Mighty Mighty Deacons and 1 Laurel

Sister Collins from our district is on the right, and her companion Sister Masiasumoa is taking the picture. We usually just call her Sister Masi though.

Baptism, Baptismal Dates and Zone Meeting April 27

This last week, while seemingly less fulfilling at times was a very good week and I have been thankful to participate in it.
Number 1: Lydia was baptized by her father Ross. Ross was so excited and a few times surrounding this experience he came to tears because of how happy he was. After the baptism, our ward mission leader Brother Blackhurst, me and Elder Matthews were talking to him and he told us how glad he was we had helped him and for the things that have been happening for him in their family. We also just found out that the other couple that has been living with them, (who is also family, Lydia's mom's brother) aren't married, but in preparation for both of the men to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood they will be married in July. It is so amazing to see the power of the Gospel in this family's life. The Grandma was also excited and sent Lydia her own quad, and the book the Holy Ghost is like a Blanket! Which Corey Egbert, my cousin illustrated, I read it to the kids and told them my cousin drew the pictures and also saw his picture in the back. I also pointed out how similar the baby and the Mom seemed to look to his own wife and baby. We told them a little bit more of the plan of salvation, and they are looking forward to going to the temple in a year. And the cool thing is that I can go with them!!
Inline image 1

Number2:We had a zone meeting on Friday and our zone leaders are great. They did a role play of how we can and should invite people to be baptized in the first lesson. It was cool and the spirit was very strong. Everyone was touched in that zone meeting and we got to try it out for ourselves in real life. (and I'll talk about it in a second)
Number3: We did a big zone service project in the community with about 200 youth of the North stake (which we are not a part of, but is part of our zone. So we were more leaders in helping the youth in their stuff, but we did it along side them. We were helping with the deacon and beehive aged kids and it was great to see how eventually we got a group of youth who were following us and working as we worked. They were diligent and they seemed to enjoy what they were doing, they often just needed direction, but as they received it, they got right on it.
The picture will be on the next email.

Number4: Sunday, Elder Matthews confirmed Lydia. It was awesome. Lydia was so excited.
Number5: was more of a hard experience, not just for us but for Shannon as well. Shannon came to church to meet with the Elder's quorum President and was there a couple hours before church started (the second ward starts at 1, the 18th ward starts at 9 so we were there, just with the 18th ward) she was there about 11 for that appointment. We gave her a tour around the church. But she felt like she needed to go home for some reason. Why, I don't know but I didn't want her to go. I knew if we let her go she wouldn't come back, not because she didn't want to but because Satan is working hard against her. She is about to find amazing joy. Also interesting to note that as she has been praying to know what church to go to, she has started feeling uncomfortable at her other church and feeling like she doesn't want to be there. So she was being directed. But after she left our church she got a call from her Mom, who unloaded a bunch of stuff on her. She told her that if Shannon went to the Mormon church she would disown her and that the money she has been saving for Shannon's kids she would spend. Shannon was broken down into tears and she told her daughter that they wouldn't be coming to our church. We went by her house not too long after church, and she wasn't home, but her daughter was outside playing close by in the creek and she told us some of what happened. But she is still alright with us coming over, so we can help her to receive the strength she needs. It is hard to see that someone would be willing to disown their child over the decision of what church to go to. We love her and hope the best for her and have faith in God's plan for her.
Number 6: Last night we finally met someone who I have been trying to contact since I got to this area. Their names are Stan and Misty and they were taught by the missionaries a year ago. They weren't dropped, they just could never find the time to meet with them. We finally met them and I could go into detail, but this is long already. We knocked and they let us in even though they were in the middle of "interviewing" this kid to go out on a date with their daughter. Misty (the mom) went outside and continued to talk to him (they told us later he was uncomfortable with us there) but we talked to Stan, the dad, and essentially did how to begin teaching from chapter 10 of preach my gospel. and then jumped into the lesson with the pamphlets. By The Way! Those pamphlets are amazing and inspired. Read them and try teaching the lessons using only the pictures, no scriptures. Super inspired. We taught them the restoration and told him in the beginning that if the spirit prompted us to, we would invite him to be baptized. He told us he had been baptized in the past and we told him he would understand why we want him to be baptized again. He also told us his wife would have a hard time with it as well, she is a catholic that is not active, but very loyal so he was concerned about her. but she came in for parts of the lesson and she was there for the first vision part. He described how he felt and we told him that he was feeling the spirit and not too long after we invited them to be baptized. On the 23rd of May. She said yes first, and he looked at her stunned, and he said, if she is gonna say yes, then I have to. She felt the spirit in that short period of time and then as we explained the Book of Mormon they told us that they hadn't had it explained to them like that yet, and it made so much more sense. They were excited to start reading and want to come to church. The pattern that our Mission President showed to the zone leaders is very inspired and we got to see the power of it for ourselves. It is amazing to see and I am going to make a point to practice it in our district meeting on Friday. Teach about it and then bear testimony and practice it for ourselves. The work is indescribable. It is The Lord's work. And I know that. I love you all and talk to you later.
Sincerely,
Elder Roberts

