Sorry I'm a little late on this post

Good morning!!

Wow. Graduation. It’s too fast. Everyone is growing up and I’m missing it all (physically being there to see it). Ha-ha oh well the work of the Lord must go on!

Speaking of the work continuing transfers are tomorrow, Tuesday. And I’ve been transferred. I have no idea where or with whom since 15 missionaries are leaving and all but maybe 1 or 2 are Spanish. Areas have been combined and zones re-aligned. My companion has been called trainer, district leader and is in charge of 2 areas (our area and 1 other area have been combined). We both are leaving our apartment (meaning we both have to pack bags today). FUN!

I hope the trip to the ranch works out. I’ll be sure to write and let everyone know where I’m going and who I’m with. I have a strong feeling I’ll be with someone younger than i.....

Ha-ha every time brain and Hannah get brought up i laugh. Yes it is sad they broke up yet at least he'll be more anxious to find more girls to date, i think..... 2 weddings missed..... Hopefully brain will be married before i go home too..... It seems to be a hot topic since general conference!

So super hilarious story about Xavier (he was going to be baptized but has to work out some things). He invited us a few weeks ago to a dance thing he taking place at his work. It’s a center for seniors and he helps pick them up in the morning and take them home in the afternoon. So we go to the dance and we find that the owner of the place is a member. He’s been a member all his life but lives in a different area. He took out for Cuban sandwiches..... We had no idea what was going on during this entire time..... Anyways for the last dance the dancers invited the seniors to dance along..... The best one was an older lady with a walker who was in the middle of the dance floor. Sadly i forgot my camera so i have no pictures or video.....

What pres whimpey said is true. I’m seeing it so much right now in my area. members are going crazy and our investigators are "falling off the face of the earth" and the whole may 21st judgment day thing caused lots of mayhem here.....

Next story - may 20, Friday night. The day before the world was supposed to end. People came up to us to ask if the world was really going to end and what we thought was going to happen. People who were driving yelled out of their windows "is Jesus coming tomorrow?" it was just crazy. The best part is while elder gamez and i were walking home the street lights went out. Everything went unusually dark. I said to me "oh a streetlight went out. cool." we continuing walking and we arrive in front of our house..... Half of the town of West New York has no power - a blackout. We go upstairs and into our home - power gone. We laughed and said "wow. judgment day tomorrow and people are so sure of it they're doing anything they want, dangerous or not." we had a 13 year old investigator call to ask if we were still going by the next day then she told us she was scared.... her family’s house lost power too. hahaha oh it was a wonderful day. Then on the 21st my companion "soapboxed" the Restoration in front of our house. It was crazy!!! A few people came up to us and were interested. I’ll send pictures the next i have time.

I love you all. I know the church is true. We have trials to refine us. Only through keeping the commandments can we receive more strength to continue resisting the adversary and keep the spirit with us always! I love you all. Thank you so much for everything. I hope you all have a great week! Thank you for everything. Stay safe. Stay healthy. Stay strong in the gospel, always. It is the only way for true happiness and true love to be present in our lives.

Love elder Craig Roberts

Good afternoon!!!!

Well i don't have a ton of time so I’ll get in what i can.....

I’m glad the wedding went well. I opened the invitation i received today (thank you for sending one Nanette) and it was pretty cool. I looked at the dates and realized that Heidi has been married 3 days already and Tate’s is right around the corner. And well, we'll see what happens with brain and Hannah. Every time i hear about it i laugh. It’s just so funny to me. Oh well.

It sounds like the craziness has either just begun or just ended yet in all I’m glad everyone is doing well and overcoming the sicknesses.

I really like the quote from Pres. Whimpey..... And the 33% - well I’m not the only one. There are so many others (i think) from the other wards who are serving too. I’m not well acquainted with many of them but i know many them are really good guys.

Tell the Enos' i say congrats and thanks. They will love serving as you already know they will. How is the ward doing? And did you receive my tithing?

Today we had fun getting soaked in rain from pulling weeds! We had "mission activities" where zones in the mission gathered at different locations and gave service. They cancelled after an hour or so of nonstop rain. I was soaked from head to toe and even played a little soccer on an artificial turf field. I believe that all football/soccer fields in NJ are artificial turf. It’s awesome playing on them.

We had an investigator have his baptismal interview yesterday. His date has been pushed back a week..... We’ll see what happens with that. He ready, just needs to fix one tiny itsy bitsy thing and he's good. I’ll let you know what’s going on with him next week.

