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Surviving Sevilla's Semana Santa

 ...alliteration is easier when you have two languages to work with...

I hope you all had an incredible week. It has been such a blessing to
see how so many have had their thoughts directed to the Savior and His
sacrifice for everyone of us. It has been amazing to see how the Lord
has used this special time to prepare very special people to talk to
us and come to a knowledge of the Lord. We so often fall into the
routine of saying, Jesus died for the world, but we often forget he
did so for each person individually, which means you and me.
Hallelujah

To be quite honest, we did not have much faith in the productivity of
this week, but surprisingly we were able to move forward with little
or no distraction nor obstructions to the work. In fact, I didn't even
see one procession! I was kind of hoping to see at least one, but as
we thought about going out of way to see it we decided that it would
not be a great use of the Lords time, and that we can come back in a
couple years and watch it on our own time. The devotion of the people
is very admirable. There is a procession that goes from 10 at night to
12 in the morning!

We were able to have another baptism this week! It was a man from
Nigeria and he is incredible! It really impresses me how someone who
maybe can't even understand the language that we speak in the church
can feel the spirit so strongly that he can decide to be baptized. So
many people want to see before they can believe, and this man can't
even hear what is being said and he still has the faith to believe.
He's awesome and is teaching me their native language Ebu.

One miracle that we had this week, among the many. We were walking
home at night and we were talking to each other in English....even
though we aren't really supposed to....I'll be better I promise....but
regardless, we were speaking in English and we walked past this
younger looking man and I said hola to him and he said no I speak
English too! So we started to talk to him and he was from Lebanon and
we here studying. He actually asked us where our church was and when
he could come by and see it. We invited him to an activity the next
night, which he came to, then he came to the baptism, and church on
Sunday. He is incredible and so prepared. We taught him the lesson of
the restoration and asked him what he would ask God right now
concerning the message we shared and he said nothing. And I was like
would you ask him if it was true,  to which he responded I already
know it's true. I kind of was taken aback, I almost said you can't
know it's true you have to pray first! But instead we asked how he
knew and he said he could just feel it as we were talking! We got him
to pray for a confirmation and as we invited him to be baptized by the
restored authority of God he began to cry. I realized in that moment
what the opportunity to be baptized really means to someone who is
looking and has that desire. I'm excited to keep working with him and
learn more about the land where the savior walked.

As this amazing week comes to a close, I just want to testify that
Jesus Christ lives. I know that he suffered for our sins, felt our
pains and sorrows, was lifted up on the cross, and most glorious of
all, rose on the third day. I hope that we can always keep in
remembrance what he did for us, but even more that we can remember
what He DOES for us because He lives.

I love you all! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Jenkins

¡Semana Santa está aquí!

Time is short today, but just wanted to let you all know im alive and
doing well. Sevilla is going crazy because of the Semana Santa like
there are processions all over the place and the people wait for hours
just to see the floats and stuff. Those who carry them have been
practicing since like January. I haven't seen many, just on the tv but
surely we will see them this week.

I don't know if you all remember the story about the guy who just
appeared at church a couple of weeks ago from a street invitation.
Well, he got baptized yesterday! I was super excited. We also had a
baptism here of a 17 year old girl who is awesome. She doesn't really
have any family support but as she listened to the missionaries she
felt that it was what God wanted her to do and so she did it. Her
courage and strength are pretty impressive to me as she pioneers the
way for generations to come, just like my parents did for my family.

We expect more miracles in the week to come as we prepare one of our
Nigerian friends for baptism this Saturday. Also, one of the biggest
blessings I have had is sharing the video for Easter, "hallelujah".
Every time I watch it something different calls my attention and
testifies of a simple truth of the gospel. I love it!

I hope that you all have a great week and that as you remember what
Christ did for us, you can also think about what he DOES for us today,
because he lives and I testify of that.

Love,

Elder Jenkins

Week 61: "Duh duh duh duh duh duh Macarena"

¿Como estais mis armas?

...The direct translation would be, "how are you my guns?" But arma is just the way they pronounce almas here in the beautiful city of
Sevilla, so really it's "how are you all my souls". I am loving my
first days here. I can tell that's it's a city filled with cultures
and history, including Costco!. I went there today and I thought I had
been taken into the heavens, American brands on all sides, Cheerios
and chicken nuggets - it was beautiful. They sure do know what the
real sellers are, a jar of peanut butter Costs about 8 dollars and a
bag of pancake mix is 14. It does have some fun Spanish twists too
like a 10 gallon jug of olive oil and uncooked pig legs. Luckily it's
far away so that will discipline me not to go buy too many pop tarts.

The best thing by far here is the church building. It's one of the
biggest that there is here in Spain, 3 stories, underground parking, a
steeple, and it has carpet in the chapel! And it's also in a
neighborhood called La Macarena, like the song! Actually the song was
written about a girl from this part of Sevilla, and the writer I think
still lives here in a little town called Dos Hermanas.  The ward is
great, kind of like my ward in Indiana where the average age of the
people is like 70 years, but they are all really nice and want us to
come eat at there houses - score! Everyone loves me just because I
play the piano and they haven't had a piano player in year...gotta say
mom you were right all those years of forcing me to practice...

The work here has been pretty slow the last couple of years here, but
those who have been here before me have worked so hard and there are
so many people who are really close to taking the step of faith to
follow Christ and be baptized. I know we are going to see countless
miracles in my time here.

There is an incredible video that the church just did to celebrate
Easter called Hallelujah and it explains what is possible through
Christ. It is going to be the focus of our efforts for these next
couple of weeks and for that reason I invite you all to watch it. We
often forget the great opportunities our Savior has given to us and
the potential that we, who we can become, through
His atonement sacrifice. It's important that we remember that, because
remembrance is very strongly connected with the level of our faith.

