Venance and Benoit and an African Halloween

Hey everyone!  I hope you've all had a wonderful week!  Out here it's been pretty splendid.  Elder Edwards and I decided to celebrate a bit this past Thursday, so I dressed up like a ninja and he carved a pumpkin and we ate some chicken noodle soup and candy.  It was a blast!  Everybody kind of looked at us weird as we went outside to light up our pumpkin, but we didn't care!  The two African missionaries in the apartment got a kick out of it, too!

 

Elder Edwards (the other American in my apartment) bought and carved a pumpkin!

Happy Halloween!  I decided to be a ninja.

I got some mad ninja missionary skills

Everyone just kind of sitting around as Elder Edwards lit it up

Had to pose with the pumpkin

Our little friend

 

Here's a pic of the chicken noodle soup I made.  I put in a few too many noodles so it became a bit of a chicken noodle casserole after I stored it in the fridge.

And I treated myself to an orange Fanta float. DELICIOUS!

Kind of scared me the first time I opened the fridge and a pumpkin was staring back at me

 

We had two baptisms on Saturday!  Venance and Benoit, both of whom are what we call papas since they're both older than 50ish.  But they have both, like Komlan, made some great changes in their life and are now along a new path.  Both are also eager to have us over to teach the rest of their families!

 

 The baptism on Satuday, 11/2/13.  Venance is next to me and Benoit is next to Elder Mbala with President Sam in the middle

Then, yesterday, Sunday, we got to watch General Conference!  It was such a great experience, and the Spirit was tangibly there.  After the Book of Mormon and the temple, General conference is my third testimony of the truth and power of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  We truly do have the opportunity twice a year to listen to and receive the messages of a true prophet of God, his two counselors, the 12 apostles, and other appointed authorities that have been so carefully prepared according to the Spirit of God.  The 15 men at the head of this church (the Prophet, his 2 counselors, and the 12 apostles) have truly been called to lead the Lord's only true church on the earth today, and when they speak, it is truly by the power of God.

General Conference set up on Sunday!  It was different watching in French, but the Spirit was definitely still there carry the messages that we needed to hear!

We had four people come to visit us at church yesterday, one of which we have already taught and 3 that were invited by friends to come, and they all loved it.  They were so amazed to feel the Spirit and love that resides in every single message at General Conference.  Honestly, I agree with President Monson, Sunday morning session was probably the overall most spiritual session I ever watched, music included.  But these four people absolutely loved their visits, and I'm very excited to go visit them this week.

Well, that's about it.  Oh!  I forgot to mention that we got to experience a solar eclipse here on Sunday!  Right as we were leaving church it was in place, so I was careful not to look at the sun.  But the lighting was really eerie.  It was kind of a twilight zone feel, which was pretty awesome.  It also cooled down so that helped on the way back to the apartment.

Have a great week everyone.  I love you all!

 

Avec amour,
Elder Jenkins

 

This little guy decided to go creeping in as I was cleaning the kitchen this morning!

Note from mom:  I received a couple more pictures this morning from Elder and Sister Christensen, who are serving in Togo with Elder Jenkins. 

 

"The Doctor" doing his job 10/27/13

With the other Southern Elder Preston, Elder Preston Burkhart from Atlanta

 

The Doctor

Well, this week officially marks my 20th week in Africa!!!  It's moving along, but I can't lie, this week I kinda got a glimpse of how long 2 years is.  Considering it's been 5 months and I still have 18 to go, I did get a bit sad this at the end of this week.  However, the work is progressing! 

One story that I want to share from this past week is with one of our amis, Benoit.  He is Komlan's best friend and we teach them together.  He was supposed to be baptised this past Saturday, but in our lesson on Wednesday he shared something.  He shared that he had read the first few chapters of the Book of Mormon and the story of Laman and Lemuel binding Nephi in the desert really touched him; the fact that Nephi immediately forgave them.  He said that when he read this, he felt like he there was someone he needed to forgive before being baptized.  I was sooooo happy for him!  So his baptism should be this Saturday!  The Book of Mormon is true, and I was so happy to see that Benoit is already prepared to receive his own personal revelation in scripture study.

As I thought about what I wrote last week, I completely forgot to write about the blood drive that we had!  It was a blast!  No, I didn't give blood (I mean, I'm kinda in Africa).  But there were a bunch of us missionaries just kinda sitting around doing nothing, so I started looking for stuff to do.  The lady who was in charge of it all was over taking the weight and blood pressure of all of the donors and looked especially bored.  So I went up to her and asked her if I could help.  She asked if I knew how to take blood pressure, and thanks to Blain, my trainer at BYU, I do!  It's probably one of the easiest things on earth to do, but I was glad to have something to do.  So the whole time I was taking people's blood pressure, whether they were just taking pre-donating measurements or someone had fainted (yeah, there were like 4).  But, due to the stethoscope, everyone started calling me Doctor, and it still hasn't died down, even a week and a half after.  Anyways, it was fun.  I was occupied and happy, but we had an amazing turn out.  I think the number of donors was anywhere between 30 and 40!

Just doing my job.

Saturday at the blood drive.  I got a little bored when we got a bit stopped up on donors due to only having three doctors there to extract.

