Happy New Year from The Philippines!!

Hello Everyone!!

Alright well before I start, I need to get something out of the way…. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST MOTHER IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD!!! I love you so much Mom!! We sure did have a party over here for you - with LOTS of fireworks! 

The work is still moving forward! I was talking to Elder Rose, one of our Zone Leaders who I have come to be really close with, about missions in general. He said, "If you are doing what you are supposed to, and being strictly obedient, you will get to where I am - with two transfers left - and just wonder where the time went." He said that because I told him how I was feeling that this was going by WAY too fast!! I've already been out almost 3 months. I need to slow this down. But I know I am where I need to be and doing what I need to be doing. I love this work.

Elder Rose And Me!

 Devine and Jenny Viv's baptism is going to be postponed until the 25th of January. Sometimes it's hard for me to feel like we are progressing - because we haven't had HUGE results (like baptisms), but it made me start thinking. I was immediately reminded of Elder Holland's quote. I don't remember exactly how it goes, but one Elder asked him why missions are sometimes so hard and we feel like we aren't good enough. Elder Holland's response was simple: 

"Salvation is not a cheap experience." I may have already shared this with you, but I think about it constantly. What we are doing here is nothing less than making salvation possible for these people. I am so grateful to be here at this time. 

It's hard - and I love it.

So let me just share what happened yesterday. As you know, it is already the new year over here because we are a day ahead of you! So last night was New Years Eve! It was amazing! Because of safety, we had to be inside from 6pm to the end of the night, but our Mission President told us to go to the church building and we were allowed to watch two Disney Movies!! It was awesome... And really weird at the same time haha. We watched Frozen and Kung Fu Panda 2. Hahah man that one is hilarious.

I cooked a little something we like to call "Piko" over here in the Philippines. I made it for all of the missionaries in our zone. It was so delicious. I'll send pictures! It's sticky rice, brown sugar, and coconut. SO GOOD! Anyways, after that, we went back and all the Elders slept at the Zone Leaders' apartment. We were allowed to stay up until 12! It was sweet. And the best part is, we were allowed to sleep in this morning. That was hands down the weirdest feeling I have felt in a while. I slept until 9! Yea... You heard me... 9am!!! Hahaha:) So yea, best New Years ever.

Alright well that's about it for this week! I love you all so much and am constantly thinking about you! Not in a homesick way, but just know that you are in my prayers every night! Keep the work moving on the other side of the world. I love you!!!

Love,

Elder James Ryan Jacobs

P.S. Happy Birthday, Mama:)

Oh! And last week we hiked to a cave that had a waterfall inside the mountain!! Coolest thing ever!!

Merry Christmas in Advance!!

Maayong Pasko, kamo tanan!!

There isn't a day that goes by here in the Philippines without some awesome Christmas

Helping our little friend make a Christmas instrument!

caroling. After every song, you just yell out, "Advance Christmas!" Haha it's like, "Merry Christmas in advance." I love it. That's mostly what I want to talk about today! Christmas!!!

Before we get to that, though, I wanted to give you an update on the work! Ludy is doing great. We met with her last night and something really changed inside of her. She understands how important it if for us to ACT. Because we all know that Faith, without works, is... anyone? DEAD. Next, we have these other two amazing investigators - Devine and Jenny Viv. They are amazing. Yesterday, we invited them to be baptized. They said they wanted to pray about it before they answered. GOOD. I wish everyone was like that. We always need to remember to counsel with our Father in Heaven in everything we do. I know that they will decide to be baptized. I know it. 

Sige, padayon ta. (Okay, let's continue)

Christmas is awesome. We had the opportunity to go to the Mission Home in Lahug on Monday for our annual Mission Christmas Conference.

We got to hear from President and Sister Schmutz, then ate some lunch, and then had a talent show! (Yes, I may have told The Muffin Joke to all in attendance...) But it really was an amazing day!

Mission President…President Schmutz!

I want to share what I have been thinking and studying about lately!

President Schmutz said one thing that just made me think and ponder about what Christmas really means. A lot of the time, people either forget the meaning of Christmas, or just de-emphasize it drastically. "Christmas time is the time we are all reminded to KNOW Christ." So it got me thinking, what does it truly mean to "know" Jesus Christ. I was studying this morning in John 17 and in verse 3, it says that Life Eternal is to know God and Jesus Christ. Okay, so we understand this whole concept of "knowing" has to be important - if it's Eternal Life we're talking about. But what does it mean?? In 1 John 4:8 it says, "He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is Love." Okay here we go... So that's what it means. In order to know our Savior, we need to love! Isn't that what Christmas is all about?! Loving everyone? Exactly! Showing people Jesus Christ's love through our actions!

