I'm going to the City!

Kent's baptism! He's pretty popular with the girls.....

So, another week gone. Does anybody else feel like I do about this whole time thing?? My mom insists the time is going by slower than ever, but I am convinced otherwise. These weeks seem to completely FLY BY! I don't have too much time today because there is a lot to get ready for transfers tomorrow, but here is a quick update:

Saturday was Kent's baptism and it went SO WELL!!

I was so grateful for all the Young Single Adults that showed up and supported him in his decision to be baptized. 

He is great and was so ready to be baptized. I loved his dedication and faithfulness. Kent was an investigator for about 6 months and really the only reason was because he wasn't in one place long enough to be taught and baptized. He would go to church in every area he was in and really already considered himself a member. I was so grateful to make that official!

This is what the font looked like. The water comes out of the faucet like that...it's normal. No one even comments about it! 

On Sunday Kent was confirmed, Eddie and Joven received the Aaronic Priesthood, and we had a great Sunday with meetings! You heard me... We had meetings because we finally got our branch president!! 

Monday was Transfer Meeting (Transfer Day is Wednesday!). I knew I was leaving, sadly, but I had no idea where I was heading or what to expect. 

E. Jacobs...that's me!

Well, I am transferring to San Nicolas over in Cebu City on the Island of Cebu! It's in the City! I'll be a "city boy" for a while now! 

And I got called as a Zone Leader... I started crying inside a little bit when I heard that. But after lots of prayers, I received a witness that this truly is what the Lord wants of me. I am 100% willing to follow His will. I am confident in Him and know that, by faith, all things are made possible. I can't wait to serve the amazing missionaries in my mission with everything I have.

I will miss Siaton. 

On Tuesday we had dinner at Sister Garcia's house to say goodbye and teach them one last time. They are an amazing member family here in Siaton that we will be coming back to visit, mom! I am sad to be leaving here after 6 solid months, but I am excited to help in another part of the vineyard. Siaton is like home to me.

I will sure miss my District!! It has been amazing working with each of these missionaries! They are truly the BEST!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                 So on Wednesday I will be on this bus for about 6 hours to get to the boat to Cebu!! 

The bus reminds me of the Night Bus on Harry Potter!!

This past week we helped a family sift rice.

It was so hot when we began talking to them so we told them to take a break in the shade while we did the sifting. 

You put the rice in the basket and pour it slowly so that the wind catches the light stuff with nothing inside. The wind blows away the stuff that is not useful. Then only the good, edible rice is left on the mat......there's a gospel lesson there....

Mom!! You asked about birthdays here. They celebrate birthdays here like in Mexico. Just a little fiesta type thing...no cake...just lots of food and some desserts. There aren't any ovens here in the homes to bake. 

That's about all I have time for, but I want you all to know that I really do love you. I know that we have the fullness of the true gospel among us. I know that - in order to truly do that which is required of us - we need to learn how to be endowed with power from on high. Faith is a principle (or a fundamental law; essential) to gaining this power. One quote that I absolutely love is: "Certain powers of heaven are governed by the faith of mortal men." I have a strong testimony of this and know that if we just do our individual parts, we will be given power to do all that is expedient in Christ. I love you all!!

Love,

Elder Jacobs

Ginourmas toads here....

Hello to all my BEST friends!!

Remember when I said that "flood" was crazy last week? Wait till you catch a wave of my experience this week (pun intended?) It was a week that I will never forget and one in which a lot was learned. I love being here in the Philippines. I am so grateful IN my situation, whatever happens!

This week was jam packed. I'm going to summarize a little bit. On Friday, we traveled out to Bayawan to go on exchanges with the Zone Leaders, Elder Warner and Elder Daisog. They are awesome and I love them. We had to get there by 5 because I had to conduct a baptismal interview out in Basay (very bukid - err mountainy...?) at 6pm. It went great! We slept at the ZL's apartment and woke up in the morning to travel back out to Basay to attend the baptism in the ocean!!!

It was awesome.

 I may or may not have been allowed to stand in the dagat (ocean) as a witness. Loved it. 

