Week 56 - Hello from the Greater Napanee!

                                                                                                                                                       February 29, 2016

New Address:

151 Industrial Blvd #17 

Napanee, ON

K7R 3Y4

Hello hello family and friends! :) 

This past week has been quite the whirlwind! Monday I was in Bracebridge. By Tuesday evening I was in Napanee! By Friday night I was in Oshawa, spent the next day there, and then back to Napanee Saturday night so we could prep for Church the following morning! In total, I have spent 3 full days in my new area this past week! haha, it's been awesome! :) 

Napanee is a quaint place! It is indeed a branch! On average we get around 20-30 people at church. It is so different than anything I have experienced before, but it is fun! There are some really awesome members here! A majority of the members are older. There is a small primary, and no YM/YW. Count your blessings for living in a place where the church is strong! Although the Branch is smaller than any I've been in, the area is larger than any I've been in! That seems to be a reoccurring trend eh? :) But! Fun note, I am the only piano player in the Branch! They are excited to have me! And, I am excited to be there! Another fun note, the Napanee apartment has a keyboard! So, each morning, and throughout the day, we play hymns and sing and it is joyous! :) Last night we had a fun jam sesh. I played the piano and Sister Thomas played the guitar. All Hymns of course, but it was fun. Good to be playing often again! :) 

Ryan is right, it is not a super high baptizing area, but, that does not mean it is not a baptizing area! In the Canada Toronto Mission, we have faith and trust that we can have at least one true convert baptism in each area each transfer! And, although it is small, I truly believe it can happen in this area this transfer! 

With all of that being said, we are working with some pretty wonderful investigators! We are working with a family! Mike and Tiffany! They are in their late 20's and have two adorable kids! They are so fun. We saw them a ton this week! There biggest struggle is the Word of Wisdom. With a history of being drug addicts, smoking and coffee seem like a good place to be! But, we are working on it. By small and simple means are great things brought to pass! They have a great foundational testimony of the church, and it is just working on building that! 

We have another fun investigator I want to tell you about! His name is Roger. Roger is 77 years old, and he is from England! He is very Catholic. He attends Mass every day but Sunday. That is when he is at church with us! (With he exception of last Sunday since he was in Toronto on business.. :( ) BUT! He is fun! He has told missionaries before about how he will be sitting in Catholic Mass and miss something that he was supposed to do because he was too busy pondering and thinking about the Sacrament! haha, he's great! I haven't actually been able to meet him yet, but I have heard a lot of good things and had some good interactions via cell phone! I am excited to work with him though. We are striving to help him get a witness! 

We have many other cool investigators and returning members that I will have to talk about later! This area is blessed! 

A few notes on my companion! Sister Thomas! She is awesome! She is 21 and is from Provo (aka the factory)! She is just awesome. I cannot say any more! She came out with Sister Edwards (actually, she was her MTC comp!), and is coming up on 6 months! This is transfer #5 for her. Transfer #5 seems to always be a magical transfer, so it's gonna be good! We get along really well, and even better, we work really well together! We go about missionary work in the same way and it is delightful! We are working on having a language of faith in all that we do! (It was actually one of the focuses from the exchanges I went on on Saturday!) A Language of Faith can be so powerful! Our attitude and outlook on things has a huge impact on our area and our success both as missionaries, and as every day average members in the church. I am really excited for this transfer. We have an extra week, and an extra day (being it Feb 29th) to see so many miracles here in Napanee! Plus, we also have Easter and General Conference! Needless to say, I am really excited and looking forward to this transfer. Miracles are going to happen! :) 

Well, as usual, I am running out of time! I am good though, mom, I don't need anything! Justin and Kara, you are awesome and I love you! Nate and Maddy, keep up the good work! (is that how you spell maddy?) And Nate, ideas for how to work well with a small branch?! Kelly and Karly, I love you! :) Dad, I will do my best to be a BYU fan when I get home! I quite enjoyed it before, so I imagine it will be easy to get back into! ;) I love you all! Remember who you are! 

