Week 103 - My Parting Testimony

[Elder Robertson returns home from his 2-Year Mission on Wednesday, May 25. This is his last letter home.]

THE BAPTISM HAPPENED AND IT WAS SOOOOO BEAUTIFUL! I'm just gonna send y'all my testimony for my last email and then I will tell y'all all the stories in a couple of days. :) I love y'all!!

After two years of serving the Lord every waking moment of every day, I've come to know many truths. I think the most profound and the one that has impacted me the most is the reality of the Savior's infinite Atonement.

I remember 2 years ago I always thought it was interesting and even a little peculiar how all of the seasoned missionaries would always talk about the Atonement. I had always thought of the Atonement as what we have to use when we make a mistake. On that note, I have definitely gained a testimony of that as well (that being the cleansing and healing power of the Atonement). I have come to learn the other half of it, the enabling power of the Atonement. I'm sure at some point, probably multiple, I had been taught about it in church. Furthermore, I'm sure I even thought that I understood what it was! Ha. I didn't have a clue.

With love and appreciation to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, I can now say that I know what it is. I don't by any means fully understand it or even fully comprehend exactly what it means. What I do know is that it is real. ANY challenge or hardship in my life that I am going through can be worked through with it. I know that the Atonement is real because I have felt it. I have felt my physical body and emotional self be wasted to the point of giving up and something carries me the rest of the way. I have seen my inadequacies grow to strengths so that I can do what the Lord needs me to do when He needs me to do it.

I don't think I will ever be able to effectively put into words the love I have for my Savior. I know that He is the Only Begotten of the Father. I know that He suffered and died for everyone but more specifically, for me. I know that. I know that He loves me more that I know and He will always be there for me. I know that I have a Father in Heaven who is all powerful and wants nothing more than to help me succeed in this life and in the next. I know that for that exact reason He sent His Son and the Holy Ghost. I know that with all three of them and their incredible and unique roles I can live with my Heavenly Father again.

The restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ beginning with the first vision in 1820 is a fact. It happened. There's no way it didn't. We have undeniable evidence found throughout every page in the Book of Mormon. That book is pure gold. Through the precepts and principles found in it we can gain eternal life. I know that book is true. I have seen it change my life. More so, I have seen it change the lives of so many others. Through Joseph Smith and the priesthood keys which were restored to him we can once again, in these latter days, access the precious gift of the Atonement that our Savior gave to us.

I love this gospel with all of my heart. There are so many other things that I would love to share but these are the fundamentals. I know that there is no other way to get back to heaven than through our Savior, Jesus Christ. I have served him for 2 years with everything I had. My only wish now is to serve him forever with everything that I have. I say all of these things en el nombre de Jesucristo, amen.

I love y'all and can't wait to see y'all!!!

Love,

Elder Robertson

The Rodriguez family baptism

And the sisters baptism! She's 85! It was super neat. It was an amazing day for sure.

Week 102 - We had 14 people come to church

I hope that y'all had a great last week! Ours was awesome. We had 14 people come to church this last Sunday!! It was really awesome. We had a new investigator that we found this last week named Juan Carlos. He's super cool and seems like he is super interested in the gospel. He gave us a maybe for church this last Sunday so we weren't really expecting him to come. But he did!! It was awesome. It seemed like he really liked it as well. We also had 2 families come which was super awesome. I love when families come. They really are the best to teach because they get to enjoy everything that the church has to offer.

The Rodriguez family is getting baptized on Sunday!!! It's going to be so exciting!! They're so awesome and prepared. Erick (the dad) and Miclo (the 15 yr old son) went on the Father Son campout with the stake. They LOVED it. They came back and were just telling us story after story of how great it was. They were also talking like they were members they kept saying oh si, todos los barrios de la estaca estaban. Conocimos al presidente de la estaca. y el hermano esto hizo esto y el otro hermano hizo esta. They were pretty much just using all the lingo. It was really cool. They were at church and are super excited to get baptized this upcoming Sunday.

