Letter on March 24th

Hey Everyone!

Another awesome week in Astoria! Busy... but awesome.  We had a pretty
crazy family home evening on Monday.  We were teaching a less active
woman about family home evening last week when she invited the member
with us over to help her have one.  The member was like are you sure?
I have 5 kids and your apartments pretty small... but she insisted. So
we crowded 13 people in 1 TINY apartment for a joint family home
evening.  It was craziness.  I was so glad I had the FHE games you
sent me mom.  We played the one about making choices correct choices
to get to heaven and the kids LOVED it.  They were so cute clapping
for each other when one made the right choice.  The ice cream after
was madness.  13 people... 4 bowls..... 7 crazy kids... you get the
picture.

On Wednesday Sister Joseph went to the temple so guess who I got to be
companions with for the day... Sister Lugo! It was the best.  Reunited
at last. We had some great ellipticals this week.  At one we had a
table set up with family proclamations and church dvds. It was funny
to see peoples reaction when they found out they were free.  It was
super cool though to be able to explain the family proclamation and
bear my testimony on families.  Families are the best! We also had a
shoe shining elliptical on Saturday.  It was so cool to watch other
missionaries shining shoes and to think of Christ washing his
disciples feet.  Talk about the ultimate act of service.  I love being
a representative of Christ.  I have never felt his presence stronger
in my life.  I feel privileged to be serving here in New York- I love
the people here so much and have already met so many individuals who
have changed my life. I feel so blessed. Thanks for supporting me :) I
love you all!

Till Next week,
Sister Robertson

P.S.  You know you are living in New York when you start having dreams
that pigeons are flying at your head and wake up swatting them...
yep... that happened.

Letter on March 17th 2014

Hey Everyone!

So... I love being a missionary. We saw so many miracles happen this
week, it was incredible.  The Lord really is hastening his work. On
Wednesday I was on exchanges in Little Neck with Hermana H.  We
made a goal in the morning to teach the restoration... so naturally
right after that all our appointments canceled on us.  We ended up
going to see a less active... who wasn't home so we knocked the home
behind her house.  The nicest man from Elsalvador came to the door and
we were able to teach him and his wife about the restoration.  It was
the coolest experience- I couldn't understand anything Hermana H
was saying (it was in spanish) but felt the spirit strong when she
began talking about the first vision that i knew exactly where we were
in the lesson and was able to testify.  It was such a spiritual
experience for me and It was cool to see how we were led to teach this
man. We were able to accomplish our goal , but only in the way The
Lord wanted us to.  It was pretty sweet... church is true :)

Oh also later that night we took some dinner from the relief society
over to an investigator who had surgery.  We were carrying some sort
of chicken meal and didn't really know what was in it.  So right as we
get to the door Hermana H accidentally tipped it and dumped
chicken broth ALL over their mat and front door... of course. It was
too funny! We didn't know what to do.  I'm sure they left their
apartment later and wondered why everything smelled like chicken
broth.  Our bad.

Friday we had a lesson with a less active and basically just called
her to repentance.  It was the craziest experience.  Its really not in
my nature or Sister Josephs to be so bold but thats definitely what
the spirit told us to do so we were.  It was pretty incredible.  I
have never felt the spirit working through me like that.  Heavenly
Father knew what this sister needed to hear and how she needed to hear
it and we were just his tools to do so.  It was such a spiritual
experience.  We spoke so boldly and I felt so much power in what I was
saying but I would have never been able to say those things on my own.
 It was the craziest experience.  Missionary work is the greatest.

Well I hope everyone has had a good week.  I miss you all and am so
grateful for your support.  I really feel so blessed to have so many
awesome examples in my life.  Love you all!! xoxoxoXO :)

Sister Robertson

This day was SOOO windy. You are lucky I'm still here ;)

Letter on March 3rd

Hello!

