Remember I told you that I was transferred a couple of weeks ago? Well, today I'll tell you more about that!
I am now serving in Kamputhaw in the city of Cebu,
right next to the temple and I LOVE it.
There are temples all over the world. But sometimes missionaries are too far from a temple and so they do not get to go when they are on their missions.
I am so grateful that I am so close to the Cebu Temple.
My area is in the middle of the city. Lots of jeepneys, taxis, cars, motors, etc.
I love it because - although we aren't allowed to go in the temple every day - we are SO CLOSE to it. We basically stop by every day.
This is a picture of my apartment. This is the living room where we each have a desk to study and to do paperwork.
It's pretty clean!!
And this is the kitchen.
And this is where we sleep. I have the top bunk.
And boy do we need the fan!! It's always hot and humid!!But I'm used to it now.
Yep! That's an ironing board. We iron our white shirts pretty much every day.
Don't even ask why that blue bowl is by the bed......
He is AMAZING. I love E. Gama... He goes home to Davao the first week of April. Either Buhangin or Gensan..
He is such a great example of staying diligent until the end :)
Something else I LOVE about serving here in Kamputhaw is
We eat lunch at the cafeteria at the Patron House almost every day and so does he so we eat lunch with him and the office staff sometimes!
You may wonder what a mission president and his wife do.....
Basically they volunteer three years of their lives to go anywhere in the world that the church needs them....22 different countries and 18 different languages!
They come from all walks of life. Some are teachers, doctors, lawyers, pilots, businessmen. They leave behind their old lives, job and family to serve the Lord.
Mission presidents are responsible for all of the missionaries in a certain boundary. They establish mission rules, outline goals, maintain contact with all missionaries, and promote goodwill and service throughout the mission.
I love and respect Pres. McCurdy and Sis. McCurdy so much. I'm learning from them everyday.
We had another fantastic week this
Elder Gama and I are having so much fun working here in Kamputhaw. We had 7 of our investigators at church this week!! Four have baptismal dates and three came for the first time!
The work is progressing. I am so grateful to have been given this opportunity to serve here in Cebu City!
I made a cool connection yesterday as I was studying that our areas in our mission are a lot like our lives here on Earth. We are given an area and our goal is to accept it gratefully and then make it better than it was when it was given to us! That lesson can be applied in our lives!
I studied in the New Testament in Matthew 25:14-30 about the Parable of the Talents. Do you have time to read it?
I want to share a new favorite quote by Brigham Young:
"We can still improve, we are made for that purpose, our capacities are organized to expand until we can receive into our comprehension celestial knowledge and wisdom, and to continue, worlds without end."
That's why we're here. Let's take the "talents" that have been given to us, whether it may be skills, knowledge, ability, characteristics, states, etc... and use them to become better and to make the world and people around us better. I know that, through Christ's Atonement, all things are possible. I know that it is through this same name, Jesus The Christ, that we can take what we have been given and add unto it every day of our lives.
I love you all soooo much :) Seek the Spirit and ponder on some ways that you can improve your time on this earth. Because if we don't learn how to "improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed." (Alma 34:33)
Love youuuu :)
Elder James Ryan Jacobs
