Okay so it's been honestly a really good week. But in big news...Tori is getting baptized this saturday!! wahoo! I am so excited for her. She is such a sweetheart and she knows the church is true. But saturday we had an amazing lesson with her, her grandpa, and a member. We were talking about the gift of the Holy Ghost and how we all need it to help direct our lives--well then we asked her again if she'd get baptized and the answer was still unsure. Then finally we had her kneel down and pray so she did and well...we waited in silence and she got her answer. The answer was yes! So we are so excited for her.

Transfer calls have happened yet again, they happened on Friday and well....Sister Welch and I are staying in H'burg. We are however getting another companion and Sister Welch is training and I am "supervising". In other words I am finishing up Welch's training while she trains haha it's complicated but it works!! That's what Keyes, Zemp, and I all did...minus the fact I had a broken ankle the entire time but it's all good.

Thursday we were able to meet with a member and while we were at her house we were planning on just keeping it a short visit. It got to be like 11 and we thought we would just let her go because there was a lot going on with her house. Well right when we were going to tell her we were going to go she looked at us and said well do you have any apts for lunch? I said, "Well no." she said, "Well I wanted to take y'all to Olive Garden is that okay with you? Umm....she just asked if we could go to Olive Garden...um..of course it's okay with us!!! She was so cute and we got to know Sister Brackman a lot better.

We got a new ward mission leader! It's Bro Fitzgerald and we are so happy it's him. It's funny because Saturday we all ate at their house and while we were there I looked at him and said, "What if your the mission leader?!" He laughed and said, "Well, I've been interviewed for it." then come Sunday and they announce that Bro Fitzgerald is the new ward mission leader! I was so happy. We met with him last night and he's going to be great.

This email might seem short...well that's because it is. I literally am just so excited for Tori on saturday. Were going to be doing a lot of preparation for her she's getting interviewed tonight by Elder Anderson so life will be great!! She is so ready!

Anyways...we are going to be getting our apt ready for our new comp and things in Hattisburg are going great. I really do love it here. I love the ward! Two talks were given on missionary work yesterday and they were excellent. I was fist pumping not very noticeably the whole time. Also...we had five investigators at church yesterday!! I was slightly freaking out. One left during church because of health. But the other 4 stayed and all came to class. Well....consequently I was teaching class. Yep...my heart felt like it was going to pop out of my chest and all I could do was plead that the spirit was there. Not gonna lie there were some awkward parts of the lesson mostly because I was so nervous and didn't want to mess anything up. But they tell us that as long as we have the spirit and are trying to always follow it then we won't mess up. Well...I was def doing that all day so I hope and pray they come next week and we'll get to meet with them all this week. Oh and fall was in the air yesterday!! There was a breeze and Welch and I were freaking out. I sang "It's Autumn time" all the way to the library. Of course it's not a Utah Autumn...but it's way better then the summer heat. But I'm sure the hot days are not over yet. At least that's what everyone is telling me. Kayla and Carissa you both were beautiful for homecoming!! I have hott sista's! Men...stay away...there's an over protective sister in mississippi that will threaten you if you break their hearts! So just be friends with them yeah? It's much easier that way.

Nothing like a man threat to end my email with....but I was serious. Treat my girls right...you two deserve the best.

Okay so anyways...the church is true the missions great.
I love y'all I am so grateful I am out here serving my Heavenly Father. Really there is nothing like this--I love the people of MS and I am SO excited for this week.

Your in my prayers. Love y'all.

Love Sister Jenkins

 

 

