Happy New Year from Baguida!

Happy New Year!  2014 is here!!!  That's so crazy!  Just so you know, Baguida partied it up pretty hard.  Not that I would know anything about it (President called and asked that we be inside by 6 pm for safety reasons), but Elder Kunz and I did get a trip to the restaurant in on the 31st before heading inside.

However, the 1st was a fun day!  We had a bit of a lazy morning after not being able to fall asleep until early in the morning due to fireworks.  But at about 10:30, we made it to Philippe's house (the branch 2nd counselor) to party.  We were welcomed by sodas and lots of music.  After a few minutes, the food was ready and we had some fufu gnam with eggplant sauce and beef.  DELICIOUS!!!!  It's amazing what a few months in mission can do.  Before I probably would have hated that, but now it's SOOOOOO good.  

 

Lunch!

This is how we do it!

Helping out a bit after eating.

 After that we danced and were just enjoying life before heading to the beach at about 1:30.  The beach was deserted, so we just chilled, took some pictures, and had a randomly started push-up contest.  HAHA.  After that we went to the sports complex that I've walked by a couple times just to check it out.  It was pretty cool inside.  Saw a pool for the second time since I've been in Africa, but this time people were actually using it.  And the soccer field has grass!!!  It looks pretty nice!  Enjoyed the view from the stadium.

 

Who said missionaries can't go swimming?  Haha just kiddin', I didn't.

The soccer stadium.

 

View of East Lomé from the stadium

After hitting up the sports complex, some wanted to go to a beach about 10 minutes away, but Elder Kunz and I were exhausted so we just went home.  There's a white family across the street that let off some big colorful fireworks that Elder Kunz and I are used to, so we enjoyed that!

Other than that, this week has been good!  We got a surprise visit from the Zone Leaders on Friday morning, so it was fun to study with Elder Dagrou again!  They also came to work through our Weekly Planning with us as well.  After that, I made some steak, mashed potatoes, and green beans for lunch!  Elder Rybin (the Zone Leader), Elder Kunz and I were all very happy and satisfied.

Not terribly much this week, I'm sorry!  Just ran out of time at the cyber today!  I'll write more next week!  I love you all!

Avec amour,

Elder Jenkins

What valiant servant would be upset about receiving an assignment to serve?

Enjoying the beach and working on the farmer's tan!

Another week gone!  And yes, they still fly.  To start off, Tuesday was a great day!  We had splits with the Assistants and Elder Dagrou and I worked with Elder Gomun, another Ivorien.  It was interesting working with 2 Ivoriens, but I loved it!  I learned so much, too!  The only bad thing about this week was that we didn't get to watch General Conference.  But, at least I got to listen to like 30 minutes of the Saturday Morning Session!

 

Loving life!

 

Nothing better than a day at the beach!

Also, we spent the whole day at the beach today!  I loved it!  We played some soccer and frisbee and took a bunch of pictures!  But I ended up super sunburnt afterwards.  So, my good farmers tan turned into a drastic farmers BURN.  But, it was all made right by a trip to Akif's for Chawarmas (yeah, like what Iron Man talk about at the end of Avengers.  They exist, and they're DELICIOUS).

So Saturday we received the transfer call from the Assistants.  Elder Dagrou is being transferred to Anfamé to be a Zone Leader!!!  We were both a little sad because of how great we've gotten along, but he's happy because he gets to work with Elder Layton again!  Anyways, I had a really good growing experience with that this past weekend.

So this whole week, everyone has been telling me that I'm going to be transferred because I've been here for so long.  So, naturally on Saturday, I was expecting to receive the call to be transferred.  Saturday at noon, the assistants called for some reason and talked to my companion.  He then told me that I was transferred to Kégué and would be working with Elder Kognani and that the Assistants would call later that night to confirm it.  Well, I was content.  Kégué has the nice church building with a nice piano and Elder Kognani is nice.  So, I was just about ready to pack up my bags.  Then, the assistants called Saturday night.  PSYCH.  I'm not moving.  I'm staying for at least another 6 weeks.

Well, needless to say, I was a little disappointed.  My whole afternoon had been spent thinking about my future life in Kégué.  However, as I knelt down to start my fast Saturday night, the floods of revelation opened up to me as I was praying.  I recognized that I am the Lord's servant.  I can't expect to want or ask for things myself that are contrary to His will.  Another testimony to me of the true meaning of prayer.  What kind of servant would ask his master for something and then be upset when he doesn't get it?  How can a servant truly serve his master if he isn't happy or willing to serve him?  What valiant servant would be upset about receiving an assignment to serve?
 