Hope everyone's having a great week! I miss you all! So last Monday
night was pretty hilarious. Sister Joseph and I went out to do an FHE
with a family and on the way home I could tell she was really thinking
hard about something... we almost missed our stop on the bus.  So we
get home and she starts cutting up one of those big black garbage
bags. I'm like, "What are you doing Sister Joseph? Making a dress?" Ha
thats when she told me, "Nah, just cutting my hair".  So thats what we
did. Cut 6 or 7 inches off Sister Joseph's hair.  I'd been sick so I'd
just taken Nyquil before the whole adventure began so the whole thing
was pretty comical.  At one point I told Sister Joseph, "I'm feeling
pretty dizzy right now are you sure you want me doing this?" But we
finished... with only a few tears (don't worry I caught them on
camera- such a nice companion I am) and It actually looks really cute!

Friday was also pretty crazy.  We went to help a ward member move and
were only supposed to be there a couple hours before the movers and
moving truck they hired came.  Well guess what... they never showed.
So this poor couple had to go rent their own truck and move all of
their stuff from their 5th floor apartment to another 5th floor
apartment across town. It was awesome though to see how many ward
members were there to help literally minutes after they found out what
was going on.  The ward members here are amazing.

Miracles happened this week in Astoria.  We were able to see almost
all the less actives we went to visit. They were somehow all home
exactly when we stopped by.  It was incredible.  I love being a
missionary :)

Sister Robertson

Letter on February 24th

Hello Everyone!

We've finally had some beautiful days here in New York.  I'm trying to
live it up while I can :) This week has been a great week! We had the
cutest family come to church with the elders yesterday.  They are from
Nepal and had some friends join the church in Colorado who referred
them to us.  They have a one year old baby        who is the most
beautiful baby I have ever seen.  Long curly locks, porcelain skin and
big dimples... I've never seen a cuter baby.  Molly your baby will be
cuter though... obviously.  It was awesome to take          and         to
nursery and to see how the members welcomed them.  They are so
prepared and I can't wait to see whats in store for them.

I also had exchanges in the Brooklyn YSA ward this weekend.  We had a
lesson in downtown Brooklyn with an investigator over frozen yogurt.
It was great! Funny to be teaching people my own age but I enjoyed it.
 Speaking of frozen yogurt... the funniest thing happened this week.
Tuesday night was a little rough so Sister Joseph and I stopped to get
ice cream on the way home.  I told Sister Joseph to take a picture of
me with my ice cream so I could remember our crazy night.  I turn it
around to see the picture and behind me it says , "1 in 5 children
suffers from hunger" and I'm just smiling with my ice cream.  We
couldn't have planned it better.  It totally looks photoshopped in or
something.  We had a good laugh.  I'll attach the picture for your own
viewing pleasure :)

Letter on Monday, February 10th

Hey Everyone!

What a great week we've had here in the Astoria ward. We spent the
first part of the week shoveling and shoveling...every day I'm
shoveling ;) It was up supposed to snow 30 inches last night but we
woke up to rays of sunshine. Sister Joseph and I were wishing we'd
brought our swimsuits... Can't believe we forgot them ;)

We had so many tender mercies this week. We've been working a lot with
                  .      can't remember when she was
baptized and knows nothing about the church though so we've basically
treated      like an investigator.

We've been stuck the last couple weeks and were feeling like nothing
was getting through to     . During companion study Sister Joseph and I
both got different inspiration at the same time. I was feeling 2 Nephi
31 and she was thinking the temple. We combined the lesson and talked
about how baptism was the gate and how the temple is the goal on     
path to eternal life. It was exactly what      needed to hear. The
spirit during our lesson was incredible and               is so excited
to work towards the temple.           is starting        family history this
week. It was such a testament to me that god knows his children and
knows exactly what they need. I feel so blessed that I get to be an
instrument in his hands.

Last night we stopped by an elderly Romanian womans apartment. It was
snowing pretty hard and she was just so grateful to have some kind of
company. She lives alone with her dog and doesn't have any family. She
kept saying pallo (her dog) is her family. She has arthritis and is
stuck in bed most of the day. It was awesome to just sit and talk with
her. We randomly have a Romanian Book of Mormon so we are excited to
go back and give it to her. That little bit of human interaction meant
so much to her.  Heavenly Father really looks out for his children.

Anyways thats a little about my week. Love you guys!

