Don't be afraid to make mistakes! Put yourselves out on the line!

Hello all.  It's been a week full of learning here in Benin.  And I have absolutely loved it.  My testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and of His grace has been greatly strengthened.

Going throughout this past week has not exactly been easy.  It wasn't discouraging, but it certainly wasn't easy.  But as I have learned, these are the best moments of life.  Yes, humility is required in great abundance, and it is very difficult for some of us to show this kind of humility.  But I have better understood the Lord's grace as I meditated on how far I've come to see again where I need to go.

As I thought about my time here, I thought of all the mistakes I've made and how I thought, at the time, that I would regret all of these mistakes for the rest of my life.  Then I realized that now, I do not regret a single one!  Why? Because I gave it my all!  I put in, at that time, everything that I had, even if it seemed nothing at all.

This past week, I have made several mistakes.  Not that I'm a bad person or that I'm not trying, but I am an imperfect being.  However, much different from earlier in my mission, I was not at all discouraged!  Why? Because I have spent a lot more time studying and meditating on the Savior's Atonement.  He has granted me a greater understanding of the hope and light of His gospel.

Pondering on all of these things yesterday, I was quite impressed with the mission experience.  Yes, it's one great life lesson, and yes, we get to change people's lives, but there is something much, much more.  The Lord has given us a very special place to learn and to make mistakes.  That's when it hit me: I'm supposed to make mistakes!  I'm supposed to give it everything I have and fall short!  I'm supposed to push myself past my boundaries!  Thinking upon this even in this very moment has brought a poem quoted by Elder Vinson last year (originally by Elder Holland):

"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.

So if I have counsel to those young and old seeking to serve missions, don't be afraid to make mistakes!  Put yourselves out on the line!  Open your heart to everyone, without fear!  Give it everything you've got even if you've got nothing!  We're most likely never going to see these people again in our mortal lives.  The Lord gives us this opportunity of trial and error to prepare us for our future lives when the stakes will be much higher. Yes, it might seem like we're falling at first when we come to the edge and He pushes us, but soon we will see His promise fulfilled that "He shall bear [us] up as on eagles' wings."

I have made the firm decision that as I finish my time here on my mission, I will put myself as far out there as I can.  I will make as many mistakes as necessary so that I can grow, knowing that if I give it everything that I can, the Lord will make up the difference.  I'm not saying that I won't try to improve; in fact, improvement is exactly what I'm seeking!  But I have gained a firm testimony that the more we put ourselves on the line humbly, the more we will see the Lord's hand in our lives.

There is no limit to His power!  There is no limit to His reach!  There is no limit to how long or how much we are allowed to use!  So why worry about our own lack of strength when His grace is sufficient.  His Atonement is infinite!  His grace is infinite!

In beginning to live in this manner, I have felt the peace in His gospel.  Even when turmoil surrounds me, His grace and His peace are sufficient for me.  Living this way is truly a joyous experience.  

I testify that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ stands at each one of our personal doors.  He knocks.  He awaits for us to open the door and invite Him into our lives.  And when we do, He will push us farther than we have ever gone, but with it, He will open us new beginnings and beautiful views on life.  We will find true happiness and joy.  We will gain spiritual confidence before God.  We will change to become like Him.  And I share this with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Avec amour,

Elder Jenkins

One of my all-time favorite African meals, foutou banane with peanut sauce!!!  SOOOO GOOOD!!!!!!!!!! 

Found this on my box of Frosties (european frosted flakes).  it's a free entry to several parks in Great Britain and Ireland.  Including the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin.  What are the chances?!  I'm planning on giving it to Elder Lynch so that he can actually use it! 

Elder Wittig and I improvised to make an apple pie today.  It was amazing!!!  and it only cost 8 dollars (roughly)!!!!!

"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

"I love your smile, by the way"

Bonjour tout le monde!  Well, it has been an incredible week here!  The highlight of this week was a visit from Elder Clayton of the Presidency of the 70 and Elder Vinson of the 70, both with their wives!!!  They gave us 3 Elder Bednar talks to study beforehand, all of which were life-changing.  Needless to say, I've had a very spiritually uplifting week.

