Missionary work and Harry Potter

Celebrating the birthday of our Nigerian Homegurl twins.  They're a crackup!  And they don't speak French, so everyone in the neighborhood just calls them "'Ow are you" Because that's all they say!  When people ask what their name is in French, they just say "'Ow are you?" hahahaha

What to say.  Je n’ai aucune idée.  Je veux bien continuer en français.  Il me semble que cela sera plus facile.  Est-ce que c’est bon ? Je ne sais pas, mais honnêtement je dois mettre plus d’effort maintenant pour écrire en anglais qu’en français.  C’est bizarre pour moi que cette semaine, il y a quelques anniversaires.  Aujourd’hui, le 28 avril, ça fait onze mois depuis que j’étais mis à part en tant que missionnaire.  Demain sera onze en mission.  Et aussi, ce dimanche sera mon anniversaire de vingt ans.  C’est trop bizarre.  Le temps s’envole.

Donc, cette semaine passée, c’était un peu calme.  Après l’activité de lundi et puis la soirée familiale, nous sommes rentrés un peu en retard, et à cause de cela, je me suis couché tard aussi.  Mardi, nous avons assisté à la réunion de formation de zone.  Les chefs de zone m’ont demandé de préparer une leçon, et c’était très bien passé.  J’ai appris beaucoup de choses de moi-même en préparant la leçon, et les autres missionnaires m’ont fortifié lors de la leçon aussi.

Mercredi, j’étais frappé par un rhume.  C’était très difficile de me lever, mais je l’ai fait.  Avec la mutation, tout notre programme a été changé.  Avec la maladie et autres choses, on n’a pas pu enseigner même une leçon, malgré nos efforts, mais on a bien terminé la journée avec le dîner chez notre premier conseiller de branche.  Jeudi, c’était mieux grâce au Seigneur, et on avait une journée normale.  Vendredi, la maladie a retourné avec vigueur.  Mais, avec la planification pendant le matin et une visite des Assistants avec les missionnaires qui ont été muté au Bénin, j’avais assez de force de pouvoir sortir le soir.

Samedi, nous avons assisté à un service de baptême avec une amie de l’Eglise.  Le service était très bien passé, mais ce qui m’a touché un peu c’était en rentrant.  L’amie nous a remarqué que la chose qui lui a touché le plus (elle nous a dit qu’elle avait la chair de poule même), c’était quand ceux qui ont baptisé ont soulevé le bras à l’angle droit.  Elle a pensé que cela montrait vraiment l’humilité, comme ils ont demandé la permission avant de faire le baptême.  Elder Bile et moi, nous avons expliqué que c’est un signe de l’autorité de Dieu, appelée la Prêtrise, et que la chair de poule était le Saint Esprit témoignant de la vérité,  et elle a bien compris.  Elle a expliqué que plusieurs lui ont demandé quand elle se fera baptiser, mais elle voulait rentrer chez elle pour le méditer avant de faire une décision.

A part de ça, il n’y a pas beaucoup.  Oh !  Sauf que j’ai reçu une grande révélation cette semaine à propos de Harry Potter !  Elder Bile et moi parlions un peu des films en allant à la soirée familiale.  On parlait, et puis, on est arrivé sur le point de Voldemort.  Et puis, BAMMMMMMMMM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Révélation !  Toujours, en anglais, je n’ai jamais beaucoup pensé au nom « Voldemort ».  Et enfin, j’ai pensé au sens en français.  Wow ! Je n’ai jamais pensé à « Vol-de-mort », mais c’est parfait !  Vraiment, parfois elle est très sage Mme. Rowling.

Haha,ok.  Je souhaite une très bonne semaine à tout le monde, et à la prochaine.  Je vous aime tous !!!  Vous me manquez aussi !

Ok, for those of you who speak English, my apologies.  I didn’t really know what to write. Here’s the translation:

What to say.  I have no idea.  I really want to continue in French.  It seems to me that it would be easier.  Is that ok?  I don’t know, but honestly it is more effort for me to write in English now than in French.  It’s weird to think this week there are several anniversaries.  Today, April 28^th marks 11 months since I was set apart as a missionary.  Tomorrow will be 11 months on my mission.  Also, this Sunday with be my 20^th birthday.  That’s too weird.  Time flies.

