Elder Jacob Swanton Philippines Iloilo Mission: Baptisms and battlefields.......

Updates from Jacob......

Ok, well another pretty cool week here across the world. We had a fun p day down in San Jose and did some crazy basketball games with the locals down there. After Me and Elder Larson went and ate at our favorite little dinner spot. I don't know what to call it, but it has food in a window and just like ten chairs. I get the same thing every week:1 rice, liver, intestines, and don't forget the lumpia on the side. Its soo good and for only 63 pesos I will get that any day.

So yeah the rest of the week we were just getting ready for the baptisms on Saturday. Everything was going just fine until we headed out to the Celestial family( they are the ones who live in the middle of the rice fields.) When the branch president got done with the baptismal interview he came back and told us that there were a couple problems with the interview. He said that she drinks coffee every morning and that she thought that it would be funny not to tell us. This girl is 8 years old and she has been drinking coffee since she was 4. They sure do things differently around here, I was just devastated, all that work and she said she would try to stop. So we had to reschedule for the next Saturday. If she can go a week and a half with no coffee then she can be baptized. So yeah the rest of the week we have just been checking up on her and our other little girl Elline Galaxia she has been progressing so good and yep everything went how it should and she was baptized on Saturday it was such a cool experience. Man that makes 4 since I got here and they all have stayed pretty active. The hardest part is that most of the people that get baptized, they will come to church for the next 2 months or so and then just disperse. Never to be seen again, it makes our purpose pretty hard to complete.

I took some pictures of the main room in the house and the back yard, the yard is a work in progress. I have a lot to do. I built a flower bed and a big fire pit because we have to burn our trash, which you guessed it, is way good for the lungs. Hahaha but its all good, I always wanted lung cancer from burning plastic and trash.

Church was just the biggest battle field I have ever been to, yeah dad Elder Sessions was at church and we had a great turn out. We finally hit our big mark 51 people showed up. When we showed up 7 weeks ago there was only 17 people at church and we hit 51. It felt so good and I had almost all of my new investigators show up to church. The battle started in Ward Council. We had a big agenda and the ward leaders were going to report on how there classes were going. The first thing that happens is one of the RS sister's stood up and said "I hate this branch and everyone in it, How can this church be true if all of you are apart of it? I am leaving!" and yeah she left. So next the YW Leaders stood up and said if they did not get more money that they were not going to come to church anymore either. Yeah and guess what Elder Sessions and the District Presidency left not 10 minutes before all this happened.

But yeah here is some pics of the crazy life I live and I just want all of you to know that I love you and pray for you every night.

Love Elder Swanton

PS: here are some pics of the festival we tried to teach in. The whole road was blocked off and they would not let us through. And Yep that is the Trike (bike taxi) that they are able to fit 15 people in and they all are pretty comfortable. O yeah here is my breakfast and a pic of Chester sleeping under my desk. Its his favorite spot all day.