So... yeah. Im not 100% if it was amoeba but I had all the symptoms and the doctors said it was expensive to test for dengue AND amoeba, but Elder Jarvis, the one who got sick that one time, had amoeba and he had the EXACT same symptoms as I did. So I'm calling it amoeba. It was horrible, I'm not going to lie. It was the longest, most painful, most miserable days of my life, I think. And it came when I woke up on Christmas. So instead of waking up with presents under the tree (figuratively), I woke up completely weak and not really able to walk to stand for very long. I then went to district counsel, which I was completely weak at, and didn't contribute much. There, I also threw up all the rest of the acid in my stomach, cause I had no food. I then spent the rest of my Christmas laying in my bed, and checking my fever which got up to 102.3 degrees at one point. I threw up one more time and was so weak. All my muscles and joints hurt and I could barely function.
The next day wasn't much better. My fever went away for like a few hours and then came right back. Finally, the 27th, we decided to go to the hospital on the chance that it was Dengue, and I spent two days in the hospital but I was kind of okay by then. Anyways, it was a long time of waiting to just feel better, but I finally feel better and don't feel a thing, so all is well. But it was kind of depressing to spend my Christmas like that. Our Christmas was supposed to be full of eating and events, but it was full of pain and sickness. I ate one orange that day and that was it. The next day I didn't eat much more than that, also. I've gained back my appetite by now but I ended up getting a UTI from being so dehydrated and not drinking or eating anything. So I am on antibiotics right now.
That was basically my entire week. In other news- Im training this transfer. So meaning- after only being in the field for 18 weeks, I will be training a new missionary who doesn't know Ilonggo or probably English either because she will be Philipino, because all the sisters are. So yeah I'm super nervous and I will meet her on Thursday, and will be in Bacolod until then. I am super excited though and I am the only and first one in my batch from the Provo MTC to train someone else, so pray for me!! But I will keep y'all updated on my new trainee when she arrives!! Sorry I don't have a ton of news. My whole week was hospital and traveling and packing for Sister Ignacio. Also I accidentally ripped out my IV at the hospital, so that hurt and its still sore. So yeah- I don't recommend that.
I missed y'all extra this week during Christmas and while I was sick. There was one point where I said out loud, "I just want my mom." That seems so childish but truly I just wanted my fam there to help take care of me because hospitals here don't do it very well hahha. But I love y'all and am so happy to hear y'all had a happy Christmas!!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
Sister Robertson
Monday, December 31, 2018
Letter from Brittany's Mission President
[We received the following email from Britt's mission president and wife on December 31. Brittany is doing well and no lingering effects of being ill.]
Dear Brother and Sister Robertson,
Hope this email finds you and your family well.
President Sumagpao and I are so pleased with the progress of your missionary daughter. She is doing the best that she can to be an exactly obedient and an exemplary missionary.
Last Tuesday her companion informed me that Sister Robertson is feeling sick with stomach and muscle pain and with fever. I asked them to observe for two more days to rule out dengue for symptoms usually appear on the third day, as advised by the Area Medical Doctor. On the third day, since your daughter is still having fever and not feeling better, I asked them to go to the hospital here in Bacolod to get urgent medical care. Her laboratory tests showed she has urinary tract infection and viral infection. Our assistants reached out to them while they were in the hospital for one day.
We admire your daughter for her great courage and unwavering faith in spite of the affliction she had had. The following day, they wanted to get back to the apartment to work out the baptisms of the new people they taught.
Please know that we love your daughter for who she is and for the dedicated service that she willingly renders.
Thank you for all the things you do for the betterment of your Sister Robertson. Please continue to extend your unwavering love and encouragement to her as this will help bring out the best in her.
With love and respect,
Sister Sumagpao
Dear Brother and Sister Robertson,
Hope this email finds you and your family well.
President Sumagpao and I are so pleased with the progress of your missionary daughter. She is doing the best that she can to be an exactly obedient and an exemplary missionary.
Last Tuesday her companion informed me that Sister Robertson is feeling sick with stomach and muscle pain and with fever. I asked them to observe for two more days to rule out dengue for symptoms usually appear on the third day, as advised by the Area Medical Doctor. On the third day, since your daughter is still having fever and not feeling better, I asked them to go to the hospital here in Bacolod to get urgent medical care. Her laboratory tests showed she has urinary tract infection and viral infection. Our assistants reached out to them while they were in the hospital for one day.
