Robby's Mission: 2010

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

A letter and pictures from the Mission President

We recieved a letter from the Mission President along with some pictures of Robby with them! It is so good to see him and to hear from them.

Arrived December 21,2010

Back row: Elder Timothy Sopalski (AP) Elder Nicholas Ellsworth, President Chapman, Elder Robert Martindell, Elder Joseph Clark, Elder Lance Leone, Elder Joby Brewer, Elder Connor Hansen, Elder Daniel Merkley, Elder Matthew Larberg, President Pendleton, Sister Pendleton, Front row: Elder Eric Erickson, Elder Kirt Taylor (AP), Elder John Tucker (AP)

Robby's Call

Robby called on Monday night about 7:00 p.m. and it was wonderful! There was Mom, Dad, Jessica, Emery, Tyson, Tyanne, Darius, Grandma, Daniel, Richard, Kandace, Kendal, Garrett, Brett, Trevor, and Duskin. It was wonderful! He was so spiritual! He couldn't quit talking about the church, how it makes him feel, his experiences, it was truly amazing! We really didn't talk much about here....he just had so much to tell us...it was great!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

A Call from Robby!

Well while I was at work yesterday I received a call on my cell phone from a strange number! It was Robby! He only called for a few minutes and said that he will be calling us for Christmas on Monday, December 27 between 7 and 8 o'clock! I was so excited to talk to him and he sounded so good! So we will be talking with him soon!

Hey Hey December 21, 2010 - He is now in California!

Hey! i made it to cali! i love it here! everyone is so friendly and i think me and Pres. Pendleton will get along so great! haha its so crazy to finally be here! its weird thinking i am finally out here! oh and i did learn i HATE flying haha it was as bad as riding a roller coaster! haha but i gave out my first pass along card to think lady on the plane who was on her way home from her dads funeral! and it was perfect cuz i had a pass along card that was more for familiy things and what not so our heavenly father truely sets things ready for us! i almost didnt give it to her but finally found the courage and did haha it was awesome! i loved the looks we got as we walked through the airport to haha some people wouldnt even look at us even after saying hi. but this is all the time i got so next time tho i will have i think as much time as i want to write so it will be a good one:) but im supposed to tell you i got here safe and i love my mission president and his wife! they are so kinda and just so amazing! i love you all so much and i will be writing again soon with more detail!

Hello! December 16, 2010

umm lets seethings are still good! we taught the greatest lesson on tuesday! we have these thigns called the TRC. which is where converts go and use there investigator before they became a member so it gets pretty realistic. but this was the 2nd time we taugh this man his name was george peterson. and so tuesday was a follow up visit and when you treat it real it really does get real! the spirit comes and helps you teach and you really can tell when your investigator feels it to! but last week we actially kinda got into it at the end with him about saying our closing prayer. i mean he really kinda yelled at us. saying "is this what your about is forcing people to pray when they dont want to" and some other things like that. so we fixed things best we could before we left and luckly agreed to meet with us one more time. and so we really put lots of time into preparing things for him, to answer his questions from the first time, and just did alot to put it so he could understand it. well tuesday we went back and we just connnected! everything just flowed and we answered all of his questions! and i learned kinda how to ask someone to pray without them feeling affended! and that i can pray to show how easy it is and then have them pray right after. and he actually prayed and it was one of the greatest feelings of my life right after he prayed! the spirit was so stong in there! i actually started to tear up some and so did George! i honestly cannot wait to get out there and truely bring someone closer to christ like that and to just see the happiness enter into them and watch them glow! i only got 4 days left and i get to get out and really get to work! i am so excited and cant wait! there really is no better feeling than seeing someone find the light and know their purpose in life! Ha but i did learn i still got a long way to go to be the best i can be! we got talked to yesterday about exact obedience. totally leaving everything home and not doing anything that reminds you of home other than your P day. no even singing songs in your head you dont think your mission pres would approve of to listen to out loud and just alot of that. its still gonna take me a little while not to do that cuz it truely does feel like your gonna forget about home and everyone there but then again thats what we are supposed to do for 2 years. but he promised that it all comes back really fast, and that your learning comprehention and capability increases greatly because of that. you seriously become a sponge here tho! its so amazing how much i have learned in only 3 weeks!!! i really have learned more in these 3 weeks that i have learned my entire life!!! so i will let you know how that goes haha! well thats about it so far. not to to much goes on in MTC (Missionary Training Confinement) haha! no its actually not that bad but i definately am almost ready to leave haha! i just want to teach real people and start studying things for real people, cuz i was told that studying and learning for people is the best way to actually study because your learning for someone else and not just yourself. which is so true cuz i learned so much studying and finding things for George than i did just trying to study for myself. Well thats all i got for now till next week! haha im pretty sure i will have a good amount next week just cuz i will have a new comp, know my first area, met alot of new people, and hopefully met my first investigator! so hopefully next weeks will be full of some really good stuff haha! like wether or not you have to worry about me coming home for hitting my new comp or not HAHAHAH JK!:) but it should be a good one haha!

