The Final Email

Well, actually, this might not be the final email. This is just probably the last email, because next week I might be too lazy to send a big email like this. Anyway, if I send another email after this it will be in the form of an epilogue, possibly told in 3rd person as a more reflective piece overlooking my mission as a whole from an outside perspective as opposed to a normal weekly email. Well, I guess you guys are used to my weirdness by now, so that wouldn't be a shock. It also wouldn't be a shock if that didn't happen at all, so I guess we'll see!

So, to start out, Monday happened! Without Elder Cannon. That was a weird feeling. He's been such a huge presence in our companionship, and then suddenly he was gone. Anyway, to fill in the big empty hole where Elder Cannon used to be we went to Alekseevka to get some stuff and talk to the rest of the district. That was fun. Elder Larsen and Elder Tate are hilarious. That night we went to visit the Branch President's family.

Tuesday also happened in its usual place (that is, after Monday) and that night we went to a new English Club. This club was something that Sister Hendricks used to do, but seeing as she's gone (shoutout to Caroline, if you happen to read this) we've had to take over that. They were sad to find out that I too am shortly going to leave. But, you know, c'est la vie! or whatever. They'll get over it, Elder Mayberry will be here for a while, and they won't have any time to get too attached to me.

Wednesday we had district meeting, at which point we rather awkwardly discovered that Elder Larsen and Elder Tate are not in fact in our district. We just sort of stole the sisters out of their district. Pretty brutal. Anyway, did I mention that Elder Tate is from San Antonio? Shoutout to San Antonio! I have a feeling that if we were in the same district it would probably be unbearable for the masses. I mean, Elder Downing and Elder Fuller are both from Austin, they were companions, and I can only imagine the shenanigans they got into together. Can you imagine? 

(Random Ukrainian) "Where are you guys from?"

(Simultaneous response) "Austin."

(Random Ukrainian) "And where's that?"

(Slightly louder simultaneous response) "Texas!"

I got sidetracked, didn't I? I don't know how much enjoyment you guys will get out of that, but I'm laughing, so that's all that counts.

On Thurday we helped the Sisters move into the apartment here in Saltovka. After that the day kind of went to the dogs. We had a 3-and-a-half hour long meeting with our JW investigator that didn't go anywhere, and then on the way home after an English club our drunk neighbor who believes that she's our landlord stopped us and harrassed us for about 5 minutes about wanting to do an inspection and threatened to kick us out.

Friday we went to Alekseevka to deregister me from the country of Ukraine. That's right, I'm going dark. I'm taking my work back underground. There's a ticking time bomb that started here because we finished the process and we had to wait for them to finish something or other and then give me some document. We had a meeting that we had to go to, and we didn't have time to wait for it, but we were under the impression that we could come back another day to pick it up. This was proven to be an incorrect impression. Long story short, we found out today that because we didn't pick up that document the day of, it's possible that I won't be able to leave Ukraine. So that's fun. They're sorting stuff out right now, it'll probably blow over. You'll find out in the epilogue.

Our meeting went really well though, we met with the really nice lady from Thursday of last week. So... worth it?

On Saturday we did game night like usual.

Sunday went well. Church was good. That night we went and did family night in the park. That also went well. I've been somewhat sick since Friday, which is unfortunate because I was just starting to get back into working out in the mornings. Oh well.

And that just about brings us up to now. I'll see a decent number of you in a week or so. It's been fun writing these emails to you, letting you know about my week and my doings in the distant land of Ukraine. I've learned a lot here, and I've helped (I hope) a lot of people to. It's going to be hard to leave. Don't get me wrong, I miss you guys and everything, but it's hard to explain the love that I have for this place and these people. But I guess it's time to move on. Everything has its time and place, and almost nothing is permanent. 

Time to finish it!

Peace!

Elder Robison

Трудно прощаться, но давно пора уже

This week we said goodbye to many of my favorite missionaries. And also Elder Fuller.

Yep. 2 years. It's been almost 2 years. Have of the people that came in with me are now headed home. I still have 2 weeks; our group was too large to send off all in one go, so we've had to be divided up. Elder Cannon and Sister Hendricks left last night to go to Dnepro, and from there they'll fly out back to America. We're all pretty sad, they were great missionaries.

Anyway, the week was a good one!

On Monday we went to Gorkiy Park. It's a pretty famous place, and it was a ton of fun. We met up with the guys from Novi Doma (Fuller, Anderson, Downing, etc.) and played volleyball, then rode the rollercoaster, then rode the ferris's wheel. I said goodbye to Elder Fuller and Elder Anderson there, because that's the last time I'll see either of them in Ukraine. Our friend took us afterwards to where he trains for track and field to show us around.

