"Speak, Listen and Love"

Well.  I'm at a loss.  I have 10 minutes to write this.  Here we go.

This week has been as interesting as ever.  I came down with some sort of illness that I have no idea where it came from.  It hit pretty hard on Thursday and I was bedridden on Friday.  Pretty much, I'm not sick, but I feel sick, and I've completely lost my appetite.  I never thought that I would serve myself the portions that I do now.  But that might just be a good thing.  I'm starting to feel slightly better, and at least I've had the energy to go out since Saturday.

My companion and I have had a couple communication errors this past week.  Nothing real, real major, but still there's been a lack of unity.  Things kinda escalated Saturday night, and I was at a loss.  Once again, I found myself feeling "like a plastic bag, drifting through the wind, wanting to start again."  I felt suspended in the air (like the seminary video from 2 Nephi 2 for opposition in all things), having no way to go up, down, right, or left.  I then was reminded of an article from the Febraury 2014 Ensign entitled "Speak, Listen and Love" that I will forever keep in my archives.  After reading this article, I assessed our relationship and found that, yes, we were trying to go on to the personal level, but there was a severe lack of validation.  On Sunday, after Church, I explained what I had studied.  I also explained to him that I had pondered and much better understood his point of view, and I tried really hard to validate in showing how I understood.  He understood that, and then returned the favor in a like manner.  

Since this moment, our communication has improved.  It's not yet perfect, not even very good, but it's improving.  Our superficial communication level has increased as well as our personal, but it's our validation on all levels that has seen the greatest growth.

Sorry, I feel like this is rather informational, but like I said, I'm out of time.  This has been another testimony to me that the mission is our personal preparation for marriage, and my companion and I have both sensed that this past week.  That was another thing that brought us together: focusing on what we have in common.  Anyway, have a wonderful week, and I pray that I will have a bit more time next week to share more of my experiences.

Avec amour,

Elder Jenkins