"... Cleave unto the Lord and serve him with all your heart and all you soul"

Well, what a week it has been.  There have been many ups and downs, but mostly ups.  There have been many, many important lessons learned.  And I feel like I say that every week, but this week it just has so much more feeling and sincerity in my heart.  These two years truly are the best for learning the precious lessons of the gospel and of life.

Well, to start off, I sent off Elder Sahue on Tuesday and my new companion, Elder Nkanza (from DR Congo), got here on Wednesday, direct from the MTC!!!  So far it's been amazing!!!  I love him so much.  He's energetic, yet quiet and very humble.  He's obedient and a very good listener.  He's serious and is very ready to work, which I LOVE!!!!!!!  I'm very excited for our future.

I have been very grateful this week for my first experience with training back in February.  I have decided to take things a little bit differently, and I think it really reflects my personal quests and studies.  Instead of focusing so much on the material and teaching methods (as I did back in February), I have really been focusing on what matters most in the mission, OBEDIENCE and THE SPIRIT.  He has been very attentive and is already able to pay attention to the little details.  He's also amazing at giving service.  I can't even count how many times I've been served in the five days that we've been together.

I'm so looking forward this next week to getting into more of a doctrinal study together, though we've already had a couple of awesome discussions!  But now we'll be more focused on the lesson content and teaching methods.

My apologies for another short letter.  The computer has been so very slow today.  Also, hopefully next week I will have pictures because I have word that my new camera is here!!!

A scripture that touched me during my studies this week of service and sacrifice is Joshua 22:5, especially where it says, "...cleave unto the Lord and serve him with all your heart and all you soul."  My appologies if it's not exactly correct, it was written from memory and translated from French.

I love you all so very much.

Avec amour,

Elder Jenkins

"Living in gratitude is to touch the heavens"

Hello, my family, friends, and strangers.  This past week has been full of the Lord's outpouring of blessings upon us.  Each companionship in our district (we have 4 companionships) had a marriage and baptisms this past weekend.  It was fabulous.

My apologies this week for the length of this letter.  It's been a while since I've been able to chat with my family through email like this week, so I've given a bit more time to that.

The marriage and baptism on Saturday were a wonderful experience, but I'll let the pictures explain those a bit better.

Edouard and Clarisse!  Two of my favorite people ever!

Lauriane (9) and Exaucer (4) their kids!  Asso (President Kazotti's daughter) is in the background in the blue dress.

The view of the lake from the top of the Calavi building where the marriage was.

Thought this was cool. 

The venue (on the top floor of the Calavi building). 

Part of the 10 couples (or more) that were married on Saturday!

"Hi. My name is Asso, and I'm a jedi." 

Hangin' in there. 

Exaucer, my favorite little African kid.  He calls me "his white". He's adorable and 4 years old.

Sister Missionaries

Best dressed award

Omar, our Branch Mission Leader.  He got his mission call this week to the Ghana Accra Central Mission!!!  He's an awesome guy.  I love him.

Ring presentation 

Ring presentation #2

Clarisse signing

Elder Sahue signing as a witness.

The baptisms in the Fidjrossè branch this past Saturday.  Our whole zone did the service together, and I believe we had about 15 total.  It was a wonderful day in the service of the Lord!

Elder Sahue, Clarisse, Lauriane, Brother Donatien (who has become good friends with them), Edouard, Elder Jenkins, Exaucer.

After watching President Monson's "Attitude of Gratitude" talk from October 2010 (we have the DVDs at our apartment), I would like to testify today of the strenghtening power of living with gratitude.  As President Monson said, being thankful is good and "honorable." Showing our thanks is "noble." But living with gratitude is "to touch the heavens."  I testify of this statement.  After an exhausting week, I was wondering how I could apply this to my life more completely.  I decided to try something that has been counseled to me for a long time but thet I've never trie: praying to give thanks to Heavenly Father and asking for nothing in return.