I love you guys so so much! God truely blessed me with the most AMAZING FAMILY AND FRIENDS! I really think i am the wealthiest man in the world cuz i got something about 90% of all people dont have and i will never truely lose any of it ;)! i love you all so much and cant wait to hear from everyone!:)

Your Loving & Growing,

Elder Robert Louis Martindell

P.S: I have gained my OWN Testimony of the BofM and Bible since i have been here! I know they are the true words of Christ! For the guys Read

Jacob 4:7. That has helped me realize what kind of power we truely hold & can hold!

P.S.S: i have learned some Tongan haha and plan to learn a whole lot more! so there is more still to come! haha:)

Ofa Atu- Love you

Ofa Atu Toko- Love you brother

Ofa Lahi Atu- Love you very much

Koe Otua Ko Eku Malohi- God is my Strength

OK Here it is ha ha! December 9, 2010

k well the first couple days were super super long! get up and 6:30
and doing stuff all day then not going to bed till 10:30 or a little
bit later. so the first couple days were rough. but what all the
elders say is true! once you make it to the first sunday everything
else just cruises! well last week i was getting so frustrated! cuz i
could not remember anything when i went to teach and would jsut freeze
up! well satruday after my last teaching i actually started tearing up
becuase i just could not get it no matter how hard i was trying to
learn and study it just wasnt coming to me. well saturday night a
prayed and fasted to be able to remember things, be able to teach
better and with the spirit and not by myself. i also asked my branch
president for a blessing. and i now have the greatest testimony on
prayer because i was a little down to cuz of family and yes missing
home and the people i love from home! well during the blessing right
when i started thinking about family he said exactly what i needed on
family and i know that was coming straight from the lord. after that i
felt so much comfort and peace! at my next couple teaching over then
next 2 days went so amazing! things went so smoothe and me and elder
erickson just fed right off each other. well something that is very
bad but cool at the same time is i went through the pride cycle. which
is bad but way cool because i caught it! i now know what its like and
exactly going through it is like. and i noticed this because i didnt
work as hard in my studies and so then was having a hard time studying
and me and elder erickson started not getting along and having
contention and our appointments were just bad! going off topic and
jumping all around and cutting each other off and it was just really
bad. but the lord showed that to me and so now i can start to get back
on the right track and work harder so that, that doesnt happen again!
but its really cool here! before i came for some reason i always felt
uncomfortable about talking about the gospel or anything about that
but now its the casual launguage haha! its not weird talking about it.
i started thinking about it and as of now it would feel so weird to go
a day and never talk about something in the gospel, scriptures, or
just about anything like that haha! i just thought that was kind of
amazing cuz its just starting to get so easy to talk about the gospel
and for the most part know what people are talking about and talk
right back like its just a normal everyday converstaion! the only
thing i wish we had more of is gym time! we only get 1 hour of gym
when we have gym and we only have gym 4 times a week!!! your not even
allowed to play on P DAY!!!! its monday, wednesday, friday, and
saturday. but believe me i sure make sure i make the most of tht 1
hour haha! the food here is actually really good tho! 3 great meals a
day! but yes it gives you the WORST GAS OF YOUR LIFE!!!!!!
HAHAHAHA!!!!!! i actually got up to 198 pounds sunday and freaked cuz
it was like all in my belly:) cuz i was filling myself until i
seriously could not eat anymore and that was every meal:) so now i do
sit ups night and day along with push ups, and only eat one plate of
food and a couple sides. so it fills me up but not bad at all haha! so
when i weighed yesterday, wednesday, i was back down to 192 pounds and
the belley is looking pretty good haha!!! umm P day tho is so great!!!
we woke up at 6:30 cuz we have to did pushups and sit ups and then
went back to bed till 8. then went to breakfast, back to our room and
