WEEK 54 - August 28, 2017 (Laoag, Philippines)

Hello everybody,

This week was another busy one with President out of town. We had the duty of sending one of the departing missionaries home. We thought we would be dropping him off at the airport, but all a sudden a HUGE rainstorm came in and just started pouring down on us. It ended up being a signal 2 storm, and it was a big one. So all the flights were canceled and the poor guy had to take a bus all the way back to Manila haha. So that is what our Tuesday consisted of.

One thing about when it is pouring here... what you usually see is pretty much nobody on the street except the triC drivers and naked little kids running around in the rain. The TriC drivers put on their full body water proof gear and drive around searching for people to pick up. Everybody else is inside their homes, cooking up some sinagang - one of my favorites (editor: a Filipino soup or stew characterized by its sour and savoury taste most often associated with tamarind), and trying to "stay warm" even though it's still 80 degrees out haha. Speaking of foods that I have come to love... Bagnet (editor: a deep fried crispy pork belly dish) has got to be my favorite thing so far. It's not cheap, but it's real good. Also chop suey here is incredible. I'm starting to realize how much I'm gonna miss some of the foods here.

sinagang 

(editor: I think that is the fat chunks he used to think were potatoes.)

bagnet

filipino chop suey

One thing that I have really enjoyed this past transfer is the presence of the Nelsons in our area (editor: A senior missionary couple from Alpine, Utah). They are nothing but a blessing to us and to the mission. They will just sometimes drop by the mission office with a cake, or some cookies, they are awesome. Not to mention the work they are doing here in the mission to strengthen different wards and branches. To top it off, the other night they texted us and told us to meet them at a nice burger place for dinner. Elder Nelson pressured me into buying a massive burger that I wasn't even able to finish, but it tasted somewhat similar to an American burger, which was a nice taste. So that is what the picture is about.

blurry - but there's the burger

This week was a fun week of work because we went on exchanges with some zone leaders. One of them was with Elder Nichols, one of the elders from my MTC batch. It was a lot of fun working with each other and seeing each other's progression in the language, teaching, etc. That is one thing I do really enjoy about my calling right now, being able to work with other missionaries so often. The nice thing is that all of the Zone Leaders will travel to our area to do exchanges. Last month, the Mission Department had a meeting about different callings and what is supposed to be happening in each calling. They talked about how the APs should be the absolute best proselyting missionaries in the mission, and that their area should be the complete model area for everyone. So they said that the leaders should be traveling to the AP's area every cycle for exchanges. All that being said, it does put a little pressure on us sometimes, but now we aren't having to travel so much every month. 

Exchanges with Elder Nichols

We had 9 investigators at church this Sunday. A lot of progression is going on in our area even though we aren't getting to work as much as we would like to. We are being blessed with receptive investigators and people that are willing to listen. 

Of course the highlight of the week was Keem's baptism. On Saturday evening, we joined with 2 other wards in our baptismal service. There were 5 people baptized and a large attendance of members. It was a good turnout and a very great, spiritual time. After the baptism, Keem was just so happy. I loved how he kept expressing to us too, how happy and thankful he was that we taught the gospel to him. On Sunday, he was wearing his long sleeve, and I told him "All you're missing is a name tag." And he said that he's gonna serve a mission in the future. He is a true convert to the Gospel. Another witness to me that the gospel truly changes people.  

I love this gospel and seeing the change it causes in people. I cannot deny of its truthfulness. Being here in Laoag and spreading the happiness it gives to different people is nothing but a blessing. 

-Elder Jenkins

Ps. This weekend is gonna be real busy with all the transfers, and next week is even busier. So I don't know when i will be emailing again :)

WEEK 53 - August 21, 2017 (Laoag, Philippines)

Hello everybody!!

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my very loving, wonderful, beautiful mother! I couldn't count how many times I have thought to myself "Wow I am so lucky to have such a good mom". You are the best and I love ya so much!!