To start off, last week I got a call from the Assistant's asking me to play piano for our meeting with Elder Clayton and Elder Vinson this past Thursday.  I searched frantically for a piano to practice as they assigned two hymns that I've never played.  With some searching on Monday, I was able to secure a piano to practice.

So, Thursday finally came.  My studies had gone very well for the meeting, so I was very excited for it and had some high expectations.  We didn't go out at all because we had to leave at about 11:30, and we had to do our studies before then as well as eat lunch and prepare ourselves.  Anyways, after studying, Elder Kunz and I decided to go downstairs and make some lunch.  Just as we put the rice in the rice cooker, the power went out. Being very accustomed to this, we just transferred all of the rice to a pot and put it on the second burner.  I had already cooked the beans, so all that was left was to sautée some onions and hot dogs.  That all went fine, so we were filled before going up to get ready.

This is where a slightly large problem came into play.  The power was out.  Elder Jenkins had chosen earlier during his studies to ignore the promptings of the Spirit that told him to iron his shirt.  The missionaries were leaving in 30 minutes for Kégué.  Problem.

I then decided to get on my knees that ask the Lord for His help in fixing my problem, notably to bring the power back on.  However, I think Heavenly Father was wanting me to learn a lesson.  He did, thankfully, remind me that Mom had sent me here with a wrinkle release spray, so I applied that and it worked a little bit.  Still a bit worried about my shirt, we left for Kégué.

We got there at about 12:30 to find that there were only a few other missionaries there. We chatted for about an hour before I decided to go get set up at the piano.  Shortly after the Anfamé Zone Leaders got everyone seated and we starting singing some hymns.  I was doing just fine on the piano (only a few big mess ups), until about 2:15.  We were all kinda tired (I haven't played piano for more than 5 minutes in months!  let alone 45), so we stopped singing and I played some light prelude.  There were some missionaries that still wanted to sing, so they just sung along while I played until another Elder got up and led.  Then, at 2:30, as we were singing "Choose the Right" (which is normally an easy hymn for me), I saw President Weed walking up to the chapel with a group following him, and I really started to mess the piano up (I had kinda been psyching myself out with the fact that I would have to play in front of General Authorities).  However, I got my head on straight by the time they got into the chapel, and I was able to finish with a bit of dignity.

President got up and announced that we would be singing #160 "Called to Serve" to start off.  My jaw dropped.  I had been told to prepare #170 "Hark, All Ye Nations," and #173 "Go Forth with Faith."  I was not prepared at all to play that, but I relied on the Lord's help to get me through.  Overall, it was kinda bad.  The whole chorus the second time through I could only play right hand because I was freaking out so bad.  Hahaha good humbling moment for Elder Jenkins.

Anyways, then came the time for the handshake line.  We were sitting near the back, so we were some of the last in line.  Elder and Sister Clayton both thanked me (with me slightly cringing) for the piano.  Elder Vinson was next and thanked me for my service.  I then thanked him right back.  The line got stopped up a bit, so I had a bit more time with he and Sister Vinson.  Elder Vinson then added that I look like I'm enjoying myself here. With my smile broadening uncontrollably, I then replied, "I most certainly am!"  Sister Vinson then said, as I was shaking her hand, "Well, it most certainly shows!"  Haha that was a very heart-warming experience for me.  Anyways, after that we took our seats and prepared ourselves for a spiritual feast.

First to speak was Sister Vinson, who shared a short, but very sweet testimony with us. She was then followed by Elder Vinson, whom I have grown to love after his talk this past General Conference, his visit last December, and then his comment today.  The question that resounded with me that he asked was "How has the mission changed your life?" Seems like a common question, but it's not something that I've really stopped too much to think about in the busyness of our missionary schedule.  But I loved the personal thought that it provoked.

