First email from NJ

Hola!

so im in new jersey! ive been assinged to a city called red bank. my comps name is elder hannah from utah. i arrived in the philly airport yesterday around 4 and spent the night at the mission home/office, whatever it is. we had dinner in the misson home and it was all green food, or at least most of it was - theres a story to it but i'll let you guess what it is until next week. we filled out some papers for president and sister winegar and went over some things. this morning we had breakfast in the mission home and took some pictures - you might be getting some of those but not from me. i will try and send some pictures next week.

After breakfast we went to the stake center. there were 6 missionaries leaving and my group of 6 new missionaries coming in. it was fun to do all of that. after that my companion and i were taken to lunch at cracker barrel by a member (english) and that was good. it is really green here and tons, tons, tons of trees. lots of grass too. i only have $130 a month to use so i'll be spending very frugally. we went shopping already and spent $15. i guess we are fed pretty well by the spanish members and it almost always includes beans, rice, tortillas and something else, i'm not sure.... we played basketball with 2 other companionships which was fun.

Tonight we're teaching a PMG class with some members in spanish (obviously) so that will be fun. its very different from what arizona is in terms of stores and sidewalks etc. there is the river here but i don't know what the name of it is. its been really windy throughout the day and hasn't really slowed or stopped yet. it's also been cloudy. right now were walking around but normally we'll use bikes which means i'll need to get a bike but with the changes in july, i might end up in northern jersey (the morristown i believe) and i don't think bikes are used there.... i'll figure that out for sure. this is the last full transfer for the mission and the next one will be 3 weeks. we'll see how that goes. i guess there is a lot of poison ivy and oak and stinging nettle around here as well as ticks but more or less in the wooded forest areas which there are a lot. im in an apartment which is pretty small - i open the door and immediately walk up stairs. its a good size living room but small bathroom and kitchen and 1 bedroom big enough for 2 beds and 2 dressers. there are 2 closets, 1 in the bedroom and 1 in the living room. laundry i guess is right outside the apartment so it won't be hard for to do laundry. what else do you want to know.... my suit case that i sent in the mail came today so i'll get that tomorrow. i do need to buy blankets but i dont know where and when and how many i want yet. it will just be better to send mail to the mission home or office (whichever address you gave me 505 south lenola rd etc). i'll get it the day after it gets to the mission home. i already have a card grandma roberts sent me. as far as pday goes, i'm not sure what time i will email so i would say email tuesday just in case.

Im not sure what else you want to know so let me know in the next email and i'll do my best to answer. i need to go. thank you for the love and support and everything else. i'll call again on mothers day but since there will be 3 elders calling, plan time wisely and let me know when is best for me to call - i'm 3 hours ahead of you - its 6:50pm right now. i love you all.

love elder roberts

Last email from the MTC

4/23/10

Hola!

so everything is going great. i leave on tuesday from salt lake and will fly to the philly airport - time is going to be really hard to get used to. i think i am able to call home on tuesday before i go through security - if i am im assuming it will be before 930 at the lastest in the morning. im not positive. so we got snow again on thursday and today it is raining, alot. it's nice and i'm trying to get pictures. so there are 6 people in my travel group, im the only spanish - i just met 2 sisters and they said when they got their packets from the mission pres it had my name, not theirs. hehe kinda funny. so i feel like the spanish is coming, obvilously no where close to being fluent but it is coming. elder bown and i taught we belive the best lesson 2 days ago in spanish since weve been here. it was crazy.

yes the time flew by but i'm ready for a change. i'll be sure to let you know what i need when i get to nj. i sent a suitcase to nj. 20 bucks for it but its better than taking the risk of paying 80 bucks extra. im glad gemma has started walking again - i think she's had too much fun taking advantage of everyone carrying her everywhere. i sent a package home - before you open it, it's a backpack one of the kids could use (more mason when he starts school next year - it can be a birthday gift for him from me) but that is completely up to you. sounds like conference was good. if you go to the temple dedication, let me know how it was - im sad im going to miss it.

im glad emilys concert was good and that everyone enjoyed the trip and the meteor crater. sorry i cant stay another week julie but i dont control that. everything is great and im super excited to get out and work in the real world. i've been in a bubble the last 2 months - i can't even think of sentences to use that are not gospel related (thats for spanish practice). its been a great experience and ive enjoyed it thoroughly. the church is true. there are reasons for everything and it's through prayer and scripture study and attending church that we all can know why different things occur. my favorite scripture is proverbs 3:5-6 and i'm really starting to like ether 12:6. they can help us in many things. i love you all and thank you for everything. the next time i wrtie i'll be in new jersey. you can send pictures through email to me and i should get them just fine. i'll try to send pictures too. i love you all and thank you for everything.

