8- Almost There!

Hello!

We got our flight plans last Friday! and found out that one district is leaving on Monday the 16th while our district along with a few other northern-Japan-bound missionaries are leaving on the following Thursday the 19th. It was definitely a bit of a buzz kill at first since we were so hyped to finally be able to head out but once I saw that we were leaving on the 19th I realized that God was looking out for me! The reason being, the hematoma I got a week and a half ago has still been a major obstacle this past week. Going to physical therapy almost every other day and have been working on reactivating my quad muscles so that my leg can start to function normally again. Currently can not lift it off the ground with a straight leg, very strange feeling. Anyway, I believe God knew beforehand I would need those extra 3 days of PT to better prepare for traveling and being self dependent. Luckily the other Elders have been very kind in helping me do things I can't do normally and I am so grateful for all of them... its not fun being a burden:/ The lesson I've learned from this is you never know what you got til its gone; in this case, a healthy body:)

All is good though! Been making a lot of progress and I'm now off the crutches so that's good. Cool story that will make all other missionaries a tad jealous- you are not allowed to swim as a missionary, ever. Pretty basic rule. But guess who got to swim as a missionary? Me:) (for therapeutic purposes of course) My branch president who's literally the man is also my physical therapist. Yesterday, he brought me a swimsuit and had me do some exercises in the pool while Elder Morris had to stand on the side of the pool in his suit and tie and just watch me swim with seraphic, relaxing motions. While he was suffering, I was in heaven. It was pretty sick.

Thank y'all for everything, seriously I appreciate it so much. All of your kind notes and letters have been so encouraging for me while here at the MTC. These past 9 weeks have been awesome and I've never felt any happier about this gospel and the message I will be spreading in Japan. Love and miss you all, have an awesome week! See you on the flip side in Japan!

Elder Dallin Robins

PS: For anyone that was planning on sending any last packages or physical mail (bless your hearts first of all) , you will want to send it out by today or early tomorrow. I head out very early Thursday morning so any mail that arrives after Wednesday I will not receive. Cool thanks!

Week 7 Review 8^)

Hello friends and fam!!

Another amazing week its been here in Provo- beautiful snow, we built a quite disgusting but beautiful and charismatic snowman, we are now 10 sunrises away (yes, we're counting by sunrises) from heading to Japan, and I got a nice fat hematoma on my left thigh! sooo much of fun being on crutches (sarcasm:))

This lead to my companion and I being granted to go on a field trip to a medical center yesterday! It was a blast, just me, my companion and our wonderful Mexican driver cruising through Provo enjoying the scenery of the outside world. It's funny how weird it was to be in a car and outside campus in the real world for the first time in 2 months. Such an exciting time in my life and we really made the most of the experience. The good news is i get to do it 4 more times before I head out to do physical therapy. Woohoo! 

In other news, our lessons to our investigators have been getting better and better and our teaching skills as a companionship have really improved. It's a tad more exciting than it sounds, getting better at teaching is what I need for the next two years!

The most exciting part of the MTC experience comes tomorrow when we get our FLIGHT PLANS. Flight plans are exactly what they sound like so I don't feel I need to explain but it's honestly so exciting to have made it to the final week here at the MTC. We will be leaving along with 3 other districts, 2 of which got here this past Tuesday. They're Japanese and already know how to speak the language so they only spend two weeks in the MTC and head out with us. Crazy how fast this time has gone and how much I've been able to learn and grow. Got a lot of packing and organizing to do in the upcoming week! :)

Other than that, another fun (except for being hurt:( ) and exciting week here with my Elders and Sisters, Choro and Shimai, Teachers and friends. 

Love and miss all yall!

Have a splendid week full of joy and wonderment!

Elder Robins

My favorite Japanese people ever. Hecka funny people

Sorry, it only lets me send one pic at a time, more next week!

MTC Week 6

Konnich minasan!

Boy oh boy this week there's been a lot of new-ness! Our senpai and all the awesome friends I've made from the Japanese branches left early Monday morning for Japan! I wish them the best of luck as they begin the journey spreading the good word in Nihon! It's been pretty quiet around the zone with them gone but we got new kohai ("juniors" aka new missionaries in our zone) yesterday! Excited to get to know all of them!