I was a little apprehensive before kneeling to pray, but this has been one of the most sacred experiences that I have had on my mission.  As President Monson, said, I felt as if I were "touch[ing] the heavens."  Many small and simple things came to mind as I continued.  I even realized that I had been a bit too impatient with my companion that day.  Every problem that I had seemed to melt away.  As I laid in bed that night, my mind was at peace, being filled with the Spirit.

I woke up Sunday morning with almost a complete absence of the fatigue that had weighed me down the day before.  There were times on Sunday where that fatigue came back, but I tried each time to remember that I need to live with gratitude.

This has been a very edifying experience, and I invite all of us to take more time to be grateful for our lives no matter where we are and strive to LIVE with gratitude in our hearts.  We will all be so much happier, and imagine the changes that would take place in this world if we all took time to be more grateful.

I love you all so much.  I hope you all have a great week.  I, too, am hoping to have a great week with two meetngs with Elder Curtis of the Quorum of the 70 and also the president of the Africa West area.

Avec amour,

Elder Jenkins

Eternal hope and happiness

SUPRISE!!!!  We all got our suits in preparation for the marriages coming up in the District.  So we decided to show up lookin classy to Church!  Normally our suits just sit in the mission home because we have no need for them here in this heat!

Hello all -

Honestly, there's been nothing much this past week.  I did have a couple of visits to Immigration.  Kinda cool, but nothing special.  Just some waiting, getting my picture taken, then having my prints taken (that was a pain).  The first lady that took my prints didn't really worry about it too much, but the second was fussing with my eczema.  I think it was partially because it had gotten worse in the two days between the two visits (the second visit was just to go pick up our passports), so my prints didn't match.  Hahaha oh well he got over it when I showed him my hands.

The biggest news that we've had this week is that there's a suspected case of Ebola here in Benin.  Now don't go freaking out quite yet because, 1) it's not even confirmed Ebola (note from mom - the tests came back negative), 2) it's in the northern-most region of Benin, and 3) the Lord and the Church are looking over us and taking care of us.  There's been a bit of a hysteria (ok, maybe too strong of a word, but my English vocabulary is very limited right now) in Cotonou about this news, but everything remains normal for now.

We have received an extensive list for hygiene from President and Sister Morin and a note from the Area Presidency.  However, we don't have water again (it's been two days) so hygiene is going to be a challenge.  There's a guy coming tomorrow to have a look at it.  Might be going to our neighbors to get some water again.

We are being very careful with everything we do, but the thing that keeps us afloat is our faith in Jesus Christ. Without a knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I don't know how I would be able to cope with the tragedies and trials of the world today.  Were it not for the hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I honestly think I would be hysterical about this Ebola outbreak.  But, I know that God exists and that He is in control of this whole situation.  I don't know why this sickness is spreading.  There have been tragedies in many peoples' lives I'm sure, but everything has it's purpose.

I don't think that we will be terribly affected by this, but if we are, I know that all will be well.  And that is what the Gospel of Jesus Christ does for us.  Yes, there are many commandments, requirements, and obligations required in being a disciple of Jesus Christ.  At times, it is hard, but through His atoning sacrifice, He enables us and gives us the strength to obey.  In return, we have the confirmation of the Holy Ghost that come what may, it will be for our good, and we CAN love it (my favorite lesson from Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin).

Sorry for being a little bit all over the place this week, but I hope and pray that you all can feel the love and hope of Jesus Christ in this world that is so quickly falling away from God.  I also pray that those affected by this experience (in first- or third-person) may be drawn closer to God and to His Son, Jesus Christ, knowing that only in them can we be constantly guaranteed an eternal hope and happiness.

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

Avec amour,
Elder Jenkins

The four of us in the apartment looking classy for Church!  08/10/14

My new favorite snack!!!  It's a cookie pretty much like uh-oh oreos and I dip it in peanut butter.  SOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I went with Elder Silvas to Tokpa today (the HUGE market here in Benin) to get him so cleats for our soccer match next week.  He got some mercurials for 20 bucks.  ANYWAYS, the store that we were in had tons of equipement, and I found this volleyball.  I got it 20 bucks too.  SO excited.  It's been a while.  I consider volleyball my second sport, and since I can't swim, might as well play some veebs!!!!

