Hello everyone!
Right now, I'm sitting in a train station, waiting for a bus that will
take me to Murcia. I have all of my bags. I will not be returning to
my area - in other words, I'm going home. The journey has ended much
like how it started. That weird sick feeling in your stomach that
comes with change. The dreading of the long hours of traveling. Fear
of how the new life will be. It's like I've done a big loop-the-loop
and I'm back at the beginning!
There are a few differences though and not just the fact that I have
not one item of American clothing in my luggage (sorry mom, I ditched
the American suit). This time, I have to carry back with me 2,850
photos of loved ones and moments that will be cherished forever, 4
journals filled with experiences that will change me forever, as much
European chocolate as I could possibly fit into my bags without going
over weight, and a broken heart with its remains lying in the hands of
people from colombia to Ghana, Switzerland to Argentina, Guatemala to
Nigeria and everywhere in between. My eyes have been opened; I see the
world so differently and laugh at my prior ignorance to the rich
cultures that surround us. Frankly, I came to Spain thinking that
Ecuador was in Africa and that Taco Bell was the favorite food of
every habitant south of the border. Now I'm a maté drinking, cueca
dancing, fufu eating, guarani speaking, arepa making machine. There is
a whole world out there of cultures and customs that I never even knew
about and I have seen how you can brighten someone's countenance by
just being interested about who they are and where they come from.
It's like....a whole neeeewww worllllllld - sorry, I lost the no
cliche game.
This past week has been hard. Not just because of the emotional stress
but we have had so much on our plate - quite literally speaking, my
companion and I gained 8 pounds each this past week! We had to move
down the street, clean our old piso, still try to visit people and
travel, not to mention trying to have an acceptable level of Christmas
spirit! Luckily , in the midst of our crisis, the members came in
clutch and helped us clean our own piso. Literally it turned a 10 hour
job into a 3 hour job. The only downside was that we had to deal with
all of the members' comments about how to clean correctly and how
dirty our fridge seals were. In all seriousness, it was a tender
moment seeing how after 18 weeks of serving them tirelessly, they were
all so willing to serve us. We even had to tell people not to come for
fear of having too many people in our house cleaning!
I was pretty frustrated because I honestly wanted to try and spend my
last week talking to every living creature about the gospel, finding,
teaching, and baptizing, yet we barely even had time to do our normal
study routine or plan, we were moving at a million miles per hour! I
did learn a couple of important lessons from this, however. One of
those being, You can't save your effort for the last minute - I am
glad that I have really tried to work as hard as I can long before
this last week. It would have been easy to say, "I'll slack off these
first 5 weeks so that I can really give it everything on week 6" but
in doing so I would have just gone home regretting the 5 weeks I
didn't work. There is no time like the present. Do what needs to be
done now because you might not get to do it later.
Saying goodbye has been ruthless. I think the easy part of saying
goodbye to my family was that I always had a date I could look forward
to in which, barring unforeseen circumstances, I would see them. The
scary thing is that I don't know when I will come back and see those
who I love here. We were saying goodbye to a family that we teach and
the 6 year old kind of just shook my hand and ran off. We left and
shortly after I got a call from the mom. Apparently, she had just
thought I was going on a little trip and would be back in a couple of
days and upon realizing the reality was now inconsolable. We retuned
and tried to say a second goodbye which was just heart wrenching. I
think now you can maybe understand when I talk about a broken heart
spread all across Spain.
Sorry this is long, but you won't ever have to read a missionary email
from elder Jenkins ever again, you can do it!
Well this has been my feeble attempt to describe what I have gone
through in the space of 2 years serving as a full-time missionary in
Spain. Honestly, I don't feel very different. I hear myself speaking a
different language, or see a little more hair on my Chiny chin chin,
but I feel like the same person, yet I have faith that I'm not. I know
that I have been changed and only pray that the Lord will keep
changing me, that the refining process will continue as I continue to
serve Him. Conversion is a change of heart, and I truly feel in my
effort to convert other that I have been converted because my heart
has been changed. I have learned many things during the course of my
service, but the most profound lesson is that despite my not being
perfect, I know that I can be perfected, and I understand better the
road to do so.