Last night was crazy! We skyped a Japanese lady from Japan and had like a 50 minute lesson/chat with her. It was scary how fast they talked even when they tried to speak slow for us haha.. But she was great, she spoke english for us when we needed it and was very patient. Very cool experience, and she was so nice! If everyone or most everyone in Japan is as nice and happy as she was, I don't think I'll be coming home after these 2 years;)

It's snowing today in Provo, the first credible snow since early December! It's funny how happy it makes me to have some sort of weather different from the norm. For my friends in the east, sounds like you're having a great time with all this wonderful snow:) 

In other news, I am so pumped to be part of God's work! I have friends going literally all over the world- Adriatic North (countries east of Italy across the Adriatic sea), Tahiti, Germany, Angola, England, Guatemala, Ecuador, Mexico, Argentina, and the states- speaking 10 different languages... How sweet is that!? Happy for all of em.

Other than that, I've had a great week meeting new people, learning nihongo, learning how to teach and connect with others better and finding joy in life!

16 days to go til Japan. Cool. Please, have a splendid week!  Ai shite imasu yo!

Elder Robins

Week 5 in the Hive

"The hive" is a name for the MTC i just made up that rhymes with 5 to make my emails sound cooler. Hope everyone had a nice Valentines Day and long weekend! My momma sent me a cute valentines day tie I wore but that's about it in terms of celebrating. I did mess with all my teachers making sure they had a party to go to that night (all of my teachers are return missionaries that went to japan and now go to BYU- so they're college students) and challenging them to meet someone special.

Another great and quick week has gone by here in Utah! I apologize I may have made it sound like Japanese is coming rather easily to me, but that's not what I meant... haha I am still very much at a preschooler level of speaking, won't be fluent-ish for around another 9 months my goal! The next wave of Japanese missionaries leaves this Monday morning to mainly the southern missions of japan. I'm sad to let them go, they've all become great friends of mine and they're fun to hang out with but it's all good I'll probably see most of them back at BYU when I return. 

Today I got to see my cousin Cody here on the MTC campus! He served in the Phillippines and got home right before I left. He's applying to be a teacher here for the language of Tagalog so hopefully I'll be able to see him more often for the next few weeks before I head out. It was sweet to see him!

Here are some great gems of advice for yall from the year 1700

"It's not who you aren't, it's who you are and being you is being great!" 

Love you all tons! I love my job for the next two years being able to focus completely on the Lord and what He would have me do. I'm learning and growing every day loving life.

Have a fortuitous week!

Elder Robins

PS ~ Happy 45th birthday ;) to my brother in law Wil! Love you lots :)! ~

MTC Week 4 Recap

Hello minasan!

Quick little clarification-

Mission Area (ie Sendai)

Branches (geographical sections of the Sendai Mission)

Zones (sections of the branch. These contain a few districts)

Districts (multiple pairs of missionaries within certain zones that work closely with one another)

Companionship (a pair of two missionaries, these two missionaries work together for the span of a 'transfer' or about a month and a half until they are reassigned to a new area of the mission with a new Elder or Sister)

This week has been the fastest week so far which is good in some ways and scary in others. It's good because from here on out time will continue to fly and I'll be in Japan before I know it! Scary because that means I only have 4 more weeks to learn all the Japanese i can before I am officially in the field preaching in nihongo (Japanese). My nihongo study has been truly miraculous this week. My doryo (companion) said last night that I've grown so much in the past few days that he can't keep up with me, and he's really really smart. SO that was a very special compliment that made me feel great about myself. 

Been having a lot of fun with everyone this week. It isn't always easy to live with and love 5 other very different elders but it is good to make each other better, help one another and have fun with it in the process. I'm loving my small little district and our two amazing teachers. Like it's sweet how well they teach... they connect everything back with to us and to our future investigators and teach us how to better peel people's "onions"  which is a handy dandy tool to have in life. Teaching well like they do is something I definitely look forward to and work on every day so I can better connect with the people I teach.

Other than that nothing too worth mentioning has happened here in Provo. These emails will start to light up a lot more once I get out to Japan but for now I'm just learning and growing spiritually and mentally. I wish I was growing physically too...come back to be a nice 6'2", that would definitely be cool.

But ya anyways, just want to let you know a lady who cut my hair today has a daughter that lives in Danville and she's going there in 2 weeks to visit. The down side is she chopped off my sideburns today without hesitation. They were a beautiful length too, so im kinda upset about it and will

ave to pray to try and forgive her ;) Other than that another solid week here in the MTC. Thanks again for the love, the letters, and the packages. Much much much appreciation. 

Everyone have a great Valentines/ Presidents Day full of precocious joy and wonderment! 

Love you all,

Elder Dallin Robins

Elder Dallin Slavens and I (he's from Danville, going to Cambodia)  showing our love for peace. 

