Letter from 9/18/14

Chilling doing Laundry

Jensen Family....

Hi everyone!  I miss you guys and I am glad you have been emailing me!  This last week has been a super long and hard week, and I feel like I am worn thin.  It has been a super good, spiritual week, but a trying week still.  I am glad it is my P-day and that I can get a little rest.

We lost another elder this week.  It is the second elder we have lost since the MTC started.  Elder C went home but I have faith that once he feels better he will be back out there.  Our district is now the smallest district in the West MTC, with seven Elders total.  We picked up Elder N (Elder C's companion) in our (me and Elder H's) companionship, and he is awesome.  Having three companions is cool because I can always have 2 people to talk to.

I am going to miss the Fort Collins snow!  It is 70 here and I will be headed into summer in Argentina.  So, from here on out it is going to be super hot for me until like June!  I will endure it fine though.

On Tuesday we heard from an apostle:  Richard G. Scott.  I was astonished by how in tune with the Spirit he was.  I was also very astounded with how normal he was.  He had doubts about being a missionary too and he was very scared.  But now he is an apostle of the Lord and has been a faithful servant for 20 years.  He told us that the mission was the thing in his life that changed him for the better.  I hope my character becomes great and I become a man of faith and action.

This week we started teaching a new investigator and he gets me super discouraged.  He is supposed to be pushing how good our teaching is and giving us hard questions to answer so we can get better at teaching in the field but he speaks super fast and it can be super hard to understand.  Yesterday  was answering a question about trials and about why bad things happen to good people.  I said that I didn't know why we have trials but I do know that if we endure the well, we will be rewarded.  I asked him to then read D&C 121: 7-8, which talks about how our trials will be but a short moment eternally.  My companion asked him what the verse meant to him and he thought about it for awhile and then told us that he got that "God was going to kill our enemies"!  We told him that was wrong and had to spend the rest of the lesson explaining why killing is wrong.

He is annoying and I don't want to teach him anymore.  That being said, a thing that I need to work on is loving my investigators -- so maybe God wants me to learn how to love someone I don't really love or like at all.

Well, I'm gonna catch a nap before class.  Keep up the good work Jensens!

Love.

Elder Matt Jensen

Email to Mom 9/11/14

With Elder Hamilton, my second companion, at Wyview.

Hey mom,

Thanks for the pictures and the email. I sent a letter today so expect it in a couple of days. I received a spanish set of scriptures and have been studying them a lot, trying to be able to comprehend old spanish dialects. slowly but surely it is coming. I got assigned a new companion on monday, and i am doing much better with him than i was with the last one. I just didnt have enough patience for him. 

I dont have much time, but i hope you all are having fun, and having a good time. Remember to pray. I love you mom, and thank god everyday for the support that you give me. 

Have a good week, go forth with faith, and read your scriptures. 

Love, 

Matthew Jensen

As for my scripture for my plaque,I want Psalms Chapter 24;3-4

 3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?

 4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.

A Letter between Friends

Here is an email from Matt to Elder Leonard, currently also serving in South America.

11 Sept 2014.

Dear Elder Leonard,

Its funny that you talked about fasting, because last week my district fasted twice to help with learning the language.  Let me tell you that i can attest to the blessing of fasting. I have picked up the language faster than i had over 3 whole years of high school.  I testify that the gift of tongues is real, and present in my life! The time where i felt the spirit here the most was during our fast and testimony meeting.... I was able to bear my testimony in Spanish from my heart, something I know that I cant do by myself. thanks for the email, and I will write again next Thursday!

Elder Matthew Jensen

MTC West Campus- Letter

4 September 2014

Dear Jensen Family.

I decided to write because I felt like I didn't get enough time to write a good enough email because we only get 1 hour of time to use our emails.  I sent a good amount of pictures of my district and my companion this past week.

I don't think a lot of these guys have ever been a couple days away from their parents in their lives. Some don't know how to cook or clean.  One guy isn't investing himself in the Spanish language, he just sleeps during class, or is just not paying attention.   I am the senior companion, so I am the leader.  I write the lessons in Spanish and he reads his part and has no idea what he is saying, or how to pronounce words, even thought we study it before hand.  I am not sure if he doesn't understand it or if he just isn't trying very hard.  Luckily, I have been blessed and am picking up Spanish muy rapido.  I will be ready to go when I get there and Spanish is just seeming to come naturally.