Sister Robison 

Happy Birthday Shout out to Maggie Jensen! :) 

PONDERIZE! Psalms 56:11

Week 55 - Give Him Your All

                                                                                                                                     Feb 22, 2016

Well, transfer night is always so suspenseful. We basically sat around by the phone from 9 pm-10:30 pm. And guess what! No call came! We were so happy! :) And then we got up in the morning and our dear District Leader suggested we call the Zone Leaders. The Zone Leaders in turn suggested we hang tight and maybe wait for a call from the Assistants. And, then, the news came. Sister Meleisea and Cliften will be staying in Bracebridge! I, on the other hand, will be going to Napanee! In the Kingston Zone. It's the far East Zone. I've never been out that way, so I'm not quite sure what to expect... So, we shall see! :) 

Sister Meleisea has been doing okay. The medicine that we got from the Doc in the box helps. It is very useful! She takes it at the on-set of the migraine. We got only enough for 4 migraines last Tuesday, and she's already used it all. So, we are going back today to get the rest. (We might have to put it on my credit card and have the mission pay me back... So, if you see any charges, that would be why!) MIRACLE for the week! The Doc in the Box said she would try referring Sister Meleisea to a few Neurologist, but usually they have a waiting period of at least 6 months... Well,  a few days later we got a call from the walk-in-clinic saying that Sister Meleisea has an appointment to see one on March 24th! We are so grateful! 

Leading up to transfers we were all so nervous. No matter what happened, we were just praying that Sister Meleisea would stay with one of us. Things would just be better and easier that way. Having someone who knows exactly what she is going through and what has happened and so forth. Growing up in Samoa, she isn't used to medication. Sometimes it is still a little hard to communicate what she is feeling with the language differences. Long story short, it is just so good that they are staying together. I am so so grateful! 

This week was more of taking it a little easier. Yesterday, besides church, we spent the entire day inside making up studies and letting Sister Meleisea sleep since she got another migraine. Our two appointments ended up canceling for various reasons, but it was probably for the better. We were able to take it easy,  and Sister Meleisea didn't have to push through anything. 

God knows us so well. I have had too many experiences to deny Him and His son. I am so so grateful to know them in my life. I don't want to even think about life without the gospel! 

Well, it is official. I am in the last 4 transfers of the mission. Time is going so fast. So so so fast. It makes me so sad. But, on the flip side, it is empowering. I have 6 more months to devote all I can to serving God. Throughout this past week, especially going to the 6 week follow up meeting, and being in the Temple for a session, I have been thinking, pondering, and praying about what I can do to dedicate myself to the work, and other goals I need to set. It has been good. The 6 week follow up meeting was one of the best things. We talked about consecration, what it entails, what it means, and the blessings that come. It was an answer to prayers! Ultimately though, I just want to do more. Work harder. Focus more attention on those that we are serving. I am grateful to be going to a new area. It will be helpful! I can just throw myself into everything and learn as quickly as possible. I am going to miss Bracebridge so much! But, I know that Napanee is where I need to be. Bracebridge is in such good hands and I know that the area is going to continue to build and blossom. 

Well my friends, God Speed! Have a good week, go to church, read your scriptures, and pray. I can promise you blessings! 

Give Him your all. 

Sister Robison 

Week 54 - This Damp Cold!

                                                                                                                                           Feb 16, 2016

To be honest, I don't even really remember the beginning of the week! I am pretty sure it was pretty normal... Going about from appointment to appointment. Dreading the fact that it is week five out of six, and knowing that in a few weeks, one of us will probably be leaving the area... As well as knowing that after this transfer, I only have 4 left... SCARY! ... But! As I say, everything was pretty normal. We had a pretty cold week and got a good amount of snow throughout- bonus was it covered all the ice we usually slip on! :) But, we strived to find more and more inside and productive activities as the week went on since it got colder and colder, and wetter and wetter until it finally reached the terrifying -40! And I must say, that is without accounting for windchill. It was straight up -40 on Sunday morning! Here is something that would never happen in Vegas! Bishop called us at 7:30 to let us know Church was going to be canceled. It was too cold, lots of cars weren't even starting, and the power was cutting in and out. Safety first, so no Sacrament for us this week! 

