Pictures from Portland

Isaac's companion sent us some pictures from his short time in Portland.

Minha Familia, 10-4-10

This week has been great. I am going to try to answer your questions as best I can. I don´t know my address here. But just send any packages or letters to the mission home in Teresina. I don´t know if you can find that somewhere or not because I don´t have it with me right now. There are certain things that you cannot send here in packages though. I don´t know what they are but I can ask my companion and tell you next week. Some things that come through have to be taxed and can be up to 300 reis. (240ish american dollers) My comp. is in Teresina today for a meeting so I am on an exchange with a Brasilaro for a couple of days and I don´t understand him very well. I do know that there are ways to get around the system haha. Like putting a picture of Jesus on the outside of the package helps people not question what is inside it I guess. But anyway, I will get you more information soon.
The food here is really good so far. It is the same everyday. Beans and rice as you would expect with a little chicken and noodles as well. I eat that 6 out of 7 days. Then everyonce in a while a member will cook something different. We had a really good lasagna one day and some kind of sausage another day. I really really like the fruit here and the juice they have. It is so good. They make a juice out of the fruit that a cashew grows in and add lemon to it and is is amazing. Also a lot of passion fruit desserts and juices. passion fruit is very good.

I don´t know if I am getting used to the heat yet. I still sweat a lot but I think it is slowing down. Apperantly my body will get used to it and I will not sweat much at all. My companion never sweats it seems like. But I do love the weather here. It is perfect every single day. Was it really 60 degrees in Teresina the other day? are you sure it wasn´t 60 celcius? haha. It is the hottest time of the year here and Teresina is the hottest of all the cities in this mission... was it in the middle of the night that it was 60?

My mission president is awesome. He doesn´t know english very well but I was able to communicate with him well enough through the Portuguese I know and the English he knows. His wife doesn´t know english at all but she is very funny and a very happy lady. Pres. Dias is a tall guy. He is probably 6´5 which is crazy compared to other brazilians. They are mostly short people. He has a pretty big family and a young family. 5 kids I think and the oldest is 15? i think. He is a great man and very helpful and inspirational.

I don´t know much about the people I am teaching because I don´t understand them very well. We are teaching Cassio who hit a few speed bumps but he really wants to be baptized and just needs some time before he can. He is really into it though. We are teaching a 15 year old girl, Vanessa as well. She has a good fellowshipper that introduced her to us and she should be getting baptized on saturday along with a 20 year old guy named Nedo. I don´t really know too much about him... We have other investigators but I am still trying to figure out who is who haha. It is hard because I recognize them, but I can~´t put a name to their face yet.. I am working on it though.

I can understand a lot of what people are saying now. Still no where close to being fluet, but I am getting used to their accents and am able to get the gist of what people are saying. The kids in the ward are very helpful for me and they help me learn better and faster.

I was able to watch conference in English here. The three American missionaries in the area went into the releif society room and hooked up a little TV so we could watch in English. I didn´t get to see the priesthood session because it started at 9pm here so it was too late. I will have to wait for the Liahonna to come out so I can read it. I was thinking about all of you during conference. It wasn´t too long ago but it brought back memories of all the kids curling up with a blanket with a muffin in our hands listening to the prophet as a family. The spirit was always so strong during conference. I missed being with everyone for conference. But, the spirit I felt watching conference was the exact same and it was very comforting to me. Conference was amazing this year. I loved all the talks.

It sounded like Italy was a blast. That would have been so fun. I am jealous. Was the food there amazing? I am glad it was a success even though you had to walk a lot. It sounded way fun. And I was hoping and praying that Dad would have got his goal in the marathon. I really want you to go to Boston because that would just be sweet. Do you think that the injury set you back too far during your training? Next year you will qualify. That is my prediction.

Well, I don´t know what else to say. I will get the address of the mission home to you next week if you don´t find it somewhere. I love you all very very much. I love hearing from you about what is going on. I miss you all, but I am so glad I am here. The church is true and the gospel will help anyone with any problem. I know that because I have seen it in my own life and the lives of others. I would invite you to all share your testimony with someone that seems to be having a hard time. It will bless their lives. I love you!

