You've Got to be Kidding Me!

Jordan's missionary apartment - the last picture with Elder Pangan.
(From left: E. Branham, Jordan, E. Pangan & E. Leduna)

          You've got to be kidding me, right?   This transfer's already over (on Thursday)!!!   This was probably the fastest transfer that I've had here in Cabanatuan.   No wait - fastest in the mission.   I guess it's like that once you're almost 21 months in the mission field.   I don't know if you guys remember Elder Frearson back when I was Kalikid, but he was my first District Leader, and he was only three months ahead in the mission field.   He goes home this week.   I can't believe how fast that went by.   We've been talking about it a lot at the house about how extremely fast this transfer flew by.   I probably attended my last sacrament meeting in Cabanatuan Branch 8 yesterday.   I'm going to be sad to leave, because there are so many great memories here, but then again I'm excited for another transfer, which will likely be my last area.   Wow, that sounds really weird. It seems like I just got here.   Amazing.

Elder Leduna with name tags of the missionaries
who share an apartment in Cabanatuan

          We didn't have high numbers this week, but at least we were able to find some awesome new investigators.   We went on splits one day, so I took the Branch Missionary with me to find a referral that was given to us.   It was in a new place that I hadn't been to yet, even though we ride past it almost everyday.   We asked people if they knew the person we were looking for, but no one knew them.   As we walked away, I had the feeling we needed to go back there the next day, so Elder Leduna went back the next day to find new investigators.   We went a different route and we were able to teach the first house that we approached.   We taught them the Restoration and also answered some questions that they had asked themselves the day before about life and stuff (the day I was with the Branch Missionary).   I was taken a little by surprise, because of how quickly the prompting came by the Spirit.   We were able to teach and gave them a Book of Mormon.   At the end of the lesson, the woman (Lawrence Deguzman): "Thank you for answering my questions and for the feelings that I felt."   That was pretty awesome.   They committed to attend church, but they didn't come, which was too bad, but I guess the Lord's answering my prayers by helping me plant the seeds of the Gospel in as many people here as I can before I get transferred.   We had another great find a couple of days later.   We found and taught this one girl and her mother outside their house (Rachel, age 20, and mother).   I forgot the mom's name, but they're really nice.   We taught the Restoration and the Spirit was very strong.   We testified about the Priesthood and temple

A little party for the departing Elder Pangan

marriage.   Rachel has a husband, but he kinda left when we introduced ourselves.   After the lesson, Rachel told us that she wants to get married in the temple.   It would've been better had they all gone to church, but still, it was a great find.   That was pretty much our highlight for the week.   We got stood up a lot this week.  One of our investigator's grandma passed away, so we weren't able to teach her.   We haven't been able to teach her for two weeks.   We had planned to teach her the Plan of Salvation for about two weeks, but she was busy with work.   If only she heard it before her grandma died so she would know exactly where she's going.   Oh well.   I'm sure it'll comfort her once we teach it. We actually moved Lexter's baptismal goal date from July to June 29, because he's ready and wants to get baptized.   I probably won't be here for that one, either.   Dang.   Oh well, I am grateful for any role I am blessed to play in the conversion of a soul.


Sister Foote enters the MTC on Wednesday

          So cousin Kimberly is now set apart as a missionary?  She will love it in the Philippines.  First, some words of comfort.   I am pretty sure that the sisters in the mission (at least in my mission) have people do their laundry.   Also, bucket showers are actually the best.   A nice cool bucket shower after walking around in the heat is my favorite part of the day. She will come to love that.   Also, the culture shock only lasts for a week or two.   The best part is that Kimberly could be assigned to my companion’s home ward in Bakolod City, because he said there are sisters there.   Things will be great and she will love serving as a missionary here.

          I guess the branch's planning a farewell party for me on Tuesday, in anticipation of my transfer.   So, that'll be awesome (or embarrassing if I don't get transferred, - haha).   My time is quickly ending, but I've still got a lot to do.   Thank you for all your love and support and HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!   Dad, you're the best father in the family ;)!   Thank you for all your updates.   I love you all and have a great week.

