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