Monday, May 25, 2015

His strength is perfect in our weakness....

This week went by SO fast, it was an AMAZING week!

I read a talk by Brad Wilcox titled "Christ's Grace is Sufficient to Cover Us."  I would recommend reading it!  It is super good, I love his insights.  He asks a very good question that has stuck with me this week.

 "Have you been changed by Grace?" 

How true...our purpose is to learn and grow on earth and to try to reach the potential He knows each one of us have.  He goes on to say, "The miracle of the Atonement is not just that we be cleansed and consoled, but that we can be transformed."  I have seen many people truly transformed by the Atonement and His grace and it amazes me the growth we can have through Him in such a short amount of time. 

We were teaching a lesson to an investigator and invited the investigator to come unto Christ and to put their trust in Him.  The investigator kept saying, I just can't commit...it is too hard.  We must understand grace and we must allow it to change us.  Brad Wilcox goes on to say, "When we understand grace, we understand that God is long-suffering, that change is a process....we understand that the blessings of Christ's atonement are continuous and His strength is perfect in our weakness."

I hope that we all can come to understand His grace and the Atonement.  I know that when we do NOTHING it will be too hard and we can truly be changed by Him.

Have a great week!

Love,
Sister Jenkins
 


 

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

"And as I partook of the fruit...it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy"

This week started off with a wonderful Mother's Day Skype call to my AMAZING pamilya!  I am so grateful for my lovely mother and for all the love & support my family gives me!  I am so grateful they are "in the boat" right along side of me. 

Tuesday, we went to the mission home for zone interviews!  It was great.  The workshops were so inspired and we were able to learn a lot from our amazing leaders.

So, this week thanks to inspired suggestion from President Monahan and also a great friend who happened to give me the same advice, I read 1 Nephi 8.  It is about Lehi's dream about the tree of life.  I love verse 8....Lehi traveled for the space of MANY hours in darkness yet he pressed forward until in verse 12 he partook of the fruit (which could be related to the gospel) and "began to be desirous that his family should partake of it also."  In a very real sense, we have all partaken of the fruit (gospel of Jesus Christ) and I hope that everyone that has would want to share it with our families and friends!  How could we not when it is "desirable above all other fruit?" 

Sometimes the path to discipleship can be hard and dark as Lehi experienced, but if we press forward and as verse 24 says, "press forward through the midst of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree." 

I hope we can all heed Lehi's counsel! 
Press forward.
Partake of the gospel.
Share it with others.
And, HOLD fast to the iron rod!

Love,
Sister Jenkins
Beautiful Sister Missionaries

Me with my wonderful zone leaders, district leaders and amazing sister training leader.

Monday, May 11, 2015

Don't just live the gospel of Jesus Christ on Sunday....

WOW, what a week!  This week has been AMAZING as always!  First off, I would like to give a BIG shout out to Hailey & Paige and the Upson family for the super sweet letters and pictures.  I love them!  Letters will be going in the mail next week, so be on the look out!  And, a HUGE thank you to my Aunt Kim, Aunt Jamie, Aunt Candy & Uncle Bill and to Grandma Katie for the letters of love and support.  You guys rock!!!

This week I found a Caraboa and I swear I am not as white as I look.  haha!  (Mom note...I had to look this up to make sure we knew what she was talking about....Filipinos see carabaos as faithful partners in life. The carabao or kalabaw is a water buffalo that is endemic in Southeast Asia. Aside from helping our farmers plow the fields, this animal is our source of transportation, milk for sweets and cooking, meat, raw materials to design furniture, coin and mascot designs, body armor, children’s songs, jokes, and expressions in the vernacular.  We had exchanges with Sister Sauvao and Sister Lapura.  We had fun in the rain!  I LOVE the rain here, it is SO amazing!  I made a Mexican feast for lunch, it was AMAZING.  All the sisters LOVED the HOT salsa...so thank you for all the ingredients, Mom & Dad!  We celebrated Mother's Day and got a sweet picture with a super great ward member.  We love her and ALL the moms out there!

So this week, I was reading "Our Search for Happiness" (which I highly recommend to everyone...church member or not!).  It says, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is not a Sunday-only kind of thing, it is a way of life."  M. Russell Ballard  WOW, how true is that?  We don't just live the gospel of Jesus Christ on Sunday, we are expected to live it every day of our lives.  That is what HE expects of us.  We expect Father in Heaven to be there for us ALWAYS...whenever we need Him.  And, just like any loving Father, He is always right there beside us waiting for us to call upon Him.  We must live the doctrine He has given us through the Bible and Book of Mormon.  I truly believe that our "search for happiness" ends when we start living the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

I love you!

Sweet letters from the Upson Family...LOVE
 
Companions on Mother's Day...I love Sister Navarro


Mexican Fiesta from Idaho.
 Me & Sister Gotang...Everyone loved the hot salsa!
Me & the Caraboa...

Dancing in the rain during exchanges

 

BEST MOTHER'S DAY

Sunday, May 3, 2015

Thank you, Mr. Gardner...

So this week has been AMAZING!

From purple chicks to packages from home and SO many wonderful learning opportunities.  I feel truly humbled and blessed!  This week we really tried to open our mouths.  We were given the challenge by President Monahan and it was truly inspired!  We have been able to meet and teach so many wonderful people!  Wednesday, while we were teaching one of our investigators, her son came in with the cutest purple chick!  I was in LOVE it was so cute!  Sunday we were teaching and it started raining SO hard!  It was amazing except for the fact I could not hear or understand what they were saying...haha...but, I love the rain.  It is so calming and soothing (I think) even when it is super loud!

One morning we did a service project in the garden of our Bishop's house.  We were weeding and I was thinking a lot!  The previous day had been kind of hard and I even found myself questioning WHY.  Why was I going through hard things?  I LOVE my mission, the Philippines, my companion.  Why was it suddenly hard?  Why now?  Then in an instant, the words of one of my favorite Mormon Messages came into my mind, "I am the Gardner here, I know what I want you to be"....WOW!  I was overwhelmed with a sense of relief.  HE is the gardner and HE know what HE wants me to be.  Sometimes he cuts us down only to lift us up and help us reach our potential.  How lucky are we to have such a loving and caring Father in Heaven? 

"HE loves me enough to hurt me...
 
The Gardner took control and did what was BEST for me...
 
Thank You, Mr. Gardner!" 


Cutest purple chick...

Happy missionaries....
 
Note from one grateful "Mommy Kelli"....Just as I was about to push the "publish" button, the sweetest email arrived from Kylee's companion.  Through tears of JOY, I share with you a special love of two missionaries from opposite ends of the world...theirs is truly a "match made in Heaven"...they so love each other and make each other "want to be better each day."
 
Hi!  I'm Sister Jenkin's companion. Sorry I wasn't able to email you since Sister Jenkins came here. Your daughter is so amazing! I love her soooooooooooo much! She's so good at doing so many things. She has so many talents and its not just the people who's being blessed but also me and other missionaries! Oh how I wanted to tell you everything! She makes me want to be better each day. She's an obedient missionary and I can just imagine how proud you are with her. She misses you and tells me so many good things about you. Thank you so much Mommy Kelly for sending Sister Jenkins here. Heavenly Father is making good use of the talents she has. You are absolutely amazing!
 
I love you!
ps. thank you for the package. I was overwhelmed of gratitude :)
Sister Navarro