After that, Elder Rowley and Elder Daisog traveled back to work in Siaton while Elder Warner and I went to Zamboanguita to conduct two more baptismal interviews. We have so many baptisms planned for this month!!! Elder Daisog interviewed Kent (our investigator) and he is all set to go for this Saturday at 6pm!!! I am so excited for him! Anyways, the interviews basically took the rest of Saturday. We traveled back to Bayawan to sleep. Such a crazy busy awesome schedule!

 Now we get to the even crazier part.

A member drawing of our Zone...guess which one is me!?!?

On Sunday we woke up and got to church early because I had another (yes, fourth) baptismal interview for the ZL's. 

The interview and church both went well. After church there is a special sacrament held out in Basay for the members out there. We traveled out there with the Branch Presidency and everything went well. 

About half way through, it starts POURING. Like crazy.... and wind... and everything. Storm conditions. Nothing I've ever seen before. 

Long story short, after sacrament, Elder Warner and I had to run get some signatures of the family that was baptized yesterday. Remember I said it was pouring? And about the wind? Ya, don't forget it. 

We were running/walking and all of a sudden my head hurt SO BADLY!!! I realized I just got hit on the head with a coconut!!! Now you're thinking, "okay very funny... You would die if you got hit on the head with a coconut (because of how high those trees are)." Ya... That's 100% true! 

That's why I was so grateful that it was only the size of a baseball. But... uhh... ouch? 

I learned a lot about Diabetes at the clinic when I got my head checked out!

I can't explain how grateful I was that it wasn't a fully-matured coconut. People get paralyzed (or die) here because of things like that! Okay... moving on! 

That's not even a smidgen (word?) of what happened that day.

There is another member out in Basay that is confined to her home and the elders always take a special sacrament to her every week with the Branch President. Well, the Branch President said that he didn't want to go because the wind and rain was too hard. He said the trees might fall over. 

Haha. At first, Elder Warner and I were like, "okay.. guess we won't go." Then we thought about what the sacrament means - how important it truly is.

 We decided we would just ask if we could go do it. The President said yes we could, but he himself wouldn't go. 

We get to the "trail head" (only English I could think of for the thing at the bottom of the mountain that leads to where we want to go..) and immediately see that the entire dalan (path) is 200% flooded. And it is still POURING. We decided to try anyways. Nothing could be as crazy as last week, right? Wrong. Remember the Narrows in Zion? Ha.. It was just like that. We literally hiked up a mountain up to our knees in water rushing down.And the wind was, well, just think of Typhoon conditions. I am so sad to say that I didn't have my camera that day. Just trust me that it happened. Because it did.

So why did we go? 

I wanted to take a minute and bring this all together. The Sacrament is a vital ordinance 100% necessary for our Salvation and Exaltation. 

I hope we can all have the attitude that, no matter what the world throws at us, we will be determined to get to church and partake of the sacrament. 

I know that this is a true principle. I know that, as we partake of the sacrament, we allow ourselves to be sanctified by the Holy Ghost. We also covenant to Heavenly Father that we are WILLING to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ. I encourage you to study about what that really means. I'll give you a hint: there are at least three meanings to the phrase "willing to take upon us the name of Jesus Christ". Only one refers to our baptism.

Don't worry Mom..I am eating well.

I love you all so very much and am so happy in the situation I have been blessed with. I am beyond excited for Kent and his decision to be baptized this Saturday. I am nervous for Transfer Calls on Monday, but know that it will be according to the will of the Lord. Until we meet (...read...) again. I love you all!!

Love,

Elder Jacobs

This is where we go to get new white shirts......they LOVE us!

Mission Weather Update: TYPHOON GLENDA

So, as some of you may have seen or heard, the weather here has been quite the adventure. I say "some of you," but I just

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming......

realized that not a single person except my parents probably look at the weather in the Philippines... 

Haha anyways, we have been getting rain non-stop for DAYS! Typhoon Glenda is ripping through the mid/northern part of the islands..a Storm Signal 3 Typhoon. We are not in the middle of it but I woke up a couple nights ago and I literally almost wet the bed. 

I thought the house was falling to pieces. The thunder was the loudest I have ever heard it in my life. ( I was born and raised in Southern California...I've never experienced "weather"!!) The entire house was shaking. And the lightning lit up our entire room for like 5 seconds straight at a time. 

We need to get over to that house...

So, what do we do during Typhoon weather? We continue on through the work like normal days! 