Elder Vinson was followed by Sister Clayton, who shared a message about finding the good in every experience, with some very interesting stories and testimonies.  Elder Clayton then got up to the pulpit and began his interactive address.  He spoke for about 45 minutes, and I loved every second.  He spoke a lot about acting and not being acted upon (which I think might have been greatly influenced by Elder Bednar, who had presided over the Mission President Conference in Ghana just the day before) in all of our relationships as missionaries.  What I loved is that almost every missionary that asked a question or responded to an answer, he would ask them further questions (showing us an example of seizing learning opportunities for more profound learning experiences).  He incorporated a lot of our pre-study into this as the three Elder Bednar addresses talk a lot about acting in faith to gain learning and testimony which lead to conversion to the Lord.  Again, absolutely fascinating to see everything so connected.

Elder Clayton then opened up time for another 45 minutes of Q&A, on whatever subject we needed help.  He stated, "take this opportunity seriously.  You have two members of the Seventy, a Mission President, their wives, and a Area Seventy [who was translating for him].  You will not have very many opportunities like this again in your life."  This was most enlightening as most of the questions were very legitimate.  What I loved here was that 1) we got answers from Elder and Sister Clayton as well as Elder Vinson, and 2) every single one of them answered the question directly, but then they expounded on it to cover so many more topics.  For instance, one missionary ask about faithful women who are never married.  Sister Vinson then explained how temple work is ongoing and that we know every person will be treated and judged according to the desires of his heart as well as his acts according to availability on earth.  Elder Clayton then got up and expounded more on marriage, how we are given such outstanding couples as Mission President and wife to give us the example of how we should pattern our marriages after them (which reminded both Elder Kunz and I of his last Conference talk, "Marriage: Watch and Learn").

We then closed the meeting with very powerful testimonies from Elder Vinson and Elder Clayton, and then a prayer. Afterwards, they hurried us out because there was another meeting with the Stake leaders afterwards.  As we were leaving, I held the door open for Elder Vinson as we were walking out, and he gave me a handshake and added, "I love your smile, by the way, Elder Jenkins."  Love that guy.  He's just full of love.

We had a few minutes to talk afterwards, so I chatted a bit with Sister Vinson and Sister Weed, and then with a few other missionaries.  There's a new missionary from Tahiti, Elder Marurai, that I got to talk to for quite a bit.  Haha he's a crack up!  The first thing that he said to me is that he thought I was from Hawaii!  Haha he said I have all the qualities of his sister's husband, who's from Hawaii.  I told him I'm from Florida, so not quite the same, but slightly similar.

 

Elder Ritchie (one of the Assistants), me, and Elder Marurai (the Tahitien) together on Thursday.

Also, Thursday might have been the last time I see Elder Kabedeh.  It made me kinda very sad when he said that, but I'll just have whoever is taking them to Benin stop by our apartment since we're on the way.  I'm really going to miss him.  He's probably my favorite African in this whole world.

 

With Elder Kabedeh on Thursday.  Might be the last picture I ever take with him.

Anyways, other than that, there hasn't been terribly much this week.  The work is still progressing well.  We're still receiving contacts, and we're meeting lots of new people. We have a few that are progressing well, but no baptismal dates for the moment, mostly because of dowry problems.  Again, thank you for your prayers and for your letters.  I feel all of your love everyday.

This Church is true, something that I witnessed this past Thursday, and there is no other way to know that than to act and experience for yourself.  I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was restored by God and Jesus Christ themselves through their own called prophet, Joseph Smith.  All of the rights, power, and authority of God are found in this Church, and I know that this past Thursday, I was graced to be in the presence of two called, full-time servants of the Lord's Quorum of the Seventy (See Luke Chapter 10).

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

Avec amour,

Elder Jenkins

 

Here's a view of our kitchen

Decided to help our gardener out this morning.

I haven't worked like that for quite some time.  Oh!  Something I forgot to add is that Harmattan has really hit the past two days!  Yesterday at Church, we had no need for the fans and quite a few were wearing jackets.  It's so dry, it's bizarre!  Then today, as I was trimming the shrubs, I was working hard and breathing hard, but I wasn't hot nor sweating at all!  It has been quite a change.

