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

Cousin Missionaries and Church Attendees

Hello friends and family!

This was a busy week! right after emailing last week, Elder Brown and I got on a bus to Quito (around an hour and a half north) for Verifications. it's for the recent arrival missionaries basically just seeing how we are doing and going over the health and safety stuff again. it was good, but we didn't get back home until tuesday night! One really cool thing, I got to see my cousin Elder Mooney while we were there! He goes home in a a couple weeks so we only had a this one chance to see each other before he left!

Wednesday afternoon, Elder Brown, Pugmire, Medina and I headed into Ambato (about an hour and a half south) for our interviews with the president and my first zone conference! The conference was really good, lots of awesome things. this last month, the mission got 96 baptisms, and before that we have never been able to get above 70! so so cool to be here for that! 

Something that Hermana Barlow (Mission presidents wife) said is "Be the missionary that your mom thinks you are" so dont worry mom, I'm doing my very best! 

Yesterday at church, Elder Brown and I were waiting for a family of 3 to show up, who have said for the last few weeks that they were going to come to church. but they didn't show up. during sacrament we were both a little down, but after it finished and we looked around the room, we saw them in the back! we were so excited! we went and talked to them and while we were talking to them, another one of the families we have taught came over to us! we were going to drop both of these families this week because they haven't been coming to church, but such a miracle that we had 6 people at church yesterday! 

Other highlights of my week:

Today I bought two sweaters all by myself. I know, I am such a big boy.

Today I also ate a meal that is supposed to be for two people to share.

I had to make a new hole in one of my belts because I guess I am getting skinnier

Love you all!

Elder Roberts

Here I am with Elder Mooney

We got to sleep at the house of a couple Elders in Ambato for zone conference

Elder Pugmire and Elder Roberts slumber party round 2

 The meal for two (two burgers, two drinks, chicken leg, chicken wing, curly fries)

Fashion show in one of my new sweaters. also, we rearranged our house. the table is for us to eat meals and stuff at, but we only have two chairs so we have to pull them over from our desks

Volcanos and Eating Normally

Hello everyone! 

This week went by so fast, I am so surprised how quickly times goes by when you get into the swing of things. this week I was finally able to eat pretty normal again, eating 2 or 3 plates of food. ya know. 

I dont have a ton of time today, so this email might be shorter than normal. but I have lots of pictures!

Today we went up to a (inactive) volcano called Quilotoa which was way way way gorgeous. It's crazy to think how it all formed. in the middle of the volcano is a big lake. 

This week I went on divisions with our district leader, Elder Pugmire. he goes home in a couple months and it was awesome to learn from him and hear all of his cool stories! He is so nice and super funny, and he is an amazing teacher for me and for the investigators.

I had the typical "missionary humbling" experience when it comes down to tracking the other day. after around 6:30, nobody wants to talk to us, especially if we knock on the door. it was about 8:30 at night and I was thinking about how inefficient it is to knock on doors so late, but the very next door we knocked on, this man let us in. a couple minutes later, his wife, their daughter and her 5 year old son showed up and we taught them the restoration. they asked us a lot of questions and it was so awesome. we are going to go stop by later this week and hopefully teach them some more, but the spirit in the room was amazing! 

I am getting more comfortable with the language slowly, today I bought a backpack by myself, so you could say that I'm pretty much fluent... right?

Love you all! Thank you for the prayers and love!

Elder Roberts

House of Elder Pugmire and Elder Roberts #SlumberParty

 We are surrounded by volcanos here, the one behind me is "the illinesas"

 These are some pictures from today, the hike is beautiful and not too long at all, but definitely on the cold side! we were so high up in elevation!