So this week has got to be the hottest week I have ever spend here so far. I'm not kidding, I heard it got up to 109 degrees, plus the humidity is just brutal. When we go to sleep at night, all we have is an electric fan. And honestly it just feels like a heater, blowing hot air. It's no use at all. Sleeping is pretty difficult. I don't know how many times this week I woke up and just went and stuck my head in the freezer for a good 5 minutes to try and cool down. And then again, like today, a typhoon comes in out of nowhere, and it's gonna be raining for the next few days. Weather is crazy here and so unpredictable. 

The weather isn't the only unpredictable thing right now... my daily schedule  is pretty unpredictable too. We will think it's just gonna be a regular day of work, and then we find out we have to go pick somebody up at the bus station, get him some food, and take him to the airport. Or that we need to go pick somebody up and take them to the hospital. And I think we are gonna be loaded with stuff like that even more this next week. President and Sister Andrada are heading to Manila right now. Sister Andrada is having an operation done, so pray for her. President kinda told us that we are in charge of everything this week. So we will be holding down the fort haha. 

The exciting news is that we have a baptism this week. Our investigator, Kem, is getting baptized on Saturday! We are combining with the whole stake for a baptismal service, so it will be a very good day. 

We also have two other progressing investigators that have been attending seminary class. It's awesome because there is an institute/seminary building in our area, where anybody can go attend. They have a ping pong table, free Wifi, AC, etc. So lots of people come just for the wifi, and then they end up in class and really enjoy it. So we are enjoying that way of finding investigators.

Our investigator at McDonalds 

This week we were invited to have Family Home Evening with two different families. Both of the FHE's were really good and enjoyable, and the food was especially good.

Family Home Evening #1

Family Home Evening #2

The one thing I noticed during these gatherings is how important and helpful FHEs can really be. Before the mission, I of course felt like it was a burden putting my Monday Night Football game on pause and joining the family in a discussion for an hour or so. I felt like it was a waste of time. Now I realize how important that short hour or so really is with your family. It is one time in the week set aside specifically to spiritually uplift each other and bond as a family. I have no doubt in my mind that a Gospel-centered, unified family all starts with weekly Family Home Evening. I'm soooo thankful for parents that made FHE a priority in our lives. This is one of many lessons I have learned on the mission that can very much benefit me and my future family.... Serving a mission is such a blessing. Where else could I go or what else could I do to learn and spiritually grow as much as I already have so far on my mission. And I still have 1 year to go :)

Love you all so much!!

-Elder Jenkins

with a Filipino pioneer

WEEK 52 - August 14, 2017 (Laoag, Philippines)

Paoay Church 

Roman Catholic church founded in 1686 & completed in 1710

Hello Everyone!

This week has been a rather exciting one in all sorts of ways. But first just to help you get a better vision of my environment right now, I'm currently sitting in a computer shop absolutely filled with little 10-12 year olds, screaming and yelling English curse words while playing little video games on the computers during their lunch break. It bugs me soooo much. The one next to me keeps cursing every 5 seconds. I just looked him in the eyes and asked "Alam mo ba yung ibig sabihin dyan?" (Do you know what that means?)  Then he shriveled up and said "Hindi po" (not sure). Then "huwag mo ulitin" (do not repeat). So that's what kinda chaos we deal with every Monday. 

So the exciting news is that I got my license this week!! We had to go to the filipino DMV, and I was really hoping that the DMV would be different in waiting time here in the phils vs the US. But unfortunately, it is about the same. Lots of waiting. The worst part is, no AC. I didn't have to take a test or anything, but for some reason they thought it was illegal for me to convert my American license to a filipino license. The woman showed me an office memo that said "You cannot get a license if you are staff of an American Secrecy Agency" or something like that. When she saw the word "American" she wanted to completely deny us. haha We sat there and talked to her for a good 20 minutes, arguing about what the memo means. Eventually she called some guy and he approved us. It was all a big hassle, but it worked out. But yeah, now I'm driving and it's a lot of fun to be honest. Mom, you really don't need to worry, because honestly it's probably more safe to be driving here than at home. Everybody respects the size of our car and moves out of our way haha. 

