By the Grace of God I Am What I Am

I don't even have to do missionary work, the buses do it for me!!

Hello family!

         Let me just tell you, weeks fly by as STL. We went on 2 exchanges this week and had zone training where we had to present so it seems like it went super fast! To answer your questions. There are 6 sisters we are over and we go on exchange with them all 2 times each transfer. We have conference calls every week and we call them regularly. Pretty much we are there to help them in ways district and zone leaders can't. It is good and is really humbling me.

         Two scriptures that describe what I have learned this week:

          1 Coronthians 15: 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am

         D&C 18: 15-16 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!  And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!

         This week I have been reflecting a lot on who I am and how I have become the person I am. During one of my studies I came across 1 Corinthians 15 and that describes my mission. I have no clue how I got so blessed, but I know it is solely because of Jesus Christ and his love for me. I don't deserve all the blessings I have or even the testimony I have, but I am extremely grateful for the grace of God for helping me become this person. I realized that I needed to come on my mission to learn how to access the atonement, and boy have I learned. The atonement has sustained me everyday over the past year, and now my goal is to apply it even more over the next 6 months to become Christ like in all I do and say.  I have changed so much so far! It is amazing how one single decision to serve a mission has changed everything about my life. :)

         As far as D&C 18, that scripture is SO TRUE! I was able to go on exchange in Brighton this week and that is exactly what I needed. It is very easy on a mission to feel like you aren't a successful missionary, because Satan is rude like that and gets in your head.   I was able to see Tim, Tosin & Jessie.   I was in tears I was so happy. 

Exchanges with sisters serving in Brighton

         

     For the rest of the week it is really a blur. I stayed in Sutton on exchange Wednesday with Sister Hunt. That was scary considering I didn't know the area hardly at all, and I had just been given a new phone which had no numbers in it.  But we survived; the Lord blesses us when we do what he asks. We knew I needed to stay in Sutton, so he provided.  We also had Zone Training this week with our zone and we presented on working with members. Member missionary work is so important and something I have been able to see on my mission, it is not effective to do missionary work unless you have the members by your side!

Exchanges in Sutton

Autumn in England is beautiful!

      There was one morning where I was just out of it, we were walking from the train station to the Crawley chapel for zone training and I was so tired and it was pouring down rain, I felt dead. So I stopped in the pouring rain, went to the side of the road where no one could see me and did jumping jacks to wake myself up. And it worked!  It has gotten so cold here so fast! Autumn (it's not fall, people get mad if you call it fall here) is so pretty here and I'm in love with it. It has been really rainy this week, but diligence is key to missionary work, so we go out and talk to people any ways.

Saturday evening it was a downpour. We were drenched in like 30 seconds of being outside, but we were stopping people left and right and I was so happy!  That night we had an hour to street contact before we had to be in and we went out and worked so hard and found so much joy in the work. We were running across the street to talk to people, following people onto buses to get a return appointment, and just going hard. And you know what, it worked! We got 4 potential people we could teach from it and we were happy. More than anything I was beaming with joy which is what is necessary to do missionary work.

         So there's my week in just a few long paragraphs. I truly do love my mission and can't believe next week will be a year since I left...this has been the fastest year of my life...but also the best. I am just so happy.  Sister Toomata and I are working  hard.   

         I love you all so much and am so grateful for all you do for me. I wouldn't be where I am today without each and every one of you, so thank you. I don't think I can say thank you enough, but know that I love you and you are in my thoughts and prayers always!

Love,

Sister Robison xxx

Sutton What a Place

         Wow that was a fast week. I swear the longer I'm on my mission the faster time goes. Scary.

         It has been a good/hard week for me adjusting to my new area. I adjusted fine and got to know the area fine, but I have just been so stressed about Sister Bills and Taunton that it has been hard for me. But there is a quote in preach my gospel that says:

         “I have often said one of the greatest secrets of missionary work is work! If a missionary works, he will get the Spirit; if he gets the Spirit, he will teach by the Spirit; and if he teaches by the Spirit, he will touch the hearts of the people and he will be happy. There will be no homesickness, no worrying about families, for all time and talents and interests are centered on the work of the ministry. Work, work, work--there is no satisfactory substitute, especially in missionary work.” –President Ezra Taft Benson

         I was able to see this to be true this week. The first few mornings here I was struggling so much thinking about Sister Bills and I prayed so hard to be able to just focus my attention here and I saw that when you work the Lord helps you. I wasn't distracted once I hit the streets because I knew my purpose and wanted to fulfill it. The Lord makes up for our weaknesses and shortcomings when we lack. I love the Lord.

