I Did It!

WEll, i did it! these last two years have been quite the experience and has helped me to know exactly what i want and need to do now. I know that i was called to the great California Ventura Mission for a reason! I have had many experiences that helped me to feel the spirit! I am so grateful to be a missionary!! I love it!!! To be honest, I haven't felt like it's actually ending. It is too surreal! I have made so many buds here, i don't want to leave them!! I have really grown to love the gospel and have seen the spirit of the Lord in action!!
It is a bitter-sweet feeling though. I will be honest again, I am very nervous and scared! I am so excited so see everybody but I am just...nervous!! haha I have had a weird switch: My proselyting clothing is super comfortable and it will be way weird to not be in it. i have collected quite the collection of ties, but have gotten rid of many ugly ones : )
My last week went pretty well. We were blessed to have been able to teach many lessons! I do appreciate the opportunity that heavenly father has given me! what a blessing it has been to me! i know that the church is the lord's true and only church! It is run by Jesus Christ! I know that the Book of Mormon will help us to be closer to God, and that is exactly what i 've felt as i've been out here! Bakersfield's field is white and will continue to be harvested!!! I love you all so much! Till we meet again...

Love,
Elder Tyler John Robison

HOMECOMING FLIGHT INFO!!!

Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010
Flight 4536 from Burbank
Skywest/Delta
arriving SLC at 3:48pm

Everyone is invited to greet Ty at the airport! If you are unable to be at the airport, please come by and say hello that evening! He will stop at the Stake Offices to be released on his way home from the airport and should be home around 6:30pm! Please come over* and welcome Ty home!

* Welcome home party next door at Grandpa and Grandma Westover's!

dahhhhh....

so im pretty mad...sorta...the dumb keyboard sorta sucks and jit just made it so my good email went all ske-wompus (a utah word ha) and got deleted... ahhh, it is frustrating! bt moral of the story is that she, molly, got baptized!! even her family was there, including her mom!!! so it was so awesome!! and she is getting a temple recommend so she can go do baptisms on the 14th!! it's so exciting!! sorry this email, my second to last one sorta is not good...ok, it's down right terrible, but oh well...I love you all so much and i will pray for you all!! i can't waait to see you in 9 days!!

End of 2009, Beginning of Something New!

So as the year comes to an end, i can reflect back and i can see what successes there were and i also can see where i could improve on. I've never been a big fan or supporter of new years resolutions, but i think i have a couple things that i can work towards, so i've got an idea of what i can do to better myself. We had a pretty good week, despite it being christmas and everyone going places.
i of course loved the phone call!! BOOYAH!! it feels really weird though (no offense) but it's especially different and surreal knowing that in 16 days i'll be flying home! CRAZY!! I am very excited about going home but i also am sad to leave california : ( i'm sure todd knows the feeling! But we were able to have a lesson with MOlly on christmas and that was great!! youll never believe it but i sang in front of her with my comp because we were picking out songs for her baptism and she doesn't really know any so we sang some good ones so she could decide! ha i hate singing!! or at least when i was in primary i hated it but now it's not so bad, as long as it does'nt have a ton of high notes! But it went well! thanks so much for all the gifts, and all the food and stuff! the ward took care of us so it was good! Molly also had her baptismal interview and she passed with flying colors! she also texted us today saying that she bore her testimony to her family, but it was the first time bearing her testimony!! it was so exciting! and she said her family should be there at the baptism!! So truly the lord is blessing our ward and our mission!! I look forward to the upcoming things that are happening, and these last two and one half weeks!
Keep the snow there for me, tell it to hold on for a little longer! haha
i know taht miracles are done in our day and age!! Molly is proof that the gospel does bless any and all who follow and live it! I love seeing the blessings of the gospel fill the lives of people!! how grateful i am for the blessings our heavenly father has given me! i love him and our savior!! i am grateful for the time that i've been given to be here in cali, it has transformed my life!! i love you all!!! Be safe, pray always, and remember hakuna matata!!

love
elder robison

Merry Christmas!