Tevi zozo

Our last District Meeting with Soeur Kouadio.  She goes home
tomorrow (08/05/14)!!!  We've been in two districts together for a total of 6
months.

Hello all.  Well, it’s been a pretty interesting week!  There’s been lots going on, but what Elder Sahue and I have noticed the most is that the Lord is really starting to bless us for our efforts.  We haven’t seen too much progression in the past two months, but we’ve really trying to press forward in our area.  We have had several investigators that have been close to baptism, but none of them have really progressed like they’ve needed.

However, in the past two weeks, we have had five investigators explain that their questions are being answered and their worries are being resolved.  Two are preparing for marriage and then baptism with their daughter at the end of the month, and the other two have mentioned that they feel that they are progressing very well towards baptism.

So there have been a couple of cool experiences this week.  The first was on Tuesday, the 29th of July.  Last week at the cyber, we saw Prosper’s son.  He asked if we would be coming over again, and we told him we could around 7 on Tuesday evening.  So we went over with Brice (President Kazotti’s son), expecting him to have a couple of questions.  We sat down, and he asked (in English—he doesn’t speak French), “So what do you guys want to watch?” I was just like, “Uhhhhh…” So he put on Avengers Assemble on the Disney channel (they have a really good satellite package).  I didn’t really know what to say because he left right after he turned the TV on.  So my comp was like, “Well might as well put it on a sports channel.”  So I flipped through a bit and saw “The Commonwealth Games.”  Then, BAM.  Pool. In an arena.  On the TV.  We eight men swimming in lanes.  I was in shock.  Then I saw the “Men’s 100m Butterfly Final” in the bottom of the screen, so I was slightly intrigued.  They finished, and I saw lane 4 “1 Le Clos” (shocker…).  Then my eyes drifted to lane 6 “2 Schooling.” And I was like, “Wait… WHAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTT??????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I KNOW HIM!!!!!!!!!” Haha.  Prosper’s wife had come out a couple minutes before because she did have a couple questions for us.  The Taylor family (members) had come over to talk with her about something else, but she wanted us to stay.  I was trying to explain to them that one of my friends was on TV and that I had trained with him every day when I was at home, but I’m not sure they really understood.

Anyways, thank goodness that was our last appointment because my mind was kinda blown.  I wrote about that in my journal that night, and then I remembered that it was around this time a year ago that I had seen Worlds on the TV in the cyber.  I looked in my journal, and I saw that it was EXACTLY one year earlier that that had happened, the 29^th of July.  Coincidence? I think not!

The week was pretty normal after that until Saturday.  Elder Silvas had organized an activity to help two of their investigators raise money to be able to pay for their marriage.  So we all, the members and missionaries, put in some money to buy some ingredients, and then we set up a stand outside of the Branch building on the side of the main road in Fidjrossè to sell some Mexican and African food.  It was a blast!  We got some good attention (partially I think because of the two white guys that were selling food on the side of the road) and a diverse clientele.  My voice was completely shot at the end of the day after yelling “TEVI ZOZO!!!!” over and over (which means “HOT FRIED YAMS!!!!”).  That’s how you sell here.  You hear yells everywhere you go.  It’s like a giant baseball stadium, but without the baseball or the stadium.  Yeah.  We ended up losing 3,000 F CFA (6 US dollars), but it brought the Branch together, which we really needed.  Plus, all of the extra food we had was given to families in need in our Branch, so it was certainly no waste!

Elder Silvas and his guac!  It was delicious!

Donatien, me, Elder Méjean, and Elder Hanks all getting our Mexican
"chop" on!