Hey y'all!!
It was a really good week--
Sister Welch and I are really loving the ward and it is becoming a family to us.  I can't believe that another week has gone by.
So Tuesday was good.  Sister Welch and I had an idea to make some posters to hang up around the campus of USM.  We didn't get to that till thursday but we are trying really hard to come up with new finding ideas.  Well, we haven't had any phone calls or anything from the posters but we will see what happens. A ward member gave us the idea to hold a weekly, question and answer panel on campus that only the missionaries teach but it'd have to be through a student.  But we are praying about it.  Personally I think it'd be a really good idea if it was "advertised" the right way.  People are always questioning the "Mormons" either that or they are just assuming.  What better way to teach people about the gospel as well as clarify a couple things by having a panel on campus?  So we will see what happens with this brand new idea. 
Wednesday we went on exchanges with Sister Clark.  We went and tried a bunch of people but in missionary work a lot of people are never home.  But either way we still tried and were able to talk to a bunch of people.  We love Sis. Clark we met this guy by her apt and watching her bear her testimony to him while giving him a Book of Mormon brought tears to my eyes.  It's the best seeing members get excited about missionary work.  We have an amazing Sister in the ward who is currently preparing to go on a mission.  Her husband passed about a year ago and I greatly admire her.  But she is like family to us.  We go over and read from PMG with her and talk about the gospel.  Yesterday she confirmed to us that she got her answer to really go on a mission and it made my day! I am so happy that the lord is really hastening this work.  The gospel is truly going to every nation and every person will really get the opportunity to hear it.  But that's why every hour of every day we have to be trying.  At home I wish I prayed for more missionary experiences.  If you pray for one as scary as it might be you will get one. 
Thirsty Thursday Mom's Bday!!  we were able to ride our bikes all over the place once again. We were non-stop in apts all day and I loved it! I love it when we are consistently with apts. We were able to hang up the posters on campus and then go have lunch with and investigator and her friends.  College students are the best and they are so open to what we are teaching!  Anyways we met a couple of weirdos today though...we taught this one guy who proceeded to call us 8 times after the lesson.  We then realized we probably shouldn't go back haha. 
Friday we were able to teach Tori!  We love Tori and she now has a baptismal date--it's been awhile but she came to church again on Sunday and we just love her.  She is such a humble person and she really just wants to do the right thing always.  We couldn't be more proud of her. 
Anyways I'm not going to go through every detail of the week but once again it was a really good week. 
I love this gospel and I love being able to watch small miracles happen everyday.  I have been really writing at least 3 miracles in my journal daily and I love seeing at how much Heavenly Father blesses me and the lives of others.  We truly do have so much to be thankful for. I say it all the time but this mission has truly saved my life in more ways then one.  I love the people of Mississippi and I love being able to have such a high calling in my life at this time.  It's truly an honor.  I know this is Jesus Christs Church.  Not one doubt about it in my heart and that testimony continues to grow.  When you don't think it can grow any more it does.  Anyways y'all be safe. I love you!
Love always
Sister Jenkins

Hey y'all!!
Okay so it was a really really good week in the mission field. I can't believe it's already Sept. time is continuing to fly on by. I like it but at the same time I really don't. I love the mission even at it's hardest times. I may not like the hard times but I heard a quote by a fellow sister that says, "Today's trial is tomorrows testimony." I love that because no matter what trials we go through we always gain a greater testimony in the end because of it and we always come out stronger. A good friend I am not allowed to listen to out here says it best--"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." Anyways successful week.
Wednesday was a really good day:)--we were in charge of activity days and we gave all the girls (five of them) copies of the Book of Mormon. They all wrote there testimonies in it and prayerfully thought of who they could give it too. The whole activity was on "Preparing to go on a mission" I look back and think man if I could have been as missionary minded as some of these adorable girls are I wouldn't have been a lot better off!! Really these girls are future missionaries! All of them raised their hands and said they wanted to go on a mission! The lord truly is hastening his work like crazy. We are truly as the Army of Helaman.
Thursday we were able to have a really good talk with one of our investigators who currently goes to USM. That's where we met her was at our booth on campus. She is adorable!! Such a good Christian woman. She had her two friends there and she fed us all lunch. She is a great example for me. Really--I look up to these ladies out here who are around my age doing way more with their life then I ever saw in mine at home. But now ever since being out here I see so much more clearly. Nothing...nothing is impossible with God. We truly can do anything we want to do or dream of doing if its a righteous desire and it's gods will. Anyways we will get to see her again this week and we are really excited.
Thursday was an exciting day to be honest. We were on our bikes and got caught in a Mississippi rain storm:) Haha basically you'll be drenched with in 15-20 seconds no joke. Well..we were in the middlle of what seemed to be no where but haha there was a nice gas station close by. A man rolled down his window and said, "Y'all enjoy the rain now!" haha we couldn't do anything but laugh. Well Thursday we went to see a sweet member in our ward. Her name is Sister Gunn and we love to help her and visit with her. We've really been focusing on "The Plan" and we decided to ask Sister Gunn for referrals--she gave us four!! and they were all within her apt complex. Soo we went around it--3 of them weren't interested. However--the lords timing is perfect!! We knocked an the lady answered, "SISTER MISSIONARIES! perfect timing please come in and sit down." K the house smelt strongly of smoke but we were soo happy to go on in. She had a friend with her and her friend was crying. Apparently life has been really hard and we couldn't have come at a better time. We were able to comfort her with the lords words and leave a prayer. Katherine was so happy we were there all she could do was smile and all her friend could do was thank Heavenly Father and cry. She gained faith that day by knowing that God really does care and is aware of her needs. Thank heavens we listened to the spirit to go contact these referrals right away instead of get on our bikes and take off.
We've been really getting connected with the ward lately which I have absolutely loved!! We teach them and I love this ward.
Saturday was great--first off stake conference in this area was rock solid and I loved the speakers. Not only that but the Perez family came to church and Tori came to church too. It was such a great sight! The Perez family fed us Friday night and I loved it. Their little boy Caden is home and he is the cutest three year old. I love that age I really do. Every time we teach a family with a 3 year old I always think of my class that I student taught in last year.
Anyways the work is going good. It's always hard work but in the end it's always great work that pays off. This is truly the greatest calling and I am so thankful I am able to be apart of this army. I love y'all so much hang in there this week.
Alma 36:3
Love forever Sister Jenkins