Something spiritual: This past week I have started to work on memorizing The Living Christ! I love it! As I have been doing so, I have found more of my thoughts and actions turning towards the Savior. This has begun to change my missionary work in a way I cannot really describe. It has helped me to gain a greater love for Him and His gospel and that has started to turn over into the work. I am excited to keep on going! I am working on the first 4 paragraphs (using the thing we got from girls camp some years ago...). So, that is what I will be ponderizing this week! :) You can join me, or do something completely different! Up to you! :) 

 So, gotta go! Love you! Have a good week! Stay warm! I think we will- it's supposed to be a warmer one. 

Sister Robison 

PS! Look at the ENSIGN page 56! Tell me what you see! If I am not mistaking, it is Kelly Trump! :) Teehee! If you also go onto LDS.org and scroll down to the very bottom, I think you see her picture there too! She is famous ! :D 

Week 53 - Another Week, Another Letter!

                                                                                        February 8, 2016
Yellow! That time again eh? :) 

This week was really good. Full of a lot of tender mercies and miracles. The work here in this area continues to climb upward! This week, we were able to achieve the Standards of Excellence in lessons! We had 22 total lessons with investigators, returning members, and active members! It was neat! We worked hard, prayed hard, and watched the miracles come! 

This week, we've been able to see a lot of progress made with our investigator Ashley! She is so cute! Probably around Kara's age- late 20's. She has 2 kids- 1 boy at a year and a half, and 1 girl at 3 months. As you can imagine, they keep her pretty busy! But, with it all, she is still finding time to read the chapters we are leaving her, and keep her other commitments! She  even came to church for all 3 hours this past Sunday with her sick baby! Dedication right there. All she wants out of life is to draw closer to her Savior. We are so excited and blessed to help her get there! There will definitely be some obstacles to overcome, but we know she can do it! And we are excited to help her! 

We've also been able to meet more with Leslie and Kyle and Eva! (I believe I told you about them last week?) And, this week, we were finally able to meet Randy! The boyfriend/partner! Leslie's family has been going through some hard things lately with Leslie's mother. She has become very ill. What is neat though is that Leslie recognizes us as servants of the Lord. As she has been going through this hard time, she has had a greater desire to have us over to talk and bring peace. It is interesting to see how the Lord is preparing the hearts of the people all around us to receive the gospel. Sometimes He has to cut us down in order to help us become stronger. 

We had yet another missionary meeting this week- this time in North Bay, a neighboring area. The drive was only 1 hour and 45 minutes as opposed to 3 hours, so we were happy! At the start of the meeting, I was pondering on what questions I should have. Two came to mind and I wrote them down. Throughout the meeting, I was able to receive specific answers to both! I am so grateful. As we bring questions to meetings and open our heart, I know we can find answers! 

After the meeting, we got mail! Yay! I was happy to see a letter from a returning member in Welland. As I read it, I was almost brought me to tears! Her name is Sister Brant. When I first came to Welland, she was on the ward focus list. Many ward members had expressed efforts of trying to help and reach out, but nothing was going much of anywhere. For the first couple of months, my companions and I found the same thing. However, we all continued to be persistent. As time went on, things started to change. I am so happy to say that in her letter, she let me know that she is reading her scriptures and attending church regularly, and is almost done with the Book of Mormon for the first time! She is also preparing to go to the temple on March 1st to do baptisms for her relatives on the other side. I am so happy and excited for her. 

I think I might have also failed to mention that our other returning member from Welland, Sister Simpson, had the chance to go to the temple a few weeks ago for the first time as well! And, if you can recall, right before Sister Edwards and I left Welland, we had found 2 new and progressing investigators. Well, they were passed off to the YSA elders after we left, and one of them ended up getting baptized by the end of the transfer! Often times, I don't think we (or at least I) realize how the small things we do can help to change someone's life. I am so grateful for the time that I had to spend in Welland and help these wonderful people draw closer to their savior. 