elder roberts

Email recieved 4/16/10

Hola

yes the package got here safe. thank you so much for that. the backpack i had was not large enough to hold everything i want it to. my backpack is and it will last my whole mission. i love the letters and pictures. that is really exciting that emily made 2nd in all-state. good luck emily and congratulations.enjoy your trip to flagstaff - i'm sure its like the weather here, snowed on monday or tuesday in the middle of april - unfortunately i couldn't get any pictures of it but there are plenty of mountains around that i am taking pictures of, most of them are filled with snow.

today is cloudy or overcast, whatever it's called. my companions that i am rooming with all got their travel plans ayer so i'm hoping that i wil get mio (mine) today. rates for checked luggage went up - when i flew in, if you remember, it was $71 for bags over 51 pounds, pienso (I think). ahora (now) it is $80. pues tengo una semana hasta salgo el ccm (I have one more week untill I leave the MTC). i'm going to be doing alot of teaching next week antes de salgo (before I leave). it will be fun and i will be even more exhausted than i am now. gym time has now been moved to outside and we have no option of going inside unless we just want to run or use the wieght machines they have. they are redoing the bleachers in the gym so for the first time i've seen sun and guess what! i got suburnt. haha i haven't seen sun forever.

rob i got a letter from your 1st cousin mark - he gave me some articles that are pretty good. i've enjoyed them. so because this i'm pretty much on my last week (i think i leave on monday the 26) if letters or anything else is sent to me at the mtc, try to get it sent before wednesday just to be safe. the temple today was great. thank you for the mission address. i'm sure i'll be sending my heavy things to my mission for super cheap and avoid paying $80 for a bag over 50 pounds. i love you all and thank you all for your support. it's a great experience and it will be a blessing for everyone.

Email sent Friday April 9, 2010

hola

todas cosas estan bien aqui. estoy positivo que escribire cartas a traves email cuando estoy en Nueva Jersey.

Anyways yes the time here is going by really fast. it does feel like a long time but at the same time it doesn't. this morning i was eating breakfast and it felt like sunday to me. we just finished an endowment session in the provo temple. the language is coming along great - we have a district goal to speak only spanish or as much as possible while we are here. thank you for the scriptures again. they help are very nice to have since we can't listen to music while in the mtc. the president of the mtc is doing an 8 week trial period of no music in the residence halls and it happens to be while i'm here - my branch pres. said we could listen to the scriptures though b/c it will help with the lang.

My comps name is elder casey bown. he is from a very small town of i think 200 people and was raised on a dairy farm (he says himself he is a hick). he has an accent but i cant tell anymore. we get along great and our teaching has been growing stronger too. thanks for gettign the blog - grandma roberts sent me a card asking about it. i'll write her later today. thats good to hear gemma is or was walking. i'm sorry its not gettting better though. i'm sorry mom didn't do the easter dinner. that didn't even cross my mind. conference wsa great - i loved it, but my bum didn't (haha). one of the sisters in my district looked at me as elder anderson gave his talk - i didn't recognize them for sure. you could try to send pictures - i don't know untill you try it. it could change though once im in new jersey. and yes i have seen randall around. i actually ran into him his 2nd day here and we have almost the same schedule for gym and meals.

Yo se que la iglesia de Jesucristo es verdad. yo se que el libro de mormon es las palabras de Dios a traves sus profetas antiguos. yo se que jose smith fue un profeta llamado de dios y trandujo el libro de mormon. yo se que el sacerdocio es la autoridad y el poder actuar en el nombere de Dios. the church is true and i will not and cannot deny it no matter what occurs in my life. the best joy is seeing the people who don't have it come to know it is true too.

i love you all and thank you for everything you have done for me. without you i wouldn't be here serving the Lord. (Rob you might have to translate and sorry if what i said doesn't make sense).

Elder Roberts

April 2, 2010, Email

Hey all

so i don't know if you got my email last week but seeing as how i don't have one today from

you, i just remembered that i sent the email to rob and he is probably working. anyways it

snowed yesterday and i think one other time this week. the days just blur together so i dont

remember much ever. i think i've started my 6th week here but who knows. i'm supposed to

leave before the end of april. Happy Easter on Sunday! i hope you enjoy it. general conference

is tomorrow. enjoy that. it's going to be a neat experience for me. rob we've made a district

goal to speak only spanish or as much as we can before saying anything in english and we

are only teaching in spanish now, lesson 1 and lesson 2. thank you for getting the scriptures

on my ipod and for the worthers. i appreciate it. the worthers will keep me awake during the

day. i have a blue card that i get $6 every wednesday night and that can build up so don't

worry about buying me pretzels or whatever else i said i'd like. there are vending machines

that have pretzels in them and i can use my blue card to buy those. anyways times about up.

i love you all and thank you for your love and support for me.

love craig