Devon Goes to India

Safe at Home

2010-08-15T19:50:00.000-06:00

Elder Jenks is Devon again, pretty much anyway. We have had an amazing 13 days of family and fun. Devon arrived in Salt Lake just on time - 10:51pm. He was tired, a little dazed and not sure what to do. As soon as we got home, we were off to the Stake President's office for Devon to be released; always a moving and retrospective event. Immediately following that, we went across to the Temple for a session with Devon, Ash & Ali and London & Alissa. Aunt Charlene joined us and it was such a joy to have all of our adult children there in the Celestial room together.
The days following have been filled with family and outings. Devon is register for classes at CSI and working for his Dad for a while. We are thrilled to have him home and thankful for his faithful service. This is an excerpt from the letter President Funk sent to us.

You should be very proud of your son. He has been a wonderful missionary. This is a mission of outstanding young men. We literally get the “best of the best” and he has served well, most recently as a very successful zone leader. From my brief experience with him, I can tell he is a remarkable young man.
You will notice that he has grown and matured in many ways. Though little may have changed in your lives during the past two years, much has changed in his. Thank you for the fine young man you sent to us. You will be impressed with the disciple of Christ who is returning.
Thank you for raising such a wonderful son and for his service in India.
So, I guess this is all for the blog. I hope that you all have enjoyed being a part of Devon's mission to India. I am sorry for the missing months, but you know what being a Mom is like.
MM

The Last, but not the Least

2010-08-02T16:59:00.001-06:00

This is the last email from India. I have been editing and correcting all his letters, but for this last one, I thought I would leave it as it came. We are at this very minute in Salt Lake waiting for the time we can head out to the airport to see him come off of the plane. Can not tell you how excited I am.

Well i cant believe this is my last email. i feel like i will neverstop being a missionary. i guess when i get home it will be like hitting a brick wall. im excited for that wall though. :)
I think i am a little taller. i had a lot of growing pains, but i never measured myself. proably not much taller.
as far as my last words go....hahah i just want you all to know that you are the greatest family i could ever ask for. im so thankful for you all. i have learned so many things that i didnt even know from
each of you. im thankful for your faith and the way i was raised. i talked to president nichols about this before he left, it was never hard for me to keep the commandments. i wasnt perfect, but i was a pretty good kid. i attribute that to you and your examples. i hope i am being that kind of example to others. especially Stratton and Crayson.
I have a testimony of our savior. i have seen the power of his atonement in others lives, and that is when i have gained the greatest apreciation for it. i know that he died for me and my sins. i
testify that God lives and loves each and everyone of us. i have recognized his hand in my life and the lives of others so much in the past two years. i know that he takes care of us and he always will.
i know the Book of Mormon is true. i have read it. i have prayed about it and recieved a witness that it is God's word. I know that it answers our most sincere questions and guides our lives. it took me a
long time to see the importance of the living prophet. watching conference has become as exciting as watching college hoops in March. i love Thomas S. Monson and know that he is God's prophet today.
I kno9w that the Gospel changes lives i have seen it. i love the country and people of India. i dont think i can ever forget some of the faces i have met. they will be forever engraven in my mind for one reason or another, but mostly for the great impact they have made on me. I find it interesting that when you want your mission to end it doesnt, but when you dont want it to end it does. I feel that way
right now. i want to serve the Lord all my life and i will, just in different ways.

Elder Jenks has served an amazing mission in an amazing place. Anxious to start hearing the stories. The growth of character and spirit has been obvious in his letters home. He has rendered a service to be proud of. His and our lives have been changed. We thank our Heavenly Father for the blessing of being his parents and the blessings Devon has received while on his mission.

Short & Sweet

2010-07-13T12:25:00.000-06:00

I'm excited for the last three weeks of my mission.
I feel like they will be the most productive yet. At least I hope I can make them.
I want to keep working until the last second.
I love being a missionary.

Testimony of a Son of Helaman

2010-07-01T21:19:00.001-06:00

Wow! Our emails are getting shorter and shorter, just like the time I have left on my mission.
I'm such a bundle of emotions these days. I'm excited, but sad and reflective. So many feelings, I don't really know what to think these days. I'm so thankful for my mission. I'm grateful for the service I have been allowed to render. I'm grateful for the people I have met and the wonderful changes I have been a part of.
I'm impressed with the changes in myself. I never saw myself as the person I am today. I never thought I would be who I am. I love being a missionary. I wish I could instill all of my love for missionary work into every new missionary. I know though, that they will gain this same love as they experience the things that I have.
I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. I don't think I will ever understand what He went through and the love He has for each and everyone of us. I hope I can always show my gratitude for Him and His sacrifice.
I know that God loves us and I'm thankful for His guiding hand in all that we do. I love the restoration. It makes me so happy to know that God continues to speak to us through a prophet. I will always do what the prophet tells me to do. I'm grateful for revelation. I don't think I ever truly believed in Revelation before my mission. I heard so many stories about it, but it had never happened to me. It is probably because I had never sought it. I know that God gives us revelation to help us, to guide us.
I'm thankful for the scriptures. They are the guide to salvation. Paul teaches about it in 2 Timothy. I read it today with my companions. It made me think about how true it is. They show us the way to return to our Heavenly Father.
I have a testimony of the plan of salvation and our potential to become like God. I also have a testimony of the great responsibility we have to share the gospel and equally important to live the gospel.
I'm grateful that God gives us families. As our families follow the example of Jesus Christ, we find true lasting happiness that will never end. All in all I'm thankful for the Love of God and all that He does for us. If we recognize this love our lives are so much better. :)
I don't really know why I did that, but I did. I hope it helps someone.

Working in Chennai

2010-06-14T10:48:00.000-06:00

The work is going really great. We are being blessed to meet people that are prepared for the gospel. This last week we met two new investigators. The first time we taught them we set them for baptism. :) I don't think that has happened very often on my mission. They are doing great. Their names are Vikram and Kesevan. They both just kind of walked up to us and wanted to be taught. So we did and now they are getting baptized in two Sundays. It's crazy. I'm guessing this is a little what it's like in Brazil and other South American countries. :)
Chennai is awesome. They actually have American food here. Last Wednesday I bought ham and cheddar cheese. The first time I have seen those since I came to India.
Things are going great. My zone is awesome and they are working so hard. We are planning for 15 baptisms this month which has never happened in the history of Chennai. :) Cool, huh?
Yesterday we had our last zone conference with President Nichols. It was absolutely amazing. He taught us some of the best things I have ever learned. I don't think I fully explained to you how amazing President Nichols is. I cant really describe what makes him the way he is, but he is so inspiring and kind. Everything he does is for the benifit of others. I dont think he thinks about himself all day. I am going to miss him a lot, but I want to go visit him in Alaska and go fishing with him. :)

New Area - Chennai

2010-06-14T10:35:00.001-06:00

Well I got transferred.:) to the hottest city in our mission. Chennai. It is also the biggest, like 14 million people or more. I'm not really sure. I'm going to be one of the zone leaders with Elder Shepherdson. He is cool. I know him. We were together in hyderabad.
As far as Chennai goes, everyone said it would be so hot, but it's not so bad. They have lots of trees that keep things cool on the streets. We are also having a lot of appointments so we spend most of our time inside peoples houses. It's a pretty cool city. Everyone speaks English, so that is an upgrade. :) We have some good investigators, so that is always a plus. The zone is also doing great. The mission is working hard. We are trying to meet our mid year goal of 300 baptisms by the end of June. We need 79 more this month. That has never happened, but I have confidence that we will make history. Our zone is supposed to get 15. It's going to happen. Things are wierd being a zone leader. There are a lot of things that need our attention and that we have to take care of. We get so many phone calls. In erode we probably got on average 3 per day. Here we get like 30. It's fun.
My apartment is about the same as my last apartment. Ii'ts not bad. Bearable for a couple months. :)
My companion is Elder Shepherdson. He is awesome. He is from Florida; his dad is an accountant. Ironic, because that's what I want to be. He is very organized. Something that I can learn from him. He is very kind and loving. He works to meet peoples needs. We are doing great.
Oh, on Sunday (May 30th) the branch I was in in, Chennai first branch, split into two. We are now in Chennai 3rd branch. We have an entire branch to ourselves. It's awesome. We also have 4 American families in our branch. They are awesome. We ate lunch at one of their houses on Sunday. It was amazing to say the least. Ham, funeral potatoes, jello, homemade bread, broccoli, chocolate cream pie, and lemon bars. It doesnt get any better than that in India. :)
This will definately be my last area unless there is a disaster. :) What does that mean? Is he predicting a something? MM

Finishing Up in Erode

2010-06-14T09:59:00.001-06:00

We have 3 baptisms on Sunday. It is a sweet family. It is a mother and her two daughters. Their father ran out on them when the youngest girl was one so about 10 years back. It is so sad. It happens so much in India. It bugs me. It makes me mad actually. Anyway, they are pretty poor, but they are very happy since they recieved the gospel. It is awesome to see them smile whenever we visit and teach about the Gospel. The daughters are funny. They just barely started to warm up to us. They are very cute, but very quiet. It is fun to finally hear them talk. They are a great family. :) I'll send pictures next week. :)
JACKFRUIT looks like giant potatoes!
Indian birthday tradition, wiping the cake all over the birthday boy's face
This past week I was studying in Alma. The stories of Ammon and Aaron. I love those guys. They have become my favorite stories from the Book of Mormon. I still love the Brother of Jared, but Ammon and Aaron are growing on me. It so amazing to read about all that they did. Reading about it makes me want to serve everyone I see. It makes me want to teach the gospel to everyone. It is crazy how the Book of Mormon does that. It's great. I think one of my favorite scriptures has become Alma 26:27. It inspires me to keep working hard. To stay diligent and obedient so I can receive Gods blessings.

Last Phone Call From India

2010-05-10T20:28:00.000-06:00

Can you believe it? We are 'this' close to the end of Dev's mission. We had our last phone call from the mission field on Mother's Day. It is always such a fun thing. Devon is speaking with a slight Indian accent. I am thinking that it will fade away pretty fast. What might not go away is the speed with which he now speaks. Maybe he will be able to get one of those jobs reciting the legal stuff at the end of commercials.
I miss him a lot after the phone calls. He and I have have our own little communication thing. He was a 'daddy's' boy when he was young, but when he got to that favorite age of mine - 8-10 years old, we really developed a bond. I miss talking to him, especially just after I get to talk to him. But he will be home soon enough!
He seems to be quite happy and settled into the Indian way of life. I think he may have some adjustments when he gets home. His debriefing may take a bit longer than the first two boys' did.
I am anxiously awaiting the 2nd of August. That will be the auspicious day of his arrival. Maybe we will see all of you at the airport! MM

The Rest of the Story

2010-04-20T20:28:00.003-06:00

This week I want to do a Conference Report. Whenever they have a sports tournament, they do a report. Well I'm doing the same thing with Conference.

FIrst up. Top 5 Talks.
1.Henry B. Eyring - Help Them On Their Way.
2.D Todd Christofferson - The Blessing of Scripture.
3.Dieter F. Uchtdorf - Continue in Patience.
4.Bradley D. Foster - Mother Told Me.
5.David A. Bednar - Watching with all Perseverance.

All of the talks were great, but these five spoke to me the most. i really enjoyed them all and am looking forward to reading them when I get next months Liahona. :)

Rookie of the Conference (The best talk by someone I had never heard before)

Bradley D Foster
I dont know why I liked his talk so much, but I did. I dont know if I considered myself a mamas boy before my mission but I sure do now; so maybe that is why I liked it so much.

Top 5 Lessons Learned
1.Teach your children the things of God.
2.We have more scripture than any other generation. USE IT!
3.Be a Rescuer for those who are lost.
4.Take comfort in the promises of God.
5.Turn to the Lord without delay. Especially in times of trial.

