I Love Fall

 

     I love the four seasons. Each season is uniquely enjoyable. I love the surprises of fall. One day it seems like winter is here and we need to get used to cold, gray days. The next day there is a beautiful blue sky and vibrant, glowing yellow leaves. The colors, the crisp air and the sound of leaves blowing down the road make me glad that fall is holding on for a little longer. 

     We went to a Fall Harvest dinner in the Templeview ward last week. President Smith of the Mission Presidency sponsored the dinner for his ward and invited the senior missionaries. He has lived in Alaska for 50 years and has worked as a hunting and fishing guide for many years. He cooks for the camp and knows so many ways to prepare every kind of fish and game. The buffet tables were full with so much food but I didn't think to get a picture until the end when most of it was gone. We had Black Bear Stew, Roasted Wild Turkey, Wild Boar (roast and ham--delicious!), Bacon-wrapped Dall Sheep (my favorite), Sitka Black-Tailed Deer in BBQ sauce (Elder Robinson's favorite), Moose sausage and Moose meatloaf, Caribou egg rolls (excellent), Smoked and Glazed Salmon and Baked Halibut. We ate way too much and still didn't get to taste everything. One of my favorite things was Ling Ling Pineapple. It is fresh pineapple with a Hawaiian powdered dried plum spice. It reminded me of eating at Rodizio grill with all of the different meat choices and a buffet of sides. I was surprised at how black the bear meat was in the stew. It tasted fine but I didn't like eating black meat. It was a fun experience. The Dall Sheep meat is a delicacy that costs $300/lb. Moose meat is used more like hamburger and most people have moose to cook with. 

     Our adventure this week was working on a washing machine to replace the drain pump. Elder Robinson found a 15-minute YouTube video that said it was a simple repair. We ordered the $29 part on Amazon and went to Eagle River to see how simple it really was. It was hard! I was so glad we had Elder Waldron and Elder Tanner there to do the heavy lifting and taking everything apart--then putting it back together. They were excellent with tools. It took 2 hrs but it was worth it. I was so impressed with the missionaries. They worked well together. 

     We had 5 missionaries come to dinner after church on Sunday. Nothing unusual (no wild meat) for dinner but it was fun to have company come. We really enjoyed cooking when we had visitors this past summer and fall. There was a lot of food and none of it was wasted. We had steak, loaded mashed potatoes, creamed corn, salad, green beans, Texas toast and apple dumplings with ice cream (Spencer made those on his mission and they called them "Robinsons"). I thought of Celina's mom in Florida and how good she is to cook dinner for missionaries (usually 4-8) on a regular basis. She is a wonderful cook and makes it look easy. The missionaries are so grateful for dinner invitations! 

     Spiritual Thought: When the missionaries come for dinner they leave a spiritual message or short lesson. The missionaries showed us a video called "Finding Christ During Difficult Times". It is on YouTube or the Church of Jesus Christ.org website. It is worth watching! (If you watch it as a family it might be more appropriate for older kids. It talks about suicide). I liked so many things about the video but his testimony at the end of the light and peace the gospel brought into his life is very sincere and moving. I felt that way too when I prayed to know if there was a God and if the Book of Mormon was true. I had an unmistakable feeling of light and peace. Even in hard times, that feeling helps me remember what I know is true. I have been grateful for this time on our mission to think more deeply about what the gospel of Jesus Christ means to me and what it has added to my life. It is like the delicious fruit in Lehi's dream in the Book of Mormon. Serving a mission makes you realize even more that you want to share that goodness with others. I am grateful to hear the testimony of members and converts here who share a love of the gospel. It makes such a difference! There is another video on YouTube (and also that we shared on Facebook) titled “I Never Felt the Truth…I always Ran the Other Direction”. Elder Lungren an Elder Andrus in our mission made the video. It is a little longer but well worth watching. I hope you will "make time for the Lord", as Pres. Nelson asked, in prayer, scriptures, the temple and following Jesus' example. The small things you do that are good will fortify you in difficult times. I know this is true.

     We love you and hope and pray for good things for you. Enjoy the beauties of fall this week if you can. We are excited that LeAnn is coming to Utah for a visit this week. What fun! You are such good brothers and sisters!

Love,

Elder and Sister Robinson 

     We saw this while driving and it made us look twice and laugh.

     We got “Boo’ed” for our ward Trunk or Treat this Saturday. The missionaries are sponsoring it and said most members here don’t know what it is. I hope it will be fun