On Tuesday we took a trip to the hospital where our friend Stass was preparing for surgery on his cancer. We went from there to meet up with Eddy and go to the forest again. Last time he wanted to find this spot by the river that he really liked, but we couldn't get to it. Hence we went again on Tuesday to find this mysterious cool place. We found it and sat around outside talking about the church and playing guitar.

I'm going to start this paragraph by commenting on the fact that the number of times I have sat in a car speaking Russian with Ukrainians while listening to metal in a language that none of us understand is too dang high. On the ride home Eddy turned on his Rammstein, because Eddy loves rock. Elder Mayberry was like, "Who is this?", and Eddy, Elder Cannon, and I responded with a hearty, "Rammstein". After a moment of heavy guitar riffs and German I added, "It's special German music; for Germans.".

Wednesday was pretty cut and dry, nothing too interesting. You know, just our last district meeting and all. Nothing dramatic.

Thursday came and went with no fanfare and little-to-no applause. We met with a lady whose number we found. She met with the missionaries a long time ago, but when they left she got dropped. She's really nice old lady.

Friday was also uneventful, actually.

Saturday was the last game night. We ordered a pizza for lunch, put up the banner we got for English Practice, then talked to everyone that wanted to come say goodbye to Elder Cannon and Sister Hendricks.

Sunday we went and had dinner with Joseph's family as a parting activity for those that are leaving us. That was after a good church meeting and lesson with Lyuba.

Elder Mayberry and I are now waiting. Sister Stepaiko was transferred to Zaparozhe, and with Sister Hendricks gone, that leaves us with no sisters and no district. But, the sisters from Alekseevka are coming to save us. They'll be living here, but serving in both areas, so that'll be fun for them. Our districts have been combined, but appearantly neither district leader has been released. So I guess that means we have 2 district leaders now? Anyway, we'll be meeting up with everyone today, so maybe that will become clearer. Or maybe it won't. I don't know. Probably won't effect me too much, seeing as time is now so short on my end. Lot's of work to do, no time left to do it!

Whelp, that's all!

Peace!

Elder Robison

Трудно прощаться, но давно пора уже

This week we said goodbye to many of my favorite missionaries. And also Elder Fuller.

Yep. 2 years. It's been almost 2 years. Have of the people that came in with me are now headed home. I still have 2 weeks; our group was too large to send off all in one go, so we've had to be divided up. Elder Cannon and Sister Hendricks left last night to go to Dnepro, and from there they'll fly out back to America. We're all pretty sad, they were great missionaries.

Anyway, the week was a good one!

On Monday we went to Gorkiy Park. It's a pretty famous place, and it was a ton of fun. We met up with the guys from Novi Doma (Fuller, Anderson, Downing, etc.) and played volleyball, then rode the rollercoaster, then rode the ferris's wheel. I said goodbye to Elder Fuller and Elder Anderson there, because that's the last time I'll see either of them in Ukraine. Our friend took us afterwards to where he trains for track and field to show us around.

On Tuesday we took a trip to the hospital where our friend Stass was preparing for surgery on his cancer. We went from there to meet up with Eddy and go to the forest again. Last time he wanted to find this spot by the river that he really liked, but we couldn't get to it. Hence we went again on Tuesday to find this mysterious cool place. We found it and sat around outside talking about the church and playing guitar.

I'm going to start this paragraph by commenting on the fact that the number of times I have sat in a car speaking Russian with Ukrainians while listening to metal in a language that none of us understand is too dang high. On the ride home Eddy turned on his Rammstein, because Eddy loves rock. Elder Mayberry was like, "Who is this?", and Eddy, Elder Cannon, and I responded with a hearty, "Rammstein". After a moment of heavy guitar riffs and German I added, "It's special German music; for Germans.".

Wednesday was pretty cut and dry, nothing too interesting. You know, just our last district meeting and all. Nothing dramatic.

Thursday came and went with no fanfare and little-to-no applause. We met with a lady whose number we found. She met with the missionaries a long time ago, but when they left she got dropped. She's really nice old lady.

Friday was also uneventful, actually.

Saturday was the last game night. We ordered a pizza for lunch, put up the banner we got for English Practice, then talked to everyone that wanted to come say goodbye to Elder Cannon and Sister Hendricks.

Sunday we went and had dinner with Joseph's family as a parting activity for those that are leaving us. That was after a good church meeting and lesson with Lyuba.

