Returned With Honor!!!!

June 29, 2015 Last Email From The Mission Field

This week was really good.  I tried working my hardest and it went really well.  We had an excellent week.  It went by really fast.  Subway would be really good for lunch and I think for dinner I want stuffed potatoes! :)  That's cool Bro. Farley said to talk to him when I get back; maybe we could go over there right away on Friday.  I would like to work as soon as I can. 

I don't really know anything about the trip home, they don´t tell us until the last day.  I think I will have time to go to the Temple Thursday in Santiago so that should be cool.  Wednesday I will be in the mission home all day.  I will spend the night in a hotel and then Thursday sometime in the morning I will go to Santiago.  I think my plane leaves Santiago sometime at night.  It should be a good trip.

Maria Jose is really good it was the birthday of her son Saturday.  She will get baptized here soon.  She wants to wait a little bit which is fine.  She is super cool.  It has been cool to be here in Volcan.  The branch is really awesome.  Recently they change the branch president and he is awesome.  He is making lots of changes for the better.  This place is going to grow a lot.  The cambios should be pretty crazy!  Haha, I'm kinda glad I'm leaving. They are juntándose los dos zonas (combining the two zones).  I don´t know how to say that in English.  Villarrica and Los Lagos is going to be one huge zone!!!!  Well, I don´t know what else to tell you, haha, I´ll show you all the pics this week when I get home! :)  I'm kinda excited for my bed!

I'm really tired!  Haha.  It will be weird going home.  It still really hasn't hit me that I'm going home in a couple days!  It will be wierd and a really long trip.

Love you tons!  See you soon

Elder Robertson     

I thought it would be appropriate if I sent two scriptures home to you guys.

2 Timothy 4:7
"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."

1 Corinthians 13:11
"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."

I like to think I've changed!  Haha, but I'm just kidding about the second scripture I'm still a kid! :)

June 22nd, 2015

Thats fine if we don`t go anywhere.  It will make it easier to start working faster and be able to work more.  I'm excited for this week.  We have some big plans.  Maria Jose is awesome.  We found out this week that her husband is probably going to start working in the mines up north.  He will be up there around 30 days and will be home 15.  That would be a crazy way to live but I guess he will make a lot more money.  She said that she is going to need the church a lot more, so that should be good.  She is going to be an awesome member some day.

There have been a couple of sunny days!  Haha, but now it's just freezing cold.  But it's better than the rain!  The zone has been progressing a lot!  It has been really cool to see the progression of all the missionaries.  At the beginning of the cambio we set some goals and we are almost reaching all of them.  I love being a missionary.  It's been a cool experience.  Don`t worry about me not working hard, i'll finish strong! :)  I`ve tried to give it my all everyday of my mission and be 100% obediente.  Part of me doesn't really want to go because I know I won't be able to do it again until I'm an old fart and I go with my wife! Haha, in like 100 years. 

I'm excited for this week it's going to be good.

Love Elder Robertson 

Last P-day we went to the house of Max and his parents.  The mom of Max, Marianela, taught us how to make bread.  It was really good.  We made ham and cheese sandwiches with the fresh bread.  I don't get how I haven`t gotten fat!

This is the selfie we took right before. 

I miss good food.  I bought this last P-day.  It was Awesome!!!!!!!!!!! Could we go eat lunch at Subway when I get home?

This is the first day it stopped raining.  The volcano was covered in snow!

This was a Noche de Hogar (Family Home Evening) we had with Max and his family.  After the lesson, we played a game called The Papa Se Quema or Hot potato.  You have to pass a ball around while one person says "la papa se quema, la papa se quema" over and over until he says, "la papa se quemò" and the person with the ball gets a mark on the face.  Haha, it's pretty fun!  I don't know if that made any sense but it's a really funny game. :)

June 15th, 2015

Hey fam!

This week was good!  The work has been going good.  Luis is doing great.  He sold his house so he will leave to Santiago on July 16 or 17.  It has been cool to share with him he has changed a lot.  He quit drinking and he has practically quit smoking!  We didn't really know if we should baptize him here or if he should just do it in Santiago.  So we prayed about it and decided that it would be better for him to wait until Santiago.  I hope everything goes great for him; I know he will be a good member.  Maria Jose was sick yesterday so she couldn't come to church.  Luis came, so that was good.

