Halfway Through 2013

            Who'd ever thought that July 2013 would come this quickly?  The time goes by so fast when we are clocked in for the Lord.  His work will never cease until every effort has been made to save all His children.  I am sad to report that we did not get to attend the Church Worldwide Leadership Broadcast yesterday, due to a little typhoon that caused some disruption of services.  (I'll talk more about that little adventure later.  Ha.)

 

Jordan and Elder Cabato at the Zone Leadership Council this week.  (We are a little confused about Jordan's choice of color in ties. Elder Cabato is closer to the much preferred BYU blue.

 

            This week actually wasn't too bad.  We had interviews with President Martino on Wednesday, so we had to prepare a workshop on any topic.  I'm pretty new to the zone, so I didn't really know what we should do or have much of an idea on how we should do it.  (These presentations can be really nerve racking.)  Elder Cabato said that he and his companion were talking about "Raising the Bar" as an idea for their workshop before transfers, so that's what we decided to do.  We used the story from Elder L. Tom Perry's talk back in October 2007 General Conference about his son practicing high jumping and how Elder Perry told him to raise the bar to know his potential.  As you will remember, Elder Perry said that his son was afraid to raise the bar at first, because he was comfortable with where he was and knew that he risked failure by increasing the height.  But, with some continued encouragement from Elder Perry to push the limits of his abilities, he raised the bar and ultimately reached his full potential.  We related that to our workshop and taught how we can (and should) "raise the bar" as missionaries.  It went really well and we received a lot of positive feedback.  We especially saw the improvements in the missionaries within the zone this week, so it looks like it had a positive effect.  After our interviews, Elders Palmer and Revillo worked with us, so that was fun.  We later ate dinner at the Galang Family home.  I already love that family very much.  I had actually heard a lot about them from other missionaries before I was assigned here, so I was happy to know that I would have the opportunity to meet them.

Jordan with Elder Revillo at the mission office (with Elder Cabato peaking around Jordan's left shoulder)



            We found a couple of new people to teach this week, and have three investigators scheduled for baptism this month (Roheliyo and the Giron couple).  They are just awesome.  Roheliyo is from a part-member family.  He has given up drinking and has completely changed his life.  Roheliyo says he is not even tempted to drink anymore, that he does not have a desire to drink as he used to.  What a great blessing that has been for him!  It has been awesome teaching him and watching his spiritual growth.  The gospel does so much to change and shape lives!  The Girons are awesome, too.  The husband is a security guard at a hospital.  He is assigned to work two straight days and then has two straight days off.  His second day of work was on Saturday, and after working two days straight, he still made it to church on Sunday.  He told us that, "The Sabbath is the Lord's day, and I need to keep it no matter what.”  What a champ.  He is faithful in his reading of the Book of Mormon and loves to share what he reads.  He will make a great member of the Church, bringing some powerful priesthood strength to the ward and stake.

            So yeah, we had a typhoon come through on Sunday afternoon.  That was fun - especially since the streets got flooded and we (the ward missionaries, Elder Cabatos and me) got completely soaked.  On the bright side, my shoes got a good cleaning from all of the flooded streets we walked through.  My socks were completely soaked though, and I didn't really like that.  Still, it was a fun little adventure, although it did keep us from seeing the Church worldwide broadcast.  Speaking of which, I think we can actually watch it online now since we have some time.  I think we will get right on that!



Jordan role playing at the Zone Leader Conference (before his shoes got typhoon soaked)

            It is great to hear that everyone there is healthy and well.  I hope you guys have a safe, fun, happy and very explosive 4^th of July!  I am grateful for my country and the freedoms we have enjoyed for so many years.  May we continue to serve the one and only true God as a nation, and fully love, embrace and emulate His Only Begotten Son.  Ingat kayo dyan!  Mahal ko kayo!

            Elder Jordan "Soaked Socks” Royal