I love working in the rain - rain makes me even happier :) 



But we were traveling out to one of our areas in Sumiliring Beach and the entire street was completely flooded. 

The pictures should give a little insight. I'm sorry about the shoes, mom. We had zero options but to walk through it. 

That made for a very, very wet rest of the day! I loved it! 

We've got the streets to ourselves!!

Well almost....

Don't even worry about me! Weather cannot stop this great work that we are doing! And the people are so nice to us when we are out in the wind and rain!! ;)


Well......most people......

 We were passing an investigator's house the we had taught about 3 times in the past. It has been about a month since we have been able to even see him again - he is never home. He was sitting outside of his house when we passed. So of course, we start talking to him and checking up on how he is! Natural, right? Right.

Talked about work, family, life. Then we got to the point where the conversation is supposed to turn spiritual. Elder Rowley says, "Kamusta ang imong pagbasa, brother?" (How is your reading [of the BoM]). Immediately, he throws down his fishing-line-buoy-ball- thingy on the ground as hard as he could and starts SCREAMING. I mean SCREAMING and yelling at us. He stood up, grabbed his chair and came toward us with it.

HA! We just turned around and walked away as he ran inside his house and grabbed some kind of metal baseball bat looking thing and stands in his yard yelling. Hmmm.....

Anyways, long story short, half of me wishes ALL investigators were a little bit more bold. It makes our job much easier to know whether people are looking for the Gospel! Man was that awesome. It made it in my journal :) We just don't have any aggressive people here!

Sunday was amazing as usual. I love Sundays on the mission. Especially when everything just comes together. Elder Rowley and I had a record here in Siaton with 9 investigators attending church. We felt so so so blessed and grateful that we have been given this portion of the vineyard to take care of. We are working as hard as we can and are realizing every single week areas where we can improve!

I just can't sleep on a bus!!

On Monday we had Zone Interviews out in Bayawan with President McCurdy! He and his wife are so awesome! They are from Twin Falls Idaho! I think that's opposite of Rexburg, Jon? Or at least a few hours?

Anyways, our interview went great and we got to know each other a little bit better. As I was sitting in the interview and then pondering after I couldn't help but just marvel at how the Lord truly calls these righteous men and women to lead His kingdom on Earth. I have no doubt that President McCurdy is the perfect Mission President for the Cebu Mission at this time. I love him and his wife and look forward to getting to know them even more!

Tuesday we had District Meeting because we had Interviews on Monday. It went good! Hopefully... Haha I love having these opportunities to meet as a Zone and learn from one another. 

I wanted to just finish with one thing I have been focusing on this last week.... the Doctrine of Accountability.

Latter Day Saints have always been known for their industrious, hands-on attitude and work ethic.

We can learn from Nephi in 2 Nephi 5:15-17 about what he taught his people.

This week, I focused on being even more pro-active. We are all given opportunities in this life.
We know we are judged according to desires and actions - meaning how well we take care of the opportunities given to us. I know that we will all get to the day of judgment and, with a perfect remembrance, have to report to the Lord.

Many people constantly repeat the truth that the Lord will forgive those who repent and He will remember their sins no more.

 That is true, however, what we may not understand is that there is no way for us to repent of the people we could have met or helped, had we taken advantage of the opportunities given to us. We will, no-doubt, report to the Lord on those that slipped through the cracks when we weren't doing the best we could.

My goal is to be more pro-active! We are here to ACT! (See 2 Nephi 2:14,26) We can't be sitting around, wasting the days of our probation as Jacob teaches in 2 Nephi 9:27. Let's get up, get out, and DO.

I love you all so much and hope you have the best week in the world. I encourage you to study more on the topic of accountability and judgment. I know that, as we understand more and more, we are given a greater responsibility. How great is our calling :)

Love you!

Elder Jacobs

We Got Stuck in the Mud!

Hello all!

 This week was amazing, as usual. A trip to Bayawan, about a million rainstorms that I thought I was going to die in, and an adventure through a very flooded humayan. Just wait for this one…

We have a new Mission President! On Thursday the Zone Leaders relayed a workshop given by President at MLC. This was President McCurdy’s first workshop with the mission and it was great! He focused a lot on looking at the end from the beginning. 

