"A love of God and of all men"

My new companion, Elder Dakouri, from Ivory Coast.

Hello all.  Well, everything with the transfer went well this week.  Elder Dakouri and Elder Koranteng both came over from Togo on Thursday.  Elder Wittig and I had a fun week together waiting for them to come.  I had to do immigration things during the week, so we got to see many other missionary friends together.  He also celebrated his birthday on Friday, so we had pizza and root beer floats and then we made brownies today!  That little beat-up toaster may be the center of much mocking from those few outsiders who see it, but he’s been such a little tender mercy for us.

One last picture with Elder Lynch!  He's home now!

Having these two new missionaries in the apartment has changed the aura a bit, just a bit of fresh air that’s all.  However, the Lord has made it very clear to me what He wants me to learn with these last few weeks.

When I got the transfer call, I was informed that they (the mission leaders) were hoping that I could help lift my new companion.  Then, when I was in the mission office for immigration, President Morin called me in for a brief interview to expound a bit more on why they had said that.  In his words, “Every missionary wants to finish his mission, but we want them all to finish well.”  I left that interview thinking that I was expected to format my new companion.  I was pondering on how I could do this until the day he got here.  With the first day, I was looking brightly towards the future. He’s got a good testimony and shares it openly and often.  He’s excited to be working.

As the days wore on, I started to get slightly worried with the fact that I thought that I was being asked to change him.  Looking towards the future, my vision became quite bleak, blurred even. Then, the Lord sent one of His humble servants a pick-me-up in the form of correction and direction.

As I was preparing for the 3rd hour lesson this Sunday, I got quite excited.  The title “The Power of the Word” had intrigued me from the very first time I read it in January.  There were a few words, like President Benson and many, many others have promised, that struck me as the Lord’s being spoken directly to me.  One part, focused on making the word a greater part of our life, explained how we should seek out the word of God as it is contained in the mouths of God’s chosen modern-day prophets.  I was reminded of this this morning as I sat down to begin my laundry haul.

As I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed, I listened carefully to the words of President Eyring, Brother Callister, President Monson and President Uchtdorf from the October 2014 Conference.  It soon became very, very clear to me what the Lord is expecting of me with my last few weeks, and I think that it can be summed up in one word: LOVE. Not just any love or lust, but true love, or charity.

After I finished, I felt prompted to look in the Joseph Smith manual in the chapter on charity.  I was greatly enlightened by this chapter, and again I soon heard the Lord’s voice speaking to me.  Before anything, we must love.  We must not think that we are more righteous than others, but we must love every one of our fellow man and do everything in our power to help them.  As President George Albert Smith complimented this doctrine, “there is true power in kindness.” He continued to explain how through kindness we can bring others to convert themselves unto the Lord.

So, as I endure to the end of my full-time service of the Lord God, I plan on following Nephi’s counsel on enduring to the end.  In 2 Nephi 31:20, he said, “And ye must press forward, with a perfect brightness of hope, with a love of God and of all men.”

I am very excited for this essential life lesson that the Lord is communicating to me and enabling me to exercise at this time.  I do not think that it is the only lesson that I have left to learn, but it certainly seems to be the most important.  As President Monson said in April 2014, “Love is the very essence of the Gospel.”

I pray that as we continue to endure to the end of our lives and of our various current situations that we do so with “a love of God and of all men.”  I promise that these truly are God’s prophetic words to us His children today.  I so testify because He has made it so blatantly clear to me that I could never say otherwise.  I know that, with love in our hearts, the future will always be bright and clear. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Avec amour,

Elder Jenkins

Legislative elections are next week.  They're getting decently

creative with their campaigns!

Making His promises known to His children

Missionaries with Elder Dube 02.05.15

Wow!  What a week!  I don't have much time today (do I ever?), but I will try to be quick and concise.

I have made some intriguing spiritual progression this week, and it certainly has not been without Satan trying to impede me.

This week, we had the amazing opportunity to meet with Elder Dube of the Quorum of the 70.  I loved how he directed this meeting.  It was separated into three segments.  During the first, he and President and Sister Morin all instructed us individually.  Then the second two were just Elder Dube.  

The first was focused on becoming true disciples of Jesus Christ.  He explained that while serving as a stake president in Zimbabwe, he remarked that there were two types of missionaries who returned home: true disciples of Jesus Christ and "me"-missionaries.  He proceeded to detail the difference between the two.  Briefly, "forget yourself and go to work!"

