Hey everybody! This week was pretty great! Tuesday I hit my
"half-way" point here at the MTC! In just 18 short days I will be
getting on a plain and taking off to France! I am so stinking excited! It will
be great (: Life here at the MTC Is pretty great. Things are continually
getting better, including the food (or maybe my body is adjusting to it haha).
So this week has just been the best week at the MTC! So much went on and by far
my favorite things involved our devotionals and choir.
Every Sunday and Tuesday we have choir practice here at the MTC. (If you are
going to the MTC, JOIN THE CHOIR! I promise you won't regret it.) Well, this
particular Sunday Choir practice was pretty great. The director, Brother Egget,
had us sing a song call "hurrah for Israel" and while he was trying
to inspire us and help us relate the song to our lives, he told this story from
an article found on
lds.org
titled, "Living in a Chapter of History." and I would like to share
it with ya'll.
"On September 22, 1827, two young men living miles apart—who would later
become neighbors and best friends—each saw an astonishing vision in the night
sky. Their names were Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball. Heber was living in
Mendon, New York, near the Tomlinson Inn, and Brigham was 45 miles to the east
in Port Byron.
It began, Heber said, in the eastern horizon—a white smoke rising toward the
heavens with the sound of a mighty wind. The smoke moved across the sky, in the
shape of a rainbow toward the western horizon. It grew wide,then bluish in
color, and became completely transparent. As Heber watched with his family and
several neighbors, a large, commanding army appeared, marching in platoons
across the sky from east to west. “We could distinctly see the muskets,
bayonets and knapsacks of the men,”Heber recorded, “and also saw their officers
with their swords and equipage, and [heard] the clashing and jingling of their
implements of war,and could discover the forms and features of the men. The
most profound order existed throughout the entire army; when the foremost man
stepped, every man stepped at the same time; I could hear the steps.When the
front rank reached the western horizon a battle ensued, as we could distinctly
hear the report of arms and the rush.
“No man could judge of my feelings when I beheld that army of men, as plainly
as ever I saw armies of men in the flesh; it seemed as though every hair of my
head was alive. This scenery we gazed upon for hours, until it began to
disappear.”
Brigham Young, who at that time was not acquainted with Heber,described what he
had seen the same evening: “There was a great light in the East and it went to
the West and it was very bright although [there was]no moon at that time.” As
he gazed at it with his wife, Miriam, they saw“great armies” marching across
the night sky. The vision was “perfectly clear,” and it remained for several
hours.
Heber and Brigham and their family members who witnessed the amazing scene felt
it must have been a sign from God, but they did not know its meaning. Neither
Heber nor Brigham knew the Prophet Joseph Smith or that he had received the
gold plates containing the Book of Mormon that same day at the Hill Cumorah,
just 20 miles to the east."
How cool is that story! Joseph Smith getting the gold plates
was so important that Heavenly Father send a literal Spirit Army to protect
Joseph! That is how important this gospel is and how important missionary work
is. I am definitely lucky to get to be apart of this work!
Well, as Brother Egget continued to talk to us, we had the
opportunity to watch "The Other Side of Heaven" and learn where
the song "Hurrah for Israel" came from and here is the story he told
us.
(the story comes from a talk by L. Tom Perry called United in building the
kingdom of God. Its amazing and I totally recommend reading it.)
This story is about Heber C.
Kimball and Brigham Young going on their mission together and this is the story
of them leaving for their mission.
"September 14th, … President Brigham Young left his
home at Montrose to start on the mission to England.He was so sick that he was
unable to go to the Mississippi, a distance of thirty rods, without
assistance.After he had crossed the river he rode behind Israel Barlow on his
horse to my house, where he continued sick until the 18th. He left his wife
sick with a babe only three weeks old, and all of his other children were sick
and unable to wait upon each other. Not one soul of them was able to go to the
well for a pail of water, and they were without a second suit to their backs,
for the mob in Missouri had taken nearly all he had. On the 17th, Sister Mary
Ann Young got a boy to carry her up in his wagon to my house, that she might
nurse and comfort Brother Brigham to the hour of starting.
“‘September 18th, Charles Hubbard sent his boy with a wagon and span of horses
to my house; our trunks were put into the wagon by some brethren; I went to my
bed and shook hands with my wife who was then shaking with a chill, having two
children lying sick by he rside; I embraced her and my children, and bade them
farewell. My only well child was little Heber P., and it was with difficulty he
could carry a couple of quarts of water at a time to assist in quenching their
thirst.
