Wow... 2015. How?
Happy New Year sa tanan!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY AMAZING MOTHER :)
I hope all of you had an amazing Christmas and a Happy New Year. I cannot believe that it is already 2015, but hey life goes on! We have got to take advantage of all the time given to us to learn, have fun, and grow :)
Okay, I need to start all the way back to Christmas Day! The Skype was awesome! Love you, family!! You are all the best. Later that afternoon, we had John Ross and Jholiver's baptismal service! It was SO AWESOME!!! A very white Christmas in the Philippines :)
Later that night, however, we had quite the adventure. Without going into too much detail, we had to take Elder Archibald to the hospital in Cebu. Yes, on Christmas night. I think the worst part is that everyone in the ER was wishing everybody who came in a "Merry Christmas" hahah so sad!
Elder Archibald is okay, not an emergency in terms of time, he will just have to go in for a check up in a week or so. We were there from about 10pm to 4am. It was a party in Cebu City ;)
A few days later - I think Monday? - we had another storm pass through.
This one was... a wee bit stronger than the last.
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| This is how we "shower"..... |
We had no electricity for a few days and we still have no agas (err... running water) at the house as of today. You could say that showering at the church is a must try :)
Tuesday morning we woke up and were called by bishop to help at his father's house. They evacuated last night when the water reached their necks (my chest)... We got over there as quick as possible and shoveled mud and water out of the house and store, etc. I'm sorry, I don't have any pictures of that..
The bridge between Argao and Sibonga areas collapsed as well so transportation for our missionaries down there is a little..a lot..... slower than usual.
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| Sleeping accommodations during the storm. |
When thinking of the New Year, there is always so much talk about "New Years Resolutions".. I wanted to share what I was thinking about on that!
I thought about goals in general and why we have them. What is the purpose of a goal? What are our goals in life? Why? These are questions we should ask ourselves.
One definition of a goal would maybe be: to accomplish something.
Another definition that I thought of was to reach a certain level or to become something different.
Many times, when people ask us what the purpose of our life is, we are very quick to respond with the answer: To get back to our Heavenly Father in the Celestial Kingdom, of course! I would encourage us to rethink this answer when we are setting our new goals for this new year.
Why are we here? If it were to just get back to Heavenly Father, why would we have ever chosen to leave in the first place?? I believe that our purpose is a little bit different. We are here to become. We are here to become the Son or Daughter of God that can live AND enjoy the presence of our Heavenly Father.
This is a blessing that not all can enjoy. We need to become - just as Christ commanded - as He is... Perfect. That can only be reached one goal at a time. Maybe one "New Years Resolution" at a time.. There are things we need to do. How can we become more like Christ?
One of my goals in this new year is to come to KNOW my Savior more. His life - including pre-, during, and post-mortal. We read that Eternal Life means to "know" God and His Son, Jesus Christ. I'm going to do my best to get a head start on Eternal Life. To really know my Savior.
I am so grateful for the knowledge I have right now and am so thankful to have the opportunity to learn more every single day. I invite all of us to do the same. You don't have to pick the same goal as mine, but I would encourage us to make a goal with the "big picture" in mind. Sometimes, temporal goals (ie. financial) can help us accomplish our bigger goals as well (ie. self-mastery, temperance, etc.)... I know that all things are possible, so let's set some good goals this 2015 year :)
I love you all so so so much! Happy New Year and don't forget to wish my mom a Happy 40th birthday as well!! :)
Love,
Elder James Ryan Jacobs
