29 August 2011

Hey!

 

I figure even though nobody but my buddy Tyler sent me an email I will send you one anyways cause my week was sweet! (haha EME, you got on too early and I hadn't written...yet!!)

 

So first we had a zone conference in which a general authority came whose name is Elder Lynn G. Robbins. He a very intelligent man. He told us about many ways to find new investigators. He told us about what kind of missionaries we have to be. He talked about different and fun ways to mark scriptures. It was a lot of fun having him there and it was very inspiring to us missionaries to hear all that he had to say. He told us that just by entering our mission, he could tell that there was a spirit of obedience. Because he has been to missions where he could tell that there was disobedience going on. This truly is the best mission ever!

 

Then on Friday we had a lesson with a less-active member who hasn't been to church in about 25 years. He told us that he used to have a testimony back when he was about 17 but has since lost that because he hasn't been nourishing it, but he said that he wanted to get that back. So we commited him to do the things that would bring his testimony back, pray, read the scriptures, and come to church, the primary answers. I didn't know those things were so important until I came out here and taught everybody that that is how you gain a testimony. The primary knows whats up. He came to church on sunday and seemed to enjoy himself. He was sitting with a ward missionary during the priesthood meetings. He told the ward missionary that the reason why he came was because the missionaries challenged me and it was the right time of my life. That was so awesome to hear! Even if we aren't getting baptisms, we are still bringing people back into the church. The Lord sure does prepare people that you may not know of.

 

So that was my cool story of the week.

 

Love,

Elder Robertson

 

ps (So I asked EME about the families he's teaching and also, we had a friend go to IN and said there was a lot of obesity, so I asked him if he noticed that)I see obesity more than you know. One of the families we are working with are going to move to missouri. The other one kind of half dropped us. They cancelled our appointment which makes 2 weeks of cancelled appointments. They said that we don't need to keep setting up appointments because they are so busy with their kids being back in school, which is a very bogus excuse. But they said they are going to keep coming to church, it is the weirdest situation I have been in out here. Love You!!

22 August 2011

Hey!

 

This week was kind of slow. We had a lot of appointments set up at the beginning of the week but most of them fell through as per usual. But that is the life of a missionary, right? But over all the week was pretty decent. The highlight was our presidents interviews. President Collins told me that I have been ready to take on the responsibilities of a senior companion few a few transfers no but he didn't make me one because I needed to be with the companions that I have been with for some reason that is unknown to me. Elder Empey told me that he had been talking to President Collins for a little while now about me becoming senior companion and that now would be a good opportunity for me to start preparing myself to take on those extra responsibilities. So my companion and I are going to start switching off every other being senior companion for a week. Should be fun!

 

On thursday we will be having Zone Conference in Kokomo. Elder Lynn G. Robbins who spoke in this last General Conference will be there and everybody is excited to hear what he will say to us. I will be taking some notes down so I won't forget it!

 

But that is pretty much all that is going on out here right now. Sorry I don't have more to report, I will have more next week.

 

Love,

Elder Robertson

ps, President Collins told me that we prbably wouldn't be moving after all.

15 August 2011

Hey there,

So my week here was pretty sweet. The weather has been cooling down and it has never felt so good here. Although we have been having a few cancelled appointments but what else is new.

So remember that family I told you about last week? We took the advice that was given to us from the ward council and it turned out much better than was anticipated. So the wife started the lesson by telling us where we left off(which was talking about baptism). So the whole lesson was all about addressing that concern. We used Acts 19:1-6 and the wife got right on board for getting re-baptized. The husband still had hesitancy. We said that if he were to be baptized again he would be able to hold the priesthood and be able to call down protection and angels from heaven for his family. That got the wife pretty teary eyed caused she had dreams about how God would be using her husband. The husband was definitely softened by that lesson. Then on Sunday they all came to church, kids and all. The wife stayed in the primary the whole time with the youngest son cause he didn't want to be alone. But the husband stayed with us the entire time. After all three hours the husband said to us "I really enjoyed it, we will be back next week". He is progressing so well. And what made that day even better was that the lessons in Sunday school and in priesthood were about how families can be eternal and we got him a proclamation to the family.

