Week 69 - I love being a missionary here in Reedley

So this week was one full of meetings.. I had a total of 2.. but that's still a lot in one week So these are what they were:

Elder Arnold Zone Conference: We were able to be blessed with the opportunity to have a member of the 70 come and train us at our Zone Conference. He is such a spiritual giant and it amazes me how much he has the spirit with him. He taught us a ton but the thing that he taught us the most was about how much we really just need to love. We need to love our leaders (edify them) we need to love the people we teach (work as hard as we can) love the members (serve them and never talk badly about them) love the lord (fully consecrate ourselves). It was really cool and really inspiring. I loved hearing from him. I definitely have a whole plethora of things that I am dedicated to working on so that I can be better and truly show my love for everyone here but especially for the Lord.

District Leader Training: So first of all the coolest part about this one is that my trainee was there with me!! Elder Collins is a district leader. It was so cool to have him there and hear his input. He really is such a good missionary and I'm so proud of how hard he's working! Our president pretty much just trained us a TON on how we need to be the examples to this mission. It is our job to set the example and to live it. He also talked a lot about how we need to work hard at keeping everyone accountable and work hard at helping them do it.

Besides that it was a great week. I love being a missionary here in Reedley. It really has shown me what it means to find prepared people! There are so many here. It's amazing to me how much love you start to have for these people that you really don't know very well. I truly do love them and want the best for them. I love y'all so much and hope that you have an amazing week!!!!!!

Love,

Elder Robertson

Service Project #1

Service Project #2

A couple of the Elders from my district crashing out after lunch hahah

HAWAIIAN HAYSTACKS!!! (Matt's favorite)

Week 68 - Going to a party

This week was really great. We found a new investigator named Jason and he is sooo prepared! When we taught him the Restoration he responded with, "Y'all probably aren't going to believe be but when we've been talking and especially when we talked about Joseph Smith and circle of relaxation came over me." We taught him how that was the spirit and he committed to be baptized on October 3rd! He even came to church on Sunday!! It was so awesome. He participated like crazy in the classes and really enjoyed church. We also are teaching his siblings and his mom. He's the one who seems the most interested right now though.

My district is on fire as well! This past week was super good. Everyone is seeing a ton of success. I love it. It's so amazing how true of a statement it was that Alma said that he rejoiced more in the fact that his brethren had seen success. When I see these missionaries having success it just makes me super happy!!

We got to go to this party for one of the members in the ward. It was her birthday! It was the most effective party in the world. We found like 15 potential investigators. Everyone was willing to talk to us and they all gave us their address. There was some Latina music playing though which as a little distracting because I can understand it now haha. Plus... I'm definitely learning how to dance that when I get home! It looks sooo stinking fun!!

I love y'all! Have an amaing week!

Love,

Elder Robertson

Us at the party

our mini weight collection.

maybe I can finally lose some of this grasa que tengo! Quien sabe!

Week 67 - Got a mini-missionary

So my new companion is awesome! He's from Argentina, his name is Elder Rearte, and practically my best friend. He's super cool. We're a ton alike and get along great. It's going to be an awesome transfer coming up! It's been a crazy past week though... here's kind of the highlights.

New companion and Open your mouth:

When the new missionaries come in their first day some missionaries take them on something called open your mouth. It's basically just taking them out for two hours and contacting people in a random area. Well we went and did that up in fresno for the first part of being companions. So that was cool. We got to have some fun with that. But we didn't get back to our area until 8 that night... so that day was pretty shot.

Opening the new area:

Thursday.. the next day after open your mouth. I had to prepare EVERYTHING for the new missionaries that were coming in to split up my area. I had to set up their apartment. I had to set up all their documents. So we were doing that all day. When they finally came I had to show them around and then we headed to MCM. The meeting took FOREVER!!! Literally.. it was like an hour and 20 minutes. it's supposed to be like 15 minutes. So that day was pretty much destroyed after that as well.

Leadership Meeting and special ops:

The next day we had a meeting in Hanford, weekly planning and then a mini mission thing for the stake so we weren't in our area all day until 9. Literally the 3rd day in a row that we hadn't been in our area working. But we got a mini missionary and that was fun! His name was alex

Two missionaries left this weekend so we had to do a bunch of splits this past weekend. Pretty much all in all... it was a crazy intense week with sadly, little missionary work! But it was good! Love y'all tons and hope y'all have a good week :)

Love,

Elder Robertson

Elder Rearte and I

Me studying on the floor cause our mini-missionary was using my chair

Elder Rearte and I and our Mini-missionary

Our mini missionary. Let's just say missionary work was a little more demanding than I think he expected.

the missionary I took on "open your mouth"

Week 66 - A new companion from Argentina

I just want to share my testimony of this amazing gospel. It really is amazing how people have given their lives for this faith. And the wonderful joy that it brings to each of us every day. I don't know how to better say it than that I love my Savior and thank him every day for the opportunity he has given me to grow up in this, his true gospel!