SO this was a pretty good week!i do apologize for last week's emai. the computers were acting all funny and it was really busy and ya, just not the funnest to stress about email. But Our investigator with a baptismal date for the second of jan. is so completely awesome! her name is Molly and shes solid! she's come to the FHE activities every monday, she goes to all three hours of church, and keeps every single one of her commitments! I love teaching her! she is so positive and upbeat! she has an incredible testimony and it's been the funnest to teach her! i know that the Lord has blessed her so much and she's a blessing to me because she is part of my patriarchal blessing! it says (without saying too much of it) that i will meet and baptize those who will become life long friends! I am so grateful for the blessings our heavenly father has given me over these past 2 years! Truly this is the work of the miracles!
We went on two exchanges this week and they were fun! and before i forget, grandma, i got the letter and package, we had our zone conference and i got them there! our zone conference was really fun too! i got to bear my testimony at the end because that's a tradition is the "veteren" missionaries get to bear their testimonies so that felt really surreal, but even before that we had our 2 hour x-mas part of the zone conference and it was so much fun! pres. dressed up as a skinny santa and we did a white elephant! i feel that i had the best gift: i got a picture of a girl that was writing me but stopped like a year ago and i put it in a little tube and put a post-it on the picture and it said "she was writing me but stopped. Maybe you'll have better luck!" hahaha but i made a poem that i can't share now but when i get home i will but it was so much fun! i am very excited at this time of the year, except that i don't have snow this year : ( but next year, right! and when iget home ill be able to go skiing!! BOOYA!! We do have a breakfast set and i'll be calling dad around 8ish to 9ish and i'll call mom after at grandmas, right? i do have the phone numbers so i'm very very excited about taht! I love you all so much!! i am so grateful for the past two years, for the scriptures, for the church, and most importantly my savior who came into the world for me! I owe my life to him! I love him and know he lives and directs this church!

i cant wait till christmas then 19 days after that! i got my "trunky papers" and i'll be flying in at 3:48 so i'll be leaving california at 1 from burbank.

love
elder robison

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Another Eventful Week!

So another eventful week for me. It all started with the transfer call telling me that elder miller and i were going to be working together again for the next (and last) 6 weeks. We had one elder leave from our apartment but it was a good move, he was pretty negative and always was singing songs that weren't hymns so he was not only being distracted and also distracting me/others so now we have a new elder that came out with elder romeril. He's been an interesting guy...he has 2 lightsabers that he likes to use, i guess. he swings it around and such so if we ever have any intruders then i know i'm safe because he will fight them off with his lightsabers! ha
We got to go down to ventura on thursday night for ZLC (zone leader council) and were able to spend the night at the mission home! that's always fun! we woke up, had a good "sunrise devotional" from pres. murri and then we went to the ventura stake center to have our big round table discussion. Then back to bakes. We had a good week of lessons, despite being gone for most of friday we still got like 21 lessons. on saturday, we had members from another ward introduce us to a girl named Molly. She's about 19ish and she's single adult but we taught her and set her with a baptismal date for the 2nd of january! so i'm pretty excited about that!! she is great! totally open and friendly, and the KErn river branch (YSA) really needs her! She also came to all three hours of church and even went to a "break the fast" dinner after so she mingled with a lot of the members and it was so great!! I love being able to teach people who have been prepared by the Lord! there are elect out there and i know it!

before i forget, i need to know where people will be for christmas, like for my phone call. If everyone will be gathered or seperate...so let me know so i can begin to make plans. also, decide on a time(s) for me to call..ok? thanks! i know that the church has been restored and this is the lords true and living church, once again brought back and run through a living prophet! how grateful i am that christ is leading us, to be able to live with our families forever!
i love you all so much!!

love
elder robison

Transfers...the last!