In one word, I would say my feelings right now sum up to gratitude.
Gratitude for bounteous blessings that I have received. Gratitude for
an incredible family waiting for me in the states and waiting for me
here in Spain. Gratitude for a Savior, who paid for my sins and died
for me. Gratitude for a loving father in heaven who has a divine plan,
a plan of happiness. I am so grateful and pray that I will never be so
foolish as to forget how grateful I am for the blessing of serving a
mission.
Thank you for love and support, for prayers and letters - all of which
has been greatly appreciated. See you all soon!
Love,
Elder (for the last time) Jenkins
Monday, December 26, 2016
Week 100: Feliz Navidad!
Hey everyone!
I can honestly say I have never felt a weirder feeling in my life.
It's similar to when I was on the plane coming out here to Spain
wondering what I was doing, what my life would be like, and how I was
going to survive. Now I'm pretty much thinking the same things. I
guess I just have to trust that in the same way that God has guided me
since I got here, He will do the same once I am home.
The week has been pretty crazy. We did a lot of traveling for
exchanges and meetings. Once we finally got to be in benidorm, it
started the biggest rainstorm in like....ever. It's been raining since
Thursday, so much that schools are canceled, people won't leave their
houses, even some stores aren't open. It's funny because in the states
rain would rarely ever cause problems but so much of transit is
walking or riding mopeds it pretty much ruins everything. We even had
our big Christmas conference for the mission postponed because of
flooding in the city of Murcia. My trusty little dollar tree umbrella
is still holding up though! Barely...
Well, my secret is out. I decided to start revealing that I was going
home on Thursday at English class and since then it has been the only
topic of conversation. On Sunday night, there was a fireside at the
church and so we went, not really suspecting anything, and it was a
surprise party for me. Everyone wrote questions down and I had to go
up and answer them all, then they had cake and sang happy birthday to
me and they even sang a special song, "each life that touches us for
good." It was a really special night. The best thing about benidorm
has been feeling like I'm doing more than just trying to find people
to teach. We have really been able to strengthen the branch and the
members; there is a notable difference in the church and I feel like
we have, in even a little part, contributed to that and it is very
satisfying.
We also had the branch Christmas party which was a big success. The
church was packed full with people, a lot of non members who were able
to be introduced to the church for the first time. I would say the
highlight was participating in the "branch choir", which consisted of
the director, the pianists husband who was obviously obligated to be
there, and of course the two missionaries who can't say no. Luckily,
like our musical number from the baptism, the congregation didn't
really get the memo and started to just sing along with us:)
This week is going to be crazy! We found out we have to move
apartments, I have to pack, everyone and their mother wants us over
for Christmas, and our conference for moved to the day before I leave.
JOY TO THE WORLD!
I am just so happy to be able to serve during this Christmas. I have
never felt closer to my Savior and have never understood as much as I
do now the importance of His birth. It is the greatest blessing to
serve Him, and to serve with Him. I hope that you all have an
incredible Christmas and that you can enjoy all the gifts that He has
given to you.
I love you all!
Elder Jenkins
My name is elder Jenkins and I like to party
I can honestly say I have never felt a weirder feeling in my life.
It's similar to when I was on the plane coming out here to Spain
wondering what I was doing, what my life would be like, and how I was
going to survive. Now I'm pretty much thinking the same things. I
guess I just have to trust that in the same way that God has guided me
since I got here, He will do the same once I am home.
The week has been pretty crazy. We did a lot of traveling for
exchanges and meetings. Once we finally got to be in benidorm, it
started the biggest rainstorm in like....ever. It's been raining since
Thursday, so much that schools are canceled, people won't leave their
houses, even some stores aren't open. It's funny because in the states
rain would rarely ever cause problems but so much of transit is
walking or riding mopeds it pretty much ruins everything. We even had
our big Christmas conference for the mission postponed because of
flooding in the city of Murcia. My trusty little dollar tree umbrella
is still holding up though! Barely...