So, this past week was a bit calm.  After Monday’s activity and Family Home Evening, we got back a bit late and, because of that, I went to bed late as well.  Tuesday, we had Zone Training Meeting.  The Zone Leaders asked me to prepare a lesson, and it went very well.  I learned so many things for myself while preparing the lesson, and the other missionaries strengthened me during the lesson also.

Wednesday, I got hit by a cold.  It was very hard for me to get up, but I did it.  With the transfer, our whole day was different.  With me not feeling well and some other things, we weren’t able to teach even one lesson, in spite of trying, but we ended the day well with dinner at the home of the first counselor in our branch.  Thursday was better thanks to the Lord, and we had a normal day.  The sickness retuned with vigor on Friday.  However, with Weekly Planning in the morning and a visit from the Assistants and the missionaries that were transferred to Benin, I had enough strength to go out in the afternoon.

Saturday, we attended a baptismal service with one of our investigators.  The service went well, but what touched me the most happened on the way back.  The investigator noticed something that really touched her (she told us that she even had goose bumps).  It was when those who were performing the baptisms raised their arm to the square.  She thought that this really showed humility, like they were asking permission before performing the baptism.  Elder Bile and I explain that this is a sign of the authority of God, called the Priesthood, and that the goose bumps were the Holy Ghost testifying of the truthfulness to her.  She understood it well.  She explained that many people asked her when she would be baptized, but she wanted to go home and ponder on it before making the decision.

The Chapel

There were some pretty cool looking clouds coming through on Saturday.

This one was my favorite picture of the whole day

Apart from that, there’s not much to share.  Oh! Except that I received a HUGE revelation this week about Harry Potter!  Elder Bile and I talked a bit about the movies while on our way to Family Home Evening.  We were just talking and then we arrived on the point of Voldemort.  And then, BAMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Revelation!  In English, I had never thought much of the name “Voldemort.” Finally, I thought of the meaning in French.  Wow!  I’ve never thought of “Vol-de-mort," which means roughly “theft-of-death!”  CRAZY!!!!!!  But it’s perfect!  Really, sometimes she is very wise, Mrs. Rowling. 

I wish everyone a very good week, and see you next time.  I love you all.  I miss you as well!

Avec amour, 
Elder Jenkins

PS Shout out to my big bro, Kaleb, and his 24th Birthday today!  It's crazy gig the tune flies!

Elder Dih with Luc and Vicky and Precious (PS: Precious can walk now!)

Elder Dih's good-bye Family Home Evening.

African missionary mouse trap.  Who can spot the mouse's tail?

Storm front coming through.  The rainy season is about in full-swing now.  It rains about every two days at least, especially in Baguida.  But the problem is that the humidity is higher, so it gets HOT when it's hot.  If there's no wind, I sweat a TON.

Yep.  Togo.  That's by far not the craziest thing I've seen on a moto.

Are you willing to sacrifice being more effective for being united?

Oh! I completely forgot to describe our service project this week!
Our neighbor's brick oven broke, so Elder Bile and I decided to go
help the mason rebuild it on Wednesday!  4.16.14

Moving 200 bricks was a workout!  Goodness I'm out of shape!

This was the easy part for us!

Well, I don't want to sound like a broken record, but it really amazes me how the time flies.  Honestly this past week has flown by again.  I don't have terribly much time today, but I just wanted to share a quick lesson that I have learned from this past week.  It has already changed my vision of everything so much.

So, just to begin, as missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we work in companionships of two.  We spend ALL of our time with our companion.  From when we wake up at 6 am and go to bed at 10 pm, we are always together, except in the bathroom of course. We also sleep in the same room, so we're still together from 10 pm to 6 am.  As with all relationships, this much togetherness can lead to some discord and sometimes it takes a bit of time to talk together and work it out. Well, sure enough, this arrived for Elder Bile and me.

As I sought counsel from our leaders to help us resolve the problem, the response came in the form of a question.  "Are you willing to sacrifice being more effective for being united?"  This simple question changed my whole perspective on the current situation.  In fact, it realigned all of my priorities in the work in which I am engaged.  Not only in this work, but in the rest of my life as well.

As I've reflected on this question, it's turned out a bit like this. If we are united, we will have quality in our relationship and work. If we are effective, we may have lots of useless quantity that may be nothing but hollowness.  If we are both united and effective, we will have quality quantity.  However, when it comes down to it, unity is more important than anything else.

The more that I've thought about it as well, the more that I see that it applies to every relationship that I will have in my life, most importantly with my own spouse and family in the future.  I have been very grateful for this new knowledge and vision that God has given me, and it has been just another testimony for me that it is through trials that we grow, through "Mountains to Climb" that we reach higher.

