The Doctor

Well, this week officially marks my 20th week in Africa!!!  It's moving along, but I can't lie, this week I kinda got a glimpse of how long 2 years is.  Considering it's been 5 months and I still have 18 to go, I did get a bit sad this at the end of this week.  However, the work is progressing! 

One story that I want to share from this past week is with one of our amis, Benoit.  He is Komlan's best friend and we teach them together.  He was supposed to be baptised this past Saturday, but in our lesson on Wednesday he shared something.  He shared that he had read the first few chapters of the Book of Mormon and the story of Laman and Lemuel binding Nephi in the desert really touched him; the fact that Nephi immediately forgave them.  He said that when he read this, he felt like he there was someone he needed to forgive before being baptized.  I was sooooo happy for him!  So his baptism should be this Saturday!  The Book of Mormon is true, and I was so happy to see that Benoit is already prepared to receive his own personal revelation in scripture study.

As I thought about what I wrote last week, I completely forgot to write about the blood drive that we had!  It was a blast!  No, I didn't give blood (I mean, I'm kinda in Africa).  But there were a bunch of us missionaries just kinda sitting around doing nothing, so I started looking for stuff to do.  The lady who was in charge of it all was over taking the weight and blood pressure of all of the donors and looked especially bored.  So I went up to her and asked her if I could help.  She asked if I knew how to take blood pressure, and thanks to Blain, my trainer at BYU, I do!  It's probably one of the easiest things on earth to do, but I was glad to have something to do.  So the whole time I was taking people's blood pressure, whether they were just taking pre-donating measurements or someone had fainted (yeah, there were like 4).  But, due to the stethoscope, everyone started calling me Doctor, and it still hasn't died down, even a week and a half after.  Anyways, it was fun.  I was occupied and happy, but we had an amazing turn out.  I think the number of donors was anywhere between 30 and 40!

Just doing my job.

Saturday at the blood drive.  I got a little bored when we got a bit stopped up on donors due to only having three doctors there to extract.

After that, not terribly too much this week during the week.  However, this past Saturday and Sunday, we had the open house and dedication of the Kégué building, so I got to see lots of familiar faces!  We also had some investigators come and check it out, too! 

Here's a good look at the Kégué building.

The weather was beautiful!

They set up pictures depicting a bit of what our church is all about throughout the church and it's grounds.

Saturday was the open house.  In the Chapel/extension of the chapel they had a projector set up showing a bunch of media from EFY/ General Conference.  Then, they had a room set up for all of the 5 auxiliaries in the Church, Elder's Quorum (adult men), Relief Society (adult women), Young Men, Young Women, and Primary (children).  As we were walking around the building checking things out, we got to the primary room.  Just next to the primary room was the infirmerie/ first aid room.  I peeked my head in to see what it was, and then all of the sudden "Doctor!  We have a coat for you today!"  So yeah, I stayed in the first aid room FOR 5 HOURS!  All I did was give out aspirin and tell people to drink lots of water.  So that's all I got to do until at 3 we had a baptism when we got to baptize Frederic!  His dad has been meeting with us for about 2 or 3 months, but just doesn't feel like he is quite ready yet.  However, he asked us to teach and baptize his son.  Frederic is 10 years old, and he soaks everything in like a thirsty sponge.  It's ridiculous how quickly he learns!  Children are truly amazing when it comes to the gospel.  After the baptism we stayed to accompany the last stragglers of the open house/chat with other missionaries, and then we went home.

Baptism with Frederic and his family on 10/26/13!  (Frederic is the one in the Winnie the Pooh shirt.  We had to take pictures after the baptism due to the open house that was still going on, but it was great for people to come and see what a baptism is like!)

Sunday was an incredible experience.  We had church at 9 in the morning and then the dedication at 2 pm.  At 12 we went back to the apartment to eat and found that the Be Kpota missionaries came back with the other missionaries in our apartment because their house is so far.  So we had 8 mouths to feed at lunch!!!!  I cooked for the four Americans (Me, Elder Edwards, Elder Ringle, and Elder Haggard - no complaints with that group!) and Elder Kabedeh cooked for all the Africans (Elder Kabedeh, Elder Mbala, Elder Kouadio, and Elder Soanantenaina).  It was busy, but we made it.  The Dedication started at 2, so I prepared quickly and we finished eating at 1:45, but one Elder from Be Kpota was convinced that it started at 2:30 so he took his time eating.  We got there right at about 2:30, and I felt the eyes of President Weed following us from the stand as we found our seats. 

