Muscles, Mayhem, and Manhattan

Hello Family!!

We've been driving a lot this week. I had my New Missionary Meeting Friday and we were introduced and talked a lot about how we need to trust in God and put our fears away. It was exactly what I needed to hear. Sometimes I think I'm not good enough to be a missionary and I won't ever become the missionary I want to become and get really hard on myself. But I am working on putting my fears on the altar of sacrifice and trusting in God and using the talents he has given me and ask for more gifts that I can use in my life.

It was really awesome to go to that meeting because I also got to see all my MTC buddies 😊😊😊 IT was so nice. I also got my driving privileges! We might switch drivers because Sister Zelaya hates driving. It will be interesting :)

So the highlight is that I visited Harlem and Manhattan today!!! It was SO AMAZING! It felt like I was in a movie and this was all unreal! We took the train from Scarsdale to Harlem. Wow. Harlem is the coolest place ever! There is so much diversity and cops on every corner near the train station 😂 it was funny there are a group of about 4 just laughin and chilin. Then we walked up to the metro and took that to the East side of Manhattan. We were on 86th and Park Way most of the time. Then we walked over to central park!!!! I didn't get to see a lot of it because well......it's HUGE. But I did see the lake and get a taste of it. It is beautiful!

When I imagined New York I thought of grey and cement and cold. But coming to the cities and wow. It is so much different than Middletown but it is still so beautiful and incredible. I was saying hello to everyone and smiling like a mad man. Sister Zelaya said "you're so happy huh?" Haha you could just tell 😊 I really like the cities. It will be interesting when I get to come. I'm hoping not for another couple months but hey, I'll do what the Lord wants me to do. We are thinking Sister Zelaya and I will be together till she leaves in October. Maybe... I might leave her in August. Who knows, we will get to that later. Some really awesome miracles happened this week. I can't remember if I told you about Fuhmeesha. We met her a couple weeks ago at Walmart on our pday. Well this last week we had to go get Sister Zelaya medicine at Walmart. While we were there we decided to walk down the registers hoping to see her. Because she hasn't been answering our calls and didn't come to the church when she said she was. Well we saw her! So we decided to buy her some candy and walk over to her. When she saw us her face lit up! She said she was doing amazing and was planning on coming to the church on Tuesday. Haha we were thinking "well it's a good thing we saw you today! We don't live at the church ya know!" We are thinking she thinks we are like nuns and live at the church. So we waited on Tuesday for her and left messages and texted her but nothing.... Oh well. We will keep trying :)

Another miracle was we had 2 hours of finding last night because all of our plans had fallen through. So we went to this area we have driven by many times and called it a golden finding area. Yesterday we had a goal to teach 3 other lessons. Meaning lessons that aren't with a member present or less active member but just teaching someone. It was 7 0'clock and we had only taught 1. (We had been doing service all day and studying) so before we went out to this area we said a prayer and in that prayer Sister Zelaya said " Heavenly Father we have this goal to teach 3 people today. We need 2 more. Please help us find those 2 that need our message" So we went out. Well we knocked on 2 doors with no luck. One lady closed the door faster than I could say hello, ohh man. Sometimes it's hard. But we kept going. There was this guy outside and we started talking to him. We talked to him for a good 45 minutes and we thought he was a good new investigator. But once we asked if he wanted us to come back he said he would rather learn on his own. Then he invited us to go out with a bunch of his buddies to the ice caves... haha we told him we can't do that as missionaries. He didn't like that so much but said he would read the Book of Mormon. So who knows how he will turn out. It was so funny. But anyway long story short. Right after him we were walking and saw this lady in bright blue scrubs. So I said I loved the color and we got talking. We talked about eternal families and how we can be together after this life. We shared the Hallelujah video with her and after she said " I was having a bad day and was just going to stay inside once I got home from work. But God told me to go walk outside. I was supposed to meet you ladies because God knew this message was what I needed tonight." So we gave her our card and said we would love to come by to share another message. She said "I would love that and maybe I'll get a group of people over." What!?! It was so crazy!! Just another testimony to me that God is so aware of each of us and He is preparing people for us to meet and share the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with.

As we were walking back to our car there was a group of 3 old men and a teenage kid sitting on their back porch. (We were in a complex) so we said hello and they were laughing and having a good time. Then they offered us a beer and we declined but said we had a video they could watch about Jesus. One of them said " nah. I've taken 16 years of Christian school, I'm all burnt out." Then his buddies laughed so hard. So we said that's fine and we're walking away. Then they offered us a beer for real this time. Oh my goodness. It was so funny. Gotta love those summer nights. It has been a really good week. I was sitting at the church outside this week and looked around and felt the breeze. I realized I love this life I am living. I love thinking about Jesus Christ and God's love all day every day. I love the gospel so much and the Book of Mormon. It is my favorite book. I love the Prophet and His Apostles. They are so much of a strength. I am getting to know the members more and feeling more and more comfortable. It is a good life I live. It is hard, and some days I don't want to wake up at 6:30 and just want to hit snooze. But it is so much more rewarding when I do. Obedience is hard, but it is worth it. I love coming home and plopping on my bed feeling like we worked hard and accomplished something. I love when I get in my covers and fall right asleep. This life is good. I love you all so much. I pray for you each night and every day. God assures me that you are all doing well. He is watching over you and I am forever grateful. Being away from y'all is very hard but it has made my love for you grow even stronger. I didn't even know it was possible. I hope everyone has an incredible week! Remember to talk to your Father above and to think about Our Savior each day. Look for his help in your life. He is there. ♡ Sister Robison