Miracles -- Email from 31 August 2015

Hey family! 

I hope that everything is going well for you all and that you are all doing well. I hope that school hasn’t hit you all too hard, and that work is going well to. This week was incredible. We saw a ton of miracles. I’m going to write you all a list of miracles that I saw this week showing how prepared the family of Laura was:

• We found her from a reference in the street. We arrived at her house in the pouring rain and she let us in and was really happy to see us. 
• In the first lesson she presented us to her nephew Nahir. Nahir was passing through a hard time and needed help from god. She lives with Laura as well. 
• In the second lesson, Laura told us that for ten years she has been praying for the true church and looked through the many churches and couldn’t find one that she likes. She told us that recently she changed her prayers asking God to send her angels and she claims that we are them. :) 
• When we presented the Book of Mormon she said "I knew the bible wasn’t enough. I always felt like we needed more than just the bible"
• In the third lesson she presented us her kids, who are 11 and 8 and asked if we could baptize them. 
• They went to church and loved it. They also are reading the Book of Mormon a ton. Laura is in 2nd Nephi. 
• She presented us her other nephew and sister in law. The other nephew is going to get baptized this Sunday. 
• She smoked for 20 years, and this last week she went from smoking 20 cigarettes every day to smoking 2 and is working hard to quit. 
• She has a testimony of Joseph smith and the resurrection. 
• She called her mom to invite her to go to the church in another part of Argentina. Her mom cried and told her that she is a member of the church and that she was baptized three years ago and that she was afraid to tell her daughter for fear of rejection. 
• We brought them to a baptism yesterday and Laura cried for like the entire time. 

Laura isn’t going to get baptized for a time because she is living together without being married, but this weekend we have the baptism of her two kids and two nephews. We also have transfers Tuesday. I hope with all of my heart that I can stay her and help them more, but I accept the decision of the lord if it’s my time to go to another part of the mission. If I go, it will be because I went up to zone leader, because I am training and they won’t change me unless I am going up. I have cried, laughed, comforted, taught, and learned from this family. I’m amazed with their faith and diligence. The kids want to serve missions, and Laura is inviting everyone to the church. She told me for the first time in her life she really is happy again. I came on the mission to find this family. I love this family and they have forever changed my life. We will see if I can stay here, or if I am headed out to another area next Tuesday.

Love you all!

Elder Jensen

A New Family Comes to Church -- Email from 24 August 2015

This week was incredible. We saw and witnessed a lot of miracles. We found a family that we brought to the Church and they are really prepared for us.  They are really cool. They call us angels and say that they have prayed for a long time for someone to help them find the truth. They aren't married yet, but we are going to baptize the 4 kids in the family while they are doing the paperwork to get married:) So in two weeks we should have a couple of baptisms! Here are two pictures of the family we found. The mom is named Laura and the dad is names David. The kids are Isaiah, Dilan, Kiara, and Nair!

Also the woman that was reading the Book of Mormon for a year went to church again and we had the opportunity to talk to her about that day.  Her name is Dayanira. She said that she desperately wanted to talk to us but was to shy and didn't have the guts. She said that she was thinking on the inside "Why don't they talk to me"!  I will send a picture of them both!   Here is a picture of Dayanira.
 
What Miracles! 

How are you all? How was your week?
If there are any questions comments or concerns let me know:) 

 

Elder Jensen

Listening to the Spirit -- Email from 17 August 2015

This week was really good! And it went by super fast. This week we taught 29 lessons with a member present and we also taught 23 without a member present. It was sweet!

But The coolest part of my week was Thursday when my companion and I were walking in the rain together. We saw a woman who was staring at us and I felt the impression to talk to her. But I didn't. We walked 25 feet and my companion said to me that we should turn around to talk with her. We turned around and started walking towards her until she lit up a cigarette. We then stopped and turned around again and kept walking. Then twenty more feet we got hit in the face with another impression and we turned around and went to talk with her. She accepted a baptismal date and we took her direction (address) and sadly it was in the area of the zone leaders. So we passed them the reference and then continued on our way.  The next day the leaders told us something incredible. That she found a Book of Mormon in a box of books over a year ago and then took it to her house and read it all. She was in the church bright and early this Sunday morning. It's an experience that I will never forget, and we almost lost it for not listening to the voice of the spirit! 

We also took a a tour of Buenos Aires today so that was pretty cool. Next Monday i will send pictures.

Elder Jensen

Baptism and 1 year out -- Email from 11 August 2015

This week was really good. Fernanda was baptized:) She was confirmed also:)! She was really happy and even cried a little during her baptism. This week she is headed to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. Hopefully she will be a leader in the church for life! It was really good. Katy and Lesli were not progressing this week. On Monday they talked to a preacher from another church and as a result now they have a lot of doubts about polygamy and stuff like that. Its alright haha, They will get baptized when its there time!

