I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to learn from President and Sister Schmutz. I love them.

Helloo Everyone!!!

Remember how I said last week that this week was going to be crazy..? Times my expectations by 2 and don't forget to carry the 1. I hope you like this update cause I sure did love this last week.

On Wednesday we went to the zoo!! Okay, well don't get me wrong... Don't be thinking San Diego Zoo. Or even Santa Ana... This was like Hemet Zoo - if there happened to be a zoo in Hemet.

Paradise? Not so much......

Hahah yea, it was kind of a bust in terms of the animals, unless you like stuffed animals.....

A little creepy?

But the zoo was SO FUN because we got to hang out as a zone for the last time before transfers.

Friday - Zone Conference. It was President and Sister Schmutz' last conference with us :( So this was the last time that they could really speak to us as a whole in a workshop setting. 

 

I have never felt so happy and sad at the same time. It was the saddest day ever because President and Sister Schmutz are leaving, but at the same time I am filled with gratitude for everything that they have done for me and for us in the Cebu Mission. 

I know without any doubt (Apology in advance to all who have served, are serving, or will serve in another mission) that this is the best mission in the world and it is because of them. 

The workshop was about everything imaginable. From school to marriage to careers to family to callings. It was amazing. I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to learn from President and Sister Schmutz. I love them.

Saturday  was my companion,Elder Rowley's, Birthday!!! Heyooo best birthday ever.

Eddie was baptized that morning and it went so well. His entire family came to attend the baptism and it was an experience I will not forget. Eddie is so ready and is going to be a great addition to the Siaton Branch as a Priesthood Leader. 

After the baptism, we headed back to Dumaguete to attend the adult session of STAKE Conference! Eddie came with us as well. Elder Ardurn, of the Seventy, presided and it was so awesome. He is a character. We had a lot of fun with him and, at the same time, everyone was uplifted and edified by the Spirit.

We had to be back in Dumaguete again the next morning for the General Session of Stake Conference. I am so grateful to have been a part of this. Literally hundreds of thousands of prayers - over many, many years - were answered on this beautiful day as the Dumaguete District officially became a Stake in Zion. Oh and no AirCon in the chapel. It was.... HOT.

 TRANSFER CALLS! They came in on Monday, as planned. It was a very exciting day for all of us. To make a short story shorter, I get to stay ANOTHER transfer in Siaton!! Haha this will make a total of 4 transfers, or 6 months, in this area. I am so excited and ready to get back to work! Elder Rowley is staying as well so I get to finish his training. And I got called as District Leader so this should be an exciting transfer - full of mighty prayer. I am so grateful for President and the trust he has put in me. I will do my absolute best to magnify this calling as I would any other.

And Joven was baptized last night! It was unbelievable how many people showed up to attend. The Spirit was SO STRONG! Joven is such a stud and was so happy that he finally was able to open the gate to the Celestial Kingdom as he entered the waters of baptism. He and Eddie will be confirmed this coming Sunday and will start now on their journey to the Temple - the very House of the Lord. 

My Awesome District!

I hope even just a little bit of the awesomeness of this last week has been made evident through this email. I am SO GRATEFUL to have been able to experience the things I did. I love this life of discipleship I have chosen. 

In light of this week, I want to share something that, although I have already shared in past emails, needs to be thoroughly understood by all of us. 

The power of Christ's Atonement is a real, true, accessible power. 

We sometimes call this the Enabling Power - or Grace - of Jesus Christ. We receive this power as we live according to the commandments wherein we have been given, and sincerely ask for it in our prayers . In Jacob 4:7 we read that we are shown our weakness that we may know that it is only by the grace - or enabling power - of Christ that we are able to do these things. 

I know that, without this real power, I would not have been able to accomplish half of the things that we were called to do this last week. I know that this is one major factor which sets "Mormons" apart from the rest of the world. We know and understand that through Christ anything is possible to the faithful and obedient. 

Brothers and Sisters, let us be faithful. Let us truly understand why things are as they are in this life and in the next. I can testify that as we do this, our perspective will change to that of an eternal aspect. We can all, as Peter says know the "end [or outcome or result] of our faith" and know without a doubt that we will live again with our Father in Heaven. 

I love you all so much and I hope that today - if we haven't already - we will truly start to utilize this power that Christ has made available to us. We will be lifted spiritually, emotionally, and physically.

I love you all! I hope you have an amazing week cause I know I sure will. I am so grateful to be where I am. I am so grateful to be given the privilege to stay in Siaton for at least one more transfer. I know there is something I still need to accomplish here and I will obediently and diligently find it. Let's ALL go out and make someone's week :)

Love you!

Elder Jacobs

DID YOU THINK I WAS KIDDING LAST WEEK ABOUT THE TOILET IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIELD???

Dear Favorites,

First of all........ DID YOU THINK I WAS KIDDING LAST WEEK ABOUT THE TOILET IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIELD???

