New Area -- email from 23 February 2016

This week was good.  I was sick as a dog this Friday to this Sunday.  I was dying, throwing up a ton Friday in the night.  I am starting to feel better now.  I have been highly medicated and trying to keep getting better.  Also, I had to say goodbye to a lot of converts sick haha it was a fun experience.  I love Patricia and Brenda and I hope that we can keep in touch with them.  They are going to take me to the airport when I am ready to get out of here, so I will be able to see them again. 

Then I got a call that I am headed to the Villa 1-11-14 or la Villa Chacabuco.  It’s the biggest villa in the entire mission and it has been my dream to go there.  I’m pretty pumped.  Hey there is a problem with emails so you need to tell me if you have received this or not.   If you haven’t received this call the office of the mission and they can change it.  I hope that you all get this. 

Love you all

Elder Jensen

Post Script

It is time to update the map.   Here is where Matt has been...

1. Pacheco
2. Avellaneda
3. La Boca
4. Vucetich
5. and now Villa 1-11-14 (or Villa Chacabuco)

Matt's testimony.... 18 February 2016

One of the members posted this tonight.  Enjoy and think about matt struggling with high school Spanish.

A Delayed Email -- from 15 February 2016

Hey   :) 

I hope that you are all good.  I haven’t received any chats from you all.  I think that you all aren’t on or that the internet doesn’t work.  I’m good here.  This last week we worked really hard and in the end of the week we had 3 more baptisms. WHOOOOOOO!:)   It was a great day.  I baptized Angel who is 17.  He was really Feliz and he is friends of all of the members from the Capilla.  My companion baptized Marcos, the little boy who is 11.  He is the son of Isabel who was baptized a couple of weeks ago.   Also, Jackeline was baptized by elder Cook.  She is the nephew of an active member. 

IT was a great Sunday.  I hope that we can find a ton of people this week so that we can finish with progressing investigators.  I know that this area has a ton of people that are ready to receive the restored gospel in their lives.  This next week we have transfers and it’s almost a sure thing that I get transferred to a new area.  Whatever happens I will let you know this next Tuesday.

As far as school goes it makes me pretty sad that I can’t go to BYU now, but it’s alright.  All of the signs are pointing towards CSU this fall.  Have you been in contact with Michael?  Also I was looking at the application and it looks like I can do it all here, but if you all want to do it instead then here’s the link: I started an application online, but if you did it already I can delete it. 

Elder Jensen

Holidays, Baptisms, and College -- email from 8 February 2016

This week was good. We should have two baptisms this next week so we are pretty happy. We are going to keep working hard, and I want to find a lot of new people this week so that we can keep progressing and helping the ward. I hope that I can count on your prayers to help us out. Today it’s a holiday and there isn’t much time to write, we are going to be on until 6ish here and then this Wednesday we are going to get on to write. We can chat from 6-8 your time. 

I talked with my president of mission and we talked a lot about my plans for college and he said that I wouldn’t be living up to my potential if I chose to go to UVU. I agree with that, as my plans are to get a good job and start my own business so it doesn’t really work that well together. He also gave me permission to work on some applications if you all need me to do something. He told me that I should apply for BYU and CSU again and if I get rejected from BYU it’s because for some reason or another God wants me to go to CSU for at least a year and apply to BYU again. I hope that everything goes well with you for this week and that you have a good time.

Love you! 

Elder Jensen

Sick and Tired...no really. Email from 1 February 2016

Hey all.

This week was really good, but tiring.  I’m dying slowly in the mission haha.  Everyday I feel more and more tired. I feel like I am losing steam to keep doing this haha, its killing me. My shoulders always hurt, my stomach is always upset and my head always hurts from the sun. I always feel exhausted. Everyday it’s harder and harder to study. When I get back I’m going to go to the doctor and they are going to do a full body exam.