         Being STL is a lot of added work. We are basically the equivalent of zone leaders. We don't get a car though cause there's not enough in the mission :( but we go on exchanges with all the sisters in the zone and it is basically us and the ZL running the zone, so we work really closely with the ZL. We plan meetings, like this week we planned zone training, and just help the zone. I will go on about 8 exchanges this transfer.  This week on Wednesday I am going on exchange with Sister Hunt but I'm staying in Sutton for it after only being here for one week...so pray I will be able to do it! And Friday I get to go back to Brighton for exchange! 

         Sister Toomata is amazing. I already love her so much, I have been so blessed with my companions! I'm excited to see how this transfer goes.

         Sutton is the place where everyone talks a lot. We have gone to so many homes where the person just talks for an hour straight and we can't even teach. It's frustrating, but I'm teaching sister T. to be bold and cut people off sometimes. It is also the place where everyone and their dog has a Book of Mormon! Seriously probably 10 people we talked to this week already had a Book of Mormon. 

         All of a sudden my finding has gone through the roof. At our last zone conference the assistants talked about fearing no man and putting my trust in God. I didn't pay much attention to it to be honest, but all of a sudden I got here and I fear no man. I stop anyone and everyone and it feels so good! Change can be good sometimes for us to keep growing.

         The ward here is probably the closest thing I could get to a Utah ward in England. There are even a few American families in the ward! It is so good! We had dinner with an American family last night and it was the best thing ever. It made me really miss home though. I spoke yesterday in church on how the spirit has spoken to me on my mission. I decided to focus on how the spirit has helped me become more personally converted.  My mission has changed me and I am so grateful for it.

         That is about it for this week. I'm excited to see what this transfer has in store and excited to see where the Lord takes me. The weather is starting to get really cold, but that's okay, I'll survive.

         I love you all so much and hope you have an amazing week!

Love,

Sister Robison

I Hate Goobyes

Saying Goodbye to Sister Bills

     Well hello properly this time family. I just said goodbye to Sister Bills about 2 hours ago, and as I have said before I really hate goodbyes. I am going to really miss Taunton and all the people there.   I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to serve there.

We got stuck in the pouring rain!

The Riddles

The Tuttons

     Thursday and Friday we went on exchanges with the STL's, so I was in Bath for the day. That was hard enough leaving Sister Bills for one day, I don't know how I am going to leave her for this long...pray for me that I can adjust to my new area and responsibilities.  Friday is when President calls for leadership positions and I told Sister Bills not to answer the phone if he called before we got back together, but he called and she had to call him back. He called me shortly after in Bath and told me I was going to be transferred to Sutton to be a STL.  After President told me that I asked him what was happening to Sister Bills and he said I would die when I found out. Then he told me she was training. WOW!  I immediately started crying, I couldn't believe it.  He told me how good of a trainer I was and that he doesn't usually do this, but he knows she is ready.  I know she is to,  I am scared to death for her though, training is the hardest thing I have had to do on my mission. I don't quite know how she is going to do it only being out 3 months, but I know she can do it.  She has grown so much over the past 3 months and it has been such a privilege to see her change.  It was so hard packing up and leaving her.   Am I sad about leaving Taunton, and more specifically Sister Bills? YES.  But I am so excited to see what the next 6 weeks have in store for me.  

         As far as being Sister Training Leader.  The Lord is trying to humble me.  The three things I dislike most on my mission are 1) exchanges 2) sister training leader and 3) participating in meetings, and guess what, being STL I have to do all of those.  But I am excited to come to love them.

         As far as the rest of this week, it is kind of a blur. This weekend was crazy trying to say goodbye to everyone. I will miss everyone so much! Taunton is a good place. I truly changed there. I came to know what it means to be a consecrated missionary and how I can fully serve the Lord and submit my will to his. I came to love the Book of Mormon and see how it really can and will affect us in our lives.  I learned to not be too hard on myself.  I learned how to have fun and laugh even when everything seems to be going wrong. For instance, this week for exchange we were driving from Taunton to Bath, a 1.5 hour drive, and about 20 minutes from bath the elders got a call saying they forgot to swap house keys, so we had to turn around and drive another hour back to Taunton then 1.5 hours to bath. That whole day was spent in the car, but there was nothing we could do about it.  So we laughed.  Laughing is so important in our life!  I have learned how the Holy Ghost speaks to me as well, I have had to rely on the Lord more over the past three months then my whole life I think. But I also grew the most.

