Week 77: Missionaries sang as they walked and walked and walked and walked

Hey everyone!

I feel so bad because at the beginning of my mission I was so good
about writing long and thought out emails. Since then my emails have
been going downhill "like liquid Mercury flowing down a sloping, a
sloping....thing". It just feels like the longer I am here the faster
time is flying! I have started telling people that I have a year and a
little bit here in Spain so that they don't just make fun of me for
having 5 months left. Luckily, the burning hot sun makes every moment
count :)

We had a really great week! I have been really stressed because it has
seemed for a while now that we were just trying as hard as we could
but having no divine help! This past week there were so many little
miracles. We knocked up to a door and the couple let us in and as we
asked them a couple of questions,  one being "what would you think
about the opportunity to be "born again", like to start over fresh?"
They looked at each other and then my comp and. I. Gave each other the
same look we gave each other the week. Before right before the dog
peed on the door, and then they said. " right before you guys called
up we settled a 5 day argument and decided what we needed was just a
fresh start in our lives! We were literally just ending our talk when
the door bell rang" CRAZY!

Saturday night, we decided to call one of our Chinese friends just to
see how he was doing. He answered and said "are you calling because
you want me to go to church tomorrow because. I think I can go....."
He actually came and liked it a lot! He even stayed for the choir!

I just wanted to say a little bit as well regarding pioneers. Most
people may not know, but in the beginning of. The church, there was a
lot of persecution for. Church members. They were driven from their
homes, often forced to leave all of their. Belongings behind, people
were killed until finally they decided to make the long trek from the
Midwest to the western Rocky Mountain region. This trek was extremely
difficult and many did not make it; however, those who did were able
to establish themselves finally free from this persecutions. As
members of the church, we greatly respect the sacrifices that they
made and for that reason we celebrate these pioneers on the 24th of
July. I never really understood these types of pioneer sacrifices
until I came here to Spain. Almost 90 percent of the members here are
first generation members, people who had to leave their families,
traditions, prior thoughts, ideas, hobbies, or habits all because of
something they feel is true. I am amazed daily by the strength of
these. Members and am so grateful for what they give to the church
here. Most of all, I am thankful to the two pioneers in my family, my
mom and my dad, who made these sacrifices for the good of their future
family.

I hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Jenkins

The dog strikes again...

Hey everyone!

My goal is to not mention in this letter how blazing hot it is here...

...well there goes that goal.

Highlights of the week:

We got a bunch of new people in the zone. One of them is from
France...it feels like I'm watching the pink panther every single time
I talk to her. Now I can finally work on my French accent in Spanish.
Tender mercies.

We went and called up to a house, and immediately the door opened. My
comp and i each gave each other the "this is going to be a miracle"
look. We get to the door, knock, a teenage boy opens the door and we
can see that his entire family is there. We ask to speak to his dad
and as his dad is walking to the door, the dog walks up, sniffs my
leg, lifts up his own and begins to use the door as a bathroom. The
dad told us it wasn't a good time and shut the door...I don't know
what it is with me and dogs!

A member of the area 70 came to our ward here just out of the blue,
and I actually recognized him right away. He had come to my ward the
very first Sunday that I was in the mission when I went up to give my
testimony. He told me my Spanish has improved a lot since then... He
gave a really awesome talk about a principle that I love. All
knowledge is light and all light comes from God. I always hear about
how those who involve themselves in the sciences can not believe in
God, but I love what my brother says - all truth is truth, there is no
scientific truth and spiritual truth. It's just truth. It was a great
talk! Unfortunately I had to translate and I couldn't really focus all
of my attention on it.

There are more highlights, but time is short. Remember a month ago
when I thought I had been here for 18 months...well in two days it
will actually be 18 months. You can refer back to my past letters if
you would like to know my feelings about my time here.

I hope you all have a great week! Thank you for your support and prayers.

Love,

Elder Jenkins

Week: 8... - Día de independencia Spanish style

Happy 4th of July everyone!

This has been an incredible week! Last week I talked a bit how sister
reeves, the second counselor in the general relief society presidency
was going to come. Well I thought she was just coming for fun, but it
turns out that her husband served with one of the senior missionaries
in our mission. They were having a little reunion of 4 past
missionaries who served together in Bolivia 38 years ago and their
wives. Hearing from them was so awesome, like a 40 year projection
into what I hope is my future. One of the coolest things that was said
was about unity and math. It applies to companionships and marriage.
Obviously our goal is to become 1.

1+1 does not equal 1
1-1 does not equal 1
1+0 = 1
1-0 =1
we can not try to add nor subtract to one another, and in order to be
one by doing so, one person must reduce themselves to 0
1x1 = 1
And
1/1 = 1
When we work together to multiply our efforts or divide our efforts
between one another we become 1. And in this neither party can reduce
themselves to 0 because if so it no longer equals 1....

I don't know if that makes sense but it did to me!

I have never appreciated so much Independence Day! Not that I don't
love Spain, but I do miss the land of carpet and chik fil a. We had a
little party today and we sang the star spangled banner, it was pretty
awesome. The words are so powerful! I love this part of the third
verse:

"Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just. And this be our
motto in God is our trust. "

It was the trust that they had in God that helped the founding fathers
and all those who fought for these freedoms continue, knowing that
their cause was one for which they should fight. It's sad that a lot
of these values are being lost in these days, but I too feel like as
missionaries we are fighting this same just cause, to help others
return to confide in God.

I hope you all enjoy your MERICA day.

Love,

Elder Jenkins

...4th of July barbecue
And after a year and a half I still got some bunnies