MTC Week 3

こんいちわ Starshine!

Man what a great week. Been here for 22 days now! Crazy. This past
monday all of our what we call dai senpai (missionaries that are two
generations
older than our generation) left for various parts of japan! It was an
awesome awesome group. Fun fact: one of those missionaries, sister
martins, I just found out knows 6 languages! French, Italian,
Portugese, English, Japanese, and spanish. Incredible! Anyway as much
as it was sad to say goodbye, the highlight of them leaving was
getting the legendary basketball shooting sleeve passed down to me. I
was honored. And when the time comes I will sign my name and pass it
down to the next baller japanese-bound missionary. So ya this week has
been a little quiet cause theres not that many people left in our zone
and only 5 people in our class but luckily there was 47 japan bound
missionaries that came in yesterday, so it will be fun to get to know
them.

Follow up news about Sister Ailupo- she got removed from our district-
she is no longer going to Japan or learning Japanese. She is now going
back to Australia to serve in the Sydney mission. It's really too bad
but she was a truly amazing example to me and to everyone around her.
So selfless, so genuine and caring, and such an amazing spirit. During
her trials that were so hard I can't imagine, instead of turning
inward like the natural man would do and pity herself to sleep each
night, she turned outward, focused and cared for other people's needs
and did things for others. Like I said, she is an amazing example and
inspired me to turn outward and stop be
service oriented.

The language is coming! Elder Barr and I have been working really hard
together to pound out the grammar books & so far it's been paying off!
Japanese is awesome and I'm having tons of fun here at the MTC.
Something I find dumb but really fun to do to keep me entertained is
to look at far off objects when you are talking directly to other
missionaries in conversation- really catches em off guard. If you're
weird like me you might find it enjoyable. I've had an awesome week
and I appreciate all the love, the prayers and the
support.

Everyone have a sugoi week, あいしていますみなさん!

Elder Dallin Robins

I will send pictures next week！

MTC Week 2

Hi everyone!!

Hope everyone's week was amazing and full of joy and wonderment. This week was a roller coaster- lots of ups and lots of downs. There's a sister in my district named Sister Ailupo. She is an amazing, bright and dedicated missionary. Nobody knows anyone that wants to serve a mission more than her and she's just the awesomest person, and like you have all heard before, sometimes bad things happen to good people. The first few days, Sister Ailupo was vomiting for no apparent reason so her and her companion went to the health clinic to get checked out. They ended up taking a blood test and finding that her blood was not at all normal. She took some medication for a few days but had to go to an actual hospital to get testing done, testing of her bone marrow- yep, the big thick needle getting stuck in her hip bone. Awful enough right? Nope. After a week and a half of tumultuous waiting for results, she receives the results. And they were not good. They found she has a type of blood cancer, not life threatening, but as of Tuesday, her future as a missionary in Japan is doubtful. The hardest part is, she doesn't know what is going to happen to her. Whether she will be able to go to Japan or if she'll be able to serve here in the states or if she'll have to go back home to Australia. It's been tough and she's had a very tough time dealing with it emotionally, as expected, but we know God has her best interest at hand and whatever happens to her will be for the best. 

The rest of my week has been good! Elder Barr and I have been battling the flu these past few days in addition to the craziness going on with the sisters in our district, our teacher kind of sat the four of us elders down last night to assess the situation. He recommended Elder Barr and I go back to the apartment to get a jump start on sleep so we can recover faster while he works with the other two elders on their Japanese. That was way sweet! First time I've had 8+ hours of sleep since the 13th! I've been learning a lot everyday and am starting to get the hang of the language a little bit which to be honest is what I needed. It's a challenge to not compare yourself to others, especially if your companion is a genius at Japanese and everything else haha he whips out the randomest facts...  always entertaining. Still a pretty strange kid and yes we're still polar opposites but we work pretty well together. He wants to be an astronaut which is awesome! Alright sorry for that tangent. This Monday, all my Senpai (a term for older missionaries that have been at the MTC longer than you have) leave for their respective missions in Japan! Im so pumped for them but probably not as much as they are to finally be able to actually get to Japan. Their Japanese is so good! I hope by the time I leave I'll be half as good as they are! In a couple of weeks, I'll be a senpai to the new missionaries that get here.

