Here is her first posting:
I love being a missionary and I absolutely love the MTC (Missionary Training Center)!!
Well, I have never felt the Spirit consistently so strong in my life as I have in the MTC. The MTC is, like our teacher said, is like an extension of the temple. Plus, I get to study and teach the gospel, pray and think of Christ all day long. Wow! What an opportunity.
My mom asked about the food, and I will say, its really good. I was blessed with an AMAZING companion, Sister Yardley, who is healthy (so no desserts for us!), likes to run (we have been running for our entire gym time everyday :), and who is really prepared for a mission and wants to be exactly obedient. I am grateful for her example to me and her encouragement to make this mission all she can. Our companion unity is great and we have felt the Spirit so strong as we have studied and prepared to teach, and as we have taught.
Our first teaching lesson actually wasn't horrible :) We taught an investigator, John (aka, our teacher Brother Terry). We taught him about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Spirit was very strong, especially as Sister Yardley testified about Joseph Smith's vision of seeing God the Father and Jesus Christ. He did not commit to pray with us, but did take a Book of Mormon and commit to read a few passages and we have another meeting with him later tonight. We learned that we need to ask more questions and teach to a person and not at them. Great lessons to learn.
Our second teaching lesson went much better. We taught an investigator, Emiko (aka, our teacher Sister Kahawaii). She wasn't familiar at all with God so we tried to teach like Ammon did to King Lamoni in the Book of Mormon and help her realize there was a God and that he loved her. By the end of the lesson she prayed and felt good. She has committed to pray and meet with us again this coming Tuesday.
We also start teaching investigators at the TRC (Training Resource Center) tomorrow, which is exciting, but I'm also a little nervous. Some of these individuals are actually investigators, so we will see how this goes. I am confident though that as I prepare, pray, be humble and have faith in God, and be exactly obedient, that he will pour out His blessings and Spirit upon my companion and I that we might speak the words He would like us to speak.
Oh, I was called to be the Coordinating Sister for my zone. The Coordinating Sister works with the different sisters in the zone to make sure they feel loved, welcome and that they have assistance in their experience here and in any discouragements that they experience. I feel excited but a little overwhelmed by all the meetings. I hope and pray that I can live up to this calling and what Heavenly Father would like me to accomplish in this calling. This also means I will be the junior companion for my entire MTC experience, which I am okay with because I am excited to learn so much from Sister Yardley. Right now we only have 8 sisters in our zone, but by tomorrow we will only have 4. Hopefully we will get some more sisters next week.
I feel the Holy Ghost so strong in my life right now. I feel like spiritual insights to the scriptures come in more abundance and my ability to retain scriptures and memorize them has increased significantly.Which is only because of God and His blessings upon me.
I want to let everyone know that I know God is our loving Heavenly Father. He loves us so much that He sent His son, Jesus Christ, to this earth to atone for our sins. Jesus Christ suffered for our sins and submitted himself to be killed so that He could raise again, and so that we might have the opportunity to repent and become clean and that we have the opportunity to be resurrected. I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored in its completeness to this earth through a living prophet, Joseph Smith. I know that we also have a living prophet on the earth today that speaks modern revelation from God, President Thomas S. Monson. And I know that The Book of Mormon is the word of God and a man will get closer to God by reading, studying, praying about the truthfulness of the book, then abiding by its doctrine, than by any other book. I know that The Book of Mormon is a second witness of Christ, and along with The Bible, it stands as a witness of the divine role of the Savior. The Bible is also the word of God, as far as it is translated correctly.
I love this gospel so much and I am so grateful for it my life. I am also so grateful for this opportunity to serve others, by general charitable service and my sharing the message of the restored gospel.
My challenge to all of you this week is to watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional (Fireside?) , if you have not already done so. This can be found on the front page of the lds.org website. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it yesterday and feeling the Holy Ghost testify of the Savior, His birth, and the purpose of His ministry here of the earth. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and non-members alike will enjoy the wonderful message of Jesus Christ and of having charity during this Christmas season.
I wish all of you the best of luck in your lives! May you feel the Spirit with you!
Sister Deborah Jenkins
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