Celebration after getting our drivers licenses (Thanks Elder and Sister Nelson)

The member here are really great. We have 4 or 5 dinner appointments a week, so I'm loving that. Also, absolutely loving my companions. We have so much fun together. Gonna be sad when Elder Cuadra hits the road next month.

Some of the members

Elders Cuadra, Jenkins, Basa

On Thursday we had the first of 3 Zone Conferences. This one was in Laoag. I got to train for the first time in Zone Conference and it went great. I actually enjoy getting up there in front of everybody and training. The food was also real good, so I definitely enjoy the Zone Confs. On Friday, President invited us to attend a devotional that he was speaking in. So we went to that and set up all the audio for him. Then after the devotional, he gave us a call and told us to meet them at a nice restaurant in centro. It was an absolute feast. I love the benefits of being able to work closely with President. He definitely takes care of his assistants.  

Laoag Zone

Zone Conference ... all three of us wore our Christmas ties, so people laughed at that. 

During my interview with President, we were able to open the scriptures and discuss different principles. Any question I had, it was able to be answered by a scripture. The Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants especially are such a blessing in our lives. Through diligent reading and study, you really can come to know the mysteries of God. To increase our knowledge, we need to simply read. What a blessing that is.

Love you all, have a great week :)

-Elder Jenkins

Editor: Video works fine on web version, but doesn't seem to want to work on the mobile version. Sorry. Makes me laugh - his written English is getting worse...and so is his spoken. Zach's friend, whose parents are from the Philippines, was here when we opened the video and he said, "He sounds like a Filipino speaking English!"  :)

WEEK 51 - August 7, 2017 (Laoag, Philippines)

Hello everybody!!

Wow, I cannot believe Mitch is heading home this week haha time is seriously flying by (cousin finishing his two years serving in Perth Australia). Actually, today marks my 1 year to go mark. That freaks me out a little bit. 

This week, the rain was off and on. Sometimes it's just blazing hot and then the clouds come in and it starts pouring down on us. That makes for fun proselyting haha. Yes, we have a car, but we don't use it when we are out working. So usually when the rain starts coming down really hard, we have to find a member's house to take shelter in. 

This week was another pretty busy one. On Wednesday, we loaded up our truck with tons of furniture, a refrigerator, mattresses, etc., and headed to Santa Praxedes. It's a new area that was just opened, so we went and moved the elders into their new apartment. This was the first time for me to drive through Ilocos and Cagayan (provinces) not in a bus. So I was actually able to see how beautiful the drive is. Was about 8 hours of driving, there and back. Driving here is so different. Not really any rules at all. If you are the bigger car, you are in charge. I'll be getting my license this week, so I'll get to experience that a bit. 

Although we didn't have too much time to work, we were able to get four investigators to church. One of them is named Kem. He is a 20 year old guy who works at McDonalds. He is sooo receptive. When we teach him, the knowledge just flows into his mind and he seems to understand it immediately. He also goes to institute (adult Bible/Book of Mormon study class) almost every day. His baptism is scheduled for the last week in August.

So this last weekend we were also preparing for our Missionary Leadership Council on Monday. All of the Zone leaders and Sister Training Leaders come in to Laoag and we have a big council. It was a lot of fun to see some of the elders and a sister from my batch (same MTC group) who are now ZLs and STL. 

batch pic

This was also my first MLC, so it was quite the learning experience. Getting up in front of a bunch of people who have been leaders for a long time and training them on how to become better leaders is not the easiest thing to do, me being the new guy haha. But no doubt, the Spirit was with me and provided me with the words to say. It went great. 

twinning

As I was sitting there in the meeting, listening to president's council and training, I began to ponder some of the lessons I have learned on my mission. And then popped into my head my purpose in this life. I began to have an overview in my head what my purpose is in my life and what needs to be done, and the Spirit confirmed to me that it is true. Then during President Andrada's presentation, a scripture came onto the screen. I began to ponder and understand, and really felt, for the first time ever, like I can understand scripture so purely. I wondered why, and then a few words from my patriarchal blessing came into my head. Without a doubt, I know that the Spirit testifies of truth. I know that we can only receive pure knowledge and confirmation of the truthfulness of this gospel through that member of the Godhead.

