WEEK 27

We had one cool lesson though that is worth mentioning. We were teaching this teenager and she is a typical investigator, scared to commit to anything so elder coleman and I planned this lesson around the importance of being baptized and following christ and being cleansed of our sins. Since her grandma is a member she has been working with us also to get this girl baptized and going to church and keeping commitments. So we get there and taught this solid lesson. We asked questions that we hadn't planned on asking and she really came out with all her concerns and why she won't commit we were able to teach in such a way to have the spirit confirm to her that this is what she needs to do and this is right. I even felt the spirit confirm to me that the atonement really happened and this is what is the most important thing I could be doing right now. It has been interesting to realize the ways the atonement can help me. Yeah he suffered for our sins and we can be forgiven but like elder bednar has said, there is the enabling power also. There is nothing so deep or infinite as the atonement but it is also very personal. It really does work in every aspect of our lives. Out here being a missionary the atonement helps me get up in the morning when I don't want to, it give me the ability to put a smile on  and it gives me the patience i need to learn this language and with other peoples conversion. Most of the time I don't think I know I am drawing on his power but looking back I really need it every day to get through it. When I feel the spirit I feel as if christ is in the room with me. It really is the most sensitive time to feel the spirit. Disobedience can drive it away in a heartbeat but being obedient is way better cause it brings understanding and just happier attitude. I don't really know how else to say it but you kinda just have to experience it. It's hard for sure but it will probably be worth it. Thats about it.
love you all!!
Elder Robertson

WEEK 26

We also went to Zone Conference this week in Santiago which is three hours from my area so we had our whole zone which is 14 of us fit into a 8 person bus so yeah it was an uncomfortable six hours but the zone conference was good. president talked about being obedient and how conversion won't happen unless investigators and less actives have a testimony of the restoration and the Book of Mormon. which is oh so very true. Then sister Carlos talked about how we need to love the people. If we love the people then we will WANT to be obedient and what not and so I have been praying hard this week to better love these people cause it is not very easy to just love them, but I am trying.

So an interesting experience this week and this is all I can really think of. On saturday we were having a tough day, Our investigators all flaked out and three of the five less actives either were not there or were drunk so we just walked around and tried to talk to people but no one was having it we really struggled and got back to the apartment at like 8 to do nightly planning. And ever since i have been with elder coleman we have sung a hymn before nightly planning and on saturday we sung I need thee every hour. And during the 4th verse I felt the love of the savior so much and felt really close to him. It seems that when the mission is hardest and I turn to him then I feel his love the most. It really is a great experience and he does give me the hard days to keep me humble and what not. I realize I cannot get through this unless I rely on him completely and it has been hard but I am really learning on submitting to his will 100% and I am getting better at it. This is a great work we are involved in. I realize that wherever we are on missions we will have a hard time, its mission life. But if we are obedient and really know why we are out here we will learn and grow and be able to help others. I don't know what else to say today other than time is flying by it's February already! Well have a good week everybody!

christmas skits at a mission christmas party

Elder Robertson

WEEK 25

yesterday we had a less active that we have been teaching and who loves us, she had a little birthday party for me which was awesome and i was really grateful for. she made awesome chicken, this rice soup with quail eggs and fried banannas. But i still missed my steak and mashed taters and costco cake. But it was still a pretty good birthday. We ate the two month old muddie buddies in like a hot second haha and did laundry haha. I can't wait for my 22nd birthday haha. But I am officially not a teenager anymore!!

So we get to hear Donald L. Hallstrom from the presidency of the 70 at the end of february which is way exciting! I am excited! and we have zone conferences this week which should be way good to. I am always in need of some spiritually uplifting experiences. I got the miracle of forgiveness and am about halfway through it. It is such a good book about repentance and how to repent but it makes me feel terrible because I am so imperfect and I guess a terrible repenter. I have been praying harder and more fervently now more than ever. But the spirit has never been stronger in my life. In teaching i know what to say and when to say it. After lessons Elder Coleman and I talk about how we have the same questions in our minds at the same time and notice that we are very much in sync. I am always in a good mood and am not complaining. I am learning more than ever from the Book of Mormon and everything. It is different that the happiest times of the week is when people show up to church and say they had a good experience. It's weird but cool. The mission is so very hard and mentally draining every night and I will never get used to the philippines but oh well. It is worth it. God is on my side. I just have so far to go, sometimes it seems hopeless and it is tough to think that enduring is the whole life but just continue walking. I read something cool this week, sometimes we think that we have to do all we can and try to be perfect on our own and improve by ourselves and walk the straight and narrow path by ourselves then christ comes in and will take us to perfection, but little do we know not only will christ take us to perfection but he will help us walk along the way, we are never alone. We never have to walk by ourselves. He will always be there for us. This is one of the biggest lessons I have learned out here so far. He will never abandon us as long as we do not abandon him. I love teaching that. I feel as if I learn more when I teach than the people I am teaching, weird but good for me.