We admire your daughter for her great courage and unwavering faith in spite of the affliction she had had. The following day, they wanted to get back to the apartment to work out the baptisms of the new people they taught.
Please know that we love your daughter for who she is and for the dedicated service that she willingly renders.
Thank you for all the things you do for the betterment of your Sister Robertson. Please continue to extend your unwavering love and encouragement to her as this will help bring out the best in her.
With love and respect,
Sister Sumagpao
Monday, December 24, 2018
Week 23 - Merry Christmas!! Maayong Paskwa!!
OH MY GOODNESS!! That call was the BEST ever!! I don't have a ton to write because I just told you everything in person which is the best feeling ever!! I love my family and talking to y'all was the best Christmas present anyone could ever ask for!! I wish I had words enough to describe how happy that made me and how much that meant to me. But I don't. So just thank y'all for being the best family everrr.
I'll write out Freddy's story from his baptism so that it can be uploaded to my blog. So here it is:
Freddy Fernandez is so strong. He is just over 50 years old and was so prepared for this gospel from the moment we found him- or he found us more like. It started back in October when Sister Melgaso and I were at a member's house for family home evening. All of a sudden, a stranger (to us, not the the members there) came up to the head of the family and saw us sitting inside. He said "I have been wanting to be a member of that Church, but I just do not know how." Well, lucky for him, we knew how(: So, we set up an appointment with him the following Sunday, after introducing ourselves to him. He works everyday, because he owns two different hardware stores, and is only in the one in Sipalay on Sundays. We showed up at his hardware store, and he immediately left his work to meet with us in his house. We taught Sunday after Sunday to him and he was so receptive. He believed everything we said and started reading the Book of Mormon as soon as he got his hands on one. He asked for one in English and one in Hiligaynon so that he could really understand every word in that book. We shortly after extended a baptismal date to him, and he said "OO EH", which is equivalent to "YEAH DUH" in english. We talked to him about the Law of Chastity, Law of Tithing, and Word of Wisdom, and he had no problems. He said he drank coffee only sometimes but said he would give that up no problem. He later told us that he showed up to that one member's house that one evening, because he had a strong feeling he needed to go there that night. So he followed that spiritual prompting and found us there. He has been being prepared by God for a long time now and it was an absolute joy to teach him. It was my favorite part of the week- Sunday evenings. I always felt so energized after teaching him. He was baptized on December 22, 2018 and received the Gift of the Holy Ghost yesterday on Dec 23, as well as the Aaronic Priesthood. We love Freddy.
As for the baptism yesterday, it did not go exactly as planned. JamJam (Freddy's 9 year old child) was also supposed to be baptized, but did not. We spent an hour and a half convincing her the water wasn't scary but she wouldn't take the bait. She would step in very slowly then at the last minute come out again and the convincing started all over again. At one point, she said she would go into the water if I did too, so what did I do? Yeah I got in the water with my dress. I didn't get all the way in but far enough in to hold her hand while she was in the water. The baptism prayer was said three times. The first time, her head didn't go all the way under, so she came out all excited that she did it, and then we had to break the news that she had to do it again. The second time was like 30 minutes later after convincing her again, and then she didn't want her head to go under so she kept her head above the surface. Then we switched missionaries baptizing to see if that would help, and he dunked himself under the water to make her feel more comfortable. So Elder Sombilla basically went swimming in the baptismal font for this girl. Hahaha and then the third time, Elder Sombilla said the prayer and then tried to dunk her head under the water himself, which looked like straight torture to this child. We all died laughing and decided that was about enough. So she will be getting baptized by her father who now holds the priesthood, at the beach where she said she would feel more comfortable. Its hard to describe all that went down in that house and a half but let's just say it was quite a mess. So she will be next time when we don't have to drown her or get in the water in our dress to get this child immersed.
But that did testify to me just how important be baptized in the right way is. People in other faiths get baptized but as long it is not in the right way, or with the right authority, or at the right age, it matters not to heaven. It does not count. Even in this church, there is re-baptizing for those who did not do it right, which is what happened with her. The only way baptism can get us into the celestial kingdom of God, is in the right way only. This is so important and exactly my message.
