Week 98: "The rains in Spain are a pain and don't just fall on the plains"

Hello all!

And here we are...in kfc...4th week in a row...mooching off the free
wifi and eating the best American food Spain has to offer. I hate to
make this comparison, but it's the closest thing I can find to
chic-fil-a so it will have to do for now.

The week has been pretty good. I am convinced that the best time to be
a missionary is during Christmas time. I remember last Christmas
filled with so many miracles and I can't say that this Christmas is
looking any different! I continue to be astounded by the success of
English class! Every single one of our progressing investigators goes
to English class, and this week a woman showed up and said "oh wow, I
didn't know this was at a Mormon church! My sons in my country are
Mormons and one is preparing to serve a mission. You guys should come
to my house and teach my family!".....I guess it's just proof that
everything deserves a try. If I would have just let my past
experiences with English class dictate my decision to give it an
honest effort we wouldn't be seeing any of the success we are seeing
right now. I actually really enjoy going to the class, and I
surprisingly like teaching it. Granted, I'm no professional, but I
think my English teachers would be proud.

This week I had a really special experience. It was my last fast
Sunday as a missionary and so needless to say I was kind of a wreck in
the back corner of the church trying not to let my allergies produce
tears so that people wouldn't think I was crying....but we have an
investigator who randomly asked if we could give her daughter a baby
blessing because she had never been blessed or baptized, and she asked
me to do it! I was slightly caught off guard because I guess I always
thought I wouldn't do that until I had my own child, but it was
special to feel how special children are to Heavenly Father and also
to do as Jesus did and bless the children.

It has literally been raining like all week! Apparently it's the most
rain that Spain has seen in a long time at this time of year. When all
of the missionaries all went to the mtc to get our visas, everyone
made fun of me because I asked a "stupid question" of whether or not
it would practical to bring umbrellas or not...obviously it was an
inspired question! Our area is so big though that it can be raining
and then we get on the train and it isn't raining in our next cita.
One time we got off the train: raining, walked 100 meters :cloudy and
not raining, walked another 100 meters, sunny and sweating...it was
weird.

Time is crazy: I spent a minute just looking at my clock and then
realized what I was doing and exclaimed "NO, THAT WAS A MINUTE ILL
NEVER GET BACK!"...a slightly exaggerated response but it's kind of
true. I never thought of time as such a precious resource until there
was little left. I guess it's that whole principle of supply/demand
all over again. It seems like the more I try to use our time wisely,
we get stuck in time-wasting twists; however I see it just as the way
that the Lord is refining us to help us be better and I am thankful
for that.

I hope you all have a great week. You should be getting another time
lapse of a pool party this next week ;)

Love,

Elder Jenkins