I'm very glad that I spent a year out of the house.  It was good for me and helped me mature a lot.  Out of the nine boys in my district, I am the only 19 year old, and there is one 20 year old, but the rest are fresh out of high school and 18 years of age.

We are on the west campus MTC.  This is an entirely spanish campus and is located in a sectioned off part of of the Wyview and Raintree dorms.  We have one dorm (apartment) like Emily's old one and we have 6 missionaries in 3 rooms.  We have another dorm that has been turned into a class room, and this is where we we spend a lot of our time learning.  I am typically here studying or trying to study. :) 

Katie, I am so proud of you for trying new things!  I know your going to do great, and even if you don't make cheerleading this year, at least you tried.  I will pray for you to make it!  I love you!

Mom, thanks for the donuts, my companion and district and I really enjoyed them.  I can get stamps here, so no need to send me them.  I am very grateful for you letters, they give me strength when I am weary.  I am looking forward to eating some home cooked food in two years when I get home because the food here - es muy Mal!  It is so fake.

Dad, thanks for caring about me, but don't worry about me being robbed. I am not worried in the least.  I know I'm going to be robbed, but I will just be happy about it, and give them what they want.  Happy Birthday Old Man!

Em, How was Texas?  How are your classes?  It is weird to think that you will be graduated and out of in the real world when I'm back.  I know you you will make a great nurse, and eventually some kind of Doctor.  BTW, I made it a week here, and I will make it another 103 weeks here.  What you said that day will motivate me for the rest of my mission.

I love all of you, and will write again next Thursday.  Can you get my email to Savannah.  I want to write to her.  I will see you all in 103 weeks,

With much love for you all,

Elder Matthew Jensen

Btw 4 of the kids in my district are headed to my mission, including my companion.

MTC -- well Sort of...

August 27th.... D-Day.  This is 45 minutes before reporting to the MTC.  The following is Matt's first letter to us after going into the mission field:

Hey Dad.

First of all, Happy Birthday! I am having a good time here, but i am looking forward to getting out into the actual field. Here there are so many rules and all i do all day is study. I study Spanish, all day everyday. I am grasping the language, and can give all discussions in spanish. I know that i need to be in Buenos Aires, especially because i am picking up the language so fast. 

I sent mom a schedule of my day, and don't have much time to write, so i will let you look on hers if that's alright. Thanks for figuring out what i need to do to get my credits! I will be careful in Buenos Aires. I'm a smart kid, and i will be just fine. The lord will watch over me, and keep me safe from all harm. I don't like the MTC at all, and can't wait until I'm out in the field, actually effecting people and there salvation. 

Dad, I love you and I know you are working hard. Thanks for paying for this for me, its really going to help turn me into the man i need and want to be. I will send you a letter next week with any updates, but theres not much going on here. Do me a favor, and read 3rd Nephi 11 for me. IT is Christ coming to the Nephites, and he outlines all we need for salvation. 

Love you dad,

Elder Matthew Jensen

First Day Letter

28 August 2014

Dear Mom, Dad, Em and Kate.

I survived the first day!  Actually it wasn't bad at all.  This is definitely a different lifestyle than I am used to, but I am taking it in stride.  In my zone there are 5 guys going to Buenos Aires Argentina!  We are at the Wyview, living there and having all classes there so it is kinda funny because we aren't even on the MTC Campus.  On the ride over here I lost my duffel bag, and just noticed that it was missing tonight.  I am going to go find it tomorrow, but its kind of a bummer that I lost it.  I'm so glad that I waited for a year before doing this -- its made me more ready for the mission than most other kids here.  I love you all and will write you next Thursday on my P-day!  My companion is alright but a lot different than me - kinda a video game type kid!  It will be Okay thought.

Love.
Elder Jensen


PS - I found my bag and everything in it!  I give my first lesson in spanish tomorrow and I know absolutely nothing I am saying!  Wish me luck!

PSS -- Everyone here is 18, and have never lived on their own.  I'm glad that I already know how to live on my own.

"I'm off on a adventure" - Kid Cudi

The time has come for my adventure to start! My mom will be posting pictures from my mission in Buenos Aires, Argentina while i am gone form the next two years, but other than that my facebook will be down. 


My phone will be off too so if you need to reach me for any reason just shoot me an email at:

jensen.matthew@myldsmail.net

You can also write me or send me packages for the first six weeks at:
Elder Matthew Stephen Jensen
OCT07 ARG-BAN
2023 N 900 E Unit 853
Provo UT 84602

Thanks for your support and i will miss you guys so much.