Transfers!!!

I Thank you for all of your support and love. i have felt it and i do know that Heavenly father has been answering both yours and mine! He will be hearing from me a lot soon because of our calls that we got this morning from president. I'll set up the scenario though: Usually its just hang around the apartment and talk, anxiously waiting for our call from either President Murri or from the Assistants. If the assistants call then you're staying but if president calls then you know you are having some change. So just to break the tension, elder Bennett and me switched their name in our phone from "spanish" to "Pres. murri" so when they called from their phone it would pull up as "pres. murri" calling. So E. bennett called and i answered and He said i was going to ventura to be with elder bradley and then asked if E. ridlon was there. I handed the phone to elder ridlon and he thought it was president! haha he talked for a while and elder bennett did a pretty good job on imitating Pres. murri's voice so ridlon fell for it for like a few minutes then figured it out!! haha so that was pretty funny. We did that around 8 or so but finally we had a call from the "mission office" at 10 so we couldn't really tell if it was president or the assistants. So i answered and it was president. I had a slight relief to my already nervous stomach but president asked if my morning was going well. i told him i was very nervous and he said well that's understandable. "There is going to be a change for you but not a very big one. I am assigning you to be with elder england up in bakersfield stake and you're going to be a district leader over a district of 8! You will be his junior companion zone leader!!" so you're now reading this from one of the newer zone leaders in the mission!! so i'm now a district leader/zone leader in bakersfield stake!! one cool thing is that Elder kimble, my trainer, was in this area before so i'm literally following in his footsteps! So i'm very humbled, excited and a bit nervous!! I found out taht elder batemon (My first trainee) is being transferred up to Delano so that's in my zone!! so i don't know too much about elder england but it'll be a good change! Still stuck in bakersfield but oh well...So ya, i've gotta go pack a bunch and hopefully it won't take a long time because we're going to sonic for happy hour (half off drinks) at 2 so that'll be good! I am a little overwhelmed and not even aware of all that i'm going to have to do but oh well, God put me in this position for a reason and i just have to "come what may and love it! I will miss elder bennett (he's going home 5 weeks early for school) but i'ts been a pretty fun apartment with him! we really bonded! I can't think of anything else but again, thanks for all the support you all have given me. i promise it doesnt go unnoticed! I lov eyou all very much and i send all my love! Tune in for next weeks email when at that time it'll probably sink in of how much stuff i have to do as zone leader hahaha it's all good though! Hakuna Matata!!
love,elder robison

Still a test of patience!

i appreciate all of the input you all have given me on my most recent letter. I want to emphasize that i did not mean to sound like i was distracted but i just want to get a little glimpse of the future. If it's not too much trouble, can i ask for you all to send me your input (again) in a letter so i have time to read all of it and ponder it again and then read because i only have once a week to check email and only 30 minutes, so any stuff on the career topic and also the school subject would be greatly appreciated! Hopefully it's not too much of a hassle. I really would love to get some sort of scholarship but i'm just sorta an average joe, unless i can get a scholarship for modeling and being "really, really, really ridiculously good-looking" [quote from Zoolander] haha but i just want to know my options. Troy, i'm so proud of you for being ordained to a priest!! that's awesome! keep on the track you're on and you'll do miracles!this week has been pretty hot! i am sweating a lot but it's all good, right?! I have been trying to get along with my companion and serving him and socializing but it's been hard. he doesn't like to talk to people on the street and it's very frustrating - he'll just bike right past them! so we talked about that today in companion study so hopefully he'll get better. I will still try and work on my patience.we still haven't gotten in contact with lizbeth and darla - they're still out of town. we've been teaching a lot of less actives though and have seen a lot of success with taht and with them coming back to church! I love the gospel so much and am so greatful for the peace it gives me and the joy! the scriptures are amazing and it gives me courage, motivation, and hope each time i read them! i not only highlight different verses but i now annotate a lot too (Mr. downs taught me that!) so the work of th elord moves on!! transfers are next week so we'll see what happens. i will do my best to always have a great attitude and that is when blessings come!! i love youall and pray for you!!!
love elder robison

6 Months and Counting!

So another week has come and gone. It has had its slow points and it also has had its fast times. It still is a struggle sometimes to truly get along with elder ridlon but oh well. I was put with him for a reason and just like with life, we don't always know why. I have really been trying to have a positive attitude but it's hard. We taught 18 lessons this week and that was great! i was really surprised! i wasn't thinking we had taught that many but nope, we got it. I am sorta pushed for time right now but i'll hurry and get this email done. It is supposed to be really hot soon, like this week so that sucks but you just gotta love it right? I am sorry that this email is so short. I love you all so much and continue to pray for you all! keep on keepin on and may our heavenly father bless each and every one of you.
love,elder robison

TiMe iS FLyiNg!!!

TODAY MARKS 18 MONTHS OF MISSIONARY SERVICE FOR OUR TYLER!
MONDAY, JULY 13, MARKS 6 MONTHS TIL HOMECOMING!!!


Here's a reminder of MTC days...





and a look at Ty in action in Bakersfield!

