Week 6 - I'm in the Philippines!

[Brittany left the MTC at 3:30am Utah time on August 21, caught a flight to LAX and from there left on a 15-hour flight to the Philippines. She had permission to call us from the airport so we it was great to hear her voice and feel of her enthusiasm for her mission. In Manilla, she will spend a week at the Missionary Training center there and then head out to her first assigned area.]

So turns out P-day is today, and there was no way to get that message to y'all so it is okay. But!! Let me start out by saying that HOLY SMOKES it was SO fun to talk to y'all yesterday!!! Wow I cannot believe how much fun it was to just hear your voices and talk to y'all freely! I cried so much hahah I just love you guys so so much. Because, we talked yesterday, I do not have a ton to catch y'all up on, pero I will still fill you in on some fun things that has happened this week!!

We landed in Manila at about 11p and it was guess what- raining!! Super fun and exciting(: Good thing my luggage and bag is waterproof! We drove a bus to Quezon City where the MTC was and the MTC President was on the bus with us and he. is. HILARIOUS!! He is so fun to talk to. He said, "tell your parents the exchange rate is super high here so they'll send you a lot of money" hahha he is just a hoot. Also, at 12:30a on a Wednesday night is HOPPIN' in Manila. The city looked like it was only 9p with how many cars were on the road and how many people were up and living life. It was pretty interesting!

We got to the MTC at like 1 am and then Sister Bergman and I stayed up talking, not realizing how late it was cause our bodies were wide awake, until 2 am and then went to bed, then arose at 6 am! So it was an interesting night as a missionary hahha. But the flight was AWESOME!! First of all, the plane was practically empty so we could totally spread out as we wanted. And second of all, Sister Bergman and I were seated behind 6 filipinos who all spoke Hiligaynon!! They were from Ilo Ilo, so it was super fun to practice Illonggo with them! They were taking sooo many selfies and pictures with us because they just thought it was so fun that these two white girls could speak Hiligaynon haha! And then third reason the flight was super great was because we slept ELEVEN out of the thirteen and a half hours the flight was. So literally we woke up, ate, and had only 2ish hours left to read the Book of Mormon and fill out the customs forms. And also customs was wayy easy to go through. Super seamless. We all got all our bags, no problem!

And, I have to share something that may shake dad hahha! Okay so- first things first- we got "new" companions here at the MTC. Since there are so few sisters going to Bacolod in our batch (two sets of companionships to be exact) there was not a lot of room for shuffling SO my new companionship is just Sister Bergman!!! Sister Ellis got paired with the other companionship so now they are the trio and we are the two person companionship. Pretty funny but pretty happy for us. Also, there is like 300 missionaries here at this MTC which breaks the record since this MTC has opened!! And because of that, we are squished for rooming. So, some sisters are split up from their companions and some sisters aren't in the main residence building, but rather put in the building where the Senior couples usually live. So that is the case for Sister Bergman and I, soooo we are in our OWN room with a refrigerator, microwave, our own bathroom, AND a queen sized bed. This is the funny thing, though. So you know that rule of "Sleep in the same room, but not in the same bed"? Yeah- we got an exception to that;) Straight from the mission president!! So yeah, all the things you knew about that rule dad, just went down the drain hahaha. Pretty funny. And also the mattresses here are like memory foam and the residences are wayyy nicer here than the Provo MTC!! I am living!

Other than that, we got up this morning and saw all the beautiful palm trees and felt the super intense humidity (that totally feels like Texas and I love it so much!) and just wow it is amazing here! We got up, and walked straight to the temple, across the street, through a tunnel underground, and got a session card for 2p today! It is a gorgeous temple and I cannot wait for that. We, then, went to breakfast, which of course was rice and some meat and an egg. So awesome! I feel so filipino already:))) We get to go proselyting with Tagalog missionaries on Saturday which I am superrr pumped for. I, obviously, don't speak Tagalog but I heard it is an amazing experience! I heard there is a big birthday celebration for everyone one of the days we are here, where the MTC celebrates all birthdays for the whole year. Super cute. There is also a pizza night I heard so I am pumped for that- maybe they eat pizza with rice! Who knows!