Amazing week!

This last week has been an amazing week for a lot of different reasons. It is hard to know where to start and where to begin. We have been able to meet with a lot of people and make solid invitations to people who genuinely want to know the truth, like that family who met with the missionaries 6 years ago we invited a couple other people and families to read the Book of Mormon to know if it is true and pray and ask our Heavenly Father. Criselda, the lady that was participating in the lesson with Mary about the Plan of Salvation, we had the opportunity to teach and extend this same invitation. But with real power and she knows the importance of it. Lydia is getting baptized this next week and she is getting interviewed tonight by the zone leaders. Her family is really blossoming. Her Dad has quit drinking coffee to be able to baptize her and now her Dad and her uncle are both going to start to prepare to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood. Her Dad and Mom have set the goal to be sealed in the temple, not this year but next. She will be baptized this Thursday! Lydia was the motivation for the rest of the family to get back into the things they know will bring them the most joy. It is amazing to see the choices this family is making and the goals they have set for themselves.
Shannon is another lady that I mentioned. We had the opportunity to give her a blessing this last week for her back and she told us about how at her church she had had people pray over her many-a-times but it never felt the way that it did when we did. Her back seems to be doing well now. It was also cool to find out, their were some other people there a few times that we came over. They are friends of hers from Kuna. (which is a little Southeast of Nampa) They have been investigating with the Elders down there, one of them a previous zone leader of mine. And they are progressing very strongly in their understanding of the gospel and the Book of Mormon, they will be joining the church pretty soon and they are a great influence on her. They and a recent convert that we brought with us, were there for a lesson with us later this last week and we talked about the Book of Mormon in particular and church. The recent convert is a lady in her 40's or 50's and she wants to go on a mission. After the lesson with us she told us of how excited she was and how wonderful of an experience it was. She wants to come more and she is so excited to go on a mission. Shannon was planning on coming to church yesterday but because of some car problems of a relative she was not able to make it. It was sad but she is doing great and she is meeting a lot of people from the ward who live close by.
While she didn't come to church in 18th ward, me and Elder Matthews gave talks and it was great. Elder Matthews is a very nervous speaker and he was stressed out about it. He asked for 4 weeks to prepare and ended up being extremely stressed anyway. As the meeting progressed, the sacrament and all of the ward business only took like 15 minutes, then one of the youth spoke for 2-3 minutes. When he was speaking Bishop looked over at us and was making a hand gesture that said stretch out your talks best you can. So Elder Matthews got up and spoke and took about 7-8ish minutes, we sang with the choir and then I gave my talk. I stretched the best I could and started off completely different than I had planned, by talking about music. And the role it had in my conversion, (my talk was on conversion and the Holy Ghost). I then ended up speaking for a half hour. And ended right exactly at 5 after the hour. It was great! A lot of cool and fun experiences this week.
In my last email I said  would be seeing a familiar face again soon. Elder Clark, the second missionary that I trained while I was up in Union was just transferred down to our district. So he is in my district! It is cool to have him around again! And it looks like he is really helping the missionary he is with. His companion had been struggling for awhile and since he has come in there has been cool progress in them as missionaries as well as their area!
Thank you all and I love you all!
Sincerely,
Elder roberts

