Week 35 - I'm getting transferred to Las Americas

First off...LETS GO BYU THATS WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT BEATING THE NUMBER ONE TEAM IN THE NATION!!!!! Man I wish I could have seen that game. I really do miss BYU basketball.... But It's all good! I love hearing about it from Dad!

Sorry I am writing way earlier than I usually do! Today is the Independence day of the Dominican Republic, which by the way is super weird and nothing like the awesome 4th of July, 'merica! Plus they kind of celebrate it the way we celebrate Halloween by dressing up in costumes and everything but yeah! The streets are super dangerous for missionaries today so we had to cut p-day short so we could get a little bit of work done before we have to head home early!

Okay! Now I finally have some stuff to talk about!!

The first is I want yall to (virtually) meet M****, H****, and R****! (A picture will be included if I can upload it!) These three were nothing less than what I would call a miracle! So a little back story is that Elder Garcia and I prayed hard and put a goal at the beginning of this month and we both felt very strongly that if we did our part, the Lord would bless us with 4 souls that we could find and they would enter the waters of baptism this month. So the first one happened the first week with N**** but then after that the area just went dead. We were working so hard and trying to find people but with very little success and we weren't seeing very much support from the members. So basically the whole month was just a bust and super disappointing but we weren't letting it get to us because we were determined to make our goal, although we had no idea how and decided we had to settle for... wait for it... a miracle. So in the last week of the month our Elders quorum president said he had three references for us of the kids who have been going to church for over six months. We went over and met them and they were so prepared and just waiting on permission from their dad (who lives in Haiti) to get baptized and they finally had it and were super excited to get baptized and wanted to do it as early as possible! They are so awesome and were such a blessing in my life!

However, I wont be able to spend a ton of time with them because transfers came, and I am being transferred again after just one here in Villa Fransisca. I am actually kind of happy about it because there have been a few problems here with some of the members, just drama stuff. But I am going to a part of the country called Las Americas, although I don't think it is going to be much like America. :P My ward is called valiente A! My companions name is Elder Morales! I don't know him but everyone who does says he is really awesome! He is going home when President goes home here in a couple months so he doesn't have a ton of time left, but I am still going to be senior companion... what? I am interested to see if he is still down to work hard or just wants to coast through these last couple months. I am hoping that he is a hard worker because I could learn so much from him because he has so much experience! I don't know why but I am just super pumped for the next little while to see what it has in store for me!

That's about it! This week has been super amazing!! I love this place and I love this work so much!! I hope everyone has an amazing week!!

Love,

Elder Robertson

A baptism this week that I consider a miracle.

Week 34 - I got pretty sick

Well.. Really the only thing that happened this week is I got pretty sick. It was a pretty rough end of the week. But this week went by suuuuuper fast! Because of that I feel like not a ton has happened. I got the package! It was super awesome as always and I love my family so much! It had so many things that they don't sell here and it was just amazing. I swear those Russel Stover chocolate covered marshmallow things have some type of drug in them because they are soooo good and I ate them all the day I got them haha.

One thing that has been kind of cool is the language has just become a lot more natural. Like I have felt really comfortable in Spanish for a few months and I could comunicate, but the past couple weeks things have just felt super natural like it isn't even hard to speak or I don't have to think about it, it just comes out like how I feel when I am talking English. So that has been super awesome!

But yeah this ward has actually been super hard to work with and I am super grateful that there are amazing bishops like dad because we have actually been having a few problems with ours here. Is this week missionary week? That week was awesome! I loved that week and I feel like I was there like a week ago but nope, that was two years ago.. I can't wait to hear all about it because now we are all missionaries hahahah.

I apologize for all of the lack of pictures. The only internet center close to our house has pretty old computers and my camera doesn't connect with them. But I will send more when I can. I will know transfers this week and if I will be staying here in the capitol or moving to a different spot. Whatever happens I love being here and I love this work.

Sorry this is short but this week will be a lot more eventful!

LOVE YALL

Elder Robertson

We got a fun surprise when we got an email from a friend of Tyler's in the mission with this picture. The message was simply "Elder Robertson es mi amigo" which means Elder Robertson is my friend.

Week 33 - Happy Almost Valentine's Day

Hey yall! Happy Day of Saint Valentine tomorrow!! (As they say here)

This week was farely uneventful. We kind of dropped all of our investigators because the ones that were progressing already got baptized and all the other ones just werent progressing and werent really interested so basically this entire week has just been a ton of contacting! And I wish that I could say that it has been amazing and we have found a ton of people to teach but so far nothing haha. So do your missionaries a favor and give them a ton of references because those are a million times better than contacting!

