A Taste Of My Testimony

Howdy!! 


     This week's been crazy for me in a lot of ways. For the last few weeks I've been predicting that I'll be getting transfered to a new area this transfer. So this last week I assumed it was going to be my last one here in Odessa, so me and elder Dunn put in as much work as we could possible and just grinded so incredibly hard. It turns out I was right. I am getting transfered to plainview Texas and I'll be in the lubbock north zone with Elder Scott. I leave tomorrow morning. I'm so incredibly excited but also very sad to leave such an amazing area. I'll forever remember this area because it was the one that I started my mission in, and will be the foundation area for the rest of my mission. I've made life long friends, grew so much in so many ways, and made awesome memories. I love this area so much even though we've had our ups and downs. But this is very bitter sweet. 


     The past 2 days we had an amazing opportunity to have a general authority, Elder Alonso, speak at our stake conference. It was such a great experience to hear his testimony, and to be given guidance and inspiration on how to become better missionaries. He shared many stories on his experiences as a missionary and man were they crazy! One example is: he would walk around in Mexico and try to find doors that were open. He would go inside the house and wait for someone to notice they were there. The elders would proceed to kneel down and bless the home. After that they would leave and come back a few days later. Most resulted in baptism! Thats insane!! I don't think it's smart to do that in Texas, but I felt more inspired to be more bold and to not fear anything because we know that the gospel is true, so what do we have to fear? We shouldnt be timid in preaching the restored truths or in the ways that we do it. I definitely have become a lot more confident and extremely bold since being on the mission, but now I'm inspired to be way more bold, but obviously in loving ways. 


     I've also been saying goodbye to lots of really good members and people and of course missionaries. I can confidently say with full heart, that the people I have served around have become my family. We grew so close to each other and they have helped me so much. In my patriarchal blessing it mentions a lot about friends and people that I associate myself with. It warns me to be careful and mindful of them, and if they are righteous, they will be friends for eternity. I can't agree with this more. Growing up I've been blessed with the ability to make friends super easily, and I love meeting new people as well. Sometimes because I was often too kind, I ended up hanging with the wrong crowd because I wanted to help them and lift them up, but what I didn't realize is in that process they were bringing me down. Now those people aren't bad people by any means, but I see now how important it is to be surrounded by people that are going to hold me at a higher standard and lift me up. These missionaries and even members that I've been meeting are some of the best friends I have ever had and I just feel so loved and welcomed and joyful. They changed my life. I love them so much, and my homecoming reunion is going to be pretty busy lol. 


     Anyways yall that's pretty much it. I feel that I share too much about the fun I'm having and not too much about the spiritual side. While the fun comes with the work, I'm not out here for that, or at least that's not my focus. I've grown so much spiritually it's insane. I keep reflecting back in my life when I wasn't so strong in the church and when I was making some pretty dumb decisions. I had a thought about if my younger self maybe 3 or 4 years ago, would have saw me now, what would he have thought? And honestly I think he would have been dumbfounded. At that time I was going through some incredibly hard challenges that made me turn away from pretty much everything and I thought that my life was just going to be miserable and that was it. There was no point in anything and I didn't care. Just the few months that I've been on my mission, I've built a firm and strong foundation that will support me and my growth for the rest of my life. I've seen miracles bless other people's lives and I've learned a lot about my strength, my testimony, and my gifts and abilities. If I were to stand in front of a younger me, even me 6 months ago. I don't think we would recognize each other. I love this gospel so much, I know it's true without a doubt. My life will forever be blessed because of my sacrifice and I'm grateful to be able to have the opportunity to serve our God. I encourage all of you to find truth for yourself and build a stronger testimony. "Losing" 2 years of my time, gave me a new life of joy, purpose and guidance.


Yall take care and until next time... Peace!!! -Elder Jenkins 


Pics: (numbers might not be in order)
1: the Nortons 
2: the Gwilliams 
3: is that dababy? 
4: bishops family  (ormsby) 
5: icy elders 
6: the bakers and their dogs 
7: the odessa missionaries (except a few)
8: the boys at cork and pig?? 
9: heaven on a plate 
10: mmmmm yummy 
11: I'm so gosh dang fat 










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