Week 13 - I'm pretty sure I witnessed a miracle

Doctrine & Covenants 18:15 has been the only scripture on my mind until now. And I did not know or understand what it meant until two days ago. I got to participate in my first baptismal service! It was so incredible!! Her name is N**** and she has been working with the missionaries and been going to church for a really long time but has never wanted to get baptized. She had a super strong testimony but for some reason just didn't want to take that step. When I got here she was one of my first appointments and so we started working with her and we felt like the best thing to do was to just be her friend. She ended up opening up to us and sharing a lot of things and a lot of her concerns but ultimately made the decision that she wanted to be baptized! And then even more, she asked me to baptize her!!! Of course I accepted but I was freaking out because I had never done that before let alone in Spanish! I didn't even know what I was supposed to say in Spanish!!

We had to go prepare the font for baptism and apparently the ward I am in hasn't had a baptism for a while so we had to completely clean out the font because it was nasty. We told her to get there early so we could get changed and take pictures and all that good stuff. We got there around 5:45 and she wasn't there. So we waited, and waited. And finally around 6:20 she showed up. It actually wasn't that bad because apparently a lot of the sisters in the ward don't have a lot of priesthood holders in their lives so when the ward has a baptism a bunch of people show up and ask for blessings. So before we had the service we gave like 4 different blessings but luckily Elder M**** knew I was scared to death to give a blessing so he let me just assist for all of them.

Quick side note about one of the blessings. It was this old lady who looked super sick and came hobbling up to us really slowly and asked up for a blessing. We went in and had to help her into the chair and everything and I felt super bad for her like she could have called us and we could have gone to her house. I felt bad that she came all the way to the church. So we go on with the blessing and Elder M**** gives a wonderful blessing in which we could feel the spirit so strong. Apparently so could she because as soon as we said "amen" she jumped up out of the chair (literally) shook both of our hands and strolled out the door laughing and smiling so I'm pretty sure I witnessed a miracle there.

Anyways back to the story. So N**** finally showed up and we got dressed super quick and she was sooo nervous. We tried to ask her why but she just didn't know. All she said is she was just very nervous. But it's okay because I was kinda freaking out too. But the service actually ended up being beautiful and the spirit was so strong there.

I can't even describe the feeling when the guy said it was time to proceed with the baptism. My heart was pounding as I went first into the font (there is only one door into our font) and she followed and then she looked up at me and was like "hey so what is going to happen (in spanish obviously)" and tried to explain it but I'm not sure how well she understood. I ended up just telling her "when I say amen, bend your knees" and I could tell she was nervous because she was cutting off the circulation in my hand from holding my wrist so tight. So I start saying what I need to (I learned what to say barely) but when I got to the part where I say "en el nombre del Padre, y del Hijo, y del Esp..." at this point she flings herself backwards and I freak out because I haven't finished yet so I am literally holding her up and the end of the prayer turns into "yelEspírituSantoamen" super fast and then baptize her.

The interesting thing is the moment she came out of the water I could tell that all of her worries were gone, as well as mine. Before both of us were feeling really nervous and now, I could tell that we felt nothing but pure joy.

I share that scripture in the beginning because I didn't know how true it was and what pure joy felt like until I got to help bring one soul unto Christ. It is a joy that I can't quite explain but it is something that I am still feeling today. It is something that I don't want to go away so now I have to focus on the next verse and work on bringing many souls unto Christ.

The only other thing I want to share because it was awesome is I cut down a giant mango tree this week with a machete! It was for service and it took foreverrrrr and my hands hurt so bad but it was awesome!!! Also mom asked me a while ago if we could eat at members houses and here in this area we can a lot more! The problem is the power goes out a lot and most of our dinner appointments are at night when it is dark so most of the time all the food only tastes like skittles (sorry for everyone who isn't in my family and doesn't get that inside joke).

But anyways I love you all so much and am always thinking and praying for you!!

Have an amazing week!!

Love,

Elder Robertson

The first baptismal service I got to participate in on my mission. It was so amazing.

Week 12 - I am having thoughts in Spanish now

Okay, so I was thinking about something the other day. It is really hard to keep animo (look that word up because I can't think of what it means in English haha) when you are in a foreign language mission. My entire first area was super hard because I felt like I didn't know the language at all and I could't talk to people or share my feelings or my testimony. It was quite discouraging.

But something weird happened when I got here. I don't know if it is because I have to speak Spanish because no one else speaks English or what but I have felt so much more comfortable speaking Spanish and I am teaching like half of our lessons and whatever it is, I am just doing so much better here! Elder M**** is awesome! We work super well together and we are already really good friends! I am in a house with another set of Elders and we all are super good friends and it is so awesome.

Elder M**** and I have been working like crazy this past week. And it has paid off. We have found so many people! We even found some people who had already been to church in the past and started teaching them again. We even put a baptism date with a few of them and one of them is for this coming Saturday!

One thing I did take advantage of is the house in my last area. It is way nice compared to this one.. The nice thing is we have power longer here. But we have no running water. So all of our water is in these big barrels and if we want to cook, clean, shower, use the toilet, or anything we have to take buckets and use them. So yes, I am showering out of a bucket every day so that has been interesting!

One interesting thing that happened the other day is that we were walking down the street and a guy called me over and started talking to me in English. He told me he was from Brooklyn and was visiting family and then asked me what I had to do to join the church! I was like hey this is awesome. So then I tried explaining our purpose as missionaries and then it dawned on me that I have never done it in English and for whatever reason I just couldn't explain it very well in English! I tried but it just wasn't working and I ended up having to explain it all in Spanish. I am having thoughts in Spanish now too and that is freaking me out!