Well, my secret is out. I decided to start revealing that I was going
home on Thursday at English class and since then it has been the only
topic of conversation. On Sunday night, there was a fireside at the
church and so we went, not really suspecting anything, and it was a
surprise party for me. Everyone wrote questions down and I had to go
up and answer them all, then they had cake and sang happy birthday to
me and they even sang a special song, "each life that touches us for
good." It was a really special night. The best thing about benidorm
has been feeling like I'm doing more than just trying to find people
to teach. We have really been able to strengthen the branch and the
members; there is a notable difference in the church and I feel like
we have, in even a little part, contributed to that and it is very
satisfying.
We also had the branch Christmas party which was a big success. The
church was packed full with people, a lot of non members who were able
to be introduced to the church for the first time. I would say the
highlight was participating in the "branch choir", which consisted of
the director, the pianists husband who was obviously obligated to be
there, and of course the two missionaries who can't say no. Luckily,
like our musical number from the baptism, the congregation didn't
really get the memo and started to just sing along with us:)
This week is going to be crazy! We found out we have to move
apartments, I have to pack, everyone and their mother wants us over
for Christmas, and our conference for moved to the day before I leave.
JOY TO THE WORLD!
I am just so happy to be able to serve during this Christmas. I have
never felt closer to my Savior and have never understood as much as I
do now the importance of His birth. It is the greatest blessing to
serve Him, and to serve with Him. I hope that you all have an
incredible Christmas and that you can enjoy all the gifts that He has
given to you.
I love you all!
Elder Jenkins
My name is elder Jenkins and I like to party
Week 99: The Polar plunge
Hello everyone!
I'm going to attempt not to use the word "home" in any part of this
email. Here goes nothing.
I literally can't express how blessed I feel to be here serving a
mission. I never realized how many people you could come to know, and
let alone love, just by actively trying to talk to everyone you can
and serve. I feel like I have just acquired more and more family
members as I have been here and I wish I could just take them all ....
with me.
The baptismal service was pretty great! My companion and I took on the
challenge of putting up the font alone and it worked out pretty
well....except the part when the whole thing almost fell over. (See
video and photos for clarification). We got to the baptismal service
and apparently one of our investigators who was coming to watch
overheard us talking to the man who was getting baptized about how he
would have to wear all white, so he showed up all dressed in all white
too! Everyone made jokes that we could just throw him on the program
if he was that excited. I was worried about what we would do for a
musical number, but at the last minute we decided to just stick to a
solid well known hymn "nearer my god to thee". My companion and I
started singing and we could tell that people were really touched by
the words, they even began to open the hymnals up to the song. Then
little by little, they decided to join in with us and by the middle of
the second verse it had turned into an intermediate hymn with us as
the two directors. Even our overzealous investigator in white was
belting in the back. I guess that's what we get for picking a
well-known song at the last minute. We also filled it up way too high
with cold water, so we had to fill it up to the very brim with hot
water. When we got in it was still way cold and when I baptized him I
sent a tidal wave to the third row of spectators. SPLASH ZONE!
One of the greatest moments was hearing the newly baptized man give
his testimony afterwards. He studied and prepared what he was going to
say and delivered a powerful message about the living water that had
filled his life. He really had things so clear and it was incredible
for me to think that a month ago, following Christ wasn't even
something on his radar. An innocent desire to learn English turned
into a burning desire to become more like Christ.
Last highlight of the week was definitely the primary program. It
started out pretty rough, about half of the kids didn't show up, the
other half didn't want to give their parts in front of everyone, and
the tape player for the music started doing a flux remix in the middle
of the first song. I subtly pleaded with the director to let me play;
she was reluctant but finally let me sit behind the piano and take
advantage of the torturous years of forced piano playing. Little did I
know that they would sing "Bring the world his truth" which really
triggered the Terri Jenkins tear glands, making it very difficult to
play. I just reflected on all of the years I boldly declared as that I
would "be the Lords missionary " and now I AM the Lords missionary and
very soon I will not be the Lords missionary anymore, but it just
renewed the fire that I have to share the gospel with however many
people physically possible. The spirit was so strong during the
meeting, no wonder Christ always desired to be surrounded by children.