Anyways, today, we had the Lomé Stake Easter Soccer Tournament.  I am exhausted and sunburned, but it was a blast.  Our missionary team ended up in the final where we lost 1-0.

after my pre-match warmups

Just before the starting whistle

from our first round game

another from our first round game

I switched to attacker for our semifinal game.  Someone was tired, but still wanted to play, so we switched.  We also had to switch our jerseys due to previous color conflicts. 

from the semi final

another from the semi final

Our team picture from this morning 4.21.14

I love you all and wish a very inspiring week!

Avec amour,

Elder Jenkins

 

Pigeons grow super fast!  This was one week from hatching day!  4.16.14

Easter sunrise.  There was a church that decided to do a fanfare
parade by our house at 5:20, so I was able to go up on the roof and
get good pictures.

Zoomed out

Thought these clouds were cool!

The staining process.  Foster Clark's is kind of like Crystal Light, but different

Yeah, brown eggs don't work too well with staining

After shelling and staining again

Easter breakfast!  4.20.14

YUM!

The Primary's Easter presents!

Inside 4.20.14

Hahaha I don't really have a caption for this.  BON VOYAGE!

I made chicken noodle soup this week!  Elder Donadier LOVED it!  He
asks for it all the time now.  PLUS, one of the stores had CAPRI
SUNS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Haha not really sure what this means.  It's painted on the wall of
one of our investigator's house.  the translation is: "You want or you
don't want?"

I love my Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ

Well, my dear friends, this has been one week my current English vocabulary cannot even begin to find an adjective to describe.  So rather than try to find an adjective, I will, in recounting an ongoing experience from this past week, bear my testimony of the Plan of Salvation.

This past Tuesday, as we were home for lunch, I noticed that Elder Bile was moving a bit slow.  As the time to go back out approached, he sat on his bed holding his head in his hands.  For those of who you don't know him, and I'm pretty sure that means every single one of you reading this, Elder Bile is a VERY loud and outgoing person.  He makes me look VERY calm, that plus all my time here has calmed me.  Anyways, I honestly have never seen Elder Bile like this.  He is always the one to bring the noise and energy level up ten notches.  He had told me earlier that morning that he was feeling really tired, so I was not terribly surprised that he was struggling to get going. 

However, as I passed by his bed, I had the distinct feeling that I need to just sit down with him and put my arm around him.  As I did that, I started to have the feeling that there was something more than fatigue going on.  After a few seconds, he finally pulled his hands away from his face.  I asked him if everything was okay.  He replied, with tears in his eyes, "Yeah, everything will be fine." "What is it?" I asked.  He didn't reply, so I asked again.  After a few moments of silence, he stated, "Yesterday [last Monday, the 7th], one of my friends gave me some family news.  Because I don't have any contact with my family, it was him that had to pass me the message. He told me that my sister died this past week."  After that, both of us just cried together for a few minutes.  Once we calmed a bit down, I explained that he needed to call President Weed and let him know, and that while he talked with President Weed, I would inform Elder Dih and Elder Donadier (the other other missionaries in our apartment).  He agreed, and I dialed President Weed and explained briefly the situation and then passed the phone to Elder Bile.

After barely being able to choke out words to explain to Elder Dih and Elder Donadier, Elder Bile came back out to join us.  We went into the great room and spent some time together as a District.  After a few minutes of counsel and prayer, Elder Bile said that he was ready to go out, so we went and got ready.

We were able to get out the door and in the middle of our first appointment, President Dieudonné, President Weed's first counselor, called to say that he was on his way out to Baguida to meet with us.  Just as we were finishing our first lesson, he called to say that he had arrived, so we went out to the main road to meet him and then head back to the apartment.  We had a quick meeting of counsel and strength with him and one of the counselors of the Stake Presidency and then they took us to our next appointment.  Overall, we finished the day fine and I was very pleased with Elder Bile's efforts to overcome the grief and sorrow and put himself to work.  Yes, it was a bit slow, but he did a fantastic job.

Wednesday, I did a split with Elder Dih.  It had been planned weeks before, but I thought it was best to keep it so that Elder Donadier and Elder Bile could have some time together.  In the MTC, they had been companions and countless times, according to them, Elder Bile was there to put his arm around Elder Donadier's shoulder whenever he got homesick and thought that he couldn't go on.  Then, this past Wednesday, the tables were turned, and Elder Donadier was 100% there for Elder Bile in his time of need. After we finished daily planning at the end of the day, Elder Bile shared a bit from their day, and I was so impressed.  He really had put himself to work that day, and it showed.