The last thing is a quote and I can't remember for the life of me where I heard it but it applies to me as well as all member missionaries. Someone said that "This is the Lord's work and we have the privilege to participate. The Lord will do his work if we don't get in the way."And, that is so true and I am doing my best to be a tool in the Lord's hand. I have really high hopes for this area and I love and miss everyone so much!!

Love,

Elder Robertson

Me and my new companion from Costa Rica.

Yes, I am showering out of a bucket every day so that has been interesting! 

A picture of all four Elders who live in my house.

Week 11 - I'm getting transfered

I am being transferred. I was only here one transfer and I am kind of sad that I am leaving because there is so much potential in this area that Elder R**** and I have been working on and next transfer we already have baptisms set and other people who we were going to extend a baptism invitation this week.  But, it's okay.

I am super excited for my new area! I am going a little closer to Santo Domingo to a little town called Sabana Perdido. My new area is called Lotes y Servicios. Also my new companion, Elder M****, is from Costa Rica and, yep, doesn't speak a lick of English.  So, it is going to be super hard because I know a lot but anytime I need to know a word or a phrase I always had Elder R**** to bail me out. So this next transfer is going to be super hard but I also feel like I am going to learn so much!! So I am super excited to go!

As for everything else, I got to take an investigator to the temple and that was super awesome!! Her name is D**** and she is going to be baptized next transfer. President Corbitt showed up and gave a small little lecture so that was also awesome.

To answer a few questions you've asked...Cooking wise, we have gas stoves so the stoves always work, we have refrigerators but we have to be careful because the power goes out a lot but usually if it is something not too fragile as long as we keep it closed it stays cold enough to keep things preserved. We eat out a little but we only get 4300 pesos per 15 days (which is a little less than $100) so we don't eat out a ton. And no we don't really eat at members houses. There are one or two in every area but we have to be super careful because a lot of families will feed us before they feed their own family so we tend to just not do it unless we know that it is cooked safely and the family has a little more money.

That is about all I have to say. I have spent all day packing and getting ready to move to a new place in the morning! I am sooo happy and love being out here so much! I am learning and growing so much!

 I hope everyone has an amazing week!!!!

Elder Robertson

This is what happens here when it rains. The streets flood partly because everyone throws their trash in the streets so it will wash away when it rains. But, the real effect is that it clogs the drains and we get this.

This is what happens here when it rains. The streets flood partly because everyone throws their trash in the streets so it will wash away when it rains. But, the real effect is that it clogs the drains and we get this.

I found one can of Dr. Pepper in a store here so that was awesome

Me and my daughter (the puppy) because the other girl says we are both blonde so she is my daughter.

My companion and I got to take an investigator to the temple and that was super awesome!!

Week 10 - The most exhausting week of my mission

This week has by far been the most exhausting and longest week of my mission! It has felt like every single one of our appointments have fallen through. So there was a ton of walking and I tried to contact as much as possible but we have a small area and it feels like we have talked to everyone already. But I am trying my hardest and I am optimistic for this month!

A weird thing, I miss math a ton! The math program in this country is way far behind. We teach a girl names M**** and she is a senior in high school. And she is doing math that I learned how to do in 5th grade. It is kinda fun because everytime we go over she asks if we will check her homework for her so I get to do a little math but I kinda miss crazy hard math classes like Calculus.

I don´t think I have talked about my ward mission leader yet. He is an older man and speaks with a very thick dominican accent where he cuts off all of his S's or adds some S's where they don't belong (apparently another really common thing here). He also cuts off the ends of a lot of his words. So correlation meetings harder than normal to get through when I don't know exactly what he is saying. When he asks me a question and I don't understand I look to Elder R**** for help and he is just as lost as I am because he has a hard time understanding him too! It's all good though, it is just kinda funny sometimes when we are both super lost when we are talking to him.

There is a phrase here that people say often. It is "si Dios quiere" which literally translates to "if God wants." People use it like "alright we will see you at church tomorrow!" "si Dios quiere." Like, WHERE ELSE WOULD HE WANT YOU TO BE. And I know it is just a phrase but I haven't gotten used to it yet.

One last observation. Noise restrictions aren't really a thing here either. So, we get to hear interesting noises when we are trying to go to bed and the people outside are blasting music, some of it that is not very missionary appropriate. So I try to not pay attention to it.

On a positive note, I finally got to play basketball!! Not a ton of Elders in my zone like to play so I haven't been able to play yet but we finally oraganized a game and played for a long time and it was super awesome to get back out on the court! Our Stake Center has a really nice indoor wood court which almost none of the churches has so it is awesome.

Also a quick thing from my studies this week. There was a time where I'm pretty sure it was Nephi talking and he said that he delights in the plainess of the Doctrine of Christ. In Spanish it says that he delights in the clarity of the Docterine of Christ. I love that how they are almost completely different words but then if you think about it they almost aren't. Christ has given us such clear instructions on how to recieve exaltation and it is up to us. It is so plainly written that is is also so clear and honestly not that hard. As long as we constantly try to follow Christ and keep his commandments, we can have eternal life with our families and also with our Heavenly Father. It is such an amazing gift and something we should be striving for every day. I miss you guys so much and I love hearing from everyone!!

I love you all and hope everyone has an amazing week!!!

Con amor,

Elder Robertson