Elder Jacob Robins: A Hurricane of a Week (pun intended)

Hey Everyone!

In case you didn't hear, the east coast actually did get hit by
Hurricane Arthur last week, ha we were told we'd kinda get hammered
with rain and at one point there were flash flood warnings. Well
Friday came around which was the day it was supposed to hit jersey.
Well it was raining in the morning, so Elder Seeley and I went biking
in the morning. The storm was pathetic when it did pass. There we were
secretly hoping AC would just get walloped and maybe wake up the
people. Hehe...like some of our investigators. Pam fell off the face
of the earth, or so it seems. Two of the Burmese families have been
busy or avoiding us, with the language barrier we really can't tell.

Dottie got baptized though!!! She is seriously one of my favorite
people. Adopted grandmother! Not to replace either of my existing
grandma's ;) Elder Hardy and I went on a short exchange so he could do
Dottie's interview. They ended up doing it in a gazebo outside the
Jewish apt complex she lives in. I sat in the car with Elder and
Sister Johnson, looking at the gazebo and after the interview, she
came out, threw her hands up in the air and exclaimed " I passed!" We
all smiled and chuckled at her enthusiasm.

On Saturday, we were a bit late to fill up the font at the next
closest church building in Linwood. But we got there, barely figured
out how to get the contraption to spew out water, and got the room set
up. The water was piping hot and because we were low on time, I didn't
even get to clean the spiders and bugs out of the font. Very hot bath
for them. Well we soon realized that this rather large font would not
be filled by 2 pm and it was already 1245 ish...so we went to the
kitchen to find buckets...ha story of my life. Elder Seeley found
probably a 2 gallon pot, I was still looking, then I spotted it!
Seriously the mother of all pots, I swear you could bathe a baby in
this thing. It was huge. So I managed to put it in the sink but
quickly realized that I alone would not be able to lift the beast and
carry it the 40 yards from the kitchen to the font. So I started
filling it half way. Then the Cape May sisters showed up with the
Johnson's and laughed as they saw our plight. The sisters helped us
carry more water. We got desperate as we noticed the time and that
Dottie would be arriving with Sister Swan any moment. That would a
tiny bit tacky if she saw us hauling water for her baptism

So the hauling hastened. Hastening The Lord's work in more ways than
one! We eventually stopped hauling and started the program while the
water was still running up until the moment she entered the font.
Throughout this fiasco the thought kept coming to my mind, Why in the
world didn't we just baptize her in the ocean!?! Haha I wanted to so
bad, but with the hurricane and the difficulty of finding a beach that
could be relatively "reverent" we resorted to the Linwood chapel. It
all worked out though. It was a beautiful experience and the Spirit
was strong during the program. She would just get hit with the Spirit,
sigh and smile as she truly felt that this was the right path for her.

I entered the hot tub/font and immediately worried that it'd melt her
frail skin right off. Elder Seeley stood behind her to support her
fragile back and I performed the ordinance. On her way up out of the
water, she looked a little dizzy and we grabbed her arms to steady as
she wobbled back and forth a bit and said she felt like she was going
to pass out. Probably a combo of the hot water and her condition. But
she didn't pass out, we briefly embraced in the water and I said,
You're clean! She gave us a huge grin then turned to the small
congregation of about 18 people, threw her arms up in the air and
excitedly said, "I'm clean!"

Afterwards, while eating some refreshments I sat down next to her, and
she got a little choked up as she looked me in the eyes and said "I'm
really going to miss you. I love you both, but there is just something
special about you, and I can't put my finger on it. Don't forget me
now, will ya? And I'll see you in heaven some day." I thanked her for
her kind words and gave some to her. I think she and I must have been
friends before this life.

I hate hate hate waiting for transfer calls. I feel nervous, sick and
just uneasy til we get them. Then once we got them Saturday morning,
because we got to stay out til 10 pm on the 4th, I was a mess until
yesterday at transfers. We all just felt ill and nervous as President
Perez drove us there. I'll be completely honest, I was kind of hoping
not to get sent back to the Dover Zone, but here I am!! Salisbury
Maryland, southern most part of the mission. I'm serving with Elder
Tryon from Mesa, AZ. More about the area next week.

The morning of transfers I felt to read over my mission plaque
scripture in Jacob 5. It's so easy to get caught up in the politics of
missionary work, who goes zone leader or who's the next Assistant or
will I train, all that jazz. But this chapter and particularly the
verses on my plaque help me realize that this is HIS work. No I
wouldn't have chosen Salisbury, MD as my next area, but He needs me
here. And I'm determined to find out why. AC for the most part was
Dottie and some personal growth and other individuals. But the
principle is the same.

72 And it came to pass that the servants did go and labor with their
mights; and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them; and they
did obey the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard in all things.
(Jacob 5:72)

I imagine the Savior with His hand around my shoulder, pointing and
teaching me how to tend His vineyard. What a blessing it is to know
that it's all His work. I just do it! Love you all. Keep smiling.

New address: 1536-C Sharen Dr.
Salisbury, MD 21804

Love,

Elder Jacob Robins