I'm Leaving London

First off transfer calls were last night.  BIG NEWS, I am getting transferred! I will be serving in the Whitby, Oshawa area. We were told that Sister Shurtliff and I will be shutting down our area and that there will only be one English sister companionship for the entire London area now. We were told this doesn't happen very much and we don't know why.  So today we will be moving everything out of our apartment, deep cleaning, packing ourselves, and getting everything moved to the sisters who will be in London! 

My new companion will be Sister Duran and I am SO excited!  I know Sister Duran because she is in my zone right now and used to be in my district at the very beginning of my mission.  I cannot wait for what awaits us in Oshawa! Whitby, look out here comes a happy Filipino and a fiery redhead to do the Lord's work! 

As I look back at these past two transfers in London, I have learned so much.  London has really taught me to never give up--it is a very difficult place and I have loved every minute of it. Sister Shurtliff taught me that "you know you're a good missionary when you don't need to have baptisms to keep going and working hard." Yes we didn't get any baptisms together, yes we only had two investigators come to church while we were here, but everything was worth it!  I know that I have done my very best. I know it and the Lord knows it. I have been so blessed to talk to so many people each day and to share them my testimony of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I know it's true with all of my heart. I am closer to my Savior, more than I have ever been before.  My love grows every day for him and will never stop.  London, has shaped me into a missionary who is dedicated, hard-working, never-stopping, happy-going, cheerful, sharing, and the spiritual-beacon that I need to be. What a blessing it has been for me--I love being a missionary!

Sister Shurtliff and I were blessed with so many opportunities to do service! We helped Sister Murray, in our ward who has fallen down recently and can't move around. We were able to clean up her apartment and do her dishes. She was so grateful that words couldn't express to us and after the spiritual message, all she could do was just hold our hands and say thank you. Sister Shurtliff and I also did service for our last time with Vida Cambell! We were able to do tons of yard work for her and she is just so thankful and loves us so much. She even told us that after our missions, we should go visit her in Jamaica to have a vacation and could stay at her house J Sister Shurtliff and I also helped with a move!  Marilyne (the lady who we painted her room pink) called us and we moved furniture so they could replace the carpet in her apartment.  Overall... each person was so grateful for our service but I was so grateful for the opportunity to serve, to be an instrument while serving others and to see the love Heavenly Father has for each of his children. 

General Conference was amazing. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! I KNOW this gospel is true!  God lives today and loves us and because He does, He has allowed us the blessing of having a prophet on the earth today, President Thomas S Monson!  The words spoken this weekend were not simply wise words to be contemplated, but direct revelations from God spoken by His chosen mouthpieces!  What they spoke were commandments from God on how we should live our lives here on Earth in preparation to living with Him someday!  I know that each conference is personal, inspired, and all revelatory. What a blessing it was!  Each of the questions I had written down were answered, He answers our needs every time.   One quote I loved from our beloved prophet was:

"As we strive to place Christ at the center of our lives by learning His words, by following His teachings and by walking in His path, He has promised to share with us the eternal life that He died to gain. There is no higher end than this, that we should choose to accept His discipline and become His disciples, and do His work throughout our lives. Nothing else, no other choice we make, can make of us what He can..."

I know that "the quest of a lifetime is to gain and strengthen our testimonies" and that if we do our part it will come. We are always moving--whether it is forward or backward--with our testimonies, relationship with our Savior, and with anything else in this life. So move forward!  Get in the habit of reading scriptures, praying both morning and night, and going to the temple as much as you can! I KNOW by doing this it will bless your life. We've heard in conference of things that we can improve on and to embrace it! We can do it! J  I love you all!

Until next time...

Sister Robb

Anything Is Possible!

It was an amazing week! We saw so many miracles happen everyday.  I love sharing my experiences each week because it reminds me of how truly blessed I am to be a missionary and how much my Heavenly Father loves me. 

‪First off, Elder Cardon last week talked about praying with our investigators. We had a lesson with Pamela and felt that we should read from the Book of Mormon with her. She finally read out loud with us!  I was so happy to hear her read because she told us that when we first started teaching her that she will never read out loud or pray in front of us, but that has changed!  As we read from Enos with her, the spirit was so strong.  At the end of the lesson, Sister Shurtliff and I knelt and I told her that we would love to hear from her as she closes our lesson with a prayer.  I then just folded my arms and closed my eyes.....waiting and waiting.  Finally, Pamela began to pray! She said one of the simplest and loving prayers.  It was such an amazing lesson to me! I have learned that if I put my whole trust and faith in Heavenly Father... Anything is possible!

Putting on a big smile for the day!!