The rest of this week has been filled with ups and downs.  There have been some moments where I have been so proud of Elder Bile and his efforts to work through the sorrow.  Other times, I struggled to known what to do or say to help comfort him.

However, one thing I do know, and I know that Elder Bile knows as well, is that death is not the end of his sister's story, nor any person that has ever lived on this earth.  Thanks to the scriptures, we know about something that we call the Plan of Salvation.  This plan is God's plan for each one of us, His children.  Well, my dear friends, this has been one week my current English vocabulary cannot even begin to find an adjective to describe.  So rather than try to find an adjective, I will, in recounting an ongoing experience from this past week, bear my testimony of the Plan of Salvation.

This past Tuesday, as we were home for lunch, I noticed that Elder Bile was moving a bit slow.  As the time to go back out approached, he sat on his bed holding his head in his hands.  For those of who you don't know him, and I'm pretty sure that means every single one of you reading this, Elder Bile is a VERY loud and outgoing person.  He makes me look VERY calm, that plus all my time here has calmed me.  Anyways, I honestly have never seen Elder Bile like this.  He is always the one to bring the noise and energy level up ten notches.  He had told me earlier that morning that he was feeling really tired, so I was not terribly surprised that he was struggling to get going.

However, as I passed by his bed, I had the distinct feeling that I need to just sit down with him and put my arm around him.  As I did that, I started to have the feeling that there was something more than fatigue going on.  After a few seconds, he finally pulled his hands away from his face.  I asked him if everything was okay.  He replied, with tears in his eyes, "Yeah, everything will be fine." "What is it?" I asked.  He didn't reply, so I asked again.  After a few moments of silence, he stated, "Yesterday [last Monday, the 7th], one of my friends gave me some family news.  Because I don't have any contact with my family, it was him that had to pass me the message. He told me that my sister died this past week."  After that, both of us just cried together for a few minutes.  Once we calmed a bit down, I explained that he needed to call President Weed and let him know, and that while he talked with President Weed, I would inform Elder Dih and Elder Donadier (the other other missionaries in our apartment).  He agreed, and I dialed President Weed and explained briefly the situation and then passed the phone to Elder Bile.

After barely being able to choke out words to explain to Elder Dih and Elder Donadier, Elder Bile came back out to join us.  We went into the great room and spent some time together as a District.  After a few minutes of counsel and prayer, Elder Bile said that he was ready to go out, so we went and got ready.

We were able to get out the door and in the middle of our first appointment, President Dieudonné, President Weed's first counselor, called to say that he was on his way out to Baguida to meet with us.  Just as we were finishing our first lesson, he called to say that he had arrived, so we went out to the main road to meet him and then head back to the apartment.  We had a quick meeting of counsel and strength with him and one of the counselors of the Stake Presidency and then they took us to our next appointment.  Overall, we finished the day fine and I was very pleased with Elder Bile's efforts to overcome the grief and sorrow and put himself to work.  Yes, it was a bit slow, but he did a fantastic job.

Wednesday, I did a split with Elder Dih.  It had been planned weeks before, but I thought it was best to keep it so that Elder Donadier and Elder Bile could have some time together.  In the MTC, they had been companions and countless times, according to them, Elder Bile was there to put his arm around Elder Donadier's shoulder whenever he got homesick and thought that he couldn't go on.  Then, this past Wednesday, the tables were turned, and Elder Donadier was 100% there for Elder Bile in his time of need.  After we finished daily planning at the end of the day, Elder Bile shared a bit from their day, and I was so impressed.  He really had put himself to work that day, and it showed.

The rest of this week has been filled with ups and downs.  There have been some moments where I have been so proud of Elder Bile and his efforts to work through the sorrow.  Other times, I struggled to known what to do or say to help comfort him.

However, one thing I do know, and I know that Elder Bile knows as well, is that death is not the end of his sister's story, nor any person that has ever lived on this earth.  Thanks to the scriptures, we know about something that we call the Plan of Salvation.  This plan is God's plan for each one of us, His children.  It responds to three essential questions: Where do we come from? Why are we here? And where are we going?  These questions are posed in very general and VERY eternal terms.  They can be rephrased as: Where were we before birth?  What is our goal in life on this earth? And where will we go after death?

