Wow! What an amazing week and ending it with General Conference was just the icing on the cake. It was pretty hard to watch all of the sessions here because of the time difference. We did get to watch them all in English, but we watched the Saturday morning session, Saturday night at 6 and then spent all day Sunday starting with the priesthood session at 11 am and ending with the Sunday night session at 10 pm. Take a bunch of 19 year-olds who have been going to bed at 11 for the last 6 months - 2 years and stick them in a room listening to general conference at midnight...it was an interesting scene, but I am so grateful we got to watch all of the sessions. Everything that was said I was able to apply directly to myself as a missionary and I feel like I've been given a breath of life for this work; however, I know that it only applied to me as a missionary because that's what I need right now. I hope that you all enjoyed conference as much as I did and if you didn't get to watch it then please go back and watch it! You will be edified and find guidance for your personal situations and trials, I can promise that.
This week we weren't able to get a ton done because I was in Malaga for half of the week. Because I´m one of the only missionaries legal to drive, I had to drive 4 zone leaders to Malaga for the zone leader meeting. Really I should say, ¨got to¨ because it was an amazing experience. Every time I drive across Spain, I'm appalled by the beauty of this country. One minute you are driving down steep canyons, the next you are in the midst of miles of olive vineyards, and then in the snowy mountains, and on the beaches of the Mediterranean sea. I also got to eat at the mission home with President and Sister Deere and meet all of the mission leaders. Not a lot of missionaries can say they got to go to the zone leader meeting as a greenie. This meeting was also a pretty special meeting because there was a pretty huge announcement...
May 4,5,6, the Spain Malaga mission will officially become an IPad mission! There is going to be a HUGE mission wide conference and two general authorities are going to come to talk to us and then give us all of our IPads. I'm so excited to see how this work can improve with the proper use of technology, and it will be nice to get a touch screen back in my hands!
After missing so much of the week, it was really difficult to switch gears and get going on the missionary work this week, but we definitely still saw miracles. One thing I was reminded of this week is the power of the message of the Restoration. We were able to share it three times this week in lessons and every time the spirit witnessed so strongly to me of its truth. It reminded me of what was said in conference. Sometimes we talk about these powerful messages of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and of the Restoration so much that we take them for granted or don´t give them the sacred attention they deserve. We are so blessed to live in a day where we have a knowledge of both of those amazing miracles, and I am even more blessed to be here in Spain spreading this glorious message.
Hope you all had a great Easter Week and were able to find time to remember what this holiday is really about. We did have a little zone Easter egg hunt in between sessions just to keep the American Tradition alive but we had to look for boiled eggs instead of plastic ones with candy in them because they don´t have them here...which really made it a lot less motivating to find eggs.
Elder Jenkins
Things I learned
1. Apparently the right turn on red lights thing doesn't apply here...good thing a native told me and not a policia....
2. You can choose to be right, or choose to be happy, but most often you can´t have both (This one is easier in theory than in action...)
3. The smaller toilet looking thing next to the real toilet is NOT a baby bath, contrary to my prior belief
4. There is a mission wide obsession with this super intricate way to shave your face, Once I grow enough facial hair to try it Ill let you all know how it is...
5. You lift me, and Ill lift thee, and we´ll ascend together¨
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