We picked up another family as well this week. They aren't married and the woman has a son and the man has 2 daughters and a son. The woman is a less active member and her son was baptized a few months ago. We asked the husband why he was interested in the church and he told us that he was bored with the catholic church and that it was too repetitious, it was the same thing over and over again. We asked the oldest daughter(who is 13) if she liked going to church and she said no. That whole family came to church as well and we asked that daughter how she felt about church and she said "this is much better than my other church!"

We have been so blessed with prepared people lately it has been so awesome! We have been so busy its not even funny. So that was pretty much the exciting things for this week. President Collins emailed me and told me that he knows of my skills and talents and that he will be utilizing me. He will just have to wait till next transfer. We are going to be having president interviews tomorrow. We will be going on exchanges with the assistants on friday. We have a zone conference next week and Elder Lynn G. Robbins of the seventy will be joining us. We are just going to have a crazy few weeks ahead of us. I will tell you all about it when it happens.

Love,
Elder Robertson 

8 August 2011

Hey There,

So this week was alright, there were a few appointments that fell through but the more solid investigators kept their appointments. We got the car back on Friday which was exciting and a huge relief. Although it would have been nice to have had it during the heat instead of this nice overcast weather that is semi Oregon-ish. I bought a suit from Goodwill a few weeks back and I had a member shorten the pant legs for me so that was cool. It is a sweet gray suit with criss cross lines on it, it is super awesome, I will take a picture in it one of these days.

So cool story of the week. We had a lesson with a new investigator couple who have 3 kids(ages:8, 5, 2). The wife has talked with missionaries before and has read the Book of Mormon all the way thru and believes every word of it, and she knows that Joseph Smith was a prophet. The husband isn't quite as spiritual as she is but he does have a good relationship with God. We had a great Restoration lesson with them and it went very well up until the very end when we invited them to baptism when they knew that these things are true. They were relating very well to everything up until that point. They have been baptized before and they think that if they are baptized again they will be going against their first baptism. So they got spooked a little when we brought up baptism but they are still willing to meet with us which is a huge relief. So we brought this up to the Ward Council and the first councilor of the bishopric told us to share with them Acts 19. That is where some saints were baptized unto John's baptism, so Peter or Paul(I can't remember who) baptizes them again and gives them the Holy Ghost. He told us to tell them their first baptism was by faith, this one will be by authority. So we are going back on Wednesday and we will bring this up to them and I will let you know how it goes. There is my story.

So here is the news you have been waiting for. I am not being transferred! I am staying with Elder Empey another transfer. This was a big surprise to me, I didn't think I was going to stay, I thought if I did stay I would train here but neither of those things happened which is okay with me. This is going to be my first area that I stay 6 months in. That's half a year! Crazy! I definitely knows how he feels, how long has he been out by the way?

One of the Zone Leaders is going home today and his companion is going to be stuck with us until he goes to transfers which will be fun. I don't know if you remember me telling you that my district leader down in Bloomington's was Elder Roberts, but he is my Zone Leader now. Pretty cool.

Love
Elder Robertson

1 August 2011

Hey Mom,

This week we didn't really get much storms, just a little bit of rain, it didn't even come down very hard. I have been getting super sweaty since we gave the car to the spanish elders on friday. I cannot tell you how tired I am of getting so hot and soaked with sweat, I can't wait for the cooler weather. But it sounds like you guys had fun at the beach and will have more fun at the beach this friday.

Nothing really exciting happened this week, most of our appointments fell through. Typical missionary work. But this week should be different, we have lots of appointments set up. But we still had a good time carrying out the work regardless of the setbacks.

(I asked him why they are moving out of the garage apt.): It is pretty warm in there, we sweat without moving at all. It is really tiny. That is all I really think the reasons are.



Love,
Elder Robertson

25 July 2011

Dear Mom,

 

This week has been the sweatiest of my entire life by far. We were on bikes from last friday until the one that just happened. Our mission president told us to not be outside for more than an hour at a time. So we went inside every so often to cool off. I don't think I have been losing any weight that I can tell, I can't tell for sure cause we don't have a scale. The heat wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for this dumb humidity. My whole body was almost soaked in sweat this entire last week, and I hate sweating.

