Hello Everybody!
Well, this morning we had another "Only in the Philippines" experience. We were walking back from buying food for this week, and we hear a loud squealing noise coming from the back. And there it was... a squealing dog tied up, pinned to the ground. Not sure who's going to be eating our dinner left-overs now.
Last week was pretty toasty, and this week it cooled off again. Lots of rain for the past few days. That's really how it is here in Santa Ana as for the weather. Big spurts of brutal hot humid weather, then a week straight of cold, rainy, windy. Some nights I don't even need to use my electric fan because it gets pretty cold, other nights I have the electric fan on full blast, no blanket. Very weird weather.
Well this week we spent lots of time going around and visiting a lot of less active and inactive families. We printed out a Branch directory so we could try to track these people down, teach them and figure out why they stopped going to church, and get them coming again. Our work really paid off this week as we saw a big amount of less actives come to church. One of them is a man who used to be in the Branch Presidency who has been inactive for years. We visited him and dug deep, trying to understand why he really stopped coming to church. Anyways, after a few visits, he came to church on Sunday for the first time in ages! The members were real surprised and came up to him and welcomed him back. They all seemed so happy. It was great!! We also were able to get 8 investigators at church this week. Two families that we have been working everyday with. They both came to church and enjoyed it very much. Our investigator, Abby will be baptized this Friday, in the ocean!! That will be a cool experience, very excited.
birthday of an investigator
I can't get over how kind the people are here. There is one old couple who have been members for years now. We went to their little house to visit them, and they just have nothing. Nanay was explaining to me that they have plenty of rice because they have a rice field in the back, but that they have no money to buy their ulam. (Cooked rice (kanin) is the basis of almost every Filipino meal. The main dish that goes with the rice is ulam. This can be a meat dish, fried fish, or a vegetable stew.) Then right after she said that, she said "It's pretty cold and you boys seem to have been working all day. Let's have some hot chocolate and a snack." Then she immediately got up and went to buy some snacks. We tried to tell her not to, but she was determined. Sooo sweet. Then while she was out buying it, ol' tatay took a seat and just started telling us story after story of his life. Speaking pure, deep Ilokano. Didn't catch all of it, but just loved meeting with these old pioneers of the Church. Such sweet people.
I feel like if the Lord is trying to teach me anything through this calling that I have right now, it is Patience. Haha - sometimes it seems like I have sooo many things that need to be done all at once, so many people to go visit and teach, just so many things to do. But with patience and trust in the Lord, everything seems to work out great. I thought I was a pretty patient guy before I headed out to Santa Ana, but I've still got a lot of potential to improve in that Christlike attribute. You think of the Lord, how He watches over us and see us struggle to follow all His commandments. He sees us stumble and struggle on the path that He has set for us. Struggle and sometimes fall because of sin. But He is sooo patient with us. So understanding and will never give up on us. That's true patience. We can all strive to be more like Him and follow His example.
Love you all, have a great week! :)
-Elder Jenkins
I asked about their church building.
He said it is a rented space, but that it is really big.
I also asked for pics of where they live...
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