Anyways, it was an amazing meeting with great speakers, even though we only got to hear half of them.  But the last three were Sister Weed, President Weed, and an Area Seventy from Côte d'Ivoire, who is the former mission president of the Côte d'Ivoire mission, which included Togo in his day.  Something that President shared really touched me.  While he was bearing his testimony, he shared the story of the First Vision of Joseph Smith.  As he recounted the story, he remarked that at the very moment that God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph, the last Dispensation of God's only true church on the earth was opened, never to be destroyed again.  He then explained how we live in this dispensation today, and we have the truth right in front of us and it's our duty to share it with the world.  I want to add my testimony onto that of President Weed.  I KNOW THAT THESE THINGS ARE TRUE!!!  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true church of God on the earth today!  Period.  This church is, and always has been, led by Jesus Christ himself through a living prophet.  This work is truly moving forward like the stone cut without hands out of the mountain, rolling forth to fill the whole earth as described in Daniel 2:44-45.

I love you all so much.  Have a great week!

 

Avec amour,

Elder Jenkins

Here's a look at President Preuss (our Branch President) at his desk.  Apparently his grandpa was captain of a major German U-boat during WWII and sunk a bunch of Americans, which is why his name is German.



The stadium right next to the church building.  Its the main stadium of Togo (it's the biggest).  Overall feel?  I'd give it a Junior College rating.  But a high level Junior College.





Sunset from the stadium.



Komlan and the man driving the moto

 



Elder Mbala and I with Komlan and the other missionaries' baptism



Hey everybody!  Well, it's been another great week!  The work with Elder Mbala is going a lot more smoothly as we have gotten to know each other more!  This past Saturday, we had a baptism with Komlan!  He's 65 years old, and his conversion has been 3 years in the making!  He's had some great trials, but he's been able to overcome them all and change his life!

 

So, I have a kinda cool story to share this week.  Well, it's a little bit sad, too, but as far as I'm aware, no real permanent damage was done.  So yesterday, we had church.  It was a fairly normal church service, but as always, it was fantastic!  The Spirit was truly there.  Gabriel taught his first Sunday School lesson after being called and set apart last week and it was fantastic.  The title was "Every member is a missionary," and he really focused on how the member's should help and accompany the missionaries in their work.  It was honestly one of the best Sunday School lessons I've been in.  Then, for the third hour, our lesson was on loving God more than the world, which was fantastic again!  So much good insight given!

 

So anyways, it was just a normal Sunday.  After church, we visited with the members and the amis and all that.  Then, after a few minutes, we went into President Preuss' office to set up an appointment with him for another member that had asked us to bring him to her house.  While we were talking with President, we heard these bloodcurling screams coming through the halls.  Suddenly, a crowd comes in the office led by Prince who is holding little 18 month old Leo.  Little Leo decided to just run out into the busy street that our church is on.  The thing about Togo is that for every car there are about 5 or 6 motos.  They're EVERYWHERE.  So, little innocent Leo, decided to dart out in front of one.  Luckily, he only got knicked on the forehead, but it was a decent knick because there was blood all over his face.  Well, everyone was just kinda staring for a few seconds while he was screaming, so I dropped my stuff and grabbed him to take him to the kitchen to wash him off.  There was honestly a lot more blood than the wound suggested.  The problem was, everybody was just crowding and gaping, so I may have yelled a little bit to get people to move.  When nobody was moving, Soeur Preuss grabbed him to take him to the outside hose.  People kinda started to freak out, but I explained to them that everything would be alright and that we all just needed to stay calm.  So, we washed him off, sterilized him, and then he was taken to the hospital just in case because it was a head injury.

 

Meanwhile, the man that was driving the moto came in and looked worried sick.  Somehow, in the bustle to help Leo, everybody had passed by him.  I spent a few minutes afterwards talking with him to consol him and explain that it wasn't his fault.  Then, a few other members followed my lead and did the same.  After everything was taken care of, we went outside where the man was talking with a few people that saw it happen.  I then spoke with him again to explain that it really wasn't his fault.  He then told me that he was very impressed with the love that he felt from everyone at our church, even though in his eyes he had about killed Leo.  He then explained that he is actually very interested in our church and would like to meet with us the missionaries.  I gave him the restoration pamphlet and took down his name and number, and we'll be passing by his house to talk with he and his family this week.