Yesterday was very interesting.  Church went very well, but exhausting.  Our fast and testimony was fantastic!  There were so many people that bore their testimonies that have never gotten up before.  There were two women that bore their testimonies that can’t be baptized right now because of some marriage issues, but they come every Sunday.  They both bore their testimonies of how they know the Church is true, which gives them the patience to accept the Lord’s will and wait.  It was very edifying for all in attendance.

The Primary president had to leave during Sacrament meeting, which left no one in charge of Primary (the children’s meeting).  The Branch really takes to heart Elder Nelson’s October 2012 talk, so naturally the response was, “Let’s ask the missionaries!”  So, Elder Silvas (the other American in my district) and I got to Primary, and all the kids were all sitting nicely in their chairs.  Then we were like, “Well what the heck do we do?” “I don’t know.  Play a game?” “Ok sure, you take the younger kids and I’ll take the older ones.”  “Ok, ready?  BREAK!”  Two minutes later, the room was absolute chaos.  Kids hitting kids.  Shoes flying across the room.  Crying.  Screaming.  My tie almost getting ripped in half.  Finally I took off my tie and my watch to get down to business. I tried picking up as many kids as I could to get the chairs back in order, but there were too many of them.  I couldn’t shake them off!

After what felt like 20 minutes of telling myself, “They have their own agency. They are children of God, not lifeless objects and certainly not little devils.” I had Boyd K. Packer’s quote come to mind that “True doctrine understood will change behavior faster than the study of behavior will change behavior” or something along those lines.  So I thought, ok, all the kids that are behaving are already sitting. Let’s set up the chairs, START WITH A PRAYER, and then have a lesson. So we did, and things started to calm down.  I asked them about what they knew about the Book of Mormon, and we started to talk about Nephi when the Lord sent three angels disguised as a Relief Society Presidency to help. One of them exclaimed, “This is Primary! Why don’t I hear singing?!” Then I was like, “Oh, I forgot about that.  Ok we’ll finish quickly the lesson and then we’ll get to that.”  So I asked what they knew about Nephi, and they exclaim, “He built a boat!” “And who asked him to do that?” “Heavenly Father!” “And what was Nephi’s response?” “I will go and do!” “And what is your response if Heavenly Father asks you to do something?” “Yes! I will!”  It was amazing the difference of a heaven-sent lesson.  We then sang “Nephi’s Courage” to move into music time.

The most tender moment for me was when one girl stood and starting singing “I will Follow God’s Plan” when asked what her favorite Primary song was.  We all joined in (me in English), and the Spirit was tangible in the room.  I was so amazed at how that was possible, even in Primary.  Reverence had replace chaos.  I myself was so humbled by this experience.  The Lord had changed my heart.

That's been my week here!  I love you all so much!

Have a great week!

Avec amour,
Elder Jenkins

We were waiting for one of our investigators to get home from work,
so I started helping his (future) wife serve people rice!

This dude was riding around last week.

Oh the things you see on motos here.  Also, Benin just passed a law
that helmets are required on motos and all infractions will be
punished.  There have been some pretty creative "helmets".  The best
one was a small trash bin strapped on a guy's head.  I've seen an
equestrian helmet, a little girl's pink bike helmet, and a world war I
style helmet.  One of the best was this one guy that wore a helmet in
a car!

Prosper's questions and the healing power of a priesthood blessing

Hello all! Unfortunately today, I’m not feeling too well at all, but I’ve had a great week!!!  We have a few investigators that are progressing well, and one family that’s getting ready to be married and be baptized in August!

For this past week, we had a Sacrament meeting with President and Sister Morin for all of the missionaries in Benin on Thursday.  It was an interesting tactic to get to know us, but I loved it!  They have been doing apartment interviews this whole week, and ours were after the meeting.  Pretty much just filled out a paper with a few questions and such to get to know us better and then every district had about a 30-minute interview with both of them.  Also, as we were eating lunch after the meeting, I saw two very familiar faces: Elder and Sister Stagg!!!  They had come over from Togo for a CES meeting and happened to be there at the same time as us!  I went outside to meet them when they were leaving and was greeted by a great big hug from Elder Stagg and an almost-hug-then-slightly-awkward handshake from Sister Stagg!!! Haha it was great to see them again!