          Elder Jordan "5 months gone in Cabanatuan" Royal

The Happy Birthday Kid

            Well, I'm officially 21 now, which is really weird.  I thought being 20 was weird.  I hope that ya'll baked and saved a cake for me for when I come home :).  (Mmmmmm....yellow cake with chocolate frosting - using best Homer Simpson voice.)  So we did not have the greatest week (especially with finding new investigators), but we were able to teach some good lessons and make some progress this week.  We had zone conference on Tuesday where we learned about Testimony and Conversion again.  It was exactly the same from what was presented at MLC/DLC, but with more and better food (which made it awesome).  We were able to teach two of our new investigators that we found a couple of weeks ago, German and Joyce, and we had an great lesson about the Book of Mormon.  They had lots of questions, but we answered them all and read the Book of Mormon with them.  We were only able to teach them once this week, so we don't know yet how it went.  After the lesson, they (like a lot of people that we teach) gave us some snacks at the end of the lesson.  Their snack included iced tea.  We told them that we couldn't drink the iced tea, because of the Word of Wisdom.  They did not understand (because we obviously had not taught that yet) and wanted to know more.  We told them since it's a long lesson that we would teach them next time, but they wanted to know right then, so we taught them a little bit about the Word of Wisdom.  We told them to keep praying to know if the Book of Mormon is true so they will know for themselves that Joseph Smith was a prophet and was used by the Savior to restore the fullness of His gospel to the earth.



Zone Leader Conference

            On Friday, I went to Santa Rosa to conduct a baptismal interview for an investigator there.  The interview went well and I got to meet some of the local members.  One member that I met, Cherry, is lives in Reno with her husband who also served a mission here.  She is only two months older than I am and has been married for four years.  Anyway, Elder Iligan suggested that I only speak English to her and pretend that it was my first day in the mission field.  So, I played along.  As I started speaking to her in English, I found myself having the hardest time, because when I see a Filipino, my mind doesn't tell me to speak English, so it all came out sloppy.  But she took the bait.  She would talk with my companion about me in Tagalog and I just sat there pretending that I was not picking up every word of their conversation.  When she would leave the room, I would talk with her family in Tagalog so they were in on our little game.  It was actually really funny.  Cherry eventually figured it.  She was a pretty good sport about it.  I also met someone visiting from Reno that came with Cherry.  His name's Tommy.  He is 21 and goes to the community college in Reno studying Animation.  Tommy wants to work at Pixar or something.  He was a pretty cool kid.  I could speak English with him well, so I guess my English only goes blank when I try to speak it with Filipinos (haha).


(From left): Jordan, Cherry, Cherry's sister, and a young woman holding a copy of
The Book of Mormon in Tagalog

           We had a service project the next day in one area of the Zone to clean up this a care center, paint some things, cut out some things, and cleaned up the gutters outside (which was really gross).  I painted this small playhouse thing with Elders Branham and Park and it was fun.  They kept challenging me with riddles, which made me wonder whether I am a very deep thinker (since I was not so great at solving them).  Great.  I guess I've been away from school too long.  (haha)

Cleaning gutters was a very dirty job

            My birthday was pretty fun.  I received some phone calls and letters from other missionaries and members, so that was fun.  We didn't have any investigators or an increase in sacrament meeting attendance, which was disappointing, but I guess there's always next week.  We worked with the branch missionaries Sunday evening and had a really great dinner.  Thank you by the way to all of you who sent me birthday letters/emails.  (Yes Mom, I did get that envelope with the letters in it and loved it!)



            I hope that all is well in Las Vegas and that kids are now enjoying their summer breaks.  I'm excited for it to start cooling down here.  This may be my last full week in Cab with transfers coming up on June 20.  I expect I will be moved to my last area soon.  Man, that is so hard to believe!  K.  Love ya'll!  Stay safe!