Love,

Elder Robertson

out to eat some pizza!!

a birthday party with tita boots

 

WEEK 24

Kumusta family!
How is everyone? Sounds like it has been an eventful cold week in the tri cities! It sure was eventful here this week!  So a couple of stories.  1.  So on saturday night Elder Coleman and I were invited to teach mission prep, so we were teaching and what not and we decided to have a roleplay since there were only three people in the class.  So they were role playing and what not and this one kid who is kinda weird was having problems teaching.  All of the sudden he stops in  mid sentence, lets out this blood curling scream and goes into a seizure!  He was all like shaking and foaming at the mouth and making the weird guttle sounds from the back of is throat.  He fell out if his chair but luckily the kid next to him caught him and laid him on the floor.  His convulsing lasted at least 15 mintues and the while we call his parents and they come over and what not.  Turns out this kid has epilepsy and has seizures quite often.  it was really scary actually cause it was so random and I swear the kid was gonna die.  And after it took at least a half hour for the kids mind to come back.  He just layed there and then would get up and move around and not notice anything.  I guess you lose your memory for a little bit after a seizure.  It was intense.  But he is OK and even worked with the other set of missionaries that we have here in Aritao yesterday haha.  That was crazy.  2.  So we got to go to Banaue today which was cool (see pics) and we went down hiking inside the rice terraces and we would walk along the edge of one terrace and the cliff is about 20 feet.  So we are walking olong the edge of this one and I am behind Elder Coleman.  All of a sudden he trips and goes over the edge.  This all unfolded in slow motion to me and I was so close to him that I grabbed his leg and was hanging on to him while his body was off this twenty foot cliff.  It was crazy also!  Luckily Elder Golightly and Elder Oliver were able to come and help lift him up haha.  Yeah I pretty much saved the kid a lot of pain and what not.  It was hilarious and intense at the same time haha.  By far the most exciting cycle of my mission so far. 
As far of the work goes, we had an insane Sunday yesterday! We had like 14 of the people we were teaching go to church!  less actives that we had not taught in weeks and who had not gone to church in years showed up!  One family on Saturday invited us to give their little baby who was about to die a blessing and so we did and Elder Coleman blessed her to be well and fully recover and as it turns out the baby was about to die and so this incredibly inactive family kneeled down as a family for like the first time in 7 years and prayed that the blessing would work and they were all there on Sunday! The baby too! The doctors are still shocked that the baby is alive and doing fine haha (that was story number 3) it was such a happy day compared to last week when no one went haha.  We had an intense lesson with Clark yesterday, he wasn't being really sincere with his prayers or anything so we taught him about faith and the spirit really guided us in that lesson.  I can't really describe it but Elder Coleman and I would have the same thought at the same time and would always say what Clark needed to hear at that second.  It was a cool lesson.  it really does put truth into the scripture where it says "it will be given in the very moment that you need it the words you need to say".  somewhere in D&C.  I will preach my own words, sometimes we have to take a step in the dark and be courageous cause who knows what lies ahead, but the Lord is with us every single step and His Atonement gives us power to step forward and will bless us when we do.  His tender mercies are all over the place and I realize that he does not try us above our strength I realize that I can withstand a lot surprisingly haha just from experiences here on the mission but I am definitely stronger and more often recognize the Lord's hand in my life.  Well transfers are on Thursday so hopefully I will stay here so I can celebrate my birthday by doing laundry and making a good dinner haha.  hopefully I will get some mail.  I got the Lebron SI but still no boxes.  Hopefully this week haha.  Well until next week.  I will be on early again cause Banaue is way far away and what not.  Have a good week everyone!  3 DAYS LEFT!!!!!!!
Love,
Elder Robertson

elder Robertson and his companions in their house

Elder Robertson and Elder Coleman at the rice terraces (one of the wonders of the world)

elder Robertson and his companions won the celestial cleaning award so they got banana bread