Friday was an absolutely awesome day, but as I’m not feeling well, I’ll just share my journal entry from that day.

Vendredi, 25 juillet 2014

I apologize for the handwriting, but my day has just been so good that I had to write about it, even with my slight handicap.

Our last lesson tonight was absolutely fantastic, thanks to the Spirit.  It was with the father of the Nigerian family that has been to Church a couple times with Sophia Taylor.  He finally is back from traveling and has wanted to talk with us.  We spoke with him yesterday (thank goodness he speaks French so Elder Sahue can participate), and he was interested and had questions about our doctrine.  We left him a Restoration and Joseph Smith pamphlet.  He said he also wanted the Book of Mormon, so we fixed an appointment for tonight at 7.

   

This time, it was just Elder Sahue and I (the Taylor family was there with us last night).  We opened with a prayer and got talking.  In essence, his main question was, “What is your church’s mission?  Some churches heal, others deliver, others promise eternal life, etc.  So what is your church’s role in all of this?”  I almost jumped for joy at this question, because it is a PERFECT opportunity to explain and testify of the apostasy cycle.  I think I might’ve jumped the gun a bit because when Elder Sahue gets going, he doesn’t stop for 20 minutes often times.  But we were able to explain together that Christ organized a Church to carry out the gospel to the whole world, but then the Great Apostasy came.  I then used the mirror analogy, which he understood well, but his question after was “How did the apostasy come?”  Elder Sahue then explained, with a personal story form the civil war in Ivory Coast, that after Christ’s death, the Church was still persecuted and forced into hiding.  When opposing forces came to the door, the saints (disciples of Christ) were either courageous or not.  Those who were courageous were put to death, and those were not denied their faith, thus losing the Holy Spirit and the authority of God.

   

After Elder Sahue explained that, Prosper (the investigator) took a couple moments of reflection, and then said, “So when the mirror broke, many men essentially came and took a couple of pieces to create a church.  It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s not complete. So this church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has been restored to be how the Church was during Christ’s time?”  Elder Sahue and I made eye contact and smiled as he spoke.  After he finished, we both said simultaneously, “EXACTLY!!!”  We then shared with him the Articles of Faith (putting the focus on #6 and #11), and he absolutely loved it!

What I love about this man is that he has a great religious knowledge (he’s a non-denominational pastor), but he’s humble.  He’s curious, but he’s humble.  And it’s amazing for me to see the difference that humility makes.  He was willing to humble himself before the Lord and seek for the truth in curiosity and humility.  In return, his eyes were opened to the truth and he understood.  As I handed him the Book of Mormon as we left, he said, “I have a good feeling about what I will learn from this book.”  As he travels often, we exchanged emails at the end so that we can keep in touch and check-in with him often.

   

Secondly, my slight handicap.  The eczema has really worsened on my right hand, especially on my ring finger.  About a week ago, blisters started to appear on the back of my ring finger.  When I did laundry, those blisters burst, leaving some open wounds.  I didn’t think much of it until Sunday when I realized that it wasn’t healing at all.  In fact, it was worsening and starting to infect.  On Monday, I went to the Mission Office to have it looked at, and Elder Christensen just gave me some rubber gloves to finish my laundry and said that Sister Morin would look at it Thursday.  The problem was that my finger was too swollen to fit into the glove!