What is going on, everybody??!!! So i'm sure that you were just as nervous for transfer calls as i was. There are 180+ missionaries in the mission and it takes a lot of time for the assistants and pres. Murri to make those calls so we get the calls between 6:30 and 12ish so it's never a set time, so it sorta plays on your nerves but we got ours pretty early, like around 8ish. but President called from the mission office and when he calls you know you are getting transferred but if the assistants call then you are staying together but pres. said that it was going to be a short phone call but that elder miller and i are staying together for another transfer, so i'll be finishing my mission in bakersfield!! good thing this city is awesome! ha I call it the "BakersFIELD of dreams' haha so our zone is getting mixed up too! we are now going to have a different district and we have to travel 30+ minutes to go to district meeting but it's all good. We now have a 2 district zone instead of a 3 district, so it's a bit different but oh well. I am pretty excited about this transfer. Elder miller is a hard worker and we get along well. We teach in unity and i'm glad to ahve him by my side because i feel so much more confident. I am sad i will not get to serve in Camarillo 3 but God wanted it this way.
It is very sad to see elders minnick, winspear, england, and a bunch of others go home but they finshed what they were called to do. They fulfilled their duty, and i've still got six more awesome weeks of serving my mission!! I know it will try me, it will push me to the max but i know i'll be able to grow from it!
This past week went really well. We were on track for teaching 20 lessons but we feared that thanksgiving would put a wrench into what we were doing but we actually ended up teaching 2 lessons on the street, which was 2 more that we expected! We had a really good dinner too! i piled it all up on my plate!!! you all would be so proud of me! i ate like no body's business! and the turkey - awesome! I never have been the biggest fan of white meat because it's just always so dry but this white meat was SO YUMMY!! it was not dry at all! So needless to say i really loved it! i love sweet potatoes or yams, whatever they are. and i forgot to mention last week but e. miller and i were asked to give talks on missionary work, so i didin't have very much itme to write it but it turned out ok. I didn't sweat as much as i did in east bakes, but still had a little perspiration, so elder anderson (austin) can relate to sweating! haha him and i are sweat buddies ahah random...we had a good week though. i appreciate all of your love, concern, prayers, and thoughts! i really will miss all of you this holiday season but i am trying to give our savior a present this christmas: a person dressed in white baptismal clothes! so i'll work hard to do that. I love you all so much! have a great week! Kris, i hope you feel better! and paul, i'll pray for you, bro! I love you all!! Much love from (once again) bakersfield!

love
elder robison

Happy Thanksgiving! (and only 50 days left!)

Here i sit, in beehive book in downtown bakersfield, once again writing the weekly email! It has gone by somewhat fast this past week. We were blessed to be able to get our 20 lessons again! It was almost gonna not happen because we had 3 lessons we had set up fall through, all with 4 hours of the designated time, but luckily we were able to stop by one of the less-active members and teach them a little about gratitude, so that was at like 7:30 p.m. but we got it. We had exchanges with one of the district leaders this past friday and that went pretty well. we were able to teach about 5 lessons and he was a spanish elder so he talked to a few of the spanish folk, so all went well. Saturday was a first for me, it was my first baptismal interview. the same elder who i exchanged with friday and me went up to delano to do like 5ish interviews. I only had two but they spoke english but the rest the other elder did because they were spanish. It was a little nerve racking though, just the thought that i had to interview someone. Usually the district leader interviews and/or the junior zone leader but i went to do it and so, again, i was pretty nervous. the funny thing is that i'm sure i was more nervous than the two people i interviewed. hahaha and what's even better about this is that they were both around 11 years old!! They did so awesome! I could have done the interview in like 4 mintues they were that prepared and good but i just made it a good length but that was a great experience! it helped me to reflect on my own beliefs. Do i believe god loves us? that Pres. monson is the prophet today? that joseph smith is a prophet of god and that he translated the book of mormon. I do know all those things and i am so grateful for that knowledge which keeps me happy and on the straight and narrow. The gospel is truly amazing! i am thankful, especially in this holiday season, for the church! it helps bad men become good and good men to become better.
The weather has been awesome! it is cold! not utah cold but once you've been in california long enough you become somewhat of a wimp...i think that 60 degrees is cold now...but hey, it's not 100!!! BOOYA!! I hope that you all have such a great thanksgiving day! i will miss playing in the turkey bowl but hey, there's always next year, right? : ) All is well in this part of the vineyard, so no worries!
before i forget, transfers are this week...sort of...we get our transfer call in one week exactly so i'll know then if i stay or go. I think i will stay but elder miller will go Assistant to the PResident. i do wish i could spend my last transfer in camarillo but ill do whatever heavenly father wants me to do!
I love you all so much! i am so grateful for this experience that i've had. it's helped me to shape, mold, and form my life into what heavenly father wants me to be! Have a wonderful week!