President Morin shared a message about cultivating the gifts of the Spirit.  He's been making a recent push for that lately, and it's certainly been bringing a new light into my life.  It is very interesting, this topic.

Elder Dube's second discussion was about the importance of study, especially personal.

The third discussion was rather interesting.  He explained many, many scriptures about how "if you keep the commandments, you will prosper in the land."  We then proceeded to talk about our investigators preoccupations and how we can help them get over those.  We focused first on the Spirit but secondly on promising blessings.  The Lord has given so many promises to those who keep his commandments, and as His representatives, our's is the work of making His promises know to His children.  I thought that it was very interesting with the list he gave on "prospering in the land" given the fact that we're serving in a third world country.

This was a very spiritually uplifting opportunity, and with the meditation that I've been able to give it afterwards, I have felt the Lord's hand working in me to humble me and to direct me forward.

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

Avec amour,

Elder Jenkins

Also spent quite a bit of time as keeper.  Only got scored on twice today!

Working my tennis serve back into shape today!  It was a blast!

Our Christmas Miracle

Well, I've been pondering a bit on what to say this week, and I'm slightly at a loss.  I think it partially may be because I've got a headache from being out in the sun for multiple hours today.  My words may be a bit short today, but I'll tell my week through pictures.  After all, a picture is worth a thousand words, right?

I will explain one miracle that we had from this past week--from Christmas day actually.

In preparation for calling home on Christmas day, we searched for and found (through some members) a very good cyber just outside our area.  We went to it last Monday and it was phenomenal.  The connection was outstanding, there was air-conditioning, and the chairs were very comfortable.  As we left, I was confident that I would have a sucessful Skype chat with my family three days later.

So then Tuesday comes where we had the Mission Christmas Party.  It was a blast!  We get to the mission home that morning dressed all nice.  They had told us to wear missionary attire for the service project because we would just be washing bottles.  So here's Elder Jenkins, dressed up all nice.  Hair's done up, whitest shirt I own, my suit pants, and newly shined shoes.  We get to the orphanage that we were working at and the place was pretty much just a giant mud puddle.  We were way up in the village, so it wasn't too much of a surprise.  Looking at the mud, I was fairly confident that I could make it out still quite clean, after all, we were just cleaning glass bottles. ...

With a few kids at the orphanage 12.23.14

Just as this thought crossed my mind, President Morin says, "Elder Jenkins!  We need some strong men to move the bags of bottles to the tables.  Can you round up a few Elders, please?"  Sure.  OK.  So we make our way into the compound and go to the corner, where several huge bags of glass bottles are stacked.  I grab Elder Barnes to put him on the other side of the bag (they were pretty heavy), and we pick it up and head to the closest table.  I looked down, and I was on the verge of tears.  My shoes were covered in mud, the bottom part of my pants were almost unrecognizable, and my white shirt had several dirt marks on it from the bag.  So yeah, after about an hour of that I was dirty as all get out, drenched in sweat, yet my hair was still intact (at least the dirt got it's priorities straight).

Towards the end of the activity, we "strong men" were called on again to take all the buckets of water out and dump them on the street.  I tried to take one on my head, which went fine, until I hit a spot where I had to step down.  Not being able to look down with the load on my head, I was helpless.  Elder Ribera (from France), who had been working previously on the bags, came to my aid. As we were getting the bucket off of my head so that we could both carry it, a whole bunch of water splashed out onto him.  I didn't feel absolutely terrible because he was as dirty as I was, but I still felt really, really bad.  Thankfully, he was a REALLY good sport about it and we finished the job together.

View from the orphanage 12.23.14

After everything was cleaned up, we went up to sing to the children, and then we made our way back to Cotonou.

Once there, we went to Majestic, which is where we hold all of our big conferences.  We ate lunch, watched a few presentations (including a few musical presentations in which I participated).  I was in one with the choir, and then Elder Izekor and I did three songs together with him on the recorder and me on the guitar.  We did "Il est né, le divin enfant", "What Child Is This?", and "Silent Night".  It was a blast!  After all of that, we had three games, and Elder Izekor had asked me to be the game show host.  Guess all those years of watching GSN paid off!  After that, President and Sister Morin shared their testimonies at the end.  Before their testimonies, President had Elder Bulunga (one of the assistants) read a few rules that they really wanted to focus on during the holiday season--one of which being the fact that we should not leave our proselyting areas.