You all only have to deal with two more emails from me, keep going
strong! Also if you've never written me, you have 2 weeks to sneak one
in so I can't guilt trip you for "never" writing. ;)
I hope you all have a great week!
Love,
Elder Jenkins
I'm going to attempt not to use the word "home" in any part of this
email. Here goes nothing.
I literally can't express how blessed I feel to be here serving a
mission. I never realized how many people you could come to know, and
let alone love, just by actively trying to talk to everyone you can
and serve. I feel like I have just acquired more and more family
members as I have been here and I wish I could just take them all ....
with me.
The baptismal service was pretty great! My companion and I took on the
challenge of putting up the font alone and it worked out pretty
well....except the part when the whole thing almost fell over. (See
video and photos for clarification). We got to the baptismal service
and apparently one of our investigators who was coming to watch
overheard us talking to the man who was getting baptized about how he
would have to wear all white, so he showed up all dressed in all white
too! Everyone made jokes that we could just throw him on the program
if he was that excited. I was worried about what we would do for a
musical number, but at the last minute we decided to just stick to a
solid well known hymn "nearer my god to thee". My companion and I
started singing and we could tell that people were really touched by
the words, they even began to open the hymnals up to the song. Then
little by little, they decided to join in with us and by the middle of
the second verse it had turned into an intermediate hymn with us as
the two directors. Even our overzealous investigator in white was
belting in the back. I guess that's what we get for picking a
well-known song at the last minute. We also filled it up way too high
with cold water, so we had to fill it up to the very brim with hot
water. When we got in it was still way cold and when I baptized him I
sent a tidal wave to the third row of spectators. SPLASH ZONE!
One of the greatest moments was hearing the newly baptized man give
his testimony afterwards. He studied and prepared what he was going to
say and delivered a powerful message about the living water that had
filled his life. He really had things so clear and it was incredible
for me to think that a month ago, following Christ wasn't even
something on his radar. An innocent desire to learn English turned
into a burning desire to become more like Christ.
Last highlight of the week was definitely the primary program. It
started out pretty rough, about half of the kids didn't show up, the
other half didn't want to give their parts in front of everyone, and
the tape player for the music started doing a flux remix in the middle
of the first song. I subtly pleaded with the director to let me play;
she was reluctant but finally let me sit behind the piano and take
advantage of the torturous years of forced piano playing. Little did I
know that they would sing "Bring the world his truth" which really
triggered the Terri Jenkins tear glands, making it very difficult to
play. I just reflected on all of the years I boldly declared as that I
would "be the Lords missionary " and now I AM the Lords missionary and
very soon I will not be the Lords missionary anymore, but it just
renewed the fire that I have to share the gospel with however many
people physically possible. The spirit was so strong during the
meeting, no wonder Christ always desired to be surrounded by children.
You all only have to deal with two more emails from me, keep going
strong! Also if you've never written me, you have 2 weeks to sneak one
in so I can't guilt trip you for "never" writing. ;)
I hope you all have a great week!
Love,
Elder Jenkins
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
Week 98: "The rains in Spain are a pain and don't just fall on the plains"
Hello all!
And here we are...in kfc...4th week in a row...mooching off the free
wifi and eating the best American food Spain has to offer. I hate to
make this comparison, but it's the closest thing I can find to
chic-fil-a so it will have to do for now.