Sacrament and Awesome Lessons

This week we had a lot of cool lessons with new people. Someone told us about their friend who was interested in learning more about the church, and as we were riding up to the house one of the members of the ward was throwing rocks in the creek with his wife and child and we told him where we were going and he asked if we needed him, we at first were like, nah we're fine, but I thought about it a second longer and said yes, it would be great if we came. We showed up at the house and nobody was home. As we were about to walk away, they pulled into the driveway and I introduced everybody as last time we saw them I was on exchanges with another missionary. We went in and had a great lesson about the restoration of the gospel, and more specifically talked about the blessings that will come to her family. Elder Matthews shared an experience about his family and blessings he has seen in the unity of his family and the love his siblings show. She cried and told us she wanted those same blessings for her kids. Her name is Shannon.
Another lesson we had, we were teaching two ladies about the plan of salvation. Their names are Criselda and Mary. Mary's son passed recently and as we taught her about the spirit world. As we shared a couple scriptures in 1 Peter 3 and 4 they both were in tears. The spirit was very strong and as we shared different restored truths with them they were coming to realizations for themselves and how much sense it made. It was really cool to watch and be a part of.
Lastly, the Doty family who we were referred to last week by other missionaries close by them. We went over and have seen them twice now. They used to meet with the missionaries about 6 years ago. But more recently we have been able to present it in a way that is helping them to understand what we are trying to say. They recognize the significance in finding out if Joseph Smith is a prophet and they are going to study and pray harder than they had in the past to know.
Alex's confirmation was sunday as well! It has been a good week.

The sacrament is an amazing blessing. A couple of nights ago I was really struggling due to stress largely and I was trying to figure out why. After a while and once I got in the shower I caught hold of the idea of the sacrament and remembered I hadn't taken it for 2 weeks. But as I held onto the thought of the sacrament I regained peace. I knew that I would get to take it again soon and that brought a lot of peace. I was able to get to sleep easy and then of course I got to partake of the sacrament and I am so grateful for that blessing in our lives that the Lord has given us. The thought came to me from the General Conference talk about Peter as he let his eyes drift from the Savior he began to fall, but as he was refocused he could stay up. As well as the talk about the girl who survived the plane crash and focused on the light and made it there. As we focus our lives on The Savior and the things he wants us to do and the blessings he gives to us we are better able to feel peace, it was only when I let my eyes drift from him and on less important things such as the wind and the waves that it becomes hard and scary. Talk to you all later! I love you!
This is my district once again from last transfer. plus the zone leaders. Transfers are today but me and Elder Matthews are still together. And I will be seeing a familiar face again very soon!

New bikes, hairdos, and other stuff

This week Alex was baptized, but due to general conference his confirmation is delayed until next week. Here is Alex and us and his Dad.

At his baptism his Mom shared a cool story about the first couple weeks after he started living in their home. He came to church just a couple times and he told them that he wanted to be baptized. Since then he has not wavered from that decision even though he needed to wait until his parents got full custody of him. Often as we taught him he said he wanted to be a missionary as well. He faces different struggles than most, and ones that would make it hard and unlikely to serve a mission, but it cool to see his desires and the influence that learning has had on him. Genuinely I had a concern as we were teaching him that nothing was sinking in, and that he wasn't feeling the spirit. At the baptismal interview and the baptism itself, I saw and witness he knows and remembers a lot and that he was prepared before we started teaching him, he just needed the lessons to be prepared to that point. I was happy to have a small part in his path toward lasting conversion.