I cant believe that i am already a year into the mission. It has undoubtedly been the hardest/most difficult/ rewarding/happiest/saddest/exhilarating/wise year of my life. It really is the best thing that I have ever done with my life. Nothing beats the mission and nothing is harder than the mission either. I would council all of you that if you have the chance now, or later in life to go and serve with your spouses that you should do it, I have learned 1000 times more than i would have if I wasn't here. That being said, in a year I will be happy to give you all a huge hug! 

Have some pictures. of Fernanda and I, and of Elder Larry Brady and I. He is a matrimonio missionero that is going to give me a recommendation to get into the cia;) he worked for the state department for 50 years as head of foreign emergency affairs or something like that.  

 

Elder Jensen 

A New Companion from Brazil -- email from 3 August 2015

Hey mom and dad! 

Elder Moura and me.

To tell you the truth I can’t really believe it. We are already in august. Wow.  Sometimes it blows my mind to think that I have already been gone for almost a year. Well, this Sunday I will lack a year in the mission, so that’s pretty crazy. I’m doing good. My new companion is named Elder Moura! He is from Brazil also. I think that it’s a sign that heavenly father wants me to learn Portuguese –so, I’m going to try my hardest to learn it in the next three months. I’m going to try to keep flexing that muscle in my brain that learns languages so that I can keep learning and progressing! 

This week was good. We moved the baptism of Fernanda for this Saturday! I’m excited to see her get baptized. She is really going to be a great convert! Also, Katy and Lesli went to church again this week and they are going to get baptized this Sunday. It should be sweet. You all need to pray that they can get baptized this week! 

You all are putting Emily in my room?! No it’s quite alright haha I hope that she likes the crib. I heard that Katie is using all of my old clothes! You have to tell her to leave my sweatshirts alone haha. I’m doing a ton of exercises and I’m eating a ton here so that I can gain weight. I want to head home weighing like 185 and really muscular. So have been doing a lot of exercises and drinking a lot of chocolate milk.

Here’s a picture of my kid! 

Love you all!

Elder Jensen

Investigators Getting Married -- Email from 27 July 2015

Hey,

Fernanda and Luis -- Getting Married!

Hopefully that your vacations were good and that you all have had a good time. Send some pictures of you all and the family Siver and the Richios and with grandpa! 

This week went by really fast. Like too fast. Everything was going well!   Thursday I received a call from the assistants and they told me that i am going to train again. So tonight I’m going to receive a brand new kid! My second kid! He should enter in the field this night. I was sad to see Elder Santos leave but I’m really happy to be training again. Now, after that we worked hard and brought two investigators named Lesli and Katy. They are progressing well and have a baptismal date for the 9th of August. Then we got to Monday and had the wedding ceremony of Fernanda and Luis. It was AWESOME. I was really happy haha. She is going to get baptized this Saturday! And then confirmed this Sunday! Oh yeah! And then yesterday night the Assistants called me again and told me that president wants me as a district leader. That means that I will be responsible for helping like three companions of elders during this time. Wow.  So if I didn’t have much responsibility before, now I have a ton of responsibility. I’m going to be really busy with the district and with my new kid! Hopefully I get a kid from the states, it would be really cool, but I’m cool for whatever change that I get!

Wish me luck

Elder Jensen

Birthday Cake and Hermana Rosa -- Email from 20 July 2015

This week was really good. I now am twenty and I am stuffed – like I am getting fat in this area. The area is really awesome and I love the members.

With Elder Hansen before he went home.

We went to the temple Wednesday and had a really good experience. It was really spiritual. And then my birthday was so good.  I got all of your cards and the members from our area gave me a great lunch and then a lot of cake.  Different members from this area gave me four cakes.  Then in the night a member from my old area, the family Abaca, called our phone. They drove that big rainbow cake an hour to give it to me on my birthday.  But that was really good and then after that we went and ate a ton of cake. We have an investigator called Fernanda that is getting married the 27th. WE ARE MARRYING THEM so she can get baptized. So next Tuesday I will send pictures.

But the highlight of my week was Sunday when I was pulled out of the third hour because we had a visitor. To my amazement Hermana Rosa from my old area brought me a cake.  She is a recent convert of my old area that is like 65, and we became good friends. She is really poor, but bought me a huge cake from a store and then rode an hour and a half in a city bus to bring it to me for surprise. She said to me "I will never forget you and you better not forget about me!" I returned to priesthood and cried a lot in the back row haha,  Which is something that I have never done in my mission. I used to feel a little bad about not baptizing that many people in my other area, but now i can realize that the work I did was important to help those people keep progressing and that It was the plan that heavenly father had for me. I’m so grateful that I was used to help change people’s life for the better. What a great week.  See you all next Tuesday.  

Love you all.

Elder Jensen