 

I hope bro. Brown doesn't lose anything, he will be in my prayers. Give me an update on him if you can next week. That is pretty crazy that Katie is getting married so soon, I knew it was going to happen, it was just a matter of time. I usually just sleep in my shorts. Can't wait for the box! All I can remember about this week was that it was hot and sweaty the entire time, we didn't really have anything special happen. But I did run into the Kennedy's (from Columbia City) at a stake picnic we had to remember the pioneers. They definetely remember that I was a log roller and that I ate more than any missionary than they have ever seen. It was a lot of fun to see them again. I had a watermelon eating contest with a few other elders in the zone and I won, that was pretty exciting. Bro. Kennedy thought I was going to win too! So that is pretty much they exciting things that happened.

 

Love,

Elder Robertson

 

I let EME know the weather while we were on together and I thought I'd post it, so he can remember!

Good news!!  I just tracked your package and it is out for delivery so you will get it today!!!  I'm so excited for you!!!!!  Your mom must really love you or something!!!

 

So here is your weather forecast:

m, 88

t,91

w, 92

th, 94 t storms

f, 90, t storms

s, 89

s, 88

 

His response: Thank you so much Mom, you are awesome. and thanks for the forecast, I am glad it starts cooling down a little when we lose the car on friday.

18 July 2011

Dear Mom,

Sounds like your week has been packed. Definitely send me pictures of that stuff. The heat sucks really bad, I would much rather be freezing cold, I hate sweating. Yes I still have to ride a bike in this weather. I am trying to drink as much water as I can but I run out a lot of times cause we don't stop by the apartment unless we are on break. Living in this garage sucks, it is almost as hot inside as it is outside. We have a ceiling fan and two little ones that don't help all that much.

So my week flew by. I can't believe it is monday again already. We had a lot of scheduled lessons but about half of them fell through, that's missionary life for you! We got a sweet new investigator who lived a life a lot like the prodigal son, he has been in prison a couple times and he is starting to turn his life around. We taught him the restoration and at the end he said "now, you know I'm going to have to pray about this right?" We were like "please do!"

We have ridden our bikes a lot since we gave the car away on friday and we will be riding a lot until then as well. When I get home I am probably not going to ride a bike again unless I need to or if I want to do it for fun. I sure wish we had a full time car, it would make working a whole lot easier and we wouldn't sweat as much. So my week has been very busy but nothing really exciting to report.

Love,
Elder Robertson
Ever since my new companion came in here we have been going over to the church to play basketball and a bunch of other stuff. So we have been doing fun things for a few weeks now.

11 July 2011

Hello,

So, funny story, we went to go try by somebody yesterday and we talked to him for a little while and then we walked away. We were walking by somebodies house who we used to teach and then we saw her walking toward us on the sidewalk. When she got close enough we saw that she had some cocaine still on her nose!! Crazy lady drug addict!! Another time we were tracting and we walked up to this black guy who looked a lot like lil wayne with dreads and everything. As he was walking toward us i spied a pistol tucked into his shorts!! We in the GHETTO!! It is a good thing I am a missionary, cause if I wasn't I probably wouldn't last very long around here. Oh, mission experiences. It's a good thing I am a missionary otherwise I probably wouldn't last too long where I am right now.

So this week we commited Cory and Serena to get married. We are focusing on getting them married before we start for baptism. They didn't come to church like they said they would. We had a lesson with Kathy Hagan that was super awesome. We taught the restoration and the spirit was so thick you could cut it with a knife. We commited her to pray specifically about the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, and about coming to church. She came to church so something good must have came from that lesson. So those were pretty much the exciting things that happened this week.

Love,
Elder Robertson

5 July 2011

Hi Mom,

My 4th of July was pretty fun. We had a 4th of July Breakfast at the church with the ward which was fun. Then we went home and cleaned a little bit and I cut my hair. Then we went to the church again to play basketball and soccer with the zone leaders and the spanish elders. I am so sore from that, I haven't done anything that fast paced in a long time. The reason why I had to be with the zone leaders last week was because my companion left on monday so I had to be with somebody until transfers on wednesday. Then we went to the Appel's for Cecilia's birthday and for dinner, that was pretty fun. So that was my 4th of July here. We didn't see any fireworks.

