"Come to the edge"

Bonjour mes amis!  This has been quite a week!  Not too many special experiences to share, but things have been going great with Elder Bile and his training!  

with Elder Bile

This work is progressing well here in Baguida!  We have a couple baptisms lined up this month that I’m very excited for! We have also had some great miracles this past week with being guided by the Lord to find people, many times.  The Lord is truly in control of His own work!

The real big exciting news of the week comes from Thursday with a conference that we had with Elder Vinson.  As always, the Spirit was very present and there was much counsel and guidance shared with us the missionaries.  The main thing that he talked about was not shrinking before the will of the Lord, but rather exerting all of our own efforts and letting the Lord take us from there.  He shared a poem with us that Elder Holland shared once with missionaries in Australia:

“Come to the edge,” He said. “Come to the edge.”

“I can’t,” I said. “I can’t”

“Come to the edge,” He said. “Come to the edge.”

I did.

He pushed me.

I flew.

I loved how this illustrated what we are capable of when we give our all in our efforts to the Lord and then completely put our trust in Him.  I am so excited for how this and all of the other things that we learned that day will help me to grow and become a better missionary.

Since I don’t have too much else to share this week, I'll share my testimony of this Church and this work with you all.

I know that this Church is true.  I know it with all of my heart.  There is no other way.  This is God’s Church on earth today.  Here, we find the authority to act in His name.  Here we find precious truths about this life and the Plan of God that have been lost through time.  The same Church that Jesus Christ himself created in His day has been restored again through a prophet named Joseph Smith.  The entire truth has once again been restored in its proper place among men, as the prophets of old called it, “the restitution of all things” (Acts 3:21).

I’m exhausted.  This is the hottest climate that I have ever been in.  Everyday is by far the farthest that I have walked in my life.  I wake up every morning exhausted, wondering how in the heck I’m going to get out of bed and go walk and teach and share this message.  Honestly, if this message was not true, I could NEVER do the things that I do every day.  I could NEVER overcome the fatigue that I have felt here in order to share this glad message.  But God is capable of doing His own work, and He truly does bless His servants.  The only reason that I am able to heave my weakened body out of bed in the morning is my testimony of this gospel and of this Church.

I know that God lives.  I know that Jesus Christ is His Only Begotten Son, and that through Him and His eternal sacrifice, we, too, can rejoice in the eternal blessings of our Father.  I know that Joseph Smith is the prophet of the Restoration.  I know the Book of Mormon to be the word of God, sounding as voices rising up from the dust, testifying to the people of our day (see Isaiah 29:4, 2 Nephi 33:13).  I know that Thomas S. Monson is the Lord’s prophet on this earth today.  He leads us and guides us with divine counsel and inspiration.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s Church on the earth today.  I have seen countless blessings of these simple truths in my life, and I invite all of you to partake of these blessings with me.  In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Avec amour,

Elder Jenkins

with Elder Donadier