Well anyways, I am still over the moon after talking to y'all and feel happy this Christmas Season because of y'all. I wish you the merriest Christmas ever and will miss y'all very much tomorrow during Christmas! THANK YALL FOR EVERYTHING!! MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!
Sister Robertson
I'll write out Freddy's story from his baptism so that it can be uploaded to my blog. So here it is:
Freddy Fernandez is so strong. He is just over 50 years old and was so prepared for this gospel from the moment we found him- or he found us more like. It started back in October when Sister Melgaso and I were at a member's house for family home evening. All of a sudden, a stranger (to us, not the the members there) came up to the head of the family and saw us sitting inside. He said "I have been wanting to be a member of that Church, but I just do not know how." Well, lucky for him, we knew how(: So, we set up an appointment with him the following Sunday, after introducing ourselves to him. He works everyday, because he owns two different hardware stores, and is only in the one in Sipalay on Sundays. We showed up at his hardware store, and he immediately left his work to meet with us in his house. We taught Sunday after Sunday to him and he was so receptive. He believed everything we said and started reading the Book of Mormon as soon as he got his hands on one. He asked for one in English and one in Hiligaynon so that he could really understand every word in that book. We shortly after extended a baptismal date to him, and he said "OO EH", which is equivalent to "YEAH DUH" in english. We talked to him about the Law of Chastity, Law of Tithing, and Word of Wisdom, and he had no problems. He said he drank coffee only sometimes but said he would give that up no problem. He later told us that he showed up to that one member's house that one evening, because he had a strong feeling he needed to go there that night. So he followed that spiritual prompting and found us there. He has been being prepared by God for a long time now and it was an absolute joy to teach him. It was my favorite part of the week- Sunday evenings. I always felt so energized after teaching him. He was baptized on December 22, 2018 and received the Gift of the Holy Ghost yesterday on Dec 23, as well as the Aaronic Priesthood. We love Freddy.
As for the baptism yesterday, it did not go exactly as planned. JamJam (Freddy's 9 year old child) was also supposed to be baptized, but did not. We spent an hour and a half convincing her the water wasn't scary but she wouldn't take the bait. She would step in very slowly then at the last minute come out again and the convincing started all over again. At one point, she said she would go into the water if I did too, so what did I do? Yeah I got in the water with my dress. I didn't get all the way in but far enough in to hold her hand while she was in the water. The baptism prayer was said three times. The first time, her head didn't go all the way under, so she came out all excited that she did it, and then we had to break the news that she had to do it again. The second time was like 30 minutes later after convincing her again, and then she didn't want her head to go under so she kept her head above the surface. Then we switched missionaries baptizing to see if that would help, and he dunked himself under the water to make her feel more comfortable. So Elder Sombilla basically went swimming in the baptismal font for this girl. Hahaha and then the third time, Elder Sombilla said the prayer and then tried to dunk her head under the water himself, which looked like straight torture to this child. We all died laughing and decided that was about enough. So she will be getting baptized by her father who now holds the priesthood, at the beach where she said she would feel more comfortable. Its hard to describe all that went down in that house and a half but let's just say it was quite a mess. So she will be next time when we don't have to drown her or get in the water in our dress to get this child immersed.
But that did testify to me just how important be baptized in the right way is. People in other faiths get baptized but as long it is not in the right way, or with the right authority, or at the right age, it matters not to heaven. It does not count. Even in this church, there is re-baptizing for those who did not do it right, which is what happened with her. The only way baptism can get us into the celestial kingdom of God, is in the right way only. This is so important and exactly my message.
Well anyways, I am still over the moon after talking to y'all and feel happy this Christmas Season because of y'all. I wish you the merriest Christmas ever and will miss y'all very much tomorrow during Christmas! THANK YALL FOR EVERYTHING!! MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!
Sister Robertson
Monday, December 17, 2018
Week 22 - I sustain my mission president
Hahahha just like you family, I do not have a lot to share this week. It's been kind of a heavy week for the mission- i'll get into the details of that in a bit, but I just want to tell you I love you all so much and I AM SOOOO EXCITED for next Monday!! The call will probably be around 7pm Texas time on Sunday night for y'all. I hope we can make it by that time, but I am running on Filipino time here so it may be closer to 8p your time(: Its just the Filipino way sorry. But I am DANCING inside y'all have no idea how excited I am to hear y'all and talk to y'all. Expect tears.
