April 7, 2014 ~ Miracle!

This weekend was so great!!!  A. is finally a member of the church!!!  He is super cool and really just awesome!  He is already a great missionary and really setting a good example for his family members.  We are really excited for him!  

The service was really stressful though...  first of all we had asked the office Elders to type up the program, gave them all the information and stuff and we get there and the programs are all there, but there were so many misspelled names!  So, luckily my companion just finished his time as an office Elder, we went into the office and changed all the spelling errors and reprinted the programs, but we have this really дурацкий printer there so it took for ever.  Then we go back up and when the service is supposed to be starting, there are 3 ward members there and 8 missionaries and that's it!  Not even A.  Luckily I knew he wasn't skipping out on us cause he was riding with a family in the ward and he called like 20 min before the thing and said they were on their way.  Also our ward mission leader/conductor was half an hour late.  And just about everyone else.  And seeing how I wanted everything to be perfect for his service I was really stressed out.  But in the end it all was really great, super spirit filled and there were a lot of people there by the end hahah.  It actually turned out really nicely.  He's super awesome and I'm really proud of him.  I hope no one gets offended haha, but President (was also there) and he told us that our next step with him is to prepare him for Utah... hahah it's a different world.  

Anyways, we also had a cool experience this week with being able to do service.  Found out that our bishop is like a remonter and he was redoing this kinder garden and he had lots of garbage that he needed to have thrown out, so he had us come and help.  It was like a billion bags of old tile that he had ripped up and old windows and toilets and stuff.  But it was a really cool missionary experience too, cause we got it all hauled out of the building and onto the street and were waiting for the garbage truck to come, but he was for some reason really behind schedule and so we had to wait for it for like an hour and a half and while we were waiting, the bishop's boss (btw I don't know if I've mentioned before, but we have like the coolest bishop in the world here) came in and found out we were all from america ( the other elders were there too, and funny story - our district leader had miss heard what the bishop wanted and thought that he wanted all the missionaries, including the sisters, but when the sisters showed up, the bishop made them go home, and then when our district leader showed up he asked if he had invited the sisters as a joke hahaha) and obviously that we are all mormon and the bishop kinda engaged him in a gospel conversation and one of the other elders took it and ran with it and made it into a huge lesson (which was actually really weird) but still cool.  His boss was super chill and not really opposed to anything, but not really into it.  Anyways, he was super grateful and we ended up getting to help some of the other workers take out their garbage as well and everyone was really grateful and it was just a really good opportunity for people to realize that we are totally normal people and not some crazy people from some weird sekt (what the popular opinion is).  Also I just remembered, we invited A. to the service project with us and and he came wearing a MSU sweat shirt!!!  It really couldn't get much better than that:)

Also, on the way home from our big "activity" on saturday, I was standing at the bus stop and some guys called me over and turns out they are also from kolpino and are kind of like missionaries from their evangelist church.  Anyways, I ended up talking to them on the whole bus ride home (not the shortest ride in the world) and it was pretty cool, but I know one thing - that is certainly not the true church.  They know the bible super well and quoted it too me a ton, but obviously are lacking the modern revelation cause they understand it completely backwards.  They think that all you have to do to be saved is believe in Christ.  Not even gat baptised or anything.  All the was going through my head most of the time (for anyone who watches the district videos) was jynx when she's telling about her preachers and they're all like 'just say you've sinned and you want to be saved".  But anyways, I have respect for them cause they were super nice and not incredibly pushy like missionaries from other churches that have stopped us in the past.  Anyways, it was an interesting experience. 

In all of my interactions with people I just am more and more convinced everytime that this is true!  That this is Christ's church on the earth and the only true and living church!  And I love it!  We met with a guy this week who is a members husband, and not against the church, but not really for it either.  He is a really strong orthodox member and perfectly happy with it and said that he doesn't need anything else.  And then I thought about my experience with the guys on the bus.  Then I thought that no other church has more to offer people than we do.  I tried to talk to the guys about the book of mormon and how it adds to the things written in the bible and I just don't understand why people don't accept it.  Like ok, I understand that you love the bible, I do too, but don't you want more??  Who doesn't want more?  I mean really.  Also I don't know of anyother church with temples (like ours) or any other churches that can help your family be an eternal family.  I really love President Uchtdorf's talk last conference (I haven't seen this new one yet) when he says that it's good to have questions.  Christ's church was restored through a boy who has questions, and lots of them!  Ask your questions, but as he wisely counseled, "doubt your doubts, before you doubt your faith".  A. also had lots of questions, but he also realized that some of his questions were just not important at all because he already knew the church is true!  He also knows that that is not enough, but that he needs to continually be reading and praying because as you all know I'm sure, and like dad explained to me once in the car, your faith and testimony is like the temperature.  It NEVER stays the same more than a few minutes.  It is always getting either hotter or colder, depending on what we are doing.  We are either weaking our testimony or strengthening it.  You are in total control of the strength of your faith and testimony as I understand.  Read and pray everyday and go to church every week.  If you feel like it's not working, you're not doing it right!  Don't just read, but read more intentively.  Pray with more meaning.  I have met some people who have told me that they prayed about the book of mormon and recieved an answer that it's not true.  My answer is, you didn't do it right!  You didn't take it seriously enough or have enough faith, desire or "real intent" for God to really answer you.  But you can fix that.  Don't just go to church, but go to church with the right attitude and expect to get something.  I claim the right to say all this because I've gone through it all before too.  Read and pray and go to church!!! These are the small and simple things that bring about great things!  I think this is a soap box I may never get off of.

I love this Gospel and my Heavenly Father for loving me enough to let me know of it's truthfulness. 

Have a great week!

Elder Robison