"You will be an official representative of the Church. . . . Your purpose will be to invite others to come unto Christ . . . Greater blessings and more happiness than you have yet experienced await you as you humbly and prayerfully serve the Lord in this labor of love among His children. We place our confidence in you." Thomas S. Monson

Monday, October 21, 2013

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

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