084

25 February 2013

Dear Homefront,

 

Hope everyone's doing alright, we're doing fine, though a little chilled, here in Hopewell.

 

This week was kinda slow.  We actually had two separate trips up to Midlothian that we made this week.  One was on Wednesday.  Elder Starks had a dentist appointment. The other was on Friday, when Elder Starks had a meeting with President Perry.  I took that opportunity while we were in the office to take care of my application to USU.

 

I'm still readjusting to being back in Hopewell.  There have been many changes, but there are still many people and places I still remember so well.  It's amazing what can change in just a few short months.

 

As I noted earlier, it's still pretty chilly here so my plans of sending home my winter gear to lighten my pack will have to wait a little while longer.  Oh well.  Unfortunately, things have been pretty slow around here, both in Hopewell and on Ft. Lee.  Hopefully things will be picking up a little more around here soon.

 

Sorry that I don't have too much to write about today.  I'll try to do something exciting this week. ;)

 

With all my love,

-Elder John Y. Roberts

 

PS:  Yes, I know that the ROTC is a minimum 6 years of duty after graduation.  I've known that for a while.  I'll try to talk to Elder Stock about my options as well.  One of his last positions in the army was working with the ROTC at Ricks College so he knows more about it than I do.  I was thinking about things I could do to go the SMP route, if that turns out to be my best option.  I could either go for a semester taking generals and then take the spring and summer off to go through basic and AIT with the National Guard and then contract with the ROTC the next fall, or I could defer until next fall right off and go through that way.  If that's not my best route, then I'll take the Cadet route and I'll just have to find some small part time job to keep some money in my pocket while I'm going to school.  I'm already an old freshman so I don't think another season is going to make a terrible amount of difference to me.  About my options after school though, I've already figured out my two plans, which I'm going to leave in the hands of the Lord.  Plan A:  Graduate, find a teaching position and take my commission in the Army Reserves, serve 25-30 (or maybe more) years and retire but continue to teach history until my future spouse and I feel ready to serve a senior couples mission.  Plan B:  Graduate, can't find a teaching position, take my commission in the Active Duty Army and see where the Lord takes me, serve until I'm ready to retire and return to civilian life.

 

See, I do try to think things through before I make a blind leap ;)

 

PPS:  Loves

083

25 February 2013

This is a forwarded email from President Perry regarding the splitting of the VRM and forming the new mission.

 

Dear Elders and Sisters:
As you know, on or about July 1, 2013 the mission will be divided.

The following stakes will be a part of the Virginia, Richmond Mission (VRM):
Chesterfield, Midlothian, Richmond, Waynesboro and two additional stakes will be added from the Washington DC South mission, they are: Fredericksburg and Woodbridge, both North of us and border our mission boundaries.

The Following stakes will be a part of the new Virginia, Chesapeake Mission (VCM): Chesapeake, Newport News, Virginia Beach and two additional stakes will be added from the North Carolina, Raleigh mission, they are: Goldsboro (just west of Chesapeake) and Kinston (which is the rest of the Outer Banks to the south). The new mission home and office will be located in the Chesapeake stake boundaries.

The incoming mission president and his wife for the VRM are: E. Bradley and Mari-Lynn Wilson (President and Sister Wilson). They will begin their service on or about July 1, 2013. They live in Plymouth, Minnesota and he just retired as the Chief Administrative Officer at Grant Thornton which is a large accounting firm. He also teaches a graduate accounting class at BYU. The Wilson's have six children and both have served in numerous leadership positions for the church. I have spoken with them and love them already, they are upbeat and very sweet. Sister Wilson served as a stake Young Women's camp director and ward chorister, for you elders, that means she is fun and loving. I will send more information as we get it..

The incoming President and his wife for the VCM are Alan J. and Mary Kay Baker (President and Sister Baker) and are from Loveland, Colorado. They too have had numerous leadership responsibilities in the church and he is a Technology guru. I will have the opportunity to speak with them this week and will provide additional information as I receive it.

The transfer in June will determine which mission you will be assigned to. I do not know which mission you will be assigned to at this time and I don't plan to pray about it until May...:-)

58 new missions were created because of the surge of incoming missionaries. We have been working on this almost since President Monson's announcement last general conference. The total count is now at 405 missions worldwide. What a great time to be in the mission field! Thank you for all you do to move this work forward, the Lord is hastening His work and we are privileged to participate.
Love,

President Perry

082

19 February 2013

Dear Homefront,

 

Well, I hope you all enjoyed your President's Day.  All the soldiers on post loved it because it was a four day weekend for them.  It also dropped our numbers at the activity and at church because all those that could were taking full advantage of their off-post passes.

