Atonement and happiness

Transfers again. Still with S. in Gomez.... HAHA oh man after we got the call last night that told us we would be together for another month at least we both were just like, okay we have got to figure out what the crap we gotta learn from one another. We have been a companionship for 4 and a half months and by the time this transfer is over I will have spent nearly a quarter of my mission with the same comp. Hes a great guy, but I wouldn't mind a change now and then.

We got another baptism this week. We went over to S. (Daughter of F.) house to ask what time she wants to be baptized. She is honestly one of my favorite people on the mission. She is so humble, so receptive, and so ready for the gospel. She started taking institute here like the day after we found her, and she told us about a week before her baptism that she is going to go on a mission! As we were leaving our lesson with her she all of a sudden was like "um Elder Roberts will you baptize me?" Not gonna lie I was pretty surprised, I thought for sure she would pick Elder S. but nope. So I got to baptize her this Saturday. The spirit was so strong during her baptism and she really was so ready to be baptized. The font was only about half full so once again I almost had to dunk myself to get her all the way under but we got it done without having to do a repeat! During baptisms things slow down, I don't really know how to describe it any other way. Its like all the problems of life get turned down and you know that The Lord really is happy and does love His children. This Sunday right after she received the gift of the Holy Ghost she was called to be young women's president. SHE IS ON FIRE MAN!!!

 I studied a little bit about the Atonement this week and would just like to share a tid bit. One of my favorite scriptures about the Atonement DC 19:16-19. You can just hear the power of the words of The Savior as He explains His eternal sacrifice for mankind, as well as the essential need for everyone to repent. Christ has already paid the penalty for our sins. We can let it all go if we will just repent. As I teach I have found nothing really gets to people or invites the spirit more than talking about the Atonement. We can be having a lesson that has a little bit of humor and whatnot but as soon as we start talking about the Atonement all jokes are out and its 100% the spirit and respect. Even those that aren't very religious can feel the difference in the Spirit when we start testifying about the Atonement. 

The other thing I studied this week is 2 Ne. 2:25. The purpose of life is one thing - To be happy. That is the purpose of everything we do. It doesn't mean we will be happy every second of our life, the mission is a perfect example of that at times haha, but it really is the purpose of our existence. We started using this scripture a lot in lessons to introduce the commandments. If you tell people that the purpose of life is to be happy, both now and in eternity, and then tell them that the only way to be this happy is by following such and such commandment they get it a lot better than if you just introduce a commandment then say We have to do it because Heavenly Father says so... haha 

Overall good week.

Elder Roberts eternally in Gomez :)

Elder Holland's Testimony: The Book of Mormon is the Word of God

No transfers yet.. . . .

Dear Friends and Family

Well we had exchanges this week, and by we I mean every other elder. Yup I'm going 4 months strong with Elder S. Haha but anyway. This week we had a two day conference with our Mission President and not a ton of lessons to be honest. The hotter it gets the less people there are, like legitimately when were walking around at 1 in the afternoon there is no one, not in the street, not in the houses, its like where the freak does the town go in the afternoon. We've hit the point where we have either have investigators who have already accepted a baptismal date or no body. We have no new contacts because we cant find anyone. hahah its freakin weird. But on the bright side we are killing it both with those who have accepted a baptismal date and with church attendance.

We have a baptism this Saturday for Y. and her daughter M. They were a reference family and they both progressed really fast, Her husband is a super nice guy and always listens to our message but just doesn't want to change right now. So they will be getting baptized without him. Which is hard but I'm pretty sure he will accept it down the road.

We have two perfect families right now as well. Hma F. and her two daughters have all accepted baptism dates as well as one of the daughters (S.) boyfriend, G. S and G came to church on Sunday and F will be getting back from a business trip soon and they will all be getting baptized within the next month. Its crazy we started with just F (This is the lady whose husband kicked us out of the house) and it has turned into 4 baptisms. S said she is going to serve a mission too! Awe yeah!

I saved the best for last. We have a freaking awesome family. They are catholic and its a guy his wife and three daughters. On our fist visit the oldest daughter was such a punk and didn't want to have anything to do with our message, and the rest the family was about the same. Me and Elder S were both like well I guess we will go back one more time and try. They are now by far my favorite family to teach. Its weird to feel how much stronger the spirit is in lessons when it really is the whole family progressing together. One individuals conversion is cool, but it doesn't come close to when the whole family learns and grows together. They have completely changed since our first visit. All of them are going to be getting baptized and they came to church for the first time this week! It was awesome to see all five of them shuffle out of a taxi.

But yeah overall that's our life at this point. We either have people that are days away from baptism or nobody.... haha well work on getting a middle class of investigators this week.

Please pray for our success to find those searching for the truth.

Elder Roberts

A few of my favorite scriptures

Not a lot of time this week as well so I just wanted to share 2 quick things. 

1 about my studying in the Book of Mormon this week. I studied a lot about the plan of salvation (Alma 22, 40) the restoration (1 Ne 13-15) The atonement (Mosiah 3-4) and successful missionary work (Mos 27, Alma 17). King Benjamin's talk with his people in Mosiah 3 and 4 is one of the most powerful general conferences ever! It outlines our need for our Savior and His mercy so well, and that if we will repent we will be forgiven. Also Alma 17 about how the sons of Mosiah prepared for their missions is so freakin true. Verses 2 and 3 talk about their need to study, pray and fast, and verse 5 was powerful to me too. This mission isn't what I would call fun, lets be honest, it isn't a 100000 baptism and call it a day. The afflictions in body and mind and spirit are super real but that's what it takes to be the better missionary. Some days its hard to see why we have to go through some of the harder times but every missionary has had to do it, and more importantly our Savior had to do it. Its just part of the work. Haha I also found Alma 8:10-11 and this one was so true as well. Alma was one of the greatest missionaries ever. He did all he could to preach to the people, and in the end they still rejected him. Some days its just not the right time for them to accept the gospel. 

I also wanted to share a good experience I had this week on exchanges. Me and Elder S have been companions now for....105 days.... haha but no ones counting. Naw he is actually a really good companion and we have gotten to where we know each others weaknesses and strengths really well. So on exchanges I was with Elder Hdz. who is brand new but is a native so he obviously is better at the language than me. Anyway during the exchanges we went to one of our investigators homes who is getting baptized in 16 days! She asked some random question about the gospel. For things like that I could explain it in English but its still out of my league in Spanish so I usually have Elder S take over in such moments. But with Elder Hdz. he didn't really know the answer to the question and so looked at me....so here I go stumbling through some broken Spanish nonsense and doing my best. (It came to a point where I was doing more sign language than Spanish...) hahahahha I got the point across but lets just say I didn't feel exactly successful in that lesson. After the rest of the lesson I asked her to say the closing prayer. As she said it I started feeling the spirit really strong, and I was like what the freak...this was a terrible lesson... as she finished the prayer I looked up and she was so happy and we could all just feel the spirit. It was just a good reminder of who actually teaches the lessons. As long as I can bring the spirit and I put 100% in He will take care of it and still testify of our message. 

Tenge Fe

Elder Roberts