            Elder Jordan "21:Black Jack" Royal



Jordan at a driving range on a zone activity



 

JUNE!

            Happy Summer Vacation (unless you're in the Philippines, in which case it would be Happy First Day of School)!  I just can't believe that I'm turning 21 on Sunday.  That's pretty crazy.  So, to answer your questions: yes, I received my birthday packages and yes, of course, I already opened them.  I mean, come on, you didn’t really expect me to wait until my birthday to open all of those packages!  (haha)  Thank you, Mom, Dad, and everyone else who helped with the packages!  I love you guys so much :D!  Thank you for everything you sent!  I'm sure we'll go through all of the food in the next few weeks.  (Yum, yum!)  (I love the In-N-Out shirt.  I always wanted one of those!)

Jordan basks in the joy of receiving his 21st birthday care packages that he was not supposed to open until June 9th.  (Yeah, right - like that was gonna happen.)

           Well, this week was just alright.  We had Mission Leadership/District Leader Council on Tuesday which was awesome.  It was probably the most spiritual one I've attended.  We talked, and will be focusing on conversion this month.  I learned so much about true conversion and learned that "we can't live on testimony alone" (Elder David A. Bednar).  True conversion is an endless process and it doesn't stop.  A lot of less actives tell us all the time that they "lost their testimony,” which isn't accurate.  They just need to bring the light back into their lives little by little until they are full of light once more.  The Spirit was just really strong during our meeting.  After that, the APs (Elders Revillo and Biggs) worked with us.  Elder Revillo and Elder Leduna worked together while I worked with Elder Biggs.  It was fun working with Elder Biggs (from my batch) as we reflected on the progress we have made during our missions.  It has been an amazing journey. 

            We had an intense Zone CSP (service project) on Thursday at a high school and did the same thing that we did last week, only a lot more painful (as in sore).  We approached a giant dirt mount in the middle of the school and we had to carry the dirt about 40 yards by rice sacks and (my personal favorite, but the most tiring) a box with two long handles that could only be carried by two people.  We must've made about 30 trips each back and forth.  We made it, though, so that was good.  I was only sore for three days, so not a big deal (ha).

Jordan's zone after a hard day's work moving piles of dirt at a local school as a service project

            Elder Leduna and I spent a couple of hours one day just finding people to teach (which we've been doing since the beginning of the transfer, because some people just are not progressing, which is frustrating and sad).  We met the Tanghal Family, who are sealed, but have been less active for a couple of years.  We went because they wanted us to teach their son's girlfriend, Josephine.  She went to church with them last week, so we taught her this week.  Josephine's nice and receptive.  Nanay Tanghal told her that she should not join the Church simply because of their son or their family, but only if she is fully converted to the Gospel.  She has potential, but she and the Tanghal didn't come to church on Sunday.  (Ugh.)  We had three new investigators come to church this week: Ria and Ricka Macapagal and Lexter Maniego.  Lexter's brother is our Branch Missionary Leader and he'll be baptized in July.  I most likely won't be here for that, though, which is too bad.  Our other investigator, Maritoni Santos, is supposed to get baptized on June 15, but he didn't come to church, so now we have to start the countdown again, which means now if I get transferred from Cabanatuan in a couple of weeks, I'll leave with no more baptisms in this area.  Pretty rough.  I'm just planting the seeds for someone else to harvest.  It’s all very good.  I am just happy working in the Lord’s field, doing whatever job He wants me to do.  We've found some great new investigators this week, so hopefully we can go back to them this week with some progress.

Jordan paid a visit to Kalikid, his first area, here (from Jordan's left) with Nanay Rosa, Sister Rabe (who he taught & baptized) and Sister Adonis (who updates us with great pictures like this)

            Well, thanks again for all of your love and support for me.  I hope that you all have a great week and that we have some awesome blessings for all our work.  That would be the best birthday present ever!  Anyway.  Take care everyone.