Oh! Another cute thing here is that they have a scheduled  snack time every day! Hahaha we died. So cute. Other than that, I do not have much to add to what I told y'all yesterday! Except that the See's Candy I bought was superr worth it. I am enjoying myself so much hehe(: I will leave with a spiritual thought, like pirme (always)!

During our departure devotional, the MTC President brought up the saying "not even once". I think it is in an ensign or something, but it is a quote from a talk. It basically is saying "I won't disobey once" or fill-in-the-blank whatever you want. Examples include "I wont wake up late even once" or "I will not say something sassy even once" or "I will not miss a day of Book of Mormon reading even once" - you get the point. I just think it is such a beautiful thought that everyone can do, even if you are not on a full-time mission. It is such a good principle to live no matter where you are or what stage of life you are in. Brother Martino warned that Satan will try to undo all the good we have done at the MTC, and he clarified that it's not a "maybe". It's a for sure. Satan hates what we are doing here and will try as hard as he can to undo it, and the way to avoid his grasp, is to have the "not even once" mindset. Because if we do it once, Satan has a hold on us. So we need to work hard and not let him even get the chance. We truly do have the power to say "Get thee hence, Satan." We really do. That is such a huge power that sometimes we forget we have. But with our choices, we have the power to cast him out. And that is how I try to live my life. I love the mission so much and I have had more power here to do things than I have my whole life. And I am so blessed and changed because of it. Thank you family for getting me here through all your examples and support. I love y'all oh so very much.

Sister Robertson

Here is a picture with our cute Philipino friends on our flight!! They spoke Hiligaynon and were so amazed that two American girls could speak it also.

Here is a picture trying to capture how many missionaries were at the airport with us! All of us are going to the Philippines!

Here is our breakfast on the plane- rice and eggs and chicken adobo. So Filipino!!

HERE IS THE CUTEST LITTLE TOOTHPASTE EVER I FREAKED OUT THE WHOLE PLANE RIDE SOOOO CUTE 

Here is a really low quality pic of coming into Manila. It was gorgeous. But since it was so dark- the shutter speed was super slow and thus- it was hard to take a clear picture.

Here is a low quality picture of the rain we came into. 

Our Bus ride to the MTC and snack

A picture of our room at the MTC in Manila and the queen bed that Sister Bergman and I get to share

A picture of our room at the MTC in Manila

a picture of me using me cute toothpaste!!!

That Manilla Temple

The Manilla Temple at sunrise

The very Filipino breakfast we had at the temple

Here are some pictures of my mgs kaupod when we looked cute on Sunday before we left Provo! I love them!

And a picture with my Hiligaynon-speaking sisters at the MTC in provo

A picture of our queso/ice cream party we held the night before we left the Provo MTC cause we needed to eat it! YUMMY!!!! 

Week 5 - Open your mouth

Maayong hapon pamilya ko!

This week didn't have much craziness, just a lot of tender mercies from the Lord. There was another English fast and it just is crazy that in 5 days, I could be speaking to the people of the Philippines in my language!!!!!!!!! Also, did y'all know that we go to the Manila MTC for a week? So yeah, in a week, I will have had like two or three days in Manila! We get to go to the temple and go on splits with Tagalog missionaries!! AHHH!! I can not express how excited I am. (Obviously this is if I don't get reassigned, but either way I am excited to share this light!!) We get to see pictures of the Philippines in class all the time now and we are just itching to go! There are so many promises about how prepared the Philippines is and how much people are receptive and eat up the gospel there!!!

Thank you, mom and dad, for sending me those messages. Those were all perfect and I cannot wait to look up those scriptures and talks. I LOVE GENERAL CONFERENCE TALKS. I read like one a day. They are so awesome and I love that we are able to receive modern revelation. I love reading talks. So thank you mom for sharing more I can read! And that is interesting about the name of the church, but as missionaries we are supposed to use that anyway, so not a big change right now.

This week has been so happy. I have found a lot of peace and comfort through the Savior, Jesus Christ. I have been able to see tender mercies all week and I am feeling much better. Hard things are still hard, but with the Savior beside me, he holds me up.

