Being Made Mighty

Oh man OH MAN, it's been another crazy week in the land of Grand Forks...but hey, life is still beautiful and God is still good. I feel like my time in Grand Forks has taught me so much about the true goodness of God- He loves us so much. He's so aware of us, and He's been blessing us Grand Forks sisters with more miracles and tender mercies then I can even comprehend- it's been a gorgeous week!! I was pondering this morn, whilst in the shower (my fave place to ponder, dontcha know), how truly good this past week has been, and how real 1 Nephi 1:20 is- "But behold, I Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are all over those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance". This week, I have felt mighty, even unto the power of deliverance, because of the tender mercies of the Lord- it's been amazing. I never felt more exhausted or more like a missionary in all my days, and I am becoming so aware of the power the gospel brings into our lives. This is the truth! We have the ability to be mighty in every circumstance in life! 

And on that note, I've got the tragic car update of this very morn- our dear Bertha, the beloved and faithful swag van, had been laid down to rest- the third day came and went and Bertha doth now stinketh, haha.  Although my heart is rather heavy, the lovely Zone Leaders let us borrow their bikes earlier in the week and the mission is getting new cars on Thursday...so it'll all work out. Our butts are going to be pretty sore by the time we get a car, lol...independence is painful, we're learning! 

But anyway, other then the recent car news, this has been one of the greatest weeks of all time- life is just so good these days!! We kicked off the week with a gorgeous pday, full of carpooling with the Elders around town and bowling with the whole gang- such a party! Elder Madsen gave me bowling tips throughout the whole experience, because he's a seasoned professional and I can barely manage to avoid the sides...BUT, by the end, I got a strike- YAHOOOOOOO!!!  I'm well on my way to joining a bowling league or something, haha! 

Bowling!

In the evening of Monday, we stopped by Joe's and read some Book of Mormon with them and ate dinner with the beloved Ah Pucks- I love them so much! We ate delish Hawaiian food, including beef curry...man oh man, it was SO good!  The best part of dinner, though, was that the lovely Ah Pucks invited three of their nonmember friends over for dinner and we were able to teach them about the gospel- the best!! Such a tender mercy!! 

And then, it was Tuesday. We walked around town in the morn and tried our people...and THEN, we raced over to Bismarck for MLC, huzzzzzah!! It was such a lovely time! We laughed and chatted on the way over with Elder Trejo and Elder Madsen and hugged all my favorite people once there- man oh man, the best!! I got to see Sis. Clark and Sis. D'vaz and Sis. Haubner and all my Fargo faves...such blessed reunions all around. I also chatted oodles with Sis. Brown, who is serving in Williston...and teaching my favorite, Scott Dittel!! AHHHHHHH!!! I love that man so much! It's going really well, and it was such a tender mercy to get that blessed news. I never expected it, but it was so lovely to find out that he's progressing and coming to church...ah, I love being a missionary. It's the greatest thing of all time!

Scott's missionaries- the best!!

On Tuesday night, we went to the temple- it was the best. The Spirit was so strong and I felt so comfortable there- something I never thought would happen. When we left, I felt so full and so invincible- I love the opportunity the temple affords us to forgot the world absolutely and think of our potential- think of Heavenly Father's plan for us. It was the best temple trip I've had yet, and I got to sit by my dear and fave Sis. Clark afterwards- she's the best!! 

On Wednesday, we hung ten in Bismarck and MLC'd away- such a party! I sat between Elder T and Sister Wright through it all, and they made the drama and craziness of MLC so delightful- I adore them! We laughed the whole time and it was the best. Good friends make MLC so much fun! 

I love Sister Wright!

I sat by some Fargo faves from my past life during lunch, including Elder Guymon, Elder Ashe, and Elder Swensen...man oh man, I miss Fargo. I sometimes wish I could get my hands on a time machine and hang ten with all those delightful homies once more- and be with Sis. Clark! Maybe one day, haha. I adore all my Fargo friends. They're the best!

We spent the remainder of our Wednesday driving back to our beloved Grand Forks...it was such an adventure! We ended up stopping in Fargo for some Taco Bell (the Lord's fast food restaurant, it's been decided.), and Michael, an investigator I taught while in Fargo, just happened to be working- it was so crazy!! Total tender mercy. We were both so jazzed to see each other, and he promised he would start meeting with the missionaries again...man oh man, God is so good!! 

And then, it was Thursday. We spent our morn planning away for ZTM, and we ran off after lunch to see Rodeen- I love her SO much!! Sherah came along and we taught the Plan of Salvation...and she committed to be baptized on October 13, AHHHHHHHH!!!!! RODEEN IS THE BESSSSSSSSSST!! She committed to pray oodles and read as well, and she told us that she wants to be sure when she's baptized...man oh man, she's the greatest woman I know. Sherah testified like a pro through it all and Rodeen made us cupcakes and banana bread to eat as we chatted- such a lovely lesson. I adore Rodeen!! 

RODEEEEEEN!!! :)

We walked around town for a season after that delightful lesson, contacted at the mall for a sec, and met up with the Zone Leaders to eat some Minnesota grown sugar beets that a member gave them- such a party, haha! Turns out, sugar beets are pretty delish. Like, I could probably live off those suckers if I had to. 

Sugar beet party!