I am happy to hear that you all had a great time in Utah. I am not sure how I feel about you potentially moving there. But when my mission is finished, no matter where the rest of my family is, my plane is taking me to Oregon.

My new companions name is Elder Empey. He is my District leader, which means I am still a junior companion. But that doesn't bother me one bit. I love my new companion and he is from Idaho Falls, Idaho. He went to BYU Idaho before he came out here. There is also another Elder that was really cool who is now going to Rexburg. His name is Jack Carskaddon. I don't know if I spelled his last name right but he was really awesome.

A few people from my MTC district are training right now which is super crazy. So that is pretty much all that has gone on since I talked to you last.

Love,
Elder Robertson

27 June 2001

Hi Mom,

So I just emailed Parker and wished him a Happy Birthday. I sent a box home on friday with a present in there for Parker, a bunch of clothes that I don't need, a tie for Mitchell, and my sunglasses which are for Mitchell's B-Day and I put them in my beenie. I want you to open the box and not them. But the clothes in the box anybody can wear.

I haven't gotten a new calling and I am not getting transferred. I get to go with the zone leaders for the next few days until transfers. I don't know if I will go senior companion or not yet, I will find out at transfers. I am just happy I'm not getting transferred, it would have been really sucky for the area if I had been.

So you remember the Appel's? We had dinner with them this week and they have a little boy named Jaxon who liked to beat up on me. It seems like a lot of kids in this ward like to beat me up. Especially this little deaf girl who totally has it out for me. We get to have dinner with the Appels again on the 4th of July which is Cecilia's birthday (their oldest daughter). The weather has been a lot like Oregon this past week. Overcast pretty the entire week, and it hasn't really been raining, just misting. Indiana has really weird weather.

This week we had 6 investigators at church which is a new record for me! We have been really blessed with people to teach the gospel to lately. So today Elder Goodwin drives down to the mission home and then flies home in the morning. He is getting butterflies in his tummy and is really nervous. He has a girl waiting for him back home and she is really nervous too. They will probably get married pretty quick after he gets home.

So that is pretty much it for this week. I love you.

Elder Robertson

20 June 2011

Hola Mi Familia,

This week we didn't have the car so we rode our bikes so much this week. I am so exhausted from bikes, but at least we get the car this week. We had Presidents interviews which was cool. President Collins pretty much told me that I was going senior companion this next transfer. Although he didn't flat out say it, he hinted pretty heavily toward it. I am about to have a lot more responsibility. I am going to have to be the driving force in all aspects. I am doing my best to step it up so I can be a good example to the companion I will be getting in a week.

I had some funny experiences last night though. On our way back home we saw a guy pushing a shopping cart down the sidewalk with something on fire in it. Fireflies came out last night! It was so exciting! One of these nights I am going to catch a few in a jar.

Those were pretty much the only exciting things this week. Like I said, it was a slow week.

Love,
Elder Robertson
PS
So I got aunt suzy's package from disneyland a little while ago but I forgot to tell you last week. I did get the shirts and it has been nice not wearing the same shirts for a few days in a row. I got Nancy's thing this week and it has been nice to use, I will send her a letter today. I can't think of anything I want from Bruce's, except for taffy. Last week we had to go to lunch with one of the members way downtown because he has a couple co-workers that used to have the missionaries out to lunch with them and the member.
Love,
Elder Robertson

13 June 2011

Hey!

This week was great! We had 5 investigators at church yesterday! It was so awesome! I got a call a little late from President and Sister Collins wishing me happy birthday, they thought I was turning 21.

Kevin Hagan's son died on thursday and we will be attending the funeral on tuesday. A few weeks ago, before Kevin's baptism, we showed him Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration and it really hit him hard. We called him a couple days later to get his thoughts on it and he told us that he doesn't think any less should be expected of us. I think he knew after he had watched that movie that some huge trials would be awaiting him. He was right. But he is doing okay now. He is working towards getting the priesthood and going to the temple so he can baptize his son.

We had some more thunder storms this week, shocker. No pun intended. It got really hot this week too, but now it is starting to cool down, we had to put our jackets on today. So that was my week pretty much.

Love,
Elder Robertson