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Excerpts from Mike's Letter Home:

11/04/2002

Dear Parents,

Now I am writing you from the exotic location of Poteau, OK. (Well, it may not be exotic... but it is the home of the world's largest hill. No, I am not joking...if it were any higher it would have to be considered a mountain.)

So, far, the Bartlesville area looks much more appealing. Though it is nice to see a big hill. We had to get up at 5 a.m. on the morning of transfers to drive down to Tulsa. Also of note is I got to do my first real driving on the mission in a Dodge Strata. I drove between Muskogee, OK and Ft. Smith, AR. It was nice experience for me. Though, when I got to Poteau...I found it surprising members were asking me if I had my diver's license. The driving missionary in Poteau before I got here had decided he wouldn't drive again. This was brought on by a traumatic incident that had happened when I first got to the mission field. The missionary had been hit by a car while he was riding a bicycle in Tulsa. He had been physically fine, but mentally he was losing it until about a week ago, when the President sent him home. So, I became the designated driver when I got here, since my senior companion has had a few seizures in the past. We are driving a Ford Focus...and in case you were thinking about it, don't buy one.

My senior companion is Elder Karlinsey. He has been out for about 13 months and he has been in the Poteau Branch since about May. Before his mission he lived in Elko, NV for about 3 weeks. Before that he lived in Sahuarita, AZ.

Right now, I still have a lot to learn about the area, so I cannot tell you too much about it here. Average sacrament attendance is around 60 and we have some good prospects on the horizon. We visited a member's house last night that had cockroaches and fleas everywhere. I had to keep tapping my foot to try and keep them away. Also, the house was pretty dirty, as you can imagine. After we left, Elder Karlinsey told me "wow, they have cleaned it some." And he was serious! Oh well, at least I will be more thankful for what I have...and possibly more motivated to keep my home clean. Let me know if you have any questions about anything.

I didn't learn the answer question "what do missionaries do on Halloween night?", because I was busy packing. I assume we would have probably focused on member work if I had not been packing. Still, it's hard to believe I was knocking on doors all Halloween day and I only got 3 pieces of candy (from 1 person).

Now for the temporal thinks, First off, Dad can the CD thing a little easier.. since our car doesn't have a CD player. However, if you want to try cassette, we do have one of those. Also, I need 1 more of the green highlighters. Did you get the package I sent home?

I want to say that I miss you all and I have very much appreciated all the cards, packages, and letters. I especially want to thank Grandma since I haven't had a chance to write her every week. I wish you all the best.

Love,
Elder Mike Robinson

P.S. Glad to hear you went back to the 9:00 a.m. church time. Tell Curtis Hart congratulations on the Eagle project, it is great.

Dad asked about the tall building in the photos. If you were referring to the building with the green towards the top, I don't know the exact name of it. One person called it something like "a tree in the city." However, we were told that it's big claim to fame is that Frank Lloyd Wright designed it and it has no perfect right angles on the outside.

The bridge in the photos is on "The Pathfinder Parkway" crossing the Laney River. We used it whenever we had to ride to the other side of Bartlesville.

s