Week 43 Happy Birthday!🎉

Caleb’s birthday happened to land on a Monday so it was p-day. It was awesome to be able to talk to him for his birthday for so long! 🎉 

Caleb and his companion showed us their pagne on the call. I love how much joy pagne brings them❤️. 

Elder Stevens had bags made for his sisters since he goes home soon. What a good brother! 

He opened the wrapped presents we sent him in the package on our call. We got him lots of treats, a couple of card games, sandals, he wanted some more carabiners for his keys, a birthday dinner of potatoes, stuffing, chicken, gravy, and some noodles. 

“Happy birthday!”🎵

He made pancakes and syrup I had sent him from the first package he still had for his birthday breakfast. ❤️

So Cambri’s soccer coach is an absolute stud and knows Steven Sharp Nelson from the Piano Guys. He set it up for us to go to his house and meet him, it was amazing and him and his wife are some of the nicest people I have ever met. Cambri even got to play the piano while he played the cello it was awesome! But while we were there we had him record a message for Caleb for his birthday and he totally did. So Bryan sent it to him Sunday night so when he woke up on his birthday he had this video to watch🥰! 

We showed Caleb the video of Cambri playing with Steven. 

You could tell he was a little bummed he missed this. 

He signed pictures with personal messages for all my kiddos but this is Caleb’s❤️.

Elder Stevens dressing up for a fun picture! 

Caleb had a bag made with some of his pagne.  

Cambri packed these as gifts for Caleb when he left. So these were to open on his birthday since we didn’t expect to be able to send him a birthday package❤️! They had to be super small to not take up much room in his bag. 

This is what he chose to eat for dinner on his birthday! He said they cook the fish all day and it is actually really good. I was shocked to say the least! 

I have watched this video several times because I love seeing the fun he is having with Elder Stevens. It was such a blessing to have him as his companion for his birthday. He had a great 1st birthday in Africa! So the sisters were giving them a hard time saying they wanted cake for his birthday so they made this video to send to them, just teasing them! 😂

So we decided to make a video to send back to them! We ate cake for his birthday too!  

He got this scarf for free from the pagne lady. 

More pagne! This is super thick nice pagne. 

They went for a run in the morning. 

Caleb shared his birthday meal I sent him with the other missionaries the next day. 

They loved it! 

Yummy drink! 

Ice cream! 

Oooold TV. 

We sent our morning bev video😆to them! This was on his birthday so we are all wearing our shirts too.  

Elder Stevens showing how easy it is to break into their apartment. 😳

Doing exchanges with Elder Makombe. 

Traveling.

Picture edited. 

Some of their ward members. 

Lizard! 

His email for the week:

Exchanges et le Livre de Mormon

Salut

This week was a crazy but fun week. Last week was my birthday. We played some soccer, got some amazing pagne, went to a bag place and picked up a bag, called my family, went to sector, and had a really good dinner. It was a different type of birthday, but it was a good day.

Tuesday morning we went running. We had district council. After one set of sisters in our zone were begging me and Elder Stevens to change their gas for them. Here the gas is like a propane tank back at home. So when it runs out we take it somewhere and switch it out. It's not easy, but it's not hard either. We told them somewhere they could go to find it right next to their apartment, and then let them be adults.

That night some elders came to stay over at our apartment for exchanges. We had an awesome American dinner that my mom had sent me. It was potatoes, gravy, chicken, stuffing, and some noodles. It was really good. Wednesday we had our exchanges. I was with Elder Mativenga. I have done one with him before. He is from Zimbabwe, and is still in training. We had a good time together.

Thursday we had a lot of lessons about the Book of Mormon. I loved how there is such a power that comes from that book, and I love seeing a light that comes into people when they read it on their own. Friday there was a ton of rain. It is raining almost everyday, because today was even more. 

Friday night the assistants pulled up to our apartment to do exchanges. I did mine with Elder Makombe, and then Elder Stevens went to Abobodoumé with Elder Thompson and Elder Bowels. Me and Elder Stevens are really good with keeping the missionary schedule, but with Elder Makombe we were like 110% accurate. It was fun. 

We didn't have a lot of confirmed appointments, but we just went out with faith. We ended up having 9 lessons, 3 missed lessons, and a spiritual thought with a member. That was the most lessons I have ever had on the mission in one day. It didn't feel like a ton though because they were shorter lessons.

Sunday was a crazy day. We had 6 new friends show up to church. We hunted 2 down and brought them with us, 1 was a lady that no one expected would show up, and the rest was a family. The family was like yeah we are not going anywhere else, we're staying here. It was awesome. During the second hour we ran over to the stake center and I did a baptismal interview. It is always a cool experience doing interviews.

This week should be another chill week. Today we are going to go play some soccer and hunt for some more pagne. 

Spiritual Thought:

When we teach our friends and new members about the Book of Mormon, we share this quote from President Nelson. It is his conference talk in October 2017:

“When I think of the Book of Mormon, I think of the word power. The truths of the Book of Mormon have the power to heal, comfort, restore, succor, strengthen, console, and cheer our souls. 

“My dear brothers and sisters, I promise that as you prayerfully study the Book of Mormon every day, you will make better decisions—every day. I promise that as you ponder what you study, the windows of heaven will open, and you will receive answers to your own questions and direction for your own life. 

“Whenever I hear anyone, including myself, say, “I know the Book of Mormon is true,” I want to exclaim, “That’s nice, but it is not enough!” We need to feel, deep in “the inmost part” of our hearts, that the Book of Mormon is unequivocally the word of God. We must feel it so deeply that we would never want to live even one day without it.”

I love the Book of Mormon. I invited you guys to cherish it more. Think about what your life would be without. it. For me I feel like a part of me would be missing. The Book of Mormon is true, and if you guys do not read it for a healthy amount each day, you are missing out on one of the greatest gifts from Heavenly Father. 

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

Elder Robinson