 

I have come to the conclusion that I can easily handle a three hour block of church meetings.  Right now we're going for almost eight hours (including meetings with the ward council and things like that) on Sudays, and wow that is tiring.  On the plus side, we no longer have all the frustrations of splitting up and then trying to make sure we can meet up without any hiccups.

 

This week we had a great Zone Conference with us and the Midlothian zone.  As part of her training, Sister Perry had us all take one of the color-code personality tests.  I'm still a Blue-White with just a touch of Red, which didn't surprise me a whole lot.  My levels have changed slightly since the last time I took one of those but the overall profile is still fairly similar.

 

We also helped out with the Bishop's Storehouse again yesterday.  It's always nice to be able to do service.  It's also very interesting to see what the "behind the scenes" is like at one of the Bishop's Storehouses.  It makes me want to go on one of the tours of Welfare Square when I get home.  I feel that would be very interesting.

 

Later today, we'll be starting an exchange with the zone leaders.  I'll be on exchange with Elder Andreason.  We'll see how that goes. ;)

 

I hope all is well for all of you.

 

With much love,

-Elder John Y. Roberts

 

PS:  I think I might have made a typo with my address when I gave it to you.  Just to be safe, here it is again.

 

4550 Jefferson Pointe Ln.

Apt 8

Prince George VA 23875

 

PPS:  President granted me permission to start looking into my college stuff to make sure everything is ready for when I get home.  Could you maybe go through my papers and get my account information for my applications to Utah State.  Also, any info you can get from USU, the USU ROTC, or the UT National Guard about my options would be very much appreciated.

081

11 February 2013

Dear Homefront,

 

So far so good in Hopewell.  It's been an interesting couple days as I've waded through a wave of nostalgia.  I must say, it's nice to be the "new guy" going into an area and still know more about where things are and how to get places than your companion. ;)  It's also been good to run into so many people that I know and not feel the awkwardness of actually being a "new guy" to them.

 

There has been a lot of change in the past 4.5 months though.  I walked into the apartment and realized that nothing was quite the way I left it.  That'll take some getting used to because it had been the exact same way for most of my sojourn here before.  Also, things have changed at church as well, the perpetual curse of a military area being the transiency and a couple good families that I knew really well are now gone.

 

They've also experienced quite a bit of change out on post as well.  The Spiritual Fitness Center (where our happy little branch met before) was technically on the block for demolition in December to clear room for new and better barracks and training facilities to be built.  After a lot of work with the Chaplains corps, we finally found a place that would suit our needs (for the most part) and we now meet in the Heritage Chapel, a small, multi use chapel on the corner of a couple main roads.  With the change in venue, came the need to change our meeting times so now we meet in the afternoon on Sunday which means that Elder Starks and I have a full day of church because we go to two separate blocks of meetings.

 

All in all, it just feels good to be back.  I feel hopeful for this transfer and I feel good about all of this.

 

A little about my companion:  Elder Starks from Kaysville, UT (where Davis HS is).  He stands just over 5' (probably the shortest Elder in the mission) and has a fun sense of humor.  This'll definately be an interesting transfer to say the least.

 

I love you all and hope you are well.

 

As always,

Elder John Y. Roberts

 

PS:  Before I forget again.  Elder Andersen stayed in Goochland and Elder Burg from downtown Richmond became the new district leader.

080

4 February 2013

Dear homefront,

 

I saw Scott's pictures.  I was reading the Ensign on Saturday evening after we got back from a zone blitz in Tappahanock.  Oh boy, was that a nostalgic car ride!  We carpooled with the Mechanicsville Elders to save on miles and it was so weird to be driving through Mechanicsville again and recognizing places (that's where I was trained by Elder Beardall 18 months ago).

 

The main highlights of this week were the blitz and Zone Meeting.  Elders Case and Orr, the Zone Leaders, asked me to give a training on the topic of Return and Report.  I used the story of the Greek messenger after the battle of Marathon who ran all the way back to Athens to deliver the report of victory.  Most of the Zone seemed to think I did a good job.  I personally felt a little scatter-brained because I just couldn't get to sleep for whatever reason the night before.  Like we usually do, we stayed the night with the Zone Leaders and the Downtown Elders (Elders Burg and Newman).  It was fun catching up with them.