 

First lesson that I learned with this experience, keep an eye on your kids.  Second, God truly works in mysterious ways.  Yes, Leo was hurt, but he'll grow up and be perfectly fine.  He probably won't even remember what happened when he's older.  However, you never know how many souls will be saved from this experience.  Because of this, someone was introduced to the church and the love that is offered from the saints to all those who enter.  From that, he had questions, even interest, about our beliefs and our practices.  He was then led to us, the missionaries, who can provide him answers to his questions and peace to his soul.  I was really amazed at how the Lord worked in this instance in bringing someone to the knowledge of His gospel.  Miracles like this happen everyday around the world with the missionaries involved!  And I am truly grateful to be able to say that I am a part of it.

I love you all so much!  Have a great week!

Avec amour,
Elder Jenkins

 

Some Muslims getting ready to kill a cow for Tabaski, their New Years Day

 



One of the animals lived to survive another year

Semken Ramblings 10.19.13

   The past month has been very intense.  We have released 18 missionaries and the month before 6 more.  This week we received 20 new missionaries and received 8 others.   This means that over 50% of the mission have new companions, which entails new responsibilities for over 75% of the remaining missionaries.  There are new trainers, new assistant to the President, new district leaders, new zone leaders, and senior companions.  We have two new missionaries who are only 18 years old.  Most of the Africans who come are 23-26 years old.  So you can imagine the stress and strain on the younger missionaries who are there trainers, senior companions etc.  This is very challenging for them and also for the Africans who have a culture that if I am older than you, I am the boss.  So, now everyone gets to learn his/her individual challenges and short-comings.  It does work out.

     To give you an idea of what happens when someone is taking the lessons or becomes a member.  Sister Semken & I were introduced to a young couple who are receiving the lessons.  We saw them at church two times and they are very friendly and receptive.  They don't speak English so we have elders translate when necessary.  Almost two weeks ago we were invited to help with a Family Home Evening presentation.  There were about 8-12 people there and this young mother and child came.  We had a discussion which got on the subject of women and how they were treated.  One man said women are our servants.  Well, that didn't sit right with me and I proceeded to explain the proper role of man and woman.  The women were so pleased to hear that they are not a lower class.  We didn't talk about marriage.  Anyway I saw the man the following Sunday and he was glad to get the explanation of man and woman.  At the FHE we played games which they joined in and thoroughly enjoyed.  FHE is not a lecture time.  They thought that it was what they were supposed to do.  We also had treats.  They were glad to see that not everything is so formal and that all in the family can and should participate.  The young lady asked the elders if Sister Semken and I could come to her home and talk about marriage.  She and her husband had observed how the members treat their children.  They don't want to spank or hit or yell at their children anymore.  So, they asked a recent convert how they made the change.  They told them that we taught them a better way to teach and train their children and that it is working very well.  We go to their home in 15 minutes.  

     Your missionaries are doing well.  We are now seeing many go home and we are both sad and glad.  You know what that is like.

     Elder Vinson of the Seventy, he spoke in this past conference, is here for the District Conference.  The missionaries may get a chance to meet him at the Conference tomorrow.  He is wonderful!  He is in the West Africa Area Presidency and knows a great deal of Africa.  This requires a lot of time for the mission to assist and accommodate him.  We learn a great deal from him.  We talked about the African life, the missionary roles etc.  He said that we notice that those young men from America, Europe adapt faster that many of the Africans.  Partly attributed to the scouting program.

     We visited Customs yesterday and there seems to be some softening from the letter I wrote 2 weeks ago.  We will give you more info as it becomes available.  But, one package got through yesterday with not custom duties and we thought it would be approximately $50 US.  Not all is as it was yet.

     The mission President is back from his surgical procedure and is back to full speed.  Your missionaries had a special prayer day or two for him.  They are awesome.

      We are grateful to you,

             Elder & Sister Semken

Introducing . . . my new companion!

Let me introduce you to my new companion, Elder Mbala!

So this week was my first with Elder Mbala, and today marks exactly 4 months in Africa!  This week has been a great one.  Elder Mbala and I don't quite have the relationship that I had with Elder Dagrou, but it's only been 6 days.  He's interesting and he's a great guy, and I'm looking forward to getting to know him.  He's from Congo and his native tongue is Swahili.  He still speaks French because Congo is a French-speaking country, but he said in his home it's all Swahili.  So, Shaka, if you've got any cool/ funny/ inspirational phrases, I'm open.
 

