Week 41 Temple open house

Monday!

1st Abidjan temple trip Monday with friends Sœur Larissa and her friend. Caleb also used his personal funds to help Papa and Mama Boga to go to the temple❤️. 

A bird hanging out on Moroni.

Caleb and his companion Elder Yeboah.

Temple trip #2 Tuesday with the MLC Missionary Leadership Council and Pres. and Sis. Litchfield. 

Temple trip #3 Wednesday with a young woman and her friend. 

Caleb has such a great eye for a beautiful picture. 

Baptism Saturday for Sœur Larissa!

He said it rains everyday for an hour or two.

Yay for ice cream! 

😍So cute! 

Mama Boga’s grandkids are silly! 

So we did it too, and sent it to Caleb because we are silly too! 

His email for the week:

Comment est-ce que ça vous va?

This week was an amazing week. Last week I mentioned we went to the temple. It was amazing. We had to take our friends so we took a taxi instead of going with the stake. Even with being in Africa, it was everything you would expect. They had the big tents, tv's with videos, the sister missionaries guiding, and of course the white booties we put on before entering the temple. 

But of course that is nothing compared to the temple. It is a smaller size temple, but like Elder Bednar has said, the covenants and Spirit are still the same. They have a basement with the baptismal font, and then everything else on the main level. My favorite part was easily the sealing room where there was the strongest silences that I've felt for a long time. I say strong because the Spirit was so powerful in that room. Even without it being dedicated, it was amazing. I realized how much I missed the temple.

Once we finished we got some pictures and then headed back to our friends place. Because we were at the temple during the day, we got permission for our p-day to be extended. It was nice having some time to hang out at the apartment. That night we had some elders stay over at our apartment because we had MLC the next day.

Tuesday we had district council. It was the last one of this transfer. Then me and Elder Beck went with the other two elders to the office. When we got there they gave us food. Then they took us to the temple as an MLC. It was so cool going there with President Litchfield. We were one group and so the guide was joking if he needed to explain anything to us, but he did as if it was a practice round haha. After we went back to the office and had a good MLC. 

Wednesday we went to the temple again. We could only go with friends, but luckily we got one that was available. It was a lot of fun as usual. It took a while to get taxis, and because when we were there some Yopougon authorities showed up and got a VIP tour. That evening we went out to sector for a bit, but it was only to do a baptismal interview.

Thursday we finally got out to our sector. We went to a guy's place in the morning. We asked a guy, who was sitting outside the guy we were going to teach, to ask if he was there. He said he left, but I didn't believe him so I started interrogating him. After a second he went inside and told him we were here. It was annoying but funny. That afternoon I did a baptismal interview which is always a cool experience. 

Friday we did weekly planning and then went to the stake center and did interviews with President. C’était chaud. President did interviews as a companionship. It was a fun twist on it. I always enjoy talking to him. We were the last one to go and so we went directly to sector for a couple hours.

Saturday we had a baptism. It was a little difficult as always getting the ward to show up, but it worked out. That night we got transfer news. Half of our zone got transferred, including my companion. I will stay here and either get a younger companion, or they will send the other zone leader with me. We will see Tuesday though.

Sunday we had stake conference. President and Sister Litchfield came. He forgot a Book of Mormon so he texted me to bring one for him. It was funny. There were a lot of people and it went well. Sunday night some other elders pulled up to our apartment to sleep over until transfers.

This week will be transfers, so we'll see what happens.

Spiritual Thought:

This week I went to the temple three times, and each time it was an amazing experience, especially in the celestial room. I want to share two scriptures that will summarize, a bit, my experience. 

D&C 6:23: “Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?”

Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God”

There is a peace in the temple that we can't find anywhere else. I like how with the first scripture it says that the greatest witness from God is having peace. We are able to find peace anywhere, but especially when we take the time to be still, and especially in the Lord's house. I encourage you guys to spend more time at the temple, especially when it is so easy to go there.

Thanks for your prayers and I hope you guys have a great week!

Elder Robinson