Week 39: HEY HOME

HEY HOME

So it's almost my 9 month now but hey, it's never too late.

So we got transfer calls this past weekend, and looks like my time in Abbotsford is up! 

Our Last Malaysian Supper

I am being transferred to Port Moody and will be follow-up training a new Sister. Sister Amat Sokupit will be staying here in Abby and will be training a new baby as well, so looks like I'm going to be a Grandma! Crazy huh?

I sure love it here in Abbotsford. Teaching here is very different than in Surrey. Abbotsford is known as the "bible belt" of Canada so I'm sure ya'll can all imagine what that is like. But it's nice to be living in a community who love and recognize Jesus Christ as their Savior. The ward members here are just amazing and I am heartbroken to have to leave them behind, but looking forward to new adventures! I'll send my new address in my e-mail next week for those who want to send anything. 

These past couple of weeks have been F I L L E D to the brim with miracles and a lot of hardship, but God continues to bless us.It's amazing the things He can accomplish through such imperfect people. 

Something I've been thinking about a lot lately is my relationship with God. It's crazy how much it has developed on my mission, and I certainly feel closer to Him than I ever have in my life, but I know that you don't have to go on a mission to have that experience. Each of us can have a strong relationship with God despite our stage in life, and it really all starts with our prayers. Prayer is such a simple thing, and something I think a lot of us take for granted. This past week in our district meeting we talked a lot about prayer. Prayer is a two-way communication with God and is essential if we want to have a relationship with Him. After all, if you never talk to your best friend or to your family how could you have a relationship with them? We talked about our prayers being m i g h t y. But what does that mean exactly? Well, in the Book of Mormon there is a prophet named Moroni who is often described as mighty. And in Alma 48:17, it says:

"Yea, verily verily I say unto you, if all men had been and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men."

Now that's a pretty big promise. That if each of us could be like Moroni, that Satan would have no power over us. So the question then becomes, how can each of us be mighty like unto Moroni? And from that, we are able to learn God's definition of mighty. Throughout Chapter 48, it describes Moroni as grateful, selfless, faithful, and humble. And that's truly the key to our prayers, and to our relationship with God. If we are humble and willing to submit to His will, have faith in His plan for us and in His timing, if we choose to be grateful despite our circumstances, and if we are willing to serve those around us, then God will be able to do miracles for us and through us. 

I know that God is our loving Heavenly Father, and His greatest desire is for us to be eternally happy. Nothing brings more strength or solace than being able to pray, whether out loud or not, to our father in Heaven. And I know that if we each strive to make those prayers meaningful, and full of prayer, that they will be mighty, that our relationship with our Heavenly Father will grow, and that our resolve to do better and to press forward will deepen. I love my Heavenly Father, and am eternally grateful that His love for me, and for all of us in not conditional on our choices. He is there, always waiting, always willing to reach out. I know that this is His work, and I am so grateful to be able to do it. I pray more than anything, that each of us will be able to know and feel God's love for us. 

I love ya'll bunches!

Love always,

Sister Robertson

At to end the week, our sweet twins (Heather and Bex) got baptized. The two Sisters in the bottom picture were the ones who taught and baptized Katrina, and we were lucky enough to get to teach her kiddos. Oh how I love this sweet family, and have loved to watch them grow! Change is always hard, especially when it involves aligning your will with God's, but Katrina has truly set the example and the way for her family and her kids are being blessed because of it. I love them with my whole heart. 

Last P-day we spent a day at the beach with our STL's <3

Our sweet family from Muldova! Elene also is about to pop so meeting recently has been hard, but they are such a faithful family and their strongest desire is to know the truth. Their three little girls are absolutely adorable and always perform a song for us when we come by😍 

This is our sweet family from Kenya. Deng (the dad) wasn't available for the picture, but this is Mary and here 4 sweet kiddos. She recently had a new little baby (Ajok is 1 month now) so we haven't gotten to teach them too much, but they just L O V E God, and our so excited to be learning!

Week 38: just a few pics again

So yesterday was a Holiday in good ole' Canada, and so our P-day was moved. Let me just say, Canada has A L O T of Holidays, and a lot of days off of school. 

(This week all I really have is some pictures for you, sorry!)
!

The twins, Heather and Bex (they are the two closest to me) are getting baptized this Saturday and we can not wait! They just love the gospel so so much and love learning about Jesus Christ!