AND THEN, we bummed a ride over to the Anderson's...who drove us to Fargo for Kayla's baptism, AHHHHHHHH!!!!  It was perhaps the greatest day of my young life- the car ride with the gorgeous Andersons was pure perfection, Kayla's baptism was the loveliest event of all time, and the ride back to Grand Forks was full of sugar free donuts and the exchange of crazy medical stories- best night ever!!! We got permission from President to go, because Sis. Tucker and I both taught that gorgeous Kayla of ours, but we had to find a ride down...man oh man, the Andersons were such a tender mercy! Everything worked out perfectly and it was so lovely...I just love Kayla the most. I am so grateful that I was able to play a little role in helping her be baptized- she has changed my life for good. She's the most amazing 18 year old I have ever known, and I know she's going to change the world...she's already doing it! 

And the very end of the baptism, Kayla got up and made each of us missionaries who had taught her stand up- she talked about how much we helped her, how much she loves us, and how much she knows this church is true...and I just wept. Kayla is the greatest! I am so lucky to know her!! We left the Fargo building with hugs all around and shouts of "love you!"- it was just the greatest. Such a tender mercy!! 

YAHOOOOOO!!!!! :D

On Friday, we planned a bit more for ZTM and then met up with our lovely zone and ZTM'd away- such a lovely time! 

good ol' ZTM

We ate dinner that night at the Jex's, such a lovely family, and taught Pat afterwards- it was so sweet. I love Pat! We read a bit in the Book of Mormon with her and helped her make her bed...it was such a blessed time. Pat's the greatest!! 

We tracted for a bit afterwards, met the nicest Catholics of all time and learned a bit about the organization of the Catholic church, and ended our night by reading the story of Abinadi with our dear Joe- love him!!  Once back to homebase, the Zone Leaders brought their bikes over for us to borrow for the time being- they're the best! So, we're officially biking missionaries these days...man oh man, such an adventure!! I've never felt more diligent in all my life- in our first day of biking around town, we taught five lessons and found two new investigators...and basically lit our legs on fire, haha.  Biking is such a party!

So, we kicked off our biking Saturday by meticulously planning our day as to bike effeciently and then running off to try Teddy and Almaz- love them! Only Teddy was home, so we scheduled another appointment for next Saturday...it's going to be great! As we left their building, we spotted two men on their porch smoking, so we casually approached and started chatting with them- so sweet! We ended up teaching them the Restoration and scheduling a return appointment for next week- it was awesome! They both started off kind of hesitant, but both accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon by the end- such a tender mercy! Yahoo for Justin and Adam!! 

biking fools!

(what you feel like after biking around town. lol.)

We ate lunch at Grand Junction and had a wee meeting with the Elders to figure our lives out- it was announced at MLC that missionaries sharing a ward no longer have areas- that their boundaries are the ward boundaries, yahoooooo!!! It's going to be crazy but cool, and we're pretty jazzed- I'll keep you updated!

After our meeting, we raced off to try a less active in the area, who we invited to church, and we ended up teaching her neighbor Linda about the Plan of Salvation- it was so sweet!! We biked on over to our Africans after that and got our bikes all locked up when Harry pops outta no where- such a tender mercy! We were able to teach that dear recent convert of ours about the temple and committed him to come to church...man oh man, I love that Harry! 

We took a brief water and food break after all that biking around town and then raced back off to teach Henry- it was pure perfection! Harry sat in and testified like a pro as we taught about tithing- so lovely!! As we were finishing up, we told Henry that we had to move his baptismal date again because he hasn't been to church in a couple of weeks...and he was so distraught. He even said that if we keep moving it back it'll never happen, and that he doesn't want to move his date because he knows he's ready- and as he said all that, the Spirit poured into the room and testified to both of us that Sept. 17th is the right date...AHHHHHHH!!!!!  So, we're going to meet with Henry every day this upcoming week and help him to be baptized on Saturday- life just got a bit crazier, haha! It's going to be a party!! Henry, Harry, and Sundayma all came to church yesterday, which pretty much just melted by young heart...man oh man, I love them so much!! HENRY'S GETTING BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY, AHHHHHH!!!!! 

We also taught Rolly about the Book of Mormon on Saturday- I love him, too!! He bought us pizza and asked beautiful questions and made us promise that we would call next time we see Joe...Rolly's the best!! We tried to convince him to date Rodeen while we were there, haha...he wasn't having it. Maybe one day! 

And then, it was Sunday. All of our Africans came to church, along with Sue and a rogue new investigator named Cheska who just moved here from Dickinson- such a tender mercy!! Bro. Orozco introduced himself like a pro and invited her and her member boyfriend over for dinner- so we got a beautiful member home lesson and new investigator yesterday, huzzzzzah!! It was the greatest!!!! Cheska is probably the coolest person ever, and I am so jazzed to teach her. We shared the Gospel over dinner (of the world's greatest lasagna- I love the Orozcos so much!!!) and she wept as we testified- it was amazing. I've never felt more like a missionary, man oh man! We scheduled an appointment with her for Tuesday and she told us that she wants to be baptized- AHHHHHH!!! Life is so beautiful and God is so good!! 

WE LOVE HENRY!!! :)

Welp, that was my week! Such a gorgeous one!! I love you all so much, and I am so grateful for all you do- have the greatest week ever!!

Love, 

Sister Robinson