The week has been pretty good. I am convinced that the best time to be
a missionary is during Christmas time. I remember last Christmas
filled with so many miracles and I can't say that this Christmas is
looking any different! I continue to be astounded by the success of
English class! Every single one of our progressing investigators goes
to English class, and this week a woman showed up and said "oh wow, I
didn't know this was at a Mormon church! My sons in my country are
Mormons and one is preparing to serve a mission. You guys should come
to my house and teach my family!".....I guess it's just proof that
everything deserves a try. If I would have just let my past
experiences with English class dictate my decision to give it an
honest effort we wouldn't be seeing any of the success we are seeing
right now. I actually really enjoy going to the class, and I
surprisingly like teaching it. Granted, I'm no professional, but I
think my English teachers would be proud.
This week I had a really special experience. It was my last fast
Sunday as a missionary and so needless to say I was kind of a wreck in
the back corner of the church trying not to let my allergies produce
tears so that people wouldn't think I was crying....but we have an
investigator who randomly asked if we could give her daughter a baby
blessing because she had never been blessed or baptized, and she asked
me to do it! I was slightly caught off guard because I guess I always
thought I wouldn't do that until I had my own child, but it was
special to feel how special children are to Heavenly Father and also
to do as Jesus did and bless the children.
It has literally been raining like all week! Apparently it's the most
rain that Spain has seen in a long time at this time of year. When all
of the missionaries all went to the mtc to get our visas, everyone
made fun of me because I asked a "stupid question" of whether or not
it would practical to bring umbrellas or not...obviously it was an
inspired question! Our area is so big though that it can be raining
and then we get on the train and it isn't raining in our next cita.
One time we got off the train: raining, walked 100 meters :cloudy and
not raining, walked another 100 meters, sunny and sweating...it was
weird.
Time is crazy: I spent a minute just looking at my clock and then
realized what I was doing and exclaimed "NO, THAT WAS A MINUTE ILL
NEVER GET BACK!"...a slightly exaggerated response but it's kind of
true. I never thought of time as such a precious resource until there
was little left. I guess it's that whole principle of supply/demand
all over again. It seems like the more I try to use our time wisely,
we get stuck in time-wasting twists; however I see it just as the way
that the Lord is refining us to help us be better and I am thankful
for that.
I hope you all have a great week. You should be getting another time
lapse of a pool party this next week ;)
Love,
Elder Jenkins
And here we are...in kfc...4th week in a row...mooching off the free
wifi and eating the best American food Spain has to offer. I hate to
make this comparison, but it's the closest thing I can find to
chic-fil-a so it will have to do for now.
The week has been pretty good. I am convinced that the best time to be
a missionary is during Christmas time. I remember last Christmas
filled with so many miracles and I can't say that this Christmas is
looking any different! I continue to be astounded by the success of
English class! Every single one of our progressing investigators goes
to English class, and this week a woman showed up and said "oh wow, I
didn't know this was at a Mormon church! My sons in my country are
Mormons and one is preparing to serve a mission. You guys should come
to my house and teach my family!".....I guess it's just proof that
everything deserves a try. If I would have just let my past
experiences with English class dictate my decision to give it an
honest effort we wouldn't be seeing any of the success we are seeing
right now. I actually really enjoy going to the class, and I
surprisingly like teaching it. Granted, I'm no professional, but I
think my English teachers would be proud.
This week I had a really special experience. It was my last fast
Sunday as a missionary and so needless to say I was kind of a wreck in
the back corner of the church trying not to let my allergies produce
tears so that people wouldn't think I was crying....but we have an
investigator who randomly asked if we could give her daughter a baby
blessing because she had never been blessed or baptized, and she asked
me to do it! I was slightly caught off guard because I guess I always
thought I wouldn't do that until I had my own child, but it was
special to feel how special children are to Heavenly Father and also
to do as Jesus did and bless the children.
It has literally been raining like all week! Apparently it's the most
rain that Spain has seen in a long time at this time of year. When all
of the missionaries all went to the mtc to get our visas, everyone
made fun of me because I asked a "stupid question" of whether or not
it would practical to bring umbrellas or not...obviously it was an
inspired question! Our area is so big though that it can be raining
and then we get on the train and it isn't raining in our next cita.