We ate dinner with our bishop's family last night. They're an amazing family. He gave us a really amazing compliment. There used to be 10 missionaries serving in this ward. He told us that we are doing as much if not more work than they were doing. It was an amazing compliment and helped us stay fired up to keep working hard. He's an amazing bishop and helping the ward out a ton. I'm going to miss this ward more than I can describe!

Other than that it was just a wonderful week of teaching people the wonderful gospel and such! I love my mission and I'm excited for all the things the Lord has in store for this week. I love y'all tons!!

Love,

Elder Robertson

Our bishop and his family. The Chandler Family

Us with some luchador masks!

Week 101 - Happy Mother's Day

It was so fun talking to y'all yesterday!! Oh how excited I am to be able to just hang out with y'all and talk and laugh. It'll be wonderful. Mom, happy mother's day again. I really do think it's amazing how much you have and do sacrifice for us! That goes for you too Dad! It really blows me away :)

This past week was good. I had a great time with our new investigators who all came to church, the Rodriguez family! We're really hoping for amazing things with them. I think they might even get baptized before I leave :D I'm sorry my letter is short but I don't have a ton of time! I'll talk to y'all next week. I love y'all soooo much! The Sequoias were amazing as well!!!!

Love,

Elder Robertson

[We got to talk to Matt on Mother's Day via Skype. This is our 4th and final Skype during his mission.]

One last trip to the Sequoias before I head home.

A really big tree

Week 100 - ¡¡Felice Cien!!

It was really weird yesterday because it was my last fast and testimony meeting on my mission. I, of course, got up and bore my testimony. I'm super sad that I'm having to do my "last" of some things... it's really weird.

It was a great week though! Elder Olsen and I found 10 new people to teach!!! WOOOO!! We also got to see the amazing baptism of Angelica and Moises. It seriously went amazingly. I loved watching them get baptized. I loved especially seeing Angelica's husband, Javi (short for Javier), baptize his wife. It was a very special day. Angelica shared her testimony at her baptism and it was so beautiful!!! She talked about how she knew that she had taken one step closer to heavenly father and that he will always be there with her through the hard times. It was a very amazing testimony as well as an amazing service. They are doing so well and have already talked and are working on setting a date to be sealed!!!!! Moises also loved it and shared with us some really neat things about how he knew how important it was that he had gotten baptized. He's 11 and seriously understands the gospel so very well, it's amazing.

Maria and her family didn't come to church though... that was sad! We were really hoping for them to come. But I'm sure they'll be there next week. They're going to get baptized soon as well which is super awesome! It's amazing how many prepared people there are here! We met with this really cool Salvadoreña family last night and met more of their family members! One of them was even talking about how he wants to learn from us so that one day his son can go on a mission! How cool!!!

Although Maria and her family didn't come we had a cool miracle happen! His name is Jose! He walked into Sacrament meeting and says that he wants to be a part of our church! He stayed for all three hours and loved the classes. It was suuuuper cool! It was a really nice blessing as well because we were pretty down about Maria not coming. He's an older gentleman but very spry. He's around 80 yrs old or so!! He knows his Bible very well though. Hopefully he'll see the truth in the church and progress!! We're very excited!

I love y'all a ton and love my mission. There is no greater place on Earth than being where God wants you to be! I know that where I am is that place. I love this gospel and I love my Savior! Gracias por todo lo que hagan para mi!! Les amo mucho!!

Love,

Elder Robertson

Angelica and her husband Javier who baptized her

Moises before getting baptized

Moises before his baptism

Week 99 - Raquel's Baptism

Great week this last week! I'm just gonna tell like 3 stories cause there were some really cool ones this last week!!

Raquel: Oh the baptism was so amazing. It was so neat to watch her get baptized. I think the coolest part though was her testimony. She has the sweetest and strongest testimony. At her baptism she got the opportunity to share it. She bore a powerful testimony about prayer and how she had received an undeniable witness that this is the true church. She has worked through a ton to get her to where she is today! It was amazing to see it. Plus it's kinda cool. They're actually moving to Visalia here shortly so I'll be able to visit them! :D Tender mercies!!!