I think the general theme of the conference was teach our children. It's funy how it works out like that even though there are no assignments given. :)

Top 5 Jokes.
1. "He kissed me on the cheek. First date." Thomas S. Monson
2."But we don’t have to throw open the door, serve them tea and crumpets, and then tell them where the silverware is kept! (You shouldn’t be serving tea anyway.)" Jeffery R. Holland
3."Grandpa are you in there." Robert D. Hales
4."Man, what a pitcher." James B. Martino
5."Our trained toed friend had his foot in his mouth." Thomas S. Monson

I thought the whole conference had a lighter side to it. I like it like that. I felt President Monson was in a wonderful mood and it made things fun.

And Last but not least. MVP
And this year it goes the Dutch Bulldog. aka Jeffery R. Holland. He comes again with a spiritual smackdown about the terrible affects of pornography. You may be wondering why this talk was not in my top five well it's because it was in a league of its own. He taught pure doctrine while amusing us with whitty sayings like "True love, we are absolutely giddy about—as I am about Sister Holland; we shout it from the housetops, and occasionally from General Conference." and "Throw the rascals out."

Overall it was a great conference that I was pleased to watch. I'm excited for next months Liahona.

Not Much This Week

2010-04-12T18:08:00.002-06:00

This week was nice. I got nicely sunburned yesterday. I don't get it though, because we weren't even outside for very long. We were in appointments all day. The sun does weird things. :)
I ate Intestine Biriyani on Monday. It was terrible, but I've trained myself to eat anything and say it is good. :) That's all the interesting stuff this week, only two things. I know, it's a downer week.
I got your package. It was awesome to get pictures. Evrything looks a lot different than when I left. You all look older. I guess that happens when you are gone for two years. Thanks for the deodorant, it's nice. :)
London did ask some questions so I will answer those. Yes, I see corruption everywhere. They pay people to vote. People have to give bribes to get like their pension plans after they retire. If anyone gets pulled over they just pay off the cop and then they don't get a ticket. It's sad. I haven't seen anything about an Indian Census. It might be going on; I dont know. As far as call centers go, I knew people that worked at call centers in Hyderabad and Visak, but there are no call centers here, so I don't know anyone here. Elder Chigurupati worked at a call center before his mission. Half of the branch in Visak worked at a call center called HSBC you might have heard of it. It's a bank. Bangalore is crazy big. The whole city is basically the technology district. Hyderabad had a place called Hi-tech city, but it was kinda disappointing, a couple big buildings and that's it.

Staying in Erode

2010-04-05T09:01:00.001-06:00

This week was good. Same ole same ole. We have been trying to get 10 investigators to come to church since I came. We have had around 8 the whole time I have been here. This week we finally did it. We had 11 at church on Sunday. It was awesome. 6 of them are set with dates now. Three are being baptized on Sunday, and 3 more in April. They are all great. I'm excited for them all.
We had the three baptisms on Sunday. That was awesome. It was of three 16 year old best friends. They have been coming to church for over a year, but due to English and age they had to wait to be baptized.Tthey could have been baptized sooner, other elders never took the time to teach them and help them progress due to the English problem. They are awesome guys. They are so small though. It is funny. They are tiny. You'll see in the picture.
We have a great young couple that has been coming to church for 6 months. They have been beggng us to baptize them, but they dont know enough English. I feel pretty sad, because they know the gospel, they just can't speak enough English. However, we talked to President Nichols about them and he said that they can be baptized. So they will be baptized in April. I'm so excited for them. They have such a strong desire to do what is right, but they just couldn't, but now they can. I'ts awesome. Plus they are learning English like crazy. I cant believe how fast they are picking it up. I guess that's what the spirit can do. :)
I feel like Heavenly Father is blessing Erode so much. He has given them a wonderful District President that wants to help fix some of the things in the branch and he is working hard to get those things fixed. He came on Sunday and started the process. He is an awesome man. We are also finding so many great families that are progressing towards baptism that will help this branch so much. It has been so awesome to be in Erode right now. I am very thankful to have served here. I have learned a lot while I have been here. I love being a missionary and I never want to stop.
It's freaking hot in Erode by the way. I sweat so much.
Oh, my bicylce got stolen on Monday. I was so upset. I had just gotten it to work correctly too. People are dumb. now I have to ride the ghettoist bike ever. The seat is like a piece of plywood. It hurts so bad to ride. Oh well. I didn't get transferred. So I will have to bear it for at least 6 more weeks. But what to do.

More From Erode

2010-03-18T10:49:00.001-06:00

It wasn't the AP's in jail, it was the office elders; but they were tracting and they went into some private property that they didnt know was private property. The man caught them and asked what they were doing. They said they were coming from church. The man was Hindu and didn't like that they were Christian. He slapped one of the elders and called the cops. They were in jail for like 4 days, but they are fine now. No problem. No problem? No problem for who? Just the thing that Mom's want to hear. MM
This week has been good. We are just working hard and trying to get things done here in Erode. We found a new family yesterday. They have the two cutest daughters I have ever seen. They have the biggest brown eyes. They are so cute. I want daughters I think. I'm pretty sure they will get anything they want, but I want to have at least two. :)
Erode is amazing. I am going to miss it more than any other place. The branch is awesome. Even though it is a little disfunctional. We are baptizing some really awesome people that will help the branch so much.

Zone Conferencen and the Bicycles

2010-03-10T08:54:00.000-07:00

So today we had zone conference. The Asia Area President came. Elder Anthony D Perkins. He did interviews for 8 elders, and I was lucky enough to be one that was interviewed. It was weird to be in an interview with a General Authority. He is way nice though. We talked for a while. He asked a lot of questions, but it was good. He talked to me about how lots of missionaries go home and get discouraged. He said to avoid that I should still always look for opportunities to serve. so I will be trying to find lots of opportunities to serve, and yes, I will start with painting your house.
Also another crazy thing - his wife reminded me of you mom. It was like my mom was at zone conference. Kinda weird, but cool. They also have a son that lives, loves, and breathes soccer. :) I like him already. He lived his whole life in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. They have lived in Asia for the past 15 years. It's cool. They all know Chinese. Even all 6 of their children.
Anyway, it was an amazing zone conference. My spirit is just full. I'm so thankful. We talked about how the gospel blesses families, how important the Book of Mormon is, and how important it is to get families to come to church together. It just made me so thankful that all of my family is awesome and they all have strong testimonies and keep their covenants. It made me smile, because I could see the blessings the gospel has had in my family.
The adventure in India is still awesome. It gets better everyday. The other day Elder Cunha ran into a parked motorcycle on his cycle and tipped it over and dented it all up. It was hilarious. Thankfully the owner wasn't mad. He didnt care. Elder Cunha just wasn't paying attention.
No new cycle (for him), but I did get it fixed so it's bareable. A bike costs like 50 dollars. But I fixed mine so no problem.
I got a rock thrown at me by a little kid, but then I just scolded him in Tamil and he ran away crying. Ok, just kidding, he didn't cry, but he stopped.

2010-03-07T11:48:00.004-07:00

Well, I am going to give up on getting this blog up to date and just suffice it to say that Devon has been working hard, baptising and having many adventures since last summer. Besides, he will be home soon and can fill you in himself. I guess that way he may have something new to tell you when he arrives. I will do my best from now on to keep this blog more current. MM

2010-01-13T21:21:00.002-07:00

JUNE 30th
India is amazing. I love it here. Mostly the people. Everything is basically backwards. And when I say everything I mean just about everything. Everything is crazy, but I'm used to it. So it's normal. Going back the the US will be really intense and take some getting used to. :)

2010-01-13T21:05:00.004-07:00

JUNE 16th

This week was good for us. We are meeting with a lot of the people we met last week. They are all doing well. We had 12 people at church this Sunday, but 10 of them were late. It's ok though. There is always next week. There is one really awesome family. They love us so much. They are progressing really well. They are reading and praying and coming to church. Things just seem to be moving along. everything is going well. I love being a missionary. Nothing really exciting is happening, just the usual. I love it though.

Here is a funny story. We were in this lesson and there was a little chick running around the whole time. I was teaching a man and while I was teaching, the chicken got up on my feet. I didn't really care so much so I continued teaching. I didn't want to offend the family so I didn't kick it off. Well I finished teaching and by the time i was don't the chicken was off. Well I looked down and the stupid thing pooped on my foot. I was like what the crap!!! It was funny after the fact.

The month of May is really busy, okay?!

2009-06-03T07:20:00.009-06:00

I must apologize to those who faithfully follow the blog; May is always such a busy month for some reason. I used to blame it on Devon's soccer, but I can't do that now and it is seems still the same. Anyway, it is now June so I will try to get things up to date and then keep up.