As for this week, kind of a hard one in the terms of missionary work. I have really felt how it feels to want someone's salvation so bad but things are getting in the way. The pain of missionary work is real. Aside from all the trials that come from Satan not wanting this work to be moved forward, there is real pain in seeing the light in someone's eyes and just not being able to bring them into the waters of baptism.
So I will start off by saying- I sustain and support my mission president 110%. I love that he is receiving revelation for this mission and I truly feel as though he is strongly in tune with the spirit and knows what is best for this mission. Having that said, there has been lots of changes since our new mission president came right before I arrived. This week, the changes were concerning who we are allowed to baptize and who we aren't. So as I said in my past letters, we had four definite baptisms this month, two on the 22nd and two on the 29th. Well, President has been receiving revelation for how to keep people active because theres TONS of people baptized here, but SO many inactive members. So this revelation he receives is those from the age of 8-11 need to baptized along with their parents to be baptized. Ages 12-14 need either direct permission from President or need to have at least one parent active in the church. And then 15 and above can be baptized without parents with them, just need permission obviously.
So, our two candidates on the 29th are two young to be baptized because they are 12 and both their moms are members but very inactive and don't want to come back to the church. Set aside the fact that they have issues in their life keeping them from being a devoted member as well. So that news hit us pretty hard. Those two little girls who have been faithfully coming to church, expressing their earnest desire to join the church, and showing their faith in multiple ways including reactivating some of their inactive member cousins through their coming to church, can no longer be baptized. We asked permission from President and he said no. So now, they must wait three years to be baptized. Which again, hit us hard. We have been pretty sad for those two little girls. It's hard to explain, but I can see their deep desire that now can not be granted. But like I said, I sustain and support President and all he does, so I will follow his counsel willingly and I know the Lord has perfect timing for sweet MM and Rihanna. We delivered them that news yesterday and it was pretty heartbreaking, but we reassured them that if they continue to show their faith and trust in the Lord, He will provide a way for them to enter into the covenant of baptism. So hopefully they will not become discouraged.
I know God has a perfect plan and I am so excited to see how this new revelation blesses the church. This means that me and my companion have lots of new people to find because we have needed to drop lots of the people we are teaching. But all the in the Lord's way. This is His work, not mine. So I will do it His way, not mine. I love this work so much and I love my family and am so grateful we are sealed for all eternity so I can be with y'all forever and ever in happiness. Thank you for all your support to me and all you do for me to make me feel loved all the way across the world. Stay happy and spread the great word!!!
Sister Robertson
As for this week, kind of a hard one in the terms of missionary work. I have really felt how it feels to want someone's salvation so bad but things are getting in the way. The pain of missionary work is real. Aside from all the trials that come from Satan not wanting this work to be moved forward, there is real pain in seeing the light in someone's eyes and just not being able to bring them into the waters of baptism.
So I will start off by saying- I sustain and support my mission president 110%. I love that he is receiving revelation for this mission and I truly feel as though he is strongly in tune with the spirit and knows what is best for this mission. Having that said, there has been lots of changes since our new mission president came right before I arrived. This week, the changes were concerning who we are allowed to baptize and who we aren't. So as I said in my past letters, we had four definite baptisms this month, two on the 22nd and two on the 29th. Well, President has been receiving revelation for how to keep people active because theres TONS of people baptized here, but SO many inactive members. So this revelation he receives is those from the age of 8-11 need to baptized along with their parents to be baptized. Ages 12-14 need either direct permission from President or need to have at least one parent active in the church. And then 15 and above can be baptized without parents with them, just need permission obviously.
So, our two candidates on the 29th are two young to be baptized because they are 12 and both their moms are members but very inactive and don't want to come back to the church. Set aside the fact that they have issues in their life keeping them from being a devoted member as well. So that news hit us pretty hard. Those two little girls who have been faithfully coming to church, expressing their earnest desire to join the church, and showing their faith in multiple ways including reactivating some of their inactive member cousins through their coming to church, can no longer be baptized. We asked permission from President and he said no. So now, they must wait three years to be baptized. Which again, hit us hard. We have been pretty sad for those two little girls. It's hard to explain, but I can see their deep desire that now can not be granted. But like I said, I sustain and support President and all he does, so I will follow his counsel willingly and I know the Lord has perfect timing for sweet MM and Rihanna. We delivered them that news yesterday and it was pretty heartbreaking, but we reassured them that if they continue to show their faith and trust in the Lord, He will provide a way for them to enter into the covenant of baptism. So hopefully they will not become discouraged.