Dad asked me to share a story about day to day life in Bracebridge. Well, this is what came to mind! The weather here has been a little wonky lately... We've had a good deal of rain during the day, and then at night it all freezes over. It makes for great fun as we are walking around throughout the day! We all probably look like penguins as we waddle from door to door or appointment to appointment, just trying not to slip on all the ice! And yet, as hard as we try, we can't always avoid it. We were coming out of an Active Member Lesson and heading to our car when Sister Cliften slipped on the ice and landed on the ground. Sister Meleisea and I naturally started laughing, and then Sister Meleisea also lost her balance, slipped, and fell. It made everything even funnier :) Don't worry, I didn't also slip and fall- I became more determined than ever to make it to the car without slipping which I did. It was just one of those classic moments. :)  

Missionary work is the very best. I am so grateful for this time that I have. It is so short and so precious. It'll be a year tomorrow that I came to Canada. Strange. I don't feel like it has been that long! I still usually don't feel like I know what I am doing as a missionary. Just fake it until you make it, and follow the promptings of the spirit. :) There are times I get overcome with all of my weaknesses, how tough things might seem, and how inadequate I am, but I am always gently reminded of Our Savior. He did it all. He knows it all. Continuing to turn to Him on my knees has blessed my life greatly. I am grateful for Him. 

I love you. I pray for you. Have a good week! 

Sister Robison 

PONDERIZE: Helaman 5:12

PS, Kara and Justin are thinking about moving to South Carolina? D&C 130:12 (found that today in my personal study(: )

PPS, Mormons are cool! Watch this!  https://www.mormon.org/amos

Week 51 - Learning and Growing! :)

                                                                                                                                     Jan 25, 2016  Hello hello, yet again!

This week has been good. We've been working hard! We were able to set another investigator with a baptismal date! Woot woot! Our investigator Gord! Gord is awesome! He is the one who has trouble remembering things. When he was pretty young, he was in a bad car accident. He flew out of the front window, and since then struggles to remember. Well, we have been striving to get him more involved with things! He now comes out regularly to the Ward Volleyball Night every Wednesday! And, he comes out to church practically every Sunday! Yay Gord! This past week, we were teaching and talking about repentance with him. Sister Cliften, acting upon promptings of the spirit that we all had but Sister Meleisea and I chose to ignore, invited Gord to be baptized! He has been invtied many times before, and the missionaries have set a few different baptismal dates for him, but this time was different. She extended the invite out of love, and Gord's only response was, "When?" We then all sat there looking at each other- we hadn't even prepared to have a date for him! Finally, to brake the silly silence, I asked, "When would you like to be baptized?" To which he sat back in his chair, smiled, gave some good thought, and replied, "May 1st!" We are happy and excited for him! It's a long ways out, but it is very realistic for him. He has cut down a great deal on his smoking the past few months or so. He's gone from smoking a pack a day to smoking less than half a pack! He knows he needs to stop, and knows that he can do this by May! It's awesome to see how he is progressing! And, how much getting him involved and members involved has helped that! 

Miracles are happening every day! Sometimes, they are easy to overlook! This week, we worked hard. We didn't find a "Birthday Family" though :( in fact, we didn't find any new investigators this week. But, that is okay! There are other miracles to draw off of and there are also things to learn from, and improvement that can be made! Lots of learning and growing all the time! :)  

This week I was reflecting a lot on goals that I have set. It is easy to grow impatient and loose faith! While studying Faith in PMG under Christ like Attributes, I was reminded that doubt and fear are opposed to faith. I think lately I've fallen into the habit of counting down the time that I have left on the mission, and as I view it, the time that I have left to do full-time missionary work and help others. Doing this has caused doubt and fear to creep in. I am afraid I won't be able to do all the wonderful things that I want to in the time left. I am afraid of the life to come after the mission. I am afraid that I will forget and loose some of the important habits I have formed while being here in the mission. There is a lot to look forward to after the mission, but a lot to be afraid of as well! So, I've made a new goal- stop counting down. I don't need to think about all of that right now! I just need to focus and get to work! 

