What Your Eyes Are Seeing

Hey Everyone!

It has been a crazy week with so much that happened. I hope most of
all that you are each feeling the Spirit of Easter this week. I know
this is very missionary-ish of me to do, please don't find it
annoying, we try our best to help everyone get involved. My invitation
is to share the link below and your testimony with at least ONE person
before this Easter. I know that person will be better for it. It's a
powerful Easter video that invites each of us to find Christ and to
follow Him.

http://helives.mormon.org/?player=bc&cid=85000015

I went on exchanges with Elder Watt (AP) and he and I have become good
friends, so it was fun. We were actually in my old area which was fun.
We also were in one of the more dangerous parts of the mission,
Chester. We only got shot at like twice. I also went on exchanges with
Elder Blume in our zone the next day. Back to back exchanges are
exhausting! Thank heavens above I was never assistant! They go on like
40 a week. I'm in a sarcastic mood, sorry. That exchange we saw a cool
miracle, 8:30 pm, nothing to do, but I felt to visit a certain man who
was in the plans from the day before. He gladly opened his door and
set a return appt. he was looking to build his faith and become a
better father, so it was just a miracle that we were right there.

We took Caleb Coe (Kortney and Jeff Myer's nephew, stake president's
son) out teaching with us. It as a lot of fun and he's a good kid just
getting ready for his mission. Our appts fell through, but we got to
know him and teach a semi active lady with us. We helped prepare the
Yi kids for confirmation and have been working to help them be a
little more patient and helpful on the Homefront. Sheila is in pain
all the time and the stress of the kids takes it's toll. But the
gospel will help of course.

During Fast & Testimony Meeting, Sister Latey got up and bore her
testimony about the feelings she had for Kerian, Soreena, Kyle, and
Derek as they were each confirmed today in Sacrament meeting. She
talked about the knitting that occurs between our hearts when we share
spiritual experiences like that together. It was beautifully put and I
thought of Mosiah 18:21 talking about hearts being knit together in
unity and love one towards another. That's essentially the purpose of
a ward family. One big quilt knit together to provide protection and
strength for each other. Yes sometimes we get in little tiffs that we
have to resolve. I did indeed feel that tugging that you might feel as
you stick two needles together to knit together some yarn as I laid my
hands, along with 5 or 6 other men, on the heads of our recent
converts. These kids have a lot to learn, but I couldn't be more proud
of all the progress they've made. I feel I was indeed sent here for
them. Sure I didn't serve in Camden, or get shot at in North Philly,
but I've met my brothers and sisters that have been waiting for me.

There is this EFY song...oh my heavens Robins, you're such a cheese
bucket...that I have come to love called "That's What Faith Can Do"
and I actually didn't hear it until my second mission companion, Elder
Timmerman, so that song will forever remind me of that companionship,
and I think in a small way it's changed my life. There's a line in
there that says "Life is so much more than what your eyes are seeing,
you will find your way if you keep believing." Pretty simple, yet
profound. In fact it strikes a chord with a theme of my Patriarchal
Blessing which is kind of neat. I've had moments of seeing beyond what
the eyes can see, but I'll be honest, much of the time I'm just so
focused on what's ahead that I forget to "stop and smell the roses" or
take note of the small and simple and beautiful things in life.

For example, Soreena gave us a little poster that had a picture of the
Plan of Salvation on it and a few blurbs from about a phrase to a
whole paragraph long. And at first I got it and was like, oh good a
green poster with a bunch of jumbled sentences that make about as much
sense as an unsolved game of scrabble. (she has a learning disability
that makes it hard to produce full sentences). But that poster just
shows the purity of her heart and testimony and really just a sense of
childlike innocence. At first glance or observation, that innocence
might be a little frustrating for a 15 year old to be displaying, but
there's something refreshing about it, because she simply just KNOWS
that God loves her, her testimony of Christ keeps her grounded in what
matters most and her countenance shows it all. I would have judged
hard core had I not taken a minute to step back and see the simple
beauty of the thoughtful art she had given us.

I don't know the meaning of everything, but I do know that if we ask
the mysteries of God can and will be unfolded before us, I say that
because I've experienced it. There are things beyond what the natural
eyes see that are there to bless us and to build us and to make us
happy. Life truly is so much more than what our eyes are seeing.
Happy Easter! Do something for Christ this Spring.

Love always,

Elder Jake Robins