letter 2 - 2/12/14

Hello again everyone!


Sorry it took so long to write back. We didn't get a Pday since we are only here until the 17th and then we head out into our respective mission fields. Most of us here need all the training we can get. The day i emailed y'all, the rest of the missionaries arrived. There are 51 missionaries at the MTC. 23 from Nigeria, 16 from Ghana, 6 from the Ivory Coast (they all speak french), 1 from Tonga, 1 from Tahiti (speaks french and english), and 4 of us from the US. I'm the only American not from Utah. Elder Merrill, one of the Americans, has been here fro 4 weeks on the French track to serve in Benin. The other American, Elder Richman, is serving in the Kumasi Missionlike me. I really wish elder Crandall was serving the same mission as us. Crandall and I are kinda like celebrities to the Africans.It makes us feel special. They love Crandall because he's particularly good at soccer and tennis (he was a Utah state tennis champion in high school and he plays table tennis really well. Africans love table tennis) He's also very funny and we get along really well. All the Africans talk so fast and with crazyaccents, sometimes breaking into pigeon randomly. It's very difficult to understand themso when we are at our last wits, Crandall and I will try to find each other just to talk about whatever and appreciate that we can understand each other. They all like me because I'm very big... well compared to them. I've actually lost a couple pounds since being here, but when you're still floating around 200 and their biggest African missionaryis about 170, they think you're big.haha. The food here is good, but it's the same everyday. Rice, lots of rice, chicken, and spicy sauce with the occasional noodles. My favorite mealis breakfast because it's really good french bread, eggs, and fruit. The pineapple here is trulyAMAZING! It's small and white. They still eat the yellow pineapple, and it's still better than ours, but the white pineapple is the best.


The Nigerians complain about the food all the time. They are so funny. They thinkI'm hilarious even when I'm just having sincere converstion with them. They say i use funny phrases when I talk. I taught them all the forms of knuckles- ice melted, jellyfish, grande, snail, etc. They think it's so funny and want to try a different way everytime I see them. In fact,all the Africans love that. They alsolove cameras. Love them. Like absolutely love them. No mattter what we are doing, "elder Robinson, snap photo!" or "elder Crandall,camera?" It drivers us crazy.I mean, I love getting pictures,but sometimes they just want pictures too much. The Africans are truly inspiring however, I'm brought to tears almost everynight thinking of all they have sacrificed to come on missions. some have lost parents, usually both, they worked to help support their families and keep food on the table, and theygave up what little they had to spend it on a mission and go on a mission,.And many of their testimonies are truly inspiring. Especially my district leader's Elder Afful. I have yetto meet as humble of people as him and elder La'ah.


So the second day here, I showed them all pictures of my family. I made the mistake of showing them pictures of Katelynn... Elder Evbosaru (Ee-bow-sa-roo) is convinced he will come home, come to America, marry her, and bring her back to Nigeria. I told him if he tried, I would hunt him down. He and the other Nigerians do not understand why I won't let him marry my sister because in Nigeria, you want your friends to marry your siblings. I just don't reply to that and don't let them know I'm joking. I'm not sure he's Kate's type though.... She's bigger than he is, believe it or not. But anyway, from that experience I've resolved never to let them see a picture of Jocey. I love them allsomuch. sometimes they trymy patience, but they are all awesome for the most part. They have a veryinteresting culture. TheNigerians are much more wild than the ghanaians. The Ghanaians are actually very reserved and polite. The only exception to that rule is Elder La'ah. He's a Nigerian that is very polite and reserved.


THe French speaking elders love me in particular. Although we reallycan't understand what each other say, we manage through charrades, and I think they really appreciate the fact that I took the time to learn stheir names. The Frenchare very funny. They like to watch me do pushups at night which is kinda weird... but it's okay. The crazy thing is that not many missionaries here have heard of pizza pr peanut butter,or jerky! I've let some of the elders try jerky. A surprising amount do not like it!


My district at the MTC is awesome. Like I said earlier, I love my district leader, Elder Afful. He's from Ghana, in my mission area!, and he's very respectful, neever complains, listens to everyone, and just does a very great job of being a quiet leader. His companionis Elder Kelikume, aNigerianwho is also verycool. Then, there is Elder Okon and Obianukor (oh-bee-a-new-co), Elder Omeonu and Udoetuk (you-dough-eh-tuke), and a three some of sisters Timothy, Musungu, and Aboagye (Ah-bwah-gee). My companion is Elder Amadi. He is from Nigeria. He is a quiet, small, 23 year old that is very nice, but very hard to understand when he talks. I've been learning a little Twii and Pigeon to better communicate with everyone, but just when I was making some really good progress, they said we can only speak French and Englishat the MTC. Darn it! GuessI'll just have to learn to speakas fast as them. I feel so bad always asking them to repeat everything. Besides being a bit crazyat times and some elders having trouble being obedient, Everyone here is so amazing. I love them all.


Practice and teaching has gone well,but I still have alot to learn before being out on the field. The MTC is so wonderful. I know without a doubt that this is wheree I'm supposed to be right now. I can't wait to be the best missionary ever. I love you all. sorryfor the long email without any pictures. I can't figure out how to load them onto email from the computer and the internet is very slow. There's actuallyquite a bit I did not email because I don't have time. you'll just have to read my journals when I get home. Have a wonderful week and stay safe.


Love,


Elder Robinson