Update from Jacob......
Well family, another week down. Elder Larson and I were talking, next week we will have been on our missions for three months! So yeah, that is a little bit exciting. This week has been a pretty crazy one. To start, we had a good turn out on Sunday. It still is nowhere near how many people should be there. Pero amat amat lang and then hopefully we will be able to have the branch turn into a ward. My weeks seem to be blending in. Anyways, we have been preparing these three little girls for baptism this next week and they seem to all be moving right along. It's crazy to see how much these little kids can take in and retain. I just don't think American kids have the ability to learn this stuff and remember all of it. So, the other day we were walking up to this Barungay and all of a sudden like thirty kids come running at me. The kids here love to grab my arms and hang off them and then I just spin a circle and they all fly off. They love it and then I ask them how old they are and what their name is. So after that,(they had all just got me all full of dirt), one of the girls said "What are Mormons?" I was like well this is a perfect opportunity. My companion wanted to keep walking. I just stopped and said no these kids want to know about the gospel and we are not going to walk away. So we walk to their house and they start to talk to us. It turns out that their parents don't even work on Sunday and they don't have any religion. So, I was like can we teach you and your family. They said they would love to have us come back. So, for the first time I put my foot down and now we have 7 new investigators. It felt good to have done something other than teach the same people and stop and rest for the same amount of time. Also, I took some pictures of the dog that we have staying at the house where we rent a room. His name is Chester French and he is the sickest thing that has happened to us at this place. Whenever I come home and it has been a hard day, either we just got rejected or no one was home or we just walked 10 miles, that dog is just sleeping on the front steps and it is always happy to see us. Me and Elder Larson also run every morning and the dog will run with us. It is awesome. Today, we had a zone activity and we headed down to Sebalum. It's the area right below ours and we did a long and strait up hike. I will try to send the video. It was so dang fun. So the brothers with me are Elder Oarr. He is from Canada and is only 3 months ahead of me and Larson and he is so sick. Man, we have some fun times. So yeah, we are on this hike and I got so sunburned. We also rode on the top of the Jeepney and it was so awesome. The falls were so far up and we saw so many cobras! Yeah, I mean cobras. They are some thick, long, and nasty snakes. I don't want to get mixed up with one of those. Well, what to say, I know this church is true. I love the people here. I know that no matter how hard the trail, the Lord is always there. I will look at this little bump as a trial and I know it will make me strong. God loves us all and he does have a plan. It just takes some time to find it and never leave. I love you all and man I can't wait to see where this journey takes me and you all.
Love your son and missionary,
Elder Swanton
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| "Chester French" |
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| Hiking to the falls |
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| The falls |
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| Jeepney ride |
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