Maria Jose is really cool.  She started reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning.  She had a close friend die in a car accident the other day so we gave her a blessing.  It was neat because when we went into her house I felt like I was going to give her a blessing.  We shared with her and then at the end she told us about her friend and all that was going on and how she felt.  So Max, our ward mission leader, told her about blessings and she said she wanted one.  Then she asked me to do it.  It was neat because I already knew I was going to do it.  The spirit is awesome.  The blessing felt really good.  Max is a great lider misional.  He just went to the temple recently.  He has only been a member for a year but is awesome.  Max leaves with us all the time to work!

We have been slacking off with contacts a little so we have tons of goals and plans to help us do contacts!

The Zone is really good.  We have seen lots of change for the better.  Everyone is working harder and things are just getting better!  I think this next combio they will baptize lots!  It has been a really good cambio.

I can't believe it, but it's still raining!  Haha, when I get home all my stuff is going to smell like smoke and mold!  But I have gotten used to being wet all day!  I've gotten to be a fire builder/starter expert!  Haha.
.
I have thought time has flown my whole mission but now it's really flying!  Haha, I can't believe it.
I thought that was pretty cool.

I found this quote reading the conference.

"One cannot forget mother and remember God.  One cannot remember mother and forget God.  Why?  Because these two sacred persons, God and (our earthly) mother, partners in creation, in love, in sacrifice, in service, are as one."
                                       -Thomas S. Monson

I thought that was pretty cool.  Thanks Mom.

Love you Family!  Don't be too Trunkie! ;)

Elder Robertson

June 8th, 2015

This week has been really good.  I have sucked my whole mission at writing in my journal but I decided to write in it every day this last month.  So that has been really good.  This week was really good.  We fasted with Maria Jose and Luis!  For both of them it was the first time fasting!  It was really neat.  Maria Jose Fasted for her parents because they are sick and for her own family.  It was a really cool experience and strengthened my testimony of fasting.  It's so sad that hardly anyone fasts, they are losing so many blessings.

Saturday there was a baptism in The rama(branch) Ancahual.  It was a family baptizing their 8 year-old son.  I felt really bad for the branch president because nothing was planned out so it was pretty bad.  We ended up doing everything... haha.  The guy doing the baptism was really nervous so he couldn't remember the words at first and the first three times he did the baptism some part of the kid came up.  We ended up telling everyone to go back in and wait and then we did the baptism again.  That time everything went under the water.  So they finished the program and then ate tons of food (on a fast weekend.....).  We were there talking about the baptism when we realized the guy had done the baptism with his left arm to the square..... hahahaha.  So after all the food they had to change back into the wet clothing and do it again.  It was a long baptism; we were there for 4 hours!  But it was a neat experience because I learned the importance of planning but better than that, after the final time the kid was baptised we felt the spirit really strongly, something we realized hadn't been there the rest of the times.  Ordenanzas(ordinances) have to be done exactly right, every time.

We are working a lot with Maria Jose and Luis, hopefully they will get baptized the 27th of June.  It should be really cool.

I'm still wet :)  It seems like there is just enough time at night for things to dry out (kinda) and then the next day they get wet.  I liked the picture of Dallin and Ellie in the ponchos in the rain.  The other day I bought a Chilean poncho!  It's super cool.

This week went by really fast.  We had intercambios with the APs and then with Pucon.  It's cool to have Elder montiel in the same zone.  We get along a lot better this time around.

I can´t think of anything else to say so I asked my companion what else I could write and he reminded me!  We saw a dog that had an epileptic attack.  (I had to write that because I couldn't spell siezure?  My companion can´t remember either he just put convulsing :).  Lots of shaking.  It was crazy.