Love you all!!

-Elder Jenkins

with comps in the mission office

WEEK 50 - July 31, 2017 (Laoag, Philippines)

Hello everybody!

So this week a huge storm came into Laoag. It was raining constantly for 3 days and there was flooding on the road and in some of the missionaries' apartments. So that made things a little difficult this week. But this week was probably the most busy I have ever been.

First, I'll tell you a bit about my companions and living conditions. I am in a threesome right now with Elder Basa and Elder Cuadra. Elder Basa is a short little elder from Tacloban, and has been in the mission for about 19 months. Elder Cuadra is from Manila, and goes home next transfer. They are real fun to be with, great guys. We have fun together and work together well. We live with the 2 office elders as well, in an apartment right next to the mission office. So there are 5 of us in the house. No hot water. No AC. But we do have running water.

With comps: Elder Cuadra & Elder Basa

Was cold enough to put on a sweater. Also excited for Christmas. 

(editor: haha- Broke out the Christmas tie we sent him.) 

On Monday, we arrived in Laoag, and the APs came and picked me up and welcomed me in. From that time it was nothing but business. We were picking people up from places, dropping them off, helping them with their luggage, getting them settled into their new apartments etc. On Tuesday, we got to help take all the departing missionaries to the airport and send them off. That was a fun experience. I think I'll have the opportunity of doing that many times before I am the one walking onto the plane haha. Then the next day, we had a training for all the missionaries that are trainers. We went and picked up all the newly arriving missionaries and had an orientation with them. Then we gave another training to the new missionaries. Transfer week is definitely the busiest week of the month, but it is a lot of fun too. Also we get fed by President Andrada a few times during that week, so there are definitely benefits.

My son and my grandson

(editor: Ryan trained Elder Reyes and now Elder Reyes is training Elder Maharry.)

We didn't get to work in our area for very long this week, but I did get to meet some of the members. Actually yesterday not many people were able to come to church because the storm was sooo bad. But the members here are sooo kind, and I'm real excited to work with them, especially our Bishop. He's a really good guy, RM (returned missionary). 

Having the opportunity of serving in this calling has been nothing but a blessing. Although it is sooo busy and a bit stressful at times, I definitely enjoy it and am so thankful. This first transfer in this position will for sure be a learning experience. I've already learned a ton and definitely have changed a bit just from this last week. It is definitely a humbling experience. Without the Lord's help, I am literally nothing. While we were giving trainings, there were times that I thought to myself "I have no idea what I'm doing, I've never done this before", and then when we get up there to train these missionaries and as I open my mouth, things really just start to flow and it all of the sudden feels familiar to me. It's such a blessing to be able to serve. I've never experienced such joy as I am experiencing right now just from serving people everyday.

Love you all, have a great week!

-Elder Jenkins

WEEK 49 - July 24, 2017 (Aparri, Cagayan, Philippines)

Hello everybody,

So this is going to be kind of a quick letter. I’ll explain why...

On Saturday night, we received a text that I would be transferring. It was kinda sad saying goodbye to all of the members and all the people I’ve come to know, but I have been here for a while, so I was kind of expecting it. Then on Sunday night, we got a call from President Andrada. First he talked to Elder Reyes, and told him that he would be training a new missionary! And then he wanted to talk to me. He then went on to tell me that he would like me to be his assistant...wasn't really expecting that, and I was speechless for a bit. But of course I happily accepted the calling. So later today we will be traveling to Laoag :)