love,
elder robison

A Busy Week...

So this week was pretty packed! I can't believe it! Starting off on monday we went to work at 1 (normally we go to work at 6 but since we were going to the temple we were told to go to work at 1) but we were able to teach a lesson then, so we started off the week pretty good! We then traveled that night up to Delano, like 40+ minutes north of bakersfield, because we were blitzing the area (blitz is where we go and double work their area and so like no one is in our area) but it was so much fun! I got to go with the spanish elders who are elder minnick and his trainee elder sessions. It was fun doing a little spanish work! That city is such a unique place! it is nick-named "crow-town" due to the excessive amount of crows! i literally saw thousands!!! haha the side walks are painted "white" from the crows and their waste...ha they all sit on the wires and just hang out! After our day up there we went back to bakersfield and taught 3 lessons! Wednesday we had our district meeting and we had a normal day that day but thursday we had the assistants come to our zone and one of the AP's and me went to Oildale to work with one of the problematic companionships and then elder miller and the other AP stayed in our area. It got pretty chilly!! i loved it!! it also rained a little too! the next day though was the best!! WE got to go to the Los Angeles Temple! BOOYA!!!
I loved it there! i've heard a lot about it but until you actually experience it you just can't completely understand it and realize how awesome it is!! It's pretty big! I took a ton of pics, and a lot of the angel moroni! one cool thing about the angel is that he is holding some plates and then the horn with only one hand...i heard most of the statues are holding the horn with both hands...so just a fun little fact. It was such a fun session! i haven't been in almost 2 years! i never went since i've been out till friday! I love the atmosphere there! it really is a sanctuary! it was way cool too because it's in the middle of LA but once you get on the temple grounds it literally quiets down. you can't hear the sounds of LA at all! Truly amazing! After our session we were walking around, towards the cafeteria, and we had a worker stop us and talk to us. He asked where i'm from "orem", he responded" i've heard of there, what part?" i said the north east corner and he asked "do you know the westovers?" haha His name is Fred Horton and i guess he was your bishop? grandma and grandpa? he knew like so much about our family! he knew about travis, about how our yard's don't have a fence seperating our backyards, etc... so that was such a cool experience meeting someone there that somehow knew me! i've heard of stories like that but i never thought it would happen to me!
So elder minnick, winspear, england and many others will be flying home in like 17 days i believe! that's so crazy!! But i've still got to focus and i will! anywhos...after the trip to the temple (we left at 5) and we got home around 2ish..but we went on yet again another exchange, so now i've only got one more exchange and i'll be done for this transfer. The transfer ends on sunday the 29th. to finish it all off, we had stake conference and it was great! pres. murri spoke and he read this poem that was a dad and son at a camp fire and he pulled out a coal and watched it being red to it dying...and then he scooted it back into the fire and it became red and hot again and pres. related that to those who have fallen away, even though they may not be burning as bright, they can always get back to their original hot spot! i sorta explained that bad but oh well, hopefully you get the picture!! WEll, that's about it for this week! i hope you enjoyed the email! I love youall so much! keep reading the scriptures, praying often, choosing the right, and focusing on our heavenly father and his son jesus christ.

love,
elder robison