Well thats all

Love Elder Robertson

June 2nd, 2015

Sorry my email didn't work yesterday it was super weird.  It didn't work for like half the zone!  But, whatever, we are about to have district meetings.  This week has been really good.  I think all that rain from Texas came here; it has been raining for three days straight without stopping.  Last night I walked through a puddle that was deeper than my boots so they filled with water!  Haha, it was funny.  Elder Hazard is really cool we get along great.  Maria Jose is really neat and Luis is good too! 

May 25th, 2015

This week was really good.  Both Maria Jose and Luis came to church.  They are both really cool.  It's really cool to teach Maria.  I have learned there are two types of people that accept the gospel.  The first accepts the gospel because they have to.  They are at a point in their lives so low that it is the only way they can be humble enough to accept the gospel.  The other type are the people that accept the gospel because they want to.  It doesn't matter where they are in their lives, they want to accept the gospel.  It's cool because Maria Jose wants to accept the gospel. 

Surprise!!!!!  So Monday night, after we had planned all the cambios, the APs called us and told us we had cambios too!  Elder Meneses went to a place called La Union.  And my new companion is named Elder Hazard.  He is from Nevada.  He lives in Reno!!  But he doesn't know Aunt Carla.  Oh well, he has just over a year and a half in the mission so he will probably end here.  We get along great!  He is a really good elder.  He is tall!!!!  I didn't take any pictures but I will this week!  We are going to focus on finding people and helping the zone be more animated (excited in Spanish/English translation).  The elders in our house stayed the same, so that's cool. 

I was thinking and I don't know if I want to go on a vacation when I get back.  I just want to work and save money for school. :)  It would be good to work at the theater and then maybe I could get another job for the summer as well.  But we will see. 

Things are going really good!  I'm excited to be here in Villarrica.  The work is going really good.  It's our goal to talk to 140 people this week!!  It's going to be a good week!!!!!! :)

Love,

Elder Robertson

May 18th, 2015

Hey Fam!

This week was really good.  In my old testament study I made it to Isaiah!  It's pretty crazy deep doctrine and stuff but it's awesome!!!!!!  I love it.  Today we found out about Cambios!!!!  Elder Meneses and I are going to stay here in Villarrica!!!!  It's really good.  I'm excited.  We have been working really hard and have some good plans to keep going!

Yesterday it rained a lot!!!!!  And it should rain for all of this week!  But, oh well.  It was weird today because it's the first day of the last cambio!  I can`t believe it!  Haha.  I didn't take any pictures this week but I will. 

Today we are going to have a family night with Max, our lider misional, Luis, our investigator, and hopefully Maria Jose and her family.  Luis is progressing very well.

Maria Jose said she wants to be baptized!  Haha, it's super-awesome to share with her!  Her husband works all day and is envangelico but Maria Jose teaches him every night what she is learning.  They are progressing a ton!

Things are going good; we are trying to find more people so hopefully we can do that! 

Love you guys tons! Take care!!!!!!. 

May 11th, 2015

Hey Fam!

It was awesome to talk to you!  I'm glad everything is going good.  Dad, what happened with that job in the district?  Today is an awesome day, it rained all night last night but now it's bright and sunny.  Today we got permission to watch Frozen so we are going to watch it!  Haha, sorry Dallin!  Everything is good.  Today should be pretty chill.  We are going to watch Frozen and eat pizza!!!!  Haha, tonight we have a family night with the district president and Luis!  If everything goes good, Luis should get baptized the 13th of June.  I think that's all. Love you guys tons!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elder Robertson 

Elder Robertson's testimony:

May 4th, 2015

This week was good.  Monday the ash was really bad but we still worked through it.  You could look right at the sun it was so bad.  Tuesday we had to go to Valdivia to do paperwork and there was a little ash there but not too much.  While we were in Valdivia we ended up talking to the AP`s.  While we were talking they mentioned that all the missionaries in Valdivia hadn`t been working because the ash was so bad.  It was funny because Villarrica was like 100 times worse and we were working.  So we told them that Villarrica was bad and they told us we should have been in the house that whole time!  Haha, they didn`t think there was ash that far north.  And they told us nobody could use contacts because the ash gets in and can irritate the eyes!  I feel bad because we called some of the sisters to tell them and they said they had already learned the hard way!  One sister had bloodshot eyes, it was way bad!  But the good thing is, it's all better now.  It has been really cold but I've heard this week is going to be really nice.