After that, not terribly too much this week during the week.  However, this past Saturday and Sunday, we had the open house and dedication of the Kégué building, so I got to see lots of familiar faces!  We also had some investigators come and check it out, too! 

Here's a good look at the Kégué building.

The weather was beautiful!

They set up pictures depicting a bit of what our church is all about throughout the church and it's grounds.

Saturday was the open house.  In the Chapel/extension of the chapel they had a projector set up showing a bunch of media from EFY/ General Conference.  Then, they had a room set up for all of the 5 auxiliaries in the Church, Elder's Quorum (adult men), Relief Society (adult women), Young Men, Young Women, and Primary (children).  As we were walking around the building checking things out, we got to the primary room.  Just next to the primary room was the infirmerie/ first aid room.  I peeked my head in to see what it was, and then all of the sudden "Doctor!  We have a coat for you today!"  So yeah, I stayed in the first aid room FOR 5 HOURS!  All I did was give out aspirin and tell people to drink lots of water.  So that's all I got to do until at 3 we had a baptism when we got to baptize Frederic!  His dad has been meeting with us for about 2 or 3 months, but just doesn't feel like he is quite ready yet.  However, he asked us to teach and baptize his son.  Frederic is 10 years old, and he soaks everything in like a thirsty sponge.  It's ridiculous how quickly he learns!  Children are truly amazing when it comes to the gospel.  After the baptism we stayed to accompany the last stragglers of the open house/chat with other missionaries, and then we went home.

Baptism with Frederic and his family on 10/26/13!  (Frederic is the one in the Winnie the Pooh shirt.  We had to take pictures after the baptism due to the open house that was still going on, but it was great for people to come and see what a baptism is like!)

Sunday was an incredible experience.  We had church at 9 in the morning and then the dedication at 2 pm.  At 12 we went back to the apartment to eat and found that the Be Kpota missionaries came back with the other missionaries in our apartment because their house is so far.  So we had 8 mouths to feed at lunch!!!!  I cooked for the four Americans (Me, Elder Edwards, Elder Ringle, and Elder Haggard - no complaints with that group!) and Elder Kabedeh cooked for all the Africans (Elder Kabedeh, Elder Mbala, Elder Kouadio, and Elder Soanantenaina).  It was busy, but we made it.  The Dedication started at 2, so I prepared quickly and we finished eating at 1:45, but one Elder from Be Kpota was convinced that it started at 2:30 so he took his time eating.  We got there right at about 2:30, and I felt the eyes of President Weed following us from the stand as we found our seats. 

Anyways, it was an amazing meeting with great speakers, even though we only got to hear half of them.  But the last three were Sister Weed, President Weed, and an Area Seventy from Côte d'Ivoire, who is the former mission president of the Côte d'Ivoire mission, which included Togo in his day.  Something that President shared really touched me.  While he was bearing his testimony, he shared the story of the First Vision of Joseph Smith.  As he recounted the story, he remarked that at the very moment that God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph, the last Dispensation of God's only true church on the earth was opened, never to be destroyed again.  He then explained how we live in this dispensation today, and we have the truth right in front of us and it's our duty to share it with the world.  I want to add my testimony onto that of President Weed.  I KNOW THAT THESE THINGS ARE TRUE!!!  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true church of God on the earth today!  Period.  This church is, and always has been, led by Jesus Christ himself through a living prophet.  This work is truly moving forward like the stone cut without hands out of the mountain, rolling forth to fill the whole earth as described in Daniel 2:44-45.

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

 

Avec amour,

Elder Jenkins

Here's a look at President Preuss (our Branch President) at his desk.  Apparently his grandpa was captain of a major German U-boat during WWII and sunk a bunch of Americans, which is why his name is German.



The stadium right next to the church building.  Its the main stadium of Togo (it's the biggest).  Overall feel?  I'd give it a Junior College rating.  But a high level Junior College.





Sunset from the stadium.



Komlan and the man driving the moto

 



Elder Mbala and I with Komlan and the other missionaries' baptism



Hey everybody!  Well, it's been another great week!  The work with Elder Mbala is going a lot more smoothly as we have gotten to know each other more!  This past Saturday, we had a baptism with Komlan!  He's 65 years old, and his conversion has been 3 years in the making!  He's had some great trials, but he's been able to overcome them all and change his life!

 

So, I have a kinda cool story to share this week.  Well, it's a little bit sad, too, but as far as I'm aware, no real permanent damage was done.  So yesterday, we had church.  It was a fairly normal church service, but as always, it was fantastic!  The Spirit was truly there.  Gabriel taught his first Sunday School lesson after being called and set apart last week and it was fantastic.  The title was "Every member is a missionary," and he really focused on how the member's should help and accompany the missionaries in their work.  It was honestly one of the best Sunday School lessons I've been in.  Then, for the third hour, our lesson was on loving God more than the world, which was fantastic again!  So much good insight given!

