This last Sunday, we had a SPARK!

Hello to all!

 We have a Mission Tour this week being held in Cebu with Elder Haynie of the Area Presidency. I am so excited! :) 

We will be in Cebu from Wed-Fri! 

So... We had transfer week last week! E. Jamil is now down in Tanjay to finish his mission. Elder Ioane, my new companion,  got here on Thursday to San Carlos. He is so awesome! Samoan :) He is going home this December so this may be his last area as well. In our house, it is me, E. Ioane, E. Cabuyadao, and E. Witehira! E. Witehira is in my batch to go home in September and just came out from the office. I LOVE him! I am so stoked to work with him for this last transfer! :)

We successfully operated on the car's air-con this last week. The filter was filthy so it wouldn't blow out any air! After a spray bottle, some drain cleaner, and lots of water, it works GREAT.

As I have mentioned in the past, work here in San Carlos is a little bit different than other areas of the mission. 

This is mostly due to the fact that it is and has been a district (not a stake) for a very long time now. 

We focus mostly on less-actives here. For the past 6 weeks we have been trying SO HARD to balance our work with members and investigators. We have seen success with our less-actives. Every week there are new less-actives coming back for the first time; however, since I have been here (6 weeks) we have had a total of I think 4 investigators come to church. All of which cannot be baptized any time soon due to circumstances (young kids, not married, etc). 

This last Sunday, we had a SPARK! We have been working with the Dapitan Family for about 3 weeks now. We were focusing on the two brothers who served their missions in California back in 1999-2002 ish... One of them, Mikel, has a wife that is very interested in the gospel!! Her name is Ruwena and she was first given a desire to listen when Mikel told her that, after years of in-activity, he was ready to go to church every Sunday starting now.

We met with Ruwena yesterday (Monday) and invited her to plan a baptismal service for this upcoming September 12. She is not ready as of now (100% normal - she's brand new), but she said if she can know for herself it's true before that date, she will be baptized on that day. Game on. I am so excited for her!! I know that she will love this gospel. I know that this is what she has been searching for her entire life. It just took until now for her to realize that.

We can learn so much from this story. We learn how much weight in a family rests on the head of the father. If he sets a good example, the family can be exposed to so much light and truth. We learn of the willingness of a righteous parent. Ruwena wants the best for her children and will do what she needs to do in order to protect them from the dangers of this world. We learn that this gospel can change lives for the better. It brings families together.. The Dapitan family is trying so hard to restore things to how they were. I love being on the mission. I just love it.

In other news, one of our sisters here in San Carlos got sick in the afternoon and couldn't even walk to get home. They were on the top of a HUGE mountain so they called us and we gave her a Priesthood blessing right there on the mountain. She received enough strength to get down to the car! Miracles are real. I know it. Mosiah 8:18 - "Thus God has provided a means that man, through faith, might work mighty miracles; therefore he becometh a great benefit to his fellow beings." I know that this "means" is the Priesthood. I am so grateful for the privilege I have of living worthy of the Priesthood I hold.

Thank you so much for all of your examples and emails! :) I love you all! Know that I am doing great and loving every day!

Love you!

Elder James Ryan Jacobs

Pure Craziness!!

Well, Let me just say that this week has gotta be down in the books somewhere as "World's Craziest Week in the life of Elder Jacobs"

On Monday, we traveled to Cebu for our Leadership Council. You knew that because we emailed last week in Toledo as we were "waiting for the barge to leave at 4pm". 

Well, that barge got canceled due to the storm. So did the 6pm barge. Not a big deal. We can stay at the ZL's house in Toledo for a night and then wake up early the next morning and catch the 7:30am barge, right? 

Apparently, wrong. The next morning, all travel was canceled. 

We were supposed to have our Zone Training Meeting at 10am that morning... That was not going to be happening haha. 

After waiting things a out a little bit, talking with President on the phone, etc. we decided to make a road trip out of it. 

