WEEK 43

Not much this week cause I have been in bed unable to move (literally) since friday with dengue fever. It rained all last week all day everyday and the philippines won't win any awards for their plumbing so with all the standing water around the mosquitos were out in full force. I get bit a lot so I guess it was from the mosquitos. Other than that I am transferred this week. Ready for a new area. We had our last zone conference with President Carlos. He talked about how the area presidency is concerned we are not using our time wisely so he stressed on how planners are so important to us as missionaries. He said that in the mission presidents conference in provo a lot of it was about how to use our time better. So he gave us some guidelines and tips on how to use our time better and how to make our planners more effective. Other than that I am just gonna try to get better before transfers on wednesday cause it would be a really miserable trip if I was still sick like this.
Love Elder Robertson

WEEK 42

It has been really hot here this week, no clouds and when that happens it is really really almost unbearably hot. I haven't stopped sweating since last friday. I keep wanting to go jump in the swimming pool but I can't cause I am still on a mission and won't be able to for another year. Patience. The downhill slide has begun. This week was pretty good, we were referred to a family who is part member. Their three kids and the husband and sister of the wife are all nonmembers. the grandma wants us to teach them so she can have someone to go to church with and she forces them to go to church which is kinda funny. They seem interested though, they just live so far away. a ten minute jeepnee ride and then an hour walk across 4 streams we have to cross, a miracle I only fell into one (only my feet got wet haha). So it is a pain to teach them but will be worth it if they get baptized! We also have another referral we contacted who is a sister of a less active and her husband is a member but less active also so we are starting to work with them. Basically I am just trying to leave the area with some progress. Melody hasn't come to church in the last two weeks but is still reading and keeping commitments so we just need to work with her still. The area is progressing I'm just sad I won't get to see the fruits of all this laboring for six months and opening the area too. Oh well, life goes on. Just finishing training my comp strong just this last week (maybe). We go to Cauyan on tuesday for a Zone Conference, President Carlos's last. We get our new mission president in less than a month and everyone is scared to see if he is strict or not. I don't really care cause if you are obedient in the first place what is there to worry about?
It will be interesting to see what he is like though.
Well I finished the New Testament and am moving on to Doctrine and Covenants now. I am sure there are many lessons for me to learn in that book. The first section was way good. The lord basically just says repent or die and listen to his servants. True, If we repent and keep the commandments we have nothing to worry about. My new favorite quote by president monson "life would be simpler if we were obedient" I keep trying to be more obedient and although I fall short, I don't have anything to hide or be worry about cause I am trying my hardest. I feel like everything in the gospel comes back to obey the commandments and repent when you mess up. If we do that we will have the happy life basically. People I teach just can't seem to grasp it. That or they don't try and so they never will find out. Well thats about it for this week. Next week I will know if I am transferred or not!
Love,
Elder Robertson

elder Robertson and a really cool sunset

the long walk to an investigators house

dew pong on pday

WEEK 41

We just played basketball this morning and had a rare treat at mcdonalds. We call it the embassy cause in our mission there are only 5 macdos and that is the most american style of food you can possible get and the most expensive restaurant too. All the americans love it but all the filipinos don't cause they don't serve rice there haha. So this week was actually pretty good. After tons of tracting the past like 3 months, we finally got a couple referrals! One we tried to contact but they weren't at home so we will try later in the week and the other went to church yesterday and was introduced to us by a member and she seems interested so hopefully it will turn out to be good. It took a lot of patience and work but we finally might have more than one investigator we can teach haha. Our progressing investigator right now is Melody and she is on date for baptism on June 15. Thats about all area wise. Mission wise we get a chinese kid from mainland china to our mission in june, no one knows if he speaks english and most likely he will not know tagalog so it will be an interesting experience with him. Weird how we get the first missionary from Bangladesh and another from mainland china (not hong kong).

So in my study of the new testament this week I was reading in James. Usually we just think James 1:5 and thats it. But In my study of the whole epistle there is so much more. A lot of the book is about pure religion. We must me doers of the word and not just hearers only. And Faith without works is dead. Really though the book of james absolutely kills the belief that believe and be saved thing. I guess people think that keeping the commandments is too binding and doing whatever they want is much more fun. But as christ said "the truth shall make you free" and it really does. If we follow the commandments we live a guilt free life. No worries about dishonesty, medical and addiction problems from word of wisdom, no worries about getting caught and the guilt if we follow the law of chastity, and of course the promise that if we follow the commandments we will be blessed "both temporally and spiritually" (Mosiah 2:41, ironic mom mentioned that in her letter today) which I have used in every lesson this week trying to show that be obedient really is just easier. I have learned so much in my study of the new testament and when studying the new testament and the book of mormon both in one hour I really have learned so much more about the gospel. That and reading other books, jesus the christ, the miracle of forgiveness and others. Good stuff.

Love you guys!

Elder Robertson

elder Robertson and elder Taer

elder Robertson cutting a coconut in half

WEEK 40

This week was good, we have been able to teach a lot more people for the first time but the same thing they won't let us in the second time so we are working with that and I don't really mind it but my comp is discouraged that this work is hard. At the beginning of my mission I was really scared to just walk up to someone and start a conversation but now that I know tagalog I don't really have that problem anymore plus as the only white person for miles people are more interested in the color of my skin so I can use guess that to my advantage but I people are more interested in me than my message haha. But we do have melody our only progressing investigator on date for baptism on june 15. She has been coming to church and when we taught her the word of wisdom she had no problems in following it. She is excited to be baptized and really has the desire to follow Christ in her life and her family since her husband is a less active she really is trying to help him come back. Also nanay boots the less active I have been working with since I got here has an interview for her temple recommend on sunday! She really wants to go to the temple and there is a trip in june she wants to go on so she is really working towards that. It really is worth all the hard work and stress and discouragement to see one person come unto Christ and want to be baptized. The promise in D&C is really true when it says that if you bring one soul unto Christ how great shall be your joy. It's interesting the love I have for investigators. I know that they need this and that if they keep their commitments then their lives will improve a lot. It is worth it to see people accept the gospel of Christ and not the missionaries. I read this week in my personal study in 2 Timothy where Paul says that "I press toward the high calling of god" or something like that. Basically just keep going until we are perfect just keep enduring until the end of life. We may not get all the blessings here in this life but the reward after this life is so worth the fight an struggle here. Well that's about it for this week.

Mahal Ko Kayo

Elder Robertson