If you think about it, the "Christmas Spirit" is nothing more than the Spirit of Christ! As missionaries, we try to share this Christmas Spirit every single day of our missions, not just the month of December or the week of Christmas! We need to ALWAYS be showing people Christ's love. But how?? ……Service!!!!!. It's not hard. Forget yourself and make someone happy! That is what I'm asking from you all for my Christmas present! How can you serve someone this Christmas? Let me know how it goes:) I promise you that as you forget yourself, and just go to work, there are eternal blessings waiting for you. 

I finished my studies in Mosiah 26:24 where it says, "If they know me they shall come forth, and shall have a place eternally at my right hand." What more could you possibly want, than to be at the right hand of Jesus Christ, our Savior! There are so many times throughout Christ's teachings where he says, "I know my sheep, and they are numbered." Christ knows each and every one of us personally. He only asks us that we strive to know Him. 

I am so grateful for this time of year, but I just want us to understand that it should be like this always. As we come to understand and know Jesus Christ, we will understand that there is NO OTHER focus in life. Christ needs to be the focus of our lives. I love this work that I have been called to do. Elder Ferris and I walked around yesterday just wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. It is a perfect way to talk about Christ and how important He really is. President Schumtz said one other thing that I loved. He said, "Your children must see your testimony. They must see your treasure. That it is a permanent treasure - not in the world." It is so important that we gain a testimony of Jesus Christ and share it with EVERYONE!! Just remember, the message and Spirit of Christmas is Missionary Work.

I love you all so much and I am doing great here! So many new things every day haha. The Filipino culture is an example for all of us. I am constantly thinking and praying about all of you. Love you!!!

I love you all so much!!

Love,

Elder James Ryan Jacobs

P.S. I'm totally serious when I tell you all that I want you to report on your service this next week! Email me and let me know how it went.  If you do not have my email, contact my mom!! billjacobs5@gmail.com

P.P.S. Merry Christmas in Advance;)

I. Hate. Spiders.

Maayong Udto, Everyone!!! (Well, at least here)

Hello all! Man, this has been one crazy week! I am so grateful for the experiences that I am able to go through and the testimony I am able to grow because of them. I love this work.

Okay so, as you know, we had an IBD (Investigator with a Baptismal Date) scheduled for the 28th of December. Her name is Ludy and she really is amazing; but, sadly, she wasn't able to make it to church on Sunday because of an emergency with her husband's work. In order to be baptized, an investigator needs to come to church at least 4 times in a row before the baptism, among other things. Sooo we aren't able to get the baptism in this month. But her desire hasn't changed and she still wants to be baptized really badly so that's awesome! It is so fun hearing her talk about how she wants to live in the Celestial Kingdom with God and Jesus Christ. I love her!! So we'll shoot for January. We just need faith! It will happen on the Lord's time.

Alright so like I said, crazy week. There were just so many things going on and it really did seem like we were just getting rejected over and over again. Mission's aren't easy. They are incredibly hard, BUT they are so worth it. I am learning so much and I love it! I love the things I'm going through. Okay, well I wouldn't say I love "them", but I love the lessons I learn! 

A few nights ago it just seemed like everything piled up on one day. I was just thinking about a lot of things. I came up with a conclusion and it's simple. People just plain don't understand what they are missing. They just don't. The people that reject the message here in the Philippines, the people that reject or fall away from the church in general just do not realize the blessings that could be a part of their lives.

 I thought of a quote from President Gordon B. Hinckley (I think). "When life gets too hard to stand, kneel." I have never prayed as hard and as long in my life. I just want to testify of the power of might prayer. Might prayer changes lives. Read about it in Enos. Try it. You'll never be the same. 

I have felt the influence and power that it has had in my life, and I love it. I thought of something as I was laying in bed. You do not receive blessings until you act. This is why people don't understand what they are missing!! It is not until we act in faith and start doing the right thing, that we feel God's influence in our lives. For people that have never heard of the church, it is understandable and I understand that it's hard to have faith in something so new. For people who may have fallen away from the church, it is because they haven't been doing what they should be doing. If they were, they would understand the blessing that this church is. It's that simple. 

So, brothers and sisters, we need to ACT IN FAITH. We need to trust in the Lord and start making good choices TODAY. I know that if we can do that, our lives will be blessed. Just start now, and walk in the light of your sparks. 2 Nephi 7:8-11. Amazing. I know that prayer works and I promise you it will work for you too.

I am so blessed with the people I have met here. They are constantly answers to my prayers. We have been working with this one young woman, her name is Devine. I just want to quickly share something that she said. I will honestly never forget the words that came out of her mouth. 

After talking for a few minutes, I asked her a question about her religion and if she honestly believes that it is 100% true and contains all of Christ's teachings. She immediately said she knows that it's not 100% true and she doesn't like how so many of the people say all these things about what they believe, but then they go out and drink and smoke and do things like that. She said it's a disgrace to Jesus Christ's name. I just paused for a minute. We didn't say anything for a little while, and then she continued. I'll never forget what she said next. 

