they did (based on  working around the system etc.) but they did and got baptised this last saturday! such an awesome experience!

At church yesterday we were introduced to a guy that basically just randomly came to church on his own free will, and he lives in our sector! so we have an appointment with him tomorrow night! we are super excited for it! he seemed to love church!

I am so happy to be here and I know this church is true! I know that we are bringing happiness to the families here, and even if they dont let us in this week, they will eventually have their hearts opened up to the missionaries and I am just a small part in the glorious work of this mission! 

Love,

Elder Roberts

 Outside of the wedding office they have these super cool scenic (SOS my spelling) pictures of Latacunga, then Mama Negra (yes, thats a guy with his face painted black)

 The happy couple and us missionaries

Today for P-day we walked down to this little lake we always pass by on the bus when we go into ambato. super chill and everything. sitting on the shore reminded me of being at lake powell!

Bueno

Good day, good afternoon all! another good week down and another good week to come! 

This week was the 1 month aniversary of Grandpa John passing, and what are the odds of me and Elder Brown spending practically the whole night with Fausto, my own grandpa john, on the 20th. It was so awesome. Just like Johnny, he has such a love for the people who talked to. we traveled about an hour away from Latacunga to visit some people who were baptized a few years ago and haven't really come to church since. when he say them, he could not stop saying stuff like "What a miracle! we are going to save souls today!" just over and over again! it was especially cute when he just sat down in the grass to sit and talk with them. Might or might not have shed a little tear. 

This week I also went on splits with Elder Medina, Who is from the Dominican Republic. He doesn't speak much english, so I got to practice a lot of spanish with him. But we see each other all the time so I get to practice with him all the time. he is really fun, and he is also a convert so he has a good fresh testimony. 

Went out to visit some of their recent converts who were baptized last transfer. I love getting to go on transfers and learn the pros and cons of the ways that other people teach.

this weekend (literally right now) is a huge party called "Mama Negra" the history behind it is really weird, I keep asking people and like, the story is just weird. you guys can probably look it up and find out more. But anyways, you know how you always see videos of people dancing in those colorful dresses and clothes and stuff and think "wow it'd be so cool to see that some day!" I had got to watch it for a couple hours yesterday and it was so cool! not so cool to see all the alcohol being passed around to literally anyone, but aside from that the culture and excitement that comes from it is incredible. below I have some pictures of some of the things that people dress up in. A lady in our ward has been making a lot of different things for it to sell. way cool and fun!

This week we have a couple families we are going to make a big push on to get baptized, they have all taken the lessons, they know the stuff, they just cant seem to commit to coming to church. These will be the "get baptized or get dropped" lessons. We have been praying so hard for these families and hope they can commit to this glorious gospel! We are trying to hand them salvation! 

Love you all!

Elder Roberts

Being Friends and Eating Pizza

Buenas

This has probably been the fastest week so far! let me try to remember some of the key parts.

Yesterday in church  a member of the seventy came and spoke to us in sacrament meeting, and again in the third hour the elders quorum and relief society got together and he did a little QA, and there were a lot of really good questions. this week we focused a lot of our lessons on the idea of our investigators wanting to read the Book of Mormon and go to church because THEY want to, not because we want to. one of our investigator families was at church and the Seventy brought everything back to the importance of reading the Book of Mormon and finding relief and answers to our questions in there. we are really excited to talk to them this week about how they felt, especially because the day before we were talking to them about the exact same thing!

This week I went on divisions with Elder Reynolds, and it was such an awesome learning experience. When Elder Brown and I go contacting, we usually just do the whole "hi we are missionaries" thing, and the conversations are really short. but Elder Reynolds takes all the time he needs to develop a friendship and will talk to them about anything so they see us as people instead of robots saying the same thing over and over, and it really works! and it is also way more fun that way! 

today for P-day we went into ambato to a buffet and the guys making pizza always looked a little bit more surprised everytime that I walked up and asked for more, but it was sooooo good! 

 I still cant fall asleep on buses, but I never really have been able to sleep in cars that well. but Elder Brown can fall asleep just fine! 