I truly began to feel the power of my calling again, and I felt happy for the opportunity to stay here.  Then, yesterday at church as I was bearing my testimony, I looked out at all of the faces of the members whom I have come to love, and I knew that my work here is not finished, and I was so happy about it.
 

This is probably the quickest attitude change in my whole life (most of you who know me know that when I'm not happy, I'm not happy), and it was a great example to me of the life changes that a mission brings.  I am so grateful to God for this opportunity to keep working in this secteur with a new companion, and I know that my work in this branch is not yet finished, and I intended to finish all of my work here going about my Father's business.
 

I love you all so much.  Have a great week.

Avec amour,

Elder Jenkins

 

 

Edith and Incredible Faith . . .

Welp! One more week in the past!  It's been a great week, but not too much has happened.  We did have a baptism on Saturday, and it went great!  Her name is Edith, and she's about 27 years old.  She's a single mom, like many her age here.  However, the great thing about Edith is that she has been graciously welcomed into branch!  It's so nice to see her so comfortable with everyone around her even though she's only been to church 4 or 5 times.  It's been great seeing everyone reach out to her to make her feel important and welcome.

This past week we had many transfers, with 12 missionaries leaving.  Many branchess that had 4 or even 6 missionaries before now only have 2.  In fact, the only branch that has 4 in Togo is Hedzranawoé, I believe.  Anyways, we said goodbye to Elder Mundu this past week as he went home to Congo!  His replacement as Zone Leader was Elder Edwards from San Diego!  It's been very nice having another American in the apartment, and especially one that has been here for a while and really knows how to live in Africa.

So a story/principle that I want to share this week happened on Tuesday.  We had a lesson with some members that need a little bit of strengthening from the missionaries every week.  We were talking about faith, so we used the story of the Brother of Jared from the Book of Ether in the Book of Mormon.  The Brother of Jared had been commanded to build several boats.  However, he didn't know what to do for light because he couldn't put in windows in or else they would sink and obviously they can't light a fire in a wooden, enclosed boat.  He then went up the mountain and found 16 stones (2 for each boat).  After this, he prayed with incredible faith to the Lord to come touch the stones to light them so that they could provide light.  As the stones began to light up, he actually saw the hand of the Lord touch the stones to light them so that they could have light in the boats.

As we were recounting this story, Elder Dagrou explained how this applies to us.  He said that when we have a set plan in our life, we need to have an incredible faith when we ask God to help us, knowing that He will.  When we have this faith, we will see the hand of the Lord "touching the stones" in our life to help us carry out our plans.  It is when we have an inspired plan laid out before the Lord with the faith that He will help us, followed by taking action in this plan that we can see how the Lord helps us everyday in the direction of our lives.  I have seen this many times in my life, especially here in Africa as a missionary.  As we create a plan for everyday with the faith that the Lord will help and guide us, the Lord does, in reality, guide us to do His will, even if it isn't what we had planned.

Every single day, I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve the Lord 24/7.  My time is currently short here in Africa, but I know that I have much ahead of me.  It is truly the mission that prepares us to live the rest of our life with purpose.

I love and miss you all, and may the Lord bless you all with your righteous endeavors in the week to come!

Avec amour,

Elder Jenkins

Definitely an adventure!



Loading the debris in the truck African style



Bonjour tout le monde!  Well, another week has flown by!  It's hard to believe I'm past halfway through my second transfer in Africa!  As always, life here is becoming more and more normal, yet the more and more weird things I see around me.



This week has been another great one!  Elder Dagrou and I have been getting along great!  We had our second appointment with the former Prime Minister yesterday after he came to church in the morning.  He said that he loved everything about church and he especially loved how central families are!  He spent the whole lesson talking about his past (just about every detail I think) and how it's brought him to this point today.  He also talked about how it's helped in the search for the truth.  My companion, Elder Dagrou, then made the perfect transition into baptsim and how he will be an outstanding example of the truth for this whole country and for many leaders around the world.  We found that he's already wanting to do missionary work, so we committed him to be baptized in September!  It was great!  We found out how important family is for him yesterday, so tomorrow we're going to see if we can teach the whole family!

