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

Week 96 - My new release date is May 25

I have some big news. I talked with President Clark this last week after a meeting we had. Him and I counseled together on some things about my release date. As it was, i was going to be going home alone and a week early in the transfer due to the things that happened at the MTC. This would mean I'd miss out on some of the meetings that we have at the end of our missions with our mission president. As well I'd be missing Tyler as well. Him and I both felt that it would be best if I didn't end up extending. So I'm actually coming home on May 25th. It stings because that means I have one transfer left :( which we find out this Saturday where I'll be for that last transfer. BUT I'm super happy that I get to come home and be with the whole family for a little bit before Tyler leaves! I hope this doesn't throw a wrench into any plans or anything that y'all have. So.. I'll see y'all in a month and a half now.

This past week was amazing. I love conference. It's amazing to me how sweet of a thing conference has become for me. It has gone from conference bingo of the Sunday morning session. To the priesthood session and then still conference bingo of the Sunday morning session. To priesthood session and watching the sunday morning session. Finally, to my mission where I watch every session of conference. 

I remember my first conference in the mission. I remember thinking that it was a super long weekend. Don't get me wrong! I liked the talks and loved hearing them. I just wasn't used listening to 10 hrs of doctrine. Well this conference was 100% different. I couldn't get enough. this weekend seemed to fly by sadly. I watched it all in Spanish this time which was really cool. I love the language so much. I learned so much from everyone. I loved Elder Christofferson's talk on Fathers as well as Elder Ballard's talk on family councils. I loved them all really!! The reason the father talk stood out to me so much was, well first off, cause I love my dad so much and look up to him a ton. So I could just see how he has done such a good job of setting an example for me. As well because I have seen, my whole mission, the effects of not having a father in the home. It's been extremely rare that I've known the father of the people I teach. Most homes don't have the dad in it. And if they do.. they're not really actually present. It's taught me a lot.

This past week we found a new family!! The Bravo family. Which consists of Brother and Sister Bravo, Reina (17), Bryan (15), Enrique (8), and Fredrico (4). I'm so excited for them. They seem super interested in what we have. We ended our lesson with a prayer which we did kneeling down. We all went to the living room and kneeled down and it was beautiful! They were all gathered there as a family and Brother Bravo offered the prayer. He asked in his prayer to help his family grow in the gospel so they could be stronger as a family. I'm super hopeful for them!!

I'm pretty sure I'm going to be ending in Hanford. I'll find out on Saturday. But I'm going 100000 mph now. My mission got cut by a month... it's been the weirdest thing ever for me. I feel like I have 0 time left now. I'm doing everything I can to just give everything. I'm falling short sometimes but I know the Lord is helping me pick up the slack. I loved conference and love how it strengthened my testimony. Yo sé que este evangelio es verdadero. Yo sé con todo mi corazon que Jesucristo vive. Suplico cada día que puedo vivir mi vida en una manera que es honorable para él. Amo a él. Estoy tan agradecido por todos de ustedes! Les amo mucho. Se cuiden. 

Love,

Elder Robertson

Using the IHOP Gift Card y'all sent me. Thanks!

Elder Roberts and I heading out to preach the good word.

Week 95 - Happy Easter

[Matt's brother, Tyler, received his mission call to the Dominican Republic, also speaking Spanish. He also learned that he will leave on his mission 1 week before Matt gets home from his. So, they will miss each other by a week.]

SANTO DOMINGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hey that is sooooo exciting! I'll have to tell Elder Perez as well (that's where he was from). That's so exciting that he's learning español. Everyone in the family should just learn it now :D might as well!!! I'm so bummed about the missing him by a week but I'm sure the Lord will figure it all out. Tyler is going to love it in the DR. Everyone who I've met from there are the nicest people and say their country is beautiful. There's lots of really cool fields of just sugar cane! But yes... they do speak really fast. That's actually where I learned a ton of my Spanish was from Elder Perez so I actually still have a bit of an accent from him. They don't say really any of their 's's (not sure how to write that. They don't pronounce the letter s often). It will be a learning curve for sure but he'll get it!