So this week, as I have had to take over the planning and teaching with a companion that is new to this area, I've really come to understand the work in missionary work.  But I've also noticed something much more than that.  I have seen first hand the power and authority that resides in this work and in this church.  There is no other church on this earth that has this power.  This power is the priesthood, which is the power and authority to act in the name of God.

Many, many people have asked me why I choose to stay in this religion.  Many think that it is too strict, too closed-minded, and they require too many sacrifices, like leaving everything for 2 years to serve in a foreign place.  The fact is, I choose to stay here because I love my God.  I have seen power in this church that I cannot deny, because I know it is the power of God.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is truly the same church that Christ himself established on the earth, and has restored in the latter days.  The same power that Jesus Christ himself held on the earth has been restored and is now held by a prophet of God named Thomas S. Monson, who is a prophet for the world today just like Adam, Noah, Moses, Abraham, Isaiah, and all of the other prophets of old.  There reason I have left my home to live in a foreign (and many times, VERY foreign) country and it is to share this glad message with the world.  I know these things to be true.  I have lived them, and I am a witness to them.  And now, I have the opportunity to do all of these things in the name of Jesus Christ, being a personal representative of Him.

I am so very grateful to have a knowledge of the truth, a knowledge of God's Plan for us all.  The thought that someone might not hear this message makes me so terribly sad, and so I continue in my Father's business.  I hope that each of you that reads this can have this same knowledge that I have of these things.  I you have any questions about what I have shared, you are welcome to write me, or you can visit mormon.org.  (Here is a link to my profile on mormon.org: http://mormon.org/me/904F/Preston)

I love and miss each of you all, but my time is here and now in Togo.  May God be with you all until we meet again.

Avec amour,
Elder Jenkins

 

Getting some service in after a mangez-vous at Soeur Pauline's for Elder Kabedeh's birthday on the 8th!

Found this little guy in our apartment.  He looks mean, but at least he's dead.

We cut down our bananas today!  Bon appetit!!!

 

What valiant servant would be upset about receiving an assignment to serve?

Enjoying the beach and working on the farmer's tan!

Another week gone!  And yes, they still fly.  To start off, Tuesday was a great day!  We had splits with the Assistants and Elder Dagrou and I worked with Elder Gomun, another Ivorien.  It was interesting working with 2 Ivoriens, but I loved it!  I learned so much, too!  The only bad thing about this week was that we didn't get to watch General Conference.  But, at least I got to listen to like 30 minutes of the Saturday Morning Session!

 

Loving life!

 

Nothing better than a day at the beach!

Also, we spent the whole day at the beach today!  I loved it!  We played some soccer and frisbee and took a bunch of pictures!  But I ended up super sunburnt afterwards.  So, my good farmers tan turned into a drastic farmers BURN.  But, it was all made right by a trip to Akif's for Chawarmas (yeah, like what Iron Man talk about at the end of Avengers.  They exist, and they're DELICIOUS).

So Saturday we received the transfer call from the Assistants.  Elder Dagrou is being transferred to Anfamé to be a Zone Leader!!!  We were both a little sad because of how great we've gotten along, but he's happy because he gets to work with Elder Layton again!  Anyways, I had a really good growing experience with that this past weekend.

So this whole week, everyone has been telling me that I'm going to be transferred because I've been here for so long.  So, naturally on Saturday, I was expecting to receive the call to be transferred.  Saturday at noon, the assistants called for some reason and talked to my companion.  He then told me that I was transferred to Kégué and would be working with Elder Kognani and that the Assistants would call later that night to confirm it.  Well, I was content.  Kégué has the nice church building with a nice piano and Elder Kognani is nice.  So, I was just about ready to pack up my bags.  Then, the assistants called Saturday night.  PSYCH.  I'm not moving.  I'm staying for at least another 6 weeks.

Well, needless to say, I was a little disappointed.  My whole afternoon had been spent thinking about my future life in Kégué.  However, as I knelt down to start my fast Saturday night, the floods of revelation opened up to me as I was praying.  I recognized that I am the Lord's servant.  I can't expect to want or ask for things myself that are contrary to His will.  Another testimony to me of the true meaning of prayer.  What kind of servant would ask his master for something and then be upset when he doesn't get it?  How can a servant truly serve his master if he isn't happy or willing to serve him?  What valiant servant would be upset about receiving an assignment to serve?
 

