Bringing the World unto Christ: A Testimony of the Book of Mormon

Bringing the World unto Christ

A Testimony of the Book of Mormon

by Elder Preston Jenkins

For several years now, the "Book of Mormon" musical has been sweeping through many US cities, finally making its way to Jacksonville this week.  I have heard many things about it including it’s well written and its fictional plot follows two Mormon missionaries in Uganda, Africa.  As a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints serving in Benin and Togo (West Africa), I have been called to share God's restored truth with this blessed people.  I can testify from mine own experiences of the power of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ coupled with Holy Scripture and prayer to change people's lives not only here on earth but for eternity.

During my nearly two years of service here in West Africa, I have come in contact with many people whose lives have been so touched by their faith in Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon.  I once had the opportunity to have a private conversation with a middle-aged man whom I have been privileged to call a friend.  During this conversation, he recounted to me his life story.

Not many years ago, this man's native country, Ivory Coast, was engulfed in civil war.  My friend was caught in a firefight and took a bullet to the upper thigh.  Immobilized and unarmed, he soon found himself on death's doorstep with a pistol up to his head.  Speaking of this, he said to me, "I had never before, nor have I since, prayed with more strength for God to save my life and spare me."  Miraculously, my friend was left to live, but his leg was proving to be eminently more fatal.  He was able to crawl out of the middle of the road and find aid and shelter offered by kind-hearted, charitable people.  He explained to me that ever since that day, he had been looking for why God had spared him.  Why such mercy?  What must he accomplish?

As he was recounting this to me, suddenly my friend's voice lowered and, marked by tears, he said, "Elder Jenkins, I know why God spared my life.  He wanted me to find the truth, and I found it!  This is why he gave me my life!"  I marveled at this mighty change in him as I saw him walk almost 4 miles on hand-crutches for our Church services every Sunday.

A second example is a young man who has become a very close friend of mine.  He was very devoted to his childhood church, yet he graciously accepted my missionary companion and I in his home.  He accepted our message with an open heart and a curious mind.  When he received the Book of Mormon, he studied it fervently seeking for truth.  Through prayer and the power of the Holy Ghost, he received an answer from God that this book was true.  One day, he exclaimed to us excitedly and passionately, "I've learned more in studying the Book of Mormon for two weeks than I did in eight years of seminary in my childhood church!"

I share my testimony, with these two shining examples, of the power and light that is contained in the Book of Mormon.  The Book of Mormon coupled with the Bible gives us the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  In this book, we learn of Christ (2 Nephi 25:26), and His doctrine (2 Nephi 31).  We learn of mighty examples to follow (Alma 48:11-13, 17).  We learn that ancient prophets have seen our day (Mormon 8:34-35).  This book truly was written for our generation, and though these ancient prophets have long left this earth, they speak unto us with a voice like a "whisper out of the dust" (Isaiah 29:4; Moroni 10:27).

I know through mine own personal witness that the Book of Mormon is true.  I have seen the power of God manifest among the people in Africa.  Hearts have been touched, lives changed, and communities lifted.  I know and testify that all who receive Jesus Christ and the fullness of His gospel will be blessed and received in God's kingdom.

I invite you to ask yourselves, "Have I read and studied this book with humble and sincere consideration?  Have I given this book the in-depth investigation and spiritual quest it merits?"  If you have not, I invite you and urge you to do so.  The Lord's formula is simple: read, ponder, and pray in faith to ask God in the name of Jesus Christ.  If you follow this pattern, God will reveal the truth of all things unto you (Moroni10:3-5).  I testify of this and promise you that it is true because He has done it for me.

I invite you to visit mormon.org where you can chat real-time with real Mormon missionaries.  On this site, you can also contact real Mormon missionaries in your area.

As a witness and representative of Jesus Christ, I pray that all who view the "Book of Mormon" musical remember that the book is always better.

Note from Mom: This is a letter that Elder Jenkins wrote for our local paper, The Florida Times Union, in response to The Book of Mormon Musical coming to town.  The letter that was published was very heavily edited by the paper, but it can be found here: http://jacksonville.com/opinion/letters-readers/2015-02-03/story/lead-letter-actual-book-mormon-better-musical 

If you have questions, you are always welcome to contact him here via the blog and I will forward it on to him or you are welcome to write to him directly at preston.jenkins@myldsmail.net .

"Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you"

Hello all.  Today has been a very busy day, so I will have to keep it short unfortunately.  First thing's first.  TRANSFERS...  Yep... it's that time of six weeks again.  Already.  So I got a call from Elder Bulunga Saturday evening and ...........................................................  I'M TRAINING AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  That's right.  This is by far my all-time favorite calling as a missionary.  Yes, it's hard.  Yes, it takes lots of patience.  And no, missionary work doesn't progress quite as quickly, but it is such an amazing time of growth in not only the trainee but in the trainer as well!  As my companion has not been "officially" assigned at this time, I will present him next week.  But the one that has been assigned to me as of now is Congolese.

Besides that, it's been a wonderful week!  We have had many opportunities to give service out of the ordinary, with more planned for this week!  (see pictures below) We have found many new people to teach!  The work is really starting to pick up here in Akpakpa!  Elder Jeneseri is sad to be leaving after spending his first 7 months in this area, but he's going literally just next door to Avotrou, bordering our area right now!

Like I said, I do not have much time today, but I would like to share my testimony of being converted to the Lord.

Conversion to the Lord is one of the sweetest feelings that I have ever had the opportunity to taste in my life.  Over the past few months, a few things have come up where it would have been very easy to just be fed up and done with it.  Many instances could have led to disappointment and sorrow, but with the conversion to the Lord that He has so graciously given to me, I have been able to keep my head up and carry on with faith.

I am a changed person.  I am nowhere near perfect, but the Lord has produced a profound change in heart in me.  I compare this feeling to Lehi's vision of the Tree of Life, found in 1 Nephi 8.  The story recounts that when Lehi tasted of the fruit, it was sweeter above all else that he had tasted.  So sweet that he look around immediately and wanted to share it with his family and friends.  This is why I have sacrificed the past 20 months of my life and will gladly sacrifice the next 4 to the Lord's work!  I have tasted of this fruit!  I have felt what the prophets ancient and modern have described as a change of heart that produces this fruit!  I know what it feels like to be accepted by God Himself, which is why I want to share this with as many as I can.  So please, if you have not yet tasted of this fruit, I ask of you and invite you to search, ponder, and pray to find it.  I promise you that you will.  With the Lord's help, we can all draw closer to Him.  He has promised us that as we "draw near unto [Him], [He] will draw near unto us." (see D&C 88:63)

I love you all so much, and I hope and pray that you all have a wonderful week and seek to draw closer to the Lord as I seek to draw ever closer to Him.

Avec amour,

Elder Jenkins

One of our unique opportunities for service:  Our neighbor got locked out of their apartment by her two year-old daughter

So,  Elder Jeneseri had to use the wooden ladder to cross from our balcony to theirs to go into their apartment and unblock the door.

It was kinda intense, but the Lord was protecting us.  We were praying very intesnely as well.  It took like      30 minutes to figure out.

He will make our burdens light

Elder Jeneseri and I

This week has been one of the most inspiring on my mission.  I will proceed, as usual, with the lessons that I've learned from my experiences this week.  But first, a bit of background.

Harmattan this year has been so much worse than last year.  Even the natives are really complaining about how bad it's been this year.  By next week, if it's still on, it will have been here a month.  Last year it lasted just a few days.  The city is covered in a giant dust cloud that hasn't dissipated since it first came.  Some days it's thicker than others, but this is caused by the cold, dry wind from the Sahara.  With the chillyness (I don't really want to say cold because the lowest is like 70, but it's still cold for us!), the dryness, and the dirt in the air, all four of us missionaries in the apartment have fallen sick this week: one with the flu, one with some sort of prolonged migraine, and two (including me) with colds/ upper respiratory infection.  

Harmattan cloud overhanging our neighborhood.

Looking at the sun gets a whole lot easier during Harmattan.  I don't even need sunglasses because it's always cloudy!  Not sure if that makes up for all the coughing though.

It has been a real test of faith, and I was ever so grateful for the strength that the Lord has given over the past 19 months to bear up this burden with ease.  A couple mornings we slept in to rest ourselves.  We spent one full day and most of another day at the apartment because, for the missionary with the flu and the one with the migraine, the best option was simply to rest.  But the days we were able to buckle up our courage to carry out the Lord's will were full of miracles.  The real miracle came as we sat down to do our weekly evaluation on Sunday, and this week (even with two days spent in the apartment sick) was the most productive week I've had here in Akpakpa and one of the most productive of my mission.  It was truly a miracle.

During our evaluation, we were able to talk a little bit about what happened during the week.  We saw how Satan was trying to attack us, going about to do all that he can to impede the Lord's work as he usually does.  However, we were able to overcome that.  The two days where we were in the apartment sick we were able to browse through all of the old files, some dating back to 2008 which is ancient for this mission!  Through that, we were able to find many inactive members and many former investigators that we will be contacting throughout this week!  So even though we weren't out and about walking, the Lord still blessed us with a huge opportunity to find new people to teach and to still work for Him.