Okay- and on the visa thing. I was technically supposed to find out by yesterday or today if I was reassigned, and no one I know has been reassigned sooo my teachers think that we are all good, PERO still a chance we could. BUT I think I'm in! So not 100%- but there is a pretty good chance we will all be going to the Philippines for real!!!! ON MONDAY!!! GRABI (CRAZY)!!!!  And also sidenote- which I do not know much about, PERO a lot of missionaries are saying their families sent them "burner" phones that they will use to talk to their families at the airport on monday, soooo I found out that is apparently an allowed thing, because apparently there are only 4 pay phones in the salt lake airport so it is tough to get one. So you can tell me your thoughts on that but yeah be ready for a call on Monday from your daughter!!!! I am excited to talk to y'all even if I am borrowing someone's phone or waiting for a payphone!!

My thought for this email comes from Elder Holland because he is my favorite person ever right now! Elder Holland is the most amazing connector with missionaries because there is not someone on this earth that a mission means more for them than Elder Holland. He said that himself. He cherishes his mission so much and thinks about it everyday. So when he speaks to missionaries, it's absolutely breathtaking. And most of the time he doesn't come with anything prepared!

This is a talk called "Open Your Mouth" and it was a Sunday "movie". His whole talk talks about the power of words. He said "we only have words to work with as humans, so learn how to use them." Ephesians 6:18-19 talks about opening your mouth and states, "To be known, the truth must be stated." He told us missionaries to measure our missions on how we speak the word of God. Powerful message. But it was the end that was the most powerful. He read like 15 verses in the Scriptures that were "open your mouth scriptures" and he said the most powerful open your mouth scriptures lie in JSH. He explained that the devil has a lot of power but the only power he does not have over us, is to take our lives. Satan wanted to take Joseph Smith's life probably over anyone else's life in the whole existence of man. But Satan does not have the power to do that, so "he did the next most destructive thing Satan could do to a human-- he bound Joseph Smith's tongue." That hit be super hard. The worst thing Satan could do to us is bound our tongue because the most powerful thing we can do is use words. I love that. Elder Holland is so profound. I encourage y'all to open your mouths. Speak to everyone. Whether it's a gospel conversation or not, you never know what power your words could have on a person.

I love you, family. I cannot express how thankful I am for your support and love. (I have not yet gotten the package but I probably will today! SO THANK YOU!!!! EXCITED GID!!!)

Sister Robertson

An "artistic" picture up at the temple

Our beautiful temple trip this morning! I am going to miss this temple! 

I met a friend, Elder Young (Jackson), who apparently has been at the MTC the whole time with me and he also has a Philipino companion which makes seeing him all that more exciting! So we finally got a picture with him. This was after he did a whole day no English, only japanese!! Crazy!!!

One of our teachers didn't know we were going to leave monday, because missionaries usually leave on wednesday's so she planned a trip down to St. George for the weekend, so Wednesday was our last class we got with her. So we said goodbye and it was really sad. She is the sweetest person I know. 

One of our teachers didn't know we were going to leave monday, because missionaries usually leave on wednesday's so she planned a trip down to St. George for the weekend, so Wednesday was our last class we got with her. So we said goodbye and it was really sad. She is the sweetest person I know. 

Okay soo funny story- Sister Ellis' friend thought it would be a funny joke to send us fish. So yeah. We got fish. The white handbook says no pets though, so we took pics with them, then gave them to our teacher. Only three have survived in her care so far. They are named Sister Robertson, Sister Ellis, Sister Bergman, and Sister Rainey (our teacher who took the pets) hahah so funny.

And then the same friend, also decided to send a whole Easy-Bake Oven with S'more ingredients so that we can make smores. Pretty funny and clever and we were way confused hahah

Another Sunset. I love them.

Week 4 - I wrote down my prayer

Maayong hapon guapa pamilya!!

So terrifying story but also funny story- we went to the temple last friday for p-day, and saturday morning, I realized I left my wallet at the temple. I felt pretty sick to my stomach that I would leave so many important things in one compartment, but I soon realized that there is not a better place to leave it than the temple grounds. So, my companions and I asked the front desk to walk to the temple and basically, no one was working in the lost and found and it wasn't in the bin so I thought it was gone. But, the thing was, the whole walk up to the temple, I felt nothing but calm so I knew everything would be okay. Of course, in life, happiness doesn't mean having no trials, it means God will help you through those trials so that you can feel happy regardless. So I knew that even if I didn't find it, things would work out. After all, the only feeling Satan can't mimick is peace. So I knew it was from God. The worker in the Lost and Found happened to go in early that morning and was able to be paged and he looked in the safe, and pulled out my wallet. They had written my name, number, and dad's number, so thank GOODNESS for lds tools. I don't know if they reached out to you, dad, but I felt peace that perhaps someone knew it was safe. Anyways, so that was a huge tender mercy from Heavenly Father and I was thankful for the peace I felt.