One awesome thing that happened is Nicolas got confirmed! We had his baptism on Sunday so he waited to get confirmed until yesterday and then got the priesthood the same day! We went to his house and he and his uncle had a ton of questions because they are both recent converts and they are working to go to the temple this Saturday to do baptisms and are so pumped! They started telling us a whole list of names they want to do the work for! One of the biggest joys you can experience as a missionary is not only seeing someone get baptized, but seeing them being converted more and more every day and just so excited to have found the true church. It is super awesome being a missionary! One of the only downsides is that I have gotten a little sick. Nothing too bad but it's just a little cold and I have been a little sick to my stomach the past couple days but it isn't anything I can't handle! It will pass soon and I will be back to business!

But yeah that is about it so I guess I will share something I was studying this week! We had a Zone Conference a couple weeks ago and in it we talking about faith and how even the smallest of faith can bring to pass the greatest of miracles! And I was thinking  wow, if a little faith and bring to pass great miracles, what can a lot of faith do? So I determined that I need to have more faith, I want to have more faith so the Lord really can do his work through my hands, but how do I do that? I was studying on how I can grow my faith and I stumbled upon a quote that I absolutely love. Bruce R. McConkie once taught, ¨Faith is a gift of God bestowed as a reward for personal rightousness. It is always given when righteousness is present, and the greater the measure of obedience to God's laws, the greater will be the endowment of faith.¨

So basically gaining a stronger faith is super easy! It just takes being a little more obedientª Something I am trying and will continue to try to do is always be more obedient to the commandments of God and the rules of the mission because that is the best way to make my faith grow, and when my faith grows, I become a better missionary.

That was just a quick little thought I had while I was studying this past week that I wanted to share!

Oh and yesterday I met two random Americans who came to our ward so if yall get a random picture of me from a random number, they asked if I wanted them to send a picture to yall so yeah!

I hope everyone has an amazing week!!

LOVE YALL!!

Sorry still can't send pictures....

Elder Robertson

Not completely sure what this is. It's like a giant religious building that is super old. Tourist go here a lot.

Not completely sure what this is. It's like a giant religious building that is super old. Tourist go here a lot.

Not completely sure what this is. It's like a giant religious building that is super old. Tourist go here a lot.

Week 32 - Q and A

Okay before I get started I just want to say that I am so glad that I have such an amazing family! My dad got called to be a bishop and it is really weird not being there with them but I am so glad that I will be able to come home and be recieved by Bishop Robertson! I am so grateful for how spiritual he is and I am so excited to here all of the stories that comes from this calling over the next few years!

To fill everyone in no we did not reach our goal of 300 baptisms this month. The Lord blessed us with 255 almas who got baptized, which is amazing and actually the most this mission has ever seen in a month, but it wasn't our goal. We learned that there were a few people who were holding us back and weren't in on the goal with us, like someone having a smartphone and a couple people having problems with girls but we learned that the Lord follows through on his promises when we do what we say. We will keep reaching for the goal but I know we will get it before President Corbitt goes home in July.

ANDDD

Last week dad asked me 10 questions that he has been wondering and I thought it would be a good topic to email about so here yall go:

1) What is the best thing about being a missionary?

Wow this is such a hard question to answer because there are so many amazing things! But I think I will have to go basic because it is the most obvious. The absolute best thing about being a missionary is seeing the joy that comes into other peoples lives as they accept the gospel and apply the Atonement to them. It really is true what it says in D. y C. 18 that your joy will be super huge if you bring one or more souls unto Christ.

2) What is the hardest thing about being a missionary?

I think I got to quote Elder Holland to answer this one from a talk he gave in the MTC in 2001 (I think.) He said, "Anyone who does and kind of missionary work will have occasion to ask, Why is this so hard? Why can't our success be more rapid? Why aren't there more people joining the Church? Why isn't the only risk in missionary work that of pneumonia from being soaking wet all day and all night in the baptismal font?" Yes it is a little funny and a little obsurred (?) but really it is so true! The more I am here and the more I learn and the more I teach, by far the hardest thing is trying to bring this gospel into the lives of others and knowing that it can help them more than they know, and still seeing them not wanting it, not wanting to accept it for whatever reason it is. It actually hurts my heart sometimes seeing this happen...

3) What is one of your strengths you've discovered on your mission?

Well I would have to say that I am really humble.. Nah jk this is a hard question to answer. I think one of the things that the Lord has really helped me with here on the mission is being able to connect with others and really see what they are feeling and what they need. I think the Lord has really blessed me with the gift of discernment, as long as I am living in a way to hold that gift of the Spirit.

4) What is one of you weaknesses you've discovered on your mission)

Ah this question is also hard to answer, but only because I have so many of them! I actually think one thing, which is kind of ironic based on the beginning on my last response, is that I need to work on being more humble. Being here I have had many opportunities to be wrong and many opportunities to improve. But one thing about me is I really don't like to be wrong. So something I have really been trying to work on is admitting my faults, knowing when I have made a mistake or when I have something I can improve on, and letting the Atonement of Jesus Christ take over my life and help me change and improve.