 

We also had transfer calls last night.  I'm leaving Goochland.  I'm going back to Hopewell and Ft. Lee!  I'll be serving with Elder Starks.  I've met him a couple times but I've never served near him.  It'll be interesting though, he's roughly half my height.  It reminds me of when Elder Buce (who's taller than I am) was serving with Elder Bradfield.  We'll see how it goes.

 

In case you can't find the Hopewell address, here it is again.

 

4550 Jefferson Pointe Way

Apt 8

Prince George VA, 23875

 

We had Fast Sunday this week. There were some testimonies, including that of our Stake Mission Leader.  He bore a powerful testimony of the Restoration.  It was beautiful.

 

Other than that, not a whole lot has happened.  Later today we're going to have a Zone Preparation Day activity at the church, just take it easy and play some games.  Then I've got to refigure out how to fit my entire life into three suitcases again.

 

Thank you for all that you do.  Stay happy and safe.

 

With much love,

-Elder John Y. Roberts

079

28 January 2013

Dear Homefront,

I'm not really sure how to say how I'm feeling right now.  Why is it, that words always seem to fail when emotions are present?

This week wasn't too bad.  We got more snow which shut us down again because they want all mission vehicles off the roads when the snow is coming down then they usually let us back out sometime the next day after the sun's had a chance to get most of it off the main roads.  It feels like home to me lately because it's been rare for us to get above the mid-40s most days which is actually making it seem like we're having a winter.  I truly feel sorry for the biking Elders.  It makes me really appreciate being in a car that has a heater.  It has also made me grateful for the thermals I bought a couple months ago as they've really helped me to retain what heat I do have.  On the bright side, unlike last year, all of the warm stuff I brought with me is actually getting used on a regular basis like my sweater and scarf and coat.

Other than the excitement of the snow, not too terribly much happened in Goochland.  We were, however, invited to return to Burkeville last Saturday for the baptism of one (sister) who has been wanting that day to come since before I served there a year ago.  The last obstacle standing in her way was removed when her birth mother finally granted her consent to allow her to enter the waters of baptism and make those covenants with her Lord.

To get to Burkeville, it was a long (a little over an hour each way), but beautiful drive across the Virginia countryside.  I also happened to see some humorous street signs along the way such as Tobaccoville and Pridesville which were just a mile or so past Scotland Ln.  I still miss the simplicity of the grid system of the West, and I have to wonder how some of these road names came to be.  Oh well, that's why the good Lord allowed GPS's to be invented, right?

Church was very nice with the topic in sacrament meeting being faith and prayer.  In Sunday School, we talked about the Atonement.  All of which, I felt, went very well together.  Faith is the glue that holds everything together and the others are some of the most amazing gifts our Heavenly Father has granted us.  I thank the Lord every day for the wonderful blessings He has poured out upon me.

Transfer calls are this week, so we'll know what's happening on that side of things by the next email I send.  I have a strong impression that I'll be moving again (oh the dread of packing...), but whatever happens it will be for the best.

I love you all.  Stay safe, and keep hope burning bright.

With much love,

-Elder John Y. Roberts

078

21 January 2013

Dear Homefront,

 

I hope that you are all well and safe.  Things are going alright here in the Gooch.  We received the first snow of the season here, and it actually shut us down for a while.  Apparently, most of Virginia is unprepared for large snow storms.  We probably only got about four inches, yet schools were shut down for at least a day.  Most of the snow is gone again now, but we might be expecting another flurry here sometime before the spring.

 

President's interviews were the true highlight of this week for me, though that was a little disorganized.  Due to the approaching storm and the mandate that we be off the roads when it began to come down, our interview times were bumped up by nearly two hours in order to allow us to have time to return to our apartment prior to when the storm was expected to arrive.

 

President Perry is one of the most amazing men that I have ever met, and I cherish every moment I am ever fortunate enough to spend in his presence.  That being said, having only 15 minutes for interviews is not nearly long enough.  Surprisingly, President spent most of this particular interview speaking, but I didn't mind.  Whenever he speaks, I almost always seem to find something in what he says that just hits me like a ton of bricks and gives me something to ponder on or study about.  In this interview, he told me something about myself that I never really realized before.  He said that he's noticed that when I have a mission - a goal - I can keep going on all cylinders.  As I've been pondering on that, I've realized how true it is.  When I have a specific goal, I'll find a way to get it done.  It reminds me of a proverb that President often quotes: "Where there is no vision, the people perish."  Usually, he quotes it speaking of our responsibility as missionaries to provide a vision to our investigators, but I never thought to apply it to this aspect of my life of how I seem to always be able to kick it into high gear when I have a specific objective to accomplish.