Elder Mayberry and I are now waiting. Sister Stepaiko was transferred to Zaparozhe, and with Sister Hendricks gone, that leaves us with no sisters and no district. But, the sisters from Alekseevka are coming to save us. They'll be living here, but serving in both areas, so that'll be fun for them. Our districts have been combined, but appearantly neither district leader has been released. So I guess that means we have 2 district leaders now? Anyway, we'll be meeting up with everyone today, so maybe that will become clearer. Or maybe it won't. I don't know. Probably won't effect me too much, seeing as time is now so short on my end. Lot's of work to do, no time left to do it!

Whelp, that's all!

Peace!

Elder Robison

Трудно прощаться, но давно пора уже

This week we said goodbye to many of my favorite missionaries. And also Elder Fuller.

Yep. 2 years. It's been almost 2 years. Have of the people that came in with me are now headed home. I still have 2 weeks; our group was too large to send off all in one go, so we've had to be divided up. Elder Cannon and Sister Hendricks left last night to go to Dnepro, and from there they'll fly out back to America. We're all pretty sad, they were great missionaries.

Anyway, the week was a good one!

On Monday we went to Gorkiy Park. It's a pretty famous place, and it was a ton of fun. We met up with the guys from Novi Doma (Fuller, Anderson, Downing, etc.) and played volleyball, then rode the rollercoaster, then rode the ferris's wheel. I said goodbye to Elder Fuller and Elder Anderson there, because that's the last time I'll see either of them in Ukraine. Our friend took us afterwards to where he trains for track and field to show us around.

On Tuesday we took a trip to the hospital where our friend Stass was preparing for surgery on his cancer. We went from there to meet up with Eddy and go to the forest again. Last time he wanted to find this spot by the river that he really liked, but we couldn't get to it. Hence we went again on Tuesday to find this mysterious cool place. We found it and sat around outside talking about the church and playing guitar.

I'm going to start this paragraph by commenting on the fact that the number of times I have sat in a car speaking Russian with Ukrainians while listening to metal in a language that none of us understand is too dang high. On the ride home Eddy turned on his Rammstein, because Eddy loves rock. Elder Mayberry was like, "Who is this?", and Eddy, Elder Cannon, and I responded with a hearty, "Rammstein". After a moment of heavy guitar riffs and German I added, "It's special German music; for Germans.".

Wednesday was pretty cut and dry, nothing too interesting. You know, just our last district meeting and all. Nothing dramatic.

Thursday came and went with no fanfare and little-to-no applause. We met with a lady whose number we found. She met with the missionaries a long time ago, but when they left she got dropped. She's really nice old lady.

Friday was also uneventful, actually.

Saturday was the last game night. We ordered a pizza for lunch, put up the banner we got for English Practice, then talked to everyone that wanted to come say goodbye to Elder Cannon and Sister Hendricks.

Sunday we went and had dinner with Joseph's family as a parting activity for those that are leaving us. That was after a good church meeting and lesson with Lyuba.

Elder Mayberry and I are now waiting. Sister Stepaiko was transferred to Zaparozhe, and with Sister Hendricks gone, that leaves us with no sisters and no district. But, the sisters from Alekseevka are coming to save us. They'll be living here, but serving in both areas, so that'll be fun for them. Our districts have been combined, but appearantly neither district leader has been released. So I guess that means we have 2 district leaders now? Anyway, we'll be meeting up with everyone today, so maybe that will become clearer. Or maybe it won't. I don't know. Probably won't effect me too much, seeing as time is now so short on my end. Lot's of work to do, no time left to do it!

Whelp, that's all!

Peace!

Elder Robison

Трудно прощаться, но давно пора уже

This week we said goodbye to many of my favorite missionaries. And also Elder Fuller.

Yep. 2 years. It's been almost 2 years. Have of the people that came in with me are now headed home. I still have 2 weeks; our group was too large to send off all in one go, so we've had to be divided up. Elder Cannon and Sister Hendricks left last night to go to Dnepro, and from there they'll fly out back to America. We're all pretty sad, they were great missionaries.

Anyway, the week was a good one!

On Monday we went to Gorkiy Park. It's a pretty famous place, and it was a ton of fun. We met up with the guys from Novi Doma (Fuller, Anderson, Downing, etc.) and played volleyball, then rode the rollercoaster, then rode the ferris's wheel. I said goodbye to Elder Fuller and Elder Anderson there, because that's the last time I'll see either of them in Ukraine. Our friend took us afterwards to where he trains for track and field to show us around.

On Tuesday we took a trip to the hospital where our friend Stass was preparing for surgery on his cancer. We went from there to meet up with Eddy and go to the forest again. Last time he wanted to find this spot by the river that he really liked, but we couldn't get to it. Hence we went again on Tuesday to find this mysterious cool place. We found it and sat around outside talking about the church and playing guitar.

