4 Species and Some Feces!

May 25, 2020

A few highlights from the week are:

A lady called us thinking we were a nursing home and hung up cursing when she realized we were missionaries  

The pond near our apartment has some big carp that we are trying to catch by hand when we go for walks... No luck yet 

We got to see a sweet bridge on our drive to Charleston 

We had a CRAZY rainstorm-- like 5 inches in 30 minutes.  

***Sometimes Taylor doesn't write a lot of information in his letters and then it's up to me to remember other details he shares with us.

Sergio--a man from Gambia who Taylor and his companion are teaching through texting and non-video calls. He found them somehow. So far they have had a good discussion or two.

Tyler--Gave him a tour of the church building and had a good discussion about why there are no crosses in our buildings and that we worship the Living Christ. Also, another good discussion with him.

On Memorial Day Taylor and his companion went fishing in the pond near the apartment. Most of the apartments have fishing gear! They caught 2 kinds of fish, some clams, a turtle, and a bag of dog poop!

The last picture is a 5-6 foot gator they watched go into the pond on their walk a couple of days later.

Getting some fresh air.

A cool bridge in Charleston.

Another video he and his companion made. Once again, in true Taylor fashion, he is behind the camera.

Feast on the Word Video

Investigative Investigator

May 18, 2020

I am serving in Charlston, SC and my companion is Elder Christiansen.

Friday we had a great lesson with Tyler about the restoration.  It was amazing how much research he had done on his own! He said he went and watched a documentary on how the church acquired the sacred grove and also one about Thomas s Monson. We also had a Zoom call with two of our recent converts. The son is super cool and we are going over the For Strength of Youth. We also talked with his dad about some questions he had about his Book of Mormon study. 

The rest of the week has been trying to contact referrals and people we are teaching. We also started dropping off cookies to members to get to know them more. Quarantine has been difficult to get to know members because most don't want to have zoom calls with us if they don't know us. So far it has been working well and it will be interesting to see how the work progresses here! 

It is amazing how much wildlife there is! We can walk around and see snakes, gators, and different kinds of birds all not far from the apartment! 

Taylor now gets to call on P-day which is Monday and Thursday. It definitely makes him not seem very far away.

Elder Jenkins 

One of the ponds by the apartment. 

Elder Christiansen and the geese.

South Carolina and Movie Making

May 10, 2020

I got to South Carolina on Friday and it was quite the shock to see how many missionaries were coming with me. I ended up companions with Elder Nutall who served in Peru. That is fun since I had a friend (Jared Devenport) who served there! We got to stay in a hotel for a night which was fun.

South Carolina is pretty spread out and there are so many trees and greenery it blows my mind! 

Most of the work here is done on Facebook via videos made by missionaries to engage nonmembers or by joining Christian groups. Which is pretty cool.  I can't wait to try it out. 

We spent some time making a video about how we can #HearHim which was super fun. It had around 600 views after 12 hrs which a lot for the amount of time put in. I was the cameraman and editor so I am not in it.

Tomorrow I am getting transferred to Charleston and will get a new companion that I will be with for a while. It has been pretty amazing to see how the Lord's work is still moving despite the current circumstances.

After being in South Carolina for two days we finally got to talk to Taylor. It was slightly nerve-wracking as a mother to not hear anything, from anybody that he was there safely.

South Carolina is so green! And sitting by the airplane wing for Grandpa R.

A cool painting on a building in Aiken, South Carolina.

Elder Nuttall and Elder Jenkins

You can't see very far because of the trees!

Aiken area South Carolina Elders that made a movie together.

Click on the link below to watch the video Taylor made with these Elders.

#HearHim

Back to Work!

May 8, 2020

Elder Jenkins left today to continue his service as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the South Carolina Columbia Mission. He was re-set apart the night before by the Stake President. Interestingly, still called to labor in the Australia Adelaide Mission but temporarily to SCCM. Hopefully, he will be able to return to the AAM before too long. It was a little hard to have to say goodbye for the second time in 7 months. We know this is the Lord's plan and Taylor will continue to serve faithfully wherever he may be.

A last photo before he left since as per usual I was terrible at taking pictures while Taylor was home.

The airport was deserted! So strange.

The departure and arrival screens for the day until about 6 pm! Almost nothing!

He breezed right through security. It was so strange to have the airport so empty.

A Blessed Family Time

April 2-May 7

Elder Jenkins spent this time at home with our family. It was comforting for all of us to have him home during this unprecedented time. We rested a lot, had some fun, and soaked up the time we had with our missionary. Seriously, who gets to have their son or daughter home for a time during their service? Not very many. We feel blessed to have had this time together as a family.

On April 17 Scott, Taylor, Carter, and Spencer went turkey hunting. It was a very long day hiking in the mountain snow. But they were successful and brought home two turkeys.

On April 22 Taylor submitted his decision to the Stake President to return out to the mission field as soon as possible. The Stake President then submitted this to the Mission Department in Salt Lake City. One week later, on May 29, Taylor received his temporary assignment to serve in the South Carolina Columbia Mission. He would leave just a little over a week later on May 8.

Coming Home

April 2, 2020

Due to Covid19, the Church is sending home all missionaries who are serving in foreign countries. This means that Taylor came home as well. After much effort by the mission president, the office missionaries, and Church travel department the Adelaide missionaries boarded an airplane in Adelaide, then flew to Sydney to pick up the missionaries there before flying home to the USA.

Elder Jenkins arrived back home to Albuquerque exactly 6 months to the day of entering the MTC. Much too soon to be done with a mission, but we felt blessed to be able to see our missionary at this point.

It was a special reunion between these two. Parker was happy to have Taylor home!