We didn't have any investigadores come to church this week so we are working hard on that!  Hopefully we can get people to come this Sunday. 

We have another investigator with a baptism date.  His name is Luis.  He lives alone and is 44.  I'm really excited for this week.  We had branch council yesterday and we were able to animate(get them excited) the members a lot.  It's cool how much is changing here. 

I love the mission so much, I sleep so good at night!  My head hits the pillow and I've trained myself to get up about 5 minutes before the alarm goes off! 

It will be good to Skype with you!!!!!  Love you tons! 

Elder Robertson

Oh, by the way, I'm pretty sure we will get permission to watch Frozen next P-day!!!!!!!  Haha, I have all the music on a memory card and I pretty much have it all memorized!  Haha 

This week we had to go to Valdivia to do paperwork.  These are pictures we took by the river waiting for the bus back to Villarrica.  I didn't tell you guys, but after all the problems I had with my Visa it still didn't work!  Haha.  But now everything is fine!

This is the Copihue.  It's the national flower of Chile!  They are really cool!

Elder Meneses and I

This picture was during the day last Monday.  The sun looked like the moon there was so much ash.  But the wind changed and it rained so all the ash is gone.  Nothing has happened here in Villarrica. 

April 27th, 2015

Hola Family,

This week has been good.  Not too much has happened here in Villarrica with the volcan in Calbuco but still, it's weird how much ash and smoke it puts into the air.  We will probably wear masks today.  I haven`t heard too much about missionaries further south but I know there are quite a few cities under military curfew.  In some places where lots of people have left it's gotten really violent and there is lots of looting.  So the military came in. The closest missionaries to the volcan are in a city called Alerce.  One of the elders I live with in the house here was just there two weeks ago. 

The work has been going very well here in Villarrica.  The people are awesome and very friendly.  But the thing I like most is that there are so many families here!  Everywhere else I've been nobody is married and there are hardly any families but here it is awesome.  We have been having lots of success. 

We have been sharing with some really awesome people.

First is Maria Jose.  She was a contact we had last week and we started sharing with her.  She has gone to lots of churches and always says she wants to pay back God for all the blessings she has in her life.  She is married but we still don't know her husband.  He is a bus driver and works Monday to Monday without any breaks so that is lame.  But she talks with him about all that we share so that is really cool.  She is definitely prepared by God.

We found a kid named Damian.  He is 18 and lives alone.  His parents live in the Campo so he lives in their house here.  He is super receptive and has been looking for a church as well.  He studied the Jehovah Witnesses but didn't like it so he is still looking.  I'm excited to share with him more because he could serve a mission in a year!

There is another kid named Matias.  He is 15.  The first lesson we had with him he prayed that he could keep learning and get baptized!  His mom is really friendly but doesn't really want to share.  It's awesome because in the rama there is a kid named Diego who is the only member of his family and was baptized when he was 12 and now he is 15 so him and Matias could be good friends!.

We have lots of other contacts and investigators that we are trying to follow up with to see if there is real interest or not.

There are lots of members here, just like all the other places.  I think, in the list, there are 2 or 3 hundred and the average attendance is 30 or 40-ish.

Elder Meneses and I get along really well.  He lifted weights almost professionally before the mission!  Haha, so he really likes exercises.  I have been trying really hard to put on weight but I just can`t! Haha.  I still think I will be able to take Dallin though! ;) haha.....maybe.

That's pretty crazy with Nepal!  Lots of big things going on in the world.  I think it's kinda funny in Chile.  You have big earthquakes all the time and on one side of the country is the ocean so that means Tsunami!  Haha, and on the other side you have Volcanos! 

I have heard that there are a couple other Volcanos here close by that are starting to act up.  Are Volcanos connected?

Well, I think that is everybody.  Time is going by very fast but I'm going to work even harder the closer it gets to going home!  Love you guys tons! 