I know God has a perfect plan and I am so excited to see how this new revelation blesses the church. This means that me and my companion have lots of new people to find because we have needed to drop lots of the people we are teaching. But all the in the Lord's way. This is His work, not mine. So I will do it His way, not mine. I love this work so much and I love my family and am so grateful we are sealed for all eternity so I can be with y'all forever and ever in happiness. Thank you for all your support to me and all you do for me to make me feel loved all the way across the world. Stay happy and spread the great word!!!
Sister Robertson
Monday, December 10, 2018
Week 21 - There are "Ax Thieves" here
I got my package! It's all perfect and I love every single bit of it THANK YOU!!! I can not thank y'all enough. You have no idea how happy that package made me. Made all my problems seem little. I love y'all so stinkin' much. Y'all are the hugest blessing in my life.
As for my week, not much happened haha. Pretty uneventful. We taught some lessons, committed another person to get baptized on December 22, and studied a lot(: Just the life of a missionary. I am wayyyyyy excited for the Christmas call, though. As you can tell, I am counting down the days. 2 Mondays and I will be talking to my favorite people!!! This week, I bought some Christmas decorations for our room to give it a little pep and to make me feel not so far away from Christmas. Its super hot here everyday so definitely doesn't feel like Christmas. But I am so looking forward to our baptisms this month that we have. We had 5 people at church yesterday which is just so exciting. The missionary work is strong right now, and I think it's all part of the Christmas season of miracles. I love it and love this work so much!
As for some other exciting news, I got word that there are "ax thieves" in Sipalay right now. Meaning theres a group of people going around with axes, breaking into people's houses and stealing stuff. Last I heard, no one has gotten hurt, so that's good. But a little scary hahha so pray that our house will be protected!! I worry about thieves all the time cause that's a common occurrence here so pray extra hard!!
Sorry this letter is kind of short but not much happened this week to explain. I'll end with a quote that I love and has been really getting me through any hard time that comes my way. It is my Thomas S. Monson. He said "The great thing about the gospel, is we get credit for trying. Sincerely trying to live the gospel is living the gospel." I struggle here on my mission with not feeling good enough, or not feeling like I am doing enough. Missions hold really high standards, and as a missionary who is striving to be exactly obedient, it can sometimes weigh on me that I have weaknesses and I fall short of perfection everyday. I really want to be a celestial missionary, who is exactly obedient, and I really do try. So this quote gave me all the comfort in the world, that the Lord is pleased with my effort, because I am TRYING. This gospel is not for perfect people. Perfect people don't need this gospel. But since we are all short of perfect, we all need this gospel. And as long as we are trying, that is exactly what the Lord asks of us. Sincerely trying every day is living this gospel. So anyways I love that and found so much comfort in it that I don't need to be perfect, as long as I am putting my all into trying. I love this gospel and I love this work so much. I love this opportunity to come closer to my Savior and to help others do the same.
I love y'all sooo much and miss y'all soooo much. FOURTEEN DAYS!!!
Sister Robertson
As for my week, not much happened haha. Pretty uneventful. We taught some lessons, committed another person to get baptized on December 22, and studied a lot(: Just the life of a missionary. I am wayyyyyy excited for the Christmas call, though. As you can tell, I am counting down the days. 2 Mondays and I will be talking to my favorite people!!! This week, I bought some Christmas decorations for our room to give it a little pep and to make me feel not so far away from Christmas. Its super hot here everyday so definitely doesn't feel like Christmas. But I am so looking forward to our baptisms this month that we have. We had 5 people at church yesterday which is just so exciting. The missionary work is strong right now, and I think it's all part of the Christmas season of miracles. I love it and love this work so much!
As for some other exciting news, I got word that there are "ax thieves" in Sipalay right now. Meaning theres a group of people going around with axes, breaking into people's houses and stealing stuff. Last I heard, no one has gotten hurt, so that's good. But a little scary hahha so pray that our house will be protected!! I worry about thieves all the time cause that's a common occurrence here so pray extra hard!!