The gardener was actually impressed with my work.  Then I told him that I did yard work at home and he understood.  Most Africans don't even know what a yard is though.

 

LDS Church creates first stake in Togo

By Elder Douglas Green Stoker

By Rebecca R. Stoker

For LDS Church News

Published: Thursday, Dec. 26 2013 9:05 a.m. MST

Updated: Thursday, Dec. 26 2013 4:20 p.m. MST

Family in Lomé Togo Stake (Photo courtesy Africa West Area)

LOMÉ— Members from 12 branches of the Church in Lomé, Togo, gathered in their recently dedicated Church building on Sunday, Dec. 8, to witness the creation of Togo’s first stake.

Togo is located on the Gulf of Guinea, between Ghana on the west and Benin on the east. Its national capital and main port is Lomé, nestled in the southwestern corner of this country of nearly 7 million residents.

Elder Terence M. Vinson of the Seventy and first counselor in the Africa West Area Presidency, organized the Lomé Togo Stake with the assistance of Elder Norbert K. Ounleu, an Area Seventy from Cote d’Ivoire.

“The members of the Church in Lomé have shown wonderful love for the Lord and have demonstrated a marvelous commitment to living the gospel. They now have the privilege of being a stake,” Elder Vinson said.

Members arrive and visit outside the Lomé Togo Stake center.
(Photo courtesy Africa West Area)

“From the small district that was formed less than four years ago, there are now eightwards and four branches in the newly formed Lomé Togo Stake. This historic event took place because of significant and rapid growth. But where rapid growth sometimes comes at the cost of maturity and depth, that is not the case in Lomé.

“The mission president, Robert F. Weed, and the just-released district president, Komlan Amegandji, have led the Saints of Lomé by teaching them the principles of conversion and focusing on leading them to an increased understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

The beginning of the Church in Togo traces back to the late 1980s after several Togolese people who had been baptized abroad gradually returned to their homeland to find no established congregations in the country. Dieudonné Attiogbe, baptized in London in 1989, was unable to find other members of the Church in Togo.

Young married couple at Lomé Togo Stake formation. (Photo courtesy Africa West Area)

In response to his letter to the Church’s African headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa, the office sent Brother Attiogbe a list of several Togolese people who had been baptized abroad, along with their addresses. Brother Attiogbe, with Koffi Afangbedji and Agnon Didier, began meeting with a small group of members in Togo around 1996. Elder James O. Mason, then of the Seventy and president of the Africa Area, officially organized the Lomé Togo group in July 1997. By this time about 25 Latter-day Saints were living there.

In February 1999, Togo came under the Ivory Coast Abidjan Mission. That same month, the first missionary couple, Dermoine A. and Joyce Findlay, began missionary work in Togo and the Lomé Branch was organized, with Dieudonné Attiogbe as its first president. Legal recognition of the Church was granted in July 2000. The first district in Togo was created in 2009.

Mission President Robert F. Weed and Sister Rebecca Weed with one of
their missionaries. (Photo courtesy Africa West Area)

In 2011, to better align resources to changing needs, the Benin Cotonou Mission — comprised of Benin and Togo — was created from part of the former Ivory Coast Abidjan Mission. When President Robert Weed and his wife, Sister Rebecca Weed, arrived to lead the new mission in July of that year, there were just five branches of the Church in Lomé, Togo.

“Now there are 12 units in Lomé and there have been 310 baptisms in the last year alone,” Elder Vinson reports. “The future for the Church in Lomé is bright. The new stake president, Kcodgoh Laurent Edgeweblime, has a vision of continued growth for the Church in Togo.”

President Weed added, “The fruits of the hastening of the work of salvation are evident in the creation of the first stake in Togo.