just hung out for a bit and got our dirty clothes together and then
came down to wash them! so they are washing right now while i am
emailing!!! then 12:30 is lunch and then we have more just whatever
time to do whatever you want, which me and elder erickson will prepare
our lesson for our investigator for tomorrow. and then i need to go
through my scriptures and put tabs on all my scriptures i use so that
they are easier to find haha. umm then at 2:50 my district gets to go
to the temple if you want and we are going but not sure yet what we
are going to do yet. im really thinking i want to do a sealing just
cuz i havent done that and want to know what thats like?! then after
that we have dinner at 5:30 and get dressed in missionary attire and
go to class from 6:15-9 then back to our rooms for study, journal, and
bed time haha to start our normal days again:) you need to send me
that other memory card so that i can send you the one i have haha!!!
oh ya i need to go through and tell you who is who!!! im not going to
do that to all of them just cuz its alot the same people. but i will
go through and make sure you know who all is who in all of them and
whats going on in some of the videos i have. oh and i need to get some
more batteries and a charger. and i guess read the directions cuz the
charger and batteries i tried charging started eroding and had stuff
all over them like they were 100 years old? its was so weird?! but if
you can just get a charger here in the book store they have, they have
those green rechargable batteries but no charger. so just a charger
and i would be good. but thats it for now haha if you got any other
questions i didnt answer just let me know:) you should just make a
list of questions and i will go through 1 by 1 and answer them all
haha:) well i love you guys so so much and evrything you guys have
done! i miss everyone so so much! never thought i would miss you guys
so much but you do when you cant talk or see to them no matter what
you try or want so then i miss you more haha! well just know im taken
care of and things are going super super good! i love all of you guys
and love so much hearing from everyone haha! it really is the best
part of a missionaries day:) love ya and talk to you soon!!!!!

ELDER MARTINDELL ;)

December 7, 2010 Email

k ha something i forgot to add on my letter home was my patiartical blessing ha or how ever you spell that?! but i love hearing from all of you guys haha! its the greatest things getting letters from the outside world. it really is werid here cuz you honestly dont see the outside world unless walking to the temple. so the rare times you get a glance its like holy there is something out there besides the MTC haha:) oh but tell garrett to write again haha cuz i never got anything! maybe figure out to get ahold of him and make sure he is doing it right:) it really stinks tho only being able to write so many times and so aften! just cuz like if you need something you have to wait for a certain day or certain time before you can contact anyone on the outside world! it is so different cuz communication is hard to come by haha i cant imagine living back when it really was like this and took so long for mail and whatnot to get to places!? but ya i actually dont know if you have even gotten my letter yet. so when you do write me and let me know when you got it. might have helped to put a date on it so you know exactly how long it has taken! i promise i am trying to write everyone! its just so so hard! cuz we only get 1 day a week to write and i mean my weak little arms and hands cant type or write to long before they start cramping like no other! im really hoping that eventually they will get tougher so that i can write more and like to write more haha cuz even writing in my journal is so hard cuz after so much i just cant write anymore. but it is slowly getting better haha! i went so far from a half page, to a full page for a while, and finally got just over a page:) well i got to make this short. thursday 1 will be really long haha so just be prepared to read:) haha its nice knowing people who know people haha cuz like i said we only got 30 minutes to write. well there is a missionary trick that you have to know people to get it to! but there is a trick that you can do that gives you more than 30 minutes. but i love hearing from everyone so dont be scared to write:) LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!

