Peanut Butter, Ritz Crackers And Shoe Laces.

Howdy yall!

This week's been a little slow compared to most weeks I've had on my mission. It snowed which slowed things down and also we had no miles to really work with (were only allowed to use so many a month) and we already are about to go over our miles. We did a ton of calling and met some really cool people over the phone and also had some other cool experiences that I will probably get to unless I get distracted or forget. But overall it was a good week!

We started off the week with a bang! We brought a grill down from plainview to Lubbock and cooked burgers for all the missionaries there and also our office and senior missionaries. There was a ton of people there and it was good vibes. Then we all hung out and played games like football and spikeball and basketball and other sports that involve using a ball so that was a good time. We slept over with some elders because we live so far away and we had zone conference in lubbock the next day. When we woke up there was a foot of snow on the ground and it was still snowing outside! Kind of a shocker for Texas, I've never seen snow like that before in Texas so it was weird. That same day I was able to go on an exchange with Elder Nichols whose one of the Zone leaders in my zone and one I've served around before. We just worked all day and stopped at people's houses because we knew they'd be inside and they were. We were able to meet some cool people and do some doorstep lessons which aren't exactly my favorite but I absolutely love teaching so I ate it up. Then we had a miracle call that night when we were calling through our contacts. We called this guy named Mike and he just went on for about an hour talking about how much he respects what we do and how interesting our faith is and the things he's been hearing. We taught him so much about our gospel and he was shocked that we pray to God the Heavenly Father because he said he found out for himself that we're not supposed to pray to Jesus, so to hear we don't do that just blew him away. I'm confident that I can work with him and get him baptized!! But it was a really good faith building and restoring call!

We met Jose finally after a couple transfers (before I served here) of not being able to see him. He gave us some homemade tamales and we prayed for him and set up a time to come back again. The tamales were pretty fuego! And he's a cool guy. We also met with the Avilas (tortilla family) again and got them back at church again! They're a cool family and we're working towards the daughter being baptized so stay tuned for that as well! But other than that we just did a lot of calling and texting and Facebook finding. It was a pretty lax week. We do a lot of service here for a small local food bank and homeless shelter and thats been a fun thing to do and I'm grateful for it. The lady that runs it is super nice and we call her grandma because she takes us out to eat and treats us like her grandkids and fills us in on the news and her family drama that's going on. She's lived here her whole life and knows the place like the back of her hand so she's been helpful in finding people to teach and also giving us some bomb food places to go try and fatten us up. It's a good time! Me and my comp are getting along great and we have a very similar sense of humor so we've been bonding really good and also taking funny pictures and sending them to missionary group chats and hyping up the other missionaries in our areas and just having a good time. We have these things called a TIWI and it's like a hotel card that we use to log into our cars (everyone hates them lol) but I ripped the chip out of mine and have been putting it in funny things like a lamp, can of beans, and a spatula, so I have to pull those things out and sign into my car with them so it's pretty funny.

The title of this email is unusual but for a good reason. The branch presidents family has us over every Sunday for dinner and we just have a good time with them because they are super awesome. They have a tradition with the missionaries where the new ones have to show off a talent. I told them that I write music and play guitar and can freestyle any topic or genre they wanted. They challenged me to sing a song about random topics to make it harder and proce my skills. They used the words: peanut butter, Ritz Crackers, and shoe laces. I brought my guitar and I played them this song and performed it and it was actually a good song and really catchy too. They loved it so that was really fun. They're a good family and I love going over there each weekend.

That's pretty much it for this week. I just wanted to say a huge thank you for everyone who writes me back and being so supportive, I know I don't always respond but your actions don't go unnoticed. But I wanted to close by saying how grateful I am to be a missionary. I want to soak it all up and make the best out of my time serving the lord, because it's brought me so much JOY. Genuine happiness. I haven't felt more at peace and more free in my life than I have as being a missionary and constantly having the spirit with me. It's truly the most amazing thing ever. It's definitely not easy by any means, but with the spirit I feel unstoppable. I'm allowing God to change me and boy have I changed! It's been a huge relief because my life was falling apart back home and I was always depressed, but to finally feel peace is so great. My hardest days as a missionary are still easier than my easiest days back home. I want to try my hardest to always have this feeling with me for as long as I live.

Love yall and have a Good week!

-elder Jenkins!

2601 W 5th st. Unit A. Plainview, TX 79072

Pics:

1: tamalessssss gringo

2: looking at the stars for the night

3: me and my dawg Felipe (he's pregnant (not really))

4: sleeping in the tub fo tonight

5: me and elder Nichols

6: who left the AC on over night?

7: burger

8: me and Ronald, my childhood hero