Hello Everybody!
Well I found out on Sunday morning that I will be transferring! I'll be going all the way up to the top of the Philippines to Santa Ana. It feels weird to think that I'm leaving Laoag. I've been here for 7 and a half months now so it will be a big change going back into the depths of Cagayan, but I am very excited. My companion over there is a pretty new missionary from Idaho named Elder Young. A really nice guy, I remember picking them up from the airport and training his batch of missionaries. Santa Ana is a really beautiful place, but sooo far away haha, about 9 hour bus ride... This will be my first time going there. I'm so excited to be heading to me 4th and last (?) area. Only 5 and a half months to go!
So this last week was a very quick, but good week. We had the baptisms of Lili and Lola Felicitas on Saturday. Lola, 88 years old, struggled a little at first to bend her knees and get under the water, but it all turned out great. Right when she arrived at the church on Saturday afternoon, she yelled, "I'm happy to receive Jesus!" She was an excited old woman. Another great thing about the baptism is that we got 4 investigators to attend. The work is looking good for the future.
So the Baptism was the good news for the week. The bad news was on Saturday night, I got a baaaad fever. The weather was soooo hot outside. So I was sweating real bad, then going in and out of a fully air conditioned chapel. I think that's what messed me up a bit. That night I when the sickness started kicking in, I was shivering, and burning up at the same time. I couldn't tell if I was freezing cold or on fire. Feeling my head though, that had to be the highest my temp has ever been. I took some of the medicine Dad sent me with and tried to sleep, but had no success. It was a very very long night, but now I'm feeling a lot better. Now that I look back on it, I haven't really gotten a bad fever ever since I was in my first area. So I have been very fortunate.
So just a quick story that has to do with the spiritual experience I had in Sacrament Meeting last week. One of the people that was on my mind was a recent convert whose family are not members. In fact, her mom has always not liked us and has been angry with us ever since her daughter got baptized. She always avoided us, didn't want to talk to us or have anything to do with us. But because of the spiritual impression, we decided to go and try to visit with this family. When we got there, to our surprise, we were let into the house. As we talked to her, got her to laugh a little bit and just got to know her more, she became real open to us and we were able to share a message to her and her family. Now I think she is willing to listen to us and maybe even try coming to church in the near future. Very exciting for such a great experience.
Well these last 7 and a half months have been some of the best of my life. I've never learned so much, grown so much, and had so much fun at the same time. I've made some friends and some memories here in Laoag that will stick with me forever. It was such a great opportunity to serve as an assistant. It kicked me out of the comfort zone at times and pushed me to grow and become a better servant of the Lord. What a blessing my mission has been so far, I couldn't thank the Lord enough. Now, I'm excited to put my head down and go to work for these last few months in a new area.
Love you all :)
-Elder Jenkins
No comments:
Post a Comment