            Elder Jordan "Legal to Drink and Gamble Next Sunday . . . But Never Will” Royal

Earnestly Seeking His Sheep...Makulit na naman sila

            Well, another week gone by with pretty much the same ending as last week . . . with no investigators attending church (which is always very disappointing for missionaries). I'll share with you the good stuff that happened this week during our finding . . . since I have already shared the bad part of the week.

Jordan at the mission office with Elder Revillo and Sister Balata

            One night, we were punted from our last appointment of the night (meaning, of course, that no one showed up).  Our branch missionaries decided to go home, but we still had an hour before we had to go home, so we decided to go finding.  While we were finding on this one street that we walk at least three times a week, we were having impressions to stop at this one house all week, but never went because we were always trying to make it on time for our appointments.  Well, since we had extra time, we decided to go for it.  As we knocked on the gate, someone came out to greet us.  We were about to introduce ourselves when she stopped us and told us that she's a member from Camaling.  She said that she was staying at her cousin's house with her friend from Camaling who's being taught and will be baptized soon, so that was cool.  We were able to meet her cousins, the Macabagal family.  We were only there for a couple minutes before they brought out all of this food for us.  Elder Leduna and I looked at each other and were grateful that we'd follow the promptings of the Spirit on that one (haha).  We were able to teach them twice this week, and we had some great lessons with them.  They have great potential, so we'll see what happens.  Elder Branham worked with me on Friday, and we were also able to find some new investigators.  Our best find was probably Tatay German, Chief of Police.  That was pretty cool.  Sadly, none of our investigators came to church...again.  We're still teaching the Carrion Family powerful lessons by the Spirit, but just like our other investigators, they are having trouble keeping commitments.  I don't think that they understand that they can feel the Spirit whenever they want IF they will simply make and keep commitments.  So, while it was a good during the week, it ended rather sadly on Sunday.

Jordan and others working at an earlier service project

            Well, Marimar was forced to stop listening to our lessons, because her parents (or their religion) forced them to do so.  She was touched by the Spirit, but Satan really fought back.  I am not really sure why they are members of a religion that removes their agency.  Then another less active family we have been teaching, the Sabados, told us that they don't want to listen to us anymore, and that they decided to go back to their religion before joining the Church.  That was one of the most heartbreaking moments of my mission - not because we lost a member, but because Satan just completely took over.  They had previously told us that their lives were completely changed by the Book of Mormon and their baptism into the Church.  But, they have now forgotten all of that.  It was like they just turned off the light switch and were standing in darkness.  They weren't the people that I taught before.  Before, they were clearly happy.  I do not see that in them now.  We invited them to give the Book of Mormon another chance before making a final decision, so we'll see what happens. 

            We did a service project for Kim Arahan's less active mother at her school, because she's the principle there.  We made some cement and built a concrete path on the campus. School starts up again pretty soon, so the schools are now getting ready for the new school year.  Weird.  It feels like summer vacation just started here.  (Oh, I miss summer vacations.)  We had a good time with the project.  Most of the Elders from the zone came, so we were able to get a lot done.  The local police came and helped out, too, but the people at the school said that we were harder workers than the police (haha).

 

Kyle receives his mission call to Arkansas

           Wow. It's so crazy how many of my family and friends have been called to serve missions! To my cousin Kyle, congrats on your mission call to Arkansas Little Rock (Spanish speaking) and for getting a touch of a foreign call by being sent to the Mexico MTC. Awesome. I'm sad that I won't see you before I come home, but we've got our whole lives to see each other :). You'll do great! Well, I hope that everyone's went well and that you'll all be protected still. Mahal ko kayo.