I truly began to feel the power of my calling again, and I felt happy for the opportunity to stay here.  Then, yesterday at church as I was bearing my testimony, I looked out at all of the faces of the members whom I have come to love, and I knew that my work here is not finished, and I was so happy about it.
 

This is probably the quickest attitude change in my whole life (most of you who know me know that when I'm not happy, I'm not happy), and it was a great example to me of the life changes that a mission brings.  I am so grateful to God for this opportunity to keep working in this secteur with a new companion, and I know that my work in this branch is not yet finished, and I intended to finish all of my work here going about my Father's business.
 

I love you all so much.  Have a great week.

Avec amour,

Elder Jenkins

 

 

I learned that it is important to know AND to ask which voice is good

Again, another week gone by. And this week flew!  Literally feels like yesterday that I was just in the cyber writing!  This week has been another great one, but I ended up exhausted at the end from all of our activities on Saturday!

 

To start off, we got to celebrate two birthdays this week.  The first was Tuesday for Soeur Bella.  We had no idea that it was her birthday, but we had planned to visit her anyways.  We got there and they were about to start cooking and preparing all of the food!  So we helped them prepare and definitely helped them eat.  We had some futu gnam (pronounced footoo nyam), which is like mashed potatoes that you use like pâte with a really yummy red pima sauce and chicken, a sort of african corn dogs, and popcorn, all with sparkling cider.  It was delicious!

 

 



Making the futu gnam by smashing the yams



 



 Eating African Style

Friday night we got to celebrate with Soeur Pauline of the Tokoin branch.  She made us some pâte rouge (one of my favorties in Africa!) with fried chicken and Vimta (like a middle eastern soda that's DELICIOUS!  almost as good a Guarana, but it's not the same taste.  Vimta is more of a berry type of taste).  We then opened us some gifts and sang and took pictures.



Celebrating at Soeur Pauline's



Our present for Soeur Pauline.  Credit to Elder Kabedeh for buying the pagne

So Saturday, we had two church activities.  Saturday morning was with our branch, the Wuiti Branch.  Many of the members gathered together at about 9 o'clock, when we had some instruction and then split up into companionships.  We then split to go into all of the parts of our secteur to do OVB (ouvrir votre bouche) or door-to-door.  I got to work with Frère Raphael and Prince (Soeur N'Guessan's son, pronounced Prance).  We sent off into the northwest corner of our secteur.  Prince had the idea to go Résidence du Bénin, which is where the super rich live (there's a lot of French Yovos (white) there).  In reality, its excatly like a normal American community; it's just that almost every house has a guard sitting out front.  We contacted one family and lots of guards, but didn't really get too much done.  But hey, it was nice to see grass and gardens!  We then left and started heading back to the branch, always looking and contacting.  Finally, right before we were supposed to be back at the branch, Prince had the idea to stop at his friend's house.  His friend wasn't there, but his friend's blind grandfather was.  Prince began talking to him about our message and how it is about the Restoration of Christ's church that Christ himself established on the earth.  The man then went rambling on against our message for 30 minutes!  I even got sunburnt from standing out in the sun for all that time.  Several times I tried to break it off so we could leave, but he wouldn't have it.  Finally, we got back to the branch where everyone was waiting for us before giving our reports and eating lunch.

After that, we headed over to Tokoin for another great activity about faith and listening to the Holy Ghost guide us along the Iron Rod, or the Word of God.  I've attached a picture of this activity.  

The main part of the Iron Rod course.  Notice those who were led to the great and spacious building.

It was a really great activity, and many of us, members, missionaries, and amis included, learned a great deal.  I was one of the people that guided, switching between being the voice of the Holy Ghost and being the voice of Satan, and it was very interesting seeing it from that perspective.  

We all really have to make sure which voice is good and which is bad.  At times, it may seem like both are good, but slowly Satan leads us in the direct opposite direction of God.  I learned that it is important to know AND to ask which voice is good so that we can tune in to the voice of the Holy Ghost to guide our lives in accordance with the commandments of God. 

After all of these activities, I was exhausted and Sunday was a bit of a struggle for both my companion and me.  But we both got our rest today, so hopefully we'll be in good shape for when the Assistants come tomorrow for a split!
 

That's it for this week.  I love you all so much!

Avec amour,

Elder Jenkins

Found this at Soeur Dopé's.  Did they mean Rambo or rainbow?