The Errand of Angels: Week 25 God is good! Happy 6 Months!

Hi Everyone!!

  

Happy Memorial Day! I am so grateful for all those who have fought and given their lives (whether on the battle field or on the political field) to give us religious freedom in this country. Thank you! I have also been so grateful recently for my pioneer ancestors and all others that sacrificed everything for the gospel. They left everything and gave everything for, as Moroni called it, the "cause of Christians." They gave everything to have the blessings of the temple. Of eternal life. I love them for all that they did. I am so grateful for their faith and example.

I am trying to live the law of consecration as a missionary, like they did, and give everything to God. Sister Bush is striving to do this as well. As we are putting God first in our lives, I have truly seen some of the most beautiful miracles of my mission. I could not be more grateful. Its amazing though, as I have seen these miracles I have also had some of the greatest struggles of my mission. Sister Bush and I truly strive to overcome all our struggles and work together to overcome them. Even though there are a lot, it is beautiful how easy we can overcome each hurdle as each of us is focusing on God first and foremost.

I love this area. It is amazing and humbling to see the goodness of God and how the area has changed over the last 6 weeks. Wow. This is truly God's work and not our own. As Sister Bush and I have been striving more fully to become like Christ, we have seen miracle after miracle this week. Just to name a few:

We had experiences with praying for others that were so exactly what was needed that people got a little freaked out, but they came more to believe we were sent from God. One person said she had the exact same prayer (basically word-for-word) written down in her journal and she reads it every morning. Only through exact obedience could we have qualified for such a tender experience. God is so good. This is His church. I am so humble to be His servant at this time. It is amazing and the words just flow as you move forward with faith and say them as they come to mind.

Two other times that the words just flowed: 1. We were meeting with a returning member and had planned a lesson, but got into it and really didn't know what to teach or what to say (originally he had slammed the door on us, then called us a couple weeks later and apologized. he said he wanted to meet with us and share his concerns about the Church). It was a tender mercy that we had the appointment. Then I just trusted God will fill my mouth and went forward. He did. He also filled Sister Bush's mouth. The first 20 mins or so of the lesson were so powerful of God's love, the joy of repentance, the hope because of the gospel, and the blessings from obedience. It just happened. Then we were able to hear his concerns and address them. He is now taking the lessons from us and will be coming back to church. 2. Sister Bush and I were having some struggles. For some reason we bring out the best and worst in each other. We were having a inventory talk and both had things to say but we have been striving to emulate God in all our conversations. I took a min to pray and then opened my mouth, and it was filled. I was not planning on it, but for a couple minutes I just told her all the things I was grateful for that she did/does. Then I lovingly stated what I needed/wanted to say. God can be in all parts of our lives. Both Sister Bush and I are trying to become like Him and have Him in our conversations. She is SO good at this and I am ever so grateful to her. As we do, things are easily overcome and we just grow in greater love and trust. We have a beautiful companionship. It is because we are striving to do all for God and put Him first. Great lesson to learn for future relationships. I really needed to see that experience. It was really powerful for both of us.

There are so many miracles from this week that I couldn't possibly hope to write them all down. But I will try... QUICKLY! And go...

First, God is good. He is SO good. He loves people so much.

Earlier this week we were trying to find someone. Couldn't find someone, so we prayed. Knocked on some doors. No success. Prayed again. Felt like we should knock on two more doors. We knocked on door that a lady said she had just been praying that morning. By the end of the peace and blessings prayer she knew we were sent from God for her. We said things that were inspired afterwards and she KNEW we were from God. Initially she was hesitant about taking The Book of Mormon, but then said she knew we were from God, so she would take it. We are so excited to teach her. She wants us to come over multiple times in the week.

We have been teaching a part-member returning member family. The wife has a baptismal date. This Sunday she came to church, which was a miracle to many in itself. Then, he husband walked in the door. I could not have been more happy right then. It was one of the most beautiful experiences to see this couple sitting together in church. God is so good. He is working His miralces. He is so good. The wife is getting baptized in two weeks by her husband. I am so excited! She is so excited!

This week we also set two more baptismal dates. Family and friends, the field is white already to harvest. Now is the time. God is preparing the hearts of the people. As we have faith and do our part, blessings just pour down. Wow! One of the date sets is a man who was taught by missionaries in 2005. The Spanish sisters found him while tracting. I am so grateful for all the efforts of other missionaries. They may not realize, but this man still remembers their names. They had a profound influence on his life and this baptismal date.

Sister Bush plays the violin. We were going to visit some people and play. We visited one lady who has not been to church for many years because of health issues. We played for her and her son listened in (which he didn't last time). Afterwards he asked us to say a prayer with him. We did a peace and blessings prayer. This man, in his 50s, cried before, during and afterwards. We will begin teaching him the lessons this week. God is good. He is SO good.

I am just so eternally grateful. The blessings were tremendous this week. There were so many tender mercies of God each day that I could not thank Him enough. We prayed and prayed and prayed thanks to Him. He is so good. Wow. I love being a missionary and love this work so dearly. The hearts of the people in this area, members and non, are being opened. God's work is going forth. He is amazing and wonderful and truly loves these people. The members are now teaching more with us! One lady wrote her testimony in almost 10 copies of The Book of Mormon, and taught with us for hours even though she has her own health issues.

Oh, and other tender mercies. One investigator is now praying about baptism (we were going to drop her because she didn't seem to be open), and another one just found out The Book of Mormon is true through prayer. This is God's work!!

Invitation: 1. This week write down 3 tender mercies from the Lord every day. If you are not seeing them, then pray to see them. Share them with others. 2. Pray/write down something you can do to put God first more in your life, make a plan, and then do it! 3. Go teaching with the missionaries. They will love you for it!

Thank you for all you do!

Sister Jenkins