Week 3 in the MTC - Speaking in Church!

Hola Friends and family! 
I can´t believe Im over halfway done with my time here at the MTC. Part of me feels like Im still barely beginning and the other part of me feels like the time has been dragging by.
Missionaries from the Madrid mission came to the MTC yesterday to go to the temple and it was pretty unreal to think that I will be one of them, walking the streets of spain, in only 3 weeks!  Last P-day was a pretty awesome experience. I got a chance to go toEstadio Bernabau, which is the stadium for Real Madrid Futbol Team. “For a patriotic Spaniard and 

true fan like myself it was almost too thrilling to believe” But really, I thought I wouldn´t be too in to it because I don´t know a ton about soccer but it was insane! The stadium is ginormous, for one. We pretty much just went on a tour, looking at all the trophies the club has won (which is probably the longest part of the tour!), looking at the locker rooms (of course I had to sit at the same place Ronaldo sweats at…) and we actually got to go down onto the field and sit on the side lines in the players seats, which are actually super cushy racing car like seats. It was super awesome. The best part of course was standing at the press conference table and reciting the entirety of the Pink Panther press conference scene.      

Not a ton of new things happen here at the MTC every week, but I figured I would give you guys a sneak peak of my life here. Most of the time is spent in the classroom with my district of 8 people. Three sister missionaries, Hermanas Olsen, Didricksen, and Rossberg, an elder companionship, Elder Adcock and Elder Harvey, and then my two companions Elder Doxey and Elder Porritt. All of these other missionaries are awesome and help make the time in the classroom pass by a little easier. We also have three teachers, one for each part of the day. Hermana Martinez, Hermana Ganaza and Hermano Ponsoda. Each ofthem has a VERY distinct accent, some which are easier to understand than others. Hermano Ponsoda would probably have to be my favorite. He speaks zero English and just got off his mission in Madrid 6 months ago. He is so solid in the gospel and teaching and helps a ton with our Spanish.  Another really cool thing they do here in the mtc is that thepresident doesn´t announce who is going to be speaking in sacrament meeting on Sunday until after the sacrament, and you have to speak in your mission language. He went pretty easy on us the first week by pretty much calling only native speakers to give talks, but this week I just had a feeling that I was right in his crosshairs for speaking, and I was right. It was my first talk as a missionary, totally in Spanish, but it was an awesome experience and a great opportunity to boost my confidence in Spanish. The weirdest part was having a translator standing next to me, translating my every word for the people in the congregation. So I heard what I wanted to say in my mind in English, translated it into Spanish, and then heard what I actually said as it was translated back into English. Sometimes it was like a game of telephone where I was really surprised at what came out after that entire process, but for the most part it went fairly smoothly.     

 Sorry I don´t have more exciting things to tell you all about. I´m sure things will pick up once I travel down to Malaga, but for now its just studying, teaching, and trying to prepare to find those people who are ready and willing to listen to the message we have to share.It´s hard, as Ive said before but there is nothing I would rather be doing. I hope all is going well with all of you and I love getting emails to hear how you are all doing. Until next week mis amigos!Elder Jenkins5 Things I´ve learned this week
1. Waking up 5 minutes early is definitely worth first pick of the showers
2. Mensaje vs mesaje. One letter is the difference between askingpeople if we can share a message, and a massage…

3. One of the zone leaders said something I really liked, especiallybecause when you are trying to learn a new language you have a lot ofdoubts. The Lord himself called you to this mission, which means thisis the place and the language which he feels you will be mosteffective in teaching his Gospel. That thought helps me get through alot of rough lessons and misunderstood questions.
4. The Lord has established his church on the earth today. Look forthe talk by Tadd R. Callister called “what is the blueprint of christschurch” if you have any doubts of that.
5. You can never eat too many Gullon Maria cookies, I probably have 8packs a day

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto
men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all
men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before
me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto
them."
Ether 12:27