The Holy Week processions are beginning and I'm excited to experience
a pinnacle of religious culture here in Sevilla. I wish the best for
you all this week!

Love,
Elder Jenkins

Semana 55...o algo: "Me voy, que lastima pero adiós"

Well boys, they say that all good things come to an end - hence I will
be leaving Málaga this week and heading off too....ill say it later so
that those who want to know will be forced to read my letter. HA

I'm really sad to be leaving though. They call this place the promised
land (I don't know if that's just those who live here though) which
reminds me of my branch that the branch president always called Zion,
but it's actually pretty accurate. The people here are all so funny,
the "malagueño " accent is the best, and there are so many cultures
packed into this city! I guess the only good thing is that right now
the trash workers are all on strike so there is trash EVERYWHERE!
Maybe it is a blessing to help me want to leave..but it didn't work!

This past week, we saw another miracle concerning the small and simple
things. So we got to church last Sunday and there was just a random
guy there and as the missionaries we are always on random people we
have never seen before like stink on a monkey to find out if they are
new or just visiting or what not. Well as we talked to him we found
out that he had talked to the missionaries on the street and when they
asked for his address or number to visit him another time he said no,
so as they walked away they just quickly told him to pass by the
church sometime...well that little invitation was taken seriously and
he came to church! Now he is one of our best investigators and is
planning on being baptized soon! All of that just because of a little
invitation that surely the other missionaries didn't think would turn
into a baptism! There's your little motivation to pay it forward this
next week and always do the small things.

Alright the time has come. I'll be spending the next 4-6 months in the
beautiful city of Sevilla! I'm pretty excited, especially because

Sevilla has the biggest Holy Week parade out of the whole world! There
are also a ton of cool things to see like the plaza de España where
they filmed Star Wars. On the other hand, I think it's going to be the
hottest summer of my life, but no pasa nada. I was pretty sad to be
leaving, especially leaving those here who I have really come to love,
who have become my family. Although I am sad, one of those people
really helped me understand that although it is hard to leave, it's
the reason I am here. The cultural experiences and the lifelong
friends are great, but it's all secondary to the real reason why I
came to Spain: to serve the Lord, wherever He wants me to serve. I am
sure Sevilla will hold countless experiences for growth and change -
including one part of the city where you can supposedly cook an egg on
the street - que guay

Well have a great week everyone!

Love,
Elder Jenkins

Week 56: A garbage bin of eternal consequence

QUE SEMANA MAS GUAY (What a cool week).

I know I say stuff like that every week but I really mean it every week!

I would like to correct my last weeks letter - IT IS COLD! One of the
days, we were out visiting people with a member who is a return
missionary from Bolivia, and when we walked out of our appointment we
realized that it was raining...hard...and our next appointment we all
the way across the city. Luckily, our cold wet walk was acompanied by
his stories of wading through the swamps of bolivia to make us feel
less sad about our circumstances. Other than the cold, things are
going great! Everyone is getting ready for the big SEMANA SANTA, where
there will be HUGE parades a groups of 80 people holding up statues of
the different saints and what not. I am hoping to stay here in Malaga,
where the 3rd largest holy week ceremony is held. If I do end up
leaving next week, Ill pray for sevilla where I will witness the
largest!

So when members of the church are in high school, we participate in

something called early morning seminary (for those who do not live in
utah or other highly mormon-populated area) which is basically where
we wake up an hour earlier and have an hour of scripture study before
we all go to school. As you can imagine, it can be quite a challenge
among the load of high school work and inherant laziness to be
motivated to go, and even harder to go and not fall asleep. Well, as a
freshman in high school, I found it especial difficult to focus in
seminary for these reasons and more, and made it quite difficult for
my seminary teacher, a nice lovely woman named Sister Croshaw. Well,
funny enough, I thought that as I moved away and on with life I had
escaped having to face my teacher and pay for my behavior...until that
fateful day...when our mission president told us that we would have a
new married couple coming to serve with us here in spain...yes you
guessed it...the CROSHAWS! You can all imagine my mixed emotions,
happiness and horror. I have waited anxiously for our meeting, and
this past week we finally met in a conference of missionaries. It was
a lot less painful than I thought and actually so much fun to
reminisce about my past ¨Tonterias¨ (stupidity). I just feel the need
to warn any who are currently participating in seminary, do not cause
problems. For if you do, the Lord will send your seminary teacher to
your mission to haunt you...

Other than the reunion with old family friends, this week has been
filled with miracles, ending with the baptism of a brazilian woman who
is the BOMB! I am sure that my children will know her name as I tell
the amazing story of her conversion. It all started on a night when my
companion and I were walking ¨aimlessly¨ or so we thought. Little did
we know that the spirit of the Lord was guiding every step. Here in
spain, there are giant trash bins on the street and they have lids
that you open with a push down lever at the bottom of the bin. Well we
saw a woman going to throw away her trash and impulsively I pushed
down the lever to open it up for her. She said thank you and we had a
5 second conversation which consisted of, hi where are you from can we
share a message with you about Jesus. yes I live here, 4A bye. 1 month
later, I was able to see that same woman dressed in white, making one
of the most important decisions of her life. The process has been
miraculously from the first moment until the last and I am absolutely
appalled by how much my experience with her has strengthened my own
testimony of the gospel and of God´s love for us. I am changed truly,
and it all started with opening a garbage bin - a garbage bin of
eternal consequence. It is my prayer that we never underestimate the
power of service, big or small, for it is all service to our God.

I hope you all enjoy your day, because it wont come again for another
4 years...ha...and even more importantly that you are all blessed this
week in everything you do!

Love,
Elder Jenkins