All is well here in Latacunga! We are gearing up for another good week!

Love, Elder Roberts

House Building and Finding News

Hola

Another week down! This one went by quick, and it was probably one of my favorites so far! 

on wednesday we got to go help some investigators of the other elders build their house. but they dont do it anything like we do in the states, everything is made out of cement. but still, it was soooooo awesome to get my hands dirty again and figure out the system! I made friends with the guy in charge and everything.

Apparently finding "news" is a struggle for most missionaries, the idea of getting a new is based on giving a lesson and saying a prayer. for some reason, elder brown and I find news ALL the time, but we feel like its just people that listen to get us off their porch, because whenever we go back they are never interested to learn more, so this week we are going to focus a lot on finding news that really want to learn and follow Christ. 

heres some reasons why Ecuador is cooler than the states:

1.You dont need to buy a minivan, because you can fit your whole family on your moped or motorcycle. cheaper and much more exciting!

2.also, apprently all the public parks here have free wifi

3.people here actually go to parks!

(those last two might be connected, but if people are outside, who really cares?)

This work is amazing and everyday I fall more in love with the people! I am surrounded by great examples of converts and missionaries that strengthen my testimony every single day.

 it was so nice to see my hands (and knees) get dirty again building a house!

 this is the house we were helping out on, they were getting the second floor ready to pour concrete

 I tried out my contacting skills on this llama on the way home from helping with the house, but he didn't seem too interested

this is a little view of Latacunga, it doesn't feel this big while walking around, but when you get up on a hill side its huge!

Hungry for Bread

Howdy all,

Another week in the books, and I hope I can tell some good stories this time too!

still haven't walked into any walls again, but believe me, I have gotten really close. the people here just dont like "tall people" like us. 

We have a couple really cool investigators right now. This last tuesday night we were walking back to our house but I was soooo hungry and I didn't know why, so I asked if we could stop and get some bread. (there are a million bread stores on every street) we walked into one, I asked the guy for some bread (in spanish, I know. I'm amazing) and as we were walking out he asked "pardon my question, what church are you guys from?" so we told him and said we could come back another time and teach him, and he was really interested! So later in the week we went back and taught the restoration, and he had so many good questions, and they always lead into the next part of the lesson which was perfect! Elder Brown is really good at telling who might progress and who might not, and as we were leaving he said "I LOVE teaching people like him" so we will see what happens there! 

Another family we have is Familia Panchi, we found them while contacting a couple weeks ago. Apparently the missionaries have knocked on their door a lot and they almost always tell them to go away, but for some reason they felt different when we knocked! we have taught them a few times and they are so nice! He is one of the taxi drivers here in Latacunga and everytime he drives by us (its surprising how often it happens tbh) he always stops and sticks his head out the window and says whats up! we have another visit with them tonight which we are both excited for! 

I want to give everyone a couple little assignments. this is not an assignment that should be turned in, just a self assessment of sorts. 

there is a talk called "becoming perfect in christ" (I think, I read it in spanish but thats my translation of it) by Elder Gong

I think a lot of people focus on being perfect (myself definitely included in that) which causes a lot of anxiety and stress, when all we are asked to do is the best we can.

there is a video called "music of the gospel" I dont want to spoil the fun of the video, but it was definitely a huge testimony questioner and strengthener too. 

I am loving this work, I am loving the people. Each day I get more opportunities to learn and grow and I am so excited for more!

Elder Roberts

In the way of pictures, I dont have many this week

 every sunday night we have family home evening with some members of the ward and investigators. we always play games and someone pulled out a wig so we, of course, all took turns wearing it. 

also, last week was changes, the new elder in the picture is Elder Reynolds from california, and he goes home in a couple more changes

This might have been my best purchase so far on the mission. that oreo bottle is going to be my best friend

 also a selfie of Elder Brown

Forever Young

Hello friends and family

As probably most of you know, my Grandpa John passed away a week ago today. In typical John fashion, he was working until his last day, helping a neighbor just hours before passing. I dont want to talk too much about what happened, but I want to touch on my feelings for him.