The Waiting Game

March 31, 2020

Not much of an update. Just waiting to see what will happen. We tried reaching out to people to teach via skype, but nothing so far. Learning how to modify ties and organizing my scripture marking. 

Quarantine in Adelaide

March 25, 2020

Taylor was a bit overwhelmed with everything that was happening because of Coronavirus. He didn't write much this week since it was harder to use the internet and we were able to talk a little more on the phone. 

Remember that God has a plan for us and the best way to find out is prayer. 

Loto Lahi Elder Jenkins

(He has picked up a few words of Tongan and Samoan)

Passing the time in Adelaide by narrowing some ties. He was quite pleased with his new skill.

Underneath the ice cream and bananas are bungeckis (sp?). A fried dough ball Taylor learned to make in Broken Hill from a member who is Tongan.

Leaving Broken Hill-- But First, we found Pete!

March 17, 2020
This week, if you couldn't tell, has been absolutely wild!

Thursday we had a super powerful lesson with Tammy! (Forgot to talk about this one.) We had felt very strongly that we needed to teach the last part of the plan of salvation. It made no sense since we had just given her a Book of Mormon and the logic would be to teach the restoration. However, as we taught, the spirit slowly built up. We shared 1st peter 4:6 which talks about how the gospel is preached to the dead. At first, she didn't understand what the verse said but as we discussed it, it was amazing to see her come to that realization that we can be together forever. The spirit came like a ton of bricks and she was in tears. We bore powerful testimony and President Te Kawa shared some great experiences. Excited because she had read to 1 Nephi 16 and had thoughts on how it was sad that Laman and Lemuel didn't believe after seeing an angel.

We also had an interesting lesson with the Wilson's and stood strong against some remarks he made about President Marquis (he is very anti-authority).

Friday we had a great weekly planning with some great inspiration from the Spirit. 

We had an amazing chapel tour with Riley and had a great conversation about baptism, eternal marriage, and the sacrament. We then found out church was canceled along with all the craziness when we got a call from the Branch President and Brother Wilson.

We had a wild lesson about priesthood authority with John were we covered topics ranging from baptism to aliens and everything in between!

Saturday we did a family history booth (lots of fun and freezing cold... ok 60 plus wind chill is cold when it was 90 the day before!)

We also had inspections from the McBrides the senior couple in Mildura.

We also had a great member lesson on family history and how it can help strengthen our families when the temple is so far away.

Sunday was interesting with no church. We just had a devotional in the flat. We had the best miracle ever! We were door knocking for just a few minutes before going to get dinner and we ran into Pete! His truck was parked outside his friend's house and he came out to talk to us. He is back in town and we will hopefully meet with him soon.

Monday we found a guy named Jacob who has a belief in God (not common) and gave him a book of Mormon. Belle also fell through unfortunately.  

Tuesday we had heaps of teaching! 

We had a really solid lesson on the plan of salvation with Val and Morine. He has read to 2nd Nephi which is awesome. 

We had a great lesson with Jim on the restoration and a lesson with Jim on the mission of Jesus Christ. 

I have found that Heavenly Father will give us many things if we will only ask and act in faith. As we have prayed for true seekers of truth and gone out and worked hard we have seen many successes! Prayer and faith are powerful tools if we will only use them.

***Taylor, and his companion, Elder Kaufman, got the phone call that interstate travel might be shut down. They were just over the border in New South Wales. They were told to immediately pack and get to South Australia as soon as they could. Just a few hours after their arrival, the borders were closed. We are incredibly grateful that his mission president was following the guidance of the Spirit to bring them all in.

A clean and empty flat.

Taylor doesn't complain too much, but we definitely heard about these mattresses. They are shot!

 At the flat they stayed in Adelaide

Yeah, thanks Covid19.

All the people

March 10, 2020

Update time on the teaching pool!!!

Pete has kinda dropped off the radar working out bush. Just praying he makes it back to us. 

Cally and Devlin are doing great. We are taking some extra measures to help them come to church. We have had some really solid lessons and Devlin is so ready to be baptized. Cally is a little bit slower because she doesn't really seem to feel it is important for her but she wants it for her kids. 

Jim (how I forgot to tell you about him, I don't know) we have been teaching him for a few weeks and he is really good. He reads and he has started to pray. We are trying to get him to church on Sunday or just for a tour. 

Tammy had to cancel because she was sick but she said she has been reading and we have a lesson tomorrow hopefully talk about the plan of salvation and stuff.  

Belle is someone we started teaching very recently. She and her family are from the Philippines. They have a very strong belief in God but are very open to learning. We will hopefully get to teach the kids and dad as well. 

Riley (can't remember if I mentioned him) we started teaching last transfer and we taught him yesterday about the Book of Mormon. The plan of salvation is next for him because of some of his beliefs. He is really keen of church so we are going to do a church tour of Thursday or Friday. 

We also got a massive rainstorm yesterday. It was kind of out of the blue and it was awesome because the area has been in drought for so long.

No animal sightings this week but maybe next week. 

Sincerely, Elder Jenkins 

More finding

March 3, 2020

This week has been a great one for sure! We have been back at it with the bikes which is really awesome. On Sunday we had some really amazing conversations with people and we also started teaching an older couple who remind also much of grandma and grandpa Hyde! We also started teaching a Jehovah's witness! Ok... she wasn't baptized, that's just the church she attended for a while. But still so crazy. 

Pete went off the radar for a bit which was absolutely terrifying. Fortunately, we texted him and he is just out bush working and will hopefully be back this weekend!

Church is still a tough thing with people. We had a good discussion in district council about how to help people come to church so we have some new ideas this week. 

Yesterday day was the first time I have really had anyone truly tell us to not ever come back which is crazy. Don't know how it took 5 months for it to happen. 

Sincerely, Elder Jenkins