HAHAHA!!!!! Ya....No joke. Please do not try to picture me out there on that.

Oh and check out the awesome motorbike for FOUR in the background!

Well sure enough, just like in the days of the creation, another week has come and gone. So fast! We were unbelievably busy this last week and it gets even crazier next week. Just wait for this update.

Grab some popcorn (preferably some of my mom & dad's homemade specialty), a blanket

(is it cold there? haha I wouldn't know...what does it even feel like to be cold?), and sit back for this one. I loved life this week:

Turns out my companion can sleep anywhere.....

On Thursday we had Zone Training up in Bayawan. For those that don't know, this is a meeting every month in which we get to hear the workshop that the Mission President gives to all the Zone Leaders and STL's in the mission. They, in turn, relay the workshop on to us. To sum it up = 4 hours of pure bliss. I loved the workshop.



It was on the Doctrine of Temples. Umm.... WOW. I'm not going to share too much, but I want everyone to stop and think about the temple for a minute. If we don't know what a temple is, ask a member or go to LDS.org and search it (https://www.lds.org/church/temples?lang=eng).

Just like in the Savior's earthly ministry, There are things taught in the temple that simply cannot be found in a corrupted world like ours. Let us get to the temple as often as we can!

While he slept, I did some contacting.....

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints we are counseled to make regular temple attendance a part of our schedule. For most people, this means once a month and If that is truly all we can fit in, that's great and it needs to happen.

But for those that live in my hometown area, let's think about this question: "Is 12 days out of the 365 that we are given in a year sufficient to say we are doing our best?"
Brothers and sisters, let us get to the temple AS OFTEN as we possibly can. Salvation is found inside the very House of the Lord.

On Saturday Eddie had his baptismal interview!! He is all set to be baptized this Saturday at 11:00am. Be there at 10:30 if you wanted to come. This is like 215lbs, 54 years of pure awesomeness. He is so ready and I can't wait for this Saturday.

We talk to everyone...and everything....

To add to that, the 14th is also my companion's birthday! Heyooooo shout out to Elder Rowley.. Best birthday ever.

Later that night, we went to visit the Carreon family (the less-actives we have been starting to get to work with) for our Family Home Evening. It was amazing.

To summarize, there were about 20 people in attendance (probably 10 kids haha), we shared a short message on the baptism of Jesus Christ - as found in 2 Nephi 31, and then played some games.
When we started to play the games, nobody was really jumping out of their seat.. err... dirt? (No chairs to sit on...) to play so it was a little rough at the beginning.

Remember, this is the one where we have been trying so hard to get Bro. Carreon to warm up to us (he sat with his head in his hands the whole lesson, AFTER we begged and dragged him to join ;) ).

Anyways, I think he started to feel bad for us when we were trying to get people to play the game SOOOO he was the first one to join! It was honestly an answer to so many prayers. We had an amazing time and got invited back for FHE next Sunday.

 Elder Rowley and I have the keys to open and close the church and all that fun stuff. Sooo we have had a fun time getting to the church at 6am to open it and then close it later at night. But Sunday was a great day. Tatay Dela Torre came to church for the first time in 5 years. 5 years. 5. You heard me. I was beyond excited. We have been working with him since I got here. I am so excited to help him on his journey back Home.

You're thinking my dinner looks delicious, aren't you?

. On Monday, we went out and just did a big FINDING day. Came home with three new investigators and a bunch of prospectives. It was an amazing day - the Lord's Hand was definitely in the Work.

 Joven had his baptismal interview last night!!! He is doing so well!! He is all set to be baptized this next Tuesday night. So Eddie on Saturday and Joven on Tuesday. So. Awesome. Pictures to follow next week :)

Today we're going to the zoo :) Don't know what that will be like....what kind of animals are in a zoo on a remote island in the Philippines? 

This Friday we have Zone Conference down in Dumaguete! It is President Schmutz's last conference :( Then Saturday and Sunday we have our STAKE Conference!! Dumaguete District is officially becoming a Stake in Zion this Sunday. You could say I'm stoked. Oh! And transfer calls come this Monday at Transfer Meeting. Next week's email should be a pretty packed one.

Hahahaha wanna hear something funny? As I was cooking dinner last night, it started raining. Hard. So what else would we do in the Philippines? I stopped dinner for a few minutes, turned on the soundtrack to We Bought a Zoo, and took a shower outside. It was awesome. A night that won't be forgotten. So awesome it rains hard enough to do that! Dinner was good too.

Haha! Ahhhhh...life is good!

I love you all so much. Know that I'm fine. Better than fine. I love this! I love temples as well. Please go to the temple for me because, as of now, we are still not allowed to go (because of distance). I love you all so very much and hope the best for next week.

Love you!!
Elder Jacobs

Agency Can Be Tough Sometimes...

Kamusta man mo?!

Hellooooo!! First of all, HAPPY JUNE!

So awesome!! Yes! People live there!