Elder Robert Louis Martindell ;)

haha i forgot to say you should send some Dr. Pepper to when you send everything ;) umm i will keep thinking on what else but unless i really need it i will wait till i get to cali to ask for anything just cuz the more the harder it will be to pack everything. oh and did you ever find my chase card? oh haha and whenever you feel inspired to get ties richard was right:) its the only thing you can change so the more they better haha! its been cool. we have an ugly tie sunday, then purple tie tuesday, green tie wednesday, and blue or yellow tie saturday:) but ya just forgot those things so there ya go:)

My First Email! December 2, 2010

Hello family! haha this is such an amazing place! its so hard not to have the spirit here! what was most amazing was when i first woke up this morning it was kinda hard to actually get up but another elder had gotten up and another elder asked "you must be a morning person" he said "not exactly, but im not here for myself im here for the lord" haha after he said that i sat up and said good answer elder and got right up out of bed and it made it so much easier to get up this morning. but so far i have liked it here! its serious when it needs to be but the rest of the time is so layed back and just fun! no where near what i thought it would be like. my companion is Elder Erickson. haha mom your not gonna like this but we are so much alike its so funny! our heavenly father really does bless you! i couldnt ask for a better first companion tho! haha still a little goofy when it comes to playing basketball but other than that its been so fun the whole time! its crazy seeing some of the guys i know in here. so far only seen Elder Louis Flake and Elder Shaun Kartchner but Elder Flake said there are quite a few people here i just havent seen them yet. the first day was funny tho, me and my companion already messed up and went to the wrong class and showed up to the right class almost 20 minutes late! and then this morning we thought we had to get up at 6 and be ready by 6:30 but we didnt have to get up till 6:30 and be ready by 7. so we woke up 30 minutes early this morning which was actually kind of nice cuz i got to write a little bit more letters which i learned im not supposed to do other than on P day only. ha i thought if i had time when in my room i could do so but you can just not supposed to i guess? i have to say the weirdest thing is not having a phone just cuz i keep thinking of things to ask you or dad or rich or dan and i think i can just text you guys really fast but turns out i cant haha its just kinda weird that way. its been kinda tough tho mentally. today i have had to fight pretty good this afternoon on staying awake and not falling asleep just cuz we still dont go to bed till almost 10 but got to get up at 6. which after a little while i will get used to but not for the first little bit haha! well im trying to think of things to say but its been such a short time that i dont got to much to report about haha! but you do need to let me know who else i need to add to my list of people to send the emails to that im allowed to so that you dont have to forward so many. but idk how the emailing thing is going to go cuz like today we only get 30 minutes on here and we have a timer so we have to finish before the timer goes off or else it just kicks us off haha so i might get some emails that i wont be able to respond to just cuz of the short time i might have, but we will get it figured out! so i learned tho that ya we eat at like 5pm so by the time bed time comes around we get pretty hungry again:) so what ever it is you can think of sending food wise is one of the greatest blessings for a missonary ;) oh and bretts things are in the console thing of the truck haha i found those there when we were packing the rest of my stuff yesterday morning. oh and my P days right now are on thursday so my next email will be sometime thursday just depends on when we get to get in to write them. but i only got 5 min left so i got to wrap things up. but i just want everyone to know how much i love everyone and what a great family i have for not giving up on me during those crazy times and helping me to get back on track to get where i needed to go which at this time is here! and for the amazing friends i was blessed with before i got to come on my mission. without those 2 VERY important things i know i wouldnt be here right now. i honestly could not ask for a better family or friends. i love all of you guys so much and miss everyone! and dont worry i am taking as many pictures as i can haha when i remember haha! but love you guys and i cant wait to hear from you guys!