APRIL 22nd
Well this week was not so successful. They had state elections and those get pretty heated. So we weren't allowed to go outside so much this past weekend. It was a little frustrating, but I guess it is just to keep us safe. I don't want anything to happen to me so I guess I'm happy about it. We only had like three days this week to do any missionary work. We met some of our progressing families. We have a few set for baptism and hope to set a couple more this week. I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel after being whitewashed. I'm very excited to finally see it. It only took about 6 months haha.
I'm glad you asked questions so I can answer those. We talk to people like normal people. I don't know what you mean by how we talk to people. We just start talking to people on the street and find out if they can speak English then go from there. We are allowed to knock on any door now. We used to only be able to knock on Christian doors. (if you would have told me that before my mission I would have thought how the heck amIi supposed to know if they are christian or not, but it is easier then you think. People are a lot more open with what their religion is. They will have some sort of picture outside their house of what religion they are. interesting I know). We also do that. That seems a little more effective, but it is best to get referrals from members. Hey mom if you put this stuff on the blog you should correct my spelling. haha.
We just set up appointments with anyone that talks to us. Most of them however don't go through. They have no sense of time here, and they don't really have respect for time unless they are wasting theirs. Everyone is just a little selfish. It was really hard for me at first to get over how inconsiderate people are, but it doesn't really bother me anymore.
We get all kinds of responses. It is very rare for people to say they aren't interested. It is more polite to lie than to say no to someone. That is really annoying. I can usually tell if someone isn't interested though so I just ask them straight up if they are interested and then they will tell me the truth it takes some coaxing though. We also get the "Oh come in and share a message with me" which happens a lot, but most of the time they don't go anywhere. Then there is the "you are converting people, I'm going to call the police" response, and at that point we just run. No problem though. It makes things interesting and fun. haha If you can call it that. know Heavenly Father will protect us, so no worries.
APRIL 29th
Well I'm getting transferred. :( I'm a little sad. I love Visak. I think I could have stayed here my entire mission and wouldn't have cared. We also have 4 families that are getting baptized this next transfer. Its crazy, but its OK. Elder Nixon can handle it. I'm going to Hyderabad 1st branch. Oh yeah I'm also being whitewashed again. I don't know if President Nichols hates me or not. Just kidding. I think the second time around it will be a little bit easier. The first time was very stressful and tried my faith, but this time I have a good idea of what I need to do to get things started. Another problem is Hyderabad is on lock down for a little while longer. I hope I will be able to go out soon and do some work. Elder Banavath, who is now an assistant told me that they were planning on opening Hyderabad in the next couple of weeks. Elder Nixon is training a new Elder. He says he is nervous about it, but I know he is excited. It will be fun.
This week was fun. We were supposed to have some baptisms in the next week, but the families all decided to go out of town for a month because of "summer vacation." It is a little frustrating to have 75% of your teaching pool out of town for a month. We have been trying this week to build up our teaching pool again. It is going pretty well.
We also found a new apartment to move into. The couples have been nagging us to get a new one ever since they started only turning on water for 1 hour a day. I have been having to wash my clothes by hand in the shower. I never thought I would do that, but it is pretty fun. A lot of work, and really hard to get the clothes completely clean though. What I do is I just leave my clothes on and get into the shower. then I wash everything as best I can then rinse it out. Funny. I will never take a washing machine for granted again. Being in India made me realize how much luxury we have living in America. We have a lot of things that people never see their whole entire life let alone use everyday.
MAY 5th
Well, this week has been pretty interesting. Being whitewashed again has been a lot easier this time. The area wasn't quite in such disarray as last time. Did I tell you I also replaced the sister missionaries again. They seemed to keep everything up to date a little more this time, which was nice to have. The first time when I went to Visak everything was out of order and discombobulated. It is better here in Hyderabad. The Zone leaders are really worried about us. I don't know why. I keep telling them that I've done this before and that they don't need to lose sleep over us. I hope they relax a little it is starting to bug me when they call me all the time to check up. I just want to tell them that we are big boys and can handle ourselves. I think they just want us to be successful.
The new area is huge. Like 6 times the size of my last area. We cant even go to all of our area. It is too far away from the church. It is crazy. I really don't know what to do with myself sometimes. It is hard to choose where to go when we have so many places to go. In Visak it was one of three places that we chose. It is funny.
We are kinda in lock down. We don't wear tags and ties outside. Just in appointments. We cant talk to anyone on the street. We can only knock on Christian doors. Which is a lot harder here. In Visak it was obvious what religion people were, but here it is hard they are a lot more reserved about it. It is interesting.
MAY 13th
My investigators are doing well. We don't have so many. We have an awesome family that we are teaching. The only problem is they think it is too hot to come to church in the Afternoon. We will have to get them over that if they are ever going to come to church. Prakash and his family is the exciting point right now. They are set for baptism on May 31. I hope they come to church this week.
The branch is huge, but only about 150 people come every week. There are like 300 members though. A lot are less active, but I guess that happens everywhere. The branch is like a ward back home. This is the first time that has ever happened on my mission. The branch has three companionships in it so the area is pretty huge. It is crazy.
MAY 27th
Thanks for the emails this week ;) I got a grand total of one. From Hyrum. My only faithful writer. HAHA Just kidding. This week was good. It was really actually frustrating. OK so the truth is this week was rough. I feel a little discouraged. I thought being whitewashed was going to be easier the second time, but it isn't. The first two weeks went pretty good. Then this last week happened and things just didn't go our way. We didn't find any new investigators. That was really discouraging. This week was just hard. I think we will push through it though. That is good.
JUNE 3rd
This week was better. Don't worry about not emailing me. I forgive easily. :) My birthday was pretty good. I liked your package. I really liked the gnome. I will send you some funny pictures next week. I forgot my cord this week sorry.
This week was good. We had our interviews on Monday and zone conference on Tuesday. It was really good. All the elders came from Visak and Rajamundry zones. It was really good. So I got to see everyone that I left when I came to Hyderabad. I knew basically everyone. It was fun. Zone conference was all about making goals and plans to meet those goals. President Nichols really really loves goals. I decided I need to start setting goals. He said when he was in seminary his teacher read him a story about setting goals. So he did some studying about goals. He then wrote down three life goals on a note card and put it in his wallet. He said he looked at them everyday. He then told us that he had met all those goals at age 61 and wishes he would have made his goals higher. So that is my plan actually. He is a very smart man, and I'm proud to say he is my Mission President. :)
Not much happened this week. That was the highlight. We did find 7 new investigators last night. It was crazy. We only had a couple of hours after zone conference too. It was a nice boost for our week last week. We found more investigators last night then we had found the previous two weeks.
Oh, we did give talks this last Sunday. Mine was on gaining a testimony. I was probably one of the best talks I have ever given. I guess it was because I prepared for more than the night before. It was really fun also to talk. It still amazes me how comfortableIi am doing things that were so hard for me, just a year ago. :)

So, there you go - all caught up. Check out the slide show on the landing page of recent photos. And feel free (Please!) to make some comments.

Life in India

2009-04-20T19:43:00.002-06:00

As far as your questions go: People normally live in a house, but a lot smaller than you would expect. Also, there are like 3 levels in each house and a different family lives in each house. I will send you some pictures next week if I can get any. The house usually consists of a 10x10 room where they have everything they need like beds, TVs, clothes. Everything. Then there is a smaller 5x5 room, which is the kitchen. Its pretty crazy. One thing I have learned here, a lot of stuff we think we need, we really don't need it. Most people don't have bathrooms. They just shower and do stuff in the street.
Roads are paved in the city and dirt outside the city. The streets in neighborhoods are cement. I only get out of the city if I go on exchange. My area is the center of the city, so I don't really get out much.
We shop at small shops and "grocery stores". If you saw the "grocery store" you would think it was a small shop so I guess you could say a small shop. When I come home and see the giant Walmarts, and Targets and Costco, I might die. I'm going to be a little perplexed and confused.
My apartment is pretty good. We are having water problems so that kinda stinks. We can't do laundry at our apartment, we have to do it at other Elder's apartments. Oh well, it really doesn't matter to me. It is a little old, and the couple missionaries want us to leave, but we can't find a new one. I have been trying for 6 months so yeah, it stinks. Here, they are very wary of bachelors and Americans when it comes to apartments. It's weird.

The Dedication is Paying Off

2009-04-20T19:22:00.005-06:00

I get to be an Uncle twice!!!! That is so sweet. I'm so excited. You have no idea. Are they going to name their baby after me too? Just kidding. I'm so excited. I'm going to have a lot of little kids to spoil when I get home. For those who don't know, we are getting TWO grandbabies this year!! Our first and second. Ash Ali are naming their little boy Dexter; that just happens to be the nickname Ashton's friends gave to Devon some years ago. We are so excited about the babies; I guess he is too. MM
A new Elder came named Elder Stratton. Hahaha how funny is that? Now there is an Elder Briggs and an Elder Stratton. I find it funny.
This week was Zone conference. It was amazing. I learned so many new things about church organization and the priesthood. I didn't even know we knew that much stuff about it. It was crazy cool. I learned a lot. Conference was great too. I get so much more out of it on my mission, maybe it is because I actually listened to all sessions and paid attention. :) HEHEH
I also had my interview on Monday. President told me that he was sorry for making me a junior companion again. He said he didn't want it that way, but it was the only way it worked. I told him I didn't care. I'm not one to seek after leadership positions. I think I might get transferred from Visak soon. I don't want to though. I love it here.
The missionary work is going great. We have six people set for baptism in May and then we want to set 4 more people this week. So we should have 10 by Sunday. I hope so. :) I think I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel after being whitewashed here. In Coimbatore, my old area, they had 11 baptisms two Sundays ago. It was so awesome. You should have seen the pictures. There were 4 families baptized.

I just had a great thought about when Mom banged the camera on the floor then said the next day that it was broken and she didnt know why ;) HAHAH

2009-04-13T20:53:00.002-06:00

Good News! Bala Krishna is getting a loan so he can finish. Don't worry about it. I don't think you are supposed to help anyway. Tell everyone thanks for caring and looking out for others.
I have been thinking a lot about my future and I really think that I want to play soccer in college, or at least try. I know I will have to work really really hard for the two months before college starts, but I know I can do it.
I'm so happy Jesse is going on a mission. I actually thought just yesterday that I should write him a letter. How crazy is that? I'll write him today. I don't have his address though maybe you can send it to me this week. That is awesome though.
My new companion and I are killing it in Visak. With Elder Talk I had to do everything and make all decisions, and lets just say it got old by the end of 4 months. When Elder Nixon came I got a little part of my desire to do missionary work again. Things weren't so hard. It is easier with Elder Nixon. I Love it.
Oh I forgot Igot deathly ill for three days. OK, not deathly ill, but I was sick and didn't have anyone to take care of me so it was especially bad. But I'm fine now. Sister Nichols gave me a nice anti biotic that fixed everything.

10 Invetigators! WOW!

2009-03-30T22:00:00.003-06:00

Elder Nixon has changed so much since the MTC. We get along really well, have fun, and work hard also. We will just play with people in the street to make them smile. I was the only one that would do that before. It is way better to have someone to help me. Elder Nixon is my District Leader. So I was demoted. Just kidding, no big deal. I'm glad I'm not Senior Companion. It was hard work. HAHAHA I also started going to the gym with Elder Nixon every morning. I was starting to get so fat. I'm losing weight already. I'm also going to look ripped I will send you pictures in six weeks.
On Sunday we had 10 investigators at church. That is so many!! The most I have ever had before that was like 4. 10! WOW!! It was awesome. One of which was this sweet family that Elder Talk and I met. They read the Book of Mormon every day. We are going to set them this week for baptism. I'm so excited for them. We saw them last night and they love us. They were so happy to see us at their door. It was kind of a surprise visit. It was amazing. I love making people smile.
Here is some news that makes me sad and I don't know what to do. Bala Krishna was confirmed on Sunday and it was amazing. Then on Monday he called us and told us that his principal had terminated his Studies. He is from a little village like 100 km away so he couldn't stay in Visak. He had to go to his village. The reason they terminated his studies is because he wasn't paying his fees. I'm really sad because there is no church in his village, and he doesn't have enough money to finish his studies here in Visak so he can't go to church and become the great member I know he can be. I'm really sad and I feel like I condemned him. Like now he can't keep the covenants that he made. I feel really bad and don't know what to do. I feel personally responsible for him. I'm very sad right now.
P.S. I guess I'm a little more inspired than I thought when it comes to college basketball. Most of the ones I missed I should have followed my gut. Oh well, there is always next year.

Looking Into the New Testement

2009-03-22T19:43:00.003-06:00

Elder Talk got transferred. He is going to Kakinada. He isn't very excited. It is a village, so he isn't happy about that. My new Companion is Elder Nixon. He was my district leader in the MTC, so it should be fun. He is coming tomorrow. Fun.
We got some sweet new investigators the last couple of weeks I'm excited for them. We are planning to set two families for baptism this week. We'll see how it works out. We also set another guy last week. Things are looking up. We are making some progress so, that's exciting. :)
Well, this week I studied Acts a lot. I never really studied the New Testament that well so I thought I would do it now. It is pretty sweet. There is a lot of stuff that I didn't realize was there. A lot about the organization of the church back then and how they ordained and appointed exactly how they do it now. I think it's awesome.

More Photos

2009-03-09T22:33:00.005-06:00

Not sure what they are upt to here.

Somewhere in Visak

I think they are at the Zoo.

It's Always Better to be Happy!

2009-03-09T22:26:00.003-06:00

I don't know why, but I am really happy now. Actually all the time. Even when things suck I seem to stay happy. I think its because I love being a Missionary. That could be it. ;) Also, I don't think it is really worth it to be sad or discouraged. I don't have enough time. I'm running out of time so fast. I don't know what to do. I feel like there is so much to do but not enough time. I need to prioritize. I think that is how you spell it. I just feel busy all the time, but I love it so much. I don't know what Iam going to do when I get home. I might go crazy. Or maybe you will have some project for me. ( Did he really just say that?) Actually I don't really doubt it. :)
This week i studied a lot about happiness and where it comes from. Who has it and how we get it. I concluded that a mission just makes a person happy if they are there for the right reason. That makes me happy. :)
Anyway enough with the spiritual ramblings of Elder Jenks....I had squid curry and shark curry. Yeah crazy. It was so good. I am starting to crave Indian food. I never ever ever thought that would happen, but it did. Oh well. That just means I will miss it more when I go home. I think Iwill learn how to make all these things then I wont miss them because I can make them. :) Well, and that only took 6 months! MM

P-Day Adventures

2009-03-09T22:08:00.002-06:00

Today we went to Bora Caves. It is this big cave out in the middle of nowhere. It was cool, but not so awesome. We didn't really expect it to be so we weren't disappointed. I will send you some pictures next week. My camera died so it isn't really possible. Anyway. On the way up we had to drive over this big mountain. So we were in this bus and people are crazy drivers here; you have no idea. We were driving and the road is like winding almost 180 degree turns sometimes. The guy is cruising up this thing. I'm surprised we didn't tip over. I swear we were on two wheels for half the trip; its nuts. Also, there were these monkeys that were playing in the trees near the entrance of the cave and Elder Neilsen ,one of the couple missionaries, was carrying a bag with fruit and a sandwich in it and the monkeys started eyeing his bag so we were kind of nervous. Then the monkey I guess couldn't resist having this fruit and sandwich. I guess it was really hungry and it just charged and grabbed his bag and ripped a hole in it. It was crazy I was a little scared for him, but Elder Neilsen took care of himself. It was funny after it happened.