I'm going to start this paragraph by commenting on the fact that the number of times I have sat in a car speaking Russian with Ukrainians while listening to metal in a language that none of us understand is too dang high. On the ride home Eddy turned on his Rammstein, because Eddy loves rock. Elder Mayberry was like, "Who is this?", and Eddy, Elder Cannon, and I responded with a hearty, "Rammstein". After a moment of heavy guitar riffs and German I added, "It's special German music; for Germans.".

Wednesday was pretty cut and dry, nothing too interesting. You know, just our last district meeting and all. Nothing dramatic.

Thursday came and went with no fanfare and little-to-no applause. We met with a lady whose number we found. She met with the missionaries a long time ago, but when they left she got dropped. She's really nice old lady.

Friday was also uneventful, actually.

Saturday was the last game night. We ordered a pizza for lunch, put up the banner we got for English Practice, then talked to everyone that wanted to come say goodbye to Elder Cannon and Sister Hendricks.

Sunday we went and had dinner with Joseph's family as a parting activity for those that are leaving us. That was after a good church meeting and lesson with Lyuba.

Elder Mayberry and I are now waiting. Sister Stepaiko was transferred to Zaparozhe, and with Sister Hendricks gone, that leaves us with no sisters and no district. But, the sisters from Alekseevka are coming to save us. They'll be living here, but serving in both areas, so that'll be fun for them. Our districts have been combined, but appearantly neither district leader has been released. So I guess that means we have 2 district leaders now? Anyway, we'll be meeting up with everyone today, so maybe that will become clearer. Or maybe it won't. I don't know. Probably won't effect me too much, seeing as time is now so short on my end. Lot's of work to do, no time left to do it!

Whelp, that's all!

Peace!

Elder Robison

Once Upon a Time in the West

I'm honestly not sure what to write about this week. I normally type up the title first and that determines the flow of what's going to happen for the rest of the letter. Currently the title is unwritten, and I'm rambling on in an attempt to give myself enough time to remember the important things that happened this week. I'm not sure if it'll work or not.

I'll mix things up a little bit by kicking Monday out of the week instead of Friday.

Tuesday we taught Lyuba. After that we went with our friend Eddy to the forest to make shashlyk with him. Shashlyk is an Arabic (I think it's Arabic) food. It's similar to a shish kebab, but it's all meet. Ukrainians think that it counts as BBQ. They're mistaken in this belief, but it's a charming attempt. Anyway, it was fun. We got to meet his friend and eat good food, and it was overall a nice adventure.

Wednesday was district meeting and English Practice. It was funny doing English Practice. We started out talking about perserverance, but we ended up talking about how horrible K-Mart is, Little Ceasar's, and the general idea of American fast-food. Funny enough, that's not an odd shift for an English Practice. I think it's actually happened before.

On Thursday we met with our friend Olya in the park next to the apartment that we closed down at the end of last month. We couldn't find anyway to get home after that, so we ended up home pretty late.

Friday's English Practice was pretty fun. I made up a game with Elder Mayberry that is sort of like Clue. We drew a map of a manor on the board and we secretly made one person the murderer. Everyone closes their eyes, and then the murderer opens their eyes and points out their victim. Then everyone opens their eyes. Everyone has to find a partner and chose a room to go into. There can't be more than one pair in a room, so you have to pair up quick if you want to get the room of your choosing. If the murderer can pair up with his victim or get into the room next door to his victim, they're successful. Everyone else has to try and figure out who the murderer is. If everybody unanimously agrees, they can tie up one person. If you tie up the wrong person, the murderer wins.

That was fun. It was also fun playing Bang afterwards. I've mentioned Bang before, but this game was particularly fun. In Bang there are 3 bandits, 2 deputies, a renegade, and a sheriff. The only person who reveals their role is the sheriff. The bandits have to kill the sheriff, the sheriff has to kill the bandits without killing his deputies, and the deputies have to help the sheriff without killing each other in the process. I was a bandit sitting right next to the sheriff. Sister Hendricks was sitting on the other side of the sheriff, and I was pretty sure that she was a bandit. So, I killed her and pretended that I was a deputy for a while. Everyone bought it. Then, when the time was right and everyone was comfortable with the fact that I was a real deputy, I turned and shot the sheriff and enjoyed the shock on everyone's faces. It was fun.

On Saturday we had a Sport Fest for the branch and for our investigators. A lot of people came. Not as many as came for the BBQ, but still a lot of people. It was pretty successful.

Church was good on Sunday. After church we met with our friend Aleks again.

Well, that was basically my week. I think. I can never really be sure, the days are running on pretty quick now.

Anyway, peace!

Elder Robison