I have a lot of people in my life who have made a large influence in my life spiritually, mentally, etc. but I can only think of a few people who are as high on the list as he is. Although he wasn't perfect, he got pretty close. After receiving the call about him passing, I sat down at my desk to make a list of his attributes that I want to emulate, and believe it or not, they are all of the christlike attributes. Nobody worked harder, loved more, and was more charitable than grandpa John, and I plan on carrying that legacy of love and hardwork with me to share this glorious gospel with the people of Ecuador. 

now to my week!

first off, my face is looking much better. I haven't walked into a single wall this week. 

On wednesday we got to go do some service at the bishops moms house. we aren't exactly sure why there is so much dirt and huge pile of rocks in her backyard, but I gladdy grabbed a shovel and started filling bags. We were going for probably a solid 2 hours, I got 5 blisters (my poor baby hands) and I could not get enough! so good to do some manual labor again!

As for the language, it is slowly coming day at a time, but this week I was able to help in the lessons more than ever before! it was so awesome! for the most part, I can understand all of what people are saying if they are talking about church stuff, but normal everyday conversations are full of words that I dont know quite yet. baby steps!

I am doing awesome and everyday it just gets better, I know this church is true and that I have angels by my side. I know why I am here and there is no where else I would rather be. I belong to an amazing family who also knows and loves this glorious gospel and I would not be where I am today without the love and strength that they give me.

Love,

Elder Roberts

 this backyard is so full of junk its so funny! we had to fill bags of dirt and carry them through the house to but it in the back of the bishops little truck!

 The people here just put their dogs on the roofs. while contacting the other day we saw this cute guy watching us and I couldn't not take a picture.

 this here is Fausto, he is the closest thing I have to grandpa John, he has a tool and joke for everything and loves going with us to visit our investigators. he talks really fast and is missing most of his teeth, but slowly I understand a little bit more and slowly I am helping him learn english. he has "nice to meet you" down like a pro!

he missionaries here love to decorate their planners and preach my gospels with different pictures and stuff. 

on the back of my spanish one I have a picture of the barges from the jaredites and above it I wrote "be still my soul" to remember that I can be calm even when there is a storm around me.

my english one has Christ in Gethsemane, to help me remember why I am here and to help me push through the hard days.

On the back of my planner I have a family holding hands and walking and above that I wrote "All in this together" to help me remember that my family and I are always together. on the front I have a castle cause it looks cool

Low Jetting Roofs

Hello all!

This was another awesome week! the time is definitely starting to pick up, which is way cool!

First off, sorry mom. I guess I'm not very safe on a mission either. I walked into a wall and messed up my face. Elder Brown and I were walking down the street just talking and I was looking down, the people here are much shorter so its okay if their roofs stick out onto the sidewalk... I hit my forehead, then my nose, then my lip, then fell to the ground. I hit so hard that I thought someone hit me in the face! pictures below.

We spend a lot of time contacting during the week, but this week for a change we got contacted! Another time while walking down the street, (dont worry, I will have lots of stories about walking down the street) We heard a lady yelling "jóvenes" which basically means "youth" so we turned around and asked us to go and teach her and her husband. From what i heard and my companion told me, he had recently gotten in an accident while drunk and had to have an opporation (SOS my spelling is going downhill already) and he has to lay in bed for awhile. he said that he wants to change his life and grow closer to God. We gladly went and taught them a lesson and the spirit was so strong! We are hopefully going to go back again this week and see them!

Fun fact, yesterday we put a family of about 10 (there might be more, everytime we see them they have more members) with a baptismal date. its for the end of september so it gives them plenty of time to attend church, have all the lessons and ask us all of their questions, because they have a lot!

Everyday I learn the language a little bit better, but it is definitely a lesson in patience for me! 

Love you all!

Elder Roberts

 The first picture is right after it happened, we went to a nearby members house where I washed up a little bit. the second one is a couple hours later

 yesterday we went back to the spot to show the other elders what exactly happened and I figured I would take a picture of what happened to better explain it! you can see the pink part of the wall where there is obviously cement missing? that part came off when I hit it. I think I won.

Ride or die