“‘It was with difficulty we got into the wagon, and started down the hill about
ten rods; it appeared to meas though my very inmost parts would melt within
meat leaving my family in such a condition, as it were almost in the arms of
death. I felt as though I could not endure it. I asked the teamster to stop,
and said to Brother Brigham, “This is pretty tough, isn’t it; let’s rise up and
give them a cheer.” We arose, and swinging ourhats three times over our heads,
shouted: “Hurrah,hurrah for Israel.” Vilate, hearing the noise, arose from her
bed and came to the door. She had a smile on her face. Vilate and Mary Ann
Young cried out to us:“Goodbye, God bless you!” We returned the compliment, and
then told the driver to go ahead. After this I felt a spirit of joy and
gratitude, having had the satisfaction of seeing my wife standing upon her
feet,instead of leaving her in bed, knowing well that I should not see them
again for two or three years’” (Orson F.Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball, Salt
Lake City:Bookcraft, 1967, pp. 265–66).
That story just helped me to have complete confidence that
no matter how hard my mission is, I can always rise up and "hurrah for
israel" and continue going with complete faith that the Lord is on my side
and I can do everything with Him.
So now for the devotionals! haha (sorry for the novel...)
On Sunday night we had the opportunity to listen to Elder
Stephen B. Allen and he talked about Where is Your Heart. Something that really
stood out to me was that he told us that our heart drives our mission and if we
have our heart attached to too many different things that we won't be able to
focus on the mission and then miss out on the blessings that come from serving
a faithful mission. Then on Tuesday we had Elder Hallstrom (of the presidency
of the 70). His talk was AMAZING! I was just spiritually blasted during that
talk haha. I was basically in heaven. The main things he talked about that I
really liked were:
- You are an essential part to this gospel in speading it to
every nation, kindred, tongue and people.
- One of the greatest things you can do is establish the
tradition of going on a mission for your family and generations to come.
- We need you forever, stay converted.
- What kind of a missionary are you going to be?
- If we love Him we will serve Him and we will serve Him by
serving another.
- We have many chances to serve people and that will change
your life.
- If all of our memories are of the past we won't be able to
get the blessings that come from the future
- You teach the gospel because you live it, you will live it
because you know it.
- If you ever wonder if you're good enough, I declare, you
are!
This week was definitely amazing!
We got to finish this week off with a really good
"mini" zone conference. During the zone conference we talked about
Alma 34. Alma 34 is amazing! Our goal with studying Alma 34 was to understand
the 'why'. Something that really stood out to me was in Alma 34:41. In that
scriptures God is pleading with us right now to stay strong!
God needs us to be strong because unlike us, He can see the bigger picture. So
repent daily and view it as a way to get better, and STAY STRONG!
Now for the fun stuff this week!
My district got selected to be traffic hosts (pictures to
come) and that was a blast! We got to guide the cars and welcome so many new
missionaries! It was a blast. I got a junior deputy badge and I have already
stuck it in my journal badge haha.
My companion and I have 2 new investigators! We are teaching
Jonathan and Guillaume (william in french). I really connected with Guillaume.
His concern is that he doesn't believe in God anymore because his baby girl
Catherine was born a still born. He and I connected really well because I told
him about Andrew and what I did to overcome the sadness. He is doing really
good, keeping our commitments, and we will be inviting him to church this week
(: Jonathan is basically a "golden investigator." He keeps every
commitment and is progressing decently right now. We are also going to invite
him to church and do a church tour with him. He is a college student and is
very Catholic. We have both Guillaume and Jonathan committed to baptism when
they know for themselves that this is the true church.
Well, I think that's about it!
I love this work and this mission. I am grateful for the
blessing and opportunity I have to be serving a mission right now. It is
definitely an incredible experience! If you're thinking about serving a
mission, GO! Pray to the Lord and tell Him your thoughts and then study and
once you get your answer ACT! I will never in my life regret serving a mission.
It is amazing! The love you feel, the amount you grow, they're all great but
the best thing ever is that this is a time for you to completely forget
yourself and serve the one who gives you everything.
I love you all and pray for you ever night!
Have a bon week and I will talk to ya'll next week!
Avec Amour,
Soeur Robb
Weekly Scripture:
Moroni 7:41-47
I love these scripture!! Charity is amazing! Something
cool about Charity is that we can't have Charity because it is the pure love of
God, but we can have charity placed upon us. It reminds me a lot of how as
missionaries we can't force the spirit upon people, we can only invite it in
and they have to accept it. Another cool thing about Charity is that it allows
us to see each other as the beautiful, incredible people our Heavenly Father
see us as. We don't see others pasts but their potential and that is something
I find so incredible. This week, my challenge to you is to pray every day for
charity and work on loving those around you like our Heavenly Father does. This
is one of the greatest tools in being a missionary. I challenge you to write me
at keagan.robb@myldsmail.net and
tell me about any experiences you have with this! I love hearing of all your
faith building experiences