Hey Everyone
So once again another week has flown on by in the mission field. I feel like sometimes I really sound repetitive soo...haha well I am sometimes but hey that's these emails for ya. Anyways we'll start off with the beginning of the week.
Tuesday was great we had dinner with the Perez family. The Perez family is the family that Sister Williams and I ran into on our bikes one day. Ever since 9 weeks ago we have developed a great relationship and I love that family. They really do love the missionaries and they have this beautiful little boy. We are going over to their house this week to see him because he's been out of town for awhile and they are having a big family gathering that we are all invited to.
Wednesday-Sister Welch went on exchanges and I was with once again Sister Jenkins:) Its so fun haha we tell everyone we literally are sisters. But Wednesday we set up a booth at USM and were able to talk to all the college students! It made me miss school but I got over it and enjoyed sharing the gospel with these people. We were able to find a lot of potential investigators that we have a couple appointments with this week. We will see how this goes:) But we had a candy bowl....and well it was really funny because honestly at first I felt a little awkward because I didn't really know what to do. But then all of a sudden Elder Palmer said, "Jenkins go gather people and tell them to come to our booth." Well, when someone gives me a challenge of course I will accept! So I took the candy bowl...went straight to the opening of the doors and started to tell people to go check out our awesome booth because we sure do have good news they will want to hear. It worked!! Kinda funny at how many people we were able to talk with after that but hey it worked and everyone in the end got a piece of candy and an apt to hear some good news!
Thursday was really good--The Spanish Elders gave us a challenge once again! Every Thursday in our mission we all ride bikes. It's something we call "Thirsty Thursday". Well, Sister Welch and I were out of copies of the Book of Mormon, so we had to steal some from the Spanish Elders. We rode over on our bikes and they came out and handed us 10 copies! Um...k well all we had were our backpacks and bikes. Then that's when the challenge of handing them all out came. Guess what....it happened:) The challenge was successfully complete and we found a lot of new investigators. It was such a blessed day! A very hot and tiring day but hey when I go to bed reflecting on a hard days works I feel successful as a missionary.
The weekend was great. We really decided that all of our members are mostly home on the weekends so we will take a lot of time visiting them. Ward relationships are so important!! Sister Welch really have a desire to get the ward "missionary minded". We've realized that by having the ward talk with us individually unties the ward somehow.
Yesterday the Barlows came down to see me! It was such a wonderful surprise. I love that family and I love how missionary minded they are. That family is such a blessing in my life.
Anyways. I know this is the true gospel and I know we must all continue to endure!! "Press forwards saints with steadfast faith in Christ." Stay Strong y'all. Love you always!
Love Sister Jenkins