I am pretty sure this is not THE monkey, but a monkey just the same. MM

Bala Krishna

2009-03-09T22:01:00.003-06:00

Well, this week was interesting. We finally got it through Bala Krishna's head what he needs to do. He finally understands I think, so he is getting baptized on March 8th. YAY!!!! I'm positive this one will go through. I'm excited for him. :) We met Bala Krishna the first day I went proselyting in Visak. We have been teaching him for a LOOOOOONNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGG time. We even stopped teaching him at one point, for like two weeks, then he started coming to church. So we started again. We have given him 6 dates to be baptized and they all fell through. I think this one will work out though. I just have this feeling. Then on Sunday they split the branch. :) so now there are three branches in Visak. My area stayed pretty much the same, but I lost 2 square blocks. Guess what though, Bala Krishna lives in those two square blocks so he now is in second branch. I was kinda sad at first, but then I grew up a little and realized that it doesn't matter where he gets baptized just as long as it happens. So I'm happy. I hope he gets friends in the other branch. I'm sure he will. I will send you pictures in a couple of weeks. :)

Next letter -
Bala Krishna is being baptized this Sunday. (March 8th) The missionaries that were supposed to teach him now got sick, so we had to do everything. That's OK though, I was happy. He is the first person I have met first and taught all the way to baptism. I'm so excited for him. He is a little upset he isn't in 1st branch. He will get over it though. The last thing he said to me the last time we met "Make me in 1st branch." People think I have all power or something. I don't get it. Its funny though. Ill send you pictures next week. :)

Words from Elder Tyler

2009-03-09T21:56:00.002-06:00

I'm sitting here with one of the Assistants, Elder Tyler rght now, these are his words, " Elder Jenks is an amazing Elder, he is a good leader. He is very intelligent, and a diligent worker. Some day an amazing leader in the mission. I bear these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

Well, how about that? We will see. MM

Trip to Hyderabad; Conference with Elder Watson

2009-02-15T20:04:00.007-07:00

This week was fun. Today was Zone Conference in Hyderabad. Elder Watson came, he is a member of the 70 and a counselor in the Asia Area Presidency. He was so good. I am amazed at how much more knowledge he has then all of us. I think it is amazing how when you get more and more authority in the church so much more and more knowledge comes. Even Sister Nichols says that she has had things open up to her just by being a Mission President's wife. I think it's awesome. I can't imagine what the Prophet knows.
It was a really good zone conference, but because of it nothing really happened this week. This will be short because of that. I spent all day yesterday on a train. We left at 6 in the morning and didn't get to Hyderabad until 7:30 last night. It was really fun though. I got some sweet pictures, too. I'm kinda excited for the ride tomorrow.
That is cool that you met some Indian people. I'ts true about the chilies. I have eaten more than I bet all of you have in your entire life combined. I'm not even exaggerating. I'm starting to crave food though, so that's good. I guess. I'm learning how to cook so I can eat something with you when I get home.
I ran into President Smith and his wife at Target along with three women from Hyderabad, India. The family was here for the Special Olympics in Boise, Idaho. They were there filling a cart with chocolate to take home. As it turned out, the grandmother had been born in Visak, Devon's current area. She called it her "mother state". They now reside in Hyderabad, where he actually was the week they were in Boise. Funny.
The mother was interested to hear that my son was serving on a church mission in India, and requested his phone number so that they could call him when they arrived home. We explained that I didn't have it (she probably thought that was odd), but President Smith got their addresses and we will pass them on to Devon. Maybe he will be in Hyderabad at some time and will be able to look them up. Wouldn't that be exciting?
About the chilies, President Smith said that they were not very happy with the American food that they had been having, so the Smith's took them to WinCo to buy supplies for what they wanted to cook. The grandmother bought a whole produce bag of jalapenos and one of dried red chilies. I guess she used them all in the one meal! Can you imagine? I think that Devon is starting to crave those endorphins that come from eating such hot food! MM
Well, I love you all. I'm so thankful for your support and love. I know that this church is true and I'm thankful that you all stayed active and were great examples to me. Thank you so much.
Stayed active? Was there ever a problem with that?

2009-02-11T20:30:00.000-07:00

The baptism of Kumari. I dont know if I told you about her, but I didnt really do anything. She has been coming to church since she was a baby and just hadn't been baptized.

2009-02-11T20:26:00.002-07:00

"A picture of a white tiger that I was in the cage with. The things you can do when you are American, AHHHHH! !"

2009-02-11T20:22:00.001-07:00

A young boy flying a kite so high, you can't even see it.
"It was amazing by the way," Devon says.

2009-02-11T20:21:00.000-07:00

A cute Indian girl who looks like she could be Hawaiian

2009-02-11T20:18:00.001-07:00

Cool

Green

Butterfly

2009-02-11T20:13:00.002-07:00

Happy Ponga!

Decorated Cow from

a favorite Hindu Holiday

The Work is Picking Up!

2009-02-11T19:59:00.002-07:00

This week was good. Transfer calls were this week and Elder Talk and I are still not being transferred. That means we will be companions for at least 4 and a half months. Actually, no one in Visak got transferred; we have all been here since I came here. They pretty lmuch whitewashed the whole entire city, except the Zone Leaders. So, yeah, it's pretty fun.
They also made another Zone so all the Zones are a lot smaller. I think they did that so the older Zone Leaders can stay in the city and help us younger missionaries learn. Before, they were traveling to other cities in the Zone, so we hardly saw them. I really like having them around. I still have so much to learn.
Next week we are going to Hyderabad because Elder Watson from the Area Presidency is coming to India. We are going to hear him and have a Zone Conference again. It is really soon but I'm still happy; I like Zone Conferences.
This week we have been doing well. We have really been focusing on getting members to come with us to all our appointments. We have been doing a lot better with that, so that's good. We have two people set for baptism in the next few weeks. I don't know if you remembered, but we dropped one investigator because he wasn't coming to church. The week after we did that he came to church. He has now come for two weeks straight. I guess sometimes we just have to leave it up to them and Heavenly father. He is one of our sets. Seeing him come through the door at church made me really, really happy. I love that scripture in Doctrine and Covenants that talks about how great is your joy if you bring just one soul unto Christ. It is so true, just seeing him walk through the door to church made me so happy.
Well, that is all for this week. I have no good stories. I'm still working hard and missing home a little bit since the news of the baby and all, but I'm OK. I'm glad you are all there to tell me about it. : ) Have a good week I love you all

Starting with New Investigators

2009-02-03T19:47:00.002-07:00

Well this week was pretty good I went on a lot of exchanges with the assistants and other missionaries. I think I was with Elder talk less than all the other people. It was not that great; it's weird to have a new companion for only a day. I seem to learn a lot of new things, so that is nice. I am doing better with all of our slow progressing investigators. I think I just expect everyone to progress fast. I guess I only heard the stories about all the investigators that are baptized in 3 weeks, so that's what I expected. I haven't had that experience yet. I have only dealt with really slow progressers. OH well, it will just take time. Which I have :)
This week was good. We found a lot of new investigators, so this week we will have to weed out all those that are interested and those that are just pretending. That is getting a lot easier though so that won't be too hard. Most I think are good. I'm excited for this week.
I'm glad everyone is doing well. There seems to always be a new story about Briggs every week. I find that funny. HAHAH Now just think, if you would have let me get a dog I would have trained it and everything and you would have a perfectly trained dog right now. :) maybe....
Thank you everything for all the emails you are the best family ever and I'm glad you don't forget me :) India is great you should all come and pick me up it would be fun. :) except I'm not so sure you could all handle it. I would take care of you though. no problem.

Getting to the Quarter

2009-02-03T19:40:00.003-07:00

Well this week was zone conference. It was pretty good. Zone Conference seems to always make me feel kinda retarded some how. We always talk about investigators that we are stuck with and we don't know what to do next. President Nichols always knows exactly what is going on and how to fix it. I always wonder why I couldn't think of that. I don't know, I guess that's why he is Mission President and I am only a missionary. I think I expect to much of myself. I expect myself to know everything already. I don't know...
Yesterday at Zone Conference President Nichols asked everyone that had been out for 6 months or less to stand up. There were 24 missionaries there and 17 of us stood up. It's crazy how young we are and get this, my group is the oldest of all the young people. I'm like ancient its crazy. It's fun though we all just don't have any experience so we don't know how to deal with situations. That poses a problem, but we are learning.

Seems amazing that the Zone is so young! I guess they will make it out of the "refiners fire" with more time to take advantage of the lessons learned. MM

How a Branch in India Works

2009-01-15T22:49:00.003-07:00

Do they have meetings in English in this branch?
The branch in Visak has some translation, but they really try to speak English. They are pretty good at that.
Do the youth have Seminary or Institute?
They have seminary and institute, but they are just at night time at the church. There is no way the government would ever let institute into colleges. Maybe some day.
How long have the branch leaders been members of the church?
The leaders have been members for different amounts of time. President Ratnam has been a member for like 8 years. One of the councilers has been a member for like 6 years and one for 2 years. Most of the time the leaders are members for a while. I don't think that the branch could stand if missionaries weren't here though. We are always telling people what they should do; how it works. We are trying to help them become self efficient. They are getting better.
Do thy have a full block on Sundays?
There is young women and young men and primary. They don't, however, have mutual or anything like that. It's just on Sundays.

Funny Story

2009-01-15T22:36:00.002-07:00

I have a good story from this week. We went to teach a second lesson to a man named Anil Kumar and his family. We went and started teaching them in their shack of a house it is like 10x10. with a queen sized bed in it. It's only one room. Anyway, so we started teaching, and I guess they had told all their neighbors about us coming. So by the end of the lesson we were teaching 30 people. He was the only one that knew English also so he was translating. It was crazy. I have never seen that many people crammed into that small of a space. It was insane. I am pretty excited for him. He tried to come to church last Sunday, but he couldn't find the church. He called me during Sacrament, but obviously I didn't answer. He said he is coming next week. I'm happy for him.
Thirty people?! Sounds like some of the meetings that the early missionaries of the church had! MM

Investigater Troubles

2009-01-15T22:20:00.002-07:00

Our investigators are driving me crazy!!!! They all say that they know what we are teaching is true, but they won't come to church. I don't know what to do. We have had members start calling them and inviting them. I think we will have to start picking them up ourselves every morning. We have no people set anymore, because they aren't coming to church. I don't really know what to do. I guess I will just keep praying and bearing my testimony. I hope it works. :)
Everything is going well here. We are working hard, but the results aren't really showing yet. We haven't baptized anyone yet. The few that had dates either fell off the face of the planet or would not come to church so we dropped them. We do have Seezar set for baptism. I know a crazy name for India. He seems really good. He calls me his huge younger brother. He has this really deep voice that I like. He also teaches English so his English is amazing. He even corrects me sometimes, because I'm not used to speaking to people with good English. HAHAH

Random People in India

2008-12-31T11:09:00.004-07:00

People of India

Post Christmas Week

2008-12-31T10:53:00.004-07:00

I loved talking to you. I wish I could have spoken longer...Oh well I guess. Short is best I guess. I missed you all more than I thought. :) I was really sad by the end of the call, but I'm over it now. All Elder Talk and I could talk about that night is what you said. We stayed up just lying in our beds talking. I thought that was funny. His family is really funny too. It was weird getting off the phone and then realizing I was in India not America.
I have to tell you about my second family here in Visak. There names are Prabahkar and Naveena Malladi; they also have a 3 month old baby named Aman. He is my tanmoodu (a little brother). They were in a car accident, and the mom (Naveena) broke both bones in both legs. That was 3 weeks ago. We visit them a few times a week. We are the only spiritual influence they get pretty much, because they can't go to church and other things. I love visiting them. We help the father cook and clean and with anything else they need. He tells me to treat his house like mine. They remind me a lot of Matt Thompson. (There you go Matt, and I didn't even have to prompt him!) It is really funny. Anyway the real reason I am telling you about them is that Sister Naveena can already walk! What a miracle. I am so amazed at how loving our Heavenly Father is. I know that God is our Father and that He loves each and every one of us. I am so happy to be His son.
I am also so happy to be your son. Thank you for being the best parents in the world. Sorry for not appreciating you more fully. I will do better. Thank you for everything you do. I love you all so much and miss you, but I know I am doing the right thing in the right place.

