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

Yep...I'm coming home September 23rd. Bitter/Sweet

Our kitchen!!

Hello!!

Well, this week was awesome!

Thank you for the constant emails and support!!

 I'm guessing my mom has been telling everyone that I come home in September because almost every email was about coming home... Hahah yes, I will be home on the 23rd BUT PLEASE STOP THINKING ABOUT IT!! ;)

Next thing coming will be the travel plans. 

It's bitter sweet for sure, but I'm not gunna lie... I'm really excited to be with all of you. I can't help to have the mindset that, when I get home, it's game time. That's when everything I've learned in these past two years gets put up against everything Satan has to throw. I'm ready for him. He's got nothing on us when we are beside Christ.

Don't mind the photo bomber.....I'll talk to him next....

 This last week we went on exchanges again.

We need to get over there...

So we will take this road...

This time, we went down in Guihulngan and worked with E. Castro and E. Labaya... They are such great missionaries who are really coming to understand their purpose. I worked with E. Labaya and was so inspired as I listened to everything he's been through in his life. He is a great example to all around him of focusing on the future and looking for good in others.

Also! Oh my goodness. I had one of the absolute BEST Sundays I have ever had on the mission. Since last Sunday, I think I told you but we were focusing so hard on the young men of the branch. I couldn't sit there and feel comfortable with 2 young men at church.. SO we really did our best this last week and come Sunday.... 8 YOUNG MEN!!! 3 of which have been in-active for a year or more.

 I AM SO HAPPY. They LOVED it as well!! They are excited to be advanced in the Priesthood and help with the sacrament.. 

I Spy an elder....

Almost there

And we had an investigator come to church (Alchier is 15 yrs. old) and he loved everything about the church. It was perfect because we were focusing so much on the young men... After the three hour block, he approached me and asked, "Brother, what is the process of becoming a member here in the youth program? Is it okay if my parents don't get baptized on the same day?" OH MAN. Can you say GOLDEN??

 He will make an amazing missionary one day. He will have to wait a few months before being baptized just because of how young he is, but I feel like he will progress and learn so quickly!! I'm so excited for him and for all the young men here in our branch :)

We have District Conference this Saturday and Sunday as well! Also, Zone Interviews with President McCurdy tomorrow (Thursday). Crazy.. Last interview before my exit interview. Trying not to think about it ;)

Love you all so much! Thank you for the examples that you all are to me! Stay strong! 

Philippians 4:13

Love,

Elder James Ryan Jacobs

We got this...

A Monkey Sanctuary!! It completed my life!!

Magundang Buhay sa lahat :)

Well, I cannot believe that another week has come and gone..

We had a great week here in the beautiful city of San Carlos. I am loving life. 

Let me just say, going to the gym works miracles. A brand new gym just opened up here in San Carlos and we talked the owner into giving us a a free membership.  I love it. 

We have gotten up every morning at 5 to go to the gym by 530. I feel SO happy. There is doctrine in exercise. Do it!

We went on exchanges two times this week. Once in Macasilao with E. Villamar and once in Calatrava with E. Parayno. 

I love working with the missionaries because it helps me really get to know them on a better level. I learn so much every time I get to go and work with other elders. 

In Macasilao, we passed a Monkey Sanctuary. It completed my life. The monkeys were hilarious! 

(Jimmy's mom here cringing....Jimmy please don't touch the monkeys........)

Also, basically the entire Macasilao area is a bunch of katuboan... Huge fields of tubo or "sugar cane". Macasilao is considered the most "far out" "bukid" "wildernessy" area in the entire Cebu Mission. 

So it was a great experience to work out there and to see that even if only 60 saints gather under two green tents on Sunday from 10-1 - the church is TRUE. 

See that little house over there......

I love being a disciple of Christ. I know that He is here with us working every day as long as we are living worthy of His presence. 

In other news, in terms of investigators... We are really trying to establish a solid teaching pool. Right when I got here, all of the previous investigators had just been baptized and so the teaching pool of investigators decreased.. 