On Saturday, we had a service activity somewhere in the business district of Lomé.  Basically, we were just clearing weeds in this one business compound.  However, there wasn't much to do due to lack of tools.  After about 20 minutes of watching 30 people or so work I got bored, so I grabbed a rake that someone wasn't really using and went to look for work.  Fr. Frederick, in my branch, found me and said that there was a big group of tree roots/dirt that needed to be cleared off of some cement.  It was about 2 inches thick of just roots and dirt, so I grabbed my rake and started hammering away.  About 15 minutes later, I had not made too much progress (they were extremely stubborn) and many people told me that I couldn't finish and that I should just stop.  Many of you know, I can be quite stubborn myself at times, so this just made me work even harder.  Finally, I found the main root, which was about 3 inches thick itself, so I grabbed a machete and started hammering away.  Once I cut that, the rest came easily.  It was really just dragging big pieces into the pile.  However, at about 10:30 am (the activity began at 6:00 am) the leaders began to realize that we couldn't finish the whole thing, so they decided to just have everyone stop and leave.  I was a little disappointed because I was so close to finishing!  But we ended and everyone went their own way.

Working hard at the Day of Service

In the end, I was still very grateful for the opportunity to serve.  It actually felt like a normal Saturday at home!  I was extremely dirty, and after I showered, I was exhausted!

That's how the work is going now.  I'm really loving being here and serving the Lord!  Definitely an adventure!

Je vous aime tous!

Elder Jenkins

All the missionaries in Togo who attended the Day of Service (except Doumassesse, who left early)

Elder Mundu and I

Guided by the Lord



Elder Dagrou and I walking after we met Elder Mundu and Elder Kabedeh in the street



Well, I officially finished my Missionary Planner as of yesterday!  (There are six weeks in each planner.)  Only 16 more to go! 

This week was great!  Elder Dagrou and I definitely had some times where we were guided by the Lord to the people that we should talk to.  For example, Friday evening we had an appointment set up with two 16 year-old boys that were just recently baptized and two of their friends of the same age.  They are on a soccer team together and live close together as well, so they're all best friends.  We got to Landry's house and they weren't home.  We waited for a bit, but still they didn't come.  We decided to just head off to our next appointment.  As missionaries, we try to always look for people to teach while walking.  As we were walking down the street, I saw a man sitting on a bench and I had the strong impression to talk to him.  I asked my companion and he said if I felt like we should then we should.  We walked over to talk to him, talked for a bit, but not much came of it.  He said he was interested, but doesn't really have time.  I knew that we had stopped to talk to him for a reason, so we decided to just keep walking to our next appointment.  As we crossed the street, a moto pulled up next to us and the man riding it began talking to us.  He said that he has a lot of respect for us and what we do, how we sacrifice so much to go to a foreign country and serve the Lord.  We then asked if he was a member of our Church (normally it's just members that stop to talk to us like that), and he said no but that he had met with the missionaries a couple times before about a year ago.  We chatted a bit more and he said that he's a journalist here in Lomé and was going to Kara (a big city up ine the north part of the country) to do a piece this week.  But he would love to meet with us again when he gets back. 

After we had talked with him a bit we decided to keep going to our next appointment.  About 6 steps later, we heard the familiar call of "Elder!"  We looked back and couldn't see anyone, but then I spotted Yannick, one of the 16 year-old boys that was just baptized, a little ways back and across the street.  Not too far behind him were Landry, Stefan, and Stan, his friends.  We knew that now was the time to go and talk to them, and we ended up having an incredible lesson, especially for having four 16 year olds, a 19 year old, and a 22 year old all talking about God and prayer.  It was truly remarkable. 

We went about the rest of the evening with our normal planned schedule.  However, as I was thinking back on the day a bit back at the apartment, I realized how special our evening had been.  Of all the things that transpired, none of it would have happened if we were not in those exact spots at those exact times, which only happened because the Lord guided us where to go.  I was very, very grateful for that divine help.

It's weird now how normal Africa has become for me.  Everyday we leave the apartment, it's pretty weird how normal I feel being here.  Oh by the way, another tender mercy just happened.  As I was sitting here typing this, World Champs came on the TV right next to me.  The Cyber is on the French sports channel, and all of the sudden I saw some guy that was drenched and shirtless being interviewed in a press situation.  I then realized it was Yannick Agnel!  Naturally, my eyes are focused on the TV now, and they showed a few highlights of races and the results of all of the high-profile French swimmers.  Pretty weird seeing swimming, not being able to do it at all, haha.