Warming Up in Bakes!

So, yup, it's been warm here lately. I know i shouldn't complain because there are worse spots than bakersfield. It's only like 105-110 here, in other places where there are missionaries i know it gets like 120 but still, it's pretty darn hot!! This past week we were able to teach only 15 lessons. We've been shooting for 20 but no luck. Our 4th of july wasn't the most exciting ever. I sure do miss doing fireworks. I was telling elder bennett (our roommate and district leader) about the bombs i make and he sounded pretty impressed. I can't wait for 363 days to pass because it will then be the 4th again and i can do more bombs!! BOOOOMM!!!! haha No one had signed up for the 4th of july to let us come over for dinner but we stopped by this family, the Kini-kini family and they asked if we had a dinner so they offered to let us come over and so we did! This is a small world but they sorta know the Ika family so i took them a picture of elder ika's dad and they kinda recognized them. The family, kini-kini's, are actually going to be moving to payson in december!Our missionary work is going ok. We had a lesson with this lady named Darla (like on little rascals) and she's the sorta born-again type. She goes to a church of the nazarene but we had a good lesson on the restoration and joseph smith and the book of mormon and we invited her if she knew if what we were talking about was true to be baptized by someone holding priesthood authority from God and she accepted. IT was exciting, so we will see how things go tomorrow. she wants to know more about joseph smith and so we gave her a copy of "our heritage" and so we'll see how much she's read. We also still have been working with Lizbeth and we tried to set her with a baptismal date for august but she's really busy. So i'm not sure what's going to happen but we're not going to give up.i'm still trying to be optomistic with my companion but i just came to the realization that i only have 6 months left (not like i didn't know that) and my time will be very short with him. so i just need to stay happy! hakuna matata! my time has come to an end but i will write paul and try an dgive him some encouragement. also, mom, where was travis strong going on his mission ? I love you all so much and sorry to abruptly end this! much love from sunny south side!!!
loveelder robison

Bakin' in Bakes!

I appreciate all of the time all spend in keeping me updated on what's happening at home. I truly do understand just how precious time is and so i am very grateful for the time you've put in writing me and thinking of me and praying. Your prayers are felt and heard. SO this past week was pretty warm. Yesterday we had people tell us that it was 104-107 so ya, i was sweating just a bit. It's funny how things work out because last october i said bakersfield was the funnest place to be/serve in, even though it was in the summer. Well, yesterday i got a refresher course of how hot it gets here and so i realize that i say i love it here only after i go through the summer. ha hopefully that made some sense. But ya, it's now shifting into summer but all is well. Things are ok here. We are a little low on investigators but we actually went back to dennis' the other day. The day before we went over he had fallen 6 times andwas all banged up and it scared him so he said he was praying to God to ask if he would let him into heaven. We went over and told him that he needed to be baptized to enter into the kingdom of God, and let that soak in for aminute but he apologized for not feeling well and he said he needed to go lay down so that's how our lesson ended, with him going to bed (he didn't look so good during the lesson) but besides taht we unfortunately havent' had too many new people to teach. We have been able to teach a lot of less-active families though so that's been fun!so here's a little fun story. Tuesday we had our zone conference and it was pretty good. THe thing i loved about it though was that i got a letter from Eric embley andi didn't get a chance to read it there so i had to hold off till we got home. Well, as it turns out, elder embley (being the studly missionary he is) actually got put in as the new assistant to the president!!! i'm so happy for him! quite the responsibility!! but i know God put him in that position for a specific reason. But his letter included some fun memories that we had in high school (like in Mr. downs' class) and just everything else he included in his letter was such a huge morale booster!!! I just had the biggest rush of joy come over me! i know that we will all go through rough times but elder embley helped me recognize that GOD LOVES US!!! he truly does know us and wants to help us out!! i just had so much joy and happiness at that moment, i wasn't scared to talk to anyone!! nothing was going to take away my joy and i wasn't going to let others ruin my day and make me feel bad because my joy is centered in jesus christ!!! We went out and street contacted quiete a few people after taht and even one was putting down LDS people but i didn't care. why? because GOD STILL LOVES US!!!!! it ws the best like two-three days!! i was so happy!! i still am pretty happy, even though there are some rough patches. i am getting along a little bit better with elder ridlon but it still has its challenging times but oh well, whats the worst that could happen, me be with him for another 10 weeks? after that 10 week s i won't have too much time left anyway!! so it's all good!! Troy, i am very proud of you!!1 YOutruly are my hero and i admire you for your courage and determination to improve your life!! keep on the path you're on right now and i know you will never regret it!! The gospel is so true and amazing and i love it! it does bring joy to those who live it, i can testify to that!!! before i forget, mom, can you get me bryce herman's mission address? And finally, Rich, congratulations!!! That is such a huge blessing to your family and i wish i could bethere for your sealing (if its not within 6 months) but again, that's so great!! i'm so happy for you!! I love the church!! it's amazing!! continue to pray and always remember our savior because he isthe unending source from which everlasting happiness flows!!
love,elder robison