Yep....rain....every day.

It is so important, as we begin new things and set goals, that we have a vision of where we want to end up. I have such a testimony of this. It actually reminded me of something my dad taught me. Growing up, we always took trips up to the snow to go skiing and snowboarding. Having three older brothers, sometimes I was pushed a little beyond my comfort zone relating to trying new things and improving the skill of snowboarding. I remember, whenever I wanted to (or even didn’t want to) try something new like a jump, box, or rail, my dad would always tell me to envision what I want to happen as I approach. It not only keeps us focused in the sense of knowing what we want to do, but it helps us focus on the positives and be optimistic of the outcome. I know that, as we have a vision of the end from the beginning, miracles will occur. I know that God’s foreknowledge gives Him the capacity to know the end of all from the beginning and vice versa.

Going to a members house for dinner!

Sunday was fast and testimony meeting and I don’t think I have ever been as tired as I was at the end of that day. I ate WAY TOO MUCH and felt like I was going to throw up for a little while after that. 

I am grateful, however, for the strengthening power we can all receive through the Atonement of Christ – even for little things like feeling sick after eating too much. I know that my Savior, Jesus Christ is in the work with me. We are shoulder to shoulder, hands on the plow. I love being a missionary.

Yesterday It POURED. Like… It was crazy. The entire morning and night before and then again later at night (last night). 

We went to visit one guy we met last week – his name was Carlo Bluebaby. Yup… Blue Baby. Haha turns out it was just a nickname, but I was impressed nonetheless. I can’t wait to name my children. Good thing I am getting lots of ideas over here..... Bluebaby, put-put, jun-jun, ice, etc. the list goes on.  

I Spy pineapples! Yum!

Later that night, we visited Eddie to see if we could teach his nephew and it turns out his sister’s entire family wants to start learning. We had a great lesson about families and the importance of finding the one truth in this confused world. We are returning to them a little later tonight. I can’t wait.

Okay… So I left something out. As we were leaving BlueBaby’s house, we had to cross a bunch of humayan (rice fields) to get back to the road. Like I said, it has been raining like crazy lately so all of the humayan were completely filled to the brim with water… and mud. 

We almost made it to the VERY END without anything tragic happening. Then the last 5 meters snuck up on us. You know in the movies where they step in a patch of mud and then keep walking but they don’t realize their shoe got stuck in the mud..? Yea. Use your imagination. It happened. With both shoes. I’m sorry mom and dad… 

Washing up before dinner...

But don’t worry, it gets better. Elder Rowley thought he made it all the way to the other side without too much damage. He decides he needed to wash the mud off of his hand so he reaches down to wash off, steps on a coconut he thought was solid, and completely falls in – up to his knees in mud and water. Hahaha this was honestly one of the funnier experiences I’ve had on the mission. I loved it. 

As we were washing off at Eddie’s house (very nearby), I couldn’t help but think of Tommy Boy. “These shoes are Italian, they’re worth more than your life.” Setting aside the fact that my shoes aren’t worth more than any person’s precious soul, I thought it was funny… :)

Cooking dinner.

We all know the difference between good and evil – . We know from Moroni (chapter 7) that the Light of Christ is given that we may judge. I know and have such a strong testimony that, as we increase in capacity to reflect the light of Christ, things become black and white. If we just learn to hearken to the voice of the spirit, we may receive more light, “and that light growth brighter and brighter until the perfect day” (D&C 50:24). We need to obey in order to receive increased capacity (D&C 93:28,39). Continue to repent – as the Prophet Joseph teaches in D&C 1:33. 

I am so grateful for this gift made available to all of us. I know that the Light of Christ IS NOT our conscience, but is the driving force that allows (if we allow it) our consciences to be sharpened. Something interesting to think about is the Sun and the Moon. If we think about how the moon receives her light, we know it is only by reflecting the sun’s light. Let’s look at it in a bigger picture. Christ is the Sun. We are the Moon. Think about that next time you stare up to the stars at night.

Delicious!!

I am so grateful for all of you! I love you all so much and hope you can let all of your light shine. I hope you have an amazing week. Be happy. Make someone else happy. Then return and report to the Lord :)

Love you all!!

Elder Jacobs

The headlamp comes in handy when we don't have electricity! Thanks Mom!