December 23, 2014 ~ С Рождеством!!!!

Merry Christmas!!!  This week was pretty good.  We met with tons of less actives (this branch is really struggling - the attendance goes down almost everyweek and has been for a while actually) who were great!  They are all so cool, I just am not really sure why they don't come to church. However, we do have a less active who we are meeting with and she is totally on fire!!  She's coming to church and wants to go to the temple and she's volunteering to do things in the branch to help out and she is trying to get like all of her friends to meet with us and the best part is that her husband is an investigator and doing really well!  We do service with him sometimes.  Awesome family!  They are going to be the strength of the branch!  It's really interesting, I haven't noticed this problem in other branches, but most of the members are actually married to members, but only one of them comes to church every week.  None of them come as couples.  Either the husband is active and the wife is not, or the wife is active and the husband is not.

Oh!  Another miracle!!  We finally met with a less active this week (the less active husband of an active wife) and it was awesome!! He's been less active for 13 years and my companion said that he tried for 5 transfers to meet with him last time he was here and never was able to, but this week we did!  And  it was awesome!!  he was asking questions and actually saying things that were kind of in testimony form and totally wanted us to come back!!  Such a miracle!  Also he agreed that he would read the BOM everyday with his wife!  BTW that is something that my companion challenges every couple to do and I really like it.  Therefore, I challenge you all to read the BoM every single day with your families!  I won't really have an effective way to check up and make sure it is happening, but I just assume that you all will be doing it.  That is another thing that I really have learned from this companion, is checking up with investigators AND members, active and less active about the assignments we give them.  He even asks them over the phone when he calls, but it's never in a naggy way, always in kind of a "hey this is only going to benefit you" way.  It's great!  Then he always reminds them do it.  It's a really great example. 

Yesterday was wonderful!!  We FINALLY got the conference liahonas!!!!!!  I've been waiting so long for them and they finally came!!  I've already reread most of the morning session on saturday and they are just as good as I remember them!!!  Read them!! Don't just read them though, apply them!!  Make the decision before you read them to change whatever you need to in your lives to exactly follow the counsel if the General Authorities.  Don't wait until after you read them to decide if that is a gospel principle you should put forth the effort to apply in your lives.  I promise you are only denying yourselves blessings if you do that.  In addition to reading the BoM as a family everyday, doing the things our leaders ask us to do, they only ask us to do because it will benefit us. 

On a funny note for the week I guess, I'm not sure what it is, but this is the slipperiest city ever.  I've started a little count in my planner because I have slipped about every other day since the beginning of the transfer, sometimes twice a day.  And my companion hasn't fallen once.  I was actually due to fall yesterday, but didn't so well see what today does to me haha. 

Merry Christmas everyone!!!  Everyone go and watch Elder nelson's talk from the Christmas devotional this year.  We watched it in church yesterday and I LOVED it!!!  It was so good!!  How grateful I am for our Savior Jesus Christ!  I am so grateful that he gives us the opportunity to change and become happier people.   Our branch President said something yesterday that I really liked.  He said a sacrifice is a gift to the one we love.  When we live the Gospel and keep ALL of the commandments, sometimes it ends up being a sacrifice, but that sacrifice is really just our gift to the One who gave us an even greater gift. 

Merry Christmas!

Love,

Elder Robison