Love Elder Hoberchson. (that is how most people pronounce my name here haha)

I Made It!

Well, i made it to brazil. this keyboard is different and harder toreach the shift button so i dont want to use punctuation orcapitalization. sorry mom...anyway, my trip down here was long! i left on tuesday from portlandat 1030 and got to dallas at about 2ish, but it was 4ish in dallas.then from dallas my plane was supposed to leave at 745 but apparentlythe plane broke down so we got delayed for 3 hours. i was so bored.. idid meat up with other elders that were going to the ctm in brazilthere. but it was still a long wait. so we finally leave at 1120 andit is a 10 hour flight. i was able to sleep during a lot of it so thatwas good. I got to sao paulo at 11 in the morning sao paulo time andmy plane to teresina was supposed to left at 1015am. but because ofthe delay in dallas, i was not on that plane. so i had to wait in saopaulo until 630 for the next plane to teresina. that finally camearound and we flew to brasilia then to teresina. i FINALLY got toteresina at midnight and president dias was there to pick me up. therewas another elder flying with me so i wasnt completely alone. it was along two days though that is for sure.president took us to mcdonalds at it was pretty gross. it didnt tastelike american mcdonalds at all. after that we went to the mission homeand i got bed at 2 in the morning and i had to wake up at 630. thenthat day we went to a meeting and i had an interview with presidentdias and he told me his expectations and vision for the mission. theni went with the office elders to the police station to getfingerprints and some ID. then i went to the mission office and hadanother interview to find out my companion and area and myexpectations and stuff. then i went to presidents condo for dinner andit was really good. i went to sleep again and had to wake up at 5 toget to to bus station on time.i had a 6 hour bus ride to sobral and that is where i am now. it isnorth east of teresina and it is a humble little city.. i like itthough. my companions name is elder blackham and he is going home indecember. he is way cool and we get along. he is helping me a lot tolearn the language and be able to understand what people are saying tome. it is so hard for me to understand what people are saying becausei cant listen fast enough and they kind of slur their words and itsjust tough to get their accent. it also doesnt help that i dont knowportuguese haha. i am learning quickly though. im starting to be ableto get the gist of what people say, i just cant respond yet. i willget it though.so it is very hot. i dont know how hot exactly but i havent stoppedsweating since i got off the plane. i drink probably a gallon and ahalf of water everyday and i pee less than ever before. im prettysure when i drink water it comes right out through sweat. its prettygross. haha. i love it here though. the heat isnt all that bad. it isbetter than idaho winter for sure.so i live across the street from some kind of market and every morningat 5 they bring pigs that are tied up at their feet and just lay themon the ground for hours until people buy them. the pigs just lay thereand scream and it is the most annoying sound in the world. like thatsound that lloyd makes in dumb and dumber is actually pretty similarto this except imagine that but times 10 and at 5 in the morning...haha it is great.well, i am alive and loving brazil. it is different for sure, but ilove it a lot. i would love to hear from everyone. anyone can email mestill if you dont want to write a letter. oh yeah... mom, if you wantto, you can join missionary moms or whatever and on there you can knowwhat to write on a package or anything like that on there. the rulesare strict of what you can send but i think there are ways around itif you ever want to send me a package. my companions mom is way intomissionary mom so i guess it helps... i dont really know what is isexactly... anyway.. i love it here and i am doing great. I love youall and i hope you are doing well. i would love more letters! (i gotone from bailey and chad so tell them thanks for me or if they readthis, thank you bailey and chad!)love, elder robertson

Exciting Visa news

I have some exciting news!!!!!!! I don't know if anyone called you or not, but... I got my VISA!!! I got called on friday afternoon that it came and I will be leaving tomorrow (Tues.) at 1030 in the morning! I don't know any details other than that haha. The zone leaders are pickin me up at 830 and taking me to the airport and then I am on my own I guess. I am a little nervous about that but it will all work out. Just keep me in your prayers as I travel.

I am a little sad that I am leaving Oregon. I started to really love the people here. We just set 2 baptismal dates with a 17 year old girl and another 19 year old girl. They were both just prepared for the lessons. I am sad that I will not be able to see their baptisms, but I am getting pictures with them to remember them. It is pretty exciting they are making that step in their lives.