Elder Robertson 

These pics were after the service activity we did.  The first one is normal and the second one we were all trying to flex and the timer went off right as I was making a noise haha.  My companion is the second one.

I can't really remember what day but it think it was Friday in the morning when we got up it was almost pitch black from the ash cloud.  It's been pretty crazy but I'm glad I'm not closer to the volcano.  I've heard there are places that are really bad, especially in Argentina.

This is about how much ash fell during the night after the first eruption.  No more ash has fallen here but it's all in the air.

So before today the ash wasn't bad at all here in Villarrica but it's really bad in Pucon.  So the missionaries in Pucon have to wear masks.  We all have them but we don't really need them.  There hasn't been too much ash that has fallen.  But today there is so much in the air!!  Last night the volcano in Calbuco must have erupted again because it's really bad today.

So a family just moved into the Branch from Santiago and they have a Rabbit!  It's really friendly and it's pretty smart!  I just happened to scare it when it was in my hands so it scratched my arm up!

These were Saturday during the day.  Lots of ash in the air but not too bad here in Villarrica.  But today you can't even see the volcano.  It's almost like its foggy but grayish brown.

Update

The most recent eruption of Calbuco is in Elder Robertson's mission but he is about 140 miles north of it.  He is getting some ash where he lives though.

April 20th, 2015

This week was good.  Everything went good with the conference.  It was a lot of planning!  It was pretty funny because the day before, Hna. Obeso called and said she wanted a cake to celebrate the birthdays that have happened.  So we had to run all over the place looking for a cake but finally we found one so it all worked out good.  Yes, I'm still a zone leader.  I probably will be until the end.  It's a lot of work but I don't mind it.  I like it here in Villarica because it is a lot less traveling than in Lanco. 

The weather has been pretty dang nice for the most part.  Usually it has just rained at night.  It's not very cold either so that's a plus.  Saturday it rained all day, haha!  By the end of the day I was soaked.  Originally all my stuff was waterproof but now it's only waterproof for an hour or so!  Haha.  But I should be fine for a couple more months. 

I just talked to Elder Warburton and his parents got his itinerary too! 

I gave a talk in sacrament meeting about repentance so that was good.  I'm almost done reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish again!  I'm also reading the Old Testament in English.. it's a lot harder.  Well, I will try and not be trunkie.  But I just realized I only have ten p-days left!  Haha :) Love you guys!

Elder Robertson

The sector I have here in Villarrica is pretty big!  It's really long and it's pure houses.  This picture is from the end of my sector; it's a newer neighborhood. 

I  found my new sun glasses in the house of a member family. :)

April 13th, 2015

Hey Fam.
Villarrica is awesome!  The Last three months of my mission are going to be a vacation!  Haha.  It's so pretty here.  The actual city is really big and touristy so it has everything!  It's right by a huge pretty lake and the Volcano is pretty dang close.  I`ve heard that the volcano has picked up in activity so they think it might erupt again!  I hope my camera is ready!  I'm far enough away that i'd be fine but there are 4 missionaries in a city called Pucon.  It's at the bottom of the Volcano. Haha.  They have been here in Villarica ever since it erupted and just barely went back to Pucon this week.  But we always have to be ready to pull them out again.  The Volcano is pretty dang cool. Smoke is always coming out of it but we will see if anything happens.

My Companion's name is Elder Maneses.  He is from Chile; a city called "La Serena."  He is cool.  We get along great so it will be good.  I'm sure I will be with him until I go home.  The sector where I'm at is awesome!  I'm in a Rama(branch) called Volcán... haha.  It has about the same attendance as Lanco.  Yesterday we had 48 people in church.  I'm excited to be here.  It's going to be awesome!  Our ward mission leader's name is Max.  He got baptized a year ago and just a couple weeks ago his mom got baptized.  I think his dad is going to get baptized here soon as well.

Max's mom's name is Marienela.  She is our mamita now.  So we go over everyday to eat lunch.  She makes really good food. 