Alright well sorry for the sad story! I have plenty of funny stories to tell but it's kind of a you had to be there type of thing;) Oh! The two new Japanese districts got iPads this week! We are a pilot group for the Japan districts and they want to see if they're effective enough in our learning to get everyone an iPad. We get to use quizlet and google translate and stuff and it is SO much more efficient than writing down vocab in a notebook! Super exciting. All the older missionaries are jealous that they didn't get one. All I know is the processed food is only getting better and those nihonji are still laughing full blast at anything we say, and I'm still running the court every morning. I'm having a fun time getting to know all the Japanese missionaries better. Everyone has such unique personalities, its fun to kind of use my personality to pry them open and seed a new relationship<3 8<] 

Hope you all are doing fabulous and enjoying yourselves this January. Remember you all can send me care packages with candy, ties, fun socks, and heartfelt notes. Or maybe if someone that goes to BYU could manage to drop off some chick fil a one of these days that would be amazing. Haha alright the sending address is:

Elder Dallin Sune Robins

MAR17  JPN-SEN
2007 N 900 E Unit  12
Provo UT 84602

Love you all, have a great week and remember God loves you and is there for you!

Elder Dallin Robins

MTC Week 1

Hey Everybody! 8^)

Gonna define some missionary lingo before I begin. 

MTC: Provo, Utah Missionary Training Center. Where I'll be for the next 8 weeks learning Japanese and how to teach. 

Companion: one of the most important rules for a missionary is that they have to be with another missionary of the same gender literally 24/7- within sight and sound. So your companion is kind of the other half of your life as a missionary

Elder/ Choro (japanese) and sister/ shimai: Our new first name. Sets us apart from normal dudes as we represent the Lord. 

District: A group of missionaries serving in the same area. ie- My district consists of one other Elder companionship and a companionship of Sisters. This district works, learns, and hangs out with eachother most of the day.

Investigator: They will be real people when I go to Japan but for now, the MTC gives you people to practice teaching to, usually return missionaries that know the language you are studying to speak. You are to prepare a lesson to teach them in the language almost every day.

P Day: Thursdays for me. The day we have time to chill and do laundry and basically not learn all day. 

Man oh man where to start. The MTC has felt like a whole different life from before. It feels like I've been here for a 40.5 years. I've learned so so much in this past week I hardly even have time to think! Most of it just flies over my head, in one ear and straight out the other but Its kind of cool to have a focus that intense.

The food we are served here is the highest quality processed food I've ever had the opportunity to eat, often times featuring powder potatoes, bagged chicken patties, and the highest quality angus beef. Also featuring straight out of the bag peas, carrots, corn, and french fries! its wonderful. For beverages, you get to choose between high quality non caffeinated sodas, a plethora of minute maid juices, and the best of the best chocolate, 2% and skim milk, straight from the cow. Truly blesses to be fed such an eloquent meal 3 times a day, all you can eat.

My companion... oh boy. Elder Thompson is the name, building robots and making corny jokes is his game. Haha kind of a geek but he's great for me cause he's like my own personal tutor for japanese and is very motivated to do the work. Basically the exact opposite from me so its chill. He has been suffering from a mild case of nausea in the early mornings.

My schedule goes as follows: 

Get up every day at 6:30. Go to the gym at 6:40- 7:35 to ball out on all the other elders- you know i do work. Shower and get dressed. Breakfast at 8:20 or something. The rest of the day we study the language, the scriptures, and prepare to teach our investigator, Yuki san, in Japansese. Lunch is usually around 12:30. Dinner is around 5:30.  Back in your room by 9:30. Lights out by 10:30.

Learning Japanese has been such a struggle but it's coming along. I now know how to construct simple sentences in my head and can do a little more complex sentences when I write it out. My Japanese accent is money!

Real Nihonji missionaries (japanese people) showed up 2 nights ago. I laughed out loud when we took a picture of them they all said "peeeaaaaceeee!" and did the famous trademark peace sign!!!! And they laugh at everything we said like a pack of wild monkeys- super high pitched and would wake up a den of hibernating bears. Very entertaining to make fun of while they aren't looking!

Yesterday in our lesson with Yukisan, I said "seiteki" when trying to describe prayer. What I should have said is reiteki which means spiritual. But you all know how those asians like to do with their language and make just one letter change the meaning significantly. Seiteki = sexual. So good for me, I said prayer is a sexual experience hahaha.

Love and miss you all, hope you all have a great week!

Elder Dallin Robins

PS: Congrats to my two main home boys Ryan Nearon and Aaron Christensen for getting their mission calls to Berlin, Germany and Luonda, Angola (Africa). SO COOL!

The Elders I room with in front of the temple.

My district in front of the temple. We strive every day for excellence in executing the Japanese trademarked peace signs.