 

So anyways, it was just a normal Sunday.  After church, we visited with the members and the amis and all that.  Then, after a few minutes, we went into President Preuss' office to set up an appointment with him for another member that had asked us to bring him to her house.  While we were talking with President, we heard these bloodcurling screams coming through the halls.  Suddenly, a crowd comes in the office led by Prince who is holding little 18 month old Leo.  Little Leo decided to just run out into the busy street that our church is on.  The thing about Togo is that for every car there are about 5 or 6 motos.  They're EVERYWHERE.  So, little innocent Leo, decided to dart out in front of one.  Luckily, he only got knicked on the forehead, but it was a decent knick because there was blood all over his face.  Well, everyone was just kinda staring for a few seconds while he was screaming, so I dropped my stuff and grabbed him to take him to the kitchen to wash him off.  There was honestly a lot more blood than the wound suggested.  The problem was, everybody was just crowding and gaping, so I may have yelled a little bit to get people to move.  When nobody was moving, Soeur Preuss grabbed him to take him to the outside hose.  People kinda started to freak out, but I explained to them that everything would be alright and that we all just needed to stay calm.  So, we washed him off, sterilized him, and then he was taken to the hospital just in case because it was a head injury.

 

Meanwhile, the man that was driving the moto came in and looked worried sick.  Somehow, in the bustle to help Leo, everybody had passed by him.  I spent a few minutes afterwards talking with him to consol him and explain that it wasn't his fault.  Then, a few other members followed my lead and did the same.  After everything was taken care of, we went outside where the man was talking with a few people that saw it happen.  I then spoke with him again to explain that it really wasn't his fault.  He then told me that he was very impressed with the love that he felt from everyone at our church, even though in his eyes he had about killed Leo.  He then explained that he is actually very interested in our church and would like to meet with us the missionaries.  I gave him the restoration pamphlet and took down his name and number, and we'll be passing by his house to talk with he and his family this week.

 

First lesson that I learned with this experience, keep an eye on your kids.  Second, God truly works in mysterious ways.  Yes, Leo was hurt, but he'll grow up and be perfectly fine.  He probably won't even remember what happened when he's older.  However, you never know how many souls will be saved from this experience.  Because of this, someone was introduced to the church and the love that is offered from the saints to all those who enter.  From that, he had questions, even interest, about our beliefs and our practices.  He was then led to us, the missionaries, who can provide him answers to his questions and peace to his soul.  I was really amazed at how the Lord worked in this instance in bringing someone to the knowledge of His gospel.  Miracles like this happen everyday around the world with the missionaries involved!  And I am truly grateful to be able to say that I am a part of it.

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

Avec amour,
Elder Jenkins

 

Some Muslims getting ready to kill a cow for Tabaski, their New Years Day

 



One of the animals lived to survive another year

Introducing . . . my new companion!

Let me introduce you to my new companion, Elder Mbala!

So this week was my first with Elder Mbala, and today marks exactly 4 months in Africa!  This week has been a great one.  Elder Mbala and I don't quite have the relationship that I had with Elder Dagrou, but it's only been 6 days.  He's interesting and he's a great guy, and I'm looking forward to getting to know him.  He's from Congo and his native tongue is Swahili.  He still speaks French because Congo is a French-speaking country, but he said in his home it's all Swahili.  So, Shaka, if you've got any cool/ funny/ inspirational phrases, I'm open.
 

So this week, as I have had to take over the planning and teaching with a companion that is new to this area, I've really come to understand the work in missionary work.  But I've also noticed something much more than that.  I have seen first hand the power and authority that resides in this work and in this church.  There is no other church on this earth that has this power.  This power is the priesthood, which is the power and authority to act in the name of God.

Many, many people have asked me why I choose to stay in this religion.  Many think that it is too strict, too closed-minded, and they require too many sacrifices, like leaving everything for 2 years to serve in a foreign place.  The fact is, I choose to stay here because I love my God.  I have seen power in this church that I cannot deny, because I know it is the power of God.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is truly the same church that Christ himself established on the earth, and has restored in the latter days.  The same power that Jesus Christ himself held on the earth has been restored and is now held by a prophet of God named Thomas S. Monson, who is a prophet for the world today just like Adam, Noah, Moses, Abraham, Isaiah, and all of the other prophets of old.  There reason I have left my home to live in a foreign (and many times, VERY foreign) country and it is to share this glad message with the world.  I know these things to be true.  I have lived them, and I am a witness to them.  And now, I have the opportunity to do all of these things in the name of Jesus Christ, being a personal representative of Him.

I am so very grateful to have a knowledge of the truth, a knowledge of God's Plan for us all.  The thought that someone might not hear this message makes me so terribly sad, and so I continue in my Father's business.  I hope that each of you that reads this can have this same knowledge that I have of these things.  I you have any questions about what I have shared, you are welcome to write me, or you can visit mormon.org.  (Here is a link to my profile on mormon.org: http://mormon.org/me/904F/Preston)

I love and miss each of you all, but my time is here and now in Togo.  May God be with you all until we meet again.

Avec amour,
Elder Jenkins

 

Getting some service in after a mangez-vous at Soeur Pauline's for Elder Kabedeh's birthday on the 8th!

Found this little guy in our apartment.  He looks mean, but at least he's dead.

We cut down our bananas today!  Bon appetit!!!