5) What principle of the gospel have you appreciated by being on your mission?

Well I could sit here for the next year and 5 months and talk about all the things I have learned and all the principles of this gospel I have come to appreciate the most. But I will have to go with a quote from Joseph Smith on this one who said that all things that pertain to our religion are only appendages of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Remember the question was what I have come to appreciate not what I have come to understand. The Atonement is the fundamental doctrine, the doctrine of doctrines. Through the Atonement we can do all things and all things are made possible. I have learned so much about this topic and want to keep learning for the rest of my mission and the rest of my life.

6) Have you noticed a difference between American missionaries and those from other countries?

Well I don't know how well I can answer this question because I have only have one American companion so most of my actual experience with real missionary work has been with Latins. And really there are a few differences but the big one I have seen is that the Latins companions I have had are just not super efficient. Like just in planning and doing things they seem to do it all the harder way. I have always been about working smart rather than hard (not to say I don't work hard... jaja)

7) What missionary habit or activity do you most want to keep doing when you are home ( hypothetically for the rest of your life)?

Definitely taking mondays off from every day life and just relaxing. Nah broma. This is actually something I have talked about with Christian and Zach is how we want to keep studying the docterine. Something I have loved doing is just learning. Even though I don't know if I will always have time to study for one hour at the same time every day I definitely want to take a chunk of time often to study the gospel and the church. There are so many amazing things I have learned and have yet to learn. We know that as we learn more about Jesus Christ we are more inclined to follow him so I want to keep studying the gospel and learning about all the different teachings and principles for the rest of my life.

8) What is one attribute of the Savior you have come to appreciate of your mission?

I have come to appreciate many of them if not all of them. But one that has really improved in my own life is pacience. It has been something I think the Lord really decided I needed to work on because he has been giving me so many opportunities to excersize patience. Whether it be with my companion or an investigator or some random guy who says something in the street. It really is an attribute of Christ that helps develop all of the other attributes.

9) What is one principal of leadership you have come to appreciate on your mission?

On this one I am going to quote my brother. When I got called to be a district leader I asked if he had any advice and he said the key to being a good leader is love. Charity, the pure love of Christ. It is definitely the key to a good leader. If a leader can't learn to love the people who he serves, it is going to be a lot harder. Once that person decides to develop that charity for those people, they will start to see and care for those people and all of their lives in a way he didn't think possible. He wants to help them be the best they can only because he wants the best for them. Charity is real and I have been able to feel a small portion of how the savior feels about us with some of the opportuinities he has given me. Especially one but I will save that story for another day.

10) What advice would you give to Brittany or, say, a priest on our ward who is preparing to serve a mission?

The first thing is GO TO SEMENARY WHILE YO U STILL CAN!! No I will add something to that, go AND PAY ATTENTION in seminary while you still can!! I am so glad that I had loving parents and siblings (cough cough thanks Britt for waking me up for two years) who encouraged me to go to seminary. If someone wants to prepare for a mission, the things they learn in seminary are MAJORLY important! Especially this year, I think they are learning about the New Testament right? Learning about the life of the savior and his mission is very important. I have especially enjoyed studying the mission of the Apostles because a lot of the same things they are instructed to do apply directly to my life as a missionary. The other thing is study the books of the church, focussing on the standard works. Gain a firm testimony of the Book of Mormon. That book will be the key in the entire year and a half or two years of convincing the world of the truth of the Restored Gospel. There is a very real reason Joseph Smith named in the keystone of our religion. The other thing I would encourage to do, one thing I wish I did before I left, read Preach My Gospel. Start from the beginning and just read it all, it will be a huge help in preparing for missionary life and what you will be doing on a mission. The last thing and I know this wont happen for a while, but once you can, go to the temple as many times as you can before your mission! The things you can learn in the temple will help and bless the rest of your life and especially the lives of those you serve.

Well sorry that was a little long but those are the best shortest answers I can give to those questions. I could answer in much longer detail but for yalls sake I will leave them at that ;P

The last thing is that we had another baptism!! A guy named Nicolas got baptized and it was super awesome! He had been going to church for a while but didn't want to talk to the missionaries or get baptized for some reason. We started going over there and he started to get more comfortable with us and finally opened up to us about a lot of fears he had to get baptized. So we worked with him on all of them and it was such neat experience to watch him get baptized, especially to see his uncle perform the ordinance who is a recent convert himself of only 3 months! These computers still are horrible and can't seem to send pictures but I will keep trying until I find one where I can!


I love yall!! I am so proud of everyone!! Have an amazing week!!

Love,

Elder Robertson