So this past week was great. We had a lot happen. So first off transfers happened. Dun dun dunnnn. Elder Bean is getting transferred :(. We only got one transfer together! It totally stinks. He is an awesome missionary and a great companion but I know that he has other places to be. He has been in this area for ages so it was time for him to move on. My new companion is from Argentina!!! say whaaaat! I love argentines! I'm stoked. My spanish is going to improve so much. We also got our area split in half. We were covering two huge cities and now we only have to cover one of them. President put more missionaries into the other city. However... there are a lot of people I love in that city (Dinuba) So it's gonna be hard not seeing them as often anymore. But it's all good!

Jesus, one of our investigators, came to church this past Sunday! He is the brother of a less active member. It was so awesome that they came. They have a giant family so it made Sacrament meeting look like we had a ton of people there. They are super awesome and like straight from Mexico so they're super fun. We had a lesson with them in which out of no where I felt prompted to teach them about eternal families and the temple. It was a super powerful lesson and at the end my companion testified to them that it was true and that he had never even told me about their plan that they had been making to try and get to the temple as a family. I had no idea about that! It was just a really cool way to see the spirit working through us :) But yeah, they came to church and it was super awesome!!

We played Volleyball last monday and Elder Bean is stinking good. I didn't realize how much I really love that sport when you're playing with a lot of people who know what they're doing. Sorry that was random but it was something cool that kind of happened this week.

We had a lesson with Margarita. A suuuper short awesome mexican older lady who is like our mom. Literally she calls all of us "mijo". She was baptized in January. She's really struggling and it was super hard to hear what she is going through. It's amazing how much empathy you really develop for these people. But the coolest part is that she came to church even though it's really hard for her because of her situation at her house. And you could just see how happy she was and how much it lifted her spirits to be at church! Her smile just filled the whole chapel it was amazing!

It's been an amazing time with Elder Bean and I'm sad to watch him go. But I'm excited for what's in store with Elder Rearte (my new companion). Missionary work is the greatest and I absolutely love it more than anything. Thanks for being so awesome and being the best examples in the whole world. I love y'all so much and hope that y'all have an amazing week!!

Love,

Elder Robertson

Sushi!! - one of the last meals with Elder Bean as companions. We had to.

Margarita - This is Margarita and her grand daughters with Elder Bean!!

Alma - One of the recent converts in the area. She's awesome!

Week 65 - I love it I love it I love it!

I've really come to see something that I wish I would have realized about ya know 10 years ago. I realized that living below your potential is lame. I'm learning for the first time in my life how to push myself. How to not be afraid of failure and not be afraid of being called a "try hard" or being afraid of anything except for what God thinks. I wish I could explain this in words because I'm not gonna do a very good job putting it into text so I'm sorry for that. I just realized that the Lord wants my best. MY best. Not just the best compared to others. Not just really good.. but the best! It's changing my whole mission and my life. I'm ridding myself of all things that have to do with the word complacency. It's humbling.. oh super humbling because I realize how much I fall short. But then so empowering because for the first time I have to rely on the Saviors atonement. I'm trying to go places I've never been before. Trying to do things I've never done before. But he has. So he's the one who can help me get there! I love it I love it I love it! The mission really is the best two years. :)

This past week was a wonderful one. We set two baptismal dates! Woooo! One with a woman named Maria. She's very old and super sick but wants to get baptized. It will be an uphill battle but one that's worth it :) She's shooting for the 27th of September. The other is Bartola who is the most awesome lady ever. She wants to be baptized to follow Jesus Christ and will prepare for September 20th. After my companion finished saying a prayer asking God to help her prepare for that date she clapped her hands and jumped up and down all giddy like saying how excited she was! It was the cutest thing ever! She's like 70. Oh the joy of this area.

Christian, a 16 year old boy that we baptized 3 weeks ago or so has been having a really hard time getting to church and hadn't received the Holy Ghost for a while. Yesterday though he finally came to church and received the Holy Ghost!! It was so awesome to stand in that circle and feel God's love for that young man. He's going to have a bit of a battle since none of his family are members and he can't drive yet. We're working closely with the young men's presidency though to set up good fellowship and rides for him to church!

As well... I like jumped up and down like a fool yesterday at church. We are teaching a woman named Sara. She is super nice and super humble. We have taught her 3 or so times and she's super prepared. She has a few doubts but is earnestly seeking. Her sister is a member but goes to the Spanish ward in Fresno. They've been saying that some time they might come to church in our ward but that they didn't know. Well, yesterday they showed up all in dresses and everything!! I was soo happy to see them. They seemed like they had a really good time and Sara seemed very happy. She even stayed after church for a baptism of the other elders.

Salina's wet wedding was amazing! That is when they are married and then baptized right after kind of in the same service. The ward up there did such a good job organizing it and it was such a wonderful baptism! Everything went smoothly and I loved seeing them and seeing their joy! It was good to see everyone from Chowchilla that was there as well. I sure do miss a lot of those people. One awesome thing. Salina bore her testimony at the end and read Moroni 10:4. She read it then bore an incredibly powerful testimony that she had done that and knows that this is true. She brought the spirit so strongly and then told everyone they can find a "dude with a name tag" and that we'll give them a Book of Mormon. I seriously love her! She's the bomb.