Our table at the Christmas party12.23.14

Our Christmas party lunch!  It was sooo good!!! 12.23.14

With this in mind, we set out home searching for solutions.  We did not know of any cybers in our area with a strong enough connection to do skype nor with the materials necessary.  Elder Wittig had the idea on Wednesday that we fast for it.  So, with much faith and great desire to speak with our families, we knelt in prayer together to start a fast.

The next 24 hours were not exactly easy, but we saw many miracles in our missionary work that came as a result of this fast.  We had decided beforehand to do some door-to-door on Christmas day, and it turned out great!  Everyone was together as a family, and they were already so happy that they were excited to have more visitors over.  We had decided to share the Plan of Salvation with everyone to show why the birth of our Savior was so important, and it worked really, really well.

My christmas gifts! (I got 4 new white shirts, a belt, and 2 photo albums) 12.25.14

My cinnamon rolls! 12.25.14

My cinnamon rolls with my little Christmas tree 12.25.14

At the Kazadi Family's home on Christmas day!  (I brought them my cinnamon rolls) 12.25.14

Finally, the evening came.  We asked around for cybers, and received some direction from members.  We tried three cybers, but none had what was necessary to call home with Skype.  After walking all over our area, which is massive, for two hours, we were a bit winded.  The day was dying, but we didn't lose our faith.  We pressed on, with hope of one last cyber, though reports from past missionaries put the chances in the dim range.

As we were walking there, we met a man who works at this cyber that we were going to.  We asked him about the connection, and he said that they had fixed it last week!  There was a problem with their internet device, but they replaced it and apparently there was a much better connection.  Next problem: no microphones.  Well, it just so happens that this man was going into town to fix a computer problem, and the store he was going to had microphones.  We gave him the money necessary, and 30 minutes later he was back at the cyber with them and we were calling our families.

Skyping with the family on Christmas 12.25.14

What a marvelous manifestation of God's love and attention to even four small missionaries in a remote country.  We showed our faith in Him, and He provided a way.  With all the events that transpired, this Christmas was, just as President Morin had promised that it could be, the most beautiful Christmas of my life.  

Avec amour,

Elder Jenkins

(Note from mom:  Elder Jenkins shared his testimony with us during our Skype and asked us to share it with family and friends.  You can view it here: Elder Jenkins Christmas testimony

Frère Joël's funeral.  I was invited to speak about the Plan of Salvation.  It was a magnificent occasion to testify of the truth and hope of the Lord's Restored Gospel. 

My favorite couple that we are teaching, 

Fréjus and Rabiath!  This was their first Sunday at Church!  12.28.14

Ouidah today!  12.29.14

Aquaman statue in Ouidah!  12.29.14

Point of No Return 12.29.14  (Note from Mom: This is the memorial commemorating the Atlantic slave trade.  This was one of the main departure points for those sold into slavery between the 15th and 19th centuries.  Notice the two rows of slaves chained together being lead to the boat (at the top of the arch), and the two statues on the sides of three shackled together to load on the boats). 

We (the Akpakpa district) were with the Assistants in their truck and we got a bit ahead of the rest of the zone with the office Elders in the mission van, so we had to stop and throw the frisbee to wait for them!  Poor Elder Wittig had to go sewer diving to get it after one throw!  Good thing the sewer was completely empty and dry! 12.29.14 

Best wave of the day!  12.29.14

The water was SOOOOO calm today.  The air was calm as well.  Just the overall tranquility was almost breath-taking, especially being in a city area now where we have so much traffic noise. 12.29.14

My name is Elder Jenkins, and I like long walks on the beach. 12.29.14

My tourist wins for the day! 12.29.14

My first nativity set!  12.29.14

The 200 back mission analogy

Hello all again.  I don’t think that I have too much to add for this week.  It’s been an ok week.  Lots of high moments but some down ones, too.

We had a great activity last Monday for the missionaries that will be going home soon. There was some awesome barbecued chicken, beach volleyball, and waffle ball.  Plus some beach soccer and beach Frisbee as well (yeah, we were on the beach).  It was a great unwind from the stress of our area right now.