Christmas Photos from India

2008-12-31T10:33:00.007-07:00

Christmas game at the church.

Devon eating Christmas Dinner

Elder Talk,

Devon's Companion

Mom's Christmas Phone Call

2008-12-28T15:26:00.002-07:00

The Christmas Phone Call from missionaries is a Mormon tradition, as most of you know. The missionary gets the opportunity to phone his family at home and talk for a varying amount of time. Elder Jenks was allowed 60 minutes. As his family, we have, of course, been anxiously awaiting that moment. He was able to make his call on Christmas morning for us and Christmas evening for him. They make the call from an international pay phone located in some kind of an Internet cafe. The cost of such is call is surprisingly less than $3.00!
It was so comforting to hear his voice. There seemed to be so many things to learn from just it's sound; he is picking up an accent. Not just the missionary accent where they raise their voice at the end of each sentence as some sort of questioning procedure just to be sure you are listening and understanding. If you have not spent any time with a newly returned missionary, you will not understand what I am referring to. But aside from that, he is acquiring a mixture of a British and Indian accent in his own speech. That is to be expected, I am sure. But there was something else I heard in his voice; a maturity that reflected experience beyond what I might expect. A knowledge that there are things more important perhaps than the frivolous facts we were pressing him for. He seems to find his daily existence normal now; nothing of note worthiness to himself. He was very articulate in his answers to our questions and the observations that he was able to make about the people of India, their lives and culture. I was thrilled to hear him and judge for myself his state of happiness.
We found out some interesting things. Most of them of little importance, other than they are just that - interesting. There is one story he told that is haunting me still and moves me to deeper and more meaningful prayers in his behalf. It is a story that he was not able to relate within my hearing, so at this time, I am not going to pass it on. I will get his permission before doing so. I am assured now, as I have believed for a very long time, that we in the United States, the West, "Zion", are sheltered and protected from the very worst that exists in this world. The blessings that come from simply being one of those allowed to live in this country are innumerable and mostly invisible to us who have not ever been absent. As I try to imagine my baby boy encountering these things and the impact that they may have on his character and life, I am moved to tears and my heart aches for him. But I know that it can be for his own good. These experiences, taken and reflected on and viewed through the lens of the of the gospel, can make him a more charitable person. I hear that in his voice as he speaks of his daily activities and adventures.
I am glad for the Christmas Phone Call. I am happy for the maturity that I hear developing in him. I am grateful for the growth of his character that comes through with the sound of his voice. I will be waiting for May when he calls again. I hope that it is not too hard for either of us to wait that long. MM

A Day in the Life

2008-12-28T15:06:00.003-07:00

My typical day: I drag myself out of bed at 6:30am, which is still really hard. Then I pretend to exercise, just kidding, I usually do some sit ups and push ups for half an hour. Then I take a shower, get ready, and eat breakfast. 8:00 is personal study. 9:00 is companion study. Then we leave. We usually go finding all morning until lunch; then we eat - usually at our apartment and take a power nap. Then we usually either do more finding or have appointments until 9:00pm. Then we go back to the apartment and plan. Then eat dinner and write in my journal, and sleep. That's my day everyday :) so much fun. I love it. It probably sounds really boring, but its not; It's way awesome.
As for cooking I make one of three things grilled cheese, PB and J, or Cheese Omelet with toast. Sometimes we eat outside at some Indian Restaurant. We have a washer in our apartment, but no dryer. It costs too much. Shopping is interesting. What is at the store is different every week; you never know if they will have what you want. They pretty much have random things. American food they have, but its super expensive so we don't eat it. The only thing that I buy that is American is Oreos. They are the same price as any other cookie so I buy them. Oh, and Tang. Pineapple tang is the best!!! No Target or Walmart. We shop at a place called Karachiwalla. Try pronouncing that. HAHA Pretty much every store has everything like a Walmart but a lot more ghetto. :)
We walk mostly everywhere. We also take autos here. Our area is like a 15 minute auto ride from one side to the other. It is very small.
As far as our investigators - we try to teach them twice a week unless they are really progressing, then we meet with them every other day. We teach the whole lesson at once, but we usually have to teach it more than once, because we are teaching people in their second language. Member present lessons are super hard. Especially here in Visak. Members aren't interested in coming with us. We are working on that though.
This week has been pretty boring. Most of our investigators have been bunking our appointments, which means they don't show up. So, it has been pretty frustrating. We dropped most of our investigators and we haven't found a lot of great people; just one that will progress I think. A couple of our old investigators are doing well. They are all set for baptism in January. They mostly will be gone the rest of this month. People are just kinda super lazy here and have no desire to change. Which is really sad, because their lives could be so much better with the gospel. We are still trying and working hard. I know we will find those people that are prepared; it might just take some time. We have faith. :)

From December 7, 2008

2008-12-28T14:50:00.002-07:00

Sorry that I have fallen behind on this blog. I am sure you can guess why. I will try to get a few things in right now and then fill you in on the infamous " Christmas Phone Call"!
Yesterday was Zone Conference it; was so good. Every single one makes my testimony grow and grow and my assurity that President Nichols is called of God. He is so inspired. He is super smart also. He is amazing. I love him a lot he helps me so much. I am very thankful for him.
Most people in India can't trace their lineage past their grandparents. It's so sad. They also don't know any dates or anything. Like older people don't even know when their birthday is. They don't even know how old they are. I never knew stuff like that happened. I guess we are super blessed to live in the country we do, but at the same time lots of things are a lot better here. So I guess its a trade off. I was told to bring mine to reflect on my ancestry. I read the stories a lot actually, there are some good stories there. They are just for me though.
If you don't know, the family here in Twin got a new dog in November, a German Short Hair. Devon is claiming it as his dog. The dog sounds fun. Here some drunk guy tried to sell me his puppy the other night for 50 rupees (1 Dollar). I would have done it in a heart beat, but I'm not allowed. Oh well. You should train that dog. I think that would be best ;) just kidding, I'm sure you are. We are trying to train the dog, but it seems that we might have to successfully train Crayson before we can start on the dog!
I love being in India. You never know what to expect when you walk out the door. It is so much fun. I also don't like Americans anymore. When I see them I avoid them. It has been so long since I have spoken to an American that isn't an Elder. Going home is going to be super hard. I don't know what I am going to do. Crazy.

This-n-That from India

2008-12-07T20:48:00.002-07:00

Everything is going great in India!!! Especially after the news that I'm going to be an uncle!!!! WAHWHOO!!!! All I have to say is its about time. HAHAH Just kidding! I'm really happy actually and I hope all goes well. I'm super excited to come home and see him or her. :) show HIM/her pictures of me so HE/she knows who I am. I think it's going to be a boy. I just have this feeling. We will see though.
As far as Mumbai goes, there are no missionaries in Mumbai, and I'm pretty sure that is why. There is a branch there, but no missionaries. President Nichols didn't want to send any there for some reason, and I am guessing that is why. He truly is an inspired man. I'm very happy to say he is my Mission President. I love him so much. Nothing abnormal has happened here. We just couldn't go outside for one day to be safe, but now nothing is different. All is well.
It's true. I eat with my hands everyday and I love it. It is so much easier. You just have to make sure your hand is clean. Oh by the way, I am making all of you do it when I get home. I already know how to cook a few Indian dishes so you will all enjoy. HAHAH
So a little about me. I was super sick yesterday. The first time I have really been sick in India. I seem fine today, so that's good. I must have just eaten something I shouldn't have. The couple missionaries were all worried about me, but I told them I just needed to rest and get over it. Sister Nielsen asked what she could do so I said make cookies. HAHAH Then I told her I was just joking; she just laughed. The couples are so funny. Sometimes I wonder how they survive here, but then I think of Grandma and Grandpa and I know they could survive here. They would love it here. It is an awesome place. I love it here.
We have this one investigator named Balu Krishna; he is so awesome. We set him for baptism, but he could only come to half of church so we need to reset him. He did read the Book of Mormon and said that it made him so happy when he read it. I love those kind of responses. It makes my life so much easier. He is still searching for his answer, so soon he will get it and be baptized. :) Hopefully I will be here. If not, oh well.
Here is the funny story of the week. We were walking down a main street and this beggar came and started trying to get us to give him money. We said no and kept walking. Usually beggars won't follow us. But this guy was really determined. So he followed us for ten blocks. I'm not even kidding, forever he followed us. The whole time yelling some Telugu. People were all staring at us. It was so funny. We walked so fast. Then I was like, "Oh forget it." and let him catch up. Then he started asking me for money so I pointed to Elder Talk who was like 15 feet ahead of me. The guy ran after him. It was so funny. I could barely walk I was laughing so hard. It was Hilarious.

2008-12-02T21:44:00.004-07:00

I just have to take a minute and share my Mother's Heart and feelings I am having about Elder Jenks. I am so proud of him! He seems to handle everything with calm and humor. I have been in awe of him and the way he has grown and matured. I had no idea that he would turn out to be such a great missionary! Devon has always seemed like he was more interested in other things his whole life, sports, Nike, his phone and his MP3. He is truly an amazing young man. His Patriarchal Blessing says that he will be a judge in Israel. I found that kind of surprising, but now I think I was wrong. He is in only his third transfer, his second area, third companion and he is the trainer. His companion had only been there 6 weeks when Devon got him (I guess if he had been there any longer, that would not have worked. You can't have a trainer or Senior Companion who has been there less time than the Junior Companion). That is crazy. And yet, he just goes on working and learning and baptizing.
I think the thing that has impressed me the most, his exacting obedience. That is what gives me comfort. His obedience is the best safety system he can have! That is strange too, he has always tried to wiggle out of, into or otherwise push the limits his entire life!
When he left, he was terrified of speaking to people that he did not know well. He was given the subject of "weakness becoming strengths" for his "not a farewell" talk. It couldn't have been a better choice for him. Not only did it put into focus for him the ways he had been blessed already in that one area of weakness he had, but he also determined that in the success you might have with your weaknesses being made strong, you had to remain humble and realize that it is only possible with the help of the Lord. If you think it is you, it will be a weakness again. He has really put that into practice there in the mission field.
Please excuse the ramblings of a Missionary Mom, but I am so very proud of him.

Thanksgiving Photos

2008-11-30T20:15:00.005-07:00

Elder Jenks enjoying his Thanksgiving meal of rice and delicious currys in Visakhapatnam, 2008. The other Elder in this picture is Elder Pessetto.