Sorry this letter is kind of short but not much happened this week to explain. I'll end with a quote that I love and has been really getting me through any hard time that comes my way. It is my Thomas S. Monson. He said "The great thing about the gospel, is we get credit for trying. Sincerely trying to live the gospel is living the gospel." I struggle here on my mission with not feeling good enough, or not feeling like I am doing enough. Missions hold really high standards, and as a missionary who is striving to be exactly obedient, it can sometimes weigh on me that I have weaknesses and I fall short of perfection everyday. I really want to be a celestial missionary, who is exactly obedient, and I really do try. So this quote gave me all the comfort in the world, that the Lord is pleased with my effort, because I am TRYING. This gospel is not for perfect people. Perfect people don't need this gospel. But since we are all short of perfect, we all need this gospel. And as long as we are trying, that is exactly what the Lord asks of us. Sincerely trying every day is living this gospel. So anyways I love that and found so much comfort in it that I don't need to be perfect, as long as I am putting my all into trying. I love this gospel and I love this work so much. I love this opportunity to come closer to my Savior and to help others do the same.
I love y'all sooo much and miss y'all soooo much. FOURTEEN DAYS!!!
Sister Robertson
Monday, December 3, 2018
Week 20 - Days of Service
Oh man I miss y'all! I wish i had time to just type out responses to everything y'all wrote but now with the shortened email time, I am low on time always. So just know I miss y'all and wish I could've been there for the snow, family memories, fun Christmas traditions, and all. I miss y'all a lot around the Christmas season. Its still hot as ever here so doesn't quite feel like Christmas but I wish i could be with my family during my favorite part of the year.
My week has been good. Not quite as successful as last week but successful nonetheless. We found 10 new people and had SEVEN people at church which is HUGE. Seven investigators that is. We had more than 7 people at church in total haha. But we are on track to have about 5 baptisms this month which is SO EXCITING! So even though I won't be having a white Christmas in terms of snow, i will be having a white Christmas in terms of baptisms. Thats what we call it here. White Christmas because the people getting baptized of course wear white(: So yay!!!
Last Monday, we went fishing with my District at the resort in our area. We caught like 50 fish but they were all too tiny to eat but still super fun! We did it with water bottles and fishing reel so super filipino i loved it(: Made me think of our fun fishing trips with family. I love those memories. Oh and then also while teaching a lesson to an inactive member, he exclaimed that "Whoa, you're so brown! You are no longer American, you are now Filipino! You came here white and now you are brown!" Hahah it was cute and now I've been called a Filipino by my language skills and my skin sooo sorry family, I may come home a different race;)
Also, some funny, but neat things happened this week. So first, I was kind of feeling down one day just one of those days. A mission has them(: But I was reading in a Liahona and randomly caught my eye on an article from Randal Wright and it said "the author is from Texas, USA" so that was kind of a cool blessing. Out of all the magazines I could read when feeling down, I chose that one that happened to have an article from a dear friend of ours. Proof that God knows us and is looking out for us. It was all about sleep and how important it is for every aspect of our health which was a cool theme. And then second, Sister Ignacio and I had just gotten done teaching a lesson outside when all of a sudden we heard the youth theme song "Press Forward" playing. We found out it was coming from a random car wash, so naturally we walked over and asked if they were members. They said they weren't and that he, the guy playing the music, had gotten that song from a friend who also wasn't a member. So we have no idea where they got that song but it was cool to hear a church song being played in the city for everyone to hear. Definitely allowed the spirit to be felt and we gave them a pamphlet and hopefully it will spark interest in them. I don't know, but just kinda cool.