Ohmygoodness it's almost Summer... You know what that means... No school, beach every day, Pedros Tacos, Sleep in, AP homework... I can't wait for - 

Oh wait... THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS SUMMER IN THE PHILIPPINES. Especially on a mission! How could we risk stopping this Work for even just a day?? We can't. Get back to work ;) 

This week has been one for the books. We have been non-stop busy getting ready for the baptisms coming up a week from Saturday. And not to mention, just a little Siaton Branch drama. It was a great week, and here's why :)

On Thursday our Zone was planning on having a Community Service Project by helping one of the Sisters' investigators in our area, but - long story shorter - that fell through due to another church coming in and offering to not only do the work, but literally pay the woman to get baptized in their church. :/

Anyways, Elder Rowley and I didn't want to let that put a damper on the day that we had planned for service, so we went and helped out a member assemble an electric four wheeler type thing. 

We got to the house, I saw it, and I immediately was taken back to like 10 years old playing with Marky outside. We like to call these bad boys Power Wheels.  

Needless to say, I worked miracles on that thing and had it assembled in just shy of 2 hours. Haha don't judge, it was very complex. 

Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of the finished product. Maybe in a future email. 

Service = Awesome.

Beautiful.

 I'm not going to lie when I say that missionary work can be... HARD. 

Hahah it seemed like this week we were just getting shut down right and left. Not just when we were introducing the message, but in lessons as well. 

We had one lesson on Saturday and the Spirit was SO POWERFUL. It was one of the better lessons that Elder Rowley and I have taught since we've been together. 

Transitions worked, scriptures were used, connections were made, questions were asked... Commitments were rejected. 

One of our investigators decided that he just wasn't ready to hear anything except what the Catholic priest had to share - even after admitting he didn't believe the Catholic Church to be 100% true. He would not even commit to pray to know. 

Agency can be tough sometimes. 

Monday was a different story. We met an older man last week and he is great.

I just like this curly tree....

He has had a Book of Mormon for years and has been studying it hand-in-hand with the Quran and the Bible. Along with some encyclopedias. 

He is a very, very smart mechanical engineer; however, he is having trouble knowing that anything we say really is true. He needs to "study and research" a lot more before he commits to anything. The problem is that his way of researching is what the world calls "The Scientific Method". Observations, hypotheses, experiments, etc. 

What he is having trouble with is distancing himself from the ways of the world, and aligning himself with the ways of God. I even explained this to him. 

I know and understood the Scientific Method (good thing I kind of payed attention in school...), but what we teach is God's Method as found in Moroni 10:3-5. 

I know that the only way we can truly gain pure knowledge in this life is by and through personal revelation. We need to read, ponder, and PRAY!

 Our investigator told us that if we were going to tell him to change his way of learning, he is not willing to do so. It was a sad lesson. I have never felt Heavenly Father's love so strongly in a lesson than I did in that lesson. I told our investigator that we loved him, we would stop by and serve him in any way possible, but if he wasn't willing to trust in the Lord and pray, we could not help him know the truth. 

Sometimes "intelligence" and "worldy knowledge" prevent us from feeling God's love and knowing the truth in all things. We should research, read, ponder....but then we should pray...earnestly seeking an answer from God.

Gwapo!

This last Sunday was AWESOME. Eddie had his white shirt made at a tailor, we got him situated with some shoes and a tie, and I'm pretty sure he was the most gwapo guy at church on Sunday. Hair included. Haha we haven't discussed the hair too much. Maybe that will be in an upcoming lesson, although it is not a baptismal requirement! 

We had so many wearing their white shirts and ties it was amazing.

 I have had like 4 people ask me in the last week if I was born in the Philippines. Hahahaha it has been awesome. I love the Cebuano language and I feel like I've spoken it all my life! All that time I spent mimicking accents and phrases when I was a kid is starting to pay off ;) I love these people. I wouldn't mind one bit if I was born here; but then again, I like my hometown :)

Best friends, I hope we can learn one simple lesson from these few experiences I've shared. There is going to come a time in every single person's life when they desire to know, with 100% surety, what and where the truth is found. 

Please let us be humble enough to forget about ourselves. Forget what you think you know and trust in the promise that our Father has given us, that if we will read the Book of Mormon and ask our Heavenly Father if it is true, we WILL get an answer to that prayer.

We all have freedom to choose. Brothers and sisters, let us be willing to give all, and sacrifice what is necessary, to be endowed with truth and righteousness. I know that sacrifice is one of the first laws of Heaven. We have to understand this. We cannot do anything worthwhile without the Savior in our lives. Let us be willing to fulfill whatever is required to obtain His divine guidance and promise . I know that this is true. Let's decide today to use our agency to CHOOSE to follow Christ. In His way.

I love you all so very much. I hope you are all doing well. Go out there and make someone's day today, tomorrow, and every day. Love you and don't forget to SMILE :)

Love,

Elder Jacobs