Tuesday was phenomenal.  We had our first personal interviews with President Morin, and it was seriously such a good interview.  We just had a really good discussion together about obedience, budgeting, training, etc.  I also explained to him my race strategy for the 200 back and how I compare it to the mission.  I'm now coming up to the 150 wall where it hurts like heck, but I still give it everything and how the last 50 is all about focusing on one stroke at a time and giving every stroke every effort and finally finishing through the wall and not at it.  He loved it!  Overall it was just a nice conversation.  He's a funny guy, too.  He's got a great sense of humor.  Elder Silvas gave him some spicy Mexican candy and we got like a 30 second comedy show out of him.  It was a blast!!!

The rest of the week was a bit of a struggle due to fatigue and lack of investigators. However, with the Lord’s help, Elder Nkanza and I were able to pull through and finish the week strong.  It was so hard, but again, I just had to think of where I am in my long-term 200 back.  It’s supposed to hurt super bad right now, but all I’ve got to do is focus on one stroke at a time, one day at a time, and even sometimes one step at a time.  I wake up in the morning sometimes exhausted beyond belief after walking sometimes up to 12 kilometers (about 8 miles) the day before, but I just get up, exercise some more, and carry on with trust in the Lord.  Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger right?

Well, I think that’s about it for this week.  My apologies for a slightly short letter, but I hope and pray that this message finds you all well.  Best of wishes for the coming week.  I love you all so much!

Avec amour,

Elder Jenkins

"It's much easier to be 100% obedient than 98% obedient"

Elder Nkanza and I!  I tried to get a better picture, but I didn't have the chance, but he's still AWESOME!!!!

My my my.  I think the earth decided to spin a bit faster this week.  Just about everyone I know has said that this past week has flown by.  So true.

This has been an excellent week.  I would say that the most major event was Friday morning.  President Morin organized a mission-wide conference (split in two for Togo and Benin) on obedience.  It is a new push that he has started since he came in July, and many of us had a feeling that such would be the case.

The Assistants really kind of ran the show and set up three white boards with a title on every one.  The first was "Continuer" (continue), the second was "Commencer" (begin or start), and the third was "Cesser" (cease or stop).  We spent about 20 or 30 minutes on each one with a open word to specific activities that apply to each of those three verbs.  I was so grateful for the peace of the Spirit that confirmed that I am striving to be as obedient as I can be.  It is a beautiful feeling.  I still have many things that I need to work harder on, but I am doing my best, and I have felt the Savior's Atonement make up the difference.  We are starting to see miracles come in our area.

We then opened up time for testimonies from President and Sister Morin, the Assistants, and then every single one of the missionaries.  There were some great testimonies given.  I shared my testimony that Ether 12:27 is so true.  I have felt the Spirit strengthen me immensely in my quest to be more exactly obedient.  I have heard his voice guide me, and I have become more accustomed in heeding His promptings more quickly, which, again, has produced some great changes in me.

I had the opportunity also to give a fireside about the Pride Cycle Saturday evening.  This was such an edifying experience.  I think studying it was far more edifying than presenting it.  I decided to create my own cycle based on others I've seen.  I added a couple points, and as I was searching the scriptures, I found that everything fell directly in place!  It was so amazing!  My companion was laughing while I was studying because I just kept freaking out because everything was lining up so perfectly!!! I really learned what it means to truly feast upon the words of Christ and delight in the scriptures.  Here's a picture of my Pride Cycle and one with it translated.  

Pride Cycle

Pride Cycle translated

My testimony this week has been strengthened about prophets and the very important roles that they lead in our lives and in the world.  I thought of this while doing my in depth study of the Pride Cycle.  I thought of ancient people and the early saints of the Church and the peace and joy they found in the gospel and the words of the prophets amid trials and persecution.  I then thought of myself and the world around me.  It is so sad to see things deteriorate so rapidly around me.  Being set apart from the world as a missionary and a servant of God has given me so much light on this.  I have found this same joy and peace in my life.  It is the sweetest feeling to know who I am, to know God's Plan, and to know how I can follow in His ways.

I love you all so much.  Remember, as President Monson said, it is much easier (and more worthwhile) to be 100% obedient than to be 98% obedient.  Have a great week!!!

Avec amour,

Elder Jenkins

View from Frère Kazotti's balcony

Precious Moments

My apologies this week: there were three power outages while we were at the cyber this past Monday.  Since I didn't have a chance to write home, I am writing today with my Mission President's approval.

So what I wanted to write about this week was to share a few special moments.  These moments I have started to document as "Precious Moments," moments when I have been so touched by the Spirit and when I have felt as if heaven is drawing nearer to me.