 

            Elder Jordan "20 months na sa mission!" Royal

 

Kyle opening his call last Thursday

Learning Patience as Sheep Graze in Outer Pastures

 

            We had some exciting finding experiences this week.  I am not much for tracting (door to door) as a finding tool, but we resort to it when necessary.  So, since we don't really have any progressing investigators, we decided to go tracting in some areas that I had not previously worked to find some awesome people to teach.  After we spent some time talking to a lot of people who were not interested, we began walking down this road when I turned to my left and saw a house with some people standing around outside.  I felt that we needed to talk with them.  We talked to this young nanay who didn't want to talk to us, because she's INC.  (INC is short for Iglesia ni Cristo, a popular church in the Philippines.)  Great.  We started talking to her, and she then told us that she hasn't attended her church for years and that she has a lot of questions about how to find the true church.  We talked with her for a while longer and then she agreed to have a lesson.  We taught the Restoration and answered all of her questions.  She then gave the closing prayer.  As she ended her prayer, she wiped away tears.  It was just such a powerful moment.  We went to teach her again, but she wasn't home.  Man.  I'm really hoping we'll be able to teach her again this week. 

Jordan outside the chapel basking in the glow of a beautiful Philippines sunset

            We taught Marimar again.  (I mentioned her last week.)  She's one of our branch missionary's classmates, and she is also INC.  We had great lessons with her, and tried to get her family more involved since they fed us and we provided service for them by repairing the door on their little shop in front of their house, but they still don't want Marimar to go to church, even though she's getting to the point where she knows that the Church is true.  Another focus for this week. 

            We actually had the greatest finding experience that I've experienced so far in my entire mission.  (Well now I have to write this all again, since the internet crashed and it didn't save what I'd written.  Yay.)  We got punted from our last appointment of the night, so we decided to go tracting again.  We decided to go down this one street that I'd hadn't been down before.  We knocked at the last house and we were greeted by a very kind father of eight daughters.  Seven of them live at the house and we met six of them.  Anyway, we talked with him and he said that we could teach him and his family.  So we set a time to teach the Carion family.  When we arrived for the lesson, the family was waiting for us (which was very cool - as the keeping of first appointments like this is on the rare side).  We taught them twice this week.  The first time, we taught the Restoration, and it was awesome.  The Spirit was very strong and we were able to answer all of their questions.  We then taught about the Book of Mormon and we were able to help them a little bit with their doubts about it and they committed to read and pray about the Book of Mormon as a family.  Talk about awesome, right?  We are so excited about the Carion family.

Gospel Principles class, taught by the missionaries

            So you're probably thinking that we filled the entire chapel on Sunday with investigators, right?  Sad to say - no.  In fact, none of them came to church.  That hurt - especially since they felt the Spirit confirm the truthfulness of our message.  But I know that the Lord is trying to teach me something.  If they don't come to church this week, I'm sure they'll come next week.  I also need to be more patient and have faith that things will work out in the Lord's time.

            Well, I guess that's it for this week.  Congrats Madison for your mission call to Colorado!  I'm sure you'll do awesome there!  Kyle, I'm anxiously waiting to hear where you'll be assigned. (My guess: Philippines Angeles Mission, of course.)  Happy Birthday this week Kambria!!  Hope you and David are enjoying yourselves now that David has graduated.  Mahal ko kayo lahat!! Ingat kayo!

            Elder Jordan "Patiently Tending the Sheep” Royal



Jordan's MTC District, November 2011
(The sisters returned home in March)

Happy Mother's Day

            I can't believe that this is my last Mother's Day in the mission.  I really enjoyed talking with all of you guys today!!  The connection was way better this time than last time, so that was good.  I wish I could have talked with Brad and Whitney longer, but that's alright.  At least I got to see Zoe.  She looks great!  I did not stress over not getting to talk about everything, since we can catch up soon enough when I return home in October (haha).

We were all smiles to see Jordan during our Mother's Day call

            So I guess I'll tell you about some of the things that happened this week that I did not talk about during our phone call.  I worked with Elder Tating until I was assigned my new companion on transfer day, and that was fun.  I loved working with Elder Tating and would have really loved to continue working with him.  Great missionary.  My new companion, Elder Leduna, is very cool as well.  He is from Bacolod (where Kim Foote is going, right?) and he's a really funny and humble guy.  He's the third companion I've had from my son's batch (Elder Dela Paz, Elder Rabino, and Elder Leduna).  (Just so you all know, when I say “son” I am referring to Elder Dela Paz, who I trained.  I am not really a daddy.  That’s all just some fun mission lingo.)  We had some good work this week.

