Investigator update

President Clark is nearing the end of his term of service as the President of the Washington-Spokane Mission. He goes home at the end of June. He recently had a meeting with Elder L. Tom Perry, a member of the quorum of the Twelve Apostles, about the progress of the mission. The mission has had a goal of 90 baptisms in one month for some time now. It was met in March, just in time for Elder Perry's visit. Elder Perry now has issued the challenge of 100 baptisms in one month. Elder Robertson was excited about trying to meet this new goal. He has spoken of some new investigators, Chris and his wife Chrystal. He says that the two of them enjoy the lessons and compete with each other on who gets to read the scriptures aloud during the lesson. This brought out a laugh for Elder Robertson. He also spoke of Robert, a gentleman who recently moved to the area from Sudan, who seemed very receptive after his first lesson on the restoration of the gospel. They also have met another woman who has been a member of the church for most of her life, but for the past 30 years has been inactive. She was married to a man who held ill feelings toward the church and didn't allow her to attend. Now that she is separated from him, she has sought out the church again, and has been attending. Her daughter who isn't a member is also interested in the church and is now taking the lessons. Another man, named Paul, also heard the lesson on the restoration and was very excited about what he learned. Elder Robertson and his companion left him with the assignment to read all of chapter 10 of the book of Moroni and most specifically Moroni's promise issued in verse 4 of the same chapter . Paul completed this and then later in the week phoned them, and asked for more reading assignments. They directed him to read about the plan of salvation. Paul also attended church this week. So, in all, Elder Robertson believed the week to be "a pretty good week". It is great for all of us to know that the difficult times don't stay long, and with continued hard work, the gospel does move forward. He ended his weekly report with, "I love being a missionary and being in the Lord's work!"

The bike comes out....

The guideline for bike riding in the Washington-Spokane mission is to park it when there is snow or rain on the ground. Needless to say, the bike was just recently busted from its box and Elder Robertson has put on his helmet. The missionary experience isn't complete until you get on the bike. When he was younger I tried and tried to get him to wear a helmet. Now look at him. The only thing that comes to mind is....LOL!


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Boy....Missionary....Man

This photo was taken on the way home from the last BYU home football game of the '08 season, just a few weeks before Joshua left. As we were driving home, I noticed that it was rather quiet in the back seat so I turned to see why. This is what I saw, my three boys fast asleep after a long hard day of watching football. As you can see, the two younger ones are both leaning on Josh. Over their lives they will always look to Josh, and lean on him for help to know the way. I am so grateful that Josh has been a good example to his brothers by serving a mission. They will learn how to be obedient, courageous, humble, generous, and kind by following in his footsteps. Josh, Elder Robertson, has been gone just a little more than 4 months now. He has had some really tough times, but I am seeing him turn into man as he puts one foot in front of the other and he learns to lean on his older brother, the Savior. He has had to dig deep and find courage to press forward, and I have had to learn to step back and allow him to do it. We have all learned a lot from his missionary service. Not long after Elder Robertson first left and I was still feeling the sting of having my oldest child leave home, I jokingly said to Robert, "What if mom just doesn't let you go on a mission?" He looked at me with determination and said, "Well, I will be an adult and there will be nothing you can do to stop me." Thomas added in with a, "YEAH!" I would never really want to keep them from serving a mission, but it did bring a smile to my face that even at ages 7 and 9, Elder Robertson's brothers knew just what they would be doing at age 19, serving the Lord as a missionary. Thanks Josh, for being a great example, and someone to lean on.

Struggles of a missionary......

This week's email came with some obvious discouragement in the words he shared. Elder Robertson shared a story of a young man that they approached in the street. This young man really gave the two of them a hard time, calling names and making false accusations. It seemed to really hit Josh hard. He wants so much to serve the people there in Spokane and help to change their lives. He feels so frustrated that he seems to be making little progress. He named a couple of new investigators, Eric and Denise. He asked again, as he always does, for prayers to go out to the people that he is teaching. Keep Elder Robertson in your prayers too.

Elder Robertson and Elder Hunter together with Richard on his baptism day March 21, 2009

"Good Job!....Keep Going"

Saturday, the scheduled day for investigators Chuck and Richard to be baptized, was bitter sweet. Chuck had some very challenging days, and is suffering from some very deep struggles. He was beaten by his room mate and also had to be admitted to a psychological care facility. Needless to say, there are more issues that this man must face before baptism. However, Richard was baptized, Saturday March 21, 2009. Elder Robertson wrote that during the talk on baptism, during the meeting, Richard began to tear up as he realized the great opportunity before him. Then the Elders all joined together in singing. Richard walked into the baptismal font and was immersed into those sacred waters. As he was coming back up, someone whispered in Elder Robertson's ear "Good job, keep going" Although Elder Robertson knows that it is truly the Holy Ghost that does the converting, he also knows that it is through his service that he is able to play a part in changing people's lives forever. He used the word "Awesome" many times to describe this wonderful event.
Word came today that Josh and his companion Elder Hunter will stay together another 6 weeks. The next transfer will take place on May 5th. Josh said that Hunter has never stayed with any other companion this length of time. Elder Hunter has been out 18 mos, and is scheduled to go home in Sept.
Elder Robertson mentioned in his email that many people have commented on the tattered condition of his scripture case. The handle is only connected on one side, providing not much of a handle at all, and the corners are pretty worn. He just tells people, "I can't get a new one, because this one's my dad's that he used on his mission, and I got to get it through my mission too."
We had a fun surprise when we got a phone call from some old friends, Brian and Susan Humpherys, who happened to be in Spokane on a business trip. They called and told us they were sitting in front of Elder Robertson's house, but he wasn't home. They waited around for a bit because it was his prep-day and they thought he might come home again, but no luck. So they left a note and were on their way. I was hoping they could see him! I have been particularly homesick for him lately.....Time does march on and it gets easier, but there is a very unique sort of ache that is in a mother's heart when her child is away from home.

"It was a rough week!"

After stating, "It was a real rough week" several times throughout his last email, I figured Josh hadn't had his best week in the mission field. He wrote, "With two baptisms coming up this next week, the adversary was working real hard on us!" Josh described a storm that brought an unexpected 5 inches of snow and a temperature change to around 10 degrees. The sun reflecting off of the snow amplified its effects and he got a bad sunburn on one side of his face. He said, "I think my left ear might fall off" Most of their teaching appointments had cancelled on them, there was an increased amount of animosity from those they attempted to approach, and more doors than usual were slammed in their faces. He has developed a foot problem from all of the walking and he admitted that he was more homesick than usual. But even with the increase in challenges he seemed to put things in perspective and said, "It was a real tough week, but I just need to push through this, and good things are to come." Elder Robertson is VERY excited for this weekend's scheduled baptisms of Richard and Chuck. We will all offer our prayers that everything goes according to plan, and that the coming week is a bit better than the last. Transfers are scheduled for the 24th of March. The wondering game begins again. By next monday's email he should be able to tell us if there is a change coming for him.