This morning, we got a call from President Clayton. Sister Cliften's grandfather passed away last night. If you could please keep her and her family in your thoughts and prayers that would be much appreciated. Adjusting to missionary life is hard enough as it is, and I can't imagine how hard it would be adding that to the equation. She said he has been sick for a while, and she knew he would pass before she got home, but that still doesn't always make it easy. Sister Cliften is amazing though! She is like a sponge. She is just soaking everything right on up! She is motivated by her fear, and is always excited to get out and go to work! She is a hard worker and is learning quickly. I am excited to see the great things she does and accomplishes on the mission! 

Thank you so much for the Birthday package family! I LOVED it! I loved the Beaver Shirt! As well as the Hawaiian Chocolates, and the Yo-yo, and the silly putty, and the rubix cube, and the socks! While going through it, I just got this overwhelming sense that you know me perfectly! It was perfect! :) I had a good day! The members were awesome! We had cake twice that night, and then again the next day. The members took good care of me! I hope you did enjoy those pictures from the Archers! It was fun taking those :) 

Well, this week is going to be good. We have two days of exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders which will be fun! And then, on Thursday we will travel up to Sudbury for a Zone meeting and interviews with President and Sister Clayton! I am excited. It is always a great and revelatory experience! The weather is supposed to rise about 0 this week for a little, we will have to pull out our fall coats! Jokes, but that will be nice to have some warmer days! :) 

I love you! I know that the Plan of Salvation is true. Through it I know that families can be together forever upon being sealed in the temple through the restored priesthood authority of God. I know that Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers. He loves us, and He has a plan for us. Pray to Him, and He will guide and direct you for good. Stay safe, stay warm (or cool mom and dad)! 

Sister Robison 

PONDERIZE: Alma 26:22

One more thing! I have to tell you about this funny story.

On Wednesday, they had a World-Wide Missionary Broadcast! It started at 10 amin Utah, so 12pm in Ontario! We had been asked to view it from our buildings, and to have it all ready to go, and be in our seats by 11:30 so we could study and feel the spirit. To be safe, we figured we would get to the chapel an hour early to get everything set  up. We had talked with a brother from the ward the night before just to go through how to get everything we needed up and running. We get to the chapel, and start trying to set things up, and couldn't get it to work. Of course the brother that we talked to the night before was not answering his phone.. :) So, we tried setting up the broadcast in another room with some other equipment, and no luck. We then tried going to the Family History Center and getting it on the computer, but the password to log into the broadcast was blocked on our screen so we coudln't log into that either. We basically ran around frantically for 50 minutes until the brother we had spoken with the night previous finally gave us a call back. The solution was so simple- clean of the Satellite in the parking lot! So, in the rush that we were, we all grabbed brooms and shovels from the chruch, and charged outside with no coats or gloves to clean off the satellite. After hard scrubbing for 5 minutes we turned around to run back in with only about 3 minutes before the broadcast was supposed to start, only to find out the doors were locked... We had left the keys inside, forgetting that we never unlocked the doors. Luckily I was still talking to the good brother as we were grabbing the shovels and brooms and running out- so I had the phone on me. We called some members who lived pretty close, and they came to our rescue! When we ran into the church, everything was working, and we were able to sit down and watch the rest of the broadcast with no problem- only being 7 minutes late! The broadcast ended up being awesome. In short we learned that we need to Teach Repentance, and Baptize Converts! 

It was one of those experiences where you are just sitting there the whole time telling yourself, this is going to make a great story some day! We just had to laugh. Good times, good times. :) LOVE YOU! 

Week 52 - What a wonderful week.....eh"?

February 1, 2016

Well dear ones, this week was wonderful for a lot of different reasons! 

We started out the week with 2 days of exchanges! The first day, Sister Cliften and I joined Sister Raymant in Berry! She is awesome, and Berry is awesome! We walked a lot, and talked to a lot of wonderful people! Sister Raymant is really good at talking to everyone like they are her friend. It was fun to learn from her and see different things that I can use to improve! That night, we switched. So, Sister Cliften and I then joined Sister Nabhan in Bracebridge while Sister Meleisea headed to Berry with Sister Raymant. Sister Nabhan is also awesome! I've exchanged with her before and we always seem to have a good time! :) We saw lots of miracles that day! I will particularly share about a lessons with our investigator Leslie and her daugther! 