Transfer Day

            We decided to go to some areas that I hadn't visited before in search of some new investigators.  We had some of the branch missionaries work with us as well.  We found this one girl, Marimar, who's one of Kim Arahan's classmates (our recent convert from March).  Kim said that she did not even know that Marimar lived there, so it was a blessing to find her.  We taught her the Restoration and she seemed really interested in our lesson.  Marimar asked us how she could know for herself if Joseph Smith was a prophet, so we taught her about prayer and gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon to read.  I wish she would have came to church yesterday, but that's okay, because we are set to teach her again this week (hopefully that will go well).  We had a district fast yesterday and it was really cool.  We did not get exactly what we fasted for, but we did receive blessings.  A sister from a part member come to church with her boyfriend, and they enjoyed church and said we could teach them next week, so that was blessing #1.  The next one was when one of our less actives came to church, Sarah Sabado.  When we first taught Sarah, she had no desire to read the Book of Mormon, because she didn't like reading it and said she lost her faith in God, but as we taught her, she starting reading the Book of Mormon more and more and said that she felt the Spirit every time she read.  She also reported that her older sisters had the same experience in reading the Book of Mormon.  All of them are reading now.  It has been awesome seeing their progression.  Sarah was the only one to come to church, but I'm sure that the other two will come next week as we work with them.  We also found another part member family this week, the Binuya family.  Sister Binuya’s husband was an active member of the Church, but was killed in a motor accident just a year ago.  He had been serving as a clerk in Talavera Ward.  I don't know if Brad would know him or not.  So we taught her the entire Plan of Salvation and she seemed very interested, so we are going back to see her this week.  All of this shows me that Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers - perhaps not always in the way we think He will or should, but He leads us to those earnestly seeking truth, who have a desire to follow the Savior.  He knows the hearts of men and will lead us if we simply come to Him in humble, faithful prayer, powered by our contribution of diligence, obedience and sacrifice.

Service project at the Jobert Lazano home

            It's Election Day here in the Philippines, and I'm just glad all the campaigning is going to be over.  I was getting so sick of the campaigns here.  They just drive around with giant speakers blasting really badly done song mixes about their candidates, and since there are so many candidates, there are many different badly mixed songs.  It’s kind of funny - but more annoying than funny, because it is just never ending, going on constantly through each and every day.  Oh well.  On to a new chapter.  The rainy season is fast approaching, and the hot, steamy, sweaty summer heat is slowly going away.  (That will be a great relief.)

Jordan captured another mouse - so proud of his hunting skills

            Well I think that's about it for this email.  Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there, especially my dearest mother (and also to my Grandmothers Royal and Kelly, to my sister Kelli, and to my sisters-in-law, Whitney (mother of two) and Kambria (mother to be)).  I love you, Mom!  I can always count on you for loving support.  Thank you so much for all you have done to get me on a mission, to support me as a missionary, and to love me as your son.  (I am sure that I am not the only missionary serving today grateful to have you in their lives, but all of the missionaries in the Nevada Las Vegas Mission appreciate you, too.  :) I have no doubt about that.)  Ingat ya'll.  Mahal kayo!

            Elder Jordan “Loves His Mother Dearly” Royal

Parading Into May

Jordan (back right), with a group of missionaries going home, with Elder Biggs to his right, his right arm is on Elder Revillo and his left arm is around his trainer, Elder Declaro

            I don't remember ever attending a May Day Parade, but the word "parade" has been running through my head lately.  There is pretty much ALWAYS a parade here, because of the upcoming elections next Monday.  There are always cars driving around with giant speakers blasting these really bad remixed songs about their candidate, and it gets annoying pretty fast.  Since Election Day is on Monday, I'm hoping that it won't be too crazy for me to talk to you guys on Mother's Day.  Wow.  Last mission phone call.  How about that?

