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

Well Happy Easter! (and no creo que soy guapo..... no debes decir esto....)

Well i just barely received the email.... I’m glad you had a lot of fun over the weekend!

No, the weather is not warming up. In fact we had rain, hail, sleet, and snow - in 2 days.

We had success this week - we'll just say we should have at least 3 baptisms (if not 4) by the end of May and I’ll probably be around for all of them (at least i should be). It what the Lord wants though.

I only have about 2 minutes so with the unexpected "fun" weather which i loved (the hail literally coated the black streets white) and all the fun on Sunday it was a fantastic week. We had a member out with us all day yesterday. We had 5 lessons from 245 to 830 and i don't know how we did it. I honestly felt like we didn't do anything all day. It was amazing!

I am just so amazed at your choice of what you did for the final "oo'rah" with Linda. I’m kind of jealous yet i find it super fun. I’m glad you were able to do that.

So my companion will go home on June 28, a week earlier. we'll see in 2 weeks what changes are made b/c honestly, 7 sisters coming in will mess up a lot of the areas and most of the Spanish is leaving and not many are coming in..... it'll be an interesting couple of months. Look in the beehive (I’m pretty sure the new mission presidents and their profiles will be in there somewhere).

Were you able to send the packages??

Well time to go. I love you all. I know Father in Heaven loves you all too. I know he continues to bless us as we strive to keep the commandments and do what He asks. Watch and enjoy General Conference!!!! Listen for the promptings from the Spirit! That is the only we learn. I love you all. Thank you for everything! Have a great week!

Love Craig

Well happy belated birthday to Julie and Stacie!!!! I am sooo sorry i didn’t say anything last week. I had it written down to put in the letter and the computers were not very good..... It drove me nuts b/c i wanted fix them and i couldn’t.

And happy birthday to Emily today!! My little sister is 18..... A legal adult..... That’s weird to think about - kind of scary actually.... thank you for making her a special breakfast before she took off for school..... I know it was early.

Well the past week went super good even though it wasn’t too eventful. Sometimes it’s nice that way. I don’t have too much time so the letter will be a little shorter. Pres and Sis Bahr are going home soon.... they are changing things up in the mission in terms of areas etc. we have 7 new sister missionaries coming in april and my area might be combined and a 2 elders taken out..... Also we were in a lesson last night and we got a text from a senior couple (also from AZ) saying my comp is going home earlier than planned..... he'll be the last group to go home with Pres. and Sis Bahr.....

So as the area goes, i feel its safe but i like to be more safe than sorry, i think you know that..... It’s probably high low class to lower middle class if that makes sense. We have a ward and it's the only ward that meets in the building. It’s pretty small (the court in the cultural hall is half court and a little more) and the chapel is super small. We always open the back curtain though and it goes into the gym where four rows of chairs are set up. We probably have about 100-150 every week. I don’t count so well not sure and it is the only ward i go to. Also it is raining today and we even had some snow for 10 minutes.... pretty cool huh? March snow storm!

With the packages take your time. I’m not in a rush and i don’t want you to be in one either. Thank you for getting stuff for me.

One new investigator, estephanie, is from the Dominican Republic. - i stopped her last week, set an appointment for last Saturday and walked with her to church on Sunday (yesterday)..... We had 4 investigatores at church and we also set a date with estephanie... he sister is a member and it’s awesome!

Sorry i don’t have time to share anything else. I only have an hour and the time is about up.

I love you all and thank you for everything!!!! Gemma i love you too! Have a great week!

Love Craig

Well happy spring break!

Greetings from chilly and windy West New York! Yes Emily wrote me so I’ve been informed of most everything. No worries there.

I’m glad the kids were able to make it up the mountain..... I don’t remember if I’ve hiked it or not. I’m sure it was fun though! The kids are growing so much! They’re all going to be tall when i get home..... And tanner could use a haircut....

Did Linda go to church??? If so, do you know if she liked it or not?

I’ll be taking some more pictures here in a few days as we run in the morning and of the "city" - - i think you'll all enjoy them!

