May 5, 2014 ~ С днем победы!!

Well this week is victory day!!  It's weird now that I'm here for all of these holidays for the second time hahah, but this should be an interesting week.  Our main task will be to avoid the drunks with anti american feelings... hahahah this should be interesting.  

Really all I want to talk about this week is just how much I love this ward so much!!  These people are just the best ever.  Especially A.  Our meeting last monday night didn't work out, but A was there anyways, he was going to help out.  So instead of just sending him home we went out contacting with him.  Until the middle of this week I was in a 3 some (not sure if I ever mentioned that) so we split off and I went with A.  It was the best ever!!  He is a rock star missionary!  As we were walking he was stopping people and the whole time was asking me for advice on like what kinds of questions he should ask people.  At one point we walk passed a bus stop over to the cross walk, and as we were waiting for the light to turn green he was like, there was a guy standing over there by the garbage can, let's go talk to him!  So we went back, he walked right up to him and started talking to him!  I was in shock a little bit.  Actually I'm always just stunned everytime he says anything.  Sometimes it seems like he's been a member for like 20 years, but no actually, today is his 1 month anniversary of membership.  The guy wasn't interested, but he didn't quit after that.  Later we got attacked by a group of like 8 25-30yr old guys.  They were being pretty rude and just making fun of us and stuff, which I am really used to and have gotten good at ignoring, but I was really nervous how A was going to react to it, but he handled it like a champ!  He is just the best!

Then he helped us with language study on thursday morning and he told us that he wanted to get his patriarchal blessing (he got interviewed for it (and passed) yesterday!).  Then I asked him if he had a PMG and he said no, but he wanted to ask for one cause he wants to start teaching his parents on Monday nights..... I was a little lost for words.  Also yesterday he blessed the sacrament for the first time and did it perfectly and then got up and bore his testimony at fast and testimony meeting. 

On Saturday he and another member helped us on a lesson with one of our investigators and it wa the best lesson I have evr had with a member present.  He and the sister we had just were rock stars.  During the course of the lesson I found out that he studies the scriptures with his parents... ?!  I was reading Enos this week and I think it's verse 9 when after he recieves his forgiveness he ys that his desire to share the gospel grew a ton (or something like that) and I immediately thought of A and how he is a perfect example of that.  After being baptized he is learning and growing at a super fast rate and I can see how he just has such a huge desire to share it with everyone.  A great example for me.

Also this other member that was on our lesson (RS president) is a rock star on my eyes cause not only was she super great on our lesson, but yesterday as we were walking into church, there were these 4 drunk people waiting for us (like almost every week).  It might help to explain that this area has the highest number of drunk people than all of my previous areas, and our branch is in this sketchy building, the second floor, the first floor is a sketchly alcohol store, so there are drunk people hanging out infront of our door all day every day basically.  So we just walk by them and they call so us and walk up to us and ask whose messengers we are, the devil's or God's.  Answer is obvious.  Of course they are all a little drunk so they all want to talk at the same time, so this one guy like pulls me over to the side and starts talking.  He was normal and not super drunk and seemed to be pretty sincere in his questions, and this most obnoxious woman I have ever met, like the leader of their little group just is going on and on about random things and like saying stupid things to the members as they walk in.  But the relief society president comes up and starts talking to this woman and just totally puts her in her place (of course tactfully).  Finally we somehow got away, but for real it's getting a little bit old.  Almost everyweek, the members see us talking with these drunk people who just wait for us to come and the members get a little harassed in the process of going into church.  But then sitting in sacrament meeting yesterday and looking at all the members I just was like, these people are my heros!  I love them all so much!!  The area is hard, we get lots of crap all the time, but the members here are just the best in the world, which makes everything so worth it!  

Anyways, it was a good week.

Elder Robison