As for my subject line, this week was full of service. I don't know how this went in the United States or what, but for #LightTheWorld, December 1 was an official "Day of Service", so this last Saturday, we arranged with four different families to serve them (mostly gardening and weeding). Which this last Wednesday, we spent three hours weeding and cleaning a garden for a less active which was actually therapeutic for me! So I was excited to spend the whole day doing service! Well... the day didn't go exactly as planned hahha. We got up early and went straight to work. Sister Ignacio and I weeded and gardened for three hours at a member's house. We then had two more appointments (because our first one fell through because she forgot about us haha) but they were in the Elder's area so we waited for them to take us. Well, Elder Jarvis (the american companion) wasn't feeling well, so we ended up dropping our two appointments and running around town buying medicine, gatorade, bread, cooking soup for him, and just doing all sorts of things to help him feel better since he couldn't get out of bed. It turns out (he's in the hospital right now in Bacolod) that he has Dengue and is super super sick so pray for him! But a day when we expected to weed people's gardens all day, turned out to be a day full of different kind of service, trying to help a fellow friend. So that was kind of cool, because at the end of the day I still felt as though I had spent the day in service, even though it wasn't through the conventional way. It proved to me that service doesn't have one definition or it doesn't even need to be huge, just as long as you have a heart of service inside of you, you can still feel immense joy from serving those around you. I love this gospel and loved the opportunity to serve my Heavenly Father through serving His children!
Love y'all and miss you TONS!!
Sister Robertson
My week has been good. Not quite as successful as last week but successful nonetheless. We found 10 new people and had SEVEN people at church which is HUGE. Seven investigators that is. We had more than 7 people at church in total haha. But we are on track to have about 5 baptisms this month which is SO EXCITING! So even though I won't be having a white Christmas in terms of snow, i will be having a white Christmas in terms of baptisms. Thats what we call it here. White Christmas because the people getting baptized of course wear white(: So yay!!!
Last Monday, we went fishing with my District at the resort in our area. We caught like 50 fish but they were all too tiny to eat but still super fun! We did it with water bottles and fishing reel so super filipino i loved it(: Made me think of our fun fishing trips with family. I love those memories. Oh and then also while teaching a lesson to an inactive member, he exclaimed that "Whoa, you're so brown! You are no longer American, you are now Filipino! You came here white and now you are brown!" Hahah it was cute and now I've been called a Filipino by my language skills and my skin sooo sorry family, I may come home a different race;)
Also, some funny, but neat things happened this week. So first, I was kind of feeling down one day just one of those days. A mission has them(: But I was reading in a Liahona and randomly caught my eye on an article from Randal Wright and it said "the author is from Texas, USA" so that was kind of a cool blessing. Out of all the magazines I could read when feeling down, I chose that one that happened to have an article from a dear friend of ours. Proof that God knows us and is looking out for us. It was all about sleep and how important it is for every aspect of our health which was a cool theme. And then second, Sister Ignacio and I had just gotten done teaching a lesson outside when all of a sudden we heard the youth theme song "Press Forward" playing. We found out it was coming from a random car wash, so naturally we walked over and asked if they were members. They said they weren't and that he, the guy playing the music, had gotten that song from a friend who also wasn't a member. So we have no idea where they got that song but it was cool to hear a church song being played in the city for everyone to hear. Definitely allowed the spirit to be felt and we gave them a pamphlet and hopefully it will spark interest in them. I don't know, but just kinda cool.
As for my subject line, this week was full of service. I don't know how this went in the United States or what, but for #LightTheWorld, December 1 was an official "Day of Service", so this last Saturday, we arranged with four different families to serve them (mostly gardening and weeding). Which this last Wednesday, we spent three hours weeding and cleaning a garden for a less active which was actually therapeutic for me! So I was excited to spend the whole day doing service! Well... the day didn't go exactly as planned hahha. We got up early and went straight to work. Sister Ignacio and I weeded and gardened for three hours at a member's house. We then had two more appointments (because our first one fell through because she forgot about us haha) but they were in the Elder's area so we waited for them to take us. Well, Elder Jarvis (the american companion) wasn't feeling well, so we ended up dropping our two appointments and running around town buying medicine, gatorade, bread, cooking soup for him, and just doing all sorts of things to help him feel better since he couldn't get out of bed. It turns out (he's in the hospital right now in Bacolod) that he has Dengue and is super super sick so pray for him! But a day when we expected to weed people's gardens all day, turned out to be a day full of different kind of service, trying to help a fellow friend. So that was kind of cool, because at the end of the day I still felt as though I had spent the day in service, even though it wasn't through the conventional way. It proved to me that service doesn't have one definition or it doesn't even need to be huge, just as long as you have a heart of service inside of you, you can still feel immense joy from serving those around you. I love this gospel and loved the opportunity to serve my Heavenly Father through serving His children!
Love y'all and miss you TONS!!
Sister Robertson
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