Week 1 Huelva

Well 12 hours of bus and train riding and 700 kilometers later, here I
am!in the beautiful city of Huelva! It's been a crazy couple days of
saying goodbye to everyone, traveling, and then meeting everyone here
in Huelva. There are a ton of things that are different here from
Cartagena. First off, I'm not longer living in the province of Murcia,
rather the province of Andalusia, famous for its un-understandable
accent, unbearable heat, and unbeatable seafood. Also, I've started
the "real missionary service" walking and using the bus. Lucky for me,
Huelva is a city built on a mountain which means lots of hills to make
my legs good and strong...all in all, it's an amazing place and I feel
home here already. Also my house finally has air conditioning! That
was the real deal breaker.

My companion is super awesome! His name is elder guarcax and he is
from Guatemala. He is in his last transfer in the mission so im ready
to squeeze all the knowledge he has out of him before he dies from the
mission life. He's also a really good musician and wrote a song for
one of the most popular groups in Guatemala that is their best song
right now! Super awesome.

Already, I've had some great experiences here! I ate my first REAL
paella complete with vegetables, shrimp (the kind that are still
looking at you), little clams, and one giant mussel that I conquered
myself. Also, we had some kids in the street throw empty milk cartons,
and then tiles from their house at us, so that's one less thing on my
bucket list. The area has been in a little bit of a dry spell
recently, but there is a ton of potential and I'm excited to get to
work and see what the Lord has in store for us.

Miracle of the week: so I am still in contact with an investigator
from Cartagena because she is getting married the 20th and it just so
happens that I signed as a witness for the marriage, not knowing I
would have to return when they get married....that's another story.
But anyways, she has been thinking about getting baptized that same
day of her wedding right after so that I could be there, but didn't
have work off and wasn't sure how she could do it. So she was at work,
and she decided to say a prayer. She basically said, God, if you want
me to get baptized of the 20, I'll do it, but I need the day off work
so I can. Not even 3 minutes later, her boss came up to her and told
her he was going to give her the whole day off.

Everyday, my testimony is strengthened in regards to how much God
really loves us. We are his children and of that I testify with all of
my heart. I love being here in Spain, not just because it's the
coolest country in the world, but because I'm here to serve the Lord.
Thank you for the constant support and the prayers. I wish you all the
best.

Love,
Elder Jenkins

Things I learned
1. The best way to de-leg / decapitate a shrimp is with you fingers...
2. You put the keys in the locks upside down here
3. Fast food delivers here! To your door step! ...I could have eaten
so many more mcchickens
4. Walking down hill is worse than walking up!
6. How to use a bus schedule
7. There is no ME in missionary work....ignore the "I"

Have a great week

Area Number 2

Well, my last week in Cartagena is officially over. It's sad to think
about leaving here, mostly because it means starting the walking era
of my mission, but I feel surprisingly ready to go. I feel good about
what I have done here in Cartagena 3A and I really believe that I left
the even just a little bit stronger than when I left. I know that the
Lord has something else in store for me to learn and do in the other
parts of Spain!

Sooooo....where am I going might you ask.....?

First, a couple things from this week! We saw a TON of miracles. We
had some pretty high goals set, and even though we didn't complete all
of them, the Lord prepares the way for us to really work hard and
accomplish some amazing things! We were able to not only have one
baptism, but two by a miracle half way through the week! A couple
weeks ago, we found a lady who listened to the missionaries 7 years
ago and was about to be baptized but that area was closed to the
missionaries and so they had to leave her. Well after 7 years of
waiting, we found her and she still had that desire to be baptized!
MIRACLES!

One more awesome opportunity that the Lord gave us. We were leaving a
mission conference about an hour away from our house and we were
REALLY late for an appointment so we were trying to go pretty fast but
right before we left the city we saw a family stopping cars. We
thought at first they were asking for money, and so we were just going
to race by, but then we saw jumper cables in their hands. At first I
REALLY did not want to stop, so as she asked I looked to my companion
to give me the no that I was looking for, but he just looked back at
me to answer her. I thought about why we are really here in Spain as
missionaries and decided that it didn't make sense to turn away this
family who needed help just so I could get to an appointment that
could be rescheduled. We decided to stop and try to help them with
their car. None of them knew how to use jumper cables, or really speak
English or Spanish. I was thankful for the speech I had to give in
high school about how to jump start a car, a took control of the
cables, but after 5 minutes her car still wouldn't start. We realized
that her car was a stick shift (actually a Volkswagen Golf like my old
car) but she didn't know really how to start it by pushing, so they
asked me if I could do it, and luckily I left my car lights on a
million times in high school and was very used to push starting a car.
We were able to get it started and they went on their way. This
experience helped me learn that the Lord prepares us to serve. He
gives us the experiences in our lives that we need so that we can know
how to better serve others, and although I was very frustrated every
time I had to embarrassingly push start my car at school, I'm thankful
now that I know how and that the Lord could use me as an instrument to
help someone else.

Also the conference we were at was to introduce us to the new mission
president, president Anderson. Just in the few moments we had with
him, I can tell how much he loves this work, loves us, and loves His
Savior.

Alright, here it is. This Wednesday I will be traveling ALL THE WAY TO
THE OTHER SIDE OF SPAIN to serve in the city of....HUELVA! It's right
next to the border of southern Portugal, another beach town, and it's
REALLY HOT there. I'll be serving with another native companion from
Guatemala, Elder Guarcox. I don't know much about the area yet, but I
do know that it's where God wants me to be and I'm excited to see
what's in store for me there.

Thank you all who read and keep track of my journeys. Thank you for
your prayers and support!

Elder Jenkins