Week ?: Miracles in Málaga

Hola a todos!

What an incredible week it has been! Of course, every single week is
amazing as a missionary, but many times the tender mercies of the Lord
are only miracles against the backdrop of constant rejection or
intense desires to sleep for forever. This week, I have been left
absolutely dumbfounded by the blessings and miracles we have seen and
experienced!

Just for a little Spanish update, the weather is COLD. Supposedly
there are just about 2 weeks in February that are winter and then we
go back into summer. Yesterday I left the house with a scarf, jacket,
Sweater, hat, gloves, my thickest socks and a prayer in my heart for
survival. Today I am back in short sleeves.

Yesterday was also pretty crazy because Real Madrid came to Málaga to
play, 5 minutes from my house. Literally I was within 500 feet of
Christiano Ronaldo, which is cool except for two weeks ago Messi was
here...if those names aren't familiar I don't blame any of you, just
know that they are really famous futbolistas.

So many times I hear about how the things of God cannot be seen, and I
strongly and firmly beg to differ. I have seen with my eyes just as
clearly as I see the words on this page (Ipad) the evidences of God.
As we were walking down the street saying hi to everyone, and
receiving a wide array of responses of course, we finally got a bright
and happy smile with a hello from this girl on a bench. We decided to
stop and talk to her and as we got to talking she told us that she had
never really believed in God nor had thought much about the topic. We
got to talking to her and our message intrigued her enough that she
decided that she would be interested to hear more on another day. We
asked her if we could simply leave her with a prayer and she agreed so
right there in the open Spanish street we sat down on the bench with
her and said a prayer. As we closed the prayer, she turned to us and
said, I have to be totally honest with you (That as a missionary is a
usually "uh oh" moment) and she continued, almost in tears, saying how
she felt a warm and almost energizing tingling running through her
body, completely inexplicable to her. I now ask, How could me bowing
my head, speaking words, and closing with an amen make anyone feel any
type of sensation, unless it was really a plea with a loving and
existing father in heaven that his daughter could feel his presence? I
was left absolutely stunned. We promised her that God had provided a
way for her to be able to feel that way forever, and the first step is
repentance, or change, and the second is baptism. She agreed to meet
with the missionaries so that she will be able to make those changes
and be baptized. I could go on forever about the evidences we saw this
week of the Lord's hand, but time is short, but I promise that he or
she who asks for the confirmations of his existence will receive, but
only if we also put forth our effort in knocking and in seeking as
well.

Yesterday, we were able to watch someone who had made those first
steps of repentance enter into the waters of baptism AND IT WAS
AWESOME! Well, the water was a little cold, BUT IT WAS AWESOME. What
is even better is that it is the husband who has just gotten to Spain
to live with his wife, who had been baptized three months ago. Now,
they can ascend together as a family, working together to be true to
their promises of baptism and get closer to having that marriage for
the eternities. Que bendicion mas grande deal mundo.

The mission is kinda like playing flappy bird, a lot of times you feel
like you are falling and about to hit one of the pole thingies and
then God just taps the screen and you jump up and then you begin to
fall again and then God taps it and you jump over it - but the
greatest part is that you never end up hitting, so we just have to
trust God even if it looks like we won't make it. YOU WILL MAKE IT.

Have a great week everyone.

Love,

Elder Jenkins