On my birthday, unfortunately a lot of packages from my momma haven't gotten here yet, but as always God's timing is perfect and I happened to get an entirely different package with no relation to my birthday from one of my best friends from colleges mom. It was a huge tender mercy for sure!

​We had exchanges again this week and Sister Zundel decided she wanted to try to use the dish washer..... Needless to say, it turned out alright. 

​Love her. 

This is Mary. She is 12..... Oddly enough in each area I have served in I have found a sweet girl who reminds me so much of my baby sister Marissa. 

This is Sister Whitehead. We have many older, single sisters in our ward here. They just spoil us rotten!

Week 37: I'm 20!

Lol, I'm 20.

This past week has been another crazy week in the mission. We had Zone Meeting and Stake conference and interviews with President Burt. It's crazy to think that at the end up this transfer I will have been out for 9 months on my mission..... half way done. 

Wow.

Weird.

Time goes by way too fast, let's just say that. 

Serving a mission is the best thing I have ever done, and was certainly one of the hardest descisions I had ever made up to this point. There were a lot of things holding me back. Fears about public speking, fears about having to do things out of my comfort zone, having to follow an exact schedule or exercise every morning, pushing off geting married or having kids, but mostly just scared about change and the unknown. 

How grateful I am though for the many examples in my life and for God's hand in helping me to choose the harder right. Life certainly is full of choices, often ones that are difficult to make, but I find that that are easier to make when we undertand who we are and where we are going. I know that God loves us and He has a plan for each and everyone of us. He wants us to have joy, despite the trials. He needs us to grow into the wonderful people He has created us to be. And I know that most of all, He wants us to be prepared to return to live with Him again some day.

"For this is my work and my glory- to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." Moses 1:39 

Nothing happens in our lives by mistake. The people we know, work with, and live by are all put into our lives for a reason. Not only was I called to serve in the Canada Vancouver mission, but I was called to serve under President Burt. I have learned much from the faithful example of my parents and my leaders in church throughout my life, and President and Sister Burt are nothing different.

I'm grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ which has allowed me to know how short this life really is and where I want to be someday, to know that my choices have consequences and that I have a divine potential to achieve. That eternal perspective is something that President Burt lives by. 

When deciding to go on a mission or not, I thought about what I wanted for my life. I want to be a good mother, sister, daughter, friend. I want to be a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ. I want to be the person that Heavenly Father needs me to be- regardless of the responsibility or growth that that requires. And I realized, that in order for me to become those things, that I needed to serve a mission. That somehow through this process, God could shape me into something new. And so I went. 

God gives us many opportunities, despite what part of life we are in, to make those changes. And I would invite each of you to sincerely think about the things you want in life, and determine if the decisions you are making today are helping you to take one step closer to those goals, and to our ultimate goal to be with our Heavenly Father again some day. Then make those neccessary and fulfilling changes. 

I love you all, and I am so grateful for the divine potential that Heavenly Father has created for each of us and for the opportunity I have to serve a mission and to help His children to see that potential in which they have. Because each of us does. 

Love always,

Sister Robertson 

(These are pic's she sent last week, but I didn't see the email with these pic's until after I had already posted last week's email.)

Sister Picnic at the church. These are rare so it had to be documented. 

Sister Gorbaun. She is one of the older widowed members in our ward. Originally from Germany and a convert to the church. She is just amazing. 

This is Bekah. She is one of the women we are working withs Daughter. We went to the park this week for a lesson and she just came up and grabbed my hand 😍

Week 36: an actual Letter

Hey friends,

I just wanted to say a H U G E thank you for all the birthday wishes, ya'll are too good! Sorry I haven't really written too much of anything in a while, after some much deserved rebuking from my mother, I think I'll give it a shot. 

So essentially, I've been in Abbotsford now for my 3rd Transfer (almost 4 1/2 months). Abbotsford is considered the "bible belt" of BC, Canada, which always has its pros and cons. Its been amazing to be a part of a community that truly rejoices in their Savior, Jesus Christ, and most people here are really nice, even if they're not interested. 

Sister Amat Sokupit (which by the way I just realized none of ya'll have ever heard that pronounced so it probably sounds really weird and intimidating- so its pronounced A mought Sock oo Pit). Any ways, so sister Amat Sokupit and I have been working with several families. I promise to get pictures with them this week so that ya'll can put some names to faces but not too too much is happening with them yet. They are all really amazing families with a strong faith in God and a desire to follow him and to help their families and children to love the gospel. One family is from Sudan, another is from Muldova (Sp?), which is near Romania, and the rest are all just regular Canadian families. There are still A TON of east Indians here in Abby, in fact our church is across the street from a Sik temple, but I haven't been teaching any Sik, Hindi, Asian, or Filipino people since I got here ( which is basically everyone I taught in Surrey).