She said, "This world is full of good people, bad people, and lots of distractions; but, you are so lucky if you find the truth." AHHHHH (<--- that's what I said in my head). I couldn't stop thinking about that and it's been a week. I am so lucky and I am so blessed to have the truth in my life. 

I know without a shadow of a doubt that this is Jesus Christ's church restored on the earth today. Every single thing in my life, I can attribute to the blessings of being a member of this amazing church. I love it. Devine couldn't have said anything more true. I took that time to bear testimony to her of what I know to be true. We have another appointment in a couple of days. She is going to be one awesome Mormon. 

I love all of you so much. I am so grateful for the influence that you have all had in my life. I know that I am where I need to be right now. I know that I am doing the right thing at this time in my life. I know none of you are, but don't ever worry about me. I know that Jesus Christ watches over His people. If we choose to do His will, we are all His people. It's all over 3 Nephi. I love the scriptures, I love the gospel, I love my friends, I love my family, and I LOVE MY LIFE!

Hope you all have an amazing week!!

Love,

Elder James Ryan Jacobs

Such an AWESOME Week!

HELLO ALL!

Soo..... This week was awesome! It sure is crazy how fast the time goes on the mission. Haha it seems like it was yesterday that I emailed home. Such an awesome week this week though!!

Alright so, I'm not sure if I told you who we met last week. Because we are "White Washing" this area, we had to start completely over from scratch. So we don't have any investigators or anything like that. Last week, as we were street contacting (We call it FTE'ing), we found a woman and her name is Ludy. She is 52 years old and is SO NICE! 

This is Ludy!

We talked to her for a while, gave her a pamphlet to read, and invited her to come to church. She said she would try. That Sunday came, but she didn't come to church. So, the next day, we went to go visit her and see if anything was wrong - why didn't she come to church? She said that she wasn't able to come because her husband was so tired because of work the night before and stuff like that. So we asked if we could teach right then. She said sure. So we sat down and shared the Message of the Restoration with her. She was so nice and she is so smart! It was a great first lesson. Okay... a couple days go by... along with a couple interesting experiences involving food and we went back to Ludy's for our return appointment to teach her about the Plan of Salvation. 

Before we left the last time, we gave her a pamphlet to read about the Plan of Salvation and it talked about the questions like "Where did we come from" "Why are we here" and "Where do we go after this life". Such great questions that people have, but nobody ever answers them!! I'm grateful that this Gospel has the answers. 

Okay, so we went back for our second lesson, and she has already read the entire pamphlet and throughout the lesson, we would ask her how she was feeling and she said things like "I would love to live in the Celestial Kingdom" and stuff like that! She knew all the answers just from reading the pamphlet. Okay. Here's the best part of the story. So, we were sitting there, right? Right. And I started talking again and I asked her things like, "Sister Ludy, do you believe that these answers are right? Do you believe that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God? Do you believe that this church is Christ's church once again on the Earth?" To every question I asked, she said she prayed and she felt they were right. Just then, I had the hugest prompting to commit her to baptism. We weren't planning on asking in that lesson - we just met her. 

But what was I gunna do, just ignore the Holy Ghost's promptings?? Nooo. So I did. Just then, I invited her to be baptized on the 28th of December. SHE'S GUNNA GET BAPTIZED!!! This is such an amazing feeling to help people come to a realization of the truth in a world full of confusion. I'm so grateful for her example to me. Good thing Elder Ferris and I were on the same page because when we left, I asked him if I should've done that and he said, "if you didn't, I would've." So yea! First baptism. She rocks.

Okay, sorry that was a little long. Haha it's so exciting to be out here serving a mission and serving the people of the Philippines. I love it. Okay so a little bit about our regular days. They are so long! Haha get up at 6:30 and study and work on some stuff until about 12 and then we go out for the day. We just walk everywhere and talk to everyone because we're still trying to get used to our area. So we are out of the house until we get back at about 9 or 9:30. 

This is my apartment!!
Shout out to all of my OC friends…..Be grateful for what you have and where you live!!

We are always so tired at the end of the day haha but it's all good! We are supposed to be tired! This is hard work! I am so grateful for this Gospel though. I am so grateful for the hope and knowledge that it gives people. There are so many people in this world that have no idea why they are here and what they're purpose is. If any of you ever feel like that, DON'T! Ask a member of this church. I can 100% guarantee that they will give you an answer. If you ever wonder where you came from or where you will go after you die, JUST ASK! I love helping people understand that they can live with their families after this life. I love it!

Okay well I am out of time, but just know that I am doing great over here on the other side of the world! I love this work so much and I love all of you!!

Love,

Elder James Ryan Jacobs

Baby Jacobs Out…..