There is nothing like what I am doing. I wish I could express the joy that I get to feel as I see these people coming closer to Christ. I love y'all so much and will send you pictures of Salina's baptism next week.... I kinda forgot my camera so I have to wait for Elder Lybbert to send me the pictures and I'll forward them to y'all :) Sorry!! I hope y'all have an amazing week.

Love,

Elder Robertson

SALINNNAA!!! This was her wedding.

SALINNNAA PT 2!! Her and her fiance's baptism right before the wedding.

The awesome pens you sent!!!

A view of my daily planner -- using the new pens.

We hit 20000 miles in our car and I thought it was cool haha

Week 64 - Oh how sacred and special the temple really is

So I don't have a ton of time today but it's because of some really amazing news! So the first part is that I have preparation day today due to going to the temple today. (Sorry I forgot to tell you, it just totally slipped my mind.) It was an amazing session and I really felt the spirit of revelation so strongly it was awesome. I had some really cool experiences in the celestial room with Heavenly Father answering some of my prayers about things that I've been trying to figure out while here in Reedley. Oh how sacred and special the temple really is. I'm so grateful for the amazing blessing to go every 3 months. What an amazing blessing I have in this mission! 

Alright... the second part is the really exciting part.... SALINA'S GETTING BAPTIZED!!!!!! Oh my goodness. The glory of this day is very very high. I get to go back to Merced today and get to go baptize Bo (her fiance, soon to be husband today). I can't tell you how much joy I have since I found out that it's happening and especially today as the hour gets closer. I can't believe how far she has come. She is perfect evidence of the power of the Atonement and how it can change someone. Oh I love her and her family so much! This is seriously one of the best days of my whole entire life. I wish that I was better at writing and expressing myself through this so I could just say how happy I was!!!!!! fadhhewaojfaowf WOOOOO!!! YESSSS!!! haha. 

This past week was awesome as well. I was able to go on exchanges for like half the time. Which is fun... but kind of hard since it takes me out of my area for the whole day. We found 16 new investigators this last week!! Say whaaaat!? People are super open down here. They are pretty humble and enjoy what we have to bring. We're working really hard on helping people progress. That's kind of the harder part haha. People love us coming over but driving to another city to go to church.... they're just not that dedicated yet. But we're helping them the best we can. 

I love this gospel y'all and am so privileged to be serving my Savior even though I'm so unqualified to represent him. I've definitely realized that over the past little while. Just how inadequate I am. It's definitely helped me lean on the Savior more so I'm very grateful for it. 

To answer your questions about always having the spirit to be with you. I only have one thing that I've seen kind of help recently. I realized how much I was thinking about myself. Not in a bad way. i was constantly thinking about how I could improve, how I could find more people and how I could help them get closer to Christ. It was a very righteous desire I was having. I wanted to help people. But I wasn't 100% focused on them. I started praying for love and charity. I have had some of the most tender and wonderful lessons the past couple of weeks because I've been overwhelmed with love for these people. As I've done so I've become a little more unselfish and been able to feel the influence of the Holy Ghost more because of it. I don't know if that helps at all. But I guess in short just seeking to love everyone and help people has helped me feel the spirit a ton. 

I love y'all so much!! Hope you have a wonderful week :)

Love,

Elder Robertson

Week 63 - This past week was kind of a bummer

This past week was kind of a bummer. We had a good week and were able to get some good lessons in. But none of them really went anywhere. We're really having a hard time getting people to church and having them keep commitments. A normal struggle for missionaries for sure but still something I really want to get a hold on so that I can help these people come unto Christ. 

Right now we have a ton of new investigators. They're all just starting to learn about the church so we're at square one with all of them. One that isn't is named Jen. She's super cool and someone I'm teaching in English. She's had a "rough life" to say the least. She's been through pretty much everything. But she is on the upswing of it so that's good! She has decided to quit smoking and is doing awesome at it. It's amazing to me what will power can really do for people. When they finally put their mind to it and of course when they have the Lord's help. Miracles happen! 

So I've been trying really hard to push myself this last week to be the best I can be. Not just a good quota missionary. But truly the best Elder Robertson that I can be. Which hey.. might just be a good quota missionary but I'll feel better cause I'll know I'm doing my best. It went pretty well. But there's still something missing. So I decided to do something called the Purification Challenge which is where I make a list of 10 things that are "distractions" from the work and I fast from them for 40 days. I'm excited to see where they go and how they help me. Two of them are no sarcasm and no arguing... so we'll see how it goes :) haha

I love that you're going to read the book of mormon before December!!! It's the best book in the world. I'll try and do the same. I'm on page 150 right now in one of my studies and I'll commit to finish it by Christmas! Woo here it goes! I love y'all so much and hope that y'all have a wonderful week!

Love,

Elder Robertson