Jordan says goodbye to his companion, Elder Revillo

            So all of our suspicions last were correct: Elder Revillo was called last Monday to serve as the new AP.  He was called before we headed to Tarlac for our first MLC (Mission Leadership Council) on Tuesday.  It didn't come as a surprise to anyone.  He brought all his stuff with him to the mission home to start work on Wednesday.  So the only difference with MLC is that there are six Sister Training Leaders there now.  Other than that, it's pretty much the same - awesome.  Our focus in the mission right now is teaching and testifying on the Restoration.  Although we teach the Restoration everyday as missionaries, I really felt the Spirit as we discussed it.  We were asked to think about the blessings that we have received from the Restoration and how it has impacted our lives.  As I thought about all the blessings that I've received and my family members have experienced, my testimony for the Restoration was strengthened.  The Restoration is what sets the LDS Church apart from every other church in the world.  While other religions have many good parts of the gospel, they do not have the fullness of Jesus Christ.  Without prophets, apostles, priesthood, and revelation, it is not the Church of Jesus Christ, but a church of men.  It is a bold pronouncement of faith that troubles some who hear of it for the first time.  But, the Restoration is real.  It is absolute.  It just makes sense.  That's why I love it. 

Jordan with Elder Revillo and Elder Palmer

            We still have investigators who are questioning, because they don't want to leave their religion, even though they have received a confirmation from the Holy Ghost that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God, the Book of Mormon is true, and that the Church established by Jesus Christ through the Prophet Joseph Smith is the only true and living Church on the face of the earth.  It really blows my mind when people don't even give the Book of Mormon a chance.  It especially bugs me when they conclude it is not true without ever reading the Book of Mormon.  We did have a really good lesson with a less active who told us that she was feeling too lazy to read the Book of Mormon, because she lost interest and, as a result, was losing her faith.  I just bore my testimony just how important the Book of Mormon is and how badly we need it in our lives.  I can't imaging going a day now NOT reading the Book of Mormon.  I'd say that's a huge improvement for me, seeing that I didn't really the Book of Mormon much on my own before my mission.  (Fortunately, we did read it together every year as a family as far back as I can remember, which was a great blessing and gave me a testimony.)  We came back on our next visit and she said that she had read the Book of Mormon!  She didn't understand all of it, but she said she felt happier and felt the Spirit. 

Jordan and Elder Tating worked together this past week

 

            It was really weird this week working without Elder Revillo.  I miss him.  I worked with the branch missionaries, but I did all of the tracting and teaching.  It's just a heavy burden and I'll be grateful to have my new companion on Thursday.  We were able to find and teach a new family this week, the Duria Family.  We found them way back during my transfer with Elder Dadizon, but stopped after lack of progression.  Apparently, one of them, Angiline, met a member from the stake who contacted us to let us know that she wanted to listen to us again, so the member referred us to her, and we visited again.  They said they would all come to church yesterday, but (sadly) none of them showed.  They seem really interested, so we'll see where it goes.  As for Tony, we weren't able to teach him at all this week.  We went to his house at the times his wife said they would all be there, but they weren't home.  (What the heck?).  I'm looking forward to my new companion to help share the burden (and the inspiration).  (The former AP, Elder Tating, will be working with me until transfer day this Thursday, so it's not as bad as I make it seem.  He’s a great guy!)



Jordan with the missionaries attending the leadership conference

             I'm kinda bummed that I didn't get to go with you all to see Brian Regan.  That would be so awesome.  Hopefully when I get home, I’ll go with Brad and Whit.  Congrats on the new member of the family!  Little Zoe looks great!  As for our phone call next week, let’s try to Skype.  I’ll plan on something about 5:00 pm your time and will send details in a separate email.  Hope that you guys have a great week!  Mahal ko kayo!

            Elder Jordan "Semi-Companionless" Royal