La familia Salvadoreña: Esta familia es increíble! A penas se muvieron de allí paraca. Conocimos al papa hace como 2 semanas. Enseñamos a él y no lo hemos visto desde entonces. Pues anoche tuvimos una inspiración de ir y visitarles. Que inspiración era!!! Todo su familia estaba y enseñamos a todos de ellos. El tiene 2 hijos. Una chica se llama Christela, ella tiene 16 años. Y tambien Marvin! El tiene 12 años. Les enseñamos la restauración!! El espíritu fue super fuerte en la lección. Tengo mucha esperanza por ellos!!!! Creo que todos van a progresar en el evangelio y llegar a ser bautizados. Yee :)

Amber: So this one is suuuper cool. It doesn't have anything to do with my area though. I was on an exchange with Elder Mo'o (one of the assistants). We were having a decent night but not really teaching a whole lot of people. We visited this lady named Amber who was a potential. She was super cool and friendly towards us. She told us she had quite a bit of family that were members of the church but that she didn't really have  any interest in joining because she didn't believe quite a few points of our doctrine. Elder Mo'o and I shared an amazing lesson on the spirit and how God answers prayers. We talked about why it is so important to listen to your heart AND to your mind because that's how God communicates to us through the Holy Ghost. It was a spiritual lesson and we had a lot of hopes that her heart might be softened after that lesson and that she'd want to listen to us a little bit more.

So it was pretty cool but I didn't think a ton of it. Well yesterday I got a call from Elder Mo'o and Elder Checketts. They were super ecstatic and almost on the verge of yelling haha. They told me that Amber had actually come to church and stayed for all 3 hours she said that she had been super touched by our lesson a few nights before and she had taken it all to heart and was searching the scriptures and opened to a scripture that, paraphrasing, talks about the need for a restoration. She said that it was the first time that something started to make sense in her mind and that she felt with her heart as well! They set a date with her at church to be baptized on the 21st of May!!! It was a super cool miracle even though it didn't happen in my area! I might get to go back and see her baptism!!

Just some cool stories from this last week. There are many more and I'll share em with you some day! I love y'all so much and am so grateful for all the support! Please let me know if there's anything at all that I can do for y'all!! Tyler!! Keep preparing hard for the mission :) I'm so proud of you going through the temple! That is soooo awesome!

Love,

Elder Robertson

Raquel's baptism!!

Week 98 - I'm finishing in Visalia!

Okay... Y'all there is a hidden treasure here in the valley. It's called Visalia!! This place is amazing and so is the ward. I seriously love it here. This city is actually a lot like Austin which is kind of cool. It has some of the similar cultures and such. But my new companion Elder Olsen is awesome!!! We're like exactly the same. It's pretty awesome. We're working suuuuper hard. We have 5 baptisms lined up for the 30th of this month and I get to go back and see Raquel's baptism this Friday!!!! This transfer is seriously going to be one I'll never forget. I've already fallen in love with this ward and I'm super sad I only get to be here one transfer. Heck, I'd live in this city! I really do love it. So just to give you a bit of info on some of the wonderful people we're teaching.

La familia Reyna (Maria, Maggie, and José): They are an awesome family with the most sincere desire ever! They came to church yesterday and loved every minute of it. It was so fun watching them leave after the third hour with huge smiles on their faces and an excitement to keep progressing in the gospel. They are all so solid. Maggie has read like half the children's book of mormon and we gave it to her like 4 days ago haha. Maria can't read unfortunately but no worries, that doesn't get her down at all. We downloaded the gospel library app on her phone and taught her how to play the audio version... she's read (listened) every single day since then and is on chapter 12 or so of 1 Nephi. They're amazing!