Well, that's been my week.  I love you and miss you all and I wish the best for everyone who reads this.

Avec amour,

Elder Jenkins

playing marbles with some kids outside Frère Atiougbé's house

Our street during the big storm that hit Wednesday morning, 07.24.13

Tender Mercies

at Landry's baptism 07/20/13 with Elder Dagrou

Wow!  It's hard to believe I've been in Africa for a whole transfer (6 weeks) now!  It's amazing how quickly the time is going by!  This week has been a bit interesting.  At the end of last week/ beginning of this week, I got a bit lazy with my cooking and was missing a lot of protein.  Needless to say, I was getting very tired very easily.  However, I want to write a little bit this week about what the scriptures call "Tender mercies of the Lord."  Tender mercies are really just the small and simple things in life, but I've spent a lot of this past week looking for them and recognizing God's hand in my life.

 

The first one that I really recognized was Wednesday.  I was still feeling really tired at this point, and every lesson that we were teaching was kind of just dragging along and I wasn't really following them too well.  My french was also lacking in my tiredness, so I was having a lot of trouble communicating as well.  Finally, after one lesson that I had slightly dozed off in, I prayed that I would be able to wake up and get some more energy.  As we were walking down the street, I heard a very, very familiar song that I hadn't heard in a little while.  Two steps later, I recognized it was "On Top of the World" by Imagine Dragons!  Two steps later, I was almost running to the source.  One thing about Africa (or at least the small part I've seen of it) is that there's these small huts every so often on the sides of the streets attached to a wall of a house or parcel or something.  Inside these huts are 2 or 3 old TVs with a few gaming systems.  The source of the music was the newest edition of FIFA (what is it, FIFA14 now?).  Many of you know that Imagine Dragons is one of my favorite bands, and "On Top of the World" is probably my first or second song by them (If you haven't heard it before, look it up and listen to it, you'll like it).  It's just such a happy song that has changed my mood many, many times.  I ran up to this little game hut and started freaking out to all the kids inside who were playing.  They kind of just stared at me as I'm sure my french wasn't making much sense because I was freaking out so much.  Anyways, I listened for a little bit but then had to leave to go to our next appointment.  As I left, I was singing along, and kept singing for quite sometime, every little detail of the song renewed in my head.  For most of the rest of the evening, I just smiled and smiled because of that song.  Definitely an answer to my prayers, and definitely a tender mercy of the Lord.  Also confirms to me that the Lord works in mysterious ways.

 

The second came at the baptismal service Saturday afternoon.  Oh, by the way, I had my first baptism as a missionary this week!  His name is Landry, and he's 16 and a blast to be around.  Quite a good footballer from what I've seen and heard as well.  Anyways, the baptismal service was held in Kégué, about 3 kilometers north of my area.  The church building in Kégué is the only building that was actually built by the church in both Togo and Benin.  They finished building it just a few months ago, and it is nice!  Cleanest and most proper building I've been in the whole country.  As it is the only building that the church actually owns, this is where they keep all the nice stuff.  For example, pianos.  We don't have any real pianos here in the church buildings.  They're all electric pianos without pedals.  However, one of the pianos in Kégué is probably the nicest semi-portable electric piano you can buy, with weighted keys and a pedal.  After the baptismal service, I sat down at the piano and let loose.  Oh my goodness!!!!  Many of you know that music has a special place in my heart with piano being at the center.  While I've been able to keep that space partially filled with my iPod and singing, there's is nothing like the piano for me.  Oh how glorious is was to make music like that again.  It's amazing how much of a difference weighted keys and a pedal can make on the piano.  Every key I touched felt like a real piano.  I can't really explain the feeling in words, but there's just something about creating beautiful music that fills my soul with joy.  Again, definitely a tender mercy of the Lord.

 

I have really seen a difference in the world around me looking for all of the tender mercies of the Lord, both big and small.  These are just two examples many, many tender mercies that I've seen around me.  I promise all of you that you too can find more happiness by looking for the tender mercies of the Lord around you.  When we look for things to brighten our day, there are always more than we expect, even if they're just small and seemingly non-important.  I've seen that in my life this past week, and what a wonderful blessing it's been.  I love and miss all of you so much!  May God be with you all this next week to brighten your day even if in the simplest way!