I know that this life is not the end.  As I once heard a servant of the Lord state, think of this like as a piece of string.  Then, think of a rope extending from both ends of the string,in both directions forever; this is Eternity.  Our life, compared to eternity, is like that piece of string tied the middle of the rope.  Once we zoom out far enough, it's like we can't even see it, but we know that it's there and there are many, many things that we learn from it.

I know that the gospel is being preached at this moment among those in the Spirit World who await the Resurrection and who never knew the fullness gospel of Jesus Christ (see 1 Peter 3:18-20 and 1 Peter 4:6, as well as Alma 40:11-14), including Elder Bile's sister.  I know that, as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive, for time and all eternity (see 1 Corinthians 15:20-22).

This is the season of Easter, the time where we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He is risen.  He has overcome death and, through His merits, we, too, can overcome physical death. His death and resurrection marked the end of blood sacrifice of the lamb.  Now, all the He asks of us is a "broken heart and a contrite spirit" (see 3 Nephi 9:19-22).  If we do what he asks us to do - including having faith, repenting of our sins, being baptized by one holding the authority of God, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end - we will inherit Eternal Life, the greatest of all the gifts of God (see 2 Nephi 31:19-20 as well as D&C 14:10 and Moses 1:39).

I know that my Redeemer lives.  He lived, died, and lived again for all of us.  The sacrifice that He offered for us in Gethsemane and later on Golgotha is beyond our comprehension.  Yes, having nails tearing through His skin must have been excruciating beyond conscious belief, but something that we can never understand in this mortal existence is the pain that He felt as he prayed to the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane, pleading, "If it be Thy will, take this bitter cup from me"  (see Matthew 26:36-46).  Through this sacrifice, He overcame the fall of Adam, opening to us the heavens and the kingdom of God.

I know that this Church is the one true Church of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  He is at the head of this Church and leads it through a prophet, seer, and revelator named Thomas S. Monson.  This truly is a Living Gospel.  Through this Church, we have the fullness of the gospel, which is once more throughout the entire earth.  I love this Church and I love this gospel, but much more so, I love my Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

May we all take this next week to ponder upon the Lord's sacrifice in preparation for the celebration of His Resurrection next week.  May we all be filled with joy and gratitude in His Spirit as we reflect upon all that he has so freely given us.

I love you all.  Have a great week.

Elder Jenkins 

Baby pigeons on Thursday, 10 April, one day after hatching.  Elder Bile's expression after seeing the hatched babies, "The Lord takes and the Lord gives!"

Baby pigeons today, Monday, April 14

Elder Kunz's papaya trees

Bearing fruit!

With Gilchrist and his pet mouse

Nice Shirt!

uhhhh..... Yeah, Africa

Very possibly my favorite little African kid.  He is soooooooo funny!  His name is Escar.

More Tender Mercies

It's amazing the mysteries that are uncovered when we study the
scriptures! (Email me your own captions at
preston.jenkins@myldsmail.net)

Holy cow!  It's hard to believe that it's already been a week!  This past week absolutely flew!  I don't have terribly much news.  It is hard for me to believe that it's already April this week.

Well, for this week, I just wanted to share a major driving force that has recently been re-ignited in my missionary flame.  This force is the Tender Mercies of the Lord.

"But behold, I Nephi will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance." (1 Nephi 1:20)

So what started all of this was a visit from the Assistants on Saturday night.  They were leaving very early Sunday morning to get back to their Branch at 9 Benin time because they had a confirmation. When they came by, I received a letter package from my grandpa.  I opened this package to find a booklet written by a religious professor at BYU, Mark Ogletree.  I saw the title, "Tender Mercies and Thomas S. Monson," and was greatly intrigued.  However, as we were entertaining company, I put it aside or the night.

The next morning, Sunday morning, I decided to read it during the few minutes I had before heading off to church.  What I read was both impressive and inspiring.  Pretty much He described what a "tender mercy" is, and then he went on to explain the many examples of President Monson's life.  This marked the importance of several things for me.  First, we need to pray for specific opportunities to help someone draw closer to God, or to go "on the Lord's errand" as President Monson put it.  Second, we must listen to the promptings of the Spirit and specifically look for opportunities with faith, knowing that God can show us where He needs our help.  Third, we must heed the promptings which are given unto us and trust that we are doing the Lord's will.  Lastly, we must record these precious experiences to strengthen us in times of need.  Also, recording these experiences shows the Lord just how precious they are to us, and it gives us more
opportunities to see them in our lives.