This past week was a really amazing one. We had 7 people at church!!! It was super amazing. Granted it was Easter Sunday so it might of had a little bit to do with it. But we're hoping to keep it going for the next week so that we can help some of these amazing people enter the waters of baptism soon!! They're was a baptism this last week for a young 8 year old named Mesha. It was through the ward but we helped the ward by preparing her for baptism and helping their family continue to come back to church. They were less active before. It was a beautiful thing to see her be baptized and then to be able to confirm her was such and honor. She totally reminds me of Elise!! I've come to the conclusion that pretty much any little girl just reminds me of my little sisters... haha I've realized that I say the words "oh, your daughters remind me so much of my little sisters" I think it's just because I miss my sisters so dang much!!

Oh my goodness.. Y'all a sealing is an amazing thing. Especially when it involves two people you love so much!!! Ricardo and Vanessa got sealed this last weekend and it was the most amazing thing ever. It was so amazing to just see them but even more than that to be able to see them in their temple clothes making covenants with each other in order to be married for all time and all eternity. I seriously had no idea that I was going to feel the spirit as strongly as I did. I was just overcome with joy during the whole ceremony. I'm pretty sure it might have looked ridiculous but I had a huge smile on my face the entire time!! It was a huge testimony builder for sure that the power of priesthood and the sealing keys really are here on the Earth and our found in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Just a little response as well to y'all's Easter comments. I loved this past Easter. I'm not sure why but the whole day was just amazing. I felt the spirit so strong. I don't remember it being that amazing the last Easter but it very well might have been.  Our ward had fast and testimony meeting due to general conference so it was an interesting Easter meeting. It was a meeting all about people's testimonies on the Atonement which was really neat. I went to the Spanish sacrament meeting as well which made it really awesome as well.

I shared a scripture form Alma 7. It was in verse 11. I love that verse so much because of what it talks about in relation to the Atonement. It distinctly talks about how Christ suffered death so that we could be resurrected and then it talks about how he suffered all of our infirmities so that he could succor us. So that he could come to us and understand us. I just love that. This part isn't doctrine that I've read or anything but in my mind I picture that part of the Atonement something that he didn't have to do. Maybe he did. But to me it seems like he went the extra mile to suffer all of those things just so he could more fully understand us and better help us in this life. Over all it's just amazing to me how much he loves us and how much we really can feel that love every day.

I love my Savior so much. I know that he lives. I know it. I get to go out and tell the whole world (city of Hanford) that He lives. And because he lives we will live again and we can live in this life happy. I love y'all and am so grateful for everything that y'all do and for all the support. I hope that you have an amazing week!!!!!

Love,

Elder Robertson

Giant Easter Basket 

Mesha's baptism

Ricardo and Vanessa's Sealing

Some investigators we met

Ready to go out and do some work

our carpets got cleaned today so this is literally our entire apartment fit into the kitchen... haha

Week 94 - I have a new fire this past week

The area is picking up though so that is super exciting. I have a new fire this past week to seriously just work a ridiculous amount. I love it. I am just going 10000000 miles an hour. If it would be practical and would help at all I would run everywhere I went. But I don't think that it would help a whole lot and I think I'd freak some people out. But everything short of that is what I'm doing! I just love my mission. It's amazing to me that no matter where I've served, I just absolutely love it. It's amazing how no matter where I am the Lord seriously loves all his children the same.

Ricardo is getting sealed this week!!!!!!!!!!! I'M SO EXCITED!!!! It's going to be so amazing. On Saturday, I get to go to the sealing of Ricardo and Vanessa in the temple. I seriously can't put into words how happy and excited I am. I love that family so much and am so proud of the step they're going to take. It's going to bless their lives so much. I'll take pictures and send them to you next week.