The other family that we were teaching that were really close to baptism just pretty much gave up. They were doing well for a while, then at church the mom got offended and continues to take offence to really nothing at all. Apparently we were putting too much pressure on the kids to get baptized and the mom really didnt like that. They still come to church and set up appointments with us, but I am just not sure why. Hopefully they will soften their hearts again and start moving forward. That is the Martin family that I talked about last week.
Anyway, I don't have much time to email because I am going on a hike for my last day in America. We are going on a 10 mile hike to a waterfall and it should be really fun. I gotta get goin' but I will probably be able to email you in Brazil when I get there! I am so excited!!!!

I love you all so much! Keep me in your prayers please!

Love, Elder Robertson

First P-day in Portland

Sup yo?
Thank you mom for writing me an email. answers to your questions... I got the package you sent me on Friday. Thank you for that. I am thankful there was a pillow in there. And also a little note and a picture of Leslie. She already looks way bigger than when I left, and that smile she has is way cute. I miss that little girl. I don't think I need anything more to be sent. I have enough long sleeve shirts and it doesn't really get that cold. I don't think the people here know what cold is. If anyone wants to send me a regular letter, you should send it to the mission office. I don't know the address for that but I guess you do since you sent a package there...so maybe you could let people know that... The mission office is the easiest way to do it I guess. Also, anyone can send me an email and I can just print it off and write a letter later in the day. I have no news on the visa.. when I got here Pres. Dykes said that they have me for 24. Which could mean days, weeks, months... anything really. I don't know if Sonja is sending me Braxton's letters. I haven't gotten any mail since I have been here.

Eric Hillam came to the MTC in Provo for a couple of days. A big group of missionaries went there and got their visa's the very next day. That is also when half of my district got theirs. visa's are completely random. I have heard that missionary visas just aren't a priority for the government in Brazil. I would think that since summer is over in the states, that maybe they will have more time to focus on other visas instead of tourist visas. I think it is all about money and who is going to benefit the economy more down there. Too bad they don't realize that the salvation of souls will benefit them more than money haha. I am way excited to be in Oregon though. I love it here.

Be sure to send me pictures of Italy! I forgot you were going there. That will be awesome to go there. I want to see your adventures. I think you can attatch them to an email or just send them in the mail. Either way works. You can also send me pictures of just everyday things. That would be fun for me to see.
Well, I got to this mission just in time... Elder Bednar came and talked to us on Friday. It was so cool. I got my picture with him and everything (with 2 other zones). But I think Abby would be jealous that I got to hear from him.(He is your favorite apostle right?) I will send you a picture some time. We met with him for 4 hours or something with just a question/answer type deal. He asked us questions and then we asked him questions. It was so cool because it was almost like a one on one thing. I didn't ask him a question because I didn't know what to ask him. But it was very good and I learned how to let the Spirit teach people just by asking questions that make them agents, and not objects. He said that is something a lot of teachers do wrong is they take away the agency of people when they ask questions. In the church we like to play a game called "whats on my mind" and we aske questions that have a specific answer and those types of questions don't let the spirit teach. We need to prepare lessons and then be willing to give it all up if the spirit takes the lesson another direction. And i learned all of that just by him asking us questions that didn't have specific answers. It really works to do that!

Anyway.. it has been a good week. We are teaching a 17 year old girl, Brianna, and she is doing great. We are teaching a 9 year old boy, Jaden, who seems to be interested. It's hard to tell with kids what they think and if they understand everything. I guess they don't need to understand everything as long as the spirit tells them it is right. Mom, how do we teach kids with A-D-D? We are teaching another young boy who cannot focus. I figure you have some experience witht that. What have you found helps them focus better? He has some behavior problems and so he can't go to church until he gets them under control. He wants to be baptized but he needs to go to church before. We are also teaching a family. The mom is protestant and goes to church and reads the book of mormon looking for reasons to doubt. The kids don't know what they want because the mom tells them one thing, and we have to come in and explain it all again. It is hard. They are the Martin family. You could pray for them if you want. They are really nice people, the mom is just having a really hard time accepting anything other than the Bible. It is pretty tough to explain that God can give us more scripture at his own will and time.

