Hello Once Again!

Hi!! How is it that time goes by so fast!! it's never gone by this fast before and it's sorta scary!We had an ok week. I went on an exchange with elder denninghoff (one who i live with) and i was on bike for the day but it actually was the only day of the week it was overcast so that was really nice but i still was sweating so much!! Man, i can't wait till i can jump into snow!! but till then i'll be grateful for this time i have to serve God, even if it's in the heat. But the exchange went ok. I've noticed how much obedience affects missionary work and how much desire can make or break a mission. It is so frustrating, being a zone leader, having disobedient missionaries in our zone. I wish that the missionaries would focus on why they're out here! I believe that some are only out here so they can say they served a mission. I have come to a conclusion that that is a poor attitude and should be changed as soon as possible aka: Now!! We are out here for others! We knock on doors to bring OTHERS to the gospel, to Christ. Not so we can say in a few years that we served a mission but we actually had action behind the word "mission". hopefully that made some sense but i can furthur explain myself when i get home. But Troy, i want you to, as you have been doing, to take the gospel seriously! i had a hard time (but also a fun time) in the mission prep class i took but when i get home i'll tell you all you need to know, stuff that the class doesn't even teach. But keep on going to the classes and read your scriptures and Preach my gospel. It does make a difference! and always go to church! i regret being lessa ctive for a few years but i've changed so much! i completely love church! We went to another baptism this weekend for a guy that we taught for like 3-4 weeks but had to hand off to another set of elders in our district. It was a good service and i was more than happy to hand jason(the guy who got baptized) over to obedient missionaries. It shows that miracles happen if you follow the rules, live the gospel, and keep the commandments. I love being a missionary! It has brought me so much happiness and i hope that i can stay with elder england another 6 weeks! we'll see next monday if we stay or he goes. I will prob. end up writing on wed. because transfer monday is crazy and transfer meeting is tuesday so i'll prob. do it wed. but don't worry if i don't write this week, ok? ok mom? haha just kiddin. I know this church is true and i am now engaged in the best thing ever!!! i love the gospel and am so thankful for what i've learned on my mission! So be obedient, love everyone, keep all the rules, and always behappy because "it's all good"
much love from Cali!!

love
elder robison

Summer in Bakersfield 2009!

Week 5!

So each transfer is composed of 6 weeks and this is the beginning of week 5!! i've already been here for 4 weeks! that is so crazy!! Time has flown by like nobody's business!!! I recall when i first got to the area, i was really nervous, not sure of what to do or what was expected of me. But i feel that i've grown a lot and have matured more. I love this area, and i love my companion!!! Elder England is the man!! We are having such a fun time together! Our unity has sky rocketed! We have a lot of things in common and i'm learning a bunch from him. We tract every day, we teach powerful lessons, invite others to come unto Christ, go to "love sushi" about once a week, obey with exactness, and try and develop our charity for all. This has been quite the growing experience for me. I have really loved it.
So here's teh exciting news!! Andres Herrera has his baptismal date scheduled for sept. 5th originally....he got baptized saturday and confirmed yesterday!!! BOO-YAHHH!!! It was a great baptism. He asked me to give the talk on the Holy Ghost and so i did. I only had to speak like 5 minutes but somehow i thought (in my mind as i was reading over it before i gave teh talk) that i only had 5 mintues worth of stuff to talk about, that i wrote but i figured out during my talk that i had like 20 minutes, but it's all good! I also got to confirm Andres and that went well. Last time i confirmed someone was in east bakes as i confirmed mariette. I was so nervous and i forgot to say "recieve the holy ghost" until the bishop whispered it to me. haha good times. So it's all good. he's a great guy and is just really down to earth! We also had a baptism scheduled for this saturday but they moved into another ward in our stake but we were asked to give the talks at teh baptism so we get to go! I love being a missionary! I don't care if it's hot, i don't care if people yell at me, i don't care if pastors try and bash with us, because i know what i am doing and what i am doing is the right thing. I am trying my best to fulfill my purpose as a missionary and that is to invite others to come unto christ by helping them recieve the restored gospel.
We had an investigator come to church too! her name is Tessa and shes in the YSA branch. Her mom is teh one holding her back from being baptized and it's such a hard situation. She is completely dependent on her parents and her mom goes (actually is less active) in the "valley Baptist" church who pretty much hate LDS people...well, don't like "mormons" but Tessa said she would already be baptized if it wasn't for her mom! So we're praying our guts out that her mom's heart will be softened! I have a testimony of prayer. Real quick. The YSA ward is hard to get new investigators so we heavily rely on member referrals and so we set a goal that we'd find a new invest. this week and prayed our guts out for it and this morning our Ward mission leader called us saying his friend wants to take the lessons so we have a lesson with them tomorrow! Prayer works! All we have to do is have the desire to get new investagators, work hard, be obedient, and the Lord will bless us with people to teach due to our work and desires! i know this church is true and i love it! i love the scriptures! they hold answers to many of our questions and if we have teh faith that we do and we actually study them then God will show us/give us answers!!! i love you all so much!! thanks so much for your love and prayers!! They are felt, heard, and answered!!

much love from the bakersfield stake,
Elder Robison

WOW! Another week flew by!