We called South Cebu to make sure there were barges still crossing down there, they said they will go all day, rain or shine. 

We drove down to South Cebu to Bato, through Oslob.. About 4-5 hours.

 Got to the barge, long story short, got over to Amlan at about 6:30pm. Yayyy! We made it to Negros! That still left the long journey up to San Carlos. 

Driving on dark island roads......We ended up getting home around 10pm. It was an adventure, that's for sure.

On Saturday, we had our Zone Training Meeting... After that, a baptismal interview down in Vallehermoso. Oh, I woke up that morning with a fever of 39.5.... I'm pretty sure that's like 103.1 ish? That made for an awesome ZTM and rest of the day. We couldn't work haha. BUTTT when I woke up Sunday morning, no more fever!! :)

We went on splits Monday with the San Carlos 1a elders and then yesterday with the Canlaon elders. That was fun.. Haha back-to-back splits. It reminds me of double-header baseball games. I miss those days :)

We got transfer calls last night! E. Jamil will be transferring down to Tanjay for his last transfer! I will be training another Zone Leader here! Elder Ioane (Yoh-wan-ee). I am so stoked! 

So this is my last transfer before I go home. It is going to be an amazing last transfer, that's for sure :)

On our way home this morning from Canlaon, as E. Jamil was driving the truck, our front, right tire blew out. 

Stop, re-read, YEA! What??? It was the scariest thing I have experienced in a while. It literally exploded. And I wouldn't say that we were driving slowly... 

Everyone is okay, though don't worry mama :)

 I want to take this moment and AGAIN thank my father for everything he taught us growing up. 

Yes, we did have a jack, a wrench, and a spare tire.. It only took like 30 minutes! I guess that's not saying much though... Don't the race car people do it in like 30 seconds..?

Well, I hope you were able to follow that! It was a crazy week this last week! I loved every minute of it :)

These past two days on exchanges have taught me so much. I am so grateful for the opportunities I had to work with these two Elders. In both situations, I was able to give them priesthood blessings. They asked for comfort and counsel and I was so happy to be there to do that. I love the calling I have been given as a full time missionary. I love the assignment I have been given to look over, love, and protect those in my zone.

I love this. I love my life right now. I love working hard. I love doing hard things. I love seeing change in the lives of others. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love our Father in Heaven. I love Jesus Christ. I love Their plan for us. I love my family. I love prayer. I love the scriptures. I love being obedient. I love all of you!

Have an awesome week this next week!

Love,

Elder James Ryan Jacobs

Short but full of love!

Hello everyone!!

I'm sorry I don't have very much time AT ALL!! We are traveling back from Cebu to San Carlos right now and are in a "lay-over" in Toledo... Hahah layover meaning we are waiting for the barge to get across to San Carlos.

This last week was unbelievably busy. We had Zone Interviews (my last one with President until my exit interview... whoa...), we had District Conference in San Carlos and had Elder Pangan preside, and we had MLC in Cebu yesterday (Tuesday). It was a very very busy week. Next week is transfer day, the week after we are going back to Cebu for Elder Haynie's "Mission Tour" from the 19-21th of August. It is so busy around here!!

I want to share something that Elder Pangan shared in a Youth/Single Adult session on Sunday morning... He quoted a prophet: "The will of God will not take you where the grace of God cannot protect you." Think about that for a moment. That is profound. Yes, we all go through hard things. But NEVER are we left alone. God's grace is sufficient for every need, for every struggle, for every act. I have come to understand how much we truly rely on Christ's grace. Every good act. Every deed. We are only permitted and strengthened by and through Him to act for good. Many times we just think that is just us choosing to do good, but in a very real way, Christ is just strengthening us in order to more follow Him and become His disciples.

I'm sorry, I'm out of time! I love you all so much! Thank you for everything!! Special shout out to Hermana Jordan Engle who will be returning with honor next week! :)

Love you all!!

Elder James Ryan Jacobs