With the language.... well all the stores here are Spanish and most of the employees are too so I’m forced to speak Spanish almost 100% percent of the time. It’s super cool and I’m glad I’m here to learn even more! My comp's father is a native from El Salvador and his mom speaks perfect Spanish too but she is American. As he was growing up though, his parents never really spoke in Spanish around him.

so shorter today was better b/c i don’t have much time now... small things I’ve seen since I’ve been here in west NY is that the appointments that fall through place us where the elect are and we knock around the house and we've seen some success from it. One in particular is a girl named Jessica.... we went to visit an older lady who told us to come back for the 1st visit. We did and Jessica answered the door. We talked to her and got her interested using questions. She told us to come back later that day and we could talk. We went back and had a guy with us y todo. tocamos la puerta y nadie nos contesto.... salimos y nuestro hermano se fue. literalmente 1/2 minutos depues jessica nos llamo and salio de su casa..... She didnt have time that night so we went back a different day. We taught her and she kept her commitments. My comp called her Sunday morning to remind her about church. She was at work but told him she was going to ask for work off on Sunday so she can go this Sunday!!

Long story short, i know we've found a daughter of God who is prepared and who is searching for happiness and truth. Also we are going to be working with a ton of less actives in the area.... it'll be a blast!!

I love you. Thank you for everything. By the way, were you able to send the packages?? My address is 501 56th street west new york, NJ 07093. Again the door to the building is always locked so i don’t know that packages will be left outside.... I’m not sure how that works around here.

The members are great! Our ward mission leader is awesome!! He knows how to do things.

I love you all! The church is true. The book is blue. Read it daily; pray often asking specifically if it’s true. Always go to church. It truly brings true happiness! Thank you for the love and support! Have a great week!

Love Craig

New area

Well good morning from West New York!!

I was transferred to West New York (Gerber what stories do you have for me? haha) and my companion happens to be from Arizona! He lives in phoenix but we never met until now. He has 3 transfers left including this transfer. Elder Gamez se llama. My area covers 10 streets, 49-60. He’s shorter than I am and well, I guess a lot like me in some ways. Very kind and loving person and wants to make sure everyone is doing well, not worrying about him self (is that like me??).

So the weather is warming up. I don’t know if we will have any more snow or not; yesterday and all night it was raining. I thought it was going to stop. After I was soaked all the way through, we went home and I changed my white shirt and put on the jacket you bought me at the beginning of my mission, 1 year ago..........

I'm glad all went well with picking up Emily’s friend. How was the first day? I’m excited to hear all the time goes throughout the week! Everyone is healthy too?!

That is a great topic Patriarch McIntyre spoke on, more bore testimony.... it's something I can think back to and definitely see the influences that were subtle and I see them now, still as a missionary and in all the people around me. I say hi to everyone, not trying to stop them as I should, and no one responds. I’m going to start stopping everyone all the time and look for a difference in the reactions of the people. The streets I’m covering too are filled with thousands of people too. I’ve been told, and Gerber will testify (and the internet) that this area is the most populated city in the United States..... I can believe it, especially with the housing.

Speaking of which I’m not going to give my address to you, rather ask that you send the packages to the office. I live on the 2nd floor of a building and the door to enter the building is locked 24/7. I am walking the entire time so I’m not in and out of the house as much. I’d rather have the packages sent to a safe, for sure destination where nothing will happen to them. Thank you!!

Anyway I’m glad conference went well. Everyone needs to be nice and just smile everyday! We have new pass along cards that are pictures of members smiling. Have you seen them? I like them better than the old and well, I looked at the cards and thought, I’d smile and laugh if I saw this and I think I’d check out the website in my free time. Anyway just smile!

I’m glad the birth and blessing and reception went well! As well as the cleaning. I still haven’t received any pictures of Flynn..... Rob that comment isn’t aimed towards you in any way.
I’m glad you got the poster. it's the 2nd one I’ve sent home so you can look at the 2 and compare them and the better of the 2 I’d ask to keep rolled up or the best way to store them and the other, well you can use it for whatever you want.

So in the area there is one street called "bergenline" and it is literally stores upon stores up and down the street. Its crazy packed with people. Also we are on the Hudson front...... super windy and as it still chilly, cold, because of the wind chill. At least I’m catching the tail end of it and not the beginning or middle.

So first week in the area and well, there's a lot of potential and lot's of work to be done and many situations to work with. I’m going to have a blast and enjoy working and teaching the people here! It’s 99.9% Spanish so I’ve no excuse for not loving the area! We have one 11 girl who wants to be baptized but the family/living situation is difficult and well, the parents need some work too. It’s going to be a family effort, at least from what I saw the first time meeting them.

Times up. I love you all. I keep you all in my prayers always!! Have a great week! SMILE!!! I know the church is true. I know we are loved by our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ. We have enough resources to get us through our trials and tribulations every single time they come. Use them to your advantage. That is why they are there and also for learning. Read every single day in the Book of Mormon, even if it is 5 minutes. The spirit will be felt stronger in your every day activities!

I love you all! Thank you for everything! I wish you all a great and healthy week!

Love Craig