Sister Robertson

Letter for Monday, February 3rd

Hey Family and Friends!

So i think i told some of you it was starting to warm up and so as a
result we've been blessed with a CRAZY blizzard today... my bad.  I'm
excited to shovel some snow tomorrow :) Mom to answer your question
yes I am in Queens... even though my apartment address says Woodside
its still Queens.  My ward is the Astoria ward and covers woodside,
masbeth, astoria, and Long Island city.

The ward is amazing!! My old BYU american heritage TA is actually in
the ward. Pretty Funny.  But the members are really so great. The
relief society sisters come to lessons with us all the time and will
each take turn watching each other's kids so someone can come to a
lesson.

We just had a baptism in the ward a couple weeks ago and he bore his
testimony yesterday. He investigated the church for a year and a half
and so its been cool to hear his story.  He is a theater critic and
did a review for the Book of Mormon musical before he started
investigating the church.  Pretty funny.

We had some great street sweeps this week.  The first was for our
family history center, we go out on the street corner and talk to
anyone who will listen about family history and eternal families.  My
favorite moment of the week was when I watched an Elder bear his
testimony about eternal families to a stranger who replied,"Our
definitions of families are very different... I'm gay"...and walked
away.  One of my convos ended with a kiss on the cheek from a cute
little 90 year old columbian woman.  It was the best!

On Saturday we painted over graffitti and cleaned up trash.  Rad
right? One of our investigators is a painter and is really into
service.  It was awesome. Anyways its been a great week.  Its awesome
to see how The Lord is hastening his work.  I love being a missionary!
Love you all and miss you!

Sister Robertson

First letter from the field- January 27th 2014

FAMILY!!

Greetings from Siberia... Erhhh I mean Queens New York. It's freezing
over here! New York decided to welcome me with a HUGE blizzard!
Members have said it's the coldest winter in over 30 years... And I
believe them!! Our heater was broken the first night and my bedding
didn't come in time so my first night here was the longest night of my
life. But don't worry I'm surviving- I bribed the YSA missionaries
with the candy in my package to go pick it up for me. So thanks mom
for sending treats with my bedding :D

So I'm in Astoria Queens. I LOVE it here. The members in our ward are
amazing! We have two sets of Elders in our ward and then another set
of sisters serving in the singles ward. And guess what... Sister Lugo
is serving in the singles ward, so we are in the same district. We
were SO excited. It's the only district in the mission with two sets
of sister. It's the best, I've seen her almost everyday!

My trainer is SIster Joseph... Funny right... Our phone says
Jospeh.Robertson after every text and it cracks me up. She is the
sweetest person on the planet. She is from West Valley and went to BYU
for a semester studying food science. She's been out on the mission
for 4 months. She's great! We take the bus and subway everywhere. I
LOVE it! I ride past the Empire State Building every day and we can
almost always see manhattan. We went to visit a less active in Long
Island city this week... It was gorgeous. I'll send some pics :)

My mission president is amazing. Words don't even describe. Can't wait
to get to know him better.  So let's see my week. My first night was a
MAJOR blizzard. I've never experience cold like that. Walking to
appointments was crazy. Wednesday we shoveled and shoveled and
shoveled. I'm a pro now, shoveled more driveways then I have my entire
life :)

The world really does come to you here in New York. We had
appointments with a Chinese family Tuesday, dinner with a Columbian
woman Wednesday and some Pilipino woman on Friday. It's awesome!! Also
we ring buzzers instead of doorbells here. And we've only gotten lost
once which is pretty impressive considering the crazy bus system. I'm
proud of us.

Mom I have a new mom here so don't worry. She is a cute less active
Columbian women and she always ties my scarf before I leave. She's the
cutest! I'll tell you about our investigators in another private email
but they are great! I love them! Anyways I better run but I love you
all!! Thanks for all the support.

Sister Robertson
   P.s. You should know that I constantly look like Edward Scissor
hands or Junice from the SNL sisters skit. It's too cold to put my
fingers in the finger holes of my gloves so I curl them up...
unfortunately my companion hasn't seen Edward scissor hands or Junice
so I just laugh to myself. I think it's pretty funny :)