Angelica: She's suuuper cool. She's 21 and a newly wed of a LA member named Javier. Javier has since come back to church and is fully worthy to baptize her now!!! So that's super exciting. She is super awesome and loves the church. She also has been reading pretty consistently which is amazing. We were teaching her about Joseph Smith the other day (reviewing the first lesson even though she'd been taught it already) and she said the coolest thing! She talked about how she knows the Book of Mormon is true because when she reads it she feels it is true.. She said that she can't deny that she feels the spirit every time she reads it!! WOW! I can't wait for a year from now when I get to fly back to Fresno and watch these 2 get sealed together for all eternity with their little baby boy!

Moises: He is an 11 yr old of a less active family. They have since come back to church and are doing great. He's so awesome! He's one of the brightest kids I've ever met!!! We taught him the 10 commandments the other day and he remembered like all of them. I'm super excited for him. I really think it's amazing how somebody that age is really able to understand the baptismal covenant. We were going over the baptismal questions with him and he has the neatest testimony of what it means to repent. It really is amazing to me how simple this gospel really is! I love it!!!

Oh there are sooooo many other miracles!! We found 8 new investigators this past week as well. It was amazing!!! I'm super excited to see what miracles keep happening here. This is a really special place and one I will never forget. I love my mission more than anything. I'm going to give everything I've got every single moment of every single day. There is no greater work in all the world than this one. Thank y'all for all y'all's support!! I hope y'all have an amazing week and I love y'all a ton!!!

Love,

Elder Robertson

A giant sequoia tree at the Sequoia national forest. I'm here with my new companion, Elder Olson (next to me), Elder Bishop, and Elder Johnson

At Sequoia national forest

A panoramic of the beautiful mountains

Week 97 - I am full of different emotions

I am full of different emotions. I think the most powerful one right now is just the full on desire to sprint to the end. To just give it absolutely everything I have. I can't wait to come home and teach all of y'all Spanish. It's gonna need to become the new language of our family because it is just so wonderful! It's exciting to me that I'll get to be with the whole family for a while.

So... drum roll please! I won't actually be ending in Hanford. I got a curve ball. I'm getting transferred for my last transfer. I'm going to go to a Spanish ward to end!! Wooohhooooo! I'm going to miss Hanford a lot though. I've given it everything I ever could here and it's made me love this place. I've grown to love the people and the members a ton. It's a great ward and I'm sad to have to leave it.

I'm still going to be a zone leader though. I'm going to be companions with Elder Olson (from Colorado). He's super cool!! We always joked about being companions since he's gotten to the mission. And now it's happening. I know that he will be an awesome companion for me to just work really hard with!! I'm excited for it. I'm really grateful to be able to end it with the Spanish people. They have my heart for sure. It will be super awesome. I'm gonna miss Elder Perkins too though. It's been super cool getting to serve super close to him. We're gonna be great friends after the mission!

So the big story of this last week is Raquel. I've told y'all about her before. She is the one with the 5 little girls. They are an amazing family. I love being with them and am going to miss them a ton. But she is going to get baptized here in a week and a half!!! I'm super excited. She is so awesome! We went over the baptismal interview questions with her yesterday and she answered them is the most amazing way. When she was telling us about how she got an answer to know that the church was true she was brought to tears. She shared some of the most tender experiences with the Holy Ghost that I have heard on my mission. I'm so excited for her to enter the waters of baptism.

It's moments like those that seriously make me never want to leave this place. Seeing people connect these things and seeing how very important it is to them just overpowers me with joy!! I love this work more than anything!! And another sweet tender mercy is that Raquel and Elijah are actually going to be moving shortly after her baptism and we were kind of worried about it. We were worried that they might get lost in transit and with the hustle and bustle of it all. But I'm getting sent to the same city, Visalia, that they're moving to!! I can make sure that they meet the bishop, missionaries, home teachers, the whole nine yards!! It's just a blessing to see how much of a hand the Lord really has in all of this work.

I know that Jesus Christ lives and loves all of us. I know that no matter what, we are still in his reach. I can't believe how much of a friend and companion he can and wants to be. I loved every minute of my mission and I'm grateful for the remaining time I have left! I love this gospel and know it's true with all of my soul!! I love y'all and hope that y'all have an amazing week.

Love,

Elder Robertson