The house we live in is really cool.  It's the first house I've lived in with 4 elders.  It's fun, we live with an Elder Perkins de Las Vegas y un Elder Coulson de Bear River, Utah.  They are cool, we get along great.  It's also the first time I've shared a ward or Rama with Sister missionaries.  They work hard. 

This week was cambios and then we had our zone leader meeting in Osorno so we haven't had much time in the sector.  But I'm excited, it's going to be good. 

This week we have our Zone conference with president.  We found a stone oven pizza place today and so for the conference we are going to eat delicious Pizza!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm bummed I'm not in Osorno anymore because when we were there for the meeting I found out they have a Subway!!!!! 

This picture is from Lanco, a member had a flag and so we took tons of pictures! Haha

Love you guys! 

Elder Robertson

 This is a picture that a member gave my companion from the eruption in March.

This is a picture my companion took right before I got here.

April 6th, 2015

Hey Fam!

Still haven't heard anything about cambios but I'm sure the A.P.s will call while I'm writing.  I think I will stay here with Warburton for another cambio and then I will go somewhere else my last cambio. 

Things have been good.  This week we helped the Hermanas Balboa and Andrade change houses.  It was good but it was the first day in four months it decided to rain!!!!  Haha.  So it was pouring rain the whole time we moved.  The weather has been pretty cloudy and rainy but it still hasn't been too bad. 

Conference was amazing!  I loved all the talks!!!  One of my favorite talks was by Ballard!  I got a personal interview with him!!!!!!  Haha.  Elder Holland's talk was also nice, it was a great story!  We watched the conference in Spanish so it was cool because we got to see the two talks in Spanish without a translator.  Elder Zeballos from Chile was good... All Chileans talk like that though, super-super fast :) 

I'm finishing up reading the Book of Mormon.  I'm starting Ether today so I think I will finish it by next week.  

Tomorrow I will be going to Panguipulli and so I hope the weather will be nice and I will be able to see the Volcano!  All your pictures were really good.  The Lunar eclipse looked cool!  And Dallin's cyst was big!!!  That's gnarly.

For UVU I'm thinking about Criminal Justice.  I might try and go federal.  Work for the Secret Service or the FBI but we will see.  For now you can put Criminal Justice down.  Thanks for doing all that paperwork. 

I don't know if you remember but I trained an Elder Marshall.  He had to go home a couple of weeks ago.  He had two stress fractures in his foot!  But he has plans to come back, he is a really cool missionary. 

Well, I think that's it, when I hear about cambios I'll tell you! :)

Love,

Elder Robertson 

We received this email a few minutes later:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, I'm totally going to Villarrica!  Haha.  My zone has the Volcano!  I'm taking so many pictures!!

So this will be the view of the volcano from Elder Robertson's new area.

Here is a link to the live webcam on the volcano: http://www.sernageomin.cl/villarrica.php

March 30th, 2015

This week was good.  Nobody in the zone was doing very many contacts in the Zone so this week we did a competition to see who could do the most contacts!!!  We were winning the whole week and then the hermanas beat us....  It was all fun and games until we lost! haha :)  They did 98 contacts.  It was good though because this week everybody did lots of contacts.  We had 42 in church yesterday but the average attendance is going up a lot.  Things have been going good here.  The church came out with a new website for Easter!  It's called helives.mormon.org, you have to check it out.  They did a new video and its awesome.  We are using that a lot.  It's awesome how awesome the church is.  It's so technologically advanced.  It would be a lot nicer if we had iPads and stuff but whatever!  This week we have been doing lots of contacts so we can find people.  It went really good and we hope to use the video even more to find. 

I'm excited for General Conference this weekend, it should be awesome.  Elder Warburton's mom said that President Monson looked really old.  That's too bad.  There is a couple missionary companionship that are going home this week.  That is going to be sad!  Hna and Elder Biggs.  They are from Wyoming.  They live in our zone so we are always working with them. 

For about a week now I have had a bug bite on my leg and it has gotten really big!  But I got it checked out and it's not bad at all.  It just itches and burns like crazy!  It should get better fast. 

Well that's all for now, I think.  Take care and love ya tons! 

Love,

Elder Robertson