Bonsoir mes amis.
This past week has been interesting. While I have been physically stricken this week, I have had a spiritual feast!
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| Photo with Elder and Sister Curtis |
We got a visit from Elder Curtis of the Seventy this past week, who is also the Africa West Area President. In preparation for this conference, we filled out the same survey that we filled out several months ago in preparation for Elder Vinson's visit in February. One of the questions was to organize the top 4 chapters of Preach My Gospel (our missionary study/ guide/ teaching resource book) that we felt like we needed the most help with. The majority was clear with the 4 scriptures that he assigned to study before his visit. They were Galations 5, 1 Nephi 3-4, Alma 17, and D&C 50.
Immediately upon receiving the study list I knew what I would be focusing on. My two favorite chapters on that list were Galations 5 and D&C 50. They were exactly what I was looking for in preparation for this conference. In zone conference a week before, President Morin told us to all have a question or two that we wanted answered with our meeting with Elder Curtis, and two of mine were already answered in those studies!!! By the time Friday came around, I was very excited to learn from someone with so much experience and so much authority from God.
The conference itself was a very edifying experience. I also got to play piano again, and we had a couple of arrangements of "I Believe in Christ" and "God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again" with a missionary choir that were phenomenal. Elder and Sister Curtis are such nice people. Both of their lessons were such amazing examples of how to teach with the power and authority of God and how to invite active learning through faith and inviting conversion through the Spirit.
After the conference, both of them thanked me for providing the music, and Sister Curtis and I chatted for a couple minutes about music and piano. She mentioned how probably all of my mom's nagging to keep practicing so that I could play on my mission was finally paying off. I told her that that was exactly how it was and then asked how she knew. She responded, "Because I did exactly the same thing with all of our kids!!!" Haha she's so super nice. She asked me to pass a message on to my mom, so here it is: "You were right, Mom!!!" We finished of the conference with some super good food!
The rest of the week was kinda hard physically. I've had a nasty cough for about two weeks now, and it finally caught up to me on Saturday. After walking 3 hours back from the baptism on Saturday (we had a couple errands to run) in the boiling sun, I was exhausted. I ate and drank a bit and decided to lie down a bit because I had a real bad headache. I woke up three hours later dying of thirst. That's when I decided that I had gotten super dehydrated. That plus the other fatigue that I had kinda just pushed me over the edge! But that rest helped a lot! Lesson learned: DRINK YOUR WATER KIDS!!!!!
Sunday after Church I had a bit of time to study again, and I was prompted to study "Wilt Thou Be Made Whole" by Elder Dyches from the October 2013 General Conference, especially with how weak I was feeling. As I studied this talk, I was reminded of my studies earlier in the week, especially Galations 5. After finishing this talk, I pondered a bit on why I was reminded t*of Galations 5. Through that, I was reminded of my third question that I had from before the conference. Then I made the connection. My three favorite verses in Galations 5 were 16, 17, and 18. Pretty much, if we follow the Spirit, we cannot follow the flesh. And if we follow the Spirit, we will never be led astray nor will we ever be led into danger or trouble. Finally, through the Spirit, we CAN overcome the flesh, or our carnal desires. My testimony was then reaffirmed that it is only through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and upon principles of righteousness that we can ever hope to change ourselves for the better. But as we come unto Christ and accept His Atonement, we can, through the Holy Spirit, overcome the desires of the flesh and become converted unto the Lord.
Later that day, I saw why this study was so necessary and why I had been prompted to do so. As we were got to our second appointment, we found that they weren't home. We called them and they said that they were pretty far. Elder Sahue looked at me and suggested that we visit an investigator that we hadn't seen all week and that wasn't at Church Sunday morning. We got there, and he looked much weaker than I was feeling. When we sat down together, he just broke out into tears. He explained that he's fallen very sick this past week, and because he's in a polygamist family, his father refuses to help him. With no money and no woek, he has not been able to get the necessary medication from the pharmacy. After groping through the depths of poverty, his heart has been broken much like the poor Zoramites in Alma 32. Before I started to speak, I gave a slient prayer of thanks for the help that the Lord gave me to prepare me for this unexpected visit.
The lesson was amazing, and he was very comforted and encouraged by the Spirit. The words of comfort that were spoken during this lesson weere not mine nor were they his, but they were inspired by the Spirit, and I especially felt D&C 50:17-22 in practice. We finished by giving him a blessing, for which he was very grateful and which served as another testimony of the truth for him. He said that the calmness of the blessing which we gave seemed so much more like the Lord's way than the yelling, hitting dramatics that are seen in so many other Churchs. he said that he believes firmly that the blessings which we gave was through the Lord's authority.
Well, that's about my week. Like I said, I have had a spiritual feast amidst physical trials. My health is increasing, and I thank my Heavenly Father for the spiritual knowledge and understanding that He has granted me this week through the grace of His Son's Atonement and throught the gift of the Holy Ghost. May we all continue to strive to gain knowledge about God's kingdom and be found seeking after truth is my prayer.
I love you all. Have a great week!!!
Avec amour,
Elder Jenkins
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