 

I'm grateful to the Lord for President.  The Lord knew that I needed a man like him to be placed in my path.  I love him, and I love the Lord.

 

I pray you all stay safe and well.  Keep hope alive,

With love,

-Elder John Y. Roberts

 

PS:  6 months left?!?  Where has the time gone?

077

14 January 2013

Dear Homefront,

 

This week was a long one out here in the Gooch.  We spent a lot of time trying to get prepared for the zone blitz.  That preparation took a lot of time and effort, going through an entire area book worth of records, pulling out those names that we felt would have potential, plotting them out on a map, and organizing them into routes so that the missionaries who came out to help us wouldn't be running all over the area but would be focused in their efforts.

 

That blitz unfortunately, seems to have yielded few results, mostly helping us gain information on who wasn't interested or which addresses were wrongly recorded, which is admittedly helpful, just not quite in the way we would have liked.  Thankfully, we did get a couple names that at least acted somewhat interested in our message so hopefully some good will come of it.

 

The Zone preparation day last week was enjoyable.  We explored some of the sights downtown in Richmond.  Unfortunately, the two main places that the group wanted to go were both closed.  Interestingly enough, they were both also churches.  The one was the beautiful Cathedral of the Sacred Heart and the other was the humble episcopal chapel where Patrick Henry gave his famous "Give me liberty or give me death" speech.  We ended up walking quite a ways to just see the outside of two buildings, but the company of the other missionaries was enjoyable nonetheless.

 

We were supposed to have interviews with President Perry last week but some things came up and they had to be rescheduled.  They should happen this upcoming Thursday.  I look forward to that event, though I must say that 15 minutes is not long enough at all to be with that blessed man.

 

Other than that, not a whole lot has been going on out here.  I haven't been sleeping the best lately, but oh well, I'll just keep trying.

 

I hope that all is going well for the rest of you.  I'm sorry to hear about Nik's accident, and I'm glad he's alright.

I love you all.

 

-Elder John Y. Roberts

076

7 January 2013

Dear Homefront,

 

Well, at least we're not the only ones on the 9 o'clock block for church.  The only problem I have with it is that we have a 30 minute drive to the chapel!  When you add on any meetings we go to (which happen before church) we're basically waking up, shaving (having showered the night before), throwing on our suits, and tying our ties on the way to the car.  Makes for a very fun Sunday morning, eh?  Oh well, I suppose somebody needs to take the early schedule.

 

This week, we did a lot of work, preparing for a Zone Blitz that we're going to be having out here in Goochland this Saturday, which means that we're hoping to have the entire zone out to help us find new investigators by sending them to former and potential investigators, as well as other finding methods such as tracting and "by the way"-ing.  We're really hopeful that this will yield some results because there is just too much ground for us to cover alone.

 

We also recently started back up a program that some other missionaries were doing before, which is a scripture study class which we hold every other week in the multi-purpose room at the library.  Unfortunately, only Brother Malsonado showed up for the first one, but we hope to have more start coming.  We've started printing out some flyers that we can hand out as we go around to see people, which should help.

 

Well, it would also seem that Dad isn't the only one with a habit of smashing appendages.  We were doing some more service for the Pinkstons, helping them some more with the house.  I was hanging some corner bead which is hung up with drywall nails and I managed to catch both my thumb and index finger on my left hand with the hammer.  Thankfully both were glancing blows because I wasn't hitting the nails too hard for fear of damaging the drywall but it still hurt quite a bit.

 

Well, I think that's really all the exciting parts of this week.  We have a zone preparation day planned for a little later today and we're going to get together and explore some of the sights in Downtown Richmond so hopefully that'll be fun.  I hope everyone's doing well and staying safe.

 

I love you all.

 

-Elder John Y. Roberts

075

31 December 2012

Dear Homefront,

Not a whole lot happened this week.  Christmas Eve and Day were both non-proselyting days, so we didn't really go anywhere.  The Loveland family invited us over for Christmas Dinner and that's where we spent most of the day, including getting special permission to join them for watching The Muppet's Christmas Carol which was way fun.  They are a great family, and we are so very grateful for them.

Other than that, most of the people we went to see either weren't home or were busy, so it was pretty slow.  Honestly, Christmas was really the only thing that happened worth talking about.

I'm doing alright, I'm still waking up tired but I'm trying to keep doing what I'm supposed to and be effective.

Unfortunately, I can't really think of anything else to write so I think I'll sign off now.  I'm sorry that this was such a short letter.  Hopefully it will pick up more here soon.

I love you all.

With love,

-Elder John Y. Roberts