Hellooooo!! First of all, HAPPY JUNE!
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| 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.
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| 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.
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.
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| I just like this curly tree.... |
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.
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| 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.
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