‪Friday was exchange day! I was with Sister Felix again but it was just the two of us this time and we stayed in London. Exchange days are days of miracles. We did service for Pamela by sanding her metal trailer so she can prime it before winter hits (which might be soon unfortunately). It was fun to be able to see how excited she got when we told her we would come back another time to help her finish up her trailer (which will be tonight). Sister Felix and I met some people and were able to set up appointments with them right then and there on the street! Overall, we had some great success and it was so fun to lead another missionary around London for a day.

‪I have to say that I have met some of the craziest people here in London! I have gained a "Love for London"!  I am so grateful that I am in a bus/walk area.  I have heard that bus contacting is one of the hardest things because you are surrounded by people and the atmosphere is quite different, it's hard to explain, but I LOVE bus contacting.  I split off from Sister Shurtliff and go sit in the back by some random stranger and start up a conversation!  It has been so fun and I look forward to getting on a bus whenever possible.  Let me tell you about a neat experience this week while bus contacting...

‪It was Friday night. We were heading home for the night and needed to take a bus. Right when I got onto the bus the spirit hit me like a brick wall.  I looked immediately of where I needed to sit and it was next to this man. I smiled, sat down next to him, and opened my mouth. His name is Charles.  He looked a bit intimidating with his hoodie and tattoos but that didn’t stop me. I asked him how his day has been going and he said, "alright" and looked out the window.  I began to ask him why it was just alright and he said, "I don't know, just a boring day, it seems like everyday is the same day and that something is missing."  I then lit up and said, "Well, Charles, I can promise you that I can make your day better and I am pretty sure I know what is missing.  My name is Sister Robb and I am a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints..." We than began to talk. I pulled out a Book of Mormon and bore my testimony of the truthfulness, and that it was another Testament of Jesus Christ.  He shared with me his tender feelings for Jesus Christ. We had a really sweet, tender conversation. As I got up, Charles got up! We both got off of the bus and I then asked him, "Is it okay Charles if we say a prayer before we split off?" He said yes.! I then said a prayer on that corner street in the dark and afterwards he just sat there in silence and then asked if he could walk with us for a bit and we said yes. I then felt prompted to talk about baptism with him. "Charles, how would you feel if you could be completely clean again and have all of your feelings of guilt and shame washed away?" Silence. He then said, "I can't even imagine. That would be so... amazing. I can't even imagine." We then reached a corner of where we would be splitting and I turned to him and told him that he could be cleansed from all of his sins.  He would have a new start of a new life. That he would receive the Holy Ghost--which is a gift from our Heavenly Father--to constantly guide us everyday in our lives. Then... I invited him to baptism.  HE SAID YES! I wish I could put into complete words the feelings I felt and the experience.  [I will update more next week on what happens] Sister Shurtliff was a bit confused so I caught her up afterwards and told her more about Charles and our conversation. What a blessing it is to be an instrument to Heavenly Father and by helping him bring people unto Christ!  I am so grateful everyday to be a missionary!

‪I loved the Women's Broadcast that was on Saturday, it was amazing! I learned about being prepared for the temple, remembering the covenants that we have made to our Heavenly Father, more about temples, how we need to obey His law/commandments through obedience, and how we are SO loved by our Father in Heaven. I loved it when President Uchtdorf said, "Return to our Heavenly home with honor." So live the gospel joyfully and with determination!  If we keep the laws, commandments, and be joyful... We will find our real selves. I feel like I have found my real self here in Canada.

‪I invite each of you to really think and ponder of what questions you have in your life. I can promise that if you write down those questions before General Conference this weekend, they will be answered.  If you don't have any questions, pray that questions will come to your mind....they will!  I know that President Monson is the prophet on the earth today, acting and speaking as God’s mouthpiece!  I know that as a missionary, I am simply an instrument in the Hands of the Lord, not doing my work, but HIS work!

‪Fall is here and transfer calls are next Sunday! I have no idea what will happen... I'll tell you next week! I love you all so much and can’t thank you enough for all of your prayers and support!   Until next time.....

‪Sister Robb  J

The Truth Changes People

Another week has passed here in the service of our Heavenly Father and I have to admit, it was a tough week…but that’s made me all the more dedicated and happy to do the Lord’s work!!! (Weird how that happens, eh?)  I just love that even when trials come, the knowledge of this glorious truth keeps me going and smiling!  For that, I am ETERNALLY grateful J

It has been one of the hardest weeks that I have experienced, yet I have had some of the most tender spiritual experiences. 