Congregation fills meetinghouse chapel at the creation of the
Lomé Togo Stake. (Photo courtesy Africa West Area)

“In a few short years the Church has grown from five branches to a stake of Zion. The maturity of leadership in such a new group of Latter-day Saints is a testament to their incredible faith, love and devotion.”

The stake center was filled to capacity as more than 800 members of the Church, missionaries, investigators, media and local tribal leaders listened to the new presidency address the congregation. President Edgeweblime and his counselors, Anani Kouegan and Boevi Edem Lawson, all expressed deep appreciation for the gospel in their lives and for the opportunity to help the work move forward.

“We may not see the importance of it now, but the formation of the Lomé stake will be a great blessing to Togo,” the new stake president, Kcodgoh Laurent Edgeweblime, said. “There are millions of people in our country who need to hear the word of God. The growth of the Church in Togo is a testament to how the gospel of Jesus Christ is spreading throughout the world.”

Elder Terence M. Vinson and Elder Norbert K. Ounleu with a young member
of the Church in Lomé, Togo. (Photo courtesy Africa West Area)

Members and missionaries alike shared their thoughts about the events of the day.

Y. Blaise, second counselor in the Attiegou Ward, said, “We have waited for this day for some time. I wanted to be present for the organization of the stake of Lomé, the first in the history of the Church in Togo.”

Elder Ounleu, Area Seventy for the French-speaking countries in West Africa, commented that when he first came to Togo to help organize the new mission, he had the impression it would be very successful. He expressed sincere gratitude for President and Sister Weed, noting that “they are for me angels sent to help do all this work.”

“My thoughts about this wonderful event are simple — God loves His children,” said Elder Ounleu. “I have seen His hand helping us during the conference. It is just the beginning of the growth of the Church in Lomé, Togo.

Local chiefs and media attend the creation of the Lomé Togo Stake.
(Photo courtesy Africa West Area)

“We have faithful members who will move the Lord’s business forward. I have seen during the conference mothers, husbands and children being overjoyed. They strongly believe the stake will change their lives and protect their country.”

In his concluding remarks, Elder Vinson thanked the released district leaders, President Amegandji and his counselors, Mathieu Gbedevi and Koffi N’Sougan, for their service. Members of the congregation were reminded that, even though a new stake has been formed, there is still much to do.

“To have the opportunity of presiding at the creation of Togo’s first stake was a marvelous experience,” Elder Vinson said after the conference. “To feel the Lord guiding me and Elder Ounleu in the identification of the man the Lord Himself had already chosen to be the president of the stake is a wonderful privilege.”

There's just so much going on right now here in Togo!

Email me your own caption to preston.jenkins@myldsmail.net

Hey everybody!  Well, what a week it has been!  Absolutely fantastic!  To start off, I just wanted to share the biggest news of the week.  This past Saturday and Sunday, we had Elder Vinson of the 70 and West Africa Area Presidency come and visit for District Conference.  Yesterday, December 8th, the first Stake in this small African country of Togo was organized.  What a historic event to be a part of!  It was absolutely amazing and the Spirit was so strong in the meeting.  We took a few of our investigators in the bus again, and I knew that they too were able to feel the Spirit and the power of the authority of the Church (see story of recent convert Dodji below).

We, the missionaries of Baguida, got to attend the three sessions of District Conference.  The only reason we attended the leaders' session was because President Blaise picked us up in his truck so that we didn't have to pay an arm and a leg for a taxi to get there.  We were a little scared that President was going to be upset with us because we were 2 hours early, but it was actually a blessing because Sister Weed needed someone to translate for her in the Sisters' leadership meeting, and the other missionaries she called had refused.  So, I got to translate for her, which was actually a lot of fun!  