We have lots of prospects, but they are just having a hard time getting to church because of how far it is. Our areas are all very far from the church so finding those who are both willing AND able to come to church is a challenge.

Today is the first day it's rained in a while which is surprising because it's supposed to be rainy season now.

I think that's all I have for this week! I am so happy here.

 I honestly love this church, this gospel, this truth.

 A little food for thought.. Something I read as I was reading in Brigham Young's Discourses that struck me. It's something like this:

 "The more you need to be told what to do, the less fit you are to be a leader." Let us be proactive in fulfilling the commandments. Let us not be slothful. If we know something to be true and are not doing are best to live it, there is something we need to change. I love you all and hope you all have an awesome week :)

Love,

Elder Jacobs

What did you picture when I said "I get to drive"?

Hello sa tanan nga mga kaigsoonan nako diha!

I decided nga mag.binisaya nalang ko karon para mas masaptan ninyo ang akong isulti. Kamusta na man mong tanan?? Unta, maka.tubag gihapon mo'g "okay lang" o "mao ra gihapon" o pinika-nindot "okay pa sa alright"... As in, malipayon jud ko karon nga maka.email bitaw ko sa inyo :) Nabati nako nga medjio dugay dugay naman nga wala ta kakita... Gimingaw jud ko sa inyo ba.. Pero ayaw kabalaka kay nahigugma jud gihapon ko ninyo! :)

Haha!

I'm sorry... I just felt like I needed to give you a little taste of my REAL life.. I feel like every time I email on Wednesdays it's all just fake, because English isn't my real language...

Well, this week was... crazy.

 Again... 

But it was fun, promise. 

Literally as we were leaving the Internet place last week after i emailed you, we got a call from the Macasilao elders saying that their truck was broken.. Greatttt. 

Hahah we got to the site and it only had three tires.... hahah I guess some guys on the street were trying to help and so they took off the fourth tire WHILE THE TRUCK WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD. Hahah soo... 

So When I told you that I get to drive here, what did you picture? Are you thinking the roads here are like the roads that you drive on?? 

Driving in the neighborhood....

On Saturday, we took the Cabagtasan elders out to their other area...

We share the road with people, bikes........

OH. MY. GOODNESS. Somebody please look up Cabagtasan on a map and just reassure me that I didn't travel to the other side of the Philippines. 

That was insane! Hahah it was... Off-roading to say the least. 

Speaking of that, can someone please send me the names of all seven dwarfs in Snow White? Our truck almost couldn't make it on those roads... I want to name it after a dwarf cause that's kind of what it reminds me of. That would be muchly appreciated :)

And animals......

We went on exchanges down in Vallehermoso on Monday to Tuesday. We worked out in their area. That area is down south towards Dumaguete. It's only about 30-40 minutes away. It was awesome!

I am doing great over here! Don't worry about me one bit.

I know there's a road here somewhere.....

I am not really liking how fast these weeks fly by, but I do feel like we are getting so many things done. 

We just need to press forward with an eye single to His glory :) I feel so blessed by Heavenly Father. I don't know how to describe it, I just feel blessed.

 I am happy with where I am at and, at the same exact time, am not content because I want to be better.

 I am excited to move forward and continue growing in knowledge and understanding. I know that this church is Christ's personal church here on Earth.

 If He were to come to one group of people on Earth, I have no doubt that we would call a meeting in a building owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I love this gospel and am eternally grateful for it.

Love you all!!   Elder Jacobs

That blue building is our church building here in my new area!

I Get to Drive!!!

Hello!

I am so happy that everyone's prayers were answered and everything went well last week with my mom's knee surgery!! Love you, Mama!

Wow. Where to even begin. I think for you to understand my week more fully, I'm going to need to break it down day by day, starting with Thursday, July 2nd (ie. Transfer Day last week).

Thursday - An area out in San Carlos Zone was in need of a vehicle, so on transfer day, President asked if I would be willing to drive out an extra vehicle to San Carlos. Of course I would! Road trippp :) 

I was just missing the Harry Potter audio book and some sunflower seeds ;) that we always have on our family road trips!

