Hello Everybody!
Wow this was a busy week. First I'll talk about my new companion a little. You'll see a picture and think that my trainer, Costales, is back with me. His name is Elder Abarabar, from Manila. Really smart guy, a graduated engineer. He is a bit older than me...26 years old haha. He's been in the mission for about a year and is just a really nice guy. A joy to be around.
Was a great start to the week when we were walking through one of our areas, on the way to an appointment, when I heard a familiar "Elder Jenkins!" I recognized the voice and turned around to see President Arreola, the Branch President for Aparri, waving at us and invited us to come in. Was great to see that family again and eat and talk to them. He had some great news for me and told me that Chris Del Rosario was ordained an Elder and given the Melchizedek Priesthood. Said that he and his family are super active in their callings. Brought joy to my soul.
The Del Rosario family on their baptism day (July 22, 2017)
We've been working real closely with a few less active families lately. One of them just had a new baby born in the family. We were over at their house, talking with them one evening. I was sitting next to the person holding the 4 day old baby, when all the sudden the baby made an interesting noise. The result of that noise was a minor explosion and poop splattering over my hand haha. Gave everybody a good laugh, but being close to babies just hasn't been the best luck for me lately.
The family that I wrote about last week is great. We are still teaching them and they are progressing well. The kids are excited and have a desire to be baptized. We will be working hard on getting all them to church this week. We also have 2 baptisms on Saturday. One of them, Jay Ar, a 21 year old man, and Rachel, a 20 year old who we found and taught just last month. They are both ready and we are excited.
This week I decided to try and improve and do a better job at seeking the poor and the needy. Our EQ president came up to me the other day and said that he had visited one of the members, and had found out that her husband was very very sick. He gave him a blessing, and bought him some fruit, and told me that we should go visit him. We did go visit him and right when we saw him, our hearts just broke. This was the skinniest man I have ever seen. When I say "skin and bones" I really mean just skin and bones. His name is Franklin, 62 years old. It was very saddening to see him in such bad shape. He was in dire need of medical care. There concern however, was that they didn't have any money. We made sure to get him to the hospital the next day and have visited him everyday since. Yesterday, a few sisters from the RS and one of their husbands came with us to visit Franklin and his wife in the hospital. We walked in and just saw this poor, brittle man laying on the bed just staring at the ceiling. I sat down next to him and wanted to cheer him up a little. Get a smile on his face. I started talking to him in Ilokano, and started up a conversation with him. He seemed to like it that I could speak his language, and he cracked a smile. I felt such love for this man that I had only met a few days before. Unfortunately, his kidneys are failing him and he will need further treatment. We are praying for a miracle for Franklin.
Had a really good experience at General Conference. Actually the first session for us was the Priesthood session and started at 8am. So we had to wake up early and get to Gonzaga before the start. For some reason that morning I was just feeling so tired and worn out. I sat down in the chapel and struggled to keep my eyes fully open. After not too long, I found myself in a snooze. But after about 10 minutes, for some reason I awoke abruptly. I felt a small, easy prompting that I needed to listen to this part. It was President Nelson, speaking about the Priesthood and its power. Speaking about how much the Priesthood can bless your family and others around you. His talk, and what I felt during his talk, stuck with me pretty good. I firmly believe The Spirit simply woke me up in order to hear what was being said*. What was being said is something that I think I needed to hear in order to prepare myself for a lifelong duty of Priesthood service.
Love you all, have a nice week!
-Elder Jenkins
* President Nelson's words:
I am very grateful for each man who bears the holy priesthood. You are the hope of our Redeemer, who desires “that every man might speak in the name of God the Lord, even the Savior of the world.” He wants all of His ordained sons to represent Him, to speak for Him, to act for Him, and to bless the lives of God’s children throughout the world, to the end “that faith also might increase in [all] the earth.”
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