This last week has got to be one of the best ones I've had so far in the mission. We went to Dodan (about 4 miles from Aparri) every day to prepare the Del Rosario family for baptism. One quick funny story. At the end of one of the lessons, we all kneeled down to pray. The 8 yr old, Jerico, was saying the closing prayer. You can imagine the sweet little prayer of the young boy, humble and sincere. And then he went on to end it "In the name of Joseph Smith, Amen!" hahaha Everybody started busting up laughing. They are a fun family to be with. Then of course on Saturday, they were baptized as a family:) Such a great and rewarding experience. Baptizing them one by one – first the kids and then the mom and then having the fully converted father join me in the water. What a blessing. It all filled my soul with joy. All the stress and hard work, traveling to their house everyday, has paid off :) They showed up to church early the next day, excited to be confirmed. I took lots of pictures.

I have been so blessed with being assigned in this area where people are prepared to receive the Gospel, and the Lord blessed us with success. I’m very excited for this new calling in my mission. It will change me into a better person. 

I love you all, have a good week :)

Elder Jenkins

PS from the editor... I asked and, no, he did not eat the lizard from last week...but he wanted to. Oh, my boy!

WEEK 48 - July 17, 2017 (Aparri, Cagayan, Philippines)

(editor: Dinner??? He doesn't say...but I'm really hoping NOT!)

Hello everybody.

There have been rumors of a typhoon coming in, but nothing has happened yet. It's still so dang hot, some rain sounds nice right now. Wow, today marks 11 months in the mission. Time is going pretty fast.

So this week was a pretty fun week. On Tuesday, we had exchanges with the Zone Leaders. So I got to have an American companion which is always fun. You get to talk in English all day, feels weird. It's fun though especially when you come across a group of people, and they are a little shocked to see 2 Americans walking around. Then we start speaking in Ilokano and Ibanag and they really freak out hahaha. They love it though and they want to take pictures with us and just talk with us, it's a lot of fun. It also gives us a chance to open our mouths and talk about the gospel a bit.

The thing that wasn't so fun is what happened later that night. So while I was sleeping, I had 2 electric fans facing me. Usually only 1, but the 2 elders that live with us had to head to Laoag, so it is just me and Elder Reyes in the house right now. So one of the electric fans doesn't have a cage on the front. And while I was sleeping, I rolled over and my messed up toe went right into the fan blades. I've never woken up so quickly in my life haha. I was in big time pain, and hobbled downstairs to wrap it up and stop the bleeding. But I was sooo tired, so I just went back to bed, trying to fall back asleep, but ended up laying there for about 30 minutes cuz it hurt so bad. So that was quite the setback for my toe. To make it worse, the other day we were visiting Jerick's family and when Jerick noticed my toe wrapped up in bandage, he decided he wanted to stomp on it. That triggered the bleeding again and made it difficult to walk the rest of the day. But it is starting to heal and the toenail is growing back, so it's doing fine. 

So we have been going to Dodan every day to prepare Shyrine and Geraldine for baptism, and also to prepare the Del Rosario family for their baptisms next week. We had the girls' baptism on Saturday and it went great. The Del Rosario family was also able to attend :) After the baptism, Shyrine and Geraldine had a chance to bear their testimonies, and they both have real strong testimonies. They are true converts. Seeing them getting baptized and bear their testimonies brought joy to my soul. Seeing success in the work of the Lord brings pure happiness to my life, and makes all the stress, hard work, pain, and sacrifice worth it. On Sunday, we got a bit nervous when they hadn't shown up by the start of sacrament meeting, and the stress was running high. But they managed to walk in at the last second before the blessing and passing of the sacrament and they were confirmed :)

I feel the Spirit every day, but just from Saturday the spirit confirmed to me over and over again that this is the work of the Lord. There is no greater work right now. I love participating in the work of the Lord. Bringing souls to Christ. Seeing other people change because of the gospel is such a blessing :)

Love you all, have a good week!

-Elder Jenkins

DO NOT SCROLL FURTHER UNLESS YOU'D LIKE TO SEE A SKINNED LIZARD - 

it's horrible...really!!