The first moment was a marriage on Wednesday.  The Aïbatin sister missionaries (in our district) have been working with several couples in preparation for marriage.  Finally, two couples have been able to get everything in order for their marriage and then baptism.  So Wednesday the office elders picked us up in the mission van and we went to get the rest of the crew (the couples and family plus the sisters).  It was pretty packed, but we made it.  Luckily the sisters had asked me to bring my guitar so that we could all sing "Love at Home" together, so I got automatic shotgun.

The mission van

Elder Oliverson at the wheel

The District

The marriage itself was fun.  The mayor of Akassato (a little bit north of Cotonou--the marriages up there are far cheaper than in Cotonou) is quite the poet, which made for some good laughs.  But a precious moment for me was singing "Love at Home" at the end of the ceremony.  Another testimony for me that God lives and that He truly gives us families for a reason.  It is only through these families that we can reach the highest level of exaltation, which is why families are so important in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Here are the two couples with the mayor-poet on the right

The couple that was baptized on Saturday

The ring (I'm kinda proud of this picture.  It actually turned out ok even though I had a terrible angle)

The peanut gallery

The wedding party (courtesy of Elder Oliverson)

The couple who was baptized on Saturday (courtesy of Elder Oliverson)

The second moment was on Friday.  I had the opportunity to do the baptism interviews for one of the couples (the other couple was traveling and will be baptized in the coming week).  The husband and the wife are already soooooo solid in their testimonies of the truth.  They know that Christ had established something on this earth, that it was lost, and that it was restored by God and Jesus Christ through Joseph Smith.  They are so happy together, and they understand the gospel already very well.

But what touched me the most about this couple was how they know.  It was not through reason or research.  Yes, both of these practices helped them to gain a testimony, but what planted their testimony firmly in them is that they FELT that it is true.  When both of them explained this to me independently, I, again, FELT the same thing that they did.  Even though I come from halfway around the world, my testimony is the same as theirs.  Even though we might have acquired this testimony in different ways, it is the same.  Oneness has always been godliness, and this new, young married couple has joined in that oneness in their own special and precious way.

The third moment was their baptism on Saturday.  The baptism was in the afternoon due to the Mormon Helping Hands activity in the morning.  It was so nice to see two people so ready to enter into a covenant with God through the special ordinance of baptism.  President Morin came to the baptism as it was the first in the Aïbatin building.  His welcome message was focused on the family and its importance in life and in eternity.

The baptism on Saturday

I am very excited for this couple and the future that they have in front of them.  I never had the chance to teach them, but through the events of this past week, we have grown a relationship together, and I have been so happy and blessed to have shared a bit of their own path to eternal life with them.

The Mormon Helping Hands activity this past Saturday went very, very well.  In contrast from last year, everyone was engaged at almost every moment, and it was amazing how quickly the task got done.  We were done in just about an hour!  There was a Yovo-owned pastry place right in front of where we were working, so as we were waiting for the bus to come back and get us, Elder Hawkins, Silvas, Hanks and I all got some REAL cake/ éclairs!!!  It was quite delicious.  Not too expensive either.

My job was just to dump sand wherever they told me

Charging my load

This was the hardest part.  They started laying sand right next to the mounds instead of starting on the outside, so I had to roll over tons of sand in order to get to where I needed to go.  The problem was that the tire was completely broken.  Not just flat, but broken. In half.  So it did almost nothing.  Especially on sand.  But at least it was a good workout (which I haven't had in a while)!

In action

This little girl was so cute in that vest that was way too big for her!

 The whole group at our activity

Elder Silvas trying to get a sandwich.  Elder Kunz, Hawkins, and I were all dying laughing because he was just standing there with his hand up.  He eventually succeeded.

Anyways, that's been my past week.  It's been a great one, and the Lord is really blessing us!  I'm so happy to be in Fidjrossè right now, and I believe next week should bring some exciting news!

Thank you for all of your prayers.  They really do make a difference.  With a few other experiences this past week, I have truly felt the Lord's love, grace, and protection that He so graciously provides for His servants.

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

Avec amour,
Elder Jenkins

I played keeper for the first half and got score on three times.  The first was a 1-on-1 in the opening couple minutes.  The second was an own goal (*hmm hmm* Elder Oliverson).  The third was my fault because I had completely forgotten to set the wall on a set piece (that happens when you only play three times a year).  I then played second half at forward.

Our team from the soccer match this morning.  We got killed by the members, it wasn't even funny. But they sure thought it was hahaha

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!!!!