Week 73 :Solar history and stained pants

Hey everyone!

Sorry for last weeks confusion. Now I officially have 6 months left,
even though I haven't served for a year and a half yet. It's a weird
situation. Something cool though is that 21 years ago, I came home to
my family right at Christmas time In a little stocking...and now I'll
come back to my family right at Christmas time....except this time I
don't think I'll fit in the stocking..

This week has been really good. We actually witnessed history! A solar
plane flew for the first time from New York to Sevilla. We were just
outside working out in their Ning and we heard what sounded like a
kamikaze attack and so we went out just in time to see the smoke left
behind by the planes that were accompanying the solar plane into
Sevilla. Pretty cool huh?

There is a family we have been teaching from Paraguay who has been
having a lot of family problems. We have tried so hard to get them all
together for a lesson and finally this past week we got everyone
together and we read together the family: a proclamation to the world.
It's a document released by the church, revealed to living prophets,
regarding what is the doctrine of the family and our duties as members
of the family. Reading it with them was very powerful. I realized that
each of us in the family has a duty and a responsibility to perform
that duty to the best of our ability. The family is perfect in the way
God instituted it and it is a basis in the teachings of Jesus Christ
that will help us achieve happiness in family life. We kneeled down
together and for the first time in a loooooong time this family had a
prayer together led by the head of their household. It was extremely
powerful!

Another experience in that house. Their dog is really sick and so they
were trying to give her medicine and we couldn't share the message
until we got it to take it, so my companion went with a towel and
tried holding its mouth open (this dog is a little smaller than a rat)
and it just flipped out and even though they shoved it down its throat
it still wouldn't take it. So then I decided to take a more loving
approach and sat down next to it and started petting her and talking
to her. We all thought it was working but then it still rejected the
pill. Well as it jumped back away from it, I felt liquid spray up onto
my hand a bit and I looked down and from my thigh to my calf was a
different color than the rest of my pants....surprisingly, we still
taught the lesson despite the fact that the dog had an "accident" (on
purpose) on me. Luckily it was the last appointment so I waddled home
and thanked God for a washer and drier.

This week, the president of the general relief society is coming to
the mission and we are going to have a special leadership meeting with
her. I'm pretty excited! I guess I'll have some cool insights to share
next week.

Love you all!

Elder Jenkins

Week ?: The Lord Loves the One

Hey everyone!

18 months down, 6 to go! It seems like it has actually been a lot
longer! Someone asked me if the mission flies by this past week and I
told them the only thing that flies on the mission is the plane
home.....haha...but I wouldn't want it any other way. I'm having the
time of my life.

....actually I just realized that it's only been 17 months....just
kidding...I guess in a month you can all expect the exact first
paragraph I just wrote again.

Cool story: we were walking down the street to an appointment and we
saw a woman, 5'2-5'4, brunette (inside joke)....and she was just
sitting on a bench and we just both had a really strong impression
that we needed to talk to her, despite all the people who were around.
We both looked at each other and we knew we had the same impression so
we walked up to her and told her that we had the impression to talk to
her. She just began to cry because she was getting baptized into a
church the next day but her whole family was against it and made fun
of her and what not so she was meditating at that moment on making the
decision and what she would say in her testimony. The Lord cared
enough just to send her a little confirmation that she was indeed
heading in the right direction and that He was pleased. The Lord truly
cares about the 1, just as much as the 99.

How bout that block by Lebron followed by the 3 point fade away by
Kyrie...the Lord can also put the exact highlight you are earnestly
desiring to see on a restaurant tv right at the moment of passing by.
Tender mercies.

Well, I love you all! Stay safe from the heat and pray that I don't
get roasted:)

Love,

Elder Jenkins

Week 70: Heat Wave 🔥🌊🔥🌊🔥🌊🔥🌊🔥

Hey everyone,

ITS SO HOT!

Last week we got back from Malaga to Sevilla and they had warned us
about a heat wave that came from the Sahara but when we got off the
train it was like on home alone 2 where Kevin throws the brick off the
roof and hits Marv in the face. Like it burns your nose and in your
throat...it's pretty brutal. And the worst part is every time we
mention the heat someone says, "oh yeah? This is NOTHING. the heat is
still to come....."

The work is going really well! My new companion and I are master
chefs...which basically consists of making something that's not cereal
or sandwiches. One really cool experience was that we visited a
teenager who we had taught one time before and we asked him if he had
read what we left for him. He said that he had, and that afterwards he
had a dream. Basically in the dream, we came to his house and when we
came he let us in and as he let us in his father pulled him aside and
told him that we could help them with their family problems and that
the kid needed to confide in us so we could help. After he told us
about the dream he just looked up and then asked, "can you guys really
help us?" We were able to testify to him that the Lord, through us,
CAN and WILL do it:)

I hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Jenkins