One time we got off the train: raining, walked 100 meters :cloudy and
not raining, walked another 100 meters, sunny and sweating...it was
weird.
Time is crazy: I spent a minute just looking at my clock and then
realized what I was doing and exclaimed "NO, THAT WAS A MINUTE ILL
NEVER GET BACK!"...a slightly exaggerated response but it's kind of
true. I never thought of time as such a precious resource until there
was little left. I guess it's that whole principle of supply/demand
all over again. It seems like the more I try to use our time wisely,
we get stuck in time-wasting twists; however I see it just as the way
that the Lord is refining us to help us be better and I am thankful
for that.
I hope you all have a great week. You should be getting another time
lapse of a pool party this next week ;)
Love,
Elder Jenkins
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Week 97: Chef Jenkins, You have been chopped...
his week, I am a changed man.
It was Tuesday, and we still pretty much had no idea what we were going to do for thanksgiving. Half of me just kind of wanted to forget that it was fast approaching, and the other half knew that I have an obligation as an american citizen to celebrate peace between the pilgrams and indians. It was that day that we decided that no one else was going to fulfil our duty for us; we would have to take matters into our own hands. We called everyone who has ever come to or called us about the english class and told them that there would be a special class dedicated to thanksgiving and that afterwards there would be a feast. How?...we were still unsure. Thursdaymorning the fun began. My companion and I threw around a football for a little bit in the morning, which constituted for our "turkey bowl" and then we got to cooking. It was one of the most faith building experiences I have ever had; I dont know if I have ever prayed so hard for the food to turn out well. We bought little turkey breasts and wrapped them in tin foil with some vegatables and threw them in the oven, made mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, and apple crisp - all things that I had never even eaten, let alone made, before coming to spain. You may be thinking, "These are all basic things though"...let me remind you all. 2 young men, tiny kitchen, limited utensils, 0 cooking experience, and very high expectations from all those who were expecting to eat an "Authentic American Feast". Well by the end of the night, we had 16 people show up to the class, an all-time benidorm record, 10 of which were not members of the church. We discussed the history of thanksgiving, learned how to say "I am thankful for" and then sat down for our feast. Each person expressed gratitude for something (in english, so they mainly gave thanks for the turkey, for the drink, or for not having to speak english all the time) and we feasted! The food was cold, and looked iffy, but for me it was amazing, mainly because I had taken part in the effort behind it - and no one died which was my main concern. I can definitely say that it was eye opening to see how much effort is required in some of the every-day events that I often took for granted. I am so thankful for my parents who always provided a thanksgiving meal that I never wanted to eat, and for not being to angry with me for not eating it.
That night, I said a prayer of just gratitude for all of the blessings that I feel like I have received, just in the last 2 years of my life and I think in the end I could have kept going for a lot longer. I realized that gratitude is a key to being happy, because as we ask to be blessed with a spirit of gratitude, the spirit will reveal the blessings that we may have missed in the hussle and bussle of everyday life and we will recognize how blessed we truly are which will in turn make us happier!
In just this week, we have felt highly blessed by the Lord. One afternoon, we were walking to the church to do a language assesment, and we passed this guy to whom we said hello with really no response back from him; however, we both felt that we needed to turn around and talk to him. It´s kind of sad because i think through my worldly eyes and with my human judgements I probably wouldnt have talked to him, but I felt so strongly that we turned around and began a conversation. Right then he agreed to acompany us to the church and go on a tour, which turned out so great. I expressed to him at the end how impressed I was by the spirit to talk to him, and he told us that that very morning, he had prayed to find some way to be more involved in something spiritually. He had just gotten here a couple of months ago, and has felt that he hasnt been able to participate in anything religious or spiritual and as we began to talk to him he remembered that prayer and felt like it was an answer. As if that wasn´t enough, it turns out that he is friends with someone we were teaching months ago but lost contact with, and they both came to church this sunday!