 

Avec amour,
Elder Jenkins

 

(note from mom:  Elder Jenkins said he is doing quite well!  Today had been a more relaxing day, which he has needed.  He said President Weed had called this morning to say that the missionaries are to stay inside all day on Thursday due to the elections.  It sounds like Thursday will bring a lot of excitement in Lome.)

 

a new friend I made at Soeur Dope's home

An African sunset taken from the top of the building where I go to church

I love the African children!

the river (or lake as the Africans call it) that runs through Lome, not far from my area

with Elder Owusu (taken for CJ Lewis who's last area was Elder Owusu's home ward in Ghana - CJ is married to Preston's BYU teammate, Taryn)

with Elder Peterson

getting a haircut from Pres. Ruben on 07/22/13 (Pres. Ruben is the 1st Counselor in the Branch Presidency - he's a renaissance man - a barber, an artist, an electrician and is pretty dang smart)

defending Ambriose on 07/15/13

 

 

Parfaite = Perfect!

Elder Dagron and Elder Jenkins

Bonsoir mes amis!

Well, another week past, and they're really starting to fly now.  It really feels like just yesterday that I was writing last Monday.  This week has been a bit of a down week because we had a lot of emergency transfers happen with visa problems.  Transfers in this mission take quite a long time because we have 2 countries, 2 timezones, and 4 hours of driving between the two proselyting areas.  For this reason, it takes 2 days to do all of the transfers, which leaves a lot of down time for those waiting for their new companion, like me.  My new companion's name is Elder Dagrou, and he's from Cote D'Ivoire.  I absolutely love working with him!  He and I both have such a great love for the gospel, and so our daily study time together always passes by quickly because we both have so much to share together.

I realize that the past few weeks I've been focusing quite a bit on myself, so this week I want to share a little about those around me.  We have three investigators right now that have dates set for baptism.  However, Landry, the first, wasn't at church this week, so we're going to have to push his back again.  Charlotte, the second, is traveling to Europe, so we haven't seen her for a week.  And José, the third, hasn't accepted the invitation to come to church yet, even though she's accepted to be baptized.

We have two really progressing investigators right now, Marie and Parfaite.  Marie is best friends with a member in the other branch in our area, Soeur Tchothco.  However, we found her by tracting.  She was a little skeptical at first, but the more we've taught her, the more she has come to love the gospel.  She came to church for the first time last week, and decided that she wanted to get up and bear her testimony, as an ami!  In her testimony, she said that there were a lot of things that could have stopped her from coming to church that week, but she was determined to go because she had promised us that she would be there.  She then said as soon as she walked in the building, she heard a whisper in her head that told her, "Marie, this is your church.  You belong here."  What an amazing testimony of the truth that she has already received!  I was very happy for her, and just about the whole congregation turned around and smiled at my companion and I when she shared that.  She has accepted to be baptized, but doesn't want to set a date because she wants to know when she is ready with God to make that decision.

Our second ami en progrès is Parfaite.  The word parfait translates to perfect in English, and that about describes her right.  We've only met with her twice, but both lessons have been absolutely amazing.  She shared with us this past lesson that she normally doesn't like the people that pass by her small restaurant-shop that preach of God, but when we passed by, she felt something inside her that told her to call us over, and how grateful she was that she had!  Both of these amis have shown me how the Holy Spirit works in many people aroudn us to prepare them to receive the message of the restored gospel of Christ before we even bring it to them.

Well, that's all I have time to share this week, but I love and miss you all so very much, and I hope that everything is going well over there across the pond.

Avec amour,

Elder Jenkins

Love the smiles!

One of the things he was looking forward to the most were the kids.

A glimpse of the area he is living





Eating grilled fish and hot pima sauce (apparently very hot) - did he really eat the fish, head and all, or does he just want us to believe he did?





Oh, how I would love to have been a fly on the wall when the plate of pima and fish was set in front of him and the fish was staring back at him (photo borrowed from Elder Hawkins blog)

Elder Hawkins give a little more detail on this meal in his post last week.  You can read about it here:  http://eldertrevorhawkins.blogspot.com/2013/07/unforeseen-circumstances-and-looking-on.html