Then, on Sunday, our ward did a trip to the temple which was amazing and an awesome Sunday activity. Then, today, we did another endowment session!!! I found great peace in the temple after a crazy week. I love the temple so much and being in there helps make trials feel so little in the grand scheme of things. Obedience in this life is so worth it for the eternal blessings we gain. Sin is so not worth it!

Sounds like a crazy fun adventure y'all had traveling around!! I am so jealous, but so thankful for the wonderful parents I have that have taken me and our family around the world to learn so much!! I love y'all!!! ALSO I AM SHOCKED AT ELISE GETTING BRACES LIKE WHAAAAAA!!!!! WHY WAS THERE NO WARNING?! But also she looks way cute in them and I can't wait to seem them sparkly teeth after!! So fun!

I love Joseph Smith, too. Coming on a mission has only enhanced my feelings about how true of a prophet he is. Basically every lesson I teach, I just want to fast-forward to talking about the Restoration because the Spirit that lesson brings is unlike any other lesson. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind. A million people could tell me all the reasons it is not true, but I only need one- the Holy Ghost, to tell me it is true, and I would die for that. I love this gospel so much.

Not much has really been note-worthy this week, we did another English puasa (fast) yesterday and it was awesome, once again. I am learning so much and it is cool to see how much I can apply that. I, actually, this week have set a new goal to learn more scriptures and phrases and words in Hiligaynon because I felt like I was kind of at a plateau in the language, and I was not alright with that. So, to progress better, I have been working really hard to learn more and apply the grammar principles we have learned in my daily language.

This week was kind of emotional for different reasons, but I am so impressed with how much the Lord has given me peace in moments that I am struggling. Sister Bergman gave me the idea to write down my prayer to Heavenly Father, which she says she does when words do not feel like enough. It was an amazing experience and really helped me plead with my Heavenly Father to send His angels my way and His comfort, as well. Writing, for me, is easier than thinking of what to say in my prayers, so it felt more sincere and helped me get a lot of what was in my heart out. GOD IS SO GOOD. His plan is so perfect and His grace is sufficient for all those who ask, and I have felt that this week more than any other week in my life. I would encourage anyone up for the challenge to try writing out a prayer and just seeing how that changes your prayers. It is amazing how much more I could find the words for when I was writing. I don't know, it was pretty cool. I cannot express my gratitude enough for my Savior and Redeemer, as well as my Father in Heaven. They know how to help every single one of us in our own individual ways. They know us by name and know what is right for us every moment.

Elder Bednar, in a talk, says "We, as missionaries, go two-by-two to teach one-by-one". Basically saying that we are to go throughout the world and make everyone feel like "the one" because we all are. He explains that every place he goes, there is someone he is there for. Which is a way cool principle. For example, he went to Home Depot to get some supplies for a project he was doing and he was dressed in a ball cap and t-shirt. A boy came up to him and said "Your disguise isn't working" and Elder Bednar laughed. Then, the boy proceeded by saying, "I have a question for you." Elder Bednar's reply was: "That is the reason I am here." Taken aback, the boy asked for clarification and Elder Bednar said, "I came here to get supplies, sure, but the real reason the Lord sent me to Home Depot at this time is to answer your question." I just love that. There was another experience that a similar thing happened on a plane Elder Bednar was on. To me, it is just such a cool principle that everywhere we go, God sends us for a specific reason. So Elder Bednar said "Go find the one". At the store, walking around the neighborhood, going to church, anywhere- go find the one you are supposed to be there for. Elder Bednar promised that there is always one. There is always someone who needs to hear what you have to say, so go find them. I am not describing his message very well, but I know I want to find that "one" everywhere I go. It is easier on a mission, but I think it is a great principle for everyday life as well. It also teaches us that we need to always be representing Christ or else we may influence the "one" in a negative way.

I love this gospel. I know it is true. I know that Joseph Smith is real and was a prophet. I love my family and am so happy for yall's example.

