Called to Serve - Osorno, Chile

Elder Keenan Robertson is serving in the Osorno Chile Mission as a full time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Elder Robertson left on July 16, 2013 and will return sometime around July of 2015. Missionaries have a limited time to respond to all the E-mails and letters they receive so we will include here some of his letters home so that friends and family can keep up to date on how things are going for him and his ministry among the wonderful people of Chile.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

July 25, 2013

Hey sorry! My p-day is Thursday not Tuesday ;) it has been so awesome so far, I love it here!! Outside is freakin' ridiculous but in here is great! Several occasions there have been gunshots which have been creepy! They used to let the teachers leave the MTC and walk around the city but two weeks before I got here they were all walking when a store owner chased a guy out of his store and shot him right in front of them!! The city is crazy! We got to go to the temple this morning; that was amazing! I’m pretty sure there are no traffic laws in Mexico it was the scariest bus ride of my life!!!! The weather is awesome until about 5:30 when it rains.  It only hasn´t rained twice since I’ve been here.  The spirit is so strong here I love it!! The language is coming slow but I can pray and sorta bear my testimony in Spanish. I’ve memorized the purpose and I’m working on the first vision. My district is awesome. Tuesday a ton of new missionaries got here so this place is pretty packed! The food is awesome except for a couple strange meals. A couple nights ago we had a mystery meat that I think was still alive.... if it was meat :) yesterday for breakfast we had corndogs and ham that was weird! And another one, I’m pretty sure they blended all the leftovers together and told us it was soup... other than that I love it, there have been some good meals. Another thing about food is you weren´t lying, papaya tastes like throw-up and smells like diarrhea! I get an hour of exercise everyday so we´ve been playing indoor soccer on basketball courts. It’s so awesome because it’s small and the goals and basketball hoops are the same pole thing. That probably didn´t make any sense, I’ll send you a pic next week! That would be great if you could send that wire for the camera I can borrow one until it gets here though. Mail takes 2-3 weeks to get here so just keep that in mind. It’s pretty cool when it rains, it pours and the thunder is usually awesome. A few nights ago there was a thunderstorm and there was thunder for 15 minutes straight it didn´t stop the whole storm. I haven´t seen the volcano but I’ll keep an eye out for it! I started reading the Book of Mormon when I got here, in English, and I’m already at the end of Alma! On the second day we started teaching an investigator who is just one of the teachers but they have the story of real people so it’s like they are someone else. It’s crazy how I can feel so much love for someone and I can´t communicate with them at all! That has been really fun! The language is coming slowly but it is going fine, ten hours of classes suck though! A typical day is wake up at 6:30 get ready, be to class at 8:00.  All our personal study is in the classroom. Breakfast is at 8:00 and class goes until 11:30 that’s when I get 50 minutes of exercise time. Then its lunch. And then class/study time/progressing investigators then dinner at 6:30 and class/study time until 9:30. I shower at night because there are 6 of us in our dorm room apartment thing. And then write in my journal and read until 10:30-ish.  Every Tuesday we have devotionals which are amazing! Thursday is my p-day and Saturday, instead of exercise time, we do a service project. Sunday is my favorite day so far because I can just turn my brain off and feel the spirit! You can give my email to anyone I just won´t be able to send them back to everyone every week. It’s cool aunt Mellissa had her baby what a cutie! Last Saturday we didn´t do the service project cause we were new so we played basketball. I was playing super hard until I rolled my ankle so I’m a little bit more careful now! It’s been fun, at nights we usually goof off for a bit and that has been great, some of the elders are hilarious. So far there are two districts in our zone, in my district everyone is going to Rancagua Chile and in the other district almost everyone is going to Osorno Chile! This week has flown by.  Before I know it I’ll be in Chile!! The MTC is so pretty; a few days ago there were green parrots everywhere and yesterday we saw a moth that was bigger than my hand! The MTC is huge it is 90 acres!! It’s strange seeing pine trees and palm trees right next to each other. I’ll get to go to the temple one more time before I leave. Sounds like things have finally calmed down at home that has to be nice! That pillow was pretty cool, I liked it! I’ve been talking to Aaron he’s having a great time it sounds like! Tell Leslie thanks!!! Thanks for the prayers they definitely help thanks for everything love you guys a ton!!!!!

Companions

Me and Elder Wadman (Copperhills) at the Mexico City Temple

The Classroom ........................ :)

Such a sick blanket!!!!!!

The flight over

July 16, 2013

Hey thanks Ellie! I made it OK, I'm at the MTC. The flight from SLC was awesome, we got above the clouds and it was super beautiful!! The flight to Mexico was scary cause of the turbulence and the landing was super rough. I had to check in my carry on cause there wasn`t room on the plane. It took them forever to get it to the luggage place so I thought they had lost it! I’m companions with elder Holt, there were 9 elders I was with and we are all going to Osorno. Holt seems like pretty cool guy I’m soooooo excited!!!!! Tonight I’m just unpacking and that’s all. I see the doctor tomorrow and then start all my classes. The MTC here is huge. So much bigger than what I thought! It’s like a university campus! The drive to the MTC was crazy mom, you`d die!! On a two lane road there were four cars side by side and cars were going every which way and I thought I drove fast! The bus driver was insane. :) It’s a pretty run down scary city but the MTC is awesome! It has like a ten foot wall around it with razor wire and armed guards all over outside! This place is a castle!!!....or a prison ;) jk it’s so great down here I love it so much! I think my p-day is on Tuesday but not sure, I'll email back as soon as I can! Love you tons!!

Off to the Mexico MTC

A Little Farewell Party














The Temple

At the Oquirrh Mountain Temple






The Call

The Call Comes



Family and Friends Gather





A Calling From the Lord