   

On Tuesday, I finally decided that I needed to bandage it.  When I changed the bandage for the first time on Wednesday (it had become covered in not-nice-looking stuff [I refrain from the actual term in fear of a rather revolting image appearing in the reader’s mind]), I experienced some of the worst pain that I ever have in my life (yeah, sorry I’m a wuss).  On my ring finger, I would say that 15-20% was not covered by skin, and the new skin seemed to have formed into the bandage, so when I took the bandage of, it was like I was peeling all that skin off again.  Not fun.  At all.  Thursday morning after our sacrament meeting I showed Sister Morin the pictures I had taken when again I had changed the bandage with similar results.  She told me just to continue doing what I’m doing and be patient.  I decided after that instance (and another painful bandage exchange last night) that I was in need of a Priesthood blessing.  After my finger was all wrapped up last night, I got the apartment together and asked for a Priesthood blessing.  A blessing was administered, and I went to bed with hope that all would be well.

   

I decided to wait until this evening to change the bandage, and it was an absolute miracle the difference.  Taking off the bandage took about 30 seconds instead of 15 minutes.  Cleaning it was still quite painful, but it was much more manageable.  I then dried it, put Neosporin on, and rebandaged it.  The whole process took about 30 minutes (including drying time) versus the hour and a half yesterday.

The Priesthood power is real.

Well, that’s it for this week.   We have Family Home Evening at President Kazotti’s tonight.  He’s hosting his employer from Canada who came with a BYU student (both members of the Church) with whom I had the occasion to chat with last night after our last appointment at President Kazotti’s house!

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

Avec amour,

Elder Jenkins

"Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."

Departing picture with Elder Gomun.  He and I have become very close.

Well, it's been a bit of a slow week.  With the departure of eight missionaries (and one in our apartment) there were many things that we had to do, visits to make, etc.  However, once everything got a bit more settled we were able to put more effort into the work.

Our last District Meeting with Elder Gomun as our District Leader!

Whoops!  Somebody was watching?

The airplane going to Côte d'Ivoire with 5 missionaries on it! (We hear every single airplane that leaves the Cotonou airport).

How's that for front row seats?

This week has also been filled with physical afflictions, which hasn't made it any easier. However, it is the Lord's work, and He has given me His strength to be able to accomplish His will.

What happens when you have no water for 4 days?  You have to go to your neighbors and fill up some jugs!

And then prepare for the long haul up the stairs...

In spite of the hardships of this past week, there have been tender mercies of the Lord, showing me that He is still there and that He still cares about me.  Most of all, I have felt my personal testimony strengthen of God, the Eternal Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ. They truly do live and are constantly watching over us, caring after us.

Something that has really caught my attention lately is the story of Thomas after Christ's resurrection, Thomas who refused to believe that Christ had risen from the dead until he saw.

 24 ¶But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

 25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

 26 ¶And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

 27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

 28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

My studies have really been drawn to the response of the Christ to Thomas and to us all:

29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.  (emphasis added)  (John 20:24-29)

I have really been pondering on this scripture and others that convey a similar message. Sometimes, I get discouraged because the work isn't progressing the way that I want it to. Sometimes there are people that I love so much who just refuse to believe!  It's so hard sometimes to see people lose sight of what matters most.  It happens to all of us in certain degrees, but it's hard to watch.

However, I take courage knowing that I am doing what I need to be doing, and that I believe in Christ, although I have never seen Him.  I know that He lives!  This is truly His work.  Even though there are many forces fighting against God in this world, He is there.

The past 14 months (almost) of my service to the Lord have enlightened many things to me.  I have tried to serve the Lord with all of my heart.  Although I have fallen short many times, He makes up the difference.  As long as I have the desire to serve, He provides a way.

I have learned that the more I focus myself on others, the more I have strengthened my testimony and deepened my conversion to the Lord.  I have seen the famed scripture of the words of Jesus Christ in action:

35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.  (Mark 8:35)

These past 14 months have truly been a blessing for me.  I have seen many lives change.  I have seen people accept Jesus Christ as their Savior through His Restored Gospel.  But the life that I have seen change the most is my own.  I don't know how, but it has happened, and I am eternally grateful for the Lord's grace and mercy that He has so fully given me.

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

Avec amour,

Elder Jenkins