Gusto ko ang ini ebanghelyo. Kabalo ako matuod siya. Kabalo ako nga matuod si Joseph Smith kag propeta siya. Palangga ko ang pamilya ko kag malipayan gid ako para sa ehemplo ninyo.

Much much love,

Sister Robertson

This is me and mga kaupod ko wearing our mission t-shirts!!!! I love them!! I got one long sleeved and one short sleeve(:

Us in our mission t-shirts

More silliness in our mission t-shirts

Mission t-shirts #4

our temple visit today with a couple of super fun Tagalog elders! (Elder Seto is the somoan and Elder Johnson is the other one!) 

Here is a cute pic of my district that I love oh so much 

Here is from our sunday temple walk! So beautiful! 

This was a queso/salsa party we had and it was CRAZY good. Sister Bergman and I ate the whole thing of queso. SO. GOOD. 

Okay funny story- so we have like 100 cookies in our room because people just keep sending us cookies. Like it has become a zone joke. Every package basically has cookies so yeah we have a lot of cookies and send anything but cookies(((: 

Here is from our sunday temple walk! So beautiful! 

THE SMOG HAS BEEN CRAZY WOAH. It is super smoky and smells bad and apparently there is a fire in northern Utah and Cali that just hasn't been good, pero y'all probably know more than I do because technology! 

Here is from our sunday temple walk! So beautiful! 

Here is another praying mantis we found that was brown! Girl? Idk but it was cool and I got a high quality pic of it somehow 

There are "ponder" rooms here that play instrumental music and have gorgeous murals. This was one and I could not stop staring so I took a picture! (oh also one of the ponder rooms definitely has a picture of a field of bluebonnets so representt) 

Week 3 - I went on an "English Fast"

Maayong Hapon Pamilya!! So wonderful to hear about all of your fun vacation happenings!! Even though I am so jealous I wasn't there for all of that, it sounds like you had a wonderful time!

And YES!!!! Salamat gid para sa pakete!!! Thank you so much for the package!! I loved it. We now, have way too much food and have a whole closet of food, it is nuts. Like we are overloaded haha!! But love y'all so much and it was fun to get a little piece of home! Miss you guys so much for sure!!

This week has been AMAZING!!! First of all, I just got back from the TEMPLE which was AMAZINGGGGGGG!! Wow I love the gospel so much! It was so cool to go with my zone and see everyone beaming in the celestial room! Sister Bergman and I talked a lot afterwards in the celestial room just about different things and I read 2 Nephi 2 because that is where I am at for personal reading, and wow I never realized how perfect it was for reading while in the temple. I felt an immense spirit and just a testimony of the truthfulness of it all. It is so grabi (crazy) how i can read chapters over and over and get something new out of it every single time. Joseph Smith is so real and so is the Book of Mormon.

It was all just so amazing and so needed just for the marvelous reminder of why I am here and what the end goals for my future converts should be, as well as myself. ALSO my companions and I have been going into our lessons without a script, which has been totally freaky but faith building. It is so much easier, it feels like, to go in and recite lines that you know have perfect grammar and will be understood. But what we learned this week, was that it is so much more inspiring and faith-building, both for us and the people we are teaching, to go in and have a basic plan, but rely fully on the spirit. My companions and I had a bad habit of talking over things during our lessons in English, which was making the people we were teaching feel a little left our and awkward, so this week was a huge improvement when we got rid of that and just trusted that the spirit would tell us the words we forgot or help us know what to say. And it SO worked. We have had some of the most amazing lessons this week. ALSO WOW this week, I was able to recite the WHOLE first vision in Hiligaynon by memory for the investigator!!! It was so crazy. I was so nervous but trusted the Lord would fill my mouth and sure enough He did, and it touched the heart of the progressing investigator.

OH! Yesterday, my companions and I went on an ENGLISH FAST!!! 100% Hiligaynon alllll day! It was totally difficult, but it was totally awesome! For the most part, I could convey what I was trying to say with the combination of words and charades! It was sometimes really frustrating. But since we got half of a new zone, since the Cebuano's left on Tuesday and Wednesday, we made an agreement that we could ask permission to talk in English only to the new missionaries, pero we will do another day in a bit that will be 0 english. I love Hiligaynon and just want to be able to be speaking it all the time but I still have a bit of a ways to go! But I cannot wait to work hard to get there! The Lord is so good.