I've been working really hard lately on making sure that I'm doing the same thing here in this area that I hope is being done for all of my recent converts in other areas. I'm working really hard on trying to help them come to church and continue to just absolutely love the gospel. There's really no point in this whole missionary thing if they don't stay faithful!! (paraphrasing President Hinckley). So I'm working really hard to make sure that we are focusing on finding like crazy and helping people learn about the gospel and be able to enter the waters of baptism as well as helping all those who have already done so be able to stay faithful and find all the joy that they can in this wonderful gospel.

I love y'all so much and hope that y'all have a great week. I'm super excited to hear about where Tyler is going! I can't wait.

Love,

Elder Robertson

Week 93 - You never go home

As far as my release date goes, it will still be June 29, 2016. The extra week will not effect me since I had already extended. So I will be leaving a week early from that transfer. That is super exciting that Tyler is going to get his mission call! I'm super stoked to see where he goes! I'm really hoping for Spanish speaking so we can hablar en espanol mucho!!! jaja.

I had an awesome exchange this past week with one of the Assistants, Elder Checketts. He's from Utah and a great elder. We had a great exchange and I learned a lot from him. He was a great example to me about how to just talk with every creeping thing out there. No matter if it is a little inconvenient. So that was really nice and super helpful for me to apply to my work. As well, it was cool to go to their area. They work up in Clovis which is the nicest part of the mission. There's a lot of homes there that remind me of Austin and the people are super similar as well. It's always cool to go up there cause I feel like I jive well with them.

We had a zone meeting this last week, which was awesome! The training we gave (Elder Roberts and I) was one of my favorite topics. It goes well with your advice dad. It was titled "Leave Your Nets". It's based off of a talk from Elder Holland which he gave in the MTC. It's an incredibly powerful talk. We basically trained on how we are to follow the same admonition that Christ gave the Apostles which was to "leave their nets" and to follow him. We talked about how this is going to be hard but ultimately it's just going to be a decision that we make.

I'm not sure if I ever shared this with you but I received a similar training about a year ago or so when I was up in Chowchilla. I remember still a quote that Elder Holland said that changed my mission. He said, paraphrasing, "Peter, you never go home. When I called you to be an apostle it was forever" and then he continues and turns it towards the missionaries and says "when I called you to be a missionary, it was forever". I remember thinking in my prideful snarky mind.. Oh well that doesn't apply to me because I obviously get to go home! But at that moment I remember the spirit teaching me a lesson I've tried to apply ever since. And that is that "I" never do come home. I'm sorry to say it but it's true, if I've served my mission right. I realized that Matthew that left June 4, 2014 better not be the Matthew that comes home June 29, 2016. If it is... Then I did something wrong. And that truly changed my mission. Ever since that moment I've tried my best to change and to become better. I'm still working my best at it but I know that I'm changing. I can feel it and I love it. So that's what we tried our best to do to teach our zone. That that is what their shooting for. To be changed. To become more like the Savior through dedicated and consecrated service to him.

So it rained here as well! It actually stormed a little bit which was the first time I've seen any form of heavy rain since being here so that was really cool. The valley really needs it too so that's nice. I've had a bit of allergies this week. They're pretty rough but nothing I can't handle. It's just annoying cause the medicine is so stinking expensive but I have to get it so that i can just function... I have  a feeling that in life, I'm gonna try and find somewhere to live where I'm not deathly allergic to the air hahah.

So I'm trying my best to eat healthy and do things the best I can food wise! It's expensive! I'm definitely learning how to budget better as well haha. On a serious note though. I love y'all. I'm so grateful for everything y'all do for me and all the love and support I feel. It's amazing to me the family that I have been blessed with and I try my best to show my gratitude the best I can. Y'all are incredible. I hope that y'all have an amazing week! I'm excited to hear where Tyler is going!!

Love,

Elder Robertson