We are already in February. I can’t believe it. It went by so fast for me. In six months officially I will be home. It’s weird to me, because the life before the mission just kind of feels like it wasn’t real, or that it never happened. This week we worked hard, and the zone is achieving things that are crazy. We have 20 percent of the baptisms of the mission right now as a mission in our one zone. We are really happy with all of the work that everyone is putting in here. We had two progressing investigators this week, but it looks like we aren’t going to have baptisms until the 14th. We are going to keep working hard so that we can have more baptisms this transfer.

I have been thinking and I think that UofU and BYU and CSU are my options. But, if I can’t get instate tuition at UofU then I will have to mark it off my list. I would like to go there and room with Elliott if it’s possible to get instate tuition. If Ben and Michael don’t answer you guys it’s alright, I can always live in an apartment close to campus with a random selection of roommates, or I can live at home. I will be talking to my president this week to see if he can pull a few strings so that I can get into BYU. We will see what happens.

Love you all!
Elder Jensen

In the Zone and Life decisions -- email from 25 January 2016

This week was good. The four investigators got confirmed and we have two more baptisms planned for the 7th of February. We are working hard here, and I feel exhausted. I don’t rest very well in the summer. I sleep but I don’t feel well rested when I get up. It’s so hot here and the sun kills me every day. I love my area, and my companion. I’m excited for this transfer. I think that we are going to be able to find and baptize many people. I’m excited for the zone.

I am ripping my hair out with this college decision. I want to go to the school where I can get the best education and where I can have the best degree. My Options right now are CSU, BYU, UVU, and UofU. I don’t know about UVU because I want to get a masters, and the undergrad degree isn’t very good there. If I went there I could live with Ethan Leonard. UofU is a good school, about the same as CSU, but a little more costly and farther away. I don’t know anyone there except for Elliott smith, and I’m not sure if he is able to live with me. The last option is CSU. I LOVE CSU. I love Fort Collins. CSU is the cheapest and the closest to home. It’s the same as UofU in undergrad wise. If I live there I would have to find a house with Ben or Michael. The downsides are that it would be harder for me to find a wife in the church and it would be harder for me to avoid vices. I am utterly lost with taking a decision. My heart says CSU. I have friends there, and I wouldn’t be alone. I’m afraid of going to a new school where I don’t know anyone. I’m so lost with this decision I don’t even want to make a decision. :(

I hope this week you can get in contact with Ben and Michael to see what their plans are. Also with Elliott smith. I already talked with Ethan.

Love you all.

Elder Jensen

Zone Conference -- email from 18 January 2016

Hey Everyone.

This week was really good. First we had a zone meeting with all of the elders in the zone, 25, and it was a little scary at first to have to give a meeting in front of so many people, but it went well. Seeing the zone right now, I am one of the oldest here. There is only one other missionary who is older than I am in the zone. All of the others are much younger than me. Wow, the mission is going by fast. Then, this Friday we went to the house of Isabell and she told us that she was really nervous for her baptism and that she wasn’t sure if she wanted to get baptized. We could help her get excited again, and then Saturday she and her son Ezequiel passed interviews for the baptism. Sunday I baptized Isabell and my companion baptized her son. Isabell was pregnant so I think it counts for two ;) haha Sara and Oscar didn’t end up coming the last Sunday for their confirmation, but this Sunday the 4 will get confirmed. 

I was thinking a lot about schooling and I am almost 100 percent sure that I want to get a master’s degree after my first three years in school. I want to get as specialized as I can so that I can get a good job afterwards, or start my own business afterwards. I want to go to the best school I can right now, so that I can get into a master’s program after the first four years. I sent a message to Ethan about living together, but I’m still not sure if I want to leave Colorado. It’s going to be really hard for me to leave my friends behind when I don’t have any friends in Utah. I have a lot of time to think, but I hope that you guys can apply for me so that I can think about the two options. 

January is passing fast; I hope that by now you have called Michael and Ben to see about their living arrangements as well.

Thanks.

Elder Jensen