     All in all. My mission is changing me and I love the person I am becoming. My new companions name is Sister Toomata and she is from Sydney Australia.  She has been on her mission since March and this has been her only area, and I am her second companion.  

     Well sorry about that super scattered email. I'm still trying to wrap my head around not being with Sister Bills and not being in Taunton.  But I will get there.  Thanks for all the love and support! I love you all so much!

Love,

Sister Robison xxx

Back to CRAWLEY I Go

Hi fam,

         Sorry I can't really email today, pday is tomorrow. Just wanted to let you know I will try and email tomorrow, but I'm getting transferred to Sutton to be a sister training leader so I will be traveling tomorrow so I don't know if I'll have time to email. But I will fill you in next week on what is happening. I am STL for the Crawley zone...which guess what that means...I get to go on exchanges in Brighton! And I am like really close to London too. Woohoo. Prayers are answered folks. But more exciting then that, Sister Bills is TRAINING! I am so proud of her and can't believe she is training. So crazy!

Love you!  Sorry this was so short! 

Ship Shape and Bristol Fashion #ldsconf

Hello family!

         Wow we are so blessed to have modern day apostles and prophets. Wasn't this weekend amazing? This may have been my favourite conference. General conference as a missionary is one of the best things ever. Especially when an apostle talks about the zone you are serving in! I watched conference in Bristol and literally drove by the Bristol harbour an hour before he gave that talk. I felt pretty cool and all the missionaries in my zone watching it there had a slight freak out moment. I am seriously so blessed to be in England. Elder Cook served in the Bristol zone and Elder Holland served in my first zone. Cool.

         I was able to watch almost all of conference which was a huge miracle.  The Stake Presidency was really pushing for everyone to be up in Bristol to watch it. So Saturday night we watched the first session and then all Sunday we were up in Bristol watching it. My favourite talk was Russell M Nelsons and then I believe his name was Larry Lawrence. I gained so much from conference and had so many prayers answered. It was the best. And the restoration is amazing. As the new Apostles were speaking I just felt and knew they were called of God, I'm excited to hear more from them :)

         As you know Thursday we had zone training and Presidents interviews. It was good. I love President Gubler so much, he has helped me so much in just the short time he has been here. We talked for about 15 minutes and he just confirmed that I have done a good job training Sister Bills.  I just always feel like a good missionary when I have interviews. He said some very special things to me that made me feel very loved by him and even more from the Lord. 

         Something else really cool about zone training was that it was all the same theme that conference was...the Lord is guiding this church. We talked a lot about the questions What lack I yet and how we can improve, then in conference a major theme to me was how to be a better disciple and Elder Lawrence even gave a talk about What lack I yet. This is the true church. President also taught us a new way to find called sifting which is super cool! It was really scary to try at first because the approach he wants us to take is to just stop someone, introduce ourselves and say like one point of the restoration, then commit them to read the BOM and be baptized...on the Street! That is super bold if you don't understand. But Sister Bills and I went out and tried it and we gave out 5 BOM in 1 hour :) it is really successful and all about finding those who are ready and prepared and willing to act. He doesn't want us to focus so much on those we have to force into reading the BOM. We are excited to see the miracles from it.

         Update on our investigator, he isn't going to be getting baptized this Friday which breaks my heart.   Last night as we talked to him on the phone Sister Bills and I felt it confirmed to us that we have done what we can, we have done our part as missionaries and the Lord is pleased with us, now it's just up to him. Dropping people is one of the hardest things to do as missionaries.

         Other than that I can't think of too much that happened this week. Monday in Bath was amazing as usual. That is my favourite city in England that I've been too so far, maybe even more than London. It is so pretty and clean and just classy. We have to spend a day or two there when we come back! I am anxious to see what happens at transfers.  I love Taunton and the people here.

         I love you all. Mum and Dad I especially want you to know how much I love and appreciate your support and council to me. As I was watching conference I was reminded time and time again of how lucky I am to have you as my parents. You really are the best!

         Have a good week!

Love,

Sister Robison xxx