Well.. That is about it. I love it here and I really wouldn't mind if I were here for 2 years. Brazil and Oregon are awesome. It would be way cool to go to Brazil still though. I hope for my visa, but I won't be too bummed if I am here for the whole time. I love you all so much. You are all amazing examples to me in my life! I would love to hear from you all!

Love, Elder Robertson

p.s. did you talk to grandma and grandpa about the B.O.M.? I haven't heard anything from them.... let me know how it went please!

Portland

Hey family!
I made it to Portland yesterday. It was pretty busy so that is why I wasn't able to e-mail home. I will start from the beginning of the day...

So I left the MTC at 8 and got to the airport sometime after that. I went through security and everything and there were no problems there. I was a little worried something would go wrong for some reason. Any way, I was sitting on the seats waiting to get on the plane and I talked to this guy for a good hour or more and we just talked about his family and religion and stuff. He was way cool and open to things. He used to live in Idaho Falls working at the Bon Marche or however you spell it. He had a great experience with the members there and he really likes Mormons. So I talked to him and found out he lives in Portland and so I got his number and name and I asked if I could send some other missionaries to his house and he said that would be fine. So that's exciting. 1 contact down... Then on the plane I sat next to a lady from just north of Portland who was a seventh day adventist. She had good things to say about the LDS church but didn't believe in Joseph Smith or that the Sabbath is on Sunday. But she knew a lot about our church and it seemed like she would have been more interested to learn more if her husband wasn't a preacher in their church. She was a way nice lady though. I bore a good testimony to her about Joseph Smith and I think she felt the Spirit. I did at least.

So then after the plane I went and met the president and he is so cool. He is doing some great things here. His wife is amazing and she took care of me. She got me some food and some bedding and things so I am good to go until other things come from home. She is a very caring lady. Their names are President and Sister Dykes. They are awesome. So, Mom, just in case you were wondering, I am being taken care of...

So after that I went with my companions to get to know my area a little. I am over 2 wards, the Damascus ward and I don't remember the other name... oops.. But I live in or close to Gresham Oregon. It is a lot of country and not many people. I went trackting last night and got doors slammed in our faces. One guy answered and said I'm a 7th day adventist and I ALREADY KNOW IT!! and slammed the door. I felt way bad because I hadn't ever been rejected before. The MTC is pretty easy to get into peoples homes.

Anyway, I don't ahve much time but my p-day is now on Mondays. I will let you know more about my experiences then. I love you all so much and I am so excited to be in Oregon. I love the people here already. It is great! You can email me now too because I have more time now. I love you all!!

Love, Elder Robertson

Last week in the MTC

I am way excited to go to Portland. I wonder if I will be speaking Spanish or English. I don't think there is a Portuguese mission there so I hope I will be able to keep up on it. Spanish would help I think.

I can't believe my time is up in the MTC already. I am happy to leave, but it will also be hard. I became pretty close to my district over the last 9 weeks. All 6 of us are going separate ways except for Elder Plewe and me. It is an exciting time though. Others got called to Orlando, Boston, Eugene Oregon, and San Jose, Cali. People in other disticts going to Brazil got reassigned as well. Some are going to the Billings, Montana mission. That is pretty neat. It would have been cool to go there. But maybe while I am in Portland I will see Mandy and Robert. I hope so.

What else... ... I am exited to not be companions with a girl anymore. I know why elder's and sisters can't be companions now, and I don't think it has anything to do with chastity haha. It is pretty frustrating at times. I'm sure it is for her as well though.

So, in the MTC I have learned how to really love someone. I have felt the love of God for others all around me. It is amazing that He knows everyone individually and loves them no matter what. That is the biggest thing I have learned. I have always known that, but being out here learning more about it, I have just gained a stronger testimony of that. I can't wait to get out in the world no matter where I am to help them remember that love and to bring them unto Christ. It is truly a marvolous work. I love it.

I love you all so much and thank you so much for the support and love. It means a lot to me. You are all amazing and the Lord will bless you for the way you are living your lives. Keep it up!

Love,
Elder Isaac Robertson