The elders of Visakhapatnam, India enjoying Thanksgiving dinner together, 2008. Elder Jenks' comanion is Elder Talk, the elder on the far left of the photo. They are a great companionship!

Elder and Sister Nielsen

Thanksgiving in Viska

2008-11-30T19:45:00.006-07:00

Hey Family I know I emailed yesterday, but because of recent events I am emailing again. You may have already heard, but there was a huge terrorist attack in Mumbai this morning or last night. I'm just emailing to tell you that we are OK. We just cant go finding and everything is alright. Don't be worried have a great day!!!! I love you all.

Elder and Sister Neilsen sent us an email with photos from the Viska area's Thanksgiving.

Brother and Sister Jenks,

Thought you might like to see your great missionary son, Elder Jenks, enjoying Thanksgiving dinner, Indian style in Visakhapatnam, India. You have a great son! We are enjoying becoming acquainted with since his arrival here a couple of weeks ago. He and Elder Talk are working very hard at being great missionaries. We hope you had a nice Thanksgiving in the USA.

Elder and Sister Nielsen

Settling in at Viska

2008-11-30T19:27:00.003-07:00

We started with no investigators when we came. We had nothing. We have been working hard though. We have been finding for the past two weeks and last night we set three people for baptism. It is super exciting. I know that it will happen. It is crazy how the Lord has prepared some people. We found these families only last week and already they are preparing for baptism. It is so awesome!! I'm excited for them.
My companion Elder Talk is super smart and super quiet at the same time. I have to try really hard to get him to tell me anything. I have had him start leading all day to get him out of his shell. It seems to be working out pretty well. He still has a hard time talking to people. So I do most of the talking. How crazy is that? Who would have ever thought I would be the one doing all the talking, but I do. I'm starting to enjoy it. It's so weird.
The new state is crazy different. People are way nicer; they don't scold us or anything like that. I like it a lot better. The language is super hard. I was just starting to understand Tamil a little bit and now I have to learn Telegu. They are similar, but very different. I'm learning though. I also know some Hindi. I want to be able to speak part of each language. We will see how that works. The branch is about the same size, but there are two in Visak so it is actually twice as big. It is a good branch they aren't quite as involved in missionary work. That is something we are going to try and change. It might take some time. I don't know how long I will be here, but I hope a while so we can help the branch. All is good here in Visak I like it a lot.
Anyway, here are some stories. Not too many exciting ones. We have met 4 pastors here. It's so funny to show them scriptures that show that a prophet is important and they still don't believe. There was one pastor who said the bible is the only thing we need. So we showed him that in Amos 3:7 it says that prophets are important. He then said, "Oh, that doesn't matter, prophets aren't important." And we are like, "Brother, are you telling us that the bible is wrong?" He didn't know what to say.
They have so many crazy opinions here. We met one lady that was scolding us and telling us that we were leading people astray. Then we were like, "OK you aren't going to listen. Bye." Then as we were walking away she says, "Oh, can you go pray for this family down the street?" We were like, "What? You think we are leading people astray but you want us to go pray for them?" We didn't understand. I don't get it.
Funny story. Monday I got offered a pigeon, a chicken, and a dog all in one day. They were just going to give them to me. It was weird. Then later in that evening we were walking to a member's house and we saw this auto (autos are the public transportation, cushman-like vehicles) with three huge marlins in it. The marlins were sticking out about three feet on each side of the auto. It was crazy. I'm telling you we see some pretty crazy things.

New Area - Visakaputnam

2008-11-24T20:10:00.005-07:00

Well, where to start!!!! This week has been super crazy. I don't really know what to think. Anyway, about my new area and everything, Elders were here, but all of them left so they white washed the whole branch. We are pretty much new to everything. We do a lot of walking and finding. I am way more tired here then I was in Coimbatore. We found 7 new investigators last week, which is a good start but we need to get more. We will keep working hard. My companion is Elder Talk, he has been out for 6 weeks. He is 100% Navajo Indian. How cool is that? He is from Provo, Utah. He went to Harvard for one year. He is kinda quiet, but slowly I am getting him out of his shell. He doesn’t have much confidence in himself, but he is a great missionary. We are working hard and trying our best. I think we will have success as time goes on. It will just take a little while.
You should see the hawks here. Anywhere there is water there are hawks. They are super big too, and there are probably 15 to 20 flying around. They are pretty awesome. There is all sorts of crazy wildlife in India. The Rhinoceros beetle was probably 2 to 3 inches long. It was crazy. If I ever see another one I will send it home, hahah. I can't believe I am saying this. Being in India has definitely changed my tastes and phobias. Bugs don’t bother me anymore. I think just because I have seen so many things that are worse then bugs. I don’t, know it's weird. I can eat anything. I'm a new person!
I don’t have a lot of time to tell my stories, but I can tell you in two years. All is well. I am doing Great. Thanks for everything. You are the greatest family ever!!!!!! I love you all. Have a good week, thanks again.

Bits & Pieces

2008-11-13T20:44:00.005-07:00

What is this? One email last week and eleven this week? How am I supposed to have enough time?
Secondly, NOW YOU GET A DOG?!!!!!!! What is this? I wanted a dog for the longest time. I'm so jealous, you have no idea. I'll get over it. Hopefully it's still alive when I get home. Send me pictures when you get it.
There is no Halloween in India. It's pretty sad actually, I didn't think I would miss it, but it's so much fun. I only have one left that I have to miss. As for Christmas, people who are Christian celebrate it, which isn't a big percentage, but what I didn't realize before I got here is that there are so many people in India, even a small percentage is A LOT of people. I never expected to see so many Christians, but there are really a lot. So not much of a Christmas celebration my companions tell me.
On Barack - Most people don't like him, because he said he would stop outsourced jobs and that is like all the jobs in India; so they are pretty scared here. I don't think it will happen though. We will see. What do you think? Is he going to be a good President? I don't know anything about him. Most people ask me but I don't know anything.

Anyone want to take this one on? I am not sure how to break it to him. I just hope he makes it home before it all falls apart! JK MM

Haven't seen any animals just elephants and camels. Maybe in Visak I will see something cool. OH!!! I saw a rhinoceros beetle. I picked it up and took it in my apartment and took pictures of it. I will show you next week. It was so strong. I could press down on its back as hard as I could with one finger and it could push back just as strong. It sounds crazy but it's true. They are so strong. It has like armor for skin too. It was pretty cool for being a bug. :) Just in case you don't already know - Devon does not have the fondness for insects that Stratton does. It is really something that he would pick up any bug. We are hoping that he will send us the actual bug! MM
Vandalism happens here a lot. Also, Hindu people get drunk during festivals and vandalize all Christian churches. It's pretty sad, but pretty normal also.
They didn't like any of my names. :( so they named her blessing. I think it's a pretty lame name, but I didn't say that. Oh well, I tried.
The only funny story from this week is that we were standing at the bus stand and the family that wanted me to name their baby walked up to us and started talking. We talked to them then they walked away. Then I looked down and my shoe was all wet. I was like, what is that? The baby had peed all over my shoe. Her mom was holding her, but in India no one can afford diapers, so they wear nothing. I washed my shoe that night, and now it is back to normal.
Thanks for all the emails. Sorry if this is not a very good email. I had very less time, because I had to read all of yours. Thank you for all your love and support; have a good week. I Love You All!!!!Elder Jenks

Well, I guess we should consider writing less emails? Not! Thanks to all who wrote to him - I know that Dallas wrote once, Stratton once and I only wrote three times (guilt from missing last week!) That is only four emails, so that was a lot of you who wrote last week.! MM

Update on the Work

2008-11-13T20:21:00.007-07:00

Oh! I'm getting transferred tomorrow. (11-13-2008) I'm going to Visakhapatnam. It's on the coast. I will see the beach. I'll send you pictures. Oh get this too, I'm follow up training. My companion has only been here 6 weeks. But still, I'm follow up training. Oh and another thing, neither of us has been in this area. We are being white washed. It is going to be so much fun. :) I'm really excited.

I'm sad I'm going to miss 6 baptisms though :( They will be baptized in a week and a half. SAD!! Oh well,. . . . . as long as they get baptized, I don't care. I don't have to be here. When I get pictures I will send them to you. They are two super families and on single guy who is so super also I'm so excited for them.

I found that it is really hard when people won't except our message, but you have to love them enough and have enough faith to know that God will help them later. They may not accept right now, but later they will. I hate when people are so good they already have a testimony of everything we teach except Joseph Smith and they won't even try and read one chapter. It makes me really sad. I know though, that someday they will believe and try it.

We spend about half of every day street contacting, which is good. It is fun to just walk around and talk to as many people as we can, there are so many people out there. We just need to find those that are ready.

There is another Elder serving from our ward who went into the MTC the same days as Devon. He is serving in the San Diego Mission. On his second day there in California, the Mission President asked him to switch to Spanish speaking. Elder Naylor (Miles) consented, of course, and is now, two months later understanding and teaching in a foreign language. MM

That is so cool about Miles, too. I know what he means though. I have been here only 3 months and can understand Tamil. I can't speak it, but I know what people are saying. It's crazy. Now I get to go to Visak and learn Telugu, a new language.

The Church in India & Baptisms in November

2008-11-09T18:15:00.004-07:00

The baptisms are all planned to go down (go down?) on November 23rd. I'm really excited. We might have to push them back one week, but that's Okay. They need to be ready. They are all doing well. One family didn't come to church because one of their relatives died in the night; but they are still happy and love the gospel.
There are about 350 members in the branch but about half are inactive. So around 1 70 come every week. Its a pretty big branch in India. We are trying to work with less active members, but the branch has terrible records so we don't exactly know who is inactive. We just ask members if any of their friends stopped coming to church. The branch actually does really well with home teaching, but not everyone has home teachers. That is something we are trying to work on.
Everything (the church organization) is pretty much the same. They don't have Young Men/Women, but most everything is the same.
For Institute and Seminary they just have a member teach. It works out well. Most classes are full. There are people that come every week, and some that come once in a while.
Members are very stubborn about referrals. They don't give them. They have them, they just won't tell us. It's really frustrating. I don't know why either. We are trying to work on that . We are having a fireside next Sunday to try and get referrals. Hopefully we will get some.
. . . there is one funny story . . . We met this family and taught them. Then we were leaving and they just like threw their naked baby at me. I didn't know what to do, because we aren't supposed to hold children, but if I hadn't had held it, it would have fallen to the ground. So I just held it and they took a picture. I was like, "What is this? Where am I?" It's crazy. So many times crazy things are happening. It's nuts. Anyway, that is my funny story for the week.

I have now gotten commenting ablilities on the blog going, thanks to my friend Havilah. Don't forget that you can send messages to him yourself with the email address at the right. MM

Investigator Updates

2008-10-29T20:39:00.000-06:00

I can't believe I have been on my mission for 3 months already. It is going by so fast. It is so crazy. Thanks for all the love and support. You are the best family ever. I think I may have taken you all for granted a little. Sorry!!!!
. . . . . . about my investigators. Which are the best investigators in the world. My families are doing so well. I'm very excited. We also have planned to set 3 more people this week. I'm super excited. They have all been coming to church for two weeks I think, so they are doing good. They have to come for three weeks straight before we can baptize them. They are awesome. They keep all our commitments. They call us to see when we can meet. They are so good. I know that this gospel has already changed their lives, and will change their lives even more. I'm so happy for them.
My area is about a ten minute bus ride from the church. Distance isn't a problem here, it is just their desire. You can go from anywhere in Coimbatore to the church for less than 5 rupees. Some families do have a problem with having enough money. . . . . The families that speak English, mostly have more money. The better English you speak, the better job you can get.
We see our progressing investigators like 3 or 4 times a week. We try to see them as much as possible. Most people in India go to work at 9 in the morning and don't come home until 8 or 9, so some people are hard to meet. They are all great kind people. I'm amazed at how nice people are.
Oh! I saw a bunch of camels in the street yesterday going to a festival. So many crazy things you see here. Monday was Diwali, the second largest festival of the year. They light off so many fireworks. And no fireworks are illegal! We had to stop proselyting at 6 o'clock because it is too dangerous at night. So we went up on the roof and every direction you looked you could see 30 fireworks going off. It was the coolest thing ever. Then people were lighting them in the street right in front of our apartment so they would explode right above our heads. They also have huge long strings of firecrackers. I recorded one that lasted more than 1 minute and thirty seconds. It was crazy but so cool at the same time.