Hey everyone!
Okay so this week was really good!! Transfers were here and I love my new companion!  Her name is Sister Welch and she's adorable.  Such a good missionary and we are ready to really kill it here in Hattisburg this transfer.  The new district is good--apparently we are currently the largest district in the mission. 
Soo...on transfer day it rained a ton!  Man...oh man I love the rain.  We ended up dancing in the rain.  Then I promised myself I wouldn't go back out even if it rained again because literally we get soaked within 10 seconds of just standing in the rain.  Well...what do you know it down poured right after I met Sister Welch and well....of course I can't just stay inside so I went outside and danced in the rain!!  It was so much fun--then we played water volleyball in the church parking lot.  Okay soo it really wasn't like legit water volleyball but hey it was fun. 
Anyways--this week we hope to have a baptism coming up!! It will be great.  We were able to get Sister Welch a bike this week and we rode bikes all day Friday  It was good because the weather here has been great this last week!  The day we rode bikes I think the lord was seriously blessing us because last time we rode bikes it was so extremely hot I nearly passed out at an investigators home.  But this day was wonderful!! Couldn't have been more blessed and I was so thankful. 
I really love my new companion.  She is a great teacher and when she speaks I feel like she is helping me rather then me helping her.  She is so calm and understanding--she listens to the people and I am so excited to see where her mission takes her. 
Friday was a really good day.  We went to go visit a ward member in this apartment complex and we bikes a long ways away.  But when we got there, she wasn't even home!! So I got "intense" I guess haha.  I instantly started knocking on every door in that hall way of apartments, "Someone will let us in I know it." I kept telling myself that over and over again because I know no effort is wasted.  Well...the first 3 doors I knocked on, no one let us in.  Finally a lady opened her door and she instantly said come in.  She's not interested sadly but it was such a good discussion with her.  She's the sweetest lady and I love her.  We are excited to go back and visit with her again. 
This week we also went to a roller derby to support a ward member.  WOW!! I really didn't even know roller derby's were real haha.  I know there's a movie about it or something but heck this sport is legit!  The Elders were way into it made me laugh hard.  But it's a cool sport and apparently it's in Utah too.  Attention to my friends...go to a roller derby you won't regret it. 
Anyways..the work is progressing here.  I can't thank my Heavenly Father for sending me here and giving me the prompting to come on a mission.  I repeat over and over in my head that this mission has literally saved my life.  It's because it has!!  The person I once was vs the person I am now are completely different.  I want different things in life and I know that the lord will direct my every step.  It's that burning within my bosom I must follow. Note to everyone...plan...but don't make a plan perfectly and expect to follow that plan to a T.  Because guess what your plan will fail!!  Jacob 4:10 "Seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand."  Anyways...I have a burning passion in my heart for this gospel and I want the world to know of it's truthfulness!
Y'all have a good week and be safe:)
Love always
Sister Jenkins

Hey everyone!
Okay so this week was really good!! Transfers were here and I love my new companion!  Her name is Sister Welch and she's adorable.  Such a good missionary and we are ready to really kill it here in Hattisburg this transfer.  The new district is good--apparently we are currently the largest district in the mission. 
Soo...on transfer day it rained a ton!  Man...oh man I love the rain.  We ended up dancing in the rain.  Then I promised myself I wouldn't go back out even if it rained again because literally we get soaked within 10 seconds of just standing in the rain.  Well...what do you know it down poured right after I met Sister Welch and well....of course I can't just stay inside so I went outside and danced in the rain!!  It was so much fun--then we played water volleyball in the church parking lot.  Okay soo it really wasn't like legit water volleyball but hey it was fun. 
Anyways--this week we hope to have a baptism coming up!! It will be great.  We were able to get Sister Welch a bike this week and we rode bikes all day Friday  It was good because the weather here has been great this last week!  The day we rode bikes I think the lord was seriously blessing us because last time we rode bikes it was so extremely hot I nearly passed out at an investigators home.  But this day was wonderful!! Couldn't have been more blessed and I was so thankful. 
I really love my new companion.  She is a great teacher and when she speaks I feel like she is helping me rather then me helping her.  She is so calm and understanding--she listens to the people and I am so excited to see where her mission takes her. 
Friday was a really good day.  We went to go visit a ward member in this apartment complex and we bikes a long ways away.  But when we got there, she wasn't even home!! So I got "intense" I guess haha.  I instantly started knocking on every door in that hall way of apartments, "Someone will let us in I know it." I kept telling myself that over and over again because I know no effort is wasted.  Well...the first 3 doors I knocked on, no one let us in.  Finally a lady opened her door and she instantly said come in.  She's not interested sadly but it was such a good discussion with her.  She's the sweetest lady and I love her.  We are excited to go back and visit with her again. 
This week we also went to a roller derby to support a ward member.  WOW!! I really didn't even know roller derby's were real haha.  I know there's a movie about it or something but heck this sport is legit!  The Elders were way into it made me laugh hard.  But it's a cool sport and apparently it's in Utah too.  Attention to my friends...go to a roller derby you won't regret it. 
Anyways..the work is progressing here.  I can't thank my Heavenly Father for sending me here and giving me the prompting to come on a mission.  I repeat over and over in my head that this mission has literally saved my life.  It's because it has!!  The person I once was vs the person I am now are completely different.  I want different things in life and I know that the lord will direct my every step.  It's that burning within my bosom I must follow. Note to everyone...plan...but don't make a plan perfectly and expect to follow that plan to a T.  Because guess what your plan will fail!!  Jacob 4:10 "Seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand."  Anyways...I have a burning passion in my heart for this gospel and I want the world to know of it's truthfulness!
Y'all have a good week and be safe:)
Love always
Sister Jenkins