 It went great. We ended up getting to Toledo City by about 10:30am, so we missed the 10am barge over to San Carlos. We ate lunch and jumped on the 1pm barge. 

I got the hammock on the barge!!

The boat ride is about 1.5-2 hours.. plenty of time for a nap....

We got everyone over there, met up with our companions (E. Jamil is AWESOME!!), and got everyone out to their areas. 

Later in the afternoon. We had a call from some elders saying that E. Relox's sickness in his stomach came back again. Remember E. Relox from Carcar?? Apparently he has been having some stomach pains lately. Anyways, we talked with Sis. McCurdy and Sis. Ellison on the phone and they came to the conclusion that we needed to get him to Silliman Hospital in Dumaguete. Remember in my second area when I had that rash and had to go to Silliman? Well...That's about 3-4 hours away from where we are now. What does that sounds like to you? 

Road trippp.... again. Hahah I am starting to see why they put a truck out here. Anyways, we were there until about 130am. We then drove through McDo and slept at the Dumaguete ZL's house. 

I get to drive here on the island of Negro!!

Friday - At 7am we went back to the ER and requested a CT Scan. Dad, this is where that 8,200 pesos that you may have noticed disappeared from my bank account came into play. 

Hahah the Scan didn't end up happening however because there was still a bunch of preparation needed, so I got a refund for that.. 

Instead, President is taking E. Relox over to the city and reassigning him closer. Anyways, that Friday around 130pm we ended up getting back to San Carlos, my new area.

Saturday - Was a pretty regular day. Except for the fact that San Carlos is where the port is to get to our areas so if any missionary crosses over to our side of Negros we are called and go pick them up and get them situated. It is a party to say the least... Haha :) 

Also, I was sad to hear the news of President Packer. I love him. I am eternally grateful and indebted for his service. This sure does make for packed October General Conference!

Sunday - A good first fast and testimony meeting in our new area. The branch we are in is pretty small. Right around 100 attendance. I say small, that's really not that small seeing as I've been to branches with 30 attendance. But we are excited to work with the branch and get things going!

Monday - We woke up and had to hit the road again. We have Missionary Leadership Council on Tuesday in Cebu. It starts, however, with a meeting on Monday night at 5pm. And before that, we had to take E. Relox to get some tests done in the city.

Tuesday - MLC all day. Temple session at night :)

Wednesday - Well, now I am sitting in San Carlos at an internet-an just after getting off the barge. We haven't been home yet. I am tired that's for sure. But THIS WEEK COULDN'T HAVE BEEN BETTER!

Rigging a clothesline!

Hahah I am excited to get to work in our area. I am learning and experiencing the Atonement of Jesus Christ in so many different ways. I am so grateful for the enabling power I am given every single day as I do my best. Life is hard, but we can do hard things. I am so grateful for the knowledge I have of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In closing, this is just a short passage from the Book of Mormon that I have been pondering a lot lately. Alma 49:6-8

 "Now the leaders of the Lamanites had supposed, because of the greatness of their numbers, yea, they supposed that they should be privileged to come upon them as they had hitherto done; yea, and they had also prepared themselves with shields, and with breastplates; and they had also prepared themselves with garments of skins, yea, very thick garments to cover their nakedness.

And being thus prepared they supposed that they should easily overpower and subject their brethren to the yoke of bondage, or slay and massacre them according to their pleasure.

But behold, to their uttermost astonishment, they were prepared for them, in a manner which never had been known among the children of Lehi. Now they were prepared for the Lamanites, to battle after the manner of the instructions of Moroni."

If we are prepared, we have no reason to fear. This applies in all aspects of life, both temporally and spiritually. I am so grateful to have prophets like Moroni who can teach us how it is exactly that we need to be preparing. I am doing my best to prepare and my prayer is that you are too. I hope that you realize that, with the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, we have zero excuse to not be prepared. Please hearken to what our prophets tell us to do. Don't procrastinate and say "I'm good enough" or "That won't happen to me". Just get prepared.

I love you all so much!! Thank you for everything! Have an amazing week!!

Love,

Elder James Ryan Jacobs