An update on Tom... He completely disregarded what we taught him. I won't go into the details of what he told us... but it was one of the saddest experiences. After leaving his apartment, my spirit was so saddened for Tom. I felt like I could relate to Alma in the scriptures where he was saddened by the wickedness of the people. I did just what Alma did... prayed. Sister Shurtliff and I went back to the church to do some things for a bit and I went into a quiet room and prayed out loud to Heavenly Father.  Words cannot adequately describe the experience that I had. It was one of the most tender experiences I have probably ever had. After I had prayed, I just knelt there and felt an immediate peace and comfort. I know that Heavenly Father is always there for us. After asking him questions and pouring out my soul to Him, all He did was just comfort me. He literally is our Father because we are all his spirit children. I know that when we seek for His comfort and guidance, he gives it to us. I am so grateful for that experience and how tender it was for me. How blessed we are to truly know that we can talk to our Father in Heaven whenever we want.  He does hear and answer our prayers, if it's not immediately, it's in His own time. He knows what's best... but he always answers our prayers, no matter what.  I know that Tom will someday accept the gospel and was so grateful I was able to teach him for a short time. I am so grateful to be a missionary! 

Now to the spiritual high, the Mission Tour!!  Last Saturday, Elder Craig A. Cardon came to our mission! How amazing is that! We first started out by writing down two questions we have had in our mind and would like to be answered. What a blessing that was and guess what... they were both answered!  It was one of the neatest experiences because Elder Cardon paused while he was talking and said he felt like he needed to say something and began answering my question, seriously so cool!  The spirit was so strong there. Here are some things we talked about: 

-President Clayton's focus for the mission: "Beginning with the end in mind"

-Coming unto Christ OURSELVES! 

-Elder Cardon: talked about great depths of the priesthood, the scattering and gathering of Israel in 1 Nephi 22, how we are all the seed of Abraham-Abraham 2:9-11 (who has the gospel) and how we are the Lord's arm in that, the Book of Mormon is a sign of the gathering and nothing will knock out God's word.  Did you know that Joseph Smith finished translating the Book of Mormon in 3 months time? That's about 8 pages a day! Crazy! He also mentioned what else Joseph Smith went through during those days.  I love and appreciate Joseph Smith SO much! He was incredible. Elder Cardon also talked about why we invite investigators to make and keep commitments! It was really eye opening to know that we, ourselves, are investigators and we need to make and keep commitments. 

-Sister Cardon: Ecclesiastes 4:9-10. We will always have a companion in our life! We need to develop Christ like Attributes (PMG chp. 6)

Elder Cardon (2): We need to talk about the Holy Ghost after the baptismal invite and then do a Holy Ghost invitation. So amazing! Baptism is a physical act of our faith, confirmation is our personal gift of our faith and is such a blessing. He then did a role play with President Clayton about having the head of the household to say the prayer in the first lesson... it was amazing. 

Elder Cardon then bore the strongest testimony of the Book of Mormon and the Atonement. The Book of Mormon puts the Atonement into context and is found everywhere in the Book of Mormon and testifies of Jesus Christ. It was such an amazing experience to hear him speak and bear his testimony of this gospel. Elder Cardon has such a strong spirit. I am so grateful for the experience that I had and to even present myself to him and shake his hand personally. 

Funny story... I have learned that Sister Shurtliff and I are President and Sister Clayton's "twins". There were even missionaries at the zone conference that were telling us that Sister Shurtliff and I could be sisters! I believe it's just because we have red hair.  It's been one of the funniest companionships for Sister Shurtliff so she tells me. I have heard at least 100 times on my mission, "Are you twins?" "Oh you're sisters!" I can't help but laugh at the reaction that we get when we tell people we aren't. They say, "You've got to be joking..." "No you're really sisters... You've got to be!"

Just the other day a lady stopped me on the bus and said that she loves our red hair and that we are lucky to be sisters.  I then told her, "Believe it or not, we aren't sisters!" She then freaked out.  I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to share the gospel!  I said, "Well... Even though we aren't blood sisters, we are sisters in spirit. We are all children of our Heavenly Father. He loves us so much that he has blessed our families with the gospel..." I then shared my testimony of the Restoration and she asked for our card just before we got off. Sharing the gospel in so many ways is SO cool! I LOVE IT! 

I say this every week... But I am truly grateful to be a missionary. I know without ANY doubt that this gospel is true.  I was talking to someone on the bus today who said, “you know this is true, don’t you?  I can tell on your face that you wouldn’t come out here and share this message if you didn’t know it was true.”  It strengthened my testimony about this truth and it’s impact!!  If you know it’s true, people can see that you know!  I love getting on the bus and sitting next to some random person and comparing their face at the beginning when they’re looking at me really strange to the face they have when we leave each other, because it changes them!  The truth changes peoples lives, and I am so honored and humbled by the opportunity to be here in Canada sharing it with people!   I would never trade this experience for anything. It will truly be the best 18 months of my life.  As I have put myself in the Savior's shoes... I am so overwhelmed by the love I have for people. I know that this church is true and I am so blessed to represent Christ to the best of my abilities. I love it!!

Until next time...

Sister Robb

 A Mission Tour picture! I am on the second row just to the right from the centre.
It's only half of the missionaries in our mission!