2008-10-22T21:26:00.000-06:00

India
countryside

2008-10-22T21:25:00.000-06:00

Gekos are all over the apartment. Devon considers them a better option than giant spiders!

The Work is Going Forth

2008-10-22T20:35:00.000-06:00

Today we had Zone conference. We are in Bangalore. Every other zone conference is in Bangalore. The focus was on using Preach My Gospel. I really need to do that more. I have been focused on finishing the Book of Mormon. One thing President said is that we need to use our study time for those we teach and not for ourselves. That made me think; I need to focus on those I teach when I study, not on what I want. I will work on it.
We set my first family for baptism on Sunday. I'm really excited for them. I don't know if it will go through or not but I am praying. It is a family of four, but only three can get baptized because the other son is only 6. The other three are set though. Elder Hansen and I found him like my first week here. He is a super guy. I'm excited. He is set for November 2nd, because in the mission we have one rule that they have to attend church for three consecutive weeks; then they can be baptized. So that will work.
I dont know if Ii told you this, but I saw an elephant roaming through the street for a festival. It was cool. He just walks around and people give him food and he blesses them by putting his trunk on their head. It was cool. It was a hindu elephant (that probably sounds funny) so we didnt try to feed it. They probably wouldn' t have liked us very much. HAHA I'm going to try and ride one when I go to Erode. I will send you pictures if that happens this week. In Erode there is a super poor guy that owns an elephant and people pay to get a ride. It is funny. I dont know how such a poor guy has an elephant, but I've seen wierder things in India.

The Auto Rickshaw

2008-10-13T19:54:00.002-06:00

Here it is, the motorozed rickshaw. Little did we know that our boys had been using one for their own transportation some years ago! We still have it and it is for sale! Anyone interested?

Goings on in Coimbatore

2008-10-13T19:49:00.001-06:00

A photo of the Coimbatore chapel.

The Elder's kitchen, not bad!

Hyderabad, India

2008-10-13T19:34:00.000-06:00

These photos are from Hyderabad. Elder Jenks spent three days there while he got registered with the Goverment and while they were on lock-down. It is monsoon season, hence the flooding.

New Companion, Spreading the Gospel Message & Naming a Baby?

2008-10-13T19:00:00.002-06:00

My companion is Elder Banavath. He is from Hyberarbad. He is 26. Most Indian Elders are way older, which is wierd because I feel so much older then them. Maybe because I am bigger or act older, I dont know. He is a good missionary, a hard worker, I miss Elder Hansen though.

It is hard to live with a native. They are used to their mom doing everything for them. I do all the dishes and cleaning. It is frustrating. I will get over it though so no worries. He also thinks his way is the only way things should be done, so he tells me all the time that I am doing things wrong. I don't know whatever. I just deal with it.
Devon doing all of the dishes and cleaning? I will have to ponder on that one . . . . MM
We viewed a movie (City of Joy) about a group of widows in India. We questioned Elder Jenks as to how they are treated now.
The widows in India don't get shoved away. They just live with their sons or daughters. They are still loved. As for men and their wives. The culture is that men just boss their wives around. I really don't like it, but I can't do anything about it. Men have all power. They mostly just tell their wives what to do and aren't very nice about it. In the church it is still there, but definately less. They are a lot nicer to their wives, but still boss them around. That is one thing I have had to deal with. Women aren't treated very nice here and that bugs me.

I went on exchanges with the Assistants on Saturday. That was fun. I can see why they are Assistants. We met a new family and taught them about the Restoration. Sateesh was super excited and said he would read and pray. We went back yesterday and taught him the second lesson. He told us that before we came he was thinking about a lot of things, and worrying about them. Also that he wasn't very happy. Then he told us that after we came and he read and prayed his mind felt so free and clear and he just felt happy. It is so exciting to help someone feel the Spirit like that. We told him that that was the Spirit telling him that what we teach is true. He is so excited to come and hear Conference. I am excited for him too. So that was a good experience from this week.

Here is a funny story. We were out finding and a man walked up to us and told us that he had met our friends. He invited us to his house so we went and taught him. His family is pretty poor. He makes about 3000 rupees a month. About 75 dollars only. Anyway, they were so excited to see an American. The good part is we taught them, they dont know very much English, so I dont know how far it will go. We taught them and at the end before we were going to leave THEY ASKED ME TO NAME THEIR BABY!!!!!!! Any suggestions. I know it's crazy. I don't know what to tell them. I guess I will just think of some names and tell them next time we meet them. HAHAHA It is a girl by the way so any help would be good. Well that is the best story yet from my mission. I'm sure there are more to come. :)

Anyway the work is going great. We are working hard and teaching everyone we can. I love you all and hope all is going well. Have a good week and I can't wait to hear from you next week. Keep being good.

Fun in India

2008-10-02T22:13:00.001-06:00

Oh before I forget. Yesterday I got to play soccer with kids in the street. It was so much fun. We were waiting for one family that we were going to teach. The kids were just playing so I played with them. It was fun.
I also got a Lungi. It is pretty much a lava lava, but Indian Style. I will send pictures for you to see.
Girls all were things on their foreheads. Every single one of them. They just stick to their foreheads. Like little stickers. If they are Hindu. They will have a powder dot thing, I don’t know how to explain it, but it just looks like a colored powder dot on their forehead. Kinda funny looking.
Food is getting easier to eat. I just eat it as fast as I can and try not to taste it. It is hard sometimes. I don’t have any really nasty stories from this week. Just normal stuff.

I have been waiting for the soccer in the street. That bit warms my heart. You all know how much I loved to watch Devon play soccer. I will see about a picture of that Lungi thing. We are still waiting for the solution to the photo situation. As soon as we get something, you will be able to see! MM

Transfers - New Companions - The Work

2008-10-02T21:59:00.000-06:00

This week is going good. We finally got the apartment all figured out for the new sisters. They are all set to go. They will be here tomorrow. This week is transfers. Elder Hansen is being transferred to Chennai. I will be getting a new companion tomorrow. His name is Elder Banavath. He is from Hyderabad. I will tell you more about him next week. It kinda stinks that Elder Hansen is leaving. He is an awesome guy and I am going to miss being his companion. I am also going to have to be the one who knows everyone and where to go. That should be fun. I'm trying to figure out all the bus stops and such. I am going to be the only American in Coimbatore. I will be with 4 Indian missionaries and 1 Nepali missionary. Crazy huh?
Transfers are every 6 weeks same as normal, we just don’t get transferred a lot. Elder Hansen has been in Coimbatore for 7 months. So I expect to stay here for quite some time. But that’s OK, I like it here.
India is still great. The work is going. We don’t have many investigators yet. We are still working hard and trying our best. We have only found bachelors recently. Which is kinda bad, because they usually move away. We will see how that goes.
As far as Conference goes, I actually get to watch it. They just show it the week after the live sessions. I hear Conference weekend is so much fun. We will see. . . I'm excited for general conference in two weeks. I'm excited to see everyone speak. I think I will get more out of it then I ever have.

Back to the Job of Being Missionaries

2008-09-26T20:19:00.000-06:00

Well things have calmed down and we are back to our normal missionary work. Except we still can't wear our tags. I miss wearing it; it was so easy to refer people to it to pronounce my name. They have such a hard time saying Jenks it is crazy.
The work is going good. We have quite a few investigators. They aren’t progressing as well as I would hope, they are all having a hard time gaining a testimony of the Book of Mormon and that is the first step. They mostly want proof that it really happened. We keep telling them that they have to pray to find out for themselves, but they don’t. I hope this week they will have that desire and will pray to Heavenly Father to find out for themselves.
I want to tell you about this family. They are the Paul Mathew family. They are so awesome. They were baptized the week before I came. They already have such a great testimony of the gospel. It is awesome. I love visiting them. They are my favorite lessons. They always feed us. She gives good food that I like though, so that is good. What is funny is they make us eat so much. It is usually like 3 times as much as what normal Indians eat. We eat until we are about to throw up. I have never been that full in my entire life. They are so awesome though. That is why we eat so much.

Just a Bit More

2008-09-21T20:57:00.001-06:00

Well I only have four minutes. Sorry London I will get to yours next week. Or I will write you a real letter . . . . Before I forget, there isn’t anything I really need. You could send drink packages like crystal light and stuff like that. Also I need my line of authority. And addresses for Grandma and Grandpa, and Grandma, and Aunt Char. And any others you can think of. Have a Great week. And keep doing what you do. Have fun and I'll talk to you again soon. I wish I had more time. I love you all!!!ELDER JENKS

I must add this last bit of his letter from last week. It has become the most important part for me. The missionaries have 30 minutes to check and send emails each week. Devon says, "...I only have four minutes." As I have thought about that, I see the exactness of his obedience. What would it matter if he took 35 minutes to finish up the email; or took an extra 15 so that he could send an email to his brother? Would his missionary service be any less? Probably not; but would he be fully obedient? No. It is very comforting to me, his mother, to know of his desire to be obedient to the very minute, second. Through that obedience will come the blessings; blessings of protection and success and personal growth. Isn't it wonderful when your child becomes your teacher? ! MM

More on the Sons of Mosiah in India

2008-09-18T20:08:00.002-06:00

First about all the happenings in Bangalore. An assistant and an office elder were on exchanges. Elder Ivie and Elder Valluri. They were just out finding people. While they were out walking, it was like 7 at night. There was a big festival. There are huge Hindu festivals here all the time. They ran into one. There were a bunch of drunk guys who weren’t very happy to see Elder Ivie, because he is white. The Elders ran away because the guys wanted to hurt them. They ran to the police station. Before they got there the “Mob” (I really don’t know how many guys were there) caught up to them. They beat up Elder Ivie. I don’t know how bad. He is still alive and looks the same so I assume not too bad. They then took them to the police, accusing them of offering money to join our church. Since this is illegal, they arrested them. They were in jail for 3 days then released. They are fine and well, so no worries. . . . . . . Everyone is fine though. They Sent Elder Ivie home 2 weeks early. They took out all the missionaries in Bangalore. The only ones left are the assistants, office elders, and the zone leaders in Bangalore. All the other ones got sent to other areas. I don’t know how long that will be like that. We are out of lock down. It just meant that we had to stay in the apartment for a couple of days. Then Friday and Saturday we could only visit those investigators that had a baptismal date set. We are out and prosolyting now. We just can't wear our tags yet. That is our only restriction.