Thank you for looking for the ensign.... I’d try the distribution office - it'd be cheaper, i think.... I’ve never compared prices.

I love you all. Thank you so much for everything you do for me. You’ve been wonderful examples for me in preparing to serve and i know i would not be serving without your examples and love and guidance. I thank you for everything. I keep you all in my prayers. I know the church is true. I know Christ lives and that His sacrifice, the Atonement truly works in every single way. There is nothing that cannot be overcome through the Atonement. God is your Heavenly Father. He loves you and for that exact reason we are at times allowed to suffer to learn the better, the good, the love, the whatever it is we learn from trials and sufferings. We learn to become stronger spiritually or mentally, we learn to love and sacrifice. We learn how to be like Christ. I know it is true.

I love you all and thank you for everything. Have a great week!

Love Elder Craig Roberts

Well Craig was able to call home and talk to everyone yesterday for Mothers' Day. He seems to be doing very well. Believe it or not he only has about 10 months left of his mission. He is currently in West NJ, and his area is right on the bank of the Hudson River. The area has a lot of Spanish speaking people so that has helped him with learning Spanish, (and a new mission rule that when they are outside of their apartment they have to speak in Spanish at all times).

Below is the email he sent home today, it is short since he already talked to us about everything yesterday, but he also included a few photos.

good morning! it was great talking to everyone again! i sent home some tithing today - i forgot to tell you last night that i was going to send it. any way here are some pictures!

so the first few well its obvious. we sometimes have mice and the mouse trap in the pic has been used for months and has caught many mice. this was the traps last catch before it's death - 3 mice at once then after cleaning it the trap broke.

the shoe shows how dominant i am with my right foot (and that those shoes were not for anything other than running) i'll buy some new ones soon.

the food is one of the recipes you sent me, the pizza pasta. we bought what was needed and made it! it was really good. thank you for that.

and last but not least in 2-3 days i and another elder finished a 38 ounce bag of peanut butter m&ms...... i didn't expect it to be finished that quickly...... haha

so enjoy! and thats life in west new york!

love elder craig roberts

Good morning!!!!

Thank you for the Easter basket!!!! I will enjoy the treats for sure!!! also I loved the puzzle.... it's exactly what I’ve been wanting so the kids in lessons will quiet down a bit (of course more than 1 kid and only 1 egg puzzle wont be enough, maybe...) church was great yesterday! We had 5 investigators there and 3of them are kids (young men’s more). It was awesome! Also you need to find a "Saskia Vaca" on facebook (she is learning English but speaks and writes Spanish) and add her as a friend. She is a recent convert here in our ward and she took some pictures of an activity this past Saturday in which my comp and I were dragged into.... more chosen to participate. saskia took some pictures and i know you'll all laugh and the kids will love them!

steffani now has work (unfortunately on Sundays) so her going to church will be harder now. yoselin has been investigating for almost 3 years and she's now going every Sunday. Freddy and Elvis are brothers from the Dominican Republic. Freddy is 17 and Elvis is 10. And also Kevin and marquis who are young kids who are 11 and 12. They all love the chapel and really enjoyed church are going to come again next week!

We had zone conferences last Friday and well, president and sister bahr are going home soon..... I'm going to miss them so much. And as their successor, a successful lawyer.... Jeppson is the last name. Sorry I can’t think of the first names right now. It’ll be fun!

I’m glad all is well with you at home. Sorry about your sunburn. Lots of aloe vera gel as you know. And sunscreen and lotions or whatever. You know it all. Heidi's wedding is coming up... crazy! Did they already send out invitations?? It’s good to hear Gustavo is taking the lessons. And thank you for the updates on friends and members.

As for calling home, it'll be best after your ward has ended, so maybe 5 or 6 your time. We’ll talk more about it next week.

I love you all!! Thank you so much for your love and support. Good luck with everything! I know the church is true. Christ lives!! He loves you and is there to guide you in all you do. Turn to Him in prayer and in all decisions to be made!

I love you all! Have a great week!!

Love Elder Craig Roberts

Craig and His companion, Elder Gamez


A view of NY from the area where Craig is currently serving


Wow..... Yes another week gone and only 10 months??? Huh, i didn't realize that. Thanks for the reminder.

So yes i received the package. Thank you so much for the goodies and oil and Easter basket - i have not opened it and do not plan to until Sunday! :) I love you all and thank you for the thoughtfulness. Also thank you for the pictures and Reflections cards. Those will for sure come in handy.