Also, I love Joseph Smith so much and Sister Bergman brightens up so much (like for example when Kayla starts talking about special needs children) when she hears the name Joseph Smith and because of her, I have deepened my love for him so we are both so jealous that you went to Nauvoo!

Okay okay now I get to talk about Missions Are Forever by Elder Holland!! Wowowow!! Oh. My. Gulay. (gulay means vegetable in tagalog pero apparently Pilipinos all say it as an expression so I say it all the time now HA!) But anyways, THAT TALK IS SO GOOD! I cried so much! Like wow. Each Sunday, we go to a "movie" of our choice which is sometimes about the Saints or something and sometimes just a recorded talk that an apostle gave at the MTC in the past, which this one was. I just want to copy and paste it on here but it is only accessible at the MTC so I can't even get a copy of it so I am sad, but I will just tell you the highlights of it. (Even though the whole thing is a highlight)

First, he basically tells missionaries "Leave your missions with NO regrets" This is so important because if we are working hard, being exactly obedient, and putting everything into our mission, we will go home with no regrets. And that is the kind of missionary I want to and am going to be. He also explains that for water to be purified, it must be boiling, but if it is even 2 degrees less than boiling temperature, it will not be completely purified, because it will not boil. So he explains that we must go that extra 2 degrees to fully be purified and no less. If we are even a little less than exactly obedient, we will miss out on the opportunity to be purified completely. He, then, goes on to explain that if we are fully converted, and that means fully converted, that will solve 99.99% of the problems that missionaries face on their missions. And to finish, even though there is so much more I want to include, he asked us the question of "Why are missions so hard?" And then simply answers it with a testimony. "Missions are hard because Salvation is not a cheap experience. Why should it be easy for us if it was not easy for the Savior? Everyone must be strong because our Savior, Jesus Christ, was.

The road to Salvation goes through Gethsemane. There is no other way. We must use the Atonement every day in our lives, or else salvation is not possible. If you missionaries do it right, every mission is tough." Just wow. I left that talk just so invigorated to be the best missionary ever. I wish I could have a copy of that to read every week on my mission. I wish I could see Elder Holland pound the pulpit every week telling us how important missions are. I can not express to you how amazing it all was. Every second of the talk just made me want to be a better missionary than before. Missions are not anything but the most important two years of your life. I know that and I feel that every day that I am here at the MTC. I want to serve a mission that I can look back on for the rest of my life and be proud as well as humble that I had the opportunity to do the most amazing work this world has to offer for 18 months.

I love it so much and I will end with a scripture because I have it memorized and it is something we should think about every day. We can not know the truthfulness of anything, except it be through the Holy Ghost. He is the true teacher and is a huge part of the reason I am here today serving.

Moroni 10:5 "Kag paagi sa gahum sang Balaan nga Espiritu mahimo ninyo nga mahibal-an ang kamatuoran sang tanan nga mga butang"

Moroni 10:5 "And by the power of the Holy Ghost, ye may know the truth of all things"

I love this gospel so much and I love y'all so much! Have a fantastic week full of happiness and giving!

Sinsero,
Sister Robertson

P.S. To answer one of your questions,  I will not find out anything about my visa until a week before I leave, sorry! I will not find out before that, guaranteed.

A pic of me in front of the temple(:

A pic of me in front of the temple(:

This is a pic of my whole district. I love them with all my heart.

A real rough picture of us three companions and my teacher Sister Rainey all coordinating colors in our dresses!

A cute picture of our old STL's (sister training leaders) and cause me and Sister Bradshaw were matching skirts!

A pic just of us with our matching skirts (((: 

A pic of a bunch of elders in our zone but the brother taking our picture did not really know what he was doing so his finger is included but the temple is not. 

These are my BUDS. They are the half of my district I am way close to. They are so fun and so faithful. Oh and it was after exercise time so sweat and all(:

Half my district who struggles a lot with opening their eyes for pictures hahha 

OH MY! I forgot that I have this putli (pure) picture of me holding a preying mantis!!

Pretty pic of tiemplo

This is a pretty pic of the mountains and the flags!

A really pretty sunset that my camera couldn't capture:) 

What our morning looked like walking to the temple. Guapa gid.