It is somewhat disconcerting to hear about events like this occuring in the mission where your son is serving. But as I think back over the history of the church, I remember multiple times when missionaries have spent time in jail. Establishing the church and it's truths throughout the world is not always easy businness. I still believe that my missionary is safer there in India than he would be at home, living the life of an average 19 year old! MM

All is Well in Coimbatore

2008-09-18T20:08:00.001-06:00

I am still in Coimbatore with Elder Hansen. He didn’t go with me to register. I flew pretty much by myself the whole time. There were always missionaries there to meet me at the airport though. To register I just had to go to the office and fill out a bunch of papers and sign them. The reason I had to go somewhere else was because no one has ever registered in Coimbatore. They usually just register everyone in Bangalore. I didn’t do that though. I went to Bangalore first, but then they decided that with all the happenings there they didn’t want me to register there so I flew to Hyderabad where I registered. I stayed there for 3 days. We were on lock down most of the time there so I didn’t do much. This past week hasn’t been the greatest for missionary work. We haven’t gotten much done. This week will be good though. We are all safe here in Coimbatore. There isn’t too much unrest here.
My apartment is sweet. It is the best apartment in the mission. I don’t know if I told you that. It is just like living in America, just no carpet. Everything else is pretty much the same. We live a pretty good life as missionaries.
Food is still not so great. Last night we went to this investigator's house and it was her birthday so she fed us. She fed us this stuff called mutton biriyani. It is just rice with spices and meat. I don’t really like it. Anyway, mutton isn’t lamb here I don’t know if that is how it is in America, but that is how I understood it. Mutton here is Goat. Gross. Especially if you saw the goats here. They are nasty, but anyway about every third bite I would get some mutton and it was so gross. So many times I wanted to throw up. I kept it down though. I drank lots of water. Experiences like that happen about twice a week. The mutton is so nasty it is all gritty and gross. You would understand if you had it. Blah!! Another thing I hate is they always put curd on it. It is pretty much curdled milk. . . . Now you know some of the gross things I have to deal with every week. So nasty!!!

Wanakum Family

2008-09-09T21:07:00.000-06:00

Wanakum (Von-a-cum) Family, That is some language that I can't remember, but it means hello. Either Telegu, Hindi, or Tamil. One of those. They speak so many languages it is so crazy. Most everyone can speak 3 to 5 languages here. It is hard to tell them apart but they are definitely different. It is kinda fun trying to learn all that I can.
Oh by the way I'm in Hyderabad for awhile now. Somehow they forgot to get me registered. Once you get to India you have to register and they have to approve you within 14 days. I have been here a little longer and fell through the cracks. So I haven't been registered yet. I have been flying around the country for the last 2 days. I have only been in India and already I have been in half the cities I can serve in; how awesome is that? Every city is so different. I love every one though. India is awesome.
The food I don't like is mostly everything. They just put so many spices in everything and it is really overpowering. I just have to eat a lot of rice and bread with it. Bread here is really good, like chapati and rotti and naan all are very good and rice is normal. . . . I can eat mostly everything now, I just don't enjoy it. HAHA Everyone says that will change eventually. . . . . I'm not very good at meals without a recipe. I just don't really remember how to make things. I would like recipes like pancakes, stroganouf, cookies, maybe some soup, some kind of chicken dishes, and just stuff like that, anything that you think would be relatively easy to make.
Everything is well here and I learn so much everyday. We pretty much find (street contact) all day long, because we don't have very many new investigators. I love being a missionary. Sometimes I feel like those big characters at Disneyland. Like Mickey Mouse and Pluto and people like that, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love the gospel. I know I didn't always show it, but it gives me so much happiness and joy. I am so grateful to be able to share what I have with others. I know this church is true and that everything I teach everyday, is the true gospel of Jesus Christ. I love it or I wouldn't be here. I love everything about missionary work, even the dangerous parts, it makes it more exciting. I love you all and hope everything stays well.

Sons of Mosiah in India

2008-09-09T21:01:00.000-06:00

There were two missionaries arrested in Bangalore on Sunday night (September 7th). They were accused of bribing people to join the Church. This is a big problem in India; we can't even call ourselves missionaries, we are just volunteers. Don't worry though they are fine and out of prison. They are fine, they just won't be able to go home until their case is over. So don't go writing President Nichols or anything. He has enough on his plate already. The whole mission is on lock down for a while, because it is all over in the news so people are a bit suspicious of us. Once again don't worry we will all be fine I promise we are being taken care of.

First Zone Conference

2008-09-07T20:20:00.000-06:00

We went to zone conference yesterday which was awesome. . . . . It was cool, accept we had to ride a bus for 10 hours to get there then 10 hours to get back. It was in Chennai. It is cool; I can't wait until next zone conference. Elder Scott aka Elder Lund (from Declo, Lund is a bad word of some sort in India, so he goes by his first name) is in my zone except he is going home next week. I got to meet him and talk to him. Elder Ward aka Reagan Ward (from Raft River) was his companion so I got to talk to him too. It was pretty awesome. I was on an exchange and we went to subway for lunch. Normal food, awesome! And we were there and Elder Scott and Elder Ward came and my exchange is from Idaho. So we had four guys from Idaho sitting at a subway in India. How crazy is that? I thought it was funny.

Finding aka. Street Contacting

2008-09-07T20:10:00.000-06:00

Street contacting is fun. I'm not very good at it. I still have a hard time talking to people that I don’t know. Everyone here will just smile at me so that makes it easier. We just walk up to people and start talking. We just say hi brother what is your name … my name is elder Jenks coming from church. Then we share some part of our message and ask for a contact number to call and come and visit them some day. We normally get numbers because people would rather lie to us then tell us no. They just tell us no over the phone when we call them back at night. It gets kinda annoying. We call it finding not tracting, but it doesn’t really matter. We found a man named Raja (there are lots of those). We taught him the first lesson and are going to teach him the next one this week. I hope it goes somewhere. We will see though, he seemed like he liked our message, but wasn’t sure if he thought it was different from other churches. We will have to fix that soon.

Settling in at Coimbatore

2008-09-07T19:51:00.000-06:00

I feel like I am on a different planet. It is so weird. People think I am an alien. They always stare and laugh sometimes. It bugs me a little, but I will get used to it. Hopefully sooner than later. We are like two of 6 White people here. Indians think it is so funny to see two white people at the same time. They always stare.
I haven't seen any big bugs yet. Just normal sized ones. Except the mosquitoes. They are huge here.
The weather is good. It is pretty much like home except a little cooler and more humid. It has rained 3 out of 5 days I have been here. When it rains it rains so much I have never seen so much rain. Two times we were walking when it started to rain and there were no buses or autos to catch. An auto is a taxi like a cushman, it is pretty funny actually. They are fun to ride in. They weave in and out of traffic, it is kinda scary. They are so much faster here than at home.
Everyone tries to speak English, but I don’t really know what they are saying. I never thought I could be listening to English but not understand it. Hopefully I will start to understand it soon.
I hate the food. The first couple of times I ate it I wanted to throw up so bad. It was nasty. I am starting to be able to eat it even if it is nasty though. I just drink lots and lots of water. The other two missionaries in my area are from India and Nepal so they are going to teach me how to cook something
Coimbatore has about 2 to 3 million people in it. Relatively small. haha, comparatively to 12 in Chennai. I have never seen so many people, and they all look the same; it is crazy. Church was interesting very different. They have to translate everything to Tamil because a lot of people understand that better than English. Some people just speak Tamil during their talks so I have a lot of time to just think. I have to give a talk this Sunday. It is missionary Sunday because it is the fifth Sunday. I didn’t really get to talk to my branch president much, but he seems cool. The church here is beautiful. It looks just like a normal church building, but better.
Street contacting is interesting because we have to talk to people who speak English so sometimes it is hard to find them. They had 8 baptisms right before I got here so we mostly tract all day long.
Something funny I saw here families usually only have one vehicle and it is usually a motorcycle. I saw a family of 7 on one motorcycle, it was crazy. Most of them were little but still that is a lot of people on one motorcycle.

First Impressions

2008-08-20T22:36:00.000-06:00

Driving in India is crazy. No one follows any rules. There are lines on the road, but no one follows them. They all just drive down the middle of the street and only move when someone honks at them. They are always flashing their lights and honking. It is crazy scary.
There are stray dogs everywhere. I have only seen like 10 cows wandering the streets. I guess they let them wander just because they don't have any land; it's not like they worship them. Then at night the cows wander back to where they came from and get milked. It is pretty interesting.
We slept on the floor at the zone leaders houses for like 4 hours. It was weird trying to sleep. I kept thinking there were bugs all over me. I guess I will get used to it.
We ate McDonalds for lunch today. It was pretty cool. They only have chicken, but it is the best McDonalds I have ever had. It is pretty awesome.
It will take me a while to get used to it here but I will get there.

India - First Mission Experience

2008-08-20T22:30:00.000-06:00

Devon tells this story from the Airport in India:

When we got to India a lady came and started talking to me. She was speaking English but I had no idea what she was saying. I was so confused. But what I did get out of it was that she had a Hindu background and she loved Jesus Christ and she saw my name tag and wanted to know where we had meetings. Well, I really have no idea because I just got there. But I gave her a pass along card and told her to call the number and they could tell her where we meet. Hopefully she does that. It really helped me. I was really nervous but it let me know that people want to hear the gospel so that helped me to know that everything will be OK.

Devon's First Adventure - The Trip to India

2008-08-20T21:10:00.000-06:00

Elder Jenks and his 13 "Batch Mates" headed off to the SLC Airport at 6 am, Monday morning. Their flight left around 9 am. After a stop in Chicago, IL., they arrived in Fankfurt, Germany around 8 am Frankfurt time. The missionaries were allowed one call home during their flight; Devon called us just after midnight MST from Germany. It was great to hear his voice. He was very tired and a bit nervous about being so far from home. He was able to get some sleep on the third leg of his flight, thanks to Uncle Fred, and disembarked just after midnight on Wednesday morning in Bangalore, India.

The missionaries were greeted at that early hour by President and Sister Nichols. They were farmed out to Zone Leaders' apartments for about 4 hours of sleep on the floor and then gathered up again for a home cooked breakfast prepared by Sister Nichols.
His trainer is Elder Hansen from Las Vegas, NV and they will be serving in Coimbatore Branch in Coimbatore.

We are happy and relieved that he has arrived and all is fine.

Devon's Second and Last MTC Letter

2008-08-15T11:04:00.000-06:00

Devon's second letter arrived today. Yeah!! Here are some quotes from it:

I got a haircut today. My hair is so short. I don't know what to do with it.
We get to go to the referral center 4 times a week which is pretty cool. People call in to receive either a video or a Book of Mormon. We get to talk to them and sometimes teach them. I have gotten to teach a few first lessons over the phone. It is the closest thing we have to teaching real people.
I love you all. I love the gospel. I am so thankful that I am here. . . . I'm so glad that you taught me well. I have strong testimony of the gospel. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I know with all my heart that Joseph Smith restored the gospel and translated the Book of Mormon by the power of God. I am so thankful for all the help the Book of Mormon is to me. I also love the Spirit. I feel it 24/7. . . . . It strengthens me in everything I do.

Devon will be flying out with 14 other missionaries for India on Monday, the 18th. They will not arrive until the 19th. The time difference from Twin to India is 11 1/2 hours, so it will be Tuesday evening when they arrive. And he thought that that first Thursday was the longest day of his life!

India Bangalore Mission Address

2008-08-15T10:33:00.000-06:00

The best way to send a letter to Devon is through the mission office. They will courier it to him with their weekly communications.

India Bangalore Mission Office

#493 Anjali Plazza, CMH Road

Indira Nagar, Bangalore 560038

India

Devon's First Letter

2008-08-08T19:55:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone! We have received our first letter from Devon. I will post some excerpts.

I love it here. I love being a missionary. The first day was the longest day of my life. The second day was the second longest day of my life! We get so much done. I didn't think it was even possible to accomplish this much.
We have already started teaching and we are getting better. Yesterday we had two 'appointments'. The first one went terrible. I felt horrible afterward. I was so depressed. I guess that is OK since we are talking about people's salvation. The second one went way better. I think it is so great how we can get so much better in just a couple of hours.
I am so thankful that I am here. I love this gospel. I have grown so much in so little time.

Our family is thrilled to have Devon in the mission field. We are very excited that he has been called to serve the people of India. We are anxiously awaiting his adventures in this country across the world.

Check back for updates as we get them.