After Church on Sunday, I was able to finish reading the booklet. With the many, many stories of President Monson and the example that he gives to all of us in heeding the promptings of the Spirit to run the Lord's errands, I was greatly inspired.  Before going out to teach Sunday afternoon, I prayed that the Lord would bless me with His errand, that I might be an instrument in his hands for touching the hearts of His children in ways out of the ordinary.  As we left the apartment, my faith was full to the brim.

As we were walking to our first appointment, Elder Bile explained that if the man that we were teaching first didn't progress this week, that we would drop him.  Every single week he tells us that he'll try to meet with us, but because his schedule isn't too sure, it's hard for him to commit to come.  I completely agreed with Elder Bile, even if I didn't exactly want to do it. We started the lesson with him, picking up where we left off the week before.  We answered a few of his questions, and everything was going well.  After bearing our testimonies with his last question, there was a brief pause of silence.  Then, the man we were teaching broke the silence and explained, "You know, I think I'm going to visit you guys this week. I know that I've said that before, but I've got my schedule situated for this week, and I'll have time to come to church on Sunday morning. So yes, I WILL visit you church this Sunday."  I didn't look at Elder Bile, but I know that we both had peace in our hearts, for our worry had been resolved at the heart of the problem.  We finished up the lesson a little bit afterwards, and this was definitely the best lesson that we had with him.

After finishing up our first lesson, we went across the street to a girl named Giselle.  She is a young mom, and she has become more and more interested in our message the more we have shared.  Since she hadn't come to church on Sunday morning, and since our second appointment wasn't very sure, we decided to just go ahead and teach her.  The lesson went very well.  Thank goodness we didn't have too many distractions as are common with her, plus we were able to bring this point up with her, and she completely agreed, so hopefully we will be able to find a better place to talk without distractions.

After praying to finish the lesson, she brought up one question that we hadn't planned on.  Elder Bile and I jut kinda took a few seconds to look at the time and register, as our next appointment was fast approaching, but finally we decided to just go ahead and respond to her worry.  We spent about another 10 minutes with her on that, and she understood, but we didn't respond to all of it, so we'll have to return to finish responding.

As we left Giselle's house, we were a bit pressed, as our next appointment was also a bit far.  However, as we were crossing the  street, someone yelled out, "Hey!  Missionaries!  Elders!"  We stopped and looked to find a guy sitting on his moto.  As we approached him, he giddily shook our hands and exclaimed, "I'm a member of your church!  I was baptized this past year in Ivory Coast, and I have been looking for you guys out here in Baguida since August!  Now I've found you!  Where's the Church here?!"  Elder Bile and I just kinda stood there, mouths gaping, eyes widened by his enthusiasm, as all of that information took its time to process.  Then, all of the sudden, it processed, and we were like, "OH MY GOSH!!!"  Well, long story short, his phone is broken, and he took our number and said that he knows the area of where the Church is and if he needs to he can borrow someone's phone and call us when he gets around there.

Wow! Anyways, so as we left, a little more bounce in our steps, we decided to call our last appointment to see if he was there, as we were decently late at this point.  Turns out, he had left two hours earlier anyways, so we wouldn't have been able to teach him anyways. We decided to spend the few more minutes that we had visiting the few less-actives and investigators that live near our apartment. Reflecting on the experiences with the first appointment and then the man we met on the moto, Elder Bile and I both realized that the Lord had responded directly to our prayers.  In fact, right before going out, Elder Bile had prayed specifically for the man in our first appointment, that he would progress.  I took the man we met on the moto as a direct response to my prayer previously that day.  Needless to say, I recorded these experiences in my journal Sunday night. There are no coincidences in this world, only miracles and tender mercies of the Lord. 

My dear family and friends, I love you all so much.  This work is truly the Lord's work.  God knows each of you and me personally, and He is very aware of our lives. He is there.  All that is needed is faith and action on our part, and He will do the rest.  He will manifest Himself to us through His own ways, notably His own "tender mercies".  It is my prayer that we may all look for the Lord's hand in His tender mercies throughout this next week, and that we may all be blessed with His love.

Have a great week.

Avec amour,
Elder Jenkins

Thought this was kinda cool. 

Three of my favorite little kids here in Baguida!