The Errand of Angels: Week 19 Movin' On

Hello Everyone!!

So... here is the update!! Guess what?!! I am getting transferred from my beloved Carrollwood Ward in Tampa to the Gulf Port Branch in St. Petersburg. I guess its on a little peninsula right across the mysterious bridge nearby (I say mysterious because I have not seen it myself and only saw the ocean once... still unsure if I really am in Florida... hmmm... haha! Just kidding. This is when faith kicks in ;)

There will be a set of Elders in the Branch and then my companion and I, whom I will be training. We will be replacing a set of Elders there... yay for getting in more Sisters into the mission!! I am so excited to introduce Sister missionaries to the area and to work in a branch. I don't know much about St. Pete (what most people, including me, call St. Petersburg... much easier to say). But I did hear that the branch is awesome. There is lots of finding to be done (good thing I love talking to everyone! Or at least ask for courage and then just move forward in faith and do it :). And supposedly finding a white person is liking "finding a needle in a hay stack." Haha. We'll see what its really like. Lets just say I am excited. I will be biking 4 out of the 6 weeks of the transfer. My goal, have the branch become a ward in 6 weeks. Haha. Well, we will see what happens. Nothing is impossible with God if its His will :)

Sister Mikolajcik will be training (yes, after six weeks!) and they will be adding three more missionaries to the ward (splitting the Sisters' area and adding another missionary to the current set of Elders there). Woah. I mean, woah!! This work is moving forward like crazy.

I am a little sad to leave my beloved Carrollwood ward, but know that I am needed somewhere else. I am grateful to look back on my experiences here with joy, and not with regret. I know there were times when I could have done this or that better, but I know that I have worked hard and strived to give my whole heart to this area. I will try even harder in the next area. I am grateful that Heavenly Father gave me opportunities and prompted me to be very bold with some of our investigators the final time I saw them. He literally threw the perfect opportunities in our laps :)

So, funny experiences of the week:

We got my bike back from the Hermanas (they still had it in their apartment from exchanges). We were running some errands, etc. so used their bike lock to lock it to the bike rack. Forgot to  have them unlock it before we dropped them off. Didn't want someone stealing the bike... so we unhooked the bike rack and carried it, with the bike attached, to our 2nd story apartment. Don't worry, I got pictures ;) Which reminds me, I forgot my camera cord so you will have to wait a whole week for those.

We went over to an investigators house, R, and she had just taken some pain medication so was falling asleep. We met with her friend, L, and mostly helped her friend help her. Her friend did an improv song about how much Jesus loves R and we all clapped and danced to it to help her get back into bed. It was really fun. We had a member with us who has her mission call to France. She loved the experience.

Highlights of the week: Warning, there are many. It was a great last week in Carrollwood!

Just FYI, we believe the Bible to be the word of God, as well as The Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is a defining characteristic about our Church. You will hear a lot about The Book of Mormon below and I wanted to make sure that was clear :)

Monday night an appointment fell through, which is a bummer, but exciting, because it means Heavenly Father wants you to be doing something. So, we went to visit Stacee and Justice but decided to go talk to a man at their complex who was sweeping (I kind of noticed him out of the corner of my eye, but Sister M actually looked at him. I figured if he stood out to her then we should go talk to him). We went over and he was helping a friend whose husband passed away the day before. We went in and prayed with her. And ended up meeting with her and this friend and one other friend a couple times later in the week. The Holy Ghost works through very subtle promptings and only God knew how much that woman needed us right in that moment.

The friends were willing to listen to us because they had great experiences in the past with Mormons. So, do not discount your influence on others! One of them had a Mormon psychologist who she just adored and I don't remember how the other one had come in contact with members, but he owned a copy of The Book of Mormon. Pretty cool. 

Then met with Justice and some people living with them. It was great. We were able to show forth love. Love goes a long way as does testimony.

Overall, were able to find six new investigators from inspired tracting, inviting all to attend and talking to everyone. This week was definitely a finding week.

The investigator of ours who is the neighbor to the Bishop's family, she is absolutely amazing! But we will be giving her away to another set of missionaries. She met with us twice this week, went to a Relief Society activity, went to church, and read through almost all of 1 and 2 Nephi. Yeah, she is awesome. It is such a rewarding experience to see people's relationships with God grow and strengthen... wow, absolutely amazing.

We were in the same complex as many of our investigators. One of our investigator's sons biked passed us as we were taking out some one's trash. His friend (a girl) asked who we were and what we were doing. She thought we were basically the most amazing, coolest people ever. Then the both of them followed us as we walked to the dumpster. All of a sudden all their friends came over and we had a congregation of about eight kids ages 8-13 gathered around us. Our investigator's son starting raving about how we meet with his mom and what we do. They all wanted copies of The Book of Mormon. Just because of his comments all his friends thought we were so cool. We are excited to see what happens there. We didn't have enough copies for all of them, but the others came back to us when we were in the area again to get a copy. Wow, that boy will go on a mission. He has a great work ahead of him.

Speaking of him, we met with his whole family last night. His mom had gone to her church that day and her religious leader had told her that she didn't need to be baptized again. She was all set with a decision not to be baptized. I was so grateful for the experience to be bold with her and re-explain the Priesthood and line of authority and how important this decision was. She is now praying again and will keep an open mind. I am so grateful for the Spirit and for being bold. She calls me her angel. I love that woman so much. She has faith to move mountains.

It is amazing how much serving others helps them build their trust in you. As missionaries we asked to serve others, especially members. We had the opportunity to help out a Relief Society activity over the weekend and the members were so grateful and hoping that Sisters would get transferred into their wards. It was really cool.

Just a quick observation. Even though I know I have the Spirit strongly, I have realized that He has worked with me and Sister Mikolajcik so quietly. I have learned that always listening is so important. We can have a fleeting thought or just have a person brought to our notice a little bit. When we act on those marvelous miracles happen, especially in finding. I am grateful to be learning more and more how to listen.

My invitation to you: Smile and say hi to as many people as possible this week. If you don't know your neighbors, go introduce yourself to them. Christ loved all men and talked to all men. Plus, you never know who needs a happy smile :) I know your personal happiness will increase as you do this as well.

Have a great day! Love you!

Sister Jenkins