Week 52 - One Year :O

First things first, HAPPY BIRTHDAY (yesterday) BRITTANY! I can't believe you are 18! That is insane that you are an adult and will be heading up to college! I hope you had an amazing day!

Well, I finally did it! One year down in the mission! It definitely doesn't feel like I left so long ago! But it was one of the best worst weeks of my life!

The best thing that happened this week was Luzandry got baptized! She is the sister of the two kids who got baptized a few weeks ago! She has been really nervous about it all week but we kept inviting her to pray for strength and the entire day and the day after her baptism I didn't see her once without a smile on her face.

The down part about this week is I got pretty sick again. It started off with just a bad cold and then I had a fever so those days are always hard walking around especially when the sun is beating down so hard. But we did have a few really awesome experiences.

One day while we were out in the morning and nothing really seemed to be going right. All of our appointments falling and everything. I just wanted to go back home and rest so we could leave in the afternoon which is usually more productive. As we were walking back to the house I got a very small impression to go and contact this one street that I have been wanting to contact for a little while. I kind of ignored it at first and continued on home. Before we got there I had the feeling again and told my companions that we should go back (we had just come from that area) and they thought I was crazy. But we ended up going back and contacting that street. And all I am going to say is I have never been rejected more in my entire mission haha. We started just going house to house and one by one they were just turning us away and had no interest at all. I remember thinking when we were almost done, "Why did we come here?" but then we went on to the very last house on the street, contacted the lady in the house...and got rejected.

I won't lie I was a little discouraged but right as she said bye to us I called to her and just asked if she knew anyone that would be interested in hearing our message. She thought for a second and then directed us to a house that none of us saw and were going to completely pass it if we hadn't seen it. So we went there and we found a woman named Yanet who is sooo prepared to hear the gospel and really needs it in her life considering she is a mother of 5 and her husband left her. We haven't had the opportunity to meet her kids yet because they were visiting a family member for a while but I am so excited to start working with them and it was such a good reminder that the Lord is preparing a lot of people to hear the gospel and if we do our part, we can help bring a huge joy into their lives.

Today for p-day we got together with a few of the members of the ward and played basketball. It was a ton of fun and I really miss playing. I actually really miss playing on wood courts but there are a few scattered here and there so maybe one p-day we will head down to one of those.

As tradition here in the mission I burned a shirt for my one year mark. I am really lucky that there are a ton of missionaries who just leave a lot of clothes in houses before they go so I don't actually have to burn my own stuff :D

Thank you all for all the love and support! I miss y'all and love y'all but also know this church is true and love exactly what I am doing. I woulnd't want to be in any other place right now (maybe just if it was a little cooler here) Have an amazing week!!

Elder Robertson

My one-year mark and the tradition to burn a shirt

Week 51 - Happy (Late) Father's Day

Hellooo! Another email comin' at ya from the Dominican Republic.

Okay so first of all I want to give a huge shout out to my Father for being the best dad in the world and even though I am one day late, Happy Fathers Day!!!

Alright, so this email won't be super long because there isn't a ton to report on. But I will jump right into it and tell y'all about my new companion Elder Valle. He is from Costa Rica and has about 14 months here in the mission. He is a good guy and loves to joke around. But he does have a desire to work so we want to do a lot in the 9 week transfer.

Yesterday was Stake Conference here in my stake and it was awesome! It is kind of hard to explain but sometimes being here in sacrament meetings don't feel a ton like sacrament meetings. Like they are a little unorganized or something happens that is just weird, but yesterday was super cool because it felt like a good real church meeting. The theme was Lehi's dream and the iron rod. Guys it is so important to know and study what it all means and especially keep the word of God in our lives. We have to study the scriptures every single day. I have learned that principle more on my mission and it is something that I want to keep doing after my mission but having a daily dose of scriptures really puts your mind right to start the day.

The rest of the week was kind of hard because Elder Valle got pretty sick so we couldn't do a whole ton. I really really don't like staying in the house. I feel like I am just wasting my time. But at times I don't have control over it when it is my companion who is sick so that was a little hard this week.

Quick little update on the branch -- we have been looking for a place that we could build a chapel because as of right now we are just meeting in a house. And we found a really good place! Our branch president went with the church engineer to go take a look at it and we should start building there next month!! We are sooo close! I cannot leave this place without leaving the branch with the requirements to be a ward!

Wow, I can't believe how fast the mission is going by! This week I am going to hit a year in the mission. It is crazy that I am already half way done. I can't waste a single day of the next half of my mission!

I love y'all and miss everyone so much!

Love,

Elder Robertson

My new companion, Elder Valle

Week 50 - I am staying

Hello Family and Friends!

First of all I just want to send a huge shoutout to Elise for being a TEENAGER today!! Feliz Cumpleaños!!

Secondly, we received transfers and as it turns out I was exactly right, I am staying here in Valiente until August! Well now I actually think it will be a little longer than that but we will see. Unfortunately I am staying here in a trio with Elder Prosman and a guy from Costa Rica named Elder Valle. It is really hard to be in a trio but I am super excited for the next nine weeks! I know it is going to be super hard but one of the best experiences ever! And I am still set on leaving this branch with the requirements met to become a ward. And now I have just enough time to do it! Also Elder Morales left, he finished his mission and is headed back to Mexico. I also know that Elder Valle is a super hard worker so I am PUMPED for this transfer!!