Here i am again, sitting in the internet area of CSUB, writing my weekly email to all of you. It seems like it was a day ago when i was writing last week. Time has begun to go by like no body's business!!! haha So things are still pretty good! I am still loving life!! it's so much fun to be with Elder England!! he is the man!! we are always laughing and making jokes but at the same time we are working really hard. So here's some sweet news! we have a guy named Andres Herrera and he's got a baptismal date for sept. 5th....well not any more....why? because he called us last week saying he wanted to be baptized saturday!!! we had to get him interviewed so his name could be announced in church so he's scheduled for this saturday!! I'm so pumped!! he's such a cool guy! he's 23 and is dating a member! i'll send pics soon (hopefully, if i can ever find some spare time). IT's pretty exciting!! We also have another guy with a date who is dating one of the YSA branch presidency's daughters (and we actually found out they are married. They secretly got married but we didn't know) so we have to turn them over to the elders who cover their area so we won't be baptizing him but we pretty much just did all the work! so i'm ok with it though because the elders we're handing them over to are my favorite elders in my district and maybe even our zone! so i'm not too bummed. So it's all going for the same cause, the same reason!
I love being a missionary! i only have 5 months left and it's sorta sad. i am looking forward to being able to hang with the family again and play in the snow but i will miss hanging out all day with awesome guys like Elder England!! I have learned a ton while being out here! My testimony has grown so much and i love the gospel. I love going to church and i absolutely love reading the scriptures!! The book of mormon is the best!! i have learned how to be a better person because i read that book but not only read it but also apply it. As nephi says, we need to liken the scriptures to ourselves. And i need to vent a bit so here we go. It's ironic, the world we live in. The zone leaders, who are supposed to be the example to all in the zone, happen to live with the most dis-obedient elders in the zone!! Elder Cook and Elder Denninghoff are who we live with and they've caused elder england, me, and also President Murri so much stress!! i have seen how much obedience pays off! There is a reason why there are rules for missionaries!! I havent' always been perfect at keeping all of them but there are special blessings when you are exactly obedient. These two elders don't get that. Elder England and i have to occasionally do "cook and denninghoff" checks during the day which is where we go back to the apartment to see if they are still there, because the only time they should be there is for one hour for lunch and one for dinner! Well, 90% of the time we go and check they're there!!!! it really frustrates me seeing how they don't understand the purpose of missionary work. They don't understand that if they're just hanging out in the apt. all day and not "inviting others to come unto christ by helping them recieve the restored gospel" (Preach my gospel, pg. 1) then they're not doing their job. They don't get why they even came out on a mission. I really wonder about their desires because from their actions it seems like they could care less about people and they're out here just so they can say they served a mission. There is a few scriptures in D&C 121 that talk about how many are called but FEW are chosen. Why are few called? because they have their hearts set upon things of the world and that PERFECTLY describes our room mates. They are always talking about movies and everything BUT things that pertain to missionary work and things that help direct our thoughts TOWARDS the savior!!! It's sad to see how they're wasting heavenly father's time. There could be obedient missionaries here, working hard but they choose to still stay out here even though they're reasons are wrong. I am sorry that i had to vent but if i held it in any longer i might explode. So moral of the story: listen to the prophet, listen to your priesthood leaders, and always be obedient!!! SOme missionaries i know pretty much have openly rebelled against what pres. Murri has come out and told us to do and that makes me angry because they don't get teh principles of obedience, faith, and revelation. I will, from this point on, always do my best to be obedient to ALL what heavenly father tells me to do!! i know why i'm here and i know what will happen if i obey him!! Lets quickly apply the scriptures to my situation. Sometimes elders obey what pres. murri says to do but soon after, within days, they fall into old habits of disobeience. it's just like laman and lemeul. they were sometimes obedient and the majority of the time they weren't obedient. From reading the scriptures we see what happens to a civilization of people who are not obedient. It is my hope and prayer that we can always liken the scriptures to ourselves and see what we can do better to be more like our savior Jesus christ!! I love you all! thanks so much for your support and love

Love,
elder robison

A Look at Bakersfield, 2009

I Love My Mission!!!

