Jenkins, Joshua

Good morning cuties!        I hope everyone's week has been good! Real quick I wanted to say that my mailbox has not been receiving letters or small packages since we moved apartments, so if you've sent me letters or cards or other things, I probably didn't get them. The issue should be fixed soon but just wanted to give a heads up because a lot of people have been asking me if I got their mail. But going back to my week, it was like a vacation. I don't mean that in a relaxing way. I think of a vacation on the mission as a very spiritual and rewarding week where God is keeping you in good spirits and you feel like things are taken care of. I've felt and seen the lords hand in the work here a lot this week. I've been focusing more on being grateful for things that I have and that are going on, and it's incredible how much it changes your outlook and perspective. I fasted for a long time this week for the area and the people in it, and also for personal reason...

Good morning yall,         This has been a very interesting week. It's been a challenge trying to find motivation in this area again, and the mental battles of pulling myself out of ruts and pushing through, over and over again, is exhausting. I'm feeling very burnt out in this area, and having to lead the area and show the ropes for the third time in a row and not seeing many fruits, is also exhausting. Regardless of that, I'm determined to leave this area better than I found it, and get things going here again. I'm happy to see that this area is turning Spanish. My new companion is fluent, and it's been helping with our work a lot. We started an English class which we teach every Thursday, and we spent the past few days making and hanging flyers. We had 3 Spanish lessons yesterday and it's so different and weird to be uncomfortable and confused during a lesson. I've always felt confident with teaching and actually really enjoy it, but it's a new experi...

Dear Elder Jenkins,       I am so proud of you. I know you have been through so much in your life, more than you're willing to openly admit, and maybe others may even know about, but there's a reason you're meant to keep going. Watching you grow this past year has been inspiring. I knew that you always had it in you to be an example and a light for others. You've come such a long way. You used to hide yourself and be scared about everything because of how many times you've been hurt, and you always were the first person to put yourself down. If the younger version of you were to look at you now, I don't think we would be able to recognize each other. You've always had it in you to push past the hand you're dealt and peoples expectations, but now you exceed your own and raise the bar. You've made incredible changes in your life, choices that were not easy to make and it broke you for a while, but the person who came out at the end was worth sticking a...

Hey       Today is pday which is why I am writing today and not Monday, but we got a lot to talk about. Yesterday we got transfer news and I gotta say that it was a curveball and a lot of mixed emotions. I'm staying in Alpine and elder Greene is leaving. It took me a while to come to terms with it and to be honest I'm not there yet. Elder Greene has been a companion that I needed and I guess that's what his purpose was for being in Alpine as he only did 1 transfer here. Me and him talked about how much we were going to change next transfer and push each other to do better because we let ourselves slip in Alpine, but I guess I'm left to do it on my own. I have really been crushed in Alpine, and have had some very long hard talks with God, and some very long talks with myself trying to convince myself not to just pack up and go home. Apparently I'm meant for something here and my work is not yet finished. I want to push myself to be the best me that I can possibly be ...