Elder Matthews also got a pretty cool gift as well. We had dinner with a family last week and we made a slight mention of the bike he has been riding and how big a pain that it was. We said we were waiting until the money came from home to get him a new one. After the second session of General Conference we got a call from this family and said that they wanted to take us to the store to buy him a bike. They had talked to the Bishop to see if that was allowed. We got permission as fast as we could and went and got him a bike. Afterward he was in tears due to his family situation and the generosity of these members in helping him in his situation, not even knowing the full details.
Of course  General Conference was great! I always love listening to the prophets and hearing what God wants for us right now in this day and age. It is a sign to me of God's continual love for all of his children. He hasn't left us here by ourselves without guidance, to figure out things for ourselves, he has given us direction, in not only the form of scriptures but the words of His living servants.
As we were listening to one of the sessions at one of our ward mission leaders homes, the rambunctious children decided to do Elder Matthews hair and it was fantastic.

It was a great time.
I love you all! I hope you enjoyed this Easter season in celebrating the Resurrection of our Risen Savior. For those of you who have not yet watched the #BecauseHeLives Easter initiative video, make sure you watch it and share it and bear your testimony. Have a good week!
love,
Elder Roberts

Oh... and pictures

that i teach every week and am over. We were doing service together and this is just a funny picture. left to right. Sister Breen, Sister Collins, Sister Hernandez, Sister Dunkle, above her Elder Myers, me, below me Elder Daniels and Elder Matthews

And Elder Matthews with an axe while doing service

original message.

#Becausehelives

Dear Everybody,
Who remembers the Christmas initiative #HeistheGift? Well there is another one starting up right now.
Step 1: Watch the video: HeLives.mormon.org
Step 2: Feel the Spirit of God
Step 3: Share the video with friends through social media along with your testimony and the #BecauseHeLives
Step 4: Share it with those you love in person that way they might learn more of Jesus Christ and the Resurrection and the love Our Heavenly Father has for us.
Step 5: Invite those around you to learn more of Jesus Christ and His gospel.
There is even a cool little marker your can print out to show where Christ is in your life.
We have been focusing on this quite a bit since this last week and I hope that all you have the opportunity not only to watch this but to share it as well.

We moved one of the baptisms forward. So Alex should be getting baptized this week on Friday. Alot of fun things happening this week. General Conference is coming up, this Easter Initiative and Alex's baptism this next Friday.
I am so excited for General Conference and I probably have expressed this thought each time it has come around; but it is so great, that we are going around and telling people that there is a prophet of God on the earth again today and we get to hear from him this week. I know that there are such great blessings that flow from following the words of the prophet because he is telling us what God wants us to do today. The world changes, not God, so he needs to be able to tell us and let us know what we need to do as our world changes. The space between righteousness and wickedness is growing ever larger in today's world and we need to know which side we are on. There is less grey area.
Over the last while we have been introduced to many new people, right now the struggle is actually trying to meet with them. Today's world is a busy one and it is making it hard to find the people we need to see at the right times. A lady named Mary that was just going through a phone book and she was looking to go to an optometrist and she decided on one randomly. At this time she was struggling because of the death of her son and she had questions pertaining to his death and what happens to him. She went to the optometrist and she broke down crying and told the doctor her struggles. He is LDS and shared with her a little of our beliefs and got her information. He got a hold of us, because she lives in our area, and sent us over there. We met her and were able to bear our testimony's not only of where her son is, but that families can be forever. We invited her to watch this Easter video about Christ's resurrection and we have yet to find out more. But I will let you know.
In the wards and a big focus that the Stake President has is building a stake/wards that God can trust. As with this doctor he was able to open his mouth and share the gospel. We want God to trust us so that he can place people in our path so that they can receive the gospel. If he can't trust us, why would he place those people there. Also he wants us to build wards that when one of his children enters into it, that they will be loved and accepted and they will feel of His love for them.
I love you all and be excellent to each other.
Love,
Elder Roberts