Last Monday for P day we did something awesome! Elder Prosman's birthday was the first of this month and to celebrate he wanted to go eat somewhere nice (and offered to pay.) Well there aren't a ton of places that are super nice here and the few that are you have to go pretty far away. So we headed down to the capitol and went to this one mall that had a Chili's in it! It is kind of funny because before my mission I would never have considered Chili's a super nice restaurant but that was the nicest place I had been in for almost a year! Also, I don't know if this is true about all Chili's, but the one here made me miss home a tooon for one simple reason...IT IS COMPLETELY TEXAS BASED!! Like there were sooooo many things from Texas, road signs, pictures, cowboy hats and whatnot. It was so much fun but I was dying the whole time. And to make matters worse, IT WAS PLAYING COUNTRY MUSIC! I haven't heard country music the entire time I have been here in the country. It was sooo much fun and I got a steak which was probably risky because any meat not fully cooked could be kind of dangerous here but oh my gosh it was soooo amazing! I think I will want to go back there when my birthday comes around jaja.

It is so weird to me that so many things are happening back home. I still honestly feel like my life there is paused and nothing is actually happening but then at times I realize that there is so much! Matt is engaged, Britt graduated, Elise turns 13 today, Britt is going to turn 18 this month, and Matt will be married in a month and a half! I'm not going to lie at times it is a little hard to miss so much but it is so worth it and I love the work here.

The work side of things are going pretty well. We are still trying to find a lot more people. We have done a ton of contacting and found a lot of people who aren't really interested but then we have also found a lot of people who have a lot of potential! We committed one guy to baptism two days ago! I am making a super awesome plan on what has to be done and what we have to do as missionaries to get this branch into a ward. I will keep y'all updated on my progress!

It was so fun to hear about girls camp! I remember that place very well and it was so much fun! I miss the mountains! But I don't miss biting insects. We only have mosquitos here and although they aren't fun I don't miss fire ants or chiggers!

Love y'all so much and hope y'all have an amazing week!

Love,

Elder Robertson

Celebrating Elder Prosman's birthday at Chili's

Week 49 - One Year Left

Hello beloved family and friends!

Another week has gone by here in the DR! Lets get into the week!

First of all I am freaking out, because even though I don't hit my year mark until the 22nd of this month, I am scheduled to go home exactly one year from today, THE MISSION IS FLYING BY SO FAST! And I am missing a ton of things! Like CONGRATULATIONS BRITTANY FOR GRADUATING! I am so sad that I missed it but I am so excited for you to go to BYU! It definitely made me think and put things into perspective for me. I want to work even harder than I am and need to take advantage of every second! And as our misión manual says (at least what is translates to from Spanish is) "The period that I can serve the Lord with all my time and all my effort is extremely short." I can't let a second of this next year go to waste.

The biggest thing that happened is we had two more baptisms! Brenny and Harlin! We found them a long time ago just walking. I am pretty sure I was in my first couple weeks here because I remember that I was super lost. But Elder Morales and I were walking and we Heard someone calling to us. We looked around us for a bit because we couldn't find who was talking but then out of this house that looked abandoned popped one of the kids and told us that their mom wanted to talk to us. We went over and just had a brief conversation and it turns out that the mom was a member but she had been inactive for a long time but wanted to come back to church and wanted her kids to get baptized also. We started working with them but had some troubles teaching them just with schedules and everything but they ended up coming to church and really liking it and their mom started coming back to church and now she is active again. So they got baptized and now we are working with their older sister who also likes the church but isn't super sure about baptism. But we will keep working with them and we will see what happens!

We also had Zone Conference!!! It was a fun but sad but super spiritual Zone Conference. It was sad because was our last Zone Conference with President Corbitt. But because it was his last one with us, it was suuuuuuper awesome and very spiritual. I wish y'all could have been there because it is really hard to describe exactly what happened and everything. I have learned so much about faith with President Corbitt. Almost entirely from Revelations 12 and a few other scriptures here and there from the Book of Mormon. But faith really is the start of everything, and it is an actual power that can change our lives. But something super awesome that happened is we saw a Little video clip that President and Hermana Smith (our next misión president) recorded. I am SOO excited to meet them and hit the ground running with whatever he has planned. He has worked as a mechanical engineer for years, but he specializes in working on stealth bomber planes and helping them be more stealthy! I am so excited to meet them!! Their Spanish seems a little iffy and it looked like they were Reading off of a script but it's okay it will be so much fun but it is going to be a big change!

I took a couple pictures that were super funny to me so let me explain them. One of them we were out at the second counselors house of the branch just coordinating a couple things, and his wife was there with him. We were just sitting there and I hear a phone ring. I look over at her and she says "hold up, my cell pone is ringing." And then she pulled that phone out of her bag and it probably isn't very funny to y'all but it was sooo funny to me. Partly because she is kind of crazy but it is a classic I am in the DR pic.

The second one is with Elder Morales. Because he is going home and flying through Panama he had to get a shot. But the doctor had to come from pretty far away and so when he got there it was pretty late. We were just walking and he came and found us. He told us to get in. And then I will just give the very short conversation we had:

Me: "So where would be the best place to do this, in the church or at our house?"

Dr. Flete: "It is just one shot right?"

Elder Morales: "Yes just one."

Dr. Flete: "Alright roll up your sleeve."

And that i show we turned an old beaten down car into a mobile hospital. Just another "I am in the DR" experience.

I really do love this country and the people here and I loove my misión! But that's it for now! I hope everyone has an amazing week and ENJOY SUMMER FOR ME!! Even though here it is summer all year long!

LOVE YALL!!

Elder Robertson

Baptism for Brenny and Harlin

Elder Morales getting a shot in an old beaten down car

Second Counselor's wife on her cell phone