The last thing I will comment is about the new video that came out this week, light the world. We began to share it, and as we did I began to see the blessings that have come to my life as I have tried to serve more like the Savior did. I know that I dont even come close to doing anything that he did, yet that video showed me how even the small things help others see His love through us. Dedicating myself to that kind of selfless service has been the biggest blessing in my life; it has led me to meet people who have changed who I am and whom I love dearly, and has helped me come to know my Savior more, whom I also love dearly. With this initiative, there is a calendar that counts down the days until christmas and gives us ideas of service to do every day. As a mission we are going to dedicate ourselves to doing it every day, and despite the fact that the calendar basically counts down to the end of my mission, I am absolutely thrilled to be able to focus my last moments on serving others. I would invite you all to do the same during this month, because I know that it will bring the greatest Christmas joy, the joy that comes from Christ.
I love you all and hope you have a great week! dont forget...ITS THE MOST WONDERFUL TIMEEEE OF THE YEAR!!!!!!
love,
Elder Jenkins
Sunday, November 27, 2016
Week 96: "Just smile and wait elder, smile and wait..."
Hey everyone!
Happy thanksgiving! So far we don't really have any plans, so we are
probably looking at a nice humble at-home thanksgiving with a baked
potato, bread and sandwich meat turkey....but I guess that's a small
sacrifice to be here in Spain, and I'll only ha to wait a year to have
my first REAL American thanksgiving meal.
This past week I said goodbye to my Chilean compadre and welcomed
elder Romano! He has been in 6 weeks so he still has that
"in-training" fire. It is interesting because its been a over a year
since I was with someone with less Spanish experience than I have, but
It's nice that the funny Spanish mistake stories aren't about me
anymore. In the very first appointment my comp dropped a nice little
testimony of how Christ can clean us of our fish:) we have developed a
plan to take advantage of it though; we call it "just smile and wait"
when he contacts people and they tell us they don't want anything, I
just blankly stare at them like I don't understand Spanish either and
then we just continue with the conversation. They just get this
helpless look on their faces as they frantically search for some non
existent escape route. The best thing about elder Romano is that he is
pretty fearless and just wants to work as hard as is physically
possible, which is MY favorite thing to do EVERY DAY! We have been
getting along great and I expect that this transfer will be more
miraculous than ever!
It's funny because I remember coming into the mission and trying to
explain to my trainer what vine is and how to dougie...Now my
companion is the one blowing MY mind. Yet he still hasn't achieved
explaining to me what is up with the whole throwing the water bottle
nor how to dab...(he's currently laughing at me because I thought it
was dapping...point made)
I have been blessed to witness an incredible miracle over the past
couple of weeks. So basically one of our big efforts in benidorm has
been the English class. I've never been a supporter of the classes, I
have kind of just always seen them as a way for missionaries to waste
time in the church waiting for maybe a convert to show up and speak
English with them, but I didn't really know what else to do when I got
here so we decided to give it a whirl. Well now we have about 8 or 9
people coming regularly and most of them aren't members! About 5 weeks
ago, a new guy from the Canary Islands showed up for the class, but
left right after the class before the spiritual thought. Then the next
week he stayed for the spiritual message. At the end, we found out he
was a programmer and we introduced him to one of the other class
members, also member of the church, who is a programmer as well. The
next week, they both showed up together and apparently had met before
to hang out. The next week, we had a baptism and so his friend invited
him and he came! All this Without even one appointment with him. We
finally got to talk after an English class and he expressed a lot of
interest in what we do and in learning more so this past week we met
with him and had an incredible appointment with him. We explained to
him Gods plan and how he could follow it and he told us how he really
just wants to have a family and feel like he has more of a purpose in
his life. We invited him to prepare for a baptismal date right there
and he said yes, and then just to make sure he understood correctly he
said, "so I would get baptized to follow the plan that God has for me
in order to one day return to live with him, and so that he can guide
me more in my life?".....uhh yeah, hit that one right on the head. He
came to church yesterday and loved it, even in a white shirt! The best
part was when in the class they asked who there was going to be a
father one day; I raised my hand, my companion as well, and then our
friend raised his hand as well. He's super awesome.