So, we are teaching Leslie and her two kids- Kyle (13) and Eva (11)! Kyle and Eva have so many questions, and teaching them is always fun! We found Leslie while we were working and tracting in a member's area. Leslie was really open, and invited us to come back! This past week, we were finally able to teach Leslie and Eva about the Restoration! The lesson opened with "What would it mean to you to know that Christ had set up a church on the earth, it had gone away for a time, but was back today?" The look on their faces was priceless! Definitely one of shock and awe! :) (Thank you Spirit for giving us that inspired question!) We proceeded to explain the idea of prophets, Christ establishing His church, the great apostasy, and finally Joseph Smith and the restoration of the Church and the Book of Mormon! The spirit was there, and they seemed excited about the message we were sharing! At the end of the lesson, while Sister Cliften was explaining some things to Eva about a Modern Day Prophet, Sister Nabhan and I had the chance to follow the spirit, and invite Leslie to be baptized if she came to know that these things were true, and she accepted! And went on to say that she wants her whole family to join as well! Leslie is amazing. Both Kyle and Eva have learning disablities, which can be hard. As well, Leslie's husband left them a few years ago. But, Leslie is so positive and grateful in all things. Tomorrow we are looking forward to having a lesson with her, her two kids, and her partner/boyfriend! It was a wonderful lesson, and I am so grateful for the spirit that guided our utterances! 

The rest of the exchange was fun, I love our Sister Training Leaders! They are inspired. :) 

The next day, Wednesday, we traveled up to Sudbury for Skills and Interviews with President Clayton! We woke up at 4 am, to get on the road by 5 am, only to find somehow our GPS had broken... So, we headed north, and eventually called our District Leader to get further directions. We made it with plenty of time to spare and in one piece, so that is all that really matters, right? :) We decided later it was a blessing in disguise since the GPS would have taken us another route that is 30 minutes quicker, but also pretty windy and probably would have made both of my companions extremely car sick! God is watching out for us. :) 

Skills and Interviews was great though. I always enjoy the chance that I have to talk with President. He is so supportive and loving. I am so grateful to serve under him in the mission field! 

Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday continued to be great! We were all pretty sore from the 7 hours spent in the car on Thursday, but we pushed through it. :) Throughout the end of the week I had a couple of neat opportunities to catch some small glimpses at why I am needed where I am, and with the companions that I am with this transfer. It is always a blessings to see, even in some small way, how and why you are needed. It propels me forward and makes me want to be and do better! 

I love missionary work! I love being a Servant of the Lord! This week I really focused on paying attention to the subtle promptings of the Spirit, and it has been really special to see how He is working with each and every one of us! He is preparing our hearts and minds to help others and/or receive the gospel! Follow the Spirit. He will not lead you astray! He will only invite and entice you to do good continually! :) 

Stay warm, stay safe. Love you! 

Sister Robison 

PONDERIZE Doc & Cov 35: 13-14! 

We finally got to see other missionaries! After Skills and Interviews with 
some elders. It's a running joke with Sister Meleisea- she always asks 
people to buy her pizza or donuts. Well, these elders bought us Pizza! It was delicious! :) 

Sometimes we just like to take selfies. 

Generation Picture with Sister Maas before she "died" (aka, went home)

Birthday Buddies! Sister Atkinson! We are helping her and her husband work
towards the temple! Pray for them! :)

I was going more for the picture with the dog, but I guess one with the dog and my companions is cool too..:) 

Bottoms up! Jokes, it's just a giant jug of Maple Syrup!

Sister Meleisea's first ever snow man!  I taught her everything she knows! ;)

KELLY STREET! 

-Back when the snow first came..  Don't worry, there is more now! 

SNOW!

Check out my night-gown!     It's like a sweatshirt dress! :D

exchanges with the STL's last transfer! They are wonderful :

See.....I told you it was Maple Syrup!

After Skills and Interviews, there was a snowball fight.   We thought we would take a selfie!