Tender Mercies

Hey guys!

So guess what? Do you remember Andres and Marcela from my last sector! They called me the other day to invite me to their wedding! They're gonna get married the 9th of April and they wanted me to ask permission from President Arrington to go to their wedding. And they'll both get baptized the next day! Sweet, right? Basically the best news ever. 

And this week we found an awesome guy named Cesar, that has a baptismal date and came to church this Sunday and loved it. He has a slight learning disability he told us. And he also told us that he knows that if he gets baptized and does the things he knows he should, that God will heal him. Now that is incredible faith. We'll see what kind of trials come to test it. 

The other investigator Carolina, well it turns out that she was just a snake, or someone that receives the missionaries because they think they're in love or something like that. So that was pretty disappointing. But there are a lot of recent converts in this ward and they literally invite us to visit so many of their friends. It's a blast. This ward here has really welcomed me and it's been a good time. And they asked me to play the piano at sacrament meeting! SO that's been really fun. 

In the scriptures it says that in the end it's really love that perfects us. And we had a good conversation about charity and the atonement and we realized that it was hard to put words to answer how do you use the atonement? Because everyone always says when they use it, or why they use it. But we came to the conclusion that the answer is as simple as ever. Through love, and service. As we serve as Christ did, we allow the power of the atonement to work in us. And it's an active service. Not the kind where if I stay out of the kitchen, I'm serving my mom by not getting in the way and making a mess. But the kind where you can see that the kitchen is messy and mom is trying to cook so you clean it up for her in preparation. And after, continue searching for other things. It's simple and powerful.

Also, there is a family that really needed our help this week. The husband is a returned missionary, but basically less active, and the wife is just trying her hardest and is a convert from missionaries. So we had the opportunity to help them set goals, to preserve and strengthen their marriage, and their daughter, who is just starting to ask questions like, why doesn't Dad go to church and other things like that. And WE shared the scripture in Doctrine and Covenants that says that if ye are not one, ye are not mine. To help them both understand that if they don't do it together, God can't help them. And they really understood and committed to read the scriptures and say a prayer together as a couple and later as a whole family with their daughter every day for this week, and renew the goal when they go to church the next week. They accepted it with energy and excitement and really want to improve. It was amazing to see the Holy Spirit working in them.

I love you all! Have an amazing week! And serve someone! :)

Elder Robinson

P.S. Turn off your cellphones and computers and stuff during scripture study and fhe. It's honestly necessary. Love you! and remind me that I said this in a couple of years. ;)