So Daniel parker is in his last transfer and Austin in close or in his last one right? Am i the next to return after Austin? How is Jordan Armstrong doing with his preparations??? Are there any other young men that are leaving before i go home?

Heidi....temple.....endowments..... Wow! When is she getting married again??

Ha-ha so with "my time taking habits" you know how i am. I like to take my time with things; at least i think i was that way at home.... to be obedient sometimes i have to be rushed. One example that i might have shared with you already is we try to be home by or before 9 every night..... if we are cutting it close by any measure my companion and i walk out of our last appointment and i watch him take off running towards home and i grudging start to follow.... running at night is fun, running at night as a missionary is not so fun - i love it though and it doesn’t bother me anymore. And yes we are getting along well. We had a great week last week.

so with Stefani, she won't be baptized next Sunday nor are we going to have a baptism yet we are so close with at least 2 people.... we had an investigator at church yesterday who has been taught for the past 2-3 years. It was her first time going. She is married to an inactive member and they have a daughter of 2 years i think, possibly 3. I should be able to guess considering all the kids in the family now. Anyways, yoselin, our investigator loved church!!! And wants to be baptized!! She wants to go to the temple and do baptisms for her family!!! Crazy miracles happening here and I’m not sure why.... we aren't very good teachers, at least I’m not.

So I’m short on time and want to send some pictures home. I love you all and thank you for everything you've done for me!! I appreciate your love and support! Have a great week!

Love elder Craig Roberts

Good morning everyone!!

Well i failed to mention last week that tomorrow is transfers..... My companion and i are both staying! Ha so it'll be another fun 6 weeks of hard work and my time-taking habits being broken even more. There are nights that we will literally run home to be inside before 9pm and as much as i don’t like running home, it is a blessing and i am glad I’m serving with elder gamez. I’ll send a picture if not today, next week for sure! I promise!

This past week went well. We changed a baptismal date to April 24 with Xavier and we are trying to set Stefani with a baptismal date but she has some deeper doubts/concerns that she is not letting out.... it's driving us nuts because we know she is ready but she won’t accept a date! aayay! haha i love it. I don’t remember if i told the story about the lesson we had with some Jehovah’s witnesses a week or 2 ago..... The spirit was super strong. we talked about Adam and eve and the tree of knowledge of good and evil...... the spirit prompted me, more just threw in, the question "why is the tree of knowledge of good and evil called the tree of knowledge of good and evil?" i honestly was thinking for myself at that point and i didn't know what i said until i said it. They had never thought of the question and weren't able to give an answer really. That strengthened my testimony of the Book of Mormon and the church itself. I know it's true. It’s simply, no doubt, we are in the true church. a recent convert was with some family in a different church and sent us a text saying "tengo miedo. yo quiero salir corriendo. ellos me estan confundiendo." ("Im scared, I want to leave right now, they are confusing me")etc. again; we are in the true church.

I am glad all is going well at home. Sounds like a crazy 2 months are ahead and well let me know what happens with Tate. That’ll be fun.

Thank you for getting the packages sent off. I’ll get them tomorrow from my zone leaders. Thank you for getting those to me.

Time is short and I’m learning that obedience really is not only to key to happiness but success too. Always read, pray, ponder, the scriptures. Always go to church and stay worthy to take the sacrament. The most basic things and yet salvation cometh from those.

I’m glad Emily might be staying home yet sad b/c she won't be where she wants to be. That’s life and she'll enjoy wherever she ends up.

I love you all. Thank you for everything. I appreciate your love and support and everything that you've done and continue to do for me. Love everyone. Always smile. Always stay happy! Have a great week!

Love Craig

good morning!!!!

so this has to be short..... conference was great wasn't it!!? i loved it and thought of Brian and all the other unmarried guys out there..... GET MARRIED!! haha have fun dating more seriously.

I'm glad all went well the past week. my question is, Julie how were you picked for the speech thing you participated in??

as far as the packages go.... in all honesty, i thought this past weekend was Easter as well as general conference and i figured there might be some Easter surprises however i was mistaken.... also i keep asking so i can keep a lookout for when they arrive. I'm not in a rush and i don't want you to be rushed. i need some more oil..... that's probably the most important thing. whatever else there is I'll love and enjoy it thoroughly (as well as my companions)!! thank you for everything.

quickly, we have now 3 baptismal dates with people that are progressing very well. so pray for them.

time to go but i love you all. have a great week! thank you for everything.

love Craig