Elder Robertson near an investigators home

WEEK 23

 

 like I said I have been searching for "step in the dark" stories from the book of mormon. The classic one is Nephi getting the brass plates. He says in chapter 4 verse 6 that he had no clue what he was doing he just trusted in the lord. He did all that he could do then relied on the lord to do the rest. We have been telling that story and teaching the restoration and apostasy a lot and been trying to emphasize the need for restored truth and why there was a restoration. Why the gospel is so important and why they need to live it  We keep sharing the Alma 32 chapter on faith and they need to do things such as go to church, read the BoM, and pray to help their faith grow. Sometimes they will need to make sacrifices to live the gospel, sometimes they have to have courage and take a step in the dark to live the gospel. There is light at the end of the tunnel, there are so many blessings from the gospel. there is a sense of happiness and purpose in this life from the gospel. We are blessed so much for living the gospel, but we need to do our part. I am reminded of bro campbells favorite scripture "there is a law irrevocably decreed in heaven...." D&C 130:20-21. It really is a good scripture because we cannot get the blessings UNTIL we follow the law. And people here are to scared to follow the law so they cannot experience the blessings. We are trying to show them what they can feel and experience if they live the gospel but they need to take a few steps in the dark and then let the lord take care of the rest. I have found that by just following the commandments is much easier than thinking about it. If there is a choice, we know what is right so just do it. It is much easier and we experience the blessings more fully. Like in basketball, sometimes we think too much about passing and shooting because we are worried about turning it over or missing (I am way guilty of that) but I have found that by just doing what feels more comfortable usually turns out ok. We know what is right and so we should just do it. I realize that my call as a missionary is to help people get there lives in order and becoming closer to christ by showing them the right path and the choices they need to make to get on it. It is hard but is worth it when I can see someone change and realize the blessings they receive by following christ. It is a grand work we are all involved in and we need to do our part to in order to receive the blessings whether in this life or the next. Well that is about all for this week, next week I am going to banaue prolly so that should be fun

Mahal Ko Kayo!
ELDER ROBERTSON

this is one of Elder Robertsons investigators homes, he says hes never seen such a big house in the Philippines!

 



Elder Robertson and an investigator named Clark

elder Robertsons toilet and shower

elder Robertson and his companions celebrating the new year



elder Coleman

elder Robertson and his companions



a goat



elder Robertsons dinner

WEEK 22

It was a good week here in aritao. Elder Coleman and I found this new investigator family through a referral from a less active this week and they are like the richest people here in the province of Nueva Vizcaya, the dad is head of 4 hospitals and they have a driveway! i will take a picture of it this week because it is the craziest thing to see that here. We were kind of nervous to contact them but they are super humble and open to the message so maybe....We are hoping for that to come out of them cause they would be way solid. We also are making progress with the less actives we are teaching, it is way weird to see that if you have a companion that you can work with no problem it is way easier to have the spirit and be guided by it. We have had a few referrals from members and hopefully will have some baptisms soon to show for our efforts because we are working way hard to get this new area going good cause president carlos is opening 7 new areas in march cause there will be 7 missionaries going home and 21 coming in so the mission will just keep growing for a while, which is good. But 2013 is underway and it should be a good year!
So with the new year I am starting the book of mormon over again and this time i am highlighting every question that is asked in it. there are a lot of times when I am reading and a question that someone asks i hardly notice in the context of the story. example one that really did not stand out to me was when nephi asks laman and lemuel "have ye inquired of the lord?" when i am reading the story I am always like dumb laman and lemuel but don't think much of the question, but then I will reread just the question and I am hit with like a wall of revelation and the book of mormon becomes so much more personal to me. There are some really awesome questions and stories that I am noticing and trying to apply to my life now. I read somewhere in an ensign this week that every verse of the book of mormon is applicable to our lives, so I am trying to do that too. every verse after i read it I say to myself "how is that applicable to my life?" and let me say that the BoM has become that much more meaningful to me in just a week and I am not even done with first nephi yet. The book of mormon will help us with any problems that we are having and it is such a good way to keep ourselves spiritually pure. thats about it for this week Have a good week everyone!
Elder Robertson