Really what I would like to share with ya'll though this week is 2 stories that come from The Book of Mormon, and essentially sum up everything I have been learning on my mission. 

In Mosiah Chapter 21, it talks about Limhi and his people, who are under bondage and who are being persecuted. Throughout their prosperity they had become prideful and forgotten that everything they had was because of God and began to become wicked. When things got hard they immediately began to complain and whine about their afflictions. And when they finally humble themselves and cry for help it says,

"And now the Lord was slow to her their cry because of their iniquities; nevertheless the Lord did hear their cries, and began to soften the hearts of the Lamanites that they began to ease their burdens; yet the Lord did not see fit to deliver them out of bondage."

Now the second story is found a couple chapters later in Mosiah Chapter 24. this chapter talks about Alma and his people, who like the Limhi and his people, are faced with many challenges and trials and are experiencing much persecution. Unlike Limhi and his people however, Alma and his people have been faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord, and recognize His hand in every step of their lives. And when they cry unto the Lord for help it says,

"And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage. And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your backs, even while you are in bondage..... And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his bretheren were made light; yes, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord."

At the end of each of these stories, God helps deliver both groups of people out of bondage. And God will do the same thing for each of us. He is our Heavenly Father, and if there is one thing I know more than anything else it is that, He loves us. We each experience trials and challenges in this life- there is no way to avoid them. Trials help us to learn and to grow. But the difficulty in the trial comes from our attitude- from our ability to recognize God's divine plan for us- and to choose to submit ourselves to His will. Limhi and his people experienced a lot of difficulty, and in times of disappointment they, like we often do, complained and asked, "Why me? Why would you do this to me God?" But Alma and his people allowed their trials and challenges to teach them. They understood that God knew and loved them, that He would never leave them alone, and they had faith that everything would work out for their greater good. Now that doesn't mean that things weren't still hard, because they were. And they still are for each of us. But I know that as we choose to have faith in God and in his plan for us, if we try to ask "What can I learn, rather than Why does life have to be so hard?" that we too, like Alma and his people will be able to bear our burdens with ease. And I know that it's possible. Missions, like much of life, are challenging. I have experienced way more than I even thought possible, and I am so grateful for the things that life has taught me. The good, bad, and ugly in life are what shape us to be the people we are today. 

I know that being grateful in times of trial truly turns burdens into blessings, and it allows us to rely fully on our Heavenly Father, and our Savior, Jesus Christ. I am grateful for them and for the love that they extend to each of us always. 

I love al of you and pray that each of us will be able to find the innumerable opportunities for joy throughout our journeys. 

Love always,

Sister Robertson

Week 35: Happy Early Mother's Day!!!

Sister Amat Sokupit and I have certainly been through the ringer- coming from two completely different backgrounds, cultures, life styles, etc can certainly create a big barrier sometimes. 

But as we learn in the Book of Mormon in 2 Nephi, we can't experience true joy without first experiencing misery. Sister Amat and I have overcome so much and I am so grateful for the things she has taught me. I love you all and am praying for you every day! I hope that each of us, when faced with opposition or hardship, will choose the harder right and learn to love progression, I have.

I love ya'll, I love this work, and I especially love my Savior Jesus Christ, the one whom makes change possible. I'm grateful for all the wonderful mommas out there who have changed my life and who continue to change the lives around them. There is no greater calling than being a mother, and I hope with this Mother's Day coming up that each of you will know the impact that you make on the lives you. No one puts it better than Elder Jeffrey R. Holland in his talk, "Behold Thy Mother"

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/10/behold-thy-mother?lang=eng

How grateful I am for my mother, who has sacrificed so much for me.

Happy Early Mother's day!

Love always,

Sister Robertson

Sorry for another week of basically no e-mail. I promise to actually write a legit e-mail for next week. Just know that things are really so so good, and I feel extremely blessed to serve the Lord. Love all of you and I am so grateful for all your e-mails and letters!

S/o to my home ward for sending me this sweet package! 

​I heart ya'll

I just thought this Statue was cool