This got me pondering a bit on Satan.  It's not exactly something that I like to think about a lot, but nonetheless, in order to win the war, we must know our opponent.

I was reminded of a scripture from Presidnet Monson's talk from General Conference in October last year entitled "Ponder the Path of Thy Feet".  The scripture is Doctrine and Covenants 29:39, which reads:

And it must needs be that the devil should tempt the children of men, or they could not be agents unto themselves; for if they never should have bitter they could not know the sweet

I thought about this during this past week.  We were tempted.  Sometimes to just give up.  Sometimes to not go out and teach.  We had the excuse, and sometimes it was necessary to rest.  But then I was reminded of three other scriptures which are very dear to my heart:

Doctrine and Covenants 84:33

For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these two priesthoods of which I have spoken, and the magnifying their calling, are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies.

Mosiah 24:13-15

13 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.

 14 And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand aswitnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.

 15 And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord didstrengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.

2 Nephi 2:27

Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.

These three scriptures have been very well exemplified this past week.  Our bodies have been renewed as we have sought to go about the Lord's will.  Our burdens have been made light.  At times, I actually didn't feel the burden upon my back (or rather throat and sinuses) throughout the whole day until we got home.  All of this because we chose to be valiant in following the Lord and in sacrificing ourselves for Him.  Because of that, we were free to go out and do rather than be slaves to our beds and sit and stew.  It's was a miracle.

I testify that as we go about our lives seeking to draw closer to God and carry out His will, He will make our burdens light.  Our burdens are very necessary.  They calm us down, humble us, and drive us to go forth with faith as long as we are patient and turn to the Lord in our afflictions.  He is ready and willing to help us--He WANTS to help us--but we just have to be ready and humble enough to accept His mighty hand.

I love you all and invite all of us to seek out the Lord in our trials, to let them mold us into the people that we are meant to become, to let them humble us and soften our hearts so that we see ourselves as the children of God that we truly are.

Avec amour,

Elder Jenkins

PS: Shout out to my cousin Ty Crosby who's going out with the Oregon Ducks for the National Championship.  I thought that I would never say this in my life, but GO DUCKS!!!

As we are entering into this new year, may we all find these gifts that we are looking for.

The sun rising on 2015 

Happy new year!!!  It feels weird that 2015 is already here!  This is my year!

This past week has been wonderful. We've had some good experiences, and we've seen some really good progression in the work!  Our favorite couple (the ones of whom I sent a picture a couple of weeks ago) decided together that they want to be baptised!  That was very exciting.  We've still got a bit of a ways to go with them, but we'll make it.

So this week, I have seen God's hand working miracles in me.  For those who know me, patience is definitely not my forté.  I struggle with it for others around me, but I'm extremely impatient on myself.  Even the smallest of things can easily set me off.

I have been desiring this gift from God for quite some time.  I have been trying to work on it, but it seems to have been coming very slowly.  I have noticed the difference over the months of my mission, but it still seemed like I wasn't quite grasping it.  For the past few months, I have been noticing that my patience has been getting stronger and stronger, but still not complete.  However, this past week was full of stressful situations.  Through God's grace and gift, reflecting on these experiences, there was only one brief time where I got flustered and a bit upset, and that because members were asking to find, pay for, and direct a taxi to a place that I didn't even know!  But even then I cooled off very quickly and we were able to get the situation sorted out.

Ether 12:27 is true.  The Lord can take our weaknesses, and through His Infinite Atonement, make them strengths.  I have become a changed man.  Ever since I studied President Uchtdorf's talk, "Lord, Is It I?", I have really been searching for the strength to see my own faults and the resolution to those before I even look at others.  There were many situations this past week that could have led to me blaming everyone else first, but thanks to this new-found gift from God, I was able to calmly look at what I did not do correctly and how I could have helped others do better as well.  With faith in Jesus Christ, everything worked out in the end.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ--in its true and living form in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints--is truly a gospel of peace and hope and patience.

My apologies for being a bit short this week, but I want you to know that I know that through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we CAN acquire His holy attributes.  They may not all come at once and they may not all come perfectly, but they will come as long as we diligently seek them.

I love you all so much, and I invite you all to diligently seek for the best gifts and attributes of Christ.  As we are entering into this new year, may we all find these gifts that we are looking for, even if it's just 1 or 2.  As long as we seek diligently, other gifts WILL follow (Matt. 25:14-23).

Avec amour,

Elder Jenkins

The baptism of Yannick!  First one in Akpakpa!

So I decided to clean our window nets to let more air in the room on the 31st.  It was a "dirty job" literally, but the results are fantastic!  This is ours.

Compared with the other companionship's window.