It's hard to think every day "oh my gosh, it's my last first weekly
planning" , or "oh my gosh it's my last 3rd day of the second week of
a transfer" but I'm truly enjoying every single day and my companion
is helping me stay focused until the end! Hope you all have a great
week. Eat a piece of turkey and lots of rolls for me :)
Love,
Elder Jenkins
I had to include the picture of my two trainees together...priceless
Elder Jenkins and elder Romano
Happy thanksgiving! So far we don't really have any plans, so we are
probably looking at a nice humble at-home thanksgiving with a baked
potato, bread and sandwich meat turkey....but I guess that's a small
sacrifice to be here in Spain, and I'll only ha to wait a year to have
my first REAL American thanksgiving meal.
This past week I said goodbye to my Chilean compadre and welcomed
elder Romano! He has been in 6 weeks so he still has that
"in-training" fire. It is interesting because its been a over a year
since I was with someone with less Spanish experience than I have, but
It's nice that the funny Spanish mistake stories aren't about me
anymore. In the very first appointment my comp dropped a nice little
testimony of how Christ can clean us of our fish:) we have developed a
plan to take advantage of it though; we call it "just smile and wait"
when he contacts people and they tell us they don't want anything, I
just blankly stare at them like I don't understand Spanish either and
then we just continue with the conversation. They just get this
helpless look on their faces as they frantically search for some non
existent escape route. The best thing about elder Romano is that he is
pretty fearless and just wants to work as hard as is physically
possible, which is MY favorite thing to do EVERY DAY! We have been
getting along great and I expect that this transfer will be more
miraculous than ever!
It's funny because I remember coming into the mission and trying to
explain to my trainer what vine is and how to dougie...Now my
companion is the one blowing MY mind. Yet he still hasn't achieved
explaining to me what is up with the whole throwing the water bottle
nor how to dab...(he's currently laughing at me because I thought it
was dapping...point made)
I have been blessed to witness an incredible miracle over the past
couple of weeks. So basically one of our big efforts in benidorm has
been the English class. I've never been a supporter of the classes, I
have kind of just always seen them as a way for missionaries to waste
time in the church waiting for maybe a convert to show up and speak
English with them, but I didn't really know what else to do when I got
here so we decided to give it a whirl. Well now we have about 8 or 9
people coming regularly and most of them aren't members! About 5 weeks
ago, a new guy from the Canary Islands showed up for the class, but
left right after the class before the spiritual thought. Then the next
week he stayed for the spiritual message. At the end, we found out he
was a programmer and we introduced him to one of the other class
members, also member of the church, who is a programmer as well. The
next week, they both showed up together and apparently had met before
to hang out. The next week, we had a baptism and so his friend invited
him and he came! All this Without even one appointment with him. We
finally got to talk after an English class and he expressed a lot of
interest in what we do and in learning more so this past week we met
with him and had an incredible appointment with him. We explained to
him Gods plan and how he could follow it and he told us how he really
just wants to have a family and feel like he has more of a purpose in
his life. We invited him to prepare for a baptismal date right there
and he said yes, and then just to make sure he understood correctly he
said, "so I would get baptized to follow the plan that God has for me
in order to one day return to live with him, and so that he can guide
me more in my life?".....uhh yeah, hit that one right on the head. He
came to church yesterday and loved it, even in a white shirt! The best
part was when in the class they asked who there was going to be a
father one day; I raised my hand, my companion as well, and then our
friend raised his hand as well. He's super awesome.
It's hard to think every day "oh my gosh, it's my last first weekly
planning" , or "oh my gosh it's my last 3rd day of the second week of
a transfer" but I'm truly enjoying every single day and my companion
is helping me stay focused until the end! Hope you all have a great
week. Eat a piece of turkey and lots of rolls for me :)
Love,
Elder Jenkins
I had to include the picture of my two trainees together...priceless
Elder Jenkins and elder Romano
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