Elder Robert Louis Martindell

P.S. I LOVE YOU ALL SO SO SO MUCH!!!! ;)

Dropping Robby off at the MTC

Dropping Robby off at the MTC was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do in my entire life! He was so ready and was very excited to start this new adventure in his life! We started the morning out at Walmart to pick up the last few things that he would need then headed around the corner to the IHOP! At the IHOP they give missionaries free breakfast the day the enter the MTC. It was so neat! There were probably 10 to 12 other missionaries and their families there eating breakfast. I am so thankful we found out about this neat thing that they do. It was really fun to see all these missionaries and their families sharing their last meal with the one they loved....for the next two years! You could feel the excitement in the air....and the parents anguish! It was funny cause we all basically started leaving at the same time. After leaving IHOP we went to find the MTC. We pulled into the parking lot across from the MTC about 12:30 and he was to report at 1:00. It was full of other prospective missionaries and their families preparing to enter and saying their goodbyes!

Here is Rob and Robby trying to put the last little bit of stuff into his suitcase before we drop him off.

Taking a few last pictures.....man I love this Elder!

Mom, Dad, and Elder Martindell.....one last picture together!

When it was exactly 1:00 we hopped in the Truck and drove across the street to the entrance of the MTC and they showed us where we needed to go to drop him off.

We pulled up and quickly grabbed his things and took this one last picture with this Elder that was quickly assigned to help him get where he needed to go.

From this point we drove away....He was now officially Elder Martindell.....a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Our Trip to the MTC

We were going to leave on Sunday night after Robby got set apart but the weather was pretty bad so we decided to wait until Monday morning. We got everything ready and headed to Kanab, UT to visit Robby's Aunt Liza and Uncle Jim and several of his cousins. Robby was really dragging his feet leaving and we didn't end up leaving until about 11:00 a.m., which put us in Kanab about 4:00 p.m. We visited for a while and Aunt Liza fed us...it was great because it was left over Thanksgiving dinner! Oh it was so good! Before we left we took a few pictures with Robby and his cousins!

After a wonderful dinner we said our goodbyes and headed up to Provo to stay our first night. The next morning we got up and headed to Salt Lake City to spend the day at Temple Square. The first thing we did was meet up with a great friend Emily and her daughter's Jaylee and Makynna at the visitor's center! We took a few pictures and went to Gateway Mall a few blocks from Temple Square and ate at Robby's pick of Thaifoon. It was really good! We walked around the mall a bit looking for Robby a coat. Emily had to leave and we shopped a little while longer

Robby Getting Set Apart

Robby got set apart as a Missionary on December 28th at 5:00 p.m. President Ron Smith set him apart and it was a wonderful spiritual experience. Bishop Bailey and his wife were also there along with my Grandma, Aunt Sara, Uncle Michael, Mike, AJ, Brandon, Uncle Richard, Aunt Brook, Gavin, Uncle Daniel, Duskin, Brett, Garrett, Trevor and all his brothers and sisters and Mom and Dad. Mom and Robby gave their testamony before the setting apart. It was really wonderful!

Sunday, December 5, 2010

After Luncheon Pictures

We had a great time taking fun pictures after the luncheon with our family and close friends....here are those pictures!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Luncheon

Well we had a luncheon after the farewell at the Social Hall in Snowflake. We had chalupa it was wonderfully good! Grandma made it. Thank you for all who brought and helped with the luncheon. It is truly appreciated! We had great fun eating, visiting, saying "Goodbye's", and taking pictures.