Where to begin. That is the question. We had our zone conference on Tuesday and that was great!! I absolutely love President Murri!! He truly is an inspired man and cares about all of us missionaries! He is a man of patience, motivation, diligence, and love! I have grown to love him so much and i am grateful that i am able to work with him on a more personal level. It was sweet being in ojai for 6 months because i got to see him fairly regularly and ya, he's just THE MAN!! It's been another fast week! i can't believe it's already monday! Time truly has gone by so fast! we are constantly busy and always on the go! i am getting pretty behind on my journal and also letters but i don't care because i love being a zone leader! i love being able to be so jam-packed with appointments that we hardly have time to breath! it's so incredible, missionary work! it makes me sad knowing that my time being a missionary is coming to a close and also my time with elder england. I have such a great relationship with him! We are always laughing and just staying so positive! it is amazing to me how much of a change there is/can be when you have a friend next to you all day, one that you care for and relate to (as you are well aware i have only had one companion that has been a struggle for me) but what im' trying to say is i love being with Elder England!!! he is a stud-muffin! so heavenly father has blessed me with an awesome companion, a great area, a BOMB ward ("bomb" is a good thing...ha) and many people for us to teach!! I absolutely love it!!! Today we are going to be teaching one of our investigators who has a baptismal date for Sept. 5th so we'll teach him about a few commandments! Also, on Saturday i believe, we set another guy named jason with a baptismal date for aug. 29th so it's pretty exciting! the field is white and we are harvesting right now!!! Bakersfield has never seen such a happy utah boy before!! Elder England and i are rockin the socks off of the Rosedale and Kern River Branch (our two wards we cover...the kern river branch is the YSA for the stake) and we're going to coninue to do more sock-rockin! I have learned so much since i've been out here on my mission! I also have learned a lot since being a zone leader but i know heavenly father qualifies whom he calls! i pray and hope he will continue to help me to help my district/our zone so we can be unified! I love youall so much and do truly appreciate all of what you do for me! all of your thoughts, prayers, and letters/emails!! i apologize if my letters (hand written) take a while for me to get back to you but i'm very busy teaching the gospel!!! haha I love it!! Much love from Bakersfield stake aka: Royal bakes!!! : )
Love,Elder Ty Robison

Letter from Pres. Murri

July 30, 2009

Dear Robison Family,

I am pleased to advise you of Elder Robison's recent call to serve as a Zone Leader/District Leader. He has prepared himself for this opportunity to serve by his obedience and hard work. He is now called to continue to be an example to his fellow missionaries. They look up to him as their leader, and he reflects the qualities of leadership that were shown by the Savior.

I appreciate your support of him very much. He has become a real asset to the mission and to his mission president. Thank you for sending him to us. We love Elder Robison.

Very truly yours,

Wayne D. Murri
President California Ventura Mission

Hello From Jewetta Ave.!

before i begin, here is my address: 4201 Jewetta Avenue D2.....so i wanted to get that posted before i forgot. So onto business. I realize that i probably forgot to put my new companions name in my email last week. His name is elder England (like the country) and he's from Rexburg, ID. He's one of the best companions i've had so far!!! He totally reminds me of elder winspear!! We really have been getting along so well and he's such a funny guy!! i have loved every second of this week!! it's been such a rush!! It is great to have an experienced elder to be with!! So i'm pretty happy! this past week i haven't had any problems but we are just having a really great time working our butts off! we've been so busy and i love it! To clarify, i am both a zone leader and district leader. The junior companion (of zone leaders) is one of the district leaders in the zone, so i'm both a district and zone leader. Our Stake - the Bakersfield stake - has like over 10 wards so we've got quite the stake. We cover the Rosedale ward and the YSA branch called Kern River Branch. The Rosedale ward is HUGE!! it's got 4 primaries! like 140+ kids!! so the ward is just insane and i love it! we've met some really awesome people so far. Mom, do you know Joe Hamilton? he worked as a paramedic from '96-'00 in provo and was also on the orem/provo swat team as a medic and now he's a PA. He said he knows Mike Young!! how funny/cool is that!!?!! Small world! He's a pretty cool guy! The last week has been jam-packed with things that we had to do. My first day i got all unpacked and we had some appts. but on wednesday i had my first district meeting and it wsa fun! i was a little worried but it all worked out to be really fun! In my district i have (including our companinoship) 4 companionships and they're pretty good guys! We live with two other elders, elder cook and Denninghoff and so far i like them. The rest of the day went by so fast though! Thursday went by quick too!! We had to travel down to ventura for our Zone leader COuncil with president Murri and on our waythere we picked up the East bakes zone leaders so i got to go through a bit of my old area!! i got to see my old apartment on Grace St. and it has changed so much (the insides) but it was just some good ol' memories flooding into my brain! We had a great ride into ventura and a couple companionships of zone leaders were there too so we got to spend the night at the mission home because we live far away but i got to see Minnick!! we had some great times just talking and sharing memories of south bakersfield. Our zone leader council was awesome!! Of our group that i flew out with, Elder Wood is the new zone leader in south bakes, i'm in Bakes, elder Bradley is in ventura for one more transfer with winspear, and elder rogers is still in south bakes. Ps:elder platt is now also a zone leader and he's in Thousand Oaks. So amazing stuff is happening here in Ventura. The last few days also have been zooming by! it's gone by so fast i don't even have enough time to write in my journal! i literally am busy till 10:30 when we have to go to bed! so it's a lot of work but i completely love it!! I love my companion, i love my new area, i love missionary work and i love our heavenly father and for him letting me be in this position. I love you all and pray for all of you!! With all love and prayers!!
loveelder robison