Then, following that we had the Saturday adult session, which included all of the missionaries.  It was a great meeting, but I felt so bad for the African who had been asked to translate for Elder Vinson.  Elder Vinson is from Australia, so naturally, he has a decently thick accent, which was very hard for the person translating to understand.  Most of it was very solid translation, but there were a couple things that were completely off.  For example, Elder Vinson said at one point something along the lines of: "now is truly the time for the members to step up to this work as President Monson has prophesied."  That got translated to: "And we should see that all of our children are baptized."  All of us American missionaries were DYING!  Haha it's was hilarious.  Elder Vinson noticed this and must have known that it wasn't translated correctly (he had already had to repeat himself several times), and he made a joking remark about how he knew there were those of us translating things a bit differently in our minds.  Anyways, it ended up flowing very smoothly when Elder Onlu (the Area 70 from Ivory Coast assigned to Togo) just took over translation, as he is quite used to speaking English with Elder Vinson.

Sunday morning we took the bus again up to Kégué with 18 people with 15 seats!  Very African style.  We also sent 6 people in a taxi with 4 seats, again, very African.  Anyways, we got there about 2 hours early, so we had fantastic seats because we were sitting by our investigators.  The meeting was a very, very spiritual meeting.  The Spirit was truly carrying the messages to our hearts.  The new Stake President that has been called was President Laurent, the man who introduced us to Gabriel, the former Prime Minister.  He is a man that I know and love very much, and I'm very excited to see what this new calling can do for him to strengthen him and his family.  One thing that he shared that I loved was that we should ask ourselves "for what goal has God given me my testimony?"  I loved the way he phrased it.  He didn't ask Why? but For what goal? something that really touched me and that I think applied to me very much.  I pray those reading this will see how I am applying this question in my life.  This question is the driving force of my decision to come on a mission.  God has given me my testimony of this church so that I may share it and invite others to come and partake of it as well.  Just as Matthew 5:14-15 states, would I hide the light that God has given me?  This was a very piercing question that I absolutely loved.  President Weed, Elder Onlu, and Elder Vinson finished the meeting with very, very powerful talks.  The Spirit was truly there testifying of the truthfulness of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Anyways, that's about how this weekend was.  In some ways, it was almost better than a General Conference weekend.  But other than that, it's been a great week.  A couple notes: on Tuesday, I bought Elder Burkhart's guitar and toaster oven from him as he is going home this Saturday (weird!!).  The guitar has been progressing very quickly as my fingers are used to play chords with the ukulele.

These guys are going home!

Livin life on the edge

Playing the guitar on the roof this morning

Then, Wednesday we had a lesson with Frère Dodji that I loved.  Frère Dodji loves the fact that the Church has the power and authority of God residing in it.  This past Sunday, he was confered the Aaronic Priesthood.  He never misses a chance to make a remark about the "authority," especially since his friend Frère Philippe (who goes out with us three days a week) was put in as second counselor of the Baguida branch.  Anyways, we taught him a bit about the Priesthood on Wednesday.  To start off, we read the definition in the Guide to the Scriptures.  The definition starts of with the word "authority," which Dodji abslutely loved.  In his words, "oh man, the definition even starts with 'authority,' I like it already!  And it's followed by power!  Wow, the priesthood must be pretty special!"  He's a kinda comedian anyways, so we were all dying laughing after that!  It was a great experience.

Frère Dodji this past Sunday at Conference

Decided to give some service after an appointment on Wednesday.
Just behind those walls is the beach and then the ocean!

My apologies for the long letter this week, but there's just so much going on right now here in Togo!  I have been so blessed to have seen the progression and rapid growth in this amazing country, and I am so excited to be able to watch it over the next 17 or 18 months!  I know that this Church is true, and if I didn't know before, this weekend has proven it to me.  The power and authority of God truly resides in this church, something that no other denomination can proclaim today.

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

Avec amour,

Elder Jenkins

Yep, the ocean

Elder Kunz and I got a bit crazy throwing the frisbee this morning

We got pretty intense

Yeah.....  I couldn't resist.  Good "For the Strength of Youth" photo?

Yeah, this is our area!

Little bit of African sunset.  This picture didn't do it